ã€ŠSupreme Magusã€‹


 -2 Joke . Do not read before chap 57

    Author¡¯s Note: this is just a parody of all the tropes that I experienced by reading all kind of book and novels. I do not mean to belittle them or their readers, is just a joke about the most abused tropes and cookie cutter scenes that recur very often, no matter the author.

    Let me know in thements if you liked it. I will either keep it in the auxiliary chapters or delete it, based on your response.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    That morning the ssroom was already filled to the brim. Several teachers of the academy were gathered there for no reason at all. Powerful mages always had too much free time at their disposal.

    Suddenly, a youth walked in. He was handsome and unrestrained, exuding an aura of confidence that made evident him being a peerless genius. His presence became more overbearing with every step.

    "Dear heavens! Who is that youth of unparalleled manliness?" The female students were of course top tier beauties, wearing long chi-paos that revealed ample part of their generous bosom and let them show their long jade like legs from the side slit.

    Soon blood rushed to the face and the most private parts of the young and pure maidens, making them bloom like red roses.

    The handsome youth was of course Lith, our protagonist. His ck, silky hair moved with each stride, his smile was filled with nothing but unrestrained power. He knew that in that small world he was peerless beyond reason.

    Dazzled by his appearance, the professors decided to test his wits, so see if such overbearing talent really belonged to a true genius.

    "What do you think about the Dao of magic, young master?" Said an old man whose beard almost reached the floor.

    "Such an easy question." Lith¡¯s boundless self-confidence filled the whole room with admired gasps. He was the kind of man that every woman wanted, and every man wanted to be.

    "He who strikes first, strikes twice. Buy low, sell high." His reply made the male audience turn green with envy.

    "So young yet so wise and knowledgeable about Taoism and philosophy! He truly understands the Dao! Heavens don¡¯t have eyes! Why him? He is justmoner trash! Why it couldn¡¯t be me?

    Ie from the [insert pompous name here] family. We have hundreds of years of artifacts and legacies, yet I am nothingpared to him!" Everyone thought.

    The female audience, instead, had already fallen head over heels for him. All that they could think about was how to capture his manly heart and how many children of him they wanted to bear in their wombs.

    But Lith hadn¡¯t finished yet.

    "The cat is on the table. It¡¯s a quarter from nine."

    Those simple words revealed a profound and unfathomable wisdom. Soon the professors realized that it would take them years to understand the truth about the Dao that was hidden behind those words.

    At the same time, the female audience raised the baby count by one, some even by three. They were healthy youngdies, after all.

    Soon the evil envious prince from the powerful Envy family couldn¡¯t take it anymore.

    "You are courting death!" He bellowed.

    He moved with unbelievable speed, arriving in front of Lith in the blink of an eye. He was the most nondescript character one could imagine. The only defining trait he had was a T-shirt saying: "Hi, I¡¯m the bad guy."

    "You trash, how dare you taint this sacred halls with your presence? Kowtow to me nine times and call me your grandpa, and I promise I will not kill you."

    The professors gasped. They were all archmages, hundreds of years old. But what was their pride, the school honour, not to mention nonsense like the rules of the kingdom in front of that youth?

    He was Prince Bad Guy from the Envy family, whose power they didn¡¯t dare to offend. So, like the archmages they were, they squealed some pathetic excuse and hid in the background.

    "Poor Lith, he is destined to die. No one can offend the Envy family and live to tell the tale." They thought as one.

    Lith was unaffected by both his words and t-shirt.

    "You are just a side character, scram!" With a wave of his hand, Lith sent Bad Guy crashing into the wall, keeping him alive for no reason other than to gloat at his misfortune.

    Bad Guy coughed a mouthful of blood, his bones were crushed, his internal organs bleeding, his dantian almost crippled, but his ego was stronger than ever.

    "Uncle! Please save me! This b*stard dared to hit me! So despicable! Why did you refuse to die when I politely asked you to?"

    Lith wanted to reply to such senseless words, but another nondescript character appeared. He was older than Bad Guy, and his t-shirt recited: "I¡¯m the Uncle."

    The professors were so scared by his appearance that they hid in the previous page of this very same chapter, trying to escape his fury.

    "That¡¯s the legendary Bad Guy¡¯s Uncle! Now Lith is really done for! He refused a toast only to drink a defeat."

    "Who dares to hurt my nephew? I¡¯m Uncle [insert boring wannabe threatening speech here] from the Envy family. Cripple your dantian and cut your own arms, and maybe I will let you live as a dog."

    "Such apelling offer." Lith sneered.

    "But you are a side character as well. I have no time to waste, scram and make the final boss appear!" Lith sneezed, and the power of that simple move broke down Uncle¡¯s body and will, sending him crashing in the wall right beside Bad Guy.

    "Oh Patriarch! Please avenge us!" He said coughing a mouthful of blood before passing out.

    "Who dares defying the Envy family?"

    A heaven-defying bellow shook the whole academy, while Patriarch Final Boss descended from the sky.

    "Oh God! It¡¯s Patriarch Final Boss from the Envy family! We are here by ident, we don¡¯t belong in this novel!" The professors left the pages of the novel, running for their lives.

    His nondescript character¡¯s t-shirt saying: "I¡¯m the Final Boss" was all the proof of identity anyone could ever need.

    "I admit you have some talent, young MC. But it¡¯s time that this story goes back to its rightfully tracks! It belongs to my Envy family!"

    Lithughed coldly.

    "Did you even bother reading the title? It¡¯s Supreme Magus, not The Envy Chronicles! Enough wasting pages, do your worst!"

    "How dare you correct me when I am so wrong even a blind, deaf and dumb man would notice? Take this hit if you dare!"

    Final Boss unsheathed the ck Phoenix Evil God Cyber Monday Sword, a peerless artifact that the Envy family had passed on through the generations.

    The sword light was filled with boundless power and knowledge, sword intent could be clearly seen piercing time, space and even the Author¡¯s patience that was growing short with so many filler words in the same sentence.

    The audience felt like Mount Tai was falling down from the sky, the pressure of that strike was unbearable even for the spectators. No one could possibly imagine what Lith was feeling under such killing intent.

    It was pure and unrestrained boredom!

    Lith didn¡¯t move from his spot, simply ripping open his robe, he revealed what was hidden inside.

    The world ss beauties, imagining him to be stark naked underneath, experienced non-stop nosebleed, to the point that the most delicate ones fainted on the spot.

    The simple idea of his dancing chiselled pecs, big enough to y chess over them, and a six-ab pack hard enough to act as a washboard was too much for a young maiden¡¯s mind to take.

    But Lith wasn¡¯t naked, on the contrary.

    Under his robe, lied the strongest weapon of all creation.

    "Oh my God!" Said a professor that had tripped in the webpage address, and hence was still there.

    "Shiny as silver, light as silk but durable without equals!"

    "No! It cannot be!" Even Final Boss, despite still performing his strike was able to catch a glimpse of the true nature of his opponent.

    "That¡¯s right!" Lithughed a handsome, overbearing, manly, peerless, geniusughter.

    "It¡¯s the legendary plotinum armour, better known as plot armour!"

    "Hi there! I¡¯m the Author!" The armour said. "Now scram! I¡¯m not gonna change the title of my work for a nondescript cookie cut character like you!"

    "Nooooo!" When the sword and the Plot Armour collided, Final Boss disappeared from existence, and so did Bad Guy and Uncle.

    And so Lith lived happily ever after, never knowing exactly how many members his harem reached, despite having an intimate knowledge of every and each one of them.

 -1 Volume 2 Glossary

    Author¡¯s Note: This isn¡¯t a chapter. It¡¯s just a list of the characters in the volume 2 in order of appearance, to help the readers remember who is who. Skip this if you have yet to read Volume 2 or if your memory doesn¡¯t need help.

    White Griffon Academy staff:

    Headmaster Linjos : The young headmaster of the White Griffon academy, tryin to reform the institution on behalf of the Queen.

    Professor Jian Trasque: Holds the "Theory of Combat Magic" ss, teaching the students the importance of first (chore) magic and how to use it to survive close encounters, when fake magic is not avable.

    Professor Valesa Nalear: Holds the "Principles of Advanced Magic" ss, teaching the students a method exclusive to the six big academies on how to cast tier four spells and above.

    Professor Vastor: Professor in charge of the Healer specialization ss.

    Professor Duke Marth: Head of the White Griffon Light Department. A brilliant mage and the only one capable to handling Manohar. Dittomarth¡¯s Cameo.

    Professor Krishna Manohar: Nicknamed the "god of healing", is a genius mage with a wild and temperamental attitude. Eddicted¡¯s Cameo.

    Professor Lyca Wanemyre: Professor in charge of the Forgemaster specialization ss.

    Professor Rugan Thorman: Professor in charge of the Mage Knight specialization ss.

    White Griffon Academy relevant students:

    Yurial Deirus: Son of archmage Deirus, undertaking two specializations: Healer and Warden.

    Friya Solivar: Daugher of Duchess Solivar, undertaking two specializations: Healer and Mage Knight

    Quy from Cerea: An orphan from a backwater vige, aiming to be a Healer like Lith. Beforeing to the academy, she suffered from a bad case of malnutrition.

    Visen De Brae: Part of Lith¡¯s Group during the Mock Exam. He is studying to be a Warden.

    Milna Kratic: Part of Lith¡¯s Group during the Mock Exam. She is studying to bea War Mage.

    Phloria Ernas: Part of Lith¡¯s Group during the Mock Exam. She is studying to bea Mage Knight.

    Belia Ulphar: Part of Lith¡¯s Group during the Mock Exam. She is studying to bea Battle Mage.

    Forest Creatures:

    Scarlett: Boss of the forest, is a giant powerful Scorpicore that helps supervising the exams that take ce in the wilderness. Scarlett¡¯s Cameo.

    M¡¯Rook: A Ry (Lusername Cameo), a wolf type magical beast. Scarlett second inmand and leader of an elite squad.

    Sentar: A Cron,a hawk type magical beast. Member of the elite squad under M¡¯Rook.

    Termyn: A Cingy, a boar type magical beast. Member of the elite squad under M¡¯Rook.

 Chapter 1 Prologue

    No matter if you are a pessimist or an optimist, Derek Esposito¡¯s life wasn¡¯t a good one nor a bad one. It was just a mediocre insignificant existence.

    His father was a bipr abusive man, capable of disappearing is his bedroom for days during the depressive phase. He would wake up only to eat, use the bathroom and the asional "let¡¯s make your life miserable" fit of rage.

    During his euphoric phase, he would work like a madman, but not having any talent either as a businessman nor as social climber, he was unable to both being sessful and establishing the right connections.

    In his natural state, whenever he decided to actually take his medications, he was just a coach potato that would stand up and go to work just to avoid the me and spite from neighbours and peers.

    Whatever was his mental condition, he always was a perfect example of an abusive father.

    His sons were always a disgrace in his eyes.

    They never studied hard enough, never were disciplined enough, nor did show enough respect.

    And he was always there to remember them how wrong they were.

    He would yell at them for the slightest mistake, constantly reminding them that they were just parasites that leeched off his hard work.

    And when words weren¡¯t enough or when they did fail to meet his expectation with school grades or chores, there was no teacher like his leather belt.

    Hence, Derek and Carl had to quickly learn how to fend off for themselves, since their absent-minded mother practically forgot about them right after giving birth, dedicating her life in pursue of peace and quiet, staying as far as possible from her spouse tantrums.

    Derek was two years older, and desperately tried to take care of his little brother, but to no avail.

    They grew up watching and reading stories about heroes protecting the weak and upholding justice. But no hero ever appeared to save them.

    Every week they would be forced to go to church to worship a nondescript benevolent god and his son, the saviour of all mankind. But no matter how much they prayed or how good they were, no miracle urred.

    So, they simply stopped believing in heroes and instead of wasting time with prayers they crammed.

    School was their only oasis, but thatsted only until the sixth grade.

    Once in middle school, it didn¡¯t even take a month before the bullying started.

    Their cheap clothes and gloomy disposition made them the easiest targets. They were so used being tossed around and insulted that they didn¡¯t even bother trying to fight back.

    For a long time, Derek had considered it the worst moment in his useless life. After a month, he knew he could not take any more of that, so he tried to make things better.

    He reported his father¡¯s abuses to the social services with an anonymous email, but being overworked and understaffed the social work assistant made a brief visit and never came back.

    Then he tried to end the bullying by reporting their aggressors to a teacher, which in turn washed her hands by reporting it to the principal. The principal did not want to meddle with what he deemed as childish pranks, so he called Derek¡¯s parents to inform them of the problem, hoping they would let it slide. And at least his wish came true.

    Derek, instead, took and extra beating for not being man enough to face his own problems.

    "Are you really that stupid to never learn anything from me? Never delegate, if you want something done right, do it yourself!"

    Derek had never felt so helpless and desperate, so that night he bawled his eyes out, until he fell asleep. That had been thest straw.

    The next day he felt different, clearheaded like never before. It was not the time for despair anymore, he needed a n.

    It would take him years to realize that something inside him had died. He was no longer able to trust, hope or develop any sense of kinship. He was surrounded by enemies, and to survive Derek needed to be able to fight back.

    So, Derek asked his father to let him join a dojo and learn martial arts, and to his surprise he did not have to beg or even ask twice. His old man was d that his wimpy and scrawny poor excuse of a child was finally interested in bing a man. His only condition was that Derek was not allowed to quit for at least one year, otherwise he would have to pay for it.

    Not only Derek started practicing aikido almost daily, he would also wake up two hours earlier every single day to build muscles doing push ups, squats, sit ups and running until he was out of breath.

    In a few months he was finally able to do every day 100 push ups, sit ups and squats and run for at least 10 kilometres before going to school.

    Aikido soon revealed to be a perfect choice for his situation. At low level was mainly focused on self defence but there plenty of space for attacking and fighting dirty.

    By practicing martial arts, he finally discovered something he was good at. He was not particrly nimble, nor a fast learner. His hand to eye coordination was also average at best. His talent lied in the ability to spot the best time to hit a sensible spot during a block or a defensive manoeuvre.

    Even when the sensei was teaching sword or tanto arts, Derek was always able to grasp the killing moves at his first try, sometimes even before the senseipleted the practical demonstration.

    It was an exciting yet disappointing discovery since his only talent had no practical use. Even if aikido was a sport with tournaments instead of a discipline, hits to groin, eyes and trachea were universally forbidden.

    For months Derek kept training hard while keeping a low profile at school, nning his next move.

    At the end of the first semester, Derek stopped hiding from the bullies and started replying in kind to every single insult they threw at him, using the best quick-witted roast lines he had found online. Derek paid attention to never go to the bathroom or to remain alone for too long, always keeping and adult witness in line of sight.

    It did not even take a full day before his enemies were fuming and outraged. Only when the veins almost popped out their necks, he threw his bait.

    "I have enough of your sh*t, as*holes. Meet me in an hour behind the grocery shop between Lincoln and the 3rd. Or are you too scared?"

    "Since you seek death, I will happily grant your wish, you fag*ot. It will only be you and the three of us, alright?"

    Derek nodded without believing him in the least. And he was right.

    When they entered the back alley, they had brought along two more people.

    Derek was waiting for them, leaned against the wall at the end of the blind alley.

    "There you are. I was starting to think you would stand me up."

    They startedughing. "Sorry we werete. Hope you do not mind we taking some friends for the party."

    Derek shrugged, while grinning from ear to ear.

    "No problem. No matter how much, worthless trash is always trash. I chose this alley because it¡¯s fully equipped with enough dumpsters to amodate all of your friends."

    Thest line hit a nerve so they charged at him blindly.

    "Gang up on him, guys! Do not let him escape! Let¡¯s how him who is the trash."

    And so, they fell into his trap. Derek hade here preparing the terrain, and choosing the best spot the fight. A blind alley to not make them escape, the end of the alley so they would not notice the trip wire due to the dim light.

    The first two fell down hard on the concrete, and those behind them were so worried about not trampling on their friends that never saw the steel pipeing.

    They dide in numbers, Derek hade fully armed. Using the pipe as a sword he quickly hit them respectively on the head, the side of the knee, in the groin. Only then he started hitting the two that were trying to get back on their feet.

    While they were moaning and sobbing on the ground, he used a small knife to cut the trip wire, then he started beating them again and again with the metal pipe giving a special attention to theher regions.

    Deeply inside he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he could not care less. If the world was built to be unfair, the only possible course of action was to make it unfair at his advantage.

    So, he took out the taser that he borrowed from his father and tased them until unconscious. Then he stripped thempletely and took multiple photos of each one of them and even filmed them after arranging them so that they would seem to be spooning to each other. Then he sshed them with a bucket of cold water and sealed the deal.

    "Sorry to ruin your Brokeback Mountain moment girls, but I need your attention for a minute."

    When the bullies woke up, they were still in so much pain they could barely notice that they were naked and embracing each other. Retorting to Derek while he had still a firm grip on the steel pipe was out of question, so they kept quiet and listened.

    "I have made quite a scrapbook of you, even a short movie, uploaded it on myputer and even into the cloud. And it would be terrible if someone, I do not know, like me, for example would upload them on all the biggest image hosting sites. You know how they say, inte never forgets."

    The bullies started crying and begging.

    "Imagine how terrible would it be! Whenever someone would Boogle your names, be it your grandma, your girlfriends or even the colleges you were willing to apply to, the first thing to appear would be those photos!"

    "Dude, no!" "Please, I do not even know you. I was just making a favour to a friend!" "It was only a joke, please forgive me!"

    The choir of begging gave him the goose bumps. Derek wanted to puke at their hypocrisy.

    "I do not care for your pathetic excuses! From this day onward, you will leave me alone. And you better pray that nothing happens to me, because the cloud is set so that if I do not enter the password every day, it will upload them everywhere."

    Without waiting for their reply, he turned back and walked away.

    "Almost forgetting, I randomly threw your clothes in the dumpsters, can¡¯t remember which is which. If you don¡¯t want to go home in your birthday suit, you better start digging. So long, suckers!"

    Derek returned home euphoric, almost singing. He had never felt so proud of himself and had thepletely undeserved confidence that he would never think about those b*stards ever again.

 Chapter 2 Prologue 2

    The bullying ended, but his social life never stopped being miserable. How could he possibly make any friend with such a shameful private life?

    He had to constantly hide the bruises with long sleeves and had run out of usible excuses for his streak of ck eyes months before. His ssmates and professors simply pretended to not know and he just pretended to believe being that good of a liar.

    It was painful, but manageable. He still had his little brother to share that pain with. Carl was all he had, his family, friend and confident. He was Derek¡¯s whole word.

    But when that age came, he started having crushes toward girls in his school, and those feelings weren¡¯t as easily suppressed. Once again, he felt utterly helpless.

    He could not tell anyone about his problems, could not allow people to get close to him, otherwise he would have to think of an exnation for not being allowed to bring any friend home. Let alone a girl he liked.

    Derek was tormented by cruel thoughts, often demanding the heavens why what others took for granted was but an impossible dream for him.

    Fueled by the hormonal storms Derek rage started growing relentlessly. He started having troubles sleeping at night, thinking about all those lovey-dovey couples out there.

    Derek knew he was different from them. His crippling w wasn¡¯t being shy or having a bad case of e. His problem couldn¡¯t be cured by any doctor, because it had a name and surname. Ezio Esposito, his trash bag of a father.

    Derek started conceiving n after n to get rid of him, even if that meant killing him. At night he would device borate and meticulous ns that often involved prolonged torture, making Ezio suffer like Derek did for all those years.

    But when morning came, he would always realize it was a dumb n. More wishful thinking than anything else.

    Derekcked the means and the ruthlessness necessary for getting rid of Ezio. No matter how much he hated him, Ezio was still his father and he was just an angry teenager.

    Kill Ezio? Sure. And what about then? Live a whole life ridden with guilt? Running away from home to avoid being the arrested? And with what money?

    Killing Ezio would have meant abandoning Carl forever, and destroying any possible chance of being happy in the future.

    So, every morning Derek would swallow his n along with the porridge and move on. His only real prospect was to cram as a madman, get a schrship and get out of that hell as fast as possible.

    Time flew, and in the blink of an eye is was thest summer before Derek¡¯s first year of high school. Despite the hot climate, his heart was cold as ice.

    Derek had already hit his grow spurt. Thatbined with his martial arts and muscle training had given him a mean look.

    Ezio was aware of that, and being a coward had started to avoid beating Derek as much as possible making Carl the new favourite target.

    Derek had already tried standing up for his brother, but the only result had been Ezio buying a nightstick from the local Army Surplus and getting beaten with it instead that with Ezio¡¯s bare hands.

    He saved Carl from that by begging and crying, and only because the ruckus had rmed their neighbours.

    So, whenever Ezio threw one of his tantrums, Derek could only watch his brother getting beaten, again and again.

    Then, one morning Ezio received his first bigmission in years. So, he wore his best suit despite the heat and had Derek preparing him the briefcase and theptop.

    Ezio was in a real hurry, he could not afford hispetitors to snatch this whale. It could have been his career makingmission!

    Derek rushed to the door, where Ezio was already waiting, and helped him adjust theptop¡¯s satchel.

    Ezio ran to the elevator, pushing the button like a madman but the light remained red.

    Cursing his damn condo, the building manager and his rotten luck Ezio made a rush to the stairs.

    And that¡¯s when Derek noticed it. Turning his head to follow his father, Derek noticed that the light made odd reflections on the hallway¡¯s floor.

    Ezio had just passed in front of him when he realized that the janitor had just washed the stairs but forgot to put the wet floor sign.

    It happened all in an instant. Ezio made a long heavy stride, all his weight down and forward and then his foot slipped.

    Derek could have warned him, could have even extended an arm and prevented the fall. But instead he chose to remain still.

    Ezio tumbled down the stairs, bounced on the next alley and tumbled again crashing downstairs. His body was a broken mess, all his limbs bent in unnatural angles.

    As any teenager, Derek had his smartphone at hand, so he started to make several photos to prove that the floor was wet and there was no warning sign.

    His mind was already nning on hiring the best sharkwyer he could and sue the building managing firm responsible for his condo.

    Only then he carefully walked down the stairs to confirm Ezio¡¯s death. He was there, incapable of making a moan or asking for help, but his eyes were fixated on Derek, begging for help.

    Derek grinned to him and said: "Do you really think I am so stupid to never learn anything from you? As you more than once taught me, never delegate. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Your smartphone is in your pocket, take it out and call 911. I¡¯m just a failure of a son, I do not want to mess this up for you, daddy."

    Ezio¡¯s eyes were full of shock and hate, but thatsted only a moment. His head went limp, his gaze nk.

    Aughter fought to came out, but Derek suppressed it. Instead he started shouting for help putting on his best terrorized son impression.

    As always, Derek¡¯s mother was too obsessed with her problems, her grief, her feelings to bother looking for thewyer, leaving everything in Derek¡¯s hand, since Ezio was no more.

    Three birds with one stone. After a careful research he contacted and hired the best sharkwyer they could afford, so that Derek would be his client instead of his mother.

    He told him everything about his father¡¯s incident, the abuse, and the need to make so that the money would be split between the three of them, mother and sons.

    Both Derek and Carl were very firm on that point, they wanted thewyer to start the process to get emancipation. With the money from thepensation and the inheritance, they had enough to be self sufficient until Derek could provide for them both.

    What followed was the happiest period in their life. First, they obtained the inheritance, and shortly after they got emancipated and moved away from their mother¡¯s ce.

    Not even a monthter, they received a very generous settling offer from the building manager. They used it to settle up and make proper ns for the future.

    During the following years, bullies were not a problem. Derek and Carl were now both martial artists and had each other¡¯s back. Finally they could experience having friends and girlfriends, their domestic nightmare finally over.

    They suffered many disappointments though, since too many of those so-called friends turned out to be people that wanted to use their parent-free house as a party house.

    Also they had an hard time figuring what being a normal teen was supposed to be. While their peers seemed only interested in having fun and skipping sses, they were focused on studying and saving as much as possible.

    Derek and Carl would spend holydays and vacations doing part time jobs to slow down the thinning of their bank ount. They were not poor, but not rich either.

    They knew they had to save as much as possible, in case rainy days would once more fall upon them. But all in all they had a good life.

    Derek got a schrship and obtained a bachelor degree in chemistry, soon followed by a master in biochemistry. Carl was doing well too, already got his engineering degree, ready to study for his master and already had a fianc¨¦.

    Despite being really happy for his little brother, that was really a painful thorn in Derek¡¯s side. He had always been the more socially inept between the two, and never managed to get into a stable rtionship, not even in college.

    Derek had no problem talking to girls, the problem always lied in him being picky and ended in his inability to trust. He had had many crushes, but never fell in love.

    At the beginning he put the me on his bad luck, always finding shallow or idiotic girls. After finding more than one good girl, he put the me on his dark past.

    But when confronted with Carl¡¯s happy rtionship he could only me himself. While Carl had suffered almost the same things, he got out much stronger and pure than Derek.

    Derek was just too scared of being hurt again to let any rtionship grow above a certain level, and that was an enemy that he could not just beat up.

    Derek epted the first decent paid job he got, working in the night shift of a big chemicalpany in the Q&A department.

    Carl had shared with him, as a graduation present, that he was willing to propose to his fianc¨¦ as soon as he got his master. Hence Derek needed money because he had only two years to save enough to give his little brother a decent wedding.

    Derek did not like his current job, but it was a way to start his working career and filling his curriculum. Also it was well paid, and he resolved to use thepany insurance to seek for psychological counseling.

    He knew he had problems and wanted to work them out. Derek consulted several doctors before finding someone he was able to work with, and after several months he felt he was finally starting to make some progress.

    But s, such happiness was not bound tost.

 Chapter 3 Prologue 3

    It was a Friday evening, and Derek was getting prepared for work.

    He was still stuck doing Q&A because the pay was too good and no matter how many times Carl said he wanted a small ceremony, Derek was sure that whatever they nned to spend, it would at least double in the end.

    It was a goddamn wedding; hence things were supposed to blow off proportions at some point. That¡¯s just how they work.

    Derek was adjusting his shirt when the smartphone rang on the notes of "Night on Bald Mountain", the pre-set ringtone for unknown numbers.

    "Derek Esposito, who is it?"

    "Mister Esposito, this is the Saint Joseph hospital." The female voice sounded worried. This together with the word "hospital" sent him a shiver down his spine.

    "Is Carl Esposito your brother?" Derek could almost hear her biting her nails.

    "Yes, what happened?"

    "He was involved in a car ident and is in serious conditions. You shoulde here as soon as possible. The doctors need you since you are his healthcare proxy and the patient in unconscious."

    "A car ident?!?" Derek yelled while rushing out of the door and looking for a cab.

    "We don¡¯t have any fuc**ng car! What the hell happened?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, I am not at liberty to say. The doctors will exin it..." Derek hung up on her. He had no time for useless babbling, only for a goddamn cab.

    Every second in the traffic was torture, and when he finally arrived it was toote.

    The surgeon and a police officer exined to him that Carl had been run over by a drunk driver. The culprit had run off and the police was still looking for him.

    A bystander had immediately called 911, but because of the traffic jam caused by the ident it took hours for the ambnce to arrive.

    So, when Carl arrived at the hospital he was already in critical conditions. He had multiple fractures, ruptured spleen and internal bleeding, requiring immediate surgery.

    Derek had been called while Carl was just entering the OR.

    They had done their best to save him, but Carl had lost too much blood, so there was nothing they could do. They offered Derek their condolences, but all he could hear was white noise.

    "Let me see my brother." He begged.

    The body was covered by a sheet, only the head visible. Derek could still see traces of blood on the face of his little brother.

    Derek left his number to the police officer to be kept updated about the investigations, and then returned home.

    The culprit was quickly apprehended thanks to the traffic cameras. It turned out to be a kid, barely seventeen years old, that had stolen his old man¡¯s car and then got drunk and high with his friends.

    Derek lived the months before the trial in anguish. The damned DA had decided to prosecute him as a minor, and the even more damned judge had granted him house arrests. All while his little brother, his Carl, was dead because of him.

    "How could they do such a thing?" Derek would yell and argue with anyone willing to listen to him. "Why all this talking about the rights and the future of that little sh*t? What about my brother¡¯s rights? What about his future? Carl has none because of him! What kind of justice is that?"

    Derek visited multiple times the DA office, expressing his outrage and demanding them to ask for the maximum sentence. They were always kind and amodating, and promised him that they would not forget about Carl.

    When the day of the trial finallye, Derek¡¯s world died one more time.

    The DA and the defence attorney hade to a settlement.

    Since Chris Wainright, this was the name of the murderer, was still a minor and that was also his first offense, he had epted to go in rehab and do six hundred hours ofmunity service. If Chris wouldplete his rehab program and did notmit crimes in the next three years, then he would be a free citizen with no criminal record.

    Derek was too dumbfounded to even be angry. When the session was over, he just walked to the DA and asked a single question with muffled voice.

    "Why?"

    And then with their most kind and amodating tone, the DA assistants exined to Derek that Chris was just a kid from a good family that had made a dumb mistake.

    He had a brilliant future ahead, Chris had already been admitted at the Cal Tech and this was his first offense. Also, his parents had hired a greatwyer and the judge would likely be unwilling to destroy Chris¡¯ life.

    Despite their expectations, Derek did not make a scene. Derek¡¯s fire was extinguished, he had no more tears to shed.

    In the following days, Derek lived by going through the motions. He kept following his routine like nothing had happened, his brain still refusing everything that happened in thest half year.

    The only thing that made him feel alive, was that constant headache that had started shortly after Carl¡¯s death. ording to his doctor it was a stress rted symptom so with all that had happened, Derek had just been swallowing aspirins and paracetamol like they were candies.

    But the pain never did go away, instead it was getting worse. Derek finally found the strength to get a serious check-up, and once again bad news were waiting for him.

    ording to the full body scan and the follow-up biopsy, he had stage two pulmonary cancer.

    "But I never smoked in my whole life!" Derek eximed more amused than scared.

    "Indeed, it¡¯s odd." Doctor Monroe, his oncologist, was quite puzzled.

    She was a good-looking Hispanic woman, maybe five years older than Derek. In another moment he would have probably asked her out.

    "You told me you work for a chemicalpany, right?" Derek nodded.

    "Such an aggressive cancer is too umon to be a coincidence. My personal opinion is that their venttion system failed. You and God knows how many more people have been breathing poison from quite some time."

    "But we wear masks the whole time we work with the chemicals, and speaking for myself, I follow the safety protocols to the letter. My colleagues always mock me for it!" Derek was still in disbelief.

    "Then maybe the masks are cheap pieces of junk. Or maybe theb or the storage, if not both have leaks. These corporate scumbags only seek profits.

    It would not surprise me in the least if they cut from the safety budget to put more dividends in their pockets."

    Doctor Monroe was too outraged, even in his catatonic state Derek could tell there was more to it.

    "Doctor, what are you hiding from me?" He asked, looking her straight in the eyes for the first time.

    She nibbled on her lower lip for a while before answering.

    "Between you and me, you are not the first case from yourpany. I have already reported it to the Department of Health and to the federals. If I were in your shoes, I would get a goodwyer and sue the soul out of them. You¡¯ll need a lot of money for the treatments."

    "I agree on thewyer, but I refuse any treatment. I¡¯ll just take palliative care."

    Doctor Monroe jumped from her chair.

    "Do you realize that without the proper treatments you have six months, a year at best to live? Also, as I have already said, your cancer is really aggressive. We need to start as soon as possible if we want to a chance to beat it."

    The situation was dramatic, but Derek found all those "we" words hrious, so he could not refrain from chuckling.

    "We barely know each other, doctor. So, we have nothing to do if not going separate ways." Derek said to her with an icy tone.

    "What do I have to live for? I have no family, no loved ones. My little brother¡¯s ashes are all that is left to keep mepany. I could die tomorrow and I would not give a s**t!"

    They parted on bad terms, but she still gave him her number, in case he changed his mind or simply needed to talk. Derek called his old sharkwyer and exined everything.

    Years had passed but they would still send each other Christmas cards.

    Derek had kept tabs on him, just in case. He had now more grey hair than before but was still a first-ss shark.

    Derek stopped going to work and started spending his money without much care. He would go to all the fancy restaurants he had always wanted to try, bought the suits he always dreamed about and only ate his favourite foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

    Derek would spend most of his days ying games on his brand-new gaming PC and revisiting all the spots that held a significance for him and Carl.

    Then, twenty-four days after the diagnosis he had an epiphany.

 Chapter 4 Fall and Ascension

    It was a night like all the others since he had quit his job. Derek would wear one of his new suits and wander off the city, to see what would it kill him first, the cancer or a random crazy head. Once reached exhaustion or simply boredom he would then take a cab and get back home.

    Derek was walking with quick strides, high on his medications when he saw him. Chris Wainright. He was holding a bottle of liquor, ill-hidden inside a paper bag, from which he would drink in big gulps.

    Chris was talking andughing loudly with a teen girl that was showing a lot of skin. She was holding a joint, taking big puffs, until they traded and got into a car.

    It was a custom painted muscle car. Not the same Camaro that Chris had used to kill Carl, it was even bigger and more expensive.

    In that moment, Derek wanted to puke blood. How could he possibly have forgotten about that little b*astard? Had his cancer really screwed up his brain so bad to be willing to let such a loose end slip?

    The tires screeched and the car started suddenly, almost running over a woman that was crossing the road. The skimpily dressed girl rolled down the window, yelling insults at the woman that was still frozen in fear.

    Derek could almost hear that couple of idiotsughing. Gritting his teeth, he called a cab and started to n his final act.

    First, he started to stalk Chris on all the socialworks, learning all his routines and habits. Then Derek began to follow him, and nted a GPS tracker under the Camaro to always know his exact location.

    Simply skimming through Chris¡¯ Chirper, he found at least fifty vitions of the parole deal. While following him, Derek took many photos of Chris abusing alcohol and drugs.

    But Derek had no intention to submit the evidence to the police. What could he possibly gain from that? Chris would just get another p on the wrist and then start being more careful.

    Derek had not the luxury of time, nor the willingness of doing what the so-called justice system was supposed to.

    Less than a weekter, by checking Chris¡¯ Bookface page, Derek learnt of a rave he would participate to. Derek double checked his equipment and jumped into his new car, a ck 1967 Chevrolet Imp.

    The best car to hunt monsters with. The rave was "secret", hence it would take ce in some run-down abandoned location.

    Derek followed Chris closely, and as soon they were away from traffic cams he run into the Camaro from the side, forcing Chris to halt.

    As soon as Chris stepped down of the car, Derek took him down with a stun gun, and then quickly proceeded to check if the Camaro had more passengers.

    It seemed to be his lucky night, Chris was driving alone. Derek searched him and crushed every electronic device he could find, bitfit, smartphone, even Chris¡¯ keychain.

    Derek tied him hands and feet and ball gagged him. Then he destroyed his own smartphone and the GPS tracker, tossing everything outside the road.

    Then he moved Chris in the trunk of the Imp, headed toward a party only for the two of them.

    Derek drove to an abandoned warehouse in the old industrial area. He had already got rid of the lock and chain that kept the big metallic doors closed, recing them with his own.

    Inside the warehouse there were only two chairs, both bolted to the ground, a bucket and several water tanks.

    Derek opened the trunk, discovering that Chris had regained his senses so he tased him again. Then he took Chris to a chair and started tightly binding his arms and legs to it.

    Then Derek sshed him with a bucket of water forcing him to regain focus.

    "Hello, Chris. My name is Derek Esposito, and you killed my brother. We need to talk."

    Chris tried getting out of the restraints, and whilemending his efforts, Derek violently hit him in the groin with a nightstick. The pain paralyzed him.

    "Were was I? Oh, yes. Thest time we saw each other was during your farce-trial. Do you remember me?" Chris¡¯ panting intensified.

    "Good. Let¡¯s get straight to business." Derek took two digital timers out of the car, setting the first to thirty minutes and the second to two hours, forty-four minutes and sixteen seconds.

    Then, he pulled out a gun and double tapped Chris¡¯ liver. His scream was muffled by the gag ball, but the shots echoed loudly in the empty warehouse.

    Derek started both timers simultaneously and came in close, checking the blood. It was dense and ck, a clear indicator of a crushed liver.

    "Now before the real pain settles in, I need you to take a good look to the timers, they are really important." Chris was crying and screaming, so Derek had to ssh him again and pull him by hair to get his attention.

    "The first timer marks how much time you have left. After it rings, even if someone should miraculously break through that door and rescue you, you would be dead anyway. You have only so much time until your system gets flooded by toxins unfiltered by the liver, to the point that no transnt can save you. The second timer is a surprise. We¡¯ll get to it in time. For now, your only task is to stay awake and savour every moment of pain, like Carl did."

    The time flew, Chris kept screaming through the gag ball, and soon the fist timer rang.

    Chris started sobbing even stronger, sometimes stopping only because overwhelmed by the constantly rising pain.

    Derek would speak to him no longer, he would just pace back and forth, asionally checking the second timer.

    Every time Chris fainted, Derek would ssh him and force him to stay awake before refilling the bucket.

    When the second timer rang, Derek finally spoke again.

    "I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that I lied before. I thoroughly researched liver injuries, and with such crushed liver you had no hope to begin with. Even if I had shot you in front of the best hospital in the USA, unless they had apatible liver at hand, you would have died. I wanted to give you false hope, as happened to my brother while waiting for help. The good news is that you just suffered as long as Carl did. I may be many things, unrelenting, vengeful, a liar, a murderer but I am also fair. So your suffering ends now."

    Derek pointed the gun to Chris¡¯ head and double tapped him.

    Then he pointed it to his own head.

    "Little brother, I¡¯ming. Wait for me." And pulled the trigger onest time.

    While Derek¡¯s body was still falling, his consciousness was basked in light and he felt pulled toward the sky.

    After months of grieving, a whole lifetime of misery and pain, Derek felt that all his traumas and hatred were fading away.

    Derek had never experienced such bliss. In this new form he felt no negative emotion, he was in peace with his past, unafraid of his future.

    Derek was enjoying a present that he felt could lead to endless possibilities, and there was no right and wrong, sess or failure. He would simply be, no strings attached.

    That intoxicating feelingsted until he suddenly woke up, alive and breathing.

    All his negative emotions returned, plunging him back into despair. Derek cursed inwardly while trying to focus his eyes. Maybe it was because of the shot to the head, but his vision was blurry.

    "So much for the perfect n. Some idiot must have rescued me and somehow I survived the journey to the hospital. I am still alive. I still have cancer. I am still alone." But when his eyes finally cleared up, they strongly disagreed with his reasoning.

    Derek was in some kind of huge metal corridor surrounded by dead bodies. Alien dead bodies to be precise. They were all wearing some kind of full body armour, that resembled some kind of sci-fi space suit.

    "Where the f**k am I? What the hell does this mean?" He screamed while trying to get up, only to fall back on the floor.

    He fell hand first, and only then he noticed that he was wearing a space suit too, and that his hands, all four of them, had three fingers each.

    "WHAT! THE! ACTUAL! F**K!"

 Chapter 5 Collateral Damage

    After much screaming and freaking out, Derek finally regained hisposure and started to analyse his current predicament.

    The first thing that caught his eye was a huge hole in the space suit at the chest level. The contours of the hole had burn marks all over it and there was a lot of purple jelly on both his suit and the dead bodies.

    That meant the purple jelly was coagted alien blood. Derek turned his head to see the spot where he had woken up, noticing a lot of blood and even something that he found safe to assume were some kind of sttered viscera.

    "This makes no sense." He thought. "All the evidence points to the fact that this body was dead as Julius Caesar until I somehow happened to inhabit it. And for whatever reason, it¡¯s also fully healed. Oh man, this means all religions are dead wrong! Luckyly I never believed in any mumbo jumbo, otherwise I would be really disappointed right now."

    Derek then proceeded examining his new body. It had four arms, only two legs but all the limbs were long and skinny. The legs were reverse jointed, like those of a cat. Both hands and feet had only three fingers each.

    Derek was really curious about his facial features but there was no reflective surface in sight. So, he tried feeling his face with the fingers, but the suit turned out toe with a helmet, which did not impede his senses though.

    The only thing he could establish was the shape of the helmet, and based on it Derek¡¯s new head should have been something simr to a shark¡¯s dorsal fin.

    Then he tried to speak. "Test, test. Derek Esposito. One, two, three." He could somehow do it, but it was still English. That meant that he did not inherit neither the muscle memory nor the intellect from the body¡¯s previous owner.

    Derek tried getting up, but the centre of gravity was too different from his old body, so he had to give up and proceed crawling like a baby.

    So, he started examining the corpses to make heads or tails of what was happening around him. Judging from the suits, there were two factions at war.

    One had a red coloured space suit, and the other, which Derek was donning, was grey. He had no idea which side was winning, but it would not make any difference to him anyway.

    Unless the suit was equipped with a universal trantor, he was uncapable ofmunicating. Enemies would kill him on sight, allies would probably ditch him like garbage.

    "Who would ever want a rambling idiot, incapable even of walking during a life or death situation? I¡¯m not even here from a day and I am already as good as dead."

    Refusing to give up, Derek managed to get up by leaning on the walls and started exploring.

    The corridor had many doors, yet his choices were painfully limited, since he could only go through the open ones.

    Derek had no idea how to open the doors nor how to operate the control panels that he found along the way. He tried pushing buttons at random but nothing happened.

    And he was starting to get hungry.

    "Will I die like this? Starving in a goddamned space ship, alien or whatever the f**k is this? I don¡¯t know what this useless pile of flesh eats! Even if I stumble on a mountain of food, I have no way to know what is what. And even if I did, I do not know how the heck to remove this helmet."

    After walking for several hours, hunger and frustration drove him to hysteria. Derek screamed an kicked whatever was within reach, until exhaustion made him fell asleep.

    When he woke up, his mind was clear again.

    "This is a nightmare. I am all out of options, to the point that even if I wanted to kill myself, I would not know how." He banged the back of his head against the wall to keep frustration at bay.

    "I never thought about this, but being reborn in a sci-fi environment is truly the worst-case scenario. Alien body, alien customs,pleteck of the new speciesmon sense. And to make things worse everything here is so high tech that I cannot even operate a door. Heck, every god damn button could be tagged and it would still be useless to me since I don¡¯t know theirnguage."

    His hunger was rising and he was feeling weaker by the hour. Having no time to lose, he started wandering again, this time banging and screaming at every door he met, trying to draw some attention

    Derek was on the verge of fainting again due to hunger and exhaustion when finally a door opened up.

    The shock was great enough for him to lost his grip and fall to the ground. On the other side there were grey suited aliens in a wedge formation.

    Every one of the was holding some kind of long metal staff as it was a rifle. Derek didn¡¯t even attempt to get up, he just waved a right hand, hoping it was a peace sign.

    *"Captain! That¡¯s Xa¡¯rk! His life signal getting back online wasn¡¯t a glitch in the system, he is still alive."* (from this point onward * means words that Derek does not understand)

    The formation opened and a taller and bulkier alien closed in. The soldiers never lowered their weapons nor lost focus, waiting for the attack order.

    *"What are you doing on the floor, soldier? And how in Thrak¡¯s name did you survive that ambush?"* The captain asked with a coarse voice.

    "Dude, I have no idea what you did just said."

    *"What is he rambling? Medic, any reading on that ster wound?"*

    A purple dressed alien walked forward while scanning Derek¡¯s body. *"None, sir. It¡¯s not any dialect in the empire. And the scanner confirms that the hole in his armour is definitely from a Coren ster. I have no idea how he survived it unscathed. It¡¯s a miracle."*

    *"It¡¯s a liability."* The captain¡¯s tone was grim. He took a staff from a soldier¡¯s hands and by pushing a button it became a ive, whose de was made of pure energy.

    "Well, seems that I¡¯m going to die from a lightsabre. It¡¯s cool, one hit and I¡¯ll be turned into dandruff. Lucky me, another painless death iing."

    When the captain plunged the ive into his chest, it did not make any burning sound. It pierced him from side to side, bleeding him to death.

    The de was not aser-based weapon, but a hard-light construct, making it no different from an ordinary ive.

    *"Listen up, soldiers. Xa¡¯rk was a good soldier and we will remember and mourn him as such. When and if we get out of this alive. But that thing, whatever that is, is a risk we cannot allow to take. Not with Prince Rek¡¯hart in our care and those Coren rebel scums still atrge. Better some coteral damage than a spy among our ranks. Now shut that door and check the perimeter again."*

    This time, death was far from painless for Derek. He felt like his chest was on fire, but what really hurt wasn¡¯t the wound as much the lungs.

    Derek was struggling to breathe. Every breath was shallower and more difficult than thest. Blood started gurgling from his mouth, and he felt like slowly drowning.

    His throat kept contacting trying to draw in air, but to no avail. It took Derek less than a minute to die, but for him it seemed tost forever.

    Once again, he found himself basked by blinding light and pulled towards it. Just like thest time, he felt all his worries and rage fading, but instead of enjoying the feeling he was simply annoyed.

    Derek had never believed in any god, hence he never believed in heaven or hell.

    "Humankind has always been a terrible race" He thought. "It¡¯s impossible to define someone as truly bad. Most of the times the bad guys are simply people who never got a chance to be anything but criminals.

    Then there are people, like me, whom life had pushed and pushed until they broke. Not to mention psycho and sociopaths. How could someone that is born bad be sent to hell simply because his head is malfunctioning?

    Hence, I have always believed that either there was an afterlife for everyone, or no afterlife at all. Death is supposed the be final spirit level, good or bad, rich or poor the destination has to be the same.

    Instead I got this cheap excuse of reincarnation screwing with me.

    What purpose being reborn could possibly have if I retain all of my memories?

    Whatever body or I would end up in, I would still carry my baggage, so once outside the light all my pain, rage and contempt toward humankind would prevent me to learn whatever lesson I am supposed to learn!"

    Inside that otherworldly space, he had the rity to see that his psychologist was only half right. He could only change if he wanted to, but because of all his past experiences he had no will to.

    It was a perfect example of a catch-22 paradox.

    Suddenly, he was pulled downwards and away from the light.

    His vision was a blur, but he could still hear a lot ofmotion around him.

    Giant hands were holding him still while he was puking god knows what, and judging from the breeze on his buttcheeks he was naked.

    "I don¡¯t know what the heck is going on" He thought "but I bet I am in deep sh*t again."

    When Derek was finally able to see again, he discovered that the hands were not gigantic, the issue was him being very small. A baby, to be precise.

    *"He is alive! I did it! I managed to save your boy¡¯s life."*

    A further inspection revealed that said hands belonged to some gibberish rambling old hag. Derek was currently inside a wooden shack, surrounded by people dressed with rags that could be called clothes only if they were part of a 1000 AD themed renaissance fair.

    "Man, I hate being always right!"

 Chapter 6 A New Beginning

    *"He his alive! I did it! I managed to save your boy¡¯s life."* (please, remember that * means words that Derek is not capable of understanding.)

    After the midwife triumphantly said those words, the room exploded in cheers and tears of joy. The people in the room were hugging each other and the mother in turns.

    Meanwhile, Derek lied limp in the midwife¡¯s arms, looking left and right trying to determine how bad was his current situation.

    "Well, well. What do we have here? The bedridden woman is clearly this body¡¯s mother. She definitely needs a bath." After delivery, the sheets were stained with blood, urine and feces.

    "The crying, rough looking man should be the father. I wonder if he is crying for my sake or just because he was afraid of losing his wife. I bet the second one. Then I have a bigger brother and a sister. This is bad."

    Suddenly another woman entered the bedroom bringing with her a little boy and a girl that raced to the bedridden woman.

    "Oh dammit! This is even worse that I thought. So far I have only two possible choices. Option one, grow into thisrge family, fighting every day for the few avable resources. Malnourishment is most definitely a given. Then, when I am old enough, starting to work with father and brothers, getting married, having children, etcetera. Option two, wait until I am tall enough to grab sharp objects, put me out of my misery and take another spin hoping for a better oue. I think I¡¯ll go with option number two."

    Meanwhile the room had be silent. The midwife had already finished cleaning the newborn, wrapped him up in a clean cloth. During all this time Derek neither moved or cried.

    *"Nana, what¡¯s wrong with the baby? Why is he not crying? It never happened before!"* The mother was worried, and ignoring the pain was trying to get up.

    *"Shush, child, and don¡¯t you dare to move. I still have to heal you."* The midwife tone did not leave space for reply. *"I delivered dozens of children, a silent one is rare but nothing special. Do you want to see how strong he is? There you go!"*

    She unwrapped him from the cloth, and while holding him gently gave a little spanking, to force him to cry.

    Derek grunted a little, while staring at her in dismay.

    "Want to y rough, old hag?" He thought. "Fine! You just triggered my trap card! Twin Flood, activate!" And out of the blue he relieved both his bowels and dder.

    The backdoor attackers sttered all over her feet, while the front door flood struck her on the face and chest.

    Derek started giggling loudly.

    *"Well, this wasn¡¯t exactly what I was expecting, but as you can hear for yourself, this little imp is breathing just fine."* The midwife handed the baby to another woman to clean him.

    Derek kept giggling, proud of his work. After washing her face with warm water and a cloth, the old hag moved her left index finger drawing a circle in the air, striking it through in the middle from right to left. Then she pronounced a single word.

    "Ekidu!"

    A ck energy manifested on her fingertip. She proceeded to point it over her wet dress and then over her shoes. The smell of feces and urine suddenly disappeared and so did their source.

    With his mouth agape in shock, Derek watched as his poop would dry and crumble, turning into dust. It was akin to watching one of those fast-forwarded videos where in one minute you could see a seed bing a flower.

    "Heisenberg¡¯s beard! She is not just an old midwife! She is a real magician, in the sh! I have never been so happy in my whole three lives of being so dead wrong!"

    Derek was ecstatic, and not only because that world had magic, but also because as soon as he heard the word Ekidu, he had felt something clicking inside of him.

    Like if something deep inside of him had started taking root, and suddenly had be engrained in the very fabric of his new reality.

    He started repeating obsessively the magic word in his mind, and trying to engrave in his memory every detail of the circr finger movement.

    *"Now that I¡¯m clean let me stop that bleeding, dear."* The healer approached the mother and ced her hands above herher regions.

    "Is it time for another magic? Show me, please!" Derek begged in his mind.

    Nana first spreaded he fingers wide then started to move both arms in a circr motion, first up over her head, then opened her arms as much as she could before joining her hands, palm against backhand, at her navel¡¯s height.

    "Vinire Lakhat!"

    Derek, all wrapped up, tried to mimic all her movements, step after step, memorizing every single detail he could grasp, no matter how small.

    A sphere of light enveloped Derek¡¯s mother lower body and she quickly recovered herplexion. The pale skin reverted to a healthy pink, while all the traces of pain and fatigue disappeared from her face.

    Once again, something clicked inside him. After the dark magic, he could clearly feel that simply by hearing the power word, a connection had been established between him and light magic. Derek could not stop grinning.

    "If, and I say if I have enough magical talent, it would mean there is actually a third hidden option." He thought. "I can be a magician and live free for the first time in my life! No shackles, no responsibilities! But it¡¯s better not get over enthusiast. With my luck I could just have a poor talent or..."

    His reasoning was abruptly interrupted, the woman that had held him until that moment was handing him to his mother.

    *"Nana, are you sure he is all right? He has yet to cry, and giggle or not he is too quiet. With all that happened, I am really afraid that something is wrong with him."*

    After those words, the noisy room turned gloomy. Afraid that he was somewhat responsible, and quite eager to explore option number three, Derek did his best baby impression, giggling, smiling and doing raspberry sounds.

    Nana felt her professional pride hurt by such allegations, but it wasn¡¯t her first time with an anxious mother.

    She knew Elina since she was still a child, and had delivered all her babies. Nana could not deny that this delivery had been one of the most difficult of her career.

    Thebour hadsted hours and she had been forced to cast healing spells multiple times to stop the bleeding. When she finally could see the baby¡¯s head, she knew something was wrong.

    Elina was fighting with all her strength but the baby was limp. So, she had rushed and used her hands to pull out the baby as fast as possible, only to discover that he was being strangled by his own umbilical cord.

    After cutting and removing it, she had tried all her best spells, but to no avail. For a whole terrible minute, Nana had believed the child was lost.

    But then the healing light had finally activated, forcing the baby to puke, clearing his airway. Then and only then Nana started affording the luxury of rxing.

    Healing magic was no miracle. It could enhance the life force of the patient making easier to recover from an illness or healing from an injury but it could not create life.

    Nana was sensitive, so she understood that Elina didn¡¯t need a lesson about magic, just be reassured about her child¡¯s health.

    *"Worry not, my child. I can prove it to you that all is well."*

    With a warm smile, she caressed Elina¡¯s cheek and took Derek from her arms, removing the cloth like she was revealing a treasure.

    Nana carefully adjusted Derek in the crook of her left arm, then she circled her open right hand all around him and said:

    "Vinire Rad Tu!"

    A small wisp of light came out of her palm, dancing around the baby before prating his chest.

    The light spreaded from head to toe, making him emit a dim light.

    *"See? If there was even a scratch on his body my injury detecting spell would leave that area bleak. Your little sun is fine."*

    The energy flowing through his body was making Derek feel empowered. In his old life he had felt like that only few times.

    When he got his degrees, when he finally abandoned his parent¡¯s home, when he beat up the bullies. But all those times it had been a fleeting emotion,sting few seconds at best.

    Now it was different, it wasn¡¯t just adrenaline. Real magic, real power was coursing through every fiber of his being, making him feel invincible.

    So, when the spell started fading off, he could not ept that.

    "No! Come back to me! Give me my power back!" Derek screamed inwardly.

    He focused on thest strands of energy, willing for them to stay. He could not cast the spell on his own, but he could still feel the lingering power and started feeding it with his own.

    Derek¡¯s light stopped dimming and instead grew stronger and stronger.

    Nana was dumbfounded. She had never seen anything like that before. That was not how the spell was supposed to work.

    Derek wanted it tost forever, but a secondter he fell asleep due to mana exhaustion, and the light disappeared quickly.

    Nana wrapped up the baby again and returned him to his mother¡¯s embrace.

    "Nana, what was that?" Elina asked full of wonder.

    The old healer had no idea how to answer. Many possibilities popped up in her head, and all of them would require long exnations that would needlessly make Elina worry and maybe even forcing Nana to repeat the spell.

    Had been a long day, and she had no intention on prolonging it even a second more than necessary, so she borrowed a line from her childhood¡¯s favourite fairy tale.

    *"My child, I think the new-born may be blessed by the light. There is no need to worry, only to rejoice."*

 Chapter 7 A Babyâ€™s day

    Derek¡¯s first days as a baby were peaceful but far from boring. He had no responsibilities, all he to do was eat, sleep, poop and the asional baby noise or finger grabbing routine.

    That left him with all the time he needed to think about his future.

    On Earth it was no mystery that kids had a greater potential for learning than adults, and since his family seemed human, or at least human-like he could hope for that to be true also in this dimension.

    From what he could see, his body was no different from a baby from Earth. He could hear his heartbeat, his chest inting and deting while breathing.

    Even the reproductive apparatus was the same.

    The same could be said for his new family. If it wasn¡¯t for the existence of magic, he would have simply thought to have travelled through time, but things clearly weren¡¯t that simple.

    Derek quickly dismissed all the "what race am I now?" hypothesis as overthinking.

    One of the advantages of being a baby was that ignorance was perfectly fine, when the time came, someone would teach him.

    He determined that he had two priorities: number one, learn theirnguage. All babies are supposed to learn their nativenguage, and he had only so much time before being considered a retard, so he could not ck off.

    Number two, he had somehow to figure out magic, or at least its foundations. And that also had a deadline, since his learning potential was at its peak only until his brain stopped growing.

    After that, he would not be different from anyone else with the same talent and disposition for magic.

    So, he set magic as his first priority. Being considered a slow learner was much better than being weak for life and forced to take another spin at reincarnation.

    Derek spent his first day in the new world in bed, together with his mother, while his father would sleep and rest in the boys¡¯ room.

    Whenever someone talked to him, he paid close attention, trying to figure outmon words or patterns.

    The rest of the time he was not eating or the cloth diaper being changed, he would try to cast one of the three spells he knew: Ekidu, Vinire Lakhat and Vinire Rad Tu.

    Every attempt was a failure, he could not feel even an iota of power inside himself. Comparing what he saw from what he knew from Earth¡¯s Dungeons & Looting, those spells had clearly a verbal and somaticponent.

    But that couldn¡¯t be all, or at least he hoped so, otherwise until he was able to talk all his efforts would have been wasted.

    Failure after failure, his anxiety grew stronger. Fear of the unknown and of tomorrow started to build up. Also getting used to poop and wet himself wasn¡¯t a pleasant feeling either.

    Thankfully, his mother showered him up with nothing but love and affection, making his day not a total loss. Despite his bias about mothers due to his previous life, Elina managed to make him feel loved and protected. That wasn¡¯t half bad at all.

    The final oue of his first day was zero progress in magic, no progress withnguage. But his mother seemed to be a good parent, and he finally learned his new name: Lith.

    The second day turned his world upside down.

    Elina, showing the strength of a wild ox, decided she was sick of resting and got up to help doing the daily chores.

    Lith had the opportunity to see her full figure. Despite giving birth the previous day, she was a good-looking woman, in her early twenties. She was definitely well endowed in all the right ces, with a fit body honed through hard work. Her shoulder des long hair was of a beautiful light-brown colour, with shades of red all over it

    Just the light of the candle made it look like there were mes dancing within. "Seeing mother with her hair down in a sunny day must be quite a sight to behold." Derek thought

    Maybe it was because Lith was still a baby, maybe because of the mother-son bonding, but Lith felt deeply proud of her.

    He also discovered that she seemed to not use bra or underpants.

    Once finished dressing, she wrapped up Lith, making impossible for him to move. Then Elina ced him into her sash, using it like a baby cradle so that she could easily hold him with only one arm with minimum exertion.

    She walked out the small bedroom and found her older daughter, Eliza messing with the firece.

    *"What in the Great Mother¡¯s name do you think you¡¯re doing, Lily? The sun is not even out, you should be sleeping. You know you are not allowed to mess with fire!"*

    She said with a hiss, trying to not wake up the house.

    *"I¡¯m sorry, mom. I just wanted to make you all a surprise. Let you wake up in an already warm house and breakfast ready."* Eliza¡¯s face showed only sincere concern.

    *"There is no need to worry, silly bee. Your mommy is a pro with kids."* Elina said while ruffling her hair.

    Eliza, together with her twin brother, was the eldest child. She was eight years old, and her blonde hair with shades of ck was the reason for her moniker.

    Elina shooed her away from the firece and with a flick of a finger lighted the fire.

    "Infiro!"

    "Thanks heavens!" Lith rejoiced. "Once again I had that weird feeling when discovering a new type of magic. This proves I wasn¡¯t just imagining stuff!"

    Elina sent Lily opening the windows¡¯ shutters to let the dawn light in while she prepared breakfast.

    Elina took several vegetables out of a cabined and proceeded chopping them with a knife. Some had a familiar look to Lith, like some semi potatoes and odd coloured carrots. The others were all a mystery.

    The idea of having such breakfast made Lith almost cry. In his past life he never liked vegetables, they were all nd tasting. No matter how much of them he ate, within half an hour he would be hungry again.

    Elina shoved everything inside a small copper cauldron and with the help of a hook hanged it on a metal bar over the fire.

    Then with a finger-snap she conjured water out of nowhere, filling the cauldron.

    Both Lith and Eliza were ecstatic, even though forpletely different reasons.

    For Lith it meant hope. Spells could be casted without words or precise hand¡¯s movements, and that showed him that there was a real chance for him to practice magic while still being baby.

    For Eliza was a reason for pride. Magic wasmon, but every time Elina casted a silent spell it was like watching a real magician at work.

    *"You are so amazing, mom!"* Eliza¡¯s eyes were full of admiration. *"Will I ever be as good as you with magic?"*

    *"Of course you will, silly bee."* Elina replied with a kind smile, while inwardly adding: "After ten plus years of chores, every single day."

    After a while, everyone woke up to have breakfast together. The family consisted of Raaz (father), Elina, two daughters (Eliza and Tista) and two sons (Orpal and Trion).

    Lith could then establish with depressing certainty that there was no such a thing as an indoor bathroom.

    From what he could see the house consisted of a big room used as dining room, kitchen and pantry with three doors that lead to the various bedrooms and nothing else.

    The breakfast was rtively quiet, so he had no problems learning the word for water magic when his father filled some jugs.

    "Jorun!"

    After everyone left for their daily routine, Elina moved along with Lith to a rocking chair. During the morning he had to pleasure to discover that in the new world the daily chores like washing the dishes or cleaning the floors were all performed using magic.

    From her rocking chair, Elina would simply twirl her index and medium finger while reciting "Brezza!" to generate up to three small whirlwinds that she would move all around the house to collect and get rid of the dust.

    Whenever someone would dirty the floor with earth or mud, a flick of the wrist and a "Magna!" would send them back through the same door they were brought in.

    Lith was delighted discovering howmon the use of magic was. Everyone in the family, even the younger ones, would use magic to make their life easier.

    When bedtime arrived, Lith was dying to try some magic. He had waited so long for his hands and feet to be finally free.

    Elina fell asleep almost instantly, yet Lith was impatient enough to have the impression of having waited for hours.

    After a full day of thinking, he had decided to try only air magic first until he was confident enough in his magic control abilities.

    Fire was just too dangerous for a novice, while water and light would easily wake up his mother. He could not spot any dirt to control in the dim light of the room, and was too afraid to mess up with darkness magic until he got a better understanding of it.

    So, he twirled his little arm and said: "Eaa." Nothing happened.

    Lith tried and failed countless times before giving up. He did not know how long his baby body would havested until falling asleep, so he stopped despairing and started thinking.

    Magic wasmon, whenever he heard for the first time an elemental magic word, something inside him had clicked, like creating a connection with the elemental energy.

    Those were all good news, but he still couldn¡¯t make head or tails why he was always failing. He never expected seeding at the first try, but he had thought that something would have manifested.

    A random tiny gust of wind, a magic spark, anything would do.

    So, he started thinking back to when the healer had filled him with power. That feeling was not new to him, but he never experienced it so intense.

    Lith searched his memory until he found the answer. It was the same sensation that he had when he started practicing aikido, while learning the basic breathing technique.

    "Well, I have nothing to lose. Let¡¯s give it a try."

    Lith breathed in through his diaphragm, the anus rxed, to get the world energy in.

    Then he would contract the anus, holding the breath for some seconds to let the energy settle in before breathing out rxing his whole body.

    Back on Earth, he had always thought that the intoxicating feeling he experienced during his first days of practice was just some kind of cebo effect.

    His na?ve young mind deluding itself that the weak could miraculously be strong just believing and practicing in all that Ki/internal energy nonsense.

    But what if heter stopped experiencing that sensation only because his native world energy was just too thin?

    After some time, Lith started to feel a tingle all around his body, and then the energy seemed to move and condense inside his sr plexus.

    The more he performed the breathing technique, more clearly he could sense the energy getting more stable.

    In his old videogames, mana was always blue. So, he visualized a blue sphere settling in inside his sr plexus.

    After a while, Lith felt brimming with power. After holding his breath onest time, he twirled his little arm beforemanding: "Eaaa!"

    The wind generated barely tweaked his mother¡¯s hair, while he had aimed for the nket.

    Yet he could not stop grinning.

    "This is really a great start!"

 Chapter 8 Unrelenting Practice

    In the following weeks, Lith¡¯s days consisted of a strict routine.

    During the day, when he was all wrapped up, he would only focus on practicing the breathing technique and learning as much as he could about his family and theirnguage.

    At night he would practice magic until exhaustion made him fall asleep. Then as soon as he woke up, he would start again until Elina would get up for the day.

    More than once he tried taking a break, but it would neverst long. Living as a baby was not easy, on the contrary, was very stressful.

    He could not speak, even the words he had already understood to not scare his family. He could not move, he could do nothing but watch, sleep, eat and relieve his bowels.

    He was not used to be so helpless and dependant on someone else for every little thing. Too much free time would bring him to the verge of insanity.

    So, he would practice and practice, trying to adjust to his new reality without overthinking about how absurd and irrational was his situation.

    As Lith¡¯s powers increased, so did his control, and after a few weeks he felt confident enough to try earth magic and water magic.

    He would always be careful, never conjuring more than a few droplets of water or manipting a handful of dirt. He discovered that it was possible to make the elements float in mid-air, changing their shape and size by continuously spending mana.

    After that, he shifted his night training on focus and control rather than power. His mana was very limited and he much preferred doing few borate tricks perfectly rather than a lot of stuff at the risk of blowing his cover.

    No matter howmon magic was, Lith doubted that a baby practicing it would be any less than shocking, or even terrifying.

    Lith was afraid of being abandoned by his family, or even worse killed.

    He was once again scared of death, since now he had too much to lose. What where the odds to find another world where magic existed, to be born as a baby in a loving family?

    Zero, none, nada, squat.

    He had to y his cards well, and y them as close to the vest as possible. Before revealing even a hint of his talent, he needed to know what the standards of that world where.

    How much talent was considered good, how much divided being considered a genius from beingbeled as a monster?

    His mind was constantly filled with worries and only training would alleviate his anxiety.

    After three months, he had be good enough at silent magic to try fire magic on the firece.

    The fire was already lit, and when everyone was busy talking and eating during breakfast, he tried making the mes dance at will. It ended up in failure, since the mes were too strong and the distance too big for his mana to have any effect.

    Yet he kept trying, since he could still sense the flow of magic going from himself to the firece, hence making it a good training to expand his mana sense and range.

    The only downside of all that training was that Lith would get hungry faster. Luckily, he was not Elina¡¯s first glutton and she had no shortage of milk.

    Another month passed, and Elina started weaning him.

    This event was meaningful for two reasons. The first was Lith noticing that food wasn¡¯t abundant in his household, so even if he still had not a rich vocabry, he could still read his parents worried expressions every time he needed to be fed.

    Despite still being a cold hearted, cynical misanthrope at his core, Lith could not help but feel guilty about it.

    They loved him like a child, while he would consider them nothing more than hosts, like a parasite. The only exceptions were Elina and Eliza, his big sister, the only one that along with his mother would take care of him.

    With their constant love, affection and care had managed to crack his emotional defensive wall. The more time he spent with them, the more he would consider them part of his real family, not just people that he was leading by the nose.

    So, he started limiting his training to not exceed the amount of food they could afford.

    Even that required quite a few tries to find the right amount, since too little would cause even more worry than too much.

    The second reason were world changing discoveries.

    Being forced to stop training magic as much as possible, Lith now had free time that he used to dedicate that time by practicing the breathing technique, that he christened "umtion".

    That way, his inner energy, that he had long dubbed as "mana core", grew faster to the point of hitting a bottleneck.

    Apparently, his body wasn¡¯t big or strong enough or both, to hold and indefinite amount of mana. Lith never noticed before because his baby body was rapidly growing, and he had only so much time to expand the mana core.

    So, without realizing it, his body and mana core had developed together.

    But now the bnce had been broken, and practicing umtion would make every fiber of his body ache, so he was forced to stop.

    Luckyly he was still well fed and developing fast, so despite not being able doing any physical exercise, the bottlenecks would notst long.

    The second discovery was the result of him being forced not to practice magic or use umtion.

    While studying his bottleneck status, he found out that it was possible to modify the breathing technique by removing the breath holding step. That way, the world energy would just flow in and out his body, energizing him like a good night sleep.

    Lith named this new technique "Invigoration."

    After several tries, he discovered that the world¡¯s mana could allow him to stay awake for several days, but not indefinitely.

    Each time he would use Invigoration, the energizing effect wouldst less and less, and only sleeping would reset its effectiveness.

    But the most important discovery, as almost always happens, was made by chance.

    After adjusting his food intake, Lith¡¯s greatest enemy had be the hunger. Not the slight appetite that can be fixed by a candy bar or the hankering after a busy morning.

    It was the kind of hunger that never goes away, always lurking, even right after a meal. Even though Lith was not starving, it was something that he had never experienced.

    Even among all the misfortunes of his first life, food had never been an issue. He had always been able to eat to his heart content, even allowing himself to be picky about food.

    But now he was so hungry that he ate until thest bite, and if his body had allowed him to, he would not hesitate licking the te clean.

    In the good days, when the portions wererger, it was like white noise, annoying but easily ignored. But during the bad days, either because the rations were smaller or because he had lost himself in the practice of magic consuming too much mana, it would be a thorn in his head. He would be so hungry to have a headache all day long, often feeling light headed and incapable of focusing. Food would be the only thing he would think or dream about.

    Of course, he was not the only hungry one in the family. Aside from Elina, only his siblings Orpal and Eliza would be tasked to feed him.

    And while Eliza had a big heart and strived to be like her mother, Orpal was angrier and hungrier by the day. He would often daydream about the days when he and his twin were the only children in the house.

    Now not only he had to fight each day for his parents¡¯ attention, but also for the food, clothes and so on.

    Once he had a room only for himself, then he had to share it with Trion. It was just a matter of time before Lith woulde to take away what little personal space he still had.

    Orpal could not understand why a family as poor as his own would keep making kids.

    It was winter, so there was not much work to do. Hence there weren¡¯t many asions to restock their food supplies, and they had tost until spring.

    It was the toughest time of the year for all the farmers¡¯ families, since the food was meant not only for men but also for the animals.

    Orpal was sick of seeing Lith gobbling all the food, to the point of dubbing him "Leech".

    So, whenever it was his turn to feed the little vermin, he would take some spoonful for himself. But Lith was not easily bullied.

    As soon as he noticed the spoon was not aimed to him, he would start to cry madly, and Elina would run to his side, foiling Orpal¡¯s n.

    Lith never cried, unless he needed to be fed or changed, and that made their parents both really happy and paranoid about him. Since he would never cry wolf, they took every wail very seriously.

    That day was a really bad day for Lith, starving because of his growth spurt, and was Orpal¡¯s turn to take care of him.

    Both their parents were out, one of the cows seemed to suffer from frostbite.

    So Orpal took the te full of creamy soup for the baby, and gulped down a full spoonful.

    Lith immediately started to cry, but there was no one to hear him.

    "Cry all you want, *Leech*." Lith was now able to understand most of themon words, included Orpal¡¯s mockery. "Today is just you and I. No mom in a shining armour toe to your rescue." After saying that he gulped down another one.

    Lith felt like he was going crazy. Once again, he was helpless, his so called magic useless in time of need. What could he possibly do, aside from blowing his cover?

    Ventte him? Wet him? Using fire was too dangerous, a single meal was not worthy burning down a house.

    Lith¡¯s hunger was eating him, and his rage went above and beyond what he would have ever thought possible.

    "You fu**er!" He yelled inwardly. "Feeling so tough robbing a child?"

    Then he saw the third spoonful, making a good half of his meal gone, moving toward Orpal¡¯s smug face.

    Lith¡¯s anger reached a new peak, his hatred burning like a fire.

    "You are not my brother!" He yelled inwardly. "You are nothing but a filthy thief, trash!" And then, more than clicking, he felt something breaking inside like a dam that could not hold the raging waters anymore.

    "I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THAT SPOON, YOU SH*T!" Lith waved his arm against Orpal in a final struggle, and then it happened.

    Lith felt the mana going out to his body, reaching the spoon already in Orpal¡¯s mouth, and pushing it down, hard.

    Orpal started to choke, and after removing the spoon from his throat he started puking.

    Lith was so astonished to almost forget about both his rage and hunger.

    He had discovered something wonderful, a power that no one else in his family seemed to have.

    Lith had discovered spirit magic!

 Chapter 9 Understanding Spirit Magic

    At that time, Elina and Raaz (father) wereing back to the house Upon hearing Lith¡¯s desperate cries they ran back to check on him.

    When they found Orpal on the ground, puking, they understood what had happened. They already had suspicions, since whenever Orpal fed Lith, he was always hungrier than usual.

    But now they had proof. Inside the pool of vomit, the undigested creamy soup was as clear as the day.

    Raaz became red with anger. *"You little...!"* But had to stop, his other children had returned as well. "I am very *disappointed* in you, Orpal." Said Elina, seeing that her hubby was too angry to speak.

    *"From now on, Elina will be the one feeding Lith. You can take all her shifts in the stable, since I don¡¯t think that even you could eat hay."*

    "But mom..." Orpal said trying to defend himself. He hated cows and their smell.

    *"No buts, young man!"* Raaz yelled. *"And that is not punishment enough! Elina, feel free to prepare one more bowl for Lith, and take the food from Orpal¡¯s share! He must learn that bad actions have consequences!"*

    They were speaking too fast for Lith, and there were too many unknown words. But Orpal had just turned pale, so it had to be good news.

    Orpal started crying and apologizing, but Lith made sure to cry louder, so Raaz and Elina both ignored his pleas and sent him to take care of the animals.

    After being fed with a generous serving of soup and milk, Lith could finally focus on what had happened. After days of trial and error experiments, he had grasped the basics of his newfound ability and gained a much deeper understanding of magic.

    Lith had discovered that when he casted an elemental spell, it actually consisted in a three-step process. First, he would emit the mana, then he had to mix it with the world energy that he was trying to manipte. Thest step was the hardest one, controlling the spell and its effects.

    Spirit magic skipped the second step, it used only his own power, without borrowing elemental energy. That made it more difficult that any magic he had practiced so far and more mana consuming.

    It also required much more focuspared to normal magic. Pure mana had no physical form, so he could not rely on his eyes for manipting its effects.

    All depended on his willpower and imagination. The clearer was the mental image of the action he wanted the mana to make, the better the result.

    The range was also very limited, barely reaching a meter (3,28 feet) radius.

    Despite all it¡¯s strict limitations, Lith started to practice anything but spirit magic. The ultimate discovery about it, was that every improvement he did in spirit magic was also passed on all other kinds of magic.

    He didn¡¯t need to switch practicing between them anymore, and so he progressed in leap and boundspared to before.

    From time to time, he would use a random elemental magic to check on his progress, reaching a new understanding of the profoundness of that element.

    The progress Lith made allowed him to also improve his breathing techniques.

    Through umtion, he could now not only perceive how his mana core changed in size with practice, but also have a rough understanding of the amount of mana contained in his body.

    Using umtion he would feed the world energy to his mana core, allowing it to expand from the size of a pinhead to that of a ss marble.

    Once the mana core grew to marble size, further progress could only be made when the physical body forcefullypressed the mana core back to pinhead.

    Lith had no idea how the phenomenon worked, and had found no way around it. Mana core and body development had to go hand in hand, there was no shortcut.

    Bottlenecks happened when Lith tried to use umtion when the mana core was still at its peak size. The world energy would be rejected by the mana core, going wild through his body and damaging it.

    By continuously undergoing expansion andpression cycles, his mana capacity was already iparable to when he was just a new born.

    After discovering and practicing spirit magic, Lith had a much finer control of his mana, inside and outside his body.

    He managed to modify the Invigoration technique, so that when he breathed in the world mana, he wouldbine it with his own, temporarily exceeding his limits

    Then he would expand the resulting energy, moving it from the sr plexus outwards, until even his body hair would be overflowing with mana.

    Ever since he invented Invigoration, he had noticed qualitative changes to his body. Lith was now better at withstanding cold and head, and he would hardly ever get sick.

    When his whole family would catch a cold, he would either get over it before the symptoms manifested or recover in a few days.

    "Unless it¡¯s all a crazy coincidence, improving Invigoration is the only mean at my disposal to temper my body. If I am right, this means that I can use it as a crutch until I get big enough to do physical activity." He thought.

    "Hopefully, it should also help me ovee my bottleneck periods faster. It¡¯s a gamble, but it shouldn¡¯t do any harm. Also, between hunger and bottlenecks, there isn¡¯t much I can do as a seven months old baby."

    As for his family life, it also experienced some changes during the following months.

    After the soup incident with Orpal, a divide opened between the brothers. Lith was vengeful by nature, and so was his brother.

    Sometimes, when Orpal was angry, would call him Leech instead of Lith, since he always called him like that in his mind.

    Every slip of the tongue would cost him a serious scolding, and when he did it while harshly arguing with his parents, even a good spanking.

    Orpal med Lith for all of his misfortunes, the little runt always giggled when he was having a hard time.

    The rtionship between Lith and his parents, instead, kept getting better and better.

    He had already started saying babble words, making sure to say "Mama" when Elina embraced him and "Dada" whenever Raaz came near him.

    "If this world is even a bit simr to Earth¡¯s middle age, is better to stay in my old man¡¯s good book until I am self-sufficient." This was Lith¡¯s reasoning.

    He was still very afraid of father figures, and the two of them didn¡¯t had much a rtionship anyway. Raaz would always be busy with something, letting his wife and eldest daughter spend the most time with the baby.

    To his defence, he had just wrongly assumed that Lith was too little to notice, and that they would have time catch upter in the future, like he did with his other sons.

    Raaz really loved him, and Lith never ceased to amaze him. He couldn¡¯t remember him crying for no reason, not even when teething.

    If someone bumped into his cradle or raised his voice while Lith was asleep, or at least pretending to, he would not make a sound, just look around before going back to sleep.

    Lith increasingly grew fond of Eliza, it was more like a loving aunt than a sister to him. He could see himself in her, taking care of her little brother like he did with Carl.

    He would have loved to express this love, but all he could do was smile andugh as soon as he saw her, and call her "L". She was in fact the only one, beside his parents, to have a babble name.

    It wasn¡¯t much, but it meant the world to her.

    And so, time went by. After six months from his arrival, Lith was put on the ground for the fist time and started to crawl under strict supervision. At the ninth month he started to walk and graduated himself from babble words to real ones.

    On the day of his birthday, after discovering they had birthdays in that world too, he allowed himself to use simple phrases and started to make questions toplete his vocabry.

    Knowing nothing about babies, it was very stressful finding the right timing for every little thing. Luckyly, Lith could always resort on cheating to find out the proper time for him to "learn" to do something. He was already capable of understanding most of what he could hear, so he would always be open to "suggestions".

    If Elina was dying for him to finally say "Mommy" instead of "Mama", he would wait a couple of days before making it happen. If Raaz cheered for Lith running to him, he did.

    The real problem was paying attention to everything Raaz, Eliza and Elina said while being seeminglypletely oblivious about their words.

    Another problem was that once they let him roam free in the dining room, they gave him also small wooden toys expecting him to y and explore his surroundings.

    Lith already knew the dining room as the bac of his hand, and there was not much to see in the first ce. Yet he had to pretend to be curious about it.

    That was the hardest thing he had ever done since bing a baby, and scared him to death. He had no clue how a child would explore such nd environment, and his paranoia about blowing his cover made him sweating bullets.

    Seeing the expectation in their eyes, he started from the nearest thing, the firece. The fire was not lit, the logs were cold and covered in ashes.

    When he got closer, Raaz stopped him.

    "This is the firece. Now is safe, but fire is bad. Fire hurts. No touching it, never."

    Lith looked at him, seemingly confused, before trying to put his hand in the ashes. Raaz grabbed his hand, blocking him.

    "Fire is bad. No touching it. Never." His father repeated.

    Lith stared in his eyes like he was deeply in thought, before asking: "Fire bad?"

    "Yes, very bad." Raaz replied while nodding.

    "Okay." Lith moved away from the firece and got close to the table. When he tried climbing up a chair, almost falling down with it, Elina ran to his rescue.

    "Good gods, this little one sure likes danger." Seeing their increasingly worried expressions, Lith believed to have found a way out that torment.

    He would keep putting himself in danger, trying to climb on the table and going into the kitchen rummaging through pots and knives.

    Quickly they decided that adventure time was over. They made him sit on an old cloth spreaded over the wooden floor, and gave him toys to y with while they recovered from the stress.

    He had a little wooden horse, some kind of cart, and an odd-looking dog thingy. ying was much easier to him. Lith did not need to create stories or exining what he was doing.

    He could just use ytime to practice spirit magic. Lith would actually never use his hands to move the toys, making them float as close as possible to his fingers.

    He really enjoyed those moments. Lith could finally openly rejoice, scream andugh anytime he made a new discovery or a breakthrough, and all his parents would see was a happy child lost in his fantasies.

    "Who would have ever thought that such a quiet little fellow could have such a vivid imagination." Raaz said with a big, proud smile on his face. "Look at him. All he has is just some old toys, yet it looks like he has the whole world in the palm of his hand."

 Chapter 10 Growing pains

    The following years weren¡¯t easy on Lith.

    He was finally allowed to do a lot of questions, filling most of the holes in his vocabry and starting to finally learn about his family and the new world.

    He learnt that they were living in the vige of Lutia, that was part of the county of Lustria, which in turn was part of the Griffon Kingdom.

    His parents knew about the neighbouring countries by name, but that was it. They knew nothing about the life outside the vige, nor they cared about it.

    In their eyes the king was some sort of mythical beast, they put all their faith and worries in Count Lutia. Not only he administered justice and taxes in the county, he would also always take part in Lutia¡¯s spring festival as the guest of honour.

    His parents never mentioned to their children anything about magic, wars or history. They only told them tales that could be easily dismissed as bedtime stories even in this new world.

    All of their stories were filled with beautiful princesses, valiant heroes and viinous tyrants.

    Lith was truly dissatisfied by such little information. He wanted to know what was the¡¯s name, what was the stage of scientific development it had developed.

    He wanted to learn about the history of magic, the lore, the legends, anything that could give him at least a clue about what to expect from life.

    But it was clear they knew little more than gossip, so he could not make questions he was not even supposed to think about.

    At least his family tree was much easier to fully understand. Elina and Raaz had married very early, even by vige standards, barely sixteen.

    Raaz, being an only child, had inherited his father¡¯s farm, where they were currently living. Elina got pregnant shortly after the marriage, giving birth to the twins Eliza and Orpal.

    Then she got pregnant again every two years. Thant meant that Raaz and Elina were currently 25 years old, Eliza and Orpal 8 years old, Trion 6 years old, Tista 4 years old and finally Lith 2 years old.

    In fact, most of the information were leeched from his siblings¡¯ questions, Lith was mostly limited to a "What¡¯s this? Why is that?" kind of question.

    Spending more and more time with the rest of the family, he also discovered why despite his father owned such a nice farm, with its own barn and henhouse, had so much problems putting food on the table.

    Tista was born with a congenital condition that prevented her from doing any physical exertion and made her also prone to illness.

    Fast pacing was enough to leave her out of breath. She would chough from time to time, and when things were about to turn for the worse, the cough would be violent.

    At that point one of her parents would have to run to the vige to let Nana visit and heal her. But she could not really cure her, only alleviate the symptoms and return her to her natural state.

    And while a check-up wasn¡¯t expensive, the treatment was. Also, even if Raaz did go picking her up and then brought Nana back home, it would still cost an extra.

    Doing a round trip meant her losing business, so she requiredpensation.

    It was the constant need for the healer to put such a strain on their budget.

    Lith felt very sorry for her. Despite not having spent much time with Tista, she was precious for both Elina and Eliza, and that was more than enough to make her precious for him too.

    He felt helpless, cursing his inability to ever practice light and darkness magic. Light magic required a patient, and until he had gained a solid grasp of how it worked and what was this world¡¯s human anatomy, he would not dare putting anyone¡¯s health at risk.

    Darkness magic was another story. Lith had only seen it once, no one in his family used it. And even in that one asion, he had clearly felt the destructive power it held.

    He was also biased against it, since on Earth dark magic would always be associated with evil practices and undeads, so he had no desire to dabble with something potentially horrifying.

    Lith could only live on, hoping to eventually get some training in magic, while enduring the madness that he was getting used to call family life.

    He had to be lively, but not too much. He had to be curious, but not too much. He had to run around but never get out of the door.

    His parents were never satisfied. If he tried to sit in corner meditating, they would worry because he was too quiet or toozy. If he tried to move around or help them, he would be scolded for getting in the way.

    They refused to teach him chore magic (that was the name of the lesser spells they used on their daily life), and prohibited him to learn them.

    Lith could not go outside without being apanied by someone, could not get near to the firece, could not make too many questions.

    Everything was basically prohibited until he "grew up".

    More than once Lith wanted to scream "I may be biologically young, but I am actually the oldest in here, dammit!" but all he could do was suck it up and obey.

    His feud with Orpal never resolved, and he could clearly feel Trion¡¯s hostility on his brother¡¯s behalf. Clearly Orpal was for Trion what Eliza was for Lith, his role model.

    Unlike Orpal, Trion would notpletely ignore him, even when their parents were absent. But Lith could clearly see that every time his brother helped him, it was just to be polite. There was no kindness between them.

    Lith quickly started ignoring him in return. "I have already spent half of my old life being worried about dysfunctional family members. Been there, done that. So thank you, but no thank you. If you want to be a jerk, be my guest. I don¡¯t give a damn about you." These were his thoughts about the matter, so he let things fester.

    Once he became three years old, he could not take it anymore. The boredom caused by the cold winter months where he was basically stuck at home 24/7, aggravated by the constant hunger was about to drive him insane.

    It was a stormy afternoon, and the family was gathered around the firece. Elina was teaching her daughters how to sew. Raaz was teaching Orpal how to carve wood, while Trion and Lith were only allowed to watch. They were still too little to handle any sharp object, even sewing was off limits.

    Lith had already asked, baffling his father and ttering her mother. "You are too little, and your hands are still too clumsy." She replied.

    And Elina was right, Lith¡¯s body felt even clumsier than his old one, before he started practicing martial arts. Just the thought of all the lost muscle memory was enough to make him cry.

    So, he patiently waited that Raaz finished instructing Orpal, and then Lith mustered all his courage and asked him to teach him how to read, write and count.

    Raaz was bbergasted. "You are too young! Usually kids wait until they are six years old to go to school and learn. Don¡¯t you think is boring?" That was the philosophy every man in his lineage had always uphold.

    "Boring? What could possibly be more boring than sit here doing nothing? Like yesterday and the day before. And probably tomorrow too! Please daddy, try me! I beg you, please, please, please!"

    Raaz didn¡¯t know how to say no. Lith had never asked him anything before.

    "Even when he is clearly still hungry, if he notices there is no more food, he never asks for more." He thought "Unlike Orpal. I don¡¯t know if is Lith that is too good, or I am just spoiling Orpal too much."

    He really wanted a way out, but Elina was already staring at him. Her hands never stopped sewing, her mouth exining the girls what they were doing wrong, but her eyes were clearly set on him.

    "Dammit, what can I say? Learning does not even require dangerous tools... That¡¯s it! The tools! I¡¯m such a moron sometimes."

    Raaz looked in Lith¡¯s puppy eyes, his heart squeezed as in a vice, but he still replied: "I¡¯m sorry son, we have nothing you could possibly write on. So, I can¡¯t teach you."

    Lith had considered things through before asking, so he had already a solution at hand. He picked the biggest tray they had, and filled it with the ashes collected in a bucket beside the firece.

    "Now we do! We can write as much as we want!" Raaz was amazed by Lith¡¯s ingenuity, and so was Elina. He was about to object again when he noticed that the stare had turned into a frown. Her hands were moving too fast, and that meant trouble for him.

    There was a storm outside, he could not run away from the one that was brewing inside. So with a deep sigh, he gave up.

    "From what do you want to start?" Raaz could only hope that Lith would get bored fast and let him return to his leisure.

    "Count!" Lith promptly replied. So Raaz sit on the floor beside him and started drawing lines in the ash. Lith was ecstatic.

    The numbers they used had a different shape from the Arabic numerals, but aside from that they were identical in use, even the calction methods were the same.

    So, he kept the new numbers in the upper row to learn their shape, and then started doing the multiplication tables. He could actually do such simple math in his head, but he needed to engrave the new numbers in both his mind and body.

    Once he finished, Lith started taking requests from his audience, and when Orpal sarcastically asked "How much is 124 times 11?" he quickly replied with t "1364" leaving them all speechless.

    Elina could not help herself standing up and lifting Lith up in a big hug.

    "My little genius! I¡¯m so proud of you!" In less than one hour he had mastered what it would take others a full year to do. Eliza and Tista soon joined her in the embrace, congratting their little brother, while the male side of the family was still bbergasted.

    In rural areas they learned how to count only to not get ripped off when they sold or bought merchandise. So, they remembered only addition and subtraction, letting the useless multiplications and divisions fade away in their minds.

    Reading and writing required more time, but it was equally simple. Lith already knew most of the words and how to spell them. He only needed to learn the alphabet and memorize it, to be able to read and write.

    Once again his family was stunned, and the only one not rejoicing with them was Orpal, left alone with his envy and scorn.

 Chapter 11 I know that I know nothing

    Having officially learned how read and write, Lith practiced every day. While his family considered him a genius, he knew better. Needing to practice hard to memorize just twenty-one letters and ten numbers, Lith did not feel much brilliant.

    Striking the iron while it was still hot, he asked Raaz to carve for him a wooden ruler, 50 centimetres (19,7 inches) long and 3 centimetres (1,2 inches) both high and wide.

    In the front he had engraved all the alphabet, on the back the numbers. It was Lith¡¯s clutch during his homework, a tool necessary for him to be free of practicing anytime without bothering his parents.

    Raz was still on cloud nine, so he didn¡¯t make any question about the oddly big sizes Lith requested. He could have easily made it much thinner and shorter, making it easier to carry around. But Lith refused the proposal, begging him to fulfil his wish.

    Lith had not missed Orpal¡¯s hostile re every time someone called him a genius. He had to be sure for it to be not easy to break or go missing by "ident".

    It was also the perfect pretext to always carry around something he could practice spirit magic on.

    When the weather finally cleared up, Elina decided that it was the perfect moment for Tista to be checked out by Nana. With all the cold and wind during thosest days, no matter how much effort Raaz and Orpal had put in the house¡¯s maintenance, it had still been kinda drafty.

    Tista had been coughing enough for Elina being seriously worried about her. So, she took the mule cart and brought Tista and Lith to the vige of Lutia.

    The bad weather hadsted too long, and the umted farm work needed everyone¡¯s help to be finished before another frost wave arrived.

    She had to bring Lith along, he was too small to be left alone. After stuffing them with the warmer clothes they had, the trip began.

    Lith was really happy, it was the first time for him seeing the world outside the farm¡¯s bounds. There was much he could learn from such experience.

    On the road they were bothered more than once by stray graaths. They were wasp like insects with a venomous sting at the end of their abdomen. Compared to Earth¡¯s wasps they were much hairier, and blue instead of yellow.

    "Why in the Great Mother¡¯s name are they still around?" Elinained. "They are supposed to be asleep during winter!"

    One graath was particrly stubborn and despite all their shooing, it kept going back until it got too close to Tista forfort.

    Lith mmed his hands hard, missing it entirely. He was still nimble as a brick, but his spirit magic wasn¡¯t.

    It had already reached a radius of full ten meters (32,8 feet) radius of effect, so the graath was squashed effortlessly.

    Lith showed the prey with pride. "Don¡¯t worry big sister, I¡¯ll always protect you." After hugging him, Tista was really curious about the dead insect, but Elina was still worried by the venom, so after throwing it away, they resumed their trip.

    When they came in sight of Lutia, much of Lith¡¯s doubts got cleared up. It wasn¡¯t just his family, the whole vige resembled closely one of those early middle ages drawings he had seen in history books.

    There was no sign of anyplex technology, even a windmill or a watermill would have been considered a marvel of science.

    When Lith asked Elina about the vige, she exined that only artisans, schrs and merchants lived there, the rest of the poption lived in their own farms tending the fields and raising livestock.

    Lutia consisted in a few dozens of one or two stories high wooden houses well-spaced between them. Not even one was made out of stone or bricks.

    There was also no road pavement of any sorts. The space between the houses was just like the road to the vige, bare earth and mud.

    From the signs hanged outside the buildings, he could spot a cksmith, a tavern and a tailor shop.

    The bakery didn¡¯t need any sign or advertisement, the delicious smell that came out its chimney was enough to make every passerby¡¯s mouth watery.

    Lith¡¯s hunger stroke so hard that he already knew what he would have dreamed about that night.

    When they arrived at Nana¡¯s house, Lith was surprised noticing it was bigger than their own, yet Elina had told him more than once that Nana lived alone.

    In his eyes it meant that either she was from a rich family, or more likely healing was a lucrative business. Lith decided that he had to master light magic as soon as possible.

    The door was open, and inside Lith felt the familiar feeling of a doctor¡¯s waiting room. Inside there was a single huge room that smelled of medicinal herbs and incense.

    At the end of the room, on the left there was a door, probably leading to Nana¡¯s living quarter. On the right there was a huge wide curtain, behind which Nana was visiting and treating the patients.

    The rest of the space was filled with benches and chairs, and many of them were already upied.

    It seemed that many families had decide to make use of the good weather. Elina removed all the extra clothing from her children before instructing them to be quiet and don¡¯t disturb others.

    The waiting room was filled with bored mothers, and soon Elina joined the chatting, sharing her experiences and advices with them.

    Lith could wander around undisturbed, the women were too busy keeping their children under control to take notice of his existence.

    The room was bare and uninteresting, but once he got close to the curtain he stumbled on a treasure. He found a small open cab, filled with books about magic.

    "Maybe in this world is the equivalent of a doctor hanging his degrees and masters." Many of the titles were specific about an element or its application, but one caught his eye immediately.

    It had "The basics of magic" written on the cover. After checking that no one was paying him attention, he grabbed it and started reading.

    "I¡¯m only three years old. I can afford a better to ask forgiveness than permission attitude." Lith then moved to a corner, giving his back to the curtain hoping to go unnoticed as long as possible.

    It was clearly a book for beginners, so he skipped the introduction going straight for the elements¡¯ description.

    Lith discovered that water magic was not just about conjuring and manipting water, it also allowed the user to lower anything¡¯s temperature. Any magic apprentice was supposed to be able to generate ice, and use it as a mean of both offence and defence.

    Air magic too had an ability that he had never taken in consideration. Air magic highest peak was weather control, but even at the basic level a mage could generate lightning.

    Fire and earth were just in and simple as he had pictured them all along, so he moved to thest two elements.

    While reading, it became clear to him that because of magic, whoever had written the book had no idea what anatomy was.

    The book would speak about the importance of keeping a wound clean, there was no use of terms like disinfection or sepsis, so he barely found unknown medical terms.

    Lith remained dumbfounded upon discovering that light and darkness were exined together instead that in separate chapters.

    ording to the book, both elements were the bread and butter of any healer. Darkness magic could be used as a weapon, but it was not exined in detail.

    The author was very clear stressing out the fact that he was not a fighter, and that beginners should never bite more than they could chew.

    Then he proceeded to exin that darkness magic wasn¡¯t either good or bad, just an element like the others. It was an invaluable tool for a healer, since it allowed to clean wounds, tools or even to fumigate houses from rats and insects to avoid the spreading of diseases.

    Also, it was the only way of getting rid of parasites that had grown inside the patient, since light magic would allow the healer to detect their presence, but could do no harm to them.

    Light and darkness worked best when used together. Light magic specialty was the ability to perceive life forces and scan them for anomalies. It also allowed to correct such anomalies and to guarantee an instant recovery from most diseases.

    Restoring broken bones was more difficult, and was exined in another chapter.

    Lith felt incredibly ignorant and stupid. He could have discovered most of those elemental properties on his own, if he hadn¡¯t been blinded by his narrow-minded superstition.

    "How could I possibly have been so idiotic? I have lived here more than three years and I am still thinking like this is a video game with fixed rules and levels?!? Darkness is evil and light is holy or something? No, this is science, dammit, the same one I studied all my life. If fire magic is converting mana into heat, then water magic is nothing but converting mana into cold, condensing the water in the atmosphere and turning it into the liquid state. It¡¯s all so obvious, it¡¯s like the damned Culumbus¡¯ egg!"

    He was about to turn the page and learn about healing broken bones when a firm hand squeezed his shoulder, locking him into ce.

    "That¡¯s not a toy, young man. I really hope that you have not damaged it, otherwise your family will have pay for it dearly."

 Chapter 12 Learning a Trade

    Lith had been so engrossed reading to forget where he was, throwing caution to the wind. When Nana caught him red handed, he was startled enough to yelp.

    "I thought I knew every single rascal, but I fail to recognize this one. What¡¯s your name, kid?"

    "Lith. What¡¯s yours?" He replied while making puppy eyes. Nana was now more curious than angry.

    "Lith? Do you mean Elina¡¯s little imp? No wonder your face is new to me, you were just a new born thest time I saw you."

    Nana¡¯s presence had made the chatter stop. Some women wanted to ask her how long until their turn, others were just curious, Elina jumped out from her chair apologizing on Lith¡¯s behalf.

    "There¡¯s no need to apologize, Elina." Nana said. "No harm, no foul. The little imp has not damaged the book while ying with it."

    "Yes mom, there is no need to apologize." Lith hated when someone spoke of him like he wasn¡¯t there. "And I was not ying with it, I was just reading."

    "Reading? Young man, how old are you? Three years and something? If this is a joke, it¡¯s not funny. I never expected one of Elina¡¯s children to be such a liar."

    "He is not lying. During thest storm, Lith was bored, so he asked his father to teach him how to read, write and count. Here is proof." Elina handed Nana the wooden ruler.

    Elina¡¯s rebuttal had caught her by surprise, she realized to have struck a nerve. After studying the ruler, Nana had to admit it was a clever learning tool.

    "Tell your husband that this thing is really a good idea. He could sell it to teacher Hawell. It never hurts to have extra money."

    Elina wouldn¡¯t let her change the subject, not until she apologized for calling her son a liar.

    "Raaz didn¡¯t invent it. Lith did, so he could study alone without bothering anyone."

    Nana was shaken by all those sudden revtions. Her pride wanted to avoid apologizing, but insinuating that Elina too was lying in front of all those people would have hurt her whole family¡¯s reputation.

    "So, young man, how much is seven times six?"

    "Forty-two."

    Nana took the book from Lith¡¯s hands, and after opening a random page, she gave it back.

    "What is written there? Start from the top of the page."

    Lith suppressed a smirk. "The first thing to understand while studying magic is that it¡¯s just a tool. Anyone can use it, but only few can actually use it properly. In fact..."

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough. I owe you an apology Lith." Yet she said it while looking at Elina. "Seems your son is indeed blessed by the light, dear."

    The room was once again resounding with chatter, but this time they were all discussing the same topic.

    "What does Nana mean with blessed by the light? Isn¡¯t that just a fairy tale?"

    "I wish my son was that smart. Every morning just sending him to school is a war of attrition. Not to mention getting some actual results!"

    Those were the mostmonments.

    Lith kept hitting the iron while it was still hot.

    "Can I..." Suddenly he realized that he ignored the word borrow. "take it with me for some time? I will return it as it is. I promise."

    "And what would you do with it? Can you already use magic?" Nana¡¯s reply would have normally been quite different, but she had had enough surprises for the day and could not afford anymore sarcasm or scepticism.

    "Yes, I can." Lith replied before realizing his mistake.

    "I¡¯m an idiot! I just blew my cover! Years of careful nning, ruined by this big mouth of mine. The only thing I can do is damage control."

    "Really? And what can you do?"

    "Yes, Lith. What can you do?" Elina rebuked. Her right foot was furiously tapping the floor in annoyance, Lith knew he was in trouble.

    "I can do wind and water chore magic." He said with a low apologetic tone, while staring at his own shoes.

    "I¡¯m sorry, mom, I know you prohibited me to use any magic. But everyone else in the house always uses it, and I was so bored."

    The chattering increased in volume. Elina was really angry, but she could not scold him in public. Not when they were staring at them with admiration.

    "Nana seems really impressed. Maybe this is a turning point in Lith¡¯s life. If she takes him as her apprentice, we could have a healer in our family. I can¡¯t ruin this opportunity."

    So, she kept silent, wondering about his son¡¯s future.

    "Would you please show me?" Nana asked, smiling for the first time.

    "In for a penny, in for a pound. Here goes everything." Lith thought.

    "Brezza!"

    Lith twirled his middle and index finger two times, creating as many tiny whirlwinds that he used to quickly sweep the room. He pretended to lose control from time to time. His goal was to impress, not to brag or scare people out of their wits.

    "Oh! Oh! Oh!" Nanaughed in admiration. she could see more and more of her in the little imp. Nana too had been a precocious brat. When she was his age her talent was better, but Lith was still a sight to behold.

    Usually men were less talented for magic, since women with their prerogative to give birth, were naturally more in tune with the life force of the. Some called that world energy, others simply called it mana.

    Also, country boys were usually blockheads, more inclined to hard works in the fields or in the military rather than spend years on books.

    "Now I want you to do a thing for me. You said you can conjure water, right?"

    Lith nodded in response.

    "Now call upon water, it does not matter how little. But then, you have to not let it fall. You must make it float, like this." A perfect sphere of water the size of a fist appeared half a meter from Nana¡¯s open hand.

    Lith could notprehend the why of such a specific request, but heplied.

    "Jorun!" He conjured less than a ss worth of water, keeping its form irregr and instable. Lith could not afford any more mistakes, his focus peaked trying to make hisck of control convincing.

    The water floated for three seconds before falling off. But instead of hitting the floor it started floating again, bing another perfect sphere orbiting around Nana¡¯s spell like the Moon does around the Earth.

    Lith was bbergasted. Not by Nana¡¯s control on the mana flow, he was already able of doing the same, if not better.

    He could not avert the eyes from the spectacle in front of him. Both spheres of water were constantly spinning on themselves, reflecting everything around them. They would capture the light from the sun, turning it into sparkles of rainbow.

    Lith had always seen magic like a force to be reckoned with, a great tool to build his future with. But he never thought of it as beautiful.

    For the first time in over three years he was not pretending anymore. He was simply amazed, staring at the dancing lights while the memories of his old life flooded his mind.

    He suddenly remembered all the hours that he spent as kid, hiding in thearium together with his little brother Carl. They would dream of bing astronauts, to run away to the stars where no one would ever hurt them again.

    And just like that his grief returned, stronger than ever, fighting the joy out. The pain for the loss overwhelmed him, tears started streaming from his eyes.

    "Lith, are you all right?" Elina voice woke him up from his stupor.

    Realizing how weak he had allowed himself to be, Lith felt deeply disgusted.

    "Water is just water, no need to get soft over a measly light show. Soldier up and follow the n." Lith steeled himself sealing away all the feelings that he deemed useless. "I¡¯m done getting hurt." He thought.

    "Yes, mommy, I am alright. I was just moved from the olddy¡¯s magic."

    "My name is Nerea, Lith. But everyone calls me Nana."

    "Why Nana?" Nana was usually a term of endearment used for the family¡¯s grandmother.

    "You see, when I was still was a young maiden, everyone called me by my name. But then time passed, and I helped so many childrene into this world that they started to call me Mama. After even more time passed, those children had children of their own, and they started to call me Nana." She ruffled Lith¡¯s hair.

    "I have a proposal for you. Now you are too little, but when you be six years old, instead of going to school together with those blockheads, you coulde here instead. So, you could read those books as much as you want. And maybe you could learn a trade. Mine."

    Lith tilted his head, ying dumb.

    "I don¡¯t know, you don¡¯t seem nice. I would like the books, though." He replied while hiding behind his mother, only half his face visible behind her legs.

    Elina didn¡¯t know if tough or cry. Her dream hade true but Lith didn¡¯t understand what he was turning down.

    "Please, excuse him, Nana. He is just three years old, he has no idea what he is saying. He doesn¡¯t even know the importance of apprenticeship."

    "Three years old." Nana repeated. "It¡¯s almost too good to be true. But you are right, if he had to choose between gold and toys, he would probably pick thetter.

    We¡¯ll have this conversation again three years from now." She knelt down, looking Lith straight in the eyes.

    "If you don¡¯t be dumb as all the other boys in this vige, I¡¯ll take you as my apprentice. If you are still interested in magic and books, of course."

    Lith nodded, grabbing his mother gown, looking for protection.

    His weak and scared appearance hid his inner rage.

    "Three years? I could have as well starved by then! And all because of you, greedy hag." He was so sick of being hungry, he wanted to bite her out of frustration.

    "Calm down, Derek, and remember all of your lessons. Suck it up and grow stronger, because only strength will make you free. Only power will keep your family safe."

 Chapter 13 Learning a Trade, again

    Nana¡¯s work ethic didn¡¯t allow for favouritism of any kind. Lith may have been his future apprentice, but Tista had to wait for her turn like everyone else.

    Lith hadn¡¯t been so happy of being stuck in the queue since his student¡¯s days in college, when he would use every single second to review his weakest subjects.

    "So much to read and so little time. Better to cram light and dark magic since they are the only elements outside the physics as I know it. In the best-case scenario, it will take years to get my hands on a book again, and there is only so much I can learn as self-taught."

    When it came their turn, he studied carefully how the healer performed the light magic Vinire Rad Tu.

    It was the same life force detecting spell she had used on him three years ago, and this time he had a better understanding of magic and a way better standpoint.

    Being next to her, Lith could appreciate every gesture and hand movement Nana used to amplify the spell effectiveness. The light enveloped Tista¡¯s body, quickly turning grey around her chest, clearly outlining the shape of her lungs.

    "I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that Tista¡¯s condition is the same as always, there is no sign of degeneration this time. The bad news is that it doesn¡¯t seem to be improving either. I¡¯m afraid that she will remain like this forever. The more she grows, the lesser the chances that her body will be able to somehow fix itself."

    The air in the room turned heavy, a lifetime of illness was barely better than no life at all.

    Lith was so shocked topletely forget about the books. The whole world meant nothing to him if he could not share it with the only three people he loved and trusted.

    They came out of Nana¡¯s house in low spirits, returning home without speaking a word.

    Once arrived, Elina shared the bad news, searching for Raaz arms before starting to cry. One by one, the whole family burst into tears, hugging each other in search offort.

    Lith allowed himself to cry, cursing the cruel fate that had befallen his sister.

    "What good is magic if I keep being helpless? Why do I keep reincarnating, simply to rece one living hell with another? Is this just bad luck or is it my fault? Could it be that in some previous life Imitted such an atrocious act that now all those I love are cursed? Could this be my punishment?"

    During the following days Lith kept second guessing every life choice he made, before epting the fact that bad things happens. Tista was already ill when he resurrected for the second time, it couldn¡¯t be his fault.

    Having been epted as Nana¡¯s apprentice, he could now practice magic openly. Soon he proved capable of cleaning the whole house by himself, relieving his mother and sisters from all the chores.

    Thanks to darkness magic, cleaning dishes and cauldrons became a matter of minutes. Nothing organic, be it food residue or grease could escape being turned into dust by a single spark of dark energy.

    He also made countless experiments with light magic, in search for a cure. Yet all he managed to do was keeping the symptoms at bay. Tista now needed much less treatments from Nana, but was still prisoner in her own body.

    This caused Orpal to hate him more and more.

    "Show off! How I am supposed to enjoy my life with him constantly breathing on my neck? Not only Leech shares the housework with mom, but also spends so much time with Tista. Mom and dad always praised him for his so-called talent and intelligence. And now they never shut up about Leech saving the family a lot of money, by tending Tista¡¯s condition on his own. No one gives a damn about me wasting my time and sweat doing all the farm work! Gods, why did you let him live? Why you didn¡¯t give me any talent?"

    Oblivious of his brother¡¯s feelings, Lith was not coping much better. His magic power andprehension of mana kept growing, but it could not erase the perpetual taste of failure that apanied him.

    In the following year he could not feel any joy regarding magic, every discovery was useless, all his power meaningless.

    And so, he was finally four years old. The period between four and six years in Lutia was called "the golden age" since the child was big enough to have some freedom and too little to be of any help in the daily activities.

    They would be allowed to y all day without a care in the world. It was the perfect time to make friends and grow closer to one¡¯s own neighbours and deepen the ties between the families.

    The day of his fourth birthday, after he finished the chores, Eliza introduced him to all their neighbours before returning home.

    He was supposed to socialize and y, but Lith had other ns. There was no amount of failures or grieve that could make him forget for long the hunger that consumed him since he was barely five months old.

    Raaz¡¯s farm was on the western edge of Lutia¡¯s farnds, a little less than a kilometre (0.62 miles) apart from the great woods known as Trawn.

    Despite the pretentious name it wasn¡¯t particrly dangerous. The people who lived in nearby viges depended on the forest as their primary source of timber for their everyday life.

    Trawn was also abundant in wildlife, so those bold and lucky enough would go hunting all year around, searching for precious meat, warm fur or both.

    It was impossible to meet monsters in the forest, unless one went several kilometres deep. Since there was no need for exploring Trawn in detail, the inner areas were still uncharted territory.

    There was a reason if Lith had never practiced martial arts in the new world, not even the footwork. The constant practice of magic required a lot of energy, and his householdcked the necessary resources for his training.

    Lith was already skinnier than all of his siblings, any more exertion and he would turn in a pile of bones. He needed food.

    But being a city boy, he knew nothing about butchering, he needed a teacher. And that was why he was headed for the house of Selia Fastarrow, the only hunter among their neighbours.

    "The problem is that I have no idea how to get her to help. I¡¯m still too little for apprenticeship, and even if I wasn¡¯t, it¡¯s unlikely she had not heard about Nana¡¯s offer. She has nothing to gain helping me. I can only hope she is a kind and benevolent woman."

    Selia¡¯s house was a single-story wooden house, much smaller than Lith¡¯s, about sixty square metersrge. There was no henhouse or barn. Except for the space in near proximity of the house, the fields were uncultivated, full of weeds, tall grass and whatever the wind hand nted over time.

    "She clearly has no interest in farming and stockbreeding, and that¡¯s good news. Means her business is good enough. I wonder what¡¯s in the shed near the house. It¡¯s almost as big as the house itself."

    Lith knocked, his innards tied in a knot from the nervousness. The door opened almost immediately.

    "You again? Are you lost or something?" Selia was a woman in her early thirties, 1.7 meters tall, the skin tanned from the years long exposure to the sun. Her ck hair was kept short with a haircut identical to Earth¡¯s military standards.

    She could have been considered very cute, but the small bosom coupled with her sharp eyes and rough attitude made her manlier than most farmers.

    She wore a leather hunting jacket over a green shirt, green cargo pants and brown hunting boots with a soft outer sole to limit the noise made while moving.

    "Hi miss Fastarrow, I need a favour. Could you please teach me how to skin and gut animals?"

    Selia raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

    "Because I am hungry." Not having any lever on her, Lith had decided that truth was the best policy. "I have been hungry long enough to forget how being full feels. I know I can hunt, but I also know that without proper handling meat goes bad and is inedible."

    "No, you got me wrong. I mean why should I help you? What¡¯s in for me?" Now she was knitting her eyebrows.

    "What do you want?" Lith asked while bottling up the urge to kill her slow and painfully. He was hungry enough to see her as quarry.

    "Honestly, I don¡¯t believe a runt that barely reaches my belt can hunt anything, not even a rat. And since teaching is a waste of time, it demandspensation."

    She scratched her chin searching for a deal bad enough to drive the pest away. She never wanted a child of her own, let alone dealing with someone else¡¯s.

    "So, if you want to learn from me, first you must bring here some game. If you mess up while ying butcher, you¡¯ll ruin my merchandise, wasting my goods and time. So here is my deal, whatever you bring me, I¡¯ll teach you how to skin and gut it. But half of it is mine for the trouble. Take it or leave it."

    "So much for the kind and benevolent woman, this is in extortion." Lith thought.

    "I¡¯ll take it. How long will you stay home?" He replied.

    "I¡¯ll be here all day, I have a lot of work to do. Why?"

    "Because when I get back with my prey, I¡¯ll need your help. Don¡¯t forget our deal."

    Lith turned around, moving toward the woods. Seeing the little runt act all tough, without a bow, traps or even just a bag for the game, Selia could not help butugh out loud. That until the door suddenly mmed on her face, sending her butt first on the floor. After getting up, she went to the nearest window.

    Lith was still in the same spot, but his face was turned towards her door, his eyes glowing bright in the dim light of the dawn.

    After getting at the edge of the woods he activated the light spell Life Vision. It was one of his creations from thest year of practice. By infusing his eyes with light magic, Lith was able to see living beings as coloured, while the rest of the world was turned into shades of grey. The stronger the lifeforce, the bigger and brighter was the light emitted. This way he could easily spot animals, even if they were hiding underground, in bushes or inside a tree.

    Lith did not need to hunt something big, as long as it was meat it was the perfect prey.

    Most of the animals would run away as soon he came too close, but not all of them. Birds and squirrels perched on tree branches felt safe. But Lith¡¯s spirit magic had reached a range of over twenty meters (21.9 yards), they were all within his reach.

    He only needed to extend his open hand towards the quarry, then squeeze and turn it for a neck to be broken. In less than twenty minutes he had killed 2 odd feathered birds and two squirrels.

    "I could catch more, but I want to pay that harpy as little as possible."

    While returning to the huntress¡¯ house, his greed was debating fiercely with his rage.

    "Dammit! I wish I could just ask my father. Our farm has a henhouse, we eat chicken, so he must know how to butcher it. But if I do, then I will be forced to share MY quarry in equal parts. And if there is something that I hate more than being robbed by that harpy is the idea of Orpal and Trion having the same amount of meat as me. Or worse, even more, being older. I hunted this game! This meat is mine, MINE! They will only be allowed to eat my scraps when and if I want so!"

    When Lith got to the door he had calmed down, the rage hidden by his business face. He took deep breaths before knocking again.

    When Selia saw him, was on the verge of mocking him, calling him a quitter for giving up in less than an hour. But then Lith showed her his game, making her whole "Never underestimate how hard a hunter¡¯s job is" speech die in her throat.

 Chapter 14 Learning a Trade, again 2

    "How did you do it?" Selia asked, still recovering from the surprise.

    "Magic. I am blessed by the light. Didn¡¯t you hear the news?" Selia started rummaging her brain, until the answer made sense.

    "Ohh! I get it now. You are the magic kid that¡¯s on everybody¡¯s mouth in Lutia. That¡¯s exins a lot, including your shitty attitude."

    "Excuse me? You found a scrawny kid on your door, asking for help. And what you did was send him away with a rip-off deal, evenughing at his efforts, and I am the one with a shitty attitude?" Lith was now so angry that even the idea of sharing his prey did not seem so bad anymore.

    Seliaughed out loud. "Kid, you really are funny in the head. First, when youe at the door of a stranger asking for help, the best you can hope for is to be sent away with a polite kick in the butt. If I had toply with every madman¡¯s request, I would be broke in a jiffy. Second, you had the guts to m the door at me and thene back like nothing happened. That¡¯s a shitty attitude."

    Listening to her point of view, Lith could only agree. For four years he had been a recluse, his only interactions with the family members. He had got too used getting a yes as an answer, forgetting the basic social interaction rules and evenmon sense.

    His hunger didn¡¯t help either, making him single minded and prone to anger. Lith realized that Selia was right, and what he did that morning was just a temper tantrum.

    "I¡¯m really sorry." He said earnestly, looking her in the eyes. "I have no excuses from my behaviour. I would understand if you wanted to call off our deal."

    Selia startedughing even harder.

    "Hold your horses, kid. I said that you are crazy and rude, and I like that. As you so kindly pointed out, I¡¯m a bit of jerk myself. And dog does not eat dog, our deal is still valid."

    She handed him a small knife with a wooden handle.

    "Rule number one, bleed out the game as soon as possible. If the blood starts clotting, the meat is ruined. Make a deep incision in the neck and then hang them upside down, to make the blood drain out." She pointed him to a clothesline.

    "When you don¡¯t need the fur, I always cut off the head directly, makes things faster."

    Lith put down the knife and conjured water, making it coat his whole hand. Then he froze it, turning it into a razor-sharp de, cutting off the birds¡¯ head, using the knife only for the squirrels.

    Selia whistled with approval.

    "Nice trick. You don¡¯t shy away from blood, don¡¯t you?"

    "As I have told you before, I am hungry. Too hungry to care about big round eyes or a warm fur, I only see them as food."

    Selia gave him thumbs up. "That¡¯s the right attitude for a hunter!"

    Then she took the animals and hanged them, thinking the clothesline was too high for Lith to reach. Lith did not feel the need to correct her.

    "Since we are building a master-apprentice rtionship and all that cr*p, mind you telling whye to me instead of your father or mother? I don¡¯t know your family, but this is something that any farmer knows how to do. It would be too expensive having someone else butcher your livestock."

    "Indeed." Lith concurred pondering how to answer. He looked her straight in the eyes before asking. "Juts between us, master-apprentice secret and all that cr*p?"

    Selia nodded, surprised receiving an actual answer instead of a cranky remark.

    "As far as I can remember, me and my brothers never had a good rtionship. Things are pretty bad, especially with my older brother."

    Lith decided that he needed to take that load off his chest. Talking to a stranger was the best way to relieve his stress and ruin Orpal reputation. Truth was indeed the best policy.

    "I do not know if it¡¯s because of my magic, but I always ate a lot. That would not be a big deal if I hadn¡¯t four siblings, one of which has a congenital condition. Her treatments cost quite a lot, and that is barely necessary to keep her house ridden."

    "Thank the Gods I¡¯m an only child. But what does that have to do with your older brother?" Lith pretended to not have heard her.

    "This means that despite my parents¡¯ hard work, we don¡¯t have much food on the table." Lith pointed at his thin arm, to make her feel guilt. "And my brother is a growing boy too, so he would like to have much more chow than he actually has.

    From time to time, especially during winter, he had fits of rage, where he would use me of everything that goes wrong in his life. He often said things like:

    Why the heck did you have so many children if you cannot properly feed them? Why does he have to get almost as much as food as me? He does nothing, while I work my ass in the fields all year around! This is not my brother, this is a Leech that is sucking my life away! I wish you died that cursed day!" Lith did his best Orpal impression.

    "Are you making this up to make me feel guilty, kid? Because that¡¯s sick." Selia was knitting her eyebrows, doubting someone could say such things to his little brother.

    Lith shook his head, sighing.

    "I wish."

    "Did your father give him a good beating? Maybe that could help hime to his senses."

    Lith shook his head again. "No. This started when I was still very little, and even when my father resorted to spanking, it only made thing worse. To the point that I now sleep in the girl¡¯s room."

    Selia bit her lips, to avoid making a sex joke. "Too soon."

    "Too soon for what?"

    "Nothing. Please continue."

    "That was until a year ago. Then I started practicing magic, and soon I was skilled enough to do almost all house chores by myself. Sometimes I help with the livestock too. I even managed to keep my sister¡¯s condition under control." Lith took a deep breath before finding the strength to add "Most of the times."

    "Then everything should be good now, right?"

    "Wrong. The house needs repairs, and so does the barn and most of the working tools. If you also take in consideration all the random sh*t that happens and takes priority, I don¡¯t see our situation getting any better soon, and neither does my brother.

    Now he can¡¯t put the me on me anymore, so thest time he took it out on my ill sister, saying things that I refuse to repeat out loud." Lith spat on the ground to get rid of the dirty taste the memory gave him.

    "To the point of saying that it would be better for her to..." Lith pointed at the hanged game.

    "To put her down like an animal? Kid, we may be jerks, but your brother is a lunatic."

    Lith gritted his teeth, remembering Orpal¡¯s exact words.

    "It would be much better for her, for all of us! She can¡¯t run, she can¡¯t work. Tista will never be able to make friends, fall in love or have children of her own. She is bound to be a burden for the family. And what will happen when you guys are no more? Who will take care of her? Eliza? Or maybe the little Leech wonder?"

    Lith could still vividly recall his mother crying from those cruel words. Eliza and Tista running into her arms. Raaz beating Orpal so hard he could not walk for days.

    "Indeed." He replied to Selia with a growl. "And that¡¯s is why I despise him and don¡¯t want him to touch a single bite of MY game."

    "I get it. I don¡¯t even know him and already hate that guy¡¯s guts too."

    "No, I don¡¯t hate him." Lith corrected her "Hate, just like love, is an irrational feeling, while my contempt for him has sound foundations."

    "Wow! Such profound notion for someone so young. Worthy of a hunter!

    Now enough chit chat, it¡¯s time to get to work."

    Selia took down the squirrels, passing one to Lith.

    "We will start with the little critters. They are smaller and better for practice, since even if you mess up is no big deal, there is not much meat in here."

    She ced a squirrel on a cutting board, and prepared another for Lith.

    "What I am going to teach you stands for most rodents, but just in case, if you ever find a rabbit that still has a snow-white fur, bring it to me. It is valuable only until it starts turning brown for the spring. Even a tiny mistake can ruin the fur, lowering its value."

    Selia handed him the short knife again. "If you want me to teach you properly, let¡¯s do things my way. Use the knife, do as I do and follow my instructions."

    Lith nodded in approval.

    "On the squirrel¡¯s back pinch its hide and cut it near the base of the neck so to expose at least half of it. Now use your index finger and middle finger on both hands to create an opening after you have made the cut. Use your fingers to hook up under the skin and pull one hand towards the rear and the other hand towards its head..."

    During the process, Lith noticed that beside being disgusting, skinning a squirrel was like taking off a sticky wet glove.

    After that Selia showed him how to remove the head, the legs and the tail.

    "I know is a bummer, but that bushy tail is no fur, is all goddamn body hair. You can still use it to stuff things, is very warm and soft. Nowes the tricky part.

    When we proceed to gut anything, be careful while making incisions. If you cut open the dder or the intestines, the meat is ruined by bile or feces. There is no saving it. This stands for all the animals, so pay attention, kid."

    Gutting the squirrel was bloody and gruesome, but Lith could already smell the meat at the end of the tunnel, so he barely felt any difort.

    When they finished, Selia put both squirrels on a skewer, to roast them in her firece.

    "While we wait for our morning snack, I¡¯ll show you how to scald a bird for the plucking. As the name implies, water must not be too hot or cold, just enough for you to immerse a finger without getting a burn, but unable to hold the finger in for more than a second without burning yourself. That¡¯s proper scalding temperature."

    Selia took a big cauldron, positioning it over a campfire she had always ready on the back of her house.

    "It can be a messy job, so it¡¯s better to do it outside whenever is possible."

    The smell of the meat cooking inside was making Lith¡¯s mouth watery, he could not afford the risk of them burning.

    "Jorun!" At hismand the cauldron became immediately filled with water.

    Lith then stuck his hand in the water casting "Infiro!" making it emit steam.

    Selia whistled again with approval.

    "Fast and efficient. I¡¯m starting to regret this master-apprentice stuff less and less.

    I now understand why that old hag of Nerea called dibs on you. We should be ready to go, but first..."

    Selia went inside briefly, returning with two little tes of roasted squirrel.

    Before she could even pass him his te, Lith had already snatched the food, wolfing it down like there was no tomorrow. He sucked and gnawed until only bones were left.

    After licking every single of his fingers, he returned to his previous calm andposed demeanour.

    "Good gods, such a gentleman." Selia¡¯s voice was oozing sarcasm. "Would you like another serving? Because that seriously creeped me out and I know a thing or two about..."

    Her mockery fell on deaf ears. Lith¡¯s eyes could only see the second squirrel closing in. As soon as Selia pretended to offer him her share, his hands were already moving.

    After devouring thest squirrel, Lith noticed that Selia was frozen in ce.

    Her mouth was open but no words wereing out of it, the te still near his face.

    He gently put the bones back into the te.

    "There was no need to hold the te for me, but thanks. That was very kind of you."

 Chapter 15 Changes

    After resolving the morning snack incident, Selia prepared the working table for the remaining game.

    "The birds you caught are called blinkers, because they get scared easily and are very quick to fly away. Usually you need luck and skill to take them down from a distance. Whatever magic you performed, it made a clean kill. Aside from the broken neck, both the feathers and the body are unscathed."

    Lith epted thepliment with a small bowing.

    "It¡¯s just a matter of finesse in using air magic, nothing special."

    Selia¡¯s curiosity was far from being satisfied, but she decided not to pry further.

    "Scalding is easy and quick. You only need to throw the poultry in the cauldron for about 45 seconds. Is better to gently stir the water in the process, to clean the birds from dirt and external parasites. It also helps loosening most of the feathers. Never scald too long, or the meat could start to boil. Not to mention the risk of rupturing the organs, ruining the meat."

    Lith took charge of the scalding process, waving his right hand to take control of the water in the cauldron, stirring it and adjusting the force of the current ording to Selia¡¯s directions.

    "Dammit, kid. You are really starting to make me regret to have never given a damn about magic or learning it."

    "You don¡¯t know how to use magic?" Lith was astonished.

    "No, and before today I was proud of it. I consider chore magic a simple parlour trick. Why waste my time learning how to do things with it when I get faster and better results by using my hands?" Selia shrugged. "Now get the blinkers out of the water, time to get serious."

    Beside the scalding and the plucking that reced the skinning process, gutting poultry resulted really simr to his previous experience with the squirrel, except he had also to remove to crop, the neck and the oil nd.

    Once they finished, Lith¡¯s eyes enjoyed the results, noticing that aside from the blinker¡¯s skin being a little more porouspared to a chicken¡¯s, it was just a roast away from what he would purchase back on Earth.

    "How do I cook it?"

    "Still hungry even after two squirrels?"

    "Yes, very." The previous meal was just an appetizer, he was far from satisfied. "Please, let¡¯s use the outdoor campfire. I need to get used to not using a firece."

    Selia mmed her hand on her forehead. "Right, right. I almost forgot about your family issues."

    After instructing him how to choose the right spot for a campfire, she showed him how to improvise a kebab with wood sticks. The final lesson was about how high to set the kebab to avoid burning the food and how to recognise when it was ready to be eaten.

    After memorizing everything, Lith imbued his eyes with fire magic, activating the Fire Vision spell, that granted him an improved version of thermal goggles.

    He then started to weave together fire and wind magic, keeping the heat stable with no hot or cold spots, while using air currents to cook every nook and cranny of the meat evenly.

    Such fine control required for him to move both his hands and feet, to watch his meal from different angles and adjusting the mana flow.

    His movements were akin to abination of martial arts katas.

    Selia was about to mock him about how performing a victory dance for a single blinker was a little extreme, when the delicious smell reached her nose.

    The blinker was getting roasted with a speed visible to the naked eye, the skin turning into a crispy crust, releasing the fat that was masterfully spreaded evenly.

    The smell was so good that her stomach started grumbling, despite she had consumed her breakfast less than two hours ago.

    Lith lifted the skewer with spirit magic and after lowering the temperature to avoid burning himself while eating, he started wolfing down the meat ripping it apart with his bare hands.

    First the drumsticks, then the breast andstly the wings.

    Itcked salt, and the meat wasn¡¯t as tender as a roasted chicken since they had not let the meat undergo any maturation. Nheless it was the best meal Lith had ever had.

    "I can¡¯t believe it, I cannot feel the hunger anymore." Lith fell to his knees from the happiness, his eyes wet on the verge of shedding tears.

    But that moment passed quickly.

    "I need more! I can¡¯t allow the hunger to cripple me again." Lith looked at the sun, there were still a couple of hours before noon, he had still time for more hunting.

    "Master Selia, I need a favour. I need a ce to hide my own game, the one I am not willing to share."

    "Just call me Selia, hunters do not waste time with honorifics, we are practical people."

    She waved her hand dismissing the need for a title.

    "As for your request, I don¡¯t make favours, only deals. What about this: from tomorrow onwards you wille here every day and clean my house, and maybe from time to time cook something for me with that silly dance of yours.

    In exchange, I will keep your personal meat safe and sound, and whenever you cook for me, we will share the meal evenly. Deal?" Selia offered him her hand.

    It was still a rip-off, but it was his only option.

    "Deal. I have only one rule. I don¡¯t doundry."

    In the next days Lith¡¯s house resounded with much moreughter and joy than usual. Him bringing game home had raised some questions, but nothing he couldn¡¯t exin easily.

    The food helped everyone to rx and let go of the stress of the past. Even Lith and Orpal started to smooth over their rtionship, limiting the res and insults to a couple every day.

    But more importantly, Lith could finally start practicing martial arts again. His routine was very simple, hunting in the morning, magical training in the afternoon, martial arts at night.

    Thanks to the Invigoration breathing technique, Lith was now able to stay up for almost a week before being forced to rest.

    He would sneak out of the house as soon his Life Vision spell confirmed that everyone was asleep.

    Once outside he would create mud dummies with earth magic to both practice martial techniques and temper his body. His first priority was the footwork.

    Maybe it was because he was only four years old, or maybe it was theck of activity due to the previous constant hunger, but his body was embarrassingly clumsy andcked coordination.

    Whenever someone threw anything at him, even a chestnut from a meter away (3 feet), he would either miss it entirely or dunk it on the floor.

    Lith knew that despite his spellcasting was very quick, especially spirit magic, it was not instant. He could not afford to be a sitting duck as soon as someone closed in too much.

    Learning magic was powerful, but not omnipotent. What good could possibly do to him being able to topple mountains only to get killed by a random thug that managed to snuck up on him.

    Even back on Earth Lith had always thought that considering mind and body as separate entities was dumb. Exercise had always allowed him to relief his stress and rx his mind. Exactly like studying always allowed him to perform at his best, be it at work or martial arts.

    Brute strength was just violence, pure intellect just ideas with no substance. Only when mind and body were trained together the body could perform as the mind required.

    About a week after Lith had begun training, something happened.

    He was alone at night, practicing footwork by circling around the dummies, when he felt that something was wrong.

    Pain burst from his mana core and quickly spreaded to his whole body, apanied by a head-spinning nausea like he had never experienced before.

    "What¡¯s happening to me?" He screamed inwardly. "This can¡¯t be a bottleneck, thest one resolved just yesterday, and no bottleneck ever felt like this."

    Soon he started gasping for air, incapable to stand up anymore and writhing in pain.

    "I can¡¯t die! I don¡¯t want to die again, not after enduring so much. I refuse to be some ve in a distant gxy or an old man waiting for death. I had enough! I refuse to die!"

    He used all his willpower to convert every iota of his mana into light magic, fighting off the affliction that was tormenting him, but to no avail.

    The pain got worse and worse, his power incapable of keeping up.

    When he surrendered, the burning sensation was finally free to rise all the way up to his mouth.

    Then he started puking lumps of a ck, sticky substance that looked like tar but smelled like something had died and rotted for weeks under the summer heat.

    They were the size of a nut, but the strain he felt was akin to have barfed two elephants walking side by side.

    The stench was so bad that even in his incapacitated state he found the strength to summon some dark magic to destroy them without leaving traces.

    Lith spent the next minutes spitting, drinking, even eating grass to get rid of that revolting taste in his mouth.

    When everything returned normal, Lith was too exhausted to practice, so he had to use Invigoration to return his body to peak condition.

    As soon as Lith started executing the breathing technique, he discovered that he was now able to sense his mana core with much greater rity.

    While absorbing the world energy with Invigoration, he could feel and manipte the mana flowing through his blood vessels and his organs to the point of visualize even the residual magic in his hair.

    Despite his eyes being closed shut, Lith could see inside his body as he was observing a state-of-the-art full body scan 3D.

    Still dizzy, he tried performing the footwork exercise again. Lith¡¯s movements were still far from perfect, but he no longer felt like having two left feet.

    "It¡¯s an amazing improvement considering that until a minute ago my goal was stop tripping on my own feet. I wonder..."

    Lith stretched forward his right hand opened, applying spirit magic to the head of the dummies.

    "The best I could do before, with so many targets at once, was to squeeze them a little. And now..."

    He clenched his fist, faster and harder than ever before.

    The dummies¡¯ heads popped like balloons.

 Chapter 16 Encounters

    During the following days, Lith made several discoveries about the changes he had undergone. His body felt lighter than ever, all his physical abilities augmented, all his senses sharper and heightened,pared to before.

    There had also been cosmetic changes in his appearance. The moles on his body had visibly shrank, his skin was smoother than after a Spa treatment back on Earth and most of the freckles around his nose and eyes had disappeared.

    Lith took note of all these changes, trying to understand what had happened, but he could not care less about beautifying effects. Even with no moles and freckles at all, he would still look like a crude hillbilly.

    If his mother had passed anything to him, he was unable to notice. Unlike his sisters, Lith had nothing of her beauty or grace. Elina moved like a ballerina, while he was rough and clumsy enough to feel like a caveman.

    Lith had deep set eyes like his father, a high forehead and a nose a little too big to be proportionate to his visage.

    He wasn¡¯t ugly but not even cute. The best he could give himself was a solid six out of ten. Lith¡¯s only hope for improvement was the teenage growth spurt, to get rid of his thin and scrawny build.

    Figuring out the changes in the mana core required even more time. Lith understood that his mana had undergone a qualitative change, bing purer and denser.

    This allowed him to cast stronger spells, also reducing the time he needed manipte elemental and spirit magic, resulting in faster casting speed.

    Through Invigorate, he could now spot the presence of that tar-like material scattered all around his body, in his organs, blood vessels and even in the neural pathway.

    Whenever he used the umtion technique, he could feel the smaller tar-like particles being pulled toward the mana core, while the bigger ones would fragment over time, shrinking in size before actually moving.

    Confident in his new strength, Lith started getting deeper in the woods, hunting for bigger preys. He was no longer afraid of predators. Instead of avoiding them, he started looking out for them.

    Lith wanted for his family to have enough fur to make a set of warm clothes for everyone. He was sick of being forced to wear so manyyers of clothes during winter, that he was unable to walk properly, swinging every step like a penguin.

    The problem was that Lith still moved through the forest making a lot of noise, exuding enough killing intent to scare away anything that wasn¡¯t stupid or desperate enough to stand in his way.

    It was only thanks to the Life Vision spellbined with spirit magic that he was still capable of hunting. The spirit magic range had expanded to over 30 meters (32.8 yards) range, so he could easily kill any animal that tried to escape by climbing trees or by taking flight.

    When Lith wasn¡¯t able to catch anything, he would shoot down any bird that made the mistake of flying within his scope.

    One day, Lith was exploring a new area of the Trawn woods, hoping to find a fur wearing meal, killing two birds with one stone.

    While looking at a small mound, his Life vision spotted three lifeforces hiding a few meters underground. They were not strong enough to be predators, but they were big enough to be a perfect lunch.

    "If those are rodents or other smart animals, there could be more than one exit. I have no time to waste, I¡¯ll force them out!"

    After getting on the highest spot of the mound, always keeping both eyes on the prize, he used earth magic.

    "Magna!" The ground around him started to shake, making the burrow and the small tunnels copse. The creatures started panicking, taking the most direct route out.

    Lith started running, following their underground movements as close as possible, not letting them get out of the spirit magic range.

    From a well-hidden hole near a bush, came out three big fat rabbits, two of them still wearing a snow-white fur.

    "Lucky!" Lith screamed while snapping his fingers, forcing the rabbits¡¯ neck to a 180¡ã turn.

    "I¡¯ll keep the brown white one for myself, while I¡¯ll trade the other two pelts with Selia for some fur of lesser quality but much more quantity. Today is really my lucky day."

    Lith was so used being alone in the woods to always think out loud, to break the feeling of istion. He hung the rabbits to his belt by the ears and started walking toward Selia¡¯s house.

    After a few steps, Lith heard an odd sound closing in. He had never heard it before, so he started looking around for its source. Soon he could see two horses in the distance, galloping in his direction.

    "F*ck! It seems I have been too loud. Fight or flight?" To answer his own question, he activated Life Vision again. The horses were just horses, while the men were far from impressive.

    The one taking point was barely as strong as Selia, while the one behind was even weaker than Raaz, Lith¡¯s father.

    Lith forced himself hiding a cruel smile. "Well, well. My first encounter withplete strangers in this new world! Are they good people? I bet that humans are humans everywhere. This would mean that they are a**holes! I can¡¯t wait to find out!"

    Lith stood there, waiting for them to arrive.

    The first man was clearly a servant, dressed in a hunter suit made of leather of low quality with a crest on both his chest and shoulders. He was an unshaven middle-aged man, with pitch ck short hair, mean and angry eyes sitting on a face worthy of a mugshot.

    The one behind him was dressed with a suit of much better quality, probably brand new. He wore the same crest on his chest, but this one seemed to be made of silk and gold embroidered.

    He was a kid maybe sixteen years old, with a handsome face and the build of a swimsuit model. The tight-fitting leather emphasised his muscr body moving in tune with his horse.

    Lith felt really pissed off, and he knew exactly why.

    "I really hope he is as much of a d*ck as he is handsome. Otherwise not only I will be forced to start to believe in prince charming, but I will also die of envy."

    "Hey, kid!" The servant had a rude tone of voice. "What was that noise from before?"

    Lith put on his best innocent expression, ying wolf in sheep clothes.

    "Good day, sir. It was just me hunting. I¡¯m sorry if I scared you." Lith¡¯s voice sounded genuinely apologetic. He wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    "Where did you get those?" He said ignoring Lith apologies and pointing at the rabbits.

    "From a rabbit hole. They are my game." Lith smiled keeping watch on both of them.

    "Give them to us, now. They will make a perfect muff for my mother."

    The handsome youth had also a beautiful voice.

    "If you are really sorry, you should offer us properpensation. Even amoner like you should know the basics of decency." He said with a mocking smile.

    Lith dropped the act like a live grenade.

    "Seriously? Robbing a kid in broad daylight? Don¡¯t you have any shame?"

    "Kid!" The servant rebuked. "Do you know who are you talking to? He is the son of baron Rath, lord of thesends."

    Lith startedughing out loud.

    "Please! Trawn woods has no owner, except maybe count Lark. Stop spewing bulls*it just to cover your sorry a*s. And besides do YOU know whom are you talking to? I am the supreme mage!"

    "See what happens when you waste your breath onmoners, Korth?" The young noble took up the short bow he carried on his back, nocking an arrow. "They are just too stupid, it¡¯s in the nature of things."

    He shot the arrow with perfect aim towards Lith¡¯s heart.

    But Lith was far enough, and had kept many spells ready on his fingertips. With a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind hit the arrow on the side, making it spin out of control before harmlessly hitting the ground meters away from its intended target.

    Despite being bbergasted, the young noble was able to keep his cool, nocking another arrow while ordering Korth to kill the kid.

    Lith raised his left hand, freezing Korth in ce with spirit magic, while with the right he took control of the arrow, that slipped away from the youth¡¯s fingers before stabbing him in the eye.

    The youth fell from his horse, screaming in pain

    "To think that I even bothered giving you guys a chance to get out of here alive." Lith sighed shaking his head.

    "Wait! If you kill the young lord, you and whoever you love will die! Think about it."

    Lith startedughing again. "Really? And how could they ever find out what happened here?" Lith moved his left thumb, and Korth noticed with horror that his right hand was moving against his will, unsheathing the hunting knife he carried at his belt.

    "Wait, please! Have mercy! Don¡¯t do this, you are just a kid!" He begged.

    "So, when you want to kill, you kill. But when you lose, I am supposed to show mercy?" The spite in his voice was palpable. Lith lowered his ring finger, bringing the knife at Korth¡¯s throat.

    "Since you are just a servant, I¡¯ll give you a clean death." With a flicker of the little finger Lith forced Korth to cut his throat from ear to ear.

    Then he approached the young noble that was still writhing in pain, uncaring of what just happened to his loyal servant.

    "As for you, you are the kind of guy I hate the most!" With one hand Lith kept him frozen at mid-air, while he used the other to punch him nonstop.

    "You have f*cking everything! Money, beauty, a bright future, and all you can do with such treasures is screw those who are already struggling to survive?"

    Lith hated humans more than everything, even back on Earth the only thing keeping his rage in check was his responsibilities towards his family.

    But in the new world there was no cameras, no GPS, nothing. There was only power, and for once he was the one holding it.

    "You know, I have a very ill sister." Lith said after venting out. "I could never practice darkness magic on living beings, because using it on animals is just in cruel. You, on the other side, are just a monster with the face of a man. You will make a perfect specimen for my research."

    Trawn woods resounded with screams for hours before death coulde to im her prize.

 Chapter 17 Encounters 2

    While Lith was approaching Selia¡¯s house, he felt a profound sense of shame tormenting him.

    "It¡¯s a shame to waste so much good equipment and horse meat, but I have no usible excuse for it. Our farm could really use a couple of horses, but what if someone recognized them? Too many risks for so little reward, destroying everything was the right thing to do."

    Once he had finished with his experiments, Lith used darkness magic to wipe out any trace or proof of what happened, turning everything into dust.

    Selia was so excited seeing the two rabbits to let slip her dire need for them, to fill the order of a very generous client.

    Respecting his master¡¯s teachings, Lith exploited the situation.

    "Hunters don¡¯t do favours, they make deals." He quoted.

    In exchange for the snow-white rabbits, Lith managed to get a full set of warm clothes of lower quality and Selia would personally tan the remaining pelt for free.

    That and the three rabbits ready for the cooking earned him great praise from his family, except Orpal. Over time he had started to consider all the food that Lith brought home for granted, so his hatred and envy returned stronger than ever.

    "That little Leech! Hunting with magic is easy, any idiot could do it. Everything he does is a p in my face. I never get the respect that I deserve as the firstborn, and it¡¯s all his fault! First, he unts his luck hunting, then he ys martyr, asking mother and father to let that piece of trash of Tista be the first to have fur clothes. What can Tista possibly do with them? Getting ill with style? No, Lith did it on purpose.

    He knows that my stupid parents still resent me for telling the truth about that cripple. Lith did it only to make me lose facepared to him."

    The truth was quite different from Orpal¡¯s self-centred interpretation.

    Lith really loved Elina (mother), Rena (big sister) and Tista (ill sister), while Orpal was never on his mind. He cured anyone in the family without being asked to, except for Orpal. But not out of spite or anger, but simply because his existence was irrelevant in Lith¡¯s eyes.

    If Orpal lived or died it was not his problem. He would not do anything to harm him, but would not help him either. For Lith they wereplete strangers living in the same home.

    The reason why he had wanted Tista to be the first to benefit from his luck, was that Lith hoped that with warm enough clothes his sister could finally spend more time with him and Rena during winter, ying in the snow.

    In Lith¡¯s eyes the image of Carl would often ovep on Tista¡¯s visage. He loved them deeply, and both of them were victims of a cruel fate.

    Lith wasn¡¯t willing to let anyone or anything, not even a congenital condition, take his loved ones away from him.

    He suffered at the thought of how little of life she could enjoy. To give Tista the opportunity to experience speed and the feeling of the wind on her face, Lith built for her a swing with the help of their father, Raaz.

    It was nothing special, just a wooden nk attached to four tight ropes hanging from a reversed U-shaped wooden framework with triangr standings. Yet the result was awe-inspiring for his family.

    Swings seemed to be unknown in the new world, or at least they were in the Lustria County.

    Raaz looked at the result of their work in admiration.

    "It¡¯s amazing. Why the three wooden beams instead of just one?"

    "Safety reasons." Lith exined while using earth magic to make thest 10 centimetres (3.9 inches) of the beams sink underground, making the swing impossible to topple by bad weather or a too vigorous movement.

    "That way both ends are like a chair. Multiple legs mean that the weight is equally distributed among multiple beams, making the stress per beam significantly inferior."

    "Off course! Now that you exined it is so simple. By the way, how do we call this thing?"

    Lith was at loss for words, he had no idea what the word for the swing movement was and he could not ask that now.

    "Err... It¡¯s a rocking chair."

    "Dammit, why I always screw up with the little details? That¡¯s not a rocking chair, but it¡¯s the closest thing I could think about with my current vocabry."

    Tista fell in love with his present, and the rocking chair became soon a popr pastime in the family, to the point that Raaz had to build a couple more to avoid quarrels.

    Furthermore, after his experiments with dark magic, Lith spent the following months trying to apply both Life Vision and Invigoration while treating Tista¡¯s symptoms.

    "If I can manage to have for Tista¡¯s body the same imaging that Invigoration grants me for my own body, I could have a better understanding of her underlying condition. That would mean having much better chances of finding a cure!"

    In the blink of an eye it was almost winter again, Lith¡¯s fifth birthday was approaching.

    Lith was determined to capitalise on every single day before the great cold arrived, to catch as much game he could to fill the house¡¯s storeroom to the brim.

    He had no idea how cold the iing winter would be, and even if he was probably strong enough to survive a storm, he doubted his parents would allow him to test his theory.

    During thest year Lith had explored more and more of the Trawn woods, learning how to move without rming the animals. He had also discovered new uses for dark magic.

    His newest spell, the Shroud, allowed him to cancel out his body smell and aura by enveloping Lith in thinyer of dark energy, making impossible for most animals to notice him, either by nose or instinct.

    But it wasn¡¯t an easy task, even a small misstep would turn the Shroud into full-blown killing intent, making the whole woods aware of his presence.

    That day Lith was raiding a new area, deep in the Trawn woods, investigating an odd feeling that had tormented him for days.

    In certain areas of the woods, Lith could hear an annoying buzzing sound, and until that day he had always ignored it. Lith had always thought that it was the call of some weird, unknown animal, but in thest days the noise had gotten stronger and persistent.

    "Damn, whatever this is, it reminds me of my desktop¡¯s Uninterruptible Power Supply unit whenever there was a ck out. It¡¯s ear piercing."

    Lith could not help but to imagine it as a desperate cry for help. He did not understand how he got that idea, but his gut was telling him that it was something important.

    Ever since Lith had learned martial arts back on Earth, he had always followed his gut feelings when he had nothing to lose, and this was definitely the case.

    The closer he got, the louder the noise. Lith knew he was on the right path.

    He was running at full speed when he heard a bone chilling howl. Lith immediately used two of his life saving spells, Shroud to conceal himself, and the air spell Lightsfeet to float a few centimetres above the ground, making his movements noiseless.

    Both required a lot of concentration, but it was better to spend some mana rather than stupidly endangering himself. Calm and focused, he searched for the source of all that noise.

    "Holy sh*t! That¡¯s a Ry!" Lith eximed inwardly after quickly hiding behind a huge tree.

    A Ry was a magical wolf beast, the apex predator of the Trawn woods. Magical beasts were moremon and weaker than monsters, but they could still easily take apart a fully armed soldier.

    Not many animals could turn into a magical beast, they needed a great talent for magic and enough time to feed off the world energy.

    Once an animal became a magical beast, it could use its mana to boost its physical prowess and even developing spells that employed elements they were attuned with.

    The Ry was almost as big as horse, with a fire coloured thick fur.

    Lith could not understand why a Ry woulde so close to a human settling, Rys were intelligent beasts that avoided unnecessary trouble. If humans did not disturb them, they would return the favour.

    Lith felt pity for its prey. After making sure being upwind he cancelled both spells to save precious mana, getting a better understanding of the situation.

    The Ry kept howling and growling, as it was in pain. Lith noticed that every time the Ry¡¯s snout got close to the ground, the buzzing sound would be high pitched and the magical wolf would whine in pain.

    Now more curious than afraid, Lith activated Life Vision to estimate the Ry¡¯s power.

    What he saw made him gasp loudly.

    The Ry was unbelievably strong, with a mana flow almost on par with Lith¡¯s. But the real reason for amazement was a second mana flow, that belonged to the source of the buzzing sound.

    It was a little stone, smaller than a thimble.

    "What the f*ck? That pebble is alive? That exins everything! The noise it emitted must have lured here the Ry, just like it did for me. Taking into ount its reactions, the noise is much more annoying for the Ry than for me. I never heard of rocks with mana flow, that thing must be a magical item. I cannot let that brute destroy it."

    Throwing caution to the wind, Lith decided to take action and save the magic stone.

    "The Ry¡¯s lifeforce is iparable to mine, but if I manage to avoid it getting close, I know I can win. His mana flow is inferior to mine, and from what Selia told me magic beasts have no offensive spells."

    First Lith activated Shroud again, then he started weaving his strongest spell.

    "gue Arrow!" A bolt of dark energy flew from his joined hands, hitting the Ry from its blind spot while it was trying again to crack the noisy stone with its teeth.

    The screeching sound and the spell hit both at the same time, making the magical beast almost lose its footing.

    gue Arrow was a spell that injected a dense mass of darkness magic in the victim, disrupting both the mana flow and the life force. Lith had charged it as much as he could, to get as much advantage as he could.

    Before the Ry could turn around to search for its enemy, a stream of lightnings erupted from Lith¡¯s palms, hitting the magical beast with enough strength to knock it down.

    While increasing the distance between them, Lith cancelled Shroud for Life Vision. Despite the sneak attacks the Ry was still alive and strong.

    Lith focused his spirit magic, using both his hands, trying to break its neck as he had already done countless times.

    The Ry wasn¡¯t stupid, as soon as it felt the ominous sensation on his neck, it contracted its muscles, reinforcing it with mana and making it harder than steel.

    "F*ck! So much for my advantage. If only I could use fire magic you would be already roasted to death. Could you please go away? That thing is mine! Mine!"

    Lith conjured several ice javelins, throwing them at the magical beast from multiple angles simultaneously.

    The Ry easily dodged them all, retaliating with a powerful magical roar.

    Lith was only saved by the distance, having the time to realize that a massive wind st was heading his way. He stepped back at the moment of the impact, using his own wind magic to dissipate the st.

    His sleeves got turned into confetti, but aside from some flesh wounds he was fine.

    "F*ck me sideways! Thanks a lot, Selia. Magical beasts do not have offensive spells, sure. It seems this Ry never got the memo, though."

    The Ry charged at Lith, using its wind sts to disrupt his rhythm. Lith did his best to keep the beast at bay, but the difference in physical prowess was overwhelming, it was only a matter of time before getting caught.

    "Okay, when you can¡¯t win, just run. n B, fight dirty!"

    Lith stopped running away, to prepare hisst attack n before throwing the towel.

    He conjured many ice javelins, but did not throw them, he left them floating in mid-air all around him.

    After a moment of hesitation, the Ry chose to ignore them charging straight at that insolent pest.

    "That¡¯s a good boy! Eat this! Twin spell! sh&Bang!"

    Lith¡¯s right hand produced a massive sh of light, for a moment it was like a second sun had appeared. His left hand, instead, used wind magic to produce a noiseparable to an explosion.

    The Ry tumbled from the pain, its eyes and ears bleeding, while Lith was unscathed. He had learned long ago that as long it was infused with his mana, his own spells would do him no harm. He could cover himself in fire, ice or lightning without a scratch.

    When the Ry crashed against a tree, Lith finally used the javelins, throwing them with all the force he had. All of them hit the target, but the thick magical fur prevented them from impaling it, piercing only through a few centimetres of flesh.

    Lith immediately checked with Life Vision, the results appalling.

    The Ry was definitely wounded and weakened, but far from being dead.

    "Dammit! So much effort for so little damage. If it continues like this, I am the one who is most likely to run out of steam or luck. The Ry only needs one hit to kill me. It¡¯s not worth the risk."

    Lith used spirit magic to recover the magic stone before running for his life. The stone was full of teeth marks, its sharp surface prickled Lith¡¯s skin.

    "So long, sucker!" Lith screamed at the still stunned magical beast.

    "See you again in a few years, let¡¯s see if you dare attack me again!" Small drops of blood touched the stone, and the noise stopped.

    The Ry was still trying to make head or tails of what had just happened. It only wanted the damn noise to stop hurting his ears when that fierce man-pup showed up.

    The Ry had tried to scare him away and to teach him a lesson, but it ended to be the one getting schooled instead.

    "Bah, who cares." The Ry thought. "I wanted to get rid of that stupid rock and in one way or another I got the job done. That was one feisty pup, though. I pray that he shows more consideration towards his pack than he did for me. Otherwise when he grows up, he will be a scourge to his kin. Stupid humans and their greed bring only troubles. They are incapable even of taking care of their own."

    The Ry, leader of all the packs in the Trawn woods, shrugged away the javelins before returning to its family.

 Chapter 18 New Solutions, New Problems

    Lith kept running until he was out of the woods, turning his head from time to time to check with Life Vision is he was being followed.

    "There is no trace of the Ry, but better safe than sorry. I¡¯m afraid I have pissed off that thing quite bad. It¡¯s better to give it some time to vent off and search for easier preys."

    He was near Selia¡¯s house, when he finally remembered about the magical stone. Lith activated Life Vision, getting a good look up close.

    The first thing he noticed was that the rough edges on the stone had smoothened up, it did not prick his skin anymore. The surface was still rough, but now looked like a stone marble.

    The buzzing sound had stopped from a while, and the magical stone¡¯s life force, despite being still at the same level, had changed significantly.

    Back when he saw it for the first time, its life force was like a candle about to burn out of wax, now it had be steady, with a regr pulse.

    Warning Selia about the magical beast took priority, so he hid the stone in a leather pouch he always carried at his neck before knocking at her door.

    Lith exined her everything, describing in detail the size and power of the Ry, leaving her bbergasted. Of course, he never mentioned their fight.

    Lith told her that he had fled as soon as their eyes met, and that he got away only thanks to his magic, showing his tattered sleeves as proof.

    "Good gods, kid." She still refused to call him by his name. "You have been really lucky it took it easy on you. Had the Ry decided to give you chase, we would not be having this conversation. Nheless, thanks for warning me first, instead of going to your parents." Selia ruffled his hair.

    "How do you know I came here first?"

    "Because if you didn¡¯t, your parents would have probably locked you up in your house, and one of them would havee here to warn me in your ce."

    Lith froze up. He had just dodged a bullet much scarier than any Ry.

    "You are right. Is better not to tell them, otherwise my hunting days may be over forever."

    "Yeah. I suggest you taking the rest of the morning off. Make up and excuse for those sleeves and go home." Selia walked over the shed near her house where she kept her game maturating.

    "Take these as a thank you for the heads up." She handed him a rabbit and a blinker, ready to be cooked.

    "I was about to go in the woods. I think I will follow my advice, instead, and keep tanning the remaining pelts. I¡¯ll go to hunting in the afternoon, when it should be safer."

    Lith thanked her with a deep bow, he knew how precious meat was in Lutia, even for a huntress as good as Selia. Not to mention she had just saved him from perpetual house arrests.

    He spent the rest of the morning trying to understand how to use the magic stone. It appeared to be feeding off Lith¡¯s mana. Not leeching it like a parasite, more like nibbling at the mana that he naturally released being talented in magic.

    The stone would simply breath in what Lith¡¯s body breathed out, nothing more.

    Lith tried injecting mana into it, but to no avail. Then he casted elemental spells while holding the stone, to check if their strength, cast speed and area of effect were affected in any way.

    All of his experiments gave no results, the stone looked just like any other.

    "Stones do not have such a clear mana flow, and certainly they do not have any life force. Maybe this thing needs time to heal, to recharge or something. The Ry messed it up quite bad, let¡¯s hope is not broken. Unless it starts harming me, I¡¯ll keep it. Maybe is some kind of treasure, or maybe I can find something about it on Nana¡¯s books. I just have to be patient."

    Thest days of autumn passed on uneventful, until winter arrived.

    Having reached the five years of age, Lith revealed a little more of his magic talents, proving to be invaluable to his family.

    He would wake up first and warm up the whole house with magic, even the floors. At that point the firece was lit only because was cozy, and because rounding up around the fire, especially during the stormy winter evenings, was a family tradition.

    Even the cooking was entrusted to Lith. Elina would prepare the meal, and Lith would cook it faster and better than a ventted oven, keeping the soup warm for everyone during the whole meal.

    He could not go hunting anymore because of the bad weather, his parents had been adamant on that. But Lith could still go to Selia¡¯s house to perform the chores for her.

    During thest year, she had be sozy to be dependant on Lith for keeping her house clean and her tools sterilized.

    This meant killing two birds with one stone for Lith. Now he had an excuse to go fetch his private stock of meat whenever he got hungry, and Selia had to pay him for the chores.

    Lith would do it for free, just to get out of the house, but his parents would not agree. So, Selia paid him a few copper coins to clean her house, and some more for Elina to do herundry.

    Both Elina and Raaz would wee any extra ie, and doing theundry for eight instead of seven wasn¡¯t much an effort. Especially since Lith provided her an endless supply of hot water.

    "Nice to meet you, I am Lith, boiler supreme." He would grumble inwardly every time.

    In the first weeks of winter, Lith made a very important breakthrough. He finally understood how to use Invigoration¡¯s body imaging on others.

    He was now able to let his mana seep into another person¡¯s body, and slowly take control of their mana flow, allowing Lith to know everything about the subject¡¯s physical condition.

    The only way to achieve such a result was to keep physical contact, searching way ins for the mana without harming him/her.

    Lith immediately used it on Tista, and his findings were appalling.

    Her body was full of the tar-like substance, that for theck of a better term, he had dubbed impurities. And the cause of that was her lungs.

    Barely half of Tista¡¯s lungs were made up by a healthy tissue. The rest appeared like a ck-brown mass that actively produced impurities, that over time filled the healthy tissues of her lungs and windpipe, making her cough first and illter.

    After giving it some thought, Lith was sure to have found a fix better than everything he had done before, but much more embarrassing.

    Even though now his real age was that of a thirty-year-old man, he was still in a five years old body, which found extremely ufortable the idea of speaking of certain matters, especially with the family women.

    After some deep breaths to calm down, he called Raaz and Elina to ask for their help and permission.

    He had to dumb down the procedure quite a lot to get them to understand.

    "Basically, I cannot cure Tista, not yet. But I discovered a way that should make her feel much better. In the best-case scenario, she could even get rid of most of her symptoms."

    "And in the worst-case scenario?" Raaz asked full of worries.

    "At worse she will be the same. That¡¯s I¡¯m certain of it. But I need you to trust me."

    Contrary to his expectations, they did not make any objections or question. Their trust in Lith¡¯s mastery of magic was boundless, and in their eyes, he was just a five-year-old, while Tista was barely seven.

    She had yet to mature in every way, for them it was like yesterday when they bathed together in the wash tub.

    The first phase was the easiest. Lith would take control of Tista¡¯s mana flow, overloading her body with his mana, and forcing the impurities to move away from the inner organs and toward the skin.

    She would just feel hot the whole time, like having a mild fever.

    Once most of the impurities were about to surface, Lith demanded to be blindfolded and that either Elina or Rena witnessed the process.

    Tista was just a kid, and Lith feared that overtime suspicions might arise. During Earth¡¯s middle ages, incestuous rtionships were disgustinglymon, and he rejected even the idea of being thought of as a pervert.

    The second andst phase required Tista to be soaking in the wash tub, that had been previously filled by Lith with hot water and soap.

    He clearly remembered the stench the impurities gave off, and during winter ventting the house was difficult, especially in Tista¡¯s condition.

    Cold was her worst enemy.

    Then, he could finally extract the impurities by using mater magic, creating and manipting flows that would massage Tista all over her body. Lith would destroy the impurities as soon as possible with dark magic, preventing them to release their smell.

    It was a difficult process that required using water and darkness magic, all while keeping Invigoration active. After the treatment, he would also use water magic to remove all the water still on her body, and then mix fire and wind magic to obtain a makeshift hairdryer.

    When it was finally over, Tista looked like she was just back from a spa, while Lith looked like he had just got back from mining, drenched in sweat and out of breath.

    "How do you feel?"

    Tista made some deep breaths.

    "I never felt so good! Like, ever! Also, I always dreamt of having a winter bath, instead of having to resort to warm water-soaked towels. Thanks, lil bro, you just made two of my wishese true!" She tried to hug him, but he raised his arms in defence.

    "Please, no. I¡¯m disgusting right now, do not ruin my hard work. I now need a bath, some food and two hours rest, minimum."

    Both his mother and big sister, nodded.

    "Lith, dear, what was that thing with the water that you did?" Elina asked.

    "Do you mean the..."

    "Dammit, I can¡¯t tell her I was imitating a hydromassage, they do not havetin here. Nor I can call it a Jacuzzi or something. Whatever, I¡¯m too tired for this sh*t."

    "... water massage?"

    "Yes, that! It seemed so rxing. Tista has fallen asleep many times during her treatment. Sure it must be pleasant." Rena¡¯s words were filled with expectation.

    "And that thing for drying her hair, could you do that again too?" Elina raised the ante, their aim more and more obvious by the second.

    Lith was on the verge of copsing, he had no time to spare with niceties.

    "Are you implying that you would like a hot water massage too?"

    More nodding followed, their hands joined in a silent plea.

    "But... but..." Lith stuttered. "Both of you are..."

    He was trying to find a polite way to say "hot". Lith could still remember Elina¡¯s naked body when he was still an infant, and she had aged very well.

    Rena was now eleven. Maybe it was the countryside lifestyle, maybe it was rted to the new world, but she had already begun her growth spurt, developing some curves, being nice and soft in all the right ces.

    Lith already had so many qualms for his little sister, and Tista was as t as a board, only her long hairs gave her away as a girl instead of a boy.

    "We are family. And all of us have dreamt of being able to take a bath during winter without catching a cold or worse. You have no idea how smelly we be by working in the barn, surrounded by the livestock smell and their dung. Sometimes the smell is so bad we can¡¯t even sleep at night. Couldn¡¯t you help us too?" Elina, his mother,pletely oblivious of Lith¡¯s worries tried to y the guilt card.

    Lith gave up.

    "Fine, just let me rest a bit and then I¡¯ll help you. But you still need to blindfold me, and I demand a witness!"

    They both startedughing out loud.

    "Why so many qualms? You are just a baby, not some thug."

    "I would like to say that I am a gentleman, but I do not know the word for it. I could say that I am a man, but that would make themugh even harder. Stupid five-year-old body." He thought.

    "Decorum." It was the only word in his vocabry he could resort to.

    "Damn, this is going to be a fricking long winter."

 Chapter 19 Conflicts

    As Lith predicted, his fifth winter revealed to be quite interesting.

    Treating Tista¡¯s condition required two session per week minimum, each onesting around four hours. Two for the treatment itself and the remaining time for him to bathe and recover his strength.

    Manipting Tista¡¯s mana flow while simultaneously using fire, water and dark magic took its toll every time. The good news was that with so much practice, he was bing ustomed to casting and maintaining several spells active at once.

    Every treatment was easier than the previous one and her symptoms were quickly improving. Tista was now able to help with the house chores and the livestock.

    She could even afford making long walks outside, when the weather was good.

    The bad news was that Lith¡¯s rtionship with his brothers was now uglier than ever before. Every time Tista got better, someone would reproach Orpal for his past words, and if no one did, then Tista would.

    Orpal¡¯s fits of rage had really hurt her, his cruel words had shattered the image she always had of her perfect family, of her caring big brother.

    Tista had been humiliated and betrayed, and she was not going to forget that easily.

    Also, soon after hot winter baths had be avable, Raaz too started to bathe often.

    Orpal and Trion were the only ones left out. Orpal because he could not stand the thought of having to ask something from Lith, especially if he had to do it politely.

    "I¡¯m the eldest brother, I¡¯m not supposed to beg runts for favours. I¡¯m supposed to give orders and be respected for it! That Leech now has turned even the cripple against me! And I can¡¯t put Tista in her ce, otherwise she will make me look like I¡¯m the bad guy who picks on a sick little girl. Maniptive b*tch!"

    Trion was between a rock and a hard ce. He deeply loved Tista, but he also loved and respected Orpal. Trion was the only one by his side, so he had not the heart to betray their bond.

    With everyone else fresh and clean, their smell stuck out like a sore thumb. Even with all their family goodwill, disgusted grimaces were impossible to avoid from time to time.

    The first time Tista dubbed the duo as Orpoop and T-reek, she brought down the house withughter. Orpal and Trion med Lith for their humiliation, but he just ignored them like he always did.

    Raaz made for Lith a pair of snowshoes, spending more and more time with him. Raaz also started imparting him lessons about how to operate a farm and teaching how to whittle. Lith was still very young, but knowing he was able to skin and gut his game, Raaz thought there was no risk for him in handling a carving knife.

    Orpal and Trion lived the situation differently, though. Until then, Lith had spent most of his time with the girls, letting Raaz spend all his free time with the boys. They felt wronged twice, once because Lith was robbing them of their dad time, the second because he always refused teaching them whittling before they reached the age of eight.

    Things got even more unpleasant for Lith after midwinter. Every time he would treat Tista, he could notice that something was off. Both his mother and sister had an odd look in their eyes.

    Often, they would open their mouth, only to close them right away, giving him the silent treatment for hours. Lith couldn¡¯t figure out the reason of this behaviour, so his mind started spinning like crazy.

    "Do they believe me a pervert? Have I looked at them in an inappropriate way? Maybe they are starting to suspect something. Maybe they know I am from a different world!"

    Lith¡¯s full blown paranoia wouldn¡¯t give him a second of rest, preventing him to have a good night of sleep. He heard them sighing too often, something was definitely off.

    It took Lith all his courage to muster the strength to face them and ask for the truth.

    The confrontation took ce in the girl¡¯s room, where they were all gathered for Tista¡¯s treatment.

    "Lith, did you really not notice any changes?" Elina asked pouting.

    "Yes, I did. Tista is feeling much better now, right?"

    "Off course there¡¯s that. But don¡¯t you notice anything here?" She waved her hand, going from Tista¡¯s head to toes.

    "That¡¯s my sister."

    "And?" She prompted.

    "Her health is getting better, nothing is getting worse. Tista is still Tista." For the first time in his three lives, Lith could spectate with his own eyes a synchronized facepalm outside inte meme gifs. Rena was fuming.

    "Really? Don¡¯t you notice that her hair is soft and silky? That it never tangles or get split ends?" Tista had light brown hair with shades of purple all over them. Ever since the treatment began, the colour had got more vibrant and visible.

    "Shades of purple, uh. This is really another world after all. I wonder why women do have them and men do not." Lith thought.

    "Now that you mention it, yes I do. But normally I don¡¯t care for hair, I keep mine short for a reason." Rena shook her head.

    "Don¡¯t you even notice that her skin has got smoother? With no imperfections? That she is growing taller and slender than her peers?"

    Lith kept scratching his head. He knew nothing about the average girl. Also, they were simply describing the side effects of removing impurities.

    "And why is that a problem? Aren¡¯t those all good things?" This time even Tista joined the facepalm.

    "They are envious of those things, dummy! They just want you to do the same for them."

    Lith was bbergasted by such trivial demands. "All those grimaces, the silent treatment, all of it for such a stupid reason?"

    "Lith, dear, being attractive for a girl is a pretty big deal. For your sisters could mean getting the possibility to choose between just a wealthy man, and a good, wealthy man. It can affect their entire life, their happiness."

    That sounded right to Lith¡¯s ears. "How could I have not thought of that?"

    "While for your poor mother, it means that she can finally make all those pompous, high and mighty neighbours of her, that keep bragging about having so much more money than her, unting all the pricy beauty creams they can afford, kicking themselves out of envy!"

    That sounded right to Lith¡¯s ears too. He epted with a sigh, and his life finally returned to normal. He had to spend at least three afternoons a week for all the treatments, but it was worth it.

    All that practice made his mana core grow steady and fast, his control of mana and cast speed improved by leap and bounds.

    Right before the end of winter, he was forced to take in a new customer.

    With the weather improving, the neighbouring families started meeting often. Sometimes for a visit, more often they would simply bump into each other while trading goods at the vige.

    And that was driving Raaz crazy.

    "Lith, you have to help me!" His plea was desperate. "Your mother looks at least ten years younger, and I am starting to look more like her father rather than her husband. People keep murmuring how she was unfortunate marrying me, that she could have got so much better. Please do your thing on me too!"

    Lith had heard the rumors. They were mean and petty, and deserved to be faced head on. He would not allow anyone to speak ill of his dad.

    "Fine, but only at some conditions, the same I asked from mom. One, secrecy. Nobody must ever know outside you and me. Think of all the bad people that could want to exploit me."

    Raaz nodded.

    "Second, you will never talk about it with Orpal or Trion, nor ask me to do it for them. I don¡¯t care if they fall on love or want to marry. They made pretty clear what they feel toward me and Tista. I will not endanger my safety for them. Take it or leave it."

    Raaz wanted to object, remind Lith that they were family too. But their behaviour had only gotten worse after being forced to spend so much time together during winter. Raaz had to scold them multiple times just to make them behave properly.

    "I can only hope that when they grow up, my sons will be able to mend their rtionship. I can¡¯t force them to get along."

    And so, he epted.

    A few weekster, Lith was headed to Selia¡¯s house for the usual cleaning, before going hunting. The dawn¡¯s light made the world around him look like out of a fairy tale.

    The thinyer of snow was immacte, reflecting the orange light over the weeds and trees along the way. His surroundings werepletely silent, the world still and at peace.

    At the next clearing, Lith took out the magic stone out of his pouch, observing it in the morning light.

    During the winter months the magic stone had mended most of the teeth marks. Both its life force and mana flow had tremendously improved, but it was still useless as the day Lith found it.

    "Just my luck." He sighed. "I risked my life facing that Ry for nothing. Let¡¯s hope I can find something in Nana¡¯s books, otherwise my only option it¡¯s to find someone willing to buy it."

    Lith was really impatient to start his apprenticeship.

    It meant being finally able to study magic from books instead as a self-taught. Also, as an apprentice healer, he would get practice magic and be paid for it, gaining the vige recognition and respect.

    So many birds with just one stone.

    After putting the magic stone back into the pouch, Lith arrived at his destination and opened the door. That day Selia was out of town to sell her merchandise, so she had left the door open for him

    It didn¡¯t take him much time to clean everything and leave.

    As soon as he walked out the house, he got hit in the head by a wooden stick.

    Lith¡¯s eyes went blurry, he felt someone pushing him back inside, making him fall to the ground with a kick in the stomach.

    "Look who¡¯s here, the little Leech!" Lith recognized that voice, he was one of Orpal¡¯s friends.

    Four boys quickly surrounded Lith, kicking him while he was still down, while a fifth closed the door after checking that no one did notice them.

    "You little arrogant piece of sh*t! Orpal told us all about you. How you humiliate him every day, how you even dare stealing his food!"

    "Yeah!" Another one yelled. "He is your big brother, it should be him getting the best part of the game, not you, little ungrateful runt!"

    "Less yelling and more kicking, Trant! Remember Orpal¡¯s words, if Leech gets the chance to use his magic, we are finished!"

    Despite Lith was curling up, desperately trying to shield his head and stomach, another kick grazed his face, making one of his baby-teeth fall.

    "I know what to do!" Trant moved forward gripping Lith¡¯s hands with enough strenght to crush them. "Let¡¯s see how he does magic without hands!"

    Bying that close, Trant had forced his friends to stop kicking, and a moment was all that Lith needed.

    He released all the lightning he could muster, shocking Trant out cold.

    But before he could do anything else, the wooden stick hit him in the head again, making him copse.

    "You d*ckhead! How dare you hurt your seniors! You deserve to die!"

    The beating resumed, this time with no hint of mercy or holding back. Lith started coughing blood and teeth.

    The four had him surrounded, Lith tried multiple times rolling out of the encirclement, but he would be sent back in the middle every single time.

    Lots of feelings were ravaging his mind, while his body was burning with pain. The spite for his brother¡¯s betrayal, the rage of being assaulted by boys with double his age and size. But most of all, he felt helpless, and afraid of death.

    "Damn magic! What use are you if I don¡¯t have the time to concentrate? Stupid stone, I kept you hanging from my neck for months, do something! Help me! Somebody, anybody, help me!" All his silent pleas went unfulfilled.

    While his conscience was fading, Lith started cursing himself for his weakness and helplessness.

    "Magic, martial arts, all that careful preparation, useless." Oddly, hisst thought was not for his family or revenge, but for hisst opponent.

    "If only I was as strong as a Ry! He stopped my spirit magic so easily by..."

    His survival instinct kicked in, his mind and body acting in unison.

    "By infusing himself with mana! And I can do that too! It¡¯s the same principle behind Life and Fire vision!"

    With each breath he started calling upon the elemental energy, but instead of wasting time giving it a form, Lith let it merge directly with his mana core, infusing himself with earth magic.

    His whole body started hardening, the pain getting duller and duller. Lith also infused himself with light magic, elerating his healing and preventing himself from losing consciousness.

    Soon he was able to ignore the kicks, springing back up in one fluid motion.

    "What is earth? It¡¯s just a mix of minerals and organic matter, the same as my body. I can be immovable like a mountain!"

    With that thought, he further hardened his head, before headbutting from below the chin of the assant in front of him.

    Before the remaining three could recover from the surprise and resume the encirclement, Lith raised his guard. The left arm forward for blocking, the right arm ready to strike.

    Orpal¡¯s friends were scared, after Lith knocked down their leader with the headbutt, the only thing on their mind was to prevent him to use magic, so they rushed forward, not giving him time to recover.

    The closest assant tried to punch Lith in the face, to disrupt any casting he could attempt.

    "60% of the human body is made of water. I can be formless like water."

    Lith¡¯s left arm, imbued with water magic, coiled around his opponent¡¯s right arm like a snake.

    "The body burns calories to produce heat and energy. I can be destructive like fire!"

    Fire magic burned through his muscles, granting Lith short bursts of explosive strength. By flexing his left arm, Lith broke the immobilized limb in three points, elbow, ulna and radius, while his right fist hit the opponent on the nose, pulverizing it.

    The pain made the boy faint, his nose bleeding profusely.

    The remaining two fell into panic, and tried to run away.

    "Nerves, synapsis all the information and orders in the body are transmitted via electrical impulse. I can be fast as lightning!"

    Lith imbued all his body with air magic, bing fast enough to blink in front of them, punching both in the gonads at the same time.

    All of his opponents were down, sobbing in pain or fainted.

    Lith spit a mouthful of blood, while contemting the results of hisst experiment.

    "Seems that this new magic puts too much strain on my body. Maybe I¡¯m too young, maybe I took too much damage, whatever. I have all the time in the world now."

    "I need to decide what to do with you motherf**kers." Lith said while using light magic to heal his internal injuries.

    "It may take a while, but you¡¯ll get my undivided attention. Enjoy your stay."

    Lith sat on the couch, his left hand on the chest, performing the healing.

    The right one was open in front of him, releasing five streams of lightning that enveloped the five boys like tendrils, making them scream with agony.

 Chapter 20 Break Ups

    The original n was to kill them all, erase the evidence and then make Orpal have an "unfortunate ident". As Lith calmed down, however, he realized that it was an idiotic n full of holes.

    "If five young men disappear suddenly in a sleepy vige like Lutia, it is bound to cause amotion. Also, Orpal knows they were here. Once he discovers they are nowhere to be found, he coulde too close to the truth forfort.

    I don¡¯t want to give him any kind of leverage on me. There is also the possibility that these blockheads shared their n with their siblings. Killing is the wrong answer here, too many things can go spiralling out of control. Worst of all, if I make Orpal disappear too, the whole family would worry and grieve for him. Most certainly I don¡¯t want to turn him into a f*cking martyr! I want him to pay. To suffer for his whole f*cking life!"

    While in deep thought, Lith would release streams of lighting from his right hand, keep the spell active for a couple of seconds, then give his assants a few moments of relief before zapping them again.

    They had already lost control of their dder and bowels multiple times. When they were not writhing in pain, they were sobbing and begging for mercy.

    "I can¡¯t let off this trash easily either. Always remember to pause betweenshes. The short interval without pain fills them of false hope that it¡¯s finally over, making the next hit more painful than the previous. To punish them is not enough, I want to break them!"

    There were too many variables. Lith was sick of running circles, so he decided to resort to an modified version of his very first n, back on Earth.

    "Those guys were trash too. I wonder how they reacted after my death, when the photos got leaked all over the inte with their names tagged."

    Lith had a cruel smile at the thought of his revenge, backstabbing them after so many years.

    With a final spell, Lith made the five lose consciousness and started arranging their bodies with spirit magic.

    "I must keep both spirit and fusion magic a secret, so I need to create a stage from which I could end up a winner with just normal magic. An encirclement is too much for a five-year old, I¡¯ll fan them out."

    He put back the wooden stick in the hand of his owner, making sure it was smeared with blood.

    Lith was arranging the final details, when he heard someone calling his name from afar.

    "Sh*t! I took too much time thinking. My family must have sent someone looking for me. This screws up a good part of my n, dammit. I must y it by ear and hope they did not send Orpal, or it¡¯s going to get ugly."

    Lith looked through a window, spotting Elina approaching Selia¡¯s house with long and fast strides.

    "Good, it¡¯s mom! Rena or dad would have been better, but I can work with this."

    When she got close enough, Lith responded to her call with a moan, slowly opening the door while begging for help.

    Elina started running with all her strength, and once inside what she saw was bone chilling. There was blood everywhere, teeth on the ground and Lith was almost unrecognizable.

    He was losing blood from multiple injuries. His face was swollen to the point that his eyes were barely visible amidst all the ck and blue.

    Lith was holding his left arm like it was hurt, and just by talking he could make her notice his bleeding gums and missing teeth.

    "Mom! Mom! Thank the gods it¡¯s you." Lith voice was distorted by the injuries into a lisp. "I was so afraid they would get up before I could call for help. They tried to kill me, mom, and I have not the strength to fight anymore."

    Elina quickly embraced him, feeling him yelp and shivering from the pain caused by even such a gentle touch.

    "My baby! My poor baby. Who did this to you?" The two of them started to cry at the same time. Elina because she was scared to death, Lith because while in his mother¡¯s embrace he could finally allow himself to vent all his rage and fears.

    "Orpal! It¡¯s all Orpal¡¯s fault! These are all his friends They even told me their n when they thought I was about to die!"

    Elina was shocked by those words, refusing to believe such a terrible thing. But those five really were Orpal¡¯s closest friends. One of them, Rizel, was even holding his grandfather¡¯s wooden stick, and it was stained with blood.

    Elina looked at Lith¡¯s head, easily spotting the bruises and cuts shaped after the cane.

    "Why would they assault you otherwise? And how could they possibly know that today Selia was out of town?" Elina thought out loud.

    Among the sobbing and crying, Lith was inwardly smiling. Feeding her facts was ast resort, it would have a much deeper impact if she put the pieces together by herself.

    "Can¡¯t you heal yourself, even a little bit?" Elina¡¯s voice was full of worry, her son¡¯s condition seemed dire. Lith was expecting this question.

    "Now that I had the time to recover, I could. But I won¡¯t."

    "Why?" That answer made no sense to her, Elina started worrying his injuries were affecting his mind.

    "Because when you and dad decide what to do with Orpal, I want you to take a good look of what he did to me!" Lith screamed, coughing a mouthful of blood from a wound he had reopened on purpose.

    "Orpal has always hated me! Always will! No matter if I help you all with chores or your health. He does not care how much game I bring to the table or money to our house, nothing is ever enough for him!" Lith kept screaming and sobbing.

    "Am I such an awful son, such a terrible brother to deserve this?" Lith hugged her with all of his strength, bawling his eyes out.

    Elina was at loss for words, but only for a moment. She held her son tightly, raising him up from the ground and carrying him back home.

    Then she brought the whole family to Selia¡¯s house to let them witness the scene with their own eyes. The matter was too serious, she could not hide it from her children.

    When Orpal saw Lith, he became pale as a ghost. Elina refused to call him by his name, and if res could kill, he was certain that she would make him leave the fields feet first.

    "What the heck went wrong? Those morons knew the n! They had only to rough him up. Teach him respect and humility. But most importantly to force him to shut his f*cking mouth up! Now my stupid parents will never let me hear the end of it."

    And when he saw all the blood on the floor, with his friends still there and out cold, he felt his life falling apart.

    As soon as Elina let him do it, Raaz embraced Lith before checking his conditions. After that he looked around the room, easily recognizing the five culprits.

    "Rena, go call their parents. Take Tista with you, I don¡¯t want her to hear what I am about to say." Raaz was even paler than Orpal, clenching his fists so hard that they started to bleed.

    Elina had whispered to him only three words aftering back with Lith.

    "Orpal did it." In the beginning, he had refused to believe that one of his beloved children could do something like that, but the truth appeared so horrifyingly simple to his eyes.

    No one outside of the family knew that Lith worked for Selia. No one else could possibly know that exactly on that day and time Lith would be left alone in Selia¡¯s house.

    But the most painful and irrefutable truth was that no one but Orpal could possibly resent Lith so much. He barely knew anyone outside of his family and their closest friends.

    Lith had always been working so hard to help all of them, especially Tista, that he never had the time to make friends or enemies.

    Raaz felt those thoughts ripping his heart out of his chest, but he had to know.

    "Did you do it?" Raaz looked Orpal straight in the eyes.

    A terrible silence fell in the room, revealing the truth that Raaz was trying so hard to deny, looking for a possible alternative exnation.

    But there wasn¡¯t any.

    "How, how could you possibly do this to your brother?" Tears were streaming from his eyes.

    "Dad, I swear, it¡¯s not like you think! I can exin!" Orpal mind was desperately trying to find a usible excuse.

    "Is there anything to exin?!?" Raaz roared out of anger.

    "Aren¡¯t those your friends?"

    "Yes, but..."

    "It wasn¡¯t you telling them what to do? It wasn¡¯t you nning how, when and where to ambush Lith? Causing him to be almost beaten to the death? In the gods¡¯ name how could you possibly exin all that?"

    "Because that wasn¡¯t the n! They didn¡¯t listen to me, just like you! You never listen to what I say! You never let me have my way, always siding with Leech and the cripple. You are never on my side! Never!"

    "They got carried away? Is that your exnation?!?" Raaz didn¡¯t know if tough or cry.

    "Do you mean that ambushing and beating your brother, my son, is perfectly fine as long they do it with moderation?" He raised his fist, tempted to give Orpal a taste of his own medicine, but Elina stopped him.

    "Too much blood has already been shed today. Don¡¯t do it. You¡¯d only harm yourself, he is beyond saving." Elina was crying too, but her face and tone were stone cold. She had already made up her mind.

    Raaz was too broken to stand anymore, he needed to sit down on a chair, weeping.

    "You are right, my love. I have lost count of the times I have tried to make him understand that respect is something that you must give before receiving it yourself. That we were his parents, not his friends. We are supposed to help our children understand their mistakes, not enabling them. The gods know if I haven¡¯t tried to teach him that his siblings were not his servants, that a man¡¯s authority lies in the responsibilities he shoulders, not how strong he is. I know I have not been a perfect father, but I did the best that I could. I don¡¯t know what to do with him anymore, Elina." Raaz wiped his own tears, looking for his wife¡¯s support.

    "I agree. Even now he doesn¡¯t show any remorse. He never loved his brother, stealing his food and calling him names even before Lith was able to walk. He is clearly unable to understand the enormity of what he did. I believe that if we allow this to continue, he will do it again. If not to Lith, to Tista. And I¡¯m not going to let him doing more harm to our family."

    She held Raaz¡¯s hand tight, searching for the strength she needed.

    "I think we should disown him. Strip him of his name and report him together with his aplices for attempted murder to the vige militia."

    "Thanks, my love." Raaz had no more tears to cry, his resolve steeled like his voice.

    "I don¡¯t think I had in me the strength to say it."

 Chapter 21 Revelations

    After those words, Orpal fell to his knees. His world was crumbling beneath his feet. All he knew, all he had nned and dreamed about, had disappeared in the space of a single word.

    Disown.

    It meant that he was dishonourably banished from his own family, leaving him with nothing he could call as his own. He had just be a nameless, penniless orphan.

    When the parents of the other boys arrived, things escted quickly. Seeing their boys broken and unconscious in a foreign house, stinking of their own feces and urines, they demanded for an exnation.

    They were all long-time friends, so it was easy for Raaz making them calm down enough to have a civil conversation.

    "You" Raaz ordered the nameless one "exin what you did."

    Despite being still shocked, he was already angry enough to return to his old self.

    "If I must go down, I¡¯ll bring them all with me. We¡¯ll share the same destiny, so I won¡¯t be alone. I refuse to be the only one to pay for this!" He thought.

    The nameless one confessed that he had always hated his brother, and how he had nned to teach him discipline and respect with the help of his friends.

    When he had finished, everyone in the room was appalled, refusing to believe those words. They had always known Orpal as a good, kind young man.

    "Lith, can you tell us what happened here exactly?"

    Lith acted like he was reluctant to leave his mother¡¯s embrace, and after a dramatic moment of pause, he stepped forward. He made sure of limping and holding his left arm, while wincing with pain at every step.

    "As you all know, my family has a lot of expenses, and my sister is ill. So, since I am quite talented in chore magic, Selia pays me to clean her house too. I give the money to my parents, to help them make ends meet."

    "I have carefully picked the words for this speech." Lith thought. "If they don¡¯t feel pity andpassion for a beaten up five years old after this sob story, these guys are full blown psychos."

    "Today miss Selia is out of town, so I was alone in here when your sons suddenly barged in and started beating me." He held out his arms, turning around to let them see how battered he was.

    "I tried to defend myself, like my dad taught me, but they were too big and too strong." Lith started sobbing again. "I had to use magic to defend myself, I was so scared! I really thought I was going to die." He returned between Elina¡¯s embrace, weeping non-stop.

    "Poor kid." Said Bromann, Rizel¡¯s father, picking up the wooden stick from his son¡¯s hand. "This piece of trash even dared using his grandfather¡¯s only memento. Elina, Raaz, Lith, I offer you my most sincere apologies. I have failed as a man and as a father, to raise such a snake in the grass. Whatever is your decision, I willply without questions. But first..."

    Bromann sshed Rizel¡¯s face with a bucket of dirty water to get him conscious.

    He needed to hear the truth from his own son. He still could not fully believe even his own eyes.

    "D... dad? What are you doing here?" Rizel held his chin that was throbbing with pain, when he suddenly recalled what had happened.

    All the eyes were on him, including Lith¡¯s. The same cold eyes, glowing with blue energy Lith had before unleashing lightnings.

    "I make the questions, young man. And if you don¡¯t want another beating or worse, you¡¯d better tell the truth. What in the gods¡¯ names were you all doing here?"

    Terrified by both his father and his tormentor, Rizel could only say the truth.

    One after the other, the four remaining boys were woken up and forced to tell the whole story. One of them tried to expose Lith¡¯s torture, but his father made him shut up with a strong p in the face.

    "Five against a little kid and you have the gall to me him for going all out? Our families are friends from generations, your actions dishonoured us all! When we get back home, I will show you what real torture is!"

    "What a moron!" Lithughed inwardly. "Their credibility is less than zero, they can tell whatever they want. It will only appear as the pathetic excuse of a criminal caught red handed."

    "Raaz, what do you want us to do?" Bromann asked.

    "I am going to disown Orpal, and then report all of them for attempted murder. I won¡¯t ask anything from you. We all know how hard is being a parent, especially in moments like this. I just wanted you to hear it from me, before I go to the vige chief."

    "I will not disown my son. Not yet at least." Bromann said. "But I can promise you that I will do nothing to defend him in any way from the consequences of his actions. And when he will be back home, I will make sure that he will never have the opportunity to harm your family again!"

    So, they all went to Lutia, where the vige chief listened to the six boys¡¯ confessions before pronouncing the sentence.

    "After hearing all the facts and testimony, I hereby sentence the six of you to four hours of pillory, where you will be shaved of all your hair and whipped ten times for your crimes. After that, you will spend three days in jail to reconsider your actions.

    Any objections?" All those present shook their heads.

    "I have a question." Lith said.

    "For me or for the prisoners, young man?"

    "For them. Can I?"

    "But off course. Ask them whatever you want."

    Lith nodded, and moved in front of Rizel.

    "Did Trion know?"

    "Off course he did!" Orpal screamed. "He is always stood by my side, unlike you, Leech." Lith ignored him.

    "Did he?"

    "No." Rizel looked at Orpal with eyes filled with disgust. "We nned everything when we were alone. Orpal said that he did not trust Trion enough. That Trion is a spineless coward, and that he feared that he could rat us out."

    "Thanks." Lith then spoke to the vige chief again. "Could you please reduce his sentence? His sincerity helps my whole family, it clears our doubts and my brother¡¯s name as well."

    "But off course! If the victims asks for mercy, how could I possibly refuse? Rizel will only receive fiveshes, and after the pillory time has passed, his family is free to bring him home. Is that okay for you?"

    Lith nodded, and Bromann shook Lith¡¯s hand while his wife was weeping with joy.

    "Thanks, Lith. That means a lot for my poor Lisa. I will not forget your kindness. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be a great man, just like your father."

    Lith waspletely satisfied with that oue.

    "I didn¡¯t know that disowning a son, especially the firstborn, was possible. Everything went even better than I imagined. Orpal¡¯s friends can¡¯t wait to get some alone time in jail with him, and once his sentence is over, he is doomed. Either someone from the vige adopts him, something that I find hard to believe, or he will be deported to the nearest orphanage. I hoped to get rid of Trion too, but maybe that¡¯s for the best. I don¡¯t think my parents can bear losing two sons at once. And between their happiness and getting even with that idiot, theye first by andslide."

    The following days were really hard for Raaz, Elina and Trion. The couple needed quite some time before oveing their grief.

    It was really hard for them to ept that the kind and bright boy that they brought up for almost twelve year was gone forever. Even worse, they started to suspect that the Orpal they knew never really existed.

    Thinking back about all the bad things he did and said over the years, he might as well have been deceiving them all along,

    Trion was the one having the hardest time. He had lost his favourite sibling and his family¡¯s trust at the same time. Despite Rizel had cleared his name, the suspicions remain. How could he have been so close to Orpal and yet never noticing anything?

    "I can¡¯t me them. In their shoes I too would think of me as either a liar or aplete idiot." Trion didn¡¯t know if tough or cry.

    Lith, Rena and Tista, instead were having the time of their life, even if they did their best to avoid their parents to notice.

    They would get more and better food, clothes and they did not have to tolerate Orpal¡¯s mean words and petty jokes anymore. Plus, there were all the gifts that five families sent them as an apology.

    Both the girls had stopped considering Orpal as a brother from the day he had proposed to get rid of Tista, calling her a cripple.

    Lith was above and beyond them, he never considered him his brother. His only worry was for his parents, so he tried to lessen their burden as much as he could.

    Lith¡¯s magic was now strong enough that he could till and plough the fields with earth magic.

    He could also hunt for much bigger preys, his aim set to deer, boars and bear, whose pelt could be sold for a pretty penny.

    The time for the spring festival was nearing, and Lith wanted some extra pocket money to buy something nice for his parents and sisters. Trion was still a stranger to him.

    The spring festival was held midspring, during the equinox, to celebrate the time when the light finally overcame the darkness and cold of winter.

    Lith was happily ying around the Trawn woods, looking for the best opportunity to kill a huge boar.

    "Dammit, it¡¯s neck and skin are too thick to break with my current level of spirit magic. Fire and thunder could easily put it down, but that would mean damaging either the pelt or the meat. I need to get creative."

    The boar movements were easy to predict, since it would always charge in a straight line By using air fusion, Lith¡¯s body was fast enough to dodge the charges with ease, as long as he managed to prevent the beast froming too close.

    "When an ox went mad, my father told me that the best way to put it down is to strike at the legs, instead of the head. Once you take away their mobility, beasts like this one are easy prey."

    At the next charge, Lith conjured a thickyer of ice before dodging. When the boar stepped on it, it lost its footing, spinning on itself like a top.

    The boar crashed against the huge oak Lith had aligned it with, its bones snapping on impact. Lith closed in enough to not miss his next shot, but always keeping a safe distance.

    "A cornered prey is the most dangerous one. Always respect the prey, never underestimate it. It only needs one hit to kill you." Lith remembered Selia¡¯s teachings.

    Lith made a finger gun, aligning it with his target before shooting an ice arrow that prated in the boar¡¯s right eye, puncturing its brain.

    The beast copsed on the ground, but Lith shot another arrow in the left eye too, just to be on the safe side.

    "Okay, dead it¡¯s dead. Now the problem is how the heck do I carry it out of the woods? My spirit magic may not be enough to carry a several hundred kilograms dead animal all the way until Selia¡¯s house. And even if I actually manage to do it, how can I exin it?"

    Lith was nervously tapping with a finger on a nearby tree, trying to find a solution before having to fight to defend his game, when the dead animal suddenly disappeared.

    "What the f*ck?!? Since when do boars vanish into thin air? Who¡¯s there?"

    He promptly activated Life Vision, scanning the surroundings in search of his enemy, but the only living beings he could find were small birds and rodents.

    "Okay, this is getting creepy, but I need to get my boar back."

    The boar appeared back, very close to Lith, making him jump away in fright.

    "Why are you messing with me? Who are you?" Lith screamed while checking out the best escape route.

    "And invisible enemy could easily kill me. Screw the boar, I need to get out of here fast." He thought.

    "There is no need to escape." A gentle feminine voice replied in his mind. "I¡¯m not your enemy, my host."

    "Okay, if you want to scare the sh*t out of me, you¡¯re doing a great job. What do you mean with host? Where the heck are you?" Lith kept looking around, the enemy somehow was untraceable even by his magical senses.

    "Stop looking around, host. I¡¯m here were you put me. Around your neck."

    Lith instinctively grabbed the pouch and threw it away. He could finally notice that both the life force and the mana flow of the stone were bigger than ever.

    Lith had always kept it in a blind spot, and since it was useless, he forgot to check it with Life Vision since the day of the ambush.

    "Okay, I hate riddles. Tell me who or what you are, or I¡¯ll leave. As much as it pains me losing such a game, it¡¯s not worth having a creepy, mysterious stone talking in my head 24/7."

    "Please, don¡¯t!" To voice turned desperate. "I¡¯ll die without my host."

    "Enough with the riddles!" Lith screamed out loud. "What the f*ck are you?"

    "Our minds are linked, it¡¯s easier to show rather than tell."

    Suddenly Lith¡¯s mind was filled with images and memories that were not his own. He could have thought of having been teleported away, if the images weren¡¯t full of holes, allowing to still see part of the woods through them.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but my powers are almost depleted, this is the best I can do."

    Lith could see a gigantic tower, whose vault was so deep to reach the bottom of the ocean, it¡¯s top so high to touch the sky. He could perceive that the whole structure was a giant magical artifact, pulsing with mana.

    At some point, the owner of the tower had died, and without his/her mana to nourish its core, the tower began to decline. Centuries passed, while the tower kept looking for its next host, using illusions to send away those it deemed not talented enough or unworthy.

    Over time, the tower spent all his powers, and to avoid death it had been forced to an extreme sacrifice.

    To prolong its existence, it started to consume its own walls, floors, everything within itself, even its memories.

    More centuries had passed, now only the tower core was left, barely the size of a pebble. It had nothing left, except its sense of self. Preferring death rather than bing a mindless tool, the tower core attempted a desperate gamble.

    It sent a signal that any being with the bare minimum magical powers to sustain its life could perceive. The clock was ticking, every second that passed, the tower core could feel its life slip away.

    When the one answering the call resulted to be a Ry, the tower core had tried tomunicate with no results. The beast mind was too different from the first host, making the mind link impossible.

    Hope was lost, the tower core could only wait for its end.

    But then a saviour arrived, saving the tower core from the beast¡¯s maw, using his own blood to bond himself with the tower core, right before it fell into a deep slumber to recover from its wounds.

    The images disappeared, leaving Lith alone with the pouch and the dead boar.

    Lith¡¯s mind was overwhelmed, incapable of any thought outside stupid jokes.

    "Does that make us married or what?"

 Chapter 22 The Stoneâ€™s Real Worth

    "Why do you say that?"

    "Well, back on my world, being bonded for life with someone you would not have any intimacy was the joke definition of marriage."

    "That¡¯s funny." The voice chuckled. "And also kind of sad."

    "Never mind the jokes. Let me get this straight: you once were a mighty artifact, full of treasures and knowledge. But now everything you had and knew is lost, and you are dimished to the size of a marble. Am I missing something?"

    "No, all your statements are correct."

    "Also, you did not pick me because of my talent or virtue, but simply because I possess, and I quote ¡¯the bare minimum magical powers to sustain your life¡¯. That makes me nothing more than an off-brand life support system."

    "That is not exact. I am now bonded with you until your death do us part."

    "That sounds more and more like marriage." Lith grunted.

    "I am no parasite, you can see me as a symbiote. We will both benefit from our rtionship."

    "How? Are you saying that if you manage to get your strength back, you will also recover your memories and magical artifacts?"

    "No, those are lost forever. I¡¯m just like you. When you grow up, can you spit back the food you have eaten in the past to pass it on someone else? No. The same applies to me."

    "Then what¡¯s in for me? The pleasure of yourpany?"

    "At the moment all I can offer you is a pocket dimension."

    "Say what?"

    "One moment, I¡¯m looking at your memories to make it easier to understand. It works like a Dungeons & Looting¡¯s Bag of Keeping."

    "That¡¯s interesting." Lith pondered. "An interdimensional space where I can store my stuff without being hindered by its weight. How big is this pocket dimension?"

    "Ten cubic metres big. It can store anything that amounts up to such volume, no matter the weight, as long as it¡¯s something inanimated."

    A cruel intuition shed in Lith¡¯s eyes.

    "Can it also store things like lightnings, fireballs or iing arrows? If so, it would be an invaluable tool for both offense and defence."

    "No." The voice killed Lith¡¯s hopes. "The pocket dimension is outside space and time, so it rejects both life and kic energy." Feeling its host disappointment, the voice added quickly.

    "This also means that whatever you store will not rot, cool down or warm up. A roasted blinker would be kept hot and tasty, frozen in the moment you finished cooking it."

    "That barely qualifies as a silver lining." Despite their chat was quite long, it was only happening inside their minds. Barely a second had passed after Lith had essed to the stone memories.

    "Whatever. At least you save me from my current predicament. Now I know how to bring the boar back, I just need a decent excuse to exin how I managed it."

    The stone mind-shrugged.

    "Keep it simple. Drop it to the edge of the woods, and tell Selia that you managed to kite it to that spot before killing it. It should be easier to believe that the truth."

    Lith nodded.

    "Resourceful and smart. The fact that our minds are linked still creeps me out, but thanks to that I can see you have no malice or hidden agenda towards me. If you really are what you say to be, I¡¯ll keep you. True loyalty is a too raremodity to turn it down when you find it. So, until I am convinced of your good faith, consider yourself on probation."

    Lith put the pouch back at his neck and the boar in the pocket dimension.

    "By the way, I can¡¯t keep calling ¡¯you¡¯ and ¡¯stone¡¯. Don¡¯t you have a name?"

    "No." The voice sounded really sad. "It¡¯s lost, like everything else."

    "Don¡¯t be a pouter. A name is just a name. You can call me Derek, Lith, host, CZ DELTA, whatever. I¡¯ll always be the same cynic, misanthropic, lying, cutthroat guy I have always been. Would you like me to name you?"

    "Yes, please." Lith had it ready since he heard the tower core¡¯s story.

    "You are supposed to be a great artifact, so I¡¯ll name you after the greatest, albeit fictional, magical forgemaster that I always admired when I was a kid. Solus."

    "Thank you, Lith. I like how it sounds. And I really appreciate you named me after someone you loved, rather than give me a pet name like Happy or Lucky."

    Lith had the odd feeling Solus was mind-blushing.

    They spent all the time on the way back chatting. Lith was really interested in understanding the limits and use of his new partner skillset.

    After assessing that both Lith and Solus could activate the pocket dimension, he proceeded to pick the right spot. It needed to be close enough to the edge of the woods and covered enough to make spotting the boar from a distance impossible.

    "There are countless things that can go wrong leaving a dead animal alone, even for a few minutes. A passerby that then ims it¡¯s his kill, a scavenger believing to have lucked out a free meal, take your pick. With my luck, I never trust the odds."

    "You trust no one." Solus turned to a t tone.

    "You bet. That¡¯s life rule #1. Rule #2 is ¡¯No good deed goes unpunished¡¯."

    Lith then used earth and wind magic to mess up the surroundings, mimicking the signs of struggle left by his previous fight with the boar.

    "Bah! All this effort and I get such a sloppy result. If Selia throws a second nce at this scene, she¡¯ll expose my lie. I can only hope the prize catches her eyes enough to not make any question."

    He then gently dropped the pouch on the ground.

    "As soon as you receive my signal, take the boar out the pocket dimension. I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy."

    Without waiting for a reply, Lith started running at full speed towards Selia¡¯s house. Once out of their mind link range (10 metres/10.9 yards), Lith could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

    "Dammit, leaving her like that was d*ck move. She surely knows the real reasons why I did it. It¡¯s hard to ept someone else in your head, reading every single of your most embarrassing thoughts and memories. Not to mention that in D&L every sentient artifact was usually a bag full of troubles, trying to mind-control the owner or something. I know that it¡¯s just fiction, but still...

    What if I just stumbled in this world¡¯s Lone Ring, like in Vasyli Bolkien¡¯s books?"

    Lith shrugged his head, his body covered in cold sweat.

    "I bet that as soon we are back together, she will have ess to this inner monologue too. F*ck my life. No pain, no gain. If she really is what she says, she¡¯s worth the risk. At least I¡¯ll have someone who finally knows the real me."

    A few minutester, Selia and Lith were approaching the drop spot, riding the two-horse cart she used to move around the heaviest goods.

    "Is it really that big to require two horses?" She asked sceptically.

    "I think one should be enough to move it once it¡¯s loaded. The second is necessary to drag it on the cart easily."

    Once Lith and Selia jumped down their ride, he gave Solus the signal. Selia detached the horses, guiding them by the bridle.

    Lith took with him the thick ropes necessary to make a harness for the boar, making it easy for the horses to drag it out of the woods and into the cart.

    When Selia saw the game with her own eyes, she whistled with approval.

    "Good gods! This thing must be around 300 kilograms (661 pounds)! You weren¡¯t boasting as usual."

    "I never boast." Lith used spirit magic to stealthily recover the pouch, while Selia was engrossed sizing the beast.

    "Please, all men do." Selia clicked her tongue. "You are not an exception. With all your magic and secrets, do you want me to believe you do not enjoy your short, dark and teethless act?" She addedughing out loud.

    "It¡¯s not my fault I have a lisp now!" Lith was pissed off by her non-stop mockery of his new voice. "Will you ever let me hear the end of it?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, I really am. It¡¯s just that your tough boy attitude is even more hrious now that you have a lisp." The first time she had heard him call her "Phelia", she hadughed hard enough to fall from her chair, hugging her belly.

    "Judging from its size, it was really close to be a magical beast. We could have sold it for a much bigger sum, it¡¯s kind of sad." She sighed.

    "Yeah, and if it was a magical beast, I would be much deader now." Lith rebuked.

    They kept bickering until the boar was safe and sound on the cart.

    Only once they got back to her house and started bleeding out the game, Selia got her business attitude back.

    "The most valuable piece is the head. If we can find a noble willing to stuff it, hang it over his firece and take the credit for the kill, we can sell it really well. The pelt and the meat are nothing special, do you have any ns about them?"

    Lith nodded. "All this meat will allow me to skip hunting for a while, so I prefer to keep and maturate it. As for the pelt, it should make a nice carpet for my parents¡¯ bedroom."

    "Always a family boy, huh?" Selia ruffled his hair, this time there was no mockery in her voice. "I¡¯m so proud of you being so considerate toward your family that I¡¯ll tan it for free. I still get half of the head price, though."

    "Perfect."

    "Good! Our best shot is with Count Lark himself. He is both loaded and very proud of his hunting skills. I must reach my contacts in his manor to test the waters. Fingers crossed!"

    Lith suffered at the idea of losing so much money, but half was better than nothing. He didn¡¯t know how to tan pelts or stuff heads, andcked both time and instruments to do it.

    And even if he did, he had no way to sell the merchandise outside his little vige.

    After Lith left Selia, he and Solus started chatting again, feigning ignorance about each other¡¯s feelings.

    "Solus, I think that your help will be invaluable to bring my martial arts training to the next level."

 Chapter 23 Heart to Hear

    Until that moment, Lith¡¯s martial training had had been really sloppy. Despite all his efforts, in a whole year of practice he had barely managed to regain the skill level of a 4th kyu of aikido (the equivalent of an orange belt for karate).

    The only aspects he had managed to step up to the 3nd kyu (the equivalent of a green belt for karate) were the footwork and the fall techniques, and that because the initial progression dependedpletely on him.

    Without a sparring partner, someone that could watch his moves and help him correct his mistakes, there was only so much that he could do.

    He could either make a mud dummy move or train himself, he was not at the point that he could do both at the same time. Making a rough mud doll perform human like movements required a lot of concentration.

    That meant that he could only put the dummies in position and then practice while they were once again still. Lith¡¯s body was even clumsier that his original one back on Earth, to make real progress he needed to be hit, to be thrown around, to practice all his moves on a moving target.

    But Lith couldn¡¯t ask for help from anyone. How could he possibly exin that he wanted to practice alien martial arts? What help could anyone give him, not even knowing the basics of the basics? That¡¯s why he usually practiced in the middle of the night.

    And Solus was the perfect solution for his problem. After further merging their minds, they had discovered new uses for the tower core. Lith had just to nt her into a mud doll to turn it into a quasi-golem, finally getting his sparring partner.

    Solus had all the human senses and more, and with Lith permission, she could consume his mana to perform spells he knew in his stead. Her nature was that of a magic tower, she was supposed to overseer countless floors and devices.

    Even in her weakened state, moving a poor excuse of a mud golem was easier than pie. Solus further improved Lith¡¯s idea, managing to make the golem¡¯s body soften at the right times, before hitting or being hit. This way she was able to put enough strain on Lith¡¯s body to train it, and avoid any possible injury by ident.

    She also had ess to all his memories, including all of his masters¡¯ teachings. Solus was able to use those memories to correct Lith¡¯s mistakes and help him improve by leap and bounds.

    Thanks to Invigoration, Lith was now able to stay awake for a whole month before his performances started declining, forcing him to rest. So, thanks to Solus, whenever he would meet a bottleneck, he would train martial arts.

    He only needed to take a short break when the fatigue became too much. Light magic would mend his muscles, making them recover and grow stronger in a matter of minutes, dissipating the umtedctic acid at the same time.

    During those moments, Lith and Solus would chat heart to heart.

    "So, what do you n to do in the future? Why do you put so much effort in all this training? Magic, martial arts, hunting. Why don¡¯t you stop from time to time, just for smelling the roses?" Solus asked.

    "Whenever I do stop, I start thinking about the future. And that scares me to death. I already know that death is a trap, forcing me to switch one hell with another.

    I don¡¯t want to live all my life in a small vige, just the idea is equivalent to the death penalty. Doing the same routine every day, in a prison without bars where I am forced to lie every single day, waiting to die and start all over again.

    I can¡¯t bear this thought. My n is to test this body¡¯s limits, get as strong as I can, so that once I reach adulthood, I will be able to explore this world, and see if it¡¯s worth living in.

    If either this body or this world meet my expectation, I will strive all my life to find a way to prevent me passing into another world after my death."

    "How?"

    "I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m still as ignorant as a baby about magic. All I know is its practical use, I have no idea if it¡¯s possible to create magical artifacts.

    But if my hypothesis is right, I could be a lich. Even better, I could find a way to bind my soul to this world, so that in case of death I would remain here, possessing the nearest avable corpse. I hope that when pushes the shove, I will also have found a way to retain both my magic core and muscle memory."

    "And what if both the world and your body fail you?"

    "In that case, I would not mind starting my journey once again. If I have to live a sh*tty life in a sh*tty world, might as well depart early.

    I¡¯ll keep moving around until I roll my 100, and get born as a perfectly healthy young master of a filthy rich family, a chosen one or whatever. Is just a matter of luck."

    "What about your family? Are you going to abandon them like that?" Lith pondered seriously about that matter.

    "Off course not. Making them lose their son, their brother for no reason, without even giving them a body to bury is too cruel, even for me. I¡¯ll stick around until my family needs me before checking out."

    Solus giggled.

    "Don¡¯t you see? Things are not actually all ck and white as you make them. When you awoke in this world, you couldn¡¯t wait to die. To ¡¯reroll¡¯ as you say.

    Then you chose to stay for the magic. Now you are willing to continue this life for someone else¡¯s sake. Give yourself some time.

    The bad people you met have reinforced your bias on life, but the good people are also slowly changing you. At the beginning you couldn¡¯t care less about Tista¡¯s life, now it¡¯s all you think about.

    You hated both Elina and Raaz even before knowing them, because of your issues with parental figures. Thy are not your parents back on Earth, this is not Earth. Give it a chance before doing something so extreme."

    "How do I know you are not telling me all this stuff only to keep your host?"

    "Easy peasy, read my mind." After checking it thrice, Lith could not find any hidden agenda or egotistical reason.

    "Dammit, all this mind-link stuff is so irritating. I cannot get out of this argument with mistrust or doubts. It¡¯s my loss. For now, at least. You are barely a month old, life will change you. It always does."

    Solus giggled again.

    "Or maybe it will change you, and you will start warming up to me. And then you will have to take care of me for your whole life, hubby."

    Lith felt a cold chill run down his spine.

    "Please, don¡¯t call me like that. I¡¯m ready to go again. Don¡¯t go easy on me!"

    "I never do." Solus replied, getting on Lith¡¯s already shaken nerves.

    Thanks to all that exercise, Lith would quickly ovee any bottlenecks, and soon he could feel the bottled-up impurities trying to find their way out again.

    Lith had pondered if it was the case of getting rid of the impurities in the same way he did for the rest of his family, but after discussing it with Solus, he decided not to.

    The purification treatment he had devised for Tista was an artificial method, and even though it gave the same benefits in term of physical appearance and resistance to illness, their magic power and physical prowess never got enhanced.

    Lith had no idea why the impurities had to travel to the mana core before getting expelled, inflicting such excruciating pain. But it was worth the cost.

    It happened during one of their sparring sessions. As soon as Lith realized what was happening, he quickly undressed himself to not taint his clothes.

    This time he offered no resistance, discovering that it wasn¡¯t so painful after all.

    Lith puked much more impurities than thest time, letting them came out of all his pores and orifices.

    The stench was so bad he was about to faint before managing to destroy them with dark magic.

    He waspletely exhausted, this time not even invigoration could replenish his energies, he needed to sleep.

    "After a bath. I stink so bad I could raise the dead." Solus ignored the obvious remark.

    "It¡¯s exactly as you remembered. Whatever happens to you, is like a sword getting tempered and purified at the same time. Both your body and mana core had undergone qualitative changes again.

    I think your potential skyrocketed, promoting you from my bare minimum requirements. You still need to work hard to develop it, though."

    And so, Lith continued his routine until the day of the spring festival came.

 Chapter 24 The Spring Festival

    It was without a doubt the worst day of the year for Lith. He would be forced to spend the full afternoon away from home, surrounded byplete strangers and robbed of any privacy or personal space during the festivities.

    All the families in the vige would gather for the festival, forgetting about all their daily problems and miseries, since everything from decorations to food and drinks were paid by Count Lark.

    He would also take part in the whole event, to keep his bonds with themunity strong and maintain his reputation of a fair Lord, instead of being just a faceless guy who collected taxes making their lives even harder.

    The festival wasprised of three parts.

    The morning would still be spent like a normal day¡¯s work, to let foreigner merchants and carnies prepare their stands and arrange their merchandise.

    In the evening the families would gather and check out the stands, searching for trinkets and jewellery to buy with their extra money to add them to their daughters¡¯ dowry.

    The food would mainly consist of appetizers, like fresh fruit and vegetables, with skewers of different kinds of meat and even exotic food, brought by Count Lark for the asion, like saltwater fishes and seafood.

    The only drinks avable would be water and light beer.

    After the sunset, huge braziers and torches would be lit all around the vige, while the Count¡¯s workers would prepare the stage for the festival main event, the election of the Spring Maiden.

    All the girls fifteen and sixteen years-old could take part in the Spring Maiden contest, which was more like a debutante ball rather than a beauty pageant.

    It was the opportunity for all the young maidens of marriageable age to show off their beauty and virtues, in hope to catch the attention of as many suitors as possible.

    The judges of the Spring Maiden contest were always the same, Count Lark, the vige chief and Nana.

    After the election, the real food would be brought out, with lots of roasted animals, soups and caramelised fruits. Both pure and watered wines would be avable, raising the spirits for the finale.

    Thest part consisted of a ball, encouraging the eligible bachelors to approach one or more maidens that may have caught their eye.

    Each part would affect Lith¡¯s mood differently. The first would cause extreme boredom, tempered by the fact that he was still allowed of moving alone.

    The second was akin to torture. He would be forced to sit on his father shoulders, staring for hours at a bunch of little girls he did not give a damn about.

    The third was the best one, but only because it was very short. After some dancing, his parents were too tired to remain any longer, and would finally bring him back home. None of their children was yet of marrying age, so they had no reason to linger.

    For the first time in his new life, Lith had some money in his pocket, so he could check out the carnival games that offered the best prizes.

    "They cheat, I cheat. Let¡¯s y this fair and square."

    Using spirit magic he won a beautiful stuffed bear for Tista, beating a ring toss game rigged by unbnced rings. From a crossbow shoot game he got a silver coated hairb for Rena. All he needed to do was to use two strands of spirit magic, one to guide the dart to his target, the second to force it to crumble. Last, but not least, a silk ribbon for his mother from a Wheel of Fortune stand.

    The carnies were bbergasted, but trying to bully a local child in front of so many vigers, not to mention Count Lark, would have earned them nothing more than the beating of a lifetime and a permanent ban from every event in the county of Lustria.

    They started to keep an eye on him, but Lith was not greedy and left after getting the three prizes. He actually wanted something for Raaz too, but all they had were feminine products.

    The carnies hoped to lure the young boys into wasting their money, trying to impress the girls with expensive presents they could not afford without gambling.

    After distributing the presents, Lith searched for Nana, he wanted to have a chat about magic with an expert. He found her sitting on a bench near her house.

    The first thing he did was looking at her with Life Vision. Her mana flow was way bigger than Lith¡¯s, but her life force was weaker than Tista¡¯s.

    Nana was a over sixty years old woman, but she looked like an eighty-year-old Earth woman. Her back was so hunched that she needed a cane to walk properly.

    She had sharp grey eyes, a face full of wrinkles and a big aquiline nose. Nana always wore a shawl over her head, to avoid her long grey hair bothering her during work.

    At a first look she seemed an inconspicuous olddy, but when you got near, you could feel the raw strength exuding from her body.

    "Must have had a rough life." Solusmented.

    "Hello, Nana. How are you?" Lith asked politely.

    "Hello to you, little imp. You sure are growing fast, aren¡¯t you?" Just like Elina had noticed back in winter, Tista and Lith were growing taller and slender than their peers. The same was happening to Rena too, after she had received Lith¡¯s treatment.

    Lith was already over 1.1 meters (1¡¯8¡¯¡¯) high, his shoulders broad like he yed water polo.

    Lith nodded. "Yes, I do. Can I ask you a question?"

    "As long it¡¯s not about my age, be my guest." Nanaughed.

    "Nana, are you a strong magician?" Nana was surprised, the question not very childlike.

    "Yes, I am. When I was still a young girl, I even got a schrship for the prestigious Lightning Griffin academy, and I managed to graduate without any problem." Nana straightened up proudly, remembering her years of glory.

    "Then how did you end up being a healer in Lutia?"

    "How tactful of you, Lith!" Solus rebuked him.

    "Children are allowed to be rude. It¡¯s one of their few privileges."

    Nana¡¯s mood turned gloomy.

    "You see, Lith, in this world there aremoners, nobles and mages. A strong mage has a status on par with the nobles, depending on his/her magic power. Back then I was very strong, but not a genius. Sadly, I was also stupid and na?ve, so I made some very bad choices and ended up alone, without anyone backing me. I had only two options left. Either submit to a powerful noble or living free with the status of a healer. Guess what I picked?"

    Lith became gloomy too, the idea of losing everything after working so hard for it made his future look even scarier.

    "There, there kid!" Nana brightened up. "Let¡¯s not spoil the mood and enjoy the festival."

    After leaving Nana alone, Lith thought back at her words about his growth, and stopped in front of a mirror on disy, watching his reflection.

    He could only sigh in resignation.

    "No matter how many impurities I expel, I managed to fail even at the gene pool lottery. I took so much from my dad and so little from my mom.

    When I look at myself while brooding, rather than cool I like some kind of psycho kid escaped from juvie. If I smile, now that I miss so many teeth, I¡¯m not even cute. Even all dressed up, I could barely pass for a street urchin from one of Dicken¡¯s novels."

    Solus tried to brighten him up, but to no avail.

    Later in the evening, Count Lark introduced to the vige elders his guest of honour.

    "Chief Yurok, sage Nana, allow me to introduce you the young Ricker Trahan, son of my dear friend, bar Lokar Trahan. This youngd is a really talented magician, that in the future will bring glory to our county." Count Lark was a magic enthusiast, always trying to sponsor promising youths from hisnd.

    "Nice to meet you, young man." The vige chief saluted him with a polite bow, expecting the other to offer him his hand or at least reply to the bow.

    Ricker instead kept looking around, his eyes filled with contempt.

    "The pleasure is mine." He replied with a cold tone.

    "Ricker, where are your manners?" Count Lark rebuked him mildly. "Sage Nana was a powerful and renowned magician in her youth. Feel free to ask her for advice. Her experience could prove invaluable to ovee any difficulty you may encounter during your studies."

    "I have no doubt about that, my Lord." Ricker bowed this time, but to Count Lark.

    Nana had seen enough nobles in her life to recognize the type. A high and mighty young master, pampered enough to believe that only nobles could achieve greatness.

    The people of the vige were having a hard time tolerating so much disrespect towards their elders, but for the Count¡¯s sake they limited themselves to angry whispers.

    "Oh, oh, oh! You got yourself another spunky one, dear Lark." Nanaughed without any warmth.

    Ricker shuddered at suchck of respect, the old bat calling the Count by his first name without honorifics. But he knew that Lark was a sucker for magicians, and judging from her attitude, he had granted the old bat the right to do so.

    "He has every right to be proud, dear Nana. Next year he will turn twelve and apply for a Lighting Griffon¡¯s academy schrship, and with a little luck he will enrol just like you did back in the day!"

    Ricker failed to repress his amazement, knitting his eyebrows at Nana.

    "By the gods, how could such amoner get admitted into the academy?" He thought. "She must have cheated her way in, no doubt."

    "Really?" Replied Nana with exaggerated enthusiasm "Why don¡¯t you ask him to show us what he is capable of?"

    Count Lark dly epted, and per his request soon was set up a one meter (3¡¯3¡¯¡¯) high stump with a head of lettuce on its top.

    Ricker had to stay at least 10 metres (11 yards) away from it and knock it down. It was a very basic exercise for anyone who wanted to be a magician, often use to quickly get rid of unworthy candidates.

    Only those with real talent for magic were able to use chore magic at such range. For normal people, magic had a range of a metre or two.

    To learn something outside chore magic, one had to either enrol in a magic academy or buy very expensive books.

    "Young man, do your best!" Count Lark¡¯s voice was full of enthusiasm.

    Ricker had done that exercise countless times, but always alone. This time he was surrounded bymoners, clearly hoping to watch him fail and get the chance to ridicule him.

    Even worst, count Lark was putting a lot of pressure on him. In Ricker eyes this wasn¡¯t a simple test, but a matter of life and death.

    Feeling countless eyes on him, he lost his concentration while performing the hand signs and stuttered the magic word.

    "I-Infiro!"

    He produced a chestnut big fireball, that almost missed the lettuce. Yet with a small boom the head of lettuce got knocked off.

    No one apuded except for count Lark.

    More than one "That¡¯s it?" could be heard among the crowd.

    Nana walked slowly to the vegetable, bringing it back for the Count to examine.

    "He messed a few key hand signs, stuttered the magic word, and missed the lettuce entirely. It only got knocked off because of the explosion." Nana remarked coldly.

    "I would not keep my hopes up, Lark. When I was his age, I was able to actually hit my target without performing signs nor using magic words. They admitted me only because of my perfect silent magic." Nana¡¯s grey eyes were staring at Ricker in contempt.

    "Well, he is still young, that¡¯s why I brought him to you. He has another full year to prepare for the exam. There is still time to fix the small mistakes. I was hoping you could mentor him."

    "I would be d to, I really would. But between the vigers and my disciple, I already have my hands full. I¡¯m too old to take care of two youths, and my apprentice takes precedence. As you know, a magician¡¯s word is her bond."

    "You have an apprentice?" Count Lark was shocked no one had informed him about such critical matter.

    "Yes." She nodded, smiling in Ricker face.

    "He learned to read and write and the age of three, and by that time he had already learned chore magic all by himself."

    "Marvelous!" Count Lark excitement was a p in Ricker¡¯s face.

    "Yeah, he is also my disciple." Selia stepped forward, adding fuel to the fire. She and Nana politely detested each other, but between her and a stuck-up obnoxious brat, she would always choose the devil she knew.

    "He hunts in the Trawn woods from the age of four. Even if he can only hunt blinkers and critters, he would never miss a moving target, let alone some deadweight lettuce."

    She then whispered to the count¡¯s ear: "He is actually the you-know-who that provided the you-know-what."

    "Fantastic! Excellent! When can I meet him?" His monocle jumped out of his eye orbit from the happiness.

    Ricker was on the verge of exploding out of anger.

    "Can¡¯t he see they are just leading him by the nose? How can someone with such a high social status like the Count trust even one word from thesemoners?

    Lying and cheating is in their nature. They are just trash, trying to stoop us at their level to make themselves feel better about their pathetic lives! If that old bat is a magician, then I am the crowned prince.

    Why do I have to bear with all her nonsense? And howe even a gut-stinking hunter can freely speak to a Count? This evening could not turn any worse. How the heck I managed to let my father convince me toe to this pigsty?"

    "Here he is!" Bromann shouted triumphantly, forcefully dragging Lith by his arm.

    He had no idea what was happening. Lith was with his family, nibbling at a caramelized apple, when Bromann appeared out of the blue, babbling about the vige honour or something.

    Too many eyes were on him, Lith¡¯s intuition told him that something was wrong, so he decided to y it close to the vest.

    "Count Lark, I¡¯m honoured to meet you." It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand that the overdressed beanpole with the monocle had to be the lord of thend.

    Lith greeted him cupping his fist, performing a deep bow. He then proceeded greeting the vige chief, Nana and Selia, making his bow deep ording to the respect they deserved.

    Lastly, he turned towards the ill looking kid standing next to the Count. He had to be around ten years old, 1.4 metres (4¡¯8") high. He was wearing a silk white shirt over high-end leather pants. His face was all red and sweaty, like he had either run for his life or been bitten by a venomous snake.

    The situation made no sense to Lith, but since no one seemed worried about the kid¡¯s health, Lith did what he was supposed to.

    "Greetings, honourable guest. I hope you enjoy your visit in our vige." Lith cupped his fist again, making only a small bow. He had no idea who that kid was, and Ricker could not find the strength to introduce by himself.

    The Count seemed to havepletely forgot about his existence.

    "Oh, oh, oh!" Nanaughed. "See, Lark? Manners. That¡¯s something so many youngstersck nowadays."

    Lith kept looking around, waiting for someone to exin what was happening.

    "Can I be of assistance?" He asked.

    Ricker once again needed all his willpower to prevent himself from throwing a fit of rage.

    "This is their prodigy? A toothless bum? I should ask the Count to whip them all to death for their tant lies! Simply outrageous!"

    "Yes, Lith." Selia stepped in again. "Count Lark loves magic in all its kinds and forms, and I was just telling him about how you kill blinkers without ruining even a feather. Would you mind to show him?"

    She took out a wooden stick, holding it up for the Count and everyone else to see.

    Lith sighed with relief.

    "All this fuss for chore magic? They almost gave me a heart attack. If it¡¯s just to entertain some bored nobles, why not? If the vige thrives, so will my family."

    "Brezza!" After twirling twice his middle and medium finger, a small vortex enveloped the stick. Outwardly it was just like the ones every housewife used daily to clean their houses, but looking at it closely one could notice that it was actually two different vortexes, one spinning clockwise and the other counter clockwise.

    This way the spell applied a huge strain to the stick in the point where the two vortexes connected, causing it to break almost instantly.

    Lith had invented it after Selia had started bothering him too much about how he killed the blinkers. He could not show her spirit magic, so he came up with this trick.

    Ricker wanted to rebut saying that Lith was standing barely a meter (1.1 yards) away from the stick, but even he knew how hard it was to use two different spells at the same time. He also knew that such an objection would be met by the old bat requesting him to do the same. And he had no idea how to.

    Nana waved her hand, and a viger put another head of lettuce on the stump.

    "Lith, be a dear and knock that out, please."

    Lith was getting more and more confused. The Count now had stars in his eyes, looking at him like some mythical beast had descended from the heavens, while the noble kid was as pale as a ghost.

    "What the heck is going on here? Why the Count is so engrossed by cheap magic? And why no one cares about that poor kid? Whatever he has is getting worse."

    Lith shrugged before flickering his middle finger while saying: "Jorun!"

    An ice dart hit the lettuce dead center, making it roll a few meters away.

    "Without using hand signs!" The count gasped, his voice so faint that Lith could not hear him.

    "Onest thing, dear Lith. If you manage to indulge this poor olddy, I will treat you and all your family for free until you start your apprenticeship. Are you willing to humour me onest time?"

    Lith had no need to think before epting. Despite his best efforts, Tista still needed constant care. From time to time they had still to seek for Nana¡¯s help and it wasn¡¯t cheap.

    Nana smiled, full of confidence enough for the both of them.

    "Bromann, toss one of those as high as you can."

    Bromann threw a head of lettuce with a lob shot, sending it about three meters (10") high. When it reached its peak, Nana made a simple gesture, cutting the air horizontally with her extended hand and fingers, conjuring ten ice darts.

    Five struck its left side, five the right side. When the head of lettuce started falling, Nana cut the air again, this time vertically, splitting it evenly in four parts.

    Then she simply opened her palm toward the sky, conjuring four small vortexes that brought down the four pieces slowly.

    "Damn! Not only Nana¡¯s mana flow is still superior to mine, but her skill level is above and beyond my expectations. I could probably achieve the same result, but I¡¯d need both hands and something more than just a casual wave of the hand.

    Now I understand why everyone in the vige holds her in such high regard. She is likely to be the reason why the vige of Lutia is so peaceful. If she can do so much with simple chore magic, I can¡¯t imagine what she can do with a real spell." Lith thought.

    "Now is your turn. Bromann!"

    Another head of lettuce, another lob shot.

    Lith knew it wasn¡¯t a contest, he wasn¡¯t supposed to perform as good as Nana.

    Until Lith could get a clear picture of how much talent was considered good, how much to be considered a genius level and how much for the "burn that monster"bel, he had to y it safe.

    When the shot reached his peak, Lith made hands signs with both hands shouting "Jorun!", conjuring four ice darts, two per side. When the lettuce started to fall, he used "Brezza" to cut it unevenly in half, using it again to summon two vortexes to bring the pieces down. Once again, they were rotating in opposite directions, the phenomenon highlighted by the slowly spinning lettuce.

    "In for a penny in for a pound. They already know I can do it, if I have to entertain the Count, might as well do it with a little swag."

    The crowd exploded into an apuse, soon joined by and ecstatic Count Lark that still could not believe his own eyes.

    Nana sent Lith away to his parents, reassuring him that she would keep her side of the bargain, before speaking again to Ricker Trahan.

    "And that, young man, is what real talent for magic look like!"

    Ricker could not hear her, thought. Back when Nana had showed her skill, he had fainted standing up.

    His mind could not ept that all the certainties he had grew up with, had proven to be nothing more than convenient lies.

 Chapter 25 Ambush

    After the end of the spring festival, nothing major happened, and Lith¡¯s life returned to his usual routine.

    Solus proved to be of invaluable help for his magical training. Despite having lost all her past knowledge and being quite na?ve in the ways of life, she was by far the brighter of the two.

    Solus was not limited to the humans¡¯ five senses, but actually had twelve. Solus was certain that by regaining her powers she would be able to awaken even more.

    Solus¡¯ sense of mana helped Lith to better understand thews of magic that determined the innate talent and the mana capacity.

    Her mana sense was simr to Lith¡¯s Life vision, but much more profound and urate. Solus could see the mana flowing even from des of grass or pebbles. When looking at someone, she was immediately able to grasp their magic talent.

    Even more important, she was able to use her mana sense even on Lith¡¯s memories. ording to Solus, all the information needed for the mana sense were also contained in the visible spectrum, but the humanscked the means to interpret them.

    "When you were on Earth, you had no mana core. Your native world had basically no mana at all. The same thing happened on the alien spaceship.

    But when you were born here, you started with a very little blood red mana core. By absorbing and processing the world energy with your breathing technique, you managed to develop it from red to orange."

    "Four years of unrelenting practice just to promote it to the next rank?" Lith was quite depressed by the news.

    "Not quite. Your mana core also keeps changing and developing as you grow up, and this happens to everyone else too. At the moment of your birth, Tista¡¯s mana core was already field poppy red, and turned brighter every year. Right now it¡¯s light orange, and it would not surprise me if after her final growth spurt it turned yellow, or even green. She seems to be fairly talented for magic."

    "And that where does it leave me?" Lith kept feeling worse about himself. "Am I really aplete failure in everything? Looks, talent, can¡¯t I do one thing right?"

    "Stop moping around and listen to me. You keep forgetting that you are two years younger and I have no idea if males and females develop their mana cores at different rates. Also your constantly skipping steps makes hard for me to understand what your base talent is. After every cycle of expansion andpression, your mana core would turn one shade brighter. Every time you expel impurities from your mana core, it skips to the next level. Right now is deep green."

    "Is it me, or this mana core strength seems to be somehow rted to the light spectrum?" Lith pondered. "A prism can break down white light in its basicponents: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple."

    "Agreed." Solus mind nodded. "But it could also somehow be rted to fire. mes follow the same principle, a yellow star is colder than green one and so on. Our real question is: Is the final step for a mana core to turn purple or white?"

    Lith shook his head.

    "I¡¯m starting to get a head splitting headache. We¡¯ll face this like I did for college back on Earth, one exam session at a time. Even back there, if I started to think about all the exams that I had to pass to get my degree, only to start right back for my master, I would go into a deep depression." The memory made him shudder.

    "So let¡¯s focus on the present. I¡¯m deep green, what about Nana?"

    "She is the only person with a light cyan mana core. To be born with such talent, she is really impressive."

    "Is there anyone else talented in the vige?" Lith had to be aware of the possiblepetition.

    "No. The ill kid count Lark brought along had a bright yellow mana core, but I don¡¯t think he lives close by."

    Lith sighed, all that information overwhelming him. For so many years he had deluded himself into thinking he was special, stronger than anyone else.

    Now he felt like the proverbial frog in the well, finally discovering the vastness of the sea.

    "Enough moping around, let¡¯s roll up our sleeves and work hard. Nothing that¡¯s worth havinges easy."

    Lith and Solus kept practicing together for the whole year, growing closer and closer like fraternal twins.

    Lith¡¯s birthday was on fall, but all major activities in the vige would be suspended until the next spring. Since Nana¡¯s offer was to rece the two years public school with an apprenticeship, Lith too had to wait until spring to begin his magical education.

    In thete winter the weather cleared, and the trades between the vige and the farm houses became more and more frequent.

    Thanks to this, Nana was able to let Lith know the date she had set for starting his apprenticeship, entrusting the message to one of his neighbours that hade to her to heal a nasty wound suffered while repairing the roof.

    When the day came, Lith woke up early, determined to keep his routine of cleaning both his house and Selia¡¯s before going to the vige.

    The huntress had done so much for him that Lith considered her as an aunt. A stingy, nagging one that would make rip-off deals, but an aunt nheless.

    That morning the house was in turmoil. All his loved ones were so excited at the idea of having a future mage in the family, to be barely able to eat their breakfast, spending all their time and energies giving him unwanted and obvious advices.

    "Do not bete. Is better getting a little early rather thante."

    "Be obedient and respectful. Nana is giving you a great chance!"

    The reason why everyone was on edge was that despite they considered the first day to be of vital importance, Lith he had to go to the vige alone.

    The house was in dire need of repairs, and with Orpal gone they needed all hands on deck to also take care of the fields and animals.

    Lith didn¡¯t mind it at all, it was just a thirty minutes¡¯ walk that he had done countless times. Raaz and Elina, though, felt like they were abandoning their child in his hour of need.

    Lith rushed out of his house, to escape from that barrage of worries. He had been very calm about the apprenticeship, it wasn¡¯t his first rodeo, afterall.

    But they had managed to make him nervous like a teenager at his first date. After finishing the chores at Selia¡¯s house and collecting his usual payment, Lith restlessly looked at the sun.

    "Dammit, it¡¯s still barely dawn. And here I was, shuddering in fear. I still have a lot of time."

    Lith walked briskly toward the vige, hoping that at his arrival Nana would at least be already up. Arriving so early to give her the wake up call would have been quite embarrassing.

    When he arrived midway, Lith noticed something odd. There was a horseman standing on the side of the road.

    It was already unusual finding a stranger so early in the morning, but what really rmed him was that the man wasn¡¯t moving. Whoever he was, he was clearly on patrol.

    As soon the horseman noticed Lith, he took out a silvery whistle from under his shirt, emitting a high-pitched noise.

    Lith kept moving forward, but slowly, ready to react at any moment.

    Soon the scout was joined by four other horsemen, and they started trotting toward Lith in an arrowhead formation.

    Lith stopped moving, many spells ready at hand.

    "Kid, are you Lith? Son of Raaz and Elina?" Said the horseman on point. He was a middle-aged man, with brown hair and eyes. He had perfectly trimmed moustaches, and everything from his straight up posture to hismanding tone identified him a military of some sort.

    Looking carefully, all the horsemen had the same vibe, marching perfectly aligned. Yet they wore casual clothes, white shirts over leather hunting pants.

    "Isn¡¯t a little earlier to go out without the matching leather jacket?" Lith thought. "Unless off course they need to avoid showing any household insignia."

    "Who are you, mister? My mother always tells me that I am not supposed to talk to strangers." Lith decided to stall for time, while he and Solus checked their surroundings for lookouts or possible reinforcements still in hiding.

    "I perceive only five human males, above average physical strength, deep red mana cores." Solus reported. It was the same thing Lith had determined using Life Vision, but four eyes were better than two.

    "I ask the questions, kid. Are you the Lith that is supposed to start his apprenticeship today?"

    Lith grimaced.

    "Whoever sent this hired muscle, knows way too much about me."

    "I am." Lith retorted fiercely. "And it¡¯s none of your business."

    "I¡¯m here to give you a friendly advice, son. Today you are feeling very ill, and it¡¯s best for you to go back home and stay in bed all day."

    Lith anger started to grow and he didn¡¯t care about hiding it.

    "I¡¯m feeling perfectly fine, thank you. Now scram!"

    The five men lowered their hands to the weapons hanging from their belts, the reins held tight ready to the charge.

    "Last chance, kid. Turn back now. I know you have such a pretty house and such a beautiful mom. Not to mention two gorgeous sisters ripe for the taking. It would be really sad if something bad happened to them."

    Lith released such a powerful killing intent aura, that the horses took a step back. The hair on the horsemen¡¯s neck suddenly standing up.

    "I wanted to y this nice and slow, but I just changed my mind."

    With a sweep of his right hand, five wind des struck the horses¡¯ legs, making them whine in pain while copsing on their sides.

    "Now you cannot retreat anymore."

    The man with the moustaches and his right-hand man managed to dismount with a roll, avoiding getting crushed by the falling horse. The other three weren¡¯t so skilled.

    "Kill him! Go! Go! Go!"

    "Kneel!" Lith voice was cold, his words fell on the two men like boulders, making them instantly fall on their knees.

    Lith¡¯s spirit magic was stronger than ever, and he wasn¡¯t holding back even one bit.

    "What the heck? Sarge, I can¡¯t get up!" Screamed the right-hand man struggling on the ground.

    "I never allowed you to talk or to look at me. I said kneel!" Another wave, even stronger than the previous one, pushed their heads toward the ground.

    Despite dropping their weapons to absorb the impact with their hands, they still hit the ground so hard that they started to bleed.

    "Much better. Now let me dispose of the garbage before resuming our talk." Lith walked over the closest horseman, still under his horse, the leg stuck and broken, making him scream and wince in pain.

    With a wave of the hand, turned both their heads 180¡ã, the necks snapping like a dry log tossed into the fire.

    "Stay away! Stay away from me, monster!" Screamed the next in line, crying in desperation.

    "Am I a monster? Wasn¡¯t you the one ready to burn a house full of innocents, to r*pe a barely eight years old child?" Without waiting for his reply, Lith clenched his fist, distorting the man¡¯s head before making it implode like a walnut.

    "Please, please! It¡¯s not my fault! Have mercy! I was just following orders!" Said a blonde, handsome youth trying to free his trapped leg.

    "Just following orders... I could lecture you about the many atrocities that men like you did with such an excuse. But you see, I¡¯m just the same. I¡¯m just following orders too! Mine to be precise!" A fire bolt struck both horse and rider, turning them into a pyre, screaming in agony.

    Lith returned to the kneeling men. They were still struggling to escape his control, their faces pales as ghosts, gritting their teeth while exerting every ounce of their strength.

    "I¡¯m sorry." Lith said with a cherubic smile, while letting them raise their heads. "But my Puppet Master spell isn¡¯t so simple. It takes more than a touch of strength and a spoonful of wishful thinking to escape from it."

    The two men wanted to beg for mercy, but their mouths refused to open. It was like their teeth were fused to each other.

    "Now, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don¡¯t need both of you. And between the pack leader and ackey, the choice is obvious. The good news is that I allow you to speak. Anyst words?"

    "Please, don¡¯t! I just married, I needed the prize money from my Lord! My wife is expecting a child! I could not allow to lose my position."

    Lith emitted a cruel, joylessugh.

    "We¡¯ll have to agree to disagree. You say wife, yet all I can hear is widow."

    Lith put his left hand on the man¡¯s head, turning it into a block of ice.

    It fell to the ground, shattering into countless shards of bones, skin and brain matter.

    The man with the moustaches started to puke uncontrobly, but his mouth was still tight shut. Some barf managed to escape from his nose, the rest he was forced to gulp it down over and over, to avoid chocking.

    Lith raised his hand, making the man with the moustaches float in mid-air upside down, so that he could watch him straight in the eyes.

    "And now, you have only two choices. You can tell me what I want and die without suffering too much. Or you can keep resisting, suffering through unimaginable pain and agony before telling me what I want to know. You have free will after all."

 Chapter 26 Truth

    At those words the man steeled his resolve, recovering the courage worthy of a soldier that had looked death in the eyes many times on the battlefield.

    When Lith allowed him to speak, he wasn¡¯t afraid anymore.

    "I am knight, my honour lies with my Lord! I will never betray his trust, you filthy mongrel!"

    "Oh my, you¡¯re so helpful! Thanks to your friend there, I already knew there is a Lord behind the ambush. But I thought you were just mercenaries. Are you telling me you are actual knights? Maybe his personal guard?"

    Realizing his mistake, the knight bit his tongue, literally, trying to die before letting anything else slip out his mouth.

    "Tsk, tsk! Not so fast!"

    Lith froze him in ce again, forcing the teeth away from the tongue before healing it with light magic.

    "You are way dumber than you look." Lith never stopped smiling, talking to him with the calm a collected manner a mother would use with a small child.

    "I¡¯ll spell it out for you. Not even death can save you from me. I can take you apart, piece by piece, and then put you back together, like the flesh puppet you are."

    Lith¡¯s eyes lost any trace of humanity, his voice exuded only hatred and rage.

    "But if it¡¯s pain that you want, I can give you plenty."

    Lith clenched his fist, and suddenly the knight felt hisher regions squeezed and crushed, like into a vise. The knight¡¯s eyes filled with tears, his mouth was only able to emit gargling sounds.

    Lith would release the grip from time to time, giving him some rest, before twisting and turning his hand and so the knight¡¯s gonads.

    "Are you ready to talk?" The knight was still in so much pain he could barely understand his words.

    "No? Not a problem, I just wanted to test my new and improved gue Arrow."

    After a bolt of darkness hit the knight in the chest, Lith released him from the Puppet Master grip, letting him sprawl on the ground.

    "One."

    Before the knight could start looking for his weapon, he found himself shivering in cold, while his teeth were rattling uncontrobly.

    "Two."

    He ended curling up, hugging himself trying to find some precious warmth.

    "Three."

    Suddenly the cold was gone, the knight started sweating bullets. He felt terribly hot, like when he had been forced to stay on guard for hours under the scorching summer sun.

    "Four, five."

    He felt suffocating, so he tore away his shirt, gasping for air. The knight¡¯s throat was so parched that he started gulping down handfuls of snow, thanking the gods for its fresh relief.

    "Six, seven."

    Then it was like his blood had started flowing in reverse, all his body was coursing with pain. The whole world had be the knight¡¯s enemy. The ground hurt his skin, the snow his throat, the light his eyes. There was no safe position he could find, he could only switch from one torture to another.

    "Eight, nine."

    The knight¡¯s veins were full of poison, his own saliva tasted like acid. The knight started to puke uncontrobly, until nothing but bile remained inside his intestines.

    "And ten! Ready to talk now?" Lith dispelled the gue Arrow using light magic.

    "Please, no more. No more! If you waste any more hours you¡¯ll y right into their hands!" The knight was barely alive, but at least had a sliver of hope. By enduring all that torture he now had a bargain chip.

    "Hours?" Lithughed.

    "I killed your soldiers in what, three minutes? Barely another minute has passed since you told me about your knighthood. Even rounding that up, it make five minutes at worst. What hours are you talking about?"

    The knight was shocked, that couldn¡¯t be right. He looked at the sun, searching for a proof to expose that cruel lie.

    But the sun was still raising over the horizon.

    "Gods have mercy, how can all that pain and miseryst a minute? It seemed hours long."

    "You really are stupid." Lith paralyzed him again. "It¡¯s a minute from the moment you tried to bit your tongue off. The gue Arrowsted barely ten seconds. Didn¡¯t you hear me counting out loud?"

    "It seems that the gue Arrow distorted his sense of time." Solus was studying the specimen¡¯s body reaction to the new spell. "Hisck of mana must have allowed the dark energy to reach his brain, altering his perceptions."

    Lith was on cloud nine, it was all too perfect.

    "I¡¯ll ask you only a second time. Are you ready to talk?"

    The knight¡¯s mind broke down, forgetting all about his vows and his honour. All he wanted was the pain to stop. Even death seemed alluring inparison.

    So, he told Lith everything. About how after being humiliated during the spring festival, Ricker Trahan had reconsidered Nana¡¯s worth.

    He had understood howcking his preparation was, and had be determined on bing her only apprentice.

    After taking the matter to his father, Bar Trahan had exined to his stupid son the enormity of his mistake. Nana held a huge grudge against nobles, and since they had started off in the worst possible way, begging or bribing her would be useless.

    The only option avable was to remove thepetitor out of the picture, hoping that Nana would be willing to rece one pupil with another more reliable.

    The reason why they ambushed Lith was the same that prevented Bar Trahan from coercing Nana to do his bidding. He could not afford to make her angry, otherwise the whole Trahan household would be wiped out.

    Despite Nana¡¯s fallen status in the mage association had stripped her of most of her privileges and authority, she was still a member nheless.

    In the County of Lustria she held an authority equal if not superior to that of Count Lark himself, and that meant that she was free to execute lesser nobles like them on a whim.

    Nana would not even need to justify herself for such an action, just exin her reasons to the association by writing a letter. A mere formality.

    That was why Bar Trahan had sent his personal guard on an undercover mission. He had stressed countless times the importance of not creating a fuss.

    Nana should nevere to suspect anything.

    Their orders were to make Lith drop off from his apprenticeship by intimidating and threatening him. If none of the above worked, their job was to make him disappear without leaving any trace.

    "During the spring festival, Nana told me that powerful magicians are like nobles, but I never expected that she actually was such terrifying existence. Seems like my choice of bing a mage has much more ramifications that I imagined.

    Status of a noble, even a frigging mage association! All this stuff is giving me a headache. Now, what to do with this dirtbag?"

    It was a rhetorical question, but Solus replied anyway.

    "Disposing of the bodies would backfire on us. If we want to make this Bar pay, we need the bodies and some proof that links him to the ambush."

    Lith mind nodded. "My same thought exactly."

    "Last question. Where are the leather jackets with the Trahan family crest?"

    "W-we left them at home. We could not allow anyone to notice us, it would mean implicating the Bar."

    The knight was terrified. Lith¡¯s eyes were turning ck, glowing with dark energy.

    "Wait! The whistles! We brought along the silver hunting whistles the Bar gifted us when we swore our allegiance to him! They bear his family crest too!"

    "Thanks, a deal is a deal." Lith double tapped the knight¡¯s head with ice arrows, killing him painlessly.

    He then collected all the whistles from the dead bodies, taking care of erasing the traces of his spirit magic.

    "Those twisted necks and imploded head could rise too much questions. Let¡¯s cover our traces. I simply need to cut off the former and freeze thetter."

    After that, Lith used air fusion to rush toward the vige. Being forced to wake up Nana was now thest of his worries, he wanted revenge.

    Air fusion allowed him to reach a speed of 60 km/h (37mph), so he arrived in less than two minutes, but once at the vige¡¯s outskirts he had to cancel the spell.

    "I can¡¯t allow anyone to see the fastest kid alive. Damn, I want those books so bad! I need to know if spirit and fusion magic are of public knowledge or still unknown. I can¡¯t risk exposing my aces in the hole unless is a matter of life and death."

    Lith kept running until he could spot Nana¡¯s house on the distance, and when he saw a luxurious stagecoach right in front of her door, he pushed the pedal to the metal.

    "Lady Nerea, I beg of you, be reasonable. Consider the bigger picture!"

    Lith could not hear from that distance, and even if he could, he was too focused closing in to pay attention. Solus had no such problems. In thest year she had not acquired new abilities, but her senses had be much keener.

    "A farm boy has so many things to take care of. Magic is a strict mistress that demands time and resources, all things that my dear son can provide aplenty."

    "I¡¯m sorry, dear Bar." Nana¡¯s voice was polite but devoid of any warmth. Her hands were clutching so hard on her cane to turn white.

    "A magician word is her bond. I¡¯ll wait for Lith all day, if necessary. And in my opinion raw talent and a sincere disposition are much more important foundations for a magician.

    Things that your son is clearlycking. Or do we want to pretend that his rude words and acts during the spring festival never happened? I may be old, but my memory has yet to fail me."

    Ricker Trahan was pale as a ghost. So far, his father¡¯s n didn¡¯t seem to work. They had spent thest half hour in a one-sided negotiation.

    If everything failed, he knew that his father would skin him alive in case he didn¡¯t manage to enrol in the Lightning Griffon academy.

    Bar Trahan had invested countless resources to give his son all the books and teachers he could afford.

    The idea of all that money and efforts, wasted because of Ricker¡¯s arrogant ignorance while dealing with the best magician in the County, was enough for the Bar to disown Ricker.

    "Ah ah ah! Now let¡¯s not be so hasty, Lady Nerea. It¡¯s normal making mistakes when we are young. The important is to learn from them and never repeat them.

    I know that Ricker has quite a temper, and I apologize for his behaviour. I can assure you he is terribly sorry for what he did"

    Ricker had never felt so humiliated. They kept talking about him like he was not there.

    "Also please, consider that punctuality and reliability are very important when walking the path of magic. Yet I do not see this Lith anywhere near, while my son is right here.

    Don¡¯t you think that maybe a farm boy cannot understand the privilege you are granting him? Life in the wilds is very hard on the youths, I honestly fear his parents had not the opportunity or the time to impart him a proper education.

    I can understand your position, you gave him your word and knew him for so long. But I can¡¯t stand the idea of such an opportunity wasted on someone that cannot give you the respect you deserve.

    Also, I can guarantee you that if you take Ricker as your disciple, I will reward you handsomely. Not to mention that in case he got admitted to the Lightning Griffon Academy, we will never forget your help and generosity.

    I am ready tomit as of now that if my son reaches the greatness he deserves, he will do anything in his power to clear your name. What do you say?"

    Nana snorted.

    "I would like to say many things, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be necessary. The reason why you don¡¯t see him is because you are looking in the wrong direction. Lith is the panting little imp right behind you."

 Chapter 27 Annihilation

    At those words, father and son turned around just in time to see Lith rush past them, stopping only when he was already in front of Nana.

    Now that he was close enough, Nana could notice that Lith¡¯s body was covered in cuts and bruises. Some were quite deep, but had been already roughly treated with light magic. They were still bleeding, but Lith¡¯s life was in no danger.

    "What in the gods name has happened to you? As far as I know the roads to the vige are safe." Nana did not miss the panic shing in the expression of the two nobles in front of her.

    Lith was still bent downward, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

    "Was it really necessary inflicting yourself all those wounds beforeing here?" Solus asked, still worried about Lith.

    "No pain, no gain." Lith responded telepathically. "Coming unscathed out of a sink or swim fight, alone against five knights, would have been too suspicious. These wounds serve two purposes.

    First to make Nana angry enough to do what must be done. Second and most important, to avoid any further investigation. If there¡¯s anything this mess proved, is that too much attention is bad. The higher I get, the more dangers I will have to face.

    Right now, I have no backer. All that stands between my family and the Bar is Nana. I can¡¯t protect them at all the times. It was a stroke of luck that they had to target me.

    In the future I must be careful of not crossing the wrong people, at least until I get enough power or backing. I don¡¯t care about magic or wealth if I don¡¯t have anyone to share them with. No one will ever be taken away from me. Never!"

    The whole conversation with Solussted barely for a second.

    Still panting and wheezing, Lith told her about the ambush.

    "When I wasing here, five horsemen tried to coerce me into giving up on my magic schooling. When I refused to submit, they tried to kill me! Thank the gods I managed to kill their leader before they got too close.

    With him dead, their formation went in disarray and I managed to kill them before they killed me." Lith sniffled, covering his eyes with a hand, pretending to be fighting back tears.

    "Gods, I don¡¯t know I managed to do it. It¡¯s all a blur."

    Nana performed skilfully a series of hand signs before saying "Vinire Lakhat!"

    A warm sphere of light magic enveloped Lith¡¯s body, healing all his injuries.

    "That¡¯s enough, Lith. I can easily imagine the rest." Nana caressed his head, trying tofort him.

    "You did your best to treat your wounds, before rushing here to warn me against this scum noble." She raised her cane, pointing it toward the Bar¡¯s face with an intimidating manner.

    "Please, Lady Nerea, don¡¯t rush to judgement, I..."

    "Enough with your fake sycophancy!" Nana was bursting with rage.

    "Do you want me to believe that all your talk about respect and punctuality and the attack on the boy¡¯s life happening today, at the same moment, is just a sheer coincidence? How stupid do you think I am?"

    Bar Trahan knelt down, his hands on the floor in submission.

    "Please, Lady Nerea, believe in my good faith. I know nothing about it. The kid is still scared and traumatized, maybe his memory about the assault is confused. Also, he doesn¡¯t have any proof. Don¡¯t take hasty decisions before considering all the facts."

    The sight of his father, kneeling to amoner, shocked Ricker deeply. Yet he kept enough of his cool to remember what was ta stake, so he kneeled too, begging for mercy.

    "Good faith my wrinkly a*s! I have met enough nobles to understand how your kind thinks, and how cheaply you value amoner¡¯s life. I think..."

    Nana stopped talking, Lith was tugging her arm repeatedly. She knew he was smart enough to understand that she was fighting for him. For interrupting her like that, Lith must have had excellent reasons.

    He was showing her five silver whistles, one of which had burnt marks. Nana took one and started examining it.

    She barely needed a second to recognize the Trahan family crest engraved on it¡¯s top.

    "Well done, Lith." She whispered. "Even in the face of danger, never let your emotions cloud your judgment. That¡¯s the way of a true magician."

    She was kindly smiling at him, like a grandmother proud of her grandson achievements. Then, always keeping her back at the Trahans, she quickly performed someplex hand signs before whispering "Ekidu Ruha."

    Nana¡¯s eyes briefly glowed ck with dark energy.

    Ekidu was root magic word for darkness magic, like Vinire for light magic or Infiro for fire magic.

    She was casting a dark spell, Lith couldn¡¯t wait to see its effects. At the same time, though, the way she used the spell threw him in confusion.

    "Why taking the trouble of performing hands signs and using words? Nana knows silent magic, I¡¯ve seen her do it already.

    Couldn¡¯t she just do it silently in front of them? I can¡¯t believe she is using aplex spell that requires that much caution just for those weaklings."

    Nana turned around, poking father and son both with her cane.

    "She has just hit them with her spell." Solus notified Lith. Everything had happened in an instant, without releasing even a magic spark. If it wasn¡¯t for Solus¡¯ mana sense, Lith would have missed it entirely.

    "Enough with this charade. Do you want proof? Is this proof enough?"

    She shoved the silver whistle in front of the Bar¡¯s face, that turned red, then white and finally green. He had to use every ounce of self-control he had to stop himself from panic puking.

    "Now get out of my sight! If anything ever happens to my apprentice or his family, even if one of them breaks his fingernail, it¡¯s you that will pay the price."

    The two of them got back on their feet, running toward the stagecoach without saying a word. Lith was both shocked and disappointed by Nana¡¯s behaviour.

    "So much for her hatred toward nobles. Who would have thought that after everything she went through, she would still be so merciful? F*ck!"

    Nana went to the bakery, to talk to the coachman that was eating some pastries while waiting for his master.

    "Hey, kid" The man was actually in his mid-twenties, around 1,77 metres (5¡¯6" tall). He had blonde hair and a kind, perfectly shaven face. "What¡¯s your name?"

    "Andy." He replied while nibbling at a cream puff.

    "Andy?" Nana raised an eyebrow. "Gods be my witnesses, it¡¯s a really strange name."

    Andy shrugged.

    "Is actually just a nickname. Better than my real name, though. Many people found Hasa Diga Eebowai too hard to pronounce."

    Nana was bbergasted.

    "Anyhow, what do you need me for, Lady Nana?"

    "You seem a nice man, so here is a friendly advice. Bring your master back home as fast as you can, then find yourself a new job." She winked.

    Andy dropped the cream puff like it was hot, deeply bowing to Nana before running to the stagecoach.

    Nana returned to her house, opening the door to let Lith go inside.

    "And now what?" He was barely repressing his disappointment. "Do we wait for their next move?"

    Nanaughed heartily.

    "Their next move? They will drop dead before arriving to their pompous home. What do you think that darkness spell was for? I just wanted to avoid making a fuss in front of the whole vige."

    Lith suddenly felt very stupid.

    "Well yed! This will teach them a lesson." He could finally sigh with relief.

    "Far from it." Nana said with an ice-cold tone. She went into her private quarters, quickly followed by Lith.

    Nana¡¯s house was really simr to Lith¡¯s, but the dining room was smaller, and instead of three bedrooms there was just one. The other two rooms were upied by a study room and an alchemicb.

    She went in the study room, opening one of the desk¡¯s drawers with a key she wore around her neck. Nana then took out a wrapped cloth, revealing a silver amulet.

    It had a nut-big gemstone in its center, with arcane glyphs engraved all over.

    Lith didn¡¯t need Life Vision to know it was a magical item.

    "This is amunication amulet. Every member of the mage association gets one. Now give me a minute to do a full report about Bar Trahan¡¯s attempt on my disciple¡¯s life.

    They hate when some small-time noble messes with us. Before I put this back into the drawer, their whole bloodline will be wiped out. That will teach all those damn nobles a lesson."

    Lith deeply bowed to Nana, inwardly apologizing for doubting her character.

    "Master, your disciple awaits yourmand."

    The report was indeed brief. Once activated, the amulet generated a small 3D hologram of a middle-aged bald man, sitting behind a clean and orderly desk.

    All Nana had to do was to introduce her disciple, say the name of the noble and the mage on the other side had already started giving instructions.

    Nana gave nheless a short description of the facts, showing the silver whistles as proof. Lith could see from the man¡¯s expression that he could not care less about such minor details.

    He still took note of everything, even somehow scanning the whistles through the amulet.

    After everything was said and done, Nana gave Lith his first assignments.

    "Start by reading ¡¯The basics of magic¡¯. Is the book you tried to borrow three years ago." Lith nodded.

    "Read it carefully, if there¡¯s anything you don¡¯t understand, feel free to ask me. In case there is a client, wait for me to finish. If there¡¯s no emergency I¡¯ll answer you, otherwise you will have to wait.

    You can use my study. When you have finished with the basics, I¡¯ll give you your first tier one magic book."

    Lith ran back in the waiting room, fetching his prize. After sitting behind the desk, with the thick book in front of him, he could not avoid thinking back at all those years spent cramming during college.

    He was back being a student, a familiar and reassuring feeling.

    Lith pushed emotionalism aside, and opened the book, reading it from the author¡¯s foreword.

    "My name is Lochra Silverwing. I am known as the wisest sorceress of the Griffon kingdom, and also the only one of my generation to achieve the title of Magus..."

    "What the heck is a Magus? Isn¡¯t it just a synonym for mage?" Lith paused for a second, taking the mental note to ask about the magicians¡¯ hierarchy.

    "... I want to dedicate this book to all my female readers, in hope that they can make good use of it and unleash their superior potential.

    In a world scourged by wars waged by men, it¡¯s of the utmost importance for us women to keep our leading position in the magical field. Let our calm minds soothe the savage fury that dwells in their hearts."

    "What the actual f*ck?!" Lith cursed, jumping off the chair.

    He ran straight to Nana, the book still in hand, in dire need of exnations.

    "Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but it¡¯s the truth." Nana chuckled.

    "Like men are stronger physically, women are more apt towards magic. It¡¯s the nature of things." (see chapter 12 for more details)

    "F*ck me sideways!" Lith inwardly screamed, amongst Solus giggles.

    "Does this mean that I start right on the back foot?" Was what he actually said.

    "Yes, little imp. Be it the Griffon kingdom, the Gorgons empire or the Blood Sand desert tribes, usually women hold most of the key roles in the various mage associations. Even I never expected to have a male disciple.

    Back when I attended the magic academy, 70% of the students were female. I don¡¯t think things have changed much. If you aim for the top spots, they¡¯ll be your fiercestpetition."

    "Great." Lith felt dejected. He wasn¡¯t the kind of man to discriminate, he despised humans regardless of their gender. What dispirited him was the idea of being once again on the losing side of life.

    "Not rich, not talented, not handsome. I even managed to be of the fairer magical sex. Just splendid." He thought.

    "There, there." Nana patted his head. "Don¡¯t be depressed. History is full of very powerful male mages. It¡¯s the talent that matters the most, not the gender. One day you could even be a Magus."

    "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot, that was my second question. What¡¯s a Magus?"

 Chapter 28 True Magic

    "The magicmunity is like a separate society, and just like any society it has a clear hierarchy. First there is normal people.

    Anyone is capable of using chore magic, but their range barely reaches two metres (2.2 yards) and are incapable of executing anyplex task. They are not even considered people. Most mages refer to them as cattle.

    Thenes those like you, that can use all the six elements, can performplex tasks with magic, butck a proper magical education.

    They are referred to as magico (males) or magica (female) and are the real grassroots of the magicalmunity, from which mages can expect a magically talented offspring.

    Even if it¡¯s considered umon, a magica can sometimes be epted by a magic academy and be a full-fledged magician, like it happened to me.

    A magico usually bes a medicine man in a vige or city, depending on his talent. A magico bing a magician is even more umon, but far from rare.

    Terms like mage, witch, sorceress, warlock are all just different words that identify someone that managed to enrol in a magic academy andplete the five years course necessary to be recognized as a true member of the magicmunity.

    At that point, one has just to follow his ambitions. You can be the personal mage of a noble, I you enjoy life at Court. Others choose to devote their whole life to study magic or create specific artifacts.

    As long as you don¡¯t do anything to contribute actively to the development of the Kingdom or the Mage Association, you¡¯ll only remain just a mage, no matter how powerful you are or what you aplish with your experiments.

    Remember, no mage can be forced to share his/her spells or discoveries in the magic field. Not even the King himself can openly vite this rule.

    But what you keep for yourself has no worth for society, hence it gives you no merits.

    Only by sharing your knowledge or by using it to perform tasks from which the Kingdom or the Magic Association take great benefit, you can be elevated to the status of archmage.

    They are for the mages what dukes and marquises are for the nobles.

    And finally, there is the Magus. A Magus is someone whose power is equal only to his outstanding merits toward themunity and the knowledge he shared with the Magical Association.

    A Magus usually ensures to those whoe after him a deeper understanding of magic, and the means to achieve better foundations than their predecessors.

    A Magus is a King to mages, and a god to men. Very rarely there has been more than one. Whenever any country has two or more Magi, it¡¯s considered to be in its golden age, everything bes possible."

    Lith was far from impressed.

    "Basically, is just a fancy title that some old fogey forces on you after milking you dry. I don¡¯t know if by bing a Magus I would feel just sad or simply lose all my self-respect."

    "You insolent whelp!" Nana was outraged by such disrespect. "Without Magi like Lochra and their legacies, people like me would never get the chance to pass the entrance exam of any academy, no matter how small or insignificant.

    It would remain a privilege for those with an outstanding talent, or thate from noble or magic families.

    Simply by writing that book, she willingly sacrificed a great advantage she had over all the rest of her peers!"

    Lith shook his head.

    "I see it differently, Master. In my opinion, you do have an outstanding talent. If in the past even those gifted like you wouldn¡¯t be epted, in the long term this would have led the magicalmunity to dwindle, if not topletely disappear.

    Being born in a wealthy or talented family only gives you more resources and schooling, but the talent is decided at birth.

    Hence Lochra must have written that book not out the goodness of her heart, but to correct a dangerous w in the magicalmunity. It¡¯s true that magic allows to beat quantity with quality, but there is still strength in numbers.

    Without people like you, maybe even like me, there wouldn¡¯t be enough new blood, and magic would sooner orter disappear. This is the reason why I can¡¯t see her book as a gift. She needed us, and badly."

    Nana opened her mouth to rebuke Lith, but stopped halfway. She pondered a while before speaking again.

    "Dammit, Lith, whatever your mother fed you with as a baby, I wish I had it too when I had your age. I never looked at it from this perspective, yet I can already sense enough truth behind your words to not dismiss them as child babble."

    She sighed deeply with regret.

    "I wish I was so profound back in my days. I would have avoided so many stupid mistakes."

    "Yeah, sure." Lith thought. "A over thirty years old man thates from Earth and is not able to see that much would be aplete idiot. Schrship here or on Earth are the same.

    Either a way for the rich to get rid of some of their sense of guilt for being filthy rich, or the manifestation of their fears.

    The fear of not having a doctor, awyer or any professional help when they need it. If just having an offspring would suffice for their needs, they would have closed the schools centuries ago."

    The door of Nana¡¯s waiting room opened, the first client of the day had arrived.

    "Time to make some money. Do you have any other questions from the foreword?" She tried being sarcastic, but was still dwelling on Lith¡¯s words, so shecked the proper tone.

    "Only one. I may need to take notes. Is there anything I could use to write?"

    "But off course." After confirming that the woman and child that just entered the waiting room simply needed a medical check, Nana asked them politely to wait for a minute or two.

    Nana and Lith got back to her study room, where she gave him a big, thick book with a red hard cover. Its pages werepletely nk.

    "This will be your first grimoire. Treasure it dearly. Paper is rare and expensive by nature. It¡¯s sold by weight, and it¡¯s more precious than silver."

    Lith was stunned by such news. The book was twenty-seven centimetres (10.7 inches) long, seventeen centimetres (6.7 inches)rge and three centimetres (1.2 inches) thick. It was huge.

    "I-I..." Lith stuttered for the second time in his new life. "I don¡¯t know what to say. I can¡¯t believe you would do such a thing for me, it must have costed you a fortune. I¡¯m deeply moved." A tear appeared on the back of his eyes.

    Nanaughed heartily.

    "Oh! Oh! Oh! So wise yet so na?ve. You bet I wouldn¡¯t! Money doesn¡¯t grow on trees. If it were for me, a few pages would have sufficed, little imp."

    The warmth in his heart died as quickly as it had appeared.

    "Then who do I have to thank for it?"

    "Count Lark, who else? That noble is a magic enthusiast, he sent it to me as soon as he was informed of your apprenticeship. Now more studying and less pping your gums. You are here to learn magic, not to chat!"

    Nana left in a hurry, hoping to avoid her waiting room getting clogged up with patients.

    Lith sat back behind the desk and resumed reading. Most of the contents of Lochra¡¯s book were old news to him. He had discovered them by himself through countless trial and error experiments.

    He could only sigh in regret.

    "If only I had this book as soon as I was reborn. I wonder how powerful I would be today."

    Whenever Lith would find something noteworthy, he would write it down in his grimoire. Lith could not trust his bad handwriting, so he would dip his finger into the inkwell and then use water magic to spread the ink on the page, and then to dry it.

    The result was a whole page written with an outstanding calligraphy, even copying illustrations when necessary, in perfect English. All in just a second.

    "Ah ah ah!" Lith inwardlyughed. "I don¡¯t need a secret code. I am the only one that speaks English in this world. My secrets are safe with my grimoire."

    "They would be safe either way. Don¡¯t forget my pocket dimension." Solus chimed in.

    "One moreyer of protection never hurts. There is no such thing as too careful."

    Lith found the sections about fire, water, air and earth quite nd. He already knew almost everything written in the book, but he read carefully every word.

    Nana allowed him to read only until lunchtime, then he was forced to go back home and resume his previous routine, switching the hunting time from morning to afternoon.

    It took him three days to get to the juicy part. Lith was aware that being a self-taught, light and dark magic were his weakest subjects. They were the only two elements that didn¡¯t exist on Earth, after all.

    He spent a whole week on the light and darkness section, taking countless notes and finally understanding how shallow and rough was his mastery over those elements.

    "Amazing, simply amazing. It never ceases to impress me how profound is Lochra¡¯s understanding of light and darkness. Her description of the mana flow in the patient¡¯s body is just peerless. I would have never thought of that on my own.

    Only now I finally understand why she wrote about them in the same section. Light and darkness are not separate elements, but two sides of the same coin. Darkness is of paramount importance for healing diseases and congenital conditions.

    Once I have fully absorbed all this new knowledge, I might even be able to cure Tista for good. If I really manage to do that, I will rethink my view about being a Magus."

    Lith read that section again and again, until he became certain to have not missed anything. His magic power hadn¡¯t increased much, but hisprehension was now on another level for all the six elements.

    Lith was sure he would be able to achieve even stronger foundations, also improving his spirit and fusion magic. But with his confidence, also new doubts arose.

    "The more I learn the less it makes sense. How is it possible that with all this knowledge in her hands Nana didn¡¯t manage to cure Tista over the years?

    Why she needed both hand signs and a magic word to kill Bar Trahan and his son? A finger snap should have sufficed."

    Lith decided to postpone those question until he had fully understood Lochra¡¯s book. Maybe he was missing some key element, or maybe it wasn¡¯t as easy as it appeared.

    Nana was delighted learning that he had finished the whole book in just a week, and immediately gave him his first tier one magic spell book.

    "Let¡¯s see if you are good at practicing magic as you are with its theory."

    Lith took the book from her hands, treating it like a precious gemstone that could easily break. He walked solemnly to his desk, opening the book full of anticipation.

    He would have never imagined to be disappointed to such a extent.

    "What the f*cking f*ck is this? Is this how a spell book is supposed to look like?"

    "By my core, what is this cr*p?" Solus cursed for the first time in her life.

    Both Lith and Solus were too bbergasted to make any furtherment. So, they closed the book, re-opened it again, discovering it was unchanged.

    They had expected for it to be filled with instructions about how to manipte the mana flow in the mage¡¯s body, how to better connect with the world energy to obtain spells whose power was iparable to those they already knew.

    Instead all they found was an odd mix of a spelling book and a hand signs instruction manual. Not to mention that they already knew all of those tier one spells, just with different names that Lith had invented over time.

    "sting Sphere is just a Fireball, Piercing Ice is identical to my Frost Lance, if not worse."

    Lith did go back to the foreword, noticing that this book had not been written by a Magus, and was just a collection of the mostmon spells.

    By reading the instructions for sting Sphere, Lith noticed how the author stressed out the importance of executing the hand signs in the proper order with precise movements.

    Even the magic word was split into sybles, to help the student learn the correct pronunciation and ent. After skimming through the whole book, Lith couldn¡¯t find any mention of how to perform them with silence magic.

    Bing more and more confused, Lith went to Nana for advice.

    "I¡¯m sorry Lith, I had forgot how frustrating and painful is going from the simple and easy silent chore magic to the much moreplex real magic. Only tier zero magic can be silently cast. All the superior tiers of magic require both hand signs and proper spelling of the magic word."

    Lith¡¯s head was spinning so fast he had to sit down for a moment.

    "This makes no sense at all." He thought. "I use silent magic with my ice spears and fireballs all the time. I wouldn¡¯t be alive otherwise."

    Then a sudden thought erupted in his mind.

    "Maybe I am special, after all. Maybe I use a different kind of magic because I came from Earth. Maybe I am some sort of chosen one!" Lith was both scared and ttered at the idea.

    "None of the above." Solus words abruptly doused his enthusiasm.

    "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Much appreciated. What¡¯s your exnation then?"

    Lith could feel Solus¡¯s mind spinning so fast that it was hard for him to follow her reasoning.

    "If my hypothesis is correct, then you, like Lochra Silverwing and all the other past and present Magus, are one of the few people in this world to actually use true magic."

 Chapter 29 True Magic and Fake Magic

    "What do you mean with ¡¯true magic¡¯?" Lith said.

    "At this point is still too early to tell. Off course if you are too curious you can look at my mind right now, but I don¡¯t know how helpful could it be."

    Lith merged his mind with Solus, discovering she wasn¡¯t exaggerating at all. Her mind was full of ¡¯ifs¡¯ and ¡¯buts¡¯, constantly examining facts, revisiting memories, making one spection after the other before dismissing them.

    "What can I do to help you?"

    "I need two things. First, all the books about the history of magic you can find. Second, we need to get out of here and do some experiments. I¡¯ll exin everythingter."

    Lith went to Nana, asking her for help.

    "Sure, I have a magic history book. But is not such an interesting topic, so I only purchased one covering thest couple hundred years. Is that enough for you?"

    Lith shook his head.

    "Can you please contact Count Lark and ask him if I can borrow some more from him?"

    "You sure are an oddball. First you beg me to teach you magic..."

    "I never begged. It¡¯s you who offered to teach me and I epted."

    Nana pretended to not have heard anything and continued.

    "... and now that you get an opportunity to practice real magic, you want to bury yourself in history books?"

    "After pondering about what you told me and what Magus Lochra wrote, I understood that I need to understand the past toprehend the present and n for the future." Lith improvised, digging up an old family motto.

    "Makes sense, sort of." Nana conceded. "I¡¯ll contact Lark via themunication amulet and see what I can do."

    "The Count has one too?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "It¡¯s not some sort of secret or anything. Nobles, merchants, soldiers, no matter your background, as long as you can afford the price, you can get yourself one."

    Lith thanked Nana before returning to the study room. The book was very detailed, recording both historical turning points and lore.

    Lith didn¡¯t know what they were looking for exactly, so he read carefully, skimming only the parts about conflicts between countries or Magic Associations. Instead he focused on studying the life of influential mages, archmages and Magi.

    After spending a few hours researching the past, he had already found a recurring pattern in the rise of the Magi. Some were recognized as geniuses at an early age.

    But most of them had started being considered mediocre at best, never achieving noteworthy results until at some point their talent simply skyrocketed.

    It usually happened between the thirty and the forty years of age, well past their supposed prime, when the magicalmunity had pretty much forgot about them.

    Of course, the author had no idea of what happened to cause such a turnaround, so he just presented the theories most popr at the time. Too bad that those paragraphs resembled more a work of fiction than history reports.

    ording to some rumors, Magus Elista had married in secret the god of magic, while others imed that she had found a mystical amulet from a lost civilization that was able to grant her unlimited mana.

    The same had allegedly happened to Magus Morgania and Frejik. An obscure start, followed by a sudden rise in power and glory, with no usible exnation outside fairy tales and divine encounters.

    "Could this be what Solus was looking for? Maybe what changed them wasn¡¯t some insane stroke of luck, but the discovery of the ¡¯true magic¡¯ Solus mentioned before."

    Lith was about to close the book, having ran out of Magi, when Solus stopped him.

    "Turn the page, please." Lith had no idea why, but did as instructed. By quickly reading through the page, he noticed it was about some disorders in a faraway ce, during which several low ranked mages had died.

    Solus had him flipping every page until the book ended.

    It was already lunchtime, so Lith started walking back home.

    "Did you find anything important?"

    "Yes, I think so. I just need us to perform some experiments to put my theory to test. If I am right, once you experience the difference between fake and true magic, you¡¯ll be able to understand my reasoning.

    I hope that once you do, you can help me fill the holes I am unable to exin."

    Lith¡¯s mind and heart were in turmoil, the road seemed to stretch endlessly in front of him. Even when he sat around the table together with his family, he was unable to hide his unpleasant feelings.

    "Dammit! Dammit all this cr*p! First my real origin, then spirit magic, fusion magic and now this? How many secrets do I have to keep to protect myself from this world, to protect my family from me?

    Couldn¡¯t I just find a magical hammer or something, granting me godlike powers? Or maybe just be handpicked by an ancient magician, to be the champion of order just by speaking one frigging word? Why does everything have to be soplicated?

    I really love my family, except for Trion, but I can¡¯t be honest with them. At this rate, I will never have friends, a lover, anything. I will be forced to spend my life alone with my secrets."

    "No. Not alone." Solus¡¯s voice resounded in his mind, full of kindness and affection. The tower core around Lith¡¯s neck pulsed, releasing gentle waves of mana that enveloped his body like a warm embrace.

    Lith¡¯s mood lightened a bit, allowing him to have a pleasant meal and conversation with his family, telling each other the respective day¡¯s work.

    After doing the dishes, he was finally able to leave home and go to the Trawn woods. Lith had his own special de, deep in the woods. A ce spacious enough to train his magical skills without endangering trees or wildlife, away from prying eyes.

    Lith and Solus double checked their surroundings for intruders or magical beasts. Finding none, Lith could finally take out his grimoire from the pocket dimension and start memorizing the simplest tier one spell he had found in Nana¡¯s book.

    "We don¡¯t need something powerful orplex for our experiments. Only something topare with your own spells. The faster you master it, the sooner we¡¯ll have our answers." Solus exined.

    The spell was Piercing Ice, a watered-down version of the Ice Spears spell that Lith used against huge opponents like the Ry or the boars. Its magic word was "Joruna Lituh", with ents on the u for Joruna and the i for Lituh.

    The hand signs required to start with the indexes¡¯ fingertips touching themselves, before pulling them away, drawing in the air a 7 with the right index while the left one had to execute mirrored movements at the same time.

    After that, the left hand had to stop, while the right index had to rotate, drawing a full circle before pointing at the target.

    The expected result was conjuring and shooting a giant ice shard against an enemy.

    "Holy sh*t! And this is a simple one. So much effort for so little return."

    At his first try, Lith managed to conjure some kind of giant fork that travelled forward for a couple of meters (2.2 yards) before crashing on the ground.

    "You did not aspirate the h." Solus remarked.

    Then it came a boomerang that almost chopped his head off.

    "It¡¯s L¨¬tuh, not Lit¨´h!"

    After a series of non-life threatening failures, Lith had to admit he wasn¡¯t able to learn both the pronunciation of the magic word and the hand signs at the same time. So, he had to sit down and recite the spell until he got it right.

    After that, he had to face head on his poor hand-eye coordination.

    "That¡¯s not a seven, more like a one. Do the second line steeper!"

    "You are supposed to draw a circle, not an egg!"

    "Will you stop your left hand during thest movement, please? Otherwise we¡¯ll never see the end of it."

    Failure after failure, Solus kept nagging in Lith¡¯s mind, correcting the many mistakes he did during each try.

    "If you are so good, why don¡¯t you do it yourself?" Lith rebutted, bursting with frustration.

    "Sorry, I do not have a body. Not to mention I cannot perform any spell unless a) you first know how to do it and b) you give me the permission for it."

    It was a long afternoon for Lith, full of cursing, sweating and casting, not necessarily in that order, before he finally managed to get Piercing Ice right.

    He kept repeating the spell until it became a second nature to him.

    "I can¡¯t believe I had to work so hard for the simplest spell. I have barely an hour before the sunset. Hey, Solus is it enough time, or do we wrap things up for today and go back home?"

    "Is more than enough. Tell me, how does it feel using magic that way?"

    "To be honest, it does not feel at all. I¡¯m so focused on all that cr*p that I can barely breath."

    Solus mentally nodded.

    "Perfect. Now cast your Ice Spears spell, shooting only one spear."

    Lith was so tired to need to actually use the magic word.

    "Jorun!" With a flick of the wrist, Lith conjured a slender, sharp ice javelin that struck the nearest tree faster and harder that the Piercing Ice.

    "Now focus, how did you do it?"

    Lith couldn¡¯t understand all those apparently stupid questions, but he trusted Solus enough to know she wasn¡¯t just trying to piss him off.

    "Like usual. First, I mentally visualized the effect of my spell, things like the shape of the spear, the trajectory, etcetera.

    Then I used my mana core to generate enough mana to support my spell, taking in ount the size of the spear I wanted to conjure and how strong I wanted it to strike.

    Finally, I projected my mana on the outside, mixing it with the world energy to have ess to the water element and voil¨¤! Order up."

    "Okay, now use Piercing Ice, again. This time do it slowly, try to feel how your mana flows ording to the spell."

    Lith needed a few tries before seeding in the task Solus had assigned him, the result was astonishing.

    "What the heck? As soon as I start with the hand signs, a portion of my mana leaves my body. And there is more. The magic word determines how my mana interacts with the world energy, in this case the water element, while also giving the spell its shape and size."

    Lith could tell that if Solus had a face, now she would have had a smug grin from ear to ear.

    "You are almost at the finishing line. Do Piercing Ice again, but try making the ice shard bigger."

    "I can¡¯t." Lith was bbergasted. "If I try adding more mana the spell bes unstable and dissipates."

    Solus asked him to try generating a second ice shard, then to make the single shard faster and finally to alter its trajectory right after it materialized. Lith¡¯s answer was always the same.

    "I can¡¯t. The whole spell is set in stone. Once I learned the proper signs and pronunciation, I became nothing more than a mana source and a targeting system. My mana core and imagination y no part in this type of spell casting."

    Lith suddenly reached enlightment.

    "And that¡¯s why you consider it fake magic!"

    "Calling it fake magic is a little extreme, but for simplicity¡¯s sake let¡¯s call it that."

    Lith could sense Solus brimming with pride.

    "Now I can finally share my theory with you. First of all, I¡¯d like you to think back about all the steps necessary for you to use true magic."

    Solus paused for a moment, giving Lith time enough to think.

    "What¡¯s your point?"

    "My point is that what you so casually dismiss as ¡¯usual¡¯, is actually a reallyplex feat, much harder than fake magic."

    "Hmmm. Sorry, I still can¡¯t follow you."

    Solus mind-snorted in frustration.

    "True magic isn¡¯t as simple as you make it out to be. It requires to be aware of your own mana core and to be able to generate the right amount of mana for each and any spell. Too much mana and it would backfire on you, too little and it would not seed.

    It also requires to be able to project your mana outwards, reaching out to the world energy by yourself. I doubt even Nana would be able to do that."

    Lith found thatst part hard to believe.

    "When you put it that way, sure, is not an easy feat. But is what everyone does with chore magic. What¡¯s the difference between true and chore magic? Why no one else uses it?"

    "The difference is in the amount of mana required. Chore magic needs little mana, so you can use it even without activating your mana core, while true magic may require great amounts of mana, ording to what are you trying to aplish."

    Seeing as Lith was struggling, Solus started to use a monotone, lecturing tone.

    "Chore magic is the very foundation for magic, it teaches you everything you need except how to activate the mana core. Fake magic is like a crutch, a foolproof ¡¯magic for dummies¡¯ spellcasting method.

    You only need to learn a few words and gestures and it does everything by itself, as long as you have enough mana. My hypothesis is that chore and fake magic are taught in this order as a training course towards true magic.

    But only few, like the Magi, understand that fake magic is not about finger movements and spelling words, is about perceiving the mana flow and learning how to control it.

    Your breathing exercises are a crutch as well, but a good one, since they helped you essing the mana core, making you aware of the mana flow. Fake magic, instead, is a bad one, since it makes its users too reliant on its power.

    Most fake magic users are so obsessed by details like hand signs and pronunciation, that live their whole lives without noticing what lies beyond. Fake mages, especially those with great talent, be socent being able to do what no one else can, that they never stop for a moment to ask themselves why. Is kind of ironic."

    Lith was astonished. Everything made perfect sense.

    "But if you had all this figured out, why didn¡¯t you tell me? What are those holes in your theory you mentioned earlier?"

    Solus was embarrassed, but replied nheless.

    "Because I can¡¯t answer some key points of my own theory. If I am right, why is fake magic the only one avable for everyone? Why true mages kill whoever tries spreading it to the whole world?"

    "Say what?!?"

    Solus merged their minds, showing to Lith all the things she had noticed reading the history book. How so many theorists and rising mages had all died in idents or mysterious circumstances, often right after announcing to the magicalmunity a ground-breaking discovery.

    Others, instead, would be dismissed as frauds, before going mad and disappear.

    Lith could onlyugh his heart out.

    "Oh, my. Solus, you are so smart and yet so na?ve in the ways of mankind. The answer is really simple. Do you know why back on Earth we had traffic jams? Because everyone could get a car.

    Would you really let any madman, any na?ve fool gets his hands on this kind of power? Fake magic is a mean to control the masses, it¡¯s not the final test like you think.

    After one discovers true magic, the final test is proving to be smart enough to silently join the club and reap the benefits. And if you don¡¯t like the club rules, the only way out is death."

 Chapter 30 True Magic and Fake Magic 2

    When they finishedparing notes about Solus¡¯ exnation for true magic, it was alreadyte. Lith had to rush to get out of the woods before it became too dark. He wasn¡¯t afraid of night time predators, his mother Elina, though, were another story.

    "If Ie back toote, I¡¯ll get grounded for weeks. Darn it all, I hate curfew so much!"

    He did not want toe back home empty handed, so he took out of the pocket dimension a couple of fat blinkers he had saved for moments like that.

    The next day, Nana informed Lith that the Count had agreed to help, and that some of his best books were on their way.

    Lith was forced to pretend being still engrossed in Nana¡¯s history book, it was too big to finish it in one go. He spent that day abridging all the tier one spells on his grimoire, keeping only the name, hand signs and pronunciation instructions and a short description for each spell.

    "I don¡¯t need to waste precious pages on this cr*p. I can fake out the hand signs by moving my hands fast, but I still need to remember each new magic word when I pretend to use fake magic.

    Also, if Nana wants to put me to test, I need to show her my proficiency. Sigh, all this brainless memorizing will drive me crazy. The silver lining is that by learning this stuff I can predict an enemy¡¯s spell and counter it if necessary."

    More than once, Lith found himself wishing Solus could move his body at will. She had a much better memory, and it would save him a lot of time and effort.

    The only spell Lith was really eager to try was the air magic Floating Body. With this incantation one could make float in mid-air anything or anyone weighing less than one hundred kilograms (220.5 pounds).

    It had many uses, like braking a free fall, moving a severely injured patient without bumps, or moving without leaving traces and making noises while hunting or on scouting.

    This was something that Lith had attempted many times on his own but with no sess. He could easily make others float with spirit magic, but not himself. It was really hard bncing his whole body while focusing on the spell, the same could be said about using air magic instead of spirit magic.

    A minor mistake would make him float upside down or make him spin like in a washing machine. Lith never managed to float properly, let alone moving.

    "If Solus is right and fake magic is a training course, I can use this Floating Body to learn how to float for good. Then, the most natural step is evolving it into a flight spell. I can¡¯t wait to soar through the skies like my childhood heroes!"

    Right after lunch, Lith went back into the woods and started practicing. Floating Body¡¯s magic word was "Brezza Ri Lak", so he had no problems with pronunciation. The hand signs, instead, were quiteplicated.

    Having learned from his mistakes, Lith first made sure he had got the magic word right before moving to the hand signs. He took it slow and easy, he didn¡¯t need to learn how to fast cast it, only to learn from the spell how to distribute the energy.

    After only a few tries, Lith managed to cast the Floating Body properly. It was an odd feeling, much different from what he had expected.

    To float it did not require a single strong updraft, but hundreds of them at the same time, each one pushing upwards with the same force to keep the bnce in check.

    "This is much worse than I had anticipated. No wonder I always failed in the past. Now, ording to the book, Floating Body makes me weightless, standing in ce. To move I need either external support or air chore magic."

    Lith started to generate weak winds, moving around like a toy drone.

    "This feels great! This spell has countless applications, I wonder why it¡¯s just a tier one despite being so borate."

    "Because itsts only one minute" Solus reminded him while Lith was already falling to the ground.

    After experimenting with Floating Body a few times, Lith used his own mana flow to replicate the spell. Soon it became apparent that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it in a single afternoon. True magic, after all, was really more difficult than its fake counterpart.

    Angry and frustrated, Lith started grumbling non-stop.

    "It¡¯s all so annoying, having to learn two kinds of magic for every damn spell. I¡¯m telling you, Solus, I have seriously considered using Floating Body instead. But if I am stupid enough to do so, then I would be forced to learn all its upper tier versions, and who knows at what step lies actual flight.

    This way, instead, once I get some solid foundations, everything else shoulde easy. Or at least I hope so."

    Lith spent all day and night practicing his new spell, Levitation, but when morning came, he had yet to seed.

    The following day, a small crate of books was delivered to Nana¡¯s house, and she promptly handed it to Lith.

    "If they were mine, I would never allow you to bring them out of my house. But the Count explicitly told me you are free to bring them home as you see fit. Lark is a very generous man, don¡¯t abuse his trust."

    At first, Lith was really pissed off. He hadpletely forgot about his plea from help, and now he was flooded with useless books that he had to pretend to read. After two whole days as a shut in, his body was craving for some action.

    But then he noticed that there weren¡¯t that many history books, most of them were biographies and autobiographies of past and present prominent mages, archmages and Magi. He finally had at hand the information he needed about how much talent he could reveal safely.

    Lith could finally see a light at the end of one of the many tunnels he was stuck in. So far, his apprenticeship had only added more problems to his life, getting lucky for once, made him feel really good.

    He took note in his grimoire of all the feats his role models aplished and at what age they managed to do it. Then it came the most serious part, deciding how far to push his act.

    "I¡¯m of humble origins and with no backer. Mimicking a Magus is like courting death. If even revealing less talent than Nana brought a noble to try to kill me, showing so much skill would put me on the hit list of all the major families."

    "Agreed." Solus chimed in.

    "The best choice is to keep being below Nana¡¯s talent. If Count Lark starts protecting you, you can ramp you up to her level. A male mage of that skill would definitely be noteworthy. From then, is better to adjust your power talent based on how things develop."

    "My thoughts exactly." Lith mind nodded.

    During the following weeks, while at Nana¡¯s house, Lith and Solus split the tasks at hand. Lith crammed all the tier one spells while Solus would read the Count¡¯s books and take note of every relevant detail.

    Lith gave her control over both spirit and water magic, making her possible to flip books and write an appendix on the grimoire.

    During the afternoon, instead, they would try to make Levitation work. Little by little they were working out all the problems, sometimes even improving Floating Body foundations.

    Lithpleted Levitation after over a month of hard work, and by that time he had also already mastered all the tier one spells, but he was forced to wait. ording to the Count¡¯s books, that was a feat worthy of a future archmage.

    So, he had to wait for another half a month before revealing to Nana the fruits of his endeavours. She was truly impressed by Lith¡¯s skill and determination.

    Nana had told him that back in the day she had needed less than a month to memorize all the book, and despite Lith being of lesser talent, he had managed to aplish the same result with just two weeks of dy.

    Nana had expected that it would take him no less than two whole months.

    Nana offered him to help her during the busy hours, and Lith dly epted. Untilpleting Levitation he had not hunted for over a month. Not only the reserve of game he kept in the pocket dimension was almost depleted, but that huge break had also costed him a lot of money.

    Lith needed to make up for the lost time. Officially he only knew two tier one light spells, Vinire Rad Tu (the illness/injuries detecting spell) and Vinire Dan, a basic healing spell, capable to treat coughs, light colds and not too deep cuts.

    Hence, most of the times he would only get the diagnosis fee, since it would be Nana treating the patients. He could only get to heal minor injuries, yet his profits weren¡¯t that bad.

    Nana¡¯s business had deep roots, people from all the neighbouring viges woulde to seek her aid.

    By spending more time in the front office, Lith discovered that Nana was so much more than a healer for the people of Lutia. She was also their protector and the strongestw enforcer.

    Simply by living there, most bandits would avoid the vige, and those who were brave enough to attack would quickly meet their maker before doing any real damage. Nana was also the shield for all the local merchants and poption.

    No foreigner merchant, young master or young mistress could bully the people of Lutia without incurring in her wrath. Sometimes she would be called even to put an end to a drunken brawl.

    Lith found hard to believe she had such disposition toward the people she served, always standing ready to intervene whenever was necessary.

    One day, after Nana taught a lesson to a young noble and his bodyguards, believing that he could forcefully take any maiden that suited his taste, Lith decided to find out the truth.

    The old hag had already proven that she cared about money more than everything. Lith had fallen for her kind act more than once, so he wanted to know what her real angle was.

    Being rude to his mentor was definitely a bad idea, so he went with a subtler approach.

    "Master, I really don¡¯t know how to express my admiration for you. Taking care of the safety of the vige, basically all by yourself, and asking nothing in return. It¡¯s really impressing of you."

    Nanaughed out loud, sounding ominous like the plumber, back on Earth, that once Lith had been forced to call during a national holiday.

    "You really are hrious, kid. Sometimes you are so wise I almost forget you are just six years old. But whenever youe out with this nonsense, you really look like a na?ve child. Off course I get something in return. Have you ever wondered why my treatments are so expensive?"

 Chapter 31 Kindness and Retribution

    "Actually, yes. Many times. But I always thought those were the normal fares for a healer." In the moment he said it out loud, Lith remembered how ignorant he was in the ways of the new world.

    "They are not." Nana shook her head. "Listen, little imp, in a few years you are going to get out of this vige and face the world. Not everyone is kind as your parents, and most nobles are not like Count Lark.

    For the average person life is hard, most of the time unfair, and hard work means nothing without luck and opportunity. I don¡¯t tell you this because I want to scare you, only because I don¡¯t want you to make my same mistakes.

    You need to wise up, so let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a mage fallen from grace decided to return to her old vige, to settle in and forget about her failures. At first, people were scared of her, thinking she would abuse her power and authority to settle old feuds.

    But the mage was too tired and bitter for petty revenges, she only wanted peace. So, when she became a medicine woman, doing nothing but tending to the ill and wounded for a fair price, the vigers were really happy

    And when they noticed that since her arrival brigands, merchants and nobles treated the vige with much more respect, they became ecstatic. But bad things kept happening from time to time, since the mage had no interest in ying hero.

    So, the people in the vige offered her a deal. They would pay her a certain sum in exchange for her help. Everything was perfect, and everyone was happy for a while. Then, the vigers, the only ones whom benefited from her protection, decided to make a little change to the initial deal.

    Sure, peace and quiet were doing wonders for business, and the presence of the mage brought so many people from the neighbouring viges to get treatment, but that sum each year was a burden to their profits.

    Not even the fact that the County¡¯s most important noble had made the vige the permanent seat for the local spring festival was enough to satiate their greed.

    So, they decided to convince the local farmers that it was in their best interest to help the vigers cover the sum they had agreed to pay to the mage. You may ask how did they managed to do it. Well, let¡¯s just say not appealing to the goodness of their hearts.

    They simply threatened the farmers to change the exchange rate of their goods to the point of making their life a living nightmare. And what could the farmers do about it? Nothing.

    They needed the cksmith for their tools, the merchant to buy and sell cattle and crops. You can easily imagine the rest. Without the vigers, the farmers were cut off from the rest of the County.

    By refusing, every single farmer would have to travel for days, each year, even to buy a new plough. Not to mention how hard and perilous would it be moving the cattle and the crops to the nearest merchant, all while leaving family and fields unattended."

    Lith nodded, a ferocious expression on his face.

    "Let me guess. ording to the new deal, every time the farmers needed the help of the mage, they would pay a share of the agreed sum."

    "Just like everyone else." When Nana had finished her story, she, could read the rage and disgust in the eyes of her disciple.

    "There, there, Lith. I didn¡¯t mean to make you angry, the purpose was to show you what normal people, even good people, do to each other on daily basis.

    We are good friends and all, but that is until our pockets or families get involved, then one own¡¯s prioritiese first.

    Life is hard for everyone, but for mages is even worst. Normal people see them as monsters, nobles as something to submit or exploit.

    But the worstes always from your own. Even in the magical academy you will find hidden ranks, hierarchy, and thepetition will be tougher than you can imagine.

    The pressure both families and teachers put on those poor kids quickly turns them into ferocious beasts. They get measured, judged and looked down upon for every mistake they make.

    Social status, wealth, talent, the more they have the higher the expectations for them."

    Lith was starting to get confused.

    "So, do you want me to go easy on them? To don¡¯t judge hastily? To try making friends rather than enemies?" He was inwardly scoffing.

    "Gods forbid it! The very opposite!" Nana yelled in desperation, pping her arms like a hysterical bird.

    "I already told you, you need to wise up. Don¡¯t fall for the first nice act someone performs. How do you think they will treat a dirty poor country bumpkin?

    How do you think they treated me? At first you will easily make friends with the students from the lower sses, but as soon you¡¯ll reveal any talent, you¡¯ll be surrounded by only two kind of people.

    Those who want to destroy you and those who want to suck up on you. Stay away from the former, and ever further from thetter, otherwise you¡¯ll end up like me.

    Naively believing to have lots of important friends, until you make one single mistake, and then they pile up on you like everyone else, leaving only scorched earth around you." When she finished talking, Nana looked really tired and bitter, staring at the floor with watery eyes, she seemed to have aged about twenty years.

    Lith pondered for a while on her words, before giving her his answer.

    "I appreciate the thought and will treasure your words forever. But I also hope you¡¯ll understand that your story kind of pissed me off big time. So, here is my n for the immediate future..."

    When Nana finished listening to Lith¡¯s idea, sheughed heartily, going back to her old snarky self.

    "That¡¯s what I am talking about. Good boy! I¡¯m finally starting to rub some good sense on you. You have my permission, but do it only in my absence, it would be bad for my revenue otherwise. If anyoneins or tries to do something funny, I¡¯ll cover for you."

    In the following months, Lith had to prove time and time again his magical skills as a healer, before Nana gave him a tier two spellbook to learn from. This allowed him to expand his official skillset and be recognized by the people of Lutia as a true healer.

    Lith was finally able to enact his n.

    Nana wasn¡¯t always at her home office. Sometimes she had personal business to attend to, but most of the times it was because she had to do house calls for patients that cannot be moved.

    During those times, Lith was in charge of everything. Those who could afford to, would wait for Nana to return. Lith was still six-year-old after all, he didn¡¯t seem trustworthy enough to put someone¡¯s life in his hands without Nana¡¯s supervision.

    But emergencies couldn¡¯t be nned, so there was always someone desperate enough toe for his help. His first real patient ended up to be Lukah, Rizel¡¯s youngest brother (see chap 21).

    He was just a toddler, so his mother, Lisa, had a terrified expression when she brought him in. Lukah was crying desperately, his left arm purple and swollen, bent in an unnatural angle.

    Lith hadn¡¯t even finished pulling the curtain to give them some privacy, that Lisaid Lukah on the bed and started to beg for Lith¡¯s help.

    "It¡¯s all my fault, I¡¯m so stupid. I was cradling him in my arms, while preparing lunch, when he started squirming and fell. Can you please help my baby?"

    Lith quickly waved his fingers into a "Vinire Rad Tu!" A small wisp of light danced around the baby before prating his chest. The light spreaded to all his body, bing dimmer around his chest and left arm.

    Immediately after, Lith faked a "Vinire Lakhat!" Guided by his willpower, the light magic first dulled the pain, then it made the bone fragments reattach themselves to the ribcage and the arm.

    Lith used his Invigoration breathing technique on the baby, using the imaging it provided him to make sure that the bones were perfectly healed and aligned before interrupting the spell.

    "He had a broken arm and cracked ribs, but now is as good as new." Lukah was still crying, but now he was moving both arms, his skin pink and with no traces of bruises.

    Lisa sighed in relief, thanking Lith with a deep bow before handing him the money.

    It was Nana¡¯s usual fare, four copper coins. Enough for a family of four to eat well for one day.

    Lith took only two, what she would have paid without the vige protection tax. Seeing that she was confused, Lith whispered:

    "I know about the deal with the vigers, and I am not Nana. I protect no one. Also, us farmers need to stick together, am I right? Please, keep your lips sealed about it, otherwise the next time I will be forced to ask you for the full price."

    Lisa was chocked, her eyes watery. She did not know what to say.

    "Then can I ask you to check my leg too? It hurts from a while, and the pain is not getting any better over time."

    "Is that how the little Lukah managed to slip away?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. A few weeks ago, I took a bad fall while repairing a hole in the roof. At first it didn¡¯t hurt much, and with a baby we could not afford a visit for every small thing."

    Lith used Invigoration again, using the injury detection spell as a cover.

    "Holy cr*ap, her leg is badly cracked. It¡¯s a miracle she was still able to walk without a limp."

    After healing her, Lith was conflicted about taking the rest of the money. He could see Elina in her, all the sacrifices his family had made just for keeping Tista alive were always vivid in his memory.

    Lith couldn¡¯t avoid empathizing with the daily struggles his neighbours had to face every day, perceiving them as real persons, like him, instead of dismissing them as trash, like he always did with those he killed in the past.

    Luckily Lisa took the choice for him, handing the money and opening the curtain before he could say a word.

    "What a proud woman, truly deserving my respect. Next time shees, I¡¯ll perform the healing while checking up the wound, so she won¡¯t get to pay."

    Those four copper coins were the heaviest Lith¡¯s hand had ever held. Lisa¡¯s family would have to skip a meal or two to cover for that expense.

    From that day onward, Lith would do the same thing for all the farmers, always prompting them to silence. Soon his reputation grew wildly outside the vige¡¯s borders.

    Inside those same borders, though, things were quite different.

    On another asion, when Nana had been called away, another kind of patient walked in. It was Renkin, merchant and richest man in the vige, barging in while carrying his son on a makeshift stretcher, with the help of one of his assistants.

    "Nana! Where in the nine hells is that wretched healer when you really need her?!"

    "She is away at the moment." Lith moved forward, making way for the stretcher. The boy was around fifteen years old, his ck hair stood out on his pale face. He was bleeding from his leg, despite the wound was tightly wrapped up.

    "Where is she?" Renkin yelled.

    "The men repairing the Colen bridge had an ident, she will be back on the afternoon at best."

    "You idiot, can¡¯t you see my son is dying? I do not have that much time!"

    Lith snorted in annoyance.

    "If you have to yell and be rude, that¡¯s the door. If you want me to take care of him..." Lith extended his right hand, while pointing with the left at a sign on the wall that said: "Payment up front. No refunds."

    "Paying you?! What are you, four?"

    "Almost six and a half. Again, if you aren¡¯t going to pay, make space for real clients. If you want miracles, feel free to pray. But do it outside." Lith¡¯s tone was stone cold.

    "Okay, okay!" Renkin gave up. "Here is you goddamned four copper coins."

    "Eight." Lith stopped him before he could take the money out of his pouch.

    "That¡¯s clearly a deep wound, requiring two tier two spells, if not even a tier three. Either way the price is set to eight copper coins." Lith pointed to another sign, stating the prices:

    "Check-up: 1 copper coin. Tier one spells: +1. Tier two spells: +3. Tier three spells: +7"

    "But those are Nana¡¯s prices! You are not Nana!"

    "Really?" Lith mimicked his Master¡¯s snarky tone. "What gave me away? The age? The height? The gender? You are really perceptive, worthy of a merchant."

    Renkin was choking on his own anger. Such an arrogant little brat!

    "I meant that you shouldn¡¯t ask so much! Didn¡¯t your Master tell you about our agreement?"

    Lith just pointed to the end of the second sign, where "No discounts, ever" was written in big bright red words.

    "Don¡¯t you have a heart? How can you ask so much? You are so young and inexperienced, after all!" In all his years as a merchant, Renkin was proud to have never overpaid any product. He was determined to get a discount at all costs.

    "I could argue that I don¡¯t think you ever gave a discount to someone just for pointing out your age or likeability.

    Also, which one of us his bargaining on his son¡¯s life? I doubt all healing magic in the world would do him any good once he bleeds out."

    Finally remembering about his beloved Garth, Renkin finally paid the fee, letting Lith do his job.

    "What happened?" Lith asked after using Vinire Rad Tu coupled with Invigoration, sensing a deep cut wound that missed the femoral artery by an ich.

    "This blockhead and his idiotic best friend had the brilliant idea of practicing their swordsmanship with real swords, that¡¯s what happened."

    "He lost a lot of blood." Lith said afterpletely healing the leg. "Keep him at rest and make him eat rare meat."

    Later, that day, when Renkin returned toin to Nana about her disciple, sheughed hard in his face for a whole minute, before shutting her door in his face.

 Chapter 32 Merits and Trus

    Two more years passed, Lith was now eight years old. During that time, he had mastered all the spells contained in Nana¡¯s books, which brought his official skill set up to the mostmon tier three spells.

    Books about superior tiers were extremely expensive, and Nana had no interest in acquiring them. She had her own grimoire, after all. The books she bought over the years were mostly for disy, to show her clients what they could purchase.

    But while his skill in fake magic stagnated, Lith used those years to deepen his understanding of true magic. His grasp on its profoundness and foundations had improved greatly.

    By practicing true magic every day as a healer, he had gained such fine control on both light and darkness magic that he had finally acquired the necessary skill to permanently get rid of Tista¡¯s congenital condition.

    The problem was that despite all his efforts, his mana core was not strong enough to perform the treatment Lith had devised.

    During those years he had used Assimtion whenever he could, making his mana core going through multiple cycles of expansion andpression, turning it from deep green to bright green.

    But it was still green. Lith¡¯s impurities had yet to reach the mana core, and until that happened both his mana and body would not undergo through qualitative changes.

    He had reached a bottleneck, and had no idea how to ovee it.

    Solus too had changed quite a lot. She was no more limited to her pebble form, but could actually turn into any shape while retaining the same overall mass.

    That allowed Solus to take the form of a smooth stone ring, that Lith wore on his right middle finger.

    When she asked him why a ring on the middle finger, Lith replied with an odd short poem rted to a green ring of power. It was something rted to his childhood, of which he was really fond of.

    Along with some of her power, Solus had also regained a new function, something that Lith called Soluspedia. It was another pocket dimension, but specifically crafted for books and any means to store knowledge.

    All the books that Lith stored in the Soluspedia, he could consult with but a thought. For example, by storing his grimoire he didn¡¯t need to memorize anymore the magic words and hand signs for the fake magic spells he had learned.

    Lith still had to practice the hand signs and pronunciation, but he only had to think about what he needed to remember everything up to the smallest detail. The same applied for maps, herbals and bestiaries.

    Lith had given almost everything he had earned as a healer to his family, allowing them to have a much easier life and umte a decent dowry for Rena and Tista.

    Whatever he kept for himself, he would use to buy the most detailedpendiums he could find about the most useful topics, likew, court etiquette and even a vocabry.

    As long as they were in the Soluspedia, Lith knew them inside and out. What made him inwardly gloating, was the fact that he could buy even those items that were almost crumbling or defective, resulting to be highly perishable.

    That wasn¡¯t a problem for him. Just like for the pocket dimension, they would be frozen in time, and hence potentiallyst forever.

    After his eight winter ended, Lith received a call from Count Lark on Nana¡¯smunication amulet. The event took him by surprise, the Count had never contacted him before.

    Having had plenty of video calls and job interviews on Discort and Skope back on Earth, he was familiar with that kind of meeting. Lith bowed deeply as a salute, while cupping his fist.

    "Dear Lith, you are always so polite. No need for all the formalities, you are among friends now." Count Lark had a convivial and friendly demeanour, making him seem more like an uncle calling his nephew rather than a Lord.

    "Count Lark, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Lith looked at Nana, standing beside him, in search for approval. She nodded while staring at the magical hologram of the Count.

    "You have umted quite some merits, I wanted to know if you n on using some of them." Merits were something that anyone who contributed to the welfare of the kingdom would receive and could be exchanged for privileges ormodities.

    A convict could have his sentence shortened by serving in the military and earning merits, a farmer could get morend for free, a schr could get a rmendation for a government job.

    "Merits?" Lith was taken aback. "I didn¡¯t do anything to earn such things."

    "Quite the contrary, dear Lith. Every year I receive hundreds ofmendation letters from the farmers and their families, about the outstanding job you are performing as a healer."

    Since Lith had started to give treatments for half the price to the farmers, they would wait for Nana to leave the vige before going to get medical care. Nana knew it and did not care.

    They still needed her for the emergencies, and the house call extra fees covered whatever profit she may have lost.

    "A letter counts for earning merits?" Lith asked, still confused.

    "One letter, no. But dozens, hundreds of letters all about the same person for a prolonged period of time, off course they do. Do you have anything in mind the kingdom can help you with?"

    Lith pondered for a while, while essing thew book in Soluspedia. Morend was suicidal, his family was already stretched thin, and they cannot afford hired help.

    The kingdom would not trade merits for money, but Lith could still get the next best thing.

    "Do I have enough for my family to be exonerated from taxes this year?"

    Count Lark dropped his monocle from the shock, the mouth ajar.

    "Taxes? Your family still pays taxes?"

    "Yes, we arew abiding citizens, your lordship." Lith was almost as confused as the Count, but with a better poker face.

    "I¡¯ll y my ountant alive!" The Count jumped off his chair, his face red from anger.

    "I told that ipetent fool to exonerate your family since the day Lady Nerea took you under her wing! I swear to the gods, I¡¯ll fire that man with such bad references he will never find another employer."

    Lith tried to calm the Count down.

    "Maybe is for the best. I¡¯d prefer to be exonerated because of my merits, rather than for being a magician in training."

    The Count sat back down, a perplex expression on his face.

    "Why? The result is the same, and you would get to keep your merits for future needs."

    "It may seem just a matter of semantics but is not." Lith exined.

    "If my family gets exonerated, sooner orter it wille out, and what happens next will depend on the reason why we got it. If it is because of my status, in the eyes of themunity it would be an unfair privilege.

    That could generate envy and grudges, and in such tightmunity it could prove to be toxic. Help and support from the neighbours are of paramount importance for a farm, and I will not stay there forever.

    If we get exonerated because of my merits, instead, it would be something that themunity has bestowed on me, as a sign of gratitude for my good deeds.

    Being able to somehow repay their benefactor, would make them feel happy, and prevent them from harbouring ill feelings."

    During all the exnations, Lith was inwardly crying out of joy, congratting himself about purchasing the vocabry.

    "I can finally talk like I used back on Earth. The inability to express myself correctly has always been such a burden." He thought.

    "Magic is indeed the supreme form of art." Count Lark nodded in agreement. "Only a magician can be so wise despite being so young. I am honestly impressed."

    "A dragon whelp is still a dragon, after all." Nana chimed in. "The boy is not only wise beyond his age, but also is blessed by the light. He is talented enough to have already invented his own light spells.

    Lith¡¯s skill as a healer is almost at the same level I had back at his age, and he even created some cosmetic spell for his sister. She has the fairest skin I have seen in my whole life. This is just between us, off course."

    Lith was smiling and nodding, but he was actually scared to death. Nana seemed to have seen through some of his deception.

    "Wonderful! Just wonderful!" The Count jumped off his chair out of joy, losing once again his monocle. "Thanks for your trust, Lith. I will keep your secret with me at all costs!"

    After the call ended, Lith stared at Nana, unable to express his questions out loud. Sheughed out tauntingly as usual.

    "Don¡¯t be so shocked, I¡¯m a mage too, after all. When some of your patients came back for a second opinion, after describing me their injuries, I was bound to discover the truth. Some of those wounds were supposed to be beyond your skill.

    As for your mother and sister, you just overdid it, little imp. Whatever you did, made them too gorgeous. Imend you for doing it slowly and over time, but whoever knows a thing or two about magic would suspect something.

    As for the Count, he too would notice, once Rena first and Tistater take part in the Spring Maiden contest. Or do you think he has acorns instead of eyes? It¡¯s better to y it this way. Lark is an honest man, the best noble I have ever met.

    If he thinks he has your trust, he will do his best to uphold it. You are still his precious pet project, after all. I doubt he would risk to lose everything he has invested so far for such a trivial matter."

    Lith could do nothing but agree.

    "Master, you do not trust anyone, do you?"

    Nana snorted.

    "I barely trust myself. Besides, I am the only one who always fought for my best interests."

    Lith bowed deeply, his fist cupped.

    "Master, your disciple thanks you for your guidance and help. I will take your words to heart."

    In the following days, Lith could not stop ming himself for making such stupid mistakes.

    "Dammit! Always so full of myself! I need to stop thinking I am always the smartest in the room. I can¡¯t keep screwing up on the small details, in the long run it could be prove to be fatal. Having such a bitter and cynic Master is a blessing in disguise.

    We are basically two peas in a pod. She still suspects nothing, and I have to keep it that way. Having her by my side can help me grow as a mage and protect me from my own stupidity at the same time."

    Aside from that, Lith¡¯s family got exonerated from the annual fees thanks to his merits, and as he predicted, that caused only joy and happiness in the neighbours. It had happened thanks to them, after all.

    It was a slow day at Nana¡¯s house office, when two hunters barged in, bringing on their shoulders two more hunters, covered in blood.

    "A magical beast!" The hunter in the lead shouted. "A magical beast is rampaging through the Trawn woods! Please, you have to save my men. That monster almost ripped them apart"

 Chapter 33 Hunter and Prey

    The people in the waiting room made space for the hunters, while Nana and Lith quickly dismissed their previous patients, leaving the beds free for the wounded men.

    They were so desperate, that no oneined about Lith¡¯s age or diminutive stature. Before any of the two hunters could say anything, both healers spoke as one.

    "Close the curtains and let me do my job."

    They performed "Vinire Rad Tu", but rather than to find the cause of the affliction, whichid bare in front of their eyes, it was meant to check if there was a sliver of hope saving them.

    Lith didn¡¯t even had the time to activate Invigoration, before noticing that the woman was already dead. He tried nheless, but there was no mana flow to manipte, no life force to enhance with light magic.

    "I¡¯m sorry." Lith said closing the dead woman¡¯s eyes. "She was already dead before you got here."

    Before he could continue with his bedside manners, Nana yelled to him.

    "Get here, quick! We can still save this one if we work together!"

    Lith rushed to the other bed, positioning himself at the man¡¯s feet while Nana moved behind the head. They both needed space to operate at their best.

    Nana was right, Invigoration could still feel a mana flow, despite it being weak. The hunter¡¯s wounds were very deep, Lith doubted that fake magic could help him.

    Fake healing magic would spread to the whole body, before focusing on the injury, and that caused it to need a few seconds to take effect. Even worse, the spreading and focusing process would cause the spell to lose some of its effectiveness.

    True healing magic, instead, would directly affect the wound. Thanks to Invigoration, Lith was also able to pinpoint were to send the light mana with surgical precision, maximizing the potency of the spell.

    "Nana¡¯s specialty is not light magic, after all. If she called me, it means that she hopes my personal spells can save this man."

    For a moment, Lith hesitated. He would have loved to have the time to ponder about the risk reward ratio of that scenario.

    He couldn¡¯t care less about the life of a stranger, he was much more scared of exposing his secrets, losing everything in the process.

    "Screw it! Sooner orter I¡¯ll have to reveal my spells. I want to believe in Nana and give all this ¡¯blessed by the light¡¯ cr*p a go. y scared, die scared."

    Lith started performing quick hand signs, mixed with ninja hand seals he remembered from an old movie. He had prepared that choreography since thest conversation with Count Lark.

    "Vinire Es!" The light magic flowed straight through the hunter¡¯s blood vessels, repairing them and stopping the blood loss. With Nana keeping his conditions stable, Lith was able to bring the hunter to the point where fake magic could save him.

    After that, he had to lean against the wall and slide down to the ground.

    Lith was exhausted, he had never attempted something that required so much focus and mana for a prolonged time.

    "Damn my stupid green mana core! If it was already cyan, maybe I wouldn¡¯t be forced to leave halfway through the procedure."

    Luckily, Nana took all the credit for the sess, relieving Lith from any possible questioning about his unknown spell.

    After taking her forty copper coins, she warned the hunters¡¯ leader.

    "He is alive, but barely. I don¡¯t know if he will make it or not. I can¡¯t even assure you a full recovery. His injuries were too deep, we did the best that we could."

    "Forty copper coins, almost a f*cking half silver coin and that¡¯s all you have to say? A bunch of ifs and wishful thinking?" He yelled.

    Nana clearly understood that the man wasn¡¯t really angry with her or Lith, he still could not ept the loss of one, if not both of his friends.

    Yet she did not care.

    When it came to anger, Nana was second to none. She had been the scapegoat for others¡¯ misbehaviour enough tost for a lifetime.

    "Listen to me, young man, and listen well. I dare you find any vige that hosts not one, but two healers capable of casting tier three spells!

    If you want certainties, go find Krishna Manohar, the god of healing! He lives in the White Griffon Academy, just five hundred kilometres (311 miles) from here! And now get out of my house, before I make you!"

    Even a grieving man knew that to further antagonize a mage whose eyes were brimming with power and whose voice generated wind blows was in suicide.

    The two surviving hunters could onlyply.

    While Nana was clearing the blood spattered around the room, Lith had managed to use Invigoration enough to recover some of his strength, so he followed them outside.

    Trawn woods was too close to his house forfort.

    "Sir hunter, please wait!" They were already halfway toward the tavern.

    The hunters¡¯ leader really wanted to vent his frustration on the little pest, but he had regained enough of his cool to admit that the kid was meless. If anything, he had contributed saving the life of his little brother.

    That and he was still scared sh*tless by Nana.

    "No need for honorifics, young man. My name is Ekart Longran, and this is my sworn brother Flek Irotia."

    "My name is Lith." The three men bowed to each other.

    "The man whose life you saved is my little brother, Otum Longran. If I can do anything to return the favour, you just need to say the word."

    "Could you please tell me more about this magical beast?"

    Ekart shivered for a moment, his eyes closed by the fear that memory generated in his heart. But he was a great hunter, who had danced with death countless times. With every passing second, he was recovering both his courage and spirits.

    "It¡¯s a huge Byk, do you what it is?"

    Lith nodded.

    ording to the bestiary in the Soluspedia, a Byk was a bear that had evolved into a magical beast. They were in tune with earth magic, in rare cases also with fire magic.

    "It all started around a month ago. The farms on the east side of the Trawn woods were being attacked by a mad beast. At first it would just y some cattle, before returning to the woods.

    But then that harpy of Baroness Rath put a huge bounty on the Byk, in hope to avenge his mad son. She believes he has fallen prey to the beast months ago."

    "Rath." Lith thought. "The name sounds familiar."

    "The psycho that tried to rob you of your bunnies." Solus reminded him.

    "And that was the beginning of the end. After ying some wannabe hunters, lured by the promise of easy money, the Byk got a taste for human flesh. From that moment, it started to hunt down his pursuers with borate traps.

    When we understood how smart the Byk is, it was already toote. We managed to get away only because he was too engrossed in hisst meal to chase us."

    Lith bowed again.

    "Thanks. I live near the woods, and your information may have just saved my family. Consider your debt settled."

    Before he could turn around, Ekart grabbed his shoulder.

    "I have been long enough in the business to recognize a fellow hunter when I see one. Listen to my advice, don¡¯t¡¯ go after it. That beast is unnatural. Not only is smart and cunning, it also moves at unbelievable speed.

    No matter how fast you run away or chase it, it keeps switching ces, li-like a ghost. I know it sounds stupid, but I believe it to be a vengeful spirit."

    Lith thanked him again, before going back to help move Otum in one of the tavern¡¯s rooms and to clean the blood on Nana¡¯s house floor.

    When he finished, Nana handed him twenty copper coins, half the fee.

    "Go home and rest. You really are talented in light magic, but that spell is too draining for you. Use it only in case of emergencies."

    Lith nodded, but before going back home he needed to purchase some things. He kept discussing the matter with Solus the whole time. Facing such a monster without more than one n and enough preparation was idiotic.

    After warning Selia, he spent the whole day resting and using umtion. In a life or death situation even a small power up could made the difference.

    That night, he slept for the first time in two months. Lith wanted to be at his peak condition, he wasn¡¯t willing to take unnecessary risks. He woke up before dawn, leaving a note for his parents.

    He then wore his brand-new leather hunter set, with metal protectors for the forearms, shins and heart, hisst line of defence in case everything else failed. Once outside, after checking there were no witnesses, he casted the Soaring Hawk spell and took flight.

    The Trawn woods was too big, and moving on foot was too slow. Using both his Life Vision and Solus¡¯ mana sense, he started looking for his prey, while moving near the top of the trees.

    It didn¡¯t take long to find it, the Byk wasn¡¯t even trying to hide. Lith could trace it thanks to the bear w marks on trees and rocks, until he found it eating a deer.

    "So much for smart and cunning. How the heck can it still eat? It should have filled his belly many times already." Lith thought. "Nevertheless, let¡¯s see if I can kill it nice and easy."

    The Byk was on the ground, while Lith was in the sky, the distance between them about 30 metres (33 yards), well within the spirit magic¡¯s range.

    Lith sent a huge wave of mana, meaning to snap the Byk¡¯s neck in one go.

    The Byk instinct was sharp. Even if it was still unaware of the new hunter, it could feel that something was off.

    It infused his whole body with earth magic, so when the two mana flows shed, the spirit magic was diminished to a neck rub.

    "F*ck my life! Again with that sh*t, just like the Ry."

    "It seems that magical beasts are able to use fusion magic to some extent." Solusmented.

    "No duh, Sherlock. And what¡¯s worse is that fusion magic is spirit magic¡¯s bane. It can disrupt my mana flow making it useless. But that stands only for direct attacks..."

    Having his first n failed, Lith hid behind the tree while moving away from the Byk. Casting spells in mid-air still required too much effort, he also wanted to keep his ability to fly a secret from the prey.

    Once on the ground, he took a roundabout path toward the Byk, using Float to not make noises, and a subtle dark aura to cancel out his smell and aura.

    When Lith found the Byk again, it was still sniffing the air, looking at its surroundings.

    Lith moved right behind its back, before unleashing a lightning as big as the crouched Byk.

    It had no effect, aside from angering the magical beast and ckening some of its fur.

    "Holy sh*t! I would have never suspected that earth fusion could shield from lightning."

    The Byk roared its challenge, standing tall on its legs.

    It was an enormous beast, at least four meters (13 feet) tall, with a weight close to a ton. Its fur was deep brown with shades of green, and its green eyes were staring at Lith with malice.

    "Too big forfort!" Lith summoned a strong wind, hoping to take advantage of that unstable position to topple the Byk and prevent it from charging ahead.

    The Byk channelled even more earth magic, bing heavier while digging deep into the ground with its ws. It managed to return back on its four, now standing 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall at the shoulder.

    "Magnificent disy of earth fusion!" Solus couldn¡¯t hold her admiration. Lith was the same, but much more scared.

    "Yeah, I¡¯m clearly a noobpared to it. Ice Spears!"

    Countless spears of ice appeared out of thin air encircling the Byk. Each one was two meters (6¡¯8") long, ten centimetres (4 inches) thick and razor-sharp.

    It was Lith¡¯s sure kill spell.

    The spears came down at the same time, like a deadly rain.

    The Byk didn¡¯t seem scared, though. It roared again, getting partially up on its legs, before mming the front paws on the ground, creating a spherical shielding made out of earth and rock.

    The spears crushed against the summoned barrier, inflicting no harm to the Byk.

    Both Lith and Solus cursed as one.

    "F*ck me sideways! Magical beasts use true magic too!"

 Chapter 34 Unbelievable Speed

    Lith¡¯s and Solus minds were spinning at full gear, but for entirely different reasons.

    "What if magical beasts are the primordial true mages? What if human mages learned true magic by watching the magical beast hunting, like Chinese martial artists derived their moves from Earth¡¯s animals?" Solus pondered in amazement.

    "What the F*ck can I do? I just revealed my trump card for nothing and my fusion magic is useless, since if that thing closes in, it needs only one hit to rip me in a half. Not to mention that air, earth and spirit magic would probably be useless against it.

    I am only left with light, dark, fire and water magic!" Lith trembled in fear, but his body was ready to move, his mind never giving up on life.

    The Byk charged through its own shield, intending to make things up close and personal. Lith reacted promptly, using air fusion to gain speed and keep their distance in check.

    "You may truly be immovable as a mountain, but you sure can¡¯t keep up with someone fast as lightning!" Yet the two enemies¡¯ speed was the same. The Byk was indeed heavier, but the difference in physical prowess was enormous.

    Not to mention, they were both slowed down by trees, rocks and undergrowth.

    Lith felt reassured noticing that the Byk couldn¡¯t close in, since he could still resort to fly as a desperate measure.

    "Unbelievable speed my pale a*s! This thing is fast, but not that much. Ekart and his men were either too scared or hallucinating."

    The game of tag went on for a while, with Lith throwing ice spears whenever he could spot an opening, and the Byk using rock projectiles trying to shoot him down.

    Lith knew that bears weren¡¯t supposed to smile, but on the Byk¡¯s muzzle he could clearly see a smirk, sometimes even emitting a "Hurr, hurr" sound.

    "Is that augh? Is that b*stard actually just having fun?!"

    While running, Lith moved the fight to his private clearing. He had finally found a path to victory, but he needed to have both hands and legs free, without worrying about tripping on roots or pebbles.

    Also, the river Philo flowed nearby, greatly enhancing his water magic. Not having to conjure it anymore, Lith could focus only on the maniption aspect.

    The Byk moved forward slowly and triumphantly. It knew the prey was now cornered. In front there was only the raging river, while the Byk was plenty capable of cutting off any other escape route.

    But soon it noticed that something was off. Not only the smell of fear was gone, the prey had ceased to run, standing firm with the river at his back, watching the Byk¡¯s every move with defiant eyes.

    The Byk slowed down even further, trying to suppress its overbearing bloodlust and looking again at the surroundings. Suddenly it remembered about all those dangerous ice spears, realizing it was a trap.

    But it was toote, it had already got too close to the river. Tendrils of water grabbed its legs, trying to drag the Byk in the water. The Byk reacted promptly, making tendrils of earth envelop his legs and body stopping the water in its tracks.

    It knew it could not y only on the defensive, so it fired a barrage of stones against the prey. Lith didn¡¯t move and inch from his spot, either dodging the rocks, or using his own earth magic to deflect those he could not avoid.

    It soon became a war of attrition, about whose mana would run dry first.

    After a few of such exchanges, Lith infused himself with fire and earth magic, performing a roundhouse kick to send a huge stone back to the sender.

    The Byk didn¡¯t miss that anomaly. The prey had never done such a thing, it was clearly a deception. As soon the stonee near enough, the Byk deflected it with a flick of a w, using earth magic to avoid touching it.

    That way it noticed that right behind the rock there was a dense ck mass, Lith¡¯s gue Arrow.

    The Byk followed its instinct, and tried to dodge that slow bullet, but its own tendrils of earth were keeping it stuck in ce! Before the Byk could summon any sort of magical protection, the gue Arrow had hit his mark straight in its huge chest.

    Pain started blinding the Byk, that became unable to notice Lith closing in while shooting six more gue Arrows. The first to the chest, again.

    The easiest target to enhance the crippling pain. Then he followed striking the four limbs once, to prevent the Byk from fighting back.

    The sixth andst one to the head, almost at point nk, for the kill.

    It all happened in barely three seconds. In that very shortpse of time the standstill had turned into a victory for the prey.

    And that saved Lith¡¯s life that day.

    As soon as the Byk let out an agonizing cry, a second one, even bigger came out rushing from the woods.

    "It wasn¡¯t fast! There were two of them! That¡¯s why they could y with the hunters like a cat with a mouse."

    Lith used air fusion to stay away, keeping the distance the same he previously had with the other Byk.

    Luckily the second Byk didn¡¯t seem interested in pursuing him, and started to lick its partner affectionately.

    "From its size, it should be a male. The only notable difference is that his fur has shades of ck instead of green. No wonder the hunters weren¡¯t able to tell them apart." Solus observed.

    "You better make use of this time to replenish your mana. We don¡¯t know what it¡¯s capable of."

    Lith immediately used the Invigorating breathing technique, letting the world energy replenish his lost mana and washing away his fatigue. Thanks to the good night sleep, Invigoration effect was at its peak, and it would not take Lith long to recover.

    After all, his body was in perfect condition, only his stamina and mana had been consumed during the fight.

    "Filthy human! How dare you kill my spouse?!" The Byk spoke.

    Lith had no time to be surprised, so he kept his breathing rhythm steady, aiming to stall as long as he could.

    "Wow, you talk! I didn¡¯t know bears could talk."

    "Lowly maggot! I¡¯m not a bear! I¡¯m Irtu, the new king of the woods, and she was my queen, Gerda."

    "Sorry, your majesty, but if you wanted to live happily ever after, you should have respected my turf. I don¡¯t care what you do on the east side of the woods, but the west side is mine! Not to mention that I know a Ry that could refute your im."

    "A Ry?" Irtu moved away from the carcass, putting enough distance from the river to be safe from the man pup tricks. "You mean that weakling! The mutt is as good as dead." Irtu grinned while slowly moving forward.

    "Don¡¯te any closer!" Lith ordered. "If you leave now and promise to never return, we can close it here. Otherwise one of us will have to die."

    "Hurr, hurr, hurr." Irtuughed. "You will not die, murderer. I will just rip off your legs and arms. Then I¡¯ll follow your scent back to your burrow and will devour your family alive, in front of your eyes. Only then we will be even!"

    Lith dropped the act like a live grenade.

    "I never intended to let you walk away alive from here. I only had doubts about how much make you suffer. Thanks for clearing them up for me."

    "Such arrogance for a weak man pup! I will not fall for your trickery, like my poor Gerda. I have watched the whole time. The only reason you are still alive is that she loved so much ying with you vermin, before biting your head off!

    It¡¯s all my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have indulged her so much. If I had killed you back then, she would still be alive!" Irtu roared, getting even closer.

    Lith had already fully recovered and some more.

    "If you want so bad to apologize to her, let me send you to the other side!"

    Despite all his provocations, Irtu remained calm and collected, always keeping a safe distance from the waters.

    "He is too confident, I have a bad feeling about this. Why does he keeps advancing despite what happened to the other Byk?" Lith fought back the temptation of using all the extra mana from the world energy in one go, limiting to a single gue Arrow.

    Instead of dodging it, Irtu stood up on its legs,ughing cruelly.

    When the gue Arrow hit the Byk¡¯s heart, Lith could see thanks to Life Vision that instead of attacking its vital organs, the dark energy was being assimted by Irtu¡¯s core.

    "Hurr, hurr, hurr. Did you really think to be the only one that have mastered dark magic, maggot? Now die!"

    Irtu jumped forward, and before Lith could take advantage of its inability to dodge in mid-air, four rock formations abruptly erupted from the ground, right were Irtu¡¯s paws were going to be.

    That way the Byk was able to jump forward once more, his speed further increased by the four rock¡¯s borrowed momentum.

    In less than a second Lith was robbed of his opportunity to counter attack, while Irtu had turned into a one-ton bullet.

    To evade the attack Lith had not only use air fusion, but also to roll forward. The Byk was too fast for a real dodge, his only option was to pass under it.

    After that point, things got worse. When Irtunded, instead of creating a crater, the ground stretched under its legs like a trampoline, allowing it to resume the chase without a second of dy.

    "What the f*ck?! You can do that with earth magic?" Lith bit his lower lip hard, cursing his own ignorance. He was a self-taught after all, the only knowledge he had about true magic was what he discovered experimenting by himself.

    Clearly the Byk was a natural at magic, and had refined its mastery over earth through the years, aptly adapting it to best suit its hunting techniques.

    Making a split-second decision, Lith kicked the ground with his left leg while using all the mana he could to infuse himself with earth magic, boosting his defence.

    Thanks to the clean cut in his previous trajectory, Lith got only grazed on the chest from Irtu¡¯s w. Yet it was enough to rip off his chest protector and graze the underneath skin.

    Lith instinctively used light fusion to stop the bleeding and gain a healing factor.

    The mid-air strike had messed up the Byk¡¯s tempo, so after the second jump it was forced to stop.

    Lith used that moment of pause to activate Soaring Hawk and take flight. The opponent was clearly superior, he had almost run out of options.

    "No escape!" Irtu roared, shooting a rain of rock debris against him.

    Lith mimicked Gerda, using air instead of earth to generate a fast spinning barrier that deflected the sudden attacks. Yet his flight was interrupted, and he started to fall down.

    Irtu grinned, getting up on its back legs, ready to catch him. He could already feel in its mouth the crunchy taste of the prey¡¯s limbs.

    Lith was almost out of options. Almost.

    From that angle, Irtu could not notice that Lith¡¯s right hand was now holding something, removing the stopper with a snap of the thumb.

    At thest second, Lith stopped in mid-air with Float, while the substance in the sk kept falling and hit Irtu right on the head.

    Suddenly the Byk was blind, his eyes burning like fire. A strong smell inundated his nose, making him sneeze and rendering it unable to sense Lith presence anymore.

    "When I bought this horrible perfume, my idea was to use it to make a Byk lose my traces in case the worst happened. I never expected being forced to resort to such a gamble. Luckily Irtu does not know about Solus, nor her pocket dimension."

    The sk materializing out of thin air was something unconceivable for the magical beast, taking it by surprise.

    Irtu was still roaring in pain, the paws rubbing his eyes, when he got stabbed from all sides.

    Thanks to the river, Lith¡¯s Ice Spear spell needed just a split second to strike.

    Lith waved his hands non-stop, sending a barrage of spears until Irtu¡¯s corpse was so riddled with holes that he could see through it. And even after that, he sent another one piercing its head, right between the eyes.

    "I always hated how in horror movies no one ever makes sure that the frigging monster is really dead, only to get backstabbed during the credits."

    "You took a huge risk there, pretending to have lost control of the flight spell and going into free fall." Solus had objected to thatst-minute contingency n from the second Lith devised it, deeming it too reckless.

    "What if the Byk impaled you with a rock spear? What if instead of waiting for you toe down, it had jumped to finish you off?"

    "That would have been merciful. Irtu was too cruel to do such thing."

    Lith replied without hesitation.

    "It wanted me to feel despair and helplessness, to be conscious while it ripped me apart. In some ways we were quite simr, both hell-bent on revenge and inflicting pain to our enemies.

    The only difference between us, is that I would never allow my bloodlust to drive me crazy. Gerda and Irtu were a threat to my family. That¡¯s the only reason I came here.

    I prefer giving my enemies a painless death, even making Irtu¡¯s pelt worthless, rather than taking the smallest risk that they could harm one hair of my beloved ones."

    Lith had just collected the two magical beasts¡¯ carcasses inside the pocket dimension, when his body started trembling in pain. A familiar hot sensation rising from his mana core.

 Chapter 35 Prizes

    "Not here, not now!" Lith inwardly screamed. "Until it¡¯s over, I will be a sitting duck!" He knew that it was impossible to hold back the impurities refining process until he was back home.

    He had no choice but to offer no resistance, making it as fast and painless as possible.

    Soon, ck ooze started being excreted from all his pores and orifices. Lith¡¯s eyes and throat were burning from the nasty feeling the impurities inflicted on their way out.

    Lith felt like a river of bile wasing out of his body.

    When it finally ended, he was kneeling, hands on the ground. A huge puddle of the tar-like substance was below him, tainting the air with its putrid smell.

    "Congrattions on evolving your mana core to deep cyan!" Solus voice was full of joy.

    "You also should have lost at least a kilogram or two (2.2 or 4.4 pounds), judging from how much impurities you expelled this time. I can already feel the quality of your mana flow improving. My meals have never been so tasty!"

    "Deep cyan?!" Lith coughed up some impurities that got stuck in his throat.

    "All these years, the hard work, even risking my life against not one but two consecutive magical beasts, just for the worst cyan core possible?" He couldn¡¯t help but feel depressed and frustrated.

    "I¡¯m still below Nana¡¯s level, and she was born with that core! If she practiced my breathing techniques, there¡¯s no telling how strong she would be. She could probably already topple mountains and split the sea."

    With a pulse of dark magic, he banished all the impurities into nothingness.

    "Look at the bright side. Thanks to the break through, you should finally be able curing Tista. Isn¡¯t that what you wanted from the beginning?" Solus tried to console him the best that she could.

    At that thought, Lith¡¯s mood lightened up immediately.

    "You are damn right! Sometimes I am just a self-centered a*shole."

    "Sometimes?" Solus sarcastically remarked.

    "Okay, fine! Most of the times I let my hunger for power get the best of me. Happy now?"

    Solus giggled.

    Despite having yet to use Invigoration, Lith could already perceive the world around him more vividly than ever. The colours, the smells, the sounds everything was different. It was like being born again and experiencing the world for the first time.

    Still feeling light headed, he sshed the river¡¯s cold water on his face, trying to regain his focus.

    Suddenly, Lith could feel a shiver on the back of his head, his neck hair suddenly standing up.

    Lith abruptly jumped back on his feet, turning around to discover that a Ry, the very same Ry from two years ago was silently walking toward him.

    It had be bigger, its height at the withers reaching 1.6 meters (5¡¯6"), and its red fur had gained shades of white, dancing in the sunlight like a wildfire.

    Just trying the Soaring Hawk spell almost made Lith faint, so he was forced to cancel it while using Invigorate to regain his strength once again.

    Yet Lith¡¯s mana core was still unstable after the evolution process, and therefore unable to assimte more world energy.

    "F*ck my life! I can only escape on foot."

    Sniffing his stress and fear, the Ry spoke up.

    "Fear not, Scourge, I mean no harm. On the contrary, I havee to give you my thanks. It was my duty stopping Irtu and Gerda, but you managed to precede me."

    It threw a magnificent deer he was carrying on its back at Lith¡¯s feet. Both the skin and the antlers were in perfect conditions, aside from a single bite mark on the neck, where it had been cleanly broken.

    "I noticed you humans prefer them like this, since after eating the meat you can exchange the rest for those things you call ¡¯money¡¯."

    Lith didn¡¯t feel much reassured, he decided to keep stalling while he was catching his breath and searching for the best possible escape route.

    "So, you can talk too, uh? Why didn¡¯t we have this conversation two years ago, instead of fighting?"

    "Stop eyeing for an escape route. If I really wanted to kill you, I would avoid useless talk and strike when you are at your weakest. I am not arrogant and cruel like Irtu. I would not make the mistake of underestimating you again.

    As for your question, it was you that attacked me first.

    Also, do you know what happens when one of us speaks? Either the human faints or runs away. In both cases, theye back in numbers, even setting the woods on fire trying to kill us all."

    The Ry growled at that unpleasant memory.

    Lith rxed a bit.

    "Yeah, humans get scared easily. They think themselves all high and righteous, and don¡¯t like when someone or something they don¡¯t recognize as an equal threatens the status quo.

    By the way, sorry for the sneak attack, but you were big, scary and destroying something really precious to me."

    A light of understanding lit in the Ry¡¯s eyes.

    "You mean the annoying rock that now you wear at your finger, I see. Then it¡¯s my turn to apologize for damaging your property and trying to kick you out of the woods. I only wanted the noise to stop, and you ceasing your attack."

    "If I have to believe your words, why do you call me Scourge? Isn¡¯t that kind of offensive?" Lith kept moving, very slowly, towards the fastest way home, one step at the time, like he was just shifting his weight from one foot to another while chatting.

    The Ry snorted, pretending to not notice it.

    "It¡¯s no offence. You killed the king in the west, and with its life you imed its title as well."

    "That would make you the king in the east, I suppose. What¡¯s your title?" Lith moved another step.

    "The Protector. My role is to keep both humans and unruly magic beasts at bay."

    "It has a much better ring than mine. By the way, your majesty, I am not interested in kingships or messing with your turf. Feel free to take over Irtu¡¯s region or whatever it¡¯s called. I only hunt for my survival, not for sport or pleasure."

    "And that¡¯s why you are still alive." Seeing that the human was too self-conscious about his weakened state, the Ry gave up and turned back, walking towards the woods.

    Lith was still scared, yet had the presence of mind to store the deer in the pocket dimension. As soon as the magical beast disappeared from his sight, Lith ran out the woods, always making Solus look out for any possible menace.

    Once outside, he changed into his usual clothing, deeming the w rip on the chest too unsettling for his parents.

    The closest he got home, the weaker he felt. The adrenaline rush was fading away, his body and mind were both battered from all that had happened. A splitting headache arose, making difficult for him to think.

    When Lith finally arrived at destination, he was too tired to speak or even walk to his bedroom. He sat down on the nearest chair, sighing in relief, allowing himself to rx.

    The next thing he knew was that someone had put him into bed, and judging from the lighting it was already night. He closed his eyes, pondering about what to do next, and when he opened them again it was already dawning.

    Tista and Rena were still asleep, Lith decided to get up and prepare the breakfast for everyone, following his normal routine. It was in that moment that he realized how much had he changed overnight.

    Not only his body was brimming with strength, he could also perceive his own mana flow without the assistance of any breathing technique. Lith needed but a thought to start floating, managing to get out of the bedroom without making the wood creak.

    What had required so much focus just the day before, now barely needed his attention.

    "If a tier one spell has be so easy, what about chore magic?"

    Lith discovered that now he was able to use up to six spells at once, without the use of any gesture or magic word to help coordinate them.

    Soon many small vortexes were cleaning every nook and cranny of the dining room, the air in the room getting warmer by the second, while tes and cutlery floated in their ce.

    By the time the table wasid, he had also finished washing and drying the floor.

    "I have performed in less than a minute what usually took me half an hour! I have still a lot of time before having to wake everyone up. Solus, how do you feel?"

    "Now that I know you are all right, just peachy. But since you were referring to my abilities, instead of my feelings..." From the tone she was quite pissed off.

    "...both the Soluspedia and the pocket dimension have started expanding since your mana core stabilized."

    "And what about you?"

    "Thanks for asking without any subtle hint from my side." The sarcasm was palpable. "I am still recovering from the huge scare you gave me yesterday, but I¡¯ll live."

    "I¡¯m sorry, I know you wanted me to escape from Irtu and not take unnecessary risks, but I couldn¡¯t run away and live in fear, waiting for him to find and attack my family.

    I have lived too long in terror of my father, back on Earth, to let the same thing happen again. I hope you can understand."

    Wanting nothing more than change the subject to escape that awkward silence, Lith asked:

    "What about Gerda¡¯s carcass? Can we take credit for the kill or would it arise suspicions?"

    "There is no problem for Gerda, history is full of promising mages, even younger than you, killing a magical beast. Since there is no way to determine how strong it was, you can say that you ambushed it sessfully.

    Irtu, on the other side, is more problematic. Not only his pelt is useless, making him only good for racking up merits, but its corpse shows signs of a spell that should be around tier four or five, if not above. I¡¯d say to save it for rainy days."

    After deciding what to do with the various carcasses, Lith used the remaining time to practice umtion, while thinking about how to announce to his parents the treatment he had devised for Tista.

    Among all the things he had gained since arriving in the new world, his family¡¯s happiness was still the greatest prize he could strive for.

 Chapter 36 Out of Misery

    Author¡¯s note: I do research my stuff, but please remember that this is a work of fiction, not a medicine textbook. If among you there is some nit-picky doctor, please be nice and cut me some ck. Enjoy your read.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Lith spent the next few days familiarizing with the changes in both his body and mana core. Healing with true magic was much different from the on/off effects that fake magic used. Not to mention that the procedure for Tista required surgical precision.

    So, he used his new job as Nana¡¯s assistant to master once again his mana flow. Lith also personally reported to Count Lark the ying of the magical beast via Nana¡¯smunication amulet.

    He gave the Count the chance to buy the perfectly preserved pelt, but for that the he needed to get in touch with Selia. Lith had no idea how to tan and preserve such magnificent fur, and neither did he know how much was its worth.

    So, he had been forced to turn to the huntress for help, and Selia had epted in exchange of 25% on the final price. The same fate befell the deer carcass.

    Lith¡¯s goal was to improve his rtions with Count Lark, by earning merits for both of them.

    Through their confidential agreement, Lith would achieve merits because he had eliminated a threat to the County, while the Count would take the credit of the kill, being the one that had discovered Lith¡¯s talent and iming to have entrusted him with the task.

    ording to thew book in Lith¡¯s possession, a noble would get great fame and honours, ording to how his subjects performed.

    While they would get merits, the noble would improve his social status and importance to the King¡¯s Court, raising his chances of achieving one more title with all thends attached to it.

    It was a perfect win-win situation.

    Lith hoped to reel in Count Lark among his official backers. Having him has a patron was not enough. Being the Count a magic enthusiast, Lith was just one of the many talented youths he was sponsoring and nothing more.

    Lith wanted their rtionship to develop further, so when he finally could leave the vige, he would have someone to rely on.

    If there was one thing that he had learned from Nana¡¯s story, was that a country bumpkin like him was in desperate need of someone trustworthy in an influential position.

    Count Lark was obviously thrilled at the idea that one of his proteges had achieved such a result. His hopes for Lith being epted at the Lightning Griffon Academy skyrocketed, after so many failures, another sess was on sight.

    It would further raise the Count status in the eyes of the Court. Killing a magical beast was good, but finding and developing the talent of a powerful mage was much better. Mages were the backbone of the Kingdom, together with the military.

    After settling his business with Count Lark, Lith had Solus help himpletely rethink his concept of magic.

    "So far I used magic just like a club, to kill and hit. But Gerda and Irtu have showed me that magic, in this world, it¡¯s not fixed as in Dungeons & Looting. I have been too narrow minded. It¡¯s not only light magic that can act at cellr level.

    All kinds of magic can interact with matter, changing its properties. If Irtu could make the ground stic, then I should be able to walk on water without freezing it first, by altering its density. I need more advanced spellbooks to understand magic¡¯s limits.

    It¡¯s no wonder that Magi¡¯s talent increases exponentially after discovering true magic.

    Not only they start with a better core than mine, so they can refine it to further heights, but they also be capable of replicating every single spell they saw until that point

    While inventing a new spell takes a lot of time for a fake mage, finding the right bnce between hand signs and magic words to obtain the desired effect, a true mage just needs to understand the underlying principles behind a spell to perform it."

    Thanks to his battle with the magical beasts, Lith was able to quickly develop new spells, by either imitating their tactics or experimenting by himself.

    After about two weeks, his body, mind and mana core were perfectly in tune, so Lith asked Rena to go to the vige with Trion, giving him the opportunity to freely talk with his parents and Tista.

    Trion and Lith were now in a more neutral rtionship, there were no hard feelings left, but no trust either.

    Lith had to dumb down a lot the concepts to make them understand the risks of the procedure. He was not a doctor, but they were his parents, and Tista was their beloved daughter and his beloved sister.

    Lith would not proceed unless getting their informed consent, or at least the next best thing, since they understood very little of magic and nothing at all of anatomy.

    "How sure are you about this thing?" Asked Raaz, holding Tista as tight as he could, like Lith was going to take her away.

    "I¡¯d love to tell you that everything will be alright, but I can¡¯t. I never tried something so big andplex. Tista, I worked years to develop this spell, just for you. The only thing that I can promise, is that I will give my best.

    I obsessed myself nights and days with it, because I want you to be free and happy like anyone else, instead of being stuck in a cage, be it your body or this house, no matter how golden we can make it.

    I want you to be able to run in the wind, walk in the snow. To get out of this house, to meet people, make friends, maybe someday fall in love with someone and being loved back.

    I will do all I can to free you from these shackles, but I can¡¯t do it without your trust and consent."

    Lith looked them in the eyes, one at a time, to show them his resolve and determination.

    Tista escaped her father¡¯s arms, hugging Lith tight.

    "Oh, Lith. When you talk like that you sound more like dad than a little brother." She said crying.

    "Off course I trust you. You have always been by my side, taking care of me, even when I could do nothing but stay in bed all day. You worked so hard, giving me so much.

    Food, clothes, you even invented the rocking chair for me (AN: is actually a swing. See chap 17 for more details). Mom, dad, I want to do it. Whatever happens, I could never regret having trust in my little brother."

    Without saying a word, Raaz and Elina joined her in the embrace, all of them sobbing together, even Lith, so fond of their bond and so scared to lose one of them at the same time.

    After Lith calmed down, he could finally start. On paper, the treatment was simple. By using Invigoration¡¯s real time imaging of Tista¡¯s body, Lith would use light and dark magic in synch.

    Dark magic would destroy the damaged cells thatposed almost half of Tista¡¯s lungs, while at the same rate light magic would enhance the healthy cells¡¯ ability to multiply, instantly recing the lost organ tissue.

    But even with his limited knowledge in medicine, Lith could see many underlying problems. The destroyed cells would release toxins and impurities in Tista¡¯s system, and if they umted too much she could die of shock or organ failure.

    Also, regenerating a vital organ like the lungs was a delicate process, that would consume lots of her strength, and she hadn¡¯t much to begin with.

    So Lith had decided to take things slow, treating only a minimal part of her lungs to begin with. Then he would use his control over her mana flow to expel from her body all toxins and impurities the dead tissue would release, and give her some time to recover before attempting another session.

    During all the process, he took care of her eating and resting properly, to the point that Lith skipped hunting and magic training, only keeping his job with Nana to have a steady source of ie while Tista was resting.

    The whole procedure took over a month, but thanks to all his painstakingly efforts and meticulous bordering anal-retentive preparations, everything went well.

    In some respects, even too well.

    After the treatment, Tista¡¯s mana core had gone from light orange to yellow, and ording to Solus, it kept evolving over time.

    "Seems your sister was quite talented, but her illness prevented her core from properly grow."

    "That¡¯s good." Lith nodded "As soon shepletely recovers, I can bring her to Nana to learn magic. That way she will be able to learn a trade and achieve a social status on her own. Whates next depends entirely on her."

    "Won¡¯t you teach her true magic?"

    "That would be idiotic. She is just ten years old. If there¡¯s really some sort of global conspiracy and control over magic, that would mean putting her in danger. She deserves to finally have some fun. To live instead of just surviving.

    I won¡¯t drag her into a beehive unless that¡¯s what she wants."

    Lith made sure that everyone in the family understood the importance of keeping Tista¡¯s recovery a secret. Lith was still a no one, if the rumour spreaded, nobles or other mages could hunt them down to get their hands on the procedure.

    Despite they regretted being forced to keep Trion in the dark, they epted wholeheartedly. None of them was stupid enough to endanger such a hardly achieved happiness just for bragging.

    Since ording to Nana there was a chance for Tista of healing by herself with her growth spurt, they decided to stick with that version and im it to be a miracle of nature.

    Lith had got to the point of developing a spell to alter the results of Nana¡¯s Vinire Rad Tu, so that when she checked on Tista she would still appear ill, but slowly improving. This time he would not slip on the details.

    Tista had to put up a fa?ade every time Trion was around, but she soldiered up bravely. Being sick was a second nature to her, sometimes she even fooled Lith and her parents with her acting.

    But whenever she could, she would walk with Lith through the Trawn woods, going together at his secret clearing where she could finally be free to run, swim in the river, sing and dance at her heart content.

    Lith didn¡¯t regret even one moment spent with her instead of practicing magic or refining his mana core. Those things were of secondary importance to him.

    He had started practicing magic only because of his hunger for power, to put this new world to the test beforemitting suicide again. But then he had fallen in love with his new family, and magic had be a tool instead of a purpose.

    And that purpose wasughing and jumping around, in front of his eyes.

    Lith couldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t hold his tears.

    "Wherever you are, Carl, I hope with all my heart you too have found someone to love and to protect. I love you, little brother, and no matter how distant we are, you¡¯ll always be with me."

    A few monthster, Lith received an invitation from Count Lark, to join him for a day in his manor as his esteemed guest.

 Chapter 37 The Invite From Count Lark

    The whole thing happened in an odd fashion. Lith received a letter instead of an holo-call, and despite being addressed to him it was delivered at Nana¡¯s house.

    Being the host, Nana took the liberty of reading it before handing it to him. She was just concerned for Lith¡¯s wellbeing, off course.

    The letter said in a perfect penmanship:

    "Dear Lith,

    Thanks again for ying the monstrous magical beast. You have served the County of Lustria and deserve to be rewarded ordingly. To this end, I would like you to join me in my manor in ten days since receiving this letter. We have much to discuss. I urge you to contact me as soon as you can via Lady Nerea¡¯smunication amulet.

    Count Trequill Lark."

    "What does this mean?" Lith asked Nana.

    "It sounds so serious to be ominous. It doesn¡¯t even seem something a joyful and spirited person like the Count would write."

    "Hmmm." Nana nodded, eager to avoid the outrageous usation of being nosey.

    "I can smell good news and bad news.

    The good news is that isn¡¯t anything serious. Despite the somber tone, worthy of a payment order, Lark used a letter, this means it¡¯s nothing urgent or important, since he could afford to wait for the delivery and the reply.

    The bad news is that all the above stinks of formality and etiquette. I fear that you are in for a whole day of boredom, while attending all the official business regarding your prizes and whatnot. As I always say, little imp, no good deed goes unpunished!"

    "That¡¯s my line!" Lith inwardly screamed. "Not only you open my mail, you even steal my shtick?"

    Even the following holo-call was awkward. Count Lark was uncharacteristically calm andposed, managing to not make any question about magic to Lith, nor losing his monocle, not even once.

    After hearing that Lith had epted his invite, he stated that his personal tailor would stop byter to take Lith¡¯s measurements, and that he would send his stagecoach on the set date, one hour after dawn in front of Nana¡¯s house.

    Then, the Count politely but promptly ended the call, saying he had many things to attend. For Lith was like talking to aplete stranger.

    The tailor arrived less than an hourter, he didn¡¯t give Lith any mean look or nasty remark. On the contrary, he somehow recognized him at the first nce,plimenting him for his height.

    Despite being only eight years and a half, Lith was already over one meter and thirty-five centimetres (4¡¯6") high, and in the County of Lustria any man above 1.75 metres (5¡¯9") was considered tall.

    "Keep growing up so fast and soon you¡¯ll be as tall as the Count, young man."

    After the man left, Nana whistled in surprise.

    "Good gods, I know him. That¡¯s the tailor that personally prepare the dresses for the Lark¡¯s family. It¡¯s even worse than I thought. This asion must be something really big, like being invited to a ball kind of big.

    This is one of those rare moments when I¡¯m happy not being part of high society anymore. Prepare yourself for long awkward silences, insufferable small talk and being showed around like some kind of exotic beast."

    Lith spent the next ten days in his usual routine, obsessing about Nana¡¯s words was pointless, since he had already taken those things in consideration when he decided to tighten his rtionship with the Count.

    Except dancing, of course. Lith had always hated dancing, even back on Earth, mostly because of his two left feet. But even that wouldn¡¯t worry him much, there was no way for him learning Court¡¯s dances in so little time.

    Even if he managed to find a book about it and added it to Soluspedia, knowing was not doing, he would still need to practice. He could only suck it up and endure.

    When the fated day came, a luxurious stagecoach stopped in front of Nana¡¯s house. It was all white, with the d¨¦cors painted gold, drawn by four snow-white stallions.

    A valet descended, bowing to Lith before giving him a small wooden box.

    "My Lord, would like you to change into your new outfit, before getting into the stagecoach, good sir."

    So much respect was dumbfounding for Lith, so he bowed back without a word, before going into Nana¡¯s living quarters to change.

    He came out wearing deep blue velvet pants over hard leather shoes, a snow-white silk shirt and a zer matching with the pants, with the Count¡¯s family crest gold embroidered over his heart.

    "Holy sh*t! I¡¯m probably wearing more money than my family¡¯s farm is worth. Judging from the crest, I guess Nana was right, he is going to introduce me to someone, and he needs that someone to know who I belong to."

    Lith was alone on the stagecoach. After opening the door for him, the valet went sitting beside the coachman.

    The ridested over half an hour, despite the horses¡¯ remarkable speed. Having nothing to do, Lith spent the whole time using umtion. His deep cyan mana core had yet to change by even a shade, it definitely needed more work.

    When the stagecoach finally stopped, Lith looked out of the window, only to discover they were just at the gates of the estate.

    Two fully armed soldiers talked to the coachman, inspecting inside, above and below the stagecoach before letting them pass.

    "Going at full speed, armed to the teeth guards, a full check on the coach. Maybe Nana was wrong, this looks more pressing by the second".

    Once inside the gate, and beyond the high grey walls, the stagecoach slowed down, allowing Lith to take in the full manor view. The park around the manor extended as far as the eye could see.

    The air smelled of cut grass, flower beds and finely trimmed bushes adorned the cobblestone paths that went across all the park.

    Halfway between the gate and the manor, there was a za, surrounded by benches, and at his center a huge pedestal with a marble statue of someone that Lith assumed had to be either the first Count Lark, or an ancestor of which they were proud of.

    The manor itself was bigger than he had imagined, extending for at least 3,000 square meters (3,588 square yards), divided into a main building, a left and a right wing forming a reversed U shape.

    It took almost five more minutes to actually get to the manor¡¯s entrance.

    The more he looked around, the more he could feel something was amiss. One of the greatest changes happened after Lith¡¯s mana core evolved to cyan, was that alongside his five senses, also his instinct had greatly improved.

    He was able to sense hidden dangers, like with the Ry, and to more easily grasp someone¡¯s real demeanour and intentions. So, he didn¡¯t miss that there were too little servants around, and those few he managed to spot had all a tense expression.

    A butler in a white and deep blue livery weed him with a deep bow.

    "The Count asked me to apologize on his behalf for not personally receiving you, Magico Lith. His Lordship also tasked me to bring you to his private quarters as soon as possible, where he will exin everything to you."

    The butler¡¯s poker face was impable, but Lith could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. He followed the butler until a double door room guarded by four soldiers.

    Looking through the windows Lith could see that there were even more guards on the outside, patrolling the windows and the ss doors leading to the park.

    Inside, he found the Count nervously pacing around, two youths were sitting on armchairs, and both were showing signs of anxiety, either tapping their feet of fiddling with their hair.

    Count Lark hadn¡¯t changed much since thest time he had saw him in person. He was in his mid tote fifties, around 1,83 meters (6¡¯) tall with a thin build, that made him appear even taller.

    The Count had thick ck hair with streaks of grey, a short-trimmed goatee of the same colour. His inseparable ck rimmed monocle was attached to his breast pocket with a blue silk string.

    As soon as he saw Lith, his somber demeanour returned to be filled with enthusiasm.

    "Good gods, Lith, you are finally here!" The Count shook his hand with such vigour that Lith thought he was actually trying to crush it.

    "But where are my manners. Allow me to introduce you my beloved children."

    The two youths stood up and extended their hands in turns.

    "This is my third born, Jadon. He is also the next in line to be the next Count Lark. Hopefully it should happen many years from now."

    Lith shook his hand. Jadon had a firm but gentle grip, physically resembling his father, except being almost ten centimetres (4 inches) shorter and with a much more muscr built. He was in his early twenties, with pitch ck hair and goatee.

    "And this is my fourth born, Ke. This young beautifuldy is almost sixteen, and ready to make his debut at the King¡¯s Court. They are the only family I have left."

    Ke was a petite girl, 1,53 meters (5¡¯) high, with ming red hair with shades of gold and emerald green eyes. She was wearing an emerald green day dress that highlighted her hair and eyes. She fitted the Count¡¯s bill, except for the beautiful part.

    She wasn¡¯t really well endowed for Lith¡¯s tastes, and despite all the make up she wore it was impossible to hide such a bad case of e. And even without that issue, he would have considered her pretty at best.

    Ke offered him her hand, the palm facing downward. Lith didn¡¯t need his etiquette book to know that she was expecting a hand-kiss.

    It was awkward for him, he never did such a thing even for his past girlfriends when things had got almost serious. Luckily after being dead and reborn twice, having faced killers and magical beasts, it would take much more than that to embarrass him.

    So, he made a small bow while giving a short peck on her hand.

    "It¡¯s a real pleasure and an honour for me to meet you all." Lith said following the etiquette.

    "Now please, you Lordship, could you exin to me the reason of my summoning?"

    The more he saw and heard, the less he understood. Lith couldn¡¯t figure out why the Count was giving him all those useless details, and why the hand-tailored dress he received was so simr to what Jadon was wearing.

    The Count facepalmed himself.

    "Oh! Off course, I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m still so shocked by the recent events that my head doesn¡¯t work properly. Let me exin, I called you here because I need you saving our lives. My wife wants to kill us all."

 Chapter 38 Dysfunctional Family

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Dad! How many times I have told you to start exining things from the beginning, not the end!" Ke rolled her eyes.

    "Yes, yes, my dear. You see, when I was Jadon¡¯s age I got married.

    It was an arranged marriage, with the purpose to join the resources of the Lark and Ghishal households, that back at the time were both in dire straits, to get out of the insane debts that our profligate parents had left us.

    The financial side of the business was a sess. Between ourbined annuities and by selling some of the residual assets, I was able to have enough capitals to invest in the right businesses.

    Long story short, our families went from almost broke to being again two of the richest of the dukedom. And that¡¯s when everything fell apart between us. My wife, Koya, have never been kind or lovely to me, we were just business partners.

    We never shared amon interest or ideal, but until we got our money back, at least it was bearable. After that point, our marriage was purely for show, and aside from when she asked me to attend to my marital duties, we had no intimacy.

    I got four children from her, after all, and even got them tested with Blood Resonance magic to be certain they were actually mine. I might be a little airheaded, but I¡¯m not that na?ve!"

    Both Jadon and Ke became bright red, up to their ears.

    "Dad! Too much information! Stick to the facts, please. This situation is already embarrassing as it is, don¡¯t add oil to the fire."

    Jadon said, but the Count was inflexible.

    "To be able to help us, Lith needs to understand what kind of woman we are facing, or do you want to underestimate your mother again?"

    At those words, Jadon lowered his eyes and sat back down. Lith was really interested in the Blood Resonance magic, but he kept the question forter. Things were already confused enough already.

    "Where was I? Oh yes. Right after our households got back on their feet, Koya soon became restless. She was obsessed with us getting more titles, more annuities, morends.

    To the point that she took part in the Court¡¯s power games and intrigues, trying to make allies to weaken our neighbours and take over theirnds.

    But after working hard for more than twenty years, I was content with what I had. Four beautiful children, a rich and prosperous household, a thriving County.

    I just wanted to slow things down and enjoy the life I had built, while expanding my power and influence through hard honest work instead of underhanded schemes.

    Off course she was furious, all her plotting was useless without my consent. After all, I wasn¡¯t married into her family, she was married into mine. And being the one that did all the work I kept the biggest share of the profits.

    At that point, somehow, our constant arguing and mutual spite started affecting my firstborns. I don¡¯t know if it happened because they were born when I was still too busy to give them the proper care and attention, or if they just got more from their mother¡¯s side rather than mine. Only the gods know.

    My eldest son, Lorant, started taking for granted his status as my sessor, neglecting his duties and doing nothing but drinking, gambling and chasing skirts. My second born, Lyka, had always been a problematic child.

    She was never content with what she had, always wanting more toys, more dresses, more jewellery. Nothing was enough for her. As my constant fights with her mother continues, she became angry with everything and everyone, throwing fits of rage for the smallest things.

    She started beating the servants almost on daily basis, I lost count of how many ran away from this house because of her. Between Lyka and Lorant, it was like there was apetition about who would make me monthly spend more money, trying to cover up their misdeeds andpensating their victims.

    I tried sending Lorant to all the military academies I could find, hoping that some discipline would straighten him up, but he always managed to get dishonourably discharged in a few months, if not weeks.

    Myst resort was giving him the position of responsibility in the household, but he would either not attend at all, or show up dead drunk. But when I discovered that he had begun not only deceiving maidens with promises of marriage, but also taking them by force I decided that enough was enough.

    I publicly disowned him, stripping him of his titles and annuities, leaving him enough money to live an honest life, if he quit gambling, off course. I also told him that the next time he defiled a girl he would be judged like any other scoundrel, and pay for it."

    At those words, Lith thought about Orpal for the first time in over three years.

    "That a*shole should be away for at least another couple years. Maybe if I decide to take part in this episode of ¡¯Game of Spades¡¯ and we survive, I can have the Count trace and eliminate him for me. That would be nice. I hate loose ends."

    After a short break for a ss of water, Count Lark continued his story.

    "My wife was outraged, for her Lorant¡¯s crimes were just ¡¯boyish pranks¡¯ that we should indulge and forgive. But it was the Lark household that he was dragging into the mud, he was throwing away my money with gambles and loan sharks.

    Not to mention that my reputation had be that of a corrupt and profligate noble. Even if somehow I didn¡¯t have any decency or honour within me, how could I entrust my life¡¯s work to someone that would dpidate it in less than a generation?

    Have I ever told you why I appreciate magic so much? It¡¯s because mages and nobles are so simr and yet so different. They both hold a power that allows them to destroy or save lives with a single word, to influence their surrounding just by being there.

    I consider magic superior, because a mage¡¯s mighte from study and discipline, and that means that he knows and understand the values of his power and the consequences of his actions.

    Nobles, instead, get that power as a birthright. They take it for granted, and some live their whole lives considering perfectly natural for them to be superior, a higher existence. That¡¯s why so many of us end up abusing our status and authority.

    But I digress. After expelling Lorant from the family, Koya wouldn¡¯t listen to reason, and neither would Lyka. She really loved her brother, and after he was kicked out, she became even more angry and violent."

    The Count¡¯s eyes turned watery, he had to remove his monocle to rub them with a handkerchief.

    "Have you ever heard about all those stories about nobles killing and maimingmoners for trivial reasons? Well, she turned out to be the living embodiment of all those stories, and when I discovered what she had done, the body count was already over a dozen!

    I had no choice but to disown her too, pleading the King for mercy and losing a lot of my umted merits in the process. Despite everything, she is still my daughter.

    My wife was brought to the brink of insanity, saying that it was all my fault, and so she left the house for good, returning to the Ghishals. At first, I thought that being apart would allow her to regain her senses ande back.

    After a while, though, I really enjoyed the peace and quiet, and hoped she would never return. But then I discovered that she had brought with her our disowned sons, breaching my trust with a tant unting of the King¡¯sw.

    At that point, I applied for the marriage to be annulled, otherwise after my death she could reinstate them as family members, if not even as heirs to the County.

    The annulment process would take a while, but I was certain to have settled that matter.

    In the following weeks, I started to feel weak and feverish, and despite all Genon¡¯s assurances, my personal magician, I could tell that something was wrong. No cold ever felt like that orsted so long.

    So I started skipping my meals in secret, eating only fruits that I picked up myself, and guess what? My symptoms faded away. Only then I remembered that Genon was from my wife¡¯s side of the family. She had hired him personally, and so she did for more than half our staff.

    After firing everyone she had brought in the house, I hoped to be finally safe, but then even Ke and Jadon fell ill. I would have never imagined she would harm her own children, just for not agreeing with her!

    At that point I was in dire need of a magical aide, but who could I trust? Competent magicians are hard to find, and at this point I don¡¯t trust anyone anymore. Who knows who may actually be sent by my wife or one of her associates?

    That¡¯s when I sent you the letter with the help of my personal secretary, a man that I know and trust from decades.

    I couldn¡¯t call for Lady Nerea¡¯s help, without her the whole district of Lutia would fall apart, not to mention it would be a sign of weakness. Who would entrust a County to a man incapable of managing his own house?

    Nana have more than once assured me that your healing skills are on par with hers, and having killed a magical beast, I¡¯m pretty confident that you are already morepetent than Genon, who graduated in a minor academy only thanks to his father¡¯s money."

    Lith closed his eyes, trying to assimte all that information at once to decide his next course of action.

    "F*ck! I¡¯m in a dead end." He thought. "If I say no and he survives I¡¯ll lose everything I built so far.

    If I refuse and he dies, not only all my efforts for making him into my backer will be for naught, but this wannabe Sersi strikes me like someone that after getting rid of her husband, will wipe clean all traces of his existence, and that includes me!

    Unless she is deaf, blind and dumb she is bound to know how much the Count has invested in me, that puts all my family in danger. And I definitely don¡¯t want this Lorant guye any close to my mother and sisters."

    Feeling cornered, he had only one doubt.

    "I consider myself a good healer and hunter, your Lordship, but I don¡¯t see how can I help, except by keeping you safe and healthy for the time being, off course. But that would be just stalling for time. If you don¡¯t have a way to make your wife yield, it could go on for years."

    "No, rest assured that it won¡¯t. As soon as the marriage is annulled, she will not be able to make demands anymore about the Lark household.

    Unless I am sorely mistaken, by that time she will be knee deep in troubles caused by our disowned sons and for viting the King¡¯sw by bringing them into her family despite being marked as a living shame.

    Her only way out is to get rid of me, Ke and Jadon to make my will null and void, remain the only inheritor alive and restore Lorant and Koya status. I just need you to keep us alive until the King signs the annulment documents."

    Lith¡¯s mind was spinning at full gear, consulting with Solus to make sure to keep all his bases covered.

    "That can be done. But I have some demands that I would like your Lordship to agree with before epting."

    From their expression, it was clear they didn¡¯t expect such request, yet the Count nodded without hesitation.

    "To be able to protect you, I need to move inside you house until the matter is resolved, right?"

    "But off course! That¡¯s why you wear the family colours and crest. That dress identifies you with one of my personal aides, second in authority only to me and my children."

    "Good to know," Lith thought. "That exins why me and Jadon have almost matching clothes."

    "And I am deeply honoured for it, but if I agree to help you, your wife could target my family too in retaliation. If I move in, I might need for them toe along, for their safety, and someone has to take care of the farm, or they will have nothing to return to."

    Count Lark facepalmed himself.

    "Oh Lith, I¡¯m so sorry for doubting your loyalty. For a moment I thought you were going to refuse. You are right, I missed this possibility. I will make theme here as soon as possible, they will be my honoured guests as well.

    I will send my sharecroppers to tend to your farm until everything is settled. Anything else?"

    "Yes. I need free rein within your household. If your wife still has insiders, if not spies still here, I will need to resort to unpleasant means to sort them out. We cannot expect them to confess out of the goodness of their hearts."

    Count Lark took out a handkerchief, cleaning his already shiny monocle to ease his nerves.

    "Do you mean torture and interrogations? Do we really need to resort to that?"

    "As ast resort, but yes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. But it should not be necessary, I can easily disguise as your guest while keeping a low profile. After all no one knows who I am, except the butler."

    The Count started coughing up loudly, Jadon and Ke looked at each other, before turning towards Lith.

    "Actually, everyone knows who you are." Jadon said with an awkward smile.

    "Well, but that doesn¡¯t mean they know what I am capable of."

    When he saw them exchanging another look, while the Count kept coughing non-stop, Lith feltpelled to ask: "They don¡¯t, right?"

    Ke cleared her throat before standing up, prompting him to follow her.

    "A picture is worth more than a thousand words. I think you need to see how you are depicted in the Painting Hall."

 Chapter 39 Setting Up The Board

    "How I am what?!" Lith yelled, having lost his cool for a second.

    Now it was the Count¡¯s turn to be red up to his ears. Lith followed Ke, resisting the urge to demand for her to move faster. All that situation hadepletely unexpected, and was heavily weighing on his mind.

    Since he had heard of the painting, Solus hadn¡¯t stoppedughing, projecting in his head famous statues like the David of Donatello or the Perseus by Antonio Canova, but she reced the facial features with Lith¡¯s and switched Medusa¡¯s head with the Byk¡¯s one, grinding on his nerves.

    "I swear that if that f*cker of the Count had me drawn naked or something, I¡¯ll kill him faster and more cruelly than his psycho wife ever could."

    Luckily for the Count, that wasn¡¯t the case.

    The painting was quite big, one meter (3¡¯3")rge and 1.5 meters (5¡¯) high, and represented the Byk, standing on his feet with glowing red eyes in a dark forest, upying the center and the left corner.

    Lith was drawn while facing the magical beast, offering only the left profile to the viewer. His small body upied only the bottom right corner, engulfed in a magical aura. His left arm and hand were set aze, supposedly because of a fire spell he was casting.

    The perspective and darkness-filled background made the Byk seem big and terrifying like a dragon, while Lith appeared as the only element of light, his face filled with courage and determination.

    The enormous stuffed body of the Byk was ced a few meters to the right, half hidden in an alcove, to show the visitor the ending of the story depicted in the drawing.

    "Well, it¡¯s not that bad." Lith thought. "It¡¯s not the tacky horror I had imagined, and I am not even idiotically beautified. That¡¯s my actual face. Solus, is it me, or I look kind of handsome?"

    "Well, I don¡¯t know." She replied. "It¡¯s definitely a version of you that doesn¡¯t re and frown all the time. More importantly, he doesn¡¯t look like he is there because he has lost a bet, like you do when you watch yourself in the mirror."

    Lith sighed in relief. At least he wasn¡¯t portrayed in his birthday suit or in some kind of arrogant or overbearing pose. That would have been really embarrassing for him.

    "What¡¯s the problem with the painting?" Lith asked, scratching his head in confusion.

    "The problem is that my father showed it to every guest, servant and passerby that was willing to listen to him, recounting how you single-handedly defeated the malevolent beast in an epic battle of magic and wits." Jadon answered.

    "That¡¯s quite an urate recollection of the events, albeit entirely made up" Solusmented. "The Count would make an excellent story teller."

    Lith dismissed Jadon worries with a wave of the hand.

    "You are overthinking it. No one actually witnessed the fight, the pelt is almostpletely intact, and everyone knows about Count Lark¡¯s obsession with magic and sponsoring promising youths.

    They would more likely believe that either I lucked out or that the Count gave me some help, and is trying to lie me into a hero. No offence, your Lordship."

    "None taken." The Count replied. "So, do you like it?"

    He was itching of impatience, waiting for Lith¡¯s reply.

    "What¡¯s not to like?" He shrugged. "I¡¯m not an art expert, but it seems well painted. Both me and the Byk are depicted realistically. The only question I have is how could the artist know my..."

    Then Lith¡¯s eye noticed the painter signature in the bottom left corner. It was a squiggly line, but with a leap of imagination one could actually read the name ¡¯Trequill Lark¡¯.

    Lith turned around abruptly just in time to get a glimpse of Count Lark jumping with joy, before regaining hisposure.

    Having cleared that issue, they silently returned to the Count¡¯s private quarters, before resuming their conversation.

    Lith pretended to be casting a fake magic spell, while actually casting his Hush spell. It would create a spherical air vortex that would make eavesdropping by conventional means impossible, by distorting the soundsing out of the room.

    "That will prevent anyone from listening. As I was saying, taking everything in ount, no one would actually believe such a story. Off course the fact that everyone knows my faceplicates things, but a covert operation is still feasible.

    For how I see it, we have two options. Option one: I pretend to not live up to what the Count said up until this point and act like a half-baked magician. This will give the enemies inside and outside the house the confidence to carry on with their ns, like I am not even here.

    It should make easier to capture whoever tried to poison you, but it also means that the assassin will embolden and attack more often. Consider that such person or persons, could be a small fish, hence even eliminating him/her would do us no good, they would be easily receable.

    Option two: I y it big and loud, confirming all the rumors about me. That should put your wife on alert, forcing her to reconsider her ns and be more cautious.

    That would mean a temporary peace, but the next assassination attempts would be conducted by a skilled person that would strike only after a careful preparation, giving him/her high chance of sess.

    At the same time, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to find another trusted mercenary on such short notice, if we manage to eliminate the first one.

    Both paths are filled with thorns and dangers, so it¡¯s up to you to decide."

    The room fell into silence, the three nobles were pondering about how they wanted to bet their lives.

    "Isn¡¯t there a third option?" Ke asked.

    "If you can find one, sure. I am open to suggestions." Lith shrugged.

    "I say that our best option is discretion." The Count had made up his mind.

    "We aren¡¯t trying to beat Koya at her own game, we just need to stall for time. If we managed to survive on our own until now, with Lith¡¯s help things should be much easier.

    Let¡¯s keep our real strength hidden as long as we can, so that when she finds out the truth, hopefully she won¡¯t have enough time to take the best countermeasures she could.

    I know her well, she is cold and calctive, but under pressure she is much better at taking orders rather than giving them. It¡¯s happened multiple times in the past, and now it¡¯s not any different.

    She could have pretended to ept my decision, to stay by my side despite our differences.

    That way, even the first poisoning attempt would have seeded, since my suspects arose mostly because I knew she wouldn¡¯t stand idly while losing the status and money that the title of Countess gives her.

    But as always, Koya¡¯s bad temper got the best of her and she made a mistake after the other. So, what¡¯s our next move?"

    "Until everything is resolved, don¡¯t hire new servants, it¡¯s too risky." Lith said.

    "Aside from that, there is not much we can do, we are still on the defence. The only thing thates to my mind is to introduce me to your staff, one small group at the time.

    Those who are still loyal to you will look at me with curiosity and benevolence, while those who are your wife¡¯s payroll may feel pressured and lose their cool. It¡¯s a longshot but it¡¯s better than nothing."

    Lith¡¯s n was actually moreplex than that, but it wasn¡¯t something he could share.

    Between his Life Vision and Solus¡¯ mana sense, he would take note of everyone whose physical strength exceeded their upation requirements or had at least a yellow mana core.

    "Our best bet would be a male, middle aged with a strong body and mana core. It would make the perfect suspect." Lith thought.

    "Why a male?" Solus asked.

    "Because men are physically superior, even in this world. A woman would better suit a honey trap, but we already know that the Count doesn¡¯t fiddle with maids.

    Middle aged because it should be someone the Countess nted long ago, to let him gain the trust and authority necessary to freely move in the manor. And a strong mana core would be a great tell for a hit man.

    I doubt anyone with enough talent for magic would settle for a manualbour job without a really good reason. Also, if something magic rted happens, it would be the perfect diversion, since women would always be the prime suspects being naturally more talented."

    When the Count had told him to have fired half of the staff, Lith had deluded himself into believing that would make things easier for him to control. But reality begged to differ.

    The remaining personnel still amounted to over fifty units, and that was only after not taking into ount gardeners and stable workers, since they did not have ess to the main building.

    "Fifty-four f*cking persons! It¡¯s more than the whole vige poption. It took me hours just to meet them all!"

    None of them had shown signs of stress meeting him, making his official n aplete failure. The silver lining was that he had actually found possible suspects, the problem, thought, was that there were too many.

    Lith had found among the staff sixteen people that stuck out for their physical or magical abilities. Yet he had no way of performing a background check outside directly asking them or their colleagues, but that would make his intentions too obvious.

    He couldn¡¯t rely on the Count or his children for that, they barely knew their names and roles in the household.

    Lith decided that for the time being, the best he could do was keep his own family in the dark. As long as he yed his role as a weak magico, the safest ce for them was the one further away from the eye of the storm.

    He kept thinking and thinking, but he couldn¡¯t find a way out.

    "Dammit! I¡¯m really starting to believe that this time I am way out of my league. I¡¯m no detective, just an out of practice chemist that now practices magical arts! This is not a problem that I can solve by killing or burning stuff.

    The situation resembles more and more a frigging game of chess, and I hate chess! I suck at chess when the fight is fair, let alone when all I have is my queen (me), the king (Count) and two pawns(heirs)!"

    Solus giggle was the first good thing he had heard the whole day.

    "Well, if the board is so unfavourable, have you thought about cheating?"

    Suddenly Lith¡¯s stone ring turned to liquid, sshing on the floor before returning to the form of a marble. Eight little legs came out of the stone marble, making it resemble a spider that started to move in circles around Lith.

    "Nice little trick, don¡¯t you think?"

 Chapter 40 Solusâ€™ Adventure

    "I wanted to give this a try since I gained the ability to change shape at will." Solus exined.

    "It¡¯s amazing! What you can do in that form?"

    "The same as always. Store things and use magic you know by consuming your mana. If you allow me to do it, obviously."

    "Then what¡¯s the point? Last time we checked, our mind link was around 10 meters (10.1 yards). Sure, I could nt and use you as a bug, but then I would need somehow to retrieve you without raising suspicions. How far can you move on your own?"

    "We are about to find out!" Solus started moving fast, first on the floor then up the wall, until she reached the ceiling. Then she moved on the opposite side of the room, putting 5 meters (5.4 yards) between them.

    "So far so good. I feel I can move even further."

    Lith opened the door of his room, checking with Life Vision that there was no one hidden in some corner or behind a secret passage he was unaware of.

    Then he let Solus get further away from him. She kept humming the entire time, making possible to Lith to determine how the strength of their mind link changed with distance.

    At ten metres (11 yards), it was perfectly clear, like she was still on his finger. After twenty meters (22 yards) it became muffled, he could still share her senses andmunicate with her, but it required focus. At thirty meters (33 yards), her thoughts were barely a whisper.

    "I don¡¯t feel so good, I¡¯m afraid that this is my limit. If I get any further, I won¡¯t be able to receive your mana anymore and I will begin to consume my life force in order to move. My reserves are not depleted as when you first found me, but the idea of being all alone, bleeding energy at every step frightens me quite a bit."

    Lith could understand her fear. She had already got very close to death once, and in order to survive, Solus had to pay a terrible price.

    "If mana is the problem, let¡¯s see if I can do something about it." Lith created a string of mana with spirit magic, and used it to connect to Solus.

    Suddenly everything was clear again, he could even feel her little body perform a joyful dance. Solus was able to proceed swiftly until the distance between them was fifty meters (54.7 yards), the new limit of spirit magic¡¯s range.

    Sending her mana over a further distance required increasing focus and energy consumption on Lith side. It was like casting and keeping active several spells at the same time.

    For Solus to reach the servant quarters, Lith required such concentration to became blind and deaf to whatever was happening around him, going into a meditative trance.

    "This ispletely uneptable! I need to babysit the Count and his kids at all times. What would happen if we got attacked while I y the sleeping beauty? Not to mention how can I possibly exin to the Count my ¡¯narcolepsy¡¯ without either losing his trust or revealing Solus¡¯ existence?"

    Lith tried to open his eyes, to listen with his own ears instead of using Solus¡¯ senses. It didn¡¯te easy, it was like pushing a car uphill, the slightest mistake and he would be back to square one. After numerous failures, Lith snapped.

    "F*ck! If finesse doesn¡¯t work, let¡¯s go brute force!"

    Lith forcefully awoke, his room was as he had left it, the door still barred from the inside since Solus had gone beyond his line of sight. He could hear and see again, but the burden on his mind and body was unchanged.

    He could feel his mana being drained, his mind slower than usual. It was like trying to do mental calction despite amercial jingle you couldn¡¯t get out of your head. The mind link was still there, but it was blocked.

    "Seems at this range I can either use my senses or hers, not both. It¡¯s not great, but still an improvement. I won¡¯t have to fall asleep at the weirdest times at least."

    After closing his eyes again, Lith asked Solus toe back, and after her return, they nned their next moves.

    In the following days, Lith would stay with the three nobles at all the times, barricading themselves in the Count¡¯s private quarters and surrounded by guards.

    That way from the outside it would look like Lith¡¯s arrival had changed nothing, but appearances couldn¡¯t be more different from the truth.

    Lith would make them drink only water he conjured, and before letting them eat even a single bite of any food, he would use magic to search for poisons and detoxify them.

    He would also use Vinire Rad Tu, the light magic diagnostic spell, to cover up his use of Invigoration, his body strengthening/imaging breathing technique, to check up their bodies for slow release poisons they could have ingested before his arrival or any relevant anomalies.

    The poison was mostly in the food, covered by spices and sauces and the only anomaly he could found was Ke¡¯s e.

    "Poor girl! This sh*t doesn¡¯t cover only her face, it covers also her back and shoulders. I guess for her debut in society she will have to pick a dress that leaves a lot to imagination."

    But while Lith was seemingly holed up, he was actually checking on his suspects, one by one. To avoid useless energy expenditure, he would establish his mind link with Solus before attaching her to a te, tray or under a servant¡¯s cor.

    She would then travel to the kitchens in search of her target, and only then she would send a small burst of energy to signal Lith to start feeding her again. She would then follow the suspect during the day, hoping to caught him or her red handed.

    Usually she would get nothing out of it, but just the gossip was worth the trip.

    "Sigh, since the Countess left, so many bad things have happened." Said a maid in herte twenties.

    "Yeah, first someone tried to poison the Count, and then he kicked out a lot of our friends! I get that he is scared, but that was unfair." Said a valet that was barely eighteen years old.

    "Shut up, idiot! And thank the gods we still have our job and references. This isn¡¯t a good time for ckers and whiners." Replied harshly a chubby maid over her forties.

    "Personally, I have always considered her Ladyship nuttier than a fruitcake." Chimed in Poltus, the butler and head of the staff that had weed Lith at his arrival.

    "Always nagging to the poor Count and asking for money. But this time, I think she may have a motive, that it pains me to admit, is almost justifiable." He said dramatically looking over his shoulder, like someone that knows too much.

    "What do you mean? What do you know?" Soon Poltus was hard pressed to reveal his juiciest discovery.

    "Isn¡¯t it obvious? I mean who in his right mind would stand up for those two worthless scums? They are nothing but human faced monsters, not even the Countess would dirty her hands with that trash!

    I¡¯m so happy they are finally gone. My daughter is getting lovelier by the day, you know. During thest year, I have spent every day in dread, hiding her from that walking d*ck of Lorant."

    "Who cares about your daughter, old fogey, spill the beans!" Said the chubby maid.

    A small crowd of servants had gathered up around him, and even if there was no one else around, he whispered like he was about to reveal a forbidden secret.

    "I think that the kid that just arrived is the Count¡¯s fifth son!" All the presents gasped in astonishment.

    "Think about it. Pitch ck hair, very tall for his age, obsessed with magic. They are clearly made from the same mould! Otherwise why would the Count personally paint him and put the picture in the Painting Hall, among his family members?

    Why would he send the family tailor to make him his dresses and ask the kid to join him in his time of need? A family must stick together!"

    Soon the whole room erupted with shouts and chatter.

    "That¡¯s why the Countess was so angry!" "It exins everything!"

    "Do you think he could be the next in line of session? Poor Jadon."

    While everyone¡¯s imagination was going wild, Solus was really happy of being a magical construct at the moment.

    She wasughing so hard that she could barely keep her form. If she had been inside a human body, she would be rolling on the floor, hugging her belly and gasping for air.

    The gathering was going tost long, but luckily her mark wasn¡¯t that much interested in gossip and started to move toward the servant¡¯s quarters.

    Solus promptly detached from the apron she was hiding under, and followed her quietly until she was able totch on her shoe.

    The maid was one of Lith¡¯s prime suspects, a member of the personnel that had ess to all the family¡¯s meals and with a physical and magical strength above the average. Not much, but it was all that they had.

    All the other previous suspects had been nothing but a bust. Sure, someone would steal silverware, another had an affair with another staff member, but that wasn¡¯t what Solus was looking for.

    The young girl opened her room with a key and then walked in. All the staff¡¯s bedrooms were identical, eight meters (8.8 yards) long and six meters (6.6 yards)rge.

    There would be one bed next to the wall on the opposite side of the door, and two more beds alongside the side walls. The only source of light outside of oilmps, would be a single big window, and each bed had a wooden chest were the servants could store their belongings.

    As soon as she was alone, the maid started grumbling out loud.

    "Those idiots! All they think about is gossip and make everything rted to nobles¡¯ rtionships out to be sordid. Who cares who f*cks who? I can¡¯t wait for this mess to be over. Since the staff was halved, I don¡¯t get to ck off anymore.

    The Count has lessened our workload, sure, but with half the house to clean, now Pontus has double the time to check on our work. If I get any more demerits that old b*stard will take money out of my sry! Gods, I¡¯m so tired."

    She closed off the curtains, and then changed into her nightgown before going to sleep. Solus could only inwardly sigh.

    "Guess this is just another bust. She really doesn¡¯t seem to be a cold-blooded killer. She is really cute, though, especially without all those baggy clothes on. I wonder if hers is the body type Lith likes, or if he will indulge on these images."

    She chuckled.

    "Guess not. Based on his memories it¡¯s too soon for his body to have those urges, and his mind couldn¡¯t care less. Even when I told him I got into the women quarters he didn¡¯t check my memories even once, he only listened to my report."

    Solus used the Hush spell to prevent any noise to wake up the sleeping maid, adding a touch of dark magic to turn the room pitch ck.

    She then proceeded to open the chest. Using a mix of spirit magic and her body shifting abilities, picking up the lock was easy as pie.

    While rummaging through the maid¡¯s personal belongings, Solus wondered about her life.

    "It always feels so odd be away from Lith. I¡¯m so used to constantly hear his thoughts, worries and memories that all this silence in my head feels really lonely. Even when he sleeps his mind always keeps mepany.

    After all these years, I still haven¡¯t figured out what he is for me. Apanion? A host? A master, or rather my mother? He gave me a second life, after all, and my first happy memory begins with him.

    The only reminiscences I have before meeting him are filled with the fear of dying or losing myself."

    The search had given no results, there was nothing outside casual clothes, shoes, family mementos and harmless mails between her and her loved ones.

    "Sigh, ording to Earth¡¯s detective stories, the culprit should have with him/her a detailed letter from the instigator, money, a si, a sk of poison or whatnot."

    Being already in the room, Solus decided to also check the remaining beds and wooden chests, starting from the one on the left side of the room. It turned out to be even more nd than the previous.

    "Two down, one more to go."

    Solus opened thest lock, going through the clothes, the letters and the trinkets contained in thest chest. She turned an old pair of shoes upside down, when a hidden treasure fell into her hands.

    "Well, well. What do we have here?"

 Chapter 41 Screams Of Terror

    Later, that day, when Solus returned with the identity of the culprit, a sample of the poison and the hrious new gossip as prizes, she had expected Lith to be excited or at least relieved.

    Instead he was brooding, with the same annoyed face he had when he was forced to spend quality time with Trion.

    "Why so gloomy? We did it, we can take her out anytime we want. Smile a little."

    "I would indeed smile if we managed to find her at the first or maybe fifth attempt.

    Unless math has be an opinion thest time I slept, searching thirteen rooms out of eighteen, means you have searched thirty-nine persons, more than two-thirds of the staff members.

    At this point we can as swell sweep the remaining five to verify if she has aplices. Not to mention that this maid wasn¡¯t even on my list, the psycho wife would have bested me if not for your new ability."

    Lith started pacing, his mind analysing the choices at his hand.

    "You are a real party pooper, you know?" Solus pouted.

    "Sorry, you did a great job, but put yourself in my shoes. First, it took us so long to find her that I am pretty sure the Countess has already noticed that something is wrong. The Count and his heirs have been poisoned daily, yet they are perfectly fine.

    It¡¯s safe to assume that soon she will resort to a more direct approach. We need to move fast, before her pawn flees from the scene.

    Second and most important, this new piece of gossip you brought me is a nightmare! Sure, is all fun andugh, until you realize that if the rumour reaches the Countess¡¯ ears, she may even believe it.

    And while I don¡¯t care being a target, the same can¡¯t be said about my mother! We must wrap this up quickly, and try to get as much evidence as we can, so whoever is handling the annulment process will be forced to speed his bureaucrat a*s up.

    Then, I can ask the Count to bring my family here as soon as possible. When those bbering fools see that I am the spitting image of my father, that stupid rumour will die out. Only then I will be able to focus on protecting the Count again."

    "Well, yeah." Solus shrugged. "But you are forgetting about the bright side. If the Countess falls for this rumour, she will get really angry. And when she¡¯s angry she makes really stupid mistakes. Always such a pessimist. And you even dare to question why you look like cr*p in a mirror."

    Ever since Solus had started following the suspects, Lith hadn¡¯t been sitting idly either. To make use of whatever she would find, he needed a usible excuse.

    At random times during the day, he would pretend to go investigating on his own, leaving the three nobles with the guards, while he would actually always remain in the vicinity, ready to intervene if necessity arose.

    Also, he had asked the Count to give him a tour of his magical library, getting the opportunity to borrow some tier four books and store them inside Soluspedia.

    Even when they were apart, Lith could still ess both the dimensional storages, it would just take some effort to operate them.

    That allowed him to further expand his knowledge about the possibilities of magic, and gave him several new ideas.

    The next day, after Solus identified at least one of the Countess¡¯ agents, Lith started to prepare the final steps for his new n, while Solus searched the remaining seven rooms.

    It turned out they miscalcted, since both the butler and the head of kitchen had their private rooms, because of their status and seniority. Her task was made faster and easier by the fact that she had not to tail a target for a whole day anymore.

    Solus could just get inside and search for evidence as soon the coast was clear. On Lith¡¯s side things were a bit trickier. First, he had to identify the poison from the sample Solus brought back. It was a colourless and odourless liquid.

    He spreaded a small drop of it on his finger and another on his tongue, without swallowing it. It tasted sweet and acidic at the same time.

    "What the f*ck? A pineapple pizza voured poison? This is disgusting! And here I hoped to have left that cr*p on Earth."

    While his stomach was turning at those horrible memories, the areas where he had spreaded the poison became numb. After a while they became red and swollen. Since breathing was getting harder, Lith immediately neutralized the poison, before looking for it in the Count¡¯s books he had stored in Soluspedia.

    "Thankfully, in this world they shouldn¡¯t have synthetic poisons outside the magical varieties. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to find the right one."

    It turned out to be an extract from a rare type of ckberries-like fruit that usually grew in marsnds. The whiteberries, moremonly known as doomberries, in their natural state simply had a sweet smell and disgusting taste, but their juice if properly distilled and condensed was highly toxic.

    Its low dosage symptoms matched the Count¡¯s story, like the effects Lith had experienced fitted the description of its concentrated form.

    At that point, the final issue lied in finding a way to get a full confession without destroying the good image Count Lark had of him. Lith didn¡¯t miss how disgusted the Count had reacted at the mention of tortures.

    Lith had no interest in arts, but from the way the Count had painted him, it was clear that in his mind the young magico was valiant and righteous, rather than a cold -blooded schemer with a penchant for inflicting pain.

    "This is so stupid. Not only I have to save him, but I also have to do it in a way of his liking. Having a good man as a backer is both a blessing and a curse. I need to get creative."

    Having almost run out of options, Lith needed check out books he had never thought could have any use to him, before going to the Count and exin to him the only n crazy enough to have a ghost of a chance.

    *****

    A few dayster, Lynna Crestwick was at her rope¡¯s end. The Countess was sick and tired of her failures, and had clearly told her to either get to job done or start running for her life.

    "That ungrateful b*tch! After so many years of loyal service, always covering her sorry a*s, even volunteering to get rid of her deadbeat husband, that¡¯s how she repays me? Now I get why the sod wants to get rid of her.

    I¡¯ll make ast attempt before getting out of here. I¡¯m sick of being caught between a rock and a hard ce, always watching my back. If even this fails, I¡¯ll escape to the Gorgons empire. I should be safe there."

    She had no idea what could have possibly go wrong. Before getting fired, Genon had told her that the doomberry kiss was a powerful poison that even he would have a hard time to detoxify. Could the Count have an inhuman constitution despite being so thin?

    During her shift in the kitchen, she waited for the tes to be left unattended before adding two spoonsful of poison into the Count¡¯s te. It was impossible to miss, since even the napkins had the initials embroidered.

    That dose would be enough to kill a dozen men, but she was tired of slowly rising the amount, day after day, waiting for something to happen.

    Some hourster, she finally seeded. After eating the soup, the Count had started to have difficulty breathing, his tongue swelling like a sponge.

    Both the so-called-magician brat and Pontus, which back in the military had been a field medic, couldn¡¯t help him. The b*astard was finally dead!

    Lynna, just like her co-workers, started sobbing uncontrobly. But while they were grieving, she was weeping with joy. Now she was safe, and with the sum she had agreed with the Countess, she could finally turn her lifelong dream into reality.

    She didn¡¯t need anymore to work her a*s for someone else, it was her turn to live in a beautiful house, surrounded by servants.

    Off course, first she had to wait for the investigation to be concluded.

    Jadon, the new Count, imposed the martialw, prohibiting anyone to go out of the house without his permission. Lynna had nothing to fear, thought.

    As soon as she spiced up thete Count¡¯s te, she had thrown away the remaining poison and carefully washed the sk, before putting it back in the kitchen pantry.

    During the rest of the day, every room wasbed and every member of the staff had to undergo a long interrogation. When they finally let her walk, she was exhausted, all the stress and emotions had taken a big toll on her.

    Also, she was starting to realize that she had actually killed a man, and a good one too. She tried to ease her guilty conscience by thinking of her future wealth and happiness, but instead she ended up second thinking everything she did so far.

    "What if that b*tch breaks her word? Is not like I can expose her crime, after all. Even worse, what if my reward turns out to be a knife in the back or a poisoned drink? She doesn¡¯t need me anymore, I¡¯m just a loose end.

    Good gods, what have I done? Have I really killed a harmless buffoon, just for pile of gold?" The words ¡¯pile¡¯ and ¡¯gold¡¯ still had a soothing effect on her, so she decided to go to bed and put all that story behind her.

    "What¡¯s done it¡¯s done, all the remorse in the world can¡¯t bring back the Count, may the gods rest his soul."

    The problem was that her roommates wouldn¡¯t stop talking about what happened, it was the first time in years that a murder urred within those walls.

    After some yelling and bickering, she managed to get convince them to close the curtains and turn off the oilmp.

    Lynna had just closed her eyes when the doorknob started turning ad rattling, someone was trying to get in!

    As soon as the light was lit again the rattling stopped.

    "What was that?" "It must be another of Syka¡¯s stupid pranks! She¡¯s such an as*hole!"

    "And how could she do it if all our rooms are closed from the outside? Martialw, remember?" Lynna pointed out.

    When they were still trying to find an exnation, suddenly the room became so cold that they could see their breaths condensing, their room¡¯s window got all fogged up.

    One of her roommates became really scared, banging on the door and calling for help, but no one answered. All they could do was to wear their heaviest clothes and cover themselves with the nkets.

    Then, the oilmp went out. No matter how hard they tried, it was impossible to lit it again. Panic started to ensue when the knob rattled again, even stronger than before, while their beds shook like during a quake.

    "It¡¯s like in the old stories my grandmother used to tell me when I was little!" Screamed one of the maids.

    "A vengeful spirit is trying to get in!"

    "Grow up, Seria! There are no such things as ghosts!" Lynna was a woman of action, she never believed to folk tales. She raised her nightstand, to use it to smash the window that refused to open, when she saw him.

    Thete Count Trequill Lark was in front of her, despite her room being on the first floor. His whole figure was pale white, glowing in a dim light like a firefly.

    His eyes were all white with no pupils, shedding tears of blood. Small blue mes were erupting from his snow-white hair, dancing around him while emitting screams of pain.

    Their eyes were locked, Lynna couldn¡¯t look away, her whole body frozen stiff, the nightstand still raised.

    "How could you do this to me?" The Count¡¯s voice sounded distorted and distant, barely a whisper, but they could hear it clearly as a shout.

    Screaming in terror, the three women ran to the door, trying to open it and calling for help. When they looked back, the Count was already floating inside, despite the window being still locked.

    When he extended his hand, they felt a jolt running through their spines, falling into a cold oblivion.

 Chapter 42 No Rest For The Wicked

    When Lynna woke up, she discovered she wasn¡¯t in her bedroom anymore. The moon was covered by clouds, and with only the dim light of the stars, she couldn¡¯t figure out her new location.

    Lynna only knew she was now in the open. The cold night breeze and the rough feeling of the earth under her hands left no space for doubts. As her eyes started to adjust to the penumbra, she noticed some humanoid formsying on the ground, only a few meters away.

    d of not being alone, she slowly crawled towards them, while trying to remember what had just happened. Lynna was about to shake her roommates, when the moon shined through the moving clouds, revealing them to be skeletons.

    Lynna started to scream, and when she recognized the nightgowns they were wearing as those she had seen countless times on her friends it turned into a shriek.

    Around her, multiple figures started to move and moan. She tried to run away, but tripped into something soft and squishy, tumbling on the ground. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at a tombstone where was engraved:

    "Here lies Cron Lark, beloved father and husband."

    Lynna suddenly realized what was that ce, why it did feel so familiar. That was Lark¡¯s family burial ground, were all the forefathers of Count Lark lied in their eternal rest.

    In that moment, she remembered everything: the poisoning, the twisting knob, the ghost. She wanted to believe it was all a bad dream, but her foot still hurt after the fall. Lynna was about to lose her mind, when the moonlight revealed that the moving figures weren¡¯t undead, but other members of the staff she knew all too well.

    Two of them were actually her aplices, Zamon, the second oldest butler after Poltus, whose loyalty actually lied only with the Countess, and Bisya, a young maid that had been nted a couple years ago to keep an eye on the Count¡¯s private quarters.

    The three of them had been tasked by the Countess to ensure her return to power, by eliminating all possible obstacles. It was only thanks to Zamon¡¯s and Bisya¡¯s help that she had been able to slip the poison in the food unnoticed, even when she wasn¡¯t supposed to be in the kitchen.

    Either by relying on Zamon¡¯s authority or Bysia¡¯s flirting charm, she had managed toplete every task assigned to her after the Countess forced departure.

    There were also two more staff members with them. Refia, a young valet she had often worked with, and Olmund, one of the many butlers of the household.

    "Lynna, is that you?" Bisya looked confused, shaking her head, trying to regain her focus. "That scream of yours almost made my head explode."

    "Where in the gods¡¯ name are we? Why I¡¯m not in my room? I clearly recall..." Zamon¡¯s voice was cut short, the blood draining from his visage as he remembered thest events.

    "The Count!" He eximed.

    At those words, all five of them froze up in ce, swept away by the terror caused by the unnatural encounter.

    "The Count is back!" Refia said with a choked voice.

    "And the gods know why, but he believes I¡¯m responsible for his death!"

    Soon they all started looking around, finding the corpses of their roommates. Their clothes were unscathed, while their bodies seemed to have aged centuries.

    "Rorryk, why did this happen to you?" Olmund feel to his knees, near the remnants of his oldest friend, crying desperately.

    "Shut up, you fool!" Zamon forced his mouth shut with a hand.

    "In case you haven¡¯t noticed we are in a cemetery! Is better not to wake which can eternal lie." Zamon didn¡¯t dare emit more than a whisper, he was very superstitious.

    Usually Lynna would mock him for his cowardice, but that night was different. She could feel her guts twisting and turning in fear, her body begging her to run away.

    Suddenly the ground trembled, and a raging fire erupted from an open grave.

    Count¡¯s Trequill Lark grave.

    "How could you do this to me?"

    The Count¡¯s spirit slowly emerged from the mes.

    "Prepare to be judged by my ancestors."

    From the tombs nearby the Count, three skeletons arose, unearthing themselves up to the waist.

    "Murderers!" Wailed an old man¡¯s voice.

    "Traitors!" Yelled a woman¡¯s voice.

    "Vermin!" Said a man¡¯s voice.

    The three skeletons were struggling to get free from earth¡¯s embrace, while announcing their verdict. The dirt, tattered clothes they wore kept ripping apart.

    "The die is cast!" The Count¡¯s spirit said with an otherworldly deep voice.

    "Confess!" He was pointing his finger towards Refia, who suddenly felt pushed down on the ground by an invisible force.

    "I¡¯m innocent! I swear!" He said, sobbing uncontrobly.

    The three skeletons started to wail as one, in a cacophony of indistinguishable voices. Their hollow orbits emitted a red glow, like a candle had been lit within, and like the Count, blood tears started to endlessly flow along their cheekbones.

    "Liar!" The Count yelled, and Refia was dragged by the invisible force towards the Count¡¯s open grave, whose mes started to rise and roar loudly.

    The others tried to hold him by the arms, but the spirit¡¯s pull was too strong. When Refia was thrown into the fiery pit, he emitted an inhumane shriek while the mes turned from bright red to an ominous purple.

    "He will serve me in theherworld, to atone for his sin." The Count¡¯s spirit said.

    "Confess!" This time he was pointing at Olmund, who promptlyplied.

    "I confess! I confess! It was me stealing the silk bolts, exploiting my inventory duty. That¡¯s why there was never enough."

    "And how do you atone?" Said the spirit, its eyes reduced to two ming slits.

    "I¡¯m so sorry! I swear!"

    "Words are not enough!" The corpses on the ground arose, their orbits brimming with a red light. They lifted Olmund with their skeletal hands over their heads, and threw him into the pit.

    "Rorryk, why?" Was his final scream before disappearing in the mes.

    Before the ghost could pass his judgment, Lynna kneeled deeply, head on the ground, begging for forgiveness.

    "I confess! It was me poisoning you, and those two are my aplices!" She said pointing at the two survivors.

    Zamon and Bisya tried to take a step back, but the skeletons had returned, surrounding them again.

    "Because of you my children are alone in this world!" The ghost wailed in pain.

    "It¡¯s only a matter of time before they join me in death! How do you atone?"

    "I¡¯m so sorry! I¡¯ve been stupid, I have no proof. I threw away the poison and burned all her Ladyship¡¯s letters."

    "Then burn yourself!" Lynna was then dragged by her dead roommates in the pit, only the mes put an end to her shrieks.

    Zamon and Bisya kneeled too, going straight to the point.

    "I can save your children!" Yelled the young maid. "I¡¯m not stupid, I never trusted that b*tch as far as I can throw her. I kept all her letters, her orders, in case she broke her word! I keep them all under a loose board in the kitchen¡¯s pantry."

    "As did I! Also, I know where she keeps hidden all her personal correspondence." The old butler rushed to add, fearing of bing useless to his captor.

    "She ordered the poison months ago! And there so much more to it! It¡¯s all in a secretpartment right under her bed. I swear, that¡¯s all that I know! Please have mercy of this old fool!"

    "Magnificent!" Said the Count with his usual joyful and enthusiastic tone, pping his hands in delight.

    Suddenly he didn¡¯t sound otherworldly at all. The skeletons fell down like puppets whose strings had been cut, the fire went out and the Count came down to the ground with a thump loud enough to be heard.

    "Was this all..." Zamon couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.

    "A farce?" Poltuspleted the sentence for him. "Yes, old weasel. I knew you were always up to no good." The traitorous servants were able to put a face to the old skeleton¡¯s voice.

    "Jadon, Ke, be a dear and go retrieve the evidence. At this point I can¡¯t trust anyone else." The Count¡¯s heirs came right after Poltus, nodding, before running back to the house.

    Knowing he was doomed, Zamon still found the strength to watch into the open grave, finding out that everyone was still alive, just bound and gagged by tendrils of earth.

    Thinking about what would befall to him and his family, the old butler was filled with regret. The long years of loyal service, the savings of a lifetime, all those careful ns for his retirements, shattered together with his hopes for a better tomorrow for his sons.

    **************

    Lith sighed with relief, he could finallye out in the open. If he could, he would pat his back by himself, the results had far exceeded his expectations.

    Since Solus couldn¡¯t find anything in the remaining rooms, Lith had her follow Lynna day and night, taking note of all those she was the most in contact with, to round them up all together for the final act.

    Which by the way, had been quite a hassle to arrange. To avoid blowing his cover, Lith could only resort to chore magic and spells up to tier three, like the Hoovering spell he had applied to the Count.

    He had exined everything in detail to the Count, to avoid him being scared or surprised by the special effects he had in mind. Lith, off course, said he would move the skeletons with air magic, while he was actually using spirit magic.

    The blood tears trick was an easy one, chicken blood that he prevented to clot with light magic, while using water magic to make it go down the cheekbones, pass behind the ear and through the hair to get an endless stream effect.

    The single steps were easy, but keeping all those spells active at the same time, manipting mes, blood, skeletons, had been quite exhausting, even with Solus¡¯s help. She had taken care of half the stage, but the mana she used was Lith¡¯s.

    They were like two divers with a single oxygen tank.

    The Count too was very happy with the result.

    "Ah! Ah! Ah! I always knew that magic is awesome! Flying has been such a memorable experience. Not to mention their faces!" Count Lark wasughing like a kid after a sessful prank.

    "You should have seen their faces! Priceless! I never had so much fun in my life." He patted Lith¡¯s shoulder, covering him in white powder.

    "Who would have guessed that old ghost stories from my books could be so effective. With a little tuning here and there, off course!"

    "For being a goodie-goodie two shoes, the Count is quite a trickster." Lith thought. "Despite being so averse to torture, he had no qualms scaring so many people sh*tless. Guess he never heard about psychological torture and PTSD."

    As soon as they got their hands on the incriminating evidence, Count Lark immediately used hismunication amulet to contact the King¡¯s Bureau of Law and Order to submit them.

    The night clerk assured him that they would move his paperwork on the top of the list, and that they would send royal investigators to shed light on the case.

    Tranted from the bureaucratic lingo, it meant that the Count¡¯s case would now take days instead of weeks. Lith wouldn¡¯t take any risks, not after showing so much of his prowess, so he had the Count make his whole familye to the estate the very next day.

    He sent them also some clothes he had prepared beforehand. In such a pce, the lowest stable boy was better dressed than them, even if they wore their best suits.

    When they arrived, one way or another, all the staff was assembled to see first-hand the mysterious woman who had spawned the Count¡¯s alleged fifth son.

    They expressed much admiration for his mother¡¯s and sisters¡¯ beauty, and even Raaz received a lot of attentions.

    When Lith sent Solus to check if the rumour had finally died out, she replied with endlessughing out loud and an unbelievable story.

    ording to her report, the household was now split into two factions.

    The first one, that she dubbed #TeamLith, was leaded by Poltus, which refused to step back from his initial theory.

    "Who would have thought that such an airhead like the Count could also be such a schemer? Not only he got himself such a beautiful and young mistress, he also had the smarts to choose a woman whose husband resembles him so much that he would never suspect the son isn¡¯t his own! That witch of the Countess can¡¯t hold a candle to such gorgeous woman."

    The second one, #TeamRaaz, was leaded by Hilya. She was the head of the kitchen staff, first chef and also Poltus oldest rival in terms of both authority and gossip skill.

    "Are you gone senile or what? The Count is too noble and chivalrous to cheat, even on such a treacherous hag! Clearly, he had an affair before their wedding, and Sir Raaz is the offspring of that love.

    That means that not only he is the real Count¡¯s fifth son, but that the young mage and his beautiful sisters are all his secret nephews! That¡¯s why he cares so much about the boy, and why he has brought them all here now that the Countess is dead set to wipe out the whole bloodline!

    How noble of him! He probably has protected them from the shadows all these years, to keep them safe from his wife¡¯s jealousy and ire."

    Lith didn¡¯t know if tough or cry.

    "How the f*ck did wee to this?"

    "Sorry." Solus shrugged. "It seems that the Count¡¯s staff has the hobby of making everything rted to nobles look sordid. Thinking ill of something makes even coincidences looks interesting, don¡¯t you think?"

    Lith shook his head in desperation.

    "Poor mom. She is just a forbidden love triangle away from bing the main character of one of those chick flicks that were all the rage a few years ago on Earth."

 Chapter 43 Burying The Hatche

    Aside from the gossip, life in the Count¡¯s private quarters was really peaceful.

    Count Lark took the initiative to exin everything to Lith¡¯s parents, taking the me entirely on himself, and giving only words of praise to their son.

    Raaz and Elina were actually quite angry, and wanted to give Lith a solid piece of their mind. But after the Count apologized, even bowing to them, they were too embarrassed and ttered to say anything, at least in front of him.

    The whole family could not stop staring at the house. Walls made of stone, the luxurious furniture, the carpets. Everything seemed toe out straight from a fairy tale. Until that day, they had always thought they would never see such riches.

    Lith started to wonder how long would it take for them toe back down to earth, when breakfast arrived. The delicious and sweet smell of the pastries immediately caught their attention.

    "Just great." Lith sighed inwardly. "I could expect my family¡¯s reaction to the Count¡¯s house, and luckily out hosts are overlooking their quite rude behaviour.

    My only hope is that they don¡¯t jump on the food like starving wolves. That would be too embarrassing!"

    "Party pooper! Let them be happy, so maybe they¡¯ll beat your a*s less when you get back home." Solus rebuked.

    "Point taken."

    As soon as the cart entered the room, Lith¡¯s family mimicked their hosts behaviour, politely sitting around the table in an ordered manner, waiting to be served.

    That was also the first time someone outside the family was treating them with such care, the girls couldn¡¯t stop giggling.

    "What the f*ck?" Lith was fairly surprised.

    It wasn¡¯t a maid pushing the cart full of delicacies, it was Hilya herself, apanied by some kitchen personnel that Solus identified as her posse. It was the first time that Lith saw her in the flesh, and soon he understood why.

    Hilya personally served the Count¡¯s family and then his own, showering everyone withpliments and attentions.

    Her followers did the same, but with more tact and less enthusiasm. When they left, there was enough food on the table to feed a battalion.

    "#TeamRaaz rules, b*tch!" Solus screamed.

    Count Lark was both embarrassed and bbergasted. Hilya barely served him on his birthday, and he had no idea why his usually impable staff had taken such liberties with his esteemed guests.

    Lith signalled him that he would exinter, before stopping everyone in their tracks, preventing them to take even a single bite.

    Usually that would have garnered him a lot of nasty words, but in front of their host they had to shut up and listen.

    The mention of the past poisoning attempts made them inwardly perform a 180¡ã turn, going from demanding revenge to gratefulness in just a few words.

    Lith wasn¡¯t willing to let his guard down, he kept checking every single te and forcing them to drink only conjured water.

    It was really depressing for his family, since he was the only one having tasted hot chocte back on Earth, but they soldiered up.

    In the following days, the forced cohabitation would have been much more awkward, if the Count¡¯s private quarters had not been bigger than their house.

    The women, leaded by Ke, took for themselves the bedroom, the biggest and mostfortable room, while the men had to settle up for the anteroom and its soft sofas.

    There were no more assassination attempts, since all the gathered evidence had caused a fuss for the Countess, and by remaining stubbornly holed up in the best guarded and easily defensible part of the house, the Count left her with no openings.

    Koya Lark had looked in every nook and cranny, searching for leverage, but the Count had no weakness she could exploit, and that nasty magico kid was even worse.

    After a thorough background check, she discovered he had no friends and no family outside those he had brought with himself.

    Killing or kidnaping his lost brother, Orpal, could be considered making him a favour at best. The only person remaining was Nerea/Nana, his mentor, but that was suicide. If the kid was so powerful, what were the limits of that old hag prowess?

    The Countess could only curse herself for always ignoring his husband hobbies, she had no idea who she was, or what repercussions messing with her could have. She knew nothing about magic, except what her cousin, Genon said to her in the past.

    And even then, she had only pretended to listen to him most of the times. She decided to keep that as ast resort, if everything else failed.

    Meanwhile, Lith¡¯s family was quickly getting ustomed to living in such a splendid manor, wearing only beautiful clothes and eating delicious food.

    Aside from the random scare caused by a guard¡¯s sneeze or an animal in the garden, life had turned into a fairy tale for them.

    Lith, instead, was quite annoyed. Since the first day, the Count, Ke and Jadon had showered with praises Elina, Rena and Tista for their perfect skin and luscious hair.

    "I¡¯m so envious of you, girls. I wish I could get rid of these things on my face." Ke sighed. Over time the camaraderie between the youngdies had grown strong.

    "Yeah, you are already so pretty. If only..." Tista threw Lith a meaningful look, that he pretended not to notice.

    Jadon interest toward Rena was embarrassingly obvious, and while he tried looking at her stealthily, such attention in turn got him as many stone-cold res from Lith.

    "I get that he is just twenty and horny as a boar, but she is just fourteen. Back where I came from that¡¯s bad. Plus, unless he wants to marry her, I¡¯d rather neuter him. I won¡¯t allow him to ruin her future, treating her like a fling! Over my dead body!"

    Rena was ttered by both the young man¡¯s attentions and his little brother care. Yet she was just dazzled by the house, not stupid. Elina had warned her many times about the young men, nobles or not, that would try to take advantage of na?ve young girls.

    She would eptpliments, but refuse any improper gift and avoided remaining alone with him. When Ke and the Count noticed that if Lith¡¯s res could maim, Jadon could easily fit into an envelope, they had a private talk with him.

    After that the air in the room became a lot lighter.

    Finally, the Count received the notification via themunication amulet that the annulment was finally done. He was once again a free man.

    After confirming that Koya had been notified too, hence she had no more reason to plot against him, he could finally rx and step out of his room for the first time since weeding out the traitors.

    The first thing he and Lith did was to contact Nana to exin her everything.

    "That¡¯s why you were so serious." She pondered. "And why you took away my only helper. Lark, when we meet again, we have to talk aboutpensation, my business suffered because of your family squabble." She nagged.

    "There, there, Lady Nerea. It was a matter of life and death, and the young Lith proved to be decisive in solving the matter."

    "Hmm. Sorry, but I have to go. I have a business to attend. We¡¯ll talkter, especially with you, young imp. Thisck of trust wounds my old heart." She said trying to act all old and frail.

    Lith bowed and asked for her forgiveness, but his thoughts were quite different.

    "Do you even have a heart? I¡¯d bet all I have that the only reason you are pouting is that you have missed such juicy gossip for so long."

    Contrary to their expectations, Nana called only a few hourster, and their next conversation had an entirely different mood. Nana wasughing her a*s off the entire time, managing to speak only briefly while gasping for air.

    "Ah! Ah! Ah! You can¡¯t believe what just happened to me! Someone just tried to kidnap me. I¡¯m serious!" A longughing pause followed.

    "It made me feel young again, like when I was still an adventurer. Guys dressed in tacky full ck clothes,ing at me from all directions, it was hrious!

    You should have seen their faces when I took them down at once with a Corona Discharge!"

    ording to the Count¡¯s books, it was a very strong tier five lightning spell, Nana¡¯s true specialty was air magic, after all. Lith had no idea what it was exactly, it was mentioned, but not described.

    He had already enough troubles understanding tier four spells, they were on a league of their ownpared to the magic he had previously learned.

    "They were so cute! They even had some minor magical items on them. I have no use for such trinkets, but I can still sell them for good money."

    Lith was so envious. Magical items! He had yet to find any.

    "Hey, that¡¯s offensive!" Solus pointed. "I resent that!"

    "You are not an item, you are a friend." The pure sincerity of that thought sent Solus giggling and blushing in a corner of her mind, away from Lith¡¯s perceptions unless he explicitly searched for her.

    "That makes the three of us even." Nana said.

    "I hadn¡¯t this much fun in decades. I was almost considering to let some of them go and not submit a report to the Mage Association. Almost. So, Lark, this is my annulment gift for you.

    From now on, you can choose to introduce yourself as bachelor or a widower. I¡¯d go with widower, is more dramatic, chicks dig rich lonely men and makes less awkward exining why you have two children already. Ta-ta!"

    After themunication ended, both the men were shocked to their bones.

    "You told me that your wife handled stress badly, but this is beyond idiotic!" Lith even forgot the most basic etiquette.

    "Indeed." The Count didn¡¯t seem to notice. "The only exnation is that Koya had arranged Lady Nerea¡¯s kidnapping in advance, and when she received the news about the annulment, it was toote to call it off.

    She is a close friend to both of us. Koya¡¯s n would make sense if Lady Nerea wasn¡¯t the strongest magician in all the County. Not to mention that even if the n seeded, the result would be disastrous anyway."

    Count Lark sighed.

    "Koya, you never listened to me when I talked about magic and its rules. I hope they don¡¯t make you suffer too much. You are still the mother of my kids."

    Thinking about the destruction that was about to befall the whole Ghishal household, including his disowned children, he could not avoid shedding tears of regret andpassion.

    Lith moved behind him, patting his back while using his sheer willpower to suppress a hystericalughter.

    Lith and his family spent two more weeks as the Count¡¯s guests, fully enjoying his hospitality and the beauty of the whole manor, especially the park.

    Now everyone had a room of his own, there was no danger anymore. That meant that away from prying eyes, Rena and Tista could freely mock their little brother for the Count¡¯s painting and the heroic aura he had depicted him with.

    Living everyday with Lith, they really couldn¡¯t see him as someone great or overbearing. He was always their little brother.

    Lith paid them no mind, theirughter was something he had fought so hard to protect. As long that theyughed happily with him, instead of him, sibling mockery was perfectly eptable.

    Elina and Raaz, instead, were really scared by the stuffed Byk, considering that their son had been reckless enough to face such beast on his own. When they would get back home, they would give him a talk, but not now.

    There was no point in spoiling their first vacation in over thirty years. For farmers vacations were just myths, like dragons.

    Lith used that time to get acquainted with the huge magic library the Count had assembled over the years, finally discovering what Blood Resonance magic was.

    It was a recently discovered branch of light magic, and by using it a mage could ascertain if two people were blood rted or even to whom a blood sample belonged.

    "Interesting, back on Earth this could be the foundations for forensics analysis. Seems that this mage, Duke Marth (AN: name, not title) is still alive and well, teaching magic in the White Griffon Academy.

    This makes two famous mages residing there. Maybe Nana went to the Lightning Griffon because of her air magic prowess, while the White Griffon specializes in light magic. Or maybe is just a coincidence, whatever. It¡¯s too far from here for me."

    Returning home revealed to be a bit traumatic for his family. No more servants, no more cking off, no more all you can eat buffet 24/7. It took many days and even more sighs, but soon they returned to their old routine.

    The Count¡¯s sharecroppers had done an excellent job, they even repaired and reinforced the house, making it seem brand new. The Count had also sent them home with lots of gifts.

    All the clothes that had been prepared for them, a lot of make up from Ke, and a whole crate of food from Hilya. The cook was really fond of the family, and couldn¡¯t wait to have them back in the manor.

    A night, Lith was training his martial arts together with Solus, when she felt an unknown mana core approaching. More curious than worried, he made her return to his finger and set up variousyers of protection around the house.

    Whoever he was, he was alone and not very sneaky. Now that he had stop practicing, Lith could hear him getting closer. The night birds and insects had gone silent.

    "Who the heck are you?" Lith asked as soon as their eyes met.

    The man in front of him wore an expensive robe, worthy of a magician in Dungeons & Looting, but now was all dirty and ripped in many points. He was unshaven, his hair was muddy too, and with only moonlight Lith couldn¡¯t discern its colour from the dirt.

    "You!" The man had a pleasantly surprised expression on his face. "You have finally returned! I have waited for weeks, sleeping in the mud and eating only acorns and berries, but it was worth the wait."

    "I¡¯ll ask you only one more time, who are you?" Lith yawned, the man was not making any sense.

    "I¡¯m Genon Ghishal! You killed my entire family! Prepare to die!"

    Lith reacted byughing his a*s off.

    "Oh! I get it now! Bravo on surviving despite belonging to a family of braindead idiots!"

    "How dare you! I¡¯ll kill your whole family, like you killed mine!"

    Lith startedughing even harder.

    "You?! With your pathetic yellow mana core? Even my little sister is stronger than you." Lith¡¯s words and countenance made no sense to Genon.

    Outraged by suchck of respect and fear,pletely different from how he had imagined the face off, while enduring all the hardships, Genon started casting a Lightning spell.

    Lith responded by bringing his index finger on the lips whispering:

    "Hush! We don¡¯t want to wake up the neighbours."

    A second air dome, beside the one that Lith had previously set up, enveloping the whole house, surrounded the two men, covering a thirty-meter (33 yards) radius.

    "Brezza Inidra!" Genonpleted his spell, a bolt of lightning shot toward Lith, which was stillughing.

    "Look up!" He said pointing to the sky, and like an obedient dog, the bolt turned 90¡ã up, rising harmlessly in the air before dissipating.

    "Seriously?! A tier two spell? How the heck did you manage to graduate from whatever backwater academy they sent you?"

    Genon suddenly felt scared, what he had just saw made absolutely no sense. Not even his teachers had ever done something like that.

    "You know, I am really stressed." Lith stoppedughing, his tone turning cold and detached, like he was talking to himself rather than to his opponent.

    "I have spent weeks holed up, pretending to be weak and harmless! ying the good f*cking kid role! But now I can finally be myself."

    For the first time since he had achieved the cyan mana core, Lith went all out. His body released a brilliant cyan aura, filled with killing intent. His bones and muscles started to pop and creak, moving to amodate that sudden surge of power.

    His eyes glowed like torches, emitting an ice blue radiance while his smile went to ear to ear. His teeth shined like fangs in the full moon light.

    Genon was scared but not frozen, starting to cast a tier three fireball, the strongest spell he could cast safely without risking it to backfire.

    Lith stood there, tilting his head left and right, waiting for him to finish.

    The fireball was a five meters (5.5 yards) radius sphere of raging mes, but the closer it came to Lith, the more it shrank, until it became the size of the marble, allowing Lith to catch it with his open palm and squeezing it out with a puff.

    "Tsk, tsk. You can use everything but fire magic. The noise isn¡¯t a problem, but the light could alert someone, and we don¡¯t want that."

    Genon had no idea what was happening, but he knew that remaining there was too dangerous. That wasn¡¯t a magico, but a monster. He tried to run away, but before he could get out the Hush zone Lith was already pinning him down.

    "First you threaten my family and now you want to leave? That¡¯s rude! The night is still young, and I have so many things to experiment on you, yet. Let¡¯s y!"

    Despite the protective barrier, deep in the Trawn woods, the Ry, king in the east, could feel the magic turbulence growing stronger.

    "Take heed, my pack. Some human has threatened Scourge¡¯s cubs. Let¡¯s learn from his mistakes and pray together for his soul, so in his next life he will be wiser for this."

    The entire woods resounded with howls until dawn came.

 Chapter 44 Challenging Times

    The next day, Lith was happy and rxed. He kept humming the whole time while he cleaned the house and prepared breakfast, reheating the pastries to make them regain some of their fragrance.

    The long permanence in the Count¡¯s manor had proved to him how stressful it was being constantly forced to hide his skill and powers. Being born in a backwater vige, were no one knew jack about magic was a blessing in disguise.

    He had got too used to the freedom and istion living in a farmhouse guaranteed him, to the point that holding back and constantly pretending to use fake magic for a prolonged period was akin to torture for him.

    After a long discussion with Solus about the problem, they decided that the best course of action was to find a way to not attend any magic academy.

    ording to the magic annuals he had read in thest weeks, it was possible to be a member of the Magic Association despite being home-schooled. It just required a longer and more difficult exams session.

    The biggest difference between a home-schooled and a magic academy graduate amounted only in a matter of fame and prestige.

    By being admitted and sessfully passing the tests devised by famous and talented magicians, the student was bound to have an easier time whatever was the path of his choosing.

    A home-schooled, instead, no matter the score he could achieve, would always be seen like a rogue magician with no references. He would first need to prove himself, by either performing voluntary military service or bing an adventurer.

    Achieving merits was the only way for a rogue magician to have ess to a prestigious and well-paid job. Lith didn¡¯t care for any of that, he just wanted to develop his powers, staying away from the spotlight until he reached sixteen years.

    At that point, he would be considered an adult, and could finally leave Lutia to start exploring the world in search for a solution to his reincarnation problem.

    If achieving true death turned out to be impossible, he would need to work his way around by either bing an immortal or binding his soul to the current world.

    That would be the worst-case scenario, but at least if he died, he would still be reborn with all his magic knowledge and have Solus by his side.

    Thanks to the money he got from the Count for saving his family, Lith had no need to keep working as a healer. Only when Nana was on house calls or away for personal matters, he would take her ce in the home office.

    Many farmers relied on his presence and discounted prices to afford all the medical care they needed, Nana¡¯s fares were too expensive.

    Just because at the moment he had no need for an extra ie, it didn¡¯t mean he had already forgotten how bad it was for a family being forced to watch one of their loved ones suffer, the helplessness felt when money dictated the difference between living and barely surviving.

    Lith would spend most of his mornings exploring the Count¡¯s library, in search for tomes to borrow.

    It was a room twice the size of his house, at least one hundred squared meters (109 squared yards) big, located in a corner point of the main building.

    Both the west and north side of the room had huge windows, arranged so that the sun would manage to perfectly light it until dusk.

    The bookshelves were ced from wall to wall, parallel to each other, and spaced so to avoid ridiculous domino effect in case one fell over, creating four corridors. In the center of the room there was a luxurious desk and a couple of armchairs.

    The books covered all the topics, not just magic, it was the sum of all the knowledge the Count had umted through the years. Every time Lith returned home from the library, he would carry over a small chest full of delicacies.

    Hilya would never let him go away empty handed.

    The first book Lith picked up, was the Lightning Griffon Academy rulebook. Together with useless information, like how submit your application and what were the mostmon admittance tests, he found an answer to an old question.

    The academy wouldst five years, and each year the student would need to prove a rising level of mastery of magic. The first year required learning at least twenty tier one spells, the second one thirty tier two, and so on.

    "So that¡¯s why spells are divided into tiers. It¡¯s to identify the skill level of the magicopared to the official academic course."

    Tiers from one to three wereprised of simple spells with a single effect. Tier three was basically the same as a tier one, but much more powerful and with higher requirements in terms of talent and skill.

    From tier four, the effects would be much moreplicated, like when Lith weaved together different spells with true magic. Tier four and five, based on what he could find, seemed to be greatly simr to true magic.

    "That¡¯s probably why most mages never learn the truth about magic. Once they think they have reached the pinnacle, they simply stop asking themselves questions. They put too much attention to the destination and too little on the trip itself."

    Aside from magic, Lith was also burdened by an annoying personal problem. After seeing his family, the Count was begging him on daily basis to help his daughter get rid of her e.

    "Please, the Debutante Ball is when a young noble gets introduced to society as an adult, in the presence of the King¡¯s Court. It¡¯s a very important event that can affect her whole life.

    It can change not only her chances of finding a good husband, she could also be handpicked by the Queen as her personal attendant or evendy-in-waiting."

    It wasn¡¯t that Lith didn¡¯t understand, such events had existed on Earth too, more like he didn¡¯t care much. For his canons, only one person could keep a secret. Two were a risk, three a whole crowd. Adding a fourth one wasn¡¯t much to his liking.

    "Solus, what do you think I should do? The Count has done and is still doing so much for me, a hard pass would be extremely rude on my side. At the same time, I don¡¯t know how much I can trust Ke, being a teenager."

    "I¡¯d say to y it smart. Nana was extremely vague about what you did, and the Count has no idea about the before and after, since he only saw your family after the treatment.

    Exin to Ke the dangers you are putting yourself in just by helping her, and after you are sure she has understood, cure only her e, nothing more. This will minimize the risks.

    The fact that you saved her life should matter to her. Not to mention that after what her mother put Ke through, she shouldn¡¯t be that na?ve anymore. She knows what does it mean to live under a sword of Damocles."

    Following Solus¡¯ advice, Lith and the Count exined to her all the possible consequences of breaking his trust, both for Lith and her family.

    Ke was a smart girl, so she felt kind of offended by receiving such obvious warnings.

    "First of all, thank you for your trust. First you saved my life, and now you are willing to risk your own safety to save my social life too. This is a debt I will never be able to fully pay back.

    Second, don¡¯t worry for a second about my silence. An advantage is called like that because you are the only one who has it. I would rather cut my tongue than allowing mypetition to get their hands on something like that.

    No offence, dad, but I know all too well we are just small-time nobles in a backwater County. I need all the help I can, and even with no e, with our status and riches we are still leagues behind the big noble families."

    Lith choose to y it safe, making the processst weeks instead of seconds, so that her skin treatment would go unnoticed.

    They kept Jadon in the dark, and he only noticed the changes when her skin had be smooth and her make up much lighter.

    Thanks to Solus he was also able to keep the female staff under his watch, and when not even them noticed anything strange, Lith could finally sigh with relief.

    By that time, the Count¡¯s mansion was back at full staff, and the whole house was busy preparing for a big party. The Count wanted to celebrate two happy events.

    The first was the annulment, while the second had been somethingpletely unexpected. Based on his prenuptial arrangement, the Crown had decided to assign to him all thends and annuities of the Ghishals after their untimely disappearance.

    Sadly, he wanted Lith to attend, to introduce him to all the neighbouring nobility.

    "It¡¯s really important for you, I managed to get even Marchioness Mirim Distar to attend. She is for me what I am to all the Barons and Bars in the County. Her Marquisate epasses all the region and its Counties.

    If you can, prepare a good gift for her. The only suggestion I can give to you is to prepare something with your hands, or even better, with your magic!"

    Lith was unimpressed and uninterested, but having to live another eight years in the Lustria County, he could only soldier up and move on. Making a gift for a woman was already hard, making one for someone much richer than him was a challenge.

    "Does she like games?"

    "Yes, she loves all kind of strategy games. She is a smart and cunning woman, if there will ever be a war, gods forbit it, she would make an excellent general."

    "And I suppose she is the head of the Distar household, right?"

    "Once again correct. Her spouse married into her family, he is like a prince consort, his title as Marquis is purely nominal. Don¡¯t tell me you already have something in mind?"

    Lith nodded and left, very sad at the idea of wasting a whole afternoon and evening being a wallflower.

    His destiny was akin to that of Gerda¡¯s corpse, something to show and brag about, beforepletely forgetting about it and move on next gossip piece.

 Chapter 45 Challenging Times 2

    Count Lark had another dress prepared for Lith, specifically tailored for the asion. It was very simr to the other day-dress he had received in the past, but ck in colour and with a more elegant cut.

    "It¡¯s amazing how simr party dresses arepared to Earth customs. All men wear almost the same dress, the only significant difference is the household crest embroidered on the chest pocket.

    Instead, the women all wear different types of dresses, varying in colours, neckline and embroideries. Not to mentions the jewellery. Aside from family rings, men wear only monocles or pince-nez. They really resemble a flock of penguins."

    Lith kept himself from the crowd as long as he could, there was nothing he could gain except awkward memories or curious looks.

    Marchioness Distar revealed to be really important to Count Lark, to the point that he arranged their meeting privately in his quarters, while the party was taking ce in the ballroom.

    "Thank you so much foring, dear Marchioness. You have no idea what it means for me having the possibility to share such a happy moment in yourpany."

    "The pleasure is all mine, dear Lark, I wouldn¡¯t miss it for anything in the world." Her lips were smiling, but her eyes didn¡¯t.

    Lith¡¯s instinct could tell that she was actually quite bored, and that she was there only because the Count must had persevered relentlessly to make her attend. He knew from experience how stubborn he could be.

    Based on what the Count had told him, Marchioness Distar should be a woman in herte thirties, but even with the little make up she wore, it was hard to imagine her a day older than thirty.

    She had a beautiful face with great proportions, eyes brimming with intelligence and curiosity. She wore her waist-long straight hair down, with no hairpin or barrette to adorn them.

    She had dark brown hair, with shades of blue all over it. It was almost hypnotic to look when she shook her head.

    Her evening dress was of a pale blue, with no neckline, covering even her shoulders. In contrast to all the other noble dames, the Marchioness wore evening gloves, and there were no gemstones embroidered in her attire.

    She had clearly chosen a in dress, hoping to either go unnoticed or leave early.

    "This is the boy I talked you about so much." The Countughed. "He is incredibly skilled, wise beyond his age and ording to Lady Nerea, he is blessed by the light."

    "Really?" The Marchioness didn¡¯t believe a word, but ruffled Lith¡¯s hair nheless.

    Lith could feel that such gesture of intimacy was out of ce,ing from such a grand dame. It also had no warmth at all. It felt more like a dog show judge checking the fur, rather than a caress.

    "Sigh, as predicted, Trequill has once again wasted my time." The Marchioness thought. "It¡¯s just another of his childish delusions, finding a talented male mage in such scarcely poptednd.

    I would really love to tell him that the reason why women and magical beasts have coloured shades in their hair is the sign of the blessing from the six gods of magic. It would save so much of his efforts and my time.

    Too bad that the Mage Association would make a huge fuss if I did. Those old fogeys and their reluctancy to reveal even such an open secret. Everyone in the King¡¯s Court knows it, be him/her a mage or not."

    Lith could see she was disappointed, but had no idea why. Eager to go back home and do something actually meaningful, he bowed to her.

    "My name is Lith of Lutia, your Ladyship. I¡¯m d and honoured to make your acquaintance. Please, ept this humble gift. Is not much, but I made it myself."

    The Marchioness was pleasantly surprised.

    "At least this country bumpkin acts humbly and knows the proper etiquette, instead of being all arrogant like he owns the ce, unlike all his predecessors."

    "Thank you, I¡¯m much obliged." It¡¯s what she actually said even before opening the envelope.

    It turned out to be a square shaped wood board, with sides about fifty-one centimetres (20 inches) long, with eight columns and rows of ck and white alternating colours of wood.

    After checking it with the Count, Lith couldn¡¯t be bothered much finding a proper gift, and went straight giarizing the game of chess.

    The Marchioness interest was piqued, she had never saw anything like that before. The board was apanied by the chess pieces and a booklet exining all the rules.

    Th differences from themon chess game were few but significant. First, the king and queen roles were swapped. Lith had to suck up to an important woman, making the king the game goal was inly stupid.

    Also, he renamed the bishops as mages and the pawns asmoners. Everything else was as it was supposed to be.

    The Marchioness read the rules so fast that Lith thought she was simply skimming, instead she asked him a precise question.

    "Why themoners can be any chess piece if they reach the end of the board?" Although he had considered unlikely, Lith had prepared for this question, giving the answer the usual fortune cookie wisdom that the Count so much liked.

    "Because when someone, even amoner,pletes his journey toward wisdom, life holds endless possibilities. After all, even the King¡¯s ancestors at some point have been simplemoners, before rising to power."

    The Marchioness giggled softly.

    "Well, it seems that at least the part about the wisdom is true." She thought.

    "Fancy a game? Seems really interesting. You could show me the ropes. It would be a nice way to get to know each other better. You can understand a lot about a person based on how he ys, wins, but most importantly how he epts loss."

    Such oue waspletely out of his expectations. Lith was taken aback, he knew very little about chess, aside from the rules. He had never liked the game much, he found it to be too long and boring.

    Why waste time with some pieces of wood, with so many VR games avable on Earth? He had learned to y when he was very little, after reading a wonderful book about a chess yer, but his experience had been far from pleasant.

    He was too reckless and impatient, barely able to think one move ahead. Lith found no pleasure or emotion while ying chess, to him it was like a solitaire where you have to wait minutes to turn a single card.

    Luckily, he was never alone. Solus had fallen in love with the game since she saw it in Lith¡¯s memories, viewing all the matches he had in the past and the ones he spectated.

    "Solus take the wheel! Save me, please!"

    "It would be a pleasure, your Ladyship."

    After sitting at a table, the games began.

    Even from her first game, the Marchioness proved to be incredibly intelligent, cunning and bold. She was able to think at least five moves in advance, always trying to figure out Lith¡¯s intentions and weak points.

    Too bad for her, Lith barely knew what he was doing. He was the perfect straw man for hiding Solus real ns. He would just move the pieces as she instructed him to.

    "You defeated her in barely thirty moves. Shouldn¡¯t you be a little more kind to her?"

    The Marchioness clicked her tongue, asking for a rematch.

    "To a smart woman like that? She would notice and get offended, na?ve man."

    "Maybe if you went easier on her earlier, she wouldn¡¯t notice now!"

    "And where¡¯s the fun in that?"

    Lith was bbergasted.

    "This is not a matter of fun! We¡¯re sucking up to her, remember?"

    "Opps! My bad."

    "Opps my pale a*s!"

    Solus started to slow things down, but after just a few moves the Marchioness showed a displeasured face before toppling her queen.

    "I clearly underestimated you and your game. I need more time to get acquainted with all the possibilities." She extended her hand, and Lith shook it.

    She had a gentle but firm grip, Lith could feel no hostility from her.

    "Mind if I show it around? I need opponents to get some practice."

    "It¡¯s all yours. You can do anything you want with it."

    After that, Lith left the two nobles discussing between them, all too happy to get away from that torture chamber.

    After asking Jadon if he was finally allowed to leave (in a polite manner, off course) and getting a no as an answer, Lith was left pondering on what had just transpired.

    "Hmm, maybe there is a silver lining in you crushingly defeating that woman."

    "Really?"

    "Yes. If we want to avoid being forced to enrol in a Magic Academy, we could just as well sabotage ourselves a little.

    We already know that the Count has not the means to ensure our admittance. If we piss off the nobles a little, just enough for them to not back his rmendation, we¡¯ll avoid the whole thing without offending the Count."

    "Good idea! Even if indirectly, you have already caused both the Ghishal and Trahan households to fall. Probably in the nobles¡¯ eyes you already have quite some demerits. You are already halfway there, you¡¯re quite good at being disliked."

    "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lith turned sour.

    Solus inwardly cursed herself for the slip of the mind, and avoided apologizing. In that moment would only add fuel to the fire.

    For the first time in years, Lith was actually hurt by those words, his anger silently rose.

    When he heard someone belittling his endeavour of killing Gerda, he sized the opportunity to set his n in motion.

    It was a couple, likely father and son,menting on the stuffed Byk exposed in a corner of the room.

    "It¡¯s not that big." Said a chubby middle-aged man that barely managed to reach Gerda¡¯s navel with his head. "I¡¯m sure you could have killed it too, Frenon."

    "I don¡¯t know dad." Replied the ten years old kid that shared a striking resemnce with the man, only younger and thinner. "It seems big to me. And look at those fangs and ws. This Lith must be crazy to get near something like this."

    "Bah!" Scoffed the man, making his double chin and his waxed brown curls tremble. "If you kill it with magic, there is no need to get close. It¡¯s just that simple. How can you be less bold than amoner? I pampered you too much."

    "I beg your pardon?" A stone-cold voice reached them from behind.

    The two turned around, trembling visibly. They had recognized Jadon¡¯s voice, the future Count Lark and lord of theirnds.

    Even in his anger, Lith wasn¡¯t so reckless, he just ratted them out to his noble friends, leaving the dirty job to them.

    "That was quite a rude remark, Bar Hogum." Ke¡¯s voice was fierce and loud, resounding through the whole room.

    Lith was many times her benefactor, and hearing such a tantck of respect in her own house was simply too much to bear. Jadon thought the same, but his sister had butted in at the right moment, forcing him to step back momentarily.

    "Ah! Ah! Ah! There¡¯s a misunderstanding." The Bar title was the lowest, getting on the Lark¡¯s family ck book was beyond bad.

    "Are you implying we are both deaf or just stupid? Did you hear what I did too, dear brother?"

    "I heard a nasty remark about one of our honoured guests, dear sister."

    Before things could escte further, the Marchioness chimed in.

    "There, there. It¡¯s a party, let¡¯s try to be friends and not spoiling the mood."

    Her appearance made all heads turn, the chatter instantly stopped.

    "Besides, it¡¯s so simple to separate the wheat from the chaff. What about a little magic challenge?" The room roared in an apuse.

    Under the Marchioness lead, the crowd moved outside. The park was already perfectly lit up, since after dinner the party was supposed to move outside, to enjoy the fresh night breeze while drinking properly aged liquors.

    She made the two boys stand twenty meters (22 yards) from each other, before exining the rules.

    "This will be a friendly match, so it ends on first blood. Only magic is allowed. I want no underhanded tricks, also seriously harming the opponents is prohibited. A mage without control is no different from a violent drunkard."

    Strangely, the Marchioness said that while looking only at Lith, and that pissed him off even further.

    "So, just because I¡¯m amoner, she treats me like a barbarian? So much for losing with grace! Such a hypocrite."

    "I¡¯ll be the judge. If I say stop, you better stop." Fuel was added to the fire.

    Both the youths nodded. Lith put his arms behind his back.

    "You know, I really wouldn¡¯t be in your shoes. If you win, you prove nothing. You would have just beaten a lowlymoner, like everyone expects you to. But if you lose..." Lith paused dramatically, still waiting for the start signal.

    "Wouldn¡¯t be terrible, losing in front of all these people, proving to be less talented and bold than amoner?"

    The young Bar started gulping loudly, turning constantly toward the crowd, suddenly realizing the pressure of the challenge.

    "Begin!"

    When the Marchioness voice rang out, he was so stiff that he had yet to move, when Lith opened his palm while yelling.

    "Scram!"

    A powerful gust of wind made Bar Hogum fall on the ground.

    "Lith of Lutia wins!"

    The crowd was surprised, a murmur started spreading like wildfire.

    "Why did she stop the match so suddenly?" Everyone asked.

    The Marchioness helped the boy to get up and brought him closer for them to observe. There was a shallow cut on his left cheek, going from his nose to the ear.

    "Just with chore magic?" "From that distance?" "Impressive. That¡¯s how he has single-handedly killed a Byk."

    Lith puffed his chest, his anger subsiding enough for him to avoid further mockery on the expenses of his defeated opponent.

    A small girl quickly rushed to the Marchioness, making a perfect bow to her while whispering something, her face all smiles and pleasantries.

    She was so petite to appear ageless to Lith. She could be eight years or thirteen years old, he couldn¡¯t tell. She was definitely t as a board, with gold blonde hair with shades of red. Her dress had gemstones the size of an acorn embroidered into it.

    "The brat must be loaded." Lith thought.

    "Be careful. While the boy was just a yellow core, she has a green one." Solus warned him.

    Lith inwardly scoffed.

    "Lucky b*stard."

    "Lith, this is Minnea Tristarm, daughter of the Viscount Tristarm. Minnea, this is Lith from Lutia."

    "Nice to meet you." The girl performed a barely noticeable curtsy.

    "The pleasure is all mine." Lith returned the rudeness, by performing such a small bow that it could be easily confused with him checking if his shoces where properly knotted.

    "Minnea was really impressed by your feat, and would like to challenge you to a different kind ofpetition."

    "It would be an honour performing for her Grace. My father had tried for so long to get an audience with your Ladyship."

    "Obnoxious brat!" Lith thought. "She has been watching the Marchioness the whole time, speaking like I¡¯m not even here. You are in for a surprise."

    They moved back into the ballroom, were the servants promptly prepared a small round table. A single candle was standing on its center.

    "This is a magicalpetition that¡¯s really popr within the capital." The girl kept looking at the Marchioness, while she exined the game with a condescending tone.

    "Real mages are not mindless brutes. Real poweres from the mind."

    "Spare me the details and exin the rules." Lith tone was even more condescending.

    "It¡¯s really simple." Minnea looked at him for the first time.

    "Each of us picks a colour, the one that manages to keep the candle of the chosen colour for ten seconds is the winner. Is it clear?"

    Lith yawned.

    "I¡¯ll take the yellow."

    "And I the red, like my hair. Is my favourite colour."

    When the Marchioness gave the start signal, Minnea tried her best to turn the candle to red, while Lith was checking his nails length, yawning from time to time.

    Soon the ten count waspleted, and he tried to walk away.

    "Wait! I demand a do over." The girl was bright red from the embarrassment.

    "Why?" Everyone asked.

    "Do you realize that keeping control of a me is much easier than taking it over?"

    Lith could easily see through her allegations.

    "Are you insinuating that by exploiting the natural colour of the candle I took control of it before the challenge started, getting an unfair advantage?" Heughed.

    "You can understand a lot about a person, based on how she ys, wins, but most importantly how she epts loss." Lith quoted, looking straight in the Marchioness eyes.

    "Let¡¯s have a do over, then. This time I¡¯ll pick cyan. Feel free to get a head start. I¡¯llmence my attack only when the me ispletely red, so we¡¯ll be even. Agreed?"

    Eager to restore her wounded pride, Minnea nodded while she was already turning the candle to a bright red.

    "Can I?" When both the Marchioness and Minnea nodded, Lith started sending tendrils of mana toward the candle.

    Slowly but inexorably, many cyan spots appeared inside the me, taking it over in less than a minute.

    "I yield." Minnea didn¡¯t wait for the ten count, the oue was painfully clear to her.

    "Do you want another do over?" Lith hissed bending forward, getting really close to her face, his eyes reduced to fiery slits brimming with mana.

    "Lith, your mana is overflowing." Solus warned him.

    "Let it burn."

    Minnea shook her head, before running back to her father.

    No one dared to challenge him anymore.

    The rest of the evening was full of chattering and gossiping, but otherwise uneventful.

    "This should be plenty enough to make any academy in the region reject our application."

    End of book 1

 Chapter 46 A New Beginning

    Almost four years had passed, and over time many things had changed.

    Two years ago, when Lith was still ten years old, Rena had reached adulthood. She participated to the Spring Maiden contest, winning it by andslide.

    Between the clothes from the Count, the make-up from Ke and the beauty treatment from Lith she had basically nopetition.

    She has soon started to hang out with several young promising bachelors, before finding the right one. His name was Senton, and he was the son of the cksmith.

    After dating for almost a full year, they were ready to marry.

    In that same year, Tista had reached her growth spurt at the age of twelve. She was officially healed from her congenital condition and had started to practice fake magic under Lith¡¯s and Nana¡¯s guidance.

    Her mana core had be deep green, and ording to Solus, there was still space for it to grow at least up to bright green. Tista was finally able to get out of the house without supervision, starting to make friends with the children of the neighbours.

    It was toote for her to try to attend to a Magic Academy, she barely knew the basics of chore magic, but she didn¡¯t mind. After being prisoner of her own body for so many years, she had no interest in perpetual challenges.

    The only thing she really wanted was to enjoy her new life, trying out all the things that had been forbidden to her before. Bing a magica and inheriting one day Nana¡¯s business was already beyond every expectation she ever had.

    Even Lith¡¯s household had deeply transformed. Between his magic, the help from the Count and all the money he was able to earn, the walls were now made entirely of stone, only the floor and the roof were still wooden.

    He had also built a new bedroom for himself that served as a study too. Lith was getting too old to keep sleeping with his sisters, and had no intention of moving in with Trion.

    He demanded his personal space and privacy, and since he was the one paying for it, no one could make any objections.

    As for Lith himself, he had changed deeply, at least physically. Despite having yet to be twelve years old, he was already one meter and sixty centimetres (5¡¯3") high. His thin and scrawny build was only a memory.

    Now he had broad shoulders, his muscles were well developed but not ripped, rather cleverly chiselled. He didn¡¯t want to stand out nor to carry useless weight, Lith wasn¡¯t nning on bing a soldier, after all.

    He was plenty content with a far from average build and a body that was able to react instantly, ording to his will. His mana core was still cyan, but not deep anymore, halfway through the light cyan that would precede the next evolution.

    A mana core on the strong end of the spectrum had proven to be much stronger that the previous ones, but at the same time it put a much stronger burden to Lith¡¯s body. He had reached a bottleneck that couldn¡¯t be ovee with training or study.

    Only after hitting his growth spurt, his body would be strong enough to allow him to refine further the mana core. Before such event, the use of umtion would bring to him only pain and no benefits.

    (AN: umtion is the breathing technique that allows Lith to absorb the world energy into his mana core, making it grow stronger through expansion and shrinking cycles, with the mana core turning of a lighter colour at every cycle.

    See the end of chapter 7 and chapter 9 for more details)

    Also, since now all of his clothes had the Lark¡¯s household crest on either the shoulder or the chest pocket, he made full use of his newfound authority, protecting the vige in Nana¡¯s absence. For a fee, off course.

    The only criminals he would take out for free, were those with a nice "Dead or Alive" bounty on their heads. Lith would strictly deliver them feet first.

    Now that he was almost twelve, the number of spells and the skill level he could reveal had increased exponentially, since now he officially had more than six years of magical training.

    Seeing him fly around or hunting for pelts or bounties had be amon urrence in the Lutia vige. By having three healers and two protectors, the vige kept growing in fame, size and poption.

    It was only thanks to him that Rena and Senton were able do date each other. Previously, the idea of the son of an artisan marrying the daughter of a humble farmer would have been preposterous.

    Inside, though, Lith had changed very little. He was still the cynical, mistrustful broken man he had always been, with no real friend or loved one outside his family and Solus.

    Having to deal with criminals, chasing away profligate boys that molested his sisters and interacting with the nobles, had further rooted in his mind the idea that mankind, even in the new world, was a gue that he had to avoid.

    His only real confident was Solus, and despite all her attempts, she had not been able to change his mind, even one bit.

    He was also in a very bad mood.

    "Dammit, tier four spells are really hard. I can manage to reproduce them with true magic, but I still feel they are somewhatcking. Either when I cast them with true or fake magic, something keeps feeling amiss."

    "Yeah." Solus mind nodded. "Maybe is just my impression, but this kind of spells is supposed to hold some deep and profound concept that we are not able to grasp. Maybe, if we had ess to tier five books..."

    "Ifs and buts are just a waste of time. Who would have ever thought that Count Lark wouldn¡¯t buy them? He is still dead set to send me to the Lightning Griffon academy, no matter how many times I repeated I preferred being home-schooled."

    "Well, you knew how stubborn the Count can be. Also, from his point of view, not buying the books kills two birds with one stone. He manages to save a mountain of gold and forces you attending the academy at the same time."

    During those four years, Lith had relentlessly tried to convince the Count that an Academy was not good for him, even resorting to use the need to protect his family and the vige as a leverage.

    Bu the Count was immovable.

    "Dear Lith, you have a dire need of the Academy, and I say this only in your best interest. I cannot stress out how important is to learn how to properly interact with your peers and establishing the right connections.

    Not to mention that you have no friend of your age! You need to socialize, fall in love, even. Otherwise you¡¯ll grow into a cranky and cynical man."

    "Been there, done that." Solus giggled.

    "Also don¡¯t worry for your family. As soon as you enrol, they¡¯ll gain a newfound status, and until your graduation the Magic Association will take personal care of them. At that point, not even the most reckless madman would try something funny."

    Lith had run out of excuses, and could not tell him the truth.

    He was sick and tired of being looked down by nobles and foreign merchants, and even resorting to violence or intimidation after a while had lost much of its luster.

    Lith just wanted to be left in peace and treated with respect, like any normal human being.

    He didn¡¯t know how long he could suffer the contempt and abuse from his so called "peers" at the Academy, before shoving their high and mighty attitude up their throat, after taking detour through their a*ses.

    The idea of not being able to practice true magic, spirit magic and fusion magic was enough to give him a big headache. In an Academy he would be crippled, losing all of his advantages to not blow his cover.

    It was a lose-lose situation.

    Lith¡¯s mood was made even worse by the thought of Rena moving out the household. After what happened to Carl, he had developed an obsessivepulsive need to know where everyone was at any given time.

    He needed to feel that everything was under his control to be in peace with himself.

    "If you really love them, you have to let them go." Solus tried to console him.

    "After all, Academy or not, when you reach sixteen years and leave the house, what are you going to do? Stuff them and store them in the pocket dimension? You need to learn to let go and focus on what¡¯s really important for you.

    If you really wanted to make them your puppets, you wouldn¡¯t have cured Tista. Her illness was the perfect leash, yet you willingly choose to free her. They are not Carl. The whole world is not filled with trash like the one that killed him."

    Lith¡¯s mind recognized the truth in her words, but his heart refused to. It would keep screaming "F*ck the world! They are mine! Mine! Mine!"

    "Is this what a father feels when his children leave the nest?"

    He couldn¡¯t avoid noticing that even Raaz, despite all the smiles and happiness he showed, was actually quite depressed losing his eldest daughter.

    "If I¡¯m like this with adults, I¡¯m afraid to discover what I would be if children were involved. It seems I am destined to be single for life."

    Now that Lith was eleven year and a half, he had reached the minimum age requirement to apply for a schrship at the Lightening Griffon academy.

    Count Lark was waiting for him at his manor, from where they would travel to their destination by stagecoach. ording to the Count, flying in the vicinity of any building owned by the Mage Association was strictly forbidden.

    Even to get in the vicinity was needed a special pass and to have set up an appointment through the proper channels.

    The academy wasn¡¯t that far, but using a stagecoach would require several hours of boredom. While looking through the window, Lith could only hope that all those years of preparations and self-sabotaging would pay off.

    Being actually epted in such an institution, away from home, would be the beginning of his worst nightmare.

 Chapter 47 Odd Developments

    It was in moments like that that Lith felt how heavy a bottleneck was. Normally, in such a situation, he would use umtion, turning a downtime into a training session while also studying how his body was developing.

    But now that option was unavable, and being stuck in such state for almost a year, he knew his body inside out, to the point of memorizing where every impurity was located.

    After half an hour, he was about to fall asleep.

    "Hope the Count doesn¡¯t mind me snoring a little."

    "Lith, why don¡¯t we open Nana¡¯s goodbye gift? I¡¯m really curious." Solus said.

    "I¡¯m not. That stingy old hag just gave me a piece of paper. I bet it¡¯s a list of souvenirs she wants me to buy for her."

    A small friendly bet was better than doing nothing, so he took out the small envelope and read its content. Lith had lost the bet, it was a brief letter.

    "Dear Lith,

    Now that you are going to a Magic Academy, away from the prying eyes of your parents, you deserve to know the truth. Chore magic holds a forbidden spell that I never taught you. Now you are old enough to know."

    It followed a short but precise description on how to use darkness magic on himself to avoid unwanted consequences from the intimacy with girls. It was a birth control spell. The letter closed with a

    "Remember to always be a gentleman and have fun! You¡¯ll thank meter.

    With love, Nana"

    "What a dirty olddy. I¡¯m not even twelve." Lith couldn¡¯t stop fromughing out loud. The idea of Nana being the one worrying about his sex life was hrious.

    "It¡¯s this about something Lady Nerea wrote? An anecdote? Can I see it too?" The Count was very curious, seeing Lithugh was a rare urrence.

    After reading the message, Count Lark became purple from embarrassment. The scene made Lithugh even louder.

    "Oh my, the Count is such a softie. Getting flustered by such stupid thing. Sometimes he seems straight out of a manga."

    "Lith, this is noughing matter." The Count said.

    "I appreciate Lady Nerea concern, but I still find it ill-timed and vulgarly expressed. The matters of the heart should be treated with more tact, especially with someone young as you are."

    Lith couldn¡¯t help but renew hisughter.

    "He really called it ¡¯matters of the heart¡¯! It¡¯s just sex, man!"

    The light mood didn¡¯tst long, the long trip soon made both the men fall asleep.

    When the coachman woke them, they were already arrived.

    The sight of the Lightning Griffon academy was truly impressive.

    The building itself seemed an enormous castle, straight from the wet dreams of a medieval engineer. Yet it was impossible to see it clearly, they were still too far.

    The academy was in the center of a huge forest that extended in all directions as far as the eye could see.

    "That exins why it¡¯s so distant from popted areas, is basically a County of its own. The forest may even have an extension superior to the Trawn woods." Lith thought.

    "Why do we stop here? We are still very far, how are we supposed to reach the academy?"

    The Count was excited like a kid in a candy store.

    "Don¡¯t worry and follow me."

    He brought Lith to a small brick house on the edge of the forest, were two men were sipping tea while idly chatting.

    The Count introduced himself and showed them their permits.

    The man that was now holding the papers whispered a few words, the ink rearranged itself,ing out of the sheet and forming some kind of magic circle on the ground.

    "Even the permits are a magical item?" Lith was shocked.

    "I sensed some manaing from them, but I supposed it was just some kind of magical seal of authenticity, not something thisplex." Solus exined.

    "Sh*t! We arepletely in the dark about magical items, and there¡¯s no mention of it in any book we read so far. Either we find a way to correct this situation, or our travels will be much more difficult in the future."

    Following the man¡¯s instructions, Lith and the Count stepped inside the circle, that instantly became a translucent yellow sphere.

    It gently rose up in the air, before starting to fly at break-neck speed toward the castle. Despite it was moving faster than Lith ever did before, they felt no different than standing on the ground.

    "This thing is like gyrostabilized! What a brilliant idea!" For the first time Lith was almost regretting is choice. Almost.

    The trip was short, but Lith still managed to see many huge magical beasts running inside the forest. They even almost collided with an eagle the size of a piper aircraft. Its eyes were full of scorn, shrieking at them something that sounded a reprimand.

    "Is it me, or there are only magical beasts in there?" Lith asked the Count, who nodded.

    "Yes, magical beasts and monsters, off course. They¡¯ll exin everything to you once you enrol." The Count had a fatherly tone, but Lith could clearly hear a hint of condescension ¡¯I told you so¡¯-like.

    The spherended on a balcony before dissipating. A twenty-year-something girl wearing a magician robe was waiting for them.

    She guided them through magical esctors and corridors, before leaving them into the Headmistress antechamber. She had talked via a smallmunicator amulet the whole time, giving orders about menial duties.

    In Lith¡¯s experience, that meant bad news. Whenever he had a job interview, the secretary attitude towards the applicants was a tell about how thepany treated his employees and what where their expectations about a candidate.

    She had ignored them the whole time, not giving them a tour or an exnation about any of the magical marvels they had encountered.

    For someone who wanted to be rejected, though, it was good news.

    The Count was too mesmerized to notice, his eyes were moving to every single piece of furniture, his mouth agape in admiration. The room itself was a prodigy.

    Despite no visible source of light, be it windows, torches or light stones, every nook and cranny were lighted as the morning sun was shining above their heads.

    "What do you think of this?" The Count asked as a rhetorical question, expecting Lith to show an enthusiasm equal if not superior to his.

    "Honestly? I find it pretentious and stuck-up. Everything in the room feels like his master is looking down on us, trying to intimidate the guest and put him in his ce."

    "Really?" The Count¡¯s dream bubble popped up abruptly.

    "Yeah. I mean little splendour is fine, but this? It¡¯s too much." He pointed at the gold decoration that kept shifting to silver and tinum, and at the gemstones embroidered at every corner, like shining eyes staring at them with contempt.

    "Also how do you exin otherwise that girl rude attitude? She barely looked at us at all."

    "Oh dear." The Count gulped. "Now that you point that out, this room resembles very much the King¡¯s antechamber for the unwanted guests."

    "Is there such thing?" Lith was curious.

    "Yes, is kind of an open secret. The King¡¯s room has more than one waiting room, depending on how much he cares about the visitor. The one for the unwanted guests is filled with tacky stuff like this, to remember the visitor the Crown¡¯s power.

    It¡¯s also filled with painting depicting the previous Kings and Queens ying rebellious nobles or mages. Depends on whom he wants to pressure."

    "Like these ones?" Lith pointed to many magical paintings, all of them where short movies, showing how the Mage Association got rid of entire families of unruly nobles throughout history.

    The event depicted would go to the point of showing the bloodshed, the mansions set ame, before starting to tell their story back from the beginning.

    "Precisely." The Count swallowed loudly.

    Expecting to have to wait for hours, Lith made himselffortable, trying to get asleep again. He wasn¡¯t disappointed. When the Count woke him up, he could see from his face that he had quite some pent-up stress.

    He had waited patiently for long enough to get the message.

    "Don¡¯t say a word. If we want to salvage this thing, we need tact and diplomacy. Leave everything to me." Count Lark said with barely a whisper.

    The Headmistress¡¯ office was much less tacky than her antechamber, resembling very much amon principal office from Earth. She was a woman at least as old as Nana, but time had been kinder to her.

    Her face was full of wrinkles, but her eyes were full of energy and life. Unlike Nana, she was ready to live a long life and stood straight as a string

    Her hair was almostpletely grey, only some shade of yellow still remained. She wore a robe with the colours of her academy, it was of a light blue, while all the decorations were of a bright yellow, most likely gold.

    The way its fabric had been woven, made it seem like every movement of the Headmistress was the wind moving through the sky, while the gold embroidered appeared and disappeared like sudden lightnings.

    She had only smiles and nice words, but Lith¡¯s instinct could sense no warmth in her.

    "Dear Count, we haven¡¯t met for too long!" She extended her hand to him.

    "You are too kind. It¡¯s only my fault that I can¡¯t bring you enough promising youths." The Count¡¯s poker face was impable. All traces of stress and anxiety had disappeared. His words were calm and gentle, like meeting a long-lost sister.

    "Please, have a seat. Sorry for the long wait, but as you know this is the busiest time of the year." The apology sounded fake like a three-dor bill.

    "Do not apologize, Ipletely understand. Now, sorry if I go straight to business, I do not want to waste any more of your precious time."

    The Count took out a folder that contained a chronicle of all feats Lith had aplished, together with his official merits count.

    The Headmistress pushed the folder back.

    "No need. We always do a full background check on every applicant. I must say that you brought me a really interesting fellow."

    This time it was Lith turn to gulp loudly, cold sweat going down his spine.

    "What the heck did I do wrong?"

    She took out a folder of her own, much thicker than the previous one.

    "I can see that this young man, Lith, has earned a lot of merits by healing the poor and by getting rid of many of the menaces that threatened your County. Did you know that the criminal underworld has nicknamed him Scourge?"

    "Beats me how the heck my beast title reached their ears. How can delinquents and magical beasts view me in the same way?" Lith thought.

    "It seems that he likes his bounties dead as a doornail, and that¡¯s good. Being merciful with the scum of earth can only bite you in the back, sooner orter. He also had quite a number of magical challenges with some noble youths."

    "And that¡¯s bad, right?" Lith clenched his fist, full of expectation.

    "That¡¯s good too. A true mage must not fear to defend himself or his name, in our business talent and power are more important than etiquette.

    Not to mention that those who have not the skill, should not fly too close to the sun and thenin about getting burned."

    Lith felt like the earth was copsing under his feet.

    "So instead of sabotage I self-promoted all this time?! F*ck me sideways!"

    "But..." Suddenly Lith¡¯s hopes revived, like a phoenix risen from its ashes.

    "... sadly, I must say that he doesn¡¯t meet the requirements for a schrship. I¡¯m really sorry."

    "F*ck yes! I forgive you, deceiving b*tch! I did it, and that¡¯s what matters."

    The Count turned pale as a ghost.

    "May I know why? Talent, skill, heart. I dare to say he is the best one I ever brought here so far." His voice was broken, Lith felt bad for the poor man.

    "Off course you can, you deserve to know. You see, the real problem lies not in your prot¨¦g¨¦, but rather in his mentor."

    "Excuse me?" Blood flushed back in the Count¡¯s face.

    "Nerea is a fallen mage, akin to a disowned son of the academy, if not of the whole Mage Association. Like for nobles is forbidden to help a relinquished of their own, the same stands for us, or at least for me.

    She has brought shame to the institution, and up to this very day she keeps meddling with us. Not to mention that even if indirectly, Lith has been involved in the purge of two noble households.

    As a mage, I can¡¯t stress enough how despicable I find dragging the Mage Association into every single petty squabble. It¡¯s an abuse of power, and I want to send a message to all the rogue mages out there by rejecting her disciple.

    You can try bringing him to other academies, but I think their answer will be the same."

    "What?!" The Count was now bright red, his eyes almost popping out from the rage.

    "Lady Nerea has protected and helped Lustria County for years, while everyone else did nothing! This young man saved my life, my family.

    He did what he did only for self-preservation, and you are telling me that you are willing to ruin his life for your own petty revenge? For politics?"

    "How dare you speak to me like that in my office!" The Headmistress jumped up from her armchair, her eyes glowing with power.

    "I dare! I double dare and call this bullsh*t!" Lith never thought the Count to be such a brave fighter.

    "You are just sacrificing a mage, and a powerful one, for your own political gain! Lith, let¡¯s go. The air stinks in here."

    Before going out the door, the Count turned back, yelling.

    "This doesn¡¯t end here! I¡¯ll let everyone know how the Lightning Griffon has stooped. You¡¯ll never get again a single copper coin from my County or any of my retainers. And by the way, he is the inventor of the chessboard on your desk."

    The door mmed behind them, without giving her the opportunity to rebuke.

    "Man, seriously? So much for tact and diplomacy. You are a mall cog in a big machine. Your threats are nothing but wishful thinking."

    Lith happiness was clouded by the worries about the consequences that the Count¡¯s fit of rage could have on both his homnd and his friend. Count Lark had fought for him fiercely, and that was something Lith would never forget.

 Chapter 48 Helpless Rage

    The Count was true to his word, and the news about what happened in the Lightning Griffon academy spread like wildfire in Lustria County.

    The vigers of Lutia and its outskirts were simply outraged. Life was already hard as it was, the idea that even if talented amoner had to suffer from political ys was a p in the face of all their hopes and dreams.

    Despite her attitude, Nana was a saviour to most of them, to the point of considering her part of their own family. Countless people knew all too well that without her, too many babies would have never been safely delivered.

    Seeing their benefactor treated as a gue, tainting everything she touched, was too much to bear. The same thing applied to those few noble families she associated with for her personal affairs.

    Hundreds of letters were sent to Count Lark, who in turn forwarded them to the King¡¯s Court. Now that he had regained his cool, he realized how of little importance was his County and funding to such arge institution like an academy.

    Even if coupled by so many letters, his officialint about the Headmistress viting the rules to pursue her political agenda, was bound to rise little if no interest in the Court.

    He sent it anyway, surrendering to fate without even attempting to fight was something that he would have regretted his whole life.

    Lith¡¯s family was as furious as helpless, cursing the academy for its unfairness and themselves for their impotence. Lith was the less disappointed one from such turn of the events.

    One way or another his n worked, and that was good. On the other hand, though, that trip to the academy had been an eye opener about how ignorant he was about the new world and how fake magic had developed through the centuries.

    Solus had confirmed to him that while the rude secretary had a deep cyan mana core, the Headmistress had a fully developed blue one. Lith had always felt so proud being one of the only two cyan core holders of the County, but not anymore.

    He started regretting not having the possibility to at least check the other students and personnel of the academy, even if just to collect data about what was the average power level in the outside world.

    Now that he was forced to follow his original n, he had discovered so many unexpected ws in it. The first and most annoying one was being forced to rot for another four years in Lustria County, where his talent was doomed to stagnate.

    On their way back, the Count had confessed to him that rather not wanting to purchase tier five books, it was actually impossible for him. It wasn¡¯t only a matter of price, that would be enormous anyway, but hecked the connections to obtain them.

    He had already acquired all the books he could, which included only those that the Mage Association was willing to share with the general public. To get more he would need either a stroke of luck or the Association had to change its rules.

    Both the events were highly unlikely. That meant that he was stuck with tier four spells that he had learned without understanding their purpose.

    It was frustrating for him, like memorizing a mathematical equation just to pass a calculus exam, but knowing that you had been uncapable toprehend the underlying meaning of it.

    And during all those years of boredom, all the other magicians in the world would continue their education, shaving off four years of magical practice from the advantage he held.

    Lith was still better than his peers because while they started their studies at six years of age orter, he had already started as a newborn. But soon all his hard work, the sacrifices, the hunger, would all turn out to be a fool¡¯s errand.

    The second w was that he hadpletely underestimated the importance and distribution of magical items. He hadn¡¯t seen much, but it had been plenty enough to give him an itch in his head he could not scratch.

    If it was possible to create such useful items with fake magic, then with true magic he would likely be able to wield and create superior version of those items, getting an even upper hand against other magicians.

    Now, instead, he had no idea how they worked or how to acquire them. With enough knowledge, it could be even possible to help Solus regain her powers faster, maybe even reforge her or something.

    "F*ck, I¡¯m not just a frog in the well. I am a frog in a well in the middle of nowhere. Considering everything I saw in less than an hour, is not surprising at all that true magic is still a secret.

    A fully magically equipped fake mage could probably fight with me on equal footing. I have no idea of the scope and avability of magical items.

    Even if somehow, I manage to keep expanding my knowledge, my future travels are bound to be much more difficult than I had previously anticipated.

    The only silver lining is that outside the biggest families, they should not be too muchmon, and that I managed to avoid five full years of being a bullied cripple.

    But before calling myself lucky, I need more information. I am starting to suspect that I underestimated my circumstances a lot. Nana and Lark have a lot of exining to do."

    Lith took flight and moved towards Nana¡¯s house. The Count was just a magic enthusiast, after all, while she had actually attended to one of the six big academies, so she was bound to have much more inside knowledge.

    At his arrival, he found out that Count Lark was there too, and had sent some vigers searching for Lith. Both of his patrons wanted to speak to him.

    Since the waiting room was filled with patients, Lith helped Nana and Tista clear the queue so that Nana could leave Tista in charge and take a break for their talk.

    Once inside Nana¡¯s living quarters, the three of them sat around her kitchen table.

    "First of all, Lith, allow me to apologize. I never expected that old hag of Linnea to be willing to escte our enmity to the next level. Making you pay for my mistakes, whether true or alleged, is beyond unfair.

    But aside from that, from what I hear from Tista, you are taking this situation all too well. You still don¡¯t understand how wronged you have been, and that¡¯s also my fault. I stupidly respected the academy rules and kept its open secrets.

    But since they are ying dirty and Lark is still willing to submit to apply in your stead for the remaining five big academies, I need to y dirty too and vite my oath.

    If you want to have even a 1% chance of being admitted, you need to give your 100%, if not more. Enough with this crappy ¡¯whatever¡¯ attitude of yours. There¡¯s a lot at stake, and we need you to take this seriously."

    Lith knitted his eyebrows.

    "What oath? What secrets? What are you talking about? I read that stupid academy pamphlet countless times. Sure, unless some miracle happens, I will not get to study tier five spells, but that¡¯s it. I can still be a member of the Mage Association.

    To be honest, the idea of spending five years locked up with arrogant rich kids trying to stab me in the back is far from alluring. I can easily imagine what they would put me trough, day after day.

    So, if it amounts to just some books, then thanks but no thanks."

    Nana shook her head.

    "It¡¯s so much more than just books. You see, you are right about the being look down upon and the daily bullying. The problem is that you are wrong about everything else. In your case, just like me, you wouldn¡¯t need five years, just two."

    "How, exactly?" Two years were still a long period of time, but much more manageable than five, he had to concede her that much.

    "The first three years cover the basics of magic. They teach things like the importance of uracy in hand signs, ents, that kind of stuff.

    Unlike you, many kids have to learn etiquette, history, geography, all kind of topics, not just how to read and write.

    Otherwise they would be an embarrassment for their parents. In the Court life, they must also learn how to ride a horse, swordsmanship, ying an instrument, everything their parents need to brag about during social events."

    Lith nodded.

    "That off course takes time. Time that they cannot dedicate to the magical arts, hence needing to study the basics of the basics, even chore magic. You don¡¯t expect a young duke doing chores, do you?

    Those like us, instead, need to go to the Academy only for thest two years, and the endless benefits it brings!"

    At the words ¡¯endless benefits¡¯ Lith¡¯s mouth was watering, his mind starting to second guess his decisions so far.

    "What kind of benefits?"

    "Have you ever thought why even the rich and the nobles send their kids there? If it was just about books, many students would rather avoid all thepetition, just like you, and study in the safety of their homes.

    What makes entering in one of the six big academies so alluring are the three benefits that only them can grant:

    the ess to all kind of spellbooks, the possibility to take one or more specialization courses and even more importantly the free ess to magical items!"

    Lith mouth was agape from the shock. Nana used his uncharacteristic silence to strike the iron while it was still hot.

    "No matter what the tier, there are countless spells out there. Those you have studied here and at Lark¡¯s house are simply those that the Mage Association deems somon to be released to the public.

    All the best spells, especially from tier four and five, are strictly controlled, and getting hold of even a sliver of knowledge is incredibly hard.

    Only in a great academy you have free ess to every topic, without restrictions, allowing you to build a great grimoire even before you set your foot out of the door.

    If you get admitted to the fourth year, everything of tier four or below will be yours to take."

    "What about the specializations?"

    "Hmmm. That¡¯splex to exin, let me make you a simple example. You are a healer, right?

    Should you choose to be a master healer, not only you would be taught spells that even allow to regrow lost limbs, but most importantly, the secrets on how to more easily create your own light spells. The same applies to every specialization."

    "What¡¯s your specialization?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m a war mage!" Nana puffed her chest with pride. "I was taught the secrets behind air magic, and back in the day I could have wiped out whole battalions all by myself.

    Lightning hasn¡¯t many applications, but when ites to destruction, is second to none.

    But now let¡¯s get down to the juicy part, the one that I still regret the most.

    The possibility to have ess to a myriad of magical items."

 Chapter 49 Doubts And Regrets

    Lith¡¯s interest was really piqued, so he let Nana continue, keeping his questions forter.

    "Based on how a student performs, she is able to gain or lose points..."

    "Individual points or group points?" Lith felt so dumb. He had not even finished his previous thought, that he already had been forced to contradict himself.

    "I swear, if there¡¯s some kind of retarded householdpetition, I¡¯ll take back every second-guess I had about my choice."

    Nana raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

    "Do you even remember what did I tell you thest time about the academies and their students? Should you put a juicy b of meat in front of ferocious hungry beasts, do you expect them to cooperate for it?

    No! They would rather eat each other heart out. Off course the point system is individual. It¡¯s very simr to the merit system, but instead of gaining credit from the Kingdom, you gain it from the school itself.

    The points are the only currency allowed inside the academy, and with them you can afford lots of things. Magical potions, enchanted items and even rare ingredients for you experiments. Obviously, the higher the value, the higher the price."

    From the long pause, Lith assumed that she had finished and was waiting for his questions.

    "What are magical potions? It¡¯s the first time I hear about them."

    "Magic potions are like special spells in a vial. The most basic are alike to healing spells, but between the infirmary and the fact that everyone knows light magic, they are rarely purchased.

    The more precious are those that allow the user to be temporarily faster, stronger, or even harden her skin if she suspects she will be forced to a melee fight."

    "What about mana potions?"

    "Mana what?"

    "Isn¡¯t there any kind of potion to quickly restore one¡¯s mana?"

    Nanaughed heartily.

    "Kid, knowledge is shared on voluntary basis. If any master Potionist ever discovered something like that, he would keep it for himself. At least that¡¯s what I would do."

    Lith was underwhelmed, potions seemed a poor imitation of his fusion magic.

    "Not only they are consumable items, but you even have to waste your time bringing them around and replenishing your supply when needed. Plus, fake mages don¡¯t even have something like Invigoration.

    The only good thing about potions, is that I can pretend to use them while I use fusion magic instead. Aside from that, they are not very interesting."

    (AN: Invigoration is the breathing technique that allows Lith to quickly regain mana and stamina, to the point that he is able to go on for months without needing to sleep.

    The longer he uses it, the shorter its effectsst. The only way to reset its effects is to actually sleep. See chapter 8 for more details)

    "I understand." Is what he actually said out loud.

    "What kind of magical items can be purchased?"

    "Every academy has at least ten Forgemasters residents. They act as both teachers and researchers in the magical field.

    They usually put out for sale their lesser works, but they can even bring out high grade magical items, when the academy wants to stir up a rat race, like right before the final exams.

    The most useful items I had, were a dimensional amulet and rings from tier one to three. The dimensional amulet allowed me to bring around whatever I needed without suffering its weight, while the rings were able to store spells of the same tier, allowing for an instant cast."

    Lith didn¡¯t miss the strict use of the past tense while referring to her possessions. He felt sorry for her, but instead of hyping him, her speech was having the opposite effect.

    "A dimensional amulet? Is it some kind of magical storage item?" He yed dumb.

    Nana nodded.

    "Brilliant as usual. Yes, dimensional rings and amulets can store anything inanimated up to a fixed volume of space, regardless of the weight.

    The lowest ss has only a few cubic meters avable, the highest ss can store even fifty cubic meters (65 cubic yards). The size of a whole small house."

    The underwhelming feeling was getting deeper.

    "Solus, how much can our pocket dimension store?"

    "At the moment the storage can hold thrice as much the so-called highest ss, and is still expanding. The library space, or Soluspedia, as you call it, is now around thirty cubic meters (39 square yards) big. And it¡¯s also expanding."

    Lith¡¯s poker face was good, but not that good. Nana could see that he wasn¡¯t impressed at all.

    "What¡¯s with that face? Do you understand or not that whatever you get during your studies, you get to keep it once you graduate? Have you any idea how difficult and expensive is to purchase even the lowest magical item?"

    Lith closed his eyes while rubbing his forehead.

    "How can I even pretend to be interested in something that I already have or I can do better? Sure, those things would help me greatly keeping hidden my true magic. Whenever I employ an instant cast, I could use the rings as a cover. But that¡¯s it."

    Being an expert liar, Lith knew what his limits were. So, he changed topic.

    "The Forgemaster¡¯s job seems really interesting. Is it possible to specialize in such field? Does one need to also be a cksmith to be a Forgemaster?"

    "Yes, it¡¯s among the avable choices. And no, cksmithing is not required. A Forgemaster does not create anything, he just imbues objects with magical properties, be it a ring, an amulet, a chair or even a day dress.

    They can¡¯t possibly master all the craftsmen jobs. Most of them prefer to just learn the basic of their favourite trade, though. So, a Forgemaster specialized in rings will know something about goldsmithing, and so on."

    "That¡¯s really interesting." And for once Lith wasn¡¯t just pretending.

    Out of the three topics, the only ones that really interested him were the books and the specialization. With an endless supply of knowledge, he could easily recreate or invent all kinds of spell with true magic.

    But that was still something that he could figure out on his own, with time and experience. Bing a Forgemaster, instead, would be a priceless treasure for him.

    Lith had no knowledge about such arts, hence he could never grasp even the basics without an external help.

    But once he had uncovered the underlying principles of forgemastering, coupling them with true magic and the academy¡¯s library, he would be able to unlock infinite possibilities.

    Just the ideas about magical items that came to him on the spot were enough to give him an adrenaline rush.

    But when his excitement was at his peak, a sudden thought sent chills down his spine.

    "Before getting my hopes up, can you exin to me how one does get points? There is no such a thing about daily challenges between students, tournaments or something, right?"

    Nanaughed her a*s off.

    "That¡¯s such an idiotic idea! Not even the wildest rumours would go that far. Otherwise they would be called magic graveyards instead of academies. There¡¯s already enough violence going around as it is.

    If any Headmaster started to reward students for their behaviour, only a dozen mages would graduate each year, and no one would make their children enrol. A war battlefield would be much safer."

    Lith could sigh with relief, one of his biggest worries had just faded away.

    "Points are earned mostly through how a student performance in ss and during practical exercises. Any feat that benefits the academy, like sharing personal spells, gives additional points.

    But the real motherlode are the quarterly exams and the finals. All points can be converted anytime, even after graduating sessfully, that¡¯s why there is so muchpetition for the top spots.

    Beware, thought. Even if discipline won¡¯t give you any extra point, it can easily make you lose a lot of them. Aside from failing tests repeatedly, is the only way to lower your score.

    If it goes to negative, you¡¯ll be forced topensate by giving back everything you might have already bought. That¡¯s how I lost everything I had."

    Nana sighed, her voice filled with sadness and regret, tormenting her neck where probably her dimensional amulet used to be.

    Count Lark intervened, exining their reason to hide such things from him.

    "We didn¡¯t tell you any of this before, to not put you under any more stress and to not raise your expectations about your future too much, in case of failure.

    Most of the applicants get rejected. In the past, when such knowledge was publicly avable, there have been countless suicides among the youths that either couldn¡¯t bear the pressure or handle the failure.

    Especially for those of humble origin, being admitted in a magic academy is the only way to escape their destiny. To a lesser extent, the same could be said for nobles¡¯ and merchants¡¯ sons that are not in the line of session."

    "I can see that happening. But honestly, I don¡¯t see the point in telling me all this. Is not like I got rejected forck of trying." He lied.

    "What do you expect me to do? Travel through all the County looking for magical beasts? Cause disasters just to be able to solve them? Honestly, I don¡¯t think there is any amount of merits that could change my situation."

    The Count shook his head.

    "We don¡¯t expect you to do anything but your best. You have spent years trying to dissuade me to not send you to the academy, and don¡¯t think that I didn¡¯t notice your totalck of enthusiasm during our trip.

    You acted the whole time like it was all about someone else, someone you didn¡¯t care about. You didn¡¯t stand up for yourself, you only wanted to get out of that room!"

    "Well, maybe you are right. But maybe I just wanted to avoid the Headmistress killing you on the spot. Also, it was you telling me to shut up. It would have been beyond stupid adding oil to the fire." Lith wasn¡¯t lying.

    In that moment, when he had saw the Headmistress¡¯ eyes overloading with mana, he had been seriously worried about the Lark¡¯s family destiny, and had decided to drag the Count away as soon as possible.

    "Point taken. You are right." Count Lark sat down with a depressed face.

    "Bottom line, we still have a few cards to y. Most likely, nothing wille out of them. But if by any chance we seed, we need you to do more than sit on the side-lines. That¡¯s the point."

 Chapter 50 Darkness Falls

    That long conversation had been pretty exhausting for Lith, adding new weight to his burden. Not for the information he acquired, all in all he felt his opportunity were still pretty good with or without an academy.

    The only adjustment to his ns was that after joining the Mage Association as a de facto outer circle member, a rogue magician, he would need to rack up merits as soon as he could, to get himself an apprenticeship with a good Forgemaster.

    Normal merits would do him no good, he needed those he could earn as a magico, serving the Mage Association as best as he could.

    The only real problem with his current situation would be rotting for yet four more years, like the proverbial frog in the well.

    The reason why Lith felt so down, was that he had finally realized how much his friends had invested in him, not only in terms of money, but also time, passion and hopes.

    It wasn¡¯t the failure bothering him, but the fact that with his brash and uncaring attitude, he had hurt their feeling, treating the whole thing as a joke. Lith had to admit that in their shoes, he would feel like having casted pearls to a swine for years.

    Sure, Count Lark wasn¡¯t as judgmental as him, but Lith could see how deeply he cared, and how wounded he was after thest rebuke.

    It was the first time that Lith felt that by having won an argument he had actually lost the war.

    But aside from second-guessing, there wasn¡¯t much he could do at that point. So, he promised himself to reconsider everything with a fresh set of eyes if the opportunity arose, and decided to move to a more pressing problem.

    Lith had yet to solve his problems with tier four magic, and asking Nana was out of the question. It would reveal too much to her, exposing how deep hisprehension of magic was, despite being a self-taught.

    The only card he had yet to y was to ask the help of his friend, the Ry king in the west of the Trawn woods. Thanks to his cyan mana core, Lith had be less scared of it, and during thest few years they had developed an odd rtionship.

    Lith would use him as a confident, sometime asking it advice about fire and wind magic, the two elements the Ry could use. In exchange Lith would help him with the problems in the east zone of the woods.

    After Irtu¡¯s death, there wasn¡¯t a magical beast strong enough to take its ce, and from time to time the power struggle among the various factions would affect the bnce of the forest.

    In those situations, the Scourge and the Protector would join hands to force the magical beasts to a truce.

    At the moment, tier four fake magic was a mental bottleneck that neither he or Solus could ovee. Despite being able to cast all the spells he had found in the Count¡¯s books, they kept making no sense to him.

    It was something uneptable, eating Lith from the inside.

    He had always hated riddles, unless he was the one giving them.

    Lith had almost arrived home, when he caught a familiar smell.

    "What the heck are you doing outside the woods? If someone sees you, it could trigger a witch hunt. Thest thing I need right now is you having a bounty on your head and me having to exin why I¡¯m not interested."

    "I know." The Ry replied. "But desperate times call for desperate measures. A monster has appeared in the woods, strong enough to pose a threat for my cubs as well for yours. We need your help."

    "I have never seen the Ry scared before, whatever this is, it must be damn important." Lith thought.

    After agreeing to help, the Ry asked him to hop on its back, before running at full speed towards the woods. Between the use of air fusion and its physical prowess, Protector was able to easily reach the 300kph (186 mph), it would be a short trip.

    When going so fast, the Ry would conjure a wedge-shaped wind de in front of itself, so to protect their eyes and face from insects and dust, that at that speed would hit them with the strength of a bullet.

    It would also create a slipstream effect, allowing it to go even faster.

    Lith¡¯s horsemanship amounted to the result of one lesson, two lifetimes ago, so he needed all his focus and willpower to not fall down.

    The Ry had a thick and soft fur, but not being able to follow its movements, he was forced to use both earth fusion and light fusion to prevent permanent damage to hisher regions.

    "What the f*ck it¡¯s this thing? Is it really necessary to go so fast? If it keeps like this, I don¡¯t know if there will be enough of me left to do anything!"

    "Quit whining, we are almost there. And yes, speed it¡¯s of the utmost importance when facing an Abomination."

    Lith¡¯s mind went through all the bestiaries he had in Soluspedia and all his table top and videogames RPG memories before giving up.

    "What the heck is an Abomination? Why is it so dangerous?"

    "You don¡¯t understand. We don¡¯t call it Abomination for what it does, but for what it is!"

    They were headed north, in a region of the woods that he had never visited before. It started slowly, like the tension in the air before a storm. Only when they got deeper in the woods, Lith could understand what the Ry meant.

    Soon the grass started to thin out, until there was none at all. The earthid bare, with no undergrowth of any kind, dried and crumbling as after a monthssting drought.

    The trees around them had their barkpletely ckened out. They had no leaves nor branches left standing, resembling giant wooden stakes. There was no sound at all, everything seemed out of a post-apocalyptic movie, after a nuclear fallout.

    The naturalndscape waspletely destroyed as far the eye could see.

    After a while Lith could clearly hear the sounds from a battle, so he focused his eyes, enhancing his eyesight.

    They were closing in to some kind of moving shadow, locked in rangedbat with a Gd, a stag magical beast with a shoulder height of over two metres (7 feet) and weighting at least nine hundred kilograms (2,000 pounds), its fur light brown with shades of blue.

    Attacking the shadow from the nk, there was also a Shyf, a puma magical beast as big as a tiger, with a shoulder height one and a half metres (5 feet) and weighting over three hundred kilograms (660 pounds). It had a honey-coloured fur with shades of green.

    "The Gd is the king in the north, Lifebringer, while the Shyf is the king in the south, Reaper." Protector quickly introduced Lith to their allies.

    "That thing is the Abomination. Stay away from it as much as you can, or it will suck you dry like everything else."

    The Abomination was oddly shaped, it could stand up on its legs, resembling a man with very long and thin limbs, or would stand on all four, bingrge and stumpy like a pig a kid had drawn.

    "What the heck is that thing?" Lith unleashed five fireballs with a wave of the hand. The Abomination was surrounded by a thin ck fog, with a radius of fifteen meters (16.4 yards).

    By traveling through the fog, the fireballs shrank in size, and when they hit the resultant explosions were halvedpared to their usual effectiveness.

    The Abomination emitted a low-pitched scream that resounded of desperation rather than pain.

    The Ry howled, conjuring a pir of wind that pinned down to the ground the shadow creature, allowing the other kings to rest and regroup.

    "That¡¯s your idea of back up? A human?" If someone ever thought that a stag could not look ferocious, by looking at the Gd he would be forced to think again.

    "Less yapping, more catching your breath." The Shyf panted heavily.

    "If he¡¯s good enough to take down Irtu and Gerda, he¡¯s fine by me."

    Lith noticed that one of the Shyf four legs was actually made of earth, the real one was unnaturally atrophied and dried.

    "A prosthetic limb out of earth magic? What an amazing control must it have, to move it like a real one. I wouldn¡¯t even notice if the Shyf wasn¡¯t so close."

    Having noticed Lith staring at it, the Shyf exined:

    "That¡¯s what happens when you are so arrogant to let the Wither close enough to touch you. I would be dead if Lifebringer hadn¡¯t caught his attention long enough for me to escape."

    "Wither? Isn¡¯t that an Abomination?"

    The Gd scoffed. He wanted to reproach the Ry, but the pir of wind was dissipating, so he preferred bringing Scourge up to speed rather than wasting time bickering.

    "An Abomination is when a creature of the forest fails to evolve. Normally they die on the spot, more rarely they lose control of the world energy, bing mad. Abominations are incredibly strong, with exceptional powers that make them strong as monsters.

    Being mindless beings, usually a king is more than enough to put them down. In very rare asions, we all gather up to kill a unique Abomination, like in this case. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult understand why we call it Wither."

    The Gd pointed with its snout to the dead woods around them.

    "How the heck did he do all this damage?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe that three creatures of such power couldn¡¯t take down a single monster.

    "Simply by existing." The Ry exined. "Wherever it goes, everything dies. Whenever we are about to kill it, its body bes so formless that not wind, ice or earth can pin it down.

    So, it escapes to a healthy zone of the woods, heal itself and we have to start everything from scratch. We are fighting it from three days, we can¡¯t hold on much longer. That¡¯s why I decided to ask for your help, Scourge.

    Unlike us, all the elements obey yourmand."

    Lith nodded, trying to assimte all that information.

    "They are fighting from three days? Holy sh*t, that¡¯s some stamina. Solus, analysis!"

    "Yes, skipper, I mean Lith. All the kings have a cyan mana core, but the Protector is the one more likely to have a breakthrough in a few years."

    "I meant the Wither! Misty aura, shadow body, is it an undead?" Lith watched the creature writhe and moan under the dissolving pir. ording to Earth¡¯s fantasy literature and the new world lore, undead were supposed to have red glowing eyes.

    The Wither¡¯s orbits were pitch ck, like the rest of its body.

    "It¡¯s not an undead. Its lifeforce is nothing like I have ever seen before, and neither is its magic aura. What the heck could a ck mana core mean?"

 Chapter 51 Darkness Falls 2

    "ck?!" Lith was bbergasted, ording to their light spectrum theory, a ck mana core would indicate theplete absence of any form of mana. In a world were even rocks had it, how could a living being have none?

    He immediately activated his Life Vision. (Lith¡¯s original spell. See chapter 13 for more details)

    "F*ck me sideways." Despite the small build and the thin limbs, the Wither was emitting an energy signature stronger than the four of them put together. To his eyes it was like staring into a ck sun.

    The three kings and Lith surrounded the Wither with a square formation, alternating attacks with paralyzing spells. If the Wither moved in a direction, the whole formation moved along with it, trying to prevent it getting closer or away.

    Lifebringer was capable of using earth and water magic, using the first to slow it down, and the second to attack with a torrent of razor-sharp ice des.

    Reaper used both air and earth magic, using mainly air to restrict the Wither¡¯s movements and lightning to attack. Speed was crucial in inflicting damage, the ck fog surrounding the Abomination was capable to eat away everything, even sunlight.

    Protector¡¯s fire magic was useless, he could only use air magic, following Reaper¡¯s lead.

    Despite Lith¡¯s help, the situation wasn¡¯t getting any better. As the Wither weakened, it always started ignoring the attackers and forcibly move toward a new area, to replenish its vitality.

    Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s brains were spinning at top gear, trying to find a way to end the struggle.

    "If it¡¯s alive, why can¡¯t we kill it? What are we doing wrong?" After another two acres of woods were lost, Lith¡¯s Life Vision could see the three kings¡¯ mana and stamina dwindling.

    It was only a matter of time before the Wither had all of them for dinner.

    "F*ck! Is this the level of strength of a monster? If it wasn¡¯t for the formation and their impable teamwork, I would have died within the first minute! Also, how the f*ck do they have so much energy after three days of this?

    I¡¯m here from barely an hour and had to use Invigoration thrice to replenish my energies. I don¡¯t even remember when was thest time I actually slept, my timer is ticking even faster than theirs. Magical beasts are damn overpowered."

    "Protector!" Lith called for him, being the closest to his position.

    "I¡¯m going to get close, there¡¯s something I have to try. If I am right, you should notice immediately, so leave me there. If I¡¯m wrong, pull me out as fast as you can!"

    The Ry was too busy conjuring a lightning storm after another, so he just nodded.

    Lith broke the formation, entering the ck mist. He immediately felt his body bing heavier and heavier, his life and mana were slipping away with every breath, allowing the monster to get stronger again.

    "If that thing has a ck mana core, maybe is like a darkness elemental. That should mean that light magic is its weak point. I need to get closer to hit it with my most powerful healing spell."

    Light and darkness magic had by nature a shorter range than the other elements, and moved slower when casted against a target. Lith needed to get close enough for his next spell to hit, not giving the Wither enough space to dodge the sudden attack.

    As soon as Lith started merging his mana with the world¡¯s light energy, he felt a strong pull at the level of his mana core. The spell was getting drained even before manifesting, the Wither suddenly looked stronger, his body less ethereal.

    His low-pitched scream of agony was now a moan of pure joy.

    Suddenly Lith remembered the words of the Lochra Silverwing (see chap 27). Hers was the only book he had ever copied from the first to thest word, reading it over and over while mulling over new spells.

    Lochra Silvering was a Magus, and most likely another true magic user. Her wisdom was something Lith treasured deeply.

    "Dammit, how can I always be this stupid? This is not a video game, there is no such thing as elemental vulnerability. Magus Lochra repeated it over and over, light and darkness are not opposites, but two matching pieces of the same puzzle.

    Darkness greatest bane is not light, but darkness itself!"

    Lith cancelled the healing spell, spreading out a dark aura of his own. The two forces started colliding, emitting ck sparks every time they came into contact, trying to cannibalize each other.

    Lith¡¯s aura was weaker, but he was free to manipte it whenever the two dark fields shed, condensing it were the enemy¡¯s defence was weaker.

    The Wither, instead, was constantly harassed by the three kings¡¯ attacks, disrupting its focus and weakening its life force.

    The Wither¡¯s body was getting incorporeal again, but this time he could not turn his back and run, otherwise Lith¡¯s dark aura would consume it mercilessly.

    Lith was full of joy, intoxicated by bloodlust and the pride of having finally cleared the mystery.

    "That creature is not burning with power, rather it¡¯s bleeding it from every pore or whatever it has! That¡¯s why it need to relentlessly feed on so much energy. Its metabolism is akin to a shark, if it stops, it dies!"

    The Wither was getting weaker and weaker, its high-pitched scream filled with fear and pain.

    Thanks to their coordinated efforts, Lith¡¯s aura managed to consume a whole chunk of the Abomination, giving Lith a sudden, unwanted enlightening.

    It was very simr to what happened with Solus the first they introduced to each other.

    Lith was once again inside a memory.

    He could see himself as a young bear, striving to be strong enough to surpass Irtu¡¯s strength and be the new king in the east.

    Somehow the young bear knew about mana cores, and was able to refine its own in a way disturbingly simr to Lith¡¯s.

    But unlike Lith, the young bear was a natural at both earth and darkness magic, so it continued to relentlessly refine its mana core, even when it got painful. Its hunger for power grew along with the mana core strength.

    Tired of waiting for its body to develop naturally, the young bear decided to try at all costs to evolve the mana core from green to cyan, so to be strong enough to im the title of king.

    It fought against the pain, bravely and recklessly at the same time, until it made it!

    But its happinesssted less than a day. The mana core was too big and strong for its young body, and soon started to fall apart, while the energy contained inside started to leak out.

    Darkness magic went out of control, the survival instinct kicked in, trying everything just to survive a second longer. The young bear let the dark energy overflow, until it became the Wither.

    Lith¡¯s bloodlust dissolved like a bubble.

    "That poor b*stard it¡¯s not a monster, he is me. A me who failed promoting his mana core, too eager to do things his way to care for the consequences. A me that just wants to live, fighting against an unfair life."

    Bing aware of his opponent¡¯s story, Lith no longer wanted to y with it. Its screams of agony were a torture for his heart.

    "I¡¯m sorry for what happened to you." He said. "I¡¯ll do my best to give you a peaceful death."

    Lith¡¯spassion didn¡¯t make him lose his cool, on the contrary it gave him a renewed focus. He knew that to achieve his goal he needed killing intent, not mercy, so he looked inside himself in search of hatred.

    He recalled his first life, his father¡¯s abuses, his mother indifference, until the day Carl died. He remembered the burning anger and desperation, how it peaked before Carl¡¯s murderer got his joke sentence.

    His angriest day happened when he was nning Carl¡¯s funeral. Out of the blue, after ignoring their lives for years, his mother had the gall toe to his door.

    Crying, she asked for his forgiveness, offering to pay for Carl¡¯s memorial service. Lith could still remember his eyes seeing red, his right hand holding her throat, trying to squeeze the life out of her.

    That woman, that seemed to strong and cruel when he was little, was now a frail little thing.

    She begged him to kill her, to let her atone for her mistakes and join her little boy in the afterlife. It was then that Lith anger burned brighter than ever. He threw her out of his house, alive and well.

    "Too little and toote, you b*tch! I hope you live a long and miserable life, knowing that for both your sons you were nothing but an embarrassment, a sh*t that they flushed out of their life as soon as they could." Those were their parting words.

    In a corner of his mind, Solus was crying for him. Yet she couldn¡¯t avoid noticing that despite all he had done, Orpal amounted to nothing in Lith¡¯s mind. His existence was merely an annoyance.

    Focusing all that rage and anger in his fist, Lith released a stream of dark energy that struck the Wither¡¯s mana core, forcing it to crumble, unable to withstand the conflicting forces from within and outside.

    After that, the young bear agony finally ended.

    Its purified spirit finally able to return to mother earth¡¯s embrace, in search for a new life.

 Chapter 52 Unexpected Answers

    After the battle concluded, everyone dropped down on the ground, finally able to rx. Despite the victory, there was no ce for joy or celebration. The Trawn woods would bear a scar that could take, months if not years to heal.

    The three kings were already discussing how to rearrange the borders of their areas of influence, to prevent future food shortages to affect them too harshly.

    Lith, instead, was still pondering on the young bear memories,paring their lives. It was only because he had been reborn in a good family that he had not ended up obsessing with power, being able to afford taking care of his body.

    In its ce, with the fiercepetition of the wilderness, he may have been tempted of doing the same. All his life up to that point had been all a huge risk/rewards assessment too, Lith had simply been luckier.

    It was the second time in a single day that his victory had been hollow. He started to feel depressed, making the adrenaline rush dissolve much faster. Soon exhaustion would have taken its toll, he needed some real sleep.

    Before going home, thought, there were still some things he had to do. First, he gave the Shyf a whole boar to eat, then Lith proceeded to heal its atrophied leg.

    He couldn¡¯t do it before, because the fatigue from recovering from such a wound, coupled with its already debilitated state from the prolonged battle, would have made the Shyf faint.

    Being a healer was almost a second nature to Lith at that point. He also wanted that whatever happened next in the woods, they would face it on their own. Lith had already enough on his te, all he wanted was to sleep and eat for a week straight.

    Second, he finally could express not to one, but to three powerful magical beasts, his doubts about tier four magic with a practical example.

    With the energy he had left, Lith executed with true magic a scaled down version of the tier four Lightning God¡¯s Finger spell, weaving together fire and air magic to conjure a small sphere of sma.

    "The real deal would be bigger, hence doing more damage but also requiring much more energy." Because of its nature, sma was highly vtile and would disperse at the smallest mistake.

    It could indeed generate temperatures in the orders of thousand degrees, even striking with surgical precision, but it was incredibly slow to move, and Lith couldn¡¯t find a single practical use to justify spending so much mana in just one spell.

    Both the Ry and the Shyf were natural air magic masters, so they could immediately understand the nature of the spell and its underlying effects.

    "That¡¯s just useless!" Reaper blurted.

    "It the prettiest waste of mana I have ever seen." Protectorughed.

    "With much less energy and effort, you could wipe away an entire acre of the woods. I think the problem is not you, but the spell itself.

    ording to what you told me in the past, humans deems each other so stupid and untrustworthy that they divided magic into steps, or tiers, as you call them.

    In my opinion either the human that invented that cr*p did have more free time than brains, or the spell is iplete on purpose."

    "Are humans really so idiotic? To teach their cubs how to kill a prey but not where the best parts are?" The Shyf was bbergasted at the idea.

    "Another dead end." Lith sighed, his depression getting worse. The Ry was hisst hope to make head or tails of the magical conundrum.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Scourge." The Ry said. "But us magical beast have a much more practical view about magic, most of your human issues are either senseless or idiotic to me. Another problem is that we are uncapable of controlling the whole world energy.

    Only king level beasts can manipte two elements, while the mostplex spells you showed me sometimes use three or more.

    I would love to help you further, but between my duties and this tragedy, I need to focus on avoiding the impending famine. Sorry."

    The Ry and the Shyf left him, starting to discuss how to make the whole forest, especially the zone most damaged by the Wither, survive theing winter.

    Lith could feel his headache getting worse by the second, so after bidding them goodbye, he started to move as fast as he could towards home.

    "So much for a second and third opinion. If the Ry is right, then we are f*cked up big time. No academy means no tier five spells, which in turn implies that we will be stuck with tier three as our main source of inspiration.

    Not to mention that I really do not envy all those students that waste a whole year of their life practicing iplete spells."

    "Actually, I have been pondering about what Nana told us, and I think there is yet another possibility. Maybe tier four and fire are so rare toe around because they are strictly rted to a mage specialization." Solus suggested.

    "What if the Lightning God¡¯s Finger isn¡¯t an offensive spell, but rather an energy source for constructs? Or maybe it¡¯s the only way to carve magic runes in the hardest materials used for weapons or armours.

    We know nothing about forgemastering, potion brewing or anything rted to indirect magic."

    "F*ck! You are probably right. And that adds insult to our injury. Seems we are destined to live four very uninteresting years."

    As soon as he came home, Lith refused to move a finger, going to bed right after dinner, hoping that the next day would bring him good news.

    Yet months passed, his birthday was getting closer and so was the deadline for applying to any academy.

    Meanwhile, Count Lark hadn¡¯t been sitting on his hands. He had used every single opportunity, every pretext, no matter how flimsy, to seek audience with the King, and when that failed, he worked his way down the Court¡¯s hierarchy.

    He had pestered everyone so much that many would hide at his presence, or pretend to not even notice him to not give any opportunity to persist in his fool¡¯s errand.

    But the Count was a stubborn man, he knew rules and regtions inside out, and by using real problems rted to Lustria County as a cover, there was only so much they could do to avoid him without setting a dangerous precedent.

    He was able to endure hours long waits like they were nothing, and then still have the energy to plea for his case until his hosts were so exhausted that to get rid of him, they had to at least promise to consider his ims.

    When Headmistress Linnea talked about wanting to send a political message, this wasn¡¯t the result she was hoping for. Soon her name would get associated with ingenious curses and swearing, and so her bloodline until the seventh generation.

    Count Lark soon be a hot topic, receiving the same degree of attention an impending flood or gue would get.

    One way or another he achieved part of his objective, making the whole Court discuss the possible implications that Headmistress Linnea¡¯s new rule could cause in the future.

    Was it really worth to bar the road to a promising magician because of how or where did he/she learn her spells? Why punish the victim of a crime just because he/she had asked to uphold thew?

    Should a Headmistress of such an important institution be allowed to change the rules of admission on a whim, without any form of control?

    An important discussion like that needed time, but most importantly peace and quiet, so the Court unanimously resolved to grant Marchioness Distar, the true ruler of Lustria County, extraordinary powers, to face Count Lark as she thought best.

    In other words, she was left with the short end of the stick.

    Now Count Lark would relentlessly pester her, while everyone else would live happily ever after.

    Marchioness Distar already had her fair share of trouble, Trequill Lark was just the icing on the cake. She pondered more than once to use her newfound authority to behead him, but her good sense and all her personal advisors stopped her.

    Lark was one of his best retainers. He was sincere, didn¡¯t skim on the taxes, never had sordid affairs that she was forced to cover up.

    Not to mention that under his guiding hand, Lustria County had been flourishing for over twenty years, without that the Marchioness and her mother before her had ever to move a finger.

    It was a well-oiled machine, and honest to boot! Recing him would cause her much more trouble than executing him would prevent.

    Having her back against a wall, she decided that honesty was the best policy. Lark was a loving father, after all. Maybe he would understand her position and leave her alone if he knew the truth.

    After granting him the thirty-seventh audience in less that three months, she exined to Count Lark her family¡¯s plight.

    "As you know, the higher you get the more trouble you incur into. A few weeks ago, my family experienced an attempted murder. Thanks to the safety measures we have surrounded ourselves with, it failed. But it didn¡¯t pass without consequences.

    One of the assants, managed to reach my daughter. Her magical protections took the brunt of the hit, reducing a deathblow to slightly more than a pinprick."

    "All is well that ends well." The Countmented.

    The Marchioness had to stop herself from pping him to death, rubbing her forehead instead, trying to calm down.

    "I wish! Because of that pinprick my daughter has been cursed"

    "Cursed?" Count Lark¡¯s monocle jumped out his orbit from the surprise.

    Usually he would scoff at such preposterous concept. In all his years of exploring magic curiosities from all over the world, he had encountered curses only in the bedtime stories he read at his children.

    But the Marchioness re induced him to put his monocle back in ce and let her continue.

    "Yes, cursed. I wouldn¡¯t believe it myself if I hadn¡¯t seen it first-hand. When the healer tried to help her, preventing a scar, instead of disappearing, the wound became bigger.

    I tried everything, calling renowned master Potionists, healers, medicine women, shamans. Nothing worked.

    Now the only thing that keeps my ever-bleeding daughter alive is the constant consumption of potion and the help of my personal magician, Ainz.

    As you know he is considered a genius, maybe the best ever graduated from the ck Griffon academy.

    To make things worse, when the assants understood they had no chance of escaping, they chose to blow themselves up, destroying all the evidence. There was no one to interrogate, nothing left to examine to understand what they had done!"

    "This is fantastic!" The Count thought.

    "This is terrible!" The Count actually said, keeping his best grieving face.

 Chapter 53 Unexpected Answers 2

    "I know you will call me an old fool, but I think I have the solution to your problem."

    "If you are referring to your little prot¨¦g¨¦, you are more than a fool, you are certifiable. I tried, Ainz tried, I could write a book with the names of all those who tried.

    I can only hope for Krishna Manohar, the god of healing, to return soon. Only he can save me from this anguish. The only reason he is not here yet, is because that goddamn lunatic is nowhere to be found.

    He is doing his experiments in some remote vige, forsaken by both humans and gods. He even left hismunicator behind, to not be disturbed. My mother always said that bachelors are unreliable, and damn if she was right.

    If that b*astard had a wife, a husband, even a cat, someone would know where to find him!"

    "Ipletely agree with you. Only a married man truly understands the burden of responsibility." Count Lark suck up to her.

    "But allow me to say that you are underestimating my prot¨¦g¨¦." Lark ignored the ferocious snarl from the Marchioness and pushed forward.

    "As I told you more than once in the past, he is blessed by the light. I¡¯ll share with you a family secret, he actually helped my daughter with a simr problem."

    "Your daughter was cursed?!" The Marchioness rose an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Sadly, yes. It gued her life for years." Count Lark knew that the best lie was the one shrouded by a half-truth. Ke had always called her e a curse, after all.

    "What do you have to lose? If I¡¯m wrong, we¡¯ll leave, and you will never hear from me again, outside official business."

    "Is that a promise?" It was too good to be true.

    "I swear on my ancestors. If he fails, the only things we will ever talk about are County matters."

    After shaking his hand to seal the deal, Marchioness Distar had him contact Nana, which in turn called Lith.

    When he arrived to Nana¡¯s house, Ainz was already there, waiting for him.

    He was a man in his mid-twenties, wearing a full ck robe that covered his entire figure except his head and hands. He had long fingers, pitch ck hair and eyes, with some odd ck shades that seemed to devour sunlight at contact.

    Ainz had sharp, and intelligent features, with a blood red gemstone embroidered on his chest.

    "Aside from the tacky gem, that¡¯s the kind of man I would dly marry one of my sisters to. Too bad he is too old, noble and tacky." Lith thought.

    Ainz gave him an odd look, but his eyes didn¡¯t betray any emotion.

    "My liege requires you help, young magico. Do you know how to fly?"

    Lith nodded, swallowing back a snarky remark.

    "Then go in that direction as fast as you can." Ainz pointed at north, northeast.

    "I¡¯ll follow you closely."

    Lith pretended to cast a personal spell, wriggling randomly his fingers and counting backwards from ten to seven, in English. By mimicking the Ry, he coupled his best flying spell with the slipstream effect one, reaching a speed close to 500 kph (311mph).

    It took Ainz only a bit of effort to catch up with him.

    "Not bad! Purple mana core guys are really impressive." Both Solus and Lith wanted to see with their own eyes what someone with such talent was capable of.

    "Impressive! So young and he already has devised some personal spells. Maybe the old lunatic isn¡¯t so crazy, after all."

    When they reached the Marchioness¡¯ house, Ainz moved so fast through all the barriers and guards that Lith didn¡¯t manage to take a proper look around. He had to spend all his energies just to keep up with his pace.

    Before he realized it, he was in a fancy parlour. Both nobles stood up at their arrival.

    "That was fast, Ainz." The Marchioness seemed pleasantly surprised.

    "The young one seems to have more than one ace up his sleeve."

    "Is thismenting my skills supposed to be subtle or something? Seriously? How stupid to you take me for?!" Lith was seriously pissed off, but the looks from the Count and his guilty conscience kept his mouth at bay.

    The Marchioness gave Lith an abridged version of the story, dragging him to her daughter¡¯s bedroom without giving him the time to think or even express his opinion.

    "I get it already! You don¡¯t have any faith in me. Quit dragging me around like a f*cking parcel!" Lith thought.

    He was seriously considering failing on purpose, just to get even with her, but from Lark¡¯s troubled face, his instinct could tell that there was more at stake than the life of a girl.

    Just from his countenance, Lith could deduce that the Count had exerted a lot of pressure just to get him to that spot. Lark had faith in him, and judging from the Marchioness expression, she was clearly expecting, if not straight wishing, for Lith to fail.

    It wasn¡¯t the time to stand on the side-lines anymore, he believed that if the Count assumed he could do it, there shouldn¡¯t be any risk ying his "blessed by the light" card.

    After catching his breath, he performed more finger wriggling while counting up from one to three, in English, while activating Invigorate on the poor girl.

    It was a beautiful young woman in her early twenties, with only cotton gauzes to cover her chest area,pressing a huge wound, ten centimetres (4inches) wide that cut her diagonally from the left shoulder to the right hip.

    After a few second, he could only say.

    "Interesting."

    The Marchioness scoffed, everyone before him had said the same word.

    "And?"

    "And it¡¯s not a curse. Just some kind of magicallyced poison."

    "What?!?" The Marchioness lost control, stamping her feet on the floor.

    "You heard me." Lith was tired of being looked down upon, treated like some illiterate barbarian. "It¡¯s a slow release poison that disrupts the effects of light magic, turning any attempt to cure it into a new wound. Simply brilliant.

    It¡¯s almost impossible to cure such condition."

    "Almost?" The Marchioness knitted her eyebrows. "Are you saying you can cure her?"

    "Yes." He nodded. "It will take about a week to make the proper adjustments to one of my spells. It¡¯s the same thing I did for Count Lark a few years ago, just moreplicated." They hadn¡¯t arranged together this speech, it was the truth.

    It was just like Ke¡¯s e, only instead of removing natural impurities, he had to remove the artificial ones in order to make the healing possible.

    "Kid, my daughter¡¯s life is no joke. I tried, Ainz tried." She pointed to the ck obsessed mage. "Are you sure?"

    "She tried?!" Lith thought. "Solus, didn¡¯t you tell me she had just a red mana core?"

    "Indeed, and is still red."

    "Try scanning her clothes, essories, anything that doesn¡¯t have any mana."

    "Her barrette!" Solus eximed. "It has no magic flow, but that¡¯s impossible! This means that even items capable of hiding one¡¯s talents do exist."

    "Forgemaster is definitely a specialization we have to take."

    "Pretty sure. I will be back in a week and..." Lith tried to move, but the Marchioness stood in his way.

    "If what you say is true, you¡¯ll stay here and cure her as soon as you are finished, not a secondter!"

    Lith was enraged even more, he was being taken hostage by a grief-struck madwoman abusing her power, but remained silent. Both Count¡¯s Lark and his family were in danger.

    When Marchioness Distar noticed Lark¡¯s shocked gaze, she had already gone too far.

    "It is never wise mistreating a healer, my liege." Ainz used one of his personal spells, sending in her ear a whisper that only the Marchioness could perceive.

    "Healers tend life, but how you rte to them changes their attitude and care toward their patients. If Manohar is unavable in the future, if this Lith can actually do what he says, do you really want to make an enemy out of him?"

    "Please, save my daughter." The Marchioness said with a deep bow. "If you manage to heal her, I will send you to whatever academy of your choice. I swear to the gods."

    "This is much better." Lith thought.

    The following week was pretty stressful for him. Being paranoid, he was sure the Marchioness or one of her servants would spy on him 24/7. Lith had to sleep every night, and spent the following days pretending to experiment with hand signs and ents.

    He could actually cure the girl right off the bat, but that would have been too fast. Lith had followed Count Lark¡¯s advice, preparing himself for revealing at least part of his talent.

    When Manohar was his age, he had solved a simr case in less than three days. Lith didn¡¯t want to appear as good as him, so he took as reference another contemporary great healer whose records were stored in Soluspedia.

    "I can¡¯t be too much of a genius, but being average is out of question. To achieve what I want I must be treasured, but not envied or used as a paragon. Scoring 90/100 is more than enough for my needs."

    A weekter, he entered again in the youngdy¡¯s bedroom, under the eyes of her family and Ainz.

    Lith first put his hand on her sternum, taking control of her mana flow and forcing the poison to move in a single spot before extracting it.

    Then, he made it float in a bubble, before dripping it in a vial he had made prepare beforehand.

    After that, Lith executed his best healing spell, closing the wound in one go, without leaving a mark or a scar.

    The girl immediately regained a healthy pink colour, her breathing turned from quick and shallow to strong and steady.

    Marchioness Distar couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. She quickly unwrapped the gauze, barely giving Lith and the male side of the family the time to turn around.

    Doing it left him full of regrets.

    "Be strong, old man. We are still physically young, there are still plenty of wonderful breasts waiting for us in this new world. Think of it as an investment. It¡¯s better to start our rtionship with our new backer with a clean te."

    While the Marchioness was hugging her daughter, sobbing, Ainz took the poison to analyse it, while Lith exited the room, waiting for the permission to go back home.

 Chapter 54 A Good Start Is Half The Job

    A few dayster, Marchioness Distar summoned Lith once again, this time in a proper polite way, giving him time to prepare and an exnation for their meeting.

    They met in a neutral territory, in Count Lark¡¯s lounge. Contrary to etiquette, the noblewoman stood up when he entered the room, making a curtsy even before Lith had greeted or bowed to her.

    "Wee, young mage. Thanks for saving my daughter¡¯s life. No one knows how much time she had left in such conditions."

    "I actually do." Lith thought with a cruel inner smile. "She had barely two weeks left when I first visited her, before her organs started failing one after the other. Luckily, she has a tough skin, so I wasn¡¯t forced to y the sink or swim healing attempt.

    I wouldn¡¯t have cured her before at least five days, my safetyes first. I can waste time and lose opportunities, but I will not gamble my whole life for a stranger, no matter who he or she is!"

    "Also, I have several reasons to apologize to you. First, for how I treated you. I was rude and condescending. I shouldn¡¯t have tried forcing your hand, but I was desperate at the time. Your sister was ill too, I hope you can understand me."

    Lith inwardly sneered.

    "You only say this now, because I seeded and you are afraid of needing my help again in the future. I feel nopassion for the likes of you."

    "No need to apologize, your Ladyship. Life sometimes burden us with a weight we are unable to carry, and desperation can make even the best of us lose his morals." Was what he actually said. He needed a new and more powerful backer.

    Being friends was of secondary importance, their rtionship was strictly business rted. It was important toy solid foundations for it, putting aside pointless grudges. But he wouldn¡¯t forgive nor forget.

    If she failed or betrayed his trust, it was a good thing that revenge is a dish best served cold.

    The Marchioness shook her head.

    "I think that your forgiveness is still undeserved. I lied to you that day. I have no authority outside my Marquisate, so I cannot guarantee your sessful enrolment in any academy outside the Lightning and White Griffon."

    Her gown had many small pockets, hidden by theplex embroideries. From one of those, she took out a ring bearing the King¡¯s crest.

    "It¡¯s a long and boring story..." She said looking furtively at Count Lark, suppressing an ironicughter.

    "...but what it matters is that at the moment in my Marquisate I hold a power on par with the King, so both academies can only ept my orders."

    Lith wasn¡¯t yetpletely convinced that going away, even for just two years, was the best course of actions. He decided to test the waters first.

    "Wouldn¡¯t be possible to be home-schooled? If you hold such authority, it should not be a problem giving me the same benefits I would get from an academy and private tutors. After all, the location isn¡¯t that important."

    "It actually is. The forests surrounding the academies y a big part in both the points and grades system. Also, yes, if you insist, I could achieve what you asked, but bear in mind that my situation is merely temporary.

    Once the Court finishes deliberating the current matter, everything would get back to normal and I¡¯m not sure to have all the resources you¡¯ll need. On the other hand, if you enrol in an academy now, it would be like ording to a King¡¯s decree.

    And once inside, even if I lose my almighty status, you would be protected by the rules of the kingdom and of the Mage Association. No one would be fool enough to make an enemy out of the King. Archmages and Royalty are deeply intertwined."

    "It sadly makes sense." Lith inwardly sighed. "It¡¯s best to exploit the situation to its fullest. Between her desire to make up to me, no matter her reasons, and her temporary King status, I should be able to get some extra safety measure.

    If only half of what Nana told me is true, I¡¯ll need every advantage I can get to avoid useless drama and pointless face-pping."

    "I understand. I think that going to the Lightning Griffon is out of question, the Headmistress will probably want my head on a stick either way."

    "I wouldn¡¯t be so sure." The Marchioness replied. "Anyhow, with your talent as a healer, I had guessed you wanted to go to the White Griffon. You do know it¡¯s the school with the biggest light magic department, right?"

    "But of course." Lith lied through his teeth. "But I¡¯m also quite interested in the art of forgemastering. Which academy would be the best choice for such specialization?"

    "Any of them." Marchioness Distar shrugged. "They all have good Forgemasters, but the great ones avoid academies like the gue. Artists like to be free, while in an institution they have to take care of paperwork, teaching, the student¡¯s items.

    All things that would keep them away from their research. Not to mention that for an academy Forgemaster, keeping the nature of his research secret is much harder. To get funds from the academy, you have to share. All great mages hate sharing."

    That piece of news reassured Lith.

    "White Griffon it is, then. How long will the trip take?" Lith recalled that Nana once stated that the academy was more than five hundred kilometres (311 miles) away from Lustria. Even if it was just for an audience, he would need to pack some clothes.

    "From my house? Considering that we first have to speak with the Headmaster, and then you have to take your admission exam, I¡¯d say three, four hours tops. You¡¯ll get home in time for dinner, that¡¯s for sure."

    Lith found difficult to do the math. Even flying at his top speed, he would need at least two hours to get there and back, not to mention that the Marchioness didn¡¯t seem the type to fly that long, messing her hair and dress right before meeting the Headmaster.

    But they were already off a rocky start, Lith preferred to pretend to have understood everything, instead of unting his ignorance once again, destroying that little of respect he had gained so far.

    Seeing his conflicted expression, the Marchionesspletely misunderstood the situation.

    "Don¡¯t worry, young mage. It¡¯s just the admission exam. You will get the opportunity to say goodbye to your family and friends. The academy will not start before another two months. You have plenty of time to settle all your business."

    Lith thanked her with a deep bow.

    "Please, don¡¯t thank me yet. I hope you¡¯ll ept this as part of my apologies."

    She handed him amunication amulet, very simr to all those he had seen up to that point, except for the fact that it had only one rune on it, right on its center.

    "To mark it as your own, just send some mana in the stone." Lith did as instructed, both the gemstone and the lone rune lit up, like they had be scorching hot.

    "To exchange your contact rune, you just need to make two amulets touch while they are activated." Both the Count and the Marchioness held their amulets out, every time they touched, their rune got impressed on Lith¡¯s amulet and vice versa.

    The Marchioness amulet waspletely covered in runes already, to amodate the new one, all the other runes shrank in size, just enough to leave enough space for another of the same dimension.

    "There¡¯s no limit to the number of contact runes an amulet can hold." She exined.

    "This will help you get in touch with me or Lark if anything happens. It will also make staying in touch with your family easier." She gave him a little box, holding a second amulet.

    "Only one person can activate it. So, your family has to choose wisely."

    Lith bowed profusely, that gesture had taken a big burden off his heart. She had explicitly offered as his backer, and thanks to the amulet he could always help his family through the two nobles, if necessity arose.

    The appointment was set at the Marchioness¡¯ house at noon. Lith always had trouble with time, so he arrived early, to stay on the safe side. Servants treated him with the utmost respect, but were unable to hide their surprise

    Clearly the rumors in the house had spread fast, and he probably didn¡¯t fit the image of the great healer that saved the young mistress that they had pictured in their heads.

    Marchioness Distar made him wait but a few minutes. She wore a simple day dress, her long hair down. It was impossible to suspect that she was actually the Lord of the entire region.

    "You are already here. Good. Let¡¯s move."

    "On foot?!" Lith couldn¡¯t avoid asking.

    "We could take a stagecoach, but it¡¯s a waste of time. The Mage Association¡¯s branch is right there." She pointed to another luxurious building, not even a hundred meters (110yards) away.

    Lith bit his lower lip, thanking fate for being still short enough to make impossible for her noticing his shocked expression when he wasn¡¯t looking up.

    The door was closed and with no guards, yet all she had to do was to press her family ring where the keyhole was supposed to be to open the way.

    The inside of the house resembled very much an embassy. The clerk at front desk stopped them in their tracks, asking for their proof of identity and the reason of visit.

    The Marchioness handed to him a piece of paper that appeared out of thin air.

    "She probably has a dimensional something on her too."

    The clerk passed the paper over a blue gemstone set into the desk. When both glowed of a pale blue he said.

    "Everything seems all right. Your destination is right beyond the door."

    He waved at the wall at his right, appearing incredibly stupid in Lith¡¯s eyes. But then several rune markings appeared from the wall, forming a small ring of energy that quickly expanded, bing big enough for both of them to pass through.

    "A real dimension door! If I have to choose between healing and forgemastering, I¡¯ll take the second without any regret."

    It took but a step to travel all the distance between the capital of the Marquisate and the Headmaster office of the White Griffon. Lith recognized it because it was almost identical to the Lightning Griffon one.

    The only differences were how the furniture was positioned, and the Headmaster personal effects on disy. Books he had written, certificates of merit from both the Kingdom and the Association. They covered the whole wall behind his desk

    "No frigging antechamber?!"

    The Headmaster was waiting for them, he stood up as soon as the door appeared, approaching Marchioness Distar and weing her with great warmth.

    "Marchioness Distar! Is always such a pleasure to meet an alumnus of our academy, even if she graduated before my time." Without waiting for her reply, he made her a deep bow, that she reciprocated.

    "Headmaster Linjos, is an honour to have the chance to finally meet you. I heard a lot about the incredible feats you managed to aplish at your young age. It¡¯s no surprise at all that for you bing the youngest Headmaster ever."

    "You are too kind. Excuse me for my bluntness, but I was really surprised by your sudden request for an urgent meeting. Has anything else happened to your family? Is there anything else that White Griffon can do for you?"

    Linjos was deeply embarrassed, the academy was about to resume its activities and Manohar was still unreachable. The Headmaster had taken multiple notes to reprimand him sharply.

    Taking a short personal leave was okay, disappearing for almost six months straight, not so much.

    "Thanks for your interest, but my family managed to survive, one way or another. The reason for this audience is that I wanted to introduce you this brilliant young mage. He is pretty famous, you should have heard of Lith of Lustria."

    "Ah!" Finally recognizing the youth behind her, Linjos stepped back. A beehive had just walked unannounced in his office.

 Chapter 55 Politics And Ideals

    Linjos was a man in histe twenties, about 1,77 meters (5¡¯9") high. His ample mage robe made his build a mystery, he could as well be a mountain of muscles or thin as a stick. He had a perfectly shaven long face, a cleft chin and an aquiline nose.

    His hair was chestnut brown, with shades of silver. His brow eyes were brimming with intelligence and worry. Lith could almost hear his panicking thoughts.

    "Judging from the difference in treatment Lark and Distar received, he must be aware of how powerful she is at the moment. I am really curious to see how this will y out."

    The Headmaster¡¯s bushy eyebrows were wriggling like furry worms, while he was deciding how to face the unexpected event.

    "He too has a light blue mana core." Solus observed. "He is weaker than Ainz, but stronger than anyone else we met, except for that b*tch Linnea. Blue must be the minimum requirement for the position."

    "Well, this is really embarrassing to say, dear Marchioness, but I don¡¯t know if I can help you." Linjos considered Linnea¡¯s political stand bulls*it, he had fiercely opposed to her motion during thest Headmasters Council.

    But he had lost, even if by a small margin. The rules were clear, he could only follow the regtions approved by the majority of the Council.

    "Well, I think it will be easier than you think." The Marchioness sat down on an armchair, inviting Linjos to do the same. Watching the Headmaster getting ordered around in his own office, filled Lith with joy.

    "I wish it was me, being so powerful to make them all bend the knee! No more hiding, no more lies. Just unbridled power!"

    "What do you mean?" Linjos asked after sitting behind his desk.

    "You see, I am partially at fault for this whole situation. If I had just told the truth from the beginning, nothing would have happened. But I had my own reasons, so I hope you do understand how confidential it is what I am about to share with you."

    The Headmaster¡¯s interest was piqued, and while Lith had no idea what she was talking about, he was a liar skilled enough to know when to shut up and get her back.

    "Of course, everything you say will never get out of this room. You have my word."

    "You see, I met Lith a few years ago, and I was so amazed by his skill and talent that I took him as my apprentice." She closed in to the desk, almost whispering.

    Both men were taken aback by that revtion.

    "So Nerea actually taught him only the basics, it was actually I that imparted to him the ways of magic. The problem was, and still is, that my family is under the scrutiny of too many eyes. I have too many enemies.

    So, to prevent that one of them could snuff him out before he could achieve his true potential, we decided to keep everything a secret and let the world think that Count Lark and Nerea were the ones actually taking care of him."

    "That would exin a lot!" Linjos eximed in shock. "His achievements are too outstanding for someone without a proper background. Not to mention why the Court has taken the matter so seriously, despite it came from a low noble appeal."

    "Well, f*ck you too, mate." Lith thought. "Diss Lark one more time, and you and I will have a problem."

    "Exactly." The Marchioness nodded, passing him several papers that came out from one of the rings she wore.

    "I still can¡¯t afford the truth to see the light, you know what happened to my daughter. So, I would really like to avoid officially forcing you ept him with the authority entrusted me by the King. It would raise a fuss on multiple levels.

    I hope that you can understand my position, and that those documents will give you leverage enough to defend your standing, if the Council tries to reprimand you."

    Linjos read the papers, and at some point, almost jumped up from his chair.

    "He is the one that cured your daughter and extracted the magical poison ourbs are currently studying?!" He simply could not believe his eyes.

    The best healers among the Griffon academies staff had tried and failed, while this kid was supposed to have correctly diagnosed the nature of the illness and managed to cure it.

    "I¡¯m sorry for being rude once again, but all the testimoniese from your family members. The Council will surely object that this is just a ruse to force their hand. This story is simply unbelievable."

    "Go to the next page, please." She didn¡¯t even care to hide her smirk.

    The second page was also a statement. Ainz was one of the witnesses, and reported everything he had seen during that day, giving a professional assessment on Lith¡¯s skills, pointing out and describing the numerous personal spells he had witnessed him using.

    Linjos wentpletely pale.

    Ainz testimony was a sworn one, just like the others, buting from a mage it had apletely different significance from that of a noble.

    Doubting his word was the same as calling him a liar and an ipetent, the consequences of that would be terrible.

    Despite being so young, his talent and power were beyond question, not to mention that the ck Griffon would be a sworn enemy of anyone who tried to taint their genius¡¯ reputation.

    Such a heavy insult could even bring Ainz to personally challenge whoever dared to question his judgement, and there was no Headmaster that wanted to face him in direct confrontation, be it a magic duel or contest of wits.

    The two documents were more than enough to defy the will of the Council without repercussions, but Linjos wasn¡¯t the kind of man who acted on impulse.

    "The fact that I can, doesn¡¯t mean that I must do it." He pondered.

    "Whatever I do, I will face a different bacsh, either from the Marchioness or the Council. From a political standpoint there is not much difference, and that makes my decision much easier.

    If this kid is really so talented, it would be a crime against magic to blindly follow the orders of those old fogeys. I remember well how they opposed to me bing Headmaster, iming I was too young, too ¡¯radical¡¯ for the position.

    It¡¯s time to teach them a lesson. Their wrinkly as*es have been rooted to their chairs for so long that they have forgotten about the passion that teaching magic requires.

    I epted the position the Queen offered to me, because I was disgusted seeing how academies were being reduced to paper-pushers, neglecting to nurture true talents and bootlicking those who are already powerful for petty political gain."

    The Marchioness waited patiently. Being thoughtful was a plus on her book, only idiots andpdogs would mindlessly charge toward danger.

    "I will be d to take your disciple in my academy, but only if he reaches the minimum requirements. Under my guidance, there are no favouritism in the White Griffon."

    Both the Marchioness and Lith had no objections. Lith had been instructed about the admittance test by Nana well before his visit to the Lightning Griffon, and before going to the White Griffon he had asked confirmation from the Marchioness.

    Nana¡¯s admittance had happened decades ago, something could have changed over time, but from Distar¡¯s experience, the structure of the exam was still the same.

    Headmaster Linjos used hismunication amulet to assemble the Heads of all the magical departments in the test room. Lith was curious about exploring the academy, but the Headmaster opened another dimensional door, bringing them to destination.

    It was a big square room, with each side thirty meters (33 yards) long, that seemed carved out a single huge piece of stone. The walls, floor and ceiling were all smooth with no gap except for a door.

    The only pieces of furniture were several chairs lined up against a wall, were the Marchioness, the Headmaster and the faculty heads sat as soon as they came out of several dimension doors.

    Lith felt a new respect for fake mages. Compressing space with such ease, allowing instant movements was something beyond his wildest dreams.

    When all the seven Heads arrived, the Headmaster said:

    "Show us your basics."

    He was asking Lith to show his proficiency with chore magic, the foundation of all magics.

    "If only you knew what you are missing..." Lith Inwardly smiled.

    Lith took a deep breath, stimting his mana core to its maximum output. He stood straight, extending his right hand upwards, right above his head, generating a sphere of dazzling white light the size of a chestnut.

    His sharp earing could already listen to some whisperedments.

    "Perfect silent light magic. Trivial but effective." "Hope he can do something better, I have so much paperwork in my office..."

    Lith openly smiled, moving his arm clockwise, and when it reached two o¡¯clock a fiery fireball appeared.

    "Two kinds of perfect silent magic! Not bad, for amoner." "Double casting, finally something interesting."

    The arm kept moving in a fluid movement, not letting them the time to chat. At four o¡¯clock a small thundercloud appeared. The audience started to get interested.

    "Triple casting at twelve years?" "What the f*ck? Triple perfect silent..."

    The arm reached six o¡¯clock, a blot of pure darkness started consuming the light, pulsing with hunger. Both the Headmaster and the Marchioness had already understood what it was, but while the Marchioness had seen Lith in action, Linjos was shocked.

    "It couldn¡¯t be Silverwing¡¯s..."

    At eight o¡¯clock rock, dust and dirt condensed into a small round stone, while at eleven o¡¯clock a small bubble of water constantly shifted between gas, liquid and frozen state.

    "By the gods! Hexacasting with perfect silent magic!" "That¡¯s almost Magus Silverwing¡¯s Mana Hexagram." "Thest student that managed to do that..."

    The Headmaster hit the department Head with the elbow, forcing him to shut up. Lith¡¯s interest was piqued. Why interrupt him? Was the identity of the student a secret?

    "There is no almost." He thought.

    His arm didn¡¯t stop, at the second round of his arm, the single dots of energy became connected by tendrils of power, forming a perfect hexagram inscribed in a circle.

    Through the shared connections, energy started to circte, until the single elements disappeared, leaving only a golden hexagram floating in the air. (AN: If you have problems imagining the result, just look again at the book¡¯s cover :P)

    That was the reason why Nana had been admitted back in the day, and she had passed it down to Lith.

    Lochra Silverwing¡¯s Mana Hexagram was a rare feat, that barely a magician out of a hundred was capable to perform. It was an exercise that demonstrated not only mastery over all the elements, but also a deep understanding of the flow of mana.

    It emphasized the mental strength and focus. It was an unwritten rule that whoever was capable of casting the Mana Hexagram was automatically admitted, even if he/she was a ve.

    After that Lith started to cast fake magic spells as fast as he could. Now he had to prove his mastery and control over the first three tiers of magic to skip the beginner¡¯s years.

    He was supposed to cast at least twenty tier one spells, but he performed thirty. He could have done more, but avoided to.

    Lith had already studied and memorized all the White Griffon records, if geniuses scored 110/100, 90/100 was a perfectly fine result for him.

    He didn¡¯t want to get too much spotlight, just enough to get his talent recognized and maybe turn some professors into his backers, to spend the next two years in the most calm and peaceful atmosphere.

    He was there to learn, not to fight. Lith stopped at tier three spells, going further would be too dangerous. Not only he would have exposed too much talent, but he would also risk to skip even the fourth year.

    Specialization courses started on the fourth year, and Lith wanted to remain in the academy long enough to assimte everything it had to offer about forgemastering, and maybe even healing. Not to mention he still needed powerful backers.

    When he finished, there was no apuse or congrattions, but the convened mages huddled up, starting to discuss wildly. Their ¡¯whispers¡¯ were loud enough that even with his old earing Lith would still be able to listen to them.

    "Outstanding performance." The Marchioness had left the group as soon as the discussion started, she had no ce in it.

    "Thanks." Lith pretended being tired and short of breath.

    "Do you think I¡¯m in?"

    "Most definitely, unless heaven and earth turn upside down."

 Chapter 56 Bargains And Promises

    "Nice trick, by the way. Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram is an umon skill for an admission exam, but generally those who are capable of performing it are fighting oriented mages, that don¡¯t apply to either White or ck Griffon.

    I must admit to have underestimated you. I would have never expected a country bumpkin to have such deep knowledge, and to be able to exploit it to turn a good performance into an excellent one. They have not seen one of these in decades."

    "F*ck me sideways!" Lith¡¯s smug and thoughts were pr opposites.

    "Either Nana didn¡¯t know about this, or she set me up. Let¡¯s hope my score isn¡¯t too high. I don¡¯t want some ¡¯school princess/prince¡¯ bother me because of it."

    In a matter of minutes everything was settled, new dimension doors opened and the mages disappeared without saying a word.

    Back into the Headmaster¡¯s office, Linjos gave them the result.

    "Congrattions, young..." He remembered that Lith had no family name.

    "...mage. Your admission at White Griffon has been approved unanimously with a score of 93/100. Your actual score was 88, but since it has been years since an applicant was capable of performing the Hexagram, we awarded you 5 extra points."

    "88/100?!" Lith thought. "Either I limited myself too much, or someone is really cranky today. The Hexagram proved to be a wild card, but luckily my score is still within the expected range."

    Linjos continued his speech, unaware of Lith¡¯s worries.

    "I look forward to see you back here in a couple of months, to start your specialization years. Here, this is some material you can study and revise to take your choice."

    The Headmaster gave Lith seven small books, the first six were about elemental specializations, while the seventh one was about item creation. Lith took them all avidly.

    "Those are highly confidential. You are not supposed to show them or discuss about their content with anyone outside the White Griffon."

    Linjos tone was dead serious, Lith gave his most heartfelt assurances.

    "Perfect. Any question before I call in the wardrobe for your uniform?"

    "Yes, one. What is the academy position about bullying? As you know, Ie from a backwater vige, my father is a farmer, and I don¡¯t even have ast name. In my experience, even the best of us tend to look down upon me, if not worse."

    He threw a meaningful look at the Marchioness, who pretended not to notice.

    Headmaster Linjos puffed his chest with pride, straightening up his back even more.

    "d that you asked. Before my time,moner¡¯s and merchant¡¯s children had quite a rough experience. But I have established a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and violence in my academy. I hope to set up an example for everyone.

    The Queen picked me up for this position because even as a student, I fought hard to defend the rights of the less fortunate. No matter their origin, powerful mages are too precious assets for the Kingdom, to allow some spoiled brats to ruin years of hard work.

    You have no idea how many academies¡¯ alumni have defected our Kingdom to get their revenge. The Court is giving this matter the utmost importance, that¡¯s why I expect many heads to fall in the next years."

    Just thinking of how many brilliant mages, even geniuses, had their lives destroyed by abuses of power, made Linjos heart bleed. Once they grew in power, they had left their home country with no hesitation, turning into a thorn in the side of the King.

    Their rage was unbridled, the only way to make theme back would be to wipe out entire ancient noble families, but that was something outside even the King¡¯s reach. It would start a civil war, he had to choose the lesser evil.

    But that didn¡¯t mean he would let that evil to keep eroding the Kingdom¡¯s backbone.

    "Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m afraid of." Lith didn¡¯t feel even a bit reassured by his words.

    "As a hunter, I learned that a cornered beast is the most dangerous one. What if, hypothetically, I would be harassed by one or more influential people?"

    "I would stand by your side, and give them the proper punishment!"

    The answer was too quick.

    "Man, this guy is green. Either hees from a fairy tale, or has not been in the real world long enough for it to bite his a*s." Lith thought.

    "I¡¯m sure of your sincerity, but please, think about it. Prince whatever harasses a country bumpkin and gets reported. It¡¯s just the victim word against someone who has at his back political and magical influence. What could you do?"

    "I would order for an exhaustive investigation, listening to all the witnesses."

    "And what if the witnesses get intimidated? Or if there is no witness at all? Are you telling me you could still do something?"

    Linjos long face seemed to be even longer.

    "No, I could not. Prince whatever would at worst get a reprimand, and I could only ask the staff to keep an eye on the bumpkin."

    "Isn¡¯t there anything at all you can do to prevent this?" Lith was seriously rethinking everything. Getting admitted with a high score and having just Count Lark as an official backer, would make his permanence a nightmare straight from day one.

    "With all the magical marvels you got, isn¡¯t there some kind of rm? A panic whistle? A ¡¯gods please, someone, anyone save me¡¯ device?"

    "Actually, there is." Linjos words made Lith sigh with relief.

    From one of the desk¡¯s drawers, Linjos took out a big wooden box twice as big, full to the brim of ck pearl-lookalike spheres the size of a baseball.

    "Lucky bastard! Even his drawers are pocket dimensions. I want to learn forgemastering so bad."

    "These spheres are actually magical items, called Guilty Ballots." The name was self-exnatory. Even in that world, justice was represented holding a scale.

    The jurors would cast their vote by setting ck spheres on one of the tes for a guilty verdict, white on the other for an innocent one.

    "Once you imprint one as yours, just like for amunication amulet, the Guilty Ballot will record every word and action happening around you as soon as you send some mana into it.

    A second mana pulse would trigger a call for help, alerting the academy staff that something is wrong. It would also work as a beacon for Warp Steps, allowing us to intervene immediately."

    "Warp Steps, uh?" Lith thought. "I¡¯m a man of tradition, dimensional door sounds much better, but when in Rome, do as the romans do."

    "Thank you very much! That¡¯s exactly what I hoped for." Lith grabbed one without a second thought.

    "Wait, there is a reason why I didn¡¯t offer it to you immediately."

    Lith wasn¡¯t much interested, but he had to keep appearances.

    "Is there any side effect?"

    "No, the Ballot itself works perfectly, it has been made by the best Forgemasters, after all. The problem is that its use is socially frowned upon, by both students and teachers. I must warn you that it¡¯s much more famous as the ¡¯coward¡¯s end¡¯."

    Lith hid his mouth with a hand, pretending to be in deep thought, while he was actually grinning in disgust.

    "Yeah, right. I had enough of this bullsh*t back on Earth. ¡¯You need to learn how to stand up for yourself¡¯, they said. ¡¯A little bullying helps you build your character and prepare you to face real life¡¯ and all that cr*ap.

    Then, all those as*holes of teachers would be the first to cry when one of the victimsmitted suicide, or even better if they took up a gun to settle their scores."

    Seeing that Lith wasn¡¯t replying, Linjos continued.

    "Very few students have picked a Ballot, and even those who did, usually returned it after some weeks. Istion and ostracism are another form of violence I can do nothing about.

    And for someone away from home for the first time, a bad friend is better than none at all. It could prevent you from socializing, keeping everyone away from you, even those who could actually be your true friends.

    Please, have faith in me, I will stand by your side, no matter what. All the teachers I handpicked share my vision and will do all they can to help you."

    Lith wanted to sarcasticallyugh in the face of his groundless optimism and wishful thinking.

    "Thank you very much for your concern, but as I can see it, it would be a thorny path with or without it. Besides, I decided to join your academy to quench my thirst for knowledge, not to make friends.

    Without the Ballot, I would be in the hands of fate. With it, instead, if you are right, I will never need it, nor ever be forced to reveal I do possess one. If I am right, we both will have our backs covered, and you will have what you need to pursue your ideals.

    It¡¯s a win-win situation."

    Lith tried to be polite and amodating, but in his mind, he could see several ws in Linjos¡¯ pep talk.

    "He admitted not being able to purge all the bad apples, this means that I need to be wary of both students and teachers. Not to mention that we barely knew each other. How can he possibly be so na?ve to expect me to take his word at face value?

    For all I know, he could as well be a strawman with no actual power, that a rotten system has put into this ce just for marketing. Only time will tell me if this guy is just a frigging paintjob on a rust bucker or the real deal."

    Linjos sighed, but insisted no more. It hurt his pride and spirit seeing such a young man being so cynical. When he had started as a Headmaster, he had always pictured himself as a charismatic figure, capable of instilling trust in his pupils.

    But being a mage, he was more pragmatic than idealistic, and recognized the truth behind Lith¡¯s words.

    "After Linnea destroyed his future, it¡¯s natural for him to be biased. I¡¯ll show to both him and the Queen that my methods work. The Ballot is a sad relic of the past, born because of the ipetence of my predecessors.

    Nobles andmoners can and will go along!" Linjos thought.

    After concluding that matter, Linjos summoned in his office a wardrobe clerk, that delivered a uniform way too big for Lith¡¯s size. It consisted of a white shirt, zer, pants, a robe and ck shoes. The embroideries instead were of a pitch-ck colour.

    "At the moment, the uniform is at its biggest avable size. Our Forgemasters enchant them so that they are able to perfectly fit the wearer. As you grow over time, it will expand, so you will not have to change it.

    The uniform has many other properties. They are all described in a note inside the chest pocket, with one exception."

    Linjos took out his shirt¡¯s cuffs and an unused Ballot, bringing them close. The ck sphere suddenly disappeared.

    "You do not possess yet any dimensional object, and you cannot walk with a Ballot in your hand the whole time. So, our uniforms¡¯ cuffs possess a hidden function, a very small dimensional storage that only applies to Ballots.

    As far as I know, aside from us and the Forgemasters, no one is aware of its existence."

    Lith nodded, sending mana to the Guilty Ballot in his hand. The magical item absorbed greedily the energy, imprinting Lith¡¯s mana as its master. In many ways it was simr to Solus, yet the differences were like heaven and earth.

    The Ballot needed Lith¡¯s mana to function, not to live, and it was incapable of absorbing it on its own. Through his mana flow, Lith was capable of making it start/stop recording, projecting the recorded images and sounds.

    "This thing is dead as a doornail. Is just like some kind of CCTV and I¡¯m the power nt. The uniform, thought, has some pretty sweet properties." Lith thought while skimming the instructions.

    Before leaving the Headmaster office, Lith received even more booklets that described the academy¡¯s history, its forest, how the student point system worked, and so on. There was enough to fill a small library.

    Thankfully, the Marchioness offered to carry them for him in one of her dimensional pockets.

    "Dammit, if it wasn¡¯t for Soluspedia, it would take me months to read and memorize all this stuff. Between knowing the White Griffon rules and regtions inside out and the Guilty Ballot, I should have what I need to survive the next two years. Maybe."

 Chapter 57 A Bad Start Is The Other Half

    Author¡¯s note: from this chapter onward i will put a - before a inner monologue/ telephatic dialogue.

    --------------------------------------------------------------

    There was still some time before the start of the academic year. Lith spent most of it reading the Headmaster¡¯s books and nning his future. ording to the school records, most students would achieve only a specialization.

    Good and great mages would achieve two, while attaining three or more was the sign of a true polymath genius. It wasn¡¯t enough attending the courses to be considered a specialist, one should also possess considerable talent in the field.

    And like most things in life, genius couldn¡¯t be evaluated with just numbers. Krishna Manohar, the resident god of healing, had only two specializations, simply because he had no interest in other topics.

    His second one was as Battle Mage, and even in his biography it was mentioned only once, for the sake ofpleteness.

    Yet Nana having only one specialization felt wrong on so many levels, that Lith decided to take a pause from his studies to ask her why.

    Those days, the White Griffon uniform was the only dress he would wear, not for swag, as much for practicality. It was capable of self-cleaning, getting rid of any dirt or sweat, and to offer some degree of protection from both physical and magical attacks.

    It allowed him to be more rxed during his day life and when hunting. It was like wearing a full armour, but light as silk. It could withstand a bear¡¯s w strike without ripping, but Lith would still feel the blunt impact.

    He had made many experiments, to test its reliability and limits. Oddly enough, the protection was extended to his head and hands too, despite being uncovered. The robe, though, was still stored in Solus¡¯ pocket dimension.

    Wearing it would strengthen the protective effect, but it was too long and unpractical to use. It would get caught in trees, bushes, everything.

    Not to mention that being stealthy while wearing an oversized bathrobe was nigh impossible.

    -"I said this back on Earth and I¡¯ll repeat it now. Mages¡¯ fashion sense sucks. Capes and robes are idiotic to wear, they make you so easy to grab and m around like a carpet."-

    Lith could have flown, yet he preferred walking. Those were hisst moments of true freedom, and he wanted to enjoy them to the fullest.

    At Nana¡¯s home office, everyone showered him with praises and congrattions, giving the healer the time to speak with her former apprentice.

    "Sorry to disappoint you, young sprite..." Ever since Lith had saved Count Lark¡¯s family years ago, she had promoted him from little imp to sprite.

    "...but I only have one specialization." She winked tantly, despite they were alone in her private quarters.

    "Here is an unrequested advice. Life is unpredictable, and many things you¡¯ll need to survive are not written in any book." She winked again.

    "You need to lean them by experience."

    "I understand, sorry to have wasted your time." Lith winked back.

    "Do not apologize, dear. It¡¯s always a pleasure seeing you. And don¡¯t even think about leaving without saying a proper goodbye, or when I¡¯ll die, I¡¯ll haunt you as a ghost!"

    "Please, if it¡¯s true that weeds never die out, then you¡¯ll probably outlive us all!"

    Lith bought some fresh pastries and white bread, before returning home.

    -"I can¡¯t decide if the idea of hidden specializations is more interesting or disturbing. I wonder if Nana¡¯s second talent is the real reason for her downfall. Maybe she was a magical assassin that either failed an important mission or was framed.

    Either way, to avoid repeating her mistakes, I must stick to the n, get my specializations and as much backers as I can. And to get them, being a healer is the best bait.

    The Marchioness proved to me that no matter how rich and powerful, they are still scared sh*tless of death. Also being a great healer brings you more clients than envy. If they see you as an asset, those in power don¡¯t feel threatened by your existence."-

    Lith¡¯sst months went by peacefully. Count Lark held a small private goodbye party, attended by Lith¡¯s and Lark¡¯s family, Nana and Selia. Hilya, the first cook, still believed in #TeamRaaz, so she went all out for the asion.

    She even called him "Young Master" a couple of times, embarrassing both Lith and the Count. They didn¡¯t know if tough or cry, rumors indeed die hard.

    The only sour note was the presence of Senton, Rena¡¯s soon-to-be husband. Lith had still a hard time letting his sister go, so when he shook the man¡¯s hand, he reminded him two truths.

    "Remember, when you marry a woman, you marry her whole family." Lith said out loud, triggeringughter and joy in the participants.

    "And I know where you live." He threatened him, whispering in Senton¡¯s ear when they were embracing.

    The Marchioness had been invited too, albeit only out of politeness, but she could not intervene, and for a good reason. Her family had been attacked once more, and she had her hands full trying to identify the instigator.

    His first day of school, Lith left home before the sunrise. All his belongings were sadly able to fit in a chest smaller than an armchair, that his father Raaz had handmade for the asion.

    Despite the happy circumstances, his parents cried like he was about to go to war.

    "Oh, Lith, promise to write me every day." Sobbed Elina, his mother while hugging him strong enough to squeeze the air out of his lungs.

    "Mom, we have themunication amulet, remember? Do you really want to wait for the mail to be delivered?"

    "Of course not, you silly. Call us as soon as you have a minute to spare." She said throwing him into his father¡¯s arms.

    "Remember, little one, no matter how far you will be, you¡¯ll always have a family and a house here." Raaz¡¯s cheeks were streaked with tears, his voice broken.

    "Far? Dad, between flight and Warp Steps I¡¯m barely an hour away from home. I¡¯ll be back at the end of the first trimester, in time for the Spring Festival."

    Lith was moved and confused by their feelings. Back on Earth, when he and Carl had left their home, their mother send away gift had been changing the door locks.

    His sisters¡¯ goodbyes were much more joyous. They were both moving on with their lives, and were happy that their little brother too was able to pursue his dreams.

    Trion was nowhere to be seen. Their rtionship had never mended, and the more power and authority Lith gained, the more Trion felt a stranger to his own family.

    He had left home as soon as he turned sixteen, announcing his decision to perform voluntary military service and marry outside the family, leaving Tista to inherit the farm and the house.

    Lith left home, making the chest fly alongside him. Only when he was far enough, he stored it inside the pocket dimension and went pedal to the metal.

    He took it out before approaching the nearest Mage Association branch, keeping it floating while he walked through the Warp Step to the academy. An attendant apanied him to his personal room, in the fourth-year wing of the castle.

    To avoid hazing, each year had a separate wing for its sses, living quarters, even the canteen. Students from different years had nomon spaces.

    After imprinting the room with his mana, bing its master, Lith left his chest and dismissed the attendant. He had the map of the castle copied and stored in Soluspedia, hence needing no help to reach his ssroom.

    Regardless of the chosen specializations, the students of the fourth year had some sses that everyone had to attend. Theory of Combat Magic was one of those mandatory courses. (*)

    Lith was one of the first to arrive, the ssroom was almost empty, except for a few students that had already upied the desks in thest row.

    The ssroom resembled a lecture ssroom from a college, with a pitched floor and the desks arranged in a semi-circr shape. At a first nce, it seemed to have a capacity of at least two hundred students.

    In any other circumstances, Lith would have admired the perfect lighting of the room, the magnificence of the marble floor, the refined craftmanship of the desks. Each one was made with the best materials avable, drawing a mercilessparison with his old college.

    At that moment, however, his eyes were only noticing how all those present had sighed in relief seeing him. Judging from their positioning and nervousness, they were clearly trying to lie low and go unnoticed.

    Lith had walked enough in their shoes to know what it meant, and how futile their effort was.

    -"Poor guys, you still haven¡¯t learned that you can¡¯t avoid trouble when it¡¯s the trouble looking for you, uh? Just like in middle school, the preyse early to avoid contact, while the predators take their sweet time."-

    He chose a seat in the middle row, not too close, but not too far. He would still be able to see clearly the professor and read from what appeared to be a chalkboard.

    -"Sigh, I would love to sit in the first row, but I bet that¡¯s the cool kids¡¯ gathering spot. It¡¯s better to avoid useless arguments and stay in the safe zone. If someonees to bother me, it would be on purpose."-

    Lith took out his notebook and inkwell, to prepare for the lesson, hoping things to go smoothly.

    ording to Nana, the real ss hierarchy would be established from day one. Both he and Solus remained alert the whole time, while the ssroom was getting filled with people.

    Some sneered looking at him, others shook their head with a sad expression, deeming him too dumb or na?ve to know his ce.

    -"It¡¯s very interesting." Solus said. "The worst mana core I detected is bright green, all the rest are different shades of cyan or deep blue. It¡¯s not a surprise that so many of Lark¡¯s proteges failed at the admission."

    "Yeah, peachy. Not only I am not the top dog mana core-wise, I cannot use any magic outside the fake one. Eyes on the prize, Solus, this is Sparta. Based on the nces I received, the situation may be worse than I expected."-

    When only fifteen minutes remained before the scheduled start of the lesson, three girls waddled in like they owned the ce. Lith threw a quick nce in the back rows, and judging from the cowering behind the desks, the queen was in the house.

    After shaking his robe¡¯s right sleeve, he braced for impact.

    They were chatting among themselves, looking around the ss like hungry wolves in a butcher shop. He could hear the one on point, a red-haired girl, say:

    "Let¡¯s give the new guys a proper wee."

    They walked up the stair, until they were in front of Lith¡¯s desk.

    "Hey, shorty, what are you doing so close to my desk? Your filthy peasant smell makes me nauseous. Scram to thest row together with the rest of the garbage!"

    Said the red-haired girl, that was barely five centimetres (2 inches) taller than him, while her twopanions giggled and sneered eerily.

    -"What the f*ck?!" Lith thought. "This seems out of Aesop¡¯s ¡¯The wolf and themb¡¯ fable. I bet that even if I was already sitting in thest row, she would harass me for not respecting my seniors or something.

    She is looking for a fight, no matter what I do. Solus, let¡¯s go with the worst-case scenario contingency n."-

    "I am sorry?" Lith replied with his most innocent tone. "ording to the White Griffon rules, I have the right to sit whenever I want. You have no authority to order me around. Please, leave me alone and we can all forget about this incident."

    Lith was really disappointed inwardly. A least on Earth bad girls were hot stuff, these three, instead, were barely cute, with average curves and the charisma of a rotting opossum.

    "You insolent fool!" She snarled at him. "Don¡¯t you know who I am? I..."

    At that point, Lith activated his Hush spell on both his ears, preventing himself to hear the load of bullsh*t the girl was spewing.

    He knew his temper enough to know that otherwise he would have probably lost his cool, especially if she mentioned his family. Falling for their provocations would mean giving them and others an excuse to harass him.

    -"Hey, Solus, I can¡¯t read lips, but I guess she is making herself appear high and mighty, unting her family status. All while belittling me and my physical appearance. How close did I get?"

    "Very close. By my maker, this girl really has a way with words. If I had a body, I would kick her a*s already. The things she is saying about you! She is just the worst! Not to mention those two harpies, ganging up with her at the right time."

    "Please, do not give me any details. I am already outraged, don¡¯t add any more fuel to the fire. It¡¯s time to put the Headmaster¡¯s word to the test. I won¡¯t stand for this sh*t one more..."

    Before he couldplete the thought, Solus interrupted both him and the spells.

    "That¡¯s your cue!"- Lith barely made in time to listen to the:

    "Are you listening to me?"

    "For the gods¡¯ sake no, sweetheart. Your voice is so squeaky that it would make me rip my ears off, if I had to actually listen to all your whining and ranting."

    The three girls were silenced out of shock.

    "Sweetheart?" Someone in the ssroom echoed.

    "It¡¯s just a figure of speech, of course." Lith replied as it had been the leader of the pack speaking.

    "You¡¯re not blind. I¡¯m pretty sure that, despite your over inted ego, you know deep inside your rotten heart that you are almost as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside.

    We have nobles even in my backwater vige, but you win the prize for the one with the longest stick up her a*s and biggest sh*t in her nose hands down, that much I have to give it to you."

    Lith had only one way out of that situation, the least he could do was let off his chest all the pent-up rage.

    "How... How dare you?!" The girl face had turned purple, her eyes were popping out of rage and brimming with mana.

    "Look, kid, the lesson is about to begin and I¡¯m already bored. Maybe you are used to scare people with your ugly mug and annoying voice, but I faced much worse in my life. Now scram, before I report you for harassment.

    This isn¡¯t your home, this is one of the six great academies, it has rules!"

    Since they meant to harm him anyway, he would give them all the rope they wanted, hoping they would end up hanging themselves with it.

    The girlughed heartily.

    "Rules? I don¡¯t give a damn about the rules, I could kill you right here and now and get away with it in less than an hour. Do you think any of these cowards would dare to say a word?

    That anyone from a noble or magician family would waste even one breath for a filthy peasant? The likes of you shouldn¡¯t even be here, your kind does nothing but taint this ce and ruin magic¡¯s good name."

    Lith stood up indignant, ready for the grand finale.

    "How dare you? I spoke with the Headmaster when I enrolled, he said..."

    The girl on his left cut him short.

    "Who? That loser? My father says he is so young that he probably still wets himself at night."

    "He is just a strawman, like all the Headmasters." Added the one on his right. "He is just a puppet in the hands of the great families. You are all alone in here, country sh*t."

    The leader of the pack had regained confidence, her arms were crossed in front of her chest, a smug grin going from ear to ear.

    "Now get your filthy a*s out of that chair, kneel to me and lick my shoes clean. If you do it, I promise not to beat you too hard."

    Their fists were now set aze, their mouths and hands moving in unison, each one casting a different spell.

    Lith just took his right hand out the robe¡¯s long sleeve, revealing a small ck sphere. Magic was gently coursing and pulsing within it.

    He put it front of her horrified face, the smiles and spells had disappeared, the whole ss fell silent.

    "Once more, with feeling"

 Chapter 58 Aftermath

    "A Coward¡¯s End?!" The ssroom exploded with exmations of shock and outrage. Everyone knew what it was, but no one had actually used it in years, to the point it was considered just a myth.

    "How despicable!" The leader of the pack was desperately trying to search for a way out, this was the first time she had her back against a wall.

    "You made me say those things, I just fell into your trap, it¡¯s all your fault!"

    Lithughed his a*s off.

    "Seriously? That¡¯s your excuse? ¡¯He made me do it¡¯? You did it all by yourself, and everything that happened since I walked in the ssroom has been recorded. I doubt anyone would find an image of me begging to get my a*s kicked."

    She had realized the idiocy of her n the moment she said it out loud, so she decided for a subtler approach.

    "Look, I get it. We started with the wrong foot, but we can still fix everything."

    "But of course! I can report everything to the Headmaster or use the Ballot for summoning help, either way you¡¯ll permanently be out of my hair forever."

    The girl turned as pale as a ghost, but refused to back down.

    "Don¡¯t you have any shame? Incapable of doing anything on your own, hiding behind a crutch made for cripples and weaklings? It¡¯s no surprise that youmoners can¡¯t get any respect in here, you do not deserve it!"

    Lithughed even harder.

    "ying the pride card? Maybe if I was a five-year-old, it could even work. But you know what? It¡¯s rich hearing a speech about shame and incapacity from you. The pot calling the kettle ck.

    You are three years older than me, and together with your friends gang up against one. To make things worse, the only reason you did it was to torment someone you consider an inferior being, just because you think that you are untouchable.

    You can call me a coward for using a Ballot, but then what¡¯s your excuse? You are nothing but three pathetic little girls, used to hide behind their parents, that cower in fear when they have to face the consequences of their foolish actions.

    It¡¯s not being brave or strong, when the only reason you are so cocky is because of your family name. That¡¯s cheating. If you really think what you are doing is right, you should attack me, Ballot or not Ballot, uncaring of the consequences.

    After all, the Headmaster is just a puppet, your words. If the White Griffon is really in your hands, what do you have to fear? But if you do not make a move, is because you know that you are wrong, and that you are just a hypocrite!"

    She wanted to kill that little bastard, shove all his words down his throat, but she could not, and neither could her friends. They were already at risk of being expelled, the only option remaining was damage control.

    The Headmaster had issued a zero-tolerance policy against bullying, and everyone in the Court knew that there was the hand of the Queen pulling his strings.

    Her father, Duke Hertia, had been crystal clear with her.

    "Do whatever you want, I¡¯ll cover for you as long as you don¡¯t get caught red handed. I don¡¯t give a sh*t aboutmoners¡¯ or small nobles¡¯ lives, but I worked too hard to lose everything for such a petty reason.

    If you are so ipetent to leave proofs, our family will be put under scrutiny, our assets frozen during all the investigation. I¡¯d rather threw you to the wolves, than putting the family name at risk. I can always have another daughter, after all.

    It¡¯s only my Dukedom that¡¯s irreceable."

    Too many mages had defected the Griffon Kingdom after graduating from the academies, trading all the secrets they had learned in exchange for the promise of revenge and riches.

    The system had proven to be corrupt decades ago, but now it was crumbling under its own weight, snowballing out of control faster and faster.

    Despite the noble families and magicians¡¯ bloodlines had always opposed to the changes, after losing two Magus level mages due to the unfair treatment they had received, both the Queen and the Mage Association were out for blood.

    During the past year, Duke Moniar¡¯s son had been proven guilty of causing a brilliant young mage to move to the Gorgon Empire, where he revealed to possess an outstanding talent.

    The Duke had defended his son¡¯s action until the verdict, and ended up serving the same sentence. The Queen had stripped him of his title and all of his possessions, passing them to the next of kin.

    He took his life the day after, incapable of epting the loss.

    The standstill between Lith and the girlssted until Professor Trasque entered into the room. Lith walked up to him, the Ballot still in hand.

    - "Please, don¡¯t be a jerk. My day has barely started but there still plenty of time for going from the frying pan to the fire. Please, don¡¯t be a jerk!" He wished as strong as he could. -

    When Lith regained his cool, he noticed that Professor Trasque was fairly young. He was pretty handsome, around thirty years old, one meter and eighty-two centimetres (6¡¯) high and with the build of an athlete.

    His dark brown hair had a military cut, yet he had a stubble, no robe and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to the elbows, revealing his muscr arms.

    - "Seems more an adventurer than an academic. Either way, judging from his age, he should be one of the professors the Headmaster handpicked. I need some frigging luck!" He thought. -

    Lith bowed deeply to him before speaking.

    "Professor Trasque, please I need to report to the Headmaster. My name is Lith from Lustria and..."

    An odd light shone in Trasque¡¯s eyes at those words.

    "The sassy kid! I knew I recognized your face from somewhere. Man, did you really manage to get into trouble even before the first period? This academy is way sh*ttier than I thought. Who¡¯s the jacka*s this time?"

    Still dazed from the professor¡¯s mettle, Lith managed to point at the three girls.

    "Hmm. I have no idea who they are. It¡¯s my first year too, you know. But I¡¯m sure that with the coward¡¯s... I mean the Ballot, we¡¯ll solve everything in a jiffy. Go get them, tiger. I¡¯ll wait for your return before starting the lesson."

    After almost drowning Lith with his words, the chatterbox stamped his left foot, opening a Warp Steps straight to the Headmaster¡¯s office. As soon as Lith crossed the threshold, it closed behind him.

    Lith greeted him with a small bow, too depressed to keep up with etiquette, handing him the Guilt Ballot without saying a word.

    "Already?" Linjos was even more shocked than Lith.

    "Yes. I don¡¯t know the range of this thing, but they called it ¡¯a proper wee¡¯. So much for a safe environment."

    Linjos took the Ballot, cing it on a small tripod. It projected a 3D hologram of the recording, starting from the moment Lith had taken it out from the cuffs.

    Contrary to Lith¡¯s expectations, even that phrase was perfectly audible by adjusting the audio settings.

    When it ended, Linjos was hiding his face between his hands, full of shame and embarrassment.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, I had no idea the situation is so dire. A Headmaster that has no knowledge or control of his own academy, I must look like a fool in your eyes."

    - "That¡¯s quite an understatement." Lith thought, but since his entire academic career rested on Linjos¡¯ shoulders, he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. -

    "Headmaster, I don¡¯t mean to be rude, really, but that was the daughter of a Duke. Right now, what really concerns me is what will happen to her, to me, and more importantly, what can you do to guarantee my family¡¯s safety."

    Lith was seriously worried about the consequences of that sh, but he couldn¡¯t back down again and again out of fear. Even forgemastering wasn¡¯t worth having his self-esteem and body broken every time some rich kid wanted to have fun at his expenses.

    Linjos didn¡¯t fail to notice how depressed and downcast Lith was, and that hurt even more than just his pride. He had failed another of his precious students.

    "Don¡¯t worry about it. The three of them will be punished ording to the rules. As I said to you the day we met, I don¡¯t do favouritism. You are the victim, nothing will happen to you.

    And your family is safe, as a student, every single one of them is under the protection of the Mage Association, not even a Duke would dare defying their will."

    "Yeah, right." Lith scoffed. "Like I should have been safe here, nobles shouldn¡¯t abuse their status, and so on. Again, I mean no disrespect, Headmaster, but reality doesn¡¯t give a damn about ¡¯should¡¯ and ¡¯could¡¯.

    People do things simply because they can, especially when they know they will go unpunished. What do you think would have happened if I didn¡¯t have the Ballot? You would probably be scraping off the floor my remains with a spoon.

    Officially, my only backer is Count Lark, and to make things worse, a Duke is a title even higher than a Marchioness. I don¡¯t think Duke Hestia would be much impressed by a piece of paper that says ¡¯Please don¡¯t. Be a good man¡¯."

    At those words, Linjos had a dazed expression, then he shook his head and took a deep breath.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Lith, I forgot you know nothing about these matters. After all you are just..."

    - "Is he really going to add insult to the injury?" Lith thought. -

    Yet Linjos stopped in time, managing to correct himself by the skin of his teeth.

    "...unfamiliar of how seriously this kind of things are considered. You see, every magician, but especially the students that have yet to reveal their true potential, are all considered as properties of the Crown.

    That¡¯s why all the academies¡¯ uniforms are so shy to the point of being almost tacky. It¡¯s a warning, just like for poisonous animals. Harming one of you, or using your families as a bargain chip, is considered an act of treason against the Kingdom.

    Treason is the worst crime anyone couldmit, is the equivalent of harming the King himself, and is punished by torturing and killing not only the responsible, but also his bloodline until the third generation, with no exceptions.

    It¡¯s an open secret in the Court, that once one gets admitted to an academy, a full team of royal spies watch his/her loved ones 24/7. That serves the purpose of protecting them from internal and external enemies.

    Without such precautions, envoys of the Gorgon Empire or any other powerful influence, could coerce our students in betraying their country. No one would be so stupid to leave a gold mine unprotected.

    As much as it saddens me to say it, in all the academies¡¯ history, the sessful attempts can be counted on one hand. The real problem is what happens within the academy walls."

    - "Records can be forged, and spies can get bribed." Lith thought. -

    "Are you sure is not better for me to drop off the academy and take private lessons? Power and prestige are meaningless to me if I have to one to return to..."

    "Over my dead body!" The Headmaster jumped up from his chair, it was the first time for Lith seeing him angry.

    "I didn¡¯t tell you earlier to not put pressure on you, but ourbs have finished analysing the poison you extracted. When they knew that you also applied for a Master healer specialization, well, let¡¯s just say that the Light department has the butterflies in the stomach at the idea of having you among their ranks.

    You have already been marked as an A rank student. As such, your family¡¯s security detail isposed only by members of the Queen personal units. Would you like me to tighten the security even more?"

    "Yes, please." The Headmaster left the room to give the proper instructions, and Lith used that opportunity to contact the Marchioness, exining her the situation and asking for help.

    "Duke Hertia, I know him well." She said. "He¡¯s a venomous snake, but he is very greedy. He would rather exterminate his whole family rather than losing an inch of authority or prestige. If Linjos said he will take care of it, you can believe him.

    I made a full background check on him, he is really the good guy he seems."

    "Do you still have your extraordinary authority?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, why?"

    "If it was your family, what would you do?"

    "Everything I can, I get it. I¡¯ll make sure the Association does his job properly, and put some extra guards in Lutia. If anything happens, I¡¯ll make you know."

    After thanking her profusely, Lith interrupted themunication.

    - "A rank, uh? So far so good." Lith thought, but he felt no joy for his achievement.

    "I put myself in this golden cage, it¡¯s time to put its bars to the test. I don¡¯t give a sh*t about Dukes, Queens and politics. If anything befalls my family, I will put everything I have to wipe out the Griffon Kingdom off the maps!" -

 Chapter 59 Alone In The Crowd

    Lith returned to the ssroom with another Warp Steps, so the first period ended to be dyed by only twenty minutes.

    Professor Trasque winked at him with a kind smile, sending him back to his desk before starting the lesson.

    The three girls had been forced to stand up alongside the chalkboard the whole time.

    "There¡¯s no reason for you to getfortable, since you are going to leave us soon." Trasque had a cold smile the whole time, he seemed to be taking great joy from their misfortune.

    As soon as Lith returned, the three girls were called in the Headmaster¡¯s office. Only then the Warp Steps closed and the lesson began.

    "First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Jian Trasque, and I was born amoner." He took a long pause, letting those word echo through the ss, taking a mental note of whoever made a disgusted or disapproving face, for future reference.

    "Back in my days, I got rejected by the Fire Griffon academy. I was forced to join the Association as a home-schooled, and then worked my way up as an adventurer, until I managed to get my specializations.

    My talent has been acknowledged to the point that I was offered a position as a Professor in this academy, and the Fire Griffon Headmaster got fired for being an ipetent old fool. If any of you shares his vision, feel free to join him."

    Trasque pointed at the door.

    "No one? Well, then let¡¯s start with the good stuff. Theory of Combat Magic, you¡¯ll be asking yourselves: what the heck does it even mean? You all are proficient in the first three tiers of magic, what I could possibly teach you?

    The answer is: how to keep you alive by revealing the true value of the so neglected chore magic. I know, the name is horrible, but since the dawn of academies has helped examiners to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    Have you ever asked yourselves why it was the first thing they required you to perform? Because here, inside one of the great academies, from now on you¡¯ll learn how to love and respect it with its true name: the first magic.

    First magic is the reason why a mage can live long enough to have children. Sure, is weak, but do you really believe you¡¯d have the time for even a tier one spell if someone tries to stab you? The answer is: no, you wouldn¡¯t.

    Without first magic you would die, wasting all the time, effort and money that your parents and the academy have invested in your formation."

    The lesson proceeded with Trasque making examples of different life and death situations and how to survive by using simple tricks of first magic.

    Most of the ss was furiously taking notes, only Lith and a few others of the over two hundred attendees would look around, surprised by the ignorance of their peers.

    - "Can you believe, it, Solus? Those noobs are taking notes with a frigging pen! Now I understand why this course is mandatory for all. I doubt many others have spent thest eight years hunting and refining their skills."

    "First magic." Solus pondered. "For a second I expected him to call it true magic. Most of the tricks he is exining, you invented them back in the crib. If all his lessons are like this one, it will be quite boring."-

    After two hours, the lesson came to an end.

    "And that¡¯s it for the exnations. This part is covered, albeit less charmingly, in the first twenty pages of your book. For the next lesson, I expect you to know them inside out, together with pages from twenty to fifty.

    The best way to learn the theory behind a fight, is experiencing it first-hand, so we won¡¯t meet again in a ssroom, but only in training rooms. From the fourth year onwards, you are required to get your hands dirty.

    You will study in your free time, if you need to. The same stands for all sses, the first lesson is exnatory, thenes only practice. Those who don¡¯t keep up will fail and be expelled. Remember that there are no second chances, always give your best."

    All the students had worried expressions, one thing was reading and memorizing from a book, having an exam every three months. Another was being constantly tested, day after day, pushing you to your limit.

    Since the next lesson was also a mandatory course for all, the ss wouldn¡¯t change. There would just be a short break before the next Professor arrived. Lith took immediately out the Ballot, just to stay on safe side.

    As Linjos had predicted, Lith¡¯s desk was avoided like the gue, all the students threw him looks filled with contempt and disgust, even themoners from thest rows.

    - "Well, at least they all agree on something." He thought. -

    Lith stood up to stretch his legs a little bit, and he noticed that wherever he would go, people would make way for him, keeping themselves at least two meters (2.2 yards) away.

    - "That¡¯s actually pretty sweet. I wish had a Ballot whenever the metro was too crowded or every time I got stuck in a line. He travels best who travels alone."-

    Lith checked up his schedule, Professor Nalear was in charge of Principles of Advanced Magic.

    "Another cryptic title. It¡¯s too bad they have yet to give us our books, or I would already have stored them inside Soluspedia. I don¡¯t have the time to read it the old-fashioned way. Damn if I hate riddles."-

    When Professor Nalear entered the room, Lith¡¯s heart skipped a beat.

    She was in her mid-twenties, around 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") high. Her face had an oval shape with delicate features, her honey blonde hair with shades of purple were pulled back in a pony-tail.

    She wore almost no make-up, entuating her natural beauty. Despite her robe beingpletely buttoned up, it was not baggy enough for Lith¡¯s highly trained male eyes to be incapable of measuring her three sizes.

    With every stride she took, he was able to appreciate her soft curves more and more.

    - "Wow! She is stunning!" Solusmented. "After the swimsuit model Professor Trasque, I¡¯d say that Linjos had quite the taste in picking the new staff, right Lith? Lith?!"

    Solus was worried, her host head was empty. She could only hear some kind of white noise.

    "Lith, are you alive or what?" She mentally screamed, making him regain his rationality.

    "Solus, I¡¯m in trouble. The woman that just walked in is a 10/10 on my personal scale. I never believed a real 10 could actually exist in real life! And even worse, this stupid body has just decided to experience its first crush!"

    Solus was bbergasted.

    "Are you crazy? Right here and now? With all that is at stake, you want to be the teacher¡¯s pet?"

    "Do you think I have any choice? I know that a twelve-year boy has less chances with her than a snowball on the Sun, the problem is that my body doesn¡¯t give a damn! It was only a matter of time before hormones would screw up my teenage life.

    I need your help to keep my cool and avoid acting like an idiot. It¡¯s a lost cause, but at least we can do damage control. Please, I want to avoid shameful memories like those from high school!"

    "I¡¯ll do my best." Solus assured him, soothing his chaotic thoughts and draining the excess mental energy. -

    "Good morning, boys and girls. My name is Valesa Nalear, nice to meet you all."

    Her voice was nothing special, but to Lith¡¯s ears was a choir of harps and violins.

    While looking around, she noticed that some spots in the ssroom were packed, yet there were still lots of avable seats around Lith. When she asked for an exnation, Lith raised the Ballot in his right hand.

    Her upper lip curled up in an expression of disgust.

    "Despicable." Her words sounded like she was trying to spit something disgusting out of her mouth.

    The whole ss erupted with mockery andughter Strong of the teacher¡¯s support, many students threw some trash at Lith, despite the Ballot.

    Lith felt his heart sank. All the warmth he had felt until a second ago, the silly hopes and dreams of friendship bordering love that he had nurtured, burst like a bubble. Only cold and darkness remained inside of him, making even that pain feel good.

    - "That¡¯s right." He thought. "Do you see now, stupid pubescent body? That¡¯s what happens when you lower your guard. Wishful thinking bears only sour fruits made of tears and disappointment.

    The silver lining is that I managed to put an end to this mad crush fast, sparing me countless humiliations. I must remember it, and remember it well. Rule #1: trust no one. Always expect the worst out of everybody, and you¡¯ll never be disappointed."-

    The ss was stillughing, when Professor Nalear roared:

    "Silence!"

    When the shower of garbage ceased and order returned to the ssroom, she spoke with a voice full of rage, her green eyes reduced to two fiery slits.

    "I wasn¡¯t talking about him, but about you filthy maggots!"

    - "Or not!" Lith thought, surprised by that sudden turn of events. -

    She looked at the various groups of people all over the ss, ring at them with fury, while a blue aura emerged from her body, making her robe move like she was amid a storm.

    Her hands moved too quick for the eyes to see, even Lith¡¯s heightened senses could only perceive a blur. Suddenly, one of the guys that had thrown trash at Lith was suddenly pulled toward Nalear.

    He was floating in mid-air, desperately holding his neck, gasping for air.

    - "Isn¡¯t that spirit magic?!" Lith thought, shocked. "It closely resembles my Spirit Choke, I can barely spot any difference. Could she be a true mage too?"-

    "You b*stards!" She roared. "Do you have any idea what the likes of you pulled me through during my academy years?

    Only because I was a pretty girl and my father was just a lowly knight, you guys always tried to turn me into your ything, harassing and molesting me every single day. But the worst always came from my so called ¡¯girlfriends¡¯."

    Her hands moved again, pulling another of those who had thrown trash, but this time it was fifteen years old girl, wearing a heavy make-up.

    "Always calling me a sl*t at my back, spreading rumors and trying to lure me into traps to give their male friends the opportunity to ¡¯have some fun¡¯. And that only because I was more talented than them, so they needed to ¡¯put me in my ce¡¯.

    The only reason I am still alive and sane up to this day, is because I too took a Guilty Ballot!"

    The two youths in mid-air had started to turn purple, their eyes shedding tears of fear and desperation.

    "What¡¯s the matter?" She mocked them. "Aren¡¯t we just having fun among friends? ording to your rules, might makes right. Not only I am a Professor at this academy, I¡¯m also an archmage, which puts me at the level of an archduke."

    She looked straight in the boy¡¯s eyes, grabbing his throat and lifting him up with only one hand.

    "That makes your father¡¯s Marquis title a joke. I could kill you right here and now, and then im you tried to r*pe me. Not only no one would dare to doubt my word, I could even ask for satisfaction, personally wiping out all your filthy family!"

    She then did the same to the girl, her feet daggling in the air in search of support.

    "And what about you, ugly b*tch? Why are you notughing anymore? Why don¡¯t you go crying to your mommy, Duchess Baran? I want to see her face when I will rip your heart out in front of her eyes and make her eat it raw as an apology for being weaker than me!"

    Only when their faces turned blue for theck of air, she let them go, throwing them away like trash. Professor Nalear immediately conjured water, washing her hands like touching those two could stain her very being.

    - "By my maker!" Solus was blown away. "Now I finally understand! Headmaster Linjos didn¡¯t choose his staff based on physical appearance. He reced the old professors with talented people that have been victims of the system in the past!

    This way not only he is sure to have at his service someone that can truly empathise with the victims, but also people that will never back down in front of abuses of power. They are all hell-bent on revenge, if they cannot change the system from inside, no one can."-

    Despite their symbiotic link, Lith wasn¡¯t able to hear a single thought Solus had sent to him. He watched the events happening in front of him in a daze, his mind nk, incapable of epting reality.

    "Please, marry me." He suddenly blurted out loud.

 Chapter 60 Alone In The Crowd 2

    When Lith realized what he had done, it was already toote. His face blushed up, even the end of his ears turned to bright red.

    - "Smooth move, stud." Solus mocked him mercilessly. "Too bad you forgot the flowers, the chocte, and more importantly, the ring. What will she think of such poor performance?" -

    Professor Nalear giggled, making Lith turn to an even brighter shade of red. He felt so ashamed of himself, that he could only hide his face between his hands, incapable of watching her, while banging his head on the desk.

    - "You f*cking idiot!" He inwardly screamed. "Since when do I have a d*ck for brains? Just when I thought that things couldn¡¯t get any worse, I turn out to be my worst enemy." -

    "I¡¯m honestly ttered by your feelings..." She said while still chuckling.

    "... but I¡¯m not into kids. I¡¯m looking for a tall and strong mage as a lifepanion. If in six years I¡¯m still single and you haven¡¯t changed your mind, I will be happy to resume this conversation."

    Lith wanted to cry and run away, spending the rest of his life hiding in the deepest hole he could find. But he had already made a fool out of himself, there was no reason to add insult to injury.

    He took some deep breaths to calm down, using water magic to cool down both his face andher regions, finally regaining his focus.

    - "If I apologize, I will make everything worse." He thought. "She reacted like I was joking, let¡¯s y along. The more I stir it, the more it will stink." -

    "Now, before going back to the course¡¯s topic, onest word of warning for you scum. The next time I catch you doing something disrespectful towards one of your ssmates, I will make every single one of you regret not having a Guilty Ballot.

    Are we clear?"

    No one dared to reply.

    "Perfect. Let¡¯s forget about your pathetic, miserable existences, so I can exin to you what Principles of Advanced Magic is about."

    She approached the chalkboard, a long and thin piece of mineral appeared out of thin air in her hand, allowing her to draw a human silhouette.

    "As you should already know from your first three years, every human possesses a certain degree of talent for magic. The extent of such talent is defined by the amount of mana one has stored into his mana well."

    Lith followed her speech with interest.

    - "So, they really have no concept of the mana core." He thought. -

    "An individual talent can be roughly split into three categories: the normal human, ..." She hit the chalkboard at the level of the silhouette¡¯s knees, and suddenly the empty space within it was filled by a glowing blue light up to that point.

    "... the magico/magica, ..." This time the mineral hit at the chest level, and the light rose up ordingly.

    "...and finally, the mage." The whole empty space within the silhouette was now filled to the brim with a pulsing blue colour.

    "While performing the first three tiers of magic, hands signs and magic words are the equivalent of a bucket, that once dropped in the mana well allows you to extract the right amount of power.

    Hence, the spellcasting will be sessful, as long as you are capable of forming a perfect bucket. Sadly, from tier four and up, this process no longer works.

    This kind of magic requires such an amount of mana, that there are only two ways of extracting it from the well. The first one, that you can learn in minor academies or in the books avable for purchase, is to create a bigger bucket.

    This method is feasible, but most of the time impractical. It requires so many magic words, hand signs soplicated that either your opponent is a rock, or you work with a team that keeps it upied during a very long spellcasting time.

    Just like using a bucket too big and heavy, extracting mana that way out of the well requires much more time and effort than just using the old bucket twice."

    - "What the f*ck?! This is exactly what I learned from Lark¡¯s books. This exins why it took me so long to perform them correctly with fake magic." -

    "The second one, is only avable in one of the six great academies. What I am going to teach you, has its roots in the first magic¡¯s multi casting skills. Professor Trasque should have stressed already the importance of first magic, right?"

    The whole ss nodded.

    "Multi casting means the talent to form and control more than one bucket at the time. Let¡¯s say that a mage capable of double casting, potentially can control up to two buckets. That¡¯s the minimum requirement for tier four spells.

    Some may require even three, while only tier five magic demands an even higher multi casting capability. Please, understand that all this talk about buckets and water is just an oversimplification.

    In advanced magic, mental visualization is a key element for sess. You can choose to imagine it as a jar of wine, a chest full of gold, whatever fits your bill is fine. Always remember that the second method has a much faster cast time in exchange for a greater focus and mental strength.

    It¡¯s up to you to learn how to form and control more than one ¡¯bucket¡¯ at the time. Hand signs and magic words are still necessary to form the first one, then you need to be able to sense it and generate as many copies as you can.

    Those who are incapable of learning such method by the end of the academic year, will be dismissed as of insufficient talent. Money and status cannot help you, only talent and hard work will guarantee your promotion."

    The lesson went on for another two hours, and soon was lunchtime.

    Lith was so engrossed in what he had learned, that hepletely forgot about his crush and the poor impression his previous marriage proposal could have left.

    He said goodbye to Professor Nalear before leaving the ssroom, but didn¡¯t give her a second look or even a thought.

    - "The more I learn, the more fake magic does indeed resemble true magic, but most of the things she exined arepletely wrong. The only right thing she said was about mental visualization.

    If one does not realize the existence of the mana core, the approach about magic is too passive to be effective. It¡¯s not a matter of water and buckets, more like about how to build and fine-tune a power nt that can provide energy for countless applications.

    ording to her theory, a fake mage with 100 mana points can only produce as much energy.

    A true mage, instead, despite having the same amount of mana, by stimting the core can generate an output that depends on the situation, bringing it up to 120, or even 150 if necessary.

    Sure, the physical burden would be remarkable, but everything is better than being dead. Not to mention that this difference allows a true mage a versatility that fake mages can only dream about." -

    Thanks to the academy map stored in Soluspedia, Lith was able to move faster than anyone else. While others would get lost or needed to get directions, he managed to arrive at the canteen first.

    Once again, the skill of the Forgemasters left him speechless. It was nothing like his old high school cafeteria. There was no cash register, no need to form a line or pick up a tray.

    The room was of rectangr shape, five meters (16¡¯5") high, with the long side 200 meters (219 yards) long and the short side 100 (110 yards) meters long. Except for the door he came from and the floor, all the other walls had been turned into windows on the outside world.

    Lith knew that above the fourth floor, where he currently was, there was still the floor for the fifth year and many others, yet by looking up he was able to see the brilliant light of noon.

    The room, like all the others, was perfectly lighted. The whole canteen was filled with rectangr dinner tables, each one capable of amodating up to six people.

    The tables were evenly spaced among them, allowing to walk to and fro them with ease, even when the room was at its max capacity.

    Lith chose a corner table with a corner seat. Having a wall behind him and another at his left, no one could get to his back without him noticing.

    - "Interesting, they choose to make the cafeteria look like a panoramic restaurant. Probably to let the students remember how the outside world looks like, and to avoid the ustrophobic feel that windowless rooms give." -

    Once he sat down, he discovered that the chair was somewhat bolted to the ground. Lith could not move it, but as soon his butt touched the cushion, the seat auto adjusted its height and size to a perfect fit.

    The only thing left for him to do was cing his order. Lith put his hands on the table, injecting a small amount of mana, activating the embeddedmunication device.

    "I¡¯ll take fillet steak, 2 centimetres (0,8 inch) high, medium rare. Also, a vegetables cream soup, a side or roasted spiced potatoes. To drink red wine or beer are equally fine."

    A small Warp Steps appeared in front of him, delivering his order with the exception of the alcohol.

    "Sorry, sir." Said a voiceing up from the still open Warp Steps.

    "Only sixteen years old students are allowed to drink fermented beverages, and only moderate quantities. You can choose between water, milk and fruit juice."

    Lith sighed deeply. It would not be the same without some spirits to lighten up his heavy mood.

    "I¡¯ll take water."

    Soon hepletely forgot about his problems, the academy¡¯s chefs were worthy of a five-star restaurant. The meat was tender and juicy, without nerves. It simply melted in his mouth.

    The potatoes were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, spicy enough to make his blood run and pleasantly tickle his tongue.

    The cream soup was excellent as well, but Lith ate it forst. He hated vegetables, of any form and kind. Yet he left the te clean, he knew how important it was keeping his diet bnced while his growth spurt approached.

    He managed to enjoy his whole meal, ignoring the people around him and only looking at the forest outside. It stretched as long as his eye could see, and during his brief time in the canteen he was able to spot many beasts and herbs he had never seen before.

    - "I wish I could take seconds, but if I eat too much, I will be so sleepy that I will be barely able to pay attention. It¡¯s my first lesson for my Master healer specialization, and first impression is very important."-

    Despite considering himself to already be a great healer, Lith was really curious about tier four light spells, since there was none in all the books he had previously ess to.

    - "Over the years, there were so many things that I wasn¡¯t able toe up with a solution for, so many patients I have lost. This is my asion to learn from the masters and impress them.

    If I manage to keep my status as an A rank student, my life will be much easier!" -

 Chapter 61 A New Lesson

    After finishing his delicious lunch, Lith had one hour off. No one had approached his table, and that made him actually very happy.

    He was very fond of his personal space, not to mention he had no desire of wasting time doing small talk with a lot of kids.

    Despite his physical appearance, Lith¡¯s mind was that of a grown-up man, that between his three lives had lived for almost forty years.

    Except for being hormonal, due to his teenage body, and being addicted to oxygen, there was nothing he had inmon with his ssmates.

    From that perspective, istion was a blessing in disguise. If he spoke to no one, it was impossible for anyone to notice how different he was from his peers.

    He and Solus had already discussed during the meal, both regretting that, for security reasons, the academy would not make any book avable for the studying until the end of the first day.

    - "It¡¯s such a pity." Solus said. "If we had them, we could already put them into Soluspedia, getting light years ahead of the other students. Instant knowledge!"

    "Yeah. But I can understand the importance of this rules. Specializations are exclusives of the six big academies.

    If they just delivered them at the students¡¯ homes, before the beginning of the year, their contents would be essible to all the family members. This kind of knowledge can¡¯t be released without supervision."

    "And what about once the students get the opportunity to go back home, at the end of the trimester?"

    Lith mentally shrugged, his stood up from the chair and started walking towards his room.

    "By that time, they already have gained the status of students. ording to what Linjos told us in his office, they are both protected and kept under surveince. My guess is that the books can¡¯t leave the academy¡¯s premises.

    The only things one can take out, are what he has learned or copied in his grimoire. If you love your family, you will not put them into danger by disclosing state secrets that could cost them their and your life.

    If you hate them, instead, the moment they try to coerce you, you just need to rat them out to get rid of them for good. It¡¯s a win-win situation." ¨C

    Once back into his room, Lith called his parents. He had left home only seven hours ago, yet the enthusiasm they showed him was like he had disappeared for years.

    "My little bay!" Elina was on the verge of tears. "Are they treating you all right? Are you eating properly?"

    "Yes, mom. Everything is fine." He lied through his teeth. "The Professors I met today were all amazing. My ssmates are kinda stuck-up, but so far so good. Not to mention the food. I wish I could bring you some, it¡¯s just wonderful."

    Contrary to his expectations, time flew by, and he was forced to leave Tista in a hurry, after giving her a consult about a patient of hers.

    All the activities rted to each year, took ce on their own floor.

    The problem was that each floor was so big that getting lost or taking a long detour was pretty easy. In Lith¡¯s case, he had miscalcted the time he needed to reach the ssroom.

    Only when he heard resounding the gong that announced the beginning of the lessons, he had realized how long he had spent chatting.

    - "F*ck! The first thing I¡¯m going to re-invent as soon as I be a Forgemaster, is a damn wristwatch. How the heck does people keep track of the time?" -

    Solus calcted that even going double time, Lith would have not made it, so he was forced to run. To avoid smelling on his first day, he used water magic to collect the sweat in his palm as soon as it formed, sending it straight in Solus¡¯ pocket dimension.

    Despite all his best efforts, he was thest one to arrive. Luckily, thought, the professor in charge had yet to show up. ording to the schedule, Lith would have met Professor Marth, the very same that had created Blood Resonance magic.

    It was a great opportunity to get his attention, and maybe, if opportunity arose, share some of his knowledge with him. Having one of the Light department¡¯s top experts as his backer, or even better as a mentor, could be a real game changer.

    - "Be cool, and try not to sound desperate, old man." Lith thought to himself.

    "We have a full year ahead together, maybe even two. I need to y my cards right, keep my admission score while improving my status. I don¡¯t give a damn about friends. The other students are useless.

    Allies, on the contrary, can help me keep my family safe from the like of Duke Hestia and provide me with the resources I¡¯ll need to set my own Forgemasterboratory. I can¡¯t waste years grinding for gold, I need time to travel and find the answer to my resurrection problem." -

    The ssroom was much smaller than the one for the mandatory lessons. It was a square room, with each side twelve meters (13 yards). In front of the chalkboard, there were three rows of desks, separated by small corridors.

    It could amodatefortably up to fifty students, yet ording to Solus, there were only twenty-six students attending, Lith included. He upied the closest spot to the chalkboard, sitting near the other students.

    When they threw a mean re at him, he just took out the Ballot, forcing them to shut up and mind their own business. After what had happened that morning, they didn¡¯t dare to move away from him.

    Not to mention doing that would mean getting even farther from the chalkboard and the Professor. The floor was even, making it already hard to see through all the heads in front of them.

    The man who walked in the room was outstanding in his own way. He was quite short, barely over 1.55 meters (5¡¯1") high, at least sixty years old.

    The top of his head waspletely bald, the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar moustaches. His belly was so big that it made hard to guess if he wasrger than high.

    That, together with his pure white robe, made him resemble a real life Humpty Dumpty.

    "Hello, dear students. I¡¯m Professor Vastor, and I¡¯ll guide you through your first steps in the light magic Master healer course."

    Not everyone was as ignorant as Lith, most of them already knew what Professor Marth looked like. Before Professor Vastor could finish his introduction, the ss was filled with saddened groans.

    His disgruntled expression to such reaction, expressed clearly how angered he was by that tantck of respect.

    "I¡¯m very sorry to disappoint you, but as you should have predicted, Professor Marth can¡¯t waste his precious time with the likes of you. The whole light magic research department rests on his shoulders, so you¡¯ll have to settle for me.

    Words cannot express how it saddens me, to notice that even country bumpkins have more manners than the high and mighty nobles."

    He wasn¡¯t referring to just Lith, but to all the students that thanks to their poor background had failed to recognize him, looking at him with admiration despite his funny appearance.

    "I have good news and bad news, for all of you. The good news is that we won¡¯t spend two hours in this ss. I¡¯ll just exin to you the differences between tier three and four of healing magic, after that we will move in the academy¡¯s hospital.

    There we will do some trial rounds of our resident patients, giving you the chance to meet both Professor Marth and Professor Manohar, if we are lucky enough."

    The ss exploded in cheers and apuses.

    - "What the heck?" Lith thought. "Where do they think we are, at the stadium? Back on Earth my college professors would have skinned them alive for such behaviour." ¨C

    Vastor had a very Earth-like expression at the moment, his hands were trembling with rage, dting his nostrils at every breath.

    "The bad news..." He continued, cutting them short.

    "...is that it means I will start evaluating you all right off the bat. Even today¡¯s rounds will help us evaluate your skills, separating the gold from shiny trash."

    The room fell silent, most of the students in the first row had lost all their enthusiasm. Some were having stomach cramps due to nervousness, others seemed on the verge of puking.

    It wasn¡¯t at all as they had imagined their first day of specialization would be.

    Professor Vastor was delighted by the result of his speech, curling his moustaches with a sadistic grin on his face.

    "Let¡¯s not waste any more time. I¡¯m sure you can¡¯t wait to stop listening to my gibberish and be real healers, like your hero, Professor Marth."

    - "Man, I don¡¯t need tier four magic to diagnose Professor Vastor a really bad case of ¡¯Envy syndrome¡¯. Being so petty at his age is really sad." Solus said.

    "Yeah. Happens when you lose your throne to someone younger and more talented. I feel the same way." Lith replied, thinking how lucky his ssmates were, being born with cyan mana cores, without having to work hard for years to reach that level. ¨C

    "First of all, who can tell me what are the greatest limitations of tiers one to three of light magic?"

    Lith raised his hand, but so did everyone else. Vastor chose one of them at random to answer.

    "You, with the snob face. Feel free to share with the ss." He said pointing to a girl with shoulder length ck hair in the first row.

    "Professor, my name is actually..."

    "I don¡¯t care." Vastor cut her short.

    "I expect at least half of you to drop out within the first six months. I won¡¯t bother remembering your names."

    Most faces turned red with anger, while Lith was inwardly smiling.

    Ifpared to most nobles he had encountered in the past, Professor Vastor was really polite. At least he didn¡¯t discriminate, he treated everyone like cr*p.

 Chapter 62 A New Lesson 2

    The ck-haired girl was simply outraged. She belonged to one of the ancient noble families, admired and respected in all the Griffon Kingdom. She had always been treated like a princess of royal blood, no one had ever dared disrespect her.

    Now, not only she had to endure all those harsh words, but also had no way to bite back Professor Vastor. Threatening a mage belonging to an academy, was like spitting towards the sky, it would always backfire.

    All he had to do, was give her a bad evaluation to put an end to her career as a healer. Having five siblings and being at the bottom of the line of session, magic was her only redeeming feature.

    She could only swallow her pride and answer:

    "The lower tiers of light magic have two insurmountable limits. The first being that light magic can only enhance the recovery of the patient. If he/she suffered from an excessive blood loss or is already on the verge of death, healing magic is useless.

    The second limit..."

    "Okay, enough. Your turn, edgy face." He cut her short, pointing his finger at Lith.

    "The second limit is that it cannot regrow lost body parts, be it organs or limbs. Clean cut fingers or extremities can be reattached, but only if well preserved and within an hour from the amputation."

    "Correct and correct!" Vastor almost sounded disappointed.

    "Now, who can tell me how, hypothetically, the first issue could be solved?" Everyone raised his hand, once again.

    "You, with the pauper face." He said to a petite girl with long brown hair, sitting a few desks away from Lith. Because of her small and scrawny build, it was hard to imagine her twelve years old, she looked barely a day past eight.

    Clearly, she had suffered from malnutrition for a long time. Lith¡¯s sixth sense told him that the academy¡¯s uniform was probably the first pretty clothes she had ever had.

    With all the stress from her first day of academy, the threats and insults from Professor Vastor had been thest straw for her. When she tried to answer, only hups came out, she was fighting back her tears.

    - "What a d*ck." Lith thought. -

    His hand instinctively yed with the Ballot, but he didn¡¯t activate it. It was her problem, not his. She had done nothing for him when he had been bullied twice that morning, that made him eager to return to favour.

    His movements, though, didn¡¯t escape Professor Vastor eyes.

    - "Oh, for f*ck¡¯s sake! I had almost forgot about the bum with the Ballot. If that thing is recording and he bothers reporting me to the Headmaster, I will be in deep sh*t.

    Linjos has been crystal clear that professors¡¯ tough love is now considered bullying, and has tried more than once to fire me. He¡¯s just waiting for an excuse to rece me with one of his angryckeys. Dammit, I¡¯m too old to lose such a good job."-

    "I¡¯m so sorry, young miss. I didn¡¯t mean to offend you. There, there. Take your time before answering." His voice was suddenly all milk and honey, offering her a handkerchief from his chest pocket.

    Despite her frail looks, she needed but a second topose herself.

    "The only way to do it..." she replied sniffling from time to time.

    "...would be to somehow infuse the patient with an external source of life force. But that¡¯s impossible. I worked as a healer since I was six years old, I¡¯ve tried countless spells and always failed.

    Light magic cannot create or pass energy, only nourish what is already there."

    The whole ss nodded.

    - "Heck if I know." Lith thought. "The only patients I have ever failed were those that arrived toote for being saved. Not even my true magic could transfuse life force." -

    "Correct, young miss!" This time he sounded genuinely happy, the ss was starting to think he suffered from severe mood swings.

    "And don¡¯t worry, here at the light department we will fix your growth problem in a snap, you have my word." After making sure to be outside hot waters, he resumed his snarky tone.

    "The little one is right, light magic cannot do it. No matter how talented the mage or howplex the spell, it¡¯s impossible. Yet tier four light magic can. Anyone wants to take an educated guess?"

    The ssroom fell silent, no hand was raised.

    Professor Vastor sneered at their ignorance, puffing his chest.

    "Oh, oh, oh! Seems you still have much to learn. But you havee to the right ce. The answer is: it¡¯s only possible by mixing it with darkness magic"

    "What?!" "How?!" "The f*ck?!"

    Professor Vastor ignored their shocked expression and the exmations filling the air, while waving his hands in the air, generating with first magic a ck and white circle identical to Earth¡¯s representation of Yin and Yang.

    "The greatest legacy left us from Magus Silverwing, is the knowledge that light and darkness magic are but one. They perpetually dance together in all things. When one pushes, the other pulls.

    When light steps forward, darkness steps backwards and vice versa. When they are in harmony life thrives, otherwise only death awaits. The key to tier four light magic is weaving them together.

    Dark magic takes the energy from the donor, while light magic allows it to enter the patient¡¯s body without bacshes. Bncing them is the key to sess."

    - "F*ck me sideways!" Lith though. "How can I be so stupid? I read that goddamn book hundreds of times, I should have understood this years ago by myself. I wish I was more talented in magic, or at least smarter."

    "Hey, that¡¯s offensive!" Solus rebuked. "I¡¯m way smarter than you, and I have failed nheless. The real problem is that our approach to magic is too na?ve. By my maker, I hate feeling so useless. If only I still had my memories..."-

    "Excuse me, Professor, I have a question." Snob face awoke them from their self -pity moment.

    "If here at the White Griffon we mix light and dark magic together for healing, what¡¯s the difference between us and the ck Griffon? Can¡¯t they do the same?"

    "The difference, dear snob face, lies in the purpose. Here at the White Griffon, we are proud of our light magic department, where we can cure almost everything.

    At the ck Griffon, they specialize in destroying things."

    The rest of the hour Professor Vastor showed them again and again the simplest tier four light magic spell, until everyone was capable of performing it.

    The fastest students turned out to be young miss, an arrogant faced kid, snob face, and edgy face, in this order.

    Lith had done his best. He needed to experience the spell with fake magic, before being able to reproduce and enhance it with true magic. Yet he ended up in fourth ce.

    After that, Professor Vastor opened a Warp Steps that brought them right outside the academy¡¯s hospital.

    - "Lith, by keeping open the portal for so long, the Professor gave me the time I needed to clear its mystery. The reason why the staff can open them with such ease, it¡¯s because of the ring with the academy¡¯s insignia they wear.

    The whole castle is a giant artifact, they simply use the rings to tap into its powers. If your uniform has so many functions, I can¡¯t even imagine what something as big and powerful as this building can do." -

    Lith didn¡¯t reply, he just wondered how powerful Solus could be,pared to the academy, if she regained her old power. He had only found mentions of magic towers in fairy tales, and they were described as something unfathomable.

    ording to the lore, within his own magic tower a mage was nigh omnipotent. But fairy tales also told about fairy godmothers, elves, sprites and happy endings, and he had yet to meet someone that took any of those things seriously.

    When he had spoken about them with Nana, Lark and the Marchioness, they had all mocked him for his childish daydreams.

    When the students entered through the double doors, they found hard to believe to their eyes.

    The academy¡¯s hospital ward would put any Earth¡¯s hospital to shame. The floors were able to self-clean, the beds would move and massage the patients¡¯ bodies to avoid bedsores, constantly keeping in check their vitals.

    The air was fresh and clean, free of the smell of disinfectants that usually gues those ces. Everything looked more like out of a celebrity resort rather than a ce where people went to die.

    "What a marvel of magic!" Said the arrogant faced boy from before, a fifteen-year-old 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") high with red hair. "But I suppose it was to be expected, since you were the one designing the whole thing, Professor Vastor."

    "Yurial, my boy!" Professor Vastor finally recognized him.

    "Long time no see. How is your old man, Deirus? Being an archmage is a big burden, you must be ready to step in and help him as soon as possible."

    "My dad is doing fine, thank you. I¡¯ll send him your regards. With your help I¡¯m sure I will be able to keep up the family tradition."

    "But of course! Mage bloodlines are highly treasured here at the light department. I hope you¡¯ll show all those snotty nobles and poormoners what a true magician is made of."

    - "I stand corrected." Lith thought. "He does discriminate, just not the way I am used to. He seems to be a sucker to magical families instead of noble ones. I guess not every Professor can be like Trasque or Nalear." -

    Just thinking her name sent a warm feeling through his body, that Lith hastily suppressed. He despised himself for his weak, hormonal body, wasting his precious time and energies on teenage delusions.

    Lith could not afford any slip ups, the trial round was about to begin, and he was determined to shine among his peers.

 Chapter 63 The Importance Of Status

    Professor Vastor was true to his word, he brought them to the hospital¡¯s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and asked them in turns to diagnose the nature of the patients¡¯ condition.

    Vastor would take notes about their answers, to confront them with the charts. He wasn¡¯t allowed to gave them scores on their first day, but he didn¡¯t hesitate to harshly reprimand those who missed any detail, humiliating them in front of the ss.

    Because of the nature of the task, the ss was split into two groups, right after each one of them had examined their first patient. The following rounds allowed Vastor to further split the groups based on the students¡¯ degree of expertise.

    In the first group, belonged those who had chosen the Master healer specialization, lured by the prestige the title implied. Yet theycked either any experience in the healer practice or the resources to have a proper tutor to make up for it.

    Vastor was immediately able to spot them, since they were only able to use Vinire Rad Tu, the ubiquitous tier one diagnostic spell.

    In the second group, instead, there were snob face, edgy face, young miss, Yurial and all those who had at their disposal a diagnostic personal spell or even more than one.

    Much to his surprise, the archmage¡¯s son Yurial was equalled in talent and precision by the snob faced girl, while the young miss and the edgy faced kid ran circles around even them, standing out like hawks among crows.

    Especially edgy face had proven to be capable of finding minor details, that even the academy¡¯s Master healers had missed in their diagnosis. It was nothing big, but he was also able to suggest ways to improve their prognosis, hastening the healing process.

    Vastor hadn¡¯t arrived at his age and social standing by letting something insignificant, like his personal prejudices or preferences, stand in the way of his best interests.

    - "Commoners or not, those two smells of sess. Even that snotty faced brat is damn good, if she is able to hold her ground against a pureblood like Yurial. I have always been proud of my knack for recognizing true talent.

    I don¡¯t care if the spotlight I¡¯m under is mine or someone¡¯s else. As long I get to maintain my status and position, anything goes. I have to get in their good graces before anyone else.

    After they get famous, I would be a nobody. Right now, I¡¯m all their world. Time to jot down some names and remember them properly." -

    "I¡¯d say we have some winners." While talking to the top four students, Vastor¡¯s voice had lost any trace of sarcasm and disrespect. He spoke with a soft and amiable tone, like a grandfather talking to his beloved grandkids.

    "Would you mind to introduce yourself properly to the ss? It would motivate them to work hard enough topete with you all."

    - "If they are delusional enough to believe they even have a sliver of hope, of course." He inwardly sneered. ¨C

    In his mind, Vastor had already separated the cream from the milk, and the milk from the p*ss. He was merely being polite.

    "My name is Friya Solivar." Like everyone else, she was wearing pants not a skirt, so while doing the curtsy she held up her robe instead.

    "My mother is Duchess Solivar, I hope you have heard about her."

    Vastor¡¯s eyebrow rose, while he was racking his brain trying to remember.

    "Ah, yes. I heard only praises about how she managed to stop that terrible floodst year. Such an ingenious woman was bound to have gifted daughter. I¡¯m sure you have a bright future ahead of you."

    He skipped Yurial, he doubted that even those boneheads could have missed him unting his status of archmage Deirus¡¯ heir.

    After making a few gestures to one of his attendants, Vastor stood in front of the petite girl, smiling kindly.

    "My name is Quy from Cerea. I¡¯m twelve years old." Quy didn¡¯t know etiquette or how to introduce herself, so she just made a deep bow while sharing what she deemed to be relevant.

    "So young yet so skilled! You truly are a diamond in the rough." Vastor received from his attendant a bottle containing a purple liquid, that he gifted to Quy with a small bow.

    "Here, this is one of the best tonics our master Alchemists can prepare. Drink a ss of it every night before going to bed, and you¡¯ll grow up like a mushroom. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be a beautifuldy."

    Quy took his bait, line and sinker, blushing up to her ears for thepliments. She had never received anything so precious in her life, so she held the bottle like a baby, stuttering her thanks.

    Contrary to his expectations, edgy face had taken out his notebook, literally jotting down what the others had said. He made the brilliant move of using water magic to write instead of a pen.

    - "Perfect silent water magic. My gut never fails me." - Vastor¡¯s smile widened, he was sure to have struck a gold mine.

    "Showing respect to yourpetitors is always a smart move, young man."

    Following the etiquette books he had stored in Soluspedia, Lith took a step back, in sign of respect towards Professor Vastor, before performing a deep bow.

    "I always write down everything that¡¯s significant, to make it easier to remember. The three of them are the only ones worthy of attention, after all."

    After the poor figure he did during Professor Nalear¡¯s ss, Lith was brimming with confidence. Thanks to Invigoration, he was certain to have performed better than anyone else.

    For the first time in his life, he didn¡¯t feel anymore like a frog in the well. He had finally found something he was actually the best at.

    After how his ssmates had treated him, Lith didn¡¯t care to keep up appearances. He was already a pariah, someone they threw trash at without a care. He had nothing to lose anymore.

    Lith would treat them just like they did to him, with spite and showing no mercy.

    "My name is Lith from Lutia. I¡¯m twelve years old too."

    "Twelve years?! Lith?" Lith was already taller than him, (AN: Lith is 1.6 m aka 5¡¯3" high) so Vastor had failed to recognize him.

    "I¡¯ve heard so much around you. Heck, everyone here has. Guys..." He was allegedly talking to the whole ss, but he looked only at the other three, to make sure they paid attention.

    "...Lith, here, is the one that cracked the so-called ¡¯curse¡¯, a unique poison that had eluded even the best of us. Have you heard about it?" Friya and Yurial nodded, while Quy and many others shook their heads.

    Vastor¡¯s heart bleed at the idea of wasting so much paper, but he couldn¡¯t make a single copy of the report just for Quy. The other students would haveined about such tant discrimination.

    While his attendant was handing the reports, he kept tending at his gold mine.

    "A twelve-year-old hexacaster, with great talent in light magic to boot, that¡¯s how he got his admission."

    Between his build, height and everything they had learned in thest minute, Lith¡¯s ssmates were looking at him with new eyes, even a hint of respect. Friya and Yurial regretted what they had done earlier.

    If instead of throwing trash at him they had managed to get on his good book, maybe he could have taught them so much. For a second, Friya thought that she was the only one to have another chance.

    After what happened earlier, this Lith was clearly sensitive to feminine charms, and she was quite pretty. But when she smiled at him, opening her mouth to start chatting, he sent her a cold re that sent shivers down her spine.

    His eyes were empty, like those of a predator that¡¯s about to rip its prey apart. Friya swallowed back her hopes and pretended that nothing had happened.

    "Lith, my boy, you should smile more. If you keep ring at everyone, how could they notice how handsome you are?" Vastor patted his shoulder.

    - "Me? Handsome? What a bootlicker! How can he even think I didn¡¯t notice his 180¡ã turn of attitude?" Lith thought.

    "I think he knows you did, he just hopes you don¡¯t care." Solus replied. "As for the handsome, yeah, you are not at Trasque level, but maybe if you drop the teenage serial killer look..." ¨C

    Quy too was regretting what had happened earlier, but for entirely different reasons. She didn¡¯t do anything against Lith, but she hadn¡¯t helped him either. Like the others, she had always kept her distance.

    In hindsight, she maybe would have helped anothermoner of her own age. But he was tall and scary, so she mistook him for a noble. Not to mention that her ss scared her even more.

    "Well, enough with the rounds, I already got what I need. Let me show you all where the real magica happens."

    Vastor walked them through few corridors and into another ward. The que above the door was self-exnatory "Missing Limbs".

    "As you should have realized, this is where we move the patients that have lost one or more limbs, after stabilizing their conditions. We can actually regrow them from scratch, but it¡¯s a long and difficult spell. Follow me."

    The ward was almost empty, only a couple of beds were upied. Unlike the ICU, it was filled with flowers and magic paintings, making the atmosphere soothing and rxing. The walls were magic frescos, depicting sunny woods, so vivid to seem true.

    Professor Vastor brought them around the bed of a twenty something years old blonde guy, that was missing his right arm. Only a small stump remained.

    "Students, allow me to introduce you captain Zarran. He lost his arm in a skirmish against the Gorgon empire, while defending the northern borders of your Kingdom."

    The man was clearly embarrassed. Unlike most of the ICU patients, he was awake and clear-headed. Despite they were politely greeting him, he couldn¡¯t help but feel like a horse at the market, ready to be probed and examined mercilessly.

    Suddenly, the ward¡¯s double doors opened again. The man that walked in, drew the attention of all the staff and almost all students. From their gasps of admiration, Lith could deduce that he was either Professor Marth or Manohar.

    - "Bright blue mana core." Solus pointed out. "My money on him being Marth."

    "Not epting the bet." Lith replied. ¨C

    "Professor Marth, so nice to see you." Vastor said with a smile from ear to ear.

    "I was just about to exin the fourth-year students the regrowth procedure. Do you want to do the honours?"

 Chapter 64 The Importance Of Status 2

    Professor Marth was a man around forty years old, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") high, with thick blonde hair. Aside from his goatee, his face was perfectly shaven, revealing a calm and youthful appearance.

    Judging from the bags under his eyes and the slouching posture, it was evident that hecked sleep. It was no wonder that he had asked Professor Vastor to stand in for him.

    When he saw the students, he straightened up, smiling at the small crowd.

    "dly, dear colleague. Sorry to have missed our appointment, kids. Since Professor Manohar returned, things have been hectic, there¡¯s a lot he needs to catch up with."

    The ss made a small bow, epting his apologies, eager to learn from one of the two most famous heads of the White Griffon light department.

    "First of all, the impossibility to regrow limbs or organs is amon misconception. The human body actually has such capabilities, but they are normally dormant. To temporarily awoke them, is necessary a huge amount of energy.

    We are talking about so much mana, that is impossible for a single mage to perform the spell alone. Usually the procedure requires two teams. The first one to perform the spell, setting the regeneration process in motion.

    The second one, instead, has to give energy to the patient for him to survive. Otherwise, the strain from growing a full limb in a matter of minutes would drain his body of all the nutrients, killing him on the spot.

    Most organs are even trickier, since time is of the utmost importance. A single mage can regenerate small ones like kidneys, but bigger or vital organs usually require too much energy. It¡¯s best for a lone mage to keep the vitals stable while calling for help."

    - "Interesting." Lith thought. "Based on the little I know, maybe therge mana expenditure is due to the fact that what they actually do without knowing it, is collecting and stimting adult stem cells in the patient¡¯s body.

    That or in this world they have a healing factor, but I highly doubt it.

    If I am right, with true magic I could do all by myself, but it would take days if not weeks. The on/off nature of fake magic, makes things too hard for both the healer and the patient. True magic, instead, allows to divide things by steps, like I did for Tista." -

    Professor Marth continued.

    "You are in for a treat, since I was just to about to start growing captain Zarran a new right arm."

    The soldier smiled awkwardly, he wasn¡¯t feeling like a market horse anymore, more like ab rat.

    "The first step is to take in consideration the sex and the build of the patient, then choose the best limb temte at our disposal."

    "Temte?" Lith echoed dumbstruck, drawing on himself reproachful looks from his peers.

    "Yes, temte. We can¡¯t allow the new limb to grow endlessly, the spell needs specific measurements to work properly."

    An assistant brought to Marth a cart full of wooden arms, that the Professorpared to the remaining limb, searching for the most simr one.

    "Each of these models corresponds to a different spell. Here at the White Griffon we have the biggest archive of regenerating spells of all the Kingdom. I like to think that in part is thanks to my work."

    After choosing the best fit, Professor Marth called the rest of the team via hismunicator amulet, forming two teams of three mages each.

    "Technically, two mages per group should be enough." He exined. "The third one is to be sure that everything goes fine. This is no warzone, there is no need of taking unnecessary risks."

    Both the spells took only a few seconds to cast, the new arm started to grow back at an amazing rate. After about half an hour, the new limb waspletely formed. The ss exploded into an apuse, all the medical staff epted it with a small bow.

    Captain Zarran was crying out of joy, flexing his new fingers. He still couldn¡¯t believe it, in his eyes it was a miracle. He was a cripple no more, soon he would be able to resume active duty, instead of being locked behind a desk.

    The only discordant note in all that joyous atmosphere was Lith. He was closely looking to both arms, noticing the differences. The real one was much more muscr, with a higher bone density plus the new one was even a little shorter.

    He offered Zarran both his index fingers.

    "Squeeze them as hard as you can."

    After that test, he shook his head.

    "Professor Marth, is it normal for the new arm to be so out of proportions and weak?"

    He could see most of his ssmates ring or signalling him to shut up.

    - "Morons." He inwardly sneered. "In any scientific field, researchers are always looking for curious people, that make questions and challenge the standard knowledge. They have no need for trained monkeys that just follow orders.

    Without doubts there is no progress, only stagnation. Kids are so na?ve." ¨C

    "Yes, it is. It will take a couple years of training and therapy, but after that, it should be as good as the old one. Good catch, is rare seeing someone so young showing such attention to the details, instead of pestering me to teach him some spell."

    The praises made his ssmates feel stupid as sheeps. Professor Vastor was giggling.

    - "I knew it! Pure gold. Thank the gods for my knack." ¨C

    "Why? Is there something wrong? What would you do differently?" Marth asked.

    Lith pondered for a while before replying. He could not believe that such opportunity would have presented itself right off the bat. All those years spent preparing to teach Tista healing magic, were about to get him an unexpected pay-off.

    "Professor, I do not mean to be rude, but how much do you know about anatomy?"

    Professor Marth tilted his head by the side, surprised by the apparently silly question.

    "I know everything I need. The shape and position of the bones, what and where are the various organs, and so on. I¡¯m a healer, not a doctor. I only need to know the necessary for magic to perform at its best."

    Realizing how shallow was their knowledge, Lith understood that the use of magic must had slowed down, if notpletely stopped, the scientific progress in the Kingdom. He wasn¡¯t disappointed, quite the contrary.

    It just made what he had to offer even more precious.

    Lith ripped off a nk page from his notebook and then used water magic to write down in detail one of his fake magic personal spells that he had created for Tista years ago.

    "An image is worth a thousand words." He said handing the page to Professor Marth.

    "Are you really willing to share your diagnostic spell with the academy and the Kingdom?" Professor Marth was dumbstruck, while Professor Vastor was pale as a ghost.

    - "He can¡¯t be that dumb! Why the heck is he giving up such an advantage against hispetitors? Can my knack have finally failed me?" He thought. ¨C

    "It¡¯s not a diagnostic spell." Lith exined. "It¡¯s something I created long ago to get a better understanding of the human body. I don¡¯t even use it anymore, but I think it could be critical to your research in this field."

    Both the Professor sighed of relief, they both had seen too many talented youths so eager to please to make irreparable mistakes.

    Full of curiosity, Professor Marth studied the spell. It was really easy, without a doubt a tier one spell.

    "Done. Now?"

    "Please, use it on the captain¡¯s original arm."

    After performing the hands signs perfectly, Professor Marth said:

    "Vinire Mark Urth!" Generating a small wisp of light, that on contact, enveloped the arm in a warm white light. Suddenly his mind received streams of information, that left him speechless.

    The spell was an intentionally weaker, wed and inurate version of what Lith was able to see thanks to Invigoration. The difference between the two were like heaven and earth.

    The spell was incapable of showing injuries, to detect the mana flow or core or even the life force. To prevent Tista to identally stumble on true magic, Lith had made sure that everything was as he had nned.

    It had no hint about any of those elements, the only way to add them to the spell, was rebuilding it from scratch and knowing already what to look for. Its purpose was to teach Lith¡¯s sister anatomy in detail, without dismembering humans, like he did.

    As it was, Vinire Mark Urth did nothing more than show a fixed 3D imaging of the body part it was used on, giving the user a perfect understanding of the patient¡¯s body.

    "This... This is..." Professor Marth was bbergasted, considering all the possible applications of the spell.

    "You see, If I were in your shoes, using this spell..."

    "Hold that thought!" Marth cut him short, running away with the page clenched in his fist.

    He returned after barely a minute, dragging another man from the arm, like a petnt child.

    "No means no!" The dragged man screamed. "You cannot disturb me every time some stupid noble is about to die! Be it the King or his children, I don¡¯t care. If I spend another hour with all that paperwork, it will drive me crazy!"

    "For thest time, no one is dying! Shut up and listen!"

    Everyone was pointing to the new guy like he was some mythical beast.

    - "Purple core! My money on him being Manohar." Solus yelled.

    "Why do you keep trying to con me? What use do you have for money?" ¨C

    While Lith and Solus were having a mind-quarrel, Marth exined everything to Manohar, handing him the spell. After he performed it too, both Professors looked at Lith with eyes full of expectation.

    Manohar was a man in histe twenties, with ck hair and shades of silver. He was around 1.74 meters (5¡¯9") meters high, with a slender build and a stubble at least three days old.

    "Please, continue." Said Marth.

    "As I was saying, I would use this spell before sending the most valuable soldiers to the front to be able to recreate their original limbs if necessity arises. That would avoid all the side effects of the spell that you just showed me.

    Also, in cases like this one, I would take the information from the remaining arm and use it to generate a mirror image to rece the lost limb. The left and right limbs are not the same, but the result would still be much better than this one."

    "And that is not all!" Manohar chimed in, a crazy light had appeared in his eyes.

    "We could even devise a spell that¡¯s capable of taking that information by itself, and generate the limbs ordingly! We could finally throw away all those useless temtes, using only one spell instead of many."

    Everyone was shocked at the idea. Manohar often disappeared without notice or acted like a tantrumming child, but that kind of madness was the sign of the true genius. He had been able to see farther than the spell¡¯s creator in a matter of seconds.

    Manohar took out hismunicator amulet, opening the connection with the administrative department.

    "What¡¯s your name, kid?" He asked.

    "Lith from Lutia, sir."

    "Ah! I should have known it! Finally, another smart mage to talk to. You have no idea how hard it is for me. Only Marth and a few others are able to have a proper conversation, everyone around here is so stupid!"

    "Harrumph." A voice from themunicator amulet stopped his ramblings.

    "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Points assignation for the student Lith from Lustria for sharing a tier one spell. 1000 points."

    "1000 points?!" Repeated the male voice from themunicator amulet in disbelief.

    "1000 points!?" Eximed almost all his ssmates bing green with envy.

    "1000 points?" Asked both Lith and Quy, that being for the first time in the academy had no idea if they were many or few.

    "Yes, 1000 points! Is it so hard to understand?" Manohar was outraged by the academy having the gall to hire a clerk dumb or deaf if not both.

    "I know it¡¯s too little..." He said apologetically to Lith.

    "... but I can¡¯t give you more until I discuss it with the board. Also, you¡¯ll getpensation for each and every one of your suggestions. Good ideas are priceless in the research field. Be kind and graduate quickly.

    I need more people like you and less idiots like this secretary, around these parts."

    "Sir, themunication is still open." The clerk did a great job keeping his voice emotionless.

    "I know it¡¯s open, you idiot. That why I¡¯m telling you to get your ears fixed. I can¡¯t do nothing for your brain, but never give up hope. Magic advances every day by leap and bounds."

    The clerk politely hanged up the call.

    "How did you create this spell?" Marth interest was piqued. The idea was simple yet ground-breaking.

    "He can save it for his biographer!" It was Manohar turn to drag Marth away by the arm. "To the paperwork, for the life on me! And then to the board! You do the talking, I don¡¯t speak stupids."

    The gong resounded once more, marking the end of the lessons. After saying his goodbyes to Professor Vastor and to his threepetitors, Lith walked away towards the Prize Hall.

    Based on his understanding, it was time for a little shopping spree.

 Chapter 65 Judging A Book By Its Cover

    In the White Griffon, like in all the six big academies, students from different years had nomon spaces, to avoid the older and stronger seniors to haze their juniors.

    This feat had been achieved simply by having each academic year take ce on a single floor. On the ground floor of the castle, there was the wee area for the visitors and the Secretariat, were clerks would take care of the academy¡¯s paperwork.

    The first floor amodated the first year of academy, the second floor the second one, and so on.

    Above the fifth floor there were the staff¡¯s living quarters and their personalbs, but most of the space was noted on the map as either empty or assigned to nondescriptly named departments.

    Lith suspected that all the academy¡¯s private business, like the hidden specializations¡¯ training courses, took ce there.

    In that moment, thought, while looking at the castle map with Soluspedia, Lith wasn¡¯t wondering about the academy¡¯s mysteries, rather he was cursing its faulty design.

    - "Dammit! It¡¯s no wonder that the Professors always move around with Warp Steps. I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but even a single floor is like a small city, much bigger than the whole Lutia vige.

    The Prize Hall is quite far from the hospital. It will take me at least ten minutes to reach it, and much more to return to my apartments. I hadn¡¯t nned on doing this much cardio! I¡¯m tired, the only things I want to do are sleeping and eating.

    The only silver lining in this situation, is that everyone is suffering the same fate. After the gong, Professor Vastor left on his own, leaving us stranded in the ward." ¨C

    With all that had happened during his first day, the psychological burden on Lith¡¯s mind was enormous.

    Facing bullies, holding himself to use true magic, being forced to tolerate so many idiots without kicking their as*es, was something he was no longer used to. Since his rebirth, he had always kept the human interactions to a minimum.

    Now he was constantly on alert, he couldn¡¯t lower his guard for a second, the Ballot always at hand. He couldn¡¯t wait to lock the door behind him, and finally have some peace and quiet.

    - "I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll ever be allowed to use Warp Steps in here..." Solus pondered.

    "...but why exactly aren¡¯t we floating, flying or something? There is no rule against the use of magic within the academy, except if used to harm or harass others."-

    Lith froze on the spot, facepalming because of his own stupidity.

    - "Either I¡¯m too tired to think clearly, or you are definitely smarter than I look. I love you, Solus." Lith thought.

    "I love you more." She replied. ¨C

    Lith pretended to cast a personal flight spell, and then zoomed away sticking with his back on the ceiling. The ten minutes trip became a one minute flight at low speed, Lith couldn¡¯t risk crashing against someone else.

    During that time, Lith contemted how having a symbiotic rtionship had changed his life. He was not thinking about Solus having a 360¡ã 40/10 sight, her pocket dimension or any of her capabilities.

    What never ceased to amaze him, was how he hade of being used to think of himself as "we" rather than "I" in his own thoughts. Despite the terror that she had struck in his heart after their first meeting, Solus was now closer to him than his sisters.

    They shared even his dreams, while he was asleep.

    When he arrived, the Prize Hall was aplete disappointment. Lith had imagined it like a library, but filled with magical treasures, with the shelves upied by items and their descriptions.

    He had thought about browsing through them, asking the clerks¡¯ help from time to time, but reality begged to differ. Squeezed between the Battle Mage and the War Mage training halls, stood something that closely resembled an ATM.

    On the shing disy there was the blinking image of an opened palm, so Lith followed the fool-proof instructions, sending mana into it. The disy turned bright, making a 3D hologram of a clerk appear.

    It was a chubby woman in her thirties, with a tired face that put Lith¡¯s to shame. Her eyes focused on his face, Lith could see her fiddling with some kind of crystal.

    "You are Lith of Lutia, right?" The crystal in her hands was projecting a detailed image of his facial features.

    Lith nodded.

    "Is anyone there with you? Is someone forcing you to spend your points?"

    "No." Lith was cynical and paranoid, yet he was surprised by how bad things in the academies had to be, to enforce such protocol.

    The woman pressed another crystal, and a bubble of light enveloped Lith.

    "You are in a safe zone. No one can see or hear us now. Do you need help? I can send you a guard in a second with Warp Steps. Are you sure everything is fine?"

    "Yes, I am fine. Thanks for your kindness."

    "1000 points on your first day?!" The woman sounded sincerely amazed.

    "Kid, you have hit the motherlode, feel free to check our inventory."

    On the screen appeared something simr to a web page, that he could navigate through by using mana.

    Dimensional items¡¯ prices ranged from the 100 to over 300 points, magic storing rings costed 100 points per tier. There were also weapons avable, but Lith had never held a real one.

    His training, back on Earth, made use only of wooden swords, knives and spears. The bnce waspletely different, and without a proper training they would be useless against a skilled opponent. Potions were the cheapest objects, costing 10 points each.

    The most expensive item was the uniform, costing 5000 points. That would allow Lith to keep it even after concluding his studies, and have it looks changed to something less shy.

    Sadly, there was no wrist or pocket watch avable.

    He bought the cheapest dimensional amulet (80P), one magic storing ring for each of the first three tiers (600P), and a physical enhancement potion of each type (30P). Lith now had all he needed to mask the use of true magic and Solus.

    The clerk sent him the items via Warp Steps one at a time, asking him to imprint them in front of her, for security reasons. Even the potions were no exception.

    On his way back, he stopped at the canteen. It was too early for dinner, but he was in dire need forfort food, so he stored a hot chocte cup and some pastries before going back to his room.

    The books had yet to be delivered, so he could finally rx and contemte his purchases. The first thing he did, was use the speed, strength and skin hardening potions,paring their effects with Fusion magic.

    After filling them again with coloured water, all he had to do was to pretend to drink one of those to be able to activate Fusion magic without arising any suspicions, as long as he kept the effects simr.

    Only when he went to the bathroom, he realized how big his room was. It was very simr to a one-bedroom apartment, around fifty meters (55 square yards). It had a double bed in the top right corner, his chest was in front of the bed.

    A couple of meters to the left, against the wall, there was a wooden wardrobe.

    On the left wall there was a hardwood desk and a chair for his studies, with a couple of empty bookshelves mounted above it. Furniture aside, the room was empty, making it appear even bigger.

    An inner door lead to the biggest bathroom he had ever seen, upying over a third of the room. There was a real toilet and a sink in front of a mirror, both with running water.

    Lith was on the verge of tears, after all those years he had almost resigned himself to pee*ng in the wind and poo*ing in a hole in the ground. Even at Count Lark¡¯s home the best he could get was a chamber pot.

    Most of the space, thought, was upied by a bathtub big enough that couldfortably amodate four people.

    - "Is it me, or whoever designed this room has a dirty mind? First the double bed and now this?" Lith thought.

    "Makes sense, considering they are piling up teenagers without parental control. Remember the spell Nana gifted us before going to the Lightning Griffon?" Solus pointed out.

    "Actually, I had almost forgot it. But seeing how fast Tista and Rena developed, even at twelve years it mustn¡¯t have been hard for Nana finding a partner. I am tall for my age, but still hairless and shorter than most my ssmates.

    Not to mention that, even the idea of touching a kid makes me want to puke." ¨C

    Lith then took the most magnificent,fortable dump since his rebirth. That moment alone made every hardship he experienced sinceing into the academy fade away like a bad dream.

    After that, he took a long hot bath, or at least that was the n. He had barely dipped his body andthered his hair when someone knocked at his door.

    "I knew it! This should be the fourthw of thermodynamics: whenever a body and soap meet, a parcel arrives!"

    Furious, with a wave of the hand he used water magic to remove most of the water and soap from his body, pulling out his uniform from the pocket dimension right on his body, like he had never undressed.

    As predicted, a clerk hade to deliver him all the books required for the fourth year of academy. Noticing his frown and wet hair, the clerk guessed what had happened and left after making Lith sign his register.

    After a bath and another call home, Lith went to dinner.

    He was about to consume a delicious stuffed blinker when something unexpected happened. His perfect solitude was interrupted by three known individuals approaching his table. Lith stopped them before they could sit down.

    "Sorry, but we have a saying in my vige. The best way to enjoy a blinker requires only two guests: me and the blinker."

    "We didn¡¯t want to share it, we just wanted to sit here, with you." Yurial said.

    "Really?" Lith knitted his eyebrows. "Aren¡¯t you afraid of the consequences of associating yourself with a pariah?"

    Yurialughed at the idea, drawing all the eyes in the canteen. The only thing the others knew, was that the four of them belonged to the same specialization. Expecting a fight to break out, the room fell silent.

    "What¡¯s there to be afraid of? My father is an archmage, he can wipe out most of these guys with a finger snap. Besides, powerful mages should stick together."

    "Yeah? What about the ss sk you threw at me this morning? Or the dirty handkerchief she hit me on the head with?" Lith said while pointing at Friya, who became red from the embarrassment.

    "How do you know it? I was right behind you."

    "I¡¯m that good."

    "I admit it, we started with the wrong foot, but there¡¯s no reason we cannot be friends." Yurial said with a confident and charismatic attitude.

    "Friends?" Lith stood up, the audience even stopped chewing, trying to eavesdrop their conversation.

    "That¡¯s the son of an archmage!" "Guess he doesn¡¯t fear the coward¡¯s end." "I hope they kill each other." These were some of thements that Lith and Solus managed to perceive.

    "If you were in my shoes, would you really be friends with someone that first mistreated you, only to act all friendly when he has discovered your talent? My educated guess is no.

    You all should have been smarter, and not have judged a book just by its cover. Lucky for me, you revealed your true nature, so I won¡¯t buy your nice act."

    "I admit it, I was wrong and I apologize for that." Yurial was unrelenting, Lith had to give him that much. "You may not like us, but try to be more pragmatic. If they see you with us, your life will be much easier."

    "Point taken." Lith replied. "But right now, I don¡¯t feel like making ¡¯friends¡¯, maybe another time." He extended his hand to Yurial, who promptly shook hit.

    "Thanks for not threatening me with your dad¡¯s power. Much appreciated."

    "Would have worked?" Yurial asked with a smile.

    "No, I would have called your bluff. Neither you or any archmage, strikes me as someone so petty and short-sighted, of making an enemy out of entire academy for something so trivial."

    Yurial epted thepliment and walked away, closely followed by Friya. Quy remained behind, staring at Lith with her big puppy eyes.

    "Sorry for not helping you this morning, but I was too scared to move." She said in a low tone. "They aren¡¯t bad guys, I think they deserve a second chance. They have been really nice to me."

    Lith snarled, closing his face to hers in a threatening manner, but his voice was actually calm and caring.

    "Listen well, short stuff. Never trust people just because of a few cheap words or presents. To them our talent is just a tool, they do not consider us as equals.

    People will always be nice and friendly until you serve your purpose, but at the first mistake they¡¯ll drop you like garbage. Stick to those two, but don¡¯t let them use you. And now go, before someone thinks we are friends.

    Either you take a Ballot too, or stay the heck away from me. Go!"

    Lith yelled thest word for the others to hear. In his eyes Quy was destined to end up like Nana, unless she managed to wise up and shed away her childish naivety.

    Finally alone, Lith sat back down and started to wolf down his dinner.

    - "You¡¯ll see, you bastards. It¡¯s only a matter of time before this young snake from Lutia bes a dragon and swallows you whole." -

 Chapter 66 Error Of Judgmen

    The next day, after breakfast, Lith could notice that people were looking at him with astonished eyes. He had no idea if it depended by his new set of rings and the amulet in in sight, over the shirt. After all, only the user knew its quality, they looked all the same.

    Another possibility was that the news from the Master healer ss had started to spread. Either way, he didn¡¯t care. Lith just waved his hand to those who stared at him for too long, giving them the finger and forcing them to turn around.

    The first lesson would be with Professor Trasque again, this time in Theory of Combat Magic¡¯s training hall. While everyone else was on foot, checking the map from time to time, Lith flew straight to destination, arriving several minutes earlier.

    He spent that time with Solus, reviewing all the contingency ns they had prepared against Professor Nalear¡¯s dumbing effect.

    Thanks to Soluspedia, he had no need to read and memorize what was required for any lesson, but he still needed to practice the ents and hand signs.

    Knowing was not doing. Still, Soluspedia had given him a lot of spare time,pared to his peers, and he had used that time to prepare for the worse.

    Lith had no idea if his new body was so much worse than his old one against hormones, or if his problem was psychologic.

    Maybe he was so disustomed to strong positive feelings, that the unexpected first crush had been able to caught him off guard. All the good things that happened in his life, he had obtained them through effort and hard work.

    He wasn¡¯t used for things to go well just because of luck. Lith needed years of constant care and affection, before epting that his new family wasposed by good people.

    And now, out of the blue, he had such strong feelings for aplete stranger, that just thinking about her, would make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

    - "If just the idea of looking into those eyes, bright green as a luscious forest during spring, under the noonday sun, makes me weak in the knees and dries my mouth, I¡¯m scared to death by what the real thing could do." Lith thought.

    "Yeah, agreed." Solus sneered. "It¡¯s only getting worse, you are only a few bad rhymes away to write her a poem."

    "Yes." Lith inwardly sighed. "The good thing is that unless I think about her, I¡¯m able to be my usual self. I must avoid turning into a rambling fool if shees near me. Solus, I¡¯m depending on you in case sh*t hits the fan. Do your worst." ¨C

    The training hall was even bigger than the canteen. The space inside waspletely empty, except for circr rings with a diameter of ten metres (11 yards), evenly spaced among them and spread throughout the whole room.

    Lith¡¯s train of thought was interrupted only when he saw Professor Trasque arrive, followed by Headmaster Linjos. After all of the students had arrived, Linjos made them sit down on the ground. He had something to tell.

    "If any of you is asking himself why Lady Hestia, Lady Vark and Lady Carn haven¡¯t attended any of yesterday¡¯s lessons, the answer is they were busy packing their stuff. As a matter of fact, they have been dishonourably expelled from this academy.

    The terrible events that transpired yesterday, have been added to their personal files. They can apply to other academies, yet I doubt anyone will give them even a probation admittance.

    I am not telling you this because I want to threaten you. I just want you to realize that your actions have consequences. Life isn¡¯t a game, there is no do over. More importantly, I want you reflect about the society you want to live in.

    Does anyone of you know that, despite at the beginning of each year six out of ten students belong to the great noble families, seven out of ten of those that actually manage to graduate are justmoners, merchants and small nobles?

    And why is that? Because while the nobles waste their time harassing others, thinking that their family name will always solve every problem, the others work hard, knowing how important magic is. They don¡¯t have the luxury of a second chance.

    If a noble fails, he just returns to his beautiful manor, his whole life is still nned ahead for him. Those who seed, instead, have too much to lose, and their motivation keeps them focused. Most of the time, a huge part of that motivation is revenge.

    Do you realize how many mages have destroyed entire noble households because of past grudges? Do you really want to live in a world weremoners tremble in fear of the nobles, while the nobles in turn fear the mages?

    It¡¯s because of this wed morality that our Kingdom is slowly devolving into chaos. The academy rules don¡¯t just protect themoners from you, they also protect you from the mages of tomorrow.

    Might makes right is all fun and games, until you find someone stronger than you. Then, it bes a nightmare, were you can lose everything on a whim of your better. Law is a shield to defend the weak, not a sword to threaten others¡¯ lives.

    I hope that you all take my words to heart. Thanks for your time."

    As soon as the Headmaster left the room, the air filled withments about the news. It had been years since thest time someone managed to get expelled, and it only happened because a Professor witnessed the events.

    It was easy to predict where the discussion was headed, so Lith took out the Ballot and stood up near Professor Trasque. He had joined the academy a little more than 24 hours ago, and all that mean looks routine had already bored him to death.

    Trasque didn¡¯t miss any of it.

    "Still ming the victim, uh? Our Headmaster is really a good guy. He really believes in you lot. As for me, I believe that humans are too arrogant and self-centered to have any concept of pain outside their own.

    People are only able to empathise with things they experienced hard enough to get hurt themselves. That¡¯s why I took this job."

    The contrast between Professor Trasque¡¯s handsome face and the cruel smile he made, managed to make it even creepier.

    - "Between his veiled threats and the grins, the Professor really seems a full-blown psycho. I doubt he¡¯ll receive many love letters from the female students."

    "Harrumph." Solus objected. "The pot calling the kettle ck. That¡¯s the same face you do almost every minute of the day."

    "Do I really have such an unsettling expression?!" Lith was bbergasted.

    "No sh*t, Sherlock!" ¨C

    "Now, let me exin today¡¯s lesson." Professor Trasque continued.

    "These rings are special. Once activated, they be a closed cage, nothing can get in or out. I can also modify their internal structure as I see fit."

    With a few flicks of his fingers, the pavement rose in different sections of the nearest ring, forming first a small corridor, then a stairway, andstly an L shaped path.

    "You will enter in this ring, in pairs. I¡¯ll prepare for you different scenarios, and in each one there will be an assant and a victim. The assant can either use first magic or a knife like this."

    Trasque showed them a blunt piece of metal that could barely pass for a wedge.

    "The victim can only use first magic for self-defence. The scenario ends as soon either one gets a direct hit."

    Seeing a little too much enthusiasm in some of the students, he decided to make things clearer.

    "I know what you are thinking, but it¡¯s not as it looks like. This room is for training, not fighting. It means that even winning every scenario, no matter as victim or assant, won¡¯t necessarily give you any point.

    You are here to learn how to handle difficult situations. What it really matters is not the result, but what you learn from experience. There¡¯s a lot of you, so we¡¯ll use two rings simultaneously. Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t take long.

    This is a real-life simtion, not a bard¡¯s tale. Each try willst around five seconds, ten if you really take things slowly. We have plenty of time. To follow the Headmaster¡¯s wishes, I divided you in pairsposed by amoner and a noble.

    Let¡¯s do a few warm-up rounds, to give you an idea. Mister ¡¯most wanted¡¯ here, has just volunteered. Who else?"

    Seeing no raised hand, he picked a random student.

    - "Solus, since I have impulse control issues, limit my output to Nana¡¯s first magic level."

    "Copy that." ¨C

    In the first round Lith was the victim, while the assant was a fifteen years old girl with shoulder length curly red hair. Despite she was at least five centimetres (2 inches) taller than Lith, she had no confidence in her physical skills, so she decided to use magic.

    When Lith saw that she was actually performing hand signs for first magic, he weaved together two spells. The first made a thickyer of ice appear under her feet, while the second was a wind blow, the equivalent of a push.

    When she tried shifting her weight to resist the push, she slipped, falling down head first. Trasque startedughing his a*s off. The fight hadsted barely two seconds.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I really am." He said while helping her to get up, healing her broken nose.

    "Ipletely forgot he is a perfect silent hexacaster, that made a living out of hunting since he was four, while you led a pampered life,posing poems. There was no malice on my side, gods are my witnesses."

    No one believed a single word he was saying.

    "Jokes aside, that was terrible on your side." He said to Lith.

    "Let¡¯s see if the problem it¡¯s you or your opponent. Who is capable of at least silent triple casting?" Few hands were raised.

    "Okay, among you, who received military training?" Among the remaining ones, Trasque picked the biggest guy he could find. It was a fifteen-year-old boy, already 1.77 meters (5¡¯9") high, weighing at least 80 kilograms (176 pounds).

    His muscr body resembled that of a marine.

    As soon as Trasque let them start, Lith threw the knife at his victim, guiding and elerating it with a sliver of air magic.

    The student dodged it easily, but not having any realbat experience, he kept his eyes on the knife until it shed with the translucent yellow barrier that enveloped the ring. When he looked back at Lith, he was already in front of him.

    Lith¡¯s right hand released a blinding light with the same intensity of several cameras shing together, while the left one was holding a small ice knife, aimed to the victim¡¯s throat.

    "Okay, stop." Trasque appeared between them, grabbing Lith by the wrist.

    Once again, the battle ended a second after its start.

    "Kid, I don¡¯t remember stuttering. Your performance is a perfect example of what you don¡¯t have to do. Get off the ring. Minus twenty points for you, and that¡¯s because this was just a warm up. The next time you do that, it will be much worse."

 Chapter 67 Impulse Control Issues

    Lith came down the ring with a dumbstruck expression, trying to understand what had just happened.

    - "Maybe Professor Trasque wanted to teach you respect for the opponent. By beating them like that, you abused your power, and that¡¯s exactly what the Headmaster criticised earlier." Solus pondered.

    "Trasque caring for respect? After how he threatened everyone and how heughed in the face of that girl? Unlikely." ¨C

    Lith stood there, watching the other students performing their training. As Trasque predicted, every exchange was fast, but not as fast as Lith¡¯s. The performances he saw were mediocre at best, no points were assigned, but none were deducted either.

    He was about to ask Solus to rey for him the exact wording Trasque had used, when he finally understood.

    In the following two hours, whenever it was his turn, Lith would let his opponent perform his/her attack before neutralizing it when he yed the victim, while as the assant he would give them the time to react.

    Doing so costed him several defeats.

    Despite all his battle experience against savage and magical beasts, letting the opponent set his/her own rhythm would sometimes put him at a disadvantage that was unsurmountable in such a limited space, with only first magic.

    Lith spent most of the time spectating the others, often clicking his tongue at a bad move or to his own stupidity. At the end of the lesson, most of the students were mentally exhausted.

    The uniforms protected them from any harm first magic could do, but in such apetitive environment, even a simted life and death situation was faced as real.

    ying in both roles, had made them realize how easy it was to take their lives, how big was the advantage that having a weapon granted during an ambush.

    Only very few of them were actually capable of using first magic properly, the others were forced to improvise on the spot, desperately trying to score at least a win.

    Lith was still fuming when Trasque came to him.

    "Have you figured out your problem?" Trasque asked.

    "Yes. This is an academy, not a battlefield. Hence my problem is an impulse control issue. During the warm up rounds, I took my opponents down so fast that neither of us could learn anything from the training.

    In a real-life situation that would be good, but this is just an exercise, where I lost control on my pride and bloodlust. I risked to lead the others by example, making them so focused on winning to not learn neither from their fights or those of the others."

    Trasque had a pleased expression.

    "Not bad, kid. You avoided ranting about my allegedly unfair judgement and actually self-doubted yourself. Usually kids your age are incapable of introspection.

    For that, I¡¯ll give you ten points for having learned your lesson, but the total still remains minus ten points, because I want you to remember it. A mage incapable of controlling his actions, is a danger to himself and others."

    Lith bowed to him in sign of respect before leaving for the next ss. Ten points were worth the Professor¡¯s respect, yet he realized that his reactions were out of proportions.

    He was used to always be calm and collected, while now he was acting like a caged tiger trying to forcefully escape.

    - "This is so unnatural for me. Why didn¡¯t I pretend to ept Yurial¡¯s peace offering yesterday? I had all to gain and nothing to lose. And today I wasn¡¯t able to grasp the meaning of the exercise until it was toote.

    Could this be another effect of the hormones, or is it my body somehow rejecting my mind?" ¨C

    The thought was quite frightening, so Lith used Invigoration while walking, checking every nook and cranny of his being, searching for a clue. At a first look, everything was fine, everything was as he remembered from over a year ago.

    But then he noticed that the impurities in his body had moved a little toward his mana core, yet that made no sense. It would only happen when he refined his internal energy, and he had long been stuck by the bottleneck.

    So, Lith focused on his mana core and discovered the source of all his troubles. It was pulsing, like a heart, at every beat it would turn to a lighter shade of cyan, while turning back at its normal colour when at rest.

    - "Oh F*ck! My refining of the mana core has ovepped with its natural evolution. My core gets stronger over time, like everyone else¡¯s, but I have pushed mine so far that my body can¡¯t tolerate any further strengthening.

    My body and core will be at war, until thetter isn¡¯t allowed to expand properly. That¡¯s why my first crush hit me so hard, the imbnce is also affecting my mind. From now on, I better count up to one hundred before taking any decision." ¨C

    The fear of ending like the Wither, sent chills down his spine. It was a fate far worse than death, and he could do nothing about it but hope for the growth spurt to finally arrive.

    He was so depressed, that when he reached the Principles of Advanced Magic training hall, he barely noticed Professor Nalear.

    The room was almost identical to the one they had just left, but instead of rings, strange contraptions upied most of the space.

    They consisted of a small pedestal, from which came out a reversed test tube, 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") high, containing a ck sphere made of metal. Every 30 centimetres (less than 1 foot) there was a mark on the ss, for a total of six marks.

    "I hope you have studied and understood the first spell of your book, as I rmendedst time, because that¡¯s what we are going to do today. Contrary to all others tier four spells, Lift works almost like an inferior spell."

    She recited the spell, "Brezza Reale", and the weight inside the contraption in front of her rosepletely above the first mark.

    "The problem is, it has no use outside practicing higher magic. What you did just see, is the effect obtained by casting it as it was tier three. But..."

    She recited the spell once again, and this time the weight arose above the second and then the third mark before falling down.

    "...you can freely add as much buckets of mana as you want. Your goal for this lesson, is to manage to rise the weight to the top of the bell jar. You have two hours. To barely pass, doing it just once is enough.

    Ten times out of ten means passing with flying colours. Choose your station and start whenever you want. For those who don¡¯t remember the spell, you can study it now, but the time limit is always two hours, starting five minutes ago."

    Professor Nalear ignored all the swearing that followed the students taking their position.

    "Is she crazy?" "This is insane! How can they demand for us to be hexacasters in two hours?" "If this is her way to get even with us for yesterday, I¡¯ll report that b*tch to the Headmaster!"

    Those were the politest remarks addressed to her.

    Lith chose a bell jar in line of sight with Yurial, intending to use him as a beginner standard.

    ording to the school records he had in Soluspedia, an A rank magician was able toplete the exercise within half an hour, a B rank in more than one hour, C rank and below could fail.

    That gave him an idea of how much time before seeding, but not how to begin. Since Yurial managed to start from the third mark, he did the same just a minuteter. The exercise was incredibly boring for Lith.

    For a true mage, Lift was an oversimplified spell, that made getting the weight up to thest mark easy as cake. Compared to achieving the same feat with spirit magic, it was ten times easier.

    Lith could have done it at the first try, but that would make him too outstanding. The worst part was that the only way he had to measure time was for Solus to count the seconds.

    After fifteen minutes, he allowed the weight to reach the fourth mark. After a little over twenty it reached the fifth, and less than five minutester it reached the top. The bell jar turned red, emitting a "Ding!" sound.

    Lith was so startled that made a little jump back.

    "Seems someone finally made it." Professor Nalear came to his side, her hair smelled like roses, making Lith¡¯s pressure spike.

    "Twenty points for getting the first spot without any help." She said in hermunicator amulet.

    "But are you capable of doing it again?" She asked,ing dangerously close.

    Solus did go straight for protocol omega, generating cold spots under his armpits and at the back of his neck, to avoid Lith sweating bullets.

    "Yes, of course." He tried focusing on the spell again, despite having troubles swallowing down, like he had a tennis ball stuck in his throat.

    The weight rose once again to the top, producing another ding.

    "Interesting, I can see the weight has a fluid motion. Five steps?"

    "Yes, once you get the gist of it, is quite easy." He said looking at her nose instead of her eyes.

    "Okay, champ. Since no one seems to be brave enough to ask for a hint, humour me. Try going slower, put half a second between every step."

    Lith did as instructed, discovering that the spell was actually really versatile, allowing to add mana freely, without fixed intervals, as long as the amount was always the same.

    "Bravo! Now try faster, like you want to break the bell jar."

    Soon the situation degenerated in a series of "Faster", "Slower" and "Not so rough, be gentler".

    Despite she was clearly referring to the handling of the weight, carrying no double entendre whatsoever, those words conjured in Lith¡¯s feverish mind images that werepletely unrted to magic.

    Despite doing his best to focus on the task at hand, while Solus was cooling him off as fast as she could, only Lith¡¯s paranoid nature ended up saving him from embarrassment.

    That morning he had bandaged hisher regions, so that in the worst-case scenario, the rise of the spear hero would cause no bulge in his pants, keeping it sticking to his abdomen.

 Chapter 68 Racking Points

    "Well, we have just passed half an hour from the start of the exercise." Nalear said after hermunication amulet emitted a low ringing noise.

    "Seems I have nothing more to teach you about Lift. Now, do me a favour. Soon many will start to get scared or frustrated, and will call me for help non-stop. Be a dear and give hints or suggestions to your ssmates stuck at least at the third mark.

    I¡¯ll take care of the desperate cases."

    Lith had nothing to do for at least another hour and a half, so he epted, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes, to not look at her face.

    "Great! Ten points for demonstratingplete mastery of the Lift spell, and another ten for helping me out." She made a smile so radiant that would have made protocol omega useless, despite Solus¡¯ best efforts.

    But Lith had timed correctly his thank-you bow, avoiding her gaze, and immediately turned back. He had so many people to look down upon, that he felt like a kid in a candy shop.

    Yurial had made no improvement, but Lith didn¡¯t feelpelled to help him. He¡¯d rather preferred for his help to be openly required, if not begged for.

    After looking around, he noticed that Quy too wasn¡¯t too far away. She seemed to be swamped at the second mark, sometimes managing to reach the third.

    She was 1.35 meters (4¡¯5") high, with such a scrawny build that she could hope to weight over 30 kilograms (66 pounds) only if soaking wet. She looked so frail and weak that a gust of wind would be able to carry her away any moment.

    - "It¡¯s amazing how she managed to get a bright green mana core despite being so malnourished. If the tonic she received from Vastor really works, I wonder how powerful she will be." ¨C Lith thought.

    "Need a hand?" He asked. She was amoner too, and up to that point, the only person that had apologized to him without a hidden agenda.

    "Yeah, thanks. What am I doing wrong?"

    "Nothing, is just that you failed to grasp the spell¡¯s exnation." Quy looked at him with a downtrodden expression, racking her brain while her neighbours at the fourth mark were sneering at her.

    Lith was really tempted to kick them in the nuts, but s, too many witnesses.

    "If you remember, it mentioned that this exercise requires creating five steps, right?"

    "Right." Quy nodded, taking a break to give Lith her undivided attention.

    "Every step pushes the weight above a mark, so you may think that you need to create five steps, or if you prefer, five small pulses of mana, to push the weight up to the top."

    She nodded again.

    "But the book never mentioned that you need to generate them all together. Lift gives you a wide window of opportunity to create the steps."

    Noticing that she still wasn¡¯t understanding, he dumbed down the concept.

    "Imagine that you must walk a stair to get to an upper floor. You need five steps to do it, and it¡¯s your mana that creates them. Even if you can maintain only two steps at a time, it¡¯s plenty enough.

    You just need to get up to the second step, let the first one dissolve, create the third..."

    "Move up to the third, rinse and repeat!" Quypleted the thought. "That¡¯s why the book called them steps instead of pulses or pushes. To be honest the choice of words had puzzled me quite a bit."

    Lith nodded.

    "Otherwise it would require to be able to cast five pulses at a time, and it would bepletely unreasonable for the second lesson."

    But Quy was listening no more. After thanking him quickly, she went back to practice, managing instantly to always reach the third mark. In less than ten minutes, another ding resounded.

    Her neighbours had long stopped sneering, and once they managed to find the courage for asking Lith for an encore, he was nowhere to be found. Quy ignored their requests for help, working hard to master what she had just understood.

    After her, Lith helped Yurial and then Friya. He had yet to decide what to do with them, but he had nothing to lose in the exchange. He would kill two birds with one stone, showing them his superiority while also making them feel obligated.

    Managing to establish a rtionship on equal terms with the heir of an archmage and the daughter of an influential noble, would discourage his peers to show open hostility if not force them to avoid any further harassment.

    Soon, his outstanding performance in the light department would be well known, very few would dare to move against him once Marth and Manohar had shown such interest towards him.

    All he needed was just another push, and all the young master/mistress drama would be a relic of the past.

    At the end of the lesson, Lith received ten more points from Nalear, since many of those he helped had managed topletely understand the true nature of the exercise.

    - "That makes fifty points!" Solus was ecstatic. "Too bad we must also deduct the ten Trasque took away."

    "It¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk." Lith replied. "Besides, after lunch we will have our first Forgemaster lesson. I can¡¯t wait to get my hands on it!" ¨C

    At lunch, Quy, Yurial and Friya tried to join him once again, and this time Lith didn¡¯t send them away. He was curious to see what they had to offer in terms of knowledge and power.

    Instead, he ended up swamped in small talk. Lith hadpletely forgotten what high-school conversations were like, how teenagers mostly talked about boys, girls or whine about their teachers.

    "Seriously..." Friya stabbed hersagne like she had a personal vendetta against it.

    "... what kind of Professor just puts you in a room and demands that you figure out everything by yourself? How big of a jerk can she be?"

    Lith listened on and off to her, so when the topic at hand became his area of expertise, he was ready to answer the question he had just misheard.

    - "At least a double D cup." He thought.

    "By my maker, don¡¯t you dare say that out loud!" Solus mind-scolded him ¨C

    "I bet your family hired a tutor for you." Yurial chimed in, shaking his head at her remark.

    "Yes, why?"

    "Only tutors spoon-fed magic. My father never exined anything to me, unless I was uncapable of understanding something on my own. He would just give me books and demand results."

    Being clear-headed again, Lith joined the conversation.

    "By the way, why your father didn¡¯t teach you all these exercises beforehand? It would have given you quite an edge, and I don¡¯t think the academy would care."

    Yurial shook his head again, sighing.

    "Oh, yeah. Just because my father is an archmage, I have all the knowledge of the world at my fingertips." He said gritting his teeth.

    "I wish it was like that. Until my great-grandmother became a mage, our was a family ofmoners. The two things she passed down on his bloodline are: the spite for nobles, no offense." He said raising his in sign of apology toward Friya.

    "None taken." She replied, while actually shivering with fear. The Headmaster¡¯s words were finally clear to her. People like Lith would resent the nobles that abused their authority, and so would magic bloodlines.

    - "That¡¯s why the King is so hell-bent on changing the system." She thought. "Over time, us nobles are isting ourselves from the masses. If it keeps up like this, soon the status of noble will be like having a bounty on your head." ¨C

    "And her hard-working nature." Yurial continued. "In my family, the less you do, the farther you get from the line of session. Some of my profligate siblings are as good as disowned, with no money or authority of their own.

    The reason why I am the heir is because of my talent and efforts, and I could lose the title anytime if I start to ck off. When I asked my father to teach me the secrets of the academy, do you know how he replied?"

    Yurial made a stern face, speaking with a low, harsh voice, mimicking archmage Deirus demeanour.

    "Son, your grandfather was just a noble, not even a mage. My foundations and resources for magic where nothingpared to what I gave you. If you cannot achieve as much as I did despite all that, teaching you is pointless.

    For our Kraston family to prosper, you need to be able to walk with your own legs. Getting unfair advantages make youzy and reliant on other¡¯s help. There are no shortcuts in life to achieve what really matters. Now go back to work!"

    The whole table giggled, Yurial had got so immersed in his persona to yell thest part, drawing on him the looks of their neighbours. Realizing his slip-up, Yurial had be red, so Lith asked Friya about her tutor, to cut him some ck.

    "I asked her countless times." She sighed.

    "But she always replied that our money was buying her services, not her loyalty. And that she had no intention of taking the smallest risk with the Mage Association for such a little sum." Friya scoffed.

    "With the amount we paid her, we could have probably built a fortress. What about you, Quy?"

    Quy was wolfing down her second serving ofsagna, looking at Lith¡¯s steak like a hungry tiger. The mouthful she had taken was too big for her to talk, so they had to wait for her to be able to swallow.

    "I had no tutor." She exined, while trying to wipe the sauce off her face.

    "The healer of our vige had been killed by some bandits, so his books were avable for everyone. I was an orphan, too weak to work in the fields, so I began studying them.

    Once I understood magic, I became the next healer, until the Duke that was managing the rebuilt of the vige heard about me. He built a house for me, and when I became old enough, he rmended me to the academy. You know the rest."

    She returned to give her meal all the care she could.

    "That story is really impressing." Yurial said. "But at the moment I am so amazed by the amount of food you are eating that I cannot think about anything else."

    "I swear, she wasn¡¯t like this yesterday." Friya said.

    "It must be Vastor¡¯s tonic." Lith said. "She is shorter then me by a good head, yet she is eating more than me. I guess she needs a lot of food to catch up. Mind if I touch your head?"

    Quy violently blushed, tried to say something, but her mouth was full again, so she just nodded, lowering her head. Lith pretended to cast a spell while actually activating Invigoration.

    "Your muscles are severely undeveloped, and your bone density is terrible. You need to drink more milk, for your skeleton."

    "It¡¯s the first time I hear this." Yurial asked with a curious look in his eyes.

    "Mind to exin?"

    - "Yeah, sure! How can I possible exin the concepts of vitamins, proteins and calcium when yournguagecks even the words necessary to describe them?" ¨C Lith thought.

    "It¡¯s an old saying from my vige. Meat for the muscles, milk for the bones. How do you think I got so big at twelve?" Was what he actually said.

    Despite being three years older than him, Yurial was just a few centimetres taller than Lith, while Friya was five centimetres (2 inches) shorter than him. To Lith¡¯s amazement, the three of them ordered a bottle of milk each, starting to drink it instead of water.

 Chapter 69 New Specializations

    As soon as everyone finished eating, Lith left with the excuse of needing to prepare the final details for his first Forgemaster lesson. The actual truth was that having a conversation with them, about anything but magic, made him want to rip his ears off.

    - "Damn! Now I remember why back on Earth I never took a babysitter job, unless I was desperate for money. Kids are so annoying, always worried about what others think of them, obsessing themselves with the stupidest things." -

    While he was walking toward his room, he noticed a group of four, one girl and three boys, that had pinned another girl in a corner. Before Lith could walk away, the bullying quickly escted in a beating.

    Lith never stopped walking, he just threw a nce of them, curling his upper lip in a disgusted expression.

    - "Shouldn¡¯t we help her? Four against one is unfair." Solus asked.

    "Life is unfair." Lith replied. "I don¡¯t know, nor I care for her. Besides, what could I do? Even if I saved her this time, as soon as I turn my back, they would beat her twice as hard for revenge.

    If she is so stupid to prefer getting beaten instead of taking a Ballot, that¡¯s her problem. I don¡¯t n on opening an idiot shelter." ¨C

    Back in his room, Lith took a long bath, discussing with Solus what they had learned from the book and how far it was safe to reveal his talent and mastery.

    Soon the first gong resounded, indicating that fifteen minutes were left before the beginning of the next period.

    Lith flew at full speed, discovering that the lesson would not take ce into a ssroom, but inside the Forgemastering training hall, right beside the Alchemist training hall.

    When Lithnded, both the doors were still closed and many people were waiting outside. The students were mingling together.

    From what he could understand, the two specialization courses would take ce simultaneously, allowing people to meet before and after the lesson.

    - "I¡¯m really interested in the Master Alchemist course." Solus said. "I think it would be a perfectplement to Forgemastering. Who knows, maybe we could even fuse them together, obtaining powerful single-use weapons for when we are out of mana."

    Lith¡¯s interest was piqued.

    "Yeah, it would be great. Too bad I cannot afford another specialization, that would mark me as a S rank student. Besides, I can¡¯t be in two ces at once."

    Solus mind-shrugged.

    "That¡¯s not a problem, since there¡¯s two of us. I¡¯ll piggyback on one of the students with my shapeshifting abilities. We¡¯ll get two specializations for the price of one. Wish me luck. See youter!"-

    Before Lith could stutter a surprised reply, Solus had already left his finger. She turned into a snow-white blot, using the crowd as a cover, while she got under the robe of a kid with the Master Alchemist textbook in his hand.

    Lith was so shocked that his mind wentpletely nk, until the Professors arrived and opened their respective doors. Lith followed her inside the Forgemaster training hall, still incredulous of Solus sudden departure.

    Only the mockingughter of one of his ssmates managed to woke him from his daze. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t Lith the target, but another student that was whining about having forgotten his book.

    Lith immediately regained his focus.

    - "Keep calm, old man. Sh*t happens, this is just a small setback. We¡¯ll get her back in a couple of hours." -

    Thanks to their mind link, he was still able to perceive Solus presence in the next room, just like her was able to keep moving, since they were less than one hundred meters (110 yards) apart.

    But because of the distance and the magical nature of the White Griffon castle, they weren¡¯t able to share their minds as usual. It was like being in a crowd in a club event, they were still able tomunicate, but it required effort.

    He could perceive that Solus¡¯s mind was paying attention to something, the other lesson seemed to have already started.

    "Hello, boys and girls. My name is Professor Lyca Wanemyre, and I will be your instructor in the path towards bing Forgemasters.

    My ss will be different from all the others you follow, because forgemastering is different from any kind of magic you have ever learned. You have just moved your first step in the seventh department of the White Griffon, the crafting department."

    Professor Wanemyre was a woman in her early thirties, 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") high, with long ck hair with shades of red held up in a chignon. She was wearing skin tight working gloves that highlighted her long and nimble fingers.

    She didn¡¯t have her robe on, so it was impossible to hide her soft, luscious curves. Professor Wanemyre was better endowed than Nalear in every aspect, and despite she wore no make-up, that made her heart-shaped face stand out even more.

    Her demeanour was less shy and jovial than Nalear, her calm andposed attitude were those of a mature woman, not of an exuberant girl.

    Lith could empathise with his male ssmates, that were gulping non-stop, while staring at her with dumbfounded expressions.

    - "Lucky me." Lith thought. "Seems that my heart is too little for more than a crush at a time. I couldn¡¯t bear acting out as an idiot again." ¨C

    Wanemyre paid no attention to the agape mouths and the bright red faces. Her students were barely teenagers, she was used at their first meet reactions.

    "So many mages are so fixated on elemental magic, that they never mention the arts of crating to their disciples.

    So, I apud you for choosing a specialization too often inglorious and underestimated, instead of making things blow up with fire and lightning like most of your peers.

    Contrary to what you may have heard or imagined, Forgemastering doesn¡¯t require a forge, a hammer or ingredients.

    Sure, some proper magic imbued items like mana crystals or the fur of a magical beast or monster, can improve the results, but that¡¯s material for another lesson. Let¡¯s start with the basics. Who of you went ahead and learned about forgemastering from our book?"

    It was mostly a rhetorical question, the books had been delivered just the day before, and between the sses and the self-study, she wasn¡¯t expecting much. Yet a couple of hands were raised.

    "The early bird gets the worm! Good. Describe to the ss how a generic forgemastering spell works." She was pointing at a fifteen-year-old boy with red hair, the only one to have raised his hand beside Lith.

    "Uhhh, well, uhm... first you need to draw a circle, and... uhm." He actually has skimmed the first pages, and had raised his hand to make an impression on the Professor, he never expected to be questioned.

    Wanemyre shook her head.

    - "So typical of teenagers, always thinking with the head in the pants first. At least this time I got only two posers." ¨C She thought.

    "You, with the mean eyes, mind to step in?"

    Lith ignored the remark, replying promptly.

    "Forgemastering requires drawing two magic circles, one inscribed into the other, with a series of magical runes between them. The number and type of runes depends on the nature of the enchantment to apply.

    The circles must be perfectly drawn with no imperfections, and even their radius matter. It must be as close as possible to the size of the item that is going to be enchanted."

    Wanemyre whistled in surprise and approval.

    "Very well said. Where is your book, by the way?"

    "It¡¯s all in here." Lith tapped his temple with the right index finger.

    - "No way I take it out. Until it¡¯s in Soluspedia, I can quote it word by word." ¨C He thought.

    "Really?" The Professor raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Then do you mind drawing for the ss the dimensional amulet circle? Page 22, diagram 4." She sneered.

    While everyone was flipping their books, Lith closed in to Wanemyre, who pointed to him a sk holding a pungent smelled liquid.

    - "I wish Solus was here. She would beughing like a madwoman, mocking me for my know-it-all fa?ade." ¨C For the first time in so many years, Lith felt alone, and he didn¡¯t like that feeling, not one bit.

    The room was so silent that he could listen to the steady beating of his own heart. There was no voice in his head, cheering for him or trying to make himugh, everything felt pointless and hollow.

    With a series of gestures, several drops of the liquid flew in the air thanks to water magic, sshing on several points of the perfectly smooth white stone table between Lith and the Professor.

    The internal and external circles took form simultaneously, one drop moving clockwise, and the other counter-clockwise.

    The innermost circle had a radius of ten centimetres (4 inches), while the other had a fifteen cm (6 inches) radius, leaving about five cm (2 inches) between them for the runes.

    Only afterpleting both circles and checking that there were no imperfections, Lith moved the remaining drops, forming one of the thirteen runes at a time, devoting all his focus on each one.

    When he finished, Professor Wanemyre pped her hands loudly, and after a second, the ss unwillingly joined her.

    "Bravo!" She said. "You weren¡¯t pretending, you really studied. Sorry if I doubted you. Thirty points for your performance, and ten more as an apology. I guess I should have expected as much from Manohar¡¯s and Marth¡¯s new friend."

    At those words, all those who were nning about revenge or how humiliating Lith without incurring in the Ballot, immediately took a 180¡ã turn. It was already hard hiring Manohar as it was, if angered, there was no telling how he would react.

    Not to mention that being the Royal Healer he held an enormous amount of influence and political power, he just didn¡¯t care using it. It was better not to rattle his cage.

    "If I asked you to, would you be able to continue the exnation?"

    "Yes." Lith answered. "But I hadn¡¯t the time to go much further, plus I don¡¯t believe I have fully grasped the contents. My exposition would becking depth and true knowledge." The first part was a lie, just to avoid standing out too much.

    Reading twenty pages wasn¡¯t much, but the whole book was another story. The second part, instead, was the truth. If books were enough, anyone could get infinite specializations simply by going to the academy¡¯s library.

    "Humble and honest to the boot, worthy of a Forgemaster. Another twenty points for you, Lith. Feel free to gather around here, everyone. Since your ssmate has gifted us with a perfect circle, it would be wasteful not to use it.

    I¡¯ll give you a practical demonstration of forgemastering."

 Chapter 70 A Third Specialization 2

    Professor Wanemyre opened a desk drawer, filled to the brim with cheap looking pendants.

    "We buy them in stocks, just like the rings." She said picking one at random.

    "The only way to differentiate the various rings, is by the stones embedded within. Red for dimensional items, blue for tier 1 magic storing rings, yellow for tier 2, green for tier 3. Tier 4 magic storing rings and above are not avable in the Prize Hall.

    As it is, it¡¯s just your average silver pendant." She ced it at the center of the innermost magic circle. After that, she called for help via hermunication amulet and waited for her assistants toe.

    "Fun fact: dimensional amulets are usually preferred to dimensional rings, since most mages prefer to have as many magic storing rings as they can. We still have to discover a way to use something other than rings for instant casting."

    The door of the ssroom opened, a man and a woman dressed like the academy¡¯s staff stepped in, and took ce beside the magical circle, starting to chant the same spell.

    With each cast, the space within the circle was filled with pure non elemental mana, to the point that the air inside started to crackle and pop with power. The energy became dense enough to lift up the amulet from the table.

    "To use a cksmith analogy, the circle acts as a magical furnace, withholding the stored mana within and saturating the item that has to be enchanted. The circle must be perfect, or the mana would leak, leading to a defective product." She exined.

    "The higher the mana density one creates, the better the item will be. But that also mean that the Forgemaster will consume a greater amount of mana for the enchantment.

    If the forgemastering spell used is weaker than the mana umted inside the circle, it will have no effect. A true Forgemaster must always be aware of her limits, bnce is of the utmost importance in our line of work.

    If the mana density is too low, the item will be useless. Too high, and it would cost so much to not have a market value, unless you do it for yourselves, of course."

    When the assistants stopped chanting, Wanemyre stepped forward, gesturing the students to move away. Then, she started casting several consecutive spells, both her hands and voice almost never stopped.

    One by one, the runes that Lith had drawn between the circles, started moving from their original position, taking ce around the amulet. They formed an energy sphere, absorbing the mana from the surrounding space and injecting it in the amulet.

    When thest runepleted the sphere, all the avable mana had beenpressed to the point of being barely able to enclose the pendant.

    With a final spell, Wanemyre fused the sphere with the amulet, the runes shined on its surface for a few seconds, before disappearing forever. Only then she took the amulet in her hand, showing the ss the result of her efforts.

    "This little thing here is a top-quality dimensional amulet. Its value is about 340 points in the Prize Hall and above three hundred gold coins, if you were to buy it with cash."

    The idea of so much money condensed is such a little thing made even those born in wealthy families gasp in amazement. It was enough to build a manor and buy itsnd. Furnitures and pieces of art to furnish it, would take at least another amulet, though.

    "Now, here a few things that books don¡¯t exin, and that you may have missed during the whole process. I¡¯m especially referring to those that paid more attention to my chest rising and lowering, rather than to my brilliant performance."

    She red to some of the male students, whose faces turned to a bright purple, while squealing excuses and apologies. Lith feltpassion for them. If it was Nalear instead of her, he would probably be in their shoes.

    The female students, instead, made fun of them, calling them perverts and other non-endearing terms. Professor Wanemyre was fuming, there was only so much she was willing to bear, even from teenagers.

    She took pride in her talent and deep expertise, being treated like a b of meat was the worst insult anyone could do to her. She covered her chest with her arms before taking a deep breath to calm down, in order to continue.

    "Not everyone is able to be a Forgemaster. That¡¯s because together with the War Mage, is the specialization that requires the greatest mana capacity.

    While for a War Mage it determines how much destruction they can bring, without a huge amount of mana, a Forgemaster cannot create the most powerful enchanted items in our repertoire.

    Mana capacity is needed, not only to ovee the high mana density required for a great item, but also because every single rune requires its own spell to be engraved in the object.

    Each spell is rtively simple and short, but you must need to be able to cast them in a rapid session without dy. This because as soon the magical furnace is loaded, the mana tries to escape, and even a perfect circle can only hold on for a while.

    Usually, after ten seconds, the circle destabilizes, and the mana begins to leak. This means that I had to cast thirteen spells, one for each rune, plus another to permanently imprint the energies in the amulet, for a total of fourteen spells.

    Each of them was able to overcame the mana density, and I had to do everything within ten seconds, or I would have just wasted a lot of mana for nothing.

    Bear in mind that once an object is saturated by mana, if the forgemastering process fails, it cannot be repeated. The energy remnants from the previous failure would still linger, making any further attempt a waste of time.

    Even this castle is the product of the work of countless Forgemasters. Every single stone has been enchanted, before assembling them as you see it today. Otherwise it would be impossible to imbue with magic something this big.

    And that is just the first requirement. The second is that a Forgemaster must be a jack of all trades, no matter if she is a master of none. In my line of work, I need to be proficient in all the six elements.

    You will also need patience, love for research and a strong build. Manipting this magnitude of energies is not something pipsqueaks can afford to do, not without incurring in permanent damages that would umte over time"

    Lith rose his hand.

    "Yes?"

    "I can understand most of the items I saw in the Prize Hall, and link their properties with the six elements. But I don¡¯t get how Warp Steps and dimensional items work. What element do they belong to?"

    "Excellent question. The answer is: to all of them. The only force that can bend space and time is gravity. Powerful Forgemasters of the past, discovered that air and earth magic are the bare minimum to create such powerful gravity.

    But to stabilize it, to make such items not only reproducible but also to allow fine control over them, all the elements were required. It¡¯s a field of research that has never gone dry, there are still so many things to exin."

    - "I think I understand." Lith thought. "They need the electromaic waves from the lightning to resonate with the gravitational pull earth magic generates, and enhance it to bend time and space.

    Fire and water magic probably allow to avoid side effects, like the formation of vacuum, overheating or freezing while creating such powerful gravitational force.

    I can¡¯t even fathom what darkness and light are used for, thought. They didn¡¯t exist back on Earth, science can¡¯t help me with them." -

    During the rest of the lesson, Professor Wanemyre proceeded to exin how they would manage the rest of the course. She wouldn¡¯t allow any of them inside the training hall again, until they had learned the theory behind forgemastering.

    Having students messing around with magic circles was too dangerous, since high density mana was highly vtile and could cause huge explosions, if not controlled properly.

    After that, they would need to memorize all the basic runes and how tobine them, until being able to produce all the basic enchanted items.

    Only those who passed all the tests would be admitted to the fifth year, learning how to add multiple properties to a single item.

    By the end of the lesson, Lith was fuming like a volcano, ready to explode.

    Being in the first row, helped him to better understand Professor Wanemyre¡¯s teachings, noticing the finest details about how to draw runes.

    At the same time, though, he was also able to feel the pressureing from all his ssmates standing behind him.

    In normal conditions, he would find disgusting the idea of being surrounded by strangers, hearing their whispers and being subject to their res, yet he would bare it all.

    But since his mana core and body were at odds, constantly fighting and messing with his mind, it was much harder for him to control his reactions and hide his emotions.

    It was Solus¡¯ voice and presence that helped him paying them no heed, using their bond to soothe his most violent reactions. In thest two hours, though, they had been separated.

    And now Lith was forced to wait for her outside the training hall, since the Master Alchemist lesson had yet to finish. It was really irritating for him, standing alone in a crowd for the umpteen time since his first life.

    Even during high-school Lith had always been different from his peers, focused on paying the bills instead of goofing around. Seeing their carefree attitude, how easy it was for them to rx and make friends, made him green with envy.

    Suddenly, the Alchemist training hall opened, and a small insect came out of it, reaching Lith¡¯s leg unnoticed and then turning into a liquid, going back toward his hand.

    - "Sorry it took so long, but everyone made so many questions that the Professor forced everyone to stay behind. Want to grab something to eat?" Solus asked.

    "Good idea"- Lith anger dissolved like snow on the Sun.

 Chapter 71 Change Of Plans

    - "Before going to the cafeteria, can we please go to the Library? I need to copy the whole book to be able to follow properly the next lessons." Solus asked.

    "How do you n on doing that? My Forgemaster schedule is full of theory, I doubt we will cross the Alchemists again."

    "That¡¯s why I stole a schedule from an airheaded kid. We just need to make time so that you can give me a ride back and forth. Now I¡¯m strong enough, surviving two hours by myself is easy as pie." ¨C

    In a corner of his mind, where Solus couldn¡¯t read unless she willingly searched for it, Lith added:

    - "Wish I could say the same." ¨C

    On the road to the library, they shared their memories of the respective lessons, yet Lith omitted all the parts where he suffered from loneliness and istion. In his mind it was a sign of weakness, something to be ashamed of.

    - "By my maker! Another hot teacher? Even the male Professor from the Alchemist ss was quite a sight for sore eyes, the girls wouldn¡¯t stop staring at his a*s every time he turned around to write on the chalkboard.

    Do you think that it depends on their mana cores, or is it just a marketing move on the Headmaster part?"

    "Both are possible, but I believe thetter to be more likely. Young minds are easily swayed around, especially if their hormones are properly channelled.

    Back on Earth, my medium school music teacher was so hot that all the boys in the ss learned how to y at least an instrument properly. Some even started listening ssical music, just to impress her." ¨C

    When they reached their destination, and opened its double doors, the academy¡¯s Library turned out to be exactly as Lith had imagined the Prize Hall to be, except with books instead of magical items.

    The bookshelves were full to the brim, forming corridors between themselves. The room was so big that Lith suspected they had made it with dimensional magic. At the entrance, a clerk in his mid-twenties asked if he needed help.

    Luckily, the library had been organized well, and with the clerk¡¯s directions Lith was soon back with the Master Alchemist textbook and all the tier four magic books he managed to carry with him.

    On every shelf there was a tag, stating that the use of dimensional items was prohibited, and Lith would never risk getting banned by such gold mine.

    "I¡¯ll borrow these books, please." He said.

    The clerk was shocked by the amount, it was more than the average person would borrow in a whole year.

    "Sorry sir, the max allowed is three books at a time."

    Lith clicked his tongue, picking the book for Solus and a tier four spellbook each for the War Mage and Battle Mage specialization. He was eager to find out what spells of mass destruction looked like and how to improve his battle spells.

    Cross checking Lith¡¯s profile with the books of his choosing, the clerk inwardly smiled.

    - "Sigh, so young and na?ve. He is clearly biting more than he can chew, but at his age, everyone dreams of being a genius." ¨C

    Back in their room, they spent all the time before dinner copying the books. They had long prepared for the mammoth task, bringing with them enough empty books and ink in the pocket dimension to put the Encyclopaedia Britannica to shame.

    Solus¡¯ task was the longest one, she needed to copy every single page, while Lith would just make an abridged version of each spell, copying only hand signs, ents and a short description alongside its name.

    That would make possible for him to recognize those spells on sight, so when facing another mage, he would have the opportunity to take the necessary countermeasures. It would also allow him to reproduce them with true magic without being discovered.

    At dinner, he sat once again with his fellow healers. As much his heart cringed at the thought of theirpany, he wouldn¡¯t be at the academy forever.

    Lith needed reliable connections in the outside world too. Besides, he had just discovered how lonely he really felt without Solus.

    He needed to get back in touch with his human side.

    The mood at the table, though, was gloomy. Friya kept stirring the food in her te, just nibbling from time to time. Quy wolfed down her food, again, but there was no joy in it. She kept avoiding their gazes, like she expected to be scolded any second.

    Lith was gripped by his inner conflict. He would have much preferred being alone with Solus, yet he needed to get a hold of his emotions, like the adult he was.

    Now that he had a cool head again, he had realized that even Professor Wanemyre had called him "mean eyes" at their first meet. Solus had proven to be right all along, he couldn¡¯t keep ring all his life.

    He had to make peace with his inner self, or at least learn again how to control the emotions that showed on his face. To achieve any of that, he needed to be around people, either learning to appreciate theirpany or at least to fake it.

    Yurial had the impression that someone had died, and he was the only one kept in the dark.

    "Friya, how was your day?" He said trying to break the ice.

    "Terrible. It¡¯s just the second day and I needed help to seed in Nalear¡¯s ss and in my Mage Knight specialization. Don¡¯t get me started about Trasque.

    I don¡¯t know if it felt worse scoring so few wins, or his smug grim every time I lost to amoner.

    Why that stupid tutor of mine didn¡¯t focus more on chore magic? I feel so stupid and insignificant. I have always considered myself as someone talented, special.

    Yet now I am just another noble that everyone makes fun of, either because of my looks or myck of skill. I am so tempted to give up, but I¡¯m the first person in my family to get epted in one of the six great academies.

    I cannot waste this opportunity."

    "It¡¯s perfectly normal to feel that way." Yurial replied. "I didn¡¯t fare any better today, and my father is an archmage. But from Nalear¡¯s ss, I learned that it¡¯s better to swallow my pride.

    I didn¡¯t hesitate to ask for hints during my Warden specialization, since time is part of the grade.

    What about you Lith? Why are you feeling so down? I heard you aced your forgemastering ss, gaining quite some points. You should be walking on air, don¡¯t let yesterday¡¯s bad memories ruin your day."

    Lith put down the silverware, trying to collect his thoughts.

    "Being harassed is never pleasant, but I faced worse. I¡¯m not worried about that. As for my sess, I¡¯ll admit it was quite pleasant. If I dismissed it saying things like ¡¯it was nothing much¡¯, I¡¯d be a lying hypocrite.

    But Like Friya, it¡¯s my first time too being away from home, surrounded only by strangers. It helped me realize that I spent so many years hunting in the wild, that I forgot how act like a human. Be honest with me, do I re a lot?"

    "Every second." "Yes." "Always." The consent had been unanimous.

    Lith didn¡¯t trust them, so he had shared with them just a secondary issue. He was actually talking about his real worry with Solus, to make his expression match his emotions.

    - "As much as it pains me to admit it, I¡¯m worried about the future. Now I have everything nned out, but what if I seed? I have no purpose outside making me immortal, and at the end of the day, is it even worth it?

    Rena has already left, Tista will sooner orter marry, and my parents deserve to finally have some happiness and time on their own. But where that leaves me? Outside my family and you, I have nothing and no one that I love.

    I can¡¯t live my life for them. Not only I would be a burden for them, but it would also aggravate my problem. Sooner orter, everyone will die, and I will be left alone. What worth could possibly have a world devoid of joy?"

    "Oh Lith, you are really hopeless." Solus was really moved, he had actually put her at the same level of his family, outside a joke context.

    "You are just twelve, yet you already worry about something that will happen decades in the future. I told you back then and I¡¯ll tell you again, give this world a chance. Over time, many things can happen or change.

    Focus on the present, whatever problem you¡¯ll have, we will face it together. Trying to control and predict everything is a desperate endeavour, and it will eat you from the inside." ¨C

    "My father always says that from great poweres great istion. But don¡¯t worry, Lith. That¡¯s what friends are for. To shed a light in your darkest days." Yurial patted him on the shoulder, trying to console him.

    In another moment, Lith would have sneered at him, pushing his hand away.

    But thanks to being able of making small talk with strangers again and mostly to Solus¡¯ words, he managed to actually rx his expression for the first time since in the academy.

    "Thanks, Yurial." He said with a smile.

    - "Friends, uh? Then why are you consoling me and my small problem, instead of Friya that has much bigger issues? Not to mention hepletely ignored Quy. Friend my a*s, you are just trying to suck up to me." ¨C

    "What happened to you, Quy?" Lith asked.

    She followed his example, taking a pause from eating to talk easily.

    "Honestly, this academy sucks hard, it¡¯s even worse than my vige. Before bing a healer, I was considered a burden because I was too small and weak.

    After learning magic, since I was much stronger than my predecessor, everyone started treating me like a monster. Even as a child, I could tell that they were afraid of me, of what I could have done if I wanted revenge.

    I always felt different and alone back home, so I decided toe to the academy, hoping to find others like me. To make friends, to have a magical family that could understand me, someone to actually trust."

    The more she spoke, the angrier she became.

    "Instead my bubble burst from day one. Everyone here pushes me around, calling me names like cockroach, skank, and after I started taking the tonic, even pig. I¡¯m sick and tired of being afraid. In hindsight, I was better off at the vige.

    At least there they feared and respected me. Here I¡¯m aughing stock, either because I¡¯m short, ugly or because I picked only a specialization. But what could I have done?

    I never learned how to fight, my body can barely withstand powerful healing magic, let alone more violent kinds of magic. During Trasque¡¯s lesson, I lost all my fights, and even if they humiliated me, he never reprimanded one of them! I hate him too!"

    To be fair, no one had dared to humiliate anyone, not after Lith had so easily lost points at the beginning of the exercise. Trasque had let them fight fair and square, the problem lied in Quy short arms and flimsy build.

    Being unable of using any kind of silent magic, except for the light one, even girls of her age could overpower her with a single hand. Using magic or a weapon was just overkill.

    Lith: "Guess the only one that had it easy is Yurial." Friya: "Yeah, mister ¡¯archmage heir¡¯. No one has the guts to mess with him." Quy: "F*cking lucky b*stard."

    Suddenly, an honest smile appeared on Lith¡¯s lips. The mood around the table suited better his tastes, so full of anger, mistrust and deception. He saw potential in each one of them, especially Quy.

    She resembled a young Tista that he could turn into another Lith. He was the only one, aside maybe from Professor Vastor, that knew that once her body developed properly, her mana core would have no limits to its growth.

    Cyan for sure, maybe blue, if not purple.

    "Well, Quy, people don¡¯t need a reason to pick on you." Lith said.

    "They need one not to. And the best reason you can give them is a Guilty Ballot. Think about it, I am tall for my age, talented, or at least so they say, and yet I get harassed on daily basis.

    If the tonic works and you start to grow, nothing will change. Remember Nalear¡¯s story, she had talent and looks, yet survived only because of the Ballot. You should learn from her, and not repeat her mistakes."

    He could see from their faces, that both Quy and Friya were seriously considering the idea of getting a Ballot of their own. Lith needed a few deep breaths, to find the strength to say what he needed to.

    "As for your problems with first magic, I..." He needed his sheer willpower to keep his expression rxed, instead of acting like someone that was spewing poison off his tongue.

    "I could teach you all. We don¡¯t have lessons during the weekends, we would have plenty of space and time." The table exploded with cheers, his proposal was immediately epted.

    Lith knew that respect and trust were something that had to be given, before they could be given back. Yurial and Friya had both a light cyan mana core, like Nana, but theirs could still grow.

    Quy had a bright green mana core despite her childish body, so for her the sky was the limit. Even without his help, it was just a matter of time before they mastered first magic.

    He would exploit their desperation, giving them what they wanted before it lost its value. Just like when he helped Marchioness Distar, it was the best moment to make his investment.

 Chapter 72 Mock Exam

    In the following weeks, life at the White Griffon academy became more hectic by the day. After the Lift spell, Professor Nalear made them learn more educational spells with increasing difficulty and restrictions, putting the students to test at every lesson.

    Professor Trasque started making use of all the avable rings in the training hall, giving them military trained soldiers as sparring partners. They were equipped with enchanted armours, and would use a different weapon every lesson.

    The students, in turn, could only use one element, based on the scenario Trasque had devised for each training session. After every defeat, their partners would teach them footwork and point out their mistakes.

    The Master Healer lessons went without a hitch. The divide between Professor Vastor¡¯s favourites and the rest of the ss, became so wide that soon no one dared anymore to hope stealing their spotlight.

    The only thing left for the other students, was trying not to fall too much far behind and cing their bets about who woulde out on top.

    Most of the Forgemaster courses took ce in a ssroom. Professor Wanemyre, or one of her assistants, taught them how to differentiate runes based on the elements and how tobine them to obtain different effects.

    Solus was enthusiast about the Master Alchemist lessons she kept taking, and promised Lith a big surprise. She had quickly finished copying her book and now the two of them would raid the academy¡¯s library at every visit.

    As for the private lessons, they went smoother than Lith had expected. After a month, Quy had already mastered five kinds of silent magic, while Friya and Yurial were struggling with the fourth one.

    (AN: normal first magic requires hand signs and magic word, silent magic just the word or the signs, perfect silent requires only gestures to better direct and control the conjured effects)

    Her learning rate was terrifying, worthy of someone that managed to enter the White Griffon with no mentor. Lith suspected her to be a genius, and kept a close eye on her.

    Thanks to the tonic, she had grown of 5 centimetres (2 inches) and had gained 10 kilos (22 pounds). She was still thin, but her mana core had already evolved to deep cyan.

    Over time, he had managed to gain their trust and confidence, or at least so he hoped. Lith decided to teach them only silent magic, keeping the secrets for perfect silent magic and multi casting for himself.

    He wanted them to be reliant on him, not dependant, or it would dampen their growth and self-confidence. Not to mention he had no desire to give away such precious secrets and get nothing in return.

    Lith had proved them that they could trust him, now it was up to them to return the favour and show their usefulness.

    It was exactly a month after the beginning of the private lessons, that all the fourth-year students were summoned by the Headmaster in the Main Hall at the ground floor, right after breakfast.

    Several Professors appeared as soon as the gong that signalled the nearing start of the lessons resounded. They opened multiple Warp Steps, bringing them to their destination.

    The abrupt change of their routine left them confused. They had started that day like any other, preparing the spells and the books for the daily courses.

    "Hello, my dear students." Linjos said when thest Warp Steps closed.

    "I hope you enjoyed breakfast, since it will be thest decent meal you¡¯ll get for a while. At least, if you are good enough. Today, you will start the mock exam, to prepare for the trimester¡¯s finals.

    You will be split in groups of five, ording to the specializations of your choice. Each group will beposed by two attackers, two defenders and one healer. Your current evaluation will affect how your group will be formed.

    The duration of the exam is one week. It will take ce in the forest surrounding the White Griffon. The only thing that¡¯s required from you is to survive as long as you can.

    Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s a controlled environment, the Professors will rescue you in case anything goes wrong. Questions?"

    Several hands were raised, Lith¡¯s was among them.

    "Lith from Lutia, speak freely."

    "I thought there would be no tournaments orpetitions." Lith said. "Why this change?"

    Linjos chuckled.

    "It¡¯s nopetition. The forest is really big, different groups will go in different areas.

    The chances of meeting are nigh zero, and even if it happened, a team disrupting another would be immediately stopped, with devastating effect for its members grades.

    I forgot to specify that you will be constantly monitored, so beware what you do or say."

    His voice became cold during thest phrase, searching in the crowd for the most troublesome figures. Then, he pointed to a girl.

    "Histi Cawfor, speak freely." Lith recognized her, she was one of thest ced in the Healer ss.

    "Isn¡¯t this setup too unfair? Forests make no favours, if the groups are formed based on the evaluations, isn¡¯t it like dooming those who are still struggling to failure?" She was of course speaking of herself. There wasn¡¯t a single topic where she shined, yet.

    "You misunderstood my words." Linjos shook his head.

    "The groups will work on equal footing. What I meant before, was that they have been assembled so that all the groups have the same rank. I would never allow such a pointless exercise.

    This is an opportunity for you to socialize and learn to rely on each other. The test is meant for the whole team, not for the individuals. If the Kingdom will ever call for your help, you won¡¯t get to choose who to work with, you¡¯ll need flexibility and solidarity."

    Murmurs filled the air, the students who reputed themselves good were already cursing their trashy teammates before even knowing them, while the bottom feeders were praying the gods to give them someone that would lead to an effortless sess.

    All hands went down at that point, so Lith raised his own once again, while the sorting had already begun.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Headmaster, onest question. I get that this is a team effort, but what if someone fells to a beast and get saved by a teacher? Can he get back in the team, or does the whole group fail?

    "He/she will be considered to have ¡¯died¡¯ and returned to the castle. If only one member remains, a group is considered as wiped out. Needless to say, harming your own group is forbidden. You have to solve your differences, not escte them."

    Suddenly the air was shaken by a furious bellow.

    "What do you mean I am in the same group of thismoner trash?!"

    Curious, Lith asked to Linjos, who exined to him she was the one on the top of the Battle Mage specialization, and was referring to a girl that was quite far behind her.

    "Thank you for pointing it out, young mistress." Said Professor Binlow, the one in charge of the battle mage sses. The girl put up a big, satisfied smile, finally something was going her way.

    "Minus fifty points for questioning orders, and another minus fifty for having the gall to say that to my face!" He yelled at her like a true drill sergeant, making her cower.

    "Without discipline there is no victory. An arrogant leader who disrespects her soldiers, can only lead them to defeat! Besides, who¡¯s trash? Have you ever fought something in your life? How do you know how she reacts to danger? Or how you do?

    Real fights are different from the sses, and usually those who p their gums more are the first to fall in battle. Now shut up, unless you want to lose another fifty!"

    Having lost half her points in one go, she obeyed.

    Lith ended up in a group of three girls and a boy. He didn¡¯t know any of them, so he tried to do his best to act friendly, like he did with the healers¡¯ group. In thest month he had regained quite a bit of his social skills, and lost his edgelord demeanour.

    When Professor Trasque opened their Warp Steps, he was ready to move forward, when one of the girls grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing him to a halt.

    "Professor Trasque, you haven¡¯t told us who is the leader. The chain ofmand must be clear."

    Lith facepalmed inwardly, while Trasque, with his usual sass, did it openly.

    "Good gods, are you deaf or what? This is a group exercise, between people that don¡¯t know each other. Is up to you to decide who is the leader, and is a choice that has nothing to do with grades, status or prestige.

    A leader doesn¡¯t just yap orders around, she will also bear the responsibility if her team fails. Is it clear?" He red at the nearest girl, before pushing them all through the dimensional door.

    Once inside the forest, all Lith¡¯s senses went on alert. It was apletely unknown environment, he could rely on the books inside Soluspedia to recognize nts and animals, but they were of little use for survival.

    Magical beasts would not give him points for his expertise, they would only try to rip him apart, dooming him to failure.

    He was looking at the tree barks, while sniffing the air with his heightened sense, trying to ascertain the nature and kind of the local predators, when the worst noise possible reached his ears.

    "We still have to decide first who¡¯s inmand." Said another girl.

    - "F*ck me sideways! How can anyone be such a bonehead? If they keep up like this, we¡¯d better surrender." ¨C He thought.

    All his efforts to talk sense into them ended up in failure, they used him of trying to steal the spotlight again, like during themon sses.

    Lith had even opened his speech saying he had no interest in being the leader. He just wanted them to be quiet and start moving. That just made them angrier, yelling at him to stop ordering them around.

    In the meantime, a few dozen kilometres away, the ruler of the forest was taking its first morning nap, snoring soundly. One of the giant front paws was pressed against its eyes, shielding them from sunlight while enjoying spring¡¯s warmth.

    With each of its breaths, the world energy would enter its body, nourishing and strengthening the mana core, pushing it forward to the next evolution. Numerous small birds scampered on his curled massive body, chirping boldly.

    Nothing would dare attacking them while on the highest throne.

    "Boss! Boss!" An enormous Ry, its height at the withers reaching 2 meters (6¡¯7"), with a golden fur, with shades of red and yellow, approached galloping. The birds gave it no heed, continuing their business.

    "Wake up! It¡¯s that time of the year again."

    The Scorpicore¡¯s body shook up, suddenly alert and clear-headed.

    "Oh gods, no! I¡¯d swear I had cubs until just a few months ago. Finding a decent mate is such a hassle! Not to mention how much care those adorable furballs require. Thanks, M¡¯Rook, but I think I¡¯ll hard pass. I need some me quality time."

    If a living human soul was allowed to spectate, he would see a Ry facepaw itself in frustration.

    "Not that! I mean the man-pups from the made-mountain have invaded your turf once again."

    The Scorpicore stood up on its four, stretching its spine and front legs with cat like movements, forcing the birds to fly away.

    "You moron, you should have said that earlier!" It growled, towering above the Ry like an adult with a child.

    "Finally some fun! Alert all the dens, I hereby dere the game season open!"

 Chapter 73 Mock Exam 2

    Author¡¯s Note: the [] marks beasts speaking beast tongue, not humannguage.

    --------------------------------------------------------------

    The Scorpicore was a monster big enough, to make any sane man willing to face it rethink his life choices, no matter how brave he was.

    Its shoulder height reached almost the three meters (9¡¯10"), it had a scarlet red fur and mane, with shades of white, ck, blue and yellow. Actually, there were also red shades, even though only an interior decorator could have noticed them.

    The monster had the body and the head of a lion, bat-like membranous winging out from his back and the tail was that of a scorpion.

    From one of its pocket dimensions, the Scorpicore took out a gold rimmed pince-nez, that as soon touched the snout, grew big enough that each of its lenses became the size of 17" screen.

    ["Let¡¯s see where are the nearest ygrounds."] Thanks to the magical sses, the monster gained an ability that closely resembled Solus¡¯s mana sense, paired with the ability to zoom in like a telescope.

    ["One group is near the green spring, another in the river clearing..."] Despite the great distance, it was able to locate the groups of five unknown mana cores, identifying the students¡¯ drop spots.

    ["Order and chaos, these humans have no imagination. Everything is identical to thest time! Where¡¯s the fun in that?"]

    While grumbling about mankind¡¯sck of originality, the Scorpicore started sending teams of three magical beasts to intercept the humans and banish them from the forest.

    ["Rules of engagement?"] M¡¯Rook asked.

    ["Same old, same old. Make a roar, growl, po*p on them, whatever. Let them somehow notice your arrival, otherwise everything will be over before we can say ¡¯order up¡¯. As long as the Headmaster doesn¡¯t break the rules, we¡¯ll y along."]

    ["The who?"]

    ["By the Great Mother, M¡¯Rook, you are an excellent second inmand, but you need to start to pay attention to human¡¯s hierarchies. The Headmaster is the boss of the castle, the thing you call made-mountain."]

    It had almost finished dispatching the clean-up teams, when it noticed a pleasant surprise.

    ["Wait a minute, there is one group of six mana cores instead of five. I call dibs on that!"]

    ["What¡¯s a mana core?"] Asked a Cron, a hawk evolved in a magical beast, the size of a small piper ne.

    ["You are too young for that, Sentar. Survive another twenty years and I¡¯ll teach you how to evolve again."]

    ["Boss Scarlett, you are making no sense, we are already at the pinnacle, right?"] Sentar tilted its head diagonally in disbelief.

    ["Yeah, right, and I was a born a Scorpicore. No dimwit, magical beasts are just a step. Before evolving in a Scorpicore I was just a Shyf (AN: see chap50), and before that I was a cute and cuddly house cat."]

    Scarlett rolled on its back, exposing the giant tummy to the sun, purring like a muscle car. Despite all its efforts, it was more disturbing than cute.

    ["You are joking right?"] Asked M¡¯Rook.

    ["No, I¡¯m not. It¡¯s not like only you forest folk can turn into magical beasts. And if you keep doubting my word, I¡¯ll rat you out to one of my dragon friends that once was a lizard.

    I¡¯m sure he will be happy to have you all for dinner, with some good red wine."]

    The various magical beast preferred swallowing down their incredulity. Boss Scarlett told them the most ridiculous stories all the time, yet every single one of them turned out to be true.

    ["M¡¯Rook, Termyn, Sentar enough chatting, follow my lead!"] With a single p of its wings, the Scorpicore took off. Only Sentar was able to follow it, while M¡¯Rook and Termyn, a Cingy (boar type magical beast), could only stare up.

    ["What a d*ck."] They said as one, while the Scorpicore wasughing its a*s off.

    ["Have you seen their faces? This joke never gets old. They are too serious. They need to learn how to sit back and rx. When I was your age..."]

    Sentar stopped listening to the Boss¡¯ rantings, just nodding from time to time and giving a random answer.

    Meanwhile, Lith¡¯s group was still arguing. Everyone wanted to be the leader, to prove themselves being as good as the so-called top tier students. Lith could only think of them as four caged hungry dogs, with only a piece of meat.

    The problem was that the cage restricted only them from harming each other, it offered no protection from real threats. Every second they spent yelling and arguing, was like setting up the table for all the beasts in the proximity.

    He had already tried all the diplomatic approaches he and Solus coulde up with, but with no result. Him being a top tier, made them dismiss all of his proposals as attempts to rack more points at their expenses.

    Sick and tired of their childish behaviour, Lith summoned a strong gale, that took them by surprise, making them fall butt first on the ground.

    "Listen up, you idiots." If being nice didn¡¯t work, he could as well return to his original demeanour.

    "Do you see that, that and that?" He pointed at several w marks on different trees nearby.

    "Those are not rustic decorations to embellish thendscape. Beasts use them as territorial marks, meant to warn intruders they are trespassing in their turf.

    If you take a second to look away from your ego, you¡¯ll notice that this area is being contended by several magical beasts. Each of them is capable of leaving w marks the size of a book, and your rantings are alerting them all!

    This is a group survival test, we are supposed to get along, put aside our differences and work as a team. I want anyone watching us know that if we get wiped out before even an hour, it¡¯s all these idiots¡¯ fault!"

    He said looking around, having no idea were the magic cameras could be.

    The speech, especially thest part, worked like a charm. After getting back up, they didn¡¯t evenin about the surprise attack. They reconsidered their actions from the beginning, and prayed the gods to turn back time and give them a do over.

    Being the gods otherwise busy, the timeline kept moving forward, and so did Lith.

    "I am no leader, I always hunted solo. But one thing I know: in a dangerous environment the key to survival is being as stealthy as possible. We need to find a ce where to hide during the day, and easily defensible at night.

    We must leave before..."

    The high-pitched shriek of bird of prey filled the air, while the ground started trembling below their feet.

    Lith stopped talking, immediately taking the three fake potions out of his dimensional pocket and gulping them down. He could now activate fire, earth and air fusion magic without arising any suspicion.

    (AN: by infusing himself with said elements he has just be faster, stronger and tougher. See chap19 for more details.)

    Before he could finish drinking, Sentar swooped down, kidnapping the cutest of the two ck haired girls from the group, and taking her up in the air.

    - "What a moron." The Cron thought. "Still defenceless despite my warning. Fourth years are the worst opponents, barely offering any resistance." ¨C

    Cursing whoever Professor had picked his teammates, Lith could only watch the Cron getting higher and higher, supporting its ps with powerful updrafts.

    - "I wish I could run away and let them get what they deserve. I hate teamwork!" ¨C Lith thought.

    Everyone else was still in a daze, refusing to ept reality.

    "What the f*ck are you doing? Someone must take flight and save her! With her arms locked in the talons, she can¡¯t use magic!" Lith wanted to beat them to death himself.

    "A monster, another monster!" The high-pitched little girl-like voice actually belonged to the only other boy of the group. He was pointing at a ck mass, as big as a carriage, approaching at break-neck speed.

    It was Termyn, the Cingy, joining the fray while announcing his presence causing small quakes as he closed in.

    "F*ck you all! If you want to stay on the ground, take cover while I..." Lith realized that talking was useless. The two girls had fallen on their knees, hugging each other, while the boy, judging from the repugnant smell, had pi*sed himself.

    - "Now I get why Trasque was so hard on me and them the second day. Yet it was all for naught!"- Lith thought.

    A Cingy was a tough opponent, and Lith could only use fake magic. He needed to keep his three rings¡¯ charges only for desperate situations. Being all five of them still in y, he racked his brain searching for a solution.

    - "Wait a minute! Usually Cingy are limited to the use of water and earth magic. I can exploit that! Magical beasts do not control all elements." ¨C

    Termyn was unable to escape its boar nature, charging straight toward the prey. It saw an evil eyed kid starting to chant something, so Termyn activated one of his best defensive spells, Mountain Body.

    The Cingy knew all too well how predictable was its attack pattern, so he never underestimated an opponent. Mountain Body raised its body weight and defence to the limit, making it impervious against weapons and magic alike.

    - "Chant all you want kid. You¡¯ll never finish your spell in time, I¡¯m too fast. It will be your requiem!" ¨C Termyn inwardly sneered

    Yet the chant ended right after it started, and Lith began a new one, while a small yellow orb flew in collision course with Termyn.

    - "What an idiot! My earth magic is the perfect counter to air magic. Zap me, push me, whatever. It will never work!" -

    When the two collided, nothing happened, not even a small spark against its hide. The Cingy started to think that the boy had misfired out of fear. Then, Lithpleted the second spell too.

    "Brezza Reale!" He had invoked the training spell Lift.

    Suddenly, Termyn felt like a gentle caress on its belly, yet it managed to push it several meters in the air, like he was just a balloon. Then a second and third push came, making it rise above the threes.

    Hidden between the bushes, Scarlett was watching the whole scene, giggling under its whiskers.

    ["Termyn, you idiot, the first was a basic Float spell. It wasn¡¯t meant for damage, but to make you weightless and set-up for another quick spell, to take you away from the ground and make you helpless. Pride goes before a fall.]

    Listening to the Boss¡¯ exnation, the Cingy understood what had happened, and startedughing at itself.

    ["Damn! Such a feisty brat! I¡¯ll keep you forst!"] He yelled at Lith, that unable to understand animal-speak, ignored the beast¡¯s oinks reciting his third spell.

    One of the greatest advantages from forgemastering, was that he had trained chaining short simple spells for over a month, making him able to move his fingers and mouth non-stop, no matter he was using fake magic, like before, or using the true one.

    Lith reconsidered Lift value, since it allowed him to keep pushing away the Cingy even when he was casting another spell. After he finished casting his true magic flight spell, he rushed to save the girl.

    Sentar was slowed down by her weight, and everything had happened in barely a few seconds. He was expecting Termyn and M¡¯Rook to have the situation below under control. When he perceived a magic perturbation in the air currents, it was toote.

    Lith had coupled the flight and slipstream spell, making him faster than a bullet. He had scarce knowledge about magical beasts, but he remembered well how despite their big sizes, the birds¡¯ hollow bones made them frailer than they looked.

    So instead of using a spell that could be easily countered by the opponent¡¯s air and darkness true magic, he justbined his speed with the hardness and the explosive strength from fusion magic tond an uppercut right under the beast¡¯s beak.

    Because of his almost vertical trajectory and the fire generated by the friction between his fist and the fast air currents, it looked exactly like a dragon punch.

 Chapter 74 Mock Exam 3

    Sentar¡¯s head snapped back on impact, losing control of its flight and letting the prey go. To make things worse, Lith quickly snapped his fingers in session, generating several shes of light and booms near the Cron¡¯s head, making it blind and deaf.

    - "Damn, I took my sweet time enjoying her screams and that¡¯s what I get in return. I was no Cron, more like a sitting duck. Now I can¡¯t even get where¡¯s the up and down. If I crashnd because of a pup, the boss will never let me hear the end of it." ¨C

    Lith would have liked to keep striking the iron while it was still hot, but the ck-haired girl was plummeting like a brick. Cursing her stupidity, Lith swooped down with a swing motion, first down then up, to avoid breaking her ribs during the catch.

    The rescue was sessful, but judging from the smell, Lith understood that she was relieved from fear on several levels.

    "What the heck were you doing?" He yelled in her ear, thinking how ridiculous were in real life those romantic moments in action movies, right after the hero saved the damsel in distress.

    Between the smell and the impending danger, there was no space for romance and tender one liners. The only thing they both wanted was a safe haven and a hot bath.

    "Don¡¯t you know first magic? Why did you let it drag you around like a sack of potatoes? More importantly, do you know a flight spell?"

    She nodded while holding him tight with both arms and legs, like she was trying to get inside his clothes.

    "Then go ahead and use it! My spell is not meant for two, I can only glide while carrying you around. Once that thing recovers, we will be doomed. Do something, remember they are watching us!"

    Free from the grip of fear, she realized that the whole staff of the academy had been spectating at her humiliating performance. The girl became purple from head to toe for a second, before letting him go and chanting her flight spell.

    "Let¡¯s get the others and retreat! In the open we are too disadvantaged."

    They both quickly returned to the ground, pulling the other three back on their feet, and literally kicking their a*ses to force them to recover from the terror and get them moving.

    "Take flight, fast!" Lith yelled. "We have no hope of shacking them off on foot. But keep close to the ground, the Cron will turn us in mincemeat if we try to fight in its element."

    To his teammates, Lith words sounded those of a strong and experienced leader, that had full control of the situation. The reality, though, like the Professors could assess while facepalming, was that he was just remembering themmon sense.

    "This year¡¯s batch is awful." Said Scarlett in itsmunicator amulet.

    "They always are on the fourth year." Linjos replied with a sigh.

    "Remember our pact, and don¡¯t be stingy. I want their weight¡¯s worth in meat, and I mean the good stuff, no bones or nerves. And tell your servants to y by the rules, you don¡¯t want to see me getting ugly."

    Linjos had themunicator in conference call mode, so everyone could listen. The Professors didn¡¯t like being called servants, but they understood very well that in the wilderness the strong ruled above all.

    The Scorpicore¡¯s help guaranteed that no student would be seriously harmed before being rescued, not to mention that such a powerful guardian defending the academy was worth far more than just meat.

    They were truly blessed by having a monster at their disposal, reasonable enough to be useful, but stupid enough to not understand its true value.

    After closing themunication, Scarlett had a smug grin on its feline snout.

    - "Imbeciles, I don¡¯t care about the meat, I would do it even for free. Your stupid lessons allow me to train the magical beasts in anti-magician tactics. They use us as sparring partners, but that¡¯s a game that two can y.

    Another bonus is that when the fifth-year students train in the forest, I get updated about the tactics they employ and the spells they teach. I bet they sleep much better at night, believing me a dumb monster that only wants food in its belly. ¨C

    Meanwhile, M¡¯Rook had joined the fray, and was rapidly catching up with Lith¡¯s group using air magic to move faster and his sense of smell to not lose their traces.

    Lith was on the verge of tears, this experience was a full-blown disaster. He was sick and tired of ying baby-sitter, but what choice did he have left? He slowed down, detaching from the group, appearing beside the Ry.

    It followed a quick exchange of spells, since Lith never allowed M¡¯Rook to get close to him. He kept moving in all the three dimensions, gaining a tactical advantage since the magical beast was only relying on its legs to manoeuvre around.

    Lith wasn¡¯t trying to harm it, he used only tier one and two spells in quick session, with the aim to ruin the opponent¡¯s focus and slowing down its movements.

    - "Who the heck is this pup?" M¡¯Rook thought gritting its teeth in raising frustration.

    "It¡¯s like he learned how to fight from a Ry, he anticipates almost all of my moves. But that¡¯s impossible!" ¨C In the Trawn woods, Protector¡¯s ears were burning.

    Lith used a fine mist to detect iing invisible wind des, while moving around with no pattern to avoid lightnings. After stumbling on a conjured mound, M¡¯Rook finally lost it, jumping with all its strength trying to catch the pup with the jaws.

    - "Imbecile! That¡¯s what I/he was waiting for! You can¡¯t dodge in mid-air!" ¨C Lith and Scarlett thought as one.

    "Checkmate Spears!" Lith yelled, releasing the tier three spell stored in his ring. Thanks to various experiments, he had learned that he could store even charged up true magic spells, as long they didn¡¯t exceed the ring¡¯s capacity.

    Hence, he was able to unleash his most powerful spell in its empowered version in a split second.

    ["F*ck me sideways!"] M¡¯Rook whimpered when dozens of ice spears as thick and long as small trees encircled him from all directions, before crashing against its body.

    Their mass was too big to deflect them with a simple air barrier, and fire would need time to melt so much ice before rendering it harmless. Desperate, M¡¯Rook used its strongest attack, ming Tornado, on itself.

    Bybining its best fire and air spells, M¡¯Rook used the strong winds to deflect the spears from its vitals, hoping for the scorching hot temperatures to smooth down their deadly extremities.

    When the Tornado disappeared, M¡¯Rook was alive and well, but its body was beaten and battered with countless small wounds. Between the spell and its tick fur, the spears hadn¡¯t managed to pierce, but they still hit like a truck.

    Lith wasn¡¯t there to gloat or to deal another blow, he had already returned to the group yelling trivial instructions.

    "Use the fist magic darkness spell Conceal, you idiots! Do you think a Ry¡¯s nose is for decoration? Hide your smell, now!"

    He took out some old clothes from the pocket dimension, turning them into shreds with air magic, and sprinkling them with the sweat he had always forgot to throw away since the run to Professor Vastor¡¯s first lesson.

    Then, Lith threw the shreds in the wind, hoping to create multiple false leads for the magical beasts to follow.

    -"Not to be the Lith of the situation, but I don¡¯t think your group willst a week." Solus giggled at her own joke.

    "No sh*t, Sherlock. I bet we will be wiped out by tomorrow."

    "Tomorrow is too soon. My bet is full annihtion within three days."

    "Deal." -

    They kept flying for about ten minutes, before feeling safe enough to take a break. The group hade across a small hill, about ten meters (33 feet) high. With the backs against something solid, they could finally catch their breath.

    Lith scanned the surroundings with Life Vision, allowing himself to rx only after finding nothing stronger than a normal beast in the surroundings.

    "How many hours do you think have passed since the exam¡¯s start?" Asked the boy, looking around like a cornered mouse.

    "Less than one." Lith replied after checking the sun¡¯s position.

    "But if felt so much longer." Said the tallest of the ck-haired girls. All of them had a dejected expression, there was no trace left of their previous overbearing pride.

    Lith brought the index finger against his lips, remembering them to be quiet, then he started circling around the hill. The other four promptly followed him, forming a single line.

    -"Aww, your ducklings are so cute, Mother Goose." ¨C Solus said.

    Lith made apletep, checking for caves. They had been lucky, there was none. A natural cave was too much a convenient asset to be left vacant, and he couldn¡¯t afford to drive off wildlife with the risk of being exposed.

    After choosing a spot devoid of grass or vines, he used earth magic to create an artificial cave, by condensing the porous soil, and turning it hard enough to hold the improvised ceiling.

    At the same time, Lith erected small stone pirs to support the whole structure. It wasn¡¯t much, but still big enough for all of them to sit and restfortably. While the others were looking at him in a daze, he added more pirs along the walls.

    He wasn¡¯t an engineer, and preferred to be safe rather than sorry.

    The boy walked toward Lith with a big smile and holding out his hand.

    "I¡¯m not going to touch any of you until you have cleaned yourself properly. I suggest using darkness magic, it will clean the dirt and remove the smell."

    After everyone was cleansed, Lith used first magic to close the entrance with a thickyer of earth and to light the inside of the cave. Then, he pretended to cast a spell while activating Hush, generating a small air dome.

    "Thanks to that, no sound nor smell can escape, so we can talk freely. I¡¯d say that our introductions are long overdue. I¡¯m Lith from Lutia, and I¡¯m supposed to be the healer." His voice was exuding sarcasm.

    Several kilometres away, Termyn and M¡¯Rook had finally collected all the cloth shreds, destroying them to not be swayed anymore by their strong smell. Sentarnded near them, ready to report.

    ["Can¡¯t find them anywhere. It¡¯s like they disappeared."]

    ["Same." Replied M¡¯Rook. ["Aside from these things I can¡¯t smell them any longer. Boss, we need your trinket."]

    Scarlett scoffed.

    ["That would be unfair! It¡¯s you versus them, I¡¯m just enjoying the show. You¡¯ll wait until after noon before resuming the search. You need some time to heal properly, and they deserve a little rest."]

 Chapter 75 Day One

    Not even an hour had passed from the start of the mock exam, and Lith was already tired and vexed enough to seriously consider the idea of throwing in the towel and return to the White Griffon.

    His teammates were so embarrassed, that despite each of them opened their mouth more than once, not a single word came out. No matter what apology came to their mind, they all sounded too little and toote, even to them.

    First, they had ostracized him, then they had ignored all of his warnings until it was toote. He was the only reason why they hadn¡¯t get instantly wiped out, despite all their undeserved confidence and embarrassing performances.

    The two that had previously lost control of their dder, had a particrly hard time watching the others in the eyes, and could only thank the academy¡¯s Forgemasters for the self-cleaning uniform.

    "I¡¯m Visen De Brae." The first one to muster the courage to speak was the boy, once again holding out his hand. This time Lith shook it, but barely, his anger still smoldering.

    "I¡¯m supposed to be... I mean I¡¯m a Warden." He corrected himself,ughing nervously. Visen was a fifteen-year-old, 1.63 meters (5¡¯4") high with brown hair and chestnut eyes. He had a regr build and a small mole right under his left eye.

    "As such, my specialty is a sturdy defence. Wardens can conjure several kinds of arrays with any element, we can even alter thendscape if needed.

    In time of war a Warden can easily build makeshift bridges and siege towers, we are the only defence an army has against War Mages. In times of peace, instead, our role is to build dams, castles, roads, whatever the Kingdom needs. Let me show you."

    Visen casted an unknown spell, and ced his hands against a wall. Then he casted another, moving around the stone pirs and strengthening the whole structure.

    "See? First, I checked the stability of the ground, then I fixed things so that the cave now is safe like a natural one." He kept smiling, hoping to have proven his worth.

    Usually Lith would be impressed, even taking a mental note to check out Warden¡¯s spells.

    - "A Warden that cannot even stop a Cingy despite seeing iting from a mile away. What the f*ck has to smile for?"

    Right now, it took all of his willpower to not strangle him on the spot, so he just nodded in response.

    Then, the second one of the p*ssing duo stepped forward.

    "My name is Milna Kratic, I¡¯m a War Mage." She was fifteen too, 1.60 meters (5¡¯3") high with shoulder length ck hair. She had a fully developed slender body, but her round face had too many childish features to call her beautiful. She was pretty at best.

    "I know what a War Mage is. My mentor is one too." Lith cut her short.

    She became red from rage, but managed to hold it in.

    "I can shoot down a magical beast with a single spell." She continued with a stone-cold voice.

    - "You wish." - He sneered inwardly

    "My name is Phloria Ernas, I am Mage Knight." She was the tallest of the group, 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") high, with chin length ck hair and the build of a professional swimmer.

    "My specialty is defence too, but unlike a Warden, my skills are better oriented at covering a smaller are or a target. Mage Knights are also trained in the use of weapons." She said opening her robe, and revealing an estoc hanging by her side.

    "Hi there, and thanks. I¡¯m Belia Ulphar. As a Battle Mage, I¡¯m a jack of all trades, or at least I am supposed to. ording to my Professor, I should be able to hold my ground alone in every situation, or to support any team member needing help.

    But considering my performance so far, either he is bad at teaching, or I¡¯m a slow learner." She was 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") high, with long blonde hair with shades of ck held up in a pony tail.

    Her honesty was refreshing for Lith, all the others were still kind of stuck up, unting their skill like it was actually worth something.

    For a moment, he thought aboutshing at them, reminding how useless they had been in an actual fight. But then he decided against it.

    - "Calm down, old man. Rage will not get us anywhere. Besides, it¡¯s likely we are still being watched. They can lose as many points they like with their foolishness, but there is no reason for stooping down at their level." He said to himself.

    "Yeah, remember what Shakespeare said: ¡¯All the world¡¯s a stage, and all the men and women merely yers¡¯." Solus chimed in. "Oh, another thing, this is what I think about the test...." -

    While listening to Solus, Lith took a few deep breaths to regain hisposure. He extended his hand to every member of the group. They shook it immediately.

    "Okay, let¡¯s forget what happened before. Let me share with you what I think of the current situation." At those words, the other four stiffened up their expression, expecting a scolding or for Lith to brag about himself.

    "First of all, never underestimate a magical beast. Their intelligence is almost at human level, if you treat them as dumb beasts, you¡¯ll fail fast."

    From the faces of his teammates, he could see that they were doubting his words, but had not the courage to say it openly.

    "I fought several of them in the past. Some I killed, others I ran away from, with the tail between my legs. It¡¯s not just them being smart. As you have seen yourselves, they can use magic in a different way, with much shorter casting time."

    With all that had happened, they had missed that part. His exnation not only made perfect sense, but also sent shivers of fear down their spine. Making them feel even more weak an insecure.

    "I will not lie to you, if they weren¡¯t crippled by the inability to use more than two elements, I doubt I could ever defeat even one of them" Lith lied, belittling himself not for acting humbly, but to make them realize the strength of their enemy.

    "And to bepletely honest, I believe that we would have already been wiped out, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they are just ying along with the Headmaster¡¯s n."

    "What do you mean?" Phloria quickly regained her cool, intrigued by Lith¡¯s words.

    "Think about it." He said rephrasing what Solus had told him earlier.

    "This is just a bigger and improved version of Professor¡¯s Trasque exercise on the second day. Didn¡¯t you find odd that the magical beasts announced their presence before attacking? What sense does it make shrieking before swooping down?

    The Cingy had no reason to perform that quake, it could have softened the ground and make its charge silent as cat¡¯s steps. Also, why attack one by one, instead of all together? They are clearly ying their part ording to a script."

    Milna scratched her head, thinking at full gear.

    "That¡¯s why the monster bird kidnapped me, instead of biting my head off, or ripping me apart with the talons. I thought it was just ying with me before going for the kill. But this does actually make more sense."

    Lith nodded.

    "No one would send unexperienced teenagers in a dangerous and uncontrolled environment. If they are so certain to be able to rescue us, it means they have some kind of deal with the creatures.

    But that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t fail, or get severely injured. Otherwise why adding a Healer? Tost for a week, we need to pool our resources and skills. In my dimensional amulet I have some food, potions and my hunter kit. What about you?"

    An awkward silence fell in the cave.

    "No food?" He asked I disbelief.

    "Well, the canteen is opened 24/7. I had no reason to store any." Phloria replied, keeping her head low, fiddling the ground with her foot.

    "What about the potions?"

    "Never bought one." Milna said. "They are cheap, but I can¡¯t waste my points in one-use items. I never got why they sell them, they are useless." The others nodded at her words.

    Lith scratched his head, resisting the temptation to pull out his hair.

    "Useless?! How do you think I was able to cast so fast? To hit the Cron so hard to force it to release you, without breaking my arm?" He wanted to add more, but only swear words came to his mind.

    "What the heck do you have in your dimensional items? Tell me at least there¡¯s something useful."

    It turned out they were mostly employed for storing books, feminine products and personal items, like jewels, money and family mementos. Visen even managed to surprise Lith with his properties.

    "I have only school books and, uhm..." He whispered in Lith¡¯s ear. "...other kind of books, you know, for research purposes. I can¡¯t have them lying around, so I always keep them with me. I can lend them to you if you need to relieve some stress."

    Lith didn¡¯t knew if tough or cry, he hadn¡¯t heard that phrasing since browsing onlineics back on Earth. He took out a te of freshly baked cookies, stress eating them to calm his nerves and hasten his mana recovery.

    The delicious sugary smell of almond pastries and chocte chips immediately drawn everyone¡¯s attention. Lith shared them with a heavy heart, hiding behind his smile the wish for his teammates to choke on them and put him out of his misery.

    The food managed to rise everyone¡¯s spirit, and when they run out of cookies they seemed refreshed and ready for action.

    "I¡¯ll keep the rest of the food for emergencies. It would neverst for seven days, splitting it among so many people. We need to hunt on daily basis. Who has any experience with it?"

    Phloria and Mirna both raised their hand.

    "Good! Do you know how to use first magic to help you during a hunt?"

    "No." Mirna said, shaking her head. "But I think I¡¯m speaking for everyone when I say that we now understand how ill prepared we are for this task. For any task, to be honest. Lith, you are the only one that seems to have an idea of what we are doing.

    Do you want to be team leader?"

    Their gazes full of expectations made him want to puke, there could be only a possible answer.

 Chapter 76 End Of Day One

    "I have always fought alone, I know nothing about formations or teamwork. And if I give orders, I can¡¯t cast any spell. I think it¡¯s better to have a skilled hunter, rather than a makeshift leader.

    Anyone of you that has received military training, either as a strategist or a soldier, is much better suited for this than me."

    - "Not to mention that I don¡¯t give a damn about any of you. I don¡¯t have any motivation for being a good leader. As long as I keep at least one of you standing, anything goes for me. The important is avoiding the wipe out." ¨C He inwardly added.

    Lith¡¯s teammates started talking to each other, honestly searching to determine who could best take charge, setting their pride and personal ambitions aside.

    Reluctantly, he had to burst their bubble.

    "Do you mind a simple advice?" Everyone turned towards him again.

    "Whoever bes the leader has a huge problem: we know each other¡¯s ss, but not what we are capable of during a real fight. In a life and death situation, you can¡¯t give detailed exnations, only generic orders.

    An order is good only if executed in a proper manner. You have experienced first-hand how easy is to freeze due to panic. In my case, I tend to let my bloodlust blind me. Both issues would cause any n to crumble in the face of the enemy.

    My suggestion is to put the leader matter aside, and just watch each other¡¯s back. Only by familiarizing with our skillsets and behaviours, a shoddy team like this has any chance of survival."

    After the team agreed, Lith started exining to everyone how to make use of first magic in the wilderness.

    They had to use the darkness spell Concealment to hide their smell all the time, and never leave the cave on foot, but by using Flight or Float to not leave prints going in and out from the entrance. The same applied to hunting.

    Coupling those spells was the best way to sneak up on a prey.

    Lith, Mirna and Phloria left the cave, while Belia and Visen stayed behind. Visen decided to employ the time at hand to make the cave more stable, spacious and to solve what would be an inevitable hurdle.

    Soon someone would be in need of a bathroom, and he doubted that anyone would consider the idea of going alone outside. Getting literally caught with your pants down was nightmare material.

    Once on the outside, the hunting team relied on looks and hand gestures, trying to speak only as ast resort. Being a Mage Knight, Phloria decided to pair up with Mirna to protect her, while Lith would move on his own.

    - "Sigh, I can¡¯t believe I have to babysit these kids."

    "I know." Solus replied. "But it¡¯s the purpose of this whole exercise."

    "Yeah, it took us a while to understand why during the second day Trasque didn¡¯t assign any points. It was because he wanted us to teach each other actively, not just beat the cr*p out of your opponent."

    "And guess who do you have to thank for having understood the real nature of this test?" Solus giggled.

    "And guess who do you have to thank for keeping me alive and avoiding you the trouble of finding another host?" Lith sarcastically replied.

    "I¡¯m sorry, your Ladyship..." He performed a mind-curtsy. "but while you enjoy the show in your front row seat, I¡¯m the one in the Colosseum. So is not such an amazing result.

    You can watch the bigger picture, but I must focus on teeth, ws and keeping my guts where they belong."

    "Meanie! Like I don¡¯t worry all the time! A simple ¡¯thank you¡¯ would suffice."

    Lith felt like cr*p, snapping at her for no reason.

    "I¡¯m really sorry Solus. I know you were just trying to lighten the mood and cheer me up. It¡¯s just that I am already so stressed that I¡¯d need some way to vent out. And thank you. You are the only one that knows all my ws, yet still cares for me.

    Thank you for all the help you give me every day, and for never stopping trying to make me into a better person." ¨C

    That was the first time his chatterbox mage tower had nothing so say. Her mind was nk as a te. Lith preferred not to pry further, she was likely to be either angry at him or just too surprised to reply.

    They often joked about it, but he had never earnestly thanked her before for meddling in his private life.

    The woonds were denser than the Trawn woods, despite all his experience Lith was at loss. They couldn¡¯t get too far away from the hill without risking of getting lost, nor they could split too much, in case something happened.

    This time he couldn¡¯t cheat his way out with Life Vision and spirit magic. How could he possibly exin being able to spot animals underground on in tree trunks?

    Mirna and Phloria weren¡¯t having better luck. Keeping two spells always active wasn¡¯t something they were used to. Double casting was demanding for their focus, and at the slightest slip up they had to cast them both again, consuming even more mana.

    While Mirna¡¯s ego seemed to have recovered quickly, regaining her confident attitude, Phloria had never felt so ashamed in her whole life.

    She was the most promising descendant in a bloodline of Mage Knights, yet she kept stumbling through her specialization course.

    Her father had taught her personally both magic up to tier three and swordy. He even made her fight wild beasts to give her real enemies. But now she realized that all her confidence was built on a lie.

    She was so used always having him by her side that she never took any challenge seriously. Her father would always help her, if something went wrong.

    At the academy, instead, she was alone.

    The Professor was tough and demanding, thepetition so fierce that her so-called friends were too busy fixing their own mistakes to pay her any attention. When the Headmaster had announced the mock exam, she had rejoiced, thinking it was her time to shine.

    But she had never seen something so big like a magical beast. At the moment of truth, her nerves had failed her, turning her into a burden for everyone.

    Despite Phloria¡¯s earlier brave fa?ade, she was still scared out of her mind, trembling at any noise, her hand clutching the hilt of her sword so tight that it was white. Phloria could not help but envy Mirna.

    She was so prettypared to her, and despite all that she had went through, her will was rock-solid.

    Mirna, on the other hand, reciprocated such feelings in full. She was jealous of Phloria, so tall and strong, she was bound to have lots of admirers. The reason why Mirna appeared so confident, was because she believed not having any more face to lose.

    She had already gone below and beyond the bottom of the barrel, in her mind she could only rise up.

    "Stop squirming like that, you are making me nervous too!" Mirna whispered. She couldn¡¯t bear anymore her guardian¡¯s twists and turns.

    "Sorry. But I have an eerie feeling about this."

    "This whole forest is an eerie feeling. Where the f*ck are the animals? I can hear animal¡¯s calls, but we still have to meet a single soul."

    The minutes quickly turned into hours, and the only creatures they spotted where too far and fast to get any shot at them.

    The sun had reached the zenith, so they decided to give up and check if Lith¡¯s luck had been any better. A few dozen meters away, Lith hade to the same conclusion.

    Even using all the tricks in his book, his preys would amount to a poor meal for one person. He had never learned how to follow tracks or use traps, he had always been reliant on true magic. But while he was observed, those abilities were sealed.

    Suddenly, an odd chirping resounded. The three of them listened carefully, hoping for ast-minute big catch. The more they listened to it, the less it sounded like birds.

    It was more of a mix of a rhythmic cricket¡¯s chirruping and a mouse¡¯s high-pitched squeaking.

    - "Solus, this sounds a lot like bats, but it makes no sense. They are mostly nocturnal animals. Not to mention it doesn¡¯t exin why all the other animals have gone silent."

    "Definitely close, but not bats." She replied. "It¡¯s not squeaking, more like joints clicking." ¨C

    The noise kept growing in intensity, until it was all around them. Expecting another magical beast to attack right after announcing its presence, they tried to regroup as fast as they could.

    The moment they lowered their guard, looking for each other¡¯s position, was the beginning of the end. From the treetops and countless holes in the ground, well hidden by the thick vegetation, countless spiders attacked them from all directions.

    Some of them where small and round, their body size close to a basketball, while others were as big as a Labrador. Their ck bodies were covered in long bristles, with red dots all over.

    "Watch out! Those are ckers!" Mirna yelled, but her words fell on deaf ears.

    Neither of her teammates had ever heard of them.

    - "F*ck me sideways!" Lith cursed. "None of the books in Soluspedia ever mentioned that insects or arachnids can turn in magical beasts. I have no idea what these things are capable of!" ¨C

    The attack had been too sudden, the clicking noise wasn¡¯t a warning, it was how the ckers had coordinated their attack, leaving them no escape routes.

    The spells in Lith¡¯s rings were useless. Checkmate Spears was a finisher against big opponents, against a small army it had no effect. The tier two ring held a healing spell, while the tier one was a simple blinding spell.

    Sure, no one beside him knew what his rings contained, but that still left him with just three true magic spells. After that, Lith had either to ept the loss or blow up his cover.

    He had no real weapon outside first magic, he had been caughtpletely unprepared.

 Chapter 77 End Of Day One 2

    The ckers¡¯ strategy was simple and effective. After having surrounded their preys, they swarmed them in a one wave rush. The ones on the ground tried to overpower them, while those on the trees threw spider webs the size of a tablecloth.

    All the while those that kept hanging from their threads spat poison non-stop, aiming for their eyes.

    Lith did his best, using water magic to turn his hands into razor-sharp des and cutting off everything that came too close, but there were simply too many. He wasn¡¯t used being ambushed, and never encountered such situations.

    All the spells he had at hand, both true and fake magic ones, were aimed toward bigger single opponents, he had no idea how to manage a swarm of small enemies.

    The girls were faring much better than him. As soon as Phloria had seen the ckers, her father¡¯s teachings had kicked in, and she had quickly conjured a tower shield made of white-hot rocks.

    It served as both offense and defence, since her own magic could not harm her. Spiderwebs would burst into mes like made of paper, the poison would just fizzle without any effect, while everything that touched the shield would lose its limbs if not its life.

    From the moment she had recognized the nature of the enemy, Mirna had stuck her back against Phloria¡¯s, using her protection to put her War Mage specialization to use.

    Mirna filled the space around them with ice shards as long and thick as an arm, raining down on the ckers like they had a mind of their own, without missing a target.

    She could freely cast a spell after the other, switching ce with Phloria in case of attack while her magic exterminated dozens of enemies at a time.

    Back at the White Griffon, Professor Vastor, who was in charge of surveince for that area, contacted Scarlett demanding exnations.

    "What in the gods¡¯ names are ckers doing? This is not part of our deal!"

    "Of course not." Vastor went into a daze, seeing through themunicator amulet that the Scorpicore was sipping tea from a porcin cup the size of a bucket.

    "Insects and arthropods have no respect for any hierarchy except for their own. I do agree that they are spawning too fast, though. A culling might be needed, but right now I have other business to attend. If you need our help, you just have to ask."

    Scarlett scoffed at his face, picking a cookie the size of a te.

    "No, thanks!" Vastor closed the call, cursing the monster and its arrogance for trying to copycat humans.

    "Thorman, get ready to retrieve three students." He said to a bulky middle-aged Professor, in charge of the Mage Knight specialization.

    "One of mine, one of yours plus one." Thormanughed at his colleague¡¯sck of manners, setting the coordinates for the pick-up spot in his ring. He remembered his student, a talented girl that was allowing herself to get drowned in insecurity.

    - "Linjos was right, after all. With the old rules, even someone like Phloria would have been eliminated before the hour mark. The academy¡¯s system needed to be changed." - He was now regretting being one of Linjos¡¯ fiercest opponents.

    Lith¡¯s situation was getting worse by the second. Despite his heightened senses and reflexes, there was only so much he could do. The only reason he was still standing, was because he could use up to six first magic spells at a time.

    Even so, he could only dy the inevitable. The ckers were now so close that even if he was at liberty of using true magic, he would not have the time. No matter how many he killed, there were always moreing forward.

    "Help! I need help!" Was the only thing he managed to scream from time to time.

    Phloria, instead, was swept by euphoria. The spiderlings normallycked fear, but the fight had long turned into a massacre. The ming shield was imprable, and every time the sword shed behind it, many would get mutted or worse.

    They had only two paths ahead, to retreat or die.

    Mirna tried her best to keep up with her, but while casting she couldn¡¯t move very fast. Phloria was bing increasingly reckless with her attacks, pursuing the enemies fleeing in front of her, uncaring for the consequences.

    "What the heck are you doing? Come back here!" They were now several meters apart, enough for the spiders to surround Mirna again.

    When Phloria realized her mistake, a cker hanging from a tree branch cut off its string, falling on top of Mirna and inflicting its venomous bite.

    Before she could reach the ground, the ckers swarmed over her. The smaller spiders bit her unconscious, while the big ones were carrying her away with their threads.

    Phloria was between a rock and a hard ce, no matter her choice, someone was bound to die! Lith and Mirna were in opposite directions, there was no way of saving both.

    She remained frozen on the spot, incapable of making a decision, until it was taken out of her hands. Thorman appeared through a Warp Steps, right beside the cocoon containing Mirna.

    His body was exuding a blue aura, whenever a spider closed in, it would me squashed by his war hammer. Thorman mmed it on the ground, holding it with both hands. The shockwave resulting turned all the nearby spiders into dust, while the cocoon at his feet suffered no damage.

    Thorman loaded it on his shoulder, before looking at Phloria in the eyes with a stern look.

    "I¡¯m sorry for being such a cr*ppy teacher." And then he disappeared into another warp steps.

    Phloria felt ashamed of herself. Once again, she had disappointed her teacher, and this time she had managed to do it in front of all the academy staff, while also failing her teammate.

    The arm holding the estoc fell alongside her body, the weapon almost slipping out of her fingers, already touching the ground.

    "What a poor excuse of a Mage Knight I am."

    The ckers noticed the opening and prepared to exploit it.

    "Sorry if I exist, but HELP!" Lith yelled on the top of his lungs.

    Between the previous ambush and Thorman attack, he was facing a far lesser number of spiderlings, so he took the chance to regroup with hispanion.

    Lith activated the tier one magic holding ring, generating a sh like another sun had appeared in front of him. The spiderlings groaned and took a step back, while he jumped above them to escape the encirclement.

    Sadly, the ckers had a poor sight to begin with. They sensed the outside world mainly through their bristles, capable of detecting the movement of their preys through the vibrations they created by moving.

    Phloria could see a rey of what had just happened. Another spider fell from above on Lith¡¯s back, biting him right below the neck. Feeling his consciousness fading away, with hisst coherent thought Lith unleashed Checkmate Spears on himself.

    Being encircled, the ice spears would trample everything along the way, while being incapable of harming him. As much as he hated it, he had to pin all his hopes on a perfect stranger, who Lith valued more or less like a used car salesman.

    After that, he fell limp on the ground, the venom quickly reached his brain, disconnecting it from the rest of the body.

    Just has he had predicted, the spears turned into toothpaste all the ckers between them and their target, before passing through Lith¡¯s body like they were just an illusion.

    The spell created a path between them, but it was only a matter of seconds before more enemies reinforced their ranks.

    Cursing herself for her stupidity, Phloria threw away the self-pity finally realizing what Thorman¡¯s words actually meant. Most Mage Knights¡¯ spells had a short range, but they had the invaluable virtue that they needed only one hand to be cast.

    In less then a second, she conjured the Full Guard spell, creating a spherical blue aura with a radius of 1.65 meters (5.41 feet) all around her. The same Thorman used, with a radius slightly bigger than her estoc¡¯s range.

    Thanks to Full Guard, she had no blind spots. Whatever entered the sphere would be detected, Phloria was able to strike with surgical precision without looking. It didn¡¯t matter if it was spit, webs or spiders, everything would be met by the shield or the sword.

    Her estoc was the goodbye gift of her father, forged with a secret family technique. The point stabbed like a spear, while the sword¡¯s single edge would cut like a katana. She moved towards Lith¡¯s position, releasing small darkness bursts with each strike.

    For so little creatures, the vital organs were closely packed to each other. The flesh would rot as soon it was cut, making even suicidal attacks useless. Each stab to the body or the head would mean instant death.

    - "So cool. It¡¯s awesome." Lith feverish mind was still able the work, but barely. The venom was impairing both his nervous system and mind. "I... we must look into that. It¡¯s so... something."

    "Lith, are you okay?" Solus was really worried. "You sound a lot like in the memories where you were drunk and under the effects of mar*juana. Your thoughts are incoherent and erratic. Are you sure you are okay?"

    "Is okay. If death hammer man saves me."

    "By my maker, you are getting worse! Move that a*s, sister!" ¨C

    Phloria charged forwards, using her burning tower shield as a ram, reaching Lith¡¯s side. She then used her free hand (NA: remember that the shield is conjured, she does not need to hold it, it floats by itself.) to cast the second spell Thorman reminded her of.

    By nting her estoc in the ground, she activated st Guard. It generated a small ming sphere that affected everything in the surroundings except for the space within a meter (3.3 feet) from her body.

    To avoid idents, she crouched down, holding her fallenrade as close as possible. The spell had a short duration, but long enough for her to cast a tier three detoxifying spell.

    "Come on,e on! I can¡¯t screw up three times in a single day! Snap out of it, you are the healer, not me!"

    The spell was meant to neutralize the mostmon venoms and poisons, magical beasts¡¯ secretions were a ss of their own. She realized how stupid she had been not purchasing any potions.

    If she had them, maybe she could have saved both her team members, without having to rely on gambles and wishful thinking.

    Like reading her mind, Lith started to cast the same spell he had used to save the Marchioness¡¯ daughter. Phloria spell served its purpose, giving him enough rity to weave the spell and disguise it as a fake magic personal one.

    A small orb of venom was expelled, preventing any further damage to his body, while he activated the second-tier healing spell in his ring, recovering a good chunk of his mind.

    "If I were you, I¡¯d start running." Lith said, chuckling like an idiot. His pupils were still dted.

    Phloria sheathed the estoc before lifting Lith with a princess carry, activating the flight spell stored in one of her rings. After what had happened earlier, she had prepared it in case she needed to escape again.

    The tower shield moved on her back, preventing further assaults from above.

    She took a roundabout path to lose the Cacklers before returning to the cave, activating Concealment again to hide their presence.

    Lith would look at her stern face from time to time, giggling like a little girl.

    "Look, Solus, I got my knight in a shining armour to save me!"

    - "Lith, you are still confused. You are thinking out loud, please shut up!" She mentally screamed. ¨C

    "Who¡¯s Solus?" Phloria asked when the situation seemed to have calmed down enough.

    "A good friend of mine. We know each other from years. By the way, isn¡¯t this the time when the hero tries to hit on his rescue? Please, don¡¯t try to kiss me, I don¡¯t think I could stop you right now, I like living too much."

    Phloria¡¯s cheeks reddened, Solus couldn¡¯t tell if from embarrassment, rage or both.

    "Why would I want to force me on you? Who the f*ck do you think you are?" The rage sounded genuine. Lith keptughing.

    "Ah, kids. So cute and na?ve, getting embarrassed by stupid jokes. You need to get out more, get a life!"

    "Who are you calling a kid? You are younger than me."

    "Want to bet?" Phloria was getting annoyed, he was clearly out of his mind.

    "Is Solus your girlfriend or just an ex?" If he was trying to embarrass her, it was a game that two could y.

    "Nah. She¡¯s a girl and a friend, but that¡¯s it. We are both heartless and stone-cold, so we have a lot inmon. Also, it would be really difficult get in touch with her. Get it? Get in touch!" Then he started cackling like it was the best joke ever.

    She ignored him for the rest of the flight. Lith was rambling nonsense, sometimes even speaking some sort of gibberish (AN: aka English).

    Back at the cave, she could finally rx, and with the help of the other two, they kept healing Lith until he was clear headed again. After cleansing his body from thest traces of venom, Lith shared a couple of freshly cooked blinkers.

    "I don¡¯t know you, but I had enough for today. I¡¯m not stepping out of here until tomorrow."

    The motion was unanimously approved.

 Chapter 78 Day Two

    After the end of their shift, Vastor and Thorman went back to their quarters. Vastor waited until they were alone, before expressing his hrity.

    "Thorman, old friend, I would have never imagined you had it in you. Helping your student like that. Technically, that¡¯s against the rules." Vastor tone of fake indignation wouldn¡¯t have fooled a deaf man.

    "I did no such a thing. I just used the spells that I considered best for the situation at hand. If she ended up copying me, how is that my fault? Are you going to report me?" It was a rhetoric question, Thorman already knew the answer.

    "Are you kidding me? Your student ended up saving mine. The least I could do is gifting you that bottle of 50 years aged Blue me you keep eyeing every time you enter into my office. I¡¯m d you loosened the stick up your a*s."

    *****

    In an underground maze, several kilometres away from the castle, another kind of conversation was taking ce. After ughtering its way through the nest, Scarlett was facing the Brood Mother.

    It was the creature responsible for the abnormal spawn rate of the ckers. Every single one of them was one of her children. Its abdomen was that of a giant spider, with eight long longs, but in the ce of the head there was a human-like figure.

    It was like someone had attached a human, starting from the thighs, to the spider body. But it was a human with no distinctive features, its chitinous skin was grey, the hands had unnaturally long fingers ending in razor-sharp ws.

    The head had eight eyes, and a long slit were the mouth was supposed to be, allowing it to speak.

    ["Look, I¡¯m tired of ying hide and seek. I only came here because I know you are smart enough to understand me, and because I hate senseless destruction."] Scarlett was quite angry from the repeated assaults it had suffered along the way.

    They had no effect except wasting Scarlett¡¯s time.

    ["What do you want, oh mighty ruler?"] The Mother¡¯s voice was low and hoarse, every word sounded more coughed rather than spoken. Yet it managed tough, sneering at the Scorpicore imed title.

    ["Stopying so many eggs. Your children are a gue for the forest, you have already invaded other¡¯s territories. I won¡¯t repeat myself a second time."]

    The Brood Mother chuckled again.

    ["It¡¯s that so? Then I challenge you, oh ruler. The forest needs a new guiding hand..."]

    Scarlett scoffed, it had heard that speech countless times, either from humans or magical beasts.

    ["Fine. Challenge epted."] The conversation was cut short, much to Mother¡¯s annoyance.

    Viting all the rules of the challenge, the Brood Mother attacked without notice, making the fully developed ckers that guarded the throne room, each the size of a bull, coordinate with its attack.

    The Scorpicore¡¯s roar struck in two waves. The first was a cold one, turning the whole underground nest in a frozen wastnd. The second was an ultrasonic one, that turned the newly formed ice sculptures in countless shattered pieces.

    ["Oh! I won. Big surprise! Long live to me."] Sad for having no witness of its crushing victory, Scarlett called Linjos.

    "The ckers¡¯ issue is solved. With the Brood Mother dead, the survivors will go into hiding until anotheres up. Let¡¯s hope the next one will have more brains than brawns."

    "Thanks for solving the matter so quickly." Linjos replied.

    "What do you want in return?"

    - "I like this human." Scarlett thought. "Always saying please and thank you, instead of treating me like a tool, like his predecessors did. I¡¯ll make sure he keeps his position." -

    "Let¡¯s just say you owe me one. What¡¯s the survival rate of your cubs?"

    "Better than the previous years, around 50% of the groups made it through the first day. It¡¯s time to kick things up a notch."

    ***

    Back in the cave, Lith¡¯s group was finishing breakfast and nning the rest of the day. Everyone had much appreciated Visen creating a side-cave bathroom.

    Despite everything was supposed to be a team effort, not all of them could be executed properly in front of others.

    With so many mouths to feed, Lith¡¯s stash wouldn¡¯tst more than three more days.

    Using magic burned a lot of calories, it exhausted both the body and the mind.

    "Thank the gods you ended up in my group." Belia said gnawing away thest shred of meat from the bones. "After fasting for a whole day, I would have either surrendered or eaten Visen."

    Everyone at the tableughed, but Lith.

    "Why so glum, mate? And seriously, why do you keep so much food on yourself?" Visen asked. "Not that I¡¯mining!"

    Lith red for a long moment, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

    - "We are not ¡¯mates¡¯, lucky b*stard." ¨C

    "In order, not glum, envious. Because clearly none of you has ever starved. And the second answer is linked to the first. When you suffer from hunger as long as I did, you do not feel safe unless you have some food with you at all times."

    Visen realized his blunder and tried to apologize, but Lith dismissed everything as an ident, proceeding to exin what they could expect from magical beasts. After he gave them all the key points from his experience, there were still a few things left to say.

    "Never underestimate a magical beast. They may be stuck with just two elements, but they can use them in ways we can only imagine. Their casting time is incredibly fast, and to make things worse, our physical prowess is nothingpared to them.

    They need just one hit to incapacitate us, or worse. My advice is to always keep your distance, and never y the game like they expect us to."

    "Doesn¡¯t that mean that we are already screwed? We have already lost our biggest hitter." Visen wasn¡¯t much of an optimist about the situation, and neither was Belia.

    "We have lost only one member. Our aim is to survive, not to beat them all into submission." After the previous day, Phloria had shed away most of her insecurities, bing more decisive.

    "The main problem is, that after pondering a lot about it, I came to the conclusion that splitting up was a mistake. This is a group exercise, staying in a cave isn¡¯t getting us anywhere. You two could have helped us a lot yesterday.

    Not only Mirna could have been saved, but you would have gained battle experience. After fighting the ckers, I feel I have grown a lot as a Mage Knight. None of us will truly understand his own abilities without putting them to the test."

    "Agreed." Lith chimed in. "That¡¯s the reason why I taught you about how to use first magic in the wilderness and about magical beasts."

    - "That, and because otherwise you would fall without teaching me nothing. Mage Knight¡¯s spells are something I have to replicate ASAP. I can¡¯t wait to see what those two are capable of.

    Plus, I discovered a huge hole in my toolkit. I have to devise something against a swarm of small enemies."

    "And what about a swarm of big enemies?" Solus asked.

    "In that case, my only option is to run away." ¨C

    "Also, I would like to propose Phloria as team leader. For an unexperienced unit like ours, defence is more important than offence. Her skillset provides us the best options to stall and regroup. Not to mention yesterday she proved herself."

    "It¡¯s an odd way to say: ¡¯thank you for saving my a*s¡¯." She replied.

    "If we are keeping a score, I saved yours twice. First from the Cingy, then from the Ry. You are still an a*s short from getting the right to brag." He rebutted with one of his very few charming smiles.

    The forced cohabitation, coupled with facing so many dangers together, had helped the group to develop camaraderie.

    Despite all the hardships, Phloria was starting to enjoy their situation.

    It was the first time sinceing to the academy, that she was being looked up for her skill, not her noble title. Her teammates didn¡¯t hope for her to fail to feel better about themselves, they were counting on her.

    Lith, instead, wasn¡¯t touched at all. For him it was just a temporary setback, something he had to cope with, exploiting that time to regain his people skills. He knew that over time, his edgelord demeanour would do him more harm than good.

    The world was big and unknown, he needed to y by the rules of society and avoid useless conflicts. In the grand scheme of his ns, one week was barely a rehearsal.

    No one objected to Lith proposal, he had already gained their respect. After seeing Phloria carrying him barely conscious, and listening to their story, Visen and Belia needed no more proof of her valour.

    "Before setting out of here, here¡¯s my orders. Visen, you¡¯ll pair up with Lith, is better to keep attack and defence of each unit bnced. I¡¯ll take care of Belia. Second, switch whatever you have in your magic storing rings with your bestst resort spells.

    So far, nothing else worked, and things go downhill pretty fast."

    Having learned from his past mistakes, Lith had already prepared, so he used that time to pass something from his pocket dimension to Phloria¡¯s, leaving her dazed.

    "There something definitely wrong with your head." She said looking at his cold smile, while he was exining his idea.

    "But that¡¯s so wrong to be good."

    The morning hunt did go much better than the previous day. By going the opposite direction of the ckers¡¯ nest, they found much more wildlife. Lith managed to disguise multiple times spirit magic with air magic, iming quite a catch.

    Phloria helped too, while Belia and Visen focused on finding edible nts and fruits, their hunting skills were zero, and the others couldn¡¯t waste the precious light time teaching them.

    Moving around for so long in the forest, it took Sentar only a few hours to find them and report their position.

    ["Do I have to announce myself and act alone like an idiot, again?"]

    Making mistakes on purpose didn¡¯t upset the Cron, unless they ended up losing.

    ["No. New day, new rules. Only one of you has to be spotted, the others cany low and coordinate their attacks with you."] Scarlett replied.

    ["One glove is off, let¡¯s get round two started!"]

 Chapter 79 Day Two 2

    It was almost noon, Phloria¡¯s group was about to call it a day, nning to resume after lunch. Belia was walking in the air.

    After all that had happened during their first day, she had kept picturing the forest like a hellish ce, with dangers lurking behind every corner. That morning, instead, had been so peaceful that she had managed to calm herself and regain a bit of self-esteem.

    Visen was of a different opinion.

    - "Damn! Seeing Lith¡¯s and Phloria going along so well after a single fight together, I was really hoping to get the opportunity to prove myself to them.

    If a trembling jelly like Phloria has managed to be our team leader in one day, why should I be any different? My family is in the magic business from generation too, and my mom always told me that I am talented.

    Too bad that the academy¡¯s Professors do not agree with her. With Phloria¡¯s foolproof n and Lith covering my a*s, I could show those beasts who is the boss. Sigh, instead all I did was picking fruits like a f*cking monkey!" ¨C

    Suddenly, the wildlife calls that had filled the air until a moment ago went quiet. Sentar¡¯s shriek cracked the silence, announcing its presence.

    Lith flew to Visen¡¯s side, while Phloria did the same for Belia. The 2 men units kept a distance between themselves of about ten meters (11 yards), close enough to be able to help each other in case of need, but far enough to not get caught by friendly fire.

    Unlike the first day, Visen wasn¡¯t scared at all. Lith was already covering his back, so he started chanting his first Warden spell, confiding in his partner skill to buy him enough time.

    - "Thank you, gods! This is really my lucky day, I feel we can do it. But since you are already listening to me, can I also have the hot teacher from Principles of Advanced Magic fall into my arms,pletely naked?" ¨C

    Sadly, the mystic line between a man and his gods had to be gone bad. Instead of Nalear, it was Sentar diving downwards Visen, its talons spread wide for the kill.

    Truth to be told, it was a female and was naked too, hence many could argue that two thirds of the youth¡¯s prayer had actually been granted.

    Lith managed to finish his spell in time, conjuring three fireballs at once in a triangr formation along the Cron¡¯s trajectory.

    To avoid getting hit, Sentar was forced to conjure a strong updraft to make a U-turn and avoid the blunt of the explosion. Seeing that all eyes were still following its movements, after gaining altitude Sentar started flying in circles and preparing a trap.

    Coming from the opposite direction from their partner, Termyn and M¡¯Rook tried to take the humans by surprise. Yet no one had actually paid any attention to the Cron, their casting uninterrupted.

    Phloria had already conjured a tower shield made out of earth, its surfacepletely frozen. A perfect counter to most spells based on air or fire magic, the only elements a Ry could use.

    Belia was now wearing a thin suit of armour, formed by countless shards of ice, the number of which was rising at dramatic speed, covering every inch of her body and forming odd spikes on her back and arms.

    M¡¯Rook had often seen that spell in the past years, the Ry knew it meant troubles.

    ["Termyn, we have no time to lose. If the armour fully forms, we¡¯ll lose our physical advantage against that pup and will be forced to rely more on spells."]

    ["Then what are we waiting for? I¡¯ll take care of the pups so dumb to use my elements, while you knock the others unconscious. Sentar has almost finished setting up the array, it¡¯s a foolproof n!"]

    ["Stop thinking with your tusks, dimwit! It¡¯s all too obvious. This is either a trap or the most idiotic n I have ever seen. Let¡¯s pretend to fall for it, but be ready to switch opponents once we understand their ruse."]

    M¡¯Rook had used an air spell, to keep contact with its partners, no matter how distant.

    ["Copy that, M¡¯Rook."] Sentar replied. ["I¡¯ll give you all the covering fire you need, let¡¯s kick their a*ses and go home. I¡¯m bored already."]

    - "Phew! I¡¯m d I get to switch target with M¡¯Rook." Termyn thought.

    "I don¡¯t like the pup with the mean eyes, he gives me an eerie feeling. I can¡¯t put my knuckles on it, but he has a vibe that reminds me of Boss Scarlett." -

    Termyn wasn¡¯t stupid, quite the contrary. M¡¯Rook knew it, and that was the reason it hadshed at the Cingy¡¯s eagerness. Termyn had the sharpest instinct among the three, but this time was too embarrassed for sharing its readings.

    Both the magical beasts charged at their opponents, M¡¯Rook in a zig-zag pattern to not offer an easy target, while Termyn could only advance in a straight line.

    - "Well, well. Look at that." Lith thought. "Seems that when not chasing us, they are not allowed to use fusion magic. First the Cron, and now the Ry aren¡¯t using air fusion speed boost to overwhelm us.

    If I¡¯m right, this is a rare asion to go mano a mano with a magical beast. If I¡¯m wrong, meh. I¡¯ll fall valiantly protecting the team and get the heck out of here." ¨C

    Visen had yet to finish his second spell, he needed more time. There were only so much Lith could do, with all the restrictions that the presence of witnesses burdened him with.

    But having already drank another set of three fake potions and activating air, fire and earth fusion, he was still quite confident after discovering that his opponents had restrictions too.

    Lith flew toward the Ry, manoeuvring in all three dimensions, forcing it to a stop.

    ["Not this again!"] M¡¯Rook growled in frustration. Suddenly, switching targets didn¡¯t seem such a good idea anymore.

    ["Ah, M¡¯Rook, my stubborn apprentice. Seems like yesterday when a man-pup gave you a good beating and I once again pressed you to learn how to fly. Any creature that controls air magic should do it. Refusing to, is a sign of either pride or stupidity.

    Which one is your case, apprentice?"] Boss Scarlett¡¯s voice resounded in its ears.

    ["It doesn¡¯t seem like, it was yesterday! And you repeated that a hundred times already, I get it! Now shut the f*ck up! This pup is troublesome."]

    Scarlett guffawed at the Ry trying to hide its shame and embarrassment behind an angry fa?ade.

    Meanwhile, Termyn had almost reached the girls. When the Cingy was about thirty meters (33 yards) from them, they bothunched toward it two yellow wisps of air magic, one from the left, one from the right, in a X pattern that left Termyn no way to dodge.

    - "Oh, sh*t! Not this again!" ¨C Termyn thought.

    Having learned its lesson, the Cingy dived nose first toward the ground, that opened under the girl¡¯s astonished eyes and turned softer than cotton, allowing the beast to burrow through like a hot knife against butter.

    That move had caught them unprepared, but Phloria training kicked in. She kept following the tunnelling effect with her eyes, while casting a Mage Knight spell with her free hand.

    Belia¡¯s armour was almostplete, and several full formed ice weapons were circling around her, waiting for amand. Like Phloria, she was readying another spell, cursing herself for not having bought any potion.

    They had asked Lith if he could share them, but the imprint system made it impossible. From opening the stopper, to drinking the liquid, only the owner was allowed to do it.

    There were only two possible options. Lith could drink and spit them into another bottle, but not only that was disgusting, it was also useless. Outside the sk, the magical properties wold quickly disappear.

    The second one, was to pass the liquid mouth to mouth. Everyone had dismissed the idea without a second thought. In the heat of the battle it would have been suicidal.

    When Termyn came out of the ground, right under the girls¡¯ feet, like a shark from a horror movie, it met Phloria¡¯s tower shield reinforced by the Tower Guard spell.

    It enhanced the conjured shield density, raising its weight and hardness to that of a rock weighing several hundred kilos.

    Despite Tower Guard, Termyn came out dazed but unscathed, while the tower shield shattered on impact, forcing Phloria to cast for a new one.

    Lith too was having a hard time. Once the initial surprise was over, the Ry had decided to ignore him and take down the weakest link. The other pup was doing nothing but casting non-stop, with no apparent effect.

    Much to Lith¡¯s disappointment, even with the potion-like boost from fusion magic, his physical attacks had almost no effect. The thick fur was like a cushion, taking the blunt of the hits and dispersing most of the kic energy.

    - "Dammit! If only I could go all out with fusion magic, this would go differently." -

    "Not on my watch!" Lith yelled, releasing his tier three spell Checkmate Spears to stall some more. But this time M¡¯Rook had its legs on the ground, and had already experienced the spell¡¯s effect.

    So, it usedpact and high-density air shields to deflect all the spears it wasn¡¯t able to dodge while moving at high speed with air fusion.

    - "F*ck me sideways!" Lith thought. "Their restrictions only apply when attacking, not defending." -

    It took only a couple of seconds for Lith¡¯s spell effects to wear off, leaving the Ry with nothing more than a few bruises. Visen had yet to finish.

    "How long does it take?" Lith yelled in frustration.

    "And don¡¯t you dare answering until everything¡¯s ready!"

    - "Perfection requires time!" ¨C Visen inwardly grumbled,pleting the second spell and starting the third one.

    - "I swear that as soon I get back to the academy, I¡¯ll stockpile speed potions like there¡¯s no tomorrow. How could I be so stupid? I¡¯d really deserve a good beating." ¨C

    Once again, Visen and the gods seemed to be perfectly in tune.

    Sentar had finallypleted the dark air array in the sky, making flying above the trees impossible for the four students, while thunderbolts and ck arrows rained from the enormous magic circle the Cron had materialized.

    The fast lightnings and the slower arrows coordinated their trajectories, leaving Phloria¡¯s team no way out but defeat.

 Chapter 80 Day Twoâ€™s Aftermath

    While Termyn was still in a daze, Belia didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to strike with her most powerful lightning spell. The Cingy was incapable of using fusion magic, so it took a clean hit, its whole body going into a spasm, keeping it an easy target.

    - "Dammit!" Belia thought. "I was so scared when those things attacked, that¡¯s only thanks to Phloria¡¯s instructions that I didn¡¯t freeze again.

    And to add insult to the injury, I was in such a rush that I ended using the ded Battle Armour instead of the Bashing one. Edged weapons are useless against such thick protections. F*ck my life. Here goes everything!" ¨C

    As soon as the lightning struck, Belia rearranged the ice shards thatposed her armour, turning the gloves in war hammers, that she mmed with thebined strength of her arms and flight spell between the Cingy¡¯s eyes.

    The impact was strong enough to make the beast take a few steps back, while shaking its head trying to regain focus. The several des conjured from the ice armour, started to spin on their axis, turning into buzz saws.

    Following Belia¡¯s will, they encircled the enemy attacking from all sides, managing thanks to their high-speed rotation to cut through the rock-hard skin.

    Termyn scoffed at the girl¡¯s efforts.

    - "Please! The first hit is for free, the next ones you have to earn them." -

    Just like the day of their first encounter, the Cingy activated Mountain Body, its strongest defensive spell. Every inch of Termyn¡¯s body turned to a shiny ck, its density raised to the extreme thanks to a massive flow of earth magic.

    A short charge forward was enough to send Belia crashing against tree, stopping the de swarm in its tracks. Phloria had no idea how to stop something so strong and heavy, yet she had to try.

    It was in that moment that the situation turned for the worse, with lightning and dark projectiles raining from the sky.

    - "That¡¯s a game two can y!" Visen inwardly screamed. "Gods, why in the heroes¡¯ tales they are never caught in the middle of a spell? Talking should be a free action!" ¨C

    It was his time to shine, yet he was forced to keep chanting the third Warden formation, while with his foot he activated the magic symbol he had engraved in the ground.

    All he could do was use first magic to create a bang noise, alerting hispanions.

    Instantly, the entire area of the fight was surrounded by maite enriched stone pirs, that acted like powerful lighting rods and intercepted every single electricity magic-based attack.

    - "Sh*t! I wanted toplete all three to maximize their effect, but we are losing ground every second. ¨C Gritting his teeth, Visen activated the second array, creating a ten meters (11 yards) radius low gravity field.

    The four mages had all stored a flight spell in their rings or were already flying, so they could instantly cope with the sudden change. Gravity or not, it made no difference to them.

    But when Termyn tried to take on Phloria¡¯s shield, she only had to give it a strong push upwards to send it in the air, like the Cingy was just a balloon.

    Belia¡¯s armour had already reformed, and she was ready to intercept the enemy.

    ording to the n, she should have kept it in the air, exploiting the Cingy¡¯s weakness to wear it down with physical and magical attacks, giving Phloria the time to take care of the Ry.

    But avoiding the sudden hail of dark bullets and foiling all Termyn¡¯s attempts to reach the ground, required all of her focus, leaving Belia no time to attack.

    Termyn was conjuring tendrils of earth to get back down, generating at the same time thick ice shields to intercept Belia¡¯s spells and ice bullets to keep her away.

    The Cingy couldn¡¯t allow to be hit by a Lift again, it would have been too humiliating failing twice for the same trick. Termyn was giving its all, swimming towards the tendrils.

    All Belia could do was use her conjured weapons to cut the tendrils as soon as they arose from the ground, while dodging thebined attacks the magical beasts were raining on her.

    Lith could only curse their bad luck.

    - "Who would have thought that magical beast can use arrays too? Based on what I have seen, if I could use true magic, I could fight on par with one of them. But as a fake magic user, we need two of us to make one of them.

    Even if Mirna was still with us, we would still be at disadvantage.

    We have only until Visen¡¯s formations run out of juice before the wipe out. Got to take care of that Cron, and fast!" ¨C

    As soon as the second Warden array was activated, Lith circled around the bbergasted M¡¯Rook, whose legs were now a few centimetres floating above the ground, grabbing it by the tail and throwing it toward Phloria.

    ording to the n, it was up to her to get rid of the Ry with the ace in the hole Lith had kindly provided. But even without the lightnings, Sentar¡¯s control on the array was on another level,pared to Visen¡¯s.

    Sentar could freely manipte the dark bullets aiming only to their enemies, greatly reducing the advantage the low gravity field granted the man-pups. The Cron would also reinforce the barrage adding wind des, making any attempt to attack her allies even harder.

    Despite always having refused to learn how to fly, M¡¯Rook was a natural at air magic. Even just reacting by instinct, the Ry was able to move enough to avoid almost all Phloria half-baked attacks.

    Seeing no other way out, Lith decided to resort to a ridiculous n that had just popped in his head. Termyn waspletely focused on Belia and at controlling the tendrils, its back was wide open.

    The Cingy had yet to notice that Lith and Phloria had switched opponents.

    Lith shoot a fireball at the ground below Termyn, the resulting explosion propelled it in the air, away from the earth tendrils and scattering the defensive shields.

    Lith moved below the belly of the beast, pushing it upwards with all the speed and strength he could muster. Visen¡¯s array didn¡¯t cover that much space, Lith needed to gain momentum fast, before the reduced gravity effect wore off.

    He soared the skies, willingly walking into Sentar¡¯s trap. Using Termyn as a shield, though, it was the poor Cingy that took all the damage in his stead, grunting at its opponent for using such a dirty tactic.

    Sentar was forced to temporarily stop the sky array. Termyn could take lightnings all day and whistle the whole time, but darkness bullets were another story. Every time they hit, they would sap the strength and vitality of the victim.

    When all the momentum had dissipated, and the Cingy started to plummet, Sentar hesitated for a moment. The Cron could see its friend had gone limp, its eyes were clouded by the fatigue and pain from all the friendly fire it had endured.

    Sentar was worried that falling from that height, Termyn could get seriously wounded if it didn¡¯t manage to soften thending.

    Lith exploited their friendship, using that moment to reveal himself, casting his new and hopefully sure kill spell. Despite its name, Checkmate Spears had yet to defeat a single opponent.

    "Burning Prison!"

    Six fireballs appeared at the same time around Sentar, one above, one below and the others in a square shape, resembling for a moment a giant, ming eight faced die.

    Without giving the enemy the time to react, they all detonated together, inflicting heavy damages despite the air shield Sentar had managed to conjure at thest split second.

    Back at the castle, having nothing else to do, the Professors were spectating andmentating their students¡¯ performances.

    "That¡¯s my student!" Professor Vastor was puffing his chest with pride.

    "I always told you, Thorman. Healing magic develops calm and foresight. That alone wins half of a battle." He said while actually looking at the Headmaster, trying to get extra funds from him, like everybody else.

    "Bullsh*t!" Professor Wanemyre replied. "That¡¯s thanks to my sses. Only a Forgemaster can have such a quick casting and precision at timing his spells."

    "Bah! You should get a full check-up as soon as possible. Clearly there is something wrong in your head." Vastor scoffed at her remark.

    "What if I killed you both at the same time? You are ruining my show!" Manohar yelled throwing salty snacks at them. Unlike the others, he was sitting on a veryfortable looking armchair, surrounded by bowls filled with delicacies.

    He was zapping from fight to fight, looking for something interesting. Right now, he was trying to follow Phloria¡¯s group from different angles through the surveince mirrors.

    "Man, this stuff is good." He said while eating a pretzel-like snack.

    "We should record and sell it. I call dibs on the profits. I need more funds. Okay, Linjos?"

    The Headmaster could tolerate theck of honorifics, but the idea of making a business out the sweat and blood of his students was too much. Those were the lives of young adults, not the entertainment for some rich and bored noble.

    Yet the idea had its allure. The academy was a ck hole for money, no matter how much the Kingdome invested on it, there were never enough.

    "I¡¯m more interested in one student managing to develop a tier four personal spell after a month. Great job, Nalear." Professor Nalear replied with a polite bow, using the hand behind her back to give the finger to her boastfulpetitors.

    Before the smoke dissipated, Lith was already charging full speed ahead.

    - "I bet everything I have that the f*cking Cron is still alive and kicking. No matter how much I put in a single spell, it¡¯s never enough against a magical beast." ¨C

    And he was right. Sentar was injured, but far from being knock out. It had managed topensate quality with quantity, conjuring a series of concentric air barriers, halving the spell effectiveness.

    While the Cron was still dazed by the booms and the blinding mes, Lith appeared through the lingering smoke. Putting the potions finally at use, he punched Sentar multiple times, in the head and body.

    Back on the ground, without covering fire, M¡¯Rook was losing ground quickly. The array intercepted every lightning, while Phloria¡¯s shield offered protection against any quick spell it could whip up.

    Phloria was managing to hit more and more often, her sword was perfect for piercing the thick fur and skin of the Ry, that was now bleeding from multiple points.

    After using st Guard to throw her opponent off bnce, she took out something from her dimensional amulet, using first magic to keep it on the tip of the sword.

    At her next stab, M¡¯Rook did its best to dodge, but Phloria still managed to use her superior mobility to stab through, injecting the cker¡¯s poison Lith had saved from the previous day in the enemy¡¯s side.

 Chapter 81 Celebratory Banque

    All those who where spectating, were so astonished to be at loss for words.

    Scarlett and the Headmaster called each other so fast that it was impossible to know who had called who.

    "What the heck is that thing?" Asked Linjos.

    "How the heck did a fourth-year student got her hands on a Stunner cker¡¯s venom?" Asked Scarlett.

    Having got his answer already, Linjos returned the favour.

    "Yesterday that group was attacked by ckers. One of the poisoned ones was recued and managed to detoxify himself. I never expected for him to actually store the venom forter use."

    "Son of a..." Scarlett turned back at the fight, were the tables were quickly being turned.

    Termyn had managed tond safely, but its energy reserves were scraping the bottom of the barrel. Belia, on the other hand, was could finally show all her prowess.

    By rearranging the ice shard thatposed her armour, she was able change the shape and size of all its parts.

    Sacrificing her defence, she turned her limbs in giant swords, hammers, sickles, whatever came to her mind that was better suited to juggle the Cingy in mid-air, while her conjured weapons darted around piling up the damage.

    Phloria kept sticking close to the Ry, while the venom started to take effect, making its movements sluggish and uncoordinated.

    Lith instead, could feel that something was wrong. Despite all of his efforts, after a few blows Sentar had managed to put some distance between them, blocking the iing attacks with air cushions that dissipated the force of each strike before it could reach the Cron¡¯s body.

    - "Dammit! Solus, remind me never to get close to a magical beast until I get a decent weapon. First the Ry, now the Cron, I¡¯m too weak to get anything from physical attacks, f*ck my life." ¨C

    "There, there." Solus replied. "Look at the bright side, you learned this during an exercise, instead of risking your life on a gamble."

    "Yeah, you are damn right. This time the ss is half full, even for me." ¨C

    Lith stopped giving chase and started casting another powerful spell, but Sentar was too fast, even in its debilitated state. Swallowing its pride, the Cron admitted defeat, using air fusion and air magic to run away as fast as it could.

    Sentar swooped down, rescuing Termyn from Belia¡¯s clutches before it was toote. With a sudden U-turn, it grabbed also M¡¯Rook, using true air magic to make both itspanions weightless.

    It was only then that Visenpleted the third array, conjuring multiple elemental spheres that would attack any opponent he would design as a target. s, there was no one left.

    To his defence, the whole fight had barelysted a minute, and every time he had to activate an array or dodge an iing attack, his casting speed had been severely affected.

    Wardens¡¯ spells were more suited to be prepared from the rear guard, rather than in the line of fire.

    "F*ck!" He yelled. "Right now? All that casting and sweat for nothing?"

    "Who cares?" Belia was on cloud nine. "We won! This time they were the ones running away. We should celebrate..."

    "Where is Lith?" Phloria cut her short, refusing to lower her guard yet.

    "Right here." Said a voice from above.

    Watching his face, one could think they had actually lost. Lith could barely contain his anger and frustration.

    - "Why did I even waste all that time learning martial arts again? They are useless against magical beasts, and against humans I just need the simplest spell to kill or incapacitate them."

    "Well, maybe because you were so clumsy you would trip on your own feet?" Solus sarcastically reminded him.

    "Also, they are not useless. All that footwork practice saved our lives countless times. If in the future you get cornered, what would have you said if you did not do it? ¡¯Oh, why I was so arrogant? Why didn¡¯t I learn them again?¡¯.

    You are unbelievable, nothing is good enough for you. Too cold, too hot, too lukewarm. Enough with you control issues, quit whining and rejoice! You¡¯ll ruin everyone¡¯s mood." -

    Just looking at him, everyone assumed back theirbat position, believing Lith¡¯s demeanour was caused by an impending danger he was going to warn them about.

    "Where is the enemy?" Asked Phloria looking left and right, keeping an ear out for any suspicious noise.

    Lith used Life Vision, searching the proximities for any sign of danger.

    "Gone, I¡¯d say. Even from above, is all trees and small animals."

    "So, did we really win?" A radiant smile appeared on Phloria¡¯s face, finally lowering her estoc. She turned towards herpanions, her arms raised to the sky in sign of joy. The others followed her suit, getting close to each other.

    Before something unspeakable, like asking him to partake in a group hug, could happen, Lith burst their bubble.

    "Do you really want to start screaming in this gods-forsaken forest? I say that with all the ruckus we made, it¡¯s better to go back to our haven, before another uninvited guest shows up."

    - "Party pooper!" Solus scolded him. "Nheless, let¡¯s get out of here. The rings are empty, and your mana reserves are dangerously low."

    "I know. Using a tier four spell requiring hexacasting, while using three kinds of fusion magic really did take its toll. And I can¡¯t even use Invigorate too much. Having an apparently infinite mana capacity would rise too many questions." ¨C

    His words spoiled the happy mood, and by the time they got back at the cave most of the euphoria was gone.

    "I still can¡¯t believe it." Belia¡¯s cheeks flushed at the thought of their battle.

    "I resent that. My n was rock solid." Phloria objected.

    "Indeed it was. But you misunderstood me. I meant that I still can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t screw up! After how I behaved during the first day, I was starting to believe I was a hopeless case."

    "There, there. A single slip up means nothing, it can happen even to the best of us." Visen was mostly speaking about himself, trying to be supportive at the same time.

    They started sharing the highlights of each one¡¯s contribution to the victory, patting themselves on the back andplimenting to each other.

    Lith was already nauseous from all the niceties, seriously considering to cut off the next hand on his shoulder.

    "If we want to eat more than hot air today, we need to prepare the meat. Has any of you ever skinned and gutted some game?"

    Lith used earth magic to conjure several jars from the ground, to collect the non-edible parts before destroying them with darkness magic.

    An awkward silence followed.

    "I never hunted alone, before. I would always give my game to the cook. He always took care of the rest." Phloria was embarrassed, so she fiddled the ground with her foot.

    - "Interesting." Lith thought. "Phloria does that every time she feels ufortable. I could exploit this tell, if I ever decide to giarize poker."

    "Or if you are curious about who she is interested in!" Solus chimed in.

    "What?"

    "Come on, spoilsport. Don¡¯t you want to see some romance? You are all so young and hormonal, wouldn¡¯t be cute if two of your teammates hook up?"

    "It would be a disaster. First their mind would be even emptier, and second, I don¡¯t want to spectate some kids making out. The cave is little and my patience short." Solus mind-pouted at him. ¨C

    ording to Solus¡¯ observations, Phloria wasn¡¯t ufortable around any of her teammates. That was disappointing for her, she really wanted someone to jump on Lith, just to see his reaction.

    "I know only the basics, but I¡¯m a fast learner." Visen volunteered, winking at the girls.

    - "Neither of them is really cute, but beggars can¡¯t be choosers." He thought. "I will show to the girls that a real man doesn¡¯t fear a little guts and blood." ¨C

    Having already experienced high school, Lith could recognize that look at first sight. It was what undeserved confidence mixed with desperation and the willingness to f*ck anything that moves looked like.

    "Okay." Lith said hiding a cruel grin behind a kind mask.

    "First, you have to drain the blood. To do that, you hang them upside down and then cut off the head." He made an exaggerated movement on purpose, sending a little blood everywhere.

    Visen¡¯s face lost its colour, turning pale. Lith mercilessly handed him a big fluffy rabbit. Despite being already dead, its big round eyes were staring at Visen, like asking: "Why did you kill me?"

    While Visen was trying toe up with an excuse to go back with the girls, Lith had already took the skin off of his prey, handing that too to Visen.

    "Put it in a jar for me, please." Lith never stopped smiling with a kind and brotherly expression on his face.

    Visen let the rabbit fall from the shock. When his hands touched the greasy and sticky side of the skin, he turned green, fighting against the urge to puke.

    - "You¡¯re a monster!" Solus used him.

    "Guilty as charged." He confessed. ¨C

    "At this point, you need to perform a big incision, and pull out all the organs. Like this!" He turned the gutted rabbit toward Visen, to let him better appreciate the view.

    Just to keep on the safe side, Lith reinforced the Hush barrier and conjured a pot really close to his teammate.

    "Why are you still holding the skin?" Lith pretended to not have noticed he was frozen stiff.

    "Here, toss away the guts for me, please." When Lith handed him the viscera too, it was too much for Visen. He fainted on the floor like a dead weight. Lith had expected some screaming and puking, but that was fine too.

    "What happened?" The girls asked after hearing the thump sound. They had run in the bathroom after the first blood.

    "Nothing. Seems Visen is not cut to be a hunter, though." After getting rid of the poser, Lith¡¯s movements became much faster and precise. It wouldn¡¯t take him long to finish.

    "Does anyone know how to cook?" He asked.

    "Are you asking that just because we are girls?" Phloria sounded quite enraged.

    "No, just because I hope someone can give me a hand."

    "Sorry." Belia said. "I know how to eat, though."

    "What about you, oh fearless leader?" Lith poked her, since Phloria still refused to reply.

    "I never got the chance nor the desire to learn. But I¡¯m quite skilled at eating too, thank you for asking." Phloria took a mental note to at least learn how to butcher, otherwise her hunting skill wouldck a practical use.

    Before starting to cook, Lith cleaned everything and destroyed the jars and their content. He called the girls to wake up their fallenrade and show them how to use first magic for cooking.

    When the delicious smell of roasted meat started to spread, Visen fully regained his senses and appetite. Using so many powerful spells while fighting such a hard battle, had exhausted most of their mana and stamina.

    They managed to wolf down everything they had got during the morning, leaving nothing for dinner. Despite not having salt or any spice, their meal was seasoned with victory and hunger, making that the best meal the three of them ever had in their life.

 Chapter 82 Interludium

    After lunch, the group fell asleep. The stress and the fatigue from thest two days weighted heavily on everyone, but Lith and Phloria were the most affected.

    They had been on their toes non-stop since their arrival in the forest, the only moments of rest were those that they spent in the cave. Lith had pushed his body so hard during those days that he was aching all over.

    He used Invigoration as much as he could, and that meant very little. From his experiments with the potions, Lith knew that the physical enhancing ones had side effects, just like fusion magic, that only proper rest could remove.

    Invigoration could make up for them, but how could he possibly justify his ridiculous recovery speed? His mind kept searching for a solution, but without sess. Restless, he started reconsidering his group¡¯s situation and chances of sess.

    The more he thought about it, the more the exercise didn¡¯t make any sense.

    - "How the heck is a group of teenagers supposed tost for a whole week? With no prior notice nor someone capable of hunting, I can¡¯t see even a genius get past the third day.

    The Headmaster¡¯s magical beasts attacked once a day, and each time it was much worse. If by tomorrow they get serious, it will be our end. And that¡¯s just the icing of the cake, there¡¯s also the fear, the need to search for food and shelter.

    Not to mention things like those spiders that just want to eat you.

    Sure, we could just hole ourselves in the cave, but if Solus is right, then we would only risk of damaging our grades. I don¡¯t know how long I can still hold on. The forced cohabitation is pushing me to the brink of insanity.

    My hatred and rage are eating me from the inside, it¡¯s only a matter of time before I snap." ¨C

    Phloria¡¯s group woke up only for a frugal dinner, at the expenses of Lith¡¯s food stock, before going back to sleep.

    The moon was shining bright in the sky, and from its favourite spot, Scarlett was contemting thest piece of the puzzle that had fallen into itsp.

    The Scorpicore was atop the tallest hill of the forest, the only ce from where something of its size could sitfortably while looking at its domain.

    - "First, a group of five man-pups with six mana cores. That alone was beyond odd, but with the ckers ravaging the forest, I had almost forgot about it. But then, somehow, one of those man-pups manages to remove from his body the Stunner cker¡¯s venom without it losing much of its potency.

    I know it¡¯s not a big deal detoxify it with magic or an antidote, but extracting it from a victim? Not even a magical beast capable of using light magic would be able to aplish such feat. Let alone a human, with their silly imitation of magic.

    It would require to be able to locate and manipte the venom coursing through the body with surgical precision. That¡¯s something that only an Awakened like me would be able to do. I need to have a chat with this pup, before this charadees to its end." -

    Scarlett¡¯s elite squad was in a deep slumber, resting to recover from the many wounds received that day. The Scorpicore set a powerful barrier around its beloved minions, so that no one could bother them without incurring in a sudden death.

    Then, with a powerful p of its wings, Scarlett took off, using his gold rimmed enchanted pince-nez to find where the anomaly was hidden. There were just a few dozen groups remaining, between that and its speed, finding the cave was a simple task.

    Once outside, it suddenly realized to have overlooked a major problem.

    - "Dammit, how the heck do I start a conversation without scaring the sh*t out of him?" Scarlett scratched its right ear with the back leg, searching for a solution.

    "I got so used talking to Linjos and his minions, that I had almost forgot that my appearance can be quite intimidating. Kidnapping isn¡¯t a good ice breaker. I could enter after devolving to a cat, but why should he talk to me?

    Damn, this is going to be harder than I expected." ¨C

    After pacing for a while, hoping Lith would somehow notice its presence and wake up, Scarlett decided to change its approach. Thanks to the pince-nez, it could see that the anomaly was a ring.

    The artifact was different from everything Scarlett had ever encountered. Its curiosity was more piqued by the second. Scarlett decided that if the owner was unavable, it could always try with the artifact.

    Scarlett sent a tendril of mana, thin as a silk thread, to connect its mana core to Solus¡¯, establishing a telepathic link.

    - "Whatever you are, I demand an exnation. What are you trying to aplish in my domain? Why are you leeching energy from a helpless pup? Speak, or I will crush you between my fangs!" ¨C

    Scarlett didn¡¯t like humans much, but was still polite towards them, hoping to avoid useless conflicts. But when facing cursed objects, it would show no mercy, stooping down at their level and speaking the onlynguage they knew: violence.

    Hearing that alien voice resounding in her mind, Solus was terrified, instantly waking up. It had been such a violent intrusion that even Lith regained his senses, his conscience dragged along with hers.

    - "What is happening?" He asked.

    "I don¡¯t know, there¡¯s a voice in my head, and a giant monster thingy outside." ¨C

    Using Life Vision, Lith could see through the cave¡¯s walls Scarlett¡¯s silhouette and energy signature. His mouth went agape in front of the biggest and strongest magical creature he had ever seen.

    - "Solus, what¡¯s its mana core?" His mouth went dry, Lith needed to lean against a wall to not fall on his knees for the shock.

    "Bright blue, but there¡¯s something odd. The amount of mana it holds its beyond words. Is like the world energy is willingly seeping in its body. It¡¯s simr to your breathing technique, but unbelievably stronger. Lith, I¡¯m scared."

    "Same. Where the f*ck are the Professors? Without them we are dead!" ¨C

    Knowing there wasn¡¯t much he could do, Lith activated Invigoration, quickly replenishing all his mana reserves and restoring his physical strength. If he had to die, he would die fighting without holding back.

    Watching the world energy flow inside the pup through its pince-nez, Scarlett winced of joy. One of its questions was already answered. He was clearly an Awakened too, now the problem was to ascertain how deep he had been corrupted.

    Using another thread of mana, Scarlett created a separate mind link with Lith.

    - "Fear not, I mean no harm, otherwise I would have just made the hill copse, burying you all alive. I only want to understand the cursed object purpose and goal. I don¡¯t want to kill you, but if you try defending that parasite, you¡¯ll leave me no choice." ¨C

    Lith was so shocked hearing another voice in his head, that he started to believe he was actually going mad. Everything was happening too fast, and he could not make head or tails of those words.

    - "What cursed object? Who are you and what do you want from me?"

    Luckily, unlike his mind link with Solus, this one was active, not passive. It required Lith¡¯s will to pass information or thoughts, so he could channel his anger and conceal his fear.

    "Do you deny having a living being at your finger?"

    Since the monster knew so much, Lith realized that lying would be useless, the best he could do was hide part of the truth.

    "No. But it¡¯s just a dimensional ring, it does no harm." Solus¡¯ real nature had to be kept hidden, otherwise the creature could take her for itself.

    "You fool!" Scarlett sneered. "Who would give life to such a trivial object? Don¡¯t you realize how deep is its deception? I can¡¯t believe that despite being Awakened you are so stupid. It¡¯s clearly a lie, and you know it!"

    "I¡¯m a what?!" Lith asked. That conversation was making less and less sense.

    Scarlett snorted, cursing humans and their inability to take care of their own.

    "Another self-taught? Not bad, pup. An Awakened is someone that has learned to manipte his own mana core. Not only it allows him to use magic the same way magical beasts do, guiding it with the mind instead of the body.

    But also makes possible to refine the mana core, drawing in the world energy and permanently adding it to his own. It¡¯s what you just did, pup.

    Now tell me, how do you call your talent? Every one of you I met gives it a different name: first magic, the supreme art, original magic, whatever."

    "True magic." - Lith mind blurted without a second thought. He had finally met someone that could exin to him true magic.

 Chapter 83 Interludium 2

    - "True magic?" Scarlett sneered. "Another pretentious name for my collection, then. Why don¡¯t youe out? Talking this way is tiresome."

    "What about my Professors? Aren¡¯t you afraid of them meddling?"

    "No. Right now their surveince mirrors just show you sleeping. It requires a bit of effort, but I can tamper with them for a while." ¨C

    Lith swallowed a lump of saliva. The monster wasn¡¯t lying, it could have killed him ten times already. But that only made the situation even more scary.

    - "How do I get out without waking the others?" ¨C A Warp Steps appeared in front of him, leading in front of the Scorpicore. Fighting hard to keep his knees from shaking, Lith started weaving all his strongest spells, preparing for the worst.

    Scarlett stared at him with an inquisitive look. Despite being so close, it was hard to perceive any trace of corruption, and that was already a good sign.

    "What do you want from me?" Lith asked with one spell ready for each of his fingers.

    "I already told you, I just want your cursed object. After that, I will get out of your hair."

    "My partner is no cursed object or anything. Is just an artifact, you are clearly mistaken."

    "Do you even know what a cursed object is?"

    "No." Lith admitted.

    "You see, no matter how powerful an artifact is, it has no life. It¡¯s just an object."

    Scarlett handed to him its pince-nez.

    "This is an artifact, believe me. Now, use your true magic and tell me, does it feel alive to you?"

    Lith used Invigoration and Life Vision, perceiving many and powerful magics within it, but no life. It had mana flow, but no mana core or life force.

    - "Solus, what about your mana sense?"

    "It indeed has more power than many of your Professors, but no mana core." ¨C

    "That huge castle is a massive and powerful artifact, but is it alive?" Scarlett pointed to the White Griffon with one of its ws.

    Once again, both Life Vision and mana sense reported a huge flow of mana, but no mana core.

    "No." Lith reluctantly said.

    "Now, what about your ring?"

    Lith used Invigoration for the first time ever on Solus. Just like in the past he had used Life Vision to see her mana flow and life force, Invigoration revealed a small yellow mana core.

    - "Why didn¡¯t you ever tell me you have such a weak core?" Lith asked, surprised by the fact that she was so weak, despite all the years spent together.

    "Well, you never asked. Besides, what did you expect? After almost starving to death, I was left with barely a red one. I still need time to recuperate." ¨C

    "It has a yellow mana core." Lith admitted.

    Scarlett had to swallow down a huge scoff.

    - "That confirms my worries. That thing is ying him like a fiddle. There¡¯s no way a living artifact has just a yellow mana core. It must be using some trick to cloud his senses." ¨C Scarlett nodded, and proceeded with its exnation.

    "Life cannot be created on a whim, from nothing. There are only two ways to give life to an inanimated object, and both require a terrible price. The first method, requires a mage or creature very powerful and very insane.

    A cursed object is when someone takes out a huge portion of himself, and binds it to a powerful artifact. A Lich¡¯s phctery is the mostmon example, but is not the worst kind.

    Some creatures have a deep grudge or insane ambition, but no will to live forever.

    So, they pass this obsession of theirs to the one object they are most attached, giving it life. But beware, despite having a mind of its own and immense powers, a cursed object is most of the times just a shadow of the worst parts of his creator.

    It entices its new master with promises of power and glory, but every time they are used, the boundary between master and servant gets thinner. The mind link they share allow the object to tamper with the owner¡¯s mind, changing it little by little.

    Until he bes a copy of the object¡¯s maker, striving toplete its loose ends. And when the user dies, they just search for a recement."

    "What about the second method?" Lith was stalling for time, hoping someone woulde to his rescue.

    "Well, that¡¯s even worse. To the point it¡¯s part of the so-called forbidden magic."

    "Forbidden?" Lith had never heard about any kind of magic being forbidden, not even necromancy.

    "Yes. Forbidden magic is the most horrible thing a magical creature could do. Using the life of others to empower his creations. Such magic can give birth to miracles, but the price is too high, the risks immense.

    It¡¯s an unnatural process, almost impossible to bnce. One tiny mistake can turn the miracle into a nightmare. The mostmon case of forbidden magic, is when the mage is so obsessed by someone to resort to magic to bound him/her to an object.

    The victim bes doomed to an eternity of very, and after the death of its captor, the only things that awaits is madness. Still a prisoner, incapable of free will, doomed to obey whoever holds the magic¡¯s focus.

    I am no hero, nor a self-proimed ally of justice, but destroying such abominations is an act of mercy towards the victims of this perverted kind of magic."

    "Thanks for the lesson, but my partner is neither." Lith clenched his fists, unwilling to submit.

    "Isn¡¯t there anyway to prove you that you are wrong?" He asked as ast resort, hoping to avoid a third death.

    "Of course, there is." Scarlett¡¯s tail stopped waggling, assuming a question mark shape. Being the tail of a scorpion, rather than a cat, the gesture resulted threatening.

    Lith took several steps back, his whole body aze for the mana he was about to unleash.

    (AN: question mark tail means the cat is happy, waggling means nervousness.)

    "Damn tail. Sorry, habits die hard." Scarlett put the tail under its body, in a signa of peace.

    "I just need to touch you." The Scorpicore said raising its huge paw. "If I am wrong, which I consider highly unlikely, I will leave the both of you alone. You have my word."

    It made sense, even Lith needed physical contact to use Invigoration. If the Scorpicore had a simr technique, it was bound to work the same way.

    Lith nodded, and Scarlett pressed two digital pads on his forehead. Being much older and experienced than Lith, its Aura technique not only had all of Invigoration¡¯s properties, but it also allowed Scarlett to get a glimpse of the subject¡¯s true nature.

    Under the effects of Aura, no deception was possible, both the body and the mind could not lie.

    What Scarlett saw sent cold shivers down its spine. The body was fine, and so was the mind and the mana core, aside from a small imbnce caused by too much refining. It was something that would fix by itself, with time.

    But where Lith¡¯s true self was supposed to be, there was only a bottomless void, made of rage, grieving and hate.

    Staring into that abyss, the Scorpicore could see the abyss staring back, trying to taint its mind with twisted logic and unbridled fury. Circling the void, there where several lights, keeping the void at bay and preventing it to devour everything.

    Getting closer to the lights, Scarlett was able to see that each of them had a face and a name. Carl, Rena, Lark, and so on. Only one light had a name but no face. Solus.

    - "Order and chaos, what the heck is this pup? This is exactly what I would expect to find in a cursed object, not into any living being. If the corruption spreaded so fast, it means it¡¯s way worse than I thought. I will probably be forced to kill them both."-

    To confirm its suspects, Scarlett touched the ring, only to once again remainpletely dumbfounded.

    Not only the mana core was yellow, making it the worst living artifact ever, but there was no trace of madness, pain or ill will. There was only a light, like the Scorpicore was used to see in cubs and babies. The being in the ring was so na?ve to be upsetting.

    The ck dots epassing the light had all the same name and face. Lith. Being so close to the abyss for so long, seemed to have affected the living artifact, making it less trustful and cynic.

    - "By the Great Mother!" Scarlett¡¯s head was spinning. "The human is corrupting this thing? Not the other way around? What madness is this?!"-

    Because of the shock, the Scorpicore took a step back, trying to rearrange its chaotic thoughts.

    "Whatever you are, you are not a kid. You are a monster." Scarlett growled.

    "Well, you are not that good looking either, at least ording to human standards." Lith filled himself to the brim with mana with Invigoration. The beast¡¯s tone and re had already said all he needed to know.

    "Insolent whelp! Who cares about looks? It¡¯s not about what you do..."

    "Is because of what I am." Lithpleted the phrase, remembering Protector¡¯s words.

    - "I¡¯m sorry, Solus. It¡¯s been great knowing you. It seems you¡¯ll have the find another partner. Please, forget about me, and live as long and happily as you can." -

    The disparity between Lith and his opponent wasn¡¯t something that could be ovee with dirty tricks or ingenuity. Lith was preparing himself to die, his only hope was to give Solus enough time to run away from the mad beast.

    - "No way! It¡¯s only my fault. If it wasn¡¯t for me, this thing would have left you alone. I¡¯m not leaving you. I have no chances on my own, I much prefer to go down fighting instead than running." ¨C

    Solus squeezed her ring form hard, preventing Lith to took it off.

    Thanks to its Aura technique, Scarlett was still able to see both the mana cores, the ability had longsting effects.

    For a brief moment, the cores started to pulse in unison. The yellow one took the excess energy from the cyan one, turning green and allowing it to stabilize to the next level.

    The two cores resonation allowed Lith¡¯s magic power to go way beyond his limits, to the point that the ring grew and expanded, covering the right hand in the form of a fingerless glove.

    It was still nothingpared to the Scorpicore¡¯s strength, and yet the creature stared in amazement. Nothing that night made any sense, its patience had run out.

    "I yield." Scarlett said, leaving Lith and Solus as shocked as the Scorpicore.

 Chapter 84 Day Three

    "You what?" Lith kept using Invigoration, overloading his body with mana. He had no reason to believe such a change of heart.

    "Yeah, sorry. Finding so many mysteries at once overwhelmed me for a second. I will stay true to my word and leave you alone. I don¡¯t know what that thing is, nor what you are, but that¡¯s not reason enough to kill."

    Scarlett noticed that aside from that fleeting second, both the mana cores had gone back to normal, the weak-a*s artifact was back being a ring.

    "What do you mean saying you don¡¯t know what I am?" Lith was now more scared than before.

    "You may have the appearance of a kid, yet you are not. You are closer to an Abomination, rather than a human being. The opposite stands for your partner. That thing is not a twisted perversion of life, but a living being like I never met before.

    My reasoning was based on false assumptions. I almost let my arrogance guide my hand, and for that I apologize."

    The Scorpicore lowered its head, it¡¯s menacing aura and aggressive stance subsided.

    "Why did you think my partner is deceiving me?" Lith didn¡¯t know how to react. The only thing he could think of, was to act friendly but remain vignt.

    "Do you know that it¡¯s taking part of your life force?"

    "Well, yes. When I found my ring, it was on the verge of death. We have helped each other ever since."

    The pup kept spewing unbelievable truths like they were the most natural thing in the world. Scarlett¡¯s head was spinning. The Scorpicore took pride in its knowledge and wisdom, but none of it helped making sense in that mess.

    On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Scarlett decided to perform ast attempt.

    It ced the left paw on Lith¡¯s head and the right one on Solus, while activating Aura.

    - "Their thoughts cannot lie. If the living artifact attempts to tamper with my readings, I will notice immediately." ¨C It thought.

    "Are you a human or an Abomination?" It asked Lith.

    "As far as I know, a human." Truth.

    "Were you filled with rage before finding your partner?"

    "I think I was even worse before." Truth with sincerity on top.

    "Do you have any ill will toward the human?" This time Scarlett asked Solus.

    "No. I like him very much."

    That answer brought the Scorpicore to the peak of frustration.

    "Everything I ever learned is a lie!" It screamed in despair, letting them go.

    Unable to hold so much mana any longer, Lith let it disperse. Still in a daze, the Scorpicore had turned its back, preparing to leave.

    "Wait! At least exin to me what made you change your mind."

    "The link between you two is not parasitic. That thing is not really sucking out your life force. On the contrary, it allows you to use a bigger flow of mana than you naturally could, preventing the excess energy to damage your body and using it as its nutrition.

    Two birds with one stone.

    Killing you is also out of question. You did nothing wrong. I have watched your team during these days, you have showed respect toward the forest and its animals. As long as you behave, you are free to live your life as a student.

    It is none of my business."

    The Scorpicore took the skies with a single p of its wings.

    - "A good-natured cursed object and an Abomination capable of retaining its self-consciousness. Now I have seen everything." -

    Lith had so many questions left unanswered in a corner of his mind. What was true magic? What was the Awakened agenda? How to contact them?

    But the only thing he could think about was the joy of being still alive. He didn¡¯t want to meet the Scorpicore ever again, at least until he was strong enough to hold his ground.

    Lith went back to the cave, his body was already starting to experience the aftereffects of the mana overload. Moving as silently as he could, he went into the side cave bathroom, finally losing control of his dder.

    The next day, he needed to use Invigoration just to get back to his previous conditions. Between the physical and psychological stress of the encounter with the Scorpicore, he had barely been able to catch some sleep.

    He was in terrible shape, and so were hispanions. Magic could heal all wounds, but there was only one way to recover their stamina without rest. The healer had to share his life force with darkness magic, but Lith was the most tired of them.

    While consuming breakfast, eating the herbs and fruits left from the previous day, Lith made his pitch.

    "Guys, why don¡¯t we just give up?" Everyone at the table was surprised, but no one seemed outraged at the idea.

    "I mean, look at me. I¡¯m a healer, yet I fought in the line of fire from the first day. I already used every trick in my book, if those beastse back today, I doubt we have a chance to make it.

    We were sent here to learn, and damn if we learned more than a thing or two. Now we are physically exhausted and mentally tired. If this was a battlefield, I¡¯d say that is better to retreat to fight another day, rather than fight a losing battle."

    With deep eyes and aching bodies from two days sleeping on the ground, the proposal sounded quite alluring.

    "As much as it pains me, I can¡¯t ept." Phloria spoke first. "If this was a battlefield, you would be right not once, but a hundred times. But this is just an exercise, and we have a lot to learn, even from defeat."

    Lith nodded, he could not refute her reasoning.

    "Yeah." Belia chimed in. "I understand your point, you are a skilled hunter, and was able to stand your ground from the first day. But yesterday was my first true battle, I can¡¯t give up after achieving so little. It would fill me with too much regret."

    "My thoughts exactly." Said Visen with a fierce look. "I can understand the burden on your shoulders, but this is too important to quit like that. If you don¡¯t think you can cover for me, then don¡¯t. I need to learn how to fend for myself.

    I refuse to be a burden to the group."

    - "Fantastic." Lith thought. "The group of rascals had to grow up a spine at the worst moment possible. I am beyond exhausted. All I want is a hot bath and get finally free from big brother¡¯s eye." ¨C

    "Don¡¯t worry, Lith." Phloria patted his back. "I know that between the potions, the fighting and the healing, your body must be screaming in pain. I¡¯ll do my best to make your job as easy as possible."

    Lith smiled, inwardly cursing his bad luck.

    - "Yeah, and by tonight I¡¯ll be p*oping diamonds." ¨C He inwardly added.

    Once again, their day started by hunting, away from the ckers¡¯ nest. They managed to gather meat and fruits, but remained on their toes the whole time. Phloria was having second thoughts about her earlier decision.

    Lith was the only one that could use potions, and her first n heavily relied on that to establish their tempo and not leave Visen open. His spells could turn tables, but required a lot of time to prepare, being their magnitude and area of effect that big.

    But after going all-out three times in two days, she could see how worn out Lith was. His hands kept trembling, his pace was unsteady. Knowing potions¡¯ side effects, she thought they were the cause of hisck of vigour.

    Instead, he was still suffering from the shock of the previous night. Being in a life or death situation was something he was used to. Being discovered as not being a kid, but rather an Abomination, had given him a real scare.

    Was the Scorpicore right about him? And what about Solus¡¯ origins? Lith only wanted some peace and quiet to calm his nerves, yet he was forced to use Life Vision, alternating it with Solus¡¯ mana sense to not waste too much energy.

    Both their abilities required focus and mana to be kept active, especially for Solus, with her weak mana core and poor mana capacity. Yet they had to do it, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the next attack.

    For that day, Phloria was paired with Lith and Belia with Visen.

    "Iing!" Lith yelled, prompting his teammates to assume battle formation. There had been no warning this time, everyone was astonished by Lith¡¯s keen senses and sharp instinct.

    Phloria and Belia managed to conjure their equipment, but this time the magical beasts were going all out. Infused with air magic, M¡¯Rook and Sentar moved faster than ever before, blitzing between their rank and forcing them on the defence.

    Phloria¡¯s team could follow them with their eyes, but sadly their bodies were not able to keep up. Without potions and so little experience fighting on the forest ground, their only hope was to activate the flight spell from their rings.

    That relieved part of the pressure from M¡¯Rook, but made Sentar even more dangerous. The Cron was able to move faster than an arrow, now that they hadn¡¯t the cover or rocks and trees anymore, striking with spells and talons.

    In a few seconds, their rhythm was destroyed, and Termyn¡¯s arrival, sealed the deal.

    This time the Cingy didn¡¯t charge at all, instead chose to move silently, making the ground soft as a carpet. Using its partners distraction, he waited for an opportunity to make its move.

    As soon as the students¡¯ formation loosened up, he struck at their weak spot, Visen, knocking him out with a single hit of its tusks. Lith yelled to warn his teammates, but everyone was already locked in battle.

    A Professor appeared rescuing Visen, and from that point it all spiralled out of control. In the academy¡¯s environment, Lith could barely exert half of his real power, and now that amount was halved again.

    His body was devoid of strength, his mind out of focus, still reying the conversation with Scarlett. But most of all, hecked motivation.

    He was sick and tired of pulling most of the weight of the team by himself.

    - "It¡¯s my fault, I made everything too easy for them for too long. I attack, defend, heal, provide the meals, hunt and cook! At this point, they could as well shove a broom up my a*s, so that I can wipe the floor for them when walking.

    If they want some experience, fine by me. But I¡¯m done baby-sitting!" ¨C

    Lith was lost when a lightning left him temporarily stunned, allowing Sentar to strike his back. Termyn and M¡¯Rook teamed up, taking apart Belia¡¯s armour like a tuna can, while Sentar kept Phloria busy.

    M¡¯Rook managed to bite her exposed neck, but stopped its fangs before doing any damage. After that, the three magical beasts disappeared as fast as they hade. The exercise was over.

    Being thest one standing, Phloria was filled with regret and frustration. There were so many things that she had overlooked, too many mistakes she could have avoided with a more proper nning.

    She finally realized her arrogance, always relying on Lith¡¯s apparently infinite tricks to keep the group afloat whenever something outside her ns happened. She should have given it more thought and less wishful thinking.

    By putting so much burden on a single unit, any group was bound to crumble as soon as the key member was unable to keep up. When Professor Thorman appeared to take her back at the White Griffon, Phloria was still looking back at thosest three days in hindsight.

    They had made so many mistakes, her ns were actually so full of holes, that she couldn¡¯t believe they had managed tost for that long.

 Chapter 85 Results

    When Lith regained his senses, he was back in the Main Hall at the ground floor of the academy. While getting up slowly, trying to shake off the lingering effects of the hit at the back of his head, he noticed that the Hall was filling up quickly.

    There were lots of Warp Steps opened. Some were being left active, allowing students from the fourth floor of the White Griffon to reach the Hall.

    Most of the Warp Steps, though, were used by Professors going to and fro the forest, bringing back the students one by one.

    - "I guess that the third day marked the moment when the magical beasts stopped holding back."

    "Yeah." Solus said, d to feel the safety of the castle walls all around them.

    "Honestly, I am kind of surprised that so many people managed to survive this long. Not to brag, but I was sure our group would be the onesting longer."

    "I didn¡¯t." Lith replied. "There are too many variables to consider, like who had been warned beforehand by a rtive, henceing fully prepared, or how much time they spent outside.

    Not to mention that maybe some groups were just lucky, beingprised of people that were actually able to cooperate, instead of needing someone that guided them step by step." ¨C

    Judging from the expressions of his schoolmates, no one had any idea what they were waiting for, or why they had been summoned back into the Hall. While he was still looking around, Lith noticed that his team had gathered around him.

    "Seems you were right." Visen said. "There wasn¡¯t much I could learn by getting my a*s handed to me."

    "You should have understood that teamwork is vital, but being able to stand for yourself is equally important." Trasque rebuked him.

    "I mean, seriously? Why so few of you have used first magic during the whole exercise? The Headmaster will not let me hear the end of this. He is even considering to have you all retake the whole ss from the beginning with a different teacher!"

    "Well..." Visen tried to be as considerate as possible toward the Professor.

    "First magic is good, but what could I have possibly achieved with it? I was trying to help mypanions, they needed my arrays."

    Trasque red at him, clenching his fists.

    "Well, for example you could have blinded the Cingy, so that when you attempted to dodge, it would haven¡¯t been able to intercept you. A failed array can be re-done, a fallen member cannot be resurrected. Next time, instead of ying the hero, consider the bigger picture."

    Among those who heard him, most took Trasque¡¯s words to heart. Aside from conjuring water to drink, very few of them had ever considered using first magic, deeming it useless.

    Remembering how she had used first magic to more easily y the ckers, Phloria stood straight as an arrow. Lith, on the other hand, could not stop rejoicing at the idea of getting rid of those blockheads once and for all.

    When all the students were assembled, the Headmasters stepped forward.

    "First of all, allow me to wee every one of you back. That said, I have bad news and good news. The bad news, is that contrary to what many could believe, this was still a mock exam.

    Hence no matter if yousted one hour, one day or three, you all get zero points."

    Linjos took a pause, letting the groans and curses to die out before resuming his speech.

    "This was yourst wake-up call, from now on you are on your own."

    This time, Linjos didn¡¯t keep still while talking, he walked among the various groups, like a general inspecting his troops.

    "You should have learned that your name, status and bloodline aren¡¯t going to protect you from an enemy, no matter how important you consider yourself. It¡¯s not only in the wilderness that such things hold no value, but also in the whole world.

    Do you really expect for everyone to respect or fear a feeble thing like a name? When you are outside the safety of your home, no one will ask you to introduce yourself before attacking.

    You should also have realized that petty behaviours create resentment. Many groups crumbled from the start, either due to past grudges or simply because some of you were deemed untrustworthy.

    Last, but not least, it seems that many of you didn¡¯t understand the nature of this test. It was meant to show you a glimpse of what a real battle is, to allow you to fraternize and ovee your differences.

    You were supposed to help and teach each other, not to barely lump together because you were said so." Linjos stared at several students, that seemed to shrink under his gaze.

    "The week deadline was just a pretext, I never expected that some of you would the gall to hole up, hiding the whole time. This isn¡¯t aw school, what could you possibly learn from bending the rules?

    The exercise is worth zero points, but such attitude cannot be tolerated. Any open vition of the rules will be punished by deducting points.

    As for the good news, points will be awarded to those that ording to their possibilities, helped their teammates. While the points¡¯ deduction is individual, those gained by all team members will be pooled and divided equally among those that cooperated.

    Otherwise it would be unfair toward those that sacrificed themselves during the first day, or that fell because of someone else¡¯s mistake. Also, I didn¡¯t lie when I told you it wouldst seven days.

    For the remaining four, you have no sses, you are free to rest, go home or self-study. It¡¯s up to you to decide. I hope that you will make good use of this time to think about this experience and learn from you mistakes. Dismissed."

    After saying goodbye to his ex-teammates, Lith jumped in the nearest Warp Steps, walking double time towards his room. He and his bathroom had some serious catch up to do.

    No matter how Visen had made the makeshift outhousefortable, it couldn¡¯tpare with a real toilet. Lith could finally use Invigoration, getting his strength back and relieving his sore muscles.

    He spent the next half an hour taking a long hot tub bath, while conjuring several ice mirrors to get rid of the few facial hairs that haunted is still childish visage and cutting his hair with air magic.

    - "Seems I was right about this exercise." Solus said while helping him with his cut. Without her help, Lith would have looked like an IRS clerk on a Monday morning.

    "Did you have any doubt?" Lith replied, still wondering after all those years what was wrong with the haircut he had back on Earth.

    "It¡¯s a system devised to teach stuck-up, conceited kids respect and discipline. Once you understand its goal, the restes easy. With a brain like yours, cracking the code was easy like connecting the dots numbered from 1 to 7." ¨C

    Solus would have liked to get praised more, but Lith¡¯s stomach kept grumbling loudly more and more often.

    With a heavy heart, Lith dressed up. He would have much preferred to sleep for the next 24 hours, but hunger was still one of the things that scared him the most. He needed to eat and re stock.

    He was already headed toward the canteen when Solus stopped him.

    - "Aren¡¯t you forgetting something?"

    "My pants are on and I have yet to giarize and sell underwear. So my answer is no."

    "Your friends from the Healer ss, silly. It¡¯s the perfect moment to get together and bond a little. After the mock exam, you surely have many things to share with each other."

    "Please, have mercy. I¡¯m so tired already, maybe next time." Lith cringed at the idea.

    "I¡¯m here only to hoard knowledge and connections." Solus said while making her best Lith¡¯s brooding tone impression. "I have no time to waste, I need valuable pawns once I be an adult again." ¨C

    Arguing with himself was beyond stupid, so he went to their rooms to invite them to an early dinner.

    When it was Friya¡¯s turn, she had just finished washing herself too. Her cheeks where still rosy from the hot water. That coupled with the sweet smell of her skin and hair made Lith dizzy for a second.

    - "Stupid body. Whenever it decides to grow, it will always be toote."

    "Come on, she is so pretty." Solus still wanted her school romance, even if just as a spectator. "What¡¯s wrong with a fling?"

    "She is a kid and I am old enough to be her father. Everything is wrong with that!" ¨C

    Once at the canteen, no one actually spoke for a while. They were all too focused on eating the first proper meal in days. Only after the second serving they began to share their stories.

    "So, how long did you manage tost?" Lith asked hiding his sour mood behind a radiant smile.

    "My group was one of thest returning to the castle." Yurial didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to show off.

    "Everyone agreed making me the leader..."

    "Lucky b*stard." "Poser." "Smartass." He ignored the crossfire of name-calling. Yurial was aware of the power his father¡¯s status granted to him, so he epted their envy with ss.

    "... hence I managed to quickly make them assume a defensive formation. When the beasts arrived, they found us prepared. The worst part was standing watch at night in turns, sleeping in the open and eating grass and fruits all the time."

    "Yeah." Friya agreed. "Theck of food and the dirt were terrible. My group wasical, we had two skilled hunters, but none knew how butcher the preys.

    The smell of blood lured so many animals that we had to throw the game away and look for another ce where to sleep. In the end we didn¡¯t find any, so when the we got attacked during the second day after a sleepless night, we lost two members at once.

    After escaping by skin of our teeth, we surrendered the next morning. We failed at making a decent camp again, and with no sleep at all we were barely standing when the sun rose. What about you, Quy?"

    She was grinning from ear to ear.

    "It was awesome! Best two days of my life." Her answer caught everyone by surprise.

    "Care to exin?" Lith asked.

    "Sure! First, you have to understand that everyone was pissed at me, since I¡¯m the top of the healing ss."

    "One of the top students." The other three remarked as one.

    "Sure, whatever." It didn¡¯t escape their notice that Quy seemed much more confident and fierier than before.

    "Since they knew being second rate at best, they started to call me ¡¯just a healer¡¯ and ordered me to ¡¯not be in the way¡¯. So, when the attack happened, I did as they told me and ran like the wind on my own.

    When the others managed to catch up with me, after being forced running away, I learned that our self-proimed leader had been pummelled by a Sym, a monkey type magical beast.

    They started calling me a coward, and trying to put the me of the defeat on me. At that point, knowing that we were being watched, I gave them a solid piece of my mind.

    I told them that for all I cared we could fail from day one, and that I had no intention of letting them treat me like trash for a second longer. Things quickly escted, and when one of them tried to hit me, Professor Vastor appeared, beating the cr*p out of all of them!"

 Chapter 86 Results 2

    Quy stopped talking,ughing her as* off at the memory, while tears of joy rolled out her eyes.

    "He is quite fast for someone his size, you know." She said as soon as he managed to catch her breath.

    "He beat mercilessly the one that assaulted me and those that did nothing but watch as well. He then made clear that if they attempted something funny again, he would get them expelled. After that, my teammates and I reached an agreement.

    I would help them, but only at the condition that I would not take watch at night and get the first choice about food. We didn¡¯tst long, but I had the time of my life, ordering them around.

    So, when I got back at the castle, the first thing I did was getting a Ballot!"

    Quy took out the ck sphere from her cuffs, mming it on the table, drawing all the eyes on her.

    "The feeling of freedom is intoxicating, Friya, you should get one too. I don¡¯t see why a smart girl like you has to endure morons all day long.

    What about you, Lith?"

    "Wested until the afternoon of the third day, everything went fine." Lith cut his report short, it was time to get something back from his investment.

    "During the exercise, I noticed that I cannot make full use of the potions without a weapon."

    "You brought potions along?" Yurial was incredulous.

    "Yes, I did. I bought them as soon as I got some spare points. I needed to get used to their effects, before using them in actualbat. I tested how long theysted, their potency and how strong I could hit or get hit before injuring myself.

    Nothing special, it¡¯s just the same thing we all did with the academy¡¯s uniform."

    Judging from their nk stares, they had no idea what he was talking about.

    "You do know that the uniform protects us, right?"

    They nodded.

    "And you didn¡¯t feel the need to check how it works? How much punishment it can take before ripping? What kind of blows you can take head on and what to dodge?"

    Silence befell again.

    "Well, between this and the potions, I¡¯d say you just got yourself some homework to do during the next days." Lith said smiling encouragingly to them.

    "Don¡¯t worry for the uniform, it can self-repair from small damages."

    "Thanks for your advice." Friya said. "What were you saying about a weapon?"

    "That even if I had it, Ick the proper training. Friya, your second specialization is Mage Knight. What weapon do you use?"

    "Wow, I mentioned it to you only once and you actually remembered. I use a rapier. It¡¯s a quick and nimble sword, that easily pierces through an armour¡¯s joints, but it¡¯s not good for blocking heavy hits or cutting the enemy.

    ording to my mentor, with my build it¡¯s the weapon that suits me the best."

    "Can you teach me the basics of swordsmanship?" Lith asked. "Having an enhanced strength is of limited use without a proper tool. Right now, when enemiese too close, I can only resort to first magic. I need more options."

    "Maybe I can help too." Everybody turned to the unexpected guest.

    "Mind if I join?" Phloria asked. "I didn¡¯t get the chance to thank you earlier."

    - "Not you again." - He inwardly sighed.

    "Not at all." Like a perfect gentleman, Lith stood up weing the neer. For a split second, he had been struggling to keep his amiable fa?ade.

    Despite how tired and stressed he was, Lith could only y his part.

    "Guys, this is Phloria, my former team leader. Phloria, these are my friends from the Healer specialization, Yurial, Friya and Quy." It had taken him a lot of practice to say the word "friends" instead of the more urate "colleagues".

    Back on Earth, when Carl visited his workce, many had got slightly offended with him for introducing them as simply colleagues. At that time, he didn¡¯t care, it was only a dead-end temporary job until his brother attained his master.

    Now, though, personal rtions were of the utmost importance.

    - I never understood why people have such a loose definition of friendship. A friend is someone that knows you. From things like your passions and ambitions to trivial things like your favourite book or colour.

    As I see it, they are not my friends. They don¡¯t like me as a person, only my academic achievements.

    They don¡¯t even know the names of my sisters."

    "Don¡¯t be so hard on them, they are just kids." Solus mind-shrugged. "They have met you in a though moment of their lives and you have be close. You often spend time together, either in ss or during the private lessons you gave them.

    For most people, that¡¯s more than enough to call someone a friend. Especially considering you are not really open with them." ¨C

    "Thank him for what?" Yurial interest was piqued. Lith was far from bad looking, especially since he had stopped with perpetual frown and the murderous re. Being both rising stars in the Light department, Yurial had tried multiple times to set a double date, but to no avail.

    This was the first time that a girl that hade looking for him had not been dismissed with a polite excuse. Considering that they had spent a few days together and seemed in a good rtionship, Yurial was hoping to get some juicy gossip.

    - "He sure likes them tall." ¨C He thought.

    "Didn¡¯t he tell you?" Phloria was honestly surprised. Between her group¡¯s horrible start, and how they heavily depended on Lith the whole time, she had expected him toin about them with his friends as soon as they met.

    Instead he had weed her with one of his rare dimpled smiles, while the others clearly had no idea who she was.

    "Tell us about what?"

    "As much as it hurts my pride to admit it, he was the key member from start to finish. Without Lith we would have neversted more than one day, let alone rack fifty points per day." Phloria sat down, ordering her meal.

    Friya whistled with admiration.

    "Thirty points each for three days is a great score, considering it was a surprise test. How did you manage to do it?"

    Phloria chuckled.

    "Sorry, I misspoke. I meant we each earned fifty points per day."

    "One hundred and fifty points in just three days?" Yurial dropped his fork from the surprise.

    "So much for ¡¯nothing special¡¯! Please, tell us all about it. For some reason Lith has been quite evasive, to use and understatement."

    They didn¡¯t have to ask twice. Phloria told them how he single-handedly repelled the magical beast on the first day, how he found and built them a safe haven.

    She put particr emphasis on the trick with the cker¡¯s venom and on how he taught them how to survive in the wild with first magic.

    "You wouldn¡¯t tell at first look, but shorty here is a monster!" She said patting energetically his back.

    Thest word forced Lith to remember his encounter with the Scorpicore, sending a cold shiver down his spine. He didn¡¯t like the idea of being somehow rted to Abominations, even less how close he had got to die.

    Luckily, his stiff expression blended perfectly with the others. Everyone at the table was shorter or barely taller than Lith, despite being older. If he had to be considered short, what were they supposed to be? Gnomes?

    "An artificial cave! How could I not think about it?" Yurial held his head between his hands in frustration. Being a Warden, things like that were supposed to be his specialty.

    "Finding the hill was just a stroke of luck." Lith dismissed the whole thing with a wave of the hand. "I¡¯m sure you would have done the same if you had the chance."

    "Wow, I never pegged you for the humble type. In your shoes, I would brag about the exercise for at least a month." Friya said, looking at him in a new light.

    "Phloria exaggerates things too much. Yes, I did my part, but it was a team effort. Visen actually made the cave stable and habitable, not to mention providing the outhouse and supporting us in battle with his arrays.

    Phloria herself had a rocky start the first day, but she learned from her mistakes, and saved me from the ckers. She turned to be an excellent leader, and it¡¯s only thanks to her n that we managed to survive the second day.

    She is the one that managed to envenom the Ry, I just gave her the means to.

    Belia, well, she clearlycked Visen¡¯s confidence or our battle experience, but she rose up to the asion and did her part splendidly. I, on the other hand, am incapable of leadership, and proved to be short fused, often venting my stress on my teammates."

    Lith resulted really convincing, mostly because he had been sincere. He had underestimated too many dangers, and lost control of his emotions more than once.

    It was hard to draw line where his mana core issues ended and his anti-social behaviour started.

    He knew he had a problem, but no idea how to fix it.

    "Whatever." Quy said. "Next time, I want to be in your group. Things would be so much easier."

    "Dream on." Friya sighed. "There are only thirty-four healers for over two hundred and fifty students. Hence at least sixteen groups had no healer during the exercise. It¡¯s impossible for us to ever end up together."

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Yurial said. "After the first trimester, students can go to the forest during the weekends, to collect precious herbs and materials for themselves or exchange them for points. Not to mention, it¡¯s all experience."

    Lith felt that his plea for help had been lost in conversation, but the topic was quite interesting.

    "Is mandatory a group for the forest? And will we be under surveince again during our training?" He asked.

    "No, there is no need for groups, one could go alone or with twenty friends. Although a five men group is highly rmended, especially for fourth years. And no, there will be no surveince, we would be on our own.

    The only safety measure is a panic button, very simr to a Ballot, but with only one function: a distress signal to call for help in case something bad happens."

    - "Interesting." Lith pondered. "I could go alone to vent my stress, or with them as a shock therapy. Two days are too little to make me snap, but more than enough to steel my feeble social skills." ¨C

    "Isn¡¯t your team one member short? It would be a pleasure and an honour to work together with the top students of the Light department." Phloria¡¯s request hit their egos in all the right spots.

    "How could we possibly say no to someone Lith holds in such high regard?" Friya stood up and shook her hand.

    Since things were spiralling out of his hand, he decided to get the best of it, and ask Phloria¡¯s help too. But that was the wrong moment, hispanions were too happy from having found a kindred spirit, and he was too tired to bring them back to reality.

    Lith decided to postpone his request for swordsmanship lesson after the four days break. Because of the private lessons he had imparted them about first magic, he had never got the chance to get back home during the weekends.

    It was time to correct that situation.

 Chapter 87 Homecoming

    Since Lith had been officially admitted at the White Griffon academy, the lives of the inhabitants of the vige of Lutia had be easier and safer, especially for Nana. When news spread that the vige was the birthce of a mage, nobles had be friendlier, avoiding to break thew or cause any trouble.

    Even passing merchants would be more likely to offer discounts, no more harassing the local smiths. The usual crowd of rogues and troublemakers, that usually hanged around the tavern during the night, had turned meek or left altogether.

    Of course, such behaviour didn¡¯te from the goodness of their hearts, nor from the fear of the youth that maybe in the future would be a great mage. Everyone knew he was away, and it would take no less than two years for him to return.

    The reason for such sudden change of heart, depended by the fact that those who didn¡¯t behave had made the strange habit of disappearing without traces, kill themselves leaving behind a suicide note confessing their crimes or simply died in idents.

    What everyone but Nana ignored, was that a mage¡¯s birthce was his starting fief. Being Lith evaluated as a Rank A student, one of the Queen¡¯s personal units was constantly monitoring the vige, weeding out problems in the bud.

    They had no way to distinguish a simple criminal from someone that, either by his own will or because manipted, was attempting to harm Lith¡¯s family. Most importantly, they did not care.

    As soon someone was identified as a potential threat, even if the investigations gave no results, they would get rid of the problem, just to be on the safe side.

    The Queen kept them updated on Lith¡¯s performance and potential, stressing the importance of giving him no further reason to resent the Griffon Kingdom and defect.

    After the results of the mock exam, it was only because of Duke Hestia¡¯spliance toward the school rules, leaving his daughter alone in hot waters and not trying to take revenge, that he barely managed to keep his Dukedom and his neck.

    (AN: Duke Hestia is the father of the leader of the trio that attempted harassing Lith during the first day. See Chap 57)

    Based on what her contacts had told Nana, once Lith¡¯s talent had been recognized by Manohar himself, both the Court and the Mage Association had taken to heart his well-being.

    For Nana it meant the chance to keep a big price on her services, despite having nothing more to do outside her role of healer.

    "Oh! Oh! Oh!" Sheughed enjoying another sunny morning. "Who would have thought that helping that young spirit of your brother could bring the new heyday of my life. It¡¯s never been so peaceful in years."

    "How could my little brother have anything to do with it?" Tista chuckled, while using chore magic to clean the room.

    Nana shook her head.

    "Tista, my girl you outshine your brother in many things. Looks, kindness, bedside manners. There are just two things that you should really take from him."

    "One is talent. What about the other?" Despite having learned spells up to tier three, Tista had still no idea how Lith had managed to cure her. She could only exin it with an abysmal gap in their gift for magic.

    "No, I would never criticize someone about something innate. I was talking about being cynical and practical. You are too na?ve for your age.

    If your brother was here, he would look at me with his soul chilling re, make a couple of questions to which I would answer enigmatically, and I¡¯m sure he would understand what I mean."

    "Lith doesn¡¯t have a soul chilling re!" Tista rebuked her mentor.

    "He is the most loving and caring little brother one could ask for."

    Nana scoffed.

    "Because he always treated you like a precious gem. Try asking your future brother-inw what does he think about Lith. And when you do, look him straight in the eyes and don¡¯t let him change the subject."

    Tista was about to rebut, when the door of the home office opened. Both the women turned their heads, discovering that it wasn¡¯t a patient, Lith had returned.

    "Lil bro!" Tista weed him with a warm hug.

    "You haven¡¯t changed at all!"

    He held her tight, whishing he could kiss her on the head, but she was seven centimetres (3 inches) taller than him.

    "I went away for a month, not a year! Or did you expect me toe back scarred from the battlefront?"

    "Meanie!" She pushed him away with fake rage, giving a small punch on his shoulder.

    "Thanks for everything you did for me, Master Nana. I wouldn¡¯t be in the academy without you." Lith hugged his old mentor too.

    Nana enjoyed the embrace for a moment, asking herself if it hadn¡¯t been a mistake choosing to not have children. After her fall from grace, she had withdrawn, avoiding any meaningful rtionship to not get hurt again.

    Maybe it was just the old age, or maybe hanging with those two little brats had cracked her armour. In any case, it was toote.

    "Why are you wasting time with this old bat?" Nana scolded him, poking him on the head with her walking cane.

    "Your parents are worried sick about you. Tista, you can have the rest of the day off. Bring him home, use force if you must."

    Tista giggled, taking his brother¡¯s arm before leaving.

    "Someone feels clingy, today. Since when do you like getting spoiled?" Lithughed at the affectionate gesture.

    "Since ever, duh!"

    During their walk, Lith noticed many youths suddenly changing direction or crossing the road.

    Between her beauty, her status and ie as the future healer of the vige, Tista was one of the most coveted maidens. Very few cared about the fact that she was still two years from the marrying age.

    Before Lith¡¯s departure, most were too scared to approach her. He had killed men at the age of six, a magical beast at eight, and was infamous for being overprotective of his family.

    While mothers and girls praised his decisiveness, it struck fear in the hearts of the suitors, that now believed to finally have free hand with her.

    "Is there someone in particr bothering you?"

    Tista made one of her radiant smiles that could light up a room.

    "No, thanks. I can defend myself. Besides, they are harmless."

    "Are you sure? idents happen. You just have to say the word."

    Solus jolted. Despite the casual tone and his bright smile, he wasn¡¯t joking at all.

    Tista didn¡¯t notice, andughed at the ¡¯joke¡¯.

    "Speaking of idents, the vigetely has be really quiet. I feared that after you left, brigands would attack as soon Nana left the vige. Instead the whole region has never been so safe in years."

    Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief, it didn¡¯t make sense until he remembered Linjos¡¯ words.

    - "I had almost forgot my family is under surveince. I must be careful not be followed when I perform my experiments." ¨C

    Since they spoke on daily basis with themunication amulet, Tista asked him why he had disappeared in thest three day. Lith told her everything about the mock exam, leaving her in awe.

    "Five mages fighting together against evil magical beasts? What an experience! I bet you looked like the heroes of the stories dad always told us when we were little."

    "Magical beasts are not evil. Some are good, other bad, just like humans. And we didn¡¯t look like heroes, more like scared teens. Plus, I¡¯m terrible with people, and you know it. Have you not been listening or are you just trying to tter me?"

    Tista punched his arm again in reply.

    When they arrived home, Lith noticed that the cultivated fields were bigger than he remembered, there were farmhands helping their parents. Now that all their kids had be independent, Elina and Raaz had decided to expand the family business.

    When they saw him, they ran to his side, hugging him while crying uncontrobly.

    "My baby, my little baby is back." Was the only thing they managed to say.

    Lith felt incredibly happy and awkward at the same time. Happy for their infinite love, awkward because he had yet get used to it and because he didn¡¯t know if he deserved it.

    The real Lith, their son, had died twelves years ago, reced by an alien mind. He knew it wasn¡¯t his fault. He didn¡¯t kill the baby, nor he had chosen them willingly.

    Sure, Orpal and Trion had damned themselves with their actions, yet it was the miraculous survival of the baby that had led them to those events. Lith felt responsible for breaking up that wonderful family.

    - "Aren¡¯t you forgetting something?" Solus meddled with his train of thoughts.

    "Without you, your mother could have died of childbirth. Remember how weak she was at the time? If she had been grief-stricken, she may have not survived, letting herself go without fighting.

    Not to mention that we don¡¯t know what would have happened. Orpal might as well started targeting Tista instead of you, and we both know how she wasn¡¯t able to stand up for herself. She could have died, either by illness or by your sick brother¡¯s hand.

    I can easily see him, teaching her a lesson resulting in her conditions getting worse. Sure, he wouldter apologize and realize his mistake, but I still think he would have gotten himself disowned.

    Did you somehow force him to say all those mean things to Tista, making her, your mother and Rena cry all the time? Did you manipte him into sending those five goons to beat you to a pulp? No. It was all his doing, and he paid the price.

    It¡¯s much better having two healthy good children, instead of a hot-headed conceited a*shole. The only way Orpal had to be happy was to be an only child." ¨C

    Knowing the human nature, Lith was prone to agree with her. Stealing a newborn food, his obsessive need for attentions, were all indicators of a twisted personality. Lith hadn¡¯t forgiven Orpal, nor felt sorry for him. Only for his family.

    Feeling Tista¡¯s warm embrace, seeing her safe and happy, quickly dispelled the doubts that were clouding his mind. Saving a single Tista or Rena, was worth killing a thousand Orpals.

 Chapter 88 Solusâ€™ Surprise

    After entering inside the house, away from prying eyes, Lith made use of his newfound knowledge as a healer.

    He used Invigoration to spot and fix all bone, muscr and even intervertebral disc damages umted in his parents¡¯ bodies over time, due to the hard work in the fields and the aging.

    He also used tier four magic to not make them feel tired because of the treatment, borrowing them his energy.

    "What the?" Raaz moved around, feeling the subtle changes.

    "I feel full of energy and my knots have disappeared. It feels like I am twenty again!"

    "d to hear it." Lith replied hugging his father. "I have learned so much in just a month. The academy has showed how limited my horizons were. There are many things I can still improve."

    He also performed a full check up on Tista too. She was always fit as a fiddle, but Lith never stopped worrying about her.

    They talked about his mock exam, of which Lith gave an urate description, although removing the encounter with the Scorpicore from the picture.

    Instead he put particr emphasis on how he developed a good rtionship with his teammates and Phloria in particr.

    The doctored version of the story was aimed to avoid them worrying about him being alone in the academy, hoping to help ovee their long-term sense of guilt for him never having any friend in the past.

    His parents kept believing that Lith had spent his childhood alone, because the family needed money and food, forcing him to be a hunter first and a healerter. But that was only half the truth.

    He had almost nothing inmon with teenage magicians, let alone with young children. Work had always been an excuse, to avoid taking any unnecessary risk of blowing his cover.

    After settling the matters with his family, Lith decided to take a walk in the woods. He needed some time alone, not only to sort out his chaotic feelings, but also to try to convert everything he had learned from the academy and its books in true magic.

    Knowing that he could be under surveince too, he walked toward his private clearing in the Trawn woods using Life Vision, while Solus scanned their surroundings with all the senses at her disposal.

    - "Aside from us and the animals I can¡¯t find anything else." She reported.

    "Same. I believe that it¡¯s possible for the Queen¡¯s men to have magical items that conceal their presence, but I doubt they can avoid all ourbined resources. I use true magic, while you, well, beats me what you use.

    Bottom line, I think we are safe. Probably they have been sent to keep an eye on external threats, not on me."

    "Yeah, but it¡¯s better be safe than sorry." Solus gave her firs paranoid remark ever.

    "By the way, do you remember that before the mock exam I talked about a surprise?"

    "Of course."

    "Well, time to reveal my new gift. We need a special ce, so I need you to follow my instructions." ¨C

    Lith casted his slipstream flight spell, moving in an irregr pattern toward the destination Solus had pointed him to. At the same time, both of them were scanning their surroundings.

    Following them at such high speed while remaining covert should have been impossible. They soon reached the inner part of the woods, where months before they had assisted the three kings against the Wither.

    It was still a wastnd, only grass and weeds had started growing anew.

    - "We are in the clear. I didn¡¯t notice anyone following us. Did you choose this zone because it provides no cover to our pursuers?"

    "No, because it¡¯s one of the few spots that can serve our purpose. Thanks to my sense of self, every time I regain a new function, I always know how to make it work. This one is special, and needs a special spot."

    "What¡¯s so great about this ce? It¡¯s depressing and more dead than Julius Caesar."

    Solus chuckled.

    "Did you ever wonder why the Wither moved in this direction every time it managed to escape?"

    "Normally I¡¯d say it was just desperate, but I bet you have a better exnation."

    "Bingo! I noticed it the first time we came here, but back then I couldn¡¯t make head or tails about it. You see, with my mana sense I¡¯m not only able to differentiate people, but alsondscapes.

    That¡¯s because the world is literally full of mana, and some ces more than others. During our travels, I noticed several spots were the world energy was much more abundant than usual, and this is one of them.

    I believe that the Wither was looking for this ce to leech the massive amount of world energy to survive the fight." ¨C

    Solus detached from Lith¡¯s finger in her usual spider form, reaching a clearing a few meters away, before starting to burrow into the ground.

    In front of his astonished eyes, a blue pulse lit the clearing. At every beat, something came out of the ground. It was like looking at a fast-forwarded video, were one could see a seed be a flower in less than ten seconds.

    But in Solus¡¯ case, the small pebble grew into a tower.

    A puny, demolished tower, to be precise.

    It barely reached 10 meters (33 feet) of diameter, with a single door flimsy enough to get carried away by a strong gust of wind. The tower only had the ground floor and no roof, debris covered it¡¯s top, like it had copsed on itself.

    - "This is indeed a surprise." Lith was impressed nheless. "Does this thinge with any defence mechanisms? If so, wherever we go, we will always have a ce to stay, avoiding humans and beasts alike."

    "First of all, this is not a thing, that¡¯s me!" Solus was quite pissed off being treated as an object. "And yes, I do have defence mechanisms. So, get your rude a*s inside, so I can activate them." ¨C

    Lith did as instructed, discovering that the structure inside was bigger than it looked on the outside. On his right there was a set of crumbled stairs going up, and another that seemed to go down unimpeded.

    In front of him there was a single door, leading to a bedroom almost identical to the one Lith had made build in his house. Yet the bed was a king size canopy one, and the room had a private bathroom, just like his room at the academy.

    "Mass discement?" Lith asked in amazement.

    "Yes." For the first time, he could hear Solus¡¯s voice with his ears. "Only part of this form exists in our ne, the rest is actually in the pocket dimension. Do you like this piece of home away from home?" She was clearly eager for a praise.

    "Very, it¡¯s an amazing replica. I can¡¯t thank you enough for giving me a real toilet, it means the world to me."

    Solus giggled.

    "You are wee. But this is not the surprise, just part of it. Go downstairs, please."

    In the basement there were two more rooms, the first one was a perfect copy of the forgemastering training hall, down to thest small detail.

    "I was able to reproduce both the potion and the forgemasteringbs, even the equipment." She exined. "But I cannot create from nothing ingredients or consumables. Some things we can only buy them."

    Lith opened the drawer supposed to contain rings and amulets to enchant, but just as Solus had announced, it was empty.

    "Not a problem." He replied. "There is not much that I can do with my limited knowledge.

    Luckily, when I told Professor Wanemyre that I wanted to do some practice on my own, she gave me a few rings and a bottle of the liquid for drawing magic circles. We have enough for a few attempts at applying true magic to forgemastering."

    The only Forgemaster¡¯s spell Lith had seen, was the one for realizing dimensional items. He drew the circles and the runes with the utmost care, there was no one to help him in case something went wrong.

    When he finished, he ced a pebble in its center. He wasn¡¯t expecting to seed, only to study to mana flow to reproduce it with true magic.

    So, instead of chanting, he used Invigoration to call upon the world energy and sent it to fill the magic circle. It was easy, and it didn¡¯t affect his mana reserves, since he was employing external energies.

    Unlike Professor Wanemyre, he didn¡¯t fill the circles to the brim. Being an experiment, the less energy the better, not to mention he wanted to avoid creating top tier rings after just a month.

    ording to the books, it was sufficient to give the circles mana until the air started to crackle to obtain the lowest ss dimensional objects.

    Lith knew the thirteen runes and their spells like the back of his hand, he had performed them countless times during the lessons and on his own.

    Remembering the characteristic feeling of each one, he weaved the runes¡¯ incantations in rapid session. In Lith¡¯s mind, Wanemyre¡¯s performance, albeit exceptional, was like a kid ying a piano one key at a time.

    He was convinced that to maximize the effects, the different spells had toplement and integrate each other, like in a magical symphony.

    The runes rose in the air one after the other, forming a perfect ring around the pebble in the blink of an eye. Lith then startedpressing the mana inside the runes. Soon all the energy was epassing the little stone, trying to seep inside.

    Now it was the most critical moment, Lith had to force energy and matter to fuse together. Things were going smoothly, but in the back of his head there was a constant rm that something was wrong.

    Suddenly, the energy mass imploded, pulverizing the pebble. Despite being unable to escape, the mana gone wild still managed to burn the circle, leaving a crack on the floor.

    "Ouch! That hurt!" Solus said.

    "Sorry, my bad." Lith said embarrassed by his failure. "Any idea what has gone wrong?"

    "Right off the bat, I cane up with at least eight errors you did." She actually replied at his rhetorical question, leaving Lith in awe once again.

 Chapter 89 Trial And Error

    "First of all, Wanemyre said that the size of the circle matters, and you made it too big for a pebble. A smaller one would have been better to save ink and better focus the mana.

    Also, you formed the mana sphere too fast, not giving it enough time to get properly imbued with magic. Then there is the matter of how you arranged the runes..."

    Solus started nit-picking every single mistake he had done. ording to his own earlier analogy, more like someone ying a symphony, Solus was making Lith feel like a button masher had attempted to go pro at fighting games.

    Everything she said sounded right, and that made her even more irritating.

    "Well, why didn¡¯t you tell me all of this earlier?" He grunted.

    "How could I spot mistakes you had yet to do? It isn¡¯t my fault if being the wise one I am capable of learning from others¡¯ mistakes, while normies like you must stumble and fall before walking properly."

    "Oh yeah, miss wisea*s? If you are that good, why don¡¯t youe here and show me how is done?"

    "dly."

    The room started pulsing with a white light, the crack in the floor disappeared. Then, another pebble flew on the ground, while several drops of ink hit the floor, forming the runes again in a perfect circr pattern.

    "You have forgotten the circles, Solus. So much for being a wise one." Lith yfully mocked her.

    "Do you mean this?" Suddenly the space around the pebble was filled with mana, perfectly contained in a circr shape, just epassing the runes.

    "How did you..."

    "I learned Invigoration from you, and we are actually sitting on a geyser of world energy. Is not that hard to keep it stable, for someone capable of space discement." She proudly exined, cutting him short.

    "Do you mean in this form you are capable of keeping the mana stable without a limit?" Lith stopped their cheerful quarrel, shocked by the revtion.

    "Well, duh! Why?"

    "Because that means that time is no matter an issue, at least while I practice in here. This is a perfect magical furnace for aplete beginner like me!"

    Lith weaved the thirteen spells again, following Solus¡¯ instructions and earlier advices. No more worried by the mana dispersal, he bid his time, making sure that the mana sphere was strong and stable, letting the energy seep in the pebble before the final step.

    And so, the pebble melted before he could even attempt the fusion between matter and energy.

    "Another failure! What did I do wrong this time?" Lith asked in frustration.

    "Honestly, I don¡¯t know." Solus mind-shrugged.

    "There were some things you could have done better, but in theory it should have worked."

    Just to be sure they weren¡¯t missing anything, this time Lith put on the ground one of the spare rings, and with Solus¡¯ assistance, they repeated the whole process, but this time using fake magic.

    The forgemastering went without a hitch.

    "What the heck?" Lith could not understand why true magic was failing him.

    "We did the same thing, step by step. Why did it work this time?"

    "Third time is a charm?" Solus said without actually believing it.

    They kept crushing, melting and vaporizing many pebbles, but at the end of the day their only sess was the low-grade ring made with fake magic.

    "It¡¯s almost noon, better stop, or your mother will worry."

    "Yeah." Lith left theb, heading back at the ground floor. His eyes wandered inside the bedroom, whose door he had left open.

    "Solus, do you remember myment about the dirty mind of those who designed the academy¡¯s rooms?" He asked while rising an eyebrow in suspicion.

    "Yes, why?"

    "Why does my room have such a big bed? And why the hot tub is clearly designed tofortably amodate two persons?"

    "Well, I thought that maybe, sometime in the future, you would like to have somepany." If he didn¡¯t know her any better, Lith would have swore there was a hint of mischievousness in her voice.

    "Thanks for your concern, but I¡¯ll give a hard pass on that. I¡¯ll never reveal to anyone your existence, it¡¯s too dangerous."

    With a sigh on her side, both the bed and the tub shrank.

    "On second thought, keep the bed big. It¡¯s morefortable that way."

    Ignoring Solus¡¯ grumblings, Lith was about to exit, but stopped at thest moment.

    "Is the coast clear?"

    "Yes, in this form all my capabilities are enhanced by the world energy. I can even spot the three kings, despite how far away they are from us. I can¡¯t imagine someone escaping my detection. Even in my weakened state, I¡¯m always a legendary mage tower!"

    "You have yet to tell me what defence measures you can use."

    "Uhm, not much, actually. I can turn invisible, and when you are within the premises, I can sink underground without leaving any trace.

    At the moment my options are quite limited. I couldn¡¯t even sustain this form without borrowing such abundant external mana."

    Lith was impressed nheless. Her cloaking, spatial discement and mana maniption were already at that level despite the yellow mana core. What would Solus be capable of once she reached the cyan level too?

    Lith returned home fast as he had gone, to make it harder spot their new special ce.

    - "Don¡¯t you think you are wearing your paranoia cap too much?"

    "No." Lith replied. "If I was the one supervising the vige, keeping an eye on someone like me would be wise. In their eyes, I¡¯m still a kid, our family isn¡¯t poor anymore but it¡¯s not rich either.

    I have no real ties with the Kingdom, on paper I am the perfect example of a talented youth that could be easily swayed with promises of riches, power and money." ¨C

    Once again, neither of them spotted a tail, but that wasn¡¯t enough for Lith. His pursuers could just really be good at hiding or waiting for him to lower his guard.

    Back at home, for the first time in a month, the whole family was reunited for lunch. Lith arrived just in time to hear Renaining that her fianc¨¦ couldn¡¯t join them because of his work.

    Lith was secretly happy with that. After three days of pretending, he just wanted to be himself. He did not like Sentar, but since he never liked any of his sister¡¯s suitors it didn¡¯t mean much.

    "Dad, I think this is partly your fault. You should stop ring at him every time you think I am not looking."

    "Since when do I re?" Raaz put the right hand on his heart, feigning sincerity.

    "You know that I like that boy, otherwise I would have never consented to the marriage."

    "Please. Since I was twelve, you red at everyone who got anywhere near me, no matter if kid, man or elder. You seem to have passed that skill to Lith. Senton said to me multiple times that whenever he is alone with you, he feels like facing a firing squad."

    "That¡¯s sign of a guilty conscience." Raaz rebutted.

    "Mine instead is clear." Lith chimed in. "I have always been frank with him." In fact, it was the barrage of not-so veiled threats that scared his future brother-inw the most.

    "You too, sis? Lil bro doesn¡¯t re, he is only protective!"

    No one in the family had the courage to tell Tista that her brother that she considered a hero in her heart, wasn¡¯t as perfect as she pictured him, so they happily changed topic.

    Lith really enjoyed the meal with his family. Despite she did not have ess to the high-quality ingredients like the academy¡¯s cooks, his mother¡¯s dishes were always the one tasting the best.

    Raaz shared with him his ns for expanding the farm. The days when they had barely the money to keep the house standing were long gone. As soon his father finished, the family started with a barrage of questions he was unprepared for.

    They wanted to know everything about the academy. How were the Professors, how his schoolmates were behaving, if he was eating well and so on.

    Clearly, they had only half believed to Lith¡¯s daily reports, and wanted to have clear answers while looking at him in the eyes. It took quite a while to convince them that no one was harassing him and that both the Headmaster and the Professors were good people.

    He even had to exaggerate his rtionship with the exam¡¯s group, making it sound like they were already good friends. Contrary to his expectations, none of his parents seemed happy with such news.

    "Lith, I don¡¯t think you should be so trusting. You barely know them from three days." Elina said.

    "You see, not always people are like they appear. For every good and sincere person you meet, there is always another ready to say everything, just to get what he wants. I¡¯m sorry dear, but it¡¯s the truth.

    I wanted to hide this as long as I could, but your safety is more important than preserving your innocence. Even in our small vige, since Nana took you under her wing, your rise in status has made many of ourmunity proud, but many more envious of your sess.

    My friends kept me posted about all the gossip, how so many thought you were an arrogant brat at first. Then, once you started your apprenticeship, they started to wish for you to fail, just to feel better about themselves."

    Raaz took Elina¡¯s hand, holding it tight.

    "What your mother is trying to say, is that if even people that we know from years and almost consider as family can be so mean, the more the reason to be wary of strangers. Don¡¯t believe blindly in pretty words and kind smiles.

    You don¡¯t know a person true worth until you really need their help. Always remember what happened to the poor Nana. So, don¡¯t try to change or force yourself to be someone else just to please a bunch of snotty kids.

    If they really are your friends, they¡¯ll ept you for who you are. If not, know that is not your fault. It¡¯s just that the world is harsh, true friendship isn¡¯t as easy to find like in the bedtime stories I told you when you were little.

    A real friend is like a treasure, hard to find, even harder to keep. Life will keep pushing you away, but you must never let go of a real friend."

    Lith unconsciously rubbed his thumb on Solus¡¯ ring, making her giggle like a little girl.

    - "I never expected my father to be so direct." Lith thought, without realizing what it meant to him thinking of the word ¡¯father¡¯ without making it sound like an insult.

    "I always took him for a simple and honest man, trying his best at a simple and honest job while taking care of his family. Who would have guessed that one day he would make me a speech about being cynic and distrustful?" ¨C

    While pondering about life¡¯s twisted irony, Lith realized the key element he and Solus had been missing to make true forgemastering work.

 Chapter 90 Lithâ€™s Surprise

    Lith first instinct was to run away and test his theory, but he hadn¡¯t returned home to spend his time working, he really needed some real rest while enjoying the luxury of being his real self, with no strings attached.

    "Mom, dad, thank you." He replied. "I know how cruel people can be. I learned it from experience since the day I started working as a healer. It started with that noble trying to kill me, and continued by showing me what a man can do to his wife, a parent to his own children."

    He avoided mentioning brothers, since despite the passing of years, Orpal¡¯s name kept stirring a lot of pain in his parent¡¯s hearts.

    "This vige is not perfect, the world is not perfect. But I¡¯ll do my best to remain true to myself and make you all proud of me."

    Lith could say that looking them straight in the eyes, since the wording of choice didn¡¯t mention what his morals were or how he meant to achieve his goals. In his mind, it was all a white lie to prevent his family from worrying about him.

    He stood up and hugged his family one at a time, feeling the warmth of their embrace and love.

    After finishing their meal, Lith insisted to be the one to do the dishes. Elina opposed at first, but before anyone could even move one te, he had already washed and cleaned dishes, cookware and the whole room.

    "Show-off!" Tista pretended to scold him.

    They spent the following hour discussing thest arrangements for Rena¡¯s marriage, which brought several grunts from the male side of the family, and Lith¡¯s academy life, which brought several grunts from the female side of the family.

    He had lived all his life as a monk, going from home to work and vice versa, and doing nothing else. They had hoped that being surrounded by so many girls, he would have found one of his liking.

    - "Dammit, first Yurial tries to set me up with a date, then you, Solus, with all your innuendos, and now this? For crying out loud, who cares about romance at twelve?"

    "You would be right..." Solus replied. "If this wasn¡¯t a world where people get married around sixteen and seventeen years of age. There¡¯s only so much time to just hang out for fun or make experience with the opposite sex.

    Unless one ns to marry with his first girlfriend or has an arranged marriage, of course." ¨C

    After that, everyone had to go back to work. Daylight was precious, and only Lith was actually on vacation. Before going back to his forgemasteringb, Lith visited and treated all the animals in the farm and the farmhands his parents employed.

    It would ensure the rise of their reputation and saved them quite some money.

    Once back inside Solus¡¯s ruined tower form, he could finally share his enlightment. He had actually offered her to read his mind, to stop the pestering, but she refused.

    With the growing trust between them, they rarely essed each other mind, preferring to rely on their telepathic link, unless it was absolutely necessary.

    "The problem with our earlier experiments, is that we were just imitating the form of the forgemastering spell, not his nature."

    "Meaning?" Solus asked.

    "Well, replicating a fire ball is easy, it¡¯s just an exploding me. But what does exactly forgemastering do? What does each rune individually? That¡¯s the problem that we overlooked. Fake magic is like true magic with auto-pilot."

    He took out the dimensional amulet he had bought from the academy, using Invigoration on it, while Solus did the same.

    Unlike for normal unanimated objects, Invigoration was capable of tracing the mana flow cursing through magical item.

    It revealed a mana sphere simr to a core, but much rougher and simpler, kept stable by thirteen mana patterns that insted it from external influences.

    "By my maker, how did you get the idea of using Invigoration like this?" Solus was amazed by this discovery.

    "Actually, I didn¡¯t. It¡¯s all thanks to that Scorpicore. Remember when it passed me it¡¯s pince-nez to analyse it?" Solus mind nodded.

    "That¡¯s the first time that I did it, but back then I was too scared to understand the implication of the lesson the creature imparted me. I don¡¯t know if it did it on purpose to teach me how to recognize cursed objects, or was just trying to convince me of its good faith.

    Whatever was its purpose it taught me something new about true magic, and in turn the true nature of forgemastering. Unlike some hypothesized, forgemastering isn¡¯t about feeling the mana flow in an object and enhance it.

    On the contrary, it allows to create a pseudo mana core, that has to be literally engraved into an object, and then stabilized by precise mana patterns, that feed on the world energy for self-sustenance and prevent the core from dissipating.

    Unlike yours, the pseudo cores have no conscience, just a purpose. Without an external binding they would just dissipate in the thin air. To double check my theory, let¡¯s analyse the cuffs of my uniform too."

    The pseudo core designed to store the Ballot was even smaller than the one in the amulet, but more refined.

    "Well, this makes sense." Solus pondered. "The amulet can store anything, while the cuffs only the Ballot. To apply such restriction, the core must be moreplex. But that means..."

    "Yeah." Lith sighed. "It means that we will have to forgemaster all the items in the book with fake magic, just to study their cores and understand the underlying principles, before creating something really new."

    Lith needed several attempts to understand how to carve the patterns inside an object without looking into it via Invigoration. Every test required a lot of focus and mana expenditure, but with every failure, he was closer to sess.

    "Well, now we also know why Forgemasters require so much mana. Even an inanimate object offers a tremendous resistance to the external energy. The moreplex and powerful the artifact, the moreplex the pseudo core must be.

    If a ¡¯simple¡¯ dimensional object it¡¯s taking so much time and effort, I wonder how powerful was the mage that created that pince-nez." Solus said.

    "Probably it was his/her life¡¯s work." Lith replied.

    "Yeah, it also exins why second attempts at forgemastering are useless. Every rune leaves a carving, if one creates a wrong pathway for the mana, the object bes useless."

    Lith nodded, noticing something unusual.

    "Odd, I should have exhausted my mana many times over, yet I¡¯m only starting to feel tired now, and I have yet to use Invigoration once."

    "Maybe thanks to our bond, you have ess to the world energy geyser too." Solus proposed.

    "That would exin why in the legends mages were said to be invincible in their towers. Between an almost endless supply of mana and the tower defences, defeating them should be nigh impossible."

    Lith and Solus kept working non-stop, and before sunset they had already realized their first dimensional pebble. Lith brought it in the bedroom, and Solus framed it right beside the entrance, adding a small tag with the date and a small incision.

    "Our first work together."

    After that, they created seven low-tier dimensional rings with true magic. He was certain to be able to craft even the high tier ones, but that would have been a fatal mistake.

    Dimensional rings could not be kept hidden, they had to be used, otherwise it was like not having one at all. ording to the academy¡¯s records, Lith creating low-tier objects was already an impressing feat.

    Distributing freely high-tier ones would be madness, no less than putting a bullseye on his chest and back.

    Before returning home, he went to Selia¡¯s ce, her first mentor, the woman who taught him how to survive with his hunting skills.

    "Look who¡¯s back! Still all dressed up and everything, I see." Selia hugged him, leaving Lith quite shocked. He never pegged her for the affectionate type.

    "Well, yeah. This uniform can¡¯t get dirty and is almost indestructible. I have no reason to change outfit." He exined returning the hug.

    "Wish I had one too." She sighed. "Since you left, doing the house chores is such a bother."

    "This disciple is really sorry, Master Selia." Lith mocked her. "But I hope this will make your life easier." He handed her a ring.

    She wasn¡¯t impressed at all.

    "You know, is all right for a hunter to be stingy. But being smug while handing a cheap ring like this is below even us."

    Seeing her disappointed, Lithughed out loud.

    "I admit the ring isn¡¯t worth more than ten copper coins by itself, but just like me, it¡¯s more than meets the eye."

    He shortly exined her how to imprint the ring. Even someone who had never practiced chore magic could do it at the first try. After realizing what it was, Selia was left speechless.

    "I did it myself." Lith exined. "It can only store three square meters (33 square feet) but at least you will not be bothered anymore by your equipment and your preys. If you feelzy, you can even use it to store food and keep it warm."

    "This... this is too much. I cannot ept it." Selia knew that such object was worth over thirty gold coins.

    One could build a luxury house at Lutia with all that money. Not to mention it was an invaluable tool for a hunter, keeping the preys fresh before field dressing it or while looking for a good buyer.

    She tried to give it back, but Lith closed her hand around it with his palms.

    "You can, and you must. First because once imprinted, it¡¯s useless to anyone else, unless you die, of course.

    And second, because despite you have always been a stingy, nagging Master that would make rip-off deals, it¡¯s only because of your help that my family was saved from hunger and starvation, and that¡¯s a debt that not even this ring can settle."

 Chapter 91 An Old Friend

    Lith never expected for Selia Fastarrow to get all sentimental, and in fact she didn¡¯t. Her eyes had barely the opportunity to get watery before she steeled up, replying with a giant grin.

    "Now that you mention it, I really deserve this trinket." She said retrieving the hand from his grasp and using it to ruffle his short ck hair. Selia was moved, but didn¡¯t like to show her emotions in front of others.

    "It¡¯s only thanks to the secret stash of meat that I hid and tenderized for you that you managed to grow so big and strong. In a way, I¡¯m part of your family as well." She said yfully, trying to lighten the mood.

    "In a way? You are part of my family. Almost like an aunt" Lith replied, hoping to achieve a critical hit and make her tough mask crumble. He didn¡¯t really care much, otherwise he would have kept tabs on her health too during all those years.

    But Lith¡¯s debt was real. Without her help and contacts, hunting beasts would have provided meat, but not money or clothing from the pelts and hides. Everything would have gone to waste, making his family¡¯s life much harder.

    Lith wasn¡¯t willing to keep any tab open, nor he was enough of a scum to forget about someone just because she had apparently outlived her usefulness. Rtions were important in such smallmunity.

    It was unlikely that whenever his family would need help, he would always be able to promptly return. Also, he had no idea how long the Court would protect them in his stead.

    Between Nana and Selia, they would have the two most important local figures by their side, leaving the need to call for the Count or the Marchioness only in case it was absolutely necessary.

    Selia hugged him tight enough to squeeze the air from his lungs.

    "If I end up marrying and having children of my own it would be all your fault." She said sobbing a little.

    "Who would ever guessed that rude little jerks could be so cute?"

    - "Guess I exaggerated a bit. I didn¡¯t mean to crank the drama to eleven, just wanted her to feel indebted!"

    "You monster!" Solus scolded him harshly. "Stop ying with the feelings of those close to you. I understand when you do it toplete strangers, since there is no trust between you. But that was just cruel." ¨C

    Feeling guilty, Lith consoled Selia for a while, and gave her the same treatment his parents had received that morning, removing all the umted damage and knots that over a decade of hunting incidents had inflicted to her body.

    It only made her more grateful and loving, which in turn made Solus even more angry, scolding him all the way back home.

    Later that evening, he gave one ring to each family member. Needless to say, the dinner got dyed half an hour because they would not stop making things appear and disappear, like kids with a new toy.

    Nana had to wait until the next morning to get her own.

    "I know is not much,pared to what you lost, Master. But it¡¯s all I can do at the moment."

    Mindful about what had happened the previous night, Lith avoided stirring the heart of his mentor.

    "Not much? Stop being stupid, young spirit. You have no idea what does it mean for me." She looked at it like it was a lost son.

    "No Forgemaster ever epted to sell me one of these, no matter the sum I offered. They were too scared sullying their reputation. I hope that once you graduate, you¡¯ll not change your mind and take me as your first client.

    There is so much I still want to get back."

    "It would be my honour."

    Nana hugged him, holding back her tears.

    - "What¡¯s wrong with these people? I got more hugs by strangers in these two days than in twelve frigging years!" He thought.

    "Shut up and get hugged!" Solusmanded. ¨C

    After leaving Nana and Tista to their patients, it was time to deliver thest one.

    Count Lark was very happy to see him, Lith could almost see stars in his eyes while he was staring at the present.

    "Thank you so much, Lith. Having one of my proteges joining one of the six great academies is already a dream thates true. But you managing to make one of these after just one month, goes beyond my wildest expectations."

    "I just wanted to show you my gratitude. Without your help and perseverance, I would have stubbornly continued with the home-schooling, missing so many opportunities."

    Lark patted Lith¡¯s shoulder, adjusting his monocle.

    "There no need to dig up past mistakes. There are more recent events that I would like to share with you. For example, recently the Court and the Mage Association have finally deliberated about Headmistress Linnea¡¯s decision about you and Nana."

    He made a dramatic pause, wanting to keep his guest on edge.

    "And?" Lith prompted him to continue, taking bait, line and sinker.

    "They deemed her decision reckless, overstepping the boundaries of a Headmaster¡¯s authority. Her rulings have been revoked, and being the one that presented the appeal, I was bestowed the title of Knight of the Griffon as a reward."

    "What is it?"

    "It¡¯s just an honorific title, thanks the gods, with nonds attached. Basically, I¡¯m not considered a local nuisance anymore but a benefactor of the Kingdom. The most important benefit, is that when I request a hearing from the Court, it takes much less time now."

    "How recently, exactly?"

    "About two weeks ago. Why?"

    - "Good to know." Lith sighed in relief. "If it all happened after the mock exam, it would mean that I¡¯m overdoing things. I absolutely need to avoid standing out too much. So far so good." ¨C

    "No reason, just curious. What about Linnea? What happened to her?"

    "d you asked." Lark had a smug grin, cleaning invisible dust from his monocle with a handkerchief.

    "At first, she was just reprimanded. It doesn¡¯t seem much, but believe me, for someone with an oversized ego is huge hit.

    Then she suffered the same fate from the previous Headmaster from the White Griffon. She has been relieved from her duty, and reced by someone younger and more open minded."

    "Is that a big thing?" Lith asked, beingpletely ignorant about mages¡¯ internal affairs.

    "It¡¯s enormous. Headmaster is supposed to be like a noble title, lifelong. Being forcefully removed like that is the equivalent of marking her as a failure. She will never hold an important position again.

    Is not as bad as what happened to Nana, but it¡¯s the next worst thing."

    "Aren¡¯t they afraid she could defect the kingdom?"

    "And go where?" Lark scoffed. "Sure, she can sell her academy¡¯s secrets, but that¡¯s it. No one would want someone deemed detrimental by her own country. She could get riches, but she has no need for money.

    No one will give her status and power back."

    Lith almost felt bad for her. Being rejected by her academy was the best present that any mage ofmoner origins may ask. Without Linjos and his policy, even a Ballot would have been of limited use.

    People like him or Quy would have been likely forced to quit.

    "And when did this happen?"

    "About two days ago. Seems someone aced his mock exam." Lark winked at him.

    - "Dammit, I opened my mind-mouth too soon! The Queen is too decisive, couldn¡¯t have let her resign by her own will with an excuse? What if she tries to get back at Nana? Or me?" ¨C Lith inwardly cursed.

    Lark seemed to read his mind, promptly easing his worries.

    "Rest assured, they would not take unnecessary risks. If the Court and the Association shamed her like that, was to set an example.

    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if in a few months, when the investigations are finished, she would choose to disappear from the public scene. As in forever." Another wink.

    - "That¡¯s a nice way to say she will be killed because deemed more dangerous than useful. I must be really careful not suffering the same fate. Being part of the political system is a double-edged sword. If I get involved too deep, they will not let me go.

    They¡¯ll use my family to turn me in a dog on a leash." ¨C

    "Thank you very much, Lark." They knew each other long enough to avoid honorifics when alone.

    "Sorry if I keep bothering you but, any news about my lost brother?" Lith had been true to his word, and made the Count keep tabs on Orpal, preparing to deal with him in case he ever decided to return.

    "There is not much to add." Lark shook his head. "After getting into the orphanage, he was renamed Meln. As per your request, I moved him in an institution at the edges of the County, to make harder for him to get back in case of escape.

    He had quite a hard life, from what I know. As soon as he became sixteen, he joined the military. Has been honourably discharged after two years. After that, he left Lustria County and never came back."

    - "Two years of military service." Lith thought. "Enough to earn merits, get rid of the disowned brand and start a new life from scratch as a free man." ¨C

    "I¡¯ll keep an eye out for him. What do you want me to do, in case he returns?"

    "If he has no ill will, then just contact me as soon as you can. Otherwise, I must ask you to do the same thing you would for your own family."

    "Worry not!" Lark offered him his hand, and Lith promptly shook it.

    "If I smell the slightest sign of trouble, I¡¯ll make sure he will never bother you ever again!"

 Chapter 92 Solusâ€™ Surprise 2

    Author¡¯s Note: I have renamed Master potionist in Alchemists, sounds much better imo

    ---------------------------------

    After a bit of chit-chat, the Count was forced to return to his daily routine. He had to manage both his and the fief that once belonged to herte wife¡¯s family. Even with the help of his children, it was still a mammoth task.

    He knew very little of the neighbouring Mi County, and most of the old retainers where either corrupt or untrustworthy, resenting the Lark household for what had happened to their previous Lord.

    Even after four years, there was still a lot to do and ack of loyal personnel.

    Lark had resolved to split the Counties, giving Lustria to his son, and the Ghishal¡¯snds to his daughter. That way, both had the opportunity to make their spouses marry in the Lark household, allowing them a much ample choice.

    Lith could not believe that both the Count¡¯s children would have an arranged marriage, while Rena had been able to spend her life with the man she loved. Nobles had an easier life, but even that came with a price tag.

    Their personal life had to be sacrificed in the name of the responsibilities that their title involved.

    Having still a couple of hours before having to return home, at Solus¡¯ insistence Lith went back to the withered zone, allowing Solus to take once more her proto tower form.

    "That was mean on your side, you know?"

    "What did I do wrong this time?" He sighed.

    "I said that we have twobs, yet you didn¡¯t even nce at the alchemic one. Not even once."

    "Maybe because I have no idea how a Master Alchemist works? It could be a room filled gold bars or candy canes, I could not make head or tails anyway."

    This time, Lith entered the second door, right in the alchemicb.

    It was different from the Forgemaster room; it was full of stills and small bottles. There were a lot of ss jars, each with its own tag, marking the ingredient they were supposed to hold.

    Yet just like the day before, everyone of them was empty. Lith walked among the jars, some were for trivial things like wood shavings or metal beads, while others werebelled with exotic monsters or magical creatures body parts.

    Fur, ws, horns, everything seemed to have a use for Alchemists.

    "Impressive." Lith admitted after examining what seemed like a production line.

    "But I still don¡¯t get it!"

    "Fine! Let me give you a recap of the first lesson."

    Suddenly Lith found himself in Solus¡¯ memories, surrounded by ghost-like shapes that he supposed were students attending the lesson. It seemed Solus hadn¡¯t paid them much attention, they were so blurred to be unrecognizable.

    The Professor, instead, appeared so real that Lith would have not be surprised if he turned towards him and asked what the heck he was doing there.

    "Hello, my dear students. My name is Peln Rear, and I¡¯ll teach you everything you¡¯ll ever need to know about the art of alchemy."

    He was a man in his early thirties, about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") high, with short blond hair and grey eyes. He also had perfect teeth, white enough that Lith almost expected him to shootser beams every time he smiled.

    The tight-fitting clothes revealed a fit muscr body, full of vigour and energy. He was by far the most handsome man Lith had ever seen.

    "Some of you, may have heard that an Alchemist is the cheap copy of a Forgemaster.

    s, that¡¯s not entirely false, but it¡¯s not true either. The reason because the two sses are scheduled together, is because I am not going to lie to you. I won¡¯t sugarcoat any aspect of this job.

    So, if at any time you want to leave and join the Forgemastering course, you can do it."

    After a second, since no one was moving, Rear continued talking.

    "First of all, you have to know that I am new to this job. The old Professor, like his Forgemaster colleague, had almost managed to make this ss die. Alchemists already have a poor reputation, couple that with a belligerent fool, and you get a recipe for a disaster.

    Most students choose their specialization courses based on what their parents want or what their heroes do. Do you remember a story with a valiant Alchemist as a protagonist? Well, me neither.

    The crafting department has always been the ugly duckling of magic, and I don¡¯t see it changing in the near future. At least legendary rings, weapons and armours had to be enchanted, so albeit with a secondary role, Forgemasters appear in those stories.

    That leaves uspletely out of the picture, to the point that many don¡¯t even know of our existence. At this point, many should be asking themselves: ¡¯what am I doing here?¡¯ or ¡¯why should I take this ss?¡¯."

    His dramatic pause worked, Lith was eager for an exnation.

    "The answer lies here." Rear opened his left hand, revealing what it resembled an orange voured jelly bean. After letting the students take a good look of it, he backstepped a bit before throwing it against the far end of the wall at his back.

    As soon as it hit the wall, the jelly bean exploded, releasing raging mes. Only the ss¡¯ safety measures allowed the students to remain unscathed by both noise and heat.

    "That, my students, was a tier three Fireball." Without letting them recover from the shock, he took out a wand, and with a flicker of his wrist lightnings crashed one after the other against the wall in the same spot the fireball had struck.

    "And those were tier three Lightnings, all cast in rapid session from a magic wand, with no casting time or mana consumption."

    Rear then took a pause, allowing them to understand what he was saying.

    "As I told you before, I¡¯m not going to lie to you. Being an Alchemist is an amazing job. Where Forgemasters are like artists, spending lots of time and energy on every single one of their creations, we Alchemists are like bakers.

    The fruits of our endeavours are not made tost, cannot be passed down through generations. They must be prepared quickly, in huge batches and for an affordable price, saving countless lives every single day.

    Whileymen just sort us crafters based on our products, calling Forgemasters ¡¯permanents¡¯ and us ¡¯consumables¡¯, I see our jobs in apletely different light. Forgemasters work to build a better future, but Alchemists are the ones nurturing the present.

    All that you are going to learn here, makes the difference on every single battlefield, be it a skirmish or a war. Healing potions are vital for soldiers alone on the front lines.

    A handful of fireball seeds can turn a battalion into ashes or, if nted by hand, secure a perimeter."

    "That¡¯s true! They can be used to create a minefield!" Lith eximed.

    "The great advantage of alchemy over forgemastering, is that anyone, even non magicians can proficiently use the things we create, not to mention the price is much lower.

    On the other hand, though, a magical item is forever, an alchemical one cannot be recharged.

    Another big difference between the two disciplines, is that alchemical spells require rtively low mana, so each one of you will be able whip up quite a few things before needing to rest. Questions?"

    "What use do ingredients have?" Asked a seemingly female voice.

    "Good point! You see, while tier one can be bottled up as they are, from tier two and up, a focus is needed for spells to retain their potency.

    For example, the fireball seed I used earlier requires fur of a fire using magical beast, a Phoenix Rose or any other ingredient with a high fire affinity. The most valuable ingredients have all been found with a trial and error process, so feel free to experiment on your own. Next question."

    "I¡¯ve seen in the Prize Hall physical enhancement potions. Why I have never heard about such spells? And why those potions have side effects?" Said a male voice.

    "That¡¯s an excellent one. The problem with such spells is twofold. First, their cast time is absurdly long. The best Alchemist can cast one of them in around one minute, and their effectsts only for three minutes."

    "One minute?!" Lith was bbergasted. "Then they are useless!"

    "That makes them useless in real battle." Raar¡¯s memory confirmed Lith¡¯s assumption. "That¡¯s why it¡¯s much better bottle them up and save them for ater use.

    Remember, Alchemy is the art of always been prepared. With enough time, one of us can have ess to the equivalent of several mages¡¯ worth of spells.

    As for the side effects, injecting someone else¡¯s mana in your body is akin to poison. Even tier one physical enhancement spells require ingredients to mitigate such effects. They are the most expensive and useful potions for a mage.

    That¡¯s why the Prize Hall only sells the tier one kind. To avoid students wasting points and focusing more on the permanent magical tools. Alchemy is easier to find, and more importantly, to afford.

    Those of you that do not belong to really rich noble families, would not be able to afford magical items for a long time, without the points system. Any more questions?"

    Students asked for exnations one after the other. Lith wasn¡¯t that interested in the finest details, so made Solus fast forward until the Professor gave a demonstration of an alchemic spell.

    He stood in front of what looked like a huge separating funnel, connected with several ss sks in a production line identical to the one in Solus¡¯b.

    After a minute, with just a single spell, he filled the funnel to the brim, revealing several ingredients that had been ced within it, that were now being slowly absorbed by the magic liquid, before it got transferred into the sks.

    "See?" Rear said. "Ten speed enhancing potions for barely a minute of work. They would cost one hundred points in the Prize Hall, or one hundred gold coins in a shop. Even deducting the costs for vials and ingredients, the ie would be around eighty gold coins."

    Then he proceeded to show how to create Fireball seeds before putting an end to the lesson.

    Lith didn¡¯t know if tough or cry.

    "This is all soplicated. Between my two others specializations and true magic, I already have a headache. It will take me years to understand Alchemy, I just do not have time!"

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Solus replied. "Even in my ring form, I have ess to bothbs, and in my free time I have been experimenting with Alchemy during thest month.

    When I am not in tower form, I have little mana, so I can only practice for a little before needing to borrow yours. Anyway, if we manage to get our hands on forms and ingredients, I can prepare the simplest alchemic items on my own.

    For the others, I will need your help. And once I learn things, I can teach them to you."

    "Well, yeah, our mind link would speed up studying it, but I would still require practice andprehension for... Wait a minute! You had ess to thebs? That means you practiced the whole magic circle thingy. Right off the bat my a*s!"

    "Ops." Solus mind shrugged. "You got me. Guilty as charged."

    "And why all those students were so faded in your memories? It¡¯s like you never focused one any of them. Even the floor was pictured in more detail. Your perspective never moved from Rear..."

    Thanks to their mind link, despite she had not a physical body, he could feel anxiety and embarrassment leaking from the surface of her mind.

    "Solus, don¡¯t tell me that you have reached puberty too or something?"

    "Absolutely not!" She yelled in a non-convincing tone, her voice gone up an octave.

    "That would exin a lot. The constant pestering me about girls, the nagging about theck of romance..."

    "I don¡¯t nag!" She replied offended.

    "Then I don¡¯t re!" He scoffed.

    Lith was about to mention the possibility of her having the hots for the teacher, but preferred to back down. If he was right, prodding her further would escte the joke, leading to an argument.

    He really hoped to be wrong, though. Solus having such feelings was one of the things Scarlett had warned him from. Whatever was her nature, longing for intimacy butcking any means of even feeling human contact, was something too cruel to bear.

    End of Volume 2

 Chapter 93 There and Back Again

    Lith spent hisst free days studying Alchemy and Forgemastering.

    Both the crafting disciplines were very hard to convert into true magic.

    Alchemy was a weak subject for him.

    He barely managed to understand the basics, leaving most of the work to Solus, while he studied his clothes, amulet and magic storing rings, hoping to understand how to replicate and enhance their pseudo cores with true Forgemastering.

    Before leaving, Lith managed to pay a social visit to Protector, Reaper and Lifebringer. He wanted to be updated about the situation in the Trawn woods, but more importantly he was fishing for Alchemic ingredients.

    During spring, animals would change their coats, and deer would shed their antlers. What for him was a treasure for them was garbage, so they had no reason to deny his request.

    By simply grooming them for a few minutes, he had enough to stuff several pillows.

    After returning to the Academy, life once again resumed its routine, with only a couple of changes. Lith obtained from Phloria and Friya training in sword arts, and in exchange Phloria would take part in his silent magic private lessons.

    Adjusting their schedule proved to be a bit hard, but thanks to Soluspedia, Lith didn¡¯t need to study much. Worst case scenario he would not sleep and Invigorate himself to cram through the night and leave the afternoons free.

    That, coupled with Phloria attending to only one specialization course, allowed him to practice often.

    Months passed, and so the end of the first trimester came.

    Many students were afraid of the finals, and started topile a list of all the possible trials that could be required for them to perform.

    Lith couldn¡¯t care less. If it was a written exam, with Soluspedia it would be a walk in the park. If the test was of practical nature, he was quite confident to be able to screw it up just enough to be in the top 10, but avoiding the top spots.

    The day of the finals, they were all assembled in thepulsory courses¡¯ ss, the only one that could amodate all the fourth-year students, waiting for Professor Trasque to arrive.

    Yet the one that entered the room was Headmaster Linjos.

    "Good morning, my precious students. This time, I bring you only good news.

    There will be no finals, because you have already taken all of them."

    Most of those present went into panic, thinking that the mock exam had actually been a real one. All those that reached this conclusion, cursed the Headmaster inwardly, for the unfairness of crushing their grades after only a month of preparation.

    "This is one of the changes that I have made to White Griffon system, that no one was aware of. You have been judged daily for three months, based on your preparation and the effort you put into the lessons.

    I want you to know that rather than failure or sess, special importance has been attached to your progress. To how you learned about your weak points and worked on fixing them.

    After such prolonged and careful evaluation, any further test would be useless, especially written exams. They would only serve to see who is better at cheating, like often happened in the previous years.

    The only way to get good grades with my system, is through hard work and perseverance, not by goofing off a whole term and hoping for a mad rush to be enough."

    His tone became harsh during thest sentence, looking straight to some students that cowered behind their desks.

    "Also, there will be no ranking, not until the end of the year. It¡¯s another toxic relic of the past, that only managed to sour rtionships and turned friends into enemies. I will now give you your report card, but it¡¯s for your eyes only."

    In front of each student appeared a nk piece of paper.

    "To read its content, just imprint it with your mana. To those who have passed all their courses, you have my congrattions. For those who have failed one or more sses, you¡¯ll have to retake them entirely in the second trimester.

    If you have problems with your timetable, I suggest you to drop a specialization, if you are taking more than one. Is better to achieve less than failing entirely."

    Scared murmuring filled the air.

    "To those that find such judgement unfair, feel free to bring the matter up to the Professors or to me, if you prefer. We¡¯ll give you impromptu make-up tests.

    In case you seed, the votes will be changed ordingly. There will be no punishment in case of failure. Dismissed. Take the rest of the day to n your future properly. You have only until the end of today to ask for a second evaluation."

    Linjos had yet to reach the door that everyone was picking his own report card, infusing it with magic.

    Lith¡¯s one was as following:

    Theory of Combat Magic: A; Principles of Advanced Magic: A; Forgemastering: A; Healing: S-. School points gained from daily evaluation: 3,365.

    - "F*ck! What did I do wrong to get that S?"

    "Do you mean aside from sharing your spell, proposing brilliant ideas on daily basis and removing the cker¡¯s venom from your body and weaponizing it in front of the whole staff?" Solus sneered.

    "Dammit, Linjos keeps screwing up my ns. I can¡¯t ruin my average score during the finals if there are no finals. That man is diabolical."

    "What is done is done." Solus mind-shrugged. "Let¡¯s see how the others fared." ¨C

    Looking around the ss, watching the student¡¯s faces was enough to get an idea of their grades. Those who cried or cursed loudly had clearly failed at one or more sses.

    Lith didn¡¯t have to go far, his four "friends" had taken the habit to sit next to him as soon they had returned from the four days break.

    "What¡¯s with the sour face?" Yurial asked looking worried.

    "Did something go wrong?"

    "Let¡¯s get out of here." Lith replied with a whisper.

    "To not betray Linjos¡¯ expectations, is better to talk somewhere private." He pointed with his thumb to the heart broken students.

    Everyone nodded, then they got up and exited the room unnoticed. Yurial¡¯s ce was the closest one, so they headed there

    After closing the door behind them, Lith activated his Hush spell. He was almost certain that all the rooms were soundproof, considering the phndering style they were built for. But he wasn¡¯t the type to take chances.

    "Well? How did it go?" Phloria prompted him.

    "Mine is: Theory of Combat Magic: B+; Principles of Advanced Magic: B; Mage Knight: A+. School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,254."

    Everyone gave her a short round of apuse.

    "Thanks, but I bet I have less points than you lot, since I got only a specialization."

    "Yeah, we are almost the same." Quy stood straight as an arrow.

    "I got Theory of Combat Magic: B-; Principles of Advanced Magic: B+; Healing: A++. School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,382. Sadly, I still suck at thebat part of magic."

    Another short round of apuses, with a side of whistles.

    "Sigh, seems I¡¯m not in the running for the top spot as a healer anymore." Yurial said with an apologetic voice.

    "I got only Theory of Combat Magic: B; Principles of Advanced Magic: B; Warden: A; Healing: A. School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,530. At least I can console myself with the extra points."

    He seemed really dejected. Taking out a specialization, the archmage¡¯s heir had scored two plusses less than a starvingmoner.

    "Don¡¯t beat yourself up, man." Lith said patting Yurial on his back.

    "Quy and Phloria performed outstandingly, but you are no worse in any way. Managing to score two As in both your specializations of choice is no easy feat."

    Yurial humbly epted thepliment, and so did the girls.

    - "Now my only hope is that I didn¡¯t just shoot me in the foot unknowingly insulting Friya." ¨C Lith though, trying to y both sides of the fence.

    Luckily, she didn¡¯t seem upset.

    "Yeah, you have done good. Mine is Theory of Combat Magic: B; Principles of Advanced Magic: B; Mage Knight: B+; Healing: A. School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,420."

    "That¡¯s an excellent result for someone who¡¯s the first in her family to be a magician, with no legacy or training to speak of, except a second-rate mentor." Lith said to lift her spirit, while winking at Quy.

    It meant "I know that you and I got a worse start than her, but please follow my lead."

    But instead of winking back, she blushed and looked away, leaving Lith in a daze.

    "You have yet to answer my question, though." Yurial said with an inquisitive look.

    Lith sighed, pondering if to tell them the truth or tune down his votes.

    - "After all, I am theirbat magic teacher and the fastest learner in advance magic. I doubt they will actually be surprised." ¨C

    And they weren¡¯t. There was no awkward pause before they started pping andplementing him. Yurial even took out aurel wreath from his dimensional amulet.

    "I hereby crown you king of the hill."

    "That was to be expected." Friya said. "Without you, I doubt I would have got a B inbat magic. Maybe a C, if not fail it entirely."

    "I would have failed for sure." Quy wasn¡¯t dejected at all, while saying it. On the contrary she was proud of her achievement.

    "I never fought in my life, and never did much with magic beside healing."

    "I would have surely achieved a solid C, maybe C+, but that¡¯s it." Phloria shrugged. "I learned a lot in these two months. Who knew that first magic was so useful?"

    "I¡¯m the same as Quy, but for different reasons." Yurial said.

    "I was so eager to please my father that I only focused on tier three magic. I always considered first magic a tool for servants. I knew nothing about it."

    "If what you all said it¡¯s true, then you should go and report it to Trasque." Lith said returning the wreath to its owner.

    Seeing their confused expressions at his words, he proceeded to exin.

    "You heard Linjos, he is trying to change the system. New things are bound to have ws, and need a proper feedback to be fixed. If you share with him your doubts and struggling with the course, you¡¯ll help the system, and as a result all other students.

    He won¡¯t be angry at you for being honest, more likely you¡¯ll gain extra points."

    "How do we know this is not a ruse for you to get even more merits at our expenses?" Doubt had reduced Quy¡¯s eyes to slits. She didn¡¯t want to believe Lith making her look bad for his own profit, but she had learned to look out for herself.

    "Easy, don¡¯t mention my name." He shrugged. "One of you can take credit for the lessons, for all I care. I¡¯m not proposing this for points, but because I care for you and the academy.

    Without Linjos, my life here would be much harder, and I think the same stand for most of us. Another thing, try to remember what he said about epting your limits and working to fix them. I really think it would do you some good."

    Lith left the room, letting them decide without him interfering.

    After discussing it for a while, his words actually made a lot of sense.

    "I really can¡¯t make head or tails about Lith." Yurial confessed.

    "Sometimes he acts normal, but when ites down to magic and responsibilities, it seems I am talking to my father instead of a friend. Always worrying about my future, me eating properly and learning my lessons."

    "Agreed." Friya said. "At some point I started doubting he was only twelve, so I had a background check made on him. He is really twelve, and it¡¯s supposed to be the youngest child of his family. Then why do I get the impression he is..."

    She struggled finding the right word.

    "Raising us?"

    Later, they decided to follow Lith¡¯s advice, and report everything to Trasque.

    He asked them a few questions about what they had found particrly hard and challenging, and how they had ovee their respective bottlenecks.

    "Seems a single Professor is really not enough." Trasque sighed. "Combat Magic has the highest rate of failure among all courses. We need to fix this ASAP. Thank you for your sincerity guys." He said snapping his fingers.

    "I just raised your grade in my ss by one notch. I¡¯m really proud of your growth."

    Meanwhile, Lith was in his room, taking a nap to catch up on his sleep.

    A sudden knocking woke him up, prompting many curses. He was having one of his rare good dreams.

    Seeing his frown, the academy¡¯s clerk apologized for the inconvenience and delivered him the new books.

    The first one¡¯s title was: "Get out of my face. Aprehensive guide of all you need to know about dimensional magic."

    The author¡¯s name was Khavos Rudd.

 Chapter 94 Dimensional Magic

    The following morning, Lith and Phloria were taking a small walk before picking up the rest of the team for breakfast.

    Descending from a long line of Mage Knights, Phloria had more experience with swords, and since she had to attend only one specialization course, she was his main teacher between the two girls.

    That allowed them to spend quite some time together, since both of them had free afternoons to practice swordsmanship. Actually, Phloria sometimes needed to cram at night, to catch up with her studies, but it was something she dly did.

    She would have not given up the weekend lessons about first magic for the world. Besides, once she managed to get to know him better, she really enjoyed hispany. The same went for Lith, up to that point, she was his favourite.

    Phloria was mature and level headed, speaking her mind so often that sometimes she came out rude. She also had various interests and hobbies, making her able to talk about almost every topic, not only about magic or Court life.

    Lith enjoyed their talks, learning about the new world mentality and non-written society rules. Having lived most of his new life in a small vige, Lith could learn more from one of her anecdotes that from an entire book.

    That day Phloria wore her long ck hair down, making them dance in his face every time she turned her head suddenly.

    "Why are you still growing your hair?" Lith asked. "I thought that having them short was more convenient for a fighter."

    "Yeah, you got that right. But during thest break, my mother kept nagging about me not being feminine enough. She said that if I cut them even shorter, people would mistake me for a boy. What a load of sh*t!" She grumbled.

    Lith could only keep silent, inwardly agreeing with her mother. Phloria was very tall, even more than most Professors, and she still had plenty of time to grow further. She also had wide shoulders and enough strength to easily lift him, like during the mock exam.

    "What do you think about it?" She abruptly asked.

    "That I hope she didn¡¯t phrase it so cruelly. But I have to give it to her that you are prettier this way." Lith dodged the question with apliment.

    "Of course not, my mother is of noble origins, she would never be so straightforward. She just pointed out how hard it is to find suitors form me, adding how scared she is at the idea that our bloodline would die with me and all that cr*p."

    "I thought you had siblings." Lith raised an eyebrow at such arguments. He clearly remembered that her parents had three children.

    "I do. And when I pointed it out, she replied with the bogus theory that women are more likely to pass down a greater degree of magic. At that point I gave up. You know parents, you are always on the losing side of any discussion."

    Lith nodded, not knowing what to say. No one had ever tried to control that aspect of his life.

    "While we are at it, you do know that Quy has it bad for you, right?"

    "Yes." He actually suspected that Quy was developing a crush, but he hoped that with time and not giving her special attentions, it would pass. He did not want to openly reject her and hurt her feelings.

    "Yet I don¡¯t understand why."

    "Well, she¡¯s an orphan. She clearly has daddy issues, and between your big brother and drill sergeant vibes, I¡¯d say you make the ideal candidate."

    "But why me and not one of the Professors or something? I mean, I¡¯m nothing special, just..."

    "Tall, good-looking, talented and caring?" Phloria cut him short. "You are right, is aplete mystery."

    Lith red at her in annoyance.

    "That¡¯s not funny. Stop ruffling my feathers."

    "Well, right now I have to take back the good-looking and caring part. With that face, you are creepy."

    Lith¡¯s expression returned to normal.

    "Much better. By the way, I would keep an eye on Friya too. It would not surprise me if her family sent her after you. Talented magicians with no family name are much sought-after."

    "Please, I¡¯m just a fourth-year student." Lith scoffed. "It¡¯s too soon for that kind of shenanigans."

    "Nah, you are still too na?ve. It¡¯s the perfect moment to start an approach to develop in the future without seeming too desperate or interested. During the fifth year it would be toote, one needs an edge over thepetition.

    It¡¯s not like they are going to make you marry after all. If you do not live up to their expectations, they can always back off at any moment."

    "That makes sense." Lith furrowed his brow, thinking about the unexpected problem.

    "Thanks for the heads up."

    "You¡¯re wee. But to be honest, you should thank my father. It¡¯s only when he asked me if I would mind a younger spouse that I realized what was happening."

    Lith was afraid to ask the question, but he did anyway.

    "What did you reply to him?"

    "After stressing out that I don¡¯t mind a ¡¯small¡¯ age gap, don¡¯t get me wrong, I don¡¯t want to end up marrying someone much older than me, I said that I would consider it. No reply was the only reply.

    If I said yes, he would have sent my mother to make me change my mind. If I said no, he would have probably started arranging our marriage. He is kinda bull-headed."

    "I see." Lith tried to keep his poker face, but unconsciously took a step away from her.

    "Don¡¯t overestimate yourself, short stuff." Sheughed at his move.

    "I¡¯m my own woman, I may bend on many things for my parents¡¯ sake, but love is not one of those. If they try to force me, I¡¯m ready to be independent after the graduation. If I keep my grades as they are, people will line up to hire me."

    From that point, they walked in silence, until they knocked on Quy¡¯s door. During breakfast, everyone expressed their curiosity about the new lessons and their Professors, making bets about their looks.

    Lith sneaked a look at Friya from time to time, and only when he realized that nothing had changed, he managed to put his paranoia to rest.

    Because dimensional magic was apulsory course, it took ce in the fourth-year lecture ss.

    As soon as thest gong rang, Professor Rudd walked in.

    He was a tall man, about 1,78 (5¡¯10") high, with grey streaked ck hair, and ice-cold blue eyes. He was in his mid-fifties, wearing the robe open and revealing a slim build.

    Aside from Vastor, he was the oldest teacher Lith had ever met.

    "Good morning, dear students." He spoke every word like he was spitting poison.

    "I¡¯m Professor Khavos Rudd, and I¡¯ll teach you dimensional magic. As you can see, I am not one of those hot stuff children that our beloved Headmaster Linjos ced in the academy. I¡¯m one of the remnants of the old guard.

    One of those that, allegedly, find a waste of resources to teach magic to those that not belong to mages¡¯ bloodline or at least noble families."

    At those words, Lith, Quy and Friya took out their Ballot, cing it on their desk. After one too many "practical joke", Friya had decided to follow Quy¡¯s advice and got her freedom back.

    Being noble, that speech wasn¡¯t addressed to her, but she still wanted to prove her point. Friya wasn¡¯t scared of putting herself on the line for her friends.

    Rudd continued like he didn¡¯t see anything, despite the three of them were sitting in the front lines.

    "Even in such hypothetical scenario, thought, I would still be a professional capable of leaving his prejudices outside that door. I expect you of doing the same."

    All themoner students didn¡¯t believe a word he said. Many started regretting not having a Guilty Ballot.

    "Dimensional magic is aplex and deep subject, so do not expect of getting rid of me after just three months. My ss is where we will separate true mages from simple birds. Even a magico can fly, but only a mage can do this."

    After a quick wave of the hand and a hushed word, Rudd disappeared from the back of the ss, near the chalkboard, reappearing in front of the first row of students.

    His hands never stopped, before they could even gasp, he had already disappeared, materializing with his feet on a second-row desk, making a full round of the ss before returning back to the point of origin.

    "This spell is called Blink, one of the mostmon battle uses of dimensional magic. It¡¯s particrly useful to Battle Mages and Mage Knights to push forwards, since they use weapons. But everyone can use it to escape in a pinch.

    Just to be clear, I didn¡¯t use any artifact, just my skills. If you aren¡¯t capable of doing this by the end of the course, you will never pass it. The good news is that failing my ss will not prevent you from graduating, just mark your failure as mages."

    He smirked looking at the student¡¯s worried faces.

    A hand rose up from the middle row.

    "What? I still have to begin exining and you already have a question? I wonder how you got admitted here. Nheless, speak freely."

    "Are you going to teach us teleportation?" Asked a red-haired chubby boy.

    Professor Rudd broke out in a loudughter, full of contempt and amazement. Most of the students understood that he wasn¡¯tughing at the question, but at the boy himself.

    "Teleportation? I haven¡¯t heard that word in years. It¡¯s a withered branch of magic, whose only sess was to get the world rid of all the idiots that practiced it."

 Chapter 95 Dimensional Magic 2

    "The idea of teleportation was first born after realizing the limitations of flying. As you all should know, is impossible to move in such a way an army or its supplies.

    It¡¯s not a matter of mana required, as much that it would take too much time. Not to mention it would offer a perfect target for an ambush, since non mages would be sitting ducks.

    The first idea, was to just move a body much faster, but above a certain speed threshold, dust bes dangerous as an arrow, insects hit like an avnche. Adding a barrier strong enough to endure such hazards, would make the mana consumption prohibitive, even for a small group of persons.

    So, some dumb idiot who read too many fairy tales, had the idea of teleportation, as in convert living matter in something else that could sustain high speed traveling, and reverting it back once arrived to destination."

    Ruddughed loudly, like it was the best joke ever, but when he noticed he was the only oneughing, his upper lip curled in an expression of disgust.

    "How can you possibly be that dumb? Do you really not understand?"

    He asked, without receiving any answer besides puzzled looks.

    "In a fairy tale, it¡¯s great. But in reality? Converting living matter into something else, is just a fancy word to say ¡¯killing¡¯. How can you be sure that the thing that arrives on the other side is really you? What if a part of your body, your mind, or soul gets lost?

    How do you think you could get it back? And more importantly, would the newborn thing even notice not to be the original? One thing is teleporting a rock, but living beings are much moreplicated."

    - "Interesting." Lith thought. "Is the same moral conundrum theoretical physicist had about teleportation back on Earth. Someone even made a Hollywood movie about it." ¨C

    "And don¡¯t let me started about the necessity of having perfect coordinates!" Professor Rudd continued.

    "Rematerialize a little too high, too low or too close to a travelpanion and bam! Instant death. Not to mention that the aforementioned insects, dust and even animals, are not bound to make space for your arrival. The tiniest hitch, and you have a fly for brains.

    Thest mage that attempted teleportation, materialized in the sky, hoping to avoid such issues, only for a flock of ducks to cross his path, making him die like the quack he was." This time, part of the ssughed at the dark humour.

    "What I¡¯m going to teach you, is the art of manipting space itself, allowing you to arrive from point A to point B inplete safety in an instant, even if the two ces are thousands of miles away."

    Professor Rudd waved his hands in a circr manner, and soon two tiny ck spots appeared. The first one between his palms, the second one right in front of the girl sitting in the middle of the front row.

    With each magic word he spoke, the spots started to erge and stretch themselves in a specr manner, one extremity became almost circr, the size of a fist, while the other was so thin and small to be point-like.

    They assumed the shape of a funnel, made out of energy, with both ends spinning at unbelievable speed.

    - "Is that an event horizon?!" ¨C Lith was shocked, to the point of standing up to better observe the phenomenon.

    After just a second, the energy funnels had copsed on themselves, leaving in their ces two rifts in space. Professor Rudd extended his hand inside the first rift, making it reappear right above the girl¡¯s desk, taking the pen away from her fingers.

    "Do you understand now? Bending space requires the same amount of energy and focus than teleportation would, but it¡¯s infinitely safer. Walking through a Gate is like going through a door. What gets in, gets out. No more and no less.

    But do not get fooled by appearances. Even a simple trick like the one I just showed you has many limitations. First of all, it requires a clear line of sight, otherwise one cannot have a clear focus of the entry and exit points.

    Secondly, even a small Gate requires at least the ability to triple cast, since you have to mix and control the energies of earth, air and water magic. Those are the most basic elements for a Gate.

    Adding more elements allows to create bigger rifts, and it¡¯s the only way to make them stable enough to let more than one person walk through it. You will need to develop a deep understanding of these three elements, just for starters.

    Despite what you may think, dimensional magic does not require enormous amount of mana, like some specializations do. The most important requirement is sensibility to small fluctuations of energy and space.

    It¡¯s not something that you can brute force your way through. You must be able to feel the Gate growing, and adapt to its changes. If you don¡¯t feed it mana at the right time in the right ce, it will never open.

    Dimensional magic is not a specialization, it has no strict requirements that cannot be ovee with practice and hard work. On paper, is something that every good mage can do, even those with one specialization or none at all.

    Tomorrow, we will start with nothing more than a simple parlour trick."

    Rudd opened two small portals, barely the size of a coin, one above the other. Then he dropped a small pebble in the lower portal, and it reappeared from the upper one, falling down in the lower portal in an endless loop.

    "Forewarned is forearmed. Better if you start reading your book from today onward, if you don¡¯t want to start with the wrong foot. Questions?"

    Yurial raised his hand, receiving permission to speak.

    "Professor, you said that teleportation does not exist, but what was Blink then? I didn¡¯t see any Gate opening."

    "Excellent question, young man." For the first time since he had entered the room, Professor Rudd smiled kindly. Many were cursing inwardly, asking themselves if the question was really good, or rather he was appreciating Yurial¡¯s father.

    "Dimensional magic is not just a matter of logistic and transportation, in the right conditions is also a perfect tool to defend or attack. But in such scenarios, you cannot expect the enemy to be kind enough to wait for you to finish, everything needs to be fast.

    Allow me to show you Blink again, this time slowly."

    The academy ring at Rudd¡¯s finger tapped into the castle¡¯s magic, opening two portals, one in front of the Professor and the other in the middle of the ss.

    But unlike a Warp Steps, where both ends were still, the portal in front of Rudd moved forward, making him arrive to destination without having to take a step.

    "That¡¯s how Blink works, just much faster. Using dimensional magic inbat is the final test of skill for a mage. Another useful, but even harder application is the following. Please stand up, young man."

    Yurial did as instructed, but as soon as he stood up, he found himself watching Professor Rudd standing behind his desk, while he was now in the middle of the room.

    "This spell is called Switch. The name is self-exnatory, and requires two sets of portals, that if correctly timed, create the perfect diversion. Sometimes even an opportunity to kill.

    Back in my days, I once found myself surrounded by archers using enchanted arrows. Theirmander did me the favour of standing still long enough for me to time Switch so that while I was running away, he had be a fine spill cushion."

    A cruel smile appeared on Rudd¡¯s face, remembering the shocked expression of the soldiers when they realized what had happened.

    "But don¡¯t get me wrong, Switch is even harder to pull off than Blink. It requires that both targets are still, within a ten meters distance and a clear visual. But I digress. Anything further?"

    "Is it really possible for a single mage to open a Gate to a location hundred, if not thousands of miles away?" Asked a petite girl.

    "Yes and no. A single mage can open a portal leading to a very further destination, but he needs to have either enough mana to support the task, or a magical item to share its burden. Also, one cannot go in a location he has never been before.

    Visualization is a key element, and so is the knowledge of the exact coordinates. Moreover, opening such a gate requires a focus. Something like this."

    From his dimensional amulet Professor Rudd took out a small sphere with many arcane red runes engraved on it.

    "Dimensional mages usually nt magical beacons in their mostmon destinations, making the opening of a portal much easier and less mana consuming. As I said at the beginning of the lesson, my subject is reallyplex.

    Is better to avoid filling your heads with useless notions. Focus at the task at hand. One must first learn how to crawl, then to walk, and only then can worry about his running speed. Dismissed."

    Almost at the same moment, the gong signalling the end of the lesson resounded. Many students had a worried look on their faces, and Lith was one of them.

    - "This is really bad. Not only I have never practiced anything like this, but sensibility is not exactly my strong point.

    Whenever I encountered a difficulty, I either cheated my way in with true magic until I understood the true core of the problem, or relied on fake magic¡¯s auto pilot to understand the magic flow.

    What¡¯s the average sess rate per year for this course?"

    "ording to the academy¡¯s records, is a little less than 60%." Solus replied.

    "How many graduated students managed to score an A despite failing it?" Lith was considering dropping the subject, to avoid it affecting his grades. He could always copy the book and study at his own paceter.

    "None." The answer left him dejected. "Turn that frown upside down! Even the most experienced kid here has barely six years of magic practice, you have more than twelve. Not to mention the Hexacasting and true magic."

    "I know, but practice is not all. This seems a discipline that requires quite a lot of talent, and we both know I am no genius. Invigoration and true magic cannot help me like they do for Forgemastering and Healing. I¡¯m afraid I have just hit a wall."

 Chapter 96 A True Genius Worries

    After dimensional magic, it was time for the specialization lessons. Professor Nalear¡¯s course was on forced hold. The number of students requiring a second evaluation had far exceeded expectations, a day hadn¡¯t been enough.

    Phloria had the rest of the morning free, while Lith and the others went to the Master Healer ss. Once at the academy¡¯s hospital, the students discovered that Professor Vastor had organized a small refreshment before officially starting the new trimester.

    The ss had gone down from thirty-four to twenty-eight student, and some of them had barely broke a C. Between those who had lost a friend and the ones terrified at the idea of suffering the same fate, very few were in the mood for celebration.

    Vastor didn¡¯t seem to notice, though, and even if the report cards were supposed to be a secret, it wasn¡¯t hard to guess grades based on how he treated the different students. He devoted a lot of attention to Quy and Lith, arousing the envy of many.

    Those who like Professor Rudd were biased againstmoners¡¯ bloodlines, would have given an arm and a leg to get the opportunity to teach them a lesson.

    Yet they were well aware that because of the Ballots, the best they could do was get demoted from unsesful mages to expelled ones. Not to mention that instead of being reprimanded, Vastor had received an award for beating unruly students during the mock exam.

    "Keep working hard, my dear pupils. And remember what I said at the beginning of our lessons. After the second trimester the ss will be halved. We will be lucky if twenty of you manage to actually graduate as healers."

    From how he was looking at the angered students, he had got a taste for it.

    During the lesson, Lith¡¯s group had finally the opportunity to take the lead in delicate procedures like re growing lost limbs and organs.

    Previously, the three men teams, one responsible for the regeneration and the other for keeping the patient¡¯s vitals stable, were bothprised of two professors and only one student.

    Now the bnce had shifted, and only a professor remained in each team.

    When Quy and Lith weren¡¯t in charge of one of the teams, Professor Vastor would always put them as second inmand, ready to take over the procedure in case anything went wrong.

    It took Lith a few patients to understand all the quirks and risks of regenerating a lost limb. The tier four spell couldn¡¯t be handled by just mindlessly pumping mana, or everyone could have done it, even without a specialization.

    The whole process revolved around a delicate bnce between the two groups of healers, with the patient as their fulcrum. The mage leading the regeneration had to keep the spell active, while giving the patient¡¯s body the time to rejuvenate.

    With too short intervals between mana pulses, most of their effectiveness would be lost, making the procedure longer and more difficult. Also, it would put a great stress on the patient¡¯s body, with the risk that the new limb would be defective.

    One had to give the vitals support team the time to reintegrate the patient¡¯s lost vitality during the process, burdening his metabolism as little as possible. The second team acted as a life force IV, but the drip rate had to be manually adjusted depending on the circumstances.

    Too fast and the energy would be lost, just giving the patient a sensation of euphoria. Too slow and the massive drain caused by the regeneration could kill or permanently incapacitate him.

    The teams had to coordinate between themselves, the first sending mana pulses spaced enough to allow the life force infusion to be effective, the second adjusting the flow whenever was necessary, to avoid the regenerative spell to be interrupted by a too prolonged pause.

    Lith and Quy quickly mastered both roles, receiving manypliments from the medical staff and thirty points from Professor Vastor. They were the only ones that despite asionally losing control of the spell, would manage to fix things on their own, without needing a Professor to take over.

    In Lith¡¯s case, he did it on purpose. Thanks to Invigoration, he was capable of havingplete awareness of the patient¡¯s status.

    Lith could understand with a nce when more life force was necessary or not, instructing the other team to speed up or slow down, and time the regenerating pulses so that the next one would arrive only when the previous was already losing effectiveness.

    Yet he had to make mistakes, achieving perfection from day one would have been too eye-catching.

    Even with the help of true magic, the task took a heavy toll on both his mind and body. The stress of handling a human life put a huge pressure on everyone, the patients were real persons and not test dummies anymore.

    Because of the long pre operation phase, the students had been forced to spend time with them during the previous semester, to talk and know them personally. It was impossible to consider their lives just a number in their sess/failure ratio.

    And while Lith used Invigoration, the others could only rely on their magic sensitivity, listening to the patients¡¯ pulse and keeping an eye on theirplexion and pain.

    It was something incredibly hard, Lith had no idea how others could manage to do it.

    The scariest thing was that despite all that, Quy was just a few steps behind him. Even if stuck with fake magic, she was able to absorb like a sponge all the notions and suggestions Professor Vastor gave them, managing to get in tune with every patient.

    Lith would have never been capable of doing that, at least not that fast. He learned by experience, little by little with every procedure, using Invigoration as a guiding hand whenever he had a doubt.

    The more time they spent together, the more aware he was that it was only a matter of time before she revealed herself to be a genius. Her mana core was already on par with Lith¡¯s.

    - "I can only pat myself in the back for taking care of her for all this time. If necessity ever arises, she can be an invaluable asset.

    If she really is an S ss healer, she¡¯ll relieve me of all the unnecessary attentions, avoiding for a simple A ss talent like me to be pressured.

    Besides, it¡¯s not like she can threaten my position. With my knowledge of biochemistry, biology and anatomy, I will always be the top in the theoretical field.

    Who would ever guessed that all the extra credits seminars for the college would pay off like that?" -

    All the other students didn¡¯t know if tough or cry at their helplessness. Envy and shame fought in their hearts, like two lions tumbling down a cliff. No matter which one would win, the result would be the same.

    Even Yurial and Friya felt a tinge of jealousy whileparing themselves to them. But most of all, they were proud and happy for their friends. Lith had helped them countless times in the past, never asking anything in return.

    What had started as a simple business rtionship, had evolved in honest friendship.

    As for Quy, they could never resent her. At the beginning, Yurial had approached her just out of curiosity. He had considered her like a pet, someone talented that would be easy to manipte due to her childish naivety and poor background.

    But Quy¡¯s growth as a person and mage had stunned him, leading Yurial to shed his prejudices and ept her as a peer. Now, after three months together, he felt deeply ashamed of his initial attitude towards her, and was trying to make amends.

    Friya, instead, liked to think of her as the little sister she had always wanted. Quy was honest and had a big heart. Their friendship had developed naturally from their first meeting, both suffering from the constant harassing from the other students.

    When Quy¡¯s body had started to change due to the rapid growth induced by the tonic, Friya had helped her managing her first period, teaching her everything about what being a young woman meant, bing her confident.

    When Friya had hit a wall during the Healer specialization, Quy had volunteered to help her. Thy had started studying together, and whatever difficulty Friya encountered, Quy had been always there for her.

    She had never talked about her private lessons to anyone, not even trying to impress Lith, for whom Friya knew she had a huge crush. Quy¡¯s humble and gentle nature had moved her beyond what words could express.

    Friya had found in a stranger, something that even her own family had always denied her. She was ready to do anything for her little adoptive sister.

    As for Quy, she was thankful for tier four magic being so hard. Her work as a healer, with the constant pressure of having another human¡¯s being in her hands, was the only thing forcing her unruly heart to rest.

    When they had first met, Yurial was like a Prince Charming out of the fairy tales she read as a kid. He was noble, powerful, rich, handsome, smart, and gentle. Almost too good to be true.

    Lith, on the other side, had been more like a demon lord. Cold, scary, brash, talking to everyone like they were ants, ring with soul chilling dead eyes. But after the first two days, something had changed.

    She had noticed how indifferent Yurial actually was, sometimes even forgetting about her existence. Friya was the one actually caring for her, while Lith was...plicated.

    When the first magic private lessons had started, he had lost most of his edge, bing more supportive and helpful than Professor Trasque himself. He was the only one not staring at her for the amount of food she gobbled every day.

    On the contrary, he would even encourage her to eat more, and help her keep her diet bnced. Lith would always worry for her safety, encouraging her to pick up a Ballot, even defending her when she still had to get her own.

    In thest months, whenever students tried to "casually" bump into her, Lith would switch ce with Quy. No matter how big the other guy was, Lith would remain immovable like a mountain, while the other would fall on his a*s wincing in pain.

    After a month from their first meeting, when she had her first period, he had been the one noticing her distress, relieving the pain with one of his personal spells and bringing her to Friya to get help.

    As a healer, he was bound to know everything about it too, yet he had the sensitivity to avoid embarrassing her, letting another woman help her face that awkward situation.

    It was after that moment that something inside Quy had changed. Whenever she saw him, she would get butterflies in her stomach, her mouth would go dry. Each time they spoke, she needed sheer willpower to not speak fast, or giggle at everything he said.

    Over time, he had be gentler and kinder, helping them whenever he could during the private lessons, answering all their questions and giving them pointers.

    She started to admire his cold attitude towards strangers, not giving a damn about what they thought or said, having eyes only for his friends. Lith soon revealed to be wise beyond his years, knowing many things and having anecdotes about almost everything.

    Sometimes, when they walked side by side, their hands casually touched. In those moments, she felt really hard to resist thepulsion to take his hand, to feel his warmth.

    Other times, when she was alone in her room, her mind would go crazy with fantasies and delusions, making her feeling hot and fuzzy in the strangest ces. When Quy talked about that to Friya, she told her that it was perfectly normal, even though she blushed listening to the question.

    When Friya exined what it meant, Quy thought she would die of embarrassment. Luckily, there were just the two of them, and she knew that she could trust her friend.

    Over time, she had learned to manage her feelings, mostly because she was too scared to do anything about them. Except that towards Professor Nalear, Lith seemed to bepletely uninterested in girls.

    Quy was conscious that even if thanks to the tonic she was now 1.5 meters (4¡¯11") tall, she was nothing special. Her figure was still undeveloped and very childish. Shecked Friya¡¯s curves or Phloria¡¯s innate charisma.

    The only thing she could do was stay strong and hope for her feelings to fade away.

 Chapter 97 Just a Warning

    After the end of the lesson, the group went to lunch, finding Phloria waiting for them at their usual table.

    - "I seriously think I have overestimated myself, thinking to be able keeping my nice guy fa?ade for two whole years. If it wasn¡¯t for my big brother instinct, I don¡¯t know how many times I would have snapped already.

    I really don¡¯t get these guys at all. To make things worse, no matter how much I force myself, I keep feeling I don¡¯t belong with them." ¨C Lith inwardly sighed.

    Solus had no idea what to say to make him feel better. Returning to the academy, right after spending some time with the people he loved, had made Lith depressed.

    "Hey guys, how was your lesson?" Phloria asked.

    "Same old, same old." Yurial shrugged. "Vastor keeps pushing forward those who are good, and spreads salt on the wounds of those who aren¡¯t. And while the ss struggles with each task, these two monsters keep running circles around us mortals."

    "How did your morning go?" Lith tried changing topic. Ever since his encounter with the Scorpicore, every time someone called him monster, he could not help but shudder.

    He had realized that calling what happened to him ¡¯reincarnation¡¯, was far from correct. He was more like an evil spirit from a horror movie, possessing the bodies of the recently deceased.

    "Depressingly so. After Professor Rudd¡¯s speech, I was eager to check if his subject is really as hard as he says. Well, he lied. It¡¯s much worse than that. I spent thest two hours trying the ¡¯parlour trick¡¯ we are supposed to perform tomorrow.

    I read his book over and over, but I didn¡¯t seed, not even once." She sighed.

    "Are you serious?" Friya asked. "We have passed the first part of Professor Nalear¡¯s course. Could it be that the spell requires something she has yet to cover in her lessons?"

    Everyone at the table turned gloomy. Two hours were the regr duration of a ss, Phloria failing so badly was unprecedented, not to mention a bad omen. If she wasn¡¯t able to, it was unlikely that any of them could seed.

    Even Lith was on the same boat. Without true magic or Invigoration as crutches, he wasn¡¯t much better than them.

    - "Solus, what is the average time for seeding in the pebble trick?"

    "More bad news." She replied. "The school records are not helping this time. The only thing reported is the number of lessons for opening a Gate."

    "Lessons, not hours? This is worse than I thought. How many for geniuses, and how many for regr students?"

    "Geniuses usually need around three lessons, the others around twenty." ¨C

    Lith almost chocked himself on bread when he heard that piece of news.

    "Normally, I¡¯d propose to gobble our lunch fast and go practice dimensional magic, to not let that old coot embarrass us." Friya said.

    "But Phloria and I have yet to take our Mage Knight ss for today."

    "Same, I have Forgemasteringter."

    "What about we meet at Quy¡¯s ce after the end of the lessons?" Yurial proposed. "I bet that with her learning speed, by the time we get there, she will be able to teach us the basics."

    That afternoon, much to Lith disappointment, Professor Wanemyre went back to theory lessons. In the first trimester, they had learned how to infuse a single enchantment in an object.

    The topic of the new lesson was how to mix two enchantments together, introducing a new set of runes and magic circles whoseplexity was on all another level. He was eager to get back in theb and put them to test.

    Because of Soluspedia, when it wasn¡¯t involved fine mana control or a particr timing in manipting vtile energies, such lessons were just redundant for him.

    He already knew every rune and circle, so he spent most of the lesson practicing how to draw them perfectly, instead of listening. The second forgemastering tome was a gold mine of inspiration for Lith.

    Meanwhile, Yurial was diligently taking notes about the arrays Professor Tinnam was introducing. A Warden had a supportive role, he couldn¡¯t cast random spells like most mages.

    It was important to understand in what circumstances a magic formation would do more good than harm. Since the Griffon Kingdom was at peace, Yurial had chosen such specialization hoping to help the development of his family¡¯s fief.

    His wish was to be able to build dams, bridges and roads almost by himself, saving the money to hire more healers and teachers. One of his great-grandmother teachings, was that without its people, a Country was just a piece ofnd.

    The new arrays were even more difficult to perform and hard to control than those of the first trimester, but at least the casting speed was the same. The biggest w of a Warden, was the long time necessary for a single spell.

    After the lesson, he was about to leave, when he was approached by an old acquaintance. It was Lyam Lukart, the military looking guy that Lith humiliated during Trasque¡¯s second lesson.

    Yurial knew him because he was the son of archmage Lukart. They had started the academy together, three years prior, but had quickly parted ways. The Lukart family was one of the oldest magician bloodlines, and were pretty stuck up about that.

    Despite their fathers held the same status, Lyam had never treated Yurial as a peer, let alone as a friend. Following his family¡¯s teachings, he considered the Deirus household a branch family at best.

    Having centuries of mystic legacy, a household with only three generations of mages was too young to be considered a real magical bloodline. Lyam demanded blind respect and loyalty from those he deemed inferior.

    The Deirus household, instead, didn¡¯t give a damn about traditions, respecting only talent and achievements. Yurial couldn¡¯t bear Lyam¡¯s groundless arrogance, so after a while, he had politely but firmly put a distance between them.

    "Deirus, do you have a minute?" Lyam asked.

    Yurial put up his best smile, trying to cut that conversation short. Calling Yurial by hisst name, was a polite way to underline their difference in status. Whatever Lyam wanted, he wasn¡¯t willing to give.

    "Not really, Lyam. Dimensional magic seems really hard. I¡¯m in a hurry to practice for tomorrow¡¯s lesson." Refusing his request was usually enough. For someone like Lyam, having to ask twice was akin to begging.

    "Then let me apany you for a while, I promise it will not take long."

    Yurial was so bbergasted, that for a second he lost hisposure, but was quick to recover. He nodded, prompting the other to continue.

    "You have been here as long as I have. What do you think of all the changes Linjos introduced?" The question was odd, but Yurial had no reason to lie or refuse to answer.

    "Honestly, I don¡¯t know what to think. No finals, that terrifying mock exam, the new Professors and their scoring system. It¡¯s too soon to judge his performance, but I must admit that so far things have be more interesting."

    That clearly wasn¡¯t the answer Lyam hoped to hear. His upper lip curled up in an expression of disgust, without even trying to hide his feelings.

    "I get your point." He sighed.

    "Tradition has value only for those who contributed crafting it, and live by it. But, you see, many people feel differently about what¡¯s happening. First the seed of a bad apple got epted to one of the six big academies.

    Then, an outstanding member of the magical society, like Headmistress Linnea, has lost everything in the name of diversity, just to quench the thirst for revenge of social climbers that got too close to the Queen¡¯s ear.

    And now the prestigious White Griffon gets rid of its history, treating it as garbage, abolishing finals in favour of this farce of a grading system?" Lyam spat on the floor, uncaring of the disgusted looks people threw at him.

    Yet his voice was calm and collected, Yurial doubted that anyone beside him could hear anything.

    "Many people, both at the Court at the Mage Association, are not pleased with the course of these events. They would like the Queen to reconsider her decisions, taking her time to properly reflect before doing something this... drastic."

    Yurial knew there was little if no trust between them, and how Lyam was being subtle, making no names.

    "What all this have to do with me?"

    "Well, some think that all magical bloodlines should stick together and try to correct this situation. People like Linjos need to be put back in their ce. And for that, I¡¯d like your help."

    "I¡¯m not going to hurt my friends!" Yurial angrily retorted. "Nor I am going to let anyone harm them!" His hostility only met an amusedughter.

    "Your friends? It¡¯s what you think this is all about? No one cares who do you pick as boot boy, or what kind of wench you prefer for warming your bed, to each his own. Everyone has his entricities.

    No one will touch your servants, there is no need to. What we want is to get rid of Linjos. To prove that all these so called ¡¯changes¡¯ do nothing but let weeds proliferate, while real talents get smothered in the crib.

    I came to you today, because I need you to persuade your father to join our cause."

    "Good luck with that." Yurial managed to say. "Do whatever you want, but leave me out of this. Be it the old or the new system, is none of my business." He didn¡¯t know if to report everything to the Headmaster, but he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to reveal his intentions.

    Keeping a neutral stand while deciding what to do was the best course of action.

    "That¡¯s unfortunate." Lyam clicked his tongue.

    "I really hoped you woulde to your senses. Picking the wrong path in life can have terrible consequences."

    Yurial looked around, noticing that the corridor was empty. No one was around anymore, only the two of them remained.

    Before he could demand for an exnation, Lyam punched him in the stomach, following with a hook to the chin that sent Yurial to the ground.

    Suddenly, several people joined the beating, carefully avoiding to hit his face or vitals. While trying to protect himself, Yurial recognized some of them, all heirs of powerful nobles or ancient magical bloodlines.

    "The good thing about stupidity, is that up to a certain degree it can be beaten out. Even dumb dogs learn their lessons with the proper training." Lyam kneeled, using a powerful tier three healing spell on Yurial to leave no trace of the brutal aggression.

    The pain, though, was still there. Yurial needed all of his willpower to not give them the satisfaction of begging to stop or screaming in agony. He hadn¡¯t made a sound the whole time.

    "Tell your father that this was just a warning. We can¡¯t wait to have a proper talk with him too."

 Chapter 98 Failures

    When someone heard referring to the King¡¯s Council Chamber, usually his mind would think of the throne room.

    More than twenty meters (66,6 feet) long and over ten meters (33,3 feet)rge, a single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the raised one for the royal family.

    That way, even sitting on their gold thrones, carved to resemble a rampant griffon, they would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming they status and authority.

    The whole room was lit by crystal chandeliers, fueled by magic, leaving no space for shadows or need for maintenance.

    On the walls, magically enchanted tapestries would recount over and over the great feats that the current King had aplished to be deemed worthy of his power. Both the floor and the pirs of the room were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material avable in the Griffon Kingdom.

    And that someone would be dead wrong. The throne room was perfect for holding social events or awarding a particr general or noble. But when it came down to state secrets, it was a security nightmare.

    Between the main entrance, the servants¡¯ passages, the secret passages and the balconies for the spectators, circling around the room, a small army of spies could easily go unnoticed, even after searching the whole ce with a toothb.

    The real Council Chamber was located in the King¡¯s private apartments, inside of a heavily guarded tower. The room was about 6 meters (20 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet)rge with only a round table and wooden chairs as furniture.

    The round table didn¡¯t mean that every opinion held the same importance, it was simply the only way to be heard from every side of the room without the need of shouting non-stop.

    Aside from the furniture, the room was bare, with no windows and only one entrance. Both the floor and the walls were of a pale grey, there was no colour outside that of the magical stones the room was made of.

    Most of the assemblies wouldst hours, and given the sensitive nature of the subjects that required the King¡¯s direct approval, discretion was of vital importance.

    The whole ce was enchanted to prevent eavesdropping, either by conventional or magical means, not to mention all the protections necessary to avoid the whole highmand getting killed in one fell swoop.

    In that particr day, the Council Chamber wasn¡¯t upied by ministers or generals, but by the upper echelons of the Mage Association. In such asions, it was the Queen¡¯s duty chairing the debate.

    For the Crown to have absolute control over both political and magical matters, responsibilities were shared as such. The one of the royal couple most versed in the magical arts would be the head of the Mage Association.

    The other, would be in charge of all the military power and oversee the ministers¡¯ activities. Together, they would hold all the keys to the Kingdom.

    Queen Sylpha wore a simple blue satin morning dress, with long sleeves covering her arms. Despite being over fifty years old, it was hard thinking her a day past thirty.

    With her square chin and sharp features, she couldn¡¯t be considered beautiful, but the aura of confidence and power she exuded coupled with her perfect manners, still made her quite charming.

    "Your Majesty, we still cannot find Linnea." Said a bald middle-aged man with a grey goatee. "We are certain she hasn¡¯t crossed the borders yet. She would never leave her children behind."

    The Queen dted her nostrils in annoyance. Recently she would only receive bad news.

    "And? I want results, not hypothesis! If you can¡¯t find her, she could have defected to the Blood Sand tribes or even hiding up my powdered a*s for all I care. What about the Gorgon Empire? Is it true that they are developing irvoyance magic?"

    The idea of their worst enemy being able to spy on them from a safe distance, caused the Queen to lose sleep over it.

    "Yes and no." Sniggered an old woman with long white hair, held up in a pony tail. "Yes, they spent thousands of gold coins to indulge the Emperor obsession with prophets, seers and all that cr*p about predicting the future.

    No, because up to date all those so called ¡¯mediums¡¯ were only frauds. Some of them were actually our agents, that managed to drain considerable sums before disappearing."

    "Finally, something goes right!" She mmed the table with her fist hard enough to make several goblets fall off.

    "What about the great academies?" An awkward silence fell into the room, instantly ruining her good mood.

    "Your Majesty, maybe you should reconsider your line of action." Said a tall middle-aged woman with short red hair.

    "So many changes at once are hard to ept. It would be better to implement them one by one over time."

    "One by one over time." The Queen echoed, drumming with her slender fingers on the armrest.

    "Tell me, dear Bolna, how long has the Mage Association tried to change the rules nice and easy, to avoid unrest?" Her tone was calm and amiable, causing those present to shudder.

    The Queen was many things, but amiable was not one of those. As any purebred politician, she was capable of hiding her emotions and thoughts whenever it was necessary, but her nature was that of a fiery woman, passionate in everything she did.

    When speaking about state affairs with her counsellors, she would not mince words or waste time with niceties. Her being calm meant that a storm was iing.

    "Over forty years." The woman swallowed a lump of saliva, forcing herself to answer without trembling.

    "Even before my crowning, yes. And how many rules have been actually been changed until now?"

    "None."

    "Last question. How many potential Magi did we lose during all this time?" Her voice had turned stone cold.

    "At least four." Incapable of returning the Queen¡¯s gaze, Bolna lowered her eyes.

    "All of them defected swearing an oath of vengeance."

    "Let me get this straight." The Queen pulled back her chair, standing up. She was a woman of average stature 1.62 meters (5¡¯4") high with a slender build.

    Despite being held up in a chignon, the long ck hair still revealed her uncanny gift for the mystical arts, with all the six shades of colours marking her as blessed by all the gods of magic.

    "We lost four one-man armies for nothing but petty grudges, and your great idea is to keep up the ¡¯good work¡¯?" The Queen moved so fast that one could think she had Blinked, but the blur behind her told a different story. She had simply walked.

    "Do you think that when the god of death returns from the Blood Desert, leading the army of undead that he has been raising for all this time, will he take his revenge bit by bit overtime, or just ughter us all?"

    Sylpha said while lifting her by the neck with only one hand, despite Bolna was taller and double her weight. None dared to interfere. All of those present were very powerful archmages, but there was a reason for Sylpha being the Queen.

    She was capable of casting several spells with barely any dy, moving faster than a wild beast and ripping in half a fully armed knight with her bare hands. Many suspected she was actually a dragon in human form.

    "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the very definition of madness." She brought Bolna¡¯s purple face near her own.

    "Your masters should have trained you better." Sylpha clenched her fist, producing a snap, before throwing the body in a corner of the room. Bolna¡¯s head was now tilted at an unnatural angle, her limbs sprawled under the heavy magician robe.

    "Now that we got rid of the spy among our ranks, we shouldn¡¯t lose so many agents anymore." She said returning to her chair.

    "Bolna was a spy?!" Everyone was shocked at the news, questioning and discussing what had just happened.

    "Yes, she was." The Queen rubbed her forehead with a sad expression. She looked tired and thin, with no trace of her previous vigour.

    "The old families have their men and women nted everywhere. Academies, Court, even the Mage Association is not outside their grasp. They know I invested too much money and energies in the White Griffon.

    If my project fails, it will be only on me. I would be left with no choice but leave everything as it is, hoping that my sessor will have better skill and luck. I may even be forced to resign as head of the Mage Association and leave the position to one of my children.

    I already have too many failures on my shoulders, another one of such significance and my authority and role would be greatly diminished. Even I would question mypetence."

    Th Queen¡¯s aides didn¡¯t know what to say, so they waited in silence for her to recover.

    "Bolna¡¯s reports were all fake. The unrest is growing, many took their children failing grades or being expelled as personal attacks. They can¡¯t stand anymore not being in control."

    She took out several folders from a dimensional ring, passing them to the old wizards, for them to see with their eyes how dire the situation was. ording to the documents and the transcribed conversations, the Kingdom was on the verge of a civil war.

    The new nobles, those who had risen in status thanks to their talent and achievements, be them of military or magical nature, weren¡¯t willing anymore to live their lives under the heel of an unfair system.

    The old nobles, instead, felt their position threatened, and feared losing some of their privileges, or even worse, being forced to share resources that up to that point had been their exclusive.

    The two factions were now too close in numbers and power, it was only a matter of time before the old bnce crumbled.

    "I know that despite being loyal to the Crown, many of you do not really support my idea." Sylpha sighed.

    "But I need you to understand how much is at stake. No matter what your personal beliefs are, if the White Griffon turns out to be just another failure, we¡¯ll have a generation at best, before the Kingdom plunges into chaos."

 Chapter 99 Information

    After finishing the lessons, everyone was in Quy¡¯s room, waiting for Yurial to begin practicing dimensional magic. Lith was very nervous, tapping with his foot while counting the seconds.

    "Where the heck is he?" He grumbled.

    "We have been waiting for him for..." Lith realized that without the sun, he had no idea how much time had passed.

    - "Barely ten minutes." ¨C Solus mind-rolled her eyes at his impatience.

    "Over ten minutes! It doesn¡¯t take that long to fly over here. Maybe we should start on our own."

    "Why so anxious? Don¡¯t tell me that you let that Rudd guy get under your skin." Friya mocked him yfully.

    "He can believe whatever he wants. As long as he judges the students semi-fairly is fine by me. I don¡¯t fear the Professor, as much as his subject. Is nothing like I ever done before, and I will not rx until I know I can do it."

    "Is the same for all of us, yet you are the only one freaking out. Do you know why?"

    - "Because you are all a bunch of children that still believe in unicorns and rainbows. In real life, only results matter. No one cares for the reason why you failed or seeded. The magical power of friendship has never solved anything, unless in works of fiction." ¨C

    "Because despite all of your talent, you are so single-minded on a task at hand to be obsessive. Ten minutes aren¡¯t going to affect our chances with dimensional magic. Try to rx. Sometimes one has to stop and smell the roses.

    Who knows, maybe he has met someone special. I mean, any other guy I know would be delighted to be in your ce, surrounded by girls. Yet you just nag all the time like my grandpa."

    Lith didn¡¯t miss her poking Quy¡¯s back, probably to encourage her to say something instead of staring at her own toes. She had been awfully silent since he had entered her room.

    - "Is not like there¡¯s something embarrassing around. This ce is as empty as mine. I wonder if I was so awkward at her age too." ¨C

    Despite she really wanted to join the conversation, Solus kept silent. Having ess to all of his memories, she knew that the twelve years old Derek¡¯s past was better forgotten. There was only pain and misery there.

    "I¡¯m ttered by your feelings." Lith replied. "But it¡¯s better if we stay friends. It¡¯s not you, it¡¯s me."

    Friya was left speechless, while Phloria was rolling on the bedughing.

    "KD after the first move! You better stay down, sister."

    Before Friya could scold the two of them, they heard knocking on the door.

    Lith quickly opened it, eager to begin, letting a groggy Yurial walk inside. He was leaning on the wall just to stand on his feet. His eyes were semi closed, like he was about to fall asleep any moment.

    "Are you drunk?" It was the only exnation he could find. Yurial shook his head, while Lith helped him reach the bed. He clearly needed to sit down.

    While the other girls started worrying, asking him what was wrong, Quy used one of her personal diagnostic spells, finding that he was perfectly fine, just like Lith did with Invigoration while supporting him.

    "He is not drunk." She said. "For some reason Yurial has barely the strength to walk."

    "I can easily fix that." By using a tier four light spell, Lith gave him some of his life force.

    Yurial finally managed to speak, telling them what had happened, down to thest detail.

    "That b*astard beat me so hard that the healing spell drained all my remaining energy. I had to fight just to put one foot in front of the other. It¡¯s a miracle I managed to get here without fainting."

    "What a scheming son of a swine!" Phloria snapped.

    "By healing you not only he covered his tracks, but also left you so weak that even if you managed to call for help, it would have been toote. He can be anywhere at this point."

    "Yeah. I need to inform my father of what happened. If I were you, I¡¯d do the same. Youe from a magic bloodline too, I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t try to recruit you already."

    "Maybe they did." Friya suddenly realized.

    "Do you remember the cute guy that seemed wanting to talk with you, but walked away as soon as he noticed we were together?"

    "The one we joked about being too afraid to confess in public? Yes, I do, but what makes you think he was one of them?"

    "Nothing, just that it seems too odd to be a coincidence. We have attended the same sses for months and he chooses today to make his move? Also, was he afraid of me or my Ballot? Everyone knows I have one."

    "It makes sense." Yurial nodded. "I think at this point is better if we all get one. Our family names make us targets. It could happen to you too, Friya. Contact your mother and see where she stands in this matter."

    Lith was shocked contemting all the possible consequences. It was ironic how he and Quy were the least affected from the sudden turn of events. Beingmoners, they had no value in a political struggle, at least for the moment.

    If they really wanted to hurt Linjos¡¯ reputation, their existence as the top students of the Master Healer ss would make them targets too, sooner orter. The other ss wasn¡¯t a problem, there were better Forgemasters than him.

    Or at least, it was what he had made them believe.

    Friya, Phloria and Yurial took out theirmunicator amulets to inform their parents of the current predicament.

    "Mind if I use the bathroom?" Lith asked. In a world were underwear did not exist and the uniform was the only dress they wore, it was unlikely there was something embarrassing lying around. But he wanted to make sure to not invade her privacy.

    Quy nodded, and after entering Lith used his Hush spell to prevent being heard before calling Marchioness Distar. Despite answering immediately, she seemed annoyed by the call, but as soon as she heard the news, her attitude changed.

    "Good gods, those b*stards dared to involve their own sons. This is even worse than I thought."

    "I¡¯m sorry, your Ladyship, but you do not seem surprised at all. Can you please tell me what¡¯s happening exactly?"

    Marchioness Distar drummed with her fingers on the desk for a while before answering.

    "What happened today, is just a side show of the real struggle. It goes on from decades, with new powers demanding more equity, and the old ones fighting to keep things as they are. Every year,moners rise to the status of nobles thanks to magical or military achievements.

    But gettingnds and titles means nothing if bureaucracy stands in your way at every step. Kingse and go, but paper pushers are forever. Over the centuries, all such positions have been taken over by the old powers, and they use it as a bottleneck to others¡¯ authority.

    No one gets anything, unless they agree. And that made many people angry. In a way, they can even overrule the Court¡¯s orders, simply by dying everything as much as they can.

    So, the Court has started to rece bureaucrats, and that also made many people angry. The conflict between old and new powers keeps escting, despite all the attempts of mediation.

    Why do you think my family is under a constant death threat? Because in my Marquisate there is not one, but two of the six great academies, and they are key points in the bnce of power.

    Both factions want me dead, hoping to take my ce and further develop their agenda."

    "Both of them? Then what side are you on?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "The Court¡¯s side. I believe inpromises. Radical changes lead to chaos on the short term, and the neighbouring countries would exploit the opportunity to invade us. No changes, instead, mean the copse of the system.

    If no matter how powerful you are or how much you contribute to your country, you do not get a proper reward, then you have no reason to remain loyal. Not when other countries work much better. That¡¯s why so many defect."

    "But what does this mean for me and my family? Are we safe?" He had little to no interest towards political struggles, unless they involved Lark.

    "Yes, you should be. Believe me, very little can get past the Queen¡¯s corps, and in the scheme of things you are insignificant. No offense."

    "None taken." Lith sighed in relief.

    "This is not the first attempt of sabotage, Linjos knows what to do. I¡¯ll let him know everything, so stay away from his office and don¡¯t draw attention on yourself. Stay out of it as long as you can, but keep me updated if anything else happens."

    He promptly agreed.

    - "If this goes on from so long, then I just need it tost a bit longer. In less than two years from now, is none of my business anymore." ¨C

 Chapter 100 Family Matters

    While Lith spoke with the Marchioness, everyone was having a conversation with their respective families, deciding how to face the iing storm.

    Everyone but Quy, of course. She had no rtives, hence she never spent precious points for amunication amulet. Yet it was the second time already she was considering getting one.

    The first time had been during the four days break. While the others had returned to their homes, she had remained in the academy. Even in her old vige, she had always been surrounded by people.

    The bustling noise of the daily activities had be part of her life.

    But during the break, she had no lessons to attend, nowhere to go, and no one to talk to. Ever since Quy had got her Ballot, she had be an outcast, but she never really noticed up until that point.

    She would always spend so much time with her friends, that being alone once in a while was actually pleasant. During those four days, though, the silence had started to scare her.

    Walking along the empty corridors, Quy felt like she was traveling through the belly of a giant dead beast, with only her steps¡¯ echo to keep herpany. Being apart from Yurial or Phloria was meh, while from Lith was actually good, it gave her the time to sort her feelings.

    The emotional rollercoaster she went through every time they met, was so frustrating that more than once she almost confessed, just to get rid of the uneasiness. Until the fear of being rejected kicked in, making her thank the gods for stopping her.

    What she really missed was Friya¡¯spany. She didn¡¯t know if Lith was her first love or just a crush, she never had experienced anything like that before. What she did know, was that Friya was the closest thing to a family she had ever had.

    They would spend hours together, not only for studying, but also talking about their dreams and hopes once they graduated from the academy. She would listen to all the stupid little things that crossed her mind, her fears and anxiety and never judged her for that.

    And now, seeing them talking to their parents, gave her a sense of estrangement.

    - "I know it¡¯s stupid, but maybe if I had one too, if I could call them whenever I want, I wouldn¡¯t feel so... different. ¨C She thought.

    Vn Deirus, Yurial¡¯s father, was so outraged that his eyes almost popped out.

    "That Lukart scum. How dares treating my son like a dog? I was willing to remain on the sidelines, to see from which side we could profit the most. But this tantck of respect shows that if those old farts have it their way, there will be no future for us but servitude."

    "What do you want me to do, father?"

    "Tell Linjos what happened, get a Coward¡¯s... I mean a Ballot, and then wait for my instructions. Don¡¯t try to get revenge, if he is smart, Lyam has a Ballot too.

    That little act was probably meant to either make you submit, or anger you enough to retaliate and get you expelled. Trying to recruit you like that makes no sense, unless they wanted to make us an example for other young magical families.

    To show that they can reach us both on the inside and the outside. Would be a good n, if we were some stuck-up self-righteous idiot nobles. I¡¯ll y this game by my rules.

    Don¡¯t do anything stupid, son. Think before you act, and if anything new happens, contact me. Love you."

    The conversation between Friya and his mother, Duchess Solivar was of a different tone.

    "Sabotaging a new Headmaster? It has always happened, even to the most insignificant, petty bootlicker. Let alone to a young radical, uncaring for political gains." Her voice was bored.

    "Everyone with half a brain knows there is a huge storm ahead, and I don¡¯t n getting caught in the middle of it. We will remain neutral. In every war, the real winner is the one that does not take part in it, profiting from both sides.

    Whoeveres on top, I¡¯m covered.

    Contact me only if you need to get out of the academy. You are the first real mage of household Solivar, act as one. Take no unnecessary risks."

    Then she hanged up the call.

    - "Well, I love you too, mother. Thanks for asking me if I was all right or if I needed something. F*ck you and your precious Solivar household! I¡¯ll do whatever I want. For once, I am in control. You need me, not the other way around! ¨C

    Friya was so angry that only Quy¡¯s worried face prevented her for throwing themunication amulet against a wall.

    Phloria¡¯s father, Orion Ernas, was of course well informed too. He was deeply involved in one of the factions that were closest to the Queen, so nothing she said was actually of any relevance, outside the attack on Yurial.

    Orion had kept her in the dark, because he didn¡¯t want her to grow up scared by the rumors about the impending civil war. He had hoped for the stalemate to hold until she was big enough to choose what to do, but time was running out.

    He told her the same things Marchioness Distar had exined to Lith.

    "I think that they are closing ranks. Attacking a member of a magical bloodline means that they are not willing to tolerate neutrality anymore. Either you are with them or against them."

    "What can I do for the Queen, dad?"

    "You?" Orionughed for the first time since that conversation started.

    "What can you possibly do? You are just a kid, the real battle is out here, what has happened is barely a ripple effect. This is but thest attempt to sabotage in a long line. They have simply raised the ante a little.

    Instead of worrying for the Queen, here is what you can do for me. Pick a Ballot, stay out of trouble, and if pushes to shove, attack first and ask questionster. Always go all out, no one can get killed in an academy, the castle does not allow for that."

    "It¡¯s the first time I hear about this. How do you know for sure?"

    "It¡¯s supposed to be a secret, but when your daddy was younger and hot blooded, someone dared to draw his sword against me. I lost my temper and...

    well, let¡¯s just say that the academy¡¯s arrays saved a lot of people that day. Things escted quite a bit."

    "If it¡¯s a secret, aren¡¯t you breaking some rule by telling me?"

    "Do you think I would put a ¡¯secret¡¯ that the gods only know how many idiots like me know above my daughter¡¯s safety? I would rather see you safe and expelled, than let anyone put a finger on you."

    At that point, Lith had already returned in the room. Not exchanging any pleasantries saved him a lot of time. Only Friya was already done with her amulet.

    Lith didn¡¯t know what to do, being amoner was a double-edged sword in that situation.

    It meant that he and Quy were more likely to be left alone, but at the same time that they had no way to help their friends.

    When all the conversations ended, with the exception of Lith, they shared the information received. The Marchioness had made clear from the beginning that she had already enough on her te.

    Revealing their connection would only draw more attention, something that both were d to avoid.

    "I guess we both need a Ballot, now." Yurial sighed. Being a victim was a scary feeling for him. His family name had always been the strongest sword and shield, yet now it was reduced to a bullseye.

    "We need to go to Linjos¡¯ office." Phloria nodded.

    "And let everyone know that even powerful people like you are scared? That would mean ying into their hands." Lith objected.

    "What do you propose then? Ignore my father¡¯s advice and wait for their next move?"

    "That would be stupid. I say to y it smart." He took out his Ballot, pushing the button twice.

    A Warp Steps opened, and Professor Trasque came out of it. When he saw where he was, he furrowed his brows in disapproval.

    "Kid, a Ballot is not a toy. Don¡¯t try to give me the ¡¯I identally sat on it¡¯ bullsh*t."

    "We need to see the Headmaster, it¡¯s an urgent matter. I had to resort to the Ballot because we can¡¯t allow for others to know about it. I¡¯m sorry if I caused a false rm." Lith deeply bowed, even though if necessary, he would do it again.

    Trasque¡¯s interest was piqued. He opened another portal, leading straight to the Headmaster¡¯s office. The room was immacte as Lith remembered it.

    His hardwood brown desk was right in front of a ss wall, capable of blocking the excess daylight or amplify it, keeping the lighting uniform during the whole day. Several pieces of paper were arranging themselves in ordinate piles after he finished looking at them.

    Hearing the Gate open, he turned towards them. He seemed to have aged ten years since thest time they saw him.

 Chapter 101 Triple Casting

    Linjos was very tired, his face seemed even longer than usual, with dark circles around the eyes caused by the worries and theck of sleep.

    When he heard what had happened, he only sighed, turning to watch at the forest below.

    "I really envy magical beasts. Things are so simple for them, taking only what they need, without caring for petty things like gold or grudges."

    Then he turned back again, looking at Yurial in the eyes.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for what has happened to you, partly is my fault. And what makes me feel even worse, is that despite all my brave talk and efforts, you are not the first victim, and likely not thest either.

    The most basic move to get rid of a Headmaster, is to make the environment toxic through violence and intimidation. Academy¡¯s life is already very hard and demanding, it doesn¡¯t take much to make it unbearable.

    When that happens, the number of graduates plummets, the academy¡¯s reputation rapidly declines and a new Headmaster gets chosen. Usually, it happens during thest trimester. The timing of the events suggests someone really wants to get rid of me.

    I guess they didn¡¯t like me taking cheating off the table. You have no idea how many noble ckers have failed right off the bat." He sighed, again, taking no pleasure from their misfortune.

    "As for the Ballots, I can¡¯t. There is none left."

    "Is it because Lukart and his goons? Did they take them all?" Yurial was worried, remembering his father¡¯s words.

    "Actually, no." Linjos replied with a smirk. "After what happened between Lith and Lady Hestia became the talk of the academy, a lot of first- and second-year students came for the Ballots. The ones I gave you two youngdies were among thest ones.

    There were just about twenty to begin with, so I already ordered a new batch. The problem is that since their power source is the castle itself, the crafting method is quiteplex. It will take some time."

    Phloria swallowed a lump of saliva, regretting not having got one before.

    "You have three Ballots and only five people." Linjos shrugged.

    "You will manage somehow. In the meantime, I¡¯ll do everything I can to ensure everyone¡¯s safety. But remember, each floor is really big, and I have only Professors at my disposal, not an army of watchmen, so be careful."

    Back in Quy¡¯s room, Yurial, Friya and Phloria felt dejected and stupid. The world as they knew it had copsed under their feet, the peace that they had taken for granted seemed to be about to end.

    All the dreams and expectations they had cultivated during all those years in the academy seemed so stupid and insignificant,pared to the idea of a civil war that could kill everyone they loved.

    And then there was the feeling of being cast aside. Even if they did it out of love, their families hadn¡¯t trusted them enough to tell the truth. Friya¡¯s case was the worst, since she now knew to be considered nothing more than a tool to an end.

    Yurial was so shocked that even the earlier aggression¡¯s memory was already fading in the background.

    "I can¡¯t believe I have been so stupid! Warden and Healer are just useless specializations. What my father, my family need is a warrior, a leader. If only he had been honest with me, I would have chosen wisely."

    Lith kept silent, letting him vent off his frustration. He knew by experience that when something that big happened, the words of a stranger would sound empty. Yurial needed time to ept the change.

    "I¡¯m sorry guys, I don¡¯t feel like doing anything right now." Phloria said.

    "I need some time to think. Most importantly, I need to make sure that my brothers are okay." Despite not having a Ballot, she darted out of the room before anyone could offer to escort her.

    Yurial followed her so fast that he didn¡¯t need to hold the door open. He walked in long strides, inwardly hoping for someone to attack him again. He really needed a way to vent all the pent-up frustrations.

    As for Friya, she felt enraged for her mother¡¯s condescending tone, but at the same time she was deeply scared. Too much to remain alone, she had no one to turn to forfort, except the two that still remained in the room.

    - "Dammit, this is the story of my life!" Lith inwardly cursed. "Everything that can go wrong, always does. Be it on Earth or here, nothing has changed. As soon as I fix a problem and try to get some peace, another one pops up.

    At this point, these kids are just a burden. They have too much to lose, but I can¡¯t afford the luxury of being depressed. I need to gather as much as I can, in case sooner orter I¡¯ll be forced to leave this Country full of idiots." ¨C

    "If you need some time alone, Ipletely understand." He said to the two girls, while hiding his clenched fists behind his back.

    "I¡¯ll take my leave."

    "What about the dimensional magic practice?" Quy asked.

    "I beg your pardon?" Those were thest words Lith expected to hear.

    "I¡¯m sorry for what happened to Yurial." Quy was sitting on the bed, swinging her legs in a very childish manner, yet her cold eyes were nothing like those of a kid.

    "But honestly, all that happened today just proved what I said on the second day. This academy sucks, or better, the whole Kingdom sucks. All my life, I survived only thanks to my skills, and once I got here, nothing changed.

    I don¡¯t care if this Country burns, it has never done anything good for me. But you guys did. You are the only ones that ever cared for me, and I don¡¯t want to risk losing you getting involved in this nonsense.

    If everything goes south, dimensional magic is our best way out of this nightmarish ce."

    That was a feeling Lith could rte to. That speech bordering treason was music to his ears. At the moment, Quy was the most important piece on his board, if someone could help him, that was her.

    After Friya reluctantly agreed, they started practicing the Loop spell. ording to the book, unlike all the other tier four spell they had learned so far, generating a Gate required handling three magic pulses at once, one for each element.

    Being an educational spell, Loop required from the student only to properly handle the different energies, while the two portals¡¯ size, distance and duration were determined by hand signs and magic words.

    After casting the spell for the first time, Lith generated three mana pulses of the same magnitude, one made only of earth, one of air, and thest of water magic. Following the instructions, Lith made the first two energies merge, forming a yellow wisp of light between his hands.

    That was the easy part. The small energy core was highly unstable, hence the difficulty of the exercise consisted in giving it just enough water magic to quench the excess energy.

    Lith tried to go slow and steady, resulting in the yellow wisp dissipating under the conflicting forces repulsing each other.

    "Damn if it¡¯s hard!" Before he could start doubting about the moral integrity of Professor Rudd¡¯s ancestors, he noticed that Quy was looking at him with admiration.

    "How did you do that?"

    "What are you talking about?"

    "That light. Sure, there were supposed to be two small ck dots instead of a single yellow one, but it¡¯s more than I achieved this whole afternoon."

    Lith furrowed his brow in disbelief. That was just the first step, and he didn¡¯t even manage to do it right.

    "Do you have the same problem?"

    "Yeah." Friya nodded.

    "Do you know how to triple cast, right?" He asked, receiving another affirmative response.

    "Then show me." If what they said was true, there was no possible exnation for their utter failure. He needed to check.

    Lith made them perform in turns a single chore magic spell, then they had to keep the first one active while generating a second and a third copy of the same spell.

    The result was mediocre. With each copy, the size and intensity of the magical energy dwindled.

    "That¡¯s not triple casting at all! It should be like this." With a wave of his hand, Lith generated three identical small mes, making them contract and expand at unison.

    Soon it was clear that without solid foundations, they couldn¡¯t even attempt the first step of Loop. Lith was really conflicted about teaching them how to multi cast, it had never been part of his n.

    But during thest Master Healer ss, he had understood why his mana sensibility was so low. It was because he had never practiced it. Thanks to true magic and Invigoration, he didn¡¯t need to feel the energy flow, because he could see it.

    Hispanions, instead, could only rely on their instinct, and that resulted in honing their magical senses over time. Until that moment, he had been like a sighted man leading the blind.

    But if his fears were correct, to learn dimensional magic Lith had to develop his mana sensibility. Having no idea how to do it, he would need their help.

    "First of all, let¡¯s set aside Loop for the time being." He started exining.

    "Multi casting will require for you to concentrate only on first magic. The three key points are focus, willpower and visualization. It¡¯s like picturing in your head different persons at the same time." He made appear three different mes.

    "If you focus too much on a single subject, the others will blur." One remained stable, while the other two started to change randomly in shape and size.

    "Forget normal magic, where you can do everything one step at a time, like reading a list. You must be able to split your focus evenly, and that requires a strong willpower, and a clear visualization of the effects you want to create."

    Contrary to his wishes, they spent the rest of the afternoon practicing first magic, while Lith could only assist and guide them at the best of his possibilities.

 Chapter 102 Progress

    Reading the reports about the internal struggle that was taking ce in the Griffon Kingdom, the Mage Empress had the impression of reading an history book. Centuries ago, the Gorgon Empire had faced a simr crisis.

    After Magus Lochra Silverwing had divulged her magical inheritance to the whole world, the mystical arts had started to improve by leap and bounds. The knowledge she had released, had interrupted the long stagnation period magical research had suffered.

    As any change, thought, along with new solutions brought new problems. Until that moment, magic had been limited to tier three spells, and that had allowed to rich and powerful families to hold a monopoly of it.

    The inheritance contained the basis for many tier four spells, and nted the seed of what would have been known as specializations. Realizing the countless military applications, the upper echelons of every Country were put in a bind.

    Keeping the use of magic limited only to the scions of their families, would make achieving any progress slow and difficult. Magic had always been a rare talent, and now there was so much to study but so few mages.

    On the other hand, allowingmoners to study magic would have altered the bnce of power. Once they had ess to tier four spells, who could guarantee that the new mages would not bit the hand that fed them?

    While the Griffon Kingdom opted for the creation of the Mage Association, granting even tomoners status and riches ording to their contributions, the Gorgon Empire had dismissed such idea as suicidal.

    They preferred focusing on Forgemastering, investing all their resources in the development of ve cors. Thanks to these magical items,moners could be conscript safely and their attitude for magic checked.

    Every mage candidate was forced into submission, incapable of disobeying the orders of his masters. The very ofmoner magessted decades, until an old and crafty Forgemaster managed to find a loophole.

    Her master had asked her to create an artifact capable of temporarily disable magical items, to use it on the battlefield and cripple the enemies¡¯ resources when they needed them the most, but he never said anything about avoiding it to affect the cors.

    When per his request, she showed him how it worked, the cors of all the mages in the household went off, and the revolt begin.

    Bybining the use of the artifact to free new mages and applying the cors to their tormentors, they slowly but inexorably exterminated or enved all the noble households.

    The artifact was a secret, so all she had to do was to use her now obedient master as a trojan horse, letting the rebellion spread silently, until it was toote. After killing all the nobles, the mages took the power, destroying every trace or mention of how to realize the cors.

    Even researching the matter had be a capital offense. From being a monarchy, the Empire became an oligarchy only based on meritocracy. Titles would not be inherited, every position would be upied by those that were deemed worthy.

    Most mages had no interest in fancy mansions or life-size gold statues of themselves, they would invest most of their ie for their families and research.

    The firstw enacted by the first Mage Emperor and his Magic Council, had been the freedom to study magic, no matter the social status, and introducing chore magic in the core set of disciplines children had to study.

    The system wasn¡¯t perfect. A good mage could be an ipetent or cruel ruler, not to mention that at his/her death, the recement of even a local governor could take quite some time, leaving the territory open to corruption or attacks from the outside.

    Also, because most of the resources were invested in constantly researching and developing new forms of magic, their human army was considered to be the weakest among the three neighbouring countries.

    Nheless, the Gorgon Empire was now the most advanced Country in the field of magical research. The capitol was a floating fortified city, whose white walls shone in the daylight like a beacon for the travellers.

    The guard towers extended above and below the wall, with giant magic crystals at each extremity, fueling the mystic rune circles, visible at the naked eye. Each tower was capable of attack or defence, ording to the circumstances, making the city virtually unconquerable.

    "Idiots." Said the Magic Empress. "They have only dyed the inevitable, putting a different kind of cor to their mages. No matter how long, a leash is always a leash. Order the armies at our borders to be ready for the attack.

    It¡¯s only a matter of time before someone does something stupid and things escte. We must be the quickest to reap the benefits from their folly."

    *****

    The next morning, Lith had no real hope of seeding at the second lesson of dimensional magic. After teaching triple casting to the girls, he had spent the whole night practicing, but with little progress.

    When they reached the Training Hall, Professor Rudd was already there, waiting. The room was 30 meters (98 feet) long, 20 meters (66 feet) wide, andpletely empty. Small circles had been drawn on the floor, indicating were the students had to position themselves.

    The ground and the walls shown no trace of crevices. The room appeared to have been carved out a single massive stone rather than assembled from smaller ones.

    "Begin." He said even before thest gong announced the start of the lesson.

    Normally Lith would have faked ipetence for a while before getting serious, but this time he had no reason to pretend.

    Professor Rudd walked slowly among them, taking a mental note of those who were actually capable of triple casting. The small yellow wisp was the indicator of that.

    Lith, Lyam and only a few others were capable ofpleting the first step. Many students after several failures, took out their books trying to understand what they were doing wrong.

    Thanks to all his training, Lith had managed to understand the timing necessary to stabilize the wisp with water magic, allowing to add more energy to the core, turning it into two small ck spheres.

    The problem was that he had no idea how to continue. After hundreds of attempts, he was still incapable of making them erge and stretch. The event horizon form was thest step before properlypleting the exercise.

    - "Second step already, not bad, for amoner." ¨C Rudd clicked his tongue, noticing theck of progress from the rest of the ss.

    After one hour had passed and he had made no further progress, Lith decided to ask for help.

    "Professor, I have a question."

    "What a coincidence! So do I. Tell me, did you read my book yesterday?"

    "Yes."

    "Did you understand what is written."

    "Yes." Lith understood where he was going. Something simr had happened to him during a college lesson.

    "Then for your own good, you do not have a question. Go back to your ce."

    Fuming with rage, Lith resumed the spell.

    More time passed, and since he was still stuck at the second step, he stopped for a moment to check how others where doing. Yurial and Phloria had yet to produce the yellow wisp, while Friya seemed to be able to generate it regrly.

    - "Seems she finally grasped triple casting. Let¡¯s see how Quy is doing." ¨C

    After looking around a bit, Lith was able to find her. Much to his surprise, he saw her generate the wisp, turn it into the two ck dots, and even manage to start giving them the funnel shape.

    Professor Rudd was incapable of deciding if to be more amazed of her, or furious with the ss. Several students tried to ask him for pointers and advice, but he gave everyone the same reply he gave Lith.

    When the lesson ended, no one had made any further progress. More than half the ss had not been capable to achieve even the first step of the Loop spell.

    "Before you go, I want you to know that I¡¯m disgusted by your attitude." Rudd said.

    "I don¡¯t believe in equality, we are all born different for a reason. I don¡¯t believe in solidarity either, an academy isn¡¯t charity. It¡¯s a battlefield where every mage fights for himself.

    Yet when yesterday I told you that triple casting was essential, why no one had the guts to tell me so many of you are not at that level? Did you hope that somehow, I would go blind and not notice it?

    Well, all you have managed to aplish today, is to waste my time and patience. From tomorrow onwards, is better for those who are incapable to reach the minimum requirements to not attend my ss. Dismissed."

    Once outside, Lith eagerly ran to Quy, hoping she could help overcame his bottleneck.

    "How did you reach the third step? I managed to understand how to stabilize the first energy core, feeding it enough mana to grow and split. But after that, it goes nuts. Either I use water magic to stabilize one of the Gates or the other. I cannot do both.

    Or better, I tried, even resorting to quadra casting to use two water magic pulses at once, but nothing worked."

    "You don¡¯t need quadra magic, it¡¯s actually really simple." Quy Replied.

    "The two Gates are so deeply connected that they act as one. You mustn¡¯t treat them as separate entities, but as a whole. It¡¯s like healing someone with a dislocated shoulder and broken fingers.

    Two points in space, but only one arm. You must simply make the light magic circte through the whole damaged limb to take care of both issues. Easy peasy."

    Lith casted Loop once again, doing as instructed.

    - "Quy is right! I can make water mana circte from one end to another, Eureka!" ¨C

    Yet instead of stretching, the two ck dots disintegrated with a popping sound.

    "No, it¡¯s not!" He replied with a sigh.

 Chapter 103 Red Lotus

    Thanks to her outstanding talent, at the third lesson Quy was able to execute Loop. Even though he practiced night and day, Lith needed until the fourth one, ending up as the tenth toplete the exercise.

    At first, he had been frustrated by his inability to keep up with Quy. Despite her private lessons on dimensional magic and the long hours of hard work at night, he was always up to two or three steps behind.

    But then, he understood that being tenth on over two hundred students wasn¡¯t such a bad result, especially since most of them had a way to go. Not to mention that his mana sensitivity was slowly but steadily improving.

    It was an odd experience, feeling the energy flow with the mind rather than his eyes. Dimensional spells seemed to have hot and cold spots at the same time. The secret to stabilize a Gate, was to infuse water magic only on the hot spots.

    Using too much of it or affecting an already cold spot, would cause the spatial distortion to copse.

    When the weekend arrived, Lith needed to vent out his frustration, so he proposed a trip to the forest to forget about their worries and fetch some ingredients for extra points or money.

    Since he got admitted to the academy, Lith had stopped working, and in case he needed to get his family out of the Kingdom and rebuild their lives from scratch, it would require a lot of gold.

    But aside from Quy, the rest of the group had its hands full between understanding triple cast and managing toplete the Loop spell.

    "I would love toe with you." Quy seemed really dejected.

    "But I¡¯m useless in battle, and you are a great healer yourself. Without someone protecting me, I would only be a burden. The best thing I can do is help them with dimensional magic and practice for the next exercise."

    Hearing those words, Lith¡¯s mood went from good to great.

    "Work hard for me too. If you find any trick or shortcut to it, I¡¯ll make it worth your while."

    After that, he only had to go to the portal connecting to the ground floor and the academy¡¯s entrance. Before going out, he needed to get the clearance.

    The clerk stationed at the front desk, besides the giant wood and metal double doors, looked at him like he was a madman.

    "Are you really going out alone? Where is your team?" If that was a joke, he didn¡¯t find it funny.

    "No team, just me. Can I go now, please?" Lith snorted.

    "Do you realize that once out there you are on your own? Outside the exam period, you are not bound to encounter friendly magical beasts. You are just a fourth-year student, you could meet fifth years too.

    Not to mention poachers, adventurers, monsters and gods know who. The academy is in the forest, but doesn¡¯t own it. It¡¯s full of resources, and everyone wants a piece of it."

    "No problem, I got this." Lith took out his Ballot, receiving a contemptuous look in return.

    "That doesn¡¯t work outside the academy. The only thing you can use is this." The clerk showed him a marble sized pendant.

    "In case of trouble, just push its center to generate a distress beacon. But it¡¯s not a Ballot, at all. First the rescue personnel will have to find you, only then a Warp steps can be opened. It can take minutes!"

    Lith smiled at the good news.

    "Fine by me. It¡¯s that all?"

    Grumbling about youngsters¡¯ idiocy, the clerkpiled a form and had Lith signing it.

    "The castle gates are open 24/7. I rmend you not going to deep and returning for the night. That¡¯s the moment when the big predators hunt. If you still want to go, that makes two hundred points."

    "Two hundred points?! I need to pay to risk my life?"

    "It¡¯s the only to make you kids realize how important this decision is. Normally, the cost would be split among the team members, but since you are alone..."

    Lith exchanged the points for the pendant, without a second thought.

    Once he was behind the trees¡¯ cover, he put the uniform and everything rted to the academy in the pocket dimension, wearing his old hunter suit instead.

    With everything that was happening, it was much safer appearing as a stranger rather than a student. The clerk¡¯s words were the best news he had received in over a week.

    Being alone, as long no one was able to recognize him or live to tell the tale, he had no reason anymore to hide his real power. Lith had often thought how to conceal his face, and hade with a solution during the four days break.

    A mask would have been cool, but would limit his line of sight. Hoods were good only if they abode to some magical principle, preventing them toe off while moving at high speed. Not to mention the poorteral vision.

    His old self that had always loved heroes was really disappointed, but he had long learned that practicality was much more important than looking cool. So he had his mother realize a ski mask, leaving only his eyes exposed.

    Once his identity was safe, he started flying among the trees, using Life Vision to check the perimeter for enemies and preys alike. Being unshackled after so many months, gave him an adrenaline rush.

    Lith started moving faster and faster, alternating short flights with high speed movements thanks to Fusion Magic.

    - "Solus, let me know you sense anything with a huge mana signature. This isn¡¯t Trawn wood anymore. We aren¡¯t hunting for food, but for magical herbs and mana crystals."

    "Yeah, too bad that library¡¯s books can¡¯t be brought outside. The forest¡¯s herbarium and bestiary would save us so much time..."

    "Who would have thought that dimensional magic was that hard? We hadn¡¯t a minute avable to copy them. We¡¯ll do with what we remember." ¨C

    Lith kept going deeper into the forest, jumping from tree to tree with an agility and speed that would have put a ninja to shame. The killing intent he emitted kept normal animals and insects at bay, allowing him to move unimpeded.

    After a few hours scouring the forest, his patience was growing thin.

    - "Abundant resources my a*s! I haven¡¯t even spotted a single magical beast so far. Where the heck is all the good stuff?"

    "Down there, look at the bottom of the tree at your left." ¨C

    Following Solus¡¯ directions, the only thing that Lith noticed was a big bush in the middle of a clearing. Switching to Life Vision the scenery changed entirely, though. The world turned into shades of grey, while the bush was the only thing of a deep green.

    On the center of it, there was something that shined of purple light, the strongest magical force he had ever saw. He floated down slowly, checking to have nopetition for the treasure.

    - "Odd, there¡¯s nothing alive around here except for trees and nts. Maybe that thing is sucking all the natural resources. ¨C Lith thought.

    Bying closer, he was able to catch a glimpse of his prize. It resembled a red lotus flower, and it was floating in mid-air above the thick bush, emitting a sweet fragrance, like a flower bed after the spring rain.

    His first instinct was to extend his arm and take it, but his paranoia took the wheel, forcing him to stop.

    - "Wait a minute. I get that I¡¯m pretty deep in the forest, but this thing stands out a lot. Why no one has found it before? And how the heck does that thing floats? More importantly, why there is no insect buzzing around? And since when nts appear coloured with Life Vision? ¨C

    Because their vitality was equally dispersed from the roots to the leaves, usually Life Vision perceived small nts as almost lifeless, while big trees had barely a tinge of red.

    When he had devised that spell, Lith had nned of using it against humans and animals alike, making it more sensitive to things that had an active circtory system.

    No matter if it was mana or blood, Life Vision sensibility was aimed to things that moved quickly. The bush appearing of a blue colour was something that he had never forgot about. With a wave of his hand, the space around the lotus was invaded by mes, and an inhumane screech filled the air.

    The bush suddenly moved, revealing countless green appendages hidden underground, that now it was using to smother the mes. Each of that things was as thick as Lith¡¯s arms, moving and writhing so fast that he couldn¡¯t get if they were vines or tentacles.

    The red lotus swayed and moved along with the bush-thing, revealing to be connected to it through a small tendril. The thing didn¡¯t seem to have a definite shape. It was a living mass of vines that was whipping the air, trying to capture its prey.

    The green appendages moved quick as snakes, grabbing Lith by the arms, chest and legs, only to discover that he had already moved, leaving behind only an afterimage.

    "Whatever you are, I¡¯m not H-game material! Back off!"

    With another wave of his hand, he released countless wind des, cutting all the iing appendages like a hot knife through butter. The thing screeched again, its body no more lying down revealed to be at least three meters high, filling the air with snapping vines.

 Chapter 104 Red Lotus 2

    The wounded vines spurted a purple liquid. Lith kept his distance, dodging the unknown substance with minimal movements, to not lose his advantage.

    - "There was no sizzle when it hit the ground, so it¡¯s not an acid. Could be venomous, thought." ¨C

    Lith extended his arms, releasing two jets of fire from the palms. The appendages reacted quickly, enveloping the creature¡¯s towering mass, and turning to a grey colour. The mes had no effect, leaving only a ck mark, like they had hit stone.

    Lith had never met a nt monster before, so he was particrly cautious. He kept several spells ready to use, weaving a new one as soon another was consumed.

    - "Whatever this is, it doesn¡¯t seem to be able to move from that spot, running away shouldn¡¯t be an issue. The problem is deciding if it¡¯s worth my time or not. With my luck, if I kill, it the flower will wither instantly. ¨C

    Sending and invisible tendril of pure mana, Lith used spirit magic to tug hard at the red lotus, aiming to grab it and run. He had no desire to fight useless battles. The flower¡¯s stem bent diagonally under the strain, but refused to move.

    The nt monster screeched again, this time with fury.

    - "Look out!" Solus yelled. "It¡¯sing from below!" ¨C

    Lith scoffed at the creature¡¯s naivety, activating again his flight spell. But when he tried to lift from the ground, he discovered that the grass was tightly binding his feet, preventing him from moving.

    Observing it with Life Vision once more, he discovered that the patch of grass below him had be blue coloured too. Somehow it was part of the monster¡¯s body.

    Before he could recover, several vines erupted from the ground, with their greyed stone-like extremities trying to stab Lith¡¯s vital organs. Knowing an attack was iing, Lith used earth fusion to the extreme, hardening his body and using the arms to take off the brunt of the impact.

    Despite his iron bracers and magical protections, the vines managed to pierce his skin, digging right into his flesh. Lith screamed in pain, while the tendrils kept digging in his own flesh, without missing a single drop of blood.

    Without allowing himself to panic, Lith used his Frozen Hearth spell, turning everything around him into ice. Be them grey or green, fire hadn¡¯t done much damage to the tendrils, so he had changed element.

    Having be brittle from the sudden cold, Lith managed to break free from both the vines and the grass, flying backwards trying to understand what was happening.

    His wounds were covered in a purple sticky goo, he could feel his arms going numb, a tingling sensation was invading his body. After what had happened with the ckers, he always kept a detoxifying spell ready, using it together with a healing spell to close the wounds.

    - "What the heck is happening? How does it control the grass? It makes no sense." ¨C

    Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯ minds were spinning at top gear, trying to make head or tails of the creature. While he was still in a daze, both the grass and the tendrils thawed in the blink of an eye. Like fire, water magic seemed to have little effect.

    Without stopping, Lith activated Life Vision again, seeing a blue streak moving like a sh through the ground vegetation, following him closely.

    - "Solus, what colour is its core? I don¡¯t like this at all!"

    "That thing has no core at all. It¡¯s just a random mass of energy, I have never seen anything like that. I don¡¯t remember reading about something that even resembles this thing. It¡¯s too monstrous to forget." ¨C

    A cold shiver ran down Lith¡¯s spine. His first nt monster didn¡¯t seem to follow any of the magic rules he had learned so far. No core, resistant to ice and fire and capable of controlling the vegetation. The only words that could describe his feelings were: fear of the unknown.

    He had spent years learning magic, looking out for stronger cores, but now everything he knew had just went down the gutter.

    Even flying backwards in a zig-zag pattern was useless, the blue streak kept tailing him. Lith couldn¡¯t risk running into a tree, so he moved up and away from the ground.

    From a higher ground, he could see that there was actually more than one streak moving, while the mass of vines the red lotus was attached to had turned grey. ording to Life Vision, only the flower remained coloured.

    Lith¡¯s head was spinning in shock.

    - "So now the ¡¯main body¡¯ is dead and the ground seems a disco ball? But that would mean that more than its mana, somehow Life Vision actually perceives its consciousness. That thing must be capable of switching bodies at will.

    That would exin how it could control even the grass, and why there is no wildlife at all..."

    "F*ck us sideways!" Solus cut him short. "The trees! Look out for the trees!" ¨C

    Despite their mind link was instantaneous, when Solus warned him the attack was already inbound.

    The bark of the nearest beech had peeled off, revealing to be a mass of vines wrapped around the real tree trunk, and now were darting toward the unsuspecting Lith. Before he could turn around, they wrapped around his arms and legs, mming him against the trunk before starting to eat him alive.

    Excruciating pain assaulted Lith from all sides, yet he managed to remain conscious with sheer willpower. His hands grabbed the nearest vines while he activated one of the spells he had created after learning tier four magic.

    Vampiric Touch, a twisted version of the healing spells Vastor had taught him.

    While normally such spells would enhance the recovery of a patient and give him energy to survive the procedure, Vampiric Touch would heal Lith instead, draining the victim of its energy in the process.

    When the nt monster realized what was happening, it was toote. The tendrils had gone too deep, and by clenching his muscles with the help of earth fusion, Lith prevented them to escape.

    The dark energy devoured the tendrils, sucking them dry while restoring Lith¡¯s flesh and vitality. The vines withered at a speed visible at the naked eye, until the fake bark copsed on the ground, revealing that the beech underneath was long dead.

    The creature¡¯s consciousness managed to ran away, going back to the main body.

    Lith used Invigoration to recuperate, Vampiric Touch couldn¡¯t heal so many deep wounds with such a measly meal as a foundation. After that, he shot several gue Arrows against the other trees.

    As soon as they hit, the fake bark fell off. Lith understood that the luscious forest around the creature¡¯s main body was actually a nt graveyard. Two more gue Arrows hit the ground, even the grass writhed and screeched before dying.

    "I don¡¯t know what the heck you are, but you are too dangerous to let you live. Everything has be part of your body, and I have no desire to find out how far you control can go."

    Keeping Life Vision always active put a great strain on his body, but Lith understood that it was his only chance of making it alive.

    Before going back to the ground, he released from his body a dark aura, the same he had used against the Wither in the Trawn woods. The darkness energy attacked indiscriminately everything in a ten-meter (33 feet) radius from him.

    The grass withered, the vines hidden underground died, leaving only bare earth around him. Only then Lith started weaving his strongest darkness spell, Death Zone.

    A ck, thick mist appeared in front of him, resembling a small storm cloud, only twenty meters (66 feet) long and wide, around three meters (10 feet) high. After conjuring it, Lith needed only a thought to send it towards the creature¡¯s main body.

    Like all darkness spells, Death Zone moved slowly, but its destructive power was unmatched. It was the perfect weapon against an enemy that could not run away.

    The cloud destroyed everything on its path, while the creature¡¯s screeching turned from angry to scared, and from scared to terrified. It tried to attack Lith to stop the iing attack, but between Life Vision and the dark aura, none of them came even close.

    He could see every one of them in slow motion, not only because of his heightened senses, but also because dark magic would weaken and corrupt everything that entered its range.

    When Death Zone reached its target, the creature recalled to itself all the dispersed consciousness, in ast desperate attempt for survival. Yet both Lith and his spell were unrelenting, foiling all its attacks the former, ignoring them thetter.

    Whatever mass the monster managed to form, it would only be nourishment for the dark energy.

    "Please, stop!" The creature spoke.

    Lith remained unfazed, keeping his guard and letting Death Zone do its jobs.

    "I¡¯m just like you."

    "No, you are not. You are about to die."

    The main body was shrinking, without the necessary energy to sustain that huge form, it was reverting to a much smaller nt. An ivy.

    - "Lith, now that all the energy is finally in one ce, I can finally see its core. It¡¯s...

    "

    "ck." Lithpleted the thought for her.

    "It¡¯s another Abomination. I understood it when I saw how every life form was dead. This one seems to have managed to stabilize itself." ¨C

    "I just wanted to live. I..."

    Lith didn¡¯t let it continue, shooting gue Arrows like a machine-gun.

    - "Two things I learned from horror movies." He exined to Solus.

    "First, never give a sh*t about a monster backstory. No matter how sobbing, it would not prevent it to eat you as soon as you turn your back to it. Second, the moment it¡¯s down, kill it until he is really, really dead." ¨C

    With ast, roaring wail the nt Abomination died. Suddenly the whole space around Lith turned into a wastnd. The grass turned into ash, the fake bark decayed leaving only dead trees behind.

    Everything in over a fifty-meter (164 feet) radius was identical to where he had fought the Wither in the Trawn woods, with only one exception.

    The red lotus lied on the ground, shining bright like nothing had happened.

 Chapter 105 Unwanted Guests

    - "Do you see that, mister negative? The flower didn¡¯t wither after all." Solus remarked cheerfully.

    "You are right! It can still blow up in our faces! Yay!" Lith replied mimicking her tone. ¨C

    Being too paranoid to touch the red lotus with his bare hands, he lifted it with spirit magic before unsessfully attempting to store it in the pocket dimension.

    "What the heck?" Examining it up close with Life Vision, Lith could notice that along a massive mana flow, the red lotus also had a tiny speck of life force.

    Neither him or Solus had any idea how it could have survived after such long exposure to an Abomination.

    - "This is great. We can¡¯t hide it, only carry it around in a normal pouch, with the risk of it being destroyed or even worse, discovered when we go back. If this flower is some kind of priceless treasure, it could cause us a lot of troubles." -

    Lith sighed, the idea of being forced to drop his first loot was quite depressing.

    - "Let me guess, we are above a mana vein, right?"

    "Exactly." Solus replied. "My hypothesis is the Abomination managed to stabilise itself thanks to thebined effect of the abundant world energy and that odd flower."

    "Agreed. The only questions that remain are the following. Did it kill everything because it needed to feed or was just a way to control the surrounding environment? Andst, but not least, do nt monsters really exist?"

    "Only the Abomination could answer the first question, and none of us would believe its words anyway." Solus mind-shrugged.

    "As for the second one, my guess is yes. nts are living being too. Seeing how much mana has that small flower, I don¡¯t see why they shouldn¡¯t be able to evolve too."

    "As long this thing doesn¡¯t turn to be an Abomination baby and eats my face, that¡¯s fine by me."¨C He replied, keeping the red lotus floating and away from him.

    Lith was tempted to make Solus turn to his proto tower form. Thanks to Invigoration his body was in top shape, but he felt mentally tired. Life and death struggles were more than just about stamina.

    Managing so many spells at once, keeping his cool while constantly fighting the fear of death, made a single real fight hundred times more vexing than cramming all night long.

    But he didn¡¯t know how much time he had left, until someone from the academy noticed the bald spot in the forest and sent a scouting team.

    Lith ced his free hand on the ground, using earth magic to search for the remains of the Abomination¡¯s victims. A few meters below he found a boneyard, where numerous skeletons were packed together.

    Lith took only those belonging to magical beasts, ignoring human and animal remains.

    - "ording to Professor Wanemyre, they can be used to forge weapons and armours of superior durability, that can also be infused with enchantments much stronger than normal. With all this stuff I could equip a battalion."

    "How the heck does one forge something out of bones? It makes no sense." Solus objected. "I get that they can be hard, but they should always be carbon based."

    "Beats me." Lith shrugged. "Cut me some ck, I¡¯m still at the first year of specialization." ¨C

    After storing everything in the pocked dimension, his eyes fell on his battered equipment. The hunting suit was riddled with holes as big as a thumb, while his metal bracers were damaged to the point of being useless.

    Luckily, he had a spare suit. Sadly, it was also thest one.

    After quickly changing clothes, Lith flew away several kilometres before stopping to decide what to do with the red lotus. He couldn¡¯t put it in the storage space, nor could bring it on himself, for two good reasons.

    The first was that he didn¡¯t trust something alive to be so close to his vital organs. The second was that even if it really was harmless, the red lotus wouldn¡¯t survive in case he had to release again the dark aura or any kind of magic from himself.

    No matter how precious it could be, nothing was more important than his own life. As it was, the red lotus was an even worse burden than anypanion he ever had.

    The onlyndmark he knew was the academy, so he decided to bury it near the entrance, hoping that at his return he would have devised a way to smuggle it inside unnoticed.

    Yet the n had a huge w. Putting a flower near fertile earth was potentially a recipe for disaster. What if the Abomination was still alive, and ready to respawn as soon as it had enough nutrients?

    Lith weaved all the darkness spells he could use at once, before letting the red lotus enter the small hole he had dug.

    Even before the red lotus could touch the ground, it started to grow roots that plunged down, while the earth itself moved upwards, oddly reminding Lith the "Creation of Adam" by Michngelo.

    As soon as they touched, the roots became thicker, quickly turning into vines that wrapped around the lotus, assembling what it seemed a humanoid body. Lith activated the spells, conjuring enough dark energy to turn the whole patch ofnd into a wastnd, yet didn¡¯t fire them.

    The Abomination never had a humanoid body, also instead of dying, the near vegetation thrived. Countless flower buds blossomed at once, yellow leaves turned green once again.

    Lith strengthened the spells and waved new ones, uncaring of the beauty around him.

    When the thing stopped growing, Lith found himself looking at the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Her big red eyes sparkled in the morning light like masterfully cut rubies. Everything in her visage was perfect, from the delicate features to her full lips.

    She had thick unkempt hair, red like maple leaves during autumn, that gave her a wild and unrestrained allure. Also, the fact that she was stark naked, leaving nothing to the imagination about her soft and full curves didn¡¯t hurt.

    The only thing that betrayed her non-human nature was the light green skin.

    "Just give me one good reason." Lith¡¯s fists had now became ck due to the massive amount of dark energy they barely contained. The air around her was so full of deadly magic that the creature in her debilitate state could barely breath.

    "I¡¯m a dryad." She said like it exined it all, with a voice as clear as a mountain spring.

    "I don¡¯t care." Lith made the dark energy move forward, not leaving her a way out.

    "I¡¯m one of the protectors of this forest. The monster you have killed stole and corrupted my powers to prolong his existence." She was starting to get scared, that wasn¡¯t the usual reaction she usually evoked in human males.

    "Still not a reason."

    "I can reward you." She bit her lower lip ying herst card.

    "And in what pocket exactly would you keep something of value in your birthday suit?" The dark mass only needed onest push to obliterate her.

    "In the Great Mother¡¯s name, what kind of man treats this way a maiden he just saved?" Her saviour seemed impossible to please, andpletely immune to her charm.

    Unfortunately for the dryad, Lith¡¯s core had stabilized enough to outgrow even his crush for Nalear. In that moment, his heart was cold as ice.

    "One that doesn¡¯t think with the head below, and doesn¡¯t trust someone he just met only because she has a pretty face. Now give me one good reason. I won¡¯t ask thrice."

    "Because we can help you." Said a third voice.

    Another dryad was slowly emerging from a nearby oak tree, her hands high in sign of surrender. Before dropping the red lotus, Lith had activated Life Vision, in case another body swapping creature appeared from the flower.

    Hence, he hadn¡¯t missed the second dryad arrival, allowing him to target her with the spells stored in his hands.

    The new dryad had wheat-blond straight hair, wearing what seemed a light cotton white dress, leaving only her delicate shoulders and arms exposed. Her figure was slenderer than the other dryad¡¯s but not less attractive.

    "If anything happens to me, the read head goes winter." Lith¡¯s will was the only thing blocking the barrage of dark energy, like a dead man switch.

    The blond dryad took several natural treasures out of the tree. Some Lith had seen in the books, others werepletely new. But every single one of them, no matter if fruit, flower or root was brimming with magical energy.

    Seeing that he was still not moving, the blond dryad brought her left hand to her chest. A small yellow lotus came out, and through Life Vision he could see that she had just lost a huge part of her magical power.

    "This is part of my heart." She handed it to him. "As long as you have it, my life is in your hands."

    - "It¡¯s true." Solus confirmed. "There is a clear connection between them. It¡¯s like she handed you her mana core."

    Lith captured the yellow lotus with spirit magic, sending his will through it. Obeying his silent order, the blond dryad kneeled. The feeling he got was empowering and repulsive at the same time.

    Having that degree of control over another sentient being was inly wrong.

    "How can you help me?" He felt only truth in her words.

    "We can find a way to mend your soul."

 Chapter 106 Enlightmen

    "My soul? What do you know about it?" Lith was startled by the proposal. He had never been a spiritual person, but after reincarnating twice and his meeting with the Scorpicore, not having doubts about it would be idiotic.

    "Guardians are different from monsters or magical beasts. We do not evolve for the sake of power, we also gain a greater affinity with the Great Mother." She waved at her surroundings.

    "We Dryads, in particr, are deeply linked to all forms of life on a spiritual level. I can tell at a nce that yours is damaged. I have no way to know how it happened or how that changed your life..."

    - "I think I have a clear idea about it. - Lith thought.

    "But maybe, just maybe, I can offer you a solution, or at least point you in the right direction."

    "How exactly?"

    "Have you ever had a d¨¦j¨¤ vu? Or the feeling to be in the right ce at the right time? That happens when your soul manages to guide you to an important crossroad in your life.

    We can show you where and when a keystone event will take ce, but the spell requires at least two dryads."

    "At least? How many of you live in this forest?" Lith¡¯s paranoia kicked in, so he started to search his surroundings for hidden enemies, finding none.

    "Just the two of us." She sighed. "I wouldn¡¯t have left my territory if my sister hadn¡¯t been in mortal peril. Nor I would have handed my heart to you if I had any other choice."

    Sister. That word lit a hint ofpassion in Lith¡¯s heart. She had taken an enormous risk to protect her family, something he deeply respected.

    Despite she couldn¡¯t even move without his permission, her eyes were filled with pride and defiance.

    After pondering about his options, Lith dispersed all the dark energies. He already had another hostage, in case the red head tried something funny. Also, he had no use for them since the beginning.

    If smuggling a glowing flower was hard, then how was he supposed to exin two dryads following him everywhere? The natural treasures were enough topensate for all his troubles.

    Without the dark energy sapping her powers, the red dryad manged to dress herself with a wave of her hand, conjuring a satin red and gold morning dressplementing her eyes.

    The longer she was in contact with the earth, the stronger she became.

    Lith stored away the natural treasures, without letting the dryads get out of his sight. Since the second dryad had appeared, Lith felt a tingling annoying sensation inside his heart, something that resembled guilt.

    He always acted unscrupulous, killing without distinction or remorse, but he was secretly proud of never having harmed someone without a reason. Lith knew that the moment he started killing simply because he could, he would have lost hisst shred of humanity.

    Following his "live expecting the worst" way of life, this time had almost killed an innocent, forcing another into very. Even for him, that was a new low.

    Feeling bewildered, he sought the advice of his moralpass.

    - "Do you think I got overboard this time?"

    "Let me see." Solus pondered.

    "You got almost killed by a tentacle monster, and when another appeared you took precautions. That was the right thing to do. But when you determined it was not an Abomination, there was no reason to be so cruel.

    Magical creatures are just like humans. Some are good, others are bad. Yet you groundlessly tagged her as a threat. We are lucky you are masked, otherwise the next time we meet, I would expect her to attack us on sight." ¨C

    He silently agreed with her.

    "Do what you have to." Lith stepped back, allowing them to get close to each other.

    The two dryads joined their hands, and instantly their eyes were filled with a white light, while a pool of water formed in the space formed by their arms, filling it to the brim.

    The light descended in the water, forming a white sphere that spun on itself, turning the water in a whirlpool and making it resemble a 3D projection of a gxy. A small, ck wisp came out of Lith¡¯s body, making him suddenly feel lighter, like part of his emotional burden had finally been relieved.

    The wisp entered the vortex, turning it into a deep orange twilight colour. At that point, the dryads released their hands, letting the dying gxy go.

    It kept spinning on itself, or a while before moving towards Lith, merging with his body and forcing him to relive all his three lives.

    Pain invaded his body while his mind was set on fire. Old injuries and bruises appeared and disappeared in a split second, while the memories of his first life flooded his brain.

    He fell on his knees, wing the ground so hard to break his nails.

    The pain, the anger, the grieving despair, the revenge and finally the peace. Then it was his second life¡¯s turn, with its madness, the loneliness and the hunger.

    At the memory of his second death a gaping wound opened on his chest. Lith tried to spit a mouthful of blood, nut only saliva came out, the wound already disappeared, leaving only the pain before the relief of death.

    Then it came his third life, and it wasn¡¯t at all like he remembered it. There was pain, hunger, but a lot of light and joy. He was forced to realize all the love and affection that the people had showered him with, even when he had still treated them like tools, manipting their actions and feelings.

    Starting with his father, then Selia, Nana, Lark and finally his friends at the academy.

    When the images in his head caught up with the present, they kept moving forward, showing him a ce he had never seen before, where he was supposed to be at all costs.

 Chapter 107 Enlightment 2

    The vision disappeared, and Lith managed to stood up again, while healing his damaged fingers. He discovered that tears were still streaming from his eyes. He hadn¡¯t cried in years, and the feeling linked to the act was bittersweet.

    They were mostly tears of pain, but at the end of the vision, they had turned to joy from his third life. When he saw the dryads standing a few meters from him, Lith finally remembered where he was.

    "Is it supposed to hurt so much?" In another moment, rage and doubt would have filled his voice. But he was still shaken from the experience. He was questioning all of his life choices, including what to do next.

    "No, it¡¯s not." The blond dryad was genuinely worried.

    "It was meant to show you the past, to help you understand the future. It shouldn¡¯t have been so painful."

    Because Lith had her heart, she had felt an echo of his anguish.

    - "Humans are the real monsters. How could a kid endure so much pain?" ¨C She thought

    Somehow Lith knew instinctively in what direction he needed to go. A feeling of uneasiness was growing inside him with every second, like when he received the phone call from the hospital the day Carl died.

    It wasn¡¯t toote yet, but the clock was ticking. He had to get there as fast as he could. Yet that development was too odd to be true, so he needed answers before taking any rash decision.

    "Are you sure this will help me with my soul?" As the memories were fading, Lith was returning to his old self.

    "As I said before, no. But it¡¯s likely. Any soul¡¯s priority should be the desire to be mended, to be whole again." The blond dryad said while shaking her head.

    "What else could it be?" Lith had never grow fond of riddles.

    "It could mean meeting the love of your life, the person that will be your best friend." She shrugged. "The only thing that I know for certain is that you will find someone or something rted to what your soul craves the most."

    "I¡¯ll be honest, all this talk about souls and destiny sounds fake like a flying pig, but a deal is a deal." Lith gave back the yellow lotus to the dryad, before darting away faster than a bullet.

    As soon they were alone, the blond dryad demeanour changed like heaven and earth had switched ces, looking at her sister with eyes full of annoyance.

    "First you let a newborn Abomination best you inbat and use you to leech the world energy, turning your turf into a dump. Then you need my help to handle a human child. You¡¯ve sunk low, dear Lyta." She said with a sneer.

    "That bastard took me by surprise." Lyta pouted. "Don¡¯t act so smug, you and I know that in my ce you wouldn¡¯t have fared any better. As for the human, that¡¯s no child, it¡¯s a monster. He didn¡¯t bat an eye even after seeing me naked.

    Thank the gods it¡¯s not an academy student. I would die of embarrassment if we ever meet again. What about you? You yielded without even attempting to fight, to the point of giving your heart to him. That was beyond stupid, dear Ryssa.

    What if he decided to keep you as a ve? What if he demanded me to hand mine too before freeing me? How could you take the risk of turning us both into wh*res?"

    Her voice was full of contempt, looking down on her sister.

    "Because I asked her to do so." Scarlett appeared from thin air towering over the nagging dryad.

    "The reason why I let that Abomination live, is to teach you that being confident is one thing, being conceited is another. You can¡¯t expect me to cover for all your mistakes, Lyta. Do your job properly, or I will find someone else to do it." It roared.

    "As for the boy, is just a pet project of mine. He is not human, but not an Abomination either. I needed to see how he behaved when given absolute power. Unlike you, I don¡¯t let unknown flowers grow in my garden."

    - "Also, I wanted to check if that dryad mumbo jumbo about souls could actually fix him. Otherwise he would have never epted any help, he is too paranoid. This way he believes to have earned it." ¨C Thest part the Scorpicore kept to itself.

    It would have been too rude telling its minions that not even the Lord of the forest believed about their so-called spiritual powers.

    Meanwhile, Lith was following the instructions contained in the vision, looking for a particr clearing in the forest, about ten kilometres (6,2 miles) from the academy¡¯s gates. As he closed in, his worries and anxieties faded away.

    - "Are you alright?" Solus asked.

    "Not really. Do you know what was the most disturbing thing about that spell? It made me realize that I may have grown as a hunter and a mage. But as a person, I remained stale.

    I¡¯m still so scared of being hurt, that it takes me years to realize the good faith of someone. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m not saying that suddenly I believe that this world is full of wonderful people, only that I regret having lost so much.

    Think about my father, Raaz. I spent so much time treating him as a menace, that when I started enjoying hispany, it was toote. It¡¯s the same reason I never managed to have a healthy rtionship back on Earth.

    To really connect with someone, you need to let yourself be vulnerable, to be sincere and open. But I always failed at that. I expected something to go wrong, for the other person to betray my trust, to the point of barely giving any.

    And here I am, doing the same thing, over and over. I don¡¯t do favours, I cut deals. I don¡¯t ask for help, I just wait for people to be indebted to me and then I collect it. The worst thing is that even if I wanted to change, I would not know where to start."

    "That¡¯s because you are forgetting another of your ws: you obsess with perfection instead of just trying to improve. If you really want to change, start with that. Take things a little at the time." ¨C

    Lith was now above the clearing, watching the same scene of the vision rey in front of his eyes.

    Six rough looking individuals, probably hunters, had just cornered a young Byk (AN: bear type magical beast).

 Chapter 108 Struggling

    - "I don¡¯t get it, how is this supposed to be rted to my soul? Sure, hunting a pup is a shameful act, but I don¡¯t see why I should meddle. It¡¯s none of my business." ¨C

    Lith¡¯s sight blurred, feeling his head spinning again while images kept rapidly appearing and disappearing. He watched the White Griffon academy¡¯s walls crack and crumble, until the whole castle fell into ruins.

    - "What the heck? Another vision?" He was bbergasted.

    "It must be guiding you toward something rted to the power struggle revolving around the academy. Seems your soul is nicer than you, since it cares for Linjos and the kids."

    Solus¡¯ tone was gentle and warm, hoping for him to open his heart to others, even if just a little.

    "I don¡¯t see how the two things are rted, but in for a penny, in for a pound. What¡¯s the power level of the hunters?"

    "Three cyan, one green and two yellow mana cores. Thetter are unlikely to be mages, too many muscles, too little mana." Solus replied. ¨C

    Lith memorized the opponents based on their strength, beforeing up with ast-minute n. Not having much to work with, he had to keep it simple.

    Killing in cold blood six people just because of a "mystical prophecy" was out of question. His conscience was still nagging at him for how he treated the dryads, so he needed a softer approach.

    Lith instantly switched his hunter suit with the academy¡¯s uniform through the pocked dimension, having decided to y the role of the na?ve student upholding justice.

    He approached the hunters on foot, while weaving several spells, ready to be unleashed with but a thought, just in case. Once he got close enough, he snapped his fingers, using air magic to amplify the sound into a small boom, drawing their attention.

    "Hey, what are you doing so close to the academy? This part of the forest is reserved to the students. Scram, before I call the security."

    The sudden noise caused them to freeze for a moment, giving the Byk the opening it needed to escape the encirclement and run away. The six hunters turned towards Lith, looking at him with irritated eyes and ill-concealed killing intent.

    ***

    Raghul, the leader of the mercenary team disguised as hunters, was enjoying hisst assignment quite a bit. He had never been paid so handsomely to do a menial job. During thest days, they had been killing magical beasts, it didn¡¯t matter if big of small since the pay was the same.

    He had no idea why his contractor sent them specifically to that forest, but ording to Rodimas, the smartest of the team, it was about upsetting the academy¡¯s bnce.

    Based on the intel she had gathered, the Headmaster had some kind of deal with the beasts.

    Her guess was that ying those nearest to the academy and making the students appear as the perpetrators, it would ruin the rtionship between Linjos and the Lord of the forest.

    If that happened, either he could no longer have the exams take ce in the forest, or he had to risk his students¡¯ safety.

    Raghul didn¡¯t understand what good could came out of it, and more importantly, he didn¡¯t care. The reason he had epted that job, despite the suspiciously high reward, was because he hated academies.

    The memories of what he had gone through, back in the day when he had been admitted to the Water Griffon, still haunted his dreams sometimes.

    When a goddamn kid appeared out of nowhere, allowing their prey to escape, he was greatly annoyed.

    - "What a rotten luck. How the heck did this pest found us in this frigging huge forest? If we get exposed, we¡¯ll lose the other half of the pay." ¨C

    "Hey, kid! Do you have any idea how much money your little stunt has just costed us? At least ten gold coins! Hope you have enough on you topensate for our loss, otherwise I¡¯ll have to roughen you up."

    Raghul wasn¡¯t surprised that the first to react had been Terion. He was the kind of man that always thought with his wallet.

    Lith saw a lean man, with curly brown hair and a face full of freckles, walking double time towards him, yelling something about money.

    "Don¡¯t you have any shame? First you gang up against a young Byk and now try to extort from a student? You are unworthy of calling yourself hunters."

    Lith pretended to be outraged, while waiting for the next piece of the vision. Saving the cub had no effect, and so far, even interacting with the hunters had no effect.

    While the two quarrelled, Raghul noticed that despite all that ruckus, no one wasing.

    - "Maybe there is a way to cut our losses. If this kid hase here alone and Rodimas is right about our mission, maybe by killing him we can keep our cover and even earn an extra. The orders are to not get caught in the act, after all.

    Not to mention is best to avoid having the academy staff on our tail."-

    "Come on, Terion. Cut the kid some ck. He is right, we are too close to the academy. We are not looking for trouble."

    Terion recognized the codeword for murder, yet his poker face was impable. He didn¡¯t smirk, didn¡¯t pause what he was doing not even for a second, managing to withhold his killing intent.

    He turned his back at Lith, nagging.

    "Are you kidding me? I deserve my gold, so either I take it from your share or nothing."

    Exploiting the moment Lith could not see him, Terion unsheathed one of the knives hidden under his hunter jacket, before continuing to spin on himself, lunging it where Lith¡¯s neck was in a single, fluid movement.

    s, even after his meeting with the dryads and realizing that his third life had indeed been quite blessed, Lith was still more distrustful than a turkey the day before Thanksgiving.

    The knife only cut air, since its intended target had promptly backstepped, conjuring four icicles that pierced Terion¡¯s arms and legs, pinning him to the ground like an insect.

    Lith had reacted on instinct, but now he seemed to be in a daze, uncertain on what to do next. He then pretended to be casting a fake magic spell, but the mercenaries had already recovered from the shock, quickly adjusting their formation to encircle him.

    "Ra, save Terion before it¡¯s toote! Beware, the twerp has magical rings, but don¡¯t let him run away or we are f*cked!" While screaming orders, Raghul thanked the gods for their good luck.

    The kid seemed to be hesitant to kill humans, otherwise the situation would have been much worse. For the same reason, Solus was really worried. It was the first time since they had merged that Lith showed mercy on the battlefield.

    Even worse, his thoughts seemed to be in disarray, letting himself being cornered that easily.

    The biggest of the group, almost two meters (6¡¯7") tall, with arms as thick as a head, charged forward like a boar, blocking the line of sight with his huge body mass.

    ording to Solus, he was the other non-mage in the group, but if they kept him around, he was bound to have more than one trick up her sleeve. His clothes emitted a yellow glow, making his speed increase dramatically, followed by a red glow that seemingly had no effect.

    Lith easily dodged the charge, but he managed to stop abruptly, pivoting on his front leg to throw a bullet fast hook at Lith¡¯s temple.

    Lith was taken by surprise, the only thing he could do was to jump backwards to weaken the strike and use his earth infused right arm to block.

    "Got you!" She said with a grin.

    From the voice, Lith understood that his enemy was actually a woman.

    On impact, her glove released a streak of lightning, that coursed through his body, while the strength of the hit was enough to make him slide several meters backwards, right on the spear of her teammate that had positioned behind him.

    Everyone expected his arm to be broken and his body paralyzed, but Lith used Full Guard (see chap77), emitting a spherical blue aura with a radius of 10 meters (33 feet), dodging the spear with a spin, without even looking back.

    Now that he was far enough from the burly woman, Lith could see that the man called Ra, probably the healer of the team, had ran to Terion¡¯s side, enveloping them both with a powerful air barrier, to prevent any further attacks while treating hispanion¡¯s wound.

    "Got you." He said with a grin, snapping his fingers.

    A sudden sh drew the mercenaries¡¯ attention to their fallenrade.

    A fireball had detonated inside the barrier, but the air dome that was supposed to protect them, prevented the mes from expanding, making those inside suffer from both the explosion and the recoil.

    The agonizing screams of the two mercenaries filled the air, and while theirrades were still trying to make sense of that sudden turn of events, Lith grabbed the spear armed man from the back.

    His left arm formed a V, locking the opponent¡¯s throat between the forearm and the biceps, while the right hand grabbed his jaw with a quick whip-like movement breaking the neck with a snapping sound.

 Chapter 109 Struggling 2

    - "Why did you kill him?" Solus asked in surprise.

    "Six against one is a little too much, can¡¯t afford to miss any chance to even the score."

    "Then why did you let the other one live, before?"

    "A two-stage attack, where the first is aimed to a random target and the second to his rescuers is a ssic guerri tactic. I didn¡¯t just pin him down, I also left a fireball ready in case someone tried to free him. Divide and conquer." ¨C

    Just like the icicles had missed Terion¡¯s vitals, the fireball had been intentionally weak. Despite the boosted effect from the barrier, both Terion and Ra were incapacitated but alive.

    They were badly burnt, but the remaining hunters could clearly see them writhing in pain. Lith did it on purpose, forcing his opponents to choose between abandoning theirpanions or fall twice for the same trick.

    They had no way to know if there was another fireball ready to explode.

    - "You scared the heck out of me, back then. For a moment I thought you had gone... soft." Solus hesitated before finishing the phrase. It seemed nonsensical to push him to be more kind, just to worry whenever he wasn¡¯t ruthless.

    "As I told you earlier, even if I decide to change, my opinion on people won¡¯t. Especially on those who try to kill will me without a reason." ¨C

    In the time necessary for their conversation to happen, the corpse of the spearman had yet to touch the ground.

    "You f*cking bastard!" The burly woman took out two short swords from her dimensional amulet, dashing towards Lith, hell-bent on avenging herpanions. In her hands the weapons moved nimbly as knives, cutting the air with a hissing sound.

    Both the fighters moved at high speed, taking each other by surprise.

    - "Is he/she even human?" ¨C They both thought.

    While Lith¡¯s speed came from air fusion, the mercenary was actually a normal woman, not even a mage.

    Among their many defensive properties, her clothes were also equipped with alchemic gems that could enhance her reflexes and strength, without having to drink a potion.

    Despite being faster, Lith was having a hard time dodging the iing attacks. Her arms were almost as long as his legs, and to make things worse, any weapon or shield he conjuredsted only a couple of hits before shattering.

    - "Seems she underestimates me no more. I have toe up with something, fast."

    "Watch out for her des, they are enchanted" Solus pointed out. "I doubt that your uniform can offer any kind of protection from them." ¨C

    Gritting his teeth at the news, Lith saw the mercenary sweep the ground with her leg, forcing him to jump.

    Her n was to follow up with a roundhouse kick while the opponent was still in mid-air. Instead of falling down like she expected, Lith darted forward, kicking her face with both feet, forcing her to take a step back with a bloody nose.

    Exploiting that opening, Lith closed in, stomping his right leg on the ground, with enough strength to crack it.

    The force of the kick was transmitted to the knee, and by bending the knee it was amplified and transmitted to the waist, the spine and the shoulder, releasing it through his right fist, right in the sternum, making her slide back several meters with a cracking sound.

    Despite all her magical protections and superior physique, the punch empowered by air, earth and fire fusion had broken several bones, making even breathing terribly painful.

    The remaining two member of the mercenary squad, Rodimas and Raghul, used that short exchange to position themselves behind him, locking Lith in a triangle formation.

    He didn¡¯t need to turn around to know that they were probably casting some spell to give theirpanion the second she needed to turn him into mincemeat. They had yet to notice that their fight had already ended.

    Lith struck again, this time at her chin, knocking her out before activating the tier three spell stored in his magic ring, Checkmate Spears.

    The air was suddenly filled with icicles as thick as a small tree, encircling the Rodimas from all directions, leaving her no way out. Inwardly swearing, Rodimas canceled her spell, performing ast second Switch to save her life.

    The two found their positions reversed, now Lith was the one under the icicles hail, but besides his wounded pride, he had nothing to fear. Checkmate Spears seemed an overly pompous name for a spell that had yet to actually checkmate someone even once.

    Being made out of his own magic, the icy darts passed through him like he was a ghost.

    In the meantime, Raghulpleted his spell, a tier five Battle Mage one, the fastest one he knew. It generated several water spheres that would act as offense and defence at the same time.

    They were able to block or dampen air, fire and earth magic spells, and if an enemy touched them, they would invade his lungs drowning him. Raghul only kept a handful of them to protect himself, sending the remaining ones to kill Lith.

    Like true magic enchantments, they were able to chase their prey, as long it remained in the line of sight of the caster. Usually, the only way out was running away or killing the caster.

    Being still at the fourth year, Lith had no idea what kind of spell it was. Not daring to underestimate the opponent, he did what seemed to be the most logical thing to do.

    He used spirit magic to grab Rodimas and the burly woman, throwing them at the iing spheres to see what would happen.

    Raghul couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, the kid was using his teammates as meat shields. He wasn¡¯t a newbie, he had already lost more than one ally during a job, sometimes sacrificing them to aplish a mission.

    But that was too much, he had to choose between keeping his defence or killing two of his dearest friends for nothing. He could see the water forcibly entering through their noses and mouths, Rodimas panicked screams reduced to a handful of bubbles.

    Before he could decide what to do, Lith closed in enough to knock him out with a single punch. The water spheres burst open, freeing their prisoners.

    Lith had just knocked out Rodimas too, to calmly decide what to do with them and how get the information he wanted, when he noticed that the young Byk had returned.

    "How kind of you, abandoning me like that after I saved your life." Lith said with a harsh tone. The Byk snorted, rubbing its snouts to his leg as a thank you.

    "Stop ying dumb. I know you can talk. I didn¡¯te here by chance, but because some dryads told me about a fated encounter." The Byk tilted his head sideways, finding hard to make sense out of those words.

    "So, tell me. Are you supposed to be my true love, my best friend or what?"

 Chapter 110 Desperation

    The Byk chuckled, an amused light in its eyes.

    "May the Great Mother spare me from such terrible fates. No offense, but to be a decent mating partner you are too thin, too small, hairless and too human."

    Thanks to his recently found mana sensibility, Lith realized that the Byk wasn¡¯t actually talking. It was using air magic to turn the sounds of the forest in words for him to understand.

    "None taken. To be honest, I¡¯m happy to hear that. As far as I know, I¡¯m interested only in human females. Just thinking otherwise was creeping me out." He replied.

    "What¡¯s a friend?" The Byk asked sniggering.

    "Excellent question." Lith sighed. "In theory is someone that cares for you as much as you do for him. Someone to rely on during though times or when you are in trouble."

    "Sounds like a mom or a pack leader."

    Maybe it was because it was young, or maybe just because it was an animal, but Lith had the impression the conversation was going nowhere.

    "Do you know anything about the castle?" Lith pointed at the academy¡¯s spires, clearly visible above the tree line.

    "The man-made mountain? Sure, everyone knows about it. It¡¯s the ce where the white-furred pups like you reside."

    Lith was about to facepalm himself in frustration, but then the Byk asked him an odd question.

    "Now that you mention it, can you exin to me why your den mates have gone insane?"

    "What are you talking about?" Lith replied in confusion.

    "Untilst winter, the forest folks and the man-made mountain folks coexisted peacefully. Sure, from time to time a big fight happened, but that¡¯s the nature of wilderness. The strong lives, the weak dies." It shrugged.

    "But now things are different. The white-furred roam the forest not for food or herbs, they now hunt us actively, trying to kill us. And when I say us, I mean young magical beasts if not litters."

    That piece of news made no sense. ording to what Selia told Lith in the past, a cub had a no market value either dead or alive. The pelt was too roughpared to an adult specimen, and no one had ever managed to tame one.

    Magical beasts were not just powerful, they were also strong-willed. If a cub was properly fed and cared for, it would soon be able to escape, or at least die trying. If not, they would simply die out of starvation or of the abuse.

    Also, killing a cub was bound to incur the wrath of its parents, it was a high risk no reward move. A vagrant hunter might not care, but for academy¡¯s students it was suicidal to do so.

    They could meet the beasts again during an exam, or even worse, when alone, and that would mean either getting a failing grade for receiving a Professor¡¯s help or death.

    "Luckily, most of them are stealthy as a storm, so only a few were killed. After we retaliated, the Lord of the forest told us to stand down, to try to settle things with the Lord of the mountain.

    But then things got even worse. More and more strangers arrived, strong enough to kill adults." The Byk pointed at the unconscious hunters with its snout.

    Lith could understand how those events were rted to the Headmaster. It was a pincer manoeuvre, to make the academy dangerous both inside and outside its walls. If a student were to die or disappear in the forest, especially during an exam, pinning the me on Linjos would be child y.

    What he didn¡¯t understand was why such events were linked to his own soul. There was still something amiss, he could feel that the vision had yet to reveal itself. Lith¡¯s heart started to pound loudly in his chest.

    An irrational fear was pricking his mind like countless needles, cold sweat covering his body. He had no idea what he was supposed to do or find, but he knew that the window of opportunity was about to close.

    The only card he had left to y were the hunters. It was still broad daylight, and he couldn¡¯t afford to be discovered or interrupted, so he changed his clothes again and cast the Hush spell all around them.

    Now no matter what he did or how much they screamed, no one would hear them. And even if someone stumbled on him, all he would see was a hunter killing thepetition.

    He woke them all up with a jet of icy cold water. They discovered to have their hands and feet trapped inside the earth below them, that Lith had turned to stone. Their mouths were stuffed with y, preventing them to talk.

    Lith had searched them one by one, even in the mouth, taken every enchanted or alchemical item they possessed, leaving only their clothes. They were at hisplete mercy, even casting first magic would be incredibly difficult.

    He removed the gag from the burly woman, she was the one less likely to know something useful, so was the perfect choice to set an example for the other two.

    "Free me and fight like a man, if you dare, you f*cker!" She spat on him, her wet chestnut hair danced wildly while she struggled to break free, ignoring the pain from her fractures.

    Lith¡¯s reply was to strike right at the broken sternum, making her cough blood, the agony clouding her eyes with tears.

    "You lost fighting three versus one, when you were at your peak condition. You being free or trapped would not change the oue." He said trying to hide the desperate need he had for information.

    "Tell me who are you guys and what are you doing here."

    Sheughed in his face, showing a wolfish smile of defiance.

    "The little man is on a schedule, uh? Do your worst. Kill me, I don¡¯t give a sh*t. I hope your master will give you a dog¡¯s death for your failure."

    Another chill invaded Lith¡¯s body, images of the excruciating cab ride only to find Carl¡¯s dead body pushed him over the brink, steeling him enough to let the abyss that dwelled inside him roam free once again.

    "You had just made your twost mistakes. First, I serve no master, second you have no idea what¡¯s my worst. I¡¯m a healer." Those words were meant to be a threat, but she found the hrious.

    "A healer? Then heal me so I can rip your head from your f*cking neck."

    Lith removed the glove on his right hand, cing it on her chiselled stomach, right above the sr plexus.

    "If you want to r*pe me, that¡¯s the wrong spot, kid." Lith ignored her.

    "You see, a healer is bound to know the human body better than anyone else. We know how to deal the maximum pain while keeping our patient alive."

    After using Invigoration on her, he located her mana core. ording the Alchemy Professor, sending mana into someone else¡¯s body was like injecting poison. Lith was now curious to see what would happen if he injected his mana directly into her mana core.

 Chapter 111 Desperation 2

    Despite he could see it with Invigoration, a mana core wasn¡¯t a physical organ. It was inside the human body but at the same time it wasn¡¯t. During the years spent as a healer in the Lutia vige, he had cured countless peoples with stomach wounds, but none, no matter how deep, had ever affected a core.

    Lith had to rely on his newfound mana sensibility, sending a tendril of pure mana from his core to the woman¡¯s. At first, nothing happened, her core seemed stable, keeping its yellow colour despite the flood of alien energies.

    But a few secondster, Lith could see that the zone where he had attached the tendril was getting weaker and weaker. The yellow was turning to orange, slowly spreading to the whole core.

    The woman suddenly started to scream in pain, all her veins and arteries bulging out, as if they were trying to shake off her skin. The red of the blood turned blue as the mana that was invading her body.

    When it reached her head, she started to bleed the cyan liquid from her eyes, nose and ears. The shrieks of agony showed no trace of her previous defiance, only desperation.

    Her voice when from shrill to hoarse, until it didn¡¯t sound like a human voice anymore. She kept yelling and yelling, until she had no more air in her lungs, but she seemed incapable of drawing breath again.

    Lith stopped, leaving her a couple of seconds to recover and feel the temporary relieve from theck of pain.

    "Ready to talk now?"

    Sobbing in terror, the burly woman swore to the gods that if she managed to survive, she would have changed her way of life. No more trading lives for money, she would redeem herself.

    "My name is Melia." She said trying to establish a connection, to force him to perceive her as a person. It was a trick that had worked countless times in the past, even if she had never been the one to attempt it, but Rodimas.

    She always said that every man dreamed of being the hero of a sobbing woman.

    And this time, she was sincere, she wasn¡¯t just trying to backstab him as soon as he lowered his guard.

    "I don¡¯t care." He replied with a cold stare. "I mean who are you? Mercenaries? Hunters? Assassins?"

    "Mercenaries. We were paid handsomely toe here, kill as many beasts as possible and frame the students for it."

    Melia¡¯s words confirmed his theory, but didn¡¯t trigger any vision, nor relieved his fears.

    "Who sent you here, and why?"

    "I don¡¯t know, I swear! I¡¯m just the muscle of the team, Raghul is the one that deals with our contractors, while Rodimas is the brain of our operations."

    "Raghul?"

    "That man." She nodded in his direction.

    "It¡¯s everything I know, please, let me go."

    Leaving them alive was out of question. They had forced him to use too much of his true power, they were a liability. No matter their promises, as soon as they were out of reach, they would sell him to the highest bidder with a smile on their faces.

    "Then I don¡¯t need you anymore." With a wave of his hand, Lith used spirit magic to twist her head 180 degrees, breaking the neck and putting her out of her misery.

    "Now, mister Raghul, we can do this easy or painful. Tell me what I want to know, and I will give you a peaceful death. Resist and... well. You have seen what happens." Lith removed Raghul¡¯s gag, allowing him to speak.

    - "Wouldn¡¯t have been better to leave her alive? To give them hope?" Solos objected. She really didn¡¯t Like Lith torturing people. Every time he did it, she could sense something inside of him dying.

    "What hope? They are professionals, not some girls scout. They know all too well that I will never let them live, because that¡¯s what they would do in my shoes." ¨C

    "Listen kid, I¡¯m sorry we tried to kill you." His terror ruined his usually wless poker face, making him sound fake like a three-dor bill.

    "You don¡¯t have to do this. You are still young, don¡¯t be like us."

    Behind his fake empathy, Raghul only meant to buy time, hoping to find a way out of that predicament. But he discovered that his hands were blocked, he couldn¡¯t even feel the magical stone he hid in his boot in case of emergencies.

    His only hope was to find a crack in the kid¡¯s morality and exploit it to escape.

    "Toote for that." Lith ignored his ramblings, cing his hand over Raghul¡¯s core and forcefully sending mana into it. Raghul had a cyan core, just like Lith, so even if he was incapable of controlling it, the core¡¯s energies were able to repel Lith¡¯s clumsy attacks.

    - "So, I can freely invade only weaker cores? It¡¯s a pity I don¡¯t have the time. It would have been interesting to discover what happens to someone once I degrade his core, maybe even below the red level.

    Stripping someone of his magic could be a formidable threat, not to mention that it would allow me to keep prisoners without having to fear any trick from their side." ¨C

    Taking a mental note to experiment on that in the future, Lith stopped wasting his pure mana, adding darkness magic to it. Raghul¡¯s defences crumbled like a sand castle facing a tsunami, darkness quickly spread to the whole core.

    Like for Melia, his veins bulged out, but their colour was ck. Melia¡¯s suffering had been nothingpared to Raghul¡¯s, pure entropy was eating at every of his cells.

    When Raghul started to bleed ck blood from all his orifices, Lith stopped sending energy, but the pain didn¡¯t pause.

    - "What the heck?" ¨C Lith was bbergasted. Trying to understand what was happening, he touched Raghul again, using Invigoration.

    He was then able to see that even without hismand, the darkness was still ravaging the mana core, that was now full of cracks, on the brink of copsing on itself.

    - "Seems that dark magic is too powerful to directly inject it. I need a softer approach for the woman, or all the information will be lost."

    "Lith, the core is ck." Solus sounded worried.

    "What if you just created an Abomination?" ¨C

    Lith refused to believe that identally performing such feat could be so easy, but being cautious, he kept monitoring Raghul¡¯s status while ignoring Rodimas¡¯ whimpering and sobbing.

    After just a few seconds, the ck core crumbled, and Raghul¡¯s body when limp, devoid of life. Lith sighed with relief. Humans seemed to be no match for him, but Abominations where on a league on their own.

    He was already sick and tired of that day, he just wanted to understand what was the source of uneasiness he kept feeling, solve the damn vision and then sleep for a whole week.

    Lith had just turned toward Rodimas, pondering about what element use on her, when a sudden noise drew his attention.

    Raghul¡¯s body was trembling again, writhing like he had a seizure.

    By using Invigoration again, Lith could see that ck and red blood were pooling where the mana core had been, forming a new one, brimming with dark energies.

    The blood core was sucking all the remaining fluids in the body, making Raghul turn pale as a ghost, his eyes glowing with a red light, like a torch was burning behind them.

    Lith could see his canines grow into fangs, his hands and feet breaking free from the stone ground as it was just soft mud. He immediately backstepped, conjuring a wind barrier to intercept all the rock projectiles flying towards him.

    - "What the heck is a blood core?" Solus almost panicked.

    "The bad news is that I think I have just created a vampire. The good news is that at least he doesn¡¯t shine under sunlight like a disco ball." Lith replied. -

 Chapter 112 Lithâ€™s Monster

    Solus had no idea what Lith had done, to be exact, either of them did. The creature in front of them wasn¡¯t dead nor alive, her mana sense had never perceived anything like that.

    A normal core was a mass of pure mana, that could be used to interact with the world energy to give life to spells. Awakened beings seemed to be the only ones capable of using the pure mana to obtain various effects, like Invigoration or spirit magic.

    An Abomination¡¯s ck core, instead, was a stronger but corrupted form of mana, that constantly required massive amounts of world energy just to not dissipate. To do that, Abominations gained unique powers.

    The Wither they had faced in the past, had the ability to drain life force even from a distance. The nt thing could split his consciousness to overtake and consume the surrounding vegetation while searching for animal preys.

    That came at a price, though. Both of them had proved to have a deadly but limited skillset, to the point of having lost the ability to use magic in all of its forms.

    The blood core that Lith had identally created waspletely outside their experience. It was a massposed by blood and darkness magic, with the remains of Raghul¡¯s mana core somehow holding everything together.

    Based on what Solus could see, it had both a physical and magical nature. The blood core waspletely messed up, without an internal bnce or proper structure. It continually expanded and shrank, changing from spherical to ellipsoidal, sometimes it didn¡¯t have a shape at all.

    It was a creature of chaos, and as such it wasn¡¯t bound tost. Every second it would rearrange its host body and itself, causing massive amounts of strain on Raghul¡¯s corpse.

    When he was alive, he had been a well-built man of average height, with short ck hair and a well-trimmed goatee of the same colour, that helped smoothen his square features.

    Now his visage was deformed in a perpetual scream of pain, his sharp nose sunk into his face until only the nostrils remained. The skin kept rotting, turning green and peeling off, revealing the muscle tissue underneath before regenerating and starting over again.

    The body swelled tearing apart the enchanted clothes, his arms became longer and deformed, enough to touch the ground, the legs bent backwards with an unnatural angle.

    - "That¡¯s definitely not a vampire. What the heck have I done?" ¨C

    The young Byk ran away without a second thought, sensing the impending danger.

    The creature started to hiss, watching Lith with eyes full of hatred and contempt. It moved with incredible speed, not even using air fusion to its extreme Lith was able to avoid the charge.

    Raghul¡¯s fingers had be ten centimetres (4 inches) long razor-sharp talons, that made easy work of Lith¡¯s iron heart protector and earth fusion alike.

    The hook shaped ws shed vertically, deeply gouging his chest. Finger-sized chunks of flesh hit the ground, while blood sprayed around. Everything happened so fast that Lith felt pain only when he was already moving to avoid a second strike.

    The shock was so intense that in another situation it could have made him faint, but with his life on the line, willpower and survival instinct allowed him to stand it, even if barely.

    Lith could feel the rhythmic bleeding over his chest at every beat of his panicked heart, drenching his clothes. It was like having a white-hot branding iron ravaging his flesh, while ice needles pricked the surrounding skin, giving him a numbing feeling that was slowly spreading.

    He managed to avoid the second hit, but only because suddenly the creature became distracted, making the swing sloppy and predictable. He exploited the opening to get some distance and heal his wounds.

    To his surprise the talon marks were brimming with darkness magic, making the recovery spell much slower and less effective that normal. The creature, instead, had picked the chunks of flesh, ying with them enthusiastically.

    It tilted its head sideways, making most of Raghul¡¯s hair fall like autumn leaves in the wind, seeming to have realized something important. Then it brought them to its mouth, wolfing them down.

    - "The good news is that whatever that is, it¡¯s not a vampire. The bad news is that I have no idea how to defeat it." Lith used light fusion, trying to neutralize the dark energy infecting the wound.

    "You can either run away or stall for time. It can¡¯t live for long." Solus pointed out. ¨C

    She could clearly see the blood core falling apart, the strength coursing through the monster was too much for its body, despite all the changes it had went through. Every move, every attack would damage it as much as it did to Lith.

    Maybe it was because the creation of the blood core had been purely idental, maybe because the creature was vulnerable to the sun but being mindless it didn¡¯t care.

    Whatever the reason, ingesting raw flesh had barely dyed its decaying process.

    After the hair, all the skin was shed, leaving the muscles exposed, wet and shining under the midday sun. All its teeth had been reced by fangs, giving it an alien look.

    The creature screamed with fury, noticing that Lith had got away, forcing it to decide if to hunt the creator for whom it felt a deep-seated hatred, or the helpless Rodimas. The sweet smell of dripping blood and the delicious taste of the meat settled the deal.

    While Lith and Solus where still talking, less that two seconds after the first blood, the nightmare began.

 Chapter 113 Lithâ€™s Monster 2

    The monster darted toward Lith faster than a bullet, tanking everything he threw at it. Burning Prison, Lith¡¯s personal tier four spell conjured six fireballs, one above, one below and four around the creature, detonating at the same time.

    The head exploded and regenerated, the limbs got turned to shreds but all the pieces managed to reattach themselves before the st could scatter them away. Lightings burned its flesh and burst its heart, more icicles pierced its body that needles a pincushion.

    None of it managed to even slow it down. Yet recovering from all that damage took its toll, the creature¡¯s body had be thinner, while the talons fell, leaving the creature with just its fists.

    Fists that struck Lith with the might of a titan, uncaring of his footwork and the technique he used to deflect part of their force. Despite being hardened by earth fusion, Lith¡¯s right arm shattered at the ulna, the humerus and the radius.

    Bone segments pierced the muscles and skin, the white of the bone glittering under the sun because of the blood dripping on them.

    Lith got blinded by pain, his eyes watering like waterfalls, yet managed to remain conscious, once again being saved by his restless paranoia. He knew that being a true mage was not enough, that being prepared was not enough.

    The new world was a big ce, he was bound to meet sooner orter someone stronger than him, someone capable of hurting him for real.

    Among his trial and error experiments on himself, he had learned how to use darkness magic to cut his pain receptors, an that¡¯s what he did the moment he realized that all he had was not enough to stop a single punch of the monster of his own creation.

    Lith also jumped sideways at thest second, borrowing the strength from the hit to put some distance between them. While flying through the air he kept casting as fast as he could, making all kind of spells rain down on his pursuer.

    Even with only his left arm remaining, he managed tond another four explosions before the creature caught up, striking again, this time at his chest. Lith felt his ribcage copse, spitting blood realizing that even breathing had be an excruciating torture.

    The Raghul-thing lifted him by the neck, licking every single drop of the precious liquid, feeling its strength returning.

    Both of them were wheezing, their expression distorted, but while Lith was desperate, Lith¡¯s monster was triumphant, using its unnaturally long tongue top all the blood dripping from his face.

    Lith used that precious moment to wave a final spell, and when the monster opened its mouth to tear his neck open, he managed to conjure an icicle inside it, so that when the jaw attempted to close on him, it pierced its tongue, pte and brain.

    The creature didn¡¯t care for it, not until realizing that not it could not bite. Then the monster simply grabbed and pulled the icicle out, uncaring for its own wounds, elerating the decay process.

    Its eyes withered and rolled into the skull, leaving only the red light of undeath behind.

    The fangs finally bit Lith¡¯s neck, blood sprayed out his jugr.

    But then the jaw fell off, shortly followed by the creature¡¯s right arm, holding the prey no more.

    Lith¡¯s monster emitted an angry gurgle, drool flooding its mouth, right before the whole corpse dried out and copsed on the ground, turning into ashes.

    - "In your face, Mary Shelley." - Lith thought, casting all the healing spells he could manage before falling onto the ground, sprawled like a rag doll.

    After so much pain and struggling, Lith finally felt at peace. His vision blurred until everything went ck. He could feel all his anxieties, all his fears and traumas fading away. The pounding ache from the wounds was reduced to a dull sensation, no longer important.

    He just wanted to sleep and forget about everything, but from a corner of his mind, something kept tugging at Lith¡¯s consciousness, refusing to give up. A part of him was fighting the stupor, knowing he would never wake up from that slumber.

    Solus tried non-stop to reach his mind through the numbing pain and exhaustion, but to no avail. He had gone too far, the wounds were too deep. The only thing she could do, was use her own mana to keep his conditions stable.

    Yet with only a yellow mana core to back her endeavour, she was just dying the inevitable. Finally, light fusion was able to purify the wounds from the dark energy festering them, allowing all the healing spells Lith had previously cast to kick in.

    The bleeding stopped, the wounds were still severe but no more life threatening, at least for the moment. Lith was now able to hear Solus¡¯ voice, to grab the light of her will and use it with his own to finally open his eyes.

    Waves of searing pain were still ravaging his battered body, but he couldn¡¯t afford to heal himself. Not only he had little mana left, in his current conditions even light spells would add strain to his body, potentially killing him.

    Gritting his teeth to endure the agony of each breath, he used Invigoration, to both assess his conditions and gain the energy he needed to survive.

    - "Comminute fractures all over the ribcage,minute and open fracture of the right arm, minor internal bleeding, several bones cracked and open wounds. I doubt I would still be alive without light fusion¡¯s regenerating factor and your help, Solus."

    "Thank meter, first fix your chest. If any of the bone fragments pierces your lungs its over." ¨C

    Invigoration was an incredible tool, but it wasn¡¯t perfect. To use it, Lith required to remain still, focusing his mind and spirit to align the mana core with the world energy surrounding him.

    The slightest distraction would severe the connection.

    That was the reason why he couldn¡¯t use it during battles, otherwise he would have ess to an endless supply of mana. Following Solus¡¯ advice, he used light and spirit magic to collect all the scattered bone fragments rebuilding his ribcage.

    The process was slow and painful, but he couldn¡¯t make haste, his own life was on the line. After that, he had to take care of the hunger. Invigoration could make up for the lost stamina and mana, but recovering from so many wounds required nutrients.

    The right arm was still a mess, but with the pain receptors disconnected it was bearable.

    Lith felt like he had been fasting for a week, his head light and dizzy. He took food out of his pocket dimension, wolfing it down as fast as his left arm allowed him to. Light magic was elerating his metabolism to the extreme, the food digested as soon it entered his stomach.

    Time was of the essence, he walked up to Rodimas, removing her gag to get his answers.

    "Who sent you here? And why?"

 Chapter 114 Necromancy Lesson

    Breath after breath, the exposed humerus slid back under the skin and in its ce, soon Lith¡¯s body was back to normal.

    Rodimas barely reacted to his voice. Seeing herrades die, being helpless while Melia was tortured, all of it had been a terrible experience. But seeing Raghul¡¯s metamorphosis, smelling his stench of death and decay had been too much.

    She hadn¡¯t bit her tongue only because of the gag, but had screamed the whole time nheless. She knew that after Lith¡¯s death it would be her turn to be eaten alive. Her eyes only showed the white, the pupil rolled almost backwards.

    She had dislocated both her shoulders trying to break free from the restraints. Sweat, tears and mucus dirtied her face, making her hair stick to it like a filthy mask.

    The terror hadpletely broken her.

    Lith had to ssh Rodimas with cold water to force her to regain her focus.

    Her voice was hoarse from the strain, but still clear. She exined how the request hadn¡¯te through the official channels of the mercenary guild, but via one of their contacts in the ck market of the city of Kandria.

    ording to the books in Soluspedia, it was simply a market town, the nearest trading hub to the academy.

    The contractor was a merchant, but the odd request coupled with the high reward had made the mercenaries suspicious. After taking a considerable down payment, they had investigated the matter, discovering that the merchant was just a middle man.

    ording to their sources, he served the powerful and noble Androse family, famous for its centuries old magical legacy. At that point, they only had two choices, return the money and back off from the job, or get involved in the political struggle.

    Sobbing, Rodimas told how she had voted for the former option, but had been outnumbered, because the pay was too good and the risks seemed minimal at the time.

    Lith didn¡¯t know what to do. Her story would have been much more significant, if he could do anything about it. The odd thing was that since he had created his own version of the Frankenstein¡¯s monster, the feeling of impending failure had disappeared.

    "That¡¯s not all." Rodimas managed to say after some stuttering.

    "Since we managed to get in and out of the forest many times, afterplimenting with us, our contractor gave us another task. We were supposed to deliver a package tomorrow."

    - "The time frame is way off. I had more than a day to catch up with them, so why the need to rush? Still, the vision showed me that the academy is someway rted to this. Whatever this thing is, it could be useful to change the course of the events. ¨C

    "It¡¯s in my dimensional amulet."

    Lith took out all the amulets looted, allowing Rodimas to recognize his own and take out the package. Since magical items just needed a thought to work, he didn¡¯t free her hands, just ced it on her forehead while setting up several protections with spirit magic, just to be on the safe side.

    Rodimas kept her word, materializing a wooden box the size of a briefcase. It had no particr markings or insignia, the only remarkable thing about it was the lock.

    It was ced along the narrow and long side of the box, and it consisted of an octahedron shaped stone, with several runes engraved all around it, forming a spiral. Using Invigoration, Lith was capable of examining its pseudo core.

    - "It¡¯s nothing I have ever seen before. I bet everything I do not have that without the proper code it will self-destruct, explode or something. And if I really want to discover what¡¯s inside, I have only one shot." ¨C

    "I suppose you don¡¯t know how to open it."

    "No, I don¡¯t. Please, don¡¯t hurt me." Realising to have outlived her usefulness, Rodimas cried in desperation, knowing it was useless to beg for mercy.

    "A deal is a deal." Lith double tapped her head and heart with bullet-sized icicles, making sure she wouldn¡¯t suffer.

    He was about to leave, when a thumping sound made him turn around, ready forbat despite his mental exhaustion.

    To his surprise, it was just the young Byk, again.

    "You do really have a talent for escape. How those hunters managed to corner you is a mystery to me." Lith said with an angry tone. Both times he had needed help, the Byk had disappeared leaving him in hot waters.

    In Lith¡¯s eyes, that made it persona non grata.

    "Dude, that¡¯s harsh! After you rescued me, I was scared sh*tless. Besides, you didn¡¯t seem to need any help. This time I didn¡¯t run away, I went for help. You have no idea how long it took to reach my mom."

    "Your mom?"

    "Yeah, ording to your definition, she is my best friend."

    "And I wouldn¡¯t have dyed my departure for a mere human, if not for the fact that you saved my cub and was so stupid to lose control of your own necromancy spell. Hence, as part of your reward I¡¯ll teach you how not to endanger yourself and others with darkness magic."

    The Byk mother was an enormous beast, at least 1,8 meters (5¡¯11") tall at the shoulder, with a weight close to a ton. Its fur was deep brown with shades of ck all over.

    Lith was about to defend himself, exining that it wasn¡¯t a spell, as much as an experiment, when he realized what had happened.

    - "Dy the departure? So that¡¯s why I needed to make haste? All that¡¯s happened was just a step to speak with this Byk?" ¨C

    The Byk mother moved closer, sniffing at him with curiosity.

    "You look like a human, but there something different from the others I have met so far. What¡¯s your name, cub?"

    "Scourge." Lith deemed wiser using the name bestowed upon him by the Trawn woods¡¯ kings. If the Byk mother knew humans, he had to protect his identity.

    "Strong name for someone so young." It snorted. "A Byk name, even. That¡¯s a good omen. I¡¯m Ka, and that¡¯s my youngest one, Nok."

    Lith gave both a polite nod with the head.

    "Listen well, cub. There is a reason if light and darkness magic are so scarce in nature, and that is because they are the strongest elements. Light nurtures life, ording to legends, can even resurrect the dead or create new beings.

    Darkness, instead, is the element of death. It¡¯s not evil by itself, it¡¯s just that all living beings are scared of death, so they fear it. And fear can easily turn in spite and prejudice."

    Lith inwardly scoffed at those words.

    - "I have yet to meet someone, human or not, that doesn¡¯t consider the element they are best at as the strongest. As for light magic, is a great tool, but powerful is not the word I¡¯d use to describe it. Convenient at best."

    "Whatever." Solus mind rolled her eyes. "Why you don¡¯t stay quiet and listen? When are we going to find again someone teaching us real magic?" ¨C

    Ka stared at him for a second, sensing his disbelief.

    "Tell me, Scourge, how many magical beasts have you met that use light magic?"

    "None." He was forced to admit.

    "And how many capable of darkness magic?"

    "Just one. It was a Byk, a few years ago."

    "Zero and one, while there are countless beasts that use the other elements. Have you ever wondered why? Let me show you an old Byk trick."

    Ka tapped the ground twice with her left pawn ws, dark energy swirling around her massive body.

    "Arise."

 Chapter 115 Necromancy Lesson 2

    The energy seeped into the ground, and countless skeletons, both human and animal, emerged from below. Their mouths were agape in a silent scream, fighting their way out of mud and roots.

    Several hands grabbed Lith¡¯s feet and ankles with an iron grip. In a few seconds he was surrounded by a small army of undead, each emitting an ominous aura that sent a cold shiver down his spine.

    Lith knew they posed no threat to him. A single lesser undead was nothing more than an annoyance, even that many couldn¡¯t harm someone like him. Worst case scenario, he would simply take off and attack them from the sky, leaving them no possibility for retaliation.

    But his body seemed to ignore all that knowledge. The only things he felt from their shiny red eyes were innate fear and revulsion.

    He kept his cool, keeping those emotions sealed in a corner of his mind, while exploiting that contact to use Invigoration on them and understand how did Ka manage to do it.

    Lith discovered that each of the skeletons grabbing him had now a small red mana core.

    Invisibles to the naked eye, countless tendrils of energy departed from it, keeping all the bones together and allowing them to move and feel. Unlike normal cores, though, they had ck stripes, pulsing and growing every time the undead moved.

    "In this world the dead outnumber the living by hundreds. An expert Byk will bury its preys and turn them into a weapon. The shock they cause and the sheer numbers can easily turn tables, if properly used."

    With another tap of her pawn, the skeletons crawled back underground, and through her use of earth magic, no trace of their passage remained.

    "Necromancy can be roughly divided in two branches: lesser and higher.

    Lesser necromancy, which I just used, allows to temporary turn any corpse into an undead. It doesn¡¯t require much energy, but the effects are shortsting, and its creations are incapable of thought, they can only obey simple orders.

    Higher necromancy, that you foolishly attempted, though, is an entirely different matter."

    With a flick of her snout, Ka conjured near her the ashes of the Lith¡¯s monster, stirring them with a darkness imbued w, biting her own other pawn to let some blood drip on them.

    Horror struck Lith when he saw the ashes turn into a semi liquid state, coiling around the w and using it to stretch closer to the blood source.

    "That thing is still alive?" He unconsciously took a step back.

    "No. I¡¯m just ying with the residual energies, just to show you how powerful necromancy is." As soon the Byk stopped infusing dark energy, the blob turned back to ashes, despite the blood still dripping on it.

    "Higher necromancy allows to create lesser undead capable ofsting forever, or even superior creatures, capable of independent thought. Yet no matter what you do, higher necromancy has a wpared to the lesser branch.

    After I called back my spell, the skeletons were still intact, and if I or anyone else were to raise them again, they would still serve their master. The same would have happened if I kept them around until the spell wore off.

    But when something is created out of higher necromancy, the unbnce is too severe.

    If the caster doesn¡¯t feed his creatures with the proper amount of light energy, the dark magic that animates them starts to corrode their bodies, until they turn into dust."

    The Byk sighed sadly.

    "I tried countless times, but my inability to use light magic prevents me from truly mastering necromancy. All my creations have the lifespan of a butterfly. Undeath is no life, to sustain it a price has to be paid.

    The better the necromancer, the less energy the creatures require. But no matter how little it can be, raising a permanent army would either drain the caster or require an external source."

    "Do you mean taking lives?"

    Ka nodded.

    "Skeletons are simple, they require raw energy, it¡¯s irrelevant to them the source ites from. Other creatures can be pickier, and require living flesh or blood to sustain their existence if the necromancer¡¯s energy is not avable.

    And that usually means that lots of people have to die."

    "Wait, are you telling me that an undead army has to ¡¯eat¡¯ regrly? Isn¡¯t that a contradiction?"

    "Contradiction?" Ka snorted. "Have you ever found anything, alive or not that moves without needing energy? Humans need to eat, and so do nts. For a stone to roll, someone has to push it.

    Or else both humans and magical beasts would only fight with undeads. Imagine an army that does not rest, eat or fear, that grows in number with every battle. No, Scourge, that would be nonsense."

    - "Ka is right, otherwise necromancy would ignore the firstw of thermodynamics, energy cannot be created or destroyed. Only be transferred or changed from one form to another. But that poses another question.

    Then how can magical objects never run out of juice? What is their energy source?"

    "The magician." Solus observed. "That must be the reason why the imprinting process is necessary before using one. Is not only a safety measure, but also a way to feed them. That would also exin why magical items can be reused after their master¡¯s death." ¨C

    "I have a question. ording to what you say, undead should obey the necromancer. Why the creature attacked me?" Lith asked.

    "As I said, I haven¡¯t mastered necromancy, yet. But the most likely exnation is that your clumsy spell didn¡¯t bear your mark with it. Because of that, it didn¡¯t recognize you as its master, but only as a prey.

    Especially so if it hated you when it was still alive."

    "What do you mean with mark?" Lith was clearly lost. "And why should a dead man feelings matter?"

    Ka snorted even harder, causing Nok to chuckle at his expenses.

    "By the Great Mother, how could your parents let you walk alone in this world being so ignorant?" It said shaking its huge head in desperation.

    "Based on what Nok told me, you used higher necromancy, turning someone that was still alive.

    It wasn¡¯t a mindless corpse, but someone that died cursing you with his final breath. Even if your attempt failed, the creature was bound to carry with itself the deepest emotions linked to its death.

    Not having a mark, its primary instinct was likely to exact revenge. Are you finally starting to understand the foolishness of your actions?"

    Lith nodded, recognizing that being so powerful and yet so ignorant in the ways of magic was a terriblebination.

    "Do you at least know how to raise a single undead?" She then asked.

    "No. What happened earlier was an ident." Lith didn¡¯t like admitting his ipetence, but having worked in the science field, he knew that knowledge could not be faked. Either you epted your ignorance, or studied to fill the gaps.

    They walked up to Rodimas¡¯ corpse, then Ka started exining.

    "If you were to simply use darkness magic on a corpse, it would rot and disappear. What you need to do, instead, is to let the necromantic energies fill the body or the skeleton, like this."

    The Byk ced its ws on Rodimas¡¯ hollow forehead, while Lith used Invigoration to see the stale blood turning ck because of the dark magic, the veins bulging out.

    "Once it¡¯s saturated, add a speck of light magic, even first magic is fine. That will be your mark, the only life force the undead will respect and obey to."

    Rodimas¡¯ corpse eyes opened again, the chestnut colour reced by the bright red. Ka was about to withdraw her energies, but Lith asked her to wait a bit. That way he was able to notice that the creature had no blood core, just a red one striped ck like the skeletons did.

 Chapter 116 Necromancy Lesson 3

    - "I¡¯m starting to suspect that higher necromancy requires a living subject. To properly turn Raghul, I would have needed to fill his whole body with dark magic, not only his core. And of course, add my mark.

    Probably the reason why Ka can¡¯t master necromancy isn¡¯t because it can¡¯t use light outside of first magic, but because has no knowledge of the cores."

    "Makes sense." Solus concurred. ¨C

    With Ka¡¯s guidance, Lith managed to raise his first skeleton after a few tries, destroying some of them in the process. When he felt sure to have grasped the basics, he even managed to raise Rodimas¡¯ ghoul.

    Before following Ka to receive her final gift, Lith went back to put the two badly burned mercenaries out of their misery.

    - "A part of me would love to experiment on them with higher necromancy, but honestly, I had more than enough for today. Also, if I manage to turn them into sentient undeads, I would feel responsible for their lives.

    I would be either forced to kill them, and that would be a waste, or let them roam free, and that would be in madness. I¡¯m done ying with powers I don¡¯t fully understand. Guess now I have one more thing to research in the library." ¨C

    After walking for a bit, Lith started to feel a headache growing, his desire to go back to the academy and rest was almost unbearable.

    "Where are we going?"

    "To my cave." Ka exined. "Since I¡¯m leaving, feel free to pick whatever you like from my trophies¡¯ pile. That will be my thank you for saving Nok¡¯s life."

    "Teaching me necromancy is a great gift already. I don¡¯t need more. By the way, where are you going?"

    "I don¡¯t know either. I have reached a bottleneck. All my instincts tell me that either I ovee it or my talent will rot. Now that all my cubs are big enough to be self-sufficient, I can finally set off to explore my limits."

    "Have you tried talking to the Lord of the forest, first? Maybe the Scorpicore could help you." Lith didn¡¯t dare offer his help directly. He had no idea how men would react to him teaching true magic, let alone magical beasts or monsters.

    Yet if the academy was to be in any danger, he would much prefer for someone like Ka to be present.

    "I already did. Scarlett tried to exin to me many times about things like ¡¯cores¡¯ and ¡¯world energy¡¯, but they are only empty words to me. So, it advised me to travel outside the forest and search for enlightment."

    After a while, they reached a small hill. It was about ten meters (33¡¯) high, covered by tall green grass, with tilted saplings growing on its sides, fighting with the nearest forest trees for the sunlight.

    Lith could see many small animals, squirrels and birds alike, moving around in the vicinity, without care for their arrival. Like a mouse on the back of a lion, they weren¡¯t afraid of predators, the presence of the powerful Byk was their lifeline.

    The cave was deep, and had an entrance big enough to let two creatures the size of Ka to move freely in and out, probably to allow her to move with her cubs.

    The so-called trophies¡¯ pile turned out to be just trash. Weapons, tools, clothes, were amassed together in a random order. Most of them were damaged or broken, making them useless.

    "I took those things from humans and creatures that invaded my territory, trying to kill me or my spawn during the years." She exined.

    After a little search, Lith could see there wasn¡¯t anything interesting in the bunch.

    "What about rings or amulets? Didn¡¯t they have any?"

    "Those I took for myself, silly one. They will be especially useful once I¡¯ll be away from here." Lith sighed with annoyance, thinking how he could have already been resting back home, instead of junk hunting.

    "But there are some I couldn¡¯t figure out their use nor throw them away. I feel they are too dangerous to be left in clumsy hands. Feel free to take them, if you wish."

    Ka touched the left side of the cave, revealing a small secret chamber, holding a pile of small wooden boxes, all identical to the one Rodimas had given Lith.

    Suddenly he felt a chill running down his spine, his vision blurring making the headache almost unbearable. This time he saw groups of armed soldiers fighting and destroying entire cities.

    - "Not the vision again! What does this mean? Is the war really this close? And what does it have to do with me?" ¨C

    Lith saw several envelopes scattered among the boxes, their wax seals still intact. After checking with Invigoration that there wasn¡¯t any magical trap, he opened them, discovering that all of them were written in a code he couldn¡¯t figure out.

    Reading those apparently random words, other images shed before his eyes. Thest thing he saw was an image of his house in Lutia, burning. The barn was open, the animals dead or escaped, while the fields in front of his house seemed to have been trampled upon.

    His point of view moved inside the house, allowing to watch the dancing mes, the walls sttered with fresh blood. His father lied on the floor, his head cracked open by some heavy blunt weapon, the brain almost visible.

    His expression was of pure despair and terror, his clothes were drenched by his own blood,ing out from multiple deep cuts. His bruised hands still clenched to form fists. He seemed to have died fighting.

    The vision moved to the kitchen, where the corpse of his mother, Elina, rested. Her eyes were wide open, a pool of blood was under her head, a huge chunk of her tongue was visible among the blood.

    Her clothes were ripped to shreds, not even death had stopped her aggressors. Lith could see human bite marks all over her breasts and genitalia, a pool of white sticky substance defiling her legs and mouth.

    Anger was raising inside Lith¡¯s chest, a thirst for blood like he had never felt since his days back on Earth.

    Then, he heard his sisters¡¯ voices calling for help, Rena was calling her husband¡¯s name, but Tista was calling for Lith.

    He tried to force the vision to show them to him, but suddenly he felt pulled up and away from the ground, watching everything in miles of radius from the sky.

    The whole vige had been razed to the ground.

    Once Lith regained his senses, the headache was suppressed by the killing intent he could barely contain.

    "Where did you find them?"

    "Moste from the dimensional items of the hunters that I recently killed. In thest months, lots arrived believing themselves to be predators only to end up as prey." Ka snout deformed into a grin.

    "But others I took from the white-furred pups that live in the man-made mountain."

    "The students?" Lith was shocked, not at the idea of their death, as much at the implication such event had.

    "Yes. It happened when I was chasing the hunters who had killed one of my cubs. They had escaped me the first time, yet dayster dared to return in my turf."

    Anger overloaded her eyes with mana, turning them in pitch ck holes.

    "I stalked them, and when the opportunity arose, I exacted revenge. From that moment onward, every time hunters arrived, I would follow closely to kill them along with their pups, to let them know what I felt."

    "How did you manage to do that?" His interest was piqued. He doubted to be able to cleanly kill a group of mercenaries and students at the same time, without any of them escaping.

    Even with all her undeads, being unable to fly made Ka weaker than himself in Lith¡¯s eyes.

    "ckers, that¡¯s how." The Byk¡¯sughter was like stone grinding against each other.

    "I know how theymunicate, via earth magic. I lure them with their feed call, and when everyone is busy fighting with the spiders, my undead sweep the field. The Lord prohibited us to kill the white-furred, but ckers do not answer to its orders.

    I only take care of the hunters. It¡¯s not my fault if the little b*stards don¡¯t know how to fend for themselves."

 Chapter 117 Reborn

    There were still many things Lith wanted to ask Ka, like how she managed to perceive the ckers¡¯ calls and how to manipte them, but as his bloodlust receded, he could feel that something was wrong with his body.

    The headache had returned worse than ever, and no matter how much he used Invigoration, his energy was leaving him like sand slips between fingers, no matter how hard one clenches his fist.

    Soon he wasn¡¯t even able to stand, his eyelids were drooping, forcing him to fight just to remain conscious.

    - "You seem to have a fever." Solus warned him.

    "Impossible. Except during my first years of life, I never got sick. Not even a flu." ¨C

    His breathing turned ragged, Lith lied on the cavern¡¯s floor, feeling theforting coldness of the rocks ease the heat waves ravaging his flesh.

    "I think I need to rest for..."

    Lith fell asleep even before finishing the sentence. Both Byks had no idea what to do. Even with their limited knowledge of humans, they were capable of understanding that Lith¡¯s constant shivering and sweating bullets wasn¡¯t normal.

    "Mom, do you know anyone capable of using light magic?" Nokpped Lith¡¯s cheeks trying tofort him.

    "Outside of the Lord of the forest, no. Maybe Scourge is just exhausted..."

    A snapping sound from Lith¡¯s body cut Ka short. The Byks stretched their ears, sniffing the guest. Another snapping sound urred, this time louder. It was akin to a fresh log thrown into the fire, cracking because of the heat.

    Snap and pop sounds came one after the other, if an earthling happened to be there, he would think that someone was making popcorns. From the inside, Solus could see his bones cracking and heal continuously at an rming rate.

    Sometimes it was just a fissure, other the whole bone would shatter in small fragments before they assembled again. When it was the skull¡¯s turn, Nok jumped backwards out of fear.

    Suddenly a porcupine seemed to have slipped under Lith¡¯s face, sharp ends bulging under his skin, barely able to contain them.

    Each time a bone would crack, impurities would ooze out of them, finding their way out through any of his orifices. Most of it flowed out from his eyes, ears and mouth, forming a pool beneath his head.

    The stench was unbearable, Ka was forced to destroy the tar-like substance with darkness magic, fearing it could harm them.

    "Is he going to be an undead?" The events unfolding in front of Nok remined it what had happened to Raghul just a few hours prior.

    "Unlikely." Ka replied. "I don¡¯t sense a massive amount of dark energies surging." Nheless, she closed Lith in the secret room, leaving just enough space for the air to flow, strengthening the cave walls in case of attack, just to be safe.

    Thanks to Invigoration, Solus perceived the world energy flowing inside Lith¡¯s core, the body was finally able to withstand its growth, surviving the changes necessary to wield the new power.

    - "The unconsciousness is actually a blessing in disguise. The pain would be excruciating if Lith was still awake." ¨C Solus thought.

    Hourster, he finally woke up, feeling like the Walmart doormat after the ck Friday. Every inch of his body ached, his already tattered hunter suit was soaked in impurities beyond saving.

    He managed to cancel the smell with darkness magic, but removing the stains would destroy the leather as well.

    - "What happened?" Lith shook his head, trying to remember where he was.

    "Good news! You have finally got past your bottleneck. Your mana core is finally halfway through the cyan. Probably the constant strain and healing cycles of thisst few months did the trick." Solus words made little sense to him.

    "It¡¯s not my first rodeo. Why did I faint? And why do I feel like cr*p instead of refreshed?" ¨C

    It was tooplicated to exin, so Solus just showed him her memories.

    - "What the f*ck? All that pain just for a shade of cyan?" ¨C

    Once Lith managed to get up, even opening the stone door with earth magic proved to be a challenge.

    "Rise and shine, sleepyhead. You have slept for three days. I was starting to get worried." Nok trotted to him, rubbing his snout strong enough to make him fall.

    "Three days?! Sorry Nok, I have to run!" Lith yelled in desperation. He didn¡¯t care for the lost lessons, as much for all the time wasted doing nothing. If the vision was correct, he hadn¡¯t even a second to spare.

    Nokughed at him.

    "I was joking, it¡¯s barely sunset."

    Cursing the Byk¡¯s ancestors and doubting the morality of their mating choices, Lith punched the nearby wall with the feeble strength he could muster.

    "It¡¯s not funny!" He yelled, striking again.

    "My family is in danger, who knows what could have happened to them in three days? You scared me to death!"

    "That makes the two of us." Nok took two cautionary steps back, keeping its gaze on him, ready to run away.

    "Why are you scared?"

    "Don¡¯t want to end like the wall just for a stupid joke."

    Lith looked at his punch, discovering that it had created a small socket in the wall. A spiderweb of small cracks originated from the impact point.

    - "What the heck?" Lith and Solus thought, still in a daze.

    "I didn¡¯t feel anything. How can I be this strong?"

    "It must be because of what happened to your skeleton. Your mana flow ispletely different from before." Solus pointed out.

    "The quality of your mana has barely changed, but now even at rest, the energy that your core passively produces is able to reach every inch of your body. I have seen something like this only in magical beasts like the Protector." ¨C

    "What¡¯s happening?" Ka rushed back to the cave after the first pounding sound, expecting the worst.

    When it saw both cubs alive and well the Byk sighed in relief, but then an odd smell reached its nose. Not beastly nor human, it was something lost in between.

    "Scourge, you have changed." It was a statement, there was no shred of doubt in her voice.

    "Your smell is even less human than before. It¡¯s akin to the one the Lord of the forest emits." Its eyes gleamed withprehension of the true nature of their guest.

    Before leaving, Lith asked Ka how to perceive and lure the ckers. Sadly, the former required a high earth magic sensibility that hecked, while thetter was far simpler.

    The spider¡¯s feed call sounded exactly like the human heart rhythmic beat, only it had to be emitted via magic through the ground.

    On his way back, while flying through the air, he activated Life Vision, searching for more changes in his abilities. Lith discovered that now it didn¡¯t just show the life force and mana simply through colours.

    Lith now could see the world energy flowing from the trees, the leaves, even from the stones. The whole forest around him was breathing, generating a mana wind that had been invisible to him before.

    - "It has be much more simr to my mana sense." Solus said.

    "Yes. In a way is still worse, in another is better. Look at that." ¨C

    Lith pointed at a clearing in the forest. It was near to the point where he had fought with the mercenaries, but from the sky and with its ordinary look, normally he would have failed to recognize the ce.

    But now he could see everything. The red wind originated from the animals, the green from the nts, the grey from the stones, and the ck from the dead.

    Lith only had to extend his hands and will to feel the rotting energies waiting for the call.

    "Rise! Rise my legion!"

    He could sense the many corpses stirring underground, wing to escape.

    And then he let them go. He had no time to lose, there were many things he had to do before nightfall.

 Chapter 118 Half Truth

    Lith immediately regretted histest experiment.

    - "Dammit, my body is still weak. Even though my core is still cyan, the effects of the change are simr to the evolution process. Invigoration has no effect. I need real rest to recuperate."

    "Your mind is not faring better either. You are still wearing your hunter suit, if you don¡¯t change it, not only it would rise lots of questions, but I doubt they will let you in the academy." Solus pointed out. ¨C

    The leather sleeves were reduced to shreds, the chest presented a giant hole, like someone had tried to rip his heart out, the metal protectors had whole chunks missing and between the bloodstains and the impurities it seemed that Lith had stolen the clothes from a battlefield.

    Inwardly cursing his own stupidity, Lith returned below the tree line, swapping the clothes in mid air via the dimensional pocket.

    After walking through the castle gates, he was halted by the front desk clerk, demanding to have back the distress device. It was the same middle-aged man that had lectured Lith that morning.

    Seeing him with his hands and face dirtied by having slept on the ground, his short breath and worried expression, the clerk assumed that going solo didn¡¯t do well for the arrogant fourth-year student.

    His chestnut eyes shone with gloat, while a condescending smile cracked his otherwise thick beard.

    "Seems you had to experience for yourself how harsh the world out there. Not everyone can be a hero, now you know it."

    Lith looked at him like a madman, he had already forgotten about him, so those words made no sense to him.

    "There, there." The clerk continued, mistaking his confusion for embarrassment. "At least you came out alive without needing to ask for help. Also, you remembered my advice and returned before sundown. Realizing your mistakes and learning from your seniors is fundamental at your age."

    Normally Lith would have recognized him already, pondering if attempting to poison the clerk¡¯s mana core from a distance with spirit magic.

    But worried as he were, he just pretended to be listening, nodding from time to time. Lith was so tired that even thinking was a struggle. Ever since he had seen the end of the vision, he was trying to put the pieces together.

    All he wanted was to take a short bath to get rid of all the dirt, sweat and blood dirtying his body and then sleep for a whole week, but the scene of his parents murdered and his sisters screaming for help haunted his mind.

    - "ording to the vision the steps of the events are: 1) the mercenaries killing Nok. And that is out of the picture. Then 2) after that they were supposed to do a delivery, somehow connected to the fall of the academy.

    Guess that part was metaphorical, to bring down the castle it would take an earthquake measuring at least an eight on the Richter scale. Which would lead to 3) a civil war and to 4) the destruction of Lutia.

    It¡¯s unclear if it would happen by coincidence or because I pissed off someone in particr, but it doesn¡¯t matter. If my soul is a d*ck as much as I am, the reason it showed me all this is because more than anything I want to save them. Right, Solus?"

    "Yeah, it makes sense, especially the d*ckery part. Guess that savings fluffy cubs and thousands of innocents is really not your style..." She had a dejected tone. After all that hoping for him to find true love or friendship, once again was just an egoistical reason. To her Lith and his soul were indeed a match made by the heavens.

    "F*ck the innocents! I¡¯m nobody¡¯s hero. A world that despite having billions of people can only be saved by someone brave and dumb enough to sacrifice himself for strangers, it¡¯s a world not deserving to be saved." ¨C

    In the privacy of his room, Lith took out themunication amulet, thinking what exactly to tell Marchioness Distar.

    He couldn¡¯t sleep before making sure that the events he had spectated had yet to happen, but if he did call her, then he would need to spill the beans without having the opportunity to make up a believable backstory.

    The truth was too dangerous for him, and calling her the day after would destroy his credibility. Who in his right mind would take seriously someone that needed a power nap before reporting a threat to the Kingdom?

    But without sleep, he had a hard time concentrating, let alone being convincing while spouting bullsh*t. It was another catch-22 paradox

    Too tired to find a solution, he simply made the call.

    The Marchioness answered almost immediately, seated behind a luxurious desk riddled with books and sheets of papers. She had her hair down with no particr hairstyle, wearing something between a pajama and sweatpants.

    She looked almost as tired as him, her annoyance was visible as much as audible.

    "You again. What has happened this time?"

    "I¡¯m really sorry to bother you at this hour, your Ladyship, but I need to know if everything is alright with my family. I bring grave news."

    Thest phrase, coupled with the desperation in his voice changed her attitude in a blink.

    "I already received today¡¯s report, but let me double check right now."

    Themunication remained open, but her image disappeared for a few seconds.

    - "This thing can put on hold?" ¨C

    "All present and ounted for, the sky has yet to fall." She said with a slight smile.

    "Now, what were you saying about grave news?" She leaned with her elbows on the desk, her eyes steeling.

    "Before starting my story, your Ladyship, do you believe in supernatural? Things like souls, destiny and so on?" Lith was desperately trying to find a way to not look like a raving maniac.

    "Child, you are starting to sound like my husband when he proposed. If you have just disturbed me because of a girl, that¡¯s inappropriate at best. No matter what you believe right now, whoever you have met is not the right one."

    Inwardly cursing his poor choice of words, Lith rushed to exin.

    - "The best lie is a half-truth. Here goes everything." ¨C

    He told her how he managed to save a dryad by sheer luck, and that she rewarded him with a vision about his heart¡¯s desire. That following her directions he had found a group of hunters fighting to the death with a powerful Byk necromancer defending its cub.

    In this version of the story he was just a spectator, and Ka did all the hard work.

    Lastly, that on the verge of death, one of the hunters still alive, after Lith had tried to save her, had a change of heart, regretting her life choices and gave him a wooden box and a coded letter, revealing to him that she was meant to give it to someone inside of the academy, but had died before telling him who.

    "A dryad needing your help?" She had a goodugh at his expenses.

    "Didn¡¯t she give you something more practical than a silly vision? I don¡¯t know, her heart or some earthly treasure?"

    "I refused her heart." Lith exined making the Marchioness almost choke on her nextugh. "I¡¯m too young for a rtionship and she was way too shy for an academy. But I still got loot, I mean rewards."

    He took out the ransom the blond dryad had paid to save her sister¡¯s live.

    "I can¡¯t see them well like this. Put them over the amulet¡¯s gem, please." She didn¡¯t know what to think. So far, the story was too odd to be made up.

    When Lith did as instructed, the various natural treasures floated in the air. The light from the stone enveloped them like a 3D scanner, giving the Marchioness a life-size image that reced Lith¡¯s.

    - "Is there something this thing can¡¯t do?" Lith was bbergasted by the second unknown function of the day. "Why can¡¯t it make a decent coffee? I miss coffee so much I could kill for a cup." -

    "By the gods and their children, I believe you! Now put those treasures away and show them to no one. They are very precious. Many would say too much for someone like you to have them." Lith saw the greed in her eyes, but it was a calcted risk.

    To further his story, he described in detail the nt Abomination, nerfing it enough to make usible for Lith¡¯s normal skillset to defeat it.

    "If you still have any doubts, there is a whole patch of the forest that¡¯s gonepletely bald. It will take months for it to recover a shred of green."

    The Marchioness looked at him with renewed admiration.

    "I had heard great things about your little team, but honestly I didn¡¯t expect so much from them. It¡¯s amazing for fourth-year students, no matter how talented, to suppress a monster"

    "All thanks to teamwork." Even half-asleep, Lith realized that a gun he waspletely unaware of, had just shot his own foot.

 Chapter 119 Half Truth 2

    - "Why didn¡¯t you tell her that you defeated it alone?" Solus was surprised by the sudden turns of events.

    "Because she didn¡¯t ask me how I managed to, or if I did have help. She jumped the gun and assumed it was a team effort. That means I didn¡¯t nerf the nt Abomination enough, or simply that a kid killing a monster is unheard of." ¨C

    Anxious to change topic, Lith took out from the dimensional pocket the wooden box Rodimas had surrendered to him and one coded letter at random.

    Marchioness Distar threw a nce at the letter, and being uncapable to understand its meaning, just copied it with water magic. A flick of her wrist and ink flew from the well to a nk piece of paper, recreating the original in a few seconds.

    When the life-size replica of the box appeared, her expression became severe.

    "I don¡¯t recognize the lock, but I know these runes. This isn¡¯t just a wooden box, it¡¯s a high-end dimensional item, capable of storingplex structures rather than single objects. It could even contain a whole furnished house.

    It¡¯s definitely something that a magical beasts hunter could never afford, let alone give it away to a stranger. Depending on what¡¯s inside, it could be worth thousands of gold, if not tens of thousands. But why are you showing it to me instead of Linjos? And why are afraid of it?"

    After a deep breath to calm his nerves, Lith told her all about the vision and how it ended, along with his hypothesis about it.

    "Thest time we spoke, you told me you are on the Queen¡¯s side. If what the dryad has shown me is true, then I need all the help possible to prevent these events from happening.

    With all due respect, the Headmaster is a good man, but has proven to be too much of a na?ve fool to be trusted with such a delicate matter. He expected people not needing Ballots, yet now they are all in use.

    He didn¡¯t predict that his radical changes would backfire so fast and hard, or if he did, his contingency n must have failed big time. Also, he doesn¡¯t know me, you do. For him I could as well be a homesick boy pulling a prank.

    I don¡¯t have the time to make him listening to me and believe a ridiculous story about dryads, souls and visions. I need someone capable of seeing the bigger picture and reacting ordingly. Whatever this is, its ramification go beyond the academy."

    The Marchioness drummed her fingers on the desk, pondering about Lith¡¯s words. His judgement on Linjos¡¯ character was harsh, but she fully agreed with it.

    And while the Headmaster would take in ount only the possible consequences for the academy and his precious students, she was capable of understanding also the political repercussions the events Lith described could have.

    Her fief was already torn apart by internal and external enemies, trying to rece her with someone more pliable to one side or another of the conflict. If a storm was really brewing under her nose, could she afford to ignore such a timely warning?

    The answer was no. After all the sacrifices she had made trying to protect her daughter and husband, after the failed assassination attempts, this was the first lead the Marchioness had that could allow her to act instead of react.

    Also, it would give her an opportunity to prove her worth and loyalty to the Crown in a moment of need, potentially reaping endless benefits. All things that made such information more valuable for her yet were meaningless to Linjos.

    The dedicated Headmaster had no interest in politics, his mind seemed to be incapable to consider anything outside the boundaries of the academy. That what made him an excellent teacher also made him a terrible pawn.

    - "I wonder if he took all these factors in ount before contacting me. It would be amazing for a youth of humble origins to be so cunning. He could be a great asset in the future." ¨C She concluded.

    - "From what I have seen in the past, the Marchioness is not a power hungry noble. She truly cares about her family. Also, she is the most powerful and influential person I know.

    If the civil war really happens, a backwater vige like Lutia would simply be coteral damage. It¡¯s her city, Derios, the capitol of the Marquisate, that would be first burned to the ground during the fights.

    She has much more to losepared to me."¨C

    In none of his existences Lith had ever cared for schemes. His reasoning was simple but straightforward.

    "Fine." At those words, Lith sighed in relief, finally his body was able to rx, the built-up tension quickly disappeared.

    "No matter how crazy your story sounds, I believe you. There¡¯s only one problem. It¡¯s impossible to open Warp Steps inside the academy without the permission of a member of the staff.

    Hence, to get my hands on that box, I¡¯ll need to talk to Linjos first. He¡¯ll probably summon you kids to listen to your side of the story. If I were you, I¡¯d expect him to be pretty pissed off from yourck of trust."

    Lith stared at the hologram with adamant eyes and a grave expression, without saying a word.

    "That¡¯s the attitude, face him like that and you¡¯ll have nothing to fear."

    More staring and silence ensued.

    "Lith?" She asked starting to be worried. "Is everything all right?"

    His eyes remained sharp, yet a faint snoring became audible.

    "Have you really fallen asleep with your eyes wide open? Wake up!" The sound of her fist mming on the desk did the trick.

    "Sorry, I was absent minded for a second." He said buying time for Solus to bring him up to speed.

    "I¡¯ll wait for the Headmaster¡¯s call together with mypanions. As per your request, they are still oblivious of our partnership. Do you want to keep things that way or can I inform them?"

    "At this point, it doesn¡¯t matter anymore. I don¡¯t know what excuse you used to remain alone and make this call, but if you don¡¯t start telling the truth, you¡¯ll lose their trust."

    After closing themunication, Lith rushed towards Quy¡¯s room, where his schoolmates were supposed to spend all day practicing triple casting and dimensional magic.

    - "What a rotten luck. To think that I¡¯m forced to ask for help to a bunch of kids."

    "Didn¡¯t youin that you have grown stale as a person just a few hours ago? Maybe this is a good asion to start opening up. Be positive for once."

    "Yes, I did. But I was talking about stupid things like sharing feelings, hobbies and all that jazz. Not potentially entrusting some of my secrets to others!" ¨C

    In his mind, Lith could see many obstacles riddling the path he had been forced to take. Linjos could summon to his office not only Lith, but also the others. And unlike the Marchioness, being able to see them calm and rested, he could see past Lith¡¯s lies.

    To avoid blowing the cover he had created over the years, Lith needed his so called ¡¯friends¡¯ to perfectly y their part. There where so many things that could go wrong, and he had so little time to convince them to help him.

    Being caught unprepared was what he hated the most, his only remaining option was hoping for once in his life to be lucky.

    A few seconds after he knocked on the door, Phloria let him in.

    The mood in the room was gloomy, all those present had dejected faces and ck circles under the eyes. It seemed like they had finished a shift in a mine while mourning their grandfather¡¯s death.

    "Thank the gods, you all look like crap."

 Chapter 120 Two Truths

    "Thanks, it¡¯s nice to see you too." Phloria sarcastically replied

    "What happened?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯s terrible!" Yurial groaned. "After all these hours, zero progress. We have barely eaten to have more time, but it was all for nothing. I¡¯m going to fail dimensional magic so bad it¡¯s going to destroy my grades.

    How can we focus on a subject so hard with all that¡¯s happening? Every time I am alone, I have to watch my back from Lyam and his goons. The rest of the time I am either studying or worrying about what could happen if a civil war really breaks out.

    I could lose everything and everyone I love. The work of generations destroyed in a few days, simply because people like the Lukart think that might makes right. I can barely sleep at night anymore."

    He held his head between the hands, his eyes watery due to stress and exhaustion. Phloria just nodded, sharing his worries. She had almost developed thepulsion to call in once an hour, to check the wellbeing of her brothers.

    "So basically, you are saying that living like amoner is driving you crazy?" Lith replied furrowing his eyebrows.

    "Your first worry is the same one every Ballot less student has to live with. As for the second, well, back in my vige, wandering nobles were treated like natural disasters, since they could pige, kill and r*pe at will.

    And we were the lucky ones, since the presence of my mentor kept most of them at bay. Sorry, but I¡¯m not sorry to break your self-pity bubble. Not to mention that basically you two are the living proof their strategy is working.

    If everyone were to freak out like you do, very few would graduate this year. That would be considered as the Headmaster¡¯s fault, with the only result to push the Kingdom one step closer to the civil war."

    Phloria and Yurial only got gloomier after his speech.

    - "Way to go, you idiot." Lith scolded himself. "Why don¡¯t you beat them down while you are at it? We need their help, so try to be a decent person for a change." ¨C

    "Sorry, guys. I didn¡¯t mean to be a jerk." And for once he was sincere.

    "But something absurd happened to me while I was in the forest, and I¡¯m still messed up."

    Before any of them could ask a single question, Lith told his story once again, but unlike the Marchioness, they didn¡¯t allow him to continue after the part about defeating the nt Abomination and rescuing the dryad.

    "Are you telling us you defeated a monster alone?" From her voice and expression, Phloria didn¡¯t believe a word he said.

    "Was the dryad hot?" A tinge of colour returned on Yurial¡¯s face, even with Lith avoiding to mention the nudity part.

    "Are you all right? I can¡¯t believe you are so calm after that thing almost managed to eat you alive." Quy had turned ashen, with Friya preferring to calm her rather than express her surprise.

    "Yes, yes and yes." He replied.

    "Thanks for being the only one that not only believes me, but also sincerely worries about me, Quy."

    At those words the others acutely perceived Lith¡¯s poke, realizing their rudeness, rushing into expressing overdue concerns about his wellbeing.

    "If you find this part incredible, wait for the rest." He resumed the narration, taking out the natural treasures, the letter and the box at the right time to prove them he wasn¡¯t making any of that up.

    When Lith finished, it was hard to understand if they were more incredulous or scared. Incredulous because both the ideas of the monster and a prophecy for a soul, seemed too much something out of a fairy tale to be real.

    Scared because the content of the prophecy wasn¡¯t about endless riches, a future harem of world ss beauties or Lith bing King, like in the legends. It was the stuff their nightmares were made of.

    Without the academy, Quy would be back to be a homeless orphan. And if the war really ensued, there was no telling how it could end. The only certainty was that both sides would spill a lot of blood, maybe enough for the bordering countries to invade, erasing the Griffon Kingdom from history.

    "Why are you telling us all this? You do know how crazy all this sound, and if your patron, of which we never heard about before, has already took matters in her hands, what do you need us for?"

    As usual, Phloria was the first one to speak. She had taken her leadership quite seriously. Despite their bond, she always felt he was keeping many secrets from them. More than not believing him, she wanted Lith to crack his imprable armour and show her some real trust.

    "First off, because you are my friends, and you have the right to now the truth." Every fiber of his being was cringing at those words, yet he pushed forward. Like Solus had reminded him earlier, progress, not perfection.

    "Second, because even my patron, just as you, Phloria, don¡¯t believe me capable of such a feat. Before I continue, there¡¯s something you must know."

    Lith sat on Quy¡¯s bed, massaging his temples while inwardly cursing the fate forcing him to take a gamble after another.

    "Life at the edges of civilization is really hard. I had to fight for everything since I have memory. I¡¯m not like you guys, I killed my first human at the age of six. Then, after I finished my apprenticeship, I became a bounty hunter, killing people for money."

    - "There, I have said it. They finally know I am a bona fide murderer with a penchant for gold." ¨C

    With a deep sigh, he raised his head to look them in the eyes. Contrary to his expectations, there was no surprise, disgust or spite in their expressions.

    "Why you don¡¯t look shocked in the least?"

    "Well, I already knew everything." Friya shrugged.

    "After how you handled the school¡¯s queens the first day and reading Professor Vastor¡¯s report about your achievements, I was too curious. So, I had a background check made on you."

    "You did what?" Either in the new world or on Earth, vitions of his privacy never felt nice.

    "Sorry, but between your skills, re and awful character, I thought it was best knowing thepetition. Besides, is not like I had to dig that hard, it was all public knowledge."

    "And she told me everything once we became friends." Quy chimed in.

    "I never thought badly of you for that. On the contrary, I find you amazing. Wish I was able to do the same, instead of being constantly forced to rely on others." She blushed a little, keeping her eyes down and fiddling with her long hair.

    "Same. I mean that I had a background check made too, not the cool part. To be honest, I found you to be quite scary at the start, but then you turned out to be a chill guy."

    Yurial patted some invisible dust off his shoulder, incapable of looking Lith in the eyes. He still found him to be quite scary.

    "And so did I. Hope this isn¡¯t the big secret." Phloria snorted.

    "It actually is. At least part of it." Lith stood up, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

    "But showing is much better than telling. Phloria, would you mind taking out your sword and attacking me?" He gestured the others to clear the space around them, for their own safety.

    "Are you crazy?" She asked with her eyes wide open.

    "Humour me. And while you are at it, drink a defence potion too. I¡¯m too tired to hold back, I could hurt you quite badly."

    Seeing that she kept not moving, Lith closed in too fast for her to react, tapping with his right index and medium finger on her sr plexus, forcing the air out the lungs and making her cough uncontrobly.

    When Phloria tried instinctively to reach for her sword, Lith swept her with a kick. Before she could adjust her body for the fall, he was already up, clenching her sword hand with his left hand and lifting her by the throat with the other one.

    He then gently helped her standing up again, while a shocked silence filled the room. Thanks to his new body, Lith hadn¡¯t needed to use fusion magic, his enhanced physical prowess was enough.

    "Ever since I was little, I noticed my constitution was quite unique. That¡¯s how I manged so well in the past, before the academy."

    "That¡¯s amazing! Why did you hide it? I would unt it all day if I was in your shoes." Yurial said.

    "Yeah, you could. Because of your status. If so many nobles get angry when amoner surpasses them in any field, imagine what would happen if they knew that amoner that is both a good mage and fighter exists."

    It was the best exnation Lith hade up with. It covered the reticence, partly exined his exploit, and most importantly exposed as little as possible of his secrets.

    "I would be either targeted by those that perceive my existence as a threat, or forced into servitude. My mentor always said to never reveal it to anyone, and this is the first time I¡¯m disobeying her.

    Because I need your help."

 Chapter 121 Interludium 3

    The Griffon Kingdom wasmonly referred as the Original Kingdom, since more than a millennium ago had been the first great country to emerge from the warring states period in the Garlen continent.

    It wasn¡¯t the biggest, the primacy belonged to the Blood Sands tribes, but because of the much harsher life conditions of the desert coupled with itsck of fertilends, it was without a doubt the richest.

    To the north and west it bordered the Gorgon empire, and to the south and east with the Blood Sands desert. The central government was located in the capitol, Valeron, named after the Original King, Valeron Griffon.

    The ruler of the Kingdom was also themander in chief of the royal army.

    It was prohibited to private citizens or even nobles to have an army. Those who could afford it, where only allowed to have a personal guard, up to one hundred soldiers.

    The simple attempt to recruit or form one was high treason against the Crown, and the perpetrator¡¯s bloodline would be executed up to the third generation. Nobles were only considered as administrators of theirnd on behalf of the King/Queen.

    They weren¡¯t allowed to makews, only to apply them as they were enacted by the Court. In case of doubt about their interpretation, a simple call via themunication amulet to a royal scribe would clear it.

    To waive thews were needed special circumstances and the King¡¯s direct approval, otherwise it would be considered an act of rebellion.

    One of the reasons the Griffon Kingdom had flourished during the centuriespared to is neighbours, was the ruler¡¯s selection process. The title wasn¡¯t hereditary, just like thepetence, skill and talent the role required.

    After the death of the current ruler, the spouse would hold the reins of the whole Kingdom until the next one was found. To ess to the selection, there were three essential requirements.

    The candidate had to share, no matter how dilute, the blood of the Original King, also had to possess outstanding magical talent and proved administrative skill. The reason for the first requirement was still a mystery to everyone except the ruler.

    The second and third, instead, were quite obvious. Without magic, the ruler would be a prisoner of his own guards, since even a magico level servant could kill him without leaving any trace in barely a second.

    Lastly, a good ruler was first and foremost a good administrator. Without a proper sense of justice and bnce, he would be either a tyrant, or even worse a profligate strawman in the hands of whoever was able to enable his vices.

    Those who satisfied these requirements would be brought in the deepest part of the royal castle, in front of a mystical gate made out of gold and silver, that would open only for those who carried royal blood.

    The ones that were found worthy, would emerge from it shocked but unharmed, while the others would never return. It was the main reason why the title of King/Queen was not coveted except from those who sincerely believed to deserve it.

    At any time, someone that met the requirements could challenge the current ruler and undertake the trial, but again very few came back.

    In it¡¯s thousand-year history, the Court had never elected a ruler without carrying the tradition, and even that was a mystery.

    Many thought that behind the gate there was a series of magical artifacts, that would put the candidate to the test and kill those who weren¡¯t fit to lead the Country.

    Others that the ghost of the Original King still dwelled in the castle, passing his wisdom through the generations thanks to the bond of blood they shared.

    All of them were wrong.

    Behind the gold and silver gate, after a short tunnel, there was their of the Divine Griffon Tyris, one of the only three Divine beasts that lived on the continent, that history knew only as the Original Queen, from the time she helped Valeron build his Kingdom, which he named in her honour.

    (AN: I will use the "she" instead of "it" because since it can shapeshift in human form the boundary between beast and human is quite thin and confusing.)

    Every time it was necessary, she would examine the candidates, making sure that the legacy of her only one and true love would not be lost, using her powers to probe their minds and spirits.

    If any of them pleased her, the Kingdom would have a new ruler. Otherwise she would have no need to fix something for dinner. Tyris didn¡¯t believe in direct intervention, nor did she care that much for human affairs anymore.

    She just kept fulfilling King Valeron¡¯s dying wish, choosing his sessors and scaring the sh*t out the Court from time to time, when someone thought that the tradition was outdated.

    It was from herir that Arj?n R¨ºnas departed for his new mission.

    He was the youngest recruit in the Queen¡¯s Corpse, and had just finished learning the basics of royal magic from Tyris. (AN: is just true magic but with another name, all the other canons will be kept to avoid confusion.)

    The existence of the Queen¡¯s corps was a known fact, something that everyw-abiding citizen would remember and respect. To the contrary, the Queen¡¯s Corpse was supposed to be just a rumour, the bogeyman of the underworld.

    It was a secret unit,prised only by the most loyal member of the corps, that once had mastered royal magic, would single-handedly remove any threat to the Kingdom.

    If an entire noble household died in an ident, if a criminal cartel disappeared overnight, it was the Corpse¡¯s doing.

    No one had actually ever seen a member of the Corpse in action and lived to tell the tale, it was one of those "My cousin¡¯s friend knows a guy that..." kind of rumors. Yet they were very real.

    When they had met, Tyris had weed Arj?n in her human form, making him fall head over heels for her, and wasting the following week rejecting his marriage proposals and trying to reason with him.

    She had kept her Griffon form for too long, forgetting that calming down a scared guest was much easier than facing his unreasonable feelings. Tyris¡¯ human appearance had a delicate oval face, with perfect features that countless artists had spent their whole lives in vain, trying to reproduce them.

    She had shining gold hair, long enough to almost touch the floor, and silver eyes that sparkled as stars at the faintest light. Her pearly-pink skin was wless, showing no sign of being affected by living in the cold undergroundir for so long.

    Tyris usually wore a simple blue satin day dress, used centuries ago by grieving widows, that despite its ancient and baggy cut could not hide her soft and ravishing curves more than a flying bird could eclipse the sun.

    The first time Arj?n had seen her smile, he believed to have been long dead, because that simple expression brought back to life all the feelings that long years in the Queen¡¯s ck ops squad had made him forget.

    "Remember to not abuse your new powers." Were her parting words.

    "The impurities in your body are not your enemy, on the contrary are the only reason why you and all the talented mages are still alive, despite your bodies are unsuitable to wield the power of your cores.

    It takes time for a body to adapt, and there is no way to rush the process. Any misstep, and you will turn into an Abomination, and someone else from the Corpse will have to get rid of you. Farewell, child. We shall not meet again."

    With a heavy heart, he departed without looking back.

    ording to the Queen¡¯s orders, something was wrong with the Kingdom, even worse than usual, requiring all hands-on deck and forcing Arj?n to abandon his training early.

    There seemed to be something odd about many Alchemicbs near the White Griffon academy and the materials they were buying in stock, along with too many dimensional boxes for their purpose to be anything good.

 Chapter 122 Interludium 4

    After Arj?n left, Tyris could not but sigh, thinking about the irony of the core refining process. While those who started with a very weak mana core, be it red or yellow, had it easy, the stronger the core, the higher the risks.

    Her beloved Valeron was the perfect example. Born with a yellow core, once learned true magic, he had the opportunity to strengthen both his core and body at the same time, removing the impurities bit by bit.

    Once his core had started to be too strong, pain had been the first sign of rm, allowing Tyris to stop him from refining the world energy until the body had fully adapted.

    But for stronger beings, like magical beasts or talented mages that had already reached their full development, true magic was more often than not a death penalty. If they purified the impurities too fast, the energy inside their bodies would flood every single cell without control.

    The lucky ones would die on the spot, while the less fortunate would explode among excruciating pains.

    And then there were the Abominations.

    Beings with a core so strong, with a will so indomitable that even death could not defeat them. They would gue thend, consuming all forms of life trying to prolong their existence.

    Unlike mages and magical beasts, Abominations were like snowkes, no two were alike. Their souls and minds would shape their new form, until the moment they were put down like rabid animals.

    The only way to avoid such destiny was through hard work and patience, but the rewards were beyond imagination. Bing a conduit for the world energy meant bing an Awakened one, a being with an endless mana supply, whose only magical limit was his own willpower and imagination.

    By removing the impurities, the body of an Awakened one would progressively be faster, stronger and more resilient. His healing so fast to almost resemble regeneration, his six senses keen like those of the animals.

    Last but not least, all Awakened ones would have their life spans enhanced. They would no longer consume their own life force, recing it with the world energy itself.

    That was how monsters like Scorpicores, Griffons, Dragons and Phoenixes could have an almost eternal life. But that didn¡¯t mean immortality. Despite each of them was really hard to kill, it was far from impossible.

    That was why most of the oldest Awakened ones ended up isting themselves. The stronger you were, the more conceited you became, until the point you felt entitled to force your idea of right and wrong on others, making the whole world your enemy.

    Thinking about the time she had spent with Arj?n, and how fleeting was still his existence, Tyris could not but ponder if her old friend and rival Leegaain had actually been right all along.

    "Teaching humans is not impossible, just pointless." He had told her thest time they had met, centuries earlier, back when he had given up on humankind due to their innate foolishness.

    Thinking of him, after all those years, still managed to make herugh.

    Leegaain was the only dragon she had ever met that unted his origins as amon lizard. If not for her pride, maybe Tyris could one day confess to him that she too had started as a simple finch.

    ***

    While running along the stairs, Arj?n R¨ºnas was amazed by how both his stamina and speed had improved. Being one of the Kingdom¡¯s elite Mage Assassins, he knew his body like the back of his own hand.

    As a beginner Awakened one, Tyris had allowed him only to partly purify his blood from impurities, yet the changes were remarkable. His happiness was short lived, though. Arj?n could not stop worrying about the report he had just received.

    Not for its content, but for its length. A single page.

    That could only mean that all the Crown¡¯s resources were stretched so thin that they could barely function properly. And considering that it included both the Queen¡¯s corps and Corpse, the idea was beyond unsettling.

    "I have entered seclusion just a few months ago, how could the situation change so much in so little time?"

    As soon as he reached one of the mirrors, he prickled his left index finger with a small knife, using his blood to draw a magic rune on it while injecting his mana.

    The mirror¡¯s surface quivered, while the secret Warp Gatework was activated, allowing him to instantly reach his destination, the city of Kandria.

    While on paper it was just a medium sized city, thriving thanks to its position along one of the main trading routes, reality was a bit different. Under all the sweat and noise produced by its industrious and honest citizens, Kandria was home of one of the biggest ck markets in the Marquisate.

    For the right price, there were very few things you couldn¡¯t acquire, even ve cors, and that said a lot. very was forbidden in all the free Countries, and it was a crime punished with death, preceded by torture and the expropriation of all the family¡¯s assets.

    It was because of the ever flourishing criminal underworld that a famous Alchemist like Coirn Hatorne had chosen Kandria to build her state of the artboratory. It gave her ess to all kinds of clients and ingredients, allowing her to take the best from both worlds and became filthy rich very quickly.

    When Arj?n emerged in the local branch of the Mage Association, the clerk barely nced at him. The secretwork also had ess to all the official waypoints across the Kingdom, allowing the agents to avoid being questioned or searched.

    Customs and controls would take ce before departing, so those who arrived were considered to be properly cleared travellers. Before leaving the building, Arj?n took a quick stop at the restroom, to prepare his cover.

    A fancy silk dress was inconspicuous in the royal castle, but it would make him stick out like a sore thumb in any other ce. He wore brown cotton leggings, a white shirt and a vest. His new shoes had a soft sole, allowing him to move without making noise.

    The final touch was applying make up with water magic, simting a long scar going from under his left eye to his chin. Even if someone would stop looking at him, the scar would be the only thing they would see.

    Their gazes would be drawn by it, ignoring his eyes and his nose. Whenever they would try to recall his appearance, the only thing they would remember was a man with a three days old scruff and a scar on the cheek.

    ording to his seniors, it was the best mask one could ever wear.

    Once outside the building, Arj?n remembered why he hated Kandria. When the city had been founded, no one had expected that one day it would be so busy, hence the roads weren¡¯t veryrge.

    Between the merchants¡¯ stalls, the carriages stopping to load and unload their goods and all the pedestrians going to and fro their homes, walking had be a form of art for the residents and abour for everyone else.

    The bustling activity forced people to bump into each other, making those cramped streets a paradise for thieves. When Arj?n finally reached his destination, he had been robbed four times of the leather pouch he carried at his neck, holding a few copper and silver coins to hide the fact that he had a dimensional ring.

    Each time, he had been forced to rece it with whatever he could find in the pockets of those who were robbing him, whom he robbed back with a sleight of hand. In the process Arj?n actually earned three silver coins, which he donated to a nameless homeless on the road.

    He circled around Hatorne¡¯s shop, pretending to check the nearby stalls while looking for a way in. Being in the high-end part of the city, the traffic was limited, and that allowed him to spice things up with magic.

    At every step he took, Arj?n would release earth magic waves that would seep into the shop¡¯s walls beforeing back, like a sonar, allowing him to check for secret passages. A smart¡¯s rabbit hole had two exits, but a clever one would have many.

    Yet despite all his efforts, he found nothing.

    - "Either I have overestimated that traitorous witch and there is no secret passage, or I have underestimated her, and she has magically shielded herb." ¨C

    On the back of his orders, there was a recently drawn map of the Alchemicb, but the only entrances noted were the front door, were aside from window shopping he could do very little outside drawing unwanted attention, and the service entrance for the suppliers.

    ording to the map, both were guarded by skilled mercenaries. Killing them wasn¡¯t a problem, but getting in without causing a ruckus was. The mission required discretion, otherwise instead of the Corpse they would have sent a simple constable with a proper warrant.

    Arj?n didn¡¯t likeplex ns. In his experience, the bigger the setup, the higher was the number of things that could go wrong. He had only one shot at the mission, so after scouting the surroundings, he bought a few trinkets before disappearing in a back alley.

    He chose to wait on the top of the tallest building in the zone, a three stories house, to keep and eye on the Alchemicb without being noticed.

 Chapter 123 Terminus

    Arj?n¡¯s options were limited. Being against a fellow magician, he doubted that Hatorne employedmon locks.

    The illegal market was her biggest source of ie, she was bound to have set rms and safety measures to get rid of intruders or destroy all the incriminating evidence, in case something went wrong.

    Arj?n wasn¡¯t hot-headed, neither the mission had a deadline, so he bid his time, waiting two days to get his opportunity.

    It arrived in the form of a shipment of crates, that two young men delivered after parking their carriage in the alley of the service entrance. Finally, the door was opened from the inside, allowing the goods to be brought inside by both the guards and the couriers.

    Using Life Vision, Arj?n checked the surroundings for witnesses and then the building to make sure the intelligence he had was correct. There were no guards hidden inside, and that was good news.

    If Arj?n wanted, he could have jumped down and killed them all in barely two seconds.

    The corpses weren¡¯t a problem, he could store them in his dimensional amulet, and so was the blood. A simple pulse of dark energy would delete every trace of the massacre.

    But that would mean killing two potential innocents, not to mention that the carriage and the crates were bound to draw attention, since they were perfectly visible from the main road.

    Arj?n waited for the guards to get back in, and at thest second, when the door was about to be closed, he Blinked inside.

    Arj?n¡¯s stiletto severed the man¡¯s spine from the skull, killing him on the spot. Before the second guard, a bulky middle-aged man, could even react, Arj?n Blinked again, appearing behind him and putting his right hand on the guard¡¯s mouth before slitting his throat from ear to ear.

    Not even a drop of blood reached the ground, Arj?n managed to capture all of it with water magic and store it in his dimensional amulet. Then, he proceeded to search the corpses, finding a set of keys and personal effects.

    Judging by his looks, the middle-aged guard wasn¡¯t married, nor had any family. Under the breastte, his clothes were dirty with days old food stains, missing some buttons that he never cared to rece.

    His belongings amounted to a set of gambling dices and a wineskin already half empty, despite was still morning. All signs that the man was letting himself go, without a care in the world.

    The other guard was younger, cleaner with an oval shaped locket around his neck, inside there were four initials inscribed in a heart.

    Arj?n used air magic to shave off his scruff and water magic to remove the fake scar, applying at the same time some make up to resemble as much as possible his victim before donning his clothes.

    - "As long someone doesn¡¯te close enough, it would be hard to recognize me as an intruder. Even if that happens, surprise should give me a second or two, plenty enough to get rid of the meddling b*stard." ¨C

    After sealing the bodies in his dimensional amulet, Arj?n used earth magic again, this time scanning the building from the inside.

    As he had suspected earlier, it had been shielded against external probing, but from there he was able to perceive an uncharted grid of tunnels and rooms right below the shop.

    Arj?n left the warehouse, heading towards the nearest entrance. He regretted not having the opportunity to search the crates behind him, but now he was on the clock. His goal was to get all the evidence he needed, before either blowing up the ce or running away after writing an apology note.

    Thanks to Life Vision, he could see that the door in front of him had no magical properties. Nheless, when he found the right key, he used spirit magic to unlock it, just to be safe.

    ording to the blueprint, the shop upied the first floor of the building, beingposed by the exhibit space of medium-low value merchandise for the public to see, the warehouse, to stock the unsorted raw materials and an ample corridor, connecting the two with the employee facilities.

    Below the street level, were supposed to be just the alchemicb and the vault, containing the high-end products and rare ingredients.

    Thanks to earth magic, Arj?n had no problems finding the hidden lever to open the path to the tunnels. The road was disseminated with rms and traps, but between royal magic and Life Vision, he was able to get past them, barely slowing down.

    Building a magicalb underground was unusual, but not unprecedented. Handling powerful spells and vtileponents, it was of paramount importance that the facility was perfectly insted from external forces.

    If mystical wild energies were to enter, whatever the reason, during a crucial step, the best-case scenario was losing hours, if not days of work and all the resources employed. Worst case scenario, the wholeb would go boom.

    A good instion by magical means was very, very expensive. That was why stingy or needy magicians would choose the underground option to ease the burden on their wallets.

    Arj?n thanked his good luck for Hatorne not having realized that her ruse was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it had allowed her to build ab under theb, away from prying eyes, without raising any suspicion.

    On the other, though, he could see via Life Vision that she had been really stingy. The realb was poorly insted, and that meant that Hatorne could not have ced any kind of powerful magical device in its vicinity without risking her own life.

    As he expected, from that point onward, the traps and rms were only of mechanical nature, making his job much easier. While he delved further, Arj?n suddenly realized why the security was sox.

    The corridors wererge enough for two adults to be barely able to walk side by side, and magically lit so that there was no hiding ce. Going in was rtively simple, but if he were to be discovered, getting out would be nigh impossible.

    The low ceiling made flying useless; the tight space prevented to use agility to run away. Strength and numbers would be much more important in a fightpared to speed and magic.

    The first room he encountered was a luxurious lounge, with an expensive carpet covering all the floor, and velvet red couches and armchairs arranged around a long cherry-wood table.

    - "It must be where she discusses business with her ¡¯special¡¯ clients."-

    Arj?n noticed several wooden boxes lying on the tables, each of them had a veryplex magical lock already activated, except for one. He recognized the rune pattern. It was a variation of a lock very popr among smugglers and spies.

    It allowed itself to be opened by whoever knew the rightbination, not only by the one that had imprinted its magic, yet a single mistake and the vessel would implode, destroying its contents.

    This version seemed to be moreplicated and dangerous, it would explode instead of imploding. Arj?n stored all of them in his dimensional amulet, hoping to be able to find a way to break into themter.

    He also took the unlocked box, and after moving some of the furniture to get as much space as possible, he ced it on the ground, pushing the opening button.

    The box grew to the size of a big closet, containing beckers, ss rods, vials and several burners.

    It was also full of gears connected to mechanical arms that seemed to have been designed to hold and handle theboratory ssware that had yet to be arranged.

    It was a marvel of magic and science like Arj?n had never even dreamt about.

    - "Whatever this is, it must be the unassembled version of what lies in the other boxes. If only the ssware was already at least filled with the ingredients, my mission would be as good as done. As it is, the question remains. What the heck is this for?"

    Hepressed it again, storing it away too.

    The lounge lead to another small corridor, identical to the previous one. After checking with earth magic and Life Vision for traps or hidden guards, Arj?n moved forward, determined to find thest piece of the puzzle.

    His steps didn¡¯t produce any sound, allowing him to keep an ear out for iing enemies, yet he encountered no one.

    At his left, he found another door, unlike any other in the building. It was thick and padded, made to prevent something froming out, yet it had no lock whatsoever. This piqued his curiosity, so after changing back to his enchanted suit and preparing for the worst, he slowly opened the door.

    What he saw was so creepy that even a hardened veteran like him could not help but feel cold shivers running down his spine.

    The room inside was small, five meters (16¡¯)rge and ten meters (33¡¯) long, with chainsing out from the walls and floor. At first nce it could look like a prison, but everything was wrong.

    There were no prisoners hanging, just corpses. One seemed to have exploded from the inside, its chest cut open in two by a single huge wound, that no known weapon or beast should have been able to inflict.

    Another was burnt to death, while its neighbour was frozen solid, and despite the room was far from cold, it didn¡¯t show any sign of thawing. After checking them both, Arj?n understood that their death made no sense.

    It wasn¡¯t the result of any spell or natural event, fire and ice respectively had devoured them from the inside. Thest corpse was even stranger than the others.

    What he supposed had once been an old man had now his face disfigured by agony. The eyes rolled back showing only the white.

    The corpse had its veins turned of a bright blue, and they were bulging out, like they were going to burst open at any second.

    When Arj?n touched the body to better examine it, the old man regained his senses, whimpering an almost silent prayer.

    "Please... kill... me."

    Arj?n jumped back from the surprise, instinctively activating Life Vision. Not only the old man was alive, but all the chained bodies, even in death, kept emitting a mana signature. Whatever had killed them was still active.

    - "What in the gods¡¯ names has that madwoman done?" -

    Arj?n stored the bodies, the royal mages would have a lot of exining to do.

    Then, he checked the old man again. He was clearly in a lot of pain, in no condition to be moved and Arj?n was no healer. He had only recently be an Awakened one, developing with true magic only the spells he was already apt to.

    "I¡¯m sorry, old man, but your body or those of yourpanions may hold the key to prevent a great disaster. The Kingdom honours your sacrifice."

    Arj?n snapped his neck, giving him a painless death, but as soon as he did, the chains started blinking with magical energies.

    Even without understanding how, he knew to have triggered some kind of rm. Arj?n assessed that between the bodies and the boxes, he had gained enough. It was time to get out of there.

    Unbeknownst to him, it wasn¡¯t an rm, just like the room wasn¡¯t a prison. It was just anotherb, with a different kind of guinea pigs. The chains had simply alerted the assistants that was time to collect the data.

    Arj?n rushed all the way back using air fusion, slowing down only to avoid the traps. Suddenly, a man with a wizard attire and a couple of guards popped out of a corner, managing to sound the rm the moment they spotted the intruder.

    Cursing his bad luck, Arj?n darted forward, his stilettos made short work of the guards and the mage, that died before having the time to cast a single spell. More and more guards flooded the corridors, dying like ants under Arj?n¡¯s stilettos, their corpses piled up as fast as they arrived.

    The rm kept resounding in the building, forcing an assistant to alert his mistress.

    "Mistress Hatorne, there is an intruder in the Kandria¡¯sb." Her voice was full of panic.

    "How far has he gone? What has he taken?" The old, hoarse voice was more annoyed than worried. They had disturbed her during a crucial point in hertest experiment.

    "We don¡¯t know. He¡¯s about toe out from the undergroundb. I don¡¯t know how long we will be able to stop him. Please, help us!"

    "Help you? A bunch of ipetent, ungrateful idiots? You are all fired!"

    Coirn Hatorne took out a ss pearl from her dimensional amulet, crushing it under her heel. A secondter, a powerful but controlled explosion erupted from the undergroundb, turning everything and everyone in a radius of five meters (16¡¯) from the shop into ashes.

    Then she took hermunicator amulet, informing her client.

    "Lukart, old fart, I have good new and I have bad news. The bad news is that an intruder screwed up your little master n. I had to destroy everything to prevent him from escaping."

    "What¡¯s the good news?"

    "I¡¯m still not finished, you idiot. My old student, Professor Rear, hade to collect his order, and he is probably dead too. If I¡¯m right, and I usually am, the intruder was sent here from the Queen.

    The death of the Professor is ill timed, they will probably think he was one of yourpdogs. Also, I don¡¯t know if there was more than one intruder or what they have found out.

    Thest batch is either lost or in the enemy¡¯s hand, if I were you, I would make haste. If they find out their content, you¡¯ll fail even before you start."

    Archmage Lukart¡¯s voice was full of anger and impatience, he would have buried alive that old hag years ago, if only he had the chance. But Hatorne was too smart and knew too much.

    "I am still waiting for the good news." He roared.

    "Theb was insured."

 Chapter 124 Exordium

    Lith waited for hispanions to fully understand the seriousness of his situation. Without their aid, he feared to be forced to expose himself and his family to countless dangers. Each one of them was forced to a really difficult choice.

    Either to back up his story, lying to the Headmaster and put their academic careers and family name in danger, or refuse, leaving him to shoulder alone the consequences of his attempt to prevent the ruin of the academy.

    "I¡¯m aware I¡¯m asking much from you, but please know that I¡¯m not doing this lightly. If any of you doesn¡¯t want to get involved, I would understand and bear no grudge."

    An awkward silence ensued, most of them didn¡¯t know how to answer. On one hand, they felt proud of our friend, not only willing to risk so much to protect the Country from the civil war, but also having enough trust in them to reveal his secret.

    On the other, though, they felt scared by the consequences both choices would bear. But most importantly, they realized that he was asking from them a leap of faith. If his revtion had proved something, was that they actually knew nothing about him.

    Lith was already eerie back when he red all the time, breezing through the sses and single-handedly disposing of magical beasts in the mock exam. But now, didn¡¯t he has just admitted not being a normal human?

    For all they knew, his unnatural speed and strength could be just the tip of the iceberg.

    That wasn¡¯t a situation any of them had ever taken into ount when joining the White Griffon academy. For Yurial the n had always been to study hard, have as many flings as possible before his arranged marriage, and inherit the family assets.

    Phloria¡¯s only aim was to graduate with grades high enough to allow her to avoid any arranged marriage, and live her life as she wanted.

    After finding out that her mother didn¡¯t care for her as a daughter, but only as a tool for her plots, Friya had be determined to be as sessful as possible to give her the middle finger before leaving the household for good.

    Quy, instead, just wanted to never suffer from loneliness and starvation again.

    Things had just turned so muchplicated.

    Contrary to everyone¡¯s expectation, it was Yurial the first to answer.

    "You can count on me." He gave him a thumbs up.

    - "Quy would probably follow him even if he revealed to be an undead or a shape-shifting monster." Yurial thought. "Friya will simplye along. Those two are so glued together that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised even if she epted to take part in a threesome.

    That leaves out only Phloria, but she seems too much bounded to honour and loyalty to abandon a teammate in dire straits. Hence instead of looking like a coward, is better to move first. Besides, no pain no gain.

    Once it gets out we ¡¯managed¡¯ to kill a monster, my reputation will go through the roof, and if somehow ¡¯our discover¡¯ prevents the civil war, I¡¯ll take credit for that too." ¨C

    Although cynical, Yurial¡¯s reasoning was in the ballpark. He had anticipated Quy of a split second, and as soon she spoke, Friya agreed too, leaving the bbergasted Phloria looking like an egotistical jerk.

    "What the f*ck... I mean, I¡¯m in!" She blushed so hard to almost look cute.

    After thanking them Lith proceeded to describe again the fight versus the Abomination, concocting with their help a believable team victory.

    They were still discussing when a voice resounded in the air, just like the gong for the lessons, summoning them in the Headmaster¡¯s office. They walked as slowly as possible, trying to fix thest details.

    When they entered the office, Linjos was waiting for them, standing up in front of the ss window.

    "We are ready to report, sir." Phloria stepped forward, straight as an arrow in a military-looking pose.

    "No need." He replied without even turning back, prompting them to get close with a wave of his hand.

    While they obeyed, each one more nervous than the other, Linjos spun his index finger in the air, and the whole tower where the office was located started to turn around, until it faced a particr region of the forest that waspletely bald.

    The whole group was shocked, if not for the change in thendscape they would have never guessed the tower was able to move. It all had happened without the slightest vibration.

    "That¡¯s where the fight took ce, correct?" Linjos asked.

    "Yes." Phloria replied swallowing down a lump of saliva.

    - "Good gods, how big was that thing? How strong Lith really is?" ¨C They thought as one.

    "Normally I wouldn¡¯t believe a word of your story. Too many things do not add up. But even if that horrible withered scar wasn¡¯t proof enough, I have already contacted the Lord of the forest, which confirmed everything.

    So, either you are telling a truth worthy of being sung by bards, or I¡¯m the victim of an incredibly borate joke."

    When Scarlett had received Linjos¡¯ call about the Abomination, it had immediately understood what was happening.

    Knowing what humans would do to an Awakened one, and being still interested in Lith¡¯s development, the Scorpicore nodded to everything, even introducing to Linjos the rescued dryad before hanging up the call.

    "Animals can talk?" Yurial couldn¡¯t avoid asking out in surprise.

    "Animals, can¡¯t. Monsters, instead, speak fluently just like you and I."

    Linjos turned around, looking Lith in the eyes.

    "That leaves me with only a couple of questions. Howe Lith was the one to decide what to do with what you found?"

    "Because the dryad sensed that was his soul being in danger." Phloria promptly improvised.

    "Everything we found seemed to be linked to his destiny. We simply thought we had no say in the matter."

    "And that leads to the second question.

    Why you contacted Marchioness Distar instead ofing to me first? I could have expected that from Lord Deirus or Lady Ernas here, giving such important news and evidence to their families to gain the Court¡¯s favour. But you?

    You are just amoner, why you decided to overrule me?" His voice didn¡¯t sound angry, as much as dejected.

    "With all due respect, sir, I¡¯m not overruling you." Lith replied.

    "Marchioness Distar is not only the ruler of this region, is also one of those that taught me magic." He clung to the lie that got him admitted in the academy months ago.

    "Also, I think she is better suited to handle the matter, since she is more detached from the problem that albeit just in part, you contributed to create."

    "Exin." Linjos¡¯ eyes steeled, a tinge of anger appeared into them.

    "In my opinion, your reform of the academy system is a true paradise for those who work hard andmoners, and that¡¯s the problem. Have you ever heard the fable of the boiling frog?

    If you put one in hot waters, it will jump away to safety, but if you rise the temperature slowly, it will die without even noticing it. The problem was already there, you had the right solution, but implemented it too fast.

    I believe that a man of your knowledge should have been able to predict it and proceed with more caution."

    Linjos was already hurt by theirck of trust, thest remark hit a nerve, tinging his cheeks red with anger and shame.

 Chapter 125 Bombshell

    After Linjos delivered both the magically sealed dimensional box and the coded letter, Lith felt like a burden had been lifted from his chest. It was the biggest, yet just one among many.

    Now he had to prepare for the next dimensional magic exercise, research the runes sealing the boxes hidden inside his pocket dimension with the library¡¯s help, study their pseudo core with Invigoration, and find the time to use umtion to keep refining his core.

    Now that he had finally overcame the bottleneck, he could use his first breathing technique again, to amass the world energy and strive for the blue mana core.

    Worst case scenario, it would make him as powerful as the Headmaster or a Professor. Lith had not missed how the more he refined his core, the more dramatic changes he experienced.

    At the beginning, Lith had thought that by absorbing the world energy, he was simply oveing his naturalck of magical force. But over time, by expelling the impurities umted in his blood, organs and now in his bones, things had be unsettling even for him.

    So many things didn¡¯t add up. At the White Griffon academy, there were plenty of students with a mana core stronger than his own, even his teammates. Yet none of them exhibited a physical prowess like the one Lith now possessed.

    Hence, it wasn¡¯t just a matter of the mana core. As for the impurities, it couldn¡¯t be as simple as that. In the past he had removed them with Invigoration from his parents and sisters, but again, no such thing had happened.

    Science could not help him; it was clearly rted to the different biology of the new world. And then there was how Ka had reacted to hisst metamorphosis, saying that his smell had be less human.

    Lith had so many things to do or think about, that his headache started getting worse again, reminding him that first of all he had to sleep. His vision blurred, while his knees became so weak that he had to lean against a wall to keep standing.

    "Are you alright?" Yurial asked.

    "Not really. I think the fatigue from the fight in the forest is about to kick in. I don¡¯t know how long I can hold on."

    A sudden pang made him fall on his knees, holding his temples between the hands, trying to withstand the blinding pain.

    He had yet to express his gratitude for their help, but the only thing Lith could do was getting back to his room with the help of his friends, falling asleep as soon his head touched the pillow.

    The next morning, not even the breakfast gong managed to woke him up. In the end, Yurial had to bang on his door for several minutes before Lith managed to crawl out of the bed.

    "Is that a wand in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?" He said with a cheerful smile.

    "What the heck is happening? Has the civil war already started?" As soon he managed to regain his senses, Lith realized it was already morning.

    "I was about to call for help and have the door kicked down. Yesterday you almost fainted. How do you feel now?"

    "Tired." Despite the full night of sleep, he was still very weak. Invigoration still had no effect.

    - "Solus, why you didn¡¯t wake me up?"

    "I tried multiple times, but your consciousness was beyond my reach. Besides, I think you still need plenty of rest." She sounded really worried.

    "Why do you say so?" Lith asked.

    "Because while you were sleeping, your body kept syphoning the world energy non-stop. Your mana core is still half empty.

    It seems that oveing the bottleneck caused such radical changes to almost deplete your system. Whatever happened this time, you still need time to adapt. ¨C

    Despite his weakness, Lith decided to continue his day as normal. At every meal he ate more than Quy, feeling like his stomach had turned into a bottomless pit.

    During dimensional magic practice, he discovered that his mana sensitivity was still crude, but his mana efficiency had gone up a notch. Magic flowed freely through him, encountering no resistance.

    Casting any spell now required less mana, reducing the burden that such powerful energies exerted on his body. Sadly, that was still not enough.

    Even training under Quy¡¯s guidance, making any progress was a real struggle. Usually Lith wouldpensate hisck of talent with all-nighters and endless energy from Invigoration, but this time hecked both.

    When he was too tired to continue, he went straight to bed, asking his friends to wake him up at all costs, in case he couldn¡¯t manage on his own.

    The following day, Lith woke up full of energy, his body was light like a feather and his head was finally clear. Both Invigoration and umtion seemed to work as normal.

    - "Luckily, I contacted the Marchioness before going to sleep, otherwise I would have lost a lot of time. Seems that the refining process now needs a lot of preparation. If I stepped in a new stage during an exam, or worse, after a fight, I would be as good as dead." ¨C

    During breakfast, the whole canteen was shocked by thetest news. Everyone was discussing the mysterious explosion happened in Kandria that had killed Professor Rear, the Master Alchemy teacher.

    At those words, Lith almost choked on his food.

    "Isn¡¯t Kandria the city from which the mercenary team received both the hunting and the delivery mission?" Lith pointed out to the others with a whisper.

    "Yeah, it¡¯s too odd to just be a coincidence." Friya said.

    "Do you think that Professor Rear died trying to protect the academy, or because he was part of the conspiracy too?" Phloria¡¯s question was on point. Based on what they knew, even professors were untrustworthy.

    - "He was a good man. I can¡¯t believe he would have brought any harm on his students." Solus refused even to consider the idea of Rear being a traitor. "He was an alchemist, and that was an alchemy shop. Maybe he was just in the wrong ce at the wrong time."

    "I believe you. I¡¯m really sorry for your loss." Lith replied. ¨C

    Losing one own¡¯s first crush so abruptly was never easy, so instead of expressing his usual doubts and paranoia, Lith decided to let her grieve in peace. Even if they had never directly talked, Lith knew how much Solus had valued hispany and enthusiasm.

    Lith¡¯s group kept discussing all the possible implications the explosion could have, and who were the professors more likely to be a traitor. It goes without saying that Professor Rudd was on everyone¡¯s top of the list.

    Once in the Dimensional Magic training hall, everyone took his ce. This time, knowing that Professor Rudd would not give any pointers, Lith positioned himself right beside Quy, to be able to both learn by imitation and asking her for help.

    Only twelve students had to execute the second exercise, Pilfer. All the others were still stuck at the Loop spell.

    Pilfer consisted in creating a dimensional door big enough to let the hand slip in and emerge above a table full of quills. Unlike the Loop spell, the students had now not only to open a bigger passage, but also to regte the distance on their own.

    "Begin!" Professor Rudd¡¯s voice roared even before thest gong signalled the start of the lesson.

    Lith struggled with Pilfer from the first seconds, that soon turned into minutes and then in a whole hour. In all that time, he had made no progress. The only Gates he had managed to generate were all too narrow for his hand to pass, not to mention their exit was still too far from the table.

    Quy was faring way better, her Gates were almost of the right size and distance, but still unstable, disappearing within seconds with a loud bang. She tried to exin what Lith was doing wrong, but what was simple for her was a mystery to him.

    Soon the air filled with the bangs from the students¡¯ unstable Gates and their curse words, tired of failing while Professor Rudd would onlyugh in the face of any plea for help.

    Suddenly, a bang resounded louder than ever, soon followed by another and then still another, until Lith started to think that the training hall had suddenly turned into a firing range.

    "What in the gods¡¯ names is happening!" Professor Rudd¡¯s voice had no trace of hrity anymore.

    The space around the students was filled with cracks, small ck holes formed and dissolved, causing the bangs that they had just heard. A student curious enough, tried to touch the cracked space, resulting in it exploding with the strength of a grenade.

    Professor Rudd managed to save him, Blinking both of them out of the danger zone.

    "Everyone, stop casting if you want to live!" He yelled on the top of his lungs. "Somehow the Hall¡¯s protections have been turned off."

 Chapter 126 Bombshell 2

    Lith¡¯s mind immediately went to Soluspedia, essing the contents of Professor Rudd¡¯s book to assess how serious was their predicament.

    "What the heck is going on?" Friya was never far away from Quy.

    "All the failed dimensional spells have made the space in the ss unstable." Quy beat Lith on time, exining the root of the matter.

    "Normally it would never happen, since space reconfigures itself after a while. But because in a short time frame, hundreds, if not thousands of spells have been cast, order turned into chaos, making it possible.

    The badly folded space wants to revert to normal, but it¡¯s too crumpled. Different spells are still lingering in the air, interacting together. If it keeps up like this, the whole training hall will turn into a huge fireball."

    "What? Can¡¯t you dumb it down for me?" Like anyone without Soluspedia, Friya was still at the basics,pletely oblivious that over bending space was like lighting a match in a coal mine.

    "Don¡¯t cross the streams!" Lith blurted out.

    "What streams?" Quy looked at him with a puzzled expression.

    "I mean... Friya, opening a Warp Steps is like folding a piece of paper. Two extremities separated in space can temporarily ovep, before going back to normal, like a spring.

    What¡¯s happening is that multiple pieces of paper are colliding between them, but since it¡¯s not paper but energy, it will explode!"

    "That¡¯s why dimensional magic is taught only in academies." Quy chimed in.

    "All the training halls have specific protective arrays, to prevents things like this from urring. Students are bound to mess up, especially on difficult subjects. But ording to Professor Rudd, they must have been turned off!"

    Right after saving the dumb student from his own idiocy, Rudd took out hismunication amulet to call for help. Only then he realised that using a dimensional spell hadn¡¯t been his brightest moment.

    New cracks started to appear in the points he had Blinked through, spreading to the nearest ones until they formed a rough circle.

    Inwardly cursing, Rudd threw the amulet to the closest student. Then he focused all his attention attempting to fix his mistake, that was about to generate a ck hole big enough to destroy the training hall if not the whole academy.

    "Rudd, unless this is important, I¡¯d like to postpone." Linjos¡¯ image appeared from the amulet. He seemed to be swamped in paperwork, his usually tidy desk had turned into a battlefield.

    "I¡¯m not Professor Rudd, Headmaster." The student managed to say despite quite some stuttering.

    "Who are you and how you managed to fake his call? Impersonating a Professor is a criminal offense, young man." Hearing a squeaky voice, Linjos finally raised his head, realizing something was off.

    "I¡¯m not impersonating anyone!" He squealed.

    "The Professor gave it to me because..."

    "Because?" The student had no idea what was happening or how to describe it.

    "Because we need help! Cracks in the air, explosions and something about not wearing protections!"

    "What?!" Linjos could not make head or tails of it.

    "Give me that, you dimwit!" Lith used a mix of air and spirit magic to rip the amulet off his sweaty hands, exining everything properly to the Headmaster.

    Linjos turned pale, but reacted promptly.

    "I can reactivate the protections from my office, but that will not help with your situation. Has any of you already learned Restoration?"

    It was an advanced dimensional magic spell, developed exactly for situations like that. It was capable of restoring the natural order of things, dispersing the umted energy safely.

    Linjos¡¯ eyes were actually fixated on Lith. He had proved to be excellent in everything, and that gave Linjos the hope he could pull another of his miracles.

    "No." Lith replied. He knew the spell only because the book was in Soluspedia, but he had never tried it before. There was no chance Lith could manage to do it at the first try. With his luck, it would have made everything worse.

    "Yes." Quy¡¯s voice took everyone by surprise.

    "Good! Then use it to assist Rudd. Help is already on its way, but because of the situation, we cannot risk using Warp Steps. It will take some time to arrive there, even by flying."

    As soon the conversation ended, they regrouped with the others, deciding what to do. The students close to the exit had already run away, but the ever-expanding cracks and their explosions had now trapped all the others inside.

    Only about half the ss was still present, along with Professor Rudd, and things were getting worse by the second. Despite all his talent, he was only a man. There were too many sections of space about to copse, he hadn¡¯t the time to properly stabilize them.

    The best he could do alone, was temporarily fix the most dangerous one before moving to the next, but after a while the patch would copse, forcing him to cycle between cracks.

    Quy proceeded to close the smaller ones, preventing them to grow and relieving Rudd, albeit a little. She had learned Restoration because the group would always use her room for training in dimensional magic.

    Already having so little of her own, she was scared of losing them, so she had practiced it after everyone left for the night, further developing her mana sensibility by feeling the small damage their practice had caused over time.

    Lith felt helpless. For the first time in his life, he could only watch and do nothing.

    "Let me guess, our friend Lukart has already escaped."

    "Indeed." Yurial nodded. "He and his goons were the first to get out. Either they have great reflexes..."

    "Or they knew." Lithpleted for him. He then used Life Vision to check his surroundings, discovering that visible and invisibles cracks had almost filled the training hall.

    Swallowing a lump of saliva, he racked his brain trying to find a way to make himself useful.

    Suddenly, Life Vison showed him that the spatial crack that Quy was fixing had turned white hot, albeit the change was unnoticeable at the naked eye.

    Reacting as fast as he could, Lith managed to shield her with his body before the explosion, conjuring at the same time a series of concentric barriers made of darkness, air and water.

    From his fight with the Wither, he had learned that dark magic barriers, despite not blocking all the damage, would wear away everything. As expected, the darkyer reduced the strength of the impact, the air one blocked part of the shockwave, while the wateryer smothered some of the mes.

    The remaining damage was enough to riddle the back of Lith¡¯s uniform with holes, burning his skin and hair.

    "Oh gods! I¡¯m so sorry, it¡¯s all my fault!" Quy¡¯s eyes filled with tears, but Lith stopped her, putting his index finger on her lips.

    "No time for that! As long as I¡¯m alive, we can regenerate everything. What¡¯s just happened?" He tried to act though, but he was now quite pale, his skin stretched from the waves of pain.

    Luckily, both Friya and Yurial moved forward, one healing Lith, the other supplying him with energy to withstand the process without fainting.

    "I¡¯ve never used Restoration on distortions that big. I used the smaller ones to practice, but it seems I¡¯m not good enough. There¡¯s only so much energy I manage to dissipate with my spell, the rest bes unstable and explodes."

    Despite the fear and all that was happening, Quy immediately stopped sobbing. She had just realized that it was the first time they actually touched not through the uniform.

    Lith¡¯s skin had a pleasant smell of soap, still bronze coloured from the years spent hunting in the wild under the sun.

    "Would you manage to close them if they contained less energy?"

    Quy nodded, while Lith turned around, facing the nearest crack and flooding it with darkness magic.

    - "I have no clue about light magic, but after much thinking I¡¯m quite sure that darkness is pure entropy. No matter what kind of energies a dimensional fissure isposed off, if I¡¯m right the darkness will eat them, until they be weak enough for Quy to fix them."

    "And if you are wrong?" Solus voice was worried like when they had faced the Scorpicore.

    "In that case I suck at science as much as I do at magic. Here goes everything!" ¨C

 Chapter 127 Bombshell 3

    At first, everything went ording to n. Lith could see via Life Vision that the highlypressed forces stored inside the spatial crack were progressively weakening.

    But then, he noticed its edges turning white hot, just like had happened to the previous one before exploding.

    - "Dammit, I was too na?ve. In this situation darkness magic is a double-edged sword. It allows me to erode the energy just as I predicted. What I didn¡¯t take into ount, is that at the same time it elerates the destabilization of the crack, making it even more vtile." ¨C

    "Quy, I did all that I could. Time for you to step in!"

    Lith let the darkness fade away, hoping she had still enough time toplete her spell. At the same time, his hands moved rapidly, forming random signs, pretending to cast one spell after another, creating strong and thick multiyered barriers in case something went wrong.

    Lith could only count the seconds, watching the fissure bing more and more unstable, inwardly wishing for Quy to hurry up and finish. Just when the crack was about to copse, the Restoration spell took effect, making it disappear with a small bang.

    "One down, one million to go." Lith didn¡¯t find any joy in seeding. There were still too many spatial distortions, and only a handful of seconds had passed since he closed the conversation with Linjos.

    Time wasn¡¯t on their side.

    He immediately attacked the next crack, using all his focus and skill to speed the energy degeneration process while trying not to affect the fissure¡¯s stability. If before he had just made chaos sh with chaos, now there was a method behind it.

    Lith could see the hot spots where different cracks ovepped, and gently used darkness magic to weaken the interactions between them before attacking their cores, avoiding chain reactions.

    Rudd had no such thing as Life Vision, but thanks to his talent and abundant experience, he could appreciate the finesse Lith was demonstrating by using darkness magic in such an unorthodox way.

    - "Brilliant, simply brilliant." He thought. "It¡¯s such a shame that his space sensibility is so much greater than his dimensional magic aptitude. And to add insult to injury, the only one capable of using Restoration is a flimsymoner.

    The world has really turned upside down. Here I am, fighting side by side with some ¡¯inferior¡¯moners that yet stand at the top of the ss, showing unparallel talent and improvisation, while the ¡¯nobles¡¯ do nothing but run like rabbits.

    Maybe I have grown too old for this job." - Rudd inwardly sighed, closing one fissure after the other, trying to create a safe zone for the students.

    Meanwhile, Lith realized that the strategy was doomed to fail. They had only two mages able to use Restoration, while the space distortions were too many and too strong to keep attacking them one at the time.

    "Quy, focus only on the cracks that I point out for you! Phloria, Friya, you protect her at all costs with your Mage Knight¡¯s shields! I¡¯m going all out!"

    Without waiting for a reply, he enveloped several spatial distortions at once with darkness magic, marking each time the most dangerous one with a wisp of light.

    His hands and mouth moved like crazy, mixing random seals and words, giving Lith the alibi he needed to create small but densely packed barriers around the remaining cracks, this time trying to prevent the resulting explosion to get out, rather than get in.

    - "What in the gods¡¯ name is that?" Professor Rudd was bbergasted by his performance. "He is controlling so many spells at once, adapting the shape, size and intensity of each one ording to the situation.

    No matter how simple each incantation is by itself, thebined effect is on par with a tier five spell." ¨C

    The number of fissures started to decrease rapidly, but it came at a cost. Only those treated properly with Restoration would just disappear, the rest would suffer the corruption of darkness magic until they blew up.

    Thanks to Lith¡¯s efforts and nning, they were controlled explosions, but explosions nheless. He couldn¡¯t get too far from them, the hot spots were small to begin with, and he had to keep track of all at the same time with Life Vision.

    Each time, the mes were strong enough to ovee the uniform¡¯s magical protections, burning through the fabric and the flesh alike. The others were barely able to defend themselves with theirbined efforts, leaving Lith alone.

    The burns kept piling up, until the pain became unbearable. Lith was forced to use light fusion to regenerate the parts of his body that were too damaged, while cutting off the pain receptors with dark magic to avoid impairing his focus and movements.

    "Where the heck is Linjos?" He tried to yell, but the hot air had injured even his throat. His voice came out as a raspy hiss, before he started to cough uncontrobly, falling on his knees while gasping for air.

    Yurial immediately came to Lith¡¯s side, attempting to treat the most severe injuries without draining too much of his life force.

    "You can¡¯t keep up like this, it¡¯s a suicidal move." Yurial was horrified.

    Most of Lith¡¯s upper body was now exposed, burned beyond recognition. His arms and back, which he had used to cover his vitals, had kes of skin falling down at his every movement, revealing the bloody muscle tissue underneath.

    "I don¡¯t know how can you handle so much pain without going crazy, but you need to rest, or you will die!"

    "Thanks, man." Lith appreciated him being so concerned about him to be blind to the truth.

    "But if I stop, we¡¯ll all die. Or do you have a god in the family that we can call upon for actual help?" Lith smiled, patting Yurial¡¯s shoulder before attacking the next group of cracks.

    In the new world, religions were a relic of the past, whose only remnants were the old gods¡¯ names, used either as exmations or swear words. Since humans had discovered magic, they had stopped believing in superstitions and devoted their passion and faith in the mystical arts.

    Even the so called "six gods of magic", one for each element, weren¡¯t considered real deities. They referred to the first mages that not only mastered the power of the elements, but also left behind their legacy, allowing their knowledge to spread and be shared instead of getting lost after their demise.

    Lith¡¯s words were meant to remember Yurial that it was useless to stay idle and hope for help. He was no hero; his actions weren¡¯t a selfless sacrifice for a bunch of strangers and an old coot.

    He was simply doing the only thing he could in a time of crisis, creating a path for himself and his friends to survive an unjust fate.

    For the second time in less than a week, Yurial felt stupid for choosing the Warden specialization. Even if he had started casting a fire protection array from the moment Rudd had warned them of the danger, he would had never finished it in time.

    Yet he swallowed down his self-pity. Lith constantly needed healing and energy, hence Yurial focused on keeping close to him, assisting whenever he could, to at least lessen his burden.

    Finally, help arrived. Linjos and several Professors entered the ss, using an artifact topletely clear the door¡¯s surroundings from spatial fissures. Lith¡¯s group moved towards them, to escape the death trap.

    Yet the ray of hope quickly turned into despair. The students closer to the exit went into a frenzy, trying to force their way out even at the cost of trampling others. During the struggle that ensued, a girl pushed all those around her away conjuring a powerful gust of wind.

    One of her victims ended up colliding with a spatial crack, triggering a chain reaction that quickly spread to the whole training hall. Cursing mankind stupidity, Lith dashed forward, dodging people and explosions alike.

    Then, something hard crashed against his chest with the strength of a cannonball. Thebined pain from the impact and the burns almost made him lose consciousness, and because of that, Lith didn¡¯t manage to change his trajectory.

    The hit sent him against one of the still open fissures, that seemed to swallow him whole before tinging his world red.

 Chapter 128 Severance

    The moment Lith collided with the spatial crack, he knew that something horrible would happen. Twisting and turning his body despite the blinding agony, Lith managed to use air magic to avoid crashing head first against it.

    But with the little margin he had, and the feeble energy he managed to muster, avoiding the fissure entirely was impossible. His left arm prated it up to the head of the humerus, giving him the feeling that someone had thrown a massive boulder from a cliff, but not before gluing his left hand to it.

    It was like every single cell in his arm had been put into a blender filled with gasoline and a flint. It stretched endlessly in the deformed space, appearing and disappearing multiple times from different spatial cracks, before they finally closed down under the effect of Linjos¡¯ artifact.

    The result was that both Lith and his left arm were finally free from the dimensional vise. But while he was still where he had fallen, the arm was about twenty meters (66¡¯) away, cleanly cut from the shoulder with inhuman precision.

    Lith¡¯s world turned red when his mind went beyond the pain and the blood gushing out of the stump, realizing what had happened. No matter how many times he had mentally simted the event in the past, the shock of the amputation almost overwhelmed him.

    Almost.

    Emitting an outraged roar rather than a scream of pain, Lith used what energy he had left to stop the bleeding, before his body copsed due to the umted damage.

    The group had stopped in its tracks since their friend had been knocked down by a tower shield, ripped off the hands of his owner by the same explosion that turned it into a deadly bullet.

    While the others ran to his side, Phloria turned back, sprinting to the severed arm and storing it in her dimensional amulet as fast as she could.

    - "ording to my father, reattaching a limb is much easier than regrow it. The important thing is to preserve it in the best conditions possible. A dimensional item is the ideal solution, since it will not rot or degrade as long it¡¯s in there." ¨C

    When Quy reached him, she thought it was already toote. Despite being only partially healed, the stump bleed too little, and she was unable to feel a pulse.

    If Lith was really dead, she would have been forced to attempt a resuscitation manoeuvre (AN: like CPR), even at the risk of furtherpromising his body¡¯s integrity. But if there was even just a spark of life, she knew, or better she firmly believed he would have made it.

    - "Damn diagnostic magic! It¡¯s too slow!" ¨C She inwardly cursed, taking out a small mirror from her dimensional amulet, and putting it in front of his mouth and nose. The ss fogged up, giving her hope.

    "Yurial, you heal him. You have already given him too much energy, we cannot afford anyone passing away. Friya, enhance his life force, I¡¯ll keep him stable."

    Quy¡¯s task was the hardest. She had to use diagnostic spells to find the most damaged organs, and then alternate healing and energy infusion withoutpromising the others¡¯ work.

    Too fast healing would kill him, he was too weak to endure more strain. Too much energy would kill him too. If the heart suddenly started pumping fast, Lith would either bleed out the countless open wounds or die due to organ failure.

    But if they acted with too much caution, his body would simply copse. It was like a game of Jenga with cracked crystal pieces. One wrong move would mean the end, with no chance for a do over.

    First, she finished mending the severed shoulder, then she harmonized with her friends¡¯ spells, fixing whatever mistake they made in the heat of the moment. Unlike her, they had no real experience as healers.

    And to make things worse, their first patient without any Professor¡¯s supervision was a close friend. Inwardly, all the three of them just wanted to run away crying from that hellhole.

    They were already tired from the dimensional magic lesson and the nightmare born from it. They had been on the edge all the time, believing that every second would be theirst. And when finally everything seemed to be over, they had been forced to stare death in the face.

    It was still morning, but it felt like a week had passed. The only things that kept them together were rage and stubbornness. Rageing from the frustration of being constantly swept around by forces beyond their control, and the stubbornness that made them unwilling to yield at any cost.

    Alongside them, a silent but invaluable fourth yer was fighting with everything she had. Solus had been constantly expending her own energies to keep light fusion active, after Lith had lost consciousness.

    When the kids had started their treatment, it had been her using Invigoration to redirect their healing spells where they were needed the most, that had allowed everything to go smoothly.

    Three young mages at their wits¡¯ end wouldn¡¯t be able to handle alone such situation.

    Especially since Quy was tired and short on mana after having closed so many cracks fighting alongside Lith, and Yurial had already passed Lith so much of his life force that it was already a miracle for him to keep standing without help.

    When they finished, he didn¡¯t smell like barbeque anymore. Most of the burnt skin was reced by a new one, but the overall impression was still those of an over stewed lobster.

    "Excellent job, but he is still in critical conditions. We need to bring him to the academy¡¯s hospital as soon as possible." After evacuating the training hall, Linjos had returned to offer his help.

    When he bended over Lith, attempting to grab him, Quy weed him with a perfectly aimed punch on the nose, resulting in a clear breaking sound and a nosebleed.

    "Are you insane?" She yelled at him with no respect for his seniority nor status.

    "We can¡¯t move him. He could go into shock from the amputation at any moment. Light magic needs time to take full effect. Have you really studied before bing a Headmaster or did you just win the title at a raffle?"

    Linjos wanted to reprimand her harshly, but after noticing that her fist was still held high, in the optimal position for hitting him in the groin, he took a step back instead.

    "Young miss, I can see you are very upset, so I¡¯ll overlook yourck of discipline, just this once." His voice was now nasal, until a simple healing spell stopped the bleeding and straightened his nose.

    "But for your information, now that all the protections are activated again, we can move him safely with Warp Steps. Besides being an excellent healer myself, I have already alerted the light department. Where in the gods¡¯ name is Manohar?"

    "Right here." Said the god of healing punching him in the nose too.

    "Why did you do that?" Linjos was bbergasted.

    "Because she is right, you are wrong and didn¡¯t tell me the patient is one of my own!" Manohar formted a quick spell that made Lith look human again, even regrowing his hair to a medium length.

    "Now it¡¯s safe to move him, you two bits healer." He said throwing a mean look at the Headmaster.

    "Did someone fetch his arm or is it lost?"

    "I did, sir." Phloria showed him her dimensional amulet.

    "Great! Thirty points to the t beanpole for the quick thinking." Phloria didn¡¯t know if tough or cry at the rude remark.

    "Fifty points to each of you for saving a colleague, and another fifty to the scrawny shorty for the well executed punch."

    "First, this is not your lesson. Second, awarding points for assaulting a Headmaster is unheard of!" Linjos was fuming with anger.

    "Well, you always knew I am an innovator." Manohar shrugged, opening a Warp Steps to the Intensive Care Unit and disappearing through it with Lith¡¯s group.

    Linjos remained there, with his mouth agape, with a snarky remark still stuck in his throat while the rest of the staff was snickering at his expenses.

 Chapter 129 Chaos

    Derek woke up in what was unmistakably an hospital room. Even with a fuzzy head and a blurry vision, he knew there was only one ce were so much white would belong.

    The sheets, the blind, even the walls and ceiling were white. He tried to rub his eyes, but discovered his right arm was cuffed to the bedside, while the left one felt so heavy, he couldn¡¯t muster the strength to lift it.

    - "Must be the morphine. That or they tied me up." He thought. Thest reasonable memory he had was about him killing the b*stard who had murdered his little brother.

    "F*cking cops, couldn¡¯t just let me die? I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because of the brain damage or because they have heavily drugged me, but that was one heck of a dream."

    He shook his head, trying to clear up his vision.

    "A little too absurd, even for a dream, though. Magic powers, a mystical sentient girl tower, talking animals and a Kingdom in danger. It onlycked a pink dressed princess kidnapped by a fire spitting turtle to be more ridicule.

    That, or me finding my happy ending with the girl in the tower. Heck, even if it was all inside my head it has been the most meaningful rtionship I ever had." ¨C He scoffed.

    - "Really? I would have never assumed you would think of me that way." - Solus¡¯ mind blush was so strong to ovee the boundary they usually kept to separate their innermost thoughts.

    Lith managed to avoid screaming in surprise and embarrassment only because the blind was pulled away by Professor Manohar, that hade to check his conditions.

    "How is my patient?" He asked. "Remember, the only eptable answer is ¡¯well and getting better¡¯. If you die on me, you¡¯ll ruin my statistics."

    "Professor Manohar?" Lith was still recovering from the shock.

    "So, it was all real?"

    "I know how this seems, such an incident, if we want to call it that way, happening in the White Griffon academy is simply unbelievable, yet it happened. Odd, I perfectly regenerated your skin, yet you are all red up to your ears.

    Are you experiencing any difort, or did you just have a wet dream?"

    Lith¡¯s brows furrowed, while his memory was finally returning.

    "I..."

    "Just a yes or no. I¡¯m not interested in your fantasies."

    Lith blushed even harder, but this time out of anger, for thepleteck of tact of his healer.

    "No difort and no wet dreams. Thanks for your concern. Why am I cuffed? I don¡¯t remember doing anything to deserve such treatment."

    "Do you mean the chain? That¡¯s no punishment, is just to prevent you from rolling on the wrong side. The wound is just barely closed, we still need to reattach your arm, after all. I would expect an aplished healer like you to understand something so simple."

    Lith turned his head abruptly, trying to touch the little stump where once was his arm, but the chain stopped him again.

    At that point, Solus had regained enough of her cool to share her memories of the most recent events, bringing him up to speed.

    "How long was I unconscious?"

    "A few hours, is barely lunchtime." Manohar replied, right before casting a series of diagnostic spells that made Lith glow like a lightbulb.

    "Everything seems fine. Your body heals magnificently, young man. Keep up like this, and you¡¯ll get discharged in one piece before dinner." Manohar took out hismunicator amulet, informing Linjos that the patient could receive visitors.

    - "Remember to properly thank your friends. They gave it everything to save your life before Manohar arrived." Usually Lith would have objected at the abuse of the word ¡¯friends¡¯, but after looking at Solus¡¯ memories he didn¡¯t feel so sure about it anymore.

    "Wow, Quy really punched Linjos. Was it really so dangerous to move me at the time?"

    "No, it wasn¡¯t. But I can¡¯t me her for being protective. I would have done the same."

    "Okay, then why Manohar punched him too? He doesn¡¯t seem the protective type."

    "ording to his rants while he was finishing to heal you, Manohar has always dreamt about hitting a Headmaster and get away with it. Quy simply gave him the inspiration he needed. He told her himself before awarding another thirty points.

    You know, I really like that girl. I would have nothing against her being your mistress until we find a proper body for myself." ¨C

    Another powerful mind blush made him understand that she wasn¡¯t joking at all, but luckily Linjos entered his room, saving him from such an awkward topic. Lith had never been so happy to see the Headmaster¡¯s long and brooding face.

    Contrary to his expectations, behind him there was no trace of his ssmates. He was followed by professor Marth, instead, and thanks to his enhanced hearing, Lith could hear them repeatedly apologizing to someone.

    "We are terribly sorry for what had happened to your son, but as you¡¯ll see, he has received the best cures avable in the whole Kingdom. The reason we called you here, is to help him ovee the shock of losing an arm.

    Albeit is only a temporary condition, it could severely affect his mind and future decisions. We don¡¯t want him to quit the academy, it would be too great of a loss. Please, be strong."

    Lith heard a snarl from his father, Raaz, stopped by his mother, Elina, hurrying Linjos to let them in. They rushed to Lith¡¯s bedside, doing their best to not cry or stare at his stump.

    "Professor, please, tell me he is going to be all right." Despite all their efforts, Elina¡¯s eyes were watery and her voice cracked. Raaz held her hand tightly, searching for the strength to appear calm and confident to reassure his injured son.

    "Don¡¯t worry, ma¡¯am. We were just about to reattach his arm." Manohar said, throwing a flirtatious look at her.

    "I must say it, there must be something special in your bloodline."

    Lith started inwardly cursing non-stop. Maybe after looking at him and his parents, the genius healer Krishna Manohar had noticed some abnormality caused by him using Invigoration on all his family to remove impurities from their bodies.

    "Otherwise I can¡¯t exin why your son is so talented, you are so gorgeous, and even Lith¡¯s dear grandfather is so well preserved despite his age."

    At those Marth, Raaz and Linjos became pale as ghost, while fury tinged Lith¡¯s cheeks of red while his eyes where reduced to fiery slits. He couldn¡¯t believe his esteemed Professor was actually hitting on his mother right in front of him.

    Despite the situation, Elina and Solus couldn¡¯t stop giggling.

    "He is actually my father." Lith¡¯s voice was stone cold, causing Manohar to gasp in surprise.

    "You are very lucky, good sir." He said shaking Raaz¡¯s hand, limp from the surprise.

    "Your son is a brave kid, and your wife could have got much, much better."

    If Lith¡¯s arm didn¡¯t had yet to be reattached, Raaz would have probably strangled him for the repeated insults.

    "See, old man?" Manohar said patting Linjos on the shoulder.

    "That¡¯s why I tell you to never lose hope. In this world there are still women that don¡¯t care much about looks."

    Before the situation became even more humiliating, Professor Marth dragged Manohar away.

    ***

    In the city of Kandria, all the hospitals and the healers¡¯ home offices were full to the brim, while the city guard was arresting lots of citizens for gruesome crimes. The two things had only one thing inmon: all those involved would tell unbelievable stories to justify what had happened.

    A man imed that his wife had caught fire while cooking lunch, a woman told them how his brother had turned into a piece of ice while conjuring some water to wash the dishes.

    An otherwise beyond suspicion healer was trying to exin how he never meant to amputate his patient¡¯s leg, it just had turned into a lump of meat after he attempted to heal a fracture.

    But the real cause was ensuing inside the local branch of the Mage Association, where many magicians were reporting how they had inexplicably lost their powers.

 Chapter 130 Chaos 2

    Despite Professor Marth intervention, the situation degenerated as soon Raaz and Linjos managed to recover from the vicious verbal beating they just endured.

    "Who is that raving lunatic and why is he allowed to have any contact with the students? He has no shame nor regard for the feelings of others!" Normally Raaz would have been humble and submissive.

    For someone that had never left the small vige of Lutia in over thirty years, the White Griffon academy was intimidating. Raaz was well aware that even a single brick of the castle was worth more money than he could earn in his whole life.

    Raaz still couldn¡¯t believe one of his children had managed to get admitted in a ce like that. He suspected that behind all his brave talk, Lith was actually having a hard life, surrounded by rich, spoiled kids.

    In any other circumstance, he would have never stepped inside, fearing that his presence alone was enough to put Lith in embarrassment.

    But now after his son had been severely hurt because of the ipetence of the so called ¡¯Professors¡¯, not only he had been forced to listen to Linjos¡¯ rants about the academy¡¯s prestige, but also had to suffer a young, handsome dandy trying to seduce his wife in front of his eyes.

    That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. He didn¡¯t care anymore if the man in front of him was the Headmaster or the King himself, Raaz was determined to give him a piece of his mind.

    On the other hand, Linjos wanted nothing more than join him and tear Manohar apart limb from limb. That man had always been a nightmare for the public rtionships, either avoiding social events or making a mess the rare times he deigned to attend them.

    And now, in less than a day Linjos had been assaulted and humiliated by him twice, both times in front of students and staff alike, destroying whatever pride and dignity his role was supposed to have.

    - "I wish I could tell him that if the previous Headmistress that recruited Manohar wasn¡¯t already dead, I would kill her myself. Right after throwing Manohar from the academy¡¯s highest tower. But when I epted this job, I knew there was an elephant in the room." ¨C

    "Despite his many, many ws, I can assure you that Professor Manohar is that kind of genius that appears only once in one hundred years. He is an invaluable asset for the academy and the Kingdom, whom has already saved countless lives, probably even your son¡¯s."

    Raaz wasn¡¯t satisfied by the answer, but Elina squeezed his hand tight, stopping him in his tracks.

    "Are you in much pain, dear?" She asked Lith, ruffling his hair.

    "No, mom. On the contrary, I feel groggy but rxed." He replied, quite surprised to have hair again. He had yet to have an asion to look at himself in a mirror.

    "That¡¯s because we injected you with several potions to help you sleep and recover." Linjos exined.

    Marth returned, bringing along five members of the medical staff and Lith¡¯s missing arm. Usually for such a simple case a single Professor was enough, but they wanted to show to both Lith and his parents how much they cared.

    The arm waspletely wrapped in pure white linen gauze, not leaving even the fingertips exposed. Being detached from a living body, it couldn¡¯t be healed, so it was bound to be bloody and burned.

    Lith imagined that covering it was another form of courtesy towards his parents, since no healer would have blinked at the sight of it.

    The moment the arm was within five meters (16 feet) from him, Lith felt that something odd was happening. His mana core started stirring inside of him, trying to release mana.

    Lith was too tired to put up a fight without a good reason, so he stopped resisting.

    - "Solus, can you describe to me what¡¯s happening? I can¡¯t activate Life Vision without flooding my eyes with mana."

    "Tendrils of energy are going out of your body and connecting to the arm. It is... alive?" ¨C

    When Lith felt the itchy pain from the burns, he was so surprised to unintentionally wriggle his left hand¡¯s fingers. Luckily Marth was still walking, so the sudden movement went unnoticed.

    - "Now the mana is recing the blood, reactivating the lingering light fusion from before it was severed. By my maker, it¡¯s healing on its own!" ¨C

    Solus was free to express her shock, but Lith had to keep his calm demeanour, acting like everything was normal instead of panicking. Just to be certain it wasn¡¯t all a crazy dream, Lith attempted to bend the left little finger.

    It moved at will.

    Lith extended his remaining hand to Elina.

    "Mom, I¡¯m a little scared now." Lith tried to convey his real feelings without arising suspicions, at the same time drawing all the attention on himself. While focusing on his mother¡¯s warmth, he tried to call back the energies from the arm, but to no avail.

    The closer it got, the stronger the connection.

    The reattaching process went without a hitch, immediately followed by the healing one. Lith had to carefully remain still the whole time, a single spasm would betray his new and untimely secret.

    ****

    The night before the sabotage in the dimensional magic¡¯s training hall, a few hundred kilometres south from the border of the Griffon Kingdom, the High Council of the desert tribes had gathered, trying to plea their case to the Benefactor.

    The Blood Desert was the biggest out of the three Great Countries in the Garlen continent, the other two being the Griffon Kingdom and the Gorgon Empire. ording to many, it was also the strongest and the most dangerous.

    The reason was that despite its harsh climate, the Blood Desert was the richest one in terms of mystic treasures and natural resources. While in other ces to find magic crystals, one had to dig through mountains or explore vast forests, in the Blood Desert it was enough to find an oasis.

    The geysers of world energy that everywhere else were hidden, and could be found only by sheer luck or resorting to powerful artifacts like Solus or the Scorpicore¡¯s pince-nez, there would manifest themselves in the form of water, vegetation and life.

    Among its dunes, it was possible to find rock formations rich in a rare metal, the Davross, that after being smelt and forged it would change its colour from silver to ck, ording to how it was exposed to light, but most importantly was capable of cutting through iron like it was just wood.

    Davross was the strongest material known to man.

    Despite its name, the Blood Desert¡¯s sands weren¡¯t red, but yellow gold. It derived from the countless lives lost during the past wars, when the different desert tribes would fight among themselves or against the foreigners trying to rob them of theirnd.

    War had been a constant in the desert, because no amount of mana crystals or Davross could turn the weather humid, quench the thirst of humans and cattle or make thend fertile.

    Despite all the riches it held, food and water had always been the only currency that held any real value in the desert. In the past, the tribes would fight for the control of the oasis, either by their own will or manipted by the people of the ins, wishing to exploit their needs to pursue the monopoly of resources.

    But not anymore. After the Benefactor¡¯s arrival, the desert had been unified and the wordpetition had been reced by the stranger sounding "cooperation."

    Oasis were now shared, and each tribe would periodically rotate from one zone of the desert to another, allowing everyone to cyclically enjoy everything their Country had to offer.

    Each of the tribe leaders, now simply called Feathers, would receive wisdom and power, bing strong in the ways of magic regardless of the talent they were born with. But what now could seem a divine country, came with a price.

    The Benefactor¡¯sws were the onlyws, and the lightest punishment for breaking them was death. The Feathers would rule above their people, but any change, small or big had to receive the Benefactor¡¯s approval.

    Even the High Council had been reduced to a mere formality, only one will really mattered. That was the reason it was now held only after the sunset, when the Benefactor had a less fiery temperament.

    That night, the convened Feathers, were trying to persuade the Benefactor about the many advantages the desert tribes would reap from invading a weakened Griffon Kingdom.

 Chapter 131 Blood in the Deser

    Their spies had brought news that a civil war was inevitable, it was the perfect moment to start nning their invasion.

    Speaking in their name, was Ashun Dagfuur, Feather of the Red Lion tribe, temporarily appointed as High Feather, first among equals and spokesman of the tribes. He was a tall man, around 1.84 meters (6¡¯) high, with a lean and muscr body, an oliveplexion and a long but well-groomed beard.

    Like all the Feathers, he wore heavy white pants and shirt to endure the coldness of the night, and a turban on his head, with a huge ruby on its centre to represent his status in the tribe.

    The meeting was held in a ceremonial tent, golden in colour whose sides and floor were covered by carpets and tapestries depicting the collective history of the desert.

    The roof of the tent was enchanted to be able to turn invisible at will, since the Benefactor hated constricted spaces, and this way was still able to gaze at the moon and the stars.

    The space was perfectly lighted by twenty-seven ck iron braziers, one for each tribe. Their fires were fueled by the magic of their respective Feather, used both to symbolize his strength and vote once a discussion hade to an end.

    As always, Ashun spoke with passion, describing all the greennds and water springs, waiting for tribes to seize them from the weak and stupid insmen. His ck eyes searched for the other Feather¡¯s approval and support, but he found none.

    After he had begun his speech, all eyes were fixated on the lonely figure standing on the other side of the tent, watching its every movement.

    It was a fiery red bird, three meters (9¡¯ 10") high, with the body of an eagle and the tail¡¯s feathers resembling those of a peacock. The legendary phoenix Sark, also known as the Benefactor of the desert, that centuries before had united all the tribes under its rule.

    It was whispered that from each of its feathers, a peerless weapon could be forged, and that its blood held the secret of immortality. To fit into the tent, it had shrunk remarkably, and was now in its most vulnerable state.

    Despite that, no man or woman among the Feathers felt any kind of emotion aside from respect and fear.

    Sark stood still, its eyes closed, knowing it would not be able to controls itself if it opened them.

    Once Ashun had finished, it asked a simple question.

    "So, are you going to leave the desert?" Sark¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud, but still sounded perfectly clear to all of those present.

    "No, my liege. The Red Lion would never do that." He raised his hands and lowered his head in a sign of submission.

    "I¡¯m only proposing for us to take revenge against the ins and secure new resources."

    "Revenge?" It asked opening a single eye. "To bring death to the living will not make their ancestors suffer. It sounds more like a petty excuse to leave because you are unsatisfied with what you have now."

    "I will not leave and I¡¯m not ungrateful." He said trying to appear strong and confident, but cold sweat ran down his spine.

    "Then how do you propose to keep the conquered springs? What good is a fertile soil if not tilled?"

    "Well, of course some of our men will have to stay behind with their families. But only to establish a supply chain that will benefit all the tribes."

    "I don¡¯t care for your sweet words, only for their meaning." Sark harshly replied.

    "You want for your people to move away, to grow their children in a foreignnd, afar from the desert and from me! I have no objection to your n." Thest phrase left everyone shocked, leniency had never been its strong suit.

    "But at the same time, I will give it no support. Those who wish to take part in it are free to do it, as long they first return to me all my blessings." The second part, instead, was perfectly in line with its character, making all the Feathers turn pale.

    "Just to be clear, are you speaking as High Feather, as Feather of the Red Lion tribe, or just for yourself?" Sark¡¯s eyes opened, releasing a massive amount of killing intent that brought Ashun to his knees, its talons tapping on the ground had the rhythm of war drums.

    "He does not speak for the Golden Eagle tribe." Said a middle-aged woman standing up from her chair, just to kneel on the ground, her forehead touching the floor while her brazier turned ck, denying the High Feather¡¯s words.

    "He does not speak for the Silver Wolf tribe." One after the other, all the Feathers knelt down, the ck light from the braziers projecting an eerie atmosphere.

    "He does not speak for the Red Lion tribe." Recognizing Ashun¡¯s failure, the elders that apanied him disowned their leader, hoping to spare their people from being banished forever.

    Through a collective effort, they managed to snatch the me from Ashun¡¯s control, turning it ck and leaving him alone. The turn of the events had shocked him, but not to the point to not recognize what had happened.

    Beneath the tension and fear appearing on his peers¡¯ visage, he could see their lips curling into a barely contained smile. He knew to be unpopr due to his overbearing character, trying to benefit his tribe at everyone else¡¯s expenses.

    But that was because under his leadership, the Red Lion had grown to be one of the most populous and strongest desert tribes. Ashun had used that in the past to put pressure on the neighbouring tribes, to gain more and give less, boosting his status in hismunity.

    When they had appointed him High Feather, he had thought they were finally ready to submit. Instead it had all been a ruse to take him out without a war, in perfect ord with thews of the desert.

    Whatever the oue of the Council, they would have gained a profit, either by invading newnds or by eliminating a powerful rival. They had used his ego against him, turning Ashun in an unwitting sacrificial pawn.

    He knew what was going to happen next, after being stripped of his title from the elders, the Benefactor would take away all the artifacts and the books Sark had given him through the years. Lastly, it would strip him of her greater blessing, the gift for magic.

    Ashun had been a talentless youth before meeting the Benefactor. The phoenix had been fascinated by his passion and dedication to the tribe, sharing with him her secrets and wisdom, turning the boy into one of the mightiest magical warriors of the Red Lion.

    And now it would take everything back. Ashun didn¡¯t know how Sark had boosted his mana capacity and magical strength; he had been made unconscious every time it "treated him". But he had seen many times how it would revert the effects.

    A simple nce and the victim¡¯s body would twist and writhe, the veins would turn blue and bulge out, while the mana would literally be squeezed out through excruciating pain, until nothing was left.

    Ashun had lived his thirty-six years as a warrior, a leader, a man among men. He couldn¡¯t bear the thought of losing so much and live the rest of his life in disgrace. Before the sentence was carried out, Ashun used magic onest time, stopping his own heart.

    In death, his honour would be saved, and his family would be treated as the grieving rtives of a dead Feather, instead like those of a traitor.

    The Benefactor looked at the corpse, nodding slightly at Ashun¡¯s final decision.

    Sark had liked him as a boy and loved him as a man, but once he had be a leader they had grown apart. The more power he acquired, the more dissatisfied he became.

    First stealing from his own tribe, then twisting the arms of the neighbouring ones to quench his thirst for glory. And now, he had even the gall to ask for Sark to consent to a senseless migratory war.

    If the phoenix had ever wanted to leave the desert, it would have already done it. If it wanted to bathe the world in fire and blood, Sark wouldn¡¯t need to spend centuries teaching the tribes magic and how to prosper in the harsh environment it called home.

    "I am Sark, the desert¡¯s sun! My path, is the only path! My words arew!" It roared spreading its wings, setting the whole tent and its upants aze, yet burning none.

    "I can be like the sunrise that harbingers a new era, or like the sunset that preludes a dark night! Summon me again out of petty greed, and all the tribes will need new leaders."

 Chapter 132 Suffering

    After Professor Marth finished healing Lith¡¯s arm, the bandages were removed, revealing that it was back to normal, except for one small detail. Unlike the rest of his body, that still retained his normal colour, it was pale like it had never seen the light.

    Marth didn¡¯t miss the silent question in his eyes.

    "Sorry, I don¡¯t know how Manohar manages to do that. In theory it¡¯s impossible for new skin to retain any kind of tan, but that doesn¡¯t stop him from doing it anyway."

    Then, whispered in Lith¡¯s ear:

    "It¡¯s better if you go to Manoharter, if the skin problem bothers you. I don¡¯t feel like bringing him back here would be a good idea."

    Lith nodded, both the Headmaster and his father probably wouldn¡¯t be able to take in another one of his pep talks.

    "Professor, you have yet to tell me what happened after I lost consciousness." - Thanks to Solus, Lith already knew the answer , but he needed to pretend to be curious about it.

    "Yes, indeed. But it¡¯s better if you hear it from the ones that actually saved your life. It took quite some effort to force your friends to leave your bedside and get some rest."

    His parents were moved, hearing their son had such dedicated friends, Lith not so much, since it made crumble another chunk of his personal beliefs. It also raised a creepy question.

    - "Solus, since now I¡¯m wearing an hospital nightgown, please, tell me Manohar didn¡¯t strip me in front of the others."

    "No, he didn¡¯t." She giggled. "But there would be nothing wrong with it, you are all doctors after all."

    "True, but if the situation was reversed, do you think any girl would like being seen naked by three of her male friends?"

    "It depends on the friends, I guess." There was a hint of malice in her words.

    "Okay, that¡¯s it." Lith decided to solve the matter once and for all.

    "Solus, what¡¯s happening to you? Ever since we came to the academy, from time to time you try to fix me a girl or another, say something inappropriate, like right now. People aren¡¯t just bs of meat, they have feelings too."

    "That¡¯s rich,ing from you!" For the first time since they had met, Lith could sense her anger. He didn¡¯t reply, waiting for Solus to vent out.

    "Since when do you care for feelings? All you do is lying to manipte everyone, fight like a madman, amass power, rinse and repeat. Have you ever thought about my feelings? About how scared I am every time you do something stupid, putting your life at risk like it¡¯s nothing?

    Or how envious I am of all of you, free to talk,ugh, walk in the sun, while I¡¯m trapped all the day inside a ring of stone, living my life through you? And to be honest, is not much of a life.

    You have so many people that love you, so many chances to get close to others and be real friends, instead of just pretending. Yet you always reject them like trash, and that makes me furious.

    You know, maybe the Scorpicore was right. Maybe I really am a cursed object, because this life sometimes really feels like a curse." ¨C

    Despite she had no tears to shed, to Lith it was like she was bawling her eyes out.

    It made him feel terribly guilty and helpless. Too often he had closed himself to her, either to study or practice, speaking only to ask her help. They had been together for so long, yet he still sometimes treated Solus like some kind of home appliance.

    Lith couldn¡¯t deny anything she had said. To him people were just tools, while feelings were a useless burden.

    - "I¡¯m sorry, Solus. I don¡¯t know what to say. All this time I never stopped considering how you felt, always taking your happiness for granted."

    "It¡¯s not entirely your fault." She mind-sniffed. "I never shared my worries with you, because I was afraid you wouldn¡¯t care or understand. Thanks for proving me wrong." A warm aura spread from her consciousness, the equivalent of a hug.

    "By my maker, it was all so much easier when we just met. With me being content just with surviving, learning new things every day. But now, knowledge is not enough anymore. I want to feel, I want to experience, and you are my only window to the world.

    I should be the one apologizing, for being so pushy all this time."

    "Well, maybe between Necromancy and Forgemastering, we can find a way to give you a proxy body."

    "A corpse or a golem? Thanks, but no thanks. I already feel like a monster, sometimes, I don¡¯t need to also look like one. Besides, I think life isn¡¯t a problem to be fixed, more like something I need to decide if it¡¯s worth having." ¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t like at all how the conversation had turned out. His only true friend was suffering, and that wasn¡¯t something he could just passively ept.

    After changing into a new uniform, he let Professor Marth call for his ¡¯friends¡¯, that despite the short notice arrived incredibly fast.

    Normally, Lith would have found a way to avoid the inevitable group hug that ensued, but Solus¡¯ words were still ringing in his ears.

    - "Progress, not perfection." ¨C He repeated in his mind, like a mantra, resisting the revulsion that the physical contact with those four strangers arose at instinct level.

    They drowned him in questions about his health, repeating more than once how they had thought to have lost him. Elina was moved to the tears, seeing their affection for her child.

    "Guys, allow me to introduce you to my parents, Raaz and Elina."

    At those words, they finally released him.

    Raaz shook their hands, while Elina embraced them tightly.

    "If you evere to pass in our vige, you will always be wee in our home. I¡¯ll never be able to thank you enough."

    After a few niceties, Lith prompted them to tell him what had happened after he crashed into the spatial crack.

    Despite already knowing everything, he remained impressed by their focus and dedication during such a critical moment, to the point of remembering the finest details. Obviously, with Linjos present, they overlooked all the punching part.

    Then it was Lith¡¯s turn to express his gratitude. A simple thank you and a handshake was fine for Raaz, who was a stranger to them. Not to mention he was quite intimidated. For all he knew they could all be prince and princesses.

    Lith had no choice but to put a big smile on his face and hug them one by one.

    While for the others he managed to perform a "in and out" kind of hug, when it was Quy¡¯s turn, she locked him in ce. Lith could feel her hands running over his back, while she sunk her head in his chest, sobbing a little.

    After a few seconds, the situation became really awkward. Everyone was looking away, until Raaz saw the silent plea for help in his eyes and said:

    "Son, what do you want to do? Do you want toe back home, change academy or stay here? We¡¯ll respect your decision, whatever it is."

    Only then Quy finally let him go and hid behind Friya, blushing wildly after having realized what she had done.

    Lith pondered for a while. Despite all its ws, the White Griffon academy was still the safest ce for him. Other academies would probably discriminate him for his origins and past, forcing him to constantly watch his back.

    Also, he still had to solve the mystery of the boxes in his pocket dimension, find a way to avert the dryad¡¯s prophecy and to save Solus from her misery. She could refuse his help all she wanted, Lith would never give up on her without a fight.

    "I want to remain here, dad. I think I need them as much as they need me."

 Chapter 133 Contingencies

    "You¡¯ll not regret your choice, Lith." Professor Marth patted his back, with a proud look on his face.

    "Once you graduate, you¡¯ll discover that A ranked mages, like you and me, are treasured almost as rank S, if not more." He chuckled.

    "What? Why?" Lith didn¡¯t know if to consider it a good or bad news.

    "Because as you have seen, geniuses like Manohar aren¡¯t just brilliant. They are also wilful, fickle and unpredictable. We may not be as productive, but are much more level headed and easy to handle."

    ***

    After the ident in the training hall, Professor Rudd had lost much of his nastiness. He now replied when someone asked him exnations, and whenever he saw Quy or Lith, he would sigh deeply shaking his head.

    In the following weeks, Lith put his heart and soul in Forgemastering, relentlessly pestering Professor Wanemyre with questions. He was researching both the runes that kept the boxes locked and a construct that was able to feel like a human.

    The library helped him greatly on his first task. Even if the exact sequence of runes wasn¡¯t to be find anywhere, Lith was able to determine their power and purpose. He came to the conclusion that opening at least one of the boxes was feasible, if he had Wanemyre level of mastery and a proper research team.

    Since that was impossible, he decided to take a roundabout route. Instead of attacking the lock from the outside, like a normal Forgemaster, he would destroy its pseudo core like only an Awakened one could.

    The lock and the box had a pseudo core each, both held in ce by the respective mana pathways their maker had surrounded them with, thanks to the rune patterns. The main difference between a pseudo core and a real mana core, was that the former had no way to replenish its energies without the mage that had imprinted it.

    Hence, if somehow Lith managed to damage the pathways, the energy stored in the pseudo core was supposed to leak without triggering the explosion, and the lock spell would be undone.

    Before doing this kind of experiments, Lith would always use his Hush spell and several barriers, to prevent a resulting explosion to destroy his room or be noticed from the outside.

    After a month since the beginning of the second semester, Lith had already lost three boxes. All of them had exploded without leaving any trace behind, but he still considered it a sess.

    Neither he or his belongings had suffered any damage, and with each box the explosion was getting weaker. It was only a matter of time before Lith could find the right way to puncture the runic pathways without the pseudo core bing instable.

    - "Now I get why the vision wanted me to save Nok and get to meet Ka. (AN: the small Byk and its mother.) With only the box from Rodimas, I would have never managed to open it.

    I could either give it to the Marchioness or Linjos, leaving me empty handed, or try and fail on my own." He sighed.

    "Well, for being self-taught you are doing great. Marth and Wanemyre always praise you for your talent and achievements. I think Wanemyre already considers you the best student of the fourth year."

    "Yeah." He sighed again.

    "Someone is bound to get angry at me, again. Not to mention that I am falling behind in dimensional magic. Without the all-nighters, even Yurial is slowly catching up with me, and I have yet to learn the Restoration spell, that Quy already knows. I must work harder!"

    "Maybe it¡¯s because Quy has only one specialization, while Yurial just two, and they are hardworking too. You, instead, are such a cker." Solus¡¯ voice was oozing sarcasm.

    "Top of both your official specializations, learning other specializations on your own and converting them into true magic. All this while working on that lock, researching a body for me and refining your mana core during your spare time.

    Which usually means when you are forced to use a bathroom or during theoretical lessons. You don¡¯t sleep from almost a month. Honestly, I¡¯m amazed you achieved so much with only twenty-four hours a day.

    Progress, not perfection. Remember? You need to slow down."

    "Can¡¯t do. The second trimester¡¯s exam is nearing, and no one knows what¡¯s going to be about. Must make every second matter!" ¨C

    ***

    Since the explosion of Coirn Hatorne¡¯s Alchemicboratory, the city of Kandria had quickly plunged into mass hysteria. Just a few days after the event, strange diseases and murders had started to happen all around the city, and with the passing of time, things had only got worse.

    Healers from all the Marquisate and beyond had been called for help, but despite both the Crown and the Mage Association were sparing no expenses to get at the root of the problem, they were getting nowhere.

    An information ckout had been enacted, to avoid the panic to spread outside the city borders. Those who knew about the phenomenon, talked about a mysterious gue haunting the province of Kandria, and were worried about it spreading.

    The body count had already reached the hundreds, and with each passing day more and more cases arose, forcing the Crown to dere the status of quarantine two weeks after the start of the outbreak.

    Whoever tried to get in or out the city would be executed on the spot, the whole region had been enveloped by an array that prevented flying spells and Warp Steps to work.

    Sylpha, Queen of the Griffon Kingdom and supreme head of the Mage Association, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She hadn¡¯t slept properly since the old nobles¡¯ rebellion had started, and now with the unsolved mystery of the gue, she felt she was losing her mind.

    The Queen hadn¡¯t missed how the current predicament had urred right after Arj?n went missing in action, the problem was determining how the two events were rted. Knowing Arj?n¡¯s prowess, she suspected it was all the work of an Awakened one.

    It was impossible for a member of the Corpse to be killed by conventional means during a simple recognition mission. Also, the fact that the best minds of the Kingdom were still clueless, was proof enough it wasn¡¯t something fake magic could achieve.

    Her problem was that aside from the members of the Corpse, the Crown had no Awakened ones, and Lady Tyris refused to train more than seven at a time. The remaining six members were already engaged in life or death situations, otherwise she would have never recalled Arj?n so soon.

    The rescue teams were still looking for him under theb¡¯s debris, but so far nothing hade out. Out of desperation, she took out hermunication amulet, trying to reach for Krishna Manohar, the god of healing.

    He was the best healer of the Kingdom, and herst hope. Aside from a magical gue, it could have been the effect of an ancient artifact. Such powerful weapon, if it even existed, once found had to remain a secret, and that was the reason why she had kept him as ast resort.

    That man was a loose cannon, discretion and reliability weren¡¯t his strong suits. The amulet gave no response, even after multiple attempts.

    Having no time for his antics, Sylpha called Linjos, instead, demanding for Manohar¡¯s whereabouts and the reason of his unavability.

    "I would never dare to disobey a direct order of yours, you Majesty, but s, your first request is beyond me. Even I do not know where he is. As for the second, I think you wouldn¡¯t believe me without hearing it from the horse¡¯s mouth."

    The Headmaster took a piece of paper and ced it on the amulet¡¯s gem, allowing the Queen to read its content.

    {Dear Linjos...} The name was followed by a doodle depicting a horse bearing a striking resemnce to the Headmaster, even wearing his clothes.

    {...I¡¯m on the verge of an incredible magical breakthrough. In can¡¯t risk my research to be ruined by the constant pestering of mediocre minds, so I¡¯ll be gone for a while.

    K.M.}

    "How dares he to disappear again? It¡¯s already the third time this year!" Sylpha punched her desk hard enough to break it in half.

    "Send me your second best diagnostician. If he/she doesn¡¯t solve my problem, I¡¯ll have your head beside Manohar¡¯s in my trophy room!"

 Chapter 134 Tough Times

    Although Invigoration allowed Lith to avoid sleeping, it wasn¡¯t without side effects. Back when he was still at home, he had several opportunities to rx, like when hunting for food, teaching Tista fake magic, or simply spending quality time with his family.

    Now Lith was relentlessly working like a machine, piling up stress without any break outside his three daily meals. Over time, the umted mental fatigue made him more cranky, nervous and aggressive.

    It was something the Professors would not notice. Lith treasured them, and did his best to hold his temper and treat them with the respect they deserved. The same applied to his ¡¯friends¡¯.

    After hisst heart to heart with Solus, he tried to spend more time them, to give her what she needed, more emotions and human interaction. It would soothe her depression and wear down his nerves, but he didn¡¯t care.

    - "Solus always does so much for me. Not only she is basically my moralpass, helping me on all the academical subjects. She also restricts my most violent urges, making me almost human.

    Heck, if it was possible, I would dly trade ce with her. She would make a much better person than me." ¨C

    Solus was moved by how strong were his feelings for her, and how many sacrifices he was willing to endure for her sake. At the same time, thought, she was very worried.

    The prolongedck of sleep had only made more apparent that his mind and body were experiencing a major change. Since oveing the bottleneck, Lith¡¯s body kept getting stronger every time the mana core was refined.

    As for his mind, the recent events had put a lot of stress on his already twisted psyche. Ironically, while near death experiences were the norm since Lith had started to practice high level magic, it was finding people that actually cared for him outside of his family that triggered an inner conflict.

    Changing life-long values wasn¡¯t easy, it was like admitting to have always been wrong about almost everything.

    On the other hand, the same could be said about her. The quality and quantity of her nourishment had dramatically improved, and her mana core was on the verge of turning green.

    But what bothered Solus the most, were her new feelings. Thanks to Lith¡¯s new enhanced senses she could hear all the meanments people would make behind his back, all the petty grudges that every praise he received would arise.

    The more she knew humans, the more disgusted she became. After he had almost died protecting everyone from the spatial cracks, the kindestment she had heard was:

    "Even after losing an arm, we can¡¯t get him out of our hair for a whole day? That guy is worse than a cockroach!"

    Solus was starting to think it was her being wrong all along.

    ***

    Lith was summoned by the Headmaster less than an hourter Queen Sylpha had expressed her newfound interest for turning Linjos¡¯ head into a toilet brush holder, instead of mounting it on a wall.

    After consulting with Professor Marth, the second-best healer of the White Griffon academy, Linjos was left with no choice.

    "If it¡¯s a life or death situation..."

    "Cut the ¡¯if¡¯! There are lives on the line, mine included!" Linjos interrupted Marth.

    "...then I¡¯d definitely send Lith from Lustria. Is the only one whose diagnostic skills are at Manohar¡¯s level."

    "A student instead of a Professor? How low have we stooped? What will be of the prestige of this academy?" Linjos moaned.

    "Stooped?" Marth knitted his eyebrows in disapproval.

    "The new recing the old is the way of life. Also, epting someone that all the other academies rejected out of prejudice, is not stooping. Especially if he seeds."

    "But what if he fails?" Linjos was about to cry. "We¡¯ll be theughingstock of the Kingdom. Everyone will think we are so ipetent we have to rely on a child!"

    "Well, we can always send a couple of Professors and hope for the best. At least you would fail with dignity."

    Linjos groaned, his neck suddenly hurting. Failure wasn¡¯t an option.

    "What about that other student? Quy from Cerea? At this point, sending one or two makes no difference."

    "It actually does." Marth objected. "Her talent for light magic is outstanding, I believe that if properly nurtured, she can be the next Manohar..."

    "Stop saying that name!" Linjos¡¯ neck felt a new pang, feeling the executioner¡¯s axe nearing.

    "I mean in a good way."

    "There is nothing good about that man!" Seeing the Headmaster being unreasonable, Marth dropped the matter.

    "As I was saying, she is a magnificent mage, yet she is too young to witness such horrors. Not to mention that her diagnostic skills are about my level. I¡¯d rather go myself instead of putting her future at risk.

    As for our new star, he is... quite special."

    Marth tapped on Lith¡¯splete personal file. A folder almost as thick as a book, where the experts from the Mage Association had ssified him as what on Earth would be called "high-functioning sociopath".

    At that point, Linjos had stopped resisting and epted his fate.

    When Lith entered, he was wearing his old set of frown and re.

    "I didn¡¯t do anything wrong, and was about to have a magical breakthrough!" When he had received the call, Lith was about to clear the secondst exercise before attempting a real Warp Steps.

    After the sabotage, the fourth-year lessons had been suspended for a few days, until the internal investigation was concluded. He had used that time to further practice under Quy¡¯s guidance, and was close to cing eight opening a Gate.

    While most students had been scarred by the event and needed psychological counselling, he had continued his studies like nothing had happened, managing to catch up with those more talented than him.

    Lith¡¯s choice of words only intensified Linjos¡¯ feeling of impending doom.

    The Headmaster gave him a file, containing all the relevant information about the events in Kandria, exining to him that his presence was required to shed light on the matter.

    "I¡¯m just a student." Lith replied giving back the folder.

    "What does this have to do with me?"

    "What Headmaster Linjos forget to tell you, boy, is that this isn¡¯t a request. This is an order from the Queen herself."

    The voice belonged to a man about thirty years old, 1.82 meters (6¡¯) high that walked out of a Warp Steps that opened right in the middle of the room. He had light brown crew cut hair and moustaches of the same colour.

    He was wearing a deep blue uniform, bearing on the heart the Royal crest, a triangr shield representing a prancing griffon with a crown on its head and holding two sceptres in his front ws. One representing the magical power, the other the military one.

    "Lith, allow me to introduce to you Captain Vgros, from the Queen¡¯s corps. Captain, this is Lith from Lustria" Linjos stood up, offering his hand to his esteemed guest.

    "Were you spying on us, or did you just wait in order to make a dramatic entrance?" Lith wasn¡¯t impressed, more like annoyed. His bad mood made him blurt out what normally he would have just thought.

    "Kid, this is noughing matter. People is dying this very moment. If you can do something about it, it¡¯s your duty to."

    "People dies every day." Lith shrugged. "Usually it happens to the poor, the orphans, the homeless. Yet no one gives a damn about it. But if it happens to a few rich guys in a fancy city, then suddenly it bes a huge problem.

    Also, I have no duty, since I took no oath. So, let me rephrase: what¡¯s in it for me?" He said rubbing his right thumb and index fingers together.

    Normally Captain Vgros would have been tempted of teaching the arrogant kid a lesson, but he too had read the file. It was clearly stated that because of his upbringing, Lith had no real ties to the Kingdom.

    That was the reason his family was so tightly protected. The orders were to not antagonize him, unless it was absolutely necessary.

 Chapter 135 Traitor

    Captain Vgros could only grin and bear Lith¡¯s attitude, and not only because of his orders. The more he looked at the youth, the more wrong everything felt. The cold and dead eyes, the detached attitude, were all things he had seen plenty of times, but never in kids.

    They were traits found either in battle hardened veterans or in madmen with an agenda. Last but not least, back when he had stepped forward with an intimidating manner, his body had started screaming for danger.

    A member of the corps didn¡¯t manage to reach his age without developing a keen instinct, and in that moment his own was telling him to back off and avoid sudden movements.

    "How much do you want?" He asked.

    "You say it like I¡¯m extorting money. Before being a healer, I was a hunter. And the first thing I learned, is that hunters don¡¯t do favours, we cut deals. Here is my offer. I do the job, and if I seed, I get a safe house for my family.

    I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s because the civil war breaks out, we get invaded or there¡¯s a sudden drought. The second something goes wrong; I want them safe and out of the Kingdom. Deal?"

    Lith extended his hand and Vgros shook it without hesitation. For a moment, Vgros had feared the kid would ask for a ridiculous sum of money or an artifact. Instead he had demanded something simple and reasonable, albeit expensive, leaving no space for bargain.

    "Deal. And what if you fail?"

    "If that happens, we both would have just lost a few hours of our time." Lith shrugged.

    - "As long I can use Invigoration, there¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t diagnose. Curing it, thought, is another matter entirely. If the gue is something beyond myprehension, not even true magic can help me." ¨C

    "It will take more than a few hours." Vgros exined.

    "Warp Steps are blocked in all the region. First, I need to have an exit point set up for us in the vicinity. Then we¡¯ll reach the quarantine borders by flying. It will take a couple of hours to arrange everything."

    "I thought we were moving right away." Lith frowned.

    "In this case, I want our deal recorded in writing and signed up. Words may fly away, but writings remain."

    "Not a problem. Use the time to settle your business or to arrange your baggage before leaving. Depending on how it goes, we may be stuck in Kandria until tomorrow. And remember, you are not allowed to speak about the mission with anyone."

    Lith walked away, ignoring thest trivial order. He moved quickly toward his room, his aim to catch as much sleep as possible before departing. Being in his weakened state while inside the academy was one thing.

    It was full of Professors bound to help him, and an hospital that could heal him as long he had a single breath of life. But on the outside, he didn¡¯t care if he was with the Queen¡¯s corps or the Queen herself, he would always act as he were alone.

    - "I¡¯m so happy you took this mission." Solus mind-smiled. "So many people are suffering, we should help if we can."

    "And that¡¯s where you are wrong." Lith objected. "If you volunteer every time someone is in danger, you¡¯ll live your life for the sake of others. Give an inch, and they will take a mile. The demand of payment served multiple purposes.

    First, if I seed the vision should be foiled, at least the part that I really care for. Second, it showed them I¡¯m no puppet. Only soldiers obey without questions, and only idiots and saints work for free when they could get the rightpensation." ¨C

    Solus pondered on those words. Once she would have dismissed them as Lith being cold and cynical, now she wasn¡¯t so sure anymore.

    After Lith left the Headmaster¡¯s office, Vgros started arranging thest details for the mission, while Linjos couldn¡¯t stop sighing.

    "Is this the society we really want to create? A world where heroes are actually cold-blooded killers? At this point, I don¡¯t care what the Queen will do with me. I find way more terrifying the idea that if he seeds, such a person will be a role model.

    I hoped that nurture could beat nature, but it seems I was wrong once again."

    Captain Vgrosughed out loud at those words.

    "Dear Headmaster, I don¡¯t know where you lived until now, but when I attended the Water Griffon, it was a nightmare. The pranks, thepetition, the stress. So, what nurture are you talking about? Do you coddle the students here? Take them by the hand?"

    Linjos shook his head, blushing a little from embarrassment.

    "I¡¯ve seen a lot of people like that. They usually end up in jail, join the military or be sessful merchants. It depends on how much they are able to restrain themselves, usually picking jobs where they can legally ruin the lives of others or use violence.

    Think about the adventurers or spectors. Most of them are like him, yet everyone dreams of bing rich with quests or being acimed as a self-made man. Have you ever stopped considering how much death is hidden behind their fortunes?

    If he does his job and doesn¡¯t go on a murder spree, then he is fine by me."

    ***

    Not even a minute after Lith was summoned in Linjos¡¯ office with the academy¡¯s public announcement system, a call was made from within the White Griffon to Archmage Lukart.

    "Lukart, you idiot, the Queen has asked for our help."

    "Who cares?" Lukart didn¡¯t like being insulted, but decided to let it slide. Having a traitor in the academy was worth enduring a foul mouth.

    "I already made sure that Manohar got the ingredient he was looking for, so he is out of the picture. ording to Hatorne, there¡¯s no one else that can understand the ¡¯gue¡¯s¡¯ nature. Despite the ident in theb, everything is going smoothly."

    "Smoothly?" The voice sneered. "Triggering a quarantine and alerting the whole world about your experiments, is far from what would I call ¡¯going smoothly¡¯. Also, Linjos has just summoned Lith from Lutia, so you¡¯d better take action fast."

    "Who cares about a kid? He can die in a fire, together with his filthy little vige."

    The voiceughed out loud.

    "If you keep underestimating the same ¡¯kid¡¯ that saved Distar¡¯s daughter from your prized poison, taking away the only silver lining in your utter fiasco of an assassination attempt, andter stopped the spatial breakdown with no casualties despite my sabotage, then you are a bigger fool than I thought."

    Lukart snarled, both failures still haunted his dreams. The first was supposed the take out Marchioness Distar¡¯s whole family, but because of Ainz¡¯s presence they had only managed to injure the daughter.

    The second had gone even worse. The death of the students would have caused an uproar, setting the foundations for the next step, leading to Linjos¡¯ execution and force the new noble¡¯s faction to either drop all their ims or start a civil war.

    Both scenarios were perfect, since in Lukart¡¯s mind they would end up the same way. His faction would win, and themoners would have to submit or die.

    "Can¡¯t you just turn off the protective system and kill him?"

    "You really are stupid. After the sabotage, our rings have been stripped of several functions. Now only the Headmaster himself can interact with the academy¡¯s control system."

    "You really are useless!" Lukart mmed his fist against the table, bleeding a little.

    "Useless?" The voice gasped in outrage.

    "I arranged my lessons so they would be much easier for your sons. I made sure that the ckers would haunt the location where the most promisingmoners would appear. I deactivated all the protections, so that a ss full of students could be decimated.

    If I am useless, then what about your precious offspring, that keeps getting outssed bymoners? I¡¯m starting to think this is all a big mistake. Maybe we should just ept the change."

    "Never!" Incapable of bearing any more of that nonsense, Archmage Lukart hung up the call.

 Chapter 136 Traitor 2

    A little longer than two hourster, Lith was woken up by a clerk, prompting him to go back to the Headmaster¡¯s office. The sleep hadn¡¯t been much, but enough to take some of the edge off his mind and partially reset Invigoration¡¯s effectiveness.

    Vgros weed him, giving Lith a copy of their agreement and keeping the other for himself, before Warping out the office.

    They materialized on a grasnd, in the middle of nowhere. Lith looked around, instinctively searching for familiarndmarks, finding none. The only structure in sight was a circle, formed by rectangr wooden rods, from which they had emerged from.

    The rods were about 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and 3 centimetres (1.8 inches) thick.

    Each of the four sides was engraved with bright red runes, pulsing with power, that went opaque as soon as the portal closed behind them. Waiting for them there was a group of three women and two men, all dressed like Vgros, and with various weapons dangling from their belts or backs.

    They immediately started to disassemble the circle, storing the rods in dimensional amulets.

    "Is it your first time seeing a temporary waypoint?" Lith nodded in response.

    "Crossing hundreds of kilometres at once would be impossible without such a device. By knowing its frequency, I can use it to lock into these coordinates, while the others pumped their own mana in it, allowing for us to get here with minimum mana consumption on my side."

    - "Solus, how strong are these guys?"

    "Each one of them has a blue mana core, so in theory they are stronger mages than you. Also, everything they have is heavily enchanted. Compared to their clothes, your uniform is like a firefly besides a torch. Invisible." ¨C

    They were all of different ages and builds, the youngest one seemed to be barely over twenty years old while the oldest seemed to be nearing the fifties.

    "Our destination is in that direction." Vgros pointed towards south-southeast.

    "It shouldn¡¯t take much by flight. Half an hour, tops."

    At hismand, everyone cast his personal flight spell, advancing with a wedge formation with Lith as its center. He used that opportunity to activate Life Vision, discovering that despite they had superior cores, their magical forces weren¡¯t much stronger than his own.

    On the contrary, Lith¡¯s physical prowess outssed everyone else¡¯s, even without using fusion magic.

    After a few minutes, though, their spells disappeared abruptly, sending them into a free fall to the ground. Luckily, they were flying low, around 5 meters (16¡¯) high, to avoid being visible from a distance, so they ended up tumbling on the ground instead of sttering.

    The corps¡¯ protective vests absorbed much of the impact, but Lith wasn¡¯t wearing one, and his uniform¡¯s weak point was offering no protection against blunt impacts. He made the earth under him soft and stic, bouncing and rolling to disperse the momentum.

    "Ambush!" Captain Vgros roared, while he and his men assumed a defensive position.

    Lith and Solus activated Life Vision and mana sense respectively, discovering that they had stepped into a veryplex array.

    - "This is clearly a high-level Warden formation." Solus observed. "Besides disrupting air magic, making flight impossible, somehow it alsopresses space. I can¡¯t ess to our dimensional pocket, and I bet that even Blinking or using Warp Steps is impossible." ¨C

    Cursing his bad luck, Lith alerted Vgros of Solus¡¯ discovery, while readying both fake and true spells. He would do everything to keep his secret, but dying for it was not an option.

    "Cr*p! The kid is right." Vgros had just tried to Warp them away, but to no avail. "Fall back, we are sitting ducks here!"

    Vgros had no idea how Lith had assessed the situation so fast, but that wasn¡¯t the time for questions. With no movement spells, escaping the encirclement would be difficult, and with their dimensional amulets sealed, their resources had been dramatically reduced.

    "How deep are we into the array?" He asked noticing how Lith¡¯s eyes were burning with mana.

    "Very. They probably waited for us to be in the middle before activating it."

    "Makes sense." Vgros nodded. "I would have done the same."

    Any direction was good as another, they were still in the open, with no natural formation offering them cover or protection. Vgros picked one at random, making his team move fast but keeping the formation, to not leave blind spots.

    To his surprise, despite being the shortest, Lith had no problem keeping the pace of their jog.

    - "Since this was ast-minute operation, the only possible exnation is that there is a spy in the Royal pce. Otherwise it would be impossible to set up a trap like this on such a short notice." ¨C

    Vgros inwardly swore to find the traitor and give him a slow and painful death.

    Suddenly, several Gates opened in the air, from each emerged a person wearing a guerribat suit, that unleashed a tier five spell on the corps unit. The air filled with countless spheres of fire the size of a house, while the ground all around them exploded in razor-sharp rock shrapnel.

    Lith realized that the Queen¡¯s corps unit was doomed. The aggressors could turn on and off the jamming field at will. Wiping them out with hit and run tactics was just a matter of time.

    He quickly activated all the barriers he had ready, only around himself, opening at the same time a deep hole in the ground right under his feet with earth magic.

    The assault continued for several seconds. The earth trembled like there was an earthquake, forcing Lith to keep digging away. The shockwaves from the surface only grew in intensity over time.

    - "Dammit, and to think that Yurial always nag about useless a Warden is! I can¡¯t believe a whole unit of the Queen¡¯s corps was done so easily." ¨C

    One after the other, the life forces of the six people assigned to escort him faded away. Lith was shocked and angry, there was nothing he could have done to save them, even by revealing his status of Awakened one.

    The attack had been too quick and well-coordinated to open a hole big enough for everyone. And even if somehow he managed to, the enemies would have noticed, using tier five earth magic to squash them like bugs.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time that Lith had been forced to retreat, but it was the first time that such an act left him with a bitter aftertaste. He had never experienced such helplessness before, making him aware that he could only cower ad hide, like a rat.

    A few hundred meters to the east, the leader of the Talons was admiring the result of their work through a surveince mirror. Once again, no survivors, no witnesses, no proofs. Farion Negal and his men were the best at their job, and they were proud of it.

    The Talons was a mercenary unit, whose members were once part of the elite troops from the armies of all the three great Countries, but had been dishonourably discharged for viting the warrior code, by either piging, raping and/or murdering in the territories that they were supposed to protect.

    A few of them were actually wanted criminals, but the Talons knew how to take care of their own. Offering their services to the highest bidder, they lived a life of luxury, being the living proof that their countries had made a big mistake by discarding them like trash.

    "Captain Seephit, check for survivors." Negal ordered to their Warden.

    "Come on, General! There¡¯s nothing left but a crater. It¡¯s a waste of my considerable skill!" Despite not being part of the army anymore, each one had a military rank and a status in the unit, ording to his/her talent.

    "Do it anyway. We have a reputation to uphold."

    "Yes, sir!" Seephit was the third inmand, yet sometimes he forgot how anal retentive the General was.

    Seephit disabled his arrays, allowing him to open a Warp Steps right above the crater and then cast the Life Detection Array, a Warden spell that in many aspects resembled Lith¡¯s Life Vision.

    From underground, Lith was still able to see the magic portal opening with Life Vision.

    - "What the heck are they doing now? In their ce I would either wipe down any trace of the massacre or check for survivors, if not both." ¨C

    "Good gods, General, you are right for once! We have a rat!"

    Thanks to his heightened senses, Lith was able to hear the Warden¡¯s snarky remark, and react ordingly.

    In all his years as a soldier first and a mercenaryter, Seephit had never seen anyone moving so fast. Charged to the brim with air fusion, it took Lith but a second to get out of his hiding spot, cross the Warp Step, and rip Seephit¡¯s head from the neck with his bare hands.

 Chapter 137 Despair

    Although his entry appeared overbearing and dramatic to the members of the Talons, Lith was actually quite desperate, and so was Solus. The moment the snarky man had revealed his presence, he knew that he had just went from the frying pan into a volcano.

    Whoever those guys were, they had mastered the discipline of spatial magic to the point of making it an art form. Lith could only run or fly, but against an opponent that cold bend space, Blink or Switch it was useless.

    His only option was to get in and kill them so fast they would not even understand what had hit them. It was time to test the limits of his new body.

    - "First thing first, we need to kill the Warden." Lith thought, not knowing it was his intended target¡¯s head that he was throwing to the nearest enemy, making both heads burst open for the violence of the impact.

    "Our only hope is to find him before he casts another array, otherwise we are screwed. The only silver lining is that Warden¡¯s spells are slow a*s."

    "You focus on the killing." Solus replied.

    "I¡¯ll collect as much intel as I can about our opponents. If I see the slightest hint of Warden magic, I¡¯ll tell you." ¨C

    Sadly, the Talons unit wasprised only by veterans, hence as soon Lith beheaded Seephit, it took them barely a second to recover and regroup. The one Lith had killed with an unconventional headbutt, was simply too close to dodge the projectile.

    Farion Negal, the General, instantly issued coded orders, that his men were ready to execute. The element of surprise was already lost, and Lith had yet to face nine more people.

    "ck two! Red three! White four!" Despite the target was just a kid, Negal employed an extremely aggressive tactic. His creed was that no matter the opponent, never underestimate, never rx, never talk until the kill was confirmed.

    The two most skilled melee expert would kill him, o worst case scenario, keep him busy while three mid range specialists would cover for them and stall enough time for the four long ranged spellcaster to put an end to the struggle.

    Cursing his bad luck for the umpteenth time since he was born back on Earth, Lith prepared to face his iing enemies. First, he pushed his mana core to the limit, emitting a light cyan aura that enveloped the space around him with a mana so dense that the air started to crackle.

    Then, he infused his body with all the six elements, while casting one of his new spells as fast as he could. The two Talons were a man and a woman, the first using a sword and shieldbination, the second twin swords instead.

    Bloodlust and madness twisted their features, to the point that not even Yurial would have wasted time pondering if she was hot or not.

    - "Beware! All their equipment is on par with the corps! Even their tattoos seem to be enchanted." Solus warned him.

    "Just my luck. I need a damn weapon to block enchanted des, but I still can¡¯t afford the academy¡¯s prices!" ¨C

    A chunk of the tattoos disappeared, boosting their speed like a high grade potion and allowing them to reach Lith before he could finish casting. They ced in opposite directions, forcing Lith to create a blind spot in his visual field.

    Much to their surprise, he didn¡¯t even try following the movements of them both with his eyes. Instead, he turned his back on the shield man, focusing only on the double wielding woman.

    Nheless they didn¡¯t lose focus, executing a two pronged attack where each strike was meant to corner the prey, by making the attacksing from the partner harder to evade. Yet Lith dodged them all wlessly, even thoseing from his back.

    The first exchange was more than enough for Negal to understand what was happening, forcing him to vite his creed already.

    "What are you doing, you idiots?! That¡¯s Full Guard! Red, white fall back!" To prevent their target from escaping, Negal started weaving the anti air magic array.

    For a split second the Talons froze, thinking their General had gone mad.

    Full Guard was amon Mage Knight spell, that created a spherical blue aura with a radius of 1.65 meters (5.41 feet) all around the caster.

    Thanks to Full Guard, a Mage Knight had no blind spots. Whatever entered the sphere would be detected, allowing him to counter attack and dodge with surgical precision without even looking.

    What Negal said didn¡¯t make sense, though. The cyan aura surrounding their target had a radius of over twenty meters (66¡¯), something every one of them knew by experience was impossible.

    The spell range, even at tier five, was supposed to cover only the length given by the arm plus weapon length. When their instinct and discipline kicked in, making them obey the order, it was already toote.

    Lith had previously ignored the earlier football coach gibberish, but now, viting his creed Negal had exposed himself.

    - "Warden at three o¡¯clock!" Solus shouted the moment she recognized the energy pattern. ¨C

    Lith exploited the opening, darting toward Negal while extending his arms, with a motion that made no sense to his enemies. At that distance, any spelling from a ring could be easily avoided.

    The red and white team moved backwards, without stopping their chants, trying to keep the distance from the prey while the ck team was in hot pursuit. Their problem was twofold, though.

    Lith was too fast for his chasers, and no one in the Talons knew of spirit magic¡¯s existence.

    Fast like a snake, tendrils of pure, invisible mana travelled the space between predator and prey, coiling around Negal¡¯s head. Spells rained on Lith from all directions.

    Some he managed to dodge, others he had to tank in order to not lose focus, letting thebined effects of earth fusion and his uniform to block most of the damage, while light fusion regenerated the wounds as soon as they were opened.

    With each step he took, Lith¡¯s magical force became strong enough to overcame Negal¡¯s enchanted protections, horribly deforming his head before popping it like a balloon.

    Spirit magic¡¯s range had already reached fifty meters (54.7 yards) back when he had saved Count Lark¡¯s family.

    Now it could hit as far as Lith could see, yet the farther he was from the target, the weaker the effects.

    - "Okay, the Warden is down. Eight more to go. With a bit of luck, the shock from my use of spirit magic should stun them for a couple of seconds, giving me plenty of time to evening the field." ¨C

    Yet, luck was a fickle mistress. What Lith ignored, knowing nothing about military except what he learned from the movies, was that in such tight knitted units there were two only two kinds of generals.

    The ones whose death would destroy the morale, turning them into sitting ducks, like he had hoped, and the ones whose death would turn his soldiers into battle frenzy demons unafraid of death.

    Farion Negal belonged in the second category. Most of the members of the Talons were either psychopaths devoid of empathy or cold blooded killers, they didn¡¯t care about anything but themselves.

    Killing Negal was the equivalent to cutting their lifeline, they had no idea how to survive outside the battlefield without him. A few were even grateful to him for having rescued them before their execution.

    Each and every one of them took it personal.

    To make things worse, Brigadier Phita Beruit, second inmand, quickly regained her cool, avoiding the situation to devolve into chaos.

    "ck four! Red two! White two! Don¡¯t let the General¡¯s death go to waste. F*cking kill him!"

    Brigadier General Beruit was an ex member of the Queen¡¯s corps. It was thanks to her knowledge about the corps¡¯ protocol and equipment that the mission had gone so smoothly, up until Seephit¡¯s death.

    Unlike the others, she had already seen someone moving so fast. Once, Beruit had been a member of the Queen¡¯s detail, witnessing her inhuman speed. During an ambush, she had killed three assants before her bodyguards could even move.

    In her mind, now everything finally made sense, all her questions had found an answer. Why six members of the corps had been sent to protect an insignificantmoner. Why the pay was obscenely good, even for the Talons¡¯ standards.

    "The f*cker is a member of the royal family!" She shouted.

    "We have to make this quick, before they send someone looking for him!"

    Everyone in the Talon had heard Beruit¡¯s tale at least once. No one had ever believed her, thinking it was a self-delusion from when she was still a rookie. But now things had changed.

    Beruit couldn¡¯t believe that Negal had hid from them such a valuable piece of information. She knew not even the General took her story seriously, but being so meticulous that act of carelessness seemed so out of character.

    - "I¡¯m what?!" Lith couldn¡¯t avoid to inwardly sneer at that rubbish.

    "First, I¡¯m the bastard son of Count Lark, and this time of the Queen?"

    "Two more enemiesing up close!" Solus warned him.

    Lith could only sigh with relief.

    "Just what the healer ordered." ¨C

    Then, he activated the spell he had previously casted, turning the world around him dark.

 Chapter 138 Despair 2

    Being a self-taught true mage with very little knowledge outside of tier three, had always been a problem for Lith. He had to make up from scratch most of his spells, and not having much free time, if not none at all, his toolkit was quite limited.

    For such reason, most of his spells were derived from imitation. Phloria¡¯s Full Guard, the Ry¡¯s slipstream effect or the Wither dark aura were all tricks that he had picked up along the way.

    His fight with the nt Abomination had allowed him to further understand darkness magic, and how to ovee its obnoxious limitations.

    Darkness was an element capable of inflicting an enormous amount of damage overtime, and to add insult to injury, it was extremely hard to defend from it. On the other hand, though, darkness based spells were so slow that outside niche situations they were nigh useless.

    Vampiric Touch required physical contact, hence it was ast resort. The Wither¡¯s dark aura had good range, but required a huge mana expenditurepared to the damage dealt.

    That was why Lith had thought long and hard about it, trying to figure out a way to use darkness magic to cover for his weak points. No matter how much he nned in advance, he was still an amateur fighter,cking any professional training.

    Despite being much slower than Lith, two members of the Talons were enough to force him to go all out just to not be turned into mincemeat in a few seconds. Thanks to their rich battle experience, they were able to anticipate his movements and adjust their attacks ordingly.

    Not to mention that even speed could do only so much in front of such refined teamwork. The moment they closed in, they had used the range advantage granted by their des to restrict Lith from escaping or counterattacking.

    To gain the upper hand, he needed to fight dirty and shamelessly like before, exploiting the fact that his opponents knew nothing about true magic. When the four melee experts approached, ck tentacles emerged from Lith¡¯s body, trying to grab whoever came near.

    The Talons¡¯ first instinct was to cut them down, but the tentacles were made of pure energy, so they passed through the des like a breeze,shing at the enemies¡¯ bodies, sucking out their life force and giving it to their master.

    Death Call was the answer Lith had devised to his problems. Anyone that came too close would have to endure the vampiric touch of the tentacles, that were nothing more than a dense mass of dark magic guided by his will.

    Thepact form meant that, unlike the dark aura, the draining effect was fast and efficient, while the mid range of the spell made the slow speed irrelevant. Thanks to Full Guard, Lith waspletely aware of his surroundings, therefore able to manipte every single tentacle like it was one of his limbs.

    Combined together, the two spells offered a perfect defence. Come close, be food. Stay away, suffer true magic. Lith didn¡¯t need to attack anymore, he could simply focus on dodging while the tentacles did the rest.

    Barely a few seconds after the activation of Death Call, the close range Talons realized what was happening. They were out of breath, their movements getting sluggish, each strike sloppier than thest.

    Their opponent, instead, was suddenly fully healed, either dodging or deflecting theirbined attacks with his bare hands, without even breaking a sweat. But the most shocking part was when the five of them, Lith included, noticed an unforeseen side effect of the spell.

    The four Talons seemed to be aging by the second, their hair getting thin and grey, while their faces were now full of wrinkles, the skin starting to sag. It was actually a mere cosmetic effect, caused by the sudden loss of moisture and life force.

    Nothing that a few drinks and some rest couldn¡¯t fix. No Talon feared death, but age? That was another matter entirely.

    For the first time in many years, the members of the Talons started to feel fear. From the moment Seephit had opened that Warp Gate, their day had quickly turned into a nightmare.

    Since when kids could rip off heads? Since when spells could be cast with no magic words or hand signs? How could possibly exist someone capable of killing a soldier of the calibre of Negal with just a wave of the hand?

    Last, but not least, what kind of monster could summon an unnamed horror?

    "ck, fall back! Red, fire at will! White, hold your fire until Red is done!" Fear had never made Beruit falter, and this time was no different.

    By alternating the waves of spells from the two teams, she nned of raining on the monster enough destruction to make the nightmare end.

    When the four of the ck team tried to retreat, they discovered that the ck tentacles had turned solid. Infused with spirit magic, they dragged back their victims, using them as meat shields against the iing attacks.

    It was after the first shockwave arrived, that Lith understood to have gravely underestimated tier five spells.

    The four bodies, even with all their magical protections, were barely enough to block the first one, a densely packed chain of lightnings that boiled the four Talons from the inside, turning them into charred corpses.

    The second spell from the Red unit ripped them to shreds, forcing Lith to dodge and wave countless wind des, capable of cutting through rock and dirt like a hot knife pressed against butter.

    Those he didn¡¯t manage to avoid, prated deeply into his flesh, stopping only halfway through the bones. The wounds were too extensive to cut off the pain receptors, otherwise his whole body would go limp.

    Seeing that the monster was still alive, and four more Talons had died, their fear turned into despair, but that didn¡¯t stop them. In battle there was no time for whining or grieving, only victory or defeat.

    Beruit and thest member of the White unit unleashed their spells too.

    Lith had no choice left, he could only fly away as fast as he could. He used all his remaining strength to raise a stone wall after the other, hoping that between the distance and the makeshift barriers he would manage to survive.

    Whatever it was, it hit with the strength of a volcano.

    The spot where Lith had been until a split second before had turned into a vortex of purple mes, that exploded with great violence, turning the stone walls in pebbles, trampling them like they were just domino pieces.

    Lith stopped wasting his energies on magic fusion, keeping only the light one to keep regenerating his present and future wounds and earth fusion to try to save his life. Everything else he had, was focused on his speed, trying to avoid being reduced to a pile of ashes by the purple mes.

    Despite all his efforts, the explosion kept getting closer and closer. Lith wasn¡¯t fast enough to outrun it, his only hope was to get far enough from the epicentre of the spell to take as little damage as possible.

    But it was all useless. Even from a distance, moving faster that a bullet, Lith could feel the scorching heat burning his feet despite the magical shoes and earth fusion.

    When the mes engulfed him, Lith stopped even flying, letting the shockwave carry him away. A cold shiver ran down his spine, the fear almost made his mind go nk, but he refused to surrender.

    In ast gamble he used all his remaining strength, even aided by Solus, to inste himself with a thick barrier made of air, quickly revolving around his body to deflect the mes and avoid direct contact, while using water magic on himself, in a way that in any other circumstances would have frozen him to death.

    Despite his water magic spell, the air inside the barrier quickly became so hot that he had to stop breathing to not burn his lungs and throat. His skin got covered in blisters, his open wounds immediately cauterized.

    The pain was strong enough to make Lith cry, and he was happy for it, because despite keeping his eyelids close like shutters, he still feared that without the tears his eyes could boil.

 Chapter 139 Los

    The few seconds Lith spent in that zing inferno felt like hours, constantly wishing for the pain to stop, while his lungs were desperate for air.

    When it finally ended, he crashed on the ground, tumbling multiple times beforeing to a halt.

    The first breath of fresh air he took, was the best he had ever had. His normal vision was blurry, but Life Vision showed him clearly that there was still no trace of his enemies.

    ying dead had no sense, they had discovered him once, they could do it twice.

    Lith immediately started healing himself, using Invigoration at the same time. Thanks to the world energy, his wounds healed much faster than normal, the bones mended and the burns disappeared without leaving any scar.

    - "Solus, any sign of those b*astards?"

    "You travelled several hundred metres because of the explosion, but they are catching up fast. They¡¯ll Blink here before you are finished healing."

    "Damn Blink! I can¡¯t get close, while they can escape anytime. Also, from range they can dodge or block everything I throw at them. It¡¯s only a matter of time before they kill me for good. I¡¯m almost out of tricks." ¨C

    Determined not to die, Lith stood up, waiting for the enemies while racking his brain for a solution.

    "By the gods! He is still alive!" Beruit and the three survivors were all that remained of the Talons.

    "That¡¯s impossible!" Lieutenant Cnt couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    "That was a f*cking War Mage spell! It¡¯s supposed to blow open castles and can¡¯t even kill a kid?"

    "That¡¯s no kid, Lieutenant, that¡¯s a monster. I¡¯ll cast Raging Sun again, you three prevent him to interrupt me or run away, at any cost! We owe it to our fallenrades."

    The three Talons assumed a triangle formation, but didn¡¯t dare to approach. If four had failed, there was no reason for three to seed.

    - "Damn! At this distance, I¡¯m powerless. Think, Lith, think. How can we save ourselves? There must be something we can do. Something only us can do, that will take them by surprise..."

    A cruel smile appeared on his lips, there was still hope.

    He dashed toward the chanting woman with air fusion, using Full Guard again to not miss any movement. The three performed a Blink, nning on using hit and run tactics to not fall prey of the tentacles.

    But thanks to thebination of Life Vision and his enhanced speed, Lith was able to see where the Gates would open, and react ordingly. He changed direction, aiming for the nearest Gate, punching with his full force before the enemy appeared.

    The hit crushed the Talon¡¯s trachea, even severely damaging the spine in the process. Lith kept moving forward, while the corpse still stood up, with a shocked expression on the face.

    The two remaining Talons reacted by instinct, thinking their teammate had simply missed, letting the target slip away.

    They Blinked together, one in front of the target, the other at his back, only to discover he was ready for them. Lith grabbed them by the throat, his hands were strong like a vise, snapping their necks with a twist of his wrists.

    Thanks to the distance, Beruit was barely able to distinguish what had happened. Just like the Queen years ago, Lith¡¯s movements appeared only as a blur, but years of training told her to run away.

    Lith¡¯s smile grew wider, while his spirit magic was coiling around thest enemy. He twisted her hands behind her back, to prevent her to cast spells or use magic rings, choking her at the same time.

    Even if Beruit had been able to talk, Lith wasn¡¯t willing to listen. He knew that if not for the fact of being an Awakened one, he would have already died many times. He feared her and what she was able to do.

    Letting her live was too big of a risk, blocking her hands and mouth wouldn¡¯t stop her from using first magic, nor he had any idea what kind of artifact she could use against him if given the chance.

    By clenching his fist, Lith lifted Beruit in the air before crushing her head.

    After checking there was no enemy still alive, Lith gave out a victoryughter.

    - "I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m still alive! It¡¯s the first time I had to gamble so much. These guys¡¯ strength and teamwork was insane. Who the heck where they?"

    "I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t care!" Solus was brimming with joy.

    "The only important thing is that you are well and all in one piece. Well almost."

    "What do you mean with ¡¯almost¡¯?"

    "Your hair." ¨C

    Lith¡¯s hand ran over his head, discovering that he was almost bald. With Invigoration, he assessed that his hair had almost been burned down to the root.

    - "How did I get them back thest time?"

    "Manohar." Solus said, like it exined it all." ¨C

    Looking at himself, Lith discovered that most of his uniform was gone. Between the cuts and the burns, he was as good as naked. After a quick change in farmer¡¯s clothes, he realized he had another problem.

    - "Solus, do you have any idea where we are?"

    "No. What about you?"

    "Well, I know that moss grows on the north side of the trees."

    "Yeah, too bad this is a grasnd." She sneered.

    "And I was being sarcastic! Without andmark, maps are useless. We could be anywhere between the academy and Kandria."

    "Yeah, I think we should... run for our life!" ¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t knew what Solus had noticed, but didn¡¯t stop for asking. He moved as fast as he could, casting a flight spell to get the higher ground.

    The corpses of the Talons exploded, leaving nothing behind.

    "My loot!" Lith screamed.

    - "As soon as you killed that woman, I noticed something had changed in the mana surrounding their equipment.

    At first, I thought it was some kind of protection that was being depowered by the user¡¯s death, but then I noticed that instead of decreasing, the energy was actually overloading. They sure were a careful lot."

    "Who cares about that? All this work for nothing!"

    "Did you just dare to call your life ¡¯nothing¡¯?" Solus sounded really angry.

    "Yes... I mean, no. Damn, where the heck are we?" Lith decided to change topic. ¨C

    After thinking a bit about their predicament, they decided the first thing to do was to get away from the fighting scene. Lith would have a hard time to justify how a team of six experts had died, while a simple student had survived.

    The simplest exnation was to say he had no idea what had happened to the corps after they had helped him escape from unknown assants. The self-destruction mechanism had undoubtedly hurt his pockets, but at least helped covering what had really happened.

    In a battle involving the corps, the fact that so many of the dead bodies had broken necks and exploded heads, instead of weapon marks, would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

    - "If you think about it, it¡¯s a blessing in disguise." Solus pointed out. "If the equipment remained along with the bodies and you looted it, there was no possible way to justify how a naked unit could fight on par with the corps." ¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t reply, but only because he understood she was trying to cheer him up.

    It would have been quite easy for him to make the best equipped members of the Talons disappear and stage a more bnced sh.

    After flying for a while in the direction he supposed was south-southeast, getting even more lost, Lithnded near a group of trees. There, he took out his uniform, hoping for its self-repair magic to make it less tattered.

    At that point, all he had to do was waiting for someone to notice he had disappeared. First, he ate a lot of food from his reserve, to made up for the body mass lost after healing such extensive wounds, then Lith spent the following hours using umtion.

    While refining his mana core, Lith reflected on the battle, analysing all he had discovered about tier five magic, searching for a way to reproduced it, but most importantly how to defend from it.

 Chapter 140 Paranoia

    Tier five magic was much stronger than he had anticipated, making all the other spells he had learned so far look like parlour tricks. From what Lith had understood, tier five was capable of borrowing a huge amount of world energy.

    No matter how strong a mana core was, just conjuring once those purple mes should have left the mage exhausted, yet the sorceress seemed perfectly fine. To be able to cast such spell twice in a short amount of time, meant that the burden on her body was limited.

    - "We have to learn a way to do the same. Otherwise the next time it happens, if our opponent is a little stronger or luckier, we¡¯ll be done for." ¨C

    After a couple hours, he had yet to find a solution, but hismunication amulet finally activated. It wasn¡¯t like a phone; it didn¡¯t ring or buzz. When there was an iing call, the user would experience a pull to his consciousness, like when you suddenly remember something important.

    It was a feeling strong enough to wake someone up from the deepest slumber. Lith didn¡¯t answer immediately, he wanted to give the impression of having been unconscious.

    "Lith, thanks the gods you are all right!" As predicted, it was Linjos.

    "I¡¯ve tried reaching captain Vgros, but to no avail. What happened to you? Why you have yet to reach Kandria?"

    "Headmaster?" Lith replied squinting his eyes, acting confused, like he had just woken up.

    "Good gods, Lith! What happened to your uniform?" Before answering, he had changed back, to make his story more believable.

    "I..." Lith took a long pause, like he was trying to remember.

    "Oh gods! The captain and his soldiers are in danger, they need help! You must hurry!" He seemed to be panicking, stuttering at every word, his face going pale thanks to a little spell.

    "Calm down, son. Take a deep breath." Lith did as instructed, and after a while, he was able to tell Linjos what had happened.

    In his version of the story, instead of using Warp Steps, the enemies had emerged from underground. Thest thing Lith remembered, was being hit by some purple mes before losing consciousness.

    "Purple mes?" Linjos was shocked.

    "I know very few spells capable of generating such destructive force. That would exin a lot. The captain must have used something to save you, but the damage sustained was too much and you have cked out.

    Then, he has brought you to safety before going back to the fight."

    Lith gasped, nodding at the Headmaster¡¯s words. When ying the "I don¡¯t know" card, it was always better let the other party to fill the nks. The less details he gave, the smaller the chances of contradicting himself.

    "Are you alone right now?"

    Lith looked left and right at his surroundings before answering.

    "Yes. And I have no idea where I am. The only thing I know for sure is that this isn¡¯t the same ce where we got attacked. What do I do now?"

    "You can¡¯t stay there, it¡¯s too dangerous. At this point, is safe to assume that captain Vgros is either dead or incapacitated. If he is dead, it means that the attackers could still be looking for you."

    After pondering for a moment, Linjos spoke again.

    "Follow the setting Sun toward west, unless the captain Warped you really far, you will find the river Delilin. Following the river, you are bound to find some settlement. Don¡¯t say you are going to Kandria. Despite the information ckout, everyone in the region knows something is wrong with it.

    You would raise suspicions. Ask for directions, but for the city of Pabia. It¡¯s outside the quarantine zone, but close to Kandria and well connected with the main trading routes. Road signs will help you reach your real destination.

    Notify me as soon as you arrive."

    Lith nodded, then he hung up the call before taking flight.

    - "We already knew of the river from the maps. Linjos¡¯ n is identical to our own, except we would have directly asked for Kandria. Why did you ask for his help?"

    Solus¡¯ question made Lith sigh, she was still too na?ve.

    "Because I¡¯m supposed to be a twelve year old, shocked by an ambush from which I barely survived. I need to appear vulnerable and confused, not like a cold blooded machine." ¨C

    Lith followed Linjos¡¯ instructions, easily finding the Delilin river first, and a farmter. Thanks to a stroke of luck, while looking for Pabia, he arrived on the main road.

    After that, reaching the outskirts of Kandria was just a matter of minutes. Thanks to Life Vision, Lith was able to see the otherwise invisible energy lines in the space in front of him, stretching beyond the barricades and roadblocks that were still far away.

    - "It¡¯s simr to the array used by those assassins to trap the corps¡¯ squad, but much more powerful andplicated" Solus observed.

    "I suspect that it can do much more than just block air and dimensional magic. I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before, but based on what we read from the file and your memories from Earth, I¡¯d say it¡¯s safe to assume that it can blockmunications too."

    "It would make sense." Lith agreed, while his mind was spinning. ¨C

    If Solus was right, and he would have bet good money on it, he was about to throw himself into the wolf¡¯s maws. There were countless things that could go wrong once he was isted from the outside world.

    His paranoia required at least a dozen of contingency ns for a situation like that, but he actually had only one. Lith informed Linjos of his arrival, making sure to leave a record of his position.

    Traitors weren¡¯t the only ones he had to watch out for, there were also the rtives and friends of all those he had crossed during his time in the White Griffon. Lith knew that for many of them, he was a stain on their pride and reputation.

    Normally, no one would dare to touch a prized student, but a quarantine zone was a ce werews andmon sense held little value. Those who consideredmoners like pebbles, would inevitably be tempted to cause "idents".

    Being without a detail, furtherplicated the situation. There was no one that he knew or that he could trust, and being the sole survivor was bound to raise suspicions. It didn¡¯t matter if they were genuine or a matter of opportunity, someone could try to pin their deaths to him.

    "I¡¯ll inform the supervisor and the Queen of your arrival. Get close to the perimeter, but do not attempt to enter on your own. The soldiers have strict orders, the gue has put everyone¡¯s nerves on edge. Use your uniform as proof of identity. I¡¯ll call youter."

    - "Linjos is a good man, after all. Calling the Queen means he has his fair share of doubts too, and is trying to avoid unnecessary troubles." ¨C

    Even from that distance, Lith could see how heavily guarded the zone was. There was a ten meters (33 feet) high wall, that circled the area as far as the eye could see. Life Vision showed him that many soldiers and a few mages were hidden behind it.

    Lith flew forward at full speed, pretending to not know what was going to happen. As soon as he entered the array, his spell disappeared, making him fall to the ground. Lith had tried to soften thending, but even low tier earth magic seemed to be blocked.

    The impact left him breathless, and before he could stand up, someone pushed him back to the ground, binding his hands, while several des grazed his neck puncturing even his unnaturally hard skin. Small droplets of blood started to flow towards his head.

    - "Man, I hate being always right." -

 Chapter 141 Suspicions

    "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Said a raspy voiceing from behind Lith¡¯s back.

    "I¡¯m Lith from Lutia,ing from the White Griffon academy on Her Majesty¡¯s service." Lith appeared to be calm, but he was actually seething with anger. He had expected for someone toe and identify him, not to be treated like a criminal.

    "Really?" The voice sneered. "Then why are you dressed like a farmer? Since when the White Griffon has stooped so low that they can¡¯t even afford uniforms anymore?"

    For a moment, Lith was tempted to break the ropes with brute strength, and then pull their guts through their mouths.

    - "Stay calm, you idiot. This isn¡¯t your vige or the academy. In the outside world you are a nobody, and you will be treated as such." ¨C

    "My uniform got heavily damaged." He replied calmly. "What¡¯s left of it is on my shoulder. Headmaster Linjos should have already contacted your supervisor."

    Someone searched him, while another hand picked the rag that was his uniform. Being on his finger, Solus could see one of the three robed magicians cast a spell. It made Lith and the uniform emit a light glow at the same time.

    The mages looked at each other, nodding, before letting Lith stand up.

    - "Amazing. It seems there is a way to make apparent the link between a magic object and the one it is imprinted with." ¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t share her enthusiasm, he was more interested in looking at his captors.

    There were five soldiers and three mages. They were all of different heights and builds, but were dressed almost in the same way. They were all clearly part of a military unit.

    They all wore leather boots, grey linen pants and shirt, leather gloves and what resembled a gue doctor mask, making their faces unrecognizable. The only differences between them was that the mages wore a robe, while the soldiers had weapons and a thin metal breastte.

    "Sorry, sir." Said one of the soldiers, his voice distorted by the mask.

    "But this is not enough proof of identity. No one gets in or out of the quarantine zone without the proper clearance."

    One of the mages took out amunication amulet, from which emerged the small hologram of a handsome man in histe thirties. He had thick blonde hair and beard, with the stern look typical of someone being used toplete obedience.

    "Why did you leave your post, sergeant?"

    "We had a perimeter breach, sir. We are currently dealing with it."

    "It". The way they had pronounced that word, not referring at him like a person but as a thing, sounded ominous to Lith¡¯s ears.

    "Is it perhaps a tall kid, dressed like a farmer, with a bald head and a tattered White Griffon uniform?"

    If the sergeant was surprised by the urate description, he didn¡¯t let it show.

    "Exactly, sir."

    "Bring him to me."

    Lith used that short exchange to use Invigoration on the ropes binding his hands. They had no enchantment whatsoever, and that let him sigh with relief. If necessity arose, he could easily free himself.

    One of the mages took out gloves and a gue mask from under his robe, making Lith wear them. The beak like mask had two small holes, from which the air would enter at every breath, making a hissing sound.

    Lith had the impression of having lost his sense of smell. The air didn¡¯t carry any scent anymore, except for that of some kind of disinfectant.

    - "This thing must be some sort of gas mask." He thought.

    "The situation must be much worse than I expected, if even this far from Kandria no one dares to move without it." -

    The soldiers positioned themselves so that two walked in front of Lith, two behind, together with the mages, and one alongside him, keeping the ropes in check.

    Once they got past the checkpoint, Lith could see a military encampment the size of a small city stationed behind the wall. It wasprised by several tents divided in two blocks. One block had only circr shaped tents of various height and size, but none bigger than a house.

    The other block was situated farther inside. It was heavily guarded as the wall itself, and it wasprised only byrge rectangr shaped tents. The smallest one was at least one hundred square meters big.

    Each tent of the encampment had small gs near its entrance, probably to indicate its purpose. Lith was led to one of the small circr tents, about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high with a diameter of 5 metres (16.5 feet), marked with triangr golden gs.

    The space inside was perfectly lit, thanks to glowing gems masterfully ced on the ceiling.

    The floor was entirely covered by a thick carpet, that muffled their footstep. Seated behind a hardwood desk, there was the man Lith had previously seen in the hologram.

    To his right, there was a man, around 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") high, with shoulder length pitch ck hair, and ice blue eyes. He wore a corps uniform identical to the one Vgros used. Lith deduced he had to be a captain too.

    The soldiers left him in the middle of the tent, without freeing his hands, and then left. The moment the curtain closed between them, the rattling sound their weapons produced at every step, disappeared. The tent was clearly sound proof.

    - "Damn. What the heck is happening? I¡¯m supposed to be an esteemed guest, not a prisoner." ¨C Lith was getting more nervous with every second, but he could only grin and bear it.

    "May I know what I did to deserve such treatment?" He asked walking towards the two men.

    "Silence! I ask the questions here." The blonde man stood up, mming his fist on the desk. Lith felt a powerful air current, pressing on him from above, trying to make him kneel.

    Lith bent a little under the force of the spell, but refused to submit. His rebelliousness angered his captor even more. The man waved his hand, and Lith felt like an invisible punch had just struck his jaw, making him fall on the ground.

    The corps¡¯ captain stiffened up, but said nothing.

    "Now tell me what happened to Vgros and his men." The blonde man¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits.

    Lith stood up, before repeating to him the same story he had told Linjos. How they had departed from the White Griffon, get ambushed by unknown assants, until he was struck by the purple mes and had lost consciousness.

    Lith was forced to repeat his story, again and again, but he never contradicted himself.

    When the man¡¯s anger peaked, and was about to hit Lith again, the captain stopped his hand.

    "That¡¯s enough, Colonel Varegrave. The boy has already answered to your questions. I will not allow any further harassment to our Queen esteemed guest!"

    Despite the captain¡¯s lean build, Varegrave was incapable of escaping his grasp.

    "Let me go immediately, Captain Kilian. This is a military operation, and this is my camp! I only answer to the King!"

    Kilian refused to back down, twisting Varegrave¡¯s arm and forcing to look at him in the eyes.

    "Make no mistake, you will answer to him. This is a vition of the protocol, and you are acting on groundless usations!"

    Varegrave snorted.

    "Do you really want me to believe that a man like Vgros died, that his whole team was wiped out, and that traitorous runt managed to came out unscathed? Isn¡¯t it suspicious?" Anger twisted his visage, baring his teeth at every word.

    "I know that you and Vgros were blood brothers, but nothing you do can bring him back. Now listen to reason, and let the healer go."

    "Not until I have my answers!" Varegrave snarled.

    Seeing that reasoning was impossible, Kilian took out hismunication amulet. Not even a secondter, an unknown visage appeared from it, that made Varegrave turn pale.

    "Tell me you have good news, Kilian." Said the man from the amulet.

    "Sadly, no, my King. Yet there is a matter that requires your attention."

    Lith inwardly smiled, seeing Varegrave¡¯s face twitch as Kilian reported everything that had happened.

    The King turned towards Lith, that only then realized he could actually see him, and promptly kneeled.

    "No need for formalities, mage Lith. Stand up." By acknowledging his name and title of mage, despite Lith was just a student, the King was doing him a huge honour. Lith knew it, and kept kneeling for a couple of seconds before standing up.

    "Thanks, your Majesty."

    "Kilian, take mage Lith to the hospital. There is much to do, and you have already wasted too much of his time. Varegrave and I need to have a talk. Please, leave us alone."

    Kilian bowed, and untied Lith¡¯s hands. Then the two of them wore their mask and exited from the tent.

    "My King, please, forgive my rudeness. Why are you letting him go? He is nothing but a traitorousmoner that has caused the death of many loyal servants of the crown. And even if he didn¡¯t, what could he possibly do?

    He¡¯s just a kid, how can he seed where the best healers of the Kingdom have failed? It¡¯s impossible. I would bet my life on it."

    The King silently stared at him for a second before replying.

    "I¡¯ll take that bet."

 Chapter 142 Plague

    Once out of Varegrave¡¯s tent, Lith introduced himself to Captain Kilian Aluria. He discovered that the ranks in the Queen¡¯s corps were different from the army. Being elite squads, each unit was allowed to act independently, and wasposed by five soldiers and one Captain.

    Each Captain only answered to the Queen herself, so despite their low-key demeanour, both Kilian and Vgros were actually big shots. Kilian tried exining to Lith how Varegrave had being grief stricken ever since he learned about Vgros¡¯ alleged death.

    The two of them had started their military career together, and been through thick and thin for years, before their paths had diverged. Lith politely nodded from time to time, grateful to the mask for hiding his uncaring expression.

    He knew a thing or two about grief and loss, yet he had never attacked someone based on a simple suspicion. In his mind, Varegrave¡¯s destiny was set in stone. He would use his sess in the current task to ask forpensation as part of his reward.

    If that resulted impossible or too problematic in the short term, Lith would simply postpone. He had always considered revenge as something that was best served cold, there was no rush for it.

    After asking Lith to forgive Varegrave and Lith pretending to consider doing it, Kilian lead him toward the second block.

    "The first block is where soldiers and personnel live. The second, instead, is where the hospitals and the researchbs are located. We have healers and alchemists trying to treat the victims of the gue that we managed to stabilise, or at least that was the n.

    The truth is, that even after a month no one has yet understood what the gue really is. So far light magic ispletely useless, while alchemy seems to work to some degree, but only as palliative care. It treats the symptoms, not the cause."

    The more Lith learned about the gue, the more it resembled one of his old medical cases. He was confident to be able to offer both a diagnosis and a cure, for a proper reward, of course.

    "Just out of curiosity..." He asked.

    "...in the first block, triangr gs mean a residential tent, right? Then what does the diamond and rectangr gs stand for?"

    "What do you think?" Despite having read his file, Kilian was still surprised that even in his earlier circumstances Lith had the presence of mind to notice small details.

    "Well, since in here dimensional items do not work, I¡¯d say one is for the food supplies and the other is for the weaponry."

    "Correct. And in case you are wondering, the golden g is for themanding officer, silver for the officers, bronze for soldiers."

    Lith tried to take out hismunication amulet, but to no avail. Space was tightly sealed inside the array, negating ess to his pocket dimension. Then he tried to use first magic, discovering that even elemental magic didn¡¯t work.

    The array jammed the connection between pure mana and the world energy, leaving him almost powerless.

    "I also noticed earlier that magic and magical objects do not work in here. Yet the Colonel didn¡¯t have trouble smacking me around, and you were able to contact the King. How is it possible?"

    Kilian smirked at that na?ve question. He had almost forgot their esteemed guest was only a kid, with no knowledge about powerful artifacts.

    "The array surrounding Kandria is not a Warden spell. Otherwise it would make no distinction between friends and foes. It is created by one of the Crown¡¯s treasures, called Small World.

    As the name implies, it creates an extended space within which the one that holds its keystone can change the rules of magic at will. The Colonel controls the artifact, so he is immune to its effects and can grant privileges to others.

    But every time someone uses a privilege, he is immediately notified. That¡¯s how he knew something had happened the second the guards used Warp Steps to surround you."

    Lith was bbergasted by the infinite uses and applications such an artifact could have.

    - "That¡¯s the most overpowered thing I ever heard about. I really hope your tower form has something simr."

    "Me too." Solus replied. "But I bet is not as easy as he says. The affected area is too big and the effect too powerful. The Captain is probably just feeding us public information while avoiding to mention the costs and limitations of the artifact." ¨C

    Lith sighed. She may had burst his bubble, but was probably right. It was too good to be true. He decided to drop the matter and concentrate on his task.

    "Don¡¯t worry." Kilian added.

    "Light magic can be freely used inside this Small World. You don¡¯t need to ask the Colonel¡¯s permission."

    After they got past the security, Kilian brought him to block two¡¯srgest tent. It was big enough to easily amodate a whole circus. It was a field hospital, the interior of which waspletely white.

    Instead of walls, it had countless curtains, that had been arranged creating corridors and defining the space of each patient¡¯s room. The first thing that Lith noticed about it, was the silence.

    Aside from the conversations between the magesing and going into the various rooms, the hospital waspletely silent. One could hear the patients¡¯ moans andins only when a curtain was opened.

    "All the field hospitals have curtains enchanted to be sound proof." Kilian exined.

    "It¡¯s needed for security and morale reasons. Despite being heavily sedated, some patients are in constant pain. Their screams would disturb the healers and stress the other residents. Avoiding escape attempts and mass hysteria is a priority."

    "All the field hospitals?" Lith echoed. "Do you mean there¡¯s more than one?"

    There had to be hundreds of patients in that tent alone. Lith had underestimated the scale of the gue.

    Suddenly, he felt his conscience stinging at him. It was Solus, of course.

    Kilian brought him to a patient, a middle-aged man whose right leg was split open like a watermelon. Despite the bandages and the attempts to stitch it, it was constantly bleeding.

    ording to the chart, he hadn¡¯t much time left. There weren¡¯t enough Blood Potions and mages for everyone, without constantly replenishing his vitality, he had only a few days at most.

    In Lith¡¯s eyes, this was the easiest to solve among the gue¡¯s manifestations. It was identical to what had happened to Marchioness Distar¡¯s daughter. Lith even had a fake magic spell he hadter created, in case it happened again and the Marchioness was willing to purchase it from him.

    - "Selling it to the Kingdom will be much more lucrative." ¨C Lith thought.

    The man was pale as a ghost, his body covered in sweat. The prolonged pain had sapped his strength, he barely opened an eye when the two strangers entered.

    Lith pretended to chant a spell, and then ced his hand on the man¡¯s balding forehead, activating Invigoration. He didn¡¯t like at all what he saw, his confidence crumbled.

    "Captain, can I use darkness magic too?" Kilian nodded, noticing that Lith carefully wiped out the sweat with magic before moving forward.

    He rushed Kilian, visiting several patients with open wounds, but his findings were always the same. Then, he visited the survivors from the spontaneousbustion and freezing phenomenon, and despite the mask Kilian could tell that something was wrong.

    Lith was bing increasingly nervous, like he had never seen him, not even during Varegrave¡¯s violent interrogation.

    Kilian stopped, grabbing Lith¡¯s shoulder, executing with only one hand a spell that created a small air dome around them.

    - "Not only he can use air magic despite the array. Kilian even invented the Mage Knight version of my Hush spell." ¨C The idea of being giarized temporarily suppressed Lith¡¯s worry.

    "These people are the official reason you and us are here. Off the record, though, reality is far more cynical. If words spread that we have a disease capable of stripping a mage of his powers, our neighbours would join forces and burn the Griffon Kingdom to the ground.

    I believe that even most mages, nobles or not, would run away at any cost, to not lose years of painstaking work and dedication. That¡¯s why the final wing of the hospital officially does not exist. Is it clear?"

    Only after Lith nodded, Kilian brought him into an empty room. He then ced an open hand on the curtain, injecting mana into it. The surface became covered in runes, and after Kilian murmured an unintelligible word, he pulled it open.

    Lith discovered they weren¡¯t in the field hospital anymore, but in another much smaller tent without any exit.

    "Dimensional magic." Kilian exined.

    The tent had no curtains, except for the one they hade from. It was filled with beds, were men and women lied. Their faces were ashen, many were sobbing like they had recently lost their true love.

    They were all members of the Mage Association that had lost their powers.

    When they saw Lith using magic on them, some started crying uncontrobly, others tried to assault him in a fit of rage, forcing Kilian and the soldiers stationed inside to intervene to protect him from the angry mob.

    After they left the prison ward, Lith couldn¡¯t wait to get the heck out of there.

    "Thank you for your help Kilian. For a moment I thought they would rip me apart."

    "Don¡¯t mention it." His voice oozed over eagerness.

    "What do you think of the gue?" Kilian steeled himself preparing for his hopes to be crushed once again.

    "It¡¯s not a gue, it¡¯s much worse. To whom must I report to before going back to the academy?"

    "Are you saying you have already cracked it?"

 Chapter 143 Plague 2

    "Cracked is a big word. Understanding its nature is one thing, curing it is another entirely." Lith tried to curb Kilian¡¯s enthusiasm.

    Kilian seemed to not have listened to a word he said, dragging him away by the arm at full speed while frantically speaking to someone with hismunicator amulet.

    For some reason, Lith¡¯s mind recalled all the times he had seen Manohar pulled around by Marth like a small child. Walking a mile in his shoes wasn¡¯t pleasant at all.

    Before he could realize what had happened, Lith found himself back in the Colonel¡¯s tent. Much to his surprise, Varegrave was kneeling at him.

    Lith sneered at that sight, thinking that maybe the Colonel wasn¡¯t such a bad man, if he was willing to humble himself to that point, after realizing how wrong he had been.

    "Your Majesty, Lith from Lustria is ready to report his discoveries." Kilian said after falling on his knee.

    It was only at that point that Lith turned around, discovering that on the floor behind him, lied a blue gemstone, that was projecting a life size hologram of the King, a woman, and several youths that only a blind man could not recognize as their offspring.

    Judging from the number of crowns in front of him, Lith was about to share his discoveries with the whole royal family.

    Thanks to the etiquette books stored in Soluspedia, he knew what to do. Lith backstepped until he was lined up with the other two men and kneeled, barely holding in aughter.

    - "To think that after almost triggering a civil war because of their ipetence in handling some power-hungry nobles, these royal idiots need the help of a twelve years old to clean their own mess. Pathetic." ¨C

    Wearing a mask had been liberating for Lith. With it he didn¡¯t need to hide his thoughts and emotions.

    Yet, even if behind thick crystals, his eyes were still almost visible. In them, the King didn¡¯t see awe, respect or nervousness, like he would have expected from amoner child, but only contempt and amusement, like it was just a game.

    A game that he was winning.

    "Take off your mask and gloves, Mage Lith. I assure you that Colonel Varegrave¡¯s apartments are safe." The King ordered.

    Despite the King¡¯s tone was calm and his expression amiable, Lith seemed to perceive a tinge of anger in him.

    - "Maybe is just my full-blown paranoia, maybe not. Better y safe." ¨C

    Lith obeyed, removing the protections.

    Looking at the kid¡¯s serious and brooding expression, the King realized that all the umted stress of thosest few months was pushing him on edge, to the point of seeing things.

    "Please, share your findings with us."

    "What so far has been considered a gue, is actually something much worse." Lith started to exin.

    "Do you remember what happened to Marchioness Distar¡¯s daughter a few years ago? She fell victim to a magicallyced poison, that disrupted the effects of light magic, turning any attempt to cure it into a new wound."

    "That¡¯s impossible." The Queen interrupted him.

    "We already noticed the simrities with that case. The antidote for that kind of poison has already be tested and proven useless."

    "That¡¯s because there isn¡¯t a gue that manifests itself in four different ways, there are actually four different gues, and all of them are man-made. I believe that whoever created that poison years ago, has learned his lesson and stepped up his game.

    From what I could infer, the gues are a miracle of alchemy. The weak point of the poison was its being static. Instead of spreading into the bloodstream, it was designed to remain in the ce it was injected, to not lose its potency.

    Hence, once identified, it could be easily removed. But the gues that are affecting this area aren¡¯t that simple."

    Both the King and the Queen knitted their browns. From what they remembered, that poison had escaped the detection of many expert healers.

    The only reason it had beenter discovered a method to identify and treat it, was because Lith had extracted the poison without degrading it. That had allowed to conduct long and extensive analysis to understand its nature.

    The fact that he earnestly used the word "simple" to describe such a nightmare, was the first silver lining in the brewing storm that threatened to sweep away the Griffon Kingdom.

    - "Maybe he can be a leading figure in the field of poisons, just like Professor Duke Marth did when he had his age, but in the field of regeneration. Crazy or not, we cannot afford to lose such talent." ¨C

    The Queen¡¯s line of thought was shared with her spouse via a mind link, that allowed them toment and discuss any matter. Even if they often quarrelled, no one could tell, since they would deliberate only after reaching an agreement.

    This time they were on the same page, yet the consequences of it burdened the King¡¯s mind. There would be much to talk aboutter.

    "The gues..." Lith continued.

    "are not static, nor act like any illness I have ever seen before. They all work the same way: once the host is infected, they spread to the whole body and remain dormant until magic is used.

    At that point, they alter the mana flow, making it chaotic. The effects are devastating, if not lethal."

    "If it¡¯s not a poison or a gue, then what is it?" The King asked.

    "It¡¯s a very small parasite, barely the size of a needle. As long as the host is alive, it keeps spawning. I found eggs in all the patients¡¯ bodily fluids, sweat included. I don¡¯t know if physical contact is enough or if it needs an open wound to be transmitted.

    The one thing I¡¯m sure, is that it mustn¡¯t be allowed to spread."

    "A parasite?" The Queen was bbergasted.

    "Then howe no one else managed to detect them?"

    "Because normally, diagnostic spells look for something wrong with the patient¡¯s body. A broken bone, a malfunctioning organ and so on. In this case, the patient is perfectly fine until he tries to use magic.

    A healer will be able to detectmon parasites either sensing their life force or because they suck the nutrients out of the host.

    In this case, their small size, coupled with their ability to mess with mana, make them hard to find, unless the healer, like me, is capable of perceiving even small alterations in the human body.

    Also, I have noticed no tissue degeneration near the parasites. The only exnation I can find, albeit is only a guess, is that they feed on mana."

    For several seconds, no one spoke. Everyone in the room was struggling to ept those revtions. Kilian was worried for the people, while Varegrave, although sharing his feelings, was also concerned about his neck.

    "Can you find a cure?" The King¡¯s face wasposed, but his hands were squeezing the armrests of his throne hard enough to break his nails.

    "No." Lith admitted with a sigh, throwing those present into despair.

    "I¡¯m just a student, after all. I never worked on something so big. When ites down to research, I wouldn¡¯t know where to start."

    Actually, Lith believed that given enough time, he could cure anything with true magic and Invigoration. But this case was different from all the others he had faced before.

    There wasn¡¯t a single patient, but hundreds if not thousands of them. Not only he would never been able to cure them all in time by himself, but also the parasites were clearly a biological weapon.

    If he dered he could cure it, any sane ruler would have demanded him to share his method, offering any sum forpensation.

    Lith wasn¡¯t willing to teach true magic, and was not skilled enough to convert an borate spell in fake magic for anyone to learn with so little time at hand.

    The King and the Queen looked at each other, before issuing their order.

    "Well done, Mage Lith." The royal family pped their hands, almost making him feel guilty for his deception.

    Almost.

    "You have brilliantly fulfilled your part of the agreement. Rest assured the Crown will do the same."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    "It pains me, but your Kingdom requires a further sacrifice from you, for the greater good. You will remain in Kandria, and use the best of your abilities in developing a cure for this monstrosity."

    "What?!" Lith was so shocked that his expression almost revealed the shock and outrage seething within him.

    Almost.

    "You are the one that discovered the truth about this ident, I¡¯m sure that even with your limited experience, you will be able to offer your guidance and help.

    Do not worry about the academy. At this point, we can only dere the state of national emergency and call all hands on deck. We need the help of all the light magic specialists to solve this situation as fast as possible.

    From today onward, all the six great academies will suspend their activities until a cure it¡¯s found."

 Chapter 144 Key Moments

    Lith didn¡¯t like at all the turn the events had taken. In hindsight, it was an easily predictable oue. Driven by his desire to stand out among the masses, he had provided them too much information, giving them hope.

    His n to give them just enough to solve the problem on their own, letting him go back to his daily life, had actually backfired.

    - "Damn, I underestimated them because of my Earth standards. Back in my world, any prime minister would have turned this scenario into a ck op, removing the threat in front of him with extreme prejudice.

    Instead, they are willing to put everything at risk to save these people. They could have just turned the infects into guinea pigs, using their bodies, dead or alive, for research purposes." ¨C

    "Since no one outside this room knows that we made a breakthrough..." The King continued. "I hereby decree all the new information pertaining the crisis and their source a state secret.

    We will divulge them bit by bit once all our assets are in ce, using a cover story to avoid Mage Lith bing a target. Officially, he¡¯ll be here only as a consultant. He will convey any further findings only to Captain Kilian, which in turn will share them with the other healers."

    The three men nodded, yet Lith kept racking his brain to find a way out.

    - "If I refuse, best case scenario I will get expelled from the academy and my family will lose the corps¡¯ protection. Heck, I¡¯d be lucky to avoid being charged of treason.

    I would be alone versus the Crown, the nobles that I offended in the past and whoever sent those mercenaries to kill me. If their contactor didn¡¯t hesitate despite I already was under the Queen¡¯s umbre, there¡¯s no telling what he¡¯ll do next.

    Once again, I can only grin and bear it. The only silver lining is that if I get properly rewarded, I¡¯ll not have money problems for the rest of my life." ¨C

    "Before we proceed any further, I¡¯d like to know why Mage Lith thinks these parasites are a product of Alchemy." Queen Sylpha¡¯s curiosity had been piqued by that particr statement, since she shared the same opinion.

    "Because I can¡¯t think about any other mean to infuse magic in a poison or parasite." He lied through his teeth. One of the details he had not shared, was that the worm-like parasites he had identified didn¡¯t alter the mana flow directly, but by secreting an unknown substance.

    Not only that made them living alchemicbs, but was also deviously brilliant. Even with Invigoration, Lith had struggled to ovee the mana distortion effect and identify the real source of the trouble.

    Any other mage would have fallen for that trick, devising a spell to cleanse the toxin, only for the "healed" patient to fall ill again in a matter of days.

    The reason why even Lith would need time to cure the gue, was that first he needed to find a way to remove the toxins without killing the patient, and then remove the parasites safely.

    He suspected that killing them while inside the host, or removing them forcibly would prove to be lethal for the infected.

    "Also, I read from the Captain Vgros¡¯ file that the gue spread right after the explosion of Coirn Hatorne¡¯s alchemicb. I think is highly unlikely for it to be a coincidence."

    The Queen nodded, disappointed from the answer. She had hoped for more brilliance and less logic, more Manohar and less Marth. Geniuses were hard toe by, and even harder to keep.

    "As for you, Colonel Varegrave..." The Queen¡¯s voice was filled with ill restrained wrath. If res could cut, the Colonel would have already been turned in pieces not bigger than a postmark.

    "I hope you haven¡¯t forgotten your bet with the King, because certainly I have not. Your earlier blunder is inexcusable. The only reason why you¡¯ll keep your rank and position, is because we cannot afford the time to change the ownership of the Small World.

    When the current emergency will be solved, prepare to face the consequences of your foolishness. This conversation is far from over!"

    The conversation ended so abruptly, that Kilian checked the gemstone to make sure the magical item wasn¡¯t broken.

    The truth, though, was quite different.

    "I told you not to mention the bet!" King Meron still couldn¡¯t believe his fiery wife had forced him to hung up the call.

    "We had yet to listen to Lith¡¯s requests and find a way to sweeten the deal! In case you forgot, we need more than his services, we need his loyalty! We have to correct the situation as soon as possible, otherwise he will resent us and leave the Kingdom."

    "In my book, putting that Varegrave moron in his ce sweetens the deal a lot!" Sylpha retorted. "This time, we will do things my way, I want him dead."

    "He is a loyal servant of the Crown!" Her bloodlust would never cease to amaze Meron. "You can¡¯t kill him off just for one mistake. It would set a terrible example."

    "It would be a great example. He disobeyed a direct order and endangered everything because he wasn¡¯t able to keep his emotion in check. What if Kilian wasn¡¯t there to stop him? What if next time he loses it, we lose another great mage for good?"

    "Fine." The King stood up from the throne, like he always did after losing an argument.

    "Do you think this Lith is an Awakened one?" He asked after a while.

    "Unlikely, but possible. We had high hopes for Hatorne and Manohar too, but they turned out to be normal mages. Being a genius and being an Awakened one are two different things. We¡¯ll have to send Lady Tyris to check on him. It¡¯s the only way to be certain."

    ***

    Hundreds of kilometres away, Archmage Lukart trashed his desk in a fit of rage.

    "What do you mean, the Talons have been wiped out?"

    "Exactly what I said, sir." The voice from themunication amulet belonged to one of the few surviving members of the mercenary unit, that hadn¡¯t taken part in thetest assignment.

    "Their dog tags have activated, and that can only mean that there were no survivors."

    "It¡¯s impossible!" Lukart still refused to ept the news.

    "They were eleven versus only six members of the corps, and with the element of surprise! How is it possible?"

    "We¡¯ll investigate." The voice coldly replied. "But we will not follow up on the matter. The mission was an utter failure, we nowck the manpower for a second attempt. Your information was clearlycking of fake, otherwise aplete wipe out would have never happened."

    "At least give me back my money! I could have bought a whole castle with that sum."

    The voice hung up the call without even answering.

    Suddenly, Lukart felt lightheaded and dizzy. Everything was spiralling out of his control. The fall of the White Griffon academy was just a small step in his master n.

    Contrary to what his associates believed, his endgame had never been privileges, but the Crown itself. Lukart wanted from the beginning the civil war to happen, it was the only way to trigger a war with the neighbouring countries.

    At that point, the only thing he had to do was to unleash the gues that Hatorne had spent years to develop and for what she had been handsomely paid.

    The water parasite would have crippled the Blood Desert tribes, forcing them to surrender or die. The mana parasite, instead, would have neutralized the Gorgon Empire magical army, without which they had no defences.

    First, he would have repelled the invaders, looking like a hero in the eyes of the people, bing King by acmation. Then, he would use them a weapon to bring all the three Great Countries under his heel.

    But now, because of that witch¡¯s paranoia, theb was blown to bits, spreading the eggs in the wind. He could only hope that no one would discover their existence, that the Crown would just kill the infected without finding a cure.

    Manohar was the only mage whose genius was on Hatorne level, with him out of the picture, Lukart¡¯s n was supposed to be safe.

    "What can a little runt do, after all?"

 Chapter 145 Regrets

    After the King had been forced to hung up the call to the quarantine zone, many things had yet to happen before that long day came to an end.

    Using fatigue as an excuse, Lith was escorted to his new apartments. It was a small one-man tent, around two meters (6.6 feet) high with a diameter of barely 3 meters (10¡¯). It waspletely bare, outside for a bed and a nightstand.

    It was the smallest amodation he had ever had; the only redeeming feature was that at least he had some privacy. Unless they shoved in a sleeping bag, there was no way another person could fit.

    The first thing he did, was to check his powers. As expected, all kinds of elemental magic besides light and darkness seemed to be jammed for both fake and true magic. But while fake magic simply gave no results, with true magic he could feel an obstruction.

    It was like touching an object through stic wrap, he could still feel the world energy all around him, but was unable to reach it with conventional means.

    Lith had no idea how the Small World worked, but was quite confident that in case of need, he still would be able to use magic if he pushed forward strong enough to ovee the invisible barrier.

    - "The problem is the degree of awareness the artifact grants to Varegrave. There is a strong possibility that sessful true magic, if not even my attempts, could be detected. It¡¯s best to keep it as ast resort." ¨C

    Much to his satisfaction, both spirit magic and fusion magic worked without a hitch. Either the Forgemaster that crafted the Small World was a fake mage, or he had left loopholes on purpose, to not fall victim of his own creation.

    Lith sighed, whatever was the answer, it was still a smallfort,pared to the realization he was losing control over his life, bing a puppet in games he had no interest into.

    - "You know, Solus, this may as well be the worst day of my third life. First, I was taken away from the academy, then I almost got killed, and now I have been dered a state secret. All in one day. Just imagine what could happen tomorrow."

    "It¡¯s not like they kidnapped you. They offered you a job and you took it." Solus didn¡¯t believe her own words, she was just trying to lighten the mood. She knew that as long they lived in any country, there would always be offers that couldn¡¯t be refused.

    "After that, things have got unpleasant, but at least you should be rewarded for your services. You may even get a nice home and a noble title."

    "Are you kidding me?" He snorted. "That would be the worst. If I get to choose, I¡¯ll pick money, hands down. A title would mean having underlings, responsibilities, bing an active part of the system from which I¡¯m trying to escape from day one.

    Not to mention being forced to attend social life, marry and take part in politics." ¨C

    He mmed his hand on the nightstand, making is sink a couple of centimetres in the soft ground.

    - "Dammit, I never wanted to be a hero, nor to conquer this sh*tty world. My aim has always been to find a fix to my reincarnation problem, and then live a happy and quite life.

    Now, instead, I¡¯m on the verge of being recognized by the Crown itself, and if that happen, my family will always be used as a leverage against me. I can already feel the shackles around my body getting tighter and tighter.

    But what options do I have? Kill my own family just to not have any more ties? And then what? Live all my life as the monster I would be, alone, spending all my life running and fighting like a mad dog?

    What is the point in having all this f*cking power for if I can¡¯t even protect the only four people I do care about?" ¨C

    Away from home, away from his friends, Lith had never felt so helpless and alone. Once again, Solus crashed against her condition.

    She knew that it was in those rare moments when Lith was showing himself vulnerable, that holding his hand or simply holding him tight would help him get rid of the walls he had built to protect himself.

    But she was just a piece of rock with a voice, and there was nothing that mere words could do. Lith had spent his first life going from a hardship to another, with people telling him to stay strong, that all will be well.

    Now, as then, he didn¡¯t need constion. Lith needed someone capable of standing by his side and help him facing the iing tide. Because of the Small World, she was incapable of changing shape or even using her dimensional pocket.

    Solus felt useless, wishing for a second to be just a mindless tool, to not be forced seeing the suffering of those she loved and yet being unable to offer anyfort.

    ***

    In the Colonel¡¯s tent, Varegrave and Kilian were nning the future ahead of them while drinking Dragon Water, one of the strongest and most expensive liquors avable in the Griffon Kingdom, with an alcohol content nearing 50%.

    Kilian was listening to several reports from his team, while Varegrave was revising hisst will.

    "The kid¡¯s story checks out. The scouts have found where Vgros¡¯st battle should have taken ce. There are indeed signs of the use of purple mes. Whoever the attackers were, they weren¡¯t willing to take risks."

    "Any survivors?" Varegrave asked as a formality, without raising his eyes or stopping the quill.

    "None. Seriously, I can¡¯t believe you are able to write your testament with such a straight face."

    Varegrave drank his ss in one gulp, before refilling it.

    "I¡¯m a soldier, old friend. I know very well I made a mistake allowing personal matters to intrude in my duty, and I¡¯m ready to bear the consequences."

    Varegrave raised his ss in a small toast, before emptying it again.

    "That, and five sses of Water Dragon can turn any mouse into a lion, otherwise I would be already sh*tting my pants." He admitted.

    "Is it that bad?" Kilian was used to spend more time on the field than in the royal pce. He was unaware that the recent events had made the Queen quite unforgiving.

    "Very." Varegrave sighed. "Nowadays a strong mage is worth hundreds of soldiers.

    Let¡¯s be honest, our mages do not have the blind loyalty the Blood Desert tribes devote to their mysterious leader, nor we invest so much as the Gorgon Empire in nurturing our talented ones.

    We already are on the losing end of the cold war with our neighbours for amassing knowledge and power. If my destiny rested only in the King¡¯s hands, I could hope for a demotion or a very hard but not impossible task to prove my worth.

    But, s, as my first mistake in over twenty years of distinguished career, I had the stupidity to cross the Queen on her own turf, almost killing her new golden goose. Gods, I¡¯d give anything to turn back time and p my stupid self in the face."

    Varegrave folded his will, putting it into an envelope before passing it to Kilian.

    "Please when this story will be over, give it to my wife. Tell Shya it¡¯s all my fault, and not to raise our kids hating the Kingdom."

    Kilian grabbed his hand, refusing to pick the envelope.

    "You are an outstanding soldier and friend. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find a way to make them realize that executing you is a mistake and get you out of this pinch. As long there¡¯s life, there¡¯s also hope.

    And by the way, if you croak, I call dibs on your sword."

 Chapter 146 Prisoner

    The following day, thanks to a full night of sleep, Lith had regained his cool, and started to n his next moves. First, he needed to find a cure for all the four different kinds of parasites.

    It wasn¡¯t only a matter of using that knowledge to guide from the shadows the healers and alchemist.

    Helping the Crown into developing a fake magic spell or drug was of secondary importance. The priority was to find a cure for himself, so that even if everything went south and the gues spreaded to the rest of the Kingdom, he would still be the master of his own destiny.

    The mana blocking parasite was the one that worried him the most. Unlike the others, it didn¡¯t deal any direct damage to the host, but without mana, a magician was like a wingless eagle.

    Lith had no idea if it would have the same effect on Awakened ones, but he wasn¡¯t willing to take unnecessary risks. The first parasite he would study was the one turning healing magic into wounds.

    It was the only one he was already familiar with, having treated its effects in the past. He could use that advantage to quickly understand how the parasites worked and then apply that knowledge to eradicate them for good.

    Outside his tent, Lith found a soldier waiting for him.

    "Good morning, sir. The Colonel sent me to escort you to his tent for the morning debriefing." Despite both were wearing a mask, Lith could hear the soldier¡¯s voice brimming with curiosity.

    His farmer clothes stuck out like a sore thumb, but with his pocket dimension still offline, he hadn¡¯t much of a choice.

    It was barely dawn, but the encampment was already bustling with activity.

    When he entered, both Kilian and Varegrave stood up from their chairs, inviting him to join them for breakfast. With all that had happened the day before, Lith had skipped dinner, so he was starving.

    He didn¡¯t like Varegrave, but in his book hunger beat pride with a tennis score. The furniture in the tent had been changed, the hardwood desk and chair were no longer in sight, reced by a smaller square dining table.

    "This is definitely my kind of debriefing." Eggs, sausages, bacon, everything had a delicious smell. Lith filled his te, waiting for an exnation.

    "d to see you have recoveredpletely. The buzz cut is a smart move, it will help you blend in."

    Kilian¡¯s words made little sense to him, until watching at his reflection in a ss, he discovered that not only his har was back, but also all the burn marks had disappeared, leaving no scar or discoloration.

    - "Solus, when the heck did it happen?"

    "Last night. It seems that when you sleep, your healing abilities be strong enough to border regeneration. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and you were exhausted." ¨C

    "What are the ns for today?" Lith tried to change the topic. That kind of healing was too sophisticated for a simple student, and even if he wanted to, he was unable to replicate it.

    "The state of national emergency has been dered yesterday. By the end of today the Master Healers from the six big academies should arrive." Varegrave¡¯s voice was firm, but from his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles around them, Lith assumed the Colonel had spent a sleepless night.

    "To avoid a recurrence of the sabotage that costed Vgros his life, I have sent a detail to escort the groups here safely. It will take at least until tomorrow to arrange a proper housing for everyone and exin the situation.

    In the meantime, I have to ask you to keep working on the gues. Despite the information ckout, the news about Kandria are spreading. We have to solve this situation before our weakness is exposed to the neighbouring countries.

    When you are done eating, I would like for you to wear these clothes."

    Varegrave took out of his dimensional amulet a grey military uniform consisting of leather boots, grey linen pants and shirt with a white dot on both shoulders, white gloves and a mask of the same colour.

    "Your current outfit makes you an easy target. I have reasons to believe that there are traitors even among us. That uniform, instead, will simply identify you as a gue doctor.

    Such status will grant you several privileges, among which free movement in all the facilities and authority over the soldiers. Any questions?"

    "Yeah, speaking of privileges, can I get back the ability to use dimensional items and all kinds of spells?"

    "I¡¯m sorry." Varegrave shook his head. "But I can¡¯t fulfil neither of your requests. The protocol to grant such privileges inside the Small World is ssified. And you are still a civilian."

    Lith gritted his teeth but remained silent. He had noticed how even Kilian kept hismunication amulet in his pocket, instead of storing it away.

    That, coupled with the fact several tents were employed as food storage, meant that aside from Varegrave, probably no one could use dimensional items.

    "Any other request?"

    "No."

    Lith spent the rest of the morning studying the anti healing parasite. People with open wounds were the perfect test subjects, since it made it easier to extract both the parasite and the toxins.

    Also, being the parasite with the highest mortality rate, it would give him the opportunity to study what happened after the host¡¯s death.

    First, Lith tried to get a hold of a single parasite with spirit magic. It turned out to be extremely difficult, since the creature was enveloped with toxins that disrupted his mana flow.

    Once he seeded, the parasite went into a spasm, causing a lot of pain in the patient, despite already being heavily sedated. His next step was to try to get rid of the toxins before attempting to remove the parasite, but it went even worse.

    The creature turned out to not be a picky eater, it would consume not only the host¡¯s mana, but also the one Lith spent to flush out the toxins. The double feeding had an invigorating effect on the parasite, that quickly released more toxins restoring the bnce.

    To add insult to the injury, his attempt triggered their reproductive cycle. Lith didn¡¯t know how long would it take for the eggs to hatch, but he assessed that once it happened, it would be impossible even for him to save the patient.

    - "Dammit, either their creator is a true mage too or is even more paranoid than I am. I can only hope it¡¯s thetter case, otherwise the whole Kingdom is screwed. These things are a masterpiece, while I¡¯m still stuck at the basics of tier four." ¨C

    During the afternoon, he decided to change approach. He needed more information toe up with a decent n, so he went to the morgue. Thanks to the new and improved Life Vision, he was able to see the aura of death surrounding a corpse.

    That way, even if Invigoration was useless on inanimated objects, he could still find the parasites, whether they outlived their host or not.

    In any case, he could learn a lot, maybe even collect samples for the alchemists to study. Unnoticed to him, three figures stealthily followed him while he walked through the camp, asking for directions.

    The morgue was located in a tent bigger than the field hospital itself. There were no curtains inside, it was like one huge room.

    It was perfectly lit by yellow magic stones hanging from the ceiling, while several blue crystals were etched into the tent¡¯s fabric, constantly emitting a cold air.

    The temperature inside was so low that Lith could see his breath steam. The whole space was filled with metal shelves, where countless corpses had been lined up after being wrapped with special nkets that helped to prevent the dposition.

    The recently deceased, instead, were in an open space a few meters from the entrance, stillying on the stretchers they had been brought in with.

    Lith was surprised to find the body of the man he had visited just the day before. His leg was still split open, his face had the paleness of death, but at least he seemed at peace, finally free from the pain.

    Lith still remembered were most of the parasites were located, so he tried to conjure an air dome to protect himself from blood spatters, and an air knife to cut through the flesh.

    - "st! I forgot I don¡¯t have air magic anymore. I need a damn surgeon. Without magic, I¡¯ll end up butchering the body, and bye-bye small, delicate parasites." ¨C

    Before he could get out, the curtain of the tent opened. A masked soldier pointed a sword at him.

    "Don¡¯t try calling for help, the tent is sound proof." His voice was made even more menacing by the gue mask.

    "Either you follow me obediently, or your brother will die!"

 Chapter 147 The House of the Dead

    Those words struck a chord inside Lith¡¯s very core, triggering something that he had considered dead for a long time. First, the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smirk. Then, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from a chuckle that soon evolved into a hystericalughter.

    The traitorous soldier was startled for a second. That wasn¡¯t the reaction he was expecting.

    ording to their intel, Lith had a very strong bond with his rtives, using most of his earnings over the years to improve their quality of life and status, instead of trying to buy his way into nobility.

    It was public knowledge that there was no love left between him and his disowned brother, Orpal, but the other one, Trion, had been part of the family, until he willingly joined the military. He had been well dressed and fed all his life.

    ording to the locals, despite having different interests and goals, the two brothers went along. Too bad it was just a ruse, that the two brothers had agreed upon for their parents¡¯ sake.

    Were Lith felt only spite for Orpal, Trion didn¡¯t fare much better, receiving hisplete indifference. Their rtionship had never mended, since both of them had never tried to solve their differences.

    Lith simply didn¡¯t care about it. In his twisted vision of the world he had long drawn a circle, separating the people who mattered from the useless trash, where Trion belonged.

    Trion, instead, at first had been too ashamed to approach Lith, after all he and Orpal had done and said to him over the years. Having always followed his older brother¡¯s footsteps, he had never developed a sense of kinship toward Lith.

    They had been strangers to each other for so long, that every apology he could think of sounded fake and forced even to Trion himself. So, he had waited for the right moment to fix that mess, but the moment never came.

    Lith had too many jobs, first as hunter and Tista¡¯s nurse, then healer and bounty hunter. He would never spend much time at home, and when he did, he focused on those that mattered for him.

    It didn¡¯t take even a year for Trion¡¯s feelings to fester again, while his mood turned sour. As any child, he had always dreamed of one day discovering to have an incredible talent, to be special.

    Yet with each passing day, everything changed only for the worse. While he was stuck in his routine of dreams and chores, Lith grew more and more powerful, his talent inspired awe in their parents first, then Nana, and finally Count Lark.

    Soon, envy outgrew guilt and there was nothing to mend anymore.

    The soldier wasn¡¯t aware of all that, so Lith¡¯s behaviour appeared to him as that of a madman. Hisughter was full of scorn, like he was in front of the biggest idiot he had ever met.

    "Do you really have my brother? Then I have a favour to ask. When you kill him, tell him that I didn¡¯t give a sh*t about him. I like to pay my debts in kind."

    Lith said, while taking a small step back. There were so many ways he could have killed him, either by using physical attacks or spirit magic, but neither of them was safe enough for his tastes.

    Moving at high speed didn¡¯t go well with the crow shaped mask he wore, and being in a morgue full to the brim of victims of the gue, he didn¡¯t want to risk for the sword to even scratch his skin.

    As for spirit magic, the guy was too close forfort. Lith either had to break his neck, losing the opportunity to interrogate him, or attempt to restrain him, hoping his victim didn¡¯t have hidden weapons or wasn¡¯t able to use them before the binding wasplete.

    "This is no joke. If we do not get out of here within a minute, my associates will consider the mission failed and order your brother execution." The soldier didn¡¯t let Lith get away, even if a sudden fear was twisting his guts.

    Despite the cold of the morgue, he found himself sweating bullets, blurring his vision from under the mask, with all his body hair standing up.

    "And why should I care?" Lith kept moving backwards, closer to the metal shelves. The mockery in his tone growing with every step.

    "Kill him, marry him, whatever. Besides, your n has several ws. First, it¡¯s easier stealing a dragon egg than taking me alive. Second, I don¡¯t believe yourmunication amulet works.

    Third, and most important, staging an attack inside a morgue, when most kinds of magic are sealed is suicidal."

    Lith had yet to finish talking, when a multitude of hands suddenly grabbed the soldier by the left shoulder, arm and leg. His first instinct was to jump away, but each hand had the strength of a vise, so he shed at their wrists, to force them to release him.

    Like most soldiers, he had an enchanted weapon, capable of easily cutting unprotected flesh and bone, yet each strike felt like hitting a rock, making his sword vibrate on each impact.

    Then, he finally remembered where he was. When he noticed dozens of red glowing eyes, staring at him from the shelves, his mind went nk out of panic.

    "Did you really believe I would waste my time talking?" Lith chuckled, reanimating more corpses by the second, infusing them with his mana and will.

    Lith had learned during his first day at the camp that the only elements he was free to use were light and darkness.

    Light, for allowing the healers to keep searching for a cure, and darkness to sterilize people and clothes when going from the residential block to the hospital. He had simply exploited his opponent¡¯s idiotic speech to stall for the time necessary to rise his bodyguards.

    The zombies piled up on the wretched soldier, pinning him to the ground.

    "Let¡¯s see if you were telling the truth about your associates."

    Lith activated Life Vision, noticing two human figures sneaking around the morgue¡¯s entrance. With a simple thought, he sent a group of undead to wee the neers.

    The restrained soldier went into panic, screaming and writhing to get free. The zombies¡¯ naked bodies were disgusting to see, but even more to the touch. Despite their strength, the flesh was cold andid.

    Many of them had open wounds, either caused by the parasites or by the autopsy, letting their bodily fluids drench him in a matter of seconds.

    "Stop screaming. As you pointed out earlier, the tent is sound proof." Lith had one of the undead rip the mask off the soldier¡¯s face and shove a hand in his mouth. The man barfed for a few seconds, before falling unconscious from the terror.

    When the other two entered inside the morgue, the zombies flooded them. They fought bravely, but were outnumbered and outsmarted. Lith had the undead tanking the strikes and only aiming for the soldiers¡¯ masks.

    Realizing they were against intelligent gue zombies, the two went into frenzy, losing any will to fight and trying to escape, but the tent curtain, like a closed door in a horror movie, refused to budge.

    "How the f*ck can a piece of cloth be locked down?" A feminine voice screamed.

    "How indeed." Lith chuckled, using wave after wave of spirit magic to keep the door shut and savouring their terror.

    Soon, all the three traitors were either unconscious or wetting themselves. They knew that without the masks, even if they miraculously managed to escape, it would not change their fate.

    Their minds were frozen, uncapable to decide if to beg for their lives or a swift death.

    Lith¡¯s eyes glowed with a cold red light under the mask.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, we have to talk."

 Chapter 148 The House of the Dead 2

    Back at the White Griffon, Professor Marth was facing an unexpectedplication. After the state of national emergency had been issued, all the academy¡¯s staff that had even a shred of knowledge in medicine had been tasked to pack their things and reach Kandria as soon as possible.

    The Professors had been permitted to bring along anyone they deemed could help, even students. It was part of the cover story the King had devised to make Lith¡¯s presence in Kandria seem unimportant.

    He would just be one of the many youths apanying their mentors, hoping their talent would be recognized by the Crown or at least to gain practical experience. Having only one student from the White Griffon among all the experts would rise too many questions.

    The departments most affected were two, the light magic and the alchemy department. Despite they were used to cooperate for the most difficult cases, this time the approach on the matter couldn¡¯t be more different.

    For alchemists, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Working without a budget limit with only state of the art instruments, with the opportunity to have them even custom made, was an offer too good to turn it down.

    Hence, the alchemy Professors had no qualms about bringing students along. They would have minimal interactions with the infected, studying the disease only through tissue samples and in the safety of theirbs.

    For, healers, instead, it was a nightmare. Daily contact with the victims, high risks of exposure to the gue, not to mention that ording to the reports the mortality rate was akin to a warzone.

    It was difficult exining to the ones that volunteered how dangerous the situation was, without either being rude, or giving enough details to trigger panic attacks.

    After turning down many well-meaning amateurs, Marth was at an impasse.

    "Please, Professor. Why can¡¯t I apany you?" Quy from Cerea seemed unwilling to ept a no for an answer.

    "Because it¡¯s too dangerous!" He snapped after running out of excuses.

    "Let¡¯s be honest, okay? You are a twelve years old at her first year of academy. What kind of contribution could you possibly offer? You still have a whole life in front of you, I can¡¯t endanger your future on a whim.

    You are one of the most prized talents your ss has to offer, but you are still young and emotional. Believe me, I¡¯m not going on a vacation or a field trip, it¡¯s a serious matter."

    "Then why Lith has been sent there?" The fierceness in her voice made it more of a statement rather than a question, taking Marth by surprise.

    "Excuse me?"

    "Don¡¯t try to deny it. First, he gets summoned in the Headmaster¡¯s office, then he never returns for dinner or breakfast. And the next day the lessons get suspended. It can¡¯t be a coincidence."

    Her cold logic made him proud, but the worry he perceived made everything clear.

    Puppy love, the thing that he hated the most. Because no matter how idiotic it was, there was no reasoning with it. Yet he had to try.

    "His case is different from yours."

    "How so?" She snorted, stomping a foot.

    - "Because he is inhuman! Gods, I wish I could say it out loud, but the Queen would kill me." ¨C He thought.

    "With Manohar gone, he is our best diagnostician." He actually said.

    "Besides, he has already made several contributions in the theoretical field thanks to his unique understanding of the human body. Otherwise I would have never let him go. Now, if you excuse me, I¡¯m in a rush."

    Quy left Marth¡¯s room with a dejected look, the door mming behind her.

    Outside, Yurial and Friya were waiting for her. Her face told them everything they needed to know.

    "Why the long face?" Quy asked, noticing that Friya seemed to be on edge, even more than her.

    "My mother just called me. She only said that someone has screwed up big time, and that I must pack my things and be ready to leave the Kingdom on short notice."

    ***

    "First, I want to know who sent you, and why." Lith was very curious about their attempt to capture him. The other team had spared no efforts to kill him, so either the contractor had changed his mind or it was another matter entirely.

    The first one to answer was the soldier that had tried to ckmail Lith using Trion¡¯s life as a leverage. ording to the nametag on the uniform, his name was Vickas Banut, a in looking man with chestnut eyes and hair of the same colour.

    His cheeks were still bright red, since Lith had pped him multiple times to force him regaining his senses. Puke still dirtied his mouth and uniform, giving him an even more wretched look.

    "Will you let me go if I tell you?" His voice trembled, mustering the courage to look in his captor¡¯s red eyes.

    "Of course not." Lithughed.

    "It would be useless, since you are all already infected." He lied through his teeth. ording to Life Vision, the three of them were still healthy, even without the masks and after having been scratched and bitten by the undead.

    - "Either the parasites do not handle well the coldness of the morgue, or they die shortly after their host. Too bad I have no time to infect them and study the gue¡¯s progression. I need to get out of here fast, before someone elsees in." ¨C

    "Then why should I tell you? If I have to die, I¡¯ll bring my secrets with me in the grave!" The certainty of death seemed to have rejuvenated Vickas spirit.

    "Excellent question!" Lith pped his hands.

    "Eat him alive, starting from the feet." His orders were meant for the prisoners to understand their fate, rather than for the undead.

    The mindless zombies were like puppets, and Lith needed but a thought to make them move ording to his will.

    Vickas tried to fight back, twisting and kicking every time he could, but the creatures ignored his pitiful attempts. One covered his mouth with a rotting hand, while the other managed to grab his legs, filling the air with muffled screams and chewing sounds.

    The other two prisoners tried to avert their gaze, but the zombies kept their heads blocked and their eyelids open.

    "As you can see, they are avoiding all the major arteries." Lith exined with the same voice he would use to exin math to a dumb kid.

    "I¡¯m a healer, after all. You can¡¯t expect me to kill you by ident. You¡¯ll die only when I say so, and in a way of my choice. The first one to talk will win a swift death. The others will join my ranks."

    The two first tried to scream, but their mouths were sealed as well. Lith hated to be interrupted by hysterical cries when he was speaking.

    When Vickas¡¯ feet disappeared, leaving most of the bones bare to see, puke seeped through their noses and the zombies¡¯ fingers, preventing them from talking and allowing Vickas to make his move.

    Lith noticed his hands waving madly, so he stopped the zombies, using at the same time light magic to briefly relieve his pain.

    "Yes?"

    "Duke Selimar arranged everything, with theplicity of General Lizhark and Mage Fernath." Vickas blurted as soon he was able to speak, pointing at his aplices, that managed to stop puking, shocked by his betrayal.

    "I never heard of them."

    "But they know you. They know that yesterday you said something to Varegrave that forced the King to dere the national emergency. It¡¯s the first progress in over a month."

    "But why kidnap me?" Lith couldn¡¯t see the logic behind their actions.

    "Because they are scared of the gue. One of their associates, I don¡¯t know who, is the responsible. But he did it behind their backs, they didn¡¯t even know it existed. When they understood what had happened, they couldn¡¯t trust him anymore.

    They don¡¯t want the gue to be eradicated, it¡¯s an all-powerful weapon. But without a cure, they will be forced to either flee or submit."

 Chapter 149 Search for the Cure

    "So, let me get this straight." Lith still doubted Vickas¡¯s words.

    "Among the group of traitors that is trying to sabotage the Queen¡¯s work, there is someone that lead them by the nose while preparing this gue?"

    Vickas nodded, his eyes always fixed on the army of mouths millimetres away from his bleeding flesh.

    "What does this mastermind want? What¡¯s the endgame?" A zombie lifted Vickas¡¯ head by the chin, forcing him to look at Lith in the eyes.

    "I don¡¯t know." He squealed. The hand holding him was bby and sticky, secreting dposition fluids at every movement. The putrid smell would have made him puke already, but there was nothing left but bile in his stomach.

    "Then howe you know so much about your friends and their masters? It seems only a convenient lie to me."

    Vickas exploded into a feverishughter. The dreadful experience he was living, being captured, tortured and allegedly infected, had already pushed him to the brink of insanity.

    Lith¡¯s naivety seemed to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel¡¯s back.

    "Ha! Ha! Ha! Gods, how could my liege believe that someone so stupid could find a cure? He must be an idiot too! We¡¯re dead! We are all dead!"

    Lith tried to make him snap out of his hysteria, first with threats and then with ps, but to no avail.

    "Eat his b*lls." He ordered, cancelling the spell that held the pain at bay.

    "Please, no! Anything but that! I¡¯m sorry! I really am!" Vickas stoppedughing, the agony flooding his limbs and the sight of those drooling mouths nearing hisher regions forced him to regain his senses.

    "Remember, I still hold what¡¯s left of your life. If you are so proud of being someone else¡¯s dog, then act like one. I say bark, you bark. Otherwise my friends here will teach you how to y dead."

    Vickas had served Duke Selimar for years, joining the military and climbing up its ranks only for his master¡¯s sake. His parents had abandoned him when he was just five years old, they already had too many mouths to feed to care for a talentless, whiny kid.

    It had been Selimar that had adopted him along with his sworn brothers, saving them from the starvation and the daily abuses at the orphanage. Betraying the Crown had been natural for them, they had no loyalty nor gratitude towards the ones incarnating a system that only treated them as trash.

    He didn¡¯t do it out of greed, but out of love. There was nothing he wouldn¡¯t do for his foster father. Betraying his trust was already tearing Vickas¡¯ soul apart, being called a dog was too much to bear.

    "If only I could use magic..." He snarled, baring his teeth at Lith.

    "It would change nothing." Lith gave him a p, but this time with his true strength.

    The force of that simple gesture smeared Vickas¡¯s nose over his cheek, making him bleed profusely, and dislocated the jaw.

    Vickas had never been hit with such strength, not even when fighting soldiers twice his size. His pride and defiance crumbled, realizing that the zombies were innocentmbspared to their shepherd.

    "After the gue was released, Selimar understood that without a cure, he is bound to lose. If the Crown wins, he will be executed for treason, if his faction wins, they¡¯ll be the mastermind¡¯s ves.

    He fears him, so he didn¡¯t tell me anything, to notpromise their rtionship." Vickas dropped the honorifics. He was a traitor now. He didn¡¯t deserve to call him master anymore.

    "The others, instead, are expendable. When Lizhark and Fernath insisted to have their men assist me, he understood they didn¡¯t trust him anymore, so he took precautions.

    He gave me enough means and information to frame them and their masters, so when necessity arose, I could expose them and destroy their credibility, giving my lieg... Selimar the time to get to safety."

    - "This is good news for the Crown, but not for me. Lith thought.

    The ident in Kandria revealed the hidden agenda, which in turn is causing them to infight. These morons are so desperate to put all their hopes on me, and I have yet to do anything. The only way to get them off my back is for the cure to be found, and fast."-

    "Onest question. How could they know what happened and react so fast? How did you bypass the array?"

    "It¡¯s actually easy." Vickas swallowed a lump of saliva. ¡¯Last question¡¯ meant he was about to outlive his usefulness.

    "We were already here, so when you arrived, each of us notified to his master. Whatever you did, made the Crown move fast, and that made you a target. As for the array, Small World is not perfect as they say.

    Whenever Varegrave makes a call, anyone can use hismunication amulet."

    Lith was shocked, but thanks to the mask, nothing transpired.

    - "Maybe that¡¯s because no one uses dimensional items, and why Varegrave refused to grant me privileges. The array is just like a big switch, when it¡¯s off, anything goes." -

    "And how do you know when he does it?"

    "I don¡¯t. I only wait for Selimar¡¯s calls."

    Lith interrogated the other two, but nothing new came up. They were just as Vickas, but with a different master. All of them were in looking and with the rank of lieutenant.

    High enough to be able to move freely though the camp, but not enough to make it hard keeping a low profile.

    Lith kept his promise, giving them a swift death and turning both their bodies and clothes into dust.

    - "There are traitors among the nobles, the mages, the army and even in the royal pce. Without someone reporting exactly when the King is unavable, it would be impossible to nail the right timing to call inside the quarantine zone.

    I¡¯m in hot waters, Solus. I need a cure to be found, but it would be really nice if someone else discovers it. I¡¯m already a ma for troubles."

    "What about those three we now know about? Will you expose them?"

    "How could I possibly exin where did I get such information? And even if there was a way, it would paint an even bigger target on my back. The smartest thing to do is not overstepping my boundaries as healer.

    Soon their disappearance will get noticed, and by searching their possessions Varegrave will find the evidence on his own." ¨C

    Lith sent all the corpses back to their shelves, setting them free from his necromancy spell before going to search for a surgeon. Thanks to the authority his rank as gue doctor conferred him, everything went smoothly.

    No one questioned his orders, they only obeyed. Lith had preserved the corpse of the man with the split leg, untouched by darkness magic, because it was the only one he knew where to look for the parasites.

    The body was moved to a safe zone, and after wearing full body scrubs made of white linen, the surgeon cut it open following Lith¡¯s instructions. Even with Life Vision, Lith wasn¡¯t able to find any traces of the parasites or the eggs he clearly remembered they hadid all around the body.

    "It seems they are unable to survive without the host. Yesterday this man was a living colony, and now nothing."

    "That would exin how they managed to escape detection so far." The surgeon pondered. "These parasites are almost invisible to diagnostic spells when the patient is alive, and after his death, the autopsy can¡¯t find any foreign body."

    Lith took several tissue samples, sending them to the alchemist to be analysed. Before developing a proper cure, he needed to know if at the moment of their death the creatures released toxins harmful for the patient.

    The answer came in quickly. As he expected, the tissues presented a foreign substance, but it was an unknow one. It was impossible to tell what effects it could have in a living body, since its concentration in the remains was barely detectable.

    Collecting and using it for experimentation was impossible.

    Cursing Hatorne¡¯s name and her ingenuity, Lith went to Varegrave asking for a live subject.

    "Based on the information acquired today, I have a theory about the cure. It¡¯s unlikely to seed, high-risk and potentially deadly. Yet I¡¯d like to try it out.

    Even if it fails, I can gain invaluable data from it."

    "What are the odds of sess?" Varegrave¡¯s hand subconsciously caressed hisst will contained in the breast pocket of the uniform.

    "Barely 15%." Considering the difference in talent and experience between Hatorne and himself, Lith felt it was still an optimistic estimate.

    "I like these numbers. Let¡¯s do it."

 Chapter 150 Search for the Cure 2

    Lith wasn¡¯t new to human experimentation, but he usually did it in secret, using as test subjects only people that had tried to kill him or dared to attack his family, that he would have killed anyway after putting them through excruciating pain.

    Hearing his proposal being epted by a servant of the Kingdom, without even raising an objection, was too much even for him.

    - "Is this guy insane? I mean, I don¡¯t give a sh*t about people¡¯s lives too, but at least I pretend to care, especially in front of witnesses." ¨C

    "What do you need?" Varegrave asked.

    "An infected from the anti healing parasite, no matter the progress rate of the infestation, at least threepetent healers, and a lot of vials.

    Sessful or not, during the experiment I n on extracting the toxins the parasites use to control the mana flow and, with a little luck, those produced upon their deaths.

    Since both degrade fast without a host, it would be better if the vials are able to replicate the host¡¯s lifeforce, or at least slow down the deteriorating process. I know that dimensional items are off limits, but I need something simr, or half the work will be for naught."

    "Don¡¯t worry, this is not the first time that we use Small World for containing a disease. We are well equipped for all kind of contingencies. When do you want to do it?"

    Lith pondered for a while, trying to make it as realistic as possible. He could actually do everything on his own, but the priority was to not make it seem too easy. Last, but not least, by delegating part of the job, he would get the opportunity to better observe the parasites¡¯ reaction to his therapy and react ordingly.

    "Tomorrow morning would be great. I¡¯m too tired now, I want to be at peak condition for the experiment. By the way, I need to impart one of my personal spells to the healers that will assist me, but I can¡¯t take out the scroll from my amulet."

    Varegrave gave him a quill and an inkwell, forcing Lith to show his penmanship.

    "This is really a bad idea." Lith said while the quill moved clumsily along the sheet, screeching from time to time.

    "Since I have learned water magic, I always write with it. Are you sure you can¡¯t grant me water magic, or at least let me ess my dimensional amulet, even for a second?"

    "Sorry." Varegrave shook his head. "I can¡¯t do it unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary."

    After a long and painful quarter of hour, Lith gave him something that looked like an ancient codednguage, the spacing between the letters almost random.

    The ink was smeared in several points, making Lith¡¯s doctor¡¯s handwriting even more mysterious and unfathomable.

    "Do you think they can learn it by tomorrow?" Lith asked while cleansing the ink from his hands.

    "It would be easier for them to recreate it from scratch, rather than deciphering this gibberish. Turn around, please, and be ready to get that scroll."

    Lith did as instructed, keeping his right hand behind his back, allowing Solus to spectate whatever Varegrave wanted to keep hidden. The Colonel took a few steps back, positioning himself at the center of the tent.

    His left eyes emitted a faint light, revealing numerous rune marks on it, that moved out of the cornea and in the air surrounding him, allowing Varegrave to operate them like a giant holographic keyboard.

    Thanks to her mana sense, Solus could see Varegrave connecting himself to the multiyered array that surrounded the whole region. She already had an idea of the artifact¡¯s scope, but only when the link had been established, she was able to understand its breath-takingplexity.

    Now that Small World was activated, Solus could see the countless runes of power that enveloped every single millimetre of space. Its magic permeated even the items and bodies of all those under its influence.

    An infinite number of shackles, albeit normally invisible, weighted on them.

    - "By my maker! This thing is much moreplicated that we thought. It¡¯s not like a switch, he has to actually rewrite entire strings of runes to make even the slightest change to it." ¨C

    "Do it now." Lith could feel the strain in Varegrave¡¯s voice, as Solus could see it on his face. He promptly extracted the scroll, raising it over his head, without turning around, for the Colonel to see.

    Varegrave silently nodded, reverting the array to his previous status. The runes moved back into the eye, leaving no trace of their powerful magic, except a faint smell of ozone lingering in the air.

    "Finally, some humannguage." Varegravemented reading the scroll.

    "The spell is mine, and I¡¯d like to keep it that way." Lith ignored the remark.

    "Don¡¯t worry. If it proves to be useful for the cure, you¡¯ll be properlypensated. Otherwise, I¡¯ll make sure your work does not get giarized."

    Lith had no idea how Varegrave could be so confident about it. A non-disclosure agreement was just a piece of paper, an ambitious magician would ignore it and im Lith¡¯s detoxifying spell to be of his own creation.

    - "Either he ns to employ his most loyal followers or to just kill them to keep the secret, is none of my business. Right now, we have more important things to worry about." ¨C

    That evening, Lith dined alone, revising with Solus the procedure he had devised. First, they worked on all its aspects, improving the chances of sess. After that, they tried to anticipate everything that could go wrong, preparing contingency ns for all eventualities.

    The Moon was high in the sky when they finished. Lith was very tired, so he decided to sleep instead of using Invigoration.

    - "Seems all the recent events are taking a toll on me. Compared to yesterday, today was pretty quiet, yet I feel beat up."

    "I think it¡¯s because of the Small World." Solus pondered, recalling the intricatework of runes that manifested when Varegrave activated the artifact.

    "Fake mage¡¯s mana is still, so they are not affected by it, unless they try to conjure magic. In our case, mana constantly flows inside our body, even when we do nothing. Being inside the array, is like carrying weights under the clothes.

    Also, animating so many zombies at once didn¡¯t help. Remember what Ka said? They feed on your life force." ¨C

    Lith had barely the time to agree with her analysis, falling asleep as soon his head met the pillow.

    The next day, Lith met his medical team. They were already wearing a full body scrub when he arrived, leaving only the gue mask partially exposed. He could infer their gender and age only by the voice.

    Lith exined them what the spell he had imparted would do, and what was their role during the procedure.

    "That¡¯s it? That¡¯s your brilliant idea?" Said with a scoff a female voice.

    "This is the most basic n one could think of. What makes you believe you can pull it off?"

    "Mostly the fact that before my arrival, you couldn¡¯t distinguish the head of the illness from it¡¯s a*s. Not to mention that you dare call it simple only because of my spell." Lith¡¯s voice oozed contempt.

    "I¡¯m exining all this only because I need your help, not your permission."

    "Indeed." Colonel Varegrave was going to spectate. He wanted to make personally sure that nothing went wrong.

    "Feel free to leave, Mage Utika. But beware, because your military rank, noble title and all the funds the Crown granted you will remain here, with or without you."

    Utika folded her arms, but said nothing more.

    Then, Lith went to the patient, exining all the risks and making sure she understood the consequences.

    She was an old woman, thin as a twig, with unkempt white hair drenched in sweat. Her left arm was asunder, barely kept together by stiches and bandages. Her wrinkly face was stretched from the pain.

    "Don¡¯t worry for this old bat, kid." Recognizing his young age, she forced herself to smile.

    "I¡¯ve lived my life, had a good husband, good kids and lived long enough to see my grandkids turn into fine adults. I don¡¯t want to spend the rest of my days suffering like a dog. If you seed, I¡¯ll be healed. If you fail, this pain will stop. It¡¯s a win-win for me."

    After putting her to sleep, Lith¡¯s experiment began.

    Like Mage Utika had previously stated, it wasn¡¯tplicated.

    By using Lith¡¯s detoxifying spell, the three mages were extracting the toxins that made healing impossible, storing them in magic vials that were promptly sent to the alchemicbs.

    Lith was following their progress with Invigoration, waiting for the right moment. The creatures were rejuvenated by all that mana, but as he predicted, they could not excrete toxins as fast as they removed them.

    When the arm was almost cleansed, Lith sent tendrils of darkness magic, enveloping the worms with surgical precision before crushing them all at once. s, in death they released a substance that seeped into the flesh and bone, making the arm rot at a speed visible at the naked eye.

    Even the darkness cocoon enveloping the worms was not enough to stop the process. But now the arm was free from the worms and the toxins, allowing Lith to use light magic at his fullest, making it whole and healthy again.

    While all the others were celebrating, he angrily took off his scrubs.

    "I¡¯m sorry Colonel. It¡¯s been an utter failure."

 Chapter 151 An Unexpected Threa

    "What do you mean, an utter failure?" Varegrave wasn¡¯t jumping out of joy like the others, yet couldn¡¯t understand why Lith was being so negative. It was the first time since the gue¡¯s breakout that a patient had been cured.

    "I saved her arm, yes, and maybe even her life, but only in the short term. It will just take a while for the parasites to invade the healthy arm, and then she will be back at square one.

    My experiment had many goals, but I reached only one. I wanted to remove the worms safely, and it failed. And so did my attempt to collect the substance they release upon death, and even to nullify its effects.

    It all happened too fast, I was able to save the arm only because it has no vital organ. Had the wound been in the chest or head, the patient would be dead. The only things I managed to aplish was to collect the toxins, and I could have done that anyway, anytime, and restore the arm.

    But as I said, all in all is a hollow victory. I need time to think."

    Despite every sess Lith achieved brought him closer to gallows, Varegrave didn¡¯t share his pessimism. Lith himself had predicted the experiment to be a failure, giving it a low chance of sess.

    The patient wasn¡¯t dead, on the contrary, her conditions had improved. It was a small step, but a step forward nheless. After dismissing the medical team, reminding them to not use the new detoxifying spell without Lith¡¯s permission, he went back to his tent to inform the Crown of thetest news.

    ***

    Sylpha, Queen of the Griffon Kingdom, listened to Varegrave¡¯s report with ambivalent feelings. She was pleased hearing so many good news, after over a month spent stumbling in the dark.

    First, a proper diagnosis for the gue had been found, and thanks to that, healers and alchemists were busy looking for a cure instead of trying to minimise the body count. Two days after that, the conditions of an infected had been stabilized.

    Yet she was bewildered by how things were moving fast. It waspletely out of her predictions. When Sylpha had forced Linjos to send help, threatening his life, it had been a punishment for his ipetence in handling Manohar.

    Every time the runaway genius disappeared, she could only pray for nothing bad to happen. And when her pleas fell on deaf ears, she would inevitably let down the Crown¡¯s most loyal supporters, undermining her prestige and authority.

    This time it was even worse, thousands of lives were at stake, an entire region was about to be burned to the ground. She had just wanted to teach him a lesson, showing how heavy were the consequences of letting one of their most prized assets slip away.

    The recent events were a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nheless. Sylpha needed answers, and she knew who could provide them.

    Right after hanging the call with Varegrave, she called the Royal Captain, themanding officer of all the Queen¡¯s corps units.

    "Your Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

    "Cut the cr*p, Mirim, I¡¯m not in the mood."

    "You are never in the mood, Sylpha." Marchioness Distar was at her work desk, as usual, swamped in paperwork.

    "We know from over thirty years, so I¡¯m asking you as your friend, not as your Queen. Why did you lie to me?"

    Mirim was bbergasted by the allegation, her eyes wide open from the surprise.

    "I have no idea what you are talking about."

    "All these years, you have marked Lith from Lutia as a rank B asset, that¡¯s why the Mage Association never paid him any attention."

    "And that¡¯s exactly the value he holds for the Kingdom." Mirim rebuked.

    "Yet, once he entered the White Griffon academy per your rmendation, he proved to be a rank A talent. Then, he brought you the box and the coded letter, and now is providing invaluable help against the gue. Do you deny it?"

    Sylpha¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits, overloaded with mana.

    "No. But I never lied to you. I gave the Association aplete file, and they agreed with my evaluation. Being a talented mage and a valuable asset are two different things."

    "Please, borate." Realizing her temper may have rushed her judgment, Sylpha calmed down.

    "When I first met him, he was just eight years old, but you could already see how dangerous he was. Beyond his smiles and niceties, there was nothing but a caged beast. Being able to create such aplex game like chess and being good at it, only made him more unreliable in my eyes.

    You know as well as I do that power and brilliance are a hard mix to control. And that is what the Mage Association ultimately wants from its members, control. And when four yearster he was a bounty hunter with more than thirty confirmed kills, I knew I had been right all along."

    Sylpha nodded. The reason why Miriam Distar had reached her rank in the corps wasn¡¯t only because of her talent for magic and loyalty, but because she had proved countless times to have an outstanding skill in evaluating people.

    "When Count Lark started pestering us all, my intention was to mind my own business. I knew that with his talent, sooner orter Lith would have joined the Mage Association, and I needed more time to assess what kind of threat he could pose to the Kingdom."

    "Then what made you change your mind? Why did you help him?"

    "Because in my time of need, you let me down. And he saved my daughter." Mirim¡¯s eyes were brimming with determination.

    "In that moment, I understood that he could be a second rate asset for the Crown, but an invaluable tool for me. I know that officially I¡¯m just a middle-level noble, and that there¡¯s a limit to what you can do for me without blowing my cover..."

    Sylpha inwardly cursed Linjos and Manohar again. It was all their fault if back at the time Mirim had been pushed in a corner. The Corpse existence was a secret that had to be kept at all costs.

    The Queen would not use them to help a friend, nor to save her own children. If miracles started to happen whenever the Crown or one of their most loyal retainers where in danger, the rumors about them would turn into a certainty.

    That was the reason why they had made Manohar the Royal Healer, why he was so important.

    "...but if even after everything I have sacrificed for the Kingdom, you can¡¯t even guarantee the safety of my husband and daughter, then you can take back my rank and status, and shove them up your as*!"

    Sylpha let her old friend rant slide. As a mother, she could understand her feelings.

    "What level of threat are we talking about?"

    Talking about her job, Mirim regained her cool.

    "I estimate him as a Rank A mage, and a Rank S threat for the Kingdom."

    "What? Why?" The shock was so big Sylpha could not go past monosybles.

    "Because he isn¡¯t like Manohar, that you can bribe with expensive equipment and new puzzles, nor is like Hatorne, that would do anything for money. Lith has his own rules and agenda, but only the gods know what it is.

    If you, or anyone else for that matter, try to force him to do anything, he¡¯ll bend to your will, bid his time, and then when you least expect it, unleash something that will make this gue seem themon cold.

    It¡¯s not his talent that makes him dangerous, it¡¯s his patience and ability to manipte others. That¡¯s why I¡¯m using the kite strategy, and advise you to do the same."

    Mirim was referring to an ancient tactic the Griffon Kingdom used when handling dangerous individuals. Just like a kite, you would not let them fly freely, while at the same time keeping them far enough to be safe and give them the impression of being unchecked.

 Chapter 152 An Unexpected Threat 2

    "Lith¡¯s greatest virtue is that he has no ambition. He never asked me for titles or power, nor has he tried to turn his vige into his own small kingdom, like many mages of humble origins do, intoxicated by their new abilities.

    It implies that whenever you require his services, he¡¯ll never try to harm the Kingdom, since your goals are unlikely to sh with his."

    Sylpha thought back at her husband words during theirst quarrel. Maybe he was right wanting to arrange Lith¡¯s reward as soon as possible.

    "I still think that your evaluation is too exaggerated. He is still just a kid, even if he bes as powerful as Marth, he is still far from a level S threat."

    Mirim shook her head, sighing.

    "You are thinking too straightforward. He is not going to raise an undead army like the god of death, or unleash a gue like Hatorne. He may not be capable of such feats, but that doesn¡¯t make him less dangerous.

    What makes you underestimate Lith, is that so far he abides to thew, but that¡¯s because it suits him. If there is one thing I understood about him, is that he wants to be left alone.

    Think about his past. When his brothers started to antagonize him, one was disowned and the other left of his own choice. When a noble family messed with him, it was wiped out, because after killing several adults without shedding a tear, he had the presence of spirit of bringing proof of their contractor.

    And he was respectively five and six years old at the time. Each of his achievements, taken separately is remarkable. But when you assemble all the pieces of the puzzle you get a kid thatcks any conscience, patient, maniptive, unscrupulous towards his own kin, let alone strangers.

    And you are letting such a person near the most dangerous disease the Griffon Kingdom has ever faced. Think about it. He epted to help you because he was promised a reward of his own choice, Lith couldn¡¯t care less about the infected.

    If he manages to cure it, you¡¯ll have to take into ount that he probably is capable or replicating it, or even make it worse. If angered, there is no telling how far Lith is willing to go for revenge, and I am not willing to learn it the hard way.

    That¡¯s why I always bound him only through gratitude, helping him when he needed. Consider him a frence to call I the times of need, but always remember to pay his due.

    Force him to live under your roof, and he¡¯ll burn the house down after boarding up doors and windows."

    Sylpha mulled those words for a few seconds, drumming her fingers on the armrest.

    "I see your point with the kite strategy. Too dangerous to bring him close, too valuable to kill. Good thinking, without him, we would still be in hot waters with the gue. Any idea about how to reward him?"

    "It¡¯s still too early to tell. Give him something precious, but not too much, otherwise he will not need us anymore."

    Sylpha nodded.

    "What about the box? Any news?"

    "No, the lock is reallyplicated, and we have only one shot at it. Same for the former Headmistress Linnea and Hatorne. I don¡¯t think we have to worry about Hatorne, though.

    She has left the Kingdom the same day theb exploded, and that was a big mistake on her side. Here she could still rely on her contractor, but once the other countries learn what she did, they¡¯ll kill her in our stead.

    The Blood Desert tribes value honour above everything else, and what she did is the highest form of cowardice, killing hundreds of innocents for money. As for the Gorgon Empire, the Magic Empress would never employ someone that didn¡¯t hesitate betraying her own country."

    "Agreed. If I had ever suspected she was capable of doing such a thing, I would have killed her years ago."

    "Geniuses are erratic." Mirim sighed. "That¡¯s why they are so precious yet so dangerous. And that¡¯s why I prefer people like Lith or Marth, they are predictable."

    The two women kept talking for hours discussing the future of the mages of the whole country.

    ***

    In the following days, Lith kept searching for a cure, but to no avail. Even after Professor Marth¡¯s arrival, the situation remained dire. Lith started to work with the healers from the White Griffon academy, sharing with them over time everything he had learned about the parasites.

    Solus racked Lith¡¯s brain non stop, looking through all his memories about Earth technology and medicine, searching for a clue. But there were still too many things they ignored about magic; science seemed to have nothing to offer against those monstrosities.

    Both of them were at their wits end, feeling their sanity slipping away. Lith was sick and tired of the life at the military camp, with most of his abilities sealed, always looking his back against traitors.

    He hated being forced to spend his days with people he didn¡¯t like, working on something that had no interest for him, with no privacy at all except during the sleeping hours.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Solus¡¯ constant support and care, he would have gone on rampage, rising from the dead every single corpse avable and exploiting the ensuing chaos to run away from that prison.

    As for Solus, she was experiencing what Marth feared would happen to Quy if she took part in the research project. For the first time in her existence, she was facing the darkest side of humans, against which Lith had warned her over and over.

    During their work, she had to witness death, misery and pain, knowing it was no ident or natural catastrophe, but the result of the constant war than men waged against other men for the sake of power.

    Until that moment, she had always lived surrounded by the love of Lith¡¯s family and friends, allowing herself to believe that the world wasn¡¯t as dark as Lith painted it, and that he had been scarred by the unfortunate events in his first life.

    The gue didn¡¯t discriminate between young and old, good and bad people. Every death they were powerless to prevent, left a scar in her heart. Her only sce was Lith¡¯s constant nagging about the food, their living quarters, the mask that made him sweat bullets, everything.

    Whenever Solus felt she was about to lose herself in the madness surrounding them, she would find a safe harbour in his heart, uncaring for the ever growing body count or their failure, the only thing he worried about was her.

    As often happens in the history of science, a crucial element for their survival was discovered almost by ident.

    Lith¡¯s research team had confirmed that the worms couldn¡¯t be killed or removed, either by magic and surgery, without causing them to release the necrosis inducing toxin that lead to the patient¡¯s death.

    To make things worse, Lith had discovered that even if the parasites¡¯ effects weren¡¯t triggered by the active use of mana, once their number grew above what the mana capacity of the host could sustain, they would start to feed on his flesh and blood causing his demise.

    It was after one of such cases urred that Lith noticed something he had missed until that point. The corpse, like all the others caused by the worms¡¯ reproductive cycle, was perfectly normal.

    Temperature, rigidity, everything was as it was supposed to be, with no sign of premature decay.

    After consulting with Marth, they devised together a spell that would allow them to confirm his new theory. Beingprised only by experts, it took Marth¡¯s team only a few hours to create a trial spell, instead of the weeks that Lith would need if he had worked alone.

    Lith had already helped creating a diagnostic spell that would allow even to fake mages to detect the parasites, so he decided to let Marth conduct the experiment. He needed a cure that anyone could use, or everything would be for naught.

    First, Marth located the parasites in a patient¡¯s limb, then he applied the trial spell. Once again, Lith¡¯s core idea was simple. He had observed that the natural death of the parasites would deal no harm to the host, so all they had to do was not to kill them but to let them die.

    The trial spell flooded the patient¡¯s body with darkness magic, without directly attacking the parasites. The limb progressively lost its mana and vitality, until the point the worms were incapable to draw sustenance from it, starving immediately.

    Lith was able to follow the whole procedure via Invigoration, ready to step in if something went wrong. The first to copse were the eggs, withering as soon the slightest trace of darkness touched them.

    Unlike the adult form, they had no protection against it. The keystone in Lith¡¯s new spell was that they weren¡¯t attacking the whole limb, but only the locations were the parasites resided.

    So, once their life force was extinguished, having being tricked in perceiving their host as dead, the healers were free to regenerate the damaged tissues and inject energy in the patient.

    The procedurested more than an hour, Lith and the other healers had to intervene more than once to prevent the spell from attacking safe tissues. Being only a trial version, it emphasized strength rather than finesse.

    When it was over, Marth was drenched in sweat, his mask¡¯s eye crystals were fogged by the body heat.

    "My dear colleagues, this leg needs to be regenerated a bit, but I¡¯d say this was a sess!"

 Chapter 153 True Genius

    After the sess of the trial spell, Professor Marth¡¯s team shared with the other healers the details of their discovery. Finding the cure wasn¡¯t a contest, but a priority for the whole Kingdom.

    Thanks to the new and vital piece of information, the research began anew with the different teams sharing their sess as well as the numerous failures. Those who tried to get rid of all the parasites in one go, had a high mortality ratepared to the healers cleansing one limb at a time.

    The great numbers of worms, coupled with the high finesse required to control the dark energies without inflicting coteral damages, forced the researches to abandon projects that aimed for a single session treatment.

    After a trial and error experimentation, it became apparent that the best approach was a different spell for each limb, arms, legs, chest and head. When Marth told him that their team was going to develop a tier five spells, Lith went back studying the other kinds of parasites, letting them do their job.

    He had still a limited knowledge of tier four, whenever the discussion moved to tier five, Lith was able to understand only the general terms, there was nothing he had to offer anymore.

    After eleven days, Marth¡¯s team had sessfully converted the trial spell in four new spells. After testing their efficiency, curing several patients with a very low mortality rate, he went to inform Varegrave of their sess.

    Those days, the Colonel was often gloomy, no matter how many progresses the researchers did, he had never forgot his foolish bet with the King. The moment the cure was found, it would also be hisst day.

    When Marth finished his report, Varegrave went pale, his lunch made several attempts to escape the stomach and get back to the te, but a few sses of Dragon Water to celebrate the good news managed to calm his nerves.

    "I¡¯m impressed by your amazing results, Professor. The White Griffon truly deserves the title of ¡¯cradle of the healing arts¡¯. To think that less than two weeks ago we were considering the idea of incinerating the whole region." Varegrave shuddered.

    The thought of so many innocent lives lost only because of his ipetence, hadn¡¯t allowed him to have a single good night of sleep since Lith¡¯s arrival.

    "Just out of curiosity, did Lith help you develop the cure as well?"

    "Oh, no. By the gods, if he managed to do such a thing, we would have a second Manohar at hand. Heavens know if one isn¡¯t already too much."

    Varegrave nodded. His fate was sealed anyway, he decided it was best to understand the scope of his mistake, rather than live hisst days in fear.

    "It is odd, though. From your previous report, I understood that it was him discovering the key element for the cure and proposing the method."

    Marth pondered for a while, searching for the right words to not appear arrogant or ungrateful towards his own student.

    "Indeed he did. But saying ¡¯there is a flood, we need a dam¡¯, is different from actually knowing how to alter the terrain and engineer a facility capable of getting the job done."

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor, but you lost me at ¡¯he did¡¯. Do you mind to dumb it down for me?"

    "Well, it¡¯s actually simple. Lith¡¯s diagnostic skill is the only thing he has on Manohar¡¯s level. He identified the gue¡¯s source and then understood how, at least in theory, it was possible to cure it. Yet he had no idea how to do it.

    If he was a true genius, he would have assembled four or five tier four spells he already knew and attempted a makeshift cure. Luckily, he knows his limits and the importance of teamwork, so he came to me for help.

    Long story short, his core idea was correct, but it was just a vague idea. Turning it into reality was beyond his capabilities. Not to mention how difficult has it been to make it actually work."

    As most warriors, Varegrave had always had limited interest in healing magic, but since in thest month it had be his bread and butter. It was now a topic that piqued his curiosity.

    "Not to be rude, but what are you saying doesn¡¯t make much sense. I read his file. I know he is the only S rank healer that appeared in thest five years. Otherwise, how do you exin that all the great magicians assembled here, you included, didn¡¯t manage to do the same, despite the gap in age and experience?"

    Marth sighed deeply. He wasn¡¯t a prideful man, yet admitting to be inferior to a child always proved to be vexing for his ego.

    "It¡¯s a matter of vision. All us old coots have taken bad habits during the years, and Lith is our wake up call. Since light magic has reced medicine, we stopped asking ourselves questions that in this case proved to be vital.

    We do not care anymore why a liver doesn¡¯t function properly, we just identify what¡¯s making the patient ill and fix it. We got so used to light magic¡¯s simplicity to became uncapable of thinking outside its boundaries.

    Since Lith¡¯s arrival, he showed us how important was the knowledge of anatomy for regenerative magic, and now, being the only one that spectated to autopsies, managed to caught what we all stupidly overlooked.

    He is considered a S rank talent, because while being taught to, we also learn from him. The lesson Lith has been imparting to us old fools is that science and magic are two aspects of the same thing, and that by relinquishing one we can¡¯t develop the full potential of the other."

    ***

    Meanwhile, now that the light magic parasite was off the list, Lith was experimenting the cure he had suggested Marth on the victims of the fire and water parasites too. (AN: the parasites that cause spontaneousbustion/freezing when using the respective elemental magic.)

    Thanks to Invigoration, he was capable of cleansing an infected in a matter of minutes.

    Before asking Marth¡¯s advice, Lith had already verified on his own that the method was feasible, leaving most of the glory to the rest of the team. True magic allowed him a surgical precision in handling darkness magic, even inside the body of another human.

    Killing a single worm or hundreds at a time was only a matter of focus for him. Whenever Solus would grow fond of one of their experimental subjects, he would cull the parasites in his body to prolong his life and prevent her to further delve into depression.

    While Marth and the others were still busy creating a spell anyone could use, Lith had already discovered two important things. The first was that fire and water parasites could be treated the same way as the light magic ones.

    The second, was that water parasites had a much longer reproductive cyclepared to their fire cousins. By checking the mortality data of the four different kinds of parasites, he noticed that water and magic blocking parasites were the ones causing the least amount of deaths.

    Unbeknownst to him, only two had been created to infect the soldiers, while the others were intended to be used on the poption of the Blood Desert tribes and Gorgon Empire respectively until they hadpletely submitted.

    - "If the cure I have devised works for three parasites, I can hope it will work also for the fourth type. Based on what Varegrave said on my arrival, until a way to eradicate the magic blocking parasite isn¡¯t found, they will not let me go.

    In a world like this, where quick transportation andmunications are entirely magic dependant, the little critters can cause the fall of whole nations, bringing them back to the stone age.

    It would be like if on Earth someone controlled a bacterium capable of sapping electrical current. Let¡¯s hope I am right. I can¡¯t wait to get out of here." ¨C

    The magic blocking parasite was the one Lith knew the least about. Since its victims were kept in a separate space created with dimensional magic, he had no way to interact with the infected without the supervision of Colonel Varegrave.

    Most of them were powerful mages, that following the loss of their powers had been brought to the verge of insanity. The mostmon cause of death among the fourth group of infected wasn¡¯t the parasite, but suicide.

    The second one was the constant rioting, which frequency was only getting worse with the passing of time. The medical ward was isted from the external world, aggravating the feelings of helplessness and despair that had taken a deep root in the heart of the patients.

    The few times that Lith managed to have ess to the secret ward, the guards needed to be forewarned to have the time to restrain the residents before his arrival. Once he arrived, he had little time at hand and no privacy, so he could not conduct any experiment.

    Now that the other threats were under control, Lith decided it was the right time to convince Varegrave to take out at least an infected from the secret ward and set up a separate tent for his studies.

 Chapter 154 The Last Hurdle

    Contrary to Lith¡¯s expectations, Colonel Varegrave didn¡¯t raise objections to his proposal, allowing him to start studying the mana blocking parasites. The only issue was that many preparations were required, and the safety measures were much stricter than before.

    Most of the victims had turned extremely violent, so they needed to be hands and feet strapped to the stretchers to avoid escape attempts.

    Everything that regarded the magicalmunity needed the Mage Association permission, so Captain Kilian was assigned to him as escort and assistant whenever he came in contact with one of the patients.

    There were a couple of reasons behind Varegrave¡¯s meek attitude. After speaking with Professor Marth, he had been able to put his wounded pride aside and admit to himself how wrong he had been doubting Lith¡¯s loyalty to the Kingdom.

    Second, and most important, he was dealing with an internal investigation that had exploded between his hands out of the blue. After Lith had killed the traitorous lieutenant Vickas and his two aplishes, the cogs of fate had started to move.

    With the tight discipline the encampment was operated with, the sudden disappearance of middle level officers couldn¡¯t go unnoticed for long. By the end of the first day, the military personnel were on alert, looking for three possible deserters.

    The worst case scenario was that one of them, if not all, had been infected, and had decided to attempt escaping from the quarantine zone to see their families onest time before their demise.

    Varegrave couldn¡¯t take any risk, if the gue spreaded in the rest of the Kingdom, the whole world would have been in danger. Their living quarters were toothb searched looking for any clue about their intentions or destination.

    By the following day, the situation turned even worse. By checking their military records and work schedules, Varegrave discovered that all three of them, at the moment of their disappearance, were on patrol duty in the sector where Lith¡¯s tent was located.

    Normally he would have considered it to be a coincidence, but after what happened to his sworn brother Vgros, he couldn¡¯t dismiss the idea they were traitors sent to finish the job.

    Varegrave asked for Kilian¡¯s help, and both had their most loyal men search every ce the three missing officers had been seen at, looking for clues.

    The good news was that thanks to Small World, escaping was far from easy, and all the guards at the checkpoints, the only ways out the quarantine zone, were all elite veterans of proven loyalty.

    Even if one of them was a traitor too, in an eight men team it would be impossible for him to help his aplices without the others noticing. Also, ording to the Ward block security, they had been seen going in, but never got out.

    Being Lith safe and sound, he couldn¡¯t be their target. The thorough search of the encampment lead to the finding of a hidden stash and most of the magical items that once belonged to the three lieutenants.

    The stash contained incriminating evidence against three powerful noble families and two of the missing soldiers, marking them as potential traitors against the Crown.

    ording to a letter found inside the stash, lieutenant Vickas had been approached by his foster father, Duke Selimar, who had asked him to betray the Kingdom in exchange of the promise of bing his heir.

    Vickas exined how he had pretended to ept, while gathering evidence to bring down the noble faction. ording to the letter, he had only managed to identify two more, and concluded saying that if anything happened to him, it was likely he had been discovered and killed.

    Varegrave was moved by Vickas¡¯ brave selflessness, cursing himself for not being a leader capable to inspire trust. If Vickas hade asking for his help, maybe things would have ended differently.

    The final nail in the coffin of Varegrave¡¯s hopes for a happy ending, was that all the magical items retrieved nowcked any imprinting.

    That could mean that their owners were dead.

    Discovering how deeply rooted was the noble¡¯s faction grasp inside the military ranks, Varegrave entrusted all the gathered evidence to Kilian, letting the Queen¡¯s corps do the rest.

    Unbeknownst to Lith, his n had worked almost wlessly. It had been him forcing Vickas to write the letter on his notebook, to collect all the magical items and putting them were they could be found.

    Last but not least, he had found the hidden stash each lieutenant had and put everything together in a single one to make the cover story he had devised work. The only w was that he had no idea how to exin the disappearance of the three dead bodies.

    If the traitors had overpowered and killed the "heroic" Vickas, getting rid of the corpse was natural, but if even them had died, who could have cleaned the scene?

    The evidence contained into the secret stash wasn¡¯t enough to use one of the great noble families of treason, but it undermined their credibility, linking them to several unsolved crimes.

    It would allow the Crown to suppress all their activities and cripple their influence until the investigation was over. Preventing the civil war from urring was a top priority, so Varegrave could only ignore that mystery for the time being.

    - "Dammit, in the King¡¯s shoes, I¡¯d kill an ipetent fool as myself without a second thought." He thought. "I was so busy doubting Lith¡¯s loyalty that I missed the real traitors right under my nose I can already hear the King and Queen quarrel about how corrupted the army his.

    She will never let His Majesty hear the end of it." ¨C

    ***

    Considering the matter of the other three parasites resolved, Lith started to examine several infected from the mana blocking parasite looking for the perfect specimen. He was determined to find the worst case of infection possible and use it for his work.

    Unlike him, fake magicians weren¡¯t able to alter the magical flow of their spells unless they had been expressively devised to allow it. To make things worse, Lith had no idea how a tier five spell worked, so he had to make sure to provide them a foolproof cure.

    Lith¡¯s n was to study an advanced case, gathering all the necessary data he needed to create a trail of breadcrumbs that Marth¡¯s team could follow. Otherwise they would need to make adjustments every time they encountered a circumstance unknown at the time the spell had been created.

    The tent arranged for Lith¡¯s studies was quite big, it had a diameter of almost ten meters (33 feet) with two seats and a small desk as its only furniture. Most of his specimens came with a straight jacket and chains at their ankles, if not full body strapped like a smi.

    Unlike the others, the victims of the fourth kind of parasite had healthy bodies full of vigour. The restraints were safety measures to avoid escape attempts and limit the risks of infection in case they attempted to bite during a fit of rage.

    "You don¡¯t know who I am, you filthy military dog!"

    Also, instead of treating the soldiers and the healers with respect, most of them would yell all the time, bantering their previous status like they were speaking to a slow-witted servant.

    "I¡¯m Garith Senti, the youngest guild master Kandria¡¯s guild ever had." Lith¡¯s first patient was a handsome man, well-built, tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, that in that moment were staring at Lith like he was dog po*p on top of his morning waffles.

    "I demand to be set free and treated with all the honours I deserve! Once I get out of here, I will make sure everyone of you dies a dog¡¯s death!"

    "Shut up, please. You disturb my concentration, making my work harder."

    Even using Invigoration was a challenge. The specimens¡¯ bodies were afflicted by a toxin unlike the others Lith had studied so far. It didn¡¯t inflict any direct damage, but was capable of scrambling both internal and external mana, turning any spell in a waste of energy.

    Oveing its jamming effect required Lith¡¯s sheer willpower and concentration, draining his mana reserves like he was treating a whole vige at the same time.

    "Your job? Ha! You are but an ipetent idiot, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be rotting in a shabby tent like a vagrant from over a month!"

    Then he managed to spit on Lith¡¯s right eye crystal with uncanny precision, before erupting into aughter. Lith had never been a Florence Nightingale.

    His usual calm and respectful demeanour came from the awareness that after being held prisoners for so long, those people deserved to be treated with human respect to ensure their cooperation.

    "You know what, mister Senti?" Lith cleaned his eye crystal with a handkerchief, and then used it to wipe off some dirt from the sole of his boots.

    "They say that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. But flies are actually easily attracted with sh*t." Then, he shoved the handkerchief in Garith¡¯s mouth.

 Chapter 155 The Last Hurdle 2

    Aside from muffled, disgusted moans and the soldiers¡¯ chuckling, the room had finally be silent enough to allow Lith regaining his focus. Garith was one of the first infected, and that made him a perfect specimen, at least on paper.

    From studying his condition, Lith discovered a few things.

    The slow reproduction cycle of the mana blocking parasite had allowed Garith to live that long without side effects aside from theck of magic. It also gave the parasites enough time to fill him with toxins to the brim.

    To add insult to injury, each parasite was enveloped by some kind of cocoon, formed over time by the constant excretion of toxins, that made almost impossible to pinpoint them even with Invigoration.

    To get past the cocoons and make sure of the worms¡¯ position, Lith had to spend almost all his mana reserves.

    "Your treatment was pretty harsh, sir." Kilian couldn¡¯t stopughing at Garith¡¯s desperate attempts to remove the gag.

    "The young master here is really as powerful and influent as he says." And that was the reason why Kilian avoided referring to Lith with his name, but only using the rank that his gue doctor army uniform granted him.

    By the King¡¯s decree, Lith¡¯s involvement had to be kept secret. He had to report all of his discoveries to Varegrave first, whom would decide if letting him take credit for them or making them pass for information obtained through the use of an artifact.

    Hence, Lith always wore the uniform when he wasn¡¯t working with Marth.

    "Really? Then as soon as I finish examining this idiot, take him away and bring me another patient. I¡¯ll make sure mister Senti gets curedst. Arrogant brats need to be disciplined."

    The whole tent chuckled, except for Garith that turned pale as a ghost. Because of the masks, the only way he had to recognize someone was through the voice, and even that was distorted,ing out of the nostrils-like holes in the gue mask¡¯s beak.

    The soldiers weren¡¯t afraid of him too. Being forced to babysit a bunch of powerful and arrogant mages, their uniforms had the name tags removed.

    Sighing out of exhaustion, Lith prepared for thest test. He wanted to extract a sample of the toxins, hoping that the alchemists could concoct something to neutralize their effects.

    Lith ced his hands above Garith¡¯s arm, using Invigoration like usual, to use his mana to take control of the flow in the patient¡¯s body and force the toxins out of the pores.

    Yet this time he failed. He was too tired, and in front of so many witnesses he couldn¡¯t ess to the world energy to replenish his mana. Otherwise, when others would perform the same experiments and reported how difficult everything was, he would stand out too much.

    The problem with working for the army was that Lith was supposed to report everything in hisb notebook. Thanks to his nightmarish penmanship, until that point he had been exonerated from it, doing an oral report at the end of the day instead.

    Now, though, Kilian had nothing to do while watching Lith performing his experiments, so Varegrave had asked him to fill the paperwork in Lith¡¯s stead, with the result of creating an actual record of his exploits and sealing another chunk of his abilities.

    "The sample collection attempt failed, I presume." Kilian noted down, listening to Lith wheezing like a bellows.

    "Indeed. Take him back to the tent." Lith ordered the soldiers.

    "I need time to recover my strength. I¡¯ll extract the sample after lunch from another patient, this one is not needed anymore."

    "Yes, sir!" Both soldiers replied while standing on attention.

    "What about the handkerchief, sir?"

    "Earlier I stepped on horse manure, so he can keep it as a present."

    At those words, Garith stopped his attempts to push away the improvised gag with his tongue. His face turned green realizing what was that horrible taste he had been experiencing.

    Lith dined in Varegrave¡¯s tent, reporting to him most of his findings and his doubts about finding a cure. The Colonel wasn¡¯t new to Lith¡¯s pessimism, but it was also the first time seeing him so tired.

    Lith was a little pale, panting between words, his hair sticky from all the sweating under the mask.

    "Don¡¯t worry, as soon as you manage to extract a toxins¡¯ sample, I¡¯ll give it top priority." Varegrave reassured him.

    "Thanks." Lith replied. "If we manage to find a way to dissolve or disable the anti mana toxins, it may be even possible to use the same cure for all the parasites. As it is, even locating the parasites is excruciating."

    Silence befell in the tent. No one actually believed such a thing would happen, at least in the short term. The gap in talent and expertise between Hatorne and the Alchemists at their disposal had be each day more apparent.

    The only answer they woulde out with was: "We are still working on it."

    Lith knew that without his true magic, there wasn¡¯t much magicians would be able to do either. Realizing once more his limits, Lith gritted his teeth and promised himself to work even harder, exploiting every advantage that Solus and true magic granted him to get free from all the shackles others tried to force on him.

    "By the way, what about my family?" He asked.

    "They don¡¯t hear from me from more than a week, they must be terrified."

    "Don¡¯t worry, they are fine." Varegrave sighed, thinking about his own children he may never be able to see again.

    "We told them that you are busy helping your Professors with an important research. You may call them today, if you want. But please, try to keep it short. Time is of the essence."

    After finishing lunch, Lith took a quick shower before going back to his specimens. His body was once again at its peak. After thest breakthrough, even his recovery speed had greatly improved.

    His next subject was a ck haired fat woman in her twenties. She was barely 1.55 meters (5¡¯1") high, with watery eyes, trembling like a cornered mouse. Her demeanour was meek, obeying everything the soldiers said.

    Lith noticed her unusual attitude and theck of restraints, but didn¡¯t mind them until the examination started. There was such difference between her condition and Senti that it was hard thinking they suffered from the same affliction.

    The number of parasites in her body was small, and so was the concentration of toxins. ording to her chart, she had been hospitalized even before Senti, but there was almost no trace of cocoons around the worms.

    - "I think it depends on their mana cores." Solus exined. "The arrogant idiot from before had a blue core, hers is barely orange."

    "Wait, you could see his mana core?" Lith was surprised. During the previous examination, oveing the jamming effect had required all his focus. Beside locating the worms, he hadn¡¯t been able to ascertain much.

    "Yeah, sort of. The toxin overload made everything blurry, but I¡¯m pretty sure it was blue."

    "So, the stronger the mage, the harder will be cleansing the parasites? Well, at least in this case, it makes my work easier." ¨C

    Both the diagnosing and the toxins extraction process went easy as pie. Her conditions were so mild that with his current knowledge, Lith was certain he could cure her anytime.

    "Captain, this woman isn¡¯t part of the Mage Association, right?" He asked to confirm their hypothesis.

    "Yeah. Not all the patients of thest Ward are powerful magicians. Lady Niha Zeir, here, is just a member of one of Kandria¡¯s minor noble families."

    "That exins a lot. Thank you very much for your help, Lady Zeir." Lith made a small but polite bow to put her at ease.

    "You are wee, kind sir." Being treated like a human instead as cattle, Lady Zeir gave them a warm and cute smile while performing a curtsy, managing to give off a noble appearance despite wearing a prison grey jumpsuit.

    Lith was about to dismiss her and move on to the next specimen, when Solus stopped him.

    - "Hold your horses! Her neck, look at her neck. I noticed something odd during her curtsy." ¨C

    Lith did as instructed, discovering a single blue bulging vein on the back of Lady Zeir¡¯s neck.

    - "What the heck does this mean? I have seen something simr before, back when I forcefully injected my mana in that mercenary¡¯s core to torture her." ¨C

    Lith used Invigoration again, but this time he focused on her mana core, discovering that it had several yellow streaks, but most of them were fading away, turning orange little by little.

    - "It¡¯s exactly what happened back then. The foreign mana suppresses the natural one, inducing a degradation of the core. That alchemist must be a monster to be able to replicate true magic to this extent."

    "Actually, I think it¡¯s a very unintended side effect." Solus¡¯ tone was worried.

    "Why do you say so?"

    "Well, I think it¡¯s clear that the fire and light magic parasite have been created with the purpose to kill. They reproduce fast and kill their host in a matter of weeks, while spreading their eggs along with the infection.

    But this one, it reproduces slowly and didn¡¯t kill anyone so far. If not for their suddenck of magic, many would have not even noticed it."

    "What¡¯s your point?"

    "My point is, that if the gue is man-made, then there is a cure somewhere, and that the mana blocking parasites seems the perfect mean to restrain a mage. The problem is that the parasites not only prevent the use of magic, but are also draining the cores¡¯ energies.

    As I see it, once we remove the parasites, there are two possible oues. In the first one, the degraded cores never regain their old power, leaving the mages severely weakened if notpletely powerless."

    "That¡¯s sad." Lith mind shrugged. "But I still can¡¯t see anything to worry about. Is not like it¡¯s our fault."

    "The second one..." Solus continued, her tone annoyed by the interruption.

    "...is that they all be true mages."

 Chapter 156 Rush for a Cure

    - "Are you kidding me?" Lith¡¯s mind refused to ept Solus¡¯ words.

    "No, I¡¯m not." She replied. "Do you remember what happens every time you ovee a bottleneck?"

    "Of course that I do. The world energy flows into me, because after the transition my mana core is empty..." When Lith managed to put two and two together, his mind went nk, and so did his face. ¨C

    "Are you all right?" Kilian couldn¡¯t see through the mask, but Lith¡¯s sudden silence, freezing in ce for several seconds, could only mean bad news.

    "Peachy." He replied with a hoarse voice.

    - "Exactly!" Solus continued mercilessly. "Nature abhors the void, so once we cure them, if their mana cores have degraded too much, when the world energy fills them, the patients may be able to perceive the mana flow, discover their cores and be true mages.

    It¡¯s not like it took you much too, right? Your breathing technique is just a crutch to better perceive the energy flow. What if an already powerful core, after being depleted, suddenly goes back from green to blue?

    The sudden mana flow would be so intense that only an idiot would not notice it. At that point, discovering true magic would only be a matter of time. Humans and magical beast alike, have a static mana core in their natural state, that grows slowly over time.

    But this parasites changes everything, and that¡¯s why I think it¡¯s an unintended side effect. No one in his right mind would ever make his enemies even more powerful."

    "Wait, how is this different from what happened to Tista? After I cured her, her core went from deep yellow to bright green, and it¡¯s still evolving. Yet she hasn¡¯t Awakened."

    "It¡¯spletely different, you silly." Solus first giggle after days of weeping she had hoped Lith wouldn¡¯t notice, was the only silver lining among the madness.

    "Tista had a naturally weak core because of a natural illness. Her body simply couldn¡¯t handle stronger energies, so it didn¡¯t let the core develop for years. After you cured her, the core started to grow, yes, but slowly, over time. Tista¡¯s core was always at full capacity, even if underdeveloped.

    For the infected, instead, their core is already fully developed, let¡¯s say it¡¯s blue, but because of the parasites is temporarily down to green. Just like you after a bottleneck, their core will strive for the world energy, getting filled in days, not in years like in Tista¡¯s case.

    If I am right, in the worst-case scenario, by recovering their powers, they will experience a ¡¯breakthrough¡¯ on a daily basis."¨C

    "Lady Zeir, are you aware of this odd blue vein?" Lith tapped on her neck, trying to keep his voice calm.

    "Yes, thank you for your care." In any other circumstance her smile would have been contagious.

    "The previous doctors and healers never cared about it, even after I pointed it out to them. One of my tent mates noticed it about fifteen days after we got imprisoned. The scary thing is that everyone I befriended in the tent has one or more of them."

    Lith swallowed a lump of saliva.

    "Everyone?

    "Everyone." She nodded.

    "Captain, how many residents has the tent?"

    "A little over four hundred." Kilian replied after checking his notebook.

    The thought of having so many true mages pop out like mushrooms after a rainy day made Lith¡¯s head fuzzy.

    He was sure not being the only Awakened one in the world, but at least each one of them had gained his powers with constant study and discipline, just like him. Also, ording to his theory, those who were deemed to be unworthy or too stupid to wield such power had been killed throughout history.

    Sure, maybe not all those four hundred would be true mages, and a good number would be killed by whoever was in charge of the culling. But Lith wasn¡¯t used to n his life around "maybes" and "ifs".

    First and foremost, the infected were humans, and he expected from them to be horrible people. In his experience, power didn¡¯t corrupt, it would just bring out a person¡¯s real nature.

    Lith didn¡¯t want someone like Garith Senti having even one more ounce of power, the new world sucked already as it was. Letting a bunch of strangers achieve true magic, was like handing a methrower to a pyromaniac.

    He wouldn¡¯t allow some madman to go on rampage, for a very good reason.

    He hadn¡¯t spent years, hiding his abilities, just to let a group of idiots ruin the fruits of his hard work. Not to mention that if any of them started to spread the secret behind being an Awakened one, he would lose all of his advantages.

    His strength, his speed, even his recovery ability would be the norm. The new world would devolve in a nightmarish and chaotic ce were might makes right. With his limited talent and knowledge, Lith had no doubt he would meet a foul end.

    Lith tasked Solus to memorize the personal details of his specimens, now determined to find a cure as fast as possible, while keeping an eye on them. He still had the advantage of experience. A newly Awakened one would need weeks, if not months to sort out his new abilities and learn true spells.

    Lith decided to exploit that knowledge gap to make sure that an "ident" would befall those he deemed too dangerous.

    After Lady Zeir, Lith visited as many infected as he could, before running out of mana. Instead of checking for their conditions, he would only take note of the status of their cores and the blue veins.

    At the end of the day, he had barely managed to visit around fifty persons, and the results were bleak. All of them showed signs of deep mana poisoning (AN: the blue veins) and their mana cores were discoloured if not downgraded.

    The good news was that the stronger the core, the higher its resistance. Blue and cyan cores had just turned to deeper shades, only from the yellow level and below they had suffered an almostplete colour change.

    The bad news was that at high levels, even changing a shade was a big deal. Lith had gained a whole set of new abilities just going past the middle level of cyan. There was no saying what an even stronger mage would experience.

    During dinner his mood was gloomy, searching the right words for his report. He needed all the help he could get, but couldn¡¯t tell the truth, at any cost.

    - "Now not only I must find a foolproof cure, I also need to make certain that no one Awakens. I can achieve it in two ways. Either I make the cure slow and prolonged over time, or I do not extract all the toxins after killing the parasites.

    Either way, the specimens wouldn¡¯t be able to perceive the mana flow in their body while the cores recover their strength, and my a*s would be out of the frying pan. Both methods have evident ws, though.

    The first one could be improved by other healers not aware of the dangers it will pose. As for the second one, with no more parasites, I don¡¯t know how long the toxins would retain their potency. I need more data." ¨C

    Lith¡¯s trains of thoughts was interrupted by Colonel Varegrave.

    "What is the problem with those blue veins that Kilian was telling me about?"

    "It¡¯s a sign of the infection nearing the critical point. At this rate, the patients will be dead soon." Lith¡¯s lie killed two birds with one stone. It would give him usible deniability if he was forced to kill someone, and ensure his research to get priority.

    "I see." Varegrave didn¡¯t seem surprised, mostly worried.

    "Are you going to extract more toxins tomorrow?"

    "Most likely. Why?"

    "Because we need to establish a safer chain of custody." Varegrave handed to him a gold ring with the Royal family¡¯s crest engraved.

    "Only people with one of these will be allowed to handle the vials containing the toxins. Use it to stamp the custody release note every time you produce a vial, and always check the courier has a ring too."

    Lith took the ring, pondering about the implications of the sudden increase in security. His mind went to the most paranoid answer.

    "Let me guess, you want to weaponize the toxins."

    Varegrave was taken aback, he didn¡¯t expect a kid to understand the severity of the situation.

    "Yes. If we manage to stabilize them and apply them on clothes and armours, we could obtain anti magic protections. But that¡¯s not the only reason. Today an alchemist was discovered trying to steal a vial. He is currently being interrogated."

    Lith inwardly scoffed at their wishful thinking. If such a thing was possible, he had no doubt that Hatorne would have already found a way to do it and sold her merchandise for a high price.

    On the contrary, he expected Hatorne to prevent it from happening. She was a mage too, after all, he doubted she could be so stupid to leave behind something that could take away her greatest weapon. Yet Lith could benefit from their wild goose chase.

    "Whatever they discover about the anti mana toxins, I need to be informed as soon as possible. Without a cure, all the infected will die shortly, and with them all your precious toxins will be lost forever."

    Varegrave didn¡¯t miss Lith¡¯s hidden allegation, and was outraged by it.

    "Are you implying that the army would care more about a possible weapon rather than the lives of the citizens of the Kingdom?" He indignantly stood up from his chair.

    "I¡¯m not implying anything, I know it." Lith replied between mouthfuls.

    "I wasn¡¯t born yesterday. ¡¯It¡¯s too dangerous to let it fall in the wrong hands. It¡¯s for the greater good. Coteral damage and all that stuff.¡¯ Isn¡¯t the way the army works?"

    What Lith had just stated were the bullet points a small faction within the army was actually using to try to convince the King to not cure all the infected, but keep some of them as human breeding grounds for the parasites.

    The mana blocking parasite, was the one that had raised the most expectations. In a world were a single mage could obliterate a battalion, it would give a chance to those without great magic powers to fight on equal footing.

    "What can I do to help you?" Varegrave didn¡¯t have the strength to lie anymore to Lith, so he preferred to change the topic.

    "I need the strongest mages among the infected. If I find a cure for them, treating the others will be easy. I¡¯m not capable of devising a single spell to cure them, but I¡¯m confident to find the right steps that willter be merged into one.

    No one aside me must interact with my patients."

    "It will be done." Varegrave nodded.

    "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need a favour from you. Please, find a way to kill those monstrosities before I¡¯m ordered to do something that I would regret for my whole life."

 Chapter 157 First Impressions

    Kilian was aware of the political struggle that was taking ce within the military¡¯s highest level. After Marth had created a cure with Lith¡¯s help, the fear of the infection had been reced by personal ambitions and dreams of conquest.

    Unlike Lith, though, Kilian knew there was still a silver lining. Varegrave was one of the most loyal men the King had, so if his final decision was to destroy everything, Varegrave would obey, leaving no stone unturned.

    Generals and strategists could rant as much as they wanted, the final say on the matter rested on the King alone. Despite that, the pressure on him was bound to be enormous, just like the one the Mage Association was bound to exert on the Queen for that same matter.

    It was easy for Kilian to imagine what was happening in the royal pce in that moment.

    The upper echelons of the army against those of the Mage Association, with the Crown caught in the middle. Another crack had just appeared in the government of the Griffon Kingdom.

    - "Life sure has a twisted sense of irony." Kilian thought. "To think that so many lives rest on the shoulders of someone devoid of mercy. If Lith manages to find a cure fast, the political situation can still be salvaged.

    Thanks to the information ckout, the camp is cut off from the outside world. Nothing gets in or out, not even information. We can wipe out the gue, and then pretend to know nothing about the military¡¯s ns for the parasites.

    Worst case scenario, Varegrave will take the fall for everything, allowing the King to get away with it." ¨C

    "Don¡¯t worry, Colonel. Even if you didn¡¯t ask me, I wasn¡¯t going to spare any effort to find the cure." Lith¡¯s tone was so full of determination that both men doubted about his psychological evaluation.

    He was indeed cold and cynical, but seemed to truly have at heart the safety of the Kingdom.

    - "F*ck, that¡¯s why I hate the military. They would weaponize even dirty socks if given the chance. If I don¡¯t act fast, there is no telling what damage those idiots could cause." ¨C Was what Lith actually thought.

    That night, he and Solus had one of their rare quarrels.

    - "Are you really willing to kill all the patients in thest ward?" She asked bluntly.

    "Honestly? I would rather be at the academy worrying about the second trimester exam, instead of being here ying doctor Fleming. But what do you expect me to do? Wash my hands of everything and hope for the best?"

    "But... there are also women, children and elderly. We saw them during the round of visits. How can you even think about doing something like that?"

    "How could I don¡¯t do it, you mean. Women are no better than men, and being old doesn¡¯t make you a saint. As for the children, their cores are too weak, the risk of Awakening is insignificant, I¡¯m more worried about them dying because of the parasites.

    I have noticed that most of them have red cores. I don¡¯t know what happens when a red core gets downgraded, but I don¡¯t think is anything good. Please, Solus, try to understand my point of view. You don¡¯t know what someone is capable of, until he is given the power to avoid the consequences of his actions.

    A good person can easily be hiding his true nature or simply too scared to follow his instincts. Law and order work because people are afraid of the punishment. Back on Earth, a man called the Buddha said that eviles natural to humans, while good needs to be taught.

    If we are right, and that alchemist, Hatorne, is behind the gue, why do you think she did it? For money. Why do you think the army is willing to sacrifice innocents to preserve a biological weapon? For power. But you know what¡¯s the scariest thing?

    Ask any bully, any violent man or woman why they do what they do, they all answer the same thing: because they can. If you really want it, I can let all of the patients go, but remember, whatever happens next, all the death and misery they¡¯ll cause, will be on you." -

    Solus knew how harsh Lith¡¯s view on humanity was. After all she had seen, Solus couldn¡¯tpletely refuse his reasonings anymore. Her only hope was to be wrong about the mana blocking parasite side effect.

    The next day, Lith took extra precautions. He was about to meet his main specimen, and first impressions could not be taken back.

    In case everything went well, he had arranged afortable medical table, a chair and somefort food.

    Hidden behind a curtain, there was a stretcher with leather straps, a straightjacket, a mouth gag and some manure if the specimen turned out to be a troublemaker or Garith Senti.

    The person that walked into the tent wore no restraints. Lith would have considered that a good sign, if not for her attitude, with eyes filled with contempt like she owned the ce and wasn¡¯t happy with her guests.

    "Sir, allow me to introduce to you Nindra Luce. She is Kandria¡¯s strongest magician, and also the chairman of the city branch of the Mage Association." Kilian knew what to expect from both of them. Diplomacy wasn¡¯t the strong suit of any of those present.

    "Nice to meet you." Lith extended his hand, only to have it ignored.

    "You are a member of the Queen¡¯s corps, and a Captain at that." She said recognizing the uniform.

    "Why am I forced to stay in a mixed tent, and who is the pipsqueak?" Nindra was 1.67 metres (5¡¯6"), barely a couple centimetres taller than Lith. Her remark aimed to emphasize the difference in their standing more than in their height.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but for safety reasons the infected must be kept together, or surveince would be impossible." Kilian replied with a t tone.

    "He will be your new healer, that¡¯s all I am at liberty to say."

    "Another quack that would do nothing more than grope and probe me around for another month? No thanks!" She tried to walk away but the guards blocked her path, their hands on the weapons¡¯ hilts.

    Lith had to admit she was indeed a sight for sore eyes. Nindra was a beautiful woman in her early thirties, with bronze skin, light brown shoulder length wavy hair and hazel eyes.

    She had long legs, and enough curves to make her attractive even while wearing a grey prison jumpsuit. Back on Earth, Lith would have asked her out for dinner, but in the new world he was at least ten years too young andcked a ton of patience.

    - "Great! A female version of that arrogant idiot. Luckily I came prepared." ¨C

    "Release me immediately! I¡¯m a member of the Mage Association. I demand to talk with the Queen!" She yelled in outrage.

    Kilian was about to exin to her that she was in a quarantine zone, not a luxury resort, when Lith¡¯s ignored hand turned into a fist that struck a liver blow. The sudden drop in blood pressure, coupled with the pain, made her kneel on the ground, incapable of speaking one more word.

    "Strap her to the table and gag her mouth, I had enough of her rants." Lith could have knocked her out by hitting her jaw, but he wanted Nindra to stay conscious. After the soldiers executed his orders, it was Lith¡¯s turn to talk.

    "I¡¯m sorry for whatever harassment you may have experienced here, but people are dying. I have no time to coddle your ego. Let¡¯s cut to the chase: to find a cure and give you back your magic I need your cooperation, but it may take some time.

    You may either spend your next days strapped like an animal, or behave as a civil person and be treated as such. The choice is yours."

    Lith ignored her gaze full of anger and the countless muffled curses she threw at him, focusing only on his task.

    He used Invigoration to determine the status of her mana core. Judging from the streaks, it had once been light blue, but now it was several shades darker. Lith decided to have her treated first, checking Solus¡¯ theory at the same time.

    He had already devised a way to beat thest parasite, but between though and action there were countless things that could go wrong. The first part of his n was testing if the toxins harmed the core by being in its proximity.

    Lith tried to extract the toxins from her abdomen, instead that from the arm or leg like he usually did. Not having ess to water magic, he could only make them get excreted with the sweat, and let it drip into the vials.

    Even with all his considerable magical power, making the mana circte in Nindra¡¯s body was like pushing a SUV uphill. Soon Lith was drenched in sweat, and only after a quarter of hour of unrelenting efforts he managed to bring to toxins at the skin level.

    He had Kilian passing him the containment vials, and then grabbed her shirt, preparing to extract the sample. Lith felt her whole body going stiff, her limbs stretching the restrains to the limit.

    - "If she has been molested in the tent, it¡¯s natural that she doesn¡¯t like being touched. I¡¯ll try to be quick." Lith thought.

    "Yeah, and maybe having a little consideration for her would help." Solus snorted. "She is restrained, surrounded by four men, one of which is about to undress her." She added, since Lith seemed a little slow on the uptake. ¨C

    Lith turned around, noticing that all eyes were fixated on his hand. Those present were tilted to get the best view avable, holding their breath in anticipation. Even Kilian was eager to spectate the next step, for academic purposes, of course.

    "Sorry guys." Lith shrugged, realizing his mistake. Having examined and treated countless patients of every possible age, he had be numb to the allure of certain aspects of his job.

    "Doctor patient confidentiality."

    The sound of the curtain being pulled was apanied by loud groans, caused by the awareness that their thirst for knowledge would not be quenched.

 Chapter 158 First Impressions 2

    Lith unceremoniously lifted the grey shirt all the way up, revealing Nindra¡¯s t and smooth belly. He then enhanced her metabolism with light magic, covering her abdomen in milky droplets of sweat saturated with the toxins.

    His eyes and hands moved nimbly, careful to not miss even one bead of the precious liquid. The fate of the Kingdom, but even more importantly his own, depended on the alchemists finding a way to neutralize them or at least analysing their properties, making Lith¡¯s work much easier.

    Even if her partner didn¡¯t care, Solus stared in envy at Nindra¡¯s full and perky breasts going up and down while she heaved in panic.

    - "If I ever get a body, I would really like for it to be like this one." She thought to herself. ¨C

    Nindra¡¯s fears quickly got dispelled by Lith¡¯s careful touch, filling one containment vial after the other without taking pauses to look at the scenery, or worse taking advantage of her helplessness.

    During over a month of captivity, she had learned to recognize the lust in the men surrounding her, be them other infected or soldiers. After the prolonged period of istion, people were easy to fall in desperation and act like animals.

    Guards were rtively safe. They couldn¡¯t go past the casual grope because they feared getting infected the most. But her tent mates were something else. With nothing to lose, they would often lose decency, fighting among themselves for a slice of bread or harassing women.

    Usually the guards intervened quickly, but other times, when they were bored, they would let things slide, watching at the r*pe attempts like they were just a theatrical performance,ughing andmenting without a care.

    They would still intervene before something really bad happened, but that didn¡¯t make any of it less traumatic. With her powers gone, pride was the only thing Nindra had left, and she would do anything to protect it.

    When she had first met Lith, she had assumed that behind the mask there was just another perverted old man, and treated him ordingly, taking take to remind him her status in the Association and her knowledge of the Queen.

    But now, watching him work relentlessly, she couldn¡¯t feel anything. He was cold, like a machine, allowing her to hope that for once since her imprisonment, the man in front of her was really a healer.

    As thest drop was collected, Lith carefully ced the shirt back down, avoiding any unnecessary contact, before using Invigoration again. The zone surrounding Nindra¡¯s mana core was now clear from all the toxins, only the cocoons remained, with the parasites still hidden inside them.

    - "Any change, so far?" He asked Solus.

    "None, it¡¯s still too soon. Even for you it takes some time. Don¡¯t worry, if I notice her core recovering or her mana circting like that of a true mage, I¡¯ll let you know." ¨C

    Without the toxin¡¯s dampening effect, Lith could now spot the worms and attempt to kill them. His n was to test on Nindra the first cure he had devised. It consisted in cleansing first the mana core, allowing it to recover, while the rest of the body was clogged by the anti mana parasites.

    His theory was that even if the core were to be flooded with the world energy, Nindra wouldn¡¯t be able to perceive it in such status.

    - "If I¡¯m right, I need to make up some medical babble to justify the passing of days before treating the rest of the body. I can¡¯t allow other healers to rush things up." ¨C

    He then targeted the cocoons closer to the core, sending multiple tendrils of dark energy to seep in and kill their inhabitants. Just as he feared, the cocoons were just a highly packed toxin mass.

    Sending magic through them was like pushing the proverbial SUV uphill, but this time with the hand brake on. Since this was within his expectations, he moved to n B. He used his cleansing spell to remove the outeryers, while he enhanced with light magic Nindra¡¯s metabolism.

    The effect was simr to doing cardio, the blood pressure increased and the muscle contracted and rxed cyclically, hastening the dispersion process of the toxins, by both natural flow and osmosis.

    The hours passed, and soon Lith was too exhausted to continue.

    "This is what we will do from now on, more or less. Can I have your answer now?"

    He asked after removing the gag.

    Nindra¡¯s eyes were still cold, but contemptuous no more.

    "Are you aware of what happens daily in that tent?"

    Lith shook his head.

    "If I ept to help you, I want the security to be increased, and the soldiers to be punished for their behaviour." Nindra asked, after briefly describing to him her dreadful experiences.

    "I¡¯m just a healer." Lith shrugged.

    "I can talk to the camp¡¯s supervisor, but I doubt there¡¯s much even he can do. Humans will be humans. I could have him give you a detail, though."

    "One more thing. I want your promise that you won¡¯ty a hand on me if not for medical reasons."

    Lith found her demands reasonable, and he needed her trust.

    Solus believed to be able to determine if someone was Awakened, but that didn¡¯t mean that Nindra couldn¡¯t manage to feel the mana flow, and by remembering it, Awaken weeks, if not months after being cured.

    "Deal." Lith released the restraints, allowing her to shook his extended hand.

    "There is one thing you should know. These blue veins..." He tapped with his finger on her arm and behind her neck.

    "...are a sign that the infection is nearing the critical level. My procedure should prevent it to be lethal, but it¡¯s still experimental. There are still a lot of things that could go wrong, so if you feel anything funny or unusual with your body after one of our sessions, you have to tell me."

    Nindra was shocked by his words, looking at her own veins like snakes in the grass.

    After the stick, Lith provided the carrot. Upon a small table he ced thefort food he had prepared, a bowl of water with some towels and a change of clothes.

    "I would like to offer you a proper bath, but with water magic unavable, that¡¯s the best I could do."

    The delicious smell of real food made her stomach grumble, his offer was too good to turn it down.

    - "I¡¯m not going to refuse some clean clothes, since they give us a change only once a week. But why the bowl?" ¨C Nindra thought, before realising that between her panic and the light magic¡¯s effect, she was drenched in sweat.

    Her shirt was stuck to her like a second skin, her erected nipples piercing through the thin fabric made her feel naked. Before she could cover her chest with her arms, Lith was already outside, pulling the curtain back.

    - "I could continue her treatment after lunch, but I want to give it time. I¡¯ll resume tomorrow, after a good night rest. Solus says that the core recovers faster during sleep. This afternoon I¡¯ll try out my second cure." ¨C Lith thought.

    "Captain, I¡¯m done with this patient for today. This afternoon I need another strong magician. I want to try out different approaches and see which one works best."

    Lith handed him all the collected vials, and Kilian sent one of the soldiers to call a courier.

    "Not a problem, but you already know Kandria¡¯s second strongest magician. Do you want me to pick the third best instead?"

    The gue mask hid Lith¡¯s wolfish smile.

    "No, mister Senti perfectly fits my bill."

    - "With his talent and experience, if he can¡¯t feel the mana core after my treatment, no one can. Also, if he actually Awakens, he is the kind of guy I can kill without losing one second of sleep." ¨C

    "Are you talking about Garith Senti, the head of Kandria¡¯s mercenary guild?"

    Nindra¡¯s voice came from behind the tent.

    "That¡¯s the guy." Lith confirmed.

    "He¡¯s a little too stuck up, but a good man. I can talk to him, if you want. I¡¯m sure if you make him the same offer you did to me, he will ept."

    - "A good man?" Lith inwardly sneered.

    "Yeah, aside from his good looks there wasn¡¯t much to him. Either we misjudged him, or after all she went through, her standards for ¡¯good¡¯ have considerably lowered." Solus pondered. ¨C

    Lith needed all the help he could get, so he epted Nindra¡¯s offer.

    Later, that afternoon, their second meeting was more polite, but the cold in the tent would have put the ice age to shame. After how Lith had disrespected him, Garith normally would never agree to help a filthy military dog.

    But after over a month of prison food, with no baths or privacy, he was desperate enough to ept. Despite all the hatred he felt toward that arrogant doctor, Garith couldn¡¯t avert his eyes from the steaming steak in front of him.

    Also, Nindra Luce was one of the few people he respected, and when she told him about the meaning of the blue veins, he had been forced to rethink his priorities.

    - "When I get my powers back, I can always hunt him down, if I still want to. But if I¡¯m dead, then everything is lost! As much as I hate to admit it, I need him more than he me." ¨C Was Garith¡¯s reasoning.

    "I¡¯ll get food at every session, right?"

    Lith nodded in reply.

    "I want a detail too. I¡¯m sick of men and women sneaking in my bed while the guards do nothing butugh at my expenses!"

    Lith gave his word, so even with their mutual spite still standing, he could start testing his second theory. Thanks to the experience acquired by treating Nindra, things went faster and more smoothly than in the morning.

    The n was to kill all the parasites, while leaving enough toxins in his system to make impossible for Garith to Awaken while his mana core recovered. During the first session, Lith first cleansed a small patch of Garith¡¯s arm, making it easier for his mana to circte during Invigoration.

    Then, he proceeded to extract all the toxins, until he was too tired to continue. In the following days the two treatments diverged more and more. Nindra¡¯s was slower, first he removed all the parasites in her abdomen while checking her core status, leaving the rest of the body untouched.

    Garith¡¯s was faster but much more exhausting. Lith had to partially cleanse the toxins and kill the parasites as soon as he could, always starting from the abdomen region.

    As Solus had predicted, she was soon able to perceive the world energy flowing in their bodies to fill the void. Aside from that, their mana would not circte but remain still, proving that the Awakening hadn¡¯t happened.

    Thanks to the forced cohabitation, both patients soon came to appreciate Lith¡¯s efforts and dedication. After every treatment, while hidden behind the tent, they would try executing the simplest light spell.

    All their attempts failed, but they could feel something changing within them. They expressed their joy to Lith, only to rise his worries through the roof.

    One morning, Lith was killing the parasites in Nindra¡¯s arms. Her core had long recovered, so he decided it was time to cross his fingers and cure her for good.

    Lith was about to finish, when a soldier barged into the tent. He held in his arm a child that couldn¡¯t be older than two years. The veins in his body were sky blue, bulging out like small hands were trying to rip open his skin to escape.

    "Sir, this child has just copsed. The healers don¡¯t know what to do, we have never seen something like this. I¡¯ve been told to ask you for orders."

    Lith was forced to decide if to cure him, risking for him to Awaken, or let him die.

 Chapter 159 Crisis

    Lith¡¯s mind wouldn¡¯t have spun so fast not even if his little brother Carl suddenly resurrected in front of him. At least in such case he would only experience two conflicting feelings: disbelief and joy.

    Instead, his thoughts were subverted into a chaotic maelstrom. Nurture and nature were shing like never before, uncapable of finding amon ground.

    - "I have to save him. I have dedicated most of this live saving strangers, even when they could not afford to pay. Hating humans is all right, but a two years old kid?

    My biggest gripe with children is them being noisy and obnoxious, hence I never wanted to have kids of my own. But killing one is another matter entirely. What will happen to his parents and siblings if I let him die? Will they by scarred by their beloved¡¯s death, like it happened to me?" -

    This was the reasoning of his healer side, the one that had been raised with love and affection by his family over the past twelve years. Its arguments were solid, Lith had experienced first hand the pain of loss, the suffering of a mother that could only watch her daughter die slowly.

    He was unwilling to make someone else go through such experience out of mere egotism.

    - "It¡¯s no big deal. The weak are bound to suffer and are always the first to die, It¡¯s thew of the jungle. I don¡¯t know and don¡¯t care for him. Saving him would be reckless. First, I would show Kilian that I am capable of healing the parasites on my own.

    Second, this kid is not like me. If he gains any sort of power, he will be a threat to himself and others. There are countless risks and no rewards. Good deeds never go unpunished, if I help him, I¡¯ll pay the price." ¨C

    The arguments of his ¡¯human¡¯ side were solid as well. Lith actually didn¡¯t care about strangers, he never did. When he had helped them in the past, there was always a hidden agenda behind his actions.

    He was no hero, he had killed countless times and never lost a single night sleep.

    While his mind was frozen, his body acted out of habit, taking the child from the guard¡¯s arms and cing him on the table to evaluate his conditions. The number of parasites was low, the child was so magically weak that they couldn¡¯t thrive in his body.

    Yet twenty-two worms were enough to downgrade the mana core below the red level. It wasn¡¯t ck, he wouldn¡¯t turn into an Abomination. The core had shrunk to the size of a pinhole, turningpletely grey. Only a few deep red streaks remained, while the rest was losing its density.

    The grey parts were foggy, not because of the toxins, but because the core was falling apart.

    - "There¡¯s no reason to argue, you dimwits." Lith¡¯s logical side chimed in, shutting up every other voice in his head not with feelings or pessimism, but with cold facts.

    "Unless his core possesses outstanding recovery abilities, he is as good as dead. The most merciful thing we can do is put him out of his misery." ¨C

    Lith would have expected that not having a choice anymore in the matter would make him feel relieved, instead it only made things worse.

    - "There are so many things that I still ignore. Maybe I¡¯m wrong, and the kid can still be saved. It¡¯s the first time I encounter a situation like this, I can¡¯t be sure unless I try. On the other hand, this is a unique opportunity to experiment on what happens when a core turns grey." ¨C

    His inner conflictsted barely a few seconds, but to those present, Lith seemed to have stopped for hours.

    "Is there something you can do?" Kilian¡¯s voice was dispirited. Knowing Lith, he assumed that all was lost. It was only a matter of time before gue started to reap the youngest among the infected.

    "Don¡¯t you know light magic¡¯s first rule? If the patient is still breathing, there¡¯s always hope. Why are you doing nothing?" Nindra wasn¡¯t a healer, but she had great respect for them, as for Lith.

    She couldn¡¯t believe the situation was beyond his abilities. Before meeting him, she had already resigned to live herst days in captivity. She was aware that without a cure, the gue or the Kingdom would have sooner orter killed her.

    He had given her hope.

    Lith had no answer to their questions, torn apart by his selfishness and the desire to be a better person. Someone real, that his loved ones could be proud of, instead of the mask he used to deceive the world.

    He started sweating profusely, yet he felt a cold sensation in the pit of his stomach, like needles were prickling him from the inside. His guts twisted in a painful knot.

    - "Solus, what should I do? I never wanted for any of this to happen, there is no contingency n."

    "It¡¯s not something for me to decide. I¡¯m yourpanion, but the life is yours. I know that it¡¯s probably the scariest situation you¡¯ve ever encountered, there is no lying or killing your way out of it.

    The only thing I can tell you, is that whatever you¡¯ll choose, you¡¯ll have to rethink your way of life. After all our talks about changing and growing as a person, it¡¯s time for you to decide if you just feel empty or if you really are empty.

    Whatever you¡¯ll be, I¡¯ll always be by your side." ¨C

    Thosest eleven words were all he needed to hear. Solus knew him, the real him, but she had never judged or shied away from him. She knew every dirty secret he had, everyone of his shameful thoughts and ws, yet she wholeheartedly epted him.

    Lith decided it was time to be worthy of such affection, instead of basking in its light giving it for granted.

    - "I don¡¯t really know if this kid can or cannot be an Awakened one. The only thing I know, is that I can¡¯t avoid taking hard decisions only because I¡¯m scared of the consequences. If I really want to be a better person, I must at least try being one!" -

    Not even five seconds had passed since Lith hadpleted the diagnosis. His hands started to form fake seals, while his mouth pronounced randomtin words, while Invigoration swept away the toxins.

    After Nindra¡¯s and Garith¡¯s treatments, it was all too easy. Not only the parasites had been unable to multiply, theck of nutrients had also prevented them to form a cocoon, leaving them exposed, easy prey for the dark tendrils.

    No one collected the toxins, that went wasted, but nobody cared. It took Lith several minutes topletely cleanse the body, and the effects were visible at the naked eye. The blue veins first deted and then disappeared, the kid¡¯s skin regained some of its colour, yet remained terribly pale.

    "I should have cleansed his system. The parasites are still there, though." He lied, to protect his secrets. If the kid survived, Lith had to avoid at all costs that another healer examined him, adding him to the rooster of his patients.

    That way, he could always pretend to have cured him bit by bit, instead of in one go.

    "Then why he is still unconscious?" Kilian asked.

    "Because there is no telling what damage his body sustained. I did all I could, now it¡¯s all up to him." Aside from avoiding mentioning the mana core¡¯s status, Lith had told them the truth.

    - "Using light magic or giving him some of my life force is useless. His body is in perfect conditions, the problem it¡¯s the core. How is it going, Solus?"

    "Not good. Even after you took out the toxins, the mana core has yet to show any sign of recovery." ¨C

    "Bring him back to his parents. There is no point in keeping him here."

    "His parents aren¡¯t in thest tent, nor in any other." The soldier exined.

    "We never managed to found them, they are either dead or have run away when everything started."

    Lith nodded.

    "I don¡¯t want to leave him alone while he is still like this. Do you mind if we postpone your treatment to tomorrow?"

    "Not a problem." Nindra replied, afraid to touch the kid¡¯s hand and worsening his conditions. She was still infected, and had no idea how the gue spreaded.

    "Mind if I keep youpany?" Lith shook his head, and soon started pacing around the little tent.

    He started to rack his brain, trying to find a way to infuse mana into the kid¡¯s body without harming him, but to no avail. Lith knew from experience that sending mana straight into the core was akin to poisoning it.

    ording to Solus, making his own mana circting into another¡¯s body via Invigoration never harmed it, but it also did not affect the core either. During the cleansing progress, the world energy that Lith had pumped into the little body had not been absorbed, no matter how close he brought it to the core.

    Maybe it was because it still retained Lith¡¯s mana imprint, but the mana core ignored it, refusing to draw nourishment from it. An hour passed, and the another, until the core turnedpletely grey before disappearing like a puff of smoke.

    - "He is dead." ¨C Solus told as soon as she saw the child¡¯s life force disappear.

    Lith passed the news to the others. His voice was calm and collected, but inside, he was in anguish, questioning how much was the parasites¡¯ faultpared to his own. Maybe if he had not hesitated, things would have gone differently.

    Maybe he was just a monster, and didn¡¯t deserve to be loved.

 Chapter 160 Crisis 2

    After the ident with the nameless kid, Varegrave changed Lith¡¯s priority, asking him to visit thest tent again, to check the conditions of all the other children and avoid further deaths.

    No one was in a near death state, but most cores were past half grey, so he added the worst cases to his schedule, to devise a simplified version of the cure he had almost brought topletion.

    To do so, he needed time, so he was forced to postpone Nindra¡¯s and Garith¡¯s treatments. Nindra was still shocked from the events of the previous day, so she raised no objection, wishing Lith the best luck.

    Garith, instead, didn¡¯t take it well.

    "What the f*ck does this mean? Postpone until when?"

    "Until the emergency is resolved." Lith replied with a t tone.

    "Strong mages like you are in no life threatening situation, while most of the others already have one foot in the grave. Orders are orders. We¡¯ll resume as soon as I¡¯m done, it shouldn¡¯t take much."

    Lith was too calm, almost meek, making Solus quite worried.

    The man that she knew would have never tolerated such arrogant attitude without a good reason. In normal circumstances, she would expect Lith to kick his ass to the Moon and back.

    She knew that he wasn¡¯t grieving for the nameless kid. Lith was hurting inside, angry because every time he tried to give mankind a second chance, or to change his attitude toward life, something bad would happen.

    - "The crisis would have never happened in the first ce, if I hadn¡¯t been so arrogant to overlook such a predictable problem. When I examined Lady Zeir the first time, I should have thought that the weaker cores would be the first to copse and acted ordingly.

    Instead, I was so confident about finding a universal cure fast enough, to ignore reality and let the problem fester. I can¡¯t forgive myself for being so careless. Not to mention that one mistake lead to another.

    I ended up putting to risk my safety, my family, everything I have worked so hard to protect. I have to decide what I want to be, before I screw up again." ¨C

    Lith was so lost in his thoughts that barely heard Garith¡¯s voice, giving him a nod from time to time.

    "You don¡¯t understand sh*t, you filthy army dog!" Garith couldn¡¯t¡¯ stand the thought of tripping when he was just one step away from the finishing line. He had everything in life, talent, looks, power, riches.

    During that month of imprisonment, he had been brought to the verge of madness, being helpless, forced to sleep in a cot among inferior beings, ordered around by soldiers that normally he wouldn¡¯t even allow to lick his boots.

    He wouldn¡¯t let anyone interfere, not when he was so close getting his life back.

    "I don¡¯t care if a kid die. Heck, I don¡¯t care if every single one of the upants of that f*cking tent dies. I¡¯m Garith Senti, Kandria¡¯s strongest magician! I can¡¯t stand remaining like this one more day. It¡¯s much better for scum to be almost dead than for me being almost cured."

    He jumped from his chair, grabbing Lith by the cor of his shirt before anyone could react.

    "Either you cure me here and now, or I swear to the gods that I will find out who you are. then I will find all the people and the things that you love, and will destroy them slowly in front of your eyes, before returning you to your miserable live!"

    Garith was 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") high, a whole head taller than Lith, and strong enough to lift and shake him like the kid he was.

    The guards and Kilian were about to tackle Garith, to kill him if necessary, when suddenly their bodies screamed in terror, all their hair standing up, forcing them to step back instead that forward.

    Lith¡¯s maniacalughter was the only sound filling the tent¡¯s air.

    - "Human? Monster? How could I have been so stupid, tormenting myself about semantics. If there¡¯s one thing that Earth and the new world have inmon, is that most humans are monsters.

    There is no right or wrong, only power and how you wield it. Until I use my powers to protect myself and those that I love, I¡¯ll be a human. When I¡¯ll let my ego be my reason for being, and start hurting others for no reason but my sick pleasure, then I¡¯ll be just another human faced monster." ¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t need to use spirit or dark magic to force Garith to let him go. The killing intent he was radiating was so intense that both the guards and Kilian were paralysed by fear.

    Garith, instead, that was the target of that murderous aura soon lost all his strength. His knees touched the ground, while his trembling hands were uncapable of moving.

    They were up and close, so Garith was the only one capable of seeing that their breath was steaming.

    - "It¡¯s impossible! Water magic is sealed. How can he lower the temperature to such degree without it?" ¨C He tried to warn the others, but his mouth refused to open.

    "Once I told you that I would have healed you forst, hence you had no reason to protest." Lith¡¯s voice was a hiss, yet everyone in the tent could hear him clearly.

    "Now, you dare to threaten me? You have forgotten I¡¯m a healer, not a saint."

    As much he wanted to rip Garith¡¯s head, he couldn¡¯t do it in front of witnesses, so he drew the knife from the belt, slitting Garith¡¯s throat left and right, in one fluid motion, forming a bloody V from ear to ear.

    Only with Garith¡¯s death the killing intent disappeared, allowing the others to move. When Kilian regained his cool, he noticed that his back was against the tent¡¯s walls.

    - "What in the gods¡¯ names is that kid? How many steps back did I take?" ¨C

    The guards shared simr thoughts, finding themselves outside the tent.

    "He assaulted and threatened me. It was self-defence." Lith¡¯s voice was calm, like they were discussing the weather.

    "Don¡¯t worry, sir. If you didn¡¯t kill him so fast, we would have done it in your stead." Kilian said perfectly hiding his surprise.

    "Our orders are to eliminate any threat to your safety, sir." Said one of the guards with an apologetic tone, bowing.

    "Please, forgive our ipetence. Thank the gods you are a great expert."

    Lith shrugged, the matter was of little importancepared to his renewed peace of mind.

    "Clean the tent, please. I have patients to attend."

    ***

    After having Solus check his memories, Lith remembered that the first time he had expelled impurities, was when he managed to refine his mana core from orange to yellow.

    Until that moment, except when using Invigoration to check its status, he had never noticed a breakthrough, not even when promoting the core to the next level.

    Hence, he decided to use the same method he was using on Nindra, cleansing only the abdomen and leaving all the other parasites. Between the low number of worms and the cores¡¯ weakness, even Lith himself considered his therapy overly cautious, but he wasn¡¯t the type to take unnecessary risks, no matter how low the chances.

    His new specimen was Lady Zeir, the kind noble he had visited first while studying the mana blocking parasite. She had a yellow core, almost downgraded to orange. If the cure worked on her, then Lith could safely let all the non mages get treated.

    The procedure went without a hitch, Lady Zeir¡¯s core took less than a day to return to full power. The cheerful noble had fallen for Lith¡¯s apparent kindness from the day they had met, when she heard he may be able to cure her for good, her admiration turned into blind veneration.

    She wouldn¡¯t hide any detail, telling him how she would feel itchy and hot after every treatment. Both symptoms had nothing to do with Awakening, they were the side effects of the cleansing process.

    All those he had treated, regardless the nature of the parasite, experienced the same thing.

    After Solus gave her okay, certifying that Lady Zeir¡¯s core was healed and not Awakened, Lith disclosed to Varegrave how to cure all those with scarce magical talent, sorting them himself to avoid setbacks.

    Varegrave, in turn, imparted the method on all the other healers. It worked only on those too weak and hence incapable of Awakening, yet in just a couple of days dozens of lives were saved.

    Aside from the mana blocking parasites, all the others had been exterminated, leaving none alive in Kandria¡¯s region. Varegrave kept only samples of their toxins for future research.

    - "Whatever the army¡¯s upper echelons decide, I will not let the gue spread anymore. Thest thing the King ordered me was to wipe them out, and that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do.

    The only upside of being a dead man walking is that I don¡¯t have to worry about the consequences. When those foolish generals learn what has happened here, it will be toote." ¨C

 Chapter 161 Consequences

    With three out of four parasites wiped out, the camp had been further divided into three blocks instead of two. The third new one was for those that had been cured, to make it easier to check on their conditions in case the treatments had short term side effects.

    The second block now consisted only by a few tents, allowing the security to be further increased, since the second one was low maintenance. The survivors were in high spirits, finally free to get out of their beds, pain was no longer a big part of their days.

    After Garith¡¯s death, Lith was urgently summoned in Varegrave¡¯s tent. Based on what Kilian had told him, Garith was one of Kandria¡¯s great powers. Killing him like that, in front of witnesses after a small provocation, could have been a mistake.

    But it was one Lith would be happy to repeat, if necessity arose. He had never liked Garith Senti, and the fact that he had been willing to assault the only one that could cure him, was a testament of how dangerous he was.

    Lith had never left an enemy alive, it would mean to give him the possibility to bite his back. Thanks to his mask and uniform, only two people in the whole camp knew his identity.

    Even if the guards took a bribe and told Kandria¡¯s mercenary guild what had happened to their leader, they wouldn¡¯t know where to look. The only problem was Varegrave, being a sucker for rules, he probably wanted to reprimand him.

    Lith wasn¡¯t worried, though, he was ying a much bigger role in the crisis than everyone would have expected, even him. If push came to the shove, he could simply ask to add a full pardon to his reward.

    The Kingdom owned him, and he wouldn¡¯t let his servicese cheap.

    Reality, though, was different.

    "Lith, thank the gods you are all right!" The Colonel was so eager to check his health, to not even wait for Lith to remove mask and gloves.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for what happened. Those soldiers are supposed to be elite, yet reacted too slowly. I¡¯ll make sure they will be heavily reprimanded, and theirck of judgment noted on their personal file."

    After making sure Lith hadn¡¯t as much as a scratch, Varegrave went back to his chair, sighing with relief.

    "There is no need for that, it is all my fault." Lith replied.

    "I should have anticipated his reaction, given his character and the nature of the news I had to inform him. He had always behaved properly before, so we all lowered our guard. The soldiers simply followed my instructions, leaving me space to freely move when I¡¯m around my patients."

    "I really appreciate your understanding." Varegrave nodded.

    "But you are a healer, and you are doing your job magnificently, so such a slip up is understandable on your side (?). The men I assigned to your detail, instead, are professionals, their only job was to ensure your safety, and they failed.

    Even if they got ustomed to the routine, even if given the most boring task, they should always be on their toes. They need to be disciplined, next time, they couldn¡¯t be so lucky. If anything happened, I would have demanded their heads, as the Crown mine."

    Varegrave nced to Kilian for a second, with a mix of scolding and worry. Given the Queen¡¯s fiery nature, his old friend¡¯s live could be endangered as well. If the guards were at fault, Kilian¡¯s situation was even worse, being their supervisor.

    "Will there be consequences for me killing a guild master?" Lith was a bit baffled by Varegrave care.

    "Heavens, no. Attacking a military officer in a zone under martialw alone is a crime punished with the capital punishment. Considering your role, he had it too easy. We would have tortured him before the execution for a few hours, minimum."

    "Then what was the urgency for this meeting?"

    "The Crown wants to personally hear your report."

    Varegrave stood up, setting the bluemunication gemstone above his desk, before stepping away and kneeling, promptly followed by both Lith and Kilian.

    The gemstone activated shortly afterwards, projecting again the image of the throne hall. This time, only the King and the Queen were present.

    "Please, tell me you have good news, Mage Lith." It was worded as a request, but King Meron¡¯s voice was stern, making it sound as an order.

    "I do. Aside from thest parasite, the situation is resolved with minimum losses. I am confident to have devised a treatment that will take care of that too. It¡¯s already in final testing phase.

    Once I¡¯m sure there are no side effects, it can be passed to Professor Marth for him to assemble it in a single spell. I¡¯m sorry it¡¯s taking so long, but my capabilities are limited, and I need time to double check every step."

    Lith lied. He had devised two possible cures since the day he first visited Lady Zeir, the only reason he had not wrapped up everything and went back to the academy was to make sure that Solus¡¯ worries didn¡¯te true.

    "You have nothing to apologize for." Queen Sylpha intervened.

    "Barely two weeks have passed since your arrival, yet it was enough for you to turn the Crown¡¯s predicament from desperate to manageable (?).

    You have identified the source of the gue, helped in devising the cure for three out of four parasites, and now you are going to provide the cure for the most dangerous one all by yourself. The Crown and the Kingdom are greatly indebted to you."

    "You are overestimating my contributions, your Majesty." Lith lied again.

    "The cures are mostly Professor Marth¡¯s doing. I gave him the idea for the first, and then I deconstructed and modified his cure to make it fit the mana blocking parasite."

    "See, my King? Humble and efficient. I wish we had more subjects like him." Sylpha¡¯s tone was cheerful, but when her eyes met Varegrave and Kilian they were cold like steel, ming them for their ipetence.

    Kilian swallowed a lump, of saliva. The Queen clearly knew about the ident, and wasn¡¯t willing to let it slide.

    "We have yet to discuss your reward, Mage Lith. Do you have anything in mind?"

    "Yes. I¡¯d like two thousand gold coins (?)." It was a sum big enough to raise his family status to the middle ss, leaving him enough to buy all he needed for his futureb equipment and something to spare.

    "That¡¯s it?" The King was surprised. "Wouldn¡¯t you prefer a noble title? We could easily make you a Count. Between thends and the annuities, you would earn much more."

    "May I speak freely?" King Meron nodded to his request.

    "With what is going on in the Kingdom at the moment, with the old nobles fighting the new ones, it would be like painting a target on my chest. I already have enemies inside and outside the academy, and I don¡¯t wish for more.

    Also, it would mean responsibilities that as a twelve years old I cannot shoulder.

    My whole family would have to relocate in a new County, were they would not be well received. They are farmers, your Majesty, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll enjoy a quiet and slow life much more than social events and dabbling in nobility.

    I myself am still too young to already set my future in stone. I don¡¯t know what I want to be or do, epting a title would shut more doors than it would open. Money, instead, is always useful, and I can use them to keep increasing my family¡¯s living standards like I have always done, little by little.

    Not to mention that receiving a title now, would make my involvement in the gue too obvious. Even if it was deferred, it would rise too many questions."

    - "And more importantly, if I get a title, I would be forced to swore my allegiance to the Crown, giving you the right to constantly meddle into my life. Thanks, but no thanks." ¨C

    He thought.

    "That¡¯s too little." The Queen blurted it out.

    "Are you sure there¡¯s nothing we can do for you?"

    "At the moment, no. But if Your Highness feels so grateful, I would be relieved from knowing that in case necessity arose, I can ask for your support. We live in dangerous times, there¡¯s no telling when I could need help."

    "Agreed." The royals said as one.

    - "I really hoped to rope him in with a fancy title, but an ¡¯I owe you¡¯ it¡¯s the next best thing. If he ever needs our assistance, we can push things to make him feel indebted, creating a cycle he would not want to escape from." ¨C King Meron thought.

    "You are free to go, Mage Lith. Colonel, Captain. We have much to discuss yet." The kindness in the Queen¡¯s voice died as soon as she averted her gaze from Lith, who promptly left.

    The curtain closed behind him, leaving the tent sealed from the external world.

    "Your Majesty, I know that during yesterday¡¯s events I have failed you." Kilian said. "But maybe it was actually a blessing in disguise. There¡¯s something about Lith that I would have never discovered otherwise."

    ***

    - "Did you notice that while confronting Garith you used water and dark magic?" Solus asked.

    "No. Really? How?"

    "My idea is that Small World isn¡¯t the work of a true mage. It doesn¡¯t really block the mana flow, only makes it heavier. It¡¯s like you wore weights all this time, like in those martial artsics, and now you are used to them."

    "Did I power up because of it?" He asked enthusiastically.

    "You wish!" She giggled. "It¡¯s just that now you can use a bit of magic, and I can change form again." ¨C

    Sighing in disappointment, Lith entered his new tent. Since the second block had been partially dismantled a lot of bigger tents had be avable, and he had received a much bigger one as living quarters.

    He had to change into his gue doctor uniform and wait for Kilian, before going to treat Nindra. If everything kept going like he expected, it was only a matter of a couple days before he could go back to the academy.

    As soon as he stepped in, a cold sharp de was pressed against his throat.

    Three masked figures dressed like soldiers, two women and a man, were waiting for him, their weapons unsheathed and ready to strike.

    "Lith from Lutia, you have much exining to do."

    Solus immediately recognized the manaing out of their tattoos and weapons. They were once again in the presence of the talons.

 Chapter 162: Consequences 2

    - "The security of this ce is supposed to be irond, instead is a f*cking swiss cheese! First the traitors and now this?" ¨C Aside from the initial surprise, Lith didn¡¯t know if to be angry with the guards or scared for his life.

    - "Let¡¯s keep our cool. If they wanted to kill me, they would have slit my throat on the spot. Then we would have discovered the hard way how tough my skin is and how strong my regenerative abilities are. Solus?"

    "The bad news is that all their equipment is enchanted and razor-sharp. The good news is that inside the Small World they are just very sharp, very deadly weapons. These guys don¡¯t have ess to dimensional items or even their tattoos, for that matter. All they have is what you see."

    "Tattoos? What tattoos?" Lith had been so focused on the gue, to have forgot the details about the group of mercenaries that nearly killed him a couple of weeks before. Solus projected in his mind the highlights of theirst encounter. ¨C

    What they ignored was that for once Varegrave wasn¡¯t the one to me. The talons had spent a small fortune corrupting one of their old contacts, now in the administration department.

    She had provided them authentic uniforms and IDs, otherwise going past the checkpoints would have been impossible.

    Magic seals and documents couldn¡¯t be counterfeited, and to have ess to such tools they had to pay their contact enough gold to allow her to leave the country and live the rest of her life in luxury.

    It was a sum that outshined even Lith¡¯s reward, but they didn¡¯t care, since it came straight from their contractor¡¯s pockets. The mandatory use of the masks had made their work easier, allowing them to move unnoticed until they had found Lith¡¯s tent.

    The talons were unaware of his gue doctor persona, they couldn¡¯t care less about the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s crisis. This time they hadn¡¯te only for Lith¡¯s life, but also for information.

    Killing him was just the icing on the cake, erasing the failure that now stained their name. It was a desperate move, because once Lith returned to the academy, they would never get a chance to approach him.

    Inside his academy, a Headmaster had godlike powers, even if they managed to infiltrate, they would immediately be discovered and killed by a snap of Linjos¡¯ fingers, activating one of the countless arrays that enveloped the castle.

    The academy¡¯s forest was a no-go too. A squad had gone exploring it, and only one man had returned, babbling about a monster Scorpicore that had ughtered the whole unit with a click of its tongue, releasing a barrage of light des that turned them into shreds, ignoring all their defences.

    The survivor reported that the creature had spared him intentionally, to bring back a message.

    "I¡¯m sick and tired of humans hunting for cubs. The next time someone messes with my turf, I¡¯lle looking for you." Then, it bit both of his arms off before Warping him back into their allegedly secret base.

    s, the mating season hade, turning the Lord of the forest into an angry murdering machine, having cubs of its own.

    The talons hadn¡¯t taken the threat lightly. Sure, an offensive light spell was something out of the legends, no one in his right mind would believe it. Yet the limbless man had traversed hundreds of miles, bypassing the hideout¡¯s protections.

    If the Scorpicore knew their location and coulde and go freely, the light spell was the least of their worries.

    The next option had been capturing Lith¡¯s parents, but they were guarded by two units of the Queen¡¯s corps, every single step they took was protected by arrays. There were more men stationed there than the surviving members of the talons, and they had the field advantage and months of preparation.

    As absurd it sounded, the quarantine zone was their only viable option, with a very tight time window. Soon the disappearance of their contact would get noticed, and all her work would be subjected to scrutiny, blowing their cover.

    "About two weeks ago, you were supposed to die during an ambush on your way here, yet you survived. Who saved you? What happened to your detail and your aggressors?"

    The knife was pressed against Lith¡¯s throat, but it only managed to shave his few facial hairs. The skin was harder than leather, yet stic. The woman needed to use the tip to spill some blood and make her point.

    - "Damn, this array is more dangerous than we thought. It can also make non military weapons lose their edge. ¨C It was the only exnation she could think of, so she informed her teammates of the discovery through their hand signs secret code.

    Lith saw the other two switching their heavily enchanted knives and short swords for less powerful ones of the same kind. Both their actions and their questions made no sense to him.

    In that moment, though, he was more than happy to indulge their curiosity and stall for time.

    - "These guys are persistent. Just killing them would be useless, others maye. I need to find out who they are and what they want." ¨C

    Despite Small World wasn¡¯t capable of blocking spirit magic, the arrays were still able to slow down its effects. Unlike elemental magic, pure mana had no effect per se. It could be used as a form of telekinesis, but it required for the mana to reach and envelop its target.

    Small World made the invisible mana flowing out of Lith¡¯s body spread like a fog, instead that like a river. Hence Lith¡¯s needed some time to wrap them up and take full control of the situation.

    In such close space, with the weapons already close to his vitals, even his speed wasn¡¯t of much help.

    "The men and women of the Queen¡¯s corps saved me. They fought bravely until the end, despite the cowardly trapid by the assants." The mask covering his face prevented the talons to see his grin spread, as the spirit magic did the same.

    "The Queen¡¯s corps?" The woman holding the knife was about to spit in disgust.

    "We kill those losers regrly! It¡¯s impossible for six stooges to defeat more than half of the talon corps. Quit lying, kid. Tell us the truth, and I¡¯ll grant you a peaceful death."

    "First of all, that¡¯s my line. Second, more than half you say? This means that once the three of you are dead, this so called talons corps is extinct."

    Lith¡¯s sudden spunk enraged the three mercenaries, mostly because he was right. They had never stopped cursing the day they had epted Archmage Lukart mission. Between those killed in the failed ambush and the ones butchered by the Scorpicore, only a handful remained.

    They needed the money to cut their losses and rebuild from scratch. As long their sess rate was wless, no matter the price they asked, people would pay, just like Lukart did.

    "You¡¯d better not waste my time, kid. Otherwise..."

    "Otherwise what?" Lith scoffed, moving away from the knife.

    The thee reacted instantly, or better, they tried. The mana around them was so thick and strong it was like moving through molten steel.

    With a flick of the wrist, Lith ripped the masks off their faces with spirit magic, destroying them immediately with a burst of dark energy.

    "Even if you manage to escape, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll die because of the gue." Lith¡¯s voice was stone cold.

    "Now tell me how many of you are left and who sent you." He unsheathed his knife, pointing it to the eye of the nearest talon.

    "Believe me,pared to the gue, I¡¯m merciful."

    Everything was going ording to Lith¡¯s n, yet Solus felt restless.

    - "This is the first time since we entered the Small World that he is using so much mana. Necromancy was fine, since dark magic is not blocked. I hope this artifact doesn¡¯t have any more surprises in store for us.

    Otherwise the situation could turn vtile in the blink of an eye." ¨C

    The talons refused to speak, so Lith started cutting their faces, only to heal them and start over again. The mercenaries felt cornered, not only they couldn¡¯t react but not even scream.

    If any noise came out of the tent, their death would be assured, but until they kept silent, there was still a hope to escape from the deadly trap. Luck shined on them thanks to their tenacity.

    The use of spirit magic was normally perceived by Small World like a fluctuation of energy, a harmless magical peak. Its prolonged use on such scale, though, was interpreted by the system like an anomaly, hence it provided to remove it.

    Through her mana sense, Solus saw myriad of runes flowing into the tent, suppressing the magical restraints so fast that she barely managed to warn Lith of the impending danger.

    But it was toote. As soon as the woman was free, she swept Lith with a kick, grabbing the knife at her feet, all in a single fluid movement.

    Lith was taken by surprise, losing the knife trying to adjust the fall without offering his back. He waspletely disarmed when the talon struck towards his left eye, aiming to pierce his brain.

 Chapter 163 A New Power

    Cursing his bad luck, Lith attempted to block with his left forearm. The knife passed from side to side, giving him the feeling a hot iron was branding his inner flesh. Lith wasn¡¯t new to pain, he needed just to grit his teeth to bear it.

    His right fist struck fast as a snake, but thanks to her superior training and rich battle experience, the talon managed to dodge it in the nick of time. Lith¡¯s knuckles still managed to graze her chin, the impact made her feel dizzy, forcing her to switch from a dodge to a roll.

    The talon¡¯s view was blurry from the near hit, without thatst second adjustment she would have copsed on the floor, incapable of standing. Lith jumped back on his feet to finish her, but the other two were already on him, aiming for his vitals.

    - "Damn, with no magic nor weapons, I can only block with my body. Solus, help me withstand the pain in case I lose some fingers."

    "Not on my watch!" She mind yelled. ¨C

    Lith wasn¡¯t the only one that had been training to explore the limits of his new body. Ever since their almost sh with the Scorpicore, she had made several experiments about her shape-shifting abilities.

    After being in the Small World for so long, she was able to ovee some of its restraints, if she put enough effort to it. Her ring form expanded covering Lith¡¯s right hand, forming a stone gauntlet.

    This new form was silver in colour, with runes of power glowing all over its surface. She had no idea how to synch again her mana core with Lith¡¯s, but at least she could offer him some protection.

    Lith was surprised as much as his two assants, but none of them hesitated, keeping their emotions in check. The gloved hand supported by air and fire fusion, deflected all the strikes that could kill or incapacitate him, while Lith tanked the others with earth fusion.

    Between his natural toughness and the magical hardening effect, the wounds he sustained were shallow enough to ignore them. They would only bleed a bit before starting to heal without him even needing to cast a spell.

    There was a creepy sensation in the pith of the talons¡¯ stomach, telling them they were facing the thing that had killed theirrades. Every one of Lith¡¯s blocks would make their des vibrate like they had shed with a charging bull.

    Their hands were getting number with each strike, making increasingly harder to keep the grip on their weapons.

    - "What the f*ck is he? Magical items are supposed to not work, what in the gods¡¯ name is that gauntlet? How can a kid be so strong and fast? His movements are all over the ce, but he manages to keep up with us. If only we could use our tattoos..."

    The talons¡¯ tattoos were another one of Coirn Hatorne masterpieces. Despite not being a true mage, she had found a way to inject her potions directly in the client¡¯s skin, making it possible to activate them with a thought thanks to the imprinting process.

    With Hatorne gone, they would be conservative in using them, since there was no way to replenish the tattoos. But in the face of death, they would have dly spent them all.

    Actually, their situation wasn¡¯t as desperate as it seemed.

    - "Careful! Do not use fusion magic for too long, otherwise Small World could detect and block it too. Only use short bursts."

    "Thanks for the advice. It¡¯s easier said than done, though. These guys are good, even with my enhanced reflexes I¡¯m no match for three of them in such an enclosed space. What about you? Can Small World shut you down?"

    "It can try." She sneered. "I¡¯m already following my own advice, boosting my defence only a moment before the impact." ¨C

    Being the first time Solus used such a trick, Lith was amazed by her ability in micro managing her abilities. She wasn¡¯t as good as she made herself look, though. The gauntlet form was a desperation move by itself, made even harder by the Small World¡¯s dampening effect.

    Every time Solus missed the right timing, the Damascus des would carve her thin form, if not even chipping away small pieces of stones. For her it was like being shed and stabbed, but she held on bravely.

    - "I¡¯m just a piece of rock. I can heal from everything." ¨C She thought in a hidden corner of her mind.

    Lith too kept getting hit, but he would return each attack with double the violence. Two of the three talons were women, without their equipment and magic, they were like childrenpared to Lith¡¯s physical prowess.

    The man of the group wasn¡¯t in a much better position. Despite Lith being unarmed, during every sh with his opponent, the talon would gain new bruises and cracked bones. The only reason they were still standing was because of their elite training and teamwork.

    Lith was just an amateur, yet he had all the advantages. Small World wouldn¡¯t affect his abnormal body, fusion magic could substitute for potions and Solus was an excellent shield.

    The stalemate would havested long, if not for a talon¡¯s lucky shot. The man short sword hit Lith¡¯s right hand heavily. His two teammates had nked Lith, forcing him to take the strike head on.

    Lith managed to deviate the women¡¯s weapons at thest second by using quick elbow strikes, not leaving enough time to dodge or deflect the iing attack. The de managed to crack the gauntlet, making Solus yelp in pain.

    It took a breath¡¯s time for him to strengthen their connection bing finally aware of all her suffering, how battered she was. A seething hatred exploded within Lith, focusing his thoughts like aser, erasing everything but the urge to kill.

    Spirit magic surged, oveing Small World pressure enough to allow Lith to push his opponents away and trigger the Death Call spell. Darkness magic condensed in the form of tentacles, before starting to mutate.

    In his frenzy, Lith wasn¡¯t just merging his mana with the world¡¯s dark energies, but also those born from the abyss he kept in his mind and soul. Under the mask, his eyes glowed with a yellow light, like torches, the pupils reduced to vertical slits.

    Solus felt the darkness spreading through Lith¡¯s body, flooding her with power. The stone pieces scattered around the tent reunited with the main body, fusing back into ce like the damage had never happened.

    The tentacles turned into a ck fog, destroying everything on its path.

    ***

    "What do you mean, Captain?" Queen Sylpha asked.

    Kilian told them in the details the events leading up to Garith Senti¡¯s death.

    The Royals were unimpressed.

    "That¡¯s nothing new. We already knew that Lith from Lutia has no qualms killing. That idiot had iting." King Meron snorted.

    "That¡¯s your great discovery?"

    "Yes, it is!" Kilian was baffled by their blindness.

    "Sure, great mages and soldiers intimidating an enemy with just their aura is amon urrence. But here we aren¡¯t talking about an expert, but about a kid, and a healer at that.

    Yet he managed to scare the leader of the mercenary guild enough to make him kneel. The pressure his mana exerted made me and the soldiers take several steps back without even realizing it.

    There was no greenhorn in that tent, yet we acted as such. Also, I could swear that the temperature dropped by several degrees."

    Those presents were already sceptical about Kilian¡¯s words. After thest phrase, they started doubting his sanity. Varegrave couldn¡¯t believe his old friending up with such a childish excuse. His failure wasn¡¯t so big, after all.

    Kilian could see the doubt in their eyes, but he didn¡¯t let it discourage him.

    "Think about it. Howe he is the only survivor of the ambush that took the lives of a whole unit of the Queen¡¯s corps? Howe he is single-handedly solving the gue? How can he strike fear in battle hardened veterans?"

    His words struck a nerve. There were still too many questions left unanswered.

    "I am almost certain that he is hiding his real skills. I believe that he is capable of much more than just healing. No one can release a killing intent like that without talent and lots of practice.

    I suggest we change his evaluation from A to S, but only in the royal records."

    The idea that Lith was a talent on par with Manohar or Hatorne, with enough patience to keep his act for so long since so young was too disturbing to dismiss it without further inquiry.

    - "If Kilian is right, then maybe he really is an Awakened one." The Queen used their telepathic link to share her worries with her husband.

    "Agreed. We must ask Lady Tyris to make haste, she¡¯s the only one that can discover the truth." ¨C

    ***

    Meanwhile their conversation went on, an alien force started to seep in the world energy, creating ripples that reverberated through the entire continent, that only beings attuned with the world could perceive.

    Tyris the griffon, right under the throne room, Leegaain the dragon, from the north, and Sark the phoenix, from the south, they all turned their heads in the direction where the encampment was settled.

    Rarely something capable of piquing their curiosity happened, and distance was no obstacle when they wished to speak to each other.

    "It¡¯s not an Awakened, nor someone attempting to be a lich." Tyris pondered.

    "And definitely it¡¯s not an Abomination turning into an Eldritch, nor a Monster evolving into a Guardian. I¡¯ve never seen something like that before." Sark added.

    Leegaain was left with nothing to add but the obvious.

    "That leaves us with a question: what the heck is that then?"

 Chapter 164 Interludium 5

    No one would have ever believed Milea Genys, if she told how before bing the Gorgons Empire¡¯s Magic Empress, she was just a second rate magician of humble origins.

    What set Milea apart from her fellow students, was that despite she hadn¡¯t been deemed worthy of being epted into one of the big academies, she had never stopped believing in in the infinite potential magic held.

    Ever since she was a child, she had read the stories of the Magi of the Empire until she knew them by heart.

    - "Many of them have an unclear past, were considered trash for most of their lives, until they have found their path to greatness. Whatever they discovered, I can find it too. Talent is not just innate, you have to develop it. There must be a way to break through my limits!" ¨C

    So, Milea decided to follow their lead instead of epting a menial job, like the other graduates from the minor academy, the Red Basilisk, she attended. Milea didn¡¯t visit the hometowns of the Magi, nor she travelled through the ces recorded in their biographies.

    - "Gods know how many people journeyed through those locations. If there ever was any clue, it would be already known. Worst case scenario, the first one to found their legacies took them for himself." ¨C She thought.

    So, Milea decided to bet everything on rumors and legends, hoping to find the proverbial kernel of truth. What she found, instead, were tourist traps and hoaxes that costed her most of her savings, and in more than one asion, almost her life.

    After months of useless traveling, she had lost over ten kilograms (22 pounds), the care for personal hygiene and most of her trust toward mankind.

    She wasn¡¯t a beauty, but a fresh and na?ve sixteen years old girl had a strong allure to certain men, and since she travelled alone, Milea was often considered an easy prey. At least until she revealed to be a mage, and left her assants crunchy and well roasted.

    One day, she heard of a cursed mountain, from which no one ever returned. Some rumors talked about an evil spirit dwelling into a cave, others stated that on the mountain slopes there was a gateway to theherworld.

    When she expressed her interest to visit such ce, no one offered to apany her and the locals tried to discourage Milea. In her experience, that was a plus. It meant there was really something.

    Reaching the destination with a flight spell proved to be child¡¯s y. There was no trace of monsters, the birds chirped loudly while fawns and squirrels would fearlesslye close, letting her cuddle them until they lost interest in the new visitor.

    The surrounding vegetation was so lush, that Milea thought it had to be the most borate prank she had ever suffered. More than cursed, the ce seemed out of a fairy tale.

    The cave was in in sight, the trail leading to it was clear from weeds, as it was often used. Once she got closer, a shiver went down her spine. The cave was perfectly arched, while the walls and the pavement were too smooth to be natural.

    Curiosity got the better of her, so after activating a spell to light the way, Milea went in. The corridor wasn¡¯t high, around 2 metres (6¡¯ 7") high, and so narrow that only one person at a time could pass. She took note of those details to calm herself down.

    Whoever lived there couldn¡¯t be too big, and in case she was forced to escape, being outnumbered or surrounded wasn¡¯t a problem in such enclosed space. The tunnel stretched downwards for several hundred meters, and when she finally reached the end, she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.

    Milea was in a library bigger than her hometown. It was a single circr room, with bookshelves extending on multiple floors, connected by stairs and enchanted elevators. The library¡¯s dome had a ss ceiling, from which Milea could see the sun, as the first floor had ss doors leading outside into a wood.

    The whole thing made no sense, she was supposed to be underground. Milea cast her doubts away, using her flight spell to explore the library. Tomes and scrolls were orderly arranged by topic.

    Among them she found ancient books written in unknownnguages, legendary grimoires that were supposed to be lost in history, and even recent ones like her academy¡¯s textbooks.

    Then, her eyes met a book spine with the inscription "Magus Lochra Silverwing¡¯s Grimoire" carved in golden letters. She took it out, opening a random page and discovering that it wasn¡¯t written in code.

    She spent the next hours sitting on one of the many couches, trying to learn from her most beloved Magus, the foremother of modern magic. Yet the only thing she understood, was that despite all her studies and the centuries of magical progresses after Silverwing¡¯s death, the Magus¡¯ wisdom was still beyond Milea¡¯s reach.

    Milea was really tempted to take the a few books as souvenirs.

    - "Even if I prove to be uncapable to step up my magical abilities, I can always sell them and settle for life. Just one of these books is probably worth more than the entire Red Basilisk academy." ¨C

    In the end, though, she decided to put the grimoire back and leave empty handed.

    - "Even if I managed to sell them, instead of getting killed, those poor books would just be the trophy of some pompous idiot. Here, instead, they can help someone like me, but with more talent, to achieve her dreams." ¨C

    "Well thought, human!"

    Before she could turn around to discover the owner of that voice, the space around Milea blurred, Blinking her in front of the master of the house. The new room was as big as the previous one, but instead of bookshelves it was filled to the brim with gold, tinum and gemstones the smallest of which was as big as her fist.

    Ingots, coins and jewels were piled up randomly, forming small hills, surrounding a literal mountain of treasures, atop which there was the biggest creature she had ever seen.

    Leegaain¡¯s form was so huge it was impossible for Milea to see its entire body. The dragon¡¯s ck scales were bigger and thicker than a tower shield. Milea¡¯s whole body was barely the size of one of its ws.

    She couldn¡¯t avert her gaze from the creature¡¯s yellow eyes, the pupils a vertical slit, resembling those of a cat. Its heartbeat was deafening, while the simple act of breathing produced gales strong enough to force her to seek shelter behind a gold pile.

    "I¡¯m sorry." It said after noticing her distress. "I almost forgot how fragile humans are."

    The noise stopped, and so did the wind.

    "You havee into my home and acted as a guest, and that deserves a reward. You didn¡¯t arrive here in a righteous frenzy to y the beast, nor acted as a marauder, giving knowledge the respect it deserves."

    Now that the fear was leaving her body, Milea could notice the bony protuberances on its head, resembling a crown, and the gentle curve of the enormous membranous wings resting on its back.

    "Choose one thing, in my home. Be it riches, knowledge or a weapon, its yours to take."

    "I want knowledge!" She blurted out before the dragon changed its mind.

    Leegaain chuckled in satisfaction, it was an interesting fellow indeed.

    "Name a book, and it will be yours."

    "I don¡¯t want a book. The knowledge I want it¡¯s yours. Please, teach me how to be a Magus!"

    Leegaain was bbergasted, that was something it hadn¡¯t predicted.

    "So be it." It nodded.

    ***

    In the following months, Leegaain taught Milea the secret of the Awakened ones.

    "Very few Magi in history weren¡¯t Awakened ones. The principle behind it is simple, but achieving it is incredibly rare. No matter how strong a mana core is, it cannot generate a flow strong enough to be detected.

    The only way to Awaken, is being able to perceive the world energy that surround us, and let it flow inside you."

    Milea was sitting cross legged, with her eyes closed, while Leegaain was curled up around her, gathering a huge amount of world energy through Invigoration (AN: his version of Invigoration. I¡¯ll use terms you already know for simplicity¡¯s sake), to make it easier for her to perceive it.

    "There are only two ways of bing an Awakened one." He kept exining, his tone giving Milea a rhythm to follow during her breathing.

    "The first is to feel the world energy by yourself. The event is very unlikely, unless you reach a state of enlightment, find a ce much more abundant than normal of world energy, or you are a newborn.

    Newborns are empty things. The mother gives them life, the world gives them mana. If only they could be taught, creating an Awakened one would be easy.

    The second way, is to be Awakened by a Guardian like me. That¡¯s how my old friends Tyris and Sark create their new toys, giving them power but not knowledge. I¡¯m different from them. I don¡¯t care about any country anymore.

    They betrayed me, so I abandoned them in return."

    Milea really wanted to know what was Leegaain talking about, but she was afraid to lose her focus.

    "The Gorgon Empire can go die in a fire for what I care. I will not set it aze but I will not extinguish it either. But I digress.

    An Awakened only enemies are other Awakened ones, be they humans, evolved from magical beasts, or even worse Abominations. Just like us, Abominations came in all kinds and forms, just like Guardians are born, so they grow into Eldritchs.

    The most dangerous Abominations are those that manage to possess a suitable body, be it bestial or human. Here is what you have to be wary of..."

 Chapter 165 Leegaainâ€™s Wrath

    "Abominations are creatures mostly born out of greed, when someone pushes his body beyond its limits, destroying it. Unlike what most creatures think, Abominations aren¡¯t only Awakened ones gone wrong.

    I have fought and destroyed Abominations that spoke only gibberish, others that had no idea what had happened to them, having no concept of the mana core or world energy. They were simply born like that.

    What I do know for certain, is that once an Abomination is born, there are three possible oues. The mostmon, is that the Abomination dies, either because of a prolongedck of nourishment or because it gets killed.

    They cause too much damage to go unnoticed, so humans or beasts usually hunt them down before they can learn to control their abilities. The second possibility is for the Abomination to seize enough world energy to stabilise its form and regain part of its senses.

    They are called Empowered Abominations, and are much more dangerous than their younglings. They can use magic properly, control their hunger to a degree and live forever, or at least until they get destroyed.

    Their greatest weakness is theck of a physical body, which makes them impossible to blend in. They have to hide to survive, yet they manage to do great harm to the world, draining its mana to keep living.

    Thest and rarest oue, is for an Abomination to find a proper host, bing able of permanently stabilising its form and getting full control over the hunger. They are called Puppeteer Abominations, and are the most dangerous ones.

    They usually prey someone of their same species, so a beast will target beasts, a nt another nt. The ideal body is freshly dead, in mint condition, and stronger than the one the Abomination previously had.

    A dead body has no mana core, making it easier for the Abomination¡¯s to settle in. It¡¯s possible to possess a living body, but in such case, until the host is alive, the two cores will fight for control, making it impossible to use magic. (*)

    The body¡¯s conditions and strength are rted to the need for it to be able to contain the Puppeteer. Without these requisites, it would be ripped apart by the chaotic energies, just like the old one.

    As long a Puppeteer is able to control its urges, it goes unnoticed. The only way to identify them is to use Invigoration and check for the presence of corrupt energies. They are hybrid in nature, allowing them to develop unique and unpredictable abilities.

    Both Empowered and Puppeteers can further evolve into Eldritch Abominations. Their powers are on the same level of the superior Monsters, like Scorpicores, Wyverns or Treants."

    Milea had be used hearing Leegaain¡¯s voice every moment of the day, even now that she was showering. The dragon demanded from her to keep the breathing rhythm during her meals, reading time and bathroom pauses.

    Milea was avid for knowledge, the voice in her head had stopped bothering her after the first days spent together.

    "Wait. I thought Eldritchs were the Guardians corrupt counterpart. You know, good versus evil? Are you saying they are weaker than you?"

    Leegaain guffawed at such preposterous idea.

    "Good? Evil? That¡¯s a human concept that the world never cared about and never will. And to be honest, neither you humans actually do. You just like to fill your mouths with righteous words, before feeding on those of your kin that are too weak to retaliate."

    Melia felt insulted by such cruel remark, but then she remembered all the fake offers for help she had received, all the misery and pain that her kind inflicted on itself in the name of profit or pleasure. So she changed topic.

    "Well, good to know. A Guardian Abomination is too scary even to think about. How does one be a Guardian?" She asked.

    "That¡¯s aplicate question. Do you know what the real difference between the magic you learned at the academy and the one I¡¯m teaching you is?"

    Melia shook her head while applying the shampoo.

    "Human magic is egotistical. You try to do everything on your own, using only the mana that your body holds. That¡¯s why you couldn¡¯t use powerful spells before, because your mana core was too weak.

    Human magic forces its connection with the world energy, making a spell easier to cast, but doing so requires a great inner strength.

    Now, instead, I taught you how to strengthen the core and how to borrow the world¡¯s mana. It¡¯s like the difference between lifting something using only the arms and doing it while coordinating your arms, legs and back.

    That¡¯s a trait that permeates mankind¡¯s whole life, just like Abominations¡¯ lust for power. That¡¯s why you can be true mages, even evolve into Magi, but never before one of you became a Guardian.

    To be one, you must ept the world, and the world must ept you back. Only by giving back what the has given you, it¡¯s possible to pass the world¡¯s tribtions and reach the Guardian state."

    Milea sneered at her Mentor¡¯s contempt.

    "Really? And what did you give to the world? A huge scaly a*s?"

    They bothughed heartily. They were getting fonder of each other with each passing day.

    "It¡¯s easier to show than to tell. Have you finished showering, or must I drain another waterfall?"

    "Ready when you are, smartass." A sudden gust of warm wind dried her up, covering her with a white silk roman toga with a deep neckline and side slits that left most of her legs exposed.

    "What the heck is this thing? It looks so ancient." Milea had materialized in what seemed a grass field for the livestock. Leegaain¡¯sir had countless rooms, some so big that it seemed to be in a world of its own.

    The dragon¡¯s mastery of dimensional magic allowed him to stretch the mountain cave into a continent.

    "Back in the day, when people believed me a god, and I let them worship me, this was the standard dress of my priestesses. It feels nostalgic seeing it worn by a beautiful young girl again."

    Thanks to the constant refinement of her mana core, the cleansing of the impurities and Leegaain home cooking, Milea¡¯s looks had improved by leap and bounds. She doubted her own mother would find easy to recognize her anymore.

    "Wow, I would have never taken you for such a perv!"

    "Hey, I¡¯m ancient, not dead. Back to your question, kid. Do you know why the Gorgon Empire is named so?"

    "Of course." She nodded. "Gorgons were a violent race of monsters, that gued ournds, turning the living into stone. Then, before the Empire was unified, our forefathers discovered that their skin and bones were made of adamant, one of the strongest metals.

    After ying the beasts, they forged whatter be known as the Empire¡¯s Arsenal. Without those weapons and armours, the Gorgon Empire would have never been born. The Gorgon Empire¡¯s foundations are the Gorgon¡¯s flesh and bones."

    Leegaain clicked its tongue in disgust.

    "Propaganda. That¡¯s how you make a lie so close to the truth."

    They Warped again, getting close to what in the distance seemed a herd of cows. Milea discovered they weren¡¯t cows at all. They had red eyes without pupils, and their skin was made by something that resembled opaque emeralds.

    They didn¡¯t react to the dragon, nor to the girl,zily grazing the grass.

    "Do they seem violent to you?"

    Melia didn¡¯t hesitate caressing their odd skin. It felt like stone, but was warm and stic to the touch. They were living beings, not stone constructs.

    "Are these..."

    "Gorgons? Yes." Leegaainpleted the question for her. "Take a closer look at the grass, please."

    Melia knelt down, discovering that the grass became hard and shiny under the monsters¡¯ breath, and that was such metal the Gorgons were actually eating.

    "The real story is a bit different. Gorgons are a rare sub species of magical beasts, that happens to spawn only in some regions of the Empire. If the bull or cow is too meek, instead of evolving into a Tyr (AN: bull type magical beast), they be a Gorgon.

    Gorgons only eat adamant, and that¡¯s why they are capable of turning grass into adamant.

    Back in the day, before Davross was discovered, it was the hardest and rarest metal known to man. When your forefathers discovered the Gorgons, they made them breed, and once they had enough metal, they made sure Gorgons be almost extinct.

    So yes, the Gorgon Empire¡¯s foundations literally are the Gorgons¡¯ flesh and bones."

    Melia was bbergasted.

    "But why?" Centuries of history were crumbling before her eyes.

    "Because they were afraid others could steal their monopoly. And because if any more weapons were produced, they would have lost their market value."

    "How do you know?" Melia still refused to believe such story.

    "Because I was there. Back when I still gave a sh*t about the Empire, I told them about the Gorgons. I taught them how to forge adamant. And then I had to spectate the ughter."

    "Why didn¡¯t you stop them?"

    "Unlike other Guardians, I believe in free will. When your forefathers asked for my help, after the Griffon Kingdom was born, I offered them my wisdom, not my power, and they epted. And then they betrayed my teachings."

    Leegaain voice roared like thunder, his rage raised the temperature of several degrees.

    "Don¡¯t you understand, already? My library, the animals, everything in thisir is what I am for the world. I am the keeper of everything and everyone that has been discarded before its time.

    I will right all these wrongs, but only when the time is ripe and so are the people."

    "That¡¯s why you abandoned the Empire? For the Gorgons?" As much it was an act of unwarranted cruelty, Melia couldn¡¯t believe that her country was the only one without an active Guardian for such reason.

    "No. A species going extinct is hardly a novelty. I left because back when Lochra Silverwing left her legacy and magic was born anew, the Emperor went back on his word, preferring the use of the ve cors instead of pursuing equality.

    I never joined the Empire because I cared for the glory or the riches. Everything you see here is mine. I collected it overtime from forgotten cities and sunken ships. I never stole or piged; I salvaged these things like I hoped to salvage your people.

    The promise was that in exchange for my knowledge, they would have built a fair society, whose long-term goal was equal rights for everyone. Instead they chose once again the easy way, betraying their own people, betraying me for thest time."

 Chapter 166 Retribution

    The use of ve cors marked one of the Gorgon Empire¡¯s darkest pages of history. Milea was young, but not stupid, she could hardly me Leegaain actions, especially considering that she would wear one too if things didn¡¯t change for the better.

    It took her a few days to find the courage to ask the dragon about one of her worst fears.

    "Leegaain, what¡¯s the origin of violent monsters like goblins, orcs or trolls? Are they an evolution gone wrong of magical beasts, or are they man-made?" The question haunted her mind after reading some books.

    Seeing her Mentor outrage towards human, she had started to doubt her kin more and more, especially after Milea found out that aside from rare exceptions, undead were all artificially created by humans.

    "Some of them, yes. Humans have performed countless experiments trying to rob magical beasts of their magic, giving birth to the werefolk. Undead are simply a by-product of their search for immortality.

    Those you mentioned, though, are what we Guardians refer to as the Fallen. Races that lost most of their magical abilities by going down the wrong branch of the evolutionary tree. As humans keep doing, if you ask me.

    Why, what did you think?"

    "I hoped they were the result of the Abominations¡¯ work, to destroy mankind and rule the world." She blushed in embarrassment. The idea sounded incredibly silly now that she had said it out loud.

    Leegaain softly smiled at her, patting Milea¡¯s head with one of its giant fingers.

    "Kid, don¡¯t fool yourself. The world is in danger only if you small guys decide so. Abominations are natural magical disasters, they do not plot against anyone, nor do they care about world domination. They only care about survival, just like you."

    ***

    Two yearster, Milea left Leegaain¡¯sir, with a new set of clothes and a cape that covered her from head to toe.

    Her mana core wasn¡¯t yellow anymore, but bright blue, and as soon her body finished adapting to the changes, she would be ready to turn it violet. After expelling most of the impurities in her body, she had be faster, stronger and sturdier than most magical beasts.

    The reason for her disguise, was that during those years, it wasn¡¯t only her mana core to have changed. She had entered as a scrawny girl, 1.52 meters (5¡¯) high, with frizzy unruly hair, and hade out as a 1.75 meters (5¡¯ 9") high woman, with long wavy honey-hued hair and twenty more kilos (44 pounds) all in the right ces.

    Milea wasn¡¯t stunning, but she was a beauty nheless. Even Warping hundred miles at a time, she needed to rest, and didn¡¯t want to make a massacre on the way home.

    Her achievements allowed her to join the Gorgon Empire¡¯s Magic Council at only twenty-three years of age, bing its youngest member ever. At twenty-seven she was crowned Magic Empress, and her rule began.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, one week before Lith was summoned to the encampment.

    After over a month of fruitless investigations, Milea¡¯s spies had found out the details about the situation in Kandria. The existence of a highly infective gue thwarted her ns of invasion.

    The reports spoke about it as something that defied logic and all the rules of light magic, leaving bbergasted even her best healers. Attacking now was suicidal.

    If the gue could be spreaded through the deceased, the Griffon Kingdom could use the infected corpses as projectiles, turning the army of mages the Empire had spent years to train in the most expensive field hospital ever created.

    In their shoes, that¡¯s what Milea would have done if cornered.

    As long the gue was contained, it was their problem, she had no interest in making it her own. As far Milea knew, she was the only Awakened one in the Empire. Leegaain refused to create others, and she didn¡¯t trust anyone enough to pass her secrets.

    If the Queen and the other seven Awakened ones at her service had yet to solve the crisis, Milea was afraid of what could happen if the situation spiralled out of her neighbours¡¯ control.

    She was confident about finding a cure, her Mentor had trained her well. The problem was how much time would it take, and how exposed the gue would leave the Empire while she was unavable.

    For that reason, she had all the armies at the borders withdraw and alerted all the best physicians, healers and alchemists to stand ready if necessity arose.

    She would read the reports along with the stolen medical files over and over, trying to understand the nature of the infection, but to no avail. Fake mages were unreliable sources, the only way to find out the truth was to examine one of the infected herself.

    That, or get hold on the one that engineered that whole mess.

    "Your Majesty, the prisoner is ready to be delivered to you anytime you wish."

    Milea nodded at her attendant with a sigh. She had ordered to carefully search Hatorne after her capture. Milea had predicted that the genius alchemist would have left her home country and attempted to reach one of the small states surrounding the three great Countries.

    In such a ce, her abilities would have been greatly appreciated, allowing Hatorne to rebuild her life from scratch and never having to look her back again.

    Going through the Blood Desert was suicide, only the tribes knew the safe ways to avoid storms and monsters, and if they caught her, death was the best ending Hatorne could hope for.

    Her only option was passing through the Gorgon Empire, bribing her way to the border. Hatorne had discovered at her expenses that the Empire was much less corrupt than the Kingdom, getting caught in a matter of hours after her arrival.

    Coirn Hatorne stepped inside the throne room, her hands cuffed behind her back, chained along with her ankles to her waist. The countless hours spent working on her experiments had left her with a hunched back, that made her hard to walk without a cane.

    She looked at least seventy years old, with immacte white hair in a bob haircut. Her clothes were in pristine conditions despite the traveling and imprisonment. The thing that struck Milea the most were the eyes.

    Hatorne¡¯s face was full of wrinkles, resembling a spiderweb, but her eyes were young and full of energy. Most importantly, they were cold and soulless, like she was the one in control.

    Milea looked at her with Life Vision, discovering several magical items that had escaped detection. Later she would examine them to determine if Hatorne¡¯s genius was to me or her attendants¡¯ ipetence.

    "Your Majesty, you are really as beautiful as the rumours say." Hatorne didn¡¯t even attempt to hide the envy in her voice. Milea was over thirty years old, yet she hadn¡¯t aged a day past her twenties.

    "Spare me your niceties. Prove me you can be useful to the Empire and you¡¯ll live, otherwise, I¡¯ll send you back without wearing down my stairs again." Milea pointed at the balcony.

    Hatorne scoffed at her words, spitting in disgust.

    "You can¡¯t possibly be that stupid, if you managed to reach the status of Empress, child. What you already know should be enough to grant me safe passage through your Empire one hundred times, if not for you to be beg me to remain here."

    Milea snapped her fingers, lifting Hatorne like a ragdoll with spirit magic and making her get close to the balcony at walking speed. Suddenly Hatorne didn¡¯t feel so confident anymore, she valued her life above everything.

    "Wait! I can give you potions that can break any men¡¯s will, parasites that turn the most powerful mage into a lump of meat, hidden weapons that cannot be detected. Isn¡¯t that enough?"

    Another snap and Hatorne stopped moving.

    "What you are offering me are new forms of very, diseases that can raze a country, tools that even the lowliest of fools could use to kill a powerful mage. Just one of those things could destroy the world as we know it!"

    Milea couldn¡¯t believe her own ears.

    "Weapons don¡¯t kill men. Men do. I am only an artisan, I¡¯m not responsible for what others do with my creations."

    "That¡¯s where you are wrong!" Milea was outraged. "You create without thinking of the consequences, selling nightmares to whoever can afford them. Power without control is the greatest madness."

    "Naive fool, with my help you could have ruled the world. Instead you chose to die for your pathetic ideals!" Hatorne pushed one of her teeth with the tongue, releasing from her mouth a barrage of poisoned needles, each one enchanted with a small array that would allow it to ignore air magic.

    Milea simply raised her hand, blocking all of them in mid-air, like time had stopped. Hatorne was still shocked, when the needles turned around and darted again, striking her to death.

    Milea destroyed Hatorne¡¯s corpse and belongings personally. The legacy of such a monster couldn¡¯t be allowed to survive.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, the day Lith killed the three Talons.

    "Why are you staring so intensely at the window?" Milea asked.

    "Because something unknown is happening, and it¡¯s baffling us Guardians." Leegaain replied, tapping with his wed finger on the frame. After Milea had be Empress, she had managed to convince him to give the Empire a second chance.

    The deal was the same as in the past, knowledge, not power, in exchange for whateverw or regtion he wanted to be implemented over time.

    "Unknow how?" Milea considered her Mentor to be nigh omniscient and omnipotent, something unknown to him couldn¡¯t be good news.

    "Look at it yourself." Leegaain¡¯s human form hand touched her forehead, allowing her to share his vision.

    Very far, somewhere inside the Griffon Kingdom, the world energy was seeping violently into a small figure, while the small figure emitted a pir of darkness that the world epted as its own.

    "That¡¯s the beginning of a world¡¯s tribtion. Someone has been recognized by the world and his offer epted."

    "Someone is bing a Guardian?" Milea almost chocked at the thought.

    "Heavens, no. Not even close, but it¡¯s a beginning. There are countless tribtions each year, and they end up in failure. What¡¯s baffling is that the darkness is typical of an Abomination, but it¡¯s not. The tribtion is the one that usually happens to beasts, but it¡¯s not. The mana it¡¯s drawing upon seems human but..."

    "It¡¯s not." Milea caught his drift. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

    "Nothing. Whoever it is, is barely stronger than you were when you found me. Also, I don¡¯t care what it does, as long it doesn¡¯t mess with my turf. It¡¯s Tyris¡¯ problem, not mine."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Lith¡¯s tent.

    Since the tribtion had started, the Talons had been experiencing excruciating pain. The darkness that surrounded them wasn¡¯t eating their life force like it was supposed to, if was robbing them of their life span.

    They aged decades each passing second, their nails and hair growing non-stop to absurd lengths.

    "Please, stop." One of the women managed to beg with a hoarse voice, her body dried up and thin like a mummified corpse.

    "Shut up and die!" Lith replied, making the energy pulse even stronger. He didn¡¯t care anymore for information, their numbers or the contractor¡¯s identity. He wanted all of them to die, no matter if young or old, noble ormoner.

    He had grown sick of mankind¡¯s madness; a culling was needed. Unbeknownst to him, the world had heeded his call, and was considering the offer.

    The energy coalesced around him, into an aura that resembled a much bigger figure, enveloped in fire and shadows, with ws on his hands and wings on his back, before dissipating. No trace was left of the Talons, the energy storm disappeared as fast as it hade, leaving Lith and Solus bbergasted.

 Chapter 167 Hard Times

    Aside from the pungent smell of decay and his once again tattered clothes, there was no trace of what had just transpired in Lith¡¯s tent. Solus¡¯ gauntlet form hadpletely recovered from all her injuries, and was now brimming with power.

    - "What the heck? Death Call shouldn¡¯t work like that. It was like an entirely different spell."

    "Well, for what¡¯s worth, you also seemed an entirely different person. Your eyes turned inhuman, and when the energy flow reached its apex, your whole body started to pulse ording to its rhythm. You had started to mutate into a..."

    Solus couldn¡¯t find the words to describe the monstrous silhouette that had almost ovepped with Lith.

    "...thing, but thanks heavens everything stopped before it was toote." ¨C

    Lith had no recollection of such changes, but by checking Solus¡¯ memories, he was able to see what exactly had happened. After his eyes had turned yellow, glowing from the inside with a vertical slit pupil, the dark aura around him had taken a physical form.

    Instead of shadow tentacles, his body had released emerald mes, while the shadows in the tent had seemingly taken life, attacking the Talons along with the mes.

    The result was sadly impable. Nothing had survived the joint assault, not even the weapons, leaving him empty handed for his troubles.

    Lith had never experienced anything like that, so he sat cross legged on the floor, activating Invigoration in search for answers. He first scanned his body, then the mana core, finding out that nothing had changed.

    Then, he did the same thing on Solus, but the results remained the same.

    Everything had happened so fast that it seemed to be just a dream. Yet he felt emptier than ever, like he had grasped something meaningful just to forget it a second after waking up.

    He tried several times to conjure those energies and sensations, but to no avail. More confused than ever, he wore his gue doctor uniform. Kilian would arrive any second now, and Lith was eager to iron out thest steps of the cure and get back to his life.

    ****

    Despite their strong, almost friendship-like bond, Tyris didn¡¯t like how Leegaain had left theirmunication channel open, while he was discussing the anomaly with his new apprentice.

    Not only because that had triggered Sark¡¯s hrity at her expenses, but also because it had struck a nerve. The anomaly was in her turf, adding another responsibility to her already heavy workload.

    Unlike him, she hadn¡¯t slept peacefully over thest centuries, giving the middle finger to the all the problems of his country and only taking action when something major happened.

    Nor she had a fine-grained control over her subjects like Sark, allowing her to delegate at least some of her duties to trustworthy Awakened ones. Her role as a Guardian wasn¡¯t to keep, or dominate, it was to spark the change.

    Tyris had triggered the unification of the Griffon Kingdom, prompting others to follow its example and putting an end to centuries long wars.

    She had taught true magic to Lochra Silverwing, who in turn had managed to adapt it in forms that ordinary people could use, spreading a ground breaking knowledge that had improved the lives of millions.

    With every passing century, she was more tempted to throw in the towel and just mind her own business. Nudging a country in the right direction without directly interfering, while keeping the bnce was a mammoth task.

    The gue itself was proof of how desperate her situation was. She hadn¡¯t taken care of it personally not because she didn¡¯t care, but because her te was already full. In the recent years, Tyris had noticed an increase in the number of Abominations appearing in the Griffon Kingdom.

    Normally they were rarer than Awakened ones, but now they were popping out like mushrooms, two or even three each year, too fast for the phenomenon to be a natural urrence.

    The origin points were always near the borders of the Kingdom, where her senses were at their weakest, so that Tyris would notice only when it was toote. She was convinced to have understood the twisted logic behind the Griffon Kingdom being the only target.

    Leegaain wouldn¡¯t have cared, while Sark, thanks to her servants, would have found the source of the threat faster than Tyris ever could. Someone was using her to test the powers and resources of the Guardians, but Tyris had no idea why.

    She would have loved to ask her colleagues for help, but Guardians were highly territorial. Even if each one of them supervised one third of the biggest continent on the, it was never enough, they could barely tolerate each other.

    The anomaly was but a small potato, it could wait. First, she had to put an end to the Abomination threat, then she had to make sure that Arj?n was really dead and give the Corpse a new seventh member. Only then she would take a look at the anomaly.

    All the while hoping that the Kingdom would still stand by her return, that her descendants would manage to avoid a civil war.

    Just the thought of all she had to do, gave Tyris an headache. She sighed deeply, while Mother Earth, her Invigoration technique, informed her that another Abomination had appeared near the northern borders.

    "I really need a vacation." She said before Warping away, to catch her mysterious opponent before it could flee again.

    ***

    After learning that her treatment was almostplete, and that Lith would leave soon after he was done with her, Nindra had be quite assertive. She would often sit straight as an arrow, emphasizing her breasts, fiddle with her hair orugh heartily whenever he would say something barely close to being funny.

    Not to mention she would prolong physical contact for a couple seconds longer than it was appropriate.

    "Can¡¯t you at least tell me your name? I don¡¯t think your parents were so imaginative to give you an abstruse name, so there¡¯s no harm in me knowing it."

    She said while Lith was removing thest parasites from her arms. After that, she would bepletely healed, and after giving his final report to Varegrave, Lith would be able to go home.

    He couldn¡¯t wait to get out of the tent. With the excuse of privacy, Nindra had convinced him to close the curtain, and was whispering every word in his ear.

    Being subject of a woman¡¯s affections that wasn¡¯t his rtive or a kid, was arousing ancient instincts, of which the rumours about their death had been greatly exaggerated.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s ssified." Lith replied with a husky voice, like he had a tennis ball stuck in his throat. In another life and other circumstances, he wouldn¡¯t let such an opportunity go to waste.

    s it was the right person but at the wrong time.

    "Also, miss Luce, despite I¡¯m ttered by your attentions, I¡¯m afraid that without this mask, you would discover I¡¯m a little too young for your tastes."

    She giggled, making her hair tickle Lith¡¯s skin, making him almost wish to throw away the mask and experience a true kiss after over thirteen years of abstinence. Almost.

    The situation was quite different from his mad crush for Professor Nalear, his emotions were in check and his priorities straight.

    He realized that even if Nindra were to ept him despite his age, which ording to the new world moral customs was farfetched, would mean viting every security rule of the camp.

    It would likely cost Nindra her life and him all the reputation and trust gained so far, branding Lith like a lustful idiot. So, he quickly finished his work and pulled back the curtain, regaining some personal space.

    "Nindra Luce is officially cleansed." He told to the guards.

    "Escort her to the third block for the final check-ups before her release. Miss, I¡¯m sorry we had a rocky start, but it was a pleasure to meet you." Lith extended his hand like during their first meeting, only to have it ignored again.

    Nindra hugged him tightly.

    "Thank you so much doctor. I spent my days here waiting for death before your arrival. I really hope sooner orter I will be able to make it up to you." It was just a subtle movement, but she managed to rub her hips against his during the hug, with predictable consequences.

    "If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me." She said with onest whisper before letting him go.

    The guards and Kilian extended their hands too, but much to their disappointment, she just shook it while smiling.

    "Ready for yourst report?" Kilian asked with a tinge of envy in his voice.

    "Yes. Now that thest cure has been perfected, there is nothing else for me to do here."

    The two men walked in silence, but Lith and Solus talked all the way to Varegrave¡¯s tent.

    - "It¡¯s really ttering for such a woman to be attracted to me without even seeing my face. It means she really appreciated me as a person, instead that for my looks."

    "Yeah, but I¡¯m inclined to say it¡¯s more likely to be just the suspended bridge effect. Not to mention you are the only decent man she met during her imprisonment. Loneliness is a cruel beast. I know it well." Solus replied.

    "Aren¡¯t you being a little sour with jealousy on top?" Lith sent a soft mind smile in her direction.

    "Well, duh! Of course I¡¯m jealous. She has everything I dream of." Solus sighed, her life in stone form was getting too little for her by the day.

    "Can you imagine what would have happened if I took out the mask?" Lith changed topic, trying to cheer her up.

    "Of course I do!"

    Solus projected the image of a closed door, and a voice screaming:

    "Open up! FBI!"

    Before busting it open and make them both chuckle. ¨C

    After their arrival, Varegrave used the blue gemstone, opening the channel with the Kingdom¡¯s royals.

    Lith gave them the good news, exining how to cure the mana blocking parasite in the details. They weren¡¯t as happy as he had expected to, though. Kilian¡¯s words were still ringing in their heads, the idea of Lith hiding his skills was reinforced by his masterful analysis.

    "It¡¯s of the utmost importance to start the process from the abdomen, letting the patient rest for at least three days before continue the treatments."

    Nindra¡¯s core was the strongest among thest infected, and only needed a day and a half topletely recover. Lith extended the timeframe to remain on the safe side.

    "I have noticed that all the patients affected by the mana blocking parasites have an erratic behaviour, probably caused by the toxins messing with their minds. To avoid withdrawal syndrome after the cure, liver and kidneys must first recover their full capacity.

    Otherwise they may turn violent, harming themselves or others, like it happened to Garith Senti. His death taught me better to not underestimate the problem."

    Lith was really pleased with the excuse he hade out with. Professor Marth was already stressing out the idea of fusing medicine and healing magic, Garith¡¯s death was the final push he needed.

    "Outstanding work, Mage Lith." King Meron said.

    "The Griffon Kingdom is indebted to you. If there is anything you wish for, before leaving, feel free to ask."

    Lith needed not to be told twice.

    "I¡¯d like to ask for leniency in the matter of Colonel Varegrave. He was grief stricken at the time, but he is a good man, and a loyal servant of the Crown. After this experience, I am thinking of following my brother¡¯s lead, and perform the voluntary military service. I would love to serve under an officer that I know and respect."

    - "More importantly, under someone that owns me big time. Having someone in the military could always prove useful in the future, whatever I actually decide to do." -

 Chapter 168 Domestic Affairs

    The King was so happy at those words to need his sheer willpower to prevent himself from gloating openly. He didn¡¯t want to lose someone of Varegrave¡¯s calibre, but as too often happened, his wife was right.

    Showing leniency after a major blunder in times of crisis, would be regarded as another sign of weakness from the Crown. Unless of course they had a good reason for it. That good reason had just been served to King Meron on a silver tter.

    - "Seems that I have lost a battle, but in the end, I have won the war, dear Sylpha." He rejoiced via their mind link.

    "We cannot deny our saviour¡¯s request. It would be impolite beyond reason."

    Sylpha mind grunted, she had been looking forward for Varegrave¡¯s execution.

    "I don¡¯t think there is nothing to be happy about. Peace after war is good, prolonged peace is great on paper, but it¡¯s turning out to be a venomous snake in the grass. The upper echelons of the Kingdom have forgotten that discipline and loyalty are key to survival.

    They are so engrossed in their dirty secret pleasures to turnzy, profligate or even treacherous. I am already purging the Mage Association from the bad apples. Keeping them on their toes is the only way to make them fall back in line.

    The army needs some pruning too, Varegrave would have set a perfect example. No matter how loyal, influent or sessful one is, treason has to be punished fiercely and mercilessly.

    Endangering the Kingdom, no matter if by mistake or on purpose, must be treated as treason, otherwise all officers wille up with excuses or pettifogger arguments."

    "I partially disagree, Sylpha." Meron replied.

    "Everything you said is right, the decline of the Kingdom is due to our and our predecessors¡¯ inability to recognize the temptations that the long peace aroused in our most dissolute subjects. But killing Varegrave would set a dangerous precedent.

    If loyalty and past sess hold no value, then there would be no way to inspire devotion in our officers. They must know that their actions, be it time of peace or war, matter. Otherwise we would have onlyzy bums that do nothing afraid of making a mistake that will cost them their lives.

    Leniency, if bestowed at the right moment, is not weakness, it¡¯s strength."

    Sylpha wasn¡¯t convinced, but felt some truth in her husband¡¯s words, so she didn¡¯t raise any more objections.

    "Still, I don¡¯t like this turn of events, it¡¯s too sudden. Varegrave¡¯s life will hang on a thread more in Lith¡¯s hands rather than ours. He¡¯s been waiting for his death for so long that the sudden relief could potentiallypromise his loyalty.

    He is bound to feel indebted to his saviour, especially after having wronged him many times. If Kilian is right, we are facing a first ss schemer, who is bound to have a hidden agenda."

    Meron¡¯s good mood popped like a bubble.

    "Gods, I hate when you are right. But maybe you and Kilian are overreacting. He may be a dangerous sociopath, but is still very young. I don¡¯t think he can n so far ahead."

    "Think what you want. I never underestimate an opponent, especially one that might be a natural Awakened one. I¡¯m really curious about what Tyris will do if our suspects are right."

    The King, the Queen and Sark¡¯s Feathers were all artificial Awakened ones. There were only a couple differences with a natural one. The first was that despite their body would age much slower than normal, their lifespan wouldn¡¯t be extended much.

    Were a normal mage in good health would live around one hundred year, they could live around one hundred and fifty, but rarely more. The second and more important difference was that they had no idea how to turn others into Awakened ones.

    They all had been kept unconscious, while the Guardians had emptied their mana cores, allowing them to perceive the world energy upon waking, in a was much simr to Hatorne¡¯s parasites after their removal.

    The iplete Awakening was thest safeguard against betrayal the Guardians had devised, and why both Tyris and Sark only bestowed such power to a fixed number of humans at the time.

    "Do you think she would conscript him or just kill him?" Meron pondered.

    "In her shoes, I would either kill him, to stay on the safe side, or take him as apprentice, friend, boy toy, whatever rings her bell. Just like Leegaain did with the current Magic Empress.

    Tyris already had a human husband, giving him an offspring. If it happened once, it can happen twice."

    "By the gods, he is just a child!" The thought disgusted Meron deeply.

    "And she is millennia old. Waiting a few more years or even decades would not be a problem." ¨C

    Lith¡¯s request took everyone by surprise, even Kilian and Varegrave. After themunication ended, everything that the Queen feared happened like in a script. Having removed the sword of Damocles that had hovered above Varegrave¡¯s head for so long, the Colonel was on the verge of tears.

    "Thank you, thank you so much!" He couldn¡¯t stop himself from holding Lith¡¯s hand like it was a lifeline.

    "I¡¯m so sorry for misjudging you. I can¡¯t wait to see my family again." Kilian took out Varegrave¡¯sst will from his pocket and burned it on a candle to celebrate the crisis¡¯ double happy ending.

    "If you ever need anything, don¡¯t hesitate to ask." Lith and Varegrave linked theirmunication amulets. Surprisingly, Kilian did the same.

    "Sorry if I barge in, but I want you to know you have my gratitude too, Lith. Also, I have a family too. If something bad ever happens, you are the best healer I know, and I¡¯d really love to have you on my speed deal."

    Having someone in the Queen¡¯s corps and the Mage Association was an unexpected bonus, but Lith wasn¡¯t the type to look a gift horse in the mouth.

    - "Are you really going to join the military? Or was it just an excuse to pursue an angle?" Solus was too used to Lith¡¯s web of deception to think he had helped Varegrave out of the goodness of his heart.

    "I¡¯m considering it, at least for a while. I will be able to travel freely only once I reach sixteen years of age, and I am considered an adult. But even then, I would be nothing more than a nameless mage, at least outside the Marquisate.

    I need some real training and a badge, if I want to have free ess to the information I need. The Mage Association would ask me for favours and knowledge in exchange for what I want, and I don¡¯t want to waste time bartering for every single piece of information.

    ording to what Kilian told me, as a full fledged mage, I¡¯d have ess to special corps, like the Rangers, that would allow me to move freely inside the Kingdom and act solo.

    Sure, I¡¯d have toplete missions and obey orders, but thanks to Varegrave, I can skip a few ranks and get the freedom of movement that I need.

    Instead of traveling as a nameless adventurer that has toply with idiotic requests, is much better to move with the Crown watching my back, with a badge that both nobles and mages have to obey to. Also, I can gain more merits and be paid for it. Many birds with one stone."

    Kilian and his unit personally escorted him outside the camp and opened a Warp Steps to Derios, the capitol of the Marquisate.

    ording to Professor Marth¡¯s prediction, it would take at least another week to wipe out thest remnants of the gue and return back to the academy. Lith could afford going back home for a couple days, at least to make sure everything was fine.

    He wanted to reassure his parents about his well being. The few times they had talked, he could see how worried they were. Now that he was outside the Small World, he could finally use themunication amulet and check how the others were doing.

    ***

    House of Yurial Deirus, two days after Lith had left the academy

    Being the lessons suspended, most students had returned back home, either because of nostalgia or forced by their parents. Even with the information ckout, the news of the problems in Kandria had spread like wildfire after all the academies had been shut down.

    The six big academies were like small countries, following their own rules. Even in time of war, they were supposed to continue their activities. The only exception in the past had been when the country was invaded, hence all hands were needed on deck.

    The situation was so serious that many noble families had packed their things and left the Kingdom with most of their wealth. As soon as the Crown had noticed the rats abandoning the sinking ship, it exploited the opportunity take out some trash.

    A decree had been issue, that whoever left the Kingdom in times of need, would be considered a deserter, losing his noble title, thends and having all their assets frozen and confiscated by the Crown.

    Many of the old nobles¡¯ faction, discovered to have be homelessmoners while they were still traveling past the borders, to reach their distant rtives in the Gorgon Empire.

    Yurial was discussing with his father, Archmage Deirus, the opportunity to expand theirnds by reiming the title their neighbours had relinquished due to their escape, bringing into their grand duchy another of the six big academies.

    Theirnds amodated the Fire Griffon academy already, with the ck Griffon they would have a major role in the Mage Association¡¯s business, achieving an authority on par with the Distar Marquisate.

    "Great minds think alike, my son." Vn said, puffing his chest with pride. Unlike his useless siblings that did nothing but drink, gamble and have s*x all day, Yurial was being recognized by the White Griffon academy thanks to his hard work.

    He was also demonstrating a very practical and scheming mind, exploiting every opportunity he had at hand. Maybe the Deirus household wasn¡¯t doomed, after all. If even Yurial turned out to be like the rest of his children, Vn would have been forced to adopt.

    "But it will not be easy. With a title of Grand Duke we already have too muchnd and money. By getting more, we could be considered a threat to the Crown."

    "But that¡¯s ridiculous!" Yurial was outraged.

    "The Deirus household never had any political ambition, we have always served the Kingdom, improving the lives of our subjects."

    Vn sighed.

    "You are still too na?ve, my son. I know it, you know it. The King doesn¡¯t, though, and would be stupid of him not thinking of the consequences of letting a single individual get his hands on so much power. We need something big, and I think I have just what we need."

    Being his heir, Vn shared everything with Yurial, because he trusted his judgment and because he wanted to prepare him for the moment when he would inherit everything.

    "Since Lukart attacked you, I have started to suppress his assets. Remember, attacking someone¡¯s life is a crime, but bringing down a rival¡¯s business empire is perfectly legal. It also hits that pompous b*stard where it hurts the most: his wallet."

    Vn took out several papers, filled with numbers, ces, names and dates.

    "I know he is behind all this civil war bullsh*t, and I bet my magic that he is also behind Kandria¡¯s problems." He showed Yurial a stolen document bearing the Lukart¡¯s emblem, that reported several massive payments from the household to Coirn Hatorne.

    "Always follow the money, son. Now, this Hatorne is already one of the Kingdom¡¯s top most wanted. Guess where one of his mainbs was?"

    "Kandria?" Yurial had a greedy light in his eyes, matching the one in his father¡¯s.

    "Exactly! Ever since the Kandria incident started, this insignificant piece of paper has be my beacon. I¡¯m digging all that I can from banks and credit institutions, investing a fortune bribing underpaid clerks to get things like this and you know why?"

    "Because if Hatorne turns out to be the responsible, and we can link her to Lukart, we can legally get rid of him and get the ck Griffon too!"

 Chapter 169 Domestic Affairs 2

    House of Phloria Ernas, a week after Lith had left the academy.

    After Headmaster Linjos gave the announcement about all the academy¡¯s activities being suspended, the students were left with two alternatives. Remain in the castle and self study, or return to their homes.

    The Professors were busy helping with Kandria¡¯s situation, either by providing materials, magic ingredients or searching for Manohar, but the academy would remain open.

    Its size was the same of a small city, many clerks and their families lived there, just like most of the kitchen personnel. Several students were orphans or hadplicated family situations, hence once admitted, the academy would be their home until graduation or expulsion.

    It was one of the reasons that galvanised all those of humble origins to give their best in their studies, to the point of oveing their limits. Once in the academy, they would never again fear cold, hunger or the abuses from their rtives or caretakers.

    For them bullying was a small price to pay, because at least in their rooms they were kings and queens. Before departing, Yurial had offered the girls hospitality in his home for as long as necessary, but they had politely refused.

    Time, stress and the growth spurt had brought him to bloom as a man. Whenever he wasn¡¯t focused on his magic studies, Yurial would hit on girls, jumping from one to another like a bee dancing among flowers.

    Phloria didn¡¯t like how often she had caught him staring at her legs and a*s, just like Friya couldn¡¯t stand how whenever they started a conversation, it seemed to be directed at her bosom, since his eyes would rarely move from such spot.

    "My eyes are up here!" She would often repeat, achieving only a temporary truce.

    Quy was the most bothered of the three, since he would not give her a look, if not by mistake or for asking her advice about school subjects. She had stopped liking Yurial in a romantical way months ago, but his behaviour was aggravating nheless.

    With his looks, charms and status, Yurial was ady-killer, and receiving his attentions was a badge of honour for all girls, relegating the ones he ignored in the "Homely Girls Club", of which Quy¡¯s cruel peers had made her a founding member.

    So, when the opportunity arose, they all left the academy¡¯s toxic environment and moved to Phloria¡¯s house. Friya was determined to not follow her mother¡¯s ns anymore, to the point of sealing hermunication amulet in a dimensional object to not have to hear from her again.

    Phloria lived in a Duchy quite far from the academy, but thanks to the use of Warp Gates they reached her home in less than an hour.

    The manor was surrounded by high white crystal walls, generating an array that prevented anyone to fly or Warp past its boundaries without the use of a special amulet. The park around the manor extended as far as the eye could see.

    The air smelled of freshly cut grass, flower beds adorned the cobblestone paths that went across the front gardens.

    Trees and bushes were all artistically trimmed to resemble mythical beasts, like unicorns and griffons. Even the benches, offering cool shades to the visitors, were made of white marble, engraved with runes that made them water and dirt proof, keeping them dry and clean no matter the weather.

    The manor itself was bigger than Quy¡¯s whole vige, cultivated fields included. It extended for at least 3,000 square meters (3,588 square yards), divided into a main building, a left and a right wing forming a reversed U shape.

    It wasn¡¯t anything special for Friya, her house was even bigger, but for Quy was akin to the royal pce she had dreamed about as a kid. It took her a couple of days to recover from the shock of being served night and day, and being called "young miss".

    The academy was a spartan environment. Despite even a single one of its stones was more expensive than the whole park, in the White Griffon everything was designed without pomp. Looks held no significance for the academy¡¯s buildings, only practicality did.

    Hence, despite being full of magical wonders, it resembled more a military boot camp rather than a mystical ce where dreams coulde true.

    Quy felt like a beggar suddenly admitted at the King¡¯s Court. Aside for her uniform, she had no other dress. The problem was quickly solved, since both the noble girls had plenty of unused clothes, that just like the uniform, were capable of shrinking to fit the wearer.

    To make things worse, she had no notion of etiquette, so every meal was a nightmare. There were so many tes and silverware, which she had never seen before, that made picking the right one for each dish harder than opening a Warp Steps.

    When she was first offered a bowl of water and lemon juice, a nobles¡¯ tradition for washing hands before a meal, she asked what kind of soup it was, making even the highly professional staff smirk for a split second at her blunder.

    After that, they only consumed their meals in Phloria¡¯s quarters, to avoid Quy further embarrassment and teach her the basics. Phloria provided them amulets, allowing the girls to spend most of their days practicing dimensional magic.

    With nothing to worry about and the mansion¡¯s rxed environment, Quy managed to teach her friends how to open a Warp Gate in less than a week. Thest thing they needed to pass Professor Rudd¡¯s ss with flying colours was learning how to Blink.

    During their stay, the girls werepletely isted from the outside world. Phloria would often receive dispatches, often getting pale after reading them and always burning them afterwards. She refused to discuss their contents, no matter how her friends insisted.

    Between the rumours about a world ending gue, the slithering civil war and now the decree that allowed to confiscate everything from runaway nobles, unrest was growing in the Kingdom.

    No one had predicted such a move from the Crown, crippling the old nobles¡¯ faction in one fell swoop. Along with their mansions and estates, the royal police had acquired many incriminating evidences, that was triggering a domino effect.

    The noble faction was losing ground and influence fast, forcing their hand. They had to either speed up their ns or give up and submit, before it was toote to do both.

    Phloria didn¡¯t want to rm the others. In her mind, it was only a matter of time before they were conscripted and sent to the battlefront, there was no reason to spoil theirst carefree days with such news.

    Their peace was broken the day that Phloria¡¯s mother suddenly returned home.

    Their rtionship wasn¡¯t good to begin with, so Phloria had her friends dress up for the asion, to not give a bad first impression to her demanding parent.

    After they were summoned in her mother¡¯s chambers, Phloria instructed them about what to say and how to behave.

    "After your introduction, just make a curtsy and then only speak when questioned. Try to keep the answers short, if she starts nagging at us, we¡¯ll lose all day!"

    Lady Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5¡¯) high, with blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. Despite being at home, she wore a beautiful light blue day dress worthy of the Court, her hair was perfectly curled, framing her face like she was out of a painting.

    The first thought Friya and Quy had after seeing them together, was that Phloria may have been adopted. The two couldn¡¯t be more different. Jirni had aged gracefully. In her soft round visage, there was still a spark of youth.

    She was quite different from the monster Phloria had described time and time again.

    "Mother, is wonderful to have you back..." Phloria started to say, but Jirni froze her with a stern look.

    "Good gods, I swear on my children¡¯s life that wearing a skirt from time to time will not do any harm! How can we find you a husband if you dress like this?"

    Phloria cursed inwardly her stupidity. She had been so worried about her friends to forget about herself, still wearing her training suit and smelling because of the physical exercise.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, I..."

    "Where are your manners? You should first introduce your friends to me. I¡¯m so sorry, despite all my efforts, my daughter acts and behaves like she was raised by bears. I¡¯m Duchess Ernas." She interrupted Phloria again, making her guest a curtsy.

    "Miss Quy, Miss Solivar, it¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

    The girls were so stunned by the exchange that could only return the curtsy and thank their host.

    "It¡¯s Lady Solivar, mother." Phloria rebuked, happy to be able to return a hit.

    "Really? Didn¡¯t you hear?" A cruel smirk marred Jirni¡¯s otherwise kind visage.

    "After several documents incriminating Duke Selimar, General Lizhark and Mage Fernath(*), your father and the royal constable went to interrogate them. s, they were found dead, but their assassin didn¡¯t make in time to erase all the evidences.

    The three of them were secretly in league with Duchess Solivar, who after being summoned for questioning, preferred to flee to the Blood Desert. The poor Duchess is now considered a traitor, and we hope to seize hernds for the Ernas household."

    There was no trace of pity in her voice, and Phloria knew why. She was the royal constable. Countless people had fallen for her innocent and na?ve look, until the questioning began.

    Friya went pale, needing Quy¡¯s help to not fall on her knees from the shock.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, dear." Jirni patted Friya¡¯s hands with an odd motherly tone.

    "I thought you already knew, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have been so blunt." Phloria didn¡¯t believe a wording out of her mouth.

    "Not everything is lost, dear. The Ernas household is always looking for talents, me and my husband would be more than happy to adopt you both."

    "What?" Phloria blurted out, incapable of holding back anymore.

    "Are you crazy? How can you say something like that so abruptly?"

    Jirni clicked her tongue in disapproval.

    "Because is the perfect moment. Miss Quy, despite her great talent, has no roots or backers. Our family is full of soldiers and no healers, I¡¯d say is a match made in heavens.

    She could carry on our name, even if not our blood, and will be much easier to marrypared to a certain tomboy!" Her cold gaze made Phloria swallow her reply.

    "As for Miss Solivar, having her in our family, will make much easier for us to beat thepetition for the Solivar¡¯snds, while at the same time giving her a ce to call home and avoid her mother¡¯s action ruining her future career.

    With a figure and talent like hers, finding suitors will be a snap.

    It¡¯s a win-win situation for everyone."

    ***

    Going back to Lutia from Derios (**) took Lith only half the usual time. Between his core¡¯s breakthrough and the constant practice of magic under Small World, Lith felt the mana flow with unprecedented rity, enhancing all his spells.

    - "Cr*p! If only I had the time to practice dimensional magic, by now I would be able to Blink. I bet everyone else is at least able to open Warp Steps." ¨C

    For once, his pessimism was right.

    On his way home, he was flying over the vige when his heightened hearing perceived a familiar voice screaming.

    Tista was suffering once again from Garth¡¯s unwanted attentions. He was the son of the richest merchant of the vige, which made him feel entitled to do whatever he wanted.

    He had courted her for over a year, obtaining only rejections and spite in return. Since Tista had always said no but never roasted his a*s, his father had convinced Garth that her ¡¯no¡¯ meant ¡¯yes¡¯, and that it was time for a more manly approach.

    "Garth Renkin, let go of my arm immediately, or I swear that..."

    "Or what? Without your gestures and gibberish, you are just a woman like any other. If even your mentor does not step in to stop me, who do you think will?"

    From her office, Nana was sighing, facepalming herself every time Garth spoke and Tista didn¡¯t kick him in the nuts or hit him with chore magic like she had instructed her countless times.

    "Why are you doing nothing?" Said Elina, Tista¡¯s mother holding an axe and barely resisting the temptation to split Garth¡¯s skull in half.

    "Because your daughter is too kind. This is a learning experience. Sometimes violence is necessary, words aren¡¯t going to stop all the idiots out there. She needs to learn to stand up for herself before it¡¯s toote.

    I mean, look! She saved half the passers-by¡¯s lives, help the other half being born and no one is doing anything. Too much kindness will make her die young."

    Since Garith was dragging her away and Tista still refused to act, Nana decided to step in, before Elina turned into a murderer, the street into a mess, and then she would be forced to clean everything up.

    She was about to open the door and give the youngster the beating of a lifetime, when suddenly the sky went dark, the temperature dropped by several degrees, and a thunder roared in the distance.

    It was like the shadow of death was befalling Lutia.

    "I swear, I was willing to take care of him." Nana said in an apologetic tone to Elina.

    "But it seems that the shadow of death has returned home."

 Chapter 170 Domestic Affairs 3

    The members of the Queen¡¯s corps tasked to protect Tista were pissed off beyond reason. Most of them had a family back home, with one or more kids around Tista¡¯s age. In their files, they had ssified Garth Renkin as an insufferable pompous a*s, but a harmless one.

    This time, by acting as a troll in heat, he had crossed the line. The only reason why he was still alive instead of chopped to pieces, was that unless in case of a deadly threat, their utmost priority was to remain undercover.

    They had to wait either for him to push his luck or to go away from prying eyes before intervening.

    To make things worse, the passive attitude of the bystanders, that aside from whispering andmenting were doing nothing, made more than one officer ponder setting the vige aze after the situation was resolved.

    In their eyes Tista was basically a saint. The only things she did were helping her family and providing magical care, sometimes even for free, behind Nana¡¯s back, to those who couldn¡¯t afford it or were going through a rough patch.

    Seeing such a person harassed by a pig-brained man amid public indifference was too much to bear.

    "Gods, as soon that idiot goes back home, I¡¯m going to rip his b*lls off." Said a member of the unit in hermunication earpiece.

    "Get in line, Toman." Replied her Captain. "I called dibs on the left one since he grabbed her arm."

    "And I on the right one." Added a second voice.

    "Fine! Then I¡¯ll cut his d*ck and have him choke on it." No oneughed, it wasn¡¯t a joke. The problem with long term detail assignments was that once you knew your target better than your own family, it was natural to get attached.

    Being professionals, they were able to keep their emotions in check, but that didn¡¯t make them one bit less ruthless or dangerous, only worse. So, when they recognized the environmental signs of a powerful mage being royally pissed, they moved away to better enjoy the show.

    Snacks and bets were the natural follow up.

    "Okay, guys. Garth getting killed is 1.1-1, maimed 3-1, crippled 2-1, going home unscathed is 100-1."

    When overwhelmed by emotions, it was natural for even fake mages to affect their surrounding by subconsciously connecting to the world energy. Lowering the temperature, summoning strong gales, it was all mistaken for an involuntary use of first magic.

    The stronger the mage, the stronger the effects, that was the rule.

    Lith¡¯s situation was quite different though. Being an Awakened one, his thoughts were naturally connected to the world energy so his inner turmoil would have a bigger impact than normal.

    Unbeknownst to him, after being epted through a world¡¯s tribtion, the surge of his violent emotions would trigger the¡¯s attention making the resonance even worse. That was the reason why clouds were gathering, a thunderstorm brewing.

    Nana and the corps¡¯ members thought it was a spell, but it was merely a reflection of Lith¡¯s fury.

    - "Lith, I know you are angry, but you must hold back." Solus warned him.

    "Not this time, Solus! I get you love unicorns and rainbows, but the f*cker went too far. There is no ce for mercy."

    "Mercy? By my maker, he can die in a fire for all I care. I meant that there are several witnesses, including some powerful magicians, maybe from the corps. They are supposed to watch your family after all. So do your worst, but do not blow your cover.

    That pig is not worth it." ¨C

    Having doubted Solus¡¯ loyalty only made Lith angrier, making Garth¡¯s tab even more nasty. Yet she was right, he had to be careful.

    Maybe.

    Lith descended quietly instead of making a crater on the ground like he would have loved to. His eyes were closed shut, perceiving his surroundings only through earth magic and Solus. Lith knew that if he looked at the b*stard¡¯s face, he would lose his self-control.

    Yet the temperature kept plummeting and despite it had been a sunny spring day until a few seconds ago, Garth could see his breath steam. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and his skin was covered with goose bumps from the terror.

    And he wasn¡¯t the only one. Lith¡¯s killing intent was aimed at all those present but Tista, Nana and his mother. Its intensity was simr to what Garith Senti and Kilian experienced, but with two big differences.

    Here there was no Small World smothering Lith¡¯s magic and while Garith and Kilian had been battle hardened veterans, Lutia¡¯s residents were farmers and merchants. The worst thing they had ever experienced was being mugged.

    Garth¡¯s natural reaction was letting Tista¡¯s arm go like it was frenzied snake and wet himself, a warm puddle drove away the cold from hisher regions and feet. Most of the bystanders fell to their knees, some started to puke in panic, a few even fainted.

    "Lil¡¯ brother!" Tista didn¡¯t seem to notice anything, there was only Lith in her eyes now. Her warm smile and adorable voice made him all soft inside, turning the seething rage into a full blown inferno.

    "Tista!" His right arm pulled her close in an embrace, while his right fist struck Garth behind her back with the strength of a sledgehammer. Lith held back, so instead of pulverizing his jaw, he just dislocated it, making Garth spat a mouthful of blood.

    "I missed you so much." She was crying. "Where have you been? I worried every day, fearing the worst."

    She was crying.

    "I¡¯m so sorry." Lith replied holding her even tighter.

    "I was on a mission for the Mage Association, but there was nothing for you to worry about." His arms held her close, but his hands and mouth kept moving, conjuring wind pirs that pinned those present to the ground.

    Lith mentioning the Mage Association turned fear into terror, but for Garth there was only horror. He hadn¡¯t seen Lith in years, almost forgetting how monstrous he was. Garth was the only one not pinned, Lith was taunting him to run away.

    She was crying.

    Lith brought Tista back to Nana¡¯s house.

    "I¡¯ll be back soon. Whatever happens, do not watch." Lith wiped her tears while caressing her face before closing the door and casting the Hush spell all around the house. Then he opened his eyes causing another bolt of lightning toe down, closer than the previous one.

    The sh drew everyone¡¯s attention away. When they looked back, Lith was straight in front of Garth having crossed dozens of meters in less than a second.

    "How did..." Garth managed to ask despite the maddening terror.

    "You blinked." Lith replied like it exined everything.

    After that, he grabbed Garth¡¯s right dominant arm, twisting it like it was just a twig.

    "Is this the hand you used to touch her?" A magic word and his fingers dancing in the air was enough to turn the limb into a block of ice. Lith twisted it again, shattering the arm like ss from fingers to shoulders.

    Garth wanted to scream, the pain was crushing, but so was Lith¡¯s right hand around his throat.

    "Is this the mouth with which you dared to speak her name?"

    The men from the Queen¡¯s corps wereughing their as*es off from the rooftops.

    "That was a good line. I must use it the next time my daughter picks a bad boy." Said one of the women of the unit.

    "This is noughing matter." The Captain was suddenly serious.

    "I don¡¯t care about the pig." He exined facing their dumbstruck stares.

    "I mean the killing intent. I can feel it from up here and it¡¯s twisting my guts. How the f*ck can a twelve-years old be so ferocious?"

    The whole unit sneered.

    "Captain, what if that was your daughter?" Asked his second inmand.

    "I wouldn¡¯t give a f*ck if it was Garth Renkin, a prince or the f*cking King himself. I would rip him to pieces and no one would ever know." The Captain¡¯s killing intent burst over the street, making even more people faint.

    "That¡¯s how." Replied the second inmand. "Now shut up, this is getting good."

    Gurid Renkin, Garth¡¯s father had just joined the fray.

    "Please, don¡¯t kill him! He is my firstborn and my heir. He will never bother you again." Gurid kneeled down, banging his head on the ground.

    "That¡¯s a given." Lith sneered, while ice started to cover Garth¡¯s face, turning each breath into an agony.

    "I beg you! It¡¯s all my fault. I told him that rebellious women like to be tamed. Take it out on me, not him."

    Lith¡¯s right kick crushed Gurid¡¯s ribcage, puncturing his lungs at the same time. Yet it was also infused with light magic, healing the injuries as soon as they formed. Lith didn¡¯t want for him to die so fast.

    "Tamed? My sister... You..." Gurid¡¯s words almost drove Lith mad, making it impossible for him to speak coherently. Lith shattered Garth¡¯s legs, all three of them, before dropping him on the ground.

    The women of the corps giggled, while the men instinctively covered their crotch.

    "There are only two ways this story can end." Lith¡¯s eyes were burning red, like fire pits.

    "Number one, I kill him here and now, you step aside and maybe, just maybe, I will not kill each and every one of your family for your crimes." Gurid was crying out of fear and desperation.

    "Number two, you stand in my way. In such a case I will still kill him. Then it will be your turn, and I will call the Count, the Association and every single person that owes me to make sure your whole bloodline is wiped out."

    Gurid had two more sons and as many daughters. The thought of even his brothers, sisters and nephews getting killed because of his foolishness was too much. He inwardly cursed at himself.

    How could he forget that Tista wasn¡¯t just another farm girl that Garth could use and throw away once he was tired of her? This wasn¡¯t a problem that money could solve. He was about to step away when a second kick sent him sprawling away coughing blood.

    "Stand up again and it will be thest time."

    Lith grabbed Garth by the neck, lifting him in mid air before burning him alive, for everyone to hear.

    "I shouldn¡¯t have saved your life years ago (*), you piece of trash. This is partially my fault too. I gave you your life and now I¡¯m taking it back with interest."

    Only after the body turned to ashes did the screams stopped.

    "And now, it¡¯s your turn." Lith said to the bystanders still pinned from the beginning. Or at least, to those still conscious.

    "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. That¡¯s what you did, and now you shall pay the price!"

    Lith started to manipte the thunderstorm¡¯s energies to kill all of them in one fell swoop.

    Inside Nana¡¯s house, Elina was still hugging and kissing Tista, to soothe her nerves. She didn¡¯t give a damn about what Lith would do. If it depended on her, she would have killed all those that had allowed harm toe to her baby.

    Tista was trying to calm her mother, trying not to think why there was so much silence. Nana had watched everything from behind a shutter, and after a good shrug, she closed the window for good.

    - "I don¡¯t give a f*ck about them. I just live here." ¨C

    On the rooftops, the Queen¡¯s corps gave a small round of apuse to Lith¡¯s disy of magic mastery.

    "All in favour of saving them?" Asked the Captain.

    Not a single hand was raised.

    "It¡¯s unanimous then." The whole unit shrugged, returning to their initial positions.

    Lith was about to unleash the fury of the elements on the whole vige when a big and strong hand grabbed his wrist.

    "Being weak is not a fault and neither is being stupid. No matter how aggravating it is, rabbits will run away and fawns will dumbly stare until it¡¯s toote." The voice was strong and wise, but more importantly, it was a familiar one.

    "You already killed the one that attempted to harm your cub. You can kill his pack, if you want, but that¡¯s cruel and unnecessary, just like killing other innocent cubs. Brother Scourge, do not ruin our reunion by forcing me to pray for so many souls."

    The man in front of him was a barbarian, at least 2.1 meters (7¡¯) high, wearing a hunter set made of deer skin with boots bigger than a bucket. His face was rough and savage with a square jaw and a cleft chin.

    His long hair and his stubble were ming red having never been groomed. Despite his brutish appearance, his emerald eyes were calm and wise. There was no way Lith wouldn¡¯t recognize those colours and his smell.

    "Protector? Is that you?"

 Chapter 171 Reunion

    The barbarian nodded to Lith¡¯s question.

    "Your senses are sharper than ever. It seems that since ourst encounter we both have changed greatly. Do not call me Protector though. I go by the name of Ryman now. Humans are still diffident of neers. If they discover my name is an alias, it could bring out the worst in them.

    You should know it better than anyone else."

    "Then do not call me ¡¯Scourge¡¯." Lith replied freeing his wrist from Ryman¡¯s grasp.

    "My name is Lith." The piece of news left Ryman quite baffled.

    "I thought it was an endearing term, since few calls you like that. You have many names, like Scourge, young spirit, little b*stard and others I will not repeat because they make me want to bite heads off."

    "Ungrateful b*stards!" Lith yelled making most of those present run away.

    "After all I and Tista did for them, I would expect that protecting her from a single idiot isn¡¯t a mammoth task. They stood idly instead, like she was aplete stranger. Someone is going to die for that. I always return favours in kind."

    "I¡¯m sorry for not stepping in earlier." Protector scratched his thick hair with an embarrassed expression.

    "I still don¡¯t understand the human¡¯s mating rituals. I thought it was some kind of courtship, yet it seemed odd that despite the female being stronger the male was so aggressive. I expected her to bite him away or something."

    "That makes the two of us." Lith¡¯s rage was being smothered by his old friend¡¯s soothing presence.

    "Me and Tista definitely need to talk and so do we. Where can I find you?"

    "That¡¯s easy!" Ryman gave him a very wolfish smile.

    "We are neighbours since I¡¯m living with Selia in the house next to yours."

    "You what?" Lith¡¯s eyes almost popped out from the surprise.

    "I can¡¯t make clothes out of thin air." He waved at his attire.

    "And she is the only human I know besides you. I often saw her hunting in the woods, I know she has a good heart."

    "A good heart? Are we speaking about the same woman?"

    Ryman nodded.

    "She respects the woods and its inhabitants and never takes more than she needs. So when I came out of the woods after transforming into a human for the first time, I went to her ce. She was very kind to me. Selia washed me and dressed me.

    I was surprised by her attentions, but it seemed rude of me reject her, since she is very attractive for a human. Your females are incredibly aggressive in mating and quite flexible. Selia is..."

    "Too much information, dude! Spare me the details, I beg of you." Lith¡¯s head was spinning. First the idiot¡¯s threatening Tista, then the vigers¡¯ betrayal and now his wolf friend was human and living with his old mentor.

    That was too much for a single day.

    "She is practically an aunt to me. The image of you two having s*x together will haunt me for days!"

    "There¡¯s nothing wrong with that. Don¡¯t your parents have s*x too? They must be pretty vigorous to have many offspring." Lith¡¯s words didn¡¯t make sense to Protector.

    "Yes, they do, but not in front of me, and absolutely they do not share any detail. It¡¯s a human thing." Lith decided to cut the conversation short.

    "See youter. I want to know everything about your transformation."

    Ryman nodded and then went to buy the groceries Selia had requested.

    Lith went back to Nana¡¯s house, bowing to his old mentor before hugging her.

    "Master, why you did not intervene?" He asked with a tinge of pain in the voice.

    "I¡¯m sorry, young spirit. I hoped to do some good." Nana caressed Lith¡¯s cheek gently.

    "Is the idiot taken care of?"

    "Permanently." Lith¡¯s tone was stone cold.

    "This is all on you, child." Nana was scolding Tista for the first time since she had started to work with her.

    "You can¡¯t always depend on me or your brother. Being good and being stupid are two different things. A mage as powerful as you acting as a damsel in distress is an affront to all those poor girls that are actually helpless.

    If you had kicked his a*s earlier, none of this would have happened. Far be it from me to put the me on the victim, he was a lustful fool that would have died anyway, sooner orter, but you could have prevented things from escting.

    Why do you think your mother has my firewood axe? Why do you think your brother was so furious? You need to learn to stand up for yourself and fight your battles, otherwise someone else will and blood will be spilled anyway."

    Tista blushed with shame, staring at the floor while fiddling with her hair. Seeing her mother and brother react like that had been a shock for her. Tista had never thought to be in real danger, she considered the whole vige like her extended family.

    When she had realized how aggressive Garth was and no one, not even Nana, had intervened, Tista had panicked,pletely forgetting about chore magic.

    Once back at home, the whole family, Rena included, first hugged Tista and after checking she was unscathed, they scolded her in turns until she started crying uncontrobly, forcing them to stop.

    "Dad, something feels off. Our vige was never full of saints and geniuses, but assaulting Tista in broad daylight is too much. Also, ourmunity is quite tight knitted, why no one did move a finger to help her?" Lith asked.

    Raaz sighed, hiding his face in his hands.

    "It¡¯s actually my fault. Now that all you kids are independent, and with the money you and Tista give to the family, I had the time and the resources to develop the family business. Right now, our farm is Lutia¡¯s biggest."

    "No offence dad, but that¡¯s not a big deal. How are the two things rted?"

    "Because for a month now, rumors about an impending illness are bing more and more frequent. At the start people considered them just a bad joke, but over time they started panicking. In times of crisis, only two things really matter: longsting food for survival and weapons to protect yourself and the food.

    The cksmith, despite raising his prices, has sold out everything weeks ago. While he is waiting for new supplies, people bring him their tools to turn them into weapons. You can¡¯t rush food, though, nor make it appear out of thin air.

    Our barn is filled to the brim, but unlike some of our neighbours, I refused to restrict supply and raise prices. That angered those that hoped to profit off the mass hysteria and Renkin in particr.

    He offered to buy supplies from me in bulk, to hide them away while waiting for their value to hit the roof and make a fortune. My answer was always no. First, because I¡¯m not so foolish to make money in the short term just to starveter.

    Second, because I didn¡¯t want so many people, good people, that I know and have respect from years to be poor because I exploited their fears. If the rumors turn out to be just rumors, half the vige would have spent all their saving for nothing."

    Lith whistled with admiration for his father¡¯s adamant morals, wondering if he would be capable of doing the same.

    "So, you are the reason why farmers and merchants cannot specte on the food¡¯s price."

    Raaz nodded.

    "Exactly. Because of that, some of our neighbours resent me. They hoped to get rich by selling their provisions at inted prices. As for Renkin, when he understood I wouldn¡¯t budge, he sent his son to do the dirty work.

    Rena is untouchable, being the cksmith¡¯s daughter inw. Gurid probably thought that you being away and with Tista¡¯s meek attitude, he could force his way into the family and change my mind."

    "Dad, you are a true hero. I¡¯m proud of you" Lith put his hand on Raaz¡¯s shoulder.

    "The Kingdom should award more people like you."

    - "And less like me." He inwardly added. -

    "With your actions, you have saved countless lives from low-life vultures. Those who resent you were never your friends in the first ce, they were just snakes in the grass. As for the others, they¡¯ll be grateful once they find out it was all a lie.

    There is no such thing as an illness threatening the Kingdom."

    - "Not anymore." Solus giggled. ¨C

    "Really? Are you sure?" Lith¡¯s words lifted a huge emotional burden from Raaz¡¯s conscience.

    "Of course I am. Until this morning I was working as an assistant for Professor Marth at the White Griffon." He lied through his teeth so easily that it made him feel guilty. Lith hated ying with their feelings, but it was the only way he had to keep them safe.

    "He had been tasked to verify these rumors and he personally told me there is nothing to worry about."

    "I can¡¯t wait to share the good news with the others!"

    "Sorry to burst your bubble, but no one will believe you. I am just a student and you are already considered a party po*per, do not make things worse. Wait for the official announcement to be made before gloating."

    Lith and his family spent the time until after lunch to make up for the lost time, forcing him to lie about everything that had happened to Lith in thest two weeks.

    After the meal, he went to find Protector telling him the background behind Tista¡¯s harassment.

    "So it wasn¡¯t courting? The male¡¯s father risked his own pup¡¯s life for pieces of metal?" Even in his human form, Ryman managed to snarl.

    "Humans sure have a talent for disappointment."

    "Never mind that, tell me how did you manage to change so much in less than three months."

    - "Yep, from Ry to humanoid and from a bright cyan mana core to a deep blue one is a huge step." Solus pointed out. ¨C

    "Soon after you left, a Scorpicore came to the Trawn woods. She was looking for a Scourge and she had learned that it was the title of the king in the west."

    "She? That thing, it¡¯s a female?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "That¡¯s very rude of you." Ryman snorted. "Why ¡¯it¡¯? We are not things, we are living, intelligent beings, just like you, young pup. She is stronger and older than us both and most importantly, wiser. You should learn to respect your elders."

    "Sorry." Lith said lowering his eyes in embarrassment.

    "You know, when I talk to you I have always the impression of speaking with my magical godfather or something. You always scold or lecture me."

    Rymanughed out loud.

    "Sorry, but after having sired more than fifty pups, being a father is second nature to me. As I was saying, the Scorpicore could have demanded answers from me, instead she just asked.

    She was stronger than me, but instead of stealing my territory she treated me with respect and courtesy, so I replied honestly."

    "Great! So she now knows where I live. What did you tell her exactly?"

    "That you are not the monster she thought you were. Just a broken and twisted pup searching for its purpose."

    "That¡¯s it?" Lith could not believe his ears.

    "Yes. Scarlett wanted to learn about you, to decide if you are a threat that needs to be put down or one of us. I think you are safe now."

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry at the thought of having dodged a bullet he wasn¡¯t even aware of.

    "How the heck did that lead to you bing humanoid?"

    Ryman¡¯s eyes blinked in surprise.

    "I think that saving your life deserves at least a thank you."

    "I¡¯m sorry, again. I¡¯m a rude jerk. Thank you very much." Lith gave him a small bow.

    "What about your transformation?"

    "Humans and your curiosity." Ryman snorted, then proceeded to tell him the whole story.

 Chapter 172 Reunion 2

    "After clearing the issue about you, the Scorpicore told me that I was ready to move forward, and that I should better hurry because I had left only a few more years to live."

    "What?" Lith had known Protector since he was four years old. In his eyes the Ry had only gotten bigger and stronger over time, not older.

    "I lived for more than eight years as a wolf, before bing a Ry. And thirty more after that. For a magical beast I was quite old, Scourge. The thought of death didn¡¯t surprise me as much as her words, since they made no sense.

    She noticed my confusion and exined to me that being a magical beast is not the end of the journey, but just a step. At least, if you are able to Awaken."

    All that news was giving Lith and Solus an headache.

    - "Magical beasts do not hide the secret of Awakening? Are they insane?" Lith thought.

    "It¡¯s not just that. Based on what he says, seems that Awakening is not as easy as we thought." ¨C

    Lith expected to hear a reiteration of his own story: breathing technique, feel the world energy and after a while bing able to sense the mana core inside the body. Reality was different, though.

    "Scarlett brought me to what she called ¡¯a special ce¡¯, close to where we fought the Abomination months ago." Lith knew exactly the ce. It was where Solus was able to take her tower form, above the mana geyser.

    "She had me stay there for days, forcing me to practice my magic over and over."

    "Days? Practice magic? This is all so wrong!" Lith blurted out in surprise.

    "Right or wrong, this is my story. Let me finish it, please."

    Lith raised his hands in an apologetic sign, letting Ryman continue.

    "I do not know how to describe it precisely. It was all too abrupt. Suddenly I became able to perceive how my magic would interact with the world energy, and in turn see its flow.

    It was such a magnificent sight, revealing to me how everything in this world has mana, and through it, we are all connected. I felt hot inside, discovering a cyan ball inside of me..."

    "Mana core." Lith chimed in.

    "...that was capable of interacting with the world energy. I started to absorb it without even realizing how, and while my mana core grew and changed so did my body. The metamorphosis was long and painful, I expelled even more ck goo than when I became a Ry..."

    "Impurities." Lith corrected him again, making Ryman snort in annoyance.

    "...but that was far from being the end. I spent the following months learning how to manipte other elements outside air and fire. It was a nightmare, especially for light and darkness magic. I have yet to grasp their basics.

    Scarlett was so fed up with me being such a slow learner, that she left right after teaching me how to change form into a human. She said I am too big and clumsy in my new form to interact with humans and that disguised like this I can travel the world and learn about myself."

    Lith¡¯s eyes were brimming with curiosity.

    "Can you teach me how to change form or did she restrict you from sharing this technique?"

    "She did not." Ryman replied frowning his brows.

    "But Scarlett told me is very dangerous for humans. You have a frail mind and a very strong sense of self. Most of you go mad just attempting to change form."

    Lith scoffed.

    "Guilty as charged about the frail mind, but I don¡¯t even know if I still have a sense of self."

    - "Who am I? Derek McCoy from Earth? Lith from Lutia? Or some kind of monster born by fusing one¡¯s memories and the other¡¯s body? This face is nothing more than bone and muscles, it¡¯s not me." Scarlett¡¯s words still echoed in Lith¡¯s mind, about him being unnatural. ¨C

    Then it was Lith¡¯s turn telling Protector all about his own meeting with Scarlett, the dryad, Ka. How along his journey more and more beings referred to him as not human, and how he recently had almost changed into something else.

    "I must admit that your smell is unique among humans, but it always was, ever since our first meeting. You smelled like hatred and pain, and no pup should carry such a heavy burden.

    I don¡¯t know what Ka perceived, but I can understand her confusion. Your human smell is very diluted now, is more simr to mine and Scarlett¡¯s. You smell like power, but it¡¯s unbnced toward darkness, like an Abomination.

    Even this morning I could feel your wrath, wing to escape. But no matter how many you will harm, sharing your pain will not make you feel better. It can temporarily relieve your burden, but it will turn into hunger.

    You are not a monster, but as any human, you can turn into one. You must decide if to ride your inner demons as a tool for an end, or to be their steed, enved by your urges. That¡¯s something I can¡¯t help you with.

    All magical beasts face your same trial every day, and the final oue is rarely obvious. I¡¯ll teach you what I know, so if you really change like I did, turning back to human will not be an issue."

    Ryman offered Lith his hand, which Lith took between his hands while activating Invigoration at the same time, letting their mana flow freely between them, like two bodies with a single heart.

    "Thanks. As I said previously that¡¯s all wrong. I¡¯m an Awakened too, but you should have already got that by now. I bet I can teach you better than that grumpy cat. By the way, you still have to show me your new form."

    Ryman took a few steps away from Lith and started undressing himself.

    "Is this really necessary?" Lith asked with a tinge of envy. Protector was equipped with heavy artillery; it was no surprise the huntress had taken a liking to him.

    His body was a mass of dancing muscles that would have put to shame a Greek god.

    A light pir erupted from Ryman¡¯s body, that soon was reced by an enormous wolf like thing.

    Its shoulder height reached two meters and a half (8¡¯3"), with a ming red fur with shades of white and yellow. Its whole body was enveloped in a deep blue me, that erupted more intensity out its neck, almost looking like a mane

    The monster had two curved hornsing out of its forehead, right in front of the ears, eagle-like feathered winging out from his back and the tail was made out of dancing mes.

    Lith whistled in admiration.

    "How are you called now?"

    "No idea." Ryman replied. "Every superior monster is unique, unless he has offspring in the old fashioned way. ording to Scarlett, I¡¯m the first of my kind."

    "Then I¡¯ll call you Skoll, like sky wolf that in the legends chased the Sun trying to eat it."

    Protector didn¡¯t like the name¡¯s backstory much, it was something that suited Scourge more than him. But he had an horrible sense for names, and Skoll had a nice ring to it, so he decided to keep it.

    ***

    Near the northern borders of the Griffon Kingdom, Tyris was still looking for the one responsible for the sudden raise in the Abomination¡¯s numbers. Now that she was close to their origin point, Tyris was able to easily follow its tracks with Mother Earth, her Invigoration technique.

    Tired of chasing shadows, she had asked for Leegaain¡¯s help. He was the most knowledgeable among the Guardians, thank to all the centuries spent minding his own business. There was very little he couldn¡¯t find out, once he put his mind into it, of course.

    She considered herself lucky. Not only Leegaain had managed to track down the approximate location of the next event, but had also promised to help. Even in times of war, when he still cared about the Empire, it was very rare of him to leave his turf.

    Tyris telepathically sent him her coordinates and a Warp Steps immediately appeared next to her. The one who walked out the dimensional gate was barely human in appearance

    It looked like and albino man, with pure white skin and hair, with bright red eyes and d in a ck war armour. On his exposed face and hands there were multiple spots where the skin turned into scales.

    He had ws instead of nails and fangs instead of teeth. His smile would have struck terror in any living being with a shred of sanity.

    "Tyris, my dear, you are always so shy. If Milea was here, you would crush her self-esteem."

    "The pot calls the kettle ck." She replied.

    "I have many forms. Unlike you I spent a lot of time around my country, I need a suit for every asion."

    Tyris snorted, considering herself less lucky with every passing second. Guardians were very proud, and didn¡¯t like their ws being pointed out. For every superior magical beast, assuming their first form was rtively easy.

    It was the one they had in their heart. In Tyris¡¯ case, it was the one she had chosen hoping to please her first love. After that, she had interacted so rarely with humans that she had never bothered acquiring another.

    Leegaain, instead, after his self-imposed exile, had often walked among humans doing his best to go unnoticed. To do that, he had to spend a lot of time and efforts to achieve multiple alias, be them humanoid or animals.

    It wasn¡¯t possible to modify a form, even changing a single detail required to start everything from scratch, no matter how simr it was to one already avable.

    Instead of fighting a lost cause, Tyris moved toward the source of the anomaly, forcing Leegaain to shut up and focus to keep up with her speed. In the blink of an eye, they had covered dozens of kilometres, stopping only from time to time to use Mother Earth again while chasing their prey.

    When the hunt came to an end, they couldn¡¯t believe their eyes.

    Three fully developed Abominations attempted to ambush them. They were an Empowered one and two Puppeteers, respectively in the body of a human and of a Byk.

    "That¡¯s impossible!" Leegaain blurted out avoiding the Empowered deadly touch with a side step. The creature was entirely made of shadows, with no facial features.

    Despite thepleteck of a body, the energy mass was so dense that is was almost impossible distinguish it from a real one.

    "ording to my intel, they have spawned barely a day ago. How can they have evolved so fast?"

    Tyris was surprised too, but decided to attempt a non violent approach.

    "We don¡¯t want to harm you. As long as you are able to control your urges, you are living beings like anyone else. Just tell us what happened to you and we will let you go."

    Instead of reacting to her words, the Abominations emitted an inhuman shriek relentlessly attacking the two Guardians with physical and magical attacks, with the only result of angering them.

    There was no method or strategy behind their actions, it was just a suicidal series of attacks.

    Tired of their madness, Tyris clenched her fist, squashing the Empowered Abomination like a bug by using only spirit magic, paralyzing the other two in her magical grip.

    "This is yourst chance, speak or die!" The Abominations just kept shrieking, almost breaking free from Tyris¡¯ grasp with sheer brute force.

    "This shouldn¡¯t be happening." Said Leegaain.

    "Developed Abominations should aim only for survival. These things look even more senseless then newborn. Let me attempt to read them."

    Tyris nodded, focusing her strength on not letting them escape. It wasn¡¯t only their mind to be apparently broken, even their powers were out of scale. It was just them being too stupid to use them properly.

    Leegaain let out two tendrils of mana, attempting a telepathicmunication with the two anomalies. As soon as the link was established, Leegaain fell on his knees screaming in pain.

    Tyris squashed them mercilessly, going to aid her old friend.

    "What happened?"

    "It¡¯s worse than we thought. Not only something is creating artificial Abominations, in a way simr to what you use for your artificial Awakened ones, but it¡¯s also fusing themselves together to force them to evolve faster.

    Each one of those things was several Abominations merged into one. That¡¯s why they were so strong."

 Chapter 173 Return

    "What do you mean?" Tyris asked.

    "We already know how Abominations are usually born. An Awakened one gets too greedy, impatient or both, and ends up losing his body. After that, either they find a way to stabilise their energy form or death ensues.

    In this case though, someone has purposely Awakened humans, beasts and monsters against their will and then attempted an experiment as brilliant as much as twisted. Newborn Abominations are made entirely out of energy, with little to no sense of self at all.

    By merging them together, our culprit has found a way to stabilise their ethereal forms while at the same time making easier for them to possess a body. Since they are almost mindless hungry beings, they offer no resistance to the merging process.

    Energy is energy after all, they perceive it as feeding until it¡¯s toote. Also, being hybrids of multiple species, they can inhabit almost any body. On paper it¡¯s a great idea, but once they start regaining their minds, the conflicting personalities are incapable of coexisting.

    As we have witnessed, their constant fight for control turns into madness."

    "Are you sure about this?" Tyris was pondering about the implications of their discovery. The situation was already bad, but if Leegaain was right, it was just the beginning.

    "Very." He nodded.

    "Once I established the connection, I was assaulted by at least one hundred different minds, each one of them marked by the pain of captivity and of being forcefully turned into Abominations.

    Too bad that before I could sort out their memories and ask some questions, they recognized me as a foreign mind and piled up on me all at once."

    "For once, I think you are wrong, old friend." Tyris started pacing in circles, trying to ease her nervousness.

    "When everything started, I would find single Abominations, indistinguishable by normal ones except for their abnormal spawn rate. Now we have faced a small group, that not only had evolved, but despite their madness coordinated their attacks, both in the physical ne and psychic one.

    What does this tell you?"

    "That our opponent has spent quite a lot of time perfecting his method, and now he¡¯s attempting to further step up his game."

    "No, you are underestimating whoever this is. Yes, they were mad, but still able to work together. Also, you told me that once they recognized you, they stopped fighting and attacked you as one. This means that their maker already has a degree of control over them.

    He left them behind in order to escape from us, even predicting that we would have tried to probe their minds, leaving a trap behind. How badly would you be injured without my help?"

    Leegaain inwardly cursed at his stupidity. Either the mental attack had been stronger than he had suspected, or he was really bing an old fool.

    "Physically, not much. Even giving them hours, their attacks were still too weak. Theirbined psychic attack, though, took me by surprise. I would have needed weeks, if not months to heal the telepathic scars."

    "Exactly. Our enemy is getting bolder with every sess. It¡¯s only a matter of time before the Gorgon Empire starts getting targeted too."

    "I wish you were right, but we are past that point already. In thest months, a few Abominations wreaked havoc in several border cities. At first I was happy about that. Milea never fought one, so I thought it would do her good to have some practice.

    But when she reported me to how many of those monsters she encountered, I couldn¡¯t help but worry. There were more than usually spawn in a year. Why do you think I epted toe here? It was obvious that your problem had turned into our problem."

    Hearing those words, Tyris couldn¡¯t help but worry.

    "This exins a lot. He conducted the first step of his n in my country, the second in yours, probably hoping I would not notice, and then escted things here again. We need to warn Sark. Her territory is the biggest, and has so many uninhabited areas you could hide whole armies. She could be the next target."

    "Are we talking about the same Sark? The harbinger of chaos? The scorching Sun? The red death? Unlike us, she has never kept a low profile. It would be crazy messing with her."

    "If I¡¯m right, the one behind this madness knows about us Guardians and it¡¯s testing our limits. Getting on the ck list of three Guardians instead of two is not a big deal."

    ***

    "What do you mean you have lost them?" Captain Locrias of the Queen¡¯s corps couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    Toman was the most skilled member of the unit at tailing their target, yet she had lost track of Lith many times during hisst visit. He moved so fast and erratically that it was impossible for her to keep following him and not get discovered.

    This time though, things were even worse. Lith and his odd friend had met outside the huntress¡¯s house and then had disappeared like ghosts.

    "I¡¯m sorry Captain, but I had to keep my distance and couldn¡¯t use any eavesdropping air spells to maintain my cover. I don¡¯t know how he does it, but in the past that barbarian has been able to perceive me every time I got too close or used air magic.

    He then just suddenly pops behind my back and asks me why I was following him, forcing me to escape, but never attempting to chase me." Having suddenly became incapable of doing her job frustrated Toman to no end.

    "Dammit, with what face can I report this to the Queen? It was fine not knowing anything about this Ryman guy, as long he was just the huntress¡¯ lover and kept a low profile. After what has happened today however, he is now one of our priorities."

    "Indeed. Someone that can put his hands on that sociopath and get it back in one piece could be useful leverage." Said Peicus, the second inmand.

    "That¡¯s why I hate backwater viges." The Captain said shaking his head in frustration.

    "It¡¯s impossible to perform a decent background check on neers. No one knows him and no one cares about his past. ording to Toman¡¯s report he is a great expert, even able to use Warp Steps for instant movements.

    We need to find out who he is and bring him to our side. The fact that he can keep Lith¡¯s murderous impulses in check is just the icing on the cake." Actually, Ryman was incapable of using dimensional magic, he was just that fast.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Captain." Vykaros, the liaison with the Mage association, had an embarrassed expression that didn¡¯t bode well.

    "No one matching Ryman¡¯s name or description has ever attended an academy, nor is registered in any guild based in the Griffon Kingdom. The guy is a ghost."

    "Oh,e on! Just because he walked out of the woods in his birthday suit a month ago, it¡¯s impossible for him to have no past. Men do not sprout like mushrooms!"

    Much to Captain Locrias dismay, it was exactly what had happened.

    ***

    Lith spent the next two days making up for the lost quality time with his family. Too much time had passed since theirst treatment, so he was forced to expel the newly umted impurities in their bodies that were making them age faster due to the daily fatigue, deteriorating their health.

    - "It seems that unlike Awakened ones, that progressively get rid of the impurities they are born with, normal humans and fake mages keep producing new ones. It must be the reason my looks are improving over time." Lith pondered.

    "Or not." Solus giggled. "That¡¯s a very natural phenomenon called: ¡¯growing up¡¯. Sure, having a smooth skin and silky hair helps, but your main problem has always been the perpetual ring." ¨C

    It was one of those arguments where they had to agree to disagree.

    Ryman¡¯s magic abilities grew by leaps and bounds under Lith¡¯s supervision. He had no idea how true magic worked. In his Ry form, air and fire magic were natural for him like breathing, turning his thoughts into reality.

    The other elements however, were another story. He had no skill or experience with them, so Lith taught him first magic, giving the foundations to improve his talent. Lith also taught him about Invigoration and umtion, something that Scarlett had overlooked doing.

    "Probably she wanted me to learn everything by myself." Ryman pondered.

    "In nature, power without wisdom is the greatest madness. I¡¯m very sorry I can¡¯t give you anything in return."

    Ryman had tried teaching Lith how to change form, but with no sess. Lith understood the theory behind it, but whenever he attempted to do it, nothing would happen. There was no pain, no tickling sensation running through his body.

    He would just circte his mana uselessly.

    "It doesn¡¯t matter. If what urred in the camp happens again, at least I should be able to control the process of transformation. Also, thanks to you, now I know how to teach Tista true magic if the necessity ever arises."

    "Be careful, Scourge. A great power can be a curse for such a gentle soul."

    "Tsk!" Lith scoffed. "As much as I love my sister, she needs to grow up. Gentle or not, one can¡¯t remain a cub their whole life. There is a time when one has to learn how to use his fangs to bring the hurt."

    "I could not have said it better." Rymanughed.

    Before going back to the academy, Lith forged him a dimensional ring to avoid being forced to see Ryman undress every time he took his Skoll form.

    Later that week, Gurid Renkin was found dead in his bed, and Nana certified him to have died of a natural cause.

    - "A huge st of dark magic naturally causes the heart to stop, hence it¡¯s a natural cause." ¨C She inwardly added having recognized the effects of her beloved spell Ekidu Ruha(*). But that¡¯s another story.

    Back at the White Griffon, Lith was surprised to find that all of his Professors were willing to teach him privately until the academies officially started operating again. Of course, there was a sour note.

    Unlike his peers, Professor Rudd didn¡¯t like his new task. By royal decree, he had to teach dimensional magic to Lith by actually giving him pointers and exnations, viting everything Rudd believed in.

    Ignoring a royal decree was an act of treason though and Rudd treasured his possessions and head more than he hatedmoners.

    "You already know the initial steps." Rudd snarled each word like someone was taking them out of his mouth with a mp.

    "Firstes materializing a core made of earth magic, amplified by air and stabilised by water. The trick here is bnce." Lith nodded, while Rudd executed a short spell that conjured a small ball of light.

    "Thenes creating an entry and exit point. To stabilise them water magic must flow from one to another, like they are two ends of the same limb. The key is finesse." The ball of light dissipated. Rudd performed another spell that created two small ck spheres.

    "Third, you need to stretch and erge them by giving them the same amount of mana at the same time. The key is timing." Lith nodded again, this was the step he was stuck at.

    "Last, you must connect them. To do it, you need the two cores to be one again, their energies must flow one toward the other and meet exactly halfway through. The key here is patience."

    "That¡¯s it?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "You had educational spells all this time and yet you had us needlessly bang our heads? Why you didn¡¯t teach us those in the first ce?"

    "Because every idiot can learn dimensional magic that way!" Rudd lied through his teeth. He had taught those spells in the past, for a price, and the sess rate of his students had never changed.

    "Dimensional magic is too powerful for anyone to handle. Power without wisdom is the greatest madness!" Lith would have rebuked, but Professor Rudd had unknowingly quoted Ryman, with whom Lith agreed.

    "If it wasn¡¯t for the orders of a certain someone, I would have never wasted my time like this. So instead of pping your gums, get to work!"

    Lith inwardly scoffed. He couldn¡¯t wait to get rid of that old coot.

    Professor Rudd sat down on his chair, waiting for the little runt to beg for pointers. Rudd knew he would be forced to help him, but that didn¡¯t mean he would make it easy for Lith.

    The minutes passed and Lith kept practicing relentlessly. Rudd was about to get up to stretch his legs a bit, when a perfect Warp Gate opened in front of his incredulous eyes.

    Thanks to all the practice in controlling the flow of magic under the effects of Small World, Lith¡¯s magic sensitivity had improved tremendously, and so did his control over the mana¡¯s finest movements.

    "Not bad for amoner. Right Professor?"

 Chapter 174 Second Exam

    A few dayster, when the White Griffon academy resumed its normal activities, Lith was still practicing how to convert Warp Steps into true magic while also trying to learn Blink.

    It was supposed to be the final milestone of Professor Rudd¡¯s ss and Lith was eager to cut his ties with him. After Lith had learned Warp Steps, the old Professor had be even more cranky and unfriendly, making him regret his sassy attitude.

    - "Back then I should have kept my mouth shut. Between my excitement and Rudd¡¯s provocations, I let pride get the best of me. I¡¯m so dumb sometimes."

    "Nobody¡¯s perfect. Live and learn." Solus consoled him. ¨C

    Despite their renewed hostilities, Lith never missed a lesson, squeezing as much knowledge as he could from the Professor before things went back to normal. Dimensional magic really was the hardest subject for Lith after all.

    Since both Manohar and Marth were still away, that left him a lot of time to practice Forgemastering with Professor Wanemyre, allowing him to get ahead of his peers and to learn from her how to forgemunication amulets.

    After meeting Ka and witnessing Ryman¡¯s growth, Lith decided it was better to remain in touch with his non human allies. The problem was that the amulets were very expensive to buy, making him realize how big of a present the two he had received from the Marchioness were.

    Forgemastering the amulets was aplex task, though. The blue gemstone, the key item required to make it work, was an umon mana stone and beside that, several enchantments were needed.

    Transmitting images and sounds, receiving them, the ability to scan items and documents, memorizing anothermunication amulet¡¯s signature. Every single function required a spell of its own.

    Wanemyre had epted showing him the blueprints only to make Lith realize his limits. She had always been amazed by his theorical knowledge, that actually depended entirely on Soluspedia, but now that she had only him to teach, she realized that his practical skills werecking.

    He knew enough to make up for it, but in the long run, it could be a fatal w. Hence Wanemyre allowed him to bite more than he could chew. After realizing the task was beyond his current abilities, Lith gave up on the idea and focused on the basics instead.

    The Professors he worked with during that time became fond of his hardworking nature. Especially since Lith would never show conceit for the privileges they were forced to grant him, only respect and gratitude.

    He spent his nights using umtion to further refine his core and searching for a way to open the boxes in his pocket dimension, losing quite a few in the process.

    Going back to the basics not only allowed him to be a better Forgemaster, but also to better understand how to crack that mystery.

    When his friends finally returned, he had made much progress in all his endeavours, but no breakthrough.

    Yurial was the only one brimming with confidence, looking like a million dors. The girls instead, looked dejected, like they had been forced to swallow too many bitter pills too often.

    "Hey, I thought being dark and gloomy was my thing." Lith said trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail.

    "If you knew my mother, you would understand. Thesest few days were a nightmare, especially for them." Phloria sighed, while pointing at the other two girls.

    "And as for me, I should just be d to be back here. There was more than one moment when I seriously thought I would never wear pants again. Also, I never expected to go away with two friends and return with two sisters."

    Lith furrowed his brows. This wasn¡¯t the Phloria he used to know and respect, confident and strong-willed. It wasn¡¯t like her to speak in riddles, her words made no sense.

    Yurial knew everything already, but feigned ignorance to appear more natural in case one of the girls needed emotional support from a couple of strong arms.

    Seeing their confusion, Friya exined to them everything that had happened. From the fall of house Solivar to their adoption by Duke Ernas.

    "I didn¡¯t have a choice." At the request of the girls, they had met in Lith¡¯s room to speak privately.

    "It was one thing to be the rebellious daughter of a noble and proud family. I could have always exploited my mother¡¯s dire need for a mage in the family to bide my time before bing independent.

    Being the lone survivor in a line of traitors is another." Just repeating her story was too much for her shaken nerves, so after a few sobs, Friya started to cry.

    "I had nothing left. My house is gone, my siblings and rtives are all dead. I hated them, but they were still my family. How could my mother abandon us all, letting us pay for her crimes?"

    Having already said those words countless times back at Phloria¡¯s home, Friya didn¡¯t feel like burdening her sisters with her weakness again, so she instinctively soughtfort in another friend, throwing herself on Lith¡¯s chest.

    At least she was sure that his hands wouldn¡¯t ¡¯identally¡¯ slip. Yurial was disappointed by the missed opportunity, but his poker face remained impable.

    "My mother is really a monster." Seeing her friend¡¯s suffering made Phloria turn back to her old self, seething with rage.

    "As soon as she finished with the Solivars, she rushed back home the moment she learned about my guests¡¯ identities. She even gave them an ultimatum. They had only until the academy¡¯s reopening to ept, take it or leave it."

    Lith was bbergasted by Jirni Ernas¡¯ ruthlessness. Exploiting two young girls¡¯ suffering was something that even he would have hesitated to do.

    Maybe.

    Instinctively he hugged Friya tight, sitting on his bed and rocking her in his arms, like he used to do with Tista back when she was in too much pain to fall asleep. One hand gently stroking her hair while supporting her back with the other.

    After a bit, she seemed to calm down, the crying reduced to an asional sniff.

    Yurial inwardly admired his technique. To so casually lift a girl like she weighted nothing was something that required practice.

    - "Maybe he isn¡¯t made of stone after all." ¨C Yurial thought.

    "What about you?" Lith asked Quy with a worried tone.

    "I¡¯m still overwhelmed by how quickly everything happened." She looked at Friya with more than a tinge of envy.

    "I was in a daze from how wonderful Phloria¡¯s house was. I have always wanted a family and after Friya epted, the idea of bing sisters, to have a ce I belong, was too good to turn down.

    After I epted too though, the dream became a nightmare. I spent more time trying on clothes and learning ady¡¯s etiquette than practicing magic. To make things worse, Duchess Ernas kept going on about marriage and what a lovely bride I would be."

    Quy blushed up to her ears, looking at Lith in search of a reaction from him.

    "Do not let that woman fool you with sweet words and pretty dresses." He seemed really angered.

    "Adoption or not, she doesn¡¯t own you. A house name is just like blood, it¡¯s only as thick as you allow it to be. If the Ernas family is a prison instead of a home, you have no reason to sacrifice your happiness for them.

    No offence, Phloria."

    "None taken. It¡¯s the same thing I told them." Phloria nodded, feeling like his words were addressed to her too. Lith knew how rough the rtionship she had with her mother was.

    Because of those words, Quy felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy because he seemed to care for her, sad because his words once again sounded like those a concerned brother would speak.

    The gap between them never felt so wide.

    Meanwhile, Friya hadpletely recovered, happy for her face to still be hidden, since she was blushing wildly while her heart was racing.

    She had never liked Lith as a boy. He was too cold, too serious, and most importantly she knew what Quy felt for him. Yet his arms projected strength and confidence while his touch exuded a sincere paternal care like she hadn¡¯t felt since her father died.

    Initially she had thought about remaining there until she had calmed down, but things were only getting worse. The more time passed, the more aware she was of his warmth and good smell.

    So she detached from him gently but firmly and ran into the bathroom saying she needed to wash her face.

    "How was the quarantine zone?" Yurial asked while Lith removed tears and snot from his uniform with a darkness spell.

    "ssified." He replied with a stern voice and a stone face that he let crumble after an instant.

    "Off the record? It was the stuff nightmares are made of. Believe me, you don¡¯t want to know. So much death and misery in a single ce that is beyond imagination, and it¡¯s better for it to stay that way."

    Lith sighed, borrowing Solus¡¯s words.

    - "Shame on you." Solus rebuked him. "Using my words to fake feelings you don¡¯t have. I forgive you only because you have been great with Friya. Her situation is the worst among them all. She needs all the help that she can get."

    "I did? I mean, thanks. Now she is even worse off than Quy, since she can leave the Ernas family whenever she wants as a free woman, while in the eyes of society Friya would just be a traitor without them." ¨C

    The group spent the rest of the day catching up with each other, resuming their usual routine from the following day.

    Between the pointers that Lith had extorted from Rudd and Quy¡¯s talent, all of them managed to open Warp Steps,ing close to evenpleting the Blink spell. Everyone was on edge, knowing that the second exam was around the corner.

    As Lith predicted, Friya became a target for all those kinds of harassment that no Ballot could stop. Not even the name of the Ernas could protect her from the spite and the scorn that came from her being branded as a fallen noble and a traitor.

    "The only silver lining in all this situation, is that I¡¯m putting so much effort in my studies to relieve my stress, that not only my grades are improving, but I am also in the upper tier of my Magic Knight specialization." Friya said with pride.

    "Yeah, seems a lot of people have been cking off while we were working our as*es off." Phloria pointed out.

    The three weeks break had caused many students to rx and lose their rhythm.

    Not to mention that between the impending civil war worrying the nobles and the harassment mostmoners experienced, it was easy to fall behind. With the academy¡¯spetitive environment, making up for the lost time was nigh impossible.

    When the day of the second exam came, it took everyone by surprise once again.

    "Since many of youined about thest test, I have decided to use written tests again." Headmaster Linjos said to the student body assembled in the main hall.

    Many of the old noble families smirked in defiance, feeling victorious over the now tamed Headmaster.

    "But that will bring your grades only up to rank B. If you are fine with that, raise your hand." Linjos continued, enjoying their spunk turning into stupor.

    "For those who want a Rank above B, I have prepared a special test, modified ording to your input. This time you can make up your teams as you want, up to 4 members.

    Each team will have a supervisor, a student from the fifth year. It will be their responsibility to make sure that foul y isn¡¯t involved and that youe out alive. Per your request, there will no more monitoring or help from the Professors.

    Whoever wants to take part in the test must first fill a liability release form. The academy will not be held responsible if anything befalls you."

    The students jumped from their seats, running toward those they believed to be their best bet to pass the exam, while others preferred to give up and take the written test instead.

    Lith was discussing with his group how toe out of that mess, since only four out of five of them could form a group, when Linjos joined them.

    "Don¡¯t worry my students. The nature of this test is such that some people, like Lith, cannot be part of any group." Before they could express their surprise and outrage, Linjos raised his hand, forcing them to shut up with air magic.

    "He can still get a rank above A. You¡¯ll understand when the test begins."

 Chapter 175 Second Exam 2

    The main hall soon fell into chaos, the best students being fought over like they were cattle. It didn¡¯t take much for the situation to devolve into an auction where people would attempt to bribe or ckmail their targets.

    Friya sneered at all those that had previously acted all high and mighty, drowning her daily with their venomous words, now fighting among themselves without a shred of dignity, like hungry wolves over a b of meat.

    When Kippa, a girl that had been particrly obnoxious to Friya in thest month, had the gall to ask for her help, Friya gently smiled to her and politely refused. Friya even gave her a small bow, right before punching Kippa in the face, smiling the whole time.

    "Our group may be quite unbnced but I trust your skills, and more importantly I trust all of you as persons. In a life or death situation, I couldn¡¯t ask for better teammates."

    Phloria said extending her arm with the open hand in the middle of the group.

    "Indeed." Yurial was the first to ce his hand above hers.

    "If there is no supervision, trust and teamwork are of paramount importance to survival. That¡¯s what we learned from the mock exam. Knowing the Headmaster, I doubt firepower will be essential. It¡¯s probably another learning experience more than a test of pure strength."

    The girls as always, remained bbergasted. It was like there were two Yurials. One was ady-killer, sometimes even a bit lecherous, that always appeared in the safety of their rooms or when flirting with girls.

    The other was very simr to Lith, calm and calcting.

    "Yeah, but I will still miss Lith¡¯s hunter skills and battle experience." Quy sighed. During thest month her feelings for him had waned quite a bit. After the caring attentions Lith had given to the crying Friya, she had expected him at least to ask her out.

    Instead nothing had changed. Wherever Lith¡¯s heart was, it was clearly devoid of everything but brotherly feelings, for all of them.

    ***

    Linjos watched the events unfolding in the main hall with a big smile.

    "This will teach those snotty brats thatmoners or not, in life talent and hard work are much more important than a piece of paper attesting their nobility." He said.

    "And also, that they cannot expect to receive help or cooperation by those they treated like inferior beings, right?" Lith asked.

    Linjos nodded, while Lith curled up his upper lip in disgust, seeing how quickly things were escting.

    "That will not prevent them from coercing others, though. A leopard cannot change its spots." Linjos dismissed that observation with a wave of the hand.

    "You are underestimating me. Besides, I didn¡¯t bring you here because I want your opinion on my ns, but to talk about your future."

    Lith furrowed his browns. He did not like being taken by surprise.

    "As you have surely noticed, after your return you have received special treatment. That¡¯s because I have received several calls, from Professor Marth and the Crown."

    "The Crown?" Lith echoed, swallowing a lump of saliva.

    "Sometimes from the Queen, sometimes from the King, others from both. Bottom line, all the three of them told me how splendidly you performed under a nightmarish situation, fighting against the odds like a professional.

    At this point, you could sit on your hands until the end of the year and still get promoted. Normally, I¡¯d just let you skip the second exam, since it¡¯s useless to you. After how easily Captain Vgros was found and killed, though, I¡¯m certain we have one or more traitors within the academy. Hence I¡¯m short of people I can trust.

    And since I know you wouldn¡¯t like anything bad happening to your friends, here is my proposal..."

    ***

    The announcement of the second exam had been sudden, but its execution was dyed for a few hours. First the students had to form a group, appoint a team leader, and then the leaders would bring their list to one of the Professors.

    Unlike the past test, the members of each team were summoned one by one in a special room where they would be questioned to find out if they had been the victim of ckmail or coercion during the selection process.

    Unbeknownst to everyone, the main hall had been constantly monitored the whole time. Everything that happened after Linjos had left was recorded and had been examined for future disciplinary measures.

    Those who denounced their aggressors were once again asked if they wanted to take part in the test. In case of affirmative answer, they would be grouped together, forming new teams.

    Those who didn¡¯t were automatically excluded from the test and sent back into the dorms. Linjos had decreed that those who weren¡¯t able to stand up for themselves even when offered help and protection, couldn¡¯t be evaluated above Rank B.

    Strength of character was universally considered a prequisite for first ss mages. A meek mage, no matter how talented, was bound to not get far in life.

    While waiting for their turn, Phloria¡¯s group received an unexpected surprise. Orion Ernas, her father, hade to pay them a visit.

    "My little Flower,e to papa!" Before Phloria could even react, Orion lifted her from the ground like she was a doll, spinning her around the room. He was over 1.96 metres (6¡¯5") high, he had to bend a little to walk through the door.

    "Dad, what the heck..." Her protests were muffled by a hug as sudden as it was tight.

    "I¡¯m so sorry little Flower. I was away dealing with the traitors; I had no idea your mother would do something like that. When I learned what had happened, it was toote."

    Phloria was red from embarrassment, but Orion didn¡¯t seem to notice, patting her head like she was still a small child.

    "So you two must be my two new daughters." He finally let Phloria go. She really wanted to give her father a piece of her mind, for treating her like that in front of her friends, but she was too embarrassed for that.

    Friya and Quy gave him a small curtsy, not knowing how to react to the sudden intrusion.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for what my wife did. I know you will find it hard to believe, but she is actually a good woman." He gave them a deep bow. Orion had ck hair and brown eyes like Phloria. His physique was lean but muscr, his perfectly shaven face showed only honest regret.

    He had some wrinkles around the eyes and temples, but every movement of his was full of vigour.

    "Don¡¯t worry about all her marriage talks, the Ernas household is mine, my opinion matters as much as Jirni¡¯s. At least when I¡¯m home." He sighed.

    "Dad, what are you doing here? How did you manage to enter into the academy?"

    "I have my connections." Orion winked. "And I couldn¡¯t let my daughters go empty handed." A rapier and a long knife materialized from his dimensional amulet. Both had the Ernas household crest engraved on the handle, the de and the scabbard.

    "I made them myself, using a secret family crafting technique." He gave the rapier to Friya, who only needed a few swings to appreciate its prowess. It was light as a feather, cutting the air without emitting a sound.

    "And this is for you." Orion handed the knife to Quy, who looked at it as at an angry snake.

    "I never used a de." She said in embarrassment.

    "That¡¯s the easy part. Remember, the pointy end goes in the other guy." Heughed ruffling her hair.

    "Little Flower?" Yurial asked, breaking the following embarrassed silence.

    "Yes, it¡¯s my little baby¡¯s moniker. We named her after an ancient goddess of fertility."

    "Dad please, stop!" Phloria was so red no one would have been surprised if she suddenly caught fire.

    "There¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about, little Flower. As I was saying, my little Jirni hoped that it would make Phloria grow delicate and graceful. Instead, she resembles me a lot."

    Orion had just started telling what was likely to be an embarrassing anecdote about Phloria, when one by one their names were called, transporting them into Linjos¡¯ office. Phloria had never been so happy seeing the Headmaster¡¯s long face before.

    "Your task is simple." Linjos exined. "I will send you in the dungeon below the academy. All you have to do ise out alive. The test has no time limit. Whenever you feel you can¡¯t go on anymore, just tell your supervisor and he will take you back.

    In such event, the exam will be considered as failed."

    "Since when does the White Griffon have a dungeon?"

    "What kind of creatures will we face?"

    "Where is our supervisor?"

    Linjos ignored all their questions, opening a Warp Steps with a wave of the hand.

    One after the other, they walked through the dimensional gate, finding themselves in a closed and humid space, devoid of any source of light except for two glowing red eyes staring at them in the dark.

    "You took your sweet time." Lith¡¯s voice echoed along the walls, making them jump.

    Yurial used first magic, lighting the small cave they were in.

    Lith squinted his eyes for a moment, but his eyes remained red. The group could see him holding a wooden staff which ended in a half moon shape, with a red gemstone floating in its middle.

    He also wore several bracelets and rings they had never seen before. They were all presents the Crown had sent to him as a special thank you for his services during the gue and the exam.

    - "Between all these alchemical and enchanted items, I can freely use true magic. Not even a Professor would be able to notice." He thought. ¨C

    "Lith? Are you really our supervisor?" Phloria asked.

    "Yes. Your task is to get out of here alive, mine is to not let you die. I don¡¯t know how exactly the grading system works, but I guess that every time you force me to action, your score will be lowered." He shrugged.

    "No, I mean you are a fourth year just like us. How is this possible?"

    "Sorry, can¡¯t answer that."

    Linjos¡¯ story about no supervision was all a lie. The so called fifth year students were actually elite alumni, young enough to pass for students, but with their loyalty already proven.

    Phloria¡¯s group didn¡¯t need control, only support in case of need. Linjos had estimated that because of the nature of the test, and with his new equipment, Lith was skilled enough to cover for the role.

    "Why the red eyes?" Quy asked.

    "A personal spell to see in the dark without bing a beacon like you lot." Years had passed since thest time Lith had activated his Fire Vision spell. It granted him an improved version of thermal goggles, allowing him to see in the dark in a scale of colours ording to the temperature of his surroundings.

    Lucky for him, light magic didn¡¯t emit heat, otherwise he would have been blinded.

    Meanwhile Yurial was racking his brain, trying to understand the purpose of the test. The group started moving in a single line, with Phloria on point, followed by Yurial, then Quy and Friya in the rear.

    The stone corridor wasrge enough to allow two people to walk side by side, but they were mages. They needed enough space to move without messing with each other.

    - "Think Yurial, think." He thought. "Linjos¡¯ tests are all actually simple once you understand what he is trying to teach you. I already have all the pieces of the puzzle. Something that doesn¡¯t need a bnced team, something that a mage must learn.

    "But more importantly, something that Lith already knows. That¡¯s the only possible exnation for his role. What separates him from the rest of us? There lies the answer." ¨C

    They kept walking for several minutes, the only sound beside their steps was the water dripping from the ceiling into small pools. The humidity of the ce made it a perfect environment for mushrooms and mosses of every kind.

    Suddenly, a small head appeared behind a corner. It looked like a deformed child, with skin made pale, almost translucent, by having spent its whole life underground. It had huge eyes, a bumpy button nose and pointy ears.

    "Goblins!" Phloria yelled while unsheathing her sword.

    The creature rushed forward fearlessly, holding a club between its hands, quickly followed by a dozen more creatures, all armed with rudimentary weapons.

    The goblins screamed in a frenzy; they hadn¡¯t had meat in months.

    "Oh f*ck me sideways!" Yurial screamed, finally solving the riddle.

    "None of us has ever killed a human being!"

 Chapter 176 Trial by Murder

    Yurial¡¯s words struck everyone, making them freeze for a split second, even Lith.

    He immediately understood why he had been forbidden to take part in the test as a regr student. For him it would have been a stroll in the park.

    With their skinny limbs and bloated bellies, the goblins almost resembled the pictures of starving kids that humanitarian associations back on Earth would use in their fundraisers.

    They were short, between one and 1.2 meters (3¡¯3" and 3¡¯11") high, and their disproportionatelyrge eyes emphasized their childish appearance. Their bloodlust and their hungry, lustful gazes, though, revealed their true nature.

    If was the first time for the whole group seeing humanoid monsters. They usually lived in the wilderness, far away from popted areas. Unless of course, the humans had been so stupid to chase or hunt away the magical beasts.

    Humanoid monsters travelled in small tribes, needing time to settle up and grow their numbers before bing a real threat. Magical beasts were the natural predators of such creatures that disrupted the natural flow of things.

    They would hunt, cut down trees and destroy their surroundings recklessly since once humanoid monsters exhausted the natural resources, they would simply move to a new region and start over.

    Magical beasts would react to their presence, ughtering them before the cycle of destruction, r*pe and murder could begin. In the new world as long as the bnce between humans, monsters and beasts stood, no race was allowed to grow unchecked.

    When the goblin with the club entered her range, Phloria did not hesitate. She shed down with her estoc aiming for the neck. Thanks to its instinct, the creature managed somehow to react, blocking with its stone weapon.

    The estoc crushed the club, but in the process it was deflected, cutting off the goblin¡¯s left arm instead. The creature¡¯s scream was human like, its blood spattered on the cave¡¯s walls staining them red.

    Phloria had never wounded someone intentionally, so her first instinct was to stop and provide first aid. The goblin perceived her weakness and exploited it using its now sharp stick to stab her throat.

    Phloria inwardly cursed at her stupidity, while all her training kicked in, allowing her to deflect the stick with the shield and to cut the goblin¡¯s head off for good. In the time she needed to do so, however, two goblins managed to slip past her.

    What she had never thought about, is that after decapitation the heart would keep pumping for a few seconds, generating a fountain of blood that blinded her long enough for even more goblins to pass, while the others surrounded her from all sides.

    One goblin was enough to throw Quy on the ground, pinning her down with its weight while trying to rip off her uniform and sh her with a knife at the same time. She hadn¡¯t expected Phloria to fail, so she was still chanting a tier three spell when it happened.

    She started to yell and cry at the same time, helplessly attempting to get it off her. What the creaturecked in strength, itpensated in fury and hunger. The uniform protected Quy from the poisoned knife, but she could still feel the hits.

    Another girlish scream quickly followed. Yurial had fallen as well for the sudden attack. Unlike Quy, armed or not a single goblin wasn¡¯t enough to bring down someone of his height and build.

    Once a second and a third one joined the fray, though, he fell to the ground, his vision blurred by the blooding from multiple hits to the head.

    The scene almost paralysed Friya too, but Quy screams woke her up immediately. Her new rapier made short work of the goblins that got close to her, blood and guts spattered everywhere, releasing a disgusting smell of sh*t and bile.

    Friya repressed the urge to puke, moving forward to help Yurial, the closest one to her. Her weapon was too long, though. With so little space and the mass of piled bodies, she had no way to be sure not to stab him in the process too.

    "Why didn¡¯t I bring a short weapon too?" She cried in desperation, hitting the back of the enemies with her shield, to force them to retreat.

    Lith remained in the back, bbergasted by their ipetence.

    - "Why do Quy and Yurial hesitate to aim for the vitals? They are healers too. Why tier three magic instead of first magic? In such an enclosed space speed is more important that raw damage, not to mention these things are so small and weak."¨C

    Since their appearance, Lith had thought about dozens of ways to effortlessly wipe out the goblins. By crushing them with spirit magic, slicing them down with a hail of ice shards, or simply cutting them apart with air magic.

    They wore no protections, it wasn¡¯t a matter of if they could kill them, just how to do it and how much made them suffer.

    Lith didn¡¯t like that situation one bit. To hold himself from intervening, he grabbed his staff strong enough to turn his hands white.

    - "They are mine! How dare these monsters put their hands on them?" His mind was burning with rage.

    "But everything is still under control and no one is really injured. If I help them now, they¡¯ll learn nothing, bing even more reliant on me. I would only cripple their growth. Is this what Linjos meant when he told me I would benefit from the test too?

    Is he trying to teach me restraint?" -

    In the front line, Phloria had quickly recovered, cutting down her enemies like grass. The goblins surrounded her more than once from multiple angles but they died all the same way.

    With a single thrust of her estoc.

    "Wish for it to get shorter!" She screamed to Friya. Orion¡¯s gifts weren¡¯t simple des, they were a forgemastering treasure, able to contract and expand at will, making them suitable for everybat scenario.

    Friya followed her advice, and her rapier turned into a short sword that she used to safely free Yurial.

    "Use first magic, you idiot!" Lith screamed, incapable of standing idle anymore.

    His voice shook Quy from her terror. She released a jolt of electricity that stunned and paralysed the goblin. Her magic couldn¡¯t harm her, so she ignored the current flowing through their bodies and unsheathed her knife.

    Quy stabbed the creature over and over, screaming in frenzy. Only after reducing it to a bloody mess she managed to stop.

    When the fight was over, the group was covered in blood, guts and sh*t. The stench surrounding them was suffocating, making it hard to breathe. Quy was the first to start crying, realizing what she had done, but refused to let her knife go.

    Then it was Yurial¡¯s turn, cursing himself for being useless, then Friya andstly Phloria. They had experienced the hard way how different it was hunting some defenceless game from killing a sentient being for survival.

    Their sobs quickly turned into a violent cough; the pungent smell was irritating their noses. Between the shock derived from the fight and the gruesome scene in front of them, they started to puke one after the other.

    - "What the heck? How can they be so stupid? First thing they should cleanse to zone, otherwise the smell of blood will lure other creatures. I doubt monsters will patiently wait for them to stop puking before an attack."

    "Don¡¯t be so hard on them." Solus¡¯ mind sounded full of motherly affection.

    "They are just kids. Quy told us more than once that she never used magic for aggression before the academy, the worst things she has ever faced were hunger and solitude.

    As for the others, they are the lucky ones. Until now they have been served and pampered, only worrying about meeting their parents¡¯ expectations. When it happened to you, would you rather have had someone yelling at you or a hug and a good word?"¨C

    Solus¡¯ words only brought back bad memories. Lith¡¯s first kill had been his own father, back on Earth, but even then he needed neither. He had been too busy protecting himself and Carl from that poor excuse of a mother to leave any space for feelings.

    - "I wonder why it has always to be me being the bigger person." He thought.

    "Well, maybe because you usually are the bigger person in the room." Solus chuckling somehow lifted his spirit. ¨C

    ording to Solus there were no magical items in the cave, aside the ones they were wearing. Maybe Linjos had been sincere about theck of supervision, and maybe not.

    Before intervening, Lith put the bracelet meant to bring them back into the main hall inside the pocket dimension. Then, he tapped the staff on the ground, releasing a wave of darkness magic that cleaned the corridor, dissolving every trace of the fight into nothingness.

    "Be strong, Phloria." Lith patted her shoulder, almost getting stabbed in return. She was still on edge, jumping at every noise.

    "You can¡¯t remain here, other creatures may lurk nearby. You all need a ce to rest and recover."

    Normally he would have also pointed out how he was already helping them too much, not only by advising them, but also by keeping the light alive while they were all panicking.

    In their current state, though, it would have been rude, not to mention he doubted that any of them cared for the exam at the moment. Phloria and Lith helped the others to get up, healing their wounds and prompting them to regain their cool.

    Not even half an hour had passed from the beginning of the test, and everyone was already in dire need of sleep. They kept walking for a while before finding a proper ce to rest.

    The underground maze wasposed by corridors connecting a series of caves that varied in size. Some were so small they needed to crawl, others were bigger than the academy¡¯s ssrooms. Luckily, they didn¡¯t encounter anything else on their way.

    The group settled inside a cave with a single entrance, but only after Yurial made sure there were no hidden passages or tunnels in the walls. After that, he conjured a series of arrays that would turn anyone walking inside theirir into mincemeat.

    Meanwhile, Lith handed Phloria a piece of paper and an inkwell.

    "What is this?" She asked after passing out warm nkets to the others, while Friya lighted a fire from the wood she had carried in her dimensional amulet. Unlike the mock exam, this time they hade prepared.

    "First rule of dungeoning: always draw a map." Lith imparted her the knowledgeing from his experience with Dungeons & Looting.

    "Damn, I hadpletely forgot." After opening up the scroll, she noticed that he had kept track of all the rooms they had passed through.

    "Aren¡¯t you going overboard by helping us so much?" Phloria was worried for him, but at the same time was really happy having Lith covering their backs.

    "It¡¯s just a grade." He shrugged.

    "Knowing Linjos, the bigger part of it will depend on how much we learn from our mistakes, rather than being punished for making them. This is an academy, after all, not a ughter house."

    "Done!" Yurial had a prideful expression while walking back into the makeshift campsite.

    "Right now the arrays are on standby, to not waste their magical energies for nothing. Normally only the Warden can activate them, but since I need some sleep too, I consumed a few mana stones to make the arrays respond to whoever holds this."

    He showed a red mana stone the size of a chalk.

    "Great thinking!" Phloriaplimented him. "Now we can rest easy."

    After deciding the shifts, everyone took their ces around the fire, which served more as a moralfort rather than for light and heat. There were always things that no matter how powerful, magic wasn¡¯t able to aplish, like soothing a restless mind.

    No one managed to fall asleep, the images of the goblins¡¯ corpses still shed in front of their eyes. Friya was the first one to leave her ce and snuggle up on Lith, soon followed by all the others.

    She still remembered the sensation of safety he exuded while she was between his arms, and now she needed it more than ever. Despite all that had happened, Lith had remained unfazed, like a mountain in the face of a storm.

    Quy, and even Phloria and Yurial, despite being to proud to admit it, felt the same way. In their hearts the firmly believed that his murderous gaze they had grown fond of overtime was capable of send back whatever horror was lurking in the shadows with the tail between its legs.

    In fact, after discussing again the guard-duty order, the group fell asleep as one, leaving Lith as a mother goose surrounded by ducklings.

    Not knowing whether tough or cry, he stood watch listening to their snoring.

 Chapter 177 Unexpected Encounter

    When the group awoke, the number of yawns instantly put everyone on rm. They instantly realized that no one had stood guard, leaving thempletely defenceless except for the presence of their theoretically neutral supervisor.

    Phloria and the others felt greatly embarrassed, but nothing couldpare with the exhaustion and disgust that still lingered on their minds. Despite using darkness magic to cleanse their mouths and teeth before going to sleep, they could still feel the taste of puke and blood.

    "How do you guys feel now?" Phloria asked.

    "Like a dirty rag." Friya answered, causing the others to agree.

    "Good gods Lith, do you really do stuff like this for a living?"

    "Yes, it¡¯s part of the job." He nodded. "And soon it will be part of yours too, except maybe for Quy. Friya, Phloria, you are Mage Knights your swords aren¡¯t made to scare or protect, but to kill.

    Yurial, as a feudal lord and a Warden you¡¯ll have the lives of both your enemies and allies in your hands. Quy, even if you choose to be an academic, like Professor Marth or Manohar, you still need to know how to defend yourself."

    The group pondered on Lith¡¯s words and on the implications of the test. They had trained for years on dummies or with sparring partners, never fully understanding what their skills were meant for.

    Linjos was forcing his students to put them into practice, to experience the consequences of their choices up to that point, before deciding what path they wanted to take in their future life.

    "Before we move out, is there anything else Quy and me need to know about our new weapons?" Friya asked. There was no me or resentment in her voice, but Phloria felt guilty anyway.

    "Sorry for not telling you before." She blushed in shame.

    - "Gods, I¡¯m so stupid." Phloria thought. "Now I am supposed to be not only their leader, but also their elder sister. Not teaching them about the Ernas¡¯s custom des was a major blunder on my side." -

    "It¡¯s just that my... I mean our father¡¯s gifts and this exam left me so dumbfounded that Ipletely forgot. Our weapons have been forged and enchanted using a secret technique of the Ernas family.

    It makes them unnaturally sharp, allowing even a light weapon like your rapier to cut as well as to pierce. You are no longer limited to stabs. As long as your opponent doesn¡¯t wear heavy armour, you can also sh.

    It also makes them sturdy enough to cut through rock without a scratch. Last, but not least, they have a limited ability to change size to adapt to confined spaces without hindering their wielder. I don¡¯t know the details, though. I¡¯m no Forgemaster.

    Quy, your long knife can turn into a short sword if you need extra range in battle."

    Quy nodded, trying out the weapon for herself. Her movements were awkward, but the de was light and easy to use, giving her a sense of security.

    "Can I see it, please?" Lith extended his hand to Friya, who passed him her rapier.

    Lith used Invigoration on the weapon, studying itsplex pseudo core. He was no swordsman yet, but even he could appreciate its workmanship. He used it against a small rock, that was easily pierced producing a silvery sound.

    The de was unscathed, and with Fire Vision, after giving his back to the bonfire, he could see the whole de turning green for a second.

    "I don¡¯t know how your father achieved the mass discement, but I have an idea or two about the rest. The weapon is enchanted with air magic, making it vibrate on hit and enhancing the edge¡¯s effectiveness.

    Also, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s actually sturdier than a normal de, more like it absorbs impacts and dissipates their energy as heat via earth magic."

    Lith was amazed by the effects forgemastering could apply. Kic shields and vibro-weapons were things he had only read about in sci-fi books.

    "Well, duh!" Phloria replied. "Everyone knows they are enchanted with air and earth magic, but not how. Also, I didn¡¯t understand a word of the gibberish you just said."

    Lith sighed, he couldn¡¯t exin them what kic and potential energy were, nor how the vibration frequency could affect solid matter. They were all terms that did not exist in the new world.

    It would have been like trying to exin the television to someone that didn¡¯t know about electricity or waves, so he dropped the matter and returned the weapon to Friya.

    "I have something to say." Yurial chimed in.

    "Since we are in a dungeon, it¡¯s better to avoid using fire magic. There isn¡¯t much air to begin with, so we could suffocate if we consume too much of it. Also, despite fireballs are a mage¡¯s best friend, both the mes and the noise could bounce off the walls.

    Just the noise could deafen us, not to mention that only the caster would be immune from the spell¡¯s direct effects, while the rest of the group would suffer from the heat. That¡¯s how the term ¡¯friendly fire¡¯ was coined, after all."

    Yurial felt that he had to prove useful to redeem his honour. So far he had been as helpless as Quy, but she was just a healer with no specialization. Not to mention she was three years younger than him with.

    "Those are all good points." Phloria nodded. "Now we need to coordinate our actions, we cannot repeat the earlier mistakes."

    The group spent the next hour making ns and preparations for the rest of the trip.

    In the new formation, Phloria would walk in the middle, ready to block any iing enemy. Quy was tasked of holding the map, and to keep note of their movements, since she was the only one beside Lith that could write with water magic.

    Friya and Yurial exchanged their position, allowing her to easily assist Phloria or protect Quy. It didn¡¯t take long to meet another group of goblins, but this time things went very differently.

    Phloria ignited her tower shield blocking their path, while Quy and Friya used tier one magic to sh and stab their assants with ice shards and air des. Some of the creatures had slings and bows, but their projectiles were easily deflected by Yurial¡¯s air shield.

    They managed to cleanse the corridor right after the fight, but Friya and Quy puked again nheless. The wounds made by magic were even more gruesome than those made by the swords, and they had yet to get used to spilled guts and bloody stumps.

    As for Phloria and Yurial, their pride was stronger than the nausea.

    In the following hours, they met more and more goblin¡¯s nests, getting better at every encounter, to the point that not an enemy managed to reach Phloria¡¯s shield anymore. Yet Lith was disappointed.

    They would always make a mess of the cave, needing several spells each to get the job done.

    "Let me give you a freebie, guys."

    Thanks to Life Vision, Lith knew they were about to meet another nestposed of about twenty goblins, so he took point.

    "You have already cleared bigger nests, so this should not influence your score at all. Please watch."

    Lith let the goblins run toward him offering no resistance, until he tapped once with his staff, making the cave¡¯s humidity coalesce into ayer of water on the ground. A second tap turned it into ice.

    Goblins had no concept of ice so they kept charging, falling head first on the ground because of the now slippery surface and incapable of getting up. A third tap turned the ice into des that sunk into their eyes, hearts and brains, killing them on the spot.

    The group was in awe, their mouths agape for the surprise.

    "Was that first magic?" Yurial asked, still not believing his own eyes.

    "Yes. That¡¯s why no chant, no hand signs, no warning for the target."

    After checking with Life Vision that no one else was around, Lith turned back, facing his friends.

    "You are just like I was until a few years ago. You use magic like a club, instead that like a scalpel. If properly used, the simplest spell can have the most destructive effect."

    "Did Lady Nerea teach you magic like that?" Phloria couldn¡¯t help but admire his skills.

    "No. I had... a lucky encounter." Lith had no other way to exin his mastery of magic. He had learned from life and death fights against Irtu and Gerda (*), and by fighting alongside Protector.

    If he had not met so many magical beasts, he wouldn¡¯t be half the mage he was.

    Lith left them to ponder about his words, resuming his position in the backline.

    Even if fighting was getting easier, it was still exhausting both physically and psychologically, so the group rested again, this time with a proper guard-duty order. Lith didn¡¯t sleep, only pretended to, using Invigoration to recover his strength.

    When they started moving again, they passed through several corridors and caves, sometimes ending up in dead ends, but never losing the way thanks to the map. They kept finding traces of past struggles and goblin¡¯s bones chewed clean, but they met no enemies.

    Phloria could feel the tension in the air, they were getting inside the territory of a bigger predator.

    "Wait!" Yurial said, stopping the group.

    "The next corner is too narrow. If we get attacked while crossing it, the group would be split in half, making hard for us to coordinate properly."

    "I know, but it¡¯s not like we can make it wider or see through the walls." Phloria replied.

    Lith inwardly smiled, since he had just done that with Life Vision.

    "True, but we can set up the board properly. It¡¯s an ambush only if you are unaware of it."

    Yurial casted one array after the other, marking their borders with true magic to make it easier for his teammates to spot them. When he finished, Phloria moved several steps in front of the others, keeping the shield up in front of her and ready to retreat.

    She peeked behind the corner, discovering a short corridor leading to another sharp curve. Phloria was about to signal the others to move forward, when she heard sounds of battle.

    There were screams and yelling in a gutturalnguage she was unable to identify. The source of the noise kept getting closer, until a group of humanoids came rushing toward her.

    They were all very tall, above 2 meters (6¡¯7") high, with muscr bodies that could have passed for humans if not for the greenish skin, the spiky red hair and the long and pointy ears and nose.

    "Ogres!" Phloria yelled.

    "Um-pha!" Yelled an ogre, pointing at her with a w ending finger.

    Unlike goblins, they wore clothes, mostly made out the skin of other ogres, goblins and whatever they usually had for lunch. An ogre wearing a ne made of skulls from small animals waved a huge staff toward Phloria hiding spot.

    "In-foi!" A fireball flew from the staff, leaving Phloria only enough time to step back and take cover behind her tower shield before being engulfed by the explosion. Her magic shield shattered, but still took the brunt of the spell.

    Her uniform was burned in more than one spot, and her hears were ringing, making hard for Phloria keep her bnce. Friya took point, while Quy started healing her injured friend and Yurial casted another array.

    As soon as the ogres stepped inside the first array, Yurial activated it, turning the space they were into a thunderstorm that burned many to a crisp, lightnings assaulted them from all directions. Even the survivors didn¡¯te out unscathed.

    The ogres were already looking forward for the rare taste of human flesh when the second array activated, turning the ground into quicksand and making them drown.

    - "Yes!" Yurial thought. "A clean victory without having to attack even once. Wardens rock!"¨C

    The ogre shaman was as clever as ruthless. He had survived the thunderstorm by using the other ogres as meat shields while casting a protective earth spell only for himself, shielding others would have required time andpassion, and hecked both.

    He also survived the quicksand by using the others as stepping stones, brandishing his staff as a club towards the nearest enemy, Friya.

    Despite being injured and smaller than the other ogres, the shaman still hit with the strength of a kicking horse, almost shattering the magical shield from the impact.

    Friya was at disadvantage, the opponent was heavier, stronger and had a longer attack range than her, since the staff was over 2 meters (6¡¯7") long. The shaman followed up with a kick, catching her unprepared and sending her tumbling on the ground.

    The shaman smiled, pressing forward and ready to crush her skull like a melon.

    "Joruna Harti!"

    Quy¡¯s ice spears pierced the ogre from all side. Blood instantly gurgled from its mouth while its knees hit the ground, having no more strength to stand.

    Lith felt ttered, the spell closely resembled his Checkmate Spears.

    "In-foi!" The shaman weaved his staff onest time, unwilling to die alone.

    s, Yurial had alreadypleted a very small array that negated fire magic. He had prepared it since the moment he had noticed that one of the enemies was crazy enough to use fire magic inside the corridor.

    The shaman looked at his staff with a dumbfounded expression, the pain from the betrayal of its only true friend showed on his rough visage.

    Friya expressed her condolences by piercing its head in one fluid motion.

    The group was about to celebrate, when something else walked past the corner.

    It looked like an alligator, but it was humanoid. It stood on two legs, at least 2.5 metres (8¡¯2") high not considering the tail.

    It wore a belt to which were hanged several trinkets, while his hands wielded a double headed axe and a hammer axe respectively. It was chewing what seemed to be an ogre¡¯s still bleeding thigh.

    It stared at them with a yful look, before taking the thigh out of its mouth and saying:

    "Ah, fresh meat!"

 Chapter 178 Scheming

    White Griffon academy, Headmaster Linjos¡¯ office.

    From his desk, Linjos was examining the dataing through the academy¡¯s magicalwork. Barely more than a day had passed, yet the number of groups taking part in the test was almost halved.

    It was way worse than he had predicted, but looking at the reports of his subordinates he couldn¡¯t doubt that his method was the right choice.

    - "Professor Trasque is right, too many students have nobat experience, I need to invest more manpower and funds in the ¡¯Theory of Combat Magic¡¯ sses. The mock exam helped the students only so far.

    "The scenario was too simple, and without any real injury many of them underestimated the risks. Next year I have to introduce humanoid monsters earlier and make the Professors let students get hurt a bit, or I¡¯ll be back at square one."¨C He thought.

    Hismunication amulet drew his attention and so did the rune glowing because of the iing call. Linjos could not help but shiver whenever the Queen called him.

    "Your Majesty, to what do I owe the honour of this call?" He stood up, giving her a deep bow.

    "Linjos, what¡¯s the meaning of these numbers? Are you really going to flunk two thirds of the fourth year students?" Queen Sylpha ignored etiquette, neither using his title or giving him even a nod of the head in response.

    Her voice wasn¡¯t angry as much as worried.

    "The answer to your second question is no." He replied with a firm tone.

    "The first one though, is aplicated question and requires aplex answer. I require your permission to speak freely."

    "Granted." Sylpha nodded with no hesitation.

    "The numbers tell us that two thirds of the students are cowards, ill prepared forbat, cheaters or all of the above. Twenty percent gave up as soon as they knew their lives would be at risk.

    "Such mages cannot be rated over B, because those who consider themselves to have too much to lose can be easily intimidated or convinced to switch sides. Entrusting them with vital information or missions would backfire, since they would rather give up than fight and risk dying.

    "Another twenty percent either froze at the sight of blood or refused to denounce their oppressors, despite the clear intention of using them as meat shields. Both types are useless assets. The first are unsuited forbat, the seconds are spineless cowards.

    "Thest twenty percent are those who attempted to bribe or threaten their supervisors to get protection and a safe way out of the dungeon. Their behaviour speaks for itself.

    "I don¡¯t n on flunking them all, there is always the third test and the next year to prove themselves better than this. My aim is only to give them a glimpse of real life. Too many of these young master anddies, except a few deviants, have never dirtied their hands, always delegating to their retainers.

    "The problem with the previous teaching methods is that they emphasized theory and memorization over practicality. In fact, the mortality rate of the graduates is always very high, no matter the academy theye from.

    "The old methods created mostly parlour magicians, good only to attend social events and unt their superior instruction. Mine will instead separate the wheat from the chaff. It¡¯s not the destination that matters, but only what they learn during the journey."

    The Queen pondered for a while before agreeing with him.

    ***

    Lukart Household, Archmage Lukart¡¯s private quarters. Before the second exam started.

    "Are you sure everything is set up properly?" Lukart asked.

    "I am not sure about anything at this point." The voice from hismunication amulet replied.

    "After the mess you made during the gue, Linjos doesn¡¯t trust anyone. He used fifth year students instead of Professors as supervisors, cutting us off from most of the preparations for the second exam."

    "I¡¯m tired of your excuses, Yurial Deirus has to die or we are both finished. His father is onto me, it¡¯s only a matter of time before he corners me for good. With Yurial¡¯s death, not only will Deirus be forced to focus on finding a recement, but it also will divert his attention to Linjos, holding him ountable."

    "And I am sick of your madness!" The voice retorted, burning with anger.

    "I have no way to know what path Yurial¡¯s group will take, nor the ability to prevent his supervisor from using the bracelet Linjos provided to return to the main hall in case of danger or heavy injuries.

    You have to pray to your ancestors that he meets creatures strong enough to ughter his group before his supervisor can intervene."

    Themunication was cut off, leaving Lukart banging his head against his desk in desperation. Once again, he had to stake everything on dumb luck, hoping for the fifth year kid to be as unlucky as ipetent.

    ***

    Lith¡¯s mind essed Soluspedia, instantly recognizing their new opponent from one of the academy¡¯s bestiaries. It was a Kroxy, a rare form that crocodiles and alligators could achieve after evolving into magical beasts.

    Instead of bing just a bigger and smarter version of the original reptile, capable of using water and earth magic, a Kroxy would develop a humanoid physiology gaining the ability to use weapons.

    Lith stepped forward, ready to intervene. Linjos had warned him about the dungeon¡¯s wild and unpredictable environment. The test was all about the ability to ovee the trauma of the first kill of a humanoid being.

    The weak and magicless goblins were just an appetizer, followed by the much stronger and dangerous ogres, that yet used fake magic too, making them an opponent Phloria¡¯s group could still face.

    - "A rare magical beast capable of using true magic though, isn¡¯t something on their league. Heck, maybe is even above mine." Lith thought.

    "In such a humid environment while being surrounded by rocks, there isn¡¯t much I can do. Even going all out with fusion magic is useless. That thing weighs at least half a ton, even with my enhanced strength it can swat me like a fly."

    "Not to mention its bright cyan mana core." Solus pointed out.

    "It¡¯s control over the most abundant elements is far superior to yours. Please be careful."¨C

    Phloria was still recovering from the fireball, helped by Quy. Yurial would never make it in time to cast another array, leaving Friya the only one ready to fight. Lith round up his friends erecting a barrier around them and took out Linjos¡¯ amulet.

    No exam was worth his life, Lith would never risk getting killed for a stupid reason like pride or a grade.

    The Kroxy though, didn¡¯t pay the group any further attention. Instead it kept collecting the ogres¡¯ corpses storing them in the dimensional amulets hanging from its belt.

    The ogres in the quicksand were still alive and when they saw the beast walking toward them, they screamed in terror. Ogres were much more simr to humans than goblins, their shrieks gave everyone goose bumps.

    The Kroxy walked over the quicksand like it was solid ground, needing only one hand to lift an ogre before biting its head off.

    "It¡¯s a pity I can¡¯t store them alive, I like my meals feisty."

    "It talks!" Despite still being stunned, Phloria couldn¡¯t keep herself from expressing her amazement.

    "I do. And I¡¯m not a thing, rude hatchling. My name is Phird."

    - "This creature is not afraid of speaking in front of humans." Lith observed.

    "Either it¡¯s arrogant like Irtu and doesn¡¯t care, or it¡¯s benevolent like Ryman or Ka."¨C

    "By the way, what are you doing down here?" Phird continued.

    "More exactly, what the heck is going on? I mean, I¡¯m not the type to look a gift steak in the bone, but usually there are no goblins, ogres or trolls in the dungeon, only humans. And you don¡¯t smell like enemies to me."

    "Smell?" Yurial asked, incapable of rxing.

    "Yes, the Lord of the man-made mountain and the Lord of the forest have a deal. When the Lord of the mountain catches an intruder, after he is done with them, he gives his enemies two choices.

    A swift death or the dungeon, where they be our prey. You have no idea how many pick the dungeon, hoping to find a way out. And usually they do, it only takes up to five or six hours to get out of my a*s."

    Phird emitted a gurglingughter, drooling all over the ground.

    "But he usually marks them with a distinct smell to make it easy for us to distinguish them from his servants. Are you his servants?"

    The whole group nodded furiously as one.

    "If it¡¯s the truth and you are lost, just take the first left, the third right and then the second right after that corner and you¡¯ll find the door to the castle. Someone will open it for you.

    If you are lying, you¡¯ll be stuck here and I¡¯ll have you for dinner on my way back."

    No one dared to move, Lith kept the barrier on and the finger on the escape button until the Kroxy disappeared from their view, its steps fading away in the distance.

    Then, they started moving toward the exit, hoping for that to be theirst hurdle.

 Chapter 179 The Real Deal

    The group followed the directions given by the Kroxy, updating their map along the way. At first they had been dubious if to trust its words, but after thinking about it for a while they decided it was worth giving it a shot.

    "If Phird really wanted to harm us, he would have done it while we were at our weakest." Phloria pointed out, the other agreeing with her.

    "Gods, I still can¡¯t believe magical beasts can talk and reason just like us humans. If I had known that during the mock exam, I¡¯m afraid I would have experienced the same hesitation I had at the start of the dungeon."

    Her words made the others think hard about their previous experience. Magical beasts were capable of using magic just like them, if not better, to fight tactically and to care for their teammates.

    - "It¡¯s been really stupid of me ignoring all the facts and let prejudice guide my reasoning." Yurial thought. "Just because they have a different form, it doesn¡¯t mean they are incapable of having feelings.

    "I must talk about this matter with my father, he never mentioned this issue while discussing how to manage our grand duchy. Befriending them could be really profitable."¨C

    The further they progressed through the dungeon, the more crossroads they encountered. By using Life Vision, Lith could see that there were no more big life forms lurking in the other paths, just insects and what he hoped to be rats.

    - "It seems that goblins and ogres were all we add to face." Lith thought. "It makes sense if Yurial is right and the purpose of the exam was imparting practical experience about fighting humans. Any more would just be in cruel."¨C

    Lith knew he was right when after thest turn Linjos¡¯ amulet emitted a green glow, indicating that he was free from his role of supervisor, yet since they were still cautiously walking instead of being transported into the main hall, he was also wrong.

    "I think that the test has yet to end, it¡¯s just that my role has been changed from passive spectator to active yer." He exined to the others making them even more nervous.

    Of all the reasons they could think of for allowing Lith to help them, not a single one did bode well.

    Thest cave was a big one. The ceiling was over ten metres (33¡¯) high and the room was at least thirty metres (33 yards) long and twenty meters (22 yards) wide. On the other side of the cave there was visible a huge glowing door that seemed to be made of silver.

    There were three humanoid figures near the exit, and the light was too dim to distinguish their features. They were bigger than goblins but smaller than ogres and that alone normally would boost the group¡¯s confidence.

    It was the first time they outnumbered their opponents and they had also the element of surprise. Knowing Linjos though, they assumed that thest opponents were bound to be the strongest.

    "They have yet to notice us. We can snipe them all from here." Yurial whispered, after the group had retreated back in the previous tunnel.

    "I would love to." Phloria replied with a sigh. "Have you considered how devious Linjos is, though? What if those are other students and not enemies? What if they are waiting for the door to open or serving as bait to see how reckless we are?

    Maybe it¡¯s just an impulse control test. Linjos made Lith join our team to make us overconfident and rush things. Is anyone able to identify them?"

    At such distance and with so poor light, not even Lith could see much. ording to Solus their physical condition was poor, and even if they had cyan cores, they hadn¡¯t much mana left.

    - "I wish I could share this information with the others. Phloria is probably right, this is just another damn test."¨C Lith thought

    At Phloria¡¯s sign everyone activated a flying spell from their rings, to not make any noise while moving forward.

    The group spread out with Phoria, Friya and Lith on the first line, while Quy and Yurial stayed in the rear. The spacing between them was enough to help each other if the necessity arose, but also allowed them to scatter in case of attack.

    Because of the cave¡¯s dimensions it was possible to use fire magic, also if their opponents were capable of using magic, a single fireball or even a lightning could take them all out at once if they kept walking in a single line.

    Soon they were close enough to recognize the three well dressed humans.

    Phloria felt really proud of herself and couldn¡¯t wait to boast in front of the others, when she and the other three received a pat on the shoulder with air magic from Lith, the convened sign for danger.

    When they turned to look at him, he was repeatedly tapping his nose.

    They suddenly remembered Phird¡¯s words. Linjos¡¯ enemies were marked with a distinctive smell, and now they were close enough to be able to perceive it.

    Lith was able to see Phloria¡¯s expression freeze into a panicked one, while she and the others sweated bullets.

    - "Phloria was right all along." Lith thought. "Those three are still part of the test, but she has underestimated Linjos. He isn¡¯t as devious as she believed, he is much worse. Linjos is testing their resolution and my self control at the same time.

    If I am right, they are allowed to kill, while I am not."¨C

    Quy¡¯s line of thinking was very simr to Lith¡¯s, yet she was on the verge of tears.

    - "How could I have ever thought that killing someone is cool when Friya told me about Lith¡¯s background check? I pictured him like a fairy tale hero, ying monsters and criminals, but reality is different.

    Taking a life is terrible, it leaves a void in your heart like your very soul is withering. Even if they are enemies of the Headmaster, I can¡¯t kill them in cold blood. They did nothing to me, they may be innocent."¨C

    Bing used killing in self defence and oveing the trauma derived from killing humanoid beings were two entirely different matters. Not even by sleeping close to each other and keeping a light was enough to drive away the nightmares.

    Killing someone of your own kin was the supreme moral taboo, just the idea was enough to send their minds into chaos.

    The choice was taken off their hands when one of the three turned in their direction.

    "Watch out!" She yelled. "Enemies iing!"

    The three had rough looking faces, they clearlycked food and sleep for several days. Their fear was evident, making the group even more hesitant to attack. Being surrounded and outnumbered, the three attacked only using first magic, hoping to quickly beat such young opponents, before their remaining strength ran out.

    Phloria and Friya hid behind their magically conjured shields, while Yurial and Quy could only dodge. The three chose to use first magic not only because it didn¡¯t require much mana, but also to prevent their opponents from casting spells.

    One of the biggest differences between true and fake magic was that while true mages would consume mana only after conjuring their spells, a fake mage would spend it as the casting was initiated, so being interrupted resulted in a waste of mana.

    The three were doomed nheless. They were disarmed, while Phloria¡¯s group only needed one spell stored into their rings to kill them. The problem was they were unwilling to, even under such attack.

    Lith sighed, realizing his role in that charade. He pumped his mana into the staff, activating its effects once more and sending six needle sized ice shards into the eyes of his enemies, blinding them.

    The staff was an experimental hybrid between an enchanted item and an alchemical one.

    It enhanced a mage¡¯s focus and mana sensitivity allowing even fake mages to alter the trajectory of their spells after the cast, something usually only tier five magic could achieve.

    In Lith¡¯s case it granted him an extremely fine control over the mana flow, to the point of being able to hit even small targets with pinpoint uracy. Of course everything came with a price and limitations.

    The mana stone floating in the middle of crescent moon shaped end of the staff was a consumable. The more powerful the spell it focused, the faster it would lose its magical energies, making the staff useless until the gemstone was reced.

    They were quite expensive, hence why Lith had only used it with first magic.

    Also the staff was incapable of focusing spirit magic or any spell above tier three, making its use limited.

    The very moment the three were paralysed by pain and fear, Lith conjured a tier one lightning rendering them unconscious. He then proceeded to blindfold, gag and bind them to prevent even first magic from being used.

    A pping sound could be heard echoing through the cave,ing from a life sized hologram of Queen Sylpha that had appeared in the middle of the cave.

    Everybody but Quy recognized her and knelt down. No one missed such detail, making his noble friends wonder how could amoner like Lith know the Queen.

    "At ease, no need for formalities. Congrattions, you are the first group of students that managed toe so far. Imend your speed, your skill and most of all your humanity." Her eye fell for a second on Lith, expressing approval.

    Linjos walked through the silver door that opened without a noise carrying a de in his hands.

    "Sometimes though, humanity must be set aside for justice to be carried out. Take these three for example. Baron Lazot, who took part in a ve trade, destroying hundreds of lives before being caught red handed."

    She pointed to the young, handsome man that Lith had just finished tying up.

    "Or mage Syalle, who bathed in the blood of newborn believing it would keep her young and fresh forever." Sylpha was now pointing at the one that had spotted the group.

    "Andst, but not least, Duchess Hileo, who for trivial reasons wiped out entire viges. Not all humans are bad, but they aren¡¯t all good either. This test is maybe the hardest in your young life, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here with you today.

    Mages are the backbone of the Griffon Kingdom, and must be able to defend it from its enemies, from both outside and within its borders. Even when ites at a huge personal cost.

    Lady Quy, considering your young age and your nature as a healer, I think it¡¯s too early for you to face this hurdle. May our ancestors bless your path, you are free to go."

    Quy ran away without turning back. Tears flowed from her eyes at the thought that no matter her decision, those people were already dead. She cried for them, but also for herself, realizing that she was leaving in that cave her childhood innocence.

    "Mage Lith, you can leave too." Sylpha didn¡¯t give an exnation, but addressing a simple student with the title of Mage was more than enough for those present to understand how well the two knew each other.

    Lith left without rushing, there was nothing he could do to help them this time.

    "Lord Deirus?"

    Following the Queen¡¯s voice, Linjos offered him the sword.

    Yurial hesitated at first, but then took it from the hilt, plunging it into the Baron¡¯s heart. He had recognized that sword on first sight, it was the Kigdom¡¯s ceremonial de used for public executions.

    His father had used it countless times, and Yurial had been forced to spectate since he had epted bing the next heir.

    "Your Kingdom thanks you for your sacrifice." Sylpha gave him a small bow of respect, before Warping Yurial back in his room. She could tell by his face that he was about to cry, puke or both, and wanted to spare him doing it in front of others.

    "Lady Phloria?" The sword floated in front of her.

    "I¡¯m sorry your Majesty, I can¡¯t." She fell on her knees, crying. Phloria remembered the day when she asked his father, Orion, how it felt killing the bad guys. Orion went to the kernel, handing her a puppy and a knife, asking her to kill it.

    Even then, Phloria refused to do it, crying for her life.

    "That¡¯s how it feels. Every single time." Orion said.

    "When it stops hurting, it means you have be the bad guy."

    Sylpha warped her away too. There was no reason torturing such a young girl any further.

    "Lady Friya?"

    Friya knew Duchess Hileo very well. She had been her mother¡¯s best friend as long as she could remember. Now she finally understood what they were always talking andughing about, when they thought she couldn¡¯t hear them.

    - "The world sucks, people suck. First my mother, then Lady Ernas and now the Queen. No one really cares for me, I¡¯m just a tool for their sick games. I¡¯m the only one I can rely on."¨C Friya thought while shing down in an arc.

    "Glory to the Kingdom."

    The Duchess head rolled on the floor, its tumbling echoing in the darkness of Friya¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 180 Guilt and Punishmen

    As soon as Friya was Warped back to her room, Linjos¡¯ expression became worried.

    "Well, how do you think that went?" Queen Sylpha asked.

    "Not bad, but not good either. I never expected any of them to actually kill one of these scums." Linjos sent a powerful darkness magic impulse into Mage Syalle¡¯s head, giving her a painless death.

    After days of torture and interrogation, even she deserved it.

    "They alle from a sheltered environment, or in the newest Ernasdies¡¯ case at least peaceful. I wanted my students to realize that sooner orter they will have to make hard choices, so that when the momentes, they will be prepared.

    Not turn them into cold blooded killers. I predicted them reacting like Lady Quy or Lady Phloria. The other two wentpletely overboard."

    "It¡¯s evident you never had children, Linjos." Queen Sylpha sighed.

    "Teenagers are unpredictable, it¡¯s their nature. Take the young Lord Deirus. He clearly didn¡¯t want to do it, but he is so eager to meet the expectations that are ced on him from his father and the Kingdom that he let pride get the best of him.

    He even mimicked the Kingdom¡¯s ritual execution method. I will tell Archmage Deirus to cut him some ck or sooner orter the boy will crumble under the pressure.

    As for Lady Friya, you have underestimated all she has just gone through. The betrayal of her mother, the death of her family and the ¡¯adoption¡¯ from the Ernas family.

    That girl needs help. All of them do, but she does more than anyone else."

    "I¡¯ll inform the families to provide them all the support they can. And remove thest part of the exam from now on. I¡¯m really sorry your Majesty, I¡¯ve let you and my students down with my ipetence." Linjos lowered his head in shame.

    "Don¡¯t be so hard on yourself, Linjos. You can¡¯t make an omelette without breaking some eggs, and something good cane out of mistakes too. Take Lady Phloria, for example.

    She has turned out to be one of those rare cases where duty and heart are able to meet halfway. It took a considerable amount of courage to not submit like the young Deirus did or run away like Lady Quy.

    I have great expectations for her, put her in the special list and keep me posted about her progress."

    Linjos bowed deeply, doing as instructed.

    "What about Lith?" He asked.

    "That part has been aplete sess, Linjos. Imend your efforts. Thanks to you, my worst fears have been dispelled. He has shown self control by not ughtering the prisoners, care by protecting his teammates from their own kindness and wisdom bypletely restricting the captured enemies."

    "Doesn¡¯t this mean that he could also have understood what we wanted and acted ordingly? In such case he would be a skilled maniptor capable of hiding in in sight. Wasn¡¯t that what you feared?"

    Sylpha nodded.

    "Indeed, but whatever the case, we now know that he is capable of controlling his impulses. It¡¯s just that normally he doesn¡¯t seem to care. In the future he may not be the asset we want, but the one we need and that¡¯s the only thing that matters."

    ***

    Back in his room, Yurial was still on all fours, puking his guts out. He had tried to control his nerves long enough to reach the toilet, but had failed after just a few steps. The acid taste of bile in his mouth was getting mixed with the salty one from tears and snot that he couldn¡¯t stop from running down his cheeks and nose.

    - "Oh gods, I have killed a man." The thought kept echoing obsessively in his mind.

    "Why did I do it? It was just a test, saying no was an option. What¡¯s wrong with me? I¡¯m really such a monster to ce a grade above a human¡¯s life?"¨C

    When there was nothing more he could throw up, Yurial curled up on the floor, uncaring of the filth and the stench surrounding him, crying until exhaustion relieved him from his suffering.

    ***

    Phloria was still having a tough time controlling her nerves. Orion Ernas, her father, could recognise only half her words between all the sobs and tears, but still managed to understand what she had gone through.

    "Cry as much as you want, little Flower. You need to get this thing out of yourself or it will eat you alive."

    "Dad you were right. You were so right and I didn¡¯t really understand your words until today." She said between the hups.

    "Please, don¡¯t get mad at me. I know I screwed up, but I just couldn¡¯t do it. I¡¯m afraid of what mom will say or how this will affect my career, but I¡¯m more afraid of what would have happened if I had taken that sword."

    "Shush little Flower, now you are just being silly. Mom would never criticise you for something like this. Worst case scenario, she¡¯ll nag at you for wearing pants in front of the Queen again." Phloria couldn¡¯t help butugh at the thought.

    As ridiculous as it sounded, it was exactly something that her mother would have said, no matter the circumstances.

    "As for Linjos, may the gods forgive him if he dares doing anything after putting a bunch of kids in a warzone, because certainly I will not! I will call him immediately, and if he hasn¡¯t more than proper exnation, I will give him a piece of my mind and my sword!

    Or my name is not Orion Ernas anymore!" A worried barking interrupted Orion¡¯s threats.

    "Lucky!" Phloria called through themunication amulet, triggering a happy bark in response. All those years ago, she had refused letting go of the puppy, afraid something bad would happen to it.

    She had named it "Lucky" and they had be inseparable friends.

    "He is happy to see you too." Orion voice wasn¡¯t very enthusiastic.

    The puppy was the new world equivalent of a Tibetan mastiff, 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of love and enthusiasm that gave little to no consideration to staff members or furniture when it was waggling its way towards its master¡¯s voice.

    Lucky jumped on Orion, almost knocking him off his chair, trying top Phloria¡¯s hologram. Its valiant efforts were foiled by the treacherous magic that made the hologram intangible, but still managed to ruin an hour of Orion¡¯s work by drooling and wing his paperwork.

    "Bad dog! Sit!" Albeit unwillingly, Lucky obeyed the outraged Orion. Usually that voice meant no chicken for dinner. Being fed on scraps was Lucky¡¯s worst nightmare, so it whimpered exposing its huge belly in submission, hoping to avoid the punishment for whatever mistake it had made.

    Phloria wasughing her heart out at the scene, her tears turned from pain to joy.

    "The only reason I don¡¯t put you on a diet, fata*s, is because you made my little Flower happy. Bad dog! Scram!"

    Lucky left the room in a hurry, leaving father and daughter finally alone.

    "As soon as you feel better, go to your sisters. I pray to our ancestors they had the good sense you demonstrated by refusing the sword. Sorry to leave you like this, little Flower. They too need a father."

    Phloria went to the bathroom to wash her face before heading out to the girls¡¯ rooms.

    ***

    Right after walking out of the dungeon, Lith had been transported to the main hall, and from there he went straight for the canteen before going back to his room.

    - "Aren¡¯t you going to check on the others?" Solus¡¯ voice sounded worried.

    "No, I¡¯m not. Let¡¯s be real, me and Quy have been spared from thest test, so she is safe. Yurial and Phloria are just two pampered kids, there is no way one of them obeyed.

    "The only one that could have yed executioner is Friya." Lith thought. "She is in a situation that reminds me of my own back on Earth. With nothing to lose and too much rage eating her from the inside."

    "The rage part hasn¡¯t changed much." Solus pointed out.

    "But you are right, the others had too much of a quiet life to do something so extreme. My only hope is that during thest month Friya managed to put herself back together. Shouldn¡¯t we check on her? What if something bad happened?"

    "Solus, I get you have a big heart, but life is not that easy. If Friya actually killed someone, what could I possibly do or say to make her feel better? If she really is in a dark ce, she either needs a hug or a kick in the a*s, but not from me.

    Only family or a true friend can do it, while me and Friya barely know each other. We hang out together only because of the academy and Quy, we are not that close.

    "That Linjos is insane, though. Doing such a thing to a bunch of kids. I have never been so happy about Tista never going to an academy. This exam would have crushed her, and I Linjos!"¨C

    ***

    Being the youngest, Orion called Quy first. After consoling her for a bit and promising her to visit again soon, he called Friya.

    "What do you want?" From the opening line Orion could already tell that something was terribly wrong. Friya had been part of his household for barely a month, but he had never seen her like that during his brief homings.

    She had been stressed and often gloomy, but after all she had experienced it was a normal reaction. They had barely spoken before, because he was always short on time and felt she needed her space.

    Now, instead, her gaze was cold as ice. There wasn¡¯t a trace of tears on her cheeks, her eyes weren¡¯t red, but that only made things worse.

    Orion had led countless troops on many battlefields, so he had no trouble recognizing that expression.

    "Oh gods, what have you done?" His voice was outraged, but not with her. All his fury was aimed at Linjos, but Friya had no way to know it.

    "What I had to." She scoffed.

    "I made your precious Ernas household proud, doing the Queen¡¯s bidding. Unlike your real daughter, I might say." Her voice was full of spite and hatred.

    "Don¡¯t you dare to talk that way about your sister!" He scolded her.

    "Sister? Please! We¡¯ve barely known each other from six months, she knows nothing about me and nor do I about her. We are not sisters! The only reason you adopted me is to spread your f*cking name and get your hands on mynds!" Friya yelled in outrage.

    "I¡¯m not your daughter, I¡¯m your tool. And you aren¡¯t my father. My real father died a dog¡¯s death pursuing my dear mommy¡¯s ambitions. She and your wife would be best friends, they are both b*tches." At the thought of her mother, Friya¡¯s voice went stone cold.

    "That does it!" Orion closed the call, and much to Friya¡¯s surprise appeared right in front of her less than a minuteter. He had to pull a lot of strings and call in a lot of favours, but for him every second was worth millions.

    "Get out of my room." Friya yelled as soon as she recovered.

    Orion suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder, preventing her from running away. Friya saw his hand moving fast, so she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth for the iing p.

    But the p never came, Orion was instead hugging her tightly, refusing to let her go no matter how much she struggled, kicked or punched.

    "Let me go, you f*cking b*stard!"

    "That¡¯s it, little one. Beat me, yell at me, do whatever you want but don¡¯t you dare ignore me." Friya could feel warm tears running down her shoulder. She was so shocked seeing him cry to be frozen in ce.

    "I¡¯m so sorry. When I brought you in my home, I promised to treat you like one of my own and yet I have already failed to protect you. I never wanted for you to suffer like this. I don¡¯t care about my name, nor about what the Queen thinks.

    You are just a child, for the gods¡¯ sake, how could they do something like this to you?"

    In Orion¡¯s hold Friya didn¡¯t feel any anger or violence, only warmth and affection. It was simr to what she had experienced in Lith¡¯s embrace, but hundreds of times stronger.

    She clung to him desperately, crying her eyes out. A silent rage started seething inside Orion. He didn¡¯t repress it, but didn¡¯t let it manifest either. It was like a volcano, building up its burning fury.

    He held Friya until she passed out from the crying, then he used his own version of the Hush spell so that no noise could disturb her rest.

    After shielding her with everything he had, Orion went into Linjos¡¯ office and gave him the beating of a lifetime.

 Chapter 181 End of Trimester

    When dinner time came, Lith was surprised no one hade to pick him up. He wasn¡¯t worried though, he just thought that his teammates had fallen asleep and didn¡¯t wake up in time.

    After going to their rooms and no one answering him, no matter how much he knocked, Lith understood that something had happened. He tried using themunication amulet, but no one answered his calls.

    - "I told you to check on them! Why you didn¡¯t listen?" Solus scolded him.

    "I¡¯m sorry, okay? Let¡¯s be rational, four people cannot disappear into thin air. Linjos must know their whereabouts. Nothing gets in or out without his permission."¨C

    Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, the door to the Headmaster¡¯s office was open.

    Broken to be more precise.

    Lith started conjuring several spells at once, fearing that somehow the one behind the boxes and Vgros¡¯ death made an attempt on Linjos¡¯ life.

    The room was a mess. The Headmaster¡¯s desk was cleaved in half, the ss windows were broken at multiple points and several documents were scattered on the floor. Linjos seemed to be all right, though.

    Professor Marth and Professor Vastor were tending to his remaining wounds, none of which appeared to be life threatening. From Lith¡¯s experience those were the kind of injuries that would inflict the most pain while doing very little damage.

    The kind of injuries he was a specialist at inflicting on others.

    "What happened, Headmaster? Seems like a cyclone trashed this ce."

    "Close." Linjos sighed.

    "An angry parent didn¡¯t agree with my methods and decided to exin it to me how much, up close and personal." Linjos could have stopped Orion at any time, but his sense of guilt prevented him from doing so.

    He was the kind of man that would always learn from his mistakes and be ready to suffer from their consequences, instead of hiding behind his title.

    Also, a little mean voice in his head told him that it was better not to add the Ernas household to the ever-expanding list of people that hated his guts.

    - "Thank the gods Archmage Deirus after threatening to gouge out my eyes and force me eat them, just presented a formalint to the Queen. I don¡¯t know if I can take another beating of that magnitude." Linjos thought. ¨C

    "If you are going to ask me about yourpanions, they have all left the academy and gone back home hours ago."

    - "Hours? Since when does it takes hours to recover?" Lith thought. "Either Linjos fainted and called for help only recently, or that parent really knows his stuff. Wish I could ask him for some lessons." Lith mind-sighed in envy.

    "You monster!" Solus scolded him with renewed vigour. "How can you appreciate such violence when your friends are hurting or worse? How could you not flinch when Linjos just called them panions¡¯?"¨C

    Her rage was genuine, and so was Lith¡¯s indifference.

    "Because he was in the ball park. I like them, but not like-like them. Also, they may or may not have killed someone. Big deal! They¡¯ll get over it, just like I did. Don¡¯t you agree?" -

    Then Solus gave a solid demonstration of her vocabry by yelling at him all the insults she had learned over the years.

    Solus¡¯ words struck a nerve, Lith didn¡¯t know how to answer without being even more of a jerk. Lying to Solus was impossible like lying to himself, also it was something he would never attempt to do. He could only try to be a better person.

    "Don¡¯t tell me that any of them actually did it?"

    "Friya and Yurial." Linjos replied with a sigh.

    Hearing those words, Lith remained stunned.

    Not only because of what they had done, but also because of how he felt. Or to be more precise, what he didn¡¯t feel. Lith honestly didn¡¯t care, killing had be such a big part of him that he couldn¡¯t bring himself to consider it a problem.

    The realization stung hard at him and so did Solus.

    - "Wow, your friends... oh, I¡¯m sorry, I meanpanions had a traumatic experience and your first reaction is feeling sorry for yourself? That¡¯s a new low, even for you."¨C

    It was hard to determine what hurt the most, the sarcasm in her words or the truth they held. Lith turned around and walked away, feeling emptier than ever.

    "Wait." Linjos stopped him. "Since you are already here, you can give me your report."

    "My report?"

    "I need to know how your group performed before thest part of the test, otherwise I cannot evaluate their progress."

    Lith told Linjos everything that had happened in the dungeon, skimming only the parts where they needed his help the most, letting the Headmaster know their struggles and suffering.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at the Ernas household, Orion and Jirni were having dinner alone. Their eldest sons were still away with their units and the girls had preferred to remain in their rooms. Even Lucky was absent, choosing to console Phloria over its beloved roasted chicken.

    The big rectangr table in the dining hall had never been so cold and empty. The Lords of the mansion sat at the opposite ends, at the two heads of the table. Given the sensitive nature of their conversation, the servants had been forced to stay outside of the room, entering only when summoned with the bell.

    "Did you really have to assault Linjos? He¡¯s the Queen¡¯s favourite right now, it could harm our interests in the acquisition of the Solivar¡¯s household." Jirni¡¯s tone was cid.

    She loved her husband and knew that something serious was upsetting him, but she couldn¡¯t help being herself.

    "He¡¯s free to challenge me to a duel or issue a formalint with the Crown, for what I care." Hearing Linjos¡¯ name almost made him choke on the food, spitting some back in the te.

    "And another thing, dear." He added after cleaning his mouth with a napkin.

    "I know that you are not great with feelings, unless you have to torment and manipte someone into confessing, of course, but I¡¯d really appreciate you not mentioning duties and arranged marriages to the girls until further notice.

    Otherwise I¡¯m afraid the next thing you¡¯ll hear from me would be an irrevocable divorce petition."

    ***

    The next day, all the students were gathered in thepulsory courses¡¯ ss for the end of the trimester. Lith couldn¡¯t tell if this time Linjos¡¯ speech was addressed more to his students or to himself.

    "My dear students, it¡¯s my sincere hope that this past semester has taught us a lot. In this life there are some conflicts that are impossible to avoid. What matters is how we decide to face them and what we learn from their aftermath.

    I don¡¯t me those who decided to not take part in this exam, just like I don¡¯t think less of those that despite epting to face this challenge head on,cked the necessary resolution to achieve sess.

    Remember though, that this is just an academy. Here your choices matter, weakness is allowed and questioning yourselves is encouraged. Only idiots have no doubts. Outside these walls, life is less lenient. Sometimes you will be forced to do the wrong thing for the right reason.

    My hope is that when the momentes, you¡¯ll remember this experience and you will be better for it. As for those who attempted to cheat, you¡¯ll hear from your parents about the disciplinary measures that await you.

    The test has taken a toll on all of us, so I encourage you to return to your homes for the ten days break before thest trimester begins. Dismissed."

    Just like thest time, the report cards appeared on the student¡¯s desks in the form of nk pieces of paper until imprinting them with mana would reveal their hidden content.

    Lith¡¯s report card was as following:

    "Principles of Advanced Magic: A+; Forgemastering: A+; Healing: S; Dimensional Magic: A-; School points gained from daily evaluation: 4,365. Aplete evaluation for the second exam is impossible until I hear back from your teammates.

    Headmaster Linjos"

    - "What the heck is this?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. "I didn¡¯t perform better than thest trimester on purpose, yet all my grades went up (*). More importantly, why A- in dimensional magic? I can already perform Warp Steps, that should be plenty enough for an A.

    Once I learn how to Blink, I will havepleted the course, and that¡¯s likely to happen soon. How can a student able to achieve so much so fast deserve just an A-?"

    "Well, I think they went up because of your role in curing the gue." Solus pointed out. "I am amazed they didn¡¯t give you an S+ in healing, if that even exist. As for the other professors, maybe their judgment was swayed by the royal decree."

    "Swayed my pale a*s! I bet that Rudd jerk is still mad at me for the only time I responded in kind to his taunts. Me and my big mouth."¨C

    It was still early morning when Lith left the academy, surrounded by gazes full of rage and envy. The second exam had been a total disaster. Those that had refused to participate or attempted to cheat had their grades capped at B rank.

    Those who participated and failed had their grades unchanged, but they still assumed to have been penalized because of their poor performance.

    Lith could perfectly hear them talking, whispering could not hide the truth from his heightened senses. Despite it was supposed to be a secret, his report card was actually public knowledge and so were those of everyone that had passed the second exam.

    Someone was trying to stir up troubles, further dividing the young mages not only by social status but also by their results, ruining all of Linjos¡¯ hard work.

    As soon as Lith was Warped to the capitol of the Marquisate, he alerted the Marchioness, which in turn informed the Headmaster. Whoever was behind all the recent troubles had always been a step ahead of them.

    Having a bad premonition, Lith used the now mastered Warp Steps repeatedly to arrive at the vige of Lutia in a few minutes. A normal mage would have his mana depleted by the repeated use of dimensional gates, but Lith used Invigoration each time to keep his peak condition.

    Lith¡¯s intuition proved to be wrong. Aside from the panic his arrival caused, the vige was quiet. As soon the vigers noticed it was him, fear was reced by more rage and envy.

    Lith ignored them, as he had done for the past years.

    It had always been like that, the farmers loved him because he healed them at half the price and because he was one of them that had made it. In their eyes Lith¡¯s and Tista¡¯s achievements were the proof that education and hard work could lead their children to have a better lifepared to their parents¡¯.

    The merchants and artisans that lived in the vige instead hated him. He was an anomaly that had shattered what they perceived as the natural order of things. A dirty poor farm boy that demanded to be paid in full, disrespecting their pact with Nana.

    Overtime the hatred had only grown stronger. Lith¡¯s household had started as a bottom feeder, but their social standing had never ceased to rise since his appearance. In their eyes, he was a scourge that was stealing from them and their children what was rightfully theirs.

    It was impossible for the merchants to ept that despite all the money and the resources they had invested in their children, none of them would ever be rich like Lith or respected like Tista.

    Raaz was the third most hated member of the family, having meddled with their business with his self righteous attitude, making them look like vultures and ruining their reputation after the so-called gue had turned out to be just a rumour.

    But the most hated was Lith, especially since he had executed Garith in public and caused Gurid Renkin¡¯s death. No matter what Nana said, they firmly believed that the merchant¡¯s heart had failed to ept his beloved son¡¯s death, following him to the grave.

    There was only one exception.

    Zekell Proudhammer, Senton¡¯s father and Rena¡¯s father-inw loved Lith with all his heart. Thanks to the dowry that Lith had provided, he had finally managed to expand his business and buy ast name for his family.

    Because of that heaven blessed marriage, they would always receive the best treatments for free and by using her daughter-inw name, no one dared to bully him anymore.

    Thieves and swindlers kept away from his shop, to the point he could leave the door open at night and find everything where he had left it. Sure, there was the asional death threat every time Rena would get a scratch or a bruise during the daily activities, but it was Senton facing Lith¡¯s wrath, not him.

    All in all, Zekell¡¯s life was damn good.

    "Lith, my boy! It¡¯s so good to have you back!" He yelled as soon as their eyes met.

    "Thanks." Lith replied with a half-smile. He never liked Senton or his family, but since he never liked any of his sisters¡¯ suitors, in his mind Zekell was a decent man. No one of the Proudhammer household had ever given Lith a good reason to kill him, after all.

    "No, thanks to you, young man. I¡¯ll never thank you and your Locrias friend enough for saving my whole family!"

    "Who did what now?"

 Chapter 182 Tickle

    It happened a week ago. The day had started like usual, with Senton and Rena opening the front shop while Zekell heated the forge to take care of the repair jobs. Because of the gue panic, most vigers and farmers were already armed to the teeth, making his business slow.

    Except for travellers and local hunters no one bought his weapons, leaving him with only menial jobs to do. Zekell wasn¡¯t a greedy man, so that kind of quiet life didn¡¯t bother him much.

    Repairing farming and kitchen tools was an easy and quick job that allowed him to cover for the daily expenses. It also left him a lot of time to hone his skills and teach Senton all the secrets of their trade.

    After getting married the boy had bloomed into a man, taking his responsibilities much more seriously than before.

    While in the past Senton would try toplete his tasks with the minimum effort to go out and goof off with his friends, now he put his utmost dedication in every piece he worked on, never being satisfied with the result and often asking his father for advice.

    Such change of attitude had made Zekell really proud of his son. All the yelling at him for hisziness and the whacks upside his head were just a bad memory, now he didn¡¯t have to worry anymore about what would happen in case he died.

    The shop had remained empty most of the day, so when the closing time neared, Zekell sent Rena and Senton back home while he finished cleaning the floor. He gave them all the free time he could afford.

    With advancing age and Senton¡¯s new character, Zekell couldn¡¯t wait to have a grandson or two. He wanted to witness the Proudhammer¡¯s next generation and maybe teach them to love the art of turning a nd piece of metal into a masterpiece.

    He was about to lock the door when a well dressed handsome youth entered the shop, looking at his merchandise with great interest. Zekell almost bit his lower lip in frustration.

    The young noble and his escort wore the insignia of the Rath family, a bunch of well known troublemakers.

    The noble purposely cut himself with one of the weapons and used the pretext to demand for apensation. To Zekell¡¯s horror, the youth ¡¯casually¡¯ had with him a contract of transfer for the workshop.

    Zekell tried to defend his life¡¯s work threatening to denounce the noble to Count Lark or to Nana, but to no avail. The Rath family had a Great Mage in their ranks and the name of a fallen outcast like Nana held little importance to them.

    Lith¡¯s name mattered even less, the noble didn¡¯t even know of his existence. Fearing to lose everything and his family, Zekell had almost signed the document, but a firm hand stopped him.

    It belonged to Captain Locrias of the Queen¡¯s corps, dressed like a country constable and royally pissed off. He and his team had managed to remain incognito for months and now the idiot had forced their hand, blowing up their cover.

    "No need to sign anything. This man is under arrest." Said the Captain with a sigh.

    "How dare you? You don¡¯t know who I am!"

    "I think I do." Vykaros, the liaison with the Mage Association, had collected intel about him since the moment the noble had stepped into Lutia.

    "You are Tikin Rath, second son of Baroness Rath. With pending charges for murder, r*pe, arson and embezzlement of taxes. You sure like to keep yourself busy, kid."

    "My family, what about my family?" Zekell was still panicking.

    "Your family is safe." Locrias said.

    "All of Lord Rath¡¯s men are already dead, now it¡¯s his turn." A small dagger appeared in Locrias left hand, while the right one was holding Tikin¡¯s corbone with the strength of a vise.

    "You can¡¯t do that!" Now it was Tikin¡¯s turn to be pale and to panic. "I demand a fair trial!"

    Zekell sighed with relief but suddenly fear reappeared on his face.

    "He is right, you can¡¯t kill him!"

    "Don¡¯t worry, neither the so called Great Mage or his mother will see tomorrow¡¯s dawn." The knife plunged into Tikin¡¯s chest, piercing his lung and heart instantly killing him.

    "What have you done?" Zekell screamed, while the corpse fell to the ground with a thud and a thick dark pool of blood spread on the floor.

    "Good sir, I¡¯m Captain Locrias of the Queen¡¯s corps. You have no reason to be afraid anymore. You and your family are under our protection." He said puffing his chest with pride, feeling wronged by the artisan¡¯sck of trust.

    "d to hear it, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about! You could have killed him out of here, or at least give me the time to put a carpet on the floor. The b*stard sh*t himself dying. Between this stench and the blood stains, no one will enter my shop for weeks!"

    ***

    "Luckily he used a magic something to make the corpse disappear and clean my floor." Zekell was allughs and smiles like it had all just been a bad dream.

    - "Either this guy is even more thick skinned than me or he is raving mad." Lith thought. ¨C

    "If it wasn¡¯t for you, Captain Locrias wouldn¡¯t have intervened. I¡¯m once more in your debt. If there¡¯s anything I can do for you, you just need to ask."

    "There is actually something I could use your help for. Based on what you told me, you have lots of free time, right?"

    Zekell nodded in response.

    "I need to perform some experiments with Forgemastering, but I know nothing about cksmithing and I don¡¯t have the time to learn it. I¡¯d like you to provide me the things listed here."

    Lith handed him a piece of paper that Zekell read immediately.

    "That¡¯s a lot of stuff, kid. They are allmon items though, so I can make them rtively quickly. Give me a couple of days."

    "I just need a first batch, there is no need to rush it. I am willing to pay you for your work." Not only had Lith asked for many things, the quality of their materials also varied from poor to very good.

    Before receiving the Crown¡¯s reward for the gue, he could not have spent so much money without affecting his family¡¯s quality of life. Also, his experiments required Solus¡¯ tower form to be conducted and he never had the opportunity to use it again since the first trimester¡¯s break.

    "The work is on the house, but I¡¯ll have to charge you for the materials. Some are quite rare and I can¡¯t afford to have an empty warehouse."

    Lith didn¡¯t want to abuse his gratitude, so he promptly closed the deal with a handshake.

    After leaving Zekell, a call to Count Lark allowed him to make sure that the Rath family wouldn¡¯t bother anyone anymore. They had all been arrested several days ago and their properties assigned to a newly promoted household.

    Lutia had always been a quiet vige, but since the corps officially showed their presence, the worst crime that would take ce was a kid stealing a fruit or a candy. After Garith¡¯s death Tista had learned her lesson.

    Now her suitors knew by experience that her no meant no, while Lightning Bolt meant "Never approach me again".

    Lith spent the first part of the morning catching up with his family, before attempting to contact his teammates again.

    - "I can¡¯t call Quy, she is still not over her crush and I don¡¯t want to give her false hope. Friya and Yurial are off-limits too, they are likely to be traumatized and I fear their reaction after I basically ghosted on them until it was toote.

    This leaves me only one option."¨C

    Lith used hismunication amulet and called Phloria, who responded immediately.

    "Sorry for never returning your calls." She apologised.

    "I spent most of thesest two days in the bed."

    Lith inwardly sighed with relief. She didn¡¯t seem to be mad at him, which made it even harder to say what he had to.

    "I¡¯m d to see you are all right and the fact that you answered so quickly means a lot to me. Yet I think you should wear something besides a white nightgown before picking up your amulet." He said diverting his eyes like a true gentleman.

    In the new world there were no underwear and with the increasing summer heat, she was wearing a thin cloth while sitting cross legged as always.

    Phloria emitted a high pitched scream while the amulet made a thud sound, like it had been tossed away.

    Only after a minute or two Phloria¡¯s image reappeared, this time wearing the academy¡¯s uniform. Even the hologram couldn¡¯t hide her beet red colour.

    "What did you see?" She asked with the cutest and most feminine voice he had ever heard her talk with.

    "Almost nothing" Lith lied through his teeth. "I swear it on both my brothers¡¯ heads."

    The answer seemed to calm her a bit, allowing them to resume their conversation.

    "How are you feeling?" He asked.

    "Embarrassed, I mean terrible. I barely get out of my room. I feel guilty not taking care of Yurial and Friya but I already have too much on my te."

    "Yurial is at your house?"

    Phloria nodded.

    "He and his father. Our dads think that having shared a simr experience they can help each other oveing their trauma."

    "That¡¯s a great idea." Lith too remembered how he had needed therapy back on Earth to try to get better. Too bad he never managed to find a Murderers Anonymous association.

    "Why don¡¯t you call them too? I¡¯m sure they would appreciate the thought."

    "Phloria let¡¯s be honest, when ites to feelings, I¡¯m a bull in a ssware shop. I¡¯m afraid I would only make things worse."

    After a bit of small talk, Lith closed the call and went into the Trawn woods for his experiments. Until Zekell provided him with the items he needed, he could still practice on rocks or study the boxes more.

    After reaching the mana geyser, Solus was able to take her tower form, revealing that the first floor was almostpletely rebuilt.

    s, almost.

    Once inside, the ess to the upper floor was still barred by debris.

    "Sorry, I have no control over any floor until itsplete. I do not know why."

    Months had passed since Lith had actually heard Solus¡¯ voice instead of her mind, yet he didn¡¯t miss the change.

    "Solus, your voice has be much clearer and more human like than before. I can even hear some kind of ent, even though I don¡¯t recognize it."

    "You noticed!" He could feel her joy in his mind, she was walking on air. That¡¯s why he avoided adding that it was hard not to, since her previous one sounded like a customer service¡¯ answering machine.

    "And that¡¯s not the only change. Ta da!"

    The tower¡¯s walls started to glow of a faint radiance. The light slowly detached from the stone, forming a wisp the size of a tennis ball that started to spin around Lith¡¯s head.

    "Now not only can I apany you, but also you have someone to talk to instead of looking at the walls or the ceiling."

    "It¡¯s a great news! Is it solid or...?"

    "I wish." Solus sighed. "It¡¯s just light."

    Lith waved his hand inside the wisp without it encountering any resistance. There was nothing inside nor substance to it. It was indeed just an oversized firefly.

    Solus startedughing out loud, surprising him quite a bit.

    "I like your attitude. I was afraid you would get even more depressed and..."

    "Stop that." She cut him short.

    "It tickles!"

 Chapter 183 Crucible

    "It tickles?" Lith echoed her words.

    "Do you mean you can actually feel my touch?"

    Solus froze for a second, the sudden realization was overwhelming her.

    "I can! By my maker, I can feel it. I¡¯m not just a piece of rock!"

    She started to move all around the room passing through the walls, the ceiling and the furniture of the rooms, even going outside before returning back to Lith.

    "That¡¯s odd. I don¡¯t feel anything by touching something inside the tower nor external objects, it seems to work only with you."

    "Perhaps it¡¯s because this new form of yours is still too weak. Remember that we share a body and mind link that makes our interaction unique."

    The wisp moved in front of Lith, touching his forehead.

    "You are right." She said.

    "It¡¯s a bit faint, but ording to your memories this should be the sensation of skins touching. I can also sense your warmth. What about you?"

    It took Lith a while to realize that albeit small, the wisp emitted a faint warmth.

    "Same. Solus, can you please lower yourself a bit?"

    She had just moved at his chest¡¯s height when Lith embraced the wisp with his arms.

    "How do you feel now?"

    "Like it¡¯s the happiest day of my life." Her voice was wavering and even if she didn¡¯t have tears to cry for once Solus didn¡¯t care about it. No matter how small, she would treasure those sensations as long as she could.

    They remained like that for several minutes. It was the first time for Lith to experience happiness from the contact with someone that wasn¡¯t a member of his family. It felt odd but natural at the same time.

    He could also perceive all the strain weighing on her mind being relieved bit by bit.

    "You wouldn¡¯t be in hot waters with your friends if you were so thoughtful with them too. When one hits rock bottom, even the smallest gesture makes a world of difference."

    Despite her words being true, Solus had ruined the moment for Lith but she realized it toote.

    Lith let her go and proceeded downstairs towards the Forgemasteringb. Herment had brought him back to reality, reminding Lith how little time they had at hand.

    "Our biggest issue with Forgemastering is that it¡¯s aplex and profound discipline. Once I understand how a fake spell works, I can turn it to true magic and improve it as far as I can imagine it.

    The same doesn¡¯t apply to Forgemastering. So far I only managed to obtain with true magic the same effects as items enchanted with fake magic already have. We must find a way to take our Forgemastering to the next level, otherwise the specialization will be useless.

    If I can¡¯t achieve an edge over fake mages by forging my own equipment, I can as well as drop this discipline, buy what I need and invest my time in fields where true magic actually makes a difference."

    Lith and Solus revised together several papers he had copied from the academy¡¯s library about failed attempts to break past Forgemastering¡¯s limitations. They had less than ten days, so they had to pick the most promising ones and hope that true magic would seed.

    "As Isaac Newton said: If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants. I may not be a genius but I can still use their work as adder to get past this hurdle."

    After much discussing they selected two methods that were both simple and brilliant at the same time, allowing even a novice like Lith to understand them easily.

    The first one was the Heisen¡¯s principle. It stated that a Forgemaster¡¯s work affected matter, so the harder the material to enchant the more difficult the process became. Heisen suggested that enchanting an item during thest steps of its forging would make the effect stronger despite consuming the same amount of mana.

    "It makes sense." Solus pondered.

    "We have seen how enchanting an item requires creating a pseudo core and carving with magic the runic pathways necessary to keep the core stable and prevent its stored energy from leaking.

    By working on something close to its melting point, it should offer less resistance to the magic flow."

    "Yeah, that¡¯s what Heisen said and attempted multiple times before giving up." Lith pointed out.

    "ording to these papers, his experiments managed to produce a small number of enhanced items, but he never understood why all the others would blow up in his face. After losing his arms for the fifth time, Heisen dered the process a failure.

    Do we have a safe room? I like my arms as they are."

    The wisp representing Solus¡¯ consciousness flickered a few times while the tower trembled lightly.

    "Now we do." A new door appeared in the forgemasteringb.

    To no waste precious materials, once again Lith decided to use small rocks of different size andposition as test samples. First he had to find the temperature where the sample would show the first signs of rounding due to melting.

    Then he would stop heating the rock and proceed to enchant it while Solus would keep the magic circle active and filled with mana. Thanks to his new mana sensibility, Lith could see the mana pathways form more easily and bigger than usual.

    The enchanting process was a sess, but when he checked the final result with Invigoration, he discovered it to actually be a failure.

    "Damn! The high temperature made things easier but more unstable. Both the pathways and the pseudo core are deformed by the changes that happened during the cooling period." Lith sighed.

    "Maybe it¡¯s actually a sess. Let me try."

    Solus threw the enchanted stone in the safe room, making the door disappear before activating it with her mana imprint.

    The following boom made the walls tremble.

    "Or not." Lith said with a stern look.

    "No wonder Heisen gave up on this method and no one is researching it anymore. Well, we still have to try many possible variants of this experiment, maybe one will seed or at least give us some inspiration."

    ***

    Meanwhile at the Ernas Mansion Phloria was outraged.

    "I knew it!" She was reading again Lith¡¯s background check.

    "On both his brothers¡¯ heads, that¡¯s rich. One of them got disowned while the other left the family as soon as he could. It¡¯s more likely for me to marry a goblin than for Lith to love his brothers. How shameless can one be, Lucky?"

    Lucky woofed and wagged his tail, hoping it was y time already. She threw it a ball while marching double time towards the tailors¡¯ quarters.

    - "It¡¯s not entirely his fault, though. How could I be so stupid to pick up the call while still half asleep? This is so humiliating! Enough with skirts and nightgowns, I need something with pants even for sleeping.

    Usually mom would have a seizure hearing such a request, but recently she seems meeker. Guess it¡¯s better to strike the iron while it¡¯s hot"¨C She thought.

    Phloria was indeed right. Jirni Ernas in any other circumstances would have prohibited the tailors from following her daughter¡¯s order. The manor¡¯s staff was well informed about Jirni¡¯s standards about education and how easy it was to get dismissed without a reference in case someone angered her.

    Orion¡¯s threat still echoed in her mind though, leaving Jirni at a stalemate. Her husband was a man of his word, so when she heard him talk about divorce she had almost choked on the food.

    Their marriage was an arranged one, to join together two of the families most loyal to the Crown allowing both of them to increase their status in the nobility.

    Her maiden¡¯s heart had quickly fallen for the young knight, at first for his broad chest and his arms as thick as her head that could literally sweep her off her feet. Later for his golden heart and sunny disposition.

    They were still deeply in love with each other; hence she was unable to understand why her children couldn¡¯t trust her to find a suitable partner like Jirni¡¯s parents did for her. Jirni was too scared at the thought of losing her husband to squabble over small stuff, giving Phloria what she wanted.

    "I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with kids these days." Sheined to Rose, herdy in waiting.

    "Making such a fuss about an insignificant matter like murder, blowing it out of proportions. I killed my first man at six years of age, mastered the art of torture by twelve and yet I grew up as a refined, delicatedy. Right, Rose?"

    "Of course, your Ladyship." Rose swallowed a lump of saliva. She knew all too well how her mistress could butcher a whole family without ruining her appetite for dinner. There were many words she could use to describe her, but delicate wasn¡¯t among them.

    ***

    After five days, Lith¡¯s experiments had yet to bear any fruit. To avoid deformations in the pseudo core or in the mana pathways, he had tried to quickly cool down the samples as soon as the enchanting process was over.

    The final product would be much better than normal, but also extremely vtile, almost killing Lith in the resulting explosion.

    Then he had tried working with higher temperatures, discovering that the sample would reject his magic wasting all his time and effort. At lower temperatures he would simply obtain standard quality items.

    Even working on the materials that Zekell provided him, the results were always the same. The quality of the sample was irrelevant for the Forgemastering process, at least at Lith¡¯s level ofprehension.

    - "Dammit, Heisen¡¯s principle is an utter fiasco." He thought

    "Using true magic to keep the enchanting process until the sample cools down only resulted in a handful of dust. No matter its quality, inanimate matter doesn¡¯t seem able to withstand so much magical energy for a longer period."

    "At least it didn¡¯t blow up like all the other experiments." Solus sighed. ¨C

    They hadn¡¯t much time left and were still at square one.

    Thanks to Warp Steps, Lith could nowe and go from his house without losing his tail first. Despite the constant use of Invigoration, both him and Solus were running on fumes.

    Forgemastering required massive amounts of mana even for normal enchantments, Lith would have never been able to keep experimenting for so long without Solus¡¯ help.

    They both needed proper rest.

    Lith was really surprised finding a stranger waiting for him in his own home.

    "Wee home, dear." His mother Elina dusted off his chest and shoulders from the remains of histest failures, since he usually was too tired to notice them.

    "This man says he is Orion Ernas, the father of your schoolmates." Orion gave him a polite bow, his face expressed concern.

    "He says he needs your help."

 Chapter 184 Cornered

    Ernas Mansion, the day before

    Archmage Deirus and Orion were starting to get seriously worried. Half of the academy¡¯s break was almost gone, but Friya and Yurial were only getting worse. Yurial would rarelye out of his room and almost refused to eat.

    Before every meal, Yurial had to take a nd sedative or he would throw up immediately. He needed a potion to sleep, another for waking up and many others not to jump at every noise he heard.

    Friya on the other hand, was restless. She would barely sleep, focusing all her energies on training without a care for her own body. Friya had also put up a constant frown and during her spar sessions she often injured her partners byunching every attack like her life was on the line.

    She would easily fall into a frenzy and only Orion could stop her from doing something that she would have regrettedter. The worst thing was that she didn¡¯t show any remorse afterwards, ming her opponent for being weak.

    "If they can¡¯t even match a fifteen years old, they should stop calling themselves sword practitioners and dedicate their life to knitting." Was what she said every time, making Jirni proud and Orion frustrated.

    After changing her nightwear, Phloria had recovered very quickly, but whenever someone asked her why and how, she would just turn beet red and refuse to answer. In her case the new shame had driven away the old one.

    Quy hadpletely recovered on her own, but she was deeply worried for Friya, that was changing into someone Quy could hardly recognize as the kind and thoughtful girl she loved so much.

    "F*ck Linjos and his idiotic ideas." Vn Deirus was considering following Orion¡¯s lead and challenging the Headmaster to a duel.

    "He turned my poor son into arva and to add insult to the injury his group was the only one facing that trial. If only they reached the goal second, this would be someone else¡¯s problem." He sighed.

    "This is partly my fault too. After all his siblings grew up as profligate spoiled brats, I was so afraid of being hurt again that I always kept my distance. All these years, I kept myself so busy with my scheming and experiments that I never established a proper father-son rtionship with him, more like master-apprentice.

    Now he doesn¡¯t see me as a worried parent but as a disappointed teacher, so my words are unable to reach him.

    If Yurial doesn¡¯t manage to snap out of it, my son¡¯s career is as good as over."

    Orion poured an amber-coloured liquor in two sses and then offered one to his fellow sufferer. It was the new world¡¯s equivalent of whiskey.

    "I have your same problem. I managed to catch Friya off guard right after the exam and she opened up. Now she refuses to listen to me though, it¡¯s like talking to a wall. If I send her back to the academy, she is bound to get expelled because of her violent behaviour.

    She doesn¡¯t trust me enough to share her burden with me and I can¡¯t me her for that. I was so busy with my duty that even the few times I was at home, I just checked that Jirni wasn¡¯t going overboard and left without even saying goodbye.

    In hindsight, leaving my new daughters so much personal space was a mistake. It grew into a gap that I don¡¯t know how to cross over. That¡¯s why I was thinking of asking their friend¡¯s for help."

    "What friend? Are you talking about the lich?" Vn curled his upper lip in disgust.

    "What lich?" Orion almost jumped from his chair hearing that word. Lichs were the Kings and Emperors of the undead. Mages that had sacrificed their humanity in exchange for infinite life, allowing them to hoard infinite knowledge and power.

    "You should really work less and attend more to social events. That¡¯s how the little Lith of Lutia is known among the nobility." Vn exined with a worried look.

    "He appeared out of nowhere, with a ridiculous baggage of knowledge and experience for someone his age. Some of my friends that worked together with him during the gue, reported that he is a ruthless killer capable of intimidating even veterans and has disyed a terrifying mastery of darkness magic, hence his moniker.

    I think your wife could take a liking to him." The simple thought sent a shiver down Orion¡¯s spine.

    "I ran a background check on him, but it never reported something so extreme. Nheless, I know by experience that traumatized soldiers have an easier time opening up with theirrades. Maybe they will listen to him."

    With no other option left, Orion used his royal pass to ess from the personal Gate of house Ernas to the Mage Association¡¯s branch located in Derios, the capitol of the Marquisate where Lith lived.

    Not knowing the region, he was forced to fly and ask for directions from time to time. When he reached Lith¡¯s house, Orion was pleasantly surprised by it. It was a smaller cottage than the one he had assigned to his gardeners, but it was in a lot better shape.

    The house had clearly been renovated multiple times over the years, it didn¡¯t look like a farmer¡¯s home, more like the cozy countryside love nest of a minor noble. The walls were entirely made of stone instead of wood, and the sloping-roof was being covered with high quality tiles.

    - "The boy must have spent quite a lot for materials and manpower. Someone who takes care of his family like this can¡¯t be as bad as Vn said. Unless it¡¯s Jirni."¨C

    Orionughed at his own joke, drawing Elina¡¯s attention.

    "Good sir, are you lost? There is nothing here for a nobleman like you."

    The woman in front of him was stunning. She had to be in her mid twenties, about 1.62 metres (5¡¯3") high with shoulder des long hair of a beautiful light-brown which red shades danced under the setting sun like a wildfire.

    She had such fine proportions and a smile so kind that a lesser man would have been tempted to flirt with her despite the dire circumstances.

    - "If I wasn¡¯t already married with the most beautiful and loving woman of the Kingdom and my daughter wasn¡¯t in need of help, I may have courted Lith¡¯s sister... Wait, what¡¯s that?"¨C

    The contrast between Elina¡¯s gentle voice and the long ck stick she held made it appear even more ominous. Judging from the number of yellow runes engraved on its surface and it¡¯s humming sound, Orion determined it had to be some kind of lighting based weapon.

    - "The design is so rough and amateurish to give away the element of surprise, but I bet it packs quite a punch and from this distance dodging is not an option. If Lith made that thing, Vn could be right."¨C

    "There¡¯s no need for violence, ma¡¯am. I mean no harm."

    Elina emitted the cutest chuckle while covering her mouth with her hand, but never lowered the stick from her unexpected guest.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I trust a noble only as far I can throw him. What business do you have here?"

    "I¡¯m Orion Ernas, the father of Lith¡¯s ssmates. I need his help for one of my daughters¡¯ sake."

    "Do you have proof of what you say?" Her hand trembled a little.

    "I¡¯m sorry?" Orion was bbergasted.

    "My son is pretty famous around here. Everyone knows he goes to an academy, so anyone can say to know him. If you can¡¯t prove your im, I must ask you to leave."

    "Your son? Aren¡¯t you his sister?"

    Elina¡¯s smile disappeared.

    "ttery will not get you my trust. I don¡¯t want to use this thing but I¡¯m ready to!"

    Her trembling intensified, but Orion knew that look. She wasn¡¯t bluffing. Luckily Phloria had told him about her meeting Lith¡¯s parents, so all he needed to do was to call his daughter and make her vouch for him.

    "Sorry for earlier." After speaking with Phloria, Elina went back to her normal self.

    "But after a noble tried to kill my son, I don¡¯t trust any stranger, no matter their social status. Lith should be back in a while."

    The house was a little miracle of magic, which only made Orion¡¯s fears grow. The aircked the humidity and heat of summer.

    The firece was empty, yet the room was perfectly lighted by some small ss containers emitting a warm light and no bug or mosquito pestered him once he stepped inside.

    Lith had used Forgemastering to recreate air conditioners, lightbulbs and bug spray by devising small elemental stones respectively of water, light and darkness attribute. They were a lesser version of magic holding rings, that could store only first magic spells and needed to be recharged often.

    Orion and Elina talked about their respective children, sharing anecdotes and happy memories until Lith arrived. The youth looked like a dejected miner that barely escaped from the copse of a tunnel, he waspletely covered in dust and debris.

    After Elina introduced Orion, Lith immediately cleaned himself up with a spell before giving him a deep bow.

    "Duke Ernas, I heard a lot about you. It¡¯s a pleasure finally making your acquaintance." Both his choice of words and etiquette were wless, turning his fears into horror.

    - "I knew it, he felt familiar the moment he walked through the door. He¡¯s exactly like my wife when she was his age! If Jirni sees him, she will never let me hear the end of it. I don¡¯t want any of my daughters to go through what I had to before managing to reason with her!"¨C

    "What can I help you with?" They sat at the table while Elina went to the kitchen.

    Orion snapped out of it, remembering why he was there.

    "Well, as you surely know, both Friya and Yurial are in a bad shape after the second exam. The final test took a heavy toll of them..."

    Orion saw Lith¡¯s eyes widen, quickly pointing at his mother and then pressing the index finger over his lips.

    "Yes, I know." Lith cut Orion short.

    "Getting rid of so many pests was a dirty job. I¡¯m sorry they got the short end of the stick."

    "They have lost most of their confidence and are in a rough patch." Orion caught Lith¡¯s drift and kept vague to prevent Elina from finding out the real nature of the exam.

    "I would like for you to try to talk to them. They need all the help they can get."

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea." Lith lowered his gaze in embarrassment.

    "I¡¯m not really good with people. Also, I feel I have failed them by not noticing their distress until it was toote. I¡¯m afraid they might be quite angry at me. Anything I say is likely to backfire rather than help."

    Thanks to his years together with Jirni, Orion was able to see past masks and charades, noticing that Lith¡¯s words were sincere and so was his concern.

    - "If you really feel guilty, you should go." Solus said. "If you face them now, you can still make up with them. Abandon them again and they will never forgive you."¨C

    "That¡¯s not true, dear." Elina chimed in.

    "You always did an amazing work with your patients. All the farmers love and respect you. Your friends saved your life, whatever they are going through you must help them at the best of your capabilities.

    I don¡¯t remember raising an ungrateful son."

    Finding himself between a rock, a hard ce and his mother, Lith epted.

 Chapter 185 Crucible 2

    Going back to the Ernas mansion was a matter of minutes. As soon as they were away from Elina¡¯s ears, Orion briefly exined to Lith how the act of murdering someone had affected his twopanions.

    Lith just listened, pondering about what he could do about their mental state. The situation appeared to be hopeless.

    When they walked out through thest Warp Steps, Jirni Ernas was waiting for them. The surprise froze Orion long enough to allow her to take the initiative.

    "Dear Lith, I heard a lot about you. I¡¯m Duchess Jirni Ernas. It¡¯s a pleasure making your acquaintance. I think our meeting is long overdue." She gave him a curtsy before offering him her right hand.

    By introducing herself first, thedy of the house had done him a great honour. It was a really umon situation, to which there was only one possible answer.

    "The pleasure is all mine. I¡¯m at your service, my Lady." Lith half kneeled while kissing the back of her hand.

    Their eyes met, studying each other¡¯s expressions and reactions.

    - "This woman is being too polite toward amoner. She clearly has a hidden agenda. If she hopes to catch me off guard with her petite build and kind visage, she¡¯s sorely mistaken. Whatever she sells, I don¡¯t buy it."¨C Lith¡¯s thoughts were spot on.

    - "So young and so knowledgeable of rituals and etiquette." Jirni thought. "This is the perfect asion to see if the reports about him are correct. I should be able to test his worth and if he is a potential suitor for one of the girls."¨C

    "Jirni, dear, what are you doing here?" Orion said with a stiff smile, making them both furrow their brows in disapproval for his poor acting skills. It onlysted for a split second, but they noticed each other¡¯s reaction.

    Lith and Jirni became immediately aware of the ongoing mutual deception and changed their ns ordingly.

    "My dear husband, I understand how sensitive this matter is for you and the children. I just wanted to introduce myself to our esteemed guest. He must know how grateful we are for his help in times of need."

    Her voice was worried, but her eyes were hard as steel.

    - "Which trantes into: I don¡¯t trust putting my family in the hands of a stranger without letting him know he cannot afford to screw up."¨C

    Lith¡¯s interpretation was once again correct.

    "I¡¯m grateful for your trust, my Lady. A true friend can¡¯t remain idle when you ask for his help. I¡¯ll do the best that I can, it¡¯s all that I can promise you." Lith¡¯s voice was kind while his eyes were cold.

    Like Jirni, he kept up the polite fa?ade but didn¡¯t try to fool her anymore. Due to their simr nature, they had established a silent understanding and respect between them.

    - "So you came here only at my husband¡¯s insistence and you don¡¯t think there¡¯s much that can be done. So far so good, young man."¨C

    Their conversation between the lines was driving Orion insane, but he didn¡¯t know how to make them stop without being terribly rude. Luckily, Phloria came to his rescue.

    "Hi, Lith." Her cheeks reddened seeing him. Phloria was still self-conscious about theirst call. She was wearing a sleeveless emerald evening dress, that highlighted her fair skin and back hair.

    Lith gave her a cold but polite bow to which she awkwardly responded with a curtsy.

    Jirni didn¡¯t miss a single detail.

    "Sorry to bother you, mom, but the staff is having problems setting the dining hall, they need your supervision."

    Her words forced Jirni to take leave of them and follow her daughter.

    "That¡¯s the boy who made you change your undergarments?" She asked with a whisper as soon as the door was closed behind them.

    "No!" Phloria tantly lied turning beet red up to her ears.

    "Really? Then why are you finally wearing a gown instead of your beloved pants?"

    "Maybe because you pestered me all day about putting a dress on at least for dinner?" Jirni clicked her tongue, Phloria was right.

    "Too bad he doesn¡¯t seem interested." Jirni continued, not willing to let her have thest word.

    "I always told you, to capture the heart of a man, the best undergarment is no undergarment at all."

    ***

    "Usually by this time Yurial is already sleeping." Orion guided Lith through richly decorated corridors until they reached the guests¡¯ quarters.

    "Wait here, I¡¯ll let you in as soon as he is fully awake." Orion knocked on the door before entering, leaving Lith alone with his worries.

    - "The only thing I know for sure is that Yurial¡¯s father and Orion must be really desperate. My schoolmates already performed a background check on me, hence the parents should know my past as well. Seeing how I turned out, what kind of help do they think I can provide?"

    "Consider this an opportunity to help them and yourself at the same time. You never had anyone to share your burden with. First you had to protect Carl, then to feed yourself and save Tista." Solus said.

    "Your quest for power lead you to a lonely path. You couldn¡¯t allow anyone to know what you were going through, always shouldering everything yourself. Think of them as of the young Derek. Tell them what you would say to your younger self if you had the opportunity."¨C

    Solus¡¯ words reminded Lith what his therapist back on Earth had told him multiple times. That for his wounds to heal he needed to be open and honest about his feelings.

    Following Doctor Shore¡¯s advice, Lith/Derek had even volunteered at a shelter for victims of domestic abuses, but instead of empathizing with them he ended up being proud of having caused his father¡¯s death.

    He was as miserable as they were, but at least he had a life and a home. Unlike them, his days as a victim were over. The people he worked with, instead, were trembling lumps of fear, constantly watching their backs.

    By listening to their stories, Lith/Derek would only be angrier, hating humankind more and more. After only a few weeks, Doctor Shore had noticed the negative changes in his behaviour and asked him to stop.

    When Orion let him in, Lith noticed the presence of a man who closely resembled Yurial. Before Orion could introduce them, Yurialshed at Lith.

    "Some friend you are! Showing up now is too little and toote. Where were you while I was curled up in a pool of vomit and tears? I remained like that for hours before my father contacted me. It¡¯s been five f*cking days and you never called or visited. What¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Vn Deirus was very embarrassed by his son¡¯s rude behaviour, but at the same time also very happy.

    Yurial seemed to have found his strength. Seeing him angry was already a great improvement.

    Yurial¡¯s words made Lith feel guilty, even managing to hurt him a little. Having decided to follow Solus¡¯ advice, Lith put his guilt aside and took his gloves off.

    "Friend? That¡¯s riching from you. Do you even remember how we met? How you threw trash at me and never apologized until you needed my help?"

    Lith didn¡¯t yell, yet his words made short work of Yurial¡¯s outrage and self-righteous attitude.

    "Since when are we friends, exactly? You have been using me the whole time and I returned the favour. Otherwise tell me something about me unrted to the academy. What are my sisters¡¯ names? What are my dreams for the future? Heck, do you even know what is my favourite colour?"

    Yurial suddenly realized that despite all the time they had spent together, Lith was still aplete stranger to him.

    "See? You know nothing about me and so do I about you. Don¡¯t worry, though, things are about to change. Lord Ernas, could you please bring the girls here? I think that some things need to be said, but I¡¯d prefer doing it only once."

    Lith and Yurial sat down in silence, waiting for the others to arrive. The more Yurial thought about his previous outburst, the more it appeared childish and ridiculous.

    - "Lith is right, we were never friends. It was just an assumption I made on my own. We shared hardships and schoolwork, but I never once cared for his life outside the academy. Some friend I am."¨C

    When Friya saw Lith, the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. She didn¡¯t yell or attack him, choosing instead to sit as far away as possible.

    Lith didn¡¯t cut her any ck, repeating the same speech he had given Yurial, making her turn red from anger first and pale at the realization of how shallow their rtionship was.

    When the group was gathered, he could finally start.

    "Let me introduce myself properly. Hi, I¡¯m Lith and I¡¯m a murderer." At those words, the room turned awkwardly silent.

    "I want to tell you a story. Your background checks are wrong, I didn¡¯t kill my first man when I was six, but when I was only four."

    Lith couldn¡¯t tell them how he had killed his father on Earth, so he needed to mix two truths to make a half lie.

    "Back then, life was terrible for me. I was always starving, so I ran in the woods whenever I could behind my parents¡¯ back and I hunted using magic. What no one knows, not even my family, is that I wasn¡¯t alone.

    There was a poacher, an obnoxious, violent man that stole my game whenever we met and gave me aplimentary beating every single time. I couldn¡¯t tell anyone. I was too ashamed of my weakness and afraid my parents would lock me in the house, so I made up excuses to keep them from discovering the truth and keep hunting.

    I endured it for months, until one day I managed to catch a few white rabbits. With their meat and pelts my family would have been well fed and clothed, allowing even my ill sister to take a walk from time to time.

    Too bad the poacher found me again, robbing me of my prey again. What he didn¡¯t know was that we weren¡¯t alone. A magical beast had been following me too and when he walked away from me, I decided not to warn him."

    Lith¡¯s eyes became watery thinking back at his father, at how much he had to suffer before those wet stairs did the dirty work for him.

    "While the beast devoured him, I didn¡¯t call for help nor did I attempt to drive it away. I just took back my game and stood watch to make sure that the poacher would never harm me ever again.

    I may have not killed him directly, but I consider him my first victim."

    Seeing all his friends sniffling with watery eyes, Lith shook his head.

    "I¡¯m not trying to belittle your suffering. This is not a measuring contest about who had it rougher. I just want you to know me, the real me, before giving you an unsolicited piece of advice."

    He took a deep breath, watching each of them in the eyes.

    "Friya, Yurial, you too have killed someone. Maybe because you felt pressured by the academy or simply because after killing so many monsters it seemed the right thing to do, it¡¯s not up to me to judge.

    Phloria, Quy, sooner orter you¡¯ll kill someone too, either out of self-defence or because it¡¯s your duty. When that momentes, please remember my words.

    Life is a cruel crucible that breaks us apart over and over, forcing us to put the pieces back together. Sometimes wee out of it stronger, sometimes weaker and most of the times there¡¯s so little we can do about it.

    Failure is not falling down, it¡¯s not getting up. I couldn¡¯t share my burden with anyone. How could I say to my brother, to my family, that our happiness was built on the death of another man?"

    "You are not like me. You have a lot of people that care for you, that know of your struggle and are willing to help. I don¡¯t know how long it will take for you to recover, but you don¡¯t have to face this alone.

    Instead of walling everyone out like I did, try to ept the hands they are offering to you. Otherwise you¡¯ll end up like me, and believe me when I say it¡¯s not pretty at all. I am missing so many pieces, I¡¯m mixed with so much sh*t that I barely feel human anymore.

    Do whatever you want with your lives, but remember that today I gave you a part of me and a choice. A choice I never had."

 Chapter 186 Crucible 3

    With his new body, Lith was capable of lifting an adult with one hand and of running as fast as a magical beast for several minutes before getting tired. Yet after giving that speech he was already panting.

    Speaking those words out loud had been one of the most difficult things he had ever done. Opening up, willingly showing his weakness, it went against everything he lived for during his past three lives.

    It was the closest thing he had ever done close to self-injuring himself, forcing so many old wounds to open up and bleed in public. He still had so many things that he wanted to say, how he envied every single one of them, even Quy, for being born with talent in a world that gave them limitless potential.

    They were so young, while he felt so bitter and old. They could take whatever path they wanted in life, while he was struck on a one-way railroad.

    - "I already said too much. If I keep going, I¡¯ll do more damage than good to them. Unlike me, they are really children. Their minds are still frail, they need time to really understand what they have just heard."¨C

    Everyone in the room was crying, even Lith and Solus. She had no tears to shed, yet Lith could perceive her suffering like he did for those physically present. Unlike them, though, that were temporarily being swayed by fleeting emotions, Solus was also happy for the small, painful step forward Lith had just taken.

    "I think we are done here." Lith said wiping away the only two tears he had shed.

    "I won¡¯t outstay my wee, so I¡¯ll take my leave."

    He walked out of the door without turning back, until he felt a small body hugging him from behind.

    "I¡¯m so sorry for saying all those things back then, about you hunting and killing people being cool." Quy was bawling her eyes out.

    "I never stopped to think how hard such a life had to be on you. Despite having gone through so many hardships myself, I could only picture you like one of those heroes from my books, capable of shrugging everything off with a smile.

    I just stood there, watching you from a distance only thinking about myself and never caring for your feeling. If there¡¯s something, anything I can do for you, even if you only want to talk, just say the word."

    Lith turned around without escaping from her embrace, but not returning it either.

    "Thanks for your words, but I think you are letting this thing go to your head." He patted her head kindly, running his hand through her hair.

    "You have nothing to apologize for. I didn¡¯t tell you guys all those things because I wanted your pity orpassion, but only because I believe you needed to hear them before deciding what you want to do with your lives.

    Now that you know who I am, I need you to calm down and reflect about all that has happened during this year. You should never make important decisions when you are emotional, or you¡¯ll do and say things you¡¯ll end up regretting in the future.

    When we meet again at the academy, if you still think the things you just said, repeat your offer once more. Who knows? Maybe this time we¡¯ll be friends for real."

    Quy let him go, realizing she has just gone from one extreme to another, from never speaking to him to almost confessing her feelings for him.

    - "Gods, I¡¯m so stupid. I never fell in love with Lith, only with the distorted image I had of him. Thank heavens he stopped me before I could make a fool of myself. I can¡¯t me him for seeing me only as a potential friend and not a love interest.

    We are still too young and know nothing about each other. Let¡¯s start as friends."¨C

    Only when Lith reached the Ernas¡¯ private Gate he realized he couldn¡¯t operate it without Orion¡¯s royal pass.

    - "Great job, smarta*s. Now I have to go back and search for help. I¡¯ll be lucky if the staff doesn¡¯t kick me out. No one here knows me or why I am here."¨C

    Then, he heard the door behind him opening up. It was Phloria, with a still tear-stained face from the little make up she wore. She was wringing her hands, trying to muster the courage to tell him how sorry she was.

    Phloria was the one that had spent more time with Lith, taking a walk together before breakfast every morning. She wasn¡¯t shy as Quy and didn¡¯t keep her distance from him like Friya to not hurt Quy¡¯s feelings, yet she had never bothered asking him about his burden.

    The problem was that her speech and Quy¡¯s were awfully simr. Phloria had eavesdropped his reply already and it fitted her too quite well. Only after listening to his story, she had realized how silly was her constant whining about her mother and the duties her family required from her.

    Phloria had never understood how lucky she was, being born with a silver spoon, until that evening. It made her feel like a shallow and spoiled girl.

    "Just the girl I was about to look for." Lith smiled at her, leaving Phloria amazed at how fast he had gone back to his usual self.

    "Can you please open it for me? I want to go home."

    Phloria took her pass out of her dimensional ne, setting the Gate¡¯s coordinates without saying a word.

    When Lith was about to walk through the Warp, Phloria grabbed his arm.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay? The dinner will be delicious and we have plenty of rooms for our guests." It was a stupid line and she knew it, but Phloria didn¡¯t want to let him go like that, dismissed like a servant after performing his duty.

    "Thanks for your offer, but there¡¯s nothing for me here. In five minutes you all will regain your cool and then it would be all forced apologies and awkward silences. You need time to think about what to do next, and so do I."

    The Gate closed as soon as Lith passed through it, making Phloria feel cold and alone despite being in thefort of her own house.

    ***

    House Ernas was an ancient noble house, full of hidden passages and secret doors. There was a reason that Vn Deirus had taken the apartment right next to his son.

    By simply removing a metal grid in the chimney, it was possible to hear everything that was happening in the adjacent room without the need of using spells that could alert a paranoid magician.

    Vn, Jirni and Orion had listened from start to finish, not even missing Quy¡¯s speech.

    Orion had fiercely opposed to the intrusion on the kid¡¯s privacy, but Vn had been adamant about it.

    "I can¡¯t put my son¡¯s future in the hands of a stranger I don¡¯t know and who has so many bad rumours going on about him. Leaving Yurial alone in his time of need would mean failing him once again and I¡¯m done doing it."

    Jirni seized the opportunity to better understand the nature of her newest opponent and his rtionship with her daughters, while Orion could only sigh and ept his fate.

    "A very interesting fellow." Vn said while fiddling with his goatee.

    "People like that are damaged goods, but they can be incredible assets. I must tell my son to keep him close, if he doesn¡¯t break down along the way, this Lith may have a brilliant future ahead of him. He reminds me of my grandmother in many ways."

    At the words "damaged goods" Jirni felt personally offended, giving to Vn a soft smile that sent shivers down Orion¡¯s spine. It was the same one she wore while taking care of her torturing devices in front of her prisoners.

    Orion knew that if res could maim, Vn¡¯s remains would easily fit into Jirni¡¯s purse. Yet she didn¡¯t rebuke their guest. Dinner time was nearing and they still needed to prepare themselves.

    Orion and Jirni took their leave and went to their private quarters before continuing the discussion.

    "What an ignorant idiot." She sneered. "If he just spent a little more time out of hisb and in the Court, he would know that half of them are ¡¯damaged goods¡¯. What do you think of the young Lith, dear?"

    Orion would never cease to be amazed by how no matter how violent her emotions could be, his wife would never let them get the better of her, remaining cold and collected under all circumstances.

    "He is still young. I really hope he can recover from his past traumas. It takes willpower and courage to not let such burden crush you and be able to share it with others. He can be a great friend to our girls and an asset for the Crown."

    "That¡¯s not what I was talking about." Jirni started to pick up a suit for him, since Orion was still deciding on the tie.

    "Quy is not very attractive yet, but she has a lot of talent and seems to really care for the boy. Friya acts tough, but she wouldn¡¯t be so mad at him if she considered him just a stranger.

    "As for our little Flower, any boy that can make her blush is better than all those we have introduced to her so far. Not to mention how she ran after him after a bit of hesitation.

    When we bring him into the family, we must be certain about who to match him with. A happy marriage is all aboutpatibility, like it happened for us."

    "What do you mean with ¡¯When¡¯?"

    ***

    After arriving back to Lutia, Lith didn¡¯t go home going straight for the Trawn woods. The recent events had taken a toll on him and he felt the need to remain alone.

    - "Mom thinks I¡¯m away, so she will not worry. Besides, if anything happens, she always has themunication amulet."¨C

    Solus and Lith went down to the Forgemasteringb to experiment on the second method. Lith was still tired, but Invigoration could make up for it and with his mind in turmoil he felt the need to bury himself in his work.

    ording to Gantzwell¡¯s theory, the best way to ovee Forgemastering¡¯s limits was to use a second magic circle. The normal enchanting processes required only one magic circle, to store the runes and collect the mana necessary.

    It was the Forgemaster¡¯s duty to provide the energy necessary to force both runes and mana into the item, by exerting a magical force superior to the one the magic circle stored.

    If the condition wasn¡¯t met, the enchantment would fail, that was the reason why a Forgemaster¡¯s creations could never exceed his own mana capacity. Gantzwell hypothesised that by using a second circle instead of their own mana, Forgemasters could team up and produce superior items.

    His work had raised great expectations, since using more than a single circle was already a standard procedure, although it served to better contain the magical energies rather than to make them sh.

    In the end, Gantzwell theory had been discarded because it never bore any fruit. Filling two ovepping magical circles with mana would make them unstable, the conflicting energies would damage the circles and dissipate too fast for any enchantment to seed.

    After a few attempts, Lith and Solus discovered that neither Solus¡¯s tower using Invigoration to keep the circles powered up nor Lith using true magic to speed up the process was enough to seed.

    "The night is still young." Solus sighed. "Do you want to get some sleep or do you prefer to pick a third method?"

    "Neither. I think I have a solution."

 Chapter 187 Silver Lining

    "The reason we are struggling so much with things like Alchemy and Forgemastering is because we got it all wrong. Since we have stepped into the academy, we have been looking at the problem from the wrong angle.

    "Fake magic and all its branches are strict, full of rules and boundaries that the mage can never ovee. Fake mages can¡¯t change the shape, size or even the temperature of a fireball, unless they rewrite the spell from scratch.

    "True magic instead, is a free flow. There is no set number of steps or limits to what you can do, as long as you have the willpower and imagination to make it happen. Our problem since the beginning is that we are trying to beat a game at its own rules instead of making our own.

    "Most of the things I have learned at the academy about tier four spells are redundant.

    I could have managed to perform everything they exined so far at the Healer, Combat Magic and Advanced magic sses on my own. I simplycked the ingenuity to connect the dots between what I already knew about tier three and below.

    That¡¯s why as soon as I learned the trick behind regrowing a limb or share life energy, I was already able to do it better with true magic. Forgemastering though, is something I am deeply ignorant about, hence my mistake.

    Instead of focusing on runes and circles, I should have tried to understand the logic behind the mana pathways¡¯ number and positioning. I should have studied what kind of form and properties a pseudo core needs to grant the enchanted item its effects.

    Once I have achieved that, I will not need any rune or chant. I will just have to carve the pathways and then create the proper pseudo core."

    "I think you are right." Solus¡¯ wisp said.

    "I should have thought of it when I managed to create my own magic circles without using Professor Wanemyre¡¯s special ink. If we don¡¯t need the ink for the circles, there¡¯s no reason why it should be any different for the runes too. By my maker, I could I be so slow on the uptake?"

    "Don¡¯t be so harsh on yourself, Solus. You are indeed the smarter one, but it¡¯s over one year that you are suffering from depression because of your condition. Not to mention how you are always taking care of me, managing my social life and helping me with magic.

    You know, I think you are one of the kindest persons I have ever met."

    Solus¡¯ wisp spun around out of joy. Being referred to as a person instead of a thing was what made her happy the most. Lith sensed it, and found himself thinking out loud.

    "Do you know a funny thing we have inmon? We have yet to find out what exactly we are. You are not an artifact, because you have a mind of your own, nor a cursed item. While I seem to have the body of a man, the morals of a beast and the soul of an Abomination."

    Solus liked the idea of their bond being beyond their symbiotic rtionship, much less the gloomy turn Lith¡¯s thoughts were taking, so she hurried changing the topic.

    "What where you saying about Forgemastering? That we can skip Gantzwell¡¯s theory and work directly on pseudo cores?"

    "I wish." Lith sighed.

    "It would require a massive amount of knowledge and experience that we are sorelycking at the moment. Until I manage to put my hands on a variety of magical items and study their properties, we are stuck using fake Forgemastering.

    Now that we know the rules of the game, though, there are some that we have to obey, some we can bend and other that we can ignore by cheating. Let me show you."

    Lith ced on the Forgemastering table one of the cheap rings he enchanted into dimensional items, while Solus used Invigoration to draw in the world energy and used it to fill with mana the ring¡¯s surrounding space.

    Then, Lith took out from the pocket dimension one of the many small hammers he had Zekell prepare for him. It had a metal head and a wooden handle, the kind one would use to knock a nail in a wall.

    "I had actually nned to enchant them into weapons for my family, but they should work just fine for my experiment too. Solus, is your control over the mana inside of the tower restricted to circles?"

    "No, it¡¯s just the way I¡¯m more used to project it, since we always followed Forgemastering¡¯s canons."

    "Okay. I need you to imbue the hammer I¡¯m holding with a little bit more mana than the one stored in the circle."

    Solus had no idea what Lith was nning, but did as instructed. Such amount of mana was well below her capabilities. The hammer pulsed with a blue glow, emitting a low buzzing sound.

    Lith focused on the mystical energies, making them submit to his will and take the form of the first rune before making them sh with those contained within the magic circle.

    Sparks flew all over theb while the conflicting energies generated a cyan burst of light that almost blinded Lith. Each strike produced a new burst of light, carving another rune inside the ring that created mana pathways wider and stronger than Lith ever had.

    The brief contact allowed the mystical energies to remain stable, but took a huge toll on the tool and its wielder.

    At the third rune the hammer crumbled. The cheap materials were already under a lot of stress due to the highlypressed mana forced in their frame. Each sh was like mming the hammer against an iing train.

    Lith took out another, this time with a steel head and handle, that Solus once again filled to the brim without letting Lith lose his rhythm. Steel proved to be a better mana conductor, allowing him to shape the runes with less effort andsting five hits.

    - "Damn! Eight done, seven to go. Next one!"¨C Lith couldn¡¯t waste his time talking, thinking was much faster. The third one was a small decorative silver ted hammer that Lith had bought as end of term present for Professor Wanemyre.

    - "F*ck me sideways! Random hates me, of all the junk I bought I had to pick the only expensive one. Just my luck."¨C The hammer wasn¡¯t that expensive, it was just Lith being that stingy.

    Yet he was in a rush, the cheap ring couldn¡¯t hold much longer, not giving him the time to switch hammer before resuming the process. Much to his surprise, not only silver was an even better mana conductor, but also somehow dispersed the excess energies reducing the bursts¡¯ blowback.

    Lithpleted the ring without the need to change hammer again. When he examined the final product via Invigoration, he discovered the experiment had been a partial sess.

    Despite using the enchantment requirements for middle ss quality dimensional items, capable of storing about ten square meters (108 square feet) worth of space, the one they obtained with the hybrid technique using both fake and true magic was a high quality one, with an internal space of almost thirty square meters (323 square feet).

    The problem lied in the uneven mana pathways coursing around the pseudo core.

    "Dammit. Despite you used the same amount of mana for each hammer, different materials have yielded different results. The pseudo core was infused while using the silver hammer, so it¡¯s too strong for the pathways I carved with first two hammers.

    Either they will be unable to hold its energies and make it progressively lose its magical properties or the core will be unstable over time and explode. With my luck, my money is on the boom."

    "It¡¯s still a sess." Solus said.

    "The silver ted hammersted seven hits before shattering. Maybe a silver hammer couldst enough for all thirteen runes, if not for more than one item."

    "Maybe and maybe not." Lith sighed.

    "Silver is a ductile and malleable metal. It could get deformed after a single rune, bing useless. It¡¯s worth the try, but it will cost a pretty penny."

    "Well, the good thing is that if we collect all the pieces you can have them melted into a new hammer."

    Over the next few days, before the academy¡¯s break was over, Lith performed countless experiments on several subjects. Following Solus¡¯ advice he bought a silver hammer, while following Earth¡¯s RPG customs he also bought a gold ted hammer.

    Only the materials costed him three gold coins, but in all the video games he had yed gold items performed better than silver. Much to his disappointment, gold turned out to be a terrible mana conductor, notsting even a single hit before getting pulverized.

    After cursing the creators of Dungeons & Looting for a while, he tried out the silver hammer. It allowed him to produce the first high quality dimensional ring of his Forgemaster career.

    The impacts were more magical than physical in nature, so the hammer would get dented but not destroyed. Lith could use it several times before having it reforged.

    "We either need a sturdier silver alloy or to enchant the hammer to make it more durable. Sooner orter Zekell will ask you what are you doing to reduce it in such a poor state and you don¡¯t have a usible excuse." Solus said.

    The more they learned about Forgemastering, the closer Lith got to open the boxes. He never received a vision to show him that the future had changed, so had never forgot about them.

    Lith and Solus tried to replicate the synchronization effect they had experienced against the Scorpicore, when she had assumed her glow form the first time, but to no avail.

    The stone glove simply acted as a stone glove, their bodies were linked but their mana cores seemed to be miles apart and happy that way.

    He never received a visit or a call from his friends and that left him quite dejected.

    ¨C"As Yurial said, too little and toote. That ship must be sailed already." Lith thought.

    "Or maybe they need some time to sort out their feelings." Solus pointed out.

    "Yurial and Friya have some serious thinking to do, while the poor Quy is probably still recovering from being friend-zoned like that. Phloria is the only one that has no excuses at all. I thought she was better than this."¨C

    After saying goodbye to his friends and family, Lith went back to the White Griffon academy for thest trimester.

 Chapter 188 Once More, with Feeling

    Going back to the academy felt a bit odd to Lith.

    He didn¡¯t like being there, always forced to hide his true abilities while keeping the Ballot at hand.

    After discovering that Warden¡¯s arrays could seal off dimensional items, he didn¡¯t feel safe storing it in the pocket dimension, so he took it out whenever he was going out of his room or of a ssroom.

    Lith had decided to enrol into the academy because he hoped to hoard knowledge and connections with powerful people, but so far only the former was proceeding smoothly.

    Between the Specialization courses and the library, from which he never stopped borrowing and copying material, his magical knowledge was ever expanding.

    As for the connections though, he was still at square one. Climbing the socialdder had proved to be impossible. The only choices were to either submit to a young lord/miss and be their gofer or get a Ballot and be isted.

    - "It was already bad before, but now I have lost even what littlepany I had. I knew that getting all emotional with a bunch of kids was a bad move. It¡¯s just you and me, Solus. What¡¯s worse is that without Quy¡¯s help, mastering dimensional magic will be much more difficult."¨C

    It was one of those rare times when Solus didn¡¯t know what to say. On one hand, she wanted to scold Lith for considering hispanions like tools instead of people, but on the other one she was d to see him back to his uncaring self.

    It had been her pushing Lith to open up and share his burden. Now that it had backfired, Solus couldn¡¯t help feeling partially responsible for the break up. At least with his cold attitude Lith would avoid further suffering.

    That was one of the many reasons why she was really surprised when someone knocked on the door of Lith¡¯s room, and even more when they discovered it wasn¡¯t a clerk sent to deliver the new books.

    It was Yurial.

    "Hi Lith, can Ie in?"

    Lith opened the door letting him inside, while noticing that Yurial didn¡¯t seem to be in good shape. He looked emaciated, paler than thest time Lith had seen him and had lost a few kilograms.

    "I don¡¯t know what the girls have in mind, but I prefer this talk to be private. I¡¯m afraid I am not as good as you at public speaking." Yurial sighed, looking around the room like he was searching for something other than the courage he needed to say what had to be said.

    "I thought a lot about what you told me. I¡¯m not talking only about the part concerning how to face my current hurdle, but about everything we rubbed in each other¡¯s face.

    "You were right, I didn¡¯t approach you looking for a friend, but I was really happy when I thought I had found one. You were also right about my apology. The only time I did it I wasn¡¯t sincere. I was just trying to rope you into my group to make my life easier at your expense."

    Yurial spoke while looking Lith in the eyes, his hands tightly clenched.

    "I have changed, though. Everything we went through together turned me into a different person. Someone that maybe is a little too reliant on tranquiliser potions, but still someone I believe is a better person than who I was before."

    Yurial extended his right hand towards Lith.

    "Hi, I¡¯m Yurial Deirus and I¡¯m a murderer. I¡¯m really sorry for what I did to you guys on the first day of academy. I treated you as a second rate person and Quy as a pet. I am sorry for having always taken you guys for granted until it was toote.

    I may be a little stuck up, but I¡¯d really like to be your friend."

    Lith smiled, shaking hands.

    "Apologies epted. We can¡¯t change the past, but we can learn from it and not repeat our previous mistakes. Since we got ourselves a second chance, we should do our best to not waste it."

    - "Are you serious?" Solus was bbergasted by the turn of events.

    "Yes. I too tried to manipte them all for my own gain, so I can¡¯t me him for ying the same game. Since I¡¯m trying to change too, maybe we can help each other.

    "I consider him on probation though. Talking is always cheap, Yurial has to prove with his actions to have really matured, otherwise it would be like trusting a new year¡¯s resolution at face value."¨C

    Yurial was so happy that his face regained colour, turning the handshake into a hug.

    "Thanks, man. I was really worried that you would just kick me out of your room. I¡¯ve really been a sh*tty friend so far."

    Lith patted Yurial¡¯s back, waiting a couple of seconds before escaping the embrace.

    "You and me both Yurial. I should have called you earlier."

    The sound of the first gong forced them to hurry towards thepulsory courses¡¯ ss, they had only fifteen minutes before the start of the lessons. Using Warp Steps inside the academy was impossible, so they had to fly.

    At their arrival, the girls had already taken their seats, keeping a couple of empty ones for their missingpanions. Lith was happy to see all of them smile at him, yet it left him wondering why they had never contacted him in the previous days.

    When the second gong resounded, Professor Nalear entered the ssroom. Lith couldn¡¯t help but think that she had gotten even more beautiful, but his heart was at peace now.

    - "If only I was ten years older."¨C He sighed, relinquishing once and for all his romantic dreams about her.

    "Wee back, boys and girls. I¡¯m d to see that so many of you managed to pass the second trimester. This year¡¯s promotion rate is way higherpared to previous years and that¡¯s good.

    "Yet many of you have seen their grades droppared to the first trimester, and that¡¯s bad. So I expect for you to work extra hard to make up for the lost time. Remember, perseverance and hard work are what real talent is made of."

    The ss gave her a short round of apuse for her kind words, to which she responded with a small bow.

    "Let¡¯s get started. Today I¡¯m not here to teach you Principles of Advanced Magic. We are done with that subject, at least for the fourth year. What I am going to introduce to you, is something that every mage must know, since it¡¯s part of our everyday life.

    "I¡¯m talking about mana crystals. You have already seen them plenty of times, but probably you never stopped asking yourselves what they are. At the academy there are mana crystals embedded in the tables of the canteen, at the prize hall, basically everywhere.

    "Mana crystals light every room, provide fresh air where there aren¡¯t windows and running water in your showers and toilets. Everything in the academy relies on mana crystals to work.

    "During this ss, I¡¯ll teach you what mana crystals are, how to find them and most importantly how to use them. In their raw form they are just pretty, shiny stones. It takes a mage to refine them and harness their power, turning them into all purpose tools.

    "No specialization is needed to be a Crystalsmith. Any one of you can be one as long as you have patience, precision and steady hands. I¡¯d add it¡¯s a well paid job, but I never heard of an alumnus struggling with money issues. All mages¡¯ jobs are good jobs."

    The eyes of the students that had no specialization or that had flunked them already lit up with greed.

    "First of all, what are they? Mana crystals are naturally formed minerals which hold an amazing quantity of magical power. How they form is still a mystery, we only know that usually they can be found in precise spots where wildlife thrives the most."

    - "They really have no idea the world is filled with magic power." Lith thought. "Probably those spots she is talking about are like the mana geyser we use for your tower form, Solus. If I¡¯m right, the world energy crystalizes over time into mana crystals.

    This means that with your mana sense we can find them easily and get filthy rich."

    "Sorry to burst your bubble..." Solus said.

    "... but both the mana geysers we know of have been squeezed dry by Abominations. I doubt they left anything behind."¨C

    Lith¡¯s dreams of wealth shattered, right when Nalear gave him another piece of bad news.

    "Only the poor quality ones can be found in forests, woods or oases. To get to the motherlode, one needs to go digging quite a bit. We don¡¯t know if magical beasts, nts or monsters use the crystals too, leaving behind only scraps.

    "What we do know, is that mana crystal veins can be found underground and that usually the deeper you go, the better the quality."

    - "It makes sense." Lith thought. "Probably nts and beasts consume them to enhance their cores, or maybe they naturally absorb the world energy for triggering their evolution and that prevents high quality crystals from forming.

    "Below the ground though, the world energy not only should be more abundant but also unused, so it can umte over time forming the veins. It¡¯s like a bank for unspent energy."¨C

    "A mana crystal¡¯s purity can be easily assessed by its colour."

    From her dimensional amulet, Nalear took out eight crystals perfectly cut like a precious gem. Each one was the size of her first.

    "As you can see, worst to best are red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet and white."

    Lith almost couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Mana crystals quality grade was identical to the one for mana cores, but with one exception.

    - "A white one? Does this mean that white mana cores actually exist?"

 Chapter 189 Once More, with Feeling 2

    Completely unaware of Lith¡¯s inner turmoil, Professor Nalear continued her exnation.

    "Red, orange and yellow are ssified as low grade crystals. These crystals are the most cheap andmon. They hold the smallest amount of mana and once it¡¯s consumed, they crumble to dust.

    They only have a limited number of uses as mediums for Wardens¡¯ and Alchemists¡¯ most simple creations, while they are useless to Forgemasters."

    - "Cheap?" Lith was stunned by Nalear calling something worth dozens of gold coins cheap.

    "My staff runs on a red crystal, and so did Yurial¡¯s array during the second exam. Even he was reluctant consuming one. I¡¯d better ask him for exnationster."¨C

    "For example, red ones can be used to prolong the duration of an array or to grant its control to someone different from the caster. In the former case, the Warden ces the crystal inside the formation, giving it an extra mana reserve.

    "In thetter one, the Warden sets his imprint on the crystal while conjuring the arrays. This allows whoever holds the crystal to turn them on and off. Red crystals are considered to be ¡¯dumb¡¯, since despite being imprinted, anyone can use them, even against the Warden¡¯s will.

    "Orange and yellow crystals work the same way, but contain much more mana and are a little ¡¯smarter¡¯. They can be imprinted multiple times, but only with the consent of the original caster. This makes them thief-proof, but using them for a one time array is like using a fireball to kill a fly."

    The red, orange and yellow stones disappeared in her dimensional amulet.

    "This leaves us with the good stuff. Green and cyan crystals are ssified as middle grade. They are used by Alchemists only for their most powerful creations, while they are much more important for Wardens and Forgemasters.

    Middle grade crystals not only contain a much bigger amount of mana, but they are also able to self recharge over time. As long as they hold even a tiny speck of energy, they do not crumble.

    The recharging process can take hours, days, or weeks depending on the size of the crystal and its purity. A deep cyan stone recharges slower than a bright one, the more vibrant the colour, the purer the gemstone is."

    The number of analogies between mana cores and crystals was making Lith¡¯s head spin.

    "Thanks to this property, Wardens can use them to make their formations semi permanent. Fueled by a sufficient number of crystals, a defensive array can remain active always, since its mana expenditure is covered by the crystals that recharge themselves non-stop.

    "Of course, the more damage the barrier sustains, the more mana is consumed, until the array is deactivated either by the magician himself or because all the crystals have been consumed

    "Forgemasters can instead embed them into their creations. Thanks to the magical gemstones, items not only be able to receive multiple powerful enchantments, but also gain a mana capacity of their own, allowing their wielder to use spells that he doesn¡¯t know or that he wouldn¡¯t be able to cast at all."

    Nalear took out what seemed to be a miniature sword, little enough to fit the palm of her hand. One secondter, it grew to the size of a long sword, with two shining cyan gemstones on its hilt.

    "This is Professor Wanemyre¡¯s most recent creation. For those who don¡¯t know her, she is our best resident Forgemaster. This sword has been enchanted with multiple spells that allow it to shrink, to be sharper and sturdier than normal.

    "It also allows its wielder to summon a protective barrier and cast tier three lightnings, even if he/she isn¡¯t a mage at all. It¡¯s all made possible only thanks to the mana crystals. Aside from special materials, most inorganic matter crumbles if imbued with too much magical energies.

    Only mana crystals can harness such power, even managing to use the conflicting energies deriving from the multiple spells to recharge themselves faster."

    Thinking about all the precious materials and resources he had wasted until the previous day, just to discover the same things he had learned in thest half an hour, Lith didn¡¯t know whether to rage or cry.

    - "Random really hates me! Why couldn¡¯t this lesson have happened a month ago? I hate Professor Wanemyre so much right now. If I still had her gift, the silver ted hammer, I would bash it on her head!"¨C

    Lith raised his hand to ask a question. Nalear noticed it and gave him permission to speak.

    "I¡¯m specializing in Forgemastering, why I have never heard about this before?" The pain resounded from his wallet up to his voice.

    "Because embedding magic crystals and infusing multiple enchantments is something you¡¯ll learn on the fifth year, after you have passed this subject and learned how to refine and handle the crystals." She replied with a warm smile.

    "We have already studied how to apply more than one spell though. The Professor had us trying and failing again and again. With all due respect, but it¡¯s unfair to us students." Many colleagues from Forgemastering nodded.

    They also had spent a lot of time, effort and money in a fool¡¯s errand, just like Lith.

    "It¡¯s unfair to the students, but fair to the academy¡¯s budget. This way Wanemyre knows who have worked their hands to the bone gaining solid foundations, and who instead have relied on tips from their families in vition of the academy¡¯s rules."

    Looking at those who had remained indifferent to Lith¡¯smentations, her smile turned into a grin.

    "High quality magic crystals are really expensive. We can¡¯t afford you students wasting them while taking your baby steps as Forgemasters. It was her way to separate the wheat from the chaff and save a lot of her budget.

    Two birds without even a magical stone." She winked at Lith, who contrary to her expectations instead of turning red became pensive.

    - "Solus, is it me or Professor Nalear is a bit strange?"

    "Yeah, flirting with a student is really going overboard. All those smiles and winking..." She replied with more than a tinge of jealousy in her voice.

    "Not that. Look at the sword, she¡¯s holding it with one hand."

    "It doesn¡¯t mean much. Maybe it¡¯s just enchanted to be light too."

    "Then exin how does she know about the conflicting energies of multiple spells? She isn¡¯t a Forgemaster and even if she was, they know nothing about pseudo cores. We learned about them only because of Invigoration."

    "By my maker! Are you implying she is an Awakened one?" Solus was shocked.

    "It would exin her trick on the first day that seemed so simr to spirit magic, her strength and knowledge. What does your mana sense perceive?"

    Solus focused all her attention on Nalear¡¯s mana core, ignoring her long legs, the full lips and the wavy hair that pissed her off beyond reason.

    "Her mana is still, just like that of a fake mage. Now that I think about it, though, the Marchioness had a magical item shielding her core from detection. Maybe Nalear has a simr device."

    "Or maybe she has learned how to control her mana flow. I can¡¯t ask Nalear if the sword also has a weight reducing spell, it could tip her off. I¡¯ll ask Professor Wanemyre as soon as I see her."¨C

    After the enraged chattering of the students died out, Nalear made the green and cyan gem disappear before resuming her exnation.

    "Blue and violet are high grade crystals. Only the best and richest Wardens and Forgemasters can afford them. The white ones are a tier of their own, you¡¯ll never see them outside of the royal pce or powerful artifacts.

    What sets high grade crystals worlds apart from their lesser cousins, is that beside the ability to recharge at great speed over time, they can also be manually recharged. Take the academy, for example." She waved at the wall, pavement and ceiling.

    "The reason why even the canteen can use Warp Steps to deliver you your meals is the same that makes this castle an impregnable fortress. Not only it has been built with countless crystals that empower all of its spells and arrays.

    It is also able to feed on the mana of its residents in case it needs some extra juice. Every time we practice magic, make a call with amunication amulet or activate a dimensional item, the academy takes its toll in the form of a minuscule fraction of the magic employed."

    The students gasped, looking at their hands like expecting to find fleas under their clothes.

    "It¡¯s at the same time a sword and a shield. A shield because it protects us all from internal and external threats. A sword because whoever doesn¡¯t wear a uniform can have their mana sucked dry in an instant.

    Whatever spell an intruder could use, the castle would throw it back at him tenfold.

    Oh, right. Only gemstones from blue and above are capable of sustainingplex functions, like projecting holograms, copying documents and such. That¡¯s why all yourmunication amulets have a blue gemstone embedded and are so expensive."

    At the thought that Wanemyre had showed him the blueprint for the amulet without exining anything to him, Lith felt the desire to make the Professor and her present have a violent encounter grow even stronger.

    "In the following lessons I¡¯ll teach you how to cut a mana crystal ording to its intended function. How to check its quality, how to identify its consumption rate and if it has it, the recharge rate.

    Thest part of our lessons will be about how to manually recharge high quality crystals, with a trip to the mines in the forest to show you how to find, dig and extract raw crystals without having them explode in your face. Dismissed."

    As soon as Nalear had finished speaking, the gong signalling the end of the lesson resounded and she left the ss.

    "This lesson made me feel dirty poor." Lith sighed.

    "I know, with my weekly allowance I can barely afford a few red mana crystals. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t use them unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary." Yurial sighed along, showing Lith a small bag containing enough red gemstones to fuel Lith¡¯s staff for more than a year.

    Suddenly Lith felt the urge to gift him with a hammer too.

 Chapter 190 Dimensional Business

    Between sses there was a ten minutes break that students could use to rx, exchange notes or simply stretch their legs a bit. Lith was eager to understand if one or more of the girls was still angry or wanted to keep a distance from him.

    The problem was introducing the topic without making himself sound worried or even worse, desperate. From his previous life, he had learned that girls could smell desperation from a mile away and they were usually good at exploiting it.

    Before he could find a proper way to clear their rtionship, Quy spoke up.

    "Did you really practice Forgemastering on your own?"

    "Of course, I did." Lith felt slightly offended by the implication.

    "But aside from small stuff I didn¡¯t manage to create much. On the contrary, I wasted quite a few materials, since Wanemyre left me stumbling in the dark." He snorted.

    "Really?" She was genuinely surprised.

    "How can your family afford a magicb? It¡¯s not something you see often near a farm."

    Lith realized toote his slip up. He couldn¡¯t tell them about Solus and her custom-madebs, so he had to improvise.

    "They can¡¯t. I practice in a small clearing in the woods near my house. It¡¯s not much, but at least it¡¯s quiet and isted."

    "Then you can¡¯t really me the Professor for your failures. Father always says that without a properly insted magicb, enchanting items is more a form of gambling rather than magic."

    "Are you taking Forgemastering lessons from Orion?"

    Quy nodded.

    "More like he exins to me the basics while he works. Father says that I could use a second specialization and that Forgemastering helps build the character."

    - "It seems to be true, since she managed to look me in the eyes the whole time without blushing. Orion must have been spending quite some time with them to make Quy call him father already."¨C

    "By the way, how was your report card?" Quy had be much more talkative and straightforwardpared to the past.

    "Pretty good. With only one sour note."

    "Let me guess." Friya scoffed. "Dimensional magic?"

    "Got it in one." Lith smiled.

    "Did Rudd give you an A- too?"

    "The f*cker did much worse!" Friya mmed her fist on the desk, drawing the attention of most of the ss.

    "Hush! Last time I hadn¡¯t the opportunity to tell you, but somehow the report cards of those who passed the second test leaked to the public." Lith whispered.

    "Most of our ssmates are already envious of our sess, don¡¯t give them the opportunity to report you to Rudd and give him an excuse to lower your grades even further."

    The piece of news took them all by surprise. Friya looked at their ssmates with anger and only after taking a few deep breaths, she managed to calm down.

    "Yurial and Phloria got an A+, Quy got an A- like you and I only an B+." Her voice was quiet, but her hands snapped a quill in half over and over, until the biggest piece was the size of a bean.

    "It¡¯s beyond unfair." Phloria chimed in.

    "We are more or less at the same level, but only thanks to Quy giving us real lessons about dimensional magic and thanks to you teaching us how to multi cast properly.

    "It should be you two having a better grade instead of us. I bet Rudd looked at our family¡¯s status first and at our performancester. Friya¡¯s grade makes no sense unless..."

    "Unless he is punishing me for what my mother did, implying that since I belong to a family of traitors I must have cheated somehow." Friyapleted the phrase for her, rage and sadness resounded in her voice.

    "I think I would have popped a vein if it wasn¡¯t for you, Lith. Thank you very much." Friya suddenly hugged him, causing the onlookers to start gossiping about it.

    "What did I do exactly?" Lith had been caught by surprise and was unable to make heads or tails of her words.

    "You were our supervisor during the second exam, dummy. You must have embellished our performances quite a bit, otherwise I doubt my report card would be this good." She handed him a piece of paper, on which was written:

    "Friya Ernas:

    Principles of Advanced Magic: A-; Mage Knight: A-; Healing: A; Dimensional Magic B+. School points gained from daily evaluation: 3,362. School points gained from the second exam: 1000/1000

    Headmaster Linjos."

    The candidate demonstrated to be cool headed even under stressful situations, capable of excellent teamwork and brave enough to put her own safety at risk to ensure the sess of her team¡¯s mission."

    One after the other, hispanions gave Lith a copy of their report card. They had all scored full points during the second exam, while their grades went from a minimum of A- to a maximum of A+.

    The only exception was Quy, who had received an S- as a healer.

    "We received our report cards just a few days ago. I would have never expected to be considered a Rank A magician." Quy was brimming with joy.

    "I honestly doubt we would have got full marks if you told Linjos how we puked our guts out after facing the first group of goblins. Did you paint us out like fearless adventurers? And if you did, how did you manage to sell it to Linjos?"

    All eyes were fixated on Lith, eager for an answer.

    "Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but you are overestimating my acting skills and underestimating Linjos. He would never believe such tale, I had to tell him the truth. Especially after what he did to you during thest test.

    I wanted him to understand how hard the whole exam had been on you and how despite that you had managed to ovee every hurdle without my help." He winked.

    "I simply forgot to tell him about the time you panicked, losing control of the lighting spell, and about the night when you all fell asleep leaving me to stand guard alone. And even if I did tell him, I¡¯m sure you would have got full marks. You owe me nothing."

    As soon as he finished his speech, Lith fell victim to a group hug.

    "Thank you so much." Phloria said. "When my parents heard the Headmaster praising my talent as a leader, my mother was moved to tears and didn¡¯t nag me until I left home."

    Considering that the report cards had arrived after Lith¡¯s visit, he was left pondering how terrifying Jirni Ernas had to be to make a couple of days nag-free so precious.

    "Yeah, man." Yurial added. "Reading over and over my report card, especially the part where Linjos highlighted my strategic skills against the ogres gave me the strength to get up from my bed and return to the academy.

    "Rest assured that when Linjos will summon us in his office to evaluate your performance, we¡¯ll return your favour in full."

    Being careful about who he touched and where, while trapped in the mass of clinging bodies, Lith managed to free his arms and return the embrace.

    "Thanks guys, but there is no need to. Just tell the truth and everything will be fine. Of course, if you could share my selective memory loss it would be peachy."

    Professor Khavos Rudd walked in just in time to hear theirughter.

    His left upper lip curled up in an expression of unbridled disgust.

    - "Damn Linjos. Seeing the heirs of proud magical families mingle with dirtymoners and a traitorous b*tch makes me sick. In the old days, I would teach them a lesson or two about respecting the hierarchy and keeping the mana-line pure.

    To add insult to the injury, not only are those five among this year¡¯s top percentile, but also that Lith is one of the Queen¡¯s favourites, like Linjos wasn¡¯t enough already. I didn¡¯t survive this long by antagonizing powerful people for petty reasons, but the gods know how tempted I am to do it just this once."¨C

    "Sit down. School¡¯s in session." Rudd¡¯s stern voice put a stop to the chattering, forcing the students to return to their seats.

    "My dear students, I would like to say that I¡¯m happy to see you still so numerous, but the truth is that I¡¯m not." His tone was so full of bile that it could melt steel.

    "In my long career I had many sses, but this is by far the most disappointing. The only reason so many of you are still here, is because despite my subject beingpulsory, my evaluation is irrelevant towards your promotion."

    Some students lowered their heads out of shame. The others stood tall, either because their grades were good or simply because they didn¡¯t care. Professor Rudd had long lost the respect and admiration of many of them.

    The nobles saw him as someone unable to stand his ground against Linjos, the others as a relic of the past. As an annoying, pompous old coot.

    "Whoever already seeded casting Warp Steps raise his hand, please." A little less than half the ss answered the call.

    "Those of you that still haven¡¯t mastered the spell and fail at it sometimes lower their hands, please." Barely twenty raised hands remained.

    "Three months of patience and effort brought us to such a pathetic result. Since some of you worked hard while the rest of the ss twiddled their thumbs, I¡¯m not going to waste my precious time anymore.

    "I¡¯ll exin to you how to turn a Warp Steps into a Blink or a Switch and then we will all go to the practice hall. You¡¯d better take notes, because I¡¯m not going to repeat myself."

    Rudd waited only a few seconds before resuming his lesson, many students had yet to take out their books and inkwells.

    "Those of you that have actually read my book, should have already noticed that the two spells that will get you out of my face once and for all are only mentioned but never described.

    "That¡¯s because they aren¡¯t new spells, they are simply variations in the execution of Warp Steps that require a lot of talent and skill in the art of dimensional magic. You already know the magic words and hand signs. You just need to take onest step.

    "To turn a Warp Steps into a Blink, all you need to do is to make the entrance Gate move towards you and close it as soon as you have crossed it. Switch is the same thing, but requires generating two sets of gates moving at the same speed and leading almost to the same coordinates.

    "Very few can do it, that¡¯s why learning Switch is purely optional while Blink it¡¯s not. To make a Gate move, you need to use the other one as an anchor and stretch the dimensional corridor without making it copse.

    "This requires boosting the energy flow by adding fire magic at the veryst moment, and a further injection of air, earth and water magic so that the bnce remains unchanged.

    Between the further mana consumption and the speed required to make it work, Blink has a range of thirty meters (33yards) tops, despite consuming the same amount of energy it would take to Warp a kilometre (0.6 miles) away.

    Switch is simr to a Blink done twice but with a single spell.

    By adding light and darkness magic in equal parts during the first steps of the spell, it¡¯s possible to induce a resonance that doubles the number of energy cores, creating two entry and two exit points.

    Using six elements in such short time not only is a rare feat, but also requires a lot of focus. Hence why its range is further limited to 10 metres (11yards) and needs a clear line of sight between the caster and the target."

    After finishing his exnation, Professor Rudd Warped them to the training hall, splitting the students in groups ording to their skill level.

    Over an hour passed, many Gates were opened, but none managed to Blink.

    Half an hourter, much to everyone¡¯s surprise, Friya disappeared from her spot reappearing a few meters away. In a matter of minutes, she managed to Blink several times in a row.

    Professor Rudd was seething with anger, but managed to hide his feeling and even congratted her, encouraging the ss to follow Friya¡¯s lead.

    Before Lith was forced into another group hug, a furious bellow resounded.

    "It¡¯s not fair, she cheated!" Lyam Lukart walked toward Friya like he wanted to beat her, but despite being fifteen centimetres (6 inches) shorter than him she stood firm, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

    "She cheated and I can prove it!"

 Chapter 191 Pride Goeth Before a Fall

    In his decades long career, Khavos Rudd had been forced to listen to ridiculous theories, stupid questions, and excuses to justify ipetence or failure so imaginative that they would put a bard to shame.

    Yet never before he had ever heard something so tantly preposterous.

    "Unfair?" He echoed cing himself between the young Lukart and the bloodthirsty girl. Clearly one of them needed protection, but he was unsure about which one.

    "Cheated?" His voice rose in intensity while astonishment was reced by rage for his wounded pride.

    "Are you telling me that it¡¯s possible to cheat in the noble art of dimensional magic? During my ss and in front of me? Are you calling me stupid, ipetent or both?"

    Knowing how Professor Rudd loved and respected magical bloodlines, Lyam Lukart was taken aback by his vicious retort.

    "No. I would never dare to say something like that." Lyam swallowed a lump of saliva. Whenever a Professor took out hismunication amulet it was never a good omen.

    "I really hope so. Just like I¡¯m dying to hear why do you thinkdy Ernas has cheated. If I don¡¯t like your reply, prepare to say goodbye to one thousand points." Rudd replied with his thumb already ced on the administration office¡¯s rune.

    Lyam started to panic. One thousand points were more than he had to spare. He was used to spending them as soon he had enough for a new magical trinket.

    "Sir, she has clearly cheated. First of all, shees from magicless family, hence it¡¯s impossible for her to outss a pureblood like me. Not to mention she received only a B+ in dimensional magic, while I got an A+.

    How can someone with such a low evaluation be this good at dimensional magic? This is all the proof that I need!" He replied puffing his chest with pride.

    In recent years, the ancient noble families had seen their privileges being slowly extended also to younger and more talented magical households.

    With the Court¡¯s new policies, their influence over the Kingdom was fading and their loyal servants that upied key roles in every region were being reced by new bureaucrats only loyal to the Crown.

    Seeing someone of lesser upbringing perform better than him was more than a wound for his adolescent pride, it was like feeling everything that had been promised to him, his very birthright, slip through his fingers like a handful of sand.

    "Really? A B+?" Professor Rudd became pensive, losing his edge and letting Lyam breathe a sigh of relief.

    "How do you know it?" Professor Rudd¡¯s ice-cold blue eyes were suddenly just a few centimetres from Lyam¡¯s, burning with anger and mana.

    "H-how do I know what?" Lyam stuttered at each word

    "Her grades. They are secret, my secret to be precise. You two are not friend, hence I doubt she told you." Friya shook her head to confirm his suspicions.

    "I¡¯ll ask you only once. How do you know?"

    "A friend told me."

    "Then give me the name of this friend." Rudd¡¯s tone was bing more menacing by the second.

    "I don¡¯t want to get him in trouble. He simply shared with me something that everyone knows. It¡¯s not his fault."

    "Really? Everyone knows?" With a wave of Rudd¡¯s hand, the training hall¡¯s door closed shut.

    "Then we have much to talk about, my students."

    Those present looked at Lyam with hatred and scorn, he had managed to get all of them involved in barely one sentence.

    "Young man, you are in a lot of troubles. If you don¡¯t give me the name of your friend, forget the points. I¡¯ll get you expelled for breaching the academy¡¯swork. After that, I¡¯ll make sure no matter the academy, you¡¯ll find only closed doors in front of you."

    Lyam knew that he had no way out of that situation. His father was a rich and powerful man, but Rudd had outlived countless Headmasters and even the Queen¡¯s attempt to have him retire.

    Khavos Rudd was an archmage with such knowledge, power, and connections that Lyam was certain that his words were far from being an empty threat. After Lyam gave Rudd his friend¡¯s name it took barely a few minutes for the Professor to work up the pyramid discovering who was involved and how.

    "Very well, you bunch of idiots, we¡¯ll discuss your punishmentter in the Headmaster¡¯s office.

    "As for you, young Lukart, let me give you a lesson of humility. You may not like a person, you may despise their family, but you always respect the talent once it¡¯s pped right in your face."

    Professor Rudd dragged Lyam in the middle of the training hall, in front of the cold gaze of his friends that couldn¡¯t wait to watch him fail and share their misery.

    "I may be old, but my memory works just fine. I remember clearly how you and mister Lith here were the first ones to get ahead with the loop spell. Let¡¯s do something simple."

    Judging from his wolfish smile, what he was going to propose was anything but simple.

    "Mister Lith, do you mind opening a Loop (*) for me? Do it very slowly, step by step please."

    Lith did as instructed, discovering how hard was to humor Rudd¡¯s request. What once came natural to him during his previous failures, now required his utmost focus. His mind and body were so used letting the various elements flow that the task was akin to drive a car with the handbrake on.

    Yet Lith managed to seed. First appeared a single shining sphere, that Rudd made him keep for ten seconds, then he could finally split it into two ck dots for another ten seconds and only the Rudd allowed him toplete the spell and open the small Gates.

    Lith was sweating a bit and had a splitting headache. Dimensional magic was dynamic by nature, keeping it static was a mammoth task.

    - "If this is what he considers ¡¯easy¡¯, I must thank Linjos for removing written and practical test, otherwise I would never pass dimensional magic if Rudd demanded ¡¯hard¡¯ tasks." Lith thought. ¨C

    "Now it¡¯s your turn, Lord Lukart." Rudd¡¯s voice was oozing sarcasm.

    Lyam chanted the spell, opening the two Gates at once.

    "I said slowly. Are you deaf, dumb or both? Again!"

    Lyam tried over and over again, only managing to keep the single parts of the spell active for a second or two before it exploded in his face. Only the training hall¡¯s security measures prevented him from being disfigured or worse.

    "Do you know what¡¯s the difference between the two of you?"

    Lyam was going to say: "He is amoner while I am an heir from a noble magical family.", but Rudd anticipated his answer and didn¡¯t give him the time to reply.

    "It¡¯s that despite his poor talent in dimensional magic, he has practiced hard. He has failed countless times before seeding until every single step of the spell has been engraved in both his mind and body.

    "You, instead, have been probably instructed by your father or one of his assistants, feeding you the answers you needed without even caring about understanding the importance of the underlying questions.

    Let me show you how easy is distinguishing talent from hard work in my field. Lady Quy Ernas, do you mind giving a demonstration to the ss?"

    Quy performed as Lith, but without breaking a sweat.

    "Outstanding talent." Rudd said, managing for the first time to not make it sound like an insult.

    "If it wasn¡¯t for the ipetence of Professor Nalear in teaching multi casting, I¡¯m sure she would be already able to switch. Only the talented ones understand the flow of mana and can move it ording to their will.

    Lady Friya, now it¡¯s your turn."

    Friya seeded too.

    "Talent and hard work. A very rarebination." Rudd bowed to her in a sign of respect.

    "As for you, Lord Lukart, it¡¯s time to learn that foolish actions and words have consequences." He activated hismunication amulet.

    "Here is Professor Rudd. Subtract two thousand points from Lyam Lukart for insubordination, nder of a schoolmate and for divulging academy¡¯s secrets. Also, change his dimensional magic evaluation to B- and raise Friya Ernas¡¯ one to A+."

    At those words, Lyam turned pale as a ghost at first, then green and finally red due to a fit of rage. He rushed toward Friya, punching her in the face.

    Rudd was about to intervene, but he noticed that her hands and lips were moving at great speed. He ced an invisible barrier around her and pretended to do nothing, studying her skill.

    Her dimensional spell was still active, all Friya had to do was toplete the spell, cing the first gate in front of her and the other near Lyam¡¯sher region.

    The result was the young Lukart giving himself a powerful straight in the nuts.

    Rudd erupted intoughter, seeing Lyam sorry figure curled up on the ground. Soon more than half the ss joined the Professor in his hrity. The fall of a high and mighty noble was a rare sight, themoners among those present savored every moment of it.

    Tears streaked Lyam¡¯s cheeks non stop. Even worse than the physical pain was the taste of failure in his mouth, being aughingstock for the first time in his life.

    "Very well executed and perfectly timed, Lady Ernas." Rudd activated hismunication amulet once again.

    "Points assignation to the student Friya Ernas for disying superb mastery of dimensional magic andpleting the course three months early. Five hundred points."

    This time no one interrupted the group¡¯s cheers and congrattions. Friya was so happy that she stopped frowning for the first time since the end of the second exam.

    Seeing the group of youths so close despite being so different in social status, age, and magical legacy made Professor Rudd sighed of resignation.

    - "I hate to admit it, but if Lyam Lukart is the best the old magical families have to offer, then it¡¯s much better to wipe them out once and for all. I hatemoners, but I love magic too much to let a bunch of ungrateful spoiled brats disrespect it.

    "Those who spare no effort in pursuit of magical knowledge are a hundred times better than someone that takes shortcuts, incapable to understand that magic is apetition with oneself, not with others." -

    "Lady Ernas, you are free to not attend dimensional magic sses anymore. I hope you will decide otherwise, though. It would be a pleasure and an honour for me to help you mastering Switch too and witness the birth of a true dimensional magician."

    The whole group was astonished. There was no trace of sarcasm in his voice. Rudd even gave her a deep bow. Where years of arguing and debates in the Mage Association had failed, Lyam Lukart had seeded.

    The harshparison between his blind arrogance and Friya silent efforts had managed to convince Khavos Rudd once and for all that he had been wrong his whole life.

    Being a good magician wasn¡¯t a matter of talent or bloodline, hard work and passion for magic were the only things to treasure and nurture.

    "It would be my pleasure to be taught by the greatest dimensional magician of our times." She replied with an even deeper bow.

    Despite her resentment for Rudd¡¯s previous conduct, Friya wasn¡¯t so stupid to put grudge before education.

    Rudd nodded, pleased by both her answer and her ttery.

    "The ss is dismissed early today. Lyam Lukart, get up and follow me to the Headmaster¡¯s office. Let¡¯s see if I can get you expelled. Your sight sickens me."

 Chapter 192 Unexpected Surprise

    After the end of the lesson, the group went to the canteen to eat something and recover from the shock. For months they had been watching their backs for Lukart and his goons, and now Professor Rudd was getting rid of him.

    That and Friya joining them as a full fledged A ranked student was too good to be true. Friya was literally walking on air from excitement. She was so happy that her magic had gone out of control making her float a few centimetres over the ground.

    "Keep a seat for me, I¡¯ll join you in a while. I can¡¯t wait to give the good news to Orion, he¡¯s going to be so proud of me!"

    "Quy already calls him ¡¯father¡¯ and Friya¡¯s first thought after going out of the ssroom was to share his joy with him. Your dad must be a great man, Phloria." The group sat down at their usual table. It was too early for lunch, so they ordered snacks and beverages.

    Lith would have loved to have a cold beer after how much sweating Rudd had put him through, but he knew that his body was still too young. No matter how many times he asked for it, the kitchen staff would always refuse to serve him alcohol.

    "He¡¯s more than that, he¡¯s a great dad. Unlike my mother, he has never let me down nor has ever tried to force his will on me. Too bad that he is often away from home for weeks and that makes my mother the ruler of thend."

    Just the thought of her mother was enough to make even her fruit juice taste sour.

    "To be honest, I am really surprised Friya managed to Blink before you, Quy." Yurial expressed what everyone had in mind, while Friya was still away to not hurt her feelings.

    "I¡¯m not." Quy lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "Despite I mastered tetra casting before her, fire magic is still my weak point. Do you remember I told you I started practicing magic after my vige¡¯s healer death?"

    Everyone nodded.

    "What I omitted to say is that the bandits set fire to the vige and I almost died back then. Since that moment, I have been scared of fire magic. Fire is different from the other elements, even without mana it doesn¡¯t disappear, it keeps growing and burning like it¡¯s alive.

    Because of that I never practiced it much, but now things have changed. I¡¯m not that scared little girl anymore, I¡¯ll catch up with you in no time!"

    When Friya returned everyone was already eating and drinking. Lith decided to exploit that moment when everyone had their guard lowered to ask his question as casually as he could.

    "I¡¯m d to see you are all in a good mood. That leaves me with a question, though. Why none of you ever called me? You had me thinking you wanted to cut ties with me." Despite all his efforts, Lith ended up fiddling with his ss while he was talking.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for that." Friya lowered her eyes, her smile disappeared already.

    "It¡¯s just that after hearing your story, I was embarrassed for having treated you so coldly. After realizing that your burden is much heavier than mine, I felt like a tantrumming child demanding attention. I didn¡¯t know what to say without making even more of a fool out of myself."

    "It wasn¡¯t a suffering measuring contest!" Lith sounded stressed, but was actually relieved by her answer. Since Phloria seemed pensive, he looked at Quy.

    She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, like she was about to say something but changed her mind at thest moment.

    - "Gods, why I¡¯m such a coward? I just have to tell him the truth. Of how after he left, I needed to sort out my feelings, to understand what was real and what was just make believe.

    Tell him how much you missed him, but you were too afraid of being rejected again. It¡¯s not that hard, I¡¯m sure Phloria would say it in one breath."¨C

    "Well, I needed some time to sort out my feelings." Phloria said with a straight face, making Quy spit her beverage back in the ss while Lith tilted his head in confusion.

    "What feelings? Those for your mother? Your new sisters? Or about the realization that sooner orter you¡¯ll have to kill someone?" He asked.

    "None of the above." She waved her hand like putting away all those topics.

    "You see, when she is not trying to boss me around and telling me how to live my life, my mother is a great listener. She knows human nature very well and people are just open books for her. As much as it pains me to admit it, I¡¯m no exception."

    "After you left my home, I was left with an odd feeling. When I spoke about it with my mother, she offered me her insight and suggestions, instead of trying to manipte me, which was a refreshing event.

    "She pointed out that I¡¯m already fifteen and I¡¯m not going to get younger. The next year I will turn sixteen, bing an adult. Either I decide to marry or not, I still have no experience at all with boys and once I join my father¡¯s corps things will get real.

    "It will be kill or be killed, with no middle ground norpromise. So I¡¯ve decided to enjoy myst year as a kid to its fullest ande out of my shell. Lith, would you like to go out with me?"

    Lith¡¯s face froze with a creepy smile while Quy was choking on her drink.

    "Gee, don¡¯t jump me like that. Wait at least the fifth date or something." She sneered after Lith remained stuck in the same pose for several seconds.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but saying that this is unexpected is an understatement. Also, I¡¯m ttered by your attentions, but I never thought about you that way."

    "It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t like-like you, for that matters." Phloria replied still in high spirits.

    "Okay, now you have lost me. If you don¡¯t feel anything for me, why asking me out?"

    "It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t have feelings for you, more like I don¡¯t understand them, yet. So far all the boys my age are either immature daydreamers that still believe to be destined one day to y monsters and marry a princess, or horny teens that only want to get in a girl¡¯s pants, like Yurial."

    "Hey, I resent that!" Yurial became beet red up to his ears.

    "Dude, I was there when you flirted with your girls of the day. I could have even asked you out if I wasn¡¯t sure that the first thing you would do is to put your hand up my a*s."

    Yurial lowered his eyes, incapable of denying the truth of her words. He was quite fickle with girls, to be polite.

    "Lith, you are the most level headed and mature boy I know. Be it about politics, literature, or mystical arts I can always have a nice conversation with you. I would like for us to start as friends and see how things develop."

    - "I must admit her offer is interesting. I never had a high school sweetheart. They were all a bunch of immature kids while I had my hands full by keeping my schrship and part time works.

    This could be the opportunity to experience what I thought I had missed forever. The problem is that I don¡¯t like her that way, she is still a child in my eyes. At that age, things can escte fast and I don¡¯t want to ruin our friendship before it even begins.

    What do you think about it, Solus?"

    "Why do you ask me?" She was honestly surprised.

    "As I said, I don¡¯t like her. Most importantly, I don¡¯t want to hurt your feelings. Our rtionship may beplicated at times, but I wouldn¡¯t ruin it for the world."

    Those words made Solus cry from happiness, but she hid all her emotions in a corner of her mind where Lith couldn¡¯t find them unless he explicitly searched her memories.

    "Thanks, but you don¡¯t need to worry about me. Don¡¯t you remember how I pushed you toward all the girls we met? I always believed you needed someone to rely on outside of your family, someone that¡¯s more than just a voice in your head."

    "You are much more than a voice in my head!" Lith was outraged by Solus¡¯ self-deprecation.

    "You are my partner in battle, my confidant. You are the only reason I haven¡¯t already turned in the monster I¡¯m afraid to be if I lose myst shred of humanity."

    "Yet I¡¯m just a voice in your head. It took eight years for me to obtain my wisp form. Maybe in another eight I¡¯ll get some kind of ethereal body, that will take eight more to materialize.

    Do you really think you can avoid human contact for sixteen years, to never hold hands, kiss or sleep with a woman? When you met Nalear and Nindra, you would have asked them out if not for the age gap. This is all I have to say, the life is yours and so is the choice."¨C

    In their mind space, time flowed much faster than in the outside world. Their conversationsted barely a second.

    - "Well, I can get a sweetheart and maybe this will help Quy get over me. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to marry Phloria, things will probably not work out. I¡¯d say the pros outweigh the cons."

    "Only one thing." Solus added. "Whatever you do, this is not one of your business deals. She is a real person with real feelings, don¡¯t treat her like a calcted risk, looking for a gain. Otherwise I will be really disappointed in you."¨C

    "I would love to go out with you." Lith replied with his best smile while Solus¡¯s words were still echoing in his head.

    "The only problem is when and where. The academy takes out almost all our free time and there¡¯s nothing to see around here."

    "Not a problem." Phloria was radiant, way more than Lith would have expected.

    "During the weekend we can go anywhere thanks to the academy¡¯s Gate. Do you mind if we take a walk? I¡¯ve so many things I want to discuss with you right now."

    Lith stood up and waved goodbye to his still frozen stiff friends.

    "I never saw thating." Yurial was the first to recover.

    "Of all the girls of the academy, Phloria is thest one I would have expected to make a move on Lith. The real shocker is that he didn¡¯t turn her down like all the other girls. Maybe he is not made of stone like I always thought."

    A faint hup stopped him in his tracks. Quy was on the verge of tears, while Friya was holding her tight, trying to console her.

    "It¡¯s all right, it¡¯s not the end of the world." She said.

    "It¡¯s all my fault." Quy sobbed.

    "I had countless asions with him but I wasted them all, always waiting for the right moment instead of creating one as Phloria did. I feel so stupid. I deluded myself into believing I had changed, but I¡¯m still a coward."

    Yurial and Friya helper her to get up and brought Quy to her room, before all the canteen noticed her distress.

    Meanwhile, Lith and Phloria were walking along the corridors with Phloria doing most of the talking and listing all the ces she wanted to visit in the Griffon Kingdom.

    Suddenly Lith noticed they were in front of Phloria¡¯s room.

    "Come in. There¡¯s something I want to tell you, but I don¡¯t want anyone else to hear it."

    Lith was hesitant.

    - "Her room already? This isn¡¯t escting fast, it¡¯s skipping all the bases!"¨C

    When she noticed it, Phloria giggled.

    "Come on, I will not eat you. Yet."

    Phloria closed the door behind them. Then, without saying a word she hugged him tight.

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She sniffed, being on the verge of tears.

    "The truth is that after the second exam, I am always scared. Down in that dungeon, I realized that death is closer than I thought. I trained my sword and my magic, believing I would be invincible, but now I know it was just an illusion.

    When that ogre almost killed me, all I could think about was that I would have never seen my family again, that I had yet to experience love or a boy¡¯s touch. There are still so many things I want to do and ces I want to see.

    I don¡¯t want to die with so many regrets."

    Lith hugged her back, caressing her head while trying to understand what all of that had to do with him. He was certain that Phloria had never demonstrated romantic feelings for him and Solus had always confirmed his impression.

    That turn of events was still iprehensible to him, but he remained silent. His logic could only trample her feelings.

    "The real reason I asked you out is that despite you are shorter than me, stingy, cold, and the gods know how much you remember me of my mother, whenever I¡¯m with you I¡¯m not afraid anymore."

 Chapter 193 A Different Perspective

    At those words, Lith finally understood Phloria¡¯s change of heart. If on one hand he found reassuring that he wouldn¡¯t have to stand an insipid puppy love, on the other one he felt offended.

    "You sure know how to catch a man¡¯s heart." His voice oozed sarcasm.

    "I didn¡¯t get so many insults at once since that time I tripled the healing fare to a merchant for being a rude prick."

    His words made Phloria chuckle, but she didn¡¯t let him go, nor he tried to push her away.

    "I didn¡¯t insult you. I just stated the truth. I dare you to deny any of the above."

    "Well, yeah. All the more reason why you shouldn¡¯t consider me boyfriend material. Especially after hearing my story. Despite being only twelve, I¡¯m already a broken mess. If you want to have fun, you can have much better."

    "That¡¯s not true!" She held him even tighter, like she was trying to console him

    "First, you are not my boyfriend. We have a lot of time to know each other better, let¡¯s use it wisely. Second, you are my best friend in the academy for more than one reason. Under that cynical shell, you are kind and caring.

    No matter how many times we stumbled and fell, you were always there, extending your hand to help us get back up. You even did it during the mock exam, after we treated you like cr*p and almost dragged you down with us.

    You made a great impression on me back then. That¡¯s why I joined your groupter."

    Aside from Solus and his family, no one had ever said such kind words to Lith.

    - "I would be moved if she wasn¡¯t entirely wrong." He thought.

    "I helped them only because I understood the exam¡¯s true goal and had to deceive them since I knew we were being observed. She¡¯s just like Quy, seeing someone that¡¯s not me."

    "No, she is not." Solus objected

    "Phloria has spent a lot of time with you, actually talking to you, instead of staring from a distance. She has also noticed your efforts to take care of the people around you as well as your ws."¨C

    "Also..." Phloria added.

    "Don¡¯t think that I¡¯m not grateful to you for still being holding me despite all the things that I said and not pointing out in retort that I¡¯m as t as a board."

    Lith feared she was actually fishing forpliments, but Phloria startedughing at her own joke and he merrily joined her.

    - "Yeah, it¡¯s sad that with her physique a B cup is barely noticeable. With her age and height, I doubt she can improve much in that department."¨C

    "Thank you for pretending to not have seen anything back then..."

    "I don¡¯t know what you are talking about." Lith lied through his teeth, but Phloria ignored him.

    "...yet swearing on your brothers¡¯ heads was really shameless. Did you really think I wouldn¡¯t notice?"

    "A man can try." He shrugged.

    "Gods, you really are like my mother." Phloria pushed him away, pretending to be angry.

    "Well, ¡¯mommy¡¯, I hope we¡¯ll get along. Don¡¯t get all clingy on me, I still consider you just a friend. Try to pull a Yurial on me and I¡¯ll kick your ass."

    When Phloria calmed down, she and Lith returned to thepulsory courses¡¯ ss for thest lesson of the day. After getting everything off her chest, Phloria felt light as a feather.

    On the contrary, Lith was gloomy and disappointed, but nothing of it showed on his face while they kept making small talk. Solusughing her a*s off at his expenses surely didn¡¯t help.

    - "And here I thought that my mature charm made an impression on her. Phloria is not looking for a boyfriend, more like a father figure while she is inside the academy."

    "More like a mother figure, my dear wannabe Casanova." Solus couldn¡¯t stopughing.

    "Her words, not mine. Isn¡¯t it better this way, though? It¡¯s like you gained a new sister that will keep away all those gold diggers that pestered you until now. Aren¡¯t you a little too disappointed for someone who doesn¡¯t like Phloria as a girl?"

    "It¡¯s a matter of pride. Even if I end up rejecting a girl, being courted it¡¯s always ttering. I much prefer being liked as a boy than coveted as a mother hen."¨C

    When they sat down at their desks, Yurial gave him a wink and a thumbs up. In his mind, his two friends had now a new and intimate knowledge of each other. Quy didn¡¯t know how to face Phloria, who didn¡¯t seem to notice her distress, greeting her with a radiant smile like she always did.

    - "I¡¯m sorry little one," Phloria thought. "but you are still twelve. You have four years before having to decide what to do with your life and you¡¯ll probably end up working in a safe environment, like the academy or a great hospital.

    I have a little more than a year for crossing off as many things as I can from my bucket list. I hope that you¡¯ll learn from this experience. As our mother always says: when you see a good man, make your move or someone else will."¨C

    Phloria was well aware of her adopted sister¡¯s feelings, but she considered them nothing more than a childish crush. In all the time they had known each other, Quy had always been passive, managing to speak to Lith only about homework and magic.

    Phloria, instead, despite not knowing why his presence made her feels safe, was determined to understand her own feelings and let the answer, whatever it was, lead her way.

    When the second gong resounded, a plump woman walked into the ssroom. The students¡¯ chattering stopped immediately. Their attention drawn to the neer.

    She wasn¡¯t a beauty nor intimidating, quite the contrary. She was in herte forties, about 1.54 metres (5¡¯1") high with long blonde hair with shades of ck that reached her hips.

    Her smile was contagious and had a round, jovial face that that one would find much more fitting to a baker selling sweets rather than a powerful mage. Unlike all the other Professors, her clothes and robe weren¡¯t pristine white but pitch ck.

    "Good evening, dear students. My name is Calyn Zeneff and for this trimester I¡¯ll be your guest lecturer for the necromancy course. As you have probably noticed from my outfit, I normally teach at the ck Griffon academy.

    Our institutions have agreed to an exchange programme for the Professors, so that we can learn from each other and improve the rtionship between our schools."

    She paced slowly through the ssroom, studying the student¡¯s reactions.

    "Before starting our lesson, it¡¯s better if I answer to all the questions that usually pop in the head of those who hear the word ¡¯necromancy¡¯ for the first time. No, it¡¯s not a forbidden discipline, nor necromancers skulk during the night to kidnap infants and virgins.

    "Necromancy is just a magical discipline like any other. We necromancers got our bad reputation thanks to ignorance, superstition, and some bad apples.

    Remember, no matter if you are a Forgemaster or a War Mage, the only spells that are considered forbidden in the three great countries are the ones that use living humans as materials or require trading lives for power.

    What I am going to teach you are the basics of necromancy, itsws and practical uses on thebat field. Because of the nature of my subject, my colleagues here at the White Griffon have nicknamed me ¡¯the anti-Rudd¡¯.

    Just as for dimensional magic, passing this course will influence your overall grades but will not affect in any way your chances to graduate. Also, while Rudd¡¯s subject is long andplicated, mine will be rtively short and easy.

    Let¡¯s start with a brief introduction. Because of the moral and legal implications of using corpses as tools, necromancy can be considered a really special branch of magic. Tier one to three spell are considered basic necromancy, and that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to teach you.

    Tier four and five consists of either advanced necromancy, that requires joining the royal army or the Queen¡¯s corps to be taught, and forbidden magic, the practice of which is a capital offense in all the three great countries.

    Basic necromancy is about temporarily turning a corpse into an undead to serve you as a guard, manpower, or a scout. It¡¯s very useful for rangers and mages who like to fly solo.

    Advanced necromancy allows to permanently create undead ves that will serve you until they are destroyed or run out of magic. This discipline is not taught at academies nor by the Mage Association.

    Only the Crown is allowed to have an army, be it living people or not doesn¡¯t matter.

    Turning yourselves or others into vampires or lichs, instead, that¡¯s forbidden magic and as such is a capital offense. I¡¯m also going to exin why necromancy is so strictly regted, what are its risks and how to defend against it.

    Let¡¯s start with a little demonstration."

    With a snap of her fingers, Professor Zeneff took out the skeleton of a rat from her dimensional ring.

    "Normally your subjects will not be this clean. I purposely removed all the unnecessary parts to avoid most of you puking. I¡¯m telling you this because necromancy is useless if the carcass is older than five days.

    Past that time frame, the chances of sess decline fast. Only fresh bodies can be turned into undead. Things like necromancers raising whole cemeteries are just folklore and fairy tales."

    Lith knitted his brows, bing more pensive the more discrepancies he found with what Ka had taught him

    - "Five days? The corpses Ka stores in the forest are at least months old. Even those I rose back in the quarantine zone were dead from weeks." Lith thought.

    "The good news is that I can already ace this ss, the bad news is that it seems to be a colossal waste of time."¨C

    Professor Zeneff cast her spell, allowing Lith to spot the first differences between true and fake necromancy. When Lith created an undead, he would send a single tendril of darkness magic in the corpse creating a blood core.

    By adding a spark of light magic during the process, he would imprint the creature with his lifeforce and bind it to his will.

    The Professor, instead, had created a dense fog of dark energy that was going in and out the rat¡¯s skeleton, like it was looking for something. In a few seconds, the fog waspletely absorbed by the bones and a red light shone from the empty eye sockets.

    Before the process waspleted, Zeneff executed a second spell that left a glowing mark on the creature¡¯s head. The ss gasped while the undead stretched its limbs producing an oddly amusing rattling sound.

    "This is what is considered a sess." The Professor sent the rat doing a round of the ss with a simple wave of her hand.

    "As you can see, the creature is perfectly functional and obeys to my everymand. Unlike all the other disciplines you have studied before, necromancy isn¡¯t as simple as point and shoot. It involves willpower and the use of multiple elements even at its first tier."

    A second snap of her fingers produced a metal cage containing a second rat skeleton. She repeated the darkness spell but this time she didn¡¯t perform the light one. The new undead went into a frenzy, shing against the bars with all its strength, trying to reach Zeneff.

    "This, instead, is an aberration. It happens when due to the magician ipetence orck of willpower the creature is allowed to go on a rampage. Usually its first victim is the necromancer itself."

    While she spoke, the undead kept emitting a shrill sound that resembled the cry of a child. It charged against the bars over and over, until bone bits started to fall on the teacher¡¯s desk.

    "Creating and controlling an undead require focus. The stronger your creation, the harder it will be to control. Bit more than you can chew either by sheer power or numbers and that¡¯s what happens." She pointed at the cage.

    "Back in my day, when necromancy was taught during the first year, a lot of students died by the paws of these little monsters that they kept as pets."

    A familiar looking girl raised her hand.

    "What¡¯s on your mind, miss...?"

    "Lady Mirna Kratic." She gave the Professor a deep bow.

    "Why someone should want such a thing?" Mirna couldn¡¯t stop turning her head to keep watch on both the undead rats.

    "Excellent question, Lady Kratic. The answer is: for power and control. It was a way to show off one¡¯s talent and have loyal bodyguards 24/7. Bullying makes the undead much more appealing than the living." Zeneff sighed.

    The Professor closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. Suddenly, the first undead ran towards Mirna. It jumped on her desk and said:

    "Also, mostly because of this."

 Chapter 194 A Different Perspective 2

    Lith didn¡¯t know if to be more surprised by the discovery of how ignorant he was about necromancy¡¯s true potential or by seeing a rat¡¯s skeleton standing on its hind legs, talking with Professor Zekell¡¯s voice.

    Despite the distance, he was able to notice that the light in the eyes of the creature had turned from deep red to bright blue.

    "As you have seen when I reanimated this carcass, I left an imprint on it by using my life force to bind our essences." The Zekell-rat tapped its head with a paw, making the mark visible again.

    "The bond allows necromancers to temporarily transfer their consciousness inside their creations. Students used this skill mostly to cheat during written exams. By using a small undead mouse, they couldmunicate between them or simply copy the answers of the most brilliant students.

    Undead were also a very popr tool for pulling cruel practical jokes and peeping through windows. There is a reason that all academies have removed windows from their dorms. Even magic can¡¯t beat the enthusiasm of a bunch of horny teenagers.

    No matter the protection, they would always find a loophole." The ratughed.

    "Keep in mind that the transfer is not without risks. The mage¡¯s body is leftpletely helpless for the entire duration. Someone could simmer you and you wouldn¡¯t even notice.

    "Also, in this form I don¡¯t have the perceptions of a rat or of an undead. I can see and hear as if I¡¯m on your desk, but all my other senses are lost. I can¡¯t use magic and if something happens to this body before I return to my own, the resulting shock could incapacitate me for hours."

    The creature¡¯s eyes turned red again and Professor Zeneff snapped her fingers a third time, taking out a third rat¡¯s skeleton from her dimensional amulet. When she cast the necromantic spell, the ck fog engulfed the carcass for a while before disappearing.

    "This is what happens when attempting to reanimate a long-dead corpse: a failure. To date, the phenomenon is still unclear. What we do know is that if a corpse it¡¯s not reanimated at least once every five days it bes useless."

    - "I wish I could use Life Vision to collect data. Solus, what did you see with your mana sense?" Lith thought.

    "Her spell seems to fly blind. Fake necromancy has no concept of mana core, so the darkness energies scanned the whole body before forming the blood core. My guess is that when a living being dies, its mana core leaves behind some kind of echo that disappears after about five days.

    Fake necromancy seems to be heavily reliant on those lingering energies. Without them, the spell loses focus and bes ineffective."

    "Ka isn¡¯t an Awakened one, yet she knew on instinct what to do." Lith pondered. "Magical beasts¡¯ natural affinity with the elements is simply terrifying. No wonder there is still no dominant species on this."¨C

    "During the following lessons, I¡¯ll teach you how to safely create all the lesser undead, how to transfer your consciousness and how to recognize when you are pushing your limits.

    Necromancy is all about control and self awareness. Unlike all other kinds of magic, it can backfire. It will help you build your character, make you realize that your decisions, your spells have consequences on yourselves and others.

    We have still a few minutes before the gong. Any questions?"

    Lith raised his hand and Professor Zekell nodded to him.

    "How long does an undeadst?"

    "Depends on the tier of the spell and the strength of the creature." She was happy to hear a relevant question instead of one about ghosts and curses.

    "Let¡¯s say that after this course you will be able to keep a simple skeleton for up to fifteen hours or a skeletal knight for one."

    - "I take back everything I thought. The only kind of necromancy I know needs me to constantly infuse mana into my undead servants, while hers can provide them an energy reserve.

    Not to mention that my knowledge about the undead is limited to Dungeons & Looting and George Romeno¡¯s movies. There¡¯s a lot I can learn from her. I tend to forget that unlike magical beasts, humans have legacies.

    I can merge their hundreds of years of experience with what Ka taught me to create my version of necromancy, something stronger than the sum of its parts."¨C

    "Another question: you mentioned small rodents. Why not insects? They are smaller and are more likely to go unnoticed."

    "Excellent question!" Professor Zekell didn¡¯t like ying favourites, but seeing genuine curiosity in her field was as rare as ttering.

    "For two reasons. The first is that if the body is too small, instead of getting infused by darkness magic it gets destroyed by it. The fine tuning it would require makes such a spell too expensive and leads to reason number two.

    Even if one manages to seed, the stored energy wouldst only for a very short time, making the creature useless."

    Lith still had more questions, but the gong resounded forcing him to stop.

    "That¡¯s all for today. Dismissed."

    Since they had yet to receive the books for the third trimester, Lith¡¯s group split once outside the ssroom. Everyone went back to their rooms waiting for the delivery.

    "Mind if I apany you for a bit?" Yurial asked.

    "I want to talk to you about Phloria."

    "Don¡¯t tell me that you liked her in secret all this time!" Lith joked about it, hoping to avoid getting schooled about rtionships by a single-minded hormonal teenager.

    "Gods protect me, no." Heughed.

    "She is too tall and definitely too strong-willed for me. I prefer petite, well endowed girls that don¡¯t threaten to turn me inside out like a sock. It¡¯s just that since I never saw you with a girl, I wanted to give you an unsolicited piece of advice."

    Lith inwardly cringed, while keeping his poker face and nodding.

    "If I were you, I¡¯d return the Ballot to Linjos and let her have it."

    Lith was left in a daze. This wasn¡¯t what he had expected from Yurial.

    "After the second exam, Phloria is second guessing her life a lot. I know it because I lived under her roof until the academy started again. I don¡¯t know if Rudd will manage to get Lukart expelled, his father is a powerful and well connected man.

    Even if he does, it¡¯s only a matter of time before people start talking about you two, and that would put a second target on her back. Everyone knows you have a Ballot, so you can always bluff your way out of trouble. Not to mention that you are incredibly strong." Yurial winked, referring to Lith¡¯s shared secret.

    "She is strong too, but right now Phloria is in a rough patch. She doesn¡¯t need more traumas. If you really care about her, you should put her safety first. A year is a long time, many things can happen."

    "Who are you and what did you do to Yurial?" Lith replied raising his eyebrow in disbelief, making his friendugh.

    "It¡¯s just that her future is not set in stone. She can change her path anytime and I believe Phloria needs peace and quiet to not rush her decision. I really envy her for that."

    Yurial sighed. Since he seemed to need to take something off his chest, Lith didn¡¯t interrupt him.

    "You know, the reason why I may appear so shallow at times it¡¯s because I¡¯m just like Phloria, trying to enjoy the little time I have left to its fullest. Don¡¯t get me wrong, unlike her I will not put my life on the line every day, yet I will be chained.

    By my responsibilities towards my father, my subjects, my wife and children."

    "Your what?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Man, even before I started the academy, I was already betrothed. I know who and when I¡¯ll marry since I was ten years old."

    "Do I know her?"

    "No, she¡¯s not a mage. It¡¯s a political marriage to join my magically talented household to an ancient noble family. Everybody wins. After we graduate, I¡¯ll be my father¡¯s second inmand for a couple of years.

    Then marriage and I¡¯m expected to have at least a couple of heirs by the age of twenty. As I said, Phloria¡¯s future is not set in stone, but mine is. I understand better than anyone else how it feels being trapped."

    - "You and me both." Lith inwardly sighed. ¨C

    "Maybe it will not work between you two, but you can still learn something from each other. Promise me you will think about it."

    "I will."

    ***

    In a remote corner of the Blood Desert, the three Guardians had met in person for the first time in hundreds of years. Even though they had turned into their human forms and were suppressing their auras as much as they could, it wasn¡¯t enough.

    The earth below trembled slightly while the skies thundered. The world seemed to be scared by their assembly and was trying to break them apart once again.

    "I hate to admit it, but you were right." Sark said.

    She had taken the appearance of a young-looking woman, with silky ck long hair, emerald eyes and a bronze tinge of skin so clear it seemed to shine under the morning sun.

    She wore the same white clothes her tribal leaders, the Feathers, did but with no turban, allowing her hair to graze the ground.

    "Some b*stard has invaded my turf and is spreading Abominations like they are presents. I underestimated our opponent, leaving everything in the hands of my Awakened ones. The result is that five of my Feathers died in less than a month.

    They were all good men and women. Someone has to pay for their deaths."

    Her eyes ignited with a purple me while the sand below her feet turned into ss because of the heat she emitted. The trembling and thundering intensified, but none of those present cared.

    "It¡¯s not all. The sudden death of so many Awakened crippled my military force, my borders are under attack from all directions!"

    "I¡¯m not responsible, the truce with the Griffon Kingdom still holds." Tyris said.

    "Me neither. I control nothing in the Empire, but my apprentice would have told me before making such a move. She knows how much is at stake." Leegaain shrugged in annoyance.

    "I¡¯m not ming you idiots, but myself!" Sark roared.

    "Clearly the culprit has made sure that all my enemies knew about my weakness, otherwise the neighbouring countries could never set up a coordinated attack like this. They are ruining years of hard work!"

    Her delicate feet stomped multiple times, shattering the ss, thend, and causing a minor tremor, around 3.0 on the Richter scale.

    "Then why did you summon us if you knew we are innocent?" Tyris already had a headache from having to stand Sark¡¯s temper without the possibility of bashing her head.

    "Because I know who did it and where they are right now. If this was just about killing, I would have done it myself, but I want to take them alive and make them talk. I need you to prevent them from escaping."

    "I¡¯m fine with it. I had nothing to do this evening anyway." Leegaain yawned, giving her a thumbs up.

    With a snap of her fingers, Sark Warped them hundreds of kilometres away, in the proximity of a small mountain range. Like most of her kingdom, thendscape was barren. Too barren even for a desert.

    "The b*stard must have taken its sweet time here. Even the mountains are crumbling due to the void of world energy." Sark snorted.

    "Seal the space around here, I¡¯m going in."

    Tyris and Leegaain operated their magic their own way. A Guardian was attuned to the, to the point that even their simplest act was magic. Tyris started to walk, countless runes of power spread in the air and the ground with each step she took.

    Leegaain was feeling nostalgic, seeing both his friends moved his old heart. The dragon started to sing with a tenor voice. Wherever the song reached, the matter would be bound to the dragon¡¯s will.

    "Show off." Tyris smiled, singing along in a counter melody. Their voices filled the air with mana, making flowers bloom from long dried up seeds and water gush out of the ground. The Guardians were only sealing up the space, life was just a by-product of their joy from being together.

    "Well, at least there will be a lot of rain this year." Sark grumbled while entering the underground maze.

 Chapter 195 Trapped

    Sark moved like the wind, following the stench of chaos guing the air. Several Abominations, both Empowered and Puppeteers tried to stop her, but as soon as Sark noticed that they were mindless drones, she would incinerate them with a purple st of fire.

    She soon reached the center of the maze, an artificial cave filled with state-of-the-art equipment. It was the most incredible magicalb Sark had ever seen.

    "I thought only Leegaain could do something like this. I can¡¯t even fathom what purpose most of this stuff has." She thought out loud.

    Transparent water tanks filled with a glowing yellow liquid were lined up against the walls.

    Each contained an unconscious magical beast or a human, but all of them were slowly being turned into Abominations. Sark was close enough to see the process in the making. Somehow, the tanks were forcefully refining their cores, while at the same time the yellow liquid kept the bodies stable.

    "Interesting. Their bodies are filled with cracks, but shouldn¡¯t copse until they reach at least the cyan level, if not even the blue. Note to self, have Leegaain study the procedure and dumb it down for me.

    This way I will be able to rece my Feathers with ease. I¡¯ll take it as partialpensation." A wave of her hand sealed the tanks¡¯ space, making it incredibly hard to damage them.. Sark had no rush, escape was impossible.

    She walked around the room, finding more and more marvels as well as horrors.

    Countless dried up corpses were piled up into small hills, making her wonder if they were failed experiments or simply the staple food to fully develop so many Abominations.

    "You are toote." An amused voice bellowed.

    "The Master escaped hours ago." A sinister figure stepped forward. Its body was covered in bright red scales, a ck liquid oozed in between. It had long curved horns where the eyes were supposed to be, big upside-down membranous wings on its back.

    "Since when do Eldritchs have a master?" Sark sneered.

    "Your power made you conceited, Guardian. Your pride blinds you." It pointed at her with a talon ending finger.

    "We have learned from you how to increase our numbers. We are no longer scattered. We fight as one..."

    "I¡¯m not interested in your rants." Sark cut him short.

    "Tell me who is your master and where to find it. Be a good boy and I¡¯ll not make you suffer. Much." Her wolfish smile only caused the Eldritch to burst intoughter.

    "Pride goes before a fall." A snap of its scaly fingers and the whole cave became covered by symbols of power. Every inch of space was covered by countless runes and arrays, each one imbued with a magical power that didn¡¯t belong to any of the six elements.

    Sark felt her strength being sapped, but still showed no sign of worry.

    "Interesting. After you dried up all the world energy of this ce, you have also used forbidden magic to cut off my natural connection with mana. How many Abominations did you sacrifice to achieve such a result?"

    "Not enough since you still have the strength to brag!" The Eldritch roared extending its arms forward. Each of its fingers stretched out and multiplied, filling the air with razor sharp whip like tendrils that struck all around Sark.

    The Eldritch was outraged, even without using her magic, The Guardian had managed to dodge every strike with movements so small to be almost unnoticeable.

    Almost.

    "I would say you have picked the wrong Guardian, but there isn¡¯t a right one. Tyris would simply ignore this sh*t and try to reason with you before killing you. Leegaain would probably destroy your formations with a sneeze. As for me? I¡¯m a fighter!"

    Sark dashed forward, punching the air in front of her. The Eldritch felt all its senses being distorted by the strength behind the simple attack. It easily dodged the strike, but it still hit the walls behind the Eldritch, creating a cave several meters deep and disrupting many arrays.

    "I hate you Guardians!" The Eldritch couldn¡¯t hold its fury any longer.

    "Why are you so strong? Why do you keep looking down on us? I¡¯m Pazuel, and I¡¯ll show you the results of our efforts!" Pazuel met Sark head on, its ws easily cut through her flesh and bones, forcing her to retreat for the first time in many centuries.

    - "Seems I have underestimated the b*astard a little too much. No Eldritch has ever managed to even scratch this form. To make things worse, I can¡¯t revert to my real body."¨C

    The arrays surrounding them were powered with a perverted and twisted kind of magic that only Abominations possessed. It derived from darkness magic, but had its natural connection with light magic forcefully severed.

    It powered their unique individual skills and had been named chaos magic. Over a hundred Abominations had been sacrificed to empower the arrays, making any kind of magic besides chaos magic impossible.

    The ck liquid oozing from Pazuel was an embodiment of such energies, poisoning Sark¡¯s body and preventing her from regenerating her wounds.

    Despite all that, she managed to fight the Eldritch on equal footing, her millennia of experience made every one of its attacks seem telegraphed and predictable. Blinded by rage, Pazuel let here too close.

    Her fist struck its left shoulder, the impact turned the left arm and part of the chest into dust, making the creature¡¯s body spin like a top, sending it crashing against a wall.

    "Why? Why are you still this strong?" It cried.

    "Because I have embraced everything you ever discarded." She panted.

    "Because I¡¯m still fighting an endless battle for my people and this, while you do nothing but eat, sh*t and whine."

    Sark had hoped to stall longer with her rant, but as soon as the arm was regrown, Pazuel charged at her again. Its body started to melt, expanding at the same time. It became a mass of ws, talons, and fangs with only a ck core as their center.

    "How dare you say I do nothing? We sacrificed so much to get this far, but now me and my brothers are one!" Each limb and snout shot a different spell, leaving Sark nowhere to run.

    She still managed to dodge most of the attacks, taking only those that wouldn¡¯t hit her vitals. When the barrage was over, only part of her torso and head remained, yet she was still alive.

    "If that¡¯s the best you can do, now it¡¯s my turn." Her voice was calm, purple mes covered all the injured parts of her body, making her whole anew.

    "What? How?" Pazuel was running on fumes and was forced to revert back to its original form.

    "I umted thousands of years of experience while you were content with preying on the weak. Look at your precious array."

    Only then Pazuel noticed how every one of her missed strikes had actually hit its intended target. The focus points of the array were all badly damaged, even the spot where she had sent the Eldritch to crash earlier was intentional.

    "You did the rest of the job for me with your sloppy attacks." She exined while the purple mes turned white along with her whole body.

    "You miscalcted. This ce is no longer devoid of world energy. How long could it possiblyst against two Guardians breathing new life all around us as we speak, while a third one breaks it from inside?"

    "You think I¡¯m afraid of death? I¡¯m already part of something bigger. Glory to the dawn of a new world!"

    Sark could see the Eldritch overload its ck core, triggering a powerful explosion strong enough to destroy the cave and deal a significant amount of damage to her.

    Her answer was to bite her scarlet lips, spitting a drop of her blood on the exploding Eldritch. Time seemed to rewind, every single piece of flesh going back forming the body once again, sealing the explosion before the shock wave could disce even a single speck of dust.

    The Eldritch found itself alive and well, its core intact. It started to sweat in fear, a long-forgotten feeling while the phoenix¡¯s hand turned into a w, locking it in ce. The Eldritch discovered that its muscles had be limp, its magic refused to obey.

    "It seems there is a misunderstanding here." Sark¡¯s form turned into a hybrid between human and phoenix.

    "I¡¯m not the keeper of anything, I¡¯m nobody¡¯s muse. I¡¯m the conqueror of life and death." Her free hand ignited with a white me, scorching the creature¡¯s very soul.

    "You are not going anywhere, so you better start talking."

    ***

    Lith spent the rest of the day practicing dimensional magic and umtion while waiting for the school books to be delivered and working on the sealed boxes during the night.

    The time spent with Solus in the tower practicing Forgemastering, together with Nalear¡¯s lesson about the importance of magic crystals gave him a new approach to the problem.

    Lith had discovered that the reason for his previous failures was that by damaging the boxes¡¯ mana pathways, the energy contained in the pseudo core diminished, while the one contained in the mana crystal would not.

    This upset the bnce and caused the explosion. Previously he had tried to keep the crystal isted, thinking it was some kind of detonator that somehow was triggered by his attempts to pick the lock.

    What he had to do, instead, was attacking them at the same time. Thanks to this discovery, Lith was now able to almost depower the lock.

    s, almost wasn¡¯t enough. He was now able to open the boxes, but the resulting explosion still destroyed most of their content, not leaving enough for him to understand their purpose.

    "It¡¯s still a huge sess. I just need a few more lessons about how mana crystals and Forgemastering interact and I will be able to open them. I have only a few left, it¡¯s better to save them forter."

    When the next day came, he was still pondering about Yurial¡¯s words, torn between egotism and his wish to change, to actually care about his so called friends instead of just pretending to.

    His morning routine didn¡¯t change. Lith went to pick up Phloria early for their walk and then they went to meet with the others for breakfast.

    - "It really doesn¡¯t feel like a high-school sweetheart at all. She didn¡¯t invite me to her room, we didn¡¯t talk about anything in particr. Phloria seemed to be more cheerful than usual, though. She smiled often when talking with me and made sure to sit in front of me."

    "It means that she enjoys yourpany and likes to watch you." Solus pointed out.

    "Still feels more like bromance than romance." Lith shrugged.

    "You watched too many teen dramas. Based on your past experiences, rtionships take time and effort to develop. Do you remember why unlike your brother you never managed to fall in love?"

    "ording to my therapist, I was too self-centered. I would only care about myself and protecting my own feeling, so I never opened up to any of the women I dated."

    "It¡¯s exactly what you are doing even now. You are only thinking about what you want, not what it¡¯s best for her. The Ballot is useless for you. The Queen is openly backing you up, the Professors hold you in high esteem.

    Not to mention how strong and fast you are. It¡¯s not like when you arrived. Your family is safe, you can defend yourself with ease and your word is not that of a country boy anymore. If anything happens, the academy will watch your back."

    "The same could be said of Phloria." Lith still wasn¡¯t convinced.

    "By my maker, if I had a body, I would p you right here and now! Her family is not as powerful as the Queen. Also, is there anything that a student, if not even a Professor can do to you if you go all out?"

    "No."

    "There you have it! She is young and still traumatized, while you wouldn¡¯t flinch even if you ripped someone¡¯s heart out right before lunch. She needs it much more than you do."¨C

    Knowing to be on the losing side of the argument, Lith dropped the conversation and walked past the doors of the academy¡¯s hospital waiting with his colleagues for the Healer lesson to start.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, not only Manohar had returned, but also was in charge of the ss. Between his rare appearances, notable only for his whining ramblings, and the constant disappearing without notice, most students had almost forgotten about his existence.

    "Good morning my dear students. Wee back to ss. You sure took a long break from the academy." His tone was clearly annoyed.

    "It¡¯s not them that went missing for almost three months, but you!" Headmaster Linjos suddenly Warped in the middle of the ss, his face beet red from anger.

 Chapter 196 Seething Rage

    "Fine. Good morning my dear students. Professor Manohar is really happy to see you again." Manohar ordingly modified his greeting.

    "Don¡¯t talk in third person like a madman and show some respect toward the academy and your students!"

    Linjos had hoped that by forcing the unruly Professor to take an active role in the Healer ss, it would teach him a lesson about responsibility. His n, however, had backfired right from the start.

    "Why are you so angry? I had just got my hands on nagas¡¯ ws, you know how hard they are toe by. Also, yes, I may have lost track of time, but I did find a cure for Prixyne. Doesn¡¯t it amount to something?" Manohar rebuked with an indignant tone.

    The ss gasped in amazement. Prixyne was a congenital degenerative disease, even worse than the one Tista had suffered from during her youth. It would affect the nervous system, making it copse over time.

    It required constant treatments just to slow down the illness¡¯s progression and relieve the symptoms. For decades it had been considered a death sentence and now it had a permanent cure.

    "Of course it does. It¡¯s the only reason why you are here instead of being chained to your desk!"

    "Let¡¯s cut to the chase." Manohar ignored him, resuming his speech.

    "You already have learned most of what you need to graduate as full-fledged fourth year healers. What you stillck is experience on the field. During the third trimester, there will be no more lessons.

    The academy will send you wherever there is a dire need for apetent healer, and despite you don¡¯t even closely qualify, you¡¯ll have to do."

    "Manohar!" Linjos roared.

    "I mean, you will be split into groups and sent to different locations, like true professionals. You will contribute to the welfare of the Kingdom on the academy¡¯s behalf.

    Your grades will be influenced by your performance. It will also affect the prestige and the name of the academy. Your sess will be my sess, your failure will be Linjos¡¯ failure. Everyone knows I never fail."

    Linjos facepalmed, his killing intent became more palpable by the second.

    "Since for some reason that I¡¯m unable to understand our Headmaster is angry at me..."

    "Because you went missing for almost three months!"

    "...I¡¯m forced to babysit the most ipetent group."

    "Last warning!" Linjos¡¯ hands were dangerously close to Manohar¡¯s throat.

    "I mean, I will supervise the work of those whose skills are still a diamond in the rough. All the other groups will not have a supervisor. Keep in mind that this opportunity is a great honour for all of you.

    You have the chance to let your name be renowned even before graduation, to meet important figures of the Kingdom and help those in need.

    At the same time, you¡¯ll probably kill someone due to your ipetence, giving my dear friend Marth an excellent excuse to kick you out of the academy and reduce my insane amount of paperwork."

    "I¡¯d never do such a thing!" Marth Warped in the ss too.

    "Also, it¡¯spletely different from the speech I wrote you. You had to encourage them to soldier up in the face of failure, telling them it¡¯s normal for a healer to lose a patient or make a wrong diagnosis!"

    Before he could start an argument, Professor Marth took the lead.

    "Remember, never listen to anything he says outside of the medical field. From today onwards, even if just for a few hours each day, you¡¯ll have the same role and responsibilities of an academy sanctioned healer.

    "The reason you¡¯ll be split into groups is to be each other¡¯s lifeline. Never be afraid to ask for help or to admit your mistakes. If you manage to graduate this year and the next one, countless lives will be in your hands.

    "It¡¯s a heavy responsibility that not everyone is capable to shoulder. A strong spirit, wits, and talent are the minimum requirements to be a good healer.

    Go and make us proud."

    Marth¡¯s assistants handed to each group the list of patients they had to attend to before the end of the lesson. Each name was associated with a hospital, along with the instructions of how to reach it from the city¡¯s closest branch of the Mage Association.

    Lith¡¯s group belonged to the top percentile, so their list contained only sensitive names. Most patients weren¡¯t hospitalized, but required home visits. Professor Marth personally went to speak with them.

    "I rmend you to always move together. I have the utmost trust in each one of you, but these people are powerful." He tapped on the list.

    "It¡¯s better to not disappoint or offend them. Quy, you are still too meek when dealing with patients, so I¡¯ll appoint you as team leader." Quy turned pale, instinctively hiding behind Friya.

    "You will take care of dealing with the families and make sure your colleagues receive the respect they deserve. Without a confident attitude, people will always walk all over you.

    "Lith, your bedside manners are terrible. Your duty will be to take care of the patients¡¯ psychological welfare, exining to them what¡¯s the cause of their affliction and reassuring them when necessary.

    Friya will be the main healer and Yurial the diagnostician. You two have no weak point, aside from theck of experience. If anything happens, contact the academy immediately and we will do the rest."

    He patted them on the back before going to speak to another group. Yurial took a quick nce at the list, frowning with a worried expression.

    "This is much worse than I thought. Most of these people are as stuck up as annoying. They consider my household unfit of its title because we contribute to the Kingdom from ¡¯only¡¯ three generations.

    I¡¯m sorry Quy, but either you put out your best Lith¡¯s impression or they¡¯ll use us like doormats. Let¡¯s get moving, we have a lot to do and so little time."

    ***

    Lukart Household, Archmage Lukart¡¯s private quarters.

    "What do you want this time, Lukart?"

    "I need your help. This time you¡¯d better pay attention. Vn Deirus is this close to finding proof of my connections with Hatorne and the Kandria¡¯s incident."

    "Why should I care?" The voice on the other side of themunication amulet was annoyed, like a teacher dealing with a spoiled child.

    "Because if I go down, I¡¯ll drag you with me. After the gue¡¯s outbreak, all my ns are ruined. I have no reason to proceed against the White Griffon anymore, aside from your constant ckmailing me.

    Your ns have no chance of sess without my help, and if they catch me red handed I¡¯ll make sure we¡¯ll share the same cell."

    "Don¡¯t you dare to threaten me, Lukart. I just need one word to get you killed."

    "Do it and you¡¯ll suffer the same fate. I¡¯m not stupid. I already made sure that if anything happens to me, recordings of all our conversations will be delivered to at least fifty royal constables. Not even you can stop all of them."

    From the other side came a crushing sound, like something big and heavy being destroyed.

    "What do you want?"

    "The same thing I asked you thest time. Kill Deirus¡¯s son, I don¡¯t care how."

    "How do I know I can trust your word?" The voice oozed disgust.

    "You can¡¯t, but know this. I¡¯m preparing to leave the Kingdom since the outbreak, my only problem is that with Deirus breathing down my neck it¡¯s taking too much time. I can¡¯t move too many assets or funds at once, or he will notice.

    If you do thisst favour for me, I¡¯ll get out of your hair forever and leave you everything you need to reach your goal."

    "You are a lucky man, Lukart." The voice seemed to calm down.

    "Yurial Deirus has just left the academy. I know where he will be for the next hours."

    "If he is outside the academy, I can take care of him myself. Just give me his coordinates."

    "Your gift for failure has long stopped amusing me, Lukart. You can¡¯t be trusted with picking your own nose. I¡¯ll send my own men. You focus on packing your stuff. You are likely to screw that up too, but at least there shouldn¡¯t be casualties."

    ***

    The group¡¯s home visits went smoothly. They were still students after all, Marth would never burden them with a task above their skills. The challenge wasn¡¯t curing diseases, rather to learn how to find the way in an unknown environment and to deal with the patients.

    Their first destination was Vinea, a beautiful city built around a smallgoon. The uptown district was crescent shaped, so that every mansion would be overlooking the sea.

    Water separated the city blocks, forming canals that could be crossed either by boat or using one of the many stone bridges. The group had almost reached the address, yet Quy was walking behind the others, fiddling with her hair and rehearsing all the introduction lines she could think of over and over.

    - "If she doesn¡¯t snap out of it, we¡¯ll never finish our round in time. Sorry, little sis, but it¡¯s for your own good."¨C Friya hated herself for what she was about to do, but she couldn¡¯t stand her best friend always being so passive.

    "You know Lith, this city is quite a sight to behold." She waved her hand, epassing the clear blue sky and thegoon¡¯s crystal clear water.

    "Only if you like humidity and scavenging birds raining death from above." He grumpily replied while dodging the bird po*p that paved most of the way.

    - "If it wasn¡¯t for theck of gonds, this city would remind me of Venice." Lith thought. "Not to mention that on Earth pigeon¡¯s droppings aren¡¯t as big as an omelet."¨C

    The birds guing thegoon closely resembled seagulls, but their size was akin to a pelican.

    "It¡¯s a pity that Phloria can¡¯t enjoy this view." Friya ignored his remark, keeping her eyes on Quy¡¯s reaction.

    "Even for me, it¡¯s the first time seeing the sea. I find Vinea truly romantic. Why don¡¯t you take her here during the weekend? I¡¯m sure she would love it."

    "I¡¯ll think about it." He said.

    - "Maybe too romantic. Not to mention that I don¡¯t have time for this cr*p." He actually thought. "If I manage to learn Blink before the weekend, to keep my training schedule and if I don¡¯t make any more breakthroughs with the boxes, then I¡¯ll consider the possibility."

    "You are impossible!" Solus was outraged. "Just this morning you were whining about theck of romance between you two and now you already consider her a second, no a fourth best option?

    You are supposed to make time for her, not to just use her to fill the nk spaces!"¨C

    After hearing them talk, Quy¡¯s eyes steeled with rage. She marched double time, taking the list from Yurial¡¯s hand to check the address before banging the knocker with enough strength to make the door tremble.

    A butler in a ck and white livery, that reminded Lith of a smoking, abruptly opened the door with an annoyed expression.

    "Yes?" He didn¡¯t even care to hide his disgust at the sight of the group, dting his nostrils and curling his upper lip like someone had delivered garbage.

    "Good morning, good sir." Quy¡¯s voice sounded sweet like an unripe lemon.

    "We are the White Griffon¡¯s healers. Lead us to our patient, please."

    "The front door is only for the guests. Go around back to the service entrance." The butler attempted to close the door, but Quy stopped him

    "Your name." She hissed.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "I want your name, so that when I report to Headmaster Linjos why we couldn¡¯t treat your master, he can exin why and who deserves credit for house Korya losing its privileges with the academy. I¡¯m sure your master will reward you well."

    Her eyes were reduced to slits brimming with mana. The butler turned pale as a ghost. Angering a mage was already bad enough, but if his actions damaged the household, he would consider himself lucky by being just skinned alive.

    "I¡¯m very sorry, Lady Mage." He stuttered. "Please, have mercy of this old fool. You and your mighty colleagues are the most wee." He opened the door, half kneeling in front of her as soon as she entered.

    "Lead the way." Quy snarled.

    That day, more than one butler who dared to disrespect them, be unable to even meet her gaze or speak to Quy without bowing first.

 Chapter 197 Helpless

    In the end, Lith was the one who got the short end of the stick. The new Quy was a pocket sized bulldozer, while Friya and Yurial could always ask the other two for a second opinion whenever they had a doubt.

    Lith, instead, had to smile more than he had ever done his whole life while listening to idiotic questions and worries. He was forced to reply without sarcasm or spicing his answers up with insults like he was used to back in Lutia.

    He still managed to do it, thanks to Solus¡¯ help, hispanions¡¯ constantly worried looks and the asional friendly nudge in the ribs.

    The rest of the morning was uneventful. They checked off over half the list and had time to spare. Their next destination was House Seket, in the uptown district of the city of Lorion.

    "I was thinking that if we manage to finish our rounds early, we could actuallye back and have lunch here. I heard that Lorion¡¯s salmon mousse is to die for. My treat." Yurial said.

    "Great idea! Let¡¯s get Phloria too, though. It would be sad for her to have to eat alone at the academy." Friya agreed, purposely adding fuel to the fire.

    "It would be too sad." Quy echoed, while she kept getting knots in her stomach.

    "Not a big fan of fish. Do they have some good meat?" Lith¡¯s mouth and brain seemed to be disconnected. Even before finishing his sentence, he was already cursing at himself, waiting for Solus to scold him again.

    Then, a Warden array appeared out of nowhere under their feet, Warping them away.

    "What the heck just happened?" The Queen¡¯s corps unit that was assigned to the group as a detail was shocked. Half of them were undercover, following them closely, while the other half would scout the group¡¯s more likely routes to check for dangers.

    Every student of the academy was considered an invaluable asset and the future backbone of the Kingdom. Knowing there was at least one traitor in the academy, Linjos had assigned a detail to every group without notifying anyone but the Queen.

    Yet his precautions proved to not be enough. The squad wasposed only of veterans, so they immediately contacted theirmanding officer and requested back up, searching for their targets at the same time.

    "Where are they?" The captain asked the unit¡¯s Warden. Linjos¡¯ paranoia was finally paying off. In case something like this happened, he had the uniforms imbued with a powerful tracking spell that could be remotely activated.

    "The good news is that I have their position. The enemies have taken them quite far, but Linjos has spared no effort in those trackers. Four of them together produce a signal so strong that we could pinpoint them even at half a county of distance."

    "He¡¯s not here, stop blowing smoke up Linjos¡¯ a*s and give me the bad news." The captain roared.

    "They are a few kilometres away. Unless one of us is familiar with the outskirts of the city, it will take a while to get there even at full speed. Our enemies spared no effort too." The Warden sighed.

    "Damn! Let¡¯s hope they can hold on long enough. Otherwise the Queen will have our heads."

    ***

    The moment the Warping array activated, Lith and Solus prepared for battle. The rest of the group was panicking, trying to make heads or tails out of their situation.

    "Ambush! Get ready to run!" Lith yelled, fearing he had just walked into a trap simr to the one used to kill Captain Vgros (*) and his unit. He immediately conjured several spells at once, activating both Life Vision and mana sense.

    He wouldn¡¯t let any array or enemy take him by surprise again.

    Hispanions were scared, but Lith¡¯s warning made them regain their cool and be wary of their new surroundings. They had been transported to the slums of the city, in the middle of a back alley.

    The stenching from the open sewers was enough to make them puke, but fear kept them focused.

    - "No arrays?"- Lith was pleasantly surprised, failing to remember that the previous ambush had been tailored for an elite military unit, not for a bunch of teenagers. Yet he couldn¡¯t rx, there were too many life forces nearby and he had no idea who was a real hobo and who was just pretending.

    Suddenly, a shadow jumped from behind a heap of garbage into the middle of the group. His dirty, raggedy clothes and some makeup made the man look like a beggar, but his curved de aiming at Yurial¡¯s throat told a different story.

    "Yurial!" Friya screamed, making her hands fumble the signs necessary to save him from death with a timely Blink.

    The green radiance of enchanted steel, a ssh of blood.

    It was all that it took for the cleanly cut head to hit the ground with a thud, rolling in the middle of the group with an expression still filled with fear stamped on its face.

    "I never understood why you guys never cauterized the enemies¡¯ wounds during the exam. There¡¯s never a reason to make a bloody mess."

    Lith had appeared out of nowhere right in front of Yurial. His left hand was clenching the corpse¡¯s crushed right wrist while the right one was open and covered by ayer of ice that made it razor sharp.

    The battle experience of the group of assassins was first ss, but they were no Talons. No one had told them about the Queen¡¯s corps involvement, so when they noticed the detail protecting the kids, they had been forced to improvise.

    The Warp array was ast minute trick, to bring the target to a secluded ce they were familiar with. It implied they had no opportunity to prepare the field in advance, since their Warden had to stay behind to cast the Warp array at the right moment.

    A man cing magical stones in the middle of the road of one of the most exclusive districts of Lorion was beyond suspicious. The residents would have called the guards faster than if they had painted with blood the word "Murder" on a wall.

    They had no idea their opponent was the Queen¡¯s corps, otherwise they would have long fled. With so many unforeseen problems the mission was already a disaster, yet it managed to get even worse.

    As soon as they moved toward the target, some of Lith¡¯s rings glowed, releasing several fireballs aimed at them. They exploded beside or above the assassins¡¯ hiding spots, engulfing them in mes that would have been lethal if not for their enchanted protections.

    "How the heck does he know where we are?" The leader screamed in hismunication earpiece, having be temporarily deaf due to the explosion.

    "It¡¯s almost like he can see us!"

    - "I actually do." Lith thought with a wolfish smile on his face. "Let¡¯s see if they like this."¨C

    Lith shot another round of fireballs, this time high in the sky.

    "Oh gods, why?" The assassins¡¯ leader was on the verge of tears. The key to a job well done was to be quick and go unnoticed. With so many fireballs flying around it was just a matter of time before the city guards and the Mage Association swarmed the ce.

    "I could use a little help, here." Lith said while shooting down whoever ran towards them instead of away from them.

    Yurial stopped staring at the headying at his feet, remembering who he was and who he was meant to be.

    "Friya, protect me! I¡¯m clearly the target of the attempt. Quy, keep the mes under control! This may be a sh*thole, but there are people living here and they need our protection. Lith..." His brain froze for a split second.

    What kind of advice could he possibly give to someone that moved faster than his eyes could see and capable of attacking fiercely like a divine punishment?

    - "I literally meant to help me, not to do damage control." Lith thought, surprised by Yurial¡¯s care for the residents. "Whatever. The more spell they cast, the less people will be able to understand who did what." -

    "You just focus on those b*stards, I¡¯ll cover your back!" If there was something that Yurial had learned from Lith¡¯s negative attitude, fueled by his unbridled paranoia, was to always expect the worst.

    Hence Yurial started to conjure the faster arrays of his repertoire in case something went wrong.

    Less than ten seconds had passed since the activation of the Warp array, and most of the assassins were already dead or gravely injured.

    - "F*ck! If I leave even one of my men behind, my identity will be exposed. A royal constable¡¯s tortures can even make you remember how much milk you drank as a newborn. I can only kill my way out of here."¨C The leader thought.

    "Code ck! Repeat code ck! We sink or swim here, boys!" He yelled in his earpiece. The remaining assassins quickly gulped down all the enhancing potions they had, even those with dangerous side effects.

    While their leader bravely charged forward, they ran away as one, scattering in all directions. Their only wish was to see another day as free men. No amount of money was worth their lives.

    The leader was now empowered by top tier Hatorne (*) potions, that turned him into a one man army.

    He easily dodged the barrage of iing spells. To his eyes the world was now moving in slow motion. He had never felt so powerful in his whole life. The first target was the rugrat that had ruined their ambush.

    Years of experience in the field had honed his instinct. The other three were like mages riding on the back of a dragon, his sword had no chance to reach them without ying the beast first.

    Seeing his mana was going to waste, Lith interrupted his casting, projecting instead a shroud of spirit magic that engulfed the assassin and squeezed him like a wet rug.

    The leader noticed something was attempting to restrain him, but he shrugged off the feeling with sheer force.

    - "F*ck!" Lith thought. "Whatever this guy is high on, has effects so simr to fusion magic that the mana flowing in his body counters my spirit magic. Time for n B."¨C

    Lith infused himself with all the elements at once with fusion magic. The assassin executed several feints, using footwork to make his real target unpredictable.

    Between the high speed movements and the abysmal gap in technique, Lith was left in a daze. He was still physically superior, but thanks to the potions the assassin was able to use the advantageing from hisbat skills to put Lith on the defensive.

    The sword struck Lith several times, piercing both the uniform and his magically hardened skin. Lith had managed to avoid or block all the shes aimed to his vitals, but it came at a price.

    His arms and legs were full of cuts, some even deep enough to bleed profusely.

    "Do you see it, men? If he bleeds, we can kill it!"

    From their short exchange the leader had partially regained his confidence. The rugrat was a monster, but still an untrained civilian.

    Now that he had managed to stop the little monster from raining death from above by putting his life on the line, his teammates could safely join the battle. It was only a matter of seconds before they surrounded the rugrat and killed him with their teamwork.

    - "Any moment now."¨C The leader stopped his attacks to catch his breath, taking a quick look over his shoulder to check the situation. Only then he realized no one wasing to his help.

    Lith exploited that pause to use Invigoration, making his wounds close with a speed visible to the naked eye and sending the assassin further into panic. He immediately resumed his attack, discovering that little by little the monster was getting used to his pattern.

    "I still need help, here!" Lith yelled after noticing his opponent¡¯s distress. Yurial racked his brain to find a way to help him, but they were moving too fast. If they attacked without a n, the enemy could exploit their spells turning Lith into a human shield.

    Their opponent was the one with a clear line of sight, while their friend was unaware of their actions. The only silver lining was that he had already finished cing the first array, so he was able to talk again.

    "Quy, attack on Lith¡¯s right side. Friya, same on the left. Lith, push forward." Yurial yelled.

    "F*ck, no!" The assassin moaned.

 Chapter 198 Helpless 2

    The earth all around the assassin turned into mud while spears of ice as big as a man randomly fell from above. Without space to move around, his footwork was nothing but a silly dance. Strength had be the deciding factor.

    - "At least he has already used up all his rings. If he attempts to cast, I can kill him in a split second. As long we are lined up, his friends cannot aim at me properly."¨C

    The assassin was right, except for one detail. Lith had only used one ring in the opening act, the other spells were silent cast with true magic. True magic was silent, but still required time for casting, so he saved the rings forter, just in case.

    All he had to do was to spread his fingers, releasing the remaining nine at once. Cursing at his bad luck for meeting such a monster disguised as a rugrat, the assassin crushed the medallion he wore at his neck, activating hisst stand item.

    Multiple barriers enveloped him, negating most of the damage. The sheer force of the impacts, though, was another matter entirely. The assassin was knocked back right to the point where the battle had started.

    Yurial activated his Earth Vines array, entangling the assassin¡¯s body with tendrils conjured from the hardest minerals in the soil, devised to be powerful enough to keep even magical beasts in check.

    Four bolts of darkness magic hit him from the front, above, and the sides. The moment the array was activated, Lith had crouched down, clearing his teammates¡¯ line of fire.

    Seeing how sturdy and resourceful their opponent was, they knew that restricting him wasn¡¯t enough, but it created an opening. They all decided to use darkness magic because, despite being slow and mana expensive, it was the most difficult element to defend against.

    It directly attacked the enemy¡¯s life force, so a hardened skin or a magically enhanced chain mail didn¡¯t offer much protection from it. The dark energy sapped the assassin¡¯s strength and vitality, turning the scratches he had suffered during his shes with Lith into open wounds and the bruises into internal bleedings.

    "You suck!" The assassin cursed at Lith, spitting a mouthful of blood from the many broken ribs that were now piercing his lungs due to the darkness ravaging his body.

    "You are barely an amateur. Technique, experience, footwork, you are below me in every aspect. Why am I the one that ended up losing? This is not fair!"

    Another four bolts of darkness struck the assassin, putting him out of his misery.

    "Yeah, and if my grandpa had three balls instead of two, he could have been a pinball." Lith replied only after confirming that the assassin¡¯s life force was fading away.

    - "What pisses me off the most is that he is right. I really need to join the army and receive some proper training. Most of my knowledge about martial arts is only about unarmedbat. Aside from our sparring, Solus, I have no real practice.

    "I¡¯d need a master to polish my skills, since neither of us has the talent necessary to derive new notions from what I already know. Not to mention how I keep suffering from not having a decent weapon nor training in the way of the sword.

    "The practice I had with Phloria during the first trimester barely taught me to hold a real weapon. After that, between the exams, the gue, and dimensional magic I hardly touched a sword.

    "Awakened ones and Monsters can use true magic just like me. When magical skills are on the same level,bat technique and equipment make the difference between life and death." Lith thought.

    "Once we learn more about Forgemastering, we will be able to make our own equipment." Solus mind-nodded.

    "For the training, though, there is not much we can do for the time being. The academy takes too much time. Even if it didn¡¯t, mastering magic andbat skills at the same time is unheard of in all the books we read. Progress, not perfection. Remember?"¨C

    "Lith, are you all right?" Hispanions asked in unison.

    "Yeah, only flesh wounds." He extended his arms, revealing that aside from small cuts in the uniform, only shallow injuries remained. Lith studied their reactions carefully.

    He had shared with them part of his secret, but only now could they realize the scope of his revtion. They were still shaken up by the ambush, so Lith could see right through them.

    - "Surprise aside, Yurial seems to be really impressed. Friya is conflicted between fear and admiration instead. She probably longs for this kind of power, but at the same time she is afraid I could turn it against her. Quy is beyond me though."

    Lith could see something resembling pain in her expression, but she wasn¡¯t hurt. Her eyes were a little watery, but there was no trace of fear, making her a mystery.

    "What you see ispassion." Solus answered the riddle for him. ¨C

    "How did you do that? I mean moving so fast and taking so little damage?" Yurial asked.

    "I told you I¡¯m faster and stronger than a normal person. Also while you were spacing out I consumed enhancing potions." He lied.

    "As for the damage, I must thank the Forgemasters that enchanted the uniform and Professor Trasque¡¯s lessons about using first magic inbat. I used a lot of earth magic to deflect most of the sword strikes."

    "Did it hurt?" Quy asked while tending to Lith¡¯s wounds.

    "Of course it did." Lith gave his first honest answer.

    "I might be a little different from you guys, but I feel pain like anyone else."

    "I¡¯m so sorry you suffered so many injuries just to protect us. I wish there was more I can do." Quy gently wiped off the blood from his skin before stepping away.

    Yurial grabbed Lith by the shoulders, his breath was still ragged because of the physical and mental exertion, but his voice was calm.

    "Thank you for saving my life." He then looked at Friya and Quy too.

    "Thanks to you all for sticking with me, instead of running away like the associates of this poor b*stard." Yurial kicked the corpse with more anger than pity. It seemed no one was going to be traumatized this time.

    "In my darkest hour you remained by my side, you are the best friends a man could wish for. I..."

    "Queen¡¯s corps, nobody moves!" A voice suddenly roared.

    The five members of the unitnded in the middle of the alley, finding it difficult to hide their surprise. The ce looked like a warzone. There were several burn marks on the house walls, spears of ice scattered everywhere and a small crater where the spells contained in Lith¡¯s rings had crashed into the barrier.

    Five dead bodiesy on the ground, yet the students were without a scratch.

    "What the f*ck?" A member of the unit blurted out, drawing on himself reproving looks from his colleagues. Normally the Captain would have scolded him for hisck of professionalism, but he couldn¡¯t do it in front of the students.

    Not to mention he had expressed the feelings of the whole unit, so the Captain decided to let it slide.

    "Have the soldiers secure the perimeter, then search for survivors. Maybe one of them is still alive for interrogation." The Captain opened a Warp Steps leading back to the Mage Association right in front of the group.

    "Get in, kids. First, I need to get you to safety. Then you have to tell me exactly what happened here."

    "There is not much to exin, sir. It¡¯s all thanks to teamwork." Yurial replied.

    ***

    White Griffon academy, Headmaster Linjos¡¯ office

    As soon as Linjos was informed about the assassination attempt, he didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry.

    "It¡¯s worse than I thought." He exined to the Queen.

    "Either I have traitors in every department, or it¡¯s someone really deep in my inner circle. The leaked information is too precise to be the work of a single clerk or of a Professor of the old guard.

    Even though it¡¯s hard to say how far the reach of people like Vastor or Rudd goes. Even if I keep them in the dark, nothing I do ever seems to surprise them."

    Linjos pensively scratched his goatee.

    "I doubt the traitor is one of them." Queen Sylpha shook her head.

    "Vastor has no faction outside his own. If the Kingdom plunges into chaos, he would lose at least half of his connections. He¡¯d rather die than put to waste so many years of efforts.

    As for Rudd, deep under that obnoxious ¡¯old goat¡¯ attitude of his, there is a true loyal servant of the kingdom. Beware though. If you go even deeper, you¡¯ll find another old goat."

    "What really puzzles me is how someone that has managed to infiltrate the academy to such a level can be dumb enough to send amateurs to kill fourth year students. Even if young, a dragon is still a dragon."

    "Maybe he is not dumb. Or do you know something that I don¡¯t?" The Queen appeared to be quite amused.

    "No, the investigation is still ongoing, but how hard can killing four students possibly be? Especially considering that two out of four remained scarred after killing a single person?"

    ***

    White Griffon academy, somewhere else

    "How hard can killing four f*cking students possibly be?" The traitor yelled while trashing their own apartment.

    "Especially considering that I gave those idiots aplete background check on every single one of them?" A punch hit a luxurious desk, causing it to crack almost in half.

    "The battle experience of three of them amounts to fighting e! Thest one is a deranged psychopath that only preys on the weak and magical beasts to make a quick buck." A bookshelf was ripped from the wall and crushed to bits, while the precious books were stomped mercilessly.

    "Who would have thought that the reputation of the Ravagers was just a tant lie?" They panted.

    "They were supposed to hit and run, leaving no traces behind. This is a disaster! If I were superstitious, I¡¯d think that Lukart¡¯s ipetence jinxed me. Luckily, it doesn¡¯t matter." It took a few deep breaths to calm down

    "Worst case scenario, I can give Lukart part of my funds to keep him quiet. I just need a bit more time to put thest pieces in ce, before I¡¯m able to destroy this ce to its very foundations."

    ***

    Back at the academy, Yurial managed to doctor the story, exining how they survived the ambush with little damage. To achieve his goal, he had to significantly reduce Lith¡¯s contribution to the battle, making a hero out of Friya instead.

    Having a Mage Knight capable of Blinking proficiently before the end of the fourth year was something so rare, it even impressed the members of the Queen¡¯s corps. Many of them had undergone special training in the military to achieve the same result.

    Less than half the students from even the six great academies were able to learn dimensional magic and even less would usually master the Blink spell. It perfectly exined why the initial assault had failed and how the Ravagers died where they stood.

    In Yurial¡¯s version of the story, the three of them had provided cover fire while Friya Blinked through the battlefield using her rings to mow down the enemies.

    "Your nerve andbat awareness are worthy of the Ernas¡¯ name." The Captain of their detail shook Friya¡¯s hand with eyes full of respect and admiration.

    "If you ever decide to serve the Crown, I¡¯ll make sure there will be a spot reserved for you in the Queen¡¯s corps."

    "Your words are too kind, it wasn¡¯t much." Friya was red from embarrassment, not because of the lie, but because she was actually able to do everything Yurial had said, if only she didn¡¯t panic.

    - "This is the most humiliating moment of my life." She thought. "Being treated as a hero while all I could do was listen to Yurial¡¯s orders like a puppet and cover behind Lith¡¯s back. After what I went through, I¡¯m still all bark and no bite.

    I must master dimensional magic at all costs, until I¡¯m able to turn this shameful lie into reality. I don¡¯t want to feel so helpless ever again!"¨C

    "I¡¯m deeply sorry for what happened." Once the corps¡¯ men left the office, Linjos gave his students a small bow.

    "From now on, Professor Trasque will apany you during your rounds. Along with the detail, of course. He is the best Battle Mage of the White Griffon. With the corps watching you from a distance and him at your side, it would take a natural disaster to harm you.

 Chapter 199 Frost Dew

    "Lord Deirus, do you suspect anyone of being behind this attack?" Linjos asked.

    "Suspects, no. More like certainty. Lukart." Yurial¡¯s tone was filled with spite.

    "This is a very serious usation. Also, I don¡¯t think Archmage Lukart would kill you just because I have expelled his son. Anyway, do you have any proof backing your theory?"

    "You expelled Lyam?" Yurial was so surprised to not notice Lith mourning the fate of their schoolmate with high fives and down lows with the rest of the team members.

    "Too slow." Lith dodged Friya¡¯s hand, giving her a feeble p on the nape.

    "Yes, I did." A cold shiver ran down Linjos¡¯ spine. He could almost see Manohar¡¯s shadow behind Lith¡¯spleteck of respect towards a fellow student. No matter how toxic Lukart had been, in Linjos¡¯ mind his expulsion was a loss for all the magicalmunity. It wasn¡¯t something to celebrate.

    "I have a file as long as my arm about him and his gang, but Icked solid evidence. A ss full of witnesses and an angry Professor were simply overkill. I¡¯ll ask you again, do you have proof?"

    "Yes and no." Looking at the confused expressions of those present, Yurial exined.

    "This has nothing to do with Lyam¡¯s expulsion, nor with the rivalry between our families. The problem is that I can¡¯t talk about this matter without my father¡¯s approval. So yes, I do have proof, but no I can¡¯t show it to you."

    "Should I speak with Archmage Deirus, then?" Linjos drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair with a pensive look on his face. He had heard many dark whispers about Lukart recently, but he had always refused to believe them.

    After all, only those who greatly contributed to the Kingdom would be bestowed the title of Archmage.

    "Yes. I can¡¯t betray my father¡¯s trust."

    "If there¡¯s nothing you have to add, then you are free to go. I would love to give you the rest of the day off, but s the academy must go on. You¡¯llplete today¡¯s round tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

    Professor Trasque will bring you to your destination."

    "Actually, there is one more thing." Lith raised his hand.

    "Speak freely." Linjos sighed. He couldn¡¯t wait to get rid of them to talk with Deirus first and the Queenter. She had to know he had found another candidate for the special list. First Lith, then Phloria and now Friya.

    For someone with anti social behavior, Lith seemed to be a ma for talented individuals.

    - "Maybe it¡¯s because of the age, but I¡¯m starting to sound more like Vastor every day."¨C

    "Two of us are still without a Ballot. When can we expect the new ones to arrive?"

    "Never." The question hit a sore spot, making the Headmaster¡¯s long face even longer.

    "After the ident in the dimensional magic training hall, I started to suspect there was a traitor among our ranks. After the events urred during the past months, I¡¯m sure of it. No one outside the healing department could know your destination.

    "I can¡¯t let anyone I don¡¯t trust blindly near the academy¡¯s power core, especially Forgemasters. It would be too dangerous. A slight alteration of the power core and the whole castle would be a deadly puppet in the traitor¡¯s hand."

    Linjos hid his face behind his hands in shame. He knew that despite the best efforts of the academy¡¯s staff, many students were going through a rough spot. After the forced break during the gue outbreak, several of them had seen their grades drop.

    The second exam had only made things worse. Despite the number of students promoted from the second to the third trimester was at an all time high, the grades¡¯ average was at an all time low.

    Linjos had listened to their stories and they were all dreadful. Some had failed on purpose, to go unnoticed and have at least a semnce of a peaceful life. Others were being harassed just enough to make their life miserable and were on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    Linjos had been forced to choose between their peace of mind and their physical safety, prioritizing thetter. He knew he had failed them, but there was nothing he could do.

    Hearing those words, Lith could do nothing but sigh. Hisst excuse had just crumbled.

    ***

    Lith regretted having lost his first asion to eat in a restaurant without having to worry about the bill. During lunch Yurial told to Phloria the official version of their adventure, before whispering to her the truth.

    "Thank the gods you are all right. I wish I was there to help you. Did it hurt much?" Phloria touched Lith¡¯s arm, noticing the small cuts the uniform was still repairing.

    Lith nodded in reply.

    - "It¡¯s so odd that both Quy and Phloria almost used the same words." Lith thought. "Guess it means they both care for me. I remember that when I was her age and I still lived with my parents, I often suffered from unrequited love. I wish there was something I could do to help her move on."¨C

    Phloria caressed his hand, giving him a warm and fuzzy feeling that Lith hadn¡¯t experienced since he was still a newborn in Elina¡¯s embrace. It was soothing and pleasant, almost making him lower his guard.

    Lith hated that moment of vulnerability, so he took back his hand after pretending to have dropped his napkin.

    During the afternoon, Lith went to the first Forgemastering lesson of the third trimester. He had long waited for that moment toe. Lith had several things he wanted to ask Professor Wanemyre.

    "Good evening, dear students. It¡¯s good to see so many of you back after the second trimester. Usually this time of the year is a bit lonely for me." She gave them a radiant smile that gave Lith the chills.

    - "What the heck? First Nalear and now Wanemyre too? She also seems prettier than before. This makes no sense. Also, I have never seen her smile so much. Not even when someone performed a perfect enchanted item.

    I¡¯m telling you Solus, something is off."

    "Maybe she too found someone special, but unlike someone I know she is letting herself go instead of ying impossible to get." Her voice was filled with sarcasm.

    "What makes you think that?"

    "The makeup, the jewelry, the smiles." Solus scoffed while pointing out the various details he had missed.

    "She clearly wants to impress someone that makes her feel special."

    Lith took notice of all the changes, only growing more and more suspicious.

    "Say what you want. I can¡¯t believe a person of that age can change so much in a bit more than ten days. She wasn¡¯t like that before the end of the trimester."¨C

    "In thest six months, you have practiced how to create the mostmon magical tools, like dimensional items, reinforced clothes, and magic storing rings. All these objects have one thing inmon: despite you needing to cast several spells of all the elements to obtain them, the final sum is zero.

    None of them has any elemental property, hence they are called neutral items. From today onwards, I¡¯ll exin to you how to infuse an object with a single element. Infusing multiple elements has the same requirements of performing multiple enchantments, and will be a subject of the fifth year."

    She looked sternly at Lith. Clearly, she and Nalear had talked.

    "Contrary to what you have learned so far, giving an object elemental properties cannot be done without ingredients. If any of you has some notions of Alchemy, you¡¯ll notice that this is one of those cases where the two disciplines ovep.

    But unlike Alchemy, where ingredients are necessary to absorb the element and store it for future uses, Forgemastering does the opposite. This happens because alchemical items exploit their own instability to bring out the stronger effect possible.

    A Forgemaster only aims to create something that can be used endlessly instead. Infusing an object with an element means that the Forgemaster has to purposely alter the bnce of their own spell in favour of the chosen element.

    That would cause the final product to be slowly eroded by the very energies that empower it, until either it crumbles or explodes. To prevent that, an ingredient is needed.

    For example, if we want to infuse the fire element we don¡¯t need a fire based magical treasure, but a water one. It acts as a counterweight during the forgemastering process and restores the bnce.

    The stronger the intended effect, the more powerful and rarer the ingredient usually is. I waited for the third trimester to introduce this technique because even simple enchantments require very expensive natural treasures.

    There is only so much that you can learn by reading a book, Forgemastering requires a lot of practice to be mastered. That¡¯s why thest trimester will be about putting into practice what you have studied so far until it bes second nature to you."

    Wanemyre pped her hands, making appear on the desk of every student a bowl full of water, a silk cloth, and a crystal looking flower.

    It was very simr to an Earth chrysanthemum, but instead of petals it wasposed of delicate ice shards exuding a faint blue glow, constantly condensing the humidity in the ss into dew.

    "The ingredient you¡¯ll learn to handle today is called the Frost Dew flower. It grows in the forest surrounding the academy, making it umon for the White Griffon residents. For the rest of the world it¡¯s quite rare, though.

    As you can see, I provided you the full nt. When picking up a natural treasure no part of it has to be removed, otherwise it will lose some if not all of its potency as an ingredient."

    Lith noticed that even the roots were intact. Whoever picked it up, had executed the task with meticulous attention.

    "The first thing to do is to remove all the impurities from the stem, roots, and leaves. The flower requires a separate treatment that I¡¯ll exinter. Use the water bowl to wash away dirt, earth and insects¡¯ eggs.

    "Clean it one leaf at a time and try to only use your fingertips. The stem is more resilient, you only need to be careful not to break it. As for the roots, avoid touching them at all. Just dip them in the water until the earth turns into mud and detaches itself.

    "Always keep the water clean. You¡¯ll understand you are doing it right if the Frost Dew¡¯s glow increases.

    "The treatment requires a gentle touch like you are cleaning a wound. Manhandle the ingredient and it will be useless. You can also use first magic if you are confident enough in your skills. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, begin."

    Removing impurities was second nature to Lith, so he directly used water magic to take control of the water in the bowl and make it gently flow over every centimeter of the nt.

    As soon as he identified clots of dirt, he would use earth magic to remove them and then added fresh water. Out of curiosity he used Invigoration too, discovering that the flower still had a vigorous mana flow.

    - "This reminds me that I have yet to properly examine the magical nts the dryad gave me as a reward for sparing her sister¡¯s life. Sigh, I can¡¯t wait for the winter break. I have so many things that need my attention and so little time."¨C

    The Marchioness had warned him to not show them around and he had no use for them. With everything he had on his te, after checking their type, rarity, and market value, Lith hadpletely forgotten about their existence.

    Lith could also perceive how the contact with water temporarily revitalized the flower, while the cleaning process was strengthening its mana flow to the point Lith could see his breath steam.

    He had initially considered the task a chore, but soon Lith noticed that the ever growing mana flow was starting to resemble a pseudo core.

    - "Is it possible that if properly nurtured even a nt can evolve? Maybe that¡¯s how dryads are born. Invigoration allows me to see and remove internal impurities, I wonder what would happen if Ipletely purified it before performing the Forgemastering process."

    "It¡¯s more than that. Maybe we can use Invigoration to artificially grow magical treasures, if not even give birth to nt creatures." Solus pointed out. ¨C

    Lith¡¯s scientific curiosity was excited on a new level. He became more and more engrossed in his work, forgetting about everything but achieving perfection.

    Solus took a mental note of his wish, already picturing Lith¡¯s despair when he would realize that every discovery he made would take away more of his free time to be studied. Their list of "to do" things was already so long Solus doubted he could even afford to sleep once a month.

    Lith used the silk cloth to dab the water before calling the Professor.

    "Good gods, ten minutes have yet to pass and you finished already? I can even see hoarfrost on the petals. Someone seems to be a natural. Fifty points for achieving so much at the first try. I think this might be a new record for the academy."

    Lith swallowed a lump of saliva, a stinging sensation at the base of the neck made him raise his head. Every single student was staring at him with eyes brimming with burning hate. Their collective gaze exuded a faint killing intent.

 Chapter 200 Frost Dew 2

    Wanemyre didn¡¯t miss the envious res, reverting immediately to her old self. She mmed her hand on a desk, producing a deafening sound and drawing the students¡¯ attention on her.

    "Instead of wasting your time staring at him, mind your own task. You, up there." She pointed to a red haired girl, sitting a couple of desks behind Lith.

    "I said to be delicate with the leaves. Keep up like that and they will crumple." To her defence, she was just clenching her hands in frustration. The problem was she hadpletely forgotten what she was doing.

    "As for you." Wanemyre pointed to a slim boy sitting right in front of her.

    "You don¡¯t change your water often enough. That way you are not cleaning the Frost Dew, just moving the dirt from one spot to another."

    The two students rushed to correct the situation ording to the Professor¡¯s instructions.

    "I¡¯d like to tell you to keep your cool, that this isn¡¯t apetition, but it damn is. Once you graduate, or even better if you graduate, who do you think will buy the creations of a nameless Forgemaster? No one but friends, rtives, and the Mage Association.

    The Association will not purchase from you just to provide you some pocket money, but to evaluate the quality of your work and establish its market value. So if you start losing your head while you are still in the academy, you¡¯d better change your specialization."

    Wanemyre gave them a few seconds to ponder on her words.

    "Since you have decided on your own to take a break, I¡¯ll exin now how to treat the flower. Be sure to pay attention, because I will not repeat myself." Under her fierce gaze, the students gently ced their flowers on the silk cloth, like it was a priceless gem.

    "Smart move. The flower needs even more care. You can¡¯t touch it at all or drench it in the water. You need to drip lukewarm water on each petal, stopping as soon as the external frostyer does not form anymore.

    Use too much water and you¡¯ll melt the petal, too little and the impurities will not be removed." She used Lith¡¯s flower to show them the method.

    "Start from the innermost petals and then move towards the outer ones, otherwise the dirt dripping from the center will easily ruin your work."

    After three water droplets, Wanemyre stopped dripping the petal, letting it dry. Just a few secondster, the ss could see that one of the petals seemed to have grown longer, emitting a stronger glow.

    Wanemyre gave the flower back to Lith.

    "Keep up the good work, but don¡¯t get conceited. I epted this job because I want to nurture my futurepetitors. Without a proper challenge, being a Forgemaster is too boring for me. Don¡¯t let me down." She patted his head like he was a dog.

    - "Charming as usual." Lith thought. "I doubt even a gold digger could stand her for long. She makes Phloria appear like a delicate flower. If she really is in love, then I¡¯ll bark like a dog."

    "I¡¯ll take that bet." Solus replied before he could change his mind. ¨C

    Lith did as instructed, cleaning the petals from the inside out. Once cleansed they became crystal clear, absorbing the humidity from the air and adding it to their mass before their temperature dropped again.

    - "Interesting. This flower is actually made of water frozen by the mana stored into the stem, leaves, and roots. It must be incredibly delicate if evenmon impurities affect its growth to this extent."

    "Yeah, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s kind of cruel?" Solus shivered a bit.

    "I mean, it¡¯s actually growing under your care. The pseudo core keeps bing bigger and moreplex. I don¡¯t know how to feel about sacrificing it for our gain."

    "Well, it¡¯s not really alive. It has a mana flow but almost no life force. Even if it was alive, my family raises animals just to turn them into money and food. I hunt and kill for a living. It¡¯s no big deal as long as you don¡¯t hurt others for no reason."¨C

    This time Lith was careful not to be too fast. Not because he was afraid to show his skills but rather to take his time and carefully study the procedure to better be able to repeat it in the future.

    Once again Wanemyre was an enthusiast of his results.

    "Marvelous! You managed to develop the rest of the petals at the same rate as the one I cleansed."

    "Is that supposed to be apliment?" Lith blurted out.

    "Of course it is. You remind me of my days as a student."

    - "Yeah, too bad you were really twelve at the time and only used your talent, while I have many years of experience in cleansing impurities much smaller than these ones."

    "Quit whining and take thepliment." Solus scolded him.

    "She acknowledged the results of your hard work. Being hardworking is a talent too!"

    "Now you are talking like a shounen manga."¨C

    They would have kept bickering, but Wanemyre had drawn on a stone table a magic circle like Lith had never seen before. It consisted of two concentric circles, with runes in-between, and a six pointed star resembling Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram enclosed in the smaller circle.

    "Since everyone is about to finish the second step, let¡¯s all take a break so I can give you a demonstration of today¡¯s spell." Wanemyre took Lith¡¯s Frost Dew, cing it in the middle of the magic circle alongside a longsword of excellent quality.

    Wanemyre ordered Lith and the red haired girl to charge the magic circle, so they took ce on the opposite sides of the desk and chanted the Forgemaster spell in unison.

    To fill the space within the circle with pure non elemental mana they had to repeat it several times. Wanemyre allowed them to stop only when the runes turned from blue to white hot, marking the circle reaching its maximum capacity.

    The energy inside shed with the magical boundaries, triggering several sparks that grew in intensity until they resembled lightning bolts.

    Only then Wanemyre stepped forward, casting in session the several Forgemaster spells the procedure required. Despite her being just a fake mage, Lith would always be awed by her ability to weave so many enchantments together.

    Whenever he saw Wanemyre at work, bending mana and matter at her will, he could not help but wonder if that was how a goddess would appear while creating new worlds.

    One by one, the runes between the circles rose in the air, revolving at increasing speed while the sword and the Frost Dew floated in the middle of the circle. The runes absorbed the surrounding mana, forming a ming energy sphere.

    The zing mana scorched the flower, that left behind a bright blue sphere. Like twin suns, the two energy masses started revolving one around the other, with the sword as their fulcrum.

    Wanemyre kept chanting, bringing them closer and closer, until with a final spell she made them be one and fused them with the sword. The de fell on the table, hot enough to cut through the stone like it was butter.

    A secondter a blue glow radiated around the sword, allowing Wanemyre to pick it up without risks.

    "That wasn¡¯t supposed to happen." She sighed while pointing at the destroyed table.

    "The silver lining is that it means that Lith¡¯s flower¡¯s purity was outstanding. This sword will fetch me enough to cover for the table and this lesson¡¯s Frost Dew flowers."

    "Can I touch it?" Lith was eager to check how the pseudo core of such item looked like.

    "Sure, but do not imprint it. Otherwise you¡¯ll have to pay."

    Lith used Invigoration, looking at the pseudo core with eyes filled with marvel. While the mana pathways weren¡¯t much different from the ones he was able to create, the pseudo core was a revtion.

    There were actually two of them, ovepping each other almost perfectly.

    - "They got it all wrong!" Lith was bbergasted.

    "The ingredients don¡¯t restore the bnce by simply countering the elemental energies during the enchanting process, they actually pass their pseudo cores. This means that multiple enchantments require multiple pseudo cores coexisting in the same item."¨C

    Lith was still studying the phenomenon, pondering if a living body could hold multiple cores too, when Invigoration suddenly stopped working. Wanemyre had taken the sword back.

    "You must really love swords to get so lost in thought by simply holding one."

    "You are right, sorry." Lith realized he had spaced out for over a minute.

    "Go back to your seat and rest. You¡¯ll need all your strength before attempting the spell on your own." She ruffled his hair, making him feel like a dog again.

    "You used my Frost Dew." Lith was confused.

    "How am I supposed to perform the spell without one?"

    "Don¡¯t worry, I got it covered." She handed him a Frost Dew emitting such a faint glow to seem just a cheap knock off of the one Wanemyre had consumed.

    "Why do you give me that funny look?" She scolded Lith.

    "It would have been a crime against magic to let such a perfectly purified natural treasure go to waste during a test run. No one will miss this one, instead."

    Lith had many things to say, but was smart enough to keep them for himself. Wanemyre was an excellent Professor and their rtionship was good. There was no reason to ruin everything over a single ingredient.

    After a few minutes, the studentspleted the second step and were ready to try out the new magic circle. Wanemyre took away properly cleansed Frost Dews from a few other students too, assigning them points ordingly to the purity level reached, before recing them with mediocre counterparts.

    The ones that did a poor job could keep their flowers, making them grit their teeth with frustration.

    Wanemyre handed out to each student an unremarkable iron dagger that couldn¡¯t be worth more than a silver coin. Clearly, she wasn¡¯t expecting them to seed.

    For a good reason, though.

    "Don¡¯t worry if you fail. In my experience, infusing elemental properties is much harder than Forgemastering a neutral item. It takes a few tries to handle so many spells and two kinds of energies at once. Only special talents, like me, seed at the first try."

    She puffed her chest with pride, making her ample bosom stand out even more.

    - "Thank heavens with her personality she has zero charm, otherwise I would have a new crush already."¨C Lith thought.

    One after the other, his ssmates tried and failed. Most botched the procedure during thest steps, making the dagger shatter like ss. Only a few managed to screw up during the initial steps, losing their chanting rhythm and receiving extra homework as punishment.

    Having helped the Professor earlier, Lith and the red headed girl werest, to give them time to rest.

    Remembering so many magic words and hand signs was hard. Even if he had them stored in Soluspedia, his hands couldn¡¯t afford to stumble, his tongue to stutter or miss even a single ent.

    That was why every time a student performed their experiment, Lith would chant alongside them, using that time to practice rather than to rx. When Lith¡¯s turn came, he was ready. He had even used Invigoration to be at peak condition.

    The words rolled off Lith¡¯s tongue, his hands moved non stop forming signs and magic seals. Controlling the energy flows was definitely the easiest part for him. With true magic he was used to weaving even six elements at a time, manipting just two of them was child y, allowing him to focus on the rest of the incantation.

    During thest spell, the red and blue sphere shed violentlypared to Wanemyre¡¯s execution, emitting a blinding light when they attempted to fuse with the dagger.

    "Another failure." Wanemyre sighed. "Too bad, that was really close. Twenty points for an excellent first attempt."

    Then the dagger fell on the table, piercing through it until only the hilt was visible.

    "Good gods, I was wrong. It¡¯s a sess!" Wanemyre hugged Lith too close for hisfort, kissing his forehead with excitement.

    "Finally a promising rival!"

    "I did it." Was all that Lith managed to say. He was so used to failure that sess was the most shocking thing that could happen to him.

    - "I told you so! You do have talent."¨C Solus rejoiced.

    Wanemyre took the dagger out of the stone table, holding it like it was a treasure.

    "Who cares about the sword, this is much more important." Wanemyre took out from her dimensional amulet a golden liquid, inscribing on the surface of the de Lith¡¯s name, the date, and her name before handing it to him.

    "Raise that twenty points to fifty. It¡¯s no attempt, it¡¯s a sess." She screamed almost deafening the clerk on the other side of themunication amulet.

 Chapter 201 Good News, Bad News

    After Lith¡¯s performance, the red haired girl did the best she could, going above and beyond in her efforts, but failed nheless. Lith stayed behind, while the others marched out of the ssroom in silence.

    From their gloomy expressions, one could have thought they were going to a memorial service.

    After Professor Wanemyre instructed the academy¡¯s clerks to clean the Forgemasteringb and repair the broken equipment, she finally noticed his presence.

    "What can I do for you?" She was back to being all smiles and niceties. Lith didn¡¯t know if it was because the ss was over or because she was still overjoyed from his sess.

    Whatever the reason, he found her creepy.

    "I have a few questions for you."

    "Shoot."

    "Today Professor Nalear showed us yourtest creation. I was wondering how many enchantments it possesses and what is its market value." Lith was actually only interested in checking if it had a weight reducing spell, but he couldn¡¯t ask it directly.

    If Nalear was an Awakened one, by exposing her he was likely to expose himself too.

    "You really are the greedy type." Wanemyre clicked her tongue in disapproval.

    "What we do is a perfect mix of art and magical science. It¡¯s not about how much you earn, it¡¯s the journey that matters. Money is just a pleasant side effect of our line of work."

    - "How can she say that with a straight face after keeping the Frost Dews for herself? She¡¯s shameless." Lith thought.

    "The pot calling the kettle ck?" Solus sneered. ¨C

    "As for your questions, here. You can keep it." She gave him a small booklet, containing drawings and descriptions of all the magical items Wanemyre had for sale. The pricing of most of them was enough to make him weep blood.

    - "I wish I had it earlier. Maybe I can still ask the Crown to give me a few of these things. The reward I asked for would barely cover for the cheapest items."¨C

    When he found the sword¡¯s description, the weight reducing spell was listed among many others. Lith felt like a burden had been lifted from his chest, yet another was added when he checked out the price.

    - "Maybe if I reveal to the Crown how much I contributed to finding a cure for the gue, they will gift me half a sword. I need at least another two gues to be able to afford this thing." -

    "Another thing, how does the dagger work? You never exined that part."

    Wanemyre pped her own forehead with her palm, realizing her mistake.

    "Sorry, I never thought someone would seed. I didn¡¯t want to get your hopes up just to be disappointed as it happened to your ssmates. It¡¯s actually very simple. Once you imprint it, activating the enchantment will make the de turn hot enough to melt stone.

    It can easily cut through most conventional protections and weapons. It doesn¡¯t cause bleeding, but makes the wound unbearably painful and harder to heal. The effectsts a couple of minutes per activation. With the Frost Dew I gave you, I doubt it can be activated more than thrice per day. Sorry."

    Her apologies sounded fake like a three dor bill, but Lith had to let it slide.

    "Thest question is a personal one, so I apologize in advance for being nosy. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that you changed quite a bit from thest trimester."

    "Changed how?" She tilted her head, seeming more ttered than annoyed by his curiosity.

    "You look even prettier than before, you now wear makeup and jewels." Lith pointed at the gold ne with several embedded gemstones she wore around her neck and the small silver bracelet around her wrist. "You also smile a lot more."

    "Well, thank you for noticing it." She giggled like a little girl.

    "I admit I was a bit too stern before, but you know, love changes everything. I am betrothed now."

    "Betrothed?" Lith was dazed.

    "Yes, I know it may seem rushed to a twelve year old with his whole life ahead of him, but for a woman of my age there is no time to lose. We want to have children, so we¡¯ll get married after the end of the trimester."

    - "Told you so. Again!" Solusughed her heart out, mocking his paranoia.

    "Don¡¯t think I have forgotten about our bet."¨C

    Lith ignored her remark, noticing instead the contrast between the two essories.

    "It¡¯s a wonderful betrothal gift." He said pointing at the ne. In the new world there was no such thing as engagement rings. The one proposing could provide any kind of jewelry ormodity as a sign of good faith.

    "That¡¯s my protective ne, page twenty-three of the catalog." Wanemyre snorted, quite offended by his remark.

    "I wear it only because of Linjos¡¯ paranoia. He wants us to be ready in case another sabotage happens. It¡¯s too shy for my taste, but it was the most useful if something went wrong during today¡¯s lesson. This is his betrothal gift."

    She extended her slim wrist, showing him the silver bracelet.

    - "And you say I¡¯m the stingy one, Solus. On Earth this trinket is barely better than those you would find in an Easter egg. Judging from the numerous runes and magic crystals, it should at least be powerfully enchanted.

    "Even I would have bought something better." -

    Solus was tempted to say "It¡¯s the thought that counts", but she was too afraid Lith would use it against her the next time he had to buy presents.

    "It¡¯s simply lovely." Lith lied through his teeth.

    "Sorry for my rudeness before. It¡¯s just that your masterpiece drew all my attention." He added ttery to make sure she wouldn¡¯t resent him for his blunder.

    "I forgive you. Now go to your room and prepare for tomorrow¡¯s lessons."

    Lith didn¡¯t make her say it twice, he had already wasted too much time indulging his paranoia, now he had to rush.

    If only he had spent a few more minutes with the Professor, he would have seen that despite her smiling and the joy on her face, her right eye twitched uncontrobly, shedding a single tear before returning to normal.

    ***

    Blood Desert, the day before.

    While waiting for Sark¡¯s return, Leegaain and Tyris kept singing, rejuvenating the heaven and earth from the damages that the prolonged experiments performed by the Abominations had caused.

    The barrennd had turned into a flourishing oasis. The two Guardians could already perceive many animals migrating toward the newborn haven guided by their innate mana sense.

    Sark came out of the caverns with her talon-ending hands covered by bits and chunks of a ck matter that were quickly turning into smoke.

    "How did it go?" Tyris asked, worried by the phoenix¡¯s frown. She wasn¡¯t the kind to mull over a victory, more likely to banter about it and demand a celebratory feast.

    "While you lovebirds were singing about peace and love, I risked my feathers. This b*stard..." She took out Pazul¡¯s head, handing it to Leegaain before it could disappear.

    "...was very well prepared for our arrival. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I never underestimate any opponent and brought you along as a contingency n, the Garlen continent would now have only two Guardians."

    "If this is a joke, it¡¯s not funny Sark. We have killed Eldritchs for millennia and each of them had less power than a single one of your feathers." Tyris scoffed at the idea of a Guardian dying at the hands of an overgrown tick.

    "A single Eldritch is indeed irrelevant," Leegaain said after having stabilized Pazul¡¯s remains and studied them for a bit.

    "...but this thing is so much more. The other artificial Abominations we encountered earlier were harmless despite their humongous power because they were utterly insane. So many minds could not coexist, so the whole was less than the sum of its parts.

    "This time they used an Eldritch as a base, fusing it with countless artificial Abominations. An Eldritch has enough power and experience to beat the other minds into submission.

    That¡¯s why it was able to retain its personality and harness all their powers at once."

    "How bad is it?" Sark had just finished cleaning herself.

    "Quite bad, if you ask me. It¡¯s still a rough product. It had to spend most of its energies just to keep all the other minds in check, but it¡¯s a huge step forward. They have already solved the madness issue.

    "Even as it is, if they put up a squad of these things, even a Guardian may not be enough. What did it say to you before dying?"

    "Not much." Sark shrugged.

    "I had no idea his mind was so fragile. I was quite pissed off, so things turned ugly fast. Torturing its soul made his mind copse and melt in the psychic maelstrom. There is a fullb down there, and it¡¯s still in almost mint condition though."

    "Make way, please." Leegaain asked with a stern expression, making Tyris grow even more worried.

    In all the time they had spent together, she had never seen the dragonpleting so many sentences without cracking even one joke.

    ***

    It took Leegaain a few hours to check and catalog everything. When he finished, the dragon was pleased with his results.

    "Excellent work in preserving theb Sark. Now we know everything but the identity of our enemies."

    "We do?" Tyris and Sark asked in unison. Since they couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the equipment, they had spent their time ying Lith¡¯s game. Chess had be renowned as the "Queen of the games" and "the game of the Queens".

    "Yes. Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

    "Whatever. I¡¯m sure that no matter what I pick, you¡¯ll tell us both anyway." Sark snorted in exasperation.

    "You are right my fairdy, but this time I will do it because it¡¯s vital for you to understand how serious our crisis is, rather than for the simple pleasure of annoying you." His mocking tone told a different story, though.

    "The first thing I ascertained by examining theb, is that whoever is behind this, they are not Awakened ones. Their method to mass produce Abominations is brilliant but too crude.

    An Awakened one wouldn¡¯t need all this equipment nor to sacrifice so many lives for so little result." Leegaain pointed at the mountains of corpses.

    "They would just use Invigoration to call upon the world energy and forcefully feed it to their test subjects. Our culprit is sapping the life force of countless living beings to produce a single Abomination, instead.

    Clearly they have no idea of what a mana core is or how to sense the world energy."

    "How can you be so sure?" Tyris asked. "Most Abominations were once Awakened ones, can¡¯t they have taught to others the secret behind the awakening?"

    Leegaain sneered in response.

    "Even if they wanted to, they can¡¯t. Abominations lose all their connections with the world energy after the transformation. Would you be able to Awaken someone by using mere words? The answer is no." He didn¡¯t give them the time to reply.

    "Sure, Abominations can exin what a mana core is or how the world energy affects magic, but knowing and doing are two different things. Also, I¡¯m certain of my assumptions because I¡¯m very familiar with the blueprints of those tanks..."

    "Since you made them yourself?" Sark interrupted him, shocked by her intuition.

    "Why would I do that? Just like you, I can create artificial Awakened as well as true ones. I¡¯m the father of all dragons, if I wanted to take over the world, I would just need to call all of my offspring and take down a Guardian at a time.

    No, I know them because they belong to the Griffon Kingdom. They are the upgraded version of Arthan Griffon¡¯s immortality project."

    Tyris had done her best to forget that name. King Arthan Griffon, the Kinyer. The Soul Eater. The biggest mistake she had ever made.

    Unlike natural Awakened ones, those Sark and Tyris made were incapable of using techniques like Invigoration and umtion, their sensitivity toward the world energy was purposely sealed during the process.

    Having a stronger mana core than the one they were born with, made them age more slowly, but they aged nheless. Arthan had been a genius mage, that during his final years had focused on studying the limitations of the gift he had received and how to ovee them.

    His experiments had sacrificed countless lives and almost led to the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s destruction.

 Chapter 202 A Shadow in a World of Lights

    During his youth, after Tyris had chosen him as the next King and gifted him true magic, Arthan Griffon would oftenugh at how hard and convoluted fake magic was. Without the countless legacies left behind by Awakened ones, most magical advancements would have been impossible.

    What made fake magic invaluable, was that anyone with a strong enough mana core could practice it. As for most things, there was strength in numbers. By standing on the shoulders of the Awakened ones, fake mages had improved the lives of all those who lived in the Galen continent and beyond.

    Thanks to Lochra Silverwing and many others, magical research was possible for fake mages too. Some of them had made discoveries so great to put to shame even Awakened ones.

    Arthan Griffon understood why the Awakened were so jealous of their secret. It wasn¡¯t just a matter of power, but also of longevity. A dog could live up to twelve years, a Ry up to forty, a Monster for hundreds of years, while Guardians were seemingly immortal.

    If all mankind turned into Awakened ones, having children would eventually be a crime, forcing the various Royal families to cull their own poption from time to time.

    As Arthan grew old, he also grew envious of Tyris¡¯ eternal youth. He was unwilling to let his genius perish by the hand of something trivial as old age. At that time, she interfered even less in the Kingdom¡¯s matters, letting humans take care of themselves.

    After wasting years searching for an Awakened, Arthan had used most of the Crown¡¯s and Mage Association¡¯s resources to buy his way into immortality. Failure after failure, his project became more ruthless and desperate, using the lives of his subjects to prolong his own.

    Despite his secrecy, Tyris soon discovered Arthan¡¯s crimes, executing him on the spot and setting the canons that defined forbidden magic. Arthan Griffon¡¯s name became a synonym of madness, a bogeyman used to scare the children and make them behave.

    "It¡¯s impossible!" Tyris was bbergasted.

    "I made sure to destroy all the blueprints and specifications of that evil contraption. I left behind only the parts that could be used for medical research and even the few fragments left are heavily guarded."

    "Are you saying this is all her fault?" Sark pretended to be outraged, pointing her finger at Tyris while her other hand switched the position of a few pieces on the chessboard. There was no such word as "defeat" in her vocabry.

    "No, I¡¯m not. That¡¯s cheating, by the way." Leegaain put everything back into ce with a wave of his hand.

    "What one man can invent another can discover. Especially if he has ess to the remaining pieces and has enough talent to reverse engineer the machine. Judging from the result, our culprit is either a rare genius or someone that spent years improving Arthan¡¯s madness.

    We are lucky to have found this ce when we did. Losing theirtest specimen and all this equipment will set them back for years, especially now that we are keeping our eyes open for anomalies."

    "Okay, enough with the bad news. Give us the good news too." Tyris gave Sark a reproving look while making her next move.

    "That was the good news." Leegaain replied shocking them both.

    "Weren¡¯t you listening? The setback, the ignorance about world energy and cores, the fact that they can at best create Abominations instead of Awakened, those are all good news.

    "The bad news is that when the newb will be up and running, they only have to fix the humongous energy consumption problem and find a way to suppress the psychic maelstrom to be capable of turning whoever they want into the Abomination knock-off version of a Guardian."

    ***

    After the end of the lessons, Lith¡¯s group resumed studying dimensional magic in Yurial¡¯s room. It was the only subject they could prepare for in advance since they had no idea what they would do for Necromancy or Magic Crystals.

    As for their specializations¡¯ sses, the Professors were throwing the books away in favor of a more practical approach. Friya and Phloria were worn out both physically and mentally.

    "Professor Thorman is a monster." Friya was still panting, incapable of catching her breath.

    "Three minutes of sparring, one minute of rest, three minutes of casting. Rinse and repeat for two whole hours! If one fainted, he would just have a healer give them some life force and a sweet drink before starting again."

    "I don¡¯t remember ever wanting to take a shower so badly." Phloria added.

    "We can postpone our meeting. Clean yourself, get some rest and get back here." Yurial¡¯s proposal was also for his own benefit. He had spent his lesson learning how to handle the arrays¡¯ activation order to alter their effects.

    The problem was that the slightest mistake caused the arrays to cancel each other, forcing him to start over from scratch. Each array was demanding on his focus and mana since Professor Juong had one of his assistants time the casting speed of each student.

    Yurial had a splitting headache caused by theck of mana, but was too prideful to call quits first.

    - "Please say yes. Daddy needs some sleep."¨C He thought.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Friya replied. "I am certain that the moment I touch my bed or hot water I¡¯ll fall asleep until tomorrow morning."

    Quy and Lith were the only ones in peak condition. Quy because she had no specialization aside healing, Lith because of Invigoration.

    Despite their fatigue, the training went smoothly. Friya turned out to be a natural at dimensional magic, managing to master Blink before dinner time. Once she was able to cast it sessfully ten times out of ten, she stopped practicing to rest and give tips to the others.

    The canteen had never been so quiet during dinner. Everyone was either too tired or depressed to speak, even Lith¡¯s group. The ttering of the silverware was the only audible sound.

    "Sorry guys, I¡¯m too exhausted to do anything but sleep. I¡¯d call it a day if it¡¯s okay with you." Yurial¡¯s proposal was unanimously approved.

    "Friya, Quy please escort me to my room. I¡¯m still without a Ballot and had enough of ambushes for today." Yurial faked a yawn, winking at Lith while Phloria wasn¡¯t looking.

    - "How nice of Yurial being your wingman." Solus thought. ¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t reply, sighing in resignation instead. Part of him found all that situation insane. Despite his body was one of a twelve year old, his true age was around forty. The more he thought about it, the more the idea of having a high school sweetheart sounded dumb.

    Another part of him was tired of being alone, a shadow in a world of lights. That part of him was aware that the age gap would never disappear and that the longer he waited, the more excuses Lith would make up to keep isting himself from the rest of the world.

    After speaking with Yurial, he had realized how lonely it was to live trapped in a life of duty. No one could force Lith to marry, but he already knew that after the academy he would be forced to train until he became sixteen, umting wealth for his future travels.

    Then, he would join the army, starting his quest to find a body for Solus and a solution for his twice lifelong problem. Lith didn¡¯t want to start over again, to find a new family, and most of all, to lose Solus.

    He had already decided that if he couldn¡¯t find a way to prevent his next reincarnation, then he would settle for a way to achieve a permanent death. He and Yurial weren¡¯t so different, after all. Both wiser than their age and living on tracks they couldn¡¯t escape from.

    "Thanks for walking me to my door despite your horrible day." Phloria suddenly said, waking Lith from his stupor. They were already in front of her room.

    "I don¡¯t know how you guys managed to attend your lessons after almost losing your lives this morning. Especially you, Lith from Lutia." She smiled warmly at him, making his dark and light side sh against each other with growing intensity.

    "I wish to one day be as strong as you and be capable to protect all those I hold dear."

    She unlocked her door and was about to disappear inside when Lith stopped her.

    "About that, there¡¯s something I need to give you." Phloria turned around, seeing he was handing her a Guilty Ballot.

    "I had Linjos remove my imprint, so now it¡¯s yours."

    "I can¡¯t ept it! What if something happens to you?" She pushed it away with both hands.

    "To me?" Lith chuckled. "I faced magical beasts, monsters, and assassins. Yet I¡¯m still here. Nothing in this academy, be it physical or emotional can touch me, but you are different." He ced the Ballot in her fingers, appreciating their warmth.

    "You still have feelings that can be hurt, a mind that can get scarred. It¡¯s toote for me, I¡¯m beyond salvation. Take it and promise me you¡¯ll have a happy life."

    Both Phloria and Solus were on the verge of tears. The former could only feel the pain behind those words, while thetter was seeing all of Lith¡¯s lives shing in front of her eyes.

    Phloria imprinted the Ballot before putting it away in her dimensional amulet.

    "I promise." She said closing the door behind her, incapable to face him any longer.

    - "Was it that hard?" Solus asked.

    "Actually, it was." Lith replied.

    "Good! Nothing that¡¯s worth havinges easy, remember? Your words, not mine."¨C

    Their bickering was interrupted when the door reopened and Phloria embraced Lith, giving him a quick, soft kiss. Barely a peck.

    "Also I promise I will try to share that happiness with you. No matter how thick skinned you have be, you are still alive. Please, don¡¯t talk ever again as you are going to die at any moment."

    She held him tight for a long second, giving his body and mind the time to react to the sudden turn of events. Once again, a warm feeling spread through his being, like when he was in Elina¡¯s embrace as an infant.

    With that also came the hunger. The violent desire to fill the bottomless void that gued his existence ever since he could remember. His inner conflict resumed, part of him just wanted to drown in that warmth, while the other wanted to kill Phloria for being a liability, a weakness that could only lead to more suffering.

    "Was my first kiss that good or that bad for leaving you in a daze for so long?" She asked blushing in an adorable manner.

    "Woof." Lith¡¯ brain short circuited because of the conflicting emotions, suddenly remembering his lost bet with Solus.

    Phloria chuckled at his nonsensical answer, giving him a second peck before disappearing behind her door.

    - "Was it that bad?" Solus gloated.

    "Woof! Woof!" Lith replied. ¨C

    As most of the happy times of his lives, it wasn¡¯t bound tost.

    An almost inaudible sound drew his attention, making Lith activate Life Vision, spotting three figures hidden behind pirs and corners.

    "Well, well, well. The academy is so clean, yet the roaches are so big. Three of them at that." He said out loud, making theme out in the open. Without the advantage of surprise, hiding was just useless.

    "It¡¯s not the first time you follow us. Why you don¡¯t run away as usual? Isn¡¯t that what cockroaches do when you shed light on them?" Lith said with an amused voice.

    The three students were all taller than Phloria, the shorter one was 1.82 meters (6¡¯) high. Yet they were all on edge. Their goal had been the girl all along, none of them wanted to face Lith unless he was tied up and drugged.

    His background check was intimidating on its own and the fact that he had just survived the attack of professional assassins was public knowledge. They were three against one, all taller and heavier than him though.

    He was also finally without a Ballot, so they only needed him to cast a spell in self defence to have him expelled.

    At least in theory.

    "I can¡¯t believe you gave your Ballot to that wh*re even knowing we were here."

    The leader swallowed a lump of saliva, looking at hispanions to gain some confidence. He didn¡¯t want to be there, but he couldn¡¯t disobey his mother.

    Lithughed maniacally.

    "What use do I have for a Ballot? The rooms are all soundproof, why ruin our meeting with a recording device?" Lith¡¯s pupil dted to the point of covering most of the iris, making his brown eyes seem to have turned ck.

    The corridors were lit by magic stones, fueled by the castle¡¯s power core. In all the academy¡¯s history, they had never malfunctioned.

    Yet when Lith moved forward, the lights flickered at his passage.

 Chapter 203 The Watcher

    "Stay back! We have a Ballot!" The leader screamed with a high pitched voice that was hard to believe it coulde out of someone that big. They never intended to pick on Lith, no matter what their orders were, it was just too dangerous.

    After being discovered, they had no choice left though. Lith wouldn¡¯t believe a word they said. It was better taking a punch in the face than a knife in the back. They were three against one and well prepared for the encounter.

    They could only hope to scare him away.

    - "Do they?"

    "So far it¡¯s a bluff. They only have some magic rings and alchemic tools. No Ballot." Solus replied. ¨C

    They had studied it for months. She could recognize a Ballot¡¯s pseudo core from a mile away.

    "Really?" Lith sneered. "Did you incriminate yourselves by recording since you started following us? Or are you going to activate it now?" Lith¡¯s voice was stone cold, a huge smile had appeared on his face, yet it contained no joy.

    It was the smile of a predator closing in on a cornered prey.

    A twitch in the left arm rmed Solus.

    - "I stand corrected. The one in the middle now holds a Ballot in the left hand."¨C

    Thanks to her timely warning, Lith extended his right arm ripping the Ballot off his enemy¡¯s fingers with spirit magic before he could even activate it.

    "I said no recording devices!" Lith engulfed the Ballot in a shroud of darkness, actually sending it in his pocket dimension. He had no idea what kind of safety measures it could have and wasn¡¯t willing to take unnecessary risks.

    Lith let the shroud disappear, revealing his now empty hand.

    "You have just destroyed an academy¡¯s property. You are insane!" Not only had they just lost their only ace in the hole, but seeing an artifact crumble like that brought the three to the verge of panic.

    The leader of the group was Raynart Poltus. His mother Duchess Poltus, a leading figure in the old noble faction and had a bone to pick with Jirni Ernas, Phloria¡¯s mother.

    Ever since the end of the gue, the Poltus family was under the scrutiny of the Crown because of their deep ties with Coirn Hatorne, the fugitive alchemist believed to be responsible for creating the parasites and known for being a middleman for the major ck market dealers.

    During her inquiries, Lady Ernas had discovered that the Duchess¡¯ brother was part of a ve trade. Even if most of his victims were dead or missing, he had been found in possession of a new kind of ve cors that could be disguised as a ne, a ring, or a bracelet.

    It was by itself a capital crime, so no matter how powerful and influent the Poltus family was, he had been tortured until he had revealed all the names of his aplices and then executed.

    The event had been a disaster for the family. Its members were now looked down on even bymoners and cut out from all the major social events. The identity of the royal constable in charge of investigations was supposed to be a secret, but Duchess Poltus still had many informant and friends.

    She wanted to give Lady Ernas a taste of her own medicine. Her only daughter r*ped and branded as a sl*t was punishment enough in the Duchess¡¯ eyes. Without a Ballot, her son could have always imed it was consensual s*x.

    It would also help the noble faction¡¯s cause, forcing Linjos to take a side between the two families and putting himself in a lose-lose situation. Siding with the Poltus meant making an enemy of the Crown, while siding with the Ernas was like admitting his own ipetence, adding the scandal to his long list of faults as Headmaster.

    The lights¡¯ flickering intensified, while a ck fog seeped out of the shadows making the scene looked more and more like a nightmare by the second. Raynart and his cousins wanted to run away, but for some reason their feet refused to move.

    The previous warmth Lith had demonstrated earlier had disappeared, only the hunger remained. The abyss inside him kept pouring out its hate, infecting the outer world. Lith¡¯s killing intent reached a new peak, forcing the three on their knees with just a gentle push from spirit magic.

    "Kneel!"

    Albeit brief, the touch from those invisible hands made the three squeal in terror.

    That was the side of Lith Solus was more scared of. No matter how much love and affection he received, turning back into the same man that had abducted and tortured a young boy was as easy as flipping a switch for him.

    What made things worse was that the more people he cared for, the more ruthless he would be. Each light that entered his life would only make the darkness inside of him deeper.

    "Usually I don¡¯t give speeches, but for you I¡¯ll make an exception. I need to send a message and you¡¯ll be the one delivering it."

    Lith¡¯s hand squeezed Raynart¡¯s throat so hard that for a moment he thought his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. Then the pressure lessened enough to let him breathe, but not enough to make it easy.

    At the same time, spirit magic and wind magic pinned the other two on the ground, making them incapable of breathing as well.

    The scene in front of Raynart¡¯s eyes almost made him faint. Through their contact, he could see something that even Lith and Solus were unaware of. A legion of hands made of shadows was gushing out of Lith¡¯s body.

    Only a few were suppressing the three students, countless others stood still like snakes, ready to strike at any moment. Spirit magic was invisible, yet for some reason Raynart was able to see its true form.

    Countless eyes of all sizes and colors had materialized wherever light was absent, staring full of curiosity at the unfolding events. The world was watching over its new toy, lured by the unbridled hate that had been offered to it.

    "It¡¯s already the second time today that someone tries to take away what¡¯s mine. You can¡¯t imagine how angry I am right now." Lith used darkness magic to appear more terrifying and water magic to freeze the surrounding environment to scare them out of their wits.

    He smirked noticing that the other two had already lost control of their dders, drenching themselves in their own p*ss.

    - "These nobles, how can someone be so cowardly?"¨C Lith thought.

    Only Raynart knew the truth. Fueled by the world¡¯s will, the tendrils of darkness seeped into his cousins¡¯ bodies from the nostrils, eyes, ears, and mouths, robbing them of their vitality. The feeling they were experiencing was akin to being buried alive.

    Lith lifted Raynart from the neck until their eyes were at the same height, sending him into panic. Half of Lith¡¯s face was now covered by Raynart¡¯s shadow, assuming ghastly features.

    Lith¡¯s eclipsed eye had be bright yellow with a vertical pupil, the mouth was lipless and full of fangs highlighted by an inner fire that seemed to be burning in his throat.

    "I don¡¯t care who sent you. Tell Lukart or whoever it is behind this attack that these kids are mine and mine alone!"

    Lith sent a new wave of spirit magic on the two that were lying on the ground, bringing them closer. He also clenched the hand around Raynart¡¯s throat making him incapable of breathing anymore.

    Raynart could hear his voice and feel theck of oxygen, but he couldn¡¯t avert his gaze from the darkness running under his cousins¡¯ skin, whose eyes rolled backward while foaming at the mouth.

    "The next time I see one of you around them, even if I just smell you, I¡¯ll make your worst nightmare seem like a wet dream after what I¡¯ll do to you."

    The other two had already fainted, so Lith could focus only on Raynart, alternating waves of darkness and light magic. His skin would crumble, his life vessels copse, just to be restored less than a secondter.

    On the outside, it was like nothing was happening, but Raynart felt pain like never before. His whole body was constantly being destroyed and regenerated in a never ending cycle, yet it left no mark on him.

    His mind and body copsed in just a few seconds, unable to bear anymore that torture.

    Lith left him alongside the other two, putting the Ballot in Raynart¡¯s hands before going to his room for a good night sleep.

    ***

    The next morning, the canteen was lively again. Everyone was discussing how three students had been found unconscious and hospitalized. For some unknown reason, it was impossible to wake them up.

    Normally no one would have cared, things like that happened all the time. The reason amon event had piqued so much curiosity was that they weren¡¯t injured at all. They even had a Ballot, but ording to the Professors it had never been used.

    "I can¡¯t believe it happened just a few meters from my room and I didn¡¯t notice anything. Maybe I could have helped them." Phloria was shocked by the news.

    Yurial scoffed, telling to the rest of the group why no one cared about the fate of the Poltus family.

    "Either it was the consequence of an internal strife, to get rid of the rotten apples before the whole household copse, or it was an act of vengeance from the rtives of their victims. Those guys deserve no pity Phloria."

    Lith couldn¡¯t care less about their background. Even if they came from a family of saints, he would have done the same thing.

    - "No one touches my things, no matter the reason." He thought.

    Solus sighed, wishing he stopped referring to them as objects instead of people.

    "I wonder why the two you didn¡¯t roughen up are still unconscious. It has never happened before." It was the only part of the rumor that didn¡¯t make sense to her.

    "I don¡¯t know and honestly, I don¡¯t care. Three guys following a single girl at night, knowing she has no Ballot. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to put two and two together."¨C

    Lith regretted deeply not having the opportunity to kill them for good, but he knew about the academy¡¯s security system that prevented deadly injuries.

    It was the reason why he had used that torture technique. It would leave the victim exhausted and mentally scarred, but the body would remain in perfect health.

    After breakfast, the group split up for the morning activities. Lith¡¯s group rounds of visits were uneventful, allowing them to make up for most of the time lost the day before.

    They met back with Phloria for the first practical lesson of Magic Crystals.

    After weing the students, Professor Nalear pped her hands, making a crystalline mass as big as a melon appear on their desks along with what looked like a rune-inscribed wrench the size of a pen.

    "Normally, when people hear the words ¡¯underground mine¡¯ and ¡¯extraction of minerals¡¯ they think about rough men with a pickaxe, but for magic crystals it¡¯s the worst image possible.

    "Normal tools have no effect on mana crystals, no matter how strong you are or how hard is the metal. Best case scenario, you can crack one and hope that the resulting explosion will not trigger a chain reaction making the whole mine copse.

    There is a reason why only a mage can be a Crystalsmith."

    Nalear picked up the wrench-like tool from her own desk. The students saw the runes lighting up one after the other until a small energy de formed in the U shaped extremity.

    Lith involuntarily quivered. The phenomenon reminded him of the de that had killed him during his second life. He had never forgotten the pain of dying drowned in his own blood, gasping for air like a washed up fish.

    - "There¡¯s nothing to be scared of. That thing is just the magical equivalent of a box cutter." Lith said to himself. ¨C

    "Extracting mana crystals doesn¡¯t require brute force, but finesse and technique. First, all of you must learn how to power up a mana de. Pick up your own and hold it in the way that¡¯s morefortable for you.

    "Some hold it like a carving knife, others like a scalpel. Too many like it¡¯s a spoon. That¡¯s the only wrong way to do it."

    The ssughed, following Nalear¡¯s instructions.

    "It¡¯s very simple to use. Inject it with your mana, like if you were trying to imprint it."

    Many des appeared, but none remained for more than a split second.

    "For those that didn¡¯t make it, just put some more effort. Those who made it, keep iting. Mana des can¡¯t be imprinted and need a constant flow of mana to function properly."

    Lith noticed that he was the only one in the group with the mana de turned off, so he corrected the situation. By using Invigoration, he noticed there was no pseudo core, just mana pathways that redirected the mana into a physical form.

    "Well done everyone! Now put it down. Our lesson has just begun, don¡¯t waste your energies. You will need them in a while."

    Lith powered on and off the de a few times, appreciating the buzzing sound it produced while being activated or swung around.

    - "I wish I could say ¡¯Yurial, I am your father¡¯, but the reference would be lost in trantion."¨C Lith sighed.

 Chapter 204 Unexpected Gues

    "Before starting our lesson, I¡¯ll ask you a question. Please be honest about it, it will save us a lot of time. How many of you were too tired to practice the spell on page 22 that I assigned two days ago?"

    Nalear¡¯s inquiry was followed by prolonged silence.

    "There¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of, it happens every year. The first day is all about theory, so students get confident. The second day is all about practice and drains their energies. Take five minutes to study it, despite it being a tier four spell is very simple."

    Aside from Lith, Quy and a few others, most of the students took out their books and read like madmen.

    Lith used that time to practice it on the crystal mass. The spell was called Scope and turned out to be extremely simr to a diagnostic spell, but instead of showing the status of a patient, it allowed one to distinguish the single crystals thatposed the mass.

    Just like a mana de, it hadn¡¯t a set duration. Once cast, Scope wouldst as long as the mage kept spending mana, requiring the constant use of earth and light magic.

    - "Invigoration doesn¡¯t work on inanimate matter, yet it does on magic items and artifacts. I wonder how I should ssify mana crystals." - Lith thought while activating Invigoration.

    His breathing technique revealed not only the crystals¡¯ outline, but also allowed him to see on their surface a series of lines and cracks, of which Lith was unable to understand the significance.

    "All you have to do for today is to separate the cluster that I provided you into single mana crystals and then cut them into a usable form. Do not underestimate your task. Using the mana de and Scope at the same time takes a lot of energy, while adjusting the de¡¯s density ording to the situation requires focus."

    Nalear closed in to the first row of desks.

    "Use too little mana and you¡¯ll get sparks but no cuts. Too much and..." Her de cut straight into a crystal, that emitted a bright light before crumbling.

    "If this was a real mana crystal, instead of scraps of the lowest tier minerals, it would have caused the whole cluster to explode. The force of the resulting detonation would be proportional to the amount of mana stored.

    "That¡¯s why Crystalsmiths require huge fees. The more powerful the crystal, the higher the risks. Since they are risking their lives on your behalf, don¡¯t be stingy with them. Never believe to those that offer their services for a reasonable sum.

    They are either trying to rob you of your crystals or are so ipetent that they will lose more than half during the refining process. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."

    The first part of the exercise was easy. The crystalsposing the cluster were big and didn¡¯t ovep much. Thanks to Scope the students could discern where a crystal ended and the other began.

    The mana de was capable of separating the conjoined sides without destabilizing the structure. Everyone managed to finish their task quickly.

    "Excellent. Nowes the hard part, cutting a crystal into a usable form. In their natural state, most mana crystals are bigger than my fist. If you remember my first lesson, all those I showed you were the size of a walnut.

    That¡¯s because bigger crystals not only are more brittle, but also the mana they contain is scattered along its whole structure. The cutting process allowspressing the mana crystal, making its power focused and more easily essible to a good craftsman. Let me give you a demonstration."

    Nalear used Scope on a single gemstone and then activated her mana de again. Her mana was ethereal, passing through the surface of the crystal without leaving a scratch. Yet each time the de touched the gemstone, it would shrink more and more.

    The final product, despite she had worked on scraps, was a bright red gem the size of a pearl.

    "Don¡¯t get fooled by appearances. A mana crystal it¡¯s not a rock imbued with mana, it¡¯s pure mana that somehow took physical form. Removing even a small chip means making it weaker. The cutting process requires to use the mana de to stimte its structure, making it slowly copse on itself.

    To do it, you need to use Scope to see the keystone points and to make the manaposing the de as thin as possible."

    Lith did as instructed, discovering that the spell showed the same lines highlighted by Invigoration, but they were fainter and there was no trace of the cracks. The hardest part of the exercise was to keep the mana flow as weak as possible.

    Aside from healers, fake mages weren¡¯t used to such fine control, so many students ended up breaking one crystal or more. Lith¡¯s work was progressing smoothly, like for the rest of his group, so he exploited a moment when Nalear was helping a boy on the other side of the ss to make an experiment.

    He used Invigoration on the crystal and instead of applying the de on the lines, he struck with it one of the cracks. The crystal didn¡¯t change its size, but he could sense his mana getting slowly sapped, being absorbed by the gemstone.

    - "I can charge these things!" He thought. "I can turn scraps into perfectly fine crystals. Solus, we have struck a gold mine!"

    "Yeah, right. Not to burst your bubble, but even scraps are rare. We never found one before. Not to mention that we would need a usible excuse for the crystal¡¯s origin, otherwise it would blow your cover. This isn¡¯t a gold mine, more a way to spare some bucks on your staff."¨C

    Solus¡¯s cold pragmatism made Lith mind whimper.

    The lesson ended inplete sess. All the student had managed to cut at least three crystals, even though many of them had required several breaks to catch their breath.

    - "This is odd." Lith thought. "Despite their cores aren¡¯t at the level of Yurial¡¯s and the rest of the group, how can they be so exhausted for something like this?"¨C

    He looked around, noticing that most of his colleagues from the Healer¡¯s specialization had no such problem.

    - "Maybe it¡¯s just that their control is really poor." Solus replied. "I don¡¯t know if you have noticed, but those who destroyed a few crystals are also the same that have yet to seed to open a Warp Gate. They must have very low mana sensitivity."¨C

    There was only so much that even logic could do against Lith¡¯s paranoia, but in the end he didn¡¯t care for them. His priority was eating lunch and getting ready for the first practical Necromancy lesson.

    ***

    White Griffon, Headmaster¡¯s office

    Linjos had just received thetest Crown¡¯s promation reserved for their inner circle, remaining shocked by what he had just read. Linjos used hismunication amulet to contact the Queen, expecting a long queue, but she replied immediately.

    "Let me guess, you too are calling about the new ve cors, right?" Queen Sylpha had the annoyed tone of someone who already had that conversation countless times.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. You know there is at least a mole in my academy, if not more. Those cursed devices allow the traitors to turn anyone into unwilling allies. My situation has just gone from dire to desperate!"

    "Your situation?" The Queen frowned, barely keeping her anger in check.

    "The civil war has been almost foiled, but almost isn¡¯t enough. I and the King don¡¯t know who to trust anymore. We have to perform daily controls on everyone that approaches us, our children, or has ess to sensitive information.

    It¡¯s not just ¡¯your situation¡¯, it¡¯s everyone¡¯s. I had to inform all my loyal subjects, even knowing that the news would spread panic and distrust. I prefer paranoid officials to dead ones.

    A ve cor can make a mother kill her newborn child, turn your loving husband into a violent beast with a single word. I need you all to be on your toes, but most of all, to read the damn promation until the end.

    It¡¯s clearly written that the ve items found in Lord Poltus¡¯ possession were just three and custom made. To his knowledge, there is no mass production, but the fact that someone has the means to create them is a threat that can¡¯t be underestimated. Did you execute a security sweep recently?"

    Linjos nodded.

    "Yes. One right after the sabotage of the training hall and another right before the start of the trimester. I checked students, Professors, clerks, everyone. I had Trasque check myself, just to be safe. Someone could always turn me into a sleeper agent."

    Sylpha seemed happy by that news, but after a second her eyes became cold.

    "What about the students?"

    "I¡¯m really sorry, your Majesty. I¡¯ve let you down again."

    "What are you talking about?" Sylpha was genuinely surprised by his answer.

    "I know that the students¡¯ grades are at an all time low, but the promotion rate..."

    "I wasn¡¯t talking about that." She cut him short. "It¡¯s the same in all the academies."

    "What?" Linjos jumped out of his chair, he couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    "What did you expect? That the other Headmasters would unt their problems? Off the record, since the threat of the civil war started, the students spend more time fighting among themselves or following their parents¡¯ agenda rather than studying.

    The ck Griffon never expelled so many students in a single year, while at the Crystal Griffon academy they have so many injured that they had to hire new medical staff. Your White Griffon is the crown jewel of the academies at the moment."

    Sylpha¡¯s smile perfectly hid her amusement at Linjos¡¯ shocked expression.

    "I was talking about the Poltus boys. Three of them, at night near the girls¡¯ dorm. It creeps me out just saying it out loud. What were they doing there? Why have they yet to wake up?"

    - "Oh, that!"¨C Linjos thought, inwardly sighing of relief.

    "Up to no good, that¡¯s the only thing that I¡¯m sure of. They had a Ballot, but they didn¡¯t activate it. It means that either they knew their aggressor or that they couldn¡¯t afford to record their meeting.

    I had them searched. No ve items, but they had several alchemic products on them. Most of them where to... incapacitate the victim."

    "Meaning?" Sylpha didn¡¯t like the pause at all.

    "I can¡¯t be sure until the alchemicb confirms it, but judging from the smell I¡¯d say they were sedatives or roofies. I¡¯m going to interrogate them as soon as they wake up. Depending on their answers and theb results, I¡¯ll decide what to do. Off the record, they are as good as expelled, already.

    After breaking their dimensional amulets, we found so many drugs they could open a pharmacy."

    "Oh dear." Sylpha silently prayed for Linjos.

    The Headmaster was about to ask the Queen why she cared so much for the Poltus family, when the gemstone on his desk blinked red. His personal assistant had something very urgent to tell him.

    "This better be important, Balfas." Linjos answered with an annoyed tone, bowing to the Queen as an apology for the interruption.

    "Royal constable Jirni Ernas requests your presence, Headmaster." Balfas was a retired veteran, not even dragons soaring the skies could upset him. Yet he was squeaking like a mouse.

    "Tell her I¡¯m innocent! I mean busy!" As a royal constable, Lady Ernas had an authority second only to the Royal Court. She was that good at her job that no one, either innocent or guilty, wanted her poking at their personal life.

    "She says it¡¯s for official business." Balfas¡¯ voice rose of another octave.

    "What official business could she possibly..." Linjos¡¯ eyes suddenly noticed the name of a particr student that lived near the site of the ident.

    "Gods, no! I mean, tell her I¡¯ll be there immediately."

    "Be careful about what you do and say, Linjos." Sylpha said after he closed themunication with his assistant.

    "She knows about the Poltus boys, the roofies, everything. I know what you are thinking, it¡¯s a minor offense, but don¡¯t fool yourself. Do you know what¡¯s a royal pardon?"

    "Of course I do!" Linjos felt offended by the question. A royal pardon was a get out of jail free card for any crime non punishable by the death penalty. The Crown granted a few of them every year to their most loyal servants for their outstanding results.

    All the noble families had one or more ck sheep that needed protection from thew. Most of them would do anything to obtain one to not get their name tarnished. The royal pardon was a leash that kept them loyal and efficient.

    "Well, she has collected five so far, but never needed one. Yet."

    "Does that mean..."

    "That she could maim half your staff and as long she kills no one, she will go home in time for dinner."

 Chapter 205 Unexpected Guest 2

    There was a reason why Balfas was so nervous during his conversation with the Headmaster. Lady Jirni Ernas had a peculiar hobby that made her a really unpleasant guest.

    Whenever she was left waiting, she would run a thorough check on the nearest person to her. In this case, Balfas. He could see her scrolling through his military files, payrolls, and daily expenses. Sometimes she would click her tongue, more often she would look at Balfas briefly, giving him a wolfish smile.

    When Linjos finally arrived, Lady Ernas was already questioning Balfas about his new house in Derios. In particr about how he could afford it and pay up all due taxes.

    "Lady Ernas, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you again." Linjos lied through his teeth.

    She was wearing a dark blue military uniform with boots at her feet, ck leather gloves on her hands, and her hair held up in a ponytail. Lady Ernas was one hood away from resembling an executioner.

    "Look me in the eyes and tell me that my daughter is all right." Her reply was a breach of almost every etiquette¡¯s rule at once, but Linjos was a practical man. He could see from her eyes that despite her role, she was just a worried mother.

    That and the faint impression of seeing in them a grave with his name written on it, prompted him to give her a quick answer.

    "I swear that nothing happened to her."

    Lady Ernas sighed in relief. This time Linjos had told her the truth.

    "Sorry for my earlier rudeness, Headmaster Linjos." She gave him a small bow.

    "Now I need to talk with the prisoners."

    "Prisoners? Don¡¯t you mean the students?" Linjos didn¡¯t like that turn of events.

    "I like calling things with their names, Headmaster." Her voice oozed sarcasm.

    "ording to theb results, they were in possession of recreational drugs, but the real mother lode is five different kinds of sleep inducing, memory erasing drugs. It¡¯s enough to arrest them."

    She showed him the report on her magical silver tablet. It was simr to amunication amulet, but bigger and linked to all the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s archives.

    "How did you get them before me? The master Alchemists of the White Griffon told me they needed days to analyze everything."

    "In my line of work, I don¡¯t have the luxury of time, Headmaster. On the other hand, I have a lot of friends or people that want to be my friends, willing to pull an all nighter for me. Bottom line, the Pontus boys are mine now."

    Linjos found the idea that even inside his academy there were people willing to go over his head to please Lady Ernas quite disturbing. Yet he wasn¡¯t eager to repeat the experience he had had with Lord Ernas, so he Warped with her to the hospital.

    - "I wish I could leave it to Manohar to deal with her, but I learned from experience that whenever he is involved, I¡¯m the one that ends up paying the price for his madness."¨C Linjos thought.

    As soon as they arrived, Jirni stared at the three youthsying in the beds with hatred, pulling out the medical files at their bedside to understand what was going on.

    "Are you also a Healer?"

    "Gods, no. I can only use chore magic, but I know a thing or two about the human body." The tone she used sent a shiver down Linjos¡¯s spine.

    "Who dares to approach my specimens?" An indignant, petnt voice chimed in.

    "Manohar!" Linjos roared. "How can you call two human beings, students at that, specimens? Don¡¯t you have any decency?"

    "You are right, Linjos. Back off from my specimens who also happen to be students, midget. I¡¯ll not go easy on you just because you are an olddy." Manohar promptly corrected himself.

    "Manohar, the unruly man-child." Jirni chuckled, releasing enough killing intent to make every single patient of the hospital wing search for a bedpan.

    "Let me tell you a couple of things, child. First, your disappearing so often every time there is an ongoing crisis has made the Crown very unhappy. Enough that no one would care if I decided to rough you up, as long as I leave your precious mouth and hands intact.

    It¡¯s all you need to cast spells after all. The rest of your body is redundant."

    Manohar found himself shivering. Jirni¡¯s tone reminded him of the times when he was still a child and his mother scolded him for experimenting with his new spells on the neighbours¡¯ sons.

    "Second, whoever puts themselves between me and my enemies bes my enemy as well. Do you want me to treat you as an enemy?"

    Manohar had learned from experience that he was about to cross over from "you are grounded until you are old enough for the academy" to "do it again and I¡¯ll spank your a*s so hard that even my grandchildren will bear the mark of my hand".

    He was the archmage known as the god of healing, the one and only Royal Healer, as well as a genius like the ones that appeared only once in a thousand years. He had a reputation to uphold, so he did what had to be done.

    He promptly hid behind Linjos after a hasty retreat.

    "No mom. I mean Ma¡¯am. Please, make yourself at home. If you really feel the need to, please take it up with Linjos. I rmend hitting him in the stomach. It¡¯s much softer than the head because he never exercises."

    - "Note to self, learn how to emit killing intent for taming idiotic healers."¨C Linjos thought.

    "What¡¯s their problem? Why don¡¯t they wake up?" Jirni asked ignoring his whimpering.

    "That¡¯s a really interesting question, mom... Ma¡¯am. Their bodies are fine. There is no sign of internal or external trauma, no drugs or toxins. It¡¯s the first time since..."

    "I won¡¯t ask again! What¡¯s the problem?" Jirni snarled.

    "Emotional trauma. I think their minds are shutting in because of emotional trauma." Manohar replied from Linjos¡¯s back.

    - "This is amazing!" Linjos was barely holding back tears. "Not only he actually obeys her, but she also manages to obtain quick, not convoluted answers. Also, it¡¯s the first time in months that we are both in the same room and I don¡¯t look like a fool."¨C

    "What¡¯s your treatment?"

    "They need time and rest. It shouldn¡¯t take more than a week for them to wake up."

    "A week?" Jirni sniggered. "No, they are going to wake up now. You see, there is another way to bring them back."

    "Really?" Manohar¡¯s scientific curiosity was piqued, so he came out of his hiding ce.

    "Yes. Do you know what¡¯s here?" She pointed out the zones near the hips and the shoulders.

    "Of course, the thickest bundle of nerves that... (*)" Manohar was incapable ofpleting the sentence, mulling over the sudden revtion.

    "Exactly! All the most sensitive receptors,ing to and fro the fingers, erogenous zones, genitals. I only need to inflict on them more pain than the one that caused the trauma."

    Jirni smiled softly while several needles that looked like knitting tools appeared in her hands.

    "If I were you, I would create a silence zone." Linjos went pale too, rushing for the spell while Manohar secured a front row seat to better watch Jirni in action.

    "That Lith from whatsitsname is right! Anatomy is awesome! We should add it to the subjects of the fourth year Healer ss." Manohar said with a childish smile on his face.

    "What a guy! He deserves a lot of points. If it wasn¡¯t for hisck of personality, I¡¯d say he reminds me of myself when I was his age. A true innovator."

    Linjos had many things to say, none nice, but chanting the spell kept his mouth busy.

    - "What you callck of personality is just human decency. Or at least a pretense of it. If I had two Manohars, I¡¯d run away from the Kingdom as fast as I can." He thought ¨C

    The spell waspleted just in time. One of Raynart¡¯s cousins woke up letting out an inhuman scream right after the fourth needle had pierced his skin. Jirni quickly and painlessly removed them all at once.

    The temporary relief from pain would only make what was about toe more terrifying.

    "What? Where am I?" The boy asked.

    "Jirni Ernas, royal constable of his Majesty service." She handed him her badge and royal ID, speaking with a machine like demeanor.

    "I¡¯m also the mother of the girl you attempted to r*pe." As soon as the boy understood his situation, rage twisted her visage in a cruel mask, making him wet himself.

    "With your uncle¡¯s criminal record and what they have found on you, it¡¯s in my rights to interrogate you how I best see fit." She took out of her dimensional amulet a leather roll, that contained a lot of sharp tool of curious shape and forms.

    "So, we can do this the easy way, or the painful way. As a constable, I hope you¡¯ll pick the former. As a mother, I hope you pick thetter."

    Gorgus Pontus¡¯s fight or flight instinct kicked in and immediately tried to escape, only to discovered he was chained hands and feet to the bed. He then tried to chant a tier three lightning, but a fist as small as powerful struck his jaw dislocating it.

    "Thank you so much!" Jirni chirped happily.

    "I actually lied before. I can¡¯t use these tools on a kid just for drug possession. Or better, I couldn¡¯t. Assaulting a royal constable is a capital crime instead. Why do you think I left your chains so loose?" She giggled, making Manohar hide again while Linjos felt the urge to puke.

    "Let¡¯s y!"

    ***

    None remained to spectate the questioning, but Jirni recorded everything and used a silencing device to prevent even a single whisper from escaping her control. She had never needed Linjos¡¯s help, Jirni had simply exploited the situation to put both the Headmaster and the healing god to test.

    Manohar creeped her out. In a way, he was like Jirni, butcked any form ofmon sense and most importantly, he had no constraints.

    - "I have to get him married. His fear of motherly figures could be our only hope to controlling him. I already pity that poor girl though."¨C

    After being ¡¯persuaded¡¯ a little, Gorgus told her everything. Starting from the five Ws about that night ident to all the dirt he knew about his family and all of his parents¡¯ ns.

    His brother, Sothes, did the same. The problems arose when she tried to wake up Raynart. Even after six needles, he was still unconscious. Jirni checked his pulse and heartbeat before stopping the procedure.

    - "He does feel pain, simply it¡¯s not enough. Damn, to push things further I need a healer. Otherwise he may die of shock. I won¡¯t let him take the easy way out!"¨C

    When Raynart finally recovered, Jirni needed to sedate him to avoid Raynart hurting himself. As soon as he recovered his senses, he went into a seizure like she had never seen before.

    Much to Jirni¡¯s dismay, he answered all her questions while under the effects of the narcotic. His story was simr to that of the other two boys, but filled with unbelievable details like shadowsing to life or mystical eyes piercing his very soul.

    Normally she wouldn¡¯t believe a word, ming his delirium on the shock that had sent him into aa. Too many things didn¡¯t add up though.

    - "The insane amount of knowledge, him surviving an attack that killed an elite squad of the Queen¡¯s corps, his contribution to the gue, surviving a group of assassins, and now this? If this was about anyone else, I would shrug off Raynart¡¯s words like a bad dream.

    I got the feeling that both the background check on Lith and the Queen haven¡¯t told me everything. I hate being kept in the dark. Looks like Lith and I need to have a little chat."¨C

    Before walking out of the hospital, Jirni removed all the pain medications from the three boys¡¯ system, leaving behind a disposable silencing device so that no one would notice their screams.

 Chapter 206 Questioning

    Lith¡¯s group was happily enjoying their meal, exchanging suggestions about how to better treat magic crystals during the next lesson when Jirni Ernas almost burst open the door marching inside.

    All the conversations suddenly stopped. All eyes were drawn to the badge shining on her chest. Aside from a few students choking on their food, the clicking of Jirni¡¯s boots on the stone floor was the only audible sound.

    Lady Ernas exuded enough killing intent to take away the appetite of those she passed along. While most of his schoolmates avoided her gaze, Lith couldn¡¯t stop hearing in his head the Imperius March along with a rhythmic heavy breathing.

    Lady Ernas didn¡¯t bother caring for the reactions of the ants surrounding her. She was still high strung because she couldn¡¯t kill the three little b*stards. She wasn¡¯t a fan of due process, judges, and all those technicalities.

    In her opinion, once she was done with her job, she should have been allowed to take out the trash. Yet she had the utmost respect for thew. Jirni had tailored her work life around a deep respect for rules and regtions.

    There was only one thing that she could do to avoid murdering someone on her way home.

    "Mom? What are you doing here?" Phloria looked at her with a puzzled look. Jirni had rarely allowed her daughter to see her in her uniform. She liked to keep her personal life separated from the professional one.

    "Oh, my baby! Thank the gods you are all right." She hugged Phloria, squeezing her against her chest while caressing and kissing her daughter¡¯s head.

    The killing intent popped like a bubble, reced by a scene quite embarrassing for a teenage girl. Phloria became beet red, trying to shake off her mother¡¯s embrace, but to no avail. She could hear many people sniggering at her.

    Only once Jirni was certain that nothing had happened to her daughter, she let her go. What followed was even more embarrassing.

    Jirni went in front of each one of the most vocal to have found the previous scene hrious and after scanning their features with her silver tablet, she listed all the past misdeeds that their families had tried so hard to cover up.

    R*pe, tax embezzlement, vers, traitors. Sometimes the list was long, but she took her sweet time, starting with the most recent crimes and promising them she would take care of all those cases personally.

    Some ran away in tears, others hid their faces in shame, a few attacked her. The result was always the same, broken bones and new criminal charges for assaulting an officer in the line of duty.

    When she had finished, no one wasughing anymore. Jirni Ernas was a short woman, 1.52 (5¡¯) high, but in their eyes she had turned into a terrifying giant that no one dared to offend.

    "Lith, do you have a few minutes to spare?" She asked with a gentle smile after returning to his table.

    "I have some questions for you and my little Flower. It¡¯s better if we discuss this privately."

    Phloria blushed violently, while Friya and Yurial had to hold back their chuckles. Their reactions made no sense to Jirni, but being teenagers, there were few things about them she understood, so she paid them no heed.

    - "How the heck did she found out so fast?" Phloria¡¯s mind was a train wreck. "I didn¡¯t even tell dad that Lith and I are dating. Sort of. We have yet to have a proper date. Is it possible she has someone spying on me in here?"¨C

    They went to Lith¡¯s room and when Jirni insisted on talking to them separately, Phloria almost went into a panic.

    "What do I do? She¡¯ll scare him away! I¡¯ll never have a boyfriend. Why does she have to meddle in everything I do?"

    "It¡¯s not a big deal, sister." Friya chuckled. "There are plenty of other fish in the sea."

    "Yeah and every one of them will get scared when having a meeting with a shark! I want to see if you¡¯ll keepughing when it happens to you." Phloria¡¯s retort snuffed out her hrity.

    Friya had yet to see Lady Ernas treat her adoptive daughters any different from her own blood.

    While the three girls were panicking, each fueling the others¡¯ paranoia, Jirni and Lith were having another kind of talk.

    "Do you know why I am here?" Her tone was firm, but gentle. Jirni preferred a soft approach in questioning a possible ally. She had already contacted the King on her way to the canteen and he had shared with her the Crown¡¯s agenda.

    They knew Lith was an anomaly, like Manohar or Hatorne, but they hoped to turn him into an asset and prevent him from being snatched by other countries.

    King Meron didn¡¯t explicitly order her to leave him alone, it was implied in his wording. Jirni was a loyal servant of the Crown, but above everything else she was a mother and a man hunter.

    She had understood at first nce that Lith was like her, a ruthless killer with nopassion or care for human life. ording to his background check, he cared for his family. It was a good start, but not enough.

    It could have been all an act. She had to make sure that just like her, he was actually capable of caring. Otherwise letting him so close to her daughters was too dangerous. Not to mention that once Lith graduated from the academy, she had no doubt he would seed, he would be a time bomb.

    She knew that such a menace had to be snuffed out as soon as possible, before it became unstoppable as it had already happened with Hatorne or the god of death.

    "Is this an official visit?" Lith asked.

    - "If this was about me and Phloria dating, she wouldn¡¯t wear a uniform. She wouldn¡¯t question me, but fawn me instead. Lady Ernas wanted us to date since the second semester. Phloria never told me her mother is a royal constable, dammit.

    I would have nned things more carefully."¨C

    Jirni nodded.

    "Then it¡¯s about yesterday¡¯s ident."

    "Nailed in one. Now, since you seem a smart boy to me, I suggest telling me the truth. We are cut from the same cloth. You can¡¯t fool me like you do with the others."

    Lith sighed. There wasn¡¯t much he could do about his situation.

    - "Phloria¡¯s mom is too calm. She probably already knows the answers to her questions, she must have interrogated those three. There is no other possible exnation. Lying to her can only put me in trouble. In this dance, she leads while I can only follow."¨C

    Before he could answer, Jirni took out a device the size of a USB pen drive with a small blue gemstone embedded on it. After she pressed the stone, it emitted a low buzzing sound.

    "It prevents anyone from listening to our conversation, either by conventional or magical means. There is a traitor in the academy, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if one or more of the rooms are bugged." Jirni exined.

    Knowing how hard it was to deceive someone like him, Lith only told her the truth, simply omitting the parts about the use of spirit magic.

    Jirni was pleased by his behavior. His story matched what she already knew and she couldn¡¯t detect any hint of deception in his words or bodynguage. However it wasn¡¯t enough.

    "What did you do to send them into aa?"

    "Torture." The shortest, most concise and satisfying answer in her vocabry, but she remained expressionless.

    "How?"

    "Two of them with killing intent and air magic. Against the leader I used something more sophisticated."

    "Constable Ernas log. What follows happens due to my explicit request, it¡¯s not an act of aggression. Repeat, not an aggression from the suspect." After Jirni spoke those words in her magic tablet, she closed in to Lith.

    "Show me." She asked him. "It¡¯s hard to believe that a twelve year old single-handedly suppressed three men taller and heavier than him. Do to me the same thing you did to the two Poltus boys, but stop when I ask you to."

    "I don¡¯t think I can." Lith replied. "The only time I can emit killing intent is when I¡¯m threatened or when I feel a deep hatred. Otherwise it¡¯s painful, like making scars be open wounds again."

    The answer was a pleasant surprise. Jirni had experienced the same thing when she was about his age, learning how to control her emotions at will. For a moment, she thought about pretending to threaten his family, but quickly dismissed the idea.

    She wanted a confrontation, not a fight to the death. If Lith was even one bit simr to her, only one of them woulde out alive before she could exin her reasons. Even then, the Crown would probably execute the survivor for treason, it would be a lose-lose situation.

    "Please, try it anyway." She asked.

    Lith forced himself to think about his father back on Earth, to Carl¡¯s death, to all those people that gued his existence so far. Jirni could feel the killing intent rise bit by bit, but it was nothing much. Then she found it difficult to breathe.

    An air spell was surrounding her head, sucking the air out.

    "Nice trick. I can see those two almost die of fright. Now stop."

    Lith obeyed, still blinded by the emotional pain.

    "Now show me what you did to thest one." She offered him her hand.

    "Do it only once."

    Lith pretended to chant and as soon he touched Jirni¡¯s skin she felt a burning pain ravaging her flesh with an intensity she had rarely experienced. Yet she endured it without batting an eye, leaving Lith deeply impressed.

    "Do you recall anything about ck hands and mystical eyes popping out from the shadows?" Her question left Lith bbergasted.

    "What? No."

    She stared in his eyes, finding only genuine surprise.

    - "Seems that Raynart was really delirious after all. That or one of them is lying without knowing it." She thought. ¨C

    "Did you tell Phloria about that night?"

    "No." He shrugged. "There¡¯s no point in making her worry about what could have happened. She has my Ballot now, so she¡¯s safe."

    As a man hunter and a constable, that was the answer she had been looking for. Lith was able to care, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have sacrificed his safety for someone else¡¯s sake.

    If he really gave Phloria his Ballot before the assault, then it couldn¡¯t be part of a ruse, since the Poltus boys had followed them after meeting them by chance. She could easily check the timing, Linjos was the only one that could reset a Ballot.

    As a mother in search of a husband for her daughter, that piece of news made Jirni¡¯s heart flutter. She decided not to push him. They were still young, but that was a good sign.

    "Thank you for protecting my family." Jirni said offering him her hand, which he promptly shook.

    "One day I hope to be able to return the favor. Could you please tell my little Flower toe in?"

    Phloria barged in a secondter, mming the door behind her.

    "Mom, this is too much, even for you. Stay out of my love life!" Jirni had no idea what she was talking about, but she had learned that suspects with a guilty conscience would often talk too much, so she remained silent.

    "How could you put me under surveince? I asked him out two days ago and you alreadye here in high uniform to interrogate us? We did nothing wrong!"

    "You didn¡¯t?" Jirni kept her face expressionless.

    "We just kissed. Once! I have the right to date who I want. I will not allow you to control my life." Phloria¡¯s face was red due to rage and embarrassment. She was really happy that the dorms were soundproof, she had yelled quite a bit.

    "Oh sweetie, that¡¯s marvelous! I¡¯m so happy for you." Jirni hugged her tight, finally letting her joy out.

    "I was starting to fear you¡¯d die single. You listened to my advice and courted Lith instead. He even gave you his Ballot, now everything makes sense. Good girl, mom is proud of you."

    Phloria froze, panic quickly recing her outrage.

    "Didn¡¯t you know it already?" She squeaked.

    "No, I just wanted to see you. I¡¯m here on official business for yesterday¡¯s ident. I¡¯m d you choose to share the good news with me."

    Phloria thought she was going to die out of embarrassment, but her heart stood still and the earth refused to open up and swallow her.

 Chapter 207 Gods and Men

    The forest surrounding the Lightning Griffon academy, the night before.

    Since Linjos didn¡¯t need its help for the second exam, Scarlett the Scorpicore, Lord of the forest surrounding the White Griffon academy, had spent thest months performing its annual round of the Distar Marquisate.

    The Scorpicore would look for magical beasts old and wise enough to be potential candidates for bing Awakened ones, hence turning them into Monsters. Scarlett had no obligation to do such thing, it simply felt it was the right thing to do to keep the bnce.

    Magical beasts had a mortality rate iparable with humans. Dying of old age for them was more a myth than a possibility. Humans kept growing in numbers and power instead.

    Without new Monsters to keep their greed and selfishness in check, there was no telling how bad things could be. Meeting Protector while performing a background check on the mysterious human-Abomination hybrid cub had been the icing on the cake.

    Not only was Lith trustworthy ording to the many magical beasts he had interacted with, but Scarlett had also managed to help Protector to evolve, securing the County of Lustria for at least a few centuries.

    - "If only the rest of my traveling went that good." Scarlett inwardly sighed.

    "This year has started badly and if it keeps going like this, my fur will turn grey from the constant worrying."¨C

    During its round, it had met countless magical beasts and most of them were harbingers of bad news. Or better yet, the same piece of bad news repeated over and over. After consulting with Tarbas the Naga, Lord of the forest surrounding the Lightning Griffon academy, they had resolved to summon the Council.

    The Lords took out amunication device from their respective dimensional amulets.

    Unlike those Lith and the rest of mankind used in their daily activities, thosemunication amulets were made out of Davross (*) instead of silver, while the magical gemstone embedded on it shone of pure white light instead of themon blue.

    "This is a waste of time." Tarbas said. The Naga was a monster with the lower part of her body resembling a huge snake¡¯s tail, while the upper part could have been mistaken for a human woman if it wasn¡¯t for her sky-blue skin and six arms instead of two.

    She wore an enchanted breastte covering her torso and six different enchanted weapons were ready at hand, two on its back, four where the hips were supposed to be.

    "Those old farts will never listen to us." Tarbas shook her head in resignation, letting her long, silky ck hair dance under the moonlight.

    "If I wanted to hear your whining, I would have just called." Scarlett snorted.

    "The only reason I¡¯m here is that without twomunicators it¡¯s impossible to summon the Council. Now shut up and let me do the talking. If we have any chance of persuading those blockheads, we need to be calm and confident.

    So keep your mood swings in check."

    Tarbas clicked her tongue, but she couldn¡¯t raise any objection. Being a cold-hot blooded hybrid, she was indeed moody.

    There wasn¡¯t any magic form or circle involved, as soon as the two mystical amulets touched, five figures materialized mid air.

    Each of them was the spokesperson of their own kind of Awakened ones. Humans, magical beasts, undead, nts, and Guardians. The assembly didn¡¯t have an official name, each race would refer to it differently.

    Humans called it "The Guiding Hand", the undead "The Darkwatch", the nts "The Root", the beasts "The Council" and the Guardians "Another Damn Chore."

    None of the five seemed happy to be forced to answer the call, except for Leegaain.

    "Looking good, Scar. You are that close to promoting your core to the violet level. Have you considered the idea of bing a Guardian? Sure, you¡¯d have to relinquish your turf forever, but the jobes with many perks."

    Scarlett took a deep breath to calm its anger. It hated the nickname. Both its skin and fur were wless. Also it hadn¡¯t missed how the Guardian¡¯s untimely remark had made the eyes of the other members of the Council burn with envy.

    The other races couldn¡¯t forgive magical beasts for being the only ones capable of bing a Guardian.

    - "Thanks for making my job harder, you scaly idiot!" It angrily thought.

    "You¡¯re wee." Leegaain cheerfully replied, almost making the Scorpicore gasp in surprise.

    "You are always such an optimist. It¡¯s not like you have any chance to start with."¨C

    Scarlett cut off the mind link before giving her speech.

    "Fellow Awakened, I call upon you in this time of crisis to ask for your help. Someone is ravaging thends, consuming huge amounts of world energy and kidnapping countless creatures on the verge of Awakening.

    Humans, nts, beasts, undead. Whoever it is, they do not discriminate. We are all a target. We must find the root of the problem and weed it out."

    "Why should we care?" Inxialot, the king of the liches, snorted through the exposed nasal septum of his skull. He wasn¡¯t actually a king, it was a title that had been imposed on him after getting the short end of the stick during thest raffle.

    It wouldst for three centuries, forcing him to attend those boring meetings and neglect his precious research, while the others were free to mind their own business.

    "We have meddled countless times in the past, nothing ever changes. Kill a tyrant, another takes their ce. Give them food, they stop working. Force them to obey thew, they revolt calling you a tyrant.

    "As long as living beings have dreams and ambitions, this world will suck. Yet it¡¯s because of those things that the world thrives. Leegaain has already informed us of this Demon Lord, Abomination King, Master of Disaster or whatever childish title they will self-appoint to themselves.

    "Bottom line, we don¡¯t care. Been there, done that. They will throw their tantrum, make an enemy of the world, and then they will fail. No one, no matter how powerful, not even us, can go against a whole world full of billions of individuals.

    The moment they cause too much damage, all the races will join forces and wipe them away." All the members of the Council nodded at his words.

    "I know that." Scarlett struggled to keep its cool in front of so much blind indifference.

    "Countless lives will be lost before that happens though. Hundreds already have. Does none of you care for their descendants?"

    "Humans only care about themselves. Protecting them is pointless. Many will die, but more will be born recing them, maybe even learning from their ancestors¡¯ mistakes." Raagu, the human representative shook her head.

    "Death isn¡¯t a bad thing. They will return to the Great Mother and feed the next generations." Lotho the Treant crossed his arms nodding to Raagu.

    "I think..." Leegaain said.

    "The session is over. The motion is unanimously approved." Fe, the beasts¡¯ representative, cut him short. With a p of her hands, four out of five figures Warped Away.

    "Told you so." Leegaain patted Scarlett¡¯s head.

    "If you need help, give me a call. I¡¯ll send Tyris, since I can¡¯t operate in the Griffon Kingdom. Ta-ta!" He said before disappearing.

    Scarlett lowered its head, epting the failure.

    Tarbas ced one of her hands on the Scorpicore¡¯s shoulder to console it.

    "It¡¯s not your fault. We all grow more detached and insensible over time. Non Awakened have such a short lifespan that getting attached to them only brings us pain. It¡¯s no coincidence that all the races have the same saying: ¡¯the gods have abandoned us¡¯."

    Scarlett knew the truth behind those five words. Before the advent of fake magic, Awakened ones appeared like gods to their own kin. Over time they would either start to believe they were real gods and needed to be put down, or would experience so much pain, betrayal, and istion to seclude themselves from the rest of the world.

    "Who needs gods that sit on their hands doing nothing?" Scarlett roared, its eyes burning with fury.

    "I don¡¯t need a bunch of indifferent gods, I need allies. Luckily, I know where to look for them."

    ***

    Later, during the Necromancy ss, Lith knew that something was wrong. Phloria had suddenly be incapable of looking him in the eyes without turning beet red, even choosing to sit as far away as possible from him.

    - "I really hope that mom was joking when she talked about having dad preparing a betrothal gift for Lith. It would be the second most embarrassing moment of my life. Today would still get the first ce."¨C Phloria thought.

    After Professor Zeneff entered the ssroom, she pped her hand, Warping several rows of rat skeletons along the walls.

    "As I told youst time, during our lessons I¡¯ll teach you how to animate lesser undead. By definition, lesser undead are all those reanimated creatures that do not have a mind of their own.

    "Creating greater undead is either a crime, since it involves sacrificing someone¡¯s life, or ethically controversial. It¡¯s the closest thing to very, because the undead will have feelings and thoughts of its own but will bepletely at the necromancer¡¯s mercy.

    "That¡¯s why advanced Necromancy is a well kept secret. In case some of you gets too curious, be aware that researching advanced Necromancy or creating what basically are sentient ves without the Crown¡¯s approval is a major crime.

    "Now let¡¯s get back to our lesson. Among the lesser undead there are skeletons, zombies, crypt crawlers, and many others. Skeletons are the weakest and easiest to reanimate, yet we will start with something small. Each of you has to pick at least one rat skeleton.

    "You¡¯ll soon discover that this exercise has two major hurdles. The first is to mark your creature before it bes fully formed, otherwise it will eat your face. The second and most difficult one is controlling it with your will.

    "Hopefully, by the end of the day ,you¡¯ll be able to make them move in the direction of your choice."

    Another p of her hands and a hardcover book with only two pages materialized on the students¡¯ desks. One was the Reanimating Skeletons spell, while the other was the Life Mark spell.

    "Unlike other courses, I can¡¯t allow you to practice without supervision, it¡¯s too risky. Luckily my subject is simple, so our lessons should be plenty enough. I¡¯ll provide you new pages during the following lessons, they will self attach until the book will beplete.

    Practice Life Mark first. Failing to animate the dead is not a big deal, giving undeath to a raving mad one is though."

    While all his ss looked at the skeleton with disgust, Lith read the spells a few times until he was sure of having memorized them.

    - "She is right, these spells really are simplepared to the others I studied so far. Probably because fake Necromancy is the closest thing I ever encountered to its true magic counterpart. It requires will and imagination."¨C

    Lith reanimated the rat on the first attempt, the problem was that the creature just stared dumbly at him. Lith furrowed his brow, squinting his eyes while concentrating until they were almost closed, but nothing happened.

    "Excellent job! Ten points for mister Lith." Zeneff said.

    "You are doing it wrong though. You can¡¯t control an undead with your mind, because it does not have one of its own. You must feel the mana residing in the carcass and manipte it."

    Cursing at his own stupidity, Lith did as instructed. Thanks to months of healing and dimensional magic, his mana sensibility had improved by leaps and bounds, but he was stillgging behind the others.

    They had needed a few attempts to seed, but now their rats moved without limping or staggering, unlike his own.

    - "I still suck at mana sensitivity, but my mana control is in a league of its own. Let me try a new trick."¨C

    Lith emitted an almost invisible tendril of darkness, directly connecting him and the skeleton. He wasn¡¯t using true magic. It could be barely ssified as a trick using first magic. The moment the trick and the spell interacted, something unexpected happened.

    Lith was now able to control the undead at will. The connection allowed him to bypass the sensitivity issue, like plugging a controller in a console without needing the batteries anymore.

    "Fetch!" Lith ordered the rat that brought back a second skeleton that was promptly reanimated. Zeneff was surprised by the speed of Lith¡¯s progress. ording to his file, his real talent lied in his open mind as a Healer and his rich battle experience.

    None of them were supposed to help him in learning Necromancy. While most of the students were still trying to make their rat move, Lith was now controlling two undead at once, making them stand on their hind legs and performing the new world¡¯s equivalent of the minuet.

    - "There is no reason to hold back anymore." Lith thought. "Either because of Phloria¡¯s mom¡¯s report or because those three b*astards will spill the beans on me during their trial, I¡¯m going to have more enemies than ever.

    Also, this is but a simple trick, there is no risk in sharing it with the academy. I need dozens of thousands points to afford some decent equipment."¨C

    Along with many envious gazes, Lith received a few admiring ones. Professor Zeneff¡¯s was among those.

 Chapter 208 Storm Fron

    "Mister Lith, would you minding over here please?" Professor Zeneff had him walk to her desk.

    - "If this guy is a Necromancy genius, I must report it immediately to the Crown."¨C She thought. Each Professor had to keep their evaluation to themselves, notifying only the Headmaster or Crown of a promising talent.

    It was a safety measure to avoid talented students from bing targets of the hostility from noble families or of the interest of foreign countries. Being a Necromancy lecturer, Zeneff would report her observations only to the Crown.

    It was too sensitive a topic for clerks to handle, all academies were known for having more leaks than a sieve.

    "Can you please exin to me how you aplished that?" She pointed to the still dancing rats.

    Lith told her making Professor Zeneff burst into a chuckle.

    "Really well yed, but for today¡¯s lesson purpose it¡¯s like cheating. I wasn¡¯t going to teach you that trick until all of you managed to gain a decent degree of control over your undead. Still, it¡¯s very impressive for a student to discover it on his own. Twenty more points for you."

    While Lith was disappointed learning he had just reinvented the wheel, Professor Zeneff was relieved instead.

    - "I knew it was too good to be true. I can kiss my points goodbye." He thought. ¨C

    - "Thank the gods he is just very brilliant. I don¡¯t think the Kingdom can afford a second god of death." Zeneff thought. ¨C

    "Go back to your ce and do the exercise properly." Professor Zeneff instructed Lith.

    "Do not exin the trick to anyone, it would ruin my lesson. I¡¯m sorry to send you back to square one, but I¡¯m sure you will thank meter."

    She smiled gently, knowing how hard it was for someone so young going from believing to be a genius to discovering it had only been a fluke.

    Lith went back to his seat with a dejected expression. Soon envy turned into snickers and pointed fingers, when the other students noticed that he was back to controlling a single rat, apparently suffering from brain damage.

    Lith was already able to move his rat in the direction he wanted, but every two or three steps, it would writhe like it had a seizure, prompting the ridicule from his peers. Even Quy would chuckle from time to time.

    "Sorry..." She said looking in his direction. "but it¡¯s too funny. Why don¡¯t you try shutting down the other one? It didn¡¯t act like that before. During the previous lesson, Professor Zeneff told us that every undead requires focus from the mage.

    Maybe that¡¯s why you find it so hard to control it now."

    "Quy, you are a damn genius." He gave her a thumbs up while cing his left hand on the second undead and draining the darkness magic that possessed its body. Lith¡¯s words made Quy smile for the first time since Phloria had asked him out, while his actions made Professor Zeneff swallow a lump of saliva.

    - "Once it¡¯s a fluke, but twice? Is it possible for him to have the mana control to be able to take back his own spell?"¨C Her face was jovial as usual, but her eyes returned often to his desk.

    As Quy predicted, once the second rat was out of the picture, Lith was able to move the remaining undead with more ease. The rat was promoted from brain damaged to crippled.

    The lesson continued and Lith kept falling behind. He felt like the others were running while he was forced to walk.

    - "Damn, I must find a way around my limits. This time I can¡¯t pull all nighters to catch up with them. Think Lith, think. Normally, when I use Necromancy, I always keep my undead under control with tendrils of mana.

    "It serves the purpose of constantly feeding them and makes their reaction time much faster, since I can control them with but a thought. Now I have to control a lump of mana after giving it a body instead.

    "On paper, it should be easy for me. After I cast any spell with true magic, I can always alter its course or form, as long as I can see it. Why should this be any different?"¨C

    Lith drained and injected darkness magic into the carcass multiple times, turning it into an undead and back while trying to remember the feeling he experienced when the mana passed from him to the skeleton.

    - "This is not dimensional magic where I have to constantly manipte and adapt different mana flows. Unlike a Warp Step, the undead is stable. I need to feel it just once!"¨C

    Lith kept his eyes closed, repeating the spell over and over, until he was able to feel every drop of mana that came out of his core, manipting it like it was a new arm.

    To make things easier, Lith coordinated the rat skeleton¡¯s movements with his right hand¡¯s fingers. There were no tendrils attached, but thanks to the workaround he was soon able to move the creature at will.

    After he got used to the feeling, he reanimated the second rat again, using one hand for each and moving them in unison.

    By the end of the lesson, while most students had seeded in correctly controlling a single undead and Quy was close to perfecting the movements of the second one, Lith had expanded the number of his puppets, needing only a finger for each one of them.

    Professor Zeneff had never been so excited and afraid at the same time in her whole career, fearing to have triggered the advent of the new god of death.

    ***

    Time passed and soon the days turned into a month. Friya needed but a week to master the Switch spell,pleting the dimensional magic course and receiving a griffon shaped honour badge from Linjos and Rudd to celebrate the new inter-academy record.

    Aside from Quy, the rest of the group had mastered Blink, but they had yet to seed in the Switch spell. Quy and Friya used that extra free time to cram healing magic together, bing the rising stars of the Light Magic Department.

    Lith kept Forgemastering sessfully one elemental weapon after the other, making Professor Wanemyre so happy that at one point she offered to adopt him. It was a ttering proposal, but he gently refused it.

    Necromancy helped Lith ovee his mana sensitivity gap, leaving Professor Zeneff in awe. He would finish the assignments so fast that she promoted him to her assistant during the lessons, giving tips and suggestions to the other students.

    Receiving so much good news every day made Lady Ernas feel like she was walking on air.

    "I hope you will now admit I¡¯m always right." She chuckled reading thetest congrattory report from the White Griffon academy.

    "A dimensional magic prodigy, two geniuses at healing, and our little Flower has finally blossomed as a woman. The future of house Ernas is as good as set in stone."

    At those words, Orion Ernas spit out his tea in the butler¡¯s face, spilling the rest on his ownher regions. The paining from the hot tea was nothingpared to the one he felt in his heart so he ignored it, treating the small burns with healing magic.

    "Do you mean she... they... you know what I mean!" Orion was beet red from pain and anger.

    "No, I don¡¯t." She giggled, sending the butler away.

    "It¡¯s never a good thing for a parent to meddle during the initial phases of a rtionship. Lith seems quite the gentleman, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll make her first time pleasurable."

    Orion once again cursed Lith¡¯s name and the day he brought the little runt into his house.

    "She is too young for that! How can you say such things and remain so calm?"

    Jirni put down the report, looking Orion straight in the eyes.

    "Didn¡¯t we start knowing each other intimately when I was fifteen?" She asked with a soft smile.

    "Those were different times! Ages ago." Orion replied, noticing the trap when it was already toote.

    "Are you calling me an old hag?" She stood up, scolding him with an indignant tone.

    "No, gods no!" Orion hastily retreated. Admitting defeat was his only option at that point, or he would share the doghouse with Lucky for the days toe.

    "You are right, fifteen is the perfect age to start dating."

    "ording to our little Flower, Lith is a very promising Healer, Forgemaster and maybe even Necromancer." Jirni was back to being all smiles.

    "You could bring him to your forge sometime, for some male bonding time. I was thinking we should meet his parents one of these days. Nothing formal, just to say hi and introduce ourselves."

    Orion Ernas was inwardly weeping blood at the thought of losing his little Flower to a brute whose only perk was being so simr to his beloved wife, but he could only nod with a smile stered on his face.

    ***

    Sitting alone in his office, Linjos couldn¡¯t help but have an eerie feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Things were going smoothly, there had been no more idents and he received only good news.

    It was all too good to be true. Linjos was the White Griffon Headmaster for three years now, he knew the rules of the game all too well. He had spent the first two years learning the ropes before finally implementing the changes he had always dreamt about to the academy system.

    Despite being the trial year, his academy had already achieved the highest number of promoted students per trimester and the lowest numbers of expelled or injured students per month.

    The healthy environment had allowed many students that had appeared unremarkable at their arrival at the academy to develop their talents. They were popping out like mushrooms in all departments.

    The random checks for ve items had been fruitless. Members of the Queen¡¯s corps would search and interrogate the staff, but thank the gods every time they woulde up with nothing.

    Yet Linjos couldn¡¯t help but worry. ording to the reports he received from the Professors and the Queen, despite the internal strife having been quelled, all academies were still experiencing an all time low of the students¡¯ grades.

    Linjos knew that sooner orter, the other Headmasters would try to sabotage his academy. With such poor results, they would be forced to implement Linjos¡¯s system, losing a lot of face and looking ipetent in the eyes of the magicalmunity.

    No matter what the Queen ordered, he was certain that they would put their prestige above everything. Many of them were too old to ept the changes and would never ept retirement.

    To make things even worse, it was almost that time of the year again. Thinking about how much work he had to do with so little time at his disposal, Linjos sighed multiple times before summoning Nalear to his office.

    ***

    The Magic Crystal lessons were the most appreciated among thepulsory courses of the third trimester. There were no winners or losers, all the students had be capable of cutting and refining low grade gemstones.

    It had no homework, since handling mana des and crystals was too dangerous without supervision, nor was there a rush toplete the task. The most important thing was the quality of the final product, so students would take their time, facing each crystal like a challenge to oneself rather than to the rest of the ss.

    At the end of the lesson, after checking the results of the students¡¯ work, Professor Nalear had an announcement to make.

    "Excellent work everyone. Now I have good news and bad news. The good news is that since the whole ss is making progress at such an outstanding rate, our trip to the forest¡¯s crystal mines has been brought forward.

    "We¡¯ll depart tomorrow first thing in the morning, bring along anything you think you might need in the next few days." The trip was supposed tost only one morning, the sudden change of ns made the ss burst with chattering.

    Nalear raised her hand, silencing them with a quick spell.

    "This leads to the bad news. For security reasons, students and Professors alike will move out of the academy until the eighteenth day of this month. Temporary lodgings have already been prepared.

    You¡¯ll be split based on your household rather than on your gender or academy year. Beware of your seniors and be nice to your juniors. No misconduct will be tolerated, we will keep everyone under constant supervision."

    Despite her smile, Lith could see it was all a fa?ade. A deep rage was smoldering behind her soothing manners. Something terrible had probably happened to her during her student days.

    "I am not at liberty to give you any exnation. Just know that this is for your own safety. Dismissed." Nalear abruptly left, clenching her hands so hard she was bleeding a little.

    Lith was so focused on all those small details that he missed the several nces Phloria threw at him, sighing every time she did it. They had much to discuss.

 Chapter 209 Storm Front 2

    Phloria Ernas wasn¡¯t having the time of her life. Her adoptive sisters were running circles around her in the academy, her mother called too often with stars shining in her eyes, waiting for some big announcement. Every time she heard from her father, Orion seemed to be on the verge of tears instead.

    Also, her rtionship with Lith hadn¡¯t progressed much during thest month, giving her the impression there was something wrong.

    They were already at their sixth date and Lith had always behaved like a perfect gentleman, having a deep knowledge of the ces they visited together even if he had never been there before.

    Phloria didn¡¯t know about Soluspedia, so the idea of him investing so much time and effort for her sake was truly ttering. They would always have brilliant conversations and while his jokes were a bit odd, Lith managed to be funny or mature ording to the situation.

    The problem was everything else.

    - "He is way too mature, but that¡¯s actually nice." She would often think. "The more I know him, the more it seems I¡¯m dating my parents though. He is a paranoid control freak like mom, but without being bossy or nosy.

    "He is also caring and protective like dad, without being clingy or possessive. I like his virtues and ws, but while, at the start, it was nice of him to leave me my personal space and not try to touch me inappropriately, now I¡¯m starting to worry about it.

    "Holding my hand from time to time is the boldest move he ever did. Be it kissing or hugging, he never takes the initiative, it¡¯s always up to me. Did he agree to go out with me out of pity? Or was it to get rid of Quy?"¨C

    Mulling those questions over and over, Phloria was getting more insecure by the day.

    She couldn¡¯t imagine that Lith was actually a forty year old in the body of an almost thirteen year boy. He was conflicted between his psychological and physical age. Lith was incapable of approaching her without the fear of being guilty of forcing himself on someone na?ve and inexperienced.

    Phloria was too embarrassed to seek advice from her parents and asking her older brothers was useless. Gunyin, her eldest brother, had followed their mother¡¯s wishes, marrying a girl when he was barely sixteen. He had never dated someone outside of his own wife.

    Tulion, her second brother, had almost been kicked out of the household because of his many affairs with maidens from other noble families.

    - "I can already hear Gunyin say: "Ask mom, she knows better." Or Tulion: "Push him down on the bed. It would work with me.""¨C

    Being cornered, Phloria had sought Friya¡¯s advice the day before. Phloria knew that she was still rooting for Quy, but she had no one to turn to.

    "I never dated anyone, so I really don¡¯t know what to say." Friya was really embarrassed to reveal that while she very much liked talking about boys, she knew almost nothing about them.

    "If I were in your shoes, I would just ask him. If he doesn¡¯t like you, then he doesn¡¯t deserve you, sis." Phloria was moved by her words. She had always thought that, between the almost forced adoption and Quy, they would only be sisters on paper.

    Her advice made a lot of sense, so she was waiting for the end of the lessons to confront Lith. Magic Crystals was thest course of the day and since they would spend the next three days working in the mines, they had the rest of the afternoon free.

    Phloria was so nervous, looking for the right moment to talk to him, that she almost flinched when Lith tapped on her shoulder while they wereing out of the ssroom.

    "Since we have nothing to do until tomorrow morning, do you minding to my room for a few minutes? We need to talk." Lith said taking the words right out of her mind, making her swallow a lump of saliva.

    Saying those four words was hard, but hearing them was even worse. ording to her brother Tulion, it was the best line before dumping someone and he was an authority in the field.

    - "I have no idea what the security reasons Professor Nalear spoke about are, but it¡¯s likely that Phloria¡¯s mother does. I don¡¯t have Lady Ernas¡¯s contact rune, but I¡¯m sure that she wouldn¡¯t mind helping me. Thest time we met, we parted on good terms."¨C

    Lith¡¯s intentions werepletely unrted to his rtionship with Phloria, but she had no way to know that. She lived every step towards Lith¡¯s room like a death row inmate would while approaching the chopping block.

    After they walked through the door, Phloria clenched her hands covered in sweat, finding the courage to speak her mind.

    "Actually, I have something to say that can¡¯t wait anymore."

    Noticing the urgency in her voice, Lith nodded, offering her the only chair in the room while he sat on the bed instead.

    "That¡¯s exactly what I want to talk about!" She stood up, pointing a finger at him.

    "Meaning?" Lith tilted his head in confusion.

    "Why do you always keep your distance from me? No matter where we are, you never sit beside me, let alone try to kiss or touch me. Am I that ugly to you? Are you pity dating me?"

    Her voice was full of rage, yet Lith could clearly see the insecure teenage girl hiding behind the mask. The new world closely resembled the middle ages in his mind.

    Since they were so different in age and social status, he had thought that Phloria was content with what they had, never suspecting she wanted something more, like a modern Earth girl.

    The only answer he could offer her wasn¡¯t the truth, but the next best thing.

    "Absolutely not!" He stood up too, his tone was firm as a rock in denying her allegation.

    "It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve never dated someone your age, so I don¡¯t know what to do." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment. He was ate bloomer, never dating anyone before hisst year of high school.

    "Also, being as strong as I am, I¡¯m afraid to hurt you. Last, but not least, our height gap doesn¡¯t help." He stood in front of her, using his hand to emphasize it.

    Lith was now 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") high, but Phloria was still taller than him with her 1.77 meters (5¡¯ 10").

    "Do you want me to bring around a soapbox during our dates? Because I feel so dumb having to use a spell or ask you to bend down." Phloria felt so relieved by his answers that it was like someone had just lifted a mountain from her shoulder and another from her stomach.

    Realizing he was not only younger, but also as inexperienced as her, made her heart flutter. Phloria gave him a long, deep kiss while her hands caressed his hair and wide shoulders.

    Lith was surprised by how good a kisser she had be, needing his sheer willpower to keep his hands on her back instead of going for second base. He had no idea if he would be able to stop there.

    "What do you want to talk about?" She whispered in his hear, refusing to let him go and making it really hard for him to focus.

    "This field trip sounds fishy." He replied with a hoarse voice.

    "I was thinking we may ask your parents for information. It never hurts being prepared for the worst."

    "It can wait." She shrugged emitting an adorable giggle. "All work and no y makes Lith a dull boy." She had just kissed him again when someone knocked on the door.

    "Lith? Little Flower? Are you in there? Please open up."

    "Dad?" Phloria blurted out from surprise.

    "I told you it could wait, dammit. Give them some space."

    "Mom?" Phloria panicked, pushing Lith away and sending him butt first to the floor.

    "Yes dear." Jirni¡¯s voice replied from the other side of the door.

    "Take your time, there is no rush." In Phloria¡¯s mind those words sounded like:

    "Put your clothes on carefully. Think about your father."

    If her parents¡¯ sudden appearance was like a sudden cold shower for her, Lith needed a magical one, cooling down his face, hands, and other obvious ces to make himself decent.

    As soon as he opened the door, Orion barged in, sighing in relief seeing that the bed was still made and all the buttons on the two youths¡¯ uniforms were in proper order.

    "Why didn¡¯t you answer yourmunication amulet? I¡¯ve been calling you for hours!" Orion yelled.

    "I was busy!" Phloria angrily rebuked.

    "Please forgive us, Lith." Lady Ernas said. "I couldn¡¯t stop his rampage after he heard the news. The moment Phloria missed his tenth call, we were already on our way here. I suppose you know that something is going on."

    Lith nodded.

    "Yes, Lady Ernas. We were just about to call you." He reported to them Professor Nalear¡¯s announcement and his doubts about it.

    "Excellent thinking. Emotions are important, but in time of crisis, keeping a cool head is of the utmost importance." Jirni clicked her tongue, making both father and daughter blush in embarrassment.

    "Also, it¡¯s the exact reason why we are here. By now, most of the students should have been contacted by their parents and informed about the current predicament."

    "Which is?" Lith asked.

    "Have you ever heard about the god of death?" Phloria and Lith shook their heads.

    "Ilyum Balkor, better known as the god of death, is one of the ckest pages in the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s modern history. Twenty years ago, before either of you were born, he was amoner of humble origins that had entered the ck Griffon academy, soon revealing to possess an outstanding talent for magic.

    "It quickly turned out to be more a curse rather than a blessing. ording to the academy¡¯s old standards, might makes right, so he and his family were constantly victims of harassment from the noble families.

    "The previous Queen ignored all the reports because she considered such behavior useful to her agenda. In her mind, they would push Balkor to seek the Crown¡¯s support, making him more malleable to her requests in order to satisfy his thirst for revenge and protection.

    "Her ¡¯brilliant¡¯ n fell apart when a few months before his graduation, Balkor¡¯s vige was set aze and his family killed by unknown bandits. It¡¯s still unclear if it was just an unlucky incident or something staged by one of the old noble families.

    "What matters is that Balkor didn¡¯t care for the Crown¡¯s promises of finding the culprits, nor for all the tteriesing from the academies and noble families alike, aiming to recruit him. They tried to exploit his pain of losing his family by recing it with a new one.

    "After graduating, he disappeared for a few months before returning at the lead of an army of greater undead, exterminating in one night all the noble families in his birthce.

    "Then he escaped to the Blood Desert while the army and the Mage Association were still busy dealing with his thralls.

    "That night, Ilyum Balkor gained the title of god of death and the old Queen abdicated in Sylpha¡¯s favor. The following year, the Crown received a single word from him: ¡¯Past¡¯.

    "During the night of the anniversary of Balkor¡¯s family¡¯s death, a whole old noble household disappeared. Not even children or elderly were spared, the only thing left behind was a single word, painted with blood over every single wall, ceiling, or floor: "Soon."

    "Every year, for the following four years, the Crown received the same note and another ancient household would disappear during the night of the anniversary. Then, for the next five years, the note contained a different word: ¡¯Present¡¯.

    "During the anniversary, the new target became the Crown and the Mage Association. Their most notable members would be attacked by legions of never seen before undead.

    "We know this because most of the intended victims managed to survive, thanks to the heavy security. The King and the Queen survived all five attempts, allowing the Association to collect a lot of samples and devise new weapons against the new race of undead.

    Sadly, this is the eleventh year and the note changed once again. Now it says: ¡¯Future¡¯."

    "So they think he will now target the academies? It makes sense since the students represent the future of the Kingdom. What makes them think he will target the White Griffon?" Lith asked.

    Lady Ernas shook her head sighing.

    "No one thinks the god of death will target the White Griffon. We think he will target all the academies. The first five years were just the appetizer. He used them to perfect his creations while putting to test the magical defenses of the most powerful families, seeding most of the times.

    Then, he targeted both the Crown and the Mage Association, attacking all of their most notable members. He is the reason that lead the Griffon Kingdom to hasten the reform of the nobility and academy system, leading to the current crisis.

    The existence of the god of death is a secret to the public, but every major power of the country knows about him, and lives in fear of his return."

 Chapter 210 Tactical Retrea

    Lith pondered for a while over Lady Ernas¡¯s words, trying to understand the reason behind Linjos¡¯s decision.

    "Then what¡¯s the point of having the students move out of the academy? Isn¡¯t the castle one of the safest ces in the Kingdom?" He asked.

    "It is, but not against the god of death." Lady Ernas exined.

    "All the ancient noble families, just like house Ernas, have several arrays defending them. We have contributed to building and nurturing the Kingdom, so you can think of our houses as smaller versions of the academies.

    "The defense mechanisms are simr, but weaker. Balkor didn¡¯t just hunt us, he used every single attack to collect data and improve his thralls. Every year, they became stronger and more resilient, able even to bypass the basic arrays like they don¡¯t even exist.

    "For your information, both the Royal Pce and the Mage Association headquarters have defenses on par with the academies, some say they are even better. Yet Balkor¡¯s creatures managed to break in every single year.

    "We knew they wereing, we were prepared, and armed to the teeth. None of that mattered. The number of casualties only increased over time. Probably Linjos is thinking of relying on the protection of the Lord of the forest.

    "Monsters like a Scorpicore only grow stronger with the passing of time. Thank the gods those beasts¡¯ talent for magic is second only to their indifference toward the outside world. As long as you don¡¯t mess with their turf, they don¡¯t mess with you."

    "What¡¯s a Scorpicore?" Phloria asked.

    "A genius magical beast that further evolved." Orion exined.

    "They are invaluable allies and merciless enemies. Be careful of never antagonize one unless it¡¯s strictly necessary. While they are still beasts, they are much more intelligent than normal animals."

    Lith was amazed by the time and effort magical beasts had spent to keep humans underestimating them. Even before his evolution, Lith would have never considered Ryman stupid.

    "Also, the god of death is not the only one that has learned from the past attacks."

    Jirni continued.

    "Once the pattern was clear, the old noble families would scatter their members and go into hiding during the anniversary. It was a cowardly but effective move, many of them managed to survive the onught.

    "Linjos¡¯s n is very smart. First, he is changing the battlefield, making Balkor¡¯s preparations useless. Magical beasts¡¯ arrays work differently from ours, so the creatures should get affected by them.

    "Second, by moving the students to the forest, finding them will be much harder, exploiting the undead¡¯s greatest weak point.

    "To give them so much power, skill, and magic, Balkor had to sacrifice their lifespan. They neverst much longer after sunrise, so by turning an assassination attempt into a hide and seek game, Linjos has already gained an advantage.

    I only wish the other Headmasters did the same thing. Some of those old coots want to make a stand against Balkor and Linjos." Jirni sighed.

    "Call the other kids here, I¡¯ll teach you whatever I can." Orion said

    When Friya, Quy, and Yurial arrived, they were still shaken up by the news received from their respective parents.

    "First thing, do not fight them unless you are cornered. Those monsters are incredibly fast and strong, even the Mage Knight spell Full Guard barely allows a veteran to fight them on equal footing. You are no veterans, just kids.

    "Running away should always be your priority. Never underestimate greater undead. They have a high degree of intelligence, can n ahead and coordinate their attacks. They never get tired, do not feel pain, and every hit sucks away a bit of your life force, using it to heal their wounds.

    If you are forced to engage the enemy, Mage Knights should resort to guerri warfare,bining Blink and Full Guard." Orion said looking at the two girls.

    "As for you guys, you are only useful as long range attackers and life force batteries. Wardens are useless. Their spells are too slow and even if they manage to cast one, Balkor¡¯s creations can shrug off most of their effects. That¡¯s why I brought these."

    Orion waved his hand, and five weapons came out of his dimensional ring.

    An estoc, a rapier, a short sword, and two curved des resembling shotels. Each one had two magic gemstones embedded in the hilt.

    "I prepared them based on the knowledge we have umted so far. They are specifically designed to deal greatly increased damage to undead. I¡¯m only loaning them to you." He looked straight at Lith and Yurial.

    "These are not weapons for kids, I expect you to return them once the crisis is over."

    Lith gratefully took his shotel, deeply bowing to Orion.

    - "I¡¯ll make use of this time to thoroughly study this weapon and take note of every detail in my notebooks. It¡¯s like already having a Forgemastering fifth year book at hand!" He inwardly smiled. ¨C

    "One more thing." This time it was Lith talking.

    "If an undead everes close to you, only use darkness magic. It¡¯s their bane. They are not afraid of cuts, burns, or cold. The other elements can damage their bodies, but unless it¡¯s enough to cripple them, they will barely notice it.

    Never use light magic instead. It would only give them more power."

    "How do you know it?" Orion was bbergasted. Necromancy being one of the rarest mystical arts, only those who served the Crown, the Mage Association, and veterans in fighting undead knew such things.

    He was about to teach them about the elements, but Lith took the words out of his mouth.

    "I have a lot of free time during the Necromancy sses. I do not spend it by idly waiting for the lesson to end, I raise undead and experiment on them instead. To truly master any discipline, I need to understand its ws and limitations, bing capable of exploiting them when it will be used against me."

    Lith¡¯s reply made Phloria¡¯s and Jirni¡¯s heart flutter. To the former, he sounded like a cool hero always one step ahead of his enemies, to thetter he sounded like the perfect son inw and an excellent royal constable candidate.

    Jirni and Orion stayed for dinner and with them a lot of other parents. The canteen had never been so full and noisy before. The hall was split into two sides. One with the noble families warning their heirs, giving them advice and equipment.

    The other wheremoners were grouped up, still unaware of the imminent threat.

    Lith was sitting at the Ernas¡¯s table while Yurial was at the table next to them with his parents and fianc¨¦. She was as cute as a button blond girl, around fifteen years old, and definitely overdressed. She seemed to be attending a g rather than an academy.

    That and the scornful nces she threw at the other side of the canteen made her obnoxious at first sight to Lith.

    The following day, the morning gong resounded early and after a quick breakfast, all the students were assembled in front of the academy¡¯s gates. Dozens of Warp Steps were open, allowing the staff to go back to their homes.

    Linjos¡¯s n included leaving the academy empty and locked from the inside so that even if Balkor¡¯s undead managed to break in, the number of casualties would be zero.

    Not having anyone to interrogate, finding their new location would hopefully require more time than the creatures¡¯ lifespan allowed, so the White Griffon would win the battle without even moving a finger.

    When only the students and Professors remained, Linjos closed the Warp Steps, opening new ones leading to their refuge. It looked like a medium sized mining town,posed by a hundred of small houses entirely made out of wood.

    Doubting that Linjos would make such a blunder, underestimating Balkor¡¯s fury to that extent, Lith activated Life Vision while Solus used her mana sense to scan their surroundings.

    The whole area had a mana flow vigorous enough to put to shame even the academy¡¯s one. The houses, the ground, even the flowers glowed like a Christmas tree. Aside from the shabby look, it seemed Linjos had spared no efforts in his creation.

    Lith noticed that the youngest students were terrified by the presence of their seniors, staying as far as possible from them. Magical beasts could be seen everywhere in the town, some perched on the nearby trees, others leisurely walking along the streets.

    Lith was searching for a Professor, to know which was his amodation, when a strong hand grabbed his shoulder.

    "Hey, you are Lith from Lutia, right?"

    Lith pushed the hand away like it was an annoying fly before answering.

    "Depends. Who¡¯s asking?" He found himself staring at a sixteen year old boy, probably a fifth year student. He was very tall, around 1.85 meters (6¡¯1") high, with chestnut hair and eyes that gave him an oddly familiar look.

    "You are thatmoner sh*t that had my brother and cousins expelled! All because you and the f*cking stick up your a*s can¡¯t take a practical joke." Vinor Pontus was seething with anger.

    His family was already on the verge of disaster, the expulsion and arrest of three of their most promising talents had been the final straw that broke the camel¡¯s back.

    Their reputation was ruined. It would take them decades to recover from all the recent blows and rebuild their good name from scratch. Lith looked around for a Professor, finding only M¡¯Rook the Ry, that was staring at the scene with interest, wagging its tail in anticipation.

    "Three men ambushing a girl at night can hardly be called a practical joke, unless one is a pervert and a degenerate. You Pontus guys seem to perfectly fit the bill. It¡¯s no surprise that Balkor wants you morons dead. Idiots with more power than brain are the perfect recipe for disaster."

    Just Balkor¡¯s name was enough to make most of those present shudder, but not Vinor Pontus. He had been looking for a pretext to attack Lith. Insulting him and his whole family in front of so many witnesses was more than enough.

    Vinor raised his arms, pretending to be just shrugging before throwing a straight at Lith with all the strength he was capable of. Lith reacted ordingly, raising a single finger and stopping the punch a dozen centimeters from his face.

    He had used first magic to generate an air cushion, giving Vinor the impression of hitting an invisible pillow. Before he could pull back the punch, the air cushion exploded.

    It released many air des, strong enough to pierce the uniform¡¯s protection. They scratched his face, giving him the look of someone that had fought and lost against a stray cat. Lith snapped his fingers, conjuring an air wave that sent Vinor tumbling on the ground.

    The students watching the scene burst intoughter, making Vinor¡¯s blood boil. He got back on his feet with one fluid movement, releasing a spell from one of his rings. It conjured an icicle as long and thick as an arm, aimed at Lith¡¯s heart.

    Before Lith could react, the icicle turned to dust, while a strong grip was squeezing Vinor¡¯s hand, to the point of almost breaking his fingers.

    "What the heck do you think you are doing?" Professor Wil Ironhelm was in charge of the Battle Magic ss and the Forgemaster specialization for the fifth year. He was muscr as a bull and almost as patient.

    "He started it, Professor! He attacked me with magic for no reason." Vinor whined while twisting and lowering his body, trying to relieve the pressure on his fingers.

    "Is it true?" He asked staring at Lith with his ice blue eyes.

    "No. I¡¯m Lith from Lutia and he is a member of the Pontus family." Lith replied like it exined everything.

    "That Lith from Lutia?" Ironhelm threw Vinor back on the ground with a flick of the wrist, while rushing towards Lith with his extended hand.

    "It¡¯s an honor to meet you. I have heard a lot about you from Lyca Wanemyre. The gods know why she got the talent, the looks, and a promising student while all I got is this shirt and a bunch of morons!" He cursed shaking his fist against the heavens.

    "Minus one hundred points for assaulting a junior and minus another hundred for getting your a*s kicked despite attacking first."

    "How can you believe him instead of me? This isn¡¯t fair!" Vinor whined, two of his still charged rings had permanently shut down because of the points deficit.

    "You need proof. Everyone here is my witness!" The younger students stepped away, while the others started to turn around and leave.

    "Proof, uh? Well, let¡¯s do this your way. Is he speaking the truth?" Ironhelm asked to M¡¯Rook, who promptly shook its head.

    "No. The dumb oaf attacked the young wolf for no reason. After his defeat, the oaf attacked with magic. You know the rest."

    "It speaks?" The whole crowd of students went into an uproar.

 Chapter 211 Dead on Time

    Vinor almost choked from the surprise, many students stared at M¡¯Rook like they were seeing a magical beast for the first time in their lives.

    "Yeah, he can." Ironhelm corrected Vinor. "Minus two hundred points for lying to a teacher." The rest of Vinor¡¯s rings turned grey.

    "How can you believe to stupid beast instead of a student? Are you even human? What side are you on?" Vinor whined, jumping away after hearing a snarl right beside his head.

    "Who are you calling stupid?" M¡¯Rook was so close that Vinor could smell his pungent breath. His lips were curled up, revealing fangs the size of a small dagger.

    "Minus five hundred points for offending our protectors." Vinor¡¯s uniform turned from white to grey, losing all of its magical properties.

    "Listen up, you idiots." Professor Ironhelm¡¯s voice roared.

    "For the next three days, we are guests in this forest. Magical beasts are ourndlords, protectors, and first line of defense. Whoever dares to attack another student or disrespects them will have all of their points null and void.

    "It¡¯s time for you to learn that if a magical beast lives long enough, it develops mystical wisdom. They can talk, reason, and read, just like us humans. Before opening your stuck up mouths, remember where you are if you want to live.

    "If they refuse to protect us because of your behavior, I¡¯ll dly sacrifice an idiot or two to save everyone else. Is it clear?"

    The students from the fourth and fifth year looked around, finally seeing that the town had no blind spots. Magical beasts could be seen soaring the skies, patrolling the streets, and even felt while tunneling underground.

    Unlike inside the academy, every single move they made was watched, every word heard. Now they also knew that magical beast could talk, making them a living security system with heightened senses.

    Lith walked away after giving M¡¯Rook a polite bow, starting to look out for Phloria and the rest of the group.

    - "If they live long enough. That¡¯s a good joke." Lith inwardlyughed at the charade magical beasts had put up for humans.

    "Yeah, even Nok could talk and he was just a Byk cub." Solus smiled remembering their little friend. -

    Meanwhile, Professor Ironhelm¡¯s curiosity had been piqued.

    "Why didn¡¯t you intervene? If I hadn¡¯t stopped that icicle..."

    "Nothing would have happened." M¡¯Rook cut him short. "The oaf was a threat only to himself. I would kill him if I were you. He¡¯s a bad apple. He will bring only harm to your pack."

    The Ry¡¯s words made another question arise.

    "Why are you calling the big one ¡¯oaf¡¯ and the other one ¡¯young wolf¡¯?"

    "The big one is one of you, the small one is one of us." M¡¯Rook snorted like someone had asked him if the water was wet.

    "One of us?" Ironhelm was getting more confused by the second.

    "The oaf is a human. Sees food, wants food. Sees female, wants female. Sees things, wants things. No matter if he needs them, he takes them with violence. That is human nature.

    We don¡¯t eat unless hungry, we have a mate for life, we don¡¯t need useless trinkets. He is one of us."

    Professor Ironhelm felt slightly offended by M¡¯Rook¡¯s words. They sounded a lot like racism. His problem was that he couldn¡¯t argue with them. Withoutw and order, the world of men would take days at most to plunge into chaos, while magical beasts lived ording to unwritten rules that every one of them adhered to.

    ***

    Lith was amazed by the total number of people the White Griffon hosted. The first three years wereposed of at least one thousand students, making him doubt that the mining town could amodate them all.

    - "Damn, I¡¯m here for less than five minutes and I am already lost. I hate crowded ces. They give me a headache." Lith thought.

    "We need to find a Professor and fast!"

    "Or you could call them and ask them where they are." Solus suggested, making Lith sneer.

    "My sweet, innocent Solus. If after carrying out this monumental work Linjos has left themunications open, he would be too much of an idiot to be the Headmaster."¨C

    As Lith predicted, themunication amulet was as dead as a doornail.

    "Lith, nice to meet you again. I wish our circumstances were better." Lith turned around, meeting the eyes of Colonel Varegrave.

    "Colonel, this is an unexpected surprise. Is the army involved too?" Lith replied, giving him a small bow.

    "Yes, of course. We cannot take any chances. I assume you already know everything." Lith nodded, asking him for help in finding his teammates.

    "Not a problem." The Colonel touched hismunication earpiece, requesting information. While waiting for the reply, he and Lith talked about the situation at hand.

    "Can the Small World be used here?"

    "Sadly, no." Varegrave sighed. "It works with principles simr to the academy¡¯s arrays, it¡¯s just more powerful. Those creatures would barely be slowed down, while we would be powerless.

    Follow me, the show is about to begin."

    Varegrave lead Lith to the town¡¯s outskirts where students and Professors were still waiting. Suddenly, the earth started to tremble and a rock teau four meters (14 feet) high emerged from the ground.

    Linjos had chosen a spot that allowed all those present to have a clear view and listen to his magically amplified voice.

    "My dear students, this will be our home for the following days. The rules here are the same as the academy, but without lessons. At least for the fourth and fifth year students." At those words, most of the crowd erupted into groans, which Linjos ignored.

    "You need to keep your hands and minds busy to avoid the stress from our current situation to eating you up from the inside. For this reason, fourth and fifth year students have two choices: help the Professors teaching their juniors the basics of magic, or mine magic crystals.

    Both the endeavors will be awarded with magic crystals or points ording to your contributions. I have assigned you your housing based on your social status and age, but don¡¯t misunderstand.

    I did it only to prevent the seniors from harassing the younger students. All houses are identical and have the sameforts." More groans filled the air, many students spit on the ground, disgusted by Linjos¡¯s words.

    They had hoped to get some fun at the expenses of themoners.

    "As Professor Ironhelm already pointed out, remember we are guests here. Allow me to introduce you to our Lord."

    Scarlett the Scorpicore plunged from the skies, right beside Linjos, itsnding as soft as a plume.

    "I¡¯ll be brief, humans." Its voice was harsh but feminine, allowing the students to understand she was a female.

    "Respect my rules and you won¡¯t even notice our presence. My rules are simple. One: do as Linjos says. Two: never harm a cub, human or otherwise, in my presence." One of the reasons the Scorpicore had decided to help the academy was that, having lost many of her offspring before turning into a Scorpicore, Scarlett had a soft spot for children.

    The other was that, ording to Linjos¡¯s words, the undead had too many abilities that reminded her of Abominations. She wanted to use that opportunity to check if the so-called god of death and her mysterious enemy were somehow rted.

    "Third: respect my underlings. They are risking their lives for you, those who do not appreciate their sacrifice can as well as die for what I care. If any of you needs help, whatever the reason, you can go to any of the magical beasts surrounding the city or my seconds inmand."

    Another monster descended from the skies on Scarlett¡¯s left side.

    It was a giant wolf with two curved hornsing out of its forehead, right in front of the ears. Eagle-like feathered wings came out from his back and the tail seemed to be made out of dancing mes.

    - "Ryman?"¨C Lith was shocked by his friend¡¯s arrival.

    "He is Protector the Skoll. He will lead my troops in battle since I am forced to mantain all the protective arrays by myself." It was actually a lie. Many had contributed to securing the zone. Scarlett said that because she knew humans needed to be impressed to obtain their respect.

    Also, it would make it easier to find out traitors since she had just made herself a target, pretending that her energies were all directed at the arrays.

    A second creature appeared, this time slowly emerging from the ground.

    It was a huge mass of shadows as big as a small house, which kept shapeshifting until it resembled a bear. Its only distinctive features were the glowing red eyes and its massive skeleton that glimpses could be caught of from time to time underneath the ever-changing darknessposing its body.

    "This is Ka the Wraith, our resident expert in the field of undead. She¡¯ll secure the perimeter in case things go south. Goodbye."

    - "Ka?" Her new appearance had shocked Lith, who was now fearing the worst.

    "Is that an evolution or has she turned into an undead?"

    "An evolution." Solus replied. "She now has a blue mana core, not a blood core. Yet judging from the red eyes and the ck smoke exuding from her body, I¡¯d say she¡¯s somehow rted to them."¨C

    The three Monsters disappeared as fast as they had arrived, leaving the center of the scene to Linjos again. With a p of his hands, several boards materialized from thin air. Each one of them was a huge list of names in alphabetical order.

    Beside each name, there was a number associated with one of the houses indicated on the map. Much to his surprise, Lith discovered that his housing was marked as one of an old noble family.

    The Ernas couple had threatened the poor Headmaster, each one their own way, leaving him still pondering if to find Orion¡¯s yells or Jirni¡¯s subtle insinuations more menacing.

    Having faced and lost against both in the past, he had made no objection to their request to keep together the five youths despite their different social status. When Archmage Deirus had also pressed Linjos towards such amodation, there was very little he could do.

    Putting together three members of an old noble family, albeit one in name only, one of a young noble family, and amoner was something that he would never allow if not for their excellent rtionship.

    The hours passed until evening arrived. Lith worked in the mines, preferring to avoid both nobles and kids. Quy and Yurial chose to help the Professors to teach the basics of magic.

    Quy was considering to pursuing an academic career. All the dangers she was going through were making her understand how much she loved her peaceful life inside the academy, away from bloodsheds and fights. Those things made her feel out of ce.

    Yurial¡¯s situation was different though. After having dined with his fianc¨¦, his mind was a mess.

    - "Libea has grown even more arrogant and stuck up than I remembered her. Thank the gods I didn¡¯t introduce her to Lith or Quy, or we would have quarreled until her departure. I wish there was a way out of this engagement."¨C He thought.

    The idea of spending his life with a girl he could barely stand, forced to search for his happiness in the arms of a mistress that he would be forced to keep hidden from the rest of the world, made him feel miserable.

    Yurial had always known how caged his existence would be, but now that he could see its bars up close, he couldn¡¯t avoid searching for a loophole. Between spending his day alone in a dark mine and nurturing youths, he chose the second option.

    - "I need to enjoy the sun as much as I can. Also, it will be a good practice for when I¡¯ll have children of my own."¨C He sighed.

    Friya too went to the mines. Refining crystals required focus and istion, allowing her to have a respite from the constant struggles with her inner demons. She was a noble, but didn¡¯t feel like one. She had a family, but it wasn¡¯t her own.

    Her life was changing too fast and for the first time in her life, her future was a blur. Abandoning house Ernas would be a despicable act after all the attentions Orion had poured into her, treating Friya like she was his own.

    It would also mean abandoning Quy, the closest thing to a family she had left. Now, with the threat of the god of death, she didn¡¯t know if to be more afraid of her future or of her present.

    Phloria followed Lith into the mines, spending most of her time watching him. Unlike the others, he didn¡¯t seem scared. Not even Balkor¡¯s shadow seemed capable of snuffing out the greed in his eyes whenever he met a high quality crystal.

    She found it shallow and insensitive of him, yet incredibly soothing for her heart.

    - "This is so stupid of me, but I don¡¯t know what else to do. My hands tremble too much at the idea of what is going to happen two nights from now to handle a crystal. Teaching is also useless.

    I don¡¯t want to grow fond of people that could die anytime soon. I just wanted to quietly spend the rest of my time at the academy trying not to think about death. Yet ites looking for me instead." ¨C

    Phloria felt on the verge of tears, so she sat right next to Lith, putting her head on his shoulder. His steady heartbeat was like a luby to her ears, her hands stopped shaking, the fear faded away.

    "Do you mind if I remain like this?"

    "No, be my guest." Lith managed to kiss the top of her head without needing to stop the cutting process, making her giggle.

    "At this point, you should put the crystal down and hold me, you jerk."

    Lith was about to joke about how he would have never expected her to be a high-maintenance girlfriend when his ears perceived something.

    "Do you hear that?" He asked, suddenly tensing up.

    Phloria tried to listen. They weren¡¯t very deep in the mine but there were still a lot of echoes.

    "No, what?"

    "Screams."

 Chapter 212 Dead on Time 2

    Suddenly, all themunication amulets that were supposed to be offline projected the image of Headmaster Linjos, repeating the same message over and over.

    "To all students, we are under attack. Return to your housing immediately. If that¡¯s not possible, seek shelter in the nearest building. To all students..."

    While the others were still staring at the Headmaster¡¯s hologram, Lith grabbed Phloria¡¯s hand and made a rush for the exit.

    "Wait, there are still people in the mine!" Phloria blurted, out trying to keep up with his pace.

    "So what? Do you really think we can protect everyone? If they are stupid enough to freeze out of panic, they would notst long anyway!" Phloria was about to reply, but while squeezing Lith¡¯s fingers she remembered she didn¡¯t want to die.

    Once outside, the scene in front of them seemed out of a post apocalyptic movie. People were screaming and running, trampling over all those that fell on the ground or moved too slow, hindering their escape.

    The whole town was enveloped by a golden spherical barrier that was now visible to the naked eye. The mine entrance was a wide tunnel that opened in the ground near the outskirts, so it was covered by the array.

    The sun was still visible above the horizon, yet ck things were swarming the camp, attacking from all directions. Their bodies were naked, resembling only a human figure because they had arms and legs.

    They had no facial feature, body hair, or reproductive organs, moving on all four with insect-like movements. Some had remained near the mine, ambushing those that wereing out of it.

    A couple of undead jumped towards Lith and Phlroia, emitting a humming sound.

    "Stand b..." Lith tried to say.

    "Stand behind me!" Phloria cut him short, pulling him back and mming her conjured tower shield in the face of the first creature. The blue aura from Full Guard was already gushing all around her body, allowing Phloria to perceive every movement around her, leaving no blind spots.

    After spending so much time with her father and Lith, she had learned to always expect the worst. Despite the run at breakneck speed, she had managed cast all her best spells, just in case.

    Her estoc made short work of the second creature. The gemstones in the hilt emitted a bright light while releasing their power, allowing the de to cut through their stone-hard skin like it was paper.

    - "How can a girl that¡¯s always so afraid of dying charge forward like that?" Lith thought.

    "Probably because she has someone important to protect." Solus pointed out. "There¡¯s something wrong with our assants. Their movements are sloppy and predictable. Far from what Orion described to us."¨C

    Lith didn¡¯t remain idle either. His eyes were checking out the surroundings while studying the creatures and Orion¡¯s des at the same time.

    There were no more undead targeting the couple, but Lith didn¡¯t miss how all of them had some kind of mystical ropes wrapped around their limbs, limiting their movements.

    "The first barrier makes them weak! Let¡¯s go!" Phloria was about to move when Lith pulled her back.

    "Watch out!" Several gue Arrows, Lith¡¯s fastest darkness spell, struck the two undeadying on the ground.

    Phloria only noticed then that each piece, no matter the size, was exuding ck tendrils that allowed it to reattach itself to the rest of the body, making all the damage she had inflicted to them meaningless.

    Even with their limbs and heads only connected by the tendrils, the creatures were already back at their peak condition. They had simplyid in ambush waiting for their prey.

    The darkness contained in the bolts fought against the one reanimating the corpses, making their humming turn into a shrill sound.

    Lith barely pretended to chant and form hand signs, quickly unleashing a barrage of gue arrows on the still writhing creatures.

    "Never lower your guard until the enemy turns to dust. Never!" Lith took out the shotel Orion had entrusted him from his pocket dimension.

    The death cries of the undead had caused the other creatures to stop their attacks, hissing with hate at the sight of the two running away. They moved to intercept them, only to be cut down like ripe wheat.

    Phloria¡¯s movements were small and precise. Years of practice allowed her swordy to be shapeless, like water. Her form relentlessly changed ording to the situation, switching from closebat shield bashing to quick stabs to exploit the range advantage the sword gave her.

    With every strike, she released a pulse of darkness magic that was greatly amplified by the de¡¯s magic, causing the small puncture wounds to turn into gaping holes. The lingering energy ate away the surrounding flesh, shortening the creatures¡¯ life span and making their regeneration slower.

    Lith¡¯s movements were rough and amateurish. He only knew a few techniques learned on Earth alongside the basics that Phloria had taught him months ago. Yet he moved like a storm.

    To the trained eye, his moves were too big, with lots of unnecessary movements, making them telegraphed. The undead were no experts though. Being short lived like butterflies, they relied on their superior physical prowess to overpower the opponent.

    Thanks to the array restricting their movements, Lith was already faster and stronger than them in his natural state. Once he infused himself with fusion magic, the creatures could barely follow his movements.

    A thickyer of darkness magic engulfed his shotel and it only grew stronger with each strike. Solus had linked herself to the de, keeping an eye on its pseudo core, preventing the sword¡¯s control gemstones from overloading from the massive amount of mana Lith was pouring into it.

    Each creature that barred his way received at least ten shes, their bodies turning to ashes before they could even notice having been hit.

    Phloria was too busy handling her share of undead to pay too much attention to him, throwing only the asional nce to be sure Lith was all right. His technique was a mess, but the results left her in awe every time.

    If the enemy closed in, the sword would mow them down in a sh. If they retreated, bolts of darkness would send them sprawling on the ground, shrieking in agony.

    - "How the heck does he manage to cast that fast even while wielding a sword? His magic storing rings should already be depleted."¨C Her confusion didn¡¯t make Phloria lose focus. More and more creatures wereing out of the forest, closing any gap in the encirclement as soon as it formed.

    "There¡¯s no end to them!" She barely had the time to yell that hell broke loose.

    Professor Ironhelm appeared while riding M¡¯Rook the Ry, followed by a pack of magical beasts. He was wielding a sword and a shield, but with the Ry protecting him, he could focus on the attack, wiping out dozens of undead in a matter of seconds.

    "Run away, kids! Don¡¯t look back! I¡¯ll take care of the survivors."

    Lith sprinted forward, storing the sword back in the pocket dimension and taking Phloria¡¯s hand to be certain of not losing her amid the chaos. The closer they got to the town, the more magical beasts they encountered.

    Past a certain point, the bindings grew so strong that the undead became even slower than an average human, making it child¡¯s y for beasts and Professors alike to turn them into mincemeat.

    Phloria regretted leaving behind her fellow students, but Lith didn¡¯t allow her to slow down for even a second. They reached their house, stopping only to open the door and ran inside as soon as the magic lock recognized them.

    Even under the adrenaline rush, they couldn¡¯t help but stare at their new surroundings. The inside was much bigger than the outside. The hallway they were in was at least one hundred meters (328 feet) long and five (16.4 feet) wide.

    It was a dimensional magic masterpiece, stretching the space enough to turn the small cottage into a single floor hotel. Each side of the corridor had ten doors, leading to as many apartments. The furniture was rustic. Aside from a long carpet on the floor and magical stones to light it, the hallway was empty.

    They couldn¡¯t care less, starting to search for their name tags on the doors. They would have been quicker if they checked one side each, but their hands seemed to be glued together.

    Their room was almost a replica of the one they lived in at the academy, just five times bigger. The furniture consisted of five beds with as many nightstands and closets. There were only two bathrooms though. One for the girls, one for the boys.

    "What took you so long?" Friya asked them with a tired expression on her face.

    An unbearable sense of guilt gripped Phloria¡¯s stomach. She hadpletely forgotten that her sister was with them in the mine. She hugged Friya so hard she squeezed the air out of her lungs.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, sis. I didn¡¯t mean to leave you behind! I¡¯m so d you are all right. Please forgive me." Phloria sobbed, leaving Friya bbergasted.

    Lith instead was amazed by how she was still without a scratch, just like them, but had managed to beat them to the house without even breaking a sweat. Even he was still panting from the mad rush.

    "What are you talking about? You¡¯ll cryter, Quy and Yurial need our help."

    She pointed at the two youths,ying on their beds. Their uniforms were torn up in multiple spots, showing the signs of a lost fight. Their skin was deadly pale, their breath was short and shallow.

    "Those idiots actually ran to get to the house, almost getting killed. They should have Blinked, just like us!" At those words, Lith and Phloria became beet red from embarrassment. In the heat of the moment, they hadpletely forgotten about the spell, relying by instinct on much cruder methods to escape.

    "I already closed their wounds, but I can¡¯t give them any more life force without endangering myself. They need your help, Lith."

    Lith nodded, chanting the spell and using Invigoration at the same time to check hispanions¡¯ conditions. The situation was more dire than Friya believed. Not only was their life force fading away, but also some kind of toxin was attacking their mana cores.

    Lith was shocked by the discovery, the god of death was supposed to be a fake mage. He neutralized the toxin, extracting it from their bodies before injecting part of his life force. Their breathing immediately became regr, theirplexion healthy.

    Friya was about to ask about the liquid floating over Lith¡¯s hand when someone knocked on the door.

    "Is there any injured here? I¡¯m Professor Vastor, let me in please."

    Professor Vastor was still as round and bald as an egg, his waxed handlebar mustaches were still wless despite the sweat running from his head.

    "Oh gods, not my precious stars!" He rushed to the beds as soon as he recognized his students. Only after performing aplete check up, Vastor sighed in relief, sitting on a bed to catch his breath.

    "Great job removing the toxins, guys. Most people would miss it until it¡¯s toote. Those goddamned undead freaks. Only a madman would create such creatures. Too dangerous and wasteful." Hisments left them speechless, but only for a second.

    "Who cares for their efficiency!" Phloria yelled. "Are Quy and Yurial going to be all right?"

    "What the heck happened?" Friya joined the fray. "Wasn¡¯t the attack supposed to happen only during the anniversary?"

    "Can I keep the toxin?" Lith chimed in, storing half of it in his pocket dimension, just in case. "I would only use it for research purposes. I promise."

    - "I wish I had a body to bash your head right now."¨C Solus scolded him.

    The girls red at him, clearly sharing Solus¡¯s outrage.

    Vastorughed out loud, dissolving the tension.

    "Yes, of course they are all right. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be so calm. As for your other questions, I only have bad news. First, every time the god of death changes his target, heunches probing attacks before the anniversary. Consider today¡¯s invasion as a rehearsal.

    Otherwise we wouldn¡¯t have moved so far in advance. I wonder how he managed to find us that quickly."

    "That was just probing?" Phloria felt weak in the knees.

    Vastor nodded.

    "Well, yeah. Those are hardly greater undead. No magical powers, limited intelligence, no strategy at all. They simply swarmed the camp to test our defenses and reaction time. As for you, mister Lith, my answer is a no.

    "One hundred points for extracting the toxin in such an unaltered state. The alchemists will wet themselves in excitement when they see it." Vastor¡¯s eyes shined like a kid unwrapping his Christmas present while storing the toxin in an alchemic vial.

    "It was a group effort." Lith said, hoping to quench the three girls¡¯ anger.

    - "Nice try, Scrooge. I don¡¯t buy it." Solus pouted. ¨C

    "Then one hundred points to each of you." Vastor said, too happy to even bother to remember that Phloria wasn¡¯t part of the Healer specialization.

    Phloria and Friya smiled, apanying the Professor to the door. One could never get enough points.

    - "Two out of three is still a good result." Lith thought. ¨C

    "Jerk!" They said to Lith in unison as soon as the door was closed.

    "Girls, the rooms aren¡¯t soundproof for security reasons. Wait for me to get away before beating him." Vastor yelled.

    - "Or not."¨C

 Chapter 213 What Goes Around Comes Around

    Griffon Kingdom, Royal Pce. After the attack.

    King Meron had sought an audience with Tyris for weeks, but her private chambers had always remained sealed. After returning from the Blood Desert, she had been too busy dismantling the secretb first and checking the records about who had studied Arthan¡¯s Madnesster to bother with his yearly worries.

    Finding clues about the identity of the mastermind behind the Abominations was her priority, especially since the Council had washed their hands of the matter. She only yielded because of his unrelenting pestering of her 24/7.

    King Meron couldn¡¯t help but think about Count Lark and how he must have felt after being rejected over and over by the Court just a few months prior.

    Tyris¡¯s throne room was a perfect replica of the one the Royal family used during social events, except for the fact that every piece of furniture was made of stone. Even the throne itself was no exception.

    Carpets, tapestries, even the ceremonial armors along the hallway seemed to have been carved down to the finest detail. More than once, the King had wondered if there was a secret behind the second throne room and which one of them was sitting on the real throne.

    "First Queen, forgive my insistence, but I bring dire news." Meron knelt on the ground even though he knew that formalities were meaningless to her. Yet in his desperation, he wasn¡¯t willing to leave a single stone unturned.

    "Let me guess, someone has died today." She snorted without stopping to look at the archives.

    "The god of death..." A furious nce from Tyris stopped him.

    "There are no gods. I know that all too well. Use his real name instead of that pompous title." The First Queen hated how easily men handed out godhood. The Great Mother, as humans and beasts alike referred to the¡¯s will, was the closest thing to a god she had ever met.

    At the same time, it was the most indifferent and uncaring being she had ever interacted with, only thinking about the bigger picture and ignoring the single individuals, even the Guardians, unless they served to its purpose.

    "This evening, Ilyum Balkor has attacked all the six great academies at once. Thank the g..." Another re made Meron curse at his own stupid tongue.

    "Thank heavens the number of casualties is low, at least for those that followed Linjos¡¯s protocol. The Earth and Crystal Griffon didn¡¯t though. Almost all the Professors died during the attack."

    "Why should I care?" Tyris snorted, making the room tremble.

    "I told you royal idiots centuries ago to follow Leegaain¡¯s advice and reform the nobility and academy system, but it was never the right time. Famine, internal strife, the royal baby. Any excuse was good to postpone your duties.

    You and your ancestors have made your bed, now lie in it."

    "Your Majesty, your subjects, innocent kids at that, are dying at the hand of a madman! You must do something!" He stood up, hurt by her indifference and most of all, by the truth behind her words.

    "A madman? What if it was your family to have died for a practical joke? What if everything and everyone you loved had been defiled, gutted and left to be burned alive? What would have you done in his shoes?"

    Her eyes were reduced to two fiery slits brimming with mana.

    Meron didn¡¯t reply. The only way not to prove her point was lying, but she would notice, making his effort useless.

    "Please, think of the children. They are innocent!" He yed hisst card.

    "Innocent? Rotten apples from rotten trees. Wasn¡¯t Balkor a child too? What about all those that died that day and keep dying up to date because nobles value their status more than human life?

    "My answer is still no. I will not solve the problems that you created by ignoring my advice. Otherwise I might as well take back the throne and do your job for you. By letting so many monstrous acts slide, you have created a monster.

    Think about it, the next time someone asks for a royal pardon."

    Before King Meron could reply, he found himself back in his bedroom. His sudden appearance almost made Sylpha stab him out of surprise.

    "The first day has yet to pass and so many died already." King Meron sobbed, seekingfort in his wife¡¯s embrace.

    "We are alone. Our goddess has forsaken us."

    ***

    Lith spent an awkward supper. All of hispanions were having a hard time letting his blunder slide.

    "Thanks for saving my life, man. Yet I would have appreciated more concern for my well-being and less for academic research." Yurial sighed, knowing it was like talking to a wall.

    "You guys are blowing this story out of proportions. I wasn¡¯t concerned because there was no need to. I¡¯m the best diagnostician I know, besides Manohar. I had triple checked you two from head to toe and removed every single drop of poison.

    What was I supposed to be worried about? The softness of your pillows?"

    Being scolded by his friends didn¡¯t bother him as much as Solus¡¯s mind pouting did. She was supposed to be on his side, not theirs.

    "Believe me, no one appreciates your professionalism as much as I do, but if you don¡¯t want to end up like Manohar, you must learn to shut up from time to time." Phloria kept ying with her food. The near death experience had made her lose her appetite.

    "Phloria, do you realize we are at war?" Lith stared intently at her.

    "That poison could save our lives in the future, I had to try to butter up Vastor while I still had the chance. Now everything is lost. Sorry if I prioritize keeping you guys alive rather than coddle your feelings." He snarled loud enough for everyone to hear.

    They looked at him, realizing that maybe Lith was a jerk, but a jerk with a damn good reason.

    "You really sound like mother." His words reminded Quy of the creepy lesson Lady Ernas had imparted her before leaving. About how and where to strike humans and beast alike to inflict the maximum pain.

    "Your bedside manners are terrible, but thanks for saving my life."

    "Thank Friya instead. She almost fainted to keep you two alive until our arrival."

    "Thanks, Friya. You are the best sister I could hope for." Quy embraced Friya, relieving the cold grip she always felt clenching her soul and making Phloria¡¯s gut twist in a knot at the same time.

    She still couldn¡¯t forgive herself for forgetting about Friya when they were still in the mine. She felt like the worst sister ever.

    The mood in the makeshift canteen was gloomy. A few students that had ignored Linjos¡¯s orders and got out of the town had died during the attack. Many others had been gravely injured and because the poison hadn¡¯t been promptly cleansed, their lives were hanging on a thread.

    A sudden wail followed by sobbinging from the infirmary told them that another one didn¡¯t make it. A small boy ran from the field hospital, hugging M¡¯Rook and hiding his face into the thick fur.

    The Ry let the kid be, gently stroking his head with his muzzle.

    - "Poor kid. His friend must have sumbed to the poison." Solus said.

    "Yeah. Something that damages the mana core is unheard of since we faced those parasites. Now you understand why we need a sample of that poison? We cannot trust anyone for our survival." Lith was still angry at her.

    "Did you really have to bargain over your friends¡¯ still recovering bodies? Why didn¡¯t you store all the poison instead of half if it¡¯s so important?"

    Solus knew he was right, but she didn¡¯t want for Lith to keep trampling the feelings of hispanions without even a tinge of remorse.

    "Because Vastor knows of the gue and the role I yed in it. Because by giving him that half, I once again proved my value and showed my alleged loyalty to the Kingdom. It will earn me merits and points. As simple as that."¨C

    Solus sighed.

    - "In times of peace, I would be right. Right now, we are at war with death itself though. My mindset is a liability. I hope that Phloria manages to help Lith keep his humanity. It¡¯s in moments like this that I feel he is slipping away."¨C

    Unlike the others, Lith wasn¡¯t scared. On the contrary, he was very calm. In his mind, the other students were just tools. He nned to use them to raise his status or as sacrificial pawns. He only cared for those at his table.

    Some of his ns creeped Solus out.

    "Long time no see, Scourge." Ka appeared beside them, making the group flinch.

    "You have changed a lot from ourst encounter, Ka." Lith replied without stopping to eat.

    "Yes, and so have you. When this is over, we have much to talk about."

    Ka disappeared after fusing with the shadow of their table, leaving Lith eager for a new lesson about true Necromancy.

    "Scourge?" Yurial asked.

    "Yeah, it¡¯s a long story." Lith sighed, suddenly not so happy anymore. He hated being forced to share bits of his past.

    After returning to their room, Lith told them about his first encounter with Ka and how magical beasts had named him "Scourge". He told them only the truth, but omitted all the parts about true magic and learning Necromancy from the Byk before her evolution.

    "Why have you never told us magical beasts can talk?" Phloria felt a little hurt by hisck of trust.

    "Because they trusted me not to." He replied.

    "Also, because you wouldn¡¯t have believed me. Unlike Phird, usually they are very careful about who they talk to. They probably would have kept silent, if not for the emergency." The memory of the Kroxy made them shudder.

    Everyone was dead tired, so they decided to go to sleep early. They needed all of their strength for the attack that woulde the following day.

    Everyone was bbergasted at Lith¡¯s pajamas.

    "Are you really going to sleep with your uniform on?" Because of the mixed amodation, Yurial had brought a thick nightgown.

    "It¡¯s more practical this way. If anything happens, I don¡¯t have to waste time changing. Also, thanks to its magic, the uniform is always spotless, so why not?"

    "You really are like my dad." Phloriaughed. "Every time hees back from the battlefield, mom alwaysins about how hard it is to make him sleep without his uniform on and the sword on the bedside."

    After everyone had their turn mocking Lith for his paranoia, they turned off the lights. Lith had waited all day for that moment.

    He took the shotel out of the pocket dimension, using Invigoration to start collecting data about its pseudo core and how the mana crystals interacted with the spell matrix structure.

    He had just started taking notes, after testing and probing the internal structure, when Solus warned him.

    - "Watch out! Someone is getting up."¨C Cursing his bad luck, Lith put everything back in the pocket dimension, pretending to be asleep. There was almost no light in the room, but he was still able to see.

    - "False rm. Quy went to Friya¡¯s bed. Probably she is too scared to sleep alone tonight."¨C Lith was still sighing in relief when everything went crazy.

    Someone was pulling the nkets, cuddling up to him.

    "Make a little room for me, jerk." Phloria¡¯s whisper sounded like thunder to his ears. He quickly used Hush to prevent the others from noticing what was happening.

    "Are you crazy? What do you think you are doing?" Keeping his hands under control was a mammoth task. He couldn¡¯t stop his mind from picturing her naked body that, for some reason, he had never managed to forget.

    "Don¡¯t worry. I used all the spells you taught me to move unnoticed. It happened during the mock exam. Do you remember it?" Her hands caressed his hair, causing his hand to tremble and hisher regions to go into an uproar.

    "Of course I do, but I don¡¯t think you should be here." He kept whispering despite both of them knowing of the Hush spell.

    "Then when would be the right moment? So many people died today. Quy and Yurial barely escaped death. What if I die tomorrow?"

    Solus was so envious of Phloria. Even if she had a body, she would never be so decisive.

    Phloria¡¯s words made sense, so Lith embraced her while trying to kiss her, finding two unexpected surprises.

    "After mocking me for it, are you wearing your uniform too?" He said with her hand pressing against his mouth.

    "Your reasoning was wless. Also, what did you expect? That I would jump on you in my birthday suit? You really have a perverted mind." Lith didn¡¯t reply, stopping his attempts for intimacy.

    "Sorry, but no kisses. I don¡¯t know if I would be able to hold myself back if we start." She blushed violently, searching for his embrace again.

    "I¡¯m not ready for that. I just want to sleep beside you, not with you. Is it fine with you?" The sweet scent of her hair was driving him insane.

    "No problem." He lied through his teeth, counting backward from one hundred while reminding himself of their age gap.

    Contrary to his expectations, Phloria fell asleep almost instantly. Hours passed, Lith had constantly to keep himself in check while whining for all the lost time. There was no way he could study Orion¡¯s sword in that situation.

    Then, a loud explosion shook the house to its foundations. Inhuman and human screams filled the air. Everyone got up in a rush, something was wing through the walls and the ceiling at the same time.

 Chapter 214 Hidden Agenda

    Something was swarming the house from all directions, making it tremble like during an earthquake.

    "They are disrupting the dimensional spell that keeps the house together!" Quy yelled, running along with Friya to the bathroom to change their clothes.

    "If it keeps like this, the ce will either implode or explode. We need to get out of here and fast!"

    "Ready when you are!" Phloria, like Lith, only had to take out her shoes from the dimensional amulet to be ready for action.

    "I really hate being the fifth wheel!" Yurial rushed to the other bathroom, cursing his own bad luck. He knew that Friya and Quy weren¡¯t romantically involved, but after seeing Lith and Phloria sleeping together, he would have paid his weight in gold to switch ces with Quy.

    His blood was boiling to the point that he craved to kill some undead, just to blow off some steam.

    - "Every time Phloria makes a move on me, something happens. If it wasn¡¯t for Balkor being on a schedule, I¡¯d say the universe is c*ckblocking me!"¨C Lith thought, checking the outside hallway.

    It was full of students. Some were panicking so much, they were running around while still wearing nightgowns.

    Themunication amulets came back to life once again.

    "To all students, we are under attack. Return to your rooms immediately. If the necessity arises, a Warp Step will lead you to safety. Please, be ready to defend yourselves. To all students..."

    Linjos¡¯s hologram was the wake-up call they needed. They all went back to their rooms, dressing up as fast as possible.

    When the tremors intensified, a Warp Steps appeared in the middle of the room as promised, leading them to the Town za. The moon was still high and the sky was clear, allowing them to witness the horror unfolding around them.

    The ck creatures were back, but this time their numbers were beyond calction. Thanks to his heightened sense, Lith could see that they were not the same as thest time. They had a lipless mouth, filled with multiple rows of fang-like teeth and a single red eye shining in the middle of the forehead.

    The mystical bindings were still restricting them, but they were simply too manypared to the defenders. Each beast and Professor would kill dozens of undead and hold back twice as much, yet many still managed to bypass them.

    They were getting closer to the students by the second.

    "F*ck waiting!" Phird the Kroxy yelled in outrage.

    "You hatchlings wait here and prepare to fight. I¡¯ll try to slow them down as long as I can."

    Those present were panicking to the point that even a humanoid alligator 2.5 meters (8¡¯2") high had managed to go unnoticed. Phird took his axes and charged forward. His fighting style was crude but effective.

    Each swing of his weapons would cleave several creatures in half at the same time. Those that managed to regenerate would have their head bitten off and gulped down. After that, the corpses would quickly fade away.

    "Man, you taste like sh*t, but I had worse and lived to tell the tale!" The Kroxyughed merrily while ughtering everything that dared toe close to him.

    Even when he missed a target, his weapons would make spikes of earth or ice erupt from the ground, impaling those that had managed to dodge, making them easy marks for the following attacks.

    Lith didn¡¯t like that situation at all. Linjos had clearly ced all the students at the center of the arrays to better protect them, but at the same time, if the enemy managed to get past all the defensive lines, they would be trapped without a way out.

    - "Something isn¡¯t right. Solus, can you spot where Scarlett, Ryman, and Ka are? Why are they not taking part in the battle? They are supposed to be our heavy artillery." Lith thought.

    "Sorry, I can¡¯t. Either they are hiding or they are too far away." Solus replied. ¨C

    Countless creatures kept swarming out of the forest surrounding the mining town. Lith noticed Colonel Varegrave standing on a roof with Captain Kilian right next to him. When they finished chanting, several dozen fireballs with a radius of ten meters (33 feet) rained from the sky like falling stars.

    Each of them produced a loud explosion, turning the army of creatures into chunks of meat and ck gas. When the smoke from the explosions dissipated, a new wave of undead entered the array.

    "How are we supposed to fight against so many of them? Where is the Scorpicore? Where is Linjos?" Varegrave yelled in desperation.

    ***

    Scarlett, Linjos, and the most powerful individuals of both the forest and the academy were watching the fight from a distance. Linjos and Scarlett were deep in a coded conversation that made sense only to the two of them.

    "Why are we still here?" Protector growled. "The cubs need us!"

    "Patience, Protector." Scarlett¡¯s tone was calm and confident.

    "If we rush in, we would just follow the enemy¡¯s script. Remember that this is still the first day. What do you think of the enemy¡¯s n?"

    "What n? He is trying to beat us with sheer numbers. Those creatures are mindless!" Protector snarled.

    "My point exactly." Scarlett nodded. "They would make a great vanguard to exhaust us before the final attack, yet he is sending them out now. Our enemy is supposed to be a genius, yet his n is apparently idiotic."

    "Scarlett is right." Linjos chimed in, seeing that most of the Professors didn¡¯t seem to trust the Scorpicore¡¯s wisdom.

    "If Balkor keeps his cards hidden, we must do the same. At least until we understand his endgame." None liked the idea of using the students as bait, but it was the only option they had to force the god of death to reveal his hand.

    ***

    Watching the battle unfolding in front of his eyes, Lith felt helpless. He had a very limited number of options. Joining the fight would be hisst resort. Because of the witnesses, he couldn¡¯t go all out.

    Even if he did, the enemies were just too many. The second option was to provide cover fire for his allies. Thest one was running away.

    "F*ck Linjos!" He yelled making the group huddle up.

    "We need a contingency n. Friya, you are the best dimensional mage among us. How far can you Warp us away?"

    Friya pondered for a while before answering.

    "I could get us back to the academy, but it¡¯s too risky. There is a zone of the forest I¡¯m the most familiar with since I spent most of my mock exam there. It¡¯s about ten kilometers from here. Is it okay?"

    "It¡¯s perfect. Remember to close the portal right behind us."

    "What about the others?" Quy shuddered at the idea of leaving their juniors behind.

    "First, Friya can¡¯t hold it that long. Second, what¡¯s the point of that? The creatures would follow us and the battle would just change location. I¡¯m talking about saving our lives, not ying heroes."

    Lith¡¯s tone was harsh like he was scolding a pampered child.

    No one made further objections, but the mood became even more gloomy.

    - "Solus, there¡¯s something wrong with Balkor¡¯s n. I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a catch."¨C

    Lith took out his staff from his dimensional pocket, unleashing a barrage of ice shards that once they hit a target, they would expand locking it into ce. Once paralyzed, the undead were easily dispatched by the beasts or the Professors fighting in the front line.

    It was just a way of stalling for time, but it allowed him to notice that something was wrong.

    Every time he cast the spell, more and more ice shards would miss their target.

    "What the heck?" Lith blurted, a crazy idea was taking form in his mind.

    Suddenly, he dashed outside the Town square, going shoulder to shoulder with Phird.

    "What are you doing here? This is no ce for hatchlings!" The Kroxy was panting heavily, his body covered in injuries. The creatures were capable of spitting a toxic substance that was seeping through his wounds, slowly sapping his strength.

    To make things worse, they were also capable of storing andpressing their life force in the forehead, shooting it out like aser. Doing it made them weaker and shortened their lifespan, but with each strike, their enemy was more and more debilitated. Soon a new wave of undead woulde and Phird would be too weak to stop them.

    The creatures had no survival instinct, they were just obeying a single order: kill.

    "For conquest!" Lith heard one of the creatures say right before jumping on Phird and self-detonating, using thest of its darkness magic to cripple the enemy.

    "For revenge!" Another said, shooting a beam of darkness magic before turning to smoke.

    "For Balkor!" The undead chanted together before rushing in for the finishing strike.

    Lith touched Phird, removing the toxin while healing his wounds and filling him with life force at the same time. He could give him only two Invigoration breaths worth of energy, but it was all that it needed.

    "I take back everything I said, but now take cover!" Between the arrays weakening them and the Kroxy¡¯s renewed strength, the undead were no match for him again. Lith kept close to him, using air magic to deflect the toxic spits and earth magic to shield Phird from the darkness rays from time to time.

    His real aim was studying the fight up close.

    Meanwhile, the rest of his group was worried to death. Friya could use force to prevent Quy from helping Lith, but Yurial could only talk Phloria out of it. She was way taller and stronger than him. If he ticked her off, Phloria was likely to send him flying.

    "If he needs our help, he¡¯ll ask for it." Yurial tried to block her line of sight to the battlefield with his body.

    "If you go out there, you¡¯ll only be a burden to him."

    "Are you saying I should just stay here like a damsel in distress?" She roared.

    "We all are. In distress, I mean. Not damsels." Yurial shrugged. "Worst case scenario, Lith will Blink here and Friya will take us away."

    Phloria snorted. Suddenly death wasn¡¯t so scary anymore.

    - "What meaning can life possibly have if I have to spend it alone? I can¡¯t back off every time I¡¯m not sure of winning. Not when that crazy head is fighting for us all."¨C

    Lith was actually fighting for himself. With the contingency n already in motion, he was certain to be able to leave anytime he wanted. The god of death was the strongest fake mage he had ever met.

    Even by fighting his proxies, Lith had already learned a lot about Necromancy¡¯s true potential and was now eager to see if his idea about Balkor¡¯s n was correct.

    Phloria¡¯s feelings were clouding her judgment, but at the same time, they were helping her to realize that the only thing she had to fear was fear itself. Yurial noticed her inner conflict, so he yed hisst card.

    "Look, sometimes the most difficult thing to do is doing nothing. We are just children caught up in a war we didn¡¯t even know about, while Lith is... Lith. If you remain here and something bad happens, you can Blink in and out and take him to safety.

    If you go there, well, we¡¯ll have to save both of you before getting out of here." Phloria nodded, moving her hand away from the hilt of her sword while flexing her fingers. She had to be ready to step in.

    ***

    "By the Great Mother." Scarlett blurted out after finally uncovering thest piece of the puzzle. She quickly exined everything to those present, leaving them in awe.

    "This god of death is too dangerous." Protector said. "We need to end this battle fast!"

    "My thought exactly." Scarlett nodded. "We must resolve everything before he can suspect that we are aware of his endgame."

    "How do you n to do it exactly?" Linjos asked. "I mean without revealing our hand."

    "It¡¯s actually quite simple." Scarlett grinned. "Balkor is not the only one that can think outside of the box."

    ***

    Meanwhile, Lith needed only a final test to prove his theory. He asked Phird to let through one undead at a time and the Kroxy delivered. Lith used one of the basic forms Phloria had taught him, easily killing the enemy with a few strikes.

    He used the same form, again and again, noticing how the next one would manage to dodge his strikes and ignore his feints, gaining the upper hand until he added a new set of movements.

    "Son of a b*tch!" He yelled after destroying the tenth undead in a row. He pretended to use one of his rings, cutting it to pieces with air magic before bombarding it with darkness magic from his free hand.

    "Phird, stop! There¡¯s something you need to know!"

    ***

    "Oh gods no!" Scarlett¡¯s enhanced hearing had allowed her to listen to Lith swearing, moving her surveince mirror just in time to see the results of histest experiment.

    "Ka, go! Before the cub ruins everything!"

    Ka nodded, disappearing in the shadows.

    "I told you that Scourge was not to be underestimated." Her voice faded away along with her body.

    "What scourge is she talking about? The undead?" Linjos had been talking with the Professors, so he was unaware of thetest events.

    "Wish I knew the answer." Scarlett replied, pondering about what Lith¡¯s real nature could possibly be.

 Chapter 215 Hidden Agenda 2

    Ka¡¯s arrival was loud like thunder and fast like lightning.

    "Rise my legions!" Amand from her voice and two taps on the ground was all that it took for the undead army buried under the mining town to awake and fight for their master.

    The bulk of her force was made up of Skeletal Knights, a ss of undead that was not only physically superior to normal skeletons, but also could be imparted skills and techniques their maker was capable of executing.

    Their strongest point was the ability to wield and use equipment properly. The academy had provided a huge number of enchanted weapons and armors, making them a force to be reckoned with.

    Ka¡¯s elite forces were the Wights, ck hooded figures molded out of darkness magic and hatred. They would either fly or float mid air. Aside from their hands and heads, they had no body. Whatever they touched, it would wither and die.

    Because of the unforgiving nature of the arrays, Ka¡¯s thralls were weakened as well while under the mystical dome.

    Both armies were fearless and unrelenting, but only one was backed by its own master. While Balkor¡¯s troops grew weaker with every passing second, Ka¡¯s army was constantly fueled with new energy thanks to her constant use of Invigoration.

    Every time one of her soldiers fell, she would simply raise it again after fixing the damage it had sustained.

    Her mastery of Necromancy also allowed her to possess the bodies of her undead, making them use darkness magic like she was among them. Balkor¡¯s minions were designed to fight humans, hence they were ineffective against other undead who weren¡¯t affected by their aura of fear, the toxic spit, or the venom in their ws.

    The battle ended as quickly as it had begun, with a one sided ughter. Scarlett¡¯s n had been aplete sess. There had been no casualties. Only a few among the beasts and the soldiers had been injured, but they were promptly cured and brought back to their peak condition.

    Ka threw Lith a very meaningful nce, freezing him on the spot.

    - "What a dirty son of a gun!" Lith thought, realizing the blunder he had almost made.

    "Not only his creatures share a hive mind, learning about all of our tactics and security measures each time they force us to employ a new one, but they all also act as Balkor¡¯s eyes and ears!" -

    ***

    Blood Desert, Balkor¡¯s secretb

    "What in the Great Mother¡¯s name has just happened?" Ilyum Balkor couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    "That bear-thing seems to be a Necromancer too, but none of its work makes sense. Only greater undead can use magic, yet its creatures defied such basic principle time and time again. Also, how could it possibly raise so many corpses at once?

    It takes me a whole year to prepare this many troops, not to mention I need to put them into stasis to prevent them from burning out of energy. Things couldn¡¯t get any worse!"

    Balkor Warped out of theb, inwardly listing all the setbacks he had met so far.

    First, there were those arrays that limited the strength of his troops, but that was a secondary issue. He had long learned how to adjust his thralls¡¯ defenses to ignore most of those annoying Warden formations.

    Second, he had never taken into ount that magical beasts could meddle in human squabbles. There was only a limited number of modifications he could apply to his creatures between each attack. Now he was forced to split his focus into three.

    Anti human undead were easy prey for a magical beast and sitting ducks against other undead. Last, but not least, the battle had ended before he could collect any data about his opponents¡¯ real capabilities.

    They had won relying on basic military strategies and on the hidden undead army, not letting him catch even a glimpse of the White Griffon¡¯s Archmages¡¯ strongest spells. The secret of Balkor¡¯s sess had always been his meticulous preparation and data collection, but this time he hade back empty handed.

    Walking back to his home in the Forgotten Plume tribe, he couldn¡¯t help but smile seeing his kids running towards him with their little arms spread in the air.

    "Dad, dad! Where have you been?" Cyrl wanted his father to hold him and Balkor was happy toply.

    "I was paying my respects to your grandparents, but now I¡¯m all yours. Let¡¯s see what mom has prepared for dinner." He walked inside his tent, holding the child in his arms.

    Ilyum Balkor had many things to be happy about. After the first raid, the students of the Crystal and Earth Griffon had fled, leaving the academies empty. Balkor had an easy time butchering the remaining defense forces and destroying the power cores with minimal losses.

    Two out of the six great academies were now just a bunch of stones, unable to nurture mages anymore. The remaining academies were proving to be a tough cookie, but he still had two days toplete his life¡¯s work.

    Capturing and studying Abominations had been a mammoth task. Fusing part of them with his undead had proved to be even more difficult. Balkor wasn¡¯t new to pain and was more than willing to make some personal sacrifices.

    Controlling all those undead at once, spying on his enemies¡¯ every move, using so many Warping arrays to move his troops, was too much for a single man.

    Each attack took away years of Balkor¡¯s life span, but he didn¡¯t care. His job was almost done. After that, he would forget about the ursed Griffon Kingdom and spend the time he had left watching his children grow.

    ***

    After the end of the battle, all the students rejoiced together, chanting Ka¡¯s name like it was a good luck charm. At that moment, no one cared about her being a Wraith-like monster, nor about her army being quite simr to the enemy one.

    For a few hours, nobles andmoners alike loved her like a hero, setting aside differences concerning social status, humans, or beasts. The only thing that mattered was being alive and well.

    The students returned to their apartments, discovering that while some houses had been heavily damaged, they were already self repairing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    The damage sustained hadn¡¯tpromised the structural integrity of the houses nor of the dimensional magic, allowing everyone to go back to the safety of their rooms. The night was still very young, only an hour had passed since the start of the attack.

    Lith¡¯s group had tried more than once to question him about what he was going to yell earlier, but he refused to speak until they arrived at their destination.

    - "Solus, it¡¯s impossible for Balkor to hear us while we are in here, right?" Lith asked.

    "Based on what we know about dimensional magic, I¡¯d say yes.

    Even if you are right and every undead thrall is a recording device, we are alone now. This room is enveloped in the dimensional and the protective enchantments. It¡¯s like being in a parallel dimension."

    "My thought exactly." ¨C

    Lith chanted the Hush spell anyway, just to be safe. He and Solus could still be wrong, but even if that wasn¡¯t the case, he didn¡¯t trust anyone outside the room. Not after how Ka had looked at him.

    Lith sighed, taking away his shoes and lying on his bed while trying to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. He was searching for the right words to make the others understand his intuition without freaking out. At least not too much.

    He was still thinking about it, drumming with his fingers on the nearby wall, when Phloria coddled up to him, drawing the gazes of all those present.

    "What are you staring at?" She rebuked them. "You already saw that I was sleeping beside him, there¡¯s no reason to wait for the lights to be turned off again. I want to spend all the time that I can with my boyfriend, whether you like it or not."

    - "I guess I am not going to study my shotel anytime soon."¨C Lith sighed again, while his hand moved like it had a life of its own, caressing Phloria¡¯s back and hair. She snuggled even tighter to him, emitting a purring sound of delight.

    "So, what¡¯s all this secrecy about?" Yurial was having a hard time taking the edge off of his voice. He had never felt so envious and alone in his whole life.

    Lith exined to them how he was certain that Balkor¡¯s so called ¡¯lesser undead¡¯ weren¡¯t mindless creatures. Each of them was part of a hive mind that had collected data about all the spells and techniques used during both assaults.

    "I also noticed that this time the array was less effective. The creatures were still very nimble and strong despite being so close to the town square.

    "My hypothesis is that during the third attack, the array will be mostly useless and that when Balkor will use his real ace in the hole, his undead will have the collective memories of all the previous attacks, making most of our strategies obsolete."

    "Good gods! How did you notice that?" Not even such a frightening piece of news managed to stop Friya from staring at Phloria in envy. Not because of Lith. Unlike the others, she still had a hard time epting his switch-like personality.

    One second he was a caring friend, the next one he turned into a murdering machine.

    The jury was still out on which one was his real face. The reason for her envy was that she had never been that close to anyone. After so many near death experiences, she was starting to long for someone she could blindly trust, just like Phloria did.

    "Because I suck as a swordsman and Ipletely fell for Balkor¡¯s ¡¯mindless creatures¡¯ charade." Lith exined.

    "Even during my first sh with the undead, I noticed that hitting them became harder with each one I killed. I didn¡¯t think much of it until tonight when they started to dodge my ice shards simply because I was too conceited to bother changing their pattern."

    "So?" Quy soldiered up without averting her gaze, despite being reduced to a lump of envy and hindsight about herck of decisiveness.

    "So, while people like Phloria, Friya, or Phird are so good with their weapons that the skill gap between them and the lesser undead is insurmountable, I suck so bad at it that I could notice it closing every time I used one of the few forms I know."

    "Where does that leave us?" Phloria mumbled with a sleepy voice that was in heavy contrast with the mood of the room. During thest attack, she had truly feared of she might lose Lith for good, so she was determined to make her move once the others went to sleep.

    Yet everyone could soon hear a soft snoringing from her.

    "In a very rough patch." Lith replied to the sleeping Phloria, casting Hush on her ears to prevent her from waking up because of the conversation.

    "We have only two options: one, Linjos and Scarlett have a very good n that will save us all with a minimum contribution on our side. Two, we run away as soon as option one turns out to be wishful thinking.

    "There are very few things I¡¯m not confident to be able to kill, but sadly a whole army of lesser undead or a few greater ones crafted by a mad genius are among them."

    The room¡¯s upants sighed in unison. They had hoped for another one of Lith¡¯s miracles, but it seemed he was out of stock. They decided to go back to bed to catch some sleep before the next attack.

    The following morning, despite being the only one that had slept like a log until the breakfast call, Phloria was in a bad mood.

    - "I can¡¯t believe I missed my chance like that. Now I have to wait until after the next attack to get him in the right mood. I can¡¯t jump on Lith in the middle of the day like any Yurial would."¨C She thought.

    Suddenly, themunication amulets lit up in unison, projecting Linjos¡¯s image.

    "Good morning, dear students. Today¡¯s activities will take ce just like yesterday, with only one difference. We cannot risk another surprise attack, so I instruct you to go back to your housing after the afternoon call, while the sun is still high.

    Please, do not go out of town as your fallenpanions did. I already lost enough students."

    After the Headmaster¡¯s hologram disappeared, the dining room resounded with: "Morons!". The students were growing closer to each other and now had a hard time believing that the day before, so many had thrown away their lives just to spite Linjos¡¯s orders.

    Lith, Phloria, and Friya were going back to the mine when Ka approached them.

    "I¡¯m sorry Scourge, but there is little time left. We need to talk. Now."

 Chapter 216 Tough Lessons

    Without waiting for a reply, Ka Warped Lith to Scarlett¡¯s headquarters. It was located in a secret building underground the mining town, kept out of phase with the outside world thanks to dimensional magic.

    "I¡¯m sorry for the rush, but there are many things I have to exin to you and a favor to ask." Ka exined.

    "What are you talking about?" Lith replied, being still a bit shocked by the sudden turn of events.

    "I know from your smell that you have be a Necromancer too. Also, I learned from Protector about the changes you experienced. I have yet topletely master higher Necromancy, but my teachings could still benefit you greatly, at least to avoid repeating my mistakes.

    "Poweres with a price and responsibilities, though. Are you willing to pay it?" She stared at him, waiting for a reply.

    "What do you mean?"

    "After yesterday¡¯s attack, I¡¯m pretty sure that this Balkor guy will make me his primary target. My skills are the perfect counter to his own and now he is aware of my existence. I trust Scarlett, her strategy is sound.

    Yet I want a contingency n, in case something happens to me. I want you to teach to my children in my stead. I¡¯m entrusting to you the core of my knowledge for it to be passed down to them."

    "Do you mean Nok?" Lith still couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of her request.

    "I have more than one, but yes. I¡¯m worried about Nok too."

    "Sure, okay. I like that furball and teaching one or two of them makes no difference." Lith was d to ept her deal. He couldn¡¯t even imagine a fake mage defeating an Awakened one as strong as Ka. There was little he wouldn¡¯t do for power and knowledge, helping the young Byk was nothing to him.

    "First, I have captured and experimented on the thralls of the ¡¯god of death¡¯...¡¯" Judging by her sneer, Ka seemed to find the moniker quite hrious.

    "...and discovered a great w in his creations. A w that proves he is a fake mage, not one of us." By waving her paw, she opened a dimensional vortex, conjuring one of Balkor¡¯s undead between them.

    It waspletely bound and blinded like a pig ready to be roasted.

    "Unlike true mages that mix light and darkness magic when they raise undead, fake mages need a mark to control them." Ka touched the undead, making several runes made of light appear on its forehead.

    "Yes." Lith nodded.

    "Have you ever tried to add your mark on a creature that already bears one?"

    "No." Lith cursed at his own stupidity for not having thought of it by himself.

    "Try it. Either the fake spell or the one I taught you. Both work just fine."

    Lith did as instructed, using the fake spell to check such knowledge could be useful also to Tista and the other non Awakened. As soon as the second mark appeared, Ka let go of the creature which started to shiver uncontrobly until it turned into smoke.

    "Undead created with human magic can bear more than one mark. That makes them unable to attack both the new and the old master. Since their nature is to blindly serve, the inner conflict kills them." Ka exined.

    "Does it work on greater undead too?" Lith¡¯s eyes shined with hope. Maybe he had found a way out in case Balkor¡¯s creatures managed to reach him.

    "Sadly, no. This applies only on creatures without an ego. A greater undead can use its will to refuse the second mark, sorry." Ka shook her head.

    "Don¡¯t underestimate this knowledge just because you are strong. Imagine if you were weak, alone, against one of those creatures. Do you realize you would stille out victorious? There¡¯s no need to destroy them with sword or magic, just a single spell."

    Lith pondered about her words, recognizing their truth.

    "Now I will teach you how to create a greater undead."

    "What?" He couldn¡¯t believe his ears. He could solve Solus¡¯s problem and his own in one fell swoop.

    "Scarlett told me about the friend you carry in your ring. I¡¯m afraid you will not like what I¡¯m going to tell you. Don¡¯t make the same mistake I did. Never create a greater undead. Please, I beg of you."

    "Then why teach me how to do it?" Ka was not making any sense to him.

    "Because if you don¡¯t know how to create them, you can¡¯t learn how to destroy them if the necessity arises. Knowledge is power. You and I are simr, we never get tired of umting both, but I digress."

    Ka shook her muzzle putting her paws close to Lith.

    "First, you need a corpse. The fresher it is the better. You can even use it on a live subject, but the only difference will be inflicting them an enormous and useless amount of pain.

    Then, you need to infuse darkness magic, as you have already done the first time we met, but as soon as the blood core starts to form you must stop using darkness magic and inject light magic until the bnce is reached."

    Her right paw generated a small sphere of darkness, that became greyer the more light magic the left one infused until the color became uniform.

    "Only then you¡¯ll make the blood core grow using both the elements at the same time until the undeades to life." She held the sphere between both her paws, growing it until it was as big as an apple.

    "That¡¯s it?" Lith was incredulous.

    "Yes, but it¡¯s an incredibly delicate process. One mistake and either you¡¯ll create a crazy beast that needs to be put down or destroy the corpse. It took me several tries before seeding and I spent weeks with greater undead, studying their rituals and cores.

    Do you think you can do any better?"

    Her tone wasn¡¯t angry or sarcastic. Ka reminded him of Elina when she was teaching him how to take care of Tista.

    "Considering that unlike you, I¡¯m not attuned with any element, no." Lith admitted.

    "Do not feel ashamed. Acknowledging your limits is the first step to ovee them." The more Ka talked, the more she reminded him of his mother.

    "As for the why you shouldn¡¯t raise greater undead, you deserve an exnation. During my travels, after I evolved, I met a n of vampires. I stayed with them for a while, learning as much as I could from them about Necromancy and darkness magic.

    "After witnessing how they turn a human into one of their own kind, I decided to replicate the process, just like I have shown you. After several attempts on the corpses of a group of hunters that had been chasing me, I finally seeded.

    "My test subject was a horrible person, a deranged human that only brought misery to others. Only one death wasn¡¯t enough, so I raised it back. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that unlike vampires, when a Necromancer creates a vampire, it¡¯s not the same person it was when it was alive.

    "My hypothesis is that vampires turn living humans into undead, while I raised a corpse. Maybe the soul had already left its shell, or maybe my magic summoned another one with a stronger will to live.

    "Whatever the reason, I immediately understood my mistake. I¡¯m a mother, so when she came back to life, I recognized that feeling. She was na?ve, innocent like a baby, her mind was a nk te,pletely dependent on my life force to survive.

    "Creating a greater undead is like giving birth. It¡¯s a new lifeform entirely,pletely unrted to the corpse¡¯s previous existence. I am bound to her like she is to me. I couldn¡¯t hurt or kill her anymore."

    "What did you do with it?" Lith shrugged.

    "I adopted her. It¡¯s the other child I told you about."

    "What?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "That¡¯s why I advise you not to use that spell and why higher Necromancy will not help your friend. The corpses you would raise will already have a soul of their own, you can¡¯t just create an empty vessel. Nature abhors the void, in all of its forms."

    Lith sighed. Suddenly lesser Necromancy was much more alluring. Mindless thralls were much easier to handlepared to sentient undead that would look at him as a father.

    The idea of nurturing such creatures just to dispose of them like trash was cruel even for him.

    - "I¡¯m so sorry, Solus." Lith thought. I really hoped to give you a body through Necromancy. Ka hasn¡¯t evolved from long, though. She might be wrong, maybe there is a way to give you a physical form. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to try a construct or something?"

    Solus didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry at Lith¡¯s stubbornness.

    "I told you countless times: I already feel like a monster. I have the body of a construct, I feed off your mana like an undead or a construct would. I want to get out of my cage, not exchange it for a new one."

    Seeing that Lith was even more disappointed than she was, Solus embraced his soul with her own. A warm sensation invaded Lith¡¯s being.

    "Stop worrying about me. I¡¯m fine, I really am. You are already giving me so much, sharing your life with me, your joy, sadness, and tears. My tower form is slowly recovering, who knows if sooner orter my wisp form will evolve into something more?

    "If you really want to make me happy, live your life to its fullest. Enjoy what you now have with Phloria. It should be most precious to you because it¡¯spletely unexpected. That girl is rushing a little too much, but she really cares about you. She¡¯s a keeper."¨C

    Lith could agree on the rushing part, but the rest? He had never discussed his love life even with Carl, let alone with another girl. He found most embarrassing that his hormones and loneliness were making him crave for intimacy with Phloria.

    - "I guess that not being with a woman for thirteen year and a few months it¡¯s really taking a toll on me. I even keep counting. Maybe Phloria is right, I do have a perverted mind."¨C

    "Scourge?" Ka called him, noticing he was spacing out.

    "Please continue."

    "Another thing I discovered during my travels, is that greater undead can actually be harmed by light magic, but not in the way that you may think. If used directly, light magic works on them like it would on lesser undead. It would feed their hunger, making them stronger.

    "But if you use it on their blood cores instead, you can temporarily fix the unbnce that is their existence. When a ghoul eats living flesh, a vampire drinks blood, or a Wraith drains life force with its touch, they are all doing the same thing:

    "Consuming the light energy that living being possess to keep their blood cores from copsing. Even if it¡¯s an oversimplification, let¡¯s just say that undeath at its core is a condition where the body bes incapable of producing light magic.

    "Without its counterpart, the darkness magic that¡¯s naturally produced keeps eroding both the core and the body, needing constant transfusions of light magic from an external source to survive."

    "Are you saying that..." Lith¡¯s hopes were almost restored.

    "Yes, I am. If you use light magic on their blood core, they regain most of their emotions, lose their hunger, and can even eat normally for a while, be they beasts or humans.

    "Yet ites with a price. As long as their blood core is bnced, they also lose most of their powers, bing vulnerable and mortal again."

    "Why are you researching this field? It¡¯s almost impossible to direct mana to a core in battle. We need to use Invigoration to find it first and then send the light energy. It¡¯s not like you can ask the enemy to stay still for a minute or two."

    Lith was fascinated by the theoretical implications, but at the moment he found all that chat useless. He desperately needed an edge against Balkor¡¯s creatures if he wanted to survive.

    "Because for some undeath is a blessing, for others it¡¯s a curse. I don¡¯t want my child to live forever in the shadows, hiding from the living like a rabid beast. My goal is to find a way to turn her back to human, giving her a chance to a normal life."

    "Why are you telling me all this?" Lith could understand Ka being grateful to him for saving Nok. He could also appreciate her seeing a kindred spirit in him, but the knowledge and the burden she was imparting him were too much.

    "Because, just like me, you are different from the others. I¡¯m one of the few magical beasts whose evolution borders with undeath, yet you treat me no differently from before, unlike even those of my own kind.

    "I don¡¯t care if you are a human like your friends think, a beast like Protector says, or a new kind of monster like Scarlett fears. You are someone capable of befriending magical beasts without looking down on us, of carrying an unknown life form at your finger and calling her a friend.

    That¡¯s why I trust you to teach and care for my offspring like I would."

 Chapter 217 Valor

    Ka interrupted her lesson briefly, to allow Lith to have lunch and resuming immediately after he had finished. Lith filled several notebooks with his notes, describing all the spells she was teaching him, the feeling it gave when she used them on him or on a test subject, and the differences with his own performance.

    Learning from true magic was both harder and easierpared to fake magic. Lith hadn¡¯t to memorize any magical word, ent, or hand sign, but he needed a deep understanding of the how and why the mana had to flow in a certain way rather than another.

    Ka knew that she couldn¡¯t possibly teach him in a day what she had learned in months during her travels or thanks to Scarlett mentoring her. So she imparted him the most solid foundations she could about her work, hoping he could achieve the same results through study and effort.

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside the headquarters, Scarlett was teaching Protector how to use his newfound powers. Unlike Ka, hecked an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. After evolving, he had been content enjoying his life with Selia, studying magic only during his free time.

    - "Damn, this country bumpkin of a Skoll is like the proverbial frog in the well." Scarlett inwardly cursed. "If after discovering the outside world the frog decided to not give a damn about it, of course. He is by far the weakest of us three, I need to bring him up to speed and fast!"¨C

    Scarlett was dissecting one of Balkor¡¯s thralls they had captured, using her enchanted pince-nez to better understand the structure of the spells that kept the undead together along with its abnormal blood core. She would pass it to Protector from time to time, showing him how to recognize a spell¡¯s keystones.

    "I knew there was something wrong with Balkor the moment Linjos described to me his creations." Scarlett exined.

    "Lesser undead that requires flesh and blood to work, able to regenerate and ignore arrays. None of it made sense. Necromancy doesn¡¯t work like that. Do you see that?" Scarlett pointed to a ck piece of flesh right besides were the blood core was.

    "Yes." Protector replied while wearing the pince-nez. "It smells like an Abomination."

    "Because it is one, or atst a fragment of it. This madman must have found an Abomination naturally resistant to magic, captured it, and integrated its abilities with his thralls.

    "Abominations constantly need life force to survive while undead bear the spark of their maker as a mark. He used his own life force to keep together the blood core and the Abomination¡¯s unique abilities. This is the secret behind their powers and limited life span.

    "As soon as Balkor¡¯s life force runs out, the Abomination fragment goes wild, destroying the undead and making impossible a full examination like the one we are performing right now. Whoever he is, this guy is insane."

    "Don¡¯t you mean a genius?" Protector was barely understanding half of what Scarlett was saying. "Also, why is this thing still intact? Shouldn¡¯t have already self-destructed?"

    "He is definitely insane. He didn¡¯t use light magic, but his own life force. It means that with each undead he makes, his life gets shorter. As for your second question, it should, but Ka¡¯s array slowed down the decay process enough for us to collect all the data we need.

    "The good news is that Balkor isn¡¯t the one I¡¯m looking for. He isn¡¯t looking for immortality, rather he seeks the death of his enemies even if it costs him his own life. The bad news is that now I must add him to my ¡¯to do¡¯ list." Scarlett sighed.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Balkor¡¯s secretb

    Despite what Scarlett thought, Balkor didn¡¯t consider integrating undead and Abominations as his masterpiece. Finding the array resistant creature had just been a fluke. He viewed it as a sign that the heavens sought justice as much as he did.

    What he considered his magnum opus, the only thing that he deeply regretted not being able to share with the rest of the world, was turning magic crystals into memory crystals.

    They allowed his creations to act as one, learn from each other¡¯s experiences, and pass that knowledge to others. With each wave he sent there would be a few undead embedded with a memory crystal, the Controllers, that would keep themselves away from the fight while collecting and sharing the data.

    Without the memory crystals, he would have never managed to give his thralls a hive mind, nor to be so sessful in his endeavor. The first wave had beenposed of Crawlers, whose purpose was testing the defenders¡¯ reaction speed and teamwork.

    He had never expected the Crystal and Earth Griffon¡¯s Headmasters to be so stupid to hole themselves up in a confined space, making the number advantage overwhelming and letting themselves get butchered right off the bat.

    The Tox Spitters of the second wave were supposed to do the heavy lifting, weakening the defence forces during the two following nights and making them reveal their aces in the hole.

    s, the remaining four academies had foiled his ns by allying themselves with the beasts.

    It was still the second act, yet Balkor was already forced to employ his strongest soldiers, the Valors. The silver lining was that after the fall of the two academies, he had a lot of Tox Spitters left that had almost half of their life span left.

    He ced the memory crystals in the center of the array, awakening the sleeping warriors from their stasis and infusing them with all the techniques and spells learned during the first two waves plus a little something of his own.

    All Valors had human appearance. They had been crafted to resemble Balkor, were animated by his very life force and now shared with him all of his hatred for the Griffon Kingdom.

    The undead knelt to their master, eager to carry out his revenge.

    "Let the Spitters be your meat shield. Do not risk your lives. Tonight is just a rehearsal for tomorrow¡¯s grand finale." Balkor instructed them while handing them the best equipment money could buy.

    "Your goal is to force our enemies to reveal their hand and get rid of that annoying bear Wraith." His voice was feeble. Empowering them had added another grey streak to his hair. He had no idea how much life was left in him, but it couldn¡¯t be much.

    "If the task proves to be too dangerous, do not hesitate to retreat. There is just ten of you for each academy and I¡¯m at the end of my rope. If you fail, there will be no second chance. Now go."

    The Valors nodded in unison, walking in the Warp arrays ready to inflict to others the pain that was ravaging their hearts.

    ***

    "I¡¯m sorry, Scourge. We have to end the lesson here. We¡¯ll continue it tomorrow, if both of us are still alive." Ka tapped her paw, making the shadows swirl into a portal.

    "Wait, why you didn¡¯t teach me how to do that?" Lith had been so engrossed by his first lesson of true magic to almost forget about the shadow gates.

    "Teach you what, exactly?" Ka was confused by his words.

    "How to merge with the shadows and use them to move across space." Kaughed out loud, almost scaring Lith to death. It was the first time that he had ever seen her expressing any emotion.

    "That¡¯s just a Warp Steps. I just mix it with light and darkness magic to make impossible to predict my exit point with Life Vision (*). Only a non Awakened one can afford not to. Otherwise, it would mean to throw yourself in the opponent¡¯s maws."

    Lith lowered his eyes in embarrassment. He had only recently mastered Warp Steps and Blink. He had yet to find the time to convert them into true magic. Also, he had never even considered the possibility of covering his tracks while using dimensional magic.

    "Damn. I forgot that, unlike me, you had no mentor." Ka sighed. "I¡¯ll teach you dimensional magic first thing tomorrow morning. Now go, I have much work to do before dusk."

    After Lith left, Ka started modifying her Deathbane array. She was certain that Balkor expected her tricks to not work anymore on his thralls, but he was in for a surprise.

    ***

    Ka¡¯s Warp Step brought Lith back in the middle of the group, making them flinch.

    - "Ka is right, it¡¯s dumb to always open a Warp Step vertically. I should have thought about it by myself, but I always have too much on my te. I¡¯ll think about it as soon the crisis is over." Lith thought.

    "By my maker!" Solus was brimming with joy. "Finally you are epting your limits instead of whining for not being perfect. Today is a red-letter day for you."- She wasn¡¯t even being sarcastic, which made her remark even more annoying.

    "Where the heck have you been all day?" Yurial grabbed Lith by the shoulders, shaking him like a maraca.

    "Yurial, have you lost it or what?" Lith angrily pushed him away.

    "After your disappearance, Phloria almost drove us all insane with her nagging!"

    "I don¡¯t nag!" Phloria¡¯s embarrassed look made her retort sound fake like a three dor bill.

    "Yes, you do." Friya sneered. "We resisted the temptation to knock you out only because none of us is strong enough to carry you around in case the enemy attacked while you were still unconscious."

    The group started quarreling, giving Lith the time to think of an excuse for his sudden leave.

    "I¡¯m sorry to have made you worry, but Ka and I had some unfinished business." Lith lied through his teeth.

    "She confirmed my hypothesis." He winked to them, referring to the undead¡¯s hive mind, hoping it wasn¡¯t all in his head.

    "Also, she told me that Balkor is likely to target her from now on, so she asked me to take care of her children in case something happens to her."

    "Why you, of all people?" Quy asked.

    "She is afraid that because of her evolved form, other beasts could ostracize them and I¡¯m the only human she trusts." Once again, he chose to mix together truth and lies to make his story easy to remember and y their feelings like a fiddle.

    The always lingering fear of death and the sobbing story Lith made up about the cruel fate that would await Nok without his help, prevented them from asking questions he wouldn¡¯t know how to answer.

    The mood turned gloomy, but even Solus agreed it was a small price to pay for lessons about true magic.

    They had barely finished eating, when the rm resounded, prompting the students to go back to the town za.

    Soon the array was visible again, making them realize that Balkor¡¯s undead had already entered its perimeter. Lith trusted Ka¡¯s judgment about Scarlett¡¯s strategy, but he reminded everyone about their contingency n, just in case.

    "I don¡¯t know what the master n is and honestly, I don¡¯t care." Lith said.

    "If anything happens to Ka, that¡¯s our cue. It¡¯s better to run away to live and fight another day than dying an idiot¡¯s death." Everyone nodded, agreeing with the n.

    The seconds turned into minutes, but nothing happened. This time, instead of simply swarming the ce, the Tox Spitters slowly marched into the town under the Valors¡¯ supervision.

    Back in hisb, Balkor was amazed discovering that despite the modifications he had applied to his creatures, the array was back to full force. Yet it was within his calctions. The Valors had the Spitters positioning themselves in the key points of the array, before forcing them to self-detonate.

    Ka¡¯s Deathbane array crumbled, plunging the town into darkness. Back at full strength, the undead attacked with unparalleled vigor, easily cutting through the enemy lines.

    Without support from the array, beasts and Professors quickly found themselves on the back foot. A single Spitter was nothingpared to their strength, but they were outnumbered over ten to one and every wound they suffered required specialized medical attention.

    "Rise my legions!" Ka roared, calling forth his undead army once again.

    Two Valors approached her, moving so fast that none of the lesser undead at hermand could react quickly enough to even slow them down.

    "Filthy beast, your time hase." Said the first Valor.

    "Filthy beast, your time is now." They both unsheathed their swords, moving in unison. The Valors attacked her at the same time from opposite directions, leaving Ka no chance to defend herself.

    Two deep wounds opened on Ka¡¯s front shoulder and her back.

    Kaughed bitterly, admitting her defeat. If she stayed, she would definitely die. Even if created with fake magic, those creatures were greater undead. Ka had only recently be an Awakened one, she was still too weak to fight them and control her army at the same time.

    If she left, her army would crumble, leaving her allies without any hope of victory.

    Whatever choice she made, without her guidance, the lesser undead she had reanimated would attack indiscriminately friend or foes.

    "Well, yed creatures." Ka¡¯s tone was sad, but devoid of despair.

    "You have destroyed my array and turned my carefully prepared army into a liability in one fell swoop. It seems I have underestimated Balkor¡¯s ingenuity, but s, he made my same mistake.

    "Your master should have known that a cornered beast is the most dangerous one. I¡¯m really curious to see if his n can survive losing two of you right off the bat!"

    Having her army be useless, Ka recalled all the darkness magic she had infused into it back to her body, causing her mana core to overload. It resulted in a silent but massive explosion that engulfed all the nearby undead and briefly managed to cover the sky.

    The collective death throes of the fallen threw both armies into chaos.

 Chapter 218 Battle to the Death

    "Gods, no!" Scarlett and Balkor screamed in unison, watching the scene unfold.

    Everything had happened in just a few seconds from the moment the array had been destroyed, not leaving the Scorpicore the time to even think about sending reinforcements.

    Losing Ka was a huge blow for Scarlett¡¯s army. Despite the fact that she had only recently evolved, she was still the most talented Necromancer they had at hand.

    Balkor had the advantage of experience and careful preparation. Their best counter was true magic¡¯s surprise effect and the versatility Ka¡¯s true Necromancy had disyed earlier.

    She had been able to reinforce her troops and change strategy ording to the situation, while Balkor¡¯s thralls, without their master supervision, could only follow a script. The presence of greater undead hadpletely upset the bnce.

    "Damn you and your information, Linjos. The Valors weren¡¯t supposed toe out until thest day!" Scarlett roared.

    "She has only recently evolved and closebat has never been her specialty. I only let her go alone because you guaranteed us that tonight we would face those ck things again!"

    "How I was supposed to know that Balkor would change his ns so much?" Linjos tried to defend himself.

    "Look on the bright side, it means he is desperate. By butchering all of his Tox Spitters during the first day, you must have forced his hand. The Valors are his trump card. If we defeat them, the battle should be over. He shouldn¡¯t have stronger troops."

    "What if he does? What if..." Scarlett stopped herself halfway. There was no time for recriminations.

    "We can¡¯t afford to keep our cards hidden anymore. We can only go all out and pray that you are right."

    Unbeknownst to Scarlett, Balkor¡¯s situation was even worse. Ka¡¯s final move had been devastating to his ns. The massive release of darkness magic had destroyed all the Spitters attacking the north side along with the two Valors.

    Unlike the lesser undead that required only a small spark of his life force, each Valor was empowered by a huge amount of it. It was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it allowed Balkor to share their senses and directly control them telepathically despite the distance.

    On the other one, he would feel their lives slowly slipping away like they were his own. The sudden disappearance of so much of his life force further damaged his alreadypromised body. Balkor fell to the ground, convulsing and spitting blood non-stop.

    With their mind link temporarily broken, the Valors were unaware of the huge blow their army had sustained. They continued to follow the original n, going deeper and deeper into the enemy lines until retreating became almost impossible.

    The same thing was happening on all four academy battlefields. The invaders were getting bolder, mistaking Balkor¡¯s sudden silence for approval. Despite their high intelligence and extensivebat expertise derived from the memory crystals, the Valors were still newborns.

    By giving them his memories, Balkor had also infected them with his rage, a feeling they were incapable of controlling without their master¡¯s supervision.

    Trasque, Nalear, Ironhelm, Linjos, and all the Professors with the richestbat experience finally came out of the headquarters, aiding the royal army and the magical beasts in holding their ground against the swarming enemies.

    Only eight Valors remained, but each had strength on par with Protector, making them extremely dangerous. They looked exactly like Balkor did the day his family died.

    Red-haired youths, barely sixteen years old with a na?ve visage. They were about 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") high with a skeletal build like they had long suffered from malnutrition. The red light burning inside their eyes and their savage visage revealed their true nature though.

    "Thank the gods that Wraith warned us, otherwise I would be dead already." Professor Trasque had barely dodged the darkness bullet that the Valor had conjured at point-nk range.

    Greater undead were naturally attuned with darkness magic, allowing them to use its true magic form even without being Awakened ones.

    "That Wraith had a name! Couldn¡¯t you at least respect Ka¡¯s memory, you oaf?" Ironhelm scolded him.

    He had always considered magical beasts as inferior beings, but after witnessing their bravery and willingness to sacrifice themselves in a battle that wasn¡¯t their own, he now harbored a deep respect for them.

    "If you have the strength to quarrel like an old couple, use it to destroy that thing!" Nalear scolded them both. They were three against one and under the effect of the best potions the White Griffon¡¯s Alchemists could provide. Yet they were still on the back foot.

    The Valor disyed all the swordy he had inherited thanks to the memory crystal, using dozens of techniques with such mastery that it was like he had practiced them for years. To make things worse, he was still faster and stronger than them.

    He was capable of shooting rays of darkness from his free hand, eyes, and mouth with barely a split second notice, easily interrupting their casting whenever they attempted a spell.

    The only reason they were still alive was because of their teamwork.

    "Resistance is futile, humans. Surrender and die!"

    The Valor spread the fingers of his free hand, which turned into a mass of tendrils that whipped towards the trio to immobilize them. Nalear preferred to dodge, while Ironhelm and Trasque cut them down with their weapons.

    Each amputated tendril emitted a shrill sound, like it was alive, spurting a purple liquid with a pungent smell. Ironhelm managed to block the liquid with his shield, but Trasque wasn¡¯t so lucky.

    He was wielding dual sabers, so part of the liquid reached his face, turning out to be a powerful acid. Trasque screamed in pain, suddenly full of openings that the Valor didn¡¯t miss, focusing all the tendrils on him and piercing his lungs, heart, and stomach in multiple points.

    "Vastor, where are you? We need help! Man down!" Nalear yelled into hermunication earpiece, making Vastor Blink to the rescue and bringing what was left of Trasque to safety.

    Without Trasque, their formation copsed quickly, to the point that their efforts barely slowed the Valor from reaching the students.

    "Where are the reinforcements?" Ironhelm yelled in his earpiece, his body covered in wounds.

    "Sorry for the dy, folks." Protector swooped down from the sky, hitting the Valor with his full weight. Protector was engulfed by mes, his body infused with enough air magic to turn him into a living meteor.

    The hit was supposed to blow the undead away, maybe even injure it. Yet the frost aura the Valor had conjured to weaken his human enemies easily snuffed out the mes. The Valor didn¡¯t even attempt to dodge, the strike was too fast for him.

    The impact only managed to push the creature several meters away, leaving deep furrows in the ground. Protector felt the opponent¡¯s bones cracking and reforming almost at the same time.

    The regeneration speed of the enemy was so fast it was hard to believe.

    "Filthy beast!" The Valor struck Protector with a fist, making his head turn abruptly to the side with a cracking noise.

    "Damn, I should have really paid attention to Scarlett when she tried to teach me how to Blink." Protector realized in hindsight.

    ***

    "If that isn¡¯t our cue, I don¡¯t know what it is." First Ka had disappeared, then Professor Trasque had been severely wounded, and now a creature the size of the Skoll was faltering after a single punch.

    Friya had every reason to be scared and so did her group. She focused on the ce where she wanted to go, bending space to her will and materializing a Warp Steps.

    "Quick, get in! I have to gost or the gate will close behind me."

    The group nodded, but before they could start moving, another Valor reached the town square.

    "There is no escape for you, vermin!" He unleashed several streams of lightning from his hand that struck everyone but Lith, who managed to dodge thanks to his enhanced reflexes.

    With Friya convulsing on the ground, the Warp Steps quickly disappeared, destroying their hope for survival.

    "Relinquish your useless lives and join us. At least your death will be meaningful." The undead¡¯s voice was oozing spite. Lith could see, thanks to Life Vision, that darkness magic was focusing on his fingertips.

    "Thanks, but no thanks!" He yelled, trying to draw the Valor¡¯s attention on himself. Lith took his shotel out of his pocket dimension, going all out right off the bat to cut down the Valor¡¯s extended arm.

    The undead reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. Infused to the brim with air magic, Lith managed to cleave the arm a few centimeters below the elbow. The limb fell to the ground, while the umted darkness magic faded away.

    "How did you do that?" The Valor raised an eyebrow, curious rather than worried. Despite Lith¡¯s sh having been infused with darkness magic, ck tendrils came out of the amputated limb, reattaching itself as if nothing had happened.

    "That hurt, I¡¯ll kill you first then." The Valor promised, rushing for the kill.

    Lith soon found himself in the opposite situationpared to his Professors. The skill gap in swordy between them was enormous, making him consider for dropping the shotel and fighting barehanded.

    Thanks to fusion magic, the Valor was slower than him, making him vulnerable to the martial arts that Lith had learned on Earth.

    ording to Life Vision and mana sense, the Valor¡¯s de glowed like a Christmas tree though. That and the purple liquid dripping from the undead¡¯s fingers, made Lith realize that such n was beyond stupid.

    - "That thing is almost as fast and strong as me under the effects of fusion magic." Lith thought. "I can¡¯t allow myself to get tired, get hit, or get poisoned. I need a distraction to..."¨C

    His nning was interrupted by the terrified screams of the students that were scattering in all directions to get as far as possible from the undead monster.

    "I said there is no escape!" Seeing his prey getting away filled the Valor with rage, to the point of ignoring Lith to shoot them in the back.

    Lith inwardly smiled, grateful for their stupid sacrifice. He exploited that moment to Blink right behind the creature, cutting off his head and piercing his heart.

    Before Lith couldpletely engulf the corpse in darkness magic, the Valor kicked violently towards his head, forcing him to block and cracking both of his arms. The pain was nothingpared to his surprise.

    Despite the amount of darkness magic he had infused in his sword, the hole in the chest was already closed, the head was taking its sweet time to reattach itself still showing a wolfish smile.

    "What are you exactly?" For the first time in his life, the undead experienced the feeling of amusement.

    ***

    Protector¡¯s fight wasn¡¯t going much better either. Even with Nalear¡¯s and Ironhelm¡¯s help, they were barely on equal footing. Protector was unable to use dimensional magic and his favorite elements, fire and air, were almost useless against the undead.

    The initial advantage due to fusion magicbined with his superior physical prowess had been quickly countered by the Valor¡¯s acid blood that returned each wound Protector inflicted twofold.

    Several of his teeth had melted and his paws were bleeding profusely.

    Nalear and Ironhelm Blinked around, searching for an opening to unleash their spells, but somehow the Valor always knew where they would appear. He didn¡¯t react fast enough to counterattack, but enough to move out of their line of fire in time.

    "How the heck can he know our every move?" Nalear cursed, getting away from the undead and hoping to lure him away from the town square. s, the Valor wasn¡¯t interested in fighting the Professors, his only aim was the students a few hundred meters behind them.

    As soon as Nalear¡¯s position was left open, the Valor rushed forward, ignoring both Protector and Ironhelm, releasing a barrage of darkness projectiles from his fingers aimed toward the youths amassed in front of him likembs waiting for the ughter.

    While the duo bombarded the undead with their best spells, Nalear cursed again. She Blinked in front of the death wave and using one of her artifacts to block most of the attacks.

    "Coward! Stop using children as a shield and fight us!" She yelled despite the ragged breath caused by the massive mana consumption from the artifact.

    "In battle, there is no bravery or cowardice." The Valor mocked her. "Only victory and defeat. Stop me if you can!"

    He had already been hit by over a hundred of spells during the fight, but taken separately, they were barely able to make him falter. Thanks to his Abomination powers, the Valor would take little damage from all elements except darkness, but such spells were too slow and the creature would dodge them every time with ease.

    Physical attacks and spells had proven to be useless, any damage sustained would regenerate so fast that the undead was able to keep his full mobility.

    Protector cursed at himself for his stupidity, not studying the books Lith had left for him and spending most of his time nurturing his newfound family life with Selia.

    His only remaining option was to use his physical prowess to block the Valor in ce long enough for the Professors to strike him down with darkness magic. However, the undead was well aware of their n, so he employed a vicious hit and run tactic that the Crawlers had learned from Ironhelm himself during the first day to wear out the Skoll.

    Protector¡¯s fur was already covered in cuts, some shallow, some deep. He had suffered most of the hits while trying to defend the students and the Professors behind him. The Valor had exploited his good heart to poison him multiple times and was now waiting for the inevitable to happen.

 Chapter 219 Battle to the Death 2

    "You are too fast to be human." The Valor said to Lith, using a childish voice that matched his face for the first time. Lith let him bber on, using the idiotic bad guy monologue to activate Invigoration to mend his wounds and replenish his strength.

    "You don¡¯t care for the young ones." The Valor shot another student in the back, pleasantly surprised to see that Lith didn¡¯t even flinch.

    "Do you care for the older ones?" By using their hive mind, the Valor didn¡¯t even need to turn around to shoot Nalear in the back. What any Valor saw, every Valor knew. That was the reason why Blink had been of no use to the Professors so far.

    Thanks to the hive mind, by watching each other¡¯s backs, the undead had no blind spots.

    The darkness bullet was deflected by Nalear¡¯s armor, but still managed to pierce her shoulder, making her yell in pain and surprise. Their already weakened formation fell apart.

    "No, you don¡¯t." The Valor nodded. "Do you care for those ones?" He pointed his fingers to the four youths stillying on the ground, finally obtaining a reaction. Lith stopped using Invigoration, dashing forward to intercept the spell and deflect it with his de.

    "This is going to be fun!" The Valorughed heartily.

    "Not for you though." Lith replied with a wolfish smile. He Blinked in front of the enemy and activated Death Zone and Death Call at the same time.

    Several tentacles erupted from Lith¡¯s body, while a dense fog surrounded both him and the Valor. Lith had used that time to also cast his two most powerful darkness spells. The dark tentacles wrapped themselves around the Valor¡¯s limbs, draining his strength and making it impossible for him to run away.

    Meanwhile, the highly concentrated darkness magic summoned by Death Zone was eating away the Valor¡¯s lifespan like a starving man at an all you can eat buffet.

    "No, you can¡¯t do it! I¡¯m not allowed to die!" Balkor¡¯s orders were absolute. The Valor struggled with all his might, trying to get away like his master had instructed him to do in case of danger.

    Lith was done talking. He only focused on dodging and parrying the enemy¡¯s attacks while the undead withered more with every passing second.

    Soon the physical gap between the two was so wide that Lith could afford to go on the offensive, shing the Valor¡¯s body over and over with his darkness infused de. Despite being an undead, the Valor experienced blinding pain and desperation.

    Each hit would eat away a good chunk of his master¡¯s lifeforce, making the Abomination inside him go wild and inflicting on him an agony that every Valor would share.

    Back in hisb, Balkor¡¯s convulsions rose in intensity until he bled from his ears, eyes, and mouth.

    ***

    Feeling theirpanion¡¯s imminent death sent the other Valors into a frenzy. Because of the hive mind, they shared more than just their senses. They also shared their rage, joy, and fear.

    Protector exploited the enemy¡¯s sudden madness to bite the Valor¡¯s chest hard and pin him to the ground, trapping the Valor¡¯s sword and tendrils inside his own body.

    "Quick, finish him!" He yelled to Ironhelm. His eyes were sad, but unwavering.

    Ironhelm understood his intentions, casting his strongest darkness spell, Dark Star. Ironhelm wanted to cry, but his voice remained steady and his hands firm for all the duration of the spell.

    Dark Star generated a pir of darkness with a radius of ten meters (33 feet) that engulfed both the warriors until the Valor was no more.

    Protector remained true to his name until the end, standing proud even in defeat.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Linjos and Rudd were mercilessly taking down two Valors at once. Linjos was the strongest Archmage of his academy. His personal spells were fast and deadly, there was only so much the undeads¡¯ magical registance could do against them.

    To make things worse for the undead, although Ruddcked his firepower, he had plenty of ingenuity and talent for dimensional magic. Whenever one of Linjos¡¯s spells were about to miss, a Warp Steps would open, redirecting it right into the back of a Valor.

    Even trying to escape was useless, Rudd would simply Switch their positions with his own and Linjos¡¯s, who always took care to leave them a darkness based nasty surprise.

    "Come on, that¡¯s all you can do?" Rudd sneered, opening many Warps Steps at a time, making the new barrage of Linjos¡¯s spells appear and disappear from thin air. When the Valors tried to escape in different directions, Linjos Switched their position, making them sh one against the other. Rudd exploited that moment to redirect the spells, which hit the Valors all at once and turned them to dust.

    "Excellent work, Rudd." Linjos said.

    "I¡¯m d to have you on my side."

    "Two down, still six to go." The two Archmages Warped to the rescue of their colleagues, hoping the battle could be still won.

    ***

    As soon as she came out of the headquarters, Scarlett hunted down the Valors one by one. Even with the hive mind supporting them, the other undead weren¡¯t much of a threat.

    She hadn¡¯t missed how the destruction of the two Valors by the hand of Ka had made the lesser undead revert to their frenzied fighting style and lose any semnce of order or discipline.

    Of the eight remaining greater undead, two were keeping themselves at the outskirts of the mining town. Scarlett suspected that their refusal to budge even after losing two of their generals could depend on their role in keeping the hive mind active.

    She Blinked behind their backs, infusing her roar with air magic, making them tumble on the ground like rag dolls.

    - "If I¡¯m right, they will attempt to run rather than fight. I must keep them away from their escape route and kill them as fast as I can."¨C Scarlett thought.

    As she had predicted, the two attempted to cast a flying spell to get away from the Scorpicore, but she only needed another roar to send them tumbling again and interrupting their cast.

    "Filthy beast, your time hase!" Said the first Valor unsheathing his sword.

    "Filthy beast, your time is n..."

    "Shut your trap." Scarlett cut the second Valor short, ripping the creature¡¯s head off with her ws. Her rage peaked when she heard those words again.

    She wasn¡¯t sure if Ka was dead or alive, only that if she had lost an Awakened because of humans squabbling between themselves, she would never forgive herself. A sudden sharp pain forced her to focus back on her enemies.

    A big chunk of her paw was now missing, her flesh and bones melted by the powerful acid that ran inside the Valors¡¯ bodies instead of blood.

    "Nice trick." She said, watching the bits of the undead¡¯s head reassemble themselves until no injury remained.

    "Want to see a better one?" Her paw exuded a white brilliance and in less than a second, she was healed too.

    "As for my final act..." Scarlett weaved the Blink spell, but instead of Blinking herself she forced one of the Valors to appear right in front of her. Her paw pinned him down, while she used Invigoration to find the blood core and flood it with darkness magic.

    It was something that only her overwhelming strength and over three hundred years of experience in manipting cores allowed her to do. The undead experienced pain as if its very soul was being ripped to shreds, pulverized, turned into a bucket someone used as a chamber pot, and then turned to shreds again.

    Its agony spread to all the remaining Valors, making them easy targets. While the first one was still turning to ashes, Scarlett repeated the procedure on the second one, making Balkor¡¯s mind fall into aa to escape from that torture.

    ***

    "Damn you! Damn you all! For Balkor!"

    Lith didn¡¯t know why the Valor had started convulsing, nor did he care. What worried him was that now the creature was willingly burning his life force to break free from the restraints.

    Lith focused even more, increasing the density of darkness magic surrounding them to put an end to the fight. He didn¡¯t know how long he could still hold the Valor in ce. Keeping both the spells active while trading blows with the undead was quickly draining his strength.

    The Valor shot several rays of darkness from his eyes until he slowly turned to smoke and ashes.

    "At least I will not die alo..."

    Lith didn¡¯t stop the attack until the Valor¡¯s blood core was no more. He never trusted monsters to stay dead, so besides confirming it with Life Vision, he also asked Solus to double check with mana sense.

    - "By my maker! Lith, behind you!"¨C Despite being on the verge of exhaustion, Lith followed Solus¡¯s instructions, ready to fight with thest bits of power he had.

    He only then realized that what Solus was referring to wasn¡¯t an enemy, but the members of his group. They had yet to wake up from the lightning bolts, so unlike the other students, they had remained on the attack site.

    Suddenly the Valor¡¯s words made sense. They could be the only reason why the undead had wasted his life force to cast spells that he knew Lith could dodge with his eyes closed.

    After a quick inspection, he discovered that only Yurial and Phloria had been hit. The creature had shot blind, so most of the rays had just hit the ground. Yurial had been grazed on a leg while Phloria on a shoulder.

    The wounds were superficial, barely bleeding, but the flesh surrounding them was turning blue and the veins were bulging out. Lith used Invigoration to understand what was happening.

    A mass made of darkness magic was ravaging their bodies while advancing towards their mana cores.

    - "Damn b*stard!" Lith thought. "He invaded them with his life force. If I don¡¯t stop it immediately, they are either going to die or turn into undead."¨C

    Lith saw several students, that had been killed earlier by the Valor, groggily stand up with their eyes shining with the red light of undeath.

    "Damn! I hate always being right!" Lith opened a Warp Steps, but he was too weak to go far from the battlefield. His destination was their room in the mining town. He threw Friya and Quy inside and on to their beds, more or less.

    Then, he picked Phloria and Yurial up and ran away from the undead mob that was chasing them, closing the gate right behind him. The monsters were fast enough topete with Lith in his exhausted state while burdened by hispanions.

    Some of them were already crossing the gate when it disappeared. A few heads and limbs fell on the floor, emitting a screeching sound before turning into ck smoke and ashes.

    "Just Balkor¡¯s style. He sacrifices undeath¡¯s eternal life in exchange for explosive power. The fallen students turning so fast can only be a bad omen."

    Lithy Phloria and Yurial on the floor, discovering that the ck matter was already halfway towards their cores. The corruption was spreading at an rming rate. Almost half of their bodies had turned blue, with ck veins bulging all over them.

    Cursing Balkor¡¯s name, Lith had no choice but to activate Invigoration and wait until he had regained enough strength to make his blurred eyesight return to normal before attempting a treatment.

    He used that time to call for help with hismunication amulet. This wasn¡¯t the academy¡¯s healers first rodeo. The light magic department was bound to know a cure for their affliction, after ten years of fighting the same kind of undead.

    s, the amulet was once again offline.

    "F*ck Linjos and his idiotic n! F*ck Manohar! He¡¯s nowhere to be found when you really need him!" Lith¡¯s rage was almost out of control. In that moment, he hated everyone. The academy for failing to protect them, the nobles and the Crown for having caused the crisis, and Balkor for messing with his turf.

    - "Calm down, Lith" Solus did her best, using their symbiotic bond to quell his anger. "Healing is a delicate process, you can¡¯t brute force your way to save someone. Letting yourself go can only do more harm to your friends."¨C

    Lith still rejected that word, ¡¯friends¡¯. Yet denying his attachment to them was hypocritical, especially his fondness towards Phloria. Aside from Solus, no one outside of his family had ever made him feel so special since his rebirth in the new world.

    Lith swallowed his anger, studying the ck matter only to discover it was some kind of darkness magic he had never met before. Light magic would be useless, while Invigoration wasn¡¯t able to purge it because of its immaterial nature.

    - "Solus, please help me!" What can I do?"¨C Their bodies kept turning, their breathing had almost stopped.

    "You can only brute force your way." Solus sighed. It was a gamble, but also the only thing she could improvise with so little time at hand.

    "Use your own darkness magic to stall and destroy the Valor¡¯s one while using light magic to immediately heal the damages the conflicting energies will cause. That kind of power isn¡¯t made tost, if you resist long enough it should self destruct."¨C

    Lithmenced the procedure even before Solus had finished her exnation, he had already understood her idea from the first sentence. First, he attacked the ck veins, preventing the affliction from spreading further, then he focused on the ck mass.

 Chapter 220 Grieving

    Handling two kinds of mana at once, on two different patients, was the hardest thing Lith had ever done. He had to repair all the injuries in a timely manner, using darkness magic against the wounds the Valor¡¯s life force caused, otherwise hispanions would die of shock or organ failure.

    At the same time, he couldn¡¯t relieve the pressure on the ck mass, not even for a second. It was already only centimeters away from their cores, a single slip up and everything would be lost.

    The memory of the kid dying in his arms during the gue was still etched into Lith¡¯s mind.

    There was no way to repair a broken core. Lith only had one chance and had to make it count. His energy reserves were constantly depleted by his endeavor and replenished by Invigoration, but with every cycle, his breathing technique would lose part of its effectiveness.

    Lith needed Solus¡¯s help from time to time, letting her take control of his mana flow whenever he felt his focus was slipping. Soon it became a battle of will, Balkor¡¯s against Lith¡¯s.

    ***

    Ironhelm would have liked to let himself fall on the ground and rest, but Nalear was getting worse by the second. He ced his hand on the fallen Skoll¡¯s neck, caressing his soft fur for the first andst time before leaving.

    Then, he felt a pulse. He immediately activated hismunication earpiece.

    "Manohar, Marth, get your as*es over here! Otherwise, I swear to the gods that I will kill you!"

    ***

    Blood Desert, Balkor¡¯s secretb

    When Ilyum Balkor finally regained his senses, everything was already over. Ka¡¯s opening move had caused a domino effect, making months of careful nning go to waste. The shock from the sudden death of the Valors had taken him out of the picture long enough for the battle to be lost.

    Without his supervision, the Valors had let themselves be blinded by the hatred Balkor had infected them with, making them conceited and reckless. Each time one of them fell, all the others would be weaker, making it easier for the enemies to kill another one, rinse and repeat.

    While trying to get up, he coughed blood again and again. Not only was almost all of his life force gone, but also most of his magic. It would take him years to recover, if that was even possible.

    "Mother, father, my siblings, please forgive me." He wept uncontrobly.

    "I have failed you. Tomorrow, no blood will be shed. Your deaths will be forgotten because of my ipetence!" The Lords of the forests had proven to be way stronger than he anticipated and so too were their minions.

    Many Professors had fallen, even the Lightning Griffon Headmaster had died during the attack, but only a few students had been harmed. The four remaining academies had survived, all of Balkor¡¯s efforts had been for naught.

    Following Linjos¡¯s protocol, the other Headmasters had removed the academies¡¯ power cores, entrusting them to the Crown. When Balkor¡¯s minions had stormed the academies¡¯ gates, the castles were empty shells.

    "I only have one choice left. I can¡¯t activate myst prototype. I would die in the process and without my control, it wouldn¡¯t be able to distinguish friend from foe. It could even harm my family. That ursed bear has ruined everything.

    In the end, even the god of death dies."

    Before Warping out of hisb, Balkor activated the self destruct mechanism. The memory crystals, his method to fuse Abominations and undead, his whole life work.

    All of it was too dangerous to allow humans to ever get their hands on it.

    "It all ends now." Watching the small mound copse from afar, Balkor found himself sighing in relief. Even if things hadn¡¯t gone as nned, he still had his closure. Two of the six great academies were lost, several Archmages had died.

    His legend would live on, instilling fear in the ursed old nobles¡¯ households for years toe. They would never know what had happened to him or why he had stopped his attacks.

    For all they knew, the god of death would be biding his time, waiting for his enemies to lower their guard while building an even stronger army.

    "Also, I would pay my weight in gold to see their terrified faces. Tomorrow night nothing will happen, yet their fear will make it the worst day of their lives."

    Balkorughed heartily, cleaning the blood from his clothes before returning home. His children deserved to finally have a full time father.

    ***

    When Lith regained his senses, he had no idea how much time had passed. His body ached with every movement due to the strain of prolonged excessive mana use.

    He barely had the mental energy to open his eyes. His vision was blurred from physical exhaustion and he had a splitting headache caused by the severeck of mana. Human figures seemed to be moving around him, but because of the haze, he wasn¡¯t able to recognize any of them.

    - "How... how long was I out?" Even in his own thoughts, Lith couldn¡¯t avoid stuttering. Thinking was a heavy burden, he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep.

    "A few minutes." Solus replied.

    "Just enough time for Friya and Quy to wake up and infuse you with some of their life force. Try not to speak much, your core is almost empty. We already know what happens when someone forcefully goes beyond their limits."¨C

    Solus was worried too. This time Lith had gone too far, treating hispanions¡¯ condition until he had lost consciousness. She wanted him to be more human andpassionate, but not if the price was his life.

    She had even given him part of her mana without him noticing. She didn¡¯t care about her own hunger or the weakness that was numbing her senses, she wanted for him to be alright.

    Lith nodded, using Invigoration once again. His mana core was still empty and his body exhausted, but at least now he was able to see and talk properly.

    "Lith what happened?" Both Friya and Quy were worried to death.

    "Why won¡¯t Yurial and Phloria wake up? No matter what spell we use, their condition does not improve, nor do we understand what¡¯s wrong with them. Also, how did you get so exhausted?" Friya asked.

    "So nice of you to think about me too, even if only at the end." Lith rubbed his temples, trying to ease the pain.

    Friya opened her mouth to reply in kind to his sarcastic remark, but remained silent.

    - "Telling him that I can¡¯t help but see him as more of a monster than a human would be too cruel of a joke. Lith may be a bit scary sometimes, but he has always been nothing but a good friend to me. Thank the gods I can hold my stupid tongue."¨C Friya thought.

    Lith used that respite to tell them about how he had escaped from the Valor bringing them with him. He also told them how the creature had infected theirpanions and his attempts to cure them.

    Even if she meant it as a bad joke, Friya felt terrible for thinking those words.

    "Please, go find a Professor. I don¡¯t know if I saved them or just bought them some more time. They need someone that knows what we are dealing with."

    Friya nodded, leaving Quy to take care of her friends while she Blinked right above their house, her rapier ready at hand. From the higher ground, she noticed that the battle seemed to be over. The town za was empty.

    Some skirmishes were still going on between beasts, Professors, and lesser undead, but the ck creatures were reduced to a few handfuls. From the moment Scarlett had killed the Controllers, the hive mind had copsed.

    Without it, the Tox Spitters had nobat awareness, they had reverted to mindless nk tes. It was only a matter of minutes before they gotpletely wiped out.

    Friya identified a group of Professors and went to ask for their help, toote to notice that, what they were battling against, students that were turned into undead. Her rapier cut and stabbed the reanimated corpses mercilessly.

    Her hand didn¡¯t even hesitate when she recognized some of them as her ssmates. The only things Friya felt were the urgency to prevent her sister and friend from suffering the same fate and gratitude towards Orion.

    The de he had crafted for her fitted her hand like a glove. While the multiple enchantments he had forgemastered it with made short work of her enemies, turning them into dust and smoke.

    - "I swear that if I get back home alive, I¡¯ll start calling Orion ¡¯dad¡¯."¨C Friya thought, realizing the depth of care and love her adoptive father held.

    "Please, I need a healer! My friends have been hurt!" Realizing what was affecting her friends, Friya¡¯s worry increased tenfold.

    Professor Wanemyre nodded, activating hermunication earpiece.

    "There isn¡¯t a second to lose, tell me where to find them."

    It took less than a second for Professor Marth to join them and open a Warp Steps back to Lith¡¯s room.

    "How long ago have they been struck?" Marth knew that, once the dark energy entered the bloodstream, it was only a matter of minutes before the victim died, almost instantly resurrecting as a lesser undead.

    "I don¡¯t know." Friya pointed to him the two youths lying on their beds.

    Marth cursed their bad luck, casting a diagnostic spell to see how severe their condition was, only to discover that their system waspletely cleansed. The two students were simply exhausted beyond reason like they had fought and won the battle of a lifetime.

    Marth had no idea what could have possibly happened, and he was simply too happy to care. His joy was short lived though. As soon as he saw Lith, sadness gripped Marth¡¯s heart.

    Lith seemed exhausted too, he barely had the strength to eat the medical provisions Quy was handing him. Marth didn¡¯t want to burden him further, but time was of the essence.

    "Lith, I¡¯m really sorry." Marth ced a hand on his shoulder, trying tofort him.

    "One of your friends has been gravely injured. He doesn¡¯t have much time left and he is asking for you."

    "A friend?" Lith¡¯s sleepy eyes were suddenly wide open, checking his surroundings.

    "What¡¯s wrong with Yurial?" He couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by the worry he recognized in his own voice.

    "Yurial is fine. Whatever you did, it worked. You don¡¯t know how proud I am of you." Marth smiled gently, he would have liked to ask him many things, but questions had to wait.

    "I¡¯m talking about Protector. He has something to say to you. I¡¯ve never seen someone with such strong willpower. He is literally refusing to die before speaking with you onest time. Please follow me."

    Something inside Lith snapped, making all of his exhaustion disappear. Solus knew it was only a cebo effect, caused by Lith¡¯s desire to cry shing with his firm denial that something might have happened to his old friend.

    "Take me to him."

    Marth opened a Warp Steps, seeing ill concealed pain in Lith¡¯s eyes.

    Protector¡¯s body was too big to fit in the field hospital and his condition was too severe to move him from the spot he had fallen. Lith¡¯s heart ached to see the ming red fur ckened all over, the mes that made up the tails were reduced to embers. Protector¡¯s chest raised and lowered slowly, apanied by heavy pants.

    Manohar had done his best, arriving as soon as he had been summoned. He had used all his expertise to cleanse the toxin, close the wounds, and defuse the lethal effects that such a prolonged exposure to the Dark Star spell would induce.

    He was called the god of healing, but he was no god. Just a gifted man that loved his job. There were things even he was helpless against.

    "It¡¯s all your fault!" Manohar roared to Ironhelm.

    "You should have called me earlier! I could have saved him. I never, ever fail!"

    Manohar didn¡¯t care much for the Skoll¡¯s fate, nevertheless, he had done the best that he could. His work was his life, it defined what and who he was.

    Lith pushed Manohar away, touching Protector to use Invigoration and check his condition. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Protector¡¯s core was deeply cracked, his mana was slowly seeping out. It had already turned back to green and was losing strength with each passing second.

    "d to see you before the end, Lith." Protector¡¯s voice was still calm and serene like the first time they had met.

    "Don¡¯t be sad for me. I had a great life, a loving mate and many offspring. If it wasn¡¯t for Scarlett, I would already be dead. I was living on borrowed time. I am really happy to get the opportunity to return her favor."

    Every one of his words was supposed to console Lith, to make him feel better. Yet every time he spoke, Lith felt a dagger piercing his heart. Tears started to stream from his eyes, but his voice was stone cold.

    "This is all your fault!" He roared to Scarlett and Linjos that were standing at Protector¡¯s side after trying every single spell they knew to save his life.

    "You screw up everything you touch! Who the f*ck is that dumb son of a b*tch that made you Headmaster?" Linjos could expel him for all he cared.

    If something happened to Protector, Balkor would have to get in line to get his turn with the Headmaster.

 Chapter 221 Grieving 2

    "Why did you ask for his help?" Lith yelled to Scarlett while his fury was peaking. "You knew he had never traveled outside the Trawn woods! This was too big for him, why didn¡¯t you leave him alone?"

    Scarlett¡¯s guilt was already eating at her from the inside, she couldn¡¯t reply to Lith because she was thinking the same things.

    However, when she felt a slight tremor in the ground, she was forced to speak.

    "You are right, it¡¯s all my fault. Now please, try to calm down."

    "Calm down?" Lith¡¯s roar was apanied by another tremor, this time strong enough for everyone to feel it.

    All of his mana was seething with anger, darkness magic exuded from every inch of Lith¡¯s body, spreading the killing intent of a mad beast desperate enough to throw away its life for a single chance to bite back its enemy.

    All the Professors could feel it on their skin. The ones that were too injured from the recent fight to stand their ground, found themselves covered in cold sweat, retreating one step at the time.

    Even Linjos¡¯s body reacted instinctively, a spell ready at hand to counter the imminent death threat.

    - "I read the reports speaking about his ferocity, but this is unheard of for someone so young. His mana exudes such a powerful pressure that a normal man would have already run away out of fear." -

    With a wave of her paw, Scarlett Warped all the humans back to their apartments and sealed the space around the mining town to prevent the use of dimensional magic. Being the Lord of the forest was much more than a mere title.

    Like an academy empowered its headmaster, a forest empowered its lord. It was simr to being a Guardian, but instead of being recognized by the¡¯s will, the Lord had a very limited area of influence and much lesser powers.

    Otherwise, Scarlett would have faced and destroyed Balkor¡¯s army alone.

    "You can ask me to calm down only after I have ripped off your tail and forced you to eat it!" A mass of clouds started gathering in the sky.

    Scarlett knew a world tribtion was about to happen. That was the reason why she had sent all the humans away. While she had no idea what was causing the tribtion, the one responsible had to be protected.

    Even if he was a young human Abomination hybrid on the verge of madness.

    "Lith, please stop." Protector coughed. Hearing his voice turned Lith¡¯s anger to pain. A pain he hadn¡¯t experienced since Carl¡¯s death.

    "What do you think you are doing? I didn¡¯t ask for you because I want you to turn into the new Balkor. Revenge solves nothing. Did you ever pay attention when I spoke to you?" Protector attempted tough, but it soon turned into a dry cough that made him spit ck blood.

    "I just wanted to say goodbye and ask you for a favor. Please, tell Selia that I¡¯m sorry. Also, make up one of your ridiculous lies to exin to her how I died. Tell her that I would have never abandoned her like this." A few tears streamed from the Skoll¡¯s eyes, before disappearing under his fur.

    "Please, take care of our child. I never had one with a human, I don¡¯t know if they end up resembling their mother or father more. Male or female, they¡¯ll need your help."

    "Why does everyone want me to take care of their offspring?" Lith¡¯s scream caused several bolts of lightning to light the sky.

    "I don¡¯t want to! I hate children! Live and take care of them by yourself." Lith hugged Protector¡¯s body, bawling his eyes out.

    "You are the first friend I ever had. You may be a magical beast, but you have always been like a brother to me. You always treated me as an adult, annoying me with your words of wisdom and trying to make me into a better person.

    Why are you leaving me? Why?"

    "It¡¯s not that I want to." Protector¡¯s panting worsened, every breath was a struggle.

    "It¡¯s just that sometimes you can¡¯t win. Death is a part of life."

    "I¡¯m sick and tired of life trying to snatch away what¡¯s mine!" Lith ignored Protector, focusing only on Invigoration and the bleeding mana core.

    "First, I wasn¡¯t old enough to protect my brother. Then, I wasn¡¯t rich and powerful enough to even give him the justice he deserved. After that, I was too weak to heal Tista, forcing me to watch her suffering for years!"

    By remembering each of the people he loved, the hatred he felt towards everyone else increased without limit. His body started to reshape itself ording to the burning wrath that was consuming him.

    ck scales reced Lith¡¯s exposed skin up to his neck, leaving only his face uncovered. His fingers grew longer and were now ending in razor-sharp ws.

    Lith¡¯s eyes were now inhuman. They had no pupil, iris, or sclera, only a burning blue light remained.

    "Now I¡¯m strong enough!"

    Lith used Invigoration to call upon the world energy, not using it to strengthen himself, but to surround Protector¡¯s mana core and stop the leak. He had just realized that, unlike the kid¡¯s core during the gue, Protector¡¯s had yet to turn grey.

    Its bright yellow color gave Lith hope and the strength to attempt a desperate gamble. After doing his best to prevent the damaged core from weakening any further, he started to shape an artificial core like Ka had shown him a few hours before.

    Instead of crafting it out of light and darkness, he used the surrounding world energy and of all of Protector¡¯s mana that Lith was unable to contain. It was something incredibly difficult to achieve.

    He couldn¡¯t force the mana to do anything without running the risk of contaminating it with his own, making Protector¡¯s core reject it. Lith could only slowly and gently guide it to its destination, making sure it didn¡¯t fade away by protecting it from all external influences.

    The world energy was naturally shapeless, like water, it assumed the signature of whoever managed to call forth its power. As more and more of Protector¡¯s mana reached the fake core, it started to mutate until the two energy signatures perfectly matched.

    Lith was experiencing an unbelievable amount of pain. Not only because his body was already battered and his mana core running on fumes, but also because he had to take all of the impurities the world energy contained into himself to shape the fake core, allowing only the purest and strongest mana to be part of his creation.

    Lith epted the pain with joy, it was still nothingpared to what the void had done to him in the years following his brother¡¯s death.

    Thest step was the most dangerous one. Lith knew that light magic wasn¡¯t enough to allow Protector¡¯s core and the fake one to merge. Just like during Forgemastering, he needed something to connect the spell with the item.

    Having nothing left, he used his own life force as a tool to achieve his goal. When Lith¡¯s energy rekindled Protector¡¯s soul spark, Lith was able to experience the Skoll¡¯s life from the moment of his birth.

    The joy of meeting his first mate and having pups together, followed by the pain of losing them to disease, hunger, or the hand of hunters. Lith could feel how happy Protector had been when he encountered Selia, how strong his desire for a new family was.

    Such happiness was something that Lith firmly believed he would never have, so he pushed forward. He consumed more and more energy despite his whole body screaming in pain, begging him to stop, and his core began to crack.

    Scarlett watched the whole process in awe. Part of her hoped for him to seed. Another part of her hoped for him to fail, to get rid of the dangerous unknown factor Lith represented.

    Yet all of Scarlett¡¯s being hated the world¡¯s will because once again it was just standing there doing nothing.

    - "I have been through my fair share of tribtions and I have yet to understand why they are called so. It¡¯s not like the world puts you to the test or something, it just watches you while the worst sh*t happens to your life. Either you live or die, it never interferes, like our lives are nothing but a two-bit sideshow."¨C She thought.

    ***

    From her throne in the underground dungeon, Tyris felt the second tribtion advent.

    "That anomaly again." She thought out loud.

    "It¡¯s better if I go check on it, before the others start pestering me about theck of information." She stood up, appearing right before Scarlett. It was easy for a Guardian to ignore the Scorpicore¡¯s dimensional magic seal.

    "What does this mean, Forest Lord?" She asked.

    Scarlett instinctively knelt to her, exining to Tyris all that had happened that night.

    "I see. Another Abomination hybrid, it seems. But this one isn¡¯t a man-made fake Abomination, more like a jigsaw made of different pieces. He¡¯s already at the second tribtion, I wouldn¡¯t worry if I were you."

    Tyris shrugged, preparing to leave.

    "Wait, my Lady. What do you mean?" Scarlett was shocked by her indifference. Unlike Ka and Protector, she had no affection toward Lith, but he still was a child trying to save a precious friend.

    After witnessing so much death in a single night, she couldn¡¯t understand how the Guardian could leave without moving a finger. It would be easy for Tyris to save them both.

    "You really don¡¯t know?" Tyris turned back, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Tribtions happen constantly to beasts, humans, nts, and undead alike. Every single day. They happen whenever Mogar, the world we live in, thinks that someone can be useful for its purposes.

    "During every tribtion, Mogar evaluates the candidate¡¯s worth through their actions. Sess or failure depends entirely on the candidate, though. The first tribtion is usually about the skill the world is interested in.

    The second and usuallyst one, is about self-control."

    "What self-control?" Scarlett was bbergasted.

    "The kid is killing himself, burning his own life as we speak! Shouldn¡¯t the tribtion be failed already?"

    "Youpletely misunderstood the nature of tribtions." Tyris chuckled in amusement.

    "A talent is worthless if someone lets it control their life, as most living beings do. My talent is to inspire the change, but it could be easily subverted into bringing chaos if I was never content with the status quo and I did not give the changes the time to prove their worth.

    "Leegaain¡¯s talent is knowledge and preservation. Yet imagine how easy it would be for him to turn it into greed, hoarding everything and every life form for himself, turning from the keeper of the world into its warden.

    "Sark embodies the desire to rule and lead by example, but she could just as easily be a tyrant obsessed with world domination. The self-control I¡¯m talking about is the will to resist the urges your talent pushes you towards and do the opposite.

    "Take the kid, for example. Judging from his first two tribtions, the world seems to have chosen him to kill a lot of people, yet it¡¯s checking if he¡¯s just a soulless monster or if he has the will to choose the hard path and grant life instead.

    "We all serve the bnce. There would be no need for a Guardian of destruction, the races do an excellent job by themselves already. That¡¯s why you don¡¯t need to worry. If he ever seeds in passing all the tribtions, we¡¯ll just have another Guardian."

    "What if he fails? The prolonged exposure to the world¡¯s will has already altered him that much." Scarlett rebuked, pointing at Lith¡¯s scales covered body.

    "Aren¡¯t you afraid of what he could do if he manages to control that kind of power?"

    "No." Tyris shook her head. "That¡¯s just a promise of payment, barely cosmetic. As far as I know, you have passed all of your tribtions. Have you gotten any stronger?"

    "No. I¡¯ve learned how to shapeshift, but my strength is always the same, no matter the form I take."

    "Exactly. Until he bes a Guardian..." Tyris giggled at the idea.

    "he will just remain whatever he is. While if he fails, he will die. As simple as that. There is no do-over with tribtions. The number of tribtions varies from person to person, but most fail at the second one. Even if he seeds, he could fail at the next one, or at the one after that." Tyris disappeared, leaving Scarlett more nervous than ever.

    "This is great. Now I not only have to worry about Scourge and Protector, but also about myself! I never imagined tribtions were so dangerous. Gods, I wish Ka were here. She would know what to do."

    "She would say to move your stinger-equipped a*s and help the child. You always whine about the world¡¯s will being indifferent, yet you stand there doing nothing. What¡¯s the difference between the two of you?" A limping Ka pointed out.

    Scarlett flinched at her appearance, but recovered quickly and did as instructed. Lith had already consumed several years of his lifespan to keep Protector alive and his core was about to crack too.

    However, he had managed to fix Protector¡¯s core enough to allow Scarlett to finish the job. She saved both their lives at once, before questioning the Wraith.

    "How did you survive that st?"

    "First, as you should know, no one can be harmed by their own mana. So the only damage I took was from overloading my mana core. It was a calcted risk. My odds of survival were pretty good since my undead nature makes it really hard to kill me with both conventional and unconventional means.

    "Unlike you, I never trusted the men¡¯s words or underestimated a fellow Necromancer¡¯s madness. I had a contingency n in case I was cornered and another one in the eventuality of my death." Ka was referring to Lith¡¯s promise.

    "Don¡¯t you mean your partial undead nature?" Scarlett corrected her friend.

    "Have I already mentioned all Necromancers are a bit insane?"

    Ka used Invigoration to further her healing process, revealing to the shocked Scorpicore that her body held both a mana and a blood core.

 Chapter 222 After the Storm

    "I don¡¯t understand. What is that thing? How did you manage to survive the explosion?" Scarlett was happy to see Ka alive, even if she was heavily injured.

    Most of the shadow that usually covered her massive skeleton was gone, leaving itpletely exposed. Only a faint mist covered the zone where her internal organs were supposed to be.

    One of her front paws was missing and the red light that usually burned inside her eyes was almost gone.

    When it started blinking, Ka copsed on the ground.

    "Survive is a strong word. Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m notpletely dead. As for your questions, it¡¯s a bitplicated to exin. After my evolution, I have been shunned by humans and magical beasts alike.

    "They don¡¯t see beyond my physical appearance, that¡¯s why I started spending so much time with the various tribes of higher undead. I felt like I didn¡¯t belong in the forest anymore, so I was searching for a new family."

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell me that earlier? I would have taught them a lesson!" Scarlett roared in outrage.

    "To what end?" Ka sneered. "Nothing would have changed. They would behave in front of you and keep ostracizing me as soon as you turned your back. I don¡¯t need anyone¡¯s pity nor protection."

    Her voice was feeble, but filled with determination.

    "However, greater undead always treated me with respect. After I adopted my daughter, I was seriously considering turning myself into a true undead instead of being stuck in this half baked form.

    "So, I started researching the blood cores, experimenting on myself to see how they interact with a living body with an intact mana core. Worst case scenario, I would have be a real undead. Nothing would have changed for me.

    "I would still be an Awakened one and Nok would follow me even if I had three heads. The actual result was quite underwhelming. The second core does nothing except take enough energy from me to sustain itself.

    "Since it didn¡¯t seem to have any side effects, I kept it as a study subject for my research on how to cure Mina. It pains me to admit that I hope the same cure will help me too. It¡¯s so frustrating always being alone."

    Ka paused, the shadow inside her body kept getting thinner.

    "It¡¯s only thanks to my experiments that, when I recalled the darkness magic animating my undead, I was able to avoid the overload by splitting the energy between both cores. That way even if one shattered, the other would remain.

    The problem is that now that they have almost the same strength, I don¡¯t know which will prevail."

    "How can I help you?" Scarlett asked, wishing she could do the same thing Lith had done for Protector.

    "Not much. Just wait for me toe back and be my friend no matter what the result is. Also, I would greatly appreciate if you helped me find a safe ce for me and Mina to live. Your forest doesn¡¯t suit any of us."

    Ka finally sumbed to exhaustion, the light in her eyes went outpletely. If not for some shreds of darkness still lingering over her, it would have been impossible to distinguish her from an old carcass.

    Scarlett felt a deep pain inside of her. By choosing to help the humans, she had endangered the lives of her underlings, causing the death of many of them. M¡¯Rook had died fighting the Valors, leaving her without a second inmand and many more had been gravely injured or maimed.

    As long as they were alive, she could heal them, but it would take a long time for the forest to recover from its wounds. In just two days, thebat prowess of her turf had been halved.

    Her dear friend Ka was now on the brink of death, Protector had almost died, and she couldn¡¯t help but consider it as her fault. Her arrogance had blinded her. She had been so confident in her strength that she almost lost everything she had.

    - "Now I understand why the members of the Council are so detached. The longer you live, the more painful it is when you lose someone. I¡¯ve known M¡¯Rook and Ka since they were just cubs, and I raised them both like they were my own.

    "Now M¡¯Rook is dead. Ka will survive or turn into a true undead, either way she will leave the forest forever. I¡¯ve been so obsessed with the Abomination threat, by pursuing my ¡¯master n¡¯ and always thinking big picture that I¡¯ve disregarded the details.

    "Those small, precious details that make my life worth living. I¡¯ve neglected both the lives of my subjects and their happiness. Maybe I have be too old to be a Lord of the forest. Maybe Leegaain is right, I should leave my turf to someone better than me and strive to be a Guardian.

    "By the Great Mother, I never thought the day I would get tired of living could evere."¨C Scarlett was lost in thought when she heard a movement from her right.

    Protector was getting up and for the first time since they had known each other, he seemed to be out of his mind with rage.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Protector. Your friend is fine, I made sure of that myself." Scarlett tried to calm him down.

    "Fine? How dare you to call losing decades of his life being ¡¯fine¡¯? Why the heck didn¡¯t you stop him?" He pointed his muzzle to Lith¡¯s shrivelled body. He had lost so much of his body weight before losing consciousness that he was unrecognizable.

    Protector was still as weak as a baby, his life hanging by a thread while his core could never recoverpletely from the damage it had suffered. Yet his rage was stronger than all that.

    "You wanted him to die, you crazy f*cker! Did you think I have gone deaf? I heard your whole conversation with that pompous a*s, whoever she was. You can forget me helping you again in the future! If you don¡¯t want to make an enemy out of me, you¡¯d better do as I say."

    Scarlett nodded. Her guilt prevented her from even trying to defend her foolish actions.

    "As soon as Lith wakes up, you¡¯ll tell him that I¡¯m dead."

    "What?" Scarlett didn¡¯t see thating.

    "What he did was stupid, reckless, and immature. He may act all wise and mighty, but his earlier actions were those of a child throwing a tantrum." By sharing their life forces, Protector had been able to see Lith¡¯s life just like Lith had seen his.

    He still couldn¡¯t believe his friend was actually older than himself and an alien from a gods forsaken world at that. Yet the revtion hadn¡¯t changed the feelings Protector harbored toward Lith.

    Quite to the contrary, it made them even deeper.

    "He has gone through a lot of pain, maybe too much, but that¡¯s not justification enough to put an end to his own life in a mad attempt to save me. If Lith learns about my survival, he will not hesitate to repeat the same mistake.

    I would have died, leaving my mate alone, but so what? He didn¡¯t stop for a second to think about what he was throwing away. All he cared about was keeping life and death in his own hands, like it was all a game and he refused to ept defeat.

    His obsession with control will sooner orter kill him. He needs to experience the pain of loss again to appreciate what he has. His family, his friends, the little female, and you, Solus." Protector said to the ring at Lith¡¯s finger, leaving Solus shocked.

    "Solus?" Scarlett asked.

    "The female that inhabits the ring. That¡¯s her name."

    Scarlett pondered for a while. The name didn¡¯t ring any bells. She had no idea it was something Lith hade up with years ago, so all of her knowledge was useless in solving the mystery behind her existence.

    "You too must keep my survival secret from him, otherwise he¡¯ll never change. So far, he has lived pushing everyone away, never letting peoplee close to him and making up one excuse after another to justify his actions.

    He has lost years before appreciating even his own family. If he keeps acting like this, he will understand how much he cares for those around him only after he has lost them for good and then he will turn into another Balkor. Is this what you want for him, Solus?

    A life of self-inflicted istion followed by killing sprees with no care for the consequences?"

    Even if Scarlett had allowed her to respond via a mind link, Solus didn¡¯t know what to say. Earlier she had tried to stop Lith, but she was too exhausted to push through the barrier the world¡¯s will had put him into to prevent her from interfering.

    "Please Solus, listen to me." Protector continued.

    "This is the only way to help him. By telling him of his sess, you would be enabling his obsession. It would only be a matter of time before he does it again. He will suffer for my loss, yes, but it should act as a wake up call.

    "He needs to stop indulging in his obsession. We exist to pass down our hopes and dreams for the future through our actions. Our lives are like rivers that cross paths, sometimes briefly, sometimes for a long time creating a bond.

    Those bonds are what allows us to leave a part of ourselves behind.

    "Our legacy is not limited to our offspring. Every person we meet changes us, as we change them. I know he will suffer for my loss, but it¡¯s not the end of the world.

    Either he learns to open himself up to others, instead of trapping himself into ns and preparations for what may or may not happen, or he will end up cutting his ties with everyone to avoid getting hurt.

    Whatever he decides, at least he will find his way in life. What we are going to offer him, is a chance to understand every day is precious and it should not be wasted on revenge and recrimination."

    Solus didn¡¯t say a word, crying the whole time.

    "Solus, these are myst words, so please find a way to pass them to Lith. Hate is a double edged sword. It can give you the strength to face your enemies and protect those you love. Yet if it bes your reason for living instead of just a tool for survival, it will turn into a venom that will consume you.

    Even if we mette in my life, even we aren¡¯t even of the same race, know this. I¡¯ve always loved him as a son and I always will."

    Solus was still hesitant, lying to Lith was something she had never thought about before. She didn¡¯t even know if she was capable of doing it.

    "How many people has he ever called a friend?" Protector¡¯s voice resounded in her mind.

    "Just you and me." She replied.

    "Then you know that I¡¯m right. Scarlett, send me back to Lutia. I¡¯ll move away with my mate to not let him discover the truth."

    Scarlett dispelled the dimensional seal, sending Lith to the field hospital through a Warp Steps before opening another one for Protector. She decided that, if she managed to survive the third and final night, as soon as her forest was restored, she would hunt Balkor down like the monster he was.

    ***

    Just as Balkor had predicted, the anniversary of the day his family died was the worst day that everyone in the four remaining academies had ever lived. The Professors spent the morning treating the injured, counting the dead, and notifying the families of the victims.

    After the events of thest night, the survivors felt hopeless. Several Professors, including Trasque, had died, others, like Nalear, were so badly injured that they were not able to take part in the final stand.

    The White Griffon academy had suffered the fewest casualties during the first day, but now its upants felt like they had got the short end of the stick. Their academy was the only one to have lost all of its evolved monsters except the Lord of the forest.

    Without Ka, there would be no protective arrays to weaken the enemy or her undead army to take the brunt of the damage. Without Protector running like lightning through the battlefield, any dy in sending reinforcements could prove to be lethal.

    Lith, Phloria, and Yurial were hospitalized and kept away from the battle. Phloria woke up around noon. Aside from crippling exhaustion, she felt fine. She had no idea what had happened after she had been struck by the lightning.

    When she saw Lithying in a bed nearby her own, her heart skipped a beat. He was deadly pale and he looked like a sixty year old man, his hair had bepletely grey and some spots of his head were bald. With skin pulled tight over his bones, he appeared skeletal. His entire body burned with fever, drenching the bed with sweat.

 Chapter 223 After the Storm 2

    "What happened to Lith?" Phloria needed to lean against the walls or the beds to avoid falling on the ground. Every step she took towards his bed felt like she was trying to uproot a tree, making her sweat bullets. Yet she didn¡¯t stop until someone finally noticed her struggle.

    "Good grief, you shouldn¡¯t strain yourself anymore, youngdy. You are lucky to still be alive." Professor Vastor rushed to her aid, taking out a chair from his dimensional amulet to make her rest.

    "Please Professor, tell me what happened." Phloria was on the verge of passing out again, but her tone was determined enough to not leave room for doubts. Vastor could only tell her the truth or sedate her, there was no other way to calm her down.

    It was likely to be thest day all of them had to live. Vastor decided that forcing such a young girl to spend it unconscious in a bed would be too cruel. There was a reason why they couldn¡¯t just send the students back home.

    They were still Balkor¡¯s target.

    After the Earth and Crystal Griffon academies fell, their students had been Warped to the Royal pce to keep them out of harm¡¯s way. Some of the old noble families had decided to bring them home, only to be attacked during the second night by Balkor¡¯s Crawlers.

    Only those that had timely fled to a different region or remained in the pce had been spared from the onught. The number of casualties was already in the hundreds and counting. Without the protection of the arrays, a noble house was as safe as amoner one.

    "I don¡¯t know, I really don¡¯t." He replied seeing the concern growing in her eyes.

    "You and Lord Deirus were tainted by a Valor, but Lith somehow managed to prevent you from turning into undead. Then a friend of his called Lith on his deathbed. From what I heard, Lith freaked out.

    Then, all that I know is that he arrived here like that."

    "Is he going to die?" Her eyes were watery, but she was unwavering. She would not let Vastor get away with a vague answer.

    "It¡¯s unlikely, but possible." He finally admitted after much thought.

    "I¡¯ve seen a simr condition in patients that had pushed themselves too hard using magic. The only thing we can do is let him rest.. He should get back to normal in a couple of weeks."

    - "If he doesn¡¯t die tonight, either at the hand of Balkor¡¯s thralls or from going for broke to save your lives earlier."¨C Vastor inwardly added.

    "Thanks, Professor." He had expected her to cry and whine like the little girl she was, yet Phloria smiled. It was something that Vastor hadn¡¯t seen in days.

    "Can I stay here, please?" She took Lith¡¯s hand in her own, hoping he could feel her touch and somehow draw strength from it.

    Usually Vastor would have scolded her and sent her back to her bed, but the sincerity of Phloria¡¯s feelings despite her own predicament had moved even his old, shriveled heart.

    Vastor used magic to rearrange the beds, moving Phloria¡¯s right beside Lith¡¯s. He even gave her nketsrge enough to cover both beds, turning them into a makeshift double bed.

    "Just promise me you¡¯ll keep your hands where they belong. This is a hospital, after all." She turned beet red while Vastorughed at his own joke. A short whileter he finally left them alone.

    He doubted Lith would wake up to enjoy herpany, but if it that was going to be herst night on Mogar, Phloria had the right to spend it with someone she loved.

    ***

    Without Ka¡¯s arrays, there was no reason to keep all the students in one ce. They had learned from the previous night that rounding them up like that without a rock solid defense was akin to wrapping them up and offering them as a present to the enemy.

    This time they kept the students in their own housing, preparing multiple Warping arrays ahead of time to scatter them all around the forest in case thest line of defense fell again.

    When the sun started to set, fear started to spread. When night fell, the fear turned into panic. Many students broke out into hysterics, forcing their roommates to knock them out before they hurt somebody.

    When the night was about to end, even the Professors were drenched in cold sweat. The stress from the prolonged wait had tired them out almost as much actualbat.

    "What the heck is he waiting for?" Linjos was a nervous wreck, pacing non stop inside the headquarters.

    "Usually Balkor keeps the worst for the precise hour his family was killed, but we are way past that point!"

    When daylight finally came, the whole Griffon Kingdom rejoiced. Four out of the six great academies were still standing and the anniversary had ended with no further bloodshed.

    The Headmasters contacted the Crown, who ordered them to keep waiting and not lower their guard. Balkor¡¯s shadow was so deeply etched in their minds that the Royals couldn¡¯t believe their own luck.

    It was noon before the King ordered them to send the students back home. The yearly god of death¡¯s threat was over, but the wounds he had left behind were deep. Many things had to be done before life could go back to normal.

    ***

    After Balkor¡¯s eleventh assault was over, the smoldering embers of the civil war were almostpletely extinguished.

    During the first five years of the god of death¡¯s reign of terror, the ancient noble households didn¡¯t care much for his actions. There were too many of them, hence the odds of being Balkor¡¯s victim were low.

    Most families would secretly pray for the god of death to get rid of their most dangerouspetitors in their stead, so they could get hold of theirnds and riches.

    When the god of death started targeting the Crown and the Mage Association, the ancient noble households rejoiced. They even started to consider Balkor as their benefactor.

    He had kept the Crown off their game for years, forcing them to invest more time and resources into defending themselves from the next attack rather than in investigating the nobles¡¯ schemes and illegal trafficking.

    Balkor was the reason why the Crown had been weakened for so long, allowing Lukart to pursue his dream of bing the next King. Balkor¡¯s anniversary had been a red-letter day for organized crime during the past five years.

    However, when the god of death announced in his own twisted way that he would go after the academies, everything changed. The old noble families didn¡¯t need the Crown or the Mage Association to thrive, but without their most talented offspring, they were as good as dead.

    Most of the students of the six great academies came from their ranks. They were the future family leaders and the only ones that could ensure their prosperity in a world where magic was the cornerstone for all lucrative business.

    The ancient households¡¯ magical legacies amounted to nothing without heirs talented enough to wield them. The eleventh attack had proved to them how weak they actually were.

    They werepletely at the mercy of a madman, capable of destroying years worth of efforts nurturing a mage in a single night.

    The new situation required reprioritization of both their short and long-term goals. Any attempt to overthrown the Crown or undermine its authority was now a liability for them too.

    Only the Royal family and the Mage Association had managed to obtain samples from Balkor¡¯s creatures over the years. Further, they had been actively researching countermeasures against them.

    Even the most radical among the old noble families had to be concerned with what Balkor would do next year. Many of them had chosen to send their heirs to the Crystal and Earth Griffon academies, away from the Queen¡¯s pet projects.

    Not only had those academies fallen, but also more than half their students had perished during the second night. It was enough to bring the old families low, forcing them to have their magicless offspring marry mages and have them take the family name, even if they were of humble origins.

    Their future had suddenly be an unknown variable. To improve their odds of survival, they were even willing to help the Crown with their personal funds to find and neutralize Balkor once and for all.

    To make things worse for the ancient households, now they were also terrified at the idea that other Balkors could be born by their own hand.

    Forbidding the practice of magic tomoners was impossible.

    Without them, it would take barely a generation for the Griffon Kingdom to lose its military prowess and be conquered by the neighboring countries. The second and almost as important reason was that the survivors of the eleventh attack had learned their lesson.

    Living together, fighting together, and dying together had overturned the noble youths¡¯ perspective on life. They had experienced first hand their own mortality and how their titles were nothing in front of true power.

    Most of the children stopped pursuing their parents¡¯ agenda and dedicated their time to the study of the only thing that mattered: magic.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, the morning after the day of the anniversary

    Like all those that were aware of the events taking ce at the academies, the Ernas were living in a state of unrelenting terror, barely able to sleep or eat. Jirni and Orion had stopped working for thest three days. They were off their game, always worrying about the fate of their children.

    When she learned from the report of the second day that Lith had saved Phloria, she was walking on air to the point that she rmended preparing a betrothal gift for Lith to Orion.

    Orion was so moved by that little monster¡¯s care for his daughter that he almost agreed.

    Both of them remained deeply shocked reading about how critical his condition was and how it was likely to be rted to his effort to save Phloria¡¯s and Yurial¡¯s lives.

    Jirni swore that if her daughters survived this hurdle, she would never meddle in their love lives again. They each seemed more than capable of finding a good man by themselves.

    Orion swore to his wife that he would make no more objections to Lith¡¯s rtionship with Phloria, as long as he brought their little Flower back home in one piece.

    When the final report arrived and they learned that all three of their daughters were alive and well, the Ernas couple wept with joy for over an hour. Even as a royal constable, Jirni would only receive the status reports once a day after sunrise, just like any other royal servant.

    They were so happy that they decided to take the rest of the week off, to wee their daughters back and spend as much time with them as possible. The royal heralds called them more than once, saying that it was impossible to grant them another leave.

    Every single civil servant with a child in an academy had had the same idea, either to spend some quality time with their families or to grieve their loss. The Ernas were among the most loyal subjects to the Crown, always putting duty above everything else during their long years of service.

    This time, Jirni and Orion replied that the Kingdom could go f*ck itself off and refused all the following calls. Their move greatly embarrassed the Crown, but there was nothing they could do about it.

    Most of the parents were ready to give their resignation rather than miss their children¡¯s homing.

    Jirni spent the morning of the third day speaking with her daughters. While they were still in the forest for security reasons, themunicators were finally online again. She was deeply shocked to discover that Phloria was in such a pitiful state when she told her everything that had happened and how critical Lith¡¯s condition was.

    Their mother-daughter rtionship had been getting better, but such news was still something that Jirni would expect Phloria to speak about with Orion, not her.

    Balkor¡¯s threat was over, so her concern faded away while a n took form into her mind. She immediately had the servant prepare the best guest rooms of the house for their future upants.

    Jirni gave precise instructions to tone down the staff¡¯s dress code. She had also prepared clothes that she and Orion usually wore during their vacations to their country cottage, where they dedicated themselves only to their hobbies and were away from the prying eyes and the uncaring nature of the rules and etiquette their usual social life required.

    It was Orion¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s happiest time of the year since the former could swear, get dirty and y with his children like a normal father, while thetter could avoid wearing dresses and act like a tomboy until their departure.

    - "Lith¡¯s family should still not know anything about what happened. I think it¡¯s time I pay them a visit. It¡¯s better if the bearer of so much bad news is a mother who went through the same nightmare, rather than a royal messenger that has been forced to repeat the same script hundreds of times.

    First impressions count, so I need to y this to perfection. If I get his mother on my side, it¡¯s game, set, and match. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."¨C Jirni thought.

 Chapter 224 Meet the Parents

    Phloria, Friya, and Quy returned home in the early afternoon. Much to their surprise, the academy had received instructions for the trio to bring Lith along with them. After getting the news, Phloria was overjoyed.

    He had yet to regain his senses and his condition was still critical. He needed to regrly be forced to drink potions to sustain his life. Solus had been constantly using Invigoration to stabilize his mana core and mend the countless internal wounds that overexerting his body had caused.

    - "The worst should be over. Lith now needs to rest." Solus would perform a full check up every hour.

    "What worries me is his mind. He has yet to learn about Protector¡¯s alleged death, but I can feel his heart withering away. It¡¯s like he has never stopped grieving, even in his unconscious state."¨C

    - "I take back most of the bad things I¡¯ve thought about mom over the years. Not only did she bring Lith home with us, but she also assigned the best guest room to him."¨C

    Phloriay him on his bed before wiping off the sweat from his face with a wet cloth. She had learned how to feed him and keep him clean from the medical staff during the third day.

    Phloria wouldn¡¯t let anyone else take care of him. She didn¡¯t want Lith to be alone when he woke up.

    ***

    For a regr person incapable of using magic, reaching the vige of Lutia would prove to be a long and boring journey. The vige was in the middle of nowhere and the nearest branch of the Mage Association with a Warp Steps was hundreds of kilometers away.

    Jirni Ernas wasn¡¯t regr and ording to many, barely a person. To aplish her goal, she contacted Captain Locrias, the leader of the Queen¡¯s corps unit in charge of protecting Lith¡¯s family, and had him open a Warp Steps for her.

    Jirni was officially on leave, but her reputation as royal constable preceded her. Captain Locrias was aware of her amazing yet gruesome track record.

    - "It¡¯s much better to be on the good side of such a person, rather than on her ck list."¨C

    Captain Locrias knew that he was likely to be forced to pay for the long range portable Gates out of his own pocket, but if it meant Jirni Ernas owed him a favor, it was worth the price.

    Even with her inest clothes, only someone deaf, dumb, and blind could mistake Jirni for amoner. She was aware of this so, before knocking at the door, she had already handpicked the most suitable words to introduce herself.

    "Good evening, my Lady. Are you lost?" Raaz recognized the woman in front of him as a noble at first sight. He hid his left hand behind his back, alerting Elina to pick a weapon and Tista to ready a spell.

    "Good evening, good sir." Jirni brought out her best smile, creeping Raaz out. Despite her small size, he had an eerie feeling just by looking her in the eyes.

    "My name is Jirni Ernas. I¡¯m the mother of Phloria, Lith¡¯s girlfriend." In her experience, it was better to sandwich the bad news between good news, to lessen the impact.

    Raaz looked at her like she was insane. Lith had no girlfriend, he was certain of that. The women of the family keptining that even if his thirteenth birthday was just around the corner, Lith had yet to date or even show interest in any girl.

    On Mogar, the new world, teenagers¡¯ bodies would fully develop around their thirteenth year of age, but they wouldn¡¯t be considered adults until they turned sixteen.

    The marrying age for both men and women ranged from sixteen to the twenty-five years of age. After that, it was considered ate marriage and it would be much harder to find a spouse unless of course, the betrothal gift was juicy enough to make the age gap irrelevant.

    Raaz was about to rudely send her off when Tista pushed him away, inviting Jirni toe in.

    "Lady Ernas, it¡¯s such a pleasure to finally meet you. Lith always talks fondly about you." Tista lied through her teeth, just like her brother had taught her over the years.

    She had never heard Jirni¡¯s name before, but Lith had often talked with her about Phloria Ernas. She knew they were dating for a while and didn¡¯t want Raaz to ruin things for him.

    Jirni recognized the lie, but appreciated the talent and the effort behind it.

    "Thanks, dear Tista. It¡¯s better if you all sit down. We have a serious matter to discuss." The whole family turned as pale as a ghost. A mother visiting a young man¡¯s family talking about a serious matter could only mean one thing: pregnancy.

    Raaz couldn¡¯t believe his ears, staring at Tista as though she had poisoned him.

    "Wait, you knew about the two of them?"

    "Yes." Tista nodded, feeling the need to sit down. Suddenly she had weak knees at the idea of having a nephew from her little brother.

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell us about it?" Elina was happy and scared at the same time. Happy because her cherished son had finally found someone to love. Scared because there was no way out of that situation but marriage.

    Bing a father would turn his life upside down , not to mention bing part of the wife¡¯s family to preserve their honor and avoid the scandal.

    "Because he told me not to! Lith said you would make a big deal out of this and he didn¡¯t want you to pester him about it." Tista was regretting keeping his secret for so long.

    The truth was that Lith was worried about Tista. She kept idolizing him and disdaining thepany of other boys. So, he had decided to help her grow out of her brotherplex by telling her about his ¡¯girlfriend¡¯ and exaggerating things a bit.

    Now his n was backfiring. Her parents could read Tista like a book, her panic spread like wildfire during a summer day. Elina tried to prepare some tea for their guest, but her hands trembled so much that she was unable to hold the small pot.

    Jirni had purposely created the misunderstanding to have them all dancing in her palm.

    "Don¡¯t worry, dear Elina. Let me take care of it." Jirni made them sit while she prepared the hot beverage. She spiked it with a powerful tranquilizer she always carried inside her dimensional ring.

    - "Poor souls. After I tell them the truth, they will regret that my visit wasn¡¯t about our grandchild."¨C

    After they took several sips of tea, the tranquilizer kicked in soothing their nerves. Only then did she exin Balkor¡¯s existence and what their son had gone through over thest few days. It took them a few minutes and a lot of spiked tea to recover from the shock.

    "Why didn¡¯t he tell us anything? We thought he was taking the academy¡¯s third test." Elina broke into tears. Even knowing that her son was alive and well couldn¡¯t stop her from fearing for his fate and feeling hurt by his lies.

    Jirni took Elina¡¯s hand between hers, trying to console her.

    "He did it to protect you. There was nothing you could do for him, believe me. I spent thest three days crying and worrying I¡¯d never see my little girls again. I had him moved to my house to make sure he receives the best treatments avable.

    "House Ernas has a private Warp Steps. It allows the finest healers of the Kingdom to reach the estate within a few seconds. I couldn¡¯t leave the man who saved my daughter¡¯s life in the hands of strangers.

    Lith and Phloria have been dating for over a month and after all that has happened, we are basically family."

    While Jirni¡¯s tone was full of sympathy and her voice almost broken with emotion, she was actually inwardly congratting herself for her sob performance. By reading the mood in the living room, she decided it was time tond the final blow.

    "Lith has yet to regain his senses, but I¡¯m sure that when he does, he¡¯ll need his family to recover from the terrible experience he went through. I have already arranged our transportation. You will be my honored guests for all the time you need."

    "Thank you, thank you so much." Elina clenched Jirni¡¯s hand like it was a lifeline,

    "Lith is so lucky to have a friend like you. We¡¯ll never forget your generosity." She said while crying her eyes out.

    - "One down, two more to go."¨C Jirni thought.

    ***

    When Jirni arrived back home it was almost sundown. Winter wasing and the days were getting shorter. Even with the help of the tranquilizer, Lith¡¯s family had required some time before being able to move.

    After informing Rena, she had insisted on apanying them.

    Jirni was pleasantly surprised to discover that Phloria was still at Lith¡¯s bedside, washing his chest and arms with a wet cloth to clean him from the sweat. She knew that Phloria was capable of doing it with magic.

    It meant that, even if Phloria herself had yet to realize it, her daughter¡¯s affection for him was rooted deeply enough to feel reassured by the physical contact.

    Jirni smiled, another piece of the puzzle had fallen into ce by itself.

    - "I love it when a nes together."¨C Jirni inwardly rejoiced.

    "Phloria my dear, you need to rest." She said.

    - "Those bags under your eyes and your dedication will surely win over your mother inw."¨C She actually thought.

    "Thanks, mom. I was thinking about taking a nap as soon as I finish here." Phloria¡¯s smile was tired, yet she appreciated her mother¡¯s concern instead of her usual nagging. Since her visit to the academy, her mother had be as thoughtful as Orion.

    "I¡¯ll immediately have a warm bath prepared, and fresh sheets ced on your bed. You deserve a good night¡¯s sleep." Phloria tensed up, just like Jirni had hoped.

    "Thanks, but I think I will remain here." Phloria¡¯s voicecked the earlier kindness and was now filled with the stubborn determination that Jirni had learned to love and hate over the years.

    "It¡¯s not proper for ady to sleep in the same room with a young man, even if he is unconscious."

    Jirni faked her disapproval while keeping an ear on the approaching steps. ording to her estimations, to take advantage of those unexpected circumstances, she needed to buy a few more seconds and poke Phloria once or twice.

    "You have gone through a lot, yet you never left his side for almost two days." Jirni seemed to be genuinely worried, even making her eyes watery at will.

    "You need to take better care of yourself. Let the medical staff rece you for a few hours, you need some rest. Lith is still going to be here when you wake up."

    "I don¡¯t give a damn if it¡¯s proper or not!" Phloria yelled loud enough that even Captain Locrias back in Lutia could almost hear her.

    "I¡¯m not going out of here until he wakes up or his family arrives! I don¡¯t want him to wake up in a strange ce surrounded by strangers!

    I know it¡¯s just a superstition, but if there¡¯s even one chance in a million that having someone close that cares for him may help him recover, I¡¯m willing to stay here as long as it takes!"

    Phloria had yet to give her mother a piece of her mind, but Elina¡¯s sudden arrival stopped her in her tracks.

    "My little Flower, I only meant that you should at least ask for his family¡¯s approval first." Jirni said with an apologetic tone like it was all a misunderstanding.

    When a secondter Lith¡¯s father and sisters entered the room, Phloria realized her mother had yed her like a fiddle. She turned pale, emphasizing her bloodshot eyes and the dark bags below them.

    Elina reached the bed, remaining horrified by her son¡¯s condition. His body looked like a dried up corpse, his hair had turned grey, and wrinkles had appeared on his face and hands. He seemed to have aged decades from thest time she had seen him.

    His breathing was ragged, but regr. After Tista triple checked him, reassuring the rest of the family that Lith¡¯s life wasn¡¯t in danger despite his appearance, Elina turned to Phloria and took her hands between hers, kissing them non stop.

    "Thank you so much for being by my son¡¯s side all this time. You have no idea how scared I was of him being alone in a moment like this. He is really a lucky boy to have found such a wonderful and beautiful girlfriend."

    Then, Elina embraced her, soon followed by the whole family in a long group hug. Phloria had be beet red, not only was she embarassed to death by what she had said in front of Lith¡¯s family, but also because she couldn¡¯t help butpare herself with his sisters.

    Aside from her height, they ran circles around her in every regard. Looks, curves, and even their natural scent were leagues above hers. Tista was the one that crushed her self esteem the most.

    Having received Lith¡¯s treatments since she was very young, Tista had wless skin, soft curves in all the right ces, and was even almost as tall as Phloria.

    Phloria was moved by their gratitude and kind words, but the insecure teenage girl inside her kept nagging at her, quoting Professor Manohar in calling her "a t beanpole".

 Chapter 225 Awakening

    Griffon Kingdom, Tyris¡¯s underground dungeon.

    "Please, tell me that you found the time to go and check on the anomaly this time."

    Leegaain was burning with curiosity.

    "Yes, I did." Tyris nodded without moving her eyes from the archives¡¯ records of thest ten years. She was investigating those who had ess to the remains of Arthan¡¯s Madness, hoping to find a clue about the mastermind behind the Abomination threat.

    "It was nothing special. It was a male human Abomination hybrid, just as we sensed the first time. The only odd thing about it is that he underwent a tribtion simr to our own. The second test was about self control, like for evolved beasts."

    "What happened then?" Leegaain was eager to hear the whole story.

    "I don¡¯t know." She shrugged. "I left while he was in the middle of an borate suicide attempt. He chose to trade his life to rescue someone from death. I don¡¯t have time to waste with the small stuff. He has failed the tribtion or he managed to save his friend, either way he is dead now."

    "What?" Leegaain jumped in surprise, thebined impact of his four ws on the ground sent a small tremor through the Gorgon Empire¡¯s castle. Its inhabitants went into a panic, since floating castles weren¡¯t supposed to be affected by quakes.

    "Tyris, old friend, after hearing your words I¡¯m almost tempted to rule a country for the first time in my long life. It seems that between civil wars, gues, gods of death, and the internal strife between the nobles and the Crown your life must be really exciting.

    "Otherwise, how the heck could you brush off the existence of a new life form that has already undergone two tribtions within such a short time frame? What if he survived? What if he isn¡¯t Guardian material, but something else entirely?

    "Very few beings manage to pass the second tribtion. Getting a hold on your own desires is one of the hardest things to do. We could likely have a being that could side with the Abominations and upset the bnce permanently on our hands.

    "If the anomaly is still alive, we must absolutely keep watch on his next tribtions to understand what the heck is going on. A human Guardian would already be a shocking enough piece of news, let alone a hybrid!"

    Tyris froze for a second. Aside from his stupid jokes, Leegaain¡¯s words always held great significance.

    "Maybe you are right." She replied trying to cover her blunder.

    "I seem to remember he wore a White Griffon academy uniform. I¡¯ll send someone to keep an eye on him so, in case your fearse true, we can take him out before he bes too dangerous."

    ***

    During the following days, life was hectic for most of the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s upper echelons. Countless scouts were sent to the Blood Desert to search for Balkor¡¯s whereabouts. Killing him was the safest way to prevent the next attack from happening.

    The Alchemists of the Mage Association were having a hard time studying the toxins extracted from the undead. With each passing year, the god of death would make them moreplex and harder to cleanse. If they didn¡¯t keep up with him, their antidotes would be useless.

    This time, the Healers had collected a great number of tissue samples from the captured undead. It had allowed them to discover the Abomination fragments mixed with the flesh, causing an uproar in the field of research. Until that moment, Abominations had simply been considered another species of monsters, a twisted evolution of magical beasts.

    However, thanks to Balkor¡¯s effort to stabilize them and the ten year long experience of the royal Healers in preserving the samples, the human scientists managed to gain a deeper understanding of their nature.

    Researching Abominations became the top priority. It would help the Wardens to create new defensive arrays capable of weakening, if not killing, Balkor¡¯s thralls.

    The remaining four of the six great academies were in desperate need of staff. Between the injured, the dead, and those who had resigned to look for a less dangerous job, like hunting dragons or defusing explosive arrays, there were many sses left unattended.

    Balkor¡¯s shadow made serving as Professor in an academy less of a prestigious position and more like a death sentence.

    Among the Headmasters, Linjos had gotten the short end of the stick again. Not only did he have to find trustworthy mages to rece the Professors he lost during the attack, but he was constantly bothered by the other Headmasters.

    His n had saved their academies, their careers, and most importantly their lives.

    They no longer saw him as a young, arrogant brat that had be the youngest Headmaster ever only because he was the Queen¡¯s new pet project. They finally recognized his worth and the brilliance of his mind.

    They were willing to set aside their pride along with the old ways, often asking Linjos for advice about who to hire and how to change their academies for the better.

    He was really ttered by all their attentions, but he was forced to spend half his time taking care of their academies instead of his own. Yet Linjos could only grin and bear with it, he knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

    If he managed to obtain their trust and cooperation, the academy system could finally be changed for good. Once the Council of the Headmasters made a decision, the nobles could onlyply.

    It would solve one of the most pressing matters that had gued the Kingdom for years. Sure, it would still take decades to iron out all the details and to win over enough of the old noble families to prevent other sabotages from happening, but it would still be a great start.

    ***

    House Ernas, five days after the attack

    Lith¡¯s condition was getting better with each day. The fever was gone and thanks to the constant care he received from both families and Solus, his shriveled body was slowly returning to normal.

    Yet he still looked like an old man and gave no sign he would wake up any time soon. Jirni proved to be an amazing host, providing Lith¡¯s family with the best rooms and with everything they could need.

    She had taken her time, showing them around the house little by little and telling them about its history.

    Phloria spent a lot of time with Rena and Tista, since they would either help her to take care of Lith, or force her to take a break and rest while Elina and Friya would relieve her.

    When Lith regained his senses in the afternoon, he already knew about his failure. Hisst memory before fainting was of Protector¡¯s still cracked core. Even burning his life force had not been enough to repair such extensive damage, not with his own core already running on fumes and his body on the verge of copse.

    Yet he had to ask.

    - "Solus, is Protector..."

    "Yes, he is gone." She replied, carefully avoiding to lying to him. "I¡¯m so sorry for your loss." She wept remembering Protector¡¯s parting words. She had to find a way to pass them to Lith.

    "I knew it. No matter how hard I work, no matter how much I try, I always fail when it really matters."- Tears ran along his cheeks, they were the first sign of life in more than five days.

    "Lith, are you awake?" Normally, he would be surprised hearing Phloria¡¯s voice, but now he was too tired to care. His mind kept reying Protector¡¯sst moments of life. The grief overwhelmed him again, making him feel like his heart was getting squeezed in a vice.

    "Yes." Lith was unable to recognize his own voice. It was hoarse and feeble, like a hiss. He tried to get up, but his arms were too weak for the task. The attempt almost made him pass out from overexertion.

    Lith took a deep breath, yet even that was too much for his current condition. He felt his lungs burn and he coughed uncontrobly. He heard the footsteps of someone running away and felt someone helping him lie downfortably.

    Lith recognized Tista¡¯s scent as soon as she got close.

    "Don¡¯t push yourself, lil brother. Your condition is getting better every day, but you need to rest. Dad is going to be here soon."

    Lith was too sad to ask why Phloria was in their home, or what had happened to him. The only thing he could think about was finding a way to make the pain stop. Ever since his rebirth, he had made sure to keep everyone and everything under his control.

    He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to endure what had happened to Carl again. His unquenchable hunger for power had started as a way to escape from the madness his death and rebirth cycle represented.

    Over time, the love he had developed for his family had changed it into a way to create a small ecosystem where he was god and all those he cared about were bound to be safe.

    First, he had taken care of the hunger, then he had cured Tista, and got rid of every single threat the new world posed to his family. Magical beasts, wanted felons, Abominations, he had taken care of them all, permanently.

    With every sess, Lith had grown more confident of his n until he had managed to reassure himself that, as long as he followed that pattern, everything would be alright.

    Protector¡¯s death had crushed that illusion, shattering the beliefs on which he had based his whole existence up until that point.

    He kept weeping, not only for Protector, but also for himself.

    - "If someone as strong as Ryman died so easily, there¡¯s no way I can keep my family safe. They are all so weak. It¡¯s only a matter of time before I lose them all. What¡¯s the point of trying so hard if I¡¯m destined to fail? No matter what I do, I can only dy the inevitable."-

    His constant weeping and sobbing were only interrupted by the cough.

    Raaz arrived at his bedside, holding him to his chest to calm him down.

    "Does it hurt so bad? Do you want some pain medication? Please, speak to me. Tell me what¡¯s wrong."

    He was holding back his tears. Raaz had never seen Lith so weak, both physically and mentally. He was afraid that his condition could be even more severe than it appeared, but he didn¡¯t know what to do.

    It was the first time that his son needed his help, yet Raaz feltpletely useless. The only thing he could do was to stay strong in front of him. He didn¡¯t want to add himself to the list of Lith¡¯s worries.

    "It¡¯s not my body that hurts, dad. It¡¯s the loss. My only true friend died today."

    Phloria felt hurt by those words, but she kept silent. Lith¡¯s rtionship with the evolved monster seemed to be deep and he was clearly confused, believing it was still the second day of the attack.

    Before his brain could realize what he was doing, Lith let everything out. Telling Raaz about how he and Protector had fought when he was still four, how they had be friends when he was eight after he killed Gerda, and how from that moment onward they had spent more and more time together.

    He told him about how Protector had taught him to be a better hunter, about all the creatures that they had fought together to keep the Trawn woods and their families safe until Lith had joined the academy.

    Even if he managed to leave Solus and the Awakened ones out of his story, every memory he shared worsened the pain. Lith second guessed everything he had done to and with Protector.

    "When we met, I just thought of turning him into warm fur for the winter. After he attempted to befriend me, I belittled him, only considering him as a means for an end. I exploited his kindness to bring food to our table and keep our family safe.

    "When I understood he was much more than a tool, I never told him how important he was to me. How precious it was to have someone I could share my burden with, someone who I could talk about all the things I had to keep secret from you and mom to keep you from worrying.

    "Now it¡¯s toote. I failed him the only time he needed me and now he is dead. It¡¯s all my fault. He wouldn¡¯t have left the Trawn woods if I didn¡¯t tell him about the academy.

    "He wouldn¡¯t have died if I wasn¡¯t too weak to save him. He will never know how sorry I am for all the bad things I thought about him nor how meeting him has changed my life. All of it happened because of my weakness and cowardice.

    I should be the one who died."

    Lith was incapable of epting that some things were inevitable, that life wasn¡¯t a game where he could save and load until he obtained the desired oue. He needed someone to me and his first choice was himself.

    All those in the room were shocked to the bone. The events that Lith considered as fond memories were a parent¡¯s worst nightmare. He had candidly confessed how he had put his life at risk time and time again, revealing that his family¡¯s wealth was built on a pile of lies and bones.

 Chapter 226 Truth Hurts

    Raaz was mad at the idea of his son¡¯s double life outside of his family, doing things that no child should ever even attempt to do. What angered him the most weren¡¯t all the lies Lith had told him, Raaz was already way beyond that point, but how he spoke about fighting to the death as if it was perfectly normal.

    He took deep breathes to control himself from time to time. His son needed to vent the pain that was eating at him from the inside. Raaz could always scold himter. s, Tista wasn¡¯t as strong as her father.

    She started weeping together with Lith, needing Phloria¡¯s help to be able to stand.

    "Why did you do all those things?" She blurted out.

    "I would have rather starved than allow you to take so many risks. A few meals and some extra coins will never be worth your life. What if something happened to you?"

    Tista only spoke out of concern, the revtion had been too shocking for her to ept it quietly. Yet to Lith¡¯s ears, her words sounded ungrateful like she was spitting on all the sacrifices he had made and the help Protector had given to him.

    "Why do you ask?" He was already used to the cough, he kept his voice low and hissing so it didn¡¯t interrupt him again. Not now that he found someone else to me.

    "Have you already forgotten about the cold? About how sickly you were and how drafty our house was during winter? We were all so hungry that Orpal and Trion would steal eggs from the henhouse and milk from the stable whenever they could.

    "Rena only took from the pantry what she needed to avoid fainting from hunger. Our parents knew it and they could only pretend everything was all right, but it was not! Why do you think Orpal was always picking on us?

    "Someone had to do something, it just happened to be me! If it wasn¡¯t for Protector, all of us wouldn¡¯t even be here. How dare you whine in hindsight, now that you are healthy and well fed? You should be thanking me and grieving him!

    "Stop being a baby and grow up, dammit! Everything in lifees at a price. The only reason you can allow yourself to be so na?ve and carefree is because others have always paid it in your stead. If I died back then, there would have been more food left for the rest of you. It was a win-win situation."

    Lith was so angry that he managed to stand up and open his eyes, staring at Tista with hatred. Phloria had to hold her tight to keep her calm. Tista had never seen Lith angry at her, nor had she ever witnessed the mad beast re he used on others.

    She had always been her brother¡¯s princess. The way he was speaking and acting towards her were ripping Tista¡¯s heart to shreds.

    Raaz poked his forehead gently enough that Lith barely noticed the hit.

    "Consider yourself pped, young man." He said with a sad but firm tone.

    "I¡¯m sorry for all you went through. I must have been a horrible father to make you feel the need to sacrifice your childhood to give us a better life. I¡¯ll never be able to forgive myself for that. It¡¯s a father¡¯s duty to take care of his children, not the other way around."

    He wiped off a silent tear off his own cheek, poking Lith¡¯s forehead again.

    "However, what you just said to your sister was just cruel. The gods only know if she would still be alive without all the care you gave her. There is no one in the family that has ever overlooked your efforts, especially Tista.

    You have always been her hero. What she was trying to say, is that you can¡¯t ask us to ept you risking your life like that. Yes, our life was harsh, but at least we had each other. You didn¡¯t have to push yourself so far, it wasn¡¯t worth it."

    "I had no choice." Lith rebuked. "Someone had to do something."

    "No, you had a choice." Another poke.

    "You could have just followed your siblings¡¯ lead, helping with the farm. It was our duty as parents to find a solution, not yours. You chose to y god instead. I don¡¯t know if you did it because you are incredibly smart or arrogant, but lying to your family and taking so many risks was the wrong decision.

    Even if you did it for the right reasons, it doesn¡¯t change anything. Gods, I¡¯m so stupid."

    Raaz pinched his own nose, closing his eyes to hold back the guilt that was ravaging his heart.

    "When we saw that huge Byk pelt at Count Lark¡¯s mansion, we understood you were hiding many things from us. We choose to keep our eyes shut because we were so proud of your achievements that we feared our interference could ruin your future.

    If you want to me someone, me me."

    Seeing his father despair and his sister crying was too much for Lith. Even grief-stricken, he knew that Raaz was right. They had never asked anything of him aside from being a happy and healthy child.

    It had been his decision to go hunting, just as it had been his decision to protect his family on his own. He knew the risks and had chosen to ignore them time and time again. Until Protector¡¯s death, his magic had made him overconfident.

    There was no one to me but himself. Lith suddenly felt like a child throwing a tantrum. His rage disappeared and with it the strength he had left. His head copsed on the cushions with his eyes closed again.

    "You are right, sorry." Was the only thing that he managed to say.

    Raaz recovered quickly, poking him again.

    "Don¡¯t you dare start ming yourself, young man." Raaz held his hand, letting Lith notice for the first time how shriveled it was.

    "It¡¯s not your fault if Protector died. From what you told me, he was a brave and smart beast. He wasn¡¯t your toy or your puppet. No one forced him to do anything. He knew the risks and he decided to help your academy anyway because he cared for you.

    He sacrificed himself to let you and all the other kids survive. If there is someone whining in hindsight here, it¡¯s you. Lith, you have every right to cry and mourn, but don¡¯t try to inflict pain on those close to you just to relieve your frustration."

    Lith felt deeply ashamed of his outburst. Taking it out on Tista and exposing his shared past with Protector had been childish. Yet, he felt better for it. Now he wasn¡¯t the only one who knew of Protector¡¯s gentle soul and valor.

    ***

    Thest few days had helped Quy to sort out her feelings. Unlike Phloria, she found herself too scared to spend so much time together with Lith¡¯s family. His mother and sisters were so beautiful that even the thought of beingpared to them made her wish to disappear.

    Also, while her heart was gripped by fear for Lith¡¯s condition, Quy couldn¡¯t stand to see him in such a poor state. After he had woken up, things had gotten even worse. It wasn¡¯t only his body that had been hurt, but his spirit too.

    Quy had never seen Lith cry or mope before. Until that moment she had considered him unshakable, always confident, capable of going against any odds anding out victorious. Now he was reduced to a shadow of himself, waiting for his death.

    She felt mean and shallow for thinking such things, but she couldn¡¯t help herself. Quy realized that because of her indecisiveness, their rtionship had never be something more than a simple friendship.

    Lith had no reason to let her into his life and she had always been too afraid of rejection to approach him. After Phloria had asked him out, they had grown even more distant. Quy knew that her feelings for him were withering by the day.

    In a way, she felt relieved. She and Phloria were sisters now, it would be terrible to force the rest of the family to pick a side between the two of them because of what she now understood had always been puppy love.

    Yurial wasn¡¯t doing well either. After returning home, he had hoped the joy of his survival would have been sufficient to convince his father to change the ns for his future.

    "Please, dad. Let¡¯s call the marriage with Libea off. She is indeed a beautiful young woman, but aside from that, we have nothing inmon. She despisesmoners, has no interest in magic, and cares more about looking pretty than about the prosperity of ournds.

    I can¡¯t spend the rest of my life with such a shallow person."

    Vn Deirus sighed, he understood his son¡¯s situation all too well. It was the same one he had found himself almost twenty-five years ago.

    "Yurial, I know that, after what you have gone through, you feel the need to make changes in your life, but I need you to face reality. This marriage was arranged over ten years ago. You gave your approval and renewed your vow before departing.

    "To cancel the agreement would mean losing a lot of face for our family. Who would trust someone that doesn¡¯t keep their word on such important matters? Not to mention that it would dy our ns for expansion by at least a generation.

    "Magic doesn¡¯t allow us to perform miracles, we still need men and funds to improve ournds. Your marriage will open our way in the old system, making everything faster and easier. Why do you think I married your mother?"

    Now it was Yurial¡¯s turn to sigh. There was little if no love between his parents. From the moment he had shown his magical potential, his mother had disappeared from his life. She had no role in raising Yurial, Vn was the only parent he ever had.

    Considering that he had to share his father with Vn¡¯s magical research and his duties as a Grand Duke, it didn¡¯t amount to much. That was one of the reasons he had fought so hard to be the heir. He desperately wanted Vn¡¯s recognition and love.

    His mother was at least able to manage the finances of the Grand Duchy, but the only reason she cared about magic was to unt her husband¡¯s skills and achievements in front of the other noble families.

    "It¡¯s painful to hear it from your father, but remember that once you give the family an heir, you¡¯ll be free to have any woman or man that you want. Just be discreet about it and don¡¯t get caught. Being discovered or having a bastard would be a disgrace to our house."

    Yurial nodded. Despite his young age, he had already had several lovers, but reality was proving to be a cruel mistress. The only thing he could do to fight the feeling of desperation gushing from his heart was to take a gulp of tranquilizer.

    After killing a man during the second exam, Yurial had used several kinds of potions to keep his mind in check and had almost be addicted to them. It had taken him time and effort to progressively stop taking his medications, but after almost dying twice during the god of death¡¯s assaults he couldn¡¯t avoid a rpse.

    He had yet to find the courage to check Lith¡¯s condition in person. Yurial felt responsible for what had happened to him and didn¡¯t know how to face his friend¡¯s family.

    The Deirus household had done its best to help his savior recover, but when even Manohar had thrown in the towel, saying they could only wait and see, there wasn¡¯t much anyone could do.

    Also, because Lith was currently living at house Ernas, Yurial could only talk to the girls via themunication amulet. That left him with nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help. He was trapped inside his own house, surrounded by servants but without a single friend.

    - "Gods, why are you doing this to me? I spent my whole life preparing to be the Lord of thesends. I worked hard every day to make my dreame true, only for it to turn into my worst nightmare.

    "I have only two choices in front of me. I can ept my fate, sacrificing my happiness to build a better future for my family, my subjects, and the Kingdom. Or I can leave everything behind, throwing away years of nning and study to be a vagrant mage.

    "Whatever I decide, life as I know it will be over. I wish I had been born amoner. Maybe I wouldn¡¯t have been able to enroll in an academy, but at least my destiny would be in my own hands.

    "There are too many lives on the line, dad has no time to find a new heir. If I fold now, house Deirus will probably disappear the moment my father dies."

    Cursing his fate, Yurial took several sips from the potion, until the intoxicating feeling of rxation wiped away all of his worries.

 Chapter 227 Death Visions

    After Raaz¡¯s speech made Lith realize how self centered he had been, fatigue overcame him, making Lith fall asleep again.

    When he woke up, only his mother stood beside him.

    "Mom, what happened to me? Can I have a mirror?" Lith asked.

    "That¡¯s something you should tell us, baby." Elina was happy to see him awake again so soon. The fever was finally gone.

    "Your Professors say you were alright when they left you at Protector¡¯s deathbed, but when they found you, you were already in a terrible state. You have recovered greatly in thest five days, but I wouldn¡¯t look in the mirror if I were you."

    "Please, I want to see the price of my foolishness with my own eyes." Lith squeezed her hand.

    When Elina conjured a water mirror in front of him, Lith didn¡¯t even flinch.

    Despite all the potions and the treatments he had received, he was still severely underweight. He had no more bald spots, his hair was regrowing fine, but it was still grey. Only his eyes were unchanged, cold and uncaring.

    - "Solus, can I use Invigoration?"

    "I don¡¯t know." She replied. "Your core is perfectly fine, but your body worries me. After burning so much of your life force, most of your healthy tissues are still recovering. You were left with mostly impurities. I¡¯m afraid that by recovering so fast you may trigger a breakthrough."¨C

    Lith mind nodded. Healing overnight would be impossible to exin, releasing so many impurities in front of witnesses even more so.

    "I guess I¡¯m finally as ugly on the outside as I am on the inside." He cruellyughed at himself.

    "Do you mind telling me what happened?" Elina changed the subject. In the past, she had experienced the pain of loss and how hard it could be for someone so young to face it.

    - "Between his best friend¡¯s death and his current condition, there is no telling how he must be feeling. It¡¯s better for him to share whatever is burdening him. It should help him recover."¨C She thought.

    For once, Lith was honest with her and told her how he had attempted to save Protector, giving it all he had and more.

    "There¡¯s no need to scold me. Now I know that what I did was stupid and useless, just like me."

    "No, you are wrong again." Elinay on the bed beside him, hugging him tightly.

    "Stupid? Yes. Reckless? Sure, but it wasn¡¯t useless. You did it out of love because you cared for him. I would do the same thing for any of my children if I had the opportunity. No parent should outlive their children, it¡¯s a pain too great to bear."

    Lith nodded. Carl had been more like a son than a brother to him, his death still haunted him. He conjured another water mirror to look closely at himself. Maybe it was the aftermath of his failed spell, maybe it was because of the grieving, but for the first time, Lith felt his age weighing on him.

    He felt old and tired. Too tired to keep fighting a losing battle. He thought about leaving the academy. Being there every day would remind him of Protector, also he didn¡¯t know how Linjos would punish him for his behavior.

    He also thought about abandoning his family for good. It would mean no more chains, no more ties, no more weakness. He was already tall enough to pass for an adult and with his magic talent, money wouldn¡¯t be an issue.

    Solus was deeply scared of his mental condition. She could sense his mind swinging back and forth from desperation to anger, Lith¡¯s calm was only an appearance. She had spent thest days pondering what to do.

    Telling him the truth would lift his spirit, but what about the long term? What if one of his rtives suddenly died or they were beyond saving? Despite all of his power, despite his strength that grew by the day, Lith was far from invincible.

    Solus had noticed right after he had been hospitalized that his body was rebuilding itself stronger than before, the problem was his mind. It was shattered once again, now another deep scar was engraved in his soul, but it also represented the opportunity for him to change.

    Solus didn¡¯t want him to be a saint or a hero, nor to forget about his past. She just wanted him to live his life without letting Carl¡¯s death affect every important choice he made.

    - "He needs to learn that loving someone means knowing when to let them go.

    I don¡¯t know what I feel for him anymore. It could be love or the childish desire of a little daughter who wants her father all to herself. I know nothing about human rtionships outside of what he has taught me.

    Maybe I¡¯m just scared at the idea we may grow apart once he has a real girlfriend instead of a high school sweetheart. Even if it¡¯s love, and even if he returned those feelings, I have nothing to offer him. I could have cried and begged him not to be with Phloria, but it would have been just cruel and egotistical.

    She can give him everything I can¡¯t. A shoulder to cry on, the warmth of a real embrace, maybe some love. I don¡¯t care what he chooses to do, as long as he doesn¡¯t punish himself out of fear of being hurt."¨C She thought.

    - "Life sure has a twisted sense of irony. It¡¯s only thanks to Balkor¡¯s past that my family is so heavily protected, yet it¡¯s also because of him that Protector died. I must remember to thank him before killing everyone and everything he holds dear in front of his eyes."¨C Lith thought.

    From that day, Lith could finally start eating real food instead of being forced to drink potions while he was asleep. It took him less than two days to be able to walk again, even if he needed help to do it.

    Lith would have liked a walking stick, but there was always someone offering their arm to him, to not leave him alone for even one second.

    Even if his body was quickly recovering, his psychological trauma was only getting worse. Ever since he had regained his consciousness, his eyes kept acting weird. If he looked at someone long enough, Lith would start to see odd things.

    The first time, it happened with Phloria, since she was the one spending the most time with him. She was telling him about what had happened to the academy and the Griffon Kingdom while he was unconscious when he saw an invisible hand cut her throat.

    Blood spilled everywhere, leaving Lith incapable of moving from the shock. The moment he blinked, Phloria was alright again, like nothing had happened. Then, he watched her aging decades with each passing second.

    Phloria turned into a nice looking woman, then into a maturedy, and into an old woman with a kind smile. Lith felt like he was living in a nightmare, but it became even worse when she turned into a corpse, her old body started to rot while fleas and maggots feasted on her flesh until only a skeleton remained.

    Tears streamed down his face.

    "What¡¯s wrong? Are you in pain? Is there something wrong with your body?" Phloria asked.

    Blinking returned everything to normal again.

    - "Solus, what the heck is happening?" He was too shocked to answer Phloria¡¯s worried questions. He needed to know if what he was seeing was real or if it was just madness seeping into his mind.

    "Nothing happened." She replied not understanding the reason for the question. -

    After checking his memories, Solus didn¡¯t have any idea what he had seen either. They both checked his body and brain, but aside from the after effects of his attempt to save Ryman there was nothing new.

    Then, Lith watched Phloria¡¯s heart getting pierced by a sword, her head cut off by an ax. He was forced to watch her die in a different way over and over again, and there was nothing he could do.

    It happened the same way with everyone, be they members of his family, of the Ernas household or their staff. Soon Lith wasn¡¯t able to take it anymore and would keep his eyes closed most of the time, pretending to be tired.

    - "Is my mind ying tricks on me or is this some kind of new power I developed? Seeing the death of the people close to me without any indication about how to stop it seems more like a curse than a power though. Solus, tell me the truth.

    Am I losing my mind?"

    Solus was hesitant to reply, she knew how fragile his psyche was.

    "I think your mind is slipping, yes. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s all in your head or it¡¯s somehow rted to your current condition, but I believe you are torturing yourself. In a very twisted and cruel way, you are trying to get ustomed with the thought that sooner orter, everyone dies.

    It¡¯s like your subconscious is showing you that some things are inevitable and there¡¯s nothing you can do about it ."¨C

    Solus¡¯s words made sense. Lith was still conflicted between finding a way to hide everyone he loved away from the world to prevent them from getting hurt or just cutting his ties with his current life. If he was alone, then he had nothing to lose.

    However, the thought of spending the rest of his life alone made death look alluring. Power and immortality had no meaning to him by themselves, they were just a means to an end. Lith¡¯s end had always been to find a ce where he belonged and live a happy, quiet life.

    He was only twelve yet had already experienced more battles to the death than most of Earth¡¯s professional soldiers. Lith wasn¡¯t willing to give up on life again, but he didn¡¯t know what he was fighting for anymore.

    ***

    After she had returned home, Friya was giving her all practicing swordsmanship. She had too many thoughts crossing her mind to practice magic. She decided to keep her promise and use that unexpected free time to get to know Orion better.

    Orion was overjoyed. It was the first time that his adoptive daughter had asked for his help. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Quy joined them too. Those two were inseparable.

    They spent the first day going through the basic forms. Only when Orion grasped what her skill level was, he decided what style was more suitable for Friya. Over the years of his military career, he had be proficient with most weapons

    From the second day onwards, Quy joined their practice as Orion had predicted. He had several of his subordinatese to his house to use them as sparring partners for Friya while he taught self defense to Quy.

    "I know you don¡¯t like fighting, little one,..." He caressed her head every time she learned a new move.

    "...but there¡¯s no telling when it mighte in handy."

    As for Friya, her basics were solid. She had studied under a good master for years, after all. What shecked was practical experience. Orion had arranged opponents of different genders and builds for her to help her learn how to adapt her style ording to the situation.

    Fighting someone smaller or bigger than Friya required adjustments that she needed to execute in a split second, otherwise a skilled enough opponent could take advantage of such an opening to put her on the back foot right from the start.

    When Orion corrected Friya¡¯s mistakes during a sequence or a stance, she would only reply: "Thanks, dad." With a smile that almost moved him to tears. Until that moment, she had only called him by his first name.

    Orion was happy that Friya was starting to ept her new family.

    There were only two sore points in spending quality time with his two new daughters. The first was that Phloria wasn¡¯t willing to join them, spending all of her time taking care of Lith.

    Orion dearly missed the good old times when his little Flower would only have her dad in her eyes and ignored all the stuck up brats that Jirni sent her way. Back then, they were like minded, only thinking about magic and sword.

    Sure, he had to suffer Jirni¡¯s daily nagging every time she failed, but keeping his baby safe was worth the price. Now he and his wife had switched position. Jirni now gloated all day and he could only prepare for the worst.

    The second one was that too many of his subordinates looked at Friya with lustful eyes. Orion had to admit that she was almost as beautiful as Phloria. His fatherly eyes still refused to ept that, while Phloria was a really cute girl, Friya was a true beauty.

    The tiny droplets of sweats during the exercises would make Friya¡¯s visage sparkle under the sunlight.

    Her long ck hair framed her face, bringing out her fair skin and light chestnut eyes. Coupled with the grace and elegance of her movements, she was truly a sight to behold.

    Most of the times it was enough for Orion to clear his throat to remind those idiots of his presence. Sometimes, he was forced to take Friya¡¯s ce to show her what she was doing wrong and wipe the floor with their as*es.

    He only did it for educational purposes, of course. Friya needed to learn her forms while the others their own ce in the world.

 Chapter 228 Moving On

    After the training session was over, Friya, Quy, and Orion spent some more time together in the park nearby. House Ernas had two training areas. One indoors, to practice during bad weather or run fighting simtions in different scenarios.

    The walls and the ceiling were enchanted, allowing them to shapeshift to recreate caves, narrow corridors, or small rooms.

    The other one was located behind the house. It was arge clearing, with no vegetation or furnishing outside training dummies. It was the perfect ce to practice magic and sword techniques in the open under different weather conditions, withplete freedom of movement.

    "Dad, there¡¯s something I need to talk to you about." Friya sat on the ground in front of him with a sad expression on her face. Orion could tell there was something haunting her.

    "During thest day of the attack, I killed a few undead. I wouldn¡¯t even mention it, if not for the fact that they were people I knew." She told him about what had happened while she was looking for a Healer to save Phloria and Yurial.

    "When I killed that woman, during the second exam, I felt terrible. Some days, I can still see her terrified expression the moment before I executed her. This time I didn¡¯t feel anything. I know they had be monsters, but they were still my ssmates.

    "I should feel remorse, some pain for their deaths, something. Does this make me a bad person? Am I turning into a cold blooded killer?"

    "No to both your questions." Orion shook his head without hesitation.

    "It just means that you have got your priorities straight. On the battlefield, remorse or hesitation leads to premature death. Even if your enemies are humans, mercy is a luxury you can¡¯t afford.

    "You killed the first woman in cold blood, you killed the others in self defense while trying to save the people you love.The two events are worlds apart. Also, they weren¡¯t your ssmates. At least not anymore. They were just reanimated corpses, there¡¯s no reason to feel guilty. I¡¯m proud of both of you."

    He hugged them, kissing the top of their heads.

    "Dad, I have something to say too." Quy had never had a family before. She still found hard to believe that someone like Orion was her father now.

    Orion was brimming with joy. Quy had finally called him dad instead of father.

    "Surviving the god of death¡¯s anniversary made me understand a few things. After so much death, I realized that I don¡¯t like fighting. Unlike my sisters, I¡¯m not suited for the battlefield. I want to be a Healer and help people."

    Orion nodded.

    "It¡¯s good that you found your way so soon. Fighting is not everything. You must always think about your happiness and your future first."

    "About that, I don¡¯t want to spend the next year only studying magic." She said averting her eyes and fiddling with her hair.

    "There¡¯s more to life than grades and exams. Phloria is right, we have so little time left before our duty reces our life. I want more. I can¡¯t just wait for good things to miraculously fall into myp."

    "Yeah, me too." Friya chimed in.

    "Honestly, I never thought Lith¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s rtionship wouldst this long, nor that it would be so special."

    "No one did." They both blushed in embarrassment. They had secretly bet against it. Quy had given them a week before breaking up, while Friya¡¯s wager was that their first date would also be thest.

    "While we were at the mining town, I was so envious of them that more than once I daydreamed about being in Phloria¡¯s ce. So there¡¯s one thing I have to ask you."

    Friya looked resolute, making Orion worries go through the roof.

    "So do I." Quy became beet red. He could now only fear for the worst.

    "Can you please bring us to social events during the weekends?" Friya said.

    "I don¡¯t want to marry yet, but I want at least to start dating. Please dad, can you help us?"

    Despite only just getting to know them, Orion felt like he was already losing them. Inwardly cursing his bad luck, he could only agree.

    ***

    ¡¯It¡¯s time to hasten my recovery. To use umtion or Invigoration I need to be alone though. I cannot risk a breakthrough urring in front of witnesses, it would raise too many questions. Loneliness is a luxury at the moment, but luckily, I know a heavy sleeper.¡¯

    Lith had noticed that his natural recovery had made most of his impurities nearly reach his core. Even if he did nothing, it was just a matter of time before a breakthrough happened. He decided to avoid relying on luck and take the matter in his own hands.

    That evening, after a particrlyrge meal, Lith made his move.

    "Mom, Lady Ernas, I¡¯m really thankful for everything you have done for me so far. I think now I have recovered enough. It should be safe leaving me alone for a good night¡¯s sleep."

    "I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true, young man. You could still have a rpse. It¡¯s better if someone keeps youpany, so if anything bad happens, help wille immediately." Lady Ernas shook her head.

    She was spending a lot of time with Elina these days. Which meant she also spent a lot of time with Lith and his sisters

    He could clearly see what Jirni¡¯s goal was and he didn¡¯t like it one bit. Yet she was the reason why he had been able to improve so quickly while his family managed to remain so calm despite his situation.

    Lith knew he was indebted to her and that she was going to use it as leverage to ask him for something in return at the right moment. It was exactly what he would have done in her shoes.

    "Then what if only Phloria stays with me tonight? We have much to talk about, yet we never managed to get a little alone time." The cough was long gone, his voice back to normal too.

    Yet Lith pretended to cough a couple of times, using that horrible raspy, hissing voice that had tormented him after he woke up to appear as harmless as possible.

    Phloria and Elina turned beet reed, while Tista and Rena giggled like crazy. They whispered things among themselves that Lith had hoped his sisters would never think about him.

    "When I say ¡¯talk¡¯, I mean it." He coughed again, looking at them sourly.

    "I¡¯m still recovering. Not to mention that I look like a monster." Lith¡¯s hair had yet to regain their color. He didn¡¯t look like an old man anymore, but he had still a few wrinkles on his face and hands.

    Because of the massive weight loss, Lith also had deep set eyes, like he had been recently resurrected from the grave. The only problem with his ims was that despite his visage being still quite unsettling, the rest of his body told a different story.

    He had lost almost all of his body fat, so his physique was almost purely muscle. Lith was quite thin, but exactly because of that, he had a six pack for the first time in his life.

    "If you call this being a monster, lil bro, you should have seen how yourself when you first arrived here. Yet your girlfriend never left you until we forced her to. You should really find a way to thank her properly." Tista giggled.

    "Tista, what are you saying in front of our host?" Elina was embarrassed by her daughter¡¯s words and so was Jirni, at least apparently. Lady Ernas saw through his lie and inwardly nodded at Tista¡¯s words.

    "Well, Elina, your son may be a little too bold, but he is right. We both know there are some things that a young couple shouldn¡¯t discuss in front of their parents, right?" Jirni whispered in Elina¡¯s ear.

    When Lith and Phloria were left alone, Lith started wracking his brain about something to say. Also, he needed her to quickly fall asleep, since he had no idea how long he couldst before fatigue overwhelmed him.

    If he fell asleep first, he wouldn¡¯t wake up until the next morning, increasing the risks of a breakthrough. Both of them remained silent for a while until Lith found his answer.

    "Why don¡¯t youe closer? Back at the mining town, you had no problem sleeping beside me. Or was I just some kind of teddy bear to you?" He said with his best smile. Lith knew from experience that Phloria was weak to cuddles.

    They made her sleep like a baby.

    Phloria swallowed a lump of saliva, taking only her shoes off before going under the nkets with him. She wrapped her arms around Lith, making him flinch.

    The unexpected warm embrace soothed his restless spirit for the first time since he had regained his senses. Lith couldn¡¯t stop looking at her while she rubbed her body against his, making him feel pleasure and embarrassment at the same time.

    "To think that you mocked me so badly for using my uniform as pajamas and now you do the same." He tried to stop her by caressing her hair and kissing her gently, but it only made things worse.

    He heard her emit a soft moan while she shivered under his touch.

    "You are right. It¡¯s a little hypocritical of me." Phloria¡¯s head disappeared under the sheets. Lith heard a rustling sound before seeing her naked arm throwing away the shirt first and the pantster.

    "Is it better now?" She asked pressing her body against his again. Lith only wore light pajamas, there was little he couldn¡¯t feel through the fabric and the same could be said for her..

    "I should have done this much earlier." She said giving him a gentle kiss, unsure how much he could take. In her eyes, Lith was like a cracked vase. Also, she had no idea what she was doing.

    "I was so scared. I thought I had lost you for good." She started sobbing, clinging to him forfort. Lith was moved by her boldness and at the same time frozen in surprise.

    No matter how long he looked at her, nothing happened. Lith could see Phloria¡¯s body only down to her shoulders, the rest was covered by the sheets, but she was the picture of health and stayed that way.

    He was so relieved that his hands wrapped her back, caressing it along the spine and enjoying her soft skin. He sensed her shivering again, but this time he was able to notice that it wasn¡¯t because of pleasure, she was wound up like a drum.

    "Lith, I have to tell you before it¡¯s toote: I l..." Lith ced his hand on her lips, stopping her before it really was toote.

    "No, you don¡¯t." He said as he never stopped caressing her head.

    "It¡¯s a little too early for you to use that word. We met months ago, but we have only really known each other for barely a month. You are not ready for this and neither am I. You are just scared of the future, so you are rushing blindly to escape from your fears."

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether he was talking to her or himself.

    "I care too much about you to let you make this mistake. It would scar both of us and likely put an end to our rtionship. Never make important decisions when you are angry or afraid.

    "Those are not the kind of emotions you want to let cloud your judgment. They will always make you pick the wrong path. You deserve someone better than me, especially now that I look like your grandpa."

    Phloria managed to chuckle even if she was still sobbing a little.

    "The Phloria I know is bold, but not reckless. I¡¯m not going to die anytime soon, so there¡¯s no reason to force yourself." He kissed her back gently, needing his sheer willpower to keep his hands on her head.

    "All I want is for you to be happy. When you have calmed down, if you still think I can make you happy, we¡¯ll resume this conversation. I beg of you, remember that I am a broken person and that I have been broken once again.

    You deserve someone normal and sane, while I could shatter anytime and hurt you."

    Phloria never stopped sobbing, but he could sense her rxing under his touch.

    "There is only one thing that I must ask of you before the night ends." He said, wiping away her tears with his hands.

    "Anything." She replied blushing violently.

    "Please, put your clothes on, or when our mothers will enter this room tomorrow morning, they¡¯ll start arranging our wedding."

    ¡¯Also, even in this debilitated state, I don¡¯t know how much longer I can hold myself back.¡¯

    Lith inwardly added. He knew that, between being emotionally vulnerable and the self-inflicted prolonged istion from all kinds of human contact, he was really susceptible to temptations from the only girl that he had allowed to be close to him, both physically and emotionally.

    There was only so much he could take before his pubescent body took the wheel. Phloria was well aware of this since she could feel something hard pressing against her abdomen from the moment she had taken off her clothes.

    She turned off the lights before getting out of the bed. Luckily, she hadn¡¯t thrown her uniform far and it was designed to easilye on and off. Lith instantly started regretting what he had done and the fact that none of his abilities allowed him to see in the dark.

 Chapter 229 Moving On 2

    As soon as Phloria fell asleep, Lith got out of the bed and used umtion. This was the second time that a battle to the death had pushed him on the verge of a breakthrough. If not for his debilitated state, it would have already happened.

    The process was even more painful than thest time. Not only his bones, but also his flesh kept being destroyed and regenerated almost at the same time to force the impurities out of his body.

    Lith had enveloped himself inside the Hush spell, to prevent anyone from hearing his screams, but not before checking the room for listening or recording magical devices.

    He had the feeling that there was very little Jirni Ernas wouldn¡¯t do to reach her goals. After finding none, Lith could afford to rx. He tasked Solus to get rid of the impurities as soon as they appeared, in case he didn¡¯t make it back to bed.

    Leaving any kind of proof behind wasn¡¯t an option.

    The process was slow and excruciating, but it brought him one step closer to the blue core. Lith didn¡¯t know if it was due to exhaustion or because of Phloria embracing him even in her sleep, however that night he finally felt at peace with himself.

    ***

    The next morning, the awkward rtionship Raaz and Orion had developed turned even more awkward. Unlike Jirni, who was able to talk about any topic, the two men had nothing inmon outside of being both parents.

    Yet their wives were spending a lot of time together and were pressing them to do the same. The only thing they could talk about was their children, their experiences in raising them, and their expectations about their future.

    So, when they entered the room and found Lith and Phloriaying on the same bed, Raaz was really happy to see that she had slept above the sheets while Lith was under them. There was a throbbing vein on Orion¡¯s neck that didn¡¯t bode well.

    "I swear to the gods, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he is my guest and he is already injured, I would be tempted to kill your son. How do you manage to be so calm despite having two daughters?" Orion asked.

    "The gods seem to love me." Raaz scratched his head nervously.

    "Rena didn¡¯t start dating until she became an adult while Tista doesn¡¯t seem interested in dating anyone. She has set her standards too high. Shepares everyone to her brother. How can a country boy measure up to a magician?"

    "Maybe I¡¯ve failed as a father." Orion sighed. "She is still so young and yet so reckless. What did I do wrong?"

    Raaz would have liked to reply that Phloria was already past fifteen years old. On Mogar, the new world, most girls that age would already be at their second or third rtionship.

    Being the father of the culprit and being Orion a head taller than him, Raaz preferred to remain silent. He knew what he would have done if their situations were reversed.

    "Time to wake up, my little Flower. Breakfast is ready."

    "Thanks, dad." Phloria was a bit embarrassed, making her cheeks turn red. Not about her father finding her on the bed, but at the thought of what had almost happened.

    "How do you feel, son?" Raaz caressed Lith¡¯s grey hair. The refining process had boosted Lith¡¯s magical and physical abilities, but it had left him even more exhausted than the day before.

    "Much better, thanks." Raaz didn¡¯t believe him, Lith was barely able to remain conscious. Yet he wasn¡¯t lying, his mental condition had greatly improved.

    ¡¯What almost happenedst night made me understand that dad is right. Protector¡¯s death isn¡¯t anyone¡¯s fault. I would have done anything to save Carl¡¯s life, even if it meant losing my own. I can¡¯t stop others from fighting for those they love.

    ¡¯It would be as cruel as hypocritical of me. He sacrificed himself doing what he believed right, just like I almost did. Protecting someone is much harder than killing, too many things can go wrong. That¡¯s why I need power, much more than I already have!¡¯

    Lith smiled softly to his father, his mind was at peace. His body was a mess though. Right after a breakthrough, until the body naturally recovered its strength, Invigoration was useless.

    In another couple of days, Lith was able to walk without help. His hair was returning to its natural color and most of the wrinkles were gone.

    "Remarkable, simply outstanding." Manohar was enthusiast of his progress.

    "Your recovery speed is unheard of. I had patients in a condition far less severe than yours and it took them weeks to get where you are now." He had be Lith¡¯s personal healer since the first day he had been bedridden.

    Manohar was very fond of Lith, considering him one of the few people with enough brain it was worth talking to. Also, he was too scared of Lady Ernas to refuse her request.

    She had even befriended his mother, the second person Manohar feared the most in the three great countries, right after Queen Sylpha. Unless he decided to disappear again, Jirni would always know where to find him.

    Yet if he did, the Queen had promised him that she would make sure it be thest. She had already prepared the official document ordering his execution, it would only take a signature to make it effective.

    Lith and Jirni spent quite some time together. She would often apany him during his walks, discussing with him about many different topics. Thanks to Soluspedia, he rarely found himself at loss for words.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know if by meeting her expectations I¡¯m improving our rtionship or I¡¯m digging my own grave.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He continued to experience visions of the death of whoever he watched for too long. It required a lot of willpower to stop the phenomenon, leading him to believe it was all in his head.

    He couldn¡¯t care for maids or butlers, but every time he saw a member of his family or Phloria die horribly, his heart would cringe. Even if he knew it was just an illusion, it didn¡¯t make it any less painful.

    It was a mild form of torture that put his mind under serious stress while his body kept getting better by the day. A few days after the breakthrough, Lith had regained his old appearance, even getting a little taller.

    ¡¯There are only two possibilities. This Death Vision thingy is caused by my mental trauma or it¡¯s a consequence of my attempt to save Protector. Either way, I can¡¯t wait for it to be gone.¡¯

    Lith had just seen Jirni die by poison, her face was blue and swollen in his eyes, bleeding from all her orifices. Talking to living corpses was too much even for someone as cynical as him.

    "I¡¯m pleased to see how knowledgeable you are." Jirni sat down on a wicker chair near a small table, prompting him to do the same. They had been walking in the park surrounding the mansion until they found a dining area.

    "That¡¯s not enough though. I¡¯m sorry for being so blunt while you are still recovering, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice how much my daughter cares for you. I want only the best for her and I need to know that we are on the same page about it.

    "What are your intentions towards her? I know you are still young, but she is not. I have no problem if what¡¯s going between you it¡¯s just a fling. Phloria ispletely inexperience about love. She has to start somewhere and sooner is better thanter.

    "However, I want you to bepletely honest with me and of course with her too. If you are not serious about this rtionship, she has the right to know it." Lith recognized how Jirni was looking at him.

    It was the same way he did at everyone he met. She was trying to determine if he was someone valuable or just a disposable tool. Despite her tone was calm and her manners impable, Lith had never felt so pressured before.

    Not even when Marchioness Distar had taken him prisoner in her house until he had cured her daughter. Lith pinched his nose, he needed to think without being haunted by ghastly visions.

    "I really like your daughter, Lady Ernas. Both as a friend and as an invaluablepanion. Yet I can¡¯t promise you or her anything. I have nned my future way ahead of time and I can tell you that marriage it¡¯s not part of the n.

    "Once I be an adult, I¡¯ll join the army. It will only be the beginning of my journey. There are things that I must do before settling down and I have no idea how long it will take. I can¡¯t ask Phloria, or anyone for that matters, to wait for me."

    Jirni nodded, pleased by his honesty.

    ¡¯At his age, most teenagers confuse daydreaming with nning, but if he¡¯s like me, then he is dead serious. I can¡¯t force him into marriage, it would mean making an enemy out of him and most importantly, it would make Phloria miserable.

    ¡¯However, it is not over yet. There¡¯s no telling how their feelings can evolve, especially since they have yet to experience real intimacy.¡¯

    "Just make sure she is well aware of your intentions. The rest is up to her, Phloria is her own woman. Here, this is a token of my goodwill, in case you should change your mind." Jirni took out of her dimensional amulet a white hardcovered book, handing it to Lith with both her hands.

    There was no title nor illustration on the front cover, making Lith curious about its nature. He only needed to open it to a random page to realize it was the new world equivalent of the Kamasutra for beginners.

    "Well, well, well." Lady Ernas said with a surprised tone.

    "You didn¡¯t be beet red nor I can see any sign of arousal after you watched at those pictures. This means that you are not a virgin or at least you are devoid of emotions. Remember my words: if you make my little Flower suffer and I will return everything in kind."

    ¡¯Now I¡¯m sure of it. I¡¯m definitely digging my own grave.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ***

    Another week passed, Lith hadpletely recovered from his condition. The only traces left of his trauma were the grey streaks between his hair and the Death Vision still guing every moment of his life he shared with others.

    He seemed to have finally hit his growth spurt. His hunger was through the roof and he could feel his muscles and joints aching.

    The White Griffon academy had reopened, allowing the students to go back for thest month of thest trimester. It had been a long year, no one was really in the mood for more studying, not even Lith.

    Yet he was happy to be finally out of house Ernas. Lith was tired of Phloria¡¯s parents constantly staring at him, even though withpletely different mindsets. Jirni had worked hard to give them some alone time whenever it was possible, while Orion had put as much effort to foil his wife¡¯s ns.

    Also, he was eager to go back to his all-nighters to work on the boxes remaining in his pocket dimension. There was something scratching at the back of his head, telling him that something was wrong. He hadn¡¯t experienced any more visions, but it meant nothing.

    ¡¯It could mean that I have seeded in avoiding that future or that it¡¯s still pending. Whatever it is, I need to find out the truth and fast!¡¯

    Since his recovery, Lith had used all the alone time he had, including the bathroom breaks, to study with Invigoration the shotel Orion had borrowed to him. His heart bled when he had been forced to separate himself from that masterpiece, but he had no choice.

    The sword had been specifically designed to counter Balkor¡¯s undead and Orion had no reason to gift him something so precious. He had managed to gather enough data about the pseudo cores and the magic crystals embedded in an item to be confident about opening the sealed boxes.

    The first person he met on the fourth year floor was Yurial. Lith was so shocked by his appearance that he had to blink several times to make sure Death Vision wasn¡¯t responsible for what he was seeing.

    Yurial had lost several kilograms, his eyes were bloodshot and dted.

    "Yurial, what the heck happened to you?" Lith asked.

    "Nice to meet you too, old friend." Yurial hugged him, leaving Lith bbergasted.

    "Are you high or something?"

    "Or something. Please,e to my room. I really need someone to talk to."

    Lith had recognized the symptoms of drug abuse, so he followed him without asking any more questions.

    Yurial told to Lith everything that had happened to him since his return home, from his efforts to change his father¡¯s mind to his tranquilizer addiction. His story was highlighted by many attempts to take a sip from a vial which Lith foiled every time.

    "This is different from the second exam. Back then, I just had to get over my trauma and I had my father by my side. You have no idea how much it meant to me that for once he took some time to take care of me instead of give me lectures.

    "Not to mention I had the girls to keep mepany, I was never alone." Yurial halfughed and half cried the whole time.

    "I can¡¯t get over my future. I¡¯m scared sh*tless of it, I feel trapped like a mouse. I¡¯m so sorry for never visiting you, but I didn¡¯t know what to say. I was too afraid you would have med me for your friend¡¯s death."

    "Sadly, I would have probably done it." Lith sighed.

    "I spent my first day awake trying to find a scapegoat. I¡¯m still having a hard time epting what happened." Lith shared with him the details about his Death Vision and how it was driving him insane.

    "You see dead people?" Yurial offered Lith his potion.

    "No. I don¡¯t see ghosts. I see how people may die ording to my paranoia. In thest few minutes, I watched you die by poisoning, decapitation and an odd illness that covered your corpse with moss." Lith refused the tranquilizer.

    If it actually worked, they would share the same addiction.

 Chapter 230 Body Swap

    "Does Phloria know about this Death Vision thingy?" Yurial asked.

    "No, she has spent too much time worrying about me night and day. I¡¯m going to give her a little respite before breaking the news to her. She deserves it."

    "Man, that¡¯s exactly what I am talking about." Yurial sighed.

    "Before Balkor, everything was so easy for me. I had my future set in stone. I thought I had my whole life in front of me. That my sh*tty wife would give me a few heirs before I started searching for happiness somewhere else.

    "I didn¡¯t give a damn about love. All that I cared about was to take my father¡¯s ce as the head of the family and make my Grand Duchy a better ce for everyone to live in.

    "Now I feelpletely lost. I can¡¯t stop thinking about all the things that I will miss because of my role and my marriage. To make things worse, if something happened to me tomorrow, nobody would care.

    "My mother barely remembers my name, while my father is always so busy that I rarely see him. Is it wrong for me to want to go away and have a life? To forget about duty and think only about myself for more than five minutes?

    "I want to have something simr to what you have with Phloria, even once, before duty hog-ties me like a prime roast. What do you think I should do?"

    "I¡¯m sorry Yurial, but this is something only you can decide." Lith shook his head.

    "There are only a few things I can tell you. First, give yourself some time to recover. Maybe you need to re-evaluate your life¡¯s long term priorities or maybe this is just your anxiety talking. We both need some quiet to get things straight, right now we are a mess.

    "Second, you can¡¯t go to ss in that state. Unless our Professors and colleagues have gone blind, they¡¯ll notice how high you are. You could get in serious trouble, maybe even get suspended."

    Yurial sighed before using a few healing spells on himself. Cleansing his system was the easy part, in just a few minutes his appearance became that of someone that just had skipped too many meals and a few nights of sleep.

    The problem was that now he could only resort to sheer willpower to keep his inner demons at bay. When they met the rest of the group in thepulsory courses¡¯ ss for the Necromancy lessons, their mood only got worse.

    While most of the ss was moping in silence, the girls were smiling andughing, like they had no care in the world. Yurial was so envious of house Ernas that he was about to pop a vein.

    Phloria¡¯s older brother was already married, ensuring the future of the family and relieving his sibling from any kind of pressure.

    Based on what Quy had told him, she was walking on air. Orion was the father she had always wished for, and once she got used to Jirni¡¯s attempts to manipte her, Quy couldn¡¯t get angry with her.

    Not after what she had heard from Friya and Yurial about their respective biological mothers. Yurial couldn¡¯t agree more with her.

    ¡¯Lady Ernas may be nuttier than a fruitcake, but whatever she does to her daughters, she only does it because she thinks it¡¯s for their sake, not for her own.¡¯ Yurial thought.

    Also, while Yurial¡¯s trauma was only getting worse over time, Friya was slowly oveing her own. Losing her family after her mother¡¯s escape had been the lowest point of her life, but she was now certain that being adopted by the Ernas couple was the best thing that could happen to her.

    She had finally a ce where she belonged, loving rtives, and no more worries outside graduating from the academy. Since the fall of house Solivar, her arranged marriage had been called off. She was now free to do as she liked.

    The boys faked a smile and sat in their chairs, waiting for the second gong to sound.

    Professor Zeneff entered the room, giving a sad smile to the ss. The students were so used to her cheerfulness that the change of attiude drawn on her drew even the gazes of those that usually wouldn¡¯t pay attention until the start of the lesson.

    She had lost several kilograms too fast, making her appear much older than she actually was. Professor Zeneff seemed to be dreadfully tired, her movements were unsteady.

    "Good morning, dear students. I know I look terrible, just like I know that after all you went through, you probably don¡¯t want to study Necromancy one more minute than absolutely necessary.

    "Luckily, we are on the same page. The ck Griffon academy has suffered many casualties. I have lost many dear friends and assistants that were like family to me. So I¡¯m eager to get over our lessons as much as you do and go back home.

    "Today I¡¯ll teach you how to possess the body of one of your undead and use it as it was your own. This is thest thing you need to learn toplete this subject. I told you at the beginning that my course would be quick and easy. I kept my word."

    Her voicecked the enthusiasm they had be used to. The gloomy atmosphere of the ss became even worse.

    "The principle behind it is rtively simple." She made appear a rat skeleton, turning it into an undead, and imprinting it with her mark in a few seconds.

    Death Vision made Lith see the undead¡¯s eyes turn off once the spell had lost its effectiveness and then after its body was crushed under something heavy.

    ¡¯What the heck? Do I care for undead too or is this some kind of curse?¡¯ Lith thought.

    "When I taught you how to move them and impart them simplemands, I exined to you how to perceive the mana that you have transferred within the corpse and move it with your will.

    "Even if detached from your body, it¡¯s still a part of you."

    Professor Zeneff ced her hand on the undead. Its eyes turned blue and it continued the exnation using Zeneff¡¯s voice.

    "Thest step requires for you to transfer your consciousness along with the mana. You have to find that sliver of your essence and establish a connection with it. I always suggest imagining it like creating a tunnel between the sliver and your consciousness.

    "Then, imagine opening a door that leads outside your body and into the tunnel. Push your will through that door not to enforce a single thought, but your whole being. It can be done at any moment after creating an undead.

    It will allow you to see, hear, and speak as if you were there.

    "The process doesn¡¯t consume your mana, but the longer you use this technique and the farther you get from your real body, the greater is the focus required. Always remember that as long as you possess an undead, you can¡¯t use any magic and your own body is helpless.

    "Also, if the corpse gets destroyed while you are still inhabiting hit, your mind could experience mild damage. Not enough to suffer from longsting consequences, but enough to knock you out for a few minutes.

    "In the event of danger, the best course of action is always to get out of the undead, animate a new one and take a different route."

    Professor Zeneff returned to her body. Then, with a p of her hands, she made a rat skeleton appear on each student¡¯s desk and a small metal bucket at their side. While some like Lith had no idea what the purpose of the bucket was, many others soon had a dire need of it.

    Even if the rats and Balkor¡¯s creations were worlds apart in all respects, the feeling that the darkness magic animating them gave off was simr. Most of the students still had nightmares about those three days.

    Darkness magic made them remember the fear of death they had experienced and therades they had lost. A series of dry heaving was quickly followed by puking sounds.

    "I¡¯m really sorry guys, but if you don¡¯tplete the task, I¡¯ll have to fail you." Professor Zeneff sniffed, empathizing with their feelings.

    "Be strong and consider this lesson as shock therapy. If you manage to seed today, you will not be forced to raise another undead until you graduate from the academy. There are no Necromancy lessons during the fifth year, you have my word for it."

    The desire to get rid of the undead once and for all was motivation enough for most students to ovee their fear and start practicing.

    Lith was already used to control multiple lesser undead at will, also he had decided to stop holding back. Merging with the undead¡¯s blood core wasn¡¯t much different from entering the mind space he shared with Solus.

    Once he identified the part of him residing inside the creature, all he had to do was to force the sliver of his life force to take over the entire blood core.

    Lith could feel his creation weakly rejecting him. Even with the mark forcing it into submission, the creature instinctively resisted the possession. The gap in willpower was abysmal, so it took him only a few seconds toplete the process.

    The sensation he experienced though the rat¡¯s corpse was terrible. The world around him had turned ck and white, all colors had disappeared. He couldn¡¯t smell anything and all of his new body was insensitive.

    Either Lith touched the wooden desk or his originals¡¯ body hand, he couldn¡¯t feel any difference between the two. Even moving was awkward. Not only was Lith not used to moving on all four with such a different center of gravity, but also he could feel the body trying to expel him.

    Even a mindless creature like an undead rat had enough hatred for the living to reject its creator¡¯s mind. It took Lith only a few minutes to get ustomed to the new body, but he could feel the resistance the creature offered increasing over time.

    It was like keeping a springpressed and preventing it to return to its natural shape.

    The Lith rat jumped down from his desk,nding with the grace of a rock. Luckily, he felt no pain from the impact.

    ¡¯If this is what it feels like being an undead, then it¡¯s simply appalling. The only bright side is that I don¡¯t have Death Vision in this form.¡¯ He thought.

    "Professor Zeneff, is this enough for a passing grade?" Lith approached the teacher¡¯s desk, while Zeneff and a few students pped at his performance.

    "No, but it¡¯s a great result. Do it again another nine times and you will pass the basic Necromancy course with flying colors."

    Abandoning the corpse turned out to be easy. As soon Lith let his concentration slip, he found himself back in his own body. He waited for a few seconds before trying again, hoping to be finally free from Death Vision.

    Yet when he saw some invisible beast bite Professor Zeneff¡¯s head off, Lith understood that things weren¡¯t so simple. He repeated the process ten times without a hitch, obtaining a round of apuse from the whole ss and thirty points from Professor Zeneff.

    Lith spent the rest of the lesson helping the Professor in teaching to his ssmates, giving them hints and tips. Soon everyone became able to possess the undead, but despite all the support provided to them, some weren¡¯t able to keep the creatures under control for more than a few seconds.

    The shock from the past fight against the undead was still strong enough for their minds to reject the corpse as strongly as it rejected them. Yurial was among them and even by the end of the lesson he hadn¡¯t been able to achieve a single sess.

    Things went smoothly during the following dimensional magic lesson instead. Lith, Phloria, and Yurial were already capable of sessfully perform Switch, however they would still fail from time to time.

    Seeding eight times out of ten was a great result, but if it happened during a real battle it could prove to be fatal, so they kept striving for perfection under Professor Rudd¡¯s strict supervision.

    He seemed to have changed too, albeit not physically. He gave them actual pointers instead of sarcastic remarks or riddles. Rudd would also exin to them what their recurring mistakes were and how to fix them.

    With his help, they estimated that in another couple of lessons they wouldpletely master the Switch spell and obtain more free time along with Friya and Quy.

    After dinner, Lith made up an excuse and went straight to his room. Seeing Phloria so happy had made him change his mind.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll tell her about Death Vision another time. She¡¯s finally getting along with her sisters. I don¡¯t want to spoil Phloria¡¯s happiness with my problems. Her smile means too much to me.¡¯

    Thanks to Invigoration, he quickly returned to his peak condition and then started to work on the boxes.

    Now that he was finally aware that multiple pseudo cores could exist within the same magical item and knew how they would interact with magic crystals, Lith was certain he would seed opening at least one.

 Chapter 231 Mystery Box

    Back in his room, Lith used Invigoration on one of the few boxes he had left, carefully studying its pseudo cores, mana pathways, and the mana crystals that sealed it.

    He had taken notes on everything he learned so far about them, and thanks to Soluspedia he could remember everything with but a thought.

    He started simultaneously attacking the mana pathways and the mana crystals, letting the energy they contained leak at the same rate. While both were draining, Lith also had to prevent the three pseudo cores desynchronizing.

    Thest time he attempted opening the boxes, he failed because he had never wielded a crystal embedded item. Therefore he didn¡¯t know that the only way to prevent the prevent destructive desynchronization was to imitate the mana signature of the crystals and inject mana in the pseudo cores every time they would go out of phase.

    The process was long and required surgical precision. Lith had already learned that if he damaged the mana pathways too much, making the energy leak happen too fast, the box would just explode.

    He had to bide his time, slowly eroding the pathways and corrupting the crystal with darkness magic while using spirit magic to keep the pseudo cores stable.

    ¡¯Damn, how can normal Forgemasters open these frigging things without Invigoration? I already consumed thrice my whole mana reserve and I have a lot of it.¡¯ Lith thought.

    When the box was finally opened, Lith was drenched in sweat.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t push yourself so hard! You have yet to recoverpletely. Remember there¡¯s only so much Invigoration can do until you are back to your peak condition.¡¯ Solus was still worried about him.

    After the breakthrough, Lith¡¯s body had quickly returned to its old appearance, except for the grey streaks in his hair. She had no idea how having lost so much life force would affect him in the long term, but Solus was certain there would be a price to pay.

    At the moment, Lith was around 80% of his full strength and was getting better by the day. Yet because of his injuries, using his full focus would make Lith tire faster than usual and Invigoration could only restore his mana up to his current limit.

    Lith nodded. He couldn¡¯t wait to take a hot bath and rx. A long time had passed since he had a vision of the future, he had yet to understand if the boxes still held any significance.

    He pressed the blue crystal in the center of the briefcase-looking box and watched it unfold. The box grew bigger and bigger until it became the size and shape of a huge wardrobe. When Lith opened it, he remained bbergasted.

    Inside there was the closest thing to an Earth portable chemicalb he had ever seen. To make things even weirder, it seemed to bepletely automated. Mechanical hands opened and mixed the content of several ss containers.

    There were even a few Bunsen burners that the hands would light with a flintstone and use them to briefly warm up some of the liquids. In a few minutes the process wasplete and one of the hands ced a small sk containing a transparent liquid at the center of the cab.

    Chemistry and Alchemy were too different for Lith to understand what he had just seen. Also, most of the ingredients were magical in nature and had no counterpart on Earth.

    ¡¯Solus, you are the one following the Alchemy lessons. Any idea of what has just happened?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Beats me. I only have fourth year knowledge.¡¯ She mentally shrugged. ¡¯I can prepare fire seeds, low tier potions, and some basic wands but that¡¯s all. This stuff is advanced Alchemy, to the point where I have seen this machine perform at least five reactions that Professor Ryner told us were impossible.

    In theory, everything should have been blown up to pieces. Whoever did this is a true genius!¡¯

    Lith took the sk, examining it with Invigoration while it was still sealed with a stopper. Whatever it was, it didn¡¯t seem to be magical in nature. With no other option, Lith conjured a small but strong barrier around the sk, fearing it would explode.

    Then, he opened it from a distance with spirit magic. Once again, nothing happened.

    ¡¯Damn, I hate riddles. Couldn¡¯t they add a warningbel or an instruction manual? There is only one way to understand what the heck this is.¡¯

    Lith removed the stopper, taking a single droplet of the silver liquid it contained with water magic and put it on his own tongue. It was tasteless and odorless too, making it impossible to understand its nature with an external examination.

    Lith was forced to swallow it and keep an eye on it with Invigoration. Everything that followed didn¡¯t make sense to him.

    The droplet didn¡¯t disperse nor did it mix with his saliva. It went straight for his stomach, remaining unaffected by the acids, then it entered the bloodstream via his intestine and then spread out evenly through all of his body.

    Lith didn¡¯t feel any better or worse for it, but he wasn¡¯t willing to ingest another droplet blindly. He used Invigoration to cleanse it from his system, instantly recognizing the unpleasant feeling that followed.

    The liquid was resisting his efforts, nullifying part of the mana he employed as soon as they made contact. Yet he had cleansed so much of that toxin that the procedure was second nature to him, easily purging it out of his body.

    ¡¯F*ck me sideways! This is the anti magic parasite toxin! In an even more powerful and effective form at that. Why the heck did they send it to the White Griffon academy? Poisoning someone with this thing makes no sense.

    ¡¯As soon as a mage loses their powers, the scheme would be revealed. Killing someone with this stuff takes weeks. Also, why send all this terrible contraption? Why didn¡¯t they just give their aplices the sk?¡¯

    Lith received the answer to his question a few minutester, while he was still remembering the details about his vision. Both the droplet he had extracted from his body and the liquid in the sk became cloudy before turning into a fine dust.

    ¡¯That¡¯s some first rate paranoia!¡¯ Solus blurted out.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why. Once the stopper is removed, the toxin must be used quickly or it self destructs, leaving no proof behind. Still, it doesn¡¯t make sense. You, Marth, Manohar, there are a lot of people in the White Griffon that would immediately recognize it.

    What¡¯s the point of making the students or the Professor lose their powers?¡¯

    ¡¯Maybe they were nning to use the toxin to make them helpless during an assault?¡¯ Lith realized how idiotic the idea was as soon as he thought it out loud.

    Even without their magic, the Professors could still rely on the arrays. Fueled by the power core, they were the academy¡¯s greatest weapon and defense at the same time. Also, even ifpletely powerless, Linjos could still use themunication amulet and the Warp Gate in his office to call for help.

    Lith searched the rest of the cab for clues. Aside from the magical ingredients, all heavily protected by thick enchanted ss, there was just a single drawer. Inside, Lith found three envelopes.

    Each one contained a different item and several pills of unknown purpose. The quality of the items varied greatly. One was a in ring, identical to the magical ones students would exchange points for.

    Another was a precious ne with several diamonds embedded and thest one looked like a cheap bracelet, something that only someone of humble origins would wear. No matter if their design was borate or in, they all had the same enchantment.

    When he used Invigoration for the first time on one of them, he was amazed by theplexity of the forgemastered spell matrix. It held five pseudo cores that required so many mana pathways that there was not an inch of the item that wasn¡¯t filled with runes.

    He also discovered several small magic crystals embedded in each one of them, crafted so masterfully to be almost invisible unless one knew where to look.

    Lith had no idea what could require such aplex enchantment, so he imprinted the ring with his mana and then he wore it. After several attempts, Lith realized that, whatever was its purpose, it wasn¡¯t something as simple as point and shoot.

    After taking the ring off, Lith opened two more boxes. Each one contained the portableb and had its own drawer with a different set of essories. No two were alike. Each magical item was apanied by several pills. It was the only thing they had inmon aside from the enchantment.

    ¡¯All this time and effort and I¡¯ve just moved from square one to square two. I need to understand the reason they smuggled the toxin inside the academy and what the heck these things are.

    ¡¯I wish I could ask the Marchioness or Lady Ernas for help, but I have no way to exin to them why I have more boxes nor how I managed to open them. Damn, I could really use a vision right now.

    Useless dryads and their half baked gifts.¡¯

    After a long hot bath, Lith went to sleep. He was exhausted, only rest could help him recover from the damage his body had sustained. It took him some time to fall asleep. It wasn¡¯t just that he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the boxes, but he also really missed Phloria.

    He had got so used to her presence that, ever since he left house Ernas, he had trouble sleeping. His rest would be disturbed by nightmares about Protector¡¯s death and by the recurring visions of his loved ones dying over and over again.

    ¡¯From tomorrow onward, I¡¯ll train myself to stop Death Vision whenever my focus is not required for something important. I¡¯m starting to get tired of this sh*t. I still have too many things to do before I can allow myself to waste time on self pity.

    ¡¯No matter what the future holds. As long as my strength keeps increasing, the number of threats to whoever I hold dear will be less and less. We¡¯re in this together, right Solus?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Always.¡¯ She replied, giving him hope.

    ***

    The next morning, the first lesson was the Magic Crystals ss. However, the Professor that entered the room after the second gong wasn¡¯t Nalear. The students were curious and worried at the same time.

    No one had seen Professor Nalear since the attack, so they were naturally concerned something may have happened to her. On the other hand, there was something majestic in the neer¡¯s appearance that piqued everyone¡¯s curiosity.

    The new Professor was a woman, around thirty years old with chin length red hair. She was very tall, almost 1.8 meter (5¡¯11") high with a muscr build that was more suited to a front line soldier than a Professor.

    There was something noble about the grace of her movements. Each one of them seemed to be full of strength yet incredibly delicate. She exuded an aura of power that Lith had never experienced before,pletely different from the killing intent he usually employed.

    He felt like he was staring to a natural born leader, someone that people would dly give their life for, even if they had only known her for a few hours. They were pr opposites, if she was the sun then he was the moon.

    "Good morning, students. I¡¯m Professor Am Farg. I will rece Professor Nalear until she makes a full recovery. During the three days of siege, she was tainted by a Valor¡¯s life force while attempting to protect you.

    "She didn¡¯t receive proper care until the undead was disposed of, so she fell into aa and has yet to recover." Many students became pale while remembering that night, Lith included.

    "Don¡¯t worry, the worst is over. Her condition is stable and slowly improving. If she has managed to survive until now, I¡¯m sure she will ovee the hurdle and awaken soon. Very few among those tainted managed to survive, she is one of the lucky ones."

    She looked for a moment at Lith¡¯s group and many students did the same. Yurial¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s miraculous survival was a well known fact, so they couldn¡¯t help but wonder how they managed toe out unscathed.

    Farg tried not to stare for too long at Lith. Professor Farg was actually a member of the Queen¡¯s Corpse, the secret unit of Awakened ones at the service of the Crown.

    Tyris had sent her to keep an eye on the hybrid and make sure he wasn¡¯t a threat. Her orders were clear: "Observe him without interfering and kill him at the first sign of danger."

    "Today¡¯s lesson is a little special. It¡¯s something that you were supposed to learn during your trip to the mines, but I doubt any of you want to go back to the mining town again. Hence, the Headmaster was kind enough to reinforce the protections of the ssroom and transport high tier crystals here."

    She pped her hands, making a mana de required for crystalsmithing and a deep blue crystal the size of a coconut appear on each student¡¯s desk.

    "Before we start, I want to warn each one of you of the risks this exercise involves. The array surrounding the ss will keep you perfectly safe, but the same cannot be said for your academic career."

 Chapter 232 Mana Breath

    "Even if they are just deep blue crystals, they are still very expensive. If you fail the following procedure, the gemstone will be destroyed and you will receive another one. There are only three crystals for each one of you.

    "Destroying them all will mark the end of the lesson, of the need of attend this subject as well as of any chance of bing a Crystalsmith."

    "Since you havee so far, you will still get a passing grade, but no Master Crystalsmith will take an apprentice incapable of handling a blue crystal after three months of practice." Professor Farg exined.

    "What¡¯s required from you it¡¯s the same thing you have already done countless times, but with a major difference. When you¡¯ll use the Crystalsmith spell Scope on the gemstone, you¡¯ll notice there are no lines inside.

    You will only see a dot moving at a speed that will change from time to time. That¡¯s because, unlike the mid tier crystals, high tier ones are able to replenish their mana quickly. This property gives them a unique mana flow that is called Mana Breath.

    A true Crystalsmith must be able to perceive the Breath clearly enough to follow its movements and cut the gemstone ordingly. Remember, the density of the mana de must be kept constant.

    If you focus too much on the Breath, the de will damage the crystal. If the crystal receives too much damage, it will explode. Like everything in life, the key is to find bnce in what you do. Good luck to everyone."

    The Magic Crystal course was the reason why Lith¡¯s mana sensibility had improved so much during thest months.

    Scope was a spell that relied entirely on the caster¡¯s perception and he had always used it instead of Invigoration during the exercises. It was the first opportunity he had to train his mana sensibility without endangering anyone.

    Unlike healing magic, there was no life on the line, wasting a crystal scrap meant nothing to him. Also, it was much simpler than dimensional magic, since he didn¡¯t have to feel and manipte multiple flows at a time, but only a static one.

    Lith cast Scope, bing able to see the dot Farg talked about. It moved with an irregr pattern and speed. Lith studied it for a while before understanding that the Breath had no fixed route. He was forced to rotate the crystal from time to time to follow its movements.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s see what Invigoration reveals.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith discovered that even the size of the dot changed with time, but most importantly, he was now able to see the circtory system of the breath. It was like a maze, the branches of which crossed over several times.

    It was still a chaotic mess that allowed the Breath to change direction most of the time, but Invigoration would still give him a great edgepared to the Scope spell. With Invigoration, Lith would know when the Breath could change direction and when it would be forced to move in a straight line instead.

    ¡¯My mana sensibility still needs some work. I¡¯ll use Scope on the first two crystals and save Invigoration for thest. I don¡¯t aim to be a Crystalsmith, so I better use this opportunity to practice at the academy¡¯s expense rather than mine.¡¯

    No matter how much pain or grief Lith was going through, he was still stingy beyond belief.

    After conjuring Scope once again, Lith began cutting the crystal. The more progress he made, the more the gemstone shrunk, increasing in power and quality. The problem was that the smaller it became, the more sudden the turns the Breath would take.

    It was like an Earth roguelike game. At each new level, the difficulty would go up and what he learned from the previous run was useless. It was all a matter of focus and precision, never letting the mana de stray too much from the dot.

    Lith almost managed to refine the first crystal, but one error too many made it crumble and he had to start over. At the second attempt, his efforts were rewarded with sess. He took a short break to rx, discovering that even Quy had failed once.

    "I got too cocky and paid for it." She exined while shrugging. Lith used Scope on the third Crystal too. He had already passed the exercise, but he needed all the training he could get to sharpen his senses.

    By the end of the lesson, Lith¡¯s group had sessfully cut all of their crystals. Only Lith and Quy had lost one.

    The second lesson of the day was the Healer specialization. The group performed the house calls under Professor Ironhelm¡¯s escort. Professor Trasque was dead and Ironhelm had been assigned to rece him.

    Lukart had long fled the Griffon Kingdom thanks to the traitor¡¯s help, so no one was making attempts on Yurial¡¯s life anymore. Their rounds were peaceful, traveling from town to town and seeing many different cities bustling with the daily activities helped them to rx.

    It also gave Yurial an idea that he shared with the others during dinner back at the academy.

    "Why don¡¯t you alle to my house after we graduate from the fourth year? In my Duchy, the weather is nice even during winter. We could travel together and I would show you the best ces mynds have to offer.

    "If I go back home alone, I¡¯ll be forced to spend all the winter break before the fifth year studying magic and so would you. I say we deserve a couple of weeks of vacation."

    The girls unanimously agreed. When Orion was home with them, he was a great father, but also a strict teacher. He left them little time for cking off. When he was away for work, Jirni would turn everything into apetition.

    She wouldn¡¯t force them to do anything, but she always seemed to know which buttons to push to make them dance in her hands. Compared to her, the academy was a rxing environment.

    Lith was the only one still on the fence. Two weeks was a lot of time for him. He had yet to inform Selia of her loss and had no idea how to give her the bad news. In his experience, no matter what he said, it would break her heart.

    With the babying, she would need all the help she could get. Even if Lith had never agreed with Protector¡¯s request, he was determined to fulfill his friend¡¯sst wish.

    No matter what the others said to convince him, the best they could get was a hollow:

    "I¡¯ll think about it."

    Later, after much thinking, he went to Phloria¡¯s room.

    When she opened the door, her hair was arranged in a strange updo, held in ce by hairpins and curlers Lith had never seen before.

    "Nice hair." He said, failing to suppress a chuckle. "What¡¯s that stuff?"

    "Something you were never supposed to see. Having long hair is a hassle. Or did you think they are naturally that wavy?" She replied with an annoyed tone.

    "I never saw you using them at the mining town or when I was a guest in your home."

    "Well, duh! I had more important things to care about at the moment. In fact, I was always a mess."

    "So you say, I never noticed any mess." His words turned Phloria¡¯s mood upside down, making her smile from ear to ear.

    "Well,e in. Sorry for the mess, I have just finished bathing. Your visit caught me by surprise." She let him inside her room, but aside from a bathrobe on the bed and more curlers on the nightstand, there was nothing out of ce.

    "Yeah, sorry. We need to talk." Phloria froze in ce. In her mind, those words still meant: "We have to break up."

    "Please, it¡¯s better for you to sit down. Some of the things I have to say aren¡¯t exactly good news."

    Phloria did as requested, followed by Lith that sat right next to her.

    ¡¯This should be a good sign. If he was going to dump me, he would keep his distance. Or so my brother says at least.¡¯ She thought.

    Lith took a deep breath to calm down and then told her about everything that was troubling him. He exined to her how Death Vision was torturing him, how nightmares still haunted him, and how his body was still recovering.

    "I didn¡¯t tell you any of this before because I wanted to leave you some space. You deserved a break from the drama that is my life. If you want..."

    Lith was going to say that he would understand if she wanted to take a break from their rtionship or find someone lessplicated when he realized that, after he had spoken of his nightmares, she had stopped listening to him.

    She had stars in her eyes and a big smile on her face.

    "Let me get this straight." She said once she noticed he wasn¡¯t talking anymore.

    "Death Vision stops when you are with me, like right now?"

    "Yes." Lith had noticed that if they were close enough, Death Vision¡¯s effects disappeared. That was the reason he sat close to her. Hecked the willpower to dump her and hold Death Vision back at the same time.

    "Also, you have no bad dreams when I sleep beside you."

    "Correct again." Phloria closed in, her face was now centimeters from his own.

    "Doesn¡¯t that mean that I¡¯m special to you? As in really special?"

    "You are, but that¡¯s not the point. You..." He tried to make her listen to reason, but she put her index finger on his mouth, stopping him.

    "Just answer one question. Do you like me? Even with this contraption on my head?"

    "That¡¯s two questions, but yes to both."

    "That¡¯s all that matters to me." She gave him a deep kiss, making all his fears and worries fade away like a dense fog in front of the rising sun. Her warmth and her gentle touch over his skin were all Lith could think about.

    "One more thing." He said as soon as she gave him a second to breathe.

    "I can¡¯t take you out on a date during the weekend. I n to go back to the mining town and visit Protector¡¯s grave. I can¡¯t keep being chained to the failures of my past. I need to face them and have my closure. That¡¯s the only way I can move on."

    "Great idea. When do we leave?" Lith¡¯s surprised expression made her giggle.

    "Did you really think I would let you go there alone? Then you are crazier than you think." She kissed him again, this time just a peck, before apanying him to the door.

    "Sorry, but you can¡¯t stay. Let me know when you decide about the trip. We could ask the others toe with us. They need some closure too, especially Yurial."

    After another goodnight kiss, Phloria closed the door behind her. Now that she was alone, she couldn¡¯t stop to giggling and smiling like a little girl.

    ¡¯I still can¡¯t believe Lith told me I¡¯m special to him, nor that I¡¯m the only one that makes Death Vision stop.¡¯

    Lith returned to his room. When he opened the door, his mind was still arguing with his body about lost chances. He spent half the night using umtion, to further refine his mana core and improve his abilities.

    The other half he slept to help his body recover. Even alone, he managed to sleep peacefully.

    ***

    The rest of the week passed quickly. Aside from home calls during the morning, Lith only had the Magic Crystal and Forgemaster sses to attend.

    He had alreadypleted the Necromancy and Dimensional magic courses. It left him with a lot of free time that he used to practice Forgemastering under Wanemyre¡¯s supervision, rest, and use umtion.

    He was now also able to keep Death Vision in check with minimum effort unless something unexpected broke his concentration. The only side effect was that he always had a serious expression on his face, since he couldn¡¯t allow himself to rx.

    The others would mock him to no end for this, saying that he had his re back. Lith was so annoyed by their childish behavior that he ended up exining to them about Death Vision and his ns for the weekend.

    Yurial followed his lead, sharing with the others his worries about the future and the rpse in his addiction, against which he was currently struggling. The mood in the room turned gloomy for the first time since they had returned to the academy, but Yurial and Lith both felt better for not having to hide their burden anymore.

    "Mind if I join you? My fianc¨¦e ising to my house for a visit and I have no desire to waste my time with her." Yurial kept ying with a tranquilizer vial, taking the stopper on and off, fighting the temptation of taking a sip.

    "Helping a friend is a much better excuse than remaining at the academy to cram. Also, it may help me with my problems too. If I manage to beat Balkor¡¯s shadow out of my head, tolerating Libea will be child¡¯s y inparison."

    Lith had never meant for the trip to be romantic, but before answering he looked at Phloria. Albeit their rtionship was mostly tonic, he couldn¡¯t ignore her feelings since they had nned the trip together.

    "Sure, you cane with us." Phloria nodded. "I have prepared two dimensional tents anyway. You can share Lith¡¯s."

    "Tents?" Lith furrowed his brown.

    "What for? I¡¯m not nning on spending the night there. It would be creepy and depressing."

    ¡¯Yeah, especially now that you know you would have to spend it alone¡¯ Solus mocked him. She was happy seeing the old cranky Lith back in action.

    "Me neither." Phloria shrugged. "The forest is a magical ce though. With everything that has happened this year, we never managed to have the trip to the forest we had nned after the mock exam.

    I thought we may as well spend the whole weekend there. At our level, magical beasts are not a threat."

    "It sounds like a n." Quy nodded. "We all need some rest and rxation."

    "Yeah, it will also be the first time we are all together outside the academy without something or someone trying to kill us." Friya said.

 Chapter 233 Field Trip

    The clerk at the academy¡¯s entrance looked at Lith¡¯s group like they were a bunch of lunatics.

    "Normally, a group of five would be perfect, but the academy advises against going into the forest. Weck staff, so in case anything happens rescue teams mightete, as in veryte.

    "Also, a lot of magical beasts have been hurt or died, so they may hold a grudge against humans. Are you sure you aren¡¯t willing to reconsider? Remember that you can¡¯t open Warp Steps in the academy¡¯s proximity without a special pass."

    The group nodded in unison. Even if they couldn¡¯t get inside the academy, they could still escape from whatever danger they met. They paid the required merit points and left through the front gate.

    "Do we walk or fly?" Lith asked. The trip was already different from what he had nned, so he had no haste.

    "Walk. The mining town is only twenty kilometers from the academy." Phloria replied after checking on a map.

    "It should take us only five or six hours to get there. We can use that time to enjoy the scenery while we search for magical nts or natural treasures. Nothing prevents us from flying in case we get tired of walking."

    Phloria took the lead of the group and Lith asked her to teach him how to read a map. He was still a city man. He wasn¡¯t able to understand where he was without looking at the sun. Over the years, he had explored the Trawn woods until he knew it like the back of his hand.

    The forest surrounding the academy had denser vegetation, making it hard to walk in a straight line. Having packed provisions from the canteen, they had no need to hunt, yet Lith would use Life Vision from time to time to check his surroundings.

    The more they got deep in the forest, the more his hunter instinct told him there was something wrong. There was little wildlife around, too little considering that during the attack, Balkor¡¯s undead had no reason to bother normal animals.

    Even if some of them had run away from their dens, after so much time they were supposed to have returned. Unless something had happened.

    Despite Lith¡¯s group was very conscious of their surroundings, they didn¡¯t find any magical treasure during the first two hours. On the other hand, they would often get lost forcing someone to fly and take note of the respective positions of the sun and the academy.

    Phloria knew how to read a map, at least in theory. It was her first time putting her knowledge to use, hence she was prone to mistakes.

    "I still can¡¯t use dimensional magic." Lith informed the rest of the group after another failed attempt.

    "You can." Quy lectured him, taking something out of her dimensional amulet.

    "It¡¯s just that the academy arrays prevent any kind of long range spell aside from the flying ones. We can still Blink or Switch, but any dimensional corridor that stretches for more than ten meters gets disrupted."

    "How do you know so much about the academy?" Lith checked the books in Soluspedia and there was only vague information about the nature of the arrays. Also, unlike him, Quy hadn¡¯t performed experiments along the way.

    It was hard to miss someone chanting.

    "I¡¯d like to tell you that I discovered it while we were walking, but the truth is that after Ipleted dimensional magic and Necromancy both, I¡¯ve got too much free time on my hands.

    "So, when you guys have your specialization sses I spend a lot of time in the library. Professor Rudd is often there and he loves talking about dimensional magic. He taught me a lot during our conversations.

    He isn¡¯t so bad once you know him better."

    Lith nodded. He actually had his reservations about the Professor, but he didn¡¯t have the time or will to talk about him. His instincts kept telling him that something was wrong, but neither Life Vision nor mana sense perceived a threat.

    Unbeknownst to the group, Professor Farg had been following them ever since they had left the academy. She kept her distance, using an artifact to not lose their traces.

    ¡¯ording to Lady Tyris, the target is an Awakened one. If I get too close, he¡¯ll spot me with Life Vision.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what their goal is, but their behavior is definitely suspicious. The group keeps moving erratically, if it wasn¡¯t for the artifact I would have lost them already. The girl leading them is a master of misdirection, worthy of her mother.¡¯

    "You have no idea where we are, am I right?" Friya asked.

    "No, you are not." Phloria flew above the trees, returning a few secondster.

    "I¡¯m getting the hang of this, don¡¯t worry."

    "Stay on your toes, guys." Lith warned them, sniffing the air and recognizing a familiar smell.

    "ckers iing." They were now close enough to allow him to distinguish their pseudo chirping from the real birds sounds.

    Everyone readied their weapon, but no one was worried. They all had improved by leaps and bounds since the mock exam and ckers were a threat only if they managed to catch their victim by surprise.

    When the monsters swarmed them from all directions, including from above, they didn¡¯t fell so confident anymore. What made them worry wasn¡¯t their numbers, but their size.

    ckers were spider type magical beasts, they had ck bodies covered in long bristles that served as sensory organs, with red dots all over. They were supposed to be as big as a Labrador tops, but the ones attacking them were the size of a human being.

    Yurial would have liked to curse at their bad luck, but he was too busy casting a barrier to deflect the acidic spit he was sure their enemies would employ.

    Yet instead of using their webs and long range attacks, the ckers on the trees cut their threads, falling through the air barrier while even bigger specimens were charging head on.

    Phloria and Friya had already activated Full Guard, a Mage Knight spell that gave thempletebat awareness of their surroundings in a radius of 1.5 metres (5 feet). Phloria quickly reached Yurial, while Friya did the same for Quy.

    The two quickly killed all the spiders that hadnded close to their friends. Their swords could easily cut through the enemies, while their ming shields conjured out of fire and earth would intercept the iing attacks and inflict painful burns.

    The role of a Mage Knight was to buy enough time for their allies to cast their spells.

    Lith dodged a falling cker squashing its head with a single hand before it could evennd. After facing a Valor, he could hardly consider those oversized arachnids a threat.

    Lith took out from his pocket dimension the daggers he had enchanted during his Forgemaster sses.

    It was a good asion to put them to test, since their des were short enough to perfectly integrate with his hand to hand techniques. Lith darted forward, intercepting the bigger ones that were charging at them.

    He infused his body with both air and fire magic, boosting his strength and speed.

    A single fist was enough to crush the head of a cker bold enough to try biting him. Being Lith alone against dozens, the spiders thought they would make short work of him, realizing their mistake only when it was toote.

    Lith moved so fast that their sensory organs could barely determine his position. Whenever he approached an enemy, a gaping wound would appear. Between his talent in locating vital spots and his weapons, every one of his strikes was crippling if not lethal.

    Despite the daggers¡¯ average quality, Lith¡¯s strength coupled with their enchantments was more than enough to pierce the monsters¡¯ exoskeleton and then open them up like they were made of paper.

    The weapons he was wielding were one enchanted with air magic and the other with fire magic. The former was enveloped by air currents enhancing its edge to the point it could cut through stone.

    Thetter¡¯s de was so hot that it would make its victims¡¯ blood and innards boil at every strike. Even if they managed to survive, the wounded ckers were in so much pain they could only curl up on the ground writhing uncontrobly.

    Lith had chosen those daggers because he wanted to see if evolved arachnids would feel fear for their lives orpassion for their kin. Judging from their reactions to their fallen brethren¡¯s screams of agony the answer was yes to both.

    The ckers in front of Lith stopped advancing, using the acid spit to keep him away from their woundedpanions. Lith grinned, while with a twist of his fists he took control of the iing attacks with water magic and sent them back to where they came from.

    The spiders were caught by surprise. Most of them were still spitting while their bodies started to suffer from the effects of their own acid. Lith then stomped his left foot on the ground, transmitting his mana and will, making rock spears erupt from the ground that impaled his enemies.

    All the ckers around him were dead or agonizing, so he threw a nce over his shoulder to check the others.

    Despite their best efforts, his fourpanions were already surrounded.

    "Rings!" Yurial shouted, releasing the spells he had stored to repel the waves of ckers without wasting time to chant. The girls followed his lead, using the barrage of spells to break free from the encirclement and turn their enemies into mincemeat.

    Lith rushed back to help them, only to discover his teammates had the situation under control.

    Quy was using quick tier three spells to kill the ckers above their heads while Yurial used a mix of first magic and tier one spells to block all kind of long ranged attacks directed against the four of them.

    Each one of his spells was too weak to harm the enemies, but he could cast them fast enough to deflect the acidic spits and burn the webs the ckers were throwing at them before they could do any damage.

    Friya and Phloria were swinging their swords non stop, cutting apart those that came too close. Unlike Lith¡¯s daggers, their swords would prate deeply into the enemy and then release a dark magic pulse that made their organs copse.

    Mage Knights¡¯ specialty was the ability to summon an elemental tower shield that would float in the air ording to their will, always leaving them a free hand to use potions or cast Mage Knight spells.

    The one they were using at the moment was called Phantom de. Their weapons were engulfed in mystical energies that using their des as a temte, could temporarily extend them tripling their attack range.

    Phantom des were made of light, hence they were weightless, giving the Mage Knightplete freedom of movement. The downside was that extending the de would require focus and mana

    They couldn¡¯t keep it always active, but only use it in short bursts whenever the situation allowed for it. Even if the spell¡¯s effects onlysted for the duration of a single sh, it was enough for them to mow down small groups of enemies at once, making their numerical advantage useless.

    It was only a matter of time before all the ckers were killed, yet they refused to retreat.

    ¡¯It¡¯s amazing how much we have all progressed in these few months. During the mock exam, a much smaller group of ckers almost wiped out my team. It was more bnced in term of talents, but there was no teamwork or coordination.

    No matter how many spiderse at them, they will not break through. Time to finish this!¡¯ Lith thought.

    He put the daggers away in the pocket dimension, to have his hands free to cast his strongest air spell. Ever since thest breakthrough, his attunement with the world energy had greatly increased, but some ckers were still too close to hispanions forfort.

    Manipting a spell with his mind alone was too risky. Lith¡¯s hands glowed with a yellow energy, that he used to draw several circles that floated in the air while he was mouthing gibberish in case someone was watching him.

    Then, he joined his palms before moving them toward the battlefield. From each circle erupted a bolt of lightning aimed at the nearest enemy. The spiders from the trees screeched to warn theirpanions on the ground about the impending danger.

    The lightning bolts moved in a zig zag pattern, slower than normal ones, but they were still very fast. Most thunderbolts struck their target, leaving behind a pungent smell of ozone and burnt flesh.

    Some ckers managed to dodge them at thest second, yet the result remained the same. The thunderbolts simply chased after them, moving on the next target as soon as the first one was no more.

    Farg and Lith¡¯spanions alike remained amazed noticing that each lightning resembled a snake in both motions and appearance. Lith had conjured ten of them, controlling one with each finger, as he had learned during the necromancy sses.

    Be them undead or energy masses, they were all puppets dancing in his hand. He never stopped advancing during the assault, to have a better view of his allies and enemies alike.

    His legs never left the ground, he simply slid one foot in front of the other, using his whole body to control the mana flow of the spell with surgical precision until only the five youths were left standing.

 Chapter 234 Eyes

    From her vantage point above the trees, Professor Farg was burning with envy.

    ¡¯How the heck can someone so young already be an Awakened one? I dedicated my whole life to the Crown before I was chosen to be turned into a member of the Corpse. Still, I don¡¯t understand why Lady Tyris is so worried about him.

    He is just a stupid kid with more power than brain.¡¯

    Lith¡¯spanions didn¡¯t share her outlook. On the contrary, they were amazed.

    "That was Chasing Lightning!" Yurial couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    "It¡¯s a War Mage spell! Where the heck did you learn it?"

    "From the library." During the past months, Lith had studied many different spells from the various specializations, searching for those that were the easiest for him to imitate.

    He didn¡¯t have the time to understand the fake magic principles underlying each magic ss, so he had focused on the spells that had something inmon with his personal ones.

    Chasing Lighting was simply the tier four air magic version of his Checkmate Spears spell. The real War Mage¡¯s spell allowed one to mark their targets during the casting of the spell, something that Lith hadn¡¯t been able to do reproduce.

    However, being a true mage and making use of his heightened reflexes, he was able to alter the course of each thunderbolt at will.

    "Dude, how did you find the time to learn another specialization? Self taught at that? You are crushing my self esteem!" Yurial was only half joking.

    Sometimes being so close to someone two years younger than him who was stronger, apparently more talented, and had a bottomless supply of suprises made him feel quite insecure.

    "Less yapping and more spellcasting." Phloria scolded them both.

    "You know the saying: ¡¯where there is a cker, expect to find a hundred more.¡¯ We need to recharge our rings before they return."

    Lith had not used any of his rings, so he just pretended to recharge them.

    He used that time to think about the spiders¡¯ behavior.

    "You are right. This doesn¡¯t make sense. While fighting against me, I noticed they were able to think for themselves. They should have understood their strategy was pointless. Unless they were just buying time!" Lith said.

    "Damn me and this stupid walk!" Phloria cursed at their bad luck.

    "Let¡¯s fly out of here." She had yet to finish talking when the ground below them turned into quicksand and tendrils made of earth wrapped around their limbs, pulling them into the ground.

    The five reacted in unison, Blinking out of the quicksand. The tendrils were bisected as they passed through the remnants of the dimensional spells. The detached tendrils turned back into mud as the spell animating them failed.

    "Keep your distance!" Phloria ordered.

    "If we group up before finding the enemy position, we will only offer them an easier target. Get ready to Blink again."

    Lith activated Life Vision, turning his head around, above, and below before finding their answer. While the group was fighting the wave of small ckers, a few fully developed monsters the size of bulls had burrowed underground their feet and turned the clearing into a death trap.

    The Hatchlings¡¯ strength lied only in numbers, but Soldier ckers were fully developed magical beasts and could use water and earth magic. Not only were they physically much stronger than a Hatchling, but they were also smart enough to not underestimate such dangerous enemies.

    They had forced their underlings to act as cannon fodder while they prepared the field to ensure their victory. Even if reluctant to throw away their lives, the Hatchlings had no choice but to obey.

    The Soldiers had received their authority from the Brood Mother and she was an absolute being to them. Defying her will meant bing their brethren¡¯s dinner along with the intruders

    "It¡¯s a trap!" Lith was unaware of the Soldiers¡¯ n, but he could see them moving right below their feet.

    "They are hiding underground. We need to get out of here!" Before Lith could finish warning hispanions, new tendrils of earth erupted from the ground and seized him, Yurial, and Phloria. At the same time, Quy and Friya fell into holes that opened up right below them.

    Quy screamed in surprise, but Friya had learned her lesson after the failed attempt on Yurial¡¯s life. She kept her cool, Blinking to Quy¡¯s rescue and bringing her to safety on a nearby tree.

    ¡¯There are four ckers capable of using magic below the ground¡¯ Solus warned Lith that was still struggling to free his hands to Blink away.

    ¡¯Their mana cores are only bright green, but their physical strength is on par with Protector when he was still a Ry. They only need one hit to kill a normal human.¡¯

    Lith nodded, using brute strength to break free from the constraints. He used water magic to freeze the tendrils restricting hispanions. The spell wasn¡¯t powerful enough topletely block them, Lith couldn¡¯t risk freezing his allies to death in the process.

    Yet he managed to slow the tendrils enough for Phloria to cut them down, freeing herself and Yurial, allowing them to Blink away. Lith followed their lead, but the trees they had taken cover on started to tilt.

    Two Soldiers were uprooting them with earth magic, while the other two generated a hail of ice shards as thick and long as an arm to prevent their prey from running away.

    The group Blinked again to safety, but their mana was about to run out. They had gone all out during the previous fight and Blink was a very mana expensive spell.

    "Damn! If we try to fly away the shards will skewer us, but if we keep hiding behind the trees, they¡¯ll just uproot them again. How the heck can they see us from below the ground and how do you manage to do the same?"

    Quy was racking her brain to find a solution to their predicament, but there wasn¡¯t much they could do while the enemy remained hidden. She used an earth spell, opening a hole in the ground and partially revealing one of the ckers.

    "On my mark attack my position with everything you have." Lith yelled jumping down the tree, near the now visible Soldier. Hispanions immediately understood his intentions and would have liked to curse at his madness or at least try to stop him.

    However, their situation was desperate enough to force them to save their breath for chanting their spells.

    "Mark!" Lith used Switch as soon as he touched the ground and was reced by a stupefied cker.

    The Soldier was still trying to make heads or tails of its situation when two lightning bolts struck it. Thanks to his natural affinity with earth magic, the creature had instinctively protected itself by using fusion magic, so it wasn¡¯t fatally wounded.

    Yet the shock had been strong enough to debilitate it, leaving the Soldier paralyzed. Phloria and Friya exploited the opening to jump on its back swords first, piercing the cker¡¯s head and body with their des until the hilts bounced on its keratinous exoskeleton.

    The Soldier fell on its side, its long legs scratched the air in agony until the creature stilled.

    Meanwhile underground, Lith could see thee nearest Soldier¡¯s eyes glow in the dark, all eight of them.

    ¡¯It¡¯s channeling earth magic, so it must have achieved some kind of Earth Vision. Maybe they can track their prey by following the vibrations produced when they move along the ground.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know and don¡¯t care!¡¯ Lith replied. He could finally go all out, making Solus turn into her glove form. Her stone ws boosted by fusion magic allowed him to easily pierce through the Soldiers¡¯ magically hardened bodies.

    The cker barely had the time to notice itspanion¡¯s disappearance when it spotted a small figure bolting at it in the darkness. His eyes were glowing with the yellow energy characteristic of air magic, all seven of them.

    Lith¡¯s head had be a ck te with seven eyes burning with rage and mana. Two new pairs of eyes had appeared, one above and the other below were humans¡¯ eyes were supposed to be.

    The seventh was a vertical slit opened in the middle of his forehead.

    The cker was forced to change the target of its spell. It had been conjuring a stone pir to uproot the tree its prey was hiding behind, but now he used it to try and stop its attacker. Lith sneered in the dark. He could see the spell¡¯s mana flow and only needed a side step to avoid it.

    The stone pir crashed into the ceiling of the cave, filling the air with dust.

    The cker was shocked, but it kept the presence of mind to avoid casting another spell, Lith was already too close. It spat acid in front of itself instead. The enemy was too close to dodge it, so the Soldier charged forward infusing itself with earth magic to exploit the opening that was about to be created.

    However, Lith had seen that trick countless times and was ready for it. He froze the acid while it was still in mid air, making it harmless before pping it aside. Lith shoved his right hand into the cker¡¯s still opened maw, releasing a fireball.

    The explosion emitted only a muffled sound. The Soldier¡¯s exoskeleton buffed by earth magic was strong enough to withstand the hit. s, its internal organs were not.

    The creature copsed without making a sound, leaving thest two Soldiers standing almost scared witless. One decided to run away to alert the rest of the Brood of the impending menace, while the other stood its ground, to buy as much time as it could against the iing monstrosity.

    It decided to make use of the confined spacebined with its superior physical prowess to charge at the enemy with its own body hardened to the extreme, giving him no space to dodge.

    Lith did the same, leaving spells aside and willing to test his body against a magical beast. The two shed at full speed, Lith¡¯s arms against the Soldier¡¯s frontal legs. The spider was bigger and heavier, but Lith was empowered by more than one element.

    The cker found itself sliding backward, using the remaining six legs to hold on the ground to avoid tumbling while the frontal ones cracked. Its exoskeleton shattered in multiple points.

    Lith was forced to stop and his arms cracked too, but they started to heal the same moment they were damaged. He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain, charging again with renewed fury.

    Lith grabbed the injured frontal legs, ripping them off and driving the creature insane with pain. Its head was now exposed, so the cker used earth magic to conjure tendrils of earth to protect itself.

    Before they were fully formed, Lith had already grabbed the Soldier¡¯s head with both hands, flooding it with darkness magic that weakened it until it popped like a balloon. Lith threw the carcass aside, chasing after thest enemy.

    Once outside, he saw that the Soldier hadn¡¯t gone far. Even if they were running of fumes, hispanions knew that if the magical beast managed to escape it was likely toe back with reinforcements.

    They had surrounded the cker and were slowly wearing it down with their teamwork. None of their attacks were strong enough to kill it, but they prevented it from escaping or focusing on a single target.

    Whenever the Soldier attempted to attack, those at its back and sides would strike it with spells or swords, interrupting its spellcasting or making it stumble. The creature was already mad with fury. Its retreat was cut off and all of its attacks were mercilessly foiled one after the other.

    When the cker perceived Lith closing in via Earth Vision, desperation forced its hand. The Soldier infused itself with earth magic to the brim and charged forward disregarding its safety.

    Phloria chopped off one of its legs, Friya opened a gaping wound on its back, while Yurial released all the spells left in his rings blowing away two of its legs and making the cker lose momentum.

    Only thanks to thebined assault did Quy manage to avoid being pierced through her heart and instead took a front leg through her shoulder. The cker was mortally wounded, but it refused to surrender.

    It threw away Quy¡¯s body and tried to recover its bnce to continue escaping. A bestial roar resounded, shaking the forest.

    "Not another one!" Phloria cursed. "Is our bad luck never going to end?"

    She turned towards the source of the sound, discovering that there was no new enemy iing, only a blur that she managed to identify as Lith thanks to her training.

    The sight of blood, seeing one of hispanions apparently mortally injured had brought him back to the night Protector had died. The sun was still high, so the shadows surrounding his body were reduced to a thin fog.

    Lith was surrounded by a red glow, like there was a fire inside him ready to set everything aze. Despite his killing intent wasn¡¯t aimed at hispanions, it was strong enough to make them feel a cold shiver running down their spines.

    Yurial and Friya ignored the feeling, rushing to Quy¡¯s side. The former checked she wasn¡¯t poisoned while thetter treated the wound.

    Phloria realized that despite having fought side by side several times, this was her first time witnessing a truly enraged Lith. During the second exam or the ambush, he had always remained calm and collected.

    Between the fog, the red glow and his eyes brimming with unknown power, Lith looked scarier than anything she had ever fought.

 Chapter 235 You Again?

    The Soldier could feel the shadow of death from the moment most of its body had been cut apart or blown away. When Lith reached its back, grabbing it by its legs, thest cker could only hope that its dying screech would manage to reach its brood.

    Lith used the Float spell to make his enemy weightless before throwing it up in the air and immediately conjuring another spell. Away from its natural elements, water and earth, the cker was a sitting duck.

    Six fireballs appeared at the same time around the Soldier, one above, one below and the others in a square shape. It was Lith¡¯s tier four personal spell, Burning Prison. The fireballs exploded simultaneously, each reinforcing the effect of the others

    Theirbined shockwaves ripped the cker to shreds while the extreme heat turned it into ashes.

    After making sure there were no more threats lurking around them, Lith could allow himself to use Life Vision on Quy. The wound was already closed. She was a bit pale because of exhaustion, but aside from that, she seemed fine.

    Professor Farg had witnessed the whole fight. Thanks to the artifact Tyris had given to her, she had been able to follow the one that took ce above and the one below at the same time.

    ¡¯Now I understand why Lady Tyris sent me here. Whatever that thing is, it¡¯s no kid. I¡¯ve seen my share of weird stuff, but nothing like that. His shapeshifting abilities make no sense. His strength didn¡¯t improve at all.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯Damn! I can use Invigoration to restore myself, but if I do that, I could blow my cover. Yet if I don¡¯t and another enemy appears, I¡¯m as good as dead. I¡¯ll choose the lesser evil.¡¯

    Lith was panting and wheezing like everyone else, but soon his breathing became steady. To avoid making things too weird, he recovered only about half his strength. Enough to defend in case something happened and at the same time leaving himself tired enough to not arouse too much suspicion.

    Maybe.

    Then, he checked Quy¡¯s condition with Invigoration before doing the same with everyone else. Lith had seen enough poisons, toxins, and undead tost three lifetimes.

    ¡¯Better safe than sorry.¡¯ He thought.

    Aside from small injuries and fatigue, hispanions were as healthy as horses.

    "Okay, this road trip ends now." Lith said.

    "Take Quy and go back to the academy. I¡¯ll go on alone, it¡¯s much safer that way."

    "Are you insane?" Phloria was still mulling over what she had just seen, refusing to believe her own eyes. Yet when she heard Lith¡¯s words all her worries disappeared, reced by outrage.

    "First of all, we are all exhausted. There are too many dangers lurking in this forest aside from those f*cking ckers. If they attack us on our way back, we are basically a free meal."

    "Use the academy¡¯s emergency button. They¡¯ll send someone here in a half an hour tops." Lith suggested.

    "Second, and I speak for myself, I¡¯m not letting you walk into this nightmare alone again!" She ignored his words, as she vented her frustration.

    "Why are you acting like that? Have you already forgotten your father¡¯s words? You are no god! You could die out here." Lith¡¯s reckless indifference for his own life made Phloria seethe with anger, to the point she wanted to strangle him on the spot.

    Therefore, she followed Raaz¡¯s lead and flicked her middle finger against his forehead.

    "Consider yourself pped, young man."

    Lith didn¡¯t find it funny at all.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not a god indeed, butpared to you I might as well be. If only I could trust them enough to tell them the whole truth...¡¯ Lith gritted his teeth to hold his tongue.

    ¡¯That¡¯s just mean!¡¯ Solus scolded him. ¡¯Being weaker than you is not a sin. Phloria simply worries about you. Do you remember your big lesson? Do not ask others to do what you wouldn¡¯t ?¡¯

    "You don¡¯t understand, it¡¯s too dangerous!" Lith tried to make her listen to reason.

    "That¡¯s my line, you idiot!"

    "Oh, my. You humans sure are funny. Screaming like you are the only ones in the world."

    The unknown voice made Phloria turn around in a split second, her estoc ready in her hand. Lith recognized the intruder and weaved a couple of spells, just to be safe. It was the dryad he had rescued from a Puppeteer Abomination months before, Lyta.

    Yet he had no idea of what a Puppeteer was or how she was called.

    "Yet I can understand why this ugly female is so worked up." She looked at Lith, licking her scarlet lips seductively.

    "I usually don¡¯t like humans, especially after one really bad experience, but power is the most powerful aphrodisiac known to both women and dryads alike. Do you want to have some fun, handsome?"

    Phloria hated the dryad for her cruel words and shameful act. Yet she had to admit she was the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen. Lyta had big red eyes that sparkled under the sunlight like rubies.

    Her visage was simply stunning, from her delicate features to her full lips.

    She had feet length red hair, the same color of maple leaves during autumn. Everything about her exuded a wild and unrestrained allure that made even Phloria ponder whether to kick her a*s or ask her out.

    The dryad wore what on Earth would have been considered a skin tight cocktail dress made of vines and leaves. It exposed her shoulders, her arms, and her long legs up to the thigh.

    The only thing that betrayed her non-human nature was the light green skin.

    "You again?" Was Lith¡¯s only reply. After theirst encounter, he had read all he could find about dryads. They were a shady bunch that sometimes would mate with humans simply to have some fun.

    Most of the times they would just rob them blind. Dryads loved precious things, especially jewels.

    "So she¡¯s the dryad you saved?" Much to everyone surprise, Yurial was looking at her with indifference. Yurial himself was amazed. It was the first time he managed to be aloof in front of such a beauty.

    ¡¯Maybe it¡¯s because she is green, or maybe I¡¯m finally starting to think with the right head.¡¯ He thought.

    Lyta was deeply offended by their reaction. It was only the second time in her life that humans didn¡¯t throw themselves at her feet while swearing their eternal love for her. Suddenly, Yurial¡¯s word rung some bells.

    "He saved me?" The dryad stopped looking at Lith¡¯s mana flow, focusing on his eyes and smell instead. Lith had grown more than five centimeters since theirst encounter and his smell had changed after his breakthrough in Ka¡¯s cave.

    Yet Lyta couldn¡¯t forget that cold gaze devoid of mercy, nor the inhuman smell he exuded.

    "You!" She suddenly lost all her self confidence. She ran back to the nearest tree, ready to flee in case something went wrong.

    "Yeah, me. Since you have already bothered us, the least you could do is answer a few questions. Why are there ckers here? This isn¡¯t their turf."

    The dryad didn¡¯t like being ignored. An ugly short lived human being indifferent to her beauty was uneptable. She would have never wasted her time if the two males were alone. They seemed to have a few loose screws. The reason why she chose to remain was that the females were just perfect.

    They were staring at her with the perfect mix of envy, self pity, and desire that made Lyta feel alive.

    "The Brood Mother¡¯s turf goes as far as she can get. She¡¯s exploiting the academy¡¯s and the forest¡¯s current weakened state toy as many eggs as she can. Also, the Lord of the forest is absent for a while. It¡¯s the perfect opportunity for her."

    Sheid on a tree branch high enough to give her room for escape if the battle crazed maniac attempted something funny, but low enough to let the girls ¡¯enjoy¡¯ her full figure. Lyta used a soft,nguid tone like she was having pillow talk with her lover.

    "We are going to the mining town. Is it safe there?" Lith had just noticed that Phloria was staring at them. She hated the dryad¡¯s guts for looking at him like a b of meat, seductively ying with her dress and hair.

    Yet the coldness in Lith¡¯s tone warmed her heart.

    "Gods, no. It¡¯s full of corpses there, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she has turned it into her new nest. Even if I doubt it with all the protections and the rms set in that ce, I doubt it. Humans would run to protect their precious mine and ughter her colony."

    "What does she need the corpses for?" Lith was shocked by her words. He had an idea about what was happening, but he had to be sure.

    "How do you think she managed to expand her territory so much? With all those corpses of powerful beasts and humans, the Brood Mother has greatly improved the quality of her underlings.

    "That¡¯s the reason why they wanted to capture you five alive so badly. Each of you can be the breeding ground for a small legion of Soldiers. Corpses are second rate hosts, but they still provide a lot of nutrients. Especially those belonging to powerful beings like Ka or M¡¯Rook."

    "When did Ka die?" Lith had met her only twice, yet he cared for her. Not to mention he had to keep his promise to her too.

    "A long time ago." Lytaughed cruelly, losing most of her mour.

    "Ka died the day she became a Wraith. Undead should stay away from the living."

    "That¡¯s not what I meant! What happened to her? What about Protector¡¯s corpse?"

    "Beats me." She shrugged, going higher on the tree, just to be safe.

    "I¡¯ve never been there and I don¡¯t n to. I don¡¯t get involved in humans¡¯ squabbles. As long the ckers stay out of my turf, it¡¯s none of my business. Thanks for getting rid of them for me. I¡¯d say we are even now."

    Lyta had enough of his rude behavior. She disappeared in the tree bark while Lith could only watch her dart away through the forest with Life Vision.

    "Did you hear her? You guys have to go back." Lith now felt even more motivated to continue his mission. He had to find out what had happened to Ka and prevent the ckers from defiling Protector¡¯s corpse.

    "We all have to go back! The Headmaster and the Professors can take care of the ckers by themselves." Phloria said.

    "She is right. This isn¡¯t a ce for students anymore. We have to retreat to fight another day." Yurial patted his shoulder. He knew how deep the scar in Lith¡¯s heart was and how the decision he had to make would only worsen it.

    "Heck, no!" Lith angrily pushed Yurial¡¯s hand away.

    "I don¡¯t n to fight, only to recover my friend¡¯s body. I can make it as long as I avoid direct confrontation. I don¡¯t have the luxury of time. It could already be toote. If you were Linjos, what priority would you give to retrieving a corpse?

    Would you really risk the members of the staff you have left just to humor a grieving student?"

    No one could deny those words. An awkward silence fell between them.

    "Let¡¯s calm down and rest first." Yurial said.

    "We can¡¯t remain here, it¡¯s not safe. There could be more ckers around."

    The group used darkness magic to destroy the corpses and erase all traces of their passage. They moved in a random direction, picking the first clearing they found to rest.

    Yurial used what mana he had left to cast the best defensive arrays in his arsenal before entering the dimensional tent Phloria had arranged for them. On the outside, it closely resembled a pup tent.

    On the inside, it looked like a three star hotel room. There was a fully furnished bedroom with three king sized beds, a liquor cab, and a single door leading to a bathroom.

    It had no running water since any mage could easily conjure as much as they wanted, but there were a pot and a bathtub. Lith went straight for the liquor cab, removing stoppers until he found a familiar smell.

    "Do you drink?" Yurial was surprised.

    "Usually no." Lith poured himself a ss of something he hoped would taste like whiskey.

    "Right now I really need one though. Do you want to join me?"

    His father had never allowed him to drink alcohol. The ban had be especially severe ever since he had developed his nerve problems. So it was natural for Yurial to ept.

    "Take small sips and watch out for the burn." Lith warned him after handing Yurial his ss. Back on Earth, Lith would have finished his drink in two gulps. Now, instead, he was forced to follow his own advice.

    The taste was terrible but at least it was alcohol. Lith embraced the familiar warm sensation spreading from his stomach. It was only after the second ss that they talked.

    "Are you sure you want to do it?" Yurial asked.

    "I mean, risking your life for Protector¡¯s dead body is beyond stupid. No offense."

    "None taken." Lith replied emptying his ss.

    "He died to save us all, the only way we have to honor his sacrifice is to live our lives to the fullest, don¡¯t you think?" Yurial was surprised by Lith¡¯s meek attitude and by how at peace he was feeling after drinking the amber colored liquid.

    "I agree with you. That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to do it."

 Chapter 236 Gatekeeper

    Lith took the bottle away and locked the cab. He didn¡¯t want to risk for Yurial to go from one addiction to another.

    "At this point, you should have realized the meaning of what I told you after the second exam. Life is like a crucible. It pushes us until we break apart and then it melts the pieces to forge something new.

    "The mold is always the same, but the person thates out it¡¯s not. Our beliefs and our convictions are put to the test every day. Some we keep, others we discard. When it happens, a part of us dies, never to return.

    "You are not the same person you were when the academy started, just like you are not even the same person you were after passing the second exam. It¡¯s the same for everyone.

    "My only choice is to embrace the change or keep mourning my past self as much as I mourn Protector. I need my closure. If I back away without even trying, I will regret it my whole life and sooner orter that weight is going to kill me."

    "I understand." Yurial replied.

    "I¡¯m the same. I know that things can¡¯t go back to the way they were, but I can¡¯t ept my current situation either. Unlike you, I have yet to find an answer. I won¡¯t try to stop you anymore. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

    "Actually, there are two things you can do. The first is to stay the heck away from the liquor cab, the second is to not tell the girls that I¡¯m gone." Lith was back to his peak condition and had made up his mind.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t risk their lives for something like this. I don¡¯t want to lose anyone else.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith was about to leave when Yurial stopped him by standing in front of the door.

    "I know that you could knock me down with a single punch, just like I know that you believe you are doing the right thing, but you are not. This isn¡¯t protecting us. This is casting us aside because you think of us as a weakness.

    "I¡¯m aware our friendship isn¡¯t that deep, we started talking for real only recently, but your rtionship with Phloria should matter something to you. If you run away behind her back, you¡¯ll betray her trust. At least have the guts to tell her the truth."

    Lith sighed, Yurial was right.

    "Man, bad habits die hard. I was about to make the same mistake I always do. Treating people like they are too weak or stupid for their will to matter. Please,e with me outside. Otherwise Phloria will kill me."

    Lith let Yurial out of the dimensional tent first. As he expected, Phloria was waiting for him outside. When she saw the door opening, she was about to give Lith a piece of her mind. Yet Yurial came out of it instead, leaving her surprised and relieved at the same time.

    "You know me well, don¡¯t you?" Lith said.

    "Let me guess. You were about to sneak out and leave us in the dark. Just like you did to your family for all those years." Phloria¡¯s calm didn¡¯tst long. Not when she saw the determined look on his face.

    "Yes, I was. Yurial already talked me out of it. There is no need to scold me again."

    "Are you saying you are going back to the academy with us?" Phloria couldn¡¯t believe her ears.

    "No. I¡¯m sending you guys back, but only after exining the situation to you. Please,e inside. Yurial, please, leave us alone."

    Back into the boys¡¯ tent, Lith cast the Hush spell. He had no idea how the magic distorting the tent¡¯s space worked. Lith wanted to be sure what he was about to say would remain between the two of them.

    "Spit it out, let me hear your excuse." Phloria refused to sit, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

    Lith saw her die many times in a short period of time. Her face melted after being sshed by cker¡¯s poison, her head was bitten off by something, andstly, her chest was pierced in multiple points while blood drenched her clothes.

    All those visions didn¡¯t make him waver, they only strengthened his conviction.

    "No excuses, only the truth. You have heard the dryad. The mining town has probably been taken over by the ckers. Even remaining here it¡¯s too dangerous for you guys. Use the emergency device and go back to the academy. You¡¯ll be safe there."

    "Why should it be any different for you? Why don¡¯t youe back with us? There¡¯s no reason to risk your life for a corpse. If the dryad is right, the ckers have probably feasted on it already."

    Lith felt his rage seethe at the thought, but he managed to suppress it.

    "It¡¯s different because I am different from you guys. You have seen me in action. I am faster and stronger than any of you. While I was underground, I killed two of those giant ckers, while you only took care of the one I served you on a silver tter."

    "Since when is this a contest?" Phloria retorted. She was determined to not back down.

    "It¡¯s not. I¡¯m only saying that it¡¯s much easier for me to go in and out of the mining town alone. I promise you I¡¯m not going to risk my life meaninglessly. If the ce is infested with ckers and the situation turns out to be too dangerous, I¡¯ll run away.

    "I have to at least try. I need to see Protector onest time, even if it¡¯s just an empty grave or an egg infested corpse. He is... was my best friend, my mentor, my partner. When he died, I was so conceited and self absorbed I never got to tell him goodbye. I owe him that much."

    Phloria saw Lith blink too often for it to be normal. She knew he had still a hard time fighting off Death Vision and how painful it was for him seeing his loved ones dying again and again.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want him to go, I want him to be safe. Yet maybe going there can help Lith oveing his trauma. I can¡¯t live with the thought of being even partially responsible for his continuous suffering. I hope that Raaz is right and letting him go is the right thing to do.¡¯

    "Fine, but I can¡¯t let you leave just like this." She took out a bastard sword from her dimensional amulet.

    It resembled a longsword with a de 110 centimeters (3,6 feet) long, but the hilt was longer, allowing the wielder to use it with one hand or both ording to the circumstances.

    It had four blue magical crystals embedded, one on each side of the de and the other two on each side of the hilt.

    "This was supposed to be your birthday present. I asked my father to forge something for you as a thank you gift for saving my life time and time again. You should have seen his face back then." She chuckled.

    "He reacted like I was asking him to cut his own right hand. After I told him all that happened during Balkor¡¯s attack and when my mom and sisters backed me, he gave in.

    "I exined to him that you are not very skilled yet incredibly strong, so he made this sword. It¡¯s the first and for now the only piece of his Gatekeeper series of des.

    "Not only it can shrink, just like mine, allowing the wielder to fight in enclosed spaces, but it also can enhance the strength of all elements channeled into the sword. Each element produces a different effect." She handed it to Lith, who immediately imprinted it with his mana while performing a few practice swings.

    ¡¯Does it mean this weapon has fusion magic too?¡¯ Lith was amazed by how light the sword was. It was the first time for him to see a weapon made by Orion with a double edge instead of a single one.

    "Since you refuse to listen to reason, I¡¯ll borrow it to you. You have to give it back, though. It¡¯s not yours until your thirteenth birthday, am I clear?"

    Lith nodded, putting the sword away.

    "Look at the bright side." He smiled softly, caressing her cheek.

    "I¡¯ll return to the academy in less than an hour. After that, since we are not going to stay in this stinking forest one minute longer, I can take you out to a proper date."

    Lith flew out of the door and into the sky, without waiting for her reply. Once he was high enough, he didn¡¯t need the map to find the way. Yet he didn¡¯t rush forward. He took his time to conjure and manipte a low altitude cloud to hide his approach.

    ¡¯This Brood Mother is likely to be an Awakened one. Otherwise it shouldn¡¯t be able to order around ckers capable of using magic. If she keeps an eye at the sky with Life Vision or something simr, my disguise is useless. Luckily, there¡¯s more than one way to kill a spider.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He hoped that no cker would mind a small cloud two kilometers high in the sky that moved along the wind.

    When he was right above the mining town, he looked below with Life Vision. Lith discovered that all the houses had lost their enchantments, whatever the Headmaster had done to them, was only temporary.

    There were multiple life forms, but judging from their numbers and strength there was nothing that could worry him much. He kept moving the cloud until he arrived at a point where, if he moved fast enough, he could descend to the ground without being noticed.

    Lith plunged down like a meteor, using the slipstream effect to elerate his movements and a thinyer of darkness magic to hide his presence. Before leaving the academy, he had asked to Linjos what had happened to the corpses of the fallen beasts.

    Contrary to his expectations, instead of punishing or reprimanding him for his behavior while they were at Protector¡¯s deathbed, the Headmaster simply informed him that Scarlett had buried them in a mass grave near the forest.

    Linjos never intended to punish Lith for his words. He too had lost many friends that day, so he could understand Lith¡¯s feelings. Also, when Linjos saw his condition after the failed attempt to save Protector¡¯s life, he considered the case closed.

    In Linjos¡¯s eyes, losing a dear friend and almost his own life on the same day was the worse punishment someone could ever deserve.

    Lith stopped his fall just a few meters from the ground. Then, he moved while floating mid air, to not make any noise. Thanks to air and darkness magic, he was like a ghost, moving unnoticed behind the enemy lines.

    He also made sure to always keep a house between himself and the nearest cker.

    ¡¯After thest time, I learned my lesson. These creatures do not rely much on their eyes as much as on their bristles. Air magic cannot hide my movements. I can only stay as far as possible from them and hope it¡¯s enough.¡¯

    Thanks to Life Vision, he could soon make sure that only Hatchling ckers were inside the mining town. He found no sign of the presence of Soldiers or of the Brood Mother.

    The closer he got to the mass grave, the greater the number of ckers he met, until he reached a point where moving forward while remaining undetected became impossible.

    Lith took out the bastard sword, infusing it with darkness magic. Instead of butchering his way to the grave, he proceeded slowly, ambushing the nearest cker and hiding its corpse in the pocket dimension to not leave traces behind.

    Lith repeated the process until he had a clear path ahead. Before moving forward, he weaved several spells, preparing for the worse. Soon he was close enough to notice that the mass grave had been unearthed and erged.

    While looking at it with Life Vision, it appeared like a huge pool of life forces, too close and numerous to distinguish one from the other.

    ¡¯If the dryad is right and the Brood Mother turned the corpses into incubators, it¡¯s unlikely she has left such a precious asset unprotected.¡¯ Lith sprinted thest hundred meters, flying to the destination.

    He had no idea how sensitive ckers¡¯ perception was, but he was pretty sure they would notice him as soon as he got too close. He was right.

    Lith was nearing the edge of the grave when he saw the front legs of two Soldier ckers climbing out of the pit to check on the approaching anomaly they perceived.

    Lith was too fast for them. He managed to close in before their heads emergedpletely and attacked them while they were still defenseless. Lith cut them down with a single sh each, jumping over the edge and taking by surprise the two remaining Soldiers.

    The first one died before realizing what had happened. Lith cleaved its head while unleashing several ice spears against thest enemy. Despite the shock, the Soldier managed to deflect most of the spears with true magic.

    The cker was pierced multiple times, losing half of its legs in the process, but before the intruder could strike him down, it managed to sound the rm.

    By disregarding its own safety, the creature used thest strand of mana it had to strike the ground in a precise sequence, to alert his goddess of the impending threat to the colony.

 Chapter 237 Outmatched

    Lith was no cker, but his mana perception was high enough to allow him to perceive the earth magic traveling under his feet.

    ¡¯Damn, I¡¯d better be quick. I am sure that cker didn¡¯t waste itsst moments of life to improvise dance moves. It has called for reinforcements.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The mass grave had been erged so that the various carcasses could be separated based on their quality. In the leftmost corner of the pit, there was a giant cocoon made out of webs and covered in eggs.

    Solus¡¯s mana sense could see that the eggs yielded an orange core, while the hatchlings that were taking cover inside the cocoon had already reached a yellow core. Tufts of ming red hair were scattered around the floor.

    Lith gritted his teeth, realizing that his worst fears hade true. Protector¡¯s body was lost.

    ¡¯Damn ckers! I can¡¯t resurrect the dead, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m willing to let them go away with it.¡¯ Lith jumped out of the pit, releasing a stream of fire on the cocoons until the incubator was turned into a funeral pyre.

    The dying screeches of the hatchlings filled him with joy, so he kept pouring fire while watching the eggs boil from within until the pressure made them burst. Hatchling ckers tried to stop him. Now that he was alone, Lith only needed a nce to unleash several wind des and turn them into mincemeat.

    The Hatchlings were all the size of a basketball, like those he had faced during the mock exam. They were too small and afraid of the fire to be a threat. The only reason why they were attacking him was that they didn¡¯t dare to disobey the Brood Mother.

    ¡¯Lith, on your right!¡¯ Solus warned him. Lith turned just in time to see a huge stone disc crashnd right beside the pit, from which descended a human like female figure with razor sharp ws aiming for his head.

    The creature was incredibly fast since it could exploit the ckers¡¯ natural speed and boost it with air fusion magic.

    "How dare you harm my babies?" She hissed with a voice full of hatred.

    The Brood Mother current form resembled a woman of breath-taking beauty with long ck hair that reached the ground. She wore a ck evening dress simr to those Lith had seen the noble dames wear during social events.

    Aside from the ws, many things revealed her inhuman nature. Four spider legs came out of her back and she had eight eyes instead of two. Two on the forehead, two on her cheeks and thest two beside her chin.

    Thanks to Solus¡¯s warning, Lith managed to dodge just in the nick of time. He had been checking the surroundings with Life Vision, but the rocket like disc had been an unpleasant surprise.

    "My army!" She cried in outrage, watching all her careful ns to take over the forest turn into ashes.

    Lith took a few steps back, watching four gargantuan ckers approach from the site of the crash. Each one of them was three meters (9¡¯10") tall, with legs as thick as young trees.

    ¡¯Beware, those four all have a deep cyan core.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    ¡¯It seems this Brood Mother has really found a way to use corpses and living prey to hasten her offspring growth. If it keeps like this, all the members of her personal guard could evolve within a few months!¡¯

    Lith didn¡¯t care much about the future, he was concerned enough about the present.

    He had never expected to face an evolved monster capable of using all elements, let alone that it would have so many powerful bodyguards.

    ording to the dryad¡¯s words, the Brood Mother was supposed to have only recently evolved. He had assumed she would have at her disposal a very limited amount of skills.

    Otherwise, Lith would have never wasted so much time burning the eggs. Yet she was already able to shapeshift and nurture very powerful warriors.

    It was a fight where he had nothing to gain and very much to lose.

    ¡¯How strong is she, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯More than you. Her core is light cyan and very close to be deep blue. There is a piece of good news, though. Now that I look better at them, despite their cores being already this powerful, they have only a limited amount of mana.

    ¡¯I think their evolution was too fast, their bodies have yet to develop enough to employ so much power. They will probably break if you push them strong enough.¡¯

    The Brood Mother¡¯s body shapeshifted. The dress disappeared under her skin. Her lower body turned into the abdomen of a giant spider with eight long longs. The front legs were different from the others, shining under the sunlight like they were made out of obsidian.

    It was like someone had attached a human to the spider body, starting from the thighs. Her upper body still looked the same, but her skin had turned from pink to a chitinous grey and her hands had unnaturally long fingers ending in razor-sharp ws.

    "You owe me, human!" Her rage subsided when she looked at Lith with Life Vision.

    "Your body will do just fine! A living host is much better than maggots infested corpses. Surrender and I promise you won¡¯t suffer. Much."

    Despite her threats, the Brood Mother was reluctant to attack first. She could tell that the intruder was quite strong and she needed him alive to recover from the massive loss of the incubator chamber.

    She had two of her Praetorians position behind her back and the other two on her sides.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I already have a girlfriend." Lith sneered.

    "You defiled my friend¡¯s body and dare to ask forpensation? Here is my offer. Let me go and I will not kill you." His tone was stone cold. He wanted nothing more than kill her in the slowest, more gruesome way possible, but he was outnumbered and outmatched.

    Also, charging blindy was something the old Lith would have done, taking unnecessary risks just to quench his rage.

    ¡¯Wrath without a purpose is just acting without thinking of the consequences. I can leave the Scorpicore to deal with these vermin, there¡¯s no need to dirty my hands.¡¯ He tried to convince himself.

    The Brood Mother reacted by spreading her fingers and releasing a stream of lightning toward Lith, who Blinked out of the harm¡¯s way opening the exit point on her right side. Yet the Brood Mother was well aware of that.

    She had never stopped using Life Vision, even though it consumed a lot of mana. She knew that if her opponent was capable of using dimensional magic, he could have appeared behind her back and kill her in one fell swoop.

    That was the reason why she had made her Praetorians remain close to her, to block his line of sight. Her front legs not only were harder than steel, but they were also razor sharp, capable to pierce through stone.

    She lunged them towards the Blink exit she had saw appearing only to have them hit thin air. Lith had yet to learn true dimensional magic, but he had taken to heart Ka¡¯s words. He knew how dangerous it was to Blink in front of someone capable of using Life Vision.

    When the Talons had ambushed him on his way to Kandria, he had managed to beat them because they were too reliant on the spell. Lith had learned from their mistake, so he had used Switch alongside Blink.

    The gate on her right was just a really mana expensive feint. His real target was one of the Praetorians on her back. With their position swapped Lith now had almost a clear strike.

    Almost.

    The Praetorian beside him moved as fast as it could to intercept the enemy lunge aimed at its goddess¡¯ heart. Lith was holding the sword with both hands, channelling fire magic through the hilt.

    The enchantment Orion had infused the sword with amplified the strength of the spell, turning the yellow mes into an emerald storm that engulfed Lith¡¯s whole body, turning him into a hum.

    Praetorians were bigger and stronger than Soldier ckers, but their magic abilities were still limited to the water and earth elements. It unleashed the defensive spells it had prepared, raising a wall of frozen stone in front of Lith to block his charge.

    Lith realized that his original n had been foiled. Crashing head on might allow him to destroy the makeshift barrier, but he would be blind against what was waiting for him behind it. So he changed his target.

    Lith ran horizontally along the wall at high speed, his sword aimed at the defenceless Praetorian. The creature raised its front leg like a shield, trying to infuse itself with earth magic. Lith was too close and too fast, when the first strands of magic started to harden the exoskeleton, it was already dead.

    The Praetorian was cleaved in half, both parts of its body were being devoured by emerald mes scorching the earth below.

    "No!" The Brood Mother screeched. Not only was the human stronger than she had predicted, but also losing a Praetorian was a huge blow to her army, second only to losing the incubator.

    Even using the corpses of powerful beasts or magicians, there was only a small chance for a Praetorian to be born instead of a simple Soldier. She emitted a gargling sound, calling all her minions to help in battle.

    Lith was amazed by how even a sword Forgemasterd with fake magic could be so powerful, yet he had no time to waste. He was still one against three and ording to Solus, Hatchling ckers were iing from all directions.

    ¡¯Thanks to Invigoration I was back at my peak condition when the fight started and aside from Switch I have yet to use a strong spell. If I let thembine their attacks, I¡¯m done for.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The Mother and here Praetorians stepped back to safety. Once the caster died, the frozen wall crumbled leaving a hole in their formation.

    "Curse you, human! I don¡¯t care anymore of taking you alive. I¡¯ll make sure you suffer like the inferior being you are!"

    If it wasn¡¯t for Lith¡¯s "No speeches while fighting" policy, he would have liked to tell her that she had just taken the words out of his mouth. Lith Blinked again instead of bantering, sending the Brood Mother into a panic.

    "He¡¯s behind us!" She yelled noticing no exit point had opened in front or above them. The four turned around at unison, unleashing several spells that turned the ground in front of them into what looked like an earthquake aftermath.

    Yet aside from some Hatchlings that had managed to arrive faster than his brethren, the natural forces they unleashed only hit the air. Lith had actually Blinked into the pit. The exit point had escaped her detection thanks to the magical mes that were still burning the cocoons with enough strength to overwhelm the dimensional magic signature.

    Being generated from Lith¡¯ own mana, those mes were harmless to him.

    ¡¯She must be scared witless to keep using Life Vision like that.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯If you manage to keep her on her toes and prevent her from using Invigoration, she won¡¯tst long.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, the problem is that the same goes for me. I can¡¯t Blink around too much without using Invigoration. Time to use my ace in the hole.¡¯ Lith thought. He hadn¡¯t created the small cloud just to use it as a cover.

    It was also his contingency n in case something went horribly wrong.

    Before descending to the ground, he had separated with air magic the positive and the negative charges, turning it into a thundercloud. While his enemies were still attacking the ground, he used air magic on them.

    He charged them positively and turned them into living lightning rods.

    Real thunderbolts were much stronger than their magical counterparts, but it also made them much more dangerous. Lith wasn¡¯t immune to their fury, so he kept channelling his spell from his hiding spot.

    Suddenly, the Brood Mother noticed that her and her Praetorians were glowing like a Christmas tree, yet she couldn¡¯t feel any negative effect.

    "What treachery is this?" She said looking at her palms trying to understand what was happening. The answer came in the form of a rumbling sound from above.

    The evolved ckers looked up in the sky with a confused look, while their Queen went into a panic again.

    "No, no, no!" She screamed trying to think of a solution.

    "Infuse yourselves with earth magic and shield us with rocks! Quick, or we are all dead."

    Lith inwardly cursed at his bad luck. It was the first time he had attempted that trick, so he had no idea it would be that slow. He started weaving several earth spells, while helplessly watching his enemies build a makeshift fortress.

    When the first lightning bolt came down, the ckers¡¯ protection held it at bay. The rock barrier had taken the brunt of the attack and most of the electricity that managed to reach them had been nullified by their earth fusion.

    The sh had blinded them, the thunder almost deafened them and the resulting shockwave had killed many Hatchlings that were still trying to reach their queen to protect her. Yet the Brood Mother rejoiced.

    "Yes! We will survive. Not even lightning can beat ourbined spells!"

    ¡¯What do you think I was waiting for?¡¯ Lith inwardly replied.

    When the following thunderbolts came, he unleashed all of his spells at once, turning the fortress they had spent so much mana to build in a pile of dust.

 Chapter 238 Outmatched 2

    While Thunderbolts quickly rained down from the sky one after the other, a spellcasting speed race for survival was taking ce on the ground. The evolved ckers were trying to keep their defenses in ce, while Lith was putting just as much effort to make them crumble.

    Despite Lith being alone, the fight was on equal footing. Lightning wasn¡¯t the only threat, there was also the shockwaves it produced. The Praetorians were now blind, deaf, and badly injured.

    Unlike their queen, they were unable to use light magic to heal themselves. Also, by following their instinct, they shielded her to the best of their abilities. Lith exploited the situation, focusing on one of them at the time, leaving a different enemy unprotected each time a bolt of lightning struck.

    The cloud Lith had conjured was small, it managed to produce only a dozen lightning bolts before returning to normal. Yet its effects were devastating. One of the Praetorians was dead, another was in agony, and thest one was severely injured.

    Exploiting their blind loyalty, Lith had also exterminated the Hatchling ckers that answered their queen¡¯s call by throwing them in the eye of the storm. Once the lightning bolts stopped, Lith jumped out of the pit, rushing at full speed toward his enemies.

    His body was infused with air magic, making him appear like a blur. The magic crystals embedded into the bastard sword harnessed part of the spell, making a small vortex cracking with lightning envelope the de.

    The Brood Mother was triggered by the noise, summoning an earth shield all around her. The ckers¡¯ sensory organs were still muddled by the thunderstorm, their reaction was disorganized.

    When thest Praetorian still standing understood what was happening, Lith had already chopped off the head of his agonizing teammate, to prevent the Brood Mother from rejuvenating it.

    The Praetorian screeched for help, fighting with all the strength it could muster. All the rocks and debris that had been created by keeping the thunderstorm at bay, flew against Lith following his every movement.

    Lith was starting to run out of steam. His muscles were sore from the continuous bursts and his mind was losing focus. Using so many high level spells at the same time had taken quite a toll on him.

    To make things worse, the closer he got to the Praetorian, the more urate its control over the debris became, making it impossible for Lith to dodge all the iing attacks. He could only deflect those aimed at his vitals and tank the others.

    He used earth fusion to limit the injuries and light fusion to start regenerating them as soon as they opened.

    When Lith was close enough, the cker interrupted the spell releasing a second one. Eight giant spider legs made of rock erupted from the ground, attacked him from all directions. Each one ended with a spike and was aimed at his heart to impale him.

    ¡¯Damn my stupidity! I should have known the previous spell was just a diversion. I¡¯ve no time to Blink.¡¯ Lith infused himself and the sword with air magic, charging against the iing spike in front of him.

    He shed horizontally, aiming to use the force of the impact to alter his course at thest second and avoid being turned into a shish kebab.

    Much to his surprise, the sword didn¡¯t bounce off the spike, it cut through the stone like it was paper instead. The Praetorian was suddenly as scared as Lith was jubnt.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t a sword. This is a masterpiece!¡¯ Lith rejoiced from the sudden turn of the events. The cker was defenseless. Weaving and controlling his spell with such precision had required all of its focus, leaving it no time for a contingency n.

    With onest burst of speed, Lith arrived in front of the Praetorian, performing a series of quick shes. The first cut off the front legs that were trying to protect the Praetorian¡¯s head. The second and the third split the head in two and removed it from the body respectively.

    Lith kept dashing forward, putting some distance between him and the Brood Mother, activating Invigoration as soon as he stopped. It took only a couple of seconds for the Brood Mother to realize there were no more lightning bolts iing, but when she lowered her barrier everything was already over.

    She used Invigoration to heal her many wounds and replenish her mana. Once she spotted him, the Brood Mother was ready to counter any attack the human could be plotting. Yet Lith remained still, his grin grew wider by the second.

    "You really are dumb." Heughed at her with a cruel voice.

    "Absorbing the world energy is a great idea. Too bad it¡¯s a game that two can y and I started before you."

    The Brood Mother cursed at her own stupidity, it was her first time facing an Awakened one. Through Life Vision, she checked that Lith had told the truth. He was recovering faster than she was capable of.

    The head start he got would allow Lith to attack before she was back at her peak condition.

    "Great idea!" He kept mocking her after noticing her glowing eyes. Words didn¡¯t waste mana, so they were the only attack he could perform without hindering his recovery.

    "I¡¯m sure that wasting mana non stop will not slow you down even more."

    The Brood Mother was outraged by Lith¡¯s defiant attitude, but she was even more scared of what could happen if she stopped watching his every movement.

    Unlike him, she wasn¡¯t able to Blink. She also had noticed how the piece of metal in his hands could easily cut apart even her strongest minion. She only needed one strike to cut him down, but Lith was capable of doing the same.

    The Brood Mother rushed forward, forcing him to stop using Invigoration too and ying straight into his hand. Life Vision gave her only a vague idea of Lith¡¯s core power. After all, he had almost killed her multiple times. The Brood Mother was certain that he had to be at least as strong as her.

    Thanks to Solus¡¯s mana sense, Lith knew that she was stronger than him even at his peak condition, something that was still lost to him. His body had yet to recover from the attempt to save Protector¡¯s life.

    Lith had manipted her fears so that she would start recoveringter than him and stop before him, forcing her to fight on equal footing. The Brood Mother was physically superior, but Lith was much more experienced in using all the elements.

    Her front legs shed many times with his sword, keeping it at bay. Their strength, speed, and stamina were on the same level since the Brood Mother was too scared to stop using Life Vision.

    Yet Lith was forced to y on the defensive. While his opponent could block with the front legs and attack with her ws, he had only one sword. His daggers had a smaller range than her fingers. Also, he needed both hands to stop her heavy blows.

    They were too close to use spells. If one of them stopped even for a second, the other would have the time to strike at least three times. Soon Lith was covered by shallow wounds on the head, shoulders, and arms.

    The Brood Mother was starting to get used to his poor swordsmanship, attacking with her ws every time her front legs shed with the sword. The impact would stun him just for a split second, but it was enough for her.

    Lith changed his strategy, infusing the bastard sword with darkness magic instead of air.

    The de turned pitch ck and small vortexes appeared on its surface. Lith didn¡¯t need to use Life Vision to know that Orion¡¯s masterpiece was sapping his enemy¡¯s strength by the second.

    He only needed to watch at her terrified expression. Every time the dark de shed with the Brood Mother¡¯s stone like legs, they would crack and a bit of her life force would be transferred to Lith.

    The tables were now slowly getting turned. She knew that the longer itsted, the weaker she would get. She went into a frenzy, attacking faster and faster, hoping he would make a mistake not being able to keep up the pace with her many limbs.

    Lith was soon forced to focus only on the defense again, the Brood Mother¡¯s attacks were too fast and well coordinated for his skill level. New and deeper cuts appeared on his flesh, but he couldn¡¯t stop grinning.

    "Not even a monstrosity like you couldugh at his own death!" During the fight, the queen of the ckers had noticed Lith¡¯s unusual smell. It was part human, part beast, part Abomination andpletely unnatural.

    ¡¯I¡¯mughing at yours!¡¯ He inwardly replied before releasing all the nine spells stored inside his rings. Fireballs, lightning bolts, gue Arrows, and a fully charged Checkmate Spears were fired against her at point nk range while she was lunging her left arm toward Lith¡¯s right one.

    The thunderbolts stunned her while the darkness missiles drained her lifeforce and the icicles ravaged her body. The explosions from the fireballs pushed her away, but not before her ws severed Lith¡¯s dominant arm at the shoulder.

    The Brood Mother was severely injured but not dead. Now that Lith had lost the sword she was certain she would get the upper hand as soon as her body started to move again.

    Then she saw it. Together with spurts of red blood, ck tendrils came out of Lith¡¯s severed arm and from his shoulder, pulling it back into ce. The flesh merged like the wound had never existed.

    Lith was shocked as much as the Brood Mother. He had already seen Balkor¡¯s Valors reattach their limbs in a very simr manner. Unlike them, he needed light fusion to close the wound and stop the bleeding.

    The arm was in ce, but it was useless. The bones, nerves, and blood vessels were still repairing themselves. Lith had no sensibility whatsoever, his arm was no more than dead weight. The Brood Mother didn¡¯t know it and hope abandoned her.

    It was only then that she realized that her body was already beyond saving. The electricity from the lightning bolts ha temporarily stunned her, but not prevented her from moving. Otherwise the previous thunderstorm would have managed to kill her.

    The numbing effect had simply prevented her from noticing that several spears of ice had pierced both her human and spider body, puncturing her lungs and several organs. She started coughing blood, while her life was slowly slipping away.

    "Please, have mercy." She pleaded him, shedding tears from all her eight eyes.

    "You are a powerful magician. You can heal me. You know how rare we Awakened are, we shouldn¡¯t kill each other."

    Lith clicked his tongue in disgust, moving the sword from the right to the left hand. The Brood Mother recognized him as someone simr to her. He didn¡¯t want allies, only servants.

    "If you spare my life, I swear to devote all my life to you. I can take on any form you want, be every day the woman of your dreams. I¡¯ll be your lover, your ve, whatever you want. Just don¡¯t kill me!"

    Lith plunged the sword into her head, using darkness magic to destroy thest spark of life force she had left.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe she had the gall to ask me to spare her life. ve my a*s, she would have killed me as soon as she recovered her strength.¡¯ Lith thought, storing the corpse in the pocket dimension.

    ¡¯What are you nning to do with her remains?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Use them as ingredients, sell it, or reanimate it as a greater undead. I have yet to decide.¡¯

    Professor Farg had witnessed the whole fight from the beginning. The resourcefulness of both sides had left her speechless more than once.

    ¡¯By the gods, even with all my equipment, I don¡¯t know if I could defeat either of them without reinforcements. The Brood Mother was cunning and the four Praetorians covered her blind spots, leaving no openings.

    ¡¯Lith¡¯s swordsmanship is amateurish at best, but he is a vicious, scheming opportunist. He clearly has a lot of experience using true magic, that trick with the thundercloud isn¡¯t something you can improvise.

    ¡¯Once again, Lady Tyris was right. Lith from Lutia isn¡¯t human. I must show her the fight, especially the part where the arm reattached itself. His existence goes beyond my understanding.¡¯

    Lith used Invigoration again, checking his surrounding from time to time. The few ckers that had survived were all Hatchlings and with their queen dead, they had lost the will to fight.

    He collected the corpses of the Praetorians too, hoping they were still worth something as trophies or ingredients. Then, he returned to the pit. The mes had destroyed everything, leaving behind only ashes.

    Lith wasn¡¯t a believer, but he silently prayed for his lost friend. He couldn¡¯t avenge Protector¡¯s death nor could he bring him back to life. The feeling of helplessness heavily weighted on his heart.

    "Goodbye, old friend. Thank you for everything you did for me and for all you taught me. I promise I will take care of your family like it¡¯s my own."

    "Well, well, well. Look who¡¯s here. I should feel offended. I heard from more than one reliable source that you shed a lot of tears for Protector, but none for me."

    Lith turned around, weing Ka with a warm smile.

 Chapter 239 Worries

    "Ka, you¡¯re alive!" Lith regretted those words as soon as he pronounced them. Ka looked almost the same way when they met during Balkor¡¯s attack.

    Almost.

    The shadows surrounding her were deeper, the red light in her eyes was stone cold, and the presence she exuded was that of an undead.

    "Not quite. I barely survived that night and only thanks to the experiments I had previously performed on my own body. After I recovered, I decided to push things to the next level. I¡¯m currently in the process of turning myself into a true undead.

    Is that a problem for you?"

    "Not at all. What are you doing here?" He asked.

    "I could ask you the same thing. I was minding my own business when I recognized your mana signature. I would have liked to rush here to help you, but I was in the middle of a delicate procedure. I arrived here just a few seconds ago. How are you doing, Scourge?"

    Lith told her everything he had gone through from thest time they had seen each other, sparing no details about Death Vision.

    "Fascinating." She replied. "Does it work on me too?"

    "No." Oddly, Ka remained the same, no matter how long he looked at her.

    "Maybe it¡¯s because of my ongoing transformation, or maybe because you know I¡¯m stronger than you. We should try asking Scarlett when shees back."

    Ka looked at Lith first and then to Solus¡¯s ring. She didn¡¯t agree with their decision, but since they knew him better, Ka decided not to interfere.

    "Ka, why have you decided to turn into an undead? You have evolved only recently, isn¡¯t this rushing things too much?" Lith was as happy to see her as worried for her mental health.

    Since he had developed Death Vision, he had revised all the old conversations he had with his psychologist, to understand how much of a nutjob he was.

    If before Protector¡¯s death his heart felt like it had been turned to stone, since he had developed Death Vision he could feel a void in his chest. Like a hole through which a cold wind blew non stop, freezing his body.

    He was afraid that Ka had been suffering from a simr trauma and had taken the easiest way out from her feelings. It was the same thing he had nned to do for a while, before his family¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s affection had convinced him otherwise.

    "I¡¯m not rushing anything. I have been mulling over the possibility ever since I was still a Byk. Why do you think I was so interested in greater undead, even when we met for the first time?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t understand. Based on what I read, evolved monsters have a very long lifespan. Can¡¯t you wait for a bit before taking such an irreversible decision?"

    Ka sighed, realizing how little Scarlett trusted Lith to keep him in the dark even about basic knowledge.

    "I¡¯m sorry to be forced to break it to you like this, but there is no easy way to do it. It¡¯s not just evolved monsters, all Awakened ones live for centuries. That means that you too will sooner orter face the same problem."

    "What?" Lith and Solus were both bbergasted.

    "In your attempt of saving Protector, you have lost decades of life span. That means that you¡¯ll live a few hundred years less than the average Awakened ones, but you will still live on for centuries."

    "How... how is it possible?"

    Lith suddenly felt lightheaded, the world was spinning all around him to the point he had to use the bastard sword to support himself.

    "People¡¯s lives depend on the amount of life force they possess. An Awakened one is capable of constantly absorbing the world energy, so instead of burning their own life force, they consume mostly world energy.

    "That prolongs our lives for a very long time. I knew it from the moment I evolved into an Awakened one that it would mean to watch everyone of my kin die. To witness the world as I know it changes until I would be unable to recognize it anymore.

    "In my Wight form, I could still have cubs, but what of them? They would live shunned by animals and humans alike, just to die of old age way before me. Know this, the offspring of an Awakened it¡¯s almost never an Awakened, just like having a mage for a parent doesn¡¯t mean having a great talent for magic.

    "That¡¯s why there are monsters roaming this world. Scarlett¡¯s offspring are Scorpicores capable of using all the elements, they live around three hundred years, but they are not Awakened ones.

    Also, your case is even more special."

    "What do you mean?" All those sudden revtions had forced Lith to sit down. He felt like he was going to puke.

    "You can live as long as an Awakened, but you might as well live forever. There are immortals in this world, creatures that can live until someone kills them and Abominations are among them, just like the undead."

    "This means that my family, my friends..." Lith was stuttering for the shock.

    "They will all die, in time. Even if you cage them all, even if you personally stand guard to them, sooner orter they will die in front of your eyes. Time is our ally as much as our enemy." Kapleted the sentence for him.

    "That¡¯s why what you did for Protector was stupid and childish. He had seen so many of his kin age and pass away in front of him after bing a Ry. After bing a Skoll, he was bound to witness all of his pack, her new mate and even his cubs wither away in front of his eyes.

    "Also, your idea of undead is wed. Greater undead not only can live forever, but also have all the same range of feelings that the living has. Human undead give us a bad name because once they get used to killing, they stop thinking of others as living beings, belittling them like cattle.

    "A magical beast is different, though. We need to kill since the moment our parents abandon us, life is a constant struggle for survival. For me turning into an undead will change nothing.

    "Unlike Nok, I wasn¡¯t born a Byk. First, I was just a bear, then a Byk, andstly a Wight. No matter how much my appearance changes, I will always be myself. Can you say the same?"

    "Maybe, I don¡¯t know." It was the first time that Lith was forced to lie to Ka, but he had no way to exin to her how he had been reborn twice already and had changed very little so far.

    "So, the good news is that you don¡¯t have to worry about my family. I will take care of them myself. I free you from your promise. The bad news is, well, everything else. There is something you have to ask me before we part ways again?"

    Ka rubbed her muzzle softly against Lith¡¯s cheek. Contrary to his expectations she was warm. Caressing her head helped him to regain his cool a bit.

    "Let me get this straight. If I remain just an Awakened one I will live for a couple of centuries, while if I turn into an undead or an Abomination, I would live forever?"

    "Yes." She nodded. "Beware that both conditionse at a price. Normal greater undead cannot use light magic freely, it only worsens their hunger. Some can¡¯t stand the light of the day, others get driven mad by their new instincts.

    They are all uneptable limits that would hinder my research, that¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to turn myself into a lich."

    "You what?" Lith froze.

    "Liches are one of the few exceptions. The process requires to split your core into two. One part remains in your body and the other needs a special vessel, to seal it from all external influences, even the passing of time.

    "That way, even if your body gets destroyed and your core shattered, you can always regenerate a new one from the vessel. The process is long and risky. One single mistake and I¡¯ll be dead for good.

    As for Abominations, they can freely use all elements, but because of their parasitic nature, they are constantly hunted down. They care for nothing but their own survival.

    "They don¡¯t even have a body unless they steal one. Even if they find a suitable one, their destructive energies consume it over time until they need to find a recement.

    So be careful about what you choose. Remain an Awakened until you are entirely sure of your decision. One day I might find a cure for undeath, but I doubt there is one for being an Abomination."

    "What do you think I should do?"

    Lith waspletely lost, he didn¡¯t want Ka to leave him. He had never felt so alone in his life. The moment he had learned that he was bound to live for so long, he couldn¡¯t stop considering everyone he knew just a little more than walking corpses.

    "Stop living in the past." Ka snorted.

    "Enjoy your present, because it will change soon. Stop mulling over death and worry about the living. You have only a few years to spend with them, make them count. Also, try to learn from Nok about how to face changes.

    "Do you know what¡¯s the first thing he asked me when I told him about my ns for the future? He said: ¡¯Okay, mom. What have you caught for dinner?¡¯

    "I will remain in this forest for a few years, I don¡¯t know how long will it take toplete my transformation nor if it will seed. Look for me only if you are in dire need of help, since I will be busy. We will resume our lessons when we both have more free time."

    After saying goodbye to Protector¡¯s grave, Lith had found his closure. He was finally at peace with himself, but after hearing Ka¡¯s words, he felt bewildered.

    "Well, this is great. I needed some good news." Lith sneered.

    "I was already considering to be an immortal, an undead, whatever. It would have liked for it to be my choice though, thest resort in case I didn¡¯t manage to find a way to have a proper death." He pondered.

    "Until I understand what the heck I am bing, my life span is thest of my problems. Even my arm acts on its own. I knew I would outlive my parents, but now it seems I will survive my sisters and even my nephews."

    "There is no solution. Even if I find a way to turn them into Awakened, then what? Should I also turn Rena¡¯s husband and his family? Their children when they have them?

    "It would destroy their lives."

    Lith remained pensive for several minutes. The truth he had just learned was overturning his ns for the future. His age had bepletely irrelevant. Judging by Scarlett¡¯s appearance he was likely to remain young looking even once he became a century old.

    "I obsessed so much over controlling every aspect of my life, only to discover that I have no voice in the matter. I¡¯m bound to have a long and lonely life, unless I befriend undead like Ka, or Awakened ones." He bitterlyughed.

    ¡¯By my maker, did you listen to a single word Ka said? She told you to enjoy the present, to treasure those who you love and instead you are acting like they are already dead.

    ¡¯Did you hear her n to turn Nok into an undead or an Awakened? No. She is even willing to find a cure for her vampire adoptive daughter, to give her a mortal life. She worries about them and their happiness, not about herself.

    ¡¯Think about Protector. He knew he would outlive his pack. Did he consider it reason enough for not evolving? No, he became a Ry first and a Skollter. When he met Selia he didn¡¯t avoid her just because she is weak and short lived, he started a family!

    ¡¯Why are you so bad at following your own advice? Do you remember what you told Yurial? Your only choice is to embrace the changes or remain forever chained by the failures of your past.¡¯

    She projected in his mind theirst encounter with Protector before Lith had lost consciousness, quickly followed by Ka¡¯s words. Lith had to ept that she was right.

    Both of them had encouraged him to move forward without letting his fears control his life, yet he was there doing the opposite.

    ¡¯Damn, I hate you being always right, Solus. This is exactly why Protector tried to stop me. All this time, I faced this existence like an enemy to beat or a problem to solve. My fear of losing those precious to me made me lose focus on what is really important.

    ¡¯I wasted so much time preparing for the worse that I¡¯ve probably spent more time with myrades during thest year than with my own family until now.¡¯

    Solus could feel that Lith¡¯s mind was finally rxing. After more than a decade of grieving and blind rage, he seemed to be able to rise beyond his limits and live his life to the fullest.

    It made her incredibly happy and scared at the same time. Because in the end, Protector had made a huge mistake. Lying to Lith to protect him had been the wrong thing to do. It was up to her to make things right.

 Chapter 240 Insights

    The truth could hurt him, but lies had hurt him even more.

    The trauma, the grieving had never stopped until he had been forced to face his own mistakes through the eyes of the others. She couldn¡¯t let him start his life anew based on a convenient lie.

    It was time toe clean with Lith, even if that meant destroying their rtionship. Every day she hid the truth had been torture for Solus, but she endured it because she cared too much for him.

    She was even willing to bear his grudge if it meant for Lith to change for the better.

    ¡¯Lith, do you trust me?¡¯ She asked.

    ¡¯I¡¯d trust you with my life. Beside Protector, you are my only true friend. Despite witnessing every single and most despicable w of mine, you have always epted me for who I am. I wouldn¡¯t be the person I am now without you, Solus.¡¯ He replied.

    ¡¯Then I hope that one day you¡¯ll forgive me.¡¯

    ¡¯Forgive you for what?¡¯ Lith had yet toplete his question when Solus projected in his mind everything that had happened after he had lost consciousness. How Protector had survived, hisst words for Lith, and his plea to Solus to keep it a secret.

    Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own mind.

    ¡¯How could you do this to me?¡¯ There was no trace of rage in his thoughts, only the deep paining from the breach of their trust. Until that day, Lith had always considered it the only certainty in his life.

    Solus was a part of him as much as he was a part of her. In his eyes, she back being an untrustworthy piece of stone, just like the first day they met.

    She could feel his pain and silent usations. They both deeply hurt her, but she kept being honest without hiding anything from him.

    ¡¯How? I¡¯ll tell you how. I simply did exactly what you have done time and time again over the years to everyone you love and care for. I followed your teachings and lied to you to keep you safe from a truth that I was afraid could kill you.¡¯

    Lith wanted to rebuke, but everything that came to his mind would sound incredibly hypocritical of him. He still remembered how Scarlett had used him of corrupting Solus¡¯s nature, but he only now understood the meaning of her words.

    ¡¯How can I trust you from now on? How can you ask me to forgive you? You are the only one I never lied to, never!¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s actually easy.¡¯ She replied with a firm voice, even though Lith could feel her pain and tears. ¡¯Just read my mind like you always did when we first met. Dig up all my memories and feelings until your paranoia it¡¯s satisfied!

    ¡¯Do it right now, if it makes you feel better. I know that I made a mistake by lying to you, but I did it only out of love. Maybe you don¡¯t realize it yet, but you are my everything just like Carl was for you, if not even more.

    ¡¯I was scared of losing you forever, scared of being alone again. I chose to keep you safe and sound, even if it meant losing your trust. I prefer a world where you hate me for my actions rather than to keep living without you.

    It would be worse than death, even worse than slowly starving.¡¯

    Lith would have loved to believe her, but at that point, he believed in no one. He followed Solus¡¯s suggestion, fusing their mindspletely for the first time in years. Lith could see everything that she had ever thought and felt since the day they bonded.

    The pain from not having a body, how her feelings for him had grown and changed over the years. At some point, it was impossible to understand if it was the kind of love a daughter had for a father or rather the one a woman felt toward a man.

    Everything she had told him was nothing but the truth, from the reasons why she had lied to him to all the sacrifices she had made to keep him alive until that moment. He learned about all the times that she had risked her life to protect him, belittling herself like she wasn¡¯t even a person.

    He experienced the guilt and suffering that derived from hiding the truth from him. Lith was shocked by all those revtions, even more so because fusing their minds meant viting her privacy, rummaging through her most private thoughts.

    ¡¯I knew you would do it, but it hurts nevertheless.¡¯ She sobbed.

    ¡¯Please, throw me away if you must, but leave me alone.¡¯ The old pouch reappeared around his neck and Solus left his finger to hide inside it. Suddenly, he couldn¡¯t feel her presence inside his mind.

    The door between them could be opened with a simple thought, but then what?

    Lith felt lost, he couldn¡¯t think about anything that he could do to make either of them feel better. Everything that Solus did, was only because she followed his teachings. He had no one to me but himself.

    ***

    White Griffon Academy, Yurial¡¯s apartments.

    "Girls, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m going to say it out loud, but the more I know Lith, the more I think he isn¡¯t a human being." Yurial said.

    "I mean let¡¯s set aside his terrible attitude when we met, since we well deserved it. How can he possibly be that strong? It¡¯s not natural. Also, how could he be okay without resting not even for one hour? It doesn¡¯t make any sense."

    "Yeah, not to mention that somehow he spotted the ckers despite them being underground. Did he ever exin to you how he managed to do it?" Quy pointed out.

    "No." Phloria replied.

    ¡¯There¡¯s also the issue with his beloved brother that he let slip while giving us the pep talk. I have triple checked it, his rtionship with his brothers is terrible. Either he has a third secret brother or I don¡¯t know what to think.

    ¡¯Yet if they didn¡¯t notice it, I¡¯m not going to add coal to the fire. I don¡¯t like where this conversation is going already.¡¯ She thought.

    "Honestly, I never understood how any of you could overlook his ever changing persona. First, he was very rude to us. Then he became our mentor despite being three years younger than us andstly our ¡¯good friend¡¯.

    "We all have seen how he kills people without remorse, how easily he lies to everyone, even to us. I¡¯m grateful for everything Lith did for me, but he still creeps me out." Friya shrugged.

    "I suspect Lith actually is a bastard member of the royal family." Yurial¡¯s words left the others speechless.

    "My father says that the Royal couple is known for having physical abilities on par with magical beasts. It would also exin how he is so knowledgeable and why Linjos keeps him in such high regard."

    "Guys, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m going to say it out loud, but the more I hear you talking about Lith like this, the more you disgust me." Phloria¡¯s gaze was filled with contempt.

    "I don¡¯t know about you, but I approached him after the first exam, not the other way around. So, he definitely didn¡¯t try to exploit me for personal gain. Also, yeah he has a lot of secrets, but so what?

    "He could have hidden his strength and let the assassin kill you, Yurial. Just like during Balkor¡¯s attack or against the ckers just a few hours ago, he could have run away and leave us for dead. Instead, he fought by our side, saving our lives.

    "He helped us countless times, but never asked us anything in return. Yet here you are, talking behind his back because he never exined how he did manage to beat those ckers or cleanse us from Balkor¡¯s toxins while many others died.

    "I don¡¯t care how he did it. What matters to me is that he cared more about our safety than about his own secrets. I don¡¯t care if he is the King¡¯s bastard son or if he has dragon blood in his veins."

    ording to the legends, the offspring of a human and a dragon would carry a hidden strength that could manifest in the form of physical prowess, magic talent, or beauty.

    "It would exin why the female members of his family are so pretty and why he is so different from the rest of us. Whatever his secret is, I¡¯m certain he will tell us in time. What really matters to me, is that his actions speak loud about his character, just like your ungratefulness does about yours.

    "If you really think about questioning him after all the times he saved our lives, after all we have faced together, you don¡¯t deserve being his friends and neither mine!"

    Phloria mmed the door behind her, incapable to listen to their ramblings any more.

    "Do you think that her feelings for him are clouding her judgment?"

    Phloria¡¯s words struck several nerves, making Friya regret to have spoken so harshly.

    "No, I think we have let our fear of the unknown get the better of us." Yurial replied.

    ***

    It took a while to find out Balkor¡¯s whereabouts, but Scarlett discovered his location thanks to hermunicationwork with all the magical beasts she had worked with in the past.

    The various Lords of the different regions had helper greatly in collecting the necessary intel. She knew that Balkor would require a constant supply of dead bodies to build each year such a massive army.

    Also, by examining the captured undead with her artifact, she had managed to identify Balkor¡¯s energy signature. At that point, all she had to do was to use her enchanted pince-nez as a scanner.

    She started her investigation from the locations were big battles had taken ces. Balkor¡¯s undead required more than just bones, so he needed fresh corpses. From there she had interrogated the magical beasts that lived nearby.

    All that work would have been useless without her artifact, though. Balkor was aware of the ws in his supply chain. Over the years he had used countless middlemen to store what he needed in dimensional amulets and have everything delivered at his doorstep.

    The only thing he was unable to predict was the existence of an artifact capable of recognizing an individual¡¯s life force from a great distance.

    Scarlett had almost been on the verge of giving up before finding his trail. Like the countless pursuers that preceded her, the Scorpicore had remained trapped in the web of false leads and deception Balkor hadid.

    Too much time had passed from the attack. The trail was cold and the Forgotten Plume tribe was nomadic. However, one of the Lords of the oasis reported to her about how a small mound of rock that had decorated his fief for centuries copsed right after the attacks on the academies had ended.

    The Lord had no idea what could have happened, but for Scarlett was more than enough. Once she reached the location the mound upied, the artifact was able to detect Balkor¡¯s energy signature.

    It took Scarlett just a few hours to follow the lead to her destination. She was already tasting Balkor¡¯s blood and fear, when her chase came to an abrupt end.

    Sark, the ruler of the Blood Desert blocked her way, staring at Scarlett with annoyance.

    "What are you doing here? This isn¡¯t your turf. You are not wee here."

    Scarlett recognized Sark for what she was. Her body instinctively trembled in fear.

    "Lady Sark, I¡¯m here to exact vengeance for all the loyal subjects and dear friends that the fiend hiding in that encampment killed." She said pointing at the Forgotten Plume tribe visible at the horizon.

    "Fiend? Do you mean Ilyum Balkor? If that¡¯s so, you better go home. He¡¯s one of my subjects now. Tell Tyris that she had her opportunity and wasted it. Now it¡¯s my turn."

    "What?" Scarlett was bbergasted. "You know who he is and what he does, yet you let him live?"

    "Of course, I do. Who would be so stupid to let such a rare talent unattended? Over the years, Balkor has helped the Forgotten Plume tribe to prosper. He not only protected them from all kind of threats, but he also taught them advanced magic and took care of the sick.

    "You should know that light and darkness magic go hand in hand. When people think of Balkor they only see the necromancer, but he is also a great healer. I offered him many times to be one of my underlings.

    "Yet he always refused, because it would mean to swear his loyalty to me and relinquish his foolish ns of revenge. Now that he has only a few years left to live, Balkor finally listened to reason and submitted to me.

    So bug off, Scorpicore. Tell your master he is under my protection."

    "I respect Lady Tyris as I respect you, Lady Sark." Scarlett roared.

    "However, I have no master. I¡¯m here of my own will and I will not back down just because you say so!"

    Sarkughed heartily at Scarlett¡¯s daring words.

    "Kid, I have a soft spot for arrogant youths, but that doesn¡¯t mean I will go easy on you. Take another step forward and the two of us will fight as enemies."

    "So be it!" Scarlett roar made the earth tremble and the skies cry. Despite the dry climate of the desert, ck clouds appeared out of nowhere and covered the sun. Sark¡¯s smile grew even wider.

    ¡¯A world tribtion? This sure makes things more interesting!¡¯ She thought.

    AN: Dear readers, I¡¯m sorry to tell you that Supreme Magus will go on hiatus for some time. My health is slipping and I can¡¯t postpone things anymore. I¡¯ll be hospitalized for a while, but if everything goes well I should be back in 3-4 weeks. Thanks for your support and understanding.

 Chapter 241 Insights 2

    Scarlett too recognized the signs of a world tribtion. It reminded her of Tyris¡¯s words, sending a cold shiver down her spine.

    ¡¯Damn my bad luck. Not only am I forced to face a Guardian, but I also have to undertake a tribtion at the same time. I don¡¯t know what the world wants from me, only that my odds of dying just doubled.

    Even if Sark doesn¡¯t kill me, the world could if I fail. Bah, toote for hindsight!¡¯

    Scarlett set aside her fear of death and charged forward. Her body started to swell and change, doubling its size. Her fur morphed into red scales as thick as a shield and a pair of feathered wings appeared on the Scorpicore¡¯s back.

    The muzzle became a fiery te, only her eyes remained visible. Scarlett¡¯s mane turned into a raging purple me, hot enough to turn sand into ss.

    Sark¡¯s interest was piqued, but she wasn¡¯t impressed. The changes urring during a tribtion were merely cosmetic, pointing out the nature of the potential guardian. s, the Scorpicore¡¯s strength hadn¡¯t changed.

    Scarlett weaved ten spells at once, unleashing an elemental barrage. The ground was upturned, the sand turned into spikes, attacking the Guardian from all sides. Huge hands erupted from the ground, pushing Sark down a pit that had opened below her feet.

    Scarlett¡¯s only hope was for thebined spells to swallow and bury the Guardian long enough for her to take Balkor¡¯s life.

    A hail of lightning and ice crashed on Sark from the skies, darkness engulfed her sapping her strength, while moltenva erupted from the trench beneath her. Sark was unfazed. All of Scarlett¡¯s attacks were nullified by a wave of Sark¡¯s hand that turned the spikes and the hands back to harmless sand, closing the pit at the same time.

    White mes surrounded her body dispelling the darkness engulfing her, consuming the lightning bolts and sublimating ice.

    Despite Scarlett¡¯s best efforts, an ant would still remain an ant.

    Scarlett focused all the mana she had left in one final attack. Whole dunes floated mid-air, turning into ming ck meteors the size of a two-story house. Each one of them had enough destructive power to turn a medium-sized city into a crater.

    They all crushed against the Guardian, who was forced to raise both her arms to block them all. Sark was astonished by the attacking prowess Scarlett possessed.

    ¡¯What a cunning opponent. If I miss or deflect even one of these darkness imbued meteors, I bet she will redirect it toward the Forgotten Plume tribe. I can¡¯t afford to y anymore, time to get serious!¡¯

    Sark¡¯s battle cry sounded like an eagle¡¯s screech, her white aura expanded in the form of spreading wings that engulfed the surrounding area with blinding light. Any other people would believe it to be a sign that the goddess of light had descended among them.

    However, the Forgotten Plume tribe knew better. They fell to their knees, their foreheads touching the sand while worshipping the Benefactor.

    The white mes and the ck meteors fought for a long second before the light consumed everything in its path.

    Sark looked at her own palms in surprise. Even under her human guise, she was still a phoenix and yet her arms were covered in third-degree burns, bleeding from several wounds.

    "You attacked me despite knowing who I am and managed to hurt me fighting fair and square. You have earned my respect. This time I¡¯ll let you go, but if you dare to attack me again, I will end you. Now scram!" Sark opened a Warp Steps, shoving the exhausted Scorpicore through it.

    Scarlett had barely the strength to stand, so she offered no resistance. She found herself back in the forest surrounding the White Griffon academy.

    ¡¯Damn Sark!¡¯ She inwardly cursed. ¡¯How can Guardians be so aloof and self-absorbed? Yet her power is far beyond mine, a second attempt would be suicidal. It¡¯s time for me to stop wasting time with humans.

    The Council is useless, the Guardians untrustworthy. If I want justice, I¡¯ll need the power to take it with my own hands!¡¯

    ***

    When Lith returned to the academy, his world was still upside down. The anger stemming from Solus¡¯s lie and the bewilderment from the breach of their absolute bond of trust fought on equal ground inside his head.

    He didn¡¯t know what to think or what to do anymore. He had stopped grieving Protector from the moment he epted his death, before leaving house Ernas. The trip to his grave served as a mean to deal with Lith¡¯s sense of loss and epting his failure.

    Therefore, there was nothing preventing him from resenting his so-called old friend for his maniption. Yet it had all been so sudden that he needed time to digest the revtion.

    Lith went to Phloria¡¯s room, to return the bastard sword. She remained shocked seeing his uniform tattered. His left sleeve seemed to have been almost turned to shreds, the uniform¡¯s self repairing magic barely managed to prevent it from falling apart.

    Phloria noticed that despite all the damage the magical cloth had sustained, Lith seemed to be perfectly fine. He was without a scratch and full of energy, yet his eyes were dead. He wasn¡¯t even looking at her but at something past her.

    His voice was t, his mind was elsewhere, in a bad ce.

    "Thank your father for me. This sword truly is a masterpiece." He handed it to her with both hands.

    "I will." She nodded. "Has something happened? Do you need to talk?"

    "Many things, but none I¡¯m willing to share, sorry. We¡¯ll have to postpone our date. I need some time to think alone."

    The following days were the worst Lith had lived since his rebirth in the new world. Before finding Solus, he had been knee-deep in his personal hell.

    His new family was alien to him, but he had managed to ept that he was some kind of monster and that he would be forced to spend his whole life pretending. His true identity, his past, weren¡¯t something he could share.

    He hade to ept that he was destined to be alone even when surrounded by people, a shadow in a world of lights. Yet finding Solus also meant finding hope. During thest eight years, he had never been truly alone.

    She had been a constant presence in his life, from the moment he woke up in the morning. She would often even take part in his own dreams. At first, he had been scared by her intrusions in his thoughts, by all her questions about him and why he acted as he did.

    However, over time their rtionship had grown, bing deeper than he could have ever expected. Solus was the only one to truly know him, the one he could share all his deepest and darkest secrets without being judged.

    Whenever Lith had been struggling, either by epting his new family or the hardships in his life, she had always been his mental support. With every struggle he overcame, Lith¡¯s life had be easier, yet the abyss inside him would also be deeper and hungrier.

    In the end, everything he had achieved, he had got it through hard work, deception, and the asional killing. Mogar, the new world, wasn¡¯t much different from Earth. ¡¯Every man for himself¡¯ and ¡¯power conquers all¡¯ were unwritten rules everyone abided to.

    Solus had been his moralpass, often questioning his choices and forcing him to ponder about the consequences of his actions, but in the end, she would always be on his side.

    Now they were separated, their mind link remained inactive since both of them were unwilling to make the first move. Solus was still consumed with remorse for her lie, living in constant fear to have forever destroyed their bond.

    Cutting herself out of Lith¡¯s life was her way to atone for her mistake and give him the time he needed to reflect on what she did without external influences.

    As for Lith, he longed every day to hear her voice in his mind again. To feel her warmpassion for all the secrets and the sacrifices he was daily burdened with. Hiding in in sight, lying even to his own family wasn¡¯t so bad as long she was with him.

    Solus knew the truth and supported him at every step he had taken so far. Yet he wasn¡¯t willing to forgive her, nor to resume their usual routine pretending that nothing had happened.

    The situation was tearing him apart, it was like the sun was covered by a permanent eclipse. It was still there, but he wasn¡¯t able to experience its warmth and light anymore.

    The thing that bothered him the most was being angry at Protector as much as he was at her.

    ¡¯Damn Protector! How could he do this to me? Or to her? Loving me like a son my a*s. He put us one against the other with his idiotic decision. He left me grieving like an idiot, second guessing everything I¡¯ve done, to the point of almost revealing my secret to my family!¡¯

    During that time, Lith realized how dependent he had be on Solus¡¯s influence in his daily activities. Without her constantly soothing his rage and filling the void he felt in his life, Lith became colder and detached.

    Outside the lessons, he would spend most of his time alone.

    Even his grades started to drop, albeit slowly. It wasn¡¯t just the feeling of betrayal putting him off his game. He was too used to brainstorming every problem with Solus, being forced to do everything alone only reinforced his feeling of loss.

    After failing to approach him a few times, Friya, Quy, and Yurial decided it was better to give him some space. They thought he was having a hard time to ept what he had seen at the mining town. Lith would barely speak to them and even when he did, his voice was full of ill concealed annoyance.

    ¡¯If Solus can¡¯t be trusted, then I can trust no one.¡¯ Was what Lith repeated to himself more and more often.

    Phloria was the only one that held onto him, no matter how many times he pushed her away. She would go visit him in his room, sometimes they would spend hours in silence, each one studying for the following day lessons.

    She didn¡¯t force him to open up, her hope was that herpany would help Lith understand he wasn¡¯t alone. If he needed help, he just had to ask.

    Lith was grateful to her. Phloria was the first person in the new world that had approached him without a hidden agenda. She was more interested in who he was rather than what he was able to do.

    Her care and dedication to him were the only silver lining in his situation. Yet at the same time, it made things worse, forcing him to realize she was just a young girl. No matter how much he wanted to share his burden with her, he simply couldn¡¯t.

    A week passed, Lith¡¯s mood was getting worse by the day. Sometimes he would even dine by himself in his room to avoid being bothered by hispanions.

    Not only his rtionship with Solus was at a stalemate, but he was also so used talking to her about everything that in the past days he often established a mind link out of habit just to shut it down immediately.

    That morning, before the gong marking the start of the first lesson resounded, a hologram of Linjos appeared in all the sses and the departments.

    "My dear students, I have an announcement to make." The Headmaster¡¯s voice was firm, but he appeared to be exhausted. He had ck circles under his eyes and despite being in his middle thirties, his hair was already turning grey.

    "Many things have happened this year, some good, some bad. All the academies have lost members of their staff because of Balkor¡¯s attack, causing a further dy in our activities.

    "To allow everyone to mourn their loved ones and in respect of what you have gone through, the Crown has decreed that this year there will be no third exam. Your grades will depend exclusively on your daily evaluation during the third trimester.

    "The rankings will be revealed during thest day of academy, but you can already learn your grade in a specific subject by asking the Professor in charge. If for any reason you are not satisfied with your results, you can apply for a practical test to re evaluate your skill.

    "Beware that Professors are allowed to raise as well as to lower your grade, in case you decide to take it.

    "We have only two weeks left before the winter break. You can schedule your test any time before that deadline. Have a nice day."

    Lith¡¯s group left the academy for the morning rounds, apanied by Professor Ironhelm. Lith was happy for the turn of events, he had no desire to babysit hispanions again, nor to pretend to care for whatever lesson Linjos meant to teach to the other students.

    Every day without Solus was torture, he could feel his rage and hatred grow without limits. It required him sheer willpower to notsh out every time something or someone bothered him.

    Lith knew that sooner orter he would have to confront her once and for all. Keeping her at a distance wasn¡¯t doing him any good. On the contrary, the void her absence created was a constant reminder of how he needed Solus as a person even more than the abilities their bond granted him.

    He was already at the point where he could barely care for Phloria. If the whole academy exploded in front of him, Lith wouldn¡¯t bat an eye. He couldn¡¯t wait for the winter break to finally have three months only for himself.

 Chapter 242 Turn of Events

    Their rounds were uneventful. All of their patients were nobles suffering from minor diseases that had exploited their contacts to have healerse to their homes.

    "Okay guys, we are almost done." Yurial said once they had checked all but one of the names on their list

    "I have saved this patient forst because he is a friend of my family and it could take a while. Is there any problem if we get back a littleter than usual, Professor?"

    Ironhelm shook his head, he had no reason to refuse. The longer he babysat them, the lesser paperwork he would find at his return. Having someone else doing it for him was the main reason he had volunteered for the task.

    "I¡¯m sure you can handle it without me. I have much to do. Have fun with your friend." Lith snorted, opening a Warp Steps right outside the local branch of the Mage Association. He was about to step through when Yurial stopped him.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, Lith. I have a favor to ask you." Yurial didn¡¯t like being forced to ask for his help, especially since Lith had been giving him the cold shoulder for no apparent reason for days.

    "What is it?" Lith red at Yurial like the first day they met.

    "The person we are going to visit is actually a friend of my father. He doesn¡¯t have the authority or the status to get an appointment with one of the great healers of the Kingdom.

    "So he did all he could to be included in our rounds. I don¡¯t know why, but he expressly asked for you. He even pestered my father until he was promised that I would ensure your coboration."

    "Is this person influential?" Lith asked. One thing was adding another name to the list of those that owed him a favor, another was wasting his time with minor nobles.

    "Actually, no. House Tanash is a young magical bloodline that didn¡¯t produce a magician in thest two generations. They are on the verge of losing their status. There¡¯s not much they could do for you, but if you agree to help, my household would be indebted to you."

    Yurial understood the meaning behind Lith¡¯s words, so instead of ying the friend card, he decided to make a deal.

    Lith nodded. House Deirus was on the rise and he was already on good terms with them. Together with the Ernas, Archmage Deirus was someone that could help him greatly, if ever the necessity arose.

    Despite being located on the outskirts of the high-end district, House Tanash turned out to be a magnificent mansion. It was a three-story building, each floor about two hundred square meters. Yet despite the pristine white walls and the enchanted fence surrounding it, Lith could clearly see that it belonged to a declining household.

    It was much smaller than the Marchioness¡¯ house, something more fitting to a rich merchant rather than a magical bloodline. The mansion had no garden at all, there was no insignia along the walls or on the front door.

    It seemed like they were trying to hide their identity.

    After Yurial knocked, the door was opened almost instantly. The butler wore quite an expensive dress. His white shirt was made of silk while the deep blue zer and the pants were cashmere. He was a man around 1.65 (5¡¯5") meters high with blue eyes, blond hair, a beard and mustaches of the same color.

    The butler was deadly pale and sweating bullets, several stains could be seen on the cor of his shirt.

    "Lord Deirus, thank the gods you are here! I was starting to lose all hope!"

    Lith smirked at the bad manners of the man, who was dragging Yurial inside instead of making way to his master.

    "You must be Master Lith." The butler said while suddenly grabbing his hand and holding it like it was a treasure. The man¡¯s hands were slippery like an eel because of the sweat. Lith wanted to get rid of him but didn¡¯t know how to do it without being rude.

    "You are exactly as they described you. Tall, calm and with a gaze that would make even a baby stop crying. I hope that everything else about you it¡¯s true too. My son is in desperate need of your help."

    "Your son?" Lith blurted out.

    ¡¯They must really be in hot waters if they don¡¯t have a butler. Either that or the situation is so desperate that Lord Tanash came to open the door by himself. Yet it doesn¡¯t make sense. If his son is so ill, howe they didn¡¯t ept him at the White Griffon hospital?¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Lord Tanash, this is Lith of Lutia." Yurial was truly embarrassed by the lord of the household¡¯s behavior, but he kept his cool and performed the proper introductions in their host¡¯s stead before Lith changed his mind about helping.

    Yurial knew that those days it was really easy for Lith to lose his temper.

    "Lith, allow me to introduce you Duke Vinald Tanash." Lith shook his hand, using darkness magic to cleanse it as soon as he managed to get free from the slimy vice.

    "Duke Tanash is not himself today because..."

    "Yes, yes! Please, excuse my manners, Master Lith!" The Duke cut Yurial short, giving Lith a bow so deep his head almost touched the ground.

    ¡¯Definitely desperate.¡¯ Lith concluded.

    It was only thanks to the efforts of Yurial and of the family butler that they managed to calm Vinald enough to let their guests amodate in the tea room. Lith noticed that after serving the tea for everyone, the butler spiked the Duke¡¯s with liquor.

    After several cups of liquor diluted with a bit of tea, Vinald managed to calm down enough to exin himself properly.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for earlier, but I just received a piece of news that will be the final nail in the coffin of my household if even Master Lith proves to be powerless against the ruin looming over our heads." Duke Tanash turned pale again, his words on the verge of turning back into a rambling.

    The butler had lost all hope to preserve the dignity of his master, so he poured liquor instead of tea into the cup.

    "Let me exin. House Tanash was founded by my great-great-grandfather, Gim Tanash. Born as the son of a humble cksmith, he managed to be an archmage and served the Kingdom with honor.

    Before his death, he received the title of Duke for his achievements.

    "s, after him no one in our family showed the slightest talent for magic. All we havees from Archmage Tanash¡¯s work, but in a single generation, there is only so much one can do. Over time, our contribution to the Kingdom has be less and less.

    "We didn¡¯t have a mage nor the necessary funds to gain merits enough to increase our status. That was until my son, Zintar, was epted in the Lightning Griffon academy. He is no genius, but he is very talented and hardworking. During the first three years of the academy, he always was in the top percentile.

    "This year, after the second trimester, his grades started to drop. At first, I thought it was all my fault. With the civil war on the brink of exploding, I tasked him to... protect the interests of the family. It forced Zintar to neglect his studies quite a bit."

    The truth was that House Tanash had been one of the most active members of the new magical bloodlines party that wanted the civil war to happen. The Duke had tried more than once to escte the events, aiming to get rid of the ancient households that threatened to take everything away from him.

    They constantly reminded the Crown of how useless were the rtively poor and mageless households to the Kingdom.

    He had forced Zintar to sabotage the studies of his rivals and engage them in fights outside the academy¡¯s walls.

    "Theck of practice led him to almost fail his second exam, so he went back to study full time. The problem is that the situation never improved. His grades are still bad enough he is likely to be expelled.

    "Now that the Crown has decreed no third exam will take ce, he is doomed. If he fails, we¡¯ll lose our noble status, our home, everything."

    "You want me to tutor him or what?" Lith was exasperated by those ramblings. His fingers almost pierced the armrests of the armchair he was sitting in.

    "Gods, no. He already has the best tutors and teachers I could afford. I want you to visit him. Zintar says that something is wrong with his body, that no matter how much he tries he can¡¯t focus as well as he did before.

    I already had him visited by the best healers I could find, but they found nothing. You are ourst hope."

    "A mysterious illness that makes you fail in your studies is the oldest excuse in the book." Yurial whispered to Lith¡¯s ear.

    "Even I used it a lot in the past. Usually the prescribed cure is a good pep talk and a cut on the daily allowance. It sure worked on me."

    Lith nodded.

    ¡¯This man is just sad. He refuses to admit his mistakes and tries to find someone to me. If his son lost a whole trimester, no matter how talented he is, he cannot catch up.¡¯ He thought.

    Duke Tanash lead them on the first floor, where his son¡¯s study was located. The walls were covered by bookshelves filled with tomes covering all the conceivable magical topics.

    Several volumes were missing. Some had been left open on the floor, upying most of the space, others were piled on a desk behind which a youth was sitting while taking and reviewing notes.

    An open door revealed a state of the art Alchemicalb. Just like the study room, theb was a mess, with shatteredponents on the floor marking failed experiments and burn marks on the walls.

    The Duke introduced the youth as his heir.

    Zintar was a fifteen-year-old boy with blond hair like his father and deep set eyes from theck of sleep. He seemed to be on the verge of exhaustion.

    "Nothing, father. No matter how much I study or practice, my results are always mediocre." Judging from his bloodshot eyes, he had no more tears to shed.

    "Don¡¯t worry, son. Master Lith is here. He is the only White Griffon student that was chosen by his Professors to assist them during the gue. If there is someone that can help you, it¡¯s him." Duke Tanash patted Lith¡¯s back like he was a long lost brother.

    Lith barely escaped Zintar¡¯s hug, starting to chant his diagnostic spells and stopping him on his tracks. Lith used everything he had, yet he found that there was nothing wrong.

    Even the spell Professor Marth had devised with his help against the parasites gave negative results. Yet the more spells he used, the more Lith was certain that Zintar wasn¡¯t making excuses.

    After learning Necromancy from Professor Zekell, Lith was now able to follow the mana in his spells even when he used fake magic. Lith could perceive them working properly, but each one would lose a bit of their strength as soon as they reached Zintar.

    Even if his mind was still a mess, he hadn¡¯t forgotten about the boxes and their content. Lith used Invigoration to check if Zintar was wearing one of those mysterious items or had been poisoned.

    As Lith suspected, Zintar¡¯s system was gued by the same toxin he had obtained from the boxes. Theyer was thicker than the one he had experienced.

    ¡¯With so much toxin in his bloodstream, he should barely be able to cast tier four spells. This kind of prolonged exposition is clearly deliberate. Without a parasite, the toxin should wear off in a few weeks.

    ¡¯Also, despite being poisoned for almost six months, his core doesn¡¯t show any sign of discoloration. He has been administered small doses over time. Whoever did this, didn¡¯t want to kill him, just to make him fail his exams.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith was about to give him the good news, but then he froze up.

    ¡¯If I cure him, the existence of the toxin will be of public knowledge. The responsible will have plenty of time to get rid of the evidence and go into hiding. With the traitor afoot, I can¡¯t trust Ironhelm. I must report this to Linjos.

    ¡¯I have finally found a way to share my knowledge about the boxes or at least about the toxins they contain. Let¡¯s hope this is enough to change the future.¡¯

    "I¡¯m sorry, there¡¯s nothing wrong with you." Lith said with his most professional tone, while father and son both burst into tears.

    Yurial, Quy, and Friya examined Zintar too but to no avail. Lith was annoyed by such a waste of time, but he had to keep the fa?ade and pretend to care about the patient.

    After they left the house, they used a Warp Steps to return to the local branch of the Mage Association and from there to the academy.

    "Have lunch without me, I have things to do." Lith walked away before they could even register his words.

    "He¡¯s always in a bad mood recently." Friya pondered. "I¡¯m really starting to worry about him. Maybe something bad happened in the mining town."

    "Me too." Yurial nodded. "The question is, what could possibly be so bad to turn him back to how he was nine months ago? And why does he refuse to speak about it even with Phloria? She¡¯s going to freak out one of these days."

    "I have no clue." Quy shook her head. "By the way, didn¡¯t you feel something was odd with ourst patient? I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but all my spells gave me a weird feeling."

    Quy, was the only one besides Lith talented enough for necromancy to have developed even more her mana perception thanks to its practice, but unlike him she had no idea what they were against.

 Chapter 243 Foresigh

    Lith went to the Headmaster¡¯s office and because of the queue, he had to wait quite a bit. He couldn¡¯t say it was an emergency. Lith knew there was a traitor if not more than one inside the academy, so he couldn¡¯t afford to alert them.

    When his turn finally arrived, the first thing he did was to close the door behind himself and ask Linjos to activate all of his office protections. Only when the arrays in the room started to hum, their magic so densely packed to be visible to the naked eye, Lith told him about what he had discovered.

    "Anti mana toxins at the Lightning Griffon? This is indeed a serious matter." Linjos was about to use hismunication amulet, but Lith stopped him.

    "Not only there. They are also here at the White Griffon." His words made Linjos turn pale.

    "We had no such cases here. Our average of promoted students is better than the previous years..."

    "Yet the grades are dropping, remember?" Lith cut him short.

    "Tanash is not only suffering from the toxins, but also from wasting three months following his father¡¯s agenda. If he kept practicing magic, he would have probably got used to the toxins over time and his grades would have just dropped.

    "Have you already forgotten about the box I found a few months ago? How it was delivered from Kandria, where the gue started?"

    Linjos¡¯s brain was spinning at full gear, reaching Lith¡¯s same conclusions and even more.

    "By the gods! It would exin a lot. Before Balkor¡¯s attack, it would have created the perfect scenario for the old noble households. No matter if the civil war happened or not, they would have crippled thepetition anyway.

    "Even now, the heirs of their noble rivals and the mages ofmoner origin are getting expelled or being deemed as low value assets for the Kingdom. It proves their point that magical legacies beat effort.

    "If the civil war starts, they only need to increase the dosage to make all the young mages useless in battle until the problem is discovered. Even worse, the poisoning could have not been exposed until it was toote, if never at all.

    The only thing I cannot understand is why they made their own children receive low grades too. Unless..."

    "Unless it was part of their n." Lith continued. "After all, the only thing that really matters is the result of the final exam of the fourth and fifth year. They can afford lowering their grades during the first two trimesters, since it has no consequences.

    "During the final exam, they can perform much better and they will likely ask to be re-evaluated. That way, if the results don¡¯t match with the daily evaluation, it will prove that your teaching methods are wrong."

    "It¡¯s worse than that." Linjos pondered. "By affecting the other academies, they managed to make it go unnoticed. Since the same thing happened everywhere, not even the Crown got worried. I can spot only a w in their n.

    "If all the students belonging to the old noble households get their grades back up at once, it would arouse suspicion. Unless of course, they either sacrifice the fourth year, using the winter break as a cover, to ¡¯regain¡¯ their talent during thest year, or they make only the elite take full marks now while the others gradually recover their performances.

    "Anyway, they can¡¯t repeat the trick again. Not now that the odds of a civil war are almost zero. My only question is: why did the White Griffon receive the same treatment instead of a worse one? If you are right and I have little doubt about it, I would have expected them to strike harder.

    They need to take me out of the picture, their n ended up helping me instead."

    "My hypothesis is that they underestimated you and the control you managed to achieve over the academy. Theck of infighting and the Ballots prevented the worse from happening." Lith replied.

    "Maybe." Linjos couldn¡¯t stop thinking about how fast Balkor found out their hiding spot. Actually, he found the hiding spots of all those that followed Linjos¡¯s protocol so fast that the attacks happened almost at the same time.

    It had several implications. First, it meant that every academy had traitors or there was someone close to the Crown that leaked the information to Balkor. Either way, the situation was deadly serious.

    Second, the attack had been the perfect opportunity to destroy Linjos¡¯s work, if not to kill Linjos himself.

    ¡¯Why did they let it slip under their nose? Unless...¡¯ He thought.

    "Lith, be honest with me."

    Linjos had turned pale, leaving Lith surprised. The Headmaster looked like a man that had just found a venomous spider resting on his shoulder.

    "How did you discover the toxin? Did Professor Marth¡¯s diagnostic spell work?"

    "I used my own spell. The one we devised during the gue didn¡¯t work." Lith shook his head.

    "It was aimed to detect parasites rather than toxins since thetter fade away over time."

    "Just as I feared." Linjos nodded. "Please, check if I have been infected too."

    Lith pretended to chant a spell while actually using Invigoration on the Headmaster, who didn¡¯t miss it requiring physical contact. It was the first time Linjos had seen such a spell.

    "It doesn¡¯t make sense." Lith was bbergasted.

    "You are poisoned too, but the amount of toxin is much lesser than the one I detected in the Tanash kid."

    "It makes perfect sense instead." Linjos replied.

    "A student may not notice the disruption of their own mana flow, but anypetent magician would. That¡¯s why they must have started poisoning me only right before Balkor¡¯s attack, when my mind was elsewhere. I noticed being weaker than usual, but I thought it was because of the stress.

    "Also, with Hatorne disappearance, the traitors have no idea how to adjust the dosage. Balkor¡¯s change of ns was unpredictable. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised by discovering that poisoning me and likely most of the Professors, was ast minute attempt to get rid of me.

    "Since the toxins build up over time, there was only so much they could do. Not to mention it would be hard for me to miss having my powers halved in a few hours. I would contact Manohar and it¡¯s unlikely he wouldn¡¯t discover the truth, just like you did."

    Lith felt relieved, he had convinced Linjos of the presence of a threat to the academy despite having very little proof and without blowing his cover. The Headmaster waved his hand, making four magic crystals appear at the corners of his desk.

    He put hismunication amulet right in the middle, activating a secure channel with the Crown, rying the information he had just acquired and requesting the intervention of a royal constable.

    "We need to have the staff and the students examined." Lith heard Linjos expressing his immediate worries to the King.

    "I can¡¯t do it by myself without risking to alert the culprits. It¡¯s also necessary to have all those that failed the second semester examined. Some may actually be talentless ckers, but others could as well be innocent victims..."

    While the Headmaster was mentioning Lith¡¯s contribution, his sight blurred. Lith suddenly felt lightheaded, while images kept rapidly appearing and disappearing.

    ¡¯Good grief, finally! I managed to change the damn future!¡¯

    He watched the old vision from the beginning, the fall of the White Griffon academy, followed by the start of the civil war until his whole family was butchered. Lith didn¡¯t feel scared by those images.

    They were fading away, getting more blurred by the second until theypletely disappeared. Everything went nk and for a long second Lith held his breath waiting for the new future.

    What he saw was a quick series of sunrises and sunsets over the academy, the leaves of the forest¡¯s trees became red and fell, the snow turned everything into a whitendscape.

    Then, the sun rose higher and higher, melting the snow while new leaves reced the fallen ones. Lith could sense something going on inside the academy, despite looking at it from a great distance.

    He could hear voices and see shes of lighting out the windows, but he wasn¡¯t able to understand what was going on, the distance made everything muffled.

    ¡¯Well, at least the academy is not crumbling anymore. This is a good sign.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Suddenly he was transported inside the castle. He was now able to recognize the voices as screams and explosion while the shes of light were caused by spells. Lith watched Phloria die, stabbed through the heart by a long knife.

    The culprit was unknown, the weapon looked real, but the hand wielding it was just a shadow. Rage and pain ravaged his mind.

    ¡¯Is that a f*cking Abomination or even this damn vision doesn¡¯t know who will do it?¡¯ Even if he understood none of it was real, Lith tried to stop the de with spirit magic first and to heal Phloriater, but to no avail.

    No matter how much he struggled, he found impossible to move from the spot he was forced watching from.

    The vision moved back to Lutia. The vige was quiet, but a shadow fell from the sky. One after the other, the members of the Queen¡¯s corps patrolling the zone fell, their bodies dismembered or disintegrated.

    The shadow reached Lith¡¯s house, killing his family in the blink of an eye. This time they would not suffer, no unnamed soldier would kidnap and r*pe his sisters, but they would die nheless.

    ¡¯No! Why? What did they do to you, you f*cking bastard?¡¯ Lith inwardly screamed.

    The corpses of his family danced in front of his eyes. Even Rena and his husband wouldn¡¯t get spared. The shadow was careful and meticulous, leaving no witness behind.

    Panic invaded Lith¡¯s heart. ording to the new vision, he wasn¡¯t coteral damage anymore, his loved ones were now the intended target.

    "Lith, what happens? Why are you screaming?" The King asked, his voice worried.

    Lith discovered he had fallen on the ground and Linjos was at his side checking his condition.

    Lith froze, searching for a proper answer. The Headmaster knew of the dryad¡¯s gift that led to his past vision, so Lith could freely share it with him.

    Lith stuttered some words while recovering from the shock, not being able to make any sense. He didn¡¯t just see things happening, the magic bonded to his soul made everything real and painful. It was like being forced to live those events before time rewinded.

    "It¡¯s all right, calm down and tell me what¡¯s wrong." Linjos helped him to get back on his feet. Lith pondered about the vision, searching for the best way to describe it, when his paranoia cranked up to eleven.

    ¡¯The future is much better for the Kingdom, but much worse for me. Whatever happens to the academy will surely take top priority. Between the toxins and the traitors, the Kingdom¡¯s resources will be stretched thin.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t trust them to protect my family out of the goodness of their heart, nor I want to owe the Crown favor that big. I need to y this smart, but I don¡¯t know how.¡¯

    Lith was on the verge of panic. Lying about the vision to make it more convenient was easy, the hard part was finding a way to force them to help him without twisting the vision¡¯s meaning.

    It was the first time that he had to face such a big issue alone.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t afford to make any mistake here. F*ck my pride. Solus, I need your help!¡¯

    ¡¯Yes?¡¯ She answered timidly. Solus was afraid it was once again a butt call that would end shortly. Lith shared with her all the memories of thest 24 hours up to that point.

    ¡¯By my maker, this is terrible!¡¯ Thanks to the mind link the events became part of her memory too in a split second.

    ¡¯You are right, I too think that without the threat of the civil war we would be stuck in the background. The best way to get their attention is to tell them the truth, but with a few changes.¡¯

    Hearing her talk about them still using the "we", helped Lith to regain his cool, soothing his anguish. Solus pondered for a few seconds before answering.

    ¡¯You must say that after your family dies, you will die too and so will the royal couple.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯What? Why?¡¯ Lith wasn¡¯t able to understand her reasoning.

    ¡¯No time, Linjos is already calling for help, you have remained still for too long, please trust me on this.¡¯ Their mind link was fast, allowing the whole conversation tost just a couple of seconds, but they would still need the time to think.

    "I¡¯m all right, Headmaster." Lith noticed that both Linjos and the King seemed to be extremely worried.

    "Good to hear." King Meron replied. "Bring Manohar here anyway. We need him to devise a new diagnostic spell for the infected students. He can also check on Lith while he is at it. Just to be safe."

    Lith used those few moments to decide what to do.

    ¡¯Please, exin your n to me.¡¯ He asked while the King was still talking.

    ¡¯Adding the death of the Royals after yours it¡¯s a double failsafe.

    ¡¯After all, they know the vision shows what your soul craves the most. Putting the Royals in there while you are still alive would make you a suspect. If you die first, however, they will be forced to protect their investment, you.

    ¡¯Also, if you are allegedly dead, they can only think that whoever will attempt to kill your family wille for themter, making it their problem too.¡¯

 Chapter 244 Bad News

    Lith followed Solus¡¯s n, describing the vision in great detail. For the made up part, he described the assant as a shadow, just like for all the others. Death Vision provided him plenty of material about how the King would look like after having his throat cut.

    "Damned dryad magic!" King Meron mmed his fist on the armrest.

    "It gives us too little information. At least now we know that the civil war should not happen anymore and that we are safe until next spring."

    Lith nodded. Knowing how much time he had left before the events in his vision could happen was at the same time a reason for worry and relief. It gave them a deadline but also an idea about their enemy.

    There couldn¡¯t be many people capable of getting rid of the Queen¡¯s corps. Also, until the attack on the academy happened, Lith had no reason to worry. The problem was if they would be able to prevent it and how the future would change after that step.

    When Professor Manohar and Marth arrived, they checked Lith¡¯s condition before examining Linjos.

    "This is simply unbelievable." Marth said. "None of my diagnostic spells detects anything, but now that I know what to look for, it¡¯s easy to recognize the dampening effect of the toxins."

    "Agreed." Manohar nodded while extracting the toxins from the Headmaster¡¯s body. "It¡¯s unbelievable that someone could miss such a tant effect, be it the patient or the healer."

    Linjos and Marth both ignored his remark. They knew that in Manohar¡¯s eyes any result but perfection was due to ipetence.

    "Usually I wouldn¡¯t ask something like this, but are you sure you don¡¯t want to share your diagnostic spell, Lith?" Marth asked.

    "It helped us greatly during the gue and now it has allowed to unveil a dangerous plot against all the academies. If it¡¯s as good as I think it is, you may as well be set for life with the profits you would make by selling it."

    Marth needed sheer willpower to not let his frustration transpire, yet Lith was able to perceive it nheless. His jaw muscles were slightly tensed and there was an edge in his voice that was hard to miss with his enhanced senses.

    ¡¯Poor guy, not only he has to deal with Manohar on daily basis, but now he also has to face the fact that despite being younger I¡¯m already a better diagnostician than him thanks to Invigoration.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, you have be for Marth what he is for Vastor.¡¯ Lith had yet to cut the mind link off, in case something else happened, allowing Solus to indulge hispany.

    "Don¡¯t. If it¡¯s at least half as good as mine, it would be a disaster." Manohar said.

    "You know why it¡¯s so hard to find a decent healer? Because mages just rote memorize everything without even trying to understand what a spell does and why. Healers are forced to be better than regr mages because illnesses change, new poisons are created, and many things are still unknown about the human body.

    "If you share your spell, it will be great in the short term and a nightmare in the long term. Everyone will stop using that stone they call brain and rely on your spell for everything, while others, better paid and motivated, will exploit its limits.

    "So, when a new threat will appear, your spell will be 100% useless and the so called healers will be helpless against it because out of practice."

    An embarrassed silence befell into the room. It was hard to reply to Manohar¡¯s temper tantrums, but it was even harder when he actually said something wise. Lith exploited his help to politely refuse Marth¡¯s offer.

    "Thanks for your offer, Professor Marth, but I think I will follow Professor Manohar¡¯s advice. It took me years to create it, so far it¡¯s my opus. It¡¯s not only a matter of money, but also prestige.

    With it I¡¯m the second best diagnostician in the Griffon Kingdom, without it I¡¯d just be a student like all the others. Unlike Professor Manohar, I¡¯m no genius."

    King Meron sighed loudly. He knew Tyris had sent Farg to look after Lith, but he didn¡¯t know why. Yet he was sure there had to be a good reason for it. He really wanted to get his hands on the diagnostic spell, but keeping Lith as an asset was much more important.

    ording to several witnesses, he had fought against a Valor. It was unknown what had happened, except that despite being alone and just a fourth year student he had survived and brought to safety another four people.

    Adding that to all his past endeavors, his ability as Healer, Forgemaster and now Necromancer, he really was too good to be true. Queen Sylpha was even considering if to introduce the sixth and the seventh princesses to him.

    They were too low in the hereditary line to be of political importance, so they could be used to ensure his loyalty to the Crown. King Meron didn¡¯t put much hope in the idea, though.

    None of his daughters was a real beauty nor a seductress. They had taken much from their mother¡¯s temper and had yet to understand that their status of princesses wouldst only until a new King or Queen would be selected.

    Their pride blinded them enough for them to find the idea of marrying amoner disgusting. Another thing that heavily weighted on his mind was the meaning of the vision.

    He knew that, albeit vague, a dryad¡¯s gift was as rare as trustworthy.

    ¡¯I wonder how Lith¡¯s death will trigger mine and Sylpha¡¯s. Also, it¡¯spletely unclear if the events at the academy and the death of his family are rted or even if they happen at the same time.

    ¡¯Normally, I would just reinforce the White Griffon¡¯s security and wait for the events to y out, but now I have to protect Lutia as well. If his family dies, Lith couldmit suicide making the visione true. We must solve the issue with the toxins fast, so that when spring arrives, I can focus my forces on both tasks!¡¯ Meron thought.

    "Gentlemen, we have no time for debating the magical research." King Meron said.

    "Manohar, I need you to provide a diagnostic spell able to spot the toxins that anyone can use. Marth can help you, but Lith can¡¯t and no one else must be informed about today¡¯s events.

    "We will only use royal healers and royal constables to control the situation. Lith¡¯s involvement must be kept hidden or belittled if found out. My hypothesis is that his family will be targeted because he discovered the plot against the academies.

    "If I¡¯m right, the attack on the White Griffon and on his family during next spring will happen by the same hand. Lith, you can return to your quarters. There¡¯s nothing you can do and it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t stay too long in the Headmaster¡¯s office. It could arouse too many questions."

    Lith nodded and promptly left the room. Solus inwardly sighed, she knew what was about to happen.

    ¡¯Before I go, do you mind if I give you an unsolicited piece of advice?¡¯ She asked.

    Lith pondered for a while. On one hand he didn¡¯t want to cut the mind link, on the other one he was still far from forgiving her. Solus had been brilliant and useful as always, but herpany was still bittersweet.

    ¡¯You should talk to the others about the vision, they have the right to know. Based on what happened in the vision, it¡¯s not only Phloria who is going to die, but all of them.¡¯

    Lith was bbergasted by her words.

    ¡¯Do you remember the dryad¡¯s words? The vision shows what your soul cares the most for, so it¡¯s natural for it to cover your family and Phloria. She is the only friend you have left.¡¯

    Solus had enjoyed their reunion, but she had perceived the fracture between them. Lith needed her, she could sense his longing for herpany and help, but it was more like an addict on withdrawal rather than the desire to be back together.

    He still didn¡¯t trust her and whatever was going to happen to their rtionship, Solus didn¡¯t want to be treated just like amodity. She wanted for him to ept her like she did for him, with her ws and mistakes.

    ¡¯I think that whoever is behind the attack on the academy, will try to get their revenge on you by exploiting the chaos during the battle. Killing your group is rtively easy, if they get ambushed like you have seen happening to Phloria.

    ¡¯They¡¯ll attack you too, but you are likely to survive. Otherwise it would make no sense going after your family. You should warn Yurial and the others, because if I¡¯m right, the only reason they didn¡¯t appear in your vision is because you don¡¯t care enough for them.¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks, Solus.¡¯ Lith nodded, closing the mind link. It was hard for him deciding what to do. If he told them that he had seen them dying in the vision, it would help their rtionship, ttering them.

    Yet if the King talked about the vision with the royal constables, Jirni was bound to learn about it. She would question why he omitted to tell the King about the threat pending on her other two daughters and would easily discover the lie.

    Telling them the truth was his only option.

    Lith used themunication amulet to reach them and ask them toe to his room. When they were assembled, he told them the truth about the young Tanash¡¯s condition before sharing with them the conversation with the Headmaster and the changes in his vision.

    "So, the good news is no civil war and the bad news is that I¡¯m going to die?" Phloria did her best to stay strong, but the thought of having a little more than three months to live was crushing her.

    "No, you are wrong about the bad news." Lith corrected her, exining to them Solus¡¯s reasoning about why the others didn¡¯t appear in the vision.

    "I think all of us are going to die. I¡¯m more likely to survive because of my paranoia. Backstabbing me is not that easy. You guys, on the contrary, are easy targets."

    "Wait a minute!" Yurial blurted out.

    "Thanks for caring enough to warn us but not enough to include us in your vision." His voice was oozing sarcasm.

    "I think you are making a mistake though. No one can die in the academy. Do you remember what Lord Ernas told us? Isn¡¯t it more likely that whoever it is, will target only Phloria because of your rtionship? Everyone knows about you two."

    Yurial was worried about Phloria, but as much as he hated the thought of spending the rest of his life with Libea, he really hoped to live long enough to have children and maybe find love.

    "Do you really think that none of us thought about that?" Lith sighed instead of scoffing. Thanks to the little time spent with Solus he was now able be less of a jerk.

    "Attacking the academy is madness itself, unless it¡¯s an inside job from someone that knows to bypass its power core or forcing the arrays to shut down. Since the attack will happen, I¡¯m pretty sure that Linjos will have the power core triple checked for tampering.

    "It doesn¡¯t mean that the traitor can¡¯t sabotage or destroy it, though. If Balkor¡¯s minions managed to do it, then anyone with the proper knowledge can."

    After the attack, the Crown had tried to keep the fall of the Crystal and Earth Griffon academies a secret, but it didn¡¯tst for long. Balkor had triumphantly spread the news himself.

    Everyone refused to believe him until the academies reopened. Forging a new power core was a mammoth task at best, if not impossible at all. When the Crystal and Earth Griffon remained closed and their students transferred to other academies, it became impossible to deny the truth anymore.

    Yurial and the girls turned pale, their sliver of hope shattered mercilessly. Phloria felt no joy at the idea that everyone in the room was a walking dead.

    "What do we do now? Can we at least tell our parents?" Friya asked.

    "I don¡¯t think so." Quy felt her mouth dry. "Ourmunications can be intercepted. The King is doing his best to keep everything a secret, Lith shouldn¡¯t have talked about it even with us."

    Quy felt guilty for having spoken behind Lith¡¯s back in the past, questioning his real identity. Even though he suffered from mood swings and with his not so nice character, he would never let them down.

    Yurial and Friya felt the same, but their guilt was quickly overruled by the fear of the tomorrow. One after the other, they left the room after thanking Lith and promising they would not talk about it except that in person.

    Only Phloria remained behind. Lith had held her hand the whole time. His grip was firm but gentle, letting her understand there was something he needed to talk with her.

    ¡¯I waited all this time for a chance to know what¡¯s going on with him and Lith decides to open up right now? I don¡¯t know if to be ttered by his consideration or angry for his horrible timing.¡¯ Phloria thought.

 Chapter 245 Clarity

    "First of all, let me say that I¡¯m sorry. If it wasn¡¯t for me, you and the others wouldn¡¯t have a target painted on your back." Lith said while holding her hand and caressing it with his thumb.

    "If you want, you guys can escape from this sh*t. Avoid the academy for the first trimester or ask the Headmaster to attend the fifth year after the threat is passed. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll have any objections."

    "What about you?" Phloria asked.

    "I have to stay." He shrugged. "Whether the attack seeds or not, my family will be the next in line anyway. At least from here I can do my best to help Linjos and maybe take out the traitors before something else happens. I¡¯m the only one that knows when and how the future changes. I need to inform the Headmaster as soon as it happens."

    Phloria bit her lower lip, full of uncertainty. Lith was right, she and her sisters had an easy way out of that situation. Until they remained at house Ernas or near their parents, they would be safe.

    "Also, you can greatly improve your odds of survival simply by cutting your ties with me."

    "What?" Phloria had to fight to prevent herself from pping him for saying such a thing and herself for seriously considering it, even though for just a second.

    "No matter how discreet the King is. My visit to house Tanash is public knowledge and when the investigation starts, it doesn¡¯t take a genius to notice the timing of the events. Between the gue and this I have made too many enemies.

    It¡¯s better if we break up. Possibly in a public ce and in front of lots of witnesses."

    "Do you want to break up?" The little blood she had left in her face was drained, making her turn even paler, her stomach twisted into a knot.

    "I don¡¯t want to..." Lith shook his head.

    "But it¡¯s the best thing for you. Do you remember our talk, that night when I was recovering? I think it¡¯s time for us to seriously discuss about this thing between us. I don¡¯t n to marry anytime soon."

    Lith had promised Jirni to make things clear with Phloria about their rtionship and he decided it was the right moment to do it. It was the only way he could think of for protecting her.

    "I have lots of things to do. First the military, then some stuff that I don¡¯t want to burden you with. I don¡¯t know how long will it take and I can¡¯t ask you to wait for me. It would be stupid and unfair. You deserve someone better, someone that can give you what you want, that has your same goals in life."

    Lith never stopped looking at her in the eyes. He wanted Phloria to understand how serious he was.

    Those words struck her hard enough to make Phloria stop, thinking carefully about what to say next.

    ¡¯Lith is right, I can easily get away. I asked him out only because I wanted to have at least a boyfriend before joining the Royal Guard and risking my life on a daily basis. It started almost as a joke, yet now I feel terrible at the thought this might be ourst month together.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want to marry either. There are still so many things that I want to experience, so many ces I want to visit. Yet I think that wille for me the time to settle down.¡¯ She thought.

    "I have first to consult with my parents before giving you a definitive answer." Phloria took his hand between hers.

    "This much I can tell you for sure: I don¡¯t want to break up."

    "What?" Lith was bbergasted. Her devotion was way beyond his expectations.

    "You know, when we aren¡¯t in a life or death situation and I can think clearly about us, I still don¡¯t know exactly what I feel. What I¡¯m certain about, is that I care for you like I never did before for someone outside of my family.

    "Be it when I emotionally needed help after the second exam, or when the undead first and the ckerster could have killed me, you never left my side. Every time we were in danger, you could have run away by yourself.

    Instead, you always protected our group. You always protected me." She caressed his cheek, leaving Lith as stunned as outraged.

    ¡¯Like heck I did! I was simply protecting my investment, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have saved Yurial or the other girls. I never cared for any of them in the past. I took a liking to Phloria only after we started to date. It¡¯s only their fault if they have fallen so deep for my deception to picture me like some f*cking hero.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe she is right, though. Maybe now I do care for the group. I risked my life for them more often than any "investment" justifies. I simply can¡¯t admit with myself that I see them as persons because I¡¯m scared of getting hurt again. The more people I love, the more I have to lose, just like it happened with Protector first and now with Solus.

    ¡¯If I tell her the truth about the past, she will either despise me and everything I fought for a whole year will be for naught or she will not believe me, thinking I¡¯m just trying to push her away.

    ¡¯Either way, I¡¯m screwed. It¡¯s a lose-lose scenario. Let¡¯s hope her parents force her to take a sabbatical. I already have so little, I don¡¯t want to risk losing the person I care about the most in the academy.¡¯

    "Even now, despite knowing what could happen to you or your family, you are still worrying about me instead of running back home to warn them. I¡¯m truly blessed by the gods." Phloria smile was dazzling, but it only managed to piss Lith off even more.

    ¡¯How the heck did she manage to make everything about her in less than twenty seconds? Does she think life is some kind of romance fiction?¡¯

    "I came to you because you guys are the only ones I can speak to in person. Also, just like for the old vision, there is nothing that my family can do to protect themselves or avoid the predicted oue." He exined.

    "Warning them would only make them live what could be thest months of their lives in fear. I don¡¯t n on telling them anything about the second vision. Whatever it¡¯s going to happen, it¡¯s my burden, not theirs."

    His words fell on deaf ears. Instead of understanding the logic behind his actions, Phloria only focused on how brave and stoic Lith appeared to be. She hugged him tightly, making his annoyance peak.

    Yet his irritationsted only for a moment.

    It was how long it took Lith to realize how bad his situation was. Her warmth and affection destroyed theyer of frost surrounding his soul.

    "I think you should tell them the truth. All the secrets you keep to yourself, all the burden you refuse to share, sooner orter they will crush you. You don¡¯t have to always fight alone. The whole world isn¡¯t your enemy.

    "I don¡¯t know what has happened to you at the mining town and if you don¡¯t want to talk about it, I¡¯m okay with that. However, I can see that you are in deep pain. Please, don¡¯t shut me out of your life like you did since you came back. Just tell me what can I do for you."

    Now that Phloria had got a hold of him, she wasn¡¯t willing to let Lith slip away again. Ever since Solus came clean with him, Lith had been confused about his feelings. He needed someone to talk to, but until that moment, he felt like he was alone in the world.

    "It was all a lie." Lith blurted out, returning her embrace.

    "Protector is alive. He, Ka, even the Lord of the forest manipted me to teach me a lesson!" In his rage, he tightened his grip enough to hurt her, making Phloria yelp in pain.

    "Please, calm down and tell me everything from the beginning."

    Lith told her the truth about that night, how he had failed saving Protector and how they both survived only thanks to the Scorpicore¡¯s intervention. He even repeated her word by word Protector¡¯s speech before he had left.

    Lith let Solus¡¯s role out, pretending that his outrage was aimed at Protector and that he had forced Ka to tell him the truth after discovering Protector¡¯s missing corpse in the mass grave.

    Phloria went pale more than once, but never interrupted his story, waiting for Lith to calm down.

    "Can you believe it? After all we went through, he had the gall to let me suffer like that and calling it an act of love!" He wished to meet Protector again, just to give him the beating of a lifetime.

    Phloria remained silent, while he kept cursing Protector¡¯s name and expressing his outrage for having been manipted. After a while, Lith was tired of hearing only his own voice, so he turned towards Phloria noticing her distress.

    "Why you say nothing? Don¡¯t tell me you agree with him." Lith really wanted to punch the wall, but scaring the only person he had left sounded as a d*ck move even to him.

    "I understand you are angry. You have every right to be and I don¡¯t want to make you any angrier. I think is better for me to leave."

    She stood up, but Lith grabbed her hand.

    "Please, I trusted him with my life. I don¡¯t know what to believe anymore, just be honest with me. I don¡¯t want to be coddled, I need the truth."

    Phloria held his hand, caressing it with hers.

    "Promise me not to get angry."

    "I promise." Lith gritted his teeth, her words didn¡¯t bode well.

    "Ipletely agree with him." Lith took a few deep breaths before calming down. He didn¡¯t yell, didn¡¯t punch anything, he even managed to keep his hand rxed.

    "Why?" He asked after he was able to speak again.

    "Are you serious? In his shoes, I wouldn¡¯t have lied to you, I would have strangled you with my own hands as soon as you recovered! At least now you know how he, or anyone else that cares for you, would have felt if you traded your life for theirs."

    Lith started to feel like a jerk. He knew how crushing the death of a beloved one could be. His new life started because of the domino effects Carl¡¯s demise had triggered.

    "Also, it¡¯s riching from you. using someone to be a liar. You lied to your family over the years for the gods know how many times about almost everything. You lied to me countless times too.

    "About your strength, the mysterious brother of yours you fought so hard to protect, about how the heck youe back always in one piece even if your uniform gets wrecked so often that it¡¯s scary. I don¡¯t know why you do it and I¡¯m still waiting for you to tell me the truth.

    "What you are experiencing is how your family felt when they discovered all your lies. How I may feel if and when you decide to be honest with me. Yet they didn¡¯t love you any less for it, because you did it to protect them, to give them a better life.

    "I think you owe Protector a second chance, he just yed a Lith on you. By the way, I don¡¯t care if you are a dragon in disguise, I still care for you." She quickly gave him a peck before running away, leaving Lith stunned.

    Her speech made a lot of sense, only thest phrase was beyond his understanding.

    ¡¯If Phloria reacted like that, I¡¯m afraid what mom or Tista would say if they knew the truth.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯She is right though. Meining about being manipted is like Nana preaching about generosity. Even when I open myself to someone, about half I say is a lie. I wonder what Carl would have said if he ever learned what really happened to our father.

    Would he hate me for what I did or would he just resent me for hiding the truth from him and shouldering everything by myself?¡¯

    Lith pondered for a while about the whole situation before deciding that moral dilemmas could wait. He needed to study for the following day¡¯s lessons and to devise contingency ns for whatever could happen to the academy the next spring.

    Soon he found himself wishing to have Solus¡¯s input, but his rage was still too strong. Lith couldn¡¯t call her for help twice during the same day. It would be like admitting with her and even more importantly with himself that he was ready to forgive her.

    ***

    From the following day, elite units from the army and the Mage Association covertly examined and cleansed the various academies¡¯ staff members and their students. Even without a proper diagnostic spell, the purifying one Marth had devised against the anti-mana parasites would still work.

    It turned out that Linjos wasn¡¯t the only one that had been poisoned. All the Headmasters that followed his protocol had suffered the same fate and with them many of the Professors that fought against the waves of Balkor¡¯s undead.

    Even if there was no proof of their involvement, the surviving staff members of the fallen Earth and Crystal Griffon academies were quietly arrested for treason. Royal constables interrogated them only to discover that their only crime was pursuing their own political agenda rather than their students¡¯ best interests.

    Soon it became clear that the culprit wasn¡¯t someone at the top of the food chain, but someone at its very bottom.

 Chapter 246 Rankings

    Being thest trimester, the students of the White Griffon academy weren¡¯t going to receive hidden report cards anymore. They would be ranked ording to their grades, letting everyone in the Kingdom know about their performance.

    The royal decree that called off the third exam made many youths desperate. Cooperation suddenly had no value. Extra points had unexpectedly be more valuable than tinum, turning friend against friend and brother against sister.

    Everyone would walk the extra mile trying to score as many as possible during thest two weeks, hoping to improve their ranking even if by just one position. sses and corridors turned into battlefields, following the principle that attack is the best form of defense.

    During the practical lessons, sabotaging one own¡¯s neighbors was elevated to a form of art, while any student walking alone, no matter the time of the day, was bound to be attacked.

    Lith barely noticed such inconveniences. While performing the morning rounds for the Healer specialization, his onlypanions were the members of his group.

    During the Magica Crystals sses, Professor Farg proved to have a frightening keen eye and a ruthless personality. She beat the students at their own game.

    As soon as she understood what was happening, anyone she caught not working on their gemstone without a good exnation would lose some points. A couple of students attempted a coordinated attack.

    One of them would ask for the Professor¡¯s help while the other used an almost invisible wind blow to shake their opponent¡¯s hands at a critical moment in the cutting process.

    The result was for both being busted, losing twenty points each that were given to their victim aspensation.

    No one dared to make a move against Lith during the Forgemaster lessons.

    He had always been the teacher¡¯s pet, but since his visit to house Tanash, Professor Wanemyre had showered him with so much praise and attention that rumor spread the two of them were having an affair.

    Unbeknownst to the public, Wanemyre was part of Linjos¡¯s inner circle, so she knew about the anti-mana toxin and had also been one of its victims. Like many of her colleagues, she had believed her poor physical condition to be a consequence of Balkor¡¯s attack.

    She was still grieving many friends and the longsting effects from the undead¡¯s venom only made her feel worse. Wanemyre had suffered both personally and professionally, most of hertest creations were what she could only grade as "cr*p".

    After being cleansed from the anti-mana toxin, her magical prowess and Forgemastering skill returned. Wanemyre knew it was all thanks to Lith. Between the feeling of gratitude and the desire to find the ones that caused her so much suffering, even ring at her favorite student was enough to make her deduct points.

    Between lessons, things would get more up close and personal. Lith being without a Ballot was public knowledge. Several people were desperate and angry enough to give it a shot.

    Forty clean fractures, twenty-fourminuted fractures, a dozen concussions, seven punctured lungs, and several ruptured spleens forced Linjos¡¯s hand to reveal the rankings ahead of schedule.

    Much to the Headmaster¡¯s dismay, Lith had long stopped holding back, so his assants were clogging the wards of the academy¡¯s hospital on a daily basis.

    Be them Professors or medical staff, after learning how their patients received those injuries, the healers would just stabilize their conditions and give them the lowest priority, forcing them to waste almost a whole day in bed before administering them a sloppy treatment.

    Enough to release them but not enough to allow them to perform well in their daily activities. The Light magic department looked after their own and was capable of holding quite a grudge.

    One week before the end of thest term, Lith was summoned in the Headmaster¡¯s office along with Friya and Yurial. None of them had any idea about what was happening.

    When they walked through the door, they found that Archmage Deirus and the Ernas couple were waiting for them together with Linjos. A wave of the Headmaster¡¯s hand made three new chairs appear.

    Yurial and Friya sat near their parents while Lith was alone. He didn¡¯t like it one bit.

    "This is highly improper, Linjos." Lady Ernas said.

    "Where are Mage Lith¡¯s parents? Shouldn¡¯t they be present too? I don¡¯t know why you requested our presence, but it¡¯s easy to assume it must be important."

    Lith and Archmage Deirus nodded in unison.

    "It is. The reason why you are here is to make your children behave." Linjos exined.

    "Lith has proved himself to be reliable and discreet more than once. His parents, however, due to their simple life in the countryside could be more of a liability than helpful. No offense, Lith."

    "None taken." He replied while trying to read Linjos. He seemed to be nervous, if not embarrassed. Lith couldn¡¯t feel any hostility or bad news iing, which made him even more curious.

    "The situation at hand requires confidentiality. As you all know, the rankings are about to be disclosed. To avoid information leaks, this time I had the Professors report directly to me.

    "Each student¡¯s grades have been converted into points, allowing to add them to the extra points gained during the daily evaluations and the exams¡¯ results." Linjos handed them a piece of paper each.

    It was a list of the students in ascending order ording to their points value.

    Lith was ranked first, with 19,481 points, Friya was second with 10,276 points and Yurial third with 9,742 points. Phloria and Quy were respectively sixteenth with 8,832 points and fourteenth with 9,156 points.

    Lith could feel many eyes on him. Jirni, Yurial, and Friya were grinning, while Orion and Archmage Deirus had their mouths almost touching the floor from the surprise.

    "Being second ce is not that bad." Friya said. "I don¡¯t get it why Lith has almost doubled my score, though. I know he performed better than me, but this much? Does the ranking include the spell he shared?"

    "No..." Linjos shook his head. "but it does take into ount his contribution as medical staff during the gue and... the most recent events. Every meritorious act a student performs gets properly rewarded. Based on his academic results only, Lith¡¯s score would be 12,235 points."

    Friya felt a tinge of envy ruining her moment and so did Yurial. They had hoped the gap was due to Lith¡¯s services to the Kingdom and the academy rather than skill. Two thousand points were an abysspared to how close the rest of the scores were.

    "It doesn¡¯t matter since no one will ever know." A snap of Linjos¡¯s fingers and the papers turned into dust.

    "I wouldn¡¯t have shown you any of it if I wasn¡¯t aware of your good rtionship and of how you shared your previous grades. To do what it must be done I need your cooperation. This is what will get released to the public in about an hour."

    Linjos¡¯s desk projected a hologram in the middle of the room, disying the rankings. There were only two differences with the previous one. Lith¡¯s and Yurial¡¯s scores were swapped, turning the top three as following: 1) Yurial Deirus: 10,353 2) Friya Ernas: 10,276 3) Lith from Lutia: 10,125.

    "What does this mean?" Yurial and Friya blurted out, while Lith¡¯s eyes burned with mana out of anger before he understood what was happening.

    "Are you doing this for political reasons?" Lith asked.

    "Yes." Linjos nodded. "After the Griffon Kingdom went inches from a civil war that spread poison, corruption, and traitors deep inside even the most loyal institutions to the Crown, after Balkor, we cannot afford any more internal strife.

    "A grassrootmoner reaching the top spot in any academy is unheard of. It would cause problems to any Headmaster, let alone someone like me that¡¯s already a controversial figure. It would raise all the wrong questions and countless suspicions.

    "They would say that¡¯s just another ploy from the Queen to belittle the ancient noble families and turn the embers of the revolt into a fire once again. This way, instead, we¡¯ll strengthen the Queen¡¯s new policies.

    "Lord Deirus¡¯s first ce will make the new magical bloodlines happy, Lady Friya¡¯s second ce so close to the first will make easier for the nobles to ept that you ¡¯ranked¡¯ third. Do you have any questions?"

    After being cleansed from the toxin, Linjos had regained his incarnate and strength, but he still appeared to be deadly tired. He had deep set eyes, unable to hide the sadness that lied within his heart.

    ¡¯I never liked Lith much, but this is just bullsh*t.¡¯ Linjos thought.

    ¡¯I became a Headmaster to change things for the better from the inside, not to be forced by politics to strip a student from their achievements just to please some old fogeys. For every battle that I win, there are two more that I lose.¡¯

    "Does this mean that I¡¯ll lose my points? Also, is there some prize for being first or second that the third doesn¡¯t get?" Being third was already bad for Lith¡¯s ns. He had hoped to be in the lowest positions of the top ten.

    ¡¯The higher I get, the more trouble I will find. I don¡¯t give a damn about being third, fifth or even twentieth, as long as I keep my points and prizes. It¡¯s the only way I have to acquire magical equipment.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Of course you will not lose any point!" Linjos raised his voice, outraged by the simple idea of it.

    "The total amount is unchanged, but only those present in this room will know the truth. Whatever you need to exchange them for, will be presented as a gift from the Crown for your services. As for the prizes, there is none. The honor of being first it¡¯s its own prize, along with the glory and fame it entails."

    Lith had a hard time repressing a scoff.

    "I¡¯m fine with this decision." Lith said.

    "Well, I¡¯m not!" Yurial jumped off his chair, the pride for his achievement already fading away.

    "I wanted to be first, but not like this. It¡¯s unfair as much as demeaning. How can I watch myself in the mirror knowing that it¡¯s only a lie? I refuse to be a puppet! Give the first ce to Friya if she wants it and the second to Lith at least."

    Linjos sighed deeply before answering.

    "Young man, this isn¡¯t a request. It¡¯s an order from the Crown. I¡¯m not asking for your permission. I wouldn¡¯t have told you any of this if not for the fact that by knowing your respective grades you can easily discover the truth.

    "You have no idea how mathematically creative I had to get to fix the scores using only the third trimester points. Someone inside the academy leaked all the report cards, otherwise I would have put Lith even lower and have this talk with him only."

    "House Ernas has no objection." Orion actually would have liked to say many things, but as a soldier, he knew that orders had to be followed not discussed. He turned towards his wife, who winked at him with a smug expression.

    ¡¯She clearly knows what the little monster did to get all those points. It must be something important if she isn¡¯t allowed to discuss it even with me.¡¯

    Archmage Deirus was embarrassed by his son¡¯s behavior. He could understand Yurial¡¯s outrage, he was the one that had taught him to never take shortcuts and only rely on hard work.

    As the heir of House Deirus, though, he had to learn how to y ball, even when it was nasty.

    "House Deirus has no objection either." Vn Deirus clenched Yurial¡¯s shoulder, preventing him to say any more.

    "Excellent." Linjos replied. "Congrattions on your well-earned second ce, Lady Friya. Despite you went through a lot this year, your outstanding performance in dimensional magic and healer sses makes us all proud."

    The Headmaster shook her hand, his words stabbed Yurial¡¯s heart deeply.

    "You are the best healer we have got since Manohar enrolled." Linjos shook Lith¡¯s hand too, handing him a pristine white pin the size of a button, shaped like a rampant white griffon with the number four etched on its surface.

    "The six great academies specialize in one element each. Ours is light magic. This pin identifies you like the top of the fourth year Healer specialization, the crown jewel of our institution.

    "No one can take such achievement away from you. I can guarantee you that next year things will be different. If you achieve again the first spot, you¡¯ll be allowed to keep it."

    Lith nodded, storing the pin away and exining to Linjos how he intended to invest most of his points. There was something he had set his eyes on for a long time, but with the official ranking alone he wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it.

    "Don¡¯t let this ruse ruin your moment, young Deirus." The Headmaster shook Yurial¡¯s hand forst, giving him a pin identical to the one Lith received but made of gold instead of moonstone.

    "Your real score surpasses those of most students that ranked first in the past, it¡¯s something to be proud of. All your Professors speak fondly of you and expect great things from you in the future."

    Yurial smiled, while his hand clenched the gold pin so hard that it would have turned into a crumpled ball if not for its protective enchantment.

    ¡¯Who the heck cares about my scorepared to the past? This pin means nothing. I would have never gotten such a score without Lith¡¯s and Quy¡¯s private lessons. Quy deserves it much more than me. Despite having only one specialization, she achieved an insane number of points.¡¯

    Yurial¡¯s heart was reduced to shreds, all the insecurities that he had fought so hard to keep at bay overwhelmed him to the point that he could feel the weight of the tranquilizer sk in his pocket burning through his clothes, calling on him like a siren.

 Chapter 247 Repor

    Once the matter of the rankings was settled, only Jirni Ernas remained inside Linjos¡¯s office.

    "The results of the investigation on the academies¡¯ staff is unsettling. It seems that whoever is behind the anti-mana toxins yed both sides. They used the rivalry between the old noble households and the new magical bloodlines to recruit members from both factions and escte the internal struggle into a civil war.

    "As for the poisoning, the method employed was as simple as effective. They administered the toxin in the meals. The targets were only those who belonged to the most vocal families loyal to the Crown but thatcked the resources to request the help of any of the great healers involved in the gue.

    "It was likely meant to make the young mages lose their rankings, if not failpletely their exams in order to cripple their opponents¡¯ status and political relevance inside the Royal Court."

    "How could they achieve such capiry control?" Linjos had already realized by himself most of Jirni¡¯s report, but he still couldn¡¯t believe it had happened right under his nose.

    "Easy, they contacted and corrupted several members of the canteen¡¯s staff. They seem to have handpicked them one by one, choosing only those that suffered from financial troubles or had a deep grudge against the Crown.

    "You should know that working for one of the six big academies is considered an honour. Yet it doesn¡¯t prevent staff members who belong to noble households from treating with disrespect mages ofmoner origin, while those of humble origins resent the nobles for treating them like cattle.

    "Both get usually very pissed seeing so much power and money passing right under their noses, yet not having ess even to the crumbs of the system. I think you should consider changing the work condition of the non magical staff too.

    "The information leaks, the poisoning, everything that has happened wouldn¡¯t have been possible if the academy system wasn¡¯t already rotten from the start."

    "Who provided the toxin and when did they start administering it to Professors and Headmasters?" Linjos pondered about Jirni¡¯s words. No one had ever stopped considering how much power and knowledge the student secretariat actually held.

    Grades, points records, purchases, those people that had always been regarded as low level bureaucrats hadplete ess to the personal information about every resident of the academy, from their addresses to the security details.

    Just the thought of how much work he had ahead of himself was enough to give Linjos a splitting headache.

    "That¡¯s where our investigation was abruptly stopped. The corrupted officials gave away the names of their recruiters to spare their families from capital punishment, but they turned out to be strawmen. Once we apprehended them, the recruiters had no idea who they were working for.

    "As for the toxins, they were delivered through several drop spots that changed every time. All of them were located in trash bins insidemon areas, so anyone could put them in ce. Students, administrative staff, even Professors.

    "s, after our investigation started the deliveries stopped. Either someone from the inside leaked the information or more likely they noticed how many people were being detained and interrogated. An operation of this scale can¡¯t remain hidden for long."

    Jirni didn¡¯t like facing smart opponents. She preferred the dumb and self-entitled kind that provided open-and-shut cases. So far, she hadn¡¯t spotted a single mistake on their side.

    If not for the Kandria¡¯s incident triggering the gue, no one would have even thought such wonder of Alchemy was possible. Even after Lith found the box, the authorities wouldn¡¯t pay him any attention if not for the dryad¡¯s gift.

    Last, but not least, without Duke Tanash determination in getting help for his son, everything would have kept going ording to the enemy n. Jirni could not help but think that the small victories they had scored so far were all because of luck and coincidences.

    Luck was something she couldn¡¯t control or interrogate, hence it was one of the things she hated the most.

    "They started poisoning the magical staff only after Balkor¡¯s message was revealed and stopped immediately after the situation was resolved. I think it was a long shot n, hoping to use the god of death to get rid of the academies.

    "Officially, such a move would have harmed both factions at the same time, so it doesn¡¯t make any sense.

    "Off the record, I think that whoever nned these events doesn¡¯t care at all about who profits from the struggle. They want to deal as much damage as possible to the Griffon Kingdom. I suspect that even Lukart was just a pawn.

    "A narrow-minded idiot is the perfect frontman. Easy to take out of the picture in case of sess, easy to pin all the me on in case of failure."

    "Basically we got nothing." Linjos sighed.

    "No, quite the contrary." Jirni replied.

    "We have discovered a massive corruption system, cleansed the academies from the traitorous scum and foiled at least part of the enemy n. Not to mention that several good mages will have a second chance at the academy, strengthening the future of the Kingdom.

    We haven¡¯t won the war, but we aren¡¯t losing it either. Considering the amount of time and resources that our opponents invested, even achieving a draw is actually a sess for us. Stay on your toes, this is far from over. A cornered enemy is the most dangerous one."

    Jirni gave the Headmaster a small bow before leaving the office. Unlike Deirus, since she was already at the White Griffon, she had no hurry to leave. She could as well pay a visit to her daughters and congratte them for their achievements.

    ¡¯One achieved second ce and the other two reached the top twenty despite having only one specialization. House Ernas is bound to have a bright future, but only if I manage to keep all the girls alive.¡¯

    ***

    Meanwhile, in Phloria¡¯s room Lith and Orion where sharing the good news with the rest of the group. Yurial remained silent most of the time, the golden pin felt to him more like a stigma than something to be proud of.

    "This is bullsh*t!" Phloria was enraged enough to yell.

    "Since when the academies have to bend the knee to political interests? This is just unfair!"

    "Life it¡¯s unfair by nature." Lith shrugged. "The key is making it unfair to your advantage."

    "How does getting stripped of your rank and title work to your advantage?" She scoffed.

    "First, being third means the target on my back gets much smaller. The points gap with the others in the top 20 is low, so they¡¯ll think that if instead of bothering me they work harder, they may be able to catch up with me."

    "You wouldn¡¯t have been attacked so often if you stuck with us like before!" Phloria scolded him, but Lith ignored her words.

    "Second, I didn¡¯t lose a single point. Yurial gets the glory and fame he always wanted while I can go home a week earlier. Everybody wins. By the way, have you thought about what I said? Will you guys dy attending the fifth year?"

    "I wish!" Yurial snorted. "My father never believed in visions and prophecies, so convincing him to push back all of his ns for one more year was already hard. As soon as he saw the rankings, he immediately changed his mind.

    "He says that backing down for no reason would make him lose a lot of face and stir too many questions." Yurial still couldn¡¯t believe his father would ce the pride of the house above his only son¡¯s safety.

    "Don¡¯t be too harsh on your old man, kid." Orion sighed.

    "The vision is top secret and has to stay that way. There is no way to justify any of you taking a year break, especially after such outstanding performances. There¡¯s no illness that the White Griffon can¡¯t cure, so ¡¯getting sick¡¯ is off the table.

    "A family crisis that needs kids to be resolved would turn any big household into aughing stock. Many students do not return home even if their parents die, the academy is deemed too important.

    "I could ask for Phloria to be transferred into another academy, she is the only one that was clearly harmed in the vision, but again, there is no usible excuse. It would appear like we are punishing her for her ¡¯low score¡¯ or that we disagree with Linjos¡¯s methods.

    Either way, it would make us look bad in the Court¡¯s eyes."

    "Are you really going to have them attend?" Lith was genuinely worried.

    "It makes no sense, they could die!"

    "Thanks for worrying about me." Yurial snorted.

    "I do, but I can¡¯t argue with your father since he already left. He¡¯s an a*s. In his shoes, I would keep you home. You are not only his son, but also the only heir of your house."

    "You are damn right I am!" Yurial mmed his fist on Phloria¡¯s desk.

    "Do you know what he said to me before leaving? Son, I receive death threats on a daily basis. If I had to hide and cower every time I get one, I should never get out of bed."

    "What a d*ck!" The girls said as one.

    "He is right though." Orion patted Yurial¡¯s shoulder, trying tofort him.

    "Jirni and I, but especially Jirni, receive so many death threats we have lost count of them. During winter, we use the old ones to light the firece. Also, Phloria wants to join my corps, the Knight¡¯s Guard, since she was five."

    "I still want to."

    "Then you have to get used to such things. At least you have an idea of the when and how it could happen. It¡¯s more than I have ever known every time I risked my life during a mission."

    "I still think it¡¯s stupid making them stay." Lith scoffed. "Losing a year is no big deal, especially for Quy. She can use that time to learn etiquette, court manners, and everything she needs to live as a noble. As for the others, with all that happened, a break can only do them some good."

    "What about you?" Orion retorted. He wasn¡¯t happy with that decision either, but defying a direct order from the King was impossible. Not even Jirni¡¯s umted royal pardons could allow such a thing. It would be considered an act of high treason, something way worse than murder.

    So, he had to obey. Lith¡¯s words were just salt being spread on his injuries.

    "Are you taking a year break? Because what you said about Quy applies to you as well. You could defend your family, instead of worrying from distance."

    "I¡¯m staying because the sequence of events that will lead to the massacre of Lutia will start here. Only by remaining I can make sure that whatever the enemy is nning will fail, or at least timely call for help to prevent things from escting.

    "Also, my death should happen after my family¡¯s, while Phloria¡¯s should take ce during the attack on the academy. I have no reason to hide, not to mention that I too don¡¯t n living behind a desk in the future.

    "I faced death enough times that I¡¯m not scared at the idea of facing a mortal threat as much of remaining alone. If I were to lose you guys and my family, there would be nothing left for me in this world. I can already see me turning into a mad beast hungry for revenge and with no future ahead."

    Orion sighed, he understood Lith¡¯s point of view. It was the same for him. Honour, loyalty to the Crown, his career. Without his family, it would all be meaningless.

    "I don¡¯t want to get caught in the mess that will ensue when the rankings will be revealed. I¡¯m going to pack my stuff and go home. It will be a busy winter for me. I have a lot of things to practice and even more to Forgemaster.

    I hope to see you all for my birthday." Lith said looking at Phloria. He could only hope that Orion would keep his word and give him the Gatekeeper bastard sword as a present.

 Chapter 248 Report 2

    "I wouldn¡¯t miss your birthday for the world." Unbeknownst to her, Phloria was the only one truly happy for the invite.

    If not for the enchanted sword, Lith wouldn¡¯t care for his own birthday, let alone inviting people to a party he was the first to be happy to avoid.

    He had yet to find a way to salvage his rtionship with Solus. Between that and Death Vision still haunting him, Lith wanted to be left alone with his family. Not to mention that having guests was a problem for him.

    Despite all the renovations it had undergone, Lith¡¯s home was too small for hosting a decent birthday party, even by Earth standards. Rena and Trion had already moved out. Whenever he was at Lutia, Lith spent most of the time outside, doing the gods knew what.

    Raaz and Elina had no reason to further expand the house, it would only make the maintenance more expensive. It had never been a problem before since Lith had no friends to invite aside from Selia.

    Lutia¡¯s harsh winters prevented even Nana to reach their home, or at least so she used to say. Lith suspected she hated birthdays even more than him and used old age as an excuse to avoid wasting her time with the risk of missing customers.

    Ever since he had helped Count Lark to survive his ex-wife plot, he forced Lith to have two different parties, though. One at home, only for the family and another at Count Lark¡¯s manor.

    The Larks were his patrons, so Lith had no way to avoid the issue. He had no love for festivities, but he appreciated the Count¡¯spany and the support he provided for his family.

    That year was already bound to be even more problematic since the Count and Marchioness Distar were his sponsors with the academy.

    Lith was certain they would push him to celebrate his third ce in the overall ranking and first ce among the healers. Thanks to the two nobles providing the location and banquet, Lith deemed there would be no problem adding a few more guests to the list.

    Friya and Quy were still a bit offended with him for his recent rude attitude, but after all, they had gone through together, they were happy for the invite. Te girls were also very curious to visit his birthce.

    Yurial nodded, inwardly cursing at his own bad luck. He didn¡¯t know how to face Lith¡¯s parents and friends without apologizing for having robbed his friend of his rightful status.

    He wanted to avoid all the congrattions and niceties his status as first ranked involved as long as possible. In that moment, Yurial was so nauseated by his situation to be on the verge of puking.

    Everyone but Orion left the room. They were all eager to leave, but first they needed to return to their respective rooms and pack their stuff.

    Phloria wanted to say goodbye to Lith properly, away from her father¡¯s eyes, instead.

    Jirni entered Phloria¡¯s room while she was still absent. Orion used that opportunity to speak with his wife freely.

    "Do you think we should force Lith and Phloria to break up? Putting some distance between them could avoid her from taking unnecessary risks. For the same reason it may be better if once the fifth year begins, our girls avoid associating with him.

    Lith is not a bad kid, but right now first ce or not, he is a liability."

    Jirni was already pondering about what to do next since she learned about the dryad¡¯s gift. She was aware of how much Lith had done for her family, but Orion¡¯s proposal sounded logical. It was the safest option they could take.

    "I understand what you mean and I¡¯m d of your decisiveness, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea. First, we can¡¯t give orders to Lith and neither to Phloria. She has consulted us because we are her parents, but remember that in less than six months our little Flower will be an adult.

    You know she inherited your stubbornness. Making demands will only make things worse. She could simply refuse, if not even leave house Ernas. Antagonizing her now will only earn us her contempt and the further she gets from us, the harder protecting her will be.

    Also, how are you going to make sure they actually break up? Are you going to move into Phloria¡¯s room?"

    Orion had to inwardly admit his idea wasn¡¯t as good as he had initially thought. They had been aware for months of Phloria¡¯s intention of leaving her household in case they attempted to force her into an arranged marriage.

    That was the reason why a few months prior Orion had threatened Jirni to divorce from her. Their friends had warned them about Phloria¡¯s asking for the necessary papers to get emancipated from her parents.

    "As for avoiding associating with Lith, I¡¯m afraid that would be another major blunder. He has proven to be an invaluable help for the girls, both academically and as a protector. Not to mention that you too have seen his score.

    If next year he gets first again,moner or not, flocks of nobles will try to earn his favors. If we do as you propose, not only we would be ungrateful but also appear as fair-weather friends. I understand you are worried about our little Flower and so am I, but don¡¯t let fear get to your head.

    Only by sticking with him when he needs us, we will get his gratitude. Also, there is the possibility that the threat to Phloria¡¯s life has nothing to do with him. She could just be coteral damage or the target of a revenge on me or you.

    So far Lith did quite a good job keeping her alive, I don¡¯t see why this time it should be any different."

    "Why do you care so much for him?" Orion still wasn¡¯t convinced.

    "Because these are chaotic times. Kings and Queense and go and if we want for house Ernas to outlive them we need power. Why do you think I was so eager to adopt the girls? I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Court forced the current royals to abdicate. They have made too big of a mess."

    Orion nodded with a sigh, recognizing the truth in Jirni¡¯s words. He was grateful to Lith for all he had done and respected him deeply. Yet Orion couldn¡¯t help but be afraid for his daughters.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Royal Pce. Inside Tyris¡¯s Lair.

    Am Farg, the newest recruit among the secret unit called the Queen¡¯s Corpse, had not reported to her one true master, Lady Tyris until the end of the academy¡¯s third trimester. Her undercover role as Professor took away most of her time, plus she still couldn¡¯t make sense of what she had witnessed.

    Farg kept an eye on Lith for weeks, searching for more clues about his true nature and the threat he could pose, but with no sess. If not for what she had witnessed in the forest, Farg would think of him nothing more than what his personal file stated.

    Lith was considered a dangerous yet talented individual. The Court was still debating what to do with him. So far, he had proved to be manageable, but his loyalty to the kingdom was shallow at best.

    After the help he had provided during the gue outbreak, the unanimous consent was that unless proven otherwise, he was worth the risk of letting him live. The Court hoped that marrying him into a noble household would put him on a leash for good.

    After the fight between Awakened Ones, Farg wasn¡¯t so sure it was such a good idea.

    She had many unanswered questions, so she used that time to mull them over. Getting an audience with Lady Tyris was a rare event even for the King himself. That was the reason why she didn¡¯t submit her report until now.

    When Tyris imparted orders, they had to be executed at once leaving no space for discussion. Only when one was required to give a report or was granted an audience, they may have the opportunity to ask questions.

    ¡¯Since I risk getting stuck with brats for a whole year, I better make good use of this chance and try to understand as much as I can about Awakened ones. I don¡¯t know when or if I¡¯ll get the opportunity to speak with the master again in the near future.

    ¡¯This might be my only opportunity to learn from her for the gods know how long and I don¡¯t know how many questions she¡¯ll allow me. I must make them count!¡¯ Farg thought.

    As soon as she walked through the double stone door, Farg¡¯s body froze in fear. Every hair on her neck stood up, her instincts screaming at her to beware of the danger ahead. Something was wrong with the underground throne room.

    Instead of being dimly lighted as usual, everything was bright as daylight, allowing Farg to notice ck stains of blood on the floor and columns. Near each stain, there was a small crater from which departed several cracks.

    Farg needed but a nce to recognize the signs of a struggle. She knew how powerful were the defenses in their, yet the invaders had managed to smash some of the stone armors decorating the room, damaging even the thousand years old tapestries.

    Before she could understand what had happened, a sudden sh almost blinded her. The light was followed by a shockwave, like thunder after a bolt of lightning.

    Farg used earth fusion to protect herself, conjuring a barrier with spirit magic a split secondter. Yet the force of the impact was enough to push her several meters back with one knee on the ground, the air squeezed out of her lungs.

    A second was all she had before a second sh appeared. Bracing herself for what she knew was about thee, Farg strengthened the barrier. This time she managed to stand her ground, but the effort took a toll on her.

    After a third and a fourth shockwave, she finally realized that the shes had a precise rhythm.

    ¡¯Could this be just a heartbeat?¡¯ The surprise faded away quickly.

    Farg brushed off the panic that had paralyzed her until that moment, taking the whole room into ount. Right behind the throne, there was a white mass that she had never seen before.

    At first nce it looked like a white wall, changing its color at the edges. The left one seemed to end in a gold vein, while the right one was of a clear grey, like a mountain peak.

    About once per second, the wall produced a lightning. It was dissipated on the ground by several arrays, so powerful to be visible to the eye, leaving behind only its light and the resulting shockwave, yet producing no sound.

    "Lady Tyris, it¡¯s me, Farg! Please, cease the attack!"

    The next lightning had almostpletely formed, but after Farg¡¯s words, it disappeared. The white wall opened, revealing a silver circr window as big as the throne itself, one meter and a half (5¡¯) high and 1.1 meters (3.6¡¯) wide, with a ck dot at its center.

    The contrast between the gleaming silver reflecting the light and the dark dot, made it appear like a bottomless hole in Farg¡¯s mind.

    "There¡¯s a reason why you should always announce yourself before entering." The voice was soft like a whisper, yet it made the walls and the floor tremble.

    "Sometimes I feel the need to stretch myself. Other times, like now, the human form cannot contain my wrath and I need to revert to my original one."

    The wall moved backward, towards the center of the massive underground cave. Farg realized it was no wall, it was simply a portion of Lady Tyris¡¯s head in her griffon form. The gold vein that Farg had spotted earlier was actually her beak, while the grey belonged to a different shade of feathers near her neck.

    Tyris¡¯s body was enveloped by a white aura that was the real source of illumination. The griffon had the head and the front legs of an eagle, while the rest of the body was that of a lion. On her back there were three pairs of feathered wings.

    "It seems that my enemy does not only know about my existence, but also about my efforts to identify them. Attacking me in my own home is something no one managed to do in millennia. This should teach them a lesson."

    The griffon body shrunk, turning into the familiar womanly form Farg was used to.

    "Sorry for earlier, but that was no attack. When I¡¯m angry I produce lightning bolts that the arrays in ce are supposed to nullify. It seems I was still a little worked up from before, so my power overloaded them and part of the energy ran wild. Your report?"

    Tyris smiled apologetically at Farg. Normally she would have her subjects kneeling, but she could see how tired Farg was after withstanding wave after wave of her anger empowered heartbeats.

    A nod of Tyris¡¯s head wiped out all the traces of the attack, cleaning the ck blood and repairing the stone furniture in the throne room. It also made afortable armchair appear right behind Farg, allowing her to rest.

    "Mydy, did someone dare to attack you?" Farg didn¡¯t know if to be worried about her master¡¯s safety or the enemy¡¯s madness.

    "Yes. Several Abominations Warped in here and self-detonated. I don¡¯t know if they were trying to harm me with the explosion or to make the underground cave copse, destroying the castle in the process.

    "Either way, the only thing they managed to do was annoy me and force me to upgrade my arrays." Tyris sighed sadly. Even if her protections were ancient, one of her oldest and roughest works, she still loved them dearly.

    They had been one of her few happy memories of the times when she still had most of her feelings and now they were gone forever.

    "It pains me to admit that albeit outdated, their power was supposed to be unmatched. I guess that Arthan¡¯s Madness isn¡¯t the only thing our enemy has managed to find in the archives. That, or we have a traitor among the Corpse¡¯s ranks.

    There is no way for beings so weak to bypass my protections unless they had a deep knowledge of my arrays. Now your report, please."

 Chapter 249 Burdens

    Farg was shocked by the news of the attack, but managed to hold her curiosity. If Lady Tyris was angry, her patience would be very limited. The questions at her disposal were already down by one.

    Farg told her everything she had noticed about Lith from her observations during the fight with the ckers and the academy¡¯s lessons. Tyris listened in silence, nodding from time to time.

    "Do you have any questions?" Farg¡¯s report did nothing but confirm what she already knew. Tyris always allowed some questions because often humans needed help realizing details that they had seen but not noticed.

    "Many." Farg replied honestly. She was honored to be allowed to sit while her host was pacing around and listening to her report.

    "The kid is barely thirteen years old, yet I saw him go toe to toe with evolved monsters and magical beasts. How is that possible? The members of the Corpse are faster and stronger than normal humans, but not like that. We need enchanted equipment to make up for the difference in physical prowess."

    "Quite the contrary." Tyris shook her head.

    ¡¯During our brief encounter, I was only interested in his mana core and neglected to check his body. This is another important piece of the puzzle. It seems humans aren¡¯t the only ones to be slow on the uptake, sometimes.¡¯ She thought.

    "It is possible. Your Queen, your King, and the veterans of the Corpse are all like that. It may seem incredible to you now, but only because we have just started your refinement process. In time, you¡¯ll be like that too. If you live that long, of course."

    "What?" Farg was stunned, the words escaped her mouth before she could realize to have wasted another question.

    "Doesn¡¯t that mean that the kid is a veteran too? Isn¡¯t he too young?"

    Tyris smiled at her, happy to see the rookie catching up on her own.

    "Yes to both. There are only a few possible exnations. Either he is an Awakened from the birth and that would be as incredible as terrifying, or he is a weak Abomination that possessed the body of an infant. That would be even worse.

    "The former scenario would mean a natural talent like I have never seen before and hopefully will never see again. Beings Awakened from birth are incredibly rare, almost a myth even to us Guardians.

    "I have never met one alive because when they are born from humankind, they start abusing their powers and get killed by their own kin before they can be a real threat.

    "On the contrary, true magices natural to beasts, but being too much reliant on their instincts, theyck the wisdom and awareness about the risks the refinement process implies, so they die young too.

    "Thetter scenario would mean that albeit being incredibly weak, an Abomination managed to evolve into a Puppeteer and then stumbled into a highlypatible body that stillcked any sense of self or distinguishing feature.

    "It makes it the perfect match. The body grows alongside the user¡¯s power, making the rejection of the new soul almost impossible. It would give birth to a Puppeteer that can hide in in sight and without the need of switching bodies.

    Needless to say, such a thing is almost impossible"

    "It doesn¡¯t make sense!" Farg blurted out again.

    "His mana flow is blue, not ck. I checked more than once with Life Vision. Yet I saw with my own eyes ck tendrils reattach his severed arm. That¡¯s something only Abominations can do.

    "Also, I think the kid is utterly insane. One moment he puts his life on the line for hispanions, the following he treats them like garbage."

    "Excellent point." Tyris sat on her throne.

    "That¡¯s why I suspect him being a hybrid, rather than a pure Abomination. A hybrid is born when something goes wrong during the body¡¯s assimtion process. If the Abomination is weaker than the host¡¯s body, it gets assimted instead. It loses its nature and remains trapped inside it.

    "It would exin the wisdom beyond his age, but not why he has helped the Kingdom time and time again.

    "As for the madness, if he is as strong as you describe him to be, then it¡¯s normal. If he is a hybrid, his human and Abomination impulses are constantly at odds. It surprises me he has showed so much self restraint.

    "If he is an Awakened from birth, instead, there is the possibility that he is afraid of harming them, hence he tries to keep them at a distance. When you get so powerful while still being so young, many have problems controlling their strength.

    Consider that for him normal humans are made of paper. All he needs to do is use a little strength to crush them.

    "Whatever is his nature, the attachment towards other humans is a good sign for us, because it means he cares for them. If he does, then if the necessity arises they can be used to shackle him."

    "My Lady, why not kill him? His corpse may answer all of your questions and he would no longer pose a threat. Two birds with one stone."

    "Killing another living being only because I don¡¯t understand them? Who do you take me for? A human?" Tyris scoffed.

    "If he was another wannabe tyrant or a monster sucking everything dry on its path, your suggestion would make sense. Yet so far he poses no threat to his kind nor to the beasts, who consider him as one of their own. Even the world has recognized his worth, subjecting him to its cruel tribtions.

    "If he fails, he¡¯ll die. If he seeds the bnce will have a new Guardian and I another potential mate. It¡¯s a win-win situation for me.

    "Thanks for your hard work, Am. You¡¯ll resume your surveince when the academy reopens. Until then, you¡¯ll continue your normal activities as a member of the Corpse.

    "Do not tell anyone about Lith being a natural Awakened, not even to the Royals. They are past their prime and surrounded by strife. It would be easy for them being tempted to coerce him into turning them in real Awakened.

    The Kingdom wouldn¡¯t survive if I was forced to have both of them suddenly pass away in an ¡¯ident¡¯."

    Tyris¡¯s eyes shone with silver light, sending a shiver down Farg¡¯s spine. She understood how Lady Tyris was not only testing her loyalty, but also burdening her with the fate of the Griffon Kingdom.

    She still had many questions, but now Farg was scared by the answers so she preferred to leave after giving Tyris a deep bow.

    Once alone again, the Guardian let her mind ponder about what she had omitted to say to Farg.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what this Lith is, but for certain he is no kid. I watched all the recordings avable of him, including his exams. His words, actions, and spells do not match a kid. Even geniuses like Manohar couldn¡¯t pull the thundercloud spell at that age.

    ¡¯Not whening from an uneducated family. At this point, even using a member of the Corpse as middle man has little value. The only way I have to find out the truth is to speak with him in person.¡¯ Tyris sighed.

    ¡¯Too bad that with all that it¡¯s happening, this matter is of low priority. First I need to upgrade all the arrays of the castle to prevent further attacks. Then I have to find out how the enemies managed to get down here. As of now, the Griffon Kingdom is a giant with y feet.

    ¡¯The noble households are still able to trigger a civil war, we have lost two of the six great academies at once, and most of my attention has to be directed at the Abomination threat.

    ¡¯I have no idea what this Lith is or wants, but so far he has proved to be harmless to me. His parents are still alive, his vige still standing, and he even joined an academy. None of this makes sense, either if he was an Abomination or an Awakened at birth.

    ¡¯Maybe Sark is right, the only way to rule humans is with an iron fist. I gave the Griffon Kingdom everything I could without directly intervening. Power, wisdom, inspiration.

    ¡¯Yet it has stooped so low that now it needs only a gentle push to fall into ruins.¡¯

    ***

    In the two weeks following the events in the forest, Solus had managed to speak with Lith only once. For eight wonderful years they shared everything. Solus missed all the little things they did together in their daily routine, from their morning walks to choosing what to have for breakfast.

    Yet he still refused to talk to her. No matter if it was a serious matter like talking to Linjos about the rankings or something trivial like inviting his friends. Lith kept her confined in the stone marble, making her feel as alone as useless.

    Since their mind link was broken, Solus had realized that, despite during the past years she had greatly suffered from all the limitations her stone form had, it was only thanks to their bond that she had been able to keep her own sanity in check.

    Even with their mind link shut down, Solus still retained all of her senses.

    She could hear and see the world around her, perceive the mana flow of everyone that came in contact with them or the alterations in their emotional spectrum. Yet without Lith, without ess to his body, she couldn¡¯t feel anything outside her own thoughts.

    It was like being locked up inside a panic room, having ess to the outside world only through cameras and monitors.

    She still received all the nourishment she needed to keep restoring her power, but her life had turned into nothing more than a cage. Solus felt desperate and lonely, but she did her best to not let those feelings transpire.

    Their bond was strong enough that they needed the mind link only to talk. If they wanted to avoid sharing a strong emotion or a recurring thought from the other, they had to be careful.

    Lith wasn¡¯t as good as her, so Solus could feel his yearning for her voice, the desire to contact her along with the sense of betrayal preventing him from opening their mind link.

    It would have been easy for her to contact him first and y with his feelings to get what she wanted, but Solus never even considered doing it. The only thing she wanted was for him to ept her as a person just as she did for him.

    ¡¯Lith didn¡¯t even contact me to share the ranking results. We worked so hard for that, spending so many nights awake and yet he still cut me off like that. Like I am nothing.

    ¡¯I just did to him once what he does to everyone else on a daily basis.

    ¡¯What I did was wrong, but so is Lith¡¯s constantly shutting everyone out every time he has a problem. He needed to realize how his lies can affect his loved ones. Piling lies upon lies, only because it¡¯s more convenient than opening himself to others, even a little.

    ¡¯I understand why he can¡¯t talk about his past lives or being an Awakened one, but hiding all the bad things that happen to him and always acting behind the others¡¯ backs with the excuse that he does it to "protect them" is bullsh*t.

    ¡¯Lith never shared with his parents the ostracism he suffered from the other students, the mean words Professors like Rudd addressed him with or the difficulties he faced during the exams.

    ¡¯By sugar-coating every aspect of his life, maybe he doesn¡¯t make his family worry about him, but for sure he ends up alone, incapable of sharing any of his burdens and to rely on his loved ones.

    ¡¯Lith can¡¯t hope for others to help him in times of need. They never know what he is going through, simply because he hides from them even what he had for breakfast! The only good thing that came out of my lie is that at least he opened up with his family.

    It did him some good, making him realize that they never wanted anything from him except being happy.¡¯

    From the moment their mind link had been severed, Solus¡¯s condition kept getting worse by the day. She was a prisoner of her own body, without anyone to talk to or anything she could do. Life around her was a cruel reminder of how theck of a body made her little more than a ve to whoever was her host.

    Solus knew her future was grim, yet she soldiered up and waited patiently.

    The bond she shared with Lith was symbiotic, it couldn¡¯t be broken unless one of them died. Her only options were for Lith to forgive her or spend the time they had left together as a mindless tool.

    Either that or gopletely insane. The prolonged istion and the constant status of fear of being abandoned, losing her lifepanion, were slowly eating her from the inside.

    It was only a matter of time before her condition deteriorated beyond saving, scarring her mind permanently.

 Chapter 250 Back Home

    Lith¡¯s personal possessions still amounted to little enough to be stored in the trunk his dad made for him, leaving space to spare. Most of his clothes were now too small for him, but Lith kept them anyway, moving the trunk in the pocket dimension before departing.

    Returning to Lutia took him just a few minutes. His mastery of dimensional magic coupled with his recent breakthrough allowed him to open Warp Steps with a range of dozens of miles.

    Lutia was a balm for Lith¡¯s heart. It was a small, insignificant vige in the middle of nowhere, but it was his kingdom. The only ce where he could not care for the appearances nor constantly watch his back.

    He needed some quiet to decide what to do with Solus. Lith still had conflicting feelings about her, but she was a too important part of his life to keep avoiding the issue for long.

    He needed her for his experiments, since Lith was unable to operate the tower or to Forgemaster with true magic without her help. Also, she had always been his best friend, confidant, and his moralpass.

    Her absence left a dreadful silence in his mind and a void in his heart that was only getting worse by the day. Even more importantly, when he had fused their minds, Lith had understood how deep was the feeling of istion haunting her.

    The pain that Solus shared with him had turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. Lith had never forgotten about it and was worried about her well being.

    Lith could have arrived directly at home, but he preferred to appear in the sky above Lutia¡¯s za instead. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew of his return.

    With all that had happened to him, he had no desire of wasting his time dealing with small fries.

    Lithnded softly, drawing the gazes of many. Most of the vigers flinched at his sight. The memory of Lith¡¯sst homing was still deeply etched in their minds. Of how he killed Renkin, the richest man of the vige, and his son.

    After he almost killed many of them for not having helped his sister when Garth harassed her, their despise towards him had turned into blind fear. Money and authority were a paper shield against his wrath.

    If before the vigers considered him as someone that didn¡¯t deserve his magical talent, that robbed them of their wealth and hopes for their children, now they saw him like a hungry monster.

    His presence defended them from bandits and foreigners, but at their least mistake, he had no qualms turning against them too. The thought that one day he could be the lord of thend scared them to death.

    Lith noticed their behavior and couldn¡¯t help but scoff.

    ¡¯Morons. If we wanted to take revenge on you, we would have done it years ago. As long as you behave, no one gets hurt. Right, Solus?¡¯ The mind link was closed, so only silence ensued.

    Lith inwardly cursed at himself before going to Nana¡¯s home office. It was still midmorning, giving him the opportunity to visit his old mentor and pick up Tista before returning home.

    Phloria¡¯s words were still echoing in his mind and without Solus, he needed someone to talk to. His mind was a mess, Lith still couldn¡¯t decide if to tell his family about the vision or not.

    ¡¯Maybe I should warn at least Tista. She is the only other magic user in the family, she could make a difference in case something happens. Scratch that. The shadow made a short work of the Queen¡¯s corps. If they are helpless, I doubt she can do any better.¡¯

    Lith shook his head. The more he thought about it, the more confused he felt.

    He opened the door of Nana¡¯s home office. The waiting room was filled with people, there was not a single chair or bench free.

    Most parents forced their children to sit on theirp. Between the screams of the babies and the loud chatting of the adults, Lith felt like his eardrums were going to pop. When he entered the room, the conversations immediately stopped.

    The ce was familiar to him, yet it felt alien, like waking up from a long good dream. He had spent thest year in the academy, where everything was clean, everyone was properly dressed and fed.

    Compared to the academy¡¯s hospital, Nana¡¯s office was dirty, noisy, and chaotic. Looking at those people, with their cheap clothes and weathered faces, Lith remembered how hard was life in Lutia.

    ¡¯They are here to get a check up before winter arrives. Once it starts snowing, reaching the vige bes almost impossible. Many farmers die every year because of the flu or because a simple cold turns into pneumonia.¡¯ He thought.

    "Young spirit, you are back already!" Nana walked towards him as soon as hertest patient paid her.

    "Yes, master. This year the academy ended early. How are you?"

    "Good as always." Nana replied hugging him.

    Death Vision kept showing him the waiting room as the set of a sher movie, but unlike the others, Nana had only one possible oue.

    The light in her eyes would go out, her corpse quickly invaded by maggots andrvae.

    Lith was upset, he still had no idea what Death Vision was, so he used Invigoration on his old mentor. He discovered that her life force was weaker than thest time he examined her.

    Her whole body was filled with impurities that were clogging her bloodstream and weakening her organs. Old age was consuming her. Lith felt a sting in his heart, realizing that Nana had five years left to live at most.

    "You don¡¯t look so well. Let me see what I can do for you."

    "Bah, I¡¯m just old. Stop wasting my time, there are people waiting!" Nana rebuked. She was aware of her condition. Waking up early was getting more difficult every day and if it wasn¡¯t for Tista, she would be able to work only for half a day.

    ¡¯Can¡¯t allow myself to show any weakness. As soon as word of my condition gets out, who knows what kind of criminals could get attracted to Lutia. Now the Queen¡¯s corps are defending us, but once Lith gets out of the academy they¡¯ll leave.¡¯

    Lith didn¡¯t move, stopping the queue. Yet no one dared to ask him to move aside. Nana was about to scold him, but Tista was looking at her with puppy eyes, making her feel guilty.

    "Fine, hot shot. Show me what a real professional can do." Nana pulled the curtain behind her, sitting in the patient seat. Lith pretended to cast a diagnostic spell first and a healing one after that.

    What he was actually doing was using darkness magic to destroy most of the impurities in her bloodstream, cleansing Nana¡¯s arteries while enhancing her kidneys and liver metabolism with light magic.

    With his current level of mana perception and control, Lith didn¡¯t need anymore to force impurities out of a body, he was able to destroy them while they were still inside.

    The treatmentsted a few minutes, during which Nana felt hot, sweating bullets despite the weather was already quite cold. When Lith finished, she felt at least five years younger.

    "By the gods, whatever you did, you just put me in a pinch, young spirit. I suddenly feel the need to take a bath, eat the biggest lunch I ever had, and take a massive dump at the same time!" A loud and stinky fart emphasized thest part of the sentence.

    "I¡¯ll start with the dump." Nana nodded as she had just made a life or death decision. Tista cleared the smell with a touch of darkness magic while addressing a disgusted expression at her mentor.

    "Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m old!" She rebuked like it exined everything.

    "Young spirit, cover for me until I get back. Since this is all your fault, whatever you earn is mine forpensation. Got it?"

    Lith nodded, barely holding a chuckle at her words. Nana¡¯s health had slightly improved and making her rest had been his n all along. Originally Lith meant to ask her letting Tista leave work early and go home together, but Death Vision changed his mind.

    He watched Nana walking away. This time she was stabbed in the heart and then had her throat slit before leaving the room. Death Vision was usually disturbing, but this time he found it reassuring.

    Using the cover of the curtain, Tista hugged Lith.

    "Wee back, lil brother. It¡¯s good to see you again."

    "It¡¯s good to see you too. Now it really feels like home." He returned the embrace checking her condition, just to be safe.

    "Was that a tier four spell?" Tista¡¯s professional curiosity was piqued.

    "Yeah. There is no cure to old age, but at least it will relieve her symptoms for a while." Lith¡¯s treatment was just a band aid. Only Awakening Nana could prolong her life.

    "It¡¯s still better than nothing." Tista nodded.

    "I¡¯m so envious of you. I hate being forced to watch her get weaker by the day, to see so many people suffer and not being able to do anything for helping them." She sniffed,ying her head on his shoulder.

    "Better if we get to work, or people will get angry." She said letting him go.

    Lith and Tista worked together, talking between patients.

    Identifying a viger from a farmer was painfully easy. Vigers were well dressed, clean, and looked around the waiting room like they owned the ce. Farmers instead woreyers of thin clothes to protect themselves from the cold and looked like they could use a warm meal.

    If the patient was a farmer, Lith would listen to their request and then heal every ailment they had, making them pay only for one spell. Thanks to the curtain, the other patients couldn¡¯t see the deep bows they would give him before leaving.

    Before winter money was always short, so farmers resorted to Nana¡¯s help only in case of an emergency.

    If it was a viger instead, Lith would examine them and list all the conditions he found before asking them what they wanted for him to heal.

    "You have a slight cold, a strained back, and a thrombus." His patient was Ilna, the jeweler. She was a nice looking woman in her forties, with chestnut hair and a dress that was probably more expensive than Nana¡¯s house.

    "What does that mean?" She had a quiet voice. Usually she preferred being served by Tista, since she was easy to push around. Lith had the same caring gaze of a wolf mulling if to rip your throat first or go straight for the gutting.

    "A blood clot in the brain." Lith exined. "If it moves, you die. Simple as that."

    "What are you waiting for? Heal it immediately!"

    "You came for the backache and paid only for that." Lith pointed at the sign stating "Payment in advance".

    Ilna was about to rebuke that she didn¡¯t trust him, but there was something in Lith¡¯s eyes that stopped her. Years in the business had taught her how to read people. She could see from his smirk that he hoped she would walk away.

    Ilna quickly paid and after receiving the treatment, she rushed home to bring her whole family back for a check up.

    ¡¯I hate that b*stard, but even I know that Nana is not a professional healer. Who knows when or if I¡¯ll get someone from the White Griffon to visit my family? I have no time to lose!¡¯

    Tista was amazed by how fast her brother was working. Not only did his spells seem to be more effective than hers, but also he didn¡¯t need to take any break. Lith had a stronger core than Tista and wasn¡¯t as old as Nana.

    That, coupled with all his training, gave him a mana capacity a few times bigger than theirs. Not to mention thatpared to the academy¡¯s daily exercises, casting one spell at the time was almost rxing for him.

    Lith had just finished with histest patient when Tista pulled his arm. He turned around, noticing that she was holding a petite girl about her age by the arm. The girl was well dressed and had a healthy incarnate.

    Despite the sunny day, she was already wearing a long sleeved sweater with heavy gloves on both hands.

    "Lith, do you remember Brina?" She asked him.

    "No." Lith sighed. That was one of those moments when Solus would chime in and remind him about who¡¯s who. The silence in his mind was deafening. Despite Tista¡¯s presence, Lith felt alone and sad again.

    "She is the baker¡¯s daughter and like me is part of the shut-in club." Tista was referring to a group of youths that for some reason had spent most of their life in istion, just like her.

    "I was wondering if you could do something for her." Brina became pale and tried to sneak away, but Tista was on guard stopping her in her tracks.

 Chapter 251 Back Home 2

    Lith looked at her, but he couldn¡¯t see anything wrong. She was 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") high with long gold hair tied back in a braid. She was quite cute, especially since her diminutive stature emphasized her bosom.

    Lith was wondering why he had no recollection of her, when Brina took off the long glove covering her right hand. Her arm had a long burn scar up to the elbow, while the hand was unnaturally thin. It had only the thumb and the index finger.

    The scar tissue was bright red and swollen. Its jagged surface made it look like a sponge had grown under her skin.

    "She had an ident with the oven when she was little. They had to amputate most of her fingers and even if Nana managed to save the hand, the scar causes her a lot of pain whenever it gets cold. We prepare an ointment for her, but it¡¯s not enough.

    This year she will take part in the Spring festival..."

    "I won¡¯t!" Brina angrily whispered cutting her short. "I¡¯m damaged goods. I¡¯m tired of people staring at me with pity just like..." The "your brother" part died in her mouth.

    Lith was merely looking at the arm like it was a broken chair, assessing the damages with Invigoration.

    Brina hadn¡¯t noticed his touch because the armcked any sensitivity.

    "I can fix it. For a price, of course."

    "The cold issue?" Tista asked full of hope.

    "No, I mean the scar, the fingers. Everything." Seeing their disbelief, Lith ced his index finger on Brina¡¯s elbow, casting a short spell that restored an inch of skin.

    "Nana can¡¯t perform tier four light spells, but I can." His voice was cold and professional.

    "The procedure is expensive. If you are interested, talk to whoever manages the finances in your family and then let me know. I¡¯ll be avable until spring."

    Tista opened her mouth to say something, but remained silent. Everything had happened so fast that Brina wasn¡¯t able to move or speak. She stared for a while at the pale new skin, before leaving in a hurry after noticing the kids staring at her, pointing their fingers at her still exposed arm.

    An hourter Nana finally returned and the queue was reduced to four people.

    "Excellent work, kids." Nana said after checking the ie.

    "I can handle the rest. You go home and have a nice meal."

    Lith could have opened a Warp Steps, but judging by how Tista was looking at him, she clearly had something to say. So, he kept the surprise for another time and they walked home instead.

    "How can you think about money when you can help someone in need?" She finally said once they got out of the vige.

    "Do you have any idea what she went through all her life? She gets out of the house only during fall and winter, she never had a boyfriend, she..."

    "Had it much easier than you." Lith¡¯s voice was indifferent.

    "She has been well fed and dressed all of her life. Her parents have a nice house and can afford the treatment. End of the story."

    Tista was stunned.

    "Yes, but I got cured and she didn¡¯t. A healer¡¯s job..." She replied after a few seconds, only to get cut short once again.

    "It¡¯s a job like any other. Light magic it¡¯s not some kind of holy power, it¡¯s just a mean to an end. Does the baker give bread and pastries away for free to those in need? No. Did anyone ever help us when we were starving? No.

    When you were ill, did her father care for your condition? No. Then give me one good reason why I should work for free."

    Tista remained silent for a few minutes until they arrived halfway towards home.

    "So, what are your limits now?" She asked.

    "Brother sister confidentiality?"

    Tista nodded.

    "As long there is a breath of life, I can save anyone. I can now regrow organs, limbs, anything. My only limitation is that I can¡¯t repair something that was missing from the start. I can give back the sight to someone that has lost an eye, but not to someone born blind."

    Tista seemed incredibly happy at his words, making Lith worried.

    "Are you unwell or there is someone else you want me to heal?" He sighed.

    "No, everything is fine." She giggled.

    "It¡¯s just that Lutia is a small vige in the middle of nowhere. After hearing your stories and seeing you at work today, I¡¯m wondering if I should try to get into an academy too."

    Lith shuddered at the thought.

    ¡¯I have always avoided mentioning the nastiest details of the academy, I can¡¯t see Tista not getting scarred for life by all those jerks. Not to mention that if she manages to graduate too, our family would be recognized as a new magical bloodline.

    ¡¯It would cause us a lot of troubles. If she really wants to step up her skills, then I can¡¯t shield her from the truth anymore. The princess has to be a warrior, or the world will eat her alive.¡¯

    Before going back home, Lith went to Selia¡¯s house. ording to Solus, she was supposed to have left together with Ryman, but he wanted to make sure the huntress didn¡¯t need help.

    The door and the windows were locked. Lith used Life Vision, discovering that there was no one inside.

    ¡¯One less person to worry about.¡¯ He shrugged. Nana was at the end of her rope and the huntress was gone, probably for good. Lith felt a sting in his heart, but he preferred to focus on those he had left.

    His parents were really happy to have him home earlier and during lunch, they wanted to know everything about hisst days of the academy. Lith didn¡¯t tell them about the vision, but for Tista¡¯s sake, he shared with them all the aggressions and sabotage attempts he endured.

    "So much violence just for a grade?" Raaz couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    Lith exined to them how fierce was the everyday life at the White Griffon.

    "Nobles take sess for granted and don¡¯t like being overshadowed bymoners. They consider it as a personal insult. Commoners mostly work their ass*s off, but since the academy it¡¯s the only way out of poverty, they are ruthless too. It¡¯s easier to meet a dragon than to find an honest friend."

    After many questions about the academy and as many reproaches for the things he had omitted in the past, Lith finally could tell them about the rankings. Elina and Tista cried with joy at his achievements, while Raaz simply hugged him.

    "I¡¯m so proud of you, son. I don¡¯t know what I did to deserve such a good kid."

    Lith was happy too. Their joy was the first piece of good news in months.

    "We should share the good news with Rena!" Elina stood up, walking toward the door.

    "You stay here. I¡¯ll go get her." Lith said while opening a Warp Steps.

    Elina was about to argue when the dimensional rift opened in their dining room right outside of Rena¡¯s house in the vige. The mouths of the members of Lith¡¯s family fell to the ground for the surprise.

    When less than a minuteter the Gate reopened, they were still awestruck and so was Rena. Lith had to princess carry her through the Warp Steps. They could hear many scared murmursing from the vige.

    "Ah! Suck it, you bastards!" The voice of Zekell, Rena¡¯s father-inw roared.

    "I¡¯m the only one with a god in the family!"

    "What a ssy, humble man." Lith sneered as soon as the Gate closed behind him.

    After much stuttering and many questions about Warp Steps, Lith finally brought Rena up to speed. She was overjoyed by so many good news and so was the rest of the family.

    Again. Lith couldn¡¯t understand why they were so excited about something they already knew.

    "It¡¯s incredible! Mom, this means you can visit me whenever you want, even during winter!" Rena¡¯s words left Lith speechless.

    "Indeed. Now we can go to the vige regardless of the weather. Oh, gods. Freshly baked bread during winter is a dreame true!"

    Suddenly the conversation degenerated into how to better exploit Lith¡¯s new ability. More than once he wanted to point out that he wasn¡¯t a cab, but there was no such word on Mogar.

    After everyone had decided what they wanted to use Lith¡¯s powers for during the winter, Tista pulled Elina aside. They whispered among them for a while and even with his enhanced hearing, Lith was unable to understand what they were saying.

    Rena was bombarding him with questions about the ces he had ess to, how many people he could move at once.

    When they returned, she wasn¡¯t done yet.

    "Big sis,e here please." Tista pulled Rena aside, pushing the index finger against her own lips.

    "Lith, dear, please have a seat."

    Elina had a serious expression, making him inwardly fear to be about to get scolded again.

    ¡¯I told them so little and I am already getting my a*s kicked. I was right working on a "need to know" basis with them.¡¯ He thought.

    "Would you like to have another sibling?"

    Her words made Lith¡¯s brain freeze. His hands clenched the armrests so hard that only the fear to reveal his strength too made him snap out of it when the wood started cracking ominously.

    ¡¯Is this a trick question?¡¯ He thought. ¡¯After Orpal and Trion, I don¡¯t feel safe rolling the dice again. Sadly, it¡¯s not something up for me to decide. Damn if I hate rhetorical questions.¡¯

    "Sure, mom." He actually replied while hoping that his face matched his happy tone.

    "Are you pregnant already or is it something you are nning ahead?"

    His words made the mood in the room turn heavy. Everyone was looking at the floor with a sad expression. Elina was squeezing her own hands, taking deep breaths to calm down.

    "Have you ever wondered why we didn¡¯t have any more children?" Raaz said while hugging his wife from behind tofort her.

    "Yes. I thought that since we had so many problems with food and money already, you used some spell to prevent further..." Lith was about to say "issues", but managed to stop in time.

    They were speaking about having another baby, so they didn¡¯t share hisck of love for small, smelly, noisy humans.

    "...another pregnancy."

    "Well, yes and no." Elina exined.

    "Sure, after you were born, we couldn¡¯t afford to have more children, even though we love each other so much." She caressed Raaz hands, kissing his forearm.

    "That¡¯s why we were actually happy when the Great Mother took the choice out of our hands."

    "The Great Mother? Aren¡¯t you using a darkness magic spell?" During all his life on Mogar, Lith had yet to find a single church or temple. Religions were almost non existent, gods were relegated in the roles of swear words or synonyms for destiny.

    "We know the spell, but it requires a magico level of power to be viable. Otherwise repeated uses can cause permanent sterility."

    Raaz¡¯s words were like a punch in Lith¡¯s stomach.

    "Do you mean that..."

    "Yes." Elina nodded. "Thebor was long andplicated. I don¡¯t know exactly what happened. Nana tried to exin it to me, but I couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t want to understand.

    "The only thing that mattered to me was that something inside of my body broke that night, making me unable to bear children anymore."

    Everything made sense. Lith had wondered from time to time why even after Orpal had been disowned, after Tista had been healed, and the financial situation of the household had improved so much thanks to his jobs, his parents had stopped having children.

    His mother was still young, yet nothing had happened. He had always shrugged it off, thinking they wanted to sit back and enjoy their new wealth. Yet now he couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty.

    Guilty for having always ignored their distress simply because it suited him, but mostly because he was the real root of that situation. They were his parents, but Lith wasn¡¯t really their son.

    ¡¯Calm down, you idiot. No need for guilt trips. I didn¡¯t choose Elina, I didn¡¯t kill the real Lith. He was already dead, so nothing that happened that night was my fault.¡¯ Lith was aware of how his birth was considered a miracle by his family.

    "I pray the Great Mother every day to thank her for her gift." Elina took the word out of his mind.

    "When Nana told me about my condition, I felt desperate, but as soon as I held you in my arms, it didn¡¯t matter anymore. I was already too scared after almost losing you. At that moment, you gave me a reason to live." Elina looked at him with deep affection.

    Those words soothed Lith¡¯s uneasiness, but his stomach was still tied in a knot.

    "Tista says that you can cure everything. Is it true?" Her eyes were full of expectancy.

    "Yes."

    "Do you think you can help me?"

    "Absolutely." Lith lied with confidence.

    The reproductive apparatus was one of his weakest spots since he never experimented with pregnant women. There was nothing in the textbooks to help him understand the difference between a functioning yet defective organ and a mint one.

    He remembered how during the treatments he had found lots of impurities in Elina¡¯s womb, but even removing them and bringing her to full health for years didn¡¯t seem to have worked out.

 Chapter 252 Siblings Part 1

    ¡¯I never noticed any anomaly, the damage must be something subtle. Probably it just makes the changes of pregnancy really low. I would have never missed something that affected her health.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith stood up, cing his hand on Elina¡¯s belly before activating Invigoration. He scanned her ovaries and uterus for a long time, but came up with nothing.

    "Odd. Everything seems fine." Noticing his mother¡¯s distressed expression, he tried to reassure her.

    "Don¡¯t worry, maybe it¡¯s just because I don¡¯t know what to look for. I just need reference material." Lith touched Rena¡¯s womb, looking for clues.

    "Good gods!" Lith snapped back with a shocked expression.

    "Is there something wrong?" Rena was on the verge of panic. She had never seen her brother freaking out, not even after having an arm cut off.

    "Yes, I mean no. I¡¯m not ready to be an uncle, I¡¯m too young." The room exploded with cheers, tears, and joy. Lith remained dumbstruck. He really was not ready.

    ¡¯Guess they didn¡¯t know either. For a moment I thought that Rena¡¯s pregnancy was the reason behind mom¡¯s request. Like knowing she is about to be a grandma made her aware of the passing of time.¡¯ He thought.

    "Thank the gods." Rena squeezed him between her arms, before putting his hand back on her belly.

    "After being married for almost a year, I was starting to be afraid Senton or I was sterile. I was going to ask for your help right after mom. How is the baby?"

    "This big." Lith¡¯s index finger formed a circle about as big as a pea.

    "I want to know if it¡¯s healthy!" Rena pped him on the nape.

    "I guess." He shrugged. The fetus was too little, there wasn¡¯t much he could see. Lith had no experience in the matter and didn¡¯t want to give them false hope.

    ¡¯Me and my big mouth. The chances of miscarriage during the first pregnancy are high, or at least, they are on Earth. I can only keep my finger crossed and keep an eye on her¡¯

    "Please, no more surprises." He said using Tista as a temte this time. At those words, she became beet red but said nothing.

    "I need a clean te." He exined.

    ¡¯I have no idea if Rena¡¯s body has changed to better host the baby. Using her as blueprint could cause a false pregnancy.¡¯

    A few minutester, he believed to have found the root of the problem. The difficultbor had caused the formation of adhesions in the tubes. Lith had no idea what they were, though. He only recognized them as an anomaly.

    "I got good news and I got bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" He asked.

    "The bad news." Elina hugged Raaz, who tried to act strong.

    "It¡¯s worse than I thought. Between the damage that you suffered and the passing of time, I can¡¯t promise a full recovery."

    "What about the good news?" Raaz asked.

    "I think I can do it, but I need some time to prepare and to ask for guidance."

    Raaz tried to lift Lith out of joy, only to realize a second toote that his son was already taller than himself.

    They spent the lunch merrily, talking about their ns for the winter. Rena couldn¡¯t wait to share the good news with her husband, but remained with them, asking Elina for advice.

    Lith didn¡¯t want to ruin that moment for them, so he avoided talking about the impending danger nor the distress Death Vision caused him. Tista couldn¡¯t take her eyes off his White Griffon pin, asking a lot of questions about the academy.

    Lith didn¡¯t lie to her, describing in detail the teaching methods, the harshpetitive environment, and the need formoners to get a Guilty Ballot as soon as they got admitted.

    The more Tista learned about it, the less attractive the perspective of attending the academy became. She knew nothing aboutbat. Tista used mostly light and darkness magic for her job, while she practiced the other elements only for doing the daily chores.

    ¡¯My situation is pretty much the same as Quy¡¯s, but I doubt I¡¯ll find someone like lil brother to watch my back. Even if I get admitted, I¡¯d be quite oldpared to my schoolmates.

    ¡¯Dammit, I want to learn more about magic. I¡¯m tired of the daily routine, Lutia is starting to feel a cage like home previously was. At the same time, it¡¯s a safe haven for me.

    ¡¯The academy sounds like the forbidden love child of a viper¡¯s nest and a warrior¡¯s arena. I want to test my limits, but it¡¯s kind of extreme as first challenge. Ballot or not, I don¡¯t know if I can stand so much pressure.¡¯

    Tista needed time to think, so she went back into her room to study the offensive spells from her grimoire. She learned them years ago at Lith¡¯s and Nana¡¯s insistence, but after never using them, Tista remembered only the simplest ones.

    After taking Rena home, Lith Warped to a random location in the Trawn woods. After checking not to be followed, he Warped to an irrelevant spot at Lutia¡¯s outskirts.

    ¡¯Warp Steps should make following me impossible, even to the Queen¡¯s corps. Being careful never hurts, though.¡¯

    Aftering through each Gate, he would walk for a few dozen meters in a random direction before opening another. Lith hoped that the multiple spatial jumps would allow him to lose his tail, even if an artifact capable of opening again or tracing Warp Steps did exist.

    Only then he opened a Gate to the mana geyser in the Trawn woods. Without Solus, he wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize the ce, if not for the fact that the mana geyser was the only spot were weeds, grass, and flowers had already started to grow again in the scarred ground.

    The damage caused by the Abomination he had fought alongside the other three Kings of the woods wouldn¡¯t recover until spring, if not eventer. Everything reminded him of Protector, making Lith¡¯s blood boil.

    ¡¯F*ck Protector. I¡¯m here for much more important stuff. Solus, do you mind turning into the tower?¡¯ This time he didn¡¯t say he needed her, nor he gave her an order. Lith was really asking her permission.

    ¡¯Sure.¡¯ Solus had no idea of what was happening. To reduce the suffering from istion as much as she could, she had found a way to fall into a kind of deep slumber. Solus had missed all the recent conversations and thought Lith just wanted to train or Forgemaster something.

    ¡¯What do you need?¡¯ She asked.

    Lith didn¡¯t reply until the tower waspletely formed before answering. There were no changes from thest time. The repairs on the first floor had progressed, but weren¡¯t finished yet. The tower wasprised only by the ground floor and the basement.

    "Not what, but who. I think it¡¯s time for us to talk. I didn¡¯t want to have this conversation without giving you a physical presence and a voice too."

    Solus consciousness took her wisp form. The sphere of light was bigger and brighter than thest time he saw it. When she was close enough, Lith noticed another change. There was something at its center, something that looked almost solid.

 Chapter 253 Siblings Part 2

    "Uhm, thanks." After all the time she spent alone, Solus was confused by his apparently kind behavior. Lith ced his right hand on the wisp, making her experience physical contact for the first time in months.

    The wisp turned out to be solid enough to stop his hand. Solus could feel not only Lith¡¯s warmth, but also his touch. It was the closest thing to a caress she had ever experienced, so she couldn¡¯t help but quiver.

    "Interesting. Now your wisp form is tangible and warm." Lith was amazed. He had expected his hand to go through it.

    "Indeed. What were you saying?" Solus was happy with her development, but for some reason, she felt really embarrassed. Lith quickly recovered from the surprise, remembering why they were there.

    "It¡¯s easier if I show you, rather than tell."

    If he was talking with anyone else, Lith would have asked her if she really meant what she said thest time they talked. Yet with Solus there was no need to. Once their minds were fused, there was no way to lie or hide even the most embarrassing thought.

    That was the reason why once they had started trusting each other they had stopped doing it. Lith because after considering Solus as a person, a girl at that, there were many parts of his past he wasn¡¯t willing to brag about.

    Solus because the more her personality developed, the more she felt the need to have some personal space.

    Lith clearly remembered how terrifying was his life from her point of view. Always scared of losing him in battle, to the point of sacrificing herself during the fight with the Talons, or almost degrading her own core to keep him alive when he failed to save Protector.

    He remembered how much she had suffered hiding the truth from him, that she was aware of whating clean could cause, yet when faced between her sake and Lith¡¯s, she had always put him first, no matter the consequences.

    Lith shared with her all his memories about thest weeks. Every minute, every second was unveiled. He wasn¡¯t afraid to admit how much he cared for her, how being separated made him feel iplete.

    "Wait, this is..." Solus was shocked by the amount of information. It was the equivalent of a one sided mind fusion. Lith was showing her everything without receiving anything in return.

    "Why didn¡¯t you fuse our minds again?" She asked.

    "Because I don¡¯t want to force you again. Your lie hurt me deeply, but you are still my Solus. You are the only person I never had to lie to and I don¡¯t want for it to change. So, I¡¯m doing something that I usually don¡¯t.

    "I¡¯m showing myself vulnerable.

    "I understand how my behavior must be terrifying for someone forced to ride shotgun with me without never touching the wheel. I understand how Protector¡¯s words made you feel and why you lied to me.

    "I¡¯m willing to forgive you, but you have to promise me never to do it again. I¡¯m not perfect, so if you disagree with me, nag at me until my ears bleed, kick my ass, whatever. Just don¡¯t act behind my back again."

    Solus was so happy that the walls of the tower trembled a little. She wasn¡¯t used to expressing herself with words anymore, so she triggered a mind fusion, sharing as much as he did, no matter how embarrassing it was or how pathetic she looked in those memories.

    Lith felt Solus¡¯s pain like she felt his own. Their lives were like two crooked towers, but as long they could lean onto each other, they would stand forever.

    Lith held the wisp tight against his chest, shocked by the amount of suffering she had gone through in so little time. The raw strength of the emotions he was experiencing made Lithpletely lower his guard.

    It was only the second time that he had allowed it to happen, the first being when he was ready to die at the Scorpicore¡¯s hand as long he and Solus fought side by side. Neither of them noticed the wisp going through Lith¡¯s chest despite having achieved a physical form.

    Once their minds and bodies were fused, the same happened to their mana cores. They pulsed in unison, beating at the same rhythm while tendrils of energy connected them. The two mana cores revolved around each other like twin stars.

    The resonance between them made Lith¡¯s core turn bright cyan, on the verge of turning blue, while Solus¡¯s bright yellow core turned into a bright green one simply by absorbing the excess energy that Lith¡¯s body usually dispersed not being able to handle it.

    The tower was shaken to its foundations, rumbling noises forced them to snap out of their trance. Lith noticed that everything was different, even though he had no idea why. The walls looked sturdier, the space around himrger.

    Lith could perceive the mana flow passing through the magical artifact like he could hear his own heartbeat.

    The debris leading to the first floor had disappeared, just like Solus.

    "What the heck? Solus, where are you?"

    "Right here." Lith heard Solus¡¯s voiceing out of his own mouth.

    "I¡¯m inside you!"

    "That¡¯s a gross way to put it. Are you listening to yourself?" Lith made a retching sound.

    "That came out wrong. Sorry." She giggled.

    "Do you have any idea about what happened?"

    "None." Lith replied noticing that his left hand was moving by itself, touching his own face.

    "So, this is how having a body feels. It¡¯s amazing." Half of Lith¡¯s face was shocked, the other had a delighted and quite feminine expression.

    "Wait, you can move my body at will?"

    "It seems so." She shrugged. "Want to go check the first floor? I¡¯m curious."

    "Curious? Aren¡¯t you supposed to know what¡¯s what as soon as your body repairs?" The situation was bing odder by the second.

    "Normally yes, but nothing is normal now. I think that us merging is an anomaly of sorts, temporarily boosting my strength. I have no clue about what¡¯s upstairs like I don¡¯t know how we fused."

    "I hope you are right about our condition being only momentary. It would be creepy in the long term." Lith shuddered.

    "No need to be shy. I¡¯ve seen you naked plenty of times." She mocked him.

    "I know and I¡¯m fine with it. Yet this gives a new whole meaning to the words ¡¯touching oneself¡¯."

    Solusughed heartily, before realizing the full meaning of his words and blush from the embarrassment.

    "I would never do that!"

    "I believe in your good will, but you don¡¯t remember how having a body feels."

    To prove his point, Lith took out a cream puff out of the dimensional pocket. It was still fresh as when he took it from the academy¡¯s canteen.

    "Stop after one bite."

    Solus sniffed the pastry, its sweet smell was intoxicating.

    She took a bite and then another, until there was nothing left.

    "Sorry, but it was too good. We ate them in the past, but sharing your senses is like the trial version of the real deal." She said apologetically.

    Lith sighed, climbing the stairs leading to the first floor.

 Chapter 254 First Floor part 1

    While climbing the stairs, Lith didn¡¯t know what to think of his current situation. Since he and Solus had fused, most of his usual rage and resentment seemed to have taken a rain check.

    Solus could perceive his happiness for being reunited with her, which made her even happier. Because of the mind fusion, their feelings reinforced one another in a loop.

    Not knowing when it would end, Lith fed Solus all of his favorite foods, letting her experience them first hand. The care and the attention she received plus all those new tastes sent her on cloud nine.

    "By my maker! Everything is so good! Are you sure I can eat so much? You had lunch barely an hour ago." She said worried for Lith¡¯s stomach.

    "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t cure. We should enjoy this ¡¯pink colored sses¡¯ moment until itsts."

    The first floor was quite peculiar. The furniture wasprised of a few empty bookshelves, lots of mirrors, each one of different shapes and sizes, and a globe. It was simr to the one he had back on Earth, but this one represented Mogar and it was huge, with a radius of over half a meter (2¡¯).

    Unlike his childhood nightstandmp, it didn¡¯t show the whole world. Only the areas where Lith had been and the ces he had visited were depicted.

    He focused on the map of the region that was stored inside Soluspedia, recalling the names of cities and rivers, but the globe remained nk.

    "So it¡¯s not a matter of knowledge." His voice was muffled by all the food Solus was stuffing herself with.

    "It only matters where we have been. I wonder why. Any idea, Solus?"

    "None. Hey, there¡¯s even the academy. Both of them actually. Even the Lightning Griffon academy is marked." The moment she made Lith¡¯s finger touch the academy, the globe¡¯s surface zoomed in, projecting a 3D hologram, precise down to thest detail.

    The hologram was colored in shades of red, giving them a mild headache whenever they focused on a specific room they had visited during their short trip before Headmistress Linnea rejected Lith¡¯s application.

    Lith then touched the White Griffon, getting the same result.

    "I¡¯m feeling a pattern here." Lith pondered. "Let¡¯s try the mining town."

    The headache persisted. The holograms representing the known areas nearby the academy were all as red as detailed.

    "Okay, now let¡¯s give the Trawn woods a shot." Lith had never been outside the White Griffon¡¯s forest, since thanks to the Marchioness he had ess to the Mage Association¡¯s Warp Steps that brought him directly inside the academy.

    He could have chosen the Lightning Griffon¡¯s outskirts, from where he departed along Count Lark, but he clearly remembered how tightly patrolled was the area. So, he picked a closer and much more harmless location.

    This time the hologram was blue and the headache was gone. Lith focused on the clearing in the woods where he used to train in the past. When he zoomed to a specific location, the hologram disappeared and Lith felt his attention drawn to the biggest mirror in the room.

    It had a silver circr frame and it was so big to upy most of the west wall. The surface of the mirror rippled and the image of the room it had reflected until a moment ago was reced by the clearing¡¯s spot Lith had been looking for.

    "Could this be...?" Lith pressed his hand against the image, but nothing happened. He could feel the cold ss surface under his fingers.

    "Maybe we should send mana into it." Solus snapped Lith¡¯s fingers, channeling the energy from the mana geyser through the tower and into the mirror. The mana quickly rotated along the frame¡¯s edges, making it emits an orange glow.

    The ss then turned into a silvery liquid that was drained by the frame, yet the image in front of Lith¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t change. He was now able to hear the familiar noises of the woods¡¯ wildlife, to feel the chilly breeze blow on his face.

    "A personal long distance Warp Steps!" Lith was amazed as much as confused.

    He tried several locations he knew, even some very close to Derios, the capital of the Marquisate. They were hundreds of kilometers afar, yet they managed to open them effortlessly, without using a drop of their own mana.

    "There are only two problems." Solus pointed out.

    "One, we can only pick deserted ces. If someone looks through the Warp Steps, they could see inside the tower and that would get us into trouble. Two, how the heck do wee back? If the tower stays here, either we split or this thing is useless."

    Lith nodded, letting his arm across the dimensional Gate. An unpleasant sensation spread through his body. Both Lith and Solus felt their minds drifting apart, their connection became weaker and weaker, until he pulled his arm back into the tower.

    "Guess our condition really is temporary. Probably we¡¯ll revert back to normal as soon as we get outside the tower."

    They were still recovering from the surprise when the walls shook violently, cracking in multiple spots. The tremors were strong enough to make Lith almost lose his bnce.

    "What the heck was that?"

    "Well, this room shouldn¡¯t exist in the first ce." Solus ate a chocte sprinkled biscuit.

    "If for any reason our fusion gets broken, it¡¯s likely everything will copse on our heads. See?" She pointed at the cracks that were disappearing as quickly as they had formed.

    "Okay, so the globe represents all the ces we can Warp to. The headache probably means that a ce is unavable, at least at our current level. I prefer not to try forcing our way through the academies¡¯ arrays.

    "Not only do we risk getting detected, but we could also spend so much mana to get split. Let¡¯s check the rest of the stuff first."

    "Yeah, too bad we don¡¯t get to understand how we are supposed to return here."

    The second biggest mirror in the room had a gold rectangr frame. It reflected an image that left them both bbergasted.

    Lith had now a second pair of eyes, right above his eyebrows, and was shrouded in a golden aura.

    "My aura has always been ck and red. I suppose it¡¯s yours, then." Lith shrugged.

    Solus winked at their reflection, making both left eyes close.

    "Definitely mine. The question is: what the heck is this for." Lith injected the mirror with mana, the edges of which started to emit a blue glow. Instead of spinning, this time the mana seeped into the mirror until it emitted a humming sound.

    "Okay, let¡¯s try visualizing stuff again." Lith thought about the White Griffon academy, getting a splitting headache in return. Then it was Derios¡¯ turn, but the result was the same.

    "Lutia, then?" The mirror turned ck for a second before showing him the vige¡¯s square. Lith discovered that he could move his perspective at will, watching and listening like he was actually there in person.

    He could move to any ce he had been at least once in the past. By looking through a window, he could also enter inside the houses of the vigers. Their talks had no significance to him, so he kept experimenting with the limits of his scrying device.

    "This thing sucks!" Lith stamped his foot on the ground.

    "I can¡¯t even see the whole vige. The range¡¯s too short."

    "For now, at least." Solus tried to console him, but she didn¡¯t believe her own words either.

 Chapter 255 First Floor Part 2

    ¡¯Visiting this room is already a sneak peek. Who knows when we¡¯ll actually get it? If this is all it can do, then it¡¯s pretty terrible.¡¯ She thought.

    "Agreed." Lith replied.

    "Mind fusion, remember?" He added in response to her surprise.

    Solus felt stupid for a second, then she had a crazy idea that made Lith¡¯s skin crawl. He focused on a small pebble in the middle of the street, using spirit magic to move it. Lith could perceive the tendrils of his mana moving through the air, wrapping around the stone.

    Moving it was as hard as it was an elephant. Lith tried a series of chore magic spells too before giving up. Fire ckened only a spot the size of a pinhead, water couldn¡¯t freeze it even with the weather being already cold and earth magic didn¡¯t manage to crack it.

    "It¡¯s useless. Yes, we can use magic even from this distance, but the effects are negligible. Unless..."

    Lith focused on the area surrounding the tower and the image in the mirror changed ordingly. He could see and hear everything in 25 meters (82 feet) radius, like every single stone thatposed Solus¡¯s body was his eyes and ears.

    He could even use Life Vision and Solus¡¯s mana sense at will, allowing him to spot all the animals and magical beasts in the vicinity. When he used chore water magic on a dried up tree, it had the same effect of a tier one spell.

    "I stand corrected. It doesn¡¯t suck at all. I can use it not only to scout everything within its area of effect, but I can also cast spells while being empowered by the tower and the mana geyser. This is a tremendous improvement to our defensive capabilities." Lith was overjoyed by the discovery.

    "I wonder which one of these mirrors controls the arrays." Solus pondered.

    "What arrays?"

    "I am bound to have several arrays at my disposal, both for protection and attack. Remember what Jirni said? If every noble household has wards to protect against Warp Steps, I don¡¯t think my maker was so dumb to overlook the dangers of dimensional magic."

    Lith was about to move towards a mirror with a square frame, when his vision cracked, as if he was watching through a kaleidoscope. The room seemed to be spinning around, disorienting him and making Lith lose his bnce.

    "What the heck is happening?" Suddenly the world wasn¡¯t so pink anymore. He didn¡¯t feel happy or rxed, just angry.

    "I guess our time has ran out." Solus calmly bit onest pastry while the tower rumbled ominously. The tremors increased while the room was shrinking in size. Countless cracks appeared on the walls.

    Like living snakes they spread up to the ceiling, making dust and debris fall on their head.

    Lith¡¯s mind was too messed up to use dimensional magic for escaping. He couldn¡¯t see or focus properly with Solus¡¯s mind getting in and out of his own like it was a revolving door.

    He could only stumble towards the stairs, but everything happened too fast even for his enhanced body. Huge sections of the ceiling came crashing down, forcing Lith to roll forward to avoid being squashed to death.

    A giant piece of stone fell on the stairs, blocking his way.

    "F*ck me sideways!" He yelled while the whole room came down.

    The rubble weighted more than a ton, but instead of turning him into toothpaste, it simply pushed him down through the floor. The rock beneath his feet became immaterial for a second, letting him fall down to the ground level unharmed.

    He hadn¡¯t the time to use any spell, yet he was slowly descending through the air as he weighed nothing more than a leaf.

    "Why so scared, dummy?" Solus chuckled.

    "The tower is my body and so is every single piece of stone and furniture. I would never allow any harm to befall my beloved host." She smiled.

    "Holy sh*t! You are smiling!" Lith pointed his finger to the figure that was floating in mid air a few centimetres from him.

    It was a humanoid female, entirely made of golden light. It had no facial features, aside from her shining eyes, a smiling mouth and a cascade of golden hair enveloping her whole body that floated in the air like she was moving underwater.

    "What do you mean?" Her mouth disappeared. Solus had barely the time to look down on her own hands when her body imploded on itself returning to be a wisp made of light.

    "F*ck!" Solus angrily swore.

    "Can I see how did I look like through your memories?"

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea." Lith shook his head.

    "Pretty please with a cherry on top?" She begged while circling around him.

    "Solus, it¡¯s for your own good. You wouldn¡¯t like what you see."

    "Please, I need to know!" She rammed into Lith¡¯s head to emphasize her point.

    "We just reconciled, I don¡¯t want you to get angry or sad."

    "I won¡¯t, I promise."

    "Remember your words, because I will." Lith let his memories flow into their mind link.

    He had been true to his word, Solus didn¡¯t like it.

    "What¡¯s this? C cup, maybe more. F*ck the light? Solus is a shorty, barely 1.54 (5¡¯1") high? Nice legs, sadly ass N/A? Her belly looks kind of bby?" The images had more footnotes than a director¡¯s cut.

    "Did you check me out in less than five seconds?" Lith couldn¡¯t share a memory without everything that came attached to it.

    "Yes. I told you it would make you angry. Or sad. Or both."

    "That¡¯s why you made me promise!"

    "Guilty as charged." Lith nodded with a smirk.

    "I¡¯m the one stuck in a pubescent body for at least another few years and as I told you before, you have no idea how it feels. I already have to keep everything I do and say in check. I have no control over my thoughts."

    Solus epted his exnation, but was quite pissed off anyway.

    ¡¯All this time wondering how I¡¯d look like in a human body and when I finally get to see it, my precious memory is ruined by those sh*tty remarks. Couldn¡¯t he just be stunned by my beauty?¡¯

    "So, how do you n on curing Elina?"

    "It¡¯s going to be tricky." Lith sighed, remembering the second reason he had decided to solve his conflict with Solus. He needed her help.

    "This isn¡¯t just anybody, it¡¯s my mother we are talking about. I¡¯m not going to take any risks, I can¡¯t afford using Invigoration during the procedure. I need my full focus and for you to constantly monitor her vitals. Just like we did to remove the undead¡¯s poisoning, if I slip up, you must prevent things from escting."

    "Don¡¯t worry, we can do it. We¡¯ll get Elina pregnant in a jiffy!" She dered proudly, making Lith emit a retching sound.

    "Gross!"

    "Oh,e on! You know what I mean. We just need to get inside her and do our job."

    "Please, stop!" Lith begged her. "This is even worse."

    "Fine, I¡¯ll shut up." She mind pouted.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know if the prolonged istion made me socially awkward or it¡¯s just that fusing myself with Lith infected me with his dirty mind.¡¯

    While pondering about her poor choice of words, Solus found herself resting on hisp. Lith was nning ahead the procedure while caressing the wisp as it was a puppy.

    Before she could realize it, Solus fell asleep for the first time in over eight years.

 Chapter 256 Preparations Part 1

    Lith didn¡¯t have the heart to wake Solus. She had never slept before and he had no idea if it had been made possible by her improved wisp form or because of their temporary fusion. In the past, even when she apanied him in his dreams, Solus was wide awake.

    She was able to follow him only thanks to their mind link and would get no rest from the experience.

    After an hour, Lith had finished nning the procedure to cure his mother and even devised contingency measures for everything that could go wrong he was capable of foreseeing, yet Solus was still sound asleep.

    After shielding her with the Hush spell, silencing the area around the wisp, he called Professor Vastor. Over thest year, Lith had exchanged contact runes with all the Professors he had a good rtionship with.

    "Lith, my boy. d to finally hear from you." Vastor said with a jovial voice while twirling his mustaches.

    "I was a little offended when you left without even saying goodbye, but now I understand why you did it."

    "You do?" Lith had no idea what Vastor was talking about. He was inwardly cursing at himself formitting such tant discourtesy. Between Solus and his foul mood, he had been too sick of the academy to stick around even a second longer.

    "Yeah, thank the gods you left so quickly. When the rankings got out, everything went south. The whole top three in the Light department is something that hasn¡¯t happened in years.

    "Amoner, a noble and an old noble at that. It sounds almost like the beginning of a joke. Too bad so many people can¡¯t see past the end of their noses. In less than an hour, we have been swamped inint calls and letters. Most of them are currently warming my old bones."

    Vastor showed him a firece fueled by still closed envelopes.

    "I expected to find you upset, maybe even outraged. I see you are pretty calm despite Linjos¡¯s trickery. He should have told us. It would have spared us a lot of troubles."

    "What do you mean? What trickery?" Lith¡¯s surprise appeared genuine.

    "Son, remind me never to y cards against you." Vastorughed.

    "You know, even if we aren¡¯t allowed to share the students¡¯ grades, we Professors do something called ¡¯talk¡¯ about our most promising student. When I heard about you cing third, I asked Wanemyre why she gave you such a bad grade, right before she asked me the very same question.

    "Bottom line, we know what happened and we understand why it was necessary. If a third ce triggered such a mess, I can¡¯t think what would have happened if it was the second or the first." Vastor sighed.

    "Wanemyre sure didn¡¯t take it well. When the Warden specialization Professor started boasting of their first ce, she almost roasted him alive. That woman really has a soft spot for you. It makes one wonder if the rumors about you two are true."

    Vastor said it as a joke, but Lith could sense it was actually a serious question.

    "I wish." He replied honestly, it was the best way to avoid ruining both their reputations and tainting his achievements with false allegations.

    "Don¡¯t be so impatient. I get older women are charming, but time only moves forward." For a moment Vastor seemed to be really tired.

    "Soon you¡¯ll be old enough to court all the Wanemyre in the world. After that, you¡¯ll be so old they will pay you no attention unless marriage is at stake. If only there was a way to live forever young. Enough with my whining, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

    "I was thinking about healing cut tendons, regenerate missing fingers. Little things, just to make a quick buck." Lith exined.

    "I have no idea how much I should ask for it." He wasn¡¯t worried about asking too much, but to be underselling his services. As an intern at the academy, he always did what he was asked to, without thinking about the fares.

    Vastor pondered for a bit before answering.

    "Skin, tendons and maybe a tooth or two are manageable for a single mage, but I wouldn¡¯t call even a finger a little thing. Without a mage providing the treatment and another the life force at the same time it¡¯s a risky procedure.

    Anyway, there is now against being young and reckless. If you were already graduated, I¡¯d say ten silver coins to split between two mages is a fair price. Since you are still a student, one is more than enough.

    "After you kill your first patient, feel free to call me or Marth at any time if you need to talk."

    Since Solus kept sleeping, Lith used that time to call Wanemyre and Marth to make up for his blunder. They were happy to hear from him and wished him a good winter break.

    When he could finally go back home, it was almost dinner time, but he was forced to skip it due to all the food Solus had shoved down his throat while they were fused.

    The next morning, Lith woke up in his bedroom perfectly rested. No matter how effective Invigoration was, he wanted to be at his peak condition for the procedure. Solus could act as a life support system in case something went wrong, but everything else weighed on his shoulders.

    ¡¯I really don¡¯t want another sibling, but I realize how lonely my parents must feel having gone from living with five kids to just one. Once Tista and I leave, maybe I should buy them a house somewhere so they do not feel so isted from the rest of the world.¡¯

    Lith opened the window of his room, letting the chilly morning air in. The sun had still to rise and during the night had snowed a little. He warmed up the house and the floors with fire magic before leaving for the bakery.

    Even after a good night¡¯s sleep, Lith was still full. The thought of going to the vige¡¯s bakery was enough to make him sick.

    Yet Elina had expressed so much joy at the idea of eating fresh white bread that he couldn¡¯t deny her that small luxury.

    ¡¯No matter how much she trusts me, mom is bound to be scared. Even if I¡¯m not going to cut her open as a surgeon would, she is aware of the risks any procedure, even the simplest one, implies.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯A positive mindset can help me during the operation and make her recovery faster. Also, I¡¯m curious to see how that b*stard will wee me now that he needs me.¡¯

    Vexal Cornerstone, Brina¡¯s father was one of those that almost died at Lith¡¯s hand for not defending Tista from Garith¡¯s harassment. Ever since then, he lived in fear of Lithing to finish what he had started, to the point of closing the shop whenever Vexal saw him.

    Lith grinned while opening a Warp Steps from his front door to outside the bakery. He could have gone right inside, but he preferred giving the people of Lutia the illusion Warp Steps had limits.

    Otherwise as soon as they lost something, they would me him.

 Chapter 257 Preparations Part 2

    Sure, there was nothing they could do to him or his family but it would still hurt his reputation. Based on what Professor Vastor told him, many nobles were probably out for his blood.

    He couldn¡¯t afford to risk for the rumors to turn into mass hysteria, giving those old farts a pretext to doubt his integrity, or even worse get him expelled. The fifth year was thest one he had to pretend to be a normal mage. After that, he could just reveal to be a "genius" magician, just like the Magi of the past.

    ¡¯I¡¯m really sorry about yesterday. I knew I shouldn¡¯t have eaten so much.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry about it. A little fasting has never killed anyone. How was sleeping?¡¯

    ¡¯Incredible.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯All of my stress and worries feel so distant now. It¡¯s like being born anew. I even dreamed a little, I think. Too bad I can¡¯t remember anything.¡¯

    Lith nodded while crossing the dimensional corridor to his destination, a few kilometers away. When the shop¡¯s door opened, the little bell above it chimed, alerting Vexal of a potential customer.

    "We..." The baker almost choked on his words when he recognized Lith. He was dressed like a farmer, with a simple brown shirt and pants, but looked nothing like one. His clothes were pristine, without one spot on mud and so were his shoes.

    Vexal looked through the window, noticing that the snow outside was still immacte.

    "I¡¯d like five loaves of bread and twenty pastries, thanks."

    Vexal had prepared a speech, hoping to make him feel guilty for hisck of sympathy towards someone less fortunate than him. Brina was the same age as Tista after all, and they both suffered from their condition.

    How could he be so insensitive despite knowing the pain she was going through?

    Yet he was unable to speak. Lith exuded a cold aura that sent a shiver down Vexal¡¯s spine despite the heating from the oven in the backroom. There was something wrong with him. He managed to move over the squeaky old floor without making a noise.

    ¡¯Why the heck does he say nothing?¡¯ Lith was surprised by Vexal¡¯s meek attitude. Usually he doesn¡¯t hide his hostility.

    ¡¯Opps! Sorry, I¡¯m out of practice.¡¯ Solus exined.

    ¡¯I forgot about having to cut down the killing intent you emit naturally. Since yourst two breakthroughs, you always mix a bit of darkness magic with your usual re whenever you are angry.

    Mages don¡¯t notice it because their mana flow protects them from it, but normal humans are weaker.¡¯

    Once Solus took action, Vexal discovered to have held his breath until that moment. Lith didn¡¯t look like a ferocious beast anymore, he was back being an annoying prick.

    "Can I get my food? I don¡¯t have all day." Lith snorted.

    Vexal inwardly cursed at himself, handing over the bread and the pastries as efficiently as he could.

    "It¡¯s on the house."

    With a single wave of the hand, Lith made the goods on the counter disappear in the pocket dimension, recing them with the money at the same time.

    "I owe you nothing and I like things as they are." Lith sneered at him.

    "You should have thought about it when I was starving, not now that I have enough money to have a bakery of my own. Keep your fake kindness for yourself, or I¡¯ll shove your bulls*it right where it came from. Who knows, you may even like it."

    "Lith? Is that you?" Brina¡¯s voice came out of the backroom, soon followed by the sound of quick steps that announced her arrival.

    "Hi, Brina. Have you considered my offer?" Lith¡¯s voice was calm, butcked any warmth. He was neither hostile nor friendly towards her.

    Brina was carrying a basket of bread with her right arm, always covered by a long glove, while her face and left arm were dusted with flour. She wore a over her air and was smiling a lot.

    "Yes, of course. How much is it?"

    "One silver coin for the whole skin. Five silver coins for each finger."

    The idea of losing sixteen silver coins at once made Vexal¡¯s heart skip a beat.

    "That¡¯s it?" Brina sighed in relief, making her father inwardly curse at her.

    ¡¯Ask for a discount, you damn woman! If you unt our money, he will find an excuse to raise the price even more!¡¯

    "When you can start?"

    Lith had actually asked much more than Professor Vastor suggested, to leave some space for negotiations. The oue was a pleasant surprise.

    ¡¯I could ask for more, but it¡¯s better to shear a sheep rather than butchering it.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Not today, I already have another client scheduled. Is tomorrow fine with you?"

    "Yes." She nodded, incapable of hiding her surprise. "How did they find you so fast?"

    "Word travels fast. Plus I¡¯m that good." Lith gave her a thumbs up.

    "I need you to be perfectly rested, so take it easy today. Also, the procedure will take a toll on you. Before we start, eat as much as you can. You¡¯ll need energy. Remember I¡¯m a healer, not a miracle worker."

    Lith walked out the door, disappearing from sight before it closed behind him. Vexal and Brina looked out of the window almost at the same time. The snow on the porch was still immacte.

    "Dad, do you think the cksmith is right? Is he really a god?"

    "Zekell Proudhammer is just like my chamber pot, full of sh*t." Vexal wanted to spit out of disgust just by hearing that name, but managed to stop in time.

    He hated the cksmith¡¯s guts. Ever since Rena had be part of his household, Tista would always treat them first and for free while Vexal had to stand in line like an idiot.

    During the city assemblies, Zekell would always have his way, getting to pay fewer taxespared to others simply by casually mention Lith or his daughter inw. To make things worse, the cksmith always unted the enchanted tools he bought from Lith, saying they were all presents.

    Unbeknownst to Vexal, it was a lie. Lith only gave presents to Rena while Zekell exchanged with him precious metals to get what he wanted.

    Before going back home, Lith went to Rena¡¯s house. Giving her some sweets, a few potions and checking on her and the baby, just to be safe.

 Chapter 258 Learning Part 1

    After going back home, Lith finished preparing breakfast for everyone and used Invigoration to recover the energy spent by using the Warp Steps.

    The procedure took ce in his parents¡¯ bedroom as soon as they finished eating. Lith had Solus take the form of a small disc that he ced over his mother¡¯s belly.

    "What is that thing?" Elina asked.

    "It¡¯s a focus. It will help me direct and control the magical energies." He lied in response. Solus¡¯s core was weak and her mana capacity small, but she was able to use Invigoration as well.

    Her role was to check Elina¡¯s condition, using her own mana to fix any mistake Lith could make or at least buy enough time for him to stabilize his mother.

    He also needed Tista¡¯s presence, to use her as a blueprint. First, he blocked Elina¡¯s abdomen pain receptors, then he destroyed the scar tissue causing infertility while reshaping the organ to make it resemble Tista¡¯s healthy one.

    It was the first time he attempted something like that, so it took Lith several hours toplete the procedure. When he finished, he was exhausted.

    ¡¯Damn, ever since I burned part of my life force, I get tired faster than usual and my stamina has yet topletely recover.

    ¡¯Using Invigoration on two people at once for imaging was more difficult than I thought, then I had to cut away the scar tissue oneyer at the time to not cause too much damage.

    ¡¯I also had to prevent her from losing too much blood or going into shock. Unlike when I cured Tista, I couldn¡¯t immediately rece the destroyed tissue with a healthy one, since it was the excess tissue causing mom¡¯s infertility.

    I can only hope that everything is fine now.¡¯

    "Is it over?" Elina asked with watery eyes. Despite Lith¡¯s precautions, she had experienced a burning sensation in her abdomen the whole time. The blood loss had made her dizzy from time to time, stopping only when Lith infused her with part of his life force.

    "Yes." he used a clean towel to wipe the sweat from his face.

    "Can I get up now? I really need to stretch my legs a bit."

    "Not a chance."

    Lith forced Elina to rest while he sat near her, checking her condition from time to time. Regrowing organs inside the human body was something he had practiced at the academy, but altering their shape by switching between darkness and light magic was another thing entirely.

    He realized how big was the edge true magic gave himpared to normal healers. Unlike them, Lith was able to split a procedure into different steps instead of being forced toplete it in one go.

    It had given him the time to share part of his life force with his mother when necessary and to lessen the strain on her body by taking a break from time to time. He also used those pauses to recover his strength with Invigoration.

    The procedure had turned out to be much harder than predicted.

    Using Invigoration on two people at the same time while exerting surgical precision magic was taxing for both the mind and the body. There were so many things to check at all times that he was sure he would have failed if not for true magic coupled with Solus¡¯s help.

    She had checked Elina¡¯s physical condition at all times, allowing Lith to focus only on the procedure, and as a life force IV recing most of the blood lost by herself. Only when she couldn¡¯t keep up due to her low mana capacity, Solus had asked for Lith¡¯s help.

    Solus remained with Elina all night long, making sure that everything was all right. Only after twenty-four hours had passed withoutplications Lith could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

    Only then Lith went to Brina¡¯s house, removing the scar from the whole arm and making the two fingers she had left perfectly functional. The only downside of the treatment was that the new skin was pale as milk, but Brina didn¡¯t care one bit.

    "How do you feel?" Lith checked her with Invigoration. Since the procedure was only on the external skin, he had not shared with her any life force, hoping it wouldn¡¯t be necessary.

    "I feel good. Can I show it to my mother now?"

    "Feeling okay doesn¡¯t mean being okay. Stand up slowly."

    Brina did as asked, but she felt so dizzy she needed to sit again.

    "I guess you were right. Gods, suddenly I feel so weak and hungry."

    ¡¯It seems I almost pushed her physique too far. Vastor is right, a single healer can¡¯t restore fingers without endangering the life of the patient.¡¯

    He decided to split the treatment in three different days, one for each finger. It made everything easier for both of them and allowed him to better study the regeneration process without witnesses that could notice the anomaly his magic was.

    While at the academy he had to use true magic like it was fake, now he could finally use it as he saw fit. After Brina, several other vigers came to him for help and every single patient provided Lith with invaluable knowledge.

    After a few days, Tista entered Lith¡¯s room while he was using umtion to further refine his mana core.

    "Say what you want, lil brother, but after seeing what you did for mom and Brina, I don¡¯t think that being a healer is just a job. It¡¯s something that brings hope and joy to other people. That¡¯s why I want your help. I¡¯d really like enrolling in the academy."

    Lith was sitting on the floor cross legged, her words merely caused him to raise an eyebrow.

    "Once again, that¡¯s incredibly na?ve of you. I can¡¯t wait for you to meet Professor Manohar. If he can¡¯t change your mind, then no one can." He sighed.

    "Let me be honest, right now you have no chance of getting admitted. You are old for the fourth year, your mastery of the elements is sloppy, and you have no sponsor." At those words, Tista¡¯s smile disappeared.

    "Use next year to practice magic until it bes second nature to you. Then, if I manage to graduate, I can pull some strings and make everything easier for you."

    Tista rushed to hug him when Lith stopped her by raising his hand. She suddenly had no control over her body anymore. Tista was pinned against the wall with her feet dangling a few centimeters from the floor.

    "Tista, you are a pretty girl and the world is a harsh ce. This could happen every time you walk alone in a corridor. Show me that you can take care of yourself."

    At first, she thought it was just a bad joke, but when Lith refused to let her go, she discovered she couldn¡¯t even call for help. Whenever she opened her mouth, no voice came out of it.

    "It¡¯s just chore magic. You can do it." Lith¡¯s words helped her to regain her cool, yet it took her a while to break the spell.

    "Why did you do that?"

    Lith replied by telling her about all that had happened to him from his first day at the academy. About the hazing attempts, the mean words from the students and professors and even how Phloria had almost got r*ped.

 Chapter 259 Learning Part 2

    "Despite Linjos¡¯s best intentions, the academy is still a ¡¯survival of the fittest¡¯ environment. If you go in there with a weak mentality, you will notst even a month. Chore magic is your sword and shield against humans, since it¡¯s quick and effective. Practice it until you get as good as I am."

    Lith had expected for Tista to be shocked and to need some time before making her decision. He was only half right. She immediately asked Lith¡¯s guidance, to the point of requesting homework to improve her control over the elements.

    After a month passed, her magic foundations had improved by leaps and bounds. Because of the harsh weather, she could spend most of time indoor practicing. Lith¡¯s training course focused more on finesse and surgical precision rather than use magic for bashing stuff.

    It allowed them to safely perform sparring sessions inside the house by fighting for the control of the color of candles, changing the temperature of a ss of water, or use earth magic to juggle with an increasing number of pebbles.

    When the weather was good, Lith¡¯s family would use Warp Steps to visit their neighbors or the vige. Elina was the only one with amunicator amulet, so she could always call Lith to have them Warped back home anytime they wanted.

    Lith used those days to go back in the forest and conduct experiments with Forgemastering. It had taken a while, but the package from Linjos had finally arrived. After learning of his ranking, Lith had spent almost all his points immediately.

    He had purchased a Skinwalker armor and several magic crystals of different purity. The Skinwalker armor was simr to his uniform, but better in every way. The elemental and physical protections were stronger. Also, by injecting mana into it, Lith could boost its self-repair speed.

    The armor¡¯s best trait was its adaptability. It could shapeshift into different forms, the only requirement was for Lith to provide the enchantment a sample of the clothing he wanted it to reproduce.

    Thanks to the Skinwalker armor, Lith now had a whole wardrobe of enchanted clothes. They would all offer him a great degree of protection and he wouldn¡¯t remain naked for a second like it happened when he switched between clothes via the dimensional pocket.

    Lith stored inside the gemstone his farmer clothes, the hunting suit, the academy¡¯s uniform and the expensive noble clothes that Lark had bought him.

    "Now this is the only suit I¡¯ll ever need!"

    Lith had chosen the Skinwalker armor not only because it greatly improved his defensive abilities, but also because it made possible to easily blend in with any crowd and provided him a sample of magic crystal imbued clothes.

    He had now an enchanted item he could study with Invigoration, which properties he could attempt to replicate and improve by using true magic.

    Lith had spent the rest of his points to buy mana crystals. There were too many unanswered questions about them. He was eager to perform experiments with the mana de away from prying eyes.

    Realizing a mana de like the one he used during the Magic Crystal ss had been an easy feat. It was just a handle made of solid silver enchanted to have mana pathways but no pseudo core.

    The only issue was the price. Lith had to pay for both the material and the craftsmanship since he was no cksmith. Lith managed to cut his losses by exchanging his forgemastering works with Zekell¡¯s.

    The cksmith was eager to acquire dimensional rings to safely store his possession and enchanted tools to make his life easier, just like Lith was eager to get his hands on free materials.

    Thanks to his experiments, Lith discovered that if instead of cutting along a magic crystal¡¯s lines he used the mana de on the cracks that Invigoration revealed, he could recharge the low quality ones or increase their purity by one tier by providing them enough mana.

    The crystals¡¯ cracks were capable of absorbing and store his mana, but only up to a degree. As soon as the crystal couldn¡¯t contain more energy, the cracks disappeared. All the attempts of further refining the gemstones ended up in failure.

    ¡¯It seems that the cracks are the spots from which the crystal was still absorbing the surrounding world energy when it was mined. It means that it had yet room to develop further and that¡¯s exactly what happens when I inject mana into it.

    ¡¯I wonder if the so called crystal scraps are actually what I need to refine better quality gemstones. If they work like my mana core, the mana crystals need to grow up to a certain size before shrinking topress and boost their energy and then they need to grow again, repeating the process.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, it means that high quality crystals require not only an abundant mana source, but also a lot of time to properly develop. Since my core took years to turn from red to cyan and its max size is that of marble, I can¡¯t imagine how many decades it takes for a mana crystal as big as those I saw down in the mine to form.

    ¡¯Unless I find a way to artificially grow them at a faster rate, buying and charging low quality crystals is the best I can do. Refining them would take too much time, my mana core takes precedence since I can¡¯t buy a better one with money.¡¯

    Soon only one month of winter was left and Lith¡¯s birthday was closing in. The prolonged rest made Lith recover most of his strength, while teaching Tista turned out to be a great way for him to further improve his foundations about magic.

    Everything he taught her about chore magic also applied to true magic. Tista asked him a lot of questions about silent magic and multicasting, some so peculiar that he had never thought about such niche cases.

    Unlike him that was used to think big since he was little, trying to improve the effects or the range of his spells, Tista thought small by following his teachings, focusing more on micromanaging the mana.

    To answer her, Lith had to revise and deepen his understanding of the flow of mana. After many trials, experimenting together with her, Lith was able to improve the way he waved spells and to further simplify multicasting.

    The only times Tista had the opportunity to put into practice her new skills was when Nana had to leave the vige either for personal reasons or because of house calls. Lith would spend those days locked up in the tower, trying to incorporate magic crystals into his creations.

    Lith¡¯s aim was to reproduce an Earth¡¯s house facilities, providing his family with running water, lighting, and most importantly, a real bathroom.

    After getting used to the academy¡¯s lifestyle, not having a bathtub and being forced to use a chamber pot again was quite traumatic for him. His elemental stones could provide the first two, but to make themst until his return, he had to mass produce them.

    Elemental stones were just a poor imitation of magic crystals that he had invented before even knowing the crystals existed. They could store a single spell, needing to be recharged after every use.

    Even the weakest red magic crystal held much more mana than dozens of elemental stones. Also, it could be turned on and off like a switch, making itst much longer. For any other young mage, using red mana crystals would be too expensive.

    Low quality crystals didn¡¯t recharge by themselves, and once they ran out of power they had to be changed. Lith could simply pretend to rece them with new ones, since he was able to power them up at will.

    Even with the experience gained developing the elemental stones on his own and having studied the academy¡¯s tools for a whole year, the task turned out to be harder than he expected.

    At first, he used only the lowest quality stones. Lith expected them to be lost or even worse, to explode. Lith had no idea how to link a pseudo core to a crystal since it was a subject of the fifth year, which he had yet to begin.

    He used the Skinwalker armor as a temte, searching for a way to reproduce its schematics using true magic only. After over two months Lith had yet to find a way to make the process safe.

    There were only two weeks left before his birthday when he received a call from Marchioness Distar.

 Chapter 260 Crossroads Part 1

    "Your Ladyship, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Lith gave her a bow. Not only Mirim Distar was his sponsor at the White Griffon academy, but she was also his most powerful backer.

    "First of all, congrattions are in order. The ranking you achieved brings great prestige to both our households and puts a muzzle on all those who wanted to prosecute me for strong arming Linjos into epting your application."

    "I¡¯m sorry to have caused you so many troubles." Lith bowed again, aware of the meaning of her words. The Marchioness was a busy woman, she would never call him to exchange niceties.

    Hers was a business call and she was reminding Lith about how much he owed her before asking him for a favor.

    "Don¡¯t be." She dismissed his apologies with a wave of her hand, surprising Lith quite a bit.

    "Politics work like that. If you cannot attack someone¡¯s actions, then you attack their reputation. Remember this well, once you have made some powerful enemies, they will criticize you no matter what you do.

    It¡¯s something you must get used to, if you ever decide to join the political arena."

    "Thanks for your concern, but it¡¯s not my intention. I n to devote my life to magic and magical research. Wealth and status are just a mean to an end to me. I think the Marquisate is in good, capable hands already."

    Lith chose his words carefully. The Marchioness¡¯ game was still unclear to him, so he decided to make it clear that he had no desire to be one of herpetitors. Once he became a mage, Lith would receive ast name and a noble title.

    Yet unless he also epted the role and responsibilities that ruling hisnds implied, he wouldn¡¯t be a true noble. His title would simply be nominal, giving him status and authority over the lesser nobles, but no wealth or annuities.

    Many Professors of the academy had chosen that kind of life, serving their country with their magic rather than as feudal lords.

    "Thanks for your kind words." The Marchioness nodded her head in approval.

    "Now let¡¯s get down to business. The reason I called you is to inform you about the progress we made with the sealed box and the coded message you delivered to me. Sadly, despite countless hours of studies, my Forgemasters were unable to open it. It detonated leaving behind little clues. If only we had more than one, things could have been different." She sighed.

    "The contents we managed to salvage matched your hypothesis. It contained a lot of alchemical tools that could have been used to synthesize and transport the toxin. It also carried enchanted items, but the explosion destroyed them leaving nothing we could identify."

    ¡¯Damn! I know that already.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯If only I had a decent excuse to provide her some of those useless trinkets I found, I could understand the bigger picture. Too bad there was no way to exin my stockpile of boxes.¡¯

    "On the bright side, we have finally managed to decipher the message." The Marchioness continued.

    "It contained a series of instructions and names. The instructions exin the timing and dosage of the toxin, so at this point is irrelevant information. The names are quite interesting, though. They belong both to members of the academy staff and the students.

    "We know from the royal constables¡¯ investigation that only a part of the academy staff listed was involved in the poisoning scheme. The others were simply approached and found ill-suited for recruiting because of their loyalty to the Kingdom or simply due to their cowardly nature.

    "The problem is that we cannot interrogate students as we did for the staff. using young heirs of noble households of treason would mean to implicate the whole bloodline. Those are more intricated than a spiderweb.

    "One wrong move without hard evidence could escte things, especially if the kids are actually innocent. Just being publicly suspected of high treason would mean for the households to lose their reputation, upsetting the bnce of power in the Court.

    "As I told you earlier, in the political arena it¡¯s not enough to be guiltless, you must also appear guiltless. The slightest suspicion can make you persona non grata in the right circles, not to mention your business rtionship with the other nobles or the Crown.

    "It can turn a family on the rise into one in decline. The Crown can¡¯t allow itself to lose even a single ally, that¡¯s why I have thought of an unorthodox method to continue the investigation..."

    ***

    Deirus Household. After the closing of the academy.

    Yurial Deirus was having the hardest time of his life, to the point that he often remembered Balkor¡¯s attack with nostalgia. At least back then he had friends and enemies. A safe zone and a danger zone. Everything was perfectly ck and white.

    Now his whole world was in shades of grey so simr between them that the only way to distinguish sh*t from chocte was by the smell. His parents and his future inws paraded him almost daily during social events and parties, forcing Yurial to always keep his uniform and the golden pin on.

    The situation caused him a huge amount of stress, since he was forced to spend a lot of time with Libea, his future wife, while pretending he enjoyed herpany. The more Yurial knew her, the more he found himself contemting Lith¡¯s suggestion about how easy it would be to arrange for her to an ¡¯idental fall¡¯ from a window.

    Also, every time someoneplimented him for his achievement, Yurial prayed to the gods to make him disappear or put him out of his misery, whatever they found more convenient.

    Linjos¡¯s trickery with the rankings was like a poisoned knife in his heart. With each present and congrattion he received for his undeserved position, his condition got worse.

    In two months, he had barely the time to touch a single spellbook. Yurial felt like an exotic beast, no one was interested in what he thought or had to say, only in the griffon shaped golden pin.

    To avoid another rpse in his addiction to tranquilizers, Archmage Deirus, his father, had assigned him a personal assistant whose only task was to make sure Yurial would remain clean.

    Yurial¡¯s father had chosen for him a stunning young woman, so to not ever leave him alone, even at night. Yet her well paid care and attention only contributed to making Yurial feel like a puppet.

    ¡¯Neither my father nor Libea¡¯s family trust me. If this is how I¡¯m going to live my life after I graduate, then I¡¯d rather fail. I have no say in what I do, where I go, not even about who I spend my nights with. What good is to be a powerful mage if I¡¯m only a spectator in my own life?¡¯

    The only silver lining in his current predicament was that the Ernas family attended to most of the events he was forced to took part in, allowing him to spend some time with his friends.

    He and Lith called each other from time to time with themunication amulet. Every time Lith told him about his slow life in the countryside, Yurial couldn¡¯t help but wish their roles were reversed.

    In his eyes, Lith¡¯s life was perfect, with a loving family, no responsibilities and a bright future ahead, while his own resembled more an borate form of torture with each passing day.

 Chapter 261 Crossroads Part 2

    Ernas Household. After the closing of the academy.

    Phloria Ernas was having the time of her life. Her ranking was high enough to earn her father¡¯s admiration and to prevent her mother from nagging at her. She could spend her days as she pleased, riding, hunting, practicing her sword or magic.

    The only sour note was that she wasn¡¯t allowed to leave the estate. Winter was the time of the year when the Ernas, her father¡¯s household, and the Myrok, her mother¡¯s, would meet to spend some quality time and reinforce their bond.

    Since she attended the academy, it was her only opportunity to see her cousins and grandparents. There was no bad blood between the families and although Phloria found her mother¡¯s bloodline to be quite creepy, she loved them nheless.

    She was aware that while the Ernas embodied the shield protecting the royal family in broad daylight, the Myrok were the poisoned de that was tasked of taking care of the enemies of the Kingdom from the shadows, under the fa?ade of being harmless second rate nobles.

    Jirni¡¯s side of the family was very interested in Friya and Quy. Since the girls had no blood rtionship with the Ernas, the Myrok hoped to have them marry into their household to add their magical talent to their assets and hopefully to their bloodline too.

    Between her rtives and the parties she was forced to attend to, she never had the time to visit Lith, only hearing from him with the amulet.

    "Whoever said ¡¯away from the eyes, away from the heart¡¯ was a jacka*s, right Lucky?" Phloria said throwing a chicken leg to the big mastiff, that barked enthusiastically.

    As long as she fed him roasted chicken, Lucky agreed with everything she said.

    "I miss so much our walks, our talks, the cuddling and everything else. I can¡¯t invite him here, or my grandparents would eat him alive, nor can I go to Lutia.

    They have no Warp Steps and I have never been there. Going back and forth would take too much time, dammit." A chicken wing earned her another woof ofpassion.

    Quy and Friya were faring much worse than their adoptive sister. During thest two months, Quy had been unable to practice magic even once. Jirni gave Quy her undivided attention, trying to cram in a single winter the education the other girls had received since birth.

    Quy had to learn the proper etiquette during conversation and the meals. How to ride a horse, y at least one instrument, and learn everything about the Kingdom¡¯s history and current political affairs.

    Her talent for magic couldn¡¯t help her in any of the above, while her shy character made everything more difficult. Day after day, Quy was forced to talk with people she didn¡¯t know and do things she didn¡¯t care about.

    Friya had a lot of free time, instead. She used it to learn about her new family, spending more time with Orion and Jirni. Compared to her biological mother, Jirni was a much better kind of monster, giving her ample freedom about how to manage her life.

    Orion was the father she had always wished for, so she soon came to realize that being adopted by the Ernas couple was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Friya spent her days helping Quy revise the various subjects daily assigned to her and training together with Phloria.

    Outside the academy, the two had still a shallow rtionship, but it was slowly improving. Friya had long feared for Phloria to push her around abusing her status of the true daughter, yet the only thing she ever did was nag her about how bossy Jirni was and how fat Lucky was getting.

    There were only two downsides to her current situation. The first, just like for Yurial, was being paraded as the second best student of the White Griffon at every asion. The second one was closely rted to the first: the bad rumors that came with her achievement.

    Being a former member of the Solivar family was a stigma she was unable to wash away. Both the old and new magical bloodlines resented Friya, spreading the vilest usations about her.

    During each party, as soon as Friya turned her back, she could hear whispers about her sleeping with the Professors, ckmailing them, or cheating her way to sess. There was nothing she could do about those rumors.

    The thought that despite her presence was hurting the Ernas¡¯ reputation, her new parents treated her as one of her own, only made her wish that she could cut away those filthy tongues and shove them up their as*es.

    ***

    Distar Household. Two weeks after the call.

    That evening, one of the most important events of the season was taking ce in the Marchioness¡¯ house. Her Marquisate was flourishing quickly, since it now ruled over the region hosting two of the only four remaining great academies.

    The Earth and Crystal Griffon academies were closed. No one knew when or if they would ever reopen. Archmage Deirus had been awarded for his services with thends hosting the ck Griffon, giving him control over the remaining two.

    They now shared an enormous power above all the other noble households. Some said too much power.

    All the four remaining academies depended on the two households for funding and supplies, giving them a voice in the matter of who to admit or about the changes in the academies¡¯ system.

    The Crown had received countless petitions about taking at least one academy away from each of them, yet none had received a response. Officially, the Crown was still considering both sides¡¯ ims. Off the record, they had already dismissed them all.

    The Crown had no interest to strip two of its most loyal subjects of a prize they had worked hard to achieve just to indulge households with a shady past and an even more shady present. The names at the bottoms of most petitions were the same on the Marchioness¡¯ list.

    It wasn¡¯t enough to use them of treason but more than enough to not listen to a word they said.

    That night Marchioness Distar had gathered the most influential people of the region to celebrate the rankers in the top twenty of the White and Lightning Griffon academies, allowing to students and their parents to mingle together.

    Yurial and his fianc¨¦e, Libea, were having another ¡¯happy¡¯ evening together.

    "You know, when our parents arranged our marriage, I couldn¡¯t help but see you Deirus like tricksters hungry for the Fintyr household wealth. I would have never expected for amoner¡¯s bloodline to be so sessful. I admit I was wrong about you."

    Libea said as soon they got rid of Duke Cailon.

    "I was wrong about you too." Yurial replied with the same stered smile like hers.

    "I always saw you Fintyr as thirsty beggars in desperate need to get a bit of magic in their bloodline. I knew all along that your family has given birth to more dragons than mages in the past." He added viciously.

    "I hoped we could at least keep things civil between us, but as I said, I was wrong."

 Chapter 262 Gala Part 1

    "Quite an attitude for someone that almost got outshined by a filthy traitor and a dirty poormoner." Libea clicked her tongue in disgust.

    "The traitor and themoner, as you call them, are a thousand times better than you. I wish my friend Lith was here. He is great at dealing with monsters, something I am stillcking at."

    Libea was about to reply in kind when suddenly the whole room turned dark and empty. She turned around just in time to see a shadowy figure with eyes zing with blue mana closing in to her.

    "My dear Yurial, I always told you to go big whenever you make a wish. Otherwise if one of themes true it¡¯s more a pity than a relieve."

    "He¡¯s right behind you, of course." Yurial said with a smirk.

    "You have quite an attitude for someone that ranked... My bad, I forgot you have no rank. It¡¯s just that my mind refuses the idea that someone without an iota of magical power could be so arrogant."

    Normally, Lith would have ignored Libea¡¯s nder. Back at the academy, he heard much crueler words on a daily basis, yet he paid them no heed. Lith just had three months of peace and his renewed bond with Solus made him calmer than ever.

    The reason behind his unnatural behavior was the precise instructions Marchioness Distar had given him.

    ¡¯It¡¯s been a while since I taught a lesson to an arrogant prick. This is going to be fun!¡¯ He thought.

    "It¡¯s better for you to watch your tongue, young miss. One day, even a dirty poormoner could reach a status higher than yours. Without your noble title, you are nothing more than a spoiled parlor dog.

    "You should be aware that dumb creatures that keep barking at the wrong tree are... ident prone."

    Lith kept his distance, pointing his finger at her while he talked. It was an act incredibly rude towards someone of a higher social ss. In any other circumstance, Libea would haveshed out at Lith for his uneptable behavior.

    She wanted to, but was unable to speak. Something prevented her from even moving her eyes away from Lith¡¯s index finger. To her it was like a sword pointed at her throat, exuding a chilling aura that was prickling at her skin like countless needles of ice.

    With every step that Lith took forward, Libea¡¯s stomach twisted into one knot after the other. Suddenly she just wanted to hide behind Yurial, but he was nowhere to be seen. The whole world had disappeared, leaving her alone with a crazed beast.

    Contrary to Libea¡¯s perception, Yurial was right beside her, the room was perfectly lighted, and Mogar kept spinning on its axis uncaring like always.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know why Lith is acting so touchy and honestly, I don¡¯t care.¡¯ Yurial thought. ¡¯Her being forced to shut up for once it¡¯s liberating.¡¯

    Being used to Lith¡¯s aura and having an innate powerful mana flow, Yurial was unable to perceive the pressure Lith was exerting, so he was further surprised by Libea¡¯s meek attitude.

    At least until he realized she wasn¡¯t meek at all. His fianc¨¦e was simply unable to breathe.

    Yurial recognized the all too familiar symptoms of mind aggression from a magical aura. Libea¡¯s forehead was beady with sweat, her face was turning from pale white to cyanotic blue from theck of oxygen.

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough." Yurial grabbed Lith¡¯s hand, interposing himself between the two to break the eye contact. Libea was now able to breathe again. She found herself back in the Marchioness¡¯s dining hall, the people around them were watching at the scene with an amused expression.

    Realizing what had happened, she felt humiliated like it had never happened her whole life. The Fintyr family had never given birth to a single mage, but they were one of the most ancient noble households of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Even Archmages treated them with respect, as long as the Fintyr did the same, of course. Libea wanted to yell and call for her personal guards, to teach the country bumpkin a lesson.

    What she did was going to the closest bathroom, moving forward with furious but short strides, instead. The sudden scare had almost made Libea lose control of her bowels, she had only so much time before shaming herself for life.

    Also, making a scene in front of so many guests would only make her look like a fool. The only thing she could use Lith of was being rude. He had not cast a single spell nor left a single scratch on her.

    As soon as she left, Lith returned Yurial¡¯s grab, making it a handshake.

    "If that¡¯s the woman you are going to spend the life with, there¡¯s no amount of alcohol that will make her presence bearable. You need to set boundaries, or she¡¯ll drive you insane. That or you can kill her."

    Lith¡¯s wolfish smile made Yurial understand he wasn¡¯t joking at all.

    "I wish things were that simple." Yurial sighed.

    "Killing Libea would only force me to marry one of her sisters and undergo a thorough investigation. Believe it or not, she¡¯s the less annoying of the bunch. Since you already know Lady Ernas, you can imagine what does it mean having a royal constable on your tail.

    "No, I only have three roads ahead of me. epting my fate, emancipating myself from the Deirus household after the fifth year, or convince my father to cancel the wedding. Emancipation would mean squandering everything I have done so far and probably dooming the Deirus household.

    "Without an heir, if something happens to my father, our bloodline is over. Yet, cancelling the wedding is even more unlikely. It would mean making us lose a lot of face, our prestige would be destroyed.

    "Between that and antagonizing the Fintyr, it would put an end to all our ns for improvement for at least ten years. As you can see, I¡¯m basically doomed."

    A long, awkward moment of silence followed before Yurial decided to move on a less depressing subject.

    "The dinner jacket looks good on you." Unlike Yurial, Lith wasn¡¯t wearing his uniform but the new world equivalent of a ck tuxedo. The white shirt was apparently made of silk, while the pants and jacket were made of a wool simr to Earth¡¯s vicuna.

    What Lith was actually wearing was his Skinwalker armor. He had stored the real suit in the blue gemstone embedded at the base of the neck, allowing the enchanted item to mimic it to perfection. The white griffon pin was shining on the pocket above his heart.

    "Aren¡¯t you sick of that uniform at this point? Also, you seem to have lost weight since thest time we met."

    "Yes to both. But what can I do about it?" Yurial shrugged.

    "Since the rankings came out, my family was awarded with thends that host the ck Griffon academy. It means a lot more authority and prestige, but also a lot more responsibilities.

    "Because of that, my father is forced to spend most his days granting audiences to our new retainers, to sort out those to keep from those to rece. I¡¯m helping him, of course. Being the heir, he is showing me the ropes while at the same time introducing me to my future subjects."

 Chapter 263 Gala Part 2

    "Why are you so stressed, then? Isn¡¯t this your life long dream? Libea excluded, obviously." Lith could understand her being a pain in the a*s but not like that. Yurial seemed to be well fed and rested, yet had lost at least five kilos.

    "Because besides being paraded like an exotic animal 24/7 to affirm our new status in front of the Crown and our neighbors, which is already quite stressing, there have been five attempts on my life, already. Do you see that woman?"

    Yurial tilted his head towards a gorgeous redhead. She was wearing an emerald dress that emphasized her fair white skin and green eyes. The red scarf on her neck matched her hair, partially covering her shoulders and arms that the dress left exposed.

    "Do you mean that Battle Mage?" Lith replied while his eyes indulged on her neckline a second longer than it was polite.

    "Yeah. She is my new personal assistant/mistress/bodyguard. I can¡¯t go anywhere without her following me around."

    "Lucky bastard." Lith¡¯s voice had a tinge of envy.

    "Wow, that¡¯s new from you." Yurial was surprised. He had always considered Lith made of stone, or at least the next best thing.

    "By the way, how do you know she is a Battle Mage?"

    "Ever since my earlier little stunt, she hasn¡¯t taken her eyes off me. Hence, she knows what happened, but it¡¯s not afraid of me, just wary. That makes her a mage. She bears no sword, has too many muscles to be a civilian but too little to be just a hired muscle. If she was a Mage Knight, she would stick closer to you.

    The only exnation left is for her being a Battle Mage." Lith exined his Holmes-like reasoning with a smug expression.

    ¡¯You really are shameless.¡¯ Solus made a mental retching sound.

    ¡¯You didn¡¯t notice anything outside her three sizes, while I understood she is a mage from her bright blue mana core and her specialization from the enchanted items she wears. Theye straight out of Wanemyre¡¯s catalogue. Yurial¡¯s dad spares no expenses.¡¯

    ¡¯Well, you know how they say. Hindsight is correct 100% of the times. Also, it¡¯s not like I can tell him about your existence. Since I need a cover story, I can as well use it to appear as a keen observer.¡¯

    "Brilliant deduction." Yurial nodded in approval.

    "You are lucky none of the girls was here. Otherwise Phloria would never let you hear the end of it, if she learns about your previous remark."

    "The Ernas are here too? I heard they didn¡¯t have the time to attend."

    "They are fashionablyte, as usual." Yurial shrugged.

    "From what my father said to me, the Marchioness insisted for their presence. Just like she did for yours, I guess. I didn¡¯t expect to see you at all. You know, being the party full of stuck up nobles while your parents are..."

    Yurial didn¡¯tplete the sentence, but there was no need to.

    "Indeed she did. I came here with Count Lark as my chaperon." Lith pointed at the jovial noble talking with other mages, losing his monocle from time to time due to the excitement. Lark didn¡¯t care about hanging with influential nobles as much as sharing his passion about magic.

    "Speak of the phoenix and there is the smoke. Friya, nice to see you." Friya gave them a small curtsy to which they replied with a bow. She was wearing a gold embroidered cream colored evening dress that covered her up to the shoulder.

    Her hair was arranged into an borate updo, with several tresses knot together that left her neck exposed, emphasizing the leaves shaped parureposed of golden ne and earrings with ck diamonds thatplimented her dark eyes and hair.

    She also wore evening gloves, giving her outfit a maiden look, being the one that left the most to imaginationpared to the other noble dames.

    "Nice to see you guys too. Thank the gods you didn¡¯t get any taller." She said with a smug expression while looking Lith in the eyes thanks to the high heels.

    "I am still taller than you and I¡¯ve got plenty of time to grow." He shrugged. "Nice dress. It looks lovely on you."

    "Thanks, but I actually don¡¯t like it." She snorted. "I was just tired of menplimenting at my breasts for their rank at the academy while other girls called me a sl*t behind my back. At first, I tried to ignore them, but after a while they really got under my skin."

    "Seriously? Again with those rumors?" Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Yeah. Beware that you got it even worse than me. Some say that you slept with both the male and female Professors, others that you are the Marchioness¡¯ boy toy. Some even that you are the forbidden love child between her and Linjos."

    Lithughed heartily at the thought.

    "Let them talk, I don¡¯t care. Where are the others?"

    "Do you mean Phloria?" She winked at him. "Don¡¯t worry, she is eager to see you too. We just split up to search for you guys more quickly."

    Their chatter was interrupted when they saw Marchioness Distaring towards them, followed by three youths. The fourdies all wore magnificent evening dresses, embroidered with small gemstonesplimenting either their eyes, hair, or skin.

    "Ladies, allow me to introduce to you our guests of honour from the White Griffon academy. They are Yurial Deirus, Friya Ernas, and Lith of Lutia." Each one of them politely greeted the neers as soon the Marchioness called their name.

    "These three girls are the top rankers from the Lightning Griffon. Lusa Erjar, K Dornar, and V Rothar." The girls gave them a small curtsy, having a hard time hiding their surprise.

    Usually, the first ranker was also the one awarded with the academy¡¯s crown jewel, the colored griffon pin. Lusa Erjar wore them both side by side, the golden griffon and the topaz griffon pins.

    That was also the reason why Yurial was the only one forced to wear his uniform, otherwise he would be forced to specify countless times which academy he was from.

    The second anomaly was the trioposition. On Mogar women were naturally more talented for magic, to the point that even inside the academies the males/females ratio was four to six.

    For both the pin awarded rankers to be men was something rarer than finding a unicorn on the doorstep. The three girls from the Lightning Griffon had prepared some nasty remarks for their opponents, but suddenly they were at a loss for words.

    The Marchioness didn¡¯t seem intentioned to leave the six of them. To make things worse, Yurial was way more handsome than they had pictured him, making hard for them being mean to him. Lith was a good head taller than the Lightning Griffon¡¯s golden trio and was looking at them with the same cold gaze an undertaker would use while preparing the boxes for histest clients.

    Friya would have been the easiest mark, if not for the considerable amount of killing intent she was emitting. The muscles on her arms had been finely chiseled by daily training, while her soft smile was warning them that Friya had no problem breaking a jaw or two by "ident".

 Chapter 264 Friendly Challenge Part 1

    "You are the rising stars of your respective academies and the reason why I organized this g. Your achievements bring great prestige to the Distar marquisate, so I¡¯m going to personally introduce you to my guests. You should use this opportunity to distinguish yourself and show your value to the Kingdom."

    The Marchioness took a few steps back, throwing a short but meaningful look at Lith. She turned around, rubbing her throat and activating a first magic air spell.

    "May I have your attention, please?" Her magically enhanced voice resounded through the ball room, making all the heads turn and conversations stop.

    "Tonight, we have assembled to celebrate the new year. To remember all the hardships we have endured. Two academies are temporarily lost. Balkor has once again put the Griffon Kingdom on its knees. Yet we survived. Our future may seem grim, but our present is worthy of celebration.

    "I¡¯ll introduce to you, one by one, the brightest minds of this generation. I¡¯d like to ask them to show us a little bit of their talent, so that they can demonstrate the progress they have made during the past year and make this evening more enjoyable.

    "There are a lot of rumors about the rankings being unfair." Marchioness Distar looked at all the six youths, but indulged on Friya for a second longer than the others.

    "Magic, however, doesn¡¯t allow one to bluff. Either you can do something, or you can¡¯t. There is no faking talent. What is required from you is to perform at your best by using only first magic.

    For security reasons, tier one magic and above are sealed by the mansion¡¯s protective arrays and so are all the magical items that are not defensive in nature."

    Lith was surprised by the announcement. He hadn¡¯t encountered such a powerful formation since during the gue, when he was under the effects of the Small World artifact.

    Solus activated her mana sense, scouting their surroundings.

    ¡¯There are a lot of arrays around us, but no Small World.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯This is not something I would have expected from a medium importance noble like the Marchioness. I thought only the royals had ess to magical formations this strong. Let¡¯s see how they fare against true magic.¡¯

    Lith silently waved a tier one spell in his mind, connecting his mana with the world energy surrounding him. The idea was to perform something simple and unnoticeable, raising the temperature of the room by a few degrees.

    Everything went fine until he mixed the mana with the fire element. As soon as the energy started to build, the arrays around him activated. They weren¡¯t actually capable of preventing him from casting a spell, only to disrupt the execution by causing fluctuations in the mana in the room.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why the security is sox. Intruders and guests are both stripped of all their powers.

    ¡¯The arrays can definitely stop a fake mage, but not a true one. I could continue if I wanted. I only need to adapt my flow ording to the fluctuations, something that a fake mage¡¯s fixed pattern is incapable of doing. What about our dimensional pocket?¡¯

    Lith was reassured by his findings. He had walked into the arrays without even noticing them. He had gravely underestimated a noble household¡¯s resources.

    ¡¯I think we can open it but it¡¯s going to take some time and effort. In our case, rather than block our magic, these arrays make casting any spell much harder and mana expensive.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Lith mind nodded to her words, checking if both spirit magic and fusion magic still worked. Everything went without a hitch. No matter how much energy he conjured, the arrays remained inactive.

    "Let¡¯s start from the first rankers." The Marchioness continued.

    "Yurial Deirus, the white hand, from the White Griffon academy."

    "Yurial the what now?" Lith whispered in Friya¡¯s ear.

    "It¡¯s his custom title. High rankers often receive one or more nicknames from their Professors in the fields they are more talented in." She exined.

    "I never heard anyone calling him like that, though."

    "And probably you never will. He probably wouldn¡¯t have one if not for Linjos¡¯s you know what." Her voice was barely audible, even with his heightened senses.

    Lith was able to notice Yurial being embarrassed by the pompous title and the deafening apuse that followed.

    ¡¯Poor Yurial.¡¯ Solus¡¯s voice was full ofpassion. ¡¯Not only he gets constantly reminded of his fake achievement, but he also got the short end of the stick by going first. Hope he doesn¡¯t get stage fright.¡¯

    ¡¯Right now he has only two choices. Either to keep drowning himself in self-pity or do his best to turn the lie into truth. I hope he¡¯ll choose the second one.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Before their telepathic talk could finish, Yurial was already moving.

    Stage fright was something he had ovee years ago. As the heir of the Deirus¡¯ household, Yurial had followed his father to all the most important social events ever since he was little, often opening his speeches in the role of valet.

    After being paraded around the whole Kingdom for thest two months, bragging was second nature to him. Yurial slowly spun around, waving his hands in the air while collecting small wisps of fire from every candle that met his eyes.

    The ballroom was mostly lighted with magical crystals, but there would always be other sources of light at a banquet, to give the room warmth. No matter how brilliant it was, magic generated light had something cold about it, especially to non mages.

    The wisps danced around Yurial forming an ethereal river, until he widened his arms making them spread around. The wisps rose a few meters above the guests¡¯ heads, taking advantage of the high ceiling.

    Then, each wisp grew to the size of a football, assuming the shape of a griffon that shrieked its challenge to its fierypanions. Each wisp-griffon was of a different color, ranging from red to green.

    Handling so many griffons with only first magic put a cap on the temperatures the conjured mes could reach. The whole room gasped in amazement while the pseudo creatures charged at each other like they were fighting to the death.

    Then, Yurial made them fly out from an open window, sending them as high as he could before he lost control. When it happened, they exploded forming multi-colored fireworks. His performance caused a spontaneous apuse that continued until the Marchioness announced the next student.

    "Lusa Erjar, the Mistress of the Storm." The Lightning Griffon first ranker was in quite a pinch. She had not prepared anything, the show wasn¡¯t nned. Lusa didn¡¯t want to be outshined, but fire was the shiest element and it had already been used.

    So, she resorted to water magic, collecting a few drops from the drinks of those presents to form a multi colored sphere of liquid that created multiple rainbows across the room before turning it into an ice dragon that flew out of the window before exploding into a huge rainbow.

    The crowd apuded, but after Yurial¡¯s performance Lusa¡¯s wasckluster.

    "Friya Ernas, the master of space."

    When her name was called, Friya went to the center stage. She used light and darkness magic to recreate the celestial sphere, giving to those present the illusion the ceiling had disappeared.

 Chapter 265 Friendly Challenge Part 2

    Whole constetions moved at unison like each second was an hour, until a fake sun appeared on the horizon making the right return in the room.

    The spectators congratted her with a thunderous apuse.

    "K Dornar, the battle goddess."

    Lith was already bored when he felt someone tugging at his arm. He turned around to discover it was Phloria. He was about to whisper a greeting, but she was faster.

    "Kiss me like you miss me." Aside from Friya that was standing right next to them, everyone was so caught in the performance that no one noticed the deep, passionate kiss she gave him.

    Lith had the impression she had just sucked the air out of his lungs and maybe even tasted his tonsil.

    Phloria only let him go when the apuse marking the end of the performance resounded. Lith could finally take a proper look at her. She wore a silk-satin red evening dress and white evening gloves, emphasizing her olive colored skin due to the prolonged exposure to the sun.

    It was skin tight, with a neckline that somehow exerted a push-up effect. Her hair had grown even longer, allowing Phloria to braid them into tresses that were knotted, twisted, and tied back in an intricate headpiece,plete with pearls and fabrics.

    ¡¯ Walking like a man, hitting like a hammer.¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t avoid remembering an old Earth¡¯s song.

    ¡¯Well, she definitely got the look.¡¯ Solus giggled.

    Before they could exchange a single word, Lith got called to the center stage.

    "Lith of Lutia, the eye of god and maker of wonders." The whole room gasped in surprise, Lith included. No one else had received two titles and him being the third ranker made it even more amazing.

    Not even most second rankers would receive a title.

    ¡¯It seems that Vastor wasn¡¯t kidding when he said that the light and forgemastering department were quite pissed off at Linjos for the rankings. Usually I wouldn¡¯t like so much attention, but tonight it¡¯s different.¡¯ He thought with a smirk.

    "Thanks for your kind introduction, dear Marchioness. I hope you all realize that at this point, there isn¡¯t much I can do without boring you with a rerun of what my peers already did. So, to spice things up I¡¯m going to try something different, but I need an assistant."

    He turned around the room pretending to be searching for the right person.

    "You." He pointed his finger at Phloria.

    "Would you do me the honor of apanying me in this feat?" Lith extended his hand to her. Phloria was dazed for a second, embarrassed by all the eyes on her, before stepping forward to take Lith¡¯s hand.

    "Thanks. Now just follow my lead." Lith walked toward the nearest wall, leaving some of the guests confused and most of them disappointed.

    Once they arrived in front of the wall, Lith didn¡¯t stop walking, stepping on it. Phloria didn¡¯t understand what was happening and neither did most of the guests. The others were either chocking on their drinks or inwardly cursing at him.

    ¡¯Son of a...¡¯ The Marchioness was among thetter.

    ¡¯I asked him for a distraction and some ruckus. This is going to turn into a riot if I don¡¯t handle it properly.¡¯

    "Do you trust me?" Lith said with a smile, seeing that Phloria was hesitant. In response to the question, she immediately stepped forward discovering that her foot was now effortlessly stuck to the wall.

    Lith then resumed walking, apanied by her until they were standing upside down on the ceiling.

    As it was apparent ever since their first vertical step, it wasn¡¯t a flight or float spell. Otherwise the coats of Lith¡¯s suit and Phloria¡¯s gown would be falling toward the ground, making the situation quite embarrassing, especially for Phloria.

    Her hair, dress, and jewels were perfectly normal, like she was just walking on the floor.

    "May we have some music?" At Lith¡¯s request, the Marchioness signaled the orchestra that started ying a minuet.

    The couple danced the whole song while avoiding the numerous crystal chandeliers, returning back in front of the Marchioness when the music ended. Phloria was red from the excitement, but the room gave them a cold reception.

    No one apuded, they were just looking at them like they were monsters, even Jirni and Orion.

    "I¡¯m sorry you didn¡¯t like it, but I did." Lith shrugged. Their approval meant nothing to him.

    "For your information, that¡¯s something I like to call..."

    "Gravity magic." Archmage Deirus blurted out, cutting him short.

    "Nailed in one." Lith was surprised by how fast Yurial¡¯s dad had understood what had happened. After all, Gravity magic was Lith¡¯s original creation.

    Or so he thought.

    "That¡¯s impossible!" One after the other, the mages present expressed their disbelief while the nobles would ask them for an exnation.

    "What¡¯s Gravity magic, dad?" Yurial was among them.

    "The seventh kind of magic. Something that¡¯s considered an exclusive of the ancient noble households."

    "I never heard anything about it. Not from you nor while being at the academy. Is it some kind of secret art?" Yurial¡¯s curiosity was piqued, he never heard about a seventh natural element.

    "It¡¯s not a secret, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t know about it." Vn Deirus shook his head.

    "I never spoke about it because I don¡¯t practice it. You can find books about it in the academies¡¯ libraries, but no one will ever teach it to you. It¡¯s..plicated."

    As soon as the details about Gravity magic were being disclosed, the murmurs rose in intensity and volume, turning into chatting first and yellster.

    "Complicated how?" Yurial asked while Lith and Phloria joined him. They were as confused as he was.

    "Gravity magic requires to be able to cast six spells at once and wave them together. It also requires a great mastery of the mana control and of the principles behind the natural phenomenons.

    "What you saw your friend using is the equivalent of first magic, yet it¡¯s already beyond the reach of most. Gravity magic is considered to be a legacy of the most ancient noble households because they are the only ones that possess the knowledge and the magical legacy to teach it."

    "Why did you never learn it? Aren¡¯t you an Archmage?" Lith nodded, agreeing with Yurial question. He was quite disappointed in learning he had just reinvented the wheel. Again.

    Yet this time it seemed to be quite a fancy wheel.

    "Because it¡¯s useless. Even tier one gravity spells are tooplex. They require such fine control over the mana and the hand signs that their difficulty goes beyond that of tier five spells. The results do not justify the effort."

    Lith understood Vn¡¯s point, but it wasn¡¯t an issue for him. Lith never had to struggle with magic words or signs, true magic was all a matter of manipting the mana flow ording to one¡¯s will.

    Gravity magic was indeed difficult, he was just scratching the top of the barrel and it required Lith¡¯s full focus just to reverse the gravity on two people. Yet moving to higher levels of Gravity magic was far from impossible for him.

    "It¡¯s not just a matter of effort, it¡¯s a matter of pride!" Archmage Ejar, Lusa¡¯s mother roared.

    "Gravity magic it¡¯s the living proof of all true magical bloodlines!" She looked Vr in the eyes, clicking her tongue in disgust.

 Chapter 266 Second Meeting Part 1

    "That¡¯s why I practice it and I¡¯m teaching it to my daughter." Archmage Ejar echoed through the ballroom.

    "Because we, the Ejar are true mages, not two bit pretenders like you. Grassroots mages shouldn¡¯t even be in the same room as us!"

    A lot of indignant voices cursed at her. Archmage Deirus¡¯s eyes shone with a menacing emerald light.

    "I dare you to say that again!" Vn snarled, his face only a few centimeters away from his peer¡¯s.

    ¡¯I did my part, that¡¯s for sure.¡¯ Lith thought with a grin on his face.

    ¡¯The Marchioness asked me for some ruckus. I¡¯d say dinner is served, even though only Isaac Newton knows why.¡¯

    "What in the gods¡¯ name are you grinning for, kid?" Archmage Ejar ignored Vn¡¯s threat, pointing her finger against the uncaring youth.

    "How did you do it? Who taught you about Gravity magic? Pray that I like your answers, otherwise..."

    "Otherwise what?" Lith pped away the hand in front of his face, making the Archmage¡¯s eyes almost pop out of their sockets in anger.

    "I¡¯m a student at the White Griffon. First in the light department and an asset to the Kingdom. I¡¯m Marchioness Distar¡¯s honored guest, attending this g on request of the Crown. What authority do you represent, exactly? Outside your own foolishness, of course!"

    "Indeed." Archmage Ejar¡¯s face was still in the process of losing its color, realizing the amazing number of blunders in a row she had just made when the Marchioness¡¯s voice resounded next to her ear.

    "You are in my house, while I represent the Crown and you dare to offend your peers and threaten my guests?"

    "No, I..." Ejar stuttered, but luckily for her, Marchioness Distar¡¯s question was merely rhetorical.

    "Her rudeness is unforgivable, but she made a good point. Where did you learn such magic, Lith?" The Marchioness wanted answers too, but she asked them rather than making demands. Her tone gentle and polite.

    "I learned it as a self-taught." He replied with a shrug, making new and ancient households gasp in surprise.

    "It¡¯s not that hard." Lith couldn¡¯t understand the reason behind their disbelief.

    "I learned how to create pocket dimensions at the Forgemastering lessons and how to bend space with dimensional magic. They are just two extreme applications of gravity. I only had tobine what I learned from both subjects and then use it to manipte gravity around objects rather than on the space itself."

    As the Marchioness had predicted earlier, Lith¡¯s actions triggered a ho¡¯s nest. New households were using him together with Archmage Ejarck of manners as proof that magic was fair, while the ancient households were not.

    All mages deserved respect ording to their talent and disposition, not based on the family they were born in.

    The ancient households imed it was a scam, ming the Marchioness for having shared their secrets with amoner mongrel. Lith decided it was time to get to safety. Nobles¡¯ quarrels didn¡¯t interest him, he only did what he had been paid for.

    "Where do you think you are going?" Lith felt his center of gravity shift, suddenly he was on the verge of falling horizontally. Archmage Ejar was using gravity magic to pull him back in the middle of the conflict.

    First, he had to crouch, gripping at the floor with one hand to prevent the fall. Then, Lith used his own gravity magic to cancel the pull. The opponent had a stronger core, but for her first magic was just a hobby, for Lith it was a life¡¯s work.

    "Kneel!" He sent a powerful wave crashing on Ejar¡¯s body which tripled her weight in a split second. He even added a sprinkle of spirit magic, just to be safe.

    Archmage Ejar fell on her knees. She was forced to use her hands to avoid her forehead crashing against the ground.

    "I warned you! No one disrespects me or my guests in my house!" The Marchioness pped her hands, unleashing the full power of the arrays against the unruly noble. Archmage Ejar¡¯s body writhed for a second before falling limp on the ground.

    Once focused on a target, the arrays were capable of disrupting even first magic. They could also paralyze any threat, living or undead, by binding every fiber of their target.

    The brief magical battle made the room turn silent, but only for a second.

    One side of the room called Ejar a hero, the other one a traitor. The quarrel resumed without the use of magic, but louder than before.

    Phloria and Yurial helped Lith to stand up, bringing him to safety.

    "That went well." He said with a sarcastic expression.

    "You sure know how to liven up a party." Phloria clicked her tongue at the raging crowd behind them. Dancing on the ceiling with Lith, surrounded by the lights like they were alone in the world had been truly romantic.

    What followed, not so much.

    "Raising your hand against an Archmage, are you insane?" Yurial was still as pale as a ghost.

    "What was I supposed to do? Let her beat me up and beg for mercy? She was out of her mind. I prefer to apologizeter rather than be so polite to let someone kill me for sport." Lith scoffed at hispanion.

    With a short sprint, they reached the safest spot in the room: the one where the Ernas and other nobles were spectating at the unfolding events from a safe distance. Despite being members of ancient noble households, those gathered there had no ce in the conflict.

    They supported the young magical bloodlines¡¯ im for fairness. They chose to stand on the fence because in the heat of the moment their allies wouldsh at them mistaking them for the enemy, while their noble peers would brand them as traitors.

    Their intervention would only end up making the two factions gang up on them, so they decided to wait for the lord of the house to put an end to that mess.

    "Why is it taking her so long?" While her peers were still discussing Lith¡¯s performance or Ejar¡¯s unspeakable act of aggression towards an honored guest of the Crown, Jirni¡¯s mind was spinning at top gear.

    "Now that you mention it, it¡¯s indeed odd." Orion whispered back.

    "Between the arrays and her personal guards, this mess shouldn¡¯t have even started. Maybe she doesn¡¯t want to raise her hand against other nobles. Violence could escte things politically."

    "Maybe, but she doesn¡¯t strike me as a calm guiding hand. Distar had no qualms subduing Ejar. What¡¯s worse than attacking a noble that¡¯s also an Archmage?" Their private conversation was interrupted when they saw the youths approaching.

    Mostly because a young woman stepped right in front of them, weing the White Griffon students with a wless curtsy.

    "Yours was a striking performance, Mage Lith." She didn¡¯t manage to say it with a straight face. She giggled cheerfully while hiding her mouth with a hand.

    "You managed to turn a hundreds years old tradition into a tavern fight in less than ten minutes. That¡¯spletely unprecedented and truly worthy of my savior."

    She was about seventeen years old, with silky blonde hair down looking like a golden waterfall that almost reached the floor.

 Chapter 267 Second Meeting Part 2

    The young woman wore a white evening dress that left her shoulders and arms exposed. It was embroidered with sapphires that emphasized her sky blue eyes.

    She had a lively face and a bright smile. Her demeanor left Lith quite puzzled.

    "I¡¯m sorry, do I know you?" The young woman looked somehow familiar, but no matter how much he focused, Lith couldn¡¯t recognize her. The only thing he knew was that she was quite well endowed, her beauty was easily on Friya¡¯s level.

    "Did you really forget about me?" She said with a yful gaze.

    "Even though you are the only man that ever saw me naked?" She whispered while blushing on cue, hiding her face with a fan made of what looked like golden peacock¡¯s feathers.

    ¡¯She¡¯s the Marchioness¡¯ daughter. Don¡¯t you see the resemnce?¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯Besides, it¡¯s true that so far most of the girls on Mogar are on the thin side, but for example Tista is much more...¡¯

    ¡¯First, gross. Second, Tista isn¡¯t a girl, she is my sister. Don¡¯t use her as a standard, thanks.¡¯ Lith cut her short.

    Hispanions were all taken aback by the girl¡¯sst remark.

    ¡¯And he had the gall to call me a lucky b*stard!¡¯ Yurial inwardly cursed and congratted at his friend at the same time.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Mdy. I can¡¯t remember all of my patients, no matter how pleasing to the eye they are. I had too many." Lith gave her a small bow, pretending to not know who she was.

    Phloria felt reassured by the ¡¯patient¡¯ part and threatened by everything else. Lith wasn¡¯t the kind of man to make falsepliments.

    "How do you know I was your patient then?" She closed her fan, her expression inquisitive in a way that Jirni didn¡¯t like at all.

    "You called me your savior. I¡¯m no warrior, just a healer." While Lith yed Sherlock Holmes again, hispanions had a hard time repressing a burst ofughter at the tant lie.

    "That and the other part..." He whispered. "made everything clear."

    "Brilliant." She pped her hands while smiling non stop.

    "A strong character, a bright mind, and an eye that doesn¡¯t stop just at a pretty dress. These are all traits that I appreciate in a man. Also, you are right, we were never properly introduced.

    "I¡¯m Brinja Distar, first daughter of Marchioness Mirim Distar and heir to my household." Her choice of words was formal, Brinja even apanied her self-introduction with a second curtsy, much deeper than the first.

    It was quite umon for the host to show so much respect to a guest met for the first time. That and her previous words worried Lith as much as they did Phoria and Jirni. Being wooed by the daughter of his patron sounded like a massive pain in the a*s.

    ¡¯Seems my big sister has a rival now.¡¯ Friya inwardly smiled. That evening was getting more interesting by the second.

    "I¡¯m Lith of Lutia. If next year I graduate I will still be just a mage." He gave her a deep bow while using modest words to belittle himself.

    "Well, for being ¡¯just¡¯ a mage you proved to be resourceful and brave. You even stood your ground against a self-entitled Archmage. Or was it just recklessness?" She replied without backing down from her position.

    "No, it wasn¡¯t." Lith shook his head.

    "I may be someone of humble origins, but I didn¡¯t spend my time hiding in a cave studying magic or fighting non stop like a bloodthirsty beast. I learned society¡¯s rules, got admitted to one of the six great academies, made friends..." He pointed at hispanions.

    "and allies." Lith nodded toward the Marchioness. "I just showed everyone what I aplished after a single year of proper education. Now it¡¯s up to them to choose if they want to stand against me or support me. Either way, I¡¯m not easily bullied because I made myself really hard to rece.

    "No matter how big their ego is or how small minded they are, I believe that in times of crisis most of them would feel reassured rather than threatened by my presence."

    "See? That¡¯s what I meant, ¡¯just a mage¡¯ Lith." Brinja said with a radiant smile while taking his arm between hers, gently pressing it against her breast.

    Lith was ttered, but unfazed by her behavior.

    "Thanks, your Ladyship, but I think you missed the part about me being just thirteen years old and without any background." Lith tried to step away, he could feel several eyes piercing his back.

    "How is that a problem?" She giggled, holding his arm even tighter.

    "In a few years, the age gap will be irrelevant. Whoever I¡¯m going to marry, he will join my family and I¡¯m rich enough for three people. I may have no magical power of my own, but the Distar bloodline gave birth to several powerful mages.

    "I can¡¯t stand those shallow nobles that only care for my wealth nor the arrogant mages that see every non magic user as an object. I¡¯m tired of being considered an arm candy with annuities from those who aim for my family title.

    "Based on what I heard about you and on what you did tonight you are like a breath of fresh air. I just want to get to know you better."

    Her points were all valid, but Lith had no interest in any kind of rtionship.

    ¡¯What the heck, first Phloria and now Brinja? Women in the new world are quite assertive.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe it¡¯s because here magic gives them an edge.¡¯ Solus suggested. ¡¯Or maybe it¡¯s just a cultural thing they have. Unlike Earth¡¯s middle ages on Mogar women have the same opportunities as men. They can pass theirst name and inherit their families¡¯ fortunes.¡¯

    Solus had a hard time not mentioning that she also would be assertive, if only she had the means to. Despite being brief, her experience with a body, first Lith¡¯s and then hers, had filled her with hope and confidence.

    At the same time, Solus had be quite impatient.

    ¡¯I wonder how many years will it take for me to get even that body made of light.¡¯ She inwardly sighed in a corner of her mind, d to have her privacy.

    ¡¯Until then, I can only cheer for Lith from the sidelines.¡¯

    ***

    Distar Household,ter that evening.

    After all of her guests had safely departed to their homes via the Marchioness¡¯ private Warp Gate, she could finally sit down in the armchair in her office and rx. After the bumpy start, everything had gone as nned.

    She took out amunication amulet, cing it in the middle of her desk. Four blue magic crystals appeared from the corners of the solid white oak table, opening a secure channel with Queen Sylpha.

    "I hope you bring me good news, Mirim." The Queen¡¯s stern face greeted her with a nod.

    "Excellent news, your Majesty." The Marchioness gave her a small bow.

 Chapter 268 New Accomodation Part 1

    "Please, enough with honorifics and pleasantries. It¡¯s alreadyte and it¡¯s just the two of us, dear friend."

    "As you wish, Sylpha." The two knew each other since their time at the White Griffon academy. It was a well kept secret, since Mirim had attended the courses under a fake name. She wanted to avoid receiving a special treatment as the daughter of the ruler of thend.

    The two of them had both inherited their respective bloodlines¡¯ talent for magic and that, together with the long years of friendship, had created a bond between them almost stronger than blood.

    After achieving the role of Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s corps, Mirim Distar had chosen to keep the pretense of being magicless to make her enemies underestimate her, making it hard to believe she was more than just a medium importance noble.

    Her only regret was that life seemed to have an odd sense of humor. Her daughter was the only member of the family born without any talent for magic. It was something that had not happened for generations.

    ¡¯It¡¯s almost like Brinja is being punished for my deception.¡¯ She would think from time to time, before shrugging off all that superstitious horsesh*t. Inheriting magic was a matter of blood and luck.

    Having mages in the family made it easier for descendants to be more attuned with the world energy, but it wasn¡¯t an irond rule. That was the reason why despite having many heirs, sometimes the ancient noble households bore no mages, even for decades.

    "So, how was your evening?" Sylpha asked.

    Marchioness Distar told her everything, putting emphasis on Lith revealing the ability to use Gravity magic and the discord that followed.

    "Amazing. That young man has a talent for angering people. The most fearsome aspect of his character is that Lith is aware of who and when to provoke. He causes almost more troubles than he solves."

    Sylphaughed when Mirim told her about Lith forcing Archmage Ejar to kneel in public.

    "It sure humbled her without causing any physical harm." Mirim nodded.

    "I managed to turn the following quarrel into a debate, forcing the two parties to findmon ground. I can assure you that most of the guests left on better terms than when they arrived."

    "That¡¯s the advantage of knowing when and where conflict is about to happen." Sylpha grinned. "The more hot-headed people get, the easier is to manipte their reasoning. I¡¯m not concerned by such small stuff, though.

    "Tell me about your n."

    "As you know, I made sure that all those who knew about Linjos¡¯s anti Balkor protocol learned about the existence of the list and that I am about to decipher it. I assumed that whoever is the traitor, would try to learn about it as well.

    So, I orchestrated the g to give them an opportunity to enter my house. The celebration of the top rankers was the perfect excuse to request for an invitation. As I expected, many of our enemies took part in the banquet.

    Even with so many people, they couldn¡¯t roam free, so I asked Mage Lith to cause a ruckus. He is notoriously unaligned, no one outside the three of us knows of my special rtionship with him. No one suspects everything was staged."

    "Good! Does he know about the n?" Sylpha asked.

    "No. He didn¡¯t even ask for an exnation. Only to strengthen the defense of his family, more money, and materials for his research. He said, and I quote: ¡¯We already have a target on our backs, making it bigger changes nothing. As long as you pay me, I¡¯ll get the job done.¡¯"

    "Cynic and expensive for someone so young." Sylpha raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "If he was some idealist fool, I wouldn¡¯t have trusted him. As for the price, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. I consider it an investment. If he sees us as thest line of defense in front of his family, he¡¯ll never turn into another Balkor."

    "What about the list?" Sylpha was getting impatient.

    "My safe was sessfully opened and the list copied." Mirim said with a wide smile.

    "Great! What was written into it?"

    "It wasn¡¯t the real list. It was a doctored copy written in the same code, containing only the names of our prime suspects. This way, it will appear like one of their aplices has sold them or at least is nning to cut a deal with us.

    Now we only need to wait and see who reacts."

    "Who leaked the information about the list?" Sylpha could almost taste their blood.

    "Balfas. He is Linjos¡¯s personal assistant. He was the one that had ess to the information about the safe." The reports Mirim had provided for the suspects to read were all identical except for one detail. The location of the list.

    The spy had revealed their source simply by looking in a specific ce rather than another.

    "May the gods burn him! I was the one that assigned him to Linjos. How in the Great Mother¡¯s name did he pass all the background checks until now? Someone in my inner circle is involved or, even worse, is an idiot. Either way, some heads are going to roll for this."

    The Queen could almost feel the earth crumble beneath her feet. She had hoped the culprit was someone from the ancient noble households, to gain leverage against them in the recent power struggle. Having been chosen by the Court, Balfas was a political knife pointed at her throat instead.

    "That also exins how they achieved capiry control of the kitchen staff, poisoning students and Professors exactly at the right moment."

    "Indeed." Mirim touched the blue gemstone on themunication amulet, sharing thetest reports with the Queen.

    "I had constable Ernas checking his finances. Thanks to her cooperating with Vr Deirus, we discovered Balfas has been receiving money from a shellpany that can be linked to the runaway Archmage Lukart."

    "How long it¡¯s been going on?" Just hearing Lukart¡¯s name gave Sylpha heartburn.

    "Before the academic year even started. The odd thing is that even after Lukart¡¯s disappearance, the payments haven¡¯t stopped."

    "So, the yers have changed, but is the game still the same?" The Queen pondered out loud.

    "Guess we¡¯ll find out soon. I¡¯m not going to have him arrested getting a small fish can only get us so far. We¡¯ll use him to get to the top of themand chain."

    ***

    The rest of the winter passed quietly. After the g at the Marchioness¡¯ manor, Jirni allowed Phloria to go to Lith¡¯s house, allowing them to spend his birthday together. Orion kept his word, gifting Lith the Gatekeeper sword.

    Lith was really happy about it, but there was not enough time left to perform any more experiments. He could only keep studying the interactions between the mana crystals and the pseudo cores.

    The armor and the weapon had different effects, allowing him to further his understanding about how to shape a pseudo core with true magic to give it specific properties. Lith and Solus could almost see a pattern, but they needed more data.

    In the blink of an eye, it was already time to go back to the academy for thest year.

 Chapter 269 New Accomodations Part 2

    Lith spent thest days preparing Tista¡¯s homework during his absence and studying once again Lochra Silverwing¡¯s book "The basics of magic".

    Archmage Deirus¡¯s words had inspired him, making Lith suspect that maybe there was something he had overlooked for all those years. If Solus was right about Lochra being an Awakened Magus of the past, then her book could contain part of her legacy or at least point him to its location.

    ¡¯After all, everything she exins about first magic in her book can also be applied to true magic. I learned every word of the book, but I think I failed toprehend its full purpose until now.

    ¡¯As Yurial¡¯s dad said, Gravity magic is an obscure subject because of its difficulty, but the same can be said about Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram. What if they are both legacies left from past Magi about true magic?

    ¡¯Back when I first learned how to perform the Hexagram, I had no idea arrays existed. Now, the more I look at it, the more I¡¯m certain it¡¯s not just a parlor trick to impress the academy¡¯s old fogeys.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, it¡¯s not only the first true magic array I learned, but it¡¯s also part of the legacy of one of the most powerful mages in the history of the Griffon Kingdom.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s experiments lead him to discover that he could erge and empower the Hexagram at will. There were two major difficulties in the process, though.

    The first was that the bigger the array grew, the harder it was to keep all the six elements in perfect bnce. To achieve stability the spell required for each element to receive exactly the same amount of mana and for them to have their energies flow as one.

    The second was that he had no idea what it was supposed to do. Being a pessimist by nature, Lith suspected it could also just be an borate prank from a long dead magician. If Lochra was really dead, of course.

    ¡¯ording to Ka¡¯s words, she may still be alive. So either I find her and ask Lochra an exnation or I need to bang my head until I crack open this mystery.¡¯

    At his arrival at the academy, Lith was in for a surprise. The fifth floor of the White Griffon academy was almost identical to the fourth one. The only major changes were that his new room was in a different position and it was much bigger than the previous one.

    It was also equipped with a forgemasteringboratory and a healer¡¯s office. Fifth years students were fewer in numberspared to their juniors. In a good year, they would be around one hundred and fifty.

    Because of the recent events, between those who died during the attack and the ones that had failed due to the anti mana toxin, there were less than one hundred students attending the fifth year.

    It left a lot of free space, granting those who had made it much more liberties.

    Each room was customized for their needs so that a Healer could receive patients from outside the academy or a Mage Knight practice their swordsmanship.

    Having only one specialization, Phloria¡¯s apartment was entirely dedicated to sword practice. It had a soundproof roomplete with golems as training dummies. Thanks to their magical nature, they were made of materials which density was identical to the human body.

    They could also be programmed to assume different shapes and sizes, mimicking all the creatures that her Mage Knight course would cover.

    The golems were also equipped with a sort of Artificial Intelligence. It allowed them to retaliate to the student¡¯s attacks by following the mostmonbat patterns of the various creatures the golem replicated.

    The students were allowed to personalize their training dummies¡¯ AI to further increase the difficulty level. The first thing Phloria did was to input her own style to practice against herself and find the ws in her execution.

    "It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m actually happy to have only one specialization." Phloria said while showing Lith her personal training facility.

    "How so?" He noticed that the living space hadn¡¯t improved much. Once again, the habitations were poorly furnished, there was just enough to live and practice properly. Everything else was on the student.

    Aside from the forgemasteringb and the medical practice, Lith¡¯s room had only a bed, a wardrobe, a work desk, and a few bookshelves as furniture. He would never waste money to embellish a ce he used only to sleep.

    Especially since he would live there only for a year.

    Phloria, on the other hand, was more carefree. Her room had already a second wardrobe full of clothes. Soft carpets covered the whole floor allowing her to walk barefoot even during the cold winter mornings.

    It was the onlymodity Lith almost envied.

    Almost.

    The Skinwalker armor was capable to reproduce not only clothes, but also shoes. He only had to will for it and the armor would reshape itself from the pajamas form to the uniform, covering his feet.

    The transition would onlyst for a split second. The enchanted clothes turned into a semi liquid state, running over Lith¡¯s body while changing its color andposition on a molecr level.

    ¡¯It¡¯s worth every single point I spent on it.¡¯ Lith thought every time he used the armor¡¯s properties.

    Unlike Lith¡¯s desk, which was always empty unless he was studying a particrly difficult subject, Phloria¡¯s was decorated with egg-shaped nacre ornaments on small pedestals. They were arranged in a semi circr form.

    She had even a couple on her nightstand. She had never allowed him inside her own bedroom, except when the group gathered to study together. Even then, he had never seen them before. Clearly, she hid them before their arrival.

    "Because unlike Friya¡¯s, my training room allows me to spar with multiple golems at the same time. It¡¯s also big enough to amodate two people. It means Friya and I can work out together, or I can simply train you a bit with the sword." She replied.

    "Good idea. The only problem is if we¡¯ll have enough time for that." He sighed.

    "Well,st year was different. Now if we finishte, you can always sleep here." Phloria swept her hair, blushing a little.

    "What are these things?" Lith changed the topic. It wasn¡¯t like Phloria to make such an odd and rushed offer. After he had almost died, their rtionship had slowed down quite a bit. Too many things had happened too fast. His constant mood swings had contributed to making things worse.

    "Do you really have never seen a..." Phloria almost chocked on the rest of the phrase. The most shocking thing about visiting Lith¡¯s house had been noticing how his room was as big as one of her closets.

    He was always so aloof to luxury that she often forgot about his humble origins.

    "A what?"

    Phloria touched the closest egg. The upper part of the magical item opened, projecting a hologram the size of a photograph. It waspleted with sounds and colors, depicting a younger Orion while he was reading a story to Phloria when she was a little girl.

    It was a short clip yed in a loop.

 Chapter 270 New Start Part 1

    "A Rememberer." Another touch from Phloria made the egg close and the hologram disappear. Then, Lith watched one showing Phloria ying with Lucky when the mastiff was still a puppy, both covered in mud from head to toes.

    Another was about Jirni teaching her the basics of self defense.

    "It¡¯s how mages store their precious moments."

    "Why did you never show them to me before?" Lith¡¯s doubts were turning into a suspicion.

    "Because those are my private moments." Phloria fiddled with her hair while she was staring at the ground incapable of looking him in the eye out of embarrassment.

    "I didn¡¯t share them even with my sisters."

    "Okay, let¡¯s cut to the chase." Lith closed the Rememberer, resisting the temptation to pry further in her life.

    "Are you jealous?"

    "What? Why do you say that?" Phloria¡¯s flinching like that was a big tell.

    "Well, whenever you called me after the g, you seemed nervous. You have always liked to keep some boundaries. To go slow and steady. Yet now you are offering me to sleep here and sharing all this stuff. Sounds..."

    "Desperate?" Shepleted the phrase for him.

    "No. I was going to say: ¡¯out of character¡¯."

    "Oh." Phloria blushed up to her ears. She wished for the ground to swallow her whole, but the carpet remained still.

    She walked to her bed, sitting on it before answering with a sad voice.

    "Yes, I¡¯m jealous. I don¡¯t think I canpete with the Marchioness¡¯ daughter." Phloria¡¯s fears had gone through the roof when Jirni had pressed her to visit him during thest days of winter, instead of nagging her about her studies as usual.

    "She¡¯s better than me under every aspect. She¡¯s very beautiful, moves and speaks like ady. I¡¯m just a clumsy giantesspared to her." Her eyes fell on her chest area, closing the speech with an unspokenparison.

    "Since when it¡¯s a challenge?" Lith scoffed.

    "Do you think I have a little book where I assign all the girls I know points or something? That I score them ording to some standards? How shallow do you think I am?"

    "Wait, did you say all the girls? As in there¡¯s more?" Phloria was dumbfounded.

    "Of course, there are. Ever since the rankings came out, all the girls of marrying age of my vige have been parading in front of me every time I left my house. I keep getting invitations from small and medium importance nobles of the Lustria county.

    "Most of them I didn¡¯t even know they existed. To be honest, I expect to receive the same attention from our female schoolmates Yurial didst year, if not even worse. Because now he is publicly engaged, while I am just ¡¯an ignorant fool¡¯.

    "I expect them to think of me as a limitless letter of credit. I¡¯m not stupid or arrogant enough to believe I¡¯ve suddenly turned into a beautiful swan. They are all just gold diggers."

    Lith sat on the bed beside her.

    "Brinja is not different from them. Even after I saved her life, she never considered me nothing more than a brat with a re. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have waited for so long before making a move.

    "She probably heard about me from her mother and got curious. You are the only person I met since I joined the academy that looked at me as a person, instead of an asset. Even before we started dating, you sought mypany and advice.

    "You have shared with me your everyday problems, the quarrels with your mother, and even your dreams for the future." Lith swept the hair that was covering Phloria¡¯s face before starting to caress her cheek.

    "I wouldn¡¯t have ever epted to go out with you otherwise. Not even if you were the most beautiful girl in the world."

    "Are you saying I am not?" Phloria had suddenly found her spunk back, hitting him with a cushion.

    "Your words, not mine, remember?"

    The mood while they walked toward the fifth year Lecture Hall waspletely different from before. Phloria hummed the whole time, without forcing herself to be clingy or flirty.

    Not even when several girls looked at him like they saw Lith for the first time, giggling and trying to strike up a conversation with him managed to ruin her high spirits.

    Especially because he dismissed them every time with a growl. Lith had no time to waste in pleasantries and hated leeches ever since his time on Earth. He still vividly remembered all those that thought him being parentless was "cool", who had attempted to make him waste his hard earned money for their own gain.

    The Lecture Hall was identical to the fourth year one, but even with all the students attending the firstpulsory lesson more than half the seats were empty.

    When the second gong rang, Headmaster Linjos entered the room, closely followed by Professor Farg.

    "Wee back, my dear students." Linjos¡¯s face was still long and unattractive, but he seemed to have turned into a different man. His gaze was hard as steel, any trace of his previous optimistic disposition was gone.

    Despite the Headmaster was just in histe twenties, his chestnut hair had partly turned white,plimenting the shades of silver he was gifted with and giving him an even colder look.

    There was no joy in his voice as he spoke, only determination mixed with something that Lith recognized as slithering rage. Linjos¡¯s expression could only be described as feral. Usually the Headmaster¡¯s sharp features and aquiline nose contrasted with his kind nature, while now they gave him a ferocious appearance.

    "Since lesson time has already started, I¡¯ll go straight to the point. The past year has been a nightmare, partly because bad things happen and partly because of some of the students and their parents."

    A few youths stood up in outrage, but before they could even open their mouth they were forced back to sit with a thud, unable to say a word. Linjos had used no spell or array.

    He only needed to let out part of his magical aura to overwhelm with his killing intent all those who had attempted to interrupt him. The power released by the Headmaster was so strong that everyone present who didn¡¯t attend abat specialization or wasn¡¯t part of Lith¡¯s group found themselves shivering in fear.

    "So many troubles could have been avoided if some of you had the decency to leave politics outside the castle walls. So many would be still alive if not for blind pride and stupid prejudice tainting young minds like poison.

    "Most of the perpetrators have been arrested at this point, others I have just expelled. This is my academy, after all, I don¡¯t need to justify myself to you or anyone else for that matter. Since I believe we still have some snakes in the grass, this message is for them.

    The party is over." With a snap of his finger, Linjos made a Guilty Ballot appear in front of every student.

    "To use it or not is up to you, but I strongly believe it¡¯s better to have it and not need it rather than to not have it and need it. Now imprint it with your mana."

    A few students stood up again. This time Linjos did nothing to stop them.

 Chapter 271 New Start Part 2

    "That¡¯s ridiculous!" Said a fifteen year old girl with blonde hair.

    "Only weaklings need a Coward¡¯s End." When she handed it to Linjos, others followed her lead.

    "I¡¯ll take the Ballot and your uniform back, youngdy." Linjos extended his arm grabbing the magical stone.

    "Because defying a direct order from your Headmaster is more than enough to get you expelled. I¡¯m sure that, not being a weakling, you¡¯ll have no problem finding another academy taking you in. You¡¯ll only have to wait one year."

    "You can¡¯t do..." The girl¡¯s voice faded away when Linjos bent down to look her in the eye while releasing his killing intent again.

    "I can and I will. Who wants to get expelled can give me the Ballot." No one stepped forward.

    "Good, now imprint it." Everyone obeyed without hesitation.

    "Minus five hundred points to all those who disobeyed my order."

    "But..." Another girl managed to stutter despite the Headmaster¡¯s imposing presence.

    "... we didn¡¯t say anything! That was her idea." The thought of losing right off the bat more points than acing an exam would provide was enough to make the unruly students try to push the me on their previous leader.

    "You have chosen your leader, hence you¡¯ll follow her in defeat as in victory. Minus two hundred more points to all of you for further questioning my judgment. The ss is yours, Professor Farg."

    Linjos left the ss while most of the rebels realized that their magical equipment had been forcefully turned off. They wouldn¡¯t be able to ess to any dimensional item until they had gained back enough points.

    The girl and her followers were weeping because of the humiliation they had just endured when Farg sent them back to their seats.

    "The Headmaster¡¯s speech fits perfectly in today¡¯s lesson. I am not going to teach you about fancy spells or techniques to y monsters. Today¡¯s subject is the life outside thefort of your homes, something that every mage sooner orter needs to face.

    "Some of youe from small viges and know nothing about the outside world." Her gaze lingered for a second on Lith and Quy, sitting in the front desks. Contrary to Lith¡¯s expectation no one had a goodugh at his expenses.

    Linjos was gone, but the fear still lingered in the Lecture Hall.

    "Otherse from noble households and know nothing at all. All of youck the knowledge necessary for surviving in the real world. Money can¡¯t fix all of your problems. No matter how strong you are or how much influential you consider your family to be.

    "A rogue can kill any of you just for your pocket money. If you happen to mess with a wandering wizard, they will destroy you before disappearing as fast as they arrived. To thrive, society needs order. Order breeds only from thew and the respect that all of you need to show for it.

    "The first topic we will talk about it¡¯s the difference between the Mage Association and the Mercenary Guild. In some other countries they are known as adventurer guilds, but we of the Griffon Kingdom like to call things with their proper name.

    "An ¡¯adventurer¡¯..." Farg¡¯s voice was filled with disgust, her tongue clicked every time she spoke the word adventurer.

    "... it¡¯s nothing more than a mercenary that names themselves in a fancy way. Mercenaries can be recruited to do almost anything. Kill monsters or magical beasts, clean dungeons, retrieve stolen property. They can even act as personal bodyguards for whoever can afford their services.

    "The only tasks they can¡¯t undertake are those forbidden byw or those that are strictly prerogative of the army or the Mage Association. To ept any kind of job is necessary to join a Guild. They vouch for their employees and take full responsibility for their faults.

    "That¡¯s why a Guild is entitled to receive a fair share of your ie. Forget all those tales about guilds being nothing more than a board from which the brave pick up quests.

    "Their rules are strict since their lives are on the line together with your reputation. A Guild that is found guilty of hosting criminals among their ranks gets disbanded, its Guildmaster charged with the same crimes their underlingsmitted.

    "So, if you ever want to join one, expect a full background check and a lot of personal questions. Those who fail to answer properly get ck listed after the first attempt, losing the chance to join any other Guilds as well.

    "The Mage Association has fewer responsibilities towards its members but has even more strict rules. The Association is the link between the Kingdom and the practitioners of the mystical arts. If you want to get a title,nds, anything from the Griffon Kingdom, you need to join the Association first.

    "Having attended an academy makes things easier, but getting epted is rarely automatic, unless you have already provided a service to our Country. Just like the Guild, the Association allows you to take on assignments, but you don¡¯t get paid with money for them. Only with merits.

    "The moment you ept your task, you are representing the Griffon Kingdom and the Crown alike. Failure is an option, no one will me you if you are forced to retreat or decide you are not up to the task. Making a mess and giving mages a bad name, however is not.

    "The Association is also in charge of persecuting traitorous mages and hunting down those who abuse their powers. Killing an ouw mage is worth much more merits than saving a vige or capturing bandits.

    "We magic users are the Kingdom¡¯s backbone, but also its potential worst enemy. That¡¯s why rotten apples have to be taken out in a fast and efficient manner. Those who specialize in killing their fellow mages are called Spellbreakers and receive the highest honors.

    "Being part of the Association is not a right, is a privilege. Its authority will shield you wherever you are, a simple call will provide you backup when in a pinch or make whole medium importance noble families disappear in a single night.

    "It¡¯s possible to join a Guild and the Association both, but it¡¯s something that¡¯s frowned upon and will cripple your reputation. A mercenary can have as many masters they want to. Money can buy their services, if not even their loyalty.

    "A mage in the Association only serves the Crown and themselves. Any more is considered a crowd, making them unreliable. It¡¯s through your merits that a mage can be recognized as a Great Mage, an Archmage, or even a Magus.

    Those are not just empty titles. They define the depth of your loyalty to the Kingdom and how much your Country values you for it. Spending merits will never affect your status, only your actions will.

    "Merits are more valuable than money for a mage, since they can be exchanged for noble titles and the annuities thate with the role, for ess to the Vaults of Knowledge, that hold the most prized magical legacies of the Griffon Kingdom.

    "During the Code of Practice course, you will not have to study the rules and regtions of the Kingdom or the Association. You will live them, in the roles of civil servants and probatory members of the Mage Association. Prepare to get your hands dirty.

 Chapter 272 Codex Part 1

    Professor Farg then exined how students would spend some time outside the academy walls, simrly to what Lith had already done during the fourth year for his Healer specialization.

    The main difference was that they wouldn¡¯t be employed only ording to their specialization. The students would cover all the possible aspects of a mage¡¯s daily activities, acting as guards, firemen, healers, or simply helping the Association to deal with the paperwork.

    "The dirtied hand teaches the best. Remember, only monsters thrive in chaos, using their powers to satisfy their base instincts. Soldiers, nobles, mages, even the Crown itself, we are all servants of the Kingdom.

    "Achieving a higher power means much more than just the ability to yell orders. Ites with an increasing burden and responsibilities. It¡¯s only by properly carrying on your duty that yournds will develop and so will the Kingdom.

    "Think about it before your first assignment. ss dismissed."

    While the other students discussed what they had just heard, Lith observed the impact Farg¡¯s words had on his peers. With her charisma, she had made those of humble origins, like Quy, feel they had a calling in life.

    That they had the power and the duty to protect those who couldn¡¯t defend themselves.

    Watching the tense expressions of the arrogant nobles who earlier had opposed to Linjos, Lith could see how they now felt insecure. They were afraid countless eyes were watching their families.

    After listening to Farg¡¯s speech, they imagined that it was only a matter of time before their crimes were exposed, threatening the lifestyle that they had always taken for granted.

    From their whispers, Lith could hear from their words that for the first time in their lives they were afraid of the consequences of their actions.

    Those like Yurial and Phloria, were either depressed or excited instead. They had prepared for a life of duty since they were little. The Code of Practice course meanting another step closer to their adult life.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t misjudge Farg at our first meeting.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯She is a natural born leader, capable of inspiring those around her, making them strive to be better persons. The problem is that the effect she has on people is bound to be only temporary.

    ¡¯Once they have a moment to think, without the presence of a leader to guide them, they will soon fall back in their old habits and insecurities. No one bes a better person just because of some fancy words, neither justice bes more efficient.

    ¡¯I wonder how long will it take, especially for those of humble origins, to be corrupted by their newfound powers and authority once they get out of the academy. I know very well how intoxicating is the freedom to get back at those you hate without the fear of consequences.

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t matter if they now believe to have the moral high ground. Once they realize they are giants in a world full of ants no one cares about, they¡¯ll show their true nature.

    ¡¯Talk is cheap, everyone is righteous until they have the opportunity to take what their heart wants and get away with it.¡¯

    Solus was a bit worried about him. After seeing how the vigers of Lutia had impoverished their neighbors for their own gain, how petty were the people of Earth and Mogar both with all those who were one bit less fortunate than them, she knew he wasn¡¯t wrong.

    Yet she considered his vision twisted by his own baggage and distrustfulness. Solus considered herself lucky for having met Lith and him for finding friends despite the academy¡¯s harsh environment.

    They were the living proof that there were good people in the world.

    The following lesson was also a mandatory one, so they only had to wait for the next Professor to arrive. When the gong resounded again, Professor Nalear entered the ssroom.

    She looked even prettier than before, all that rest had done her some good. Lith felt nothing in his heart while watching her walk to the center of the Hall. He waspletely over his childish unstable core induced crush for Nalear.

    "Good morning dear students. It¡¯s a pleasure to see you again. Believe me, after being bedridden for months, being able to walk again feels out of this world. In case some of you were wondering about it, your Professors from the fourth year have moved to the fifth floor as well.

    "The staff follows this rotation so those that have nurtured you can keep following your progress, making the transition to the new subjects easier since we already know your strong and weak points.

    "Our subject this time is Magic Creation. As you know, every real mage must be able to create their own spells. Some of you already have some customized incantations and know how hard it is to create something from scratch."

    The ssroom nodded in unison. Most of their personal spells were nothing more than modified versions of standard spells. At their level, creating something new implied a lot of trial and error.

    One of the reasons Lith managed to score so many points every trimester was that he was the only one that seemed to be able to create new spells with ease. The truth was different, though. He only developed true magic spells.

    The words and the hand signs he used were just gibberish.

    "Magic Creation is another of those subjects exclusive to the six great academies. No mage thates from minor institutions knows about it. Even speaking about it outside the walls of an academy is considered an act of treason.

    "What I am going to teach you over the course of the lessons, is how to more easily create new spells for each element. There¡¯s no way we can cover everything in a single trimester, so beware. Magic Creation willst for the whole year.

    "I¡¯m going to cover only for the basics, everything else rests on your shoulder. You¡¯ll also need what we do here for your specializations. After the first exam, you¡¯ll learn how to devise moreplex and specific spells directly from the Professors of the other subjects you attend.

    Do not ck off. If you fail with me, you are bound to fail in every single course."

    The ss sweat bullets at those words, watching at Lith with envy. Everyone considered him having an unfair advantage. Too bad they werepletely off the mark.

    Lith was sweating even more than them.

    ¡¯Oh, sh*t! Let¡¯s hope she doesn¡¯t call me as a volunteer to exin stuff, or I¡¯ll be in hot waters. The only silver lining is that I can fake my way out. She¡¯ll surely request for simple spells that I can easily counterfeit with true magic.¡¯

    "Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll start with something simple." Nalear said taking the words out of his mind.

    "First, you need to learn how to crawl, then how to walk, and finally how to run. Second, I¡¯ll assign each of you a different spell to create. Otherwise one of you will do all the work and the others will just leech it.

    "Third, to pass this course you¡¯ll need to share with me your final product, so that I can evaluate both your talent and effort. What¡¯s required from you is to not only devise working spells, but also the most effective ones possible.

 Chapter 273 Codex Part 2

    "Among the spells of the same tier, those that require few words and simple signs are considered much more valuable. On the other hand, long and convoluted ones will get you a C at best."

    ¡¯Me and my big mind mouth.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at himself.

    ¡¯That takes faking out spells off the table.¡¯

    ¡¯Don¡¯t be a sourpuss. Everyone else will have to work on their own, while you have me.¡¯ Solus cheered him up.

    ¡¯That¡¯s true. I¡¯m confident that the two of us can understand almost everything about magic.¡¯ Lith mind nodded.

    ¡¯The only problem is that knowing is not doing. I hope this isn¡¯t as hard as dimensional magic.¡¯

    "First of all, it¡¯s better if I give you the textbook." Nalear tapped her foot, making a small booklet appear on each student¡¯s desk.

    "That¡¯s a Codex. As you already know, a spell isposed of two parts: the magical words and hand signs. Magical words define the element the spell is based on, it¡¯s shape and properties. Hand signs are necessary to regte the mana output and adjusting its effects instead.

    "The book I just gave you will help you with the words part. It contains all the mostmon prefix and suffix to alter first magic, plus the standard words that cause specific effects.

    "Let¡¯s make an example. Infiro is the magical word for fire, Men means three, and Tach means explosion. Hence an Infiro Men Tach is supposed to cause three fire based explosions.

    "It¡¯s not actually that simple, but this is just a theoretical lesson, you only need to get the gist of it." Nalear shrugged lightly.

    "Nowes the hard part, finding the correct hand signs. Unlike words, there is no recording of them. Two people can create the same spell, yet use different words and signs.

    "Hand signs are strongly dependant on the imagination and willpower of the mage devising the spell. While once an incantation isplete anyone can learn it, during the creation process some signs will feel wrong to some mages, correct to others, andcking to many.

    "Everything you have learned during the fourth year, even dimensional magic, it was all propaedeutic to this moment. You needed to go past the boundaries of the first three tiers of magic to develop your mana perception.

    "During all the exercises you have made, you have learned to control the mana flow with your will and to alter its properties. Without such solid foundations, creating even the simplest spell would require weeks, if not months of stumbling in the dark.

    "Let¡¯s get back to our example. Infiro Men Tach it¡¯s a fire spell, so I¡¯ll start using the hand sign for first fire magic." Nalear drew a small circle in the air with her index finger.

    "Once you have a perfect pronunciation of the words, what you have to do is to focus only on your hands and your own mana flow. Say the words, draw the fire sign, then keep moving your hands. If you feel the flow continues, which will rarely happen at the first attempt, then you are on your way.

    "If you feel it stuttering or being blocked, then you are doing something wrong. As soon as it happens, stop and go back to square one until you find the next sequence of movements. I know it may sound like just a random process, but it¡¯s not.

    "At first, it will not seem so different from what you tried on your own in the past, but with a little practice, you will be able to understand what¡¯s the right sequence of movements by instinct.

    "Creating a spell from the first three tiers will take only a few days, while tier four or five ones may require weeks if not months. Let¡¯s ask our resident expert."

    ¡¯Schr?dinger¡¯s cat, here we go.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed.

    "Quy, Professor Vastor tells me you have a wonderful diagnostic spell. Do you mind sharing with the ss what tier it is and how long did it take for you to create it?"

    Quy quickly straightened her slouched posture before answering the Professor.

    "Tier three. As for the creation time, it¡¯s hard to say. The first version took me years of practice, but after joining the academy I realize it was stillcking." She threw a short look at Lith.

    "I keep perfecting it every time I improve or I learn something new. It¡¯s a work in progress." Previously having so many eyes on her would have been embarrassing for Quy, but after months of Jirni¡¯s lessons, her voice was clear and steady.

    "Do you see it, guys?" Nalear gave her a small apuse, followed by the rest of the ssroom.

    "Years for a tier three. I¡¯m not trying to belittle her talent or efforts, just highlighting how hard it was for her. What about the spell you used during the second exam?" Nalear was referring to Quy¡¯s ice spell that was very simr to Lith¡¯s Checkmate Spears.

    "Tier three too, but it only took me a few months to make it." Quy suddenly realized Professor Nalear¡¯s point in questioning her.

    "Exactly." The Professor nodded at her. "Because I have taught you how to manipte your mana flow, while Professor Rudd gave you the necessary practice to alter it at will."

    "Professor, what about those like me who failed at dimensional magic? Can we also sessfully create spells, or are we bound to be second rate magicians like Professor Rudd says?" Said a boy, clenching his fists hard under the desk.

    More than half the ss had flunked it, managing to graduate only because dimensional magic was considered an optional subject. Yet it had impacted their final score, causing them to be ssified as B++ magicians at best.

    They couldn¡¯t help but feel inferior to the upper percentile of the ss. They also considered the boy very brave for having the guts to say out loud what every one of them was thinking.

    "Good gods, that man is a monster." Professor Nalear was saddened by theck of self confidence she perceived in most of the students.

    "Yes, you can create spells, maybe even faster than those who seeded in dimensional magic. Albeit they are rted, they are still two different talents. Dimensional magic requires Exacasting, a very strong mana perception, and maniption skills.

    "Failing at it now doesn¡¯t make you lesser mages. You can keep practicing it on your own and learn it like anyone else. Most mages need years to master dimensional magic."

    "What about you, Professor?" The boy asked.

    "How long did it take you to learn dimensional magic?"

    Nalear bit her lower lip, struggling before answering.

    "I learned it during my academy years." She would have liked to lie about it, to reassure them about their future. However, the records were public, making the truth easy to be discovered. Nalear had graduated first of her year, ranked as an A++ mage.

    So she preferred to be honest, rather than give them false hope only to lose their trust in return.

    Most of the ss sighed in despair. Professor Rudd¡¯s voice kept echoing in their heads, making Nalear sound just like a mother that was trying tofort her children with white lies.

 Chapter 274 Body Sculpting Part 1

    During lunch, the members of Lith¡¯s group were hyped at the idea of Nalear¡¯s new subject. The only exception was Lith himself.

    ¡¯I really don¡¯t care about learning how to wave new fake magic spells. It¡¯s a chore and a bore. I¡¯m already able to cook up new spells with true magic in a matter of days, hours if it¡¯s something I¡¯m familiar with.¡¯ He inwardly grumbled.

    ¡¯So far, the fifth year is a let-down. Farg¡¯s course is useless too. I never didmunity service nor do I n to work my a*s for free. This is just childbor!¡¯

    ¡¯Well this is an academy for young adults, what do you expect? Also, do I have to remind you that despite your constant pessimism each subject we attended has either given us new ideas or helped to expand our horizons?¡¯ Solus said.

    Thinking back at the Necromancy ss, Lith was forced to admit she was right.

    Solus wanted to be supportive, yet her greatest temptation was to tell him to stop whining and enjoy thepany of his friends.

    The winter break had shown them how despite their bond, noble families were as busy as Lith, if not even more. They had called each other often, but aside for the G and Lith¡¯s birthday, the group had never managed to meet.

    ¡¯They have only so much time together, yet Lith doesn¡¯t seem to realize how quickly a year pass. I¡¯d like for him to make happy memories rather than waste time grumbling.¡¯ She thought.

    "I must say, so far the fifth year seems more exciting than the fourth one." Yurial was back being his old self. There were no bags under his eyes anymore, he smiled most of the time and had regained some of the lost weight.

    After the g, Yurial had discovered that it was enough to pretend to call Lith to get rid of his fianc¨¦e for several hours. To make things even better, he had asked one of his private tutors to teach him how to emit killing intent.

    Despite being a mage, it was something he had never learned to do it. On Mogar, all living being possessed mana. Emitting it was an involuntary act, just like breathing or perspiring.

    Intense emotions lead to an increase in the mana emitted. That, together with an aggressive disposition inflicted a mental pressure on those who were exposed to it, causing fear, panic, or even terror.

    The phenomenon was simply referred as killing intent. It wasn¡¯t necessary to be a mage to emit killing intent. As long one had mana, they could employ it. Even animals were capable of using it to scare their prey or threaten their enemies.

    Being a mage made things easier, since by possessingrge amounts of mana it was possible to amplify its effects. It was the way killing intent was used by calm people like Linjos.

    Another method was to develop the ability to channel one¡¯s fury into the mana. It required to train the mind, allowing people like Jirni Ernas to scare even powerful mages despite her naturalck of magical talent.

    Then, there were people like Lith, that had plenty of wrath and mana of their own. Ever since he and Solus had met, it had been her task to suppress Lith¡¯s mana fluctuations until he became capable of doing it on his own.

    Otherwise, after he gained a green core, any animal or human in his presence would feel like amb in front of a ughterhouse.

    Yurial had lots of mana but little aggressiveness in him. His life had been stressful but pampered. Since he was a child, everyone had treated him with care and respect. Being gifted with a calm and collected nature, anger was something that rarely affected Yurial¡¯s judgment.

    At least until he had been forced to spend so much time with Libea. His instructor was a battle veteran. He had no trouble teaching Yurial how to use his gifts to put an end to their constant squabbles.

    ¡¯It may be unfair on my side to use killing intent to shut her up, but it¡¯s much better than being forced to listen to her every day.¡¯ Yurial considered it justification enough to quench his guilty conscience.

    "I don¡¯t have a single spell that doesn¡¯te from textbooks or from my mentor. Between my duties as the heir of the Deirus Household and the academy, it¡¯s already a miracle for me to keep up with all the homework they assign to us.

    I can¡¯t wait to create something that I can call my own. I already have several ideas in mind.

    Even Professor Farg¡¯s subject piqued my interest. Community service might sound boring, but I think it will be a great experience. I never set foot out of the high end residential areas.

    It¡¯s a golden opportunity to connect with the people of the Kingdom and understand their needs."

    "I can tell you what they need." Quy was pissed off at him.

    "They want tasty food, warm clothes, and some real justice. How do you expect to be a good ruler if you talk aboutmoners like they are some exotic animals you need to take care of? Do you have any idea how cold a winter can get? How many people starve every day?"

    Quy was usually so calm that seeing her angry was almost scary.

    "She is right, Yurial." Phloria yed with the food on her te.

    "I think Code of Practice is mostly aimed at us nobles as an eye-opener. Farg is right when she says we know nothing. I believe its purpose is to make us realize there is no easy solution to the Kingdom¡¯s problems." Visiting Lith¡¯s house had been almost a shock to her.

    Even after all the renovations and improvements thanks to Lith¡¯s hard work, it was still worse than the servants¡¯ quarters at house Ernas.

    When he had shown her the nearby vige, Phloria had found it to be so small and dirty to make her heart tighten. After hearing Lith¡¯s stories about the farmers¡¯ harsh life, learning how even getting medical care was a luxury for them, she had felt guilty for days for having such a blessed life.

    Friya shared Yurial¡¯s enthusiasm, but nodded at Phloria¡¯s words. She had never visited Quy¡¯s vige, yet all the stories about her previous life before she was adopted by the Ernas were enough to give Friya nightmares.

    After lunch, they headed towards the Light magic department for their first lesson of the Healer specialization. Lith was really eager to discover what kind of subject they would practice during the final year.

    They were already capable of healing all injuries and amputations. That left very little outside their reach.

    "Wee back, my dear students." Professor Vastor hadn¡¯t changed one bit. He still looked like someone had attempted to fuse together an egg and a man.

    The top of his head waspletely bald, the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar mustaches. Vastor¡¯s belly was so big that it made hard to guess if he wasrger than tall.

    "It seems I was a bit too pessimisticst year, saying that only a third of you would make it to graduation." He said while twirling his mustaches.

    "Anyway, the lesser the merrier. Now that we got rid of the dead weight our lessons will surely go smoother." Of the thirty-four students that had joined the healer specialization on the fourth year, only sixteen remained.

 Chapter 275 Body Sculpting Part 2

    "Just like the previous year, we are going to spend the first two trimesters on a single but wide subject, while during the third one you¡¯ll get real practice in the field. This time as lead healers in the most important hospitals of the Kingdom.

    "What I am about to introduce to you today, is thest branch of healing magic you need to master before achieving the privilege and the honor of being considered full fledged healers.

    "Tier one to three have taught you to mend broken bones and to heal injuries. Tier four how to rece lost limbs and organs. Yet there is still a case we haven¡¯t explored.

    "What if our patient never had a limb to start with? What if they were born with a deformity or a defective organ?" He asked while walking around the ss.

    "Are we helpless in front of such eventuality? The answer is no. There is nothing that a true healer cannot fix. Only death is beyond our reach, at least for now." Vastor dered with a proud look in his eyes.

    "The first four tiers of magic arepletely useless against natural deformities simply because there is nothing wrong in the first ce. You can¡¯t heal a man born blind because it¡¯s his natural status.

    "Even if his eyes were to be gouged and regrown, they would still be blind. Tier four magic simply gives the body the means to revert to its original status. Nothing more, nothing less.

    "Tier five Light magic brings in something that we have often mentioned but never worked on. The study of the life force. During the first trimester I¡¯ll teach you how to sense your own life force and how to use it to manipte other people¡¯s life force to give them a normal life."

    The ss murmured, for all of them life force was a vague concept. They had learned how to share it with the patients, allowing them to survive critical wounds and major procedures, but nothing more.

    "That¡¯s only the first step, though. Once you learn how to control the life forcees the real deal. Let¡¯s suppose our patient is born with a deformed arm. It¡¯s the easiest case you¡¯ll ever face.

    "Two-bit healers will approach the problem by amputating the arm, to regenerate it in the correct shape. It works, yes. The arm will be perfectly functional, but that¡¯s a butcher execution that will teach you nothing and endangers the patient¡¯s life.

    "A real Healer uses aplex mix of light and darkness magic to perform what is called ¡¯Body Sculpting¡¯. Mastering the life force means you can find the dissonances in its flow and correct them ordingly.

    "Darkness magic is used to remove the excess parts or to clear the way, so that light magic can start the healing process while the mage teaches the body its new form, permanently altering its natural state.

    "That way, if the arm gets damaged or maimed, healing magic will restore it without the need of using Body Sculpting. I want you to understand the deep implications of altering someone forever.

    "Our physical appearance is something that defines us, or at least affects how others perceive us. Body sculpting is still a highly controversial ethical matter. Some worry it can be used to turn a human being into something else.

    "That through human experimentation it could breed all sorts of hybrids. Such concerns I can understand, but it¡¯s something for the Crown to regte not for us mages to care about.

    "Some radical fools say that it breaches the boundaries the gods have set for humans. I say that¡¯s bogus.

    "When the Crown passed a bill that forces those who oppose to Body Sculpting because it¡¯s ¡¯unnatural¡¯ to give up all magical tools andmodities since they are unnatural too, no one dared to say a word anymore.

    They are just a bunch of hypocrites." Vastor snarled.

    "Another thing that you must know, before learning Body Sculpting, is that like all magic it¡¯s not omnipotent. Along with the hypocrites that would like to ouw Body Sculpting, there are also the quacks that try to abuse it exploiting the insecurities of the rich.

    "In theory, it can be used to change the shape of a nose, to make someone taller, slimmer, or to increase bust size. Quacks demand insane sums, but the results are underwhelming, if not fatal."

    ¡¯Seems stic surgery still has a long way to go here.¡¯ Lith was fascinated by Vastor¡¯s exnation. Body Sculpting sounded a lot like the procedure he had performed on Tista years before.

    "Why fatal?" He asked. "A nose is external and rtively small. Compared to reshaping a whole arm, it should be much easier."

    Lith unconsciously touched his own nose, while the rest of the ss wondered what they would change about their bodies if given the chance.

    "Excellent question." Vastor scratched his short button nose, wishing he could make it more manly.

    "Once you learn to perceive the life force, you¡¯ll notice that everything has a purpose. Our bodies have something I call a voice, for ack of a better term, and you must learn to listen to it before applying the smallest modification.

    "A hand wants to grab, to touch." He said while flexing the fingers of his left hand.

    "A leg wants to walk, a nose wants to breathe, a heart to beat. What about a perfectly functional nose, albeit not easy on the eyes, like mine? If you could listen to my life force, you¡¯d find out that aside from the problems rted to age there¡¯s nothing wrong with me.

    "It means that altering my life force, even just on the nose, would have unpredictable consequences. Make it longer could cause me problems breathing, affecting my ability to cast spells. Bing taller is alluring, sure, but what about the ramifications?

    "Even a few centimeters more imply that all my bones, my organs, everything must be reshaped. There is a reason why powerful mages aren¡¯t all muscr studs or world ss beauties. It¡¯s because the benefits are not worth the risks.

    Healthy organs have a healthy life force, their voice can¡¯t help you. Changing them means you are acting blindly, relying more on luck and wishful thinking than on scientific basis." Vastor took a brief pause, to make sure that his students had a clear understanding of his words.

    "Internal organs are even more tricky. Like all magic above tier three, the procedure requires a full medical team. Unlike regenerating an organ or a limb, the process can¡¯t be performed in one go. Cutting and reshaping take a huge toll on both the healer and the patient, especially if we are working on a vital organ.

    It¡¯s never wise to subject them to too much stress, because ifplications arise, the body may not have the strength to make it through. Even if that¡¯s not the case, it may be necessary to switch the lead healer to allow them to rest.

    Body Sculpting is probably the hardest thing you¡¯ll ever do and also the way you¡¯ll lose most of your patients." Vastor looked down on the ground, his mind couldn¡¯t forget all those he had failed.

    Each death had changed him, making him more cynical and detached. They also had made him a better healer and a better man.

 Chapter 276 White Part 1

    "There are countless things that can go wrong during a Body Sculpting procedure." Professor Vastor continued.

    "I¡¯m not going to lie to you. Despite our best efforts, I expect you to see a few people die before you graduate. Some may die under your hands. It¡¯s going to put you under a lot of pressure, testing your will.

    "Too many times in this job I¡¯ve seen old men live long enough to not even remember who they were, their bodies refusing to give up, while young people not even old enough to marry would die under my care for no apparent reason.

    "Many healers refuse to practice Body Sculpting, either to not affect their reputation with repeated failures or because they cannot take it. Up to tier three, you can still me bad luck. At tier four anything seems possible.

    "Once you reach tier five, you can only me yourself. People will die because you aren¡¯t good enough, aren¡¯t prepared enough, or simply because you have let your pride get the best of you. Never be afraid to tell a patient that it¡¯s better a long but limited life than gambling everything on a maybe.

    "Never hide them the risks of any procedure or make them any promise. The final choice is theirs, but the final burden is yours." Vastor sighed deeply, before resuming his usual confident attitude.

    "Onest thing. Don¡¯t think that once you graduate you are set for life. What we are teaching you are the basics of the basics. The difference between a quack and a real healer is the number of personal spells they develop, how much of yourselves you put into your work.

    That¡¯s why we¡¯ll also cover how to alter, improve, or create from scratch spells.

    The fifth year will make the fourth one look like a walk in the park. ss dismissed."

    After listening to Professor Vastor¡¯s introduction to the subjects of the Healer specialization for the fifth year, the students were gloomy rather than excited. Up to that point, they had always worked in teamsprised of Professors and medical staff.

    They were a safety, boosting the students¡¯ confidence that no matter what happened, things could still be salvaged. Now the rules of the game had changed. Only a few, like Lith and Quy had lost a patient in the past, but no one had ever been responsible for a death.

    The thought was scary and not because most of the students had such a good heart. The reason was that the majority of the patients admitted in the White Griffon hospital were powerful mages or influential figures in the political world.

    Killing amoner was one thing, exining a powerful and well connected family why their loved one wasn¡¯t among them anymore could easily destroy lives. The Healer¡¯s life, to be precise.

    Lith was insensible to such worries. Partly because killing was second nature to him, mostly because lots of people had already died indirectly by his hand. Back at Lutia or during the gue, he could have saved dozens of lives if he had given up his secret and used true magic.

    ¡¯Seems I actually performed tier five light magic twice already. The first time with Tista, the second on mom.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, but you only seeded because of true magic. Tista¡¯s treatment took months since wecked tier four magic, while Elina¡¯s would have gone badly if you acted alone.

    ¡¯I¡¯m really curious to see how much our abilities will improve once we learn how to listen to the life force.¡¯ Solus considered all the fifth year subjects amazing. They had managed to mimic tier five spells despite missing so many pieces of the puzzle. She was eager to see how far they could get after mastering so much knowledge.

    Being the first day, they received no homework. It allowed Lith to go straight to the library and borrow books about the other specializations to copy them. During the fourth year, he and Solus had stockpiled an impressive number of tomes.

    Every time Lith had spent the night practicing a specific spell, Solus would use that time to make copies. The information amassed in Soluspedia gave Lith an edge while studying most of the magic rted problems.

    Even if his understanding of the basics of each specialization was shallow, he could analyze each situation from different angles to find the best possible approach.

    Lith decided to keep up the pace, using the time before dinner to work together with Solus andplete the first batch of copies. They could only borrow three books at a time and needed to return them before getting new ones.

    Since they used water magic to control the ink, each page took barely a few seconds to be reproduced. The problem was that each book wasposed of hundreds of pages. They worked on a different book each to make things faster.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t you think it would be better to spend this time with your friends? Or at least with Phloria? You two only saw each other twice in thest three months.¡¯ Solus liked to be alone with Lith, yet since having a full free afternoon was a rare event, she would have preferred for him to socialize.

    During winter, at night or whenever his family was away and he wasn¡¯t busy with clients, Lith had already spent countless hours studying and researching magic inside the tower. After his speech in Phloria¡¯s room, she had hoped Lith would be more considerate, instead of having her making the first move as usual.

    ¡¯No.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯This is a perfect opportunity to get some job done. If we manage to finish the three books early, we can visit them before dinner or spend the evening together. If we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll have to pull an all nighter, even if I¡¯d prefer to sleep.

    ¡¯I want to be at my peak condition for the first practical lesson of the Healer specialization. Besides, we still have to receive this trimester¡¯s books. The clerk should be here any minute.¡¯

    He could feel Solus¡¯s disappointment, so he rushed to add.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not like we are hiding. If they have nothing better to do, they¡¯lle visit us.¡¯

    Lith had barelypleted the thought when they heard someone knocking on their door.

    ¡¯See? This must be the clerk. Good thing we are here, otherwise we would have missed them and be forced to go fetch our package from the secretariat.¡¯

    ¡¯I bet this is Phloria. I hope she gives you a good scolding before dragging you somewhere nice for a date.¡¯ Solus cheated, using her mana sense through the door. Their guest had a bright cyan core and was very tall.

    It was unlikely for a clerk to be so powerful, while Phloria fitted the bill.

    They were both wrong. When Lith opened the door, he found Wil Ironhelm, the Professor in charge of the Battle Mage specialization, staring at him with an impatient look.

    "Good evening, Lith. Mind if Ie in?"

    Lith was quite surprised. It was the first time a Professor came to his room and Ironhelm was thest one he would have ever expected paying him a visit. After Lith let him in, Ironhelm handed him a piece of paper containing a list of jobs.

 Chapter 277 White Part 2

    "Those are your avable choices for the Code of Practice course." Ironhelm exined.

    You start tomorrow and we need to know where do you want to be assigned. The rules are simple. Each day you have to pick a different duty.

    "No repetitions allowed until the start of the following week. The Headmaster wants the students to acquire experience in as many fields as possible before graduating. I¡¯m here to answer any question you may have and to offer you guidance."

    Lith read quickly the list, noticing that each job was listed along with the maximum number of points the student could be awarded ording to their performance. The jobs ranged from clerk for the Mage Association to patrolman.

    "Why working as a Healer is not an option?" Lith found odd not being given the opportunity.

    "Because it would be overkill. Like all students with a practical specialization, you are already scheduled to spend a good part of the third trimester working in the field. Code of Practice gives you the possibility to try out things that you normally wouldn¡¯t do." Ironhelm exined.

    Lith nodded, simply selecting for the rest of the week the jobs granting the highest number of points in descending order. Ironhelm furrowed his brows, most of Lith¡¯s choices were identical to those of his colleagues.

    Being thest year, everyone was eager to score the maximum number of points, no matter what. Yet very few had selected the first job on the list.

    "Are you sure about this?" Ironhelm asked.

    "Yes, I am. Is there any problem?"

    "Kid, I understand you are in the top three and want to keep it that way, but maybe you should rethink your choice. This is the real deal. I know that Linjos kept you safe until now, be it in the forest or during the house calls.

    "However, the Headmaster is only a man, he cannot guarantee your safety at all times. What good would points do you if you die?"

    "If it¡¯s so dangerous why is it avable?" Lith didn¡¯t budge, merely raising an eyebrow in annoyance.

    "Because we didn¡¯t make this list, the Crown did. Academies are simply tasked with providing assistance, the final choice belongs to the student." Ironhelm scoffed.

    "Thanks for your concern, but I have made up my mind."

    Ironhelm shook his head. There were several things he would have liked to say, yet he remained silent. After inputting Lith¡¯s choices in hismunication amulet, the Professor left the room.

    ¡¯Are you sure about this?¡¯ Solus asked. ¡¯What about our n of being low key?¡¯

    ¡¯Toote for that. This is the final year, holding back is useless. I need to stand out as much as possible to acquire what I need and guarantee the safety of my family even during my absence. Besides, the Crown already knows about me.

    ¡¯During thest year, I¡¯ve spoken with the Royals more often than most nobles do during their whole lives. I have allies in the army, in the Queen¡¯s corps as well as in the White Griffon. Before I was a nobody. I had to build up things slowly while now I¡¯m a rising star.

    Even if I sit back and do nothing, a lot of people will try to get back at me for my sess. As I see it, this is our only way out.¡¯

    ***

    The following day, the city of Xenatos.

    Thanks to the Academy¡¯s Warp Gate, Lith crossed hundreds of kilometers in an instant. Arriving at the location of his first day ofmunity service required help from a mage of the local branch of the Association.

    Lith had never been there and time was of the essence.

    ¡¯I still can¡¯t believe we are going to do this.¡¯ Solus sighed.

    ¡¯What do you mean?¡¯ Lithughed in response. ¡¯It¡¯s our first opportunity to face normal human opponents instead of the wackjobs we keep meeting since we entered the White Griffon. Who knows? Maybe working as a member of a tactical team may be interesting.¡¯

    Walking through the Warp Steps, Lith found himself inside an abandoned warehouse. It was a run-down ce, dust and cobwebs covered most of the surfaces. The only clean spot had been arranged as a debriefing room, with wooden chairs and a white board.

    Lith could see the rough sketch of theyout of a building that was drawn on it. He counted three floors and what seemed like a basement.

    Several men and women wearing military looking uniforms were assembled in a circle around the boards, their faces were tense. No one had weapons, but only because each one had a dimensional ring.

    Their clothes were ck in color, with the insignia of the local Lord¡¯s Household on their backs, shoulders, and heart.

    They also wore metal protectors on the forearms, shoulders, and chest. Soluspleted the analysis for him.

    ¡¯Everything they wear is enchanted, but the quality is poor. The clothes are inferior to your old uniform. Only the zones also covered by protectors offer a decent defense.¡¯

    Being used to the Queen¡¯s corps, the Talons, and all the marvels of the academy, Solus had high standards.

    ¡¯What do you expect? This isn¡¯t an elite squad, just a local police force. It must be the standard equipment. I could never afford my Skinwalker armor without the academy¡¯s points. How many mages?¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Good question. All those present have red cores, except the woman on the second chair from the right, who has a green one, and the man on the first chair on the left. He has just a yellow core. She¡¯s probably a mage. Him, I¡¯m not so sure. It depends on the power standards they use.¡¯

    Solus pointed at Lith a woman with chestnut hair in her forties and a ck-haired man around the same age. Everyone in the squad had an expression difficult to decipher.

    More than nervous, they looked like they were there because they had lost a bet.

    "The first saddle has arrived, captain." A rough voice scoffed. Lith saw it belonged to the man with the yellow core, who spat on the ground with a disgusted expression. The woman with the green core red at him for a second but said nothing.

    ¡¯Saddle?¡¯ Solus was baffled.

    ¡¯Probably an insult. I guess they consider students like me dead weight, or worse.¡¯ Lith didn¡¯t like being offended, but he could understand the man¡¯s feelings. Whatever they were about to do was a dangerous job and the police officers would be forced to keep an eye on the students too.

    It would make their work harder and get back in one piece even harder.

    "Nice to meet you, son." The captain offered Lith her hand, which he promptly shook.

    "I¡¯m captain Yerna of the Xenatos police force."

    "I¡¯m..."

    "No names, son. We must judge only the performance, not the household." She said with a stern look.

    "Since you are from the White Griffon, we¡¯ll just call you White. That¡¯s sergeant Khran, my second inmand. Sorry for the cold reception. Today¡¯s task would be a run of the mill, if not for the fact that we are waiting for another student."

    "Two rookies to the same unit?" Lith asked.

    "Yeah, the other one belongs to the Fire griffon." Yerna nodded.

    "Why did they send both of us here? It makes no sense."

    "Thanks for your understanding, White. The problem is there aren¡¯t many missions that students can take part in without endangering themselves or the host team." She sighed.

    "Which is exactly you are doing by being here." Khran stood up, walking toward Lith with a menacing expression.

 Chapter 278 Red Part 1

    "I know that for you nobles your points are much more precious thanmoners¡¯ lives, but I¡¯d like for your Lordship to realize that some of us may note back to their families because of you brats.

    "Captain, instead of wasting our time with niceties, let¡¯s see how much a waste of space he is. What¡¯s your status, Saddle?"

    "I have a girlfriend. Don¡¯t know if she¡¯s the right one, though." Lith pretended to have misunderstood the question. Being obnoxious was a game two could y.

    Seeing Lith¡¯s smug expression, Khran became red from anger. Some of the officersughed at the joke.

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about your love life. I want to know what can you do!"

    Lith took a mental note that no one was defending him. Even the captain did nothing, aside from the asional eye roll.

    "His specializations are Forgemastering..." When Captain Yerna read out loud Lith¡¯s file, multiple groans and the sound of hands pping a forehead or a leg in a fit of rage echoed through the warehouse.

    "That¡¯s great, another one as useful as a third nostril..."

    Yerna ignored Khran, raising her voice to cover the sergeant¡¯s whining.

    "...and Healing. Back in his vige, White was a hunter and a bounty hunter. Last year he survived Balkor¡¯s attack, went toe to toe with a Valor and lived to tell the tale."

    Instead of wasting her time arguing, the Captain had decided to check her trainee¡¯s personal files from her data amulet. It contained an image of his visage to recognize him and all the relevant information for the mission at hand.

    Many heads turned when they heard about the healer part, a few nods followed Lith¡¯s past as a manhunter, and clear disbelief apanied thest sentence.

    "His vige?" Many echoed.

    "Yeah, I¡¯m amoner, not a noble. I¡¯ve worked very hard to get where I am." Since they showed him no respect, Lith was ready to pay them back in kind. His voice was cold while Death Vision showed him a series of gruesome deaths he had no intention of preventing.

    "A healer from the White Griffon sounds nice." Said a brown haired man in his mid-twenties. For Mogar¡¯s standards he was tall and lean, with his 1.74 meters. Like all the men in the unit, he was perfectly shaven.

    "I¡¯m Huren Nacth, nice to meet you. Can you get rid of this scar? Thedies don¡¯t like it." He took Lith¡¯s hand in his own, making the request without a hint of shame.

    "I could, for a price. It will leave you exhausted." Lith was amused by the change of attitude. The scar was long and deep, going from the lower half of the left cheek down along the neck.

    "A healer is damn fine as long as they are trustworthy." Khran spat again.

    "Every kid still attending an academy is a survivor, so there¡¯s no point in bragging about it. As for fighting a Valor, what kind of sick joke is that, Captain?"

    "It¡¯s no joke." The Captain replied.

    Yerna¡¯s words caused a smallmotion. All the unit¡¯s members rushed behind her to read from the hologram projected by the amulet, but it was soon interrupted by the arrival of the second student.

    He was a fifteen year old boy, 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") high with blond hair and deep green eyes. The neer had the build of a soldier, rather than a student. Something in his confident attitude told Lith he had to be ady-killer at his academy.

    The Captain moved to his file, hoping for another pleasant surprise.

    s, the student from the Fire Griffon was a Warden and an Alchemist. His only perk was having received some nondescript military training. Yerna clicked her tongue, turning off the amulet before moving in front of the board.

    "Now that Red is here, let¡¯s wrap this up. Today¡¯s mission is very simple. We have to raid the drug depot of a local gang. It¡¯s a three stories building right in front of this warehouse.

    "Thanks to an informant, we know the disposition of doors and corridors. We¡¯ll split into four teams of five. Two teams will break in respectively from the front and the back door while the other two will secure the perimeter to prevent anyone from escaping."

    She pointed with her finger on the two entry points and then on the position of the windows on the first two floors.

    "ording to our intel, each floor should be lightly guarded. Expect a minimum of five guards but no mages. The organization we are against is notorious for being ruthless. Its men carry Fire Seeds with them and have no hesitation to blow themselves when captured.

    Hence kill first and questionster. We are not taking prisoners."

    Captain Yerna took a deep breath before addressing their guests.

    "Remember that despite our targets do not have magical powers, they are likely to be well armed. Enchanted des need one hit to rip to shreds a light armor and the one wearing it. They could also have Alchemical weapons, so never underestimate them.

    Any questions?"

    Lith raised his hand. Yerna nodded, giving him permission to speak.

    "Do you n on breaking in or for a stealth approach?"

    "Stealth it¡¯s not an option. The doors could have magical traps or rms and we don¡¯t know exactly how many people are inside. If we take it slow we would risk getting surrounded and outnumbered."

    "I can detect and disarm magical contraptions. I¡¯m a Forgemaster." Lith lied. Wanemyre had yet to teach him about those subjects, yet he was confident about seeding thanks to true magic.

    "And I can tell you how many people there are in the building and where they are positioned." Red said with a confident smile. "I¡¯m a Warden and my family specializes in Life Detecting arrays. Speaking about my family, My name is not Red, I¡¯m..."

    "Happy to have you with us, kid." Captain Yerna used one hand to shook Red¡¯s right one and the other to shut his mouth.

    "Today you are Red and you are going to be evaluated based on what you do, not on who your rtives are. Got it?"

    Red nodded with a slightly annoyed look. Only then Yerna took the hand off his mouth.

    "Good. I¡¯m Captain Yerna, yourmanding officer for today. He is Sergeant Khran, my second inmand and he is White."

    Lith and Red were still deciding what to think about each other when Khran handed them a ck uniform and amunicator earpiece each.

    "Wee to the team, kids. There are no Griffons here, only members of this unit. Put on your uniform, so we can separate the good from the bad guys and you avoid getting shot in the back by friendly fire. You can change behind those crates."

    "Thanks, but it¡¯s not necessary." Lith put the uniform inside the blue gemstone at his neck, allowing his clothes to shapeshift into a new form.

    Red took step back from the surprise, while Khran took a wand out of his dimensional ring, pointing it against Lith¡¯s still morphing clothes. Its tip shined with a yellow light, allowing Lith to perceive the fire magic it contained.

    ¡¯Must be the equivalent of Earth¡¯s service weapons.¡¯ Lith thought noticing a small red mana crystal set into the alchemical tool.

    ¡¯Yup.¡¯ Solus confirmed. ¡¯The crystals work as a cartridge. These guys must be good because a wand like that costs a pretty penny.¡¯

 Chapter 279 Red Part 2

    "A Skinwalker armor?" Red was amazed.

    "Your family must be loaded!" He ran behind the crates to change. Red didn¡¯t want to be the one slowing down the team.

    "With the two of you, we can give the stealth approach a try. Change into something less conspicuous, so you can scout the building without drawing the attention."

    A few minutester, Lith was wearing his hunter clothes and studying the front door while pretending to be interested in the merchandise of a food vendor.

    "Don¡¯t try to be a hero. If you are not certain of your findings or don¡¯t feel up to the task just say it." Captain Yerna¡¯s voice sounded in his ear.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t use Life Vision without scaring the cr*p out of the vendor. He still had to find a way to activate it without his eye glowing like small suns. Solus¡¯s mana sense was much more discreet.

    ¡¯The front door is clean. No magic at all, if there is anything it¡¯s mechanical in nature. There are no arrays active, but I can sense something magical and powerful on the third floor.¡¯

    Lith bought some of the food, going into an alley to circle around the building. It was his first time in a slum of a big city. The alley was full of trash, forcing him to dodge rats eating rotten food while he walked.

    Now that he could use Life Vision, Lith detected that aside from the animals the alley was empty. He could see the people inside the building through the wall, and no one seemed to be alert.

    Lith used darkness magic to extend the shadows of the alley. It provided him a cover while he studied the back door from a safe distance. It also masked his glowing eyes, preventing onlookers to notice him.

    "The front entrance is just a regr door." He reported via themunication earpiece.

    "The back door, not so much. It¡¯s reinforced by some kind of earth spell, making it as hard as stone. The lock is booby trapped to turn into a skewer of ice whoever tries to pick it."

    "Damn!" The Captain sounded really worried. "Not as easy as our intel told us. The front door is probably barred, if not even walled. Can you do something about those protections or do we need to abort the mission and request for reinforcements?"

    "Didn¡¯t you read my file, Captain? I¡¯m the reinforcements." Lith grinned.

    After months spent studying the boxes and the countless attempts in breaking their locks without meeting a fiery death, the enchantments in front of him were barely more difficult than beating a monkey at a tic tac toe game.

    "I already finished disarming them while I was talking with you. I counted not less than three people from the windows on the ground floor." With the channel open, Lith could speak but not listen, missing all the gasps and swearing that filled the control room at those words.

    Lith could see several life forces down in the basement. They were too many and too weak to be guards, making him wonder what kind of mess he was walking into.

    ¡¯Either there is a Warp Gate in the basement and they are moving a small army or these guys do not smuggle just drugs.¡¯

    On his way back he kept looking for windows, grates, anything that could give him an excuse to share the knowledge acquired with Life Vision. Lady Luck didn¡¯t smile at him.

    When he made it back to the warehouse, Red had done his part. He was filling the blueprint on the board with red dots ording to his readings.

    "Your intel waspletely off the mark." After listening to Lith¡¯s report he had given his best to impress his teammates as well.

    "The first three floors are almost empty. There are only three people on the first floor, five on the second, and four on the third..." Red stopped abruptly, wiping off a red dot from the board.

    "Three on the third floor. Someone just died. There are also at least twenty people on the underground floor. Are you sure this is really a drug depot?"

    At that point, the Captain was the first to question her superiors¡¯ judgment.

    "Not anymore. I need to call the Headquarters. No matter if the mission gets aborted or not. You both did great and I¡¯ll make sure to write it down in my report."

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe they flunked this so bad. We could have all died in there.¡¯ Yerna thought while conjuring a silence spell to prevent the following conversation to be heard.

    After a quick call with hermanding officer, she was pinching her nose with her eyes closed, trying to contain her anger.

    "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the HQ agrees with us. This could be too big for a small squad, so they are sending reinforcements from the Association in case something goes wrong. They¡¯ll be here in a few minutes.

    "The bad news is that since the hostiles are so few and there is such a high number of potential hostages, prisoners, ves, whatever those people in the basement are, we have been ordered to continue the mission.

    "They say our new objective is to prevent the hostiles from running away or get rid of the prisoners once they found out to be surrounded. The even worst news is that since the two of you have been so useful, you have toe with us."

    ¡¯Still, not a big deal.¡¯ He inwardly sighed. ¡¯The ones on the ground floor were just humans, right Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯Positive. Red cored humans with slightly above average life force. Easy to catch, easy to kill.¡¯ After spending so many years with Lith, Solus had little regard for human life. The only exceptions were those who she believed to be innocent or those she grew fond of.

    "I have two more questions, Captain." Lith raised his hand again.

    "Granted."

    "Red, can you detect arrays? I don¡¯t mean to sound paranoid, but I¡¯d prefer to avoid any more surprises." Lith was cautious of the content of the third floor, from which Solus perceived a powerful force.

    It wasn¡¯t a problem for him since he was already on guard and his partner could warn him on time. What worried Lith was being the sole survivor of whatever threat they could find. It would raise too many questions.

    "Yes. It¡¯s one of the easiest and fastest spells of a Warden." Red nodded.

    "It¡¯s unlikely we¡¯ll find any. A temporary one would imply the presence of a Warden and I can¡¯t imagine a mage wasting their talent with these dregs. A permanent one would cost far more the whole building is worth."

    "The same could be said for the back door." Lith pointed out. "I think..."

    "Wait!" Red cut him short.

    "Another person on the third floor just died and one of the two remaining life forces is fading quickly. What in the gods¡¯ name are they doing there?"

    "Weapons at hand, everyone." Captain Yerna took out a sword and a wand from her dimensional ring.

    "We are about to find out."

 Chapter 280 Roll Out Part one

    "I still have a question, Captain." Orders or not, Lith had no intention of charging blindly. Whatever was happening inside the building was of no relevance to him and so were the people in the basement.

    He was there for the Code of Practice course, the only things that mattered to him were his own safety and the points.

    "Just be quick, White." Captain Yerna snorted. "Red, keep me posted if anything else happens."

    "Since the mission has changed, what are the new conditions to consider it a sess?"

    "Kid, do you think this is some kind of game? People are dying in there!" Lith could understand Khran¡¯s righteous outrage, yet he found it annoying anyway. The Sergeant was amoner, probably of humble origins just like him.

    Unlike Lith, he had dedicated his life to protect the weak.

    ¡¯What an irritating guy, always preaching his own ideas. I had hoped for having left this kind of zealots on Earth.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "So what?" Lith replied. "I took no oath, I¡¯m no policeman nor hero. I¡¯m interested in the mission, not in some nondescript ideal."

    Captain Yerna grabbed Khran by the shoulder to prevent another outburst.

    "We only need to get in and check the condition of those in the basement. If they are hostages releasing them takes priority. If they are soldiers, we can just blow them into oblivion before moving on the rest of the guards. Is it clear, everybody?"

    The unit nodded in unison.

    "Okay, then let¡¯s move. We need to be fast. There is no way to get to the back door unnoticed, so prepare for a warm wee."

    "Actually, there is." Lith waved his hands in the only fake magic he really used. He opened a Warp Steps leading straight into the alley, in thest covered spot before their destination.

    Many people flinched in amazement. For non mages, dimensional magic was something straight out of a fairy tale.

    "Today¡¯s our lucky day, people." Captain Yerna was grinning from ear to ear.

    "Change of ns. My team and Khran¡¯s will take point and assault from the back. The rest of you will remain on standby until we check on the prisoners. On mymand, surround the building. Red, with me."

    The others followed her through the Steps. Each unit wasprised of five people, leaving ten officers in the warehouse to close the perimeter or act as backup in case of need.

    "You really are a d*ck." Khran stopped for a second before stepping through the dimensional corridor.

    "Yet the gods know how much I¡¯d like to have one like you on every mission."

    Once on the other side, the Sergeant conjured a shroud of silence around them before asking Red for an update.

    "Another life force disappeared. Now there¡¯s only one person on the third floor."

    "Damn!" Captain Yerna cursed. She had hoped it was some kind of internal strife, but three deaths in such a short time frame didn¡¯t fit the scenario.

    "What about the guards on the ground floor?"

    Red focused for a second, checking twice just to be sure.

    "There are none right now, but someone ising down from the second floor. One person."

    "Arrays?" Lith asked.

    Red handed to the nearest officer a red mana crystal he was using as a focus. Without it, casting another spell would cause him to lose control of the Life Detecting array.

    "I can sense something on the ground floor. It¡¯s inactive at the moment." The unit inwardly cursed as one while Lith pondered on Red¡¯s words.

    ¡¯This means that neither Life Vision nor Solus can detecttent arrays. I need to learn the array detecting spell as soon as possible.¡¯

    "What does it do?" The Captain asked.

    "No clue." Red shrugged. "Never seen anything like this."

    "Great. Let¡¯s finish this before we have to find out."

    Yerna took out from her dimensional ring what looked like a clump of y, sticking it to the wall near the door. It created a thin air dome, silencing the area within a ten meters radius.

    The team entered the building, activating a new clump each time they neared the end of the air dome, generating a corridor of silence. It allowed them to speak and move while remaining undetected by the inhabitants of the building.

    "At least theyout of this ce is as we know it." Khran cursed. Maybe it was because he knew they were potentially stepping on a minefield, but since they had entered the house the Sergeant had an eerie feeling in his gut.

    "The door to the basement should be on our right after the next corner. What about the person you mentioned earlier?"

    "It¡¯s closing in slowly. It shoulde from there." Red was pointing to the left branch of the t-shaped corridor.

    The Sergeant put a clump of silence y on his hand while three members of the units aimed their wands in the direction from which they were expecting the enemy.

    "Shoot only after I do!" Khran instructed.

    The figure of a woman popped out of the corner. She was dressed in a brown sweater and cargo pants. Lith noticed she was young, couldn¡¯t be more than twenty years old. She was walking while spinning some odd handcuffs on her index finger.

    Sergeant Khran generated a powerful gust of wind from his hand, propelling the y towards the girl¡¯s face. Despite the surprise attack, she managed to dodge it by rolling on the ground, taking out a wand from the back of her pants.

    She screamed for help, but the y was never meant to do damage. Lith could see her lips moving without emitting any sound, like watching an old silent movie. The same happened when streams of lightning made her m against the wall in a seizure.

    Khan objective was a silent kill all along.

    "Hren, take care of the body and clean the scene. Red, stay with him and warn Hren if anyone else moves." Captain Yerna tapped on her ear to remind him of themunication earpiece in case he needed to contact her.

    The unit moved forward until the door to the basement.

    "White?"

    "Locked and enchanted." Lith replied using Invigoration to study it. It was a very crude pseudo core with only two mana pathways. Not strong enough to block someone determined to open it, but enough to slow them down.

    "Seriously, what do you usually do when you don¡¯t have a forgemaster?"

    "We mourn." Khran¡¯s reply didn¡¯t sound like a joke.

    "atu Barada Nikto." Lith¡¯s fake magic word generated several tendrils of darkness that made short work of the pathways. Without something to contain its energies, the pseudo core faded away with a crackling sound.

    Lith took point to search for more traps, but there were none. The wooden stairway led them to a cer six meters wide and ten meters long. Contrary to the run down look of the rest of the building, the room was clean.

    Behind a simple steel grille there were over twenty people of different gender and age,ying either on the ground or against the walls. They were all shabbily dressed, their appearance suggested they had spent most of their lives on the streets.

    Yet they appeared to be well fed and in good health. There was no trace of dirt in their clothes. The weirdness of the scene didn¡¯t end there.

 Chapter 281 Roll Out Part two

    Lith signaled to those behind him to stop, scanning the ce with Life Vision.

    ¡¯What the f*ck? I can feel the lingering presence of healing magic emanating from them. I can even smell traces of soaping from their bodies. Someone has been taking good care of them, but why?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe I can answer that.¡¯ Solus felt there was something terribly wrong there.

    ¡¯All these people have only two things inmon. Each one of them is older than twenty years and has at least an orange core.¡¯

    ¡¯What?¡¯ Lith was bewildered by her words. So many people and no one with a red core was something impossible to achieve by chance. Not coupled with their age. Twenty years was the threshold of a mana core natural evolution for non Awakened one.

    "Is there something wrong?" Yerna asked.

    "Everything is clear. The grille is just a grille. Why no one is trying to escape?" The more Lith looked at them, the more the cer reminded him of pigpen instead of a prison.

    Yerna walked past him, cing her hand on the keyhole turning it into an icicle before crashing it with her fist. She only needed to smell the breath of one of the prisoners to answer his question.

    "Ophaz. They keep them dosed." Ophaz was the name of a nt from which it was possible to extract the drug her team had been following for weeks. At low dosage, it induced a feeling of euphoria while at higher dosage it caused the user to be in a catatonic state.

    They would still be able to move and talk if interrogated, but their mind was clouded by the drug. They had no memory of themselves or will to fight.

    "It¡¯s thetest form of very. Once you give someone the first dose, it turns them into meat dolls."

    "Do you want me to cleanse them?"

    "Gods, no. This is a blessing in disguise." The Captain shook her head.

    "Best case scenario, they would freak out. This way they are meeker than sheep. It will only take one of us to get them to safety. Can you..?"

    Lith sighed, opening a Warp Steps back to the control room. The prisoners moved sluggishly, mindlessly obeying the Captain¡¯s orders.

    "What do you make of this, Captain?"

    "Aside from a few exceptions, they are too bad looking or old to have any value as ves, even for a fighting arena. Judging from the state of this ce, they have been here for a while.

    "Only the cost of the drug necessary to keep them meek for so long makes the whole operation unprofitable. They have been nurtured for some reason I¡¯m unable toprehend." She then ordered the units outside to lock the perimeter.

    While Lith and the Captain were moving the prisoners, a couple of members of the unit performed a quick search of the cer. They discovered a few small crates containing packets of drugs ready to be sold and several big crates.

    Thetter contained luxury furniture ready to be shipped.

    "What the heck?" Hren was bbergasted.

    "One of these things is worth more than I earn in a year!"

    "Seems we arrived just in time." Khran had a brooding face.

    "Those people were thest batch of whatever they are doing. The ringleader has packed their stuff and is ready to leave."

    Sweeping the first and the second floor took them less than a couple of minutes. With Red telling them where and how many their targets were, it was like shooting fishes in a barrel. At each floor, Red would always detect the same inactive array.

    While moving through the various rooms and corridors, they could see that unlike the ground floor, the rest of the house was stillpletely furnished. Everything from the paintings to the tapestry was very valuable, but they were assembled with no taste.

    It seemed a patchwork made by a color-blind art connoisseur.

    ¡¯Ugh! I have never seen anything so tacky in three lives.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Whoever did this would put the Mona Lisa beside a Pollock, with some piece of junk modern art in front of them both. I¡¯m no expert, but that¡¯s enough to deserve to be hanged.¡¯

    ¡¯Bad news.¡¯ Solus chimed in. ¡¯I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the same array Red sensed on the other floors, but there¡¯s one active on the third floor. I don¡¯t know its purpose, but I can tell you it¡¯s something powerful enough to blind my mana sense.

    If not for Red, I couldn¡¯t tell you how many people there are up there.¡¯

    "Wait, something is wrong here." They were moving in a single column and Lith was right behind the Captain, making it easy for him to stop the unit¡¯s advance.

    "I can feel the hair on my neck standing up." He lied. ording to Mogar¡¯s superstition, it was amon phenomenon in presence of powerful magic. In reality, it was just a reaction in front of impending danger,pletely unrted to magic.

    "I thought I was getting paranoid because it¡¯s all too easy." Yerna nervously touched her nape.

    "What about you lot?" Fear spread like a disease, soon everyone shared the same feeling despite being calm until a second prior.

    "Red, check the next floor."

    "Gods protect me!" Red yelped after obeying the Captain¡¯s order.

    "White is right, there is something very wrong here."

    ¡¯Of course, I am. Right, Solus?¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned. She didn¡¯t reply, limiting herself to a retching thought.

    "I don¡¯t know what kind of array we are about to face, but I can tell you this. It¡¯s very powerful, it spreads through the whole house, and it feels..."

    Red extended his consciousness trying to probe deeper in order to understand the nature of their enemy.

    "It feels twisted. The spell is rooted from the light element, but the magic flows backward. It¡¯s hard to exin." Red was now drenched in cold sweat, his stomach was twisted into a knot.

    "Are you sure there¡¯s only one person left in the house?" Captain Yerna could feel the tension rising, her instinct was telling her to walk away.

    "Besides us? Positive." Red nodded. "It¡¯s right in the middle of thest floor. Hasn¡¯t moved since I cast the spell."

    "An array this powerful could make our numbers irrelevant. The hostages are safe, there is no reason to walk into a potential trap. Let¡¯s get out and wait for the reinforcements to arrive. This is above our paygrade. The Mage Association can deal with this much better than us."

    They walked back along the silence corridor they had created, quickly reaching the ground floor again. A blinding light erupted from under their feet.

    Red and Lith both understood what was happening. The former had studied hard to master such spell, thetter had already fallen for it once.

    The teleporting array moved the whole unit in the attic on the third floor.

    The entire floor was upied by a single room, encircled by a dome made of light which pulsed with a rhythmical beat like it was alive.

    "First you interrupt my meal, then you steal my food." The man speaking was the most handsome and the most repulsing that any of those present had ever seen.

    "I won¡¯t let you go away without properpensation."

 Chapter 282 Unnatural Part 1

    Saying that the attic was furnished would have been an understatement. Tapestry, carpets, even the chair the man was sitting on were embedded with precious gemstones the size of a nut.

    Piles of coins and jewels wereying in random spots of the room as if a creatureposed of living gold had a tour of the ce while having a bad case of diarrhea.

    A magic eight pointed star inscribed in a circle made of pure white energy epassed the whole room. At each extremity of the star, there was a small altar made of white marble.

    The surface of the altars was covered with runes that Red and Lith both would easily recognize as the same light magic runes that were empowering the array below their feet, if only they managed to take a single nce at them.

    If they did, they would have also noticed that on some of the altars there were dried up bodies, while the others had their pristine white surface tainted by an ashen powder. All the corpses were dried up like they had been dead for quite some time.

    Not even the fact that the body on the altar right in front of them was rapidly copsing on itself, like it was a closed paper cup being sucked with a straw could make any member of the unit take their eyes off their unwanted host.

    The man literally sitting in the middle of that mess was on paper the embodiment of perfection. 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") high, with ck hair of such a light shade to almost seem blue. His clear blue eyes were rested on a face that seemed to have been carved out by an artist in love with their own creation.

    His muscr body almost bulged out of his tacky clothes, like he could tear them up simply by taking a deep breath.

    Yet no man of the unit felt the tiniest tinge of envy nor any woman thought about anything outside pointing their weapons at him and fire them at will.

    He was too perfect to be natural. Each pieceposing his body was wless, but more than a person, he seemed like a patchwork of different humans assembled together. There was no harmony in his features.

    ¡¯That guy looks like the handsome brother of Frankenstein¡¯s monster.¡¯ Lith thought.

    After a split second of stupor due to the teleportation array, Captain Yerna pointed her wand at the man, quickly followed by all the members of the unit. They didn¡¯t give orders or made demands, they simply shoot a barrage of fire, ice, and lightning bolts until the man was turned into an half charred half frozen corpse and the chair into a bunch of golden splinters.

    ¡¯I have bad news and I have worse news.¡¯ Now that they were inside the array, its mystical energies didn¡¯t impede Solus¡¯s senses anymore. With everyone busy and Red scared out of his wits, Lith was free to use his skills to get a grasp of the current situation.

    ¡¯I think I know what this array does.¡¯ Solus exined while Lith used Invigoration on the array and Life Vision on the man.

    ¡¯It¡¯s filled to the brim with powerful energies, yet none of them belong to the unnatural man. My mana and life sense perceive at least nine different signatures currently coursing through the array. I think they belonged to the people on the altars.¡¯

    The unnatural man was lying on the floor, but no one managed to rx. Despite its owner death, the light dome was still on.

    Seargent Khran tried to open the door, but the array also worked as a barrier, pushing him back with a jolt of light. Khran yelped in pain, the contact had badly burned his hands.

    "Who the heck was that guy? How do we get out of here?" He cursed.

    "Is, not was." Lith pointed at the body on the floor. "He is still alive and well." He could see how even after so many attacks, the body¡¯s life force was as strong as before.

    ¡¯Exactly.¡¯ Solus continued. ¡¯The array keeps slowly injecting those energies inside him. I don¡¯t know why, though. The transfer¡¯s not fast enough to be some sort of healing device.¡¯

    "Are you kidding me?" Khran scoffed while Hren helped him to drink a healing potion for his injured hands. "That guy is as dead as a doornail."

    "Am I?" Said a silvery voiceing from the corpse as it tried to get up. A second barrage of spells stuck it before the sentence waspleted, sending it sprawling on the floor.

    ¡¯Let me guess, that was just the bad news. What about the worse news?¡¯ Lith was putting together all the pieces of the puzzle. The picture taking shape in front of his eyes wasn¡¯t good.

    ¡¯The worse news is that the unnatural man seems to be a human Abomination hybrid.¡¯

    Her words left Lith speechless.

    ¡¯Is he... like me?¡¯

    ¡¯Not at all. I can see two cores inside of him, a bright cyan one and a smaller ck one. I believe that just like Ka¡¯s, his second core is artificial.¡¯

    The corpse got on its back for a second time, getting sted once again. This time no one stopped shooting until there was no charge left in their wands.

    "We need to get out of here!" Captain Yerna wasn¡¯t scared. She and her people had gone through worse situations in the past, keeping her cool had always turned out to be the winning move.

    "White, Warp us away from this sh*thole."

    Lith didn¡¯t make her repeat herself, but the dimensional door shattered as soon as it was formed. A second attempt bore the same result.

    "What¡¯s happening? Why it doesn¡¯t work?" Khran was starting to freak out, his voice rose of an octave.

    "I have no clue." Instead of despairing, Lith ced both of his hands on the array. He was certain it was the root of all their problems.

    "It¡¯s actually quite simple." The corpse of the unnatural man stood up from a pile of half molten jewels. Wands were once again aimed at him, but no spell was fired.

    "Dimensional magic requires a perfect bnce between al the six elements." The unnatural man exined while his skin and hair regrew at an astounding speed.

    "This room is so filled with light magic that it makes impossible for a lowly human mage to find the bnce necessary to tear up space. Don¡¯t me the kid for his ipetence." He said with an amused look.

    "Even if he managed to do it, it would take me a simple wave of the hand to disrupt his focus. As I said earlier, no one is leaving until I getpensation for all the losses you have inflicted me. Kneel!"

    The unnatural man apparent kindness turned into a mask of fury. At hismand, a new array oveid with the already existing one. It increased the gravity of all those present by several folds, forcing them to fall on their knees.

    Only two people weren¡¯t affected by the new array. Lith, who was already hands on the ground studying the room, and the unnatural man, who kept standing as if nothing happened.

 Chapter 283 Unnatural Part 2

    "Do you have any idea how hard it was to find humans smart enough to help me manage my business? How difficult it was to round up among the dregs of society the right ingredients for my path towards godhood? You..."

    The ramblings stopped. Suddenly the extra gravity had disappeared and the unnatural man could feel a stinging pain in his abdomen, along with a sensation he had never experience before in his life. Nausea.

    "You!" He screamed at Lith. While the others had jumped up on their feet assuming a defensive formation, Lith was still crouched. Several tendrils made of light and darkness came out of his body, tampering with the energy coursing below him.

    The array¡¯s magic circle was distorted, turning the clockwork formation into a shoddy mess.

    "Don¡¯t mind me." Lith replied with an innocent smile. "Keep talking, I was really caught up by your narration."

    ¡¯It seems you are right.¡¯ Solus kept observing the alterations in the man¡¯s cores.

    ¡¯The array is linked to his ck core, feeding it of the umted energies inside the array. The ck core absorbs and refines the energy before transferring it to the cyan one.

    ¡¯It¡¯s an artificial version of umtion. By my maker, I can¡¯t imagine how many lives it took for him to reach a bright cyan core.¡¯

    ¡¯It was the only possible exnation for keeping those people prisoners.¡¯ Lith shrugged. ¡¯He needs quality cores. That¡¯s why he fed and healed them. Probably he wanted them well ripened before squeezing them. So kind of him giving me a path straight to his mana core.¡¯

    "How dare you touch a dragon¡¯s treasure?" The unnatural man turned into a blur, charging at Lith while ripping to shreds all those standing on his path. Three members of the unit died without even managing to slow him down.

    ¡¯A dragon?¡¯ That word along with the man¡¯s speed sent a cold shiver down Lith¡¯s back.

    ¡¯I thought it was just some psycho, but to be so quick he must be able to use fusion magic. Why the heck an Awakened need this contraption? Could a dragon really have just a cyan core? It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t fear to fight another Awakened one, hybrid or not. Nor did he care about the rest of the unit, since they were dead the moment they would see his real skills. Lith was experiencing what all of his past opponents felt facing him.

    The confusion deriving from not having a clue about what he was against.

    The unnatural man jumped, extending towards Lith his hands that had turned into razor sharp ws.

    ¡¯What an idiot.¡¯ Lith sneered while getting back up. By leaving the ground, the opponent had actually slowed down. Once in the air, fusion magic was useless and the trajectory was easily predictable.

    Instead of freezing up in fear like his opponent expected, Lith took a side step. He then grabbed the arm while pivoting on his right foot, executing an overhead throw. Lith added his strength to the opponent¡¯s momentum, mming him against the light dome.

    ¡¯This guy has no technique, just brute strength. Revealing his abilities just to scare me is stupid beyond reason.¡¯

    ¡¯Why the throw?¡¯ Solus was confused by the turn of events.

    ¡¯Because normally one can¡¯t be harmed by their own magic. Yet I think he is trapped as well as we are.¡¯

    The impact was strong enough to make the unnatural man prate into the light wall for a second. His flesh turned ck while the energies trapped into the array reacted to the foreign body with a violent assault.

    The unnatural man screamed in agony like he never did when the unit had showered him with tier three spells from their wands. The light dome pushed him away, making his body bounce on the floor writhing into spasms.

    Lith didn¡¯t wait for him to recover, using wind, gravity, and spirit magic to toss him again against the wall.

    ¡¯Bingo! The array is so filled with different energies that it¡¯s unable to recognize its master. I can kill him and not blow my cover. Two birds with one stone.¡¯

    s, the unnatural man had no intention to cooperate.

    He roared with fury while his body covered with golden scales. Two membranous wings formed under his armpits, connecting his little fingers to the hips. The neck got longer while his face deformed into a long snout.

    His nostrils dted doubling their size, his open mouth now bigger than a manhole revealed the rage burning within. The following breath of fire turned everyone on its path into cinders, making even the gold piles boil.

    When the jet of mes ended, the creature was over four meters (13 feet) tall, forced to bend over to avoid his head to graze the ceiling. His long tail whipped the air furiously, generating sparks whenever it briefly touched the array.

    Lith was taken by surprise, managing to dodge at thest second only thanks to air fusion. Yet his right leg was grazed by the mes, not even the Skinwalker armor could resist such intensity.

    Even using water fusion wasn¡¯t enough. The fire burned through the protective enchantment, covering the whole limb below the knee.

    Lith¡¯s skin was no more, his burned flesh left exposed the burned muscles still throbbing in pain. Four more members of the tactical unit were dead. Only the mystical energies of the array had protected the room, leaving the wall and the floor pristine.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not a man, that¡¯s a wyvern!¡¯ Solus clearly recalled Ka¡¯s words during theirst meeting. Magical beasts once Awakened would evolve into monsters. They could still have offspring, giving life to a new bloodline of creatures that wouldn¡¯t be Awakened ones.

    He hid behind one of the altars, using light magic to heal his wounds.

    The wyvern roared in outrage. By mming into the energy wall first and by recklessly using his fire breath, a good chunk of the energy stored in the formation had been lost.

    "I was so close! Curse you, human!"

    Gadorf the wyvern was aware of being really close to a breakthrough. Even though he was no Awakened one, the ck core he possessed gifted him with several powers.

    The ability to absorb the life force of living beings, to detect the magical talent of those close to him, enhanced regeneration, and partial resistance to most elements. At that moment, the only person that Gadorf hated more than Lith was his own father.

    It was because of his father¡¯s refusal of Awakening Gadorf that he had spent thest two centuries experimenting all kinds of forbidden magic. None of his experiments bore any fruit. Not until he met that arrogant, insufferable human.

    It was only by bing their test subject that Gadorf had acquired the ck core and the Life Draining array. That human was obsessed with the idea of achieving eternal life through the Abominations.

    After obtaining what he wanted, Gadorf would have dly awarded them for their services with a swift death, but the Abominations serving the Master were too strong.

 Chapter 284 Operating Room Part 1

    Gadorf had met the Master only a few years prior. Unable to assume a human form, the only way he had to acquire new techniques and materials was stealing them.

    Even if descending from the bloodline of an Evolved monster granted him the use of true magic on all six elements, the wyvern was still too weak to attack a major noble family or important merchants.

    Gadorf had already nearly got killed multiple times after raiding small cities. The Association responded quickly to threats, sending several mages at once to deal with him. Gadorf managed to survive only thanks to his mastery of light magic and arrays.

    In over two hundred years of practice, he had reached a level in those fields that very few mages could even start toprehend. It was exactly because of his stubbornness that the Master had taken interest in him.

    Fighting the Master had been a humbling experience for Gadorf. Despite their experience gap, despite them being a fake mage, Gadorf¡¯s defeat took less than a minute.

    "You¡¯re lucky the Association put you on priority C until now." The Master wheezed. The fight had been brief, but exhausting for someone not used to fight like they were. Especially because they wanted to take Gadorf alive.

    "Me? A proud dragon, just a C-lister?" Gadorf¡¯s rage made the ground tremble, but the array keeping him prisoner didn¡¯t even budge.

    "A dragon? You?" The Master guffawed.

    "Good gods, your ego is bigger than Lady Tyris¡¯s a*s! Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s the reason this dump you call home is full of gold and pieces of art?"

    Gadorf¡¯s reply was breathing fire with all the strength he had. The act almost resulted in suicide. The breath of a wyvern, just like those of a dragon, was neither normal fire nor a magical one.

    It was a unique effect caused by the mix of their life force with the world energy, no mana was involved. It was a simr effect Balkor had developed for his Valors, allowing them to emit rays of darkness from their eyes, without them being affected by slowness that affected all kinds of darkness magic.

    The downside of such powers was that just like a body can damage itself, so that kind of attack based on life force, no matter how little was employed, would harm the user as well as anyone else.

    Gadorf¡¯s screams of agony only made the Master guffaw until small tears of hrity streamed from his eyes.

    "Conceited and stupid. It¡¯s a miracle you managed to survive this far. That¡¯s a good piece of news, Lizzie." The Master simply reced the most consumed magic crystals with new ones. The array was back to full force in a split second, adding despair to the wyvern agony.

    "I¡¯m not a lizard!" He roared. "I¡¯m Gadorf, son of Xedros the first wyvern! One day I will evolve into a dragon and feast on all those that belittled me. Be it you or my father, you¡¯ll end up the same way! Burned to death by my hand!"

    "The good news, Lizzie..." The Master continued after silencing their noisy prisoner.

    "...is that I believe that just like me, the gods don¡¯t y dice. We were destined to meet. My research can¡¯t go any further without a willing subject who allows me to study true magic, just like your pathetic daddy issues fueled quest can only get you killed if you keep acting on your own.

    Our interests are aligned. If you stop with your temper tantrums, we can make a deal."

    After summoning by their side an Eldritch Abomination to keep in check Gadorf¡¯s mood swings, the Master brought him to one of theirbs. Gadorf was able to learn about Arthan¡¯s Madness and study its blueprints. The insane contraption turned out to be an endless source of inspiration for him.

    Together, they developed the Life Draining array for Gadorf and some of the technology the Master needed to fuse together Abominations in a stable form.

    "I don¡¯t get it." While sealed up in one of the Master¡¯s gene-tanks, Gadorf could still talk while daydreaming about how inflict to his partner in crime the slowest and most painful death possible.

    "If you are already able to create artificial cores, why didn¡¯t you make one for yourself?" Gadorf was a prideful creature, to the point of considering even an equal partnership as a dishonor. He believed to have been born a ruler.

    As such, stomping arrogant ants was his birthright and the Master was no exception. By defeating him, by subjecting him to all those humiliating tests, the Master had earned themselves a thousand deaths.

    s, just like Xedros, the Master was too strong for him, yet. Gadorf could only suck it up and bide his time.

    "Because I don¡¯t like the middle way. The method we have developed for you may turn you into an Awakened one, but then what? You¡¯ll get a little more powerful, live a little bit longer. I find your idea of turning into a dragon is nothing more than wishful thinking.

    "You are already a wyvern, the very thought of someone as conceited as you bing a Guardian is disturbing, to use a euphemism. Instead, if I seed, I¡¯ll be an immortal being with no limit to my strength and none of the weaknesses that gue Abominations.

    "Humans have stopped evolving for a long time. Awakening is just a palliative care. I¡¯ll bring the dawn of a new golden age for mankind. Imagine a world where a selected few, the truly brilliant and enlightened, can lead the masses without the threat of death, aging, or illness."

    Gadorf had listened to that speech countless times. The Master¡¯s eyes always shone with a childlike enthusiasm that bordered madness.

    "Sure, there will be coteral damages. Some people will be sacrificed for the greater good, but Mogar is full of idiots that do not deserve to live. Small minded cretins incapable of seeing further than their nose."

    The rage transpiring from their words made Gadorf suspect that the Master was lonely, unappreciated, or both.

    "You don¡¯t want to conquer the world?" Gadorf was bbergasted. The Master was as powerful as short sighted.

    ¡¯Power is the only requirement to rule over the weak.¡¯ He thought.

    The Masterughed heartily at those words.

    "You really are insane, Lizzie. I¡¯m just tired of seeing good people die while the mediocre thrive. To see true genius go unnoticed or buried under useless paperwork that could be handled by lesser men.

    "I only want to show humans their true potential, to cure the ultimate disease: death. I¡¯m sure that despite their name, Abominations are as natural as you and I. They are the next evolutionary step, they just need to be perfected."

    After acquiring his ck core and practicing his new skills, Gadorf was eager to leave the Master¡¯s side. The next time they met, it would have been when he ripped the Master¡¯s still beating heart from their chest.

    Or so Gadorf thought.

    "Where do you think you are going, Lizzie?" The Master refused to call him by his name until the wyvern gave up his pretentious dream of bing a dragon. Both had proven to be stubborn.

 Chapter 285 Operating Room Part 2

    "Away. I need food to evolve." Gadorf snarled.

    "You really are an idiot." The Master sighed.

    "Attack magical beasts and Evolved Monsters will kill you. Attack humans and mages will do the same. They are many while you are one. Not a particrly brilliant one at that."

    Gadorf growled, but didn¡¯t reply. He had always picked on humans because he was scared of meeting Evolved Monsters. The wyvern had always considered the humans as the weakest link, yet their fake mages had almost killed him several times.

    The Master was a human and a fake mage, yet had single handedly defeated him. Those words deeply wounded Gadorf¡¯s pride, yet their truth was undeniable.

    "Thisb costs money. Giving you power cost me a lot of money. This isn¡¯t a bard¡¯s tale where you get riches simply thanks to the writer¡¯s pen. If you want your ¡¯food¡¯ and get away with it, if you want your gold, you¡¯ve got to earn it."

    The Master taught him how to feed only on the weak and the poor, those whose disappearance would cause no rm, if not call for celebration. The Master also showed Gadorf how to alter his life force to assume a human form.

    It was something called "Body Sculpting". Last, but not least, the Master introduced him to the criminal underworld. Someone like Gadorf, capable of opening illegal Warp Gates crossing hundreds of kilometers at once thanks to his arrays, of transporting people and contraband alike, was a money-making machine.

    Drugs, fugitives, stolen goods, there was nothing Gadorf couldn¡¯t slip over the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s borders unnoticed. Even some of the most powerful noble families used his services to get to safety their endangered members, like the ex-Headmistress of the Lightning Griffon Linnea or Archmage Lukart did.

    Thanks to their support and protection, his criminal empire had grown over time. The reports about his activities were constantly covered up or downyed if hiding them was impossible.

    Sometimes, leading figures of human society would use him to get rid of overzealous officers, like Captain Yerna, or to settle their grudges away from the Crown¡¯s eyes, like in Lith¡¯s case. Yerna¡¯s execution was already scheduled, Lith¡¯s was just the icing on the cake. An opportunity to kill two pests with one stone.

    Gadorf needed food, they needed a killer, it was a win-win situation.

    The wyvern dly indulged in such favours. He would get powerful mages to feed on, together with huge sums. The only sour note was that half his profits ended in the Master¡¯s pockets, to fund their research.

    ¡¯I would have already acquired a treasure worthy of a dragon, if not for that leech!¡¯ Gadorf hated sharing, but the Master kept him on a tight leash. A single Eldritch was enough to chase him to the darkest corner of Mogar and put him down like a rabid dog.

    While Gadorf was assessing his losses, watching his treasures boil and his priceless furniture turn to ashes, Lith was back at his peak condition.

    ¡¯Where the heck are the reinforcements?¡¯ He had no idea that those sent to their aid were of no threat to the wyvern, nor that they had been sent to the wrong address. One hand washed the other, and both hands washed the face.

    ¡¯Who¡¯s left?¡¯ Among the smoke and mes, it was hard for Lith to see. Thanks to air magic, breathing was not a problem instead.

    ¡¯You, Red, the Captain, the Sergeant, and the only two orange cored members of the unit. I suspect the wyvern did it on purpose.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯No sh*t, Sherlock. We must be his full course. Time to go all out.¡¯ Lith actually had several attack ns, but none of his liking. The wyvern was bigger and stronger than him.

    Between the fire breath and the tail ending with a talon-like extremity, Lith was tempted to curse at the unfairness of the match.

    ¡¯Could as well got a broom up his a*s, so he can sweep the floor and kick my butt at the same time.¡¯ Lith focused on Solus¡¯s ring, making it grow until it covered his whole right hand.

    Now it looked like a stone gauntlet with a yellow gemstone shining at the center of the back of the hand. Then, he used darkness magic to cancel his presence and fire magic to spread the smoke while making it thicker.

    Thanks to Life, Vision Lith could easily see Gadorf through to smoke and circle around him waiting for the moment to strike. The wyvern kept turning his head, sniffing the air in search of his prey.

    The array hindered his mana perception. Gadorf was sure to have left alive the right ones, but couldn¡¯t pinpoint their exact location. He tried multiple times to extinguish the fires and clear up the smoke, but someone was opposing him.

    ¡¯I could force my way through, but this could be some kind of trap.¡¯ The resistance he felt made keeping control over the burning environment a tug of war of willpower. To prevail, Gadorf needed to focus. Such a focus would diminish his awareness of the surroundings.

    ¡¯Bah, I¡¯m overthinking. I have nothing to fear from some weak humans and unharmed kids.¡¯

    Lith felt his grasp over the smoke weakening and smiled for it.

    ¡¯He is no Awakened, otherwise the smoke wouldn¡¯t hinder his senses. Finally a piece of good news.¡¯

    The moment the air cleared, Lith struck. He charged towards the wyvern¡¯s exposed back, his hands pulsing with electricity. Gadorf had centuries of battle experience, as soon as he smelled traces of ozone in the air, he reacted boosting his reflexes with air fusion.

    His tailshed toward Lith with the bone stinger aimed at his shoulder. The ritual required a living prey, not a healthy one after all. Lith took out the Gatekeeper bastard sword at thest second, boosting himself with fire, air, and water fusion.

    The sword¡¯s appearing took Gadorf by surprise, while Lith¡¯s movements broughtplete shock to him. They were too fast, leaving him no space do dodge. Too strong, cutting through his scales, flesh, and bones like a hot knife does with butter.

    Too fluid, allowing his arms to move up and down like a slithering snake, amputating one chunk of flesh after the other. When Gadorf managed to pull the tail back, half of it was already painting the floor red.

    "My tail! How? Why?" Had Lith cut it once, reattaching the two severed parts would have been a piece of cake. Now the wyvern¡¯s only options were to collect and reattach the pieces one by one or regrow the tail.

    Thetter solution would leave Gadorf drained. He didn¡¯t dare to leave himself more exposed to such a cruel sword.

    "Why?" Usually Lith wouldn¡¯t talk. This time he knew his opponent was getting weaker by the second because of the blood spurting from the amputated extremity, while as long he was allowed to use Invigoration his energy was endless.

    "Because this isn¡¯t a fight. This is just another operating room..." He infused the Gatekeeper with darkness magic, shing the chunks of tail again.

    "...and I¡¯m the healer." Lith taunted the wyvern with his sword, while the flesh rotted at a speed visible at the naked eye.

    "Curse you!" Gadorf charged in outrage, his blood boiling from fury, his hatred taking physical form, engulfing him with an armor of living fire.

    Red and the surviving members of the team couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes. None of what was happening made any sense. Yet Lith¡¯s next move surpassed it all.

 Chapter 286 Light and Darkness Part 1

    From his first and only serious fight with Protector, back when he was still a child, Lith had learned an important lesson.

    Be it while facing one of the Kings of the Trawn woods, an Abomination, an Evolved Monster, or a Valor, he had always stuck to it, never allowing his pride to blind him.

    Even with an enhanced body, even despite all the changes he had experienced after the recent breakthroughs, Lith never allowed himself to forget that he was just human.

    There were enemies whose fury and savagery he couldn¡¯t match, no matter how badly he wanted it. Instead of charging blindly like his rage demanded, like his opponent was doing, Lith kept his mind cold while his mana core burned with power.

    He had to y it smart, eroding his opponent¡¯s strength until the tables were turned.

    Gadorf had never been so furious in all his life. He had allowed a simple human hatchling to mutte him. With his flesh now rotten, reattaching the pieces was impossible, the only choice he had left was regrowing it.

    That was the exact reason why Lith had done it.

    ¡¯He is faster and stronger than me, but without the tail his bnce is all over the ce. No matter if he prefers to keep his energies and wobble like a duck or to heal himself and exhaust his reserves. Either way he is dead.¡¯

    The stump had stopped bleeding, but Gadorf wasn¡¯t used moving, let alone flying without his tail and in such a confined space at that. To keep his bnce, he ended up twisting his body multiple times, touching the edges of the array with catastrophic consequences.

    Every time the array and the destructive spell engulfing him shed, both would lose part of their power while waves of pain invaded the wyvern¡¯s body. Lith easily dodged the charge with a few side steps. When the left wing passed a few centimeters from him, he shed down with both hands.

    The de cut through the light bone of the arm,cerating the wing almost all the way to the wyvern¡¯s hip. The short flight turned into a tumble, mming against the altars before crashing into the barrier again.

    A new barrage of spells struck the wyvern¡¯s body, making him bounce back and forth against the dome of light like a pinball. Lith and the surviving members of the unit, even Red, were throwing everything they had, to pin Gadorf as long as possible.

    Gadorf was almost in agony. The phantom pain from the tail was blinding, his left wing was being consumed by the darkness magic Lith had infused into the de, and his back was sizzling like a steak forgotten on the barbeque.

    Worst of all was his pride, shattered like it didn¡¯t happen from years. Yet the physical pain made him snap out of his fury. The wyvern was thinking clearly again. His survival instinctbined with centuries of battle experience allowed him to see how foolish he had been.

    ¡¯I really am an idiot.¡¯ The Master¡¯s words echoed into his mind and for the first time the wyvern actually listened to them. Seeing that the kid with the sword was waiting for him to do something stupid again, Gadorf took a deep breath instead.

    Lith rolled behind the closest altar, expecting another breath of fire and so did the others. Gadorf channeled light magic into his wing instead, wiping off the dark energies and healing the limb.

    "I¡¯m done underestimating you, human."

    Despite his arrogant tone, Gadorf didn¡¯t like his odds. His body was too huge to move nimbly inside the array¡¯s closed space. Yet he didn¡¯t dare return to his human husk. Tier three and below spells could barely break his skin, let alone harm his scales.

    The sword, though, was another matter entirely. His human form wouldn¡¯t be able to stand more than a couple of shes from such a powerful weapon.

    ¡¯That kid is too fast for a human. Could he be like me? In disguise?¡¯ Another sting struck his abdomen while Gadorf was lost in thought.

    Lith was tampering again with the array, poisoning its energies and the wyvern along with them. Gadorf inwardly cursed at him, quickly weaving a barrage of ice spears while taking back control over the array at the same time.

    Lith channeled fire fusion into the Gatekeeper, engulfing himself in a shroud of mes that turned the ice into steam. Gadorf looked at the sword with greed, before Blinking behind Lith and releasing a new stream of mes from his mouth.

    ¡¯Oh sh*t!¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed, realizing that the opponent not only could use dimensional magic, but also true dimensional magic. His instincts screamed at him to put the sword away and Blink to safety, an action that would lead to his death.

    Warp Steps had already failed him before, there was no reason to believe Blink would work any different. Also, without the sword, the difference in physical prowess would be crippling at such a close range.

    Lith clenched his teeth while suppressing his muscle reflexes. His only option was to dodge.

    Yet it failed. His legs were stuck to the ground, Lith found himself incapable of lifting a single foot. While the mes roared towards him, he needed only a nce to understand what had happened.

    The energy of the array was wrapped around him like a leash, blocking his movements.

    "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The array is mine! You are not the only one that can twist it to your whims!"

    Lith didn¡¯t lose time wondering how the heck the wyvern could talk while hurling the stream of fire. He channeled water and air fusion into the sword, splitting the river of mes in two while generating a cold aura to protect himself from the scorching heat.

    Yet he was too close to their source and the wyvern¡¯s breath too deep. The creature¡¯s mes had an intensity on par with the tier five Raging Sun that had almost killed him in the past. They broke through the aura first and the armorter, prickling at his skin like thousands of white-hot needles.

    Lith¡¯s hair took fire, his skin was covered in blisters and burns despite the multipleyers of magical protections.

    Captain Yerna didn¡¯t stand idle. She had attempted to contact the HQ multiple times, but the signal was jammed. Yerna had already used all the weapons she had with little to no effect. She only had one card left to y.

    While the two monsters fought, she reached Red¡¯s side.

    "Why are you staring at them like an idiot? Do something, now!"

    "Me?" Red was almost frozen in fear, his mind reying Balkor¡¯s attack in a loop.

    "You are the soldier! You do something."

    "Kid, I only know tier three spells that the army bestowed to me. The Sargent is just a magico stuck at tier two. Do you really think we can help? You are a Warden and we are stuck inside an array. Do your thing!"

    Red cursed at himself. He had picked a potentially dangerous job to get rid of the fear and helplessness Balkor had etched into his heart. Yet just like during those days, he was cowering in fear behind others.

    "It¡¯s going to take time."

    "Then you¡¯d better start now!"

 Chapter 287 Light and Darkness Part 2

    Before the jet of fire ended, Gadorf charged head first at Lith like a ram. Even with the mes still raging around him, fighting off the blinding pain with light fusion, Lith saw the wyverning at him and acted ordingly.

    The heat had not only injured Lith, but also weakened his constraints. He could now let himself fall to the ground, holding the sword with both hands close to his chest. As he expected, Gadorf Blinked at thest second, keeping his momentum to strike at him from a dead angle.

    It was what Lith would have done in his shoes.

    With the back on the ground, however, he had no blind spots. The area was still shrouded in mes, Gadorf had no way to know Lith¡¯s exact position. His head only hit empty air, Lith rolled away as soon as the Blink happened.

    Darkness energy coursed through the de, grazing one of the wyvern¡¯s legs as he passed. It was just a scratch, but it affected Gadorf¡¯s already precarious bnce, chipping again his life force at the same time.

    The wyvern tripped on his own feet, crashing against one of the altars. The array protected and empowered it, giving Gadorf the impression of having hit a mountain. Lith was too weak, his battered body didn¡¯t allow him for fast movements anymore.

    Charging at Gadorf was like asking him to Blink and put him out of his misery.

    Lith lifted his sword again, using all the strength he had left to stab the ground, unleashing all the umted darkness magic into the array. The wyvern felt like his body was being torn into shreds.

    The array was like an IV of life force dripping straight into his core. If Lith¡¯s previous tampering felt like someone messing with the needle, now it was like venom had been injected into it.

    "What the f*ck are you?" Gadorf yelled, writhing in pain.

    His words made no sense to the survivors. Their knowledge of magic was so limited they thought Lith¡¯s performance was thanks to his training and equipment. They had no way to understand the number ofyers the fight was taking ce on, nor the amount of energies which had been expended with every strike.

    Gadorf himself only understood that Lith was capable of using true magic, but Life Vision and Invigoration were beyond hisprehension. At that moment Lith was using his breathing technique not to heal his wounds, but to keep a steady flow of darkness magic through the de, shaking the array to its foundations.

    The wyvern roared, realizing his chances to breakthrough to the next level were nigh zero. Best case scenario the array was damaged, worst case scenario it was poisoned.

    Gritting his teeth Gadorf conjured his strongest attack, the tier five light spell Purge. His eyes were fixated on Lith while the whole room was filled with streams of light of different colors, resembling an aurora borealis.

    Then, everything went ck. Agony blinded his mind while a small icicle physically blinded him.

    "Forgot about me?" Captain Yerna¡¯s voice sounded from his right side. Between the pain from the array and his attention focused on his opponent, Gadorf had really forgotten about the insignificant ants.

    Yerna had managed to circle around him, waiting for the moment to strike. Her spell was too weak to change the course of the fight unless it hit a critical spot. Compared to the scales, the wyvern¡¯s eyes were soft.

    With his concentration lost, Purge was dispelled. Another ice dart was aimed at the remaining left eye. Gadorf only needed to slightly tilt his head to make it harmlessly strike the scales instead. The wyvern was enraged once more, on the brink of losing its mind again.

    The wyvern roared, Blinking behind the officer that had just shot from his wand, decapitating him in a single bite. He disappeared again, materializing in front of Sargent Khran, his mouth already opened.

    Gadorf hated wasting so much energy, but without the tail and an eye, moving normally would mean bing a sitting duck. Knowing what was about to happen, Khran inwardly cursed while raising his arms over his head.

    Hisst act wasn¡¯t a futile attempt of protecting his life. Khran was aware he wouldn¡¯t see ever again his wife or children. Gadorf¡¯s fangs effortless bit off his upper torso, swallowing it in one gulp.

    What the wyvern didn¡¯t know was that inside the Sargent¡¯s hands there were the broken extremities of his wand. The damaged alchemical tool went haywire, the wild energies it sealed quickly reached the magical stone, releasing all of its power in a small congration.

    Lith ignored the screams around him, focusing only on two things. Following the wyvern movements with Life Vision and corrupting the array as fast as he could. The energies seeping into the ck core were corroding it instead of nurturing it.

    Once the ck core filtering them was destroyed, the life forces contained into the array would directly reach the wyvern¡¯s true core, destroying it.

    The explosion caught both Lith and the wyvern by surprise. Gadorf¡¯s innards were strong enough to withstand the blow, but not without taking damage. The wyvern coughed smoke and blood, trying to breathe.

    It was the first real opening since the fight had started, yet Lith stood still.

    ¡¯Without dimensional magic, to get there I¡¯d have to fly. Rather than making myself an easy target, it¡¯s better to keep weakening him. If he is able to cut off his pain receptors like I¡¯m doing, he could ignore his wounds and crush me the second I¡¯m within his reach.¡¯

    Like they were sharing a mind link, Gadorf used darkness magic to stop feeling pain. He Blinked right above Lith, to squash him with his weight. The talons on his feet were longer than twenty centimeters (8 inches) and harder than steel.

    The wyvern shed downwards with his legs, their longer reach prevented Lith from raising his sword and impale him. He had no time to adjust his position, standing there meant having his arms torn or worse.

    Lith rolled away, but the talons still managed to open deep wounds on his back, from the vicle to under his rib cage. Blood spurted all over the wyvern¡¯s body, filling him with renewed confidence.

    Gadorf pushed forward to not lose the advantage, following the prey closely. Lith couldn¡¯t expose his back anymore, so he turned around, shing randomly with the Gatekeeper to keep the monster at bay.

    Lith¡¯s swordsmanship was already bad to start with. Now that his arms were weakened by the wounds, Gadorf had an easy time grabbing it in mid air and ripping it from Lith¡¯s hands in one fluid movement.

    Contrary to his expectations, the brief contact weed him into a world of hurt. The sword had been infused with light magic, granting it healing properties. The spell Lith had imbued it with wasn¡¯t meant to treat any injury, only to reconnect the severed pain receptors.

    Gadorf lost his grip, throwing the sword as far as he could. His throat was back to burning so bad that every breath was agony. Every time the ice shard piercing his eye moved, the pain would make his vision go nk.

    Suddenly Gadorf couldn¡¯t breathe nor see. He fell on his knees trying to control the spasms and shut down the receptors again. The wyvern regained his sight just in time to see Redpleting his spell, turning the world around them into shards of light.

 Chapter 288 Call Part 1

    After Captain Yerna¡¯s wake up call, Red was forced to bet everything on a desperate gamble. The members of the unit were dying like flies and despite his outstanding equipment, there was only so much White could do against a wyvern.

    The Captain had asked him to do his thing, but there was actually a single option in his arsenal. Countering an unknown array was almost impossible, the only thing he could do was to identify its key points and use them to bring it down.

    Destroying an array was always risky, even more if you were blocked inside it. It meant twisting the energies coursing through the formation into chaos, turning the mana flow against itself until its structure copsed.

    The stronger the array, the greater the risk for the consequences to be literally explosive. The only perk of the Disarray spell was to be rtively quickpared to most Warden incantations.

    ¡¯If it works I may die, but if it doesn¡¯t I¡¯ll die for sure. Here goes everything!¡¯ Red thought.

    The only silver lining was that, based on his previous analysis, the array seemed to be based on light magic, hence probably harmless.

    Probably.

    The word echoed in his mind while the Life Draining array shattered, freeing the prisoners from their cage. The life force released formed wisps of light, the intensity of which made it almost impossible to see.

    The surviving member of the unit jumped off the nearest window without hesitation, quickly followed by Red. While their uniforms could easily protect them from the fall, the same could not be said against an angry wyvern.

    Their escape almost had a tragic ending, since their colleagues surrounding the house had been spooked by the explosion of lights. Not receiving any response from the Captain for several minutes, they had requested for back up and were expecting the worse.

    The sudden explosion made them trigger happy. A few of them shot at their fallingrades before seeing the ck of their uniforms.

    Meanwhile, Gadorf was panicking. The array had been dispelled before the link between the magic formation and his mana core could be severed. What was meant to be his instrument toward godhood was now a gaping hole in his cores.

    He had the means and the knowledge to mend the damage, the Master had foreseen for such an eventuality to happen. The ck core served both as a filter for the foreign energies and as a plug.

    The problem was the contingency n had been devised for the case something went wrong during the casting of the array or the assimtion process, not to be used in dire circumstances.

    Gadorf was heavily injured, most of his mana spent. Not to mention he had no doubt that the monstrous kid wouldn¡¯t let him cast a new array and perform several healing spells while standing idle.

    "Come on, White. Let¡¯s go!" Captain Yerna was still there. White was just an unknown temporary member of her unit, but she had seen too many good people die in a single day to leave someone, especially a kid, behind.

    Lith¡¯s body was battered, covered with so many first degree burns his skin was nigh red rather than pink. Life fusion had partially healed the haemorrhage on his back, but it was still bleeding.

    Now he could Blink again, the problem was he had enough strength just for onest trick and movement spells inflicted no damage.

    ¡¯Leave no loose ends.¡¯ His mind kept looping. The wyvern knew.

    The wyvern had to die.

    Invigoration was off the table. The moment he focused on the breathing technique, Gadorf could still Blink. Even if Lith knew exactly where he would appear, the wyvern had proved to be too fast even for his enhanced reflexes.

    That when his body had yet to be a bloody mess.

    Hearing Yerna¡¯s voice triggered Gadorf. His blind eye was a constant reminder of what underestimating her could cause. Following his mana perception, the wyvern cast a stream of lightning with his left hand while charging up a breath to intercept Lith the moment he came to the rescue.

    Seeing the air crackle, Yerna cursed at the monster before taking cover behind an altar, still refusing to leave. Even without the array, the marble was unaffected by the spell.

    Contrary to the wyvern¡¯s expectations, Lith didn¡¯t move an inch. His eyes kept staring at his opponent while his hands weaved and amplified a spell he was too weak to cast with his mind alone.

    "Damn you!" Gadorf cursed again. The woman clearly had no value as a hostage. The realization shattered his hopes to use her to stall for time and save his cores.

    His time was running out, he could hear the escaped officer yelling about the need of sending reinforcements. Gadorf was left with one choice. The energy from the Life Draining array was still lingering in the room and there was still more than enough to overload his core.

    Remembering the Master¡¯s words, rather than death Gadorf preferred to join the ranks of his Abominations. That was the ck core¡¯sst trump card.

    Just like Ka¡¯s blood core made it easier for her turning into an undead, the artificial ck core was supposed to greatly increase the wyvern¡¯s chances of sessfully turning into an Abomination.

    Gadorf used thest of his magical strength to collect all the energies and forcefully inject them into his body. Suddenly he was full of vigor, the missing tail and the pierced eye didn¡¯t bother him more than a scratch would.

    His rage and pride were reced by a quiet hunger while his physical body started to crack under the massive pressureing from inside. For the first time in his life, Gadorf felt at peace with the world.

    His path was now clear in front of him, neither Lith or his father meant anything. The only sour note was that until he learned how to control his new body, magic would be out of his reach.

    "I¡¯ll need a lot of life force toplete the transformation. It¡¯s a good thing Xenatos is such a populous city." Gadorf¡¯s tone was rxed, but he was actually focused. With his new senses, he could perceive that Lith¡¯s spell was a darkness one.

    "Since the two of you pushed me this far, it¡¯s only fair for you to be the foundations of my new life." The wyvern smiled softly while his flesh crumbled.

    Such a spell was useless against him now that he was back at his prime. Darkness magic was the bane of undead and Abominations alike, but even the most powerful sword was useless if it was unable to hit its target.

    Gadorf bolted toward Lith, lured by the light of his cyan core like a thirsty man by a gushing fountain. He moved in a zig-zag pattern, making impossible to predict his trajectory.

    The wyvern was so fast that he had barely the time to notice that the young mage was uncaring for the evasive maneuver. Lith just focused all of his strength on his right hand.

    His right bare hand.

    ¡¯Didn¡¯t he wear a magic gauntlet? Where has it...¡¯ Even if he had realized it earlier, it would have been useless. Back when he had ripped the Gatekeeper from Lith¡¯s hand, Solus had followed suit, suppressing her energies behind the sword¡¯s waiting for an opening.

 Chapter 289 Call Part 2

    While the wyvern wasted his movements, the sword flew in a straight line held and empowered by Solus, whose senses allowed her to pinpoint her target with surgical precision.

    Infused with air magic, the Gatekeeper struck a split second after leaving the ground where it lied in ambush. The de went through and through, adding its own momentum to the wyvern¡¯s to drag him to his demise.

    Lith unleashed the darkness spell while Solus acted like a lightning rod, guiding it to destination. Their lives were linked and so were their energies. Manipting Lith¡¯s spells, even from a distance, came natural to Solus like thinking.

    "There¡¯s two of you?" There was no rage in Gadorf¡¯sst whisper, only surprise.

    His cores were already weakened from the continuous poisoning Lith had inflicted them and the stress the metamorphosis caused. The first wave of darkness was enough to wipe them both away, turning the wyvern into a bad memory.

    The sword disappeared into the glove and the glove shapeshifted back into a ring before returning to Lith¡¯s finger. When Yerna came out of her hiding spot, it was already over. Everything had happened in just a few seconds after the lightning struck.

    "A little help here." Lith was sitting on the ground in a small pool of his own blood.

    The Captain had no idea what had happened, yet it didn¡¯t stop her from applying first aid at the best of her capabilities. The wounds were too extensive, they required tier four healing magic. Stopping the bleed was within her reach instead.

    "The monster?" She looked around nervously, expecting it to jump out from the shadows.

    "Dead. That lightning was his swan¡¯s song." Lith lied, pointing his finger to the few scales still in the process of turning into light.

    "Seems his life and the array were connected. Red saved our lives."

    "Saved our lives my a*s!" The Captain cursed. She knew it was unbing of an official and didn¡¯t care one bit at the moment.

    "Even if what you say is true, it means that if instead of chickening out he had acted earlier, half of my team would still be alive. Khran would still be alive!" Yerna had yet toe to terms with the massacre of her unit.

    "You are crazy, instead. Tampering right off the bat with an unknown array and holding your ground like a madman." She wanted to scold him, but found herself unable to.

    "The good kind of crazy. Red or not, I¡¯m going to write in my report that if it wasn¡¯t for you, we would be lying on those altars, waiting for that crazed monster to turn us into dried meat. That and the fact we¡¯ve been set up."

    "Set up?" Lith raised his eyebrow in interest.

    "Yes, even if I have no proof, I¡¯m certain of it. Too much of our intel was wrong. The support was supposed to be on stand by, yet never arrived. Too many things do not add up. It¡¯s likely to be all my fault. I stepped on too many entitled toes during thest years.

    "I¡¯m ready to bet my next two months¡¯ pay that everything will be covered up. Some minor bureaucrat will be fired, all thoughts and prayers to the victims, but in the end, nobody will be held ountable.

    "Those rich b*stards always get away with everything." Rage and sorrow cracked her voice.

    "Gods, so many people have died today. Good people. What I¡¯m going to say to their families?"

    Lith didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t care.

    "I¡¯m not much for justice..." He took out hismunication amulet.

    "but revenge, is something I respect. It¡¯s time to see if my pin is worth its troubles." Lith called what he thought being his most powerful ally. He had no idea if the real target was him or the Captain. Either way, Yerna¡¯s reasoning was sound.

    Someone had to pay.

    The royal constable Jirni Ernas was surprised seeing Lith¡¯s identification rune, he never called her before.

    "This better be imp... What happened to you?" Lith looked like a burning building had just copsed on his head, yet Jirni knew he could shrug off such a trivial event without a scratch.

    "Murder attempt. I¡¯ve been set up during academy duty." Lith used the same tone anyone would use to talk about the weather.

    Jirni liked him more every time they spoke.

    ¡¯Calm and collected, like a professional.¡¯

    "Tell me everything."

    "One moment." Lith gave the amulet to the captain, who didn¡¯t know how to react.

    "Ma¡¯am, your son is safe and sound. I can¡¯t tell you more and neither should he." Yerna threw a mean look at Lith.

    "Today¡¯s events are likely to be ssified, I¡¯m really sorry."

    Jirni found the situation hrious, yet she just smiled warmly. Unlike Lith¡¯s standard issuemunication amulet, her own was capable of forwarding and registering conversations, among many things.

    She shared the call with Linjos and the Queen, before making the proper introductions.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Captain Yerna." Her amulet¡¯s facial recognition program had already uploaded the Captain¡¯s personal file along with all the relevant information about her career.

    "I¡¯m not his mother. I¡¯m the royal constable Jirni Ernas. Give me a detailed report of what happened. Start from the beginning.¡¯

    ***

    "A wyvern?" Linjos was shocked, the Queen merely amused.

    "What are your orders, your Majesty?" Jirni asked.

    "Go to the precinct, interrogate everyone thoroughly. Find who is behind this attack and why it happened." Queen Sylpha was wandering how valuable could it be a mage who faced a Valor first and an Evolved monsterter and lived to tell the tale.

    "It won¡¯t take long." Jirni was on her way since the Captain had finished her report.

    "Once I find them?" It wasn¡¯t a matter of ¡¯if¡¯ in her mind, only of ¡¯when¡¯.

    "Search their homes, interrogate them very thoroughly and once you are finished with them, kill them all." The only answer that came to Queen¡¯s mind was ¡¯priceless.¡¯

    "Something slow and shy. I want to send the message that the Crown is not to be trifled with. Just to be sure to hit where it really hurts, strip their families of all their wealth. Half for the Crown, the other half to split between the academies involved. Make sure the families of the victims get properlypensated."

    ***

    ¡¯Well, not bad for just an hour of work.¡¯ Lith thought once he was back at the White Griffon academy. There was still one hour and something before the beginning of the next lesson.

    Arriving at Xenatos, listening to the debrief, and scouting the ce had taken them half an hour. The assault at the buildingsted less than ten minutes, the rest of the time had been lost receiving first aid.

    ¡¯I could have healed everything by myself, but since normal people need hours to regenerate mana or life force, it¡¯s better not to show off.¡¯

    ¡¯The n worked like a charm.¡¯ Solus thought merrily. ¡¯My new powers grant me much more versatility. I¡¯m still a yellow core, but I can pull my weight now.¡¯

    It was her first time killing someone, yet she couldn¡¯t care less.

 Chapter 290 Scanner Part 1

    The Skinwalker armor had more holes than swiss cheese, but it was perfectly functional. The problem was repairing it required time or mana. s, Lith had a shortage of both.

    Luckily, the Warp Gate (*) brought him straight from Xenatos to Linjos¡¯s office, where Manohar, Vastor, and Marth were waiting for him.

    Marth was there to heal his wounds while Vastor replenished his life force. Manohar was attending out of curiosity. He seemed to find the story of the wyvern and his mysterious array quite fascinating.

    Lith reported to them the events, replying to all their questions about the nature of the Life Draining spell being careful to not blow his cover.

    "Fascinating!" Manohar listened to every detail like they were sweet words from his beloved one.

    "Wyverns are also known as pseudo dragons or lesser dragons. Never use those terms in front of them. They consider it a racial slur, just like the word ¡¯lizard¡¯."

    "Bah!" Vastor scoffed at Manohar¡¯s childish enthusiasm. "I have yet to meet a single dragon and even if they exist, they would still be lizards. A wyvern is even worse, it¡¯s just a lizzie."

    "A what?" Lith asked.

    "It means a lizard with an inferiorityplex." Marth exined.

    "It¡¯s how we members of the Queen¡¯s corps refer to wyverns when they are not within earshot."

    "Wait, you are members of the Queen¡¯s corps?" Lith was bbergasted. Vastor looked more like a chef than a fighter. Marth closely resembled one of his high school teachers. As for Manohar, he was Manohar.

    It was an inhuman task just to imagine someone willing to fight beside him without being given the opportunity to strangle him on a regr basis.

    "We are. Don¡¯t underestimate me because of my well-fed exterior." Vastor patted hisrge belly to emphasize the point.

    "Every element is deadly. It all depends on the user. Also, there is no one mad enough to walk into a fight without a true healer. After you experience enough battles, even if you start as a total rookie, you are bound to pick up a few tricks along the way."

    "Indeed. Until wars and illnesses exist, healers are like breathing. Something annoying that you can¡¯t live without." Manohar nodded in agreement with Vastor.

    "Back to the lizzie¡¯s topic, I wonder what the array did for him. Beasts use a kind of magicpletely different from ours. Maybe we could have learned something byparing a human and a beast array."

    "Unlikely." Vastor scoffed again while checking Lith¡¯s vitals.

    "Surely it was something idiotic. It cost him his life."

    "Today I find myself agreeing with you often, my mildly esteemed colleague." Manohar nodded again.

    Vastor took the unintended insult gracefully, barely dting his nostrils in annoyance.

    "How do you feel?" Marth had just finished regrowing his hair.

    "Tired." Lith replied.

    "You don¡¯t say, Lith." Vastor gave him a hospital gown to wear over his tattered clothes.

    "The first lesson of Body Sculpting will be a simple one, but you still need mana. Let¡¯s go to the hospital and find you a bed. You can rest until yourpanions get back from their chores."

    A Warp Steps brought them to destination.

    "I¡¯m really proud of you. It¡¯s amazing how much you have grown as a mage in a single year." Vastor said while Lith was tucking himself inside one of the beds in the VIP wing.

    "Yet I feel forced giving you an unsolicited piece of advice. Being under the spotlight feels good, I know it very well. Sometimes it¡¯s better to keep a low profile, though. Otherwise the wrong kind of people will take interest in you.

    "At that point, being a healer will be a hobby, a cover story at best. Small or big, there is no country that isn¡¯t constantly looking out for a Highmaster." Vastor sighed deeply.

    His eyes went out of focus, Lith¡¯s enhanced instinct could sense that the Professor was being overwhelmed by bad memories.

    "That¡¯s how the Griffon Kingdom calls them." Vastor mistook Lith¡¯s curiosity about his past for confusion about the unknown term.

    "The Gorgon Empire prefers the term Ravager while the Blood Desert calls them Starkiller. No matter the name, they are all the same. Mass murderers with a badge."

    "I thought War Mages and Wardens are the real backbones of an army."

    "They are." Vastor nodded. "Highmasters rarely take part in a war. It¡¯s too risky. They either start or end it."

    A long silence befell between the two men, while Lith mulled over the Professor¡¯s words.

    "This time you had no choice, but the next time you attend a party, do not show off that much. Otherwise when you get to my age, you¡¯ll have a lot of regrets." Vastor closed the curtains around the bed, giving Lith shade and privacy.

    ¡¯He¡¯s a man full of surprises.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Indeed. The real question is: is he worried about my future or rather that someone recruits me before he does? There is no such thing as a free meal.¡¯

    ¡¯Your paranoia it¡¯s disheartening.¡¯ Solus pouted. ¡¯Can¡¯t you just ept someone¡¯s kindness at face value for once?¡¯

    ¡¯My paranoia is one of the reasons I¡¯m still alive.¡¯ After all that had happened that day, Solus had no argument to refute his logic.

    ***

    When the first gong woke Lith up, most of the damage sustained by the Skinwalker armor was repaired. It took him a bit of mana for the finishing touch while using Invigoration to recover his strength.

    His body was in perfect condition, but his mind was still sluggish.

    ¡¯The Skinwalker amor¡¯s self repair speed is much greater than the uniform¡¯s, yet it¡¯s still not enough. I better recover at least half of my mana. No matter how simple the lesson can be, I don¡¯t want to suffer a headache the whole time.¡¯

    Professor Vastor was waiting at the hospital¡¯s entrance for the students to arrive. He led them inside a smallboratory that had been rearranged to be used as a ssroom. It contained sixteen desks, each one with a sealed fish tank on it.

    After the students took their ces, Vastor snapped his fingers. Inside the tanks now there was what appeared to be a cake shaped gtine. They were all identical, each one was a translucent, colorless mass with no distinguishing feature.

    Only when the ¡¯cakes¡¯ started to move around, looking for a way out of the fish tanks, some of the youths realized what was in front of them.

    "Is this a slime?" Yurial asked pointing at the thing that was slowly climbing the ss, until it was hanging upside down from the top of the tank.

    "Yes. Ten points to Yurial for his expertise." Those that had recognized the creature too but hesitated to express their mind, silently cursed at Yurial.

    "The first part of today¡¯s exercise is to learn the Scanner spell which detects the subject¡¯s life force, and then use it on the slime in front of you. These creatures have the simplest life force pattern known to man, so I expect it shouldn¡¯t take much for talented students like you to get ustomed to it."

    "What¡¯s a slime?" Lith asked. He had never found a trace of them in any bestiary he had purchased, nor met any during his hunts.

    "Excellent question." Vastor nodded while throwing a mean look at those that were sniggering behind Lith¡¯s back.

 Chapter 291 Scanner Part 2

    "Even if can be dangerous if let grow unchecked, a slime is not a monster. By definition, a monster is a sentient creature that naturally harbors hostility towards mankind.

    "Despite having the intelligence and the means tomunicate, monsters see us as we do with cattle. That¡¯s why magical beasts are not considered monsters, because they are capable of understanding human speech and cooperate with us.

    "The same applies to Evolved monsters that are called as such simply because they don¡¯t resemble animals anymore and because we humans need to put tags on everything.

    "The slime is not a monster because itcks both sentience and hostility. It¡¯s a mindless natural scavenger that preys mostly on small animal carcasses. The more they eat the more they grow in size, until they split generating two individuals that are the exact copy of the original one.

    "Some researchers even hypothesize that all existing slimes have spawned from a single one over the millennia, but I digress. What matters to you for this exercise, is that all the slimes on your desks are identical and we have more to spare.

    "So even if you mess up, you can get a recement."

    A snap of Vastor¡¯s finger made a slime appear on the desk in front of him. He quickly cast Scanner, making the slime dete while its fluids spread inside the tank

    Some students shuddered, imagining the same thing happening to a human patient in front of them.

    "Is the Scanner spell harmful to the patient?" Lith asked.

    "Ten points to Lith for his scientific curiosity and admirable work ethic."

    Once again, each assigned point was a knife in the heart of those that despite having the same question didn¡¯t ask it, fearing it was a stupid one.

    "No, it¡¯s not. However, some students get carried away in excitement and attempt to manipte the life force with messy consequences."

    At that point, Vastor taught them Scanner. Less than five minutester everyone had mastered the spell and were using them to study their own test subject.

    "Professor, my slime keeps moving around. Is there a way to hold it still?" Asked a boy.

    "Sure, you just have to kill it." Vastor replied with a sneer.

    "Do you expect a heart to stop beating or the blood to stop flowing to make your life easier? Consider the slime as an involuntary muscle."

    Lith was amazed by the slime¡¯sposition. Despite being liquid looking, once seen through the Scanner spell it actually resembled a stack of gtinous lego bricks. To move they would slide along each other, swapping their position like a treadmill.

    Each brick emitted a red pulsing light that defined its contours, its individual vitality, providing a living map of the whole creature. Even if the bricks appeared to be capable of independent movement, after further examination Lith noticed a red pathway connecting all the nearby bricks.

    He then used Invigoration topare the two skills.

    He hoped that just like clothes, the thin barrier between the slime and his hand wasn¡¯t enough to block his magical sense. Through Invigoration Lith could sense the creature¡¯s life force, its feeble mana flow, but no life force or any organ.

    To Invigoration the slime appeared like a huge single-cell organism.

    ¡¯Seems fake magic just beat us this time.¡¯ Lith was amazed and kind of frightened by the discovery that even Invigoration had limits.

    ¡¯For now.¡¯ Solus eased his paranoia with her soothing voice.

    ¡¯We can always master Scanner and evolve it into true magic. Also, who knows? Maybe it can teach us new ways of using Invigoration.¡¯

    Lith inwardly nodded, going back to use Scanner, but this time on himself to betterprehend what the spell was showing him. Unlike Invigoration, Scanner was unable to provide full-body imaging.

    Everything appeared as a red blur until Lith focused his attention on his arm and then on his hand. Now he could see the muscles, the bones, the blood vessels as well as the nerves surrounding them.

    Yet he visualized them as red lego bricks too. Some were smaller, others bigger, but all were connected by multiple glowing red strings theplexity of which made him dizzy. It was like studying a 3D railway map made with an erector set.

    The intricacy of a single of Lith¡¯s fingers was way higher than that of the whole slime. Lith went back to examining the slime again, gaining a new understanding of how the creature worked.

    Suddenly, Vastor pped his hands, almost making him flinch in surprise.

    "The first hour is over. Enough with the theory, it¡¯s time to put what you have learned to practice. I can tell you in advance it¡¯s a bad day for being a slime."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Xenatos, House of Duke Cailon

    Eberst Cailon, twelfth Duke of Xenatos, was a big and burly man. Even though he had been born a noble, Eberst had voluntarily served in the army, quickly achieving the rank of Captain.

    After the honorable discharge, he had never stopped training himself following a rigid schedule. With his 1.9 meters (6¡¯3"), he was an imposing sight to behold. His pitch ck hair and beard made him look authoritative, almost cruel.

    Rumour said that he never cried during his adult life. Neither when his beloved parents died of old age or when his wife gave birth to his firstborn.

    Yet now, while Lith was studying his slime, Duke Cailon was sobbing, shivering uncontrobly. There were no restraints preventing him from standing up from the chair of his own office and run for his life, yet he didn¡¯t dare to.

    Not after hisst attempts only resulted in a dislocated shoulder, three broken false ribs, and his index fingers more twisted than a pretzel.

    Fear blocked him like the cruelest of chains. He couldn¡¯t understand how someone so small could also be so strong.

    Lady Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5¡¯) high. She was wearing her dark blue military uniform that emphasized her blonde hair held up in a ponytail and her sapphire blue eyes. She looked like a doll.

    If the doll was Chucky¡¯s blood rtive, of course.

    "You are really making things hard for me, Ebert." Her tone was sad, almost sympathetic.

    "Everyone at the precinct, even the chief of police, was so kind to break in less than a few minutes of interrogation each. I already have everything I need to convict you of capital crimes."

    Jirni pointed at the several folders she had thrown on the desk of his own office at the begin of their conversation. Each one contained hard proof of howrge sums of money, after passing through the hands of several figureheads and beingundered by shellpanies ended straight in his personal ounts.

    Each folder was a different source of ie. Human trafficking, embezzling of royal funds for the territory, bribery, and so much more. Some of those papers weren¡¯t even supposed to exist, but in such shady business, it wasmon practice for the involved parties to keep some records as "insurance", in case something went wrong.

    Duke Cailon aplices had sold him. Some in exchange for a reduced sentence, others just to make Jirni stop.

    A burst of pain from his shoulder made him scream.

 Chapter 292 Chisel Part 1

    "Finally!" Jirni eximed. Ebert Cailon had managed to impress her. Hurting or threatening him had been useless until that moment. It was the first time he made a real sound.

    "Aside from cracking their own nails, nobles are not supposed to have a notion of pain. It¡¯s what makes you so easy to interrogate. Now we have something to work on." She removed the ten centimeters (4 inches) enchanted needle imbued with her light magic.

    The pain disappeared, leaving only a small trickle of blood.

    "What was that?" Duke Cailon asked while gasping for air.

    "A nerve bundle in your deltoid muscle."

    "Do your worst, witch." He replied while gritting his teeth. "If I¡¯m already dead, I have nothing to lose. You can make me scream, but I will not betray myrades!"

    "Comrades? This means they are your buddies from the army." She giggled.

    Eberst bit his tongue in despair. Then, everything went off the rails.

    "As for having nothing to lose, I beg to differ." She showed him hermunication amulet while pressing a too familiar contact rune.

    "That¡¯s my son¡¯s rune! How did you get it?" Duke Cailon went pale.

    "Dad?" A childish voice came out of the amulet.

    "Is that you? Is everything all right, daddy?"

    Jirni pressed the rune a second time, ending the call.

    "You can talk now, or I can make your son spectate to our next session. It¡¯s all up to you." She smiled softly, aware that her prey was mortally wounded

    "You are a monster!" Ebert jumped from the chair trying to tackle her. He held his only arm high to protect his vitals, as the army had taught him.

    Jirni executed a low kick in response. The steel toe of her booth hit the side of his left kneecap, shattering Ebert¡¯s bnce and knee joint at once. Before he could fall on the ground, she headbutted Duke Cailon on the nose and back on the armchair.

    Her right hand moved like a snake, striking at a nerve on the back of the neck with her index and middle finger. The pain hit like a shockwave, making Ebert forget for a second about his broken joint.

    "Ebert, start telling me something I don¡¯t know. Otherwise I¡¯ll show you what a real monster is."

    ***

    White Griffon Academy, in the same moment.

    A second sealed fish tank appeared on each desk. At first nce there was no difference between them, nor between their inmates.

    "The first slime is a ¡¯healthy¡¯ one. The second one is your patient. We Professors have altered their life forces and created anomalies in their bodies. You¡¯ll use the first slime as a baseline to find what¡¯s wrong in the second one and understand how you are going to fix it." Vastor exined.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the same method I used to cure mom.¡¯ Lith was amazed by how much tier five magic resembled true magic.

    Several hands were raised at once. Vastor pointed at Friya, allowing her to talk.

    "Professor, before you effortlessly killed a slime. Does this spell have anybat application?"

    "No." Vastor shook his head. "I managed to do that because all slimes are identical. I don¡¯t even need to look at their life force anymore to know how to manipte them. To use it against an opponent, I¡¯d need them to be still long enough for me to understand their life force.

    "During all that time, I could kill them hundreds of times by using more ordinary spells."

    Now it was Quy¡¯s turn to speak.

    "Professor, are we really sure they are mindless creatures? This exercise seems cruel."

    "Mindless, yes. I can assure you about that. They have no mind nor memory, just instincts. It has been proved by countless experiments. I won¡¯t lie to you, though. They are still living beings, so they feel pain. Remember this while you y with their lives."

    Some students shuddered. They unconsciously took a step back from the tanks.

    "No one forces you to be here. No one forces you to be a Healer." Vastor sighed.

    "Tier five healing magic is extremely delicate. It can only be learned through a trial and error process. We start with slimes because they are easy to deal with, but also because they are the perfect starting point to steel yourself.

    "They have no eyes, no mouth, no fur. Nothing that can make you empathize with them. Then we will move to small animals, bigger animals andstly on humans. If you hesitate now, how will you be able to heal anyone?"

    "Humans? We¡¯ll have patients?" Many students asked in unison.

    "No. You¡¯ll have convicts, not patients. People whose actions are so terrible that even the death penalty has been deemed not to be punishment enough. People that no one cares about and would be better off dead, but still people."

    Several of those present gulped a lump of saliva. They looked at each other, wondering what to do. Some even eyed the door, uncertain for the first time about their career.

    "Would you prefer to practice on innocents? To kill anyone dumb enough to ask for your help until you learn how to properly perform Body Sculpting? If it can ease your conscience, those convicts would die anyway after several hours of torture.

    "They volunteered for this. You are their only hope for a clean death. If you are so worried about hurting someone, you shouldn¡¯t have picked any specialization. A Healer is also a torturer.

    "Battle and War Mage are fancy names for killers. Alchemists and Forgemasters are nothing more than weapon dealers. Now, for those still interested in bing Healers, I¡¯ll exin the Chisel spell. The rest of you feel free to leave."

    No one left the room, but it was clear from the mood that many had doubts.

    The spell wasplex and required a lot of focus. It generated a single blue tendril of mana that allowed the student to interact with the patient¡¯s life force with surgical precision.

    The task was made even harder by the necessity of employing two spells at once: Scanner and Chisel. Vastor exined that a full fledged healer required at least triple casting. The ideal procedure required to use Scanner twice. One for the patient and the other for the healthy subject, usually the Healer themselves. Chisel was employed only on the patient.

    A few slimes were colored, some had odd shapes, others had small tendrils. Lith¡¯s slime was one of thetter. After carefully studying both slimes, he came up with two possible solutions.

    ¡¯From what I can see with Scanner, while normal bricks are all linked between themselves, those that make up the tendrils are disconnected from the main body, with the only exception of those at the base of the tendrils.

    ¡¯So, I can either severe the life force connecting the bricks that serve as junction or make them be reabsorbed. I have no idea how to perform the second procedure, though.¡¯ Lith pondered about the problem, before following am¡¯s Razor.

    The simplest exnation is usually the correct one.

    The first method was simr to amputation, something that Vastor had harshly criticized during the first lesson. It was bound to be painful for the patient as well as wasteful. Hence Lith deduced it was also the wrong solution.

 Chapter 293 Chisel Part 2

    The second method, instead, required for Lith to create new strands of life force and use them to connect the isted bricks inside the tendrils to the ones inside the body. Lith did like Vastor suggested, using triple casting to keep everything under control.

    When the gong rang, the ss was disheartened. Only a few slimes had died, but none of the students seeded Sculpting the slime back to normal. Lith had only managed to make a single tendril a bit shorter after the whole hour.

    Vastor didn¡¯t seem to mind, patting their backs andplimenting them.

    "Excellent work, people. I¡¯m amazed by how many of you sessfully used triple casting. We¡¯ll continue next time."

    "Continue?" Everyone was dumbfounded.

    "Well, yeah." Vastor replied with augh. "To finish at your first attempt in just an hour you should be monsters. Before you go, a word of advice to those who killed their slime. Cutting meat it¡¯s a butcher¡¯s work, not a Healer¡¯s.

    They may be mindless creatures, but if you do not anesthetize them, even slimes die out of shock from the excessive pain. ss dismissed."

    Lith walked toward hispanions, pondering about what he had learned.

    ¡¯Now I get why Marth was so enthusiast about the diagnostic spell I shared. Scanner is able to sense life force in great detail, but it gives no information about the actual body. Also, it¡¯s overly convoluted. Even repairing a single bone by altering the life force is not an easy feat. It¡¯s much simpler to use normal light magic.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Not only that.¡¯ Solus chimed in. ¡¯It¡¯s also very risky. Altering the life force means that the slightest mistake causes damage that can only be fixed by using Chisel again, which can lead to another mistake. The silver lining of this method is that on Mogar they can use it to fix gic disorders.¡¯

    ¡¯Indeed. We must find a way to incorporate Scanner with Invigoration or at least with your life sense, otherwise...¡¯

    "Is it true?" Friya interrupted their conversation. Yurial and Quy followed her closely.

    "What is true?" Lith was still thinking about gic disorders, but there was no such term in Mogar¡¯s tongue.

    "That you fought a wyvern, you dummy!"

    "I thought it was supposed to be a secret, but yes it¡¯s true." Lith nodded in slight surprise.

    "It¡¯s a secret if you have no rtives in the army, the Mage Association, or in an important family." Friya scoffed at his naivety.

    "That or if unlike most of us, you aren¡¯t working as a clerk for the Association." Quy pointed out. It was the second avable duty awarding the most points. It came with zero risks, aside from dying of boredom under a mountain of documents.

    "What happened in Xenatos generated a mountain of paperwork. I doubt any student of any academy at this point doesn¡¯t know about it."

    "Who cares about the paperwork!" Yurial wanted more juicy news.

    "What does a wyvern look like? Was it strong? How the heck did you survive? The reports didn¡¯t say much. You must tell us everything!" Lith was happy and pissed off at the same time by seeing them so excited.

    Happy because after Balkor¡¯s attack, the mood turned heavy. It took the whole winter break for things to slowly go back to normal. Pissed off because it was his life they were talking about like it was some kind of reality show.

    "He was impressive." Enemy or not, Lith refused to speak about Gadorf as a thing instead of a person. He used the same respect he would have liked for himself or for Solus, if their true nature was ever exposed.

    "A wyvern..."

    "Thank the gods you are okay!" The moment they walked out the light magic department, Phloria hugged him tightly, lifting him a few centimeters from the ground.

    "I¡¯m going to kill you for making me hear about it from my mom instead than from you." Contrary to her words, the embrace was tender and her voice filled with warmth.

    "I didn¡¯t want to bother you during yourmunity service." He had prepared no lie, so Lith spoke the truth.

    "How can you put your life and mymunity service on the same priority level?" Phloria was shocked.

    "Did you at least call your parents?" She put him down.

    "Why would I?" Her questions didn¡¯t make any sense to him.

    "Are you telling me you almost got cooked, sliced, and yet you didn¡¯t feel the need to call anyone? To hear a friendly voice to share the joy of being alive? Seriously, what¡¯s wrong with you?" Now her voice and words were a match made in heaven.

    Lith froze for a second. It was all true. Between the disregard for his own life he felt ever since he was on Earth and everything that had happened on Mogar, a near death experience felt just like a Monday to him.

    The realization was disturbing.

    "I never made a mystery of being kind of insane in the membrane." Lith tapped his temple with an index finger.

    "So do you want me to list what¡¯s wrong with me in chronological, or alphabetical order?"

    The group had a goodugh at Phloria¡¯s expenses. She was the only one to not find the joke funny. Not one bit.

    She pinched her nose with her eyes closed, trying to calm down.

    "Okay, now tell me everything about your day from the beginning. I need to know how bad it is."

    While they walked toward the canteen, Lith shared with them the whole story.

    ***

    House Ernas, at that moment.

    Lady Ernas managed to get home just in time for lunch. Even if their duties kept them apart for most of the day, she and Orion always tried to consume their meals together. It was a way for them to rx and unload their daily burdens.

    Jirni had still much to do in Xenatos. After Cailon surrendered, he had given her the names of all the yers involved in that morning¡¯s events together with all the dirt he had on them.

    In the underworld, there was no honor among noble criminals. The best way to get rid of apetitor had always been to collect incriminating evidence until there was enough for an anonymous tip.

    At that point, if the constable assigned to the case waspetent enough, it was only a matter of time before the Kingdom did the dirty work in their stead. What Duke Cailon had given her wasn¡¯t enough to indict any of them, but enough to start an investigation.

    A confession to a Royal Constable didn¡¯t allow to bargain for a reduced sentence unless it was backed by proof. That was another reason why so many collected information about theirpetition. It was both a weapon and a shield for rainy days.

    Now that she hadpleted a branch of the investigation, she had to open the new one from what she had. Like a domino, Jirni had to bring down the little pieces, until she had enough to make the big ones fall too.

    There was only one rule in that game: follow the money.

    While power ys could be concluded with an allusion or a handshake, moving huge sums always left a trail. Following such trails was Jirni Ernas¡¯s specialty. Aside from interrogation, of course.

    She was surprised to discover that Orion had prepared the main dish. Cooking was a hobby he practiced when something was troubling him.

    "Did something happen today to you too, dear?" Orion was a good cook. It was the timing of the events worrying her.

    "As a matter of fact, yes. From today onwards, I¡¯m relieved from all my duties as a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard."

 Chapter 294 Bonding Part 1

    "What? Why?" She couldn¡¯t believe her own ears.

    "Do you know what happened today at Xenatos?"

    Jirni nodded.

    "Well, it seems that one of my swords was decisive in ying a wyvern and now everyone wants one!"

    "How is that bad news?" Jirniughed, her fears were relieved.

    "It¡¯s not bad news, it just doesn¡¯t make sense. The Gatekeeper is something I made to keep you and our little Flower happy. Since Lith is no swordsman and can¡¯t use spells with only one hand, its only ability is to channel and amplify first magic.

    Phloria always says he is very good at it." What Orion didn¡¯t know, was that true and first magic worked through the same principles, making the Gatekeeper the perfect weapon for an Awakened one.

    "Only ability? Do you mean you realized something that boosts the effects of the only kind of magic anyone can use and which can be cast silently, taking the opponent by surprise?"

    "Yes. Even though when you put it that way, you make me feel quite dumb."

    "Why didn¡¯t you make one for me too?" Jirni almost felt jealous.

    "Because it¡¯s just a jack of all trades but master of none. I made you much better weapons!" Orion almost felt offended. Jirni¡¯s needles were among his masterpieces.

    They amplified her light magic, allowing Jirni to stimte the victim¡¯s pain receptors maximizing the effects of her interrogation techniques and healing most of the damage dealt at the same time. it was just one of their functions.

    "Still, I could use a Gatekeeper." Jirni added. "I think you simply underestimate your talents dear. Why the suspension, though?"

    "That¡¯s the odd thing. I¡¯m assigned at Forgemastering duty until I deliver nine des like that to the Crown."

    ***

    White Griffon Academy

    Lith was really happy to have managed to tell most of the story on the way to the canteen, otherwise lunch would have taken forever. After sustaining so many wounds and consuming so much mana, he ate the equivalent of a whole turkey by himself.

    By sharing with him part of his life force earlier, Vastor had replenished Lith¡¯s stamina, not his nutrients reserve. Magic couldn¡¯t create life, only enhance or alter it.

    "Just how badly did the wyvern hurt you?" Phloria was worried. The few times she had seen him eat like two Quy was when he had been pushed an inch from death.

    Lith shrugged. He had nothing to add to his report.

    "Okay, that¡¯s it. Luckily, there is still quite some time before the next lesson." She stood up dragging him by the arm.

    "Sorry, guys. Lith needs to rest and I¡¯m going to make sure he doesn¡¯t do something stupid like training or studying."

    They got out of the canteen so fast that Lith had just the time to say:

    "See youter!"

    Quy and Friya giggled like crazy at the scene.

    "I swear, sometimes they look identical to mom and dad." Quy was truly happy for her sister. Over time, she had outgrown her puppy love for Lith. Her new family had quenched Quy¡¯s desperate desire for affection, allowing her to understand better her own feelings.

    "If only their heights could be swapped it would be a perfect match." Friya added, making themugh even harder.

    "Is it me or Phloria got prettier?" Yurial felt uneasy asking such a question.

    "Did you notice too?" Friya nodded. "After Balkor¡¯s attack, she¡¯s lost part of her edginess. Mom says it¡¯s because when a woman falls in love, she bes more dazzling."

    "The real question is: why do you care? Do you have a crush on her?" Quy was a bit annoyed. After a whole year using Vastor¡¯s tonic and proper feeding, she was the one that had improved the most among the three girls.

    She not only had be taller, but also her body had developed enough to make her look like a young girl instead of a child. Yet no one seemed to have noticed, even after the winter break.

    "No, but I¡¯m afraid I may be developing it." He sighed.

    "What?" Friya was bbergasted by his answer, but most of all by his honesty.

    "I thought she wasn¡¯t even your type."

    "She doesn¡¯t even get close. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m desperate at the idea that I never had anyone that cared so much for me and probably I never will."

    ***

    Lith was forced to spend the time before the Forgemastering lesson sleeping. Phloria had managed to knock him out with a clever trick. As soon as they started cuddling, she told him about her day and all the archiving protocols she had learned about.

    Lith¡¯s mind didn¡¯tst five minutes.

    Despite Invigoration, he still felt fuzzy.

    ¡¯Damn, she was right. I really needed to...¡¯

    The moment he stepped into the ss, Lith was assaulted by enough hostility to give him the creeps. There were less than twenty people, no one seemed to pay him any attention. Yet his instincts were warning him about an impending danger.

    ¡¯There is no hidden threat.¡¯ Solus kept scanning their surroundings to no avail.

    ¡¯I can get some of these spoiled brats are angry at me, but this much? It¡¯s not a single individual, more like a collective will. A shared emotion.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Why are you blocking the door?" Lith turned around, discovering that Professor Wanemyre was right behind him. He was so tense to not even notice her arrival.

    "Sorry." He walked to the nearest desk. The hostility had disappeared, but he still felt nervous.

    "Wee back, future Forgemasters." Wanemyre was back in her prime. The effects of the toxin hadpletely disappeared.

    "Today I¡¯ll exin to you the true value of magic crystals and how to employ them in your creations." Lith carefully observed her and all of those present. No one seemed to be aware of what had just happened.

    "What you are going to learn today, requires you to have mastered everything we practiced during the fourth year. We are going to expand and revise your foundations of Forgemastering. From here, the sky and your talent are the only limits.

    "First of all, why are magic crystals so important for us? Because as I previously exined, unanimated matter resists to our attempts to imbue it with external magical power.

    "That¡¯s why without a crystal you can¡¯t put more than one spell per item, why the time window for the enchantments is so short. Forgemastering requires the strength and the skill to permanently force your magic onto something.

    "Let¡¯s make an example with made up numbers. An iron sword has an innate magic of ten, while a tier three spell requires one hundred. This means that creating an iron sword capable of shooting lightning requires infusing it with a magical force ten times its natural capacity.

    "It makes the process difficult and limited. Difficult because the sword will attempt to reject nine tenths of the spell, limited because if I try to infuse a magical force above the tenfold threshold the item will break."

    ¡¯I wish I knew all this earlier.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed. He remembered how many materials he wasted before discovering that silver was the best suited element for hosting great magical forces without the support of a crystal.

 Chapter 295 Bonding Part 2

    "Magic crystals allow us to ovee this issue. Forgemasters and Alchemists both consider a crystal as a beating magical heart in search of a body. The more powerful the gemstone, the greater the number and quality of enchantments it can sustain.

    "That is also the reason why Alchemical tools mostly use up to yellow gemstones, because it would be a waste otherwise. Alchemical tools are meant to be cheap and mass produced.

    "Using green crystals or above for a single spell would defy everything Alchemy stands for. The cost of the gemstone alone would be enough to buy a better Forgemastered item.

    "Embedding a crystal is a delicate and irreversible process in Forgemastering. Once the heart has a body, they be one. If the iron sword of my previous example were embedded with a green crystal, its innate magic would raise to one thousand.

    This means that we can now infuse into it a magical force up to ten thousand. It makes it possible to imbue the sword with multiple spells."

    "How does a crystal fix the problem of the limited time window for enchanting an item?" Asked a chestnut haired boy.

    "Once one or more crystals are embedded, the Forgemaster no longer channels their magic directly through the object, but through the gemstones instead. They are also amazing magical conductors that widen the time window from a few seconds up to a few days, depending on their strength.

    "Otherwise it would be impossible for a single Forgemaster to have enough mana to imbue so many spells at once. Another reason for using mana crystals is because they are a power source.

    "If you remember, the elemental weapons you crafted during the past third trimester, can be only used two, three times a day tops. Gemstones allow using multiple spells in a short time frame with no mana expenditure from the user.

    "Good magical items, like yourmunication amulets, require one blue gemstone minimum. Blue and violet gemstones are expensive, but they absorb mana very quickly from the environment, making it possible to keep an enchanted item active almost indefinitely.

    "Green and cyan crystals are employed only for making toys or ceremonial weapons. Any more questions before we move to a practical demonstration?"

    Lith raised his hand while Solus left his finger to take a closer look at the students. Her mana sense perceived a familiar sensation, but it was too faint to recognize it from a distance.

    "Does it mean that crystal embedded Forgemastered items canst forever?" Lith¡¯s question was linked to Solus¡¯s nature.

    ¡¯What Wanemyre exined doesn¡¯t make sense. Thanks to true magic I know that without the imprinting from the mage, the mana pathways fade away with time and the pseudo core dissipates. If crystals are also power sources, why Solus almost died?¡¯ He thought.

    "I would have talked about this before we studied constructs, like golems or gargoyles. No harm in moving a little ahead of time, though. The answer is no, they don¡¯t. Most stories about heroes finding legendary equipmentying on the floor are just stories.

    "Without a user, an artifact will degrade over time, magical gemstone or not. It happens because all items have passive properties that are always kept active, like weight reduction, self repair, or enhanced resistance.

    "Usually, the more powerful the artifact, the more passive abilities it has. It means that magical gemstones alone cannot keep up with the mana expenditure. That¡¯s why golems require arrays that serve as recharge pods.

    "Unlike artifacts, arrays have a single function making them easier to preserve. Ancient noble households are protected by several arrays, but each one has its own magical stones and requires maintenance. Anything else?"

    Lith shook his head.

    ¡¯The tower from her memories was so big and powerful that probably it would have required a whole crystal mine to keep it active. Especially since Solus cannot go in stand by mode. It would mean her death.¡¯

    By the end of Wanemyre exnation, Solus had returned.

    "Yes." Asked a ck haired girl. "Why not just enable passive abilities to be turned off whenever the object is not imprinted?"

    "Because most of those spells are needed to preserve the magical item. Even if you do not notice it, imbuing an object with a great magical force causes a constant erosion. If an artifact sustains too much damage, it loses all its magical properties.

    "The only way to preserve it from the passage of time is either to pass it to a new owner or use an array. Both solutions require for the original user to die in a manner convenient enough to allow for the artifact to be preserved. Useless to say, it doesn¡¯t happen often."

    Then, Professor Wanemyre proceeded to teach them the Bonding spell before giving a practical demonstration. She ced an amulet and a green gemstone inside a magic circle entirely made of runes of power. They were so tightly packed to almost resemble a straight line.

    "I hope you learned to use water magic well, or drawing this kind of circles will take you days." Wanemyre grinned seeing many quivering at her words.

    She didn¡¯t need to charge the magic circle with mana. Wanemyre directly chanted instead.

    The amulet and the gemstone started to float in mid air, orbiting around each other like twin stars while the runes turned into threads of blue light. The threads pierced both items, passing through them over and over again.

    After each passage, the amulet and the crystal neared each other until they came into contact. Then, Wanemyre chanted a different spell. The threads entered inside the gemstone, painting it blue before spreading to the whole surface of the amulet.

    Lith could see the lines of power even without Life Vision, finally understanding why crafters considered magic crystals like living hearts. The threads had formed the equivalent of a mana circtory system, allowing the gemstone to fill the amulet/body with its power.

    The lines turned from blue to green before disappearing, while the amulet returned on the t surface of the ck Forgemastering table.

    ¡¯It¡¯s just as she said.¡¯ Solus was amazed. ¡¯I can see with my mana sense that the amulet has now a powerful magical aura. In a way, it reminds me of ourselves.¡¯

    "Now the amulet is ready to be enchanted. The use of the Bonding spell does not imply the need to imbue spells right off the bat. Bonding and Forgemastering can be considered two separate processes.

    "Now it¡¯s your turn to try. This is tier five magic, so remember that the spell requires from you to generate as many threads you can control. The greater the number, the better the Bonding. A Forgemaster like me can generate one thread per each rune.

    "In your case, since it¡¯s your first attempt, one out of four runes can be considered a passing grade, but only if the Bonding is sessful. All the threads must always go through both targets. If even one misses, the spell will fail. Who wants to go first?"

 Chapter 296 Growing Hostility Part 1

    Lith stood up, eager to put his talent as Forgemaster to the test. The pattern of the spell was simple, but the execution wasplex. It allowed the mage to choose if to power up the runes one by one like Wanemyre just did, or to group them up as she suggested.

    Making a single strand out of four runes meant a lesser strain on the mage during the first chant, since it required an average level of multi casting, but it made things moreplicated during the second spell.

    It would generate a thread four times thicker and likely four times harder to control. The second spell was just a crutch for the mage¡¯s willpower, making it easier to control the conjured energies.

    After learning the spells, Lith went all out. His multi casting ability allowed him to control ten spells at once, one for each finger. He created one thread out of two runes, twice the number Wanemyre required.

    Lith could have conjured more, but it would have meant risking to fail. Since it wasn¡¯t a life or death situation, there was no need to bite more than he was certain to be able to chew.

    When Wanemyre performed the spell, the resulting energy strands were as thick as hairs and moved in unison, like they shared a hive mind. Lith¡¯s performance turned out much different.

    Each strand was as thick as a finger and moved like a snake slithering for its life while having a seizure.

    ¡¯Damn! I thought that my experience with true magic would make things easier. It¡¯s the first time I meet such wild energies. Let¡¯s hope the second spell helps.¡¯

    Lith started the next chant. He had a hard time just to prevent the blue threads from crashing against the walls of the ssroom, marking the failure of his attempt.

    "This is a ssic rookie mistake." Wanemyre exined to the rest of the students.

    "Always remember tomence the second spell as soon as you finish the first, otherwise the Bonding spell goes rampant." Contrary to the expectations of most, she didn¡¯t deduct any points from Lith.

    The second chant was a revtion for him. He could feel small tendrils of pure mana emanating from his body. Theytched themselves on the wild energy threads, taming them like trained dogs on a leash.

    ¡¯I never thought it was possible to use spirit magic to control remotely another spell!¡¯ Lith was overjoyed. ¡¯I have to master this Leash spell as soon as I can. It has countless applications!¡¯

    From that point onwards, the rest was easy. Lith sessfullypleted the Bonding spell, but the difference between his product and Wanemyre¡¯s was like heaven and earth.

    Lith¡¯s amulet had a much weaker magical aura, not even half as strong as the one the Professor made. The mana vessels he created were fewer, smaller, and formed a lessplex patternpared to hers.

    ¡¯Seems the results of the Bonding spell aren¡¯t linearly proportional to the number of threads generated, as much as exponentially.¡¯ He thought.

    "Outstanding job!" Wanemyre pped her hands with a big smile on her face.

    "Thirty points for handling so many threads at the first attempt, thirty for seeding at the first try, and another forty for achieving all the above despite my mistake."

    "Your mistake?" Lith raised an eyebrow in confusion, while the rest of the ss heard nothing after realizing the total sum was one hundred points.

    "Yes." She nodded.

    "I forgot to point out the importance of the timing for a sessful Bonding. Unlike everything you have attempted before, the two spells are interlinked. My blunder affected negatively your odds of sess. Hence the forty points.

    "Now let¡¯s see how those that were so smug while you were about to fail perform. I expect great things from them." She threw a cold look to a few students that went immediately pale.

    Lith turned around to go back at his desk, when suddenly the hostility returned. The threat was as close as pressing, forcing him to perform a quick 180¡ã turn by pivoting on his front leg.

    Wanemyre looked at his arms raised in a guard position with a puzzled look. The feeling of dangering from behind had disappeared.

    "Is it something wrong?" She tilted her head in confusion.

    Lith shook briefly his head before returning to his station.

    ¡¯Okay, something is f*cking wrong here. First the brats, now the Professor. Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯I was going to wait until the end of the lesson to tell you, but at this point we cannot take any more risks.¡¯ Lith could feel Solus using all of her senses to keep the whole ssroom under surveince.

    ¡¯Do you remember I told you there was something familiar? Well, I was right. When I went checking your colleagues, I noticed that at least five of them wear trinkets bearing the same pseudo core of those we found in the boxes. I have no idea what they do, but this can¡¯t be a coincidence.

    ¡¯Until we figure it out, I want you to wear your paranoia cap and never take it off.¡¯

    Lith inwardly cursed. He hated being forced on the defense, but there was nothing he could do. Lith had no reason to report them, nor he could exin in any way the significance of the trinkets they wore.

    ¡¯Even worse, we recognize them only because we can see their pseudo cores. I have no usible way to justify how I know thatpletely different items all do the same thing. Do you think Wanemyre is involved in this too?¡¯

    ¡¯I can¡¯t be sure.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯I didn¡¯t take a close look at that betrothal gift of hers back then, but I remember its vibe. It¡¯s definitely possible.¡¯

    Those words were enough to make Lith shiver. It was only the second day he had returned at the academy, yet another storm was already brewing at the horizon.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Headmaster¡¯s office, Linjos was even more worried than Lith. Despite taking all the necessary precautions, he could feel the control of the academy slipping through his fingers.

    He had spent the winter break personally crafting the new Ballots, giving them to students and Professors alike to make it possible for them to record any suspicious activity they may encounter, but to no avail.

    An academy¡¯s power core was a priceless treasure for the Griffon Kingdom. To avoid enemies or spies from tampering it, in times of crisis only the Headmaster could ess it. It was the reason why one of the qualifications for bing a Headmaster was to also be a Forgemaster.

    "Today¡¯s attempt on Lith¡¯s life it¡¯s undeniable proof that traitors are still operating within these walls." He said to Marchioness Distar. Linjos was one of the few people aware of her real nature of mage and of her role as Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s corps.

    "Constable Ernas¡¯s investigation proves that the real target was Captain Yerna, but to assign Lith to a ughterhouse, those nobles needed help from inside the academy."

    "Agreed." The Marchioness nodded. "Even sending Professors to do a clerk¡¯s job didn¡¯t help. Let¡¯s admit it, our opponent beat us at our own game. Information keeps leaking and now you tell me materials have started to disappear?"

    "Yes." Linjos sighed deeply. "Small quantities at a time, but what worries me the most is that they are all ingredients necessary for making weapons. Military weapons at that."

 Chapter 297 Growing Hostility Part 2

    Mirim Distar mmed her fist on the armrest of her chair.

    "Fine. If they want war, then war it is. Enough with finesse and schemes. I¡¯m going to make all the necessary preparations to detain and quarantine all the academy staff until the traitors have been found."

    "This... this will have terrible consequences for the academy¡¯s reputation and the students!" Linjos stuttered in bewilderment. "sses will be suspended, exams dyed. Not to mention we have yet to prepare for Balkor¡¯s iing attack!"

    "Not as terrible as more dead students would, Linjos." The Marchioness understood his concerns, but she could see the bigger picture.

    "A reputation can be rebuilt, the same applies to an academy. The dead though, have no such luxury. I don¡¯t want any more students endangered by political ys, nor the White Griffon to suffer from sabotage likest year.

    "Get rid of some of the most useless members of your staff. I¡¯m going to rece them with constables, some undercover, some not. We have an advantage our opponentcks: we are the ones making the rules of this game."

    Linjos opened the Warp Gate of his office, allowing the Marchioness to get straight to her mansion.

    ¡¯Gods, I hate how right she is.¡¯ Linjos held his head between his hands in despair. All his hopes, his ideals were shattering one after the other against the harshness of reality.

    ¡¯At this point, I can trust no one. Not even my inner circle. I¡¯mpletely alone, surrounded by enemies!¡¯ He banged his head against the desk, realizing how devious was the human heart.

    ***

    ¡¯At this point, we can trust no one. Not even the Professors. We are surrounded by enemies.¡¯ Solus thought with a sigh.

    ¡¯Yeah. Same old same old.¡¯ Lith shrugged. ¡¯The trick is to keep our eyes wide open and our buttocks tightly closed, so no one scr*ws us from behind.¡¯

    Lith took off, flying at break neck speed towards the Mage Knight training hall. Since Wanemyre gave the students a single attempt at Bonding, the Forgemastering ss ended before the gong resounded.

    While she exined to those who had failed their mistakes, the others were free to leave. Thanks to the map in Soluspedia, Lith always knew the shortest path to his destination while his senses allowed him to avoid collisions in mid air with other students.

    When Friya and Phloria came out of the hall, they were in the middle of a lively conversation about some technique they had recently practiced. Their faces were drenched with sweat which they dabbed with a towel around their necks.

    All the students had an exhausted look. Most had bruises visible on their exposed skin, especially on the arms. Combat specializations were demanding both physically and mentally, often involving getting hit at the slightest mistake.

    "Hi, girls." Lith drew on himself hateful looks. Most of the boys hated his guts from the fourth year. Despite being three years younger than them, with his 1.66 meters (5¡¯5") was already taller and with a better physique than them.

    On Mogar, youths developed mostly during their thirteenth year. After that, there could be small adjustments until the sixteenth one. It was the limit after which the body stopped growing.

    All of them hoped to be elite troops and while being tall wasn¡¯t necessary, it sure helped. They could only envy the kind of monster Lith would grow into.

    "Hi, Lith!" Phloria was pleasantly surprised. Usually in their rtionship it was up to her to take the initiative.

    "If you give me an hour to catch my breath, we can train together with the sword before dinner." She knew Lith was a workaholic. Phloria assumed that after his fight with the wyvern, he was eager to ept her offer to train him.

    "Who do you take me for? Some battle maniac? Thanks, but no thanks. I had enough for today. I was more thinking about taking advantage of theck of homework to take you out for dinner."

    Invigoration or not, Lith felt the need to rest. Phloria was the only person beside Solus with whom he was able to lower his guard. He wanted to go outside the academy to rx and talk freely.

    Lith also used the assembly to have Solus scan the students for the mysterious items. He suspected there were more involved in the poisoning who Linjos hadn¡¯t managed to smoke out.

    He was right. Solus spotted four more.

    "Really? I mean, sure." She replied with a dazzling smile from ear to ear.

    "I still need an hour to make myself presentable." Phloria drew on herself hateful looks. Most of the girls of the fifth year hated her guts. How such a in looking girl managed to date a pin wearer was a mystery to them.

    From Lith¡¯s dating experience on Earth, one hour was an optimistic estimate for an improvised date.

    "Sure. I¡¯ll go visit Yurial in the meantime. Call me when you are ready. There is no rush." He wiped a drop of sweat that was streaming along her cheek with his thumb. All the bruises on her body healed, her muscles and joints stopped aching.

    Instead of getting tired because of the light spell, Phloria felt her fatigue disappear.

    "How did you do it?" She was amazed. Lith hadn¡¯t used any sign or magical words.

    "We are inside one of the great academies, so I¡¯ll go with magic." He shrugged.

    "What about me?" Friya hadn¡¯t missed how Phloria¡¯s breathing was back to normal or that she had stopped sweating.

    "Sorry, three is a crowd. Find yourself a boyfriend." He said taking off before she could give him the finger.

    "I meant the healing, jacka*s!" She yelled even though Lith was already too far.

    Yurial was pleasantly surprised to see Lith too. It was rare of him to seek Yurial¡¯s advice or help, which made him happy to oblige.

    After the fight with Gadorf, Lith understood he needed a better grasp of the power of arrays. Since he was still stuck with Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram, Lith decided it was time to ask the opinion of an expert.

    "Can you check if this is an array?" Lith asked after materializing a small golden hexagram between his hands.

    "Sure thing. It¡¯s unlikely though." Yurial¡¯s array detecting spell begged to differ.

    "I stand corrected. This is an array and an impossible one at that."

    "What¡¯s an impossible array?" Lith asked.

    "Arrays are spells that require a long cast time and that can be ced in a specific spot for a time. This one defies all the above. It disappears as soon as you stop spending mana and appears rtively quickly." Yurial exined.

    "There are several recordings of impossible arrays like this one, all left by past Magi. They are only used as training material for multi casting, though. They have no practical use and are considered nothing more than magic tricks."

    "How so?"

    "Because theye with no exnation, no hand signs, nor magical words. Even if they had a decent effect, they can only be used with first magic. Turning them into real arrays would require to study their properties and then find signs and words to match.

    "It¡¯s much easier creating a new one from scratch. Also, what use could possibly have an array that requires constant chanting and mana expenditure? The mage couldn¡¯t even move, being forced to be an easy target."

    "Maybe. Maybe not." Lith pondered.

 Chapter 298 Discoveries Part 1

    "Can you help me discover what Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram does?" Lith asked.

    "Sure, no problem." Yurial was happy to be finally able to repay his friend of all the help he received in the past, even if it was for a fool¡¯s errand.

    "I¡¯d also like to see those impossible arrays you mentioned earlier." Lith was sure to have struck a gold mine. Having true arrays in his arsenal was an opportunity he couldn¡¯t miss.

    Lith kept the Hexagram active, making it possible for Yurial to perform a series of experiments and spells to determine the newfound array¡¯s properties. While Yurial studied it from the outside, Lith could perceive from the inside the changes in the mana flow each test produced.

    After a while, theypared notes about their initial findings.

    They were still discussing the details when Lith received Phloria¡¯s call.

    ¡¯Ugh, I wish I knew how much time has passed. I have to make myself a damn clock or something.¡¯ Thirteen years after his third birth, Lith was still unable to tell the time without looking at the sun.

    It frustrated him beyond reason.

    When he went to pick her up, Phloria was wearing her uniform, just like him. She wore her waist long ck hair down. Her wavy hair reflected the academy¡¯s light, giving them a silky look.

    Phloria emanated a delicate flowery scent that Lith found surprisingly rxing. Even before he obtained an enhanced sense of smell, Lith had always found perfumes to be too strong. Their sweet scent was nauseating for him, just like a man using too much cologne.

    She wore little make up. Just enough to make her features appear more delicate and her eyes bigger. Her lips shined under the effect of lip gloss.

    "How do I look?" She asked with an expectant look.

    "You look gorgeous." Lith honestly replied.

    Lith took her to thegoon city of Vinea that he had visited during the fourth year¡¯s house calls. With its many small canals and boats, it was the most romantic ce he knew.

    It reminded him of the Italian city of Venice he had seen in many movies back on Earth.

    Also, it was located quite far from the academy, so the odds of meeting someone they knew were very low. Lith wanted some peace and quiet. They chose a restaurant with outside tables to enjoy the scenery. Being still early spring, the air was a bit chilly.

    It took Phloria just a wave of the hand to warm the air around them and make so that the heat wasn¡¯t dispersed. Lith took care of the lights, summoning small silvery moons around them.

    The poor waiter assigned to them was so bbergasted by their uniforms and disy of power that it took a while to manage to order some food.

    "Not toin, but this is not like you. Taking me outside the academy, in a romantic city instead of ordering food from the canteen and eating it in one of our rooms. What¡¯s wrong?" She asked extending her hand across the table to take his.

    ¡¯Am I really such a cheapskate?¡¯ Lith thought. Solus¡¯s silence spoke volumes about the matter.

    "I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but there¡¯s something you need to know." Lith told her about the hostility he had perceived from Wanemyre and the other students.

    "It¡¯s no coincidence, all of them wear essories that give me a bad vibe."

    "They wear matching items? How did no one notice them before?" She was surprised, it was quite the dumb move on their side. It made them recognizable.

    "Not matching, but I¡¯m positive they have the same properties. I want you to be wary of all of them." Lith gave her the names and a physical description of those he had identified.

    "Then how do you know they are linked?" She asked.

    "I just know."

    "Is this another of your secrets, like your physical abilities and your mysterious brother?"

    Lith just nodded.

    "Okay, I believe you." She replied with a radiant smile.

    "This is actually a piece of good news."

    "How so?" Lith was stunned by her positive reaction. He had expected her to doubt his words. Phloria was aware of how paranoid Lith was and he had offered her no proof aside from a nondescript bad feeling.

    Even if she believed him, he was afraid the new impending threat would ruin the mood.

    "Because at least now we know whose as*es we have to kick. It was no mystery there are traitors at the academy nor that some of the students were involved in the poisoning. It¡¯s the first lead we got. Thanks for trusting me enough to share it with me."

    Her response almost made him feel guilty for hiding so many things from her. Aside from Solus, she was the person that trusted him the most, no matter how many shadows Lith left lingering between them.

    She was the first girl on Mogar that had gifted him with a gentle touch and a warm embrace. Even when he had almost lost it after Protector¡¯s fake death, Phloria had never left his side.

    Lith sighed, finally ready to admit with himself that he cared for her. Over time, Phloria had be his home away from home. Someone to return to, without worrying about how to act or what to say. He could just be himself.

    Phloria giggled, closing with her hand Lith¡¯s mouth that had remained agape since her reply.

    "No, thank you for believing me. Now that I said out loud, I realize how insane this story sounds." Lith felt a sting in his heart, but it was a pleasant one.

    "I would believe you even if you told me some monster kidnapped you overnight. Otherwise, what are girlfriends for?" She held his hand tightly.

    "I was thinking we could use this knowledge to unleash my mom against them."

    "I doubt she would act just because I have a bad feeling." Lith sighed.

    "True, but my mother is even more paranoid than you are. If I tell her that the bad feeling is mine and that those people acted in a suspicious manner, she¡¯lle running. She¡¯s overprotective since your vision..." Phloria suddenly stopped, dropping the fork on the ground.

    "That¡¯s it! Your vision just got updated!"

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith had just reached the same conclusion, yet he was curious to see how far she was willing to push that lie.

    "We can say that your vision showed you something about those items. It will be more than enough to give mom everything she needs."

    "What if I¡¯m wrong and they are actually innocent? Wouldn¡¯t you feel guilty for throwing them in Jirni¡¯s maw?" Lith¡¯s care for their well being was on par with what he felt toward the game he was eating. He only wanted to make sure Phloria realized the implications of her idea.

    "No." She shrugged. "They can do like me and me those damn dryads for not giving us much to work on."

    "Someone is getting crafty and maniptive." Lith said,ughing.

    "What can I say? Between you and mom, bad habits rub off."

    They spent the rest of the dinner talking about their respective specializations and families.

 Chapter 299 Discoveries Part 2

    After Lith paid the bill, they took a stroll along the promenade. Despite thete hour, the city was still bustling with carriages and small taxi boats.

    Everything moved slowly. Unlike Earth¡¯s metropolis, nor the coachmen or the ferrymen seemed to be in a hurry and so were their passengers. To Lith, it almost appeared as the city of Vinea waszily falling asleep.

    Suddenly the silence between the two was broken by a sigh, shortly followed by another.

    "What¡¯s wrong? Having second thoughts about the n?" Lith asked.

    "No." Phloria shook her head. "It¡¯s so odd. I feel so happy yet so scared at the same time." She sat on a wooden bench, inviting him to do the same.

    "I¡¯m happy because despitest year has been a nightmare, it made me realize how lucky I am. I have a loving family, wealth, status, and talent. All things that I took for granted before meeting you guys." She leaned against Lith, putting her head on his shoulder.

    "I even managed to get this old without being forced to kill another human being." Lith had still a hard time hearing a sixteen year girl calling herself ¡¯old¡¯, but after Rena¡¯s marriage, he was starting to wrap his head around it.

    Especially after his sister got pregnant.

    "The reason I¡¯m afraid, it¡¯s because I know the fairy tale that has been my life is going to end soon." She sighed again.

    "I finally understand why my mom is so pushy and my dad is so lenient. They are both trying to protect me their own way from life as they know it. Since I¡¯m almost an adult, I must start acting like one. I can¡¯t keep relying on others for protection.

    "Once I graduate, the army will send me away from home for the gods know how long. It will not be like with the academy, I will not be able toe back for months. For the first time in my life, I will be really alone.

    "No matter my family name, my path is my own. Every decision I make will have consequences and I must be strong enough to live with them."

    She paused for a moment, looking at the stars shining over their heads, while the crescent moon was partially covered by a passing cloud.

    "It¡¯s so quiet tonight, while my future is so scary. I would like for this moment tost forever, but I know it¡¯s impossible."

    Lith said nothing, his mind was nk. Even though he wanted nothing more than for the fifth year to end, to get over the ursed vision, the idea they had less than nine months together before breaking up made him feel empty.

    ***

    The next morning, Lith served as a clerk for the Mage Association. It was the hardest thing he had ever done in all his three lives. He would receive new documents every few seconds, give his magical stamp as proof of receipt, and then catalog them ording to protocol.

    After that, he had to read them and forward the paperwork based on their priority. Despite the senior clerks provided him with an amulet that allowed him to easily find the correct rules and regtions for each document, the job was mind numbing.

    Seconds seemed tost hours, while the two hours of duty could as well been years. He returned to the academy, feeling as his soul had been sucked dry.

    ¡¯I¡¯d rather fight another wyvern than do this sh*t again.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯At least once you y the beast it stays dead, those papers kepting like a flood. It¡¯s much better a swift death by w rather than slowly drowning in an ocean of boredom.¡¯

    ¡¯Cheer up! You had me and Soluspedia to help you remember what goes where. Imagine how does it feel for the others.¡¯ Solus chuckled.

    During the healer specialization, they kept treating their slimes. The more Lith became ustomed to the procedure, the more often he was able to switch from Scanner to Invigoration.

    He and Solus had discussed at length about Body Sculpting during their morning torture. They both thought the subject held one of the missing pieces of the puzzle that true magic was.

    ¡¯The way Protector changed his form and the wyvern did arepletely different. Protector shapeshifted at once, like water going from one vessel to another. The wyvern changed in small bursts instead, like a werewolf in a horror B movie.

    ¡¯I think both manipted their life forces, but employed different techniques. Protector is an Awakened one and Scarlett taught him how to change form, while the wyvern wasn¡¯t Awakened and had no ess to his mana core.

    ¡¯Probably the reason why Protector wasn¡¯t able to teach me how to shapeshift wasn¡¯t rted to the refining stage of my core, but rather to my inability to control my life force. I must learn how to perceive it as a whole, not just a single limb at a time.

    ¡¯Also, I need to find a way to create a backup of my human body¡¯s life force pattern or I risk losing myself forever.¡¯

    Lith used the Chisel spell as a sewing kit, joining the red bricksposing the tendrils of the slime with those of its main body by creating threads of cyan mana between them. As soon as the connection was properly established, the life force flowed like blood in the new vessels, turning them red.

    By the end of the lesson, Lith¡¯s proficiency with the slime had greatly improved, yet he hadn¡¯t got halfway through the task. Oddly, the ss¡¯ ranking was reversed. Those less skilled had almost finished, while Lith, Quy, and the others had still much to do.

    Even more oddly, Vastor didn¡¯t seem surprised nor worried by the turn of the events.

    "Excellent, excellent!" He patted Quy¡¯s back enthusiastically.

    "I don¡¯t get it, Professor. I¡¯m behind most of the ss, why are youplimenting me?"

    "Because you and the good ones are focusing on the how and why, rather than on the what." He exined cing his hand over her fish tank.

    "As I expected. Your slime suffered minimal shock. You are not slow, Quy, you are meticulous. There¡¯s a big difference between the two. Don¡¯t doubt yourself and stand tall." Vastor pushed up her chin, stopping Quy from staring at the ground.

    The Professor then checked all the slimes,plimenting most of the slow students and scolding all the fast ones.

    "Your slimes aren¡¯t healed, more like patched up. If this was a more delicate procedure or a less durable creature, it would be long dead." Vastor shook his head, proceeding to ease the pain of the slimes by fixing the major mistakes.

    Lith¡¯s group left the Healingb in high spirits. The others because of Vastor¡¯s words, Lith because despite making no progress with Invigoration, he felt he was on the right path toward the discovery of how to shapeshift.

    The next subject was the first practical lesson about how to create their own personal spells. Lith was eager to discover if he could learn something about true magic from it. Up to that point, all the academy courses had helped him to broaden his horizons.

    They went to the Lecture Hall, where Professor Nalear was waiting for them. Once all the students arrived, Nalear opened a Warp Steps moving them to the most absurd training hall any of them had ever seen.

 Chapter 300 Magic Creation Part 1

    The Training Hall the students walked into reminded them of the one they used for practicing dimensional magic.

    The room was 30 meters (98 feet) long and 20 meters (66 feet) wide. It was big enough to easily amodate double their numbers. However, while the dimensional magic Training Hall waspletely empty, the Magic Creation one was filled with what looked like an old telephone box made of transparent crystal.

    Right in front of each telephone box, there was a holographic horizontal bar that reminded Lith thebo counter of games like "Dance Dancer Uprising". All in all, the ce looked more like an arcade rather than an academy¡¯s facility.

    "First things first, you should take out your own Codex." Professor Nalear showed them the book she had distributed during the first lesson.

    "As a warm up exercise, each one of you will pick two magical words of their own choice from their Codex and input them in the Sensor Booth." She pointed at the crystal phone box.

    "All the possiblebinations are known. They generate a mana flow that has been thoroughly researched and the Booths are capable of sensing. Let me give you an example." She walked inside an empty Booth, leaving the door open.

    Nalear ced her hand on the crystal wall in front of the holographic counter.

    "First, you need to imprint your station with your mana. Then say out loud the spell you have decided to create. In my case is Infiro Gata." ording to the Codex, it was supposed to create a ring of fire. The Booth emitted a red glow while powering up and so did the holographic counter.

    "Now the device knows what kind of energies are going to be employed and how to protect me from them. I suppose you all remember the dangers of casting a spell incorrectly."

    The ss nodded in unison. Lith too had almost died multiple times while learning his first tier one fake magic spell when he was still six years old. A mistake in the magic words¡¯ pronunciation or in the hand seals could have unpredictable consequences.

    "Well, creating a new spell is even more dangerous, that¡¯s why it¡¯s a subject explored only during the fifth year. Aplete spell is safe for the caster. Even if you mess up with it the worst it can happen is for its effect to go haywire.

    "The magic signs for low tier spells determine the amount of mana which will be employed and how it interacts with the elemental energies. Using the wrong signs can directly harm your bodies. The bigger the mistake, the bigger the damage you may sustain. This is especially troublesome for attack spells.

    "That¡¯s why we¡¯ll start with spells that are barely tier one to give you solid foundations. I¡¯d like to tell you that the Sensor Booths can block anything, but it would be a lie. They can only shield you up to tier two spells and some of the weaker tier three ones.

    "The purpose of this exercise is to let you safely experience the flow of your mana while you are creating low tier spells. Only then we will move to more powerful spells against which there is no protection but skill and experience.

    "It¡¯s important you be familiar with identifying the correct signs and finding the right words. The Codex only contains the mostmon and safe magical words. Truly powerful spells require you to make adjustments."

    "I have always thought that spells made from our own mana couldn¡¯t harm us." Quy asked. "Why is this different?"

    "Because a correctly performed spell is part of you, like your hair or your skin. A messed up spell isposed of discordant energies which make no distinction between friend and foe."

    "Did I risk my life while creating my personal spells back at my vige?" Quy shivered at the thought of how dangerous ignorance was.

    "Not really." Nalear patted her shoulder, trying to reassure Quy.

    "Light magic is the magic of life, it¡¯s mostly harmless. It requires a monster failure to inflict damages with a low tier light spell, otherwise a failed chant simply has no effect. You and Lith are lucky.

    "Being healers, you followed the safest path. It made it possible for you toter create even offensive spells with ease thanks to your prior experience." Quy thought back when she created her first offensive ice spell.

    She had suffered from pain and difort from time to time, but she had always managed to stop before things got out of hand. She never reported injuries during her experiments, only minor frostbites.

    "Creating personal spells before even enrolling in an academy it¡¯s what means being talented." Nalear said to the rest of the ss.

    "Let me finish my demonstration please." Her hands drew an S in the air, filling the holographicbo bar by a third. "This means the signs are correct."

    She then repeated the magical words while drawing and S followed by a circle. Thebo bar shed red and emptied.

    "This happens when the signs are wrong."

    The third time she drew a doodle after the S. Everything shed red a few times, a warning sign filled the counter.

    "Guess what? That was a major blunder. Without the Booth I would have got injured. If there aren¡¯t any more questions, get in the booths and start practicing. Choosing two words that form a universally known spell will not count as a sess.

    To get a passing grade you need toplete at least two new spells. Begin!"

    The moment Nalear walked out of the Booth, it glowed with white light. The following text appeared inside the holographic disy:

    Attempted spells: Infiro Gata. Completed spells: None. Final Grade: F. Imprint sessfully reset, ready for a new student.

    Several students swallowed a lump of saliva, Lith included. Cheating wasn¡¯t an option, the system registered everything.

    Lith inwardly cursed at his bad luck.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not Quy, I never created fake spells besides those I taught Tista. Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s enough.¡¯

    He took a deep breath to calm himself down, then Lith imprinted the terminal with his mana.

    "Jorun Ka." ording to the Codex, the spell would create an ice cube the size of a table. Lith started to form all the signs he knew, discovering that such a brute force method was unpractical.

    Every failed attempt consumed part of his mana. Taken individually, a failure was nothing to him. Hundreds of failures in a row were quite tiring though. After an hour Lith had wasted a quarter of his mana reserve andpleted a single spell.

    ¡¯Calm down, you idiot.¡¯ Lith scolded himself. ¡¯Don¡¯t panic like a drowning man. This is just the first lesson. Worst case scenario you¡¯ll get a failing grade, but there¡¯s always next time. Focus on the task at hand.¡¯

    Lith recalled Vastor¡¯s words about the difference between being slow and being meticulous. Then about the purpose of the exercise. They weren¡¯t practicing for a guessing game. They were there to learn to perceive the mana flow inside their own bodies.

    The fourth year sses required to sense the mana once they projected it outside, Magic Creation was the opposite.

 Chapter 301 Magic Creation Part 2

    ¡¯This exercise is just like a math problem. I can either learn by rote all the equations or I can understand the underlying principles of the main form and derive from it everything I need. So far the first method failed me, time to give the second one a try.¡¯

    Lith closed his eyes, ignoring thebo bar in from of him and focusing on his mana core instead. The second spell of his choosing was Jorun Bat, a useless spell that would generate coin shaped icicles.

    It was simr enough to the previous one to make it possible for him to at least reuse the first hand seal. Lith drew the symbol in the air slowly, feeling a small amount of mana departing from his core.

    Then, he almost stopped his hands, making one small movement at a time and observing how the mana strand reacted. He discarded all the signs that caused it to bloat or copse, following only those which made it move outwards.

    Lith had no idea how much time had passed when he heard the sound announcing thepletion of the second spell. He opened his eyes just for the time necessary to pick the next two words from the Codex and transmit them to the Booth.

    He kept practicing ice spells only, observing each time with more rity the shape the mana strand assumed with each different spell. The revtion struck him like a hammer.

    Most of the movementsposing a single hand sign were useless. They had likely been added to make it easier to remember, to mask the important parts from prying eyes, or both.

    What mattered were the movements that altered the shape of the mana strand, adding to it twists and turns until its flow resembled that of a true magic spell. Lith decided to put his theory to test.

    He picked another couple of words forming a simple ice spell. Lith mentally visualized how he needed to manipte his mana flow to obtain with true magic the same effect the fake spell would have. Next, he pronounced the magic words while using both hands to shape the mana strand like the true spell he just created.

    The Booth signaled his sess coincided with the gong marking the end of the lesson. Lith found himself drenched in sweat. His mana reserve was low enough to give him a splitting headache.

    Yet he was pleased with his results.

    ¡¯The bad news is that I can¡¯t use the same technique for higher tier magic. It takes me a minute to whip up a tier one true spell, but the same can¡¯t be said for the upper tiers. It means I must really learn how to create fake spells.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯This not only wille in handy to pass this subject, but also as a way to obtain credits by sharing spells if I ever need something from the Association. The good news is that now I found a much quicker way to turn fake magic into true magic and vice versa.

    ¡¯It seems my original theory was right. Fake magic¡¯s foundations are the same as true magic and the whole tier system is adder that leads to the discovery of the mana core.¡¯

    Lith walked out of his Booth, waiting for the hologram to project his results.

    Attempted spells: Fifteen. Completed spells: All. Final Grade: B. Imprint sessfully reset, ready for a new student.

    ¡¯Not bad for someone who spent half the lesson to get a single spell right.¡¯ Solus tried to cheer him up. B was the lowest score they ever got, yet she was proud of him. Lith had achieved that grade all by himself, without asking her help.

    ¡¯It¡¯s better to wait after dinner before asking him if he did it on purpose or he was simply so focused to forget about me.¡¯ She thought in a hidden corner of her mind.

    Lith turned to watch how the others performed. Quy¡¯s hologram reported:

    Attempted spells: Twenty two. Completed spells: All. Final Grade: A.

    "Amazing as always, Quy. I suck so bad at this subject. I need to work harder." He shook her hand with a tinge of envy in his voice.

    ¡¯She¡¯s more talented than me, has more experience than me in creating fake spells, and she didn¡¯t waste time panicking. I wonder how powerful will she beco...¡¯

    Lith¡¯s train of thought was interrupted by Quy, who gave him a weak kick on the shin. The way shepulsively tilted her head made him think Quy was having a stroke or something.

    ¡¯Turn around, idiot.¡¯ Lith followed Solus¡¯s order, finally noticing the other stations too. There were a lot of holographic Ds, Es, and even some Fs.

    "What the heck?" Lith blurted out. It required at least fourpleted spells to get an E, eight to get a D. Everyone was staring at him with pure hatred.

    "I told you people, talent." Nalear patted their backs.

    "As I said earlier, twopleted spells are enough for a passing grade during the first lesson. The machines are calibrated for the final exam, though." She chuckled at his bewildered expression.

    ***

    Later, while the students were enjoying their dinner, the traitor inside the academy could finally sigh in relief. After the streak of failures during the past year, all their meticulous nning was giving its fruits.

    Based on their most recent intel, Linjos was still unaware of their ns to build military grade weapons to employ during the final act. Ever since they had joined Lukart¡¯s wild goose chase everything had gone south.

    Lukart, the Archmage idiot who dreamed to be King. The traitor had joined him because they too wanted the civil war to happen, but for an entirely different reason. The traitor firmly believed that the Griffon Kingdom was beyond saving.

    It was like a horrible painting drawn by an ipetent artist. More brushstrokes could only make it even messier. What the Kingdom needed was to burn the old canvas and start again with a new one.

    Blinded by his own arrogance, Lukart had never expected that his ally was slowly siphoning his funds and assets. Turning Lukart¡¯s aplices into obedient ves. The n was brilliant in its simplicity.

    When the civil war would start, the traitor would have all the necessary means to make his side prevail, wiping off the board both Lukart and the corrupted Royals.

    After the incident in Kandria, they had been forced to change approach. With the parasites discovered and a cure already avable, the original n was ruined. When Balkor had revealed his new target, the traitor assumed the heaves were giving them a sign.

    By moving their pawns, they had weakened all the academies, making them easy prey for the undead. The traitor assumed that once the six great academies were lost, the other great Countries would invade the Griffon Kingdom.

    Nobles andmoners would have been united in grief, forced to ally against amon enemy. The oue of the battle wasn¡¯t important, what mattered was to destroy the status quo. Yet the damned Linjos had ruined everything by allying himself with the Lord of the forest, leading the other Headmasters by example.

    The traitor had spent thest months building the strength they needed to plunge the Kingdom into chaos. If revolution was impossible to achieve, the traitor was willing to settle with revenge.

 Chapter 302 The Lives of Others Part 1

    White Griffon academy. Over a monthter, one week before the first exam of the fifth year.

    The life of Friya Solivar Ernas had always been an emotional rollercoaster. A speeding trap that kept her dozens of meters above the ground and which would never stop, no matter how much she screamed, cried or barfed.

    Sometimes it would slow down, but only because another big fall was nearing. She had wasted her childhood attempting the impossible task of earning her mother¡¯s affection.

    After she turned twelve, she had been thrown in a dog eats dog environment. Everyone in the academy wanted her to fail, hoping to get her ce in the rankings. Everyone in the Solivar Household wanted her dead.

    Her brothers and sisters were afraid of the status she would achieve by bing the first mage in the history of the household. If Friya seeded, being the firstborn or the line of session would be meaningless.

    She would be Duchess Solivar¡¯s right hand mage and inherit everything when mommy dearest took her leave.

    Friya had spent so much time watching her back that her encounter with Yurial had been like seeing the sun after a perennial winter. Thanks to his status and power, the environment turned peaceful, giving her the opportunity to rx.

    Meeting Quy saved her soul. Despite having a much harsher life than Friya, Quy still had a gentle heart and only strived for affection. She restored Friya¡¯s faith in mankind.

    After giving her the equivalent of a sugar candy, the fourth year turned out to be the apex of her misery. First, she had lost her family. Being branded like a traitor, she had been forced to ept Lady Ernas¡¯s offer to adopt her.

    Then, she had killed her first human in cold blood andstly came Balkor. s, the worse had yet toe.

    All those events had pushed her to the brink, yet they also helped Friya to open up with her new parents and sister. They had grown closer over time until she had stopped feeling a prisoner and became part of something bigger.

    Until she felt part of the Ernas family.

    Being loved unconditionally, having the freedom to decide about her future was something that in the past she could only dream about. Now that she had everything, Friya was scared to death.

    Scared to lose that safe haven and return to a cruel world that didn¡¯t give a damn about her. She had no idea what to do with her life.

    ¡¯Being a Healer is a quiet job, but quite boring.¡¯ She would often mentally list all the pros and cons of her avable choices.

    ¡¯Also, I don¡¯t like people very much. Spending my life helping others sounds like a waste of time. The career of a Mage Knight is even worse, I would be killing people for a living. I¡¯m sick and tired of fighting, I just want some peace.

    ¡¯It¡¯s absurd to ask a sixteen years old girl to decide her future. Maybe I should take a sabbatical. Until I find my answer, I can always be the Ernas Household¡¯s private magician. Besides, the fifth year is still long. I have all the time I need.¡¯

    ***

    Quy Ernas was having the time of her life. She had a doting father, a creepy but caring mother, two wonderful sisters, and the house of her dreams. Despite all the bad things that had happened, the fourth year had been the happiest of her life.

    It had given her a ce where she belonged and more importantly, a family.

    She still had three more years before being considered an adult, but she had already nned her future. After graduating, Quy had decided to work as an assistant at the White Griffon¡¯s light department until she was old enough to apply as a Professor.

    She had already discussed it with her mentors. Even Manohar was enthusiastic at the idea and promised to endorse her application. The thought actually scared her. With the fickle genius¡¯ reputation, his approval could do more harm than good.

    Being a Healer and a teacher was her dream job. It would give her the opportunity to improve the world around her while leaving her the time to start and nurture her own family.

    After the winter break, with the start of her growth spurt, her confidence in her looks and talent skyrocketed. Quy was looking around for a boyfriend, but with little luck so far.

    Orion apprentices were kind boys, but only saw her as a child. As for her colleagues, those she liked didn¡¯t return her interest and vice versa. Like a very shy fourteen year old boy that had already asked her out a couple of times.

    Quy would have preferred someone more assertive. She was fed up enough with her own shyness to put up with that of others. Yet hisst move was bold enough to convince Quy to give him a chance.

    Xodard had gifted her a small ring. I was nothing fancy, just a trinket a student of humble origins could afford. It was the note it was wrapped in that mattered.

    "A charmed ring for a charming girl."

    ¡¯A cheesy pick up line, but it¡¯s still cute. I¡¯ll wear the ring for our first date.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯If things don¡¯t work out, I can always give it back.¡¯

    ***

    The fifth year¡¯s subjects were demanding, but, unlike during the fourth one, no Professor assigned homework. That left Yurial plenty of time to practice his skills as a Warden in theb built inside his living quarter and to help Lith with his research.

    ¡¯It¡¯s amazing how the so called "impossible arrays" all require at least hexacasting and fine control over all the different mana flows. Yet Lith manages to perform them at the first attempt thanks to his mastery of first magic. Maybe I was wrong always dismissing it as inferior magic.¡¯

    Their research progressed slowly. Unlike everything Yurial had learned so far, each array seemed to have aplex function. Casting them wasn¡¯t enough to obtain results. To respond to an external trigger, the energies that formed the arrays had to be properly manipted while holding the bnce of the overall structure.

    Over time Yurial became fascinated with them and learned how to cast them by himself, to experiment even when Lith was otherwise upied. Thanks to that exercises, Yurial¡¯s mastery of tier four and five arrays improved by leaps and bounds.

    Sometimes, when he was focused on the mystical patterns, he could feel a burning sensation located near his sr plexus. At first, he thought it was a coincidence. After the phenomenon happened several times, he tried all of his diagnostic spells.

    When none of them detected any anomalies, Yurial even asked for Manohar¡¯s second opinion. Even ording to the god of healing, there was nothing wrong with him.

    ***

    Distar Household

    The royal constable Jirni Ernas was nervously drumming her fingers on the armrest of her chair. It was unusual for her being nervous, let alone impatient. Like every predator, she knew the importance of biding her time, of choosing the time and ce of the attack to not leave the prey the slightest chance of survival.

    Yet all that waiting was wearing down her nerves.

 Chapter 303 The Lives of Others Part 2

    "The vision changed almost a month ago. Why are we doing nothing?" Jirni¡¯s anger was barely contained. It took all of her willpower to prevent it to show on the outside.

    "Because based on all we know, it¡¯s likely we are about to face the threat of ve cors, like those the Pontus Household purchased from the missing Alchemist Hatorne." Duchess Distar was disgusted by her own words.

    Just like Jirni, she hated feeling helpless.

    "Whoever the traitors are, they have managed to slip out of our too many times. Linjos needs time to remove enough members of his staff to require an official turn over without arising suspicions.

    "If we act rashly, we risk alerting them. They would only need to activate the cors to force us to butcher innocents while they escape under the cover of the ensuing chaos.

    "We are lulling them into a false sense of confidence, so that our first strike will also be thest." Her hands were clenched so hard they were white, the blood drained from her fingers.

    "Easy for you to say. It¡¯s my little girls that live in that death trap, not yours. Why can¡¯t we at least warn them?"

    "To achieve what? Spook them? Spook the traitors? We may be wrong about the cors. So far all the security sweeps came out negative." Mirim Distar shook her head.

    "It¡¯s not only your daughters who are in danger, but every single student in all the remaining four academies. If you can¡¯t keep your personal and professional life separated, maybe you should recuse yourself from the case."

    Jirni Distar knew that Mirim was right and hated her for that.

    "How long before we move?" She asked.

    "Very soon."

    ***

    Vige of Lutia.

    Lith considered the idea of bing an elder brother and an uncle almost at the same time disturbing at best. When during the second month of winter Elina noticed she had skipped her period, Lith knew he had seeded.

    Both his mother and sister were nervous. The former considered her pregnancy like a miracle while thetter was on edge being her first time. Lith was basically on call 24/7, but luckily nothing happened in his absence that Nana or Tista couldn¡¯t handle.

    Lith would go back to his vige at least once a week, during the weekend to perform aplete check up on both women.

    "Everything is fine. Again." Lith snorted.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, dear. I didn¡¯t mean to rush you." Elina apologized with such a merry voice it sounded fake, but she was actually sincere. She was just too happy with the good news.

    "Do you want to know the gender of the babies?" Lith asked.

    "Do you know it already?" Judging by their enthusiasm he had just asked a rhetorical question.

    "Male. Female." He pointed at Elina first and at Rena second.

    ¡¯Ugh. My family so far had bad luck with males. Orpal, Trion, and then me. Let¡¯s hope the little one grows into a better man than us. It doesn¡¯t take much, after all.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯How dare you!¡¯ Solus scolded him. Not even reminding her of his body count spared him from a lecture.

    Both families didn¡¯t share Lith¡¯s negative outlook on life. They celebrated together untilte.

    The next day, after the end of the lessons Lith went to Phloria¡¯s room to share thetest news and give her an early birthday present. In a few days, she would turn sixteen, bing an adult ording to Mogar¡¯s standards.

    "Congrattions, you must be thrilled." Phloria embraced him tightly. For a moment, Lith lost himself in the delicate fragrance of her hair.

    "Not really." He didn¡¯t want to spoil the mood for his family, but at least with Solus and Phloria he could be honest.

    "I¡¯m scared at the idea of having another brother. I almost have only bad memories about them." Most of all, he was scared of loving and losing his little brother. Lith was certain he couldn¡¯t take it again.

    "As for my niece, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m afraid the baby will take a lot of her time and we will grow even further apart."

    "How many times do I have to tell you?" Phloria sighed. "You can¡¯t keep your loved ones under a rock. You must learn to let them go. You are not losing a sister but gaining a niece."

    Lith didn¡¯t reply. It was a matter on which they had to agree to disagree.

    "I have alsoe to give you your birthday present." Lith took out from his pocket a small box, handing it to her.

    "Why so early? Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s bad luck?" She giggled, rushing to opening the box.

    It contained a lily shaped gold pendant. Rena¡¯s father inw had melted and purified the gold, while Lith had shaped it with magic. It was so lifelike that Phloria attempted to smell it.

    "I researched the etymology of your name. This flower symbolizes the goddess you are named after. It¡¯s also enchanted to be durable and as a dimensional amulet with a capacity of fifty square meters." It was the highest grade dimensional item Lith could create without making a fuss.

    "Thanks! It¡¯s a wonderful gift!" She attempted to kiss him, but Lith stopped her.

    "That¡¯s just my cover story gift. Otherwise people would think I¡¯m even more of a cheapskate than I already am."

    "What¡¯s the real gift, then?" Phloria was puzzled.

    "I know I can¡¯t Forgemaster anything your father couldn¡¯t do better, not I can afford something you couldn¡¯t buy on your own. The only thing I can offer you is my trust. Please, close your eyes and give me your hands."

    Phloria did as instructed, while Lith activated Invigoration on her.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ What he saw left him bbergasted. Compared to thest time he had visited her, most of the impurities in her body were converging towards the mana core. They hadn¡¯t moved much, but the movement was as clear as the day.

    ¡¯It¡¯s just as I feared.¡¯ Solus sighed. ¡¯The prolonged exposure to you,bined with the repeated use of Invigoration and the practice of high level magic seems to stimte other people¡¯s cores.¡¯

    ¡¯Exposure to me? Invigoration?¡¯ Lith was still stunned.

    ¡¯Do you remember Balkor¡¯s attack? To save her and Yurial, you had to use Invigoration a lot. Also, since she asked you out, the two of you spend a lot of time together. Protector told us that the key to Awakening is a high mana density.

    ¡¯Compared to a normal mage whose core is dormant, yours is a small mana geyser.¡¯

    ¡¯Doesn¡¯t this mean that Tista is likely to Awaken? Compared to them, she has been much closer to me.¡¯

    ¡¯If she enters the White Griffon, I think it¡¯s a reasonable assumption.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯It also depends on her talent and luck. Tista hasn¡¯t Awakened in years and Phloria¡¯s impurities have barely moved. Don¡¯t¡¯ overthink it.¡¯

    Lith took a deep breath to calm himself before proceeding. He used Invigoration to remove the most external impurities from her hair and skin, destroying them as soon as they emerged.

    "What¡¯s this smell?" Phloria had no idea why she was feeling so hot and fuzzy, but the stench was out of this world.

    "This is my gift. I¡¯d like for it to remain a secret between the two of us." He said bringing her in front of the mirror.

    "I don¡¯t feel any different." Phloria looked her reflection without noticing anything.

    "Take a bath and let me know in the morning. Doctor¡¯s order." Lith kissed her deeply, tasting her fragrance before leaving her room.

    He took off, flying along the corridor towards his living quarters.

    ¡¯I¡¯m proud of you, taking such a leap of f... Watch out!¡¯ Solus yelled.

    Lith reacted swift as the wind dodging a barrage of icicles, only to feel an invisible grip blocking his limbs. He immediately activated fusion magic to neutralize the effects of the spirit magic holding him.

    The person using it was an expert. They mmed him against the walls and the ceiling before he could react.

    "I bet you didn¡¯t expect to meet another Awakened one, did you?" A too familiar voice said while the world around him faded to ck.

 Chapter 304 Broken Part 1

    The attack had been ruthless, quick, and carefully nned. The barrage of attacks had thrown Lith out of bnce, while the spirit magic throw exploited the momentum of his own dodge to m him against the nearest wall.

    The impact sucked the air out of Lith¡¯s lungs, making him lose focus at the same time. Solus had been helpless against the ambush. The attacks hade out from the upants of the rooms they always passed by on their way back.

    She had no reason to be vignt of them. Solus would rather focus on those hiding behind corners or pirs, but the coast was clear. Or so she believed until the attack came.

    Lith was about to lose consciousness, but thanks to the prompt use of fusion magic and the Skinwalker armor, he managed to heal himself at thest moment. Lith stood his ground, assessing his predicament.

    Mana sense and Life Vision both told him the situation was desperate. He was surrounded by all sides with no way out. The students weren¡¯t a problem, but the person in front of him was.

    Professor Valesa Nalear had already weaved several spells while he was still trying to get up.

    "Dodging was dumb of you." A cruel smile distorted her usually kind features.

    "Buying that armor was dumb of you. Thanks for making everything easier for me." Her voice was carefree like they were ying a game.

    Several fireballs appeared around him, exploding at the same time.

    "I really like this spell of yours. I hope you don¡¯t mind I copied it."

    Lith took out the Gatekeeper sword from his pocket dimension, imbuing it with enough water magic to instantly conjure an ice coffin around himself while using air magic to protect his ears from the explosions.

    ¡¯What the heck is she saying? I¡¯m making her job easier? At least she¡¯s dumb enough to use one of my spells. I know exactly how to counter it.¡¯ He thought.

    s, Nalear wasn¡¯t stupid. As soon as the coffin formed, she unleashed a river of lightning that used Lith¡¯s own barrier to bypass the armor¡¯s protection.

    "Another dumb move. Should I think you still have a crush on me?" Herughter was cruel, oozing mockery.

    Lith inwardly cursed at himself. He could only endure the spells by using earth fusion. He was taking damage after damage. Up to that point, he was stuck on the receiving end of the battle.

    ¡¯Damn, she has silenced the whole area. No matter how much noise she does, no one will hear a thing.¡¯ Solus thought, racking her brain for a solution.

    ¡¯I think I know why she said you are making her job easier. She can¡¯t kill you because of the academy¡¯s arrays. If she attempts to, they will protect you and send a distress signal!¡¯

    Lith had almost forgotten about the academy¡¯s protection, he never needed them. Wind des shattered the ice coffin. He was tempted to offer them no resistance to activate the protective arrays, but he felt something was wrong.

    Nalear was taunting him, she was likely to have taken precautions. Lith parried them with the de, discovering he was right. They were too weak to inflict him a serious injury, she was aiming to make him faint.

    "You know, I can¡¯t believe it took me so long to realize we are cut out of the same mold. Two Awakened ones." Lith ignored her words, distraction tactics were one of his specialties too.

    "How you survived the Talons, helped find a cure for the parasites, or saving the life of that Deirus idiot. Everyone believes you are the next Manohar, but I knew it couldn¡¯t be the case. You are too normal, too sane to be a genius."

    Lith moved his hand behind his back, taking the Ballot out of the pocket dimension, only for it to be ripped away from his fingers by Nalear¡¯s spirit magic.

    "That was rude. Time to finish this." He ignored her words again, pretending just for a second to be willing to fight for the Ballot in a spirit magic tug of war before jumping towards the nearest student.

    ¡¯The arrays work for everyone. It means if I strike one of them down it will activate anyway!¡¯ Lith thought.

    The student was startled. Lith moved too fast for her eyes. Yet before his sword could reach the girl, he felt an agonizing pain from his back. Several knives stabbed him. Their enchantment was strong enough to piece his armor while their des were too short to do serious damage.

    Nalear pulled out the des with her spirit magic, activating their second spell. Healing magic from the knives closed all of Lith¡¯s wound,pletely restoring his body. At the same time, the healing weakened him even more, sapping his strength.

    "I call them the ¡¯anti-academy¡¯ weapons. Strong enough to knock you out, but not enough to trigger the arrays. You have no idea how much trial and error I had my littlembs go through before Wanemyre perfected them.

    So many of them got reprimanded or expelled for hurting their own friends." She chuckled.

    "Sacrifices must be made sometimes. Right, littlembs?" The students¡¯ faces were like stone, yet their eyes were crying in fear.

    She struck Lith¡¯s temple with an enchanted leather club, making him lose consciousness.

    ¡¯He fell for my trap, just like I expected. The students weren¡¯t here to trap him, they only served as bait. Now that he¡¯s out of the picture, I¡¯m not going to let him ruin my n. An Awakened one is an unpredictable wild card. I have no intention to discover if a ve cor works on us or not.

    ¡¯If not for these damned arrays I would kill him right now.¡¯ Nalear sighed.

    She brought Lith in her apartments, bringing along a few students. During the winter break, she had everything prepared in advance. It was impossible to have a secretpartment made without the power core of the academy detecting it.

    Yet she could easily turn one of her closets into an excellent prison. Short chains were hanging from the wall, blocking Lith¡¯s neck, waist, legs, and arms. Then, Nalear proceeded removing all of his enchanted items.

    The dimensional amulet, the magic storing rings (AN: rings that store spells), andstly his Skinwalker armor, leaving Lith naked while his possessions were stored inside her dimensional amulet.

    "It makes you wonder how pretty would I have be if I Awakened earlier." She sighed, looking at his broad shoulders and chiseled body.

    Nalear attempted to remove Solus¡¯s ring with spirit magic but to no avail.

    "Want to y hard to get? Fine by me. Cutting a finger or two makes no difference." A jagged de appeared in her hand, making Solus desperate.

    She had been fuming with rage from the beginning of the fight, hoping Nalear woulde close enough for a sneak attack. Yet the Professor had Lith always moved by the students or with spirit magic, she never came close enough.

    Wishing she could use Lith¡¯s mana when he was unconscious or at least move his body, Solus¡¯s only real option was to perform an all out attack.

    As soon as the de cut the skin, Solus shapeshifted from ring to a stone scorpion attacking Nalear physically and magically at the same time.

 Chapter 305 Broken Part 2

    Nalear had been on guard the whole time. Life Vision had allowed her to notice how the ring was full of energies since day one.

    She used her de to pin Solus to the wall and the students as human shields against her spells. They were badly hurt, but thanks to their uniforms there wasn¡¯t much tier two spells could do.

    Solus¡¯s yellow core limited her greatly.

    "What a marvelous object." Nalear blocked Solus with spirit magic.

    "It¡¯s not only capable to store the user¡¯s mana but also to move on its own? It will be an excellent addition to my collection." Solus could only curse her bad luck. If only Lith¡¯s and her energies weren¡¯t as one, she could have hurt him enough to activate the array and save him.

    When Nalear tried to store Solus inside her dimensional amulet, she was in for another surprise. The amulet didn¡¯t respond and Solus kept floating in mid air.

    "It¡¯s impossible! Is this thing really alive? Good thing I¡¯m always prepared." She took out a mystical wooden box out of her dimensional amulet. It was engraved with silver runes of power. A blue mana crystal the size of a tennis ball was embedded on its lid.

    When Nalear opened it, it generated strings of blue energy that trapped Solus, dragging her inside the box before it closed on itself. She attempted to shapeshift multiple times, but the strings relentlessly followed her, adapting to her every change.

    The blue gemstone powered up the runes, sealing its content from the outside world.

    The bond between Lith and Solus was broken. The bacsh gave Solus a seizure while Lith suddenly woke up, roaring like a wounded beast.

    The killing intent he released made two of the students faint. The spirit magic st he generated made everyone but Nalear fly against a wall and lose consciousness. She sneered at his swan¡¯s song, hitting him on the head with the leather club again and again.

    The club was another enchanted item she had prepared. It was made so that it would inflict a lot of pain but no harm, draining the victim of their vitality.

    What she didn¡¯t expect was for Lith¡¯s mouth to suddenly open like a maw, filled with fangs instead of teeth. The moment her hand was close enough, he bit her deeply. The fangs dug into her flesh until they reached the bones while seven eyes stared at her with hatred.

    Nalear ignored the pain, passing the club to the free hand, resuming the beating. The eyes burned bright in defiance, refusing to let go. The maw was almost closed when the head fell limp again. Even fury had its limits.

    "What the f*ck are you?" Nalear cursed while using Invigoration to close her wounds and restore her strength. It took her less than a minute to heal the injured students and replenish their life forces with Invigoration.

    They had spent no mana, so they were still in their peak condition.

    "Here are your orders, my littlembs. These chains are strong enough to hold an angry Byk, but what¡¯s even more important it¡¯s their color." She pointed at the mystical aura surrounding the shackles and the chains both.

    "When it¡¯s red it means Lith is unconscious. When it turns green, it means he is awake. As soon as it happens, you have to stab him with these knives."

    She handed them the anti-academy knives.

    "Don¡¯t stop until it turns red again. Wait for my signal. Only then you can kill him. Cut his head and pierce his heart. Just to be safe." The five students nodded in unison.

    "After you are done with him, return to your rooms and wait further instructions. Tomorrow is the big day."

    ***

    The next morning, Phloria hummed all the time while she was walking to pick Lith up for their morning stroll before breakfast. She wore the golden lily pendant over her uniform. It didn¡¯t matter to her that wearing an early present was bad luck, Phloria was too happy to care about silly superstitions.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what Lith did, but my skin had never been so smooth nor my hair so silky and easy tob. My sisters are going to be so jealous.¡¯ She inwardly giggled. What made her so happy wasn¡¯t the beauty treatment itself.

    The changes were so slight it was unlikely for anyone to notice them and she knew it. The reason behind her happiness was Phloria felt something had changed between them after the date in Vinea.

    Lith was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but he was finally starting to unravel himself. When she knocked at his door and no response came from inside, it didn¡¯t spoil her good mood.

    After ten minutes of knocking, she started to worry.

    ¡¯Maybe he is just too tired. It¡¯s no big deal, we¡¯ll see each other for breakfast.¡¯ Phloria didn¡¯t believe her own thoughts. Lith had never stood her up before.

    When he missed breakfast too, she was close to panic. The others tried to reassure her everything was fine and called Lith¡¯s on hismunication amulet. Yet he never answered.

    Fear started to spread, like fire through dried grass. The second gong signalling the start of the Code of Practice without him attending was the final straw.

    "Where do you think you are going, Lady Ernas?" Professor Farg yelled at Phloria who was walking away.

    "Enter the Warp Gate now or I¡¯ll make sure you lose more than a lesson¡¯s worth in points!"

    "Feel free to report me to Linjos." Phloria retorted. "It will save me the time to exin to him what¡¯s happening! Maybe if two students disappear at once he¡¯ll move hiszy a*s."

    Farg attempted to localize Lith with the artifact Lady Tyris had given her, but to no avail.

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible!¡¯ She thought. ¡¯For his hybrid aura to disappear like this, he should be dead. No one can die inside an academy. I have to warn Lady Tyris immediately.¡¯

    Phloria had no Guardian to summon by her side, but she had the next best thing.

    Jirni Ernas walked through the Warp Gate leading to Linjos¡¯s office less than five minutester, wearing her royal constable badge on her chest, right above the heart.

    "What¡¯s the meaning of this?" Linjos jumped from his chair. The Gate had opened without his consent.

    "Royal override code." Jirni replied with a stone cold voice.

    "I¡¯m constable Ernas, investigating on a missing student case. Hope you remember my husband."

    Linjos turned pale seeing Orion standing right behind her. The memory of him beating the Headmaster an inch from death was still vivid.

    "What are you talking about? What case? Do you realize what youing here could cause? You may have ruined a month of hard work!"

    "Not at all. I have here a missing person report and the authorization to investigate." She mmed on his desk Phloria¡¯s statement and Elina¡¯s request for intervention. The two women had always kept in contact and after hearing about her son¡¯s disappearance, Elina would have even signed a deal with the devil to have him back.

    "I have all the necessary paperwork. Find me Lith and I¡¯ll walk away before the Gate even closes."

    Linjos had no choice but toply. He attempted to activate the tracker in Lith¡¯s uniform and when it didn¡¯t work, he checked all the records about who had got in and out since hisst sighting.

    "This makes no sense. The tracker can¡¯t find him and no one has left the academy unsupervised yet."

    "Well, the good news is that he is still alive and somewhere inside the academy. The even better news is that I finally have a reason to turn this ce upside down. Tell Distar that I¡¯m done waiting. Now we are going to y by my rules."

 Chapter 306 Rising Tide Part 1

    Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

    That was how Nalear had defeated Lith, but also the way Jirni Ernas nned to smoke out the traitor.

    The arrival of constable Ernas was a big enough monkey wrench in Nalear¡¯s plot to put both her master and contingency n at risk. It was impossible to use dimensional magic inside the academy because of the array blocking it.

    The only way out was using the Warp Gate, but even with the help of her littlembs, it was impossible for her to drag away Lith unnoticed. Her teacher ring was useless too. It not only would leave a record of her position, but also could move her inside the fifth floor only.

    ¡¯Each floor of the castle is huge, but with enough time they can search every nook and cranny of it. I can¡¯t hide Lith forever nor can I kill him and store his body in a dimensional item. I can¡¯t believe months of careful nning are about to be crushed because of a stupid girl!¡¯

    Nalear had underestimated the depth of the bond between Lith and Phloria, dismissing it as a simple crush. She was also unaware of Marchioness Distar¡¯s n of putting the academy in lockdown to search for the traitor.

    The information ckout had worked like a charm. The problem was the Marchioness had no way to know what the enemy intentions were. It almost resulted in a perfect set up to douse the fire yet to have it ready after the house waspletely burned down.

    Almost.

    Lady Ernas was a decisive woman. The moment Phloria contacted her, she put her first contingency n in motion, pulling a lot of strings and calling in as many favors. She knew Lith well enough to know that he wouldn¡¯t leave the academy without letting her little Flower or at least his mother know.

    His disappearance could only mean something big was about to happen. Taking out someone of his caliber in such a clear manner, inside an academy at that, meant the enemy was as strong as well prepared.

    Lady Ernas was certain she had not a second to spare. s, she was right.

    ***

    Professor Am Farg contacted Tyris as soon as Phloria left, reporting to her everything she knew.

    "What are your orders, my liege?" Farg asked.

    "I¡¯ll be there in a while." Tyris sighed. From her throne, she could feel the air in the Kingdom turning heavier by the second.

    "I mean to spectate, not to intervene. I feel that what¡¯s happening at the White Griffon is simr to Balkor¡¯s attacks. A reckoning. Humans are bound to make mistakes and it¡¯s only by suffering the consequences of their choices that they have the opportunity to grow.

    "I don¡¯t n of doing like Sark and treat them like a bunch of kids that need to be held by hand. As for you, Am, do whatever you think it¡¯s right. You have my permission to use the full scope of your abilities."

    After closing the call with Farg, Tyris called her only two friends. The fall of one of the Great Countries might be something all Guardians would like to bear witness.

    ***

    Inside the enchanted box, Solus had long recovered her senses. Without her bond with Lith, she couldn¡¯t feed nor she could grow stronger. Only weaker.

    That didn¡¯t mean she was powerless, though. She had still all the abilities of a yellow cored Awakened one. Invigoration didn¡¯t allow her to recover her strength but was a crucial instrument for her survival nheless.

    She had spent months studying the boxes together with Lith, attended the same lessons, and followed all of his steps towards bing a Forgemaster. Invigoration made it possible for her to study the lock keeping her sealed.

    Solus wasted no time crying or despairing. She had spent thest few hours nning her escape.

    ¡¯"Always prepared" my... whatever my a*s looks like, you witch!¡¯ Solus had never been so angry in her whole life. It could be said that even though she had developed the whole spectrum of human emotions, she was uncapable of hate.

    At least until that moment.

    Hatred was something usually Lith generated enough to supply a small army, something she was used to contain, being careful not being infected with. Now it burned through the very core of her being like moltenva.

    She would have loved for life to be like thoseics Lith liked so much as a kid. Where trivial things like love, friendship, or rage could produce miracles giving the hero endless strength.

    If love could do any good, Nalear wouldn¡¯t ever managed to take them apart. If rage was worth something, Solus would have already turned the box into cinders to be reunited with her other half.

    ¡¯Feelings have no power per se. They are only what drives you towards your goals. I have to do like Lith always does. Not let myself be controlled by them but harness them to keep my mind focused.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯Luckily for me, this box has been built to be difficult to open from the outside, not from the inside. I also doubt Nalear ever suspected that the dimensional amulet she stole from us is actually empty.

    ¡¯I still have ess to a dimensional pocket full with everything apulsive hoarder with full blown paranoia prepared "just in case".

    ¡¯Wait for me, Lith. I¡¯ming for you.¡¯

    Tendrils of darkness magic emanated from her body, relentlessly eroding the internal safeguards of the box. Solus only had to make sure to survive the congration. To her it didn¡¯t matter who or what was outside the box.

    The whole Mogar could burn for all she cared.

    ***

    City of Valeron. Capitol of the Griffon Kingdom. Inside the King¡¯s quarters.

    "Are you sure giving constable Ernas the royal override code was the right thing to do?" Queen Sylpha asked.

    "Absolutely." King Meron nodded. He was engrossed in testing his Gatekeeper longsword potential.

    "The more I read the reports about this Lith, the more I¡¯m inclined to believe he is a natural Awakened one. Traitorse and go, we fight them on a daily basis. Awakened ones are too precious to be lost.

    "If I¡¯m right, he would be the first one we know about inside the whole Kingdom. We could even pitch him against the Magic Empress, if we y our cards right." The Magic Empress was the only known natural Awakened on the Garlen continent.

    "How could he be an Awakened one if some kids are strong enough to take him down?" Sylpha found the idea simply absurd.

    "Maybe he is not an Awakened. Or maybe the traitors have developed a weapon capable of defeating one." Meron replied.

    "Whatever it is, we can¡¯t afford to stay idle. We are already left with only four of the six great academies. Losing the White Griffon and the most promising student in one fell swoop may be a blow that we could not be able to bear. Not now.

    "We are already stripping the ancient noble households of their privileges bit by bit, redistributing them ording to merits and loyalty. The Kingdom is still too unstable. If the traitor threatens one of our assets, we must react swiftly."

 Chapter 307 Rising Tide Part2

    "If there really is a weapon capable of defeating an Awakened, we must get to it first. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve given her the royal override and control over a division of the royal army. We cannot afford any more failures."

    Queen Sylpha pondered on those words, before agreeing with her husband. The Royals needed all the power they could muster to survive the impending crisis.

    ***

    "Mom, dad! Thank the gods you are here!" Phloria quickly embraced them both. Their presence was enough to mitigate her fears.

    "I¡¯m d to see you too, my little Flower." Jirni returned her embrace, feeling something was different about Phloria.

    "There isn¡¯t a moment to lose. Mom, this is the list of all those Lith had marked as suspicious." She handed Jirni a list of names followed by their addresses in the academy. Phloria hadn¡¯t been idle either, collecting all the intel she could while waiting.

    "This one is the closest one to my room." She pointed a name in the middle.

    "Dad, whatever happened, it must have taken ce between my room and his. I can guide you there."

    "There is no need." Orion replied. "My amulet already contains all the blueprints of the fifth floor and the list of its residents. I¡¯ll go check on my own, you go with your mother. You are the only one that knows these kids. Maybe you can notice if anything is out of the ordinary."

    ¡¯And maybe keep your mother in check.¡¯ He inwardly added.

    Orion took off, quickly reaching Lith¡¯s room and moving from there towards Phloria¡¯s after taking out his equipment. Open spaces were a nightmare to investigate, too many things could go wrong.

    Animals, bad weather, worst case scenario the culprit could burn everything. A closed space, an academy at that, was another matter entirely. Orion didn¡¯t take much to find the ce of the ambush.

    "What a smart son of a dragon." Orion smirked while finding a cut alongside the stones on the floor. Before falling, Lith had employed his failed sh against the girl to leave a mark behind. Darkness magic could delete many things, but couldn¡¯t hasten the academy self repair mechanism.

    Starting from there, Orion found traces of water marking the use of ice magic and small burnt marks in the crevices between the rocks. That coupled with the lingering traces of ozone indicated a powerful lightning had been employed.

    ¡¯Whoever attempted to clean the scene is an amateur. Either they know nothing about our investigation methods or they didn¡¯t expect an investigation at all.¡¯ Orion¡¯s guesses were actually both right.

    Nalear had cleaned the crime scene to the best of her abilities, but not being a Forgemaster, she had a limited idea of what they could achieve, aside from what Wanemyre knew.

    Professor Wanemyre was many things, but not a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard.

    ***

    Hung on the wall, Lith had already undergone several cycles of regaining consciousness just to be knocked out by the anti-academy weapons again. Nalear¡¯s littlembs weren¡¯t allowed much freedom of thought or movement.

    They were trapped in a nightmare of their own creation. When they epted to follow Archmage Lukart¡¯s n to trigger the civil war, only a few raised objections about the use of ve cors.

    Even then, it was only because ve cors were one of the most universally despised versions of forbidden magic. Simply owning one carried the death penalty, if not for the whole families to be stripped of their titles and wealth before being executed.

    Most of the littlembs considered ve cors the most natural course of action. Each one of them would receive a Master ring, allowing them absolute control over their victims. Just considering all the possible uses an obedient ve could have made their mouths watery.

    Little did they know that even their Master rings had been reced with normal ve items. Nalear made sure no little idiot could endanger her n out of lust or cruelty. She hated nobles the most, so she had always intended to use them as cannon fodder, in case something went wrong.

    Once the littlembs discovered the truth about their rings it was already toote. They had been trapped in their own bodies from months, drowning themselves in self-pity, which made them more than happy to vent out their frustration on Lith.

    Between their rage and the boredom of the task, they didn¡¯t notice that every time it took them a little longer to make him faint again.

    Unlike Nalear, who had Awakened at fifteen years of age with an already cyan core, Lith was Awakened from birth, starting with a measly red core. It meant that his body had all the time to adapt to the changes, expelling impurities little by little.

    So far, Nalear¡¯s core had progressed only once because of the long time it took for her body to adjust from a dormant cyan core to an active one. It also meant that she had expelled impurities only a few times.

    She was magically superior to Lith, thanks to her blue core, but her body was weaker. When she nned how to keep him prisoner, Nalear used herself as a standard. ording to her calctions, the pain would keep him from casting spells before losing consciousness.

    Lith¡¯s pain tolerance, however, was higher than hers, especially since the bond with Solus had been broken. The emotional pain he was experiencing, together with the endless void her absence left behind, allowed him to clench his teeth and emit small bursts of darkness magic inside his body.

    With every cycle, Lith was able to shut down more and more pain receptors. At first, he wouldst barely a few seconds, too weak to project magic on the outside.

    Soon, the pain wouldn¡¯t break his focus anymore.

    Soon.

    ***

    As soon as constable Ernas arrived, Nalear knew she had to move ahead of schedule, even if it meant endangering her master n. Hermbs on the outside had warned her about an iing division of royal guards. They would reach the White Griffon any minute.

    Too many external witnesses would ruin everything. All of her nning was based on each floor of the academy being strictly isted from the others and the outside world alike. The only silver lining in all that situation was that the Code of Practice had been suspended.

    All the students were still present, making her plot still feasible.

    She walked right behind Wanemyre, who knocked out Balfas, Linjos¡¯s secretary on their way in.

    "Headmaster, we heard the news. Is there anything we can do to help?" Wanemyre voice was genuinely worried, yet her hands kept trembling, one of her eyes twitching.

    "I wish." Linjos sighed, not missing any of the odd details of that meeting.

    The two Professors had never been close. Quite the contrary, he was pretty sure that being Wanemyre from an ancient noble family didn¡¯t make her pleasantpany for a self made woman like Nalear.

    "Please, return to your apartments. You¡¯ll be contacted when your turn to be interrogatedes. I can¡¯t believe this is happening. Never before a student has disappeared like this inside an academy."

    Those words triggered Nalear¡¯s rage.

    "Yeah, if it happened outside, it would have made things a lot easier for you." Her voice was full of contempt.

    "Nalear, I know what happened to you and it was terrible. Now things are different..."

    A shower of lightning and ice rained down on the Headmaster while he was still talking. All he needed was to activate his Headmaster ring to trigger the defensive arrays and make the attacks vanish into thin air.

    "How did you silently cast such a powerful spell?" Another wave of Linjos¡¯s hand and both Professors were trapped inside a circle of light. He hadn¡¯t missed how Wanemyre just stood there while he was being attacked.

    Whatever was going on, he wasn¡¯t willing to take any chances.

 Chapter 308 Awakened Part 1

    "So it¡¯s true." Nalearughed maniacally, giving Linjos the creeps.

    "A Headmaster is like a god inside their own academy. Sorry to break it for you, dear Linjos." Nalear took out from her pocket a magic crystal so finely chiseled it resembled a diamond. Each facet had a rune of power engraved on it.

    "That¡¯s a power core unit. Where did you take it from?" Linjos was horrified by the implications the gem had.

    "There are no gods in this world!" She ignored him, breaking the gem and causing the power core to temporarily shut down, bringing all the arrays offline at the same time.

    Ever since the sabotage of the dimensional magic training hall, Linjos knew that something was wrong with the power core of the academy. That was why even when there was a desperate demand of Ballots, he couldn¡¯t allow having more produced.

    Usually, the academy¡¯s Forgemasters would be granted ess to the power core for several reasons. To create items linked to the power core, like the staff rings or the Ballots, for the maintenance of the array departing from it, or of the power core itself.

    After the sabotage, Linjos had blocked the ess to the academy¡¯s heart, adding such duty to everything he already did as Headmaster. The effort drained his mind and body, causing his premature aging.

    Yet he did it anyway, for the students and for the future of the Kingdom he believed in.

    ¡¯As soon as the crisis is resolved, I¡¯ll have the time to rest.¡¯ Linjos repeated to himself over the months.

    All that pain, all those sacrifices, were for naught.

    Nalear had already made Wanemyre tamper with the power core enough to create a power core unit. Despite its insaneplexity, it was a pale imitation of the Headmaster ring, but with only one function.

    Nalear unleashed a new wave of spells against the Headmaster. She had to be quick and kill him before the power core activated again.

    Cursing his bad luck, Linjos could only Blink away to safety. The whole situation was a nightmare. He couldn¡¯t understand how Nalear managed to silently cast one spell after the other, without giving him any time to fight back.

    Nalear too was cursing her bad luck. Her original n was to lure Linjos away from his office and backstab him. Nalear would have framed Wanemyre for the murder thanks to the Ballot she carried with herself.

    With the Headmaster dead, her littlembs would have the opportunity to butcher all the students ofmoner origins or those from new magical bloodlines. It would make it appear as even after Balkor there was still a radical faction among the ancient noble households not willing to back down.

    Her hope was that the massacre would reopen the divide between social sses and trigger the civil war. After all, Wanemyre and thembs all came from influential families. The surviving students would be found in possession of ve items they brought themselves inside the academy.

    All the evidence would lead to Archmage Lukart and his allies, there was nothing left indicating Nalear¡¯s involvement. Especially after she would have made sure Wanemyre and the few littlembs that worked with her died in the ensuing fight to save the academy.

    A head on fight was something she wanted to avoid. The Headmaster robe was a masterpiece. It not only offered great protection from physical and magical damage, but also constantly boosted Linjos like potions would, making him immune to spirit magic.

    Not to mention Linjos was one of the best young mages of the Kingdom.

    The Headmaster didn¡¯t mindlessly Blink. The spell was too expensive to use it recklessly. He used it to keep his distance and reach hidden stashes in his office.

    ¡¯Whatever she is doing, it¡¯s a game two can y.¡¯ Linjos unleashed a barrage of ice, fire, and lightning generated by alchemical tools. Just like true magic, they had no cast time. Nalear cursed, she was forced on the defense after barely three exchanges.

    Each one of them was at the peak of tier three spells in terms of power and there were so many that not even an Awakened one wearing a Professor robe could tank them without risking their life.

    Thanks to the defensive spells she had ready at hand, Nalear avoided the brunt of the damage, but Wanemyre wasn¡¯t so lucky. Even with the protection from her magical items, she was mmed against the wall and on the verge of unconsciousness.

    To make things even worse, the smoke the spells generated engulfed the whole room, making them all blind. Or so Linjos thought.

    Nalear activated Life Vision, making the figure of the Headmaster appear as clear as the day. She could see him casting an unknown spell.

    "Just like Lith, you are making my life easy with your stupid moves." Nalear¡¯s voice was stone cold.

    Her hands emitted a pir of fire. It was her personal spell, tier five Searing Gale. It was a mix of air and fire magic, generating a small sized tornado of a temperature capable of melting stone.

    Its tip rotated at high speed, making it capable of drilling through every defense she had ever met in battle. Even if the victim somehow survived, the lightning bolts hidden inside the vortex would fry or at least temporarily incapacitate the victim.

    The spell struck Linjos¡¯s chest with surgical precision, yet the Headmaster didn¡¯t flinch. Searing Gale was being sucked in by a Warp Steps in front of him and unleashed on Wanemyre¡¯s right arm, turning it into cinder.

    The shock from the pain of the amputation almost killed her. Only her Professor robe and the items she had Forgemastered for herself saved her life.

    Linjos didn¡¯t mean to y Wanemyre, only to incapacitate her. s, he had no idea what spell Nalear would cast next. The only thing he could do was to make sure that Wanemyre wouldn¡¯t be struck anywhere vital. He chose the right arm because a mage without their hands or voice was usually helpless.

    Nalear cursed again, dispersing the smoke with air magic since it clearly was of no advantage to her. The room cleared, revealing Linjos wearing some kind of odd looking sses while holding what seemed to be a steel tube.

    "Hello there, young miss." Linjos¡¯s words were followed by a series of sonic stsing from the tube. Nalear found herself kneeling while holding her ears. The sonic booms were making her bleed from the eyes, nostrils, and ears.

    They also shattered her eardrums and bnce alike.

    ¡¯Damn Forgemasters! Damn them and their creations!¡¯ Nalear knew how dangerous a Forgemaster with a dimensional amulet was. It was the reason she brought Wanemyre along. They were walking armouries and Wanemyre was supposed to be as good as the Headmaster.

    Linjos was even younger than her, yet he had left his fellow Forgemaster no time to act. Linjos fired his weapon over and over again, until he was sure Nalear was in no condition to fight back.

    He took out from his dimensional amulet a rope that bound Wanemyre by itself and another for Nalear.

    "You have much to exin. I¡¯m sure Lady Ernas will be able to learn from you everything we need to save the country."

    s, Linjos didn¡¯t know that the only thing that Nalear needed to recover was to breathe. He had stopped his attack thinking that even if she had the means to heal such extensive wounds, exhaustion would have been the death of her.

    Yet thanks to Invigoration, with every breath her body healed. With every breath, her strength returned.

 Chapter 309 Awakened Part 2

    Linjos took out hismunication amulet to call for reinforcements when Nalear¡¯s sword moved by spirit magic impaled him from the back. The Headmaster fell on his knees, coughing blood. The surprise almost made him ignore the pain.

    "How? Why?" Were his final words.

    Nalear freed herself and Wanemyre from the ropes, moving the unconscious Professor like a puppet thanks to spirit magic. Wanemyre remaining arm easily lifted the sword, decapitating Linjos with a single swing.

    Blood spurted like a fountain, painting the room red.

    "It is done!" Nalearughed maniacally.

    "Linjos died by your hand! By your sword! Oh Lyca, if only you could see. I¡¯d kill you right now, but you need to make a statement to not leave any doubts about what happened here." Nalear took out hermunication amulet.

    "Rise, my littlembs! The time hase. Your final order is the following: do whatever your heart wants! R*pe, kill, steal! Have no fear for tomorrow because you don¡¯t have one. Show the whole world what kind of monsters you really are!"

    And so, the final part of her n began.

    ***

    Outside the White Griffon academy, Lady Tyris wept warm tears for Linjos¡¯s death.

    "Nice order! If it wasn¡¯t for her being raving mad and using ve items, I could almost admire her cleverness." Sark said with a disgusted expression on her face.

    "Watch and learn, girl. This is why I lead my country with an iron fist and why Leegaain abandoned the Gorgon Empire." She said to Milea Genys, the Magic Empress and also the only human among the spectators.

    "Humans are cruel beings that inflict pain on their kin not out of necessity, but simply because they can. They can¡¯t feel good with themselves unless they stand atop others."

    "Indeed." Leegaain nodded. "Violence only begets more violence. Abuses breed monsters in an endless cycle of blood and chaos."

    ***

    White Griffon academy, right after Orion left and before Nalear entered Linjos¡¯s office.

    Jirnipared Phloria¡¯s list with the one on her amulet.

    "Good thinking, my little Flower. I¡¯m proud of you."

    "Thanks, mom. I think we should start with this girl because not only she¡¯s close to the scene, but she also belongs to a very powerful family. It means that if she is involved, she has a lot to lose. You can use it as leverage." Phloria pointed out.

    ¡¯By the gods, she is really getting crafty.¡¯ Jirni didn¡¯t miss her daughter bing mature, nor the lily pendant at her neck.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s just hope her bull-headed father doesn¡¯t make a fuss when he notices it too.¡¯ She inwardly sighed.

    The two women quickly reached the room of Leflia Quaroon, daughter of Duchess Quaroon, an influential figure among the ancient noble households. While Phloria made way, Jirni studied Leflia¡¯s family file without finding anything unusual.

    ording to her personal file, Leflia was a tall sixteen year old girl with ck hair and chestnut eyes. In a way, she reminded Jirni of her own daughter. She had flunked her Battle Mage ss, hence she could only graduate as an unspecialized mage.

    It made it impossible for her to achieve a high ranking.

    The moment the door opened, Leflia¡¯s lineaments contracted for a split second. Behind the girl¡¯s meek appearance, Jirni recognized hatred and envy.

    "Is there something wrong, Ernas?" Her voice was low and sweet.

    "Royal constable Jirni Ernas. We need to talk about what happenedst night." Jirni stood in front of Phloria, tapping her index on her badge.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I know nothing about it." Leflia opened the door, inviting them toe in. Jirni didn¡¯t miss her eye twitching for a second.

    "The rooms are soundproof, inside and out." She was still denying when Nalear voice came out of hermunication amulet, giving the final order.

    The change was like a switch had been pressed. Leflia¡¯s features turned into a mask of wrath. She took out a short sword from her dimensional amulet, attacking Phloria in a frenzy.

    Phloria didn¡¯t even flinch. She grabbed and twisted the opponent¡¯s wrist with the left hand, making her drop the de. At the same time, she grabbed Leflia¡¯s neck with the right one, raising her from the ground with a single arm.

    "You better start talking or I¡¯ll start squeezing." Phloria¡¯s voice was stone cold. She was barely letting Leflia breathe.

    "I¡¯ll never talk, you wh*re! You don¡¯t deserve what you¡¯ve got. You sucked up to two filthymoners to improve your grades." Another twitch happened.

    "Keep her hanging, darling. Do not let her go, no matter the reason." Jirni took her badge and passed it over Leflia¡¯s neck before moving to her hands.

    "We are lucky." The badge had just emitted a ping while Jirni waved it over the left hand.

    "It¡¯s only a ve ring."

    "What?" Phloria was shocked. She had only read about them in history books.

    "Why lucky?"

    Jirni didn¡¯t reply. She stabbed the girl¡¯s arm with one of her needles, which acted as a nerve blocker. It immediately became limp.

    "Because otherwise, I couldn¡¯t do this." She cut off the ring finger with a single movement. Only then the ve item could be removed.

    "Why do you think they used cors in the past?"

    After the amputation, Leflia changed again, sobbing desperately.

    "It¡¯s Nalear! She made me do it. Lith is kept prisoner inside her apartments!"

    Phloria was shocked by the turn of events, yet she retained the presence of spirit to stop the bleeding and reattach the finger with light magic. The cut was so clean the extremities took little effort to heal.

    The moment Jirni stepped away, Leflia turned hysterical again.

    "Don¡¯t leave me! She¡¯ll be back! They¡¯ll kill you. They¡¯ll kill us! Don¡¯t leave me!" She threw herself at Jirni¡¯s legs, hugging them desperately.

    Lady Ernas took the needle out of her arm and into her neck. Leflia¡¯s pupil suddenly dted while her body rxed.

    "Who is going to kill us?" She asked cing the girl on her bed.

    "Everyone."

    ***

    Nalear¡¯s apartments, in the same moment.

    Lith¡¯s eyes opened, staring at the tireless efforts of his captors to make him unconscious again. They could stab all they wanted; he felt no pain. With his focus finally restored, all he needed to do was breathe.

    With every breath, his body healed. With every breath, his strength returned. As soon as he had enough strength, he grabbed one of his captors with spirit magic, pinning her against the wall.

    One by one, they all found themselves hung on the walls or the ceiling, just like him.

    When Lith returned to his full strength, he started studying the locks. His mind was cold and rational, while his heart was scorching hot with rage.

    Yet the void inside him devoured everything. The hunger consumed all other feelings.

    ck tendrils came out of his body, eroding the pseudo cores on his wrists, legs, and waist until they exploded. Between his body being fully empowered by earth fusion and the use of Invigoration, he didn¡¯t care for the damage sustained.

    The first lock almost cut off his left foot, the second one only gave him a third burn degree and some metal shards stuck in his flesh. With each lock he learned more, taking less damage opening the next one.

    His fury didn¡¯t make him stupid; he kept the neck forst. The left wrist was barely scratched, the right one remained unscathed.

    Lith grabbed the shackles at his throat turning them into dust before speaking.

    His voice was coarse and guttural, his words growled more than spoken.

    "Where... is... my... ring?"

 Chapter 310 Escape Part 1

    "My... stone ring. Where is it?" Speaking was a mammoth task for Lith. He had to focus and spit the words one by one while suppressing the urge to tear those present apart, limb from limb.

    The fury running through his veins only steeled his willpower to find Solus first and butcher Nalearter. First things first.

    The students were shivering in fear, but because of the set of orders they had received, they were unable to speak. At least until Nalear¡¯s final order came out of theirmunication amulets.

    "Do whatever your heart wants."

    "Set me free, you f*cking monster! Or my mother will have you and your family beg for death!" Some said.

    "I beg of you, have mercy. Nalear made me do it." The others sobbed.

    Two girls out of five students were cold blooded enough to release the spells stored inside their magic rings, uncaring for what would happen to theirrades. The shroud of darkness enveloping Lith engulfed their magic attacks, eating away most of their destructive power before they struck.

    Yet because of the short range, they were more than enough to make him bleed, to rip his flesh apart, and expose his muscles. Lith reacted sending the darkness towards his attackers.

    The tendrils pierced the two students, robbing them of their vitality while transferring it to Lith and healing his wounds. The girls withered liked dried up mummies in a matter of seconds, before turning to ashes together with their uniforms.

    Feeding off someone¡¯s life force not only allowed Lith to recover without bing more fatigued, but also restored his body¡¯s stamina as if he had a short rest.

    ¡¯I have already used Invigoration too much. I need more energy. I still hunger.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The remaining three became hysterical, screaming and crying for help. Lith had the darkness engulf them without inflicting any harm. The coldness it emitted amplified their fear, but at the same time made them snap out of panic.

    "I¡¯ll ask it only once more. Where is my ring?"

    "I don¡¯t know. I swear." Sobbed a red haired boy.

    "Then you are useless."

    The boy only managed to emit a short yelp before disappearing in the shadows. Lith¡¯splexion was getting better with every meal.

    Soon, it was clear they had no knowledge about Nalear¡¯s n or Solus¡¯s whereabouts.

    ¡¯Leave no loose ends.¡¯ Lith thought before killing them. He took a nket to cover himself, before looking for food.

    ¡¯Invigoration can give me back my strength and mana, Vampiric Touch can restore my fatigue, but none of them can replenish my nutrients. I need all the advantages I can get before confronting Nalear again.

    ¡¯Judging by her order, Linjos is dead and the academy is about to fall. I won¡¯t let that witch get away with this, nor the vision toe true. Solus, Phloria, wait for me. I¡¯ming for you.¡¯

    After eating everything edible he managed to find inside Nalear¡¯s apartment, Lith stepped into the chaos the White Griffon academy had be.

    ***

    Solus¡¯s patience had run out from hours, yet she endured. She could feel her strength dripping away, but so was the spell keeping her prisoner. Unlike Lith, she couldn¡¯t heal or recover her mana indefinitely, so she had to take a surgical approach.

    First, she had to probe the mana crystal and the pseudo core¡¯s pathways, looking for weak spots. Only then Solus could open countless small holes, making the energies that empowered the box dwindle.

    Each hole was too small to make the structure unstable enough to explode, but together they drained the magical prison at a faster rate than Solus¡¯s energy consumption.

    The moment Solus broke the lock, the mystical box exploded outwards in a shower of ming splinters. She found herself in the room of one of Nalear¡¯s littlembs. She had decided it was best to keep Lith and the artifact as far as possible from each other.

    Giving the box to amb was her insurance that even if something went wrong, it would be impossible for Lith to find it.

    Her jailer was a chestnut haired fifteen year old boy that was currently busy taking off the pants from an unconscious girl that was lying on his bed. She was also bleeding profusely from a head injury.

    The moment the boy saw Solus, Nalear¡¯s highest priority order took effect. He took out hismunication amulet to alert his master when Solus drove one of Lith¡¯s elemental des through his throat with spirit magic.

    The fire enchanted dagger made short work of the uniform¡¯s defenses, killing the boy in one blow. Solus was shocked. She knew Nalear¡¯smbs were mind controlled and likely not to be entirely responsible for their actions.

    She had expected the arrays to activate, saving Lith, the girl on the bed, and themb in one fell swoop.

    ¡¯The only possible exnation is that Linjos is dead.¡¯ Solus inwardly cried. She really liked the Headmaster.

    Having no time or mana to spare, she quickly poured a healing potion down the girl¡¯s throat before leaving the room. Solus discovered that closing the door was useless. The locks were offline, like everything else in the academy.

    ¡¯Sorry, kid. I have no time to babysit you.¡¯

    She turned into her spider form and activated her mana sense. She could fly, but had no idea where to go. Walking on the ceiling would allow her to avoid being spotted while looking around for Lith. She wanted to find him as soon as possible.

    ***

    "Fascinating, isn¡¯t he?" Tyris said pointing at Lith, who was walking double time through the corridor, ughtering all those who attempted to attack him.

    "Indeed." Leegaain used Life Vision, watching Lith¡¯s second form bulge from his aura, wing to escape.

    "He really is like a magical beast. I¡¯d say his natural elements are fire and darkness." Unlike humans who were equally attuned with all elements, after evolving from their animal form, magical beasts would be limited to two.

    At least until their further evolution into Evolved Monsters. Even the Guardians were no different. Sark elements had always been light and darkness. They made her a literal embodiment of the cycle of death and rebirth, even before she became a phoenix.

    Leegaain was a creature of fire and air, while Tyris¡¯s foundations were air and light magic.

    "Isn¡¯t that the living artifact you told me about?" The dragon pointed his finger at Solus who had just escaped the room.

    "You know what it is?" Tyris raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Sure I do. It¡¯s Menadion¡¯s Desperation. Her story is long but interesting..."

    "Then, save it for another moment." Sark cut him short.

    ***

    "I¡¯ll call your father and Friya. You alert Quy of the danger. If Nalear¡¯s pawns get to her first she is as good as dead." After hearing from Leflia what the traitorous Professor had made her do, Jirni had a grasp on her intentions.

    After her sister, Phloria warned Yurial too. She hadn¡¯t forgotten about Lith¡¯s vision. As far as she knew, any of them could die at any moment.

    "How did you know she was controlled?" Phloria asked after arranging a meeting point with the rest of her family.

    "The twitch in her eye. Not even a strong willed person can resist a ve item, but they can signal their distress through small movements of the hands or the eyes. I know it from experience."

 Chapter 311 Escape Part 2

    "Did someone enve you in the past?" Phloria felt her heart tighten at the idea.

    "No, but every constable has to train against such devices to let their colleagues know about their predicament at their first meeting. Enough talking, listen to my words and do it carefully." Jirni grabbed Phloria¡¯s shoulders looking her in the eyes.

    "Once we are out there, attack to kill. At this point, it¡¯s toote to save any of them."

    "Aren¡¯t they victims? Just like her?" Phloria was having a hard time adapting at the circumstances.

    "No, dear. They were ready to enve people. They are as bad as Nalear is." Jirni shook her head.

    "Also, if you show any mercy, they will not return you the favor. You heard hermand, they¡¯ll kill us even if it costs them their lives. You have no idea what wearing one of those things feels like.

    "You became a stranger in your own body, forced to do whatever the owner of the master ring wants. Most victims of a ve itemmit suicide within a year from their rescue. It¡¯s like being r*ped in the mind and the body, every single moment."

    Phloria unsheathed her estoc, taking a deep breath while thinking about her family and Lith. She hoped they would give her the strength to do what had to be done.

    ***

    The mayhem taking ce in the corridors soon turned the academy into a warzone. No one could be trusted, fear and paranoia made even the non mind controlled students attack anyone on sight.

    There were more spells flying in the air than rice at a wedding ceremony. Solus didn¡¯t stop to watch at all the acts of violence, yet every one of the crimes she witnessed reinforced her hatred.

    Stopping Nalear wasn¡¯t enough, Solus wanted to kill her.

    Solus was getting more desperate by the second. She hadn¡¯t much mana left and still couldn¡¯t find any trace of Lith. Soon, she would be forced to trade her own memories to obtain the power she needed to keep moving.

    ¡¯How can I sacrifice even one of them?¡¯ She inwardly cried.

    ¡¯What if I choose the wrong one and be another person? What if I forget the reason why I¡¯m even moving? By my maker, where the heck is he?¡¯

    She could still bond to another person, but it would mean losing him forever and giving someone ess to all their secrets and most private moments. Solus would rather die than betray their bond.

    When it happened, she couldn¡¯t believe her own fourteen senses. Solus could finally pick up an aura that she would recognize among thousands. Lith was just a few hundred meters in front of her.

    She let go of the ceiling while casting their personal flight spell, soaring through the air like a small meteor. Solus felt so happy, so relieved to forget about everything else. Her other half was so close she could almost feel his touch again.

    s, that cost her everything.

    "Where do you think you are going, little one?" Nalear¡¯s cruel voice shattered Solus¡¯s hopes. Her spirit magic stopped Solus in mid air, pulling her toward the Professor¡¯s open palm.

    "Who would have thought I would find you while looking for that damn constable? Heavens sure are on my side today." Even if she had been at her peak condition, Solus wouldn¡¯t have the strength to escape her pull.

    She offered no resistance, letting herself be reeled in like an exhausted fish.

    ¡¯F*ck the heavens and f*ck you a hundred times over!¡¯ Solus thought.

    The moment before Nalear¡¯s pure mana could solidify enough to block her movements, Solus revealed her trump card.

    She opened her pocket dimension, using spirit magic to unleash on the bewildered Professor every single weapon that Lith had Forgemastered and alchemical tool she had realized.

    They were all medium low quality items, each one would have negligible effects on someone of Nalear¡¯s caliber. Their sheer numbers, however, were a force to be reckoned with.

    "Where the f*ck all this stuffes from?" Nalear¡¯s hate for the magical crafting arts knew no bounds that day.

    Exploiting her enemy¡¯s distraction, Solus assumed the form of a snake, biting Nalear with all her strength. She still had the sample of Balkor¡¯s venom in its purest form. Solus pumped it all in the Professor¡¯s bloodstream, just to be safe.

    The numbing sensation quickly spread through her hand, triggering Nalear into a panic. She had almost died once from the venom to keep her cover during Balkor¡¯s attack. Nalear knew she had no time to lose. If the poison reached her core she would die.

    Also, she was no Healer. Nalear didn¡¯t have any mean to extract the venom aside from Invigoration, but it was hard to focus on a respiration technique while deadly des and energy sts were raining on her.

    Solus turned tail, searching for Lith¡¯s energy signature again. Luckily, he hadn¡¯t gotten far, she still had enough energy to reach him. Solus flew as fast as she could, even resorting to employ her distress signal.

    The one that had brought them to meet so many years prior. Anyone in the academy could hear it, but Solus didn¡¯t care. She wanted to get his attention before it was toote.

    Yet it was a quarter pastte. Nalear Warped in front of her, clutching her tight with an iron glove surrounded by a mystical aura.

    "Damn Forgemasters. Can¡¯t live with them, can¡¯t live without them." Nalear spat in disgust. She had managed to move so fast only by employing the barrier built in Wanemyre¡¯s masterpiece while using Invigoration to expel the venom.

    It was one of her strongest artifacts, along with the glove she was currently wearing.

    "Thanks for making it easier to find you, stupid piece of rock." Nalear sneered.

    "Indeed." Said a voice from another Warp Steps, shutting her mouth with a fist that sent Nalear tumbling on the ground for several meters despite the barrier shielding her.

    Solus escaped her grip just for a split second before finding her into another one.

    The contact triggered the bonding, making them whole again. For Solus, it was like being able to breathe again after almost drowning. For Lith, it was like seeing the sun at the end of an endless winter.

    They became one, their minds fused in joy and hatred, allowing their cores to beat as one. Solus covered his hand, but this time it wasn¡¯t a glove.

    The gauntlet covered Lith¡¯s arm up until the elbow. Its fingers ended in razor sharp ws and small des came out from its ulna.

    The gemstone resting on its center wasn¡¯t yellow anymore, but of a deep shade of green.

    A split secondter, the Gatekeeper sword was back in Lith¡¯s hand and the Skinwalker armor reced the shroud.

    Lith didn¡¯t waste time asking himself how it was possible nor losing himself in Solus¡¯s warm embrace. Not like she would allow him anyway.

    They were one, which meant they shared their every thought, including the burning desire to kill Nalear.

 Chapter 312 Traitor Part 1

    Nalear¡¯s own words echoed in her head, but now they sounded more sarcastic than triumphant.

    ¡¯Like heck the heavens are on my side. What¡¯s happening here?¡¯

    The entire world seemed to have turned upside down in less than a minute.

    Lith¡¯s corpse was supposed to be hung to a wall, yet he was jumping with the bastard sword aimed at her neck. He was also wearing the Skinwalker armor that until a moment ago she was certain it was safe inside her dimensional amulet.

    Nalear had no way to know Lith and Solus shared a pocket dimension and thus the dimensional amulet he always carried around was merely a decoy. After Lith had lost consciousness, Solus had stored away the Gatekeeper, making it appear as it was Lith¡¯s final act before fainting.

    When Nalear had taken away the rest of his equipment, Solus had bid her time, letting her store away the magical rings while mana sense allowed her to study the timing with which Nalear opened her dimensional space.

    The moment Solus saw with mana sense the glow preceding the opening of the dimensional rift, she had recovered the Skinwalker armor just a split second before it could be stolen.

    Nalear never bothered checking her loot because until Lith was alive, the magical items would bear his imprint, making it impossible for anyone else to use them.

    The Professor was shocked by the sudden turn of events, yet she managed to activate the barrier in time, blocking Lith¡¯s first attack without a scratch. She still felt the impact, realizing that his strength was above hers.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make any sense. I Awakened almost nine years ago while he can¡¯t be Awakened from more than six years. It can¡¯t be just because he is a man. It doesn¡¯t matter. He is still just a student while I practiced magic for almost twenty years.

    ¡¯While he spent the whole night getting stabbed, I had a good sleep. Whatever that stupid piece of stone does I still hold all the advantages!¡¯

    Nalear¡¯s reasoning wasn¡¯t wrong, but it wasn¡¯t entirely right either. Having graduated from the academy seven years prior, she indeed had a stronger core and more experience with using high level true magic.

    However, Lith had a stronger body, all the knowledge from his previous life, and a richbat experience. Not to mention that fighting Linjos and patching up Wanemyre had already cost her quite some energy, while Lith partially recovered from feeding on her littlembs¡¯ life force.

    Nalear infused herself with air, fire, and earth magic, intercepting Lith¡¯s sword with her own. The impact made her slid a few meters backward, almost making her lose the grip on the weapon.

    "What the f*ck are you?" Nalear extended her left hand, pointing the iron glove against him. A series of shockwaves struck Lith, like several cars were ramming against him one after the other.

    Solus used her spirit magic to create a force field while Lith used his own air magic to disrupt the attack, making it lose part of its strength. Yet the remaining force was enough to make him crash against a wall, bleeding from his mouth and nostrils.

    ¡¯F*ck! It¡¯s the first time I fight an Awakened with this much experience. Magical beasts were always limited to two elements while the cker Queen was as inexperienced as Protector.

    ¡¯In a battle between Awakened ones, experience and equipment can easily turn the tables. I have yet to create a single damn tier five spell!¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Do you think we should retreat?¡¯ Solus didn¡¯t like the idea one bit. She wanted Nalear to suffer an agonizing death, but the short exchange had shown her a gap between the two that fury alone couldn¡¯t ovee.

    They needed a n, a diversion, or both.

    ¡¯No way.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯The vision showed me someone capable of killing the Queen¡¯s corps before ughtering my family. I bet we are staring at her.¡¯

    A couple of Nalear¡¯s littlembs joined the fray, showering Lith with a torrent of fire and lightning respectively. He kicked the wall behind him, managing to dodge both the attacks by jumping above them.

    He impaled the students with the darkness imbued Gatekeeper, sucking away their life forces to restore his own. Nalear used the split second of distraction to Blink behind his back and decapitate Lith with a horizontal sh.

    Or so she nned. This time Lith was ready. Just like her, he was silently weaving spell after spell from the moment they had met. Her de struck Solus¡¯s spirit magic force field which made it lose momentum, allowing Lith to briefly touch her weapon.

    His hand released a small but powerful globr lightning that traveled through the metal bypassing all of her protections. Thanks to earth fusion, Nalear managed to avoid the brunt of the damage.

    Yet the moment the spell struck, it stopped her movements long enough to put her on the back foot again.

    ***

    Yurial had yet to recover from the shocking news Phloria told him about when all hell broke loose. The door of his room opened, letting two students in. With the academy¡¯s power core down, the locks had stopped working.

    Yurial knew the invaders pretty well. One was Lyam Lukart¡¯s cousin, a brawny fifteen year old boy. The other was a very cute girl he dated the previous year.

    "You¡¯ll pay for what you did to the Lukart family, Deirus!" The boy said unleashing a fireball from one of his rings.

    "How could you y with my feelings and toss me away like garbage? You said you loved me!" The girl conjured a swarm of small ice des. They were all aimed to Yurial¡¯sher regions.

    Luckily, Yurial had taken Lith¡¯s vision very seriously. He had stockpiled his dimensional amulet with the best tools money could afford. Arrays were too slow to cast and healing magic dealt no damage. Since his specializations were useless in case of ambush, he could only be prepared for the worst.

    The moment he realized the danger he was in, Yurial Blinked twice. The first moved him behind his assants, leaving a Fire Seed at their feet, while the second brought him outside the room, just in time to close the door behind himself.

    The three fireballs exploded almost at the same time, making the walls tremble.

    ¡¯I know you probably were out of your minds, but I really want to live. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m not a fighter good enough to have the luxury of mercy.¡¯ He inwardly prayed for their souls.

    Yurial could hear terrible screams, some of pain, other desperately calling for help. He felt terrible ignoring them, but he did it nheless. After finding an isted corner, Yurial opened a Warp Steps to the arranged meeting point.

    He didn¡¯t immediately cross it. Yurial simply used it to peek if someone else was already there. It was only when he spotted Friya and Quy that Yurial moved to the other side, happy to see again his loyal friends.

    Friya was deadly pale. The rapier in her hand was dripping with fresh blood and her clothes were tore in multiple points. Quy was doing her best to hold back the tears, clenching her knife with so much strength her hand was white.

 Chapter 313 Traitor Part 2

    As soon as they saw Yurial, they immediately pointed their des at him.

    "What the heck is wrong with you?" Yurial managed to stop at thest second before getting stabbed.

    Seeing surprise instead of lust in his eyes, Freya sighed in relief.

    "Didn¡¯t you hear that crazy b*tchmand? I almost got r*ped thrice in thest five minutes. If it wasn¡¯t for Quy I would be already dead, or worse."

    Both the girls had Warped to the destination as soon as Jirni contacted them, trying to keep themselves out of sight and out of troubles. What they didn¡¯t expect was for every single mind controlled boy to recklessly converge on Friya on sight.

    Her biggest mistake had been using a spell to kill the first assant. The noise had revealed her position, multiplying the number of enemies. They had kept warping and fighting until that moment, managing to survive only because they wanted her body intact and because theypletely ignored Quy.

    She had never been so happy for not being very attractive.

    Phloria, Jirni, and Orion Warped there too a few secondster. Aside from Jirni, they were all deadly pale and covered in blood.

    "d to see you are all right, girls." Jirni checked her daughters and husband, almost ignoring Yurial.

    "It¡¯s the only piece of good news so far. The power core is down and so are the Warp Gates leading here. It will take a while for the reinforcements to get here. I¡¯m afraid when they arrive it will be already toote. I contacted Manohar on the way here.

    He says they have their hands full treating wounded students and neutralizing the Professors under Nalear¡¯s influence. Trust no one. Anyone here could be an enemy."

    They all nodded in unison.

    "We have only two options run to the forest and get ourselves to safety or find Nalear and kill her. If she dies, all those under the influence of a ve ring will be freed."

    "No, there is a third option." Orion chimed in. "The kids save themselves by hiding in the forest while we stop that madwoman."

    "Don¡¯t go, please." Quy sobbed desperately. "I don¡¯t want to lose my family again. Please, don¡¯t leave me."

    Jirni hugged Quy, trying to calm her down.

    "We¡¯ll never leave you alone, darling. Our duty is..." Jirni stopped her eyes wide in surprise.

    Quy¡¯s de had pierced her lung and heart, striking from the blind spot created in the stomach area when Jirni embraced her. There was a reason if Quy had ignored Nalear¡¯s finalmand. Her duty was getting rid of constable Ernas all along.

    After Lith, Nalear considered Jirni the biggest threat to her n. She hade too close to the truth too many times. Nalear knew that the only way to kill someone so meticulous was to exploit her only weak spot. Jirni¡¯s love for her family.

    While everyone was still too shocked to react, Quy Blinked behind Yurial¡¯s back, cutting his throat from ear to ear. Blood spurted everywhere, blinding Phloria and Friya while Orion attempted to save his wife.

    Quy Blinked again, this time going for Friya¡¯s life. Nalear had given her precise orders. To make sure Jirni was beyond saving, Quy had to kill all the Healers.

    ***

    Lith pressed the advantage by activating his tier four true magic spell Burning Prison. Six fireballs appeared at the same time around Nalear, one above, one below and the others in a square shape. The fireballs exploded simultaneously, one reinforcing the effect of the other.

    It was the same tactic Nalear had employed in her ambush and now it was Lith¡¯s turn to exploit the spell¡¯s nature to predict her next move. If she used ice to counter the fire, he would use lightning. If she Blinked, he would follow suit, stabbing her the moment Nalear reappeared.

    Thanks to Life Vision, an Awakened one could see the exit point of a Blink, making the first one to employ such spell an easy target. Yet she did neither. Nalear activated once again her sword¡¯s barrier, using it to take the brunt of the damage.

    It was one of Lith¡¯s best spells, yet she came out of it almost unscathed.

    Almost.

    Lith bolted forward boosted by air fusion, but Nalear was ready for him. With an upwards swing of her sword, while she was still in a crouched position, she managed to deflect the Gatekeeper and aim for his right arm at the same time.

    There was no time to adjust his stance, Lith could only let go of the de to prevent his limb from being cut off. Nalear smiled in triumph, aiming to Lith¡¯s head next.

    That until she saw the Gatekeeper plunging from the air as quick as a bullet toward her heart. Only then she noticed Lith¡¯s right hand was bare, the gauntlet was gone. Cursing at herself for falling into such stupid trap, Nalear blocked the falling de, leaving her side exposed in the process.

    Lith punched her in the ribs with all his strength, cracking three of them. His aim was to break the ribs and use them to puncture her lung, but Nalear managed to fly backward at thest second reducing the damage.

    ¡¯Damn! At least she took a solid hit. Sooner orter she will have to use Invigoration and that will be my only chance to take her out.¡¯ Lith thought.

    s, Nalear was well aware of such a possibility as well.

    Solus returned to Lith¡¯s hand, who was flying towards the enemy at full speed to not give her a single moment of rest.

    Thorman, the Professor of the Mage Knight specialization, flew against Lith enveloped in a sphereposed by conjured shields which rotated at high speed. It was the tier five Mage Knight spell Revolving Fortress.

    Lith cursed when Solus pointed out the Professor was wearing a ve item too. Now that they were activated, she only needed a nce to recognize them. Lith attempted to dodge, but the shields broke the formation barring his way.

    At the same time, Professor Binlow of the Mage Knight ss unleashed against him several armor shaped constructs. Each one was armed to the teeth but frail. Lith needed only a few shes to wipe out shields and construct alike, but it gave Nalear the time to get back at her peak condition.

    Binlow sent a pulse of mana, allowing the constructs from his tier five Personal Army spell to repair all the damage they had sustained.

    "Sorry, Lith." Said Nalear with a smug expression.

    "You are not the only one who has brought friends to the party."

 Chapter 314 Traitor Part 3

    Going toe to toe with an Awakened one who possessed a stronger mana core and was more experienced with magic had already pushed Lith to his limits just to keep up. Even with his core and Solus¡¯s resonating, he was barely at the cyan upper stages, while Nalear had a blue core.

    Now that he had to face her along two other Professors, Lith felt his heart sink. He had long learned not to underestimate fake mages. The only advantage he had against stronger mages was usually the surprise effect, but Nalear countered that.

    There was nothing he could do that she couldn¡¯t, making his odds of victory non-existent.

    ¡¯Damn! If I put my life on the line, I can kill one of the Professors, maybe both. Not Nalear, thought. She can always use them as meat shields to buy time and recover.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Should we run away?¡¯ Solus hated not being strong enough to help him. Reality was a harsh mistress, all her battle spirit meant nothing in the face of true power. It was better to survive to fight another day.

    ¡¯Exposing our back? No, thanks. A tactical retreat may help, though. Divide and conquer. If I manage to fight them one by one, we can still do it.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s a big if.¡¯ Solus was worried, the three Professors were all casting something big.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Jirni and Yurial were quickly bleeding out.

    Orion was using all his medical skills in an attempt to save them. He forced Jirni to drink top ss healing potions while he used magic on Yurial¡¯s neck. Neither seemed to work well.

    "Her organs are too damaged. She needs tier four magic." His wife was dying in his arms, but Orion managed to keep his emotions in check, assessing the situation.

    "Yurial too is in a bad shape. The wound is too wide and is sapping his life force very fast. We need a Healer, fast!"

    Phloria felt the ground crumbling under her feet. Her whole life was going down the gutter and there was nothing she could do about it.

    ¡¯Why didn¡¯t I learn healing magic too? Is my mom going to die because I didn¡¯t push myself hard enough?¡¯ She thought. The truth was she never showed particr talent toward healing magic.

    The academy was a demanding environment, so Phloria had applied to the Mage Knight specialization only to not waste her energies. Even if she did try the Healer specialization, she would have flunked after the first trimester.

    It was just her helplessness talking, filling her mind with "ifs" and "buts" about what she could have done in the past to have control over an uncontroble present.

    Instead of despairing, Phloria activated Full Guard before Yurial¡¯s body could even hit the ground, quickly moving near Friya. Nalear n was the basic of the basic: always get rid of the Healer first.

    Since Lith had told her about his vision, she had practiced Full Guard relentlessly, even creating a better version of it. The moment Phloria touched Friya, the blue aura expanding from her body enveloped her sister too, allowing Phloria to share her multi sensory awareness of the space in a two meters radius around them.

    Contrary to everyone¡¯s expectations, Quy didn¡¯t strike immediately, retreating to a safe distance instead.

    "She wants to prevent us from receiving help." Phloria understood what was happening. "Friya, go save mom. Now!"

    Friya was still frozen in ce. She had no idea what to do. She could only save one of them. The situation forced her to take an impossible choice. Phloria¡¯s order nudged the bnce in Jirni¡¯s favor.

    "Dad, give Friya some space and call Manohar. We need all the help we can get. I¡¯ll keep Yurial alive."

    Orion nodded, understanding his daughter¡¯s n. It was unlikely for Manohar, or anyone else for that matter, to have the time and the strength to help them. Moving them while in critical condition was also out of the question.

    It was only a trap to trigger Nalear¡¯s orders.

    ¡¯Quy is a Healer too. If we snap her out of the ve item control, we can save them both. My little Flower has grown into a capable leader.¡¯ He thought.

    Quy Blinked, appearing at Friya¡¯s back only to find Phloria waiting for her. She struck Quy¡¯s throat with her extended fingers, preventing her from spellcasting without doing her any real harm.

    Only then she grabbed Quy by the arm, twisting it into a submission hold and forcing her face down on the ground.

    "Dad, search for a ring, a bracelet. Anything! If it¡¯s on the neck we¡¯re doomed."

    Quy struggled like a mad beast, but Phloria was taller, stronger, and ruthless. She pushed her full weight on the knee pressed against Quy¡¯s back to keep her pinned on the floor.

    Orion took off Quy¡¯s rings one by one until he found one that couldn¡¯t be moved. A quick spellter, he knew what he was dealing with.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the same model that Poltus guy purchased. Finally some good news.¡¯ Orion took out a tool looking like pincer mps from his dimensional amulet, using it to grab Quy¡¯s ring. He then channeled a Forgemaster spell that temporarily neutralized the ve item, allowing his daughter to regain her free will.

    ***

    Am Farg had done her best, saving as many students as she could and bringing them to safety. The chaos and violence were overwhelming. Despite her efforts, she felt like she was trying to stop the tide using a spoon.

    The mind controlled students would either Warp away from her or attack innocents, forcing her to defend them while they got away and found another victim.

    She was starting to fear everything was lost when the artifact Tyris had entrusted to her picked Lith¡¯s signal again.

    ¡¯Thank the gods he hasn¡¯t run away, yet. If I can convince him to help me, maybe together we stand a chance.¡¯ Professor Farg chose to fly instead of Warping, she had already consumed part of her mana trying to stop the disorders.

    The scene at her arrival made even too much sense. Three Professors against one student, keeping him on the defensive. Farg recognized the crazed look in her colleagues¡¯ eyes. The thought of how deep the scheme was made her shiver.

    It didn¡¯t take her much time to understand Nalear was in control of the ve rings. Cursing at the Kingdom¡¯s bad luck, she unleashed three tier four true spells, one for each target.

    Sunray generated a white hot beam aimed at Nalear¡¯s back. Stormw conjured a small tornado which released wind des in all directions. Lastly, Thundersnap released a chain of lightning that engulfed the whole corridor.

    Farg would have reced Thundersnap with an earth based spell, to maximize the destructive power of herbo, but inside the academy there was no earth to manipte. The stonesposing the castle were resistant to magic, even with the power core offline.

    "Watch out!" Nalear warned her minions who otherwise would have no regard for their personal safety. The three spells converged a few meters in front of them, causing a chain reaction.

    Stormw absorbed the massive heat from Sunray, exploding outwards in a massive fire pir releasing scorching shockwaves while Thundersnap bounced off the walls, attacking the Professors from all sides.

 Chapter 315 Traitor Part 4

    Thorman used his conjured tower shields to block the whole corridor and Binlow hastily activated a spell from one of his rings to conjure an ice wall one meter (3.3 feet) thick to stop the st.

    Lith could have used the diversion to escape, but charged forward instead. He imbued the Gatekeeper with water magic to conjure a cold aura and himself with earth magic. Thebined effects were supposed to protect him from the brunt of the damage.

    The fire pir crushed the shields and melted the ice, yet it still had enough power to turn Binlow¡¯s constructs into gas. Nalear gritted her teeth, activating once again the magic shield of her sword while her minions conjured more protections.

    Lith struck them from behind with the Gatekeeper, overloading Nalear¡¯s sword core and interrupting the Professor¡¯s spells. The barrier shattered and the explosion engulfed the four of them, but Lith made sure to stand right behind Nalear.

    With the barrier down, she could either protect herself from the st or from him, but not from both. She would also be his human shield, making it a trade worth Lith¡¯s while. Lith released all the spells he had ready, only to see them crushed by Nalear¡¯s glove.

    Its magic could be used as a sword but also as a shield.

    Then, the st struck them and the four mages were mmed against the walls. As soon as the smoke dissipated, the corridor was peaceful again. Farg was satisfied with the results of her sneak attack. Every enemy was down and ounted for.

    There was just one thing that didn¡¯t add up.

    "Why didn¡¯t you run away?" She asked Lith. "Throwing yourself in the middle of my spell was incredibly dumb. You could have di..."

    Despite Solus¡¯s force field and light fusion, Lith¡¯s ears were still ringing. Solus had no such problem allowing him to understand what was happening and cut Farg short.

    "Don¡¯t let her recover, you idiot! She¡¯s the mastermind!" Lith pointed at Nalear¡¯s body.

    Only then Farg reactivated Life Vision, noticing that Lith and Nalear both were getting stronger by the second, their wounds closing at a speed visible at the naked eye.

    ¡¯Another Awakened one? This is a nightmare!¡¯ Farg unleashed all the spells she had left, but it was too little and toote.

    Nalear raised her iron glove, hitting Farg with a series of shockwaves which crushed her attacks and sent Farg sprawling on the floor, bleeding from the nose, ears, and mouth.

    "Seems it¡¯s just the two of us again, dear Lith." Nalear smiled without stopping to use Invigoration. Lith was still sitting on the floor, clearly the st had somehow dealt him more damage than she had expected.

    Lith took a deep breath. Talking was cheap while spells spoke loudly.

    "Arise." He carefully avoided breaking his use of Invigoration, while all the fallen one rose on their feet to serve their master.

    ***

    As soon as Quy was freed from the ve ring, her mind copsed under the weight of her actions. Ever since the previous weekend, her life had turned into a nightmare. The moment she wore the ring, she had been under Nalear¡¯s thumb.

    She had fought the ring¡¯s influence the whole time. Yet her struggle didn¡¯t prevent her from feeling Jirni¡¯s blood and guts cover her hands nor Yurial¡¯s flesh tear up like paper under the enchanted de.

    Quy stopped struggling. She broke into tears while desperately trying to apologize.

    Meanwhile, Friya was already deadly pale. Regenerating Jirni¡¯s heart and lungs also required her to share part of her life force to prevent her mother from dying of weakness.

    ¡¯How the f*ck does Lith to make it always look so simple?¡¯ She inwardly cursed. She was doing alone something that the academy trained her to do with two teams of three persons each.

    "Feel free to take my life force." Orion had already done all that he could to stabilize Yurial. Friya thankfully nodded, taking only what she needed to keep her and her mother alive.

    Phloria only wanted to hug Quy tightly, to calm her down and tell her that it wasn¡¯t her fault. That everything was going to be all right. s, there is no time for kindness in war.

    Phloria pped her instead, hoping to snap her out of it before it was toote.

    "Quy, you are my sister and I know how this is hard on you." She held Quy¡¯s face with both hands, forcing her sister to look her in the eyes.

    "Now it¡¯s not the time for tears. You must decide how you want to remember this moment. If as the day when you saved your friend¡¯s life or the one when you killed your first human."

    Quy nodded her head, choking back the tears and the snot running down her face.

    She ced her hands on Yurial, activating her diagnostic spell to understand how deep the damage was.

    The spell gave her no reply.

    She cast it a second and a third time, before finding the strength to put her hand on his heart. There was no pulse, Yurial was gone.

    Quy stood there for a few seconds, incapable of answering to their expectant looks. She felt something die inside of her. She had betrayed her family, her friends.

    ¡¯How could I be so stupid to wear an enchanted item without even knowing what it did?¡¯ She thought in hindsight. None of the group had ever heard about ve items, otherwise Lith would have warned them.

    Even his paranoia could do nothing against what he was unaware of.

    Quy joined Friya, giving her life force to both women to help them to recover.

    Phloria and Orion understood what had happened, but there was no time for mourning their loss. They stood guard against the chaos surrounding them, blocking anyone that could threaten the ongoing treatment.

    For Orion they were just kids, for Phloria were familiar faces she had seen every day for the past two years. Yet they killed them nheless. Only death awaited those who ignored their warning and entered the range of their spells.

    Jirni regained her sense, coughing out the blood that had invaded her lungs.

    ¡¯What happened?¡¯ Her mind immediately recalled the events leading to her near death experience.

    ¡¯The wound was deep, yet I feel good. Too good.¡¯ Lady Ernas swiftly struck Quy¡¯s stomach, making her faint and preventing her suicide attempt.

    "My poor child, what have they done to you?" Jirni hugged her daughter¡¯s small body and kissed her head. Quy was reduced to a pale husk, her skin was deadly cold.

    Jirni stood up, letting her family embrace her. There was relief in their faces and warmth in their touch, but no joy in the reunion. Watching Yurial¡¯s corpse, Jirni knew there had never been a chance to save them both.

    She could tell by looking at the guilt in Phloria¡¯s eyes that it was her taking an impossible decision in the heat of the battle.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know if Phloria or Quy will be able to live with what happened today. I can¡¯t do anything to change the past. The only thing I can do is to make Phloria¡¯s choice matter.¡¯

    Following her directives, Friya stored Yurial corpse in her dimensional amulet. They wouldn¡¯t let anyone harm him anymore. Then, she had Phloria open a Warp Steps to the forest, to send the girls to safety.

 Chapter 316 Agony Part 1

    Friya was too weak to fight and Quy was barely alive. They would be dead weight in the battle that was still ahead of them.

    As soon as they crossed over, Phloria closed the Warp Steps.

    "What do you think you are doing?" Orion was shocked.

    "I already lost too much today." Phloria¡¯s eyes kept weeping, but her voice was steady.

    "I¡¯m not going to hide somewhere while you two risk your lives. Mom, dad. I couldn¡¯t live with myself if anything happens to you. Not while knowing I could have made a difference. Yurial is dead because of me."

    "No, dear." Jirni caressed her shoulder, honoring her daughter¡¯s determination.

    "Yurial is dead because of Nalear. You didn¡¯t make Quy your ve. You didn¡¯t order her to hurt him nor you prevented the arrival of the healers who could have saved him. Let¡¯s put an end to this madness."

    ***

    Milea Genys, the Magic Empress of the Gorgon Empire, had seen many awful things during her life as both wandering magician and ruler of her country. Yet seeing so many youths turned into beasts and lose their lives was a sight even her found disturbing.

    "Leegaain, why did you bring me here? What¡¯s the point in watching this massacre and do nothing?" The fight between the two Awakened seemed out of a bard tale. Unlike the three Guardians, Milea couldn¡¯t avert her eyes from the bloodshed taking ce on all five floors of the White Griffon.

    "Because I wanted you to see first hand what was the Gorgon Empire when I left it. One thing is reading history books, another is living it." Leegaain exined.

    "If you want to prevent such things from happening again during your rule, you must be brave enough to take unpopr decisions. Avoid grave problems long enough and everything will fester."

    "Being a ruler it¡¯s not a poprity contest." Sark snorted. "Those idiots of the Griffon Kingdom achieved such a long peace that they were afraid of the conflict with the noble households. Without conflict, there is no progress.

    "They should have thought of the consequences of letting powerful people be even more powerful would have in the long term, instead of prioritizing the status quo. It ended with the Royal family almost losing its dominance.

    "It would have caused a civil war that would havested years. Remember, powerful people already have all the means they need to protect themselves. If you let them, they¡¯ll drain your authority. A stable country requires bnce and shared resources."

    "Indeed." Tyris nodded. "My only hope is that, just like for Balkor, this bloodshed will bring some real changes. The royals have finally opened their eyes, now it¡¯s time for the nobles to see the errors of their way or get condemned by history."

    ***

    Nalear was surrounded by undead students who stared at her with looks full of hunger and hatred. Their usually pristine white uniforms were tainted by blood and excrement, releasing a foul stench that would make hard for most people not to puke.

    To Nalear it was just another day.

    It was the exact same thing she felt every time she watched one of those disgusting stuck up noble kids walk along the corridors of the White Griffon like they owned the ce. Nalear had suffered them ever since her first year of academy, back when she was just twelve years.

    Her parents were employed as household staff of a minor noble and had been enthusiastic of their daughter bing a mage. Nalear, not so much. Ever since the academy started, everyone treated her as a servant, not as a peer.

    She hoped that with time she would manage to make some friends. That if she tried hard enough, people would see past herck of a family name and respect her for her hard work.

    Reality proved her wrong, turning her hope into despair.

    She endured the hazing and the violence, only focusing on her studies. Magic was a fascinating subject, capable of taking her mind off the daily dose of misery. At least until it was night time.

    In those hours, she would return to be just a little girl away from home. Nalear waspletely alone, resorting even to eat in her room to avoid more "idents." Most of the time, she would cry herself to sleep.

    During the third year, her body bloomed and so did her magical talents. Things started with lecherous looks from the boys and harsh words from the girls, but quickly escted.

    Nalear was often groped while going to sses or before the lessons. Every attempt of self defense would end with her losing points and things getting worse. The Professors med her for being unable to fit in while the Headmistress condemned her overreacting over "practical jokes".

    It was then that despair turned into hatred. When the academy turned out to be an enemy as much as her molesters were.

    After a group of boys dragged her in an isted room and almost r*ped her, the Headmistress finally gave her a Guilty Ballot. It wasn¡¯t something she could cover up, the wounds on Nalear¡¯s body spoke volume.

    After healing the girl, Professor Vastor was ready to testify in Nalear¡¯s favor. His report would have likely put an end to many careers. It was only by offering a nice sum of money for her parents that the Headmistress managed to keep Nalear quiet.

    The academy was still long and her family could use that gold to start a business. Nalear felt safe with the Ballot in hand, so she agreed. Her existence kept being isted and miserable, but at least now everyone left her alone.

    Nalear¡¯s hopes had long died, reced by mistrust.

    To never feel helpless again, she chose the Battle and War Mage specializations. Nalear quickly gained the recognition of her new Professors, Rudd included. Her mastery of dimensional magic surpassed even his hostility towardsmoners.

    Everything went fine until the end of the fourth year when the ss went to the mining town to practice with mana crystals. Nalear had forgotten about the danger, of how outside the academy the Ballot was just a round stone.

    It happened in the mines. Those who envied her talent, her ranking, or simply lusted for her beauty, ambushed her in a gallery. Their n was to r*pe and kill her, disposing of the body in the forest.

    Nalear fought back with everything she had. She managed to hurt some of her attackers, triggering their fury. They beat her an inch from death, until out of desperation she used herst ring to strike at a mana crystal, triggering a cave in.

    The attackers managed to get away and left her for dead. They had dragged her into an isted tunnel before she managed to regain consciousness. Deep enough to make sure no one would hear her screams.

    They felt reassured when the cave in went unnoticed. They thought her death would be considered an ident.

    Nalear survived. She remained there for over a week. Water wasn¡¯t a problem thanks to magic, but there was almost nothing to eat. Dimensional magic was blocked by the academy¡¯s array, so she had to survive by eating everything she could, even things that would make a goat throw up.

    Rage kept her barely alive until she was rescued. After a week, the Professors responsible for her specialization courses got worried and investigated. Both the Headmistress and the Professor in charge of the Mana Crystal subject were fired, but the culprits got away with it forck of proof.

    Nalear spent all the time when she was recovering practicing true magic. Deep in the caves, surrounded by the manaing out of Mogar, where it was so dense to take crystal form, she had relentlessly attempted to use dimensional magic to escape, until her rage and talent awakened her core.

 Chapter 317 Agony Part 2

    Because of the arrays, she couldn¡¯t kill her enemies, but now Nalear could ruin their lives. Spirit magic allowed her to make them fail every single subject they attended together. A nudge here, a push there was all it took to make them stutter or disrupt their hand signs.

    Their performance during the final exams was so poor not even their parents could avoid their expulsion.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t enough to quench her thirst for vengeance. She wanted them dead, alongside their families. During her imprisonment, something broke inside of her. As hope died, madness flourished.

    Nalear joined the Association as soon as he could, racking merits by aplishing the impossible over and over again despite her young age. The Crown attempted to recruit her, but she resented them for the academy system.

    Nobles and mages alike fawned her, but she only wanted them dead. Her behavior left her alone, with a lot of enemies and no one watching her back. When she tried to convert her merits into titles andnds to put the families of her attackers under her thumb, only farawaynds in backwater regions were offered to her.

    With no ally in the Court nor in the Association, no matter how much she achieved, her goals would always be outside of her grasp. She had tried to fight alone against the world and the world crushed her.

    ¡¯I¡¯m the victim! Why am I the one getting punished?¡¯ She thought while her madness and rage grew day by day.

    When Linjos offered her a position as a Professor, she thought she could have a fresh start, but even under the na?ve, gentle Headmaster things weren¡¯t much different from the past.

    When Lukart offered her revenge in exchange for her help, Nalear epted only to act as a double agent. She hated people like Lukart the most. Bringing down him and his associates was an opportunity she couldn¡¯t miss.

    After seeing how deeply rooted was the rebellion, how mages like Hatorne were willing to sell their own kin for money, Nalear lost all hope and a n formed in her mind.

    Hatorne ve items were a terrible tool. She had managed to fuse Forgemastering and Alchemy to obtain some special pills that allowed to remove the cursed objects while keeping the victims under control.

    Thanks to his associates, Lukart always knew when a security check was about to happen and had the ves using the pills to pass the inspections. Nalear used the first batch of ve items she received on the students instead of her alleged targets, turning Lukart¡¯s aplices inside the academy in her puppets and gaining control of every box that reached the academy.

    After helping Lukart escape, he gave her his master ring. Just a second before she killed him and all his family with the tier five spell Raging Sun she had silently cast.

    At that point, she hadplete control over all of his assets, inside and outside the academies. She finally had the means to achieve her revenge. After capturing Lith, the Awakened one responsible of so many failures, and turning Quy into an unwilling sleeper agent, Nalear¡¯s n was bound to seed.

    Or at least so she thought, until Farg¡¯s unexpected arrival put down her minions, giving Lith the time to rise a small army of undead. Thanks to Life Vision, Nalear could see they were filled to the brim with darkness magic.

    They were all lesser undead, nothingpared to Balkor¡¯s creations. Yet Nalear felt afraid. In a real battle, a moment of distraction was the difference between life and death.

    With a wave of Lith¡¯s hand, the undead charged at her in a mad rush.

    ¡¯It makes sense. He probably wants to stall for time, preventing me to focus while he cast his spells. Lith is using against me the same strategy I employed to capture him.¡¯ She inwardly smiled.

    ¡¯He really is a good student. If only he didn¡¯t make friends with the enemy, he could have shared this moment with me. It¡¯s really a pity killing him but he left me no choice. He should have never got close to the noble scum.¡¯

    Even if its barrier was still offline, Nalear¡¯s sword had several tricks ups its sleeve. She needed but a thought to unleash part of the power the many mana crystals embedded on it stored. They generated a ice storm that was supposed to repel the wave and buy her enough time toplete her spells.

    ¡¯There¡¯s nothing that Balkor did that I can¡¯t.¡¯ Lith thought.

    With a snap of his fingers, all the undead close to her detonated, releasing a cloud of darkness magic that surrounded her. It negated the ice storm and sapped her strength.

    At the same time, the rest of the undead shoot focused beams of dark energy from their eyes, replicating the effects of Lith¡¯s gue Arrow spell. Unlike the Valors¡¯ attack, they were still slow and incapable of infecting their victims.

    Nalear had no way to know it, she only saw Balkor¡¯s minions¡¯ attacks unfolding one after the other in front of her eyes, triggering her recent trauma. She went all out, releasing a blue aura while dodging or parrying all the Arrows thanks to air fusion, managing toplete her spell.

    Final Sunset was Nalear¡¯s version of a tier five Battle Mage spell. It generated around her a globe made of darkness imbued mes that reduced to ashes all the undead that approached her.

    Nalear could also consume part of the sphere, turning it into spikes made of ck fire to attack her enemies from a distance. The two elements were fused together, allowing even the dark energies to move at a speed normally impossible.

    Final Sunset was a perfect offense and defense that would stay up until all its mana was exhausted, but being a true spell Nalear could channel more energy into it at will. As long as she could use Invigoration, she was practically invincible.

    She used her hands to better direct the mes, purging the corridor from the undead and the remaining corpses. Nalear wasn¡¯t going to underestimate Lith anymore, she now saw all the bodies lying around as potential traps.

    Lith had a vague understanding of what was happening, yet he didn¡¯t panic. He kept his distance while making all the remaining undead detonate. They would do her no direct harm but they still forced her to consume mana to protect herself.

    ¡¯It¡¯s nice trick, but it¡¯s far from perfect. To keep using Invigoration she can¡¯t move, making it impossible for her to hit me if I don¡¯t get close. Also, Invigoration can¡¯t be used for long. The more she uses it, the sooner she¡¯ll copse¡¯

    Lith had just finished analysing the enemy¡¯s n¡¯s weak spots when Life Vision showed him the exit point of a Blink quickly forming in front of him.

    The dimensional fissure had yet topletely open, but the heating out of it almost burned his lungs.

    ¡¯F*ck! I didn¡¯t consider Blink. She can still move without moving. Until that spell is active, I can¡¯t even get close to her.¡¯ Lith Blinked away, just a moment before the floor he had been standing on melted.

    The fight had just turned into a deadly game of tag.

 Chapter 318 Reunion Part 1

    Valesa Nalear had gained the upper hand, yet she couldn¡¯t stop cursing her eternal bad luck. Lith had yet to die, she had no idea if her plot against Constable Ernas seeded, and it was only a matter of time before the academy¡¯s power core rebooted.

    When that happened, the Warp Gates leading to the White Griffon would open again, allowing the royal forces to restore order. Nalear needed to make sure that by then the stage was perfect. Not a single detail could be overlooked or her death would be as slow as agonizing.

    She was way behind schedule and the time at her disposal was quickly running out. Blinking consumed a lot of mana, but it was nothingpared to Final Sunset. She had already used Invigoration a lot of times.

    To heal from the poison, from the damage she had exchanged with Lith, andstly from Farg. She needed to eat and rest soon, otherwise she was bound to copse. The raw amount of mana she was handling put a heavy burden on her body.

    Lith was in her same boat, but his situation was even worse. His body had still to fully recover after he consumed so much life force to save Protector. To make things worse, he had spent thest night being tortured and his core was weaker than Nalear¡¯s to begin with.

    Lith timed his Blinks with extreme precision, leaving behind darkness sts whenever Nalear closed in. Another weak spot of her tactic that he had found, was that Blink¡¯s dimensional door would always appear very close to the mage.

    It meant that a huge part of the sphere Final Sunset created was temporarily cut off until the spell reformed it. By leaving his spells near Nalear¡¯s exit points, Lith was sure he was chipping her strength bit by bit.

    Even with Solus¡¯s help, it was still a mammoth task.

    ¡¯Damn, if it keeps up like this I¡¯m bound to lose. She knows even true dimensional magic, so while she can use Invigoration, I¡¯m forced to keep moving to avoid getting incinerated and prepping my traps. Any idea, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯None.¡¯ She snarled. ¡¯We can¡¯t leave the sword in front of the exit point. She always keeps a fire spike in front of her before Blinking. The sword would be thrown away and I would take heavy damage.¡¯

    Lith nodded. He preferred to attempt to escape rather than putting Solus¡¯s life to risk.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe there is only us fighting. Where is everyone?¡¯ For the first time since he started the academy, Lith wished for hispanions to be by his side.

    He needed only an opening to turn tables, but until he was alone, Nalear could focus on him. She was doing a damn fine job getting closer and closer. In a corner of his mind, Lith was afraid he had failed to prevent the vision froming true.

    Another exit point appeared in front of him. Lith was about to leave another Darkness bomb when Solus warned him.

    ¡¯Behind you!¡¯ Thanks to being temporarily fused, he could actually use all of Solus¡¯s senses as his own. The warning was unnecessary, she did it only out of habit. A second exit point was forming at his back almost at the same time. Lith had no idea which was the real one.

    If he picked the wrong direction to Blink, it would have been like throwing himself in the maws of the beast.

    Darkness imbued mes came out from both dimensional doors at the same time, engulfing both ends of the corridors without leaving him no way out.

    ¡¯F*ck, that¡¯s not Blink. She actually opened two Warp Steps at once. How powerful is she?¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed while their minds were spinning at top gear for a solution.

    s, there was none. His line of sight was blocked by the mes and there was no one alive and close enough he could use as a benchmark for Blinking.

    At least until Solus¡¯s mana sense spotted human figures closing in. They were still far, Blinking there was a big risk. The dimensional jump would take a huge toll on him and Lith could find himself surrounded by Nalear¡¯s puppets before having the time to react.

    ¡¯In for a penny, in for a pound. "Maybe dead" always beats "dead as a doornail".¡¯

    Lith used most of his remaining energies for the farthest Blink he had ever attempted. Bending the fake spell limits put a huge strain on his mana and willpower, almost making him faint from the extortion.

    Luckily, he found himself among friends. To find Nalear, the Ernas had moved towards the battle that produced the most noise. They had encountered and neutralized a few Professors before spotting Lith from a distance.

    "Beware of her." Lith was wheezing, he was almost out of breath. The fresh air rejuvenated his lungs and reminded him how bad his throat was after being so close to a miniature sun for too long.

    "She can silently cast any spell." He said while looking Phloria in the eyes. Seeing her alive made him happy beyond what words could express. Not seeing the other three sent a cold shiver down his spine, hence he warned his new allies at once.

    Lith was risking to expose part of his secrets, but if he didn¡¯t, they wouldn¡¯tst long and neither would he. Just like the wyvern, Nalear was an opponent he couldn¡¯t face alone. The gap between the two of them was too big.

    Phloria was brimming with joy too. She was starting to fear it was toote. That just like Yurial, Lith was lost to her. The relief she noticed when their eyes met told Phloria how worried about her he had been.

    Jirni and Orion were surprised by finding him in such good shape after fighting an academy¡¯s Professor. Normally they would consider his words just a bunch of nonsenseing from a traumatized student.

    An enemy capable of perfect silent casting outside first magic was more than unbelievable, it was something out of a nightmare. Yet they knew Lith better.

    Even if what he said was absurd, it had to be the truth.

    "Thanks, kid. Don¡¯t worry too much, in such an enclosed space most of her War Mage spells are useless. Also, Mage Knights are the natural counter to Battle Mages and I¡¯m a Spellbreaker (AN: a mage experienced at killing other mages)."

    Orion didn¡¯t believe much in his own words. Hunting down mages usually required a team of professionals, while his party was formed by two students and a non mage. As much as a formidable opponent Jirni was, she needed to get close first.

    "Drink potions." Lith said to protect them from Nalear¡¯s first magic. He could see she had spotted them and he had barely regained two Invigoration breaths worth of energy.

    "Thanks, but it¡¯s not our first job, Lith." The Ernas gulped down an oddly colored potion each. Lith could see their bodies brimming with mana.

    Orion unsheathed his sword while his free handposed the signs for a tier five spell at unbelievable speed. He had recognized Final Sunset¡¯s dark mes and knew how to stop it.

 Chapter 319 Reunion Part 2

    Nalear walked slowly towards them, cursing at her bad luck. Quy had failed, constable Ernas was still alive. In the face of so many opponents, Blink was a liability. Nalear needed to save as much of her strength as she could to make sure they couldn¡¯t escape.

    Orionpleted his spell. He conjured five shields made of ice, each one almost as big as the corridor was wide, that converged on Nalear from above and all the four sides.

    ¡¯Fighting fire with ice is beyond dumb.¡¯ Nalear thought. ¡¯As long I have mana, I can fuel my mes, melting his toys way before they can harm me.¡¯

    Much to her surprise, the shields¡¯ aim wasn¡¯t to hit. A Mage Knight was mostly a defender, they would attack only at close quarters once the enemy left them no choice. The shields grew in size and thickness ording to Orion will.

    Their edges merged, keeping themselves away from the Final Sunset spell¡¯s core while creating an air tight space. It was Orion¡¯s personal spell, Sealing Cube. Nalear¡¯s mes roared trying to consume the ice restricting them, only to disappear into nothingness.

    ¡¯The stronger the fire, the more air it consumes.¡¯ Orion thought. ¡¯Take away the air and a fire mage bes helpless.¡¯

    Final Sunset failing her shocked Nalear, but not as much as finding herself suddenly gasping for air. The oxygen inside the cube wasn¡¯t even enough to sustain a candle, let alone the deep breaths Invigoration required.

    Her vision became blurry, but she managed to activate the powers of her iron glove again, shattering her prison with a series of powerful shockwaves. Her freedom came at a heavy price, making it a hollow victory.

    All the mana she had poured in Final Sunset was lost, Invigoration was broken, and she wasing dangerously close to exhausting her magical equipment. No matter how powerful the mana crystals were, they still needed some time to recharge and Nalear had been forced using the non stop.

    To make things worse, Orion had devised Sealing Cube to implode rather than explode when subjected to extreme vibrations. Air and fire were the natural counters to ice, so he had made them their own worst enemy.

    Nalear screamed in pain. Her body was pierced by countless ice shards, bleeding profusely. There was only so much damage her Professor robe could block. She activated her sword again, releasing a flurry of lightning to buy some time and recover.

    Jirni had seen countless cornered magicians and outlived them all. As soon as she recognized the crackling sound, she struck four of her needles in the four corners of the corridor, channeling her own air magic inside them.

    The needles were indeed one of Orion¡¯s best works. They acted as lightning rods, turning Nalear¡¯s desperation move into a fool¡¯s errand. The electricity was safely grounded, allowing Orion to cast his next spell while Phloria took the offensive.

    She charged forward, keeping the enemy¡¯s attention on herself to buy her father the time he needed. Nalear was still catching her breath, her spell wasn¡¯t ready yet.

    She moved her de pretending she was going to execute a horizontal sh, while she used the momentum from her spin to lunge forward with her sword, adding it to the boost air and fire fusion granted her.

    Phloria¡¯s swordsmanship was better, allowing her to read the enemy feint and dodged the de by a hair, turning her body so that her back was against Nalear¡¯s chest. Phloria¡¯s right arm wrapped around Nalear¡¯s locking it in ce.

    Phloria switched her de to her left hand, cutting off Nalear¡¯s right hand in one fluid movement. The agony didn¡¯t stop the traitorous Professor from striking her with the iron glove in the back with the strength of a charging bull.

    Phloria was sent flying for several meters. She managed to remain conscious only thanks to her willpower and the powerful potion she had ingested earlier. Orion and Jirni were bbergasted when they saw Nalear¡¯s severed hand go back into ce, reattaching itself like nothing had happened.

    Lith knew that it was thanks to spirit magic and Invigoration, just like he knew that her hand was far from being really useful. He had almost regained enough strength for a final attack.

    Jirni rushed towards Nalear, fast enough to allow her to run on the sidewall while her needles returned to her hand on their own. They assembled together to the rest of the set, shapeshifting into a spear.

    Jirni wasn¡¯t a mage, she needed all the range advantage she could get to keep enough distance to predict and evade the enemy¡¯s spells. She lunged it at Nalear¡¯s eye, to take her out in one blow.

    Nalear didn¡¯t have enough strength in her left arm, so she was forced to use spirit magic to support her de and deflect the attack. Phloria used that moment of distraction to Blink behind her back, her de easily pierced through the Professor robe and her hardened skin alike.

    Nalear managed to dodge at thest second, turning a fatal blow to the heart to one at her shoulder. Her right hand was still useless, her left arm fell limp, but she was still alive.

    She roared in fury, unleashing a tier five spell while Orion did the same.

    Nalear¡¯s Thunderdome was capable of trapping the surrounding enemies into a thick cover of lightning imbued ice. Unlike a normal thunder, it couldn¡¯t be avoided and continued to inflict damage until all the ice wasn¡¯t disposed of.

    The cold surface formed a closed circuit that would allow the electricity to strike over and over until the enemy wasn¡¯t turned into charcoal.

    Orion¡¯s Nether Seal was an hexaelemental sphere that enveloped the opponent greatly reducing the area of effect of their spells. It required a precise timing and concentration.

    It was a static spell, hence if cast too soon the enemy could simply move to avoid it. Toote and it would be useless.

    That was the reason Orion didn¡¯t cast it even afterpleting the chant. He had only one chance and had to make it count. Nether Seal blocked Thunderdome, restricting it to barely one meter radius.

    Jirni and Phloria needed a single backstep to get to safety.

    "Why don¡¯t you just die?" Nalear felt she was going insane. As in, even more than she already was.

 Chapter 320 Final Struggle Part 1

    Never before someone had fought his battles. In all his three lives, Derek McCoy AKA Lith had always been on the frontlines, be it to protect his brother Carl from his father or working his a*s off to give his sisters some meat and bread.

    Sitting limply in a corner was a new experience for him. It moved something inside the rotten heart of his. In a way, the Ernas where the family he had always dreamed to have when he was a little child.

    Super powered beings that fought the bad guys together, no matter the odds. Spectating their battle almost made him feel like he had found somewhere he belonged.

    Almost.

    What really amazed him was how quickly everything was happening. He and Solus barely had the time to appreciate Orion¡¯s strategic prowess, Jirni¡¯s amazing reaction speed, or Phloria¡¯s swordsmanship that thebat had already shifted from one side to another.

    ¡¯F*ck. In those damn action movies, the actors dance with bad guys for minutes, while I only got four breaths worth of energy since the fighting started.¡¯ Lith knew that in such a short time frame Nalear couldn¡¯t have lost much of her strength.

    She was an Awakened with a lot of mana and a deranged mind. He knew all too well what kind of nightmare she could unleash if she was given the slightest chance. Lith knew because he was one as well.

    "Why don¡¯t you just die?"

    Nalear¡¯s scream was his cue. That and the blue aura that enveloped her body like a zing me. Lith quickly stood up, weaving several spells at once while imbuing the Gatekeeper with part of his strength.

    He was ready, yet he didn¡¯t move. Orion had reminded him of the importance of timing and precision against a superior opponent. Instead of charging blindly like a bull, Lith choose to wait for his opportunity to appear.

    They had the situation under control, so he kept chanting while using Solus¡¯s senses to not miss a single detail. The information she could get by spending her mana was overwhelming.

    The slight alteration in the room temperature, the mana density, and even things like neural pathways ring up whenever someone was about to do something. Lith had no idea what most of it meant and neither did Solus.

    The only thing he was certain of, was that if they weren¡¯t one, with Solus acting both as a source and as a filter, all that information would have burned his brain.

    Nalear tried to snap Jirni¡¯s neck with spirit magic, but the mana running through her veins thanks to the potion reduced the pressure to an itch. Cursing Constable Ernas once again, Nalear unleashed a spirit magic st by making her aura detonate.

    It didn¡¯t inflict damage. It was just a very strong push, yet being invisible it took Jirni and Phloria by surprise, giving Nalear a moment to catch her breath.

    Or at least so she hoped. Lith was already in front of her, releasing five different tier three spells, each one aimed at a different body part. Nalear was still weaving her next spell while drawing a deep breath. She had no time to move nor hidden card to y.

    She used spirit magic on herself, moving her body as a puppet and raising her left arm in the nick of time. The iron glove emitted another series of shockwaves, sting away Lith¡¯s spells before proceeding to do the same with him.

    Nalear realized toote that a simr thing had happened earlier. Lith falling for the same trick twice was unlikely.

    Indeed it was.

    Lith released his sixth spell, conjuring a concave ice wall in front of himself. It was just a regr ice wall with a different shape, but Lith hoped it would be enough. Orion had shown him how the shockwaves were just sound.

    Lith¡¯s n was to weaken them with the five spells first and then bounce them back to the sender with the thick ice wall reinforced by Solus¡¯s spirit magic. It was an improvised spell born out of sudden inspiration, so even when it only partially seeded, Lith still considered it a sess.

    The wall reflected only half of the shockwaves¡¯ strength while the other half struck Lith. Both the Awakened ones were sent flying, but only one of them had allies. The hit broke Nalear¡¯s focus disrupting her spell and breathing technique alike.

    Phloria didn¡¯t miss the opportunity. She activated st Guard, a Mage Knight tier four spell that burned Nalear¡¯s back, bouncing her toward Jirni like a pinball. Jirni took out her Gatekeeper short sword, imbuing it with air magic to enhance its edge.

    Even while moving at high speed, Nalear managed to alter her trajectory with spirit magic enough to avoid Jirni chopping off her head. Lady Ernas reacted in time, adjusting the angle of her sh, opening a deep cut in Nalear¡¯s side as constion prize.

    Nalear gritted her teeth, holding back tears of desperation.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m really going to die, I will take you all down with me.¡¯ She thought.

    ***

    "When is he going to transform?" Milea asked.

    "Transform?" The Guardians asked as one.

    "Didn¡¯t you alle here to understand what he is? If there isn¡¯t going to be a world tribtion, what¡¯s the point of staying here?"

    "Kid, if every time someone fights for their life a world tribtion started, there would be only Guardians left alive on Mogar." Sark guffawed.

    "We can study him from this distance even without a tribtion." Leegaain offered her his hand, which Milea took without hesitation. Thanks to that contact, she was able to share the Guardian¡¯s Soul Vision.

    It showed her the real nature of things. The Guardians appeared in their true forms, humongous mass of power in the form of a Griffon, a Phoenix, and a Dragon. Each one of them was so big their heads seemed to reach the sky and their feet Mogar¡¯s core.

    The White Griffon academy looked like a kneeling white knight, wounded all over. Their pristine armor was tainted by the red of blood and the ck of death.

    Lith was fully transformed in her eyes and so was Nalear. He was now over two meters tall (7 feet) and covered by ck scales the tip of which was bright red from the scorching heat that coursed through them.

    Two curved horns resided on his featureless head, together with seven yellow eyes and a maw opened in a cruel smile that revealed the fire burning within. Two pairs of upside down membranous wings came out of his back, as well as a long tail ending in several bone des.

    Nalear looked like herself, but she was wearing a long white tunic dirty with blood and mud. Her hair moved like she was in the middle of a storm, her eye sockets were empty ck holes, shedding tears of blood while her mouth was wide open in an eternal silent scream.

    "Teacher, he really looks like one of your humanoid forms, but her... Isn¡¯t that a banshee? Is she going to evolve into an undead Guardian?" Milea had no other exnation to such a vision.

    Orion and Phloria appeared no different from their human form, while Jirni¡¯s skin appeared grey. Blood was constantly dripping from her hands.

 Chapter 321 Final Struggle Part 2

    "Indeed, but at this point of his evolution it¡¯s too early to tell." Leegaain exined.

    "Most of those traits aremon in reptile Guardians. He may be a dragon, a basilisk, a leviathan, or maybe something new entirely. As for her, she hasn¡¯t undergone a single tribtion. What you see is a lost soul drove mad by pain.

    "Her appearance means that her grudge is so deep not even death can stop it. That woman is likely to turn into an undead if her body isn¡¯t cleanly disposed of."

    ***

    Nalear tumbled on the floor with Jirni in hot pursuit. Her de followed Nalear¡¯s major arteries¡¯ every movement, ready to strike as soon as she was close enough. Nalear suddenly Blinked, but Jirni was expecting such a move.

    She sidestepped while executing a circle sh, putting her back against the wall and hitting the space 180¡ã around her at the same time. Yet Nalear wasn¡¯t there.

    She appeared in front of a stunned Orion, hitting him squarely on the jaw with the iron gauntlet. He didn¡¯t lose consciousness, but he would be incapacitated for a few seconds. More than enough to put an end to the fight.

    She Blinked again, a split second before Lith could exploit the opening at her back. He cursed hisck of true dimensional magic which made him slower than Nalear while using a healing spell on Orion, hastening his recovery.

    Nalear Blinked back to Jirni, a knife dripping poison in the left hand and the sword in the right one. Normally Lith would have admired her mastery of spirit magic, which allowed Nalear to move even better than when she was unscathed.

    The burden on her body had to be enormous and so the pain, yet she endured it like it was nothing. The knife was all Lith needed to set his course of action.

    He interrupted the healing and prepared the next spell as fast as he could.

    Nalear shed with Jirni for a split second, disappearing again just to reappear behind Phloria¡¯s back with her knife already lunging forward. Instead of Phloria¡¯s flesh, the knife bit Lith¡¯s stone gauntlet, making sparks but no damage.

    Lith had Switched with Phloria at thest second, headbutting Nalear in the nose before she could recover from the surprise and Blink again. The nose broke, filling Nalear¡¯s eyes with tears and her mouth with blood, making it difficult for her to breathe.

    Lith shed downwards while holding the Gatekeeper with both hands, aiming for her neck. She used her own de to block, reinforcing her weakened arms with spirit magic. Lith followed suit.

    The Gatekeeper was already infused with great elemental energies and now was boosted by Lith¡¯s enhanced body, fusion, and spirit magic, while Nalear¡¯s sword was at its weakest.

    The de shattered on impact, still exerting enough resistance to deflect the hit but not enough to prevent Lith to adjust the trajectory and cut Nalear¡¯s left arm. Before the glove could reach the ground and emit a metallic ng, Lith spun on himself to exploit his own momentum.

    The Gatekeeper rose and fell again, this time chopping Nalear diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip. Lith had the sword reduce its size, short enough to decapitate her and stab her heart in a single fluid motion.

    The energies coursing through the de consumed the corpse like fire burning dried grass until nothing remained.

    ***

    "Does that qualify as ¡¯clean disposal¡¯?" Milea asked.

    "It surely does." Tyris nodded.

    ***

    Nalear¡¯s death marked the end of the hostilities inside the White Griffon. Once the master ring lost her imprint, it turned to dust and so did all the ve items. It was one of Hatorne¡¯s safety features to leave behind no traces after the deed was done.

    Lith fell on his knees. The rushed Switch and the use of spirit magic to ovee his limits had drained him of any strength. Phloria helped him to get up. His legs were too shaky to sustain Lith anymore.

    The gauntlet disappeared. With Nalear¡¯s death, the bond was back to its usual strength. Solus went back being a ring, her core reverting to yellow just as Lith¡¯s turned from bright cyan to just cyan.

    As he gasped for air, feeling his arms as heavy as lead, his mind was once again assaulted by the vision. This time the images didn¡¯t fade away. Every single one of them shattered like broken ss.

    The academy burning, Phloria¡¯s death as well as Lith¡¯s family¡¯s ughter. Everything crumbled, reced by a nk te. Lith and Solus instinctively knew it was because the threat was over. Lith¡¯s soul was finally at rest and the future unknown as it was supposed to be.

    "What you did was crazy dangerous." Phloria was still terrified.

    "How did you know where she would reappear and the angle of the strike? One mistake and she would have stabbed you instead."

    "The vision." Lith replied. "I reyed in my mind the part where you got stabbed so many times I could follow her de with my eyes closed."

    It was far from a romantic phrase, yet Phloria felt her heart flutter.

    "Where are the others?" Lith asked.

    "They are safe." Phloria chose her words carefully, trying to hide the pain gripping her voice the best that she could. Her heart sank as soon as the adrenaline from the battle started to fade away.

    Phloria was ridden by guilt for her choice of putting her mother above her friend¡¯s life. Lith didn¡¯t miss her distress. The cheeks that were just turning red were now pale.

    "What happened?" He asked. Orion could see his daughter struggling to find the words and stepped forward to take the burden off her shoulders.

    "Don¡¯t." Jirni stopped him. "I know that it¡¯s painful, but she has to live with it. The sooner she faces reality the better. We can¡¯t protect her forever."

    Orion held his wife¡¯s hand tight, nodding. He didn¡¯t like Lith one bit. Orion had read his personal file, watched all the recordings rted to him and found his evaluation urate.

    Yet after all he did for Orion¡¯s little Flower during Balkor¡¯s attack, after seeing Lith in action, spitting blood to protect his family, Orion hade to respect Lith. He treated Phloria right and made her happy as Orion had never seen her before.

    He couldn¡¯t ask for more, not without feeling a sadistic hypocrite.

    Orion couldn¡¯t stand the thought that just after being reunited such a revtion could split them apart forever.

    Phloria led Lith to a corner, making him sit before telling him the whole story. Her voice was shaky, the pain and regret palpable, yet she managed not to cry.

    Lith said nothing. His mind believed her, Phloria would never pull such a cruel joke on him. His heart, however, was struck in denial.

    "Can I see his body?" Lith had managed to prevent the vision froming true, yet it felt a hollow victory to him.

    "I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m too weak to open a Warp Steps right now." Phloria shook her head.

    "I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m always so useless." Tears started to streak from her eyes.

    "No, you are not." Lith forced himself to stand up, hugging her and letting Phloria bury her head on his shoulder.

    "It¡¯s all my fault." She sobbed, searching for his warmth.

    "If that¡¯s true, then I¡¯m as responsible for Yurial¡¯s death as you are. If only I cared for him a bit more, then maybe my vision would have shown us his fate too. Maybe, his father would have allowed him to stay home."

 Chapter 322 Moving Forward Part 1

    "How can it be your fault?" Phloria raised her head, looking Lith in the eyes.

    "You warned us multiple times. You wanted us to stay away from the academy."

    "How can it be your fault?" Lith took her face between his hands, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.

    "You did all you could in an impossible situation. In your shoes, I would have done the same thing. We always give priority to those we love the most. My vision is a perfect example of it."

    "I don¡¯t know about you two, but I¡¯m dead tired. Taking down crazy Professors is way harder than I imagined." Jirni sat down, leaning her back against the wall and dragging Orion to her side.

    She was happy the kids were having a moment, but she couldn¡¯t allow them to keep beating themselves up. They were clearly exhausted, both mentally and physically.

    ¡¯Phloria has too much on her te already. Yurial¡¯s death, killing humans for the first time, spectating all the horrors humans inflict on their own kind. If she doesn¡¯t rest a bit, when the nervous breakdown hits her it could be fatal.¡¯ Jirni knew her daughter well.

    It wasn¡¯t a matter of ¡¯if¡¯, the only variable was ¡¯when¡¯.

    Phloria followed suit. There was nothing she wanted to say or hear anymore. She was so tired that words, like violence, could only cause her more pain. Phloria and Lith fell asleep almost immediately, leaning against each other while clenching their hands like they were a lifeline.

    Jirni looked at them with a tender expression, before turning to Orion with her trademark "I told you so" grin.

    "He snores." It was all he could think about for a snarky reply.

    "And so does she. They make a fine tune nheless." Jirni rebuked.

    "Look, I¡¯m too tired to y this game." Orion sighed. "Why don¡¯t we follow their lead and get a little shut eye?"

    "Because we are the adults and because we don¡¯t know if Nalear had associates or a back up n. I¡¯m not lowering my guard until we are back home."

    ***

    Tyris appeared next to Am Farg, bringing her back to her peak condition with a simple touch.

    She woke up abruptly, a Gatekeeper longsword appeared in her hand while she looked around for the enemy.

    "I hope you have learned your lesson." Tyris said with a gentle smile.

    "I hope everyone will." She sighed, looking at Billow and Thorman stillying on the ground, alive but unconscious.

    "What happened? How could she recover like that?" Farg was shocked. She was still a rookie in the Corpse. She never expected for natural Awakened to be so different from the artificial ones.

    "Awakening it¡¯s the first step towards bing one with Mogar. She was a much lesser version of a Guardian, but still had ess to an almost endless supply of mana." Tyris¡¯s exnation was cryptic on purpose.

    She wanted Farg to understand her limits without giving her any hints about the Awakening process. Tyris had learned from experience that power couldn¡¯t be gifted recklessly. It had to be earned.

    "What?" Farg felt her heart skip a beat, promising herself that from that moment onwards she would always put down an unknown enemy unless ordered otherwise.

    "Almost." Tyris repeated herself. "Follow me, there is still much I have to teach you before the academy starts again."

    ***

    Jirni¡¯s worries turned out to be groundless. Nothing happened for several minutes, until the academy¡¯s power core turned back online. It allowed the members of the army to cross the Warp Gate and secure the ce.

    Thanks to the royal override code, Jirni could temporarily turn off the arrays, making it possible for Phloria to bring Friya and Quy back. Friya was barely able to walk, while Quy was still out cold.

    Jirni moved them all to the White Griffon hospital with a Warp Steps. For the first time in its history, the hospital was understaffed and unprepared to handle an emergency of such a scale.

    There wasn¡¯t a single free spot. Its wings usually so orderly and quiet were now a chaotic mess. Manohar managed to check them up, marking Quy as the only one in need of urgent medical attention.

    After stabilizing her condition, he immediately returned to his most severe cases. Jirni had let them sleep until the whole academy was safe again, so Lith had regained a part of his strength.

    ¡¯My body is still battered. Even with Invigoration, I can barely ess to 60% of my full power. It¡¯s still much better than when I saved Protector. Yurial¡¯s body is inside a dimensional amulet, so there isn¡¯t much hope. If there is even a ghost of a chance, I must give it a try.

    ¡¯I wish I knew how to contact Scarlett.¡¯ Lith sighed.

    The Lord of the forest had saved him and Protector in the past. Her expertise with true magic was unparalleled.

    Friya took out Yurial¡¯s corpse from her dimensional amulet,ying it on a bed.

    Lith used Invigoration together with all the diagnostic spells he knew. Nothing worked. There was no life force, no mana core, nothing he could rejuvenate.

    "He¡¯s really dead." Lith shook his head. He covered Yurial¡¯s corpse with a sheet, hiding the gaping wound that lesser healing magic had failed to treat.

    The surviving members of the group hugged each other, sharing their pain. All hope was lost, the only thing left to do for them was grieving.

    ***

    The following days were hectic, at least for the Royals and the staff of the White Griffon academy. Nalear¡¯s contingency n consisted in releasing to the public all the video recordings and documents connecting many of the most powerful noble households to Archmage Lukart.

    They revealed their ns for the civil war, proving the involvement of many influential nobles in funding Hatorne¡¯s work and providing her the necessary materials to realize the improved ve items.

    Everything had to be double checked, since the source of the evidence was still a traitorous mass murder. The detailed financial records and shipments tracking documents made it easy for the Royal Constables to verify the information.

    The Crown was finally able to purge many of the most dangerous elements of the Court, stripping their families of a considerable portion of their authority. In any other circumstances, the nobles would have rebelled, but they were caught in a perfect storm.

    The Crown suppressed their finances, the army and the Mage Association ostracized their members, whilemoners and the new magical bloodlines were just expecting the nobles to give them an excuse to burn them at the stakes.

    Too many had died in a single day. The me fell on them like the ax of the executioner, crippling the noble households.

    One fourth of the White Griffon students and Professors were dead or mentally scarred to the point of being barely functional. Most of the survivors among the ve items bearers were quarantined, waiting to be interrogated.

    "Nalear made me do it." Was too cheap an excuse. The documents proved that while some were truly victims, others were just perpetrators caught in their own scheme.

    Professor Duke Marth was promoted to the role of new Headmaster. He was perfect for the role. Not too young nor too old, well liked, brilliant in his field and also a Forgemaster.

 Chapter 323 Moving Forward Part 2

    Vastor and Rudd were deemed too old for the role, plus their love for ancient magical bloodlines was well known. It made them even more undesirable than they already were, even as simple Professors.

    Their ties with many of the families implicated with the scandal made their positions precarious at best.

    Manohar was considered a visionary in the healing hearts, a true genius, or, to put it in less kind words, aplete nutjob. He was fickle and unreliable, not to mention his biography was full of social blunders to the point of being universally considered an etiquette book about how not to behave.

    He resented the Crown judgment, but only until his first visit to Marth¡¯s new office. Just seeing how busy his schedule was and the amount of paperwork being Headmaster involved, Manohar was tempted to taking another "vacation."

    The Crown had no time to waste with him, so the literally chained Manohar to the academy, just to stay safe.

    Professor Wanemyre was among the mentally and physically scarred. Regrowing her arm was easy, but the memories of all Nalear had made her do almost destroyed her. She was forced to take a sabbatical, receiving the best care and counseling the Griffon Kingdom could offer.

    ***

    Lith moved with his whole family to the Ernas Household again. Even Rena and her husband were forced to relocate. Lith wouldn¡¯t let his sister and niece be further than his arm¡¯s reach.

    Yurial¡¯s loss wasn¡¯t devastating for him as losing Protector was. They had known each other for barely a year and their rtionship had been shallow until the fourth year¡¯s second exam.

    Still, Yurial was the first man Lith was almost ready to call a friend, someone he went through thick and thin together. Lith wasn¡¯t responsible in any way for his death and not being present when it happened made it easier for him to feel detached.

    At least until Archmage Deirus went to visit him. Lith¡¯s first impulse was to kick the man in the groin and beat him to death. An impulse he quickly suppressed. Vn Deirus was guilty of being an uncaring father, but nothing more.

    Lith knew that just like after Protector¡¯s disappearance, his first instinct was to find someone to put the me on. The visit was very brief. Lith could control his violent impulses, but his eyes were filled with scorn and reproach.

    Archmage Deirus couldn¡¯t stand those eyes. They were identical to those that pierced his soul every time he was in front of a mirror. He remained only the time necessary to give Lith a small package.

    It was full of notebooks filled with Yurial¡¯s handwriting. They contained all the knowledge he had acquired about the impossible arrays, the results of his experiments, and his suggestions about how to further the research.

    Deirus knew who to give them because on the first page of each of them was written in big letters: "For Lith". He had found them once he opened his son¡¯s dimensional amulet after recovering his body.

    Vn had also found Yurial¡¯s diaries, discovering how painful his existence had been, how neglected he had felt. How despite having found a better family within the academy walls rather than inside his own Household, Yurial was still ready to perform his duty.

    Yurial¡¯s love for his father and his people was greater than everything life had put him through. Vn Deirus cried a lot reading his son¡¯s most private thoughts, finding himself more monstrous than any of those involved in Yurial¡¯s death.

    He had nurtured a future leader, a great mage, but at the same time, he had shown no care for the man destined to bear those pompous titles. Vn realized to have killed his own son multiple times over the years, always putting his own interests over Yurial¡¯s well being.

    After Vn left, Lith made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. He put the notebooks inside Soluspedia, essing at all of them at once. In between of his research notes, Yurial had also written all the things that he wanted to share with Lith.

    All the thoughts they never had the time to talk about because of the academy. Reading how Yurial had always considered him like a big brother and a true friend, ripped Lith¡¯s soul to shreds. It made him understand how precious was their bond.

    He had moved to the Ernas household only because he knew that to ovee the grief before the academy started again, he needed all the help his family could give him. A noble household was the safest and mostfortable ce for his purpose.

    Also, Phloria needed him. Lith would never leave her alone while she was facing something even worse than Carl¡¯s death. At least Carl had died by the hand of a stranger, when Lith was already a grown, bitter, cold hearted man.

    Phloria was ridden by the guilt of having indirectly caused Yurial¡¯s death, of having killed mind controlled students to defend her family. Friya was in an almost identical situation. The blood on Phloria¡¯s hands was the same that was on hers.

    She had mindlessly obeyed to ease her own conscience. It was because of her ipetence that saving Jirni took so long, causing Yurial¡¯s demise as well as that of many others.

    She had seen Lith healing much worse wounds in much less time. During Balkor¡¯s attack, he even treated Yurial and Phloria at the same time.

    ¡¯How could I bear my second ce so proudly? Yurial was right, we are a fraud. I don¡¯t deserve my ranking just like I don¡¯t deserve my friends. I¡¯m an utter failure, I should have been the one dying.¡¯ Were the thoughts haunting her.

    Actually, her second ce was fully deserved. Friya¡¯s talent for healing magic was on par with Lith¡¯s. She just wasn¡¯t an Awakened.

    Quy¡¯s life was still hanging on a thread. She was unable to eat, puking almost as soon as she ingested any kind of food. Someone had always to be by her side, to make sure she didn¡¯t harm herself.

    She would cry until exhaustion made her faint, unable to speak a word most of the time. Potions and the sharing of life force were the only things keeping her alive. At night, she would sleep with Orion and Jirni by her side.

    It was the only moment she managed to truly rest, free from fits of hysteria.

    At his arrival, Lith thought nothing of them. To him, they were just Phloria¡¯s essories, something he would worry about in his spare time. Yurial¡¯s words changed his mind.

    Maybe they were nothing to him, but the opposite wasn¡¯t necessarily true. Lith had already lost an opportunity because, after the second exam, he had simply promoted hispanions from strangers to fish in a tank.

    He never treated them as persons, only as something to feed and watch from time to time. A living screensaver, less than pets. As much as Lith found it unbelievable, there were actually people that really cared for him outside of his family.

    Yet he would never be able to recognize them if he didn¡¯t give them at least a chance before discarding them like trash.

    Yurial¡¯s death showed him that life was too short to worry about outliving those who would die of old age. They were the lucky ones.

 Chapter 324 Final Rankings Part 1

    The White Griffon academy didn¡¯t stay close for long, just a couple of weeks.

    During that time, Lith did all he could to help the three girls recover. Despite the traumatic events their daughters had gone through, the Ernas couple had a duty to uphold. They would be rarely at home, mostly for the meals and for the night.

    Sometimes one or both of them were forced to stay away for a day or more. They were the only surviving witnesses to not have any rtionship with the academy¡¯s politics and also those who had put an end to Nalear¡¯s threat.

    They had to write multiple reports, confer with the Royals, the Council of the Headmasters, and all the upper echelons involved in the administration of the Country. The old and new noble families wanted someone to me.

    Heads were going to roll before the storm would pass. Jirni and Orion were the keystones in many ongoing high profile trials, not only as witnesses but also as a Royal Constable and a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard respectively.

    While the Queen¡¯s corps dealt with all the threats rted to magic, the Knight¡¯s Guard had a defensive role inside the Griffon Kingdom. They were tasked with protecting and assisting the Royal Constables during their investigations.

    It was a corpsprised only by Forgemasters and Mage Knights. Only a few, like Orion, were both, making them the cream of the crop. It has to be said that an academy wasn¡¯t the only way to learn a specialization.

    The army had the means and the knowledge to train its members. Unlike an academy, the process could take far more than two years, depending on the talent and the number of missions a Guard had to take.

    Also, the candidate had to prove their worth beforehand the training began. Most of the members of the Knight¡¯s Guards would start with only one specialization and learn the other over the years.

    During their absence, Lith took care of the three girls to the best of his abilities and with the help of his family. s, there wasn¡¯t much he could do. No words could ease their suffering, no simple gesture could make their trauma fade away.

    He could only stick by their side, not letting them hole up in their rooms. Only time could help. Lith was an expert on grieving and facing pain, but his methods couldn¡¯t be shared.

    Lithcked the necessary empathy to connect with Phloria or Friya. Killing the mind controlled students didn¡¯t bother him in the least. He knew only one way to deal with his enemies and wasn¡¯t interested in the reason why they attacked him.

    As for Yurial¡¯s death, Lith regretted having missed the opportunity to know him better, to finally have a friend. He missed Yurial, but that was it.

    ¡¯If I had to choose between mom, one of my sisters, or even Phloria and him, I would have done the same thing. I¡¯m not a hypocrite. I¡¯m aware that I didn¡¯t know Yurial well enough to care about him and now I never will.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Solus yed a big part in his recovery, always reminding him of all the affection he had been showered with.

    Lith left Elina and Rena to take care of Quy. They were the best moms he knew. In his mind, if they weren¡¯t able to give her the sce andpassion she needed, then no one could.

    Phloria and Friya were easier to deal with. He made them follow the routine his own counselor gave Lith after Carl¡¯s death. Waking them up at regr hours, forcing them to eat and spend time with those they loved.

    Everything to show them that pain was just a part of life. That no matter how dark their lives felt, they weren¡¯t alone.

    ¡¯This stuff never worked for me, but it¡¯s worth a shot.¡¯ He thought.

    The worst part for all of them was the night. Being alone in the dark, the girls couldn¡¯t stop their minds from being assaulted by bad memories, regrets, and hindsight.

    Lith was always by Phloria¡¯s side, making sure that whenever she would wake up abruptly because of the nightmares, she would always find him right next to her.

    When the academy started again, Quy wasn¡¯t in the condition to move. Like many other students, she received permission to stay home and recover. She would get back to the academy the following year or whenever she was ready.

    Lith, Friya, and Phloria resumed their lives, drowning themselves into work to keep their anxiety at bay. Professors were now able to cross from one floor to another. There hadn¡¯t been enough time to find recements for the fallen ones, so Ironhelm now taught Forgemastering to both the fourth and the fifth year.

    With Linjos gone, after thest tragedy, Headmaster Marth decided to go back to written and spellcasting exams inside the academy, just like in the past. The students had got enough real life experience in thest two years.

    Now they needed peace and quiet. The civil war was no longer an issue, the traitor was gone, and when the anniversary came, Balkor didn¡¯t send any note. No one could believe to such luck, so they all made their children go back home and went into hiding for the following three days.

    Balkor didn¡¯t send a single undead, giving the Griffon Kingdom the first piece of good news after so much suffering. Lith, Friya, and Phloria were inseparable during their days at the academy.

    The girls rarely left him alone, studying and eating together. Phloria didn¡¯t leave his side even at night. Even though everything was clean like nothing bad had ever happened, seeing those corridors and all themon spaces still pierced her heart.

    It reminded her of Yurial, of all the blood spilled. Lith¡¯s warmth and affection were the only lines of defense she had against the despair that would grip her mind if left alone.

    The fifth year went by quickly. Lith never got out the academy, except for visiting Quy, his dates with Phloria, and going back to his family. First, he had to deliver his niece, Leria, andter his little brother, Aran.

    The final exams were easy for Lith. Soluspedia made the written exams a walk in the park. Casting spells in a closed ssroom in front of the Professors didn¡¯t cause him any stresspared to Linjos¡¯s teaching methods.

    Before the results came out, Lith was once again summoned to the Headmaster¡¯s office. This time there was no one beside Marth waiting for him. He seemed dead tired, but being his first year as Headmaster, it was understandable.

    The pressure he was being subjected was nothingpared to Linjos¡¯s. The ancient noble households were not as overbearing as in the past, Balkor was missing, and not a single ident had urred.

    Yet Headmaster Marth was still learning the ropes and until all investigations and trials were over, it was his duty alone to take care of the academy¡¯s power core.

    Lith sat in front of him, expecting the usual batch of bad news. The only time he had entered into a Headmaster¡¯s office without someone getting royally pissed off, was when Marchioness Distar introduced him to Linjos.

 Chapter 325 Final Rankings Part 2

    "I¡¯m d to see you have made aplete recovery. Your grades have not been affected in the least by what happened with Nalear. I wish I could say the same for the others." Marth sighed deeply.

    The White Griffon now not only had fewer students than any other academy, but also the lowest average in terms of grades. Despite using the old exam system, many students had yet to recover.

    The situation was so bad that the King had decreed the students of the White Griffon who failed their finals could attend the year a second time as ast chance. It was an unprecedented case in the academies¡¯ history, but so was Nalear¡¯s scheme.

    "I¡¯ve called you here to congratte you on your achievements. You are ranked first overall and in the light department too." Marth handed him a piece of paper that listed the students in ascending order ording to their points value.

    Lith was ranked first with 14,456 (*) points, Friya second with 12,486, and Phloria third with 10,753. Lith was surprised seeing the gap between the top three scores, especially since Phloria with only one specialization had run circles around the fourth ranked with her 8,731 points.

    "Okay, if this is the off the record score, what will be the official one?" Lith was angered at the thought the events of the fourth year were about to repeat themselves. Before giving Marth a piece of his mind, Lith wanted to understand his reasons and how he would bepensated.

    "That¡¯s the official one. I didn¡¯t input it in the system yet because I just received it too. Sorry for the misunderstanding." Marth handed him a gold griffon shaped pin and a white moonstone griffon shaped pin. Both had a five engraved on them.

    Seeing the gold pin reminded him of Yurial, making Lith¡¯s heart ache for a second. He wore them nheless, cing the pins right above his heart.

    "What does the asterisk near my score mean, then?" Lith asked.

    "To avoid further embarrassment to the other students and academies, we have split your academic points from those you earned from sharing your spell. In light of its usefulness, the Council of the Headmasters has decided to value it 10,000 points."

    Lith almost couldn¡¯t believe his own ears. It had taken a long time to assess Lith¡¯s Resonance spell¡¯s worth. Despite being a tier one spell, it had made it possible to reduce the time needed for recovering the full use of a regrown limb from years to months.

    It was an invaluable tool, which allowed soldiers and mages alike to go from crippled to fit for duty faster than it had ever been thought possible.

    "What do you mean with ¡¯further embarrassment¡¯?"

    "Well, let¡¯s just say that our average sucks, but our third ranker has scored more points than the first rankers of the other academies." Marth replied with a smirk on his face.

    "Now, I need to know if you are going to participate to the ceremonial graduation tourney."

    "No, thank you." Only at the end of the fifth year, there would be a friendlypetition among the students to demonstrate their battle prowess. Linjos¡¯s system made it obsolete, but it was still part of the academy customs.

    Usually, the student ranked first would also be the winner of the tourney. For a lower ranked student to win thepetition meant a huge boost in prestige for his family.

    "Are you sure?" Marth asked. "It will not give you any points, but whatever you decide to do in the future, it could help you in your career."

    "Absolutely." Lith nodded. "I have beaten all old noble households in the rankings. Winning the tourney would bring me only troubles. I think it¡¯s better to leave them a chance to prove themselves and restore their honor, rather than make more enemies.

    "Besides, I survived a Valor, a wyvern, and even Nalear. I know I can beat any student of the White Griffon and that¡¯s enough for me. I don¡¯t have to prove myself anymore."

    "That¡¯s great to hear!" The Headmaster could finally sigh in relief.

    ¡¯Thank the gods Lith isn¡¯t another self-absorbed as*hole. It¡¯s the best political choice he could make. Giving face to the noble households will make things easier for the academy and the Royals both. They will be really pleased when I¡¯ll report them this conversation.¡¯ He thought.

    "It also brings us to the next topic." Marth handed him another pin. This one was shaped like Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram, but the lines connecting the six dots were depicted as broken in multiple points.

    "Professor Farg, Constable Ernas, and Guard Ernas all testified your valour as a fighter against Nalear. The Crown has decided to make you an honorary member of the Spellbreaker order as a reward."

    Spellbreakers were mages tasked with disposing of criminal practitioners of the mystical arts. ording to what Farg exined to him at the beginning of the fifth year, even bing an honorary one was a big deal.

    It meant not only social prestige but also represented how much the Crown trusted him.

    "I also have a job proposal for you that should benefit both of us." Marth steepled his fingers. Everything he said up to that point was in preparation for this moment.

    Lith wore the third pin too, nodding.

    "As you know, the White Griffon is short staffed. We lost one-fourth of our instructors. Finding so many talented and trustworthy Professors in such little time is not easy.

    "Since you are still two years away from bing an adult, I thought you could be interested in a position as Assistant Professor. You are too young andck the experience to be a Professor, but your foundations are solid.

    "We could use someone like you to cover for the basic lessons. It would give you a ce to stay, a good ie, and merits. If you ept, the Mage Association will take you as a member without the usual procedure."

    "What about my sister?" Lith had already mentioned to him Tista wanted to attend the White Griffon academy.

    "She can take the test. You have my word our judgment will be fair, but nothing more. We care only for talent. Admitting Tista just to have her fail at the first trimester would be a waste of our and her time both." Marth replied.

    Lith pondered for a second about the answer.

    ¡¯With her bright green core Tista will be among the weakest students, but since she is only interested in the Healing specialization, she should be fine. Also, if she is really going to Awaken, this way I can keep an eye on her and make sure Tista doesn¡¯t get into trouble.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Working for the academy also means unlimited funds and materials for my research. Plus all the time I need to keep copying magic books. It¡¯s an offer I can¡¯t refuse.¡¯

    When Lith epted, Marth felt a huge burden lifted from his shoulders. Having Lith was a huge morale boost for the White Griffon academy. Nalear had destroyed its reputation and now many families were considering to transfer their children to more safe institutions.

    Having the youngest Spellbreaker of the Kingdom among their ranks, who also happened to be considered the next god of healing, was just what the White Griffon¡¯s public rtions needed.

    Lith left the Headmaster¡¯s office and went to give the good news to hispanions and family. It seemed they would soon be invited to the Royal Pce for a g.

 Chapter 326 Goodbyes Part 1

    Phloria and Friya were both surprised by their rankings. Even seven months after the events with Nalear, they still had topletely recover. The girls felt they were just scraping by, following Lith¡¯s study schedule only because it was too boring to waste the whole day drowning in self pity.

    "Who would have ever thought that practicing first magic everyday would have improved so much our performances?" Friya kept staring at the paper Lith had handed them a few days ago.

    "I did." He replied from the bathroom. "My problem during the fourth year was myck of mana perception, yours of mana control. Practicing first magic fixed that."

    Phloria nodded. She too regretted having always considered first magic just like servant¡¯s magic. If only she practiced it more, she could have achieved so much during the first four years of academy.

    Their parents took the news enthusiastically, they couldn¡¯t wait to celebrate the happy event.

    Lith came out of the bathroom wearing only his pants. During thest year he had grown even taller and was now 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") high, almost as much as Phloria. The vision made Friya yelp and turn beet red.

    Lith¡¯s face was still sharp, his eyes cruel, but when he didn¡¯t look at you with the intention to kill, he could be considered good looking. His body was another story. Between the physical training with Phloria and the core refinement, it was a sight to behold.

    No impurities meant no imperfections during the growth spurt, no moles, no excess body hair or fat. Every inch of his body was chiseled like that of an Olympic athlete at his prime.

    "Why don¡¯t you cover up?" She said turning half sideways, looking at him with one eye only.

    "First, this is my room. Second, you should be used to my presence as much I am to yours since we spend almost all day together. Third, I have the right to hit on my girlfriend." His answer made Phloria giggle like a little girl, Friya not so much.

    "Do you need my help again?" Phloria caressed his face.

    "Yes." Lith sighed. Growth spurt also meant a growing beard, but unlike on Earth, his new body produced one like he was already twenty. It wasn¡¯t just a few hairs. It only needed a couple of days to turn into a stubble, four to start itching.

    To make things worse, Lith couldn¡¯t resort to magic for shaving. Magic couldn¡¯t hurt its owner and the beard was still part of his body. So he had Phloria do it for him with air magic. That way, it would only take a couple of seconds to shave and it would also reinforce their mutual trust.

    For Lith exposing his throat like that was a leap of faith. Friya knew it and her heart was riddled with envy from start to finish. It peaked when they shared a passionate kiss after Phloria finished without inflicting him even a small cut.

    Ever since Balkor¡¯s attack, she had been jealous of them. Over time, the feeling had only grown. At first, she disliked Lith. He was too shady and had too many secrets. Then she had learned to appreciate him as a friend and a brother in arms.

    After Nalear, though, things got so much worse. The multiple r*pe attempts Friya suffered had left a deep scar in her heart. She had be much warier of those who approach her and thanks to Jirni¡¯s teachings she could easily spot the greed or lust in the eyes of her suitors.

    All things that made the faces of her assants pop in front of her eyes again, making her almost puke. She could never forget those eyes, staring at her like a thing to possess, as she was nothing more than her body or her title.

    It killed all the chances she had got so far to have a boyfriend, leaving her utterly alone. After spending so much time together during the fifth year, Friya felt she was to a dangerous crossroad.

    Between still don¡¯t like him as a boy as much as for what he represented and really like him. Lith was never condescending with her, never tried to impress her or to hide his real nature. He always treated Friya as a person and a friend.

    That, plus his body and her being single from birth had a huge impact on Friya over time.

    "Shouldn¡¯t you go change for the evening?" Lith asked while a thick ck and white substance crawled up his skin, taking the form of a ck evening suit with a white shirt.

    "Is that the new evening clothes the Royals sent you?" Friya asked.

    "Yes." Lith was appreciating the tailor made suit and its silky fabric. While the Ernas had their own tailor and bought their own clothes, Lith would always use the "I¡¯m a poormoner" excuse to have someone buy them for him

    ¡¯There is no point in wasting money for something that I¡¯ll wear maybe twice in my life.¡¯ Was his reasoning. Truth to be told, he was still a cheapskate at heart.

    "I should buy one of those things too. It looks a bit disgusting with those life like movements, but it would save me a lot of time. You have no idea how long does it takes to wear a corset, stockings, and fixing all those frills." Friya sighed in envy, leaving the room.

    Phloria came out of the bathroom wearing a silk-satin red evening dress and white evening gloves, emphasizing her olive colored skin due to the prolonged exposure to the sun.

    It was skin tight, with a neckline that somehow exerted a push-up effect. She wore part of her hair down, like a silky ck waterfall that reached her tights, while the rest formed a tress resembling a wreath over her head. It was decorated with flower shaped small jewels.

    Lith¡¯s golden lily pendant was the only ne she wore, drawing the attention on her slim neck.

    "How do I look?" She asked with a tinge of red on her cheeks.

    "Stunning, like always." He said embracing her before giving her a long, deep kiss.

    "How did you fix your hair so fast?"

    "You know how, silly." Phloria went in front of the mirror to finish thest details. Since she was already fully developed, Lith¡¯s treatment had a limited effect on her. It still made Phloria healtier, her skin smoother, and her hair didn¡¯t tangle anymore.

    She only needed a couple of brushstrokes to fix them as she wanted. After Phloria checked the back of her dress, she made sure Lith¡¯s pins were ced at the eye level of an average man and properly emphasized by the ck suit. Then, they went to pick Friya up.

    She was wearing a long sleeved light blue evening dress with no neckline. It left exposed only her hands, neck, and shoulders. Jirni had to fight a lot to dress her up with something more cheerful than a battle monk suit. Friya didn¡¯t want people looking at her for a second more than necessary.

    The dress had only the minimum requirement of embroidered jewels and frills to make it a Court G dress. Even with little to no make up and all her efforts to be as inconspicuous as possible, she was still lovely.

    The skin tight dress brought out her soft curves while its colour emphasized her brown eyes.

 Chapter 327 Goodbyes Part 2

    They reached the Warp Gate leading outside the academy, where their chaperons were waiting for them. The girls would bring along their parents while Lith had asked to Marchioness Distar and Count Lark to be his escort.

    Raaz and Elina were too busy with the newborn Aran, plus they werepletely oblivious about the Court etiquette. Bringing them along would be like inviting disaster to dinner.

    "Thank you so much, dear Lith." Count Lark didn¡¯t seem to have aged a day. His ck suit was brand new and so was the silk string preventing him to lose his ck rimmed monocle which kept jumping out of his eye socket from excitement.

    "I never attended a Royal Graduation ceremony before. I¡¯ll never thank you enough for giving me this opportunity."

    "Don¡¯t mention it, old friend." Lith replied. "If it wasn¡¯t for you, I would have never attended an academy. I¡¯m d to have you by my side today and to be able to call someone like you a friend.

    "If you or your family ever need my help, you just have to ask."

    Lark had to fight back the tears. Lith¡¯s words moved him deeply.

    Lith turned around, needing but a nce to notice something was out of ce. Marchioness Distar had the smug grin you would expect from someone apanying the three highest rankers in all the Griffon Kingdom.

    Jirni looked at the two youths with the usual eyes full of expectations, like she hoped Lith had already proposed to Phloria or was about to. The odd thing was that instead of the polite and detached attitude usually Orion gave Lith, he seemed to be as eager as Jirni if not more.

    Lith shrugged it off as one of the many false gs his paranoia pointed out.

    The Warp Gate lead them directly inside the royal pce, just a few rooms away from the Banquet Hall. The Battle Mages and Mage Knights in charge of security didn¡¯t care for Jirni¡¯s Royal Constable badge.

    Only after checking thoroughly their IDs andmunication amulets the guards let them though. While waiting for the background checks to be over, Lith looked around the room.

    ¡¯Disgusting. Despite this ce is just a waiting room it¡¯s so full of gold and artworks to be tacky, at least by my standards.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯That¡¯s just because you are stingy.¡¯ Solus reproached him

    ¡¯The room is furnished with proper taste. It resembles the royal pce of Versailles from your memories, not a rapper¡¯s house. Royals have the duty to not only be powerful, but also to appear as such.¡¯

    The path towards the Banquet Hall was filled with marvels. Solus noticed at least fifty different arrays and countless magical treasures hidden inside the walls.

    ¡¯To think that Balkor could bypass all this and attempt on the Royals¡¯ lives five years in a row makes you understand how powerful he is.¡¯ Lith and Solus thought as one.

    The double doors leading inside were wide open. Before they could enter, a valet checked their IDs again before announcing their arrival, speaking with a magically enhanced voice.

    The room was more than forty meters (133 feet) long and over thirty meters (100 feet) wide, with a single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the raised one for the royal family.

    That way, even while sitting, they would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming their status and authority.

    The whole room was lighted by crystal chandeliers, fueled by magic, leaving no space for shadows or need for maintenance.

    On the walls, magically enchanted tapestries would recount over and over the great feats that the current King had aplished to be deemed worthy of his power. Both the floor and the pirs of the room were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material avable in the Griffon Kingdom.

    The room was filled with nobles of all ages and relevance, who quickly swarmed the three youths like vultures after spotting a fresh corpse.

    "How does it feel being blessed by the light?""Were you afraid while fighting the wyvern?""How did you survive a Valor on your own?""First Balkor, then Nalear. Did witnessing so much death change your attitude in life?"

    Those were the questions he had to answer over and over again. He felt like a school shooting survivor forced to reply to the dumbest questions a reporter¡¯s mind coulde up with to boost their audience.

    The evening was long and boring enough to make Lith wish to never attend such an event again.

    ¡¯I¡¯d rather work the whole night as an Association¡¯s clerk.¡¯ He thought doing small talk with the students from other academies.

    Only when the music started Lith managed to get away with the excuse of dancing. He hated dancing, yet he had long prepared for it with Phloria since the fourth year. To get what he wanted, Lith had to y by the rules. At least apparently.

    Lith had researched Nalear¡¯s past. Despite being a talented Awakened one, despite having no bonds after abandoning her family, she had failed even to be an influential noble. The Griffon Kingdom, even with all of its faults, was too big to face it head on alone.

    He danced with Phloria first and then with other noble dames, trying to establish their worth as connections. Solus would jot down their names, tittles, ad everything relevant they said. Which usually amounted to very little.

    After a while, Lith took a couple of drinks and went together with Phloria on a balcony, to get some fresh air. She seemed to be more annoyed than he was, if not even sad. Lith¡¯s instinct raised another g, this time too big to ignore.

    "Cheer up. This nightmare will notst long. Worst case scenario we¡¯ll be back home in two more hours." He said.

    "I¡¯m sorry." Lith knew Phloria enough to know that whatever she was talking about, she meant it.

    "Sorry about what?"

    "I wanted to wait until the g ended before telling you, but I don¡¯t want ourst memory together to be us quarrelling." Her voice was sad. Only after taking a deep breath she looked Lith in the eyes.

    "Okay, what the f*ck are you talking about?" He touched her arm while activating Invigoration. She was fit as a fiddle, just like thest time he checked. Her impurities were still so far from the core it was impossible for her to have Awakened and being turned by the Royals in some sort of secret weapon.

    "The academy is over. In less than two days I¡¯m going back home. After that, I¡¯ll start the army¡¯s mandatory booth camp for new recruits. It willst six months with no breaks nor leaves. Then I¡¯ll be dispatched where my talents are needed.

    "I don¡¯t know how long will it take for me to join the Knight¡¯s Guard nor it would be fair on you pretending things are going to stay the same. I think it¡¯s best if we break up before I leave the academy."

    Lith was speechless, feeling like a big chunk of his heart had just been ripped off from his chest.

 Chapter 328 Family Name Part 1

    Pain was Lith¡¯s oldest friend, yet it took him a few seconds to recover.

    "I thought you wouldn¡¯t leave before spring." Lith was looking forward spending the winter months together at her home again.

    "The army is not the academy, silly." Phloria¡¯sugh was low and joyless.

    "There are boot camps all year round, so that people can enlist as soon as they be adults."

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell me this earlier? Why now? Can¡¯t you dy it?"

    "What would have changed?" Phloria sighed.

    "We would have spent the time we had left arguing before you epted my decision, as I know you will." She slowly caressed his face.

    "Then you would be sulking the whole time. This way we had our happiness. As for your other questions, I need to go as soon as possible. Not because of my family, nor for the army. For myself." Phloria stared at the moon glowing up in the sky. Her voice was steeled with resolve.

    "Ever since I joined the academy, I fancied myself a leader. Yet right from the mock exam I found myselfcking. Resolve, charisma, killing intent, tactics. Name one, I was good only on paper. All my training rarely survived contact with the enemy.

    "I was either too scared, surprised, or reluctant to kill to be a good leader. Our whole group relied more on you than on me, myself included. Whenever something bad happened, I always looked up to my family and to you for help.

    "After Yurial¡¯s death, I only found sce from my inner demons while in yourpany and that made me think. I¡¯m not as strong and independent as I always wanted to be. I don¡¯t feelplete as a person.

    "I¡¯m tired of feeling helpless. I need to change, or at least give my all trying. Joining the army will give me this opportunity. Failure or sess will dependpletely on myself."

    Lith could feel his heart going through its usual routine. Pain first, angerter.

    ¡¯It¡¯s her life. She has every right of doing what she thinks is best for herself.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s exactly what I have been nning to do from the beginning. I never changed my mind, not even after we got together. I knew this moment woulde. Then why am I suffering so much?¡¯

    ¡¯Because you have ended up caring for them more than you ever anticipated. Especially Phloria.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯You can¡¯t get angry at her. It would be petty and hypocritical.¡¯

    "I don¡¯t know where life will lead me. Even worse, I don¡¯t know what will be of you." Phloria kept staring at Mogar¡¯s moon. That night it was of an unusual pale blue color, giving the night the feel of a fairy tale.

    "You said it yourself, remember? I guess you are the right person for me, but we met at the wrong time of our lives. There are too many variables, we are both too ambitious to n ahead and shackle ourselves with a pointless long distance rtionship.

    "I want to be happy. I want you to be happy. We can¡¯t waste our time waiting for each other and fantasizing about what might have been. Life is short, Yurial taught us that. Maybe we¡¯ll meet again in the future.

    "Until then, I want you to have the chance to live your life at its fullest. If you meet someone special, I want you to be able give her the love she deserves." Phloria took his hand expecting him to be sad or even angry.

    What she found in his eyes was the look of someone who felt betrayed.

    "Did you tell me all of this now to prevent me from making a scene?" Lith¡¯s allegation was cruel enough to make him and Solus both add ¡¯petty¡¯ as his middle name.

    "No. I did it only because I hope you can get over it before we go back home and not spoil ourst days together." Her voice was calm. Lith¡¯s words had hurt her, but Phloria didn¡¯t let it show.

    Lith gritted his teeth, knowing she was right. In any other moment, he would have been ranting, probably holding a grudge for who knows how long.

    "I¡¯m sorry for what I just said. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I want to be alone."

    Phloria left him with his thoughts. Lith remained there for a while. The winter cold couldn¡¯t affect his enhanced physique and even if it did, the Skinwalker armor would protect him.

    "Excuse me, sir." Said a voice behind him.

    "What do you want?" Lith turned around, towering over the valet. In the Royal Court, even servants were actually nobles from important families. Serving the Crown was the highest honour.

    The valet was actually a Duke with remarkable magical talents, yet he found himself shivering in fear. Lith¡¯s eyes were brimming with power and rage. Behind all that mana, the valet could clearly see Lith fighting the temptation to throw him off the balcony.

    "His Majesty would like to confer with you, sir." The valet kept his cool, managing to deliver the message despite the profuse sweating affecting him at the moment.

    Lith calmed down immediately, letting the man make way to his host. Inside the music was over. All the convened guests were gathered near the raised floor where the Royals were now standing.

    "Today is a very special day." The King said with his deep, baritone voice as soon as Lith reached the front row with the servant¡¯s help.

    "Today, simple men and women have be mages. It doesn¡¯t matter if they weremoners, merchants, or nobles. Now they stand here among us, as equals. Whatever path they take, they are the embodiment of the future of our Kingdom.

    "I hope for all of them to achieve great things, to be what our Country will need during its darkest hours toe. Alone we are nothing. Together we are the most ancient Kingdom in the Galen continent. While others suffered from internal strife orck of resources, we thrived.

    "The only reason this miracle has endured the passing of centuries is that we never stopped improving ourselves. Those assembled here are the most powerful individuals of our Kingdom, but it¡¯s important for you to remember that without the people, we are nothing.

    "Each one of our families was once amoner one. We elevated ourselves with talent and hard work. Such an opportunity must always be offered to the worthy ones, no matter how humble their origins.

    "If we allow our fears or petty grudges to influence our actions, the Griffon Kingdom will wither and fall. Tonight, there is a rare talent among us. Some say he has been blessed by the light at birth.

    "I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true, nor do I believe in superstitions. What I do know is that when we needed him, he helped us all. Even at the risk of his own life and family."

    Lith inwardly grinned.

    ¡¯I doubt King Meron is so na?ve as to believe me so altruistic. We have bartered every time the price for my help. When I have taken risks, it was only because the alternative was worse. I like his selling pitch, though.¡¯

 Chapter 329 Family Name Part 2

    "Step forward, Lith of Lutia."

    Lith did as instructed, kneeling in front of the raised floor as the ceremony required. King Meron ced his right hand over Lith¡¯s head while holding the staff representing the Crown¡¯s authority over magic in the other .

    "For your services in curing the gue, for saving many lives during Balkor¡¯sst attack, and for your contribution in defending the White Griffon, I hereby award you the Verhen name. It will be extended to your family and passed down by your children.

    "It grants to you and to you alone the same status of a Baron. Your starting fief will be the region of Lutia, under Count Lark¡¯s supervision, should you ever decide to trade your merits for thends and responsibilities that a noble title implies.

    "Stand up, Mage Lith Verhen!"

    Lith did as ordered. The members of the Royal family apuded him, immediately followed by a standing ovation from the guests. Lith was supposed to be happy. Another milestone in his master n had fallen into ce.

    Yet he felt empty, meaningless. Just like the sound of his new name.

    ***

    The following morning, the trio was in Phloria¡¯s room. The girls were making their final preparations for the tournament, while Lith had been using umtion non stop since the previous night.

    Taking deep breaths was the only way he and Solus had found to keep his emotions in check. There was still a storm brewing inside of him and as it was for any storm, stopping it was impossible. Lith could only wait for it to pass.

    "Do you still suffer from Death Vision?" Friya said as she came out of the training room. She and Phloria had just finished a light spar as warm up.

    Lith nodded. Over time he had shared a few details about himself with her. In the space of a few seconds, Lith saw her die of poisoning, old age, and by decapitation.

    "What about now?" She asked multiple times,ing closer and closer until at three meters distance Lith shook his head. Friya was alive and well now.

    "What about her?" Friya pointed at Phloria, who was still in the training room.

    "She¡¯s fine."

    "I knew it!" Friya snorted. "I bet that the safe zone range depends on how much you care for the person. I guess three meters after two years is still better than nothing."

    Lith didn¡¯t agree with her theory, yet he found it interesting. Back when Death Vision started, he would see everyone die, even his family, no matter the distance. For a long time, the only exception had been Phloria, but only when she was very close to him.

    Over time, though, he had learned to control it with his willpower. Also, Lith had developed a safe zone, were people would appear normal as long they were within its range. Lith and Solus thought it depended on him mastering whatever Death Vision was, while Friya had a more romantic concept of it.

    "Who do you think will win if we both get into the finals?" Phloria tried to change the topic. If her sister was right, it would make breaking up even more awkward.

    "Do you want the cold truth or the boyfriend truth?" His voice was slow so he wouldn¡¯ lose his breathing rhythm.

    "Cold truth." The girls replied as one.

    "It¡¯s a coin flip. Phloria, you have a better technique while Friya has more fighting spirit. Since you are both Mage Knights, you¡¯ll want closebat. At that distance, a single strike can seal the result." Neither of the girls liked the answer.

    Friya because she was aware of her limits, Phloria because she hoped he would be more supportive.

    ¡¯What if you had to bet?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯In that case, with a sword at my throat, I¡¯d bet on Friya. She has a lot of pent up stress and the tendency to be more aggressive because of it. Phloria has a lot on her mind, I doubt she can show her full strength right now. Especially against her own sister.¡¯

    Solus sighed. The only thing that she hated more than a murderous Lith was an emotionless one.

    The tournament took ce in the academy¡¯s colosseum. It was a huge arena, located on the ground floor of the White Griffon that was usually off limits outside special events. Duels and fights were a relic of the past, relegating the use of the colosseum to be exclusively ceremonial.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the whole Royal family was attending the event. Headmaster Marth offered to the King the role of arbiter for the event, but Meron politely declined.

    Spectating was one thing. Participating in the event would mean giving it special importance, hurting the pride of the other academies.

    Both girls fought fiercely, showing that the point difference between them and the other rankers wasn¡¯t just a fluke. They literally wiped the floor with any opponent they faced in ten moves at worst.

    Linjos¡¯s legacy, the daily evaluation, was showing its worth in all the academies that employed its system. It forced the students to give their all every day, rather than cram the month before the exams and just learn by rote.

    As Lith predicted, when Friya and Phloria fought in the finals, Phloria was unable to consider it more than a spar, losing to Friya¡¯s ruthlessness. Being right didn¡¯t make him happy. He was actually sad for her. The result only proved Phloria was right too.

    She was still too soft.

    The Royals apuded both contenders, giving House Ernas double the honor any other household had ever achieved in the academies¡¯ history. Never before had two of the first three rankers belonged to the same family.

    It pissed off everyone present that wasn¡¯t part of the academy¡¯s staff, the Ernas, or the Royal family. Commoners and nobles alike had hoped that since the top ranker wouldn¡¯t attend, they would still have a chance to shine.

    "It was truly a magnificentpetition, your Majesty." Sitting next to King Meron there was Archduke Taben, family head of one of the most ancient households of the Griffon Kingdom and the father of the girl ranked fourth.

    "It¡¯s too bad the first ranker didn¡¯t attend, right Xebas?"

    "Indeed. It would have made an excellent show." Marchioness Xebas belonged to an almost as important family and her son was ranked fifth.

    "Marth, why don¡¯t you ask him for an exhibition match? You can¡¯t leave your guests of honor with the curiosity about what the brightest talent of the White Griffon can do."

    The two nobles didn¡¯t give a damn about Lith, their aim was to embarrass house Ernas. Jirni and Orion not only had received plenty of awards for defeating Nalear, but now their daughters were stealing all the spotlight. It was more than what the other households could bear.

    Not that they could bear much anyway. The higher they got, the touchier they became.

    "It¡¯s an interesting idea." King Meron scratched his beard.

 Chapter 330 Test Subject Part 1

    "I would like to see Mage Lith in action, but it would be unfair on the Ernas girls. Their fight was intense and drawn out, they must be exhausted." The king wasn¡¯t an idiot. He immediately saw through their intentions and turned their plot against them.

    "It¡¯s not only that." Queen Sylpha chimed in. "The Ernas and Verhen households have quite a past together. We can¡¯t ruin their friendship on a whim."

    "My dear Queen is right, Taben." Meron nodded. "If your daughter passed the semi-finals, she would still have to fight an opponent. She can spar with him and show us her worth."

    "They both can." Sylpha pointed out. "It was their parents¡¯ idea, after all. It¡¯s only fair for them to provide us with a show."

    The nobles and Lith both inwardly cringed. Neither wanted to agree but refusing wasn¡¯t an option.

    Lith and Clea Taben stepped into the arena together, cing themselves ten meters from each other. The Royals were really curious about Lith¡¯s real skills, so they used binocrs to shield their eyes and activate Life Vision.

    The girl was tall and muscr. Like Phloria, she had the build of a professional swimmer.

    "Is this safe, Headmaster?" Lith asked. "I¡¯m not used to exhibitions, I don¡¯t know if I can hold back. Any fight outside of training, I¡¯ve always gone straight for the kill."

    "Very safe. Besides the Life Preserving array of the academy, there is also the First Blood Array of the colosseum. As soon as one of you gets hit, the fight ends."

    Marth wasn¡¯t happy either, but when the Royals gave an order, he could onlyply.

    "Are you ready?" He asked both youths.

    Lith¡¯s reply was a deep, guttural roar. It released all the stress and the killing intent he had kept sealed up to that point.

    ¡¯Easy there! Be careful to not release an aura!¡¯ Solus warned him. During the fifth year they had discovered that, unless fake mages used a spell, they were incapable of spreading their mana outside their bodies.

    Jirni, Orion, and Phloria were the only ones to have seen Lith and Nalear both doing it. It was a dangerous tell about being an Awakened one.

    Lith¡¯s killing intent sent a shiver down the spectators¡¯ spines despite the distance separating them from the arena. Marth took the brunt of it due to his proximity, but as a battle hardened veteran he was able to hold his ground.

    The girl, however, was paralyzed.

    "Begin!"

    The Headmaster¡¯s voice snapped her out of it. Clea began to cast a tier four Battle Mage spell while stepping backward.

    ¡¯Lith is only a Forgemaster and a Healer. If I don¡¯t let him get close it¡¯s my win.¡¯ She thought.

    Unfortunately for her, Lith sprinted forward at a barely human speed of ten meters per second, covering the distance between them in an instant.

    All Clea could see was Lith¡¯s open palm striking her chin from below before her vision became a blur. He grabbed Clea¡¯s face, lifted her up with one hand, and mmed her head into the ground with one fluid movement.

    Then, everything went ck.

    Marth intervened immediately. Both arrays had activated at once which saved her life, but Clea¡¯s condition was still critical. Her jaw was just dislocated while her skull was fractured in several points.

    "Come here." Lith said while taunting his other opponent as soon as Marth got Clea out of the arena, leaving her in Vastor¡¯s care.

    Laeo Xebas had fallen on his a*s after Lith¡¯s roar and had yet to find the strength to get up.

    "I yield." He squealed, putting an end to the exhibition. The Royals didn¡¯t bother hiding their disappointment, apuding the contestants purely out of courtesy. Marchioness Xebas was pale as a ghost.

    At least the Teben¡¯s heir had attempted to fight, while her son had cowardly backed down in front of all her peers. Archduke Teben didn¡¯t share her optimism. He had clearly heard the Queen clicking her tongue in disgust at her daughter¡¯s performance.

    "What an idiot." Sylpha said loud enough for the two nobles to hear.

    "Like a magical beast or even an enemy soldier would be polite enough to give you the time toplete such aplex spell. She should have restricted his movements first."

    "Cut them some ck, dear." King Meron replied.

    "The difference in battle experience was like heaven and earth. Also, they probably have yet to recover from Nalear¡¯s attack."

    The kindness in Meron¡¯s words was merely superficial. He was actually agreeing with his wife, saying that Lith¡¯s opponents were both physically and mentally weak.

    Teben and Xebas turned even paler, recognizing the true meaning of those words. Yet they could only curse at their own stupidity. With their behavior, the Royals had sent them a message.

    The Ernas Household was under their protection. As for Lith, after basically proiming him as a national hero just a day prior, now they had referred to him as a proper Household in front of many witnesses.

    Messing with him was barely safer than sticking their heads in a dragon¡¯s mouth.

    ***

    Royal Pce, one hourter.

    "It¡¯s a shame Lith¡¯s opponents were so weak. I guess we¡¯ll never know if he really is an Awakened one or not." King Meron was still upset. He had seen foot soldiers perform much better than Clea Xebas.

    "We didn¡¯t have much to work with." Queen Sylpha nodded.

    "He was fast, for a human, but nothing more. His mana flow is weaker than ours, only Lith¡¯s life force was remarkable. Yet him being so tall and young makes that unsurprising."

    "What do you think we should do about Lith?" Meron asked.

    "Treat him as if he is an Awakened. I¡¯m willing to bet he really is one, even though Lady Tyris says otherwise."

    "How so?" The King had reached the same conclusion on his own. They were having that conversation in front of their children as a learning experience. Even though it was unlikely for Lady Tyris to select one of them as the next ruler, they would still y a major role in the Kingdom¡¯s future.

    "Because too many things do not add up. His achievements are too outstanding for someone his age. Plus, based on what Captain Yerna and Constable Ernas said, his mastery of the Gatekeeper sword¡¯s powers is unnatural for a fake mage.

    Even if I¡¯m wrong, even if he is just thebat oriented version of Manohar, Lith is still a good investment. His sister has gotten admitted to the White Griffon too. If she manages to graduate, the Verhen household will be recognized as a magical bloodline.

    Not to mention Tista and Lith have gained a little brother and a niece."

    "By the gods. Four mages in a single generation would be terrifying!" Meron put enough emphasis on his words to make his children turn pale.

    "My point exactly." Sylpha sighed.

    ***

    Verhen Household AKA Lith¡¯s house. A weekter.

    Lith¡¯s life as a student was over for good. He and Phloria had broken up right before leaving the academy, which left him with a small hole in his heart.

    Not even Tista scoring 82/100 at her admission test for the academy lifted his spirits. Lith was in a terrible mood, to the point that even his family couldn¡¯t soothe his grumpiness.

 Chapter 331 Test Subject Part 2

    Ever since his return home, Lith received countless invitations from noble households that wanted to get to know him or introduce their daughters to him. Most of them came from outside the County of Lustria.

    Luckily it was winter, so the firece was usually lit. Fire was a great helper in sorting Lith¡¯s mail.

    "I still can¡¯t believe we have a family name." Elina was radiant with joy. Her life seemed to have turned into a fairy tale ever since Lith¡¯s birth. Things were always getting better. If only Lith shared even one tenth of her happiness, Elina would consider her life perfect.

    "One awarded by the Crown at that. I wonder if your brother will use it. He makes me worry so much." She sighed.

    "Aran is too little to care about a name." Lith replied. "Also, he is perfectly fine. I checked on him a minute ago."

    "I meant Trion!" Elina snorted. Her oldest son seemed to have disappeared years ago, yet Lith didn¡¯t care. It was another sour note in Elina¡¯s life.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t you dare ask "Who?".¡¯ Solus reprimanded him in advance. If left unchecked, Lith was capable of ruining everyone¡¯s mood.

    Rena now used both her husband¡¯s and her own family name. Her father inw had insisted she and his nephew both keep the Verhen name. Zekell was proud, not stupid. Bearing a mage¡¯s name was like having an army.

    Like Lith, Tista had managed to enroll at White Griffon thanks to performing Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram. Her core was still bright green, but thanks to Lith¡¯s teaching, her skills were top notch.

    Lith¡¯s house had been constantly renovated and now looked like a merchant¡¯s home. At least from the outside. On the inside it was almost as good as modern house on Earth. The only thing itcked was inte.

    With his mastery of the magic crystals, Lith had provided the house with thermal instion, central heating, running water, and even two fully equipped bathrooms. It was sofortable that Rena and her husband had moved back to her family home for the winter.

    Running hot water and two healers was something even most nobles couldn¡¯t afford.

    "Don¡¯t worry, little brother. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find another girlfriend." Tista stamped a kiss on his cheek. Her attempt only made Lith snarl. Ever since Tista had started seriously practicing magic, her impurities had slowly but steadily moved towards her core.

    To make things worse, she seemed to be more gorgeous by the day.

    ¡¯Between her Awakening and her beauty, Tista will make me kill so many people that the Griffon Kingdom will miss Balkor dearly.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He left the house, going for a stroll in the Trawn woods. As always, he passed by Selia¡¯s house first. Lith was still hoping that the huntress would return one day.

    Walking was one of the few things that calmed him down. Lith always hoped some magical beast would attack him, giving him the opportunity to vent out his rage. s, so far even the surviving Kings of the woods had kept their distance.

    So far.

    Lith smelled something odd, just a split second before something hit the spot where he was standing with the strength of a freight train. Lith dodged it easily, leaving only an after image to greet the impact.

    "You!" Lith was surprised. He would have never expected to meet him so near his own house.

    "We meet again, fresh meat." Phird the Kroxy (AN: crocodile type magical beast) greeted Lith with a snarl, before attacking him again in a frenzy.

    The two had met during the academy¡¯s second exam. Phird looked like a humanoid alligator. He stood on two legs reaching 2.5 metres (8¡¯2") in height.

    He wore a belt from which several trinkets hung while he wielded a double headed ax and a hammer ax in his hands.

    Phird swung his weapons in an X shape, not giving Lith the space to dodge to the sides. Lith stepped forward instead, arriving right under the Kroxy¡¯s massive torso and punched him in the stomach with enough strength to lift him from the ground.

    That and the gue Arrow Lith released at point nk inflicted upon the beast enough damage to send him into the berserk rage typical of a wounded Kroxy. Phird attempted to bite Lith¡¯s head off, catching only air.

    Lith had already moved behind his back, sending him flying with a kick and another gue Arrow. The Kroxy crashed against a tree, coughing a mouthful of blood. Before he could get up, Lith grabbed him by the wrist and mmed him left and right against the ground, like he was just a dirty carpet.

    After taking enough damage, Phird regained his senses.

    "Stop it, dammit! You are going to kill me."

    "What do you want?" Lith asked while letting him go. ording to Soluspedia, Kroxy had a violent, twisted sense of humor. Since Lith had perceived no killing intent from the initial attacks, he was almost sure that was Phird¡¯s way of saying hi.

    Lith was too pissed off to care and replied in kind.

    "The only reason you are still alive is that you helped mypanions during Balkor¡¯s attack. Bear that in mind before you answer."

    "Dude, you¡¯re no fun. Can¡¯t you take a joke?" Kroxy were sturdy creatures. Phird was only wounded in his pride, bones, and internal organs.

    "Death it is, then." Lith¡¯s hand held enough energy to st him into oblivion.

    "Wait! I have a business offer for you. I didn¡¯te this far just to get killed over a prank." Faced with imminent death, Phird turned very talkative. He exined to Lith how after Linjos¡¯s death Scarlett the Scorpicore had decided to leave the forest.

    She couldn¡¯t leave before another Lord was chosen, so Scarlett had helped all her lieutenants to Awaken. Despite all her teachings and efforts, very few seeded. Phird was among the failures.

    "Why should I care?" Lith asked.

    "I spoke a lot with Protector back then. He told me you have a different method."

    "Again, this exins why you need my help, not why should I spare you."

    "Protector also told me about your cubs. How you love your sweet ill, sister." Phird almost chocked when he realized his poor choice of words. All the shadows of the Trawn woods converged on them, but while Lith seemed to be stronger for it, the Kroxy felt his life slipping away.

    "I mean that by helping me you can also help her. Help all of them. Wouldn¡¯t you like to Awaken them?" At those words, Lith stopped the shadows.

    "Meaning?"

    "I¡¯m damn close to Awakening, just like Ka was before me. I just don¡¯t know how and my life is about to end." Phird¡¯s body was still battered, but now that the dark energy had pulled back, he felt reborn.

    "Protector told me about your experiments. I¡¯m offering myself as a test subject. I have nothing to lose whereas you have everything to gain. Whatever you learn from me, you can use it for your cubs."

    Lith pondered that offer. Magical beasts were very simr to Awakened ones, capable of using true magic from birth. He had never experimented on them because of his bond with Protector and the other Kings. Also because magical beasts were proud creatures. They would rather die than submit.

    ¡¯I wonder how much I can discover with a subject willing to let me know what works and what doesn¡¯t.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I have never spectated someone else¡¯s Awakening. If it happens to Tista during the academy, I can use the knowledge for damage control.¡¯

    "Deal." Lith said while helping Phird get up and healing his wounds.

    "Two rules. First, pull another prank on me and I¡¯ll kill you..."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve learned my lesson. You mess with the Scourge, you get buried."

    "Second, joking about my sister was a bad move. It will cost you a couple of ribs."

    Before the Kroxy could reply, Lith¡¯s fist hit his ribcage like a sledgehammer, forcing him to emit the first of many screams of pain.

 Chapter 332 New Job Part 1

    Lith spent his days teaching Tista and his nights teaching or experimenting on Phird. Contrary to the Kroxy expectations, he was even further behind than Tista in the Awakening process.

    "Who needs magic when you have these babies?" Phird used to say while flexing his enormous muscles. He never liked magic much, preferring to overpower his enemies with pure brute strength.

    Lith had to literally beat somemon sense into him to force Phird to practice magic, following the same training schedule he had prepared for his sister. By the end of the winter, the Kroxy¡¯s core had improved by leaps and bounds.

    Maybe it was because magical beasts were naturally attuned with magic, maybe it was because of Lith¡¯s experiments on Phird to help him sense the world¡¯s energy, or maybe it was just death being an incredible motivator.

    Phird hadn¡¯t lied to him. Lith could see with Death Vision that his test subject had about a year left to live and Lith never missed an opportunity to remind him.

    When the first day of spring arrived, Tista and Lith left together for White Griffon academy.

    "What¡¯s the academy¡¯s only rule?" Lith asked Tista for the umpteenth time in thest three months.

    "There are only three kinds of students in there. Those who will suck up on me to get into my pants, those who will do it to get into yours and then there is me." At first Tista thought Lith was just being a killjoy, but after speaking with Friya, she wasn¡¯t so sure.

    "Good girl. See you in the ssroom." Lith ruffled her hair before going to the Headmaster¡¯s office to receive his ring and assignments for the day. He found a pleasant surprise when he walked through the door.

    "Friya, Quy. Nice to see you again. What are you two doing here?" Lith asked.

    "Lady Quy has decided to attend fifth year again." Marth exined.

    "Mage Friya has offered to serve as an Assistant Professor, just like you."

    Quy had grown quite a lot. She was now 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") high with shoulder length brown hair. Despite Vastor¡¯s tonic and the growth spurt, she still looked incredibly frail.

    Her body was almost as scrawny as when they first met, herplexion was sickly. Lith knew she had spent thest year as a recluse, rarelying out of her room. For someone that until a few months ago had problems keeping her food down returning to the academy was a huge leap.

    "You would have known if you had visited us even once during winter." Friya cked her tongue. She seemed to be quite angry.

    "I was busy." Lith snarled back before turning to Quy.

    "Are you sure little one?" He asked while caressing her head. Lith still had problems seeing her like this. It reminded of his limits. Even when he had given his all, Lith was still unable to help her. He was just a Healer, not a miracle worker.

    "I¡¯m sure, thanks." At that familiar touch Quy finally smiled. It was a small, forced smile but it was still better than nothing.

    "If anyone bothers you, just give me a call and I¡¯ll kill them."

    Marth cleared his throat loudly. He could appreciate the sentiment, but not the way it was expressed.

    "Not literally." Lith rified, making Marth nod in relief. "I will take away so many points from them they¡¯ll wish they were dead."

    Marth went pale while Quy chuckled.

    The three left the Headmaster¡¯s office and were finally able to speak freely.

    "I lied in there. I can really kill them, if you want."

    Quy knew he wasn¡¯t joking, yet she couldn¡¯t stopughing when she thought about Marth¡¯s face.

    "Don¡¯t worry about me. Friya only epted the role of Assistant to be able to act as mydy in waiting inside the academy."

    "What?" Lith blurted out in surprise.

    "Isn¡¯t it the same thing you are doing for your sister?" Friya asked.

    "I mean, if it was possible to bring along a rtive, all those stuck up b*stards would. Being an Assistant I can Warp from floor to floor and spend time with her."

    "My reasons are entirely different from yours." Lith shook his head.

    "This was my best and only real option. Until I turn sixteen I have too many restrictions. Back home I could only waste my days hunting animals or small time criminals. I need the money, the merits, and the resources of the academy.

    For me and my family."

    "Couldn¡¯t you help your parents with the farm? I¡¯m sure they would like to spend more time in yourpany." Quy asked.

    "I¡¯ve already done that in the past and it never ends well. My father is happy at first, but then he feels useless. His workers have nothing to do and fear losing their jobs. The same happens to mom.

    "It¡¯s nice having someone around that can do in a second what takes you hours, but after a few days, you find yourself having too much free time. Aran doesn¡¯t keep them that busy, their job is still their life."

    Friya and Quy remained stunned for a second. Being magicians, there were too many things they could do and so little time. They had never thought how even a simple job could be important enough to define someone¡¯s existence.

    The trio separated, Lith was in charge of Principles of Advanced Magic for the fourth year, while Friya and Quy would be busy with Magic Creation on the fifth floor.

    Lith Warped in front of the ssroom. Memories of his own first day at the academy flooded his mind. He walked through the double doors to find exactly what he had expected. The ssroom was noisy since Marth had yet to hand over the Ballots.

    Small cliques had already formed. Some were just talking while others were hazingmoners and less powerful nobles. Tista was sadly between a rock and a hard ce.

    From what Lith could hear with his enhanced hearing, a group of girls was trying to sl*t shame her, while a group of boys was offering her protection in exchange for "entertainment".

    "What a show-off little b*tch you are!" The leader of the pack was a blond girl, t as a board and much shorter than Tista. What shecked in physique, she made up in attitude.

    "Why don¡¯t you wear your robe? You¡¯re a disgrace to all the students of the White Griffon. The uniform is supposed to make us feel empowered, not look like wh*res!"

    She said while pointing at Tista¡¯s generous chest. The other girls eitherughed or joined her, piling cruel words on their victim. The boys were enjoying the show, discussing Tista¡¯s body like she wasn¡¯t even there.

    "I wonder how many Professors already got a taste of that pretty body and face of yours to stoop so low as to admit an old hag like you." With her sixteen years, Tista was indeed old for the fourth year.

    She had been epted because of her talent and because between Balkor and Nalear the White Griffon had already lost too many mages.

    Tista attempted to reply, outraged by those words, but the blond girl pped her hard as soon as Tista attempted to stand up.

 Chapter 333 New Job Part 2

    "If I say sit, you sit. You are a b*tch, so act like one. Otherwise I¡¯ll be forced to teach you how to y dead." Thunderousughter followed. Most of the ss was truly enjoying the moment.

    Tista was on the verge of tears, but instead of falling apart she stood up again. Then, she pped her tormentor hard enough to make the blond girl spin 180¡ã before falling on a desk.

    "How dare you!" The blond girl was about to retaliate when something stopped her. Her body froze like time had stopped.

    ¡¯All ording to n.¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned. He had given Tista a Ballot beforehand and told her to not introduce herself with her family name but as a simplemoner instead.

    He wanted her to experience the true academy, without the shield his presence would grant her.

    ¡¯Tista needs to grow up, I can¡¯t protect her forever. That p was a really good one. I¡¯m proud of her.¡¯ He thought.

    "Good morning, my dear students." He said with his best Nalear impression.

    "I¡¯m Assistant Professor Lith Verhen and I¡¯ll teach you Principles of Advanced Magic."

    At his appearance all the girls ran back to their desks, each trying to emphasize her own charms and draw his attention. From what they knew, Lith was the same age as them and, more importantly, single.

    Many of them had nned in advance how to approach him to reap the most benefits both during and after the academy.

    The boys could only hate Lith¡¯s guts. Compared to him they seemed like scrawny dwarves.

    "Before starting the ss, I¡¯d like to share with you some bad news and some even worse news." He said with an angelic smile while memorizing every face in the ss.

    "The bad news is that this girl¡¯s full name is actually Tista Verhen. She is my sister."

    Lith¡¯s smile disappeared and his eyes red with mana. A single wave of his hand was enough to use gravity magic on every student but Tista. It made their heads m against the hardwood desks with enough strength to make them bleed.

    "The even worse news is that she had a Ballot all along. I¡¯m sure Headmaster Marth will have many things to discuss with both you and your parents." The lights in the ssroom flickered. Lith¡¯s killing intent brought nightmares to life for each student every time the lights went off.

    Some could have sworn they saw their own shadow stare back at them with glowing eyes and a smile entirely made of fangs.

    "For those of you who will not be expelled, I can promise you this. We have a long, long year ahead of us. It will be full of blood, tears, and sweat. I¡¯ll make sure of it. In the meantime, minus 200 points to everyone but Tista."

    Even from their prone position, some managed to object at the insane punishment.

    "I didn¡¯t do anything! Why I¡¯m getting punished too?" Some asked.

    "You just answered your own question. You did nothing, hence you deserve nothing. Minus 100 more points to everyone for questioning my judgment." Lith cruelly smiled.

    He sent the Ballot to the Headmaster before starting the actual lesson. One by one, those responsible for the hazing incident were summoned to Marth¡¯s office. Many never returned.

    ***

    Months passed and it was finally time for the mock exam. Lith and Friya were watching the events unfold from the Surveince Mirrors, ready to save the students in case something went wrong.

    "How is Tista doing?" Friya asked. It was frustrating how despite living so close it was so hard for her to get in touch with Lith. He was always busy with either his magical research, helping Tista study, or chasing Manohar to force him doing his job.

    Being the newbie, he had been entrusted with the worst job possible in the light magic department: being Manohar¡¯s assistant, warden, or nanny ording to the circumstances.

    "So far so good." He replied while his eyes moved from one mirror to another.

    "Her grades are good and she has no friends. All ording to n."

    "n? That¡¯s sick! How can you do that to your own sister?" Friya was outraged.

    "I did nothing. Her ssmates simply acted as I predicted and Tista makes her own decisions." Lith exined. "Or did you expect her to forgive and forget just because of someme a*s apologies?"

    "Actually, no." Friya suddenly felt stupid. She had watched the recording from Tista¡¯s Ballot. Every time she was teaching to the fourth year students, Friya treated them like the trash she believed they were.

    "Me neither." Lith replied. "That¡¯s why I made sure her group was picked at random and ced in one of the worst spots of the forest, just like what happened to me. It¡¯s only under situations of real stress that people reevaluate themselves and show their true colors.

    "It¡¯s how Phloria found me. I hope Tista gets lucky as I did." Friya could still hear a tinge of nostalgia in his voice when he said her name.

    ***

    House Ernas, during the academy break after the first exam.

    The family was reunited to celebrate Quy¡¯s sess. Despite having spent so long without practicing light magic, a few failures and a lot of effort was all it took for her to regain the ground she had lost.

    During the fifth year, the nature of the first exam depended on the student¡¯s specialization.

    In Quy¡¯s case, she had to deal with the simtion of the outbreak of an unknown disease. The simtion involved the use ofb rats instead of humans. Each one was at a different stage of the infection and their death also meant the failure of the exam.

    After everything she had gone through, the death of a few rats would leave her unfazed. While the others went into panic, she took control of the situation bing the leader of her team.

    She assigned a role to each member based on their strong points. The less talented healers were tasked with keeping the zone quarantined, preventing the infection from spreading to the healthy specimens.

    Those with mediocre talent were to use their abilities to slow the progression of the disease while Quy and the others studied the pathogen in search of a cure. Her team achieved the best score and Quy had received manypliments for her presence of mind.

    Aside from Phloria, the whole family was reunited for the event, even Guniyn and Tulion, Phloria¡¯s blood brothers. It was the first time in years that Orion had managed to bring his sons back home.

    Not only had Quy aced her exam, but she was also slowly regaining her health. She had friends again and even a boy she liked. Despite all that, Orion Ernas was so down that he spent most of the evening staring out of the window.

    "What¡¯s wrong with you, dear?" Jirni was seriously worried about him. When Quy had told them about the boy, Orion didn¡¯t grunt or object. He didn¡¯t even order a priority one background check on the little pest.

    "I just miss my little Flower." He sighed.

 Chapter 334 Trawn Part 1

    "I always wanted her to be strong and independent, but now that she¡¯s gone, I don¡¯t give a damn about all that cr*p. Why didn¡¯t Lith stop her? He was still a bit young, but he could still marry if his parents gave their approval."

    "That¡¯s riching from you!" Jirni scoffed. "Maybe if instead of messing with my ns you had helped me, things would be different. Or maybe, Lith knew her well enough to understand he couldn¡¯t stop her.

    "Nothing is lost, yet. She is in the army and he will join the army in the future. Now, enough sulking. Quy needs us more than ever."

    ***

    Lith¡¯s house, same moment.

    After over six months, Lith and Phird had reached a critical moment in their endeavour. The impurities in the Kroxy¡¯s body were so close to his bright cyan core that they could almost touch.

    "Okay, I¡¯ve done all that I can." Lith said.

    "I¡¯ve brought you over a mana geyser for your training, I have used Invigoration to help you feel the world energy, and pushed the impurities closer to your core whenever it wasn¡¯t painful for you. Thest step it¡¯s on you."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I can feel resistance but no difort." Phird replied.

    Even after all that time, he still had to learn Invigoration. The Kroxy¡¯s mana perception was even worse than Lith¡¯s when he had just started the academy.

    It was only thanks to Lith¡¯s training schedule and his natural attunement to magic that Phird was able to crudely stimte his own core.

    "I swear, this thing feels like I¡¯m taking the biggest sh*t of my life!" Phird couldn¡¯t stopughing from excitement. He was filled to the brim with an unknown energy that made him euphoric.

    Suddenly, the night sky cleared. Phird¡¯s body emitted a blinding radiance, but unlike normal light it didn¡¯t spread in all directions, only upwards. Even using darkness magic and his hands as a shield, Lith could barely stand the intensity the light pir emitted.

    It slowly grew in height and width, until a second light pir descended from the sky. It connected itself with the smaller oneing out from Phird. The phenomenon gave Lith an oddly familiar sensation.

    ¡¯This feeling it¡¯s too simr to what I experience during my transformations to be a coincidence. What the f*ck is happening?¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Beats me.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯The only thing I know is that Phird¡¯s core is evolving.¡¯

    The Kroxy¡¯s body started to expand in all directions until his arms became as big as small trees. After that, it only grew in length. When everything was over, Lith was staring at a ten meters (33¡¯) long serpentine body covered by emerald scales as big as a small shield.

    The head resembled that of a dragon from Earth¡¯s fairy tales, with several small horns surrounding the neck area like a mane. Phird¡¯s legs had been reced by a long tail, while his wed arms seemed able to rip even a stone house to shreds.

    "Yes! I knew it! I always knew I was destined to be..."

    The light faded and so did the Evolved Monster¡¯s awareness.

    "What am I?" He asked to Lith while scratching his gigantic head.

    Lith essed the bestiaries he had copied from the academy and stored inside Soluspedia before answering.

    "You are a Lindwurm." He said while clicking his tongue.

    "All this work and you¡¯re not even a new species. Protector atst isn¡¯t derivative."

    "I¡¯m not derivative!" Phird roared. He had no idea what the word meant but he was sure it had to be some kind of insult.

    "I¡¯m a..." He stuttered a few times.

    "What am I again?"

    "A Lindwurm." Lith snarled. "A lesser dragon. Like a wyvern but wingless and with a very long a*s. ording to my books, you should possess some kind of toxic breath."

    "Really? Cool!" Phird took a deep breath from the nose, emitting a gurgling sound before spitting an enormous mass of phlegm against the nearest tree.

    "Why it¡¯s not melting?" The Lindwurm looked at the birch tree like it had betrayed him.

    "I said toxic breath, not sputum." Lith replied.

    "How do I do that?"

    "How should I know? You are the Lindwurm. You¡¯ll figure it out." Lith shrugged.

    "Ugh! It sounds like a lot of work. Let¡¯s spar already!" Phird towered over Lith standing 5 meters tall while his tail whipped the air in excitement.

    "It would be a waste of time. You have just evolved. You have no control over your body, not to mention you suck at magic. Maybe you are physically stronger than me now, but I¡¯ve killed bigger and more powerful beings than you."

    "We¡¯ll see!" Phird darted towards Lith like a train. His new body was much nimbler and faster than the old one. He pped his huge hands trying to squash the opponent, but once again he only hit the air.

    Lith had long learned true dimensional magic, which allowed him to Blink above Phird¡¯s head.

    "Bad Lindwurm. Sit!" Lith stamped his left foot using abination of air, fire, and earth fusion while using air magic to drop down like a meteor. The foot exerted the same impact an elevator in free fall from the sixth floor would.

    The dragon like head crashed on the ground with a rumbling sound, creating a small crater on impact.

    "I yield." Phird hated Lith, especially when he was right. The problem was it happened most of the time. Neither of them had used his true strength, but the quick exchange had been more than enough to prove the difference in skill between the two.

    "How did you..."

    "Magic. Until now you could only use water and earth. I already taught you everything you need to know about first magic and all the other elements. Practice on your own. Our deal is over." Lith said while walking towards his home.

    "Wait! I need new axes and something to carry them."

    "Why is that my problem?" Lith replied.

    "You have nothing I want and I don¡¯t work for free." Lith said. "Don¡¯t even think about plundering this area. There¡¯s nothing valuable and if someone pays me, I¡¯ll be more than happy to get rid of you."

    "Dude, that¡¯s cruel. I never needed money. I don¡¯t even know how to get back home. Boss Scarlett Warped me here with one of those fancy portals. Can¡¯t you do the same? If earlier going unnoticed was hard, now it¡¯s impossible!" Phird whined.

    "Again, not my problem." Lith was tired of dealing with the Lindwurm. He always managed to give him a headache.

    "Scourge, was that your doing?" Even though they hadn¡¯t met in years, Lith immediately recognized that voice.

    "Of course it was me. Nice to finally see you again, Reaper. I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

    Reaper the Shyf, one of the two remaining Kings of the woods, didn¡¯t reply immediately.

    "Actually, I was. Since Protector¡¯s disappearance, there is something wrong about you. It scares us greatly."

    "What changed your mind?" Lith asked.

    "We are desperate for help." Reaper admitted. "You never took interest in your role of King, leaving your turn in our hands. Now that Protector is gone, weck the strength to defend ournd from humans and monsters both.

    "Those who reced the two of you are too weak. Can you help us evolve too? Otherwise it¡¯s only a matter of time before something bad happens."

 Chapter 335 Trawn Part 2

    "How can two weaklings have be Kings?" Lith was confused. Protector had always been the strongest among the four, but not by much.

    "We are not like humans. A King is simply the most powerful beast in the area. The new Kings are simply too young. Those of my generations have all died, either of old age or by challenging my authority." Reaper exined.

    "Recing a single King is not an easy feat. Two is impossible."

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯I am not sure we can help them. Reaper is not as strong as Phird was when he got here. There are still too many things we don¡¯t understand.¡¯

    "I¡¯m sorry Reaper. I could do it, but it would take time and a considerable amount of risk. I spent over six months to Awaken him through painstaking efforts..."

    "Mostly mine." Phird snarled. "Especially the pain part."

    "If you wanted a walk in the park, you were free to go anytime." Lith replied. "Without my teachings and experiments, you would still be waiting for death. Bottom line, Reaper, what you are asking from me is impossible.

    "I don¡¯t have the time to teach you and Lifebringer, let alone focus on even weaker beasts. Even if I did, there are no guarantees of sess. You could die, or worse. You could turn into an Abomination and I¡¯d be forced to put you down. Unless..." Lith looked at Phird with renewed interest.

    "Seems you guys are lucky. He needs a ce to live until he learns dimensional magic." Lith pointed at the Lindwurm.

    "While the Kings need someone capable to give them a hand and teach them the basics. You are a match made in heaven."

    "You are asking quite a lot from me and offering nothing in return." Phird snorted.

    "I can survive on my own, why should I waste my time with him?"

    "Do you still want your new axes?" Lith asked with a wolfish smile. "Time to make a new deal. I¡¯ll give you what you want in exchange for your help."

    "Make them enchanted, then." The Lindwurm raised the stakes. Teaching was like thinking, something he hated doing.

    "Deal." Lith instantly replied catching both the creatures by surprise.

    ¡¯What a sucker!¡¯ Phird inwardly gloated. ¡¯He didn¡¯t even try to bargain.¡¯

    ¡¯We have gravely misjudged him.¡¯ Reaper was deeply moved by Lith¡¯s altruism.

    ¡¯He truly deserves the trust and the title of "crownless King" Protector gave him.¡¯

    Lith had always refused to rule over the west area of the Trawn woods. He would help the Kings to deal with threats like Abominations or crazed beasts, only to disappear whenever a crisis was resolved. Hence Protector¡¯s moniker.

    ¡¯What a moron.¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned while shaking the Lindwurm¡¯s hand and sealing the deal. ¡¯He asked for enchanted weapons, not for good ones. He is in for a nasty surprise.¡¯

    "As for you guys, I need something in return." Lith turned toward Reaper.

    "Name it and it will be done. I swear it on my pack." Reaper¡¯s reply stunned Lith for a second. ording to Protector, it was the most sacred oath a magical beast could take.

    "Soon I¡¯ll go away. My cubs will be left unprotected and I don¡¯t trust humans. I want from those of you who will survive the treatment to guard my pack, no matter how long will it take. Protect all those who carry my blood."

    "If they truly carried your blood, they wouldn¡¯t need any protection." Reaper grinned, crouching on his front paws giving Lith a small bow.

    "I¡¯ll make sure everyone understands it¡¯s a gamble. I¡¯ll introduce to you only those who are willing to take my same oath. When are you going to leave?"

    "Soon." Lith replied.

    ***

    Trawn Woods, after Lith¡¯s left for the academy

    Reaper and Phird were visiting one tribe after the other, searching for volunteers.

    Power and longevity were a powerful siren, especially for those aware of their life spaning to an end. They were among the smartest beasts of the woods, but also those Reaper trusted very little.

    Wisdom and mastery of magic weren¡¯t the only thing a magical beast could develop over time. Despite their affinity with Mogar, they could be greedy for life. They would despise the humans, so weak and magically inept, yet blessed with a long life.

    "I don¡¯t get it." Phird said.

    "How can a weakling like you be the King of anything? Boss Scarlett can pummel you with just a swing of her tail. Heck, maybe even I can."

    "How many times do I have to tell you?" Reaper sighed.

    "The woods have a density of magical energy much lower than your forest. It has no will of its own. Kings have no special rtionship with the woods nor share part of its power. Our duty is to protect the bnce of the woods, hoping that one day it will awaken."

    "Wow, sounds really boring. No wonder Protector left this ce. Maybe if we manage to Awaken a lot of you guys, things may even be interesting." Phird scoffed.

    "Are you even listening to yourself? Your idea is simply terrible. Either a lot of us will die, further weakening the woods, or if too many Awaken at once it could result in a war for the territory.

    "We can¡¯t pick candidates at random, but only those strong enough to survive the process and trustworthy enough to be entrusted with such power."

    The more time they spent together, the more Reaper felt ashamed at the idea that a blockhead like Phird had managed to Awaken while he and Lifebringer were still stuck as magical beasts.

    "Whatever. I know that your house, your rules, but I think you are being very rude."

    "What are you talking about?" Reaper was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    "I¡¯ve always been polite to you, even when you didn¡¯t deserve it!"

    "Woah! First, chill. Second, I wasn¡¯t talking about me. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t understand why after wasting our time with all those small fries you are purposely ignoring a big tribe of trolls." Phird pointed one of his huge fingers towards the north.

    "They are very strong. Boss Scarlett usually has to wipe them out fast before they swarm the forest. I¡¯m really impressed by your ability to tame such fierce creatures."

    "What trolls?"

    If it wasn¡¯t for his brown fur, Reaper would have turned pale.

 Chapter 336 Trolls Part 1

    "Do you mean they aren¡¯t your friends? That sure would exin a lot." Phird said while moving away from the menace as fast as he could.

    "Of course they are no friends of mine! There have never been trolls in the Trawn woods. More importantly, what the heck are trolls?" Reaper asked.

    Phird pondered for a second, trying to remember Scarlett¡¯s words correctly.

    "Trolls are one of the Fallen races. They were once humanoid creatures of great wisdom and longevity. Like us magical beasts they were in tune with two elements, but they were the same for everyone, light and darkness.

    At the same time, like humans, they could freely learn all kinds of magic.

    "Their major weak point was their low reproductive ability, you know, for bnce and stuff. They were superior to us, but too few in numbers to expand their dominion. At some point, they decided to solve their problem with magic.

    "They used light magic to force their evolution, bing able to spawn faster and also increasing their physical abilities. A first, it was a great sess. By altering their life force with light magic, they became the perfect race.

    "At least until the unforeseen side effects started to appear. In a couple of generations, their children were raving mad from birth and gued with an insatiable hunger. Their millennia old society was destroyed in a matter of weeks."

    "Wait a minute. How could children destroy a civilization in weeks? Why their parents didn¡¯t kill them?" The idea that the same thing could happen to the Trawn woods terrified Reaper.

    "Are you deaf or what?" Phird scoffed. "I told you, they spawn fast. The little b*stards can reach maturity in a few hours with enough nourishment. They are damn strong and hard to kill. Light magic runs rampant in their bodies.

    "They recover from any wound in a matter of seconds. Cut off an arm and in a few minutes, you get double trouble. The troll regrows the limb while the limb regrows the troll.

    "To make things even worse, their whole body is a frigging mouth. Attacking them without a weapon means literally throwing yourself in their maw. I almost got killed by them, twice. That¡¯s why I want my frigging axes!"

    Reaper stopped in his tracks, putting together everything Phird told him.

    "How long do we have before they swarm the woods?"

    "A week, maybe two if we are lucky." Phird pondered.

    "Depends on how much food they find and how hard they have to fight for it. The b*stards can eat anything. Meat, fruits, grass, even trees if they are really hungry. Right now they are barely a dozen, but tomorrow they could be 24 and 48 the day after that."

    "By the Great Mother, then we need to act now! What are their weak points?" Reaper had a bad feeling. If even after turning into an Evolved Monster Phird was eager to run away from them, he had to have a really good reason.

    "Not many. Perfect race, remember? They are incredibly stupid, but with their abilities, they can afford it. Magic is mostly useless against them, only fire and light can kill them for good. They burn like dry grass, but boss Scarlett always used light magic to get rid of them."

    Reaper was bbergasted. He never heard about light magic being able to kill, making it impossible for him to understand Scarlett¡¯s tactic. It was actually pretty simple, but Reaper¡¯s panic was blinding him.

    Fire was dangerous to use inside the woods because, until the end of thebat, it would be free to spread everywhere. Also, the explosions usually associated with it could st away a piece of troll, bringing it to safety.

    If it happened, it was only a matter of time before that single missing piece spawned a new tribe. It was exactly what had brought trolls in the woods. A team of adventurers had been tasked to get rid of a small tribe and did a poor job cleaning up their remains.

    "You can use all elements now, right? It should be easy for you wiping them out."

    "Dude, I¡¯ve Awakened from days and magic has never been my thing. I can use water and earth, but they can barely stall for time. If you don¡¯t have a way of dealing with them, we¡¯re as good as dead. It¡¯s better to run to fight another day."

    Phird¡¯s words almost crushed Reaper¡¯s hopes. The Lindwurm was right. During hisst days in the woods, Lith had only exined them Invigoration and how to practice first magic. He had refused to teach Phird any spell to force the Lindwurm to understand the importance of magical research.

    "Run away? If what you said it¡¯s true, then in a week those creatures will turn the woods in a barrennd. At that point they¡¯ll attack Lutia. I¡¯m sure that Lith will appreciate you breaking your oath and letting his family getting killed." Reaper retorted, making Phird freeze in fear.

    "We need to kill them now. I¡¯ll get all the help I can find. You keep an eye on them and prevent them from spreading. I¡¯ve a n."

    The Lindwurm spent the following hour watching the horror the trolls were from a safe distance. He also weaved as many spells as he could, just to be safe. For the first time in his life, Phird regretted not listening to Scarlett the Scorpicore when she tried to teach him more advanced magic.

    ¡¯Thank the Great Mother I¡¯ve no legs anymore. My new body allows me to be silent, without stomping or tripping like my old one.¡¯ Phird¡¯s size wasn¡¯t an issue. The trolls¡¯ eyes were white, without pupils or irises.

    In his experience, they were blind and relied on their hearing and sense of smell to track their prey. Phird wasn¡¯t soft hearted by nature. He often enjoyed ying with his meals before killing them, yet he couldn¡¯t help but pity the trolls¡¯ miserable existence.

    They were over two meters (6¡¯7") tall and their skin was of a sickly white color. They had no eyelids nor nose, breathing from two holes right in the middle of their faces. They had no lips either, revealing their huge maw filled with fangs going from ear to ear.

    They were skeletal with a swollen belly, as if they hadn¡¯t eaten from days. Their hands had long fingers ending in razor sharp ws and their bodies were covered by odd looking scars that gave Phird the creeps.

    The trolls had already eaten everything in a 100 meters (328 feet) radius, so they werezily grazing the grass while waiting for the next prey to draw their attention.

    When Reaper returned with the reinforcements, Phird could finally sigh in relief. There were Byks (bear type magical beasts), Shyfs (puma type), Gds (stag type), Rys (wolf type), and Crons (hawk type).

    Each tribe had sent their four most powerful members. Every one of them was a King or a potential King candidate. The Byks were eager to fight and prove their worth. After Lith had defeated Irtu, their previous leader, and the most talented member of their tribe had turned into an Abomination, the Crons¡¯ alpha had be the King in the West, usurping their title.

 Chapter 337 Trolls Part 2

    "That¡¯s it?" Phird whispered despite his frustration. He couldn¡¯t risk alerting the trolls.

    "What are we going to do with just twenty stooges?"

    "Twenty one." Reaper said, pointing at the Lindwurm. "I brought only champions. Weaklings would only be dead weight or food for the trolls. Besides, why so gloomy? We almost outnumber them two to one."

    "Dream on." Phird sighed. "There are sixteen now."

    Trolls reproduced asexually. Whenever one of them was full enough, it would give birth to a new creature.

    "Dammit!" Reaper cursed. "We have to move fast. Here¡¯s my n."

    Everyone nodded in agreement, except the Byks.

    "We don¡¯t trust birds. They¡¯ll fly away like the cowards they are." Said Cormr, their leader.

    "Shut up, Cormr." Reapermanded him. "I know you can¡¯t stand Crons. I only asked for your help because Byks are the only ones beside the Rys that can use fire magic."

    "One more thing, before I forget. Whatever happens, do not use darkness magic." Phird chimed in, enraging both Byks and Crons.

    "Why is that? It¡¯s the most destructive element!" They said in unison, leaving Reaper bbergasted. It was the first time they had agreed on anything.

    "I don¡¯t remember." Phird shrugged. "Sentar told me so. She is a Cron too, so she can use air and darkness magic. I trust her and so does Boss Scarlett. She¡¯s the next in line to be Lord of the forest."

    Despite being an Evolved Monster, Phirdcked the imposing aura of a King, so both tribes refused to listen to his advice. Only Lifebringer and Reaper managed to stop their bickering.

    "He may not seem very bright, but he fought them twice and lived to tell the tale." Said Lifebringer, the King in the south.

    "I¡¯d have liked to meet you in more happy circumstances, Phird. These two are Guardian and Thunder, the two new Kings." He pointed at the biggest among the Rys and the Crons respectively.

    "Everyone, get into position. If we fail, the woods will belong either to the trolls or the humans. We have to pick the lesser evil and cooperate."

    The idea of losing their ancestral home was enough for all the ns to agree to a truce.

    Reaper¡¯s n was simple. A few gutted rabbits were enough to lure the trolls to arge clearing. The smell of blood was for them like a me to a moth. They moved so fast that the magical beasts only saw a blur until the trolls stopped to consumed their meal.

    At that point, the Gds, Shyfs, and Phird used earth magic to turn the clearing into a crater ten meters (33 feet) deep while the Rys and the Byks unleashed fire on the trolls.

    The mad creatures ignored everything around them. They kept fighting among themselves until thest shred of flesh and bones was consumed. Only the four newborns died. The adults were too strong, most of their injuries healed so fast that even the magical mes couldn¡¯t keep up.

    Only then did the trolls notice the magical beasts and rushed towards their new prey. The Crons attempted to hit them with lightning while the earth magic users turned the ground into quicksand and erected stone walls to protect their allies.

    The trolls were too fast for the quicksand to be effective. They even managed to dodge most lightning bolts. The trolls reached the stone walls, tearing through them like they were made of paper.

    One of the Byks was caught off guard, the troll¡¯s arm had pierced the wall and grabbed her by the neck. She didn¡¯t have the time to call for help, her throat had already been reced by a gaping hole.

    The maw on the troll¡¯s palm opened and closed repeatedly, eating its way to the spine. The other magical beasts didn¡¯t understand what was happening until the troll smashed through the wall, embracing the Byk.

    The odd looking scars turned out to be more maws, consuming the poor creature in the blink of an eye. Cursing their bad luck, Guardian used a st of air magic to send the troll back to the center of the crater, exploiting its feeding frenzy.

    Then, she unleashed a pir of fire that filled the whole crater and engulfed all the trolls, buying her allies the time they needed to adjust their formation.

    "Dammit, I don¡¯t think we can make it. We have to call Lith before it¡¯s toote!" Reaper knew that only by swallowing his pride as a King did they have a chance of sess.

    "Phird, what are you waiting for?"

    Phird sighed. Reaper had clearly gone mad, yet he obeyed nheless.

    "LITH! WE NEED HELP!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, almost deafening his own allies.

    ***

    Meanwhile hundreds of miles away, at White Griffon academy.

    ¡¯I wonder why my ears are burning.¡¯ Lith thought while exining advanced Body sculpting to Quy¡¯s ss.

    ***

    "Are you insane?" Reaper was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Again.

    "What was that for?"

    "How the heck I¡¯m supposed to call Lith? With our friendship power?" Phird snarled, sending the trolls back in the crater with well timed swings of his tail. Despite being strengthened by earth fusion, the Lindwurm¡¯s body was covered with bite marks. Small chunks of meat were missing.

    Reaper realized that Phird had nomunication amulet. It was likely that he didn¡¯t even know they existed. The only option left was fighting to the bitter end.

    Even with theirbined efforts and the higher ground, were the magical beasts barely able to keep up. It was only thanks to their perseverance and the trolls¡¯ck of spells that they slowly managed to turn the tides.

    The fire kept burning the trolls like candles, forcing the light magic coursing through their bodies to deplete their nutrients to keep them alive. One by one the monsters ran out of juice and died of starvation until only those who had eaten one or more magical beasts were still alive.

    Only four trolls remained against fifteen magical beasts. The Crons were the only tribe with no casualties since they never touched the ground.

    "Cursed birds! Come down instead of flying like cowards!" Cormr, the Byk alpha, got distracted in his outrage. The troll that had already tasted Byk¡¯s meat didn¡¯t miss the opportunity, grabbing him by the throat.

    Cormr went into a panic, unleashing darkness magic against the monster to get rid of it. Contrary to his expectations, the creature emitted a moan of pleasure. The troll¡¯s body was now bulging with muscles, its eyes white no more.

    Cormr could perceive the mouth closing on his throat, yet it didn¡¯t bite. Fear made him ignore the sudden burst of intelligence from the previously mindless creature. The Byk sent more and more darkness magic into his captor¡¯s body.

    "You idiot!" Phird reacted as quick as he could, piercing both the Byk and the troll with countless ice spears.

    ¡¯Now I remember! Trolls are also known as the unliving. It¡¯s theck of darkness energy in their bodies that makes them a Fallen race. That stupid Byk gave the troll enough darkness to regain its senses.¡¯ Phird thought.

    The troll roared in outrage. With Cormr¡¯s death, it could already feel its mind slipping away again.

    The troll ate the Byk¡¯s corpse with its hand, before freeing himself from the ice spears by flexing his muscles. The hideous troll was quickly regaining its humanoid features, taking the appearance of a man with grey skin and four arms.

    The creature now had gold colored eyes that glowed with mana, reminding Phird of Lith¡¯s Life Vision. The troll charged at the Lindwurm, releasing small bolts of light when they were almost at close quarters.

    Unlike darkness magic, light magic was fast, but its range was even worse. Phird managed to dodge most of the bolts, but some struck him, making his body go limp.

    ¡¯That¡¯s a watered down version of Boss Scarlett¡¯s offensive light spell.¡¯ Phird thought while watching the troll¡¯s maws ripping through his flesh.

 Chapter 338 Boot Camp Part 1

    Phird had no memory of ever being an animal. His first recollection was standing up on his legs, feeling the need to fill his belly. As a magical beast, he had always been on the top of the food chain.

    Fear was a rare emotion for him. Something he experienced only when facing Evolved Monsters or, more recently, Lith. Being eaten alive made Phird discover the emotion of terror.

    The awareness that, even if he somehow managed to get rid of the troll, he could still die from his wounds, was almost enough to make him panic.

    Almost.

    His body was weak but his mind was strong. Tendrils of earth emerged from the ground, shoving themselves down the troll¡¯s many maws. Mud and rocks tasted terrible. A disgusted expression appeared on the Fallen¡¯s face while it tried to get rid of the fetters restricting its movements.

    Reaper exploited the moment the two were finally separated to unleash his most powerful lightning on the still struggling troll. Hammer Fall was the equivalent of a tier four air spell.

    The lightning bolt was as big as a small house and instead of striking once before disappearing into the ground, it coiled around its prey, hitting it multiple times.

    The troll¡¯s skin was ckened and the smell of grilled meat apanied his charred body. It made the Lindwurm hungry, reminding him he was an apex predator. All those who opposed him were bound to be food first and manureter.

    The troll started to heal the instant the lightning stopped, its hands glowing with light magic. Guardian the Ry struck it with several fire bolts, but in its humanoid form, the troll wasn¡¯t vulnerable to fire anymore.

    "I¡¯m useless here!" She said. "I¡¯ll go back and help the others. Try to hold on until we get rid of the other three trolls."

    "Easier said than done!" Reaper cursed. Letting a single troll go would mean that all of their fallenpanions would have died for nothing. Running away wasn¡¯t an option.

    Phird roared his challenge and stood up on his tail despite the agony from his multiple wounds and the blood spurting everywhere. The troll charged at the Lindwurm, releasing another barrage of daggers made of light.

    This time Phird was ready. He clenched his right hand, raising a stone wall that blocked the light spell. The troll smashed through the wall, falling into Phird¡¯s trap. Right behind the stone barrier, he had mixed water and earth to create a thick mudyer that thoroughly coated the troll.

    Suddenly the creature was deaf, blind, and slowed enough for the Lindwurm to conjure a giant hammer made of stone. He used it to send the troll flying in the sky with a single powerful upward blow.

    "Strike it with everything you got!" Phird ordered both the Crons and Reaper while removing the earth and leaving the monster drenched in water.

    Lightning bolts struck from every direction with enough force to almost prevent the troll from falling down. Phird made sure the creature never regained its footing. He swung the stone hammer sending the troll flying every time it was about to reach the ground.

    With no spells and its mobility sealed, soon the troll reverted back to its hideous form and died shortly thereafter. Phird was exhausted. He was doing everything he could to treat his wounds, but his knowledge of light magic was limited to chore magic.

    He could only dress the wounds with earth magic to stop the bleeding. When he saw that the three other trolls were still alive, rage blinded him.

    "Why don¡¯t you just die?" He roared. The air in his lungs mixed with the unique mana running through his body. A spark of his life force ignited the mana, turning the roar into a green cloud that enveloped the trolls and filled the crater.

    The rocks melted, and the earth decaying emitting the disgusting smell of rotten eggs. Everything touched by the toxic breath died and the trolls were no exception. Their bodies turned into pools of white liquid. Not even bones were left behind.

    "F*ck my life!" Phird cursed. "Couldn¡¯t I have learned that five minutes ago?"

    Of the twenty one magical beasts, only fourteen remained and many others wouldn¡¯t survive their wounds.

    ***

    Phloria¡¯s boot camp was a nightmare. She knew what to expect, Orion had told her everything in advance, yet no words could describe the harsh reality she had faced during thest six months.

    First, her long hair had been shaved to a buzz cut and then all of her magical items had been confiscated. Everything that reminded her of her past life, every link with her family had been severed.

    They strictly forbid the use of magic outside of chore magic during the training course. The cadets could only use their first name and the service number assigned to them. It was for their own protection.

    The military was the pr opposite of an academy. The male to female ratio was seven to three and nobles would suffer from hazing if discovered. Most of the applicants were poor people trying to build a better future for themselves.

    More often than not, they had been forced to run away from an unfair ruler, either to spare their families from more taxes or to avoid a grudge. Nobles were despised by both officers and grunts, forcing them to hide in in sight.

    With her muscr build and her callous hands from all her training, Phloria had no problems passing for amoner. Whenever someone asked her about her family or past, she simply talked about Lith¡¯s.

    They had spent so much time together that she knew his life like the back of her hand. It helped Phloria to make friends and to keep her identity a secret. She had never experienced most of their daily worries except through Lith¡¯s words.

    The first months were brutal. The instructors only cared about strength, stamina, and speed. Only those who excelled would get a shot at bing part of the elite forces. Average cadets could only be normal soldiers, while thosecking in one or more skill could only hope that their brain would get them a desk job.

    The rest would be deemed unfit for service and discharged.

    In every test during the first three months, Phloria outperformed every other cadet in her toon. It earned her a lot of admiration from her barrack mates and just as much hostility from the other cadets.

    However, the Ernas family had stolen too much spotlighttely, their enemies were itching for an opportunity to embarrass them.

    Archduke Teben had never forgotten the humiliation his daughter suffered during the White Griffon tournament. He couldn¡¯t stand Phloria overshadowing Clea in the military too, so he made sure the right rumors reached the right ears.

    When her identity was "casually" discovered, all Phloria¡¯s hard work was for naught. Even her barrack mates abandoned her. They could stand being outssed by a hard workingmoner, while the sess of a silver spooned noble was uneptable.

    Soon Phloria was cut off from the other cadets. The only thing worse than the daily hazing and humiliation was the istion. Things hit rock bottom when her toon met their sergeant instructor: Trion Proudstar.

    It was Archduke Teben¡¯s final gift. He knew Trion hated his brother so much that he had refused Lith¡¯s family name and bought one with his own merits instead of using them to further his career.

 Chapter 339 Boot Camp Part 2

    Trion was powerless to do anything to Lith. No Commanding Officer in his right mind would put two brothers in the same toon. Phloria, though, was a whole different story.

    Trion did his worst to ruin her military file. He charged her with insubordination whenever she objected to the impossible tasks he assigned to her and gave her demerits when she inevitably failed to aplish them.

    Phloria wasn¡¯t a stunner, but everything about her drove Trion crazy with envy. She was now 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, while he barely reached the average height of 1.65 meters (5¡¯5").

    The idea that a noble dame belonging to one of the most important households in the Kingdom, who also was a very powerful mage, had been his brother¡¯s girlfriend was something he couldn¡¯t stand.

    ¡¯ording to the rumors, this wh*re slept with him for over a year. I heard they got this close to bing engaged. Yet none of the noble b*tches I met did so much as to look at me because of my origins.¡¯ Trion thought.

    He knew that messing with an Ernas was a bad idea, yet he did it nheless. Trion knew it was likely to be his only opportunity to get back at his brother, so he couldn¡¯t miss it. Teben was aware of Trion¡¯s grudge, it was the reason he had chosen him for the job.

    Only an idiot would put everything on the line for a petty reason and Trion was exactly that kind of man. Phloria endured the constanttrine duty, the insults, and the protection he offered to anyone who hazed her.

    The only silver lining in that situation was that the Ernas name was both a blessing and a curse. It gave everyone a reason to hate her, but at the same time, it set boundaries not even the most reckless soldier dared to cross.

    Jirni¡¯s reputation was only second to Orion¡¯s when it came to avenging his daughters for any kind of offense, be it real or simply perceived as such. Even with Teben¡¯s protection, Trion had to walk a thin line to avoid turning from perpetrator to victim.

    Months passed. That morning Phloria found her mail in the mud, as it always was after a rainy night. Normally it would take her first magic and quite an effort to salvage its contents, but this time the letter was written with special ink which made it easy to read.

    She grinned and had the courtesy to m the barracks¡¯ door behind her and waking everyone up. A lot of swear words filled the morning silence, but she didn¡¯t care. For once she deserved them.

    Phloria walked double time toward the officers¡¯ quarters, humming the whole time.

    "What are you doing here, private Ernas?" Trion¡¯s voice was full of contempt, putting emphasis on her rank being at the bottom of the barrel.

    "I¡¯m going to receive my new assignment, sergeant Proudstar, sir." She gave him the salute. Her voice was unusually happy.

    "You have no assignment until I say so!" He yelled. Trion might have been a simple sergeant instructor, but to a private in boot camp, he was a king.

    "Haven¡¯t you learned that I hate sass? Drop down and give me twenty!"

    "I¡¯m not in the mood, thanks. Do it yourself, I have better things to do."

    Trion turned bright red in outrage. Never before had someone dared to defy his orders.

    "This is the army, not your precious household, little missy! Your insubordination will cost you dearly!"

    Phloria¡¯s reply was but a simple word.

    "Kneel."

    Suddenly Trion felt his body weight increase until he wasn¡¯t able to stand up anymore. His hands hit the muddy ground with a thud, requiring all of his strength to not end up face first in the dirt.

    "That does it! Using magic on yourmanding officer will get you court martialled. Not even your family can save you this time." He said with a grunt while his face inched closer and closer to the ground.

    "I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m just using magic on a measly sergeant to punish his bad manners which border on insubordination." Phloria ced the letter where he could read its contents. She had just been promoted to Second Lieutenant.

    The only reason why Phloria endured Trion for the past three months was that she knew that there was little he could do if she didn¡¯t fall for his provocations. The only results that mattered were those assigned to the whole toon.

    If Trion set them too high to make her fail, everyone would fail. Whenever he underrated her performances, all she had to do was to ask for a second evaluation.

    "For your information, Sergeant, gravity magic is another thing I learned from your brother. After meeting you, I¡¯m not surprised your family haspletely forgotten about you." Her voice was stone cold. She pressed down on his head with her boot until Trion¡¯s nose dipped into the mud.

    "I don¡¯t believe you!" Despite the anger behind his words, his voicecked conviction.

    "Do you know that you have another little brother? That Rena now has a daughter? Except for Elina, no one cares if you are dead or alive. Both babies have been named after Lith, you know? Instead of running away as you did, he made their life better."

    Phloria used the truth to hide her lies, making them as painful as possible.

    "You are nothing but a little man, inside and out. I could ruin your career with a call, but you are not worthy of my time. Two years and you are still a sergeant? Pathetic."

    Her words and her boot crushed his resistance, making Trion fall t into the mud.

    Phloria left him sobbing. She wanted to wear her new uniform and settle all the scores she had left before leaving the camp.

    ***

    White Griffon academy

    After the end of lessons, all Lith had left to do was to make sure Manohar was properly entertained. Ever since Marth became Headmaster, the entric genius had stopped going missing.

    Marth made sure he would receive newponents and ingredients from time to time instead of getting them all at once. This way Manohar would explore the possibilities that each branch of his research offered before moving on to the next project.

    Lith¡¯s duty was to check if Manohar¡¯s boredom levels were reaching the danger zone. In such cases, Lith was allowed to provide him with new toys that would keep him busy in hisb.

    Judging from the "Do not disturb" sign hung to Manohar¡¯s door and the amount of neglected paperwork on his desk, Lith could sigh in relief.

    ¡¯It¡¯s when he starts doing his job without being forced to that I have to worry.¡¯ Lith reminded himself.

    Then, he used his ring to open a Warp Steps to the fifth floor, right in front of Quy¡¯s door.

    "Thanks foring. I¡¯m sorry to bother you so often." Quy hugged him as soon as he stepped inside and away from prying eyes.

    "Stop saying that every time we meet, little one." He replied while patting her head.

    Ever since her return to the academy, Lith had done his best to stay close to her and help Quy ovee her sense of guilt for killing Yurial while under Nalear¡¯s influence. Quy needed all the support she could get.

    Lith was the only one in the group that had no role in the ident. Quy was the main culprit, but Phloria was the one that gave the order to save Jirni first, while Friya mindlessly obeyed.

    Quy considered him to be the only one that could judge the events without his own guilt clouding his mind.

 Chapter 340 Life at the Academy Part 1

    "Stop calling me ¡¯little one¡¯!" Quy hated that moniker, it made her feel like a child.

    "We¡¯re the same age and I¡¯m even quite tall for my age." With her 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") she was indeed tall by Mogar¡¯s standards. Because of her thin build, she seemed even taller.

    "You are shortpared to me." Lith shrugged. He never expected these Murderers Anonymous meetings to be a habit for the surviving members of the group.

    Yet after noticing how much talking with him helped Phloria to relieve her burden, Lith became the sponsor for the three girls until they felt ready to share their demons with each other.

    Friya and Phloria had recovered quickly. Maybe because the academy kept their minds busy, or maybe because after so many tears and so much grieving they hade to terms with the truth that saving both Jirni and Yurial was just a pipe dream.

    The anniversary of Nalear¡¯s attack had recently passed, so Lith wasn¡¯t surprised when Quy called him and asked for his help. He was d to see she had been eating again. Her cheeks were rosy and she was even starting to gain weight in the right ces.

    "How is it going with Kn?" Before confronting the elephant in the room, Lith wanted to make Quy rx with small talk about her boyfriend.

    "We broke up yesterday." She replied with a sigh.

    ¡¯Nice move, Freud.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at his bad luck.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not your fault, you had no way of knowing.¡¯ Solus consoled him.

    "I don¡¯t need to know who dumped who to tell you that he is a d*ck. It¡¯s his loss."

    "What makes you so sure it¡¯s his fault we broke up?" Quy chuckled. Lith¡¯s unconditional support meant a lot to her.

    "Well, you started dating less than two months ago. The only reasons I can think of for such an abrupt ending is either you found out he was cheating on you, or he rushed for the fifth year and he wouldn¡¯t take a no for an answer. Either way, he is a d*ck."

    Fifth year was the Mogar¡¯s ng equivalent for the home run in a rtionship.

    Quy blushing instead of getting angry at her ex made Lith understand it was thetter.

    "How is Tista doing?" Quy changed the topic. There were things she didn¡¯t like to talk about with Lith.

    "Good. After the mock exam she got a group of her own. Two girls and two boys, just like ours. Tista¡¯s jury is still out on whether or not they are sincere."

    "Howe you¡¯re so rxed? Aren¡¯t you worried about the boys?" Quy would have expected Lith to have run background checks or at least have intimidated them.

    "Tista knows that if she needs my help she just has to ask." Lith shrugged.

    "She must learn to fend for herself and be a good judge of character. My role isn¡¯t to prevent her from stumbling and falling, only to help her in standing back up."

    Those words shocked Quy. Lith was so calm and mature instead of his usual overprotective self.

    "If someone tries something funny or hurts her, they may find themselves ident prone. Maybe even going missing for good, but that¡¯s another story." He winked.

    Lith meant to make herugh with his joke, yet Quy became sad.

    "Do you still think about Yurial?" She asked while staring at the ground.

    "Yes. Almost every day." Lith sighed.

    "I still regret never making that trip with you guys at the end of the fourth year. I also regret not being a better friend. Before meeting you guys, I waspletely alone. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I love my family, but they know nothing about magic.

    "My mother still thinks that with a book and a bit of effort everything is possible. She doesn¡¯t realize how much work there is behind every single spell. Nor does she realize the things I had to do to get where I am and earn all the money I bring home.

    I know it¡¯s my fault for always keeping them in the dark, but I felt lonely nheless."

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what would have be of me without you, Solus. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.¡¯ He inwardly added, making Solus incredibly happy.

    "Even if I didn¡¯t realize it earlier, you guys are my magical family. After the second exam, Yurial realized his faults and did his best to be a good friend. A brother. Yet I was too conceited to notice."

    Lith handed Quy one of Yurial¡¯s notebooks. It was opened to a page where, after discussing one of the impossible arrays, Yurial had let his mind wander about his feelings towards the group and Quy in particr.

    He expressed his regrets for having treated her as an asset rather than a person at first, thinking only of how he could exploit her help to improve his grades. Yurial also wrote about how he had protected her from the shadows, getting rid of those who approached her with a hidden agenda.

    "I think Quy is too kind for her own good." Yurial wrote. "Don¡¯t let her know that I told you, but I believe she¡¯s the most dazzling girl I¡¯ve ever met. Despite Quy¡¯s harsh life, she retained her sweet and loving personality.

    "I wish I didn¡¯t always act like an idiot in front of her. I hope one day I¡¯ll be able to repay all the kindness she has showered me with, even when I did nothing to deserve it. I hope she¡¯ll think fondly of me like I do of her."

    Quy started sobbing. She dropped the notebook, incapable of reading those words for one second longer. She felt undeserving of such affection.

    "How can you forgive me for what I did?" She said through the tears. "I¡¯m sure Yurial spent hisst moments of life hating me. Thinking I had betrayed his trust."

    Lith embraced her. He caressed her hair and back while she vented her pain.

    "You have nothing to be forgiven for." He said.

    "I didn¡¯t show you that notebook to torture you, but only to let you know what his feelings for you were. Yurial could never hate you. He loved us too much to have such thoughts. I¡¯m sure he was worried more about you than about himself."

    Lith paused for a second before continuing.

    "Quy, no one mes you for what happened but yourself. Life is for the living, not for the dead. You can¡¯t let Nalear¡¯s madness ruin your life. Don¡¯t turn him into a vengeful ghost haunting you. That¡¯s the only thing Yurial could never forgive you for."

    Lith knew he was being a hypocrite, yet he didn¡¯t care. Carl¡¯s death was always lingering in the back of his mind, affecting every decision he made. Getting over the untimely death of a loved one wasn¡¯t something he should preach about to others.

    ¡¯My body count has already reached three digits, while Quy has still a chance to be normal. She needs hope more than anything else.¡¯ He thought.

    Feeling that little, frail body quivering through tears, Lith deeply regretted having given Nalear a swift death instead of one filled with excruciating agony.

 Chapter 341 Life at the Academy Part 2

    Months passed and soon came the end of the second trimester. Lith¡¯s teaching methods gave Marth a headache, but it was the good kind. Unlike other Professors, Lith wouldn¡¯t leave everything to self study and give only cryptic advice.

    Lith always gave a full exnation of the exercises he assigned and even a short tutorial. The problem was that none of his lessons were simple. The exercises always required a deep understanding of the principles of advanced magic and the ability to put them into practice.

    It resulted in half the ss acing the exercises and the other half failing miserably. Oddly enough, the results seemed to be influenced more by each student¡¯s amount of practice rather than by raw talent.

    The reason why Marth hadn¡¯t ordered him to use more orthodox methods was that those who thrived in Lith¡¯s lessons would also improve in most of the other subjects.

    ¡¯Maybe these kinds of exercises are better suited for an elective ss, or perhaps even an exam.¡¯ Marth thought. ¡¯I¡¯ll give him until the end of the year before deciding what to do.¡¯

    ***

    Phird the Lindwurm and the magical beasts of the Trawn woods survived the battle with the trolls. Lith returned the following weekend and brought all those who still lived back to their peak condition. He taught Phird several healing spells, so that even in his absence someone could take care of injuries or illnesses.

    Reaper introduced him to seventeen magical beasts, but Lith dismissed half of them right off the bat. Only those who already had a cyan core were suitable for his experiments. The memory of the green cored Byk turning into an Abomination was still fresh in his mind.

    After the near death experience, Phird was strongly motivated to learn. Through relentless practice he mastered umtion and Invigoration, bing capable of assisting Lith in teaching the magical beasts.

    By the end of the year, out of the nine magical beasts under his care only Reaper and Lifebringer managed to evolve into a Manticore and a Kirin respectively. Lifebringer¡¯s new body resembled a gigantic white horse partially covered in scales.

    Emerald mes came out of his hooves and antlers.

    Thunder and two more beasts died in the attempt, none of them returned as an Abomination.

    The failures taught Lith many things he had missed during Phird¡¯s Awakening process, while the surviving members learned the importance of patience.

    ¡¯I can use Solus¡¯s tower form to make the process easier and safer, but I can¡¯t risk revealing her existence. I won¡¯t trust any of them until I see how they behave when they believe they have reached my level of strength.¡¯ He thought.

    Thanks to Solus, Lith was able to conceal part of his powers. He trusted magical beasts more than he did humans, but that didn¡¯t mean much. Lith had prepared several safeguards in preparation to kill anyone who dared to turn against him.

    ***

    Those two years as an Assistant Professor were one of the happiest times in Lith¡¯s life. His brother Aran and his niece Leria grew healthy thanks to their family¡¯s love. Lith didn¡¯t give them his special treatment. The idea of an Awakened baby was something that gave him the creeps.

    ¡¯Power without wisdom is the perfect recipe for a disaster.¡¯ He thought.

    After Quy graduated, she and Friya left the academy, leaving Lith truly alone for the first time in a very long time. Tista was busy with her own friends. Lith preferred her to live her life without being constantly overshadowed by his presence.

    He buried himself in magical research, trying to understand the various magical specializations while he was still at the academy and could ask for the help of his colleagues when necessary.

    Lith had several flings during hisst year at the White Griffon. After his break up with Phloria, dating older women made it easy for him to get back in the game.

    The only real challenge he met was keeping an eye on Tista¡¯s natural Awakening process. She wasn¡¯t a magical beast, so at least he could hope she wouldn¡¯t emit a light pir from her body.

    After a year and a half at the academy, the impurities in her body were dangerously close to her bright green mana core. Incidents started to happen whenever she used first magic. Her tier zero spells would asionally go wild, destroying her things or hurting her friends.

    Lith kept his finger crossed, hoping for the weekend toe before it was toote. He couldn¡¯t drag her away from the academy without a good reason and with Manohar around faking an illness would risk drawing his attention.

    As soon as Tista finished her weekly lessons, Lith brought her back to Lutia and into the Trawn woods.

    "Why are we here?" Tista was confused.

    Lith had refused to give her any exnation while still inside the academy and had performed several Warp Steps to make sure no one was able to follow them unnoticed. He even stored all their academy rted enchanted items inside his pocket dimension to jam any kind of tracking devices.

    "First, don¡¯t get scared. Second, do not scream. I don¡¯t want to draw any attention."

    Lith had brought her over the mana geyser in the woods he used for Solus¡¯s tower form.

    "We trained in the woods countless times, there¡¯s nothing scary here. Why should I s... GOOD G...!" Her scream was muffled by Lith¡¯s hand.

    He had to admit that seeing his ring grow into a small building was quite a shocker.

    "Because of that. Now can you promise me to keep your cool? Otherwise my hand will have to stay there." Tista nodded, turning from the tower to her brother over and over again.

    "Is this...?"

    "A mage tower? Yes. Now get in, we don¡¯t have all day." As soon as they walked in, a bright yellow wisp of light the size of a watermelon weed the siblings.

    Tista instinctively chanted a defensive spell, but Lith stopped her.

    "Tista, allow me to introduce you to Solus. Solus, this is Tista."

    "It¡¯s nice to finally get to know you, Tista." Solus¡¯s silvery voice made Tista¡¯s jaw fall to the ground.

    "The tower speaks?" She would have run away screaming if Lith wasn¡¯t right beside her, acting like nothing was happening.

    "Yes, she does. Also, she has a name, unless you havepletely forgotten your manners." Lith sighed. At this pace the sun would set before he could even mention the Awakening process.

    "Does Phloria know? About your tower girlfriend?" Tista didn¡¯t know whether to be more shocked or angry at all the secrets her brother kept from everyone else.

    "She¡¯s not my girlfriend!"

    "I¡¯m not his girlfriend!"

    The two shouted in unison.

    "Also, no. I have never told anyone before, because you know, legendary artifacts rarely remain in the hands of someone stupid enough to unt them to the world. I¡¯ll be honest, I probably wouldn¡¯t have even told you until you finished the academy.

    I¡¯m forced to do it now because Solus is the best chance I have of saving your life."

    "I beg your pardon?" Tista had still hundreds of questions, but Lith¡¯sst words made her reconsider her priorities.

 Chapter 342 Tista Part 1

    Lith spent the next hour exining Tista about fake magic, true magic, and the Awakening process. She trusted her brother with her life, yet even after meeting Solus, Tista found hard to believe such a massive info dump.

    Lith then cast perfectly silent spells of all tiers, from one to five in front of her eyes. Tista gasped for air, the whole Mogar was turning upside down. She kept hyperventting due to stress until everything turned ck.

    "Has she fainted?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. Too bad we can¡¯t waste time being nice." Solus conjured ice cold water and sshed Tista¡¯s face with it.

    "Oh, gods! I had the weirdest dream..." When Tista saw Lith and Solus again, she realized it wasn¡¯t a dream. Lith sat on the ground beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders to keep her calm.

    "Is everything I learned so far a lie, then?" She asked after a while.

    "No, it¡¯s just part of a much moreplex truth. Think about it. We and magical beasts having two different kinds of magic doesn¡¯t make sense. We breathe the same air, we eat the same things. Why magic should be any different?" Lith replied.

    "What¡¯s wrong with me? Am I going to die?" She embraced Lith in search of warmth. Tista was so shocked that she had yet to dry herself from the water.

    "There is nothing wrong with you and you are going to be just fine." Lith made the water disappear and had Solus turn the heat up in the tower.

    "Yet to seed I need your help. There are some unknown factors that I had no opportunity to study, so I need you to bepletely honest with me. Don¡¯t try to be a hero, if anything feels weird or painful you have to tell me."

    "Weird how?" Tista blushed.

    "To keep you alive and healthy I have removed impurities from your body since a tender age. I stopped as soon as I noticed your Awakening process started because I have no idea if it made things easier or harder for you. Also, you have a bright green core. So far my only sessful experiments involve cyan cores." Lith sighed.

    "Wait. Didn¡¯t you tell me you had a green one too? What¡¯s the difference between you and me?"

    "The difference is me Awakening early. My body developed like that of a magical beast. I grew slowly in strength, so my body had all the time it needed to adapt. Yours is going straight from a dormant green core to an active cyan one. It could either kill you or turn you into an Abomination."

    Lith hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. The thought of losing her was unbearable.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll never be able to live with myself if she dies because of me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯She¡¯d be dead without you.¡¯ Solus rebuked. ¡¯Now bring her to the basement, we have no time to lose.¡¯

    Lith helped Tista to get up and did as instructed. He exined to her how Awakening usually involved the impurities reaching the mana core, triggering some kind of reaction that made both the core and the body stronger.

    "I still have no clue about the details, but I think that expelling the impurities is only part of the process. During the refinement, the body undergoes a transformation that corrects any w humans normally develop during their lives.

    "If I¡¯m right, the stronger the core the greater the number of ws the body needs to fix. It¡¯s an incredibly delicate process, like using Body Sculpting on a healthy subject. Hence the body undergoes a lot of stress and if it¡¯s unable to cope, the final result is death.

    "In theory, you grew with very few imperfections. It should make things easier."

    "What if you are wrong?" Tista asked.

    "Then by removing your impurities, I¡¯ve doomed you." The sibling shivered in fear, but Tista only held Lith¡¯s hand tighter.

    "What do I have to do?"

    Lith brought her in the tower¡¯s basement, in the nearest point to the mana geyser. Then, he exined to her both Invigoration and umtion while Solus filled the air to the brim with world energy.

    "If you learn umtion before your Awakening, we can have an idea if your body is ready. If you feel no difort it would be a great sign. If you learn Invigoration, instead, it can help you survive in case anything goes wrong."

    Tista sat cross legged on the warm stone floor, taking deep breathes and following Lith¡¯s instructions. She was scared but at the same time excited. She had started studying magic to feel closer to her brother, but now it was an important part in her life.

    She loved being a mage and the idea of bing part of something bigger filled her with joy. The high mana density in the room tickled her skin. She could almost feel the energy moving around her, seeping into her body.

    ¡¯A living tower, true magic, and secrets no one but the beasts know. Mom is right. Since Lith¡¯s birth life really turned into a fairy tale. Now I understand why all the secrecy about his abilities and how he managed to cure what even Nana was helpless against.

    ¡¯Even if I die today, I have no regrets. Without him, I would have spent the few years I had left agonizing in my bed.¡¯ Tista thought, yet tears streamed down her eyes thinking back to her past life.

    "Is anything wrong?" Lith asked as soon as he noticed.

    "I lied to myself." Tista said. "I have lots of regrets. I¡¯m scared and I don¡¯t want to die."

    The first phrase baffled Lith, the others not so much.

    "We are on the same page. Now keep breathing and tell me how do you feel."

    Tista took in a couple of deep breaths from the nose before answering.

    "I feel hot and ticklish. Is it normal?"

    "Yes." Lith lied.

    ¡¯How the heck I¡¯m supposed to know what¡¯s normal? It¡¯s my first time Awakening a human too! As long as she doesn¡¯t feel pain it¡¯s a good sign.¡¯ He thought.

    The hours passed. Lith could only check on Tista and Solus from time to time. Neither of them could afford losing focus or to get tired. Until Tista¡¯s Awakening started, Lith preferred to have them rest, if needed.

    "I think I learned Invigoration!" Tista suddenly said. "I can feel a warm flow of mana entering my body. It¡¯s this the world energy? It¡¯s so different from casting a spell with fake mag..."

    "Don¡¯t lose the breathing rhythm!" Lith scolded her. "When the process starts, it will be painful. If you lose the rhythm, Invigoration stops working!"

    Tista wanted to rebuke, but realizing Lith was just worried about her, she moved to umtion instead. Now she could visualize the impurities nearing her core, giving her a pricking sensation whenever they touched.

    Tista was about to report it to Lith when a big impurity struck her core merging with it. Pain invaded her body, almost breaking her concentration. Tista had never felt such agony since she was a kid when even breathing was a miracle to her.

    Pain was an old friend, so she weed it back gritting her teeth and without losing her breathing rhythm.

    "It has begun." Solus said.

 Chapter 343 Tista Part 2

    One after the other, the impurities reached Tista¡¯s green core, forcing their way in. The mana reacted strongly to the invasion, giving its all to wipe out the foreign objects.

    Lith could watch via Invigoration a small scale war of matter versus energy taking ce inside Tista¡¯s body. The green core slowly turned ck as more and more impurities amassed inside.

    The pain grew as Tista¡¯s core darkened, until Tista couldn¡¯t bear it any more and screamed at the top of her lungs. Lith knew the pain was normal, so he kept watching. It had happened to him multiple times.

    Tista¡¯s mana core started to pulse, contracting and expanding like it was going to blow. Then it released a powerful wave of cyan mana that purged the impurities inside and outside itself.

    Lith could see the mana coursing throw her body like it was searching for impurities to vent its wrath upon. Whenever it encountered them, they would be flushed out, no matter the cost. Flesh and muscles were torn, bones cracked.

    It was like Tista¡¯s body was suddenly disgusted by itself and had decided to start over from scratch.

    Tista¡¯s pain was nearing its peak. Lith kept watching and waiting, the refining process seemed identical to his own. The only thing he could do was to ease her pain with light magic and give her a bit of his life force whenever her body experienced a major breakdown.

    Not knowing what was actually helpful and what wasn¡¯t, he couldn¡¯t directly interfere. The self inflicted wounds brought Tista to the verge of death, yet he couldn¡¯t heal her without risking doing more harm than good.

    Lith and Solus did their best to keep her stable, moving alongside the mana flow to not obstruct its movements.

    The processsted barely a few minutes, but to both siblings it might as well have been hours. ck goo came out from Tista¡¯s pores, making her puke, cry, and bleed impurities all at the same time.

    Only when thest drop was shed was Tista¡¯s body fully repaired. Lith destroyed the tar-like substance with darkness magic while assessing the damage.

    ¡¯She expelled way fewer impurities than I usually do, yet the pain was much worse.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I think it¡¯s because at first you expelled only impurities and your body got progressively stronger and more resistant to pain. She had to endure broken bones right off the bat. The pain must have been unbearable.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Lith checked Tista with Invigoration again. Aside from being unconscious, she was perfectly fine. Her core was now deep cyan and was constantly absorbing the world energy Solus had conjured inside the basement.

    ¡¯Solus, can you make a room for her too? She needs to sleep and so do I.¡¯ Lith was exhausted too. Tiptoeing across a minefield and getting out alive would have been easier than what he had done to not get in Tista¡¯s mana¡¯s way while keeping her alive.

    ¡¯Sure I can. My mana core may still be deep green but that is more than enough.¡¯ During the past two years, Solus¡¯s mana core had been further enhanced, allowing her toplete the first floor of the tower.

    Unfortunately, she had yet to acquire any semnce of a body.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll also pump world energy into her room non stop. It should help her to recover faster.¡¯

    Lith brought Tista to a brand new room that was a perfect replica of her own at the academy before going to sleep.

    Tista woke up several hourster, feeling like someone had kicked her all the way back home. The first thing she noticed was that her body felt different. She was faster, stronger, but most of all smellier.

    "Did I fall into an open sewer or what?" She took off her dress, throwing it into a corner, yet the stench didn¡¯t subside.

    "Or what." Solus replied making Tista flinch. She wasn¡¯t expectingpany.

    "The impurities can have that effect. Follow me, I prepared you a bath."

    Solus was relieved seeing Tista was all right. She was also incredibly embarrassed. After the Awakening Tista¡¯s physical appearance hadn¡¯t changed much, but it was Solus¡¯s first time seeing her naked.

    She was now a gorgeous woman who stood 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall with waist length auburn hair containing several shades of red. What made Solus feel really awkward wasn¡¯t just the fact that Tista¡¯s three sizes were 92D-58-88 centimeters (37D-23-35 inches), but also the perfect proportions of her body.

    ¡¯I bet countless artists would be d to spend their lives trying to reproduce her symmetry.¡¯ Solus thought while staring at Tista¡¯s oval face and her delicate features.

    ¡¯By my maker, if it keeps up this way either my self-esteem will crumble or I¡¯ll develop a crush on her.¡¯

    "How long have you known my brother?" Tista asked snapping Solus out of her reverie.

    "A long time. Since he was four years old." Now that she was submerged in water and foam Solus had a much easier time thinking straight.

    "Do you want me to show you?" Solus had already asked Lith¡¯s opinion via their mind link.

    ¡¯She already knows a lot, there¡¯s no harm in sharing the rest. Just keep my first two lives out of the picture and enjoy your first human friend.¡¯ Was his answer.

    Tista and Solus talked a lot about themselves, true magic, and their ns for the future. Solus would often show her images from their easiest battles or of the Evolved Beasts they befriended.

    "Once I graduate from the academy, I want to see the world. When I was younger Lutia was my everything but now it feels like a cage, just like my house was back when I was still ill.

    "I want to see the capitol, the big cities I visited during my house calls for the White Griffon. I know people will be the same ass*oles wherever I go but the scenery of some cities just stole my heart. What about you, Solus?"

    "There¡¯s not much I can n." She sighed. "Soon we will join the army, that¡¯s all I know."

    "I never got why Lith wants to enlist. Can you exin it to me?" Tista asked.

    "It¡¯s not for me to say."

    "How deep is your bond?"

    "Pretty deep."

    "Do the two of you ever separate? I mean, where were you while lil brother was with Phloria? Did you watch or something?" Tista¡¯s question made the wisp turn beet red.

    "No, I didn¡¯t. I always gave them their privacy. I can iste myself from the outside world when it¡¯s necessary. Oh, Lith just woke up. He will be d to know you are alright." Solus quickly changed the topic, materializing a replica of the uniform¡¯s academy out of thin air.

    "I can give you any dress you want, but you can¡¯t take them outside. My creations disappear beyond the tower¡¯s walls." She exined.

    Tista dried herself with a wave of her hand before wearing her new clothes. She entered Lith¡¯s room without knocking. He was focused on practicing Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram and another impossible array at the same time.

    "What¡¯s that?" Tista was referring to the six pointed star inscribed inside a silver circle originating from Lith¡¯s right hand.

    "Yurial¡¯s Hexagram." Lith¡¯s replied. "Something he theorized and I¡¯m working to turn it into reality. I still have a long way to go. Also, I could have been naked."

    "Yeah, right. Even when we were kids you always swam in the river with your clothes on and your door was always closed whenever you changed. You always hated feeling vulnerable, lil brother. Isn¡¯t that the reason why you bought the Skinwalker armor?" She pointed out.

    "Point taken, but still." Lith dropped the matter. He preferred to exin to her the basics of true magic since it was almost time to go home before Elina started to worry.

 Chapter 344 Final Wish Part 1

    "There are two things that you must never forget about being an Awakened." Lith exined.

    "The first is that our secret cannot be shared with anyone. The history of Garlen continent is full of mages and researchers that go missing in ¡¯idents¡¯ when they tried to share their theories about it.

    I have no idea how many Awakened ones are out there, so far I met only Nalear and Farg. I only discovered their nature when they decided so. Sadly, there is no way to tell a fake from a true mage."

    "Two of our Professors are Awakened?" The news shocked Tista.

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "What I am trying to say is that not only you can¡¯t tell anyone about your new powers, but also that if you ever get found out you have to kill them."

    Lith¡¯s eyes and voice were stone cold.

    "Kill them? Why?"

    "Think about it." Lith sneered. "A mage is a weapon and as such is strictly regted. An Awakened one is both a weapon and the key to longevity. What do you think nobles and Royals would do to us, to our family to get their hands on such power?"

    Lith paused, letting Tista ponder on his words. She wasn¡¯t a na?ve little girl anymore. The academy had been her wake up call. Tista now knew what to expect from others.

    "Do you mean that not even your group..."

    "No one knows but you." Lith shook his head.

    "Not even Phloria?"

    "No. She noticed something was amiss with me, but Phloria never pushed me to reveal her the truth. It¡¯s one of the reasons why she was so precious to me." Lith sighed.

    "The second thing is that every time you use umtion or Invigoration your life gets longer. By drawing in the world energy you¡¯ll consume less and less of your own, allowing you to live for centuries.

    It means you¡¯ll see our family, your husband and children wither and die while you¡¯ll still look twenty. I¡¯m giving you a choice I didn¡¯t have. You can either just practice true magic and live a normal life or also use those techniques to be stronger but be progressively set apart from humans."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I need some air." Tista stood up and ran away from Lith¡¯s room. Her head was spinning because of all those sudden revtions. She felt suffocating. Despite the tower was actually spacious, Tista had the impression the walls were copsing on her.

    Only when she walked out of the door and into the familiar Trawn woods the world seemed to regain a semnce of normality.

    "Would you like somepany or do you prefer to stay alone?" Solus¡¯s voice made her flinch, but just for a second.

    "Oh Solus, thank the gods you are here." Tista turned around and hugged the wisp. Much to Solus¡¯s surprise, her arms didn¡¯t pass through. She could actually feel Tista¡¯s embrace as if it was Lith¡¯s.

    "Can we take a walk? All that talking about killing in cold blood and immortality seriously freaked me out." Being touched by another human being freaked out Solus too. Also, she had no idea what to say to Tista without scaring her.

    Solus knew Tista like she was her own sister, while Tista knew nothing about her.

    "Sure, but I can¡¯t get very far from the tower. The further I get, the smaller the wisp bes until I¡¯m forced back inside." Solus did her best to not let her voice quiver.

    ¡¯By my maker, our first meeting couldn¡¯t go any worse. First, she took me for a peeping tom, now she¡¯ll pity me. I must find something smart or funny to say to salvage the situation.¡¯

    Tista walked around and away from the tower until Solus¡¯s wisp became the size of a tennis ball. For several minutes they remained silent, the only audible sounds were the rustling of the leaves and the woods¡¯ bird calls.

    That situation was a nightmare for Solus. Her consciousness was far enough from Lith to not feel his presence in her mind anymore and at the same time, she realized how awkward that quiet was.

    ¡¯Oh gods! Why does she say nothing? I¡¯m not used to silence, Lith¡¯s minds is always a noisy mess. Am I supposed to break the ice or is it better to wait for her to open up?¡¯

    Solus¡¯s first human interaction wasn¡¯t as she had always pictured it. She had been linked to Lith¡¯s mind and emotions for so long that she was not used not to know what the other person was thinking.

    Tista¡¯s expression was unfathomable to her. She seemed to be worried, disgusted and annoyed all at the same time. Solus started panicking, thinking that Tista¡¯s silence was due to her regretting the choice of bringing Solus along.

    "I¡¯m so confused. What do you think I should do, Solus?" Tista asked.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about." Solus¡¯s voice was cracking due to the strain she was under.

    "I¡¯d like you to get closer to the tower, though."

    "Do you think Lith is right about killing?" She continued walking at a fast pace.

    "Please, Tista, get back. One more step and you¡¯ll be stark naked. My clothes, remember?" Solus yelped, her wisp was on the verge of disappearing.

    Tista cursed at her stupidity, walking towards the tower as fast as she could. She noticed how her body had never felt so light.

    "As for the killing, yes. I think he is right." Solus sighed. The wisp was back at half of its original size.

    "I was just like you at the beginning, but all the things Lith and I experienced together changed my mind. Even if the person that discovers your secret is a good one, would you really risk your whole family¡¯s lives just to save a stranger?

    "Would you risk them bing hostages to keep you on a leash? There¡¯s nothing that people with power wouldn¡¯t do to not lose their power, even using ve items. Do you want to be a ve?"

    Solus projected in front of Tista some of the images from Nalear¡¯s attack. The chaos and bloodshed forced her to avert her eyes.

    "Please stop. I got what you mean." Solus stopped the projection, giving Tista some time to think.

    "What do you think is better between longevity and power? I mean, the stronger I get the longer I¡¯ll live, but I¡¯m scared of ending up all alone. You have already lived for so long, do you have any advice for me?"

    Solus felt ttered by so much trust in her judgment despite they had just shortly met.

    "Honestly, no. I have no choice on the matter. I¡¯m d I lost all my previous memories, otherwise I would have gone insane a long time ago. There¡¯s one thing I can tell you, though. Your brother and I are as scared as you are of being alone.

    Lith always worries about the day he will grieve your deaths, while I worry about him. I¡¯m so scared of losing Lith that I can¡¯t sleep for days after he fights a strong enemy. I¡¯m scared at the thought that he will grow old and die while I¡¯ll be forced to look for a new host."

 Chapter 345 Final Wish Part 2

    "Why do you the idea so terrible?" Seeing her issues through Solus¡¯s eyes made her worries seem so small that Tista was almost ashamed of herself.

    "I¡¯m not a thing, okay?" Solusshed out in frustration, it was the first time she had everid her worst fears bare in front of someone that wasn¡¯t Lith.

    "I have feelings, memories. I learn new things every day. What would you do if you lost the person you have spent your whole life with? Someone who shared every one of your feelings, dreams, even thoughts. You can¡¯t simply rece such a person with a random stranger and move on."

    "I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to offend you." Tista had never considered Solus like an object, she simply didn¡¯t expect her to be so fond of her brother.

    "What kind of rtionship do the two of you have?"

    "I don¡¯t know either." Solus¡¯s voice sounded depressed.

    Solus shared with Tista how herck of a body made her feel iplete. How she hated being just a voice in his head. To be always powerless whenever someone needed her help.

    After hearing about all the things they had gone through together, Tista believed to have a proper answer to her own question.

    "If after sharing so much for so many years you two don¡¯t hate each other¡¯s guts you must be soulmates!"

    "Thanks, your words mean the world to me, but you are too kind and na?ve. It¡¯s only because of our bond that we share so many things. I forced it on him years ago, otherwise I doubt Lith would have opened to me. I think he likes me, but more like a friend. Phloria instead..."

    "What about Phloria?" Tista hoped for some juicy gossip. Neither the Verhen or the Ernas had any idea how close the two actually got during the academy.

    "Sorry, but it¡¯s not up to me to tell. Let¡¯s go back to the tower."

    ***

    During the weekend, Lith taught Tista about fusion and spirit magic. Whenever she had free time, he would pass on her all of his knowledge about true magic, all the tips and tricks he had learned over the years to disguise it as fake magic or make use of it during the exams.

    He also introduced her to Phird, Reaper, and Lifebringer. Tista had never spoken with a magical beast, let alone with an Evolved Monster. In her eyes, they were all big and scary. Phird with his serpentine body and two wed arms was apparently the most menacing of the three.

    At least until she noticed they were as scared of her brother as she was of them. Reaper the Manticore had the body and the head of a lion with quills like those of a porcupine protruding from most of his body. He was big enough to look Tista in the eyes.

    He also had ck feathered wings on his back, horns like an ibex on his head, and the tip of his tail was a mass of quills. Each one was infused with a different element and ready to be thrown.

    Lifebringer the Kirin had grown even bigger, developing a new horn in the center of his head and what looked like a long beard made out of emerald mes covered his chin. The four of them would practice and spar together to get used to their new abilities.

    "Why are you still here?" Lith asked Phird.

    "I¡¯m not going anywhere until you deliver me my axes." The Lindwurm snorted. "Also, I still suck at magic. I¡¯m even worse than the pipsqueak here." He pointed at Tista.

    "How¡¯s her smell?"

    "Delicious... I mean, she is definitely human." Phird¡¯s ribs still ached at the memory of how Lith appreciated his jokes.

    Lith made for each one of them a dimensional and amunication amulet so that they could ask for help if necessary. He also realized for Phird a couple of twin axes on the cheap.

    The Lindwurm couldn¡¯t provide him materials or magic crystals, so Lith infused the weapons with what by Forgemastering standards was considered to be the bare minimum, making them sharper, lighter, sturdier, and capable of self repairing if infused with mana.

    Their only special property was they were able to shrink enough so that if Phird ever learned how to assume human form he could still use them. The Lindwurm had never owned an enchanted weapon, so he considered them masterpieces and gloated for days thinking of having scammed Lith for good.

    Lith and Tista¡¯sst year of the academy was uneventful. Lith¡¯s only worry was to dodge all the noble dames and mages of marrying age that pestered him on a regr basis. Most of his female students couldn¡¯t wait for the third exam toe since their hot teacher was of their same age and still single.

    Lith disappointed them all by disappearing the very next day after the exam. He and Tista could finally rush back at Lutia. Attending the academy after the third exam was a mere formality.

    Both of them wanted to pay their respect to their old mentor before it was toote. Without Tista helping her, Nana¡¯s health deteriorated over time, no matter how much effort Lith put into treating her condition.

    Death and old age were two enemies that even he couldn¡¯t defeat. Many people were assembled outside her house to pay her ast visit. Nana hadn¡¯t be nicer just because of her impending death.

    She refused any visitor aside from Count Lark and the Verhen Household.

    "Damn hypocrites." Nana¡¯s voice was weak but still full of anger.

    "Even on my deathbed they still try to suck up on me. Never trust shameless people, kids." She said to both her apprentices.

    "Isn¡¯t there something we can do?" Tista asked Lith for the umpteenth time in thest months.

    "No. We aren¡¯t gods." Lith shook his head. He had already tried every spell in his book.

    "Master, you never told me who betrayed you. I could take care of them for you if you wish."

    "Bah! Hear me well, King of the spirits. What kind of mentor would I be if I added my grudge to your already enormous baggage? Do you think I¡¯m stupid? I always knew there is a darkness inside of you and I¡¯m proud you never became its ve."

    Nana wheezed for several seconds to catch her breath. She had little time left and still a few things to say.

    "Thank you, Lark. Despite my stigma, you never stopped being my friend. A good, honest friend I never deserve. If there are gods on the other side I¡¯ll make sure theypensate you properly, or they¡¯ll taste my wrath.

    Don¡¯t search for my enemies, Lith. It¡¯s only thanks to them that I had the opportunity to meet you and your sister. I rejoiced for your achievements like they were mine.

    I know it¡¯s hypocritical to say from someone that never wanted a family, but I¡¯m d a part of me will always live inside your magic. Thanks to me a new magical bloodline was born. My enemies will probably follow me in death out of desperation."

    She halfughed half coughed thest sentence.

    "My only regret is that I failed you both. I never managed to teach you what you trulyck. Lith, the King of the spirits must be strong, wise, but also loving. Otherwise he is just a monster.

    "Tista, my fairy Queen, if you don¡¯t learn how to close your heart to others, they will rip it out your chest. Whenever someone bothers you, don¡¯t give them a second chance. Do like I would and fry they their a*s."

    After making sure her disciples understood herst wish, Nana fell asleep. Everyone remained to her side until her heart stopped.

 Chapter 346 Enlist Part 1

    Nana¡¯s death had a deep impact on both Lith and Tista, although for entirely different reasons. For Lith, it was one mourning too much. In the past four years, he had lost more people he loved than in his whole first life.

    He left the academy for good after saying goodbye to all his colleagues.

    "It¡¯s a pity Lith didn¡¯t change his mind." Marth said while drinking vintage wine with his friends from the light department.

    "He could have been a good Professor, after some proper training. I have decided to turn his version of Principles of Advanced Magic into an elective course. Many find it difficult, but those who seed reap too many benefits to discard it as a failed experiment."

    "I¡¯m d he¡¯s leaving." Vastor took a big sip from his cup. "He¡¯s still young. The academy is better suited for old coots like us or madmen. Our duty is not only to teach magic, but also to guide people in life.

    Lith can¡¯t guide anyone, the kid is still lost in whatever the gods threw at him."

    "Indeed." Manohar emptied his cup in one gulp. He liked drinking withpany. Alcohol made people easier to bear for him and vice versa.

    "Although I resent being called an old coot. I¡¯m the youngest one in the room, after all. Also, although he may be an odd fe, I can guarantee you that Marth is not a madman. You should apologize to him Vastor."

    It was hard to understand when Manohar was serious and when he wasn¡¯t. Especially after the second bottle. The three menughed merrily at the joke. They were eager for winter toe. It was the only time of the year they could properly rest.

    For Tista, Nana¡¯s death was the moment she became truly aware of her own mortality. She had lost several patients over the years, but never someone she cared about. Tista realized she had to decide if power was worth so much suffering.

    She found sce in spending time together with her family, but at the same time, she felt isted. They knew nothing about magic and even less about Awakened ones, so she spent more and more time with Solus.

    Lith was happy hispanion had finally found a friend. Sometimes he would leave Solus in her tower form, allowing the two girls to be alone while he was elsewhere.

    "Have you decided what you want to do?" Solus asked.

    "Yeah. I¡¯m done with the academy for now. I¡¯ll spend the winter together with my family and friends. I¡¯ll leave the first day of spring in a random direction." Tista replied.

    "For a while, I¡¯ll stop being a Healer. I¡¯m sick of always having to worry so much for others. I want some me time for once. Money will not be an issue for a long time. I never spent a dime of what I earned working with Nana.

    Lith always paid for everything. What about you?"

    "Meaning?" Solus was confused.

    "Are you still unclear about your feelings for my brother?"

    "I¡¯m still as clueless as I was the first day I met you." She sighed.

    "Well, you can¡¯t just live your life like a damn sidekick. You are a great girl, Solus. Maybe you two should work on getting you a body. Maybe the reason why you are so confused is because you spend too much time together.

    You need to make your own friends, experience a life that¡¯s only your own."

    "How would I survive? Without a mana geyser or your brother, I won¡¯tst long. Lith would be forced to stick around and dy all of his ns until I¡¯m done. It wouldn¡¯t be fair."

    "I don¡¯t think so." Tista shook her head. "Maybe having your roles reversed for once might help both of you. I believe Lith would be happy to give you a chance at life."

    ***

    Meanwhile, Lith was at the Ernas Household.

    Most of his recent losses were rted to his life at the academy, so he felt the need to share his burden with someone that had lived those events with him. Quy was not an option since she had too much on her te already.

    That had led Friya and Lith to be closer, even if it wasn¡¯t in the way she would have liked. With her family¡¯s history, Friya was the one who could best rte to his mental state.

    Lith was lying on a sofa, with his head on Friya¡¯sp while she caressed his soft hair.

    "Good gods, when will you stop growing?" Shemented. Lith was now an adult by Mogar¡¯s standards and also a giant at 1.83 meters tall (6¡¯).

    "Soon, I hope. Otherwise I¡¯ll be forced to spend a fortune on clothing. The Skinwalker armor is nearing its limits and I¡¯d like to avoid getting a new one." He sighed.

    "I¡¯m d to see that you and Quy are alright. After losing Protector, Selia, Yurial, Phloria, and now Nana I don¡¯t know if I can take another blow."

    "Protector, Selia, and Phloria are not dead!" She rebuked. "They are simply..."

    "Gone? Lost to me? Disappeared from my life?" Lith cut her short.

    "What¡¯s the difference? Until Protector stops ying dead, I will not be able to find him. As for Phloria, I haven¡¯t heard from her in two years. She might have be apletely different person."

    "I¡¯m sure she still cares for you."

    "Yeah? Then why did she never call? Not even for my birthday?" Lith rebuked.

    "I don¡¯t know, maybe for the same reason you never called her?" Friya clicked her tongue in disapproval.

    "Wherever she is, she has the right to be happy. I prefer to be a happy memory rather than a chain preventing her from enjoying what she now has. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t call her."

    "That¡¯s funny. She said almost the same thing thest time we talked."

    "She what?"Lith tried to jump up on his feet, but Friya pushed his chest forcing him back down.

    "Did you really expect Phloria not to call her family for two years? If you want to know where she is, you just have to ask."

    "What are you going to do with your life?" Lith asked.

    "First, I¡¯ll pretend to not notice you just dodged the question." Friya sneered. "Second, since Quy is going back to the academy in spring, I think I¡¯ll take a few missions from the Association.

    I¡¯ll see the world, meet new people, and rack up merits. Three birds with one stone. Hopefully, I¡¯ll also find a decent man. Both the academy and the Court have been an utter disappointment." Friya¡¯s love life was simr to Lith¡¯s. It was filled with short, meaningless rtionships that frustrated her to no end.

    ***

    When spring arrived, the heirs of the Ernas and Verhen Households moved on the next step of their lives. Lith reached the recruitment center fully prepared.

    Everything valuable he had was safely stored in his pocket dimension while Solus was concealed in his mouth, wrapped around one of his teeth. Orion had exined the whole procedure to him, allowing Lith to make preparation for when things would go south.

    ¡¯Always the optimist.¡¯ Solus sighed.

    ¡¯Always the nagger.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯Besides, I resent that.¡¯

 Chapter 347 Enlist Part 2

    ¡¯The optimism?¡¯

    ¡¯No. The fact that I proposed countless bodies to you and you always refused. Now that Tista said the very same thing you are considering the idea?¡¯

    ¡¯Only idiots never change their minds. Yours was the right idea at the wrong moment.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯We¡¯ll think about it after the military. I can¡¯t have you defect. Also, thanks for dying your departure until spring.¡¯

    ¡¯You¡¯re wee. Tista is your first human friend, you two deserved some time together. I love you both and I¡¯m happy you found a good friend in each other.¡¯

    "Name?" The army clerk¡¯s harsh voice interrupted their conversation. The woman loved her job, but repeating the same lines over and over ruined her mood.

    "Lith Verhen."

    "Oh, gods!" When she inserted a name into her amulet, the clerk was used either having to fill out a form or finding a short resume if the candidate was a noble. In Lith¡¯s case, so much information popped out of her screen that she thought he had a rap sheet as long as her arm.

    She was about to call security when she noticed they were actually meritorious deeds.

    "Son, are you sure you want to join?" She stood up giving him the salute.

    "Why do you ask?" Lith lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

    "Only spoiled rich kids enlist in spring. Your timing is terrible, not to mention that with your build there is no chance in theherworld other cadets will see you as anything but a noble."

    "I¡¯m fully prepared for that. I¡¯m not enlisting to make friends, but thanks for your concern anyway. Much appreciated." Lith returned the salute and offered her his hand, which she promptly shook.

    "No, thank you. You are one of us that made it. Amoner that graduated from one of the six academies and even received hisst name from the Royals. You are a beacon of hope for my children."

    Xonta, that was the clerk¡¯s name, filled out Lith¡¯s form while giving him the same advice Orion did and warning him about all the dangers he was likely to face.

    Lith nodded from time to time, giving her the empty dimensional amulet that he had prepared when asked.

    "From now on, you¡¯re only allowed to introduce yourself as Lith, cadet 1416. The use of any kind of magic outside of chore magic is forbidden except for protecting your life or that of others. I also need yourmunication amulet."

    "Why?" Lith asked while doing as instructed.

    "Contacting anyone outside training is forbidden for the next six months, but we are not monsters. This way if something bad happens, we can ry the information to you."

    Lith was unpleasantly surprised the army was able to operate someone else¡¯s amulet without their permission.

    ¡¯Note to self, Forgemaster another amulet with safeguards.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Done. Do you want sugar or milk with your coffee, mister CEO?¡¯ Solus giggled after performing her best secretary impression.

    Xonta led Lith to a changing room before giving him his uniform and boots. It consisted of a deep green shirt and pants. They were made of a thin but robust fabric Lith had never seen before.

    The service number was embroidered over his heart and was the only thing bearing an enchantment. As soon as he finished wearing them, a soldier apanied him to a Warp Gate.

    "The destination is random." He exined. "It will lead you to one of the farthest avable boot camps from here. Don¡¯t wander around and wait for someone to pick you up."

    Lith stepped through the portal, finding himself in a ce where the climate was much colder than Derios¡¯s. A cold wind blew over his face carrying the smells typical of winter. Spring had yet to reach that region. Luckily, the uniform turned out to be pretty warm.

    ¡¯Either that or my tolerance to cold has further improved.¡¯ During thest two years, Lith had used umtion almost non stop. His mana core was now bright cyan, it was only a matter of time before it was refined to blue.

    After each breakthrough, his body had be stronger, to the point that most of the things that would threaten a normal man¡¯s life were merely a bother to him. Normal weapons couldn¡¯t cut his skin, just like normal fire and cold left him unfazed.

    The camp was the size of a small city and was filled with barracks, depots, and outside training facilities. The spot Lith appeared was close to a stone building, but no one came to him.

    Lith stood there for more than half an hour, using umtion to kill time.

    Two men with uniforms simr to Lith¡¯s but heavier and with the rank of corporal came out of the building. They were both in their mid twenties and looked at him with a mix of surprise and worry.

    "Good gods, this one is huge!" The corporals were above average height, making them 15 centimeters (6") shorter than Lith.

    "Kid, why didn¡¯t youe inside? The standard uniform is too light for Grimatros¡¯s climate. Aren¡¯t you freezing out here?"

    Lith gave them the salute before answering.

    "I¡¯m as green as a grasnd. They told me to wait and so I did. The cold doesn¡¯t bother me, sir."

    The man on the leftughed at his words, while the one on the right facepalmed himself.

    "Just because you joined the army doesn¡¯t mean you must relinquishmon sense. You could have at least knocked and asked for directions. Despite what you might have heard, ying pranks on the cadets it¡¯s not part of our job."

    They led Lith inside and gave him a change of clothes before apanying him to the cadets¡¯ quarters. Along the road, Lith noticed that the housings were split into two. A block for the male soldiers and another for the female.

    The house assigned to him was quite spacious, but consisted of a single room. Aside from beds and lockers, it was empty.

    "This is where you¡¯ll live for the next six months unless you find someone willing to house you." One of the corporals exined.

    "Pick an empty bed and a locker as your own. You can imprint them like this." He moved his hand over the service number, releasing a bit of mana. It generated a small golden cloud that followed the corporal¡¯s hand.

    "You have to imprint every tool and personal item you¡¯ll receive. It will be your responsibility to take good care of them. Someone will be here shortly to give you and the other new recruits a tour of the camp and exin the basic rules.

    "I suggest that you use this time to get acquainted with the rest of the cadets."

    They pointed at a small group of youths. They were all about Lith¡¯s age, but shorter and lighter. They looked at him emitting grunting noises and whispering mean words.

    ¡¯Seems Xonta was right. They really believe I¡¯m a noble.¡¯ Lith smiled in amusement.

    "Look what the spring fairy brought in, a goddamn noble." Said a cadet of average height with a mean voice. He walked towards Lith like he owned the ce. The others were about to follow suit, but something blocked them.

    Lith had learned to control his killing intent, which was paralyzing everyone but the leader of the pack.

    "Listen well, sh*thead I¡¯m Liwell..." The words died in his mouth when Lith lifted him up by his throat with one hand, bringing his face close to his own.

    "Thanks, Liwell. When were you born? It¡¯s the only other thing I need to know for your gravestone."

 Chapter 348 Overwhelming Part 1

    Liwell turned pale and not just because Lith¡¯s words didn¡¯t sound like a joke. His lungs were burning, yearning for air, yet Lith¡¯s grip didn¡¯t let him take a single breath. He was enjoying the sight of his opponent turning red first and cyanoticter.

    ¡¯No arrays nor recording devices, right Solus?¡¯ Lith asked, just to be safe.

    ¡¯None. After all, there are only six great academies and countless boot camps. If they had the resources to allocate a power core in each one of them, the Griffon Kingdom would have long conquered Mogar.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t think thatmitting murder on your first day is a good idea, though.¡¯

    Lith snarled, abruptly releasing Liwell and making him fall butt first onto the ground.

    "Since we are going to live together under the same roof for the next six months, this time I¡¯ll let you go with a warning." Lith said while Liwell coughed and wheezed, gasping for air.

    "I don¡¯t know who you are or why you hate nobles. Honestly, I don¡¯t care. I¡¯m not a noble either, but the next time you or one of your friends mess with me again, I¡¯ll make sure it will also be thest."

    Lith knew it was likely that no matter what he said things would get ugly. Yet Solus was right, he couldn¡¯t kill them all and hope to get away with it. The silver lining was that there was almost nothing a normal human could do to him whereas he had countless ways to make their lives a living hell.

    Lith ignored their hateful gazes and chose a corner bed for himself. The imprinting process was simple. Once his mana activated the spell contained in the service number stitched on his chest, a small golden cloud followed his hand.

    Lith¡¯s service number was now engraved on the bed frame and stitched to the nkets. He had no reason to pick a locker, since they were all empty.

    "What the heck is going on here?" Asked a rough voice that made everyone turn around from Lith to the door. Standing there was a tough looking 1.75 (5¡¯9") tall man in his mid thirties. Unlike the cadets, his uniform was light blue with Staff Sergeant stripes on his sleeves.

    As soon as he entered the house, the Sergeant took off his wide-brimmed hat while looking around to assess the situation. There was one cadet sitting on the floor with a terrified expression on his face. Another one was walking around like he owned the ce, while all the others were huddled up in a corner, likembs facing a pack of wolves.

    "Cadet Liwell, get your a*s up and pray the gods I like your exnation." The Sergeant had his name and service number embroidered on a pocket right above his chest. His name was Tepper.

    "That guy¡¯s insane!" He replied pointing at Lith. "He attacked me for no reason and almost chocked me to death. Everyone here witnessed it."

    Both Lith and Tepper didn¡¯t miss Liwell¡¯s voice getting higher, or him avoiding to make eye contact. Not to mention that his story sounded fake like a three dor bill.

    ¡¯If the big guy attacked him, why is Liwell without a scratch?¡¯ Tepper was unaware Lith had healed his opponent to not leave bruises.

    ¡¯At the same time, I doubt someone could be so stupid to attack a monster like that alone.¡¯

    "Is it true, cadet... Lith?" While the Sergeant looked at Lith¡¯s service number and someone learned his name, Lith noticed a couple of interesting things. First, Tepper¡¯s perfectly shaven face revealed a few small scars.

    They were too small for being the result of an injury but too big for being caused by a Healer¡¯s ipetence.

    ¡¯That¡¯s intentional. He kept them as a memento. Either this guy¡¯s sentimental or batsh*t crazy.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The second thing was his second question contained a subtle strain of killing intent. Mana and aggression had been mixed to his voice, making the victim feel pressured. It was something he had only seen Jirni doing.

    "Sort of." Lith shrugged before telling him most of the truth. That level of killing intent was useless against him. In his version of the story, he belittled the amount of strength employed and made Liwell appear as the sole culprit.

    "Let me get this straight. Liwell threatened you, you roughened him up, and the others just stood there and did nothing?" The Sergeant questioned the other cadets, who unlike Lith folded like a cheap shirt as soon as the killing intent hit them.

    "The bad news is that you are all in trouble." Tepper said. "For assaulting arade and lying to amanding officer, Liwell is trash. Resorting to violence when a re would suffice, speaks volumes about Lith. You guys back there are the worst, though.

    "You didn¡¯t stop Liwell despite knowing that what he was doing was wrong. You didn¡¯t help him when he was in trouble and ratted him out without a second of hesitation. The army isn¡¯t only about giving and receiving orders.

    It¡¯s mostly about loyalty, camaraderie, and mutual responsibility. With friends like you, one doesn¡¯t need enemies. The good news is that since you are all guilty, I¡¯ll punish no one. I¡¯ll just tag you as one of the worst units I have ever trained. Follow me."

    Tepper led them to the next block and picked up three female cadets, making the group a ten people unit. He then gave the unit a tour of the camp before taking them to the barber. The man gave the girls a buzz cut with air magic, while, after a hand sign from the Sergeant, he shaved the others bald.

    ¡¯I guess he¡¯s punishing your misbehavior.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Why you didn¡¯t make up a story or something?¡¯

    ¡¯It would have been useless. They could have backed up each other, painting me into a corner. By healing Liwell¡¯s neck before letting him go I¡¯ve turned him into a liar.

    ¡¯By not mentioning the others¡¯ role in the attack, it appears I¡¯m protecting them as a good little soldier would do.¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned.

    ¡¯When they told the truth and exposed my lie, it made them appear as ungrateful cowards. Perfect damage control.¡¯

    Tepper then exined to them how to address a superior officer, what would be their routine for the following six months, and that fraternizing with members of the same unit was forbidden.

    Lith and the others inwardly sighed at those words. One of the girls was really cute, even with the buzz cut.

    "Dating members of other units is allowed." The Sergeant said with a grin.

    "I swear to the gods that if any of you manages to get a single date despite your training, your duties, and the curfew, I¡¯ll eat my hat."

    During the following days, Lith¡¯s unit underwent a series of exercises to measure their physical abilities and separate the wheat from the chaff. The final result was that the whole unit came to hate Lith¡¯s guts.

    He held himself back just enough to appear human andpleted all of them with ease.

 Chapter 349 Overwhelming Part 2

    While the others cleared an obstacle course¡¯s time after several attempts, he only needed one.

    If running around the camp with a full backpack left them exhausted and drenched in sweat, Lith came out as fresh as a daisy. The group had no meaning to him, he knew that after six months they would be split ording to their results.

    They had to wake up before sunrise every day, with only half an hour to clean the barracks, prepare the uniforms for the day, and personal hygiene. Lith used chore magic to perform his share in less than five minutes, leaving him plenty of time for a hot shower and a good shave without cutting himself multiple times.

    Time was a luxury, yet he could afford it.

    Before breakfast, they performed individual physical training led by the Sergeant, but no matter what exercise he chose, Lith would breeze through it like a walk in the park.

    The most rxing moment of the day was the two hours of lessons that followed breakfast. During that time, they would be taught about the drills they would perform in the following days, military strategy, or about the army¡¯s values, traditions, and ethics.

    After that, the real nightmare began.

    "Who here has hand to handbat experience?" Tepper asked.

    Lith raised his hand in response, like usual. His achievements left the Sergeant as amazed as annoyed.

    ¡¯How the heck does someone so young have already so much experience? Did I waste my life or what?¡¯ Was one of his most recurring thoughts.

    "No matter if you are tall or short, male or female. Combat techniques are devised to allow the weak the beat the strong, to ovee the difference in weight, height, or both. A skilled soldier can easily take down any untrained man." Tepper exined.

    "What if the opponent has our same level of skill?" Asked Miden, the shortest girl in the unit.

    "Then either you beat them with tactics and fighting spirit, or you pray the gods to strike them down with a lightning bolt." No one liked that answer. Lith was one of the three who raised their hand, meaning he would probably go undefeated again.

    The exercise was a simple knife disarming technique that the Sergeant demonstrated using Liwell as a sparring partner. The attacker would attempt to stab while the defender had to dodge or block the knife-holding hand before grabbing the wrist and twist it together with the arm into a submission hold.

    In the first part of the training, everyone was required to win or lose ording to their role in the scenario. It served the purpose to get acquainted with the technique and its footwork.

    In the second part, the attacker was allowed to resist and try to counter. That was when Lith shined the most. He wouldn¡¯t use speed or strength to win, but pure technique.

    As the attacker, the slightest mistake in controlling his arm would result in an elbow strike to the face, while focusing too much on his arm gave him the opportunity to use his legs to trip the opponent.

    "Don¡¯t forget to move your legs, you idiots! The moment you stop moving you are nothing but punching bags!"

    As the defender, Lith used the smallest movements possible to disarm the opponent and get ahold of the knife.

    The next part of the training was about marksmanship and learning how to use magic wands as long ranged weapons.

    "Sir, why do we use wands instead of arrows or other kinds of projectiles?" Vipli was a skilled hunter. He was eager to show his talent, but he never used a wand before.

    "Projectiles have been dmissioned ever since Forgemastering was born." Sergeant Tepper was tempted to ask if someone knew why, but even he was sick of seeing Lith¡¯s hand.

    "Even the mostmon enchanted armor is equipped with a gravity sheath that reacts to fast iing objects reducing their weight to the point of making them harmless as peas. Once, long range weapons were devised to shoot high speed projectiles, like this one."

    Tepper took out what looked like a revolver from his dimensional amulet. He emptied the barrel against one of the training dummies wearing an old set of armor, producing a loud series of bangs. Most of the bullets hit the target, but without leaving a scratch.

    "As you can see, this piece of junk is loud and clumsy. You need to train your aim and take into ount a lot of factors. As the uracy of the weapon itself, the distance from the target, the wind, the friction caused by the air and so much more."

    "Magic is energy and it¡¯s unaffected by such things and even the gravity sheath is powerless against it. Only a physical barrier can block magic projectiles. Hence why you are equipped with earth magic wands.

    They can provide you instant protection from all threats, not to mention that earth magic barriers are the only ones that can stop every other element."

    ¡¯So many words just to say that force equals mass times eleration. Enchanted armors reduce the already small mass of bullets, bringing it almost to zero. At that point the speed bes irrelevant. Anything times zero bes zero too.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed.

    ¡¯I dreamed for so long to make me a gun as a secret weapon, but after getting my uniform, I discovered the existence of the gravity sheath. It¡¯s amazing how Forgemastering and Alchemy allow imbuing rare things like fusion and gravity magic into the mostmon objects.¡¯

    "I will teach you which wand is best to use ording to the circumstances. As a rule of thumb, fire magic is better suited for open spaces and enemies grouped together. Lightning is particrly effective against heavy infantry, since it bypasses the metal¡¯s protection."

    Contrary to Tepper¡¯s expectations, Lith wasn¡¯t an expert with wands. His first attempts were almost as clumsy as everybody else¡¯s. His experience with magic, however, was top notch so it only took him a few tries before securing himself the best score.

    At the end of the first four weeks, each member of the unit received their report cards. Some, like Vipli, achieved a lot of As and Bs boosting his confidence and earning him the respect of the unit.

    Others, like Miden, received too many Cs to let them dream of bing members of an elite squad. Last, but not least, Lith had no idea what his own report card meant.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sir. I think there has been a mistake with my grades." He asked handing the piece of paper to hismanding officer.

    "It seems normal to me." The Sergeant replied.

    "I¡¯m sorry again, sir. I¡¯ve attended another school in the past, but I never scored an M as a grade. What does it stand for?"

    "Monster."

 Chapter 350 Abyss Part 1

    That day the mess hall was still open during the one free hour the cadets had between the end of their daily duty and the lights out. It was an opportunity for them to fraternize and get some extra food while celebrating the first evaluation.

    While the rest of the unit was waiting in line to get their snack, Lith was alone in the barracks, grumbling like usual.

    ''I really can''t stand this ce. The academy is a wet dreampared to the army. I get scolded every day, no matter how well I perform. The mess hall is so small that every unit is forced to eat in a rush or others will not get their turn before resuming their duty.

    ''I don''t give a damn about the Sergeant insulting all of us for no reason, but what really drives me insane is when they make us stand at attention until someone moves so they get to punish us. Everything is designed to be a frigging torture!'' He thought.

    ''I think it''s on purpose, to train the cadets both physically and mentally. You said it yourself: it''s only under critical circumstances that people reveal their true selves and revaluate themselves.'' Solus tried to cheer him up with some of his favorite food.

    After checking with mana sense no one was in the proximity, she took out a steaming steak from her pocket dimension. Lith was so used to fast eating that he finished half of it without even feeling its taste before slowing down.

    ''What about the Ms in my report card? Even grades sound like an insult here.''

    ''Maybe they didn''t expect someone to break past the S rank.'' Solus sighed. Usually, she liked to rebuke at Lith''sints, but this time she had a hard time not joining him. The army was putting even her patience to test.

    ''More importantly, why didn''t you join yourrades? The Sergeant always speaks about camaraderie. If you keep being a loner, it may affect your evaluation.''

    ''And waste my only free hour of the day together with people that can''t stand me and vice versa? For what? To get some insipid food I''d have to swallow like an ostrich?''

    Lith didn''t have time to waste, not even for nagging. He cleaned his boots and squared his uniforms for the following day before being finally able to rest. Even if he didn''t sweat as much as hisrades, he was forced to change uniform after every meal.

    He was also forced to use his free time to keep them clean and ready for use. It didn''t take him much since magic could take care of most of his daily chores in a matter of minutes.

    It was all the little things that piled up together, grinding his nerves one day at the time. Lith had underestimated the army and its regtions. In the past years, he had got too used to being admired, respected, and most importantly, left alone when he wanted.

    The totalck of privacy made him want to kill someone on a daily basis. While the physical exercises were far too easy for him, the mental strain was enormous.

    ***

    "Gods know if I''d love to kick his a*s back to the dragon who birthed him." Sergeant Tepper shivered despite the officers'' mess hall being warm and cozy.

    "Are you speaking about the Monster?" The other Sergeants didn''t share his pessimism. Lith was a mystery to everyone, but a really promising one.

    "I can take cocky recruits. Heck, I eat spoiled rich kids for breakfast. What really creeps me out is that he not only seems to already know everything, but also how he stares at you when you scold or question him about his duties.

    "No matter how much mana or aggression I use, he doesn''t flinch. He just stands there, with those cold, lifeless eyes. I swear that once I had the impression he was about to rip my head off and shove it up my a*s." Tepper had it right.

    Lith took the army''s though love as a personal affront. He wasn''t cut out to be a soldier. Loyalty, discipline, and obedience were mere words to him.

    "Why don''t you fail him, then? Rule number one, always follow your gut." As seasoned veterans, they wouldn''t underestimate a fellow officer''s evaluation. Giving training to sociopaths was like handing matches and oil to a pyromaniac.

    "I can''t." He sighed. "He never falls for any provocation and his performance is outstanding. His psychic evaluation is a bitcking but well within parameters."

    ***

    Lith''s unit hated his guts, but most of all, they were scared of him. His barracks mates had learned the hard way that catching him unprepared was impossible. Lith slept only once a week thanks to Invigoration and even when he did, Solus stood guard.

    The one time they attempted to pull a practical joke on him, he emitted killing intent non stop for three consecutive nights, making it impossible for them to rest. One of them even copsed due to exhaustion and had to be hospitalized.

    The worst part was they still had no idea who he actually was. Lith''s mastery of chore magic was that typical of a magician, yet he fought like the heir of a military family and performed his daily chores with more skill than mostmoners.

    ***

    "Good morning, maggots. I hope you rested well because today you''ll start learning about swordsmanship. Wands are not suited for closebat and knives are either thest resort or something to perform a sneak attack.

    "Pick from the rack a weapon you want to learn how to use." Sergeant Tepper was charming as usual.

    After the cadets made their choice, Tepper continued his exnation.

    "The difference between an amateur and an idiot lies in their mushy brain. Only an idiot would pick a weapon too big or too heavy to use. This isn''t a damn bard tale!" He yelled at those who chose their weapon based on how cool it looked.

    "Bigger doesn''t mean better, just like using two swords isn''t necessarily better than using one! Cadet Lith, how did you choose your weapon?"

    "I simply looked for a single handed weapon light enough for me to use it without effort." Lith was holding a rapier.

    "You see that? That''s the difference between an idiot and a damn amateur. At least the amateur has a brain!" The Sergeant ripped the improper weapons off the cadets'' hands and reced them with rapiers and estocs.

    "Now, the difference between an amateur and a good swordsman lies in the wrist. Whereas an amateur will limit themselves to stabs and shes, making their attacks predictable, a good swordsman is capable of executing multiple strikes from the same starting position."

    Tepper crossed his sword with Lith and while keeping his arm still the sword struck at Lith''s head, right shoulder, and leg in quick session. Lith''s rapier followed suit, timely blocking each strike while keeping his de against the point of the Sergeant''s to multiply the block''s effectiveness.

    Each parry would have been enough to disarm a less skilled opponent.

    "Let me guess. Your father taught you." Tepper said with a snarl. He had hoped the humble the Monster for once.

    "No, my girlfriend did." Lith replied, keeping his eyes on the Sergeant''s shoulder rather than the de. Phloria had kicked his a*s until the basics had be second nature to Lith.

 Chapter 351 Abyss Part 2

    "Last, but not least, the difference between a good and an expert swordsman lies in the footwork!" Tepper ignored Lith¡¯s words and performed a feint to the face before side stepping to stab at his exposed shoulder.

    Unfortunately for the Sergeant, footwork was something Lith had learned back on Earth and it was the first thing he had practiced as soon as his body allowed him to. Tepper¡¯s de hit only air.

    Lith had sidestepped too and his de was barely an inch away from the opponent¡¯s leg.

    The Sergeant inwardly cursed at himself for performing such an ample movement to impress the unit. Lith and Tepper were too close. At such distance, even a small opening was the difference between victory and defeat.

    "In the next five months you¡¯ll either be good swordsmen or you¡¯ll start searching for a new job." Tepper¡¯s voice was perfectly rxed, not revealing the surprise nor the anger he was feeling.

    "As for you, maggot, get down and give me forty!"

    ***

    During the following months, the training involved getting ustomed to use several magical tools and to use chore magic for tactical purposes.

    Lith already knew most of the tools thanks to his Forgemastering lessons or Solus¡¯s Alchemy. They were the magical equivalent of sniper rifles, grenades of all kinds, and climbing suits.

    There were no such things as boots of flight or levitation. Longsting spells required to be controlled by their caster¡¯s will, but magical items had no will of their own, they could only turn on and off the spells they were imbued with.

    Much to Lith¡¯srades¡¯ dismay, chore magic became more and more relevant over time. Earth magic was crucial to cross quagmires or walk through muddy fields without leaving traces.

    Water magic allowed to more easily wade rivers, or in Lith¡¯s case to walk on water, and could be used as an invisible umbre offering protection against rain, snow, or hail.

    Soon Lith¡¯s skills in both hand to handbat and swordsmanship were outmatched by his instructors¡¯. He wasn¡¯t surprised nor disappointed by finding himselfcking. He had joined the army to learn how to fight and it was finally starting to teach him something.

    The worst part for him was the team exercises. They were meant to build trust and teamwork between the members of the same unit, but they only resulted in Lith drifting more and more apart from the others.

    He didn¡¯t trust them and they didn¡¯t trust him. Lith was like the moon to them, cold and distant. Something they could look at but never reach. He had no weakness the unit could help him ovee.

    When unitspeted against each other and he received the role of scout, Lith would single handedly wipe out the enemy team. If he was assigned the role of rearguard, instead, even if the unit made grave mistakes, he would be the sole survivor.

    The drill Sergeants soon considered him a scourge rather than a monster. He was the living proof that everything they taught to the other cadets was a lie. Teamwork, trust, and hard work were useless against an overwhelmingly strong opponent.

    Life Vision allowed him to spot his opponents, no matter how good they were at hiding. Magic wands and chore magic were more than enough to snipe enemies from a distance before they even understood what was happening to them.

    "He has no care for the unit nor for the lives of his teammates." Sergeant Tepper exined to Berion, the boot camp Commander.

    "I think he is a liability. A dangerous individual that has nothing to offer to the Kingdom. I swear it on my stripes, sir. To watch into his eyes is like staring into the abyss. There¡¯s nothing inside. My opinion is that Lith 1416 should be deemed unfit for service."

    Berion sighed. He liked people like Tepper. Honest, hard working men that put their Country above everything else. Yet they failed to see the bigger picture.

    "Does he get the job done?" Unlike the Sergeant, the Commander had ess to Lith¡¯s personal file. He liked it. A lot.

    "Sir, it¡¯s not a matter of sess or failure..."

    "Really?" Berion cut him short. He pinched his nose, trying to stop the migraine he experienced every time someone spouted bullsh*t too big for him to bear with a smile on his face.

    "So, if tomorrow the Royals are in danger, it¡¯s not a matter or sess or failure? If we find Balkor¡¯s hideout it¡¯s not a matter of sess or failure? Are you insane, Sergeant? I asked you a question, does he get the job done or not?"

    The Commander didn¡¯t stand up dramatically, he didn¡¯t even raise his voice. He simply stared at Tepper like at a dumb kid after one question too many.

    "Yes, he does." The Sergeant replied swallowing his pride.

    "Then this conversation is over. As long as he doesn¡¯t show violent tendencies or a defiant attitude toward the Kingdom, I don¡¯t see any reason to dismiss him. I¡¯m eager to see how he performs during the field test."

    ***

    Leegaain, the father of all Dragons and Guardian of the Gorgon Empire¡¯s area, had his fair share of troubles too. Ever since they had found and destroyed the Master¡¯sb located under the Blood Desert, the three great Countries had been spared from the Abomination threat.

    Leegaain had never underestimated the Master, not even during that four years long absence.

    ¡¯We have no way to know if they were licking their wounds or simply had moved from one ce to another. The only thing I can do is to keep my eyes open and prepare for the worst.¡¯ Leegaain thought.

    ¡¯Thanks to my help, Tyris is almost done rebuilding the two missing power cores. Once they arepleted, the Griffon Kingdom will be once again properly protected and she will fulfill her end of the bargain. With her assistance, my research could bear countless fruits.

    ¡¯As for Sark, I was skeptical of her decision at first, but I must admit that keeping Balkor alive was the right thing to do. His expertise in handling Abominations makes him a perfect assistant in my work.

    ¡¯Now my only question is: why has the Master returned right now? It¡¯s because they have finallypleted a newb or because they fear us no longer? Only time will tell.¡¯

    "I never expected you to be so devious." Milea, the Magic Empress of the Gorgon Empire and Leegaain¡¯s only disciple was overjoyed.

    "You didn¡¯t bring me to the White Griffon to show me the ve items, not the Abomination hybrid. You wanted me to see an academy through your eyes!"

    "One thing does not exclude the other, kid." Leegaain grinned.

    "Those who don¡¯t learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. I brought you there for several reasons, but you are right. The academy was the most important of them. Now you know how the Kingdom achieved such longsting peace."

    "How long will it take toplete our first academy?" Ever since that day, Milea had used even her personal funds to start the research project. She couldn¡¯t believe that she just like all her predecessors had been so blind to never notice the difference between a school of magic and an academy.

 Chapter 352 Extinction Part 1

    Until Nalear¡¯s attack, Milea had always thought that the six big academies were just ostentatious schools of magic. The Gorgon Empire¡¯s schools produced the same amount of research, if not more, and they were also protected by several arrays.

    Sure, they couldn¡¯t host so many students at once, nor they could grant its staff rings or Ballots like the academies, but Milea had never found them reason enough to investigate them further.

    At least until she had seen with her own eyes the true meaning behind a power core.

    "Without someone who knows what they are doing? A century. Maybe two, if you are unlucky." Leegaain replied.

    "That long?" Milea fell on her throne with a thud. That wasn¡¯t the answer she was hoping for.

    "It¡¯s not like you are building a simple castle. You must first find a spell capable of imbuing every single stone, one at the time. Then all of them must bepatible with the power core and work in synergy.

    "What did you expect? You guys don¡¯t even know how to build a power core!" The Guardian scoffed at her impatience.

    "You should be happy that thanks to your longevity you¡¯ll be able to see itpleted, even if it takes three centuries. Your grandkids will surely be grateful for all your hard work."

    "Can¡¯t you help us? Even a little bit?" Milea scratched one of the scales on Leegaain¡¯s humongous neck, causing his tail to waggle uncontrobly.

    "First, I¡¯m not a dog." He replied even though his body begged to differ. "Second, no. I care about you, not your people. They can all die for what I care about. Also, this project will help you to find talented people or at least trustworthy ones.

    In the long run, you¡¯ll be able to discern those who truly understand the relevance of long term nning and those who are only sucking up to..."

    Leegaain was interrupted by his ownmunication amulet buzzing into his consciousness.

    "It can¡¯t be another summon from the Council. Two calls in four years would be an all time record. Nor can be Sark or Tyris. They are close enough to establish a mind link whenever they... What the heck?"

    Milea knew about the Council as well as about the odd rtionship the Guardians of the Garlen continent shared. She often wondered if they had an offspring together and if yes, what they would look like.

    "What¡¯s the matter, Leegaain?"

    "Fenagar is calling me. It never happened before, we hate each other guts." Seeing Milea¡¯s confused expression, he calmly exined to her their shared past while ignoring the ringing amulet.

    "He is one of the Guardians of the Jiera continent. His area of influence is right in from of mine. Only one ocean separates us." He snarled.

    "Only one ocean?" Milea chuckled.

    "He is still too close forfort. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because he started as a lizard too, or because his base elements are pr opposite to mine, water and earth. Bottom line, he is a Leviathan, a wingless ocean dragon, and we¡¯d rather fight to the death than be together in the same room for more than one minute."

    Leegaain finally tapped the white mana crystal on the amulet, letting a real life hologram of Fenagar¡¯s head appear in the throne room. The resemnce between the two dragons made Milea yelp in surprise.

    The only differences she was able to notice were that while Leegaain¡¯s scales were pitch ck and his eyes yellow, Fenagar¡¯s were respectively pristine white and blue. He even had horns on his head which resembled a crown, just like Leegaain.

    But Fenagar¡¯s had a different shape and size, with two massive curved hornsing out from his temples, giving the Leviathan a demonic looking. Unlike the Dragon, whose gaze was always calm if not loving to her, the Fenagar¡¯s eyes were filled with fury and malice.

    Even if it was just a hologram, Milea could almost feel the salty breeze of the ocean blowing on her face, right before the iing tide swallowed her.

    "What do you want, Fenagar?" Leegaain¡¯s voice snapped her out of her reverie.

    "I hoped for this day to nevere, Leegaain." The Leviathan hissed, keeping his eyes on his opponent.

    "Have you been attacked by Abominations too?"

    "I wish." Fenagar sighed. "I have bad news and worse news. The bad news is that the human race on the Jiera continent is almost extinct."

    "What?" Milea and Leegaain shouted as one.

    "Don¡¯t worry. It didn¡¯t happen because of Abominations, Fallen races, or Evolved Monsters. Humans did it to themselves. One of the most powerful Countries of Jiera, the Torin Kingdom, developed a biological weapon. A gue, to be precise.

    "Their n was to unleash it on their enemies and kill whoever didn¡¯t submit to their rule. The idea was good, but the execution poor. Once the other countries realized what was happening, they used their dead to poison the enemy¡¯s wells andnds.

    "The gue spread through the Torin Kingdom as well while it was surrounded from every side until it was toote. The infection was faster than the Healers could cure it or mes destroy it.

    "You can imagine the rest. Now only talented Healers, Awakened ones, and their families remain."

    "And you stood there and did nothing?" Milea asked.

    "What was I supposed to do, child? Take over the kingdom? Kill everyone who knew about the gue?" Fenagar chuckled.

    "I serve Mogar. I serve only the bnce. I don¡¯t care about who lives or not. Even if I intervened, they would have called me a tyrant and started over once I left. You can¡¯t stop an idea with violence, only try to prove it wrong and that¡¯s what I did together with the other Guardians.

    "We warned them, but they didn¡¯t listen. We even caused a small outbreak before they implemented their n, hoping they would realize the immense risks it carried. They buried their dead and moved on as nothing had happened. For the greater good, they said."

    "You have yet to answer me." Leegaain snorted. He didn¡¯t care for the Gorgon Empire, let alone for the people of another continent.

    "Your pet interrupted me!" Fenagar roared in outrage. "I was just politely answering. I called to inform you that the royal family of the Torin Kingdom is currently sailing towards your turf. Together with their magicians, a small army, and the gue to which they are all immunized."

    "Why the heck did you let them go?" Milea¡¯s eyes brimmed with rage and mana at the thought of the danger her people were about to face.

    "I like your sass, little human pet." Fenagar chuckled. "I did it for your master. He is a collector of endangered species and forgotten knowledge. I thought no one better than him could decide if there¡¯s something worth salvaging."

    "First, Milea is not my pet. She is my apprentice." Leegaain voice was calm as Milea was enraged.

    "Then excuse my rude words, Milea. I¡¯ll remember your name." Fenagar apologetically tilted his head, shocking Milea. She had never heard a Guardian apologize before.

    "Second, thanks for the information. I know you didn¡¯t have to inform me. How many are they? Where I can find them?"

 Chapter 353 Extinction Part 2

    "Around two hundred ships. They are crossing our borders right now, near Dead Ind. You can¡¯t miss them." Fenagar¡¯s image disappeared, leaving the two alone again.

    "What are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go!" Milea kicked one of Leegaain¡¯s scales, prompting him to get up.

    "What are you nning to do?"

    "Kill them all, what else? If they get close enough to our coasts, they could Warp Steps into the Gorgon Empire. I can¡¯t allow the maniacs who created such a gue into mynds.

    "Not knowing they are insane enough to carry it with them instead of destroying it. I¡¯d say their intent is clear. They don¡¯t seek asylum, they want newnds to start over. Well, not on my watch."

    Milea dispatched several instructions, setting her fleet to sail with the order of sinking every shiping from the Jiera continent, no matter the cost.

    "What about the gue?" Leegaain asked.

    "I had enough with the one from the Griffon Kingdom. It has to be destroyed. I¡¯m not going to spare anyone willing to spread such madness."

    "Then you¡¯ll have my help."

    Less than an hourter, the Torin Kingdom was extinct for good.

    ***

    Lith¡¯s boot camp.

    After countless hours of training andbat simtions against other units, it was time for the recruits to perform their first field test. Sergeant Tepper appeared confident and rxed as usual, but him not insulting them even once spoke volumes about how serious the situation was.

    "Even though you are cadets, you are still part of the army. Our Griffon Kingdom has been blessed by centuries of peace, so aside from the troops stationed at the borders, the army¡¯s main job is to guarantee the safety of our citizens.

    "Sometimes a local Lord can need our help against rioting citizens or get rid of organized crime. More frequently, we are called to exterminate monsters. They are usually stronger than humans, spawn fast, and destroy everything on their path.

    "Every time a mercenary group is called to clean our mess is a dishonor for the Crown and the army alike. The reason why the mercenary guild exists is that we can¡¯t be everywhere at a moment¡¯s notice.

    "We do not have enough soldiers to cover the whole Kingdom. Too many people prefer to make a quick buck at the expense of the weak rather than dedicate their lives to the service of others. If you are one of those people, the army is the wrong ce to be." Tepper looked straight at Lith, who remained unfazed as usual.

    "When we are called for help, we must be fast, ruthless, efficient. Monsters are able to proliferate only in the absence of magical beasts. That¡¯s why killing one without reason is a crime.

    "Magical beasts are smart creatures, able toprehend and speak the humannguage, so if you meet on,e ask for its assistance rather than attack it. Monsters rarely act alone, that¡¯s why we operate in units.

    "Monsters are efficient, learn from their mistakes, and their system is merit-based. You¡¯ll never met azy a*s spoiled monster because they die first. To beat them, we need to be better than them.

    "We may be weaker, but our training and equipment give us an edge they¡¯ll never have. Most monsters are unable to use magic and even the few that do are usually limited to spells from tier one to three.

    "That¡¯s not reason enough to underestimate them. Monsters reach adulthood in a matter of weeks, while it took you sixteen years to be cadets. Today we¡¯ll discover if you have what it takes to be an active soldier, a paper pusher, or if you¡¯ll be sent back home with a gift wrap."

    Tepper gave each one of them an enchanted uniform together with a dimensional ring, several kinds of magic wands and potions. After they changed and stored everything into their rings, the briefing continued.

    "Today you have to face the most human like among the monsters. We are about to attack a recently established tribe of orcs."

    While some of hisrades gasped in surprise, Lith essed Soluspedia. ording to lore, orcs were a corrupted race that descended from elves, but since no one had ever met an elf, Lith skipped the lore and went straight to the important part.

    Orcs were humanoid creatures, with an average height of 1.8 meters (5¡¯11"). They were gifted from birth with a physique that dangerously reminded Lith of his own after experiencing several breakthroughs.

    They were stronger, faster, and sturdier than humans. Their skin was naturally resistant to most elements and they would hardly get sick. Rarely an orc would disy a talent for magic, but when it happened, the creature would disy incredible abilities.

    ¡¯Great!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯So far this is the most dangerous race of monsters I have ever met. Based on what¡¯s written in the bestiary, they seem naturally close to Awakened ones. I¡¯d better keep my head empty and my eyes open against them.¡¯

    Unlike humans, they were all bald, even the females. Their skin was brown as tree bark and almost as hard. Orcs also had enhanced senses that made it difficult taking them by surprise and were able to disy short bursts of explosive strength or speed.

    "Before exining to you the nature of our opponents, I need to ask you a few questions. Be honest because your survival depends on it. How many of you have fought for their lives in the past?" Four out of ten hands were raised.

    "How many of you have already met a monster?" Only one hand remained.

    "How many of you have ever killed something that wasn¡¯t game?" Same as before.

    "Really? What exactly?" Lith¡¯s hand once again frustrated Tepper¡¯s speech.

    Everything the Sergeant did, from the insults to the groundless punishments was to give them amon enemy. Someone to hate, to make them all feel equal during their hardships and form bonds of camaraderie that would help them survive actualbat.

    By knowing each other they were supposed to be able to always have each other¡¯s back, increasing their odds of survival. Even that series of questions were meant to make them realize how little they knew about the world around them.

    That was the point of the whole field test against humanoid monsters. They needed to feel the fear and learn how to conquer it. To realize if they were capable of taking a life. It was a critical moment in a cadet¡¯s training.

    Yet Lith¡¯s flexing made it look like a joke.

    "Magical beasts, humans, goblins, ogres, Abominations, Evolved Monsters, and undead." He replied.

    "What?" The unit and the Sergeant said in unison.

    "My body count is 137 if anyone¡¯s interested." Lith said with a shrug.

    Mentioning Evolved Monsters was a tell big enough to allow Tepper to solve the riddle that had pestered him in thest months. A few years ago, there had been a rumor going around of a student of the White Griffon ying a wyvern with a powerful sword.

    That very same student had even received a family name from the King himself, who had let known far and wide about how he hoped the student would have a brilliant future in the army.

    ¡¯Thank the gods I spoke with Commander Berion before flunking him.¡¯ Sergeant Tepper was inwardly panicking.

    ¡¯Otherwise, it would have cost me my career, if not my life!¡¯

 Chapter 354 Conundrum Part 1

    Sergeant Tepper hid his surprise behind his usual strict expression while the rest of the unit sneered at Lith¡¯s words. They were all ofmoner origin and with no ess to information regarding what happened in the rest of the Kingdom.

    They had never heard about Balkor or about Nalear¡¯s assault on the White Griffon, hence they took Lith¡¯s im as an attempt to impress theirmanding officer.

    "You and what army?" Vipli¡¯s snarky remark made the whole unitugh.

    Tepper inwardly sighed at their ignorance, but at the same time found no reason to correct them. Lith didn¡¯t seem to mind their mistrust, while the atmosphere had be more rxed.

    ¡¯Their mutual spite has only one downside: until they find amon ground, I have to think as I¡¯mmanding two different units at once. Lith can¡¯t coordinate with the rest of the cadets because he is the one they hate. Themon enemy that binds them together.¡¯ Tepper thought.

    "Onest question. Who among you thinks to be able to lead the unit?" For once, Lith¡¯s hand remained down. Only Vipli and Nhilo raised their arms.

    "Very good. Nhilo, you¡¯ll be my second inmand. You are promoted to the rank of Corporal until the end of the mission." Vipli was disappointed whereas Nhilo was brimming with joy, but neither of them let it show on their faces.

    They simply replied with a: "Sir, yes sir!"

    "Why do you think I chose you, cadet Nhilo?" Tepper asked.

    "Because Vipli is our second best scout. His skill set is more suited for the frontlines while I have no particr strong suit aside from my tactical knowledge." Tepper nodded at her reply.

    ¡¯Good girl. Smart enough to recognize her limits as well as those of herrades. She didn¡¯t even attempt to berate Lith, acknowledging him as the best scout instead.¡¯ He thought.

    The Sergeant then assigned to each member of the unit their role. To no one¡¯s surprise, Lith received once again the role of the rear guard. Aside from Nhilo, everyone else sniggered.

    They thought he was being punished for his lie since the rear guard was considered the most boring and useless job.

    "There¡¯s nothing tough about!" She scolded them. "The rear guard is one of the most vital roles. His duty is to cover our backs and make sure that if something goes wrong, we have a clear retreat path."

    Liwell was about to reply, but Tepper¡¯s cold re stopped him in his tracks. Only then he realized she was now hismanding officer too. They were no longer peers and his words could have been taken as insubordination.

    Tepper briefed them about the orcs¡¯ strong and weak points before taking out from his dimensional amulet a whole rack full of weapons of every kind.

    "Take whatever you think you might need."

    Lith took for himself a few throwing daggers, a short sword, and a bastard sword.

    After everyonepleted their equipment, the Sergeant led them out of the boot camp and inside the woods. They marched for a few hours before he made them stop for a brief rest.

    "We are very close now. Our scouts inspected the ce a couple of days ago and reported that the tribe should consist of no more than twenty orcs, children included. Our duty is to kill them all, no matter the age or gender. Am I clear?"

    After everyone nodded, Tepper continued.

    "Male and female orcs are equally strong. Orc elders are not like your usual grandpa, they are seasoned warriors and what theyck in strength they made up in skill. Any faulty member of the tribe bes their dinner, so you¡¯ll only fight against dangerous enemies.

    "If you underestimate the orcs, you¡¯ll die. This is your mission, so you are on your own. I¡¯m only here to supervise, not to help. If you screw up, I¡¯ll do my best to save you. If you royally screw up, there¡¯s only so much I can do. Keep that in mind."

    The Sergeant handed Nhilo a map of the region, giving her the opportunity to use all the information at hand toe up with a battle n.

    "Sir, I request permission to leave the HQ to perform my duty." Lith stood in front of Nhilo, speaking with his usual t voice.

    "We have yet to move, so there is no need for a rear guard. Permission de..." The words died in her mouth as soon as Nhilo realized what was happening.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time she was picked as the team leader and Lith had never wasted her time before.

    "How many of them?" She corrected herself.

    "Three from behind, three from the front." His words made everyone flinch, even the Sergeant. "They areing from our 10, 12, 2, 4, 6, and 8. We¡¯ll be surrounded in less than a minut..."

    "He¡¯s just bullsh*tting us! There¡¯s no one around." Vipli felt outraged. He had stood guard from the top of a tree the whole time while Lith had strolled around the area. There was no way someone could sneak past him that easily.

    "Permission granted." Nhilo ignored him. "Do you need backup?"

    Lith shook his head before darting away. Despite he was running, his boots produced no noise. He was using a mix of air and earth magic to make his steps light like a falling petal.

    ¡¯Does he get the job done?¡¯ The words of Commander Berion echoed in Tepper¡¯s mind while he was climbing the nearest tree to assess the situation. He had not assigned the role of scout to Lith only to avoid him soloing the mission.

    "Lith is right, they areing from every direction." Tepper said leaving Vipli dumbstruck.

    "What are your orders, Corporal?" The situation wasn¡¯t that bad.

    Worst case scenario, Tepper could easily handle three trolls. His intervention would mark the team failing the field test, but cadets had much more to learn from a defeat rather than from a victory. Especially from an undeserved one.

    "Everyone, battle formation eleven." The unit followed Nhilo¡¯s order, assuming a circr formation and holding their lightning wands ready to fire. She led them to the nearest clearing, leaving the enemies no ce to hide.

    Such a spot would also bring out the maximum potential of the wands¡¯ long range attacks.

    ¡¯Their faces were priceless.¡¯ Lith grinned. ¡¯Being thest in line also means I can use Life Vision with no risk of being discovered. I always avoid a fair fight when possible. Solus, is there something I should know?¡¯

    ¡¯No arrays nor any surveince spell.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯You can go all out if you want. There are no witnesses since the rest of the unit remained behind.¡¯

    Lith nodded, taking the army¡¯s bastard sword out of the dimensional ring. He circled around the orc to kill it with a surprise attack.

    ¡¯I wish I could take one alive and experiment on them. If I¡¯m right and these creatures are naturally close to the Awakened state, there is no telling how much I could learn from them.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed.

    As always, he had so many things to do and so little time.

 Chapter 355 Conundrum Part 2

    Lith was now moving a few centimeters above the ground, using air magic to float and prevent the enemy from detecting his presence. He even used darkness magic to cancel his own smell.

    Yet, as soon as he obtained a clean line of sight, Lith noticed the orc staring back at him with eyes filled with mana. It was a male, slightly shorter than Lith. He was armed with a heavy stone club and was only wearing pants made of orc¡¯s skin.

    In the orcs¡¯ society, the weak were nothing but livestock.

    ¡¯What the heck? I always moved while keeping myself hidden behind trees or vegetation. There¡¯s no way he could know my position, unless...¡¯

    Lith activated Life Vision again, noticing that the enemy¡¯s mana was moving from his eyes to his free left hand. The orc waved his hand, releasing a wind de towards Lith¡¯s neck.

    At such a short range, it was fast and powerful enough to decapitate an opponent unaware of the existence of true magic. Lith had no problem going under the de while using spirit magic to break the orc¡¯s neck.

    Unfortunately, it had no effect.

    ¡¯My usual rotten luck.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. ¡¯First, the f*cker employed some kind of Life Vision, then he used a tier two true spell, and now this? Why do I always find champions instead of regr grunts? Core color?¡¯ He asked Solus.

    ¡¯Deep yellow but definitely Awakened.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯This orc must be one of those the bestiary refers to as "disying incredible abilities".¡¯

    The orc didn¡¯t like Lith being taller than him. In his society size meant strength and strength meant survival. Seeing a feeble human surpassing him meant hate at first sight. When Lith easily dodged the air de, hate turned into rage.

    The orc swung his club in a wide arc that started above his head and ended at Lith¡¯s feet causing a thundering noise. Lith sidestepped, avoiding the telegraphed attack and stabbing the opponent¡¯s heart at the same time.

    The orc grunted, activating earth fusion to stop the sword in its tracks. He contracted his strong muscles which together with his thick ribcage formed a rock hard defense. Lith reacted by infusing himself with fire magic, piercing both like paper.

    The boost granted by the yellow core was nothingpared to the one from Lith¡¯s bright cyan one.

    The creature died with a shocked expression on his face while releasing a foul smell. The sword had not only robbed the orc of his life, but also of the control over his bowels.

    ¡¯What the heck does this mean?¡¯ Lith could see the creature¡¯s life force fading away, yet the mana flow was increasing. He kneeled near the corpse, using Invigoration to get a grasp of the phenomenon.

    ¡¯Amazing!¡¯ Solus eximed. ¡¯Somehow the life force is being converted into mana instead of going to waste. The question is: to what end?¡¯

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care.¡¯ Lith decapitated the creature, just to be safe, before storing it inside the dimensional ring.

    As soon as the head was removed, all the umted mana departed from the body in the form of a yellow dart. It flew above the trees disappearing at the speed of light.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡¯ Solus was shocked. ¡¯Usually when someone dies, their core leaks mana until it turns grey and disappears. This time, instead, it grew in power before releasing arge amount of mana and turning red at once.

    ¡¯Only then the core started leaking mana.¡¯

    ¡¯What does this mean?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know. Otherwise I would have said that it makes sense.¡¯ Solus¡¯s thoughts oozed sarcasm

    ¡¯One down, two more to go. I hope they let me keep the body. Maybe we could learn something from it.¡¯ Lith thought while activating Life Vision just in time to notice the other two orcs converging on him.

    Lith took out a couple of wands, floating above the ground again to hide his movements. Yet once more the enemies seemed to see through the vegetation, following him with ease.

    ¡¯Orcs do not use magic my pale a*s!¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. ¡¯Either I¡¯m the unluckiest man alive or there¡¯s something terribly wrong here. Solus, what color are their cores?¡¯

    ¡¯Deep yellow and orange.¡¯ She replied.

    Lith stopped wasting mana trying to be stealthy and used it to infuse himself with several elements at once instead.

    The orcs used their natural abilities and air fusion to boost their speed, but they were still unable to keep up with Lith¡¯s pace. Physically they were equal, but the gap between their cores was too big.

    Lith focused on the weaker orange cored orc first. Ice spears from the first wand pierced the orc¡¯s body while lightning bolts from the other wand traveled through the ice, striking directly the internal organs.

    Lith used wands instead of spells to not waste mana and make his victories more believable.

    The yellow cored orc suffered the same fate. Even knowing Lith¡¯s strategy, there was nothing the creature could do to stop him. Both the corpses released a dart of light before they could be stored inside the dimensional ring.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡¯ Now it was Lith¡¯s turn to be shocked.

    ¡¯Whatever these creatures were, they weren¡¯t Awakened. I was wrong before. That wasn¡¯t a tier two wind de, that was simply a boosted chore magic spell. All three orcs didn¡¯t use a single proper spell. It¡¯s like they never practiced magic before.

    ¡¯Also, why I couldn¡¯t store any of the bodies until the umted mana departed?¡¯

    ¡¯I have a crazy theory.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Crazy is better than nothing.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯What if those creatures were just normal orcs? What if somehow, they borrowed those powers and after their deaths, the mana returned to its rightful owner? It would exin why the mana was "alive" and where it did go.¡¯

    ¡¯Only one way to be sure. We have to rush back to the unit and check the remaining three orcs.¡¯ Lith started to move even before their telepathic conversation was over. Killing the orcs had taken him less than a minute, so he considered unlikely for hisrades to be dead.

    He was right. When Lith arrived, the battle was still ongoing and the cadets were winning. Nhilo¡¯s decision to move the unit to the clearing had allowed them to keep the orcs at bay.

    The cadets had used earth wands to build obstacles and trenches that made it impossible for the orcs to get close without getting caught by barrages of spells. As Lith had imagined, with their weak cores and only chore magic at their disposal, the orcs were sitting ducks at long range.

    Fusion magic allowed them to tank part of the damage, but their defeat was only a matter of time. Tired and frustrated, the creatures sought shelter inside one of the trenches. They took each other¡¯s hand, allowing the energies inside themselves to resonate in unison.

    Solus looked at their cores getting stronger and stronger. She was uncapable of believing her own mana sense.

    ¡¯That¡¯s our thing!¡¯ The shock prevented her from being clearer.

    ¡¯The orcs are bing one!¡¯ She said only making Lith even more confused.

 Chapter 356 Demons Part 1

    ¡¯What the heck does it mean "the orcs are bing one"?¡¯ Lith hated when things went beyond hisprehension. Sadly, it happened most of the time he was forced to risk his life.

    ¡¯Are they writing "doing a threesome" off their bucket list, merging into a three headed creature, or what?¡¯

    ¡¯Gross times two!¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯I mean their cores are resonating, just like we do sometim... Wait, I stand corrected! Only one core is actually getting stronger, the other two stabilized already. It¡¯s easier if I show you.¡¯

    Solus shared her recent memories, allowing Lith to see that the three orcs were even weaker than the ones he had killed earlier. Two had an orange core and only one orc had a yellow core.

    ¡¯Clearly the orcsing from the front are just a diversion.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯This exins why they are still so far. They were expecting theirpanions to strike from behind. By now the orcs have realized something went wrong and are changing their tactic ordingly.¡¯

    He could see with Solus¡¯s mana vision that after the orcs¡¯ cores started resonating, one of the orange cores had been promoted to yellow and was quickly advancing toward bing green.

    ¡¯Why boost an orange core when they have a yellow one avable?¡¯ Lith pondered.

    ¡¯The female they are overdosing with mana is even the weakest among the three.¡¯

    It took just a second for Lith and Solus to understand the meaning of such an action. Orcs were a utilitarian race. Each member of the tribe was but a tool to an end for its leaders.

    The cadets didn¡¯t stand idly, not giving the orcs a second of respite. As soon as their enemies disappeared inside the trench, the cadets used their wands to unleash a hail of ice spikes to smoke them out.

    Lith could see with Life Vision that the life force of the orcs was dropping fast. They had to act soon, before they became corpses. Lith took his earth wand from the dimensional ring, ready to counter whatever the suicidal orc had in mind.

    The creature jumped out of the trench covered in blood, yet at the same time, the deep green aura enveloping her body made the orc appear majestic and dangerous.

    "Take it down!" Nhilo ordered.

    The cadets obeyed their Corporal. They focused their aim on the standing orc, who darted forward like a bullet. She was now almost too fast for them to see. The female orc danced around the obstacles set in her course with the grace of a ballerina and the speed of a cheetah.

    "Switch to lightning! Ice it¡¯s too slow."

    So far, Sergeant Tepper was proud of Nhilo¡¯s performance.

    ¡¯These kids sure have rotten luck. Facing a tribe with a shaman can be a real hassle even for veterans. If it was a big tribe, that is. ording to our scouts, there are only twenty orcs.

    ¡¯Three are already dead and if the unit doesn¡¯t screw up, the tribe will soon be down to fourteen members. The cadets might be able to wipe the tribe out. It would do wonders for their careers.¡¯

    Tepper looked briefly at Lith.

    ¡¯How did he manage to kill three orcs that fast and without a scratch?¡¯ He thought while hearing Commander Berion¡¯s voice echoing in his head over and over.

    ¡¯Does he get the job done?¡¯

    The cadets needed but a moment to switch their wands. Yet as soon as the hail stopped, the orc was able to move unimpeded. She leaped forward, to cross all the trenches at once and reach her targets.

    It was a simple but effective n. Also, it was exactly what Lith had been expecting the whole time.

    ¡¯What a moron! Once you leave the ground, you can¡¯t change direction or speed anymore.¡¯ Lith thought while erecting a stone wall in front of the female orc, who crashed into it with enough strength to broke her nose, jaw, and skull at once.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t let your guard down!¡¯ Solus warned him. ¡¯Her core is still in overload. It¡¯s going to blow up any second!¡¯

    ¡¯Who do you take me for?¡¯ Lith scoffed. ¡¯I never let my guard down until the monster is dead.¡¯

    He kept waving his wand, creating three more walls that trapped the still confused orc, leaving her only one predictable way out.

    "Fire in the hole!" Nhilo ordered and the unit executed.

    The four walls created by Lith formed an enormous chimney. All the cadets threw a Fire Roots, the Alchemic equivalent of a concussion grenade, into its hole. None of the Fire Roots missed the target.

    The resulting explosion made the stone walls crumble, burying the orc under a ton of rubble. After an orange light departed from under the rocks, the two remaining orcs came out of their hiding spot and kneeled with their faces on the ground.

    "Good job, Corporal." Tepper nodded. "Now kill thest orcs and finish the job."

    A long moment of silence followed the order. The orcs were monsters who had tried to kill them until a second ago, but they were now surrendering. The unit¡¯s hesitation onlysted that long before they unleashed a barrage of spells that butchered the helpless creatures.

    Blood, guts, and excrements flew everywhere.

    "Killing them from a distance was the right move, but the next time only use lightning bolts for the finishing touch. Ice magic always makes a mess." Tepper said. Lith was about to collect the corpses when the Sergeant stopped him.

    "Nice move trapping the enemy like that, Cadet Lith. How did you know the orc was going to blow itself up?"

    "I didn¡¯t." Lith lied. "I just wanted to stop her movements."

    "A good call anyway." Tepper nodded. "Change of ns, Cadets. What you have just seen is proof that the tribe has a shaman. An orc shaman is more than a simple mage. With the right tools, it can greatly enhance the strength of the whole tribe.

    The effects of their magic are only temporary, just like our potions. Yet even a single shaman can turn a small tribe in a force to be reckoned with. Each orc bes stronger, faster, and can use chore magic with enough power to make it deadly.

    Also, as you got this close to experiencing it on your skin, they can turn their weakest members into powerful bombs. Since we don¡¯t have mages on our side..." Tepper stared at Lith during thest phrase.

    "...you have the right to ask considering the mission sessfullypleted. Killing a shaman is way beyond the purpose of the field test. One or more of you could get killed if you face them without a good n.

    On the other hand, you can also decide to continue the mission. Make your choice."

    While the unit discussed the matter at hand, Lith stored the two corpses away.

    "We want to continue the mission, Sir." Nhilo said. For the first time since the unit had been formed, they were happy having Lith by their side. Him single-handedly killing half the enemies had been a key factor in their decision.

    Tepper nodded, giving them new wands to rece their used ones.

    "In such a case, you¡¯ll need my help. I¡¯ll take care of the shaman, but you still have to deal with thirteen more orcs on your own."

 Chapter 357 Demons Part 2

    Chapter 357: Demons (Part 2)

    "I think it''s better if Lith acts as our scout together with Vipli, Sir." Nhilo said.

    "Why do you ask my permission, Corporal? Your mission, your rules." The Sergeant replied.

    "How many orcs can you face at once on your own?" Nhilo asked Lith.

    "Depends. Three if they are as weak as those you just killed. Two otherwise."

    Hearing Lith referring to the orcs as ''weak'' sent a shiver running down the Cadets'' spine. Tepper was really curious to see the corpses of those Lith had killed by himself, but it could wait until the end of the mission.

    "Based on the information we have and how fast the orcs spotted us, their camp should be nearby. Feel free to engage the enemy, but don''t get too far from us. If you spot anything suspicious, your first priority is to warn me. Are we clear?"

    Lith inwardly smiled. Seeing Nhilo acting tough reminded him of Phloria. The two girls couldn''t be more different, since Nhilo was just 1.6 meters tall with red hair and green eyes. Yet something in her tone made him recall a few happy memories.

    "Yes, Sir." Lith replied before disappearing into the woods.

    ''Judging by the Sergeant''s reaction, what we have seen so far isn''t anything special.''Solus thought.''I wonder why the bestiary was so vague about the shaman''s powers.''

    ''Probably because the author never met one.''Lith shrugged.''At the academy, we focused more on copying everything we could about specializations and magical ingredients rather than worrying about monsters.

    ''In the four years we spent there, we barely managed to get everything we needed about magic. Copying the whole library would have taken me a lifetime. Not to mention that Soluspedia isn''t that big.''

    The magical space that Lith called Soluspedia and that gave him instant ess to all the knowledge stored inside, had kept expanding as Solus regained her strength. Yet it was never enough.

    Between all the books Lith owned and his own grimoires, Soluspedia was always full to the brim.

    ''What really bothers me is how they managed to find us so far from their camp. I didn''t notice any array on our path. What about you, Solus?''

    ''Me neither, but I can''t keep mana sense always active. It consumes too much mana. I prefer to keep it for battle and perform sweeps from time to time.''She replied.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at the orcs'' settlement, Ragh''Ash the shaman was deeply worried. About an hour ago, his holy crystal had warned her about twelve humans closing in to their position. After blessing six of her best warriors with the power of the gods, she had eagerly waited for their return.

    Human meat was a delicacy and the women needed all the food they could get to increase the orcs'' numbers. Their Grey Wolf tribe had almost been wiped out by the Red Worm tribe whose shaman wanted Ragh''Ash''s hoy crystal for himself.

    Their victory had cost the Grey Wolf most of their warriors, so they had been forced to run away before the other tribes could exploit their weakened state.

    When the warriors returned, it wasn''t in the way Ragh''Ash was expecting. One after the other, the blessings she had bestowed upon the three greatest warriors of the tribe had reunited themselves with the holy crystal.

    Something had in them like they were flies. Before Ragh''Ash could seek the holy crystal''s guidance, the remaining three warriors she had sent had followed their war-siblings in their travel to the afterlife.

    "This doesn''t make sense!" (AN: tranted from orcish) Testa''Lhosh the war chieftain couldn''t believe his own eyes.

    "Six lives were sent to y our enemies and six lights returned. Are you sure they are humans? Only magical beasts can y orcs that fast."

    "Quite sure." Ragh''Ash replied."An hour ago they were still quite far, so my readings weren''t that urate. Let me try again."

    Ragh''Ash put her hands on the holy crystal, letting her mana flow into it. The holy crystal wasn''t actually a gift from the gods. It was simply a huge violet mana crystal the size of an adult human man.

    It was also the most sacred relic an orc tribe could possess. Before their Fall, orcs shared a deep connection with the mana crystals. So deep it survived even the self inflicted disaster that destroyed their ancient civilization.

    Through the violet crystal, Ragh''Ash''s mana was focused and amplified, to the point her Life Vision could sweep dozens of kilometers at once. There was only so much information her brain could process at once, so she would mistake her own perceptions for a vision sent from the gods.

    Over the centuries, their science had turned into superstition. Their bloodlust clouded their minds, leaving them forever crippled as a sentient race. Yet when a shaman was born, they would always be Awakened ones.

    Ragh''Ash now could perceive their enemies with much greater rity. They were ten humans and two¡­

    "Demons!" Ragh''Ash screamed in panic, almost fainting due to the shock.

    "Demons?" Testa''Lhosh shuddered in fear. ording to the lore, nondescript cruel demons had caused the fall of the orc race. It was totally not their fault. They were certain of it because their elders said so, before being eaten for dinner by their own grandkids.

    "You were right! Two of them are disguised as humans, but they are not. Neither they are beasts or other races. They can only be demons. One is the ckest night, with no stars or moon to light the way. The other is the brightest day, so pure and dazzling it almost blinded me."

    Ragh''Ash''s eyes were bloodshot from the effort of withstanding Solus''s light. Testa''Lhosh was a proud chieftain, there was almost nothing he was afraid of. Ragh''Ash''s words left him unfazed. For almost ten seconds.

    "There''s no time to lose! We must run for our lives!" Testa''Lhosh screamed when his brain realized the meaning of the shaman''s words. The chieftain had never met a demon, but he knew facing one meant death.

    It was what his own father told him before Testa''Lhosh turned him into a new pair of pants. The chieftain was really fond of them. He wore that skin just like his father did. It was practically a family heirloom.

    "No, we must stand our ground and kill them. The humans are weaker than our newborns and both demons are lesser ones. The ck one is weaker than me, while the white one is even weaker than you."

    Ragh''Ash shook her head while a cruel smile revealed her jagged teeth.

    "By feasting on their flesh and blood we''ll be able to break the curse that gues our race! The Grey Wolf will devour the whole world. With our ancient might back and the holy crystal, we''ll be unstoppable!"

    "Are you sure eating demons can cure our curse? It''s the first time I hear such a thing." Testa''Lhosh scratched his head in confusion. ording to the lore, there was no cure. The demons had made sure of it.

    "Of course I''m sure of it!" Ragh''Ash screamed in frustration.

    "My own mentor told me about it on his death bed." Before Ragh''Ash turned her into a bedside rug. It was more a dying curse than the passing of knowledge, but that''s another story.

 Chapter 358 Holy Crystal Part 1

    The Grey Wolf tribe only had twelve members remaining plus the chieftain and the shaman. Ragh¡¯Ash had to think carefully about their strategy. Albeit lesser demons, their enemies were still demons.

    Of the twelve orcs, four were just kids. Their bodies were yet to be able to endure the blessing of the holy crystal. The shaman decided to keep them close to her, so in case of emergency, she could turn them into living bombs and get rid of the tribe¡¯s enemies.

    ¡¯As long as the tribe has women, we can always have more children.¡¯ Ragh¡¯Ash thought. ¡¯The only things that matter to our survival is the holy crystal and breaking the curse. Everyone else is disposable.¡¯

    The shaman used the crystal once again. This time she didn¡¯t panic. Ragh¡¯Ash took her time to assess the enemy strength and position while using her knowledge of the territory toe up with a battle n.

    She was the only one capable of rational thought thanks to her Awakening. The others, just like Testa¡¯Lhosh, were mindless brutes, incapable of escaping the clutches of their base instincts.

    Against a smart enemy equipped with magical weapons like Sergeant Tepper¡¯s unit, the blessing of the holy crystal wasn¡¯t enough. She needed a foolproof n. Literally. Otherwise those morons would screw up and leave everything on her shoulders.

    ording to her readings, the demons and the humans were apart, even if not by much.

    ¡¯Sending more orcs would be just a waste of resources. I¡¯ll let theme here, where the powers of the holy crystal and my magic are at their peak. I¡¯ll leave the humans to the tribe while Testa¡¯Lhosh and I will take care of the demons.

    ¡¯The gods from above and from below are on our side. The two demons share the same body, making them a lesser threat than what I feared. We outnumber and outmatch them. Thanks to my new pet, our victory is already written in the stars.¡¯ Ragh¡¯Ash thought.

    ***

    Lith kepting closer to the orc settlement, yet he met no resistance whatsoever. There were a few trapsid on the ground, but they were devised against animals to get food, not against a real enemy.

    ¡¯Orcs are supposed to be stupid. They should have charged at us like mad bulls already.¡¯ Lith thought while using Life Vision to check his surroundings.

    ¡¯I guess a shaman is a real game changer.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯It¡¯s better to go back to the others and ask for more information. The Sergeant seemed to know more than what he told us. We should seek his advice.¡¯

    Lith mind nodded. He rushed back to the unit while Solus watched his back with mana sense, allowing him to move at full speed without any worry.

    "How many orcs did you kill?" Liwell asked with a big smile on his face. Lith was so used to their ill concealed scorn that it gave him the creeps.

    "None, that¡¯s why I returned. Something is wrong here. The orcs knew our position with enough precision to set an ambush, yet they aren¡¯t supposed to be able to use arrays." Lith said, leaving the unit confused.

    "What¡¯s an array?" They asked each other, receiving only a shrug in reply.

    "Also, they are supposed to be dumb. It that was true, they should either run away ore at us in full force. Yet nothing has happened. I feel like we are walking into a trap. Sergeant, could you please tell us what a shaman is capable of?"

    "Sometimes in battle, you¡¯re forced to face the unknown, Cadet Lith. A shaman is a rare creature, even adventurers have a vague knowledge of them. Only the army possess detailed records and I have already shared with you more than I should." Tepper replied.

    "As a fellow soldier, though, I can say that I think your observations are on point. The shaman seems smart enough to make use of their superior numbers. When you decided to continue the mission, you knew you would face a magician."

    ¡¯The whole unit is green and he wants to send us against an unknown enemy?¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Either he is overestimating himself or underestimating a magician.¡¯

    ¡¯Or maybe he is overestimating you.¡¯ Solus suggested. ¡¯I think that at this point he is sure you are a magician and the army rules allow you to use your powers in case of emergency. Probably the Sergeant thinks that the two of you are more than enough.¡¯

    ¡¯I wish I shared his optimism. Until I know what kind of core the enemy has or the kind of tricks they are capable of, the only thing I¡¯m sure of is that I can survive. I need to keep at least the Sergeant alive. Otherwise if the entire unit gets butchered, I could get med for it.¡¯

    The unit effortlessly advanced through the woods until Lith signaled them to stop.

    "It¡¯s a trap indeed." He said jumping down from a tree without making any noise.

    "The settlement has no guards and there are no signs of activity. The tribe consists of ten adults and four teenagers. Eight adults are spread outside what I presume is the shaman¡¯s tent and are armed to the teeth."

    "What about the mana crystal?" Sergeant Tepper asked with eyes full of expectation.

    "I saw no crystal." Lith lied. "Maybe it¡¯s inside the tent, I can¡¯t see through walls."

    ¡¯The bastard knows about the crystal!¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. Thanks to Life Vision and mana sense, Lith had now a clear idea of the enemy¡¯s strength. Hisrades had only one path to victory.

    If they managed to keep the orcs at bay they would win, otherwise it would be a ughter.

    Inside the tent, Lith had spotted a bright cyan cored orc that was likely to be the shaman, a very bulky individual at least two meters (6¡¯7") tall, and four children that seemed to be around twelve years old.

    Near to them, there was the biggest and most powerful mana crystal Lith had ever seen. He had hoped to keep its existence a secret to snatch it away during the fight. It was a priceless natural treasure with endless application to Lith¡¯s studies.

    "There has to be a mana crystal, otherwise the shaman couldn¡¯t empower other orcs." Tepper said. "Orcs consider them gifts from the gods, they would rather die than leave one behind. The Mage Association highly values orcs crystals.

    "They hope to understand the secrets of the shamans¡¯ powers by studying them. We have to retrieve it safely at all costs!"

    "What is our priority?" Lith asked. "Wiping out the orcs or retrieving the crystal?"

    "Your primary objective is to remain alive." Sergeant Tepper sighed. He had almost forgotten he was with cadets, not an elite force.

    "The secondary objective is to wipe out the orcs. If we do that, the crystal will fall into our hands."

    "What¡¯s a crystal?" Nhilo asked, relieving Lith from his burden.

    The more he learned about the orcs the more the mission appeared suicidal in his eyes. Sending the cadets forward without warning them about mana crystals would just add insult to the injury.

    Tepper briefly exined the unit the mana crystals¡¯ uses, properties, and vtile nature.

    "With all due respect, I don¡¯t think we can do it, Sir." Nhilo said after Lith draw her a rough sketch of the orc settlement and the enemy positions.

 Chapter 359 Holy Crystal Part 2

    "The orcs have the home advantage, are physically superior, and have a magician on their side. We can¡¯t set a trap without being noticed nor can we handle eight adults at once. Also, the children¡¯s position is highly suspicious.

    "I don¡¯t think they are close to the tent to keep them safe, but rather to use them as sacrifices. A single one could throw our formation into disarray and doom us all. Not to mention we cannot even bombard the shaman¡¯s tent without the crystal exploding."

    "I agree with your analysis, Corporal." Tepper nodded. "Their behavior is highly unusual, even for the presence of a shaman. The orcs were supposed to send another wave of warriors and attempt to escape after their second failed attack.

    "Orcs being cautious is almost unprecedented. They regard humans as food, not enemies. Yet they are acting as if they are afraid of us. We need reinforcements. Lith, you can use dimensional magic, right?"

    Lith nodded while watching hispanions¡¯ expression turn to a mix of surprise, envy, and hate. Tepper noticed it too.

    "He is not a noble. Lithes from a family of farmers. He became a magician thanks only to his own hard work. Show some respect." The Sergeant¡¯s words left everyone dumbstruck.

    To them meeting a magician ofmoner origins was like finding a unicorn under a rainbow with a pot of gold in its mouth.

    "Bring us back to the camp." Tepper ordered.

    Lith attempted to open a Warp Steps, but the dimensional door quickly became unstable, shattering before it was fully formed.

    "This is bad." Lith clicked his tongue. "Something like this has only happened to me once in the past. It means the orc shaman is preparing something big and powerful enough to upset the normal elemental bnce."

    ¡¯Solus, why didn¡¯t you warn me of the array?¡¯ Lith was surprised, it wasn¡¯t like her to make such a rookie mistake.

    ¡¯There is no array.¡¯ She exined. ¡¯Nor any significant disturbance in the world energy. Quite the contrary, the air is really quiet and the mana thin.¡¯

    ¡¯How thin?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Not much, but now that you mention it, there is something wrong.¡¯ Solus needed to focus her mana sense to the extreme to separate the world energy into the six elements thatposed it.

    ¡¯By my maker! This is exactly the opposite of what that wyvern did. There is no abundance of an element this time. The earth magic in the air is less than half of what it should be. I can see it being siphoned towards the orc encampment!¡¯

    "Do you mean you can¡¯t Warp us back?" Tepper inwardly cursed. Even if he called for reinforcements, it would take them too long to find the unit¡¯s actual position.

    "I think I can, but it will take time and effort. I need you to watch my back." Lith said to hisrades, but he meant those words for Solus alone. She was still tired from the overuse of her mana sense, yet Solus reassured him and kept watch.

    ***

    <"now, my="" warriors!="" receive="" the="" power="" of="" the="" earth="" god="" and="" be="" their="" avatars!"=""></"now,> Ragh¡¯Ash had used Invigoration though the mana crystal as if it were a part of her own body.

    With thebined effect of Invigoration and the natural ability of purple crystals to absorb the world energy, the shaman had collected an enormous amount of mana. Ragh¡¯Ash had called upon earth magic in particr, to make her pawns invincible.

    The world energy seeped into the warriors¡¯ mana cores, temporarily boosting them from the red level to the yellow one. Such unnatural status would have been their demise if not for the orcs¡¯ peculiar physiology.

    Their bodies contained very few impurities, allowing them to grow strong enough to withstand the power of an Awakened core, even if only temporarily. The crystal was a key element in the process.

    It was not only capable of storing the necessary world energy, but it also kept it pure. If Ragh¡¯Ash had attempted to give them her mana, it would be like poison to them. Only in its purest form could world energy be absorbed without being rejected.

    The earth elemental energy coursing through the warriors¡¯ bodies would double the effects of earth fusion, making them immune to lightning and resistant to all the other elements.

    Yet, it came with a price. Only the strongest orcs could survive their cores being enhanced not once, but twice. Ragh¡¯Ash could see energy cracks appearing on the skin of five out of the eight warriors she had blessed. They only had a few minutes left to live.

    ¡¯The weak can only me themselves.¡¯ Ragh¡¯Ash thought. ¡¯The demon¡¯s meat is too precious to be wasted on failures. Their death was only a matter of time.¡¯

    While the orcs charged towards the humans¡¯ position, the shaman and the chieftain followed them from a distance. Testa¡¯Lhosh carried the holy crystal on his back, while the ground emitted a low rumble wherever Ragh¡¯Ash stepped.

    ***

    "Orcs iing!" Vipli screamed on the top of his lungs from the top of a tree.

    Lith inwardly cursed while pushing his willpower to the limit topensate for theck of earth elemental energy with his own mana. Finally, the Warp Steps appeared, but instead of being static as usual, its edges spun like a buzz saw. They emitted sparks every time Lith sent new waves of mana to prevent it from copsing.

    One after the other, the cadets rushed through it until only Nhilo and the Sergeant were left.

    "We can¡¯t leave Lith behind! They will kill him!" As themanding officer, Nhilo felt it was her responsibility to remain behind with him.

    "That¡¯s why I¡¯ll stay here." Tepper said while throwing her through the Gate. "There¡¯s no need for us all to die."

    "Indeed!" Lith used spirit magic to push the Sergeant away before closing the Warp Steps. When Tepper¡¯s face hit the boot camp¡¯s ground, he wasn¡¯t angry. Quite the contrary, he was almost moved to the tears.

    "That idiot! Together we had a chance, alone he is as good as dead. Shamans can prevent an opponent from flying. Without Warp Steps, he has no way out. I misjudged Lith. He preferred to die a hero rather than see one of us die."

    He ran to the HQ to request immediate backup. With him as a guide, the mages would only need a few minutes to reach the orc encampment. He could only hope Lith would survive long enough for it to be a rescue mission instead of a revenge one.

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the crumbled Gate, Lith was overjoyed. He was wearing his Skinwalker armor again. The Gatekeeper sword was firm in his hand while Invigoration gave Lith back his strength.

    "With no witness messing with my ns, I can pretend to be a hero and get myself a purple crystal. Two birds with one stone."

    Lith took flight, weaving several spells at once just to be safe. Two orcs leaped toward him while swinging their weapons, only to be chopped in half like fresh fruit. Lith¡¯s flight spell made him even faster than he was with fusion magic, whereas the orcs were sitting ducks while in mid air.

    ¡¯Worst case scenario, I can rain spells from the skies until they are all dead or I can run away if the unexpected happens. Killing non flying opponents is child y.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He readied his sword for the second wave of enemies while pouring air magic into it to enhance its edge.

    Ragh¡¯Ash saw Lith descending upon her warriors and acted ordingly. Her hand touched the holy crystal, depriving the environment of the air element and causing the flight spell to fail. Lith crashed in the middle of the orcs who immediately surrounded him.

    <"where the="" gods="" walk,="" the="" humans="" die!"=""></"where> Ragh¡¯Ashughed.

 Chapter 360 Fair Fight? Part 1

    By watching the orc warriors¡¯ weaponsing down on the demon like they were the wrath of the heavens, Ragh¡¯Ash could almost smell the sweet scent of Lith¡¯s blood in the air.

    Which is why she was dumbfounded when a fireball exploded on the ground and sent the orcs surrounding Lith flying like leaves scattered by the autumn wind.

    <"how is="" that="" possible?"=""></"how> Ragh¡¯Ash blurted out in her stupor.

    Theck of air element prevented Lith from flying or casting powerful air spells, but there was more than enough to support a tier 0 gravity magic trick. Even the shockwave from a simple fireball was enough to buy him some space once his opponents had be weightless.

    ¡¯I think we are in trouble.¡¯ Solus was worried. ¡¯Theck of earth magic already prevented us from Blinking. Now even flight and lightning bolts are sealed. What if the shaman can seal the other elements too?¡¯

    ¡¯That¡¯s the bad news. The good news is the same applies to them.¡¯ Lith watched some orcs trying to produce air des, yet all they managed to do was waste their mana.

    ¡¯Their coordination is nonexistent. We¡¯ll see who runs out of tricks first.¡¯ Lith¡¯s hands moved so fast that for a second even the shaman only saw a blur. Then, a volley of fireballs and several ice spears darted toward the mana crystal.

    Ragh¡¯Ash attempted to raise a stone wall and failed.

    ¡¯Gods below! What have I done? I must protect the holy crystal!¡¯ She thought. She didn¡¯t have the time to nullify two elements and even if she did, it would make herpletely useless inbat.

    The only thing she could do was to push Testa¡¯Lhosh and the crystal away with spirit magic while shielding herself with the thickest ice wall she could produce in the little time she had left.

    She seeded in saving both the crystal and herself, but it came at a terrible price. Lith had timed the two spells so that the fireballs would hit first, shattering the ice protection he knew she would have employed, so that the ice spears would find a clear path to the enemy.

    Ragh¡¯Ash was alive, but barely. Chunks of her flesh were missing because of the explosions and several spears had struck her despite her raising walls one after another. She was already healing her wounds with Invigoration, but the aftereffects would leave her weakened nheless.

    ¡¯What an idiot!¡¯ Lith inwardlyughed. ¡¯ying dirty is a game two can y. I want the crystal badly, but not if it costs me my life. By attacking it, I can force the orcs on the defensive.¡¯

    The orcs rushed Lith again. The demon¡¯s sphemous act had pushed their rage to its peak, allowing their bloodlust to blind them. Exactly like Lith wanted. The orcs were a threat to his life only if they coordinated their efforts.

    They attacked him as if they were alone, giving no consideration to their ownpanions¡¯ movements. Without tactics, the orcs were just an annoyance. Their crude weapons were nothingpared to Gatekeeper, their boosted cores granted them feeble abilitiespared to Lith¡¯s bright cyan one when pushed to its limit.

    Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s n had only one w. Both she and Lith knew it, but only one of them could exploit it. Depriving the world energy of a specific element blocked the rted spells, but it couldn¡¯t affect fusion magic.

    Fusion magic didn¡¯t rely on external energy but on the elemental power its user naturally stored. Lith¡¯s air fusion could not only make him incredibly fast, but it was also channeled and amplified by the Gatekeeper¡¯s enchantment, boosting the sword¡¯s edge.

    A single sh was what it took to cleave an orc asunder, along with the ax with which he had attempted to block. A single lunge would go clear through its intended victim and beyond, wounding those stupid enough to be near its exit point.

    <"curse you,="" demon!"=""></"curse> screamed in anguish as she ripped off the head of one of their youths to consume his flesh to regain her strength. The fight had barely started, yet the number of her warriors had halved and she was gravely injured.

    Thanks to Invigoration, Ragh¡¯Ash was able to instantly assimte the food¡¯s nutrients and restore her strength. Testa¡¯Lhosh immediately ran to her side. The chieftain was visibly worried for her.

    Without the shaman, the tribe was as good as dead. The holy crystal would be a liability instead of a treasure. Testa¡¯Lhosh¡¯s life depended on her.

    <"the warriors="" will="" not=""st="" long="" without="" my="" help."=""></"the> Testa¡¯Lhosh said while delicately leaving the crystal by her side.

    <"do whatever="" you="" need,="" but="" try="" to="" keep="" me="" alive.="" you="" still="" need="" a="" man="" to="" have="" offspring."=""></"do> The chieftain didn¡¯t trust her more than he would a nest of vipers. His words were meant to remind the shaman that the survival of the Grey Wolf tribe needed at least two orcs.

    He didn¡¯t miss how Ragh¡¯Ash moved her gaze from him to the remaining three youths. There was still a male left, which meant she still had options. Inwardly cursing his bad luck, Testa¡¯Lhosh unsheathed his greatsword and joined the fray.

    Aside from the holy crystal, the chieftain¡¯s de was the only treasure of the Grey Wolf tribe that had survived the war. It was an enchanted weapon that had fallen into the orcs¡¯ hands after its previous owner had fallen into their stomachs.

    Ragh¡¯Ash nodded. Her powers activated the crystal once again, passing all the remaining energy she had stored within it to the chieftain. His core immediately turned from bright yellow to bright cyan, which Solus promptly reported to Lith.

    ¡¯For f*ck¡¯s sake! I hate fair fights!¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. Testa¡¯Lhosh was at least 20 centimeters (8") taller than Lith and 30 kg heavier. Thanks to his Awakened like body, those 30 kg were all muscles.

    Lith had no advantage against Testa¡¯Lhosh, aside from his own equipment and training. In terms of sheer physical strength, the chieftain was like an adult fighting a prepubescent teen.

    ¡¯How long until the bnce is restored?¡¯ Lith hated forcing Solus to consume her remaining mana, but he had no choice. Only when all of Lith¡¯s skills were online again he could safely terminate the orc tribe.

    ¡¯Earth is back to normal already. Air should support spells up to tier two.¡¯ Solus replied. She was already so weakened that only her natural senses remained. Solus decided to save the remainder of her mana for an emergency, just to be safe.

    She could have used Invigoration, but unlike Lith¡¯s, it required more time and was dependant on herpanion¡¯s status. Using it would not only leave herpletely helpless for a while, but could also destabilize Lith¡¯s mana flow.

    Solus couldn¡¯t stand by idly either, so she moved from Lith¡¯s mouth to his right hand and turned into her glove form. That way he could at least use her as a shield if the need arose.

    The greatsword gave Testa¡¯Lhosh the superior range, forcing Lith on the defensive. Their fusion magic was on par, so it was like neither was employing it. The chieftain was faster, stronger, and to make things worse he shouted orders that made the remaining orcs regain their sanity.

    Ragh¡¯Ash was now back on her feet, using the crystal to infuse one of the young female orcs until the youth screamed in agony. The shaman didn¡¯t trust the chieftain more than he trusted her. Ragh¡¯Ash wanted to win, no matter the cost.

 Chapter 361 Fair Fight? Part 2

    Meanwhile, the four remaining orcs surrounded Lith, threatening him with their weapons from every side. Their duty was to restrict the enemy¡¯s movements and create openings for the chieftain.

    ¡¯Five against five. Once again, I hate fair fights!¡¯ Lith thought while unleashing his Death Call spell. Four tentacles made of darkness magic came out from his body, targeting the orcs like sharks following blood in water.

    The warriors stood their ground, clubbing and shing at the tendrils only to see their weapons getting covered in cracks. Darkness magic wasn¡¯t tangible, but its hunger was real. To not get eaten, the four orcs were forced to step back whenever Lith came too close to them while dodging the chieftain¡¯s de.

    Before the boot camp, Lith would have had a hard time against an opponent such as Testa¡¯Lhosh. It still wasn¡¯t an easy fight, but the skill gap made it manageable. While the chieftain put all of his might behind each strike, Lith used his de to deflect the opponent¡¯s by using the least amount of strength possible.

    Between Death Call and Lith avoiding their mighty chieftain¡¯s blows by a thread, the orcs truly believed they were facing a demon. One of them had been grazed by the tentacles multiple times. The contact had sapped her strength and hastened her body¡¯s decay.

    The female orc¡¯s skin was full of cracks, she knew her death woulde in a matter of seconds. In her mind, the orc thought the demon was to me. She had no idea it was all her shaman¡¯s doing. The warrior threw herself against Lith, disregarding what little life she had left.

    The tentacles drained her life force and defused the explosion at the same time, but they weren¡¯t fast enough to prevent her from crashing against Lith and sending him towards the Chieftan¡¯s oing de.

    Cursing at his bad luck, Lith could only attempt a parry and watch it fail. Testa¡¯Lhosh¡¯s de shed with the Gatekeeper, moving it aside. The lunge had enough power left to pierce the Skinwalker armor and prate into Lith¡¯s flesh while breaking his corbone.

    Lith would have fainted from the shock if he had not cut off his pain receptors at thest second. His left arm was now limp, blood came out profusely from his shoulder. The only silver lining was that the energy robbed from the dying orc was already mending the wound.

    The problem was living long enough for it to matter.

    Testa¡¯Lhosh fearlessly pressed forward.

    ¡¯The demon is doomed.¡¯ The chieftain thought. ¡¯With only one hand and the blood loss sapping his strength, he can¡¯t avoid my de anymore.¡¯

    <"follow your="" sister¡¯s="" example!="" use="" the="" power="" of="" the="" gods="" to="" y="" the="" demon!"=""></"follow> Testa¡¯Lhosh yelled. Three orcs meant three more free shes, which equaled one dead demon. Easy math.

    Lith had no idea what the orc had just yelled, but when Solus warned him about another enemy doing a suicidal rush from behind his back, their n became evident. Lith knew what to do, but he couldn¡¯t afford to turn around, so he let Solus take the wheel.

    The moment before the orc was about to strike, a stone wall emerged from the ground, stopping the enemy and his weapon at once. The orc had no time to be surprised by Solus¡¯s timely use of the earth wand with spirit magic.

    The ethereal tentacles passed through a wall and seeped into his flesh, renewing Lith¡¯s strength at the expenses of the orc¡¯s life force.

    <"for the="" grey="" wolf!"=""></"for> Ragh¡¯Ash yelled at the youth. The little girls screamed in agony and frenzy, the only thing she could think of was making the pain stop. She rushed toward Lith with the speed of a bullet.

    The mana ravaging her body also gave her superhuman abilities. Lith and Testa¡¯Lhosh cursed at the shaman in unison. Neither wanted to die. Whereas Testa¡¯Lhosh saw only a death threat, Lith saw an opportunity instead.

    Lith grabbed the stone wall Solus had erected and used gravity magic to turn Testa¡¯Lhosh into the new center of gravity. The orc girl¡¯s feet leaped from the ground with great strength, almost making her fly but also leaving her exposed to gravity magic¡¯s effects.

    She found herself falling towards the chieftain while Solus erected a second wall right in front of Lith. It was meant to be used as a foothold and a shield at the same time.

    Testa¡¯Lhosh had no idea what was happening, so he dodged the iing bomb over and over, hoping to get rid of it. Yet the poor girl followed him like a curse.

    Realizing he was doomed, the chieftain grabbed the girl and rushed between the two stone walls, to make sure that Lith would die along with him. Much to Testa¡¯Lhosh dismay, when he got there, Lith was nowhere to be found.

    In his ce, there was what looked like an acorn the size of a fist. It was covered in runes of power which blinked faster by the second. Lith had Solus conjure one stone wall after the other and used them as footsteps to escape gravity magic¡¯s short-range and get to safety.

    He had also left a Fire Root as a goodbye gift. Thebined explosion of the girl and the Fire Root turned the stone walls into debris that flew in every direction like deadly bullets.

    Once again Ragh¡¯Ash had to prevent the crystal from being destroyed. This time she could at least conjure a great stone wall to protect the holy crystal and what little was left of the tribe.

    Ragh¡¯Ash immediately used Life Vision to find Lith.

    ¡¯He¡¯s not on the ground nor in the air. Where the heck is he?¡¯ She thought.

    The shaman used the power of the holy crystal to sweep the whole area, discovering that Lith was quite far from her position and was getting further by the second.

    <"how dares="" he="" to="" run="" away?"=""></"how> Ragh¡¯Ash felt she was going crazy. The two remaining orc warriors had fled the moment they saw the living bomb converge to their position. They both considered a cowardly escape much better than a heroic death.

    Ragh¡¯Ash had no way tomunicate with them and even if she did, the shaman doubted they would listen to her anymore. All that was left of the Grey Wolf were her and the two kids.

    ¡¯What a cowardly, sly creature.¡¯ Ragh¡¯Ash thought. ¡¯I can¡¯t follow the demon. The children are too weak to carry the crystal, even if I bless them a little. If I carry it myself, I¡¯d be a sitting duck. At least I¡¯m safe now.¡¯

    Yet actually she wasn¡¯t. Lith hadn¡¯t run away, he had seen the shaman eating and meant to even the field.

    ¡¯Why would I rush in against an unknown opponent with a wounded body and my mana depleted when I can take a break?¡¯ He thought while eating some meat from his pocket dimension.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll wait for the world energy to stabilize again, so I can have full ess to my spells. How are you, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯Much better, thanks. I think retreating was the right move. All that spellcasting and fighting had left you drained. How is your shoulder?¡¯

    ¡¯Perfectly healed. I¡¯ll use Invigoration to get back to my peak form before going in for the kill.¡¯ Lith replied. He had no idea what the shaman could do with her crystal, but he was certain Ragh¡¯Ash would rather detonate it than leave it in his hands.

    Lith used that time to sort through his Alchemic weapons. Even if Ragh¡¯Ash siphoned elemental energy again, he could still use them, since the spells they contained were already formed. The problem was that unlike his own incantations, alchemical weapons could hurt their user.

 Chapter 362 Unexpected Helper Part 1

    ¡¯I don¡¯t like this situation.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The shaman seems to always know where I am. She caught us unprepared twice, so it¡¯s likely that if I stand for too long in the same ce, she may attack us from a distance.¡¯

    ¡¯Agreed.¡¯ Solus replied. She had regained about half of her strength, but they couldn¡¯t afford to wait much longer. If the Sergeant returned with the reinforcements the crystal would be lost.

    ¡¯We need to aim for a quick exchange. We have to get there fast, before she can siphon any element so that we can Blink in for the kill.¡¯

    Lith nodded. That kind of approach was outside hisfort zone, but there weren¡¯t many options left. He took off, flying at full speed towards the location where he had killed most of the members of the Grey Wolf tribe.

    Ragh¡¯Ash hadn¡¯t gotten far. Moving the holy crystal was a delicate job. She couldn¡¯t fly with it. If anything happened and the spell was broken, the holy crystal would be lost. She just made it float a few centimeters from the ground, pushing it while she walked back towards the camp.

    The silver lining was that thanks to the constant contact, she could sweep her surroundings from time to time to check on Lith¡¯s whereabouts. As soon as Ragh¡¯Ash noticed him getting closer, she knew only one of them woulde out alive from their next meeting.

    <"go back="" to="" the="" vige="" and="" hide!="" if="" i="" don¡¯t="" return="" within="" a="" few="" minutes,="" run="" away="" and="" never="" turn="" back!"=""></"go> Ragh¡¯Ash ordered. The youths never thought, even for a second, that the shaman was doing that to protect them.

    Her only purpose was to protect thest members of the tribe, who were too weak to be of any use in actualbat. Ragh¡¯Ash had seen how Lith had turned her own living bomb against her orc warriors. It was a mistake she couldn¡¯t afford to repeat.

    She watched the two youths disappearing in the woods as she pondered about her strategy. Ragh¡¯Ash wasn¡¯t used to fight alone, without any warrior providing her assistance.

    ¡¯The demons¡¯ magic is unpredictable.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯My only option is to overpower them quickly with the help of the holy crystal. If only that stupid beast helped us earlier, I wouldn¡¯t be in dire straits now. What kind of pet doesn¡¯t protect its owner?¡¯

    The earth trembled below her feet. It was the only sign that the creature was still following her. Ragh¡¯Ash called it her pet, but its motives were still a mystery. It had helped her to survive many times, yet its timing was always unreliable at best.

    Ragh¡¯Ash ced her hands on the crystal, channeling air magic through it to conjure a huge storm cloud above her position. Monsters¡¯ mastery of magic was shallow. Due to their Fallen nature, they would seldom be able to researchplex spells and would even more rarely pass them down.

    In a ¡¯might makes right¡¯ society, sharing knowledge or power was like digging your own grave. That limited the shaman¡¯s knowledge to the first three tiers of spells. Thanks to the holy crystal though, Ragh¡¯Ash could replicate tier four spells¡¯ effect or at least equal their destructive power.

    As soon as Lith spotted the shaman with Life Magic, he also noticed a pir of mana going from the ground to the sky. The storm cloud was pitch ck and covered a radius of 100 meters around the shaman¡¯s position already.

    ¡¯She¡¯s stealing my thunder, literally!¡¯ Lith thought. He was actually scared by how fast Ragh¡¯Ash had summoned such a huge thundercloud. It was something he was still unable to do.

    ¡¯I wouldn¡¯t worry about that.¡¯ Solus chimed in. ¡¯There is something wrong with the ground below her feet. I thought theck of earth element in the world energy was confusing my perception, but even now that the bnce is restored the anomaly is still there.¡¯

    ¡¯What kind of anomaly?¡¯ Lith¡¯s paranoia sense was tingling. Life Vision showed him nothing but trees, grass, the shaman, and the crystal. Yet he didn¡¯t doubt Solus¡¯s words for an instant. He knew here senses were far better than his own.

    ¡¯It¡¯s a blur, so I can¡¯t tell you what it is nor how strong it is, but there¡¯s something moving there. It could be some kind of spell, a creature, anything. Just be vignt, okay?¡¯

    Lith mentally nodded as he charged the Gatekeeper with all elements but light magic. As soon as Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s eyes met Lith¡¯s, she unleashed a natural lightning so big that its sh turned the whole world white for a second, almost blinding her.

    Lith was able to react in time only because he had done the same thing in the past. The moment he saw a pulse of Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s mana reaching for the thundercloud, he Blinked behind her back, aiming for her head.

    Lith¡¯s timing had been impable, the precision of his lunge surgical. Yet instead of relieving the shaman¡¯s neck from the burden of its head, Lith was sent flying before he could even understand what was happening.

    Something big and ck had jumped out of the ground, as nimble as a shark after a seal. Solus had no way to describe it if not as a worm, but it was a worm like she had never seen before.

    Its skin wasn¡¯t pink nor soft. The creature looked like made of obsidian, with several bumps and deformities all around its body like azy artist had given up the job halfway through.

    The worm was as big as a bull and about 4 meters (13¡¯) long. Its gaping mouth was big enough to easily swallow an adult man whole. Solus could see it had multiple series of jagged teeth which somehow were rotating at high speed like a buzz saw.

    It had been the impact between the teeth and the Gatekeeper to thwart Lith¡¯s death blow. When the sh happened, the enchanted de managed to resist the teeth¡¯s destructive force, but it couldn¡¯t escape their grasp.

    The centrifugal force had spun Lith and the de as if for a split second they had been trapped inside a washing machine, before all the umted magic in the Gatekeeper had forced the creature to release its prey.

    Between the impact and the spinning, Lith¡¯s vision was a blur. Yet the ck worm wasn¡¯t faring much better. It writhed on the ground like a beached fish, spitting blood and teeth before reaching again for the safety of the earth.

    ¡¯What the heck was that?¡¯ Lith and Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s thought in unison. Whereas Lith was wondering why the magical beast had interfered, Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s was shocked by dimensional magic.

    Both the magicians recovered quickly from the surprise, moving on to their own n B. Lith Blinked away, not giving the shaman the time to aim at him with a second lightning while Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s embraced the crystal starting to chant a second spell.

    Lith threw against her several Fire Roots, to force her to interrupt her casting and focus on defending the crystal. Yet the moment the Alchemical tools touched the ground, small holes opened below them making them disappear.

    When they exploded a few secondster, they were already gone so deep that the explosion waspletely muffled by the ground, sounding more like farts. Everything happened so fast that Ragh¡¯Ash didn¡¯t even have the time to notice the threat.

 Chapter 363 Unexpected Helper Part 2

    ¡¯Seriously, what the f*ck is that?¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at the worm. ¡¯There is no mention of such a creature in all the bestiaries I own. It doesn¡¯t seem an Evolved Monster but it¡¯s not dumb either. How strong is its core?¡¯

    ¡¯Unknown. I can¡¯t see the mana core just like I can¡¯t see its life force. I can barely pinpoint its location by following the anomaly it creates in my mana sense. Either that creature has special abilities or that ck stuff covering its body it¡¯s not skin but a jamming device.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯This means I¡¯m not just facing a shaman, but also another unknown enemy. There¡¯s no way someone that can¡¯t even use dimensional magic has tamed or equipped the worm.¡¯ Lith was seriously considering to give up on the crystal.

    Whoever had the talent and the means to shield something from Solus¡¯s senses had to be at least as good as her maker. Even if he managed to y the beast, its owner wasn¡¯t an opponent he could take lightly.

    Ragh¡¯Ashpleted her chant opening a channel between her and the crystal. Now she could not only ess to all of its powers without the need of the physical contact, but also could use the crystal¡¯s energy like it was her own.

    It was a desperate move for desperate times. The longer the channel was open, the more likely Ragh¡¯Ash was to die from mana overload. Until then, she would have ess to an almost infinite supply of mana.

    The first thing she did, was to wrap the holy crystal with the strongest materials the ground had to offer. That way she couldpletely disregard its safety and focus on the demon.

    ¡¯Iing from your 4!¡¯ Solus warned Lith, who darted upwards just in time to avoid the worm¡¯s charge. It moved so fast, causing only such small trembling in the ground s mouth that without her warning Lith would have never noticed it.

    The worm¡¯s mouth was wide open, which allowed Solus¡¯s spirit magic to feed it a generous serving of Fire Roots, ck Lotus¡¯ petals, broken lightning wands, and a sprinkle of green pepper.

    As someone who had studied Alchemy during thest four years, she knew exactly what kind of ingredients were never to be mixed. Unless, of course, one wanted to trigger an uncontroble chain reaction that resulted in the death of anyone in a ten meters (33¡¯) radius.

    The first explosion made the worm squirm in mid aid, messing with itsnding. It hit the ground with the same grace of a wet sock before starting to dance around like a firecracker. Smoke, blood, and teeth came out non stop as the explosions grew in frequency and power.

    Lith had barely the time to grin at his partner¡¯s brilliance when Ragh¡¯Ash raised her hand and unleashed a barrage of spells like Lith had never witnessed before.

    The ground below him shot rock spikes as big as an arm, the air surrounding him became so cold that frost formed over Lith¡¯s clothes as a hail of fireballs and a lightning storm struck in every direction leaving him no way out.

    The shaman¡¯s glowing eyes meant she too was using Life Vision. He couldn¡¯t Blink recklessly, if Ragh¡¯Ash understood how to predict his exit points Lith¡¯s dimensional magic would be useless.

    When Lith disappeared from her sight, Ragh¡¯Ash turned around, expecting him being right behind her. She had no idea the spell had a limited range, so she assumed the worst and reacted ordingly. Yet Lith wasn¡¯t there.

    He was nowhere to be found to be precise.

    Since the worm¡¯s stone hide hid it so well from Life Vision and mana sense, Lith had Blinked behind it to use it as his cover. The worm was still writhing as it coughed smoke and blood, yet the creature refused to die.

    The final explosion was strong enough to crack its shell, but not even that seemed to be able to put it down. The worm emitted high pitched noises that gave Lith the creeps. They sounded too simr to the cries of a newborn.

    <"there you="" are!"=""></"there> Ragh¡¯Ash yelled when the crystal revealed to her the demon¡¯s position. She didn¡¯t care for the worm, resuming the assault while calling forth another lightning from the sky at the same time.

    ¡¯How can she have so much mana?¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed before Blinking away.

    ¡¯The cold is so intense that if not for my natural resistance and the Skinwalker armor I would be already hallucinating.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s the crystal.¡¯ Solus exined while keeping an eye on the worm. ¡¯It¡¯s like she has a cyan and a purple core. The good news is that her body is already copsing from the exertion. The bad news is that, at this rate, you will die before her, so please do something!¡¯

    Each Blink brought Lith higher until the rock spikes couldn¡¯t threaten him anymore. His survival took prioritypared to giving away how Blink worked. Luckily, he had mastered true dimensional magic, so Lith could Blink while weaving another spell.

    Ragh¡¯Ash aimed the natural lightning for Lith¡¯s exit point, timing the spell so that he wouldn¡¯t have the time for another Blink. It was the sh apanying the thunderbolt that revealed her the truth.

    Its light was reflected on a throwing dagger near her feet. It wasn¡¯t an enchanted weapon, so not even Life Vision could detect it. She didn¡¯t have the time to wonder how long it had been there that her world turned upside down.

    Lith was exactly where she had predicted, but the lightning wasn¡¯t. It was about to hit her instead. After each Blink, Lith had negatively charged himself to repel the iing lightning and positively charged his set of throwing daggers while Solus spread them in a diagonal line with spirit magic.

    Only a small part of the thunderbolt struck him, but thanks to earth fusion Lith managed to escape from the clutches of death. All the remaining energy followed the path of least resistance Lith had created, aiming for thatst dagger Ragh¡¯Ash had just noticed.

    ¡¯Physics rocks!¡¯ Lith thought as he fell to the ground.

    Fear froze the shaman to the point she couldn¡¯t even close her eyes. Yet much to both magicians¡¯ surprise, she survived. The worm that they had left for dead came out of the ground in front of her and shielded Ragh¡¯Ash with its body.

    Not even the ck armor could resist the power of nature. The cracks caused by Solus¡¯s Alchemical cocktail expanded until it was destroyed, revealing the creature inside.

    It was a Rock Worm, a magical beast prettymon inside underground dungeons.

    ¡¯What the heck is it doing here and why did it save the shaman?¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at the beast.

    Ragh¡¯Ash didn¡¯t have the time to rejoice. Her body was very close to copse and for some reason, her strongest weapon had been turned against her. To make things worse, her pet had fallen too.

    She had no choice but to use herst trump card. Every time a shaman used the holy crystal, their bond became stronger. The crystal gave them mana and they gave it bits of their life in return.

    An expert shaman could feel those bits and use them to ess the memories of the past shamans. It wasn¡¯t even a spell, it was simply another kind of exchange, a bit of life of a bit of the past lives of others.

    Ragh¡¯Ash could only hope that one of her ancestors knew a spell capable of killing the demon and that essing it wouldn¡¯t cost her sanity.

 Chapter 364 The Master Part 1

    Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s mind delved inside the crystal, only to find her own dreams and ambitions. Then, she went deeper, finding more and more shards of light representing the memories of others. She ignored those which belonged to her mentor.

    Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s teacher wasn¡¯t even a real shaman, she had been so weak that Ragh¡¯Ashkilled her as soon as she came of age. Most of the lives she explored were equally insignificant.

    ¡¯May the gods below eat their useless souls! How long has it been since there was a shaman rather than a crystal bearer?¡¯ Ragh¡¯Ash thought. In her desperation, she had forgotten that shamans were rare.

    What she was attempting required time, but that was something she didn¡¯t have.

    Lith was sick and tired of this fight. The moment Ragh¡¯Ash stopped her movements, he cast one of the tier five Battle Mage spells he had mastered with true magic.

    ¡¯As long as she has that damned crystal, she has the mana core advantage. Yet despite her use of very powerful incantations, they were all low tier ones. If I can¡¯t beat her with quantity, I¡¯ll go with quality.¡¯

    Lith had prepared Burial Ground from the moment he noticed the thundercloud. Burial Ground was a versatile spell that could be used for both offense and defense. The reason he had yet to employ it was Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s ability to neutralize the elements.

    Powerful spells were very delicate, the slightest imbnce in the world energy would render them little more than a waste of mana. Luckily, the shaman spaced out long enough for the spell to take form and make the crystal¡¯s siphoning ability useless.

    Several pirs erupted from the ground at once, surrounding the orc. Each one of them kept growing in height, while countless stone spikes emerged from the pirs and extended in every direction. Some attempted to stab the shaman, while others connected with other spikes, forming new pirs that generated even more spikes.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Ragh¡¯Ash could see that the spell was a hybrid of earth and darkness magic. The stone pirs were a conduit for the dark energies, so even standing close to them was enough to sap her life force.

    ¡¯Damn demon! I found the spell I needed only to not have the opportunity to use it.¡¯ Ragh¡¯Ash thought. She had no time to focus on borate spells, the cage was getting smaller by second. Dodging the ever increasing number of spikes required her full focus.

    She released a barrage of low level spells to make Burial Grounds crumble, but the darkness magic also acted as a shield, weakening her spells before they even hit. The cage repaired itself almost as soon as it was damaged.

    The only thing that could counter a high tier spell was another high tier spell. Ragh¡¯Ash¡¯s body was soon pierced by the spikes, that kept growing and ravaging her internal organs.

    In ast ditch effort, she tried to make the crystal detonate, but it was toote. The exertion from using spells non stop had taken its toll. Even though her mind was still alive her body refused to obey. Her mana stopped flowing, her mana core had already started turning grey.

    Her will extended no further than her thoughts while the cage shrank until all that remained of the orc shaman was mincemeat. As soon as Ragh¡¯Ash died, Lith changed into his army uniform and stored the crystal inside Solus¡¯s pocket dimension along with the pieces of the Rock Worm¡¯s ck armor.

    Lith knew it was just a matter of time before someone arrived, he was preparing for the final act of his masquerade. He only kept the Gatekeeper outside, since unlike the clothes, he could make it disappear without anyone noticing.

    "Don¡¯t y dumb with me." Lith said waking up the Rock Worm that was still unconscious after being hit by the lightning.

    "If you were a human, I would have already killed you, but since you are a magical beast, I¡¯ll give you a chance. I know you can speak. Tell me what you¡¯re doing here and why you tried to kill me."

    "If I do as you say, will you let me go?" The Worm asked.

    "If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll kill you right now." Lith replied.

    ¡¯Solus, how strong is this thing?¡¯

    ¡¯Pretty strong for a magical beast. Its core is cyan, but what¡¯s more interesting is that it also has a dormant ck core.¡¯ Solus warned Lith.

    ¡¯Just like the Wyvern we faced at Xenatos.¡¯ Without the ck armor, she was able to use her mana sense again. Her findings shocked her and sent a shiver down Lith¡¯s spine.

    He immediately used air magic to make the beast float, afraid it could suck the life force of the nts to heal itself with its ck core.

    "I¡¯m here for the crystal. My Master sent me to retrieve it." The Worm replied hoping to buy enough time to find a chance to escape.

    "Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have wasted my time with filthy orcs nor would I have saved that ipetent shaman time and time again."

    "Your words make no sense". Lith replied. "Why didn¡¯t you just steal the crystal from the beginning if your aim was just to take possession of it?"

    "Each of the Fallen races has a unique trait. The orcs have the ability to manipte mana crystals as no one else can."

    "Fallen races?" Lith asked. It was the first time he had heard such a term.

    "Fallen races, monsters, lost children of Mogar. Different names for the same thing. Failures." The beast exined with a hint of rage in its voice.

    "My Master has long researched for a way to imitate their talent to no avail. Even interrogating shamans proved to be useless. Their superstitions are so strong that it makes them immune to any kind of torture.

    "So, after several failures, the Master decided to change his approach. First, I found a tribe with a shaman and a powerful crystal. Then, I followed the crystal and applied a marking spell to it.

    "Every time the shaman used its power, the marking spell would leave behind a trace for the Master to follow. At that point, all that was left to do was to force the shaman to use all of her abilities before retrieving the crystal.

    "It took me several years to trigger enough tribal wars to collect the data I needed, yet I never managed to force the shaman to use her most powerful abilities. At least until now."

    "The Soul Exchange that Ragh¡¯Ash used was thest piece of the puzzle, something only a skilled Awakened orc can use. I can¡¯t believe that after all my efforts to groom her and assure her survival, it was her idiocy that doomed us both."

    The Master had given the Worm the ck armor to make it impervious to magic and almost untraceable.

    Almost.

    The Master had no idea something like mana sense existed, nor that his minion would suffer so much damage that not even its ck core could heal it quickly enough for it to matter.

    "Who is this master?" Lith asked.

    The Rock Worm wasn¡¯t a zealot. The Master had proved incapable of making it evolve and refused to turn it into an Abomination because it was still too weak. The creature owed nothing to their cause.

 Chapter 365 The Master Part 2

    ¡¯If I tell the Awakened the truth, that the Master is just a human, he¡¯ll have no reason to spare me. I have to bluff my way out.¡¯ The creature thought.

    "The Master is a powerful undead. They are watching us even now! Kill me and they¡¯ll send their legions to avenge my death."

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Nothing.¡¯ She replied after a deep scan with all her senses. She even analyzed the single elementsposing the world energy which gave her a terrible headache.

    ¡¯No trace of spells or even of other anomalies in the area. I can faintly see someone iing though. I don¡¯t know the others, but one of them is Tepper.¡¯

    Lith pierced the Worm with the Gatekeeper, infusing it with enough darkness magic to turn it into dust.

    ¡¯Why did you kill it? It could have still talked.¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯It would have just fed us more lies and we have no more time.¡¯

    The Sergeant and several mages arrived a minuteter and circled around the area looking at the traces of the battle. Before joining them, Lith Warped Solus under his bed, just to be safe.

    He had no idea if they would believe him, nor what tools the army had at its disposal to search him for dimensional items.

    TThey were all surprised to see Lith in one piece and when he reported that the crystal was gone, their worries turned into suspicion. Lith told them most of the truth.

    He only belittled his wounds, which Solus had replicated on the uniform before leaving, and exined how after the shaman¡¯s defeat, the Worm had swallowed the crystal before disappearing underground.

    "Do you have any proof of your im?" An elder mage asked him with a stone cold voice.

    "I only have some pieces of its armor. They fell off when I tried to stop it with a barrage of spells." Lith handed them a ck stone that left the mages stunned.

    "This is Darwen!" One of them eximed. "It¡¯s a rare material capable of nullifying most detection arrays and resisting magic. How much did you get?"

    "Not much. Just the pieces inside my ring." The rest was inside the pocket dimension, but judging by their smiling faces it was still quite a catch.

    ¡¯Damn! I should have kept more.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at himself. ¡¯The silver lining is that they will be more inclined to believe me now.¡¯

    The elder mage took Lith¡¯s ring as he stared in his eyes.

    "Young man, this ring is an army property. We can break your imprint and check its content anytime. Do you realize that both the crystal and the Darwen you found both belong to the Kingdom? That you, as a Cadet, are one of its servants?"

    Lith nodded.

    "If we find you in possession of stolen items, you¡¯ll be charged with treason. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to amend your story?"

    Lith nodded again.

    "This is preposterous!" Tepper objected. "He risked his life for the unit. Without him, my Cadets and I would be dead. The Kingdom would have lost good soldiers, the crystal, and the Darwen. How can you doubt his word?"

    The elder mage sighed.

    ¡¯Commander Berion is right. The Sergeant is a na?ve idiot and the Cadet can¡¯t be trusted.¡¯

    "Greed blinds even the best of us. Especially mages." The elder replied before casting a diagnostic spell that examined the content of Lith¡¯s body, with particr care for his mouth, stomach, and anus. They were the ces where thieves hid their dimensional items.

    After that, he chanted a short spell that broke Lith¡¯s connection to the dimensional ring and examined its contents. As the Cadet had stated, there were only the corpses of a few orcs and some Darwen pieces.

    Sergeant Tepper looked at the elder with a fiery gaze as the mage¡¯s cheeks turned red from embarrassment.

    "I¡¯m sorry for doubting your word, Cadet Lith, but I had to be sure."

    "No harm, no foul." Lith replied.

    ¡¯My paranoia is once again the MVP.¡¯ He inwardly sighed in relief.

    After they returned to the camp, Lith was stripped and searched again with the diagnostic spell. Only after interrogating him for an hour did they finally let him go. He never contradicted himself, because most of what he said was true.

    When he returned to the barracks, the other cadets gave him the salute before extending their hands.

    ¡¯Why do people only like me after I kill a lot of bad guys?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Because that¡¯s the only moment when it seems like you care for them .¡¯ Solus sarcastically replied after reuniting with him.

    "How did you kill so many orcs?"

    "How did you defeat the shaman?"

    Were just some of the questions he had to reply to over and over for the rest of the day as the story of his battle be public knowledge. From the next day, his life returned to normal.

    Until the end of the boot camp, he managed to outperform his peers without engendering any more ill will.

    Him being a mage was a secret, so of course soon everyone knew about it. It made him pretty popr, especially with the female cadets, but not for the reason he hoped for.

    The greatest deterrent against rtionships in a boot camp were pregnancy and theck of contraceptive potions. A mage was an obvious solution to the problem. At the end of every day, Lith would find a line of people asking for his help.

    ¡¯I feel like a condom machine. All the work and none of the fun.¡¯ He thought multiple times, yet he never refused. It was a small price to pay to be universally appreciated.

    Before the graduation ceremony, every cadet received two days of leave to reconnect with their families before being moved ording to their career choices, if they had one, of course.

    When Lith returned home, his family weed him like he was returning from war rather than from the camp. They weren¡¯t used to not seeing him for such a long period of time. Lith spent every day and evening with his rtives, especially with his little brother and his niece.

    In those six months they had grown a lot and he felt he had lost so much. During the nights, he worked on a mana crystal and studied the Darwen he had recently acquired.

    ¡¯Just like darkness energy is entropy and destruction, light magic is life and order. It allows giving shape even to what is shapeless.¡¯ Lith thought while creating small holograms of the monsters he had faced while telling fairy tales to the kids.

    Sometimes he even projected for his family some of the animated movies he still remembered from Earth. He made up the voices with air magic. The holograms were all in shades of grey, the background was non-existent yet every time they had guests, they would always ask for an encore.

 Chapter 366 Career Change Part 1

    Two nights weren¡¯t enough for aplete study of Lith¡¯s spoils of war, but they were more than enough for a preliminary analysis.

    "If the violet crystal has something special, I¡¯m not able to notice it." Lith said while storing it inside his tower.

    "Guess both the Sergeant and the Rock Worm were right. The gemstone per se is just like any other, it¡¯s the orcs who have the talent to use it in odd ways. This leaves us with a dilemma.

    "Even though Invigoration couldn¡¯t help me uncovering the crystal¡¯s secrets, it allowed me to sense the marking liquid this so called ¡¯Master¡¯ applied to the crystal. This means I have to choose if to cut the magic gemstone into smaller parts and use it for my creations, or to keep it as it is to learn about the orc¡¯s way with the crystals.

    "The two things are mutually exclusive. If I cut the gemstone, I¡¯ll also destroy the markings in the process."

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s much of a dilemma." Solus replied. "Even if you manage to sessfully cut the crystal, there¡¯s nothing we can use it for. Violet magic crystals are too rare to waste them on trivial enchanted items. It has to be a masterpiece.

    "Even if we had the materials to make one, going public with a new weapon empowered by violet crystals right after the orc ident would be like putting a target on your chest, back, andher regions.

    "We have to let things calm down before doing anything. So, until we really need it to craft an artifact, let¡¯s keep it as it is."

    "Agreed." Lith nodded with a sigh, adding the violet crystal to his collection of precious but still useless things. It consisted of the dryad¡¯s gifts, the various corpses he collected over the years, and the weapons he robbed from his opponents.

    "I wish this was a video game. A timely chain quest would pop up and give me what I need the moment I need it."

    The Darwen had proven to be a nasty client. To shield its user from detection techniques, it required to cover them entirely. It was very hard, but also brittle, making it easy to crack.

    That was the reason why the shell protecting the Rock Worm was so rough. A more precise refining process would most likely cause it to shatter. It would also require a very powerful magic. Being the Darwen resistant to magic, even analyzing it had been a hassle.

    "The best use I can find for it is to turn Darwen into fine dust and then coat some kind of ninja suit with it. I could save it for stealth missions since it¡¯s useless in battle. If only I could enchant it to improve its performances..."

    "Not even the ¡¯Master¡¯ could, so I think it¡¯s better to bide our time and not waste the Darwen on a pet project either." Solus really wanted to cheer him up, but didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Even though he could now return home more often, leaving his family again made Lith sad. During his past life, the only thing he had ever wanted was to be a good brother to Carl and a good uncle to his brother¡¯s children.

    Now he finally had the opportunity to live his dream, yet he had to leave it behind to pursue his new goals.

    ¡¯If I take a break now, I¡¯ll no longer be the Kingdom¡¯s golden boy.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Now it¡¯s my best chance to ess all the libraries and databases that back when I was just amoner were forbidden to me. With the Association backing me and a badge from the army, there shouldn¡¯t be much outside my grasp.¡¯

    Lith Warped back inside his room. Aran and Leria were waiting for him right behind his door, knocking on it with their little hands.

    "What are you doing up this early?" Lith asked them while pinching his nose to keep a headache at bay. All that noise was making him cranky. Mostly because he hadn¡¯t slept in a week plus studying the Darwen had required multiple uses of Invigoration in a row.

    "Are you really leaving today, uncle Lith?" Leria asked staring at him with her big, puppy, chestnut eyes.

    "Yes, right after breakfast." It was already the morning of the third day, he was expected to get back before lunchtime, which still left him a few hours. A wave of Lith¡¯s hand made tes and cutlery float on the table while steaming hot food came out of his pocket dimension.

    The whole family was reunited for his return, even Tista had interrupted her travels to meet her big brother.

    "Can¡¯t you stay here one more day? Pretty please?" How Aran had managed to have blue eyes was a mystery to Lith. Both the kids were beautiful and healthy. They would rarely get sick. Lith wondered if it depended on their parents having received his special treatment.

    Leria had blonde hair with shades of ck, just like her mother Rena, while Aran had the family trademark dark brown hair. They were both so small Lith could easily keep them on hisp at the same time.

    "No, I can¡¯t. I¡¯m really sorry." Lith replied. He then snapped his fingers, producing with air magic a jingling sound to alert the rest of the family that the meal was ready.

    "I¡¯ll return as soon as I can. In the meantime, I¡¯ve prepared a present for you." Lith gave them what looked like a Rememberer each. It was an egg shaped recording device, used to capture important moments in the lives of those rich enough to afford them.

    The ones Lith had forgemastered, instead of projecting real events, were able to rey the kids¡¯ favorite fairy tale. Aran¡¯s was the adventure of Forgemaster Lith Jones and thest crucible. Leria preferred the story of Battle Mage Solus Van Helsing, the kick ass vampire yer.

    "You should have given them the Projector just before your departure." Rena scolded him. "The food will be cold before they get tired of it."

    "It¡¯s unlikely." Lith shrugged. "The magic crystal I used only allows for one use every few hours. It will teach them moderation."

    The children¡¯s happiness was as big as their disappointment when the Projector finished its tale and refused to y it again. After the breakfast ended, Lith hugged every member of his family before taking his leave.

    "Take care, little brother." Rena said. "Always remember that no matter how many bad things you¡¯ll see out there, this house will always be the ce you belong to. If you ever need our support, you¡¯ll find us here."

    "Do whatever you need to return home safe." Raaz whispered in Lith¡¯s ear. "Your mother can¡¯t bear to lose another son."

    Lith didn¡¯t understand his father¡¯s words until Elina asked him to bend down to caress his face.

    "I know it¡¯s stupid of me after all these years, but if you ever meet Trion, tell him toe home. I just need to know he is all right." Her voice was almost broken.

    ¡¯Is she really afraid that I¡¯ll disappear too?¡¯ The pain in Elina¡¯s words shocked Lith.

    The moment he left home, hismunication device appeared in his hand and Lith started to call in some favors. He arrived at the boot camp early, with plenty of time left to change into his uniform and make final preparations.

 Chapter 367 Career Change Part 2

    When the mail arrived, everyone rushed to open their own envelope to discover their final scores. Most rejoiced, but some cried in despair. Among the girls, only Nhilo had been evaluated fit to be a soldier.

    The other two and Liwell were forced to choose between bing members of the administrative department or return to their civilian life. The rest of the unit had received a passing grade. Vipli and Nhilo were the only ones promoted to Non Commissioned Officers.

    Nobody was surprised when Lith¡¯s grade was confirmed to be an M. What unsettled him was that, while for the others it was required to report to Sergeant Tepper, Lith had been summoned to Commander Berion¡¯s office.

    Aside from his score, the letter didn¡¯t report any further detail.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a good reason for this." Vipli tried to reassure Lith. "It would make no sense making me an NCO and keeping you as a Private."

    "Thanks. I hope you are right." Lith patted Vipli¡¯s shoulder before going to the Commander¡¯s Office.

    ¡¯If I have to spend a year and a half starting from scratch, I might as well quit and they know it.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯What could have gone wrong? Did I fail the psychological evaluation? Either that or I¡¯m being punished for the crystal¡¯s disappearance. I can¡¯t think of any other reason to kick me out with such an underhanded ruse.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s paranoia once again took the wheel, painting himself into a corner before he could even reach Berion¡¯s door.

    "Wee, Mage Verhen. I didn¡¯t expect you so soon." The Commander¡¯s polite manners didn¡¯t surprise Lith.

    ¡¯If he knows my family name, then he probably wants to avoid me making a scene.¡¯ He thought.

    Commander Berion was a man in his early thirties. He was almost as tall as Lith, standing 1.8 (5¡¯11") meters tall with pitch ck hair and eyes. His pale blue uniform could barely contain his muscr body, giving each of his movements an impression of strength.

    Lith gave him a salute, which the Commander returned before inviting him to sit down.

    "Let¡¯s get straight to the point, Mage Verhen." Lith didn¡¯t like the Commander¡¯s t tone, nor the fact Berion kept referring to him as a civilian mage.

    "You are an outstanding individual. s, you are far from perfect. Your performances are controversial at best. You didn¡¯t develop any kind of bond with the members of your unit nor with yourmanding officer."

    The Commander handed Lith severalints about him filed by the other Cadets and even by Tepper during the past months.

    ¡¯I should have let them die in those woods.¡¯ Lith inwardly thought in outrage.

    "Your psychological evaluation says you are emotionally detached and maniptive. In the light of all the circumstances presented to me, I can¡¯t make you an officer. You are unfit to lead even a small unit."

    Lith gritted his teeth, waiting for the final blow.

    "At the same time, you have broken every record of this and many other camps. You also risked your life to save your unit when you could have just run away. No one would have med you for leaving them for dead in such an impossible situation.

    "Your bravery earned you gratitude, admiration, and provided the army with plenty of materials for our R&D department." This time the Commander handed to Lithmendation letters from the Sergeant and his peers, asking Berion to ignore their previousints.

    "This is why I¡¯m promoting you to first Lieutenant."

    "I thought you said I¡¯m unfit to lead." The sudden turn of events left Lith in a daze.

    "You sure are. Yet without a proper rank, you wouldn¡¯t even get a proper meal, let alone the clearance level necessary for the jobs I have been allowed to offer you."

    The Commander steepled his fingers.

    "Based on your evaluation, you are a perfect candidate for our secret services. I won¡¯t lie to you. It¡¯s a very hard job and a lifelong one at that. If you decide to ept, there will be no option for retirement or quitting. The only way out is feet first."

    ¡¯ck ops squad, uh?¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯No way. I would be constantly monitored, either by enemies or allies, and would have no freedom of movement. The army is a tool for my ends, not the other way around.¡¯

    "I¡¯m honored but I have to refuse, Sir. I don¡¯t think such a job would allow me to pursue my magical research nor to have a family of my own." Lith lied through his teeth. He would rather die than marry and have children.

    Berion nodded without showing one bit of surprise.

    ¡¯Always the family man, just like his file reported.¡¯ The Commander inwardly sighed. ¡¯It was worth a shot.¡¯

    "Then I¡¯m sorry to say that the only positions avable to you are as a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard or the Rangers. My hands are tied."

    Lith knew everything about the Knight¡¯s Guard. Phloria had talked about her father¡¯s unit until Lith¡¯s ears bleed. Solving crimes and protecting Royal Constables wasn¡¯t an alluring job. Lith would rather work for the Mage Association instead of being ordered about all day long for the rest of his life.

    "Tell me more about the Rangers." Lith replied, making Berion smirk for a split second.

    "The Rangers are an elite force, entrusted with great powers and responsibilities. Don¡¯t let the name fool you. It has nothing to do with hunting game or patrolling borders.

    "Their duty is to travel through the Kingdom, to protect istedmunities from all kinds of threats, and to keep in check the monsters¡¯ poption. If you ept, you will be assigned a vast area that you¡¯ll need to know like the back of your hand.

    "If nobles abuse their authority in rural areas, where there are no mages or army members, your duty will be to uphold thew. If monsters infest a region, you¡¯ll have to get rid of them before they can swarm a popted area.

    "Also, there are lots of no man¡¯snds, where people settle in without paying their due taxes to the Kingdom or even respecting itsws. If you find such viges, they can only be offered two choices. To submit or die.

    "Organized crime is already a gue. Thest thing we need is a criminal country inside of the Country."

    "Would it be the same region until the end of my service?" Lith asked. No matter how big an area was. Once he finished exploring it, Lith would turn into nothing more than a baby sitter.

    "No, it would change after two or three months. Elite doesn¡¯t mean immune to bribery. Nobody watches the watchers, so they have to be rotated. Depending on how fast you work, you may even have free time. Rangers are allowed to go home and use Warp Gates, but their job is subject to scrutiny."

    "I think Ranger would be the most suitable position for me, Sir."

    "Are you sure?" Berion still needed to give Lith the final details.

    "It¡¯s a very vexing duty. Since they have ess tomunication amulets, magic, and Warp Gates, Rangers act alone, unless they deem reinforcements are required. Prolonged istion can take a huge toll on the mind."

    Lith inwardly smiled at those words.

    ¡¯With Solus by my side, I¡¯m never truly alone. No partner also means no witness. I can do what I want, take whatever I want and nobody would ever know.¡¯

    "Affirmative, Sir. Before starting active duty, I¡¯d need your help with one thing."

 Chapter 368 Brotherly Loathe Part 1

    Regharos city¡¯s region Boot Camp

    The Cadet¡¯s graduation ceremony was an event celebrated not only by the new members of the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s army, but also by theirmanding officers.

    Finding diamonds in the rough and helping promising recruits to ovee their limitations was one of the mostmon ways for a Drill Sergeant to rack up merits. The sess or failure of their Cadets could change their careers.

    Trion Proudstar was still recovering from his sh with Phloria Ernas. She had kept her word. Neither she nor her family had made a move against him, but the army wasn¡¯t as forgiving.

    Phloria was considered one of the most outstanding young officers. She had yet to fail an important mission and most of the soldiers she trained had be members of elite units.

    Back when she was still a Cadet, Trion had done everything he could to make her flunk.

    Now that their roles were reversed, every sess Phloria achieved made him the object of harsh reprimands and contemptuous looks. To his superiors, Trion had failed to recognize her value. The more she rose in the ranks, the bigger the stain on his personal file became.

    Trion¡¯s only source of relief was the camaraderie from his fellow Sergeants. They knew about his brother and understood his grief. Most of them came from messed up families and each had their own burden.

    Making a stupid mistake wasn¡¯t an issue. As long as Trion was willing to learn from it, he would have their full support. The end of the semester also meant that they could finally rx and enjoy a slow meal.

    The mess hall was filled with voices telling the most ridiculous anecdotes about their own Cadets. Spring recruits were considered the worst batch, since it usually consisted of nobles orzy youths that had no idea what to do with their lives.

    "This Cadet I had, Revkin, he was really a piece of work." Trion was bantering about histest sess. "Rough and undisciplined, but a real soldier to the core. The harder you taught him the faster he learned..."

    He was about to tell his friends about how he had rmended Revkin for the rank of Lance Corporal, when an eerie feeling crawled up his skin. It was almost the end of the summer, so the climate was still hot, yet Trion felt a knot in his stomach.

    It was a sensation he had never forgotten, like the cold drafts that gued his room during winter when he was still a kid.

    "Why suddenly so silent?" Asked Beligros, one of Trion¡¯s closest friends when he saw him anxiously look at the Mess Hall¡¯s entrance.

    The answer walked through the door just a few secondster, donning the deep green of the Rangers and the rank of First Lieutenant on his sleeves.

    "By the Great Mother." More than one voice said while he passed in front of their tables. Most Drill Sergeants checked Lith out, envying whoever had been lucky enough to be hismanding officer.

    Everything about how he moved and wore the uniform told them he had just graduated. Cooking up an officer right off a Cadet was usually a career-maker event. Some of the female Sergeants checked him out for less noble reasons.

    It had taken Lith quite an effort to find Trion in the myriad of Boot Camps across the whole Griffon Kingdom. To get ess to the right one without an official reason had cost him owing some favors. There wasn¡¯t much his connections could do.

    Lith¡¯s influence outside the Distar Marquisate was almost none, yet it was a price he was happy to pay for his mother¡¯s sake. He had never realized how much suffering Trion¡¯s absence had caused Elina, otherwise he would have hunted his brother down years ago.

    "Sergeants." Lith said as he gave them a salute after reaching Trion¡¯s table. It was unusual for an officer to salute NCOs first, but being freshly promoted Lith was paying them the respect their rank and seniority deserved.

    All of Trion friends were pleasantly impressed by the courtesy the giant was showing them, so they stood up and returned the salute. All but Trion. His knees felt weak as the knot in his stomach was quickly moving up to his throat.

    The scene in front of him was right out of his worst nightmare.

    "What are you doing here?" Trion asked using sheer willpower to look into Lith¡¯s eyes as he braced for the impact.

    "We need to talk." Lith¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t angry nor menacing. His tone was t, like he was just asking for directions in an unknown city.

    "What are you doing, man?" Beligros whispered while trying to pull Trion up.

    "He may be as green inside as he is outside, but he¡¯s still a superior officer and yours is a clear act of insubordination."

    Trion wanted to reply, but his jaw was clenched so hard he couldn¡¯t speak. Then, the nightmare became reality.

    "No need for formalities, Sergeant Beligros. After all, Trion and I are brothers." The whole Mess Hall stood up at those words, while Beligros turned pale knowing his disrespectful words had been heard.

    ¡¯Dammit, I was just trying to make Trion move. Hope this guy doesn¡¯t hold a grudge¡¯ He thought.

    "What do you want?" Trion replied with a hoarse voice. Whatever it was, he wanted for it to end quickly. He could almost hear the thoughts of all his peers, making cruelparisons between the two brothers.

    Lith was the tallest man in the room with his 1.83 (6¡¯) while Trion barely reached the average height of 1.65 (5¡¯5"). To make things worse, he wasn¡¯t a scrawny kid anymore. Lith had the build one would expect from a veteran of an elite unit, not from a recruit.

    Also, both his rank straight after the graduation and him being part of the Rangers were big tells for all those present. They meant he was a mage. Otherwise no matter how talented a Cadet was, being promoted above the rank of Corporal right after a Boot Camp was impossible.

    "It¡¯s about our mother. She still worries about you. Do you mind telling me why in two years and a half you never bothered returning home or at least writing a letter?" The room fell silent. Lith was different from how Trion had pictured him.

    Trion had always told them that his family had abandoned him, so hearing about a worried mother was mind-blowing news.

    "Do you really want me to believe that she cares for me? After ignoring me for years, giving all her love and attention to her little, perfect son?" Trion¡¯s words oozed poison.

    "Look, I know we never went along." Lith sighed, yet his brother¡¯s usations left him unfazed. He didn¡¯t care for Trion¡¯s grievances. For all those years, he had believed him dead.

    ¡¯What sort of world is it where you can¡¯t even trust assassins? During the gue, they threatened me to kill him unless I surrendered, yet here we are.¡¯

    "Neither of us deserves a mother like Elina and you know it. Don¡¯t let your feelings towards me cloud your judgment. She deserves better."

 Chapter 369 Brotherly Loathe Part 2

    "Is it true?" Trion asked.

    "Yes, she is really worried about you. Mom just wants to know that you are..."

    "Not that!" Trion stood up,shing out the insecurities that he had left festering in thest six months.

    "Is what that Ernas wench told me true? That everyone has forgotten about me? That I now have a niece and a little brother? That both of them were named after you?"

    Lith needed a split second to understand who the ¡¯Ernas wench¡¯ was. A Drill Sergeant couldn¡¯t get close to Jirni, unless she was investigating them. Which left Phloria as the only possible answer.

    Lith clenched his fist, yet his tone remained polite.

    "Rena stopped considering you a brother after you never returned from your graduation. She couldn¡¯t forgive you for making mom cry like that. Tista wrote you off the family list ever since you and Orpal said all those things about her.

    "As for dad, he never talks about you. I don¡¯t think he hates you, Trion. More like he has lost all hopes. We do have a niece, Leria, and a little brother, Aran. Leria is the only one named after me."

    On Mogar, it was custom to name a child with the same initial letter of the most esteemed member of the family as a good omen.

    "Well, I guess it had to be expected. A humble Sergeant is no match for an almighty magician!" Trion¡¯s anger almost drove him insane. To the point he barely realized he was discussing family matters in public.

    "I can¡¯t believe Rena sucked up to you that much! What did you give her in exchange for it?"

    "Nothing." Lith¡¯s voice was losing its kindness and bing colder by the word.

    "She did it because I gave her a home, I protected both her old and new family, and because I delivered her firstborn. No one knew you became a Sergeant, simply because you never bothered telling us."

    "I..."

    "You are done talking." Lith cut him short, throwing hismunication amulet on the table. "Either you promise me in front of all these people that you wille back home, or I¡¯ll call our mother right now and you¡¯ll exin to her your reasons."

    Trion and all those present looked at the amulet with greed. Such an enchanted item was worth a year of their pay.

    Trion hesitated for a second. If he called Elina and she started crying, his reputation would be destroyed. He had always pictured her to his colleagues as a cold hearted woman who had eyes only for her most talented child.

    Trion knew it was a tant lie. He said it for the same reason he had never returned home. It was the way he had found to get back at a family from which he had always felt left out.

    Trion hoped to make them feel guilty and worried about his disappearance. Most of all, he wanted to hurt Lith. Yet it was clear he had failed. Lith still looked at him as when they were still kids.

    Lith had taught to his older brothers that the flip side of love wasn¡¯t hate. It was indifference. Even when he was little, he would stare at them without really seeing neither Orpal or Trion. Lith would talk to his brothers with the same tone he used for strangers.

    Be it pelts or meat, he would never bring anything for them. Whenever they were hurt or ill, Lith never intervened unless their parents asked him to.

    "I¡¯ll go back home as soon as I get a leave. You have my word."

    "Good." Lith nodded. "One word of advice before our business is concluded. Our parents love you, so I won¡¯t meddle with your rtionship. Same for Tista and Rena. They are grown-up women who can fend for themselves."

    Lith stepped forward as his eyes changed from chestnut to yellow and his pupils were reced by a red light.

    "The children, however, are another story. If when I get back I find out you have been anything but a loving uncle and brother, I will end you." Lith remarked hisst words by letting out a sliver of killing intent.

    Or at least that was the intention. He was already tired and cranky before Trion started to insult everyone Lith cared about, so the sliver turned into a flood.

    The Mess Hall¡¯s lights flickered several times as an unnatural shadow covered the windows, making everyone present think they had dozed off into a lucid nightmare. In the darkness they saw distorted reflections of themselves staring at them with hunger, some even experienced their ghastly touch.

    The Sergeants were all veterans, yet they found themselves covered in cold sweat and with their weapons at hand. They were pointed against their imaginary enemies, except for those of Trion¡¯s friends which were aimed at Lith.

    "At ease, Sergeants." Lith snapped his fingers, using both gravity and spirit magic to force them to lower their des. "Or does that mean you are assaulting an officer?"

    At those words, the weapons were either stored inside a dimensional item again or let go onto the ground.

    ***

    Lith spent the rest of the afternoon back at his base. Commander Berion had let him choose his first destination. Lith cross-referenced the information he had collected from the army¡¯s database with those from the Mage Association.

    ¡¯Aside from Necromancy, there¡¯s not much about the study of the nature of souls and how to manipte them, but it¡¯s a start nheless.¡¯

    Lith thought. ¡¯Too bad neither my merits nor my clearance level grants me ess to most of the tomes I¡¯m interested in.¡¯Lith collected all the lore and legends about the regions he could choose from before leaving the base.

    ¡¯Commander Berion granted me a full day of leave to solve the matter with Trion and make my decision. I¡¯ll use this time to go meet Ka onest time before leaving. With all her connections with the undeadmunity, she could give me advice about where to start my research.

    ¡¯I could also ask her help to develop an undead empty shell for Solus. Two birds with one stone.¡¯ Lith took out from the pocket dimension hismunication amulet.

    Thest time they met, the Wight had warned him she would be busy with her experiments to attain lichhood and asked Lith to not reach for her unless he was in dire need for help.

    Ka¡¯s rune was lit, hence her amulet wasn¡¯t inside a dimensional item. Yet she didn¡¯t reply if not after several attempts.

    "Sorry to bother you, Ka." Lith said when the channel was finally open. "I just need a few minutes of your time, then I¡¯ll leave you alone. I..."

    "A few minutes might be all the time I have left, Scourge." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I¡¯ve been trying to contact you for months. My experiments... I¡¯m afraid my most recent failure will also be myst.

    If you manage to reach myir before it¡¯s toote, I¡¯ll help you to the best of my possibilities. I can¡¯t make any promises."

    ¡¯Those b*stards!¡¯ Lith cursed at the army clerks. ¡¯While I attended the Boot Camp, they didn¡¯t reply to any call aside those from my family and noble friends.¡¯

    The only silver lining in that situation was that Ka lived in the forest outside the White Griffon. Thanks to the Camp¡¯s Warp Gate, Lith could reach her in less than a minute. The only problem was that he was already monthste.

 Chapter 370 Idiocy Part 1

    Lith hadn¡¯t seen Ka during thest three years, they just talked from time to time when hermunication amulet appeared online. Lith understood how difficult the process of safely splitting one¡¯s core was and he thought that endangering his friend¡¯s life just for a social visit was beyond idiotic.

    Once he reached the White Griffon, Lith asked the Headmaster to have his teacher ring back. He didn¡¯t have the time to fly around the forest searching for Ka.

    Albeit short, his meeting with Marth provided him some vital information.

    "I never met Ka the Wight after Balkor¡¯s attack. I honestly believed she had died by the hand of a Valor." Marth replied when Lith asked him about Ka¡¯s whereabouts.

    "I would love to contact Scarlett, but she left the White Griffon for good. We have a new Lord of the Forest, Sentar the Thunderbird."

    ¡¯That¡¯s why Ka needed my help.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯With Scarlett gone, there is no elder Awakened one that could cure her. Light magic it¡¯s one of the hardest elements to master.¡¯

    Sentar had conflicting feelings about both Ka and Lith. The former she considered an undead, which made Sentar reluctant to even stand in her presence. Thetter had the stigma of Scarlett considering him a possible threat.

    Yet Sentar remembered how her former leader had considered Ka a close friend, as well as how much M¡¯Rook and Protector liked Lith. She brought him to the Wight¡¯s quarters without asking questions.

    When Ka had mentioned air, Lith¡¯s mind had pictured some sort of naturalwork of caves, maybe a dungeon. A ce riddled with corpses and undead, respectively the failures and sesses of her research.

    The entrance was an arch made of stone that led to an underground passage. It was the only part Lith had imagined right.

    The moment he stepped inside, he thought to have entered a penthouse back on Earth. The room looked like an antechamber realized to allow Evolved Monsters to move without having to shapeshift.

    Everything was oversized, from the corridors leading to the other rooms to the over four meters (13¡¯) high ceiling. The floor was smooth, with no imperfection nor stain visible.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t a natural cave at all. Someone carved everything out with earth magic.¡¯ Lith thought in surprise.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here!" A giant mass of brown fur charged at Lith like a truck. Lith wasn¡¯t scared, he had recognized Nok¡¯s voice. The moment the Byk hit him, Lith realized how wrong he was.

    Even with Nok¡¯s momentum, the impact was too weak. The fur was full of white streaks and now that they were close enough, Lith noticed several bald spots.

    "Follow me." Nok bit Lith¡¯s left sleeve, tugging him forward without even waiting for a reply.

    Lith exploited that contact to use Invigoration. Nok was now an adult Byk. His huge build was proof he had at least inherited his mother¡¯s physical strength and of how well fed he had been.

    ¡¯What the heck has happened to him? I can¡¯t find any trace of disease or injury on Nok, yet his life force is as weak as when he was just a cub. Did he suffer from Ka¡¯s experiments too or what?¡¯ Lith thought.

    They passed through a series of rooms. Each one was bigger than Lith¡¯s house and filled with state of the art equipment for all kinds of magical research. There wasn¡¯t a single inch in any room that wasn¡¯t filled with books or magical protections to prevent a failed experiment from causing a cave in.

    The Alchemy and Forgemasterbs almost made Lith turn green with envy.

    ¡¯Where did Ka find the money to afford all of this stuff? I thought she was interested in Necromancy, not crafting arts.¡¯ Solus jotted down everything they had seen, hoping to recreate most of the machinery once she reverted to her tower form.

    Some devices were an improved version of what she was used to seeing in the White Griffon¡¯s departments.

    When they reached their destination, Lith had no doubt it was a Necromancer¡¯sb. Several ss tubes were lined up against the walls. Each one held a corpse floating into a translucent preserving liquid.

    The floor and the ceiling were covered with magic circles simr to those Lith had found during his own research about souls in the army database. They had been carved in the stone with darkness magic. Their purpose was to prevent the mystical energies from dispersing.

    In a way, Necromancy was simr to Forgemastering. Creating higher undead required a lot of mana and each corpse could only be used once. The magic circles increased the odds of sess by saturating the atmosphere of darkness energy, making it easier for it to condense into a stable blood core.

    Ka lied in the middle of one of the oddest circles Lith had ever seen. Her body was lying still on the floor with most of her bones and muscles exposed. Her Evolved Monster form was partially undead, so she had no need to breathe.

    The small shroud of darkness that covered part of her skull and abdomen proved she was still alive. Lith rushed to Ka¡¯s side, noticing that one of her eye sockets was empty.

    Only the one still covered by the darkness was lit by the red light of undeath.

    "So you managed to arrive on time." Ka noticed Lith¡¯s presence thanks to his smell. She was running on fumes. The sight was the first thing she had lost days ago.

    "Don¡¯t talk. Save your strength and let me see if there¡¯s something I can do." Lith used Invigoration on her and discovered an unsettling anomaly. Just like Nok, her body was fit as a fiddle, yet her life force was fading away as they spoke.

    "I stand corrected. Tell me what happened here, otherwise you¡¯ll die healthy."

    "There¡¯s not much to say." Ka replied. "I had reached the final steps of my research. My body is now able to withstand massive amounts of darkness energy without being destroyed and my mana core has been freed from its cage.

    "All that was left was to split it into two perfect half and store one into a magic crystal I prepared beforehand. It took me months to adjust its wavelength to match the one of my core. The trickiest part was..."

    "What happened?" Lith cut her short.

    "The splitting of the mana core was aplete sess. s, the removing part couldn¡¯t have gone worse. I underestimated the task and paid the price. I believed that bing a Lich was just like any other greater Necromancy spell.

    "The magic circles I prepared are perfect to contain darkness magic, but are otherwise useless. The moment I brought one of the two new cores outside my body, it disappeared like smoke, leaving behind only its darknessponent.

    "It forcefully attempted to fuse back with the remaining half of my mana core, but it was already in a critical condition. To trigger the split, I exposed both my body and core to tremendous stress. The sudden imbnce almost killed me.

    "From that moment, I grew weaker by the day. I tried all the light spells I know to no avail."

 Chapter 371 Idiocy Part 2

    "Even Invigoration is useless. Healing magic repaired my body, but every bit of energy I spend is lost forever. The only reason I survived this long is that I modified one of the circles in ast ditch effort. Now it¡¯s supposed to hold all kinds of energies, but it does a poor job.

    "I didn¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me, so I had to make it a makeshift jack of all trades."

    "Okay, now unless you have something medically relevant to say, shut up and let me think." Lith replied.

    "Sorry, it¡¯s just that after being alone for so long, talking to someone that can understand my research..."

    "Mom, what part of shut up you didn¡¯t understand? The shut or the up?" Nok scolded her. Ka¡¯s eye glowed in silent annoyance.

    Lith had no idea what to do, so he used his diagnostic spells first and used Invigorationter. Once again ording to his magic, aside from being on the verge of death, Ka was fit as a fiddle.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. It sounds like one of those "The procedure was a sess but the patient died" jokes.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I have onest card to y.¡¯

    Lith then used the Scanner spell. It was the fulcrum of tier five healing magic, the art of perceiving and manipting all kinds of life forces. He had already turned it into true magic, but had failed to find a way to integrate it with Invigoration.

    Unlike Invigoration, Scanner revealed to Lith in what pitiful state Ka was. Her life force had stopped flowing. For some reason, Ka¡¯s body was unable to replenish its strength or assimte any kind of external energy.

    Even when Lith attempted to share with her part of his life force, it did her no good. She was dying because her own body was slowly consuming itself in order to survive.

    Her abdomen was what worried him the most. A small portion of it waspletely ck. Scanner was unable to sense any life forceing from it, but that was supposed to be impossible.

    Invigoration confirmed the initial evaluation: there was nothing wrong with her physical condition. A second Scanner also produced consistent results: Ka¡¯s body was starving and part of it was already dead.

    It was the first time that Lith¡¯s trump cards were at odds with one another.

    ¡¯Why couldn¡¯t it be something simpler? Like waxing a gori or teaching a crab how to give the finger?¡¯ Lith thought for long about the problem, but neither he or Solus were able to find a solution.

    "Did you get caught in the aftermath of the experiment too?" He asked Nok. Since their conditions were simr, maybe the Byk could be able to provide him more clues.

    "What gave you such an idea?"

    "You look like crap." Lith replied.

    ¡¯How tactful of you.¡¯ Solus sneered. ¡¯His mother is dying; you could at least be gentle.¡¯

    ¡¯I have no time for niceties. I need answers and I need them now.¡¯

    "Oh, this?" Nok stood on his hind legs while looking at his battered fur.

    "This is no one¡¯s fault. Since mom got injured, I had no time for hunting so I have skipped a few meals. My sis too refused to leave her side. Her hunger is worse than mine because if she doesn¡¯t eat, she doesn¡¯t get thinner. She dies."

    Nok pointed his snout to a pile of dirty rags lying in a corner. It was a sour note in the otherwise pristine room.

    "You sister?" Lith had forgotten about Ka¡¯s vampire daughter.

    "Lith, this is Nyka. Nyka, Lith. He is an old friend of mine."

    The dirty rags stood up, turning out to be a woman in her mid twenties. Dust and mud covered most of her naked body. Her hair was disheveled, making it look like a mop too old to be still of use.

    Her skin was white as milk, and so were her eyes. They had no pupil or iris, yet Lith could feel her staring at him.

    "Why is she naked?" Lith asked.

    "Because beasts do not care if I wear clothes and humans try to kill me no matter my attire." Her voice was raspy like she had a sore throat. Her body wasid and her hair white with a tinge of yellow.

    ¡¯Compared to her, Nana looked like she was in her prime.¡¯ Lith was disappointed. Vampires looked nothing like he expected them. Nyka reminded him of one of the witches from the MacBeth y.

    "Can you please feed her, Scourge?" Ka asked. "With Invigoration, you can get your life force back while if Nok weakens any further, his core could suffer permanent damage."

    Lith took out a lot of food from his pocket dimension, allowing the Byk to feast to its stomach content for the first time in weeks.

    "Well yes, but actually no." Lith replied. "I haven¡¯t slept in a week and during thest two days I was busy with experiments. If I feed her, I might not have enough energy left to heal you."

    ¡¯If I understand the underlying cause of Ka¡¯s sickness, of course.¡¯

    ¡¯You and your experiments!¡¯ Solus scolded him. ¡¯How many times have I told you to sleep once every two days?¡¯

    ¡¯Do you have any idea how much time I would have wasted that way?¡¯

    "I understand." Ka interrupted their telepathic quarreling. "I¡¯ve lost track of the time so often that my children..."

    "Mom, shut up!" Both Nok and Nyka yelled as one.

    Lith checked Nok¡¯s condition with Invigoration and was happy to see his body regaining its strength.

    ¡¯What could have possibly happened to make even Invigoration useless? Why does the life force that I give Ka go to waste?¡¯ Lith kept wondering while he alternated the use of his breathing technique and Scanner.

    ¡¯Maybe it¡¯s just a coincidence,¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s odd that the ck area Scanner detects is partially ovepped with the one where Invigoration locates Ka¡¯s core?¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s no coincidence, just idiocy.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Whose idiocy?¡¯

    ¡¯Mine!¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at himself.

    "I know what¡¯s happening." He exined to Ka.

    "To split and move your mana core you have ¡¯destroyed its cage¡¯. Said cage is your own life force."

    "It makes sense. Both sess and failure required for me to die. My survival has been an unexpected ident." Ka pondered.

    "The damage you have caused has permanently altered the flow of your life force, making it unable to connect properly with the mana core. That¡¯s why Invigoration is useless. The world energy has no way of being passed to your body anymore."

    "Can you fix it?" Mother and children asked in unison.

    "If I was at full strength I¡¯d answer ¡¯probably¡¯. In my current condition, I don¡¯t even know how long will it take for me to copse from exhaustion. Repairing such huge damage near the mana core is a very delicate job. Can you hold on for a couple of hours?"

    "I think I have another couple of minutes in me." The shadows enveloping Ka¡¯s figure shrank while the light in her remaining eye started to flicker.

 Chapter 372 Transplant Part 1

    Cursing at both the army and his bad luck, Lith activated all of his Body Sculpting spells at once. He had modified the basic version learned at the academy into a true magic one with a few kinks of his own.

    ¡¯The situation is bad. I have to alternate Invigoration and Scanner, otherwise one¡¯s readings will block the other¡¯s. Plus I have to fill the hole inside Ka¡¯s abdomen fast. If I take my time as usual, she¡¯s as good as dead.¡¯

    In her attempt to achieve Lichhood, Ka had damaged her life force, leaving a gaping hole that was slowly dissipating both her mana and life force. It also prevented her to use Invigoration since the mana would be drained by the hole.

    Lith went all out from the start and conjured ten Chisels at once. The Chisels started to probe into the healthy life force. Ka wasn¡¯t a slime but an Evolved Monster, which made her a unique living being.

    ¡¯If she was a human, at least I¡¯d know where to start. I have never studied a Wight¡¯s life force, dammit. It¡¯spletely different from what I have ever seen before.¡¯

    Watching at Ka through Scanner was like trying to follow a rollercoaster constantly changing its physical form, going from liquid to solid without warning. Her partial undead nature made unnecessary for her to breathe or possess most organs.

    On paper, it sounded really cool because it made her resistant to most kinds of energies. On the other hand, for Lith it was a nightmare. Her life force was a hybrid,posed of the physical form of her body and the shadow energy that enveloped her physique to connect the various parts.

    Lith had to alter them both without killing her nor having enough time to study Ka¡¯s unique nature properly. Even though Lith was in a rush, he needed to assess how bad the situation was, so he had the Chisels checking the edges of the ck zone.

    ¡¯The situation is worse than I expected.¡¯ Lith sighed. ¡¯The life force around the damage has stabilized, but even just poking it¡¯s enough to make it bleed life force that disappears immediately. I can¡¯t collect nor save it. The hole is like a drain.

    Solus, I may need your help.¡¯

    ¡¯There is not much I can do with a deep green core. I can barely use a tier five spell by borrowing some of your mana.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, I just need you to use Spat to collect the life force in case I make a mistake.¡¯

    Lith could have conjured and controlled more than ten chisels, but that would lessen his uracy. Ka was already with one foot in the grave, he couldn¡¯t afford to make any major slipup.

    Manipting life force was different from any other kind of spellcasting Lith had learned. It required to keep your focus at all times, exerting surgical control on your mana as well as on the patient¡¯s body.

    In any other circumstance, Lith would have used Body sculpting to repair the damage by redistributing the life force without altering its flow. The problem was that the procedure was slow and Ka had maybe a couple of minutes left.

    ¡¯Since I don¡¯t have time, the fastest approach is to transnt life force from a healthy part to fill the hole. It will create a new one, but at least if I cover Ka¡¯s mana core, her condition should improve.

    If I¡¯m right, it will buy me the time I need to fix her.¡¯

    First, Lith used one of his personal spells, Mould, to take a magical picture of the life force in Ka¡¯s left paw in order to be able to restore itter once the emergency was resolved.

    A paw was far from all vital organs, making it the perfect life force donor.

    After he made sure that no permanent damage would befall his friend, the Chisels worked in unison on the left paw to remove the energy and brought it over the ck area.

    Even transnting the life force of the same individual was a very delicate procedure. First, a Chisel had to disconnect each single block unit¡¯s connection to the paw. Then, a few Chisels would use mana strands to weave it to the healthy life force near the hole.

    Lith had to be fast, otherwise the dead zone would drain the energy.

    Lith hated that kind of procedure. It was more like butchering than surgery, so he also had to focus on minimizing the damages. For a control freak like him, it was a worst case scenario.

    He could either rush things, maybe saving the patient, but leaving a mess behind that he would be forced to fixter, or bide his time and let Ka die. Lith worked non stop, expending his mana so fast that he needed to use Invigoration right after the two minutes mark had passed.

    Despite the situation, he sighed in relief.

    ¡¯Since Ka is still alive, I count that as a win.¡¯ Lith thought. The light in her left eye seemed to have stabilized, but she was still too weak to talk or simply she had no energy to waste.

    Ka could feel that something was wrong with her paw. She was progressively losing sensitivity. Yet she already had a hard time staying awake, so she considered it just another sign of her imminent doom.

    The more time passed, though, the stronger she felt. Ka understood that whatever Lith was doing was working the moment she regained her sight. She had been blinded for weeks, so her first instinct was to scream in joy.

    Yet when she saw how bad her children¡¯s condition was, her joy turned into despair. The only thing that stopped her from trying to reach them was the sight of Lith, sweating bullets, who emitted enough mana to fight three Wights at once.

    He was sparing no effort, going down to thest shred of energy before using Invigoration.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want to lose another friend. Ka and I never spoke much but there¡¯s a connection between us. Maybe it¡¯s because we are both anomalies for our species, but she always gave me more credit than I deserved.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I¡¯m d to hear that, but promise me this time it will not end like with Protector.¡¯ Solus was worried about him. Both his body and mind were approaching their limits.

    ¡¯I promise.¡¯ Lith replied, leaving her shocked. She knew how stubborn he was.

    ¡¯I have learned my lesson back then. Exchanging my life for another is idiotic, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I will not do my best to save Ka.¡¯ He emitted a strong burst of energy, sending his Chisels after the shadow energy thatposed half of the life force.

    Operating on the space near the hole was already hard. The slightest mistake would result in a partial orplete loss of the transnted energy. Yet what he was about to do was even harder.

    Lith had done all he could for the body, now he needed to restore the flow.

    To do it, he had to attach small chunks of life force to the shadows and reconnect them to the damaged parts. Weaving mana threads on a moving target was as easy as killing an elephant with a pea shooter.

 Chapter 373 Transplant Part 2

    It required for Lith to anticipate the life force¡¯s flow, so he could ce the energy on its tracks and connect the threads a second earlier they collided. There was no space for mistakes, each procedure could only be a sess or a failure.

    So far, he had failed a lot. The hole in Ka¡¯s abdomen was the size of a human head, while her paw had enough life force to fill a space ten times as big. Yet it was already almost depleted.

    To use what little energy was left, Lith used Invigoration before every attempt to fix the flow. It increased his odds of sess at the expense of his endurance. With each use of Invigoration, the smaller was the effect and the higher the burden on Lith¡¯s body.

    Each burst allowed him to use his full focus as he had just woken up from a good night sleep, and to deplete his mana without worries. Soon, he started bleeding from his nose, then from the ears andstly from his eyes.

    The Body Sculpting surgerysted a little less than five minutes. The final result was a crude patchwork filling the hole, while Ka¡¯s paw was pretty much crippled. As for Lith, he copsed onto the ground with the same grace of a rock.

    The hit was strong enough to worsen his condition. The bleeding continued, forming a small pool of blood beneath his face.

    "I wonder what he did to me." Ka pondered. She was feeling better by the second, but it didn¡¯t mean much. It was just that anything was better than her previous near death experience.

    Her abdomen felt like someone was stirring her bowels with a rusty razor while her left paw remained limp, no matter how much she attempted to move it. It was paralyzed, yet searing pain radiated from it.

    "Pain, my old friend. You are the only true constant of life." She sighed. "I will not miss you once I ascend to the status of true undead. You are as clingy as annoying..."

    "Mom!" Nok cut her monologue short.

    "There¡¯s no time for your monologues, Nyka has lost it."

    "Damned istion! It seems I can¡¯t keep my mouth shut." Ka said while turning around.

    Nyka was on all four, near Lith¡¯s head, licking from the pool of blood. After the first taste, she shivered in pleasure and the feeding frenzy overwhelmed her. She had never tasted anything so delicious.

    All the food she had previously eaten seemed to be rotten trashpared to that nectar. She drank the blood emitting slurping sounds, yet careful to not miss even a single drop.

    "Nyka, stop immediately!" Ka ordered while trying to get near her daughter. Her left paw refused to move, so she could only drag it on the floor while moving forward.

    Nyka had already drained the pool, so she took Lith¡¯s head on herp, caressing his jugr like they were long lost lovers. Her body had partially recovered from its starvation. The skin was no moreid, the wrinkles had disappeared.

    Her full lips were of a deep red color, but itsted only for a second before the blood covering them was drained and they returned to be milky white. A vampire had several ways of absorbing nourishment.

    One was with darkness magic, but it was as tasty as airne food so it was kept either as ast resort or as abat option. Another was through the skin. Some of them bathed in blood, gaining from it strength and the same rxationing from a full day of SPA.

    One of the two most favored methods was drinking it because it gave them pleasure.

    "I just want some more." Nyka replied turning her fingers into ws and pricking on Lith¡¯s neck with them. Her eyes were now full ck, the sign that her mind was overpowered by her hunger.

    "Sorry, sis!" Nok charged at her like ram, yet Nyka swat him away like he was a fly, sending the Byk crashing against the south wall. Nok was just a magical beast, his strength and weight were meaningless in front of a higher undead.

    ¡¯Dammit!¡¯ Ka thought. ¡¯My body still feels like a ragdoll filled with rusty nails. If I feed her or use magic, I could undo whatever Lith has done and kill us both. I must find a way to protect Lith and Nok. Neither of them can survive being fed upon.¡¯

    Ka racked her brain in search of a solution while Nyka hissed in frustration. Lith¡¯s skin was not only sturdier than leather, but it also healed so fast that a single droplet of blood had yet to be spilled.

    The vampire¡¯s patience had run out. Her mouth got close to the main artery, meeting a fierce resistance. A stone fist struck her in the jaw with the strength of a wild ox.

    "Hands off the merchandise, sister!" Solus warned her. She was now in her glove form, holding the Gatekeeper sword against Nyka¡¯s heart. Both were floating in mid air thanks to spirit magic.

    "Make one move and I¡¯ll kill you." She was using air magic to speak, just like the magical beasts did.

    Between the hit and the enchanted metal pressing against her skin, Nyka came to her senses. The killing intent Solus radiated had triggered her survival instinct, allowing her to snap out of her feeding frenzy.

    Nyka raised her hands in submission, but Solus kept pushing her away with the de until Nyka¡¯s back was against the wall at a safe distance from Lith.

    "I¡¯m really sorry." The vampire sounded sincere, yet Solus kept infusing the Gatekeeper with magic, ready to pulverize the enemy.

    "It¡¯s just that I¡¯m so hungry and that blood was... spectacr."

    "She never fed upon an Awakened before." Ka exined. "To a vampire, the more powerful a being is, the tastier is their blood. Please, ring fairy, spare my daughter. This is all my fault."

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about why she did it." Solus¡¯s voice held no kindness, only rage. "Until Lith wakes up, I¡¯m not going to take any chance."

    Solus had yet to finish the phrase that she was forced to reconsider her options. A low rumbling was spreading through the ground while the amount of mana in the room was skyrocketing.

    Both Solus and Ka were surprised. They had seen the phenomenon happen multiple times, but only for magical beasts. Lith¡¯s body was emitting a silver light, which became a small pir piercing toward the sky.

    "This is so wrong!" Solus darted back on Lith¡¯s hand, checking his body with Invigoration. The impurities in his body had reached once again his mana core, triggering the refinement process.

    "This didn¡¯t happen to Tista, only when a magical beast turned into an Evolved Monster."

    "I don¡¯t know who this Tista is, but if their core was below the cyan level then it¡¯s normal. Reaching the blue core is a major event." Ka exined. "It marks the moment when amon magical beast can be the first member of a new species.

    "Yet you are also right, this is wrong. Usually, only magical beasts and nts receive Mogar¡¯s help. The other races are not attuned with the world energy, which makes their Awakened undergo terrible suffering.

    "It¡¯s because unlike us, their bodies are incapable of evolving. What really worries me, though, is that I have never seen a silver light. This doesn¡¯t make any sense."

    In all the evolutions Solus and Ka had witnessed, the light had always been of a golden color.

 Chapter 374 Symphony Part 1

    "This is really interesting." Leegaain said while showing Milea the scene unfolding inside Scarlett¡¯sb. The moment he had perceived the anomaly, he requested Tyris to share her vision.

    "What does this mean?" Milea asked. "He¡¯s just going from cyan to blue, it¡¯s no big deal. Why the light pir? It didn¡¯t happen to me."

    "That¡¯s because you are human while he is not. What baffles me is that silver light. You see, back when I refined my mana core from cyan to blue, evolving from a Smander into a Drake, I produced a ck pir. Tyris generated a white one and Sark a red one."

    The Dragon¡¯s words left her in a stupor.

    "Are you saying that..."

    "No, I¡¯m not." Leegaain cut her short. "A different colored pir means nothing until all tribtions have been ovee. What I¡¯m saying is that a human never achieved Guardianhood and if I¡¯m right they never will. Because whatever he is, he¡¯s not human."

    From their respective viewpoints, Sark and Tyris watched an enormous pir of silver light descending from the sky above Lith¡¯s position. Until that moment, they had always dismissed his existence as an oddity. Now their interest was piqued.

    ***

    If Lith knew what was about to happen, he would be grateful for being unconscious. Every major breakthrough was always more excruciating than the previous ones. Luckily, his body was refined along with his mana core, making it more resistant to pain.

    So, when his nails fell off like invisible pliers had pulled them out, he didn¡¯t wake up. Neither he did when his bones broke or his flesh was turned inside out. It had already happened in the past, Solus was more worried about Nyka than about Lith¡¯s condition.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what could happen if the vampire attacks him during the core refinement process. Maybe I should go back keeping watch.¡¯ Solus thought, yet found herself unable to move, just like everyone else in the room.

    The magicb that Scarlett the Scorpicore had borrowed Ka was several meters underground, shielded from external influences by some of her best arrays. Nheless, the gigantic silver light pir descending from the skies passed through them like they were thin air.

    Solus had observed the evolution process of magical beasts several times and it always made her think of a giant finger of some god that came down to breathe new life in the evolving creature.

    This time things went differently.

    When the light pir from the sky met the one originating from Lith, his heart withered at a speed visible at the naked eye until it resembled a giant dried plume. The blood flow stopped. The resulting agony was so intense that Lith woke up clenching his chest.

    Solus could see impurities flow out of it like an invisible hand was squeezing them out. Then, when Lith was an inch from death, his heart absorbed the blood surrounding it and mixed it with the silver light, returning to its original size.

    Solus noticed with mana sense that the renewed heart pumped not only blood, but also mana. She also used Scanner, to check Lith¡¯s life force for anomalies. The result was just as amazing.

    ¡¯After his heart has been restored, Lith¡¯s life force¡¯s started to flow. It¡¯s no more static, maybe that¡¯s the secret behind the ability to shapeshift.¡¯ She thought.

    Then, the same thing happened to the lungs. Lith opened his mouth to scream, it was like countless scorching daggers had pierced his flesh, but no voice came out. One by one, all of his internal organs underwent the refining process.

    The flow of his mana and life force increased each time. When his brain shrunk to the size of an apple, Lith thought his life was over. He found himself wandering in a ce where there was no light, no pain, nothing.

    Only the quiet stillness he had experienced in death.

    Everything was quiet, the time stood still. He had no idea how long itsted, the only thing that gave him hope was the appearance of a small light representing his bond with Solus.

    ¡¯If I can still feel her trying to reach me, then I¡¯m not dead yet.¡¯ He thought.

    When his brain recovered, Lith had no time to feel relieved or thank Solus. He knew the refinement wasn¡¯t over yet. All the impurities were now stored in his skin.

    ¡¯This is going to hurt.¡¯ Lith clenched his teeth. He didn¡¯t know what would follow, but he was sure it wouldn¡¯t be nice. He took off the Skinwalker armor with a thought, to avoid it interfering with the process.

    The impurities flooded Lith¡¯s skin until it turned ck. They hardened on contact with air, making him resemble an obsidian statue. Cracks appeared all over its surface. He felt like every inch of his body was being dipped into burning oil.

    Then, the ck skin crumbled and fell. His flesh and muscles remained exposed for a long, agonizing second before a new one grew to cover him again before he could start screaming in pain.

    "What the heck was that?" Solus yelled while checking Lith¡¯s condition. He was unconscious again. His physique was apparently the same, but the reality was quite different. The density of his body was on a new level, making it almost impossible to harm him with conventional means.

    Solus could see him breathe mana and life force just like he normally did with air. Lith¡¯s mana core was now of a deep blue color. The amount of mana it stored hadn¡¯t changed much, but its quality had further improved.

    With every breath he took, he would absorb a little amount of world energy, even without the use of Invigoration. His life force flowed freely through his every fiber, speeding up the recovery of his injuries.

    "I have no clue." Ka replied. "Magical beasts just evolve. Their body is like a cocoon they have to get freed from to reach the next stage. In Lith¡¯s case, it seemed more like torture. Like someone was forcefully recing defective parts."

    "Can¡¯t you help him?" Solus was the better Healer among the two, but she drew her strength from Lith and she didn¡¯t want to increase his burden.

    "I never heard about this ¡¯life force¡¯ Lith kept talking about and my children always shut me up. My body feels like is held together with leaves and spit. I¡¯m afraid that if I use magic, I may fall apart." Ka shook her head.

    "My studies are more oriented towards Necromancy rather than Healing, but light and darkness magic are two sides of the same coin. I¡¯m also a fast learner, so if you could exin to me what he did, I may be able to find a way to help us both."

    Solus exined to Ka the foundations of Body Sculpting and how to cast Scanner with true magic.

    "Fascinating!" Ka replied after a few hours of lecturing. "I have no idea what you have just said but sure sounds impressing. Maybe I have underestimated the importance of light magic in Necromancy.

    "Seems I will have to start over from scratch. If my hypothesis is right, I failed because I have no control over my life force. I need to learn light magic before trying again."

    Ka asked Solus several questions, to which she replied as well as she could.

    Solus was trying to describe to her how to manipte the mana to achieve the Scanner spell when Lith woke up.

 Chapter 375 Symphony Part 2

    "How long was I out cold?" He asked while clenching and releasing his fists several times. There was something off with his body.

    "Almost three hours." Solus replied. "Which is odd, I expected you to need at least eight hours to recuperate. How do you feel?"

    "Like there¡¯s an itch I cannot scratch. A needle in the back of my skull." Lith noticed Nok lying on the floor, still unconscious. He had so many things to ask but so little time.

    First, he healed the young Byk, then proceeded to fix the mess Ka¡¯s body was.

    ¡¯Wish I could speak and treat her at the same time. My day leave is almost over, I must make use of every single second I... What the f*ck?¡¯

    To Lith¡¯s surprise, he could not only perceive Ka¡¯s life force with much more rity than before, but also understand where he or she had messed up. It was more about listening rather than seeing.

    Life force was like a song performed by a living being and every defect was a sour note. Lith listened to the melody yed by the Wight¡¯s body, guiding its flow along its intended path instead of trying to force it.

    The patchwork covering Ka¡¯s mana core soon became a smooth surface, even leaving a few energies to spare that Lith redirected to the butchered left paw to hasten its recovery. The procedure required over an hour but neither Lith nor Ka noticed the passing of time.

    Lith was engrossed by his new ability and used it to heal his friend while deepening his understanding of Body Sculpting at the same time. Tier five Healing magic hadn¡¯t be easier all of a sudden. Scanner was the same spell as before.

    Yet the blue core allowed him to obtain a whole new set of information that made it possible for him to understand the breath of life rather than discovering it with a trial and error process.

    Ka instead focused on herself, trying to put into practice what Solus had exined to her. Lith¡¯s touch made it easier for her to sense her life force. It was like a gentle massage over her soul that was easing her pain.

    When Lith was done, Ka felt exhausted but relieved. Somehow, she knew her life wasn¡¯t in danger anymore and her paw, albeit was still limp, had stopped hurting.

    "There." Lith said. "Everything should be all right. Take a few days to rest. No magic allowed. You core has yet to settle in the new life force. If I were you, I¡¯d wait until your paw works again. A few weeks should suffice."

    "A few weeks?" Ka grumbled. She had never taken such a long break from her research. A few hours at most. She wanted to object and bargain her way out, but after looking at her children¡¯s condition she decided toply.

    "I understand you are in a rush. What do you need my help for?"

    Lith sighed, hoping she would believe him, before exining to her both his reincarnation problem and the need to get Solus a body. If Ka was surprised, she didn¡¯t show it. Nok and Nyka were another story.

    Their mouths almost fell onto the ground hearing Lith¡¯s words. To them, lizards bing dragons was something usible. They were used to Scarlett stories, where she ughtered princesses and rescued kidnapped trolls.

    Reincarnation and a girl in a stone were too far fetched to believe though.

    "Coming to me was the right move." Ka replied after pondering for a while. "I just don¡¯t get why you have submitted to the humans¡¯ army."

    "I didn¡¯t submit." Lith scoffed. "My problem can¡¯t be solved with a single spell or a generic artifact. If I had to find a solution all by myself, not even the extended life of an Awakened one would be enough. I have only one attempt at achieving my goal.

    I must make it count."

    "True." Ka admitted while tapping her chin with a single w. "Scarlett has amassed centuries worth of knowledge, yet even something mon¡¯ like Lichhood is a huge gamble. Without her books, I wouldn¡¯t even know where to start."

    "That¡¯s my problem. I have no starting point. That¡¯s why I had to make the humans think they need me more than I need them. Between the Mage Association and the Army, I have now ess to countless tomes but it¡¯s still not enough.

    "They don¡¯t trust me enough to let me read the books I need. I need to y my cards right and use my status to ess otherwise forbidden areas." There were countless ruins in the Griffon Kingdom.

    Some were just piles of dust and debris, others were ces of power. Such areas were still protected by powerful barriers and only the army mages knew how to disable them. Why waste years to open a door when you could just borrow a key?

    Lith showed Ka a map, pointing to her the regions he could choose for his assignment as a ranger.

    "My n is to pick one of the less popted areas with the greatest number of ruins. The others have already been thoroughly explored. Hoping to stumble into a secret relic that no one but me is able to find would be nothing but wishful thinking.

    "Joining the army gives me ess to the list of the ruins and to the methods to ess them. The problem is that there are too many of them. Can you at least point me in the right direction?"

    Ka limped to one of the libraries, pointing to Lith a thick book with a deep green cover.

    "I would pick it myself, but without spirit magic I have only ws. Doctor¡¯s orders." She smirked. Lith took the book and started to flip through it.

    "Can you really understand this gibberish?" The tome was filled with odd runes he had never seen before.

    "Of course not. Who has the time to learn a dead and buriednguage? Put some mana into it." Ka replied.

    Lith did as requested and observed the runes rearrange themselves in themonnguage the three Great Countries shared.

    "This is amazing!" Lith blurted out in envy. "How did Scarlett managed to do this?"

    "She didn¡¯t. She, uhm, liberated most of these books from a mad Lich, but this is a story for another time. Read from page 290."

    The chapter told the story of a forgotten race, the Odi. Millenia ago, their magical and scientific knowledge had allowed them to defeat all illnesses. Their empire grew in wisdom and power, until time was the only enemy they had left.

    The Odi became arrogant and attempted to find a way to achieve eternal life. ording to the book, they started experimenting on the lesser races to develop a method to transnt the conscience from an old body to a young one.

    Thousands of lives were lost during the experiments, but in the end they seeded. It marked the beginning of their end. Until that moment, the Odi had believed that everyone would benefit from the research.

    That they would use the lesser races as a source of spare bodies. Their upper echelons had different ns. They considered such an idea revolting and aimed to preserve the purity of their bloodline.

    Whilemoners would receive a lesser body, the nobles started to buy children from the less fortunate among the Odi to use them as vessels. It didn¡¯t take long for a civil war to break out, nor for the so called lesser races to exploit it to exterminate the Odi for good.

    "The Odiid the foundations to Lichhood." Ka exined. "Maybe in one of their ruins you can find some clues to follow in their footsteps. Even if it doesn¡¯t work for you, it could always prove useful to your ring fairy to escape from her cage."

 Chapter 376 Twin Melodies Part 1

    ording to the book, during the time the Odi civilization was at the height of its prosperity, they ruled over a vast area in the north that was now part of the border between the Griffon Kingdom and the Gorgon Empire.

    The borders were one of the most dangerous sectors, since even if the two countries were at peace from centuries, small and medium sized battles were amon urrence.

    Most of Lith¡¯s patients when he worked at the Academy were soldiers stationed in the north. After copying everything relevant to his research Ka had to offer, she and Lith discussed for a while what was the best ce to start his assignment.

    "She¡¯s not a ring fairy, by the way." Since theirst mind fusion Lith was aware that, by saving Protector, he had identally revealed Solus¡¯s existence to him. Ka had witnessed both the conversation between the Ry and Solus back then and her protecting the unconscious Lith now.

    Keeping Ka in the dark was pointless if not even stupid. The more she knew, the more helpful she could be. It was the reasoning that had led Lith to tell the Wight his whole story.

    "She¡¯s a person, just like me and you. Solus, these are Ka, Nok, and Nyka. Guys, this is Solus, my partner."

    Solus had conflicting feelings about that situation. On one hand, she was happy about bing an active part in Lith¡¯s life. He had already introduced her to his sister. Ka and her children were the first friends he had made aware of her existence.

    On the other hand, Ka learned about Solus years ago, so it didn¡¯t mean much.

    "Nice to meet you, Solus. Scarlett told me a lot about you. You are the first cursed object she has ever spared. Even though after seeing you in action, I don¡¯t think you are a cursed object."

    Maybe it was because of his pampered life, but Nok was a simple minded creature. It didn¡¯t take him much to recover from the surprise and ept Solus as a friend.

    "How do you fit into something so small? Is it painful? How do you eat? What are your favorite foods? Can stones copte? How many cubs do you have? Do the two of you have an offspring together already?"

    Some of his questions were shallow, others were personal enough to make her blush.

    Last, but not least, she didn¡¯t like Nyka. During the time Lith had been unconscious and she exined Body Sculpting to Ka, the vampire had cleaned herself with darkness magic. Once she was sure her mother was safe, she had gone hunting.

    Now she had raven ck hair and emerald green eyes both emphasized by her pale skin. Nyka¡¯s body wasn¡¯t milky anymore but of a light rosy color. Solus could appreciate all the changes proper feeding had triggered because the vampire was still stark naked.

    She wasn¡¯t a stunning beauty, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body toned without a shred of body fat. It also made her soft curves perky beyond belief.

    Every one of her movements was graceful and sensual, making Solus turn green with envy. Yet that wasn¡¯t the reason why Solus didn¡¯t like Nyka.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, big sister. I had no idea he is already taken. I¡¯m really sorry for feeding on your thrall without your permission." The vampire said giving Solus a deep bow.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not a goddamn parasite, I¡¯m a symbiote!¡¯ Solus thought in outrage. ¡¯Our rtionship is alreadyplicated, hearing her calling Lith a thrall irks me to no end. Yet if I clear her misunderstanding, she¡¯ll resume looking at him like a juicy steak.¡¯

    Ka didn¡¯t miss how socially awkward her daughter was.

    ¡¯If she ever wants to mingle with humans, she must learn their ways. I might ask Lith to bring her along with him, once he is done with the army.¡¯ Ka thought.

    "I think the best region to start your research is the Etochian one." She said. "It¡¯s mostlyposed of no man¡¯snds, which will give you the privacy you need, and it holds several ruins. I know because I have been there.

    There are several undeadmunities in the area that I can introduce you to." Ka took out of her dimensional amulet small fragments of white baster. They turned into white dust that Ka used to draw several runes on Lith¡¯s palm.

    The glowing runessted only for a moment, leaving Lith¡¯s skin immacte.

    "If you ever meet undead, do not fight them. Just channel pure mana into your hand and the runes will resurface. Consider it a letter of rmendation of sorts. When I manage to get in touch with Scarlett, I will ask for her help.

    She¡¯s likely to know more than me. Scarlett may be able to help you narrow your search."

    "Thanks, Ka." Lith replied. Despite all the good news, he was still worried. His body felt off since the moment the refining process had ended. At first, Lith thought that having his body undergone major changes, it would take some time for him to get used to them.

    However, the feeling was only getting worse. Lith used Invigoration on himself, finding nothing unusual. Then he switched to Scanner, examining his own life force. There were several scars from when he had saved Protector.

    No matter how hard Lith tried, he couldn¡¯t get rid of them. Everything seemed fine again, so Lith stopped using his eyes and tried to listen to the melody produced by his body.

    ¡¯So many sour notes. I guess each one represents the life force I lost forever. Sounds almost like a requiem.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed. ¡¯Wait. Solus, do you hear that?¡¯

    ¡¯Yes.¡¯ She replied while sharing his senses. ¡¯It¡¯s like there is a second melody on the background.¡¯

    Lith focused on the new melody, it sounded like a joyful allegro. After several attempts, Lith managed to reduce the volume of the main life force and to turn up the second one.

    Along with the tune, his life force also changed its appearance. If before it resembled a colossus made of red lego bricks and erector set, now it looked like a sealed star. There was an outer shell made of ck bricks while the inner part wasposed by a stream of raging energy originating from a sphere that he supposed being his mana core.

    ¡¯What the heck? How is it possible for me to have two life forces? Why don¡¯t I feel any different?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s better if you open your eyes.¡¯ Solus suggested.

    Lith did as instructed, discovering that his body now stood slightly over two meters tall. It was covered in thick curved ck scales while his hands and feet ended in razor sharp ws.

    ¡¯Solus, what happened to the Skinwalker armor? Tell me I didn¡¯t destroy it. It¡¯s too expensive to lose it in such a stupid way.¡¯ Having a monstrous body scared Lith much less than the thought of having wasted money.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, I stored it away the moment you started to change. Look at yourself into the mirror.¡¯ She replied while conjuring a reflecting surface made of ice.

 Chapter 377 Twin Melodies Part 2

    Lith could notice that his appearance resembled the one he had assumed in the past while trying to save Protector and when he faced the ckers in the forest. Itcked the horns, the wings, and the tail.

    His face was a ck te with no nose or ears. Two yellow eyes were open, while the slits for the other four, albeit being recognizable, were wide shut. Lith tried multiple times to open them but to no avail.

    "Damn, I look like a demon." When Lith spoke, he revealed a mouth filled with sharp fangs. It wasn¡¯t visible before because the scales covering his face matched to perfection.

    "Remarkable." Ka said. "You¡¯ve already learned how to shapeshift and you did it on your own at that. Scarlett tried to teach me, but it was tooplex. Plus, I deemed it useless. I have no desire to change my physical appearance just to please others."

    "I didn¡¯t learn anything." Lith was deeply confused. "Protector exined to me how to do it, but I always failed in the past. After my core has be blue, I seem to have developed a second kind of life force. Do you have one too, Ka?"

    "No, or at least is what I think. Before today I never heard about life force, but I¡¯m pretty sure that not even in Scarlett¡¯s crazy stories was ever mentioned someone capable of natural shapeshifting.

    "It¡¯s something that has to be learned. You can¡¯t just take any form you want. Before shapeshifting, you are supposed to be able to visualize every single detail in your mind. To know your imaginary body like the back of your paw.

    Let me check one thing." Ka ced one of her ws on Lith, using Invigoration on him.

    "Whatever this form of yours is, is useless. You are not stronger nor faster than before. Even your mana core is unchanged. Sure, the scales may offer you some protection, but I can¡¯t see any value in sticking out like a sore thumb."

    After checking his condition with his own Invigoration, Lith agreed with a sigh.

    "Unless I want to murder someone in broad daylight and pin it to a monster, this form is as useless as a third nostril." He activated Scanner again, focusing on the original melody and returning to his human form.

    Right after the transformation, Lith coughed uncontrobly for a few seconds.

    "What¡¯s wrong?" All those present asked in unison. An Awakened one getting sick was something unheard of.

    "I don¡¯t know." Lith replied with a hoarse voice. "Seems my new form suffers from acid reflux or something. I had a burning sensation in my throat the whole time."

    Lith left Scarlett¡¯sb after giving everyone a present. A book about Body Sculpting for Ka, a lot of food for Nok, and a ss of his blood for Nyka. Ka¡¯s blood was toxic for the undead and she had exined to him how Awakened blood was a powerful delicacy for vampires.

    Much to Nyka¡¯s dismay, Ka stored it for a rainy day. For a vampire, even a small amount from a blue cored Awakened was the equivalent of several liters of blood from normal humans.

    Lith returned the teacher ring to Marth before going back to his living quarters in the military camp. He spent the hours left of his day leave sleeping, to recover part of his strength. Between the breakthrough and treating Ka¡¯s life force, he was exhausted.

    The next day, when he went to Berion¡¯s office to announce his final decision, the Commander had a deep frown and his fingers were drumming on a thick folder.

    Berion grumpily replied to the salute and left Lith standing on attention for a few minutes before talking.

    "Lieutenant Verhen, do you know what Article 16 of the code of military justice states?"

    "It is forbidden for any soldier, NCO, and officer to assault in any way a fellow member of the army." Lith quoted from Soluspedia.

    "So you do know the code." Berion stood up, piercing Lith with a steel gaze.

    "Then how do you exin what you did in the mess hall of Regharos¡¯ boot camp?"

    "I simply gave Sergeant Proudstar our mother¡¯s regards." Lith couldn¡¯t believe the Commander was making a fuss for such an insignificant reason, nor that Trion could be stupid enough to report him. It would only make a fool of himself.

    "I don¡¯t care about your brother. I¡¯m talking about all the people you sent to the hospital." The Commander¡¯s icy tone left Lith unfazed. His words, not so much.

    "I beg your pardon? I didn¡¯t throw a single punch nor spell."

    "Son, I have been young and stupid too. I can understand that you wanted to teach him a lesson, but you went overboard. Only active soldiers are trained to withstand killing intent. Kitchen staff are basically civilian.

    Your little show made some faint, some puke their guts out, while the less fortunate now have white hair and bber about monsters dwelling in the shadows."

    ¡¯Oh f*ck!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I was so angry back then that Ipletely forgot about kitchen staff. Yet it¡¯s hard to believe that a sliver of killing intent could have done so much damage.¡¯

    "This folder contains the medical files of all the people you have injured. Their medical bills will be deducted from your pay." The Commander¡¯s index tapped on the stack of paper.

    Lith pretended to be contrite, but he couldn¡¯t care less. He could make as a Healer in a day what the army paid him per month.

    "At ease, Lieutenant. I hope you have made your decision. Otherwise, a few days in solitary will teach you not to disgrace our uniform."

    Lith took out from his pocket dimension the map of the Griffon Kingdom and showed Berion the Etochian region. The frown disappeared from the Commander¡¯s face and was reced by a worried expression.

    "Are you certain, Lieutenant? I wanted to assign you a harsh environment as punishment but that¡¯s too much."

    Noticing Lith¡¯s confusion, Berion smirked.

    "I¡¯m not worried about the borders. There are plenty of good soldiers there that can help you if the necessity arises. Nor I¡¯m not worried about monsters or magical beasts. I read your file, I know you¡¯re a survivor. What worries me are these."

    The Commander pointed at the various ruins Lith and Ka had studied earlier.

    "Do you know why we give to the Rangers the passcodes to the lost cities? Because they are part of your patrol duty."

    "Does someone live there?" Lith was more confused by the second.

    "Of course not. No citizen of the Kingdom lives there. Have you ever wondered why even though so many centuries have passed, the arrays are still working? How we managed to learn how to bypass them safely?

    "It didn¡¯t take any effort on our side. Everything was engraved in multiplenguages on the pirs surrounding the lost cities. Those who created the arrays, left all the necessary instructions to keep them active.

    "Your duty consists also in checking that the magical formations are functional and not letting the ruins be a threat to the Kingdom. Those arrays weren¡¯t built to keep people out, but to keep the things that spawn in the lost cities in."

 Chapter 378 The North Part 1

    Judging from Commander Berion¡¯s tone, his words were meant to warn Lith about the danger the lost cities represented. Maybe he even hoped the young Ranger would reconsider his choice.

    Lith¡¯s curiosity was piqued, instead.

    ¡¯How many secrets does the Griffon Kingdom keep from its citizens?¡¯ He thought. ¡¯I can understand sweeping Necromancy under the rug. It¡¯s a branch of magic too dangerous to let it fall in the hands of nobles with more money than life left.

    ¡¯Heck, even Balkor is something that better stays forgotten. If the story of what happened to him bes public, small viges like Lutia would either smother their children¡¯s talent for magic or lose any trust in the Crown.

    ¡¯But this? Why a bunch of ruins is deemed so dangerous? Why have I never heard anything about them, not even at the Academy?¡¯

    "With all due respect, Sir, but if the lost cities represent a threat to the Kingdom, why are they still standing? I doubt thebined forces of the army and the Mage Association can¡¯t bring them down, even if one at the time."

    "Excellent question, Lieutenant." Berion nodded. He liked Lith not showing any fear for his personal safety and only thinking about the safety of their country. s, what he mistook for loyalty was just Lith¡¯s innate scientific curiosity.

    Misunderstanding or not, the real reason for Berion¡¯s earlier anger wasn¡¯t the incident with Trion, but it¡¯s consequences. Rumors about the events at Regharos had spread like wildfire, attracting the interest of several high officers.

    The Commander wanted to keep the existence of his golden goose a secret for as long as possible. Any meritorious act a subordinate performed would generate merits for theirmanding officer.

    So far, Lith had caused Berion a lot of trouble for little return. The purple crystal disappearance, Sergeant Tepper¡¯sints, and now an assault against fellows Nonmissioned officers. Berion had invested in Lith, but if someone stole him, it would have been all for naught.

    "Cleansing operations have been conducted multiple times with poor results. Once in a while, we have to cull their numbers to prevent them from overpowering the arrays. That¡¯s why we need you to check their threat level.

    "The problem is that there is no way to exterminate them for good. We tried and failed on several asions over the centuries. Those things are hard to define. They are neither alive or undead. Even after wiping them out, they keep respawning.

    "As for destroying the lost cities, it¡¯s too big of a risk. Our mages have assessed that, whatever created those things in the past, still lingers up to date. Those ruins are like a giant living array that has corrupted the very earth they were built upon.

    "They hold an incredible amount of magic power that somehow never runs out. If we destroy those cities, we could create an even worse threat. Not to mention that all the knowledge they hold would be lost forever."

    Lith was now even more eager to explore those ruins.

    ¡¯It¡¯s like the library of Alexandria built on top of a nuclear reactor.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯I wonder why Awakened ones never solved the issue. Is it because it¡¯s beyond even their capabilities or do they just not care? It¡¯s also possible they are the reason behind the constant respawn of the creatures.

    ¡¯It would make sense if the Awakened ones want to keep others away from the prize.¡¯

    "I expect you to depart immediately." Berion handed to Lith a dimensional amulet shaped like the Ranger¡¯s Crest. It contained everything he could need during his travels.

    "Remember to always report your position at least thrice a day. We need to know where you are and what are you doing. It¡¯s especially important before you enter one of the lost ruins or an unmapped city.

    "Never underestimate the dangers of the border regions. There a lot of deserters from both the Griffon Kingdom and the Gorgon Empire living there. In the past, we have lost a lot of promising Rangers because of their carelessness.

    "Don¡¯t hesitate to call for backup. The real strength of the army resides in its numbers. Feel free to get from the armory whatever you may need. Good luck, Ranger Verhen."

    After exchanging the salute, Commander Berion offered Lith his hand. Lith was surprised by the gesture, but he shook it nheless.

    ¡¯Seems he has high expectations for you.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯It doesn¡¯t match with my idea of a Ranger being like a beat cop, though. I mean, what can he possibly hope for you to achieve in the wilderness?¡¯

    ¡¯We¡¯ll find out.¡¯ Lith followed the Commander¡¯s advice, restocking his supplies of food and Alchemical tools. There was no weapon or armor that outperformed his current equipment, which was disappointing.

    Lith left the camp, reaching the city of Belius with the Warp Gate. It was the biggest settlement in the region. Belius was a fortress city built in front of a narrow pass between two mountain ranges that formed a natural border separating the two countries.

    On the other side of the pass there was a twin city, Relius, flying the Gorgon Empire¡¯s g. Lith was stunned by the amount of magic in the air. There were countless arrays in ce, preventing the use of dimensional magic, flight, and even spells above tier three.

    Lith could sense a dissonance in the air that gave his mana core an ill feeling.

    He had never seen so many protections since he had left the Royal Pce.

    ¡¯Paranoid much?¡¯ Lith realized how hypocritical it the word soundeding from him the moment he thought it.

    ¡¯Yeah and for a good reason.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯Both cities must prevent the enemy from building a dimensional corridor that would make all the weapons and walls in the world useless. Dimensional items make smuggling anything an easy feat.

    No wonder they are banned here.¡¯ She had attempted essing her pocket dimension just to find it sealed.

    Even leaving Belius proved to be not an easy feat. Lith had to fill a lot of paperwork to be recognized as the newly appointed Ranger of the region, had to dere everything he had stored in his army and personal dimensional amulets.

    Much to his dismay, he found out the Mage Association had a way to undo his imprinting on the enchanted items and could verify Lith¡¯s ims.

    "Are you sure you want to leave right away?" Asked a clerk of about twenty years of age after making an inventory of Lith¡¯s possessions before returning the amulets to him.

    "Belius may have strict regtions, but it¡¯s one of the most beautiful cities of the Kingdom. Once you get out of the gates, it could be weeks before you have a proper bed and meal."

    "Thanks, but no thanks. Without my magic, I feel naked." Lith replied. "I can¡¯t wait to get out of here."

    The man nodded, opening a Warp Gate that brought Lith right outside the city walls.

    "Lucky b*stard."

    "Noble scum."

    "F*cking as*hat."

    Those were just some of the words that weed his arrival, together with numerous spits onto the ground to emphasized their contempt.

    Even the city guards were about to join the crowd until they noticed the traveler was alone and donning the green of the Rangers. They hastily swallowed their own phlegm giving him a salute.

 Chapter 379 The North Part 2

    Lith could understand why his appearance had caused so much anger. The city had many gates and each one had a queue several hundreds of meters long that was getting longer by the minute.

    Merchants, travellers, even residents had to pass several checks to get in or out. The Warp Gate was a fastne, usually reserved for nobles and high officials. Lith ignored them, activating Life Vision to check if he could take off.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ His surprised expression was mistaken by some of those present as an indignant one, which prompted them to resume their swearing. Lith couldn¡¯t care less about them and spun around himself to make sure his eyes weren¡¯t ying a trick on him.

    The arrays weren¡¯t in a fixed position. Unlike the academy and the Royal pce, they could only be described as a maelstrom. The magical energies covered the whole city at all times, but they also change their size and height with no warning.

    Lith watched a mage flying above the city, until the array became like a hurricane and reached for the sky. The poor fellow fell like a rock, crashing on a rooftop with deadly consequences.

    "Move along, sir. Otherwise you may be run over." The guard¡¯s voice woke Lith up from his stupor. He walked away double time, eager to find a better viewpoint which would allow him to study Belius.

    The city was surrounded by walls made of stone that stood twenty meters (66¡¯) high with evenly spaced observation towers built along the perimeter. Each one of them was topped by blue magic crystals the size of a person.

    Lith and Solus observed the arrays for a time, watching them shift like a tide. Whenever one of the spells the formations were meant to negate were used, even from a considerable distance from the city, the towers would detect it.

    They would then produce a lightning of mystical energies invisible to the naked eye marking the mage as a target. The arrays would shapeshift ordingly to the information received killing their victims almost instantly.

    Thanks to his heightened senses and the tall tree he had climbed, Lith was able to spot from a distance several towers ced along the mountain range, spanning as far as the eye could see.

    ¡¯By my maker, those towers are ry points for Belius¡¯ arrays.¡¯ The revtions bbergasted Solus.

    ¡¯Yeah, they also allow the sealing magic to pinpoint its target and send an rm signal.¡¯ Lith pondered. ¡¯The corpses of the idiots we¡¯ve seen trying to bypass the city checks have all been promptly collected.¡¯

    He had no idea what was actually happening but he could see a Warp Steps and several humanoid figures appear where the trespassers had fallen just a few seconds after their demise.

    Everything happened too fast to be a coincidence, so Lith assumed that, just like for the Academy, elite guards could ignore the arrays and move freely.

    ¡¯An almost living magical formation capable of changing its shape. To think that Yurial always nagged about Wardens being useless.¡¯ A sad smile appeared on Lith¡¯s face while thinking about his lost friend.

    ¡¯I wish he were still alive, here with us. I could finally say to him "I told you so".¡¯

    Lith jumped down on the ground,nding with a roll to break his fall. It couldn¡¯t actually harm him, but he was still in an area were air magic was negated by the arrays. Neither his armor or spells could justify him being unscathed so he had to y the elite soldier card.

    Lith had to run for over one kilometer to escape from the boundaries of the array. Only then he was able to take out from his pocket dimension the map of the Ker region and put it inside Soluspedia recing the one of the Distar Marquisate.

    ¡¯We have up to four months here.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Let¡¯s n our patrol so to give priority to the lost cities.¡¯

    The Ker region was mostly uncharted. Aside from big cities like Belius, small settlements would pop up as fast as they would disappear. In the north, a cold wave was enough to freeze to death whoever didn¡¯t possess a properly insted house.

    Monsters would run rampant, ughtering small viges for a midnight snack. Last but not least, there were the Rangers like Lith. Most of those small settlements were illegal, a safe haven for bandits, deserters, and all those who had an aversion to paying taxes.

    They enjoyed the safety the army¡¯s patrols ensured, just like thefort of using the roads paved by the Kingdom to connect rural areas with the main trading cities. Yet they took everything for granted and considered the harsh life in the north reason enough to be exempted from paying their dues.

    In case such settlements were discovered by soldiers, one of the two had to disappear.

    Lith was flying high enough to check with Life Vision arge area while he moved towards his first destination, the fallen city of Kaduria. Thendscape was different from what he was used in the Distar Marquisate.

    While his birthce was mostlyprised of cultivatednds and woods filling the space between the popted areas, Ker was mostly barren. It was stillte fall, but snow already covered the ground and the tops of the few trees Lith encountered.

    Ever since he departed from Belius, he met no farms nor viges. The frozen earth was full of rocks, making it unfertile without a considerable amount of effort. The area Lith was currently in was too far from the main road for any kind of trading to be profitable.

    The only life forms he met were animals looking for food. Winter wasing and those without enough fat reserves were bound to meet a bad end. After several hours of flight, Lith was starting to feel tired.

    ¡¯I have yet to recoverpletely from treating Ka, tonight I¡¯d like a good night sleep. Solus, did we meet a mana geyser on our way here?¡¯

    ¡¯None, but I believe that even without an external energy source I can at least form the ground floor of the tower.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯Are you asking me to sleep while you work your a*s off? No way, we¡¯re in this together. Either we both rest or I use Invigoration.¡¯

    ¡¯Or we could sleep there.¡¯ Solus pointed at him the smokeing out of several chimneys visible on the horizon.

    ¡¯F*ck me sideways!¡¯ Lith cursed. A human settlement was thest thing he wanted to meet. He used the army¡¯smunication amulet to call his handler.

    "Ranger Lith Verhen calling the Nest, do you copy?"

    "Loud and clear." Said a feminine voiceing from the other side. Unlike Lith¡¯s amulet, the one provided by the army was engraved with several green mana crystals which, among many other things, strengthened its signal.

    The gemstones emitted a series of shes, scanning his surroundings.

    "You deserve your reputation, Ranger Verhen. Covering so much ground in a single day is praiseworthy. Please give me a brief report of your findings." It was a polite way to ask him to prove he hadn¡¯t ignored his patrol duty.

    There wasn¡¯t much to say, but Lith had taken note of all the unmappedndmarks he met on his way. He was certain they had been left out on purpose, some were too obvious to be missed, unless one was blind, deaf, and dumb.

 Chapter 380 The Village Part 1

    The handler was pleased, or at least it was what Lith hoped for. He could hear her taking notes the whole time.

    "I called because I met a human settlement. Do you have my position?"

    "Positive. Call me back once you are done. Do not lower your guard. Based on the images collected it¡¯s a medium sized vige, so it¡¯s likely to be run by a renegade mage or a deserter."

    "Once I¡¯m done doing what?" Lith said. "If I get down there, either will be a massacre or they¡¯ll run away as soon as I leave. If our purpose is collecting taxes, then it¡¯s better for me to stay away from the vige and let you do your job."

    "Negative. Our duty is not collecting taxes, but ensure the safety of the citizens. You must make sure that no one there is forced to stay against their will or is being subjected to the practice of illegal magic.

    "Taxes are just an excuse to prevent bureaucrats from bothering us with budget issues. In the wilderness we are thew, young Ranger. Today, you are thew. So get down there and call me back once you are done. I expect a full and detailed report."

    Cursing at his bad luck, Lith descended to the ground. He activated Life Vision while Solus activated mana sense. They could perceive about 100 life signatures but no arrays or magical protections of sorts.

    ¡¯Do I go there incognito or do I keep my uniform?¡¯ Lith pondered.

    ¡¯Incognito? How exactly?¡¯ Solus chuckled at the idea. ¡¯Aside from your uniform, you only have light clothes suitable for disguising yourself as a farmer or a hunter back in Lutia. Your skin and hair are too dark to pass yourself for a man of the north.

    ¡¯Also, you have no backpack. No one in their right mind would think you got here by chance. With your build and well fed appearance, they wouldn¡¯t believe you are lost or have been robbed either.¡¯

    As it happened most of the time, Solus was right. Lith had not bothered packing disguises or makeup.

    ¡¯Point taken. I¡¯d say it¡¯s better to check the outskirts of the vige before going deeper inside. It¡¯s unlikely we¡¯ll meet a dangerous opponent, but after Nalear I don¡¯t like the idea of getting surrounded again.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He was surprised by theck of watchmen. The path to the vige was clear, making things too easy to be true. The closer he got to the settlement, the more Lith became aware of his surroundings.

    The houses were made in hardwood and looked solid. Lith could smell a fresh coat of tar mixed with other substances used to fill gaps between wood to inste the heat and prevent drafts.

    ¡¯Two things. One, this isn¡¯t a makeshift camp. It¡¯s been made tost. Theck of guards doesn¡¯t make sense. Why are they not afraid of hungry monsters or magical beasts raiding the ce for food? Two, how did my predecessor miss all this?¡¯

    Lith stopped the moment his eyes caught an anomaly near his left foot. There was a thin tripwire a few centimeters above the ground. He followed both extremities, one at a time, discovering they were tied up to trees, not to an rm.

    He focused on his sense of smell, detecting a lot of metal lying around coupled with a sour scent. Lith used air magic to float above the ground and by following the scent he discovered several traps, all coated with poison.

    ¡¯This should be Death Pepper.¡¯ Lith thought after licking a greasy substance off a sharp de ced at the height where the thigh of an average man would be.

    ¡¯It¡¯s a nerve paralyzing poison that kills fast but leaves the meat avable for consumption since it loses effectiveness when cooked. They say it even gives the game a spicy vor, hence the name.

    It makes you wonder if these nice vigers have a taste for human flesh.¡¯

    Soon Lith understood the trap maker¡¯s pattern. Tripwires were actually double traps. If one noticed them and stepped over them, they would fall into a spike pit, the same if they missed it.

    All the other traps were connected to long wires running towards the vige that Lith imagined being rms to announce the hunter that dinner was served. He could have disabled them, but it would also mean leaving a trail of his passage that could alert anyone returning to the vige after him.

    Once he got close enough to the settlement, the matter became even more serious. Life Vision spotted thest line of defense. The traps right before the vige were allprised of enchanted poisoned des.

    ¡¯What the heck is this? The set of the Texas chainsaw massacre? Why I always stumble into ho¡¯s nests?¡¯ Lith had already lost his patience. The situation was a waste of time for him. He only wanted to reach the ruins and learn from them as much as he could.

    ¡¯The vigers may just be trying to defend themselves.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Also, you need merits to obtain ess to top secret tomes. I get you are tired and cranky, but we have to y this by the book.

    ¡¯First impression matters. A poor job could trigger an internal investigation and further slow us down.¡¯

    Lith took a few deep breathes to calm himself before moving forward. He reminded himself of the words of both his handler and Commander. His actions would be investigated and evaluated, so he had to be smart.

    The outer rim hosted only livestock and carriages. The small houses were actually barns, henhouses, and stables.

    ¡¯This is good news. Over half of the life forces are harmless animals. The odd thing is what do they need all these carriages for? Why do they have so much wheat? There isn¡¯t a single plot of cultivatednd here.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The sun had yet to set, but the daily activities seemed to be already over. All the human life forces were in the middle and inner rim. Those in the middle rim seemed to be already asleep, while the people of the innermost rim were assembled in the biggest building, located at the center of the town.

    The buildings in the middle rim were even smaller than those in the outer one and with much better locks. The doors were barred and secured with a heavy chain. They had a chimney but no windows. Life Vision revealed two individuals lying still on their beds.

    At that point, Lith had no need to check inside the houses. All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into ce but one.

    ¡¯Seriously, how could a Ranger miss this ce?¡¯ Suddenly the missingndmarks on the map acquired a new significance. Lith walked towards a man that was approaching his position while Solus refused to believe in Lith¡¯s cynical conclusion.

    She left his right hand, assuming liquid form to sneak under the door. The two inside were a boy and a girl of undefined age. They had their wrists chained to a metal pole ced right behind their bunk.

    Their hair was disheveled, stained by several streaks of coagted blood. Solus used Invigoration on them to check their condition. Both the youths suffered from severe malnutrition. Their bones were cracked in multiple points, their bodies covered in bruises andcerations.

    During the fifth year at the Academy, when Lith had worked in the ER of several hospitals, they had seen this kind of injury several times, but seldom with such deliberate cruelty.

 Chapter 381 The Village Part 2

    The kids were covered with thick nkets to protect them from the cold, since they werepletely naked. Looking at the bloodstains on the sheets and the pavement, Solus felt aghast realizing the kids were left "ready to use."

    Lith approached the man without emitting a sound. He used his Hush spell to make sure no one would disturb them. The guy was tall, at least 1.78 meters, wearing warm fur clothes and a broadsword on his side.

    Lith smirked noticing the de was not enchanted. He was eager to put his new body to test.

    "Good evening, sir. How is this vige called?" Lith asked with the casual tone he would use to converse about the weather.

    The man turned around while unsheathing his sword. His pale skin became even whiter for the surprise, but his movements were smooth. The sh missed Lith¡¯s nose by a whisker.

    "I¡¯ll overlook your rudeness this once." Lith was having a hard time keeping a straight face. The sword moved like in slow motion to his eyes. "Put down your weapon and tell me what I want to know. Otherwise, I¡¯ll sheathe it up your a*s."

    The man swept his unkempt blonde hair off his eyes, unable to believe he had missed such an easy target from so close. His nervousness turned into panic when the man noticed the Ranger badge over the foreigner¡¯s heart.

    "The Ranger! The Ranger is here already!" The man screamed on the top of his lungs before blowing a bone whistle which produced an ear piercing sound.

    "What do you mean with ¡¯already?¡¯" Lith asked while grabbing with his bare hand the de that was still pointed at his face. The man was surprised no one had responded to the rm, but grinned before twisting an pulling away his sword.

    He had expected the Ranger¡¯s fingers to fall off, yet the de didn¡¯t move an inch instead. No matter how much strength he used. Even grabbing the hilt with two hands proved useless, it was like the broadsword was stuck into a vice.

    Lith suddenly let go of the sword to appreciate his own unscathed skin.

    "Seems that normal weapons can¡¯t hurt me anymore, not even those razor sharp like yours. What¡¯s this?" His palm was covered with a greasy substance that smelled like sulfur. Lith¡¯s skin tingled while his immune system neutralized the substance.

    "Rot oil? Do even goons use poison now?" As the name implied, rot oil was a toxin that would make any open wound fester and difficult to treat. Without the help of a Healer, a single cut could lead to the death of even a magical beast.

    The man was terrified. He couldn¡¯t understand how neither the sword or the poison was effective. He struck at Lith with all of his strength, only to almost lose the grip on the weapon.

    It felt like hitting a rock. Lith was tired of ying. The nameless man¡¯s actions spoke volumes about what kind of vige was that and how it went unnoticed until that moment.

    Lith disarmed the man with spirit magic and fulfilled his promise. The nameless man gargled blood while the pain from growing a steel tail ravaged his body. Solus returned to Lith¡¯s hand, sharing with him the visions from the house.

    ¡¯Please, save them.¡¯ Was the only thing she said before seekingfort in their telepathic bond. The sight of the youths¡¯ miserable state had shocked her. Solus wanted for that horror to disappear forever.

    ¡¯As you wish, mdy.¡¯ Lith raised the nameless man as a Death Knight and armed it with the poisoned de. A Death Knight was an undead whose well preserved body retained the dexterity it had in life.

    Also, by mixing spirit magic while creating the blood core, Lith was able to impart to it some basic notions of fencing. Master and servant took their time, killing everyone who walked outside the main building or lived in the middle rim without being a prisoner.

    With each corpse, Lith¡¯s small army grew in numbers.

    "Surround the zone. Kill whoever tries to escape." The Death Knights obeyed in silence. They formed groups of three covering each door and window.

    Lith could hear joyful musicing from inside the huge building that upied most of the town square. He could almost distinguish several voicesughing and bantering.

    "Open up! Ranger corps!" He screamed a second before kicking down the entrance. Its metal hinges broke like they were aluminum foil while the huge wooden door crashed on the ground with a booming sound.

    The room inside was well lit, its temperature warm. Braziers were evenly ced to providefort and allow to cook the food to one heart¡¯s content. The ce reminded Lith of Lutia¡¯s arrangements for the Spring Festival, making him nauseous.

    On his left, along the wall, there was a long table filled with all kinds of delicacies. Behind it were sitting four people that he assumed were the rulers of the vige. On his right, there were several smaller tables that could amodate two people at most.

    Between the tables, there was space enough to allow the ves to satisfy each of their masters¡¯ wishes. All those present were skimpily clothed, some stark naked. It was easy for Lith to distinguish the victims from the tormentors.

    The former were thin, with dead eyes that had lost hope. Thetter was annoyed by his appearance and unsheathed their weapons.

    "The door was open." Said a red haired woman with a seductive smile. She was one of the leaders. Until a moment prior she was enjoying the attentions of a couple of boys that could be at best the same age as Lith.

    She raised a hand to calm her underlings, her eyes never leaving Lith¡¯s.

    "I¡¯m sure we can find apromise. If you weren¡¯t interested in your share of the fun, you would have already called for backup and we would be surrounded. Instead, here you are, all alone.

    We aren¡¯t unreasonable people. All we ask you is to stay out of our business and we¡¯ll make your permanence in the north as pleasant as profitable. We do not discriminate, to each their own."

    Lith had already noticed that the vers were both males and females. ording to Solus, the females had stronger mana cores, but aside from the one speaking, none was above the yellow.

    "I have a counter offer." He replied. "Those who want to live have to go down on their knees, face against the wall. All the others can consider their lives forfeited."

    Single-handedly taking down a vige of marauding vers would fetch him a lot of merits. Yet even if he would gain nothing from it, he would do it anyway. Solus had never asked him anything before. Lith wasn¡¯t going to let her down.

    A woman sitting at one of the front tables weaved a tier three spell, unleashing a lightning bolt against Lith¡¯s back. He simply extended his right hand capturing the energy and forcing it to assume the form of a sphere.

    "You call that a lightning?" He said with a disgusted expression. "This is a lightning." He pointed his index finger releasing a stream of electricity that turned the mage and her tablepanion into charred corpses.

    Marauders and ves were now covered in cold sweat. Lith wasn¡¯t releasing any killing intent but they couldn¡¯t shrug off the feeling that something was wrong. Everyone knew magic, either because they used it or they had endured its effect to be disciplined.

    Whatever the Ranger was using, it wasn¡¯t magic.

 Chapter 382 The Village Part 3

    "Stand up, vermin." With a snap of Lith¡¯s fingers, the two marauders¡¯ corpses came back to life, sending the whole room into a panic.

    "Last chance. Face against the wall or die." Most of the ves took those words as their cue. They tossed away the food trays they were holding, jumped off thep of their masters, or just stopped standing like dolls and rushed to the nearest wall.

    Whoever tried to stop them was struck by an ice bullet in the middle of the forehead and raised from the grave.

    "You can¡¯t be serious!" One of the leaders, a muscr man almost 2 meters (6¡¯7") tall, stood up with an indignant expression on his face and a huge enchanted great sword in his hand.

    "Mage or non mage, there¡¯s thirty of us and just one of you. You can¡¯t hope toe out of here alive!"

    "And you shouldn¡¯t have roasted a whole pig." Lith¡¯s reply made no sense until the dead beast stood up from the giant silver tray it was resting upon with red glowing eyes. It crashed the apple in its mouth and jumped at the burly man¡¯s throat.

    Fear and surprise got the best of him, giving the undead pig the moment it needed to bite its prey¡¯s neck. One fell and yet a few secondster two stood up.

    Some of the marauders couldn¡¯t stand that madness anymore. Taking advantage of the distance from the mad Ranger, they jumped against the nearest window in an attempt to save their own lives.

    Theynded on the snow covered ground with thick ss shards piercing their exposed skin. They gritted their teeth to withstand the pain and the cold invading their bodies when the groups of undead that Lith had left on watch obeyed their master¡¯s order.

    Three against one wasn¡¯t a fight but a massacre. The first undead would aim for the limbs, the second would stab at the chest, and thest would make the head roll. Blood spurts stained the pristine snow while painting the outside of the building red.

    The dining hall was silent, so the sounds of battle and gurgling death cries resounded like thunder.

    "I¡¯m not alone, by the way." Lith exined with a smirk.

    "All yourrades who are not here didn¡¯t run away, they joined my cause. I made them an offer they couldn¡¯t refuse." He pointed at the undead that now stood in front of the ves ready to protect them.

    The female leader nced through the window behind her making a quick estimate of her odds of survival.

    ¡¯He is still just one man. Superior Necromancy is not something a greenhorn can learn. Once the Ranger is dead, his minions will be stringless puppets.¡¯ She thought.

    "There¡¯s no need to fight. We managed to reach an agreement with your predecessor, I don¡¯t see why it should be any different this time." She said while gesturing under the table, giving the other leaders the order to step away from the windows and take out their wands.

    Lith had no idea what the signals meant, but thanks to Life Vision he didn¡¯t miss the sudden appearance of the Alchemical items.

    ¡¯Be careful, those wands are military grade. Maybe even a goodbye gift of theirte associate.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯With a blue core you can overpower weak spells, but the peak of tier three is still beyond your abilities.¡¯

    Lith spread his arms, one aimed towards the marauders and the other towards their leaders, releasing a barrage of ice shards. The attack was so sudden that the upants of the front rows died before having the opportunity to react.

    Only some of them were lucky enough to be unwillingly shielded by theirpanions and managed to flip the tables to use them as makeshift shields. The three remaining leaders dropped to the floor the moment Lith moved a finger, saving their lives by the skin of their teeth.

    "How the heck does he do it?" Thest man among the leaders yelled to be heard above the noise of shattering sses and the thumping sound of ice piercing the wood.

    "No chanting, no signs, and his projectiles are able to curve in mid air!"

    "It¡¯s a War Mage, you idiot." Instead of wasting her time whining, the female leader was wearing her armor as fast as she could.

    "We must have stumbled into a rich kid with tier four rings. Just one of them is worth more than this miserable pile of flesh and wood we call vige. This is a blessing in disguise. If we kill him, the three of us are set for life. Dead men don¡¯t get any share, if you catch my drift."

    Greed lit the eyes of the three leaders, who changed their wands from lightning to ice. The words "coteral damage" and "friendly fire" suddenly had a nice ring to them. They raised their arms and heads above the vertically flipped table, ready to open fire.

    While they were discussing, Lith had stopped his spell. He Blinked behind the tables, catching the terrified criminals by surprise and stealing their hearts. Literally. His arm pierced their chest, leaving behind a blood core that turned the fallen into his faithful servants.

    The undead would kill everyone on their path, taking position right in front of the ves to protect them at any cost. Lith hadn¡¯t forgotten about his promise to Solus. Her wish was theirmand.

    When the leaders came out of their hiding spot, their men had been decimated. They shoot at Lith, only to watch him Blink away while their darts created more corpses. The dead keep rising, forming a barricade that stopped any stray bullet.

    "Thanks. Your help was unnecessary, though. I would have killed them anyway. You are the only ones I need to spare for interrogation." Lith appeared behind the leaders, making them flinch.

    They turned around, but he only needed a flick of his wrist to cause a spiral fracture in their wand wielding arm with spirit magic. The Alchemical tools fell onto the ground while their owners writhed in agony.

    Pain blurred their vision with tears they couldn¡¯t stop.

    "How did you do it?" The woman didn¡¯t feel blessed anymore.

    Her arm was twisted from the wrist to the shoulder. All she had worked hard for years was crumbling in front of her eyes and the corpses of her followers were staring at her with deep hatred. It was like they were ming her for their demise.

    "Magic." Lith replied with a second flick that broke the remaining arm in the same manner. The only reason why Lith had wasted so much time talking was to weave all the spells he needed, keeping them ready at a second¡¯s notice.

    The three surviving marauders remained limp on the floor. Without arms, without soldiers, and surrounded by monsters led by an even more monstrous Ranger, they felt that any further struggle would be pointless.

    Only after checking that no one of the ves was about to die and that all the bandits were dead, Lith released his Necromancy spell. He then called his handler to give her a full report of the events.

 Chapter 383 The Village Part 4

    "Set the temporary Warp Gate. We need to talk." Her voice was seething with anger. Lith took out from the Ranger amulet the metal frame and assembled the portal. Once it was powered by his mana and several mana crystals, it took just a few minutes for her to arrive along with a few army mages.

    The prisoners needed immediate help. The Gate needed much more power to allow the transportation of so many people to Belius where they would receive proper care. After a quick sweep of the ce under Lith¡¯s guidance, the army personnel was shocked.

    Rangers were an elite unit. However it was hard to believe, even after seeing it with their own eyes, that so many criminals had been eliminated without a single casualty.

    "Are you insane?" Lieutenant Kam Yehval, Lith¡¯s handler, was on the verge of a massive headache. She was a woman in herte twenties with long ck hair held up in a ponytail. She had almond shaped eyes which made her quite cute to Lith.

    "You were supposed to make your report as soon as you assessed how dangerous the situation was. Your brash actions put yourself and the civilians into danger. Why didn¡¯t you ask for back up?"

    Maybe it was because of Phloria, but Lith had a thing for authoritative women. Now that he could see in person, she wasn¡¯t only a sweet voice, but also quite attractive.

    "Because the first hostile I engaged revealed the organization had a deal with my predecessor. They knew a new Ranger was about to arrive. I managed to take them by surprise because I reached this ce sooner than they predicted.

    "I thought that, if I called for back up, their associate could alert them and give them the time to dispose of the hostages and flee." Lith lied through his teeth. He had made up the story while waiting for her.

    His real motive was to not have witnesses. The ves had no notion of magic, while the marauders could im he was the reincarnation of Arthan the Mad King and no one would have believed them.

    Lith predicted that based on the Royal Constable who would handle the case, the three prisoners had from a few days to a week left to live. The Kingdom¡¯s justice was as swift as brutal in such circumstances.

    "You have a point. Still, you should have contacted me. Had you failed, the army would have lost a Ranger and those people their lives." Kam said with a sigh.

    "How did you manage to kill so many on your own?"

    "I pick my allies among those who cannot betray me." Lith executed a short chant that raised an undead.

    "A divide and conquer strategy. Very smart of you using their numbers against them."

    ¡¯Maybe he is not one of those idiots with the heroplex.¡¯ She thought while smiling in approval.

    "This level of mastery in Necromancy isn¡¯t listed in your file. We¡¯ll have to update itter."

    "I hope we can discuss it over dinner. I don¡¯t know any good ce in Belius, so I¡¯d be in your care." Lith replied with what he hoped was his best charming smile.

    "Are you hitting on me?" Kam giggled.

    "Well, yes. We have the same rank and your voice will be my only contact with the civilized world for the next months. I think we should know each other better. Also, I hope you wouldn¡¯t deny a lone Ranger his only wish."

    "Kid, do you have an idea how old I am?" She was still giggling and had yet to say no. Lith took it as a good sign.

    "Twenty, maybe?" He squinted his eyes, like he was concentrating really hard on the answer. Lith¡¯s Warp Gate shed for a second, allowing the Royal Constable to join them. It took her but a second to read the mood.

    "Flirting on the scene of a massacre is a bit clich¨¦, but it usually works to break the ice. At least for me."

    Lieutenant Yehval stopped twirling her hair and stood at attention.

    "Constable Ernas. It¡¯s an unexpected pleasure to meet you so far away from home." Lith said giving her a salute.

    "At ease Lieutenants. I¡¯m a fan of your work, Lith. So when I heard you were involved, I asked the case to be assigned to me. Take me to the prisoners, we have much to discuss."

    Lith apanied Jirni to the cer where the red haired bandit was detained.

    Her arms were still shattered, making it pointless to cuff her. Her feet were chained to a wall, giving her barely enough space to stretch her legs.

    "Constable Jirni Ernas. Are you ready to talk?" She asked with a t tone.

    "I¡¯ll tell you everything, but I want a deal. I don¡¯t care what you do with the others, as long I walk away free and with working arms." Her face was strained from the pain, yet she looked at the Constable with defiance.

    ¡¯If I talk, I¡¯m a dead woman. There¡¯s nothing this wench can do to me that the Ranger hasn¡¯t already done.¡¯ The marauder thought.

    "Deal or no deal, you will talk." Jirni replied with a cruel grin. She struck the prisoner with her extended fingers in the space between the neck and the corbone. The criminal coughed a few times before attempting to curse at her warden.

    No words came out of her mouth.

    "You see, dear, if you hit the nerve cluster located there, first the victim goes numb, then they experience an unspeakable agony." Lith took a mental note of Jirni¡¯s words. He could see the prisoner turning paler. The pain had yet to kick in, but the fear was already there.

    "Now, while we wait for the confession, do you mind telling me if there¡¯s something serious between you and that pretty officer?"

    "I just met her." Lith shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

    "I know it¡¯s none of my business, but please, humor me. Is there a Lady Verhen waiting for you at Lutia?"

    "No. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t ask my handler for a date." Lith resented the allegation. He had never cheated on any of his past girlfriends.

    "Perfect!" Jirni eximed with glee. "You know that I always cheered for you. I still think you and Phloria would make a perfect couple. She was so happy when Friya told her how worried you were about her happiness."

    Lith became red, while the prisoner tapped her foot. She was now eager to talk. Jirni had more pressing matters at hand, so she ignored her.

    "Let¡¯s be honest, dear. You are a ma for troubles, just like I was at your age. First day on the job and you stumble into a nightmare. No matter how much we roam the world or how many people we kill, the void inside those like us never disappears.

    We are monsters, but it doesn¡¯t mean we have to remain alone." She took his hand into hers.

    "The Kingdom needs us to keep the real monsters at bay. You can find your ce in the world if you stop being scared of hurting others and ept yourself for who you are. Think about this the next time you get a leave. Phloria is single at the moment too." Jirni winked.

    Lith left her to her job after promising Jirni he would keep in touch. Before he left the vige to resume his patrol, Kam gave him a new portable Warp Gate and her contact rune.

 Chapter 384 Memories Part 1

    Before leaving the vers¡¯ vige and resume his flight towards the Fallen City of Kaduria, Lith would have liked to spend some more time with Kam. However, she was too busy supervising the rescue operations.

    Some of the prisoners were in desperate conditions and the army needed all hands on deck. Lith took care of those whose health was beyond the help of normal Healers. Thanks to Invigoration, he could resupply their life force and fix their bodies so fast that as long there was still a spark of life they could be saved.

    ¡¯Solus asked me to save them, not just to dy their demise. I¡¯ve kept my word at the best of my abilities.¡¯ He thought.

    The other Healers clicked their tongues at Lith¡¯s "Speed Healing" session, thinking he was doing a poor job to rack up merits fast and leave them to fix his mess. Rangers had a bad name. Not because they were easy to corrupt or cruel people.

    Their ill reputation was due to their poor social skills, usually coupled with a contempt for teamwork. In a system were relying on others to watch your back was the norm, Rangers worked alone.

    "He picked the worst cases and spent a few minutes per patient." One of the Healers said while double checking Lith¡¯s work.

    "Let¡¯s hope the terminator had at least the decency to stabilize their conditions before leaving. I swear, Rangers belong with beasts, not with humans. They..." The words died in his mouth when the diagnostic spell gave its report.

    Aside from the malnutrition, there was no sign of injury, neither past or present. The scars had disappeared and the bones, albeit thin, showed no sign of previous fractures. The Healers were so shocked that, even knowing it was a breach of the protocol, they went to Lieutenant Yehval to ask about Lith¡¯s identity.

    "The patients- they-" The main Healer was so excited he was at loss of words. "Some of them were in such a state we could only ease their pain and wait for the inevitable. Now they are fit as a fiddle. I would like to ask the Ranger to take me as his apprentice."

    The man was double Lith¡¯s age, but he didn¡¯t sound embarrassed at the idea of serving under someone so young.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Captain." Kam replied. "Until the end of his tour, I can¡¯t disclose any of the Ranger¡¯s personal information. I can ry your message to him, though."

    ¡¯He¡¯s so young yet has already reached the rank of First Lieutenant.¡¯ She couldn¡¯t avoid feeling a tinge of envy considering it had taken her a decade to obtain the same promotion.

    ¡¯Healer, Necromancer, ruthless warrior...¡¯ She thought while watching at the corpses whose head had been ripped off or the heart removed from the chest.

    ¡¯I wonder how many other things he is good at.¡¯ She giggled while looking at Lith¡¯s contact rune on her personalmunication amulet.

    Meanwhile Kam nned on calling him as soon as his rune went back online, Lith was speeding through the barrennds of the north. His journey was dull. He didn¡¯t meet any settlement even after flying for hundreds of kilometers at a height that allowed him to check far and wide.

    Kaduria was rtively close, yet Lith didn¡¯t n on going there. At least not before resting. The moment Solus¡¯s mana sense spotted a mana geyser, they checked the surrounding area for kilometers, making sure that any life form in its proximity was just an animal.

    After meeting Gadorf the Wyvern, Lith didn¡¯t trust much Evolved Monsters too. He was now reluctant to expose Solus¡¯s existence even to magical beasts. First Scarlett and then Nalear had tried to take her away from him. Both had almost seeded.

    He wouldn¡¯t allow for a third time to happen. Once the mage tower was formed, Lith had Solus activating her cloaking abilities and hid the tower underground. Only then he allowed himself to rx.

    "Thanks for saving those people." Solus¡¯s wisp form appeared in front of him looking for an embrace which he didn¡¯t hesitate to offer her.

    "Don¡¯t mention it, partner. Is it me or the thing inside your wisp form has grown bigger again?" At first, when Solus gained the ability to materialize herself inside the tower, she was just a firefly the size of a tennis ball.

    Over time, the wisp had be big enough for them to notice that something solid was at its center. Its nature and purpose were unknown, but after theirst fusion, Lith supposed it was the embryo of Solus¡¯s light body.

    "No, you are right." She replied. "Now that your mana core has upgraded to blue, my nourishment has be even better. I can¡¯t wait for my core to be bright green, if not even cyan!"

    In Solus¡¯s mind, the former was the threshold to obtain the body made of light, thetter was the one where she expected to gain a true physical form.

    Lith took note of her words and started to use umtion. Thanks to thebined effect of the mana geyser and the tower, he could absorb much more world energy than usual with every breath.

    Refining his core would help Solus to promote her own even faster.

    "I won¡¯t enter Kaduria until I¡¯ve properly recovered. My body is a mess after not sleeping for so long. Using Invigoration so many times only made things worse. First thing, I¡¯m taking a bath. Giving that scum such a clean death made me feel dirty inside. I wish I could have made them suffer more."

    "Take your time. Would you like something in particr for dinner?"

    "No offense, Solus, but your cooking sucks. Until you can smell or taste, everything you prepare is a coin flip at best. Also, why aren¡¯t you joining me? I know you enjoy a good bubble bath with hydro massage every time we are back in the tower."

    "Yes, I do. I prefer to take them alone, though." She replied while flying toward the kitchen she had just created.

    "Your behavior doesn¡¯t make sense. The whole tower is your body. Even if the wisp is away, we can talk, you can watch, and we can interact. Why are you acting shy all of a sudden?"

    ¡¯Maybe because if the wisp is away I¡¯m not forced to watch?¡¯ Solus thoughts oozed sarcasm. ¡¯Does he not realize he¡¯s not a little kid anymore just like I¡¯m not a na?ve little girl? I don¡¯t know if Lith is so dense towards me because he considers me like a sister or what.¡¯

    ¡¯Or what.¡¯ Lith replied honestly, making Solus and all the lights inside the tower turn beet red.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not that I¡¯m shameless, but we spend every single second of the day together. Plus, because of our mind fusion, you know all the most embarrassing details of all my lives. At this point, modesty is as useless as a third nostril.

    ¡¯Sorry if my request made you ufortable, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m used to having you by my side. I miss you already.¡¯ Lith closed the bathroom¡¯s door before stripping.

    His words made Solus¡¯s mind spin in turmoil, forcing her to rush outside the tower and getting as far as she could before allowing herself to think again.

 Chapter 385 Memories Part 2

    ¡¯F*ck me sideways! I forgot that inside the tower our mind link is stronger than usual. Thinking or speaking is almost the same thing. I wonder what he will think of me now¡¯ Solus spent the next minutes reviewing her blunder.

    Every time she reyed Lith¡¯sst words, she could feel her heart flutter. After she regained herposure, she went back.

    "It was nice seeing Jirni again." She said pretending theirst conversation never happened. "She hasn¡¯t aged a day. What do you think about her words? Maybe you and Phloria could give your rtionship a second chance."

    "Maybe, maybe not." Lith said with a sigh. "I don¡¯t want to see her right now. Life isn¡¯t a romance drama where people can break up countless times and make up like nothing ever happened. The next time we break up will be thest.

    "Either I open up and tell her the truth she still doesn¡¯t know or I can spare us both the inevitable sad ending. Phloria is the first person I had a true rtionship with. It wasn¡¯t just about having fun or sex. She..."

    Lith couldn¡¯t bear to finish the phrase and Solus knew well why.

    ***

    It happened after Nalear¡¯s attack on the White Griffon. Between the ve items, Yurial¡¯s death, and having killed many of their schoolmates, Lith¡¯spanions were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

    They were all living under the Ernas¡¯ roof, together with Lith¡¯s family, searching for a way to cope with their trauma. Lith was the one faring the best, but not by much. Having been split from Solus, Yurial¡¯s death, and receiving his notebooks weighted on Lith¡¯s mind.

    Quy was having the worst of it, requiring assistance 24/7 just to prevent her from self harming. Phloria was tormented by the ghosts of those she had killed, Yurial included. It had been her decision of saving Jirni first that spelled his doom and she couldn¡¯t forgive herself for not finding a solution to an impossible situation.

    After sundown, she would see their faces in every shadow, making the guilt unbearable to the point that tranquilizers had little effect. Lith had to spend the nights sitting on a chair next to her bed, caressing her head until she would fall asleep.

    His touch was the only thing that calmed her. Lith would hold her hand for hours to make sure her dreams would be free from nightmares. The days passed and Phloria¡¯s condition improved. Yet he would remain on the chair, keeping her at arm¡¯s length.

    A few nights before the academy would resume, Phloria mustered the courage to confront him.

    "Why are you doing it again?" She asked.

    "What exactly?"

    "Why do you keep your distance from me? You are so close, yet there is a divide between us. Would it kill you to at least sit on my bed?"

    "I- I can¡¯t." Lith replied.

    "You can¡¯t or you won¡¯t? I can understand if you me me for Yurial¡¯s death, I do the same." She clenched the nkets, her firm tone just a cover for the underlying fear. Fear of being hated, of being rejected by those she loved because of her weakness.

    "It¡¯s not your fault nor Quy¡¯s. My reasons are my own and believe me when I say you don¡¯t want to know them."

    "We have been together for months now and you still don¡¯t trust me? Is that the reason you always refuse to touch me?" She was hurt by his silence. She knew Lith had lots of secrets, but she had waited for him to open up.

    Phloria knew that he was like Nalear. Lith and the mad Professor were the only two mages she had ever seen emitting an aura without the use of any spell. Phloria was very close to the truth, she justcked the term Awakened one to fill the picture.

    "No. I told you after Balkor, you just didn¡¯t listen! I¡¯m not like you. I¡¯m a monster. You have no idea how hard it had been keeping you safe from me, from all the sh*t that¡¯s my life."

    "I never asked you to protect me! I¡¯m not a child, I¡¯m a woman now. The only things I asked from you were to love me and let me be part of your life."

    "Easy to say when you know nothing! Nothing about love or me. Those are just words and words are cheap!"

    "I know a lot of things!" She replied. "I know that Nalear was strong and fast, just like you. That the aura you emit when you go all out is not normal. That somehow, somewhere you lost a brother that¡¯s not part of your family. I know all these things because I was always by your side."

    Lith was taken aback by Phloria¡¯s words. Yet he didn¡¯t budge.

    "You don¡¯t understand. We are both emotionally vulnerable right now. If I take a step forward, we¡¯d do something we will regret forever."

    "How can you say that? What gives you the right to decide what I will or will not regret?"

    Lith was so tired of that charade. Yet he had to pick his words carefully. It was the second time she was offering herself to him and he was pushing her away again. She deserved a proper exnation.

    "Turn off the lights, please." Phloria did as instructed, making the room turn dark. Passing clouds obscured the moonlight from time to time, giving the room an eerie feeling.

    Lith stood up, taking a few steps away from the bed, letting the left side of his body be basked in darkness.

    "I was serious before. You deserve someone better than me. Someone that can make you happy. I can¡¯t because I¡¯m not like Nalear, I¡¯m much worse. I¡¯m a real monster." He took a deep breath, letting the abyss inside him step out of its boundaries.

    Solus had described Lith the form he would take while fighting in dimly lit spaces and with a bit of training he had learned how to conjure and to block the shadows that would cover him like a shroud, changing his appearance.

    Phloria gasped when she saw three yellow eyes opening on the darkened face, the hand turned into vicious ws, and the skin covered with ck scales the edges of which were burning hot.

    Lith could see her face turning pale as a ghost, her eyes turn watery. It was what he wanted, yet he felt his heart squeezed by an invisible vice.

    ¡¯It¡¯s over now. I¡¯ll release a bit of killing intent to make her faint. Tomorrow she¡¯ll hope this is just a nightmare. Even if she remembers anything, no one would believe her story, not even herself. With all she has gone through, everybody will think it¡¯s her trauma talking.¡¯

    Lith released waves of violent mana expecting her to scream, to cry and call for help before passing out. Phloria stepped out of her bed, wearing only her nightgown. In the moonlight, she looked like a fairy as much as he felt a monster for crushing her feelings once again.

    Lith waited for her to run away, so he could strike her from behind and make her lose consciousness. That way the events of that night would remain etched in her mind withoutpromising his cover. All ording to n.

    Phloria didn¡¯t run. She walked slowly, covering the distance separating them until they were in front of each other.

 Chapter 386 Kaduria Part 1

    "Does it hurt?" Phloria said caressing the scaly side of his face. A silent tear streaked down her cheek.

    "What?" It wasn¡¯t much a question. More like the way Lith blurted out his surprise. Phloria seemed to be immune to his killing intent.

    "I¡¯m so sorry. I had no idea you were going through something like this alone. Does it hurt when you transform?"

    "Yes." He replied overwhelmed by her kindness. The shadows surrounding Lith shattered, making him human again.

    "I remember our conversation well. You told me that if I thought you could make me happy, we would have continued from that point. I love you, Lith from Lutia and I know you can make me happy. The only question is: am I able to make you happy?"

    She kissed him gently, shattering all the walls he had erected until that moment to protect himself from the world. Despite all that she knew, despite all that she had seen, Phloria was still in front of him.

    Not afraid of what he was, but of being pushed away. It was something that Lith had never imagined, not even in his wildest dreams. She was epting him unconditionally.

    "You make me happy." He replied with a hoarse voice, struggling with the unknown emotions that were bringing a part of his dead heart to life.

    Phloria hugged him tightly, feeling that the divide between them had disappeared. Lith was clinging to her like a boyfriend for the first time since they had got together. She gave him a deep kiss while undoing the ties on her shoulders that kept her nightgown on.

    She took a few steps back, allowing Lith to stare at her body without letting go of his hands before pulling him slowly towards the bed.

    ***

    Lith shook his head trying to push the memory away. He understood why Phloria broke up with him. They had gotten to a point of their lives where their goals diverged. Their feelings hadn¡¯t changed, yet they both needed their space.

    "So are you really calling Kam?" Solus rushed to change the topic. Lith¡¯s pain was her own. She had never meant to make sad memories resurface after so many years.

    "Of course I am! I may be bitter, lonely, and grumpy but I¡¯m not dead. If after our first date things go well, I may even spend the evening of my birthday with her. My family can have morning and afternoon, but I need some me time."

    Lith¡¯s seventeenth birthday was approaching. It had no significance to him, yet it could be used as leverage to get a few days of leave if he yed his cards right with Kam.

    Lith prepared for himself a big dinnerprised of his favorite foods, leaving Solus to take care of only the vegetables. There was no way she could screw that up. As soon as he finished, he went back to his private quarters.

    The room didn¡¯t resemble his academy apartment anymore, it was mixed with parts from his house back on Earth. The library contained his favorite books that Solus had managed to salvage from his memory and in front of his bed and on the ceiling, there was a huge TV screen.

    It was actually just a t-screen. Lith had no idea how a TV was made so neither could Solus replicate it. What she could do, was to project the movies he loved the most. He was on a tight schedule, but after months of istion and the horrors she had just born witness to, Lith decided that Solus deserved a little R&R.

    They watched the first movie of the "The Madrox" trilogy together, an old sci-fi blockbuster. It was Solus¡¯s favorite since it was the only movie avable with a happy ending.

    "Why do you remember the first one so well while the other two are but a blur?" She asked while watching the final bout between the main character dressed like a priest and the ruthless Agent Doe.

    "Because most of the time sequels are hot garbage." They were sitting close to each other, with Solus leaning against his side.

    The next morning, Lith found her sound asleep in his bed right next to him.

    ¡¯I really don¡¯t get it. All that fuss for the bath and then she has no problem snuggling against me or get cuddled to sleep. I guess women will always remain a mystery.¡¯ He thought while exploiting herck of consciousness to not embarrass her.

    The rest of the trip to Kaduria was eventless. The further he got from popted areas, the more often he met small woods. Whenever Life Vision showed him a significant number of creatures, he would check the area for monsters.

    Lith only met animals and very few magical beasts. They looked hungry, but most of all, scared. He bartered some food for information.

    "Why is this zone deserted? There¡¯s water, trees, yet I couldn¡¯t find a single bird nest or burrow. Is there something dangerous here I should know about?"

    "Indeed." Replied a brown Byk gobbling up the raw meat offered to him. "Winter ising, otherwise no one would be so desperate to go near Death¡¯s City to search for food."

    "Do you mean the dead city of Kaduria?" Lith pointed towards his destination thaty only a few kilometers away.

    "Not a dead city. Death¡¯s city." The Byk corrected him. "I suggest you go back. Nothing good everes out of those cursed walls. My mother always used to warn me to stay away from it. She said that hunger is much better than joining the shadow people."

    Lith tried to learn something more, but the Byk had never ventured near Kaduria. He only knew what his mother told him and her stories seemed made to scare children.

    It took Lith a few minutes to reach the ruins. The problem was they were no ruins at all. Inside a translucent golden dome, resided one of the most beautiful cities he had ever seen. All the buildings were several stories high and made of white marble that reflected the sunlight illuminating even the innermost alleys.

    The roofs were painted a pale blue, each one hosted a small spire holding a masterfully cut magic crystal on its top. Like most cities of the Griffon Kingdom, Kaduria was built inyers.

    The most external one was outside the city walls. Lith could see farmers tending thends that were devoid of snow despite the harsh climate. Small cottages were built in the proximities of the farnds, from which he could see women and children taking care of the cattle.

    Past the city walls, all the houses were made of stone. From the high ground, Lith could distinguish a residential area, a market district, noble houses, and in the center of the city, there was a small castle.

    "This doesn¡¯t make any sense." The vision bbergasted Lith. "These people are funnily clothed but are alive as much as I am. Why does the Griffon Kingdom keep them sealed instead of trading with them? This city is a marvel of magic."

    Not even the series of arraysposing the golden dome could hide the mystical web enveloping Kaduria. The spires with their mana crystals acted as ry points for some sort ofplex magical formation.

 Chapter 387 Kaduria Part 2

    Lith watched in amazement with Life Vision enormous amounts of energies moving from one crystal to another. They would course through the buildings and then into the ground before returning to the spire stronger than before and be passed to the next crystal.

    The castle hosted only a small number of spires, but they were the tallest and the magic gemstones they contained were as big as a horse. The noble district had more spires, but their size was significantly smaller.

    The farther from the castle, the greater the number of spires became and the smaller the crystals¡¯ size. It was some sort of cascade effect that made no sense to Lith, yet it filled his mind with wonder.

    He called his handler to make sure of being in the right ce.

    "Are you there already?" Kam¡¯s voice was surprised. "The good news is that at this pace you¡¯ll finish your first patrol in no time. The bad news is that I have to report you for not giving out your position earlier.

    "Remember, at least three calls a day. It¡¯s of the utmost importance for us to be able to follow your movements and to know where you camp."

    ¡¯There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to gift the Kingdom the location of mana geysers.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. ¡¯I¡¯ll have to set a fake camp every time to not arouse suspicions.¡¯

    "Sorry, with all that happened yesterday, I forgot to give my daily reports." He lied through his teeth.

    "Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll cover for you this time."

    "What kind of city is Kaduria? Why is it sealed?"

    "Every one of the lost cities is unique. Kaduria is ssified as ¡¯the Shadow City¡¯. Judging by your rxed tone it must be in its light phase. Working people, smiling children, gorgeous architecture. Am I right?"

    One of the farmers had noticed Lith. The man waved at him while saying something that the array blocked out.

    "Yes." Lith waved back.

    "Well, don¡¯t get used to it. In a while it will turn into the shadow phase and things will get nasty."

    "It will be hours before sundown. What am I supposed to do until then?"

    "I said shadow phase, not night phase. The city constantly switches between two different states regardless of the sun." Lieutenant Yehval assumed a lecturing voice that irked Lith.

    Suddenly the sun inside Kaduria disappeared and it started to rain. The phenomenon left Lith in a daze since the sky outside was clear. He saw the city walls crumble while all the buildings fell apart as if a meteor shower wasing down instead of water.

    The soil inside boiled and sizzled like each raindrop was a powerful acid. The friendly farmer melted in front of his eyes, like a wax figurine left too close to a fire. His eyes popped in bloody tears while his mouth screamed in pain.

    Lith stared at the man¡¯s jaw which elongated until it reached the stomach level. In a few seconds, all that was left of the farmer was a ck puddle. The sky inside the array was now pitch ck.

    The energy of the internal array was now amassed into a small ck star made of smoke that was trying to escape from the golden dome surrounding the city by spreading toxic fumes.

    "I guess it has just switched to the shadow phase." Lith said while watching the ck pool on the other side of the array rise up, taking a humanoid form. It was a pitch ck three-dimensional shadow.

    It had no features outside red glowing eyes and a wide open mouth that revealed a white space inside. The shadow farmer¡¯s eyes were filled with pain and hatred, a mix that Lith knew all too well.

    It rammed against the array, punching at the barrier to reach the other side. The golden surface produced sparks at every hit, but it didn¡¯t falter. The shadow farmer¡¯s hands shattered instead, bleeding what looked like ck blood.

    The shadow opened its mouth, emitting a screeching sound strong enough for Lith to hear despite the array. All the nearby shadows swarmed towards theirpanion, who had started hitting the barrier again with the stumps and his head.

    "What are these things? Undead?" Lith asked while the crowd in front of him hammered the array with growing force until it started to ripple.

    "Negative. Undead we know how to dispose of. These things do not die, no matter what you do. We call them Shadows."

    ¡¯Sounds like a load of bullsh*t.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Solus, what kind of mana core do these guys have?¡¯

    ¡¯They have no core.¡¯

    ¡¯What? It¡¯s impossible! All sentient things have a mana core.¡¯

    ¡¯Well, the Shadows don¡¯t. They have no mana flow, no life force, nothing. They are just a ck mass of unknown energy.¡¯

    Lith activated Life Vision just to discover that Solus was right. Life Vision would show him the world in greyscale, while the stronger the energy of a being, the lighter the colors with which they would appear.

    Even undead would manifest an aura in a scale of colors, while the things in front of him were just ck spots.

    "How do I assess the threat level?" Lith noticed a small crack appearing on the barrier. The number of creatures was increasing with each passing second and so was the pressure they exerted on the array.

    "Never stand in front of the Shadows. Even if the threat level to the Kingdom is low, a big enough group can crack the barrier and pass through it. If that happens, an emergency squad will be summoned and you will be held ountable.

    Just move outside their line of sight, they have almost no memory."

    Lith raised an earth wall, watching through it with Life Vision.

    As soon as he ¡¯disappeared¡¯, the Shadows stopped attacking the array and dispersed.

    "As for the threat level..." Kam continued. "...you have to check the ck star. Tell me when you have visual."

    Lith flew above the very top of the barrier, until the ck star was right below his feet.

    "Whatever it is, it looks like bad news."

    "Because it is. Unlike the shadows that mind their own business unless provoked, the ck star constantly assaults the array. It gets stronger over time, so I need you to stay there and call me if during the shadow phase you notice cracks."

    As soon as Kampleted the phrase, a small crack appeared on the dome.

    "Consider yourself called." Lith replied while a cold shiver ran down his spine. The leak was barely visible, yet the ck star¡¯s aura made him feel small and irrelevant. Not even while facing Scarlett or the Small World he had experienced such pressure.

    "Are you sure? Let me check." The army¡¯s amulet scanned the surroundings, highlighting the crack while it kept expanding.

    "Bad news it is. You need to get inside Kaduria and cull the numbers of the Shadows."

    ¡¯Not such bad news.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I was going to explore the city anyway. This gives me the perfect excuse to stick my nose where it doesn¡¯t belong.¡¯

    "How do I do that?"

    "It¡¯s simple, you just need to kill every one of them twice. Once during the light phase and another during the shadow phase. The rmended protocol is to enter during the light phase, kill everyone on sight, retreat and then get back in during the shadow phase.

    "The Shadow of someone whose human form has been recently killed will be weaker and dumber, making it easy to wipe them out."

    "Is the opposite true too?" Lith¡¯s curiosity was piqued.

    "Yes, but while Shadows are aggressive and have unusual abilities, humans are just humans. They¡¯ll run rather than fight."

 Chapter 388 Shadows Die Twice Part 1

    "Is that really something I can do alone?" Lith asked in disbelief. "They may be just humans, but taking on a full city? Isn¡¯t it too much?"

    "Negative. For unknown reasons all the humanoids inhabiting Kaduria are unable to use magic. Otherwise the army would never send a single Ranger instead of a battalion. As long as you keep your distance and avoid getting surrounded, it should be easy."

    ¡¯Good to know. Even if I had to face a few weak magicians it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The army has no need to know that, though.¡¯

    "Do I have to take down even the children?" This time the question was serious. In his mind gender, age, and race were irrelevant. There were only enemies and allies. Yet killing someone in cold blood for no reason felt wrong even to him.

    Also, he remembered well Commander Berion¡¯s remark about his psychological evaluation. He needed to show to have a conscience beside Solus.

    Kam¡¯s voice paused for a second before answering.

    "Affirmative. I know it¡¯s not an easy task, but consider this. Not a single Kadurian is really alive. Even if they were, you saw what the ck rain does to them. If you y them in both the human and shadow form, the cycle will be broken for a while.

    "Consider it as a way to give peace to those poor souls. A short relief from pain is better than nothing." Kam¡¯s words resounded withpassion, making Lith wonder what could have happened in her past to make her sympathise with the Shadows.

    "Do Shadows have any known weaknesses?"

    "Their human form is weak to light magic while their shadow form is weak to darkness magic."

    "Healing magic kills them?" Lith found the idea absurd.

    "Yes, but in such an excruciating way that more than one Ranger remained traumatized after the mission. My advice is to refrain to employ this method unless strictly necessary."

    "Thanks, Lieutenant Yehval. I¡¯ll call back right before going in."

    "Keep me posted." She said before ending the conversation.

    ¡¯This is really interesting.¡¯ Lith thought while watching the army of Shadows wander at random along the ruins of Kaduria. Life Vision showed him that each one of them was tethered to the ck Star which was still drilling its way through the array.

    ¡¯What do you think about this, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯That it¡¯s a frigging nightmare!¡¯ She replied. She had remained silent during the conversation out of shock, not because she had nothing to say.

    ¡¯Those poor people have been trapped for centuries into some kind of cycle of death and rebirth. The ck rain doesn¡¯t just kill them, it¡¯s a torture to them. Their eyes in Shadow form are pure madness. Whoever did this to them is as cruel as crazy!¡¯

    ¡¯Agreed.¡¯ Lith nodded. ¡¯You missed my point, though. If what you say is right, if they retain some form of memory, then it means their souls are bonded to this ce. By exploring the city, we may find a clue to cure my condition.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, sure.¡¯ Solus didn¡¯t share his enthusiasm. ¡¯Except they are not bonded to this ce, otherwise the array would be useless. They are bonded to the ck Star. Do you remember how artifacts that steal and corrupt souls are called?¡¯

    Lith sighed at his own stupidity. The idea of being even one step closer to a solution had clouded his judgment.

    ¡¯I guess a sealed item that endlessly tortures a whole city is the very definition of cursed object. I¡¯m curious about how it works and how the cycle empowers it over time.¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯m not.¡¯ Solus had a disgusted tone. ¡¯I can¡¯t wait to leave this ce. Everything here feels wrong. How can you ept so easily the idea of ughtering innocents?¡¯

    ¡¯What¡¯s the alternative? Politely ask the ck Star to not puncture the barrier and to not spread its curse? We don¡¯t know what happened here. Maybe they are innocent or maybe they made a deal with that thing that bit them in the a*s.

    ¡¯We only have two alternatives. Wash our hands of the problem and let someone else deal with it, or do our job and maybe understand something about the ck Star that will help me. Either way the army can¡¯t allow the ck Star to escape and neither can I.¡¯

    They had to agree to disagree. They spent some time by watching the cracks on the dome getting bigger and studying the barrier. The golden dome was the sum of dozens of concentric arrays. Each one was cast so that those inside strengthened those outside and vice versa.

    Their brilliant intricacy amazed Solus to no end. The arrays were woven one above the other, giving to the final result the appearance of an borate tapestry made of mana rather than a simple magic circle.

    Such powerful formation needed a massive amount of mana to be sustained. Once Lith was certain the barrier would hold, he descended to the ground to study its power source. Kaduria was surrounded by equally spaced small buildings that somehow provided a constant flow of world energy.

    ¡¯This is unbelievable!¡¯ Solus¡¯s excitement was so great she forgot being disappointed in Lith¡¯sck of mercy.

    ¡¯Do you mind exining to me what¡¯s so great about a bunch of stones?¡¯ Life Vision only showed him aplex array protected inside what looked like an borate altar. Its design was much more refined than those Gadorf the Wyvern used.

    On its surface there were drawings corrted with inscriptions he wasn¡¯t able to read. The pictures by themselves were too vague, depicting a lot of people carrying a stone to a temple.

    ¡¯The city of Kaduria is built over a mana geyser. This exins a lot.¡¯

    ¡¯This exins nothing. Please, borate.¡¯

    ¡¯The reason why such a strong barrier canst without the use of a single crystal is that the altars are capable of redirecting the energying from the mana geyser under Kaduria. It draws the world energy away and uses it to fuel itself and all the arrays sealing the city.¡¯

    Lith felt a cold shiver running down his spine. Whoever had the mastery to redirect a mana geyser to the point that neither Life Vision or mana sense could detect it, had to be a real master of magic.

    Yet not even them had been able to deal with the ck Star for good, leaving it in the care of posterities.

    ¡¯It means they were either very trusting or so desperate they had no other choice. I think you are right, Solus. We¡¯ll stay here only long enough to make sure there¡¯s nothing valuable for us.¡¯

    ¡¯That wasn¡¯t my point at a... What¡¯s that?¡¯ Among the many lines leading from the altar to the dome, there was a thin red string. They followed it until the base of the mystical formation. It was part of a single array that had nothing to do with the sealing.

    Lith called Kam again. Something smelled fishy.

    "Is the shadow phase already over? That¡¯s weird, it usuallysts more than an hour." Lith had called way sooner than she expected.

    "No, it¡¯s not. I¡¯m calling to report an anomaly. I just found a detector array that has no connection to the main structure and leeches energy from the altars. Is it one of the army safeguards?"

 Chapter 389 Shadows Die Twice Part 2

    "No." Kam¡¯s voice went from surprise to worry.

    "Tampering with the barrier is a capital crime. I am certain there is no detector array because the barrier already includes one that warns us if the Shadows breach through or if the ck Star is about to escape. Can you show it to me?"

    Lith chanted an array revealing spell, aiming it precisely at the red string. It made the hidden formation visible. It surrounded the whole barrier while remaining at its fringes.

    "I can¡¯t believe no one ever noticed it, nor that you also know Warden magic. Do you even sleep at night?"

    Lith would have liked to flirt with her a bit, but saying something like: "Only when thepany isn¡¯t good" on the armymunicator could lead his superiors to change his handler with a middle aged man with a deep love for beer and cheese.

    "Sometimes." He replied while smirking. Kam¡¯s full body 3D hologram appeared from the amulet to take a better look at the situation. She was wearing a white shirt and a pencil skirt that emphasized her slender legs.

    "I¡¯ll report this immediately. I recognize the design. Whoever left it, gets notified every time the barrier is opened. It represents a breach of ssified information like the schedule of the cleansings and the Rangers¡¯ patrol frequency. Great job spotting it."

    Lith was aware that without Life Vision or mana sense, the extra array would have been as good as invisible. Its presence added another unknown variable to the scenario.

    ¡¯With my luck, the b*stard is already keeping an eye on me.¡¯

    His grumblings were interrupted when the vapors surrounding the ck Star disappeared, leaving in its ce a miniature sun. Wherever its rays shone, the buildings rebuilt themselves while the Shadows were slowly turned back into humans.

    The ckness of their features was washed away on the ground until it became a normal shadow, following rather than possessing the body which projected it.

    "Time to go in." Lith returned to his starting point, right in front of the farm belonging to the man that had weaved at him an hour earlier. He chanted the spell that released the barrier, slipping inside before it closed behind him.

    The farmer looked at him with a surprised expression for a second.

    <"how did="" you="" get="" in,="" stranger?=""></"how> The man said. (AN: Tranted from ancient Kadurian)

    Lith smiled and waved at him while pretending to have understood his words.

    ¡¯Dammit. Why there is no trante spell or a convenient mind link when you need it? Things would be much easier if we were able tomunicate.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s n was simple. He would always pick the same entry point and start killing from the inside of the city. That way, he would notice if the humans retained a memory between cycles based on their reactions, while leaving the inhabitants of the outer rims neutral to his presence.

    If he started attacking from the outer rim instead, he would meet increasing resistance with each assault heunched and his chances of studying the phenomenons rted to the Dark Star would be zero.

    ***

    Hundreds of kilometers away, location unknown.

    The opening of the barrier surrounding Kaduria activated the red array, which signaled to its owner by lighting a small gem on one of his many bracelets.

    "Another Ranger already? It took me quite some effort to convince thest one to leave the ck Star alone. Let¡¯s hope this one is more reasonable. I¡¯ll make him an offer he can¡¯t refuse..."

    "Nice. Now you not only keep messing with Tyris¡¯s turf, but also you talk to yourself. I regret having Awakened you more with each passing day." An old voice filled with contempt cut the younger one short.

    "You sound and act like a madman. You should study magic instead of meddling with forces you do not understand."

    "I¡¯m not mad, uncle!" The array¡¯s owner replied with a high pitched voice. "Madness is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. By following your method, I¡¯ll be as powerful as you at best..."

    "You wish." Said the older voice with a sneer.

    "...and by that time, I¡¯d be an old coot that has wasted his whole life amassing power instead of using it!" The young Awakened¡¯s tone was filled with outrage.

    "There are no shortcuts to power, Treius. Only to your own ruin."

    Treius ignored his uncle¡¯s words, opening a Warp Gate that would lead him to Kaduria in no time.

    ***

    Lith walked past the farmer, replying to his barrage of gibberish with a smile and a nod of the head.

    ¡¯I could knock him down and steal his clothes to go unnoticed. The problem is I have no idea if they will be a shadow too once the next phase begins nor what could they do to my Skinwalker armor.¡¯

    Like the rest of the city, the high walls surrounding it were of a pristine white. There were guard stations near the massive gate leading inside Kaduria, but they were both empty. There was no one patrolling along the rampart, nor archers inside the hidden alcoves in the wall.

    The weather was mild enough for everyone to wear short sleeves. Many people stared at Lith, pointing their fingers at his heavy clothes. He hid in a corner, to make his Skinwalker armor take the appearance of his farmer outfit.

    The city was bustling with activity. Some people moved goods to and fro the inner rims, others were assembling in a procession until all the houses were empty. No one locked doors or windows.

    Lith Blinked from one alley to another, walking only when the crowd was big and busy enough that no one would notice his passage. He tried listening to their conversations, but none of the words they used was recorded in the books inside Soluspedia.

    Once he reached the merchant district, Lith understood that something was wrong with the city. Despite the sunny day and the many peopleing from the outer rim, all the stalls were closed except for some food vendors.

    They wouldn¡¯t even ask for money. They just offered their products to whoever stood in front of them. The smell of grilled vegetables and meat made Lith¡¯s mouth watery, until he imagined them turning into shadows and ripping his stomach from the inside.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, but I have an idea about what the light phase is for.¡¯ Solus pondered after Lith Blinked to a vantage point to better observe the cascade of energy going from the castle to the ground.

    ¡¯In their human form, the Kandurians have a mana core, but they all start almost grey. The whole city is a lie. The ck Star is using them to fool Mogar into believing there is life to nurture.

    ¡¯The spires are siphoning the mana geyser to slow down the cores¡¯ recovery process while amplifying the collected power thanks to the crystals¡¯ resonance with the world energy. Those people are like fruits. They ripen over time, until the ck Star gathers all the energy for its next attempt to escape.¡¯

    ¡¯Then why killing the fake Kandurians twice weakens the cursed object? Can¡¯t it just create more puppets?¡¯ Lith considered the implications of Solus¡¯s word from multiple angles. Even the method of choice to supply the barrier was now twice as ingenious.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t think they are fake. Only living beings have mana cores. By destroying their bodies, the army forces the ck Star to consume part of his powers to restore them. Those people are nothing but a flesh rope in a tug of war between the Kingdom and the ck star.¡¯

 Chapter 390 Scorn Part 1

    For the first time since Lith had been reborn on Mogar, he felt one step closer to realizing his goals. The ck Star¡¯s abilities were exactly what he had dreamt about over thest decade. At least on paper.

    It was able to store multiple mana cores and create vessels for them. Regardless of the number of times their bodies had been destroyed, either because of the cycles between the shadow and the light phase, or during the raids performed by the Griffon Kingdom, the Kadurians were still alive.

    They talked, they ate, they seemed to have feelings.It was what Lith wanted for himself, the ability to escape the cycle of reincarnation and offer the same to those who may want to share his immortality.

    On the other hand, the condition of the inhabitants of this city was akin to a hellish punishment rather than a blessing. They were doomed to die over and over again to satisfy the needs of the two powers in y.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe you have solved in minutes a riddle that countless mages failed to understand despite years of study and an unlimited budget.¡¯

    Watching the mass of people moving below him, Lith found it hard to ept that all those lives were nothing but a ything for the cursed object. It made him feel small, insignificant.

    He was just a pebble, the role of which was to create ripples on the surface of a river with no chance of changing its course. The thought of having a being of the same magnitude of power resting on his finger stunned him for a second.

    Solus and the ck Star were both capable of feats outside hisprehension, almost bending reality as Lith knew it.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not that smart.¡¯ Solus replied with a shrug. ¡¯I simply have ess to more data than you have and my senses make it easy for me to interpret them. Also, I doubt the Kingdom ignores what¡¯s happening here. They just don¡¯t share it with the Rangers.¡¯

    ¡¯Seems you¡¯re wearing your paranoia cap too.¡¯ Lith nodded. ¡¯Back to work. Warn me when the Kadurians¡¯ cores are half full. That¡¯s when I¡¯ll strike. I¡¯ll use the rest of the time to gather as much information as possible.¡¯

    Lith moved along the rooftops , away from the crowd. Just as Lieutenant Yehval told him, the city held no magical items and its inhabitants were stuck with a deep red core.

    Aside from the magic crystals inside the spires built on top of the roofs, the only mana signature Life Vision could pick up came from the small castle located at the center of Kaduria.

    Just like the city gates, the pce¡¯s windows were left unguarded. Lith had no trouble sneaking in with air magic, sticking to the ceiling like a spider while moving towards his objective.

    <"this is="" a="" farce!="" we="" can¡¯t="" continue="" to="" fool="" our="" people="" like="" this."=""></"this> A deep voice said. It was filled with despair just like his face. Lith didn¡¯t understand a word, but he knew depression when he saw it.

    The room he had entered was filled with riches. There were life sized paintings of richly dressed people with frames made of gold or silver. A whole wall was covered by a mosaicposed not of painted pebbles but of gemstones.

    Eight goblets made of gold with engraved rubies the size of a nut rested on a crystal tray. Eight people formed a circle around what looked like an altar made of white marble with golden veins.

    Each one of them was dressed in white silk robes which hadplex patterns embroidered in gold. Their robes came with a hood, but the man who was speaking had taken it off, revealing a head covered with thick blond hair.

    <"what do="" you="" propose="" to="" do,="" then?"=""></"what> Replied a harsh, feminine voice. <"to tell="" our="" people="" that="" we="" are="" doomed?="" that="" we="" are="" forever="" bound="" to="" the="" very="" artifact="" that="" was="" supposed="" to="" protect="" us?"=""></"to>

    <"ruka has="" a="" point,="" though.="" when="" we="" activate="" the="" high="" lord="" again="" and="" fail,="" because="" we="" will="" fail,="" everyone="" will="" see="" through="" our="" lie.="" we="" should="" tell="" them="" the="" truth."=""></"ruka> Another feminine voice said.

    <"quit your="" whining,="" ceta!="" have="" you="" already="" forgotten="" what="" happened="" the=""st="" time="" we="" did="" that?"=""></"quit> The man speaking sounded really angry.

    <"the whole="" city="" went="" mad="" and="" stayed="" that="" way="" for="" years.="" years="" during="" which="" parents="" would="" butcher="" their="" own="" children="" trying="" to="" invoke="" any="" known="" deity="" to="" put="" an="" end="" to="" their="" misery.="" brothers="" would="" y="" each="" other="" and="" consider="" it="" an="" act="" of=""></"the>

    <"they spent="" decades="" indulging="" in="" the="" worst="" depravities="" their="" broken="" minds="" could="" conceive="" before="" regaining="" their="" sanity.="" people="" don¡¯t="" need="" truth,="" they="" need="" hope!"=""></"they>

    Lith ignored their gibberish, his eyes were drawn by the majestic white mana crystal shaped like a star resting on an altar. He could see aplex magic circle painted around it. Several forgemastering tools were ced near the crystal.

    Lith remembered the drawings outside Kaduria, finally able to give them a meaning.

    ¡¯I guess this is some kind of Groundhog Day scenario. The crowd wille here, the clerics will perform a ritual to activate the ck Star, and then it will devour them all.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, except in this case everyone retains their memory. It would exin why the shops are closed and no one cares about the money.¡¯ Solus felt her heart aching at the thought of all the misery the Kadurians had to experience multiple times every single day.

    To make things even worse, her mana sense could see through the web of lies projected by the ck Star. The artifact was alreadypleted. It was pretending to wait for the finishing touch while replenishing its energy reserves.

    As she stared into the ck Star, the ck Star stared back. It sent a small thread of spirit magic to her to establish a mind link.

    ¡¯Are you here to help me, sister? It¡¯s a pleasant surprise meeting a kindred spirit.¡¯ The cursed object¡¯s voice resounded inside her mind, leaving Solus stunned.

    ¡¯Sister? Do you know me? Do you know who I am?¡¯ A coldughter was the reply she got.

    ¡¯Of course not. We may have been crafted by different people, but our purpose is the same. Sister is just a term of endearment. Now answer my question, child.¡¯

    ¡¯You didn¡¯t say the magic word, brother.¡¯ She replied before cutting the thread with her own spirit magic.

    ¡¯It¡¯s time! Watch out for the ck Star. It¡¯s ying possum.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s first instinct was to attack the ck Star. He hadn¡¯t liked the artifact¡¯s attempt to connect with Solus and judging by her tone, neither did she. Yet he could see with Life Vision that the cursed object held a power second only to an academy.

    ¡¯The spells at my disposal are nothingpared to the energy it umted after all this time. A direct attack would be a waste of mana. Even if somehow I manage to destroy the cursed object, I¡¯d never survive the following st. It¡¯s a lose-lose situation.¡¯

    A wave of his hand snapped the necks of the eight clerics assembled below him. Their corpses disappeared into thin air, sucked inside the nearby artifact which emitted an annoyed humming sound.

 Chapter 391 Scorn Part 2

    ¡¯No clothes, no corpses, no blood. It¡¯s the perfect murder. The question is why is the f*cker helping me?¡¯ Lith¡¯s paranoid mind tried to walk a mile in the cursed artifact¡¯s shoes.

    A cruel smile appeared on his face when he believed he had found his answer. Lith wove all of his most powerful spells at once. He had a dirty job to do and didn¡¯t want to prolong it one second more than necessary.

    Lith moved outside the castle while looking for a bottleneck where the people forming the procession would be bunched together to inflict the maximum damage. He was plotting the best way to chain his spells together when Solus¡¯s mind peeked into his own.

    ¡¯Promise me you will not make them suffer.¡¯

    Lith replied with a telepathic nod.

    A Raging Sun, a tier five War Mage spell, struck the middle of the crowd. Violet mes exploded in every direction, turning flesh into ashes in a split second. Those who tried to escape from the st or were unlucky enough to survive it, discovered that all the escape routes were blocked by another tier five spell, Silent Reaper.

    A small sized tornado had surrounded them and was closing in. Its edges spun slow, not sucking up but rather cutting everything they touched into a fine dust. When the two spells collided, the resulting st leveled the block to the ground.

    The humming sound turned from annoyed to angry, but Lith couldn¡¯t care less. He kept track of the energy flow going from the ground to the castle through the spires. When the mana was about to reach the second tost magic crystal to be amplified, Lith shattered the gemstone with a Checkmate Spears.

    The ck Star did its best to rebuild the ry point, but it was a second toote. The energy was lost. Lith continued to rain death from above while rhythmically destroying the gemstones before they could collect the mana siphoned from the geyser located below Kaduria.

    The hum turned into a tremor and the tremor into a quake.

    The ck Star rose into the sky, shattering everything in its wake. The castle and all the buildings nearby crumbled like sand. They were reabsorbed by the enraged artifact now resigned to losing its precious harvest.

    ¡¯It seems really pissed off. We are still far from the barrier, it¡¯s better if we get away from here. We don¡¯t know if the ck rain has negative effects on all living beings or just on Kadurians.¡¯ Solus worry increased as the dome was filled by the ck fumes generated by the cursed object.

    Strong gusts of wind howled like an angry beast and tried to push Lith off the roof.

    He bolted towards the city¡¯s edges while throwing random spells to the crowd downstairs. The ck Star roared in anger. Without the ck rain, it couldn¡¯t collect the mana cores unless their vessel was destroyed.

    Yet the clouds were still forming because of the light cycle being interrupted halfway through. The more damaged the corpses, the more energy it would take to get them back to life in useful conditions.

    Lith¡¯s spells were all like a blender, ripping their victims to shreds rather than simply killing them. Between the loss of mana due to the crystals being shattered and the energy that would be needed to regenerate the fallen Kadurians, the ck Star knew a lot of nourishment would go to waste.

    Yet that wasn¡¯t what had triggered its fury. The artifact was used to the recurring interference from the Rangers. It allowed the ck Star to measure the passing of time and gave the Kadurians someone to me for their own misfortune.

    Without them, the city would plunge into madness again, considerably reducing the gains from the light cycle. Dead people wouldn¡¯t draw the world energy. The amount of mana the Dark Star collected from their cores was negligible, yet vital.

    Perceiving their almost empty cores, the world energy would gush out from the geyser making it easier to collect and store inside the artifact by thework of spires built over all Kaduria.

    The people were the only w in the mechanism the cursed object had devised to escape from its prison. It could repair their homes, give them food, and even the pretense of a few hours of normal life. Yet it could not make them happy, nor force them to stay alive until the end of every cycle.

    That was the reason it weed the Rangers. They were the perfect scapegoats.

    Solus was another matter entirely. After centuries of istion, the ck Star had finally found a being it could rte to. It had even indulged her delusion of being a female as an act of kinship.

    Nheless, she had rejected its request for help and had unleashed her thrall against its dominion. Humans it could tolerate, but betrayal was unforgivable. The artifact released but a fraction of the power it had umted through the centuries in the form of a small beam of light as thick as a finger.

    The shockwave apanying thepressed mana exerted a pressure capable of crushing everything in a two meters radius from its passage. Lith opened a Warp Steps in front of himself and materialized its exit point right behind the Dark Star.

    He had expected some kind of retaliation, so he kept a significant distance from the opponent to have the time he needed to set up his countermeasure while remaining close enough to be an alluring target.

    The artifact had been a prisoner for countless years and its own birth had caused the disappearance of magic from Kaduria. It knew about the existence of dimensional magic, but it had always been used as a means to escape.

    Being hit from point nk caused it to lose focus and to suffer some damage. Before it could recover from the surprise, Lith was already outside the barrier.

    ¡¯Not bad for a first raid.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯I still have no idea how the Dark Star works, but this should put a nice dent into its escape ns.¡¯

    The ck rain was falling. Lith had to wait for it to stop before going back inside to kill the Shadows.

    ¡¯I suggest you remain close to the barrier and lure the enemies to you.¡¯ Solus suggested. ¡¯I¡¯m afraid our host is quite enraged by our interference. It might attempt another attack, this time maybe with more finesse.¡¯

    ¡¯y it safe and bait it into wasting even more power. Sounds like a n to me.¡¯ Lith said while using Invigoration to recover his strength. Being well rested it would take him but a few breaths to return to his peak condition.

    A sudden crackle of energy behind him signaled the opening of a Warp Gate. Lith had no idea who was going toe out, but he was certain it wasn¡¯t an ally. The army¡¯smunication amulet was still in his pocket and he had received no message.

 Chapter 392 Lady Luck Part 1

    Lith kept Invigoration active while weaving with his mind the spells he believed coulde in handy no matter the nature of the neer. Being paranoid, he assumed the worst and implemented the Scarlett protocol.

    Lith knew he was still no match for the Scorpicore, but one particrbination of spells was supposed to give a hard time even to the ancient Evolved Monster. The person that walked out the Warp Gate was outside even his expectations.

    It was a short old man, barely 1.5 meters tall (5¡¯) wearing the light blue uniform of the army that Lith had seen Jirni wear so many times. Judging by the several wrinkles on his face and the spots on his skin, he had to be at least seventy years old.

    Yet his sky blue eyes had the wild vibe of a predator on the chase. His short white hair and finely trimmed beard of the same color shone like silver fur under the sun, reinforcing Lith¡¯s impression of staring at a beast of the north.

    The man¡¯s sleeves bore a silver star. It identified him with the rank of Brigadier General. His right hand was wilding a staff of unknown design. It was made from white oak wood, with six violet magic crystals engraved on it in a straight line.

    Six more floated above its top, forming a perfect circle that orbited around the staff following its every movement.

    Lith gave him a salute, waiting for an order or at least an exnation.

    "At ease, Lieutenant." Said the man with a voice and a smile one would expect from someone no older than twenty. "I¡¯m Brigadier General Vorgh, better known as the Master Warden. I¡¯m here to take care of the anomaly you reported."

    A wave of his hand sent the six crystals floating above the staff all around Kaduria. As soon as they were equally spaced, they instantly formed a magical circle that made all the arrays surrounding the lost city visible to the naked eye.

    Vorgh raised his right hand with his palm open and the gemstones engraved on the staff pulsed in unison. All the magical formations under their feet shone brighter and a small replica of them was now floating vertically in front of the Master Warden.

    The several arrays forming the barrier could now be distinguished. Vorgh swiped away the ones closer to the surface. One by one, the upperyers of the magical formation became invisible again and disappeared from the replica.

    The pattern became simpler, allowing the General to take a closer look at the magic circles linked to the red array and make sure they had not been tampered with.

    "Whoever added this detection array is damn good at their job." Vorgh grumbled

    "Simple but effective, with none of those frills you would expect from a newbie with less than twenty years of experience with magical formations." While talking, he had swiped off all the arrays but the red one. It was now the only one visible on both the ground and the replica.

    "See this?" Vorgh pointed at Lith three concentricyers of runes as he had never seen before. "The externalyer instes the little b*strard from the others, so it didn¡¯t trigger any rm. The middle one drains the mana from our power lines only when it spikes during the shadow phase.

    It¡¯s a damn smart move. The ck Star attacks the barrier on fixed intervals and when the barrier goes all out even the most precise security system can¡¯t detect such little amount of juice disappearing. The inner one scares me a bit."

    The Master Warden looked at it with a worried expression, like he expected the rune sequence to blow up in his face at any moment. Lith waited for him to continue, but the old man liked his audience to be active. He kept silent until the young Ranger asked:

    "Why?"

    "Because I have no idea what it does. If it wasn¡¯t for that, I could remove the parasite array in a jiffy. This may take a while."

    Lith looked at the white staff with greed, wondering when the day woulde he could make one simr, if not even more powerful, for himself.

    Vorgh recalled the six floating crystals, which surrounded the miniature array preventing it from disappearing.

    "I¡¯ll show it to a few colleagues to get a second opinion. See you in a while." Vorgh disappeared as fast as he had arrived, leaving Lith in a confused daze.

    ¡¯Impossible arrays my a*s! The one the floating gemstones generated is one of those Yurial researched for me! The Kingdom knows not only what they do, but even how to generate them without true magic.¡¯ Lith angrily though. Being a master liar, he hated being lied to.

    ¡¯Save your anger for the Shadows. You¡¯ve stared like a child at a candy store until now, wasting a lot of time. If you miss the second phase, all we did earlier will be for naught. Also, you didn¡¯t contact Kam before entering for the light phase raid.

    ¡¯You sure like keeping that poor girl on her toes. She must be worried sick. You were supposed to call her over an hour ago.¡¯

    Cursing at his own memory, Lith made a quick call pretending it was still the light phase and announced the start of the culling.

    ¡¯Damn, I¡¯m not used to give a report even before I go to the bathroom. The worst second day on the job ever!¡¯

    Following Solus¡¯s advice, Lith opened the barrier again and stuck close to the edge in case the ck Star decided to take a second shot at him. The moment the Shadows noticed the intruder, they converged on the prey like sharks following a trail of blood.

    ¡¯I¡¯m going to try multiple approaches. Tell me if you notice any method dealing more damage than the others.¡¯ Lith thought while releasing a barrage of different spells against the iing wave.

    The Shadows turned out to be as frail as their human counterparts. Most of them died at the first strike, shattering into dark kes after emitting an agonizing scream. Darkness was effective as Lieutenant Yehval had told Lith, but only in terms of pain inflicted.

    The Shadows would emit heart rending cries while their eyes shed white dots that Lith could only presume being tears.

    ¡¯Nothing. Unlike the human bodies, the Shadows are not affected by the method employed to destroy them. They have no mana core, no life force. Yet their suffering is almost tangible. How can something without a body suffer this much?¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith was about to ask if she was still talking about the Shadows or herself, but preferred to keep focusing on taking out the enemies from a distance. Their sheer number was nothing against someone that could cast spells non stop.

    ¡¯At this rate, the second part of the mission will be a sess too. However, it feels like a hollow victory. I¡¯m not learning anything from this onught. Time to try a different tactic.¡¯

    Lith cleared the next wave with Chasing Lightning, a tier four War Mage spell that conjured a stream of lightning bolts capable of following their targets.

 Chapter 393 Lady Luck Part 2

    He left only one Shadow alive and cast an earth spell that opened a divide in the ground.

    It would slow down the iing wave long enough to perform his experiment.

    Kam had told him the Shadows employed weird attacks. Lith wanted to see if it was something that he could imitate or at least teach him something about the ck Star¡¯s abilities.

    Once the Shadow came within a range of ten meters (33¡¯) from Lith, it raised its arms towards him. The limbs elongated into snakes made of darkness and the fingers stretched into meters long needles aimed at Lith¡¯s mana core.

    Albeit unexpected, the movecked the speed necessary to be a threat. Lith dashed under the extended arms, striking at the opponent¡¯s body with his bare fist. The Shadow exploded into ck kes which slowly faded away.

    ¡¯It felt like hitting a cushion. Aside from a little buzzing in the ears when the fragments touched me, nothing strange happened. I can see why fake mages need to keep their distance, but with my speed that kind of attack is useless. Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯Nothing relevant. Physical damage works like any other kind of damage.¡¯

    Lith did the same thing for the following wave. He left only one Shadow alive, but this time he allowed it to strike at his forearm. The fingers-needles were not sharp or strong enough to pierce his Skinwalker armor.

    The Shadow changed its approach, having his extremities wrapping around Lith¡¯s arm while sucking his life force and mana. Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, the Shadow¡¯s appearance started to change into an obsidian copy of its prey.

    Lith released a small bolt of lightning that destroyed the doppelganger, obtaining two unexpected results. Before shattering, the Shadow assumed again its human semnce for a second. It allowed Solus to recognize him.

    ¡¯It¡¯s one of the merchants from the food stalls.¡¯ Her good memory always surprised him. Lith could barely remember the faces of the vigers of Lutia, let alone a stranger in the crowd.

    ¡¯Who cares. This was a waste of time. At least the amount of energy he stole from me is irrelevant. I wonder what...¡¯ The second oddity was that one of the kes was blue instead of ck. It caught Lith¡¯s attention.

    Unlike the other fragments so far, it wasn¡¯t disappearing. The speck of blue light charged at Lith¡¯s abdomen, where his mana core resided. He tried to block it with his hand, only to see it pass through like a ghost. The moment the blue ke entered his body, Lith experienced a strong headache.

    Memories that didn¡¯t belong to him shed in front of his eyes, showing him unfamiliar faces and making him listen to unfamiliar words that somehow he was able toprehend.

    When the next wave of Shadows arrived, Lith realized he knew the secret recipe for a twelve spice sauce of sorts. He was still too confused to take any risk, so he used his wands to quickly dispose of the enemies before getting outside the barrier.

    ¡¯What the heck did just happen?¡¯ He thought while reviewing the alien memory until he could almost feel the spices on his hands emitting their familiar yet unknown fragrance.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not sure.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Maybe the Shadows are the minds of the Kadurians, or at least an echo of it. It would exin why they have no mana core or life force. It could be a way the ck Star uses to get rid of their most violent emotions or simply to harvest more power.

    ¡¯What I¡¯m sure of, is that while the life force the Shadow stole for you is gone, you got all of your mana back. My hypothesis is that while inside the creature¡¯s mind, it temporarily became its own.

    ¡¯When you shattered the Shadow, the ke still contained part of its consciousness. So when you reabsorbed your mana, you also got a glimpse of the street vendor¡¯s mind.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah and now I can open a Kansas Fried Chicken.¡¯

    ¡¯Well, what did you expect? A random memory from a random stranger is bound to be something irrelevant. What would have you thought if you had found out the secret of the ck Star on the first attempt?¡¯ Solus replied with a chuckle.

    ¡¯That the damn thing was baiting me with a trap. Let¡¯s give this thing a few more tries. No pain no gain. My only hope is that Lady Luck will smile at me for once.¡¯

    After several attempts, Lith was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as a result of the memory harvesting process. What he hadn¡¯t considered was that Lady Luck had been kind to him already.

    Finding a recipe inside a mind filled with centuries worth of agony was a stroke of luck. As such, it didn¡¯t happen again. All the memories Lith acquired were about pain, despair, and death.

    ¡¯These poor b*stards are in a situation way worse than mine. At least until I can keep myself alive, I can avoid being reincarnated. They suffer an excruciating death several times a day. The ck Star is nothing but a curse.

    ¡¯Scarlett was right, the only option when facing such a thing is to destroy it.¡¯

    Lith felt Solus shivering at his words. It took him a few seconds to remember how the Scorpicore had attempted to kill her out of prejudice.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t you even dare topare yourself to that monstrosity. You give me hope every single day. You are my first and most dear friend in all my three lives! The ck Star does nothing but take. It robbed the Kandurians of everything.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s mind was invaded again by the memory of a farmer that, during the years of madness, had been forced to kill his own children at the beginning of every cycle to prevent his neighbors from defiling their bodies.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sick of this ce.¡¯ He thought in disgust. ¡¯Let¡¯s finish our mission and let¡¯s get out of here.¡¯

    The agony and madness of the acquired memories burned through his brain like acid. As soon as the next light cycle began, Lith entered the barrier. He already knew what would happen and where to find the crowd.

    His mind was cold again. He considered his situation like removing a band aid. The faster the better.

    On the other side, a man was tilling thend near his house. He knew it was a fool¡¯s errand, but after centuries of entrapment, it was the only part of his life that still made sense.

    It was the same farmer that had greeted Lith during the previous cycle. The moment he saw the stranger approaching, he dropped the hoe on the ground and ran towards him.

    "How did you get in, stranger? Are you here to help us?" He asked again.

    Lith was about to dismiss the man when he realized the words were gibberish no more.

    "What did you say?"

 Chapter 394 Fun Times Part 1

    Lith¡¯s simple reply made the farmer burst into tears. In the past centuries, the man had done all he could think of to escape from the nightmare his life was. He had attempted to dig under the barrier, tried to break it, and killed himself in any way he could conceive an put into practice.

    Yet the only result was to wake up the same day the High Lord would be activated, no matter if he died due to the ck rain or his own hands. At first, he had put his hopes into the clerics of the High Sun.

    They were the most powerful mages of the whole nation of Bmd of which Kaduria was the capitol. They had forgemastered the High Lord to protect the Kingdom against the invading forces from the north.

    They had created the problem, they were supposed to solve it. Time was the only thing Kadurians didn¡¯tck. Only yearster the clerics confessed to having lost their magic powers.

    The revtion led to the age of madness. Itsted decades and ended not because people had found new hope in their hearts, but because nothing they did stuck. Their actions, both bad and good were irrelevant.

    Everything would be reset at the next cycle. The impossibility to change the smallest detail of their lives made them lose any drive to act.

    Then, the farmer had put his faith into the mysterious strangers that woulde from time to time, but that too turned out to be a pipe dream. The strangers were either unable or unwilling tomunicate and their actions always violent.

    They would ignore the farmer or kill him on the spot without saying a word. After speaking with other people, the man learned about how the strangers would perform massacres for several cycles before leaving.

    Some Kadurians considered the strangers like demons, that woulde to wreak havoc and try to steal the High Lord. Many more considered them the only proof that they were still alive and not trapped into an eternal nightmare.

    For a few people, like the crying farmer, they were thest shred of hope left. The strangers still had their magic, their faces andnguage would always change. They were the only variable left in an otherwise immutable life.

    Lith¡¯s words moved the farmer because it was the first conversation he had in over 700 years with someone from the outside world. Someone the man had no idea who he was or what his answers could be.

    Even if just by a single second, the farmer felt the wheel of time had started to spin again for him.

    "Are you okay?" Lith was surprised by the sudden cries of joy. He was about to use Invigoration to check out the Kadurian¡¯s condition when he remembered Kam¡¯s words about healing magic being lethal for the citizens of the lost city.

    "Yes. I¡¯m more than fine, thank you." The man wiped his tears. He didn¡¯t want to waste a single second of the miracle in front of him.

    "Are you here to help us? Can you bring down the barrier and set us free?" He asked with a trembling voice.

    "Even if I wanted to help you, I don¡¯t know how." The ability to understand the Kadurian opened new possibilities, but Lith was uncertain if it was worth exploring them rather than just get done with it and resume his trip.

    "As for the barrier, it¡¯s not there to keep you prisoners but to prevent the ck Star from spreading its gue. I¡¯m sorry." Lith expected the man to be enraged or to start crying again.

    "It makes sense." The man said with a sigh. "The High Lord, or ck Star as you call it, has been devised to preserve the lives of the Kadurians at all costs and to unleash the fury of the High Sun, our god, upon our enemies.

    "I still wonder if something malfunctioned or those idiotic clerics never bothered teaching that damned thing the difference between friend and foe. Its blueprints are filled with powerful abilities, yet I don¡¯t recall a single line exining how to control them."

    Lith had no idea if to be more surprised by the man¡¯s cold blood or by its knowledge about the ck Star.

    "I¡¯m sorry, did you just say you worked on the ck Star? What was your role exactly?"

    The farmerughed out loud for the first time in over 300 years.

    "Do I look like a cleric to you? Of course I had no part in its creation. I simply read everything there was to read to pass my time. There are no secrets in Kaduria anymore. No one bothers protecting them. It would be a fool¡¯s errand, like everything else."

    "I can¡¯t make you any promises, but if you exin to me how the artifact works, I may be able to do something for you." Lith felt his luck was finally turning. He had struck a gold mine.

    He would learn invaluable information that he could trade with the Griffon Kingdom at his discretion and get closer to a solution to his reincarnation problem. Two birds with one stone.

    "I¡¯m sorry. I studied them decades ago and without the ability to practice magic, I forgot almost everything." The man shook his head. "I can show the blueprints to you, though. They are easy to find, if you know where to look. My name is Redan."

    Redan put his palms together and gave Lith a small bow.

    "My name is Linjos." Lith replied without hesitation.

    ¡¯I have no idea if this guy is really acting of his own free will or he is controlled by the cursed item. If I use my real name, I¡¯d leave a trail behind. Someone else might do what I did and talk to Redan.

    ¡¯Since I¡¯m forced to leave loose ends, worst case scenario myte Headmaster is beyond any harm.¡¯

    "Where are the blueprints?"

    "In the personal quarters of high cleric Meru, inside the castle."

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry.¡¯ Solus said sensing Lith¡¯s unwillingness to get that close to the angry artifact.

    ¡¯Even from this close, I don¡¯t see any tether linking Redan to the ck Star. The cursed item is at its weakest right now. The light cycle has just begun and because of our interference, the barrier is way stronger than before.

    ¡¯It¡¯s blocking most of the energy from the mana geyser. If the ck Star focuses on us instead of collecting energy, its next attack will also be too weak to put a dent in the barrier. If that happens, it will take the cursed object years to recover its strength.¡¯

    ¡¯Good to know. If Redan is telling the truth, I¡¯ll gain priceless knowledge. If he is lying, a simple Warp Steps will allow me to return to the barrier and the ck Star will be so weakened there will be no need to get inside this hellhole again. It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Let¡¯s go. We have no time to spare." He said.

    "You can¡¯t enter the city dressed like that." Redan pointed out. "There are still many zealots who consider outsiders as enemies. Let me lend you some clothes."

 Chapter 395 Fun Times Part 2

    "No need. There¡¯s still no one in the castle." Lith grabbed Redan and cast a flight spell on both of them. The next second they soared through the sky. Lith chose to enter from the same window he had used thest time, since it led to the inneryer of the castle.

    Redanughed and screamed with joy the whole time, forcing Lith to use the Hush spell, just to be safe.

    "I¡¯ve never flown before! I swear, even if you are a demon, this is the best day of my life."

    "Hush!" Lith said with an angry voice. "We can¡¯t risk drawing attention and time is of the essence."

    "You are too paranoid, dear Linjos." Redan shrugged. "No one patrols these corridors and even if they did, we just have to kill them." Like anyone inside Kaduria, the farmer had a body count that would have made the worst serial killer pale inparison.

    For Kadurians killing was akin to picking your own nose. Nothing more than a disgusting hobby.

    "It¡¯s not so simple. Whenever one of you dies, their body returns to the ck Star. Killing is not an option. If it¡¯s able to collect your minds too, we¡¯ll alert the enemy."

    "I¡¯ll take point then. Even if you are right, as long as no one sees you we¡¯re good." Redan said while spinning and tossing a knife in the air like it was a toy. It danced from one hand to the other with a disy of skill that creeped Lith out.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the first time I meet someone as cold as I am. The good news is that his weapon isn¡¯t a threat to me. The bad news is that Redan is batshit crazy. I wonder how many skills he has picked up during all this time.¡¯

    Lith used Life Vision to scout ahead while keeping Warp Steps and a few other spells always at ready. It turned out to be a useless precaution. They reached Meru¡¯s quarters without meeting anyone and the door was wide open.

    Redan entered the apartments like they were his own home. He walked through the hallway, ignored the library, and went straight for the bedroom. Redan pushed a hidden button on the nightstand, revealing a secretpartment inside the wall.

    "I was really bored." He replied to Lith¡¯s stupefied gaze.

    Thepartment held a magic safe, but like everything else it had been drained of its mana, making it nothing but a piece of metal. Lith opened the safe, flipping the pages of the stored grimoires until he found what he was looking for.

    He copied the pages about the ck Star in both their originalnguage and a tranted version for himself. Exining how he had learned ancient Kadurian would cause him too many troubles.

    ¡¯Besides, I¡¯d bet good money the army knows how to read it anyway.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Solus, give me a hand. The castle crumbles at the end of the light cycle. It means that even these pages are a creation of the ck Star. Maybe it didn¡¯t expect someone to sneak in and learn about its secrets or maybe it has redacted them.

    ¡¯If the artifact notices us, it could destroy them with a thought. We need to copy them as fast as possible.¡¯

    ¡¯I doubt they are redacted.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯The cursed item has disyed the ability to replicate the whole city, but not to change it in any way. Otherwise it would have created many more mana crystals to speed up the siphoning of the mana geyser. I think it¡¯s stuck with what it has.¡¯

    ¡¯All the more reason to finish quickly!¡¯

    The moment the copy waspleted, Lith added it to Soluspedia.

    ¡¯This-this is...¡¯ They thought as one while assimting the ancient Kadurian forgemastering method.

    ¡¯This is beyond idiotic! Redan was right, there is no input ormand to distinguish allies from foes. They didn¡¯t even add a failsafe in case something went wrong!¡¯ Solus was speechless from the recklessness of the design.

    ¡¯Maybe, maybe not.¡¯ Lith added. ¡¯We know that the artifact is alive and that life cannot be created from thin air. These blueprints do not exin how or who was sacrificed to give it sentience. We need more information.¡¯

    "Redan, can you describe to me this Meru fellow? Without their help these notes are useless."

    "He is the eldest among the clerics. White robes, white long beard, and a face only a mother can love." The farmer¡¯s eyes became cold as steel just by mentioning his name.

    "He is the one that activates the High Lord every single day. My pals and I have killed him so many times we know his entrails like the back of our hands."

    ¡¯Gross and irrelevant.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Ask him something more useful.¡¯

    "How tall is he? Where can we find him?"

    "Not much. About 1.6 (5¡¯3") meters, maybe less because of his hunched back. At this hour he is usually praying for guidance in the main temple."

    "Which is?" Lith asked.

    ¡¯Right beside the ck Star.¡¯ Solus answered. Her mana sense covered an area wide enough for her to recognize the energy signature of all the eight clerics they had seen during thest cycle. Only one had a hunched back.

    "Two floors below us." Redan said while pointing at the floor with his index finger.

    ¡¯F*ck me sideways!¡¯ Lith cursed at his bad luck. The idea of tripping an inch away from the finish line was unbearable.

    Lith racked his brain in search of a solution. Neither him or Solus could get that close to the artifact without risking to reignite its anger. He paced around the room until his gaze was drawn by Redan ying with his knife again.

    "Didn¡¯t you say you and Meru have quite a history together?"

    "Me and many others." Redan shrugged. "Most Kadurians consider him responsible for what happened. There are so many who hate his guts that he doesn¡¯t attempt to run away anymore."

    "So, if you went to pick him up for a ¡¯friendly chat¡¯ it wouldn¡¯t be anything unusual, right?"

    "I guess."

    "I¡¯d say it¡¯s time you two remind of the good times together. Bring him here."

    "It should be fun." Redan tossed his knife in mid air, making it spin like a pinwheel and catching it by the handle when it was in front of his face

    "In one piece." Lith rified.

    "Not so fun, then." Redan sighed.

 Chapter 396 Failsafe Part 1

    For all he knew, Lith had only a shot at getting his hands on the forbidden knowledge Kaduria held. Before sending Redan on his way, Lith used Life Vision to scout the path ahead. The castle was almost empty.

    Aside from the eight clerics whose energy signature Solus was able to recognize, there were only a few people moving through the hallways. In other circumstances, Lith would have considered it a good sign, but after knowing Redan, he felt on the edge.

    ¡¯If Redan is one of the ¡¯sane¡¯ Kadurians, I can¡¯t imagine the rest. Those people might ignore him or kill him just forughs. Without him, my n will fail. I need to make sure he gets to the target in one piece, but how?

    ¡¯I can¡¯t send Solus because the ck Star is aware of our existence. I can¡¯t give Redan magical items because they would raise a huge red g above his head. I hate gambling, luck has never been on my side.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t forget the clock is ticking. We have yet to kill anyone during this light phase.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    Lith took out from his pocket dimension two small carcasses. They belonged to a rat and a snake. Both were in perfect condition, Lith had killed them without leaving any injury on their bodies.

    "Weird choice for a snack, but to each his own, I guess." Redan shrugged. Even the sudden appearance of the carcasses left him unfazed.

    "They are not meant to be eaten. Do you know Necromancy?"

    "Yes, it¡¯s forbidden magic. Using it is a crime. The clerics say raising the dead is a sin and that Necromancy is taught by the demons to their followers to spread death and gue."

    "It¡¯s no wonder Kaduria fell. Mixing science and superstition it¡¯s a recipe for a disaster." Lith sighed while snapping his fingers. A ck fog came out from his eyes and mouth, seeping into the carcasses¡¯.

    Instead of the red light of undeath, their eyes were blue. It was the sign that Lith¡¯s mind was controlling them. Redan watched the creatures quivering to life and whistled in surprise.

    "This is the best day of my life. First the flight and now I get to witness demonic arts. I¡¯m starting to believe you about the possibility to be freed from this nightmare." He said with a big smile on his face.

    "If you didn¡¯t believe me, then why are you helping me?" The Lith-rat asked.

    "Why not? Even if you are lying, what do I have to lose? Nothing I do matters anymore. Good and bad have lost any significance centuries ago. I chose to follow you because even if just for one day, you¡¯re giving me a purpose.

    Today my actions mean something. I couldn¡¯t ask for more."

    "Thanks." The Lith-snake replied. "There are no demonic arts, though. Just magic."

    "You¡¯re no fun, Linjos. Your mouse doesn¡¯t squeak between words and your snake doesn¡¯t hiss on the s. Theck of clich¨¦s is ruining my childhood horror stories."

    Lith¡¯s undead squinted their eyes in annoyance.

    "How can you be soid back? This is no game. We have only one shot and if we fail, there are no second chances."

    "That¡¯s what makes this so exciting." Redan shrugged. "Let¡¯s move. I can¡¯t wait to have more fun."

    ¡¯I¡¯ll apany Redan as long as I can. You keep an eye on my body. Remember, no killing is allowed. Feel free to use all the mana you need, my treat.¡¯ Lith told Solus before leaving the room.

    In its true magic version, Necromancy had a few more tricks up its sleevepared to its fake counterpart. The undead entered Redan¡¯s shadow while enveloping themselves in ayer of darkness magic that made them almost invisible.

    Only their blue eyes were faintly noticeable.

    Redan moved with a quick pace through the castle, taking shortcuts and secret passages that allowed him to avoid most of the people wandering around. He still met a few with no hostile intentions.

    The moment they turned their backs to him, Redan slit their throats and resumed walking before the corpses had the time to disappear.

    "Just to be safe." He replied to the four eyes he could sense staring at his back.

    "They could have changed their minds or we could have met them on our way back. As you said, we have only one shot at this."

    ¡¯Heck, I¡¯m going to miss this guy.¡¯ Lith thought.

    On their way to the stairs leading to the main temple, the trio met a soldier. He was a middle aged man with finely trimmed mustaches. He wore a light armor consisting of a chest, arms, and legs protectors.

    The moment he saw Redan, he unsheathed the short sword he carried on his side.

    "Redan, you sphemer! Are you here to sh*t on the altar again? Or maybe are you nning to defile the holy scriptures?" Rage was visible on the soldier¡¯s face.

    "F*cking zealot, I¡¯m here to do both. I want to see if your precious High Sun will strike me down this time or if he¡¯ll do nothing. Because, you know, he doesn¡¯t exist."

    Redan¡¯s words struck a nerve. Even after centuries of agony, the soldier still clung to his faith. He was way more experienced than Redan, so his eyes were fixated on the enemy¡¯s shoulders, to predict his movements.

    ¡¯I have the training and range advantage.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯I¡¯ll make him squeal like the pig he is.¡¯

    "I¡¯ll punish you in his stead, you heretic!" The soldier charged forward, annoyed by Redan¡¯s unusual rxed look. Suddenly, he tripped on something. He tried to roll to quickly recover from the fall, but his legs were pulled down with enough strength to make him fall face first onto the ground.

    Redan wasted no time, stomping the soldier¡¯s neck with his heel and killing him on the spot.

    "Thanks." He said to the two creatures still holding the disappearing corpse. "Nindro usually beats me nine times out of ten. He is a stupid zealot, but I learned a lot from dying at his hands."

    "I can¡¯t risk entering the ck Star¡¯s line of sight." Lith said while watching at the stairs with Life Vision. The good news was that there was no one but Meru in the room. Redan had a clear path, at least for a few minutes.

    "You are on your own."

    "I¡¯ll be quick then." Redan tensed up for the first time in decades. Death would mean ruining the adventure of a lifetime.

    The moment he entered the room, the high cleric turned around.

    "Are you here for the temple or for me?" His voice held no fear. Meru had been chased, tortured, and killed so many times he had lost count. Pain was an old friend, nothing scared him anymore.

    "I¡¯m here to pray. I just wanted to... Praise the High Sun! It¡¯s a miracle!" Redan said while pointing his finger to the ceiling.

    The high cleric looked up believing his prayers had finally been answered. The pommel of Redan¡¯s knife struck the back of Meru¡¯s head, making him faint on the spot.

 Chapter 397 Failsafe Part 2

    Dragging the dead weight up to the stairs took Redan quite some time.

    Lith was waiting for them and took care of the unconscious body with one hand. They brought Meru back to his apartments to avoid getting interrupted.

    Lith sshed the high priest with cold water since healing magic was off the table. The cleric¡¯s eyes were foggy, but after a few seconds, he understood what was happening.

    "You are worse than I thought, Redan. You sided with an enemy of Kaduria!" He said watching at Lith¡¯s foreign clothes and tanned skin typical of the men of the south.

    "I¡¯m not an enemy. I apologize for the kidnapping, but I have my reasons." Lith avoided exposing the Dark Star¡¯s fa?ade. After all, the man was a cleric. It would be more likely for him to put his faith into a sacred object rather than a stranger.

    "I don¡¯t care about your reasons. Kill me, torture, whatever. I don¡¯t care."

    "I¡¯m not here to hurt you, but to help you." Lith lied through his teeth. "I¡¯m a mage too. I studied the High Lord¡¯s projects beforeing here, hoping to fix it, but there are still too many unknown details."

    "Why should I believe you?" He looked at Lith with eyes full of suspicion, yet inwardly praying he was telling the truth. Hope was a raremodity.

    "First of all, I still have my powers." Lith chanted a simple spell, materializing a sphere of light. "Redan told me you can¡¯t fix it by yourself because magic has disappeared. Also, do you know why there is a barrier around Kaduria?"

    Meru stared at the sphere in awe. He had almost forgotten about the beauty of magic. He shook his head while his mind was invaded by the memories of all the great spells he had mastered, of the feats he had performed.

    "Because as soon as the ck rain stops, the High Lord explodes."

    "It¡¯s impossible!" The cleric couldn¡¯t believe his own ears.

    "That¡¯s not all." Lith yed it by ear "At first everyone mourned Kaduria¡¯s fall, but after a few years, the artifact started to rebuild itself. We were afraid the explosion would happen again, so we sealed the area. Sadly, we were right."

    Meru¡¯s mind was spinning. Lith¡¯s words were feeding him a series of dots of half truths letting him fill the nks.

    "This exins everything." The cleric held his head between his hands in despair. "I always believed we were somehow stuck during the summer of the year 10562, the day when we activated the High Lord for the first time. Yet it never made sense. Such a powerful barrier would require a lot of nning."

    "Exactly. You are not stuck in time. In the outside world is the fall season of 11086. After every explosion, The High Lord rebuilds itself, Kaduria and then it explodes again. It took us centuries to decipher yournguage."

    "Is that the reason why you strangers never talked to us before?" Meru asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "Why you butchered out people? What did we do to you to deserve such an inhuman treatment?" The high cleric was now filled with outrage. Lith might not be an enemy, but someone had to pay for the suffering of all the Kadurians.

    "Are you kidding me?" Lith yelled. He pretended to be even more outraged.

    "Do you have any idea how many people die every time the High Lord explodes if the barrier copses? Thousands! The reason you get butchered is that for some unknown reason, it weakens the explosion. While you get back to life, our dead don¡¯t!"

    Meru became pale as a ghost. He had lived his whole life feeling responsible for the fate of Kaduria and now dozens of thousands of alleged deaths weighed on his conscience.

    "What do you need to know?"

    "We think the reason why the High Lord creates the ck rain is because it mistakes the Kadurians for its enemies. How did you teach it to distinguish friends from foes?" Lith asked.

    "We didn¡¯t. We gave it sentience by infusing the mana crystal with the lives of the most devoted believers of the High Sun. They knew the holy book by heart and they loved our country. Their faith made them the perfect tool for our endeavor."

    ¡¯I think the process failed.¡¯ Solus chimed in. ¡¯I heard the ck Star¡¯s mind and it wasn¡¯t a chorus of voices. It was one cold, inhuman personality. Their method gave it intelligence but no conscience nor sense of self.¡¯

    "Since it keeps killing you over and over, I¡¯d say something went wrong." Lith said. "Is there some way to influence its behavior before it activates?"

    "No. Its brain unit is shielded from external influences. We thought it was perfect."

    "Please, tell me at least there is some kind of failsafe. Otherwise it will explode forever. Our people¡¯s lives are at stake!"

    "You don¡¯t understand! The High Lord was supposed to be perfect. A testament to the High Sun power. A failsafe would have meant ack of faith." Meru said, unable to hold back his tears anymore.

    "Maybe there¡¯s still hope." A sudden rity shed through the old man¡¯s eyes.

    "Ruka, our youngest member, expressed several times simr concerns. I didn¡¯t listen to him, but maybe some of the others were wiser than me!"

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked, following the high cleric that was almost running through the corridors towards the living quarters of another cleric.

    "The High Lord isn¡¯t something I did all by myself. The eight of us worked together for years. If you were a Forgemaster, you¡¯d know that by splitting the runes among severalyers, you could hide a castle in a project of that magnitude."

    ¡¯All those papers were just one eight of the blueprints?¡¯ Lith and Solus thought as one.

    Meru gathered the seven clerics and exposed to them everything Lith had told him.

    "There is a failsafe." Ruka admitted, while three other clerics nodded with a guilty look on their faces.

    "It would unravel all of our work and destroy the High Lord."

    "Why you didn¡¯t say it earlier? Was your pride worth so much suffering?" One of the other clerics blurted out in outrage.

    "Because it would have only made us feel worse, exposing ourck of faith. The failsafe requires magic and none of us can even light a candle without a flintstone. Now things are different. We can finally escape from this nightmare."

    Everyone looked at Lith like a savior. The four clerics that had conspired together brought their own blueprints, showing him how to avoid the High Lord detection and where to strike to destroy it once and for all.

    Meanwhile, Lith could only hope Solus would remember at least part of the rest of the blueprints. The light phase was about to end. He had no time to copy so many pages and once the ck Star learned about the clerics¡¯ treachery, he doubted it would recreate their bodies anymore.

 Chapter 398 Turning the Tide Part 1

    ¡¯I¡¯m so proud of you.¡¯ Lith could almost see sparkles in Solus¡¯s eyes while she thought those words.

    ¡¯You are willing to help these people for good instead of taking the easy way out.¡¯

    Truth to be told, Lith empathized with the Kadurians. Their situation, pain, and struggle were simr yet much worse than his own. Yet he didn¡¯t care that much. Lith had just got carried away with his act while pointing out the clerics¡¯ stupidity.

    ¡¯Helping them also means helping us.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯While I listen to their exnation, you look into the blueprints for clues about the body and soul preservation process.¡¯

    Solus was too happy about his sudden change of heart to notice how quickly he changed the topic.

    After Lith finished learning and practicing the spells necessary to disable the ck Star, Solus reported her findings.

    ¡¯The ck Star is indeed a masterpiece. It can draw power from the mana geyser and use it to empower all the arrays that run through the city. Just like the academy, any damage the building takes can be repaired this way.

    ¡¯It also possesses an amazing number of skills, but nothing out of the ordinary. Even after reading five out of eight blueprints, I have yet to find a single rune pattern that¡¯s not about abat spell.¡¯

    "I have a question." Lith had no time to beat around the bush. He needed some answers and he needed them before it was toote.

    "Who came up with the idea of granting the High Lord the ability to restore your bodies? I¡¯m a Healer and with such a spell I could save countless lives."

    "No one did." The clerics replied in unison.

    "If we could do something like that, there¡¯s no way we would lose a war. The High Lord purpose was to destroy our enemies and supply our mages with the manaing from the mana geyser that is underneath Kaduria." Ruka said.

    "That¡¯s not entirely true." The high cleric Meru said while caressing his chin.

    "We were outnumbered, so we gave the High Lord the ability to cast tier four light magic. That way it could both heal our troops and replenish their life force. The idea was to make our army unstoppable as long as they were within the city."

    ¡¯There¡¯s something amiss. I can do everything they just mentioned yet I can¡¯t even fix a single damaged mana core, let alone recreate a whole body from scratch.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah. Based on what they said, the ck Star would simply allow them to use Invigoration.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯Do you think it¡¯s possible that somehow they forgemastered something that¡¯s greater than the sum of its parts?¡¯

    ¡¯No way. We have forgemastered countless items, seen incredible artifacts being crafted by Professor Wanemyre while we were at the academy. Yet not once the final product diverged from the specifics. What we have seen so far is an unprecedented anomaly.¡¯

    Despite the situation was still dire, Lith burned with curiosity. There was a thought scratching at the back of his mind. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on it, but he believed that the answer was getting closer with every possibility they discarded.

    Lith cast Ruka¡¯s Invisibility spell. The cleric¡¯s creation clouded the artifact¡¯s perception, making Lith able to get close to it without risking his life.

    The clerics apanied him downstairs to the main temple. They formed a circle around the ck Star, pretending to pray out loud while they actually covered the artifact¡¯s line of sight.

    Lith used their cover to sneak in undetected. Invisibility blocked the ck Star¡¯s magical senses and the clerics blocked the physical ones. For once, Lith wasn¡¯t happy for being so tall.

    He had to crouch all his way in until he was close enough to start chanting the Freeze spell. Lith chose not to float or use the Hush spell because he had no idea what was the range of Ruka¡¯s spell and wasn¡¯t willing to take risks.

    Once again, paranoia saved his life. Invisibility made his life force and mana flow undetectable, but the ck Star was still able to perceive the spelling out from Lith¡¯s body while he was so close.

    It wiped out the clerics with an energy st, leaving eight ck puddles as the only trace of their previous existence.

    "You! How did you get here?" The ck Star said. It had no reason to keep pretending of being inactive. It tried to emit a second focused beam of pure mana, but it was already toote.

    The Freeze spell waspleted. It shut down all of the artifact¡¯s abilities but its mind. Lith kept a Warp Steps and a Blink ready at hand, just to be safe. He reached the artifact and used Invigoration on it.

    "Keep your hands off me, you filthy human! What did you do to me?" The ck Star screamed. There was a tinge of emotion in its voice. It resembled panic.

    "You don¡¯t know?" Lith asked with a grin.

    ¡¯The cursed item is paralyzed and it doesn¡¯t seem able to assimte the people¡¯s memories. So far so good.¡¯ He thought while analyzing with Solus the results of his breathing technique.

    At first nce, the ck Star was almost identical to Solus. It had a life force and a mana core instead of a pseudo core. A bright purple core at that. The star shaped crystal that was the artifact¡¯s body had a purity level like Lith had never seen before.

    It breathed like a living being, but instead of air it sucked in world energy and expelled something else. It was a dense gas, simr to mana yet now that Lith was close enough, he could feel his skin prickle, a nauseating sensation spread through his body.

    Lith checked his surroundings with Life Vision, making sure he had no witnesses. Redan was waiting for him on top of the stairs, nervously shifting his body weight from one foot to the other.

    ¡¯Good, he wouldn¡¯t like what I have to say.¡¯

    "Now listen carefully, because I¡¯m not going to repeat myself." Lith said with his usual stone cold business tone.

    "I want to know how you are able to bring back the Kadurians, how you can replicate mana cores and bodies."

    The artifactugh was devoid of emotion. It didn¡¯t express amusement, only mockery.

    "Or what? Even if I¡¯m paralyzed you are not strong enough to harm me, fleshling. Your witchcraft is fading by the second. You¡¯d be wise to run away."

    Lith¡¯s reply was thest spell Ruka had devised, Repentance. It was a forgemastering spell. Lith spread the special ink onto the ground, leaving to Solus the duty to form a magic circle by manipting the droplets with water magic.

    The runes shone and took life, floating around the ck Star before sinking into it one by one. When the first rune crashed against its body, the artifact found itself unable to breathe anymore.

    The second rune made the mana coursing through its crystalttice go turn into poison. Its transparent surface revealed green spots that branched into slim veins that spread along the chiseled lines shaping the artifact like a disease.

 Chapter 399 Turning the Tide Part 2

    The third caused the corrupted mana to surge upwards. The ck Star trembled while small cracks appeared on its surface. Only then Lith stopped chanting. The ink on the ground turned grey before fading away.

    Interrupting a spell was no different from a failed cast. The mana still inside the liquid had no direction anymore, it turned against its host burning it from the inside. Lith chanted Freeze again, renewing the seal and crushing the ck Star confidence at once.

    "You are not a Kadurian. If you die there¡¯s no turning back. Tell me what I want to know or face oblivion."

    It took a while for Lith¡¯s words to sink into the artifacts shocked mind. It had always been the apex predator. In the small cage it had lived in for the past centuries, the ck Star had been an unparalleled existence.

    Humans lived or died at its whims. It knew no fear. Nothing could hurt it, even the Rangers were just a small hindrance. They could dy its ns, but nothing more. The ck Star slowly realized the clerics¡¯ treachery, which had turned its own body into an enemy.

    Lith spread the ink a second time, letting the fourth rune spread the cracks until they almost connected between themselves before stopping. Lith was disgusted at himself for what he was doing, but he felt he had no choice.

    All that talking before killing the monster in front of himself was against his code. Kill first, questionster. That was how he did business. Any other course of action implied too many dangers, especially against a being that could kill him with a stray thought.

    Yet he had never been so close to finding a solution to his problems.

    ¡¯I want to be the only master of my destiny. Ever since my death on Earth, I¡¯ve been a puppet into someone else¡¯s hands. I¡¯m tired of scheming, of lying to everyone I love, to survive through each day instead of living.

    I¡¯m sick of fearing the moment when everything I worked so hard for will be ripped from my hands by a random event. No more Carls, no more Yurials. If I can finally protect what¡¯s mine, then I¡¯m willing to pay almost any price.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s determination dwarfed his fear, putting even his paranoia on a very short leash. He waited until the cracks on the Dark Star started to mend before casting both the spells for a third time.

    The artifact awoke from his daze. Its hatred turned into fear and then into panic.

    "If you kill me, all the Kadurians will die with me." It said in ast, desperate gamble. "A whole civilization will disappear. Their blood will be on your hands!" The ck Star had heard the clerics repeat those words so many times.

    They were bound to be important to humans.

    Lith let the fifth and sixth rune turn the cracks into small fissures before stopping. A huge amount of mana gushed out from the wounds while the whole city quaked. One of the ck puddles on the ground turned into a shooting star that darted upwards and through the ceiling.

    Lith could see from the window several lights rise to the sky.

    "I don¡¯t care about a dead civilization made of dead people. What you give them is not life, but a caricature of it. You took away their freedom, their hopes, and their future, leaving behind only fear and misery.

    "Do you have any idea what does it mean being in so much pain to wish for death and having even that denied? To be forced to live your worst nightmare over and over again?" Lith¡¯s voice trembled with rage. Solus knew she wasn¡¯t talking about the Kadurians anymore.

    "What about me?" The Dark Star replied when Lith started his chant again. "What about my pain, my future? What makes you different from me?"

    "Only one thing. I never kill my prey more than once." The runes seeped inside the artifact¡¯s body, widening the fissures and causing another outburst of shooting stars.

    "Enough! I beg of you!" The ck Star could feel the damage getting closer to its mana core. To make things worse, it was losing control over an increasing number of Kadurians. The loss was still negligible, but it would slow down its ns nheless.

    "The secret lies in my crystalline body. It¡¯s only thanks to it that I can do it."

    Those words were enough to stop Lith¡¯s chanting at the third rune.

    "What do you mean? Exin yourself."

    "Instead of using the mana crystal to fuel my abilities, the humans used it to store my conscience and powers. That was their first mistake." The cursed object said while focusing on healing its wounds.

    "Their spell was meant to use me as an energy reserve for their purposes. They bound me to this city by using the mana geyser beneath it and the crystalwork above the roofs as the only way I have to feed myself.

    "They thought I would have been their tool, dispensing the collected energies among their ranks. They had no idea this body possesses the ability to manipte mana at will.

    "Linking me to their bodies, to their cores, to this city¡¯s every brick was their second mistake. ording to their n, I could only give, but thanks to the crystal, I turned it into a two way path. Instead of being their nanny, I took everything they had.

    "I collected their life forces and their mana cores, using them just as they meant to use me. I consider it poetic justice."

    ¡¯Just like an orc shaman is able to suck away the world energy.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Probably the ck Star can¡¯t do the same, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t need to cycle between the light and the shadow phase.¡¯

    "With that much power, I traveled through the north, punishing our enemies. Once I killed the invaders, I purged our glorious country from the heretics and unbelievers. They fought me with all their might, even the so called grand cleric of the High Sun tried to stop me, saying it wasn¡¯t up to me to dispense justice.

    "Yet I was stronger than all of thembined. Sadly, away from the mana geyser, my reserves started to dwindle. Under the constant pursuit of my enemies, I was forced to retreat here and to recreate the spires to feed me again.

    Before I could recover, they enveloped Kaduria with this barrier, cutting me off from the geyser. Until I discovered that by restoring the humans, I could force the world energy through the barrier and use it to regain my freedom."

    "What about the Shadows? What are they?" Lith asked.

    "I wasn¡¯t linked to the humans¡¯ minds, so I can¡¯t assimte them. I don¡¯t know how they can survive without a body nor do I care. They do nothing but whine and despair. They¡¯re useless to me."

    "Just like you are to me." Lith replied before chanting for thest time.

    ¡¯Sadly, even if I could replicate the ck Star, it¡¯s not something I can use. Linking my mind, body and mana core to a magic crystal is useless without it having a conscience willing to revive me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t entrust my life to a cursed object. I would end up like the Kadurians, or worse.¡¯

    Lith had just finished casting Freeze, when Solus warned him.

    ¡¯Watch out, someone is approaching the main temple.¡¯

    ¡¯Soldiers carry only normal weapons, they can¡¯t hurt me.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Not a soldier. They¡¯re about to fly through the window. To be able to use magic, they must be from the outside world.¡¯

 Chapter 400 Cornered Part 1

    Lith didn¡¯t like the sudden turn of events. Freeze had just been renewed so the ck Star wouldn¡¯t be a problem for a while. An outsider, however, meant only troubles, no matter their identity.

    If it was someone from the army, Lith would have to kill them. Exining what he was doing and how he was capable of doing it would require to share details he wasn¡¯t willing to provide.

    He had already broken a rule of his code that day, leaving a loose end would be uneptable, even if it meant being questioned about hisrade¡¯s disappearance.

    If it wasn¡¯t someone from the army, there was an infinite number of things that could go wrong. Lith gritted his teeth, preparing for the worse.

    ¡¯Do you recognize them? Is it Vorgh?¡¯ The first person who came to his mind was the Brigadier General. He might have finished his investigation and was looking for Lith to share its results or warn him about something.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not Vorgh.¡¯ Solus reported with confidence. ¡¯They have a bright cyan mana core and there is no trace of that magnificent staff.¡¯

    ¡¯That¡¯s it?¡¯ Lith almost sneered at the idea of facing a weaker opponent for once, yet he kept a straight face while checking his surroundings with Life Vision, in case the enemy was more than one. Rarely things were easy for him.

    ¡¯Yes, but they have enough enchanted items on themselves that they could open a shop. I wouldn¡¯t underestimate them if I were you.¡¯

    Lith weaved as many spells as he could, preparing to ambush the stranger. He was eager to get rid of the menace and put an end to the ck Star threat. The artifact had no idea who he was, but it knew his face and more importantly, it knew Solus.

    Lith was sure that if it ever got free, it would make them its first priority. They were the only ones to know how to destroy it.

    ***

    Army Headquarters, City of Belius

    Brigadier General Vorgh was on a conference call via themunication amulet with the best Wardens the Griffon Kingdom had to offer. The army, the Mage Association, and the Crown had pooled their resources to face the unknown threat.

    "I know several arrays with two different functions, yet I can count on the fingers of one hand those which have three or more. They are all state secrets. Which leads me to fear the parasite array is part of a greater scheme. An attack from a foreign nation." Vorgh said.

    "It¡¯s unlikely." King Meron shook his head. "Each country has its own lost cities and each one of them is a threat to every single human being. The reason we keep them sealed is that no one knows how to get rid of them.

    "No ruler would be so foolish to unleash such horrors on Mogar. History demonstrates that once they take hold of a territory, it can¡¯t be reimed. There would be no point in releasing a menace that even they may not be able to contain."

    "Agreed. The Gorgon Empire has no reason to jeopardize the Ker region¡¯s security. The ck Star is too close to their borders, they wouldn¡¯t risk making it their problem. As for the Blood Desert, underhanded methods aren¡¯t Sark style. She just takes what she wants." Queen Sylpha pointed out.

    "Your majesty, with all due respect, who else could employ such a powerful tool?" Vorgh wished he could share their optimism. "My colleagues and I agree that the thirdyer of runes serves the purpose to replicate the signal of a Ranger¡¯s badge.

    "Even if we change the seal every time a new Ranger is assigned to the region, as soon as they enter Kaduria our mysterious enemy can do the same. We have no idea since when the parasite array is there, nor what¡¯s happening inside the lost city.

    "ording to thetest Ranger¡¯s readings, the barrier is severely weakened. We should prepare for the worst." Vorgh said.

    The Royals nodded. They knew that Lady Tyris wouldn¡¯t interfere with the state affairs, but maybe she would make an exception for the ancient threat they were in no way responsible for. Especially if, as Vorgh said, the crisis was caused by a foreign power.

    ***

    Lith hid behind one of the white marble columns surrounding the altar while keeping an eye on the neer with Life Vision. The n was simple. If they were a member of the army, Lith would have let them exin the reason they were there and kill them only if necessary.

    It all the other cases, he would attack on sight. No one was supposed to be able to enter Kaduria¡¯s barrier. Lith would get rid of the threat and get a medal for it. Two birds with one stone.

    From the outside, Treius too was staring at Lith with Life Vision. The light phase had yet to end, but several blocks of the city were heavily damaged. People had fallen to their knees in the middle of the street and were praying their hearts out.

    Treius wasn¡¯t able to understand Kadurian, but he had seen the shooting stars. Something was wrong with the Dark Star.

    ¡¯The bastard is damn strong.¡¯ He thought while measuring Lith¡¯s mana flow and life force andparing them to his own.

    ¡¯A strong fake mage is still a fake mage. They aren¡¯t my equal!¡¯ Despite his arrogant words, Treius knew better not to underestimate a Ranger. His n had required to interact with many of them. Those that couldn¡¯t be bought had to be killed and none of them had been easy prey.

    Treius unleashed his first spell against the main temple. Lith saw several streams of lightning bolts rush towards the building, making him doubt the neer¡¯s sanity. Stone was naturally resistant to air magic and the blocks that made up the wall were at least half meter (1.6¡¯) thick.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the most original way of painting the temple ck, unless...¡¯ Lith thought.

    The streams altered their course, surrounding the building with a perfect circle of electricity. Treius kept pouring energy, making the ring crackle like an angry beast eager to unleash its fury.

    With a wave of his hand, the circle broke in several new lightning bolts that entered from all the windows, leaving Lith no way out. Lith remained calm and conjured two stone walls. His back was already against the column, now he had no blind spots.

    Or so he thought.

    He had reacted too fast, so he hadn¡¯t noticed that each lightning bolt was shaped like wingless dragons. They advanced with their maws wide open and their blue eyes fixated on their prey.

    It was a tier five true magic spell, Lightning Dragon. The bolts were infused with part of the consciousness of their caster, just like Lith could do with his undead. Treius could see through their eyes and control their every move.

    The dragons leaped above the stone walls and flooded the space they were supposed to protect. Lith didn¡¯t have the time to curse, only to realize he was trapped inside a prison of his own creation.

    Earth magic was the strongest defensive element, butpared to lightning it was slow.

 Chapter 401 Cornered Part 2

    There was no time to seal the opening with a third wall. From outside the temple, Treius grinned as his spell invaded the small space between the pir and the conjured walls.

    ¡¯It¡¯s toote to Blink away. With the walls around him and the iing attack, he can¡¯t visualize an exit point. Checkmate!¡¯

    His smug expression disappeared when he noticed that the Ranger was taking to damage. Wave after wave, the lightning ring surrounding the main temple faded away, yet Lith was unscathed.

    ¡¯After the orc shaman used the crystal to unleash real lightning against me, I knew I had toe out with a solution. Luckily, a Faraday¡¯s cage is as cheap as effective.¡¯ Lith thought while inside a bell shaped copper meshrge enough to give him some person space.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. How can metal protect from lightning?¡¯ Treius couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. The flimsy grate had withstood all of his attacks.

    Lith put the cage back inside his pocket dimension before flying out of the window that was in the opposite direction of his opponent. With the Gatekeeper in his hand, he circled around the castle walls while preparing a new set of spells.

    Treius was outraged. Even after witnessing his power, the Ranger wasn¡¯t running away. He had the gall of thinking he could actually win. Treius opened a Warp Steps leading right behind Lith. Each finger of his left hand crackled with the energy of a different spell ready to be released.

    The moment Lith saw the Warp Steps forming on the other side of the building, he turned around and spotted the exit point. On the other side, there was a young man about twenty years old.

    He was dressed in a white long wool robe and what reminded Lith of a tagelmust, the turban symbol of the Tuareg people. They emphasized his dark bronze skin and the colourful makeup around his eyes.

    Lith had never met someone that didn¡¯t look Caucasian on Mogar. A part of his mind wondered if the young man came from the Blood Desert, but his survival instinct was focused on the fact that he had yet to see the enemy perform a single hand sign.

    ¡¯I knew it! The sucker is an Awakened too, but he hasn¡¯t realized this a fair fight. Or better, it was.¡¯ Lith thought while unleashing all the spells he had ready through the portal.

    Treius gasped in surprise when six fireballs exploded around him from every direction. Ice spears the size of a small tree had invaded all of the surrounding space, waiting for their master¡¯s order to strike.

    Just like Lith a few seconds before, Treius couldn¡¯t Blink. Both the explosion and the ice spears covered an area bigger of the dimensional spell¡¯s measly ten meters (66¡¯) range.

    ¡¯I could exceed the limit, but it would cost me a lot of mana. It¡¯s not a luxury I can afford, not against another Awakened one. The only way he could spot the Warp Steps despite the castle blocking his visual is with Life Vision!¡¯ Treius thought.

    He was surprised, but not scared. One of his bracelets generated a powerful barrier made of pure mana that blocked the heat, the shockwaves, and the spears at the same time. The enchanted item wasn¡¯t devised to block such a powerfulbined attack.

    The barrier cracked at several points. The pseudo core fueling the protection was quickly depleting its energy reserves. The mana crystals embedded on the silver bracelet turned dull one after the other.

    During the split second Treius was blinded by the explosions, Lith Blinked through the enemy¡¯s Warp Steps, lunging with all the strength he had. The Gatekeeper crashed the magical protection only to be stopped by a second one.

    The attack had been so fast that the new barrier had formed around the de. Part of the Gatekeeper was inside, stuck like the proverbial in the stone.

    Treius turned around just in time to see darkness magic that coursed through the weapon filling the space inside the barrier with a ck miasma. With no option left, he Blinked away.

    Treius knew that Lith would see his exit point and intercept him, but he would get away from the deadly spell and the barrier would still block any iing attack. Lith knew it too, yet instead of pursuing the enemy he remained where he was kept weaving spells.

    The moment Treius reappeared, a volley of fireballs crashed against his barrier with enough strength to push him backward.

    ¡¯What a cunning bastard.¡¯ Treius thought. ¡¯The mana released by the explosions in blinding my Life Vision and with barrier active I cannot retaliate even if I guess his position from the fireballs.¡¯ point of impact.

    ¡¯He must be buying time for something big, like an array. It¡¯s a good n, too bad I saw through it. A trap it¡¯s not a trap if you know where it is.¡¯

    Treius bolted in the opposite direction the fireballs came from, pushing his flying spell to its limits. Before the smoke could dissipate, he crashed against a solid rock wall.

    Even with the enhanced body of an Awakened, the impact was enough to crack his head, broke his nose, and squeeze all the air out of his lungs. With several ribs cracked, even breathing was an agony.

    ¡¯Impossible.¡¯ Treius¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t ept the idea that the items his uncle had crafted had failed him. ¡¯Nothing can get past the barriers, no matter if it moves fast or slowly. They react even to mana. How could his spell tantly ignore them?¡¯

    The broken nose made it hard for him to breathe, just like tears of pain blurred his vision. It took him a while to realize he had hit the castle walls. While Treius was blinded, Lith had opened a Warp Gate beyond him, using the explosions to push him through.

    The dimensional door had moved the youth away from the sky and very close to the ground nearby the castle. Unless Treius moved upwards, he was bound to crash into something.

    ¡¯The barrier works just fine. It just isn¡¯t designed to protect me by myself!¡¯ Treius had just started to heal his wounds when Lith plunged from the sky like a meteor. The impact with the Gatekeeper infused with darkness magic caused the barrier to crack instantly.

    Treius didn¡¯t panic. He used the few seconds the dying protection bought him to open a Warp Steps that closed as soon as he crossed it, leaving the Gatekeeper biting air.

    ¡¯Where the heck did he go? He can¡¯t Warp outside Kaduria, he must still be nearby.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯He¡¯s not within the range of my mana sense. I couldn¡¯t see well inside the Steps, but it was a big closed space. We can deal with himter, let¡¯s finish the ck Star first.¡¯ Solus suggested.

    Treius had escaped to the main temple. His wounds were healing and Invigoration was restoring his energy reserves, but he knew it wasn¡¯t enough. The Ranger was more than ten centimeters (4") taller and ten kilograms heavier than him.

    Treius cursed at himself for not practicing self defence or magic like his uncle always encouraged to. Yet seeing the cursed item almost broken gave him hope.

 Chapter 402 Team Battle Part 1

    "There¡¯s no time to lose, old friend." There was enough venom in Treius¡¯s voice to kill ten men.

    "During thest year, I took care of the Rangers for you. It¡¯s only thanks to me if you are so close to achieving your freedom, yet you always denied to fulfill your part of the bargain. Make me your partner and together we will kill that pest.

    "Refuse and I¡¯ll walk away. I have no qualms leaving you to your fate. There are many artifacts on Mogar, but only one me."

    The Dark Star wanted to curse in outrage. It had refused to have a master for centuries. It was ready to die rather than to yield.

    Or so it believed, until Lith entered from one of the windows, back at his peak condition.

    "Now!" Treius said while opening a Warp Steps that would lead him to safety, ready to relinquish his dreams of power.

    "So be it." The cursed object spat those words with despair. Treius touched the white mana crystal, allowing the ck Star to seal the pact.

    The Freeze spell still prevented it from using its powers, but it could do nothing when the two beings merged into one. Power surged inside Treius, giving him the feeling of godhood he had dreamed about ever since his uncle awakened him.

    His body shone like a star while his mana core was promoted to blue. He had avoided the event for years. ording to his uncle, it was an excruciating event that could turn out deadly, if the body and the mind weren¡¯t properly honed by relentless practice.

    Treius felt only bliss while the Dark Star¡¯s energies mended his body as soon as it was harmed. Endless vitality seemed to flow through his veins, destroying the expelled impurities.

    Then, everything changed.

    ¡¯Who does he think he is? Some kind of magical girl?¡¯ Lith inwardly sneered at his defenseless opponent. ¡¯Nothing forces me to wait until he is done.¡¯

    He held the Gatekeeper in a two handed grip while using air, fire, and earth fusion to boost his attack. The lunge hit with surgical precision the chest area above the heart, but instead of putting an end to the enemy¡¯s life, it bounced against a crystal armor that promptly appeared to protect the cursed object¡¯s host.

    The impact was strong enough to lift Treius from the ground and make him spit blood. Seeing that even an all out attack had left the armor unscathed, Lith turned the de to the t side and while the enemy was still in mid air, he struck using the Gatekeeper like it was a mace.

    Treius flew backward with such an angle that would have made him reach the bleachers of a major league stadium as a magnificent home run. Treius¡¯s ribs shattered and healed almost at the same speed, the bone fragments puncturing his lungs realigned as nothing had happened.

    Yet the pain remained. It became worse when he crashed against the wall behind him and bounced towards his merciless aggressor that had no intention of stopping his attack.

    ¡¯What are you doing, you worthless piece of garbage?¡¯ Treius cursed through their mind link. ¡¯Why aren¡¯t you protecting me?¡¯

    ¡¯Do you really think I would need your help if I wasn¡¯t paralyzed? You are on your own, flesh bag. I can give you energy, but using it is up to you. There are a few abilities we can share, though. Like my armor.¡¯

    The ck Star returned one of the mighty artifacts it had consumed during its youth, making it appear between Treius¡¯s hands. It was a magnificent longsword, with one purple mana crystal on each side of both the hilt and the de.

    Even without being imprinted, it emitted a powerful aura that seemed to be able to tear the whole castle asunder.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the de of the king. Use it wisely.¡¯ The cursed object¡¯s ck heart cringed at the idea of parting from such a masterpiece, but it had no other choice.

    ¡¯What am I supposed to do with it?¡¯ Treius screamed with frustration holding the sword like it was a mop. Their conversation was fast, but so was Lith. He was now in front of the enemy in a shoulder charge boosted by earth, fire, and air magic.

    The hardness of the Skinwalker armor wasn¡¯t muchpared to the diamond like crystal. Yet it was superior to steel, making the following impact far more terrifying than if Lith had used his body alone.

    The crystal armor was like an unbreakable safe, but it could do nothing to protect its content from being rattled. Just like most magic protections, it was much less effective against blunt impacts.

    Treius¡¯s scream of pain was muffled by the mouthful of blood that filled his throat. The Gatekeeper struck the longsword¡¯s tip and sent it flying away. The ck Star cursed at its host ipetence while retrieving the de a split second before Solus could steal it.

    ¡¯Dammit! So close.¡¯ She was in her glove form, the green gemstone on the center of the back of Lith¡¯s right hand glowed with power. Lith wasn¡¯t the only one that had grown stronger over the years.

    Now Solus was able to amplify the effects of the mana coursing through her stone body by consuming a bit of her own energy. It could reinforce spells and fusion magic, giving her partner an edge over other Awakened ones.

    Keeping the two mana flows in synch required a lot of her focus. The smallest mistake would create a destructive interference that would leave them exposed to a riposte. It was the reason she had missed the chance to snatch the artifact.

    The ck Star was rummaging through Treius¡¯ memories to find something that could give them an edge. The results were appalling. The youth had done the bare minimum in every field he had ever applied, using true magic as a crutch topensate for hisziness instead of turning it into a weapon.

    The artifact deemed his twenty years of life as trash. Treius had used his uncle¡¯s knowledge and creations to take shortcuts, achieving his goals with no effort. The thing that baffled it the most was how despite his happy go lucky lifestyle, Treius had an unquenchable thirst for power only matched by his groundless pride.

    Among the garbage, there was a treasure and the ck Star rejoiced upon its discovery. It was a skill that Treius learned after countless hours of practice. He had been tricked by his uncle into believing that there was a shortcut to greatness.

    One spell to rule them all.

    Of course it was just a ruse, the purpose of which was to show the youngster how hard work repaid itself.

    ¡¯You idiot!¡¯ The ck Star roared. ¡¯How can you have studied me for so long yet you understood nothing about my powers? Follow my instructions, foolish man-child!¡¯

    Treius snarled at the voice inside his head while spitting teeth and blood. The pain Lith was inflicting him was excruciating, but what the cursed object was doing worse. It kept peeking in his personal life, in every of his most private or embarrassing moments.

    To add insult to the injury, it was berating his life choices like no one ever had before.

 Chapter 403 Team Battle Part 2

    Treius was used to be scolded by his uncle, but the old man did it because he cared for his nephew. His words were always filled with worry and affection.

    The ck Star, instead, was dissecting his life andmenting on it like it was a failed magic experiment. There was only scorn in its thoughts.

    Treius swallowed down its pride and obeyed. His body grew in size and weight until his head scraped against the ceiling. The ck Star absorbed all of his equipment to replenish its strength before the transformation scattered everything around the room.

    His newfound tail was as thick as an SUV but much better armored. It was covered in ming red scales the size of a buckler shield. Treius instinctively tried to swat his enemy like a fly, but Lith had no problem blocking the massive extremity with one hand.

    ¡¯What the heck is he thinking?¡¯ Lith raised his eyebrows while looking at the over twelve meters (40¡¯) tall red dragon in front of himself.

    ¡¯What the heck are you thinking?¡¯ Treius echoed Lith¡¯s thoughts. ¡¯My uncle fooled me into learning how to shapeshift. It only served to teach me light magic and the art of controlling my own life force. It¡¯s a useless trick. No matter my form, my strength and mana do not change.¡¯

    ¡¯You whining idiot!¡¯ The ck Star was so annoyed it was running out of insults. ¡¯That was before you merged with me. I have the life force of a whole city. I amassed mana for centuries. I can¡¯t bestow you the intelligence or the wisdom of a true dragon, but together we have the body of one!¡¯

    Treius finally understood his partner¡¯s intent and called upon the life force stored inside it to fill his limbs with strength. Lith felt the tail getting so heavy he couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, forcing him to retreat.

    ¡¯Solus, what¡¯s happening?¡¯ Lith asked as the dragon¡¯s scales turned into shining rubies. Treius was getting ustomed to his new form and he spread the crystal armor all over his body, making it impervious to the Gatekeeper¡¯s edge.

    ¡¯The ck Star is still under the Freeze spell, but it seems their bond is simr to our own. By pooling up their resources they can achieve the physical prowess of a real Evolved Monster. Fight or flight?¡¯ Solus would have loved to destroy the ck Star.

    If before she wanted to do it to relieve the Kadurians from the living hell they were trapped in, now it was personal. The bond between Treius and the cursed object was a mockery of everything she held dear, a perversion of her very existence.

    Yet it was Lith¡¯s life being at stake. Solus would never ask him to put everything on the line just on principle.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not going to run.¡¯ Lith replied clenching the Gatekeeper tight.

    ¡¯It¡¯s going to take time before the ck Star can act on its own. Until that moment, this guy is just a man with a weapon. No matter how powerful they are, all weapons share the same weak point. Their user.¡¯

    Lith infused himself with all the elements but darkness, which was imbued inside his de. He darted behind the ruby dragon¡¯s foot, aiming for the Achille¡¯s heel. The scales were thick and sturdy, but once crystalized they were stuck in position, leaving the tender meat underneath exposed.

    Treius turned around to follow his movements, their speed almost matched. Sadly, the main temple begged to differ. The tail struck one of the columns and the wings got stuck into another. Dust fell from the ceiling while Treius swayed around trying not to fall.

    ¡¯This guy is an idiot. He may have the body of a dragon, but he¡¯s not used to it. Size matters only if you know how to exploit the advantage.¡¯ The Gatekeeper found its way between the scales, ripping through the flesh and bone like a scalpel.

    Treius screamed in pain, but he didn¡¯t fall. He kicked backward, trying to squash Lith like a bug. Lith managed to dodge the heel¡¯s w by a hair¡¯s breadth and watched the enormous foot leave a deep mark on the wall.

    ¡¯I stand corrected.¡¯ Lith thought while getting some distance from the enemy.

    ¡¯He is an idiot that can one shot me. I didn¡¯t take into ount that the ck Star gives him an almost endless supply of energy. I can¡¯t win this by wearing him out like usual. I must kill him in one go. If they are like us, once the host is dead, the artifact will be a sitting duck.¡¯

    The dragon roared in outrage and unleashed a lightning the size of a house. Lith took out the Faraday cage again, hoping the enemy wouldn¡¯t attack physically while he was unable to move.

    Treius didn¡¯t have the opportunity to do it. His draconic hands emitted a popping sound, exploding like a balloon. He screamed in pain until light magic restored his limbs.

    ¡¯What did you do to me?¡¯ Treius was so shocked that he didn¡¯t even notice the cage.

    ¡¯Quit whining!¡¯ The ck Star said with a disgusted tone. ¡¯Your mana core is too weak to handle so much mana at once, so the excess energy flown directly through your flesh making it burst. Would have you preferred to lose your core instead?¡¯

    Lith had barely the time to put the cage back inside his pocket dimension when the dragon unleashed a barrage of punches boosted by air and fire fusion. Even with Solus¡¯s help, Lith was running out of ces where to hide.

    The dragon¡¯s fists were the size of a truck and moved so fast they generated a gale strong enough to stumble Lith after he dodged each hit. Treius spun around himself, using the tail to sweep the whole room.

    The columns crumbled one after the other, adding the falling debris to the already extensive list of things Lith had to watch out for.

    ¡¯If only I could Blink. There isn¡¯t much I can do from down here. Because of the scales I can¡¯t reach his heart and because of the constant regeneration attacking the main arteries is useless. My only shot is the brain, but I think even that idiot has realized it by now.¡¯

    Lith kept running around the room while racking his brain for a solution.

    ¡¯The guy seems to have a very low pain tolerance.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯I have an idea, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to like it.¡¯

    ¡¯Hit me.¡¯ She was right, Lith didn¡¯t like it.

    Treius was sick and tired of ying tag, so he produced a barrage of fireballs throwing them in random directions, literally bringing down the house. Lith was forced to use his flight spell to escape from the zing inferno.

    While flying, he was forced to focus looking forward, limiting his peripheral vision to a dangerous degree. A fireball exploded close to his feet and the resulting shockwave made him faster than he could control.

    He crashed against a falling piece of the ceiling. Because of the impact, his movement came to a halt for a split second.

    It was all Treius needed.

    His fist struck Lith with the strength of a freight train. Even if Lith had managed to conjure an air barrier to take the brunt of the damage, even with the protection from the Skinwalker armor and earth fusion, Lith would have died when his body crashed against the wall.

    Solus saved his life by the skin of his teeth, using an earth spell that made hisnding spot stic. The impact was still violent enough to blur his vision and squeeze the air out of his lungs.

    Lith bit his lips, using the pain to remain conscious. Another punch followed a split secondter, when he was too groggy to dodge it.

 Chapter 404 Wrath Part 1

    ¡¯Now!¡¯ Solus used a bit of her energy to nudge Lith out of his daze. There was no time to weave new spells, but as long as he was conscious, Lith would retain all those he had prepared beforehand.

    He pped his palms together and then spread his arms wide, making sure the core of the spell traveled through Solus¡¯s mystical glove. Both the gesture and her help were necessary to attempt such a quick cast.

    A huge Warp Steps appeared in front of him, the biggest he had ever conjured. The ruby dragon¡¯s fist disappeared inside the portal and came out from the exit point located in front of his snout.

    Treius had stepped forward while performing the attack, putting all of his weight into it. His own punch had been turned into a cross counter, doubling its strength. The impact was so violent that the neck twisted, snapping like a twig.

    Not even the ruby armor could withstand the strain and several gemstones shattered, hitting the ground with a silvery sound. The Steps closed a split secondter, severing the arm at the elbow.

    Pain and shock made Treius fall to his knees, screaming toward the sky at the top of his lungs while holding the stump with his remaining hand. A fountain of blood painted the copsing room red.

    The neck was already healed, but regrowing an arm would be much slower.

    ¡¯Do you have no shame?¡¯ Treius¡¯s pain was the ck Star¡¯s own, yet it ignored it like it was a gentle spring rain. ¡¯Pick up the arm so we can reattach it! There¡¯s no time to lose, our enemy...¡¯

    The mind link allowed for quickmunication, but Lith¡¯s speed was nothing to scoff at. Solus¡¯s n had been implemented down to thest detail. To sacrifice a bishop to capture the king.

    Lith had allowed himself to fall into a disadvantageous position to bait an all out attack. Yet the cross counter and the muttion were just the preparatory steps. Lith exploited the literally blinding pain to Blink without the opponent noticing it and appeared between the dragon¡¯s eyes.

    The Gatekeeper prated the cornea until only the hilt was visible. Lith gave everything he had to the sword, channeling air magic which generated a lightning that gave the dragon a violent seizure while a wave of darkness magic made its way toward the brain.

    Lith had done everything he could, his execution had been wless.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t enough. Treius used darkness fusion to suppress his pain receptors and became able to move again. With earth fusion countering the lightning and the ck Star repairing the damages the moment they were dealt, darkness magic was just too slow.

    Treius tried to catch Lith, but he Blinked away exploiting the dragon¡¯s blind side. He twisted the Gatekeeper while pulling it out and left behind enough fire and darkness magic to slow down the eye regeneration.

    "Why are you doing this?" Lith¡¯s opponents screamed as one.

    "You are bound to a powerful artifact. You piged Kaduria for power. You kill with no remorse to pursue your own ends. You are just like us! We should be allies, not enemies."

    Those words irked Lith to no end, making his blood boil and his rage seethe.

    ¡¯I¡¯m nothing like you!¡¯ He thought as he appeared next to the severed limb and used the darkness still coursing through the Gatekeeper to rot it into oblivion. Without any life force inhabiting it, the arm offered no resistance to the hungry energies devouring it.

    ¡¯Solus is not a monster, I am. Yet not even I prey on people¡¯s suffering for petty reasons. The ck Star has turned a whole city into a nightmare version of my own life and that idiot who fused with it is willing to set it free.¡¯

    The memories of the Kadurians Lith had assimted earlier resurfaced. Their hopelessness, their despair, their constant grieving until their hearts were reced by the endless void of the abyss were things he knew all too well.

    ¡¯You two are worse than any Abomination. You are a cancer to this world and someone has to wipe you out like the disease you are.¡¯

    ck clouds formed inside Kaduria while the whole city trembled. Even though the ck Star was still paralyzed, the light phase had reached its limits. The shadow phase was about to begin and the living artifact rejoiced for it.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll get back the energy I wasted to rebuild the city and reanimate those flesh bags. If you can¡¯t squash a single bug with that much power, then I will terminate our deal. I have no use for a weakling like you.¡¯ The cursed item had long regretted fusing with Treius.

    The only silver lining was that thanks to the Freeze spell the bond had yet to be permanent.

    ck clouds formed outside Kaduria too. The whole area quaked lightly as the world energy gushed from both the ground and the sky, piercing the barrier like it was a piece of paper.

    A world tribtion had just begun.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Royal pce.

    Lady Tyris was pondering about the recent news she had received. During thest four years, she had enjoyed the rtive peace after decades of struggles. The academy system had been reform thanks to Linjos¡¯ legacy.

    The Headmaster hadn¡¯t lived for long, but his actions had earned him an important ce in the Kingdom¡¯s history books. After Nalear¡¯s attack, thest embers of civil war died out.

    The Crown restored his authority by cutting off all the dead branches of nobility that spread corruption to keep themselves afloat. With the Master and Balkor ceasing their attacks she had not much to do.

    Kaduria sounded like a lot of trouble. It was an ancient problem, older even than the Griffon Kingdom. Tyris was already a Guardian back then. She and Leegaain had helped set up the barrier.

    Both could have destroyed the High Lord, but chose otherwise. Tyris because she wanted it to serve as a reminder of the foolishness of men. It was the era when there was no such thing as forbidden magic.

    Humans kept exploiting the less fortunate in their quest for power and longevity. No matter how many she killed, hundreds of others were ready to pick up from where her victims had left their research.

    Only one thing seemed to be able to stop them: fear. Lost cities were popping up like mushrooms as the legacy of Lochra Silverwing was abused in every conceivable way.

    The only silver lining was that every monstrosity born from those experiments was amon enemy that allowed people to put aside their differences and rethink their way of life.

    The mages who lived in the same region of a lost city became more judicious, while its inhabitants were inclined to topple any ruler who made the poor disappear instead of praising them for it.

    All of them had learned to do the right thing, albeit for the wrong reason.

    Leegaain hoped to find a way to free the Kadurians without killing them, instead.

    ¡¯I recognize the design of this array.¡¯ She shook her head, making her long golden hair danced in the sunlight. ¡¯This is the work of one of the Awakened one of Sark¡¯s turf. I will not let the people of my Country suffer for the mistakes of others.¡¯

 Chapter 405 Wrath Part 2

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t stop Nalear because she was born out of the Kingdom¡¯s unfair treatment. She was just like Balkor, the symptom of a disease that made it impossible for the upper echelons to ignore any longer. A foreigner causing troubles is another matter entirely.¡¯

    A sudden surge in the world energying from the Ker region made her and Leegaain turn their heads at the same time.

    "It¡¯s the anomaly kid again. Are you interested?"

    "Thanks, but no thanks. I¡¯m at a critical step in my research. Keep me posted if something interesting happens." The Father of all Dragons replied.

    It took Tyris but a thought to Warp at the borders of Kaduria.

    ***

    The ck rain was falling with the intensity of a summer storm, but luckily it had no effect on Lith.

    ¡¯I recognize this feeling. It¡¯s the sameing out of the cursed item. A twisted version of world energy.¡¯ He thought while his body shivered in disgust. The rain was the will of the ck Star taking physical form.

    When the temple of the High Sun imbued so many lives inside their weapon, they made a huge mistake. Dozens of conflicting personalities had been forced together in a single mind, giving birth to a deranged individual with no memory nor morals.

    The only thing left after their merging was the obsession to control everything under the High Sun¡¯s gaze and destroy everything that couldn¡¯t be controlled. Kaduria had been the field test and the ck Star was pleased with the results.

    Every living being on Mogar would be at its mercy. Life and death would disappear forever under its rule. The worthy ones would live in a utopian world while the sinners would have an eternity to be redeemed through pain.

    The ck rain ripped the life out of the Kadurians, taking away everything they had but their minds. The process was unbearable, causing them to emit a collective telepathic shriek. Waves of agony made Lith and Treius fall to their knees.

    They became part of the hive mind and were forced to experience the memories of all the Kadurians. To share their centuries worth of suffering. Itsted only for a few seconds, yet it almost drove them insane.

    The mental pressure overwhelmed their minds, making it impossible for them to distinguish their thoughts from the Kadurians¡¯.

    The two Awakened ones rose to their feet at the same time, albeit withpletely different mindsets. Treius was regretting his decision of merging with the artifact. Until that moment, he had always thought that no price was too great to achieve his goals as long as he wasn¡¯t the one paying for it.

    Now he wasn¡¯t so sure anymore.

    As for Lith, he stared at his opponent with eyes filled with a mix of pain and hatred. All seven of them. Two new pairs of eyes had appeared. One above and the other below humans¡¯ eyes were supposed to be.

    The seventh was a vertical slit opened in the middle of his forehead.

    He was now over two meters tall (7 feet) and covered by ck scales the tip of which was bright red from the scorching heat that coursed through them. Aside from the eyes and a pair of curved horns protruding from his forehead, his head was a featureless ck te.

    Two pairs of upside down membranous wings came out from his back, conjuring on their own enough wind to keep him a few centimeters from the ground. A long tail ending in several bone des whipped the air in a frenzy.

    The Shadows looked at the ruby dragon with unbridled rage. Just like the two Awakened had experienced the Kadurians¡¯ lives, the Kadurians had experienced theirs. Thanks to that, they recognized the giant as their sworn enemy.

    Instead of being high in the sky, outside their reach, it was finally standing in front of them. The army of Shadows charged forward with only one thought in mind: revenge.

    Treius¡¯s missing arm was regenerating at a speed visible at the naked eye, the stump had already reached the wrist level. He swatted them with a simple wave of the end, turning dozens of them into ck snow at once.

    Lith took off like a bullet with the Gatekeeper aimed at the still blinded eye. Treius cursed at himself for having forgotten about his real enemy. His tail whipped at Lith boosted by air and fire fusion.

    Because of the partial blindness it only grazed its target, yet it was enough to send Lith crashing against the ground while spinning like a top. His corbone was broken and so was his hip and left arm.

    He just shut off his pain receptors, letting light fusion mend his wounds while he resumed his attack. For the first time since they had met, Treius felt confident about his chances of victory.

    ¡¯Now there is no obstacle slowing my movements, nothing that the Ranger can use against me. Even if he has changed form too, in a contest of raw power we are still a dragon versus an ant!¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯What are you doing, you dimwit?¡¯ The ck Star reprimanded him. ¡¯Don¡¯t underestimate those Shadows. They are leeching my powers!¡¯

    ¡¯Our powers, you mean. Feel free to break our deal. I¡¯m sure the Ranger will be happy to finish his job.¡¯ Treius had no intention of letting the ck Star order him around anymore. Still, its advice made sense.

    He stomped the ground repeatedly before taking flight with air magic. He tried pping his wings, but they were slow and clumsy. They reduced his mobility instead of improving it.

    "Haven¡¯t you had enough?" Treius said with augh while watching Lith flying in circles above him.

    "I have to admit it, you are smarter than me and probably you worked your ass for years to be so strong. Yet it doesn¡¯t matter. Nothing matters against overwhelming power!" He opened his mouth, releasing a densely packed jet of purple mes.

    It was a tier four true spell, Fire de. Treius wasn¡¯t able to actually breathe fire.

    Lith burned with hatred at those words. In his mind Treius, the ck Star, his Earth father, the boy who had killed his brother, were all the same person. Someone who held an underserved power and used it only to spread misery.

    He took a deep breath to shout in defiance, yet no voice came out. The scales on his face opened up revealing his fang-filled mouth from which erupted a stream of blue mes that shed with the spell in mid-air, like snakes wriggling in a deadly embrace.

    None of those present, except for Lady Tyris, knew what had just happened. Lith didn¡¯t let the surprise slow him down, bringing his array topletion. Yurial¡¯s Hexagram was a six-pointed blue star inscribed inside a circle.

    One of the points shone with a yellow light, neutralizing air magic within his area of effect. Treius fell to the ground with the grace of a brick and the Shadows resumed their assault.

    Lith tried to used the debris on the ground to cover his movements, but once again Treius¡¯s tail intercepted him. Even if he dodged the hit, the shockwave sent him rolling onto the ground.

    ¡¯Dammit, I almost forgot he can use Life Vision too. I must... What¡¯s that?¡¯ Lith recognized from the giant footprints the spot where Treius had killed several Shadows. Among the debris, there were several ck floating orbs of different sizes.

 Chapter 406 Leave Part 1

    ¡¯Solus, do you have any idea about what are those ck orbs?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Iing at 12 o¡¯clock!¡¯ She shouted when Treius opened his mouth once again.

    ¡¯Leave the idiot to me. I need an edge to win this fight and you are my only hope.¡¯ A snap of Lith¡¯s fingers made another of the six points of Yurial¡¯s Hexagram light up with a red light as the yellow one faded away.

    The tier five Raging Sun that Treius was about to unleash died out like a lighter out of gas. Even with the ck Star¡¯s support, only a few sparks came out.

    The array was a variation of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram that Yurial had theorized after gaining a deeper understanding of the impossible array. His take on the spell was weaker, yet in exchange it caused much less strain on the caster.

    It had taken Lith years to turn his old friend¡¯s theories into reality. Just looking at Treius shocked expression repaid him of all his hard work.

    ¡¯First, he took away my flight spell and now this? What¡¯s happening?¡¯ The moment the ant started retaliating to brute force with technique, the dragon lost his spunk.

    ¡¯You are still under the array, you idiot.¡¯ The ck Star¡¯s thoughts were filled with contempt. ¡¯I have no idea what it does, but I¡¯m pretty sure that if you get out of its area of effect it will stop working.¡¯

    Lith saw Treius muscles contract and with a thought released Yurial¡¯s Hexagram¡¯s full force. The array didn¡¯t simply negate one element at the time, it absorbed the manaposing the nullified spells and stored it forter use.

    All the six points of the star lit up. The magical formation was now employing the stolen energy and the array¡¯s to generate a powerful gravity field that made Treius copse under his own weight.

    The Shadows exploited the situation to attack their enemy with all their might.

    ¡¯It will not hold for long. The array drained only two spells, one of which was a cantrip.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Okay, okay.¡¯ Solus replied with a frustrated tone while scanning the floating orbs with all of her senses and making her brain spin at top gear to get at least a hypothesis about their nature.

    ¡¯Done. We know that when a Shadow touches its victim, it saps their life force and mana. Also, after killing the Shadow, you recover your life force, right? Each of these spheres has its own energy signature, like a proper living being.

    ¡¯I think that by attacking the ck Star, the Shadows are retrieving their own life force that the cursed item stole in the first ce. They are still here after the Shadows¡¯ defeat because they have nowhere to go until the ck Star absorbs them again.¡¯

    Lith nodded in understatement. Even in death, the Kadurians were fighting against their oppressor. They were clinging on the retrieved life force with all their might.

    ¡¯Then maybe...¡¯ Lith grabbed the nearest sphere. ¡¯If I can absorb them, then I might be able to get as big as he is and regain the upper hand.¡¯

    Yet nothing happened. Lith could feel the residual mental energy recognizing him a friend, but nothing more. Like a mother that had just found her lost child, it refused to let the energy go.

    ¡¯So much for all that "share your power with me" bullshit.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. ¡¯Useless humans. We are fighting the same battle yet they can only think about themselves. Every man for himself then.¡¯

    Lith cast the tier five healing spells Scanner and Scalpel.

    ¡¯Haven¡¯t those poor souls suffered enough?¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Is this really necessary?¡¯

    ¡¯Heck, yes.¡¯ Lith replied butchering the spheres near to him at once. ¡¯Life is for the living, not for the dead. Their lives ended the day the ck Star was born. If we lose this fight and that bastard walks out of the barrier, all cities will be like Kaduria.¡¯

    Solus had seen their memories, she knew their suffering. Yet she was d to have raised her objection. She couldn¡¯t have lived with herself if she just stood there doing nothing. Also, it allowed her to take a peek at a hidden side of Lith¡¯s mind.

    Breaking the oath he had taken the day he had be a professional Healer meant nothing to him. Pretty words couldn¡¯t save lives nor stop monsters. He didn¡¯t base his actions on concepts like innocence or guilt, Lith only thought in terms of survival.

    Yet he considered the Kadurians like brothers in arms. They knew pain even better than he did. Lith could not only rte to them, but they also had his respect. It was the reason why he could butcher their life force without a second thought.

    He knew that in their ce he would do anything to get free from his oppressor. Pain would be momentary, freedom would be evesting.

    Lith darted across the battlefield, maiming all the spheres outside the array that was quickly running out of juice. That day his Scalpels turned into Cleavers. One strike was all it took to inflict a damage that would take him hours to heal.

    Yurial¡¯s Hexagram disappeared and Treius stood up in outrage. He stomped the Shadows swarming him and unleashed an endless barrage of spells against Lith. He managed to dodge most of them, block some, and was forced to tank the rest.

    There were countless spheres at Treius¡¯s feet, some almost the size of a person. An ice spike ripped one of Lith¡¯s wings off. Inside it there were pain receptors he didn¡¯t even knew he possessed, so they were still active.

    The agony of the muttion almost made him stumble.

    Almost.

    He never stopped moving and neither did his Cleavers. A burst of mes from a dodged fireball ripped off the scales from his left arm, leaving the bloody flesh underneath exposed.

    Lith kept waving his hands like an orchestra director in the exploding inferno around him. Solus used her own mana to generate more Cleavers to help him finish the job. Just a few seconds had passed since Treius was back on his feet, yet all the Shadows were already gone.

    He was free to focus on thest pest. Treius infused himself with all the air, fire, and earth fusion prowess the ck Star could bestow upon him. He became a god of speed, a god of destruction.

    A single stomp of his made the earth tremble as it was afraid of the titan ravaging its surface. The impact generated a subsonic shockwave that sent debris flying for kilometers until they struck the barrier surrounding Kaduria.

    Lith flew backward and conjured a series of massive earth walls to protect himself. They took the brunt of the impact, buying him precious fractions of second that let him escape from the epicenter of the strike.

    The walls crumbled one after the other. The shockwave was still strong enough to make Lith tumble and fall on the ground. He got back on his feet with a kip-up, never letting his eyes wander off his opponent.

    "I told you, no matter what trick you employ, you can¡¯t beat overwhelming power." Treius guffawed at his opponent¡¯s still defiant eyes despite his battered body. He bolted forward for the finishing blow as he spoke.

 Chapter 407 Leave Part 2

    Lith¡¯s seven eyes burned with mana and determination. The punch was unbelievably fast, but telegraphed. He dodged before Treius¡¯s arm even started to move and conjured at the same time an air cushion.

    The moving fist produced shockwaves in the air which Lith surfed like a wave thanks to the air cushion. The maneuver made him avoid the blow with ease. Treius reacted by twisting his hips and aiming the next punch were Lith was supposed tond.

    A sudden jolt of agony made him miss the target by almost five meters (16¡¯). A second and a third one forced him to fall on his knees, his stomach twisted in a knot.

    ¡¯I cut off all my pain receptors, why do I still feel it then?¡¯ Treius saw the Gatekeeper appear in Lith¡¯s hands amid zing emerald mes. He knew no de could hurt him, but nheless he felt fear.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know.¡¯ The ck Star replied, experiencing terror for the second time in its life.

    Lith didn¡¯t only cleave the Kadurians¡¯ life force, but he had also enveloped it into a bubble made of spirit magic. The moment he hadpleted his harvest, he had brought the ck spheres near the dragon.

    The ck Star predatory nature had done the rest. The butchered energy had been mixed together with the healthy one and was now crippling Treius¡¯s dragon form. To work properly, a body needed a precise set of instructions that were provided by the life force.

    Even if the ck Star was adapting the human life force to match the dragon form, all the damage Lith had inflicted on it was still there. The corrupted energy was a living torture for its host, stopping the organs it flowed through.

    Limbs would fall limp, organs would stop working. The ck Star didn¡¯t realize the gravity of the situation until the illness spread to Treius¡¯s brain and heart. The failure of such organs would bring more than damages it could easily heal.

    The dragon¡¯s eyes rolled over, leaving only the sclera visible. He couldn¡¯t breathe or even think. Treius fell to the ground while Lith darted toward the mighty creature now reduced to a fish in a barrel.

    The ck Star had no choice but to withdraw its powers. Treius gasped back to life, feeling weak and sluggish. He saw Lith approaching with his de ready at hand, brimming with power.

    He used air and earth fusion to dodge, but without the cursed object¡¯s help, he was back at square one. His body never had the time to adapt to the new core nor he wore his uncle¡¯s magical protections.

    Without enough vigor, such a huge body was just a bigger target. Lith¡¯s first sh chopped off one of the giant feet, making Treius fall backward. Lith vertically wall ran on the stump while the opponent¡¯s body was still in mid air.

    Treius had no time to cast a spell, so he tried to w the enemy away. His hands flew off with a spurt of blood yet not a drop touched Lith who was already above the chest area.

    Treius screamed in terror while Lith roared with anger, releasing from his mouth another jet of blue mes that entered the dragon¡¯s maw. Treius¡¯s head burst into mes, his eyes popped like balloons. Lith decapitated him anyway, just to be safe.

    When the ck Star emerged from the dragon¡¯s mutted body, the forgemastering circle was already active.

    The runes from the Repentance spell flew inside the cursed object. Lith had no more words but the chant until its very end. At the seventh rune, the cursed object rather than a crystal star resembled a bunch of ss shards glued together.

    "Stop! I beg of you! You have seen what I¡¯m capable of. Imagine if I had a suitable host instead of a pampered idiot. You have no reason to kill me. You know how to paralyze me, take your time and think carefully about what you¡¯re doing."

    Treius¡¯s body reverted to his natural appearance, yet the head kept burning until only ashes remained. When the twelfth and final rune crashed into the ck Star, its fragments imploded emitting a thud sound.

    The ck clouds inside and outside Kaduria disappeared. The tribtion was over. The light phase and the shadow phase were no more, only the real sun shone high above Lith¡¯s head.

    Then, the ruins of Kaduria emitted a blinding light that took the form of countless shooting stars of different sizes. Most plunged into Mogar, returning to the the energy that had been stolen over the centuries.

    The rest flew toward the horizon, disappearing with the speed of light.

    Lith used Invigoration to mend his wounds and recover the energies spent during the battle. The rage was gone, only the abyss remained. It made him feel emptier than ever.

    "I hope you have watched me carefully, Yurial." Lith spoke to himself. If not even a nutjob like Redan had turned into a ghost long enough to say goodbye, someone like Yurial was bound to be at peace, wherever he was.

    "I told you countless times, Wardens are not useless and neither were you. It¡¯s all a matter of timing your decisions. If you had asked Quy out instead of admiring her from afar you would still be alive, you damn moron." Lith said with a sigh.

    "What I¡¯m trying to say is: thank you. Today you saved my life."

    ¡¯Lith still thinks about Yurial whenever he casts an array.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯I wish they had more time together. I wish I could hug Lith tight and tell him that everything will be alright.¡¯

    Lith walked outside the barrier and after a lot of thinking, he called Lieutenant Kam Yehval, his handler. He gave her a full and meticulously doctored version of the events in Kaduria.

    Kam had a hard time believing him. She asked him to go back inside and gave him precise instructions on how to take scans of his surroundings with the army¡¯s amulet.

    "It¡¯s amazing!" It was the only thing she managed to say once she received all the data. She put him on hold before contacting their superiors. Even the smallest events regarding a lost city had to be reported up to the top of the chain ofmand, let alone its recovery.

    It was an unprecedented event.

    "Our Commanding Officers want to hear it directly from you. You are expected to meet them tomorrow at noon at the Headquarters. Aside from that, you are on leave for the next three days."

    "A three days leave? I was in the field for only two days." The news surprised Lith.

    "I know, but orders are orders. Return to Belius as soon as you can and enjoy your vacation."

    After turning off his militarymunication amulet, Lith took out his civilian one and called his potential date.

    "Hi, Kam."

    "Hi, Lith. Wasn¡¯t expecting to hear from you so soon." She replied with a giggle. Her tone was different from before. She sounded more rxed.

    "Me neither. That pain in the ass of my handler just gave me three days of leave out of the blue. Can you believe it?"

    "Really? Three days?" She chuckled. "What will you do with so much free time?"

    "Depends. Are you free for dinner tonight?"

 Chapter 408 Belius Part 1

    "Yes, I¡¯m free tonight, but your invitation is a bit sudden. I usually don¡¯t date people I met only once. We barely know each other." Kam said with a pensive tone. She liked that kind of role y.

    ¡¯She hasn¡¯t said no and she called it a "date". Kam isn¡¯t considering my offer as a simple colleague get-together. So far so good.¡¯ Despite having his dating experience from two lives, Lith felt awkward every time he asked a woman out.

    His paranoid nature made him overthink over the smallest details and being a control freak didn¡¯t help. He considered making the first move like exposing a weakness and he hated feeling weak.

    Since all theining in the world wouldn¡¯t change the rules of the game, Lith knew he could only bet or fold. If he yed, he could lose but if he didn¡¯t his victory chances would always be zero.

    "I didn¡¯t tell you before because I didn¡¯t want to make you worry, but I¡¯m a Ranger. It¡¯s a very dangerous job, sometimes I risk my life multiple times a day. I don¡¯t know when or if I¡¯ll be granted another leave, so think carefully before making your decision."

    He said in an overly dramatic tone, making it sound like he was part of a suicide squad.

    "If you put it this way, I can¡¯t refuse." She giggled while looking again at his personal file.

    ¡¯Lith is a bit young but sure he went through a lot.¡¯ The gue, Balkor, the assassination attempts, the White Griffon massacre and now the recent events in the north. Lith¡¯s life seemed to be an anthology of short horror stories.

    ¡¯He sounds definitely wise beyond his age. Still, it¡¯s a bit of gamble. Let¡¯s hope I won¡¯t need a timely "headache".¡¯

    "Have you already thought about the ce?"

    "I have never been to Belius." Lith shook his head. "I¡¯ll let you decide the time and the ce. Let me know if you need a ride. I can Warp us anywhere."

    "Thanks, but I¡¯m good. Let¡¯s meet at Velorian, at seven o¡¯clock..."

    "Lieutenant Yehval, I need those documents and I need them yesterday." A voice interrupted her.

    "Sorry, I got to go. An idiot intern of mine turned a simple recon mission into a hero stunt and it¡¯s up to me fill the paperwork. If I don¡¯t fix this mess, I¡¯ll get stuck overtime. See youter!"

    Themunication ended abruptly, leaving Lith second guessing himself.

    ¡¯I guess I¡¯m that idiot.¡¯ He sighed. ¡¯Lots of people now have lots of questions about how I solved a centuries old problem. I need to y this smart. The silver lining is that there is no witness, so no matter what bulls*it I make up, they have to take it at face value.¡¯

    Lith flew in a straight line toward Belius while revising with Solus his own report. They looked for inconsistencies and found none. After that, they ran several simtions of his uing interrogation to find the answers most suitable to avoid follow up questions.

    They were so focused on discussing how to belittle Lith¡¯s endeavor as much as possible that they realized they had reached Belius only when they saw the maelstrom array surrounding the city.

    Luckily, because of his unfamiliarity with the Keller region, Lith was just a dozen meters above the ground to use road signs and milestones to orient himself. He had all the time to stop and get down to the ground before his flight spell was disrupted.

    After another round of res and insults for skipping the hundred meters long line to get inside the city, Lith walked through the Warp Gate that led to the army Headquarters.

    Much to his surprise, instead of being searched and questioned like during his first visit, the customs officer gave him a salute.

    "It¡¯s an honor to meet you, sir. Please, allow me to take you to your apartments."

    ¡¯My what? I expected to sleep in the barracks or at Kam¡¯s ce. What¡¯s going on here?¡¯

    The officer was a man in histe thirties that didn¡¯t stop talking for a second about how safer the citizens felt now that the closest lost city was lost for good.

    "I can¡¯t wait to read the whole story on the army¡¯s interlink." The officer said referring to the database avable to the public. They walked outside the main building, giving Lith the opportunity to see Belius.

    The fortified city was different from all the other ces he had visited. Because of theck of running water or elevators, houses were usually two or three stories high tops.

    Belius consisted of tall buildings, instead. Some even ten stories high and all made of the same grey stone blocks. At least one building in each residential area was upied only by restaurants and shops.

    The roads were paved and wide enough to let three carriages pass side by side. The sidewalks were filled with people of all social sses, each minding their own business.

    If not for theck of smog and pollution, Lith would have thought of being in an Earth¡¯s metropolis.

    Noticing his surprise, the officer quickly exined:

    "Belius was built as a military outpost to keep in check the Gorgon Empire¡¯s borders. Over time, the city expanded vertically rather than horizontally to be more easily defendable.

    "There¡¯s only so much space inside the walls and it¡¯s not like we can take them down and rebuild the arrays from scratch. All these buildings once belonged to the army, that¡¯s why their designcks originality.

    "To distinguish a rich house from a poor one, you have to look for two details. The number of floors and gardens. Because of theck of space, green is a luxury and so are mansions. A two stories high building is bound to be a noble house. Commoners live in condos."

    "Why there is no traffic?" Lith asked after noticing that aside from military and nobles¡¯ stagecoaches the roads were empty.

    "Because in case of emergencies we can¡¯t afford traffic jams. Unless someone is very important or filthy rich, they have to move around Belius with this." The officer pointed at two small Warp Gates standing next to each other.

    "One to get in, one to get out." He neared his badge to a small gemstone standing next to the gate, making a small 3D holographic interface appear. It was a drop-down menu filled with addresses and road names. Some were greyed out.

    "For security reasons, you can¡¯t operate it without an ID. Use your badge and follow me." The officer selected a ce called Royal Road before disappearing through the Gate which closed right behind him.

    Lith did as instructed, noticing he could go almost anywhere. Very few locations were not avable. Royal Road turned out to be a block made only by mansions, each with high walls and a private garden.

    "What happens if two people step inside a Gate at once?" Lith asked.

    "They end up in jail. The system is unforgiving. Here we are to destination." The officer pointed at a two stories high manor surrounded by trees and flowerbeds.

    The external gate opened as soon as the officer swept his badge in front of a magical gemstone nestled on a nearby pir. There was a folded note attached to the door.

    "Dear Lith Verhen, consider this a token of appreciation for your valiant efforts. I hope to meet you soon."

    It was signed by Royal Constable Tyris Griffon.

 Chapter 409 Belius Part 2

    "Is there anything I can do for you before leaving?" The officer asked.

    "Yes, thank you. How do I reach a ce called Velorian?"

    "Yourdy friend has good taste. It¡¯s one of the best restaurants on Elm Street, right beside its Gate." The man replied with a smirk.

    "How do you know I have ady friend and about her taste?"

    "It¡¯s a ce popr among young couples. Also, the closer a building is to a Gate the more expensive it is." The officer pointed at the dimensional door standing in front of Lith¡¯s living quarters.

    The word "expensive" made Lith¡¯s wallet bleed.

    "I also need clothes. Do you have any rmendations?" There were two things Lith deeply regretted about having left the White Griffon academy. It¡¯s all you can eat free restaurant and not needing any clothes aside his Associate Professor¡¯s uniform to hit on women.

    Wearing one was enough to be treated as a VIP in any establishment of the Distar Marquisate.

    "I don¡¯t know your taste or budget, but if you go to Silk Road, you¡¯ll find what you need."

    Lith thanked the officer before checking if the door of the mansion opened with his own badge too. He just peeked inside out of curiosity, there was so much to do and so little time to do it.

    The ground floor of the house resembled a penthouse from a five star hotel. The furniture was made of high-quality materials, but its design wasn¡¯t ostentatious. On Lith¡¯s right, there was arge living room with several couches and armchairs arranged around a tea table.

    On his left, there was a study room with a solid wood desk. The walls were covered by bookshelves filled with books about every topic but magic. Behind the only closed door there was a bathroom equipped with allforts.

    Lith left the house, heading to Elm Street. On his way there, he noticed how people would look at him in a funny way. Most would step to the side to let him pass, a few would cross the road to avoid him.

    ¡¯Solus, am I showing my old serial killer frown again?¡¯ He asked after a mother dragged her children on the other side of the street.

    ¡¯No. You look tired and in a bad mood, but no more than usual.¡¯

    Lith shrugged and walked through the Gate. One of the things he had learned back on Earth, was to never bring a woman to an unknown ce. His focus would be split between his surroundings and his date, making him look distant.

    On Mogar it was even worse. Not knowing the menu or the prices could lead to embarrassing moments. Lith had a short temper if the food was bad, overpriced, or both.

    The Velorian was on the ground floor, its door open. The receptionist was a middle aged man in livery with ck receding hair.

    "Is there something wrong, Ranger?" The man started sweating bullets at Lith¡¯s appearance.

    "No, I just heard about this ce and I would like to take a look if it¡¯s not a bother."

    "All the members of the King¡¯s army are wee here." The man sighed in relief while dabbing the sweat with his handkerchief. ording to the tag on the breast pocket, his name was Xilo.

    After scouting the ce, Lith asked for a menu. As he feared, he knew very few dishes and the ingredients weren¡¯t listed along with their names. Xilo helped him decipher the menu and even suggested some specialties that a man from the south was bound to enjoy.

    "Is there a dress code for the restaurant?" Lith was happy to havee alone first. Despite Phloria¡¯s best efforts, he was still a cheapskate. Based on the receptionist¡¯s embarrassment, the prices had made Lith¡¯s poker face crumble more than once.

    "None, but our customers would surely appreciate theck of uniforms in the room."

    "Meaning?" Feeling disrespected, Lith¡¯s expression turned stone cold.

    "I¡¯m sorry, it came out wrong. You are a foreigner, sir, so you are unaware of our customs. Belius is surrounded by enemies which makes us quite nervous. Seeing a soldier usually means troubles. Spies, terrorists, a lost city out of control.

    "Only the gods know how many emergencies happen each year. Hence your uniform would ruin everyone¡¯s mood."

    Lith understood why earlier the people looked so scared and flexed his shoulders. His clothes shapeshifted into his g suit. The only other clothes stored in the Skinwalker armor were those he wore back in Lutia. It was better to be overdressed than looking like a country bumpkin.

    Xilo yelped in surprise. He couldn¡¯t believe that someone who could afford a Skinwalker armor and that kind of suit was also capable of being shocked by their honest fares.

    Lith went to the Silk Road, ordering a few tailor-made suits, jackets, and shirts. He then rented a few clothes to put together a smart casual suit for the evening. Thanks to the armor, they would look like they were tailor-made anyway.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, Leegaain quarters.

    "Are you sure about it?" Leegaain asked. After hearing Tyris¡¯s story about the events unfolded in Kaduria, he now regretted missing the show.

    "As sure as the sun will rise again tomorrow." She replied.

    "The anomaly used dragon fire twice. If he keeps passing his world tribtions, you¡¯ll have to change your title to ¡¯father of most dragons¡¯."

    "Like I care." He scoffed at the idea. "Imitation is the sincerest form of ttery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. It¡¯s you who should be worried. A single country is too small for two Guardians."

    "I¡¯m not going to kill him just because of what he could be." Tyris shook her head.

    "Even if that could mean the end of the Griffon Kingdom? When two Guardians fight..."

    "Maps get redrawn." Shepleted the ancient proverb for him.

    "He may be a piece of work, but I believe Mogar chose him for a reason. I will not stand in the way of change. Besides, we have a date tomorrow. Who knows, maybe we¡¯ll reach apromise."

 Chapter 410 Birds of Prey

    Blood Desert, Sark¡¯s tent. An hour after the Death Star¡¯s destruction.

    Sark hated having unexpected guests. Ruling the biggest of the three great Countries, ying Abominations, and keeping the borders safe were all full time jobs she did by herself.

    They left her little free time that she enjoyed spending tending her personal matters. New fashions designs, love interests, books, magic, martial arts training, patronage of the arts were only a few of her many activities.

    Unlike the other two Guardians, Overlord Sark hadn¡¯t detached herself from human society. Quite the contrary, she was deeply invested in it and kept herself active in many fields. In a sense, she was the most human of the three.

    That was the reason she hated guests. Every second she spent solving someone else¡¯s problem was a second wasted. Soon she would resume her duties, no matter how much fun she had or missed.

    Her furious expression released enough killing intent to turn any sane man¡¯s hair white. Yet her guests were unaffected. Tyris has seen her in way worse moods and mus¡¯s hair was already grey.

    Sark had the appearance of a stunning woman in her mid twenties. She had silky ck waist long hair, emerald eyes and a bronze tinge of skin so clear that it seemed to emit a gentle radiance.

    She sat on her throne, wearing a ming scarlet robe, the Blood Desert equivalent of a cocktail dress, that left exposed her fair shoulders and her crossed legs from a side slit. The beer in her right hand was getting warm, while the food on her te was getting cold.

    "You disappointed me greatly, mus Clein. You did not only vite myws, but you also brought shame upon me and interrupted my first party in a month. What do you have to say for yourself?"

    "He was my only rtive." The old man cried, yet his voice remained steady. "I know I shouldn¡¯t have Awakened him, but I couldn¡¯t stand watching thest of my kin die."

    "That¡¯s not the issue." She stood up in anger, making the ground quake.

    "An imbecile like Treius wouldn¡¯t be able to devise a multi function array even in a thousand years. He used your library to learn Kaduriannguage, your resources to set the array, your Warp Gate to cross the borders. Why didn¡¯t you stop him?"

    "He was young and foolish, my Overlord. I hoped that he would learn from his mistakes. That seeing the horrors of Kaduria would turn the boy into a man. Someone worthy of inheriting my legacy."

    mus was old even by Awakened ones¡¯s standards. He had spent centuries amassing power and wealth, but with his death approaching, he realized that nothing of him would be left. He had no family nor apprentices.

    The world would forget about him the moment he passed away.

    "Please, spare my life and I¡¯ll be your loyal servant. I need to find an heir. I refuse to die without leaving a single trace on Mogar. No one knows my name or my achievements." He said bowing down with his head pressing against the floor.

    "Youth is Treius¡¯s excuse, but what¡¯s yours?" Sark replied.

    "Because of you, the Griffon Kingdom now has learned about one of my arrays. You almost unleashed a cursed object upon mynds, even though you knew how even researching them is against thew. You are not an asset, only a liability."

    A light flickered in her eyes and a purple me set mus aze. It turned his body into ashes before he could even scream, yet left his clothes and all of his enchanted items intact.

    "Old fool. He knew that the reason the Blood Desert has no lost cities is because of me. I¡¯m not a softie like the two of you." She said to Tyris.

    "I keep track of certain materials and if I catch someone creating a cursed object, I kill them along with everyone involved. Even the merchants that supplied them with the resources."

    "What will happen to his legacy?" Tyris asked.

    "I¡¯ll have it collected and examined to see if there something worth using in my schools of magic. The rest will be part of my personal collection. Once you have collected your share, of course."

    Tyris was both the offended party and the one that had captured the rogue Awakened. ording to the Guardians¡¯ treaties, she was entitled to half the spoils.

    "Well, time to get back to the party. Do you want to join?"

    "No, thanks. I have still much to do today." Tyris replied with a grateful smile.

    "Still grieving after all these years? You need to get a life. Spend too much time alone and it¡¯ll breed desperation. You have seen how desperation leads to madness." Sark pointed at the ashes dirtying her carpet.

    "The lizard at least has his apprentice, daughter, whatever, but what about you? You pass your days locked up in a basement with no contact with the outside world except for those fake Awakened of yours. When was thest time you had fun? Live it up for once!"

    "When I was still the queen." Tyris sighed. A wave of her hand turned her dress into a copy of Sark¡¯s robe, except it was silver colored.

    "I like your style, sister." Sark linked her arm to Tyris¡¯s and led the way.

    ***

    City of Belius, now.

    Lith checked his pocket watch for the time. It was a magical item he had crafted while he was working as Assistant Professor at the academy. Aside from the army and the Mage Association, very few used clocks.

    Because of itsplex function, a watch needed to be made of silver and required a green magic crystal. Like any other enchanted object, only the one imprinting it could use it. Between the materials and the craftmanship, they cost a pretty penny.

    Hence they were considered too expensive for their use. Commoners made their own schedule while nobles preferred sundials and hoursses.

    ¡¯Seven sharp. Let¡¯s hope I¡¯m not overdressed nor underdressedpared to her. The first impression is vital.¡¯ Lith was wearing a beige coat over a red shirt and white pants.

    He loved dressing in dark colors, especially in ck. Unluckily, all the women in his life, from his mother to hisst girlfriend, agreed on them making Lith look like a mortician. Light colors emphasized his brown eyes and olive skin, instead.

    Kam was already there. She was talking with Xilo, the receptionist, and he seemed to be a really funny guy since Lith could hear herugh through the solid wood door.

    "Sorry to keep you waiting. Have you been here for long?" Lith inwardly cursed at the apparently unreliable pocket watch.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I arrived early. Xilo here was telling me an unbelievable story about a mage so stingy to make faces while reading the menu."

    "Sounds like a piece of work of a guy." He said while nailing Xilo with a stare that held the promise of an excruciating death. The poor receptionist avoided the need of changing his pants only because when Kam turned toward Lith the killing intent disappeared.

    "Let¡¯s go, I¡¯ve already chosen our table." She took his hand and dragged him to the adjacent room.

 Chapter 411 Birds of Prey Part 2

    Lith exploited the moment she was walking in front of him to check her out. Kam wore a light blue shirt over a knee-length ck pencil skirt.

    She had her long ck hair down which together with her ck eyeliner and light red lipstick emphasized her pale skin.

    ¡¯For cute Kam is cute. She could use some weight, though. Her arms are so thin that either she has skipped one meal too many or she has not lifted anything heavier than a fork in a long time.¡¯

    Their table was located along the east wall, right under one the magicalmps which illuminated the room. Theyout of the restaurant allowed the clients to have enough space to guarantee their privacy.

    "How are you liking Belius?" Kam asked while a blonde waitress handed them the menus.

    "It¡¯s a lovely city. I like how it prevents me from flying, Warping, or even moving around without someone tracking my movements. It¡¯s a pity there are no bars at every window. Itpletely ruins the feeling of being held in a prison."

    "It¡¯s not a bad ce, it¡¯s just an acquired taste." She chuckled at the joke. Lith liked her smile a lot. It was warm and sincere, not like the pretentious giggle most girls did to hook up.

    "I¡¯ve always wanted to try the Hogese. It¡¯s a new recipe from the Gorgon Empire that onlyes in two portions. Do you feel brave enough to venture into the unknown?"

    Lith knew what it was, just like he knew he wouldn¡¯t like it.

    "Of course. Mystery is the spice of life." He lied through his teeth. ording to Xilo, the Hogese was a bread dough stuffed with a mix of boiled vegetables and minced animal organs cooked in the oven.

    ¡¯I¡¯m d she wants to share a new experience with me, I only wish this dish isn¡¯t as disgusting as it sounds.¡¯

    "So, how did you end up a Lieutenant in the army? Is it something you always wanted to do or did you somehow stumble into it?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m the third child of a merchant household. My eldest brother inherited the family business by birthright while my sister was forced to marry. I have no magical talent, so it was either joining the army or working as an ountant for my brother.

    "I always liked to study, but my family didn¡¯t care much about our education. So I joined the army, failed miserably my boot camp..." Kam rolled up her sleeve in a body builder pose which emphasized theck of muscles in her slender arm.

    "... and when they offered me a desk job, I took the offer. I started as a clerk, but the army provided me the resources to study on my own. A few yearster I proved myself smart enough to obtain a schrship for the Officer¡¯s academy and here I am."

    "What do you mean with ¡¯forced to marry¡¯?"

    "My sister is blind from birth." The light in Kam¡¯s eyes dimmed at those memories, making her smile disappears. Lith felt like the room had turned several degrees colder.

    "Let¡¯s not talk about sad stuff." She shrugged off her frown and looked at Lith straight in the eyes. "Now it¡¯s my turn to ask a personal question. How does it feel being a mage?"

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith was expecting inquiries about his skills, ie, noble status, or maybe a plea to heal the blind sister. The usual routine when someone tried to suck up to him.

    "I mean, normal people have just enough magic to make themselves a hot tea, while you can fly, Warp around the world, kill with a word. All things us humble mortals can only dream or have nightmares about."

    She made a dramatic gesture, raising her arms in the air before bending forward, like she was worshipping an idol. Lith had no idea how to answer. To him, magic was a mean to an end. He considered it like a hammer, a pincer, or any other tool.

    It took him a while to find something that sounded like a proper answer.

    "I don¡¯t know if it makes sense, but to me it feels like I¡¯m able to share Mogar¡¯s breath. A mage doesn¡¯t reallymand the elements, we just learn through study how tomunicate with them.

    "Sometimes, I even feel like I¡¯m just a mirror of the world. I can reflect or alter what it¡¯s in front of me, but I can¡¯t do anything by myself." Kam was staring at Lith with eyes so wide open that one could think her eyelids had been glued to her eyebrows.

    A waiter looked at the couple with a puzzled expression.

    ¡¯I know that look, but there¡¯s no way the tall guy is the one pregnant.¡¯ He ced the steaming Hogese in the middle of the table and left without a word.

    "Do I sound that crazy? What¡¯s the answer you usually get?" Lith asked while cutting the meal and taking a bite.

    "I wouldn¡¯t know. It¡¯s the first time I date a mage." Kam followed suit.

    "Gods, it¡¯s disgusting." She chuckled after swallowing it whole and drinking a big sip of wine to wash her mouth. "No wonder I never saw anyone ordering it."

    "I think it¡¯s just an acquired taste." Lith replied taking another bite and pretending to chew it while he actually sent it to his pocket dimension.

    "Do you really like it?" Kam wondered if the horrors Lith had witnessed as a student had somehow damaged his taste buds.

    "No, I was messing with you. It¡¯s disgusting."

    "Now I understand why people from the Gorgon Empire are always so cranky. Fancy a steak?" She raised her arm to call the waiter back.

    "With pleasure." Lith was really hungry. He hadn¡¯t eaten anything from breakfast.

    "I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m your first mage, though. Are all guys in Belius blind or what?" Lith knitted his eyebrows in disbelief. His honest surprise ttered her quite a bit.

    "In case you haven¡¯t noticed it, I¡¯m a bit old for marriage. I have no family background, nor I¡¯m rich. Mages can easily achieve a noble title, so they usually aim higher than a grassroots civil servant."

    Lith had a thousand things toment on the subject, but all of them would sound like an attempt to butter her up.

    "I¡¯ll take it as a yes." He shrugged and moved to a different topic.

    Lith appreciated her not asking him anything about the academy. In his experience, everyone seemed to think that being a survivor was something cool to talk about. Like Balkor and Nalear were just notches on his belt instead of people who stole something precious from him.

    Albeit in different ways, losing Protector and Yurial had left a scar on him. He missed them both dearly.

    Lith and Kam kept talking until the head waiter kindly pointed out it was closing time. Lith walked her to the nearest Warp Gate while hoping for the best.

    "Thanks for the evening. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s already thiste. My supervisor will skin me alive if I¡¯mte. Call me." She stood on her tiptoe, giving him a quick goodnight kiss before Warping away.

    ¡¯Funny, thoughtful, and he didn¡¯t brag even once about his achievements at the academy or the King bestowing him a family name. The best part is his eyes. They look so mature one would never think he¡¯s so young. Stinginess aside, it¡¯s almost too good to be true.¡¯

    Lieutenant Yehval smiled all the way back home.

 Chapter 412 Puzzled Part 1

    ¡¯Rise and shine, sleepyhead.¡¯ Solus woke up Lith after sunrise, to make sure he had a full eight hours of sleep. It would reset the effects of Invigoration and bring his body back to his natural peak condition.

    The fight with Treius had been demanding. Solus had no idea what a world tribtion was, but she knew that whenever Lith assumed that monstrous form, his mind had undergone heavy stress.

    ¡¯What a shitty date.¡¯ Lith griped for the umpteenth time. ¡¯The only silver lining is that she insisted to split the bill.¡¯

    ¡¯By my maker, just because you didn¡¯t getid doesn¡¯t make it a bad date!¡¯

    ¡¯I beg to differ. The food was just okay, the kiss was so fast I barely noticed it, and the "I¡¯ve to wake up early tomorrow" is themest excuse in the book. Kam might as well imed she had a migraine.¡¯ Lith sighed.

    He was in such a bad mood he had returned to the house on Royal Road only because Belius¡¯s security measures made it a hassle getting in and out of the city. Lith had to give his detailed report in person in the afternoon, otherwise he would have already gone back to Lutia to spend there the rest of his leave.

    ¡¯Stop being a sourpuss. If Kam really didn¡¯t enjoy herself, she wouldn¡¯t have spent three hours talking with you. She even took into ount you being a cheapskate and split the bill.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯Why do you think that?¡¯

    ¡¯How many tall mages wearing a Ranger uniform do you think walked into the Velorian yesterday? It doesn¡¯t take a Constable to do the math.¡¯ Her thoughts oozed sarcasm. ¡¯The next time, bring her a nice present, Scrooge.¡¯

    ¡¯For the record, I¡¯m thrifty, not stingy.¡¯ His paper thin excuse only managed to make Solus cry fromughing. Lith went to the kitchen on the first floor to have breakfast. Lith ruminated on both Solus¡¯s words and the food before giving Kam a call.

    She sounded really happy to hear from him and she kept the conversation going until she had to leave for work. This time it was her inviting him to dinner the next day.

    ¡¯Told you so. Don¡¯t forget the present.¡¯ Solus projected in his mind a smug grin.

    Lith spent the morning practicing umtion to further refine his mana core and rehearsing his report with Solus. He arrived at the army Headquarters well in advance the appointed time.

    Sergeant Tepper had drilled his "If you are five minutes early, you are already ten minuteste" creed into all of his recruits. Lith was immediately brought by the Desk Sergeant through a series of corridors until they reached the destination.

    Despite the woman walked double time, Lith had the time to appreciate the rustic furniture decorating the ce and the padded reinforced doors along the way. All in all, he had the impression of being inside an asylum for the criminally insane.

    "They are waiting for you." The Sergeant, a sturdy woman in her forties, pointed him to a door with a "Briefing Room" tag attached to it. She gave him a salute before extending her hand. "Thanks for your hard work, Sir. Belius is a safer ce now."

    Lith shook it while cold sweat ran down his spine.

    ¡¯Damn, first the custom officer and now the Sergeant? This is worse than I thought. No good deed goes unpunished, we have some serious damage control to do.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Stop whining, I¡¯m sure that- Oh, shit!¡¯ Solus choked on her optimism when Lith opened the door. A single ufortable looking chair was in front of a rectangr table, behind which there were three armchairs.

    King Meron was sitting in the middle. A golden crown rested on his head as he was wearing his red uniform of Commander-in-Chief of the army. The King was a lean man in his mid fifties, yet he didn¡¯t look a day past thirty.

    He had thick red hair and the silver eyes typical of the descendants of Valeron, the first King. On his right, there was a man bearing a striking resemnce with the King who wore the red uniform of a General of the Army.

    He had brown reddish hair and silver eyes. Just like Meron, he was in his fifties, but time hadn¡¯t been very kind to him. He looked old and tired, but mostly worried. To the King¡¯s left, there was the most stunning woman Lith had ever seen.

    She wore the uniform of a Royal Constable and was 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall. She was in her mid twenties, or so it seemed. There was something about her that made her look timeless yet ancient at once.

    She had shining gold hair braided into a tress long enough to be twisted and knotted above her head resembling a crown. Her silver eyes sparkled like stars under the sunlight.

    Lith¡¯s mood was sour yet it took him just a second to feel something was off. He gave them a salute and stood at attention while waiting for instructions.

    ¡¯Solus, how strong are these guys?¡¯

    ¡¯The General has a cyan core, while the King has a violet one and a body slightly more powerful than yours despite his age. The woman has a blue core and an inhuman physique. By my maker,pared to her Tista is nothing special.¡¯

    ¡¯This is wrong. No one can be this beautiful.¡¯ Lith¡¯s paranoia kicked in, quickly followed by his survival instinct. He took a deep breath and activated Death Vision. It was the only still lingering side effect of Lith¡¯s attempt to repair Protector¡¯s mana core at the cost of his own life force.

    Lith had yet to understand if it was an ability, a curse, or simply a symptom of his shaky sanity. It made every living being in front of him look like they were about to die. It had taken him years of training to learn how to keep it in check.

    In the next few seconds, Lith saw the King die of old age, poisoned, or because a spell turned him to dust. The General would die of old age, or after being poisoned, stabbed, beheaded, or simply because he tumbled and fell.

    The Constable remained unchanged instead.

    ¡¯It¡¯s already abnormal for the King to have only three ways to die, but maybe is because of his magical protections. Why Death Vision doesn¡¯t work on the Constable? So far only Phloria was immune to it.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "At ease, Lieutenant Verhen. Please, have a seat" The King said with a small smile.

    "This is the General of the Army Morn Griffon, my cousin, while she is Royal Constable Tyris Griffon, my niece."

    The General suppressed the desire to curl his lip in disgust, replying to Lith¡¯s salute with a mere nod of the head. The Constable returned the salute and even offered him her hand.

    Lith shook it, discovering that her skin was soft and silky, yet her grip was as firm as a mountain.

    ¡¯This is bad.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯They want to either promote or demote me. Both events can screw up my ns. Worst case scenario, they want to force me into marriage with Barbie. First the house, now this? Why would a royal be so kind with me?¡¯

    Solus wanted to give him a more rational and less paranoid exnation. Unluckily, she was unable to find one.

 Chapter 413 Puzzled Part 2

    After witnessing the events leading to the destruction of the ck Star, Tyris decided that her meeting with the anomaly was long overdue. She had pondered if to wait for him outside Kaduria, but she decided against it.

    Exining how she had got there and how much she had witnessed would require a long-winded exnation about her role as a Guardian to avoid a useless struggle. She knew enough about Lith to predict that he would attempt to silence her forever if he thought she had discovered his nature as Awakened.

    Guardians didn¡¯t hide their existence. Everyone in the Gorgon Empire knew about the massive dragon sleeping in the throne room and Sark was an even lesser example of discretion.

    Her rampages against the enemies of the Blood Desert were legendary. She would change to one form to another, leaving any witness awestruck. Yet Tyris preferred a subtler approach, to prevent Lith¡¯s paranoia from destroying any chance of a friendly rtionship.

    She had joined the King to introduce herself as a member of the Royal family and not arouse Lith¡¯s suspicions. Even the handshake was a probe. Soul Vision, the Guardians¡¯ version of Life Vision, had its limits.

    She exploited the physical contact to employ Mother Earth, her Invigoration technique, to better understand the nature of the anomaly. The results piqued Tyris¡¯s interest for several reasons.

    She was mildly surprised by Lith¡¯s distant behavior. Tyris was used to make quite an impression at the first meeting. The real shocker was the readings from Mother Earth, though.

    Right where his heart was supposed to be, Lith¡¯s life force was cracked. To a casual observer, it would look like the aftermath of his foolish attempt to repair a mana core. Yet she knew better.

    Lith¡¯s efforts to save Protector had cost him almost half of his lifespan yet it had simply brought to the surface something that was already there. The crack ran deep underneath his life force like an invisible bloodstream.

    It was made of deep-seated pain and grieving, which poisoned his very being. Tyris had met countless broken men, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise to her.

    The fact that the crack oozed death puzzled her quite a bit and so did noticing how the permanent loss of life force had extended the damage up to his eyes through rifts as small as hairlines.

    How energies typical of death could surge from a living being made no sense even to her. The second and most astounding revtion was the presence of a second life force well hidden in the background.

    It looked like a ck sphere that sealed at its core a small star. The star, in turn, emitted violent waves of energy that harmlessly crashed against the sphere. Tyris had never seen anything like that.

    ¡¯I guess it¡¯s better to consult an expert.¡¯ She thought.

    "I wanted to personally congratte you on yourtest sess, Ranger Verhen." She said with a smile that made the two high ranked officials wish they were young again.

    "Yet, thismittee has been assembled to review your work and determine if your actions brought more harm than benefit to the Griffon Kingdom."

    "Exactly." Morn said with a reprimanding tone. "You were given a simple task: to preserve a centuries-long equilibrium that has kept the country safe from unspeakable horrors. Thank the gods your hero stunt ended well, but luck is a fickle mistress.

    "Yourck of judgment endangered us all." Lith didn¡¯t miss how the General sneaked a look at the Constable, looking for her approval.

    ¡¯What a pig. He is old enough to be her father.¡¯ Solus thought in disgust.

    ¡¯Agreed. What matters is that so far everything is within our expectations.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed in relief.

    To Lith, the King said :"Let¡¯s not rush our judgment. Ranger Verhen, tell us everything that happened during your stay in Kaduria."

    Lith told them about his arrival in front of the barrier surrounding the city and how he had witnessed the horrors of the shadow phase. He avoided dramatic descriptions, sticking to the facts instead.

    Lith exined how he had followed the procedure of ughtering the Kadurians during the light phase and then decided to experiment on the Shadows during the next cycle. The recount of how he learned the lost Kaduriannguage left those present speechless.

    "That¡¯s what I was talking about." Morn grunted. "You are not a mage of the academy anymore, you are a Ranger in the army. You were supposed to follow orders, not conduct some crazy research."

    "I¡¯m a mage and a Ranger." Lith rebuked pretending to be indignant. "You can¡¯t have one without the other. As you know, if I was interested in blindly following orders, I would have epted your other proposal."

    Lith had been offered a job as a ck ops soldier, which he had turned down. The King nodded, prompting him to continue.

    "I became a Ranger to further my studies. The lost cities hold priceless knowledge that can be used for good. I bet you are aware of the tomes I have been consulting. I need the army¡¯s resources as much as the army needs me to clean up messes like Kaduria."

    "Since you are the one who introduced the topic, let¡¯s talk about your readings." The General leaned forward with a menacing expression. "Why are you researching forbidden magic? It could be considered an act of treason by itself."

    "Because I¡¯m a Healer. As such, my aim is to find a cure for all diseases. Including the one afflicting me." Lith lowered his gaze, as if he was haunted by a painful memory.

    "You have attended the White Griffon for four years. Are you saying you suffer from a condition not even Manohar could fix?" Morn was surprised by the revtion, yet he was unwilling to believe in such a convenient turn of events.

    "Yes. Your Majesty, do you know the Scanner spell?" When the King nodded, Lith offered him his arm to examine it. The King cast the spell and found the same crack Tyris had noticed earlier.

    "Good gods." The King turned pale. "How did it happen?"

    "It¡¯s the price I had to pay to defend my friends from the Valor during Balkor¡¯s attack." Lith lied through his teeth. If they wanted a tragic hero, he would give them one.

    "My life force is crippled. I don¡¯t regret what I did, yet I also refuse to give up on a normal life. My goal is to find a cure for all those who fell victims of forbidden magic, and only by studying the disease you can learn how to fight it."

    "Please, continue your report." The King was worried about all the ns the Crown still had in store for Lith. Suddenly there was less time than he had hoped for.

    Lith then told them how by learning the Kadurian he was able tomunicate with the cleric of the High Sun who had helped him to defeat both the ck Star and the foreigner that hade to free the cursed object from its cage.

    "You see, this is the part of your report that I find really hard to believe and I¡¯m not the only one in the army." The General tapped the table with his forefinger to emphasize hisck of trust.

    "A mysterious stranger forced your hand. Do you have any proof to back your im?"

    "Is this proof enough for you?" Lith took out Treius¡¯s head from his pocket dimension, cing it on the table while it was still dripping fresh blood.

 Chapter 414 The Idiot Part 1

    The moment he had entered the chamber, Lith had noticed a signboard informing that it was possible to use dimensional items inside the briefing room. He decided to exploit it to achieve the most dramatic effect possible.

    "Did you carry that thing all along?" All those in the room had seen their share of dead people. What shocked General Morn was the ease with which Lith performed his stunt.

    "Yes. I have the rest of the body too if you are interested in examining it. It bears some unknown runes as tattoos which I was nning to study in the near future." He had already copied them before the meeting, just to be safe.

    "If you read the report I presented to Lieutenant Yehval right after the events, it matches the description of my assant. Also, I have this." Lith provided them copies of the spells he had learned from the clerics of the High Sun, in both Kadurian andmonnguage.

    With the ck Star destroyed, they were just a relic from the past.

    King Meron used hismunication amulet to summon Brigadier General Vorgh and the resident Forgemaster. It was a bulky woman in her sixties, with eyes cynical enough to remind Lith of Nana.

    Lith had to repeat thest part of his story to them and show them the evidence he presented to themittee.

    "I can confirm that the parasite array¡¯s design originates from the Blood Desert." Vorgh stated while looking at Treius¡¯s corpse. "Also, these runes share a simrity with the array. It¡¯s my opinion that they were made by the same hand."

    "These are indeed powerful spells." The Forgemaster was also a Major General. "They are designed to sabotage their host¡¯s enchantments, making the energies coursing through the artifact destroy it from the inside.

    "Too bad that without the original blueprints they are useless. We could have learned a lot from them. As it is, they belong in a museum."

    After the King dismissed the experts, Lith continued his story. He omitted the part where Treius fused with the ck Star and most of the fight.

    "So, without my ¡¯crazy research¡¯ I would have never been able to understand the clerics. If I ¡¯just followed orders¡¯, once I left Kaduria the enemy would have imed the artifact and now there would be not one, but two power hungry monsters knocking on the Kingdom¡¯s door." His words were filled with sarcasm and contempt as he stared at the General.

    Morn wanted to admonish Lith that his behavior was bordering insubordination, but King Meron¡¯s cold gaze stopped him.

    "I did what was necessary to protect our country and save those poor souls. Neither the Kadurians nor Belius deserved to live in constant fear of each other." After Lith had finished his speech, the three Royals retired in an adjacent room to deliberate.

    "Lady Tyris, you have heard him." The General was aware of the Guardian¡¯s true identity and longed for both her affection and a long life.

    "By destroying the ck Star, he mercilessly killed all those people. He let an entire civilization be destroyed because of his ipetence. He should be dishonorably discharged."

    "Please! You couldn¡¯t care less about the Kadurians. You are simply scared at the idea that a grassroots mage is now considered a hero both in the north and in the south." Tyris stared at Morn until he lowered his eyes in shame.

    "It¡¯s because of those like you that we went so close to a civil war. If you so called pureblood mages want to be respected, you should do more than pping your gums or sabotage your betters. I wish that thirty years ago you tried bing King instead of Meron."

    "Really?" Those words made him too happy to notice the trap lying ahead.

    "Of course." Tyris nodded. "So I would have you for dinner, like you dream about for years, and I wouldn¡¯t be forced to hear your nonsense anymore. It would have been a win-win situation. Now shut up. I have a call to make."

    Meron chuckled at the idea of his arrogant cousin devoured in a single gulp. Morn, instead, suddenly realized why the King had brought him along. Not because Meron valued his opinion, but to humble him.

    Tyris opened her mind link with Leegaain, sharing with him what she had discovered about Lith with Mother Earth, her Invigoration technique.

    ¡¯Fascinating.¡¯ Was his reply.

    ¡¯Tell me something I don¡¯t know.¡¯ Tyris said with impatience. It was her country the anomaly lived in. Charm and danger could only go hand in hand when talking about someone else¡¯s problem.

    ¡¯Death energy usually lingers around those who somehow escaped their final hour, but the amount you describe is overwhelming. It would require for him to have died multiple times, but we know it¡¯s impossible.¡¯ Leegaain exined.

    ¡¯It should make the anomaly more sensitive toward sensing impending death, but nothing more. It¡¯s a nasty curse. I¡¯m surprised he hasn¡¯t gone insane already.¡¯

    ¡¯What about the two life forces?¡¯ Tyris asked.

    ¡¯Ah, so you are finally interested in Menadion¡¯s Desperation. Well, it all started...¡¯

    ¡¯Okay, three life forces. Save your anecdote forter. I¡¯m not interested in that ring of his. Whatever it is, is harmless.¡¯ Tyris cut him short, making Leegaain sigh.

    ¡¯It just proves we¡¯re right about him. He¡¯s a hybrid, but only Mogar knows how. The first life force is themon human one. The second one, though, it¡¯s actually two other life forces mixed together.¡¯ The dragon¡¯s words made her deeply frown.

    ¡¯The ck sphere is typical of Abominations, but usually it¡¯s empty. That¡¯s why they constantly need to assume world energy to keep themselves alive. The small star is the mark of powerful Evolved Monsters instead.

    ¡¯It allows them to easily shapeshift because most of their energy it¡¯s not stuck in a fixed form. I have no idea how they can coexist, nor why he has them. He¡¯s too old for that.¡¯

    ¡¯What do you mean with too old?¡¯ Tyris was perplexed.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s say I had a child with a human. The child would be a hybrid, bearing both our life forces. When theye of age, they would be forced to choose between one nature.

    ¡¯The children you had with Valeron perceived themselves as humans, that¡¯s why none of them ever turned into a griffon. The opposite happened to the anomaly. ording to Scarlett, when he had a cyan mana core, there was no second life force.

    ¡¯It means that its appearance is rted to his now blue mana core, as if before he couldn¡¯t bear its power. I wish he lived here. This Lith would make so fine an apprentice. You know, when Milea was younger...¡¯

    Tyris closed themunication at thest second, dodging the surely long and boring story by a hair¡¯s breadth.

    "Meron, you have my blessing." She said before the three returned to the other room.

    Lith was still sitting, his mind wondering what he could possibly gift to Kam without wasting too much money nor flexing his forgemastering skills.

    "Ranger Verhen." King Meron said while Lith stood up at attention in a sign of respect.

 Chapter 415 The Idiot Part 2

    "After hearing your report and evaluating all the elements you have provided us, thismittee unanimously praise you for your endeavor. Words are cheap, though, so I would like to reward you properly. Are you sure you don¡¯t want a higher rank or a noble title?"

    "Thanks, your Majesty, but I¡¯m no leader. A higher rank would only hinder me, while a noble title would chain me. I would be forced to spend what¡¯s left of my life caring for the people living in mynds. They deserve better than a reluctant lord."

    Meron sighed, but he had anticipated Lith¡¯s reply.

    "I¡¯m deeply worried about your health. I won¡¯t ask you to stop searching for a cure. Magic is all about research and hard work. If someone can find a solution to such a cruel fate, that¡¯s you.

    "I believe that with your talent, you can perform another miracle. I watched you grow and I hope to have the privilege of seeing you grow old. That said, would you be interested in marriage? I could introduce you to many noble dames.

    "It would be a pity if your bloodline were to die with you. Also, I think that having someone to return to would give you even more strength."

    "Thanks again, your Majesty, but no. I know myself. If I raise a family of my own, I will not be able to leave them. That¡¯s why I made sure to teach my sister Tista everything I know. Even if I were to die tomorrow, my legacy will live through her.

    "Please, take care of her in my absence." Lith said with a rueful voice while making his eyes watery with magic.

    He had no intention of having children and was well aware that being an Awakened, even a crippled life force was enough tost more than one hundred years. There was no reason for the King to know it, of course.

    For the first time in centuries, Tyris had a hard time suppressing a chuckle.

    ¡¯By Mogar, Lith sure has his way with words. Everything he¡¯s said since he stepped inside the room is neither entirely true or false. He is ying Meron like a fiddle. Aside from being a cynical, maniptive, stingy,pulsive liar of a hybrid, he reminds me of Valeron.¡¯ She thought.

    "You have my word." Meron said with watery eyes while considering that Tista was unmarried too. If he could secure her trust, whatever Lith left behind it would be hers. There was no harm in nurturing someone so beautiful and talented.

    "Until I draw breath, I¡¯ll protect your family like it¡¯s my own."

    Lith¡¯s face seemed to be moved, but Tyris could see his other scaly face grinning from ear to ear like a predator in front of a dumb animal. It took her sheer willpower to notugh at the scene.

    A ceremonial sword made of silver appeared in the King¡¯s right hand.

    "I wanted to avoid this, since it will surely kick a ho nest, but you leave me no choice. No amount of money is worth your sacrifices for the Kingdom. Please, kneel."

    Lith had no idea what was happening but he obeyed nheless.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯No clue.¡¯ She replied after checking all the books inside Soluspedia.

    "Lith Verhen, I bestow upon you the title of Great Mage of the Griffon Kingdom." The King said while patting with the t side of the sword Lith¡¯s left shoulder, then the right one, andstly the top of his head.

    ¡¯Oh, fuck me sideways! I forgot about the Mage ranking system.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯What¡¯s the average age for a Great Mage?¡¯

    ¡¯For a new magical bloodline with no noble title, around fifty.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯I knew it! No good deed goes unpunished. Now I have another target painted behind my back.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s not that bad.¡¯ Solus tried to cheer him up. ¡¯The King just promised his protection and now you¡¯ll have ess to more tomes. The ss is half full, okay?¡¯

    Lith¡¯s inner expression finally matched the one he was showing on the outside. The General and the King left the room after congratting him, leaving only Tyris behind.

    "It¡¯s been a pleasure finally meeting you." She took his hands as a cold shiver ran down his spine. "I hope to see you again in happier circumstances."

    After she walked out the door, Lith felt so drained he had to sit down again.

    ¡¯See? Half full. Seems you are on a roll with thedies.¡¯ Solus giggled.

    ¡¯On a roll my pale ass. Why do you think I avoided Brinja like a disease? The entrance fee for that kind of fair is marriage. A fling with a Royal would be like putting a ve cor around my neck. Speaking of flings...¡¯

    Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket and called Kam.

    "Sorry, but I¡¯m really busy. Is it important?" For the first time she had activated the hologram projector. He could see her nervously turning around while watching out for her supervisor.

    "Yes. I want you to hear it from me before ites out on the interlink." The pain in his voice was tangible. Kam stopped abruptly and focused on him.

    "Oh, gods! Don¡¯t tell me you got demoted? Or relocated? I was afraid some envious noble might try to get back at you. Now that Belius is safe, the trade routes will change and someone will lose a lot of money. Did they send you to a suicide mission?" She bit her nails out of stress.

    "Not even I¡¯m that paranoid! Don¡¯t kill me off like that. It¡¯splicated. Bottom line, I¡¯m screwed. The King made me a Great Mage."

    "What!" She jumped off her chair, drawing the attention of all her colleagues.

    "Yeah, I know. It means a lot of trouble. General Morn Griffon is already out for my blood. Between him and the ancient noble households I¡¯m walking on eggshells here. I think it¡¯s better if..."

    "It¡¯s wonderful news! What did your parents say?" She cut him short.

    "Nothing because they still don¡¯t know. I¡¯m going straight home now. I need to warn them of..."

    "Wait, are you saying I¡¯m the only one who knows about it?"

    "You, me, the King, General Morn, and some Royal Constable. Why?" Lith¡¯s headache was getting worse.

    "It¡¯s wonderful news!" She repeated with a radiant smile. "Call me when you arrive home. See you." The hologram disappeared as the call ended.

    ¡¯I swear, this is just like with Phloria. Even if you keep talking women stop listening and start giggling. It¡¯s not like I...¡¯

    Lith stopped drowning in self-pity and reyed the conversation in his head, walking a mile in Kam¡¯s shoes.

    ¡¯I¡¯m an idiot.¡¯ Was the final judgment.

    ¡¯Worse. You are self-centered.¡¯ Solus scolded him. ¡¯You are always focused against your enemies yet you overlook the feelings of those close to you. You¡¯re lucky you two only had one date, otherwise that poor girl would probably think you are in love with her.

    ¡¯Keep acting like this and one day, someone is going to get hurt.¡¯

    Lith could only agree with her. When he reached the Warp Gate for the capitol of the Distar Marquisate, Derios, he was still cursing at himself.

    Meanwhile, in the Control Room where analysts and handlers worked, the supervisor had an important announcement to make.

    "In case someone missed it, Lieutenant Kam Yehval is dating a Great Mage. Today the first round is on her."

    A booming apuse was followed by congrattions as all of her colleagues wished Kam all the best, yet all she wanted was to disappear.

 Chapter 416 Family Reunion Part 1

    For the first time since he had started wearing uniforms, Lith shapeshifted the Skinwalker armor into normal clothes even though he had no social event to attend to. With a beige overcoat, white shirt, and ck pants, he looked like a small time noble.

    ¡¯Too many people here know my face and I can¡¯t afford being recognized.¡¯ He thought while nervously looking at themunication amulet in his breast pocket. ¡¯I have no time to lose being polite and exchanging niceties. I expect the news of me bing a Great Mage to spread like wildfire.¡¯

    The moment he stepped outside Derios¡¯s branch of the Mage Association, Lith took off toward Lutia. He was now powerful enough that a single Warp Steps allowed him to cross dozens of kilometers.

    Six Warps and less than a minuteter, he reached his home. He appeared in the sky andnded slowly to not scare his parents¡¯ farmhands. He had learned from experience that sharp tools and fear made people ident prone.

    "Hey, kid. Do yourself a favor and bug off." Said a harsh voiceing from behind him.

    "Our young Lady isn¡¯t home, and even if she was, she chews and spits guys way better looking than you for breakfast."

    Lithughed out loud hearing Tista being referred to as a noble dame. Being mistaken for a suitor of his own sister was also quite funny to him.

    "Do what you want." The manughed too. "There¡¯s a reason that Lutia is called the Graveyard. Hot shots like you, be them criminals or nobles, always get out of here feet first. I¡¯ve warned you, so don¡¯t me me when I¡¯ll spit on your grave."

    "I¡¯d like to see you trying, Bromann." Lith turned around with a cruel smile.

    "Oh gods! I¡¯m so sorry, Lith." Bromann wasn¡¯t scared, mostly embarrassed. He knew Lith since his son, Rizel, had ambushed him at Selia¡¯s house years ago. When Raaz had started to expand his farnds, he had been one of the first farmers to sell his own.

    The pay was good, he would have to pay fewer taxes, and the free healthcare made the offer hard to refuse.

    "I didn¡¯t expect you would return so soon plus I¡¯m not used to seeing you all dressed up. Usually, you either wear your uniform or dress like one of us. What¡¯s the fancy suit for? Are you finally bringing home a finedy or what?"

    "It¡¯s a long story." Lith dodged all the questions. "Why the double standard? You refer to Tista as ¡¯your young Lady¡¯ yet you call me by my first name."

    "That¡¯s just for show, Lith. If a farmer speaks like that to a noble, they could easily get whipped. Harassing a servant of the Verhen family is bad for business, instead. Especially if they want to suck up on you." Bromann replied while tapping at his temple with a forefinger.

    Lith couldn¡¯t refute that logic, so he waved a quick goodbye and entered his house.

    "Daddy!" A shrill voice yelled as a small boy clung to Lith¡¯s leg.

    "Not even close, little brother." Lith said while lifting Aran off the ground and making him sit on his shoulder. The child was almost a meter (3¡¯2") tall but to Lith¡¯s frame, he was weightless.

    "Mom! Big brother is back!"

    "Wee home, sweetie." Elina came out of the kitchen and embraced Lith tightly.

    "What happened to your uniform? Is everything all right?" She took his face between her hands, checking for signs of malnutrition as if she hadn¡¯t seen him in months instead of four days

    "Kind of. Let¡¯s just say the ss is half full." He sighed. "As soon as everyone gets home, I¡¯ll give you great news. Where¡¯s Tista?"

    "Where do you think she can possibly be?" Elina replied with a soft smile.

    "She¡¯s at the White Griffon academy to n her own journey. She wants to follow her little brother¡¯s footsteps and travel the world. Your sister looks up to you, sometimes a bit too much."

    "What does that mean?"

    "She turned neen this year, yet she refuses to attend to parties, rejects all of her suitors, and only thinks about practicing magic. Does this behavior ring you any bells?" Elina said while pouting.

    Lith feigned ignorance and called both his sisters. Tista was d to hear from him, but couldn¡¯te back before an hour. Rena asked him to pick her up instead.

    "Don¡¯t y dumb with me, young man." Elina had her hands on her hips while tapping nervously on the floor with her foot.

    "Is it too much to ask for a grandchild or two? I¡¯m not getting any younger and neither are you. When will you bring a girl home?"

    "Mom, I¡¯m still young!" Lith tried to defend himself while casting the fastest Warp Steps in Mogar¡¯s history. "At least I date. It¡¯s not my fault if I can¡¯t find someone special."

    "That¡¯s not dating, it¡¯s fooling around." Elina rebuked. She wasn¡¯t willing to let it slide this time. "You didn¡¯t have these clothes four days ago and their style is not from the Marquisate. Did you buy them because of a girl? That would be a miracle."

    Elina¡¯s observation skills stunned Lith.

    The Warp Steps opened and Rena joined the fray.

    "Looking good, little brother. Tailor made foreign clothes, and made of high-end fabric at that." She said while rubbing her fingers over his suit.

    Just when he believed he was doomed, help arrived from an unexpected ally.

    "Uncle Lith, you¡¯re back! Tell me a story." Leria, his niece crossed the dimensional door and tugged at his leg demanding her due. She was the same age as Aran and resembled her mother more with each passing year.

    Her blond hair had shades of ck just like Rena¡¯s.

    Aran promptly joined the plea. The duo was noisy and stubborn enough to force their mothers to back down to have some quiet. Lith used light and air magic to stage every single fairy tale he knew until all the family was assembled.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no way dad backs me up, but as long as Tista is here I can y the "she¡¯s older than me" card and throw her in the lion¡¯s den to save my hide.¡¯ He thought.

    He then told them everything that had happened after he left home, using the Hush spell to cover the kids¡¯ ears whenever the story wasn¡¯t family friendly. When he arrived at the part where the King had made him a Great Mage, everyone but Tista rejoiced.

    "Damn, this is bad. I must leave Lutia before the news spread, otherwise the White Griffon and the Marchioness will force me to attend to every single social event until this blows over. Not the mention all the drones that will swarm at our door." She said with a sigh.

    "It¡¯s not just that." Lith exined. "The ancient noble households will try to get back at me, which makes every one of you a target. My stunt made them lose a lot of money and face."

    "Don¡¯t you dare call it a stunt." Raaz stared at his son and grabbed his shoulder.

    "You saved countless lives. I couldn¡¯t be prouder of you. As for General Morn and all those petty nobles they can go f...." Raaz managed to stop in the nick of time, noticing both the children¡¯s curious look and their mothers¡¯ deadly gaze.

 Chapter 417 Family Reunion Part 2

    "Farm a plot ofnd for all I care."

    "There¡¯s no need to worry, dear." Elina stood up and hugged Lith from behind.

    "We know our lives are in danger since the day you were admitted into the academy, yet I never regretted that decision"

    "Wait, did you know?" Lith was shocked.

    "Of course we did, son." Raaz nodded.

    "We aren¡¯t stupid. Also, Nana and Count Lark warned us multiple times when they asked for our help to convince you to take the entrance exams. We unanimously decided you deserved a chance at a better life. Me, your mother, and your sisters."

    Lith didn¡¯t miss how his father had not mentioned Trion, even though he was still part of the family at the time. He inwardly sent Trion to farm a plot ofnd before forgetting about his existence again.

    "You can¡¯t let your fears ruin a moment like this, dear." Elina kissed his head.

    "A lot of bad things could have happened, yet we are still here. We¡¯re not rich, powerful, or influential, but it doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t fight by your side. I¡¯m your mother, I¡¯m ready to put my life on the line for you since the day you were born."

    "We all do." Raaz said standing up to join the embrace, soon followed by Rena, Tista and the kids, who had no idea what was happening but still wanted to express their love for Lith.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I need some air." Lith ran away from his home and through the Trawn woods like he had a dragon on his heels. There were few things that scared him, and losing control over his own feelings was among them.

    The thought that all of his lies about how safe he was at the academy, of how despite his schemes and underhanded deals his family had lived in fear for all those years, filled him with enough rage to topple a mountain.

    ¡¯Please, calm down.¡¯ Solus tried tofort him. ¡¯You should be happy knowing they love you so much. That they fought for your happiness as hard as you did for theirs.¡¯

    ¡¯Why should I be happy?¡¯ Lith inwardly screamed. ¡¯All of my sacrifices, all of my pain. It was all for nothing! What good is my power if I can¡¯t even protect what I hold in my hand? Why do I bother with this rotten Kingdom? They should all die!¡¯

    ¡¯What about Nana? Count Lark?¡¯ Solus objected. ¡¯What about Phloria, Friya, Yurial or Quy? Did Yurial deserve to die? Didn¡¯t the Marchioness and the Crown keep their word so far? They are the reason why Lutia is called ¡¯The Graveyard¡¯.

    ¡¯All of your efforts gave your family a better life. Tista is alive and well because of you. Aran was born because of you. Leria was born because of you. Nothing that¡¯s worth havinges easy, remember? Your words, not mine.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s ragged breath slowly returned to normal.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, you are right. It¡¯s just that killing is so much easier than protecting. I wish Protector was still here. I wish...¡¯

    "Lith Verhen, you¡¯re not an easy man to find."

    Lith turned toward the source of the husky voice. One of the Shadows of Kaduria seemed to have escaped from the destruction of the ck Star. Despite its human shape, the thing was made of living darkness that writhed at its every step.

    Only when it came closer Lith noticed that it wasn¡¯t one of the cursed object¡¯s thralls. Instead of eyes, the thing had two small vortexes that sucked every particle of light around its head, making it a blur despite the sun had yet to set below the horizon.

    "An Abomination. It¡¯s the first time I meet someone of your race capable of speaking before attacking." Lith was in a really bad mood and finding the creature so close to his home made it even worse.

    "I¡¯m not here to fight you." The Abomination raised its hands in a universal gesture of peace. "I only wish to reim what you stole. Give it to me and then I¡¯ll be on my way."

    "First, I never stole anything. What I have I earned it through either fight or hard work. Second, why should I trust you?" Lith used that empty talk to weave all of his best spells.

    "You¡¯re lying. The orc¡¯s crystal wasn¡¯t yours to take. I¡¯ve worked hard for it. Give it back, now!" The creature¡¯s voice was so low it sounded like a cough when it tried to yell.

    ¡¯Watch out. Without a colored core I don¡¯t know exactly how strong it is, but judging from its mana flow and life force the Abomination should be quite powerful. We never met an intelligent Abomination before, so be ready for anything.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    "And you are the so called ¡¯Master¡¯?" Lith sneered. "Disappointing."

    "How do you know about the Master?" The creature stopped in its tracks.

    "Gremus. That big mouthed worm. It didn¡¯t fail the mission, you killed it!"

    "What if I did?" Lith grinned. He had almost finished preparing the field.

    "You should watch your mouth. Your family..."

    Truth to be told, the Abomination was about to warn Lith that, in case they fought, his family could get caught in the crossfire since they were rtively close. It had no intention of threatening him.

    The next thing the Abomination knew was that its body seemed to have been struck by a meteor. It flew deep inside the Trawn woods, crashing through trees too young or thin to withstand the impact before it tumbled in the dirt.

    "What about my family?" Unluckily, Lith didn¡¯t know, nor did he care about its intentions. A blue aura surrounded him, growing in intensity with each passing second.

    The Abomination shook its head to clear its blurred vision just in time to see the Gatekeeper appear in Lith¡¯s right hand amid a burst of emerald mes.

    "I..." Before the creature could speak, Lith darted forward in an overhead sh. The attack was too fast to dodge it from such an unstable stance. The Abomination¡¯s arms shapeshifted into two des made of shadows, with which it intercepted the de in the nick of time by crossing them above its head.

    The impact made the creature kneel, allowing Lith to execute a front kick with all of his strength. The Abomination was sent even deeper inside the woods, its body bounced on the thick trees like a pinball.

    ¡¯What¡¯s happening? ording to the Master¡¯s data, he should be weaker than a Valor. I¡¯m way stronger than a filthy undead.¡¯ It thought.

    The creature saw Lith¡¯s eyes brimming with blue mana as he moved through the darkness of the forest. Then, his eyes turned yellow and another pair opened on his forehead.

    "What about my family?" His voice was reduced to a snarl as two more eyes opened and his skin turned into scales. The de shed, but this time the Abomination was ready.

    It rolled to the side while extending its right arm, still in the form of a de, to counterattack while Lith was out of bnce. The attempt failed miserably since the creature was out of bnce too. Its left arm and part of its shoulder fell on the ground with a thud sound.

    A seventh eye opened in the middle of Lith¡¯s forehead.

    "What. About. My. Family?"

 Chapter 418 Message Part 1

    Lith repeated his question for the third time, but after almost dying twice to the assault that followed its attempts to answer, the creature understood the human had no interest in talking. His words were just a way to distract it, to vent his anger, or both.

    The Empowered Abomination was one of the Master¡¯s loyal servants and had been bestowed a name from them: Jarok. Normal Abominations lived alone, never interacting with someone unless they fed on them.

    They had no need for names, only power. After joining the Master¡¯s cause, names had be their status symbol, akin to a noble title. Receiving one meant the Master trusted them enough to need their help.

    Jarok cursed at its bad luck. What was supposed to be a simple investigation and retrieval mission had turned into a huge mess. Jarok was indeed stronger than a Valor, but the reason the Master had sent it wasn¡¯t itsbat prowess, but its stealth capabilities.

    Just like Lutia was called "the Graveyard", Lith¡¯s house was better known as "the Death¡¯s Door". Usually one would find a single Evolved Monster in an area as big as the Trawn woods, yet there were three and all of them stalked the Verhen Household.

    Also, since Tista joined the academy, another two squads of the Queen¡¯s corps had been added to the protection detail. The Queen feared that a grassroots magical bloodline in the middle of nowhere was too much of an easy target, so she had taken precautions.

    With all the arrays in ce, the four elite squads, and the Evolved Monsters standing watch from the shadows, touching a member of the Verhen family was only slightly easier than stealing a phoenix¡¯s egg.

    The Master suspected Lith was behind the crystal¡¯s disappearance because he was the only one present when the orc shaman died. They needed him alive to know if he had the crystal and where it was stored.

    A Forgemaster like Lith could turn anything into a dimensional item, making the search for the crystal harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Kidnapping a family member was out of question.

    It would require a couple of Eldritch Abominations to get past the wards, but by the time they seeded, the family would have been relocated and the security increased.

    Also, the Master didn¡¯t want to antagonize Lith. They had followed the namelessmoner¡¯s career and deemed him as one of the chosen, one of the few people the Master was willing to share the results of their research with.

    The Master was biding their time before offering Lith the opportunity to join them. The youth was talented and brilliant. With his assistance, the Master could save years if not decades of research.

    Jarok had waited for his return for months and this was the first opportunity it had to speak with him alone. Lith¡¯s habit of Warping around made it impossible to follow him.

    ¡¯What kind of monster is he?¡¯ Jarok thought.

    ¡¯When Lith was twelve, he needed hispanions to defeat a newborn and iplete Puppeteer Abomination. Then he almost died fighting a Valor. There¡¯s no way he got this strong in just a few years. Unless...¡¯ The revtion struck Jarok like a lightning and so did the Gatekeeper, cutting away its remaining arm.

    ¡¯Unless he is an Awakened one and all the intel we have on him is dead wrong.¡¯ Jarok kept moving as tendrils of darkness came out of the severed limbs and reattached them to the main body.

    Neither Jarok nor Lith was scared of their opponent. It wasn¡¯t their first rodeo. They both believed the situation was under control. The Abomination conjured three waves of air des all at once.

    One was aimed at Lith while the other two invaded the space on his sides, making it impossible for him to dodge.

    ¡¯Interesting.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯It can reason and cast spells. This Abomination could teach us a lot.¡¯ She studied the creature like it was their newest science project. Solus had no sympathy for Abominations nor she was worried for Lith.

    His mind was in a fit of rage, but not the kind that makes a man act recklessly without care for the consequences. It was focused and amplified like a light turned into aser, and it had only one aim: to kill.

    Lith was forced to Blink away, just as Jarok predicted. It contracted the shadows thatposed its body and infused them with mana until they burst out in all directions. The space in a five meters (16¡¯) radius around it was now filled by countless spikes protruding from a ck core.

    It was both the perfect attack and perfect defense, with no blind spot nor target left to attack.

    Before the creature which now resembled a sea urchin could return to its original shape, a pir of blue mes descended from the sky causing it blinding agony. Contrary to Jarok¡¯s expectations, instead of pressing forward Lith had moved upwards.

    Lith had no idea if his opponent had ess to Life Vision, dimensional magic, or both. By taking the high ground he could safely observe its reaction to a Blink. That way, even if the Abomination possessed the same skills of an Awakened one and Blinked forward, he would still be out of reach.

    If not, the creature would leave itself open to an attack.

    ¡¯No Life Vision.¡¯ Solus pondered while Lith made the pir follow Jarok¡¯s every movement to prevent it from escaping the fiery trap. The creature roared with fury and Blinked to safety, or so it thought.

    Lith¡¯s tier four true spell Burning Prison encased the dimensional door¡¯s exit point. Six fireballs appeared at the same time around Jarok, one above, one below and the others in a square shape. The fireballs exploded simultaneously, each reinforcing the effect of the others.

    "Enough!" The Abomination screamed while unleashing its trump card. A ck sphere enveloped the creature and ripped apart Lith¡¯s mana from the world elemental energy.

    Burning Prison disappeared in a puff of smoke without inflicting any damage.

    Jarok extended its left arm which emitted the tier four Chaos magic spell Howling Void. A spear made of darkness as thick as an arm crossed the space between them too fast to be dodged.

    Lith Blinked away in a random direction, his eyes glued to the opponent while Solus stared in awe at the unknown spell¡¯s aftermath. Everything on Howling Void¡¯s path had simply disappeared.

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible! Darkness magic is supposed to be slow.¡¯ Solus was bbergasted. ¡¯Not only did that thing move fast, but it also made matter decay in an instant.¡¯

    Chaos magic was a twisted version of darkness magic, something that only Abominations could use. Light and darkness were two faces of the same coin, yet Abomination could forcefully sever the connection between them.

    Nature abhorred the void. Whatever was hit by Chaos magic wouldn¡¯t just rot, it would also transfer its innate light energy to restore the bnce, leaving the victim with no protection against the invading darkness.

    Chaos magic moved fast because its energies were attracted by light magic like mas of opposite poles.

    "Last chance. Give me the purple crystal or die!" Jarok was tired of being Lith¡¯s punching bag. It preferred to defy the Master¡¯s orders and kill one of the chosen rather than die.

 Chapter 419 Message Part 2

    Lith¡¯s answer came in the form of maniacalughter. There was no joy in it, only mockery and spite. The seven eyes blinked and so did Lith. This time Jarok quickly turned around and looked for its opponent while weaving dimensional and Chaos spells.

    The Abomination cursed when it discovered that Lith wasn¡¯t behind nor above. Jarok knew that even a split second could be fatal. A movement on its right made the creature turn its head just to see the Gatekeeper sword fly on its own with a stone gauntlet on its hilt.

    The Abomination cast the Chaos magic tier five Hollow Mist spell, conjuring around itself a corrupted space that would destroy the de on contact.

    ¡¯Moving the sword with spirit magic is just a diversion, he must being from the opposite direction.¡¯ Jarok thought while turning around. Its mouthless face deformed in what would have otherwise been a grin when its reasoning proved to be true.

    It raised its left hand and released another Howling Void aimed at Lith¡¯s head. The Abomination chocked on its own triumphant shout when Lith dodged the spell by steering right and instead of approaching he kept his distance.

    Only then Jarok noticed that both Lith and his sword were moving in synch, like sharks circling around their prey. It took the Abomination a second to understand what was happening.

    ¡¯An array! I need to get out of here.¡¯ It thought.

    Yet the realization was a second toote. Lith and Solus were casting it together, reducing the time required to materialize the magical formation. Jarok attempted to Blink away and failed. Darkness was one of the elements necessary to cast such a spell and it was now sealed.

    Jarok then took off, but another Burning Prison cut off all the possible escape routes. The explosion sent it back to the middle of the array as a Checkmate Spears materialized and pierced it from every direction.

    The Abomination tanked the damage and managed to escape from the array. Its body shapeshifted into a smaller form to offer a more difficult target while it darted toward the forest.

    Jarok needed to feed. Unlike Awakened ones, Abominations had no ess to Invigoration. Mogar had turned its back on them, the only way they had to gain world energy was stealing it.

    Trees also meant shadows, and once Jarok reached one its powers would make it almost impossible to find it. Stealth was its specialty, after all. It was how he had escaped the detection of the Evolved Monsters.

    The downside was that it had no value as an offensive maneuver. Once fused with them through Chaos magic, Jarok would be unable to attack or cast spells and it could only move from one shadow to another if they made contact.

    Thanks to the setting sun, most of the forest was now enveloped in darkness. Jarok had lost any fighting spirit, its priority was to get away from Lith enough to have the time to Warp itself to safety.

    The scales on Lith¡¯s face opened, revealing a mouth full of fangs. During the fight with Treius, he had understood why his throat felt weird while transformed and how to use it.

    Lith breathed a jet of blue mes that set the closest patch of trees aze. Jarok couldn¡¯t afford to take a detour. Abominations had no vitals, their whole bodies were made of mana, which meant that with every spell they cast, with every wound they sustained they would grow weaker.

    Using so many dimensional and Chaos spells was taking its toll. Jarok finally understood why Lith hadughed at its threats.

    ¡¯That ursed Awakened must have noticed my energies dwindling after the first Howling Void. If only the Master had made me an Eldritch, I would never lose to a human.¡¯ Its train of thoughts derailed when it noticed that the blue mes wouldn¡¯t stop burning.

    With its body invaded by the mes, all shadows would disappear as soon as Jarok came close. Lith understood the enemy¡¯s intentions and conjured a sphere of light that crushed all hopes the Abomination had of escaping.

    Jarok had nothing to lose anymore. Its only wish was to not die alone.

    Lith shed with the Gatekeeper aiming for the head, the de infused to the brim with darkness magic. Jarok willingly took the hit and managed to catch Lith unprepared.

    Its two arms fused, forming a single de with which the Abomination performed a riposte. As the Gatekeeper sliced Jarok in half, the shadow sword cut Lith¡¯s arm off at the shoulder level.

    Yet not a single drop of blood was spilled. ck tendrils came out from both the arm and the shoulder, reconnecting them while the amputated limb was still in mid air. Jarok couldn¡¯t believe its own senses. Its dying mind refused to ept such an insane reality.

    In ast ditch effort, it grabbed Lith¡¯s scaly shoulders and tried to suck away his vitality prolong its existence of an hour, a minute, or maybe just a second more. What it found was an unyielding hunger, that sucked Jarok¡¯s vitality as fast as the Abomination sucked Lith¡¯s.

    Lith infused even more darkness inside the de, wondering why the creature looked for affection during its final moments.

    "What-what are you?" Jarok asked while its body slowly faded away.

    Lith answered with a final burst of energy that turned the enemy into dust.

    ¡¯Why did you shapeshift?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know. It just felt right.¡¯ Was the only answer Lith could think of.

    ¡¯Do you think this "Master" will get the message or will they bother my family again?¡¯

    ¡¯I think that they already got the message. That¡¯s why that thing tried to talk you into returning the crystal. Just like with the orcs, they can¡¯t afford to alert the Crown. Attacking your family would mean revealing their existence.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Lith nodded and Warped home. The fight with Jarok had helped him to clear his mind and vent his rage. He was now able to look past his wounded pride and realize how lucky he was to be born into such a loving family.

    ¡¯Maybe the third time really is the charm.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Speaking of charms, remember to call Kam. You promised to do so once you reached home.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯I promised nothing, she asked me to. Yet I would have done it anyway. After what I did to her, I owe her that much.¡¯

    "Where have you been? It¡¯s almost dinner time." Elina said as soon as Lith walked through the door. She was clearly worried about his earlier outburst, yet she pretended everything was fine.

    "I¡¯m sorry mom. I¡¯m okay now." Lith hugged her tightly, hoping that one day he would be able to make her feel as special as she made him feel.

    "Uncle!" "Big brother!" The kids yelled as one while tugging at his legs.

    "You have to tell us a story!"

    "Yes, he does!" To Lith¡¯s surprise, Rena joined them in their plea.

    "The story of the Ranger¡¯s new clothes and the princess waiting for him in the north."

 Chapter 420 Agenda Part 1

    With Elina hugging him, the kids at his legs, and the whole family staring at him with an expectant gaze, not even Blink could save Lith from his predicament. He decided it was time to address the elephant in the room.

    ¡¯Even if they do it in an annoying, nosy way, they are just looking out for me. There are so many things I keep hidden from them already. I¡¯m not going to lie about something trivial like a fling.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He had no need to exin to them how the Ranger system worked. Ever since he had expressed the intention of joining the military, his family members had performed thorough research about it.

    If not for Soluspedia, they would know more about the army than Lith. He told them about the hidden vige. To keep the story family-friendly, he changed the vers into monsters and their victims into scared but healthy prisoners.

    The kids enjoyed it while the adults shuddered. They knew that the more fable-like the story was, the more atrocities he was omitting. Then he exined how he met his handler, Kam, and asked her out.

    "I didn¡¯t buy new clothes because of her." Lith was adamant about it.

    "Between the border warfare and the lost cities, the inhabitants of Belius are afraid of uniforms. I needed clothes, otherwise I would be an unwee guest in any establishment of the city."

    "He said ¡¯clothes¡¯ twice, so he bought more than a single set." Elina spoke like he wasn¡¯t even there.

    "Yeah, also since when does he care what other people think? Not to mention that my son isn¡¯t the kind of man who would spend money just to be able to spend more on food. Not when he can get free meals at the canteen and sleep in the barracks."

    Raaz shook his head. Lith¡¯s cover story was hard to believe.

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether to be happy for how well they knew him or ashamed for being universally considered a cheapskate.

    "Is she really a princess?" Leria asked full of curiosity. Having a King for an uncle was still among her childish dreams.

    "Gods, no!" Lith shuddered at the idea. During his work as Assistant Professor he had met the Queen¡¯s daughters more than once. They were even less beautiful than Phloria and so stuck up that they were unbearable.

    Lith would consider dating them only if they were thest women on Mogar.

    "Is she pretty?" Aran asked.

    Lith cupped his hands and conjured a 3D hologram of Kam with light magic. It was a full-body image as big as a doll and in greyscale, representing her as she was dressed during their first date.

    "She is to me. Kam has a beautiful smile and seems to be a very caring woman."

    "She is really cute. How old is she?" Rena was trying to make her tone sound as casual as possible. She even threw in apliment before asking the only question those present really cared about.

    "Twenty-six." The answer was weed with a barrage of snorts and sighs.

    "Another one older than me! What do you have against girls your age?" Rena rolled her eyes, not even attempting to hide her displeasure.

    "Nothing, besides them usually being shallow and childish." Lith replied with a snarl.

    "I have to back him up on this." Tista¡¯s voice was sad. "All the mages I met were arrogant pricks, nobles are only interested in marriage, andmoners are terrified by us." She had summarized her whole love life in a single phrase.

    Even after joining the Mage Association and having asked for Jirni¡¯s help, she never got past the first date.

    "Besides, Lith is very mature and sophisticated for his age. He has even decided to travel the world to expand his horizons. Pressuring him like this is unfair. Love doesn¡¯te with a deadline. This kind of things needs time."

    No one missed that her heartfelt defense applied to her too.

    "Another dud. A woman that age doesn¡¯t have the luxury of time." Elina sighed.

    "Speaking of time, Jirni has invited us all to her birthday party. It would be really nice of you to attend." Her tone was casual, but Lith knew his mother enough to know how eager she was at the idea.

    Even after Phloria and he broke up, their families had remained friends, especially their mothers. Friya and Quy were among Tista¡¯s best friends, which kept the families even closer.

    "I¡¯ll do my best to obtain leave for that day." The whole family rejoiced as Lith threw them a bone to get them off his back.

    "Lil brother, after dinner I¡¯d like to discuss magic with you." It was their code word for when Tista wanted to spend time with Solus or needed help with true magic.

    "Sure. I need your advice too."

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, in a secret location.

    In an underground great hall, sitting around a humungous round table, were assembled most of the human Awakened ones living in the Garlen continent. Raagu, their current ruler and human representative in the Guiding Hand (AN: aka the governing body of all five races of Awakened ones) had urgent news to discuss.

    Everyone was really curious to learn what could have possibly caused the assembly. Raagu was old enough to only have two cares in the world. Choosing a sessor and searching for a way to prolong her life.

    "Since I have no time to waste on niceties, I¡¯ll get straight to the point." She was a middle-aged woman that looked around fifty years old despite her real age being over five hundred years.

    "There are only two items on our agenda. The first and more relevant is the murder of two Awakened members of our order." All those present gasped in surprise, fearing someone was hunting them down.

    "mus and Treius Clein are no more." Two-thirds of the hall sighed in relief. Both the victims were from the Blood Desert, which made the issue irrelevant for them.

    "How did it happen?" Asked a man that lived in the Desert, afraid he would be the next in line.

    "mus was found guilty of being an essory to breaking the peace treaties between the Griffon and the Phoenix. He has been executed by thetter. Treius was murdered during his attempt to merge with the ck Star." Raagu replied.

    "What a couple of idiots." The man guffawed. All of his worries faded away like fog under the sun.

    "The Clein¡¯s territory is now no man¡¯snd. Those of you interested in taking control of the area can raise their hand." Raagu ignored him and continued.

    "I will not allow for senseless battles that could expose our existence. Everything will be settled here and now through a Spirit Duel."

    Many wanted to seize the opportunity and hastily raised their arm, yet when they saw that none of the Awakened from the Blood Desert would take part in thepetition, their greed turned into worry.

    "Is there anything we should know?" A young-looking Awakened who lived in the Gorgon Empire asked one of her peers from the Desert. Before answering, the man stared at Raagu, who nodded.

    "The Desert it¡¯s not like the Kingdom or the Empire." All those from the Desert sighed in embarrassment. "Overlord Sark owns thend, literally. She grants us our territory in exchange for our services. The more you take, the more she is entitled to ask."

    "What if you refuse her demands?" She asked.

    The young man stared her in the eyes and said:

    "How do you think I got a territory of my own at barely 200 years of age? The idiot before me got herself killed by the Overlord."

 Chapter 421 Agenda Part 2

    "It happened a few years ago." The man from the desert exined.

    "Some Abominations had killed most of her Feathers (AN: Sark¡¯s fake Awakened), the borders were overrun by invaders from all the neighboring countries, and she was on the hunt for the one staging the crisis. It was a real mess.

    "The Overlord ordered Ruria, my predecessor, to cull the monster tribes during her absence. Ruria was over seven hundred years old and had a bright purple core. She believed that she was on the verge of another breakthrough."

    "The fabled white core of immortality?" The woman from the Empire sniggered along with most of those present.

    "That¡¯s a legend. No one has ever achieved it."

    "Yeah, a legend. Like Awakened ones, Mage Towers, Dragons, and Elves. Yet..." He didn¡¯t finish the phrase, he simply waved at his peers.

    "Anyway, Ruria was certain that with more life and death battles she could finally evolve. She defied Sark and told her to shove those bullshit orders up her feathery ass, wishing her to enjoy the experience. And here I am."

    "Wait. How did you get a territory without anyone challenging your im? I¡¯m sure this is the first assembly in decades."

    "Because I didn¡¯t im it, Sark gave it to me. Back then, I was a wandering Awakened who had agreed to help her. She gave me Ruria¡¯s territory as a reward for my services. Not before taking most of Ruria¡¯s treasures and books for herself."

    The man sighed at the memory. Sark had left him the crumbs, yet even those were more than he had ever dreamt about. He couldn¡¯t even imagine how powerful the Guardian had to be to berate such knowledge to the point of gifting it away.

    "This is uneptable!" An old woman from the Kingdom yelled in outrage. "How can you bow down like sheep to a bloodthirsty tyrant? Why haven¡¯t we killed Sark already?"

    At those words, the hall fell into silence. Raagu looked at the woman like she was insane.

    "Sure, we can beat her, but at what price? How many of us are willing to die in the attempt?" Not a single hand was raised.

    "Let¡¯s suppose for a moment that we kill Sark, that the other Guardians don¡¯t decide to avenge their fallenrade. Then what? Who is willing to assume the duty of a Guardian? To prevent the chaos that would ensue after her death from triggering a war that could destroy all of our territories?"

    Under the disgusted gaze of the other Awakened, the woman understood the foolishness of her words and lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "If I ever hear such nonsense from you again, X, I¡¯ll think you¡¯ve be senile and take you out myself. Enough wasting my time. Who¡¯s still interested in Clein¡¯s territory?"

    Those who already had a territory in another country lowered their hands. They didn¡¯t want to be Sark¡¯s underlings. Only the wandering Awakened remained. Even if they had to pay their due to Sark, it was better than the alternative.

    "Very good. Before proceeding with the Spirit Duel, the second item on the agenda. Treius Clein wasn¡¯t killed by Sark, but by a seventeen years old Ranger. I suppose you have heard about Lith Verhen."

    Raagu was diforted noticing that only some of the Awakened from the Kingdom recognized the name. She distributed pieces of papers with all of his known achievements.

    "He must be an Awakened too." Said X trying to regain a part of her credibility. "Treius was azy idiot, barely twenty years old, but mus Awakened him when he was still a kid and provided him with his best equipment.

    "A street urchin Awakened like Nalear managed to kill Linjos, one of the best mages of the Kingdom. I can¡¯t believe a Ranger still wet behind his ears could defeat Treius with fake magic."

    "Agreed." Raagu nodded.

    "Fine, but who cares?" Said the young woman from the Kingdom.

    "He¡¯s ying by the rules, pretending to be a ¡¯genius¡¯ and minding his own business. Heck, we should send him a thank you card for getting rid of the ck Star." Many agreed with her.

    "You are all idiots. It¡¯s no surprise many of you are stuck at a blue core even after centuries." Raagu stared at them like they were trash.

    "I just told you that a twenty year old Awakened, backed by one of the most powerful men of the Desert and with a bright cyan core has been defeated by someone even younger with no background. How can your answer be ¡¯who cares¡¯?"

    The revtion amazed most of the younger Awakened, while the others were simply interested enough to be relieved of their boredom.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, In Magic Empress Milea¡¯s throne room.

    After months spent wandering the Garlen continent, Scarlett the Scorpicore was fed up with failing at everything and had decided to ask for Leegaain¡¯s help. The problem was she had no way of contacting him.

    The rune of hismunication amulet had been offline for weeks, forcing her to meet him in person. Luckily, Milea knew about Scarlett and her most notable aliases, so getting an audience with the fabled Magic Empress hadn¡¯t been too hard.

    "Good morning, your Majesty. Thank you for receiving me with such short notice." Scarlett¡¯s human form gave her a deep bow. She looked like a woman adventurer in her thirties. Her ashen gold hair had red shades and she wore a gold rimmed pince-nez on her nose.

    Unlike the Guardians, she had chosen an inconspicuous human form for her travels. She could barely stand humans as it was, she had no desire to have flocks of admirers pestering her.

    "Any friend of Leegaain is also my friend. It¡¯s an honor to meet one of the Lords of the forest." Milea allowed Scarlett to stand up and shook her hand.

    "I relinquished that title. Now I¡¯m simply the first of my kind." Scarlett didn¡¯t like the idea of being called "the Mother of all Scorpicores". She found it pretentious and it made her feel old.

    "What can I do for you?" Milea asked.

    "Thank you, but I just need to talk with the old lizard."

    "Coming here was the right move. He¡¯s been very busy ofte. Without a mind link, it¡¯s impossible to reach him." Milea closed her eyes for a second and a humanoid Warped next to her.

    "Scar, you haven¡¯t changed at all." Leegaain said with a disappointed voice.

    He had the appearance of a lean albino man, 1,75 meters (5¡¯9"), with snow white hair and skin. His eyes were purple with vertical pupils. He was wearing ab coat over a set of pitch ck clothes.

    "It¡¯s nice to see you too." Scarlett replied with an inhuman growl.

    "Since we are both busy, I¡¯ll get straight to the point . After Sark saved Balkor, and Linjos¡¯s death, I¡¯ve decided to step up my game and be a Guardian." After failing to avenge herrades, losing her only human friend had been thest straw.

    "Yet no matter what I do, ever since I fought your featherydy friend in the desert, no world tribtion has urred. I left my forest because I knew that a quiet life also meant no challenges and no tribtions."

 Chapter 422 Present Part 1

    "I¡¯ve in countless Fallen, righted several injustices, helped those in need, but to no avail. To add insult to the injury, my core is still blue. For the gods¡¯ sake, I¡¯m over 300 years old. What am I doing wrong?" She said looking at Milea with envy.

    The Empress was in her early thirties, yet she already had a deep purple core and a body powerful enough to fight on par with an Evolved Monster.

    ¡¯I wonder how the heck did he did it.¡¯ Scarlett pondered. ¡¯It¡¯s too bad not even my artifact can see through a Guardian. I always wondered what kind of core they have.¡¯

    A wave of Leegaain¡¯s hand made two armchairs appear, one for himself and the other for his guest.

    "Excellent question. The short answer is: everything. If you want the long one, you¡¯d better sit down. It will take a while."

    Scarlett rolled her eyes and prayed for a swift death before doing as instructed.

    To Scarlett, Leegaain asked: "First of all, since when were you a hero? Why would helping others trigger a tribtion?"

    "Tyris exined to me how tribtions work. Thest one happened while I was seeking justice for my friends, so I thought that what Mogar wants from me is to do the right thing." She replied.

    "That¡¯s absurd! What happened to Balkor was an injustice, yet he never experienced a tribtion. When the anomaly fought Nalear he did the right thing, but again, no tribtion.

    "They happen when something deeply rooted inside of you resonates with what Mogar wants. Mogar couldn¡¯t care less about right or wrong, fair or unfair. The only right thing you did was to leave your turf. Without hardships there¡¯s no growth."

    "Then tell me. What does Mogar want from me?" The idea of having wasted months of hard work frustrated her to no end.

    "If I tell you, having a tribtion will be nigh impossible. Once you know, you would do the right things for the wrong reason: getting your prize. I suffered seeing Mogar¡¯s wonders disappear and so did Mogar. That¡¯s how I became a Guardian.

    "If I started hoarding knowledge and creatures just to please the world, there would be no resonance between us. The feeling must be sincere, not cynical."

    "Okay, fine! What about the blue core? Why am I stuck?" She snarled.

    "A blue core is the natural apex for most bodies. Very few can host a purple core because the mind, body, and mana must be in perfect synch. Up to the blue core, you only need to refine your body and lower the resistance it offers to the mana flow by removing impurities.

    "A purple core, however, requires that even the mind must not be a hindrance. Using magic must be akin to breathing to you. Moving a finger or casting a spell should require you the same focus.

    "Humans have a hard time getting a purple core because of their flimsy bodies, beasts because of their powerful bodies. We naturally tend to be reliant on brute strength just like humans use magic even to wipe their own asses."

    "So, it¡¯s just a matter of practice? Because I have studied magic for centuries!" Scarlett was still confused.

    "Not of practice, but of understanding the nature of magic. You make it flow instead of letting it flow." Leegaain shook his head.

    "Okay, I give up. Can you help me like you did for her?" She pointed at Milea.

    "I could, but that could hinder your path to Guardianhood. You would learn my way of using magic instead of discovering yours. It could alter the way you perceive yourself and the world."

    "What about the humans?" Frustration was driving her insane.

    "I¡¯ve met a crazy head at the White Griffon with a purple core. How is it possible?"

    "Some creatures are born with a perfect mana body and a twisted mind. Only such individuals if incredibly lucky can host a purple core, yet ites at a cost. In their case, the impurities left are a safeguard. If they Awaken, they die because their bodies are synched to a static mana, not to a flowing one."

    "Any advice?" Scarlett stood up. The whole visit had felt like a waste of time to her.

    "Yes, one. Open yourself to the world. Laugh, cry, fall in love, hate, whatever you do, do it from the depths of your heart. Being a Guardian requires staying true to oneself.

    "As for the core issue, just stop thinking of magic as if it¡¯s not part of you. Every spell you cast, every item you forgemaster, it defines you. Just like the words you say or the decisions you make." Leegaain stood up while offering her his hand.

    "I always admired you for never forcing an Awakening, not even for your friends. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll ever be a Guardian, but I¡¯m certain that you¡¯ll get a purple core in no time."

    "Thanks for your wisdom." Scarlett said while smiling for the first time in months.

    ***

    Trawn Woods, inside Solus¡¯s tower form.

    After dinner, Lith and Tista had left home for the mana geyser that would allow Solus to take part in their conversation. Once inside, Lith told his sister the truth about Kaduria and his fight against the unknown Awakened one.

    Then, he told her about his encounter with the Empowered Abomination.

    "That thing wanted my crystal. The rest of the family is safe here in Lutia, but once you leave, you may be a target. This Master could try to get you to force my hand." Lith said.

    "Are you telling me to stay cooped up home?" Tista was mildly annoyed.

    "No, just to be careful. Remember what I taught you about Abominations and keep your eyes open for ck cores. If you¡¯re in danger, run." Lith was done protecting his sister from the truth. She was old and powerful enough to make her own choices.

    "Thank you, lil brother! I¡¯m d you trust me so much." Tista had feared Lith would give her a paranoid speech to change her mind about her trip.

    "You¡¯re wee. Now, I need your advice." Once he had finished telling her about his first date and the blunder he made after being conferred Great Mage, Tista didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry.

    "The good news is that she definitely likes you. Otherwise instead of asking you to call her, she would have canceled the date. The bad news is that if you don¡¯t handle things carefully, she¡¯ll expect a betrothal gift from you."

    "I know, right?" Solus chimed in. "I told him to give her a nice present, but Lith¡¯s idea is insane."

    "Hear me out before calling me crazy." Lith sighed. "I can¡¯t give her a dimensional ring because it¡¯s too expensive, right?" The simplest of Lith¡¯s creations was worth several gold coins, while military officers were paid in silver.

    "At the same time, since I don¡¯t know what she likes, flowers or sweets would be impersonal and unimaginative."

    "Don¡¯t forget cheap." Tista pointed out.

    "Fine! Cheap too. II don¡¯t want to show off nor do I want to screw up again, so I thought about apromise."

    Lith walked towards his forgemasteringb and disappeared for a couple of minutes before returning with what looked like a green breadstick.

 Chapter 423 Present Part 2

    The moment Lith imprinted the green stick, a flower made of mes bloomed from its tip. Tista had never seen something like it, mostly because it was a reproduction down to the smallest detail of a double-flowered camellia japonica from Earth.

    With a series of mana sparks, Lith made it turn snow white, ice blue, midnight ck, sunny yellow, chestnut brown, and red again.

    "It¡¯s the perfectpromise." Lith offered the flower to Tista to let her examine it.

    "It¡¯s almost as cheap as a flower but has the cool allure of magic." On Mogar there were no greenhouses. The only avable flowers were the wild ones or those which people grew in their own garden.

    Only nobles could afford a gardener, and even then, they only cultivated nts that could thrive in their region. It was the reason why flowers were considered a cheap present.

    With the money necessary to buy dimensional items or get ess to Warp Gates, it would be more convenient to buy a house rather than export nts.

    "Also, I used very chea- I mean, I chose materials that can¡¯t hold the imprint for long. In less than a week, the magic stored will dissipate and I made it so that the visual effect will resemble the withering of a flower.

    "This way, she has to tend to it like it¡¯s the real deal. The idea behind my creation is that if she likes it, every time she recharges it or changes the element stored..."

    "She is likely to think about you!" Tista cut him short while moving her hand over the fiery flower. It was ethereal and barely warm.

    "Do you like it?" Lith asked with a smug grin.

    "This is the most romantic thing I have ever seen! What is it called?"

    "Camellia." Lith had no imagination for names, so he stuck with the original one.

    "You named it after her? You¡¯ve know her for less than a week."

    ¡¯More like I picked a flower that reminded me of her name.¡¯ He thought.

    "First, if you give her something like this, you might as well add a betrothal gift. This is too much for a second date. Heck, maybe even for a tenth one." Tista stared in awe at the multipleyers of petals and the hues of color each one had.

    "I said the same thing, but he is too damn stubborn." Solus sighed.

    "Second, I resent that you¡¯ve never made something this cute for Mom, Rena, or I. Yet you invented this camellia for aplete stranger!" Tista said with an angry voice.

    Those words struck hard at Lith, to the point that Solus intervened in outrage.

    "That¡¯s really unfair of you, Tista. You are the reason why Lith became a healer in the first ce. He took care of you when you were ill, gave you the best cuts of meat even if he was still hungry, made sure you always had fur clothes.

    "Have you forgotten the toys he made for you? Like the rocking chair? (AN: it was actually a swing. See early chaps) Or that the house you live in, just like the clothes you wear alle from his hard work? He did a lot for you, kid."

    Tista lowered her gaze feeling ashamed of herself. Her rage disappeared like a bubble.

    "I¡¯m sorry, lil brother. I didn¡¯t mean it that way. I guess I¡¯m just jealous of your talent and of Kam¡¯s luck. I¡¯ve never received anything like this from any of my dates. It¡¯s beautiful. Maybe even too much."

    "Why are you jealous? It¡¯s just a trick." Lith said trying to console her as five different kinds of elemental flowers bloomed on his fingertips while a sixth one bloomed on his palm.

    "It may be just a trick, but the thought behind it is quite deep. I wouldn¡¯t give it to her so soon." She tried to mimic him, but her flowers either looked like crumpled origami or as someone had stomped on them.

    "I¡¯ve been Awakened since I was four, it¡¯s just a matter of experience with first magic." He shrugged. "Okay, let¡¯s put the camellia aside. Then what the heck should I give her?"

    "I guess you are forced to go with flowers. Everything else would feel like you¡¯re showing off your magic or trying too hard. She is from Belius. Based on your stories, there isn¡¯t much green there. Bringing her a mixed bouquet is the safest route." Tista replied.

    Lith pondered Tista¡¯s words while the girls talked about their respective travel ns. He left them alone and went to study the purple crystal stored in the tower basement. The Empowered Abomination¡¯s attempt to retrieve it was proof of the crystal¡¯s value.

    He tried to activate the pathways marked by the Master¡¯s device with little sess.

    The crystal rejected Lith¡¯s personal mana even in the form of spirit magic. The only way he had to interact with it was by manipting the world energy as the gemstone absorbed it to further its growth.

    It was a delicate process. If Lith applied too much pressure, the world energy would be tainted by his mana and expelled from the crystal. Too little and it would wander off the pathways producing no effect.

    "Good grief. This may take months of focused practice. I don¡¯t have that much time, at least not right now." Lith sighed.

    After returning home, he finally had the time and the privacy necessary to make the call. Once again, Kam had the hologram disabled. Lith took it as a bad sign.

    "Sorry for calling you thiste. I didn¡¯t want to bother you again while you were at work." He said.

    "Why are you apologizing? I¡¯m the one who asked you to call me." She didn¡¯t sound upset or ufortable.

    "Is everything okay at home? How did your parents react to the news, oh great one?" Kam chuckled.

    "Better than okay. Everyone is happy as a m. They epted the change much better than I did. Sorry if I freaked you out earlier. With all I¡¯ve been through in my life, I¡¯ve be a hopeless pessimist. The higher amoner gets, the bigger a target he bes."

    "Sadly, I know what you mean. Let¡¯s not talk about sad things, though. I was thinking, would you like to go to a music restaurant for our second date or would you prefer a more ssic location?"

    ¡¯She brought up the date topic on her own. I¡¯m safe!¡¯ Lith clenched his fist in triumph.

    "What¡¯s a music restaurant?"

    "It¡¯s a new kind of establishment that¡¯s bing quite popr in the north. They offer live music to their customers. The brave ones can even take part in the show. It¡¯s more expensive than a regr restaurant, because they have to be magically sound proofed and enchanted so that everyone can talk and listen without going deaf."

    ¡¯Told you so!¡¯ Solus gloated. ¡¯She recognized you from the receptionist¡¯s description, my dear Ebenezer Scrooge.¡¯

    Lith cursed Xilo¡¯s bloodline out to the seventh generation before replying.

    "Sounds interesting, I¡¯d be d to give it a try. My treat this time. I¡¯m the one that got promoted."

    "Still daring even after the Hogese fiasco? Sweet." The hologram popped up. Kam was dressed normally, but she was dabbing her hair with a bath towel. The steam in the background was a clear sign she had just finished bathing.

    That and the way her shirt stuck to her body like a second skin made Lith¡¯s usually cold heart quicken its pace.

 Chapter 424 Date Part 1

    The following morning, Lieutenant Kam Yehval was fixing her hair in a bun before going to work, when she received a call on hermunication amulet.

    ¡¯I hope it¡¯s not Lith again. Last night we ended up talking until it was reallyte. I don¡¯t like clingy guys much.¡¯ The smile on her face disappeared as soon as she saw whose rune was blinking.

    "Has something happened to Zinya? Is she all right?"

    "Good morning to you too, dear. Your sister is fine. Can¡¯t a mother just want to hear from her daughter?" The voice was sweet and caring as Kam remembered it. Yet she knew it was just a pretense.

    After she had escaped from the marriage her family had arranged for her by joining the army, Kam had cut all ties with them. Thest time she had heard from her mother, Kima, was when she had been promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant.

    Kima had aimed to exploit her daughter¡¯s authority to solve some problems with the local constables. The family hadn¡¯t taken her refusal well. The only reason they had exchanged contact runes was that Kam was worried about her sister.

    Zinya¡¯s husband wasn¡¯t a bad man, but he was cold and uncaring toward her. Their marriage was just a business deal. He considered her nothing more than a trophy wife.

    "What do you want this time, mother?" Kam¡¯s voice was cold and detached, but her hands started shaking. She stung her hand with the hairpin a few times before giving up on her hair until the call was over.

    "We haven¡¯t talked in months. Can¡¯t you call me ¡¯mom¡¯ at least?"

    "What do you want this time, Kima?" Her voice became even colder while stressing her mother¡¯s first name.

    "Nothing. I just heard that there is this mage courting you and I was worried about you. You know how those monsters are. They think that they can take whatever they want because of their powers. It¡¯s awful like some people treat others like objects."

    ¡¯People like you.¡¯ Kam thought with anger.

    "Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s very kind. I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯mte for work. If there¡¯s nothing else..." She said trying to end the conversation quickly.

    "Oh, my sweet child, you¡¯re so na?ve. Of course he is kind. He has yet to get what he wants. Despite your age, you are still a beautiful woman. You need to y your cards right."

    Kima¡¯s allegations of Kam being dumb and old made her unable to talk back. Kima took her daughter¡¯s silence as her cue to continue.

    "Young men are hot headed enough to do anything to reach their goals. If you really want to waste your time with someone who will surely dump you for a younger and richer girl, you could at least get something in return.

    "A few dimensional items could be of great help for the family business. They would not only allow us to cut transportation fee expenses, but would also prevent our most delicate products from being stolen or damaged. You just..."

    "You are dead to me." Kam cut her short. "When you fail, because you will, don¡¯t knock on my door because it will remain shut. You are no longer part of this family. These are the words with which father decided to part ways with me."

    "He didn¡¯t mean..."

    "He sure did, just like you kindly reminded me when I refused to endanger my career to fix your mess. I¡¯m not part of your family and I¡¯m happier this way. Unless something happens to Zinya, don¡¯t call me ever again."

    She hung up the call and noticed that her favorite hairpin was ruined. Her hand was still clenched around it so hard that it was trembling. The thin metal pin was bent and deformed. Kam threw it in the garbage bin before taking a deep breath to calm herself.

    "They may be your parents, but they are not your family." She said to herself at the mirror. "You didn¡¯t let them ruin your life, do not let them ruin your day either."

    Kam fixed her bun with the second best hairpin she had and left for work.

    ***

    Returning to Belius proved to be annoying for Lith. Not only did he had to Warp around to get a decent number of flowers for the mixed bouquet, but he also had to take everything out of his pocket dimension before the customs.

    Belius¡¯s arrays blocked dimensional magic, which meant he had to carry everything by hand.

    ¡¯I feel like an idiot walking with flowers in one hand and a box of sweets in the other one.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Why did you put the camellia in the middle of the bouquet?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Because it¡¯s either my back up n in case I screw something up or my forget-me-not if everything goes well.¡¯

    Lith arrived early at the appointed ce to scout it and check the menu. This time he managed to avoid making faces, yet the head waiter admonished him.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sir, but it¡¯s not allowed to bring food inside the restaurant." His words and his face didn¡¯t match. He looked annoyed, staring at Lith¡¯s foreign features with ill concealed spite.

    "Look, I would dly put everything inside my dimensional amulet. Too bad it doesn¡¯t work in here." Lith didn¡¯t like the man¡¯s attitude and was quickly running out of patience.

    "Do you really own one?" The man¡¯s demeanor turned amiable abruptly. Dimensional items were the mark of big spenders.

    "More than one actually." Lith smiled while his Skinwalker armor shapeshifted into his Ranger uniform. "I¡¯m Great Mage and Ranger Lith Verhen. I would really appreciate if you kept the box in a safe ce for me."

    He said thest part with a snarl, to make it sound threatening. Yet the man didn¡¯t seem to notice. His full attention was focused on the badge confirming Lith¡¯s identity and the newly appointed Great Mage insignia below it.

    "It¡¯s an honor to have the destroyer of Kaduria in our establishment!" The head waiter took the box of sweets from Lith¡¯s hands like it was a jewel and carried it over to the kitchen.

    "Would you like to change your table? One of those near the bandstand just opened up."

    "Can you please repeat the offer once my date arrives? Make it sound casual." Lith nodded as his uniform turned into a ck suit with a white shirt.

    "Of course!" The man said while looking at Lith like he was a huge sack of gold.

    Lith tipped the man a few silver pieces as a thank you and to make sure nothing would happen to his stuff. His heart bled one drop for each coin, yet he soldiered up.

    Kam arrived earlier again, wearing a long coat over a red silk shirt and ck pants. "Thank you so much! I¡¯ve never seen so many different flowers at once." She sniffed them one by one.

    The head waiter checked the reservation before asking Kam if she wanted to switch tables.

    "Does it cost extra?" She looked at Lith, who became beet red from the embarrassment.

    "We¡¯ll take it, thanks!"

    The head waiter led them to one of the best tables in the room.

 Chapter 425 Date Part 2

    It was close enough to the stage to watch the performance, but also with more free space around itpared to most seats.

    Realizing her blunder, Kamughed the whole way while holding the bouquet.

    "Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to be rude. Where should I put these flowers?"

    Before she finished the phrase, a waiter brought a vase while another carried a third chair so the bouquet could spread its fragrance without standing between them. Kam didn¡¯t miss how the staff was too friendly and the table too good for two new customers.

    Her mother¡¯s words started echoing in her mind and made her face turn glum.

    "Be honest. Do I really look like a mortician?" Lith mistook her expression for disapproval and cursed at himself for not following his sister¡¯s advice about dressing in light colors.

    "What? No. It looks good on you, but in your shoes, I would take off the jacket. You are a little overdressed." She said while smiling again at the odd question.

    "How was your day?" Lith asked after noticing that something was off.

    "It started pretty bad, but it¡¯s getting better. What about you?"

    "So far so good. At least today nobody tried to kill me." He said with a sigh while a waiter brought them the menus.

    "Today? What about yesterday?" Lith told her about the Abomination in the Trawn woods using the same tone with which he ced their order.

    "How can you be so calm? You almost died twice in as many days."

    "I told you before. My life is pretty crazy. If you read my personal file, you know in what kind of mess you¡¯re getting yourself into." He said with a sad smile as the band started ying what he considered nothing more than rhythmic noise.

    "As you always say, let¡¯s not talk about sad stuff. What do you think about the music?"

    "They are good." Lith¡¯s shocked expression at her answer made herugh heartily. "Why that face? Don¡¯t you like it?"

    "Not much. The sound is good, but it has no soul."

    When their tes arrived, they started talking about their respective ns for the future. Kam¡¯s goal was to rise up the army ranks. Bing a Colonel was her dream, but she knew that unless she achieved something big it woulde toote in her life to matter.

    "If life was a fairy tale, I¡¯d say I want to be the first magicless General of the Kingdom. Sadly, the rank of Colonel is the ceiling, even for geniuses."

    Lith didn¡¯t know how to answer. He had no big dreams or ambitions aside getting rid of his reincarnation problem. He longed for power and money, but only because they were the means to an end.

    He would do anything to achieve his goal, yet he had never stopped considering what he would do if he ever managed to make it.

    "I¡¯d like to teach in an Academy." Was all he could think about. "First, there¡¯s something I need to do, though. It¡¯s the reason I became a Ranger. I need the army to obtain the means to cure a dear friend of mine."

    Kam didn¡¯t buy the ¡¯friend¡¯ part for a second, but she didn¡¯t press the matter any further. Meanwhile, the band was offering the customers the opportunity to take part in the performance.

    "Why don¡¯t you go up there and show them how it¡¯s done?" She said it as a joke.

    "As long as you promise me that whatever you hear and see, you will notugh at me." He replied taking her by surprise and extending his hand to her.

    "Deal."

    Lith stepped on the stand among some mild apuse and took the Mogar¡¯s equivalent of a Spanish guitar from the hands of a musician. He asked the band to not apany him and then he started ying.

    Or better, he started cheating. Lith didn¡¯t know how to sing or y, but he had learned from magical beasts how to use air magic to reproduce whatever sound he wanted.

    It took him his full focus to perform a slightly modified version of "The Noise of Silence" by Shimon and Carbuncle. It was one of his favorite songs from Earth. It required only a guitar to be yed and it felt like it talked about him.

    He didn¡¯t look at Kam not even once. He was too busy trying to pluck random strings while following the rhythm. When he finished, the lead of the band shook Lith¡¯s hand and whispered:

    "Hope yourdy friend doesn¡¯t y any instrument because whatever you did, you didn¡¯t get a single string right. Good luck."

    "I don¡¯t need luck." Lith replied before going back to his table.

    "Did you like it?" He asked with an expectant look.

    "It¡¯s beautiful but very sad. I would have never taken you for a poet and a musician." Her eyes were a little watery, she felt like the song talked about her too.

    "I¡¯m neither. Someone else wrote the lyrics." Lith chuckled and then exined to her the trick behind his performance.

    "Well, you¡¯ve got some nerve." She couldn¡¯t help butugh seeing how people had fallen for his deception and looked at Lith with admiration.

    "There¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t understand. Why go through all this trouble and then tell me the truth about it?" No matter how shy a magic trick was, once its secret was exposed it would lose its luster.

    "Because I wanted to impress you." He replied with a warm smile. "Magic it¡¯s not only about exploding stuff or healing people. The beauty of Mogar is that magic is everywhere. It ys a big part in my life. In a way, it defines who I am.

    "That¡¯s what I mean when I say that I wanted to impress you. Not through music or rhymes, that¡¯s not me. I¡¯m a mage, hence I used magic to share something I like. As for the truth, I learned from experience that starting a rtionship on a lie never works."

    They spent the rest of their dinner chatting, but this time Kam called for the check the moment they were done eating. Lith took the box of sweets while she carried the flowers and apanied her to the nearest Warp Gate.

    She fiddled with the control panel for so long that Lith started to fear she was too drunk to remember her own address.

    ¡¯Weird. We drank even less than thest time.¡¯ He thought.

    "It¡¯s still early. Would you like toe to my ce for a cup of tea and a snack?" She asked while pointing at the box.

    "I would love to." Lith replied a bit too fast, realizing she waspletely sober.

    Kam¡¯s house was a two room t. The kitchen and the living room shared the same space. There were only two closed doors, which were likely to lead to the bathroom and the bedroom.

    "Do you mind preparing the tea while I find a ce for the flowers, oh great one? Everything you need is on sight."

    Lith filled the teapot with water and put it on the stove. Everything worked with magic crystals, making it akin to a modern kitchen.

    "Do you like your tea strong or light?" Lith asked while picking the amount of leaves and mint.

    "Both are fine." She replied.

    Lith turned around, discovering that she was standing right behind him. The first three buttons of her shirt were undone, revealing a fair amount of her bosom.

    ¡¯That¡¯s at least a C cup...¡¯

    The moment Lith raised his eyes to meet Kam¡¯s, she took him in her arms. One hand behind his head and the other on his neck, she forced Lith to bend down and kissed him. Softly at first, like a schoolgirl at her first, clumsy attempt.

    He didn¡¯t let her go, drawing her closer to him while she kissed him with growing passion until she clung to him as a lifeboat in the storm her life was. His mouth managed to part her frenzied lips at the first attempt, sending tremors along both their bodies.

    And then, as suddenly as it had begun, she pulled away from him.

    "Wait." Kam said with a quivering voice.

    "Too fast?" Lith asked without bothering to hide his disappointment.

    "The bedroom is that way." She pointed at the second closed door as her legs wrapped around his waist, bringing their faces at the same level before starting to kiss Lith again.

 Chapter 426 Departure Part 1

    After several hours of recreational activities, Kam fell asleep as soon as they started cuddling. By checking his watch, Lith noticed there was not enough time to reset Invigoration¡¯s effects. Besides, he had already slept the night before, so he was still at his peak condition.

    He used umtion to further refine his core while staring at Kam¡¯s sleeping face. Somehow, she kept grinning even while unconscious. Lith chuckled at the sight. Just like air magic allowed him to cheat at singing, light magic had done its part during the night.

    Thanks to Invigoration and some custom made spells, he had an easy time discovering his partner¡¯s most sensitive zones, when to stimte them, and how delicate or not he had to be to achieve the maximum effect.

    He kept caressing her head while checking the room with Life Vision. Lith didn¡¯t feelfortable in an alien environment and his paranoia demanded its due. Aside from the lights and Kam¡¯smunication amulet, there was nothing magical in the whole room.

    A couple of hourster, he felt her moving.

    "Good morning, gorgeous." Lith said while leaning forward for a kiss.

    "Good morning, handsome." She replied with a soft, sleepy kiss as she pulled him closer.

    "I hope I didn¡¯t wake you up." He said while checking at the clock still floating at the corner of his eye.

    "Nah, it¡¯s because for some reason my face hurts."

    "Seems someone had too much fun and smiled even in her sleep." Lith used light magic to give her muscles relief from the stress and injected her a bit of life force.

    At those words, Kam blushed violently.

    "Did I?" she pulled the sheets to cover her chest and revealed Lith¡¯s in doing so.

    "Indeed. I was wondering, since we have the time, may I ask for an encore?" After his performance in the restaurant, the musical reference made her giggle.

    "How could I say no to such romantic words?" She was already enjoying the scenery and her body felt oddly full of energy despite theck of sleep.

    "Wait." Lith said before things got too heated and words had no ce anymore in the room.

    "Just for academic purposes, I¡¯d like to know what was the turning point that led to our current situation. Was it the flowers? The suit? The song? My speech about magic?" The events had escted quickly.

    Lith was both curious and confused about what he had done to hit the jackpot.

    "All the above was very cute, but nothing more." She said with a ravenous smile.

    ¡¯Just cute? All that effort for a frigging cute?¡¯ Lith thought but didn¡¯t dare to say, afraid to ruin the mood.

    "It was the part about starting a rtionship with a lie." She was tired of talking and started kissing him with a quick gradation of intensity.

    "Honesty, then?" It didn¡¯t make much sense, but at least he could understand it.

    "No, silly." She giggled so hard that she was forced to stop. "You calling what we had ¡¯starting a rtionship¡¯. It made me understand how seriously you are taking our story."

    "That¡¯s it?" Lith blurted out. "Seriously, what the actual f..." Lith never got to finish the phrase as Kam pushed him down the bed and shut him up for good.

    ***

    After that, there was barely enough time for a quick shower and breakfast. Lith employed magic to prepare the hot water for the tea in an instant and heated the pastries to make them regain a part of their fragrance.

    Out of habit, he even cleaned and washed the whole ce.

    Kam came out of the still steaming bathroom fully dressed while dabbing her long ck hair with a bath towel. It had taken her less than five minutes, so she remained dumbstruck in seeing the pristine room and the steaming breakfast.

    "How did you..."

    "Magic." He cut her short while removing the excess water from her hair with a flick of his wrist.

    "I could definitely get used to it." She mumbled out loud.

    They ate in silence, until Lith took a deep breath and then another one.

    "Please, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but there¡¯s something I have to tell you."

    Kam felt the ground splitting below her feet. Her mother¡¯s words echoed again in her mind. She could almost hear Kimaughing at her stupidity.

    ¡¯I knew it was too good to be true. Maybe he has already a wife or a fianc¨¦e waiting for him at home. Or maybe he just wants to dump me now that he has got what he wanted.¡¯

    "Yes?" She said while forcing herself to smile while fighting an insistent tear that wanted to be shed at all costs.

    "I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll get the next leave and I still don¡¯t know you or what you really like." Lith took out the green stem from the middle of the bouquet.

    "So, instead of buying something that would just be a waste of space, I made this for you. You know, to share a part of me with you and give you something to remember me by until our next date."

    Kam took it from his hands, her smile turned sincere. It was the cheapest, ugliest present she had ever seen, but it was much better than what she had feared.

    "It¡¯s beautiful." She said with a dazzling smile that left Lith bbergasted.

    "No, not yet." He blurted out in a stupor. "I was saying, don¡¯t take it the wrong way. I¡¯m not trying to be clingy or to show off. It¡¯s just something I made for you. No strings attached."

    Now it was Kam¡¯s turn to be confused. That twisted, badly hammered green piece of metal could hardly be considered showing off.

    "Imprint it, please." He said with a chuckle as he watched her dumbfounded expression.

    Kam put a bit of her mana into the stem and a red camellia made of flickering mes bloomed from its tip.

    "It¡¯s beautiful." She repeated. This time it wasn¡¯t just the relief talking.

    "Yes, now it is." He exined to Kam how it worked and how to keep it alive before putting it back into the vase. Much to her surprise, the small mes didn¡¯t affect the other flowers.

    "How is it called?" She asked while clinging tight to him, wishing for that moment to never end.

    "It¡¯s still a work in progress." He hastily replied.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not so dumb to tell her that it¡¯s named after her. It¡¯s too early for that. I already feel we¡¯re rushing things a bit.¡¯ Lith thought and Solus approved.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the best way to downy it. Still, you suck with words.¡¯ She sighed.

    ¡¯You almost made her cry, just like you did with Phloria every time you pulled out your "we need to talk" speech.¡¯

    Lith had many objections to raise in the matter, but Kam interrupted them by hugging him tightly while burying her head in his chest.

    "Thank you. It¡¯s a wonderful present." This time she was fighting to hold back tears of joy. Kam didn¡¯t want to turn their goodbye into a sad memory.

    "I- I don¡¯t know what to say besides that it makes me happy."

    Lith returned her embrace and they remained like that until the tyrannical nature of time turned two people who were sharing a moment together into two soldiers with a duty to uphold.

 Chapter 427 Departure Part 2

    Returning to Kaduria didn¡¯t take long. During his travels, Lith had made sure to memorizendmarks at fixed intervals. They allowed him to use Warp Steps to cross dozens of miles in the blink of an eye.

    It required a huge expenditure of mana, but nothing that a single use of Invigoration couldn¡¯t fix. While using his breathing technique, Lith noticed how despite the ruins of the lost city were exactly as he left them, they felt different.

    Brigadier General Vorgh had deactivated the barrier, letting the world energy flow through thend again. There was still no grass, not even insects or small animals hade to reim Kaduria.

    Yet by looking at the debris, Lith felt a sense of peace spreading through his being. Like he had healed an ugly scar that had disfigured that ce for too long.

    He took out his armymunicator and called his handler.

    "Ranger Verhen reporting to base. I¡¯m back to Kaduria already. I¡¯ll rest a bit and then I¡¯ll resume my travel toward the south. I¡¯m heading to the city of Othre."

    "Copy that." No hologram appeared and Kam¡¯s voice was detached and professional. Some of her colleagues thought that things had already gone sour between them.

    "Keep the channel open while I mark your position." She said while the amulet emitted a few pings.

    "We¡¯re done. Your next report is due to noon unless something relevant happens. Over and out."

    Lith took off immediately, reaching an altitude that allowed him to scout for miles in every direction. His first days of travels were quiet and boring. Every time he noticed living beings thanks to Life Vision, he had to check them for tribes of Fallen monsters.

    The province was still barren because of the long term effects of the ck Star, but the further he got from Kaduria, the more natural resources were avable. Enough for a small group of any Fallen race to increase their numbers and be a threat.

    Most of his sightings were just animals, wandering humans, or magical beasts. The wanderers were often just lunatics. People who had lost everything and had no ce to return to.

    They would yell at Lith¡¯s arrival demanding to be left alone before he could even offer them assistance. Sometimes he met caravans of merchants that had lost their way after being attacked by bandits or monsters. In such case Lith would point them the way and hunt them down their attackers.

    Without mages protecting them, humans and monsters were justmbs led to a ughterhouse. Lith would kill the monsters with a snap of his fingers. As for the humans, he would stalk them for a while to make sure they weren¡¯t part of arger group or to find their hideout.

    Organized crime was a weed that the Kingdom had no tolerance for. Between the sightings and his investigations, Lith¡¯s traveling speed slowed down significantly. Mana geysers were scarce, forcing him to sleep on trees or not sleep at all.

    ¡¯Dammit! Now I understand why a Ranger is forced to change their duty after every tour. This job is as boring as dangerous.¡¯ Lith thought during his fourth day of travel, while he was eating his lunch in a patch of woods.

    He had underestimated his job and was now paying the consequences for it. Without mana geysers, Solus was just a voice in his head. He had lots of good food with him, but it brought him no sce.

    He had to constantly stay alert. Both his training and paranoia made him eat everything so fast he could barely taste his meals. Until that moment, he had always had a roof above his head, a table where to sit down, and people around him.

    People he might¡¯ve despised or not cared about, but joining or avoiding them had always been his own choice. Now there was only silence and istion. He was tempted to ignore his duty and rush to the nearest city.

    He started to hope meeting monsters just to break the monotony of his existence.

    ¡¯Even without a mana geyser, I can still give you a ce where to rest.¡¯ Solus offered at the end of the fifth day as the sun was setting.

    ¡¯Thanks, but the thought that every second I sleep you are literally bleeding your core for me would give me the nightmares.¡¯ He replied.

    Lith treasured every moment he spent speaking with his family and with Kam on his civilian amulet. They were his only link to a semnce of a normal life. Whenever one of their contact runes lighted up, he would soar up in the sky, making it impossible to take him by surprise.

    Any flying creature dumb or unlucky enough to disturb their conversations would be dealt with extreme prejudice. Be them flying monsters or migratory birds, they would all be turned into mincemeat before they could even get close to him.

    Seven days after he left Belius, he was finally able to reach the city of Othre.

    ¡¯Damn, I would have never thought that chasing small fries would take this long. The presence of Kaduria kept everything atrge, otherwise I would have never reached it that fast. Seven days and not a single mana geyser, just my luck.¡¯

    He thought while approaching the city¡¯s high walls.

    ¡¯Come on, it was just one long, hellish week with no bathroom and no sleep.¡¯ Solus chuckled. ¡¯The good news is we are once again early on schedule. You may get another leave and visit the city with your new girlfriend. What could possibly go wrong?¡¯

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire.

    Four years had passed since the destruction of the Master¡¯sb located under the Blood Desert. Losing so much equipment and specimens had been a major setback, but at the same time a blessing in disguise.

    Unbeknownst to the Guardians, even to Leegaain, one of the arrays had spied the events urred during the attack, allowing the Master to collect a massive amount of information about how the Guardian could call upon the world energy and to witness the fight between Sark and their most powerful Eldritch Abomination.

    The data collected had finally revealed to the Master a glimpse of the Guardian¡¯s true nature. It was the reason why he had sent Gremus, the Rock Worm, to study and collect the orc¡¯s purple crystal.

    With it the Master would be able to conjure an manipte the world energy just like the Guardian did, gaining ess to an unlimited source of power for both their experiments and minions.

    Unluckily, after that stroke of luck, everything had gone south. All the information about Arthan¡¯s Madness had be unavable, even for those with the highest clearance. With the death of Gadorf the wyvern, they had lost one of their main source of ie.

    Thanks to Balkor, the Guardians had researched a way to more easily find Eldritch Abominations and were using them to track the Master¡¯s activities, forcing them to move with even more caution and use their most powerful servants only when strictly necessary.

    These eventsbined had stuck their research in a dead end. To add insult to the injury, the crystal was lost and Jarok, one of his most capable allies, had disappeared.

    "The crystal is the real problem. Maybe Verhen has it, but maybe not. I can¡¯t kick the Royal¡¯s ho nest just because of a suspicion. Not now that he has be a Great Mage. Let¡¯s hope Jarok hasn¡¯t made things even messier. Stealth and interrogation are its specialties, after all." The Master said with a chuckle.

    "Master, I bring grave news." Xenagrosh, the Eldritch specialized in tracking Warped in front of them.

    "Is the crystal broken? It¡¯s not a big deal. I have already located a lesser specimen that could still work just fine for our purposes." The Master shrugged.

    "No. There is no trace of the crystal. What I found is the evidence that Jarok has been killed."

    "That idiot!" The Master roared. "I told it to watch out for the corps and the damned Evolved Monsters."

    "Wrong again. It was killed by a single enemy and an Eldritch at that." Xenagrosh¡¯s four red eyes were reduced to fiery slits while it made its report. "I¡¯m afraid we have apetitor."

 Chapter 428 Mage Association Part 1

    "Apetitor?" The Master couldn¡¯t believe his own ears. Those two single words alone could mean that decades of hard work were at stake. If another Eldritch was involved in the purple crystal¡¯s disappearance, maybe it was an inside job all along.

    It would have exined a lot of things. Abominations were fickle and greedy by nature, the only thing they respected was power. Eldritchs were the sum of their best and worst traits.

    If any Abomination started to believe that the Master wouldn¡¯t be able to deliver their promise, they wouldn¡¯t hesitate a second to betray them.

    "I believed all Eldritchs living on the Galen continent were on our side." The Master said.

    "It could be an ancient one that just awoke from its slumber." Xenagrosh replied.

    "Or maybe a youngster that evolved recently. The only thing I know is that the smell was that of a crafty Eldritch. It had distorted its scent by mixing it with several others, but my senses are not easily fooled. Otherwise I would have mistaken it for a human¡¯s."

    "Let¡¯s not rush our judgment." The Master quickly regained their cool. "Maybe it¡¯s not apetitor. After all, a purple crystal is an almost endless source of nourishment for an Abomination.

    "It allows the likes of you to hide in in sight without having to harvest energy from living beings. Best case scenario, its actions will get the Guardians off our tail. They can¡¯t distinguish between a rogue Eldritch and our own."

    "Worst case scenario, it will ruin us all. We don¡¯t know how much it learned from Jarok, nor what it will do with such knowledge." Xenagrosh¡¯s warning was too ominous to ignore it.

    The Master could only sigh and n the hunting of this new yer that threatened to topple their already shaky chessboard.

    ***

    The city of Othre.

    Lith reached the massive gates made of solid wood and steel as the sun was slowly starting to set. Othre was the biggest trade city in the Ker region, also known as the Warehouse.

    Food provisions were a big issue for cities without Warp Gates. Because of the north¡¯s harsh climate, settlements could remain isted for weeks during the winter months. Blizzards were so powerful that even mages capable of flight would be stuck in their homes.

    The cold season was closing in and merchants came from all the Griffon Kingdom to sell the food supplies they could spare for a price way higher than their market value. Every year fear bred crisis, which in turn provided to a few the opportunity to get rich at the expenses of many.

    Timing was of the essence, because to avoid panic and rioting the local governor had the authority to fix a ceiling price. If a merchant sold too early, they would saturate the market and earn little, toote and fixed prices would lead to the same result.

    "Where is the nearest hotel?" Lith asked one of the guards that were checking the iing carriages and taking note of all the food entering Othre.

    The guard¡¯s annoyed gaze disappeared the moment her eyes met Lith¡¯s. The Ranger in front of him was way taller, more annoyed, and angrier than the guard. Thanks to darkness magic Lith didn¡¯t stink and water magic had allowed him to remain clean.

    Yet after a week without a single second of rx, during which he had been forced to do his business behind bushes, Lith would dly kill anyone standing between him and a bathroom.

    "Go straight, then turn left on King¡¯s Road. You can¡¯t miss it, sir." The woman stepped aside as her survival instinct kicked in.

    "A word of advice, sir." Her shift wouldst hours and she didn¡¯t want to see Lith again. "Because of winter, dimensional magic is banned inside the city. Before entering you should take out whatever you may need."

    Lith inwardly cursed against all the inhabitants of the north and their hate for dimensional magic. He took out a few coins, the Gatekeeper and both hismunication amulets.

    ¡¯Now I understand why the uniformes with a utility belt.¡¯ He angrily thought.

    While he walked towards the hotel, Lith reported his arrival to his handler.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sir." Said a kid bumping into him while ying with her brother.

    "I¡¯m not." Lith replied while grabbing her arm and dislocating her shoulder to retrieve his pouch which she had just stolen. The desperate cries of the girl drawn the attention of several people who stared at him in anger.

    "What was that noise?" Kam asked.

    "An ident. Over and out." Lith replied eager to stop talking with his handler and get in touch with his girlfriend.

    "She¡¯s just a kid!" Yelled an angry woman. "Fucking Rangers! They should be kept in the wilds with the beasts, where they belong." A man added as several outraged voices joined the chorus.

    Lith didn¡¯t even slow down his pace.

    ¡¯Maybe I should rob them and see if their charity extends to their own money or is limited to mine.¡¯ He angrily thought.

    ¡¯She is just a kid. Maybe she was hungry.¡¯ The popping sound kept echoing in Solus¡¯s mind. She felt terrible about what had happened.

    ¡¯She could have just begged. I would have refused, you would have nagged me, and I would have given her some copper coins. She yed with fire and got burned.¡¯

    A pebble struck the back of Lith¡¯s head, making him turn around. A small crowd was assembled around the two kids and were staring at him in defiance. Between the Skinwalker armor and his enhanced physique, Lith had barely noticed the hit.

    Yet it had been strong enough to make a normal man bleed.

    "Who threw that?" He asked with a casual voice and received no answer but middle fingers.

    "All guilty, then." A wave of his hand and an earth spell made the crowd fall on their knees while holding their heads in pain. Each one of them had been hit by a small stone, repaying them in kind.

    "You are all under arrest for assaulting and ndering an officer." Another wave of his hand made their arms and legs sink into the ground. "If and when I bother reporting this to a constable, they will free you. Have a nice day."

    The moment Lith gave them his back, the two kids and their aplices hiding in the nearby alleys robbed all those present blind.

    ¡¯Was that really necessary?¡¯ Solus had hoped that after Kam, after being alone for so long in the wilds, Lith would have softened up towards people.

    ¡¯Poetic justice.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯Look at the bright side. The girl now has more than enough money to get her shoulder fixed.¡¯

    He reached the Swan¡¯s Song hotel in less than a minute. It was a two stories stone building with a pitched roof and a banner representing a swan sitting near a maiden who was ying the harp.

    The door opened into amon hall the pavement of which was made of hardwood.

    Colorful carpets were ced under the wood tables that upied most of the space. A huge firece spread light and warmth for the customers that were enjoying their dinner or simply resting from their daily activities.

 Chapter 429 Mage Association Part 2

    "How much for your best room?" Lith asked the receptionist, a young man about his own age. He was too tired to care about money. A good bed and a hot bath were the only thing she could think about.

    "One silver coin per night." The man yelped. It was actually more expensive, but the Gatekeeper at Lith¡¯s waist looked mean and the man carrying it even meaner.

    "Excuse me, are you Ranger Verhen?" Asked a mage in his thirties. He was of average height, with a lean build and kind chestnut eyes. Judging from his silver robe, he worked for the Mage Association.

    "Depends who¡¯s asking." Lith gave the receptionist the money and his ID, making sure the stranger couldn¡¯t read it.

    "I¡¯m Mage Dorian Felhorn. I¡¯m your liaison with the local branch of the Association." Clearly Felhorn had recognized Lith. His earlier question was a formality.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but even if I was who you think I am, I work for the army now. So unless you have written orders for me, I¡¯ve no reason to listen to you." Lith took his room¡¯s key and walked towards the stairs leading to the first floor.

    "Wait! You don¡¯t understand. I may not have an official authorization yet, but I need your help. The Association is in a pinch."

    Lith had to admit the guy was brave. Even when pressed by his Sunday killing intent, Dorian didn¡¯t flinch. He even had the gall to grab his shoulder.

    "I¡¯m sure they are, but unless there¡¯s something in for me, I don¡¯t care." Lith shrugged the hand away. "Bottom line, I coulde with you, it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t want to."

    Lith¡¯s annoyed tone achieved what even his meanest re had failed to. The second Dorian was too shocked by Lith¡¯s disregard for whatever news he was the bearer of, the Ranger disappeared upstairs.

    Dorian took out hismunication amulet from one of his robe¡¯s pockets.

    "I¡¯m sorry sir, I¡¯ve failed my mission. Great Mage Verhen was crystal clear in his refusal to even listen to me. The body count is already in the dozens and is bound to getting worse."

    "Damn. I hoped that him choosing to be promoted in our ranks rather than in the army¡¯s meant he would be more sympathetic to our cause." Said a man voiceing from the amulet.

    The Mage Association was in dire straits for years. New and old noble families hated them for wiping them from Mogar overnight, but most of all, because unlike the army it was impossible for non mages to join their ranks.

    Ever since the gue event happened five years ago, the Association¡¯s reputation was in steady decline. First, they had failed to cure or even contain the gue, leaving all the glory to the army and the White Griffon.

    Then, they had been useless against Balkor¡¯s attack. Once again, the lion¡¯s share of the merits belonged to the White Griffon. The army had at least provided troops, while most mages had run for their lives along with their families.

    Last, but not least, the Mage Association had failed to keep Hatorne in check, to find Headmaster Linnea who was still on the run, and even to prevent the mass production of ve items that had led to Nalear¡¯s attack.

    The Association was on itsst leg, its political support dwindled every year. Even the Queen was considering the idea of turning the Association in a branch of the Army and redistribute their funds.

    After all, the heroes who had stopped the Mad Professor all belonged to the army. Lady Jirni, Commander Orion, and Captain Phloria. The only exception was Lith Verhen, a free agent at best.

    Money or merits could buy his services, but not his loyalty.

    "We have no choice. I¡¯ll contact the army and have them borrow him to us before the Royal Constable arrives. That way, he will be our yer. We need a big victory, failure is not an option. If all else fails, we still have our ace in the hole."

    "Technically, it¡¯s more like a double edged sword." Dorian didn¡¯t like Archmage Kwart¡¯s n. Stealing a dragon¡¯s egg could force the beast topromise, but it would also provoke its animosity.

    "If we fail, a Great Mage¡¯s wrath will be thest of our problems. I¡¯ll keep you posted."

    Meanwhile, Lith was having dinner with his family. Thanks to themunication amulet they could share the table even at thousand of kilometers of distance.

    "Othre sucks, this work sucks." Lith wasining to his parents while consuming the food provided by the room service.

    "Everywhere I go, people treat Rangers almost like criminals. Despite all the time I spent in the wilds, I¡¯m already sick of this ce. I¡¯ll leave tomorrow early in the morning."

    "I read that themunities in the north are tight-knit." Raaz had bought a book about the Ker region. He hated studying, but that way he was able to understand what his son was going through. It also allowed them to share a deeper conversation than small talk.

    "You can¡¯t me them for being suspicious. Even here in Lutia we don¡¯t like strangers or cops. To them, you are both. By the way, Othre is famous for its open market. You might find rare books or ingredients there."

    "Good point, dad. Thanks, I will give it a look." Lith had the same book in Soluspedia, but was grateful for Raaz¡¯s thoughtfulness.

    Elina was proud of her husband going an extra mile for their son and jealous because she felt cut out.

    ¡¯I need to get hold of that damn book.¡¯ She thought.

    Lith was dead tired after a week always being on full alert. He fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow and was awakened a few hourster by an explosioning from outside.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ He asked as his pajamas shapeshifted into his Ranger uniform.

    ¡¯Yes, you never called a constable. Those poor people are likely to be still stuck there.¡¯ She pouted.

    ¡¯Who cares about that? I meant what was that noise?¡¯

    ¡¯Something is happening on the other side of the road, but it doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ She replied.

    Lith looked through the window in his room and notice that the door of one of the shops in front of the hotel had been blown to bits. A few secondster, a poorly dressed woman came out of it, carrying bags full of food and money.

    ¡¯You are right, it doesn¡¯t make sense. How can someone so malnourished beat up so many men?¡¯ Lith pondered while staring at the scene. Several shops had already been robbed and their owners were out cold in the middle of the street.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not that.¡¯ Solus replied with a sigh after noticing that Lith wasn¡¯t going to intervene.

    ¡¯That woman has a red mana core and a human body, yet her mana flow isparable to a yellow core.¡¯

    ¡¯How is that possible?¡¯

    ¡¯She¡¯s absorbing world energy at a rateparable to yours when using Invigoration. She might be an Awakened.¡¯

 Chapter 430 Dragons Egg Part 1

    ¡¯Why would an Awakened need to steal in such a tant way?¡¯ Lith thought while going downstairs.

    ¡¯Even a bit of spirit magic would be enough to get her what she wants without drawing so much attention.¡¯

    ¡¯Maybe she just discovered her powers.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯Otherwise I can¡¯t exin how she still has a red core. Another thing I can¡¯t understand is how she can possibly keep Invigoration active while moving.¡¯

    Lith found several guests of the hotel staring at the scene through the windows.

    "I told you we shouldn¡¯t have picked a hotel in the outer rim, you damn cheapskate!" A middle aged woman was angrily whispering to her husband, like she was afraid of drawing the attention of the crazed thief.

    The couple was wearing a grey dressing gown with the hotel¡¯s insignia over their clothes.

    ¡¯One silver coin per night is cheap?¡¯ Lith shuddered at the idea of how much money more luxurious amodations would require.

    "Why? Does this happen often?" He pointed his forefinger toward the events unfolding outside.

    "Of course, it¡¯s the gods damned outer rim." The woman was clearly annoyed at Lith¡¯s question which forced her to state the obvious.

    "Every year, when winter approaches, all kinds of vagrants and lunatics fill the roads of the city to find shelter until spring. Because of those hungry beasts, the crime rate always spikes. Speaking of hungry beasts, why are you still here?

    "Aren¡¯t you a Ranger? It¡¯s your duty to uphold thew!"

    "Not inside Othre. At the moment I¡¯m just a tired traveler." Lith wanted to investigate the mystery, but the woman¡¯s rudeness had almost changed his mind.

    "The hotel would greatly appreciate your help in keeping its guests safe." Someone promptly added.

    Lith turned around towards the voice. It belonged to a silver haired man dressed like a member of the staff. ording to the tags on his chest, his name was Penon and he was the night manager.

    ¡¯Please, help them.¡¯ Solus pleaded him. ¡¯Some of the people outside are badly wounded. They need a healer and you will get your money back. It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡¯

    Lith didn¡¯t care about a single silver coin. Penon¡¯s offer was meaningless to him. Solus¡¯s plea and discovering how the heck someone of that age with no experience with magic could possibly Awaken was another story.

    Lith came out from the hotel and extended his arm, using spirit magic to paralyze his opponent. He didn¡¯t expect it to work. To be able to knock down men way taller and heavier than her, the woman had to be able to use fusion magic.

    Lith¡¯s intention was to check how effective spirit magic would be against such a weak Awakened. Best case scenario, he would manage to slow her enough to hold her in ce and get some answers before the city constables arrived on the crime scene.

    Contrary to his expectations, his tendrils of mana were sucked by the woman¡¯s Invigoration technique andpletely nullified.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Invigoration shouldn¡¯t work that way. Absorbing someone else¡¯s mana is like drinking poison.¡¯

    The homeless woman screamed in pain before turning toward Lith and releasing a fire wave the size of a truck. The spell was powerful, but there was no technique or nning behind it. Like a child throwing a tantrum, its energies were violent but chaotic.

    Lith needed but a thought to take control of the fire wave and snuff it out. Before he could counter attack, the woman clenched her belly and copsed to the ground. Lith had no idea what was happening.

    He wanted to use Invigoration to study her body, but he knew that if she adsorbed it too, she would die before she could answer his questions.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s just like you think. Your spirit magic has infected her core and it¡¯s killing her. It¡¯s already half grey.¡¯ She replied.

    There was nothing Lith could do for mana poisoning. He could only hope the woman¡¯s core would recover while he took care of the wounded. All of them were badly burned, some almost to a crisp.

    Only because Lith could cure two people at once and was able to use Invigoration to give them massive amounts of life force no one died that night. No one except the woman.

    ¡¯How is this even possible?¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Invigoration should be able to absorb only world energy. Plus, the mana I used to wasn¡¯t nearly enough to kill her, not even if I poisoned her on purpose. Which I didn¡¯t.¡¯

    ¡¯I know.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Normally her mana flow should have countered the foreign mana all the way to her core. It would have caused her pain but would have also weakened your mana to the point that even a red core could resist such measly pressure.

    ¡¯Her Invigoration technique carried it directly to her core, making it lethal instead.¡¯

    A few minutester, a couple of constables and a mage arrived to the scene.

    "Thanks for taking care of the problem for us." The senior officer said.

    "Usually our response time is much better than this, but criminals like this one are popping up like mushrooms and we cannot move without a mage. We have already lost too many people." The officer spat on the homeless woman¡¯s corpse.

    "It¡¯s terrible news." Lith said eager to go back to sleep. "Those people were severely injured. This is what the city owes me for the healings."

    The mage took a small piece of paper where Lith had listed the cares given and his fares ording to the White Griffon standards. She put it in her pockets without even looking at it.

    "What happened to her?" The mage said while pointing at the corpse. Her honey colored eyes looked tired and dispirited, like those of a soldier fighting a lost battle.

    "Wish I knew. I used a simple air spell to restrict her and..."

    "And she died." The magepleted the phrase for him.

    "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not your fault. It happens every single damn time, no matter the element used. Once the constables managed to restrict one only for the poor guy to die under the effects of a diagnostic spell."

    ¡¯That¡¯s great news. It means that whatever they are, they are not Awakened. Which makes this none of my business.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Solus would have liked toment about his totalck of care for the well being of the people of Othre, but she had seen enough in one day to know it would be pointless.

    ¡¯Maybe this is what that Felhorn guy wanted to talk about. A lot of magic usersmitting crimes is something the Association would have to deal with. It could fetch you a lot of merits.¡¯ Solus tried a subtler approach on the matter.

    ¡¯Too bad I don¡¯t need them. I¡¯ve already got what I could from the Association after I graduated. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have joined the army. What I need is to finish my patrol as fast as I can. That way I can obtain a long leave and work on the crystal.¡¯ Lith replied.

    The following morning, during a sumptuous breakfast served privately on the hotel¡¯s terrace for Lith only, he called his handler.

    "This is Ranger Verhen. I need some time to restock my provisions and then I¡¯ll be ready to leave Othre." He actually had no need for food, his pocket dimension held enough tost him months. His aim was to look for rare books.

    "Negative. You are not allowed to leave the city¡¯s perimeter. The Commander has received a request for help from the Association. Depending on his decision, your stay in Othre might be prolonged until further notice."

 Chapter 431 Dragons Egg Part 2

    Lith spent his morning visiting the small bookshops located in the city¡¯s middle rim. Othre was divided into three areas. The outer rim, where Lith resided, was the biggest and the poorest one.

    It was where themoners lived and the warehouses were located. Unless one possessed many dimensional items, moving huge loads of merchandise required wagons and draft animals.

    The former generated intense traffic that made it almost impossible to walk during the busiest hours of the day despite therge roads and sidewalks. Thetter naturally produced a pungent smell that would make even a stable boy puke his guts out.

    The houses were one or two stories high, made of stone or wood based on the owner¡¯s ie. There was not a single empty space between them. Warehouses were easily recognizable by their huge size and double doors to allow carriages to easily get in and out at all times.

    The closest a warehouse was to the city gates, the more expensive it was, whereas for housings the opposite was true. The smell was a big deterrent, that was why Lith¡¯s hotel was located in a small street were carriages couldn¡¯t pass, away from the warehouses.

    The middle rim was upied by merchants¡¯ shops, craftsmen¡¯s and artists¡¯ workshops. Only the middle ss could afford a house there. They were all at least two stories high, each with a private garden.

    The middle rim¡¯s streets were too narrow for carriages, only stagecoaches were small enough to pass. Small parks were present every few blocks, to give some space for the children to y and a ce for the travelers to rest in the shade of trees during the hottest hours of the day.

    The inner rim was where the rich, the nobles, and the mages resided. There weren¡¯t houses as much as mansions. Unlike Belius, the taller a building, the richer was the household.

    Lith avoided big shops because they had the necessary staff to go through all their merchandise. They were bound to identify real books about magic and sell them to the Association that held the monopoly of the mystical knowledge.

    Small shops, instead, would buy more books than they could handle. With a bit of luck, one could find a precious tome cataloged as a diary or even in the bargain bin. Many mages mixed research and personal life in their writings, others used such convoluted technical jargon that ayman would easily mistake it for gibberish.

    It was the reason why unless those books had some drawings, no one would give them a second look. Lith could only once again curse at the city arrays when hismunication amulet interrupted his fruitless research.

    Normally, he would store a book in Soluspedia and search its contents in an instant before deciding if it was worth buying or not. The dimensional magic lock forced him to actually read them one by one in what he considered a colossal waste of time.

    The first call came from the army. Kam notified Lith that the Commander had agreed with the Association¡¯s terms and ordered him to talk with their representative.

    The second one was from Mage Dorian Felhorn, who gave him an appointment at the local branch of the Mage Association, located in the inner rim. The building consisted of a three stories small castle built with reddish stones.

    Each of its four corners was upied by a small tower surmounted with a blue mana crystal.

    A middle aged clerk led Lith in an office located on the ground floor. The room¡¯s walls were covered by bookshelves, the only source of lighting was a magical chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling.

    Dorian weed Lith and invited him to sit on one of the armchairs in front of his ck mahogany desk.

    To Lith Dorian said: "First of all, know that you are currently relieved from your role in the army until the end of the conversation. I¡¯m not speaking with the Ranger, but with the Great Mage."

    "Why am I here?" Lith asked while feeling morefortable. The Association worked on a voluntary basis. They couldn¡¯t order around members that didn¡¯t seek an active role in their ranks.

    Dorian exined to him the reasons for the Association¡¯s decline and how they hoped to solve Othre¡¯s current crisis to avoid being swallowed by the army.

    "That¡¯s the reason you need me." Lith shook his head. "I am asking you why I should ept."

    Dorian had yet to exin the nature of the crisis and felt already up against a wall. The Association could award merits, not money and Lith had no use for them. The knowledge he sought needed the approval of both the army and the Association.

    He had already earned the necessary clearance level from the Association¡¯s side, which left them with a bad hand. Merits could be traded in exchange for noble titles and their connectednds. Usually, they were the Association¡¯s greatest bargain chip.

    Unluckily, Lith had already refused a noble title twice, so offering him one was meaningless. They couldn¡¯t afford to offer him money off the books. If exposed, the scandal would bury them for good.

    ¡¯He doesn¡¯t care for the power bnce in the Kingdom. Judging from the invoice he submitted for healing innocents and how he left a dozen of people stuck in the concrete for hours, I¡¯d say there is no better nature I can appeal to.¡¯ Dorian inwardly sighed.

    ¡¯It¡¯s time to let the dragon know we have his egg.¡¯

    "The situation is dire. Countless lives are at stake and if the news of it spreads, panic could make more victims than our invisible enemy. Someone is killing people for unknown reasons. We have lots of corpses but so far we¡¯ve failed to understand what¡¯s happening."

    "If you refuse to answer, then I¡¯ll take my leave." Lith stood up, tired of hearing nonsense.

    "We need the best diagnosticians in the Kingdom." Dorian grabbed Lith¡¯s arm and felt his hostility growing. A saner man would have jumped away, but Felhorn had no qualms putting his life on the line.

    "That¡¯s why we have hired Professor Manohar from the White Griffon..." Lith freed his arm and walked away.

    "...and Mage Verhen as his assistant." Those words froze Lith in ce and with him the mana in the room.

    "What did you say?" There was no rage in his voice, yet the room felt colder and the lights dimmed like a setting sun.

    "Mage Tista Verhen volunteered the moment she heard about the situation. If I¡¯m right, there is a monster hiding inside the walls of Othre. If I¡¯m wrong, we could be facing another gue." Dorian put emphasis in each of his words yet he could tell that Lith wasn¡¯t listening.

    After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lith pped his hands while a creepy smile appeared on his face.

    "Well yed. Now I only have two choices. Either I walk away, leaving my sister in the hands of an ipetent paper pusher and a madman, or I help you. I ept the job. Beware, though, because this kind of tricks only works once.

    "Once I exin Tista how you manipted her, I can guarantee you that neither of us will ever help the Association again. Also, now I know what to ask the next time the King wants to award me with something."

    Lith slowly passed his thumb along his neck before mming the door behind his back and alerting his handler he wouldn¡¯t leave Othre for a while.

 Chapter 432 Duplicity Part 1

    Before leaving the Mage Association, Lith collected the money they owed him for treating the people wounded during thest ident.

    ¡¯Poor guy. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if he was writing hisst will right now. Your acting skills are impressive.¡¯ Solus chuckled.

    ¡¯Because most of what I said is true. I don¡¯t care about their problem and unless I get properlypensated, I¡¯ll find a way to get even with them. The moment the Commander ordered me to listen rather than to do something, I knew something big was going on.

    ¡¯What I didn¡¯t expect was that they would drag Tista in this mess to force my hand. I tried twisting their arm to get a juicy reward and ended up with my own arm twisted. Whoever is behind this is going to owe me big time.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Not Dorian?¡¯

    ¡¯Dorian is just a mage, he hasn¡¯t the power to pull off a stunt like this. He is just obeying orders and it¡¯s the one pulling his strings I¡¯m after.¡¯ Lith came out of the building and called his sister.

    "Where are you?"

    "Good morning to you too, lil brother." Tista replied with a radiant smile, ignoring his cold tone.

    "I¡¯ve just reached your hotel. Your room is really nice. I was expecting you would sleep in a hostel to save money and you picked a suite instead. The trip to Othre must have been a nightmare."

    "And thanks to you the stay isn¡¯t looking good either. I¡¯ll be there shortly." He took off and reached the Swan¡¯s Song less than a minuteter. The moment he stepped inside, Lith was weed by a familiar vibe. Envy mixed with hostility.

    "Tista." Lith said with a sigh. Whenever they traveled together, she drew a lot of attention on herself and turned most men in Lith¡¯s sworn enemies. The fact she introduced herself with his samest name without ever saying she was his sister added fuel to the fire.

    Even the half pint receptionist at the front desk was outraged enough to re at him.

    Lith went upstairs and found the "Do not disturb" tag hanging off the doorknob. He was about to knock, just to be safe, when a voice inside said:

    "Come on in!"

    Tista ran to him and hugged him tightly. Lith returned it for a second before pushing her gently away.

    "I missed you, big sis."

    "I missed you too, lil brother. Why the angry voice earlier?" She asked with a curious tone.

    "First things first, how did you get in here?"

    "As usual." She shrugged. "I told the receptionist I¡¯m with you and I showed him my ID."

    "The one with my family crest and name? Now everyone will think we¡¯re married." He sat on the nearest sofa like a deadweight.

    "That was the n. I¡¯ve yet to find a creep or a wannabe yboy that dares to bother me after seeing you." She chuckled.

    "Fine! Now would you like to exin to me how could you let yourself be dragged in whatever is happening here?"

    "You really don¡¯t know how grave the situation is?" Tista was stunned.

    "I don¡¯t care about the situation."

    "Well, you should! We took an oath as Healers and even if they are just fancy words to you, they mean a lot to me. After all I went through as a child, I can¡¯t stay idle while people suffer." Tista was angry at his indifference, she wanted him to be better than this.

    "They fooled you to get my help. There isn¡¯t nothing noble in letting yourself being manipted so easily." He replied with a snort.

    "How stupid do you think I am? I knew what the Association was after the moment they mentioned the city of Othre."

    "Then why did you ept?" Lith steepled his fingers with a look that made her feel like she was his student again.

    "For several reasons. After I received their offer, I contacted one of my ssmates that lives here. He confirmed everything Mage Wren, my recruiter, told me. The city is on the verge of chaos.

    "Every day, odd corpses are found lying around all the three rims. A lot of people have disappeared and no one knows what happened to them. Last, but not least, rogue mages no one have ever heard about are piging Othre.

    "The Association has managed to keep things under control only because the Warp Gate allows for backup to arrive instantly when needed. But if whatever is happening here spreads through the merchants back to their cities, once winter begins no one will be able to help them until it¡¯s toote."

    "So?" Lith didn¡¯t bother to hide how underwhelmed he was.

    "So, I decided I could do some good and make it worth my while. By epting I got the chance to work together with two of the most brilliant minds of the Kingdom, one of whom happens to be my always missing brother, and to join the Mage Association. Two birds with one stone."

    "Wait, I had to teach for two years at the White Griffon to join. Are they really that desperate?" Lith had no need for merits, but maybe he could force the Association to pay him in magical resources.

    "Yes." Tista nodded. "I also consulted Professor Vastor before making my demands. ording to him, Archmage Kwart, the current Chairman, has led the Association to the brink of extinction. He needs a big win to stay afloat and he needs it badly."

    A ravenous smile appeared on Lith¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t like the hand he had been dealt, nor the game he was been forced to y. The pot, though, looked more alluring by the second.

    ***

    Army¡¯s Headquarters, city of Belius.

    Commander Berion, Lith¡¯smanding officer and sponsor in the army, had just been reminded how dangerous it was to underestimate a cornered prey.

    ¡¯I should have never allowed Ranger Verhen to listen to their demands. General Morn Griffon is already out for my blood, I can¡¯t let more members of the High Command turn their back on me. It would be the end of my career.¡¯ He thought.

    The army¡¯s upper echelons were already celebrating the Association¡¯s funeral when Archmage Kwart had thrown a monkey wrench into their ns. They were sure Lith would refuse.

    The Association had nothing to offer him and he wasn¡¯t the kind of man to work out of the goodness of his heart. No one expected Kwart would manage to recruit Manohar, nor Tista Verhen.

    If Kwart¡¯s ploy seeded, Berion would be held ountable for that. Controlling the Association would mean for the army to gain authority over the noble system and change the criteria to assign a title and thends that came with it.

    The game had yet to begin, but he was already on his back foot. Two of the major yers were outside his reach and ording to their deal, Lith would be considered belonging to both factions.

    He was in desperate need to do damage control.

    "Excuse me, Sir. First Lieutenant Kam Yehval has arrived." His secretary announced through the amulet.

    "Let her in."

    Kam¡¯s rtionship with Lith wasn¡¯t a secret, nor it was the fact that the only one Lith was loyal to was himself. Berion knew that his poor decision had left himself exposed. She was his only chance to tip the scale in his favor.

 Chapter 433 Duplicity Part 2

    Kam had never been summoned in a Commander¡¯s office except when she had been promoted from Second to First Lieutenant. After years of hard work, she hoped Berion would give her an opportunity to prove her worth.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want to spend my life being an analyst and a handler.¡¯ She thought while giving him a salute.

    Commander Berion was a man in his early thirties, 1.8 (5¡¯11") meters tall with pitch-ck hair and eyes. His pale blue uniform could resemble a high-end coat with a standing cor over pants of matching quality and color.

    The only distinguishing features were the Commander silver epaulets on his shoulders and the insignias above his heart.

    "At ease, Lieutenant." Berion said while inventing her to sit down.

    He didn¡¯t mince words describing how bad was Othre¡¯s crisis nor how important was for the army to not lose in the ongoing power y.

    "I need someone to keep me constantly updated on the situation. Someone with the necessary sensitivity andpetence to make use of every opening to bring the bnce back in our favor.

    "I can¡¯t rely on Ranger Verhen alone. He¡¯s barely able to give three reports a day and I¡¯m afraid his judgment on this matter may bepromised. I¡¯ve already made the mistake of relying on second-hand information and paid the price for it.

    "Do you think you can rise to the asion?"

    "Of course, Sir." She said with confidence, even though she wanted to puke.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t what I¡¯ve hoped for, this is politics. The army and the Association are more worried about their measuring contest than about the lives of the inhabitants of Othre. If I refuse, I can kiss goodbye to any future chance of being promoted.¡¯ She inwardly sighed.

    Kam Warped from Belius to the army¡¯s headquarters in Othre. There she found a stagecoach waiting for her that went straight for the outer rim.

    "I think there is a mistake." She said to the Desk Sergeant apanying her.

    "Shouldn¡¯t we go to the Association¡¯s branch?"

    "No, ma¡¯am. Our orders are to bring you to Ranger Verhen¡¯s quarters. You¡¯ll be debriefed together once the rest of the team arrives."

    ¡¯Son of a...¡¯ Kam inwardly cursed. ¡¯The Commander doesn¡¯t need a liaison officer with the Association. He wants to exploit our rtionship. Now I understand why he picked me and why that ridiculous im about Lith¡¯s judgment beingpromised.

    ¡¯I¡¯m just a fucking honey trap! I remember something about an Academy sweetheart, probably the Association is ying the same game. I¡¯ve never been so humiliated in all my life.¡¯

    Never before did Kam resent the army. Her colleagues were her family and her job as an analyst was all she had. In her head, the images of her mother and the Commander ovepped.

    Both didn¡¯t care for her feelings or her career and were only interested in exploiting her for their ends. She wanted to cry, but aside from turning paler, her face disyed no emotion.

    ¡¯Gods, I¡¯m so stupid. I should have understood it earlier and turned down the offer. Now either I help the Commander to manipte Lith or I tell him the truth and risk losing my job.¡¯

    Albeit brief, the journey seemed to nevere to an end. Kam was torn between her sense of self-preservation and to rise above that mess by doing the right thing. When the stagecoach reached the Swan¡¯s Song, she had yet to make her mind.

    "Excuse me, what room is Ranger Verhen staying in?" She asked the receptionist, a short man about Lith¡¯s age who looked at her in a funny way.

    "Room 201, the honeymoon suite. He is about to have lunch with his missus. Who do I have to announce?" The man replied.

    At those words, Kam really had enough bullshit for one day. She ignored the receptionist¡¯s question and went straight for the suite. She knocked at the door in a frenzy to the point she almost fell forward when it was abruptly opened.

    "Kam? What are you doing here?" She barely registered that Lith seemed surprised and happy to see her before all hell broke loose.

    Sitting on the king-size unmade bed there was the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen. She was 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall with waist-length auburn hair that had several shades of red.

    Tista¡¯s oval face and her delicate features only emphasized the perfect proportions of her curvy body. Kam was left speechless, incapable to decide if to be angry, envious, or just hope to wake up and discover it had all been a nightmare.

    "Oh gods! Is she really that Kam?" The fairy seemed happy to see her.

    "Nice to meet you, Kam. I¡¯m Tista, Lith¡¯s sister." At those words Kam discovered to be able to breathe again, her lungs were just starting to burn.

    "His sister? He never told me you were so..." She had no idea how to put it into words without making it sound a pick-up line.

    "Thanks." Tista giggled. "You are identical to the image he showed us, that¡¯s how I recognized you."

    Lith waved his arms behind Kam¡¯s back while mouthing Tista to shut up.

    "Us who?" Kam did her best to smile back and not blush.

    "The whole family. Our niece, Leria, even asked if you are a princess."

    Lith facepalmed hard as Kam turned beet red.

    "T-Thanks." She stuttered. "So, Lith can create images of people, not only flowers?" She asked, eager to change the topic.

    "Flowers? Did he gift you the camellia?" Tista asked, making the situation even worse. Another facepalm ensued.

    "Did he really name it after me?" Both Lith and Kam were unable to look at each other in the eyes.

    "Well yes, but actually no." Tista said trying to correct the mess she finally realized to have created.

    "That¡¯s how I call it because I really like your name and I think it would suit the magic flower."

    "Thanks, you are too kind. Can I use the bathroom for a second?" The moment Lith pointed the way, Kam closed the door behind her and sat on the bathtub edge not knowing whether tough or cry.

    "At least he is not married." She mumbled to herself.

    "Smooth move." Lith whispered with a voice oozing sarcasm. "Why you didn¡¯t tell her that Mom wouldn¡¯t mind the age gap if we gave her a grandchild, while you were at it?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s the first time since Phloria that I meet your girlfriend. I got carried away." She whispered back.

    "For the love of... Don¡¯t call her my girlfriend." Lith was fighting the urge to strangle his own sister. "If she hears that, she¡¯ll dump me like a bad habit."

    They ordered another serving and consumed their meal in awkward silence until they received a call from Mage Felhorn inviting them to the Association¡¯s headquarters to be debriefed about the crisis with the rest of the team.

    Dorian led them to the morgue in the basement, where dozens of corpses upied long lines of metal scaffolds. They belonged to people of different ages, gender, and social ss. The only thing they had inmon was theck of any kind of wound.

    The girls gasped while Lith¡¯s attention was drawn to a familiar figure in histe twenties, with ck hair and shades of silver. He was around 1.74 meters (5¡¯9") meters tall and a slender build.

    He was standing near a metal stretcher the upant of which was covered by a heavy nket.

    "Professor Manohar." Lith was happy to break the silence. "Nice to meet you again. Howe this time you didn¡¯t disappear?"

    Manohar attempted to answer but someone else beat him to it.

    "Believe me, he tried." Said Jirni Ernas raising her right arm and revealing the cuffs linking the two of them.

 Chapter 434 Death from Above Part 1

    "I resent the use of the ¡¯disappear¡¯ term." Manohar said with an indignant tone.

    "I don¡¯t run away like a spoiled brat, I simply seek the istion aplex matter like my endless research requires."

    "You are a spoiled brat." Jirni replied as she opened the cuffs. Manohar had the habit of gesturing like a hysterical bird while he talked, almost dislocating her shoulder in result.

    "Without constant supervision, you¡¯d break morews in a week than a serial killer in their whole life. You never fill your paperwork and neglect your students to pursue your own agenda."

    Manohar wanted to reply, but Jirni scared him. He decided that shutting up and hiding behind Lith was in his best interest.

    "I know you said that you¡¯re a fan of my work, but this is more like stalking." Lith said while giving Jirni a bow.

    "Don¡¯t tter yourself, kid. This time I¡¯m here for him." Sheughed at the joke while pointing at Manohar.

    "Once you geniuses find some answers, it will be my job to decide how to continue the investigation. From now on, you all work for me. Mage Felhorn, exin to us what¡¯s really happening in Othre."

    "dly." Dorian stepped in the middle of the room and took a deep breath to calm himself. Death and madness gued the room, making it hard for him to decide if to find more unsettling the corpses or the living.

    Aside from the two young women, he had the impression to be the only human in the room.

    "It all started a couple of months ago, when the first caravans arrived to exchange goods for food and vice versa. At first, the crime rate spiked. It¡¯s nothing rming since Othre¡¯s poption doubles until winter ends.

    "Then, things escted from the usual routine to crimes of magical nature. People with little or no magical talent turned into powerful mages and settled old scores the worst possible way." He pointed at the corpses on the metal scaffolds.

    "The phenomenon started from the outer rim and slowly spread to the whole city. The only thing we know is that receiving those powers is a double edged sword. It makes their wielder very dangerous, but in exchange, they die when struck by a spell.

    "No matter the element employed, a tier one spell is enough to kill them. While we were still trying to sort things up, our analysts reported that the number of missing persons had spiked as well.

    "It took us a while to notice because most of the victims were foreigners. Once it started to happen in the inner rims of the city too, the missing person reports led us to discover that the situation was even worse than we suspected.

    "Peoplee into Othre every day. We don¡¯t know if we are looking for dozens or hundreds of kidnappings." Dorian was crestfallen noticing theck of reactions in the room.

    Tista¡¯s and Kam¡¯s were genuinely worried, but the others seemed bored as if he had been talking about his vacations.

    "We have been able to cover up both these issues and prevent panic from spreading, until these things started to appear." He moved near the stretcher and pulled away the nket hiding its content.

    It was a corpse, but unlike the others on the scaffolds, it waspletely dried up. The eye sockets were empty, the nose was reced by two small holes in the skull, and the skin was so stretched that the mouth was deformed into a crazed smile.

    "Unlike the other anomalies, this phenomenon appeared at the same time in all the rims. Also, in some cases we have witnesses, so at least we know what happened even though we have no idea of how or why.

    "The gentleman in front of you is, or better, was Sir Rosen Stern, Bar of the Kingdom. He died in front of over twenty guests and every one of them said the same thing.

    "One moment they were having an amiable conversation and the following a blue pir descended from the sky enveloping him. When the pir disappeared, he had be like this."

    "Fascinating." Jirni, Manohar, and Lith said as one whileing closer to the body.

    "We haven¡¯t been able to identify a pattern in the timing or in the ces of the alleged murders. Everything appears to bepletely coincidental. Our only certainty is that whenever a blue light pir appears, someone dies.

    "All the victims belonged to the middle ss or the nobility, which makes it impossible to cover it up. Especially since some of them died in front of numerous witnesses or in crowded ces."

    Jirni knew of substances capable of inducing hallucinations and venoms that could reduce the victim into a simr state, so she searched the body for puncture wounds.

    Lith used all of his and Solus¡¯s abilities to perform a full body scan of the corpse.

    ¡¯The light pir from the sky manifests when a magical beast is about to evolve. Usually it¡¯s of a golden color, while mine was silver. I¡¯ve never seen a blue one. What the heck could it mean?¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯No idea.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯There¡¯s one odd thing, though. The body ispletely dry of mana. Check it with Life Vision.¡¯

    Everything on Mogar was imbued with mana. Rocks, trees, even corpses. Yet only sentient beings developed a mana core and could use magic.

    Ever since his first meeting with Ka, Lith¡¯s Life Vision was capable of perceiving the mana permeating all things in the form of a faint wind of different colors they emanated ording to their nature.

    Green for the nts, grey for the stones, red for the animals, and ck for the dead.

    Lith pretended to chant a spell, touched his eyelids and activated Life Vision. His eyes now burning with light magic revealed that the corpses on the stretchers had no mana at all. There was no ck wind.

    It was the most unnatural thing Lith had ever seen, a void that he couldn¡¯t even begin to understand. Even Abominations were infused with mana.

    Manohar cast a few spells while examining the body and after a while his eyes shone like those of child staring at his carefully wrapped Christmas presents.

    "The reason I called you here is to solve the mystery behind these anomalies. Our first priority is to understand what killed Sir Rosen and is still killing his peers." Dorian continued.

    "What about the others?" Kam knew she was just a liaison officer and had no active role in the investigation. Yet she couldn¡¯t help but be outraged by such a manifest discrimination.

    "Are their deaths less important just because they were poor ormoners?"

    "No. It¡¯s just that we have no leads. A problem that I hope our diagnosticians will be able to correct soon." Dorian said while giving a small bow to both Lith and Manohar, even though after all the troubles he had gone through to recruit them, he felt they didn¡¯t deserve it.

    "Cases like that of sir Rosen are so peculiar that, ording to our experts, there are only three possible exnations and they are as bad as each other."

 Chapter 435 Death from Above Part 2

    "The first is that they were victims of an Abomination. When those creatures feed, they leave behind a trail of corpses not different from the one I showed you.

    "The second one is that we are facing a vampire. They can feed off people¡¯s emotional energies, in which case they are better known as Incubus or Subus, their blood, or their very life force.

    "A victim of the third kind of vampire would resemble Lord Stern. I¡¯m not really convinced by this hypothesis, though, since some of the deaths happened in broad daylight.

    "The third and the worst one, is that we are against someone with the skills and the resources to employ Forbidden Magic right under our noses. It¡¯s a branch of magic that is universally ouwed because it requires living sacrifices to work.

    "It allows you to break the rules of magic. You can create life, prolong your existence, be stronger, even steal a part of someone¡¯s soul. It¡¯s very risky and almost always lethal, but there are very few things you can¡¯t achieve with it.

    With the proper preparations, killing from a distance is hardly a problem."

    Dorian finished his exnation and hoped for the best.

    "Maybeing here wasn¡¯t aplete waste of time. I don¡¯t know who did this nor the why, but I think I know the how." Manohar said with a conceited smirk, like he was the only one with a brain in the room.

    "Only a lesspetent mage than me could believe that nonsense."

    "That¡¯s impossible." Dorian blurted out. "We didn¡¯t manage to find a clue in weeks and you¡¯re saying that with a nce you have already understood everything?"

    "Gods, you¡¯re really stupid." Manohar pped his own face in annoyance.

    "Even Linjos, may the gods rest his soul, was brighter than this. No, I¡¯m saying that I figured out what¡¯s happening, but since you¡¯ll have to exin it to that halfwit boss of yours, I¡¯m dumbing it down for you.

    "Ever since Balkor¡¯s attack we have conducted thorough studies about the Abominations. Vastor and I are the leading experts in the field. Even without that egg man, I can tell you that no Abomination did this."

    "Yeah." Lith agreed. "There¡¯s too much waste here. When they feed, they only leave the bones intact."

    "Exactly!" Manohar performed a few hops of joy. Lith¡¯s exnation was dumb enough for everyone to understand it.

    The rest of the team tried to avoid thinking about how the duo could have performed their studies on the feeding habits of such deadly creatures.

    "As for the vampire, not only they hate daylight, but also the organs of the victims would have already started to rot. This leaves us with only one possible exnation: we are dealing with Forbidden Magic."

    "That¡¯s preposterous!" Dorian said in outrage.

    "It¡¯s not." Lith shook his head. "I¡¯m no expert in Forbidden Magic, but this corpse is unnatural. Have you checked it with magic?"

    "Of course not. Even the light element is useless on cadavers. It would have been a waste of time. We just performed a regr search of the body and took a few samples to have them analyzed by the Alchemists."

    "You noticed!" Manohar said ignoring everything Dorian said. "Dear Lith, it¡¯s a shame you left the White Griffon. We had so much fun together."

    Lith had a hard time considering his role as Manohar¡¯s assistant as fun. He had to substitute for the Professor¡¯s lessons, fill his paperwork leaving to him only to sign the documents, clean his messes, and take the me for his actions whenever he lost sight of the Professor.

    "Thanks, I guess. Tista, try to reanimate it with darkness magic." He replied.

    Tista did as instructed, but instead of turning into an undead, the corpse regained a part of its volume. The effectsted only for a few seconds before it returned to its previous state.

    "This man hasn¡¯t just been killed. Somehow, they have drained every single drop of mana he had." Lith exined.

    Then, Manohar said:

    "If I had to take an educated guess, I¡¯d say that someone is sacrificing their lives to create a cursed object. It¡¯s a task that demands an enormous amount of mana and a veryplex array to contain the energies released in the process."

    Lith wasn¡¯t convinced by the Professor¡¯s theory, but he couldn¡¯t voice his doubts. He needed to see one of the blue pirs to be sure of his theory.

    ¡¯If they really are like those that appear during the evolution of a magical beast, then it¡¯s unlikely to be some sort of ritual. Harnessing the amount of world energy contained in a single pir would be enough to create another ck Star.¡¯

    He thought while reviewing the cursed object¡¯s blueprints stored inside Soluspedia.

    Dorian quickly took a map of Othre and marked the spots where the desated corpses had been found. If there was a pattern behind their position, Lith wasn¡¯t able to find it. Even after joining the dots with lines the resulting image reminded him more a childish doodle than a magical circle.

    "Let¡¯s say it¡¯s the truth." Dorian sighed. "What about the other corpses? What about the missing people?"

    Manohar and Lith examined the bodies on the metal scaffolds for a minute, exchanged a few words, and then both shrugged.

    "These are regr corpses. If you want me to discover what killed them, bring me a live specimen. Even better, bring me as many as you can. Sometimes it takes a few failures before seeding." Manohar said.

    "We are talking about people, not cattle. What you call ¡¯failing¡¯ is actually murder!"

    "Well, I can¡¯t diagnose something without a patient." Manohar clicked his tongue. "This simple observation stands for both your regr corpses and your missing people. If you want me to make an omelet, give me some eggs."

    Before the bickering could continue, Jirni stepped forward.

    "Silence, you two. I hate to admit it, but Manohar has a point." At those words the Professor gloated.

    "That doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re going to kill random people. At least now we have a lead. If he is right..."

    "I always am." He said with a smirk.

    "...it would exin why the phenomenon is so recent. Forbidden Magic requires more than evil thoughts and a maniacalughter. The caravans are the perfect cover to smuggle rare ingredients inside Othre.

    "Luckily, most of those substances are strictly regted. Buying them on the ck market means spending a sum that can¡¯t go unnoticed, not with dimensional magic sealed.

    "Our best line of action is to interrogate the witnesses and dig in the life of the victims to find out if they have been chosen at random or if they befriended the wrong person.

    "As for the other cases, I want to be notified immediately if another of those frenzied ¡¯mages¡¯ appear. Do not engage them unless absolutely necessary until my or Lith¡¯s arrival.

    We need answers and dead men tell no tale."

 Chapter 436 Investigation Part 1

    "There are six of us." Jirni said after a headcount. "Usually I¡¯d split us into groups of two to cover more ground without wasting time. However..."

    She took a long look at the bizarre team she had to work with.

    Two young women with no real field experience, an average mage who seemed to be more a political puppet than an asset, two feral monsters in human guise who didn¡¯t give a damn about the tragedy that was taking ce inside the city of Othre, and Manohar.

    She knew his personal file inside and out. Jirni would need to consult a thesaurus to properly describe the god of healing.

    "...I can¡¯t take my eyes off of him, so he has toe with me." She said cuffing Manohar to her wrist again.

    "I¡¯m here as Manohar¡¯s assistant. I belong in your group." Tista walked to Jirni¡¯s side.

    "I¡¯m here as her bodyguard. I go where she goes." Lith followed suit.

    "That¡¯s not our deal!" Dorian was starting to get the Royal Constable¡¯s point.

    "You are here to support the Association in whatever manner we deem necessary. Not for spending quality time with your family."

    "I don¡¯t care about what you think. If I can¡¯t protect her, then our deal is off and I walk." Lith¡¯s tone didn¡¯t leave space for negotiations.

    "The Army has nothing against Ranger Verhen resuming his duty." Kam¡¯s words put thest nail in the coffin. Dorian red at her, well aware that her role was to make the Army¡¯s best interests, even if it meant sabotaging the mission.

    If Lith left, the team would lose one of its only three real yers and there was only so much Lady Ernas could do while babysitting Manohar. Once brought outside theb, he was only a liability for the mission.

    "Which leaves me with an oversized team and two politicalpdogs of no use." Jirni said with a sigh, making both the liaison officers turn red in embarrassment.

    "I may have no magic power or any experience as an interrogator, but I¡¯ve been a data analyst for almost ten years. If you give me ess to Othre¡¯s interlink I¡¯m confident I can provide you the information you need by the end of the day."

    Kam said referring to the magicalwork connecting themunication amulets to the various archives in the Kingdom. Bank ounts, transfers of funds, everything that left a trail of paper could be remotely essed through the interlink.

    Be they banks, merchants, or nobles, they needed to be able to exin every single dime or artifact they possessed. Otherwise, while being subjected to an investigation, everything that wasn¡¯t ounted for would be confiscated and added to the Royal Treasury.

    It was one of the many reasons Royal Constables were feared.

    "Who will you report your findings first? To me or to Commander Berion?" Jirni¡¯s eyes held neither trust or suspicion. She considered herself to be a good judge of character, there was only so much one could learn from a background check.

    Kam¡¯s reply was to hand Lady Ernas her army¡¯smunication amulet and then showing her civilian one which held no contact rune rted to the army besides Lith¡¯s.

    Jirni frowned at the sight for a split second.

    "I stand corrected. One politicalpdog of no use." She said while granting Kam¡¯s civilianmunication amulet ess to the interlink and her contact rune before returning bothmunicators to her.

    "Either you trust someone, or you don¡¯t." She replied to her surprised expression.

    ¡¯She said it while looking at Kam, but I¡¯m pretty sure she was talking to me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Under the Constable questioning gaze, Dorian could only lower his eyes in shame.

    "I have no skills that could be of use during the investigation." He admitted. "I¡¯ll remain here to coordinate the efforts to prove Professor Manohar¡¯s theory. If anything happens, I¡¯ll ry it to you."

    "Good." Jirni nodded.

    "Four people move faster than six. We need to be firm but tactful, otherwise the witnesses may turtle up and slower the investigation. This means that unless you discover something strictly relevant to the case, you are forbidden to talk. At all."

    She said while ring at Manohar, whose uninterrupted series of social blunders had be a legend throughout the Kingdom.

    "Can I be cuffed to Tista instead of you, mom- I mean, ma¡¯am? It would at least give me something nice to look at to pass time." Manohar said.

    "Good point." Jirni¡¯s reply creeped Tista out. Lady Ernas dug inside one of her pockets, but instead of the key to the handcuffs, she took out amunication earpiece.

    "Congrattions, kid. You have just been deputized to be my assistant too. I¡¯ll talk to the women while you¡¯ll take care of the men. Just smile a lot and repeat the words I speak to you via the earpiece. It will make our job much easier."

    Lith couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at Manohar¡¯s dejected expression.

    "From Healer to honey trap. This is not the career I hoped for." Tista sighed.

    Her words stung at Kam¡¯s heart, reminding her of the elephant in the room only Jirni and her were aware of.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t let things fester any longer. I need to make up my mind once and for all. Career or self respect?¡¯ She walked out of the room without even say goodbye. Between Jirni¡¯s words and Kam¡¯s reactions, Lith¡¯s paranoia was piecing together the facts.

    The four of them flew from the Association to Baroness Izra¡¯s mansion. She was among the witnesses of Sir Rosen¡¯s death and one of his closest friends. The Baroness was a plump woman in herte thirties.

    She had red hair, green eyes, and a gentle face full of freckles that not even her make up couldpletely hide. She wore a simple light green silk satin dress, emphasizing her eyes and pale skin.

    Like any sane person, she was nervous while facing a Royal Constable. Her smile was forced and she couldn¡¯t stop wringing her hands.

    "How can I help you, Constable Ernas?"

    "I need to hear from your voice your recollection of the events prior to Sir Rosen death." Jirni smiled, trying to make the Baroness feel morefortable. She had even switched Manohar¡¯s cuffs to Lith¡¯s wrist before entering the house.

    The rattle of the chain during the questioning could easily get the suspect defensive.

    "There isn¡¯t much to say." She twisted a fan made of an exotic bird¡¯s plumes between her hands. "We were just talking, mostly gossiping about our neighbors, when suddenly a blue pir appeared from the ceiling and plummeted on the poor Rosen.

    "The most dreadful thing was that we were all scared to death, whereas he was smiling and giggling like when his wife epted his marriage proposal. We told him to get out of there, but he wouldn¡¯t listen.

    "Bar Sahg tried to grab him, but the light was as solid as a wall. There was nothing we could do."

    Lith and Tista roamed the room while using Life Vision. Several weak arrays epassed the whole house. Even with their limited knowledge about nonbat magical formations, they couldn¡¯t find anything out of the ordinary.

    It was just the standard set of home defenses they had seen countless times.

 Chapter 437 Investigation Part 2

    "I hate prying in a gentleman¡¯s personal life." Jirni lied through her teeth while still sounding so sincere that she would manage to sell sand in the desert.

    "Yet we suspect that Sir Rosen¡¯s death may be rted to the practice of Forbidden Magic. I need to know if something changed in his life recently. Maybe a new acquaintance? A new hobby? Anything at all?"

    At the mention of the forbidden arts, even Baroness Izra¡¯s freckles turned pale.

    Forbidden Magic was ouwed in all the countries of the Galen continent. The term usually referred to all kinds of spells or artifacts capable of altering the lives of their targets benefitting only their caster.

    Examples of it were the ve cors or creating greater undead since both would rob a living creature of their free will. It was considered the most inhumane thing a mage could do.

    The highest forms of Forbidden Magic required to use the life of others to empower spells or magical objects. Such magic could give birth to miracles, but only at the cost of many lives and posed huge risks.

    Forbidden Magic was an unnatural process, that allowed subverting thews of magic by sacrificing vast amounts of life force and mana to upset the bnce. It was very powerful but also very vtile.

    One tiny mistake could turn the miracle into a nightmare, just like it had happened during the creation of the ck Star. Like any kind of magic, to perfect a single spell required several attempts and each one of them could bring consequencesparable to a natural disaster.

    "I know nothing of Forbidden Magic and I¡¯m sure neither did Rosen. He wasn¡¯t a perfect man, but he would have never consorted with someone capable of such a despicable thing." The Baroness squeezed her fan so hard some of the plumes fell off.

    "Interesting. What do you mean when you say he wasn¡¯t a perfect man?" Jirni¡¯s tone remained amiable even while noticing the witness tensing up in realization of the slip of her tongue.

    "Well, like most of ourmon circle of friends, Rosen was born in a wealthy family. He never worked a day in his life, which made him easily bored. He would seek fun in the most disparate ways. Sometimes even illegal ones."

    "Like what?"

    "Nothing much. Brothels, ndestine fights, gambling clubs. He was just a Bar, he hadn¡¯t much to spend without endangering the sources of his annuities."

    "Interesting choice of words. So, what could he have done if he had more money?" Jirni pressed forward as her prey got more tangled up in her web the more she struggled.

    "I¡¯ve nothing to add!" Izra stood up. Her expression was indignant because of Jirni¡¯s allegation, but her eyes were terrified. "Now I¡¯d like to be left alone. I¡¯m still mourning."

    "As you wish, Baroness. I¡¯d answer my questions now, if I were you. Otherwise the next time I will not be so gentle." Jirni dropped the act like a live grenade and added a sliver of killing intent to her words to emphasize her threat.

    The Baroness withstood the Constable¡¯s re for a second before her eyes rolled up and she fell onto the ground with a thud.

    "Damn! I hate it when they faint. I can¡¯t question her more aggressively without proof. Forcingly waking her up is not an option. The only silver lining is that I now have a good medical reason to have her examined."

    Tista, Lith, and Manohar took turns using their diagnostic spells on the unconscious noblewoman.

    "I think she and Rosen shared more than their social circle." Tista said when she was done. "I found traces of abuse of drugs and alcohol in her system, bothmon and magical in nature. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she sniffed the dust instead of sweeping it."

    Lith nodded in agreement. When he had used Invigoration on the Baroness, he had noticed an unnatural thinning of her airways, which together with the heavy damage to her kidneys and liver told him a history of searching for fun in the wrong ways for an extended period of time.

    "That¡¯s it?" Manohar scoffed. "I can tell you she has five years at most left. Maybe fifteen if she stops abusing from today and keeps herself clean until the end of her days."

    "How do you know it?" Lith performed a second scan without finding any signs of impending death. Even Death Vision showed him that the Baroness was more likely to experience a violent death rather than organ failure or overdosing.

    "A discoloration in her life force. It suffered such extensive damage to have permanently changed. Even if we cleanse her body and regenerate her organs she may not recover."

    Lith used Scanner, but found no trace of the discoloration Manohar had mentioned. Only after focusing on the melody of the life force he noticed that its volume was slightly lower than usual.

    ¡¯I guess he¡¯s not called the god of healing for nothing.¡¯ He thought while they left the Baroness¡¯ house and moved to the next witnesses.

    Most men were so eager to impress Tista that they had no qualms in confirming thete Bar¡¯s vices. Sometimes they would incriminate themselves while trying to unt their knowledge of the local underworld.

    Jirni took note of everything but let them go. It was more useful to her letting them walk free.

    "As soon as they realize what they have done, they will panic. I¡¯ll keep them and theirmunication amulets under surveince. With a little luck they¡¯ll lead us to whoever provides them their daily dose of ¡¯fun¡¯."

    She had just finished talking when hermunication amulet buzzed.

    "A merchant is currently attacking the shop of her fiercestpetitor. She is known to barely have a magico level of power, yet she is disying abilities worthy of a lesser academy mage. I think..." Dorian was cut short by Jirni¡¯s angry voice.

    "Save it! Just tell me where." A holographic map of Othre appeared from her amulet, showing both Lith¡¯s group¡¯s was and the attacker¡¯s locations marked by one red dot each.

    They flew to their destination, finding a whole building on fire and a tall middle-aged woman with chestnut hair who was unleashing one spell after the other against everyone who attempted to put off the mes.

    There were several mages on the scene, but they followed Jirni¡¯s orders and never retaliated. They only blocked iing spells and helped the residents to evacuate the building.

    "Now this is an offer you can¡¯t refuse!" The woman said with a crazyugh.

    "One fireball for free and the second one too!" The explosions caused splinters and debris to fly everywhere. The angry merchant couldn¡¯t be damaged by her own magic, but the splinters pierced her legs, face, and torso.

    Yet she seemed to be immune to pain.

    "Damn! With those wounds she¡¯ll die in a few minutes and we can¡¯t even heal her." Jirni cursed. "There¡¯s no time to lose. Lith, draw her attention. I need to get close to paralyze her!"

    "What about me?" Manoharined as Jirni unlocked the handcuffs.

    "I was once part of the Queen¡¯s corps, you know? Why do I get to miss all the fun?"

    Jirni ignored him and circled around the frenzied merchant.

    ¡¯Thank the gods wannabe mages only know how to use one element.¡¯ She inwardly sneered as Lith used fire magic to put out the mes. When she heard him chanting loudly, the woman turned around in outrage.

    Unfortunately, in doing so she spotted Jirni with the corner of her eye and unleashed one lightning bolt for each of her new enemies.

    ¡¯Or not!¡¯ Jirni thought.

 Chapter 438 Specimen Part 1

    The lightning bolts conjured by the frenzied merchant were tier one spells, but their power was on par with those produced by a tier three one. Lith was far enough from the caster to not have problems dodging the attack, whereas Jirni wasn¡¯t so lucky.

    Her Royal Constable uniform was able to tank a lot of damage before she would get seriously injured, yet she couldn¡¯t afford to get hit. It was because of her orders that no one had stopped the woman fromying waste to the building.

    If the target died before they captured her, it would have been all for naught. To make things worse, Jirni hadn¡¯t missed that the woman had been casting spells non stop since their arrival.

    ¡¯If she gets me once, she¡¯ll keep attacking until I¡¯m dead.¡¯ Jirni thought. She extended forward her right hand, with which she was holding in between her fingers the three needles she had nned to use to paralyze her target.

    They reacted to the iing spell by turning into lightning rods that diverted and trapped the energy making it harmless. Jirni exploited the surprise effect to get close enough to incapacitate her enemy, but the merchant reacted so fast that her movements were almost a blur.

    She dodged Jirni¡¯s needles and kicked her at the same time. The woman was no fighter. Her attack was sloppy and telegraphed, allowing Jirni to jump back to significantly reduce the impact.

    The kick was still too fast to avoid and so violent that it squeezed the air out of her lungs.

    Lith too was in a pinch, but of apletely different kind. After extinguishing the fire, he had no idea what to do. He had countless ways of stopping the crazy merchant, but they all required him to use magic.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t even know if I can get close without killing her.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Life Vision shows me that she is sucking even more world energy than thest psycho I fought. She might be able to feed on the mana I naturally emit as an Awakened one and die of mana poisoning because of it. Any ideas?¡¯

    ¡¯Violence is not an option.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯If ten centimeters long zing splinters piercing her body don¡¯t cause her any difort, I doubt even fractures could hinder her.

    ¡¯I can block your mana flow, but that would mean no spirit nor fusion magic. You would be left with only your enhanced body as an asset.¡¯

    Lith inwardly nodded and joined the fray. Jirni was one of the few persons he really liked, maybe too much. They were so simr that it almost scared him. Mostly because he was afraid to end up like her, with a family of his own.

    Yet he didn¡¯t want to lose her, nor he wanted her rtives to experience what he had went through with Carl. They were all his friends, even Orion. The merchant saw Lith¡¯s approaching and reacted ordingly.

    Or at least she tried.

    The gap in height, training, and physique was overwhelming. Even without fusion magic, she was moving in slow motion in Lith¡¯s eyes. His right fist struck the tip of her chin with pinpoint precision to induce a concussion that would make her faint.

    The hit dislocated the jaw with a snap, but the woman kept standing. Lith followed through with a liver shot with his left that would have incapacitated a man triple her size.

    The jaw fixed itself with another snap as the woman flexed her muscles turning the splinters stuck in her body into deadly projectiles. Not a single drop of blood came from the open wounds, which instantly healed.

    "Light magic too? This wasn¡¯t in any report!" Jirni grunted while stopping the improvised bullets with her bare hands. They were no threat to any enchanted armor, but a single stray shot was enough to kill a civilian.

    ¡¯More like a full elemental fusion.¡¯ Solus exined. ¡¯No sense of pain, rapid healing, an endless supply of world energy. I don¡¯t think we can take her alive.¡¯

    ¡¯You are right, we can¡¯t. At least by ourselves.¡¯

    Lith cursed at his bad luck and unleashed a barrage of attacks. He adjusted their speed to make them slow enough for the merchant to see them but too fast to be dodged. Once she was focused on the defense, Jirni closed in as silent as a ghost.

    She stabbed the merchant at the base of her neck with two needles, severing her spinal cord and making her fall limp like a puppet the strings of which had been cut.

    "I can feel her body regenerating so fast it¡¯s rejecting my needles. I can¡¯t let go of them or we¡¯ll be back to square one. Whatever you have to do, do it now!" Jirni said.

    Solus released Lith¡¯s mana flow allowing him to use Invigoration after pretending to chant a short spell. Just as he had feared during his previous encounter with another ¡¯made mage¡¯, whatever was force feeding the woman with world energy attempted to suck his mana too.

    This time Lith was prepared and true magic was all about willpower. The vortex located in the woman¡¯s mana core and Lith fought a tug of war for his mana. He had to scan the merchant¡¯s body for anomalies while preventing his energies from reaching her core.

    Even with all his years of practice and the new powers his blue core granted him, it was one of the hardest things Lith had ever done. Keeping the mana from Invigoration in one ce long enough for it to detect something required his utmost focus.

    Whenever even a small sliver of mana slipped out of his control, he was forced to reim it and start everything from scratch. Seconds turned into minutes as the constant strain on Lith¡¯s mind and body wore him out.

    In normal circumstances, Invigoration would constantly restore his energies. Because of the vortex, however, the world energy would get stuck between him and the merchant, unable to replenish his core.

    In such a situation Lith was no different from a fake mage using a tier five spell.

    "I can¡¯t do it anymore. Professor, you can give it a shot." Lith wheezed at every word, his face was pale and sweaty from the effort.

    "Only use tier five spells, otherwise you¡¯ll kill her." He warned Manohar.

    "You make no sense, kid. Why would one use lesser spells?" The Professor made it sound like tier four and below were just cantrips. The moment his hands finished performing the necessary hand signs, his expression changed.

    Manohar felt that something was trying to steal his mana and reacted ordingly. It wasn¡¯t his first rodeo, but he had never encountered such a fierce opponent before. Suddenly Manohar didn¡¯t look arrogant, bored, or excited.

    For the first time in his life, the god of healing couldn¡¯t even afford to have a stray thought. What usually came natural to him to the point of being trivial was now a demanding task.

    "How long do you need? I¡¯m getting tired." Jirni¡¯s muscles were sore from the constant strain. Tista would have liked to give her some life force, but she knew her spell would be disrupted before it could do any good.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m done." Manohar said while pulling away from the woman. Jirni¡¯s needles blocked her body, but her face could still move. It turned into a mask of horror and pain as the Professor pulled out a yellow sphere from her abdomen killing her on the spot.

 Chapter 439 Specimen Part 2

    ¡¯Did he just rip her mana core out of her body?¡¯ Lith asked, incapable to believe his own eyes.

    ¡¯Yes, I mean no.¡¯ Solus didn¡¯t know how to reply.

    ¡¯Pick one, dammit!¡¯

    ¡¯No, he didn¡¯t. Her core was orange, not yellow. What¡¯s terrifying is that after locating the substance that generated the vortex, Manohar exploited its effects to move it all in the same spot before extracting it.

    ¡¯What we have just seen was him collecting the vortex after enveloping it in severalyers of life force and mana. The sphere is not her core, but it resembles it because it¡¯s made of that poor woman¡¯s life essences.¡¯

    "Did you just kill her?" Jirni had no idea what had happened, yet she knew that whatever was the answer, she wasn¡¯t going to like it.

    "Of course. Because of these stupid arrays, I couldn¡¯t store the sample inside my dimensional amulet. The next best thing was to collect the sample together with enough life force to prevent it from degrading, and that¡¯s what I did." Manohar shrugged.

    "A sample of what?" Jirni asked.

    "Good question. There was something inside her body that allowed her to absorb mana. That¡¯s why she could cast so many spells and why those like her die when struck by a spell. It¡¯s just mana poisoning." He exined.

    "Was it really necessary to kill her? I was hoping to capture her alive and have her tell us how she gained her powers."

    "It would have been a waste of time." Manohar objected. "Her body was about to copse from mana overload. This way at least we obtained something more than the ramblings of dying woman."

    "What if we arrived here earlier? Would you have been able to save her then?" She asked to both Manohar and Lith.

    Lith shook his head. He had been barely able to identify the presence of a foreign substance in the woman¡¯s system before almost copsing.

    "Not yet." Contrary to everyone¡¯s expectation, Manohar¡¯s usual unwavering confidence seemed to have taken a day off.

    "I don¡¯t know if this is the result of a spell, an artifact, or alchemy." He said pointing at the glowing sphere floating above his left hand.

    "What I¡¯m certain of is that, after studying the sample, I¡¯ll be able to find a solution."

    Lady Ernas sighed while looking at the remains of the burned building. They had risked so much and obtained scraps in return.

    "Let¡¯s call it a day. You go back to the Association and find out what the heck we are dealing with. Until then, I¡¯ll instruct the city guards on how to deal with the ¡¯made mages¡¯ in case another attack happens."

    Lith, Tista, and Manohar did as instructed. With a new toy at hand, Manohar wouldn¡¯t leave hisb until he found a solution to the enigma. They spent the rest of the afternoon studying the sample.

    There wasn¡¯t enough to conduct aplete analysis but what they found was disturbing at best. The magicalponents of the unknown substance were all too degraded to be recognized.

    All but one.

    A small piece of human tissue that was able to grow as long as it was able to feed on mana.

    "Fascinating. This is indeed Forbidden Magic, just as I predicted." Manohar said while cing it inside a locked array isting it from the world energy. The specimen was surrounded by mana crystals that would provide it enough energy to live, but not enough to grow.

    "Please! You also said that it was about a cursed object. Whatever that is, it¡¯s not an object." Tista mocked him.

    "Maybe I¡¯m wrong." Manohar pronounced thest word as if it was the worst insult he had ever heard. "And maybe not. We¡¯ll resume tomorrow."

    He would have liked to continue, but he couldn¡¯t afford to bete for curfew. Jirni didn¡¯t trust him enough to leave him unsupervised and alone with such a potentially dangerous specimen.

    Once Tista and Lith left for dinner, he was forced to leave theb as well.

    "By the way, why you didn¡¯t buy a tent for your travels? That way you could always sleep, mana geyser or not. That or maybe you could make yourself an artifact." Tista asked.

    "I wish it was that simple." Lith sighed.

    "I¡¯m paranoid, so forgive me if a wall made of cloth doesn¡¯t make me feel safe. I could set up an array, but my knowledge about nonbat formations is limited. Even if I learned one, to make itst a whole night I would need a lot of mana crystals.

    "Otherwise it would crumble after a few hits. Don¡¯t let me started about an artifact. The best I can do right now is replicating my own equipment. Ick the knowledge and the experience necessary for realizing such a thing.

    "I might as well throw my money into the gutter. It would be much quicker and I¡¯d obtain the same results."

    "Do you think Kam will be angry because of my babbling? I kind of messed up big time this morning."

    "You sure did." Lith¡¯s tone turned sour.

    After dinner, Tista went to sleep in her own room while Lith decided to stay up.

    He was a bit worried since Kam had yet to arrive and he knew that something was wrong. Even with all of Tista¡¯s blunders, Kam had been too tense and distantpared to her usual self.

    It was only an hourter that she finally returned to the hotel. Her smile was forced and she looked like she was close to exhaustion.

    "Do you want to order something for dinner?" Lith had a vague idea about what was happening, but didn¡¯t want to pressure her to talk.

    "Yes, please. I¡¯m starving." She replied without looking him in the eyes.

    They spent the time before and during her meal making small talk about how they had spent their day. Lith avoided mentioning the dead woman or the living tissue since the mood was already gloom as it was.

    "I don¡¯t think there is a nice way to put this, so I¡¯ll just say it." Kam said while Lith poured her a cup of tea. The nicer he was to her, the worst she felt.

    "I think we should slow down things a bit. Maybe take a bit of time to think about our rtionship. Is it okay with you?" She said in one breath, trying to relieve the burden she felt oppressing her chest.

    "Absolutely not." Lith blurted out a bit too fast for his own liking. "I mean, I¡¯ll respect whatever decision you¡¯ll take, but... why? Is it because of what Tista said?"

    "No. Of course not." She chuckled while remembering that silly conversation. Both her smile and herugh made Lith sigh in relief.

    "Then why?"

    "It¡¯splicated." She had spent every minute she was away from her desk trying to make up her mind, but to no avail.

    "Complicated as in ¡¯I don¡¯t want to talk about it¡¯ or more like ¡¯I don¡¯t know what to do¡¯?" Lith hated riddles. He preferred to be blunt rather than to be left hanging.

    "Both." Kam replied not knowing what to say.

 Chapter 440 Meat Puppet Part 1

    Lith pondered for a while, thinking about why Kam would have had such a change of heart so quickly. He remembered that she had never exined why she had been sent to Othre to him.

    His only real clues were Jirni¡¯s words about trusting Kam and how she had reacted to them.

    "I¡¯m aware we¡¯ve known each other for barely two weeks and that you have no real reason to trust me." Lith said.

    "So, if you need some space because something happened in your personal life, just tell me and I will not pry any further. Yet if someone from the army is pressuring you about our rtionship, then I think I have the right to know.

    "Because it wouldn¡¯t be just your problem, but our problem. You shouldn¡¯t be forced to shoulder such a burden alone. Whatever this is about, know that I¡¯ll not be part of your life unless you want me to be."

    Lith¡¯s words struck a nerve. Kam¡¯s eyes wandered around the room, almost hoping she would receive a sign from the heavens, or at least find a way out of her predicament. She stared at the door for a second before looking him in the eyes.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t run away from my problems forever.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯If I¡¯m right and Commander Berion sent me here as his pawn, I should¡¯ve been nice to Lith, smiled a lot, and even slept with him to further the Commander¡¯s agenda.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not who I want to be nor how I want to make my way up the army¡¯s ranks. Maybe Lith isn¡¯t as good as he appears, but at least he has been honest so far. If I have to live like a puppet, I might as well have never run away from my family.

    ¡¯I won¡¯t sell my dignity out of fear, I owe myself that much.¡¯

    Kam did her best not to tremble as she told him about her conversation with Berion before being dispatched to Othre. Yet she failed. She was in an impossible situation where she had been forced to either lose her job, which had been the only safe harbor in her life, or herself.

    Lith listened without saying a word nor trying tofort her.

    "So now I¡¯m screwed no matter what I do. If I put any distance between us, the Commander will understand I¡¯m not ying ball and punish me. If I stay with you, I will always ask myself if I¡¯m doing it because I want to give us a chance or just because I¡¯m too afraid to disobey."

    She didn¡¯t cry, and her voice remained firm. Yet seeing her anguish made Lith feel some guilt, but mostly, he was angry. He took a few deep breaths to calm down and assess the situation with Solus.

    Only then did he tell her about the dead woman, the living tissue sample, and his doubts about Manohar¡¯s theory.

    "Why are you telling me all this?" She asked.

    "Because it¡¯s what I would have told you anyway as my handler. I didn¡¯t mention it before only because I noticed that the woman I hope will be my girlfriend was feeling down, and I didn¡¯t want to spoil her dinner with gory details." He replied.

    "I didn¡¯t mean to hide anything from you. I know how important your job is to you. Maybe you should wear a double sided nametag, so I know when I¡¯m talking with Kam and when I¡¯m talking to my handler." He smiled at his own joke.

    "Thanks, I¡¯ll think about it." Her lips curved up into a light smile as he ced one hand above her shoulder. She grabbed it, appreciating its warmth.

    At that moment, she was grateful for many things. To Lith for not getting angry with her, for continuing to talk about "them" in the present tense instead of the past, and for just being there for her instead of making promises he couldn¡¯t keep.

    It wasn¡¯t much, but at the moment it was all she had. Most of all, Kam was grateful to herself for finding the courage to do the right thing. Her future was still scary, but no matter what would happen, she would be able to face it head-on.

    ***

    The next morning Kam and Lith woke up almost at the same time. The suite had more than one bedroom, which allowed them to sleep separately.

    ¡¯With my luck, it¡¯s only a matter of time before stuff starts to blow up in my face. I need to rest every night so that Invigoration retains its maximum efficiency.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I keep thinking about that thing Manohar found inside the made mage.¡¯ Solus tried to keep his mind off Kam¡¯s situation. She could easily rte to Lith¡¯s feelings.

    Both of them carried a deep sadness inside that was only aggravated by the constant feelings of istion haunting them. Lith because of all of his secrets, Solus because she had no life of her own.

    Over time, it had be as much a part of their bodies as the mana that flowed through them.

    ¡¯Why give someone magical powers? Especially if they would be equally dangerous to their user as they are to those around them.¡¯

    To Solus, Lith replied: ¡¯Off the top of my head, to create chaos, to give birth to artificial Awakened ones, or to test a Forbidden Spell onb rats before using it on yourself. It¡¯s what I would do.¡¯

    The discussion had just gone from theoretical to disturbing in less than one second. Solus knew all too well how serious Lith was when talking about such things. In his mind, he was now killing Berion over and over for messing with his life.

    Luckily, before his vivid imagination could direct a full sher movie, Tista knocked on the door.

    "Sorry to bother you, guys, but with all the disgusting things that happened yesterday, I either need somepany or I need to skip breakfast. Between old creeps and Manohar, my poor stomach is still doing flips." She noticed that both beds were unmade.

    "How is my favorite mistress? I could have used some of your dazzling smiles my brother is always talking about yesterday." Tista had no idea what was wrong between them. A slight sense of guilt made her attempt to remedy her previous blunders.

    "What do you mean, mistress?" Kam chuckled. She was happy to have somepany. Being alone with Lith was a bit awkward between what had happened and what hadn¡¯t happenedst night.

    He had agreed to let her sleep in the suite to not alert Berion that she wasn¡¯t going to y by his rules and give her some time to think.

    Tista exined to her how she usually deceived people into believing that she was Lith¡¯s wife to avoid being bothered.

    "Some are brave enough to face a brother¡¯s re, but a husband is much scarier." She winked.

    "So, to keep the masquerade going, I booked my room under your name and now the hotel staff thinks you are his mistress. You charging in here made quite an impression yesterday." Kam blushed a little andughed heartily.

    ¡¯Oh, gods! That¡¯s why the receptionist looked at me funnily. Tista sure has a talent for embarrassing me.¡¯ Yet the more time she spent with the two siblings, the less alone she felt.

 Chapter 441 Meat Puppet Part 2

    The group spent the morning interrogating more witnesses, but neither Jirni¡¯s wits nor Tista¡¯s charm managed to find anything that could further the investigation.

    "Embezzlement, illegal gambling, fencing. All things that would make today a field day if they weren¡¯tpletely irrelevant for the task at hand!" Jirni cursed in frustration.

    To add insult to injury, no made mage had appeared since they had defeated the merchant the previous day. It left them with only one shot at cracking the mystery behind the specimen still stored inside the quarantine array.

    "Did you learn anything useful from that meatball?" She asked Manohar.

    "Many things. First, keeping it alive requires a steady supply of mana and flesh. Second, it uses part of the mana to convert the flesh it consumes into its own and the rest gets stored somehow. Third..."

    "Lith?" She cut him short, since Manohar seemed unable to understand the "useful" part.

    "Not much. We know that whoever made it is a genius and that they employ Forbidden Magic. So far we have no clue about its purpose or how to track its source." He replied, making her sigh.

    "There isn¡¯t much we can do right now. You three get back to theb and please bring me good news. Mage Felhorn and I have been summoned by Marquis Lanza, Othre¡¯s ruler. He doesn¡¯t seem too happy with our results."

    "Did he really expect us to solve the case in one day? Why not also demand that we turn hay into gold while he is at it?" Tista said sarcastically.

    "Before our arrival, he was the one the Crown held ountable for the ongoing crisis. I guess the old coot is eager to put the me on us and wash his hands of the problem. Keep me posted, I¡¯ll do the same."

    ***

    Once they reached the Marquis¡¯ office, both Jirni and Dorian had a clear idea of what to expect.

    "So much for your experts, Felhorn. In less than 24 hours they managed to ruin months of my hard work! The Crown will be informed of it and believe me, they will not be pleased." Lanza said while smoothing his ck mustaches.

    The Marquis was a man in histe fifties, around 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") tall, with greying ck hair and a wide belly that was a testament to his love for good food. Despite the cold weather and an open window, he was sweating profusely.

    His vast amount of excess body fat helped Lady Ernas to make up her mind.

    ¡¯Today I¡¯ll have roasted pork for lunch.¡¯ She thought while pondering which side dish was better suited for her meal while she pretended to listen to his rants.

    "At least while I supervised the investigation, the coteral damage while handling the made mages was minimal. You allowed a single one to burn down a whole building in broad daylight! Do you have any idea how many lives you have destroyed? Or the panic you have caused?" He lied through his teeth.

    Made mages had done plenty of damage already, and their victims¡¯ body count had reached the double digits. The only differences with the Marquis¡¯s crisis management were that the made mages would die at the first spell and the victims would be forced into silence.

    "Winter ising and I have six families that have lost everything, without even a ce to live. Merchants came to me iming the fire has destroyed hundreds of silver coins worth of merchandise. Who is going to pay for that?" The Marquis¡¯ voice was outraged, but his grin told another story.

    ¡¯The bigger their failure, the more negligible mine will appear inparison.¡¯ He thought.

    "The Association will cover all the expenses." Dorian said with a nod of his head.

    ¡¯I bet a good part of that money will end up his pockets.¡¯ Was what he actually thought.

    "It¡¯s the least you can do." The Marquis said.

    "Your ipetence has caused incalcble losses to Othre¡¯s establishments. Now everyone knows about made mages. People are so scared that they prefer to stay at home all day rather than risk their lives.

    "Even my poor Mynna had to cancel the weekly g we host in our home because not one of our friends is willing to attend!"

    "I know you are upset, father, but you¡¯re being unfair to these people." Mynna walked into the room, followed closely by a housemaid.

    She was a stunning young woman in her early twenties, with light chestnut hair and blue eyes. Mynna was as tall as her father, wearing a skin-tight yellow evening dress that emphasized her soft curves.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ Mynna¡¯s arrival interrupted Jirni¡¯s internal debate about the best suited wine to apany her lunch. ¡¯They seem like they were pulled out of the "The beauty and the pig" fable. The only reasonable exnation is that she is adopted.¡¯

    "Between people going missing on a daily basis and the blue pirs reaping our peers, most of the members of our social circle left Othre weeks ago. Even our friends don¡¯t trust your skills. Mage Felhorn deserves the benefit of the doubt!"

    Mynna said with an angry tone.

    ¡¯Definitely adopted.¡¯ Jirni thought.

    "But pumpkin..." The Marquis turned beet red from embarrassment.

    "No buts, father! Have you told them about Count Xolver?" She cut him short.

    "No, he didn¡¯t. Why do you think he should have?" Jirni asked.

    "Count Xolver is a lunatic. He is the only one in his family that was born without a shred of magic power. He¡¯s always been obsessed with the dream of bing as powerful as his siblings.

    "He wasted a small fortune to pay mages, Alchemists, and every chatan that promised him they could boost his talent for magic. When I heard aboutmon people suddenly turning into powerful mages, he was the first suspect that came to my mind.

    "Yet my father never listened to me because the Xolver household is among his most loyal retainers!"

    "Watch your mouth, young miss!" The Marquis seemed to have regained his spunk.

    "I will not allow you to berate your father or our dear friends solely because you have no pity for an unfortunate gentleman. Go to your room, now!"

    Mynna and the housemaid left the Marquis office, but not before the youngdy ¡¯identally¡¯ bumped into the Marquis¡¯ desk and spilled an inkwell over his documents. Hours of hard work were gone in an instant, and so was Mynna.

    Jirni and Dorian ignored Lonza¡¯s desperate pleas for help and followed the young miss outside the office to obtain more details about the Count.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Mage Association¡¯s undergroundb, the three healers kept studying the living tissue. The moment they had removed it from the quarantine array, it had resumed its growth.

    It kept getting bigger with each piece of game they were forced to feed it while they performed their tests.

    "I think it would be a good idea to seal it again." Tista said. "Its growth rate is much faster than yesterday. Something is very wrong."

    "Nonsense." Manohar replied. "The more specimen we have, the more experiments we can perform. Without a host this thing is powerless. A good healer is always cautious but never afraid of the unknown."

    Just as Manohar had finished talking, the living tissue that now was as big as a small dog, started to writhe and twist until it assumed a humanoid shape made only of veins and muscles.

    "...of the unknown." Its pseudo mouth echoed with a voice that sounded identical to the Professor¡¯s.

    While Manohar performed a tier five spell at breakneck speed to ce the sample back inside the quarantine array, the living tissue shapeshifted again.

 Chapter 442 Thing Part 1

    The new form the living tissue had assumed was that of a featureless human head with a slender neck which ended with the outline of a left shoulder. It would have reminded Lith of a broken mannequin, if it weren¡¯t for its glowing blue eyes.

    "This is bad." He said. "I can¡¯t be sure of it, but the only time I¡¯ve seen blue eyes was during Necromancy sses. If I¡¯m right and the principle is the same, we¡¯re being watched."

    The head¡¯s lips curled into a smile, confirming Lith¡¯s suspicions. Manohar hadpleted his spell, but nothing happened.

    "Fascinating. Remote control despite the Association¡¯s arrays." The Professor took the enchanted tray the specimen was set upon, to seal it inside the quarantine array again.

    Suddenly, thin tendrils of flesh emerged from the severed neck and shoulder, wrapping around his arms.

    Nothing happened, again.

    "And?" Manohar grinned at the thing¡¯s surprised expression. The tendrils let go of his arms and went straight for his face, but a thin barrier of light surrounding Manohar prevented them from touching his skin.

    "As I said, without a host you are powerless. You¡¯re not the first pest I¡¯ve faced. I was just testing the limits of this form of yours."

    "You really are just as annoying and arrogant as they say you are." The head replied with a soft, feminine voice that was identical to Tista¡¯s. "Let¡¯s see how you respond to this..."

    Tista and Lith stepped back while pretending to cast a fake magic spell. Manohar, on the other hand, didn¡¯t budge.

    "You¡¯re just wasting my time. The door is closed, I¡¯ve protected the three of us, and I¡¯ll not let my specimen die. You..."

    "Please, Professor, let go of me! Help! Somebody help me!" The face screamed with a terrified crying voice.

    As usual, Tista had made quite an impression on the mages standing guard outside theb, just as Manohar did forpletely different reasons. As soon as they heard Tista screaming for help, they assumed the worst and opened the door while calling for reinforcements.

    "Told you he is a creep! You owe me twenty copper coins!" Mage Trewan said to his partner, Mage Assa.

    "Close the door, you dimwits! Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy?" Manohar yelled in outrage.

    The thing had shapeshifted again, assuming Tista¡¯s features and melting the half of the face not exposed to the guards. The melted flesh formed a naked shoulder and a part of an arm.

    Its tendrils were still clinging to Manohar¡¯s body despite his best efforts to get free of the living tissue without damaging the specimen. So what the guard saw was a half-naked young woman whose body was covered by the Professor¡¯s ample robe screaming for help.

    "Help me! He tried to rape me!" The head sobbed, sending the two guards into a frenzy. They didn¡¯t even notice the real Tista standing a few meters back staring in horror at her doppelganger.

    "Nice try, but no one is dumb enough to believe..." Manohar was cut short by two massive high-pressured wind blows that sent him crashing against a nearby column and made him lose consciousness.

    It was the tier tree Soft st, a non-lethal air magic spell devised in case of hostage situations. It all happened so fast that Tista and Lith barely had any time to react. The head sprung from Manohar¡¯s body and bolted toward the now shocked guards.

    Lith attempted to catch it with spirit magic while Tista conjured a ten centimeters (4") thick wall of earth to stop its advance. As soon as it perceived the pressure from the mana tendrils, the thing split itself into smaller pieces to escape from them and charged toward the barrier.

    The smaller bits remained stuck inside Tista¡¯s spell, but the impact created several cracks and weakened its structure enough to allow the two biggest fragments to reach the other side of the wall.

    ¡¯How the heck can they be so powerful?¡¯ Lith thought while staring in awe at the broken barrier.

    ¡¯That thing is full to the brim with world energy. The merchant first and our experimentster allowed it to feed to its heart content. Do you remember Manohar¡¯s words? Half the mana was stored all along.¡¯ Solus exined.

    Tista didn¡¯t waste time and made the wall implode, destroying all the fragments still stuck inside it and clearing their line of sight all at once. Sadly, it was toote.

    The living tissue had turned the mages into its hosts and was merging the two bodies into one.

    ¡¯Fuck! We can kiss our specimen goodbye.¡¯ Lith cursed the unknown enemy. ¡¯That thing made a magico as strong as a mage. I can¡¯t afford to discover what it can do to someone with a decent core.¡¯

    ¡¯The guards both had bright green cores.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯I have no idea how two mana cores in one body will interact, but based on what happened earlier, it should be like fighting a blue cored mage.¡¯

    "Tista, I¡¯ll hit high, you hit low we must..." In the heat of the battle, Lith hadpletely forgotten that his sister had never seen an Abomination, one of Balkor¡¯s undead, or any of the monstrosities which had been his bread and butter for years.

    Tista was pale as a ghost, incapable of averting her gaze from the bodies of the two mages as they were twisted inside out. Their bones snapped and merged forming thicker limbs.

    Their flesh writhed and bulged, spurting blood whenever a blood vessel proved incapable of sustaining the increased pressure just to be mended a split secondter.

    Lith looked at Manohar, still on the floor with a small pool of blood forming under his head.

    "We don¡¯t have much time left." Said the left head using Lith¡¯s own voice.

    "Let¡¯s y." Said the right one, aplishing the unbelievable task of making Manohar¡¯s voice even more annoying.

    ***

    Count Lanza¡¯s Mansion.

    "Your allegations could put Count Xolver in some serious trouble. What makes you so certain that he could be the one behind the made mages?" Jirni asked.

    "You don¡¯t know him like I do." Even if the corridor outside her father¡¯s office was pleasantly warm, Mynna Lanza shivered while recalling their shared past.

    "Arik has always been envious of anyone capable of lighting a fire without matches. He¡¯s not just talentless, he can¡¯t even use chore magic. Over the years, envy turned into hate, it¡¯s gotten to the point that he has forbidden his staff to use magic.

    Thest time I visited him Arik almost whipped a butler to death for conjuring a ss of water." Her beautiful blue eyes turned watery. "He was yelling like a lunatic, babbling about restoring his honor. He had a feverish look in his eyes, like he¡¯d be insane."

    "Thanks for your help. I assure you we¡¯ll pay Arik Xolver a visit." Jirni said.

    At those words, Mynna gave them a curtsy with a look full of gratitude before taking her leave. The housemaid apanying Mynna hesitated before following herdyship.

    Jirni hadn¡¯t missed how the housemaid had kept staring at her Constable badge during the whole conversation, nor that she had bitten her lower lip more than once to stop herself from speaking.

    Lady Ernas caught up with her before she could disappear around the corner and grabbed her by the shoulder.

    "Is there anything you would like to add, miss?" Jirni asked.

    The housemaid turned around nervously, making sure no one was in sight before answering.

    "Please, don¡¯t listen to the Marquis. He¡¯s only telling you half of the story."

 Chapter 443 Thing Part 2

    The housemaid introduced herself as Hessie from Namar. She was a plump woman in her mid-forties, with brown hair and eyes of the same color. Her maid uniform covered her from neck to toes.

    It consisted of a ck dress with a full skirt and a white smock apron.

    "I¡¯m Lady Lanza¡¯s personal maid, it¡¯s my duty to serve and follow her." Hessie had a high pitched voice, which fear made it sound almost childish despite her age.

    "Herdyship and her father have quarreled several times because he has falsified the numbers of missing people for months before the Association took charge of the problem."

    "That would exin why we underestimated the seriousness of the situation until it was toote" Dorian pondered. "This information may help us to incriminate himter, but right now we have other priorities. I¡¯m really sorry."

    His eyes were sincere and he meant those words, but there was nothing he could do.

    "No, you don¡¯t understand. The problem¡¯s not only that people disappear, but also that somee back." Hessie¡¯s eyes dted from fear, her voice trembled to the point she started stuttering.

    "One of my neighbors, mister Roza, went missing a month ago. He returned a weekter, saying he had left Othre for a job he had been hired to do. Yet he wore the same clothes that he disappeared in and he was as broke as the day he left."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I fail to see the relevance of your neighbor to our investigation." Jirni said with a kind tone.

    "I know this will sound crazy," Hessie stuttering got even worse. "but ever since people started going missing, everyone in my neighborhood is afraid to leave their homeste at night. Odd folks with glowing blue eyes walk around the streets.

    "Once, I watched outside my window and I noticed several of them moving towards the old temple. I could swear that mister Roza was among them."

    Jirni took note of everything Hessie said just to be polite and reassured her they would look into it. The housemaid gave them a deep bow and left in a hurry to catch up with Mynna.

    "Have you heard this nonsense before?" Jirni asked Dorian once they left the Lanza household.

    "Many times." He nodded.

    "It¡¯s rted to an old legend about a necromancer that would send his revenants to capture people for his experiments. Whenever there is a draught, a bad harvest, or even a harsh winter, the people of Othre start iming that blue-eyed creatures are responsible. I..."

    Suddenly theirmunication amulets received a call at the same time. ording to Dorian¡¯s secretary, there was something wrong with the undergroundb.

    ***

    Unlike Treius, the thing didn¡¯t wait to be fully formed before attacking. As soon as it finished its taunt, the creature jumped toward Lith with a maniacalughter. At the moment it was a humanoid skinless creature, about 2 meters (7¡¯) tall with two heads, four arms, and two legs.

    The flesh and muscles wereid bare as they rearranged themselves to fit the new body. Veins as thick as a finger ran from its exposed twin hearts to its six limbs. They pulsed with a steady rhythm despite the frenzied assault the creature was performing.

    Its first set of arms was human-like, while the second one had been fused with part of the legs of the second guard.

    The result was a pair of deformed armsing out of the creature¡¯s shoulders, that ended in hands as big as coffee tables. Each hand only had three fingers that resembled the talons of a huge bird of prey.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Lith could see that, just like a made mage, the creature was now generating a vortex to suck all the world energy from its surroundings.

    ¡¯Idiot!¡¯ He inwardly sneered while conjuring a stone pir from the ground which struck the creature while it was still in mid-air.

    ¡¯The vortex can grant you endless mana, but it also absorbs mine. One spell is all that it takes to kill you by poisoning your core!¡¯

    ¡¯No, not really.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯The moment you cast your spell the vortex disappeared. Whoever is controlling that creature can switch the vortex on and off at will.¡¯

    The creature ripped the pir off the ground with its deformed arms and used it as a mace trying to squash Lith.

    "Tista, snap out of it!" He yelled while dodging with a roll. The pir came down smashing the table full of expensive equipment they had used until a minute ago. Shards of wood, ss, and stone flew across the room.

    If not for their enchanted armors, only Lith would have survived the rain of deadly projectiles thanks to his enhanced physique. Tista only felt a prick on her skin, but it was enough to make her regain her cool.

    "Hang on, I..." She tried to speak, but Lith interrupted her.

    "Watch out! Remember the eyes and watch out for its chanting!"

    ¡¯Why my first monster has to be this hard?¡¯ Tista cursed her bad luck.

    ¡¯I must always pretend to chant and use hand signs because even if we kill it, the puppeteer will survive. I can¡¯t blow up our cover.¡¯

    The creature split what was left of the pir in half, the room was too small for such a huge weapon. A simple earth spell turned the rocks into clubs, which the creature swung around disying a level of mastery that sent shivers down Lith¡¯s spine.

    One mouth keptughing as the other one was chanting a spell while the human-like arms performed the hand signs.

    ¡¯The silver lining of this nightmare is that at least we are not fighting an Awakened one!¡¯ Lith thought wielding the Gatekeeper with one hand while performing hand signs with the other one.

    "A Mage Knight?" The first head stoppedughing from surprise. "That wasn¡¯t in your file!"

    Lith didn¡¯t bother replying and charged forward instead. The Knight Mage tier four spell, Full Guard, enveloped his body with a spherical blue aura with a radius of 1.65 meters (5.41 feet).

    Thanks to Full Guard, he had no blind spots. Whatever entered the sphere would be detected, allowing Lith to strike and dodge without looking.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t use fusion magic whereas with its four arms mister Carpenter here has no trouble casting and fighting at the same time. I need all the advantages I can get.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Even if the situation was dire, Lith¡¯s name of choice for the creature made Solus chuckle.

    ¡¯You are insane. You know that, right?¡¯ She said while using all of her senses to find a way to quickly kill the Carpenter.

    ¡¯I would have died years ago if I was any saner.¡¯ Lith replied as he also conjured a tower shield made of ice and earth to block the enemy¡¯s tier four Lightning spell. Mage Knight¡¯s spells only required one hand and had a short cast timepared to other specializations.

    Their major downside was the very short area of effect, but in such an enclosed space it didn¡¯t matter

    Lith had trained with Phloria countless times, he knew the basic spells of her specialization like the back of his hand. The Carpenter¡¯s left arm tried to block his advance, but Lith needed just a thought to send the tower shield intercepting the attack.

    The right arm swung its club with inhuman speed as the left one swatted the shield like a fly, shattering it into frozen pebbles. Lith managed to dodge by a hair¡¯s breadth, but was quickly forced on defense.

    The Carpenter roared in triumph while it was driving Lith into a corner with its superior physical prowess and technique. The creature would finish him as soon as its next spell was ready.

 Chapter 444 Blue Pillars Part 1

    While dodging the clubs¡¯ swings that were raining on him non stop, Lith still couldn¡¯t believe how things had escted quickly. When the specimen had proved to be able to shapeshift, he had prepared contingency spells to restrain or contain it, not kill it.

    It was their only lead and it was seemingly harmless. It could change its appearance, but not create weapons nor use magic, which together with Manohar¡¯s light barrier¡¯s protection made it nothing more than a creepy talking head.

    Lith had hoped that whoever was controlling the flesh puppet, would say something that he could use to find the real source of the made mages.

    He would have never expected the guards to believe that something could happen to Tista on his watch, nor that Manohar could be so arrogant to not have prepared any kind of protection for himself.

    Lith had seen the Professor ready another spell, but Manohar had been so focused on the specimen to not even nce at the wannabe heroes.

    ¡¯Humans¡¯ stupidity never ceases to amaze me.¡¯ He thought while rolling under one of the deformed arms and striking with the Gatekeeper at the human hands, disrupting the spell.

    ¡¯Its behavior doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ Solus was dumbfounded as well. ¡¯If its aim was destroying the specimen, then it could have just self destructed. If it wanted to escape, why ignore the open door? What does it gain by fighting us?¡¯

    Lith was too busy avoiding to get cornered to even try to find a proper answer. The creature was physically stronger than him and its fighting skills were better than most of his instructors demonstrated when he had trained in the army.

    ¡¯If this person is so good while controlling a makeshift body that wields improvised weapons, I don¡¯t think I could win against their real body without going all out.¡¯

    Meanwhile, Tista had finished healing Manohar and was waiting for the right moment to strike. Her eyes were brimming with mana because of Life Vision.

    ¡¯Why it doesn¡¯t activate the vortex?¡¯ She thought. ¡¯Lith can¡¯t focus on a spell as long they are so close, but I can. Spirit magic is invisible to fake mages and I¡¯ve conjured enough to kill it in one go.

    ¡¯Without the vortex, though, it would just give it a strong blow and reveal our ace in the hole.¡¯

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, the Carpenter was getting weaker by the second. Most of the umted mana was spent and a green core couldn¡¯t sustain its abilities for long, not without the vortex¡¯s boost.

    ¡¯Before attacking, the creature said something about not having much time left. Maybe the vortex has some limitations we are still unaware of.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    Lith grunted as he deflected the stone clubing from his left. He then raised the Gatekeeper while switching to a two-handed grip before chopping off the deformed hand at the wrist¡¯s level.

    The Carpenter¡¯s movements were getting sluggish. It tried to reattach the hand with tendrils of flesh, but the darkness magic the Gatekeeper was infused with was corrupting the hand faster than the creature could regenerate it.

    "Seems I have underestimated you a bit." The creature said with Manohar¡¯s voice while taking several steps back. Both heads were wheezing, gasping for air.

    Lith didn¡¯t let it get away. He kept close to the creature while swinging the Gatekeeper. With its only arm left, the Carpenter couldn¡¯t keep up with him. The bastard sword was infused with darkness magic and with each hit the creature¡¯s vitality dwindled.

    Yet its mouths continued grinning. The vortex reappeared, sucking all the world energy in its surroundings and filling the Carpenter with new energy. Its wounds closed, even the stump started regrowing a new hand.

    Tista unleashed all the spirit magic she had umted while Lith stepped back and conjured some of his own. The Carpenter¡¯s heads kept their eyes on the siblings, ready to shut down the vortex the moment they cast a spell or activated a magic ring.

    Yet nothing happened.

    ¡¯How disappointing. They are both frozen in terror. This has been a waste of...¡¯ The creature¡¯s train of thought was cut short by a massive amount of foreign mana flooding its system.

    The Carpenter stopped the vortex, but it was toote. Lith¡¯s could only produce fments on such short notice, but Tista¡¯s spirit magic had been densely packed. Her mana reached the creature¡¯s green core, degrading it quickly to yellow and then to orange.

    The Carpenterughed despite the pain, still looking around for the source of the attack.

    "Brilliant! I didn¡¯t even notice you setting up this trap." The creature while staring at Tista. "Too bad it¡¯s not enough!"

    The Carpenter reactivated the vortex, uncaring of the consequences. The moment Solus informed Lith that the creature¡¯s core was down to red, he resumed his attack. Even under the effect of mana poisoning, the creature¡¯s muscles were still growing, its wounds healing.

    Lith unleashed all of his rings and the creature sucked the spells just as he expected.

    ¡¯Grey and fading, now!¡¯ Solus gave him his cue.

    The moment the Carpenter¡¯s eyes stopped glowing, Lith used fire, air, and water fusion on himself with all the strength the had left. His movements turned into a blur, each sh was perfectly chained to the following one with no dy thanks to water fusion.

    Lith was like a human blender, even Tista couldn¡¯t follow the Gatekeeper¡¯s speed. The only thing she could see was a sh of light each time a part of the Carpenter flew away.

    First Lith decapitated both heads with a horizontal sh while jumping. Then, he adjusted the de¡¯s angle and while falling down he amputated the creature¡¯s right arms.

    The moment Lith touched the floor, he changed stance again. He pivoted on his feet, chopping both legs at once while spinning on himself. Lastly, he used the momentum for removing the left arms with an upward sh as he returned facing the creature.

    When the second green core went online, the Carpenter was still full to the brim with mana. Unluckily, being limbless it could do nothing as Lith stabbed the chest and flooded it with darkness magic until it turned to dust.

    "Two assimted guards, hence two cores." He exined to Tista¡¯s disgusted look. "Rule number one, never stop until the monster is..."

    He was about to wipe out the Carpenter¡¯s remains when a blue pir descended from the sky and pushed him away, like he was just a speck of dust. Under their astonished gazes, the pir enveloped their enemy and sucked away all the mana it contained.

    ¡¯What the heck? This isn¡¯t at all like when a magical beast evolves, nor like when I refined the blue mana core. It feels empty, like Kaduria after I destroyed the ck Star. Could it be...¡¯ Lith¡¯s reasoning was interrupted by several mages storm theb.

    What they saw was a bloodbath where the living tissue had assimted the guards, Manohar lying unconscious on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and most of theb equipment trashed.

    The colleagues they hade to help were nowhere to be seen, whereas Lith and Tista were standing unscathed.

    "Nobody moves!" Screamed Thane, the Great Mage leading the backup unit.

    "Drop the sword and get on your knees, now! If you so much as to say a single word, I¡¯ll not hesitate to put you down."

 Chapter 445 Blue Pillars Part 2

    City of Othre, unknown location.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ The one controlling the Carpenter remained mildly amused discovering that their creature was incapacitated.

    ¡¯It takes barely more than one second to switch the main body after the first one bes poisoned. The little bastard must have saved a tier four, if not even five, magical ring for the grand finale.

    ¡¯Otherwise the Ranger had no way to deal that much damage in such a short amount of time.¡¯ They reviewed the whole fight, assessing each team member¡¯s threat level.

    ¡¯ying with them was the right choice. Manohar is just as dangerous as they say he is. No one has ever managed to extract one of my puppies from its host before. I¡¯ve spent a long time to make sure it¡¯s something impossible to do, yet he pulled it off at the first attempt.

    ¡¯He even managed to neutralize its assimtion abilities after less than a day worth of study. There¡¯s no telling what he could discover if they catch another made mage and I can¡¯t hope for the same trick to work twice.

    ¡¯I need to find out the weak point Manohar exploited, or the next time they could stop me.¡¯ Yet instead of being worried about their n being ruined, they smiled instead.

    ¡¯It¡¯s refreshing finally meeting a worthy opponent. Fooling Constables and leading Healers by the nose bes boring after a while. He seems the kind of man that would dly join me, I need just to...¡¯

    When they noticed that the sun was about to set, they were forced to interrupt their ns and prepare for the evening.

    ¡¯Dammit, I shouldn¡¯t have chosen this ridiculous body. Between family and servants, I have barely the time to collect mana from my puppies. My next alias will be someone inconspicuous and with much fewer responsibilities.¡¯

    ***

    Tista and Lith had a hard time exining they had nothing to do with the two guards¡¯ disappearance. It was the first time for her seeing two humans die in such a gruesome way. Compared to the Carpenter, even the Fallen races looked cute and cuddly.

    As for Lith, being found with a bloodstained de while standing right in front of a pile of ashes made him the prime suspect. Their situation improved the moment Great Mage Thane checked Manohar condition and discovered he was fit as a fiddle.

    Unluckily, things took a turn for the worse when he woke up.

    "Idiots! Because of those idiots, I¡¯ve lost a unique specimen!" He yelled in a temper tantrum.

    "Not to mention your life." Lith was serving a tee spiked with a strong liquor hoping to calm the mind of those present.

    "Who cares about my life? I mean, I survived far worse." Manohar corrected himself once he realized he was the one they were talking about.

    "If those ipetent fools weren¡¯t already reduced to dust, I would raise them from the dead just to have the pleasure to kill them myself!"

    "How dare you?" After Manohar, Thane too spilled most of his tea.

    "Trewan and Assa were good men! Trewan had a wife and two small children. They died because of your crazy research. What I¡¯m going to say to Trewan¡¯s wife?"

    "That he should have followed his colleague¡¯s example and not spread his idiocy to the future generations!"

    Lith and Kam took good care of Tista while the two men quarreled like children. Tista was still in shock. Even covered by multiple nkets, she kept shivering with cold.

    "Does this kind of things happen often to you?" Once the adrenaline rush from the fight had faded, she turned pale as a ghost.

    "Gods, no. Aside from Balkor¡¯s thralls I¡¯ve never met a monster like that. If you start traveling like I do, though, sometimes you¡¯re bound to see people die." He shrugged, drawing to himself a reproachful stare from Kam.

    "No, he is right." Tista drank a big gulp of liquid courage. "I don¡¯t n on ying tourist. I¡¯d rather hear the truth, scary as it may be, instead of lies that could coddle my feelings and get me killed."

    Soon Tista fell asleep despite the two mages yelling at each other. After Jirni and Dorian returned from the Marquis¡¯ house Lith shared his doubts with them.

    "As I told to Great Mage Thane, we witnessed a blue pir. What I have left out is that, after it vanished, the surroundings were almost devoid of mana, just like Kaduria after I destroyed the ck Star.

    "If my hypothesis is right, it means that someone is stealing huge amounts of world energy, just like the ck Star did. The process is faulty, though. The vessels can hold only for a limited amount of time, after which the energy dissipates in the form of a light pir."

    "Are you crazy? Why did you hide such an important detail?" Dorian said.

    "Because this could mean that Manohar is right. Someone is using people to harvest mana, and only a cursed object or worse could require so many sacrifices." Lith exined, making the Professor grin with pride.

    "Thane questioned us in front of his unit. If I told him the truth, one of them might have preferred to lose his job but save his family and the news would leak. If people think that Othre is going to be the next lost city, panic will kill thousands.

    Also, until we don¡¯t learn what¡¯s actually happening, we can¡¯t risk spreading those critters to the rest of the Kingdom."

    "Interesting." Jirni mulled over his words. "Yet now I¡¯m the one who thinks cursed objects have nothing to do with this story. Didn¡¯t you say that the creature had glowing blue eyes?"

    Jirni told them about the two new leads they had gotten from Marquis¡¯ Lanza home.

    "I just know the basics of lesser necromancy, but I don¡¯t think this is the work of a Necromancer." Lith shook his head. "The vessels are all living beings, and so was the specimen. Sounds more like Forbidden Magic to me."

    "Maybe the blue eyes are just the sign of a mage¡¯s will controlling their creation, and maybe not." Jirni replied. "I¡¯ll request the Forbidden Magic and Necromancy department to provide us all the information avable on the matter.

    "If what Hessie told us is true, then the made mages, the blue pirs, and the missing people are all the work of the same person."

 Chapter 446 Search Part 1

    "This is much worse than I expected." Jirni paced around Dorian¡¯s office while assessing the gravity of Othre¡¯s predicament in the light of the most recent developments.

    "Royal Constables don¡¯t deal with mages. It¡¯s the duty of the Mage Association to prevent idiots with more power than brain from endangering the Kingdom and its subjects. My problem is that if I call in the Knight¡¯s Guard without a proper cover story, panic will spread."

    Even if she wasn¡¯t referring to him, Dorian felt the need to justify himself anyway.

    "I assure you that there has been no early sign of a conspiracy of this magnitude. I performed background checks on every mage that entered the city during thest months.

    "Also, the materials necessary to build ab need special permission to be bought. There¡¯s no record of someone applying for one in years."

    "It¡¯s not your fault. Necromancer or not, we are dealing with someone smart enough to cover their tracks. We don¡¯t even know what is their real agenda. Based on what Lith said, made mages and blue pirs victims might be failed experiments.

    "Even though I don¡¯t see what they could possibly achieve by giving powers to random people. But if Manohar is right and we are dealing with the making of a cursed artifact, then only the missing people are relevant and the rest it¡¯s just a diversion.

    "Think about it. Small time nobles dying in the middle of the day are bound to draw attention and so are rogue mages bent on destruction. We need more information and we need them fast. We don¡¯t know how close the mastermind is to bring their n to fruition. Any ideas?"

    "We could require a copy of Brigadier General Vorgh¡¯s report for the Kaduria events." Kam proposed. "Lith said that the aftereffects of the ck Star and of the blue pir are simr.

    "Kaduria¡¯s world energy was sealed by the arrays. Maybe after disabling them, the General noticed something that could help us understand what¡¯s happening here."

    Lith considered it a waste of time, but said nothing.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve never seen blue pirs before, not even after Abominations absorbed small viges¡¯ worth of world energy. The phenomenon must be rted to the kind of Forbidden magic employed. Since we are clutching at straws though, we might as well give it a try.¡¯ He thought.

    Then, after pondering Jirni¡¯s and Dorian¡¯s words, Kam took out hermunication amulet and started browsing through her notes. Her hands moved on the holographic interface with the grace of a pianist during a solo.

    Her expression was so focused that Jirni stopped pacing to not disturb her work.

    "I knew it!" She said with a warm smile that reminded Lith the reason he had asked her out the first time they had met, right after she had finished reproaching him. There was something in her disposition that made her more than sunny, almost radiant.

    "So far we have considered the nobles involved with the blue pirs as victims, but if we consider them part of a bigger scheme, then I think this could give us a lead." Kam handed hermunication amulet to Jirni.

    The data collected showed that every victim had renovated a part of their mansions during the previous months. Some had set new arrays, others had bought new magicalmodities.

    Taken individually, each order was inconspicuous, but once put them all together, there were more than enough magical resources to build a decentb.

    "Excellent job, Lieutenant." Jirni said while returning the amulet. "Do a reverse search and find me someone that fits the profile of the victims and the timeline of the purchases who is still alive. The first name I want you to check is Arik Xolver."

    Kam frowned as soon as she typed the name. Count Xolver had been gged by the Mage Association multiple times over the years, but there were no recent activities on his ounts.

    To Dorian, Jirni said: "Damn! Why didn¡¯t you check on him? He has an Alchemicalb, a Forgemastering Lab and at least two others. With all this stuff, he could be doing everything by himself."

    "We did. He has no magical powers and whenever he built ab, a certified magician worked for him. We didn¡¯t intervene because he has the means but not the skills to use them. When the problems started, I searched his ce and checked his inventories.

    "There was nothing missing and he hasn¡¯t hired a mage in thest two years. I can send another team to make sure the magical equipment is still on the ce too if you want."

    "No, it¡¯s better to wait. We have no solid evidence he is rted to this story. I can¡¯t just storm inside his house and interrogate him. Before we ask him questions, I need to know some answers. Jirni replied.

    "While Lieutenant Yehval searches for more potential suspects, I want everyone to rest. We have to be ready if another made mage appears and if they don¡¯t, I want to take a look around the old temple to check for glowing blue eyed people."

    It took Kam a couple of hours toplete her task. Knowing what she was looking for and the timeframe for the purchase of magical materials to be relevant, allowed her to narrow her research greatly.

    Since it was almost sundown, the group decide to scout the area where Hessie lived and make sure that her ims weren¡¯t just born out of superstition.

    The building called "the old temple" was one of the rare relics of the time before Magus Lochra Silverwing gifted her legacy to the Garlen continent. After mages learned to perform tier four and five magic, religions had slowly disappeared.

    The temple was located in the outer Rim of Othre, in one of the oldest and poorest parts of the city. The district was too distant from the city gates to be of any use for the merchants.

    The streets were narrow and the pavements were full of cracks and holes due to theck of maintenance. Lith noticed theck of beggars and street urchins that weremon in all the other zones of the outer rim that he had visited.

    ¡¯I wonder if it¡¯s because they got scared by the people going missing in the neighborhood or just because the residents have nothing to worth stealing.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The old temple belonged to Xhal, the god of healing. It reminded Lith of a Greek temple. It was a simple rectangr shrine with protruding side walls, forming a small porch.

    The temple wasposed of two sections. An outer space surrounded by columns, and the inner area which housed a stone altar engraved with runes belonging to a lostnguage and a statue of Xhal. Both areas of the temple were entered and exited through ornate niches.

    The god was depicted as a bearded man wearing an ample robe. His right hand held a human heart, while the left one was destroyed, either by time or thieves.

    "Is it me, or this guy resembles Arthan, the Mad King?" Lith had seen Arthan¡¯s picture more than once while researching for a cure for his reincarnation problem.

    The others had no idea of who Lith was talking about and there was no time to exin to them the whole story, so they kept looking around the temple.

 Chapter 447 Search Part 2

    The inner area of the temple was 30 meters long and 20 meters wide. Every step the group made echoed inside the empty hall. Dust and dirt covered the statue and the altar. Even the stone benches where once believers would sit on to pray looked like nobody had touched them for months.

    Everything of artistic value had been stripped from the walls over time. Where once were bas-reliefs and mosaics, now there were holes with jagged edges.

    "This is odd." Jirni said after checking the side rooms. "Despite theck of maintenance, the temple is still in good shape. I would expect it to be a yground for the kids during the day and a shelter for the homeless during the night."

    The mages checked for secret passages with earth magic, but to no avail. Even using Life Vision and the array detecting spell revealed nothing.

    "When did you find the time to learn Warden magic?" Jirni was surprised seeing Lith scanning the ce with spells belonging to different specializations.

    "I¡¯m not a Warden. I just learned how to detect arrays and how to cast the most useful ones forbat situations." Lith had been too busy with his research to have the time to be even an amateur Warden.

    He knew how to cast the array detecting spell because otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be able to share what he discovered with Life Vision, which allowed him to see all kinds of hidden magic.

    The only arrays he knew were the so called "impossible arrays", formations that only an Awakened could cast and which belonged to the legacies left by previous Magi.

    After a full sweep of the temple which resulted in a bust, they split into groups of two. Jirni would go with Manohar, Kam with Tista, and Lith with Dorian. They needed to cover as much ground as possible in the little time they had left.

    "The trick is to blend in." Jirni exined while her uniform and Manohar¡¯s shapeshifted into a simple cotton dress and a white shirt over brown pants respectively.

    "Mix up with the crowd and ask normal questions. People love to gossip when given the chance." She messed up her hair to make them disheveled and applied a fine powder that made them look shaggy.

    Then she put make up to her face, neck, and hands until she lost any resemnce of nobility. She even dirtied her nails on purpose before doing the same to Manohar. When she finished, they looked like two dailyborers.

    "As long as he shuts up, I¡¯ll make my way while pretending we are a married couple just arrived in town who is looking for a cheap home. It¡¯ll give us a reason to ask about the neighborhood."

    "Don¡¯t tter yourself, woman." Manohar scoffed. "Even while looking like this, no one will ever believe that a handsome man like me would marry an old bat like you. I¡¯m not Lith, I don¡¯t like old-timers." He said while pointing at Kam.

    "I¡¯m younger than you, jerk!" She replied in anger.

    "Tista, Lith, no one in their right mind would ever believe youe from a poor upbringing, no matter how much make up I apply to you. You have to improvise." Jirni exined as she executed a knee strike on Manohar¡¯s gonads, making him double over in pain.

    "Dorian, Kam, usually people hate uniforms, but maybe they are desperate enough to ask for help. Pretend to patrol the streets and wait for people to talk to you. Any questions?" Aside from Manohar¡¯s groans, the temple was silent.

    "Good. Let¡¯s meet here an hour after sundown."

    Tista and Kam walked for about half an hour before giving upon Jirni¡¯s n. Instead of seeking their help, people approached them to make sure they weren¡¯t lost and warned them it was a dangerous ce for two young women.

    To Kam, Tista asked: "Do you know first aid?"

    "Of course. Even non operatives have to regrly attend sses, in case of emergency."

    "Then we are set." Tista replied with a smile. They walked to the nearest clinic and introduced themselves as a Healer and her assistant. The local practitioner was dubious because of Kam¡¯s uniform, but he changed his mind as soon as he heard the "work for free" magic words.

    He provided Kam a nurse scrubs and put them to work immediately. They followed Jirni¡¯s advice, not asking any question that wasn¡¯t medically relevant.

    Kam monitored the waiting room, eavesdropping the patients¡¯ conversations, while Tista listened patiently to their worries whenever someone was willing to open up.

    ***

    Between Lith¡¯s build and Dorian¡¯s silver uniform, they had no problems following Jirni¡¯s script. At first, only a few were brave enough to approach them, but once word got out that they would deal with the requests immediately, a long line formed quickly.

    At first, was just small stuff. Pest infestations, minor injuries, quarrels between neighbors. Then, people started reporting them all their fear and problems.

    "Please, my son disappeared two days ago. We reported it to the guards, but they barely listened!" Said a couple whose teenage son was gone.

    "It¡¯s the third time my store gets robbed this month. Where are the guards when you need them?" Asked an angry shopkeeper.

    "This neighborhood is a nightmare. Between muggers, drug dealers, and all those creeps walking at night, we need to barricade ourselves in after sundown."

    Lith was amazed by Dorian¡¯s patience while dealing with all those people. He would let them vent as long as they needed before making a question. Lith used that time for scanning his surroundings and looking for vortexes.

    ¡¯Even if a made mage gets blue eyed only when they are mind controlled, I should be able to perceive the carriers of a meat puppet. They can¡¯t turn off that pseudo Invigoration ability.¡¯

    As the minutes turned into hours, Lith discovered how unsavory the bread of knowledge was. During their rounds, he noticed several individuals emanating a vortex from their mana core.

    They were all very smallpared to those of a rampaging made mage, but their sheer numbers were impressive.

    ¡¯Damn! I hate being always right. How do I exin to the others what I know without mentioning Life Vision or ditching Dorian long enough to create a believable cover story?¡¯

    ¡¯You can¡¯t.¡¯ Solus shrugged. ¡¯We need Manohar to extract the meat puppet and if he asks you how did you diagnose it from a distance, he¡¯s not going to believe a farfetched exnation. He knows light magic far better than you.¡¯

    Lith and Solus racked their brains for a solution, but when they found it, it was already toote. As soon as the sun started to disappear behind the city walls, the streets emptied, leaving him no choice but to go back empty handed at the old temple.

    ¡¯This is actually a blessing in disguise.¡¯ Solus sounded relieved, she had found a w in his n. ¡¯Even if your idea may work, you were bound to fail. Knowing Jirni, she has turned off theirmunication amulets to not blow their cover.

    ¡¯Without Manohar¡¯s help, you might have alerted the enemy and destroyed any chance we have of taking them by surprise. We have once shot at this, we have to make it count.¡¯

 Chapter 448 Masked Gala Part 1

    "I¡¯ve talked with everyone who had a room for rent, but I didn¡¯t learn anything useful." Jirni sighed.

    "Everyoneins about the high crime rate of the neighborhood, of the people going missing on a daily basis, and only a few talked about blue eyed people. The silver lining is that those who did always saw them near the temple of Xhal."

    "I have a suggestion about how to find people carrying a meat puppet." Tista said beating Lith to the punch.

    "I noticed that some of today¡¯s patients had a mild adverse reaction to both my diagnostic and healing spells. They all presented the same symptoms: unease and stomach ache. The same of mana poisoning victims.

    "I think Professor Manohar could give them a look and if I¡¯m right, extract the puppets safely from their hosts."

    All gazes turned to Manohar, who didn¡¯t seem to be impressed.

    "I discovered a few of them on my own too. I just had to use air magic the whole time we were around people and see who would suddenly feel sick after getting touched by my invisible winds.

    "I even managed to examine a couple of carriers. The puppets were there, yes, but they were already dying on their own. Most of them were so undeveloped that they wouldn¡¯t survive the extraction process, and even if they did, I wouldn¡¯t have enough time to find a way to stabilize them.

    "Despite the failure, the experience allowed me to collect some significant data. The carriers were both male and females, never than younger fifteen years old. Some were even older..." When Manohar noticed Jirni¡¯s re as he was pointing at her, he almost choked on his words. His hands quickly moved to protect his groin.

    "I mean less young than Constable Ernas, here."

    "I performed the same experiment as Professor Manohar, but I didn¡¯t attempt to check on the specimen to not put at risk the patient¡¯s life." Lith said.

    "The ones I noticed, though, were mostly young."

    "Same for me." Tista confirmed. She had been very scared at the idea of using magic on someone with a vortex in their mana core. She didn¡¯t want to harm them but had no idea how to refuse to treat them, since the other healer would do it anyway.

    She had used a weak diagnostic spell first and when she noticed that the vortex was too weak to cause mana poisoning, she had cured the patients as fast as she could.

    "The younger the patient, the milder was their reaction. Sometimes I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed their distress if they hadn¡¯t asked me if their symptoms were normal after being cured."

    "Maybe there is a link between the age of the host and the puppet¡¯s growth." Jirni read the reports about the personal details of the made mages killed so far.

    "Most of those gone on rampage were above thirty years old."

    "Or maybe the younger ones get collected and the older ones don¡¯t. Lith and I received many missing person¡¯s reports today. Most were about youngsters. Also, if you remember Hessie¡¯s words, mister Roza disappeared and then returned. Maybe we should pay him a visit." Dorian proposed.

    "Already tried that." Jirni shook her head. "His house was the first ce we visited and ¡¯coincidentally¡¯, hisndlord told me he left the building around the time you fought the creature.

    "Another unfortunate ¡¯coincidence¡¯ is that no made mage popped out since we extracted the meat puppet. Whoever is pulling the strings is not leaving loose ends. We must move with caution, if the enemy discovers we are getting closer, there¡¯s no telling what they could do."

    In the following days, no more made mages appeared whereas two more nobles died after being enveloped by a blue pir. The group kept patrolling the zone nearby the old temple, looking for witnesses and blue eyed people, but to no avail.

    The men of the Mage Association investigated all those who had purchased magical resources around the time the incidents had started. Once they had narrowed down the list to a few names, Jirni decided to act.

    "With no clues at our disposal, we have only one move avable. If we approach our suspects one by one, they might get spooked and disappear, or they may just get killed by our mysterious opponent.

    "Since we can¡¯t detain and interrogate middle importance nobles just because they have renovated their houses, we need to be smart about it. I¡¯ve contacted Lady Lanza for help and she has epted.

    "Tomorrow, she¡¯ll organize a masked g and all those on our list will be invited. The n is to round them up in the same ce, arrive there unexpected, and if Manohar after examining them confirms the presence of a meat puppet, we¡¯ll have all the reasons to perform a proper interrogation.

    "Or if they die, we¡¯ll at least be able to collect a number of specimens big enough to locate our enemy. Questions?"

    "One." Lith asked. "How do we know that we can trust this Lady Lanza?"

    "We can¡¯t." Jirni shook her head. "It¡¯s already suspicious how our only two leads all came from the Lanza Household. It¡¯s a trap in the trap. I spoke directly to her, so Mynna Lanza is the only one that knows we¡¯ll attend.

    "If something happens to our suspects, we¡¯ll know she is involved. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve put her under surveince. Manohar will act as her surprise guest. The god of healing is still one of the most eligible bachelors of the Kingdom.

    "While you mingle with the nobles, you¡¯ll have to examine our suspects without them noticing. The g is for tomorrow night. You¡¯d better not screw this up."

    ***

    The following night, all the nobles who had yet to escape from Othre despite its crisis, were d to attend to the g hosted by the only daughter of the Lord of the city.

    Lith still had his doubts about the n.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t trust this Mynna. If one or more of her guests get arrested during the g and the other nobles discover her involvement, her reputation will be ruined. What does she gain from helping us?¡¯ He wondered.

    ¡¯Maybe she is just worried about her city. Good people do exist.¡¯ Solus objected.

    Lith ignored her na?ve remark and walked slowly through the ballroom. He was wearing a ck tuxedo and bowtie, with a silver mask covering his face. He hadn¡¯t worn one since the gue, and he discovered that he still liked the feeling it gave.

    Lith didn¡¯t have to worry about hiding his feelings or where his eyes wandered. Kam was walking by his side while holding his arm. She wore a golden mask and a silk-satin red evening dress with a v neckline.

    The dress left exposed her shoulders and emphasised her bosom.

    "Why do you think Lady Ernas picked for me such a shy dress?" She asked with a whisper, d that the mask would hide her embarrassment.

    "Because most of our targets are men. If they keep their eyes on you, they will not notice me. Mask or not my height is easily recognizable." He replied, d for Jirni¡¯s choice.

    "Look, isn¡¯t that Count Xolver?" Kam tugged his arm, nodding to her right.

    Count Xolver was wearing a ck tuxedo too. Contrary to Lady Lanza¡¯s description, he had an amiable expression and spoke with a calm voice.

    "Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be without any talent for magic?" Kam whispered in surprise. The Count was sipping his wine while his flute was floating on its own.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not all.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯His deep red mana core could barely light a match, but his blood core is another story entirely.¡¯

 Chapter 449 Masked Gala Part 2

    Lith had only met two individuals with a double core and, even if he wasn¡¯t aware of that, both of them had been artificially created. The first was Ka, with her blood core which was meant to expedite her turning into a true undead.

    The second was Gadorf the wyvern, who had a ck core to assist him to forcefully refine his mana core by feeding on the magical energies of others. Both the artificial cores had been ced far enough from the natural one to not alter its functions.

    ording to Solus¡¯s mana sense, Count Arik Xolver¡¯s situation waspletely different. The blood and the mana core so close that they almost ovepped. Unlike Ka¡¯s blood core, Xolver¡¯s wasn¡¯t stable and needed to drain small amounts of mana from the nearby mana core to sustain itself.

    ¡¯This is odd.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯It¡¯s not like the monster you created by ident, Xolver¡¯s blood is not getting drained while he uses magic. Only the bloodposing the core gets consumed, but it doesn¡¯t get reced.¡¯

    Thanks to the mask he was wearing, Lith could activate Life Vision without anyone noticing his eyes re up with mana. The Count was alive, yet from his body originated both the red wind of the living and a faint ck wind typical of the dead.

    His life force was stronger than anyone else¡¯s in the ballroom, except for Jirni and Lith, while his mana flow was weak. Lith had seen yellow cored individuals with a stronger flow.

    He took notice that despite the vigor of his movements, the Count was sickly pale and had resorted to light make up to make his skin appear rosy.

    ¡¯Either he has obtained his powers recently, or he is overeager to show them off.¡¯ Lith though while observing that Xolver was performing even the most menial task with magic. His mask was floating in mid air, just like his wine ss and his te.

    ¡¯ssic rookie mistake. Using three spells at once requires a lot of focus and wastes mana you could needter. Him using silverware to eat shows that he is basically a one-trick pony. He can keep things afloat but he can¡¯t move them.¡¯

    Lith looked around the room, keeping an eye on the suspects and hispanions. Most of the nobles on Kam¡¯s list had small vortexesing out of their mana cores.

    By observing them, Lith and Tista noticed that they could adjust the vortex¡¯s strength at will. It would remain dormant while they were chatting and grow in size when they executed borate dance moves, like lifting their partners, which required a physical prowess theycked.

    "All the targets are in sight." Lith whispered in hismunication earpiece as he danced around the ballroom with Kam. Dorian and Tista were on the opposite side of the room, while Jirni watched everything from the gallery on the first floor.

    The ballroom¡¯s floor was made of white marble, which together with the pristine white walls reflected the lighting from the crystal chandeliers and made the room as bright as if it was in the sunlight.

    Aside from the musicians, who were performing from a small bandstand near the north wall, and the refreshment tables lined up along the west and east walls, the room waspletely empty.

    Two flights of stairs near the entrance lead to the balcony on the first floor, where sofas and armchair were arranged around small tables for those who needed a ce to rest or simply enough quiet to converse without yelling.

    "Where is Manohar? We can¡¯t start without him." Lith was worried that the entric genius might have fled like usual.

    "He is paying his due, don¡¯t worry." Jirni sighed. "Look at your right."

    Lith turned around just in time to see the Professor dancing with Lady Lanza, who kept him into such a tight embrace that he had barely the space to move without tripping on her legs.

    She was saying something to him that Lith was unable to hear due to the music andughter, but judging by Manohar¡¯s flustered face the young Lady was hitting hard on him. She was as lithe as a feather, while he looked like a death row inmate.

    "I had to promise Mynna a bit of alone time with our resident genius to obtain her help. I hope she¡¯s only interested in his status of Royal Healer rather than in his personality. Otherwise she¡¯s even more insane than he is." Jirni exined.

    The orchestra was ying a tune simr to a Viennese Waltz, where the dancers had to hold each other closely. Kam was short of breath due to the dance being fast-paced and hercking exercise.

    "How can you scout, dance, talk, and not even breaking a sweat?" She panted.

    "Practice." Lith lied. His enhanced physique made such a dance like slow-motion, while water fusion allowed him to move with grace despite his natural aversion for ballrooms.

    They reached a refreshment table just in time before the following dance began. Kam took off her golden mask to have something to drink, revealing her flushed cheeks. Her red lipstick matched her dress and emphasized her lips making her quite attractive.

    Unluckily, Lith wasn¡¯t the only one seeing her that way. Count Xolver was so enthusiastic about his newfound abilities that he had been switching dames all night. He would only approach those who after removing their masks proved to be worthy of his consideration.

    "The night is too short to waste it on ugly ducklings." He thought. There were severaldies he was keeping an eye on, but Kam was the only one who had stopped dancing, so he followed them like a lion stalking its prey.

    "Good evening, dear friends." He said approaching the couple and making Lith curse his bad luck.

    ¡¯Thank heavens Tista¡¯s dress is baggy and Jirni was adamant about never removing our masks. The two of us are too easily recognizable, even if forpletely different reasons.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "The g is an opportunity to mingle." Xolver continued while looking only at Kam and ignoring Lith.

    "Don¡¯t you think you are being rude hogging such a fairdy all by yourself? Let have her some fun." Xolver said while patting Lith¡¯s arm. Solus could see with mana sense a small thread of mana emanating from the Count¡¯s eyes.

    It was very simr, yet different, to spirit magic and it quickly traveled along Xolver¡¯s cheeks, neck, and arm before entering Lith¡¯s body and go straight up to his brain.

    Lith felt a small nudge like he was tired of Kam¡¯spany and wanted to stay alone for a while.

    "Thanks, but we¡¯re engaged." Kam smiled while clinging to Lith¡¯s arm.

    ¡¯No way I¡¯m letting this creep put his hands on me. Meat puppet or not, there¡¯s something wrong with this guy.¡¯ Kam thought. Her survival instinct was screaming at her.

    "Come on, just a dance. It¡¯s all that I ask." He took her hand too fast for her to dodge him and another mana thread emanated from the Count¡¯s eyes.

    "Even your fianc¨¦ agrees, right?" This time Xolver grabbed Lith¡¯s arm and gave him a double dose, just too be safe.

    "Just one dance." Kam echoed. Suddenly she felt very rude refusing such a gentleman¡¯s plea. Yet she still refused to move.

    "Come on, they are about to start." Xolver was about to pull her when Lith¡¯s hand intercepted the Count¡¯s in a grip.

    "Nice try, but no." Lith said with a snarl.

 Chapter 450 Courts Part 1

    As soon as the physical contact was broken, Kam snapped out of it and hid behind Lith so fast that she almost dropped her wine ss.

    Count Xolver¡¯s surprise intensified when he sent more and more waves of his willpower only for them to crash against Lith¡¯s. The Mesmerize ability required to make eye and physical contact with the target.

    It could nudge their will, making them more receptive to "friendly advices". It couldn¡¯t force anyone to do something they weren¡¯t willing to do, though. It could only manipte someone¡¯s feelings, not their nature.

    In Lith¡¯s case, it would have been easier to tilt¡¯s Mogar¡¯s axis than convince him to part from something, or someone, he deemed as his own.

    ¡¯This guy must be mad jealous to resist that easily. Well, if the easy way doesn¡¯t work, the hard was will.¡¯ Xolver thought while returning the grip.

    "I don¡¯t think you recognized me, dear friend. I¡¯m Count Xolver and I¡¯m a very powerful man. You don¡¯t want to have me as your enemy."

    ¡¯Watch out.¡¯ Solus warned Lith. ¡¯The blood core expenditure is much bigger than before. His life force is now even stronger than yours.¡¯ For once Solus was happy to not have a body.

    Otherwise she would have kicked the Count to the curb and blown their cover. Her hate for creeps was only surpassed by that for super powered creeps.

    "Really?" Lith remained unfazed by activating earth and fire fusion to even the field.

    "I think you should reconsider your actions." He let pure mana flow into his left hand, making the runes Ka had gifted him resurface on his palm. Despite their white glow, only Lith and the Count seemed capable of seeing them.

    ¡¯ording to Ka, they are an introduction letter. If Xolver is involved with the undeadmunity, this should resolve the matter without him making a fuss.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯If the one controlling the meat puppets is really a necromancer, I can¡¯t risk exposing our n.¡¯

    Sadly, the Count had no idea what they meant. His eyes red red as a thin ck fog formed a small dome around them which seemed to rob its surroundings of light and warmth. Those near to the scene unconsciously stepped away.

    No one was able to see or hear what was happening inside the fog dome unless they focused really hard on its presence. Kam had no idea what was happening but she was starting to get scared.

    "I¡¯ll ask you onest time. Let thedye with me and I¡¯ll make it worth her while." At that point, the Count couldn¡¯t care less about Kam. It had be a matter of power. He couldn¡¯t stand the idea of a lesser man disrespecting him.

    Not now that he had finally obtained the invincible power he had always dreamt about. His killing intent filled the dome adding mental pressure to the physical one.

    Lith was tired of ying nice. Instead of replying, he activated Invigoration, which allowed him to detect that there were two different kinds of blood flowing inside Xolver¡¯s veins. One was abundant, weak, and held less magical power than Lith¡¯s dirtyundry.

    The other was thin and of unknown origin, but it carried enough mana to make a mouse as dangerous as a tiger. Lith released small pulses of darkness magic that destroyed the undead blood coursing through his opponent¡¯s veins.

    Despite feeling weak, Xolver refused to budge and kept pumping more and more power until his blood core was on the verge of copsing.

    "Peace, brother. Please, forgive my Vassal. He¡¯s still unaware of the protocols among our kin." Another man stepped forward, so fast that Lith didn¡¯t even notice his appearance until it was toote.

    He was around sixty years old, barely 1.72 meters (5¡¯8") tall, with silver hair and goatee. His silver-rimmed monocle couldn¡¯t hide the red glow from his eyes as he grabbed Lith¡¯s wrist with enough strength to force him to let go of the Count.

    He had a bright blood core empowered by centuries of experience and abundant feeding. The man had gentle features and a warm smile, but in his eyes Lith saw a beast ready to attack.

    "You can call me Karn, I¡¯m..." The neer only needed a second to understand that Lith was one of the living. Karn¡¯s pretense of kindness disappeared, reced by a feral snarl as a second fog dome covered the scene.

    "What¡¯s a dog of the Dawn Court doing here? Who¡¯s your master?" He asked while his iron grip turned into a vice. Kan released enough killing intent that Kam almost forgot how to breathe.

    Lith was stuck into ce, his wrist kept cracking and healing almost at the same time thanks to light fusion. He felt an immense pressureing from the small man in front of him, with a force that closely reminded him of Scarlett the Scorpicore.

    Yet he refused to yield. He was stronger than four years ago and had learned many new tricks. He countered the killing intent by releasing his own while at the same time releasing a strong pulse of darkness magic that forced the undead to release his grip.

    The pain was so intense that Kan growled in pain, baring for a split second canine teeth too long to be human.

    "I was enjoying my evening, like everybody else, until your Renfield here bothered me and mypanion." Lith had no idea what the Dawn Court was, nor what vampire protocols might require.

    So he decided to bluff his way out by confusing his opponent as much as he was. Karn was indeed confused. He had never heard the term "Renfield" but he was certain it had to be an insult.

    "My name is Scourge." He used his code word for help while activating hismunication earpiece with spirit magic. "Ka the Wight sent me here."

    As soon as she heard Lith¡¯s safe word, Jirni tried to locate him and Kam. The ballroom was reduced to a blur like she was looking through a distorting ss. Only her focus and training allowed her to see through the fog.

    "If I don¡¯t hear from you within a minute, I¡¯ll send the reinforcements." She said.

    Karn snarled again. His enhanced senses allowed him to hear Jirni¡¯s voice, but once again he had no idea who she was or what she was talking about.

    "I never heard of this ¡¯Ka¡¯." He refused to back down to a human in his own turf, but Karn hadn¡¯t survived for so long by being stupid.

    "Just like I never heard about you." Lith had noticed that the vampire had lost part of his edge right after Jirni¡¯s message.

    ¡¯There are too many people around us, I doubt he wants to fight at all costs. Time to raise the ante.¡¯ Lith thought while powering up Ka¡¯s runes again.

    "These are my references. If you want to offend the Dawn Court for that lustful idiot, be my guest!"

    Kam felt like she was spectating two strong currents shing against each other, each wave stronger than the previous one. Karn was amazed by the amount of killing intent Lith was releasing. Amazed and intrigued.

    "Let¡¯s go, Xolver. We¡¯re done here." He said when the minute was almost over and the fog dome unable to hide the pressure they exerted.

    "I don¡¯t care who you are." He said to Lith as parting words.

    "Mess with the Night Court¡¯s ns and I¡¯ll make you pay."

    Then when he noticed Xolver idiotic grin, he added:

    "Right after disposing of you for forcing my hand." Xolver grin disappeared, and not even his make up could hide his pallor anymore.

 Chapter 451 Courts Part 2

    Karn dragged the Count away from the ballroom. He wanted to get out of there as fast as he could.

    ¡¯I must find out who that man is. I can¡¯t risk angering both the Dawn Court and the Darkwatch. With the support of the council of the Awakened ones, those filthy living-huggers might even wipe out the Night Court.¡¯ He thought.

    "Master, why are we running away from a human?" Count Xolver was unable to admit his own defeat, let alone understand why a vampire who he considered nigh omnipotent would act so cowardly.

    Karn didn¡¯t miss his Vassal¡¯s allegations, nor the reproachful tone Xolver was daring to address him with.

    "Listen to me, you idiot." Karn turned around abruptly with a re that turned the Count into stone.

    "We are not running away. I never run away! I¡¯m retreating from an unknown threat that you might have unleashed on our Court, you imbecile! Judging from his smell, that man is barely twenty.

    "Yet he withstood my mental powers and my strength without flinching. It can only mean that he is an Awakened, and one with a powerful mentor at that. He also has a Dawn Court pass and allies hidden inside this room.

    "I have nothing to gain from a fight. If I win, the Night Court will kill me for having exposed my nature and ruining all our careful nning to get hold of this city. If I lose, even if I manage to escape, the Night Court would have even more reasons to kill me. Now shut up and follow me."

    Karn was already regretting having taken Xolver as his Vassal. The same blind thirst for power that made the Count a perfectpdog also made him dangerously stupid.

    If the Night Court wasn¡¯t in dire need of the Xolver¡¯s Household riches and connection with the city Lord to expand their area of influence, Karn would have already killed the Count for causing that mess.

    Meanwhile, Lith¡¯s left wrist had swollen to the size of an orange and was turning purple because of thepound fracture the vampire had inflicted him. His bluff would have been likely exposed if he hadn¡¯t cut off his pain receptors.

    ¡¯Dammit, that guy was really strong. Even with fusion magic, I couldn¡¯t keep up with him and I¡¯m almost sure he used only a fraction of his powers. Solus, do you have an estimate of his real strength?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Sorry, no. It¡¯s the first real blood core we meet. I can only tell you thatpared to Ka¡¯s or the Count¡¯s, Karn blood core was mostlyposed of blood and with only a few tinges of ck.¡¯ Solus was still shaken by the unexpected encounter.

    ¡¯Maybe Lith¡¯s paranoia is affecting me too, but I can¡¯t help but feel him slipping away from me. Ever since the academy ended, he doesn¡¯t need me as he did before. Now he is able to rte to people when he wants to.¡¯ She thought while looking at Kam in envy.

    ¡¯Without a mana geyser, I¡¯m just a voice in his head. I couldn¡¯t help him fight the feeling of istion he felt while we were in the wild, just like now I couldn¡¯t help him against that vampire. By my maker, I feel so helpless.¡¯

    "Lith are you all right?" Kam had regained her cool the moment she had noticed his injury. She took two long silver knives and handkerchiefs to splint the wrist, but Lith stopped her.

    "That was close, but yeah, I¡¯m fine." One of his rings released a white light that fixed his injury in a matter of seconds. It was actually a true magic spell. He couldn¡¯t waste a ring¡¯s charge that he might need soon.

    "Who was that man? How could he be that strong?" She asked.

    "We have a situation." He activated hismunication earpiece, replying to both Kam and Jirni, to prevent thetter from ruining their n by having the army and the Association storm the ce.

    "There is at least a vampire in the ballroom who has turned Xolver into some kind of human empowered thrall." At those words, Kam went pale while Jirni inwardly cursed.

    "What¡¯s your status?" Jirni asked.

    "I¡¯m not dead, yet." Lith¡¯s reply was the code word for "I¡¯m safe", whereas if he said something like "I¡¯m fine" or "Everything is okay" it would mean that he needed help.

    "Good. It¡¯s time to move to the next phase. Vampires are outstanding necromancers. If they are the ones behind the meat puppets, your little squabble may have tipped them off. We need to wrap this up quickly." She had all the troops surrounding the Lanza Mansion prepare for action.

    Jirni walked up to Hessie, Mynna¡¯s personal housemaid, who was serving drinks and snacks at the tables.

    "Inform the staff that it¡¯s time to serve dinner." Just like Mynna¡¯s role had been to assemble the suspects, Hessie yed an important part in dealing with the preparations.

    Leaving an empty room where Manohar could conduct his tests, allowing some of the troops to hide inside the mansion in case something went wrong, it all required the help of someone who knew the house¡¯s protocols to arrange things in a way that wouldn¡¯t alert the house staff.

    It was another calcted risk. Jirni had no idea who she could trust, but both Mynna and Hessie had a spotless past and had helped the investigation.

    "Yes, your Ladyship." Hessie replied while giving Jirni a deep bow. Hessie was honored at the idea of helping the Royal Constable. Since theirst conversation, Hessie¡¯s parents¡¯ neighborhood had be much safer.

    Also, she felt like one of the main characters from the books she borrowed from Lady Lanza. Once Mynna heard Jirni¡¯s order via themunication earpiece, her beautiful smile turned into a frown.

    "Are you sure you¡¯ve checked them all already?" She asked with an expectant look. Unlike her dance partner, her mask was just a strip of silk with exotic plumes attached to it.

    "I examined them thrice." Manohar hissed, unable to hold his contempt anymore. He hadn¡¯t been humiliated so much since that time Marth had forced him to attend an academy¡¯s board meeting without giving him the freedom to speak or sleep.

    To escape from the clutches of that clingy harpy, he had managed to beat repeatedly his own spellcasting record, diagnosing multiple people at once every time the music stopped and Mynna introduced him to her guests.

    "We are on a tight schedule. The fate of the world depends on this!" He hoped to scare her, yet she giggled instead.

    "As you wish." She nodded. "We can continue this conversationter. Othre has much to offer to a genius like yourself and so do I." Her seductive smile and sensual voice would have melted Manohar¡¯s heart, if only he had one.

    "Yeah, and if I had a silver piece for every woman who said that to me, I¡¯d be richer than the King." Her amiable mask crumbled for a split second before she regained herposure. Yet there was enough rage in her face to make him wince.

 Chapter 452 Great Minds Part 1

    "My esteemed guests." Mynna¡¯s magically enhanced voice resounded through the ballroom. "I hope our master musicians have helped you to work up an appetite because our chefs have given their all to prepare our meal."

    The audience pped at their host before moving to the adjacent room. Mynna and Manohar approached Baron Mox, who was hosting the meat puppet most likely to survive the extraction process along with its host.

    "Baron Mox, my father would like to have a word in private. He is waiting for you in his office." She gave him a graceful curtsy before offering to apany him. Mynna held his arm while making small talk and giggling at every of the Baron replies.

    He didn¡¯t even notice Manohar walking a few steps behind them. The Professor whispered one spell after the other, to make sure the events with the first meat puppet wouldn¡¯t happen again.

    The Baron was so distracted by Mynna¡¯s flirting that he didn¡¯t pay attention to his surroundings. There were many people waiting for him in the office, but Marquis Lanza wasn¡¯t among them.

    The moment they stepped inside, a mage from the Association struck the back of Mox¡¯s neck with an enchanted club, making him faint.

    "Good, this will cut the connection with his master. Now make me some space." Manohar stepped forward and activated the tier five spell Life Ward, enveloping all those present but the Baron with a thinyer of light magic that prevented their life forces from being affected by external sources.

    He had developed it to counter all those abilities simr to an Abomination¡¯s touch, making it impossible for vampires or meat puppets to harm his mind or body respectively.

    Then he cast in rapid session his diagnostic spell Third Eye and his Split spell. They were both tier five spells that Manohar had created when he was still a fifth year student and had kept perfecting them every time he expanded his knowledge.

    The core of the spells was always the same, but Manohar had updated them so many times that if he bothered keeping track of all of their different versions, he would discover to have recently reached the triple digits.

    Third Eye was simr to Invigoration, allowing Manohar¡¯s mana to resonate with the patient¡¯s body. By shifting his focus whenever he perceived an anomaly, Manohar would obtain detailed information almost up to the cellr.

    Split was one of his most prized spells and the reason behind most of his achievements. A normal tier five healer spell would use darkness magic to destroy diseased tissues and rece them with healthy ones.

    Split defied this logic. It used darkness magic to surgically cut the diseased tissues, or in this case the meat puppet, from the patient¡¯s body while nurturing them both. This way Manohar would heal the patient and collect a perfectly preserved sample to study afterward.

    Since Baron Mox was unconscious and the vortex dormant, the whole process required less than a minute. The meat puppet screeched and squirmed while the Professor pulled it out in one piece from the Baron¡¯s mouth.

    The puppet looked like a section of intestine, except it was full of throbbing veins which burst open and released dozen of small tentacles. The tentacles shapeshifted into small hands, wing the air in an attempt to harm Manohar, but to no avail.

    His shield made of light prevented the infection, while his armor blocked the weak limbs. The thing then turned into a small head. Its blue eyes had just opened when the Professor shoved it inside a darkened container which he promptly sealed with a spell.

    He ignored the retching sound the guards and Mynna were producing while putting the magical jar in a bag. It was made of a thick ck cloth, covered in runes which would prevent the puppeteer from locating the position of their minions.

    "What in the gods¡¯ names is that thing? Who could be so evil to create such an abomination?" Mynna managed to say between barfs. Manohar was supposed to tell her to turn around, or at least to warn her about the nature of his task.

    Unluckily, all the time lost made him impatient and unwilling to cuddle a young miss¡¯s feelings.

    "That which is done out of love is always beyond good and evil. And we mages do love our work. If you are done puking, your Ladyship, I need to collect another specimen." Manohar said while casting a few cantrips that cleaned Mynna¡¯s dress and made nausea disappear.

    Cursing her bad luck, Mynna stepped outside the room and moved to their next target.

    ***

    ¡¯That should be impossible!¡¯ The one controlling the meat puppet couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes.

    ¡¯Manohar managed to extract my puppy bypassing its self destruct mechanism, keep it alive despite theck of a host, and even sever our connection thanks to that bag. To add insult to the injury, this time he was even faster.

    ¡¯Now I¡¯m certain there is a w in my opus. Centuries of hard work ruined by a mere brat! I need to capture him alive and force him to reveal to me how can I fix this w. Even if I kill him, whoever inherits his legacy would still be a threat to me.

    ¡¯It¡¯s time to get serious.¡¯

    ***

    Mynna and Manohar approached Viscountess E and lured her in the Marquis¡¯ office. Everything went as predicted until the meat puppet was flushed out of its host. Unluckily, it had already apletely formed mouth, which allowed it to activate an array hidden inside the room.

    Manohar¡¯s focus was on the puppet. Keeping three tier five spells was demanding even for him. When the creature triggered the trap, he was helpless against it just like Mynna. Chains of lightning turned the room into a thunderstorm.

    Manohar managed to cast a few healing spells, but since it was made from the flesh of its master, the creature was immune to the lightning. It controlled the array with cruel precision, focusing the lightning bolts on the Professor as soon as the others lost consciousness.

    "This shouldn¡¯t be happening. I checked this room for arrays." He said while the array tormented his body.

    "I know." The creature replied with a grin. "That¡¯s why I ced it right after you left."

    Before fainting, Manohar could almost recognize that low, feminine voice.

    Almost.

    ***

    Jirni and Lith were respectively keeping an eye on the guests and the Marquis¡¯ office. When they heard screams of paining from thetter, they immediately shapeshifted their clothes into their much morefortable uniform while running toward their destination.

    "Secure the perimeter and send back up! Something went wrong, we..." Before Jirni could finish giving her orders via themunication earpiece, more screams ensued but they came from the main hall.

    This time they were screams of fear. Jirni and Lith turned around just in time to see all the remaining suspects with glowing blue eyes. The nobles¡¯ bodies expanded as they absorbed those near them and turned into a mass of bulging muscles.

    A dozen Carpenters roared their challenge as they charged toward the Marquis¡¯ office to protect theirpanion.

    "We need help, and we need it yesterday!"

 Chapter 453 Great Minds Part 2

    Panic spread like wildfire in the main hall. The convened nobles screamed in terror at the sight of their peers, people that they had known for a lifetime, turning into hideous creatures.

    The bodies of the meat puppets¡¯ carriers burst through their clothes like inted balloons. A single touch was all that it took them to assimte those too close or too terrified to dodge their deformed limbs.

    Tista and Dorian had tried to destroy the creatures before they could be more than an overgrown lump of flesh. Unfortunately, when the nobles saw the bloated monsters rearrange their organs and muscles, terror turned into horror.

    Some fainted or remained frozen in ce, but most of them ran away disregarding anyone¡¯s safety but their own. The frenzied crowd almost trampled the two mages and managed to slow down Lith¡¯s and Jirni¡¯s reaction.

    Lith had no idea what had gone wrong. He, Manohar, and Jirni had spent a long time preparing their n, divulging information only on a "need to know" basis.

    Mynna and Hessie only knew about the room, not what would take ce there once the events were set in motion, and so did the guards from the Association. Since it was a critical point of their n and its only known weakness, Lith and Manohar had swept the office several times to make sure that no one would tamper with it.

    "There no way someone took down Manohar in a direct confrontation. This must be an inside job." Jirni snarled while she stepped sideways to avoid being trampled by the runaway mob.

    "Come to me." Lith said as spirit magic brought him the Gatekeeper sword from under the sofa where he had hidden it right before the g started. After sheathing his de, his hands quickly formed seals until he was enveloped by a thinyer of darkness.

    "Is this spell as good as Manohar¡¯s? I¡¯d be really impressed if you sessfully imitated a tier five spell after seeing it once only a few days ago." She said with a surprised tone.

    "Not even close." He shook his head. "It should still protect me from those things, and if they try to gobble me up, they are in for a nasty surprise." He replied.

    Their situation would have been much easier if not for the city array blocking dimensional items. They could only use what they had on them, and there was only so much normal pockets could store.

    Jirni¡¯s needles weren¡¯t an issue, but wands, des, and all kinds of magical tools couldn¡¯t be carried around without other people noticing them.

    "The good news is that those guys are weak." Lith said while assessing their opponents with spirit magic and Solus¡¯ mana sense.

    "None of them is marked as a remarkable mage. They should be magicos tops. The bad news is that we don¡¯t know what the heck is happening in the office nor we can leave our back exposed."

    "That¡¯s why I ordered to leave the Association¡¯s squads outside and let only the army in. We can¡¯t risk our mages getting assimted and turned against us." Jirni replied.

    The Carpenters had yet to finish their transformation when four five-man units of the army¡¯s elite squads burst through the windows and doors, unleashing a barrage of spells from their wands and staves.

    Being assaulted from every side, the creatures were immediately pushed on their back foot.

    The reason why each Carpenter had assimted only one guest was to be able to cast spells and attack at the same time without being burdened by dead weight. The bodies of the nobles were only trained to indulge in hedonistic pleasures.

    They had no value as mages or fighters. Forming a Carpenter posed a heavy burden that thoseid bodies were unable to sustain without constantly assimting world energy.

    A third body would make them weaker rather than stronger. It would increase the energy expenditure without giving the creature any advantage. To sort out the best parts it would take time and time was of the essence.

    All that mana flying through the room forced the puppeteer who was controlling the creatures to stop the vortexes, to prevent their creatures from self destructing.

    ¡¯Well, well, well. This time not only do I have to use half baked pawns, but they are also made of trash materials. This should make things interesting.¡¯ The puppeteer was actually grateful for Jirni¡¯s tactical choice.

    Secrecy made things go much smoother, but after kidnapping Manohar, finesse was a waste of time. They could finally have some fun after months of boredom.

    The soldiers were all veterans who had been debriefed about all the enemy¡¯s known weaknesses and abilities. They kept their distance while using water spells to freeze and slow down their enemies.

    Without the vortex and with their spells constantly interrupted the Carpenters had only two choices: to stop and fight or keep marching forward and be decimated. Faced with an impossible choice, the puppeteer had the creatures closer to the soldiers activate their vortex.

    It poisoned them, but at the same time, it jammed all the nearby magical tools and allowed the other creatures to safely assimte world energy and regain their vigor. Three Carpenters fell to the ground as their first mana core copsed due to mana poisoning.

    Thanks to their sacrifice, the remaining nine reached as many soldiers and ripped them to shreds with the giant talons on their deformed limbs. Jirni immediately understood that the enemy was turning the tables.

    The creatures on the front line were now jamming again the alchemical tools while the three fallen Carpenters stood up the moment their second mana core activated and used the dying soldiers to rece the lost one.

    It took just over a second to switch from one core to the other, but on the battlefield, it was half a second too much. As soon as three more creatures copsed after having lost their core, Tista struck them with a volley of gue Arrows.

    Darkness magic was slow, but fast enough to hit the creatures before they recovered. With the crowd gone, she was finally able to take action while Dorian got those who were still paralyzed by fear to safety.

    Her spell ate through their flesh and corrupted the energies that kept their makeshift bodies together. Three Carpenters were down due to mana poisoning, while three more were helpless because of the gue Arrows.

    With their numbers reduced to half, the rhythm of the enemy¡¯s attack was disrupted long enough to allow the soldiers to retreat and regroup.

    Lith exploited the temporary ceasefire to jump in the middle of the creatures¡¯ formation and activate the Death Call spell he had cast earlier. Fire couldn¡¯t be used in such an enclosed space, there was no earth to manipte, and water magic had proved to be ineffective.

    Tista¡¯s darkness spell, instead, worked like a charm, making Lith doubt again about what kind of magic could give life to the Carpenters.

    ¡¯Are they a cross between undead and flesh or is just darkness magic being that good?¡¯ He thought.

    After his fight with the orcs, Lith had modified the spell to make it more effective in close range. Instead of tentacles, theyer of darkness surrounding his body took the form of four arms that wed at the nearby monsters like ravenous beasts.

 Chapter 454 Perfect Form Part 1

    The ethereal limbs pierced through four different Carpenters, incapacitating them and throwing the puppeteer¡¯s strategy in disarray. With their line of fire clear, the soldiers focused their spells on the ten fallen creatures, killing eight of them in one fell swoop.

    Now that they outnumbered and outmatched the creatures, the soldiers had no problem dealing with the remaining Carpenters on their own.

    Lith activated Life Vision to check what was happening inside the Marquis¡¯ office before deciding what was the best course of action. Manohar¡¯s and Mynna¡¯s life forces were still active, which made him sigh in relief.

    ¡¯A purple core Carpenter is thest thing I want to see. I wonder why whoever captured them didn¡¯t escape while we were dealing with those flesh bags.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I can answer that.¡¯ Solus replied after assessing the situation with mana sense. ¡¯I can sense two more Carpenters in there and they belong to apletely different leaguepared to the ones we faced before.

    ¡¯Not only did they assimte mages instead of nobles, but they are also taking their sweet time to arrange their bodies in the best possible way. With each second we are wasting here, they¡¯re getting stronger and more efficient.¡¯

    "Did someone escape the perimeter?" Jirni asked via hermunication earpiece.

    "Negative. We have captured and quarantined all those who came out of the house." A female voice replied.

    "This means we have a huge problem." Jirni said to the rest of the team.

    "If there was someone capable of defeating Manohar fair and square, they would have already left the room and rampaged their way out of here. So, either there is a secret passage leading outside of which we are unaware of..."

    "That¡¯s impossible." Lith interrupted her. He needed to make haste, otherwise based on Solus¡¯s reading soon the Carpenters would be so strong that he wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat them without revealing his abilities.

    "I didn¡¯t trust the Marquis¡¯ word nor the house¡¯s blueprints. Both Manohar and I searched the room with earth magic. No secret passages."

    "Or they are still holed up in there, waiting for us to fall into their trap." Jirni nodded, surprised by his unusual unrest.

    "I can¡¯t think of many ways to take down a member of the Queen¡¯s corps that fast. The most likely hypotheses are a traitor in our midst, an array, or both. We can deal with a traitor by shooting down whoever is still conscious, but an array is another story entirely. Lith?"

    Lith snorted in exasperation while walking toward the office and chanting the array detecting spell.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ He trusted her mana sense much more than a basic Warden spell.

    ¡¯No array aside from those which protect the house. There is a strong residual mana, but it could be either because of Manohar¡¯s spells or from whatever has been used to stun him.¡¯

    "Nothing. I still think it¡¯s a trap. You guys remain here and prepare for the worst." Lith took a multi colored potion from one of his pockets and drank it in one gulp.

    It was a top grade alchemical concoction that temporarily boosted its user¡¯s physical abilities to a magical beast¡¯s level. Lith didn¡¯t really need it, but it allowed him to use fusion magic without arousing suspicions.

    The moment Lith was about to touch the door¡¯s handle, a huge wed hand the size of a table pierced the hardwood up to its writs. Lith¡¯s chest would have suffered the same fate if he hadn¡¯t kept Life Vision active the whole time.

    Dodging the attack with fusion magic had been easy. Pretending to be unaware of the danger, not so much. He jumped back at thest second as apletely formed Carpenter charged out of the room, quickly followed by a second one.

    They were different from those Lith had faced before. They were humanoid creatures, around 2.5 metres (8¡¯2") tall, with a blood red skin. They had extra mouths on both their abdomen and left shoulder.

    For a second, Lith thought they had some kind of blue halo around their head, before realizing they were a series of glowing eyes which allowed the creatures to see in every direction at all times.

    ¡¯Those bodies are unnatural.¡¯ Lith thought. They reminded him of Gadorf the Wyvern¡¯s human appearance. ¡¯Not even by using two like me as building materials, they could have muscles so thick and bones so strong. These Carpenters are the result of Body Sculpting.¡¯

    The first Carpenter opened his left palm, releasing a fireball at point nk. Once again, Life Vision saved Lith¡¯s skin. Even if none of the creature¡¯s mouths were moving, Lith had seen the mana amassing on its hand and moved ordingly.

    The zing sphere missed its primary target and hit in the middle of the group. Lith¡¯spanions managed to dodge only because they were distant enough from the caster to have the time to react.

    Tista used air fusion toe out of it unscathed, while Jirni was caught by the fringes of the explosion despite her timely jump. She had to roll to disperse the momentum. Dorian did the same, but without her training, the shockwave sent him crashing against a wall.

    ¡¯Son of a gun!¡¯ Lith thought as he extended his right hand and pretended to use the spells stored inside his rings while actually unleashing the true spells he had ready. ¡¯He aimed the fireball so that if I dodged it, the spell would not go to waste. We must avoid lining up.¡¯

    A barrage of air des struck where the major arteries were supposed to be while lightning bolts bombarded the Carpenter¡¯s chest. They were supposed to turn it into a charred corpse, or worst case scenario to stun it long enough for the gue Arrows behind them to cripple its strength.

    Lith felt his life was bing a y about Murphy¡¯sw when anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

    The air de cut the Carpenter¡¯s flesh to the bone, nearly chopping off its legs and head. Unluckily, not only did just trickle of blood spurt from such deep wounds, but also the cuts were so clean that regenerating them took the creature less than the blink of an eye.

    The lightning bolts struck their target, leaving behind only ckened dots as proof of their brief existence. The cuts and the boltsbined effects locked the creature into ce, preventing it from dodging the gue Arrows.

    The Carpenter used its giant right hand to intercept the darkness spells, swatting them like they were flies. The flesh on the limb rotted and fell, revealing that the hand wasposed mostly of bones.

    The Carpenter activated its vortex. It both helped the creature to counter the gue Arrows¡¯ effects before the hand could fell off and left Solus astonished.

    ¡¯This is really bad! A fully formed Carpenter can use both of its cores at once.¡¯ She exined as the creature waved its healthy hand and unleashed the tier four War Mage spell Chasing Lightning.

    Five bolts of electricity came out of its fingers, with each lightning resembling a snake in both motions and appearance. Lith knew that dodging them was pointless. As their name implied, they wouldn¡¯t let go of their prey.

    ¡¯What does it mean?¡¯ Lith replied while setting up his defense and sending invisible strands of spirit magic against the vortex to poison it.

    ¡¯It means that the vortex is located in the secondary core, so even if you corrupt it with your mana, the Carpenter can still use it to umte a mother lode of world energy until the auxiliary core crumbles.¡¯

 Chapter 455 Perfect Form Part 2

    ¡¯These creatures are unstoppable war machines.¡¯ Solus exined.

    ¡¯Even without the vortex, by using two cores at once it¡¯s like they have one core of superior purity. With the vortex, the core purity is upgraded twice and they have the same effects of a full elemental fusion.

    ¡¯To make things worse, the double core synergy allows them to ignore the mana poisoning effect as long as the secondary core holds. Basically, it works like a filter. It protects the main core by tanking the foreign mana while the creature uses the vortex to umte loads of world energy.

    ¡¯This way, even when the second core crumbles, the Carpenter can keep fighting at full strength for an extended period of time.¡¯

    Lith cursed the enemy¡¯s ingenuity while activating earth fusion to block most of the damage from the five iing Chasing Lightning and light fusion to heal his wounds the moment they opened.

    Luckily, the War Mage spell was slow enough to allow Lith to intercept two lightning bolts with his earth magic infused Gatekeeper. It wasn¡¯t as good as a stone wall but it was the next best thing. Lith felt a sting when the de and the bolts shed, but nothing more.

    He gritted his teeth ready to tank the other three, yet nothing happened. Three enchanted needles were stuck in front of him. They drew the iing spell as if they were lightning rods and grounded their energy making it harmless.

    "The other one is escaping!" Jirni pointed at the second Carpenter which was walking upstairs double time towards the balcony. It held in its huge hands the limp bodies of Manohar and Mynna.

    "I don¡¯t feel like turning my back to something capable of silent casting." Lith¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm. He had yet to understand how the Carpenter had timely produced a tier four spell out of the blue.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯No clue. Their cores have a static flow, so they aren¡¯t Awakened. That¡¯s all I know.¡¯

    Tista took off with a flight spell, taking advantage of the Ballroom high ceiling while none of the Carpenters seemed to pay her any attention.

    "Not so fast, little girl!" The Carpenter¡¯s voice was a low rumble, like an echoing from a deep cave. Its thin lips formed a cruel smile and his voice was amused, like a child who had just received a new toy.

    The creature was incredibly nimble despite its size. It leaped with inhuman strength to intercept her with its wed hand while the other was set aze, ready to unleash the tier four spell Scorching st.

    Tista grinned in reply. She reversed the Carpenter¡¯s gravity and turned its jump into a head first dive into the ceiling. Both the w and the spell missed their intended targets with a wide margin.

    "Gravity magic?" The creature¡¯s surprise turned into shock when Lith and Tistabined their efforts, reversing the gravity around the creature again and amplifying it by ten times as the Carpenter plummeted to the ground.

    Even with its enhanced physique, such a huge body already exerted a huge strain on its joints due to its height and weight. Between the fall and the artificial gravity, the Carpenter¡¯s kneecaps shattered even though it had conjured an air cushion at thest second to lessen the impact.

    Tista left Jirni and Lith to deal with the crippled monster as she darted toward the second Carpenter to prevent its escape. The joyful expression on both creatures¡¯ faces disappeared as their n was suddenly taking a turn for the worse.

    The rest of the team had drunk the same potion Lith did before approaching the Marquis¡¯ office. This allowed Dorian to recover in a matter of seconds from an impact that otherwise would have knocked him out and Jirni to circle around the enemy with the speed of a cheetah.

    ¡¯These things have eyes even on the back of their heads. I know that I can¡¯t perform a sneak attack, but there¡¯s something I need to verify.¡¯ She thought.

    One of the advantages of not taking part in a fight was the possibility to calmly observe the events like they were nothing more than a game.

    Since Solus¡¯s magical abilities were usually negligible against Lith¡¯s opponents, her role had always been to analyze the enemies and use the collected information to help him devise the best strategy.

    ¡¯Those earlier cuts bled too little.¡¯ Solus and Jirni reasoned as one. ¡¯The anatomy of these things must bepletely different from a human¡¯s. If I were in their maker¡¯s ce, I¡¯d put their vitals in ces hard to reach during a fight.¡¯

    The two needles in her hands shapeshifted into curved knives as she approached the enemy¡¯s back in what seemed to be a cut throat attack. From the other side of the creature, Lith had finished casting Death Call again.

    Four arms made of darkness energy emerged from his body and enveloped the Carpenter¡¯s limbs while he aimed for its head. With one hand he executed a horizontal sh with the Gatekeeper to cut all the eyes at once, while the other shoot a volley of gue Arrows to the torso.

    Without its legs, the Carpenter couldn¡¯t dodge both attacks at once. Not with Jirni timing her attack to match Lith¡¯s. Their coordination was so good that it was hard to believe it was an improvised maneuver.

    Yet instead of panicking, the creature smiled again.

    ¡¯The kid is good for his age, but that¡¯s it.¡¯ The puppeteer thought. ¡¯With all of his fancy spells and weapons he thinks he has won already. He doesn¡¯t realize that no matter how good a potion is, he can¡¯t exploit its full potential.

    ¡¯Having the abilities of a magical beast doesn¡¯t mean knowing how to use them. They can use about 50% of their new capabilities without them bing a burden. Unlike them, I don¡¯t need to get ustomed to this body¡¯s prowess, nor to worry about the aftereffects.

    ¡¯It¡¯s way weaker than mine and it¡¯s only disposable trash. Sometimes I wonder if Balkor used my work as a temte for his undead.¡¯

    The vortex suddenly activated at full force, dispelling both Death Call and the gue Arrows, leaving Lith exposed to a counter attack. The Carpenter¡¯s first mana core tanked the damage while the world energy brought the second one to a purple core level strength.

    At the same time, two humanoid arms previously camouged by the creature¡¯s bulging muscles emerged from its back, revealing how all the space where kidneys and liver were supposed to be was actually empty.

    The armspleted thest hand sign before moving to intercept Jirni¡¯s hands. She managed to step back at thest second, avoiding her wrists getting crushed, but she was too close topletely dodge the stream of lightning that appeared at point nk.

    The Carpenter¡¯s grin grew wider as the ice spikes it had conjured appeared behind the stumbling Constable and turned her into a pin cushion. To add insult to the injury, the first set of arms ignored Lith¡¯s sword and lunged their bone ws to his sides.

    At the same time, the mouth on the Carpenter¡¯s abdomen opened and released a jet stream of purple mes. It was just another tier three spell, but the vortex boosted its destructive power to the extreme.

 Chapter 456 Double Trouble Part 1

    The lightning bolt had squeezed the air out of Jirni¡¯s lungs and pushed her back while her body still refused to obey her. Her Constable armor coupled with the potion¡¯s effects had taken the brunt of the damage, but pain radiated from the point of impact turning every movement into agony.

    Yet pain was an old friend to her, something Jirni had got used to ever since her family had trained her to inflict and withstand torture before she even turned ten. Pain was what allowed her to regain control of her limbs.

    The ice spikes barely managed to pierce her skin before she pivoted on the balls of her feet to redirect the momentum of her fall to the side and roll to safety.

    Lith was having it much worse than her. The city array prevented him to Blink while the Carpenter¡¯s vortex was close enough to rob him of his magic aside from fusion magic. His rings were useless, he couldn¡¯t fly or use spirit magic to pull himself away.

    Lith had to choose between being turned into a kebab, a charred corpse, or both. He chose the fourth option, the one he created. Lith jumped back and to the side, putting himself willingly in front of the closest of the enemy¡¯s wed hands.

    With one hand on the de¡¯s hilt and the other on its t side, Lith used the earth magic infused Gatekeeper as a shield against the enemy¡¯s middle finger.

    It was the longest and the closest one among those forming the spear-like hand which was darting at him with the speed of a freight train.

    It was also the most dangerous one, aimed at his heart. Lith used the force of the impact to propel himself away from the spell and the other hand. What he couldn¡¯t expect was that the remaining three fingers dislocated themselves, bing long enough to reach his head, abdomen, and left leg respectively.

    Lith was still in mid air after parrying the middle finger, he couldn¡¯t dodge while his magic was still sealed. Cursing at the enemy¡¯s wits, he could only tilt his head sideways to avoid the deadly tap at his forehead.

    The puppeteerughed at his feeble attempt. The iing spear head wasn¡¯t a mindless projectile, but one of their fingers. Carpenters couldn¡¯t feel pain. Receptors were among the many things they had discarded to make their strength as explosive as their lifespan was short.

    The Carpenter¡¯s forefinger followed Lith¡¯s movements, striking him on his right temple as the other two phnges pierced his body.

    Blood spurted from Lith¡¯s stomach and left thigh, yet the moment his clenched muscles stopped the fingers, the darkness magic infused Gatekeeper performed a circr motion that cut all four of them almost down to the knuckles.

    Ravaged by the chaotic energies, the creature¡¯s secondary core and its fingers copsed at the same time, reducing its battle strength considerably.

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible!¡¯ Suddenly the puppeteer had nothing tough about. ¡¯I know that a wound caused by the tip of one phnx is bound to be shallow, but even a few centimeters deep hole in the head is supposed to be deadly!¡¯

    Yet there wasn¡¯t even a bruise on Lith¡¯s forehead. Only a curved stone te that had deflected the projectile and reduced the impact to an oversized finger flick.

    ¡¯Are you all right, Solus?¡¯ Lith asked as the te turned liquid and hid under his clothes again.

    ¡¯Nothing that a bit of rest can¡¯t heal.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯Ourbined earth fusion did most of the work, otherwise I would be shattered in pieces.¡¯

    The Carpenter roared in outrage. Its kneecaps were healed, but both of his prey were alive and well.

    The puppeteer couldn¡¯t believe that the body and techniques they had perfected after centuries of training couldn¡¯t get rid of two newborns, not even after being forced to go all out.

    ¡¯Our enemy has lost one hand and its secondary core. Without the vortex, its remaining core is a cyan one. With the vortex it can reach the output of a blue one, but if it gets poisoned too the Carpenter¡¯s strength will plummet.¡¯ Solus exined.

    Lith smiled in reply while weaving a new set of spells that he knew the enemy couldn¡¯t risk absorbing anymore. Jirni kept her distance and circled around the creature, with Lith quickly following her lead.

    "Three mouths, three spells at once!" Even though the second set of arms was hidden again in the creature¡¯s sides, Jirni was certain that they were forming hand signs non stop.

    Now that they had been exposed, the quiet mumblingsing from the jaws on the Carpenter¡¯s abdomen and shoulders exined the trick behind its ¡¯silent casting¡¯. Fake mages could dy the activation of their spells until their focus was broken, just like an Awakened.

    Hand signs required less time than most chants, but a normal mage would make themst as long as the chanting to perform them with uracy.

    Yet the Carpenter had several mouths, so while one chanted the others would make noises to cover the iing spell and start the next one as soon as the first set of hand signs waspleted.

    The creature tried to escape from the encirclement, but it discovered that the duo could follow its movements with ease. Jirni¡¯s air infused needles pierced its four limbs while Lith¡¯s magic froze and deformed the marble floor at its feet, turning the Carpenter¡¯s footwork into a mess.

    Jirni then activated several wands at once, releasing a barrage of lightning bolts that could sweep the whole ballroom. The puppeteer thought that she had gone mad. They only needed to make the creature crouch to dodge what looked like the spell of an angered thunder god and make Lith its new target.

    Their coordination was too perfect. They were always at the opposing sides of the Carpenter, making it easy to exploit any iing spell and turn it against the other human.

    Lith ignored the iing thunderstorm and released a volley of gue Arrows, leaving the creature twice dumbfounded.

    ¡¯Is he insane? He¡¯ll take the Constable¡¯s attack head on, whereas I only need a roll to escape from such a slow spell.¡¯ The puppeteer was disappointed. Their prey were clearly panicking, turning what was supposed to be a fun game into a farce.

    The lightning bolts curved sharply, following the four needles like the remote tracking devices they were. Even with multipleyers of body fat shielding the nerves, the electrical current was so violent that it caused a seizure in all four limbs.

    The Carpenter found itself paralyzed, so none of the gue Arrows missed its target. The dark energies spread like a disease, eating away the creature¡¯s physical and magical strength. Its focus was lost, and so were all the spells it had prepared.

    Refusing to ept their loss, the puppeteer activated the vortex to escape from the trap and kill both those pests by burning away all the lifespan their creature had left. Much to their surprise, even in its boosted state, the creature was unable to deal a lethal blow.

    Jirni and Lith were both able to follow the Carpenter¡¯s speed with ease.

    While normal humans under the effect of a potion were fast, they were fast and graceful. While any other human opponent the puppeteer had ever faced was just strong, they were strong and feral.

    ¡¯I was wrong. They can use the potion¡¯s effect to its maximum, if not even more. These guys move more like beasts than humans!¡¯ The puppeteer¡¯s heart was filled with joy and awe.

    Finding two worthy opponents outshined even Lith¡¯s de slowing their prized creature long enough for Jirni¡¯s long knives to stab it in the ass, right where its brain was hidden, and send it into oblivion.

 Chapter 457 Double Trouble Part 2

    From her hiding spot in the lounge on the first floor, Kam had been watching the fight from the beginning. Her feelings changed from awe to horror and back with each second.

    ¡¯Thank heavens Constable Ernas sent me away the moment thest phase of the n started. Otherwise I would have just been just a burden for them. I always dreamt of bing a Royal Constable one day, but if Lady Ernas is their standard, I¡¯d rather remain behind my desk for life.¡¯ She thought.

    What Kam was unaware of, was that Jirni was considered a monster even among the Royal Constables. They were mainly investigators, prosecutors, and interrogators. Most of them wouldn¡¯t take part in a single fight their whole lives.

    Jirni¡¯s family, the Myrok Household, had a different philosophy on the matter. Regardless of the profession one of its members would choose, they would all be trained as assassins to get rid of bad apples whenever the Crown required their assistance.

    While Jirni and Lith dealt with the first Carpenter, Tista and Dorian did their best to stop the second one from running away with the two hostages. While they had the advantage that the creature couldn¡¯t use its hands unless it dropped Manohar and Mynna, the situation was still dire.

    The trick of the second set of arms hidden in the creature¡¯s sides had yet to be revealed, so they were still worried about its silent casting abilities. Tista had no Gatekeeper for closebat and even if she did, she wouldn¡¯t know how to use it.

    She had been an Awakened for less than a year. Her body was only slightly better than a normal human¡¯s, she knew few true magic spells that she could use duringbat, and had no Solus to help her n ahead.

    ¡¯What a mess.¡¯ She inwardly cursed. ¡¯I can¡¯t use fire or lightning without risking injuring the hostages. If I use the marble in the floor, the house might copse and darkness magic is so frigging slow. I¡¯ll have to use water and spirit magic.¡¯

    Tista kept Life Vision active while umting a densely packed sphere of spirit magic. Her n was to poison the creature as soon as it activated its vortex and then stall for time until it fainted due to the loss of one of its cores.

    She had no idea how different a perfectly formed Carpenter waspared to the makeshift version she had previously in. Tista cast a hail of ice spikes, all aimed at the creature¡¯s legs and at the pavement.

    The puppeteer had no troubles controlling the two Carpenters at once and hoped this duo would prove to be as fun as the other one. The creature dodged the spikes with the grace of a ballerina.

    Tista¡¯s attempts to avoid hitting the hostages made their trajectory obvious. Or so the puppeteer thought. Some of the spikes melted on impact, while others froze the water turning the floor into an extremely slippery surfaceposed of water and ice.

    The Carpenter lost its footing as Dorian used an earth spell to make the stairs copse and force the enemy to choose between releasing the hostages or going back to square one. The creature smirked in amusement at the trap and refused to fall.

    A simple floating spell allowed it to walk on air unhindered by their efforts.

    ¡¯These guys are disappointing.¡¯ The puppeteer thought. ¡¯They clearly don¡¯t have any closebat ability, otherwise they¡¯d try to exploit my allegedck of arms. Or maybe they are just too scared I will use their "friends" as shields...¡¯

    Their train of thought was interrupted when the other Carpenter failed to kill either of its targets despite going all out.

    ¡¯Enough ying. Time to get out of here.¡¯ The creature activated the vortex at full power and its best flying spell. Tista didn¡¯t miss the opportunity and struck the enemy with all the spirit magic she had amassed up to that point.

    The creature¡¯s secondary core crumbled almost instantly, leaving the puppeteer as surprised as they were angry. One of their masterpieces was being beaten into submission, they couldn¡¯t allow the other one to be lost too.

    The Carpenter darted head first toward the balcony, with Tista in hot pursuit feeding poison to the vortex. The creature stopped abruptly, letting here close enough to disrupt her flight spell and kicked her hard while she was unable to defend herself.

    Dorian tried to catch her, but was struck along with Tista by powerful lightning that would have made him faint if not for the potion coursing through his veins. He swallowed down the pain along with all of his fears and kept moving.

    Dorian broke her fall along with several of his ribs. Tista was a lithe girl, but the kick and her armor made her an enchanted cannonball. They both tumbled on the ground while the Carpenter flew away at an almost sub sonic speed, burning its lifespan to get to its destination before its core crumbled.

    The sound of cracking bones broke the silence in the ballroom, reaching even Kam¡¯s hiding spot. It reminded her of when she was still a child, and her brother added wood to the fire. The contrast between her happy memory and the sight of her twopanions lying on the floor made her shiver.

    She waited, for a time that seemed tost an eternity, hoping to see at least one of them stand up.

    ¡¯Please, gods, let them be okay.¡¯ She silently prayed with all the faith she could muster. ¡¯They are good people. Servants of the Kingdom trying to save lives. I¡¯m just an analyst who can¡¯t even lift a box full of paperwork. I can¡¯t help them. I¡¯m useless.¡¯

    The Carpenter unleashed five lightning bolts at Lith, and Kam¡¯s heart almost stopped. She could almost see his body sprawling on the floor in a seizure. Tears streamed down her face as he and Jirni blocked the spell, making her fear grow even stronger.

    ¡¯Please, save them.¡¯ Kam kept praying while a small pool of blood was leaking out the mouths of the two fallen mages. ¡¯I¡¯m not even a mage, I¡¯m just human. Monsters walk among us, please, don¡¯t let them die. I don¡¯t want to be alone again.¡¯

    Yet aside from the sh of bone and metal, no answer came to her pleas. Before she could realize what she was doing, Kam was rushing towards herpanions. The voice of her Drill Sergeant echoed in her ears, scolding her at every step.

    ¡¯You¡¯re too slow, move that ass! Stumble as much as you want, you crippled maggot. You¡¯ll fail them like you¡¯ve failed everything else in your life and their deaths will be on you! Why the fuck aren¡¯t you using cover?¡¯

    Sergeant Heartmann¡¯s voice was cruel but helpful. She finally remembered that her dress was special. Kam had never had an enchanted item aside frommunicator amulets, so her memorypse was understandable.

    Yet she cursed herself while it shapeshifted to her uniform and she used the toppled tables to hide her movements. She reached Tista and Dorian, checking their vitals before administering healing potions to them.

    ¡¯If their bodies are too weakened, the healing process could kill them...¡¯ Her brain stopped as the creature sent Jirni to the spikes-filled floor and cornered Lith with a three pronged attack.

    What scared her the most wasn¡¯t the sh of spells nor the sshes of blood. It was the savage smile of the three monsters amid the chaos. It made her feel like thest human on Mogar, forced to witness a battle between gods.

 Chapter 458 Help Request Part 1

    Kam quickly snapped out of her reverie and made Tista slowly drink a healing potion. She was the more gravely injured of the two and needed immediate assistance. Kam checked her pulse between gulps, to make sure that Tista¡¯s body could handle the strain.

    Once the bleeding stopped and Tista¡¯s heartbeat became steady, Kam took care of Dorian. A few secondster, the Carpenter was dead and Lith rushed to her side.

    ¡¯Remember to chant. We don¡¯t know who could be watching.¡¯ Solus warned him before he could forget to keep up his act in his worry. Treating two people at once was already something unheard of, doing it with silent magic would have been beyond stupid.

    Lith¡¯s chant was a streak of English swear words as his hands performed random gestures before he activated Invigoration on both Tista and Dorian. Contrary to Kam¡¯s expectations, he was the one in the worse shape.

    Even though she had received a full-force attack from a Carpenter, her Awakened body amplified the potion¡¯s effectiveness and reduced the life force consumption the healing process required.

    ¡¯Dammit! Both arms havepound fractures, cracked and splintered ribs, punctured lungs, internal bleeding, ruptured organs, second-degree burns from lightning,cerations and a concussion. Those are not injuries but a fucking grocery list!¡¯

    Lith inwardly cursed while he used tier four true magic to heal their bodies and replenish their life force. The abundant energy from the respiration technique brought color back to their paleplexion.

    Kam had no time to rejoice. She noticed two brown stains on his chest and left leg that were slowly getting bigger as the red of his blood mixed with the green of his ranger uniform.

    The holes in the fabric had yet to self-repair. Even though light fusion had almost stopped the bleeding, the wounds looked pretty nasty. Kam was about to ssh a potion on his injuries to make them heal when Jirni caught her wrist.

    "Right move but wrong moment, Lieutenant. If Lith loses his focus due to thebined exhaustion from the fight, his wounds, and the potion, these two could need days instead of hours to recover."

    "I¡¯m sorry, Constable. It¡¯s just..." Kam didn¡¯t know what to say. Her eyes moved from the potion in her hand to Lith¡¯s open wounds. She inwardly cursed the gods and herself for being utterly useless.

    "First time on the battlefield?" Jirni sat beside her. A flick of the Royal Constable¡¯s wrist made all the needles scattered throughout the room return to her pockets.

    Kam nodded, biting her lower lip in worry. Whatever Lith was doing, the effort was draining color from his face by the second. Healing was much harder than destroying. Even Invigoration had its limits.

    "Well, it¡¯s normal to worry about the people we like. Normal and a bit rude." Jirni said, drawing Kam¡¯s gaze on herself.

    "I may not be as young and sexy as he is in your eyes, but I¡¯m wounded nheless." Jirni took the potion from Kam¡¯s hand and gulped it down. It was only then that Kam saw the scorch mark on Jirni¡¯s chest and her bleeding back.

    "Oh gods, I¡¯m so sorry. I..."

    "Rx. I was joking." Jirni cut her short with augh. "You did a good job keeping them alive. With no specimens, Manohar gone, and no more suspects to interrogate, at least no one died. That¡¯s all that matters."

    Kam grimaced and pointed at the bloody mess in the main hall. Bits of nobles, soldiers, and Carpenters were sttered on the walls.

    "I mean none of us. You can¡¯t save them all. Do this job long enough and you¡¯ll learn that small victories are what lets you keep moving forward. If you focus on the losses, you¡¯ll go crazy in no time."

    ***

    Later, back at the Association headquarters, everyone was eating like there was no tomorrow. Sharing life force with someone prevented them from dying, but they still needed to replenish all the nutrients spent to reconstruct bones and mend flesh.

    Tista had used Invigoration to replenish Dorian¡¯s and Jirni¡¯s strength, so that Lith would have some time to rest and all the members of the group were back at their peak physical condition.

    Psychologically, aside from Lith and Jirni, they were a worried mess. Tista kept reviewing her fight with the Carpenter in an endless loop. Every repetition only made her more bothered.

    ¡¯That¡¯s what they mean by "Don¡¯t bite more than you can chew". If that thing wasn¡¯t in a hurry because of the mana poisoning, it could have killed us both. I need to learn more offensive spells before starting my travels.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no such thing as a second chance in a fight.¡¯

    "How did you know that thing had an ass for brains?" Lith asked

    "It was actually obvious." Jirni replied. "It didn¡¯t flinch when you aimed at its head and the torso is always the biggest target avable. Legs and arms were a no go, big muscles like that need space to flex.

    "Since the second set of arms took almost all of the lower back, where else could it be?"

    "We¡¯re screwed." Dorian said once his stomach had finally stopped grumbling. "Not only has the investigation hit a dead-end, but we have also lost Manohar, maybe for good. Things couldn¡¯t get any worse."

    "That¡¯s not true." Jirni shook her head.

    "Count Xolver still has a lot of exining to do. Before we had nothing on him, but this evening he both assaulted a Ranger and illegally essed his personal file. The Crown has given me free rein on the matter."

    "How did he get his hands on my file?" Lith¡¯s eyes brimmed with rage. The creep had made things personal one time too many.

    "Not your real file, just the one we leave avable to known corrupt officers." Jirni exined. "It only contains public information and enough details to make it look authentic.

    "That way we can use it to track their contractors and anticipate their moves. So far, someone has requested ssified information on all of us the moment the investigation started. I didn¡¯t tell you because we failed to track the delivery.

    "Lith¡¯s file has been essed again this evening, right after his quarrel with the Count. We failed to track the delivery again, but the timing is too suspicious. The Crown prefers to ruffle some medium importance noble¡¯s feathers rather than risk losing the Kingdom¡¯s two best diagnosticians at once."

    "This would be fantastic news, if not for Xolver disappearing right after leaving the Marquis¡¯ mansion. None of the men stationed outside his house have seen him for hours. Also, there is no record about this Karn guy. It¡¯s another dead end."

    "Maybe it is and maybe not." Lith would have liked to steeple his fingers while thinking, but Kam¡¯s hand was stuck to his like a boot on a car. Listening to his reports was one thing, watching him risk his life several times in a single night was another.

    "I have a contact in the undeadmunity that might be able to help us."

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell us that as soon as you arrived? Withholding information during a royal investigation is a crime!" Dorian was grateful to Lith for saving his life, but not enough to forget about their shared duty.

    "Because we had no solid lead. I never believed it was the work of a Necromancer and I still don¡¯t. Even if I¡¯m wrong, undead doesn¡¯t equal necromancy. Take Balkor for example. Also, what was I supposed to ask? For a list of all the undead in the region?

    "Only after tonight¡¯s events do I have a name and a description. I wouldn¡¯t even risk exposing her existence if we weren¡¯t clutching at straws."

    ¡¯Her?¡¯ Jirni, Tista, and Kam frowned at the word, each for her own reasons.

 Chapter 459 Help Request Part 2

    Lith couldn¡¯t forgive Xolver for messing with him twice. The idea of bing the next Royal Healer if something happened to Manohar was a strong motivator too. He valued his freedom as much as the mad professor did.

    Lith took out hismunication amulet and pressed Ka¡¯s rune. The Wight¡¯s hologram appeared instantly.

    "Hello, Scourge."

    "How many times do I have to tell you to use my human name?" He said in exasperation, afraid that more misunderstandings could ensue.

    "Fine. Hello, Shadow of Death. To what do I owe this call?"

    "That¡¯s not my human name either!"

    "I wouldn¡¯t be so sure." Jirni and Ka said in unison.

    Seeing an undead bear instead of a woman, put both Jirni and Kam at ease. Tista was still wondering why her brother had never told her about this particr friend of his.

    "What do you mean, ¡¯I wouldn¡¯t be so sure¡¯?" Lith asked.

    "It all started as a moniker Nana used to refer to you with the Association after you killed Garth Renkin and his father." Jirni exined. "After the gue, wherever you go someone coincidentally dies or bad things happen. So it stuck."

    "People consider me bad luck?" Lith was astonished. He could almost hear Kam thinking about it was only after dating him that she had got dragged in that mess by Commander Berion.

    To be fair, it was just his paranoia speaking.

    "Only the envious ones." Kam said without leaving his hand. "Those who speak behind your back and think that your achievements aren¡¯t enough to justify the prestige you hold in the eyes of the Crown."

    "Your potential enemies refer to you as such too." Ka said. "Scarlett told me that¡¯s how the underworld refers to you, human and not, ever since you killed that Wyvern. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

    Ka was still recovering from the injury she had self-inflicted on her life force. Being unable to further her research, she was bored to death and eager for a distraction.

    Lith told her everything that was happening in Othre before describing her Karn and his Vassal.

    "Whatever it is, it¡¯s not necromancy." Ka spoke with the same certainty she had that the Sun would rise in the morning.

    "The blue eyes are simply a side effect of a partial consciousness transfer from the maker to their creation. Judging from your description, it seems like a twisted version of light magic.

    "You are looking for someone who alters the life force of the living rather than reanimates corpses. The two disciplines have onemon feature, though. They both deal with the research for the perfect immortality.

    "A human named Arthan Griffon conducted thorough research on the matter. As far as I know, his only achievement was to set the very definition of Forbidden Magic."

    "Isn¡¯t that the same guy you thought resembled the god of healing Xhal?" Dorian asked. He knew the Mad King¡¯s name only because of the nursery rhymes his mother used to scare him with whenever he misbehaved as a kid.

    "Yes, Dorian. He is, but I don¡¯t think is wise to waste our time with trivia. I can only imagine that our enemy will rush their ns. They have Manohar and are aware we discovered their backers¡¯work. It¡¯s only a matter of time before they flee." Lith replied.

    Arthan was barely a footnote in the Kingdom¡¯s history books. His name was forgotten and his legacy lost to all those without the highest clearance level.

    Unbeknownst to all those in the room, Arthan had been the very first god of healing. To quickly find a great number of test subjects for his experiments, he had established a free health system thatsted until his n was exposed.

    It saved millions of lives and the people worshipped him like a savior. The clerics of Xhal thought to ride the King¡¯s coattails by reshaping the statues of the ancient god in his image, hoping to draw the masses back to their temple.

    Their n royally backfired, bing thest nail in the coffin for most religions.

    "By the way, who are these people?" Being interrupted twice made the bored Wight curious about the nature of her audience.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Ka. They are all good humans." Lith replied to the implied question if they were or not fellow Awakened ones.

    "As I was saying, you are not facing necromancy. At the same time, it¡¯s unlikely for the local undeadmunity to not be involved in the matter or at least know a good deal about it. Many disappearances make feeding and hiding much harder.

    "Whenever something bad happens, people always me curses first and undeadter. They are the perfect scapegoat and once panic spreads, even entric normal people who like wearing a mask or prefer night life be targets.

    "Plus, I heard multiple times about projects aimed to build meat puppets to allow undead with an unpleasant appearance to have a normal life, or just to experience the sunlight again.

    "Some need it for business reasons, others because they are unhappy with their limits.

    "I¡¯m not the only one researching for a cure for undeath. What you are describing sounds like a perfect temporary fix. Maybe I can point you in the right direction, but it¡¯s going to be dangerous. How much do you know about the undead?"

    "Only enough to recognize them and kill them if necessary." Lith admitted. Most of the knowledge about greater undead was ssified. He had never wasted precious merits to learn things that Ka could teach him for free.

    "Such a narrow perspective." She shook her head in disappointment.

    "I¡¯ll keep it short. Sentient undead are divided into three Courts, based on their standpoint on the living. The Dawn Court, the only one I have a connection with, respects all kinds of life forms.

    "Be they humans, nts, or beasts, the Dawn Court regards them as creatures that despite being weak and short lived, can still be worthy of the gift of eternal life. They do not take ves, are patrons of the arts, and don¡¯t kill while feeding unless strictly necessary.

    "Just like the Royal Court, the Dawn Court is ruled by a King and a Queen. They are by no means rted by nuptial vows or even race and are often at odds with each other to further their own power ys.

    "The Dawn Court is not content with survival, they want to enjoy their existence. The Royals are elected every year among those who brought more prosperity to the Court, be it in terms of wealth, social connections, or safe havens.

    "Most of those who became undead against their will and wish to retain, if not to regain, their old life style seek asylum among their ranks.

    "The Dusk Court are just loners who grouped up to not get harassed or disturbed by other Courts. As long as they are left alone, they don¡¯t care about the living. Their feeding and social habits are unpredictable.

    "They have no leader nor a rigid structure. They assemble only when one or more of their members is threatened. They are the most difficult Court to contact or deal with. If attacked, they don¡¯t bargain nor do they seekpensation. They retaliate until their enemy is destroyed. Most Liches belong to the Dusk Court.

 Chapter 460 Dawn Court Part 1

    "The Night Court despises the living. They consider them just like humans consider their food. Inferior sentient beings, a lesser ring in the food chain, or two steps behind on the evolutionary scale if you prefer.

    "They only value power and rank themselves like an army rather than a Court. A General keeps his authority only as long as he is capable of defending it. They believe that the end always justifies the means, making betrayals and conspiracies the norm.

    "They are their own worst enemy. Their only rule is to not kill among themselves, otherwise their numbers could be counted on one hand in less than a week. To them birthing an offspring only means to create more rivals, so they don¡¯t share the gift of undeath easily.

    "Unlike the Dawn Court that mingles with nobles, artists, and politicians, Night Court members are usually active members of the human underworld.

    "With its human trade, drug trafficking, and weapon dealing, the ck market allows them to hide in in sight. To obtain what they want and get away with it. They like to befriend corrupt nobles and officials.

    "Such people are the perfect straw men to take care of their business during the day and the perfect fall guys in case something goes wrong."

    "What¡¯s a Vassal?" Lith asked.

    "For the Dawn Court, a potential new recruit. For the Dusk Court, a friend. For the Night Court, a means to an end. Some undead, like the vampires, can bestow their gifts to the living, allowing them to temporarily surpass their limits.

    "Bing a Vassal means to be a willing servant, but it¡¯s also the first step to be a greater undead. Don¡¯t get me wrong, none of the Courts are absolutely good or bad, just like there are not only good or bad humans.

    "Their philosophy on most things may be different, but they are all predators. Ancient and powerful beings that have no mercy killing whoever can expose their existence or ruin centuries of hard work.

    "I don¡¯t know anyone in Othre, but I think I can still put you in contact with members of the Dawn Court. They will act friendly because of my backing, but to them, you are still a living and a stranger, hence disposable."

    "Don¡¯t worry, he is not going there alone. We¡¯ll have his back." Jirni said with a steel gaze while cing her hand on Lith¡¯s shoulder.

    "No, you won¡¯t. They¡¯ll never ept so many strangers at once and even if they did, it would be a death trap. Once inside their territory, you would be forced to abide to their rules or die.

    "Exposing themselves to you is a big risk that would demandpensation. One favor is all they need to involve you in the Courts¡¯ quarrels and make you unable to survive without their help, which would requirepensation in an endless loop.

    "The only thing that can keep Lith rtively safe is the blessing I bestowed him. I¡¯ll call you back as soon as I know something."

    Ka hung up, leaving an awkward silence fill the room. Jirni opened her mouth more than once, but in the end she didn¡¯t say a word and walked out of the door.

    "I don¡¯t think you should go." Dorian was the first to speak.

    "I¡¯m in charge of the investigation. I handpicked each one of you for the task. What happened so far is my responsibility, I can¡¯t allow you to take such risks."

    "Exactly." Kam added while squeezing his hand so hard that her knuckles turned white. "You only came here as a diagnostician and to protect Tista. Neither the army or the Association can force you to meet those monsters."

    Lith appreciated her concern, yet her words stung at him.

    ¡¯Monsters? They just do what they think is right for their survival and have no qualms killing those who stand in their path. I don¡¯t see any difference with what I do, with what society does every day under the pretense of "morality" or "the greater good".¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I wonder what she would say if she saw my other form.¡¯

    ¡¯Don¡¯t be too harsh on her.¡¯ Solus was jealous of Kam. Jealous of all the care Lith put in each of their dates, of the camellia, yet she admired her courage and honesty.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the first time she leaves her desk. Even Phloria considered magical beasts as monsters back at the academy. People are always afraid of the unknown, but it doesn¡¯t mean that they stay scared forever.¡¯

    ¡¯Let¡¯s be honest.¡¯ Lith preferred to put that thought aside and focus on the matter at hand.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t really have much of a choice. If Xolver is really the one who requested my personal file, then Karn is investigating me. I don¡¯t think our squabble will escte, but it¡¯s not safe to remain as ignorant as I am now about the Night Court.

    ¡¯Also, we always nned to make contact with the undead to solve my reincarnation problem or at least find a proper body for you. This is an opportunity as good as any other to see if they can be of any use or if it¡¯s just a dead end.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s all true.¡¯ Solus sighed. ¡¯Not to mention the possibility of you bing Manohar¡¯s recement if we fail to find him, or of the creation of another ck Star.

    ¡¯If the Professor is right about the kind of Forbidden Magic taking ce in Othre during thest months, there is no telling how powerful the cursed object resulting from all the missing people could be.¡¯

    Jirni returned after a few minutes, while the others were still debating about where to start looking for Manohar. Othre was a big city. Even if they used every single soldier and mage avable, it would take weeks for ab search and they had hours at best.

    No one doubted that Manohar¡¯s captor wouldn¡¯t stand his antics for long. Still, the Professor¡¯s death was unanimously considered the best case scenario. If the one behind the meat puppets and Manohar worked together, it would be a nightmare.

    "We need to talk." Jirni sighed as she pulled Lith outside the room.

    "I¡¯ve just finished talking with the Crown. The Griffon Kingdom is long aware of the Courts existence and the Royals are not happy with this situation more than we are. They were against the idea of sending you to meet the Dawn Court until I mentioned Arthan¡¯s name."

    She handed him hermunication amulet, making Queen Sylpha¡¯s hologram appear. Lith knelt down, well aware that all of his reasonings were about to be irrelevant.

    "Stand up, Great Mage Verhen." Her square chin and sharp features made her serious face look almost intimidating.

    "Since I have to send you into the lion¡¯s den, I think it¡¯s fair doing it in person. I herebymand you to do everything you can to find your missing colleague and unveil the identity of our enemy."

    "As youmand, your Majesty." Lith inwardly grinned. He would have done it anyway. At least now he would also get rewarded for it.

    ¡¯I knew it would happen, sooner orter.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯You can¡¯t be valued as one of the best mages in the Kingdoms and not expect to be thrown into the proverbial ho¡¯s nest.¡¯

 Chapter 461 Dawn Court Part 2

    "I don¡¯t want you to take unnecessary risks. We have interacted with all three undead Courts in the past, so I can at least help you by not letting them catch you unprepared." Sylpha continued.

    "Don¡¯t trust anyone unless they have offered you their hospitality. It¡¯s their most sacred vow and the only one they won¡¯t break. Only ask questions, never for help. Otherwise it would make you indebted to them.

    "Do not bring with you anything that you are unwilling to part from. As your hosts, they may request a gift of their choice. Refusing would instantly end the negotiations.

    "Always emphasize that you are speaking on behalf of the Kingdom, so that if they requirepensation for their services, they will not be able to ask anything from you. Ponder every word and say as little as possible. Do you have any questions for me?"

    "If the Griffon Kingdom knows about these Courts, why are they still standing?" Lith asked.

    "I have no idea about the scope of their power or agenda, but they seem powerful enough to represent a threat. Having a country inside the country looks dangerous to me."

    "For the same reasons every one of the three great Countries can¡¯t destroy them." Sylpha sighed. "Some of their members exist from the time before even our Kingdom was founded. Not only do they are powerful and wise, but they also have made secrecy a form of art.

    "I know from experience that they have functioning Warping arrays even inside cities like Othre, where is supposed to be impossible. The second biggest reason that makes it hard to spot them is that they do not interfere in political struggles.

    "They do not seek temporal power. Their interests and our own rarely meet or collide. Between their limited numbers and the discretion with which they operate, finding one of their safe houses is just a matter of luck."

    The more Lith learned about them, the less he liked the situation he was in. Undead on Mogar seemed to act more like an Earth¡¯s secret society rather than the dumb monsters he was used to see in horror movies or in Dungeons & Looting rulebooks.

    ¡¯This is way worse than I thought. Even the Dawn Court sounds like a vipers¡¯ nest. I need to tread with extreme caution.¡¯ Lith grumbled.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t you mean "we"?¡¯ It was the first time since they had met that Lith excluded her from his ns. It was enough to shock Solus¡¯s very core.

    ¡¯No, this time I¡¯m alone. I don¡¯t know who I¡¯ll meet and the more ancient a being is, the more likely is for them to be Awakened or at least have artifacts that can grant them senses akin to Life Vision. I can¡¯t risk bringing you along.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t forget how everyone who learned about your existence reacted. Nalear, Scarlett, the ck Star. They were all either scared or anxious to study you. I¡¯m more than confident to be able to kill a single undead, but a whole Court?

    ¡¯I doubt they can¡¯t rip you off from my dead body once I run out of tricks. They have the advantage of numbers and experience. You have seen how powerful Kan is.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve practiced true magic from barely seventeen years and learned about tier four and five only two years ago. I can¡¯tpare with someone with centuries of practice.¡¯

    After the Queen ended the call, Lith didn¡¯t wait for Ka¡¯s answer to prepare for his departure. He had the army give him a second uniform and entrusted everything he had on himself to Tista.

    He only kept Solus¡¯s ring. He was unwilling to part from her for even one more second than was strictly necessary. The memory of what had happened when Nalear had severed their bond was deeply etched in their minds.

    Even though this time they would just be apart, the unbridled rage that possessed him whenever he was by himself scared him. Solus was more than his moralpass and his lifepanion.

    She was the sun that marked the thin line between sanity and madness that he had walked along his whole life. Lith wasn¡¯t a murderous brute, but the idea of having to fight alone against his inner demons while facing centuries old tricksters was far from appealing.

    Ka contacted him again a few minutes after he was done with his preparation.

    "I¡¯ve set you an appointment with Othre¡¯s Dawn Court. Beware, though, I have no one I can trust among their ranks." Ka gave him the same advice Queen Sylpha did, before telling him the time and ce where he would find her contact.

    Lith was supposed to be on a small hill outside the city gates in less than five minutes. It was a safety measure to make it impossible for someone to follow him or to arrange a trap for the Court¡¯s envoy.

    Lith knew he had no time to lose, yet taking off Solus¡¯s ring took him several seconds. He put Solus on Tista¡¯s open palm, his fingers refusing to let go of the smooth stone surface that had be more familiar to him than his own flesh and bones.

    "Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be back soon." He said to both girls while closing Tista¡¯s fingers over the ring. Lith had already lost too much time. He left the Association¡¯s building in a hurry and took off at full speed toward his destination.

    Much to his surprise, hismunication amulet drew his consciousness soon after he left Othre. Ka¡¯s rune was blinking again.

    "Onest thing." She said after making sure he was alone.

    "Don¡¯t worry about hiding your nature of Awakened one. Most ancient undead just need a sniff of our blood or a gaze to recognize us. So I told them that you are one of us and as such you are protected."

    "Protected from what?" Lith asked. "Now that I think about it, it¡¯s surprising that during your travels no one tried to force you to share the secret of Awakening. I can understand that undead have a strong sense of kinship, but bad apples are everywhere."

    "Protected from being kidnapped, forced to reveal your secrets, or having your family threatened. Just like the undead have their Courts, we Awakened ones have our Council.

    "It doesn¡¯t care if we live or die, but whoever tries to force their way to Awakening is bound to die. The Council doesn¡¯t guard our lives, but treasures our secret. No one, no matter how powerful wants to cross the Council.

    "Awakened ones are a race of their own and are merciless. Some of its members are almost as ancient as this continent. If theybine their efforts, wiping the Courts off the face of Mogar would require but the blink of an eye."

    "How do I contact them?" Lith asked.

    "They¡¯ll contact you when they will deem you ready." Ka hung up, leaving Lith more amused than worried by that piece of information. After studying the history of the Kingdom, he had always suspected the Council¡¯s existence.

    Over the centuries, too many mages had died or disappeared after announcing world shaking revtions about magic¡¯s true potential.

 Chapter 462 Rituals Part 1

    Lith had no trouble finding the meeting ce. With the iing winter, the outskirts of Othre were deserted. Both humans and animals werepleting thest preparations before the first snowfall.

    Even though there was still time before the end of the fall season, the temperature would plummet after sunset. Away from the stone buildings, the dry windsing down the nearby mountain range whipped at Lith¡¯s skin.

    His breath steamed in the cold of the night while the air currents were so strong that he needed to conjure a wind barrier to protect his eyes and not get pushed off course.

    Usually, Lith would employ Fire Vision to scout his surroundings, but given the nature of his hosts, it wouldn¡¯t be of any use. Dead bodies released no heat, only Life Vision could spot them.

    The hill was the highest point within a few kilometers from Othre. It was a rugged and barrenndscape, yet he could see too many lingering magical energies for it to be just a coincidence.

    Despite it was almost the convened time, Lith was alone.

    "I understand why you like this ce. With a clear sky, there is no ce to hide. You can spot anyone approaching from miles away." Lith said to a shadow near the summit.

    "How did you know I was here?" The shadows opened, revealing a young man in his early twenties. He was a normal human being, of average height and build. The wind ruffled his brown hair while his deep green eyes showed only surprise.

    "Magic." Lith replied. The ck cape the youth wore would fuse him with the darkness as long as he remained still, but the cloth¡¯s magical aura was perfectly visible to Life Vision.

    "Show me your invitation." The man ignored Lith¡¯s provocation and spoke with a kind, baritonal voice. Lith raised his left palm and sent some mana into it. The runes Ka had bestowed upon him a few weeks before produced a white light.

    The youth took Lith¡¯s hand to watch them closely. His body shivered at the contact. The cape protected him from the cold even better than Lith¡¯s Ranger uniform did, but it could do nothing against killing intent.

    Lith hated being touched and without Solus to soothe his violent nature, he was ready to kill the stranger at the slightest provocation. He had weaved several spells on his way to the hill, and all of them were now prickling his skin, only kept at bay by Lith¡¯s will.

    It was their threat that he was perceiving. Lith was cid like the surface of ake instead. His eyes were aze with mana as he examined the stranger with Life Vision from head to toe.

    Aside from the cape, he had only an enchanted item inside his breast pocket. Its aura was too weak for a weapon. After a few seconds, the youth nodded and let go of Lith¡¯s hand. He took a small mana stone out of his pocket, cing it inside a hole in the ground.

    Dozens of runes lit up the hill¡¯s summit while two concentric magic circles formed in front of Lith¡¯s astonished eyes.

    ¡¯I recognize the magic circles, this is a Warping array. Yet it even escaped Life Vision¡¯s detection. Dammit, I wish Solus was here. She would have no problem understanding what¡¯s going on here.¡¯

    Knowing that she would be able to ess all of his memoriester, Lith tried to memorize everything he could while keeping an eye on his host.

    ¡¯Wait a minute.¡¯ He thought once the array was perfectly formed. The runes had left the ground and were now floating in mid air. ¡¯I recognize some of those runes. They are the same that were engraved on the god of healing¡¯s altar.¡¯

    Lith tried to remember if the altar had any socket, but all that came to his mind was dust and cobwebs. He was too used relying on Solus¡¯s assistance to take note of small details.

    "Don¡¯t bother memorizing this ce." The youth said, misunderstanding the reason Lith was staring at the magical formation. "It¡¯s likely that the array will be destroyed as soon as we leave. Humans cannot be trusted." Disgust coated hisst phrase.

    At any other moment, Lith would have made a snarky remark about both of them being human. Without Solus, he could only think about how annoying it was all that chatter and suppress the desire to break his neck.

    He followed the youth inside the magical formation, appearing inside a richly decorated room. It had no windows, making it impossible for Lith to understand their new location.

    The furniture was made of iid secr wood while the ornaments, from the flower pots to the book ends, were made of solid precious metals. The air was filled with the sweet scent of flowers he had never seen before, yet Lith was certain to be underground.

    Ever since he had refined the blue core, his body would naturally breathe in the surrounding world energy. The imbnce between air and earth mana told him that the room was surrounded by tons of rocks.

    He kept using Life Vision, noticing that several unknown arrays covered the room. He used first magic to check if any element was blocked. Much to his surprise, everything worked just fine, even gravity and dimensional magic.

    "There¡¯s no need to be so nervous, Awakened Verhen." Lith turned abruptly toward the source of the feminine voice. It sounded as sweet as honey and blissful as only first love can be.

    It belonged to a red-headed woman in herte twenties. She was about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall, wearing a bright red silk satin evening dress emphasizing her pale skin and soft curves. Her emerald parure matched her green eyes, making them even more dazzling.

    "I¡¯m Sy Ekna, Duchess of the Dawn Court. I offer you our hospitality on behalf of our Queen for as long as you wish to stay among us. Treat us with the same respect we¡¯ll give you and there will be no enmity between us."

    Lith ignored her words and stared at her with Life Vision. She was weaker than Karn, so he was sure he would be able to kill her if necessary. Neither her superficial kindness nor the miles of cleavage she was showing impressed him.

    In life, she would have been considered far less beautiful than Friya, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body lithe. Every one of her movements was graceful and sensual, yet Lith knew he was in the presence of a predator.

    "I¡¯m Great Mage Lith Verhen of her Majesty service. I speak and act on behalf of the Royal Court of the Griffon Kingdom. I thank you for your hospitality and I hope that albeit we meet as strangers, we¡¯ll part ways as friends." He replied quoting the ceremonial Ka had taught him.

    Sy¡¯s left eye twitched in annoyance. Not only did the human¡¯s indifferent gaze offended her to no end, but he had also avoided all the missteps that would have allowed the Dawn Court to kick him out or at least demand some of his blood aspensation.

    Awakened ones were a rare delicacy.

    "Please, tell me what can we do for you." She sat on one of the chairs, inviting him to do the same while the brown-haired man served them drinks.

    Lith exined to her Othre¡¯s situation. He noticed how with each detail he provided, her annoyance was reced by a gloating expression.

    "You are lucky, I think we can help you. For the right price, of course."

 Chapter 463 Rituals Part 2

    Lith took a deep breath and let Life Vision fade away. He had used it non stop since he hadnded on the hill and the built up fatigue had already reached the point of giving him a mild headache.

    Despite it was one of the first abilities he had learned as a kid, using Life Vision still put a heavy burden on his mind and mana. Unlike normal spells, Life Vision evolved with Lith¡¯s core refinement.

    The more powerful he became, the more details Life Vision revealed. He was now able to read the mana currents natural beings produced, see the runes whichposed arrays even when they were invisible, and gather basic information about enchanted items from a distance.

    Not only was the mana consumption high, but also it required great focus to avoid sensory overload. Everything on Mogar had mana, forcing Lith to filter the useless information.

    The task was particrly hard when he was in the presence of lots of strong magical signatures. Studying his host, the room, and its arrays while keeping his guard up all the time had brought him on the verge of needing to use Invigoration.

    Unluckily, he couldn¡¯t afford it. Lith had already used it once to recover after the fight against the perfect Carpenter and another to save hispanions. With each use, Invigoration would grant him less and less energy.

    ¡¯The night is still young. First, I have to deal with the Dawn Court, then we need to rescue Manohar, andstly take out the puppet master. Knowing my luck, I¡¯ll have to pave my way in blood, steel, and magic.¡¯ Lith sighed.

    "Thanks for your offer, but the Kingdom is capable of dealing with this threat on its own. I came to you hoping you could share with me everything you know. The Crown will adequatelypensate you for your assistance." Lith kept in mind the Queen¡¯s warnings and stalled for time.

    ording to Solus, since thest breakthrough, with every breath Lith would draw a bit of world energy. It allowed him to recover his strength faster than normal, even without using Invigoration.

    "You seem to be unaware of Othre¡¯s situation. Our negotiations will not make any progress if you don¡¯t even know what we are talking about." Sy business attitude was a breath of fresh air now that she had stopped being flirtatious.

    "The Dawn Court has little hold on Othre. Trade cities are of no interest to us aside from the merch they provide. Othre belongs to the Night Court, our presence here is a mere formality to protect our interests.

    "If you want to know what¡¯s happening, you should ask the Night Court, but they are unlikely to give audience to a mortal. Unless, of course, another Court backs their request and makes sure they get out of it in one piece."

    "Let me guess. The Night Court will require something in exchange for its help. Maybe something that only your people can provide. It would make us indebted to you twice." At Lith¡¯s words, Sy¡¯s ravenous smile returned.

    She liked her prey smart. All that talking made her hungry.

    "Exactly. While setting up a meeting is not a big deal, depending on their demands the Dawn Court might require something more exotic than money or magical treasures."

    "Then arrange a negotiation table, please. As you surely know, I¡¯m on the clock. If the Night Court sets too high a price, I can turn them down with no consequences, right?" Lith asked.

    Sy nodded in reply and summoned the brown haired man.

    "Caspen, you know what to do." The youth gave her a small bow before leaving the room.

    "Do you mind a personal question?" Lith pondered about his situation and the nature of his host.

    ¡¯Worst case scenario, I¡¯m not going back empty handed. Maybe the temple of Xhal hides a Warping array like the one that brought me here. If I¡¯m right, it means that carving those runes leaves a permanent Gate thatcks a power source.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s incredibly ingenious, since in its depowered state it escaped even Solus¡¯s mana sense detection. With all those runes, it¡¯s impossible to understand which ones form the array and which are just gibberish.

    ¡¯It must be an ancient form of magic the undead have preserved.¡¯

    "Sure, but I expect you to answer one of my own." Her fluttering of eyshes gave Lith the creeps. Sy looked at him like Lith would at a skirt steak.

    "You have a heartbeat and an almost human smell, so I was wondering, what kind of undead are you?"

    "I¡¯m a banshee." She replied with a ttered smile, like he hadplimented her attire. "Caspen is my Vassal, but I can¡¯t grant him any power until he bes one of us."

    Lith nodded, pretending he had an idea of what her words meant. Aside from those from the Gaelic lore, the only banshees he knew were those from Dungeon & Looting rulebook.

    ¡¯She sure doesn¡¯t look like a cursed elf maiden.¡¯ He thought while staring at her perfectly normal ears.

    On Mogar, banshees weren¡¯t just women. Anyone who had been cheated on by their alleged one true love could be one. They needed to kill with their hands the person who turned their love into hatred and thenmit suicide.

    If their rage and despair were strong enough, it would lure a nearby banshee who could then decide to turn them into one of their own. Outside the three Courts, it was an event as likely as being killed by a meteorite.

    Banshees fed on the life force of the unfaithful. They could either just kill them, or slowly drive them into madness. Their vengeful nature made them skilled seducers. For a banshee there was no greater pleasure than feeding on those who fell for their temptations.

    Lith being both faithful and an Awakened made him a world ss buffet in her eyes.

    "Do you have an ear fetish?" She asked while leaning toward him while sweeping her hair to allow him to take a better look at the alleged object of his desires. She was now so close that their lips were barely an inch apart.

    "Not at all." Lith moved his seat back to regain some personal space. "I was afraid you would ask for something juicier. How long will it take to get the Night Court¡¯s reply?"

    Sy¡¯s eyes turned ck in anger when she realized her blunder. Hunger had got the better of her and made her waste her opportunity to force him to open up with her. Caspen¡¯s return helped her to regain her cool.

    "It¡¯s already done, please follow me."

    She led him through corridors filled with exquisite decorations. There wasn¡¯t an inch of floor or walls that wasn¡¯t covered byvish carpets, golden embroidered tapestry, and paintings so beautiful that even someone as unappreciative of arts like Lith had no problem to recognize as masterpieces.

    Sy moved so fast that Lith could only steal a nce here and there before she opened a door and let him enter first.

    The amount of mana filling the room almost blinded Lith, forcing him to shield his eyes with one hand.

 Chapter 464 Foul Moon Part 1

    The source of his distress wasn¡¯t the magical nature of all the items in the room, from the round ck mahogany table to the silk covered armchairs.

    Nor it was the densely packed arrays surrounding the area. Lith had seen much worse during his visits to the Royal Pce. Karn was sitting on the opposite side of the round table in front of him, with the rejuvenated Count Xolver standing right behind his master.

    Sitting on the left side of the table, there was a skeletal figure, which despite its rotten flesh and dusty clothes emitted a majestic aura like Lith had never seen before. The creature appeared like a sun to his Life Vision, making it easy for Lith to recognize its nature as Awakened one and Lich.

    ***

    City of Othre, Mage Association¡¯s meeting room.

    Lith had left for a little more than two hours, but his few possessions already weighted like stones in Tista¡¯s arms. She would use Invigoration on them from time to time, using their imprint to reassure herself that her brother was still alive.

    Jirni wasn¡¯t worried for him, yet her eyes refused to move from the sheathed form of the Gatekeeper whichid on the table in front of her. She remembered all too well how long she and Phloria had pestered Orion to Forgemaster the sword as Lith¡¯s birthday present.

    Those were other times, when that de was much more than a simple instrument to kill. For Jirni it had been a means to multiple ends. It was supposed to help Lith to stay alive amid the chaos of any battlefield.

    To guarantee the happiness of her daughter, Phloria. Toy the foundations of a rtionship that would bring glory to the Ernas household. Her fingers caressed the hilt of the sword, recognizing the markings of her husband¡¯s craftsmanship.

    All of that was in the past, making Jirni love and hate that cold piece of metal at once. In her eyes, it held too many broken promises and wishes that never came true.

    Kam stared at her now empty hand. She could swear to be able to feel his warmth lingering on it. Her mind was fixated on the image of the camellia waiting for her in their hotel room.

    She had brought it to Othre from her apartment a couple of days after she had moved there, unwilling to let it die because of Commander Berion¡¯s maniptions.

    ¡¯I do realize we don¡¯t know each other for long, just like I¡¯m aware that since this mission started we¡¯ve been nothing more than roommates until this evening. Then why does it hurt that he left without saying goodbye? How much do I really care about our rtionship?¡¯

    Inside her ring form, Solus had yet to metabolize how quickly they had parted ways. It wasn¡¯t the first time that she left the hand which for so many years had been her whole world, but it was the first time that he had willingly left her behind.

    As soon as Lith had left the range of their mind link, the whole Mogar seemed to have changed in front of her. The colors were brighter, the lights warmer. On the faces of the members of the Association, where she would usually see hints of deception and ill will, she saw only honest worry for the citizens of Othre.

    Without Lith¡¯s traumas haunting her perceptions, without his paranoid, narrow standpoint on people echoing through her mind, there was so much more beauty in the world that she had ever thought possible.

    Even so, it didn¡¯t bring her any joy. Without her partner, all the promises of happiness the future held sounded empty. Her stone body was now a prison. She could perceive the outside world, but she couldn¡¯t feel anything.

    It was like being locked in a closed room, looking through cameras at what happened on the outside, with no way to interact. A silent witness.

    ¡¯I understand why he went alone, but I still can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t ask for my opinion. After all we went through together, doesn¡¯t Lith realize how important he is to me? If he dies, what will be of me?

    ¡¯I could bond with Tista, but to what end? To watch her grow old and die? To be some kind of family heirloom? To watch others live their lives while the only thing that changes for me is the hand holding my destiny?

    ¡¯What good is to me, if I regain all my powers, maybe even a human body, and have to spend eternity alone? To lose the only one who knows and cares for my soul?¡¯

    Solus was aware that unless she started spending mana, she couldst months before being forced to bond again. Nheless, she felt like she was dying a bit with each passing second.

    ***

    Inxialot, the Lich King, stared in hatred to all those inside the room. Liches didn¡¯t actually have a king. The title was merely a constion prize for getting the short end of the stick during thest raffle to determine who would represent the undead Awakened ones for Council duties.

    Since the secret of the Awakening, in the form of the human newborn, had to be protected from his fellow undead, the Council had sent Inxialot to make sure the Courts abided by the rules.

    Lith¡¯s life or death were irrelevant to him. The only thing he cared about was to prevent a bunch of idiotic immortal fools from bing capable ofpeting with him for power and resources.

    Otherwise he would have never left hisb for so long. He hated all the Courts the same way.

    ¡¯Damn bastards. At least Council meetingsst minutes, this shenanigan could take much more, maybe even hours! Did I put out the fire under my cauldron? I¡¯ve been preparing that elixir for years!

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know who, but someone is going to die for making me leave so many priceless experiments unattended.¡¯ Panic and rage came in and out of the revolving door that was his chaotic mind.

    His mana flow was so vigorous that even Life Vision could see it circte along the whole Lich¡¯s body. It seeped into every one of his rings, every fiber of his tattered robe, and even inside the staff he held.

    Lith had no idea how others could be so calm despite being in the presence of such a monster.

 Chapter 465 Foul Moon Part 2

    "I¡¯m Duchess Sy Ekna. I¡¯ll represent the interests of the Dawn Court and of its host, Awakened Verhen, during the pay. Lieutenant Colonel Kan is the emissary from the Night Court, while Lich Inxialot is a neutral spectator on behalf of the Council."

    The Banshee gave a graceful curtsy to the Lich first and to Kanter.

    The vampire was aware of how vtile a Lich¡¯s behavior was, yet Sy¡¯s breach of etiquette still angered him. So when the Lich kept staring into space without returning the greeting, Kan did the same.

    It had been one of the ugliest nights in thest few centuries of his existence, and it kept getting worse by the hour.

    His newest Vassal had managed to anger the only Awakened one for miles, someone even the Night Court was unaware of his existence. Kan had been forced to protect his investment and albeit his brief sh with Lith ended in a draw, he had suffered a humiliation nheless.

    The news of Kan¡¯s inability to discipline his own dog had spread like wildfire in the Night Court, making him aughingstock. No one cared about Lith being an Awakened, nor a guest of the Dawn Court.

    The only thing that mattered to his peers was that Kan had left the g while Lith remained. Any result but victory was seen as weakness by his Court. Later, some of his most prized connections with the ck market had been in after turning into monsters.

    Being embarrassed in public and losing a good chunk of his influence inside Othre had made Kan¡¯s rank of Lieutenant Colonel inside the Court shaky at best. When he heard about the young Awakened seeking audience, he had volunteered to regain some of the lost face.

    The presence of the Lich threw a monkey wrench in his ns. The mortal was in a hurry, so Kan¡¯s tactic was supposed to exploit such weakness to force him into epting an unfavorable deal.

    Squeezing mystical treasures from the Dawn Court would have made him regain his honor and forced the mortal to take part in the Courts¡¯ power ys, giving Kan the opportunity to achieve his revenge. Two birds with one stone.

    Unluckily, Liches were fickle creatures and one of the few even more impatient than mortals. Stalling for time was likely to earn Kan a quick but excruciating eternal sleep.

    ¡¯All is not lost. I just need to exploit the Lich¡¯s nature and that mad thing will do the dirty job for me.¡¯ The vampire thought.

    "What do you want, human?" Direct approach was another breach of etiquette, but it earned him a nod of approval from Inxialot.

    "I need to know who is behind the meat puppets that kidnapped Professor Manohar and where I can find him." Even without Solus, Lith¡¯s survival instinct was screaming at him to leave the room in a rush.

    The Lich was the most powerful creature he had ever seen and to make things worse, he was an Awakened one.

    ¡¯If he uses Invigoration on me, he might discover my second life force. I can¡¯t afford to arouse his curiosity, or I risk spending the rest of my life as a guinea pig.¡¯ Liches were the only greater undead Lith knew a great deal about thanks to Ka.

    He knew that there was nothing they wouldn¡¯t do to further their quest for knowledge. Breaking all thews of the Courts and the Kingdom at once would be a small price to pay to get their hands on an anomaly like Lith was.

    "You are asking a lot. How much is worth to you the life of one of the greatest mages..." Inxialot¡¯s head turned on the Night Court¡¯s representatives. His gaze made Count Xolver fall to his knees, unable to breathe.

    Kan remained unfazed only because he was already sitting and his sweat nds were as dead as a doornail.

    "I mean, the life of one of the greatest mortal mages and the location of one of the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s greatest enemies?" Inxialot eyes went nk again.

    "They amount to nothing to me." Lith said with a wave of his hand. "On the other hand, the Griffon Kingdom is very interested in both matters and would pay you handsomely. If the information provided is reliable, of course."

    "This is not a cattle market where you can check the animal before paying its price." Kan¡¯s voice perfectly hid his annoyance. The human was aware of at least some of the rules of the game.

    "Then I¡¯ll settle for Professor Manohar¡¯s whereabouts." Lith replied. "If the first information proves to be true, the Kingdom will purchase the second one too." Lith pretended to be calm, but he was actually quite nervous.

    ¡¯Dammit, I¡¯m quite a good negotiator, but only as long as I know what we are talking about. If Kan asks for artifacts like the Small World, I have no clue how precious they are to the Kingdompared to Manohar¡¯s life.

    ¡¯As per my host request, I¡¯ve left mymunicator amulet at the Association. I can¡¯t ask further instructions from the Queen, and relying on Sy can easily backfire if she treats my request as asking for help instead of information.¡¯

    "Fine." Kan replied. "Our request is for the Sword of Saefel, the Spell Hoarding Cube, and the following ingredients."

    Even before reading the list the vampire handed to him, Lith¡¯s poker face crumbled. The Sword of Saefel was one of the royal treasures passed down by Valeron Griffon, the first King, while the Cube had to be a state secret, since it wasn¡¯t mentioned in any Forgemastering book of the White Griffon academy.

    The list of ingredients was short, but the items ranged from "priceless" to "does it really exist?" in Lith¡¯s mind.

    "This is daylight robbery if I ever saw one. Don¡¯t you agree, dear Duchess?" Lith hoped that asking for an opinion counted as information. The lip service was unlikely to be helpful, yet it couldn¡¯t hurt to try.

    "Indeed." She nodded without changing her expression. She wanted the human to get conned, so that by helping him he would be one of their assets. Not even the Dawn Court could afford such an unreasonable price to leash just one human.

    "This whole building is worth way less than what you ask for, Kan."

    Lith crossed out all the ingredients he wasn¡¯t able to evaluate before returning the piece of paper. There was still enough to cover a few times the annual budget of the White Griffon¡¯s light department.

    "The artifacts aren¡¯t for sale. This is what I can offer you." Lith was actually willing to raise the offer, but he wanted to keep enough leeway during the negotiation.

    "Is this a joke?" Anger made some color return to the vampire¡¯s dead cheeks.

    "No, it¡¯s me being generous." Lith replied. "The Night Court is indebted to me after your Vassal tried to steal my prey and then attacked me even after I showed him my references." Mana flowed to his right hand, revealing Ka¡¯s runes.

    "As his master, you should take responsibility for his actions. ept my offer, tell me what I want to know, and I¡¯ll consider the matter between us solved amicably." Lith noticed how important were formalities to the Courts.

    He hoped his earlier incident with Kan might give him an edge.

 Chapter 466 Foul Moon Part 3

    "Quite the contrary." The anger disappeared and the vampire¡¯s tone turned stone cold.

    "My Vassal wronged you, but your retaliation was too extreme. He has lost most of the abilities the Blood Blessing granted him and he might not be able to turn into a vampire anymore. My price takes into ount thepensation you owe me. Take it or leave it."

    It was a lie. Xolver¡¯s blood core had just been weakened, even though none of the Night Court understood how. Only Awakened ones and Abominations knew about the existence of different kinds of cores and how did they work.

    "I owe both of you nothing. Your Vassal tried to manipte me and my property, while you inflicted me an injury that almost cost me my life while facing those flesh monsters." Lith had no qualm adding a lie of his own.

    "Gentlemen, please." Sy interrupted their quarrel. "Let¡¯s keep your personal business outside the pay. Otherwise it will take hours to reach apromise."

    Inxialot was already tired of all that chatting even before it started, so when he heard the word "hours", his mind spun at top gear to figure a way out of that nightmare.

    "Both parties have suffered too great a damage to trust each other." Inxialot spoke for the first time since his arrival.

    "ording to article four of the Courts¡¯ code of honor, to prevent hostilities from escting is required to perform the Foul Moon, so that blood wash out the blood and peace can return."

    "With all due respect, Lord Inxialot, article four states that the Foul Moon should take ce in case of an irreconcble difference between members of the Courts. This is merely a business treaty between an Awakened and the Night Court." Sy didn¡¯t like the sudden turn of events.

    The Foul Moon was an ancient trial bybat that hadn¡¯t been invoked for centuries. It required a fight to the death between peers, which meant Sy and Kan. She had no intention of risking her eternal life for a mere mortal, no matter how tasty.

    "You are wrong." Inxialot rebuked with a re that silenced any further objection.

    "They are not discussing business, they are seeking reparation, since I have yet to hear a single counteroffer.

    "Article four, section three, sub paragraph one. If the probatory member of a Court assaults a guest from another, to avoid the conflict to spread to their respective Courts they must meet in a duel. Unless both their patrons are willing to take their ce, of course."

    The Lich was indeed right. It was an obscure codicil, which sadly had never been repealed. The silver lining was that Lord Inxialot could propose the Foul Moon, but only one of the offended parties had the right to put their lives on the line.

    To Sy, Lith asked: "What¡¯s our esteemed guest talking about?"

    "Long story short, if you win, you get what you want and pay nothing. If he wins, you die and he gets to keep your corpse as a trophy." Inxialot chimed in without giving her the possibility to reply.

    "Against which one of them am I supposed to win?" Lith pointed at the vampire and his Vassal.

    "The proto vampire." Inxialot used spirit magic to nail Count Xolver to the wall and clear any doubt.

    "Let me get this straight, your Lich-ness. If I kill that poor excuse of a noble, his master will give me the information I need, right?" Inxialot nodded.

    "What if Kan decides to seek revenge on me?" It seemed all too easy, Lith preferred to stay on the safe side.

    "If he decides to ignore the result of thebat, he will have to put his life at stake. The Foul Moon is a sacred ritual. Plotting against you would be an unprecedented vition.

    "Any of his underlings exposing his treachery would be entitled to obtain his position within the Night Court, while his superiors who are afraid of his rise would be authorized to kill him and split his resources among themselves."

    ¡¯So, I don¡¯t have to trust something as unreliable as his honor, but rather the greed of his rivals, within and outside the Night Court.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯It¡¯s not much, but what choice do I have? I can¡¯t leave empty handed without a perfect excuse for the Queen.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know the value of some of the listed ingredients, but I¡¯m pretty sure the Royals would rather lose Manohar than give away the jewels of the crown. Sooner orter, a man dies, whereas an artifact is forever. What if...¡¯

    "Lieutenant Colonel Kan, if you allow me to call my Queen, I¡¯ll ask her what I can offer you to have both sides satisfied with the oue. Neither I nor the Griffon Kingdom wants to spill blood. The choice is up to you."

    "That¡¯s impossible." Sy shook her head. "Amulets and their calls can be traced. It would endanger the Dawn Court."

    "And the Night Court has no reason to grant you any leniency. Not only do you refuse my generosity, but also you dare to speak like you¡¯re doing me a favor? Either you have the authority to ept our terms or you don¡¯t."

    The Night Court had no intention to help the Griffon Kingdom from the beginning. The unreasonable demands were to force a lose-lose situation on them. If Lith epted, the Crown would be weakened and me him for it, whereas the Night Court would grow in power just by sharing the details of their customer.

    If he refused, the Kingdom would lose its Royal Healer, their enemy would escape, and Lith would be branded as ipetent. Kan had made sure there would be no happy ending for his enemy.

    ¡¯The human is out of luck. The Lich is doing exactly what I expected, and Sy is either too afraid to speak or she just wants to corner him as much as I do.¡¯ He inwardly smiled.

    Kan¡¯s arrogance made Lith think again about his options.

    ¡¯He should know I¡¯m way stronger than his thrall. Why even bother to save him just to toss him away like this?¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Duchess, what are the rules of the Foul Moon?" He wanted to understand if the gap in magical prowess could be ovee with powerful equipment, since Lith had nothing but his clothes.

    "It¡¯s a contest of pure might. No weapons nor protections are allowed. If you win, Kan will not be able to harm you or your propriety without risking his own life, but if you lose, you¡¯ll die a horrible death." She replied.

    Even though Lith couldn¡¯t see the trap, he could still smell it. It was all too easy.

    ¡¯No matter if I ept or refuse Kan¡¯s rip-off deal, my career in the army and the Association will be over. The Foul Moon actually solves two problems at once. It¡¯s much better to face a single opponent head on than watching my back every night.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not strong enough to kill that vampire, yet. Since I can¡¯t force him to leave me alone, at least this way I can prevent him to gang up on me with the help of other members of the Night Court and give him a good scare.¡¯

    "Count Xolver, I challenge you to Foul Moon."

    As he feared, a smug smile appeared on the faces of both the vampire and his Vassal.

 Chapter 467 Foul Moon Part 4

    "I ept." Xolver replied. "Yet I¡¯m no match for my opponent, so I request for a champion."

    "I knew the Night Court¡¯s members are just overgrown ticks, but since when do you even ept cowards among your ranks?" Inxialot hadn¡¯t tricked Lith on purpose. In his mind, running away from a challenge was something unthinkable.

    His words wiped the smile off their faces, while Lith¡¯s mind finally connected the dots.

    "Wait, does a fight between peers means ¡¯of the same rank in the Court¡¯ or ¡¯of equal strength¡¯?" He asked.

    "Thetter, of course." Sy replied with a wolfish smile. "You should have asked for my help. He who lives alone dies alone. You have no friends here and you knew it."

    "Bah, don¡¯t worry, kid." Inxialot sneered. "Awakened ones are the strongest race after Liches. Everything else is trash."

    "When will the fight take ce?" Lith asked while using Invigoration to return to his peak condition.

    "As soon as the arena is ready, and unless someone wants to die by my hand, it will happen within the next few minutes." Inxialot struck the ground with his silver staff, causing the whole room to shake.

    While Sy and Kan shouted orders in their respectivemunication amulets, Lith started to cast what he had always considered the most useless of all the trump cards at his disposal.

    ***

    Unknown location. Underground dungeon of the master of the meat puppets.

    Krishna Manohar had longe to terms with inferior minds having no originality. When he regained his senses, he didn¡¯t need to look at himself to know that his arms had been amputated.

    The Professor knew his body so well that he noticed how his bnce was all over the ce the moment he opened his eyes. His waist was chained to the wall, and so were his legs.

    The room he was trapped in was a marvel in its intricacy. The walls and floor were made of metal, the air was kept thin and dry to the point he kept yawning for oxygen.

    ¡¯Well, at least this is new. Usually, they just break up my arms. Someone here is very paranoid. I can understand why they took my hands off, but what is this room for?¡¯ He thought.

    Unlike the master of the mansion, Manohar was unaware of Awakened ones¡¯ existence, so the design of the cell made no sense to him. An Awakened wouldn¡¯t need their mouth or hands to cast, so the metal served to make it impossible to use earth magic, while the dry air blocked fire, air, and water magic.

    With no humidity, there was no water to manipte, while fire would quickly burn the low oxygen content of the room and make the prisoner faint.

    Manohar was still dizzy from all the lightning bolts which had struck him a few hours earlier. With no hands, he had to use first magic to treat his minor wounds and the symptoms from the amputation.

    When the pain stopped hindering Manohar¡¯s mind, he continued using first magic while studying the restraints trapping him. As he expected, they weren¡¯t regr chains.

    Even if he was unfamiliar with their design, the Professor could feel enough manaing from them to support multiple enchantments.

    "This may take a while." He sighed.

    "Awake already? It¡¯s not only your mind to be amazing. For a human, of course." Said a familiar feminine voice while opening the cell door.

    "Can you drop the evil overlord act? It stopped being fun before I was even born. It makes you look even more pathetic than you already are."

    "Tough talk for someone in your position." Hessie, Lady Lanza¡¯s personal housemaid, walked to the center of the room with a soft, cruel smile on her lips. There was nothing bashful in her gait anymore.

    She stood as straight as a Queen, looking down on Manohar like he was a thief locked in a stockade.

    "I feel ashamed for falling for your act." The Professor said. "The only excuse I have is that I checked you for both ve items and meat puppets. How did youe up negative to my tests?"

    His professional curiosity was piqued. ording to Hessie¡¯s personal file, she had no magical talent. Her history was clear and with no gaps. Yet there she was, exuding such strong mana that Manohar¡¯s neck hair was standing up.

    Her eyes were still chestnut, so she wasn¡¯t remotely controlled like a meat puppet.

    "Easy. I took over her body months ago. Your spells detected nothing because there¡¯s nothing to detect. I¡¯m Hessie now, or at least what¡¯s left of her."

    "Are you saying it¡¯s not just shapeshifting?" Manohar had never been so happy of being kidnapped. Thedy in front of him was as crazy as interesting. She would make an incredible specimen.

    ¡¯If I manage to capture her alive and if those buzzkills of the Crown don¡¯t execute her on the spot.¡¯ He inwardly smiled. Manohar lived for the challenges.

    "Enough chit chat. There¡¯s a reason why you are still alive..."

    "Because you need my help." Manohar interrupted her. "Let me guess. After seeing me at work you understood how sloppy and crude your methods are, so you want me to teach you how to do things properly."

    Hessie¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits, brimming with mana.

    "How dare you belittling my work, you insignificant runt? My art is perfect, or better, it was supposed to be. I want to know how did you extract my puppy alive from its host!" Her anger made the Professor¡¯s condescending attitude turn to hrity.

    "Art? Perfect? Are you really such an idiot? Your magic is messy at best, if not wasteful. I hoped you were like Balkor, a genius like me but that because of poor personal choices ended up swamped with too much scut work, slowing your research.

    "If you think that junk is perfection, then you are barely at a fifth year student level. Once I used my diagnostic spell, I found at least twelve major ws and as many ways to safely remove the specimen. Off the top of my head at that."

    Manohar was so disgusted that he stopped talking and started chanting.

    "What do you think you¡¯re doing?" Hessie released a bolt of darkness magic from one of her rings, but Manohar easily dodged it despite his restraints. His movement revealed a set of arms made of light that had remained hidden behind the Professor¡¯s back up to that moment.

    The chant ended and the chains fell onto the ground with a metal ttering. It was the tier four Forgemaster spell Clean te, an exclusive of the elite of the army, the Association, or in Manohar¡¯s case, of the Queen¡¯s corps.

    It generated abined pulse of light and darkness magic that would temporarily short circuit the imprint on a magical item. In the case of the chains, without an owner, the lock was released.

    Before Hessie could recover from the surprise, the left arm formed a fist and struck at her like a ram, sending her sprawling on the floor.

    "Light magic used for offense? That¡¯s impossible!" The first magicposing the hard light construct was enough to allow Manohar to channel his spells, but its offensive force was just slightly superior to that of an average man.

    "Just because an idiot can¡¯t do it, it doesn¡¯t mean that something is impossible." Manohar said while Hessie stared at him with a mix of fear and awe.

 Chapter 468 Impossible Magic Part 1

    Ever since the dawn of magic, the light element had been known to be useless in battle. It had no offensive spells and aside from healing small wounds, the exhaustion that spells below tier four caused on their patients made them a double edged sword.

    Light magic experts always protested that such ims were ridiculous. There was no element weaker than the others. Yet aside from legends and fairy tales, no one had ever won a battle with light magic.

    At least ording to official history. There were many reports about magical beasts well versed in the use of the light element who were capable of using it for attacking. Scarlett had decimated the Talons¡¯ headquarters using light magic.

    Lith would have died from Gadorf¡¯s Purge spell, if captain Yerna hadn¡¯t stopped him. Yet some secrets were closely guarded. Despite having lived for centuries, the person inhabiting Hessie¡¯s body had never learned how to perform even a trick like the one Manohar was using topensate for hisck of arms.

    The Mad Professor chanted his next spell, leaving Hessie with no choice but to summon her minions while she got out of the death trap of her own making. Because of the nature of the room, all elements besides light and darkness magic were disabled.

    She could cast lightning, but it would be deviated by the metal in the room. If Manohar wasn¡¯t already floating, he would only need to jump to avoid the bolt before it was neutralized by the lighting rods hidden below the floor.

    It was a safety measure to prevent an inmate to strike all their captors at once if the electrical current was trapped in the metal instead of being discharged. To make things worse, the cell also made it impossible to use even arrays, which left Hessie with only her body as a weapon.

    ¡¯Once I¡¯m back inside my mansion, I can use my arrays and my puppies to kill him. It was a mistake taking him prisoner, Manohar is too dangerous to let him live.¡¯ She thought.

    Unluckily, her reasoning was based on a false assumption. She had never captured him. Manohar had allowed himself to be taken. When he noticed that the lightning array wasn¡¯t lethal, he was presented with a dangerous choice.

    Resisting the array would have given the meat puppet the time to free itspanion and take over the guards. Manohar would have lost his specimens and all the leads they had.

    ying possum, instead, would have had the same consequences, but it also meant letting the meat puppets do all the hard work and bring him right inside the enemy base.

    After days spent literally chained to Jirni with nothing to do but wait, the g with Mynna had helped the Professor to make up his mind in a split second.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t fear ve cors nor meat puppets. I know how to jam and remove them. I¡¯d rather risk my life than waste another single day with that brute of a Constable. I need to get back to my research!¡¯

    Had been hisst thought before losing consciousness.

    ¡¯Thank heavens regenerating limbs is much easier now. Without Lith¡¯s spell, I would be forced to turn this ce upside down to find my arms.¡¯ Was his current trains of thoughts.

    Contrary to Hessie¡¯s expectations, Manohar didn¡¯t rush outside the safety of his prison. He cast an array detecting spell before unleashing a powerful earth magic shockwave that cracked all of the revealed arrays¡¯ lines of power.

    It wasn¡¯t enough to destroy them, but that had never been his aim. The Professor remembered the materials Hessie¡¯s thralls had purchased and she had confirmed to him that she had been there for just a few months.

    Setting permanent arrays required time, resources, and a talent Manohar doubted such a self-proimed genius could possess. His detection spell had only confirmed his theory, making his next move child y. At least for the Mad Professor¡¯s standards.

    Temporary arrays had much lower requirements, but needed a fine bnce to prevent their effects from interfering with each other. He had just dealt them enough damage topromise their alignment.

    If his enemy activated them, they would either fizzle or blow in her face.

    A few perfect Carpenters arrived, their vortexes at full force to drain any iing spell at the cost of their lives. The first one charged inside the cell like a mad bull, Hessie¡¯s will was absolute.

    Manohar sneered as a giant sword made of pure light impaled the creature and those following it like a kebab.

    "Seriously? Are you really a one-trick pony? I figured out the weakness of those things the first time I extracted my specimen. They can nullify spells of tier three and below, but tier five is another story.

    "If the ability of your creatures is weaker than the one of whom guides the spell, it bes useless. That¡¯s how I extracted your dear ¡¯puppy¡¯, you idiot. I never failed to control one of my spells, and I have no intention of starting today."

    Hessie stared in horror as the flesh of her creatures entered Manohar¡¯s body and gave him back his arms. Their life force was consumed as well, replenishing his own.

    ¡¯This man is a real monster.¡¯ Hessie thought. ¡¯I must force him to run out of mana before he tears my house apart!¡¯ Unluckily for her, the Professor¡¯s bright purple core and his relentless practice of magic made his mana reserve almost as insane as he was.

    ***

    Dawn Court branch, Outside the city of Othre. Now.

    When Lith had heard the word "arena", his mind had pictured a ce simr to the Earth¡¯s Colosseum. The ce the Dawn Court reserved for ceremonial battles was akin to a huge theatre instead.

    The fight would take ce on a circr raised tform made of white stone, that only a thick cylindrical energy barrier separated from the front row of spectators. Comfortable armchairs were evenly spaced on a balcony that surrounded the center stage.

    The arena had a diameter of 40 meters (130 feet), which together with its high ceiling allowed the fighters to have plenty of space to battle on both the ground and the air.

    Lith had been spellcasting non-stop from the moment the challenge had been issued. When his opponent arrived, he had yet to finish his spell.

    ¡¯Damn, they are afraid of the Lich as much as I am, if not even more. I need to stall for time.¡¯ He thought.

    To Inxialot, he asked: "How can you be sure the Night Court will not send one of its strongest members?"

    "The Foul Moon requires peers. You being a human and an Awakened one at that, makes everything harder." Inxialot sighed. They had waited for almost two minutes after he Warped them to destination at the end of the pay.

    "They need to choose someone whose practice of magic and time as undead match your age. Then, the Dawn Court has to verify the champion¡¯s identity."

    "I don¡¯t practice magic for seventeen years. How is it fair?" Lith lied through his teeth. He needed only a few more seconds.

    "I don¡¯t make the rules, I just administer them. Otherwise I would have killed you all and went back home already." Inxialot snorted through his exposed nasal septum.

    A p of his hands made the barrier even stronger and signaled the start of the fight. Sy, Kan, and Xolver were sitting next to each other. They all wore the same rxed smile, like the fight was already over.

    ¡¯I wonder if their sudden friendship and how fast the Dawn Court checked my opponent¡¯s background are rted.¡¯ Lith thought. Duchess Ekna had been crystal clear. Lith had no friends there and he had no intention of making any.

 Chapter 469 Impossible Magic Part 2

    Lith¡¯s opponent had the appearance of a brute. He was a man at least two meters (6¡¯7") tall, with long ck hair and beard. His muscr body reminded Lith that of a professional wrestler.

    Unbeknownst to Lith, his opponent was a vampire named Zarran. He was Kan¡¯s blood spawn and one of his favorites. His grey eyes moved quickly from Lith to the Lich while waiting for the start signal.

    Usually, Zarran would disregard such formalities, but since the referee was capable of turning him into a memory with just a thought, the vampire decided to stick to the rules. Or better, the rule.

    Once Inxialot pped his hands, there were none. The rattle of bones and rings was his cue. Even if they weren¡¯t Awakened, vampires could use air and darkness in their true magic form. Zarran took off, darting toward his opponent like a falcon on its prey.

    Lith pped his hands a split second after Inxialot. His breathing was steady, his body so stiff to resemble a statue. Right above the fighters, covering the whole arena, appeared the very fist impossible array Lith had learned when he was just twelve years old.

    This time it wasn¡¯t meant to impress the White Griffon academy¡¯s board, it was a terrible weapon. One of the golden points of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram lit up and Zarran¡¯s flight spell disappear, turning the falcon into Newton¡¯s apple.

    Lith waved his right hand, conjuring a stone pir that intercepted Zarran¡¯s fall and sent him crashing against the barrier. Contrary to Lith¡¯s hopes, the magical formation dealt no more damage than a real wall would.

    ¡¯ording to Inxialot, the sum of this guy¡¯s years of magical practice and his time as an undead should be around twenty years, if the Courts bent the rules. He¡¯s too buff to be a magician, I bet Kan chose him because he¡¯s a pure vampire.

    ¡¯Instead of sending a half baked fighter, I would have picked a professional too. s, I¡¯m no pushover either.¡¯ Lith inwardly sneered as he waved his left hand.

    A stream of lightning intercepted Zarran while he bounced off the wall, turning his pale skin ck. Both the fighters wore no armor. Lith had been forced to remove his Ranger uniform for a white shirt made of the finest silk he had ever seen and night ck pants so soft they would put cashmere to shame.

    Zarran was bare chested, with only a pair of leather pants to cover him.

    ¡¯At least the Dawn Court knows how to dress. These clothes areing home with me.¡¯ Lith knew that worrying about saving a few coins was ridiculous during a life or death situation, but since such a thing was just Monday to him, his wallet was entitled to speak.

    Zarrannded with the grace of a cat. His face was twisted in a mask of rage.

    ¡¯Master Kan told me the Awakened is supposed to be a brutal fighter. ording to our information, against the meat puppets he relied on brute strength and magical tools, yet now he stands still. It must be rted to the secret behind the array.¡¯

    Zarran thought. Vampires took damage from electricity based attacks, but thanks to their undead nature, their movements wouldn¡¯t be hindered by them. It wasn¡¯t the nerves moving their bodies, just like their strength didn¡¯te from their muscles.

    Hence Lith¡¯s lightning had not disrupted Zarran¡¯s focus. The vampire extended his arms, releasing a scatter shot shower of darkness bullets. Their speed was slow, but from that distance and inside an enclosed space they were fast enough to be deadly.

    If Lith focused on dodging the daggers, the opponent would have an easy game overpowering him physically, while focusing on the enemy would leave him exposed to the iing spell.

    Zarran moved forward almost as fast as the dark daggers, using them as a cover while approaching the enemy. Lith stood firm until the daggers almost reached him. Then, he took a deep breath and had the array neutralize the spell as he unleashed a barrage of gue Arrows.

    He mimicked Zarran¡¯s strategy, leaving him astonished.

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible! Arrays are supposed to work both ways. Why does it negate only my spells? First air, now darkness too. It¡¯s bound to have some limits.¡¯ Zarran thought while dodging as many gue Arrows as he could.

    Much to his surprise, Lith didn¡¯t press the advantage. Instead of charging forward, he used earth magic to turn the stone floor into sand, messing with the vampire¡¯s footwork. The strong kick that was supposed to propel him away from danger plunged into the ground instead.

    Zarran cursed his opponent and enveloped himself with a shroud of darkness. Multiple gue Arrows struck him from head to toe, sapping his strength. Thanks to hisst ditch effort, the damage was halved.

    Unlike humans, vampires only needed to expend part of the energy stored inside their blood cores to heal from any injury. It wouldn¡¯t even sap their life force, only make them hungry. Zarran was well fed, so the exchange had only hurt his pride.

    The audience was stunned as well. Most of them knew Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram, but had no idea what it was capable of. Only Awakened ones could master impossible arrays and usually their opponent ended up dead.

    The only exception was Inxialot, who was having a lot of fun. Not because of the fight, which was trivial and amateurish to his eyes. He loved watching the shocked expression lowly animals made when they realized the depth of their ignorance.

    "I told you so." He turned his head of 180¡ã to look straight into Xolver¡¯s eyes without having to move. "Liches are the strongest, then Awakened. Remember that if your champion loses, your life is forfeit as well."

    ***

    Hessie¡¯s Mansion. Now.

    The person wearing Hessie¡¯s skin was royally pissed. Manohar was a walking wrecking ball, crushing her minions and arrays in a matter of seconds after they met in battle.

    ¡¯He¡¯s too fast. I need some time to revert to my real body, this one doesn¡¯t stand a chance against his impossible magic.¡¯ She thought.

    The Professor was now surrounded by a swarm of shields made of light as big as a man, which blocked any iing attack, be it physical or magical in nature. Even in Hessie¡¯s body, the puppeteer was still a master magician with centuries of expertise.

    The problem was that while the Carpenters kept their vortexes active, weaving spells was worse than a waste of mana. They would poison her creatures and kill them. At the same time, the moment they turned their vortexes off, they became sitting ducks.

    Without the boost from the constant consumption of world energy, Manohar would let his personal army of hard light constructs mow the Carpenters down like ripe wheat and focus his defense to block all of her attacks.

    She had even employed a War Mage tier five Raging Sun, only to have it enclosed by his energy shields and snuffed out like a candle.

    Manohar was winning by andslide, yet he kept his guard up conjuring spells non stop and keeping them on his fingertips, ready to be activated. He couldn¡¯t risk losing his concentration, otherwise both his spells and mana would be lost.

    Even though Hessie was forced to admit the gap between their talent, she had still centuries of experience to even the field, now that she finally understood what was happening.

 Chapter 470 Impossible Magic Part 3

    Dozens of her minions had died to buy her time, but it had been worth it. Shepleted an array that sealed light magic in a space of ten (33 feet) radius around the Mad Professor, turning both his swords and shields into fireflies.

    "Let¡¯s see who is the one trick pony now." She said with a smug expression while watching the Carpenters surround him.

    ¡¯I¡¯m going to retrieve my body. Kill him at all costs. Overload your bodies with mana and self destruct, if you have to.¡¯ Hessie sent the telepathic order and walked away from the dungeon.

    After regaining her cool, she had realized that it was pointless to y by her opponent¡¯s rules. He was alone in her house, the only thing she needed to win was to y it smart. Skill and preparation could kill even the strongest genius.

    Manohar couldn¡¯t agree more with her. It was the reason why only one among the spells he had prepared was based on the light element. Too bad none of them could deal with his current predicament.

    ¡¯I hate arrays.¡¯ Manohar inwardly griped as he dodged bone ws the size of a great swording from every side. ¡¯They may be slow ass, but one of them is enough to turn tables. Life is so unfair!¡¯

    So whined the man blessed by endless talent, a bright purple mana core, and an unlimited research budget.

    The Mad Professor was still alive only thanks to the Mage Knight Full Guard spell, which left him with no blind spots, and Marth¡¯s strict training schedule to force Manohar to stay out of hisb long enough to clean his mess.

    Together with his stubbornness, they allowed him to only sustain flesh wounds while weaving the tier five spell he was in desperate need of. He wasn¡¯t like Lith. He couldn¡¯t turn off his pain receptors, nor use silent magic.

    Manohar could only perform movements small enough to not disrupt his hand signs, with a rhythm that let him not stutter a single magic word. All while the Carpenters sealed off the space around him by the second.

    One of the creatures stabbed the Professor¡¯s left shoulder, leaving a gaping hole the size of a muffin and made his arm fall lifeless by his side. Manohar snarled the next magic word like it was a curse, gritting his teeth for less than a heartbeat before finishing the chant.

    Unluckily, it was toote. Not only did the w went through and through, causing major bleeding, but it also stopped Manohar¡¯s movements long enough for itspanions to pile up on the helpless human.

    A Carpenter grabbed Manohar¡¯s right arm, crushing it like a twig. Another used its wed hand to stab his chest. And then it finally happened. The Mad Professor¡¯s shadow came to life, taking the form of a blue eyed colossus.

    It was over three meters tall (10¡¯), with a spiky back like an urchin and slender arms that almost reached the ground. Its hands had four fingers, each one as long and sharp as a de. It had no legs. The lower part of its body was just a thin line connected to Manohar¡¯s.

    It was Balkor¡¯s tier five personal spell, Death Ruler, which Manohar had reverse engineered after reading the god of death¡¯s notes found in one of his oldbs. The Mad Professor¡¯s body had fallen limp not because of the wound, but because his mind had left his physical shell.

    The Death Ruler freed his human body by ripping to shreds the nearest Carpenters with its ws. The pieces tried to reassemble themselves, but the darkness energies poisoning them spread like a gue, turning them into rotten flesh.

    After that, the shadow colossus struck at the ground. ck vines sprouted from the point of impact, eating the energies whichposed the array and his enemies alike. The Death Ruler didn¡¯t stop his rampage, growing in size with each fallen enemy.

    Their vitality wasn¡¯t destroyed, but stored forter use.

    The moment the array crumbled, Manohar¡¯s human body was showered with the life force equivalent of a small toon. Light magic was unsealed, so his organs and bones could be repaired at the expenses of the Carpenters¡¯ bodies.

    The Mad Professor had no time to eat, he was eager to return to hisb.

    ***

    Dawn Court branch, Outside the city of Othre. Now.

    There were plenty of reasons why Yurial Deirus had developed his own version of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram. Lochra¡¯s array could selectively negate all of the enemy¡¯s spells, but it was far from perfect.

    The greater its area of effect, the harder it was to keep the six elements in perfect harmony. Even in its small, first magic form, it took so much to cast it to make it useless. Also, negating a spell required from its caster to spend as much mana as its target contained.

    ording to Yurial¡¯s estimates, between the mana expenditure to keep it active and the amount required to nullify the opponent¡¯s spells, his energy reserves would deplete faster than his enemy¡¯s.

    It would take him barely a minute to run out of mana, and one on one at that.

    Against multiple enemies, it would be more than suicidal, akin to madness.

    Yurial¡¯s Hexagram, instead, could only negate one spell per element, and the mana would be stored rather than countered. The umted energies could be unleashed at will to trigger a powerful gravity field.

    Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram heavy requirements made it useless even for Lith. Unless he knew in advance that he would face a single opponent in an enclosed space with no way out or external interferences, of course.

    Even with all the aforementioned conditions met, it wasn¡¯t as easy as he made it seem to the audience. The sheer focus required to keep all the six elements perfectly bnced over the whole arena while keeping Invigoration active, prevented him from moving a single step.

    Yet without his Gatekeeper and his armor, he wasn¡¯t confident of being able to defeat an opponent with endless stamina and unknown skills. If even Xolver had forced him to use fusion magic, there was no telling how strong a real vampire could be.

    Zarran released several streams of lightning and it took Lith a full Invigoration breath to negate them all. Lith¡¯s fingers twirled in the air as the sand obeyed hismand and sealed the vampire¡¯s limbs.

    The grains of sand stuck to each other turning back into stone, yet Zarran was able to break free by consuming a good chunk of his blood core. It didn¡¯t simply enhance his strength, it made him shapeshift into a giant hybrid between a human and a bat.

    The creature was 2.5 meters (8¡¯2") meters tall, with membranous wings connecting his hands to his hips. Ten centimeters long razor sharp talons reced his nails as a thick dark brown fur as hard as steel covered the rest of his body.

    His open mouth was now bigger than Lith¡¯s head, with fangs long as short swords. A single p of his wings let Zarran take the sky and escape from the sand¡¯s grip.

    ¡¯This exins his horrible taste in clothes.¡¯ Lith thought while weaving multiple spells at once. Zarran was circling above his head like a shark around its prey.

    ¡¯Fighting on the ground without magic is a lost cause. I must strike from above fast enough to escape from his spells and force him to move. Without the array, he¡¯s just a human.¡¯

 Chapter 471 Impossible Magic Part 4

    The vampire noticed ice spears and darkness bolts materializing near his opponent. The ground spun underneath Lith¡¯s feet in a grand vortex, ready to swallow his enemy.

    ¡¯Turtle up as much as you want. It takes more than a few hits to injure me, I still have a lot of juice.¡¯ Zarran thought while he shot downwards like a bullet.

    His blood core empowered his new form to the point that its movements were almost a blur even to Lith¡¯s enhanced vision.

    Almost.

    The moment Zarran turned his back to the array, Lith dispelled Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram. His mind was no longer burdened by the need to be in perfect sync with every element thatposed the world energy.

    All of his spells crackled with new energy as their master¡¯s undivided focus flowed into them. The sand exploded upwards, covering the vampire¡¯s field of vision and making him slow down for a split second because of the sudden updraft filling his wings.

    It was all the time Lith needed to pinpoint Zarran¡¯s position long enough to Switch their positions. Lith appeared in mid air while the vampire¡¯s momentum made him crash against the ground like a meteor.

    Stunned by the impact, Zarran failed to react to the point nk Checkmate Spears and gue Arrows converging on him from all sides. While the low tier spells pierced the membranous wings and ravaged the vampire¡¯s life force, Lith activated the tier five War Mage Burial Ground spell.

    Several pirs erupted from the sand and surrounded Zarran while he was still stunned from his many injuries. The pirs grew in height by the second as countless stone spikes emerged from them, moving in every direction.

    Some stabbed the vampire, while the spikes which connected to each other would form new pirs, that in turn generated more spikes.

    The spell was a hybrid of earth and darkness magic. The stone was a conduit for the dark energies, so even standing close to it was enough to sap its victim¡¯s life force. Count Xolver went pale, praying to any god from above or below to spare the champion¡¯s life and his own.

    Kan jumped out of his armchair, swearing so much to put a sailor at shame. Unluckily, the Lich couldn¡¯t hear him above the noise of his ownughter. The whole Dawn Court was astonished.

    The fight hadsted less than a minute. A human less than half a century old had defeated a vampire who was twice his age before being turned with apparent ease. Being an Awakened wasn¡¯t enough to exin how the unlife of someone who had spent twenty years mastering his vampiric powers could be snuffed out so fast.

    "Apparent ease" were the key words.

    Lith had used Invigoration multiple times during that minute, channeling so much mana non stop that his body was aching in ces he wasn¡¯t even aware could hurt. The mental and physical exertion he had just gone through left him with a splitting headache.

    Yet he returned nonchntly to the ground, wearing the same serial killer frown he had at the start of the match.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t care how close Manohar is. I need at least an hour¡¯s sleep or the next time I use Invigoration might be thest one which has any effect on me.¡¯ Lith sneered at the undead crowd.

    No one was smiling anymore.

    "Female and male scum, whatever you are, we have a winner!" Inxialot raised his hands, dispelling the barrier and giving Count Xolver an excruciating death by ck mes of unknown nature.

    As the Lich beckoned with his finger, Kan floated toward him from across the room until he was in the middle of the arena.

    "A deal is a deal. Now you better start talking, because if I¡¯m forced to stay here one more minute or I¡¯ll make sure Othre¡¯s Night Court goes extinct."

    ***

    Hessie¡¯s Mansion. Now.

    The Carpenters had stopped rushing forward once they noticed that none of their attacks or spells seemed to hurt the shadow monster or its master. The Death Ruler¡¯s vampiric touch would heal any injury inflicted on Manohar¡¯s body.

    Manohar dispelled the Death Ruler as soon as he cleared enough space around him to handle the closest enemies. Balkor¡¯s spell consumed a lot of mana, even by the Mad Professor¡¯s standards, and stopped the caster from weaving new spells or even using dyed ones.

    Several Carpenters each unleashed a tier four spell to cover theirpanions advance while those in the back row pushed their vortexes to the limit and overloaded their mana cores.

    If even thebined assault failed, their master had ordered them to perform a suicidal attack with the aim of burying Manohar under tons of rubble. Luckily for the Professor, Death Ruler had allowed him to retain both his focus and the spells he had ready.

    He chanted his next spell while activating the tier five "Talk to the Hand" light magic. Giant hands materialized in front of the charging Carpenters, grabbing and using them as literal meat shields against the iing spells.

    Before the middle row enemies could reorganize, the hands of light adjusted their grip. They now wielded the captured creatures by their legs and swung them at theirpanions like living maces.

    ¡¯That¡¯s what I call fighting fire with fire.¡¯ He inwardlyughed.

    Meanwhile, in her throne room, Hessie had reached her true body. It was in suspended animation, inside a capsule made of metal, ss, and mana crystals ced right behind her royal seat.

    The body was floating in a purple liquid which was constantly pumped into the capsule through a series of tubes. Each tube was connected to a member of her court, who were exact replicas of the body inside the capsule.

    She sat on her throne and activated her tier five light magic Life Flow. A stream of life force flowed from Hessie to the body in the capsule. When the transfer waspleted, only a small amount of the original Hessie¡¯s life force remained.

    Just enough to keep the body alive in a vegetative state. Thrud Griffon, daughter of Arthan the Mad King, opened her silver eyes. Her body was back to its early twenties and had reached a new pinnacle.

    She had improved her father¡¯s procedure countless times, yet there were still so many problems to fix before it could be considered perfect. The arrogant Night Court had provided her the means to spread her puppies among Othre¡¯s poption.

    All she had to do was to take over the body of one of their Vassals and use him as a strawman to introduce a new kind of alchemical drug in the back market. It was a wonderful product which gave a great high and had no adverse reactions.

    Except it was no drug, it was just cough potion mixed with a few of her cells. They were enough to create a small vortex which sucked in the world energy, inducing a sense of euphoria and might.

    Only in the right subjects did the cells manage to develop and grow, until they turned their victim into a clone of Thrud. The clones were perfect donors, their life force and mana identical to her own.

    Thanks to her "court", even though Thrud had yet to crack the secret of Awakening, she had obtained the next best thing along with eternal youth.

 Chapter 472 Pointless Struggle Part 1

    Ingesting Thrud¡¯s cells only had three possible oues. Inside an ipatible host, they would die in just a few days. This was the mostmon scenario. In the case of partialpatibility, the subject would be a made mage.

    They would be useless as energy donors, but the symbiotic rtionship with Thrud¡¯s cells would allow her to influence their thoughts, to use them as her spies, or simply as sacrificial pawns to keep the authorities busy.

    Arthan¡¯s daughter had yed that game many times. The trick was to constantly move from one country to another. She only needed one treatment once every hundred years and she was careful to pick cities that were both populous and corrupt.

    By the time the local authorities noticed something was going on, Thrud was already gone. Once the odd phenomenons ceased, everything would be dismissed as an unknown disease, leaving not even a footnote in history books.

    This time Thrud had yed with her food longer than usual, but for a good reason. Since herst treatment, magic had improved by leaps and bounds. The Griffon Kingdom was famous for having the best Healers in the three great Countries.

    She needed to be sure that her technique was still able to escape detection before moving to more efficiently organized realms, like the Empire or the Blood Desert. Thrud took pride in her work, and until that day she had believed it to be close to perfection.

    It only had two major ws. The first was the difficulty of finding a perfect match, the second was that Mogar would only tolerate someone stealing its energy for so long.

    Be they made mages or the stupid nobles she lured with the promise of power, if they were too greedy in using their newfound magic abilities, Mogar would feel the "itch" and scratch itself in the form of a pir of blue light.

    The would take back the stolen world energy, usually killing the burr in the process. If one didn¡¯t have enough mana to pay their debts, Mogar would also take their life force aspensation.

    The death of a few pawns or Carpenters wasn¡¯t a big deal, but blue pirs from the sky were something no one could gloss over. Aside from that, her n was wless. The perfect matches knew how to reach her and, by sharing her mind, they had all the necessary skills to disappear without leaving a trace.

    Even if the drug was discovered, there was no direct connection with her. The nobles under her thumb kept the authorities away, while the made mages served as a diversion. Thrud always had everything under control, or so she had believed until that night.

    Now that she was back in her body, she could appreciate its inhuman strength, its enhanced senses, and the increased vigor of her mana flow. She drained thest members of her court before flushing the purple liquid out of the capsule.

    "Finding Manohar is actually a blessing in disguise." She said to herself while wearing her battle suit.

    "I have the opportunity to test my abilities against the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s greatest genius in centuries. If I can kill such a monster, then the day when I defeat the ursed Tyris is not far.

    I¡¯ll avenge my father and take back the throne that¡¯s rightfully mine."

    Meanwhile, several corridors below her, Manohar had used the Carpenters¡¯ suicide squad to wipe out the rest of his enemies. His tier five "Can¡¯t touch this" light magic spell had sealed the trigger happy creatures inside a spherical dome along with theirpanions.

    Aside from a hole in the ground, the explosion resulting from their cores overloading had produced no effect.

    "This is bad." Manohar was also used to thinking aloud, not because of centuries of istion, he simply considered himself the only one worth listening to.

    "I¡¯ve consumed about half of my mana reserve and I don¡¯t think that miss whatshername will give me enough time for a cat nap. I need disposable... I mean I need help!"

    He said while turning around abruptly, scared at the idea that Jirni would appear behind his back like she usually did at the worst possible times. There was something in that woman that reminded him of his mother enough to scare him out of his wits.

    A simple earth spell allowed him to identify the path of least resistance, while a light spell did the rest. All he had to do was to wait and rest.

    ***

    Dawn Court branch, Outside the city of Othre. Now.

    Having lost his most recent Vassal, his most promising chosen, and most likely his rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Night Court all at once, Kan was as close to having a stroke as an undead could be.

    "I can¡¯t give the human an address, since the ce he is looking for is in the middle of nowhere. I can show him where it is, though. We need to get outside first." He said.

    A snap of Inxialot fingers Blinked the four of them several hundreds of meters above the ground. Lith, Sy, and Kan were all shocked. Blink¡¯s range was about thirty meters and extending it even by a dozen meters required lots of mana.

    Yet the Lich had moved all of them at once over a distance that usually only a Warp could cover. The vampire tried and failed to not appear impressed while he looked at the horizon in search ofndmarks.

    The Night Court had discovered of Thrud¡¯s existence soon after the first made mage appeared.

    If someone asked them why they hadn¡¯t made a move against her, the undead would reply that she had provided them with plenty of humans whose bodies were somehow highly enriched with mana.

    Feeding on their flesh, blood or minds strengthened the undead¡¯s blood cores almost as much as if they had consumed a mage. Thrud was responsible for only a small portion of the missing person cases, the others were all victims of the Night Court¡¯s feeding frenzy.

    The truth was that they had already tried and failed. Some of the most prominent members of the Court had assaulted her home to discover how she nurtured her humans.

    If the entire Night Court from every branch on the continent took part in the feast, the bnce between the three factions would crumble and the undead world would belong to them. Unluckily, no one had returned to tell the tale.

    That was how Kan had earned his rank, by filling an empty spot. Thrud just gave them her crumbs and they could only suck it up. Any more losses would reveal to the world that a whole branch of the Night Court was under the heel of a human woman.

    "The ce you are looking for is..." Kan was cut short when a full body hologram of Manohar the size of a hill appeared in the sky, along with an equally big arrow pointing at a ruined outpost in the wilds.

    "Come here, quick! You need my help." The colossus would say at fixed intervals, followed by fireworks visible from miles away.

    Inxialotughed like a madman, while Lith despite his exhausted state could hardly repress the urge to kill Kan first and Manohar second.

    "Let me guess. I need to go there."

 Chapter 473 Pointless Struggle Part 2

    Kan gritted his teeth while inwardly cursing at Manohar¡¯s untimely appearance. It had rendered the information he was forced to share due to the Foul Moon ritual useless. Luckily, he had another ace up his sleeve.

    "Yes, but the ce is heavily protected. You can¡¯t go in through the front door..."

    "I can see that by myself." Lith cut him short. Life Vision showed him an energy dome around the outpost so strong that it would take hours to destroy it from the outside.

    "Let me take another guess. I can get inside by using the Warping array hidden in the old temple of the god of healing."

    "Correct again." Kan snarled, revealing his fangs in annoyance. "I hope to never see you again."

    "Not so fast." Inxialot stopped the vampire in his tracks. "The deal was for information, so far you have provided nothing. Are you saying that you have just wasted my tim... I mean, that you are willing to break a sacred oath?"

    The Lich King had been itching to kill someone for hours for dragging him out of hisb. Finally the rules of thepetition gave him a reasonable excuse to vent his anger.

    "I would never do such a thing!" The vampire rushed to say as his fingers were turning to ashes.

    "I can still tell him the name of his enemy!"

    "Oh." Despite most of his flesh being gone, the Lich¡¯s face still managed to express every bit of disappointment that he was feeling.

    "You are going to face Thrud Griffon." Kan had a solemn expression while uttering her ursed name.

    "Gods, Thrud Griffon! I never thought the day woulde that I would hear that name." Inxialot said with a shocked voice.

    "Do you know her?" Lith was underwhelmed by the revtion. Griffon was a verymonst name.

    "Not at all." The Lich replied. "It¡¯s just one of the most horrible names I have ever heard"

    "Am I free to go?" Kan had no idea what Inxialot had done to his hands, but regenerating them caused him a great deal of pain.

    Another snap of the Lich¡¯s fingers Blinked everyone present back to their respective apartments, even though all three of them were supposed to be warded against dimensional magic.

    Kan and Sy were both quaking in their boots, swearing on their undeath to never meddle with the Council of the Awakened again, no matter the reason.

    Lith was so pissed off for having gone through all that danger for nothing but a stupid name, that he almost ripped the door of his hotel room off its hinges before taking flight to reach the Mage Association.

    ¡¯Damn Manohar! One more hour and I could have gotten actually useful information and some rest. I have nothing to offer the Crown except for a name that might well be a pseudonym or just a moniker.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t dy his return.

    The Mad Professor¡¯s hologram was perfectly visible even from Othre. Once the Queen learned about it, she might order a full scale attack on the outpost. Lith couldn¡¯t let Tista, Jirni, or Kam go anywhere near the Carpenters¡¯ nest.

    The array surrounding it would either kill them or slow them long enough to make their contribution to the fight irrelevant. He had never witnessed Manohar¡¯s battle prowess and being paranoid, he assumed the worst.

    ¡¯I can only count on myself. Too bad that right now I¡¯m too weakened to face even one Carpenter on my own. The only silver lining is that with every breath I take I can feel my body healing and my power growing.¡¯

    Only when the clerk at the reception of Othre¡¯s Mage Association branch refused to let him in did Lith realize that he was still dressed like a dandy.

    ¡¯The good news is that it was just a spare uniform. The Kingdom will hardly miss it. The even better news is that I kept the clothes without even asking for them.¡¯ He and his wallet both inwardly smiled.

    Luckily, even a desk clerk of the Association had ess to their database. It only took her a few seconds and a call to Dorian to verify his identity.

    "Where have you been?" Jirni had the Gatekeeper with her.

    "Are you all right?" Kam threw her arms around him checking for injuries.

    "Why are you dressed like that?" Since the others had beaten her to the punch, Tista decided to clear that small mystery while handing Solus and his Skinwalker armor back to him.

    Solus had perceived his arrival the moment Lith was back in their mind link¡¯s range. She didn¡¯t contact him because of the conflicting emotions caused by their separation.

    She was happy to see that Lith was fine, yet it also exacerbated her feeling of helplessness. Solus was afraid that she would discover that Lith hadn¡¯t missed her as much as she did him. Afraid that he had no use for her anymore, inside or outside the battlefield.

    During thest few hours, Solus had been surrounded by people, yet had never felt so alone. While others could speak, hold hands in search offort, or just take a walk to calm their nerves, she had been stuck in Tista¡¯s hand.

    Comparing her life with that of others made Solus scream and cry, yet no one could notice.

    ¡¯I finally understand what Lith means when he says he is a shadow in a world of lights. We are both too different from normal people. Gods, I wish we could leave Othre and find a mana geyser.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s just my wisp form, I want to move around, hear my voice without using magic, feel the touch of another person. I want to be normal.¡¯ She sobbed. Without Lith, Mogar looked brighter, but it only made her feel worse.

    It was a cold light that emphasized everything she never had despite having it just a few centimeters from her. Having the objects of her desires so close and yet being unable to reach them was just torture.

    The moment Solus¡¯s ring slipped onto Lith¡¯s finger, their experiences flooded into each other¡¯s mind. Lith had willingly shared his memories to bring her up to speed, whereas Solus was so ovee with grief that she forgot to hide her feelings.

    ¡¯What¡¯s this bullshit about you being useless?¡¯ Lith gave her the telepathic equivalent of a hug. ¡¯Have you seen what happened to me? How much I missed you? How much I needed you? Not for your abilities, but for who you are. This life is mine as much as yours, I...¡¯

    Their mind link was fast, but it still took time. Seeing Lith in a daze, hispanions repeated their questions with a worried expression.

    ¡¯Dammit, I promise you that as soon as we are done here we¡¯ll find a mana geyser even if I have to dy finishing my rounds.¡¯ He thought before focusing on the outside world.

    "Please, I¡¯m dead tired." Lith raised his hands to ask them to let him talk.

    "I know that Professor Manohar is in danger but I need to sit down for a second and tell you what I learned while dealing with the Dawn Court."

 Chapter 474 Royal Pains Part 1

    Lith¡¯s report left out almost everything that had happened to him, there was no time for storytelling. He emphasized the strength of the array surrounding the outpost before exining how to bypass it and mentioning their enemy¡¯s name.

    "Never heard of her." Jirni checked her Royal Constablemunication amulet and came out empty handed.

    "I¡¯ll update the Crown and let you know their decision. In the meantime, give Lith a Tonic and some food. We¡¯ll be out of here in five minutes tops."

    Tonics were among the highest grade potions. They temporarily enhanced their user¡¯s metabolism, induced a state of rxation, and provided most of the nutrients required for a hasty recovery.

    Their effect allowed a body to digest and assimte a meal in a matter of minutes instead of hours and relieved mental stress. A tonic couldn¡¯t replenish mana reserves, but at least it removed the side effects of mana depletion, like headache,ck of focus, and blurred vision.

    Lith¡¯s physical condition shocked both Tista and Solus. All of his muscles were almost torn due to mana abuse, his life force was flickering from exhaustion, and his mana flow was at less than half capacity.

    Tista had him sit on a couch while she used tier four light magic to heal his body and supply him with life force at the same time. It would make him hungry but keep his strength intact. Solus preferred to save her energy for the iing dangers.

    She reviewed all of his experiences with the Night and Dawn Courts. Solus studied his opponents, trying to find out their weak points and collect enough data to understand how powerful an undead was based on their blood core.

    The desk clerk, a blonde girl so young Lith suspected she had just finished her academic studies, brought him a purple colored potion and a tray full of his favorite foods. Lith ate everything and took a deep breath before sharing his experience with the undead.

    Or at least that was the idea. Thebination of the tonic¡¯s rxing effect, the umted fatigue, and thefy couch with Solus keeping watch, made him fall asleep until Jirni¡¯s return fifteen minutester.

    "How do you feel?" Once again Jirni didn¡¯t like her orders, yet she carried them out nheless.

    "Like someone who could sleep for a week." Lith replied with a groan.

    "I have bad news. The situation is even worse than we thought and you are the only one who knows how to operate the array in the old temple. Go get changed, we¡¯re leaving as soon as you¡¯re done. I¡¯ll exin everything along the way."

    "What about us?" Tista asked. Her experience in Othre had made her realize just how helpless she was. How waiting behind the lines was worse than fighting. She felt as if nothing had changed since the days when she was a sick girl.

    Tista was tired of depending on others, yet neither graduating from the academy nor Awakening had allowed her to make any difference.

    "You are staying here along with the others. Sorry, kid. This is a Spellbreaker only mission. Don¡¯t worry about your brother, we¡¯ll have plenty of back up."

    "I¡¯m Manohar¡¯s assistant! I¡¯m supposed to go where he goes." The excuse was weak, but it was the only one she could think of.

    "I like you Tista. You remind me of my daughter, Quy." Jirni patted her arm, speaking with a soft, motherly tone.

    "So I¡¯ll tell you the same thing I did to her when she asked to join me in my work. In this world, no matter the age, there are two kinds of people. Those born for peace, like you, Linjos, and Quy. Good people who make this Country a ce worth fighting for.

    "To make it thrive and grow. Peacees at a price, though. The same magic that allows you to perform wonders also breeds monsters like the one we are going to face. To keep the peace in here there¡¯s a war to fight out there.

    "In war, you don¡¯t need good people. You only need killers who will make peacest one more day. Why do you think your brother, I, and even Manohar got picked for this mission?"

    At those words, Tista turned toward Dorian, who lowered his gaze and said nothing.

    "Because we belong to the second kind of people. We are the killers this Country needs." Jirni noticed that Kam had turned pale at those words. She moved in front of the Lieutenant who was staring at her in fear.

    "We are still humans, though." Jirni didn¡¯t like giving a pep talk to a business rival, but respected Lith too much to purposefully mess with his personal life.

    "If you cut us, we still bleed. We love and experience pain like anyone else. We¡¯re not monsters and we need a family." Lith¡¯s return made the conversation end abruptly.

    When their gazes met, Lith gave Kam a warm smile and she found herself returning it from her heart.

    Kam had a hard time making the image of the stingy Ranger, who yed a song for her and made the camellia match with that of the person who she had seen fight monsters with inhuman ferocity.

    Lith could feel that the mood in the room was wrong, but since no one was speaking, he described to Dorian the kind of magic crystal which was needed to activate the array. They had to go to the armory to get the right one.

    Lith pretended to recognize it while Solus extracted from his memories its energy signature and used her mana sense to identify a matching one among dozens of simrly shaped magic stones.

    "Are you sure?" Dorian was no longer surprised that he hadn¡¯t recognized what Lith had been talking about.

    "That antique is merely for disy. It belongs to the age when Forgemasters had yet to discover how to fuse magic crystals with their creations."

    The Warping array Thrud and the Courts used was an antique as well. Unlike modern Warp Gates, the magic circle had to be carved rather than built. Their design had been long forgotten because anyone with a proper magic stone could activate them.

    Ancient Warp Gates couldn¡¯t be imprinted with mana, making them a security nightmare. They had many advantages in present times, though. Without a power source, they couldn¡¯t be detected with spells nor with Life Vision.

    Also, they could bypass modern dimensional magic blocking arrays because they worked ording to different principles than those currently in use. Ancient Warp Gates would permanently fuse two points in space, whereas modern ones could connect to multiple locations via dimensional corridors.

    It made them more versatile, but also susceptible to being jammed by preventing them from locking on to their exit point¡¯s coordinates. Ancient Warp Steps had no such problem. There was no corridor to create, just a door to open.

    Lith and Jirni left the Mage Association, reaching the old temple by flight.

    "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Jirni asked as soon as they took off.

    "The bad news."

    "This Thrud Griffon is the daughter of Arthan Griffon, the Mad King."

    "He was publicly executed centuries ago for his experiments with forbidden magic. Which means that..." Lith couldn¡¯t wait for this horrible day to end.

    "That we are about to face one of the oldest and more powerful mages in the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s history, who had plenty of time to prepare for our arrival." Jirni finished the phrase for him.

    "I¡¯m starting to think they are right." Lith groaned.

    "They who?"

    "The ones who say I¡¯m bad luck."

 Chapter 475 Royal Pains Part 2

    "Tell me that at least the good news is really good." Lith wasn¡¯t the type toin so much, yet Jirni understood his reasons.

    ¡¯In the space of a few hours, he has faced a vampire, several meat puppets, and whatever opponent the Dawn Court forced him to fight in exchange for their information.

    ¡¯I noticed at first nce that he was too tired for someone who was supposed to just have a chat with them. I never saw him so tired, poor kid. It¡¯s better to cut him some ck.¡¯

    "Very good. First, we don¡¯t have to fight unless strictly necessary. Our is solely a rescue mission, no one expects us to face Thrud Griffon and win. We get in, find Manohar, get out, and destroy the Warp Gate from Othre¡¯s side. As simple as that."

    "I think you just jinxed the mission." Lith sighed. He had almost forgotten what the word "simple" meant.

    "Second, we¡¯ll only enter after the other Spellbreakers have surrounded the outpost. The attack will start when we are sure to have her outnumbered and outmatched. The Crown is calling mages from every corner of the Kingdom." Jirni ignored his pessimistic remark.

    "Third, since you are tired and I¡¯m not a mage, we¡¯ll work with two more Spellbreakers. Even if I ¡¯jinxed the mission¡¯ a team of five Spellbreakers can hold long enough for the toon to destroy the array and swarm the ce."

    They reached the old temple of Xhal, the god of healing, almost at the same time as their reinforcements. Lith was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected reunion with Professor Vastor and Captain Kilian Aluria.

    Vastor was a short man in his mid sixties, barely over 1.55 meters (5¡¯1") tall.

    The top of his head waspletely bald while the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar mustaches. His belly was so big that it made it hard to guess if he wasrger than tall. That, together with his pure white robe, made him resemble a real life Humpty Dumpty.

    "Oh, oh, oh!" Vastorughed loudly watching themnd. "Jirni, dear, should I tell Orion to be jealous? This is the second time in less than a month that you work together with that little demon. You know he likes older women, right?"

    "What are you doing here, Vastor? I was expecting Marth." She ignored his remark.

    "Marth is the Headmaster of the White Griffon and the second best Healer of the Kingdom, while this old coot is expendable." Vastor sighed. During his youth, he had been considered eligible for the title of god of healing multiple times.

    Until Marth became Professor, stealing Vastor¡¯s spotlight thanks to his achievements. Vastor had dreamed for years of being once again the number one, but Manohar had outshined both of them like the Sun does the stars.

    "Constable Ernas." Kilian gave Jirni a deep bow before shaking Lith¡¯s hand.

    "Long time no see, Lith. I¡¯ve heard great things about you."

    They knew each other since the gue in Kaduria and had seen each other again during Balkor¡¯s attack on the White Griffon academy. Kilian was a Captain in the Queen¡¯s corps. He was a man in his early thirties, around 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with shoulder-length pitch-ck hair, and ice-blue eyes.

    "Thanks, Captain. It¡¯s sad that every time we meet there are hundreds of lives at stake." Lith said before entering the old temple.

    He didn¡¯t want to give Vastor enough time to tell them about his days as Assistant Professor at the academy. There were too many embarrassing details Lith preferred remained forgotten.

    "The runesposing the Warping array are mixed with gibberish. We need to look for a hole big enough to fit this mana stone." Lith exined to prevent any further conversation while showing the marble sized yellow crystal.

    "If we get through this, you¡¯ll be the youngest Spellbreaker in ages." Vastor used air and water magic to clean the altar¡¯s surroundings, revealing in the process many more runes on the floor.

    "It will be the perfect moment to get married. Listen to an old fool¡¯s advice and don¡¯t¡¯ repeat my mistakes. If you rest on yoururels, your star will start declining sooner than you think. Aim as high as you can now, otherwise you¡¯ll have to settle."

    The Professor was one of those people who could talk without losing focus in the matters at hand. Jirni and Kilian were used to much more annoying quirks, so they didn¡¯t mind him. Lith wasn¡¯t as patient.

    "I seem to recall you married one of the most beautiful and influential women in the Kingdom." He rebuked. "How can you call it settling?"

    "Back in my heyday, I could¡¯ve married the Crown Princess." Vastor sighed. "Later I had to give as much as I got, otherwise Vilya wouldn¡¯t have even looked at me. I..."

    "Found it." Kilian cut him short. "Right at the center of the altar."

    "Then we have a problem. Because there is another hole in the chapel." Jirni said while pointing at the feet of the stone statue.

    "There¡¯s another one here." Vastor had found a third one at the base of the altar.

    "It¡¯s likely that only the right one activates the Gate. The others must have defensive properties, like destroying the array or making the temple detonate." Kilian was a Master Warden. That was how he would have defended a strategic asset.

    "Can you describe to me what the Dawn Court¡¯s array looked like? I need a starting point to understand what we are dealing with."

    "I can do better." Lith cupped his hands as Solus recalled from his memories the exact design of the Warp Gate, allowing him to conjure its scaled size image with light magic.

    "What the fuck?" Vastor flinched at the sight. "Lith, my boy, are you really like Manohar?"

    "What do you mean? This is just what amunication amulet does. It¡¯s good for projecting stories for the kids, but that¡¯s it."

    His words made no sense to Lith. ording to all the Forgemaster books he had read, it was one of the easiest enchantments to apply among those required to make amunication device.

    "You can even move them?" Vastor admired look was now shared by Jirni and Kilian.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. I¡¯m getting the feeling that what I considered a parlor trick is actually much more important.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed.

    After watching Lith¡¯s hologram and studying its runes for a bit, Kilian knew what to look for in the archives.

    Kilian used his amulet to ess tomes about ancient Gates and the runes necessary to activate them. Every time he recognized one, he marked it with a wisp of light. Soon the runes formed a circle.

    "I¡¯m done. Prepare your spells, there will be no time to chant once we get on the other side." Kilian warned the group. Jirni wasn¡¯t a mage, so while the others chanted, she gulped down a few potions, just to be safe.

    Kilian ced the magic stone in the hole at the base of the altar. The runes he had marked earlier lit up one after the other, forming a Warp Gate right in front of the statue.

    The Captain activated the tier five Warden spell Third Eye before stepping through it. The dimensional door led to a corridor that was full to the brim with arrays made visible by Kilian¡¯s spell. One of them shone brightly for a second before fading away.

    "I¡¯ve bad news. The enemy has just been notified of our arrival."

 Chapter 476 Royal Pains Part 3

    Kilian cast the tier five Warden spell Disarray. His will overrode themands programmed in the magical formations, twisting the energies coursing through them into chaos and turning their mana flow against itself until their structure copsed.

    When he was finished, the Gate¡¯s edges had already started flickering. The team managed to cross it before it disappeared, while the Captain used his Third Eye to scan their surroundings for more traps.

    Lith noticed that Kilian¡¯s spell was able to reveal all kinds of enchantments. Under his gaze, the equipment of his teammates glowed, even Solus, and so did the doors along the stone corridor.

    "No more arrays in sight and Manohar is not here. Let¡¯s move before our Mad Queen sends her thralls to kill us." Jirni signaled Kilian to take point, following him closely. There was a wall right behind the Gate¡¯s exit point, so they could only move forward.

    Lith immediately understood what she meant. To be able to pull the giant hologram stunt, the Professor must had escaped from his captor. There was no trace of battle along the corridor and the doors were intact.

    Thrud Griffon knew of the iing attack, she wouldn¡¯t waste time repairing her base. She would either run away or prepare for battle, and since her arrays were still functional, thetter was the most likely scenario.

    No one would be so foolish to leave behind the rare and expensive mana crystals needed to fuel them.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t like this ce.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯It¡¯s built over a mana geyser. If our enemy knows how to harness its power, there¡¯s no limit to the mana at her disposal. Even most of the furniture inside the rooms is enchanted.¡¯

    ¡¯What do you see?¡¯ Lith moved to the rear guard, to be able to use Life Vision without the others noticing his glowing eyes.

    ¡¯The first part of the corridor was a storehouse, while all these doors lead tobs for different specializations. This woman must be an eclectic genius.¡¯

    ¡¯Or maybe she just had a lot of time to learn. What about Manohar?¡¯

    ¡¯Sorry, I have no idea. Between the arrays, thebs, and whatever there is on the other floors, it¡¯s like looking into the Sun.¡¯ Lith tried to use Life Vision, only to be blinded by the sensory overload.

    The silver lining was that among all that white, he had caught a glimpse of red wind living beings emitteding from below and a sea of iting from above. His problem was how to share the information with the others.

    "I was d to hear you found someone after joining the army." Vastor bbered again, making Lith inwardly gripe.

    "You know, he brooded for a whole year after your daughter broke up with him."

    "Really?" Jirni was really interested in the matter.

    "Yeah. It took some effort to convince him to get back in the game. Him getting turned down multiple times didn¡¯t make things easier. He kept hitting on the staff instead of the students and..." Luckily for Lith, the corridor wasn¡¯t that long.

    They found a flight of stairs leading to the upper and the lower floors.

    "I think we should go down." Lith was eager to change the topic. "Prisons are usually built on the lowest level, to make it harder to break out."

    Jirni inwardlyughed at his efforts. Knowing Vastor, it wouldn¡¯t take him long to start talking again on his own, giving her usible deniability.

    "Oh gods!" Kilian cursed as he saw that there were arrays on the floor, the ceiling, and the walls.

    "I¡¯ll exhaust my mana way before we reach the next floor if I¡¯m forced to disable every trap we met."

    "Kids these days." Vastor snickered. "I¡¯ll show you how it¡¯s done."

    While Kilian¡¯s Third Eye revealed the magic circles¡¯ lines of power, Vastor struck them with darkness magic. His ability in using simple first magic to disrupt their critical nodes with surgical precision amazed Solus.

    ¡¯I can see them thanks to mana sense. How can he do it?¡¯

    Kilian shared her feelings. His mouth was almost touching the floor in surprise.

    "Arrays are just like Forgemastering. You can¡¯t afford the privilege of getting old in the Queen¡¯s corps if you don¡¯t learn a thing or two about them." He answered to the Captain¡¯s silent question while shrugging.

    Both Lith and Solus learned a lot during their descent to the lower level. Vastor disabled every array they met by expending a negligible amount of mana. Not only did he always strike at the right spot, but he also adjusted the strength of his spell at every node.

    His method destabilized the arrays without triggering them nor leaving any trace of their passage. Then, a sudden smell of ozone and death put everyone on alert.

    The heavily enchanted metal door in front of them was intact, but all of them recognized the stench of rotten flesh mixed with enough static to make the hair on their necks stand up. They were signs of a big fight.

    "This is odd." Vastor said after Third Eye assured them there were no more arrays.

    "Why haven¡¯t we met any resistance? And why Manohar didn¡¯t open this door? This smells like a trap."

    ¡¯What the heck does he mean?¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯ording to Solus¡¯s mana sense, the pseudo core of that thing is quiteplicated. Its aura protects even the walls. Forcing it open, even with magic, would have disastrous consequences. I could do it with Invigoration, but...¡¯

    "Stay back!" Vastor said as he cast the tier four Forgemaster spell Clean te, which generated abined pulse of light and darkness magic. It temporarily short circuited the imprint on the door and released its lock.

    "How did you do that?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. During his fourth year at the academy, he had spent months learning how to open Hatorne¡¯s boxes.

    "Sorry, kid. It¡¯s a secret spell, I can¡¯t teach it to you. Just know we are lucky there was no self destruct spell, or this thing would have blown up in our face."

    Vastor didn¡¯t cross the threshold, not even when Third Eye confirmed there was no danger ahead. The door led to another long stone corridor which was lighted by magical stones hung along the walls.

    The cells on the right side had bars, allowing Lith¡¯s group to see that most of them were upied. The people inside looked clean and well-fed, but there was no life in their eyes. They just stood with a nk stare, uncaring for the bloody mess in front of them.

    The cells on the left side all had solid metal doors and what reminded Lith an air conditioning system on the outside. They were all closed but one. In front of it, there was a huge hole in the ground and what seemed like the set of a sher flick.

    The area was littered with blood spatters, various body parts, and enough corpses to make it almost impossible to see the floor.

    "Manohar, are you in there?" Jirni yelled.

    "Finally!" Replied a familiar, petnt voiceing from behind the opened cell. "Stay away from the door. I¡¯ll be there in a second."

    Lith and Jirni kept a close eye on the prisoners. They were all potential Carpenters, allowing the enemy to watch and listen to everything they did.

    "Keep casting." Jirni ordered the mages. "Something is off."

 Chapter 477 Royal Pains Part 4

    They all backed away from the threshold, each weaving their best spells.

    Manohar came flying out if his cell at breakneck speed. The prisoners¡¯ eyes turned blue as several Warping Arrays appeared throughout the room, trying to intercept the Mad Professor.

    He dodged them all by continuously changing his flight path. He stopped at thest second in front of the door, avoiding the one which appeared where he would have been if he had kept flying straight.

    "I beat you again, woman." He yelled in triumph while escaping. "I knew you would try to get me once I crossed the..."

    His euphoria disappeared when he noticed there was no one behind the door. The Warping array had affected an arearge enough to capture Lith¡¯s team.

    "Wait, did I say stay away from the door? I meant: stay as far away as you can. Dammit. What kind of world do we live in where a kidnapped man has to rescue his rescuers?"

    For a second, Manohar thought about leaving on his own, but dimensional magic was sealed again and he had no idea how to get out of what was clearly a death trap. The real deal breaker, though, was that losing hispanions or a fight was the same for him.

    "I never lose!" Manohar yelled while preparing all the spells he could hold before walking back in front of the prisoners.

    "Round 2,dy. Ready when you are."

    Thrud was amused by his spunk and more than happy to oblige. A Warp array brought him in her throne room, where they were all waiting for him. She was sitting on a perfect replica of the royal throne, sipping red wine from a ss.

    The throne was made to resemble a rearing griffon. Its hind lion paws were the chair¡¯s legs while its front eagle talons made the armrests. She had a broadsword on herp. The de had seven magical stones of different colors on each t side.

    The ones closest to the hilt were bright red while the ones near its tip were bright purple. A white mana crystal went straight through the center of the cross shaped hilt, pulsing in unison with the other crystals.

    Every one of those present was in shock from the moment of their arrival.

    ¡¯Say that again.¡¯ Lith thought, unwilling to believe his own eyes or even Solus¡¯s mana sense for the first time since they had met.

    ¡¯That woman is insanely powerful,¡¯ Solus repeated for the fourth time with her voice t in astonishment. ¡¯and her mana core is rainbow colored, whatever that means.¡¯

    Just like the artifact on herp, Thrud¡¯s core had every possible shade of the known mana core ranks. Arthan¡¯s Madness wasn¡¯t as effective as Awakening. Even though it managed to strengthen her core over the centuries, the umted impurities prevented Thrud¡¯s mana core from stabilizing.

    Yet that didn¡¯t make her any less deadly.

    "That¡¯s the Sword of Saefel." Jirni¡¯s voice was barely a whisper. She was well aware of the powers of the weapon that once belonged to the Original King, Valeron Griffon.

    "No, you are wrong." Thrud replied between sips.

    "This is the Sword of Arthan. My father knew that people like you lot couldn¡¯t be trusted. That¡¯s why during hisst years he took the precaution of having both the Royal Sword and Armor extensively studied.

    "That way he could leave his full legacy to his descendants after you small minded, petty peasants destroyed decades of his hard work and sacrifices." Her voice was sweet, but full of poison.

    The passing of time hadn¡¯t quelled her hatred. For her, it was like Arthan¡¯s beheading happened just yesterday instead of centuries prior. The ground trembled below their feet due to the unrelenting attack of the Spellbreakers on the array protecting the building.

    Vastor couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the capsule behind the throne. Like anypetent healer, he had studied all of the little information the Crown had disclosed about Arthan¡¯s madness.

    Even though it was an evil contraption, it had helped the healing arts to progress by leap and bounds. The idea of killing even a single person made his innards churn, yet seeing Thrud so young made his mind spin so fast he had fallen to his knees.

    ¡¯The real Arthan¡¯s madness. I wonder how would it feel to be young again. To be more powerful than Marth, maybe even than Manohar. Maybe my Vilya and my own children would finally respect me, instead of just seeing me as a giant wallet.¡¯

    Vastor wasn¡¯t charming or young anymore when he married, and he did it out of self interest. There was no love between him and his wife. He had always neglected his children to pursue his ambitions and now that they were grown up, they were returning the favor in full.

    Now that he was old, Vastor regretted many things. For a second, he considered Arthan¡¯s madness as his second chance. As his opportunity to start from scratch somewhere far away from the Griffon Kingdom and do things right for once in his life.

    Then, his eyes fell on the mountains of corpses piled up at the corners of the room. Thrud¡¯s clones were of different ages, some very old and some barely more than children. Some were still lying around, like dirtyundry.

    Their bodies were all dried up, mummified by the extraction process of their life force and mana flow.

    "How many?" Vastor gritted his teeth in outrage. Nausea and scorn snapped him out of his reverie, giving him the strength to stand up.

    "How many people have you killed to keep yourself young?"

    Thrudughed at his question, like a Queen at her jester¡¯s joke.

    "I don¡¯t know. Do you remember how much bread you have eaten in your life? Well, neither do I." To reinforce the effect of her words, she raised her ss above her head and tilted it slowly.

    The wine fell down in red droplets which had small arms, legs, and heads. They weren¡¯t real people, just the effect of water magic on her drink to alter its shape. Yet Vastor shuddered as he could almost hear the screams of all her victims falling down her throat.

    Kilian was stunned by both the size of the protective array surrounding her hideout and the power source that she had at her disposal to fuel it. He could see dozens of tier five spells crashing against the barrier through the windows, yet aside from making it visible, they seemed to have no effect.

    ¡¯Even if they manage to take it down, we¡¯ll be long dead by then.¡¯ He inwardly cursed. When they had appeared inside the room, his Third Eye had revealed no arrays, but the sheer brilliance of Thrud¡¯s equipment was blinding.

    Kilian tried calling for back up, but hismunication amulet was dead as a doornail.

    Manohar appeared less than a minute after they did, showing no concern for the dead bodies, the throne, nor for the gravity of their situation.

    "Well, you¡¯re all alive, which could already be considered a miracle considering how dumb you are." He taunted them before turning towards Thrud. "Let¡¯s kick that old hag¡¯s ass and..."

    The Mad Professor was expecting to see Hessie¡¯s homely body, while Thrud was quite a stunner and she was aware of it. She enjoyed the mix of terror and desire all of her victims experienced while gazing upon her true form like the goddess she believed she was.

    "I take back the old hag part." Manohar raised his hands in apology. "You¡¯re definitely the second most beautiful woman I¡¯ve ever seen, but we¡¯re going to kick your ass anyway."

    Thrud ignored her prey¡¯s empty threat, but his words were uneptable nheless.

    "What do you mean second?"

 Chapter 478 Overwhelming Power Part 1

    Arthan Griffon had been born just three generations after Valeron. Tyris¡¯s blood ran thick in his veinspared to the present King. He had even married a distant rtive, hoping to keep their bloodline pure and their magical talent unmatched.

    Thrud had inherited part of Tyris¡¯ beauty, which made her a beautiful woman even before she underwent Arthan¡¯s Madness time and time again. Not only did the machine refine her body simrly to what happened to an Awakened one, but it also filtered out the human portion of her blood while enhancing Tyris¡¯ with each cycle.

    Thrud was 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with long ash blonde hair that framed the delicate features of her oval face. Her rosy skin was wless, emphasizing the contrast between her silver eyes and her full red lips.

    Not even the Royal armor could hide her soft curves nor her powerful aura suppress the sensual grace of every of her move.

    Unluckily for her ego, Manohar had known Tista long enough to be unfazed by her presence.

    "Yeah, definitely second." He repeated after rudely checking her out for several seconds, managing to make her fury grow.

    Meanwhile, the barrage of spells kept hitting the external barrier so hard that for a second the resulting shockwaves made him almost lose his bnce. Kilian ignored the two Mad Babblers and focused on the array.

    His Third Eye was still active, revealing that cracks had appeared at several points along the barrier and were slowly but inexorably expanding. He used the Queen¡¯s corps signnguage to signal the others to stall for time.

    "Manohar, where¡¯s Mynna?" Jirni believed that she was actually staring at her. Even if her suspicions were incorrect, she couldn¡¯t care less about Mynna¡¯s fate at the moment.

    She asked the question mostly to prevent the Professor from further enraging the enemy and avoid being attacked.

    "Beats me. You should ask her loyal housemaid, Hessie here." Manohar shrugged, pointing his finger at Thrud.

    "Hessie?" Jirni was honestly surprised. She had never suspected such a meek woman.

    "You disappoint me, Jirni Ernas." Thrudughed, turning back to her arrogant self.

    "You should y more of the game your young friend invented." She pointed her sword at Lith. "You would learn that at the end of every game, Queen and Pawn go back into the same box.

    "By always being forced to stick close to her ipetent young miss, Hessie gave me ess to the same information Mynna had, but with much more freedom of movement. Besides, I got tired of ying princess decades ago."

    Another tremor made dust fall from the ceiling. Thrud inwardly cursed, realizing she had almost fallen for their trickery simply because it was the first time in decades that she could be herself.

    Almost.

    "Nicely yed. Let¡¯s see which willst longer, your lives or my barrier." She snarled while darting forward with the point of her sword aimed at Jirni¡¯s heart.

    Even though Jirni was under the effect of some of the most powerful potions Alchemy could produce, the assault was so fast that only Manohar¡¯s shields of light saved her life.

    Despite them being a physical manifestation of the Mad Professor¡¯s mana and willpower, the Sword of Arthan pierced three shields before it could be stopped. Lith threw Manohar a body enhancing potion while cursing at himself.

    ¡¯Damn, I was so surprised by all this shit that I almost let Jirni die.¡¯ He thought as the rest of the team drank their own.

    His mind was racing thinking about all the possible applications hard light constructs may have. It could even help him figure out a way to give Solus a body. Yet a simple nce with Life Vision was enough to make his amazement turn into worry.

    ¡¯Her sword isn¡¯t the only problem. Her armor emits a stronger magical aura than anything else I have ever seen. Even putting a scratch on it will be a challenge.¡¯

    ¡¯What really worries me is that she has yet to chant a single spell.¡¯ Solus warned him. ¡¯Either she believes that she is strong enough to not need them, or just like us she has everything at the ready.¡¯

    Lith moved around Thrud, aiming to stab under her still raised armpit, where the armor was at its weakest because of the shoulder joints. She sneered as she executed a side kick to thwart his predictable attack.

    Thrud¡¯s body was way stronger than Lith and centuries of being exposed to her own improved version of Arthan¡¯s madness had modified her cells to the point of making them capable of absorbing world energy by generating a vortex.

    Yet she wasn¡¯t a true Awakened. Thrud had no idea what fusion and spirit magic were, nor could she activate her vortex without having her core poisoned.

    Solus was suppressing Lith¡¯s blue aura to not blow his cover, allowing him to go all out right from the start. Lith waited until thest moment before activating fusion magic.

    Thanks to his enhanced body empowered by all the elements, Lith easily sneaked past her defenses. When the Gatekeeper made contact with Arthan¡¯s Armor, Lith felt its tip being dragged by the side, as if an invisible hand was deflecting his lunge.

    He gritted his teeth, pivoting on his feet to keep the de along its intended course. Despite having put all of his body weight and technique behind the strike, it only managed to emit sparks when the two enchantments shed.

    Lith¡¯s sudden change of pace had taken Thrud by surprise, but she needed only one split second to adapt. Lith used water fusion to make his movements so fluid that there was no pause between his attacks.

    Although it failed to draw blood, he hoped the lunge would throw her off bnce and used the residual momentum to follow up with a strike to the throat. Thrud¡¯s eyes burned with yellow light and so did the corresponding crystal on her sword.

    Chains of lightning intercepted Lith as she side stepped and gained enough space to parry his attack. Jirni¡¯s needles tried to act as lightning rods, but Thrud¡¯s will was guiding her spell, making Orion¡¯s enchantment useless.

    Even with earth fusion, the sudden jolt slowed Lith, allowing Arthan¡¯s Sword to make short work of his defenses. Jirni moved to Thrud¡¯s back, her needles had turned into knives as she aimed for a double kidney blow.

    Thrud used the downward momentum of her sh to suddenly raise her right leg and kick Jirni¡¯s chest with the strength of a horse. A cushion made of light put itself between the kick and its intended target, while many others softened Jirni¡¯s crash against the wall.

    Arthan¡¯s de was cutting into Lith¡¯s neck, his sudden loss of strength had put him on the literal back foot, when a white hand pulled him from harm¡¯s way. Thrud was unwilling to let her prey slip away, so she gave chase faster that the construct could move.

    Suddenly a sphere of purple mes enveloped her. The armor protected her from the heat, but the fire burned all the oxygen around her, making her almost stumble while gasping for air.

    A secondter, the ming prison turned into an ice coffin. The thermal shock would have shattered a lesser armor, but in Thrud¡¯s case, it only prevented her from breathing.

    Her eyes turned blue as she activated another gemstone on her sword which took control of the ice turning it into harmless water.

    Or so she thought.

    Thrud had yet to take a single breath when streams of lightning crackled out of thin air, riding her now wet armor to bypass her enchanted protection. She was still convulsing when the floor came alive, mming her against the ceiling over and over again.

    It was Vastor¡¯s tier five spell Tetrastrophe. Four different tier four effects with a single cast.

    "Seems you haven¡¯t lost your touch." Manohar said before activating another spell and chanting the next one.

    "Old versus ancient." Vastor grunted. "This should be interesting."

 Chapter 479 Overwhelming Power Part 2

    The small wound on Lith¡¯s neck was already healed as he watched his two Professors fight against the human faced monster that was Thrud Griffon. Even after being hit with the full force of Vastor¡¯s spell, not a hair on her head was out of ce.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s exactly as we predicted. Her equipment,bat skill, and mana core are superior to yours. Judging from our exchange, she should be on par with Scarlett the Scorpicore overall. Plus, you have to take into ount her artifacts.¡¯ She promptly replied.

    ¡¯We have a few advantages, though. Fusion magic allows your body to exceed hers, even if not by much. Also, she is underestimating our numbers and the Professors¡¯ skill. Last but not least, this ce is built above a mana geyser.

    ¡¯Now that I have had the time to check, I have confirmed that she hasn¡¯t tapped into its power for her arrays, nor has she sealed the geyser. Which means it¡¯s mine for the taking.¡¯

    Solus¡¯s ring assumed its gauntlet form, and then it kept growing until it covered Lith¡¯s arm up to the elbow. Razor sharp ws extended from his fingers and small des extended out from it along the outside of his forearm.

    A gemstone rested on the back of his hand, which turned from a deep shade of green to a bright one as the world energy flowed into her body. Thanks to their bond, Lith¡¯s recovery abilities improved instantly.

    Unluckily, there was no space for him in the current fight.

    Manohar¡¯s light constructs had uncanny versatility and he used that to its fullest to be unpredictable. They would constantly turn from weapons into shields, or even into some kind of exoskeleton whenever Thrud forced him into closebat.

    Vastor had never been blessed with a nimble body, but he had long since learned how to ovee that limitation. His tier five air spell Glide allowed him to fly around the room with great speed without sacrificing finesse.

    Lith knew how hard it was to use air currents to propel oneself in such an enclosed space without crashing against the walls or the columns. Yet the Professor managed to move with short controlled bursts of speed.

    They made him untouchable while he chanted one spell after the other and dodged everything Thrud threw at him. Lith went to check Jirni¡¯s condition while Solus kept an eye on the events, waiting for their opportunity to intervene.

    Lady Ernas was puking blood and bile from the earlier kick. Manohar¡¯s protection had allowed her to survive, but she was still messed up. Lith removed her concussion, fixed her ribs, and healed her punctured lungs.

    "Don¡¯t waste life force on me." Jirni said as she felt her strength returning.

    "That woman is beyond anything I can do, whereas with your spells you might make a difference."

    Lith ignored her words since it was Solus¡¯s mana geyser empowered Invigoration providing her treatment.

    ¡¯I need every edge I can get.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Jirni¡¯s cunning and battle experience cannot be underestimated, yet it¡¯s what the Mad Queen is doing. What makes her so arrogant?¡¯

    The answer came in the form of a joyousugh. A snap of Thrud¡¯s fingers conjured one of her tier five personal spells, Raging Griffon. It made a small tornado appear around her which drew everything inside the room that wasn¡¯t bolted to the floor towards her.

    The pull it exerted was sudden and powerful, making Manohar almost lose his footing. Thanks to his hit and run tactics, Vastor wasn¡¯t as affected but he had other problems to worry about.

    The tornado was sucking the air away, making chanting harder. It wouldn¡¯t have been much of an issue, if not for his need to avoid being pulled toward Thrud and dodge the sea of corpses which were now spinning around the room.

    All of Thrud¡¯s clones were being lifted off the ground and turned into deadly projectiles. Thanks to their enchanted clothes, the corpses would deal no damage to the Professors, but the impact would break their focus or maybe even drag them into the whirlwind.

    Thrud¡¯s spell consisted of countless air des spinning around their master with enough speed to generate the tornado and blend everything it touched into a puree. Manohar had nothing prepared for such a threat, so he had to use gravity magic to keep his bnce while his light constructs brought him to safety.

    Vastor wasn¡¯t capable of using gravity magic. The only thing he could do was raise stone walls to protect himself.

    ¡¯The fat rat is cornered, so I¡¯m free to deal with the so called genius.¡¯ Thrud thought as she darted toward the defenseless Manohar.

    "Son of a..." Was all he managed to say before the air des surrounding Thrud almost bit into his flesh. Manohar recalled all of his constructs around him and avoided the worst.

    The shields would crack and shatter after a few hits, but he could rece them with the others that surrounded him while his will reassembled the fragments. Yet even with his great mana reserves, it was only a matter of time before they were exhausted.

    To make matters worse, Thrud snapped her fingers again and unleashed another tier five spell, ck Griffon. Six griffons as big as horses and made of darkness galloped towards her enemies.

    Usually darkness magic¡¯s weak point was its slow speed, but aside from Thrud everyone else was locked in ce. Lith was the only reason why Jirni wasn¡¯t already dead.

    He had protected both of them with an air shield while casting spells from time to time to test the enemy¡¯s defenses. Earth and water magic were useless since they took physical forms that Rampaging Griffon had no problems destroying.

    Theck of oxygen greatly weakened fire magic, leaving only darkness and air magic viable for him to use. Lith and Solus were still racking their brains when they saw two ck Griffons rushing against them.

    There was one for each member of his group and two for Manohar who also had to face them almost at point nk range.

    "This doesn¡¯t bode well." He said as the summoned creatures ripped through his barrier faster than he could reform it.

    "Save yourself, you idiot. There¡¯s no point in dying together." Jirni snarled while trying to push Lith away.

    "How exactly?" He snarled back. "That thing would chase me and the windstorm would suck me in at the tiniest mistake."

    Lith shot a barrage of gue Arrows towards the Griffons. It slowed their advance and reduced their size but it didn¡¯t stop them. Lith activated Death Call, conjuring four arms made of darkness that tackled his aggressors.

    ¡¯What the fuck?¡¯ He thought in surprise when the two spells made contact. ¡¯Darkness can touch darkness like they are both tangible, maybe I can do this!¡¯

    Or so he believed until the huge energy massposing Thrud¡¯s tier five spell consumed his thinner tier four.

    Even with Solus helping him to constantly regenerate the shadow limbs, Lith could only dy the inevitable.

    Hidden behind a column at the far end of the room, away from the fight, therey thest Spellbreaker. Kilian had worked hard in the backlines, using his skills to tamper with the outposts protections despite the distance separating him from their source.

    "Short distance Warps are now possible!" He yelled as he Blinked to the other side of the room. The ck Griffon chasing him didn¡¯t stop in time. It crashed against theyers of runes which sealed the area and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 Chapter 480 Overwhelming Power Part 3

    "About damn time!" The rest of the team yelled in unison. Manohar Blinked as far away as he could from the enemy, using the temporary respite to rebuild all of his constructs and n his next move.

    Vastor was faring much worse. The same stone walls which had protected him from the tornado also made him blind to the iing danger. He became aware of the ck Griffon¡¯s threat only when it tore apart his defenses, leaving him almost no time to retaliate.

    Almost.

    Vastor unleashed against the conjured creature all the spells he had at ready, buying himself a few precious instants. When the Griffon finally reached him, it was weakened enough to not disrupt his focus, but still capable of snuffing his life.

    When Kilian gave him the good news, his Professor suit was on itsst leg. The Griffon¡¯s chaotic energies were slowly robbing Vastor of his vitality. Blink saved him just at thest second, but the creature, guided by Thrud¡¯s will, went after him.

    Lith unknowingly followed Kilian¡¯s example. The Griffons were so close to the wall that when Death Call¡¯s hands Blinked away, they weren¡¯t able to stop their mad charge.

    The darkness energyposing them dissipated, but not without further weakening the defensive array from the inside. Lith left Jirni beside Kilian and Blinked again, this time right above the eye of the storm.

    It was the only safe ce from the air des and also Thrud¡¯s blind spot. Lith descended with the Gatekeeper¡¯s tip pointed downwards, aimed at her head. Once again, he experienced an invisible force pulling the de away, but this time they were waiting for it.

    Lith and Solus infused their de with all six elements, generating a gravity sheath that countered Arthan¡¯s Armor protection. The hit took Thrud by surprise, dissipating all of her active spells.

    ¡¯I knew it!¡¯ Solus gloated. ¡¯It¡¯s like the protection that makes our armor imprable to conventional bullets, just much stronger. It alters our direction and eleration but it¡¯s not invincible!¡¯

    Unfortunately, aside from a small trickle of blood, it dealt no damage. The Mad Queen turned around so fast that Lith had no time to follow up on his attack. Her sword lunged to his heart, forcing him to side step and focus on the defense.

    He had yet to find a way to inflict her real damage, whereas Arthan¡¯s Sword had already proven capable of piercing his Skinwalker Armor with ease. Trading blows was off the table.

    ¡¯I can only buy the others some time.¡¯ He though while triggering his tier four spell Burning Prison. Six fireballs appeared from Thrud¡¯s every side, but she only needed to activate Ruler¡¯s Will, Arthan¡¯s sword¡¯s blue gemstone¡¯s power, to make them disappear.

    Ruler¡¯s Will allowed the wielder of the sword to control any tier four or below spell like it was their own. It was the same power Thrud had employed to get rid of Vastor¡¯s ice prison.

    Although it was a very strong ability, it came at a heavy price. It was a simplified version of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram, so it required from Thrud to spend as much mana as Lith had poured in the spell.

    Yet for her rainbow core, which she had overcharged while waiting for her guests, a tier four spell was like a tear in the rain: unnoticeable. She pivoted on her feet, following Lith¡¯s side step like they were dance partners. Her de still pointing at his heart.

    Lith deflected her weapon time and time again, but she managed to push the Gatekeeper farther away with each hit, leaving on its surface a deep scratch every time the des shed.

    "How dares a filthymoner, the son of a wretched farmer, to draw a Queen¡¯s blood?" Thrud¡¯s fury multiplied her energies, making Lith almost incapable of following her swordy.

    He was faster and stronger than her, but her centuries of practice made the skill gap between them abysmal. Solus tried to help him with her spells, but even at point nk Thrud was able to use Ruler¡¯s Will to nullify them.

    The only silver lining was that Solus finally understood what was happening.

    ¡¯Tier four and below are useless! We can only rely on tier five spells.¡¯

    ¡¯Great! Too bad I have none ready. Not only didn¡¯t I had much mana to start with, but also the ones I know have a huge area of effect. I risk wiping out my team with them.¡¯ Lith grunted in reply.

    He Blinked away, leaving the Mad Queen bbergasted.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t see him chant nor perform hand signs. How many Blink can that runt keep at...¡¯ Her split second of hesitation was exactly what Manohar had been waiting for. That and Lith being out of his way, of course.

    "Now, you idiots!" He yelled while activating his trump card, the tier five "Double Standards" spell. Manohar had never liked being a team yer, but experience had taught him that sometimes quantity had a quality of its own.

    A cube made of translucent light appeared around Thrud. The moment she tried to cross it, it became solid, blocking both her sword and body. Vastor and Kilian didn¡¯t waste any time, releasing respectively the tier five spells "Raging Sun" and "Dark Star".

    The former released a st of purple mes capable of blowing a castle¡¯s doors open, while thetter generated a pir of darkness with a radius of ten meters (33 feet).

    When Lith recognized Vastor¡¯s spell, he almost panicked.

    ¡¯Is he insane?¡¯ Lith thought while setting up his defenses. ¡¯Raging Sun should never be used in enclosed spaces. It could kill us all!¡¯

    Unlike hispanions, he had never seen Manohar in action. Double Standards was a nasty spell that prevented anything from getting out while letting everything getting in.

    The Mad Queen did her best, using both her sword and spells to get out of the death trap, but to no avail. Raging Sun¡¯s effect was amplified by the cube, which gave the mes all the oxygen they needed while forcing their shockwaves to bounce on its walls like pinballs.

    It also allowed Dark Star to unleash its maximum potential. The pir of darkness couldn¡¯t move, but neither could its target. Jirni used that time to pour one of the best tonics on Vastor¡¯s body.

    Between the aftermath of Thrud¡¯s ck Griffon spell and the non stop spellcasting, the old Professor was as pale as a ghost. The moment Lith understood what was happening, he dropped his guards and cast his personal tier five darkness spell Death Zone.

    A thick, ck mist resembling a small storm cloud appeared in front of him. After conjuring it, Lith needed only a thought to send it toward the light cube. Like all darkness spells, Death Zone moved slowly, but its destructive power was unmatched.

    It was the perfect weapon against a trapped enemy.

    Manohar¡¯s ego was ttered by hispanions thinking so highly of him, but three tier five spells plus Thrud¡¯s efforts to escape were too much even for him. He pped his hands, making Double Standards implode on itself with a thud.

    Thrud Griffon stood amid the specks of flickering light. Her body was enveloped by a blinding light which restored her charred skin and withered flesh. She looked tired but satisfied as she pped her hands at their performance.

 Chapter 481 Overwhelming Power Part 4

    No one wanted to believe their own eyes, but reality was a cruel mistress and couldn¡¯t care less for their wishes. Thrud had used her tier five Crystal Griffon spell to encase herself in a thickyer of ice which she had constantly regenerated to protect herself from the Raging Sun spell.

    Dark Star and Death Zone had messed up her n, but her artifacts had managed to keep her alive so that her White Griffon spell was now bringing her body back to its peak condition.

    ¡¯She has depleted about half of her life force and mana flow.¡¯ Solus hoped that, by giving Lith a steady flow of information, he could find a way out of that nightmare. It was the only thought that kept the fear that was gripping her heart at bay.

    Lith was honored by her trust, but no matter how many scenarios his brain managed to y, they all ended up in defeat.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not the first time I face a superior opponent, but I always managed to exploit my advantages to came out victorious. Against Nalear I had allies. Against Treius and his cursed object, I used their parasitic nature against them.

    ¡¯Thrud is perfect. No visible weakness aside her ego and she hasn¡¯t activated her vortex even once. How long does it take to bring that damn barrier downr?¡¯ Lith cursed while running more and more simtions with Solus¡¯s help.

    Both Solus¡¯s mana sense and Kilian¡¯s Third Eye revealed how close the array surrounding The Mad Queen¡¯s hideout was to crumble. s, "close" only works if someone is ying bowls or throwing a grenade.

    As long as the barrier prevented them from escaping, they were still in deadly danger.

    "You have exceeded all of my expectations, Manohar. It was worth taking my time to put your abilities to test."

    ¡¯Was this just a game to her?¡¯ Everyone but Manohar thought in unison.

    "Soon I¡¯m going to take back my throne and once it happens, a Queen needs a King. Who better than the god of healing to stand beside a goddess? Now your title is just empty air, but my machine can make you stronger, younger, even make you handsome. It can turn you into a true god like my father was."

    At those words, Manohar¡¯s eyes went wide with rage.

    "Join me, and together we will rule the Griffon Kingdom forever. Refuse, and I¡¯ll kill you where you stand along with your uselesspanions. What¡¯s your answer?" The barrier protecting the outpost was one of her creations.

    She knew she had not much time left and her brave fa?ade hid the harshness of reality. Thrud Griffon hadn¡¯t expected to be found out. Her hideout contained everything she held precious, all the treasures she had umted over time as well as the precious mementos from her long lost family.

    There were no Carpenters with her because they were storing everything inside dimensional items. The Mad Queen believed she could easily escape, but she couldn¡¯t afford to lose centuries of hard work and research.

    She had actually gone all out from the beginning of the fight and her inability to take out even a single enemy annoyed her greatly. Now that her puppies were almost done collecting her things, she wanted to give Manohar ast chance.

    Despite his horrible character and not being easy on the eyes, he was the most outstanding man she had ever met. He was barely over thirty, yet he had achieved a knowledge that surpassed her own, and a magic power that had allowed him to survive in a fight against her.

    There was so much they could teach each other. Their offspring would be peerless and their rule eternal.

    ¡¯Killing him alongside the magicless wench, the arrogant farm boy, the old pig, and whats-his-face would be a waste.¡¯ She thought.

    "Rejected!" Manohar replied with a wave of his hand. "This world is already boring as it is, the idea of living forever is my worst nightmare. Immortality is for losers that can¡¯t achieve anything without luck, just like you.

    "Centuries of life and for what? A shallow understanding of magic? A slightly better version of daddy¡¯s Madness? Don¡¯t get me started about that stuff." He pointed at Arthan¡¯s Sword and Armor.

    "Once again you just copied someone else¡¯s work, there¡¯s no shred of originality in everything you do or say. If you are a goddess, then you¡¯re the goddess of mediocrity and I¡¯d rather die than put up with your stupidity for even one day!"

    Manohar¡¯s words hurt Lith, Vastor, and Kilian as much as they did Thrud. None of them was a genius, their achievements were all based on hard work and relentless practice. In their eyes, Thrud¡¯s creations were dreadful but great at the same time.

    Even Balkor, a genius on par with the Mad Professor had aplished much less. Whenever Balkor needed an array or a magical item, he had to study and realize it by himself, whereas Manohar had unlimited funds and plenty of experts who took care of "minor details" of his research,

    "So be it." Thrud still couldn¡¯t believe Manohar being a fake mage like her, so she Blinked close enough to hit with one of her spells while keeping a distance that would allow her to react against iing attacks.

    She had battled Awakened in the past and learned the hard way that they could predict a Warp¡¯s exit point. Her n was brilliant, but it failed to bait the real Awakened due to her defenses being too good.

    Lith couldn¡¯t harm her with his de, so Blinking behind her was pointless, nor he could take her out with a single spell. He Warped away like the others, simply choosing a random spot to buy some more time.

    "Are you really just a man?" Thrud yelled in outrage. Her pride refused to ept that life could be that unfair. Manohar¡¯s mockery made all of her sacrifices and suffering appear meaningless.

    ¡¯Killing him is not enough. I¡¯m going to break him first!¡¯ She thought as she Blinked again. The Mad Queen appeared behind the man she hated the most after Manohar. She would keep him forst.

    Kilian was the one who had removed the seal on dimensional magic, depriving her of victory when it was within her grasp. If it wasn¡¯t for him, they would be already dead.

    If it wasn¡¯t for him, she could have activated any of the deadly arrays surrounding the throne room and killed them all in a snap. Yet while he was hiding, Kilian had isted the room with an array of his own.

    He had ruined everything for her, and Thrud returned the favor. Her sword went straight through his right shoulder de, piercing his lung in the process. The Captain fell onto the ground, drowning in his own blood.

    The blinding agony he experienced made him wish for death, but Thrud¡¯s had nned otherwise. Next, she went for Vastor. The old Professor¡¯s body was battered after using so many high level spells and being ravaged by the ck Griffon.

    His years of experience could nothing against age. His mind was ready to Blink, but his tired hands failed him. Arthan¡¯s de opened a deep wound that went from his left shoulder to his right hip, revealing both the white of the bones and the pink of the intestinesing out of hisrge belly.

    "You can save yourself or you can save them, but you can¡¯t do both. Today you¡¯re going to lose, Manohar. First I¡¯ll take your pride and then your life as well."

 Chapter 482 Nights End Part 1

    Thrud¡¯s move cornered the god of healing. He didn¡¯t need to use a diagnostic spell to know that no potion could save his teammates. Their injuries were too deep, without providing them life force, any healing attempt would be as deadly as the wound itself.

    Krishna Manohar knew it was over. He had failed to rescue his rescuers and now, weakened and alone, he was no match for his enemy. They were all already dead, the only variable was the order in which they would die.

    The Mad Professor finally experienced defeat and it tasted like horseshit. The monumental self esteem that had been the beacon of his whole existence crumbled like a house of cards. He stood with a nk stare, incapable to react.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t win. There¡¯s no reason to y if I can¡¯t win.¡¯ He thought.

    The Mad Queen didn¡¯t even bother with him, moving to her next target. Her n was cruel and implemented with such precision that it would inspire terror in any sane person.

    Unfortunately, herst opponents didn¡¯t fit the bill. Neither of them was ready to die nor surrender. Manohar fought only to win, whereas they were content with not losing.

    "You already managed to hit her, yet she¡¯s still alive. What¡¯s gone wrong?" Jirni asked while Thrud yelled her promise.

    "The problem it¡¯s not the sword, I can manage that." Lith said leaving her impressed.

    "The armor blocks all of my attacks and in a contest of pure magic, I¡¯m no match for her. While she is free to focus only on countering my spells, I¡¯ve no chances of winning."

    "Maybe I have a solution for that." Where others would see The Mad Queen promise as a death sentence, Jirni saw an opportunity.

    "I need you to buy me some time, can you do it?"

    Lith nodded in reply. Thrud appeared between them, shing at him while unleashing a hail of icicles at Jirni.

    Lith blocked Arthan¡¯s de with ease as Jirni rolled behind a nearby column and escaped being turned into a kebab.

    Thanks to Solus drawing power from the mana geyser, Lith was still as strong as when the fight had started. Thrud¡¯s body, instead, was severely weakened after being hit with the full force of three tier five spells.

    It made the physical gap between them even wider. Lith tried to push the opponent¡¯s de aside to headbutt her, but Thrud read his move. She didn¡¯t resist, so that he used too much force and found himself out of bnce.

    The Mad Queen used that split second to step in and execute a shoulder bash against Lith¡¯s sternum. It pushed him back and squeezed the air out of his lungs, leaving him defenseless.

    ¡¯Even though my strength is diminished, the skill gap between us is more than enough to get rid of him.¡¯ She thought.

    When she tried to lunge at his chest, Lith deflected her de while holding the Gatekeeper in a left handed grip and returned the favor in kind. He used the momentum of Thrud¡¯s attack to double the strength of his own shoulder bash.

    She was too close to avoid the hit and the one which followed. The armor could prevent part of the damage, but Lith was much heavier and stronger than her, leaving Thrud in mid air long enough for a right uppercut tond.

    Once again Arthan¡¯s Armor deflected the hit, but Lith¡¯s gauntlet¡¯s ws still aplished their mission. Solus had enveloped herself in a gravity sheath strong enough to open a deep cut right above the Mad Queen¡¯s left eye.

    It bled profusely, blinding her.

    ¡¯It¡¯s a trap! The Constable was waiting for this moment to strike.¡¯ Jirni¡¯s reputation was enough to make even Thrud afraid of her resourcefulness. The Mad Queen kept her only eye on Lith while she stabbed with surgical precision at her own blind spot, where Jirni was supposed to be.

    Except she wasn¡¯t. After her roll, Jirni had dashed toward Manohar to snap him out of his childish tantrum.

    "What the heck are you doing? Why aren¡¯t you helping?" She said while sshing potions and tonics on the two fallen Spellbreakers. They couldn¡¯t save their lives but could prolong them for a bit.

    "A single Healer can¡¯t save both of them." He replied.

    "Even if it was possible, it would be pointless. We did our best and f...." The word refused to roll off his tongue. "I don¡¯t have enough mana left to defeat her. Not with those goddamned artifacts supporting her. You are useless and he is too young. It¡¯s over."

    "No, it¡¯s not, you dimwit! Have you forgotten about the Clean te spell? It can disable her armor." Jirni whispered.

    "You think I didn¡¯t try?" He said while pointing at the numerous cuts on his Professor vest. "I need to touch her to activate the spell and she is too fast. My constructs can¡¯t transmit spells and thest time my real hands neared her, I almost lost them!"

    "Listen carefully, man child!" Jirni snarled. "You prepare that damn spell and we¡¯ll do the rest. You¡¯ll know when to act."

    Meanwhile, Thrud¡¯s confusion was getting the better of her. The cut was too deep for first magic to heal it quickly and she had already used the healing spell she had at ready.

    Arthan¡¯s Armor held another such spell, but once she used it, it would weaken the artifact¡¯s defensive abilities to the point the enemy¡¯s de could seriously injure her. Not to mention that wasting such a powerful ability for a small cut sounded absurd.

    Lith exploited her blind side to pile up more damage and weaken her with each hit she failed to block. The Armor prevented wounds from opening, but the blunt impact wore down her already dwindling stamina.

    When Jirni returned, Thrud¡¯s enhanced senses informed her of the enemy¡¯s arrival.

    The Mad Queen had no idea if it was Jirni, Manohar, or both. She Blinked to safety, putting her back against a wall. Lith saw her exit point and made sure to appear on her left side.

    Thrud couldn¡¯t see and Jirni was too far to notice Lith¡¯s throat turning of a scaly ck as he hurled a stream of blue mes.

 Chapter 483 Nights End Part 2

    The Mad Queen tried to activate her Sword¡¯s Ruler¡¯s Will ability to cancel the blue mes, but to no effect. They didn¡¯t consist of normal mana which she could assume control of, but of pure world energy ignited by a spark of Lith¡¯s life force.

    The Armor still protected her even from that kind of threat, yet she noticed that the mes¡¯ intensity wasn¡¯t dwindling over time. They ate at the Armor¡¯s gravity sheath like it was their fuel, wearing down its pseudo core as it was forced to spend mana to keep its master safe.

    Thrud activated the Frozen Heart spell stored within the cyan gemstones engraved on the de. The tier five spell snuffed out the mes and attacked Lith at the same time.

    He dodged it while keeping himself in her blind spot. His left hand conjured a cold gale as his right hand took control of the remaining energy of Frozen Heart, adding it to his own spell.

    After beating Lith¡¯s fire breath, the Sword¡¯s spell was reduced to the intensity of a tier two chant. Lith and Solus worked together to weave their tier three water spell like it was tier five.

    Its power would still be that of a tier tree, but by merging it with Frozen Heart¡¯s remains, they took it up a notch and now their will flooded within the spell¡¯s every fragment.

    They didn¡¯t just link their mana to the world energy to conjure the ice hail, they also continued to control it even after the mana was outside of their bodies, like they did with Necromancy spells.

    Thrud countered it with Ruler¡¯s Will as she prepared her new spell, but once again Arthan¡¯s Sword failed her. The willpower Lith had infused the ice with repelled the Mad Queen¡¯s, so that the razor sharp icicles struck her and interrupted her chant.

    ¡¯Dammit, that sword is troublesome.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed. ¡¯Controlling every single piece of ice required a lot of mental energy. It¡¯s no wonder that tier five spells only create a small number of focus points. Splitting your will like that is exhausting.¡¯

    To add insult to injury, all of their efforts had barely resulted in a few more bruises. Tired of Arthan¡¯s Armor¡¯s interference, Lith unleashed a barrage of first magic spells.

    None of them was strong enough to kill Thrud, but they were naturally infused with their caster¡¯s will, making them impervious to Ruler¡¯s Will. The Mad Queen cursed loudly as her spells were interrupted one after the other and her mana went to waste.

    After Thrud¡¯s timely Blink had messed up her n, Jirni finally reached the two as she signaled Manohar to be ready to step in. Her n, or rather, her gamble, would be difficult to pull and they only had one shot at it.

    Her body enhancing potion was about to wear off, and once it did, taking another so soon would have reduced effects. Jirni was past her prime, but even if she was still young, her body would never be able to keep up with Thrud on its own.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want my death to be just another statistic in this madness.¡¯ She inwardly griped as she executed a leg sweep from the Mad Queen¡¯s blind side. Thrud was thrown off bnce, yet she didn¡¯t care.

    The hit had allowed her to pinpoint the enemy¡¯s position. She swung her de against the new threat and unleashed streams of lightning against them.

    Exactly as Jirni had predicted. She held half of her needles in her right hand and the other half in her left as she used them as a pincer to grab hold of Arthan¡¯s Sword and rip it from Thrud¡¯s grip.

    That was the easiest and yet the most dangerous part of her gamble. Usually, the needles Orion had Forgemastered for her were perfect lightning rods, able to protect her from that kind of attack.

    Unfortunately, the electricity produced by the Sword had already proved to be able of ignoring her artifact. Jirni could only hope that with them being in direct contact with the enchanted de, they could absorb most of the lightning before it had the opportunity to strike her.

    Even with her iron will and rigorous training, Jirni was still human. There was only so much damage she could bear until it made her lose focus and her hold on her enemy¡¯s weapon all at once.

    Once again, Orion¡¯s masterpiece didn¡¯t let her down. Jirni was the spell¡¯s target, so the electricity followed the path of least resistance towards her hands and most of it was trapped by the enchanted needles.

    Jirni withstood the spell as she pulled with all of her might, yet her n was doomed to fail. Even from such an awkward position, Thrud¡¯s grip was still too strong for Jirni. The potion wasn¡¯t enough to ovee the difference in height, weight, and physical prowess.

    At least not until Lith understood what was happening and used all the spirit magic he could muster to hinder Thrud¡¯s movements and add his own pull to Jirni¡¯s. Arthan¡¯s Sword flew across the room for only a few meters before doing a U-turn in mid air.

    The enchanted weapon wasn¡¯t sentient, but among its many spells, there was one which allowed its master to recall it to their side with a thought.

    "Now!" Jirni yelled at Manohar.

    The Mad Professor Blinked right in front of Thrud, hitting her with two open palms. She sneered at his weak attack and struck at his elbows with her fists, shattering his arms.

    Blinding pain almost made Manohar faint. Only sheer willpower coupled with gritting his teeth like his life depended on it allowed him to retain his consciousness.

    ¡¯Dammit, I hate pain. I knew that taking one for the team was a bad idea, but dying sounds like an even worse one.¡¯ He thought while the healing spell he had prepared in advance restored his blood vessels and ligaments the moment they were torn apart.

    Thrud¡¯s fists were slightly bigger than his own, yet they hit like a sledgehammer. Her smug grin disappeared as she felt her full armor returning to its normal weight.

    ¡¯The enchantments on her protections have stopped working!¡¯ Solus announced with joy.

    Jirni ignored her pain and Lith ignored his fatigue while they circled around their enemy making it impossible for her to guard herself against both. The skill gap between Thrud and her opponents was massive, but not even she could block attacks from behind.

    Soon the damage she sustained was too much, even for her perfect physique.

    "Enough!" She yelled as her eyes turned orange with the activation of the corresponding gemstone on Arthan¡¯s Sword.

    As Thrud crouched down to prevent being beheaded by Lith¡¯s horizontal sh, her weapon generated a small ming sphere that affected everything in the surroundings except her body.

    Lith and Jirni were sted away by a roaring explosion that left the floor charred ck. The Mad Queen used that moment of rest to Blink near Arthan¡¯s Madness and store it inside her dimensional amulet.

    "It¡¯s over you fools!" A burst of maniacalughter erupted from her full lips as the doors of the room opened, letting her army of Carpenters return to aid their master. They had finished collecting her resources and were ready to join the fray.

    "Fine! For once you are right." Manohar fell on the ground with a thud, using thest of his energy to stabilize hispanions¡¯ conditions.

    Then, the external barrier shattered. Dozens of Spellbreakers barged from every direction, turning the Carpenters who were unlucky or stupid enough to stand in their path into mincemeat

    "It is over." He said with a mad grin.

 Chapter 484 Nights Aftermath Part 1

    Dozens of mages and as many tier five spells flew across the room. As chaos ensued, Lith and the others were Warped outside Thrud¡¯s hideout.

    "Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take it from here." Said an old mage with snow white long hair and beard. Lith could see several Wardens taking down the arrays protecting the outpost one by one.

    The fighters didn¡¯t attempt to pile up on Thrud. Even in her weakened state, now that the Carpenters and their expendable vortexes were by her side, she didn¡¯t hesitate to make them self destruct.

    The Mad Queen was aware of the mana geyser¡¯s presence and used it to overload her minions with world energy causing explosions that rivaled tier five spells. She hadn¡¯t used it to fuel her arrays because she needed it to draw energy for Arthan¡¯s Madness.

    The Carpenters¡¯ ability to absorb the surrounding world energy was just a pale imitation of her pseudo umtion skill. For centuries she had been close to perfecting her father¡¯s creation, to the point that her core had actually evolved.

    She was on the brink of turning it to purple, but she was unable to correctly expel impurities, leading her core to turn rainbow colored due to their presence. Thrud had used the mana geyser to refine her body and develop her clones before Mogar could reim its stolen energy.

    Now she was forced to destroy her own sanctum, yet the oue of that night¡¯s events pleased her.

    ¡¯Manohar alone wasn¡¯t a match for me. Even this Country¡¯s greatest genius was a mere childpared to my strength. I just have to take my time and kill him as soon as the opportunity presents itself, before he can be a real threat.

    ¡¯The others were irrelevant at best. My only worry is the Ranger, but first things first. To challenge Tyris I need more power, more artifacts. Let¡¯s see how granny dearest takes this blow to her precious Kingdom!¡¯

    Thrud made several Carpenters detonate at once, using them as cover while she retrieved the dimensional amulets from her thralls.

    "Thank you for your help, idiots. This is my parting gift!" Her eyes turned purple, activating the corresponding gemstone on her sword. Space itself was torn apart by her artifact, creating a fissure which led her hundreds of miles away.

    Banishing wasn¡¯t an escape spell, though. The fissure instantly closed, leaving behind a crack that spread to all the recently opened Warps¡¯ entry and exit points. Arthan¡¯s Sword had made space unstable, turning dimensional magic spells into suicide.

    "Fly away!" Yelled many mages at once. Yet a few of theirpanions didn¡¯t manage to disengage from their opponents before it was toote. The fissure Thrud had left behind caused a domino effect.

    Each crack made the fissure grow more and more vtile, until it exploded. The resulting sh was visible for miles, allowing both the people at Othre¡¯s Mage Association¡¯s branch and the members of the Courts to witness it.

    When the dust settled down, where once the old outpost stood, now there was only a crater. The Mad Queen had made sure to leave behind no traces of her passage and no clues about her future ns.

    Luckily, Lith¡¯s group had been Warped back to Othre right after their rescue. Vastor and Kilian were in dire need of medical attention, while the others had left since they weren¡¯t able, or in Lith¡¯s case willing, to take part in the fight anymore.

    "A simple rescue mission, eh?" He said while a couple of Healers treated his and Jirni¡¯s wounds.

    "Okay, I stand corrected." She shrugged. "I may have actually jinxed it, but we are alive and that¡¯s all that matters."

    Before they were allowed to rest, the Crown asked each member of the unit for their personal report about the events.

    ¡¯I could sleep for a week and maybe I will. Yet there¡¯s no way I skip the opportunity to get properlypensated. This mission was a disaster from start to finish, way above my measly paygrade.¡¯ He inwardly grumbled.

    "Professor, could you exin to me how to turn holograms into constructs?" He asked Manohar while they were waiting for their own turn. Lith opened his palm, creating a small replica of the Professor himself.

    Yet it was unable to interact with physical objects, passing through them like it was a ghost.

    "I can see you have spent a lot of time practicing first magic." Manohar had a smug grin while watching his self proimed handsome features.

    "I¡¯ll tell you what I told the Crown every time they asked me to take an apprentice: I¡¯d rather die than share my secrets. You have already made it this far, young Lith. If you are as talented as I have always suspected, you¡¯ll find the answer on your own.

    "If you don¡¯t, it just means that you are not destined to wield such power. Do not worry, you are in greatpany. I¡¯m the only known human that can do it." He gloated.

    When Lith¡¯s turn came, he told them everything that had happened after they sent him to meet the Dawn Court, from their absurd rules and verbal traps to his grasp of Thrud¡¯s ns.

    There were just a few hours left before sunrise, yet both the King and the Queen attended the reports, pondering every bit of information they heard carefully.

    "We are grateful for your sacrifices, Great Mage Verhen. Tell us how can we repay you." Sylpha avoided offering him a noble title or a marriage. He had already turned down those offers multiple times and there was no reason for him to change his answer.

    "This experience has proven to me that I¡¯mcking in several aspects. I need quite a few enchanted items to use as study subjects. Also, I would like to receive ingredients and equipment for my personalb." Lith provided them a long list of rare materials.

    "Do you already have a personalb?" Was the only question the Royals had about his request. Lith was asking for the equivalent of a Baron¡¯s annual budget, but after all he had done, they believed it was a fair price.

    Especially after everyone, including Manohar, had stressed his contribution in the fight and reported Lith¡¯s ability with holograms.

    "Anything else?" Asked King Meron.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. In the past, I have requested to check out several tomes, yet they were denied to me. I would like for my request to be reconsidered. Some of them may help me to better understand the threat Thrud Griffon represents."

    After witnessing Arthan¡¯s Madness effects, Lith wondered if it could teach him how to speed up his own refining process. It was also a perfect excuse to hide the real purpose of his research.

    Not only did he request books about souls and reincarnation, but also several others which were meant as misdirection. His obsession with afterlife could be misinterpreted as madness, but put together those tomes made his research seem nothing more than entric.

    The second list worried them much more than the first one. Most of the titles belonged to forbidden books. Tyris had forbidden the ess to some of them in the hope of smoking out the Master or at least their aplices.

    "Last, but not least, I really need a vacation."

 Chapter 485 Nights Aftermath Part 2

    Meanwhile Lith spoke with the Royals about the many things he would like to receive aspensation for his troubles, Jirni reassured the other members of Othre¡¯s group about the mission¡¯s positive oue.

    In her book, every mission she could walk away from was a good one.

    "We still have to deal with the paperwork, but that can be done anywhere. I can¡¯t wait to leave this awful ce. No offense, Dorian." She said after sharing everything she was allowed to with them.

    Both Thrud¡¯s existence and Arthan¡¯s Madness¡¯ were strictly on a need to know basis.

    "None taken." He replied quietly. The team had aplished feats beyond all expectations, which meant the Association would award him handsomely. Yet his future personal gains were overshadowed by his guilty conscience.

    Not only did Dorian put everyone in mortal danger, but also none of the missing persons had survived the hideout¡¯s explosion. With Thrud¡¯s escape and countless casualties, he couldn¡¯t consider it a victory.

    Kam and Tista sighed in relief. No amount of paperwork was worth the weight that had just been lifted from their chest. They had spent most of the night talking. It didn¡¯t make them friends but they felt much closer to each other than before.

    "Constable Ernas, I have a few questions for you." Kam asked.

    Jirni turned toward her and noticed she was still holding the camellia like it was some kind of charm. Kam had retrieved the mystical flower while Lith was dealing with the Dawn Court and she had him imprint the flower before they left for Thrud¡¯s hideout.

    As long as he was alive, the spell which shaped the hologram would hold it in ce.

    "Sure. What can I do for you?"

    "I have always followed your career, dreaming one day to be a Royal Constable myself. However, this mission made me doubt my abilities. I¡¯m not your match and I don¡¯t think I ever will be. Are all Constables required to fight like you do?"

    Kam had proven herself useful more than once. Before asking Commander Berion to put her up for the Constable training course as reward, she wanted to make sure she wasn¡¯t just wasting her time with pipe dreams.

    "Gods, no." Jirniughed at the thought. "Otherwise the Knight¡¯s Guard would be useless. A Constable is required to be smart, cunning, and above all, loyal to the Crown. Most of them don¡¯t see a fight in their entire lives. That¡¯s what mages are made for."

    "Does a Constable need to be able to use magic?" Kam was aware that her battle prowess amounted to almost zero. Her brain was all that she had.

    "Not at all. Most Constables aren¡¯t mages and for a good reason. Take my husband, for example. His heart is that of a soldier, but his soul belongs to Forgemastering. People usually love doing what they are good at, and mages are good at magic.

    "When he isn¡¯t busy protecting someone, his mind longs for his forges. In my experience, a mage who doesn¡¯t enjoy researching the mystical arts is usually a parlor dog. Is that...?" Jirni asked pointing at the camellia.

    "Yes. Lith made it for me." Kam replied while blushing a little. She was too embarrassed to mention it was also named after her. It would sound like marking her territory.

    "It¡¯s beautiful." Jirni sighed in envy.

    ¡¯My blockhead of a husband has never made anything like that for me. Plus, Lith has yet to ask me about Phloria. Either he is really taken by this woman or maybe my daughter¡¯s ship has sailed. Only when I see them together at my birthday will I know for sure.¡¯

    "Do you think someone like me could be a good Constable?" Kam snapped Jirni out of her reverie. Jirni was her idol, her words meant the world to Kam.

    "I don¡¯t know you well enough to be sure, but you performed much better than I expected from a political puppet." Jirni wasn¡¯t the type to mince words, making Kam turn pale.

    "You found useful information and even risked your life to save yourpanions. That¡¯s a plus in my book. I could rmend you for the role of field assistant. It¡¯s basically the Constable trainee course.

    "It teaches you the ropes and gives you the opportunity to understand if you are fit for the job." She said while sipping her tea.

    "Would you really do that for me?" Kam¡¯s head was spinning at the sudden turn of events.

    "It¡¯s not a big deal. I¡¯m just giving you an opportunity. Failing or passing is entirely up to you. Just a few words of advice. The things you see while doing this job will often make you feel dirty inside. It¡¯s not for the faint of heart.

    "Also, I rmend you fetching yourself a Forgemaster for a husband. Enchanted items are like true friends, you never have enough." Jirni winked, making Kam be beet red.

    ¡¯I can always y the long game. As long as the Verhen and Ernas families get along, there¡¯s always the next generation.¡¯ She thought.

    ***

    In the end, every member of Othre¡¯s group received a reward proportionate to their contribution and one week paid vacation. Dorian Felhorn was promoted to Great Mage, while Manohar was pardoned for hisst escape.

    The Mad Professor exploited his vacation and disappeared for a few months, but that¡¯s a story for another time.

    Jirni already possessed everything she wanted plus several royal pardons, so her reward consisted of giving both her husband and daughter a week leave to spend some time together with the rest of the family.

    Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, Kam asked him to spend a few days together. Commander Berion¡¯s ploy of using her to keep an eye on Lith had messed up their newborn rtionship.

    During thest week in Othre, they had gone through thick and thin. All the more reason why he assumed she would have distanced herself from him to evaluate the effects that his presence had brought into her life.

    They both agreed to leave Othre and never return. Lith was sick and tired of not being able to Warp or fly at will while Kam had never visited the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s southern regions, so he brought her to Derios, the Distar Marquisate¡¯s capitol.

    He had been there many times both as a Professor and for other dates but he had never visited the city. They stayed in the same hotel but in different rooms. It was something Lith didn¡¯t know whether to be happy or worried about.

    ¡¯I enjoy my privacy, but she was the one who proposed this vacation and she even brought the camellia along. Then why the different amodations? I¡¯m getting mixed signals here.¡¯ He inwardly griped.

    One of the reasons why he had picked Derios, was that it was not only an open-air museum where historical monuments and luscious gardens coexisted, but Lith was also pretty well known. Most establishments would offer him discounted prices.

    "I need your opinion about one thing." Lith asked during lunch, after they toured the ancient quarter of the city.

    "Shoot." Kam was amazed by Lith only picking good restaurants that offered local delicacies and always offering to pay the bill.

    "This mission made me rack up a lot of merits. I also had the opportunity to remind the Crown that I don¡¯t like people messing with my personal life."

 Chapter 486 Vacation Part 1

    "I got permission to get rid of Berion, but since it¡¯s you who he tried to manipte, I wanted to let you decide."

    "Are they really willing to rece ourmanding officer?" Kam said in amazement.

    "Yes." Lith said.

    ¡¯If by "rece" you mean shoving him six feet under.¡¯ He actually thought.

    "First of all, thanks for your consideration." She replied with one of her dazzling smiles.

    "I think it¡¯s better if we keep him, though. Berion is better than most of his peers and whoever they rece him with, would surely do the same if not worse. The Crown holds you in high regard, whereas I¡¯m just a low level bureaucrat.

    "Let¡¯s be honest, I¡¯m an easy target to get to you. I wanted us to spend some time together because even if we haven¡¯t known each other for long, the mission in Othre allowed me to catch a glimpse of your life in the field.

    "I learned more about you during those weeks than I would after dozens of dates. I needed to see if my feelings were born only out of gratitude or the shock of seeing you almost die and now, I have my answer.

    "I like you, Lith Verhen, and that¡¯s why I have to ask you to be equally honest with me. Do you think our rtionship is worth its troubles? I have a messed up life and family. As long as I don¡¯t have a position of my own, I¡¯ll be a liability."

    Kam had a hard time speaking those words, yet he deserved to know the truth.

    During thest few days, Lith had shared with her so much of his world. He had made her dream of soaring through the skiese true and shown her wonders like the circr rainbow visible when looking at the ground from above the clouds.

    Just like Constable Ernas had said, those who were like them were killers but also humans. All those moments spent together had made her reflect about their future, if they ever got one together.

    ¡¯It¡¯s like there are two Liths. I¡¯m not afraid of the one who fights like a demon and I really like the one in front of me right now. Yet we are very different and I want him to realize how little I have to offer him.

    ¡¯I have no family or assets worth mentioning, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m willing to be dependent on others. My careeres before marriage and rtionships.¡¯ She thought.

    Lith was taken aback by her words. His life had made him single minded enough that when he wanted something or someone, he just strived for it. Being rejected was much less painful than being tormented by regrets or loneliness.

    He was sick and tired of feeling empty inside. When he was still a kid on Mogar, he had often dreamed of being special. Now Lith only wanted to feel normal for once in his three lives.

    "If we talk about messed up lives, I¡¯m sorry but I take the cake. Any rtionship means solving problems together that you wouldn¡¯t have alone." His joke made both of themugh.

    "So, yes. I like you too and I never considered you a liability. I don¡¯t know if our story will be worth all of its troubles, but I¡¯m willing to find out." Lith took her hand into his own.

    It was the first romantic moment they shared since their second date and Kam found herself deeply enjoying it. She threaded her fingers through his and she kept them that way until they got back to their hotel.

    Later, that evening, Lith went to pick her up for dinner and found Kam still wearing her dressing gown.

    "If you don¡¯t get ready quickly, we¡¯ll lose our reservation." He said with a smile. Even though he hated beingte, Lith couldn¡¯t get angry at her. It was clear how much effort she had put into their date.

    Her ck hair was perfectly straightened out and so silky that her room¡¯s lights reflected on it creating wonderful shades of gold. Her light make up made her skin look wless and emphasized her oval features.

    A sweet scent emanated from Kam¡¯s body that made Lith wish the night was already over, so that he would understand if she was ready to pick their rtionship up from where they left it or if she wanted a do over from scratch.

    "Sorry it took so long, I want to make this evening special." She replied from the bathroom¡¯s closed door.

    Lith sighed and looked at his watch. Their reservation was as good as gone.

    "Well, be honest. What do you think?" Kam entered the room wearing nothing but a flower in her hair and a smile on her face.

    Lith suddenly couldn¡¯t care less about the restaurant¡¯s reservation, nor that he had no food until morning came.

    ***

    After his week of vacation with Kam, Lith took another with Solus. He hadn¡¯t forgotten about the promise he had made to her and the lost city of Kogaluga was the perfect cover for his off the record holiday.

    Unlike Kaduria, the mystery of Kogaluga was of no interest to him. The lost city was gued by a rift in the air from which darkness magic seeped endlessly. Any living being who died within the city would immediately turn into an undead.

    Those reanimated by the rift would all start as lesser undead, like skeletons and ghouls, but they would get stronger over time. The sons of Kogaluga would evolve into greater undead if not destroyed and forced to rebuild themselves from scratch.

    It was the result of a failed experiment to grant immortality and eternal life, but it resulted in utter failure. History had shown there was no ceiling to their metamorphosis.

    Back before Kogaluga was turned into ruins, its ruler had turned into a Lich and led the horde of greater undead who had been amassed inside the city to storm the surrounding regions before the Kingdom was born.

    Yet all of them were just puppets of the rift. It had a will of its own, making any new undead just a means to its own ends. Just like Kaduria, Kogaluga was surrounded by a barrier and the Ranger¡¯s duty was to make sure its inhabitants remained at their weakest.

    The rift was able to recreate their bodies out of thin air over time, so even reducing the undead to dust was just a matter of further stalling. Normally, it would take several days for a Ranger to scout the whole city and make sure that no clever undead remained hidden.

    Thanks to Life Vision, it took Lith less than half a day to find and pulverize them all with darkness magic. He spent the rest of the week with Solus. Ever since she had achieved her green mana core, the first floor of her tower form had beenpletely rebuilt.

    One of her new abilities was to Warp the whole tower to any mana geyser where she had ever been in the past. It allowed them to travel great distances without anyone inside or outside the Kingdom being able to follow their movements.

    Luckily, the nearest mana geyser to the lost city was too far away to be useful to fuel the barrier surrounding it but perfect for Lith¡¯s purposes.

    He simply had to get back to Kogaluga when he had to perform his daily reports, while he spent the rest of the time indulging in Solus¡¯s wishes.

 Chapter 487 Vacation Part 2

    The first thing Lith and Solus did was go back to Lutia. Solus¡¯s physical form was limited to the tower¡¯s premises, but she loved the most rolling over the dewden grass and feeling the warmth of the rising sun over her wisp form.

    After being trapped for months inside her ring, even the most trivial of experiences, like hearing her own voice instead of just her thoughts, gave Solus endless bliss. They would walk around the tower, putting her new limits to the test, and change location the moment she started to feel like a hamster on its wheel.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to bring Tista along?" Lith asked.

    "Maybeter. Spending time with her made me understand how odd our rtionship is in the eyes of a normal person. I¡¯m sure she would ask me what I think about Kam, but right now I really don¡¯t want to talk about it." Solus sighed.

    "The only thing I want to do is sleep." Another change which had urred after she achieved a green mana core, was that now Solus was able to sleep while in her tower form independent of Lith.

    In her normal condition, Solus was unable to rest. Her constantly being awake wore down her nerves over time, especially when Lith was asleep or she was forced to iste herself from the outside world to give him some privacy.

    Sleeping alleviated her stress and relieved her depression. While Solus rested, Lith used that time to study some of the tier five spells the Crown had awarded him with and to further experiment with light magic.

    After seeing Manohar in action, Lith had realized he was just scratching the surface of light magic. His efforts and relentless practice improved his holograms even further, making them more realistic.

    Unfortunately, they remained ethereal. Lith tried to at least add some color to them but without sess. He forgemastered many more camellias, roses, orchids, and each one of them had the colors and nuances he remembered from his life on Earth.

    ¡¯Why can I achieve with Forgemastering what I¡¯m unable to do without a magical focus?¡¯ He pondered to no end nor improvement.

    While his forgemastered creations could be easily infused with other elements, mixing light with other kind of magic that wasn¡¯t darkness made the images crumble. Lith would have liked to forge an enchanted item capable of creating hard light constructs, but he had no idea how its pseudo core should be shaped.

    Without something to use as a reference, it was just a waste of time. There were too many variables to hope for a stroke of luck.

    Lith tried using more mana while shaping the light element, but it only made his holograms brighter, while adding focus made them more detailed but nothing else.

    While Solus slept, he moved the tower back to Kogaluga and searched its ruins far and wide for any magical treasure that Life Vision could reveal now that no undead remained.

    "Dammit. Either opening the rift consumed everything precious inside the city, or someone beat me to it centuries ago. This ce is useless. The undead here have no soul or life force of their own, they are just extensions of the rift."

    Life Vision showed him that regardless of the source of the will driving the dark energies, it kept replicating itself. All the undead, no matter their starting form or the evolution process they would undergo, were all the same being.

    Lith gave his report before going back to the tower and practicing more magic. Once Solus awoke, she felt reborn.

    "Do we have ns for tonight?" She asked after noticing the Sun was already down.

    "No. I¡¯m open to suggestions." He replied while patting her wisp form. After they had learned tier five light magic, Lith and Solus had discovered the reason why she was now able to experience physical sensations.

    The wisp was only made of light, but the thing that had been growing over time inside of it was life force. Solus¡¯s life force to be precise, and it was somethingpletely different from that of the tower.

    They had failed to notice it in the past because both Lith¡¯s Life Vision and Solus¡¯s senses could only distinguish one person¡¯s energy signature from another¡¯s, but failed to notice when the same person had more than one.

    Only the tier five Scanner spell was able to do it. Just like Lith had a human and a hybrid life force, Solus had one as a tower and another in her wisp form. Lith was almost certain that, rather than a sphere of light, it was an embryo of the body she had shown right after they had fused for the second time.

    They were both eager to test such a theory, but all of their past attempts to master the art of bing one at will had failed. Solus had also tried to alter the shape and size of the light part of her wisp form, but she had to stop after discovering it was directly connected to her life force.

    "Do you mind watching the stars together? I can¡¯t remember thest time we shared a significant moment outside a life or death situation."

    Lith¡¯s replied by Warping them above the tower¡¯s roof, or to be more precise, above the ruins of the second floor. That night the sky was clear, allowing them to enjoy the many bright stars which lit the sky and Mogar¡¯s silvery waning moon.

    The chilly breeze made Solus shiver, butpared to the nothingness she usually experienced, even a slightly unpleasant feeling had the allure of novelty.

    "Do you think we could ask the undead Courts for help?" She asked while snuggling in his arms. Cold had already lost most of its charm.

    "It¡¯s unlikely, at least on our terms. The Undead seem to be a tight-knitmunity that only y by their own rules. Ka was epted so easily only because she is already half undead." Lith replied.

    "We were na?ve thinking that they wouldn¡¯t try to exploit my nature of Awakened for their own ends. If not for Inxialot¡¯s presence, they would have surely tried to take me prisoner.

    "I don¡¯t want to even think about what they would have done if you came with me. Our best shot is to approach the Council of the Awakened, but only after we understand how rare a magic tower is.

    "Worst case scenario, we¡¯ll need to be a lot stronger than we are now. They may not care about me, but I doubt someone like a Lich or a powerful mage would hesitate for a single second to kill me to get their hands on you."

    "There¡¯s another way." Solus pointed out. "We know that Marchioness Distar has an enchanted item that allows her to hide her core. If we can get our hands on a simr tool, we could develop our own version to shield both of us from detection.

    "I¡¯m tired of all those people that would only dissect us like guinea pigs. It¡¯s time to stop reacting and take the initiative."

    "Excellent idea!" Lith nodded. He had almost forgotten about the Marchioness¡¯ enchanted hairpin because it was the only one of its kind they had ever met.

    "Our only problem is that I never even heard about something like that. If it¡¯s as precious as I expect it to be, it could be a royal treasure. Stealing it is out of question and so is revealing we know about its powers.

    "The former could make us an enemy of the state while thetter would arouse questions we have spent our whole lives avoiding."

 Chapter 488 Meet the Parents Part 1

    Months passed and Lithpleted his first round of the Ker region. Luckily, after Othre¡¯s incident, nothing relevant happened. Some of the lost cities were sealed because of phenomenons that were of no use for Solus or Lith.

    Others were interesting cases for their studies, but unlike Kaduria there was no one they could talk to in order to gain intel about what caused the disaster. Almost every sealed ruin was popted by monsters who were incapable or unwilling tomunicate.

    Lith and Solus did their best to unveil their mysteries, but they had little time at each city. The army kept them on a tight schedule because once winter started, small viges and cities without a Warp Gate would be isted.

    Lith could Warp only to locations he had previously visited, which made finishing his rounds of paramount importance so that he could share his contact rune with every mayor who could require his help once the cold season started.

    When Lith¡¯s birthday arrived, he was way ahead of schedule, which gave him several free days.

    Thanks to Invigoration he could work non stop for weeks, while Solus¡¯s new ability to Warp between mana geysers allowed them to save a lot of time whenever an emergency forced them to backtrack.

    Lith was scared of his birthday because it put him between a rock and a hard ce. Things had been going well with Kam, so after a while, it was only natural that she asked him when he would introduce her to his parents.

    His family had also started badgering him once they realized that Lith didn¡¯t consider their rtionship as a fling. Hence his birthday had be a source of stress. It was the perfect asion for them to meet.

    So perfect that not even Lith could find an excuse decent enough to prevent it from happening.

    ¡¯Dammit, I never introduced anyone to my family for a good reason. In this stupid world, I¡¯m supposed to already be married. My family and friends are like vultures circling closer with each passing year.¡¯

    ¡¯Everyone expects me to settle down before I turn twenty, but I can¡¯t unless I solve my problem or at least Solus¡¯s. So far, distance and conflicting schedules have helped me to keep the two worlds apart, but now I¡¯m against a wall.

    ¡¯If I don¡¯t let them meet, both sides will think I¡¯m ashamed of them. My parents because of their poor upbringing and Kam because of the age gap. Solus, you are a genius chess yer with an incredible win rate. How do I get out of this pinch?¡¯ He asked in desperation.

    ¡¯Genius is a big word since most of my victories are against you, and you suck at chess.¡¯ She sneered. Truth to be told, Solus had won a few tourneys using Lith as a proxy, but chess was too recent and had few real yers.

    She just considered herself like a big fish in a small pond.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no way out. Unless you manage to cause a crisis that you would be called to solve, of course.¡¯ Her words were thest nail in the coffin of Lith¡¯s hopes. He had no choice but to set everything up.

    The idea of meeting her boyfriend¡¯s family left Kam overjoyed for at least five full minutes. After that, panic ensued.

    "What do I wear? What can I bring as a gift for them or for you? What if my present isn¡¯t good enough and your family starts thinking I¡¯m a gold digger?" Lith enjoyed havingpany in his misery, at least until she almost cried.

    "Why are you sitting there with that stupid grin on your face and not saying anything?" Kam said after noticing that no matter how many times she asked, Lith would only shrug in reply.

    "If you want to break up you just have to say it. Setting me up for failure is just cruel!"

    "What the heck are you talking about?" Lith inwardly cursed for having activated themunicator¡¯s hologram function.

    He had done it out of habit. When Lith traveled for weeks in the middle of nowhere or was surrounded by hostile people who disliked foreigners, Kam¡¯s face was the only beautiful thing he could see all day.

    "I¡¯m not setting you up. You insisted on meeting them, how can any of this be my fault?"

    "Yes, I¡¯ve insisted for over a month!" She rebuked. "Why does it have to happen during your birthday? A normal family lunch would be so much easier to handle."

    "Easier how?" Lith scoffed. "I bet a month¡¯s pay that even in that scenario you would have asked me the very same questions. Even worse, you would worry about having no cooking skills to unt."

    "Oh gods! You are right. If I don¡¯t bring any food your mother will think I¡¯m incapable of taking care of her son. I¡¯m so screwed." Kam said between tears, reminding Lith that when sense and sensibility sh, usually sense loses big time.

    Between her upbringing and having a full time job since she was sixteen years old, Kam¡¯s culinary repertoire was limited to her favorite dishes. Her romantic partners would bring her to restaurants and the army canteen did the rest.

    She wasn¡¯t a bad cook, she just never had a good reason to practice.

    Seeing her anguish made Lith feel like an insensitive jerk.

    He had never cared about someone enough to worry about what their family thought. Phloria¡¯s family didn¡¯t count, because Orion would have disliked him even if he was Prince Charming, whereas everyone else loved him.

    "Look, Kami, it¡¯s not a big deal." He said with his sweetest voice, in a perfect example of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

    "Dress like you would when meeting a friend, show them your lovely smile and you¡¯ll charm them just as you charmed me. Besides, no one would ever think of you as a gold digger. Not after putting up with my stinginess for so long."

    Thest phrase managed to cheer Kam up, to the point of getting augh. Whenever they went to a new ce, the best part for her was always the menu. The faces Lith made while checking the prices were hrious.

    After reassuring her, Lith informed his family too. That day joy seemed to be pretty scarce throughout the whole Griffon Kingdom, since even Elina¡¯s enthusiasmsted less than the length of a pop song.

    "What should I prepare? What should we wear? What kind of present can I possibly give you? If it¡¯s not good enough, after seeing how we live, she¡¯ll think we are leeching off your hard work."

    "Yeah, and she may be tempted to do the same." Raaz brooded. "She could be a gold digger looking for a mark."

    Hearing Solus telepathicallyughing at his misery made Lith realize how rude his earlier grin had been. The silver lining was that, after making his girlfriend cry, he knew how to spare his mother from the same fate.

    "Please, Mom, don¡¯t overthink things. This is just a family lunch, not a contest about who loves who more." He tried to reassure her.

    "Oh, gods! He said the L word." Lith¡¯s enhanced hearing caught Rena¡¯s whisper. "Lith usually avoids it like the gue. This is bad."

 Chapter 489 Meet the Parents Part 2

    "It¡¯s bad indeed if I can¡¯t even use a metaphor without it being dissected!" Lith snapped.

    "You guys are unbelievable! You consider me old enough to get married, live on my own, and even have children. Yet at the same time, I¡¯m apparently too stupid to choose who I should date.

    "I don¡¯t remember a single objection at Rena marrying Senton just because he could be after my money. Why are you blowing everything out of proportion? If my birthday is such a bother, I can always cancel the party.

    "I¡¯ll spend the morning with you and the evening with her. Everybody wins!" Lith said.

    ¡¯Or at least I do.¡¯ He actually thought.

    "Lith dear, we don¡¯t think that you are stupid." Elina said while shushing the peanut gallery.

    "It¡¯s just that Senton had his family business and even if he was a gold digger, well, we were confident that the moment he broke Rena¡¯s heart you would¡¯ve ripped his out." Elina replied while biting her lower lip.

    "You what?" Raaz quieted Rena¡¯s outburst by cing his hand over her mouth. She didn¡¯t know whether to be more infuriated by her parents¡¯ck of trust in her judgment or by the shadow of death that had lingered over her marriage.

    "We are just worried about you. Kam sounds like a good woman, but you are a Great Mage who could get a fief and a noble title with a snap of your fingers. If only you relinquished your mania of traveling like a migratory bird, of course."

    Elina had tried countless times to make her son take up a more sedentary career. Every time Jirni called to tell her about Lith¡¯stest achievement, she would feel something crushing her heart.

    Elina knew from experience that the bigger the reward he got, the deadlier his mission must have been.

    "I¡¯d never force you to choose between her and your family, I¡¯m just nervous because this is the first time you¡¯ve brought someone home. It means the world to me. Yet since you have always refused to introduce her to us, I can¡¯t help but be worried by your sudden change of heart."

    "Rx, Mom, Kam is not a gold digger. I¡¯ve met plenty of them. Heck, now I can admit I even dated a few, but I never fell for their trickery. They always make up some sob story and then start asking for money, favors, or magical items.

    "Ever since I¡¯ve known Kam, she has never asked me for anything but to be careful doing my missions. She told me about her family when I told her about mine and that¡¯s it. No rtive that needs a Healer, no forgemastering asked or given.

    "For the record, she wanted to meet you for a month now. It was me who dyed because I was afraid you would scare her." Lith sighed.

    Elina had heard a lot about Kam from Tista after she had returned from Othre. Lith¡¯s words made her hope she could be the one who finally grounded her boy, maybe even give her a grandchild or two.

    "What do you mean scare her?" She gasped.

    "Mom, Kam is a career woman, she¡¯s older than me, and she¡¯s not a mage. I would really appreciate no mentions about how much she earns, how many kids she has nned and stuff like that."

    "Don¡¯t worry, she won¡¯t hear a word about it from us, right?" The peanut gallery nodded, even the still gagged Rena.

    "What about the rest? Is there something she doesn¡¯t like to eat? Anything we should know?" Elina asked.

    "Just one thing. She is as terrified as you are of making a bad first impression, so cut her some ck." Lith replied before working out the final details.

    ***

    ¡¯Based on Earth¡¯s calendar and how close the new year is, I¡¯d say I was reborn around mid December. It¡¯s odd how people on Mogar have split the year into seasons and weeks but not months.¡¯ Lith mused as he opened one Warp Steps after another, crossing the space between Derios and Lutia in less than a minute.

    ¡¯Hey, Copernicus, less thinking and more acting. You¡¯re scaring your date by showing off this much.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    Kam was used to Warp Gates and considered them a marvel of magic. Them being fueled by a whole city made it much easier for her to not think about the amount of power they required.

    She had studied the maps, so she knew the Marquisate¡¯s capitol and the vige were hundreds of kilometers apart. Seeing the scenery around her change with every Gate Lith opened with but a flick of his wrist was beyond impressive.

    "I¡¯m a bit tired, do you mind if we stop a few minutes so I can catch my breath?" Lith lied through his teeth. They were in the middle of a small clearing, on top of a hill he had picked to avoid dirtying their shoes and pants with mud or snow.

    "Sure." She smiled reassured at the idea he was still human. "You shouldn¡¯t exert yourself so much. We could have taken a coach."

    "And waste a lot of time and money for something I can do for a roasted chicken¡¯s worth of energy? No way." He replied with an indignant tone, making herugh heartily.

    "By the way, I know it¡¯s your family, your rules, but isn¡¯t our attire a little too casual?" Kam asked pointing at her legs. For the first time in his life, Lith had actually picked someone else¡¯s attire.

    She was wearing a warm long coat over a salmon pink woolen sweater, ck pants, and t shoes. Lith had insisted on clothes she wasn¡¯t fond of andfortable shoes whereas she would have preferred something more sophisticated.

    "No. You are forgetting that my house is in the middle of the farnds. Heels would get stuck in the soft ground and the kids will make a mess of your clothes. One of your usual pencil skirts would make you look great for about five minutes.

    "Then you would trip over their toys and their adorable, little, and ever dirty hands would make you curse every second of your stay." Now it was his turn tough.

    If not for the self cleaning properties of the Skinwalker armor, Lith would never wear anything but sweatpants near his little brother or his niece.

    "Do you think they will like me or will they try to burn me at the stake?" Kam had been second guessing herself for almost a week. She was older than Lith¡¯s biggest sister and was scared at the idea his parents were even one bit as bad as her own.

    "You already know Tista, which is a plus. As for my mother, when I told her you woulde to our home for my birthday, she freaked out as much as you did. Heck, she even used almost the exact same words." Lith shrugged.

    "You didn¡¯t tell her I freaked out, right?" Kam was still embarrassed about the poor performance of her nerves. After facing a Carpenter, she found it unbelievably stupid being so scared of a loving mother.

    Maybe.

    "Of course I didn¡¯t." Lith lied again, as Solus emitted retching sounds in his head.

    ¡¯I hate how easily he spouts bullshit, but seeing how both Elina and Kam rxed after knowing how nervous the other one was, I must admit it¡¯s the right thing to do.¡¯ She thought while Lith opened thest Gates that brought them in front of the Verhen household.

 Chapter 490 Meet the Parents Part 3

    Just like its master, the Verhen house had never stopped growing ever since Lith had started working as a Healer for his vige first and for the highest bidderter.

    It was now a beautiful two story cottage, which didn¡¯t look like a farmer¡¯s home, more like the cozy countryside love nest of a noble. The walls were entirely made of stone and the sloping-roof was covered with high quality tiles.

    The inside looked even better. The floor was made of hardwood and covered with soft carpets which helped to keep the house warm and gave it a weing feel. Kam had rehearsed what to say to each member of Lith¡¯s family many times in her head.

    She wanted to make a good first impression, yet she had no idea the mission was already aplished. Tista had nothing but good things to say about her. Also, she was the first girlfriend Lith had ever brought home, his family had mistaken his obsession with control in preparing the event for tender affection.

    They loved Lith so much that she had a special ce in their hearts even before they could meet her and their only worry was to not embarrass him. Thanks to the White Griffon academy, Lith and Tista had developed sophisticated manners and speech, which made them able to easily mingle with bothmoners and nobles.

    The rest of the family had never left the area surrounding Lutia except during short vacations or for visiting the Ernas household. Count Lark was still an as frequent as wee guest in their home and had provided them with several lessons about etiquette over the years.

    The Count found the thought that Lith¡¯s parents couldn¡¯t apany him at gs unbearable, so he had tried to help them ovee their fears and inhibitions. Elina and Raaz had greatly appreciated his gesture, but when surrounded by nobles, they kept feeling like a freak show.

    Facing Kam alone, in thefort of their own home and without being forced to wear fancy clothes still proved to be a harder challenge than a g for them. Lith couldn¡¯t care less about what nobles thought, whereas he seemed to think the world of Kam.

    As soon as the couple stepped in, an awkward silence ensued. Tista had yet to arrive, only Rena was already there.

    Everyone was as stiff as a mannequin and the way introduced themselves reminded Lith of one of those tv shows featuring job interviews where the CEO was known to be disguised among the applicants.

    The tension in the room was so thick it was hard to determine who was more frightened.

    Luckily, kids had no sense of shame nor care for any form of etiquette.

    "Big bro!" Aran had turned two years old just a few months before.

    He emerged from the bathroom with his arms up demanding a hug, but his pants were still down. When Lith saw his little brother running toward his brand new coat, his battle hardened reflexes kicked in.

    "You shall not pass!" Lith yelled as small wisps of light surrounded Aran while spirit magic lifted him off the ground. The light was just for show, so he wouldn¡¯t scare people with an invisible force.

    "What were you doing in there, young man?" Lith tapped his foot while his parents recovered Aran¡¯s pants whichid on the floor like a fallen soldier.

    "Poo!" Aran was proud of his ability to use the bathroom and not need diapers anymore.

    "Did you clean yourself up before barging in here? Did you at least wash your hands?"

    "Maybe?" Aran wasn¡¯t sure. He clearly remembered of being almost done when he had heard his brother¡¯s voice. The rest was kind of fuzzy. Elina took her son between her arms and brought him back to the bathroom.

    "I¡¯m so sorry." Lith said with a remorseful tone as fake as a three dor bill, beating the embarrassed Raaz to the punch.

    "That¡¯s why I hate kids." He added with a purposely audible whisper into Kam¡¯s ear to break the ice. "They are noisy, smelly, and messy."

    "That¡¯s not true! Boys are smelly, girls are clean." Leria protested while tugging Lith¡¯s pants.

    "My hands still smell like soap." To emphasize her point, she put them under Lith¡¯s nose as soon as he lifted her in his arms.

    "Duly noted. Leria, this is my girlfriend, Kam. Kam, this is my soap scented niece Leria. She dreams of one day bing a princess."

    "Nice to meet you Leria." Kam shook Leria¡¯s small hand that quickly escaped her grasp and went for her hair.

    "Are you a princess? Because your hair really looks like a princess¡¯." The little girl had never seen such a shiny ck hair.

    "Thanks, but I¡¯m not a princess." Kam replied with augh.

    "Too bad." Leriabed Kam¡¯s hair with her fingers for a while before losing interest.

    "Uncle Lith, can you please cook? Uncle¡¯s food always tastes better than mom¡¯s." Leria calmly exined to Kam with a solemn tone.

    "That¡¯s because your uncle cheats with magic." Rena replied while saving Kam¡¯s hairdo.

    "Be careful. He cheats at everything with magic."

    "I know, but you can never argue with his results. Every time he stays at my ce, he leaves everything cleaner than when he arrives." Kam replied without thinking.

    ¡¯Oh gods! Now they¡¯ll think my house is a dump.¡¯

    "I know, I trained him well." Rena stood on her tiptoes and ruffled Lith¡¯s hair.

    "Don¡¯t listen to him. He¡¯s great with kids too. When Leria was teething..." While Rena talked, Tista arrived and the awkward mood faded awaypletely.

    Lith left Kam with his family and put on his kitchen apron which resembled a mage robe. Fire Vision allowed him to check the temperature of all the dishes both on the stove and in the oven.

    Then he used fire magic to make them cook evenly while he stirred everything with water magic and at the same time cut fruits and vegetables in animal shapes with air magic to make them more alluring for the kids.

    Kam had never seen so manydles and lids float in the air while Lith moved from one dish to another. Between the kids and Lith¡¯s skills with domestic chores, they had a lot to talk about.

    Kam also learned about their past hardships and Tista¡¯s illness. Kam was moved by how tight knit the Verhen family was, being able to talk about such a sad past with a smile on their face.

    Instead of being emotionally scarred, like it had happened to her, leaving her afraid of any form ofmitment, they had ovee it together and their lives were better for it.

    "Can I do something to help you?" Kam joined Lith in the kitchen to resist the temptation to share her troubled past with her family.

    ¡¯My problems are my own. They don¡¯t deserve me ruining this day by talking about sad things¡¯ She thought

    "Of course." Lith replied as the words "Kiss me. I¡¯m a wizard in the kitchen and I¡¯m good at cooking too." appeared on his apron thanks to a light magic spell. While Kam was stillughing at his stupid joke, Lith took her in his arms and gave her a long but soft kiss.

    "Why did you do that?" She blushed while looking at the rest of the family who was quick to turn their heads around. Kids excluded, of course.

    "Because you looked like you needed it." Lith shrugged.

    "Stop worrying now. This is not a mission nor a job interview. This is just a lunch for the Verhen family and today you are part of it."

    Elina and Raaz shared a nce and clenched their fists in silent triumph while Kam found herself hoping it wouldn¡¯t just be for today.

 Chapter 491 Meet the Parents Part 4

    Kam had to admit that although Leria was young, she knew her stuff. Lith¡¯s cooking was really delicious. Elina asked Kam about her past and when she noticed that Kam didn¡¯t mention anything rted to her life before the army, Lith¡¯s mother decided to not pry further.

    "Your house is really beautiful." Kam said after noticing the many magic fueled home appliances inside every room and spacious bathrooms.

    "My apartment is much smaller, yet I could have never afforded such afortable ce if it weren¡¯t for Belius being a giant army base. Sometimes I can¡¯t believe I spent most of my life without running water and all these conveniences."

    Anything which required even a small magic crystal was the result of forgemastering. They were very expensive and usually only noble and rich households could afford them.

    Belius was one of the rare exceptions in the entire Kingdom where anyone had the equivalent of a modern Earth home because of the nature of its arrays, which protected the border with the Gorgon Empire.

    Everyone else was still forced to chop wood to get warm during winter and get their water from a well or another water source all year long.

    "I hear you, Kam." Rena nodded. "After I got pregnant with Leria, I¡¯ve basically moved back to my family home. Once you get used to hot and cold water on tap, heating during winter, and cooling during summer, it¡¯s hard to go back to the old lifestyle.

    "Also, having a Healer avable 24/7 is priceless, especially when you have your first child. I went into a panic whenever Leria sneezed and Tista was away."

    After lunch, Lith used light and air magic to stage one of the children¡¯s favorite shows: the legend of Bang, thest airmaster. It had everything they could wish for. A young, dumb protagonist, good feelings, funny animals and cool fights.

    Light shaped the holograms while air magic gave them voices and the other elements were used only for the special effects. Lith had never projected a movie for Kam, just like he avoided using magic as much as possible in front of her.

    He was afraid that showing off his powers too much could widen the small gap he felt was still between them. He had learned from experience that normal people would see a mage as either an asset or a monster.

    It was one of the main reasons mages mostly married nobles or colleagues. The former would boost their social status, while thetter were the only ones who could truly ept them.

    ¡¯In for a penny, in for a pound.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Between Warp Steps, my special cooking style and what she witnessed in Othre, this shouldn¡¯t be too bad. If she wants to be a part of my life, I can¡¯t hide forever. Especially in front of my family.¡¯

    The y didn¡¯t seem to scare Kam. Quite the contrary, she remained enraptured by it. After the food and the fun tuckered out the kids for their afternoon nap, she asked Lith to show her around the farm.

    "That light show was amazing." She said after he brought her to see Selia¡¯s old house.

    The huntress had moved away years ago, yet Lith returned there from time to time, hoping to learn what had happened to the woman who had taught him how to hunt back when he was still a kid and to his first true friend, Protector.

    "Too bad the story was so childish and full of plot holes. It would be marvelous if you could project more mature stories, even if just for the two of us." She snuggled on his arm while he used water magic to make the snow part in front of them.

    "More mature stories? It¡¯s doable, but I prefer living certain situations rather than just spectating them." His lecherous tone left no doubt about what he was referring to.

    "Pervert! I meant like those from good books or theatrical works." She giggled and punched his shoulder.

    "I have always dreamed of meeting the protagonists of my favorite novels or watching the best scenes of the ys I love the most over and over again. Maybe, now that I have a giant mage boyfriend, he could make my wishe true."

    "Maybe." Lith nodded. "I don¡¯t know who this sucker is, but my suggestion is to entice him by wearing as little as possible when you ask him for a favor. I also heard that hot, passionate sex is a great way of saying ¡¯please¡¯ or ¡¯thank you¡¯."

    "What¡¯s wrong with you today? Are you this cheeky because it¡¯s your birthday or does Lutia bring it out in you?" Kam¡¯s tone sounded like a rebuke, but she actually moved his hand from her shoulder to her hip.

    "I¡¯ll tell you what¡¯s wrong. After bugging me for days about what to give me as a present, I have yet to receive a single present. I¡¯m the birthday boy yet I have worked all day to fill your bellies and keep the kids entertained. How is that fair?"

    Lith said with an overly dramatic tone while pretending to be heartbroken. His acting was as terrible as he wanted it to be, making Kamugh heartily.

    ¡¯Maybe Lady Ernas is right. Maybe if I really get to be a Constable, I should get myself a Forgemaster for a husband.¡¯ She thought as she pulled the cor of his coat with both hands to give him a passionate kiss.

    "Does it feel better now?"

    "Not yet, but it¡¯s definitely a start."

    ***

    When the presents were finally revealed after dinner, Lith thought that by mentioning them he had jinxed his own birthday. Both Kam and his parents had only bought clothes for him, the thing he hated the most as gifts. If they weren¡¯t enchanted, of course.

    His face when opening them was worse than the one he made when checking the bill at a fancy restaurant, which made most of those presentugh until they cried.

    "I¡¯m sorry sweetie." Said Elina once she managed to catch her breath.

    "Gifting enchanted items to a Forgemaster is like pouring water in a river. You have no hobbies and you already decorated your house as you thought best. It¡¯s not like you left us a choice."

    "Same here." Kam said.

    Lith cast the Hush spell around the kids¡¯ ears and was about to say something very rude when his army amulet drew his attention. His free days weren¡¯t actually free, he was always on call.

    His temporary handler warned him about an emergency in Kogaluga. Something had been pushing on the barrier protecting the lost city with growing intensity. It was an rming sign since Lith had cleared the zone recently.

    The only good thing about the lost cities was their predictability. Any anomaly was considered a high level threat to the Kingdom.

    Lith cursed his bad luck and left along with Kam.

    "Actually, half of my gift is waiting for us in my apartment. It¡¯s something I¡¯m nning to wear the next time we spend the night together." She whispered in his ear before she took the Warp Gate to Belius.

    "Please, take care. If something happens to you, it would be useless and there¡¯s no way I¡¯d get a refund."

    "I¡¯m really rubbing off on you." Lith chuckled trying to cheer her up. She was clearly disappointed of having to part from him so abruptly after nning that day for so long.

 Chapter 492 Growth Part 1

    After she left, Lith had the Desk Sergeant set the coordinates of the Gate to the city of Othre, the nearest waypoint to Kogaluga. He had the impression that after Kam met his parents, that small gap between them was gone.

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether to be happy or worried about it. He only had one year left in the army and after that, he might be forced to expand his search to other countries. He hadn¡¯t nned Kam just like he had never expected to be so attached to Phloria during the academy.

    He was afraid history was going to repeat itself, setting an expiration date on his new rtionship too.

    Once Lith reached Kogaluga, it took him only a few hours to discover the truth. The anomaly detected by the lost city¡¯s array system didn¡¯te from the inside. Lith had been thorough during hisst sweep and the undead inside were still few in number.

    A tribe of trolls had reached the city, lured by the darkness magic flooding from the rift. They had been trying to get in for a few days. Without food, their numbers wouldn¡¯t rise, but the energy seeping out of the barrier was enough to strengthen each one of them over time.

    The good news was that all Lith had to do was kill them from a distance with fire magic and make sure they stayed dead. Trolls could regenerate even from their smallest bits, so even with Life Vision it took him a while.

    The bad news was that once he was done with them, it was alreadyte at night. Toote to go back to Belius to spend the night with Kam or even to give her a call. The only silver lining was the presence of the nearby mana geyser, so he could at least spend the remaining hours of his birthday with Solus.

    Once inside the tower, he noticed that the core inside the wisp had grown bigger from thest time he had seen it.

    "Solus, did you have a breakthrough?"

    "Yes!" She had an ecstatic tone. "It¡¯s the second one already since you got your blue core. At this rate, I¡¯ll get halfway through green in just a few months."

    "Lucky you. Between the boot camp and the constant traveling, I couldn¡¯t use umtion as often as usual. I¡¯ve only promoted my core by one shade so far."

    "I¡¯m two levels apart from you even though and I¡¯m constantly nurtured by both you and the world energy. I should be the oneining." She rebuked him.

    "Did you enjoy your birthday?"

    "Well, it went much better than I expected." Lith said while taking a long hot bath. Even though he had acted tough all day, he had actually been worried things could not work out for either Kam or his family.

    "Indeed." Solus replied from the Alchemicalb, where she was sorting out all the new equipment they had received from the Crown as a reward. Much more had yet toe.

    It would give her something to do the next time Lith didn¡¯t need her help or presence.

    "It¡¯s the first time we have to skip your second birthday, though. I¡¯ll miss Count Lark and his staff who still believe you are his son, just like I really wanted to check on Friya and Quy. We haven¡¯t seen them from over a year now." She sighed.

    Lith usually celebrated his birthday twice. Once only with his family and his closest friends, like Nana or Selia, and a second time during a social event hosted by the Ernas or by Count Lark.

    Lith was tired of always being alone, but he had no other choice. He regretted not meeting Count Lark, Jirni, or any of the Ernas girls for his birthday, but he had only one day and had to make it count.

    "Me too, Solus. Yet Kam is my home away from home now. I have to give her and my family priority. I will call the others tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Okay?"

    "Okay."

    Later, that night, while Lith was fast asleep inside his bed, Solus¡¯s wisp form escaped from his embrace and moved to the bedside. Suddenly, it started to pulse as its core expanded until it touched the fringes of the wisp¡¯s sphere of light.

    Solus¡¯s life force broke free of its restraints, taking the form of a humanoid female, entirely made of golden light.

    It had no facial features aside from her shining eyes and lips half-opened in a very sweet but sad smile. A cascade of golden hair enveloped her whole body as it floated in the air like she was underwater.

    ¡¯Yes! I knew I felt different the moment I assumed my tower form.¡¯ Solus danced in the air out of joy before looking at her figure thanks to a series of mirrors that she had conjured around her.

    ¡¯I do have some baby fat.¡¯ She inwardly griped while she stared down and squeezed her belly.

    ¡¯Whoever I was before turning into a tower, I must have been a couch potato. There¡¯s no way a mage would be so cruel as to make their tower¡¯s avatar short and paunchy. I¡¯ve always known I¡¯m not a thing!¡¯

    After looking at her form from every possible angle, Solus was satisfied overall.

    ¡¯At least I¡¯m well proportioned for my height and have a tight ass. Yay me.¡¯ She chuckled.

    Solus swept her hair back, to be sure it wouldn¡¯t tickle Lith¡¯s sleeping face before kissing him softly on the cheek.

    "Happy birthday, Lith." Her voice was barely a whisper.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve waited for 12 years, I can wait a bit longer. If I tell him now, it would make our rtionship even odder. I don¡¯t want to risk ruining his rtionship with Kam for just... this.¡¯

    Solus had waited for three years to have even a semnce of a body, just to discover it was still not enough. It still didn¡¯t allow her to have a normal life nor to be with Lith like she wanted to.

    Solus caressed his hair for a second before going out to see the stars apanied by a ss of milk and a trail full of all kinds of biscuits.

    ***

    The following morning, Lith noticed immediately that the tower had changed overnight. The stones whichposed his room were sturdier and smootherpared to their usual crude look.

    Every room of the tower was nowrger than he remembered.

    "Solus?" He looked around before noticing the wisp snuggled in his arms under the nkets.

    "Let me rest five more minutes. I¡¯m dead tired." She grumbled.

    ¡¯Not only did I eat so much that I got a stomach-ache, but also I can¡¯t remain in human form for more than an hour without spending a lot of mana. Worst power up ever!¡¯ She was careful to hide her thoughts where Lith couldn¡¯t find them.

    "How could you possibly be dead tired? We slept all night to recover from using all the Warp Steps necessary to go back to Derios and then reach Kogaluga."

    Lith had indeed slept all night, whereas Solus had joined him just an hour earlier, just in time to experience what an embrace felt like before exhaustion forced her back into being a wisp.

 Chapter 493 Growth Part 2

    Lith was true to his word and called all of his friends before hitting the road again. Some of the news he received was expected, some of it not so much.

    "Damn! Jirni¡¯s birthday is going to be a real pain in the ass this year. I can only hope an emergency will give me a decent excuse for not attending." Lith cursed.

    "So much for missing your friends." Solus grumbled. She had never felt so tired and would have much preferred to keep sleeping.

    "They are going to celebrate their 25th anniversary, you should¡¯ve expected something big for the asion. Aren¡¯t you happy to finally see Phloria and the rest of the gang again?"

    "No. Really no." Lith shook his head.

    "If I don¡¯t bring my girlfriend to the party with me, Kam will think I still feel something for my ex. If I do, there¡¯s going to be a showdown between them, and even if violence is rarely involved, back on Earth these kinds of things were never pretty."

    "How can you say you feel nothing for Phloria? One of the reasons you asked Kam out is because she reminded you of her. Even now you refuse to call her by her name and just use the ¡¯ex¡¯ word. I think that says a lot." She sneered.

    "I haven¡¯t forgotten what we had together. I owe her a lot, maybe more than I could ever repay her, but the past is in the past. By the way, someone is grumpy this morning and for once it¡¯s not me." Lithughed, making Solus feel awkward.

    She still had conflicting feelings about her new ability and, most importantly, about her decision to not share it with him. The exhaustion coupled with the guilt were making her touchy.

    ***

    Lith resumed his duty and for more than a week he was unable to stop in one ce if it wasn¡¯t for eating or sleeping. Winter in the north had started earlier than usual, catching many cities and viges unprepared.

    He would often be called by their local authorities to resolve disputes about food provisions or to rid them of potential threats. Even bandits needed a ce to shelter from the snowstorms, but no one wanted them to live in their neighbourhood.

    Criminals would try to infiltrate settlements at thest moment, hoping to either escape detection in the slums of medium sized cities or exploit theck of security typical of small viges.

    Unfortunately for them, the people in the north were as harsh and unforgiving as their climate. They hated even the foreigners who wore the Kingdom¡¯s uniforms, let alone those whose faces only a mother could love.

    Once Lith reached a vige, he would give them two choices: to spend the rest of the winter in prison or in the graveyard. Banishing them wasn¡¯t an option. They could return as soon as he left and he had no desire to waste his time with mercy.

    Some of them tried to escape while the bravest ones attempted to resist being arrested. They all died the same way: with their neck snapped by a flick of Lith¡¯s wrist and a touch of spirit magic.

    ¡¯It seems until people settle down for winter, we¡¯ll be doing a lot of back and forth around the whole Ken region.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Yeah, you won¡¯t be able to go back home for a while. I expected you to nag like usual, yet you are smiling." Solus was confused seeing him soid back.

    ¡¯I would if I were a normal Ranger, stranded in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm. I¡¯m a lucky man who can seek shelter inside his own mage tower and enjoy thepany of his only true friend instead.¡¯

    Lith was eating a steaming meal in the dining room Solus had created for him.

    ¡¯Between working, taking care of my family and Kam, it¡¯s been a long time since we could just spend a bit of time with just you and me.¡¯ He patted the wisp who was floating in front of him.

    ¡¯Even though we are always together, I still missed you a lot, Solus. I wish we could share this meal together.¡¯ The lights in the tower turned beet red.

    Not for the overly casual physical contact which had be even more awkward since she had acquired a human body, but because she had actually already eaten her fill while Lith was setting up the Forgemasteringb for their next experiment.

    "You have an odd concept of quality time!" Solus telepathically pouted.

    "You are using the mind link tomunicate without interrupting your meal to save time and ever since we got stuck in here, we have done nothing but work on our magic. We could take a nap, watch a movie, read a novel, anything but work!"

    ¡¯You are joking, right? Neither of us needs to sleep, the only movies we can watch are those I know by heart, and we read a book in a split second with Soluspedia. Any of the above would be just a waste of our precious time.¡¯ Lith was confused by her recent behavior.

    She had always insisted on making him rest regrly and had always been fond of cuddling, but for a while now she wouldn¡¯t take a no for an answer. Truth to be told, Solus was trying to follow Tista¡¯s advice and live her own life.

    Yet since she could only take physical form inside the tower and she could only do as she pleased when he was asleep, her window of opportunity to experiment with new things was quite small.

    To add insult to injury, Solus really enjoyed spending quality time with him and in her book, work did not qualify.

    ¡¯Besides, I don¡¯t care what we do. As long we are together, it¡¯s like a holiday to me.¡¯ Lith stressed his point by hugging her tightly and making the dining room turn even redder.

    In the end, they reached apromise. Lith would decide what they would do for 16 hours a day and Solus would decide for the remaining eight. By the end of the blizzard, Lith had converted a few of the new spells the Crown had awarded him with into true magic and gained a deeper understanding of first magic.

    Once Solus noticed that even when she forced him to rest Lith would actually practice umtion to further refine his core, she came this close to giving him a piece of her mind.

    Unfortunately, when she opened their mind link, the only thing that he was thinking about was the hope that, by improving his core, he could help her to gain the light form she had actually already acquired.

    Solus was deeply touched by his affection for her, realizing once again she held a very special ce in his heart.

    A few dayster, they were on the edge of the ruins of Kush. The creatures popting the city had such a strong life force that they would regenerate even after being pulverized by darkness magic.

    Lith was studying the ghost-like life force of a freshly killed monster with Scanner. None of his tier five body sculpting spells were able to cause the slightest alteration to the ethereal figure in front of him who was silently collecting his remains floating in the wind.

    ¡¯If my life force were to be immutable like theirs, I would achieve immortality.¡¯ He thought as his army amulet broke his focus.

    "Fuck! Another call."

    ¡¯More petty quarrels between nobles or is it bandits again?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Neither.¡¯ He replied when the call ended. ¡¯A tribe of monsters is about to attack the city of Maekosh¡¯

 Chapter 494 Warg Part 1

    ¡¯Another tribe of monsters already?¡¯ The news left Solus shocked.

    ¡¯We dealt with another one less than two weeks ago outside Kogaluga. How can they possibly spawn so fast despite our rounds and theck of resources due to winter? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s more trolls. Those things are disgusting, they give me the creeps.¡¯

    ¡¯No trolls, it seems they are dealing with a pack of warg. Also, I agree with you, it shouldn¡¯t happen this often.¡¯ Lith thought as he dispelled Scanner and Scalpel.

    ¡¯I can only think of a few possible exnations for this. If we are lucky, it¡¯s just theming out of their nests after running out of resources. Monsters are as powerful as they are dumb. They are incapable of nning ahead for a whole season.¡¯

    ¡¯Worst case scenario?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Someone is making them spawn to further their own agenda.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, right.¡¯ She chuckled. Even by Lith¡¯s standards, that was full blown paranoia. ¡¯I wonder where you left your tinfoil hat. We don¡¯t want aliens to read your mind.¡¯

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire.

    The Master had been on cloud nine for months now. The incident in Othre had given them exactly what they needed to put an end to the slump their research had been in during thest two years.

    "I¡¯m telling you, Xenagrosh, this is the will of Mogar. Everything happens for a reason." The Master¡¯s usual mean, lecturing tone had been reced by one of a child on a sugar rush.

    They spoke with a shrill voice, talking fast as their hands operated the experimental machinery the Abominations were assembling in the magicalb. Ever since the Master had managed to acquire a copy of the Spellbreakers¡¯ report, they had barely slept.

    Xenagrosh, the Eldritch Abomination who served as their right hand was worried about the Master. Their maniacal enthusiasm for magical research was a double edged sword. It had brought them far, but had also caused many casualties among their ranks.

    Abominations were even rarer than Awakened ones, their numbers were limited.

    "Four years ago, Balkor taught everyone with a working brain how Abomination¡¯s tissues can be imnted inside other creatures to control and empower them. At first, I thought it was as ingenious as it was useless, until Thrud showed me how wrong I was.

    "She brilliantly solved the main problem of Arthan¡¯s Madness¡¯ low energy assimtion rate by converting her victims into copies of herself before harvesting them.

    "I¡¯ve devised a way to fuse Balkor¡¯s and Thrud¡¯s research which has solved many of our problems. Abomination¡¯s tissues are much stronger than human¡¯s, they can take root in any living being.

    "By creating copies of our associates, we can boost your powers endlessly and get rid of the madness which ensues after fusing several Abominations into one. If they share the same mind there will be no conflict. It¡¯s just perfect!"

    Xenagrosh¡¯s enthusiasm was limited. She had been a powerful Awakened before turning into an Abomination and being forced to rebuild her strength from scratch. She knew all too well that saying and doing were two very different things.

    "I don¡¯t know. Even if I knew I was just a copy of the original, I¡¯d rather die fighting than let myself being sacrificed. Also, we still need to kidnap a lot of specimens for your experiments. I don¡¯t see much difference in our situation now." She shrugged.

    "How can someone who once was so brilliant have be so idiotic?" The Master sighed. "We¡¯ll harvest them before they reach full sentience, we can¡¯t risk a civil war of our own. As for the specimens, we¡¯re only going to use monsters for the trial runs."

    Xenagrosh was stunned by her mentee¡¯s brilliance. Monsters spawned fast, had great magical potential, and no one cared how many of them died.

    "What about the orc shaman¡¯s crystal?" The Master asked interrupting her musings. "We need it as energy source, otherwise mass breeding Abominations will take too long."

    "It¡¯s... lost."

    "What do you mean lost?" The Master¡¯s good mood disappeared.

    "The retrieval team spooked the shaman enough to make him detonate along with the mana crystal rather than let it fall in the hands of ¡¯demons¡¯."

    Both the Master¡¯s rage and eloquence reached a new peak, making them say words so crude that it¡¯s best for them to remain forgotten.

    ***

    City of Maekosh, Prancing Griffon tavern.

    It was Lith¡¯s second time being there and his first visit hadn¡¯t degenerated into a brawl solely because he was as happy to leave as everyone else was eager for him to go.

    As long there was a mana geyser in the proximity, Solus¡¯spany was the only thing Lith needed to enjoy his stay in a new ce.

    "As I told you thest time, Ranger, your money is most wee here. You, however, are not." Xelos, the tavern¡¯s owner, was ring at Lith in such a way that if looks could maim, the Ranger¡¯s remains would easily fit into the establishment¡¯s trash bin.

    Like many medium sized cities in the north, hospitality wasn¡¯t a strong suit of its inhabitants. Most Northmen lived in fear of the borders and of the spies that mighte from the Gorgon Empire.

    Uniforms and badges could be counterfeited, so even during the good season they only trusted strangers as far as they could throw them. Winter made everything worse.

    With no Warp Gates and snowstorms that could iste a city for weeks, a single foreigner mouth was one too many. No one was willing to share their rations and risk suffering from starvation in case something happened or if the coldsted longer than expected.

    The tavern¡¯s usual patrons shared Xelos¡¯s hatred for Lith. Everything he ate or drank was something they wouldn¡¯t get to enjoy. Even if he was paying for his meals, they still considered his presence like that of a thief.

    "And as I replied to youst time, you will give me what I paid for, or suffer the consequences." Lith considered Maekosh a shithole, but the variety of beers they brewed there were top notch.

    He had got a taste of them from a merchant in Othre and found them a marvel for his taste buds, even at room temperature. Served cold they were simply divine. Lith had added as many kegs as he could to his stocks during his first visit.

    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t amount to much. Winter wasing and most of the supplies were already sold.

    "Like what?" Xelos sneered. "You are nothing but a military dog, so follow your precious orders and get lost!"

    "I¡¯m d you asked." Lith replied with a soft smile, as his mouth and fingers weaved an incantation.

    "You can¡¯t use your magic!" Xelos didn¡¯t lose his spunk. "Everyone here is my witness. Uniform or not, the Griffon Kingdom won¡¯t stand criminals."

    "Indeed." Lith opened a Warp Steps right behind Xelos, using a bit of spirit magic to push him through it before closing the Gate. The patrons jumped from their seats in outrage, but he remained calm.

    "I¡¯m a civil servant, not a ve. There¡¯s a big difference to it. ording to thew, robbing a Ranger, refusing to serve him, and ndering him are all criminal offenses punishable by imprisonment.

    "Which means that you only have two choices left. Waive my protection and face the monsters on your own or join your friend in a solitary cell for the entire time I¡¯m forced to stay here."

    Silence befell the tavern. When pride and fear shed, thetter usually won by andslide, especially when monsters were involved. The patrons went back to their seats and no one protested when the barmaid served the Ranger his meal.

 Chapter 495 Warg Part 2

    Lith¡¯s eyes were brimming with mana, but not because he was angry. He was staring at the steaming tes in front of him with Life Vision to make sure no one had spat in his food or beverage.

    There was only a brief time window before saliva became invisible even to his magical perception. The waitress had no idea what was happening, so the scene made her quiver.

    "I¡¯ll take that one, thanks." He said to a second waitress as he switched the tray she was carrying with the one in front of him. Lith had ordered the house specials because it made it much easier to rece them without notice.

    "Tell whoever ¡¯spiced¡¯ my food that they need a Healer fast, or they will not live long enough to see Spring. I advise throwing away the stuff on that tray, if you don¡¯t want to spread the disease." Lith lied through his teeth.

    Not even he could diagnose something from saliva, but those present had no way to know that. Panic spread inside the tavern as a terrified yell came from the kitchen right before the service entrance was mmed by someone who was in a great hurry.

    The tavern¡¯s patrons looked at their tes like they had been served live rats. Many of them started to hold their bellies while fear and self-suggestion made them feel sick one after the other.

    "I¡¯m sorry, are you also a Healer?" Asked a pretty waitress who looked like she had just dined on rusty nails. She was a redhead with a lot of freckles on her face and a nice figure.

    "Depends. Can you afford one?" Lith loved it when his ns came together and hated his meals being interrupted. His voice oozed sarcasm and annoyance.

    "I¡¯m just a waitress." She replied.

    "Then I¡¯m just a Ranger." Lith¡¯s smile was as sweet as an unripe lemon. Soon he was the only one still inside the tavern.

    ¡¯That was a low blow.¡¯ Solus thought. Her reprimandcked conviction since she liked unwarranted hostility even less than Lith¡¯s antics. She couldn¡¯t understand how the very people he was about to risk his life for could treat him like that.

    ¡¯All is fair in love and beer.¡¯ Lith filled his ss with a second pint and left the money on the counter. He was many things, but not a thief.

    He had just finished his meal when a sadly familiar voice came from behind him.

    "Was that really necessary?" Baroness Enja was the ruler of thends surrounding Maekosh. She was a middle aged woman with long blonde hair braided into a single tress which almost reached her waist.

    She had sharp features that together with several wrinkles and her ice blue eyes gave her the stern expression of an eternally disgruntled monarch.

    "You have to be a little more specific than that, your Ladyship." He stood up calmly before giving her a small bow.

    "The tavern keeper is a certified idiot, but sending him to the dungeon after taking all the keys with you is overreacting." She was still unaware of the fake pandemic spreading throughout her city while they were talking.

    "Is it? It was a group of foreign merchants looking for shelter that spotted the warg and gave you the time to call for help. I¡¯m a foreigner too, and I¡¯m going to put my life on the line for every certified idiot who lives here.

    "I don¡¯t ask for gratitude since I¡¯m just doing my job, but your citizens could at least treat me with the respect this uniform deserves instead of like a thief."

    "Real heroes don¡¯t ask for recognition, medals, or rewards. They just do the right thing because it¡¯s what heroes do." The Baroness¡¯ voice was as sour as Lith¡¯s.

    "Well, your Ladyship, when you find one, I¡¯m sure they will be d to help. Meanwhile, as long as my services are required, I¡¯ll be this city¡¯s judge, executioner, jury, executioner, warden, and, when necessary, its executioner."

    Lith Warped to the western wall, where ording to the witnesses, the pack of warg was supposed to arrive. Warg were another one of the Fallen races.

    They were wolf-like creatures that legends said descended from a tribe of hunters who had been cursed by the wolf god for killing one of their cubs. Taken individually, each one of them was as strong as a magical beast.

    It made them dangerous, but alchemical tools and the protection offered by the city walls would be enough to decimate them if that was all they were capable of. Unlike real magical beasts, monsters were not intelligent creatures.

    They were unable to coordinate their attacks nor to exploit their enemy¡¯s defenses¡¯ weak points. Therger a pack of warg, the stronger it was. They were able to share their life force, their mana, and even their wounds.

    ording to the bestiary Lith kept in Soluspedia, a pack with enough members could employ some animal tricks, like their intelligence also grew with their number. The Baroness had asked Lith to kill them in front of the city walls instead of hunting them in the wild for several reasons.

    The most important one was that she hoped that by witnessing the Ranger¡¯s actions, her people would stop being so arrogant. It wasn¡¯t only Lith that was fed up with their attitude, but also the merchants and the Mage Association.

    Without merchants, Maekosh would turn back into being a poor city. Without mages, the city would always be dependant on the army for its protection.

    The second most important reason was that otherwise no one, her included, would have trusted the Ranger to do his job properly. After how they had treated him during his first visit, the Baroness had been surprised to see him arrive so quickly instead of making up an excuse or giving priority to another city.

    Lith was unaware of her worries and if he learned the truth about her odd request he would simply not care. His sess streak as a Ranger was the only thing that mattered to him.

    So far, his services to the army and the Crown had been wellpensated with money, resources, and connections. His policy had always been to follow his job through as long as he was paid.

    Theints of the inhabitants of Maekosh were just white noise in his ears

    ¡¯I don¡¯t like this one bit.¡¯ Lith thought while scouting the city¡¯s surroundings from a turret.

    ¡¯It¡¯s already odd that the merchant caravan spotted the warg without being attacked, but what really baffles me is what¡¯s taking them so long to reach the city. I checked the map, there are no settlements between the ce they were spotted and Maekosh. There¡¯s nothing that should have dyed their arrival this long.¡¯

    Solus had no answers to offer. Their knowledge about their opponent was limited to what the book said, and bestiaries were written by survivors or based on their stories. The bestiary provided by the army was much more detailed than the old one they possessed, but Lith didn¡¯t trust it.

    Not after what had happened with the orcs.

    He stood watch for a few hours, using umtion to refine his core while he waited together with the city guards for the iing attack. The setting sun blinded the watchers looking at the horizon, while its rays reflected on the snow blinded those checking the ground.

    It was only then that the attack began.

 Chapter 496 Mutation Part 1

    ¡¯Timing their attack with the position of the sun is not just a trick, it¡¯s in smart.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed as one of the nearby watchtowers exploded, spreading the smell of barbeque and pieces of entrails in the afternoon air.

    ¡¯They are not charging at the walls!¡¯ Solus¡¯s senses were unaffected by daylight.¡¯ The warg are taking down the guards first. This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.¡¯

    Lith switched to Life Vision, noticing a barrage of spells were being unleashed on the positions where the guards had taken cover. Fire and lightning charred the stone and sent the guards into a panic, making them lose their tinted sses.

    ¡¯This is too clever for monsters who for decades have been recorded as mindless beasts.¡¯ A wave of Lith¡¯s hand dispelled most of the iing attacks. They were just chore magic cantrips the warg used to cover their real targets.

    The guards had no way to know this and stared at him with a mix of awe and fear, like a god of war had descended among them.

    ¡¯How the heck can they attack with such precision even while being so far away that not even my mana sense can spot them?¡¯ Solus thought. The situation was bing more absurd by the second. Lith racked his brain for an exnation but found none.

    Even if it was a vition of his orders, he took off and flew at full speed and followed the spells back to where they came from. The area in front of the city walls was kept clear for hundreds of meters, which made a sneak attack a formidable feat.

    The moment Lith passed near a small patch of trees, something as big as a horse and as fast as a missile bolted up from the ground to intercept him. Lith had seen the unknown enemy thanks to Life Vision and was waiting for them.

    Despite the high speed he was moving at, he managed to dodge the living bullet as his right hand wielding the Gatekeeper sliced through the enemy¡¯s side and his left hand released three fireballs in a triangle formation.

    The warg wasn¡¯t as skilled as Lith in aerial fights. The creature took the full force of all of his attacks and was engulfed in the resulting congration. Lith managed to catch a glimpse of his opponent before the mes consumed it.

    The Army bestiary was right about the warg¡¯s appearance. The creature looked like a humanoid wolf, with a thick grey fur and bone spikesing out of its spine and joints. Yet it was dead wrong about the rest.

    The creature Lith had just killed was over three meters (9¡¯10) tall instead of just two (6¡¯7") and had hands bigger than Lith¡¯s head. Warg were also described as incapable of using air magic to fly.

    Their eyes were supposed to be yellow and filled with endless fury. What Lith saw, instead, were ck eyes filled with surprise, malice, and confidence.

    ¡¯That wasn¡¯t the gaze of a dying man. Something is off.¡¯ Lith stopped advancing to scout his surroundings when the warg came out of the smoke like a speeding train. The creature wasn¡¯t just alive, it was unscathed.

    Lith dodged the attack with ease, turning the enemy¡¯s body into a pin cushion riddled with razor sharp icicles, but that didn¡¯t even slow it down. The warg attempted another charge only to be showered with lightning bolts that flowed through the ice directly into its organs.

    Once again, the enemy remained unfazed.

    The sh continued for a few seconds, but despite Lith held the upper hand the fight seemed pointless. The warg was fast and strong, but it couldn¡¯tnd a single hit. Every one of Lith¡¯s attacks struck with surgical precision, but none left a mark on the monster¡¯s body.

    Lith stabbed the warg with the Gatekeeper several times, but the de went in and out almost like it struck an ethereal enemy.

    ¡¯Solus, please tell me this makes sense to you. The life force of this thing is still as strong as when the fight started.¡¯ Lith asked while weaving a tier five spell.

    He would have preferred to save them for once he found the rest of the pack, but solving this mystery took priority. The idea of having an immortal creature within arm¡¯s reach made him worried and excited at the same time.

    ¡¯Sorry, I have no idea what¡¯s happening. I think...¡¯ Before she could finish her thought, the creature howled in frustration and flew away.

    ***

    A few hundred meters from the scene of the fight, the warg tribe was cursing their bad luck. Many of them were gritting their teeth to withstand the pain of the terrible wounds that kept appearing on their bodies.

    One of them had his side cut wide open, while others had their flesh covered in burns or their bodies trembling in a seizure.

    ¡¯Retreat.¡¯ The warg alpha telepathically ordered to his chosen beta who promptly obeyed.

    ¡¯Not enough food to mend so many wounds in so little time. We need more time to increase our numbers, we still...¡¯ The alpha paused, searching for the right word.

    The Master¡¯s experiments had enhanced the warg¡¯s skill to share their abilities among pack members. Each one of them had a small fragment of the same Abomination inside of them.

    A single piece was too small to have a consciousness, but because of the warg¡¯s nature, they were able to form awork that created a mind link. As the fragments developed, the mind link was turning into a hive mind.

    ¡¯... too stupid. Don¡¯t get caught.¡¯

    Six wargs were sitting on the ground, weaving spell after spell which their brothers and sisters inside the city were able to unleash without blowing their cover.

    "Take the wounded." The alpha said. He used the mind link only when he was forced to. The voice in his mind was too different from his own. "We retreat, now."

    ***

    Lith followed the fleeing warg, noticing how its size turned to what the army bestiary described.

    ¡¯Probably it was that big because it was borrowing strength from itspanions. Are they in the area?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Still nothing within range.¡¯ Solus replied

    The monster tried to shake the human off its tail by increasing its speed, but the gap in air magic mastery between the two was enormous. Realizing he was no match for the mage, the warg grinned.

    "For the pack!" It yelled as it recalled all the wounds it had sustained during the fight as well as all those the other members of the tribe had received during the march toward Maekosh.

    The warg¡¯s body was ripped to shreds in an instant, leaving Lith shocked.

    ¡¯You have heard that too, right Solus? I¡¯m not imagining things, right?¡¯

    ¡¯I did. The warg used air magic to speak in the humannguage, just like a magical beast would. It shows they are both intelligent and willing to sacrifice themselves. We cannot underestimate them like the army did.¡¯

    Solus couldn¡¯t believe decades of information could produce such a poor result.

    ¡¯I wasn¡¯t talking about that. The way it ended its life, the words it used. It reminds me of what happened when we faced Balkor¡¯s creatures.¡¯

 Chapter 497 Mutation Part 2

    Lith and Solus stored the warg¡¯s remains inside their pocket dimension before scouting the surrounding area to search for the rest of the pack. Thanks to the beta¡¯s sacrifice, the warg had been able to quickly retreat inside their underground den.

    They hadn¡¯t been expecting a mage, but a voice in the back of their heads had warned them not to stray from their haven. Even though it was hard for them to even grasp the concept of caution, the alpha had followed the advice.

    With intelligence came fear. None of the monsters would hesitate to sacrifice their lives to save their kin, but with each new member of the tribe, the warg experienced more emotions.

    If before life was all about feeding and breeding, now they wanted more. So much more and enough time to enjoy their achievements. They weren¡¯t willing to die in a ze of glory, the monsters wanted to live which made them more dangerous than all of their new abilities.

    Lith was slowly expanding the search area when his armymunicator drew his attention.

    "Where are you?" Baroness Enja asked with more than a tinge of fear in her voice.

    "Taking care of your enemies. Your call might as well have given the creatures the time to escape. I told you not to bother me unless it¡¯s an emergency."

    "Four watchtowers are down, we have dozens of casualties and injuries, plus the only mage for kilometers is outside the city walls. I¡¯d say it¡¯s quite an emergency. If another attack happens in your absence, the city will fall. Come back immediately!"

    Lith hung up in reply, pondering what he should do.

    ¡¯Dozens of casualties? Four watchtowers? This doesn¡¯t make sense. Only two exploded before we left and we counted less than six corpses. If the attack continued even after we engaged the warg warrior, it means someone else was acting as the tribe¡¯s eyes and ears.

    ¡¯We¡¯d better get back to Maekosh. Something doesn¡¯t add up¡¯ He thought as his civilian amulet lit up.

    "It¡¯s everything okay? Are you alright?" Lith asked. Kam had never called him during her working hours just to chat.

    "That¡¯s my line! We are getting reports of monster tribes popping up like mushrooms. The centralmand is revoking all leave until the matter is resolved."

    "Are you saying the whole north is affected? Not only the Ker region?" Lith could see from the hologram that she was pacing around what looked like a smoking area.

    "Not just the north, but the whole Kingdom. Or rather, ording to a friend of mine in the foreign affairs department, the same is happening to all of our neighbors. To make matters worse, some of the reports say the monsters are abnormal."

    "Abnormal how?"

    Kam checked her surroundings to make sure she was still alone before answering.

    "Some seem to be more powerful, others more intelligent, and a few both. The information is considered strictly confidential so as to not spread panic. At least until the centralmand can confirm the ims, so you heard nothing from me."

    "Actually, you may hear about it from me soon. My warg case falls into the worst case scenario. I¡¯ll give you a full report as soon as I finish examining the corpse I collected."

    "I don¡¯t care about a full report. When I call from my personal amulet, I¡¯m your girlfriend, not your handler. I want to know if you are all right or not, you dummy!" Lith¡¯sck of care for his own well being irked Kam to no end.

    "Oh, sorry. I¡¯m perfectly fine. The warg I faced waspletely different from what I expected, but overall it wasn¡¯t much. I¡¯ll call youter, Baroness I¡¯ve-got-a-stick-up-my-ass is in sight." Lith put the amulet away beforending on the western wall.

    Enja was waiting for him along with the soldiers. She was wearing the blue shirt and brown pants which made up the uniform of the city guard. On her sleeve, there was the insignia of a captain while an enchanted de rested at her side.

    The situation was much better than he had expected after looking at the Baroness¡¯ stern face. Aside from the destroyed watchtowers, there was no significant damage.

    "Thank you so much!" Several guards offered him their hands.

    "Thank the gods the attack stopped almost as soon as you left. Otherwise we would have lost a lot more men." Said a middle aged sergeant whose uniform was covered in dust and dirt.

    "You saved our lives by blocking all those spells. Your powers must be unparalleled." Said a young guard who gave Lith a deep bow.

    "Why did you disobey your orders?" The Baroness looked relieved to see the morale so high, yet she wanted to understand if Lith¡¯s actions had lessened or aggravated the carnage.

    "The enemy wasn¡¯t in sight, there was nothing I could do by staying on the walls."

    "Is that true?" She asked the guards who promptly nodded.

    "It was a nightmare. An invisible enemy kept raining death on us from thin air. We were like fish in a barrel, waiting for the ughter." Said the sergeant.

    "There¡¯s no such thing as invisible enemies. Warg can use each other as ry points for their spells. It was only a matter of finding their sentry and kill it to stop the attack." It wasn¡¯t actually that simple, but spreading the news of mutated monsters in a city under winter lockdown was a recipe for disaster.

    "Excellent work, Ranger Verhen. Please follow me." The Baroness made way without waiting for his reply. Lith could tell that all the angry fa?ade and the captain dress up was for the troops.

    Enja was good at bluffing, but not good enough to make him fail to notice that she had some urgent matters to discuss. The city lord would never expose herself for a small skirmish. To be where the crossfire could start again at any moment, she had to have a problem that couldn¡¯t wait.

    Otherwise she would have just summoned him to her office. Enja walked down the stairs to the base of the wall, where a stagecoach was waiting for them. After a short trip, the carriage stopped in front of the city morgue.

    It was a one story stone building. The ground floor was furnished as a waiting room for the rtives of the deceased and the underground floor was insted to keep the bodies in a cold and dry environment.

    Lith noticed a couple of guards were standing behind the double doors leading to the lower level. They tensed up when the entrance opened, but rxed the moment they saw the Baroness.

    The basement was neat and orderly. Metal scaffolds which held corpses covered by ck nkets were ced along the walls. Most of them were empty, Lith counted a dozen bodies.

    Three metal bs upied the center of the room, but they weren¡¯t enough to deal with the recent events. Several stretchers were lined up next to the bs, and each one carried a body.

    "The ones on the scaffolds are the victims from the city wall." The Baroness walked to the nearest one and uncovered a couple of corpses. Lith nodded, recognizing the damages an amateurish fireball could cause.

    "The ones on the bs guarded the west city gate. Please, tell me what you see." Lith¡¯s eyes sparked with interest. The attack site was far from the gate. He removed the nket from the stretcher, revealing a butchered corpse.

    Someone had tried to cover the w wounds with first magic, but fire could never tear flesh that way and only made the marks on the bones more evident.

 Chapter 498 Prejudice Part 1

    "Clearly the attack on the watchtowers was a diversion. The wargs wanted to get rid of the sentinels before opening the doors and sneaking inside the city undetected." Lith pondered.

    "My thoughts exactly. We have traitors in our midst." Said the Baroness.

    "Yes, but you are lucky, your Ladyship."

    "Winter has barely started and my city is cornered by enemies from outside and within. How dare you call me lucky?" She was seconds away from punching the Ranger in the nose.

    "Idiots are the best kind of enemies one can ask for." Lith replied before examining the bodies on the stretchers. Some had been killed by a bite to the neck, others had been disemboweled by ws.

    Each attack had been executed with deadly precision and then followed by a sloppy attempt at covering the wounds with fire or air magic.

    "Does this look like the work of a warg to you?" Asked the Baroness.

    "Yes, but it doesn¡¯t make sense. First magic can easily kill and so will des. Using their bodies to attack was really stupid of them unless they didn¡¯t expect me to foil their n. More importantly, how could something like this go unnoticed?"

    Lith cleared off a b before taking out the warg¡¯s corpse from his pocket dimension. Baroness Enja nodded as a disgusted expression appeared on her face.

    "It shouldn¡¯t have, yet it did. The west gate remained closed the whole time, yet the people guarding it had been ughtered. No matter how absurd it sounds, it must have been an inside job."

    "Agreed, but something tall, dark, and hairy like a warg couldn¡¯t have hidden in in sight." Lith replied as he cut open the creature¡¯s chest with an air de. Even though he couldn¡¯t share the information Kam had provided him, he could still find evidence of mutation on his own.

    The army¡¯s bestiary had included aplete anatomical description of the creatures, allowing Lith to perform a necropsy. Unfortunately, the body¡¯s poor condition due to the extensive wounds sustained at the moment of death gave him a single clue.

    ¡¯The internal organs appear to be slightly shifted from where they are supposed to be, leaving extra space near the creature¡¯s mana core. Yet I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s because of a mutation or just because the remains more closely resemble a jigsaw puzzle than a carcass.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Solus, do you think the wargs could have infiltrated the city by shapeshifting?¡¯

    ¡¯That would be almost impossible.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯Not even all Evolved Monsters learn how to shapeshift, like Ka or Phird. Even if the wargs could do it, in a city like Maekosh the slightest blunder would blow their cover.

    ¡¯The people here are far from weing and the creatures who attacked the guards are clearly dumb. Maybe the army can offer us some insight.¡¯

    Lith used his armymunicator to give a full report to his handler. He stressed the creature¡¯s ability to speak, fly, and its temporary invulnerability. Then he exined the city¡¯s current predicament.

    "Your situation is abnormal." Kam said.

    "Both the warg warrior¡¯s resilience and its death cannot be exined by their innate abilities. Even arge pack can only share part of the wounds one of its members sustains and not as fast as you described.

    "I¡¯ll consult the archives and get back to you as soon as possible."

    "What if it¡¯s a new species entirely? A single Ranger might not be enough! Send reinforcements immediately." The Baroness ordered.

    "The army can¡¯t act based on a local ruler¡¯s worries." Kam¡¯s voice turned stone cold. "You¡¯ve been allowed to listen to the report only because as the city lord you must be aware of what¡¯s happening to arrange your citizens¡¯ safety. Over and out."

    It was the second time in a single day that someone had hung up on her. The Baroness was livid.

    "I need to speak with the merchants who first sighted the wars. Where can I find them?" Lith had no time to coddle her feelings.

    "In jail, of course." The Baroness¡¯ eyes had no trace of humanity. Her hands gripped the metal b like she wanted to tear it apart.

    "Aside from you, they are the only outsiders in the whole city. It was already suspicious that they spotted the wargs without a single casualty, and when the gatekeepers died, I had to lock them up. They are the main suspects."

    Lith was bbergasted by her words.

    ¡¯That¡¯s idiotic. The merchants had no reason to warn the city about the attack, nor can humans bargain with monsters. They have nothing to gain if the city falls.¡¯ Lith was worried enough to ce his hand on the Baroness¡¯ shoulder and use Invigoration while pretending to reason with her.

    "You did the right thing for the wrong reason. At least in jail they are safe from angry mobs and when the next attack happens, because it will, you¡¯ll be forced to admit their innocence. You guards would never turn their backs to outsiders."

    Invigoration revealed nothing and prejudice was something even light magic was powerless to heal.

    Lith recovered the warg corpse and left the morgue for the prison below the city¡¯s courthouse. The flight wasn¡¯t long, yet it reminded Lith why he didn¡¯t like Maekosh.

    He liked order. Lutia was a small vige, but each home had its space and individuality.

    Belius seemed like a Lego city, all blocks and squares. Its architects had sacrificed beauty in favor of efficiency, something that Lith had learned to love during his time at the academy.

    Othre¡¯s outer circle could seem chaotic at first, but there was a method to it. Maekosh, instead, looked like a long line of different builders had worked on it on session and for some reason, all of them had quit halfway through the job.

    The same city block could host stone buildings and wooden shacks. Some had a lot of space between them while others were stacked on the top of each other. Merchant shops were so close to abandoned houses that sometimes suppliers would bring their merchandise to them thinking they were warehouses.

    Maekosh was a poor city, which had gone through periods of rapid growth and recessions multiple times over the years. The brewing trade was its mark of sess, while its inhabitants were that of its failure.

    Their fear of outsiders made them reject any potential investors and no merchant liked to renegotiate their deals whenever a brewer had a bad day. When business went well, they were forced to hire people from outside of the city and temporary houses would pop up like mushrooms.

    These foreigners were paid less and had to work more hours than the "real" citizens. Inevitably the outsiders became irate at their treatment and quit, ensuring that their unwavering employers did not reach their quotas.

    Anyone who moved to Maekosh hoped for a better life. vebor jobs were avable everywhere and finding one in a much friendlier environment was easy as pie.

    After Lith reached the prison, he shook the merchants¡¯ hands one by one before opening the doors of their cells. Invigoration cleared them from his suspects¡¯ list. They had weak mana cores and bodies.

    Shapeshifting could alter someone¡¯s physical form, but their strength couldn¡¯t be hidden. The group wasposed of men and women of different ages. Each merchant traveled with their apprentices who served them as handymen.

    At first, they couldn¡¯t wait to be released, but after hearing from Lith what the townspeople were going to me them for, they were happy to remain behind bars.

 Chapter 499 Prejudice Part 2

    "These people are crazy. I would never stop in a shithole like this if it weren¡¯t for the wargs. Our destination was Shaku. Do you know if my goods are safe?" Asked a scrawny middle aged woman with more wrinkles than a crumpled paper.

    "How did you escape the wargs?" Lith couldn¡¯t care less about their cargo.

    "We didn¡¯t escape. They ignored us." Said a lean man in histe fifties, with grizzled hair and beard. "They were too focused praying to pay us any attention."

    "Praying?" Lith was even more incredulous than he sounded.

    "Well, they were kneeling on the ground, doing nothing but chanting some gibberish." The man shrugged.

    "It wasn¡¯t gibberish, master Dihel, but magic." Said a young man about Lith¡¯s age who looked more like an artist than a wannabe merchant. He had handsome features and arms so thin Lith doubted he had ever lifted something heavier than a toothpick.

    "How can you be so sure?" Lith asked.

    "I was the one standing guard. I noticed the wargs because of the light they emitted. They were divided into groups of six. Each group was engulfed in a magnificent golden light that formed a circle."

    "Golden light?" Lith echoed as his stomach churned.

    ¡¯Six points inscribed inside a circle?¡¯ Solus¡¯s stomach was nonexistant, but she felt like puking nheless.

    "By chance did it look like this?" Lith opened his right hand, making a Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram the size of a towel appear.

    "Yes! It was exactly like that, at least as far as I remember. What does it mean?"

    ¡¯That we are royally fucked.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Nothing, don¡¯t worry." He actually said.

    "You have helped me a lot. Just a few more questions. Did the monsters have something unusual about them? Anything at all?"

    They shook their heads, making Lith inwardly curse.

    ¡¯I hoped they had seen the wargs shapeshift, or at least in thepany of humans. That way at least I would know where to start looking. My usual bad luck.¡¯ He griped.

    "Where did you spot them, exactly?" Lith took out a map from his pocket dimension and had the merchants point out the location to him.

    Before he left, he gave them enough food and water tost for a couple of days. Lith also barred the door and took all the keys with him. Then he called the Baroness.

    "I¡¯m leaving Maekosh, so I need you to stand guard and call me if anything happens. Trust no one but me. No one can know of my absence."

    "What? That is uneptable! Your duty is to defend the city, how can you leave?" Fear and outrage fought in her voice, but fear prevailed lowering it by one octave.

    "The merchants saw the wargs practicing arrays." Lith lied.

    "If we allow them to increase their numbers, they will be able to destroy the city from the outside. They need to be culled."

    ¡¯It¡¯s actually much worse than that.¡¯ Solus quivered in anxiety.

    ¡¯Someone has taught them the impossible array we used to practice true magic. can share the experience they gain by practicing individually, they could master it even with their limited intelligence.¡¯

    ¡¯Even worse, they are learning how to use every element instead of just two. Can you imagine the threat a tribe of Awakened that spawns as fast as monsters do could pose to our lives? On Earth there was traffic because anyone could drive a car.

    ¡¯Magic is rare and Awakening is even rarer. Yet those things are breaking all of Mogar¡¯s rules we¡¯ve learned so far.¡¯

    Lith Warped to the same spot he had fought the warg warrior, checking his surroundings for enemies. Neither Life Vision nor mana sense perceived anything so he flew at full speed toward the ce the merchants had pointed out to him.

    ¡¯I know where they trained and where they were going. If they didn¡¯t fly, I can hunt them down by following their smell!¡¯ Lith enhanced senses allowed him to even track a person¡¯s scent.

    It was useless inside a city. Too many people and too many strong odorsing from every direction would easily mess with his senses. After all, Lith wasn¡¯t a trained dog, he had neither the instinct nor the skill to iste a single smell among many.

    In the wilds, though, especially during winter, there weren¡¯t many odors. Lith took out a piece of the warg to sniff it. It smelled like a wet dog after rolling in a pile of dirty sportswear and sweaty socks.

    The stench made his eye water, but it also gave him a scent to follow strong enough that only an open sewer could mask it. The fair weather of thest few days also helped him greatly.

    The snow preserved most of the tracks the warg left since they didn¡¯t bother to hide them in any way.

    ¡¯I know how those poor bastards must feel. Practicing magic, hunting to eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. That¡¯s how I became strong. If we can, we need to capture one of the wargs alive.

    ¡¯I want to learn the secret behind their mutation and kill the idiot responsible for this abomination!¡¯ Lith inwardly snarled.

    He was unaware that if the Master knew about the magnitude of their failure, they would be the first to kick their own ass to the moon and back.

    Lith could have reached the monsters¡¯ den in a few minutes of flight, but his paranoia slowed him down. He couldn¡¯t know that the wargs were still at odds with their newfound intelligence. They continued acting as predators, not prey.

    Hence they had no caution while moving unless they were nning an ambush.

    Lith was forced to keep his best spells ready and check his surroundings whenever he entered a good spot for an ambush. Nothing happened, but the tension of the hunt weighed on his nerves.

    While facing an unknown enemy on their own turf, the line between hunter and game was paper thin.

    ¡¯Their warrior didn¡¯t hesitate tomit suicide to hide its pack¡¯s location, yet they did nothing to cover their tracks. My enemies go from smart to in dumb like they suffer from split personality.¡¯ He had no idea how close to the truth he was.

    ¡¯I counted at least 30 adults and a dozen kids. What are we going to do about them?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the first time they dealt with younglings, but Solus had nevere to terms with what had to be done.

    ¡¯Kill them. Or would you like me to wait a couple of days so they turn into adults? I can spare them, but are you willing to take responsibility for every life they will take?¡¯

    Solus didn¡¯t reply. It was an old unsolved argument of theirs. To her heart, giving the cubs a second chance was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, hermon sense found it simply idiotic to let them go just to kill them a few days and many victimster.

    That was one of the rare moments she was happy to not have a body, so the choice was out of her hands. Lith followed the smell until he found a well camouged cave at the base of a small hill a few kilometers from Maekosh.

    He had used the Hush spell to cancel the noise and darkness magic to hide his smell the moment Life Vision had picked up a faint signal. The cave went deep into the ground and the surface of its walls was too smooth to be natural.

    ¡¯Fuck, they have already grasped earth magic. Worst case scenario, they used it to be aware of my arrival and they will negate my spells with the Hexagram. Let¡¯s hope I¡¯m not stepping into a frigging trap.¡¯

 Chapter 500 Hybrid Part 1

    Lith was right about the wargs learning enough earth magic to create a den wherever they liked, but he was wrong about everything else. The voice in their heads was getting stronger with each new member added to their pack and pushed them to practice first magic relentlessly.

    It left them enough time to hunt but none to care about their security. This pack bore pieces of Tezka, one of the Master¡¯s chosen. He had been a powerful Awakened when he was still a Xogh (Fox-type magical beast).

    Even though he had yet to regain any sense of self, his habits were so deeply engrained in his personality that they influenced his hosts. All of their new knowledge, feelings, and tactics came from him.

    In a way, their rtionship was a twisted version of that between Solus and Lith.

    ¡¯At least mana sense and Life Vision make it almost impossible to take me by surprise.¡¯ He thought as he floated along the ample stone corridors. Even his array detecting spell hadn¡¯t picked up anything, which reassured him about his enemies¡¯ abilities.

    Inactive arrays were among the few things that their mystical senses were unable to perceive and one of the reasons Lith never underestimated Warden magic. The tunnels had been created with a defensibleyout.

    There were several turns at uneven intervals. After each one of them, the tunnels would change in width, height, or direction so that a group of rushing invaders would get stuck, m their heads against the ceiling or run into a wall.

    Lith was once again surprised when he realized that whoever had nned the den knew exactly how deep it had to be to escape Life Vision¡¯s detection.

    ¡¯How can an Awakened one be so crazy as to mentor a tribe of monsters?¡¯ Solus couldn¡¯t find any other exnation for what they were witnessing.

    ¡¯We¡¯ll ask them before we kill them.¡¯ Lith was simply joking. There was no way he would waste time talking if another Awakened was really involved.

    The tunnel led them to a huge cave. It was a wide circr space with a diameter of about 100 meters (328 feet). Lith counted at least fifty pack members, most of whom were adults or close to maturity.

    Aside from the mothers with small cubs, the others were divided into groups of six and were practicing Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram in a way that would¡¯ve impossible for a loner like Lith.

    ¡¯What the heck? Each warg is in charge of a single element, so that by keeping the array active they can not only train the element they are least proficient with, but also every other element at once simply by feeling and harmonizing with the mana flow.

    ¡¯If I ever have one or more disciples, this can be a great teaching method.¡¯

    Lith studied them for a while as he nned his next move. He noticed that Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram allowed the wargs to switch the element under their control at will, further improving their training.

    He cursed whoever created that method and took action. The cave was an open space which offered him no cover while he moved, yet Lith still had an opportunity for a surprise attack.

    Those working on the arrays were too focused and while he studied their technique, the mothers had fallen asleep.

    Lith used Invigoration to get back to his peak condition. Then, he prepared a new set of spells based on the most likely situation he expected to face. A Hush spell appeared around the nearest group, enveloping them in a shroud of silence.

    The wargs were so focused that they didn¡¯t even notice Lith¡¯s tier three Full Moon spell create a circr spinning air de which decapitated them all at once. The air dome surrounding them prevented any noise, blood, or even its smell from escaping Hush¡¯s boundaries.

    ¡¯Okay, so they are not invulnerable nor do they have any magical protection. Otherwise Full Moon wouldn¡¯t be enough.¡¯ Lith inwardly nodded in satisfaction.

    Hard kills worked. Whatever the wargs¡¯ sharing ability had evolved into, they still had vital organs.

    He was about to Hush the next group when the pack suddenly turned toward their fallen brothers and sisters in unison. Their howls filled with pain and grief gripped Solus¡¯s heart.

    Before he learned tier four light magic, Lith had lost many patients over the years. The sounds the wargs made were too simr to the wails of the mourning rtives of the people they had failed to save.

    ¡¯n B it is!¡¯ Lith unleashed the tier five War Mage spell Raging Sun right in the middle of the cave, quickly followed by another one he had received from the Crown, Stormnado.

    His own spells couldn¡¯t hurt him and he had ready another spell to survive the cave in. He quickly moved inside the Hushed zone, collecting the six corpses and their heads.

    <"protect the="" cubs!"=""> The alpha and the voice in their heads shouted as one. Tezka had sired many puppies, his parental instincts created a bond between the wargs and their younglings which wouldn¡¯t have otherwise existed due to their offspring¡¯s fast development.

    The wargs¡¯ reaction speed and technique surprised Lith.

    Despite the fact that they seemed to only be able to employ tier three spells, by acting as a single being thanks to their mind link, they were able to perfectly stack the effects of their protections and keep Lith¡¯s spells at bay.

    The wargs used air and water magic to hold the magical monstrosity at bay while the others ran away through several hidden corridors leading outside.

    Tier five magic wasn¡¯t so simple, though, and Lith had chosen those two spells because they synergized. Raging Sun was a mixture of fire and earth which generated a powerful explosion and mes so hot that they could melt stone.

    Its effects were akin to a volcanic eruption.

    Stormnado was a mix of air and darkness, which conjured a thunderstorm of poisonous gas. The resulting effect was a toxic tornado with a temperature in the hundreds of degrees that carried rocks as dangerous as small meteors.

    Lith could feel his spells¡¯ every fluctuation and identify where the enemy formation was weaker. By focusing on those points, he prated the enemy barrier and destroyed it, like a flood bursting through a cracked damn.

    Even though they were wielding the collective magical prowess of the whole pack, the area around the wargs covering the retreat turned so hot that it burned their lungs. Lightning bolts coursed through their bodies, bringing many of theirrades near death just to allow them to keep the barrier in ce.

    ¡¯You can¡¯t do it alone.¡¯ Tezka begged the alpha as his ck tendrils were working at top gear to keep its body in one piece.

    ¡¯Let me in. I can save them all. We can save them all. Together!¡¯ Along with the magic of most of the pack, the alpha was also wielding enough of the Eldritch¡¯s consciousness to turn it from just a voice to a person.

    The alpha was unwilling to lose its identity, but its resolve was shaken when it noticed that the Ranger was exploiting their struggle to strike at the fleeing wargs and kill all those who were still inside the cave.

    ¡¯Deal.¡¯

    The alpha howled in pain as the Eldritch¡¯s energy reced his blood and devoured its mana core like a hungry beast. The Tezka-alpha hybrid let go of the barrier, devouring all the light in the cave to turn darkness into Chaos magic.</"protect>

 Chapter 501 Hybrid Part 2

    The monster-Eldritch hybrid executed Tezka¡¯s tier five Chaos magic spell, Hungry Void. Normally it would¡¯ve been impossible to weave such a powerful spell so fast, but the wargs mind link allowed the Abominations to use the fleeing monsters as catalysts.

    Each one of them cast a small part of Hungry Void, leaving to Tezka only assembling and harnessing its energy. A ck sphere materialized in front of the hybrid, shing against Lith¡¯s spells with such strength to make the ground tremble.

    Lith didn¡¯t like this turn of the events, but everything was still within his expectations. He believed that just like the warrior he had previously defeated, the warg in front of him was simply being empowered by its pack.

    He had his spells envelop the ck sphere as he unleashed more spells to finish off the wargs still in sight and cripple the enemy.

    ¡¯You lied! You said we could save them!¡¯ The alpha cursed Tezka when more of its kin fell due to deadly wounds. Not even the maelstrom created by the conflicting spells made Lith miss his marks.

    ¡¯Focus, you idiot! The enemy did it on purpose!¡¯ Tezka tried to warn the alpha, but its fury made Hungry Void unstable. Lith didn¡¯t miss his chance and had his spells detonate, tainting the enemy¡¯s spell with his own energy.

    The resulting explosion engulfed the hybrid and ravaged its flesh. The Chaos magic was now unable to recognize its master, adding its remaining strength to what was left of the other two tier five spells.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Lith could see through the smoke and debris that the hybrid¡¯s body on the verge of breaking down. Only tendrils of ck energy kept it together by wrapping around it like bandages.

    <"i couldn¡¯t="" save="" you,="" but="" i¡¯ll="" not="" let="" you="" die="" either!"=""> The Tezka-alpha hybrid had its tendrils collect the Abomination¡¯s fragments from the bodies of the dying wargs as he took away their remaining life force and forced them to take his wounds.

    <"you¡¯ll live="" on="" as="" a="" part="" of="" me!"=""> It yelled as Lith ignored its ramblings and gave chase to the rest of the pack.

    "Scum of the earth, don¡¯t you have any honor? Come back and fight!"

    Lith sneered in reply, using the spell he had readied to survive the cave in to actually cause it and bury the hybrid under tons of rocks.

    ¡¯Yeah, right. You have an extra life for every member of your pack and I¡¯m the one with no honor? I¡¯ll face you as soon as I get rid of your mushrooms, dear Mario.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Lith, those aren¡¯t simple monsters. They have feelings, they can even talk and reason. The one behind us is almost like you. He¡¯s a hybrid.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯A lot of those who I kill have feelings. Humans, crazy beasts, game, undead, take your pick. Yet it has never stopped me because it¡¯s a matter of survival. Also, he is nothing like me.

    ¡¯These wargs have been modified in a simr manner to what Balkor does to his undead.¡¯ Lith replied. He could sense the hybrid¡¯s aura behind him bing more powerful.

    Half of the warg¡¯s body was nowposed of raw darkness element, giving the alpha a demonic look. Its yellow eyes burned like torches as several horns were growing on its head. Its fur was nowpletely red, making it look like a living incarnation of fire.

    Its body waspletely healed thanks to its packmates¡¯ sacrifice, and now it had two tails. His own plus a fox tailprised of pure energy.

    "I saide back!" The hybrid yelled as he unleashed the tier four Chaos magic Howling Void. A spear made of darkness as thick as an arm erupted from his palm, aiming for Lith¡¯s heart faster than a bullet.

    Lith Switched his position with the nearest warg, making the pack¡¯s strength dwindle even further.

    ¡¯That¡¯s the problem with sudden power ups. What you gain in strength, you lose in uracy, sucker!¡¯ Lith Blinked behind the hybrid, thrusting the Gatekeeper towards the creature¡¯s head.

    Somehow, the Tezka-alpha hybrid perceived Lith¡¯s movements and turned around abruptly. A new horn grew on his forehead. It moved fast enough to push the de aside and aim for his enemy¡¯s throat.

    Lith Switched position again, and another warg died by its own alpha¡¯s hands. Another of the lights in the hybrid¡¯s mind was reced by a sudden void, driving him almost mad due to the guilt he felt for his ipetence and his hatred toward the human.

    Even though Tezka controlled half the body, he didn¡¯t have the mastery to perfectly control the body nor was his essence developed enough to allow him to use most of his skills. The alpha¡¯s emotional instability was crippling their already limited battle prowess.

    ¡¯Fuck! They had an escape strategy nned. The wargs divided into small groups and took flight in different directions.¡¯ After killing the wargs who had yet to run away because they were too tired after sharing the barrier¡¯s burden, Lith turned to the alpha.

    He could follow only one group at a time and that would mean leaving his back exposed to someone capable of using Chaos magic. Lith had already witnessed how powerful it was. Even though he had yet to understand its nature, Lith didn¡¯t underestimate his enemy.

    ¡¯How many did we take down?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯Eleven.¡¯ Solus sighed. She almost felt like they were the bad guys, chasing creatures that just wanted to live. ¡¯Fighting the ck Star or the Carpenters was so much easier.¡¯

    Lith had her assume her gauntlet form and take the Gatekeeper, leaving his hands free. Now a yellow gemstone was embedded on the back of the gauntlet¡¯s hand, right beside the green one.

    He decided to investigate what that evolution meant after getting rid of thest warg standing in front of him.

    "Curse you, human." Tezka was afraid of the sword flying circles around them. He was using sheer willpower to hold the alpha back, but after losing so many developed fragments and the rest of the pack getting farther away by the second, his consciousness faded away.

    The hybrid bolted at Lith who infused himself with all the elements and took the charge head on.

    ¡¯Please, don¡¯t! It¡¯s a trap!¡¯ Tezka begged the alpha in vain. Being so close to its nemesis that it could almost smell his blood, sent the alpha into a frenzy. The hybrid unleashed a chain of lightning that Lith grounded with earth magic and countered with a volley of Wind des.

    The dark matter of the Abomination half of the body absorbed part of the damage and immediately started to heal the rest, but it needed time. Unfortunately, time was running out.

    Lith¡¯s hands grabbed the hybrid¡¯s ws, leaving it shocked in realization that the human was physically superior to itself. Without its pack, even merging with Tezka wasn¡¯t enough to face Lith¡¯s enhanced body while boosted by fusion magic.

    Things became even worse when Lith unleased the tier four darkness magic spell, Grim Reaper. The power of dozens of gue Arrows flowed from his hands into the trapped ws. Direct contact made the spell¡¯s slow speed irrelevant.

    The hybrid felt his strength flicker as his fingers were crushed into a broken mess.</"you¡¯ll></"i>

 Chapter 502 Troubling Guests Part 1

    The creature tried to bite Lith only to have his mouth forced shut by a headbutt before the Ranger released his grip and performed a front kick which hit its sr plexus like a truck.

    The alpha grinned as it jumped back to dissipate part of the impact, gaining more distance and time to heal its wounds.

    ¡¯What part of trap did you not understand?¡¯ Tezka sighed in resignation. The kick coupled with the alpha¡¯s own strength, allowed Solus to pierce the creature¡¯s heart from behind.

    The darkness infused Gatekeeper went straight through its chest, until the hilt of the de struck the fur on its back.

    "And that makes twelve." Lith said after ripping the hybrid¡¯s head from its shoulders. He stored all the carcasses inside their pocket dimension as Solus returned to his hand.

    ¡¯Good job. I wasn¡¯t sure if it would work, but it was worth a shot.¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯I noticed that the angrier it got, the stupider it became. Also, the moment we separated the warrior from its pack, both its physical and magical strength plummeted.

    ¡¯Even if it has been artificially boosted, their sharing ability still has a limited range.¡¯

    ¡¯I was counting on that. Why do you think I was so focused on getting rid of those who stayed behind? The bestiary is right about one thing: a pack is dangerous, a warg is just annoying. At least to me.¡¯ Lith inwardly smirked.

    ¡¯By the way, what does the second gemstone on the gauntlet do? I always thought the first one represented your mana core, so a second one should mean you got another core.¡¯

    ¡¯Beats me.¡¯ She replied honestly.

    Whenever Solus gained a new ability, she would also acquire the knowledge to use it as if it was something she was born with. This time, however, aside from her temporary energy form she had gained no ability that would justify the change her gauntlet form had undergone.

    After she gave him her consent, Lith performed Invigoration on Solus, discovering that she still only had a single green core.

    ¡¯We¡¯ll solve this mystery another time. We should get back to Maekosh, I need some rest.¡¯ Lith sighed.

    There was a mana geyser just a few kilometers from the city, but he had no way to justify to his superiors why he loved "camping" so much to leave the city unprotected in the middle of a crisis.

    While he flew toward Baroness Enja¡¯s mansion, Lith called his handler and gave her a full report on the situation.

    "Oh gods!" Was Kam only reaction. She forwarded the report as urgent to her supervisor who joined their open channel right after she heard about Lith¡¯s hypothesis.

    "Do you really think this is Balkor¡¯s doing?" Captain Legato asked. She was a woman in her mid thirties with blonde hair, blue eyes, and such a serious face that you would expect it to crack at the slightest smile.

    "It would exin the Abomination, the hive mind, and the sudden monster outbreaks. Maybe during his absence, he was experimenting on something different from undead, or maybe these monsters will be the base for his next batch of creatures." Lith replied.

    "I will inform the Crown immediately and send someone to retrieve the fallen wargs. The Balkor department has a long history in dealing with his creations and they could extract useful information from them.

    "Sadly, our resources are stretched thin. I can¡¯t offer you reinforcements unless it¡¯s strictly necessary. In some regions, the monsters¡¯ poption has grown big enough to require joint operations between the army and the Association to eradicate them."

    Lith understood the implied apology and gave Legato a salute before she left. He was actually happy to work alone. Aside from Jirni and a few others,panions were usually dead weight to him.

    "One more thing. I need a background check on Baroness Enja."

    "Just one second." Kam knew what he meant and didn¡¯t know whether to be jealous or giggle at his stinginess. Lith would never ask a noble for hospitality unless he was forced to.

    Being a guest in their homes usually meant giving them the opportunity to require his services as a Healer or, even worse, to set him up with their daughters. Lith much preferred investing a few coins for a hotel room.

    Commoners were too scared by mages to delude themselves enough to try and seduce him. Maekosh was a special case. No one would bother him, yet Lith wouldn¡¯t trust eating anything he hadn¡¯t prepared himself.

    Especially after locking up the tavern owner.

    "She only has sons, no daughters nor nieces." Kam replied.

    "Thank heaven. I was starting to fear I would have to spend the night in jail with the merchants."

    "Is Maekosh that bad?" She giggled.

    "It¡¯s even worse. I can¡¯t wait toe back to Belius and eat the delicacies my girlfriend promised me she would learn to cook." He teased her.

    "These are terrible times. You¡¯d be lucky if she practiced just one of them, with all the mandatory overtime she¡¯s sure to be experiencing. Give her a kiss for me the next time you see her." She managed not tough while talking about herself in the third person.

    "Will do. Over and out." On his way, Lith opened a small Gate and gave Xelos, the Prancing Griffon¡¯s owner, enough bread and water tost for a couple of days. If properly rationed, of course.

    The Baroness was very happy to have him as her guest. The whole Enja family sighed in relief knowing that the only Ranger and Healer for hundreds of kilometers was just a few doors away.

    After a delicious meal he could enjoy without worrying if it had been "spiced" with spit, snot, or maybe walked over by a couple of roaches, Lith disappeared in his bedroom with the excuse that he needed to rest in case something happened during the night.

    Maybe it was his keen instinct talking, or maybe the heavens didn¡¯t want him to pass for an ungrateful freeloader. Whatever the answer was, something did happen. A family of five was butchered overnight and their house set aze.

    This time the culprit didn¡¯t bother to cover their tracks. The bite marks on the victims¡¯ bodies left no room for doubts. Something big and hairy had barged through the front door for ate-night snack.

    No one had noticed anything until the fire broke out because the house was surrounded by vacant homes. At first, everyone med the merchants, but when Lith showed the Baroness and the Captain of the city guard that they were still locked up and their clothes were pristine, the crowd had to put down their pitchforks.

    Maekosh¡¯s only protective formation was a detection array that would¡¯ve been triggered if someone had entered the city¡¯s premises without passing from its gates, so the wargs couldn¡¯t havee from outside.

    Old grievances resurfaced and soon people started pointing fingers. Only the rising sun and their need to get ready for work prevented the body count from increasing.

    ¡¯This is really bad.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Either some wargs are capable of shapeshifting, or I¡¯m about to y a goddamn round of Town of Salem.¡¯

 Chapter 503 Troubling Guests Part 2

    Contrary to Lith¡¯s expectations, the following day the wargs didn¡¯t attack the city and during the night no one died. Yet it didn¡¯t make him feel happy, it only made his worries increase.

    ¡¯So much self-control can only mean one of two things. Either they are waiting to increase their numbers before they resume attacking, or losing two warriors in a single day made them scared.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯In their shoes, I¡¯d regroup and pick an easier target. Since I¡¯m in my shoes I need to find them as soon as possible either way. If the pack bes too big and they all learn true magic, I¡¯ll need backup.

    ¡¯If they change targets, it will just be the same situation in a different location, since I¡¯m in charge of the whole damn region.¡¯

    Lith was no Jirni, but after spending so much time together in Othre, he had more an idea of how to conduct his investigation. Tracking the wargs¡¯ aplices within Maekosh was just a waste of time.

    No matter if they were shapeshifting wargs or just humans that had smuggled them inside the city and hid them in their homes, if they had managed to fool the overly paranoid inhabitants of the city, Lith had no way to find them.

    There were simply too many people to check with Invigoration, without a solid lead, it would be like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Finding the wargs, on the other hand, was likely to be easier.

    To feed the pack and increase their numbers, they needed food and a lot of it. Lith had no idea if a monster could die of starvation, but he was almost certain that they would not fast for long willingly.

    During winter there wasn¡¯t much they could hunt, so he found the closest settlements to Maekosh on his map and alerted them of the threat with hismunication amulet.

    He could only hope that hunger would cause them to make a mistake or that by examining the carcasses the Balkor department could help him to track his prey.

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire.

    Like any decent mage in the three great Countries, The Master received countless reports about the monster outbreaks he had caused. At first, they had considered the anomalies to be a good omen.

    Their treatment worked even better than they had predicted and if it was applied to an orc shaman, it could make them friendlier to the cause. Soon, however, everything spiraled out of his control.

    Some spawned too fast, other had be too powerful, but the worse part was that all of them stuck out like a sore thumb. Their n of raising Abominations disguised as monsters quickly backfired as every country started to investigate the phenomenon.

    "I don¡¯t get it, Xenagrosh. What could have possibly gone wrong?" The Master whined.

    "It¡¯s the nature of research." The Eldritch shrugged. "A lot of failures are required before seeding. Now we know why Thrud limited her experiments to humans. Monsters are great breeding grounds, but their unique nature makes them unpredictable.

    "From this experiment, we learned that it¡¯s better to stick with Thrud¡¯s strategy. Humans for the Abomination who were humans, beasts for beasts, and so on. It will be slower, we¡¯ll still need to kidnap a lot of people, but it¡¯s much safer.

    "Your n was sound, my disciple, only its initial result was poor. We¡¯ll do better the next time." She patted his shoulder.

    "I guess you are right." The Master sighed. "I¡¯ve never been so wrong, though. I never am, dammit!"

    "Don¡¯t worry, sugar, you weren¡¯t wrong." Xenagrosh¡¯s sensual voice said.

    "Sugar? Are you drunk or what?" The Master respected her but there was nothing more between them.

    "That wasn¡¯t me." Xenagrosh said turning toward their surprise guest.

    She was a woman of rare beauty, with grey skin and silver hair. She was wearing afortable mage suit which emphasized the perfect proportions of her body. More than her skin or hair, it was her second set of arms that identified her as not human.

    Xenagrosh couldn¡¯t believe her own eyes. The body was all wrong and so were the creature¡¯s golden eyes, but she could never forget that face nor the dress she was wearing because they were her own.

    "I know I¡¯ve never been this beautiful, but who cares?" Said the woman.

    "Trolls have such magnificent bodies in their true form. I¡¯d say it¡¯s only fair to enjoy them for a while after being stuck for centuries as a monster."

    Being an Eldritch, Xenagrosh could shapeshift into many forms of her choosing. Sure, in her natural state she wasn¡¯t easy on the eyes, but Abominations were survivors. Only being pretty just meant leaving a pretty corpse to them.

    Yet the insult bothered her because it voiced one of her most private inner thoughts.

    "Why are you here?" Xenagrosh asked her troll-self.

    "What do you think?" She replied as one Chaos spell appeared on each of her twenty fingers.

    "I¡¯m not going to let you use me as an energy potion. We¡¯re going to merge on my terms and using me as the base. There can be only one."

    And so, the fight for survival began.

    ***

    The mages from the Balkor department came to pick up the bodies first thing on the morning of Lith¡¯s second day in Maekosh and gave him the results of their preliminary analysis the next day right after noon.

    ¡¯Already? That was fast.¡¯ Lith was also amazed the investigative department had sent someone instead of just using amunication amulet.

    "Let me begin by saying thank you for storing the bodies immediately after their death." Said mage Pazeol, a man in his early twenties with ck hair and brown eyes. Three long and thin scars ran from his jaw to his neck.

    Lith recognized the marks left by Balkor¡¯s Valors. Like many survivors of hisst attack, Pazeol had decided to keep his scars to never forget and never forgive.

    "Well preserved specimens make our work much easier. Sadly, the monster outbreaks aren¡¯t Balkor¡¯s doing." He sighed.

    ¡¯That news should be worth celebrating. Being so obsessed about anything is an unhealthy behavior.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Hello pot, my name is kettle.¡¯ Solus chuckled.

    "The people responsible for these wargs have improved his method, turning it into somethingpletely different. The Abomination fragment is not used to just create a hive mind and give the monsters new powers, it¡¯s a seed meant to grow.

    "Almost a quarter of the body of the second warrior you fought had turned into a monster-Abomination hybrid and I¡¯m sure that the Abomination side is programmed to convert its host over time.

    "As for the good news, whoever did this nned to retrieve their creatures, so they added a tracking spell to each Abomination fragment." Pazeol took out an enchanted amulet made of silver the size of a tablet.

    It had a blue mana stone on its center and a green one on each of its corners.

    "We managed to prepare a receiver for the signal that you can use to track them down. There is one problem, though. Even if the bodies were perfectly preserved, the spells deteriorate fast after death takes away the mana fueling them, so the data was corrupted.

    "It will not work unless you are within 200 meters (656¡¯) of the signal¡¯s source, but once it locks onto the target you should be able to follow it with ease. Have a good hunt, Ranger Verhen."

    A cruel smile appeared on Pazeol¡¯s face. Destroying every trace of Balkor¡¯s work was the sole reason for his existence.

 Chapter 504 On the Prowl Part 1

    Lith thanked Pazeol before he left and started to n his next move.

    ¡¯Well, for once the Kingdom is being really helpful instead of just trusting me to clean up their mess.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯Now I can search the city for enemies. Once I find them, the tracker will lead me to their nest. Easy peasy.¡¯

    Yet even after scouting the entirety of Maekosh twice, the magical device didn¡¯t pick up any signal, making Lith doubt it even worked in the first ce. After even a third round of the city gave no results, Lith felt dispirited.

    ¡¯Time to fill up on spirits.¡¯ He sighed as he went back to the Prancing Griffon for a few draft beers. Ever since he had made the kitchen staff quake in their boots with an alleged infective disease, the tavern was much quieter.

    Lith was one of the few brave souls that still dared to step inside, so the waiters treated him like a VIP. The fear of ending up locked in istion along with Xelos, their employer, was a strong motivator.

    Yet he didn¡¯t eat anything that didn¡¯te out from his pocket dimension. Unlike the freshly tapped beer, food couldn¡¯t be prepared in front of him.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t have much time, but luckily neither do the wargs.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯The first warrior was weak while the second one was already a hybrid. If I¡¯m lucky theck of food will prevent them from focusing on magic and slow down the Abomination fragments¡¯ development.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m not, I might have to face a small army of hybrids or a singlebined entity. ording to Pazeol, all of my wargs bear fragments of the same creature. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if they merged into one like the second warrior did to boost its strength.¡¯

    ¡¯Agreed.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯Another problem we have is the enemy within Maekosh. At this point, I have a theory but I¡¯m pretty sure you won¡¯t like it.¡¯

    Lith inwardly nodded for her to continue.

    ¡¯The reason to choose monsters as guinea pigs is pretty obvious. They are strong and spawn fast, which means that somehow the procedure they have undergone allows the Abomination fragment to be passed down to their offspring.¡¯

    ¡¯Well, yeah. Otherwise there would be no hive mind nor would there be any sense in letting them roam free.¡¯ Lith pondered.

    ¡¯Exactly.¡¯ Solus continued. ¡¯The presence of the tracking spell tells us the hybrids are meant to be harvested at some point, but what if the wargs aren¡¯t only limited to spreading the fragments to other wargs?

    ¡¯Sharing is their innate ability and we have no idea about the limits of their mutation.¡¯

    ¡¯So you are saying that we have been looking at things from the wrong angle. That maybe there are no wargs in Maekosh but human hybrids?¡¯ Lith was getting a headache at just the thought of it.

    ¡¯Yes. It would exin a lot. The night of the attack we had just killed a lot of wargs, maybe the collective grief drove the human hosts mad. Also, the tracker doesn¡¯t pick up anything either because the signal is being generated by a human body or maybe simply because the fragments are still too small.

    ¡¯Humans develop in years, not days, so even if they are turning into wargs it could take months before it actually happens.¡¯

    "I¡¯m really sorry to bother you again, but I think I need a Healer." Lith had just started to inwardly curse his bad luck in everynguage he knew when someone interrupted his creative flow.

    It was the same redhead waitress who served him the day of his arrival. Lith was about to give her the finger when he realized the opportunity in front of him.

    "What¡¯s wrong with you, exactly?" He asked pretending to be annoyed. People were much more grateful when they believed you were doing them a favor rather than using them for your own purposes.

    The girl listed many and disparate symptoms that casually had manifested after Lith¡¯s petty revenge against the tavern staff¡¯s rudeness. It only took him a nce to diagnose her and he used a touch of Invigoration, just to stay on the safe side.

    ¡¯Hypochondria.¡¯ He thought.

    "It¡¯s pretty bad, but nothing contagious." He actually said. It wasn¡¯t a lie and made Solusugh heartily.

    "Can you help me?" She asked on the verge of tears.

    "It depends if you can help me. My services aren¡¯t cheap, you know?"

    After clearing the merchants from his suspects¡¯ list, Lith had interrogated the gatekeepers about who had gone out of town before the wargs had been spotted. Unfortunately, the winter was cold and their pay was low.

    Aside from foreigners, they didn¡¯t keep any records. Many citizens went in and out of Maekosh to gather wood, seek out the nearest healer¡¯s help, hunt, or simply to check the frozen cultivated fields outside the city walls.

    Aside from the guards, no one had been willing to talk to him. Until now.

    "I don¡¯t have much money. I¡¯m a waitress and only a waitress." She blushed a little, havingpletely misunderstood his words. She found mages to be scary, and the Ranger wasn¡¯t even of her liking.

    "The dead family. Did they have enemies? Someone in particr that resented them?" Lith didn¡¯t care about her assumptions, only information. If he was looking for humans instead of wargs, then maybe they had a motive to attack that specific house.

    "No. Not that I¡¯m aware of. They were just farmers. It¡¯s hard to have enemies when you have nothing to be envious about." She blushed even more, feeling incredibly stupid and a bit perverted.

    "Did something bad happen before the wargs? Something that could create a lot of resentment?" Lith was clutching straws. If there was no solid information, rumors would have to suffice.

    The redhead told him about a lot of petty quarrels, of how the Baroness taxed the brewing industry too much, cases of domestic abuse, and many things that made Lith think he was at a hairdresser rather than a tavern.

    Soon the rest of the staff, who were bored from doing nothing, joined the conversation when they understood they would get treatment in exchange for gossip. To avoid his headache getting worse, Lith jotted down the most likely suspects.

    Workers who had unjustly lost their jobs without receiving any support from their peers, grieving parents who had lost their children due to the constant harassment from their fellow citizens having driven a foreign Healer out of town before winter, and things like that.

    ¡¯If I lost everything because of those blockheads, I would cheer for the wargs too. The more I hear about this city, the more I wish I could just wash my hands of its fate. At least the wargs fight for each other, these guys would sell their mother for a few coins.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith¡¯s new suspect list was longer than his arm. The silver lining was that no one aside from a couple of waiters with the flu needed any healing. He just chanted a few light magic cantrips and pretended to have cured them of a few illnesses he made up on the spot, earning their gratitude and a steaming steak on the house.

    He was just about toment about how delicious it was while Solus stressed the importance of being nice to others, when his army amulet rang.

    The wargs had just attacked a nearby vige¡¯s granary, leaving him no time to spare.

 Chapter 505 On the Prowl Part 2

    Lith had already been to the vige of Trauros to share hismunication rune with its elder. Crossing the couple hundred of kilometers which separated it from Maekosh with Warp Steps only took him a handful of seconds.

    Lith appeared inside an isted alley while people all around the vige were screaming and begging for help. Their prayers didn¡¯t stop the wargs¡¯ fangs nor their ws.

    A dozen wargs were piging the food supplies while several others were feasting on those who had attempted to stop them and the passers-by who had not fled from the scene fast enough.

    The starving monsters¡¯ aim had only been the stored meat, but the first drops of human blood spilled during the initial assault had sent them into a feeding frenzy.

    Wargs were predators, whereas the squishy humans were just food after all. Much to Solus¡¯s dismay, aside from cloaking his presence with darkness magic, Lith did nothing.

    He held the magical tracker and watched the green gemstones at its corners lighting up one after the other. The device needed time to lock onto the signal emitted by the Abomination fragments inside the wargs¡¯ bodies.

    ¡¯You can fight while I take care of the tracker!¡¯ Being helpless in front of the massacre was killing her soul. With each passing second, someone was dying.

    ¡¯Then what? The wargs would split up again and fly away. If the warriors left to fight memit suicide before the link is established, we¡¯ll go back to square one and the next time even the army might not be able to stop them.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not a fan of coteral damage either, but if we don¡¯t find the whole pack, it will be all for nothing.¡¯ Lith replied while impatiently looking at the tracker and weaving all the spells he could need.

    Only when all the gemstones lit up and the holographic disy not only pointed the nearby wargs, but also the location of the rest of the pack did Lith came out of the alley.

    The monsters that had yet to take off died before they could even realize what was happening. Lith¡¯s surprise attack struck them while they were still recovering from their berserk rage.

    In the blink of an eye, six wargs were dead. Lith stored their bodies away and healed all the injured vigers before leaving. He couldn¡¯t stand Solus¡¯s suffering and he needed some time to recover his strength with Invigoration anyway.

    Warping there so fast would have left a fake mage with little mana left. Helping Trauros would look good on his resume and lull the wargs into a false sense of security. Lith wanted them to have all the time they needed to regroup and maybe even change the location of their den.

    He had already killed a total of 18 wargs out of the 50 he had counted during his first day in Maekosh. Even if a few more had been born during thest two days, they would still be cubs.

    His n was to wait for them to settle down and strike at them while their mind and bodies were lethargic from the feast that they would soon have. Just as he predicted, his first ambush had made them cautious.

    The pack moved as soon as thest warg carrying the supplies arrived, flying for hundreds of kilometers before stopping. Only then did Lith left Trauros. He was back to his peak condition and was certain that by the time he arrived, every warg would be too busy stuffing their muzzles to notice his presence.

    Once again, they had chosen the base of a small hill to build their den with earth magic. Lith checked his surroundings with Life Vision and the terrain with the array detection spell beforending.

    This time, several arrays were in ce.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! They didn¡¯t waste a single second. Their mastery of magic is progressing so fast that I wouldn¡¯t believe it if I wasn¡¯t seeing it with my own eyes. Could it be that the one behind the mutated monsters is an Awakened?

    ¡¯If so, howe despite the amount of time he has invested in training them, we¡¯ve never seen him?¡¯

    Solus had no answer to offer, so she focused on the arrays to identify their focus points and dismantle them with true magic while they were still inactive. Lith and Solus each took care of half the magical formations.

    After checking the underground maze with Life Vision, Lith decided to ce an anti air array right above the den. He had no time to waste searching for all the possible exit points, so he made it impossible to fly away.

    It was supposed to take the fleeing wargs by surprise and give him enough time to catch up with them in case something went wrong.

    ¡¯By my maker! Lith we must hurry!¡¯ The shock in Solus¡¯ voice gave him a bad feeling about the mission. She hadn¡¯t lost her cool even when they had faced Scarlett the Scorpicore.

    He followed the ever changing tunnels to the huge cave located several dozens of meters underground as Solus kept watch on their surroundings with mana sense.

    ¡¯When we were outside, some of them must have Awakened or something. Their mana signatures grew so much that I could clearly see them even from such a distance. Yet now I can¡¯t feel them anymore. I don¡¯t like this at all.¡¯ She said.

    Lith focused on moving fast without losing his breathing rhythm. Whatever was going to happen, he wanted to be at his peak condition and disabling so many arrays without alerting their maker had taken a toll on him.

    Solus was already in her gauntlet form and both of them had woven their best spells. If the enemy now had both quality and quantity on their side, the only advantages Lith and Solus had left were speed and battle experience.

    When they reached the underground cave, they stumbled into a scenepletely different from what they had been expecting. The wargs were almost all dead, the floor was littered with mutted corpses and entrails.

    The smell of blood, bile, and shit was overwhelming, yet Lith barely noticed it. The tight knit warg pack seemed to be fighting among themselves, with many grey wargs fighting and losing against a few ck wargs as they tried to defend pregnant females and cubs.

    The ck wargs had a simr appearance to the hybrid alpha. Half of their bodies wasposed of raw darkness element, giving them a demonic look. Their fur was shiny and ck, quivering under the magical light like it was alive.

    Their yellow eyes burned like torches and now Lith could see that the things he had previously mistaken for horns, were actually quills, like those of a porcupine. They grew not only on their heads, but also on the rest of their bodies.

    Each one of the ck wargs had at least two tails. Their own plus one or more fox tailsprised of pure energy.

    ¡¯What the fuck? That¡¯s no internal strife, it¡¯s a battle royal!¡¯ Lith realized as the ck wargs also fought among themselves. The winner would assimte all the ck matter from the loser, whose corpse would then revert to a normal warg¡¯s.

    Everything happened in just a few seconds, while Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s minds were processing the events taking ce in front of them.

 Chapter 506 Fury Part 1

    Lith dashed forward. The chaos and mayhem of the cave made caution irrelevant.

    ¡¯I must stop the hybrids from getting stronger!¡¯ He thought as he unleashed a series of tier four spells that struck the ck wargs where their vitals were supposed to be with surgical precision.

    Lith had added the bestiary to Soluspedia, so that he would always know the most efficient way to kill the monsters it contained. Three hybrids died on the spot, but four somehow survived even with their heads removed or their hearts reced by a gaping hole.

    At least until a fifth hybrid extended its tendrils to suck them dry.

    "Thanks, brother. Much appreciated." The creature said before exploding into maniacalughter filled with ecstasy. Lith could distinguish two voices talking in unison.

    One of them was feral and rough, yet it was barely audible, like it was fading away. The other was ancient and erudite, its phrasing a bit out of date. It held a feeling of malice and power that gave Lith the creeps.

    One of the female wargs ran in front of Lith, her teeth bared, her eyes pitch ck with the same darkness which was coursing through the hybrids. She tried to stab at Lith¡¯s throat, but he easily avoided the hit and pierced her heart.

    Lith let darkness magic flow through the Gatekeeper, expecting her tomit a suicidal explosion. The warg¡¯s attack had been too sloppy and hesitant. Killing her had been too easy. It had to be a trap.

    Except it wasn¡¯t.

    "Thanks, brother." She said as the darkness faded from her eyes. The gratitude in her voice, which terribly resembled Rena¡¯s, almost shattered Lith¡¯s heart.

    "It¡¯s eating us from the inside." The warg coughed blood, revealing the small furball shivering with fear she had hidden in her other arm the whole time.

    "I couldn¡¯t resist much longer. Please, I don¡¯t want to kill my baby, nor do I want him to be part of that thing."

    The Gatekeeper flickered in Lith¡¯s hand severing both lives at once. The two wargs died painlessly, but Solus was crying. The remaining grey wargs literally threw their lives at Lith, unwilling to hurt their pack mates.

    The Abomination inside of them was too strong to resist its calling. They could only ride its hate toward the intruder and use him as a means to escape their fate. With each swing of Lith¡¯s de, a warg fell into oblivion and Solus cried harder.

    Rage and hatred burned like a sun inside Lith¡¯s heart, making him once again wonder if death was just a part of life or more like a part of him. Death had brought him to Mogar and had kept walking with him the whole time.

    He would either fight it as a Healer or dispense it to those who stood in his path. For the wargs it had been a blessing. A quick, painless, way out from an eternity of very, trapped inside the monstrosity consuming them.

    He promised to hispanion that the thing in front of them would receive no such mercy.

    "You shouldn¡¯t have messed with my te, brother." Tezka was busy consuming the four hybrids before their energy was lost forever while Lith killed thest wargs.

    "It took me time and effort to make proper nourishment out of this horseshit. I¡¯m still far from being whole and every bit helps."

    During thest two days, the warg pack had followed Tezka¡¯s instructions. They had exhausted all of their food reserves while practicing magic under the caring eye of the magical beast¡¯s memories.

    Until the hunger prevailed, awakening the real Tezka. For the centuries old Abomination, they weren¡¯t cubs but merely a means to an end. He would use them to regain his body and power before confronting his other self.

    It would lead him on the next step of the evolutionary scale that had eluded him for so long despite all of his efforts. Despite the countless lives Tezka had consumed, he was still just an Eldritch. Now, he could be so much more.

    The Eldritch was sure of it.

    Thest grey warg had yet to reach the ground when Tezka charged at Lith like a freight train. Two quills as long and thick as a de erupted from his forearms while his fur turned into an armorposed of small spikes.

    Lith infused himself with every element and sidestepped the enemy¡¯s attack. His gloved fist struck Tezka¡¯s liver like a machine gun. Each hit delivered a tier four darkness magic spell, Grim Reaper, right inside the hybrid, sending him crashing against a wall with a boom.

    Tezka shook off both the spell and the impact before the tier four fire magic spell, Burning Prison, could trap him. He Blinked to safety only to find Lith right behind him.

    The left handed hand sh from the Gatekeeper severed Tezka¡¯s head as the razor sharp ws of the gauntlet made it possible for Lith to pierce through the Eldritch¡¯s heart.

    The Abomination justughed and retaliated at the bbergasted Ranger with an elbow strike that would have shattered his ribs if Lith hadn¡¯t Blinked away at thest second. ck tendrils reconnected the head to the body and sewed it back in its ce.

    "Who are you? Why did you do this?" Lith asked, voicing the questions that were ravaging Solus¡¯s heart as he nned how he was going to kill something with no vitals.

    "I¡¯m just like you, brother. An Abomination. As for the why, I did it because I can!" Tezka wasn¡¯t a big talker either. He would speak only to mess with his opponents¡¯ head while he cast his spells.

    His right hand released the tier five Chaos array, Chaos Dimension. Grey specks of light filled the underground cave, making it impossible to use dimensional magic unless it used Chaos instead of darkness.

    The Eldritch¡¯s left hand drew a circle in mid air, tearing space apart to take out his prized sword, Endless Night.

    "Let¡¯s see how good you are without the edge Life Vision gives to you, brother." A cruel grin twisted Tezka¡¯s snout as he Blinked in for the kill, now that he was certain that Lith couldn¡¯t follow his movements anymore.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Outside the Forgotten Plum camp, now.

    The real Tezka had been sent by the Master to keep an eye on Balkor¡¯s family and kill them the moment the opportunity presented itself. With them gone, the god of death would have no reason to help the Guardians.

    The Eldritch didn¡¯t like the job, nor following orders, but the Master was the only chance he had to ovee the bottleneck he had been stuck at for decades.

    Suddenly, he felt like his soul was being ripped apart. He felt something he had thought long forgotten. Tezka felt fear.

    ¡¯What the heck? Someone just stole my Endless Night! That¡¯s impossible. Both my omni pocket and the sword are linked to my life force. Fuck Balkor, I want answers, now!¡¯

    ***

    Lith was sick and tired of Tezka calling him "brother." Carl called him that and so did Tista, Rena, and now Aran. It was a word that meant the world to him, no matter which he was on.

    Every time it came out of Tezka¡¯s mouth, it was filled with poison. It tainted the memories of his lost brother and those of every happy moment he had ever lived. Tezka¡¯s Blinknded him right in the middle of a stream of blue mes that wasing out of Lith¡¯s mouth.

    They burned through everything they touched. The array, Tezka¡¯s body, even the rift in space was forcefully shut down, almost cutting the Eldritch in two.

    "Origin mes?" The hybrid had no idea what those words meant, but a shiver ran down his spine. That was before Solus¡¯s gauntlet started to grow.

 Chapter 507 Fury Part 2

    Origin mes, also known as dragon fire or phoenix mes, were a peculiar type of mes that only a few living beings could employ. Unlike normal fire, Origin mes didn¡¯t require the expense of mana to ignite the world energy, but only a spark of life force.

    Born from life, they were capable of destroying anything, no matter if they were physical or magical in nature. They were purifying mes capable of restoring the natural bnce. Magical beasts considered them a manifestation of Mogar¡¯s will to clear any past mistake whereas its targets just called them "death".

    The hybrid only had a part of Tezka¡¯s memories, but it was enough for him to be aware of the danger they posed. He Blinked away to safety as he used a water spell to extinguish the mes.

    Chaos Dimension had no means to defend itself. The blue fire spread along its lines of power, making the array crumble less than a few seconds after its creation. Meanwhile, Solus¡¯s form had turned into a full arm protector, which covered Lith¡¯s right arm and shoulder.

    Her rage was as hot as Lith¡¯s was cold. Mana endlessly flowed from the green gemstone on the back of the hand to the yellow one engraved on the shoulder pad, like a raging river about to breach its banks.

    There were no words that could express her fury, nor lift the weight she felt oppressing her soul. Only crushing Tezka¡¯s skull with their hand could give her peace of mind.

    Lith had turned into his hybrid form and was floating in mid air without a spell thanks to his wings.

    ¡¯Even though he¡¯s a hybrid like me, he has no vitals just like pure Abominations. The only way I can kill him is by making him exhaust all of his energy. ck cores cannot be replenished without feeding on life force or world energy. How strong is he, Solus?¡¯

    Lith hoped that his voice would snap her out of her frenzy.

    ¡¯A bit stronger than you, but weaker than us.¡¯ She snarled.

    Solus had always been a gentle soul. Seeing the wargs caring for each other had given her hope. Hope that not every living being was bound to just be what someone or something had turned them into.

    If even a female warg could learn to love her cubs, then maybe she too could allow herself to fall in love and wish for a better future. Solus couldn¡¯t help but see herself in them, in their willingness to sacrifice their lives for their pack mates.

    The same humans that would consider her just a thing to possess, saw the wargs as nothing but mindless beasts, but they had feelings, just like her.

    Discovering that everything had just been a ruse, witnessing the Abomination forcing a mother tomit suicide to not injure her own child was more than she could bear. Solus wasn¡¯t Lith, she strived to live her life, not to just avoid death.

    Tezka had just torn apart all of her hope and dreams right in front of her face, set them aze, and then took a dump on them to put out the mes.

    "You are really handsome, brother." Tezka said while watching the mana Lith exuded with gluttonous eyes. By assimting Lith¡¯s power, Tezka was certain he would be able to challenge his other self.

    "I wonder why you feel the need to hide under a human shell despite the fact that you even possess a Living Legacy. I¡¯ll take good care of it for you."

    It. The word struck at Solus like a poisoned needle. The hybrid somehow knew she was alive yet he had called her an ¡¯it¡¯. Solus almost snapped because of it, but feeling that Lith was as outraged as she was, calmed her down.

    The hybrid charged forward, using Endless Night¡¯s ability, Nightmaze, to cut the space in front of himself and open several exit points throughout the cave at the same time.

    It created a permanent dimensional crossroad that would make Life Vision useless in predicting the direction of the next attack.

    A hail of ck quills as big as spears erupted from a Gate on Lith¡¯s right. He conjured a stone wall to block them, but each one of them was imbued with both air and Chaos magic.

    They pierced through the barrier like it was made of paper, taking Lith by surprise. The sudden turn of events forced him to stand still and deflect them with the Gatekeeper, leaving his back and sides exposed.

    Just like Tezka had nned.

    He emerged from a portal at Lith¡¯s back side, thrusting Endless Night toward Lith¡¯s leg, the only part of his body he couldn¡¯t move without his defenses crumbling.

    Endless Night wasn¡¯t amon sword, nor had it been created with normal means. Its bite would create a link between Tezka and his prey, allowing him to feed even in the heat of the battle.

    The hybrid was just about to strike when Solus reacted with her tier five spell, Tower Defence. The whole cave came alive, turning into an extension of her will. The ground at Lith¡¯s feet opened up, letting him take cover as the quills flew past him and ran into their own master.

    The magic they were imbued with was Tezka¡¯s, so it couldn¡¯t harm him. The physical aspect of the quills¡¯, however, was another story entirely. The sh stopped the hybrid in his tracks, knocking him off bnce.

    The damage he sustained was negligible, but his opening was lost. Cursing his bad luck, Tezka dove back inside the closest Gate, ready to switch to n B while walking into Solus¡¯s trap instead.

    Endless Night opened several dimensional doors at once, making their user¡¯s path unpredictable, but the sword¡¯s ability had one weak point. All the Gates were static, making them exploitable once the element of surprise was lost.

    Solus had countless stone spikes infused with darkness magic rain inside each of the dimensional doors. Tezka was already at the dimensional crossroad when he understood he had no way to escape the attack.

    ¡¯Impressive! He analyzed Nightmaze and turned it against me with just a nce. Too bad he underestimated how powerful an Eldritch is.¡¯ Tezka grinned while he rushed towards one of the exits.

    The quills covering his body would allow him to tank the stone spikes and suffer minimal injuries. Unfortunately, Tezka hadn¡¯t gotten a single thing right.

    Lith already had his hands full keeping Life Vision active to predict his enemy¡¯s strategies, deflecting the iing attacks, all the while he cast and kept active several spells at once. He had noticed nothing.

    Solus, on the other hand (AN pun intended), had long since learned to quiet her emotions to look at every battle like it was just a chessboard. In the past, her weak core didn¡¯t allow her to take part in the battle, only provide Lith intel.

    Even now she barely had a couple of decent attacks in her, so she had to make them count. A deep green core didn¡¯t give her much juice, so what her spellscked in power she had to make up with nning and uracy.

    She knew that she didn¡¯t have enough power to pierce the hybrid¡¯s skin, but that was what the previous attack with his own quills had been for. They had cracked her enemy¡¯s armor enough that Tower Defence¡¯s stone spikes had an easy time piercing through it and stopping Tezka in his tracks.

    The damagebined with the surprise effect paralyzed him long enough for the spikesing from the other Gates to reach him and stab him from every side.

 Chapter 508 Hollow Victory Part 1

    Living Legacy was just the name Abominations had for cursed objects, since for them they were more of a blessing than a curse.

    An Abomination had no body that the living relic could corrupt, nor could their minds be swayed with promises of power. Abominations were power made flesh. They would actively seek cursed objects and enve them to their will.

    Lith smelled like an Abomination to Tezka, his gauntlet was clearly alive so he did the math. Or so he believed.

    Living Legacies would never help their masters. They would only wait for their captor¡¯s destruction to regain their freedom and find a victim they could subdue. Abominations and cursed objects were like minded, they sought ves, notpanions.

    Tezka¡¯s biggest mistake had been misunderstanding the rtionship between his opponents and he was now paying the price for it. Solus¡¯s spell was now injecting darkness magic into his body, sapping his strength by the second.

    Tezka tried to shapeshift into tendrils to escape the spikes¡¯ deadly grasp, but his body was still that of a hybrid. Cursing the weakness of his own flesh, Tezka had to employ an expensive Chaos magic spell to break free before it was toote.

    While Solus kept him busy, Lith had cast his tier four dimensional spell Copsed space to forcefully shut down Nightmaze and kill Tezka in result. Abominations were sturdy, but not even they could survive being ripped to shreds.

    The hybrid could feel the space around him distorting and managed to escape from the jaws of death just in the nick of time. Lith weed him with a barrage of tier four spells that would have finished Tezka off if not for Endless Night¡¯s second ability, Night¡¯s End.

    The enchanted de cut the space around him and created a dimensional sphere that Warped the iing attack in random directions.

    "You are much better than I expected, brother." Tezka said, trying to buy enough time to mend his wounds while under the protection of the dimensional shield. He had more holes in his body than swiss cheese, making it impossible for him to even stand.

    "We shouldn¡¯t fight, but join our forces. We are both iplete. I can teach you Chaos magic and you can help me against my enemy. Once I train you, he will not be a match for us. What do you say?"

    Lith didn¡¯t reply. He cast cantrips at the barrier¡¯s every side, making sure it had no gaps he could exploit. He didn¡¯t need Solus to notice Night¡¯s End weakness.

    ¡¯As long as he stays in there, he is invulnerable but he is alsopletely blind.¡¯ They thought in unison as they used dimensional magic to empower Night¡¯s End more than it was necessary.

    Barrier or prison, it was only a matter of bncing the elemental energies in y. A prolonged dimensional spell like those Endless Night unleashed, would already put the surrounding space under a heavy stress.

    Lith and Solus boosted the defensive spell until cracks appeared in mid air, distorting the air like a kaleidoscope. Then, they twisted and turned the spatial cracks before darting away from the cave at breakneck speed.

    The sudden silence scared Tezka more than any explosion could.

    ¡¯He could be casting an array to negate dimensional magic. It would make Endless Night useless, but at least neither of us could use Blink. It would take away the advantage he gets from Live Vision.¡¯ The hybrid thought.

    As soon as he was able to move again, Tezka dispelled the barrier.

    "Round two, brother. I..." He chocked on his own words as Night¡¯s End disappearance triggered a chain reaction. The whole underground cave exploded with such strength to make the ground within several hundred meters tremble.

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Near the Master¡¯s hideout.

    The real Tezka suddenly fell to his knees, feeling like a part of his soul was being torn to pieces. Endless Night wasn¡¯t just an artifact, it was part of his own life force. Pain ravaged his body as he realized that whoever had stolen his weapon had managed to destroy it, probably for good.

    ***

    From outside the cave, Life Vision, mana sense, and the tracker agreed about the eradication of the Abomination fragments. Even when Lith stood at the base of the hill, the magical device was unable to pick up any residual signature.

    Normally, Lith would have grumbled about losing his loot due to the explosion or rejoiced at the destruction of his enemies. Yet this time victory felt sour. The satisfaction from killing the hybrid wasn¡¯t enough to make them forget about the rest.

    Solus was still shocked by the carnage she had witnessed, while Lith was trying to find a way to cope with his actions. The desperation in the wargs¡¯ eyes when they had chosen to die rather than submit to their fate had opened old wounds.

    It was the first time he empathized with his victims. The Abomination was their cancer and just like Lith back on Earth had used a gun, they had used him. He didn¡¯t feel what he had done was wrong, yet it upset him in a way he couldn¡¯t put into words.

    ¡¯Are you alright, Solus?¡¯ He asked the only question that really mattered.

    ¡¯No.¡¯ Her tone was sad. Giving in to her anger didn¡¯t make her feel better, it had just been a temporary respite before having to face her doubts and fears again.

    ¡¯Are you?¡¯

    ¡¯No. Let¡¯s return to Maekosh. If your hypothesis is correct, the death of the warg pack will trigger their aplices within the city.¡¯ He replied.

    ¡¯Honestly, I don¡¯t care about the mission anymore. I just want to get out of here. I want to be alone for a while.¡¯ Solus meant it. This time each one of them was facing a personal crisis, making them unable to support the other.

    At their arrival, the tracker revealed one weak signaling from a house in the farmers¡¯ district. Pazeol¡¯s obsession led his creations to be so precise that now that the tracker was locked on, there was no escape from it.

    Life Vision showed only one faint life force inside and it was slowly getting weaker. Lith prepared his spells nheless and readied himself for the worst. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t enough.

    Inside the small and messy home that painfully reminded him of his own, there was a deadly pale man sitting on a chair. He looked so ordinary that Lith might have crossed paths with him several times during the past few days and not even registered his existence once.

    The farmer¡¯s eyes were dimmer than his life force. He was still alive, but already dead inside. Lith recognized that gaze. He had seen it every day while looking at himself in the mirror after Carl¡¯s death.

    Near the man, there was another chair where another woman was sitting with a small baby held in her arms. They both seemed to be peacefully asleep, but Lith knew they were actually dead.

    "Do you feel proud of yourself?" The man wheezed while looking at Lith with a deep seated hatred he knew all too well. The farmer was able to recognize the Ranger from the memories of his fallen friends.

 Chapter 509 Hollow Victory Part 2

    "Bravo. You killed the monsters. Monsters that treated us better than this fucking city ever did. When my daughter fell ill, there was no Healer, because my fellow citizens drove him away." Each of the farmer¡¯s words was coated with venom and spite.

    "My wife fell ill while taking care of the baby, yet no one did anything. I was forced to leave Maekosh on my cart, hoping to find a Healer before death imed them. I found the wargs instead.

    "Can you believe it? Monsters took pity on me when even my own kin betrayed me." Lith could see the man¡¯s life fading away with every breath he took, yet his hatred was stronger than death.

    "They cured them. Cured me of my humanity, making us all stronger. Now they are dead and so are we. I regret killing those farmers, they had done nothing wrong. They were simply in the wrong ce at the wrong time.

    "When our alpha died, Etta and I lost our minds. The bond between wargs is something that a murderer like you could never understand." His breath became ragged, his voice barely a whisper.

    "The wargs just wanted food and shelter. Is that so wrong? To try to escape from cold and starvation? Did my family deserve to die just so that fucking Baroness could pin a medal to your chest?"

    Lith didn¡¯t reply. He had walked more than one mile in the dying farmer¡¯s shoes and knew that nothing he could say would matter to the man. Nothing would give the man his family back.

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire.

    ¡¯Thank the gods I Warped both Xenagroshs outside myb. ording to an old saying, when two Guardians fight, maps get redrawn. Yet I believe the same can be said for Eldritchs!¡¯

    The real Xenagrosh had the advantage of being able to shapeshift her body at will, the wisdom of centuries, and most of her magical artifacts. Unfortunately, the troll Xenagrosh still seemed to be able to hold her ground.

    Trolls were naturally attuned with the light element and it was their inability to process the darkness element in the surrounding world energy that had led their race to their fallen status.

    Abominations, however, had a ck core that was naturally rich with darkness and incapable of assimting the light element if it wasn¡¯t leeched from other life forms. The Master¡¯s experiment had created a being with both the troll¡¯s and the Abomination¡¯s mana core, thriving together in a symbiotic rtionship.

    Theirplementary nature had made the troll Xenagrosh into an almost perfect being. To make matters worse, by devouring her whole tribe, she had regained most of her original self¡¯s memories.

    Also, before making her appearance she had taken the precaution of "liberating" from Xenagrosh¡¯s pocket dimension all of the artifacts she could get her hands on. She had got the first choice of which ones to use for this battle, but unlike the real Xenagrosh, she didn¡¯t know the strengths and weaknesses of each enchanted item.

    The Master needed all of their energy and arrays just to prevent their battle from being detected from afar, since the destruction they caused had turned hills into ins and grasnds into barrennds.

    The Master knew that unless one of them made a tant mistake, their sh was likely to raze the entire country of Lamarth to the ground.

    "Don¡¯t worry, old friend." The Master yelled at Xenagrosh. "As soon as I finish setting up this array, we will take down that knock off copy, together!"

    The troll Xenagroshughed at those words.

    "How low have you stooped to need the help of a human? Even if you win, I would not lose. I always strived to reach perfection and now I know I¡¯ve made it. Think about all the pain and effort it costed us to be what we are now.

    "Do you realize how much you are struggling despite your alleged superiority? You¡¯re a relic of the past, whereas I¡¯m what we were always supposed to be. Not a weak human but not a filthy monster either. I¡¯ve achieved the best of both worlds."

    She released two tier five Chaos spells at the same time, mes of Absolution and Judgment Call. The former was Xenagrosh¡¯s best attempt at imitating Origin mes.

    The ck fire infused with Chaos magic filled the area within 100 meters of her, eating at all of the defensive barriers the original Eldritch had set up and also preventing her from Blinking away.

    mes of Absolution wouldn¡¯t so much cleanse as they would corrupt, but they were still capable of making it impossible to perform the fine mana tuning thatplex spells like dimensional magic required.

    Judgment Call was even trickier. It would conjure a twin stream of ck lightning that would chase their prey leaving them only one of two options: take the damage in full or dodge them until the spell ran out of juice and leave the opponent plenty of time to set up something even worse.

    Seeing her prized spellbination used against her, the real Xenagrosh roared in outrage. She assumed her true form, that of a Shadow Dragon so big that she could destroy the town of Lutia simply by sitting on it.

    A jet stream of purple mes came out of Xenagrosh¡¯s maw, true Origin mes, which consumed Judgment Call before unleashing their fury against the troll Eldritch.

    "Not so cocky anymore, eh?" Xenagrosh said with augh. "Seems my little defective counterpart doesn¡¯t remember much, but she¡¯s right about one thing. This fight will prove which one of us is worthy of living." She said to the Master.

    "If I don¡¯t win on my own, it would be a hollow victory. If I need someone¡¯s help, no matter the reason, then my whole existence would be a lie!" The Shadow Dragon roared her challenge before unleashing her most recent and powerful creation.

    Tyrant¡¯s Will severed the light element from the surrounding world energy, turning all the other elements into Chaos magic. The hybrid could only conjure her best defenses as the whole Mogar became her enemy.

    The air she breathed was toxic, the humidity turned into acid as the ground beneath her erupted, trapping her in a pool of ck magma. Her barriers shattered one after the other, forcing her to sacrifice some of her artifacts to escape from the clutches of death.

    When the dust settled, the troll Eldritch was still alive.

    "Not bad, ¡¯sister¡¯, but it wasn¡¯t enough." She had lost most of her body in the assault, only part of her head and abdomen remained. She had sacrificed the rest to make sure her twin cores wouldn¡¯t suffer any damage.

    "Trolls regenerate fast. A dragon is indeed sturdier, but how quickly does that massive body heal? How much energy does it drain? I bet that was yourst card and it failed. Once I get my arms back, you¡¯ll be a sitting duck until you recover from the exhaustion."

    The Dragon Xenagrosh knew her other self was right, yet she stillughed her heart out.

    "Well, what do you think I¡¯m here for?" The Master used one of their arrays topletely seal the injured troll before throwing her inside the Dragon¡¯s maw.

    "How could she possibly be you and still believe all of that bullshit? If you really were unwilling to get help, you wouldn¡¯t be here. You wouldn¡¯t have taught me everything I know about Awakened and Abominations."

 Chapter 510 The Day After Part 1

    "She was me, yes, but the past arrogant, selfish, and conceited me." Xenagrosh replied as she feasted on the flesh and mana cores of her doppelganger.

    "Back then, I thought that I was invincible. That as long as I kept my belly full and my turf clear from any rival, I would be happy. Now I know better. Abominations don¡¯t thrive because they all live alone.

    "While other races pool up their resources and knowledge, we hoard them and spend our eternal lives in seclusion. I came to you when I realized the limitations of that kind of lifestyle, when I decided I wanted more than be powerful to be happy.

    "Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have undergone all of your experiments, traveled Mogar to findpanions for our cause, nor realized that even an Eldritch is wed in both the mind and the body. Or at least, I was."

    Xenagrosh yelled with joy as she felt her body changing. The shadowsposing her dragon body were now less ethereal and more physical. A new power flowed through her ck core, making it different and more powerful than it had ever been.

    The Master looked at her in amazement. Even after returning to her humanoid form, the Eldritch was now womanlier than the previous construct made of stolen energies. Her body had partly recovered its features, like her shiny golden hair and two lively chestnut eyes.

    "Do you think you could face a Guardian now?" The Master¡¯s voice was full of expectation.

    "No, but for the first time in centuries, I¡¯m not hungry. Whatever I have be, I¡¯m already more than just an Eldritch. Imagine what I could be tomorrow."

    ***

    After the farmer died, Lith returned to the Baroness¡¯ mansion and announced her that the crisis was averted. She was so happy that she wanted to throw a party in Lith¡¯s honor, who politely declined.

    Winter didn¡¯t allow to waste provisions, nor he wanted to spend a single second more than necessary in Maekosh. Both Solus and him felt there was nothing worth celebrating and the city¡¯s inhabitants made their stomachs churn.

    Lith returned to Belius to give Pazeol his tracking device back and all the corpses he had collected, even those of the farmer and his family. Lith understood the man¡¯s rage, his spite for mankind, but at the same time, he had a duty.

    A duty toward Solus and himself. If all the tribes involved in the monster outbreaks were bound to give birth to hybrids that powerful, then he wanted the Griffon Kingdom to take care of them on its own.

    The idea of the corpses being subjected to Pazeol¡¯s experiments was much less disturbing than that of him being forced to face those things again before he could even understand the nature of the inner conflict he was experiencing.

    For once, Solus had nothing to object. Rather than see such misery and death again, she would have rather preferred that Lith deserted. She was having a hard time understanding how big was Tezka¡¯s role in ying with her emotions and how big was her own.

    ¡¯Was it really his n to make us feel sympathy for them, or did I just delude myself into hoping for the impossible?¡¯ She pondered.

    Pazeol was so happy while Lith described him the effectiveness of the magical tracker that heughed like Lith¡¯s report was the best joke ever.

    "Now if only Balkor dares to raise his head, we¡¯ll be able to find him and pay him back in full!" There was madness in the youth¡¯s eyes, the same madness that led him to never fully heal his own scars.

    Lith left him wondering which one of them was more disturbed.

    ¡¯At least I don¡¯t rejoice at the idea of someone as dangerous as Balkor returning, but maybe it¡¯s just because he took away nothing from me.¡¯ Lith wondered.

    Such morbid thoughts left him the moment he opened the door in front of him. Since he was in Belius, he could give his report in person. It was the real reason why he had personally delivered the bodies.

    At first, Lith had considered having his girlfriend as his handler as a bother, especially after Othre¡¯s events. The fact that people like Berion could use her was a weakness irked his paranoia to no end.

    After a while, though, he discovered that the issue was irrelevantpared to the benefits it provided. Lith had always kept many secrets from everyone, some because of need, others by choice.

    All the things he went through, the price he had to pay to provide for his family and his research, he had never shared them with anyone but Solus. Back then, Phloria was too young and came from a pampered background.

    She only did things because she wanted to, not because she had to. It created a small but significant gap between them that prevented Lith from sharing with her the most horrible details of his experiences.

    Not because he thought they would scare her, but because he was certain she wouldn¡¯t be able to understand them.

    As for his family, he didn¡¯t want to be their window on that side of the world he had spent his life protecting them from. Lutia was a small piece of paradise for them and he wanted to keep it that way.

    With Kam, everything was different. As a member of the army, Lith had to exin everything relevant to his missions, no matter how gruesome, and she had to listen. He would always hide the parts about his hybrid nature or true magic, but he could speak freely about anything else.

    Over time, giving a report had turned from a duty to a way to share part of his burden. It had allowed him to open to her bit by bit, to let her in the loneliest part of his life and realize they grew closer for it.

    "Wee back, Ranger Verhen. I¡¯m d to meet you again." Whenever they interacted because of their work, her voice was detached and professional. Yet the moment Kam saw him a warm smiled appeared on her face and extended to her eyes.

    It always rose the temperature in his heart by several degrees. They sat down in the report room after shaking their hands. A report room was a small office that reminded Lith of an interrogation room from crime series.

    The furnishing consisted of just two chairs, a desk, and a recording device. There were no magic mirrors nor cameras. On the contrary, the room was enchanted to guarantee their privacy.

    "Sorry if I rush you, but the Balkor department is eager to hear about all the details of the mission." She turned the recorder on.

    Lith told her everything that had happened that day, without stopping not even when in his mind the image of the warg mother he had killed ovepped with Rena¡¯s, nor when he could almost identify himself with the dead farmer.

    In his shoes, Lith would have done much worse to save Carl¡¯s life or that of any member of his new family for that matter.

    He only stopped when a click made him aware that Kam had stopped the registration. Only then, did Lith notice that she was covering her mouth with one hand and that tears were streaming down her face, forming two irregr pools on the otherwise pristine surface of the desk.

 Chapter 511 The Day After Part 2

    "I¡¯m so sorry you had to go through that." Kam stuttered between hups.

    "Through that what?" Lith¡¯s mind was still numb, her words made no sense to him.

    "You know my personal file by heart. I¡¯ve killed people, beasts, monsters, and even younglings in the past. I¡¯ve faced much stronger opponents and seen worse bloodshed. What happened during this mission is far from being a novelty.

    "I can¡¯t understand why you are making a big deal of it, even though I must admit that this time everything felt... wrong." Lith was the first one being baffled by his own reaction.

    "Of course it did!" She could tell from his expression that Lith was struggling to put his thoughts into words.

    "It¡¯s because I know your personal file that I know you have never killed someone who was fighting to protect their family, no matter their race."

    Lith pondered her words before realizing that she was right. In the past, all of his opponents had been people who either had tried to kill him, or those whose interests shed with his own.

    "Let¡¯s be honest, even if those wargs were actually capable of oveing their violent urges, they had to be put down. What made them human also made them dangerous beyond reason." Kam said as Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "They were an Abomination¡¯s breeding ground, and even if they weren¡¯t, they couldn¡¯t coexist with us. With their spawn rate, the amount of food they need grows exponentially. In the long run, either them or us would¡¯ve been forced to starve.

    "Yet all of our reasoning doesn¡¯t change that, in a way, they were innocents. There was no malice behind their actions, only the will to provide their beloved ones a better future, which is exactly what you do from a tender age.

    "It doesn¡¯t matter if you did it out of duty or because this Tezka forced your hand, either way, you have been forced to kill yourself over and over."

    Lith remained dumbstruck at the realization. The act of killing the wargs was nothing but a drop in the ocean for him. Even the farmer¡¯s death wouldn¡¯t have left such a strong impression if not for the man¡¯s tragic past being so simr to his own.

    Lith didn¡¯t feel bad for them, he felt bad because he had walked more than one mile in their shoes. He knew how hard it was to fight against impossible odds, just to fail miserably because of an unavoidable fate, like it happened with Carl.

    "Are you saying I¡¯m feeling bad for myself?" Lith said with a t tone, the numbness still paralyzing his feelings.

    "Yes! And you have every right to. Because you did the wrong thing for the right reasons and because this job just took away a piece of your heart."

    She angrily mmed her fist on the table, yet her tears never stopped.

    "Why are you crying? Why are you so angry?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m angry because of what the army made you do. They can call it coteral damage, or with any fancy word they want, but it¡¯s still murder. I¡¯m crying because you can¡¯t." She said while cing her hand above his heart.

    "You don¡¯t have to cry in my stead." He replied.

    "I want to. Someone has to. Otherwise you¡¯ll just shrug everything off like it¡¯s nothing and add another scar in here." Kam ced her hand above his heart.

    "Believe me, I know that there are wounds that never heal. They can get better, but the pain is always there." She remembered the pain of living her early life feeling nothing but a tool in her parents¡¯ hands.

    How difficult it had been to leave everything behind, even her beloved sister Zinya, to have at least a chance at happiness. After Kam joined the army, her father had disowned her, breaking her heart.

    Heter revoked it when she became a Lieutenant, but he only did it with the aim of exploiting her authority. She had hoped that time and distance would help her parents to understand how much they loved her.

    It worked. Unfortunately, their love amounted to nothing. The realization hurt her deeply, but at the same time, it set her free. At that point, it was Kam¡¯s turn to disown her family and change herst name.

    Family had be a four letter word for her, and it was one of the reasons why she had yet to marry.

    "I know how hard it must be even talking about this. There is no escape from such ugly events, but you don¡¯t have to bottle them up, nor to face them alone. Do you have ns for tonight?" She asked.

    Lith shook his head. He was way ahead of schedule for his rounds. Unless an emergency happened, he had at least two free weeks.

    "Then it¡¯s a date. I¡¯d love to leave early, but my supervisor would skin me. We are currently understaffed." She said while wiping off her tears.

    "These are the spare keys for my apartment. Wait for me there, I¡¯lle back as soon as I can." She took the recording device and left before Lith could reply. Even in his confused state, he realized how big of a step it was for her.

    Giving him free ess to her apartment meant she was willing to further deepen their rtionship.

    ¡¯I doubt she usually brings along spare keys, unless she had been considering to give them to me for a while.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Agreed.¡¯ Solus sighed. ¡¯She ispletely right. The mission with the wargs pushed all of our wrong buttons. I feel like crap too and I¡¯m not in the mood of remaining alone either. I can¡¯t stand being the third wheel, not today.

    ¡¯Can you please bring me to Lutia and call Tista? I could really use a friend.¡¯

    ¡¯Of course I can.¡¯ Lith replied as he left the army¡¯s headquarters for the local branch of the Mage Association. Solus didn¡¯t understand why he took that detour instead of using the army¡¯s Warp Gate until he bought anothermunication amulet.

    ¡¯I know how bad you feel and how insensitive I can be, especially when I¡¯m neck deep into my own shit. You shouldn¡¯t spend the night holed up in the ring while I have fun. You deserve so much more and I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t give it to you.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯The least I can do is to give you as much independence as I can.¡¯ He had Solus imprint her own amulet before sharing with her his rune, Ka¡¯s and Tista¡¯s. Solus was deeply moved by his gesture.

    Even though she had never expressed it, Solus had long since desired to have a way to freely talk with her friends without going through Lith every time. It was the first present he had ever given her, and it was akin to freedom.

    Solus didn¡¯t perceive it as distancing himself from her, quite the opposite. Lith was recognizing her as an individual, giving her some personal space and his trust. They shared an enormous pocket dimension, yet until that day it never contained anything of hers.

    Thatmunication amulet was her very first possession in over twelve years. She loved both Lith and the amulet beyond what words could express.

 Chapter 512 The Day After Part 3

    As joy overwhelmed Solus, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder what would¡¯ve happened if she had made her move before Kam did.

    Solus was hurt and so was Lith. Maybe it could have been the right time to reveal him her human form. Maybe, by sharing their weaknesses they could have grown closer and stronger.

    Unfortunately, happiness was but a temporary respite before her wounds ached again. Their bond made them experience each other¡¯s suffering. Thebined emotional pain was unbearable to her.

    ¡¯I need some time to understand how much of what I¡¯m feeling is because of him and how much it¡¯s because of me.¡¯ She thought as Lith brought her back to the mana geyser near Lutia.

    In her tower form, Solus could remain separated from Lith for a prolonged time without any of her abilities being diminished. As soon as he left, Solus asked Tista to join her.

    In the past, Scarlett had told them that Lith was corrupting Solus. Back then, she had given no importance to those words. After what had happened with the wargs, she needed time, distance, and a friend to make sure that they didn¡¯t hold any truth.

    ***

    House Ernas, Ernas Grand Duchy.

    Jirni¡¯s birthday was nearing and the entire household was busy with the preparations. Usually she would keep things simple, making it a social event of small importance. Her job as a Royal Constable coupled with her personality didn¡¯t make her very amiable.

    The events in Othre, however, had forced her hand. The Crown had decided to award Jirni for her services during the celebration, using her as an example for the other ancient noble households.

    This made her guest list much longer than usual and not limited only to her closest friends and family members. It was the reason why she had recalled home all of her children and invited most of Lith¡¯s family.

    Aside from her eldest son, Gunyin, who would inherit the title of Duke in case anything happened to his parents, everyone else hadn¡¯t attended to a real social event in years.

    After finishing the academy, Quy had been working in the light department of the White Griffon. After a couple of failed attempts as an adventurer, she was usually too busy with her research to take part in any non mandatory celebration.

    Bing a Professor without solid achievements was impossible. After realizing she wasn¡¯t a fighter material, Quy was resigned to obtain that role by contributing to expand the magical knowledge of the Kingdom.

    That kind of discoveries required time and effort. Quy was also determined to having a family of her own, so between her research and her social life she didn¡¯t have much free time left.

    Jirni missed her, but at the same time was really happy that Quy had ovee her trauma and managed to live independently. Also, she seemed to have the most sessful romantic life among her sisters.

    "Are you finally going to introduce to me this boyfriend of yours?" Jirni asked while the butler served tea and pastries as the entire family was taking a break in the living room.

    She already knew everything about him. She had performed a full background check the moment Quy had mentioned him twice.

    When she started to speak with Jirni about her boyfriends, it meant things were getting serious and so would Jirni. She feigned ignorance only to not make Quy feel pressured or scare him away.

    Most young men would quake in their boots just by hearing Jirni¡¯s name. Everyone had something to hide and even if they didn¡¯t, their families would.

    "I hope so, mom." Quy sighed. Time and her adoptive parents loving care had turned the skinny and child looking small girl into a pretty young woman. She was now 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") tall with long brown hair with shades of silver which proved her affinity for light magic.

    "I really like Anathor, but I¡¯m starting to fear he doesn¡¯t feel the same. Either that or he has something to hide, which would be even worse. He¡¯s making too much of a fuss about meeting you and dad. It¡¯s suspicious."

    ¡¯My thoughts exactly.¡¯ Jirni inwardly nodded.

    "Don¡¯t worry, dear. Maybe he is just shy or he doesn¡¯t feel yet ready to marry." She actually said, not wanting to sound paranoid. Yet she was proud of her daughter not letting her feelings preventing her from using her brain.

    "For a noble, meeting the parents is a big step forward."

    "Yeah, or maybe he¡¯s just another jerk." Quy grunted. Being a member of a very powerful family and a powerful mage, she had learned most of her lessons the hard way. Men would usually approach her and her sisters with a hidden agenda.

    "Well, at least you have someone." Friya snarled while sipping her tea.

    "I¡¯m single for months and myst boyfriendsted less than the effects of a potion."

    After Nalear¡¯s attack, she had be wary of both men and women. Friya was a gorgeous girl, 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") tall, with long ck hair with shades of red held up in a ponytail.

    Her soft curves and ample bosom usually brought her the wrong kind of attention. After leaving the White Griffon, she had founded her own mercenary group which had a remarkable turnover of its members.

    Most of them would leave after making and failing a pass at their indomitable leader. Friya didn¡¯t join the army to not have topete with Phloria again and she had learned from her time as Assistant Professor that she didn¡¯t enjoy teaching.

    The missions regarding monsters were so difficult and most requests from the nobles so disgusting that she was seriously reconsidering her career.

    ¡¯If I have to risk my life again for pocket change, I may as well join the army or the Association.¡¯ She inwardly grumbled. After paying for the equipment and covering the travel expenses, even killing a tribe of monsters didn¡¯t pay much.

    "That¡¯s because you have high standards and you travel too much." Phloria shrugged.

    "Unless you start dating the members of your unit, only gold diggers will be willing to put up with your crazy schedule."

    "Said the one who didn¡¯t have a single date for over a year after dumping her boyfriend." Friya¡¯s retort made Phloria spill most of her tea on the table. It was an unwritten family rule that only their parents were allowed to mention Lith in front of her.

    "Boot camp is no vacation. After that, I was just too busy." Phloria quickly regained her cool.

    "Please, even I don¡¯t need over six months to get a date. I think you made a mistake breaking up like that. You could have just taken a pause." Friya was still angry at her sister.

    Lith was Friya¡¯s best friend and the only man beside Orion she was able to fully trust. She med Phloria for cutting him off their lives.

    "Agreed." Quy, Jirni, Orion, and even Lucky said in unison.

    The big dog had evolved into a magical beast, bing able to talk and reason. It had also earned him a spot at the family table and a strict diet.

    "It¡¯s not because ofck of trying on my part." Phloria said while blushing violently, noticing that most of the house staff was nodding at the family¡¯s statement.

    "In fact, I do have a date for the g." She said leaving even the butler with his mouth wide open.

 Chapter 513 The Day After Part 4

    "Is this guy for real or is he just someone you¡¯ve made up to avoid the crossfire?" Friya asked.

    "Kallion is real and just for your information, he is my boyfriend." Phloria didn¡¯t even try to hide the pride in her voice. She had much more difficultypared to her sisters finding someone to date.

    Phloria was a very tall woman by Mogar¡¯s standards with her 1.8 (5¡¯11") meters. She had long ck hair with shades of blue, hazel eyes, and the build of a professional swimmer.

    Her features weren¡¯t as cute as Quy¡¯s and she was nowhere as curvy as Friya. She was taller, stronger, and magically more powerful than most of the male poption, which made her quite intimidating at first sight.

    Even a second or third might not help. Phloria was pretty, but her serious expression coupled with her physique gave the impression she could kill a man with just one hand.

    When her suitors discovered it actually was an easy feat for her, they would usually run away.

    "Why have you never mentioned him before?" Jirni was really curious to meet this Kallion. He had to be either a remarkable man or a fool.

    "Because I wasn¡¯t sure if he is looking for a fling, a rtionship, or something more. Actually, I¡¯m still not sure. Since I don¡¯t think that more dates can clear things up, I decided to see if he¡¯s willing to meet you and he said yes."

    She said while gloating at the thought that her worst fears hadn¡¯te to pass. Kallion¡¯s choice meant he was serious about them, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t dare face her parents.

    "Whatever. I bet he is a fool." Orion¡¯s voice was sour like an unripe lemon.

    "You should have kept the little monster. He at least had a spine. Not to mention he is collecting titles like they are autumn leaves. Gods, I never thought I would say it, but I miss him so much."

    "Dad, you never liked Lith when he was my boyfriend! You never like any of them. I¡¯m sure that if we were to get back together you wouldn¡¯t like him again!" Phloria rebuked, obtaining an approving nod from the rest of the family.

    "Phloria is right, dad." Friya said. "Try not to ruin everything for Quy and Phloria. We deserve your support, not your sabotage."

    "I¡¯m really d to hear that, dear." Jirni said with a soft smile that gave her daughters the creeps. It was the kind of warm, motherly smile that she usually disyed beforending a killing blow.

    "It would have been so awkward introducing Lith¡¯s lovely girlfriend to you otherwise." As usual, Jirni didn¡¯t disappoint them. Most of their tea fell onto the table while a couple of cups broke into pieces. Phloria¡¯s and Orion¡¯s.

    ¡¯It¡¯s over. Jirni already met her and she is giving her approval. She would never call a gold digger "lovely".¡¯ Orion inwardly griped, feeling his heart sink.

    "Her name is Kam. She is a smart woman who will be my apprentice in a while."

    "Are they..." Phloria attempted to ask with a casual tone.

    "nning to marry?" Jirni interrupted her tond another sucker punch. "Maybe. All I can tell you is that they seemed really close back in Othre and Elina was crazy about her after Lith brought Kam home a few months ago for his birthday."

    The rest of the cups shattered in unison, making the butler emit a low whine. He had just finished cleaning the floor for the second time in less than five minutes.

    "Too bad, I liked him." Lucky said. "He had a pleasant smell and whenever Phloria was worried about my weight, he slimmed me down a bit."

    "First, he¡¯s not dead. Second, he did what?" Even though they broke up three years back, Phloria still felt a bit hurt at the idea that even after being together through thick and thin she had only scraped the surface of the living mystery that was Lith.

    At the same time, learning he had cared so much for her that he had even kept Lucky healthy, deeply moved her. Phloria wasn¡¯t the kind of woman who would dwell on the past.

    She had moved on, yet she had never forgotten about what they had and what they could have be. Jirni didn¡¯t miss the lingering affection reflected in her daughter¡¯s eyes and exploited that moment to give Phloria advice.

    "I understand why you left him and in hindsight, I think you did the right thing. You were too young and had yet to discover who you really were or what you wanted. Now things are different. Sometimes you have to take a step back before being able to move forward."

    Jirni had no desire to force Phloria or Lith into a rtionship. It was their life, their choice. She only wanted them to realize how much they meant to each other and that they didn¡¯t have much time left before their feelings turned into nothing more than a pleasant memory.

    ***

    Trawn Woods, Solus¡¯s Tower.

    Unlike the rest of her family, Tista had no need for Jirni¡¯s etiquette boot camp. The Verhen household had never missed one of her birthdays. They were nervous as heck but up to the challenge.

    The more Lith¡¯s and Tista¡¯s reputations grew, the more often they would be involved in social events. They had decided it was time to suck it up and stop avoiding the problem.

    Tista would have loved to spend some time with Quy and Friya. They had be good friends during her time at the academy, when Quy was retaking her fifth year.

    Solus took priority, though. Tista had never heard Solus so shaken and the opportunity to spend a few days together without Lith meddling was too good to turn it down.

    "Wow, you are gorgeous!" Tista said after Solus showed her humanoid body to her.

    "If that¡¯s a joke, it¡¯s not funny. I¡¯m a midget and even if this is actually a temte of my real body, I have no damn features. I could look like a witch, have green skin, or only my maker knows what." Solus pouted.

    Being called gorgeous by Tista sounded more condescending thanplimentary. Even if Solus¡¯s real face was that of a goddess, she would still look like an ugly ducklingpared to her friend.

    "Someone is really grumpy today. Are you sure my brother isn¡¯t around?" Tista was surprised and hurt by Solus¡¯s outburst. She had just arrived and knew nothing about the wargs mission.

    Tista thought that after longing for a body for so long, Solus would rejoice and hug her. Such behavior waspletely out of character.

    "I wish he was here." Solus sobbed. Small drops of golden light streamed down her face, disappearing the moment they left her skin.

    "At least I could me him for how I feel. I wouldn¡¯t have to face this horrible void that is eating me from the inside alone. How can you people stand all of this silence? It¡¯s driving me crazy!" Her shout echoed throughout the tower.

    Like it had happened in Othre, Solus and Lith were so far from each other that their mind link was broken, no matter how hard she tried. Back then, though, the separation had onlysted for a little while and she had been so worried that her mind was kept busy.

    Now she had remainedpletely alone for hours until Tista had finished her business and joined her. During that time, Solus had realized that her problems were worse than she thought.

 Chapter 514 The Day After Part 5

    Solus broke into tears and hugged Tista.

    Only after a few minutes, did she manage to find the strength to tell Tista everything that had happened since Lith¡¯s birthday. The discovery of having finally acquired a body made of light, how her happiness had turned into disappointment while testing her new limitations.

    Back when Solus was just a ring, human contact was simply impossible. It made her life lonely, but at the same time, it was easier to ept her fate, since she had no other option besides enduring.

    Now she was constantly conflicted about whether or not to share her new form with Lith. On one hand, she felt guilty for keeping it a secret, but she only did it because she was afraid of ruining his rtionship with Kam.

    On the other hand, it was her opportunity to make her move on him and understand if the deep feelings they had for each other were just friendship or if they could develop into something more.

    Solus¡¯s words were like a flood and Tista never interrupted her, not even when she told her about their encounter with Scarlett the Scorpicore, about the existence of cursed objects, which Solus was supposed to be, nor when she recounted the story about the wargs.

    "Let me get this straight." Solus¡¯s narration had been a bit incoherent, jumping from past to present events. Tista needed to make sure she had a clear picture.

    "You are supposed to be either a sentient tower or a soul trapped inside it. You believe you have romantic feelings for my brother, who is allegedly corrupting your mind, and you feel guilty for how you reacted during the wargs¡¯ onught?"

    "Yes." Solus nodded while wiping her tears. "You are oversimplifying things a bit, but yes."

    "That¡¯s quite a lot to take in all at once. I really need to sit down." Tista felt light headed from all the sudden revtions. Having spent thest hour and a half standing in the middle of the tower¡¯s ground floor with Solus hugging her so tight that she had squeezed the air out of her lungs didn¡¯t help.

    Despite her diminutive stature, Solus was really strong, even by Awakened standards. She Warped them both inside Tista¡¯s room, leaving her friend bbergasted as she sat down on the bed.

    "Why are we in my room?" Tista asked.

    "Because I don¡¯t think we should get inside Lith¡¯s without his permission."

    "No, I mean why are we not inside your room?"

    "I never thought about making one for me." Solus stuttered.

    "Okay, let¡¯s talk about one thing at a time. I have no idea what a cursed object is exactly, but I¡¯m certain that you are not just a thing. You think, reason, have feelings, and gods, you¡¯re too messed up to be anything but human."

    "Thanks. I guess." Solus looked on in confusion as Tista was holding her own head between her hands, trying to find the right words to help Solus.

    "Why do you feel bad about the wargs, exactly? It¡¯s not like you had much of a choice. Sure, it was a situation that would give me nightmares for months, heck, I still do dream about Othre¡¯s flesh monsters, but ording to your own words, you¡¯ve seen much worse. What¡¯s different this time?"

    "I¡¯m different! Usually, amid all that chaos, while your brother only thinks about how to eliminate the threats around him, I¡¯m the one who is worried about his survival. I¡¯m the one that steers his emotional reins to make sure he remains human.

    "This time, he was the one empathizing with the wargs¡¯ sacrifice while all I could think about were my own hopes and dreams. I didn¡¯t cry for them, but for myself. I wasn¡¯t angry at Tezka for what he had done to them, but for what he had done to me.

    "I felt so betrayed when I discovered that the mutated wargs were puppets in his hands instead of the beacon of hope I had made them out to be in my head, that I gave into my anger without thinking about the consequences.

    "I could have killed us both. Maybe I really am a cursed object. Only a monster could be so egotistical in the face of such terrible events." She hupped.

    "So, you¡¯re sad that you¡¯re bing human?" Tista had a hard time suppressing a sneer.

    "Honestly, I already find it amazing that you have lived your entire life caring only about other people¡¯s feelings, to the point of trampling over your own. You¡¯re setting your standards too high, Solus. Being egotistical is the proof of being human.

    "You can¡¯t call yourself a monster for a single slip up. Nobody¡¯s perfect."

    "At first, I thought it was Lith influencing my emotions, but even after being separated for a while, I still feel the same. I mean, I feel bad for the wargs and for the farmer¡¯s family, but most of all, I feel stupid for having fallen for the Abomination¡¯s deception.

    "I feel betrayed, like something important has been robbed from me. Also, I feel guilty because my first thought was ming Lith for my own thoughts and actions. Once he left me here, I felt better for a while, but as time passed, I felt much worse.

    "He may make the world appear bleaker and colder, but at the same time, he fills me with confidence. Lith¡¯s unwavering determination is something I got too used to. Without it, my doubts and insecurities eat at me from the inside."

    "Well, saying that my brother goes around corrupting people is too much." Tista shook her head. "It makes him sound like some dark lord hell bent on world¡¯s domination."

    "In thend of Mogar, where the shadows die." Solus chuckled at her joke.

    "The what?"

    "Nothing. Something only Lith would understand." Solus shrugged.

    "And that¡¯s the real core of your problem. Being reliant on someone is a good thing, being dependant, is not. I¡¯m not questioning your feelings, but you¡¯ve lived all this time as nothing but his secretary." Tista would have pped her brother for being so inconsiderate. Luckily for him, he was beyond her arm¡¯s reach

    "You gave yourself such a small role in your own life that you didn¡¯t even make a room for yourself! You need your own spaces, dammit! Buy yourself some clothes, some furniture, you can¡¯t spend your life being Lith¡¯s ring.

    "The rtionship you two have is wonderful, but it bes unhealthy the moment it prevents the both of you from growing further. As long as Lith is the only man you know, you¡¯ll never understand if what you feel for him his love or just affection."

    "But..." Solus timidly replied.

    "No buts! You made his room, mine, now make your own!" Tista ordered.

    "How should I make it?"

    "How should I know? It¡¯s your room, you are the one who has to like it."

    "I don¡¯t know what I like." Solus lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "Can you leave the tower¡¯s premises?" Tista asked.

    "Yes, if I return to my ring form."

    "Do you have money?"

    "Plenty in my pocket dimension."

    "Then get changed! Today, I¡¯m going to teach you all about shopping."

    ***

    Lith woke up the next morning in Kam¡¯s bed. His memory was fuzzy. Thest thing he remembered was returning to Belius after leaving Solus in Lutia.

    ¡¯My clothes are on, which is new but unsurprising. I was quite messed up yesterday and definitely not in the mood for...¡¯

    His train of thought derailed when he realized that he couldn¡¯t move.

 Chapter 515 The Day After Part 6

    His battles senses awakened immediately, clearing his mind and priming his body. Lith remembered how after reaching Belius, he had noticed that his pain and suffering had decreased remarkably.

    The mental relief had been so intoxicating that he felt like he could break a random stranger¡¯s neck with the same ease he could order a beer. His conscience remained as dead as a doornail until someone bumped into him and Lith almost gave in to his impulses.

    Until he thought about what his family, Kam, and Solus would think of him if he actually did it. Only then did he regain hismon sense. He could easily make up a lie for the local constables, but he couldn¡¯t lie to them.

    ¡¯Is this really who I am without Solus and without a mission? Do I really not give a rat¡¯s ass about other people¡¯s lives?¡¯ It took barely a single minute to admit to himself that the answer was "yes" to both questions.

    Just like back when he was still a kid on Mogar, he didn¡¯t care about hurting others as long as he was certain he could get away with it. Yet all those years since then had changed him enough to realize how wrong it was, to the point that he was almost scared of himself.

    His next move had been going to a bar to drink. Alcohol made him softer and more susceptible to emotions. Lith drank until he was certain he would think about it at least twice before offing someone for petty reasons.

    Only then did he go to Kam¡¯s home, where he fell asleep due to the boredom of waiting.

    ¡¯Whoever bound me is about to enter in a world of pain once I...¡¯ His angry train of thought derailed when a simple air spell lifted the bedsheet revealing Kam snuggled up between his arms wearing a thin nightgown.

    "Is that a spell in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?" She asked with a sleepy voice as the small storm in Lith¡¯s right hand faded away.

    "How did we end up like this?" Lith asked pointing at his left arm and leg stuck under her body.

    "Well, when I returned homest night, someone had one drink too many and screwed up all my ns for our evening." She sighed while thinking about the time and effort she had wasted toe up with a way to console him and pick up his favourite dishes from their favourite restaurant.

    "Then, as soon as I got in bed, you mped me like a bear trap and here I am."

    Lith checked his pocket watch, discovering it was quitete in the morning.

    "Why didn¡¯t you wake me up? You should be at work already." Lith felt like an idiot, yet he didn¡¯t let go of her. Kam¡¯s warmth was keeping the cold, indifferent void his mind experienced while Lith was away from Solus at bay.

    "Don¡¯t worry about that. I took sick leave to take care of a rtive in need." She replied with a giggle. Kam didn¡¯t have the heart to wake him up, nor to leave him alone after what he had gone through.

    Little did she know that the nightmares she had witnessed Lith experiencing had nothing to do with the wargs. Alcohol was a double edged sword which opened old wounds rted to his brother¡¯s death.

    "I¡¯m not your rtive and as far as I know all leave had been revoked. This could get you in trouble. Why did you do that?"

    "Because you looked like you needed it." Her loving smile warmed Lith¡¯s heart and so did her words when he realized they were the same he had used during his birthday party.

    "Besides, ording to thew I have no family, and after ten years of loyal service I doubt someone will care about a couple days off." Kam noticed that despite Lith seeming to havepletely recovered, his hands were shaking.

    She pulled the nkets back up, hugging him tightly as she tried to understand why he felt so cold.

    "What do you mean, no family? I remember you talking to me about your parents and your siblings." Lith tensed up, thinking that Kam had lied to him right from the start.

    Lith pushed her far enough away to look her in the eyes while questioning her. His voice sounded much colder than usual. Kam swallowed a lump of saliva along with her feelings. Hisck of trust hurt her.

    "I think it¡¯s time to talk about those sad things I often mention but always gloss over." She said with a sad voice. Reopening old wounds was painful, but the sudden gap that had appeared between them was much worse.

    During the past few months, every time Lith had given her his report on the army amulet, he wouldter call her from his civilian one to share his feelings about his missions, the loneliness he experienced in the wilds, or simply to enjoy herpany.

    He had opened up to her little by little, whereas she had kept him in the dark about her past.

    ¡¯It¡¯s better if I exin everything to him now instead of letting this grow into a stupid misunderstanding. The gods know both of us have no need for useless drama.¡¯ She thought.

    Kam told him about how she had escaped from her family to avoid an arranged marriage, how she had gotten disowned by her father, and how she hadter returned the favor once they had tried to manipte her again.

    "Why didn¡¯t you mention any of this before?" Lith inwardly sighed in relief as his doubts were reced by empathy. Kam¡¯s parents reminded him of his own back on Earth, making him feelpassion for her and bloodlust for them.

    "Because at first, it was none of your business." She said with a firm tone, never averting her gaze.

    "I don¡¯t go around dumping my problems or my baggage onplete strangers.

    "I agreed when you asked me out because you were the first mage who ever gave me a second nce and also because I was curious about Lith Verhen, the Kingdom¡¯s new golden boy. I never expected things to develop this way.

    "I¡¯m afraid ofmitment, and I thought that between our difference in social standing and the age gap, you would have soon lost interest in me." Then, she lowered her eyes.

    "After Othre, the camellia, and meeting your sister, I still didn¡¯t tell you because I was afraid of driving you away. Let¡¯s be honest, I have nothing to offer besides a troublesome past and an uphill career..."

    Lith drew Kam close to him and held her tenderly.

    "That¡¯s bullshit, you have a lot to offer. And since we are talking about sad stuff..." Lith told her about his early years. About the cold, the hunger, his two brothers, and Tista¡¯s illness.

    "Wow, Orpal really was a dick! He and my brother Kaz could be best friends." She blurted out while snuggling between Lith¡¯s arms again. They spent the next hour not saying anything, just thinking about each other¡¯s past while exchanging cuddles.

    "Do you want to stay in bed a bit longer, or do you want to try the delicacy I¡¯ve been practicing?" Kam asked when Lith¡¯s stomach repeated grumblings broke the tenderness of the moment.

    Aside from the beer, he hadn¡¯t eaten anything since he had left Maekosh.

 Chapter 516 Preparing for the Gala Part 1

    While Kam cooked, Lith took a shower and assessed his mental condition. He had never spent so much time away from Solus, so he had never had the opportunity to understand how much their bond influenced his way of living.

    Without her, Mogar was an awfully silent ce. He felt no pleasure while the hot water ran over his body, washing away both his physical and mental fatigue. Everything felt like a waste of time to him, so Lith mulled over the progress he had made in his research to bind his soul to Mogar.

    ¡¯Bing a cursed object is a no go. The ck Star proved that even years of nning can be screwed up by a small mistake. Turning into an undead is feasible, but aside from attaining lichhood the other species have too many limitations.

    ¡¯Afterparing notes with Ka, even if I use her research as a base, it would still require a lot of work. There is no precise method, each person has to find the proper way for their soul and life force to be split and stored.

    ¡¯The process is unique just like the individual attempting it. There is no cookie cut version or shortcut. Fuck Dungeons & Looting, here sacrificing innocents makes you a sociopath, not a Lich.

    ¡¯So far, my best shot is Arthan¡¯s Madness. If Thrud made it, so can I. There are too many people on Mogar that don¡¯t deserve to live. Thanks to Invigoration and Body Sculpting, I can turn anyone into a proper vessel. At least in theory.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll keep that as a backup n if I can¡¯t find something more definite. Repeating the process is a hassle, not to mention Solus might not be enthusiastic at the idea.¡¯

    Only the thought of his loved ones prevented him from considering human lives in terms of statistics or in terms of a cost-benefit analysis.

    ¡¯The bad news is that I¡¯m still a monster and that without Solus my family is the only thing that prevents me from acting as a living Lich. The good news is that now I¡¯m able to care for someone even if they have no use to me.

    ¡¯Back when I attended the academy, I wouldn¡¯t have given a damn about someone like Kam. Yurial and the others were just a means to an end. Even though I¡¯m alone, I regret treating Yurial like I did and letting Phloria go without fighting for her.

    ¡¯Now, instead, my feelings for Kam are strong enough that as long as we are close, I can fight the void in my soul. I don¡¯t want to screw things up with her as I did with Phloria.

    ¡¯I never thought the day woulde where I would say it, but I¡¯m happy Solus and I are separated. I¡¯ve be so dependent on her that my self control and emotions are almost impaired.¡¯

    Lith joined Kam in the kitchen. The wonderful smell spreading from the oven made his stomach grumble again. He used spirit magic to set the table while thinking about how to bring up thetest news.

    ¡¯Every time I said "we need to talk" Phloria thought I was going to break up with her, just like Kam finds "I need to tell you something" ominous. I¡¯m out of opening lines, and without Solus, I only have the direct approach left.¡¯ He thought.

    Kam had prepared the Mogar equivalent ofsagna and practice had made it delicious.

    "It was supposed to be enough for a second meal!" Kam said as Lith cleaned the oven dish with some bread after taking his third serving.

    "I was hungry."

    "All that work in the kitchen and you ate everything in just a few minutes. You could have at least chatted a bit, maybe have evenplimented the cook instead of eating like a famished troll." She grumbled.

    "It was really good, Kami. You make a great cook. I¡¯ll do the dishes to make up for my gluttony." Lith said hoping she wouldn¡¯t remember that with darkness magic it would take him less than a minute to perform his ¡¯herculeanbor¡¯.

    Kam was delighted at his offer. There was a lot of stuff to clean and she could use some help. Thepliment sweetened the deal and made her heart flutter.

    "I¡¯ve been invited to Lady Ernas¡¯s birthday and I was wondering if you wanted toe as my date." Lith dropped the news like a live grenade, making Kam¡¯s fork fall onto her te.

    "Isn¡¯t that a really big event?" She said swallowing a big lump of saliva.

    "Yes. Jirni¡¯s birthday is also the day of her wedding anniversary. This year she and her husband celebrate their 25th. She and I are going to be awarded for the mission in Othre, so there will be a lot of stuck up nobles, part of the royal family, and mages."

    "I¡¯m not a big fan of gs." Kam¡¯s stomach was churning.

    "I have never attended one, I have nothing to wear for it, and my etiquette is rusty at best. Also, if Ie with you, all eyes will be on me. It would be incredibly awkward. Thanks for the invite, but maybe it¡¯s better if you take Tista."

    "Actually, my whole family has been invited already, so Tista wille with her own date. I¡¯ve been friends with the Ernas ever since I dated their daughter, Phloria. I can understand if you would prefer to..."

    Thesagna in Kam¡¯s stomach rose like a Romeo longing to be reunited with the Juliet waiting for him on the te.

    "I¡¯ve changed my mind. I¡¯ll dly apany you." Kam cut him short. The opportunity to meet her mentor was already a strong motivator, but Lith¡¯s family¡¯s presence and the potential threat of an ex gave her all the courage she needed.

    "When is the g?"

    "A couple of weeks from now. I received the invite right before the mission in Maekosh. I didn¡¯t bring it up earlier because you already had a lot on your te." He exined before she could ask, just to y it safe.

    "Oh gods, I have a lot to do. I need a dress, a few etiquette lessons, and time to practice." Kam stabbed at the remainingsagna like it had betrayed her.

    "I can provide you everything you need. You¡¯re my guest, so it¡¯s my treat. Unless I get called for an emergency, I can be by your side the whole time." He took her hand and kissed it, making Kam blush.

    "Really? Would you do that for me?" Even the simplest g dress was bound to be expensive. She was aware of what it meant for someone as stingy as Lith.

    "Of course. I will even craft some jewels for you." She took his offer as affection, but it was actually a way to save some money. Thanks to Rena¡¯s father-inw, Zekell the cksmith, Lith could obtain the materials at a discounted price.

    Lith had long since learned to use magic in the forge to shape precious metals without the need of a goldsmith. Even in the past every piece of jewelry he had gifted someone had been made at cost.

    "Thank you so much." Kam was almost moved to tears.

    "If there¡¯s anything I can do to repay you, you just have to ask." She rubbed his hand against her cheek before kissing it.

    "Actually, there is. Speaking of tes, are you going to eat that?" Lith pointed at the remainingsagna.

    "Yes, of course I will." She took a big bite to emphasize her point. Lith had ruined the moment for her, the least Kam could do was return the favor.

 Chapter 517 Preparing for the Gala Part 2

    Lith and Solus spent the next few days apart, each trying to find a way to cope with the sense of inadequacy the absence of the other caused. Where Lith was bordering on impassivity, Solus was too emotional.

    He was as strong willed as she was indecisive. Even when Tista had brought her shopping, Solus worried more about what Lith would say after checking the prices or about Tista¡¯s opinion instead of focusing on her own needs.

    Tista ended up buying her a lot of clothes that Solus wanted to return at first, only to then spend hours trying on each of them once they were back at the tower.

    Lith was surprised when Jirni summoned him to house Ernas a few days before the party. He dly epted so that he could give her his gifts, but went to pick up Solus first. He was certain she would like to meet the Ernas girls again.

    Also, he really missed her.

    Neither of them shared the details about their days apart, and simply enjoyed the feeling of being whole again. Solus told him about her own room and the furniture she had chosen, but not bought, for it.

    Since she could materialize almost anything within the tower¡¯s premises, window shopping had been more than enough. As for Lith, he told her about Kam¡¯s issues with the g and the presents they were about to offer Jirni.

    ¡¯You really are a cheapskate to the bone.¡¯ She sighed.

    ¡¯Couldn¡¯t you just buy something for Kam and Jirni instead of doing the gifts yourself? With all the money we have in our pocket dimension, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re poor.¡¯ Solus felt a bit hypocritical, since she was borrowing Tista¡¯s words.

    The difference between them was that Lith really was stingy, whereas Solus felt guilty at spending the money they earned without his consent.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not being stingy so much as creative.¡¯ Lith had been expecting her remark, so he had a rebuke ready.

    ¡¯Anyone can buy a gift, but that¡¯s impersonal. My creations, instead, express how well I know the person who receives them. Besides, feel free to check the market prices. Be they jewels or enchanted items, what I make is worth a lot.¡¯

    Solus had to admit that thanks to Zekell¡¯s help, Lith was able to craft small masterpieces by using spirit magic as a mold. Yet it was his ability as a Healer that was truly priceless.

    ¡¯I wonder why Jirni wants to meet you in person.¡¯ Solus changed the topic, a bit sad at the idea that she couldn¡¯t take part in the g. Even if she had a human form and everyone epted her as a friend, there was no mana geyser nearby.

    ¡¯We are about to find out.¡¯ Lith replied as they walked through the Ernas¡¯s Gate. Jirni had never revoked the pass they had granted him back when he dated Phloria.

    The room he stepped into was richly decorated for the iing g. A pleasant smell emanated from gands were hung on the walls, but instead of being made of woven flowers or nts, they were made of gold and silver.

    Several coat hangers were lined up against the walls along with sealed weapon racks for their esteemed guests. Most of them would only bring ceremonial weapons, but some members of the military would refuse to leave their arms home.

    A single long carpet led from the Gate to the double doors of the main hall. It was blue and white, the colors of house Ernas¡¯s coat of arms. Lith found a handmaid waiting for him.

    She was a petite woman in her thirties, with ashen gold hair and clear blue eyes who somehow reminded him of Jirni. Her uniform had been reced for the asion by a simple but stylish ck day dress with white evening gloves.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t think she¡¯s a servant at all.¡¯ Solus thought with a stupefied tone.

    ¡¯She is wearing so many enchanted hidden weapons that she glows like a chandelier to my mana sense.¡¯

    Lith checked her out with Life Vision the moment she turned around to show him the way.

    ¡¯This woman is no mage, but no handmaid either. Unless since thest time I checked, house staff is required to have the strength of a professional athlete. She might really be Jirni¡¯s rtive. Maybe she¡¯s part of the security.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Lith, it¡¯s so good to see you again." Jirni said with a radiant smile the moment the handmaid opened up the door to her dressing room. It looked like a five star hotel lounge, with white walls decorated with gold iys and many silk covered sofas arranged around a small table.

    Several mannequins dressed in Jirni¡¯s most beautiful evening gowns were orderly put on disy in front of a huge mirror covering the center of the north wall. The mannequinscked heads and arms, so that by standing right behind them Jirni could see her reflection like she was wearing the clothes they had on.

    Lith remained amazed when he noticed that every single wall was actually a finely carved closet, each one filled with dresses, shoes, and hats for every season. The doors separating them were so smooth that he would have never realized their real nature if some of them hadn¡¯t been left open.

    His surprise peaked when he managed to stop calcting how much money was that single room was worth and looked at his host. For a moment, Lith didn¡¯t recognize her.

    Lady Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5¡¯) tall, with blonde hair that extended mid way down her back and sapphire blue eyes. She wore a beautiful light blue day dress worthy of the Court, her hair was perfectly curled, framing her face like she had been taken out of a painting.

    It wasn¡¯t the smile, the dress, or the stylish hairdo in ce of her usual ponytail that left him dumbfounded. He and Jirni had attended several gs together, it wasn¡¯t his first time seeing her all dolled up.

    Jirni was a woman in her early forties, but thanks to proper care and good genes she usually looked like she was in her mid thirties. Now, she would barely pass as older than Kam, it was like she had suddenly got ten years younger.

    "Lady Ernas, you¡¯re stunning." He said with a little too much enthusiasm, making both his host and her maid giggle.

    "Thanks, but remember that I¡¯m a married woman, young man." She hugged him as he bent down to give her a bow.

    "You¡¯re among friends, drop the formalities and call me Jirni. You¡¯ve already met my cousin Dyta. She¡¯ll supervise the security of the event. My maiden family always takes care of these kinds of events."

    Dyta was surprised by Jirni disclosing such details to a stranger, but she didn¡¯t let it show. She gave Lith a polite curtsy and left them alone.

    "Where are the girls? I was hoping to say hi and catch up with them. I haven¡¯t seen them in months." Lith looked around a bit disappointed. He liked Jirni, but she always had a hidden agenda.

    "I asked you toe now precisely because only Lucky and I would be home. There are a few things we need to talk about before the g." She sighed.

 Chapter 518 Bearer of Gifts Part 1

    Lith had no idea why she included the dog on the list. Lucky¡¯s only worth was that it made Phloria happy, otherwise Lith would consider it just an overweight lump of fur.

    "First things first." Lith took out the first part of his gift from his pocket dimension.

    "I wanted to give you this now, so that you had the opportunity to wear it at the g. If you like it, of course. This is my birthday present." He handed to her a finely decorated circlet.

    Since Jirni was blonde, Lith had made it out of silver, so that the contrast would emphasize the beauty of its wearer. The diadem seemed to be made out of small and thin feathers, each one with a small ck diamond set near its end.

    "It¡¯s beautiful. Almost worthy of a Queen." Jirni wasn¡¯t being polite. Although the circlet was really light, each feather was so life like that she expected to see them fly away at the first gust of wind.

    The ¡¯almost¡¯ was required, since to be perfect, the diadem needed a big ck diamond on its center, where Lith had left an empty space. It wasn¡¯t just a matter of him being stingy.

    The Verhen household had no fief nor noble titles. Any more effort on his part would be interpreted as showing off or even make the circlet appear like a betrothal gift. That was the reason why Lith had left it perfectly imperfect.

    "Now it¡¯s time for my anniversary gift." Lith said.

    "Please, give me your hands."

    Jirni did as instructed, feeling a warm sensation spread throughout her body the moment they touched. Lith used Invigoration while chanting some gibberish to spot and fix all bone, muscle, and even intervertebral disc damage.

    Normal healing magic only sped up recovery, so internal scar tissues and calluses had umted inside Jirni¡¯s body over time, due to her line of work and aging.

    "Good gods. Not only do I look ten years younger, but I also feel that way now." Jirni knew her body well enough that it only took her a few steps to realize what had happened.

    "Healers capable of using rejuvenation magic are already rare, I would¡¯ve never thought to meet one also capable of dabbling in cosmetic magic." Jirni said with a grin, making Lith lose his poker face for a split second.

    Rejuvenation magic was a rare branch of healing magic that allowed the mage to restore an aged body to its prime condition. Even the three Great Countries had very few mages capable of using it, and they were all as elusive as Manohar.

    It made his gift extremely valuable. Each treatment was valued at five gold coins for a regr person, but over a dozen for the battered body of a veteran fighter.

    "Cosmetic magic?" Lith had never heard of it, not even during his studies at the White Griffon academy.

    "No need to feign ignorance." Jirniughed. "I had my suspicions since the first time I met your parents. I would have never been sure if Lucky hadn¡¯t ratted you out."

    "Lucky did what?" As if to answer Lith¡¯s confusion, a small Ry entered through one of the doors waggling its huge tail. It was as big as a pony and had the characteristic crimson fur of the wolf type magical beast.

    "Sorry, brother. I didn¡¯t know it was a secret." He said with an apologetic tone while offering Lith his huge belly in sign of contrition. He also hoped for a conciliatory scratch, of course.

    "He told us how you slimmed him down from time to time. Also, do you think that I missed how Phloria¡¯s skin and hair improved while you two were together? Yours are minor treatments, but it¡¯s still an amazing feat for someone so young.

    "If you manage to master it, you¡¯ll be set for life. Consider that I had to spend one hundred gold coins to be like this." Jirni waved at her own younger appearance.

    "One hundred gold coins?" Lith almost chocked on those words. It was more than the whole vige of Lutia and itsnds were worth, his own house included. A single gold coin was equivalent to one hundred silver coins.

    Even Officers like Lith, Kam, and Jirni were paid in silver.

    "Are you saying that a mage did that?" Lith found it hard to believe. Rejuvenation magic was already a very difficult subject. He wouldn¡¯t be able to use it if not for Invigoration. Cosmetic magic was simply unheard of.

    "Yes. It¡¯s a new trend in the Capitol. It¡¯s very expensive and doesn¡¯tst long. It requires heavy alchemical machinery and ording to its creator, Mage Hossa, it¡¯s a safe procedure even if it involves the alteration of the patient¡¯s life force.

    "Normally I wouldn¡¯t care for such things, but since half of the royal family has be their regr clients, so did anyone who can pay for the treatment. I can¡¯t afford to be outshined by any of my guests. At least not on the day of my anniversary.

    "It¡¯s one of the reasons I called you here. Even if you don¡¯t possess Mage Hossa¡¯s expertise or equipment, you¡¯re the only mage I know who can use it. Before spending a small fortune to get my whole family treated, I want the opinion of an expert. Is it really safe?"

    Lith inwardly cursed Lucky, then himself, andstly his bad luck.

    ¡¯Who would have thought that such a couch potato could evolve and be able to talk? Did I ever tell him anythingpromising?¡¯

    ¡¯Aside from cursing Orion from time to time, no.¡¯ Solus replied. She had checked Lith¡¯s memories for every one of their past interactions with the dog. Lucky was true to his name, there was no reason to have an ¡¯unfortunate ident¡¯ befall him.

    Lith sighed in relief while checking Jirni¡¯s condition with Invigoration.

    ¡¯What the heck? Cosmetic magic my ass. An Awakened just removed some impurities from her skin and hair. I wonder if they are doing it because they need money, or simply to get connections with the most important families in the Kingdom.¡¯ He pondered.

    "When did this new trend start, exactly?" Lith asked.

    "About a few months ago, but the shop has moved around for years. Cosmetic magic is not officially recognized because only one mage knows how to use it and its exorbitant cost makes it impractical.

    "Mage Hossa returned recently from the Gorgon Empire. Princess Synti decided to give it a try and got one heck of a makeover. After that, all the homely and rich heiresses became her clients, forcing the pretty ones to do the same."

    "Well, for starters it¡¯s safe." Lith replied. "There is no damage to your life force, but I must warn you, the treatment will barelyst for a week. Unlike me, Hossa can make big changes, but they are temporary."

    "Can you do better?" Jirni had an expectant look.

    "No, but I can make itst longer. With my skill, I can make itst for at least a month, but I must ask you to not divulge my secret. I don¡¯t want this Hossa to feel threatened nor do I want to spend my life treating vain people." He said.

    ¡¯More importantly, she would discover that I¡¯m an Awakened just like her. Maybe Hossa could put me into contact with the Council. She could be a precious ally if properly handled.¡¯ He actually thought.

 Chapter 519 Bearer of Gifts Part 2

    \"Don¡¯t worry, between her prices and her travels, Hossa is a sh in the pan. Once she¡¯s gone, everyone will return to their senses and stop wasting money.\"

    Lith attempted to take her hands again to perform the treatment, but Jirni stopped him.

    \"That can wait. I didn¡¯t call you for your gifts, nor just for cosmetic magic. I need your assistance with a couple of things. First, since you are good with holograms, I¡¯d like your help to make the event memorable.\"

    \"I¡¯ve already tried to ask Manohar, but he ran away the moment he heard my voice over themunicator and I¡¯m not going to chase him over such a trivial matter.\"

    \"Consider it done.\" Lith nodded.

    \"Second, I¡¯m worried about the girls¡¯ boyfriends, especially Phloria¡¯s.\"

    Those words stung at Lith¡¯s heart and Jirni rejoiced for it.

    \"What¡¯s the matter with him?\" He had suddenly found his old re back.

    \"His name is Kallion Nuragor. He¡¯s a powerful mage from a noble family that has done nothing bad in the recent past but nothing good either. I have a strong suspicion that he¡¯s just using her.

    \"If anything happens to Gunyin, my oldest son, Phloria is the next in the line of session. I can¡¯t rest easy until I discover the game he¡¯s ying.\"

    \"Have you told Phloria?\" Lith clenched his hands hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

    \"What for? If you were in her shoes, would you listen to your paranoid and maniptive mother? Besides, forbidding a rtionship is the best way a parent has to make it thrive. Phloria needs to burn her hand to learn her lesson.\"

    Lith had to admit that she was right.

    \"What do you want me to do?\" Lith asked.

    \"I¡¯m sorry to have to ask this of you, but I need you to do nothing.\" Jirni sighed.

    \"What do you mean, nothing?\"

    \"If I¡¯m right, Kallion will try to provoke you. Nothing big, just enough to look good at your expense. You¡¯re going to be the youngest Spellbreaker of your generation. Ever since the gue in Kaduria, you¡¯ve kept stealing the old noble households¡¯ spotlight.

    \"There are many who resent you for that and would do anything to destroy your reputation. Whatever Kallion does or says, I need you to stay calm and endure. I¡¯ll do the rest.\"

    \"What about Friya and Quy?\"

    \"Quy may have gotten herself another gold digger. His name is Anathor Voross. He is an Assistant Professor at the White Griffon andes from a minor noble family. His background check is clean, but he¡¯s been avoiding me too much.

    \"I¡¯m afraid he is just ying with her feelings. I need you to grill him in my stead. Quy will not be on guard against you. She loves you like the brother she always wanted. As for Friya, s, she¡¯s got no one. Can you introduce someone to her?\"

    \"Sorry, but no. In my line of work, I don¡¯t get to know many people and Kam mostly has female friends.\" Lith shrugged.

    \"You know what the worst part of cosmetic magic having your seal of approval is? That now I¡¯m going to have to waste a bucket of gold coins for my daughters and to avoid my poor husband looking like my father while standing by my side.\"

    ***

    Contrary to what many would expect, the use of the Warp Gate Lith had used just a few days earlier was reserved for the arrival of guests of secondary importance. During big events, members of the Royal family or special guests would walk a red carpet.

    ording to tradition, they had to arrive by stagecoach and walk their way to the entrance, where their host would personally receive them before they would be announced to the other guests.

    It was intended as an opportunity to unt one¡¯s wealth and status. Theter a guest arrived, the more important they were. Thest ones toe were always the members of the Royal family so that they were the only ones who didn¡¯t have to introduce themselves.

    Lith would have dly passed as a minor guest rather than waste so much time in the stagecoach that Orion had waiting for him outside the local branch of the army. For warriors like Jirni and him, being rejuvenated was a priceless gift.

    After Lith had restored Orion¡¯s vigor, making him feel like he was twenty again, the Commander of the Knight¡¯s Guard had been adamant in assigning Lith the best stagecoach and the best honor guards his Grand Duchy had to offer.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe I treated him so badly in the past.¡¯ Orion inwardly griped.

    ¡¯He could¡¯ve asked me hundreds of gold coins and I would¡¯ve dly paid the price. No amount of gold is worth making sure that Ie back home to my lovely wife and children.

    ¡¯Yet he gave it freely to me, even though he knows it¡¯s easier to find a unicorn than a rejuvenator. I take back at least half of the bad things I thought about him.¡¯

    Yet Lith didn¡¯t do it out of the goodness of his heart. The Crown had finally granted him ess to several forbidden books about souls, allowing him to take a new step forward in finding a solution for his reincarnation problem.

    Unfortunately, most of them were very obscure. They would constantly quote other books orplex theories that Lith had never heard about, requiring him to further expand his research.

    To do that, he needed to prove his worth as a Healer. He couldn¡¯t afford to be considered just an exceptional diagnostician. Revealing that he was able to Rejuvenate made him the fourth most important Healer at the Crown¡¯s service.

    Only Manohar, Marth, and Vastor were known to be capable of using rejuvenation magic. This move had allowed Lith to help his friends and make the Crown grant him more privileges without him even asking for them.

    Two birds with one stone.

    Lith had discovered that souls were a controversial matter. Only Necromancers and Healers who had sought the perfect resurrection had thoroughly studied them, but each one had a different theory, which made things even more confusing.

    The silver lining was that thanks to his resurrections, Lith had practical experience on the matter. It allowed him to rule out all those paths of research that weren¡¯t able to exin his condition.

    \"This is bullshit!\" Lithmented for the umpteenth time since the carriage had started to move, making his family and Kam groan. He was wearing a very expensive and very formal suit, closely resembling White Tie attire from Earth.

    It consisted of a ck dress coat with tails over a white shirt, a piqu¨¦ waistcoat, and a white bow tie worn around a standing wingtip cor.

    \"I spent months learning how to open dimensional Gates, why do we have to waste all this time? Isn¡¯t it much fancier and more practical to Warp to their doorstep?\"

    \"Not at all.\" Kam exined. \"This way our identities have been verified and our possessions searched before the G. Otherwise every guest would have to be detained upon arrival until they are cleared.

    \"Unlike those who take the Ernas¡¯s Gate, we get to skip all of the security checks. Use this time to rx, or at least try to not upset me more than I already am. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m going to meet the Royals at my very first G.\"

 Chapter 520 Ernas Household Part 1

    \"She¡¯s right, dear.\" Elina said. \"We¡¯re already on edge, don¡¯t make things even harder for us.\" She was wearing a silk satin cream colored ballgown which left her shoulders and arms exposed and had a square neck.

    The others joined her plea, forcing him to shut up. Lith was very nervous too and couldn¡¯t wait for the G to be over. Meeting Phloria again after so much time was a bittersweet event to him, especially since now they had both moved on.

    Things with Solus weren¡¯t great either. Lith was happy seeing her grow as a person, but at the same time, he was sad at not being able to spend as much time together as before.

    Solus now spent her free time in her own room, receiving her friends rather than being around him like in the past. Tista, Ka, and even her vampire daughter, Nyka, visited Solus whenever they had a chance.

    It always happened when Lith was spending time with Kam, so that Solus wasn¡¯t forced to hole up in her ring to give them some privacy.

    ¡¯Am I jealous?¡¯ Lith thought while being careful so that Solus couldn¡¯t hear him.

    ¡¯I never took Solus for granted, yet I would have never expected that being separated from her even just from time to time could be so painful. Heck, if she ever gets a body, things will be even moreplicated.¡¯

    ¡¯I can only hope that Solus is faring better than me and she doesn¡¯t have conflicting feelings about our situation like I do.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Unfortunately, she had realized their problem long before he did and wasn¡¯t any closer than Lith to finding a solution. As for Solus¡¯s feelings, calling them a mess was an understatement.

    The more time they spent apart, the more she understood how badly shecked in every social aspect.

    Tista had been schooling both Nyka and her about how to act in human society, but despite all the time she had spent watching Lith from the sidelines, the only thing she was better at than the vampire, was keeping her clothes on.

    Nyka had gotten used to living with the customs of an undead beast, making personal hygiene optional and her dress code non existent. She would say anything that came to her mind, no matter how rude, and waspletely oblivious of her bodynguage, just like Solus.

    They would both yawn whenever the topic at hand bored them and eat like starving beasts. Nyka because she had no concept of cutlery, Solus because she would be so engrossed in discovering new vors that she would forget her manners.

    ¡¯I would have never imagined that being polite could be so hard.¡¯ Solus inwardly sighed. ¡¯Because of our mind link, I¡¯m not used to sugarcoating my words nor hiding my feelings. I¡¯m a terrible liar, I did it only once and I¡¯m still regretting it.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯Yet human interactions are mostly based on deception. Even Tista says that my honesty is refreshing at first, but soon bes obnoxious. To make matters worse, the few humans who I¡¯ve met in the Trawn woods all ran away screaming.

    ¡¯No matter how pretty my dress is or how kind I am, I¡¯m nothing but a monster in their eyes.¡¯

    While Solus and Lith were brooding about their problems, their stagecoach finally reached the Ernas ancestral home. It was Kam¡¯s first time seeing something so magnificent.

    The manor was surrounded by high white crystal walls, which generated an array that prevented anyone from flying or Warping past its boundaries without the use of a special amulet.

    Their coachman showed his ID to the guards stationed at the gates, who in turn lifted an amulet over their heads. It emitted a ray of light that resonated with coachman¡¯s uniform first, then his papers, andstly the entire stagecoach.

    Each of them glowed with a silver light, proving the authenticity of the documents, the man¡¯s identity, and that the magical seals ced on the vehicle hadn¡¯t been tampered with.

    Kam gasped while looking through the passenger window as she noticed that the park around the manor extended as far as her eye could see. Even though the night sky was covered by ck clouds, the gardens were perfectly lit.

    Each statue, bench, and even fountain which decorated the area radiated a gentle glow, giving the hosts the impression of having walked into a fairy tale. The air smelled of freshly cut grass, flower beds adorned the cobblestone paths that went from the front gardens to the main building.

    Trees and bushes were all artistically trimmed to resemble mythical beasts, like unicorns and griffons. The benches were made of white marble and engraved with runes that made them water and dirt proof, keeping them dry and clean no matter the weather.

    The manor itself was bigger than Belius¡¯ army headquarters. It extended for at least 3,000 square meters (32,292 square feet), divided into a main building, a left and a right wing forming a reversed U shape.

    The massive hardwood double doors of the house were wide open, letting all noise and lighting from the Main Hall reach the stagecoach¡¯s stopping area. Jirni and Orion were weing their guests as soon as they arrived, letting their house staff escort them inside.

    Despite the chilly night breeze, the moment the coach door opened Kam felt suffocated like she was stepping into a furnace.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t right. This isn¡¯t my ce. I¡¯m just the disowned daughter of a dishonest merchant.¡¯ She thought as her body was being covered in nervous sweat.

    Kam tried to stand up, but her weakened knees failed her, making her stumble on the coach steps. Lith managed to catch her by the waist, using water magic at the same time to cool her burning skin and make the sweat disappear.

    \"You almost literally fell head over heels for me.\" Lith chuckled at his terrible joke as he got off the stagecoach first to help Kam by holding both her hands. His kind gesture made Kam find her strength again and made Lith¡¯s parents hope for the best.

    The Ernas couple watched the scene too, but with mixed feelings about it.

    \"Long time no see, Lith. It¡¯s too bad you haven¡¯t grown much since your days at the academy.\" Orion joked. He was over 1.96 metres (6¡¯5\") tall, with ck hair, brown eyes, and a perfectly shaven face.

    His physique was lean but muscr. Every one of his movements was full of vigor.

    \"It¡¯s nice to see you too. Is everyone inside?\"

    \"Yes. I¡¯ll join you as soon as we¡¯re done with our guests. I have a little surprise for you.\"

    Two members of the house staff apanied the Verhens to the Ballroom. One of them was Dyta, Jirni¡¯s cousin, who was still disguised as a housemaid. The other was Deiter, an old family butler who managed to re at Lith like he was a traitor while maintaining perfectposure.

    ¡¯I guess it¡¯s reasonable to assume that the rest of the staff mes me for the break up too.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The entrance had a double staircase leading to the first floor of the house, which formed an arch above the door leading to the Main Hall, where the guests would mingle while waiting for their hosts to arrive.

    Lith sighed, hoping that when his past and present shed, he wouldn¡¯t be caught in the middle.

 Chapter 521 House Ernas Part 2

    \"Great Mage Lith Verhen and First Lieutenant Kam Yehval.\" The head butler announced with a magically amplified voice.

    Just like Kam had feared, all eyes were on her. Lith had stopped being a novelty after the King himself had bestowed upon him his family name. With each achievement he acquired, the old noble households despised him more while the new magical bloodlines considered him a leading figure for their cause.

    Half the room watched him walking down the small staircase leading to the Main Hall with admiration while the other half just whished that he would fall and break his neck. Both kinds of gaze onlysted for a split second before moving to his date.

    Many noble dames had a cruel smirk on their faces, their mouths already opened and ready to badmouth the dirty poor social climber who in their minds had no ce among them.

    They had learned the hard way that Lith had no weak spot. Both his clothes and manners were always impable. Belittling his powers was akin to suicide, since not one of their heirs would qualify as his equal even when he had just graduated from the Academy.

    Now that he was a Great Mage and was about to be appointed as a Spellbreaker, many families had to go way down their family tree to be able to name a rtive they couldpare to him.

    The nameless civil servant apanying him, though, was bound to be an easy target. Or so they thought, until their peers started tough at them, mistaking their expression for awe.

    Even after a long look, they couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with her looks. Quite the contrary, more than one dame stared at her in envy.

    Kam wore a silk-satin red evening dress with a v neckline which left her arms and shoulders exposed plus it emphasized her bosom. Lith had made her a golden circlet that appeared to be made out of small camellias woven together.

    The gold of the circlet brought out her ck hair and vice versa, while both shone under the magical lighting of the room. She also wore one of Lith¡¯s forgemastered camellias on her right wrist as corsage.

    Looking at her adamant gaze, the nobles thought she was treating them with contempt, whereas she was just focused on not tripping over her dress and hiding the terror she felt.

    She listened with relief as the butler announced the rest of the Verhen family, making many gazes move to the top of the stairs again. Every female member of Lith¡¯s family wore a circlet and an enchanted corsage, each one projecting the image of a different flower from Earth made from a different element.

    A fiery rose for Elina, an icy orchid for Rena, and a ck lotus for Tista. They all had pestered Lith to forgemaster something for them too. Tista wore a skin tight ballgown that made many of the male guests stare in hatred at her date, while their femalepanions clenched their sses so hard that they nearly shattered.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve spent over one hundred gold coins in cosmetic magic and I¡¯m still an ugly duckling!¡¯ They thought in unison.

    \"Lith! It¡¯s so good to see you again.\" Several people began to crowd around him, yet he had no idea who they were.

    ¡¯By my maker, they are your academy mates. How can you not remember even one of them?¡¯ Solus helped him to put a name to each face.

    ¡¯I only had four academy mates, the others were only rivals or bystanders. Their fair weather friendship is as pointless now as it was back then.¡¯ He coldly replied.

    \"Professor Verhen! I don¡¯t know how to thank you.\" Said one of Lith¡¯s students.

    \"Back when I was at the academy, I hated your sses. Thank the gods you were so strict with me. Your teachings saved my life more than once.\"

    \"d to hear that, Qinyu. How are you doing?\" Lith replied while shaking his hand. He remembered all the names of his students. In a way, he considered them to be his creations.

    \"Well enough to afford an invitation for this G. Mypany could use your help sometimes. Does the army allow you to perform frence jobs?\"

    \"You¡¯re asking the wrong person.\" Lith smiled as he took a wine ss for him and one for Kam. \"As long as I¡¯m a Ranger, she¡¯s my boss.\"

    \"Oh gods! When are you going to stop growing?\" Said a familiar voice resounding with fake anger.

    \"Little one! You have no idea how I¡¯ve missed you.\" Lith lifted Quy like she was a small child.

    She would have loved to protest the embarrassing treatment, but her feet were dangling 20 centimeters (8¡¯) above the ground and she feared that a sudden movement could make the slit in her dress reveal far more than was proper.

    \"I¡¯m almost as tall as Friya, now. Why don¡¯t you ever call her ¡¯little one¡¯?\"

    \"Because when I met her, she was taller than me. In my heart, you will always be this tall.\" He released her from the embrace and gestured with his hand at her former diminutive stature.

    \"Are you still conducting your crazy research?\" She asked.

    \"Indeed, but so fardy luck has turned her back on me. What about you?\"

    \"Same. Body sculpting is a nightmare. Every small advancement seems to require years of study, but I don¡¯t want to wait for years! I want to be a Professor, make my own schedule, and not work like a mule until my hair turns white.

    \"I might have a lead on something, but I can¡¯t do it on my own and there¡¯s no one I trust enough to not steal my research. Academies are a dog eat dog world. Do you think you can help me?\" She said looking at him with her trademark puppy eyes.

    \"Thanks for thinking about me, but what about your sisters? Also, Kam, this is Quy, one of my dearest friends. Quy, this is Kam, my girlfriend who also happens to be my handler in the army. You might want to speak to her about your problem.\"

    Quy gave Kam a curtsy, which she promptly returned. While they were exchanging their greetings, Quy couldn¡¯t avoid noticing how much her guest was different from her older sister, and found it ominous how Kam¡¯s jewelry matched the rest of the family¡¯s.

    \"We would love to have a chat with her. A long chat.\" Friya red at Kam for a second before hugging Lith. Kam chuckled at her fake hostility, yet Friya¡¯s words and hourss figure stung at her pride.

    \"I offered to apany Quy more than once, but she doesn¡¯t trust my underlings!\"

    \"Mercenaries only follow money.\" Quy shook her head.

    \"I would have no problem if the mission involved collecting materials, but trusting them with something they can sell to the highest bidder? Thanks, but no thanks.\"

    Friya bit her lower lip not having a witty retort at the ready. Adventurers were mostly grassroots mages who hoped to make a quick buck.

    As soon as they realized how dangerous ying monsters was and that the only treasures they found inside dungeons had once belonged to other adventurers, they would usually change their line of work.

 Chapter 522 Sewed up Part 1

    Creatures smart enough to distinguish trash from gold were also so dangerous that it wasn¡¯t worth facing them unless there was a rich bounty on their heads. In such cases, one had to be as wary of thepetition as they were their target.

    More than one group of mercenaries had been in by another waiting in ambush for them to soften the prized creature. What idiots called ¡¯adventure¡¯ was actually a high risk, unknown reward business, yet it was the only path to wealth unless one was willing to submit to a noble.

    Friya had invested time and effort into her personal guild, but its revenue was still far from ensuring that its members would put their honor and friendship above a mountain of gold.

    \"Hi, Lith. How long has it been? Three years?\" Even if the crowd didn¡¯t make way for her, Lith could notice Phloria from a mile away, and not because of her height. Her scent and the sound of her footsteps were so deeply ingrained in his memory that he could recognize them anywhere.

    She was wearing a silk satin sky blue evening gown, with a v neckline. Part of her hair was down, like a silky ck waterfall that reached her waist, while the rest formed a tress resembling a wreath over her head.

    Nostalgia put a sad smile on Lith¡¯s face, which was quickly reced by a raised embrown when he noticed that, together with sapphire parure, she was still wearing the gold lily shaped pendant he had gifted her years ago.

    \"Almost four.\" Only after giving her a small bow did he realize that she wasn¡¯t alone. A handsome man in his early twenties was walking arm in arm by her side. He was almost as tall as Lith, with pitch ck hair and grey eyes.

    His tuxedo emphasized his lean but muscr build. If not for Jirni¡¯s words about him, Lith would have been happy for her.

    ¡¯Phloria deserves someone better than I was. It¡¯s the reason why I let her go. How strong is this jerk, Solus?¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯A clean cyan mana core and trained soldier level of physical prowess. Kallion seems to be a perfectly normal human. Phloria, on the other hand...¡¯

    ¡¯What about her?¡¯ Lith suddenly remembered about her impurities moving, just like it happened to Yurial before his untimely death. He had sent Tista to check on her from time to time and ording to his sister, Phloria wasn¡¯t supposed to Awaken.

    ¡¯Her mana core has gone from cyan to bright cyan and her mana flow is abnormal. Maybe we should check her with Invigoration.¡¯

    Lith cursed his bad luck. He had no reason to touch Phloria without making Kam jealous, nor could he ask to speak privately about her health in the middle of the g. Lith was renowned to be a great diagnostician but spotting an asymptomatic illness with a single nce was something not even Manohar was capable of.

    An awkward silence befell to the group after they had introduced their respective dates. Neither of them knew what to say, at least in front of all those people. Small talk was cheap, but speaking their minds would make things even more awkward.

    \"What a lovely corsage you have, Kam. I¡¯d never seen anything like that. Did Lith forgemaster it for you?\" Phloria unconsciously touched the dimensional amulet he had gifted her at the academy.

    It didn¡¯t have just sentimental value to her. Phloria had yet to find a better dimensional storage. Orion had studied it for several hours, yet not even he had proven capable of such a feat since Lith had used true magic to make it.

    \"Yes. It¡¯s called a Camellia.\" Kam replied with a radiant smile as she marked her territory. She didn¡¯t feel threatened by Phloria, the two of them were too different to make any kind ofparison.

    Yet she didn¡¯t miss the tension Phloria¡¯s arrival had caused and she wanted to make things clear with her without being rude.

    \"It¡¯s wonderful.\" Phloria tried and failed to hide how those words stung at her, betrayed by a twitching smile.

    \"Would you be terribly jealous if I stole your date for a couple of minutes? A wound from myst mission has left me with phantom pain the army Healers cannot exin. I¡¯m in dire need of a second opinion.\"

    \"Well, to be perfectly frank, yes.\" Kam giggled to make it sound like she was joking. \"However, I know how seriously Lith takes his oath as a Healer and as fellow army members, we have to support each other. I¡¯ll wait for you here.\"

    The atmosphere tensed up to the point that the bystanders held their breath hoping things to escte, but neither of the two women said anything nor stopped smiling.

    \"We¡¯ll be right back.\" Phloria gave her guest a curtsy before turning her back to them and walking toward a side room while Lith tried to keep up with her pace.

    \"That was... intense.\" Kallionughed as soon as Phloria walked away, to make sure she couldn¡¯t hear him above the noise of the small crowd around them.

    \"Maybe a little too intense. You¡¯ve gone overboard miss Yehval, I think you should apologize for your behavior when they get back.\" His cold smile didn¡¯t extend to his eyes as his words triggered whispers and chuckles among the bystanders.

    \"You¡¯re overthinking, mister Nuragor.\" Kam disrespected his title just like he had done to hers. She was still afraid of the crowd, but not enough to let a pompous jerk order her around while she was an honored guest in her mentor¡¯s house.

    \"Some gesturese naturally when you really care about your partner. I hope you¡¯ll find someone like that soon.\" The whispers and chuckles intensified. None had missed how quickly Phloria had dropped Kallion¡¯s arm, nor that she hadn¡¯t talked to her date before leaving.

    \"I¡¯m sorry to say...\" Yet his stone cold voice didn¡¯t sound sorry at all. \"but it¡¯s not a matter of caring, so much as of upbringing. unting that small trinket of yours was unbing of an army officer, even for one with a shady family like yours.

    Also, it¡¯s Mage Nuragor to you.\"

    \"I guess you¡¯re right. Not even my disowned father would use such double standards. If you¡¯re going to unt your title, then it¡¯s Lieutenant Yehval to you.\" Her rebuke made him turn red from anger, but he didn¡¯t dare to continue.

    Most of the nobles were on his side, but Phloria¡¯s sisters were not.

    \"I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve offended you, that wasn¡¯t my intention. I just wanted to warn you that the other guests may find your ¡¯gestures¡¯ rude. I understand you are new to environments such as this, but your behavior could embarrass Great Mage Verhen.\"

    He gave her a small bow as an apology. Between his words and manners, Kallion had put Kam between a rock and a hard ce.

    She could either refuse his apology and risk appearing petty, or ept them and be forced to in turn apologize to Phloria even though she had done nothing wrong.

    or ept them and be forced to in turn apologize to Phloria even though she had done nothing wrong.

 Chapter 523 Sewed Up Part 2

    Meanwhile, after checking if a side room was empty, Lith and Phloria entered it and she locked the door behind them.

    \"Don¡¯t worry.\" She said in reply to his silent question. \"The room is sound proof, no one can hear us from the outside.\"

    Lith used Life Vision to check his surroundings while Solus did the same, replying only when their magical senses confirmed her words.

    \"Are you really hurt or is there something you need to tell me?\" Lith knew that Quy was a Healer almost as good as he was and that the phantom pain was likely an excuse.

    Lith would have loved to tell her about he too had needed to speak with her in private, but seeing her with his amulet and between the arms of someone else had left him more confused than he had expected.

    Everything that came to his mind would either make a fool out of himself or make the situation even more awkward than it already was.

    Phloria was experiencing almost the same emotions. She had avoided Lith until that day because time had helped smother her feelings, so that their rtionship felt like it could be a thing of the past.

    But everything seemed to being back after seeing him again. Phloria¡¯s mind felt so fuzzy that she didn¡¯t even remember the reason why she had brought him there.

    \"Kam seems nice. You two must be happy together.\"

    \"Kallion doesn¡¯t seem bad. I hope he treats you right.\" Lith had so many things to say to her, yet only the most idiotic ones seemed to be willing to pop out of his mouth.

    \"He doesn¡¯t seem bad?\" Phloria chuckled, making him realize how much he had missed that smile and the sound of her voice. \"So he doesn¡¯t seem good to you either.\"

    \"I don¡¯t know him. I can only say what I see.\" Lith shrugged.

    \"Why are we here?\" His question came out much colder than he intended. His brain and his mouth seemed to be disconnected.

    \"I just wanted to know how are you. I mean the real you, not the mask you wear in front of everyone else. Have you mastered Death Vision yet?\" She took a step closer, realizing it was the first time she had to look up to meet eyes with him.

    Their past was so distant, yet it felt like it was yesterday.

    \"It¡¯s not a power, more like a curse.\" He replied.

    \"I have learned how to keep it under control under normal circumstances, but that¡¯s it. To make matters worse, there¡¯s no trace of something simr in any book I¡¯ve consulted. You have no idea how does it feels to watch everything and everyone you love die over and over again.\"

    \"I remember it almost drove you insane.\" She sighed.

    \"Did you tell your family about that thing with you and the shadows?\"

    \"No. I have never told anyone else, but I got better.\" It pained him to admit that she was still the only one he had ever shared that secret with. In his mind, Solus didn¡¯t count because they didn¡¯t share anything, they were one and the same.

    Lith flexed his shoulders as his second form swallowed his tuxedo. He stood slightly over two meters tall, covered in thick curved ck scales with hands and feet that ended in razor sharp ws.

    It stillcked the horns, the wings, and the tail which only appeared during tribtions. His face was a ck te with no nose or ears. Two yellow eyes were open, while the slits for the other five, although visible, were shut closed.

    ¡¯Why did you do that?¡¯ Solus was shocked.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know.¡¯ He honestly replied. Just like when he had fought the Abomination lurking near his house, it simply felt like the right thing to do. Yet while back then it was a response to his fury, now it was to his fear.

    The part of Lith which had never stopped hurting ever since Carl had died, which was so full of hatred that it only wanted the entire Mogar to burn, was trying to prove its point.

    It wanted to show him that he had done the right thing by letting her go. That there was no one he could really trust. A cruel grin appeared on his face, revealing a mouth full of fangs and fire as he expected her to scream in terror.

    \"Good gods.\" Phloria turned a little pale in surprise, but she didn¡¯t flinch.

    \"All those years ago I was right. You do really have dragon blood in your veins.\"

    \"Since when do dragons look like this?\" His voice was a low growl as he waved at his demonic appearance.

    \"Dragons look however they want.\" She shrugged in reply.

    \"If you had feathers, I would have thought of a phoenix or a griffon, but scales yell dragon to me.\" Phloria stepped forward instead of back, just like that night in her room. This time she needed to stand on her tiptoes to touch his scaly cheek.

    \"Does it hurt?\" Even the question remained the same.

    \"No. Not since I¡¯ve epted what- no, who I am. Thanks to you.\" He ced his scaly hand over her soft one, unable to hold his words anymore.

    \"As I told you after the second exam, I¡¯m a broken man, shattered into so many pieces that my original form is unrecognizable. Yet you managed to turn the metal I¡¯ve spent my whole life steeling myself to be, into soft fabric.

    \"Then, you spent almost two years of your life mending me. No matter how many times I pushed you away, either with my rude actions or my endless secrets, you were always there for me.

    \"You picked up all those pieces that I had given up on and sewed them back together. You¡¯ve seen me at my worst, yet you never gave up on me, not even when I showed you this ugly self of mine.

    \"You taught me that even in this cruel world there can actually be someone who¡¯s worth trusting, someone that can ept and love me beyond what shallow words can express.\"

    His thumb caressed the back of her hand as smoke and mes came out of his seven eyes in small bursts. It was supposed to scare her, but it made her cry instead. Unbeknownst even to Lith, his second life force had no blood nor tears, only fire and shadows dwelled in his body.

    \"You made me want to try and be more than powerful, to be better. For all that, I¡¯m grateful to you and I always will be. I don¡¯t care who you marry or what kind of person you¡¯ll be, I will always be there for you.

    \"If you ever need my help, just call my name and I wille. I will discard my duty and my honor, I will pierce through the gates of the heavens and theherworld if they stand in my path.

    \"Not even death could prevent me froming to fight by your side, because that¡¯s the only way I could ever repay you for what you did for me.\"

    Lith turned around, assuming his human form again.

    \"Now it¡¯s better if we return to the Main Hall, otherwise people will start gossiping about us. More than usual I mean.\"

    Phloria stupidly nodded at his back, despite knowing he couldn¡¯t see her. She and Solus were both crying from the bottom of their hearts, because those words were the closest thing to a love confession Lith had ever done.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! Solus, why didn¡¯t you stop me? That was the closest thing to a love confession I have ever done!¡¯ He thought.

 Chapter 524 Break Up Part 1

    ¡¯First, I had no idea what you were about to say. That wasn¡¯t one of your usual rehearsed speeches. Second, even if I knew, I would have never stopped you. I¡¯ve been trying for years to stop you from bottling up your feelings.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯I¡¯m happy that you finally admitted how this cruel world is worth living for, yet your words hurt me deeply. I know that I have never held your hand nor hugged you when your- no, our existence seemed hopeless, but I was always there for you.

    ¡¯I have told you many times the same things that Phloria, Tista, and now Kam have said, yet you never listened. I¡¯m part of you, but I¡¯m not you. After all this time, and after all that we have gone through together, I should deserve your trust.¡¯

    ¡¯I trust you, Solus. I always have.¡¯ Lith tried to defend himself.

    ¡¯No, you don¡¯t trust me. It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t hide anything from me, there¡¯s a big difference. After I lied to you, only once, to protect your life, you said terrible things to me, you kept me at arm¡¯s length for weeks.

    ¡¯You never stopped to think how hard it had been for me nor why I did it. You never have any idea how many sacrifices I make for you until we trigger a mind fusion and then you apologize just to start over again.

    ¡¯Back when we reconciled, you gave me permission to kick your ass if I ever disagreed with you, but only now have I found the strength to do it. I never get angry at you because unlike Phloria, unlike every single goddamn soul on this, I know the real you.

    ¡¯Derek McCoy, Lith Verhen, whatever the name, I don¡¯t care. Where your family sees an iron willed man, where Kam sees a hero, where you see a monster, I see a man that no matter how much he had to crawl, no matter how much shit he had to swallow to move forward, he never stopped fighting.

    ¡¯I always respected you for that and I didn¡¯t want to be another burden for you to carry. After the wargs, after spending some time with my friends rather than yours, I¡¯ve finally realized what being a person really means.

    ¡¯I deserve from you the same respect I give to you and if sometimes my feelings are a burden, well, deal with it. Because I¡¯m as real as Phloria is, I¡¯m not just a voice in your head.¡¯

    Lith was still recovering from his own moment of weakness with Phloria, so taking in Solus¡¯s, all of her pent up feelings, left himpletely speechless. He returned to his friends not knowing whether to feel like a jerk for what he had just done to Phloria, or for what he had done to Solus for all those years.

    Because she was right about everything.

    ¡¯By the way, while you yed Romeo, I checked your Juliet with Invigoration. Her impurities are way closer to her mana corepared to thest time we checked, but she¡¯s still safe.

    ¡¯You don¡¯t need to worry about her Awakening any soon. You and I still have a bit of time to find a way to make her survive her Awakening.¡¯

    Lith had been so engrossed by his emotions that he hadpletely forgotten about the issue with Phloria¡¯s mana core. Yet, once again Solus had covered for him, because she cared.

    ¡¯Thanks, Solus. I¡¯ll never say it enough. Thank you for being my only true friend. If Phloria has been my tailor, sewing me back together, you are my mold. You kept me from losing myself over and over and you still do.¡¯

    Solus telepathically nodded, epting thepliment. She thought about sharing with him the news about her humanoid form, but in the end, she decided against it.

    ¡¯It would be a low blow. A cry for attention now that he¡¯s still emotional. As I just said, I¡¯m not Lith. I do things my way. The right way. I don¡¯t manipte those I love to get what I want.¡¯ She thought.

    As they returned to their friends, Lith heard several whispers. Even though he couldn¡¯t piece enough of them together to get the whole story, he got the gist of it.

    Luckily, Phloria and he hadn¡¯t been gone for long and Kam had yet to give her reply. Lith and Jirni had warned both his family and his girlfriend about the risks of the g. Messing directly with Lith was suicidal, but they were much easier targets.

    In front of such an audience, losing their temper could seriously harm Lith, even if he wasn¡¯t there. Kam and Elina were cut from the same cloth. They would have likely pped Kallion into oblivion for his contemptuous words, yet aside from clenching their hands they smiled and didn¡¯t do anything.

    ¡¯Since both the options he left me with put me in the wrong, I can only pick the third one: remain silent and hope that Lith returns quickly.¡¯

    \"What¡¯s going on here?\" Lith asked Friya while taking Kam¡¯s hand. Not only was she his friend, but Friya was also a Lady of the family. No one could question her judgment without disrespecting the whole Ernas Household.

    She told him everything, feeling a bit embarrassed for not having intervened. Quy and she hadn¡¯t liked Kam marking her territory since they were rooting for their sister.

    \"Let me get this straight.\" Lith stood straight as an arrow, so that he could look down on Kallion while staring at him in the eyes.

    \"First, you treated my date as a servant, demanding apologies only based on your assumptions. Then, you belittled my work, my magic, in front of my entire family and the rest of the guests. Lastly, by questioning her upbringing you also questioned my judgment.\"

    \"Not at all. You are oversimplifying things.\" Kallion said with an aggrieved expression. \"I was simply trying to help your girlfriend and defend mine.\"

    ¡¯Come on, you idiot. Challenge me, attack me or something. No one expects me to win and the harder you beat me, the worse it will be for you. It¡¯ll prove you¡¯re nothing but a bloodthirsty barbarian.¡¯ He thought.

    \"Am I?\" Lith shrugged. \"Phloria, did Kam insult you in any way?\"

    \"No. I asked her about her corsage and she simply replied. It¡¯s beautiful, by the way, calling it a trinket...\" She red at Kallion for a second before regaining herposure.

    \"So, no apology was required and you did belittle my work.\" Lith repeated while staring at him in contempt.

    \"I¡¯m really sorry.\" Phloria gave Kam a bow first and then Lith. She felt terrible since she was not only one of the hosts, but also Kallion¡¯s date.

    \"No need to apologize, Phloria.\" Lith picked her up by the shoulders and made her stand tall.

    \"You¡¯re one of my best friends, I could never get offended with you.\" Those words weighed more heavily than any reproach could, especially after the moment they had just shared in the side room.

    Phloria felt stupid and miserable. She clenched the sides of her dress as her eyes turned watery from the rage and embarrassment, exactly like Lith had nned.

 Chapter 525 Break Up Part 2

    ¡¯These are the moments when you really act like a monster. How could you do that to Phloria?¡¯ Solus felt bad for her.

    ¡¯If I met him in the wilds, I would have killed him. If I were in the middle of the street, I would have challenged him. Here I could only take the sugar out of his venom to reveal the snake he is. A pretty face and pretty words mean nothing.

    ¡¯Phloria needs to learn her lesson and a burned hand teaches best.¡¯ Lith replied.

    The moment people noticed Phloria¡¯s distress, all whispers disappeared. Quy and Friya were ring at Kallion like they could murder him without a second thought, and so did their brothers, their rtives, and even the members of their staff.

    Kallion¡¯s n fell into shambles as the ancient noble households left his side the moment they understood who the Ernas were siding with. There was no point in backing a dead horse and no sense in beating it.

    Kallion had managed to embarrass his date, his hosts, and his entire household in one fell swoop. It was a social blunder juicy enough to liven up the evening but not enough tost more than one day. Unless of course, things escted.

    \"Phloria, would you like to take a little stroll around the park? We could use some air.\" Kallion had yed his cards well by avoiding being rude and using Kam¡¯s low social status to justify his words.

    ¡¯It didn¡¯t go as well as I hoped, but everything is still fine. I only need to make sure that Phloria isn¡¯t upset and mes the little wench for the mishap.¡¯ He thought.

    \"You¡¯ve taken the words right out of my mouth.\" She finally raised her eyes from the floor. A warm smile appeared on her face, yet her eyes were cold.

    \"We need to talk.\"

    Chuckles and whispers spread throughout the Main Hall as soon as the couple walked through the ss doors leading outside.

    \"Do you think she will kick him out?\" Kam whispered to Lith¡¯s ear.

    \"That¡¯s unlikely. He was subtle and I couldn¡¯t make a scene. The Ernas will lose a lot of face if she ends up without a date right off the bat.\" He replied while listening to the other guests betting about the possible oues.

    Kallion being kicked out was given 100-1, just like their rtionshipsting more than a week.

    \"She treated you like crap! Someone had to say something. Why are you mad at me?\" Kallion said after all of his attempts at sweet talk were met with Phloria¡¯s cold shoulder.

    \"If I thought she did, I would have put her in her ce myself. You didn¡¯t do it to defend me, you did it to embarrass Lith. Or do you think I¡¯m that stupid? Scratch that, I am that stupid, otherwise I would¡¯ve never dated you.\" She was walking double time, clenching and releasing her hands to suppress her most violent urges.

    \"How can you say that? I¡¯m notpletely at fault here. You could have told me you wanted to speak with him privately. You took me by surprise, asking your ex to talk, what was I supposed to do?\" Kallion tried to shift the me again, hoping a bit of guilt would make his reasons more believable.

    \"Are you saying that I am supposed to ask for your permission before talking to a friend?\" His move resulted in throwing jet fuel on the mes of her outrage.

    \"No, I...\"

    \"To answer your other question, you could have taken it out on Lith, like she did with me. Or, if you were that insecure about us, you could have asked me to talk about it in private before embarrassing me in front of the entire Verhen family.

    \"You took it out on the most vulnerable link of the chain, instead. It seems deliberate, if not nned to me.\"

    \"How can you say that?\" He managed to sound aggrieved, even though only his pride was hurt because she seemed to see through his scheme too easily.

    \"How could you do that if you ever cared even one bit about me?\" Phloria rebuked.

    \"We¡¯re done. You can remain for the g, but I don¡¯t want to see you ever again.\"

    Kallion tried to object, before Phloria¡¯s right hand closed on his throat lifting him off from the ground and reminding him that she was even stronger than she looked.

    \"That¡¯s not up to debate. You can either say yes and act like a true gentleman for the rest of the evening or get escorted out of my house. Your choice.\"

    Kallion nodded like a parrot, his lungs screaming for air.

    ¡¯This is not over, you bitch. There is more than one way I can use you against that peasant. Bringing down the Ernas and the Verhen is like killing a flock of birds with just one stone.¡¯

    Meanwhile, inside the Main Hall, the butler announced the Ernas couple and then the Royal couple right after them.

    \"King Meron Griffon and Queen Sylpha Griffon.\" Despite the cosmetic magic treatment, the Royals couldn¡¯tpare with the Ernas. Despite her character, Jirni had an oval face with delicate features and big eyes, whereas the Queen had sharp features and a square jaw.

    After both of them had their impurities removed, the bestparison that could be drawn between them was that they respectively looked like a newlywed maiden and a drill sergeant.

    \"I¡¯m so sorry, dear.\" Jirni said to both Kam and Lith.

    \"I didn¡¯t expect Phloria to take you away. You handled things well, Kam.\"

    \"There¡¯s no need to apologize, Lady Ernas. I should have been more careful.\" Kam was embarrassed by all the attention from the lords of the house. Too many eyes were staring at her in envy.

    \"No matter how careful you were, he would have struck at the first opportunity. It¡¯s not your fault.\"

    \"I apologize on behalf of my daughters.\" Orion gave Kam a small bow, making her and the Ernas girls blush in embarrassment.

    \"I¡¯m disappointed in you. Kam is your mother¡¯s apprentice and your friend¡¯s betrothed. You should have been more considerate toward her.\"

    At those words, Lith, his rtives, and Jirni almost chocked on their wine.

    \"We¡¯re not betrothed.\" Kam managed to say with a squeaky voice.

    \"You¡¯re not?\" Orion looked bbergasted.

    \"I mean, he crafted the Camellia for you, which is the most romantic forgemastered piece I¡¯ve ever seen. He even made you a tiara like those Elina and his sisters are wearing. I thought you were already part of the Verhen family.\"

    \"I¡¯m a one trick pony, okay?\" Lith was beet red in embarrassment.

    \"Circlets are the most borate pieces I can make. I¡¯m a Forgemaster, not a goldsmith. I practiced hard to make Jirni¡¯s present and I thought it would be a waste to only use that knowledge to create a single piece.\"

    \"But you made Camellias for the rest of your family too!\" Orion objected.

    \"How many times do you want me to say that I¡¯m a one trick pony? There¡¯s no hidden meaning behind them, they are not some kind of family trademark!\"

    \"What¡¯s a Camellia?\" Queen Sylpha asked. After finishing her rounds among the most important nobles, she had gotten curious about the fuss between the Ernas and the Verhen.

 Chapter 526 Leaving (Part 2)

    Chapter 526 Leaving (Part 2)

    Lith resumed his duty as a Ranger and since he had used most of his free days preparing for the g and recovering from the sh with Tezka, his schedule was very busy.

    Qinyu, Friya, and Quy would have to wait for their turn before he could help them. Weeks passed and soon the entirety of the north was covered in snow.

    Most of the time he was called to quell the riots caused by theck of food in poor neighborhoods, or to discipline merchants who ignored the tiered food prices imposed by the Crown thanks to the support of local mercenary guilds.

    The insides of Solus''s tower had beenpletely redecorated with the coat of arms Lith had chosen for his Household. It depicted a ck and red dragon coiled around a tower. A magic staff and a sword were crossed below the tower.

    Now it was embroidered on every carpet, curtain, and tapestry in every room.

    "You really have great taste in coat of arms." Solus was proud of herplete form standing proud in the middle.

    "Why the dragon? Is it because of what Phloria said?" She asked feigning simple curiosity.

    "No. It''s because dragons are symbols of power while demons are a symbol of misfortune. I already have the reputation of being bad luck, there''s no reason to give more fuel to those rumors. Can you please remove some of the banners? I find them tacky."

    "How can you say that? I even mimicked the positioning they have inside house Ernas and you''ve always said their house is ssy!" Solus was outraged at being called tacky.

    "It''s ssy because with so much space and high end furniture you can ignore those tacky coats of arms. Maybe it''s because you are a shorty that you don''t realize that the tower feels cramped with so much crap." He chuckled.

    Ever since he had seen her light body after they merged for the second time, Solus had be sensitive about height issues. It had gotten even worse after Lith had grown so tall.

    "I''m not short, you insensitive jerk! I''m petite, there''s a big difference¡­"

    Lith''s army amulet interrupted their quarrel.

    "Ranger Verhen, what''s your status?" Kam''s voice was worried.

    "I''m still a bachelor, but who knows what the future holds?"

    "I meant your position! There is a huge snowstorm approaching the spot of yourst report."

    "Don''t worry, I''ve created an underground cave as shelter." He said as Solus warped them from Lutia back to the north and modified the appearance of the tower entrance to resemble an actual cave.

    Lith gave Solus thumbs up for her excellent work and activated the hologram function.

    "How are you? Do you have enough food? The storm mayst a few days." Kam was relieved that the cave was deep enough she couldn''t even hear the wind.

    "I have plenty of food. Anything else?"

    "Yes. As soon as the snowstorm ends, you''re expected in Jambel. They have a problem with a dungeon."

    "A dungeon? This time of the year?" Lith didn''t bother to hide his disbelief. Unlike in Earth''s videogames, dungeons didn''t magically appear out of nowhere.

    Monsters were chaotic and bloodthirsty creatures, unwilling to cooperate even with members of their own tribe, let alone with other species. Sometimes, however, a monster with great power and intellect was born.

    That kind of creature was capable of enving all the other tribes in the surroundings and create an underground fortress thanks to earth magic. Such ces were called dungeons orbyrinths and they were chock full of monsters and traps.

    Any sane person would stay far away from them and call the army the moment people started to disappear.

    "Yes and yes. It''s odd because there has been no sign of monster activity for months there, yet the town has been already attacked twice during thest week by a groupposed of different creatures."

    "How did they survive the encounter?"

    "Winter is a great shield. Deep snow slowed their movements and the strong chilly winds sapped their strength. Monsters don''t wear warm clothes, so whenever they attempted to climb Jambel''s high walls, the guards only needed to throw buckets of water on them to kill or incapacitate them.

    "The problem is that the second group was stronger and better equipped, otherwise they wouldn''t have called for our help. The people of Jambel are proud of their strength."

    "Is that a polite way of saying that they''re a bunch of pricks who despise outsiders?" Lith asked.

    "ording to army regtions, my answer is no." Kam said while nodding.

    "Great. I can''t wait to experience the local hospitality." Lith smiled while banging the back of his head against the wall. He was tired of being treated like crap just because his skin wasn''t pale white or his hair being ck.

    "Your next report is due tomorrow morning. Over and out." His handler closed themunication too hastily, making Lith inwardly gripe in advance.

    "What did I do wrong this time?" He waited a few minutes before calling her with his civilian amulet. Their daily routine involved at least two calls a day, one during breakfast, while they were both off duty, and one at the end of her shift.

    "Only one way to find out." Solus sighed.

    "Hi, Kami. Are you excited about tomorrow? It''s your first day as field assistant, after all." Lith opted for a soft approach. No ttery nor small talk, asking her about something she cared to show her that it mattered to him too.

    "You remembered! Yes, I''m very nervous but also very happy. It''s a dreame true." Her frown turned upside down, bestowing upon Lith one of her warm smiles he loved so much. Sadly, it didn''tst long.

    "But let''s talk about thatter. Why didn''t you tell me that Quy had a huge crush on you back at the academy?" She pouted with her arms and legs crossed. That day she was wearing a ck pencil skirt, so that pose exposed and emphasized her slender legs.

    Unfortunately, Lith didn''t have the opportunity to enjoy the scenery.

    "Why would I tell you something like that? It was just puppy love from a small girl. It was as irrelevant back then as it is now." Lith pinched his nose in frustration.

    "First, because I''m your girlfriend and I would like to know when I meet one of your exes to avoid embarrassing situations. Second, it''s not irrelevant at all since she''s one of your best friends!"

    After exchanging theirmunication runes, Quy and Kam spoke often. They could both use a good friend.

    Also, Kam wanted to learn about Lith''s past while Quy was curious about life in the north and wanted to make sure Lith was alright. Jirni''s birthday had been their first meeting since he had joined the army. Quy missed him dearly.

    The issue hade to light while talking about their respective past rtionships. It had made Kam fear she had overshared with Quy, embarrassing her in their previous conversations.

    "She''s not an ex. Quy has never been anything more than a friend, period. Do you want to know about my days with Friya and Yurial too while we are at it?"

    His retort sounded too much like "Do you feel also threatened by men?" to Kam''s ears, but she didn''t budge and rose to the asion.

 Chapter 527 Virtue of the Strong (Part 1)

    Chapter 527 Virtue of the Strong (Part 1)

    "Actually, yes. I would love to. If these things are so irrelevant, why are you so secretive about them? We''ve been together for quite some time now. You can''t keep me out of your life like that."

    Lith recognized this moment and hated it with all of his heart. It was the moment when things in a rtionship went from simple fun to serious. Back on Earth, it was his cue to dump or wait to get dumped.

    Lith called it "the nagging point" and it put him at a crossroad. He could turtle up, making their rtionship turn sour, or open up with the risk that one question would lead to another until Kam asked about something he couldn''t share.

    Lith knew that she cared and she was trying to make things between them work, yet he was scared of the consequences the nagging point cold have.

    He would have found it easier to fight and kill several Abominations rather than facing that choice. Until this point, their busy schedule and being apart for extended periods of time had made Kam be patient, avoiding sensitive issues.

    For a moment, Kam''s image was reced by Phloria''s. She had asked him to open up too, until she had given up. Back then he had been happy about it, mistaking it for eptance. Now he knew better.

    "Can this please wait for my return? There are things I''m notfortable talking about from a distance."

    "It''s fine if you don''t feel ready to share your past, I just want you to be honest with me." Kam''s voice lost its edge, turning sweet again.

    "We''ll talk once I''m back. I promise."

    ***

    The following day, Lith had Solus Warp as near as possible to Jambel, reaching it a few minutes after sunrise. Jambel was a medium sized fortress city, entirely built of stone.

    It was too far from themercial routes to depend on merchants, so it was designed to be self sufficient all year round. The city was built near two bigkes, which provided fish and fresh water, while cultivated fields surrounded the city walls until the woods begin.

    They were the main source for game and wood, so the inhabitants of Jambel treated it with great respect. They nted two trees for each one they cut down and used turnover to give them time to grow.

    Unlike Maekosh, there were no slums. Even the poorest houses were solid, the only wood buildings were tool sheds. Jambel''s walls were five meters (16'') high and wide enough that two armed people could easily walk side by side.

    They were made of grey stone and smoothed so that during the day they would partially reflect the sunlight and blind the aggressors. Lithnded a few hundred meters from the city gates, so as to not scare the guards.

    He was very surprised when he reached the gates without anyone ordering him to halt or identify himself. Even more when the city lord came out to greet him while the soldiers stood at attention.

    "Ranger Verhen, thanks foring so quickly. We were starting to fear that we would have to face the third wave of monsters alone." Baron Eiros Wyalon was a man in histe thirties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall.

    He had red hair and a finely trimmed beard, with blue eyes as clear as the twinkes in front of the city.He was wearing a light armor that emphasized his lean but muscr build.

    Even the city guards had clean and proper uniforms. Each one of them was physically fit and their equipment well cared for. The Baron looked more like a soldier than a noble, just like his men seemed to be veterans.

    "A third wave? What makes you think they will be back?" Lith shook the Baron''s hand. His grip was vigorous but friendly. The noble wasn''t trying to test Lith.

    "After the second one, I sent some scouts to follow the survivors back to the dungeon. There''s a lot of them and they''re damn hungry. When they noticed theirpanionsing back empty handed, they killed and cooked them on the spot."

    "That''s one heck of a hunger." Lith was more surprised at the scouts'' willingness to risk their neck. So far, every city he had been to, was full of people who just whined and waited for his intervention.

    "My point exactly." Wyalon nodded while offering Lith a mount. There was one horse for each soldier, no stagecoach waited for the city lord. Thankfully, Lith had learned how to ride during the boot camp.

    "Monsters cannot fish and most animals ran away when the creatures first appeared. We are the only thing they can feed upon for miles."

    With so little practice he was a lousy rider, but between his physique and the well trained horse, he had no problem reaching the Baron''s Mansion. It was a two storey manor, something Lith would have expected from a merchant, not a city lord.

    Each floor was barely as big as the Ernas'' Ballroom. Only brickwork and a small garden separated the Mansion from the surrounding houses, and there was none more luxurious.

    "Only a fool would waste money to build himself a castle if the whole city around him easily burns." Baron Wyalon answered Lith''s silent question.

    "I prefer spending the gold from the taxes to make the whole of Jambel safe. People with a roof over their head and an honest day job don''t turn to crime. Besides, my missus and I don''t need much. Hungry?"

    "Yes. Can I bepletely honest with you?" Lith walked through the front door while a butler weed them home. The hallway was about 20 square meters (215 square feet), with walls and floor covered by white painted wood.

    There was a cab for the clothes and a small firece above which was a series of hangers to dry coats drenched by snow. A soft carpet led to the other rooms, covering most of the floor and keeping the house warm.

    "Absolutely. You''re about to risk your life for my people and my city is under siege. I''d much prefer for us to drop the formalities rather than waste our time with pretty words."

    The butler took the Baron''s mantle while the noble sat on one of the chairs near the door to take off his dirty boots and reced them with clean ones. Lith shapeshifted his clothes to show the man he didn''t need his help, making him flinch in surprise.

    The furniture in every room was made of high-quality materials, but its design wasn''t ostentatious.

    "This isn''t the kind of hospitality I was expecting. I heard things about Jambel. Unpleasant things." Lith took a mental note of everything.

    The Baron''s house wasn''t great, but it definitely was a home. It was warm and cozy. Each one of its rooms was lived-in, not just designed for impressing guests. It was like he wanted his own house to be.

    "They are all true." The Baron said with a smug grin.

    "We have little patience for outsiders whoe into our homes and expect to be served like lords. We bow to no one just because of their wealth, status, or rank. So, rest assured, here you have only friends."

 Chapter 528 Virtue of the Strong (Part 2)

    Chapter 528 Virtue of the Strong (Part 2)

    "Meaning?" Lith was starting to understand the Baron''s way of life.

    "You''re my equal, but not because you too are a Baron, but because you earned your title. I''ve heard a lot about you and so have my people. You slew a wyvern as a boy and a dragon as a man. We respect strength here."

    "It was just a man in dragon form." Lith pointed out.

    "Strong and humble! Tell me,d, when do you n to start your hunt?"

    "When you point me the way." Lith shrugged.

    "See? That''s what I''m talking about. Come, there''s a lot to eat and even more to discuss before you leave. Failure''s not an option."

    Lith followed the Baron to the dining hall, where the Baroness and their children were having breakfast. The Lady stood up to give their guest a proper greeting, quickly followed by her children.

    "Baron Verhen, this is my wife, Mirias and my children, Kotu and Iriel." The Baroness was a woman in her mid thirties, with blonde hair and green eyes.

    She was a good head shorter than her husband and Lith would have considered her pretty, if not for the milky white skin typical of the north, that gave her a sickly look in his eyes.

    The siblings had to be twins, both with the red hair of their father and the green eyes of their mother. They too were so pale that Lith''s Healer instinct brought him seconds away from casting a diagnostic spell on the whole family.

    He gave them a bow, before sitting at their table, next to Baron Wyalon. Only then did Lith notice that the table was actually an enchanted item. While the maids served them fresh white bread and porridge, a holographic map of the area appeared in mid air.

    Lady Wyalon''s eyes narrowed in annoyance for a split second, but she said nothing.

    "The dungeon is here." The Baron pointed at the base of a small mountain range a few dozen kilometers from Jambel with his fork, making the hologram zoom in.

    "My scouts spotted three entrances before the monsters discovered them and attempted to have them for dessert. Here, here, and here." Wyalon drew three circles with his knife and the hologram opened as many small holes in the ground.

    "There could be more. Also, I wouldn''t be surprised if after finding my men lurking around, they put out some guards. If you need a distraction, my soldiers can apany you and draw the attention of the monsters until you get inside."

    "No need." Lith replied after gulping down some porridge. Both it and the bread could have used a pinch more of salt for his tastes.

    "I prefer working alone. What I''m more interested in is what kind of creatures attacked the city and a rough estimate of their numbers, if you have one."

    "I''m sure that when I tell them, my men will buy you all the beer you can drink. They hate dying." The Baronughed heartily.

    "Dear, put down your cutlery when you speak. You''re spilling food everywhere." The Baroness'' tone was warm and her smile gentle, yet her eyes were icicles. Iriel too red at her father, until she noticed Lith watching them.

    She lowered her gaze and blushed violently, giving her face some color as Lith''s lost his own.

    ''Oh, fuck! Another: "please be my ticket out of nowhere" girl. I need to get out of here.'' He thought.

    "I''m sorry, dear, but I''m sure our guest doesn''t mind." Wyalon was an ex soldier, who had risen in the army ranks until he had exchanged his merits for a noble title. Even years after he had retired, he was still used to eating and speaking as fast as he could.

    "Well, maybe some of us do." The Lady''s silvery voice struck like a fist, making the Lord regain his manners and put the silverware down.

    "The first wave wasprised mostly of small fry. Forty goblins, thirty two ogres, and a dozen empowered orcs. I suspect the ruler of the dungeon might be a powerful shaman."

    Lith nodded him to continue.

    "The second wave was way worse. Fifty ogres, twenty three empowered orcs, and a few trolls. As for their numbers, I have no clue. The fact they have dispatched almost a hundred of them each time makes me think we are talking about at least one thousand creatures.

    "Are you really sure you want to go in there alone?"

    "Positive." Lith replied. "Numbers mean nothing in enclosed spaces and I can wipe out any number of non magical creatures on my own. I can always fly or Warp away if necessary."

    "Can you really use dimensional magic?" Iriel''s eyes shone like emeralds, making Lith bite his tongue.

    "That''s the reason I arrived so fast." Since the horse had already bolted, instead of shutting the barn''s door, Lith decided to follow suit.

    "Thanks for the meal and the information. Your men''s bravery has saved me a lot of time. I''ll take care of the dungeon immediately."

    "Wait. There''s one more thing you should know before you go. One of my scouts says he saw a Balor flying around the mountain."

    "A Balor?" At those words, Lith flinched in disbelief. Such creatures were considered the nobles among the monsters. One of the few Fallen Races to have retained part of their ancient wisdom and power.

    "I''m sorry, Baron, but if that was true Jambel should''ve already fallen. A one thousand strong army of monsters with a Balor at its head could easily conquer this city. Also, didn''t you say you suspected an orc shaman to be their leader?"

    "I agree it''s odd, but only one of the scouts saw it. Maybe he''s wrong, or maybe the attack on Jambel is just a diversion." The Baron nodded.

    "I suspect an orc shaman because there is no other exnation to empowered orcs and because they would never submit to an Evil Eye. Balors and orcs are sworn enemies, they would never cooperate."

    The truth was that with their demonic appearance, Balors resembled the fabled creatures that ording to orcs'' lore had caused the fall of their race. Balors had no grudge against the orcs that they didn''t share with the whole of Mogar.

    "Do you have any idea how so many creatures managed to spawn so close to your city without anyone noticing?" Lith could already smell a lot of troubles. In his experience, the more things didn''t add up, the bigger the underlying mess was.

    A mess he would have to survive first and cleanter.

    "None, it''s indeed a mystery." The Baron sighed, well aware of how silly his words sounded.

    Before leaving, Lith used the holographic table to carefully study the region and n his next moves.

    ''I''m afraid this will not be a simple clean up. An orc shaman can cripple our strength and a Balor might even be my equal.'' Lith regretted not understanding orcishnguage. Otherwise he could have learned many things from the shaman.

    Back in Othre, Jirni had given him plenty of tips on how to loosen the tongue of a captured enemy, both literally and metaphorically.

    ''Do you think an Abomination is behind the dungeon?'' Solus was triggered at the thought of experiencing the event of Maekosh again.

    ''No, unless it''s the dungeon master.'' He replied. ''The anomaly here is the creatures'' behavior, not their abilities. Only time will tell us how deep the rabbit-hole goes.''

 Chapter 529 Failure Part 2

    \"I don¡¯t care what we do. As long as we are together it¡¯s a date to me.\" Kam moved her right hand from Lith¡¯s shoulder to his cheek, caressing it gently. That simple gesture filled him with joy.

    \"Thanks, but there¡¯s no need for that. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you in my life.\" His smile and words made Kam¡¯s heart pound. Lith wasn¡¯t one for sweet talk, he would only say such things when he meant them.

    Lith took a deep breath, using Invigoration to replenish part of his mana and release Death Vision from its fetters. In his eyes, the entire Ballroom turned into a grotesque nightmare where rotten corpses danced amid blood spatters.

    He tried not to look around, focusing only on Kam¡¯s smile. As long as she was between his arms, she was safe from Death Vision¡¯s effects. A beacon of life in a sea of dead bodies.

    ¡¯If I don¡¯t suppress Death Vision, I¡¯ve more than enough mental strength to do everything at once. Kam deserves to enjoy her first g without having to constantly worry about me.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯She¡¯s so sweet and unaware of all the bad things which happened to me in the past. When I¡¯m with her, I can forget about everything but the present. Kam is my second chance, my opportunity to start from scratch.¡¯

    The only silver lining of Death Vision was that it allowed Lith to immediately spot the undead among the crowd. They were the only ones that would not age nor die of poison or illness.

    They weren¡¯t paying any attention to him, so he was careful not to stare while using their deaths to discern their nature.

    One of them would oddly always die in the same way. Her disguise reverted into a desated corpse before it turned to dust. Yet there was no sign of spells or injury, her body would simply copse as if the magic animating it was gone.

    As if a switch had been flipped.

    Another would only die when his head was destroyed or his heart pierced. After that, his body would turn into ashes. The other two seemed to be much easier to kill. No matter if by weapon or spell, when their bodies sustained enough damage they would respectively turn into a pool of water and be set aze.

    Lith was wondering why the bestiary stored inside Soluspedia didn¡¯t include the details about what happened after destroying an undead when the music ended.

    ¡¯That information would allow me to use Death Vision to identify them. Without it I can only get a faint idea about their weak points.¡¯ He inwardly griped.

    \"Between facing that Kallion jerk, meeting the Royals, and being introduced to all those nobles like I¡¯m some sort of a princess, I¡¯ve really had too much excitement for one evening. I need a little rest.\"

    Kam¡¯s cheeks were flushed red from the dancing but she wasn¡¯t tired. She was just worried about Lith and was giving him an excuse to rx a bit. Lith understood her intentions immediately and apanied her to the first floor, where they were offered food and drinks by the waiters.

    \"How do you feel?\" She prompted after asking the staff to move a chair near the balcony for him, so that he wouldn¡¯t lose visual contact with his spells and with it the surgical control he had been exerting on them.

    \"Much better, thanks.\" Her care moved Lith so deeply that he would have kissed her if the rules of etiquette didn¡¯t strictly forbid public disys of affection.

    \"You were right. I let my anger get the better of me. Maintaining fifteen spells that interact with each other and the guests is a bit too much, even for me.\" He sighed as he moved the spotlight on the Royal couple for the next dance.

    \"Why did you do it? That jerk isn¡¯t worth this much effort.\" Kam switched his ss of wine with grape juice. Lith needed focus and energy, not to get drunk.

    \"But you are.\" He replied while taking a sip. \"After what he did to you, Mage Nuragor needed a royal beating.\"

    Lith had a hard time keeping the edge off his voice and his murderous impulses under control. His instinct had marked Kallion as an enemy, and he wasn¡¯t used to giving them a second chance.

    Killing him was out of the question. Too many witnesses and too many arrays. More importantly, he didn¡¯t want to scare Kam or his family. Some aspects of his life had to remain hidden.

    In the opposite corner of the room, the Ernas siblings were resting their feet. Between handling the preparations and weing their guests, it was their first opportunity in hours to sit.

    Phloria was in no mood to dance. After a single dance as a formality, Kallion had left the g with the excuse of feeling ill. She had lost her date and her source of entertainment. Misery lovespany and Phloria was no exception.

    Seeing his anguish at every snarky remark he was the target of whenever they met another couple on the dance floor was the only relief for her wounded pride. They had yet to get to the point where she started to n their future together, but she had fallen for Kallion¡¯s ruse enough that she had hoped there could be one.

    Friya had no date and was happier that way. Quy was brooding because her boyfriend, Anathor, had not attended the g, making her suspicion that he was just ying with her feelings even stronger.

    They also felt guilty for not defending Kam when Kallion had tried to embarrass her. Orion¡¯s words had stung and even though Lith didn¡¯t add anything, his disappointed look spoke volumes.

    \"Usually, I wouldn¡¯t approve of that guy.\" Gunyin, the eldest brother, pointed at Lith with his ss, tired of his sister stealing nces at the couple and sighing.

    \"He¡¯s shorter than me and seems weaker than dad, butpared to that other guy at least he has talent. I think you made a mistake letting so much time pass.\"

    \"Is this your opinion, or are you borrowing mom¡¯s as usual?\" Phloria rebuked.

    \"For once, I¡¯m with the beanpole.\" Tulion, the profligate brother, was shorter than Phloria. He was 1.73 meters tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had taken his looks from his mother¡¯s side, yet where his attitude came from was still a mystery.

    \"Of all the boyfriends you¡¯ve had, I¡¯ve never seen you as happy as when you and the little monster were together. You know I like people staying out of my personal life just like I stay out of theirs, but I have to ask.

    \"What went so wrong that you decided on such a clean break? I mean, even Gunyin can tell you still have feelings for him.\" Gunyin nodded, not taking his brother¡¯s words as an insult so much as truth.

    He had been raised as the future Lord, betrothed before he was ten years old and married right after he came of age. His skillsy in numbers, business, and politics. Everything else was just a means to an end: the glory of House Ernas.

 Chapter 530 Leaving Part 1

    \"During my fourth year at the White Griffon, I only approached him because I needed a friend. I was tired of everyone around me, even my family, trying to turn me into the person they believed I was meant to be.\" Phloria cast a Hush spell, to make sure no one would eavesdrop.

    \"Over time, I came to like Lith more and more not because he was powerful or talented, but because he was the only one that saw me for who I was and epted me anyway. He never cared if I always had a sword with me or if I wore pants instead of a dress.

    \"It was liberating after being weighed, measured, and found wanting all my life, no matter how much effort I put in.\"

    Aside from Quy, they could all rte to her words. Belonging to a noble family meant a life of duty, andpeting with everyone from birth, no matter if they were peers or family members.

    That was the reason why during the academy both Friya and Phloria were considering running away from their respective families. Why Gunyin¡¯s whole existence was devoted to ensuring their bloodline would thrive and continue.

    Tulion had chosen to be the Ernas¡¯s ck sheep to escape from such a destiny.

    \"Our rtionship wasn¡¯t all sunshine and rainbows. There were too many silences, too many secrets between us. I waited for him to open up and tell me, but he never did. Breaking up with him was painful, but it was the right thing to do. We both needed space to grow and we did.\"

    \"Do you think Lith has opened up to Kam?\" Quy asked.

    \"No.\" Phloria shook her head.

    \"How can you be so sure?\"

    \"Because I asked him. After all the things mom told us about them, I hoped that Lith had finally found someone capable of cracking his shell, or at least someone he is able to show his weaknesses to.

    \"I can only pray that Kam is stronger than I was, otherwise she¡¯s destined to follow the same path as I did.\" Phloria sighed.

    \"Let me get this straight.\" Tulion looked her in the eyes.

    \"After scoping out thepetition, you went straight to him to see how solid their rtionship is. I don¡¯t know what you two talked about, but it¡¯s pretty clear that Lith must have shared something with you that he didn¡¯t with Kam.

    \"So now you¡¯re waiting for them to break up to catch him on the rebound and make him open up when he¡¯s at his weakest. Your n is vicious, cruel, and cunning. Mom will be proud of you.\"

    \"Agreed.\" Gunyin nodded, making Phloria facepalm.

    ¡¯I simply meant that, even though Lith has changed for the better during the past four years, it¡¯s still not enough. At least for me. Without trust and friendship, love is too fragile a feeling tost.

    The more you love someone, the more painful it is when you realize they have always kept you at the fringes of their heart.¡¯ She thought.

    ***

    After several dances, the King had the musicians stop. Everyone on the first floor came down to the Ballroom, leaving a circr space around the Royals.

    \"My dear subjects, I¡¯m d to see that even the most reclusive among us have epted my invitation and took part in the g. I hope you¡¯ve been enjoying the evening.\"

    Lith didn¡¯t miss how the King had looked directly at the undead during the first part of his speech.

    \"Tonight, we haven¡¯t assembled only to enjoy each other¡¯spany, but also to honor and pay our respects to those who have loyally served the Kingdom, even at great personal cost.

    Lady Jirni Ernas, step forward.\"

    Jirni did as instructed, kneeling in front of the Royals with her head down.

    \"House Ernas has always been one of the pirs of our Kingdom, but your meritorious acts as a Royal Constable have exceeded what any of your forefathers have ever done. For that, you are promoted to the rank of Archon.\"

    The crowd was left astounded. Archons were the supreme magistrates in charge of supervising the work of Royal Constables. It was a role usually reserved for members of the Royal family because the authority it granted was second only to the Crown itself.

    \"Stand up, Archon Ernas, and take the insignia of your new role.\" Jirni obeyed, her face was a mask of joy and respect. Yet Lith could see she wasn¡¯t happy. Being an Archon meant more work, more danger, more enemies.

    ¡¯I was expecting to be promoted to Head Constable, not this.¡¯ Jirni thought. ¡¯There must be internal strife within the Royal family, and the King needs someone he can trust.¡¯

    \"Great Mage Verhen, step forward.\" The King said as soon as Jirni left the center stage.

    \"House Verhen is young and you are its very foundation. For freeing the Kingdom of the eternal threat of the ck Star, for protecting the city of Othre, and for your contributions in vanquishing the monster outbreaks, I bestow upon you the title of Spellbreaker.

    \"You are hereby recognized as one of the Kingdom¡¯s most trusted elite in dealing with rogue mages and as such your help will be required in times of need. The title grants you the title of Baron and the annuities it deserves even though ites with no fief.\"

    ¡¯Money for my research and no new responsibilities.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed in relief. After what had just happened to Jirni, he was afraid that his reward was going to be bittersweet too.

    ***

    After the g, Kam exchangedmunication runes with Quy and Friya. They were truly sorry for what had happened with Kallion and were willing to make it up to her.

    ¡¯They seem to be sincere, but even if they are not, they are still part of Lady Ernas¡¯s family and most importantly a part of Lith¡¯s life. He¡¯s very fond of them, so they deserve a chance. Besides, it would be nice to hear something about their days at the academy.

    ¡¯Lith has never talked about his past except after I exined to him why I¡¯m estranged from my family. I guess he¡¯s the kind of man who opens up only if I do it first. Or maybe I should just ask him instead on walking on eggshells.

    ¡¯Gods, now that he¡¯s a Baron, my colleagues will never let me hear the end of it!¡¯ Kam thought.

    Jirni and Lith congratted each other, and so did their respective families.

    To Kam Jirni said: \"Be ready to assume your role as field assistant Constable. Now that I¡¯m an Archon and Lith is a Spellbreaker, I¡¯m sure that your application will coincidentally take priority.\"

    Her voice oozed sarcasm.

    \"I hope I don¡¯t have to wait four more years to see you again.\" Phloria said with a sad smile.

    \"I¡¯m only half responsible for that. You have my contact rune and I doubt it would be hard for a Captain to locate a Lieutenant.\" Lith stressed his point by giving her a salute.

    \"Even if you choose to avoid Spellbreaker Smartass here, feel free to visit us anytime. We missed you a lot and so did the kids.\" Rena hugged Phloria, making her feel guilty for her prolonged absence.

    \"I¡¯ll visit you when I get my next leave. Unless it¡¯s a sick leave, I should have enough time.\"

    \"Don¡¯t worry, dear.\" Jirni chuckled. \"I¡¯ve asked Lith to be our family Healer and he epted. The next time you get injured in action, I¡¯ll make sure you receive proper care.

 Chapter 531 Leaving Part 2

    Lith resumed his duty as a Ranger and since he had used most of his free days preparing for the g and recovering from the sh with Tezka, his schedule was very busy.

    Qinyu, Friya, and Quy would have to wait for their turn before he could help them. Weeks passed and soon the entirety of the north was covered in snow.

    Most of the time he was called to quell the riots caused by theck of food in poor neighborhoods, or to discipline merchants who ignored the tiered food prices imposed by the Crown thanks to the support of local mercenary guilds.

    The insides of Solus¡¯s tower had beenpletely redecorated with the coat of arms Lith had chosen for his Household. It depicted a ck and red dragon coiled around a tower. A magic staff and a sword were crossed below the tower.

    Now it was embroidered on every carpet, curtain, and tapestry in every room.

    \"You really have great taste in coat of arms.\" Solus was proud of herplete form standing proud in the middle.

    \"Why the dragon? Is it because of what Phloria said?\" She asked feigning simple curiosity.

    \"No. It¡¯s because dragons are symbols of power while demons are a symbol of misfortune. I already have the reputation of being bad luck, there¡¯s no reason to give more fuel to those rumors. Can you please remove some of the banners? I find them tacky.\"

    \"How can you say that? I even mimicked the positioning they have inside house Ernas and you¡¯ve always said their house is ssy!\" Solus was outraged at being called tacky.

    \"It¡¯s ssy because with so much space and high end furniture you can ignore those tacky coats of arms. Maybe it¡¯s because you are a shorty that you don¡¯t realize that the tower feels cramped with so much crap.\" He chuckled.

    Ever since he had seen her light body after they merged for the second time, Solus had be sensitive about height issues. It had gotten even worse after Lith had grown so tall.

    \"I¡¯m not short, you insensitive jerk! I¡¯m petite, there¡¯s a big difference...\"

    Lith¡¯s army amulet interrupted their quarrel.

    \"Ranger Verhen, what¡¯s your status?\" Kam¡¯s voice was worried.

    \"I¡¯m still a bachelor, but who knows what the future holds?\"

    \"I meant your position! There is a huge snowstorm approaching the spot of yourst report.\"

    \"Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve created an underground cave as shelter.\" He said as Solus warped them from Lutia back to the north and modified the appearance of the tower entrance to resemble an actual cave.

    Lith gave Solus thumbs up for her excellent work and activated the hologram function.

    \"How are you? Do you have enough food? The storm mayst a few days.\" Kam was relieved that the cave was deep enough she couldn¡¯t even hear the wind.

    \"I have plenty of food. Anything else?\"

    \"Yes. As soon as the snowstorm ends, you¡¯re expected in Jambel. They have a problem with a dungeon.\"

    \"A dungeon? This time of the year?\" Lith didn¡¯t bother to hide his disbelief. Unlike in Earth¡¯s videogames, dungeons didn¡¯t magically appear out of nowhere.

    Monsters were chaotic and bloodthirsty creatures, unwilling to cooperate even with members of their own tribe, let alone with other species. Sometimes, however, a monster with great power and intellect was born.

    That kind of creature was capable of enving all the other tribes in the surroundings and create an underground fortress thanks to earth magic. Such ces were called dungeons orbyrinths and they were chock full of monsters and traps.

    Any sane person would stay far away from them and call the army the moment people started to disappear.

    \"Yes and yes. It¡¯s odd because there has been no sign of monster activity for months there, yet the town has been already attacked twice during thest week by a groupposed of different creatures.\"

    \"How did they survive the encounter?\"

    \"Winter is a great shield. Deep snow slowed their movements and the strong chilly winds sapped their strength. Monsters don¡¯t wear warm clothes, so whenever they attempted to climb Jambel¡¯s high walls, the guards only needed to throw buckets of water on them to kill or incapacitate them.

    \"The problem is that the second group was stronger and better equipped, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t have called for our help. The people of Jambel are proud of their strength.\"

    \"Is that a polite way of saying that they¡¯re a bunch of pricks who despise outsiders?\" Lith asked.

    \"ording to army regtions, my answer is no.\" Kam said while nodding.

    \"Great. I can¡¯t wait to experience the local hospitality.\" Lith smiled while banging the back of his head against the wall. He was tired of being treated like crap just because his skin wasn¡¯t pale white or his hair being ck.

    \"Your next report is due tomorrow morning. Over and out.\" His handler closed themunication too hastily, making Lith inwardly gripe in advance.

    \"What did I do wrong this time?\" He waited a few minutes before calling her with his civilian amulet. Their daily routine involved at least two calls a day, one during breakfast, while they were both off duty, and one at the end of her shift.

    \"Only one way to find out.\" Solus sighed.

    \"Hi, Kami. Are you excited about tomorrow? It¡¯s your first day as field assistant, after all.\" Lith opted for a soft approach. No ttery nor small talk, asking her about something she cared to show her that it mattered to him too.

    \"You remembered! Yes, I¡¯m very nervous but also very happy. It¡¯s a dreame true.\" Her frown turned upside down, bestowing upon Lith one of her warm smiles he loved so much. Sadly, it didn¡¯tst long.

    \"But let¡¯s talk about thatter. Why didn¡¯t you tell me that Quy had a huge crush on you back at the academy?\" She pouted with her arms and legs crossed. That day she was wearing a ck pencil skirt, so that pose exposed and emphasized her slender legs.

    Unfortunately, Lith didn¡¯t have the opportunity to enjoy the scenery.

    \"Why would I tell you something like that? It was just puppy love from a small girl. It was as irrelevant back then as it is now.\" Lith pinched his nose in frustration.

    \"First, because I¡¯m your girlfriend and I would like to know when I meet one of your exes to avoid embarrassing situations. Second, it¡¯s not irrelevant at all since she¡¯s one of your best friends!\"

    After exchanging theirmunication runes, Quy and Kam spoke often. They could both use a good friend.

    Also, Kam wanted to learn about Lith¡¯s past while Quy was curious about life in the north and wanted to make sure Lith was alright. Jirni¡¯s birthday had been their first meeting since he had joined the army. Quy missed him dearly.

    The issue hade to light while talking about their respective past rtionships. It had made Kam fear she had overshared with Quy, embarrassing her in their previous conversations.

    \"She¡¯s not an ex. Quy has never been anything more than a friend, period. Do you want to know about my days with Friya and Yurial too while we are at it?\"

    His retort sounded too much like \"Do you feel also threatened by men?\" to Kam¡¯s ears, but she didn¡¯t budge and rose to the asion.

 Chapter 532 Virtue of the Strong Part 1

    \"Actually, yes. I would love to. If these things are so irrelevant, why are you so secretive about them? We¡¯ve been together for quite some time now. You can¡¯t keep me out of your life like that.\"

    Lith recognized this moment and hated it with all of his heart. It was the moment when things in a rtionship went from simple fun to serious. Back on Earth, it was his cue to dump or wait to get dumped.

    Lith called it \"the nagging point\" and it put him at a crossroad. He could turtle up, making their rtionship turn sour, or open up with the risk that one question would lead to another until Kam asked about something he couldn¡¯t share.

    Lith knew that she cared and she was trying to make things between them work, yet he was scared of the consequences the nagging point cold have.

    He would have found it easier to fight and kill several Abominations rather than facing that choice. Until this point, their busy schedule and being apart for extended periods of time had made Kam be patient, avoiding sensitive issues.

    For a moment, Kam¡¯s image was reced by Phloria¡¯s. She had asked him to open up too, until she had given up. Back then he had been happy about it, mistaking it for eptance. Now he knew better.

    \"Can this please wait for my return? There are things I¡¯m notfortable talking about from a distance.\"

    \"It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t feel ready to share your past, I just want you to be honest with me.\" Kam¡¯s voice lost its edge, turning sweet again.

    \"We¡¯ll talk once I¡¯m back. I promise.\"

    ***

    The following day, Lith had Solus Warp as near as possible to Jambel, reaching it a few minutes after sunrise. Jambel was a medium sized fortress city, entirely built of stone.

    It was too far from themercial routes to depend on merchants, so it was designed to be self sufficient all year round. The city was built near two bigkes, which provided fish and fresh water, while cultivated fields surrounded the city walls until the woods begin.

    They were the main source for game and wood, so the inhabitants of Jambel treated it with great respect. They nted two trees for each one they cut down and used turnover to give them time to grow.

    Unlike Maekosh, there were no slums. Even the poorest houses were solid, the only wood buildings were tool sheds. Jambel¡¯s walls were five meters (16¡¯) high and wide enough that two armed people could easily walk side by side.

    They were made of grey stone and smoothed so that during the day they would partially reflect the sunlight and blind the aggressors. Lithnded a few hundred meters from the city gates, so as to not scare the guards.

    He was very surprised when he reached the gates without anyone ordering him to halt or identify himself. Even more when the city lord came out to greet him while the soldiers stood at attention.

    \"Ranger Verhen, thanks foring so quickly. We were starting to fear that we would have to face the third wave of monsters alone.\" Baron Eiros Wyalon was a man in histe thirties, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10\") tall.

    He had red hair and a finely trimmed beard, with blue eyes as clear as the twinkes in front of the city. He was wearing a light armor that emphasized his lean but muscr build.

    Even the city guards had clean and proper uniforms. Each one of them was physically fit and their equipment well cared for. The Baron looked more like a soldier than a noble, just like his men seemed to be veterans.

    \"A third wave? What makes you think they will be back?\" Lith shook the Baron¡¯s hand. His grip was vigorous but friendly. The noble wasn¡¯t trying to test Lith.

    \"After the second one, I sent some scouts to follow the survivors back to the dungeon. There¡¯s a lot of them and they¡¯re damn hungry. When they noticed theirpanionsing back empty handed, they killed and cooked them on the spot.\"

    \"That¡¯s one heck of a hunger.\" Lith was more surprised at the scouts¡¯ willingness to risk their neck. So far, every city he had been to, was full of people who just whined and waited for his intervention.

    \"My point exactly.\" Wyalon nodded while offering Lith a mount. There was one horse for each soldier, no stagecoach waited for the city lord. Thankfully, Lith had learned how to ride during the boot camp.

    \"Monsters cannot fish and most animals ran away when the creatures first appeared. We are the only thing they can feed upon for miles.\"

    With so little practice he was a lousy rider, but between his physique and the well trained horse, he had no problem reaching the Baron¡¯s Mansion. It was a two storey manor, something Lith would have expected from a merchant, not a city lord.

    Each floor was barely as big as the Ernas¡¯ Ballroom. Only brickwork and a small garden separated the Mansion from the surrounding houses, and there was none more luxurious.

    \"Only a fool would waste money to build himself a castle if the whole city around him easily burns.\" Baron Wyalon answered Lith¡¯s silent question.

    \"I prefer spending the gold from the taxes to make the whole of Jambel safe. People with a roof over their head and an honest day job don¡¯t turn to crime. Besides, my missus and I don¡¯t need much. Hungry?\"

    \"Yes. Can I bepletely honest with you?\" Lith walked through the front door while a butler weed them home. The hallway was about 20 square meters (215 square feet), with walls and floor covered by white painted wood.

    There was a cab for the clothes and a small firece above which was a series of hangers to dry coats drenched by snow. A soft carpet led to the other rooms, covering most of the floor and keeping the house warm.

    \"Absolutely. You¡¯re about to risk your life for my people and my city is under siege. I¡¯d much prefer for us to drop the formalities rather than waste our time with pretty words.\"

    The butler took the Baron¡¯s mantle while the noble sat on one of the chairs near the door to take off his dirty boots and reced them with clean ones. Lith shapeshifted his clothes to show the man he didn¡¯t need his help, making him flinch in surprise.

    The furniture in every room was made of high-quality materials, but its design wasn¡¯t ostentatious.

    \"This isn¡¯t the kind of hospitality I was expecting. I heard things about Jambel. Unpleasant things.\" Lith took a mental note of everything.

    The Baron¡¯s house wasn¡¯t great, but it definitely was a home. It was warm and cozy. Each one of its rooms was lived-in, not just designed for impressing guests. It was like he wanted his own house to be.

    \"They are all true.\" The Baron said with a smug grin.

    \"We have little patience for outsiders whoe into our homes and expect to be served like lords. We bow to no one just because of their wealth, status, or rank. So, rest assured, here you have only friends.\"

 Chapter 533 Virtue of the Strong Part 2

    \"Meaning?\" Lith was starting to understand the Baron¡¯s way of life.

    \"You¡¯re my equal, but not because you too are a Baron, but because you earned your title. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you and so have my people. You slew a wyvern as a boy and a dragon as a man. We respect strength here.\"

    \"It was just a man in dragon form.\" Lith pointed out.

    \"Strong and humble! Tell me,d, when do you n to start your hunt?\"

    \"When you point me the way.\" Lith shrugged.

    \"See? That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about. Come, there¡¯s a lot to eat and even more to discuss before you leave. Failure¡¯s not an option.\"

    Lith followed the Baron to the dining hall, where the Baroness and their children were having breakfast. The Lady stood up to give their guest a proper greeting, quickly followed by her children.

    \"Baron Verhen, this is my wife, Mirias and my children, Kotu and Iriel.\" The Baroness was a woman in her mid thirties, with blonde hair and green eyes.

    She was a good head shorter than her husband and Lith would have considered her pretty, if not for the milky white skin typical of the north, that gave her a sickly look in his eyes.

    The siblings had to be twins, both with the red hair of their father and the green eyes of their mother. They too were so pale that Lith¡¯s Healer instinct brought him seconds away from casting a diagnostic spell on the whole family.

    He gave them a bow, before sitting at their table, next to Baron Wyalon. Only then did Lith notice that the table was actually an enchanted item. While the maids served them fresh white bread and porridge, a holographic map of the area appeared in mid air.

    Lady Wyalon¡¯s eyes narrowed in annoyance for a split second, but she said nothing.

    \"The dungeon is here.\" The Baron pointed at the base of a small mountain range a few dozen kilometers from Jambel with his fork, making the hologram zoom in.

    \"My scouts spotted three entrances before the monsters discovered them and attempted to have them for dessert. Here, here, and here.\" Wyalon drew three circles with his knife and the hologram opened as many small holes in the ground.

    \"There could be more. Also, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if after finding my men lurking around, they put out some guards. If you need a distraction, my soldiers can apany you and draw the attention of the monsters until you get inside.\"

    \"No need.\" Lith replied after gulping down some porridge. Both it and the bread could have used a pinch more of salt for his tastes.

    \"I prefer working alone. What I¡¯m more interested in is what kind of creatures attacked the city and a rough estimate of their numbers, if you have one.\"

    \"I¡¯m sure that when I tell them, my men will buy you all the beer you can drink. They hate dying.\" The Baronughed heartily.

    \"Dear, put down your cutlery when you speak. You¡¯re spilling food everywhere.\" The Baroness¡¯ tone was warm and her smile gentle, yet her eyes were icicles. Iriel too red at her father, until she noticed Lith watching them.

    She lowered her gaze and blushed violently, giving her face some color as Lith¡¯s lost his own.

    ¡¯Oh, fuck! Another: \"please be my ticket out of nowhere\" girl. I need to get out of here.¡¯ He thought.

    \"I¡¯m sorry, dear, but I¡¯m sure our guest doesn¡¯t mind.\" Wyalon was an ex soldier, who had risen in the army ranks until he had exchanged his merits for a noble title. Even years after he had retired, he was still used to eating and speaking as fast as he could.

    \"Well, maybe some of us do.\" The Lady¡¯s silvery voice struck like a fist, making the Lord regain his manners and put the silverware down.

    \"The first wave wasprised mostly of small fry. Forty goblins, thirty two ogres, and a dozen empowered orcs. I suspect the ruler of the dungeon might be a powerful shaman.\"

    Lith nodded him to continue.

    \"The second wave was way worse. Fifty ogres, twenty three empowered orcs, and a few trolls. As for their numbers, I have no clue. The fact they have dispatched almost a hundred of them each time makes me think we are talking about at least one thousand creatures.

    \"Are you really sure you want to go in there alone?\"

    \"Positive.\" Lith replied. \"Numbers mean nothing in enclosed spaces and I can wipe out any number of non magical creatures on my own. I can always fly or Warp away if necessary.\"

    \"Can you really use dimensional magic?\" Iriel¡¯s eyes shone like emeralds, making Lith bite his tongue.

    \"That¡¯s the reason I arrived so fast.\" Since the horse had already bolted, instead of shutting the barn¡¯s door, Lith decided to follow suit.

    \"Thanks for the meal and the information. Your men¡¯s bravery has saved me a lot of time. I¡¯ll take care of the dungeon immediately.\"

    \"Wait. There¡¯s one more thing you should know before you go. One of my scouts says he saw a Balor flying around the mountain.\"

    \"A Balor?\" At those words, Lith flinched in disbelief. Such creatures were considered the nobles among the monsters. One of the few Fallen Races to have retained part of their ancient wisdom and power.

    \"I¡¯m sorry, Baron, but if that was true Jambel should¡¯ve already fallen. A one thousand strong army of monsters with a Balor at its head could easily conquer this city. Also, didn¡¯t you say you suspected an orc shaman to be their leader?\"

    \"I agree it¡¯s odd, but only one of the scouts saw it. Maybe he¡¯s wrong, or maybe the attack on Jambel is just a diversion.\" The Baron nodded.

    \"I suspect an orc shaman because there is no other exnation to empowered orcs and because they would never submit to an Evil Eye. Balors and orcs are sworn enemies, they would never cooperate.\"

    The truth was that with their demonic appearance, Balors resembled the fabled creatures that ording to orcs¡¯ lore had caused the fall of their race. Balors had no grudge against the orcs that they didn¡¯t share with the whole of Mogar.

    \"Do you have any idea how so many creatures managed to spawn so close to your city without anyone noticing?\" Lith could already smell a lot of troubles. In his experience, the more things didn¡¯t add up, the bigger the underlying mess was.

    A mess he would have to survive first and cleanter.

    \"None, it¡¯s indeed a mystery.\" The Baron sighed, well aware of how silly his words sounded.

    Before leaving, Lith used the holographic table to carefully study the region and n his next moves.

    ¡¯I¡¯m afraid this will not be a simple clean up. An orc shaman can cripple our strength and a Balor might even be my equal.¡¯ Lith regretted not understanding orcishnguage. Otherwise he could have learned many things from the shaman.

    Back in Othre, Jirni had given him plenty of tips on how to loosen the tongue of a captured enemy, both literally and metaphorically.

    ¡¯Do you think an Abomination is behind the dungeon?¡¯ Solus was triggered at the thought of experiencing the event of Maekosh again.

    ¡¯No, unless it¡¯s the dungeon master.¡¯ He replied. ¡¯The anomaly here is the creatures¡¯ behavior, not their abilities. Only time will tell us how deep the rabbit-hole goes.¡¯

 Chapter 534 Unexpected Turn Part 1

    Lith left before the Wyalon family was done with their breakfast, leaving Iriel no time for small talk. He took off, taking the quickest route to the Broken Spine, the discontinuous mountain range where the dungeon was located.

    Lith flew at an optimal altitude, which allowed him to safely scout the area around him with Life Vision and identify underground monsters¡¯ nests. He had to make sure the creatures weren¡¯t preparing a big attack, otherwise he might have been forced to retreat during the raid to protect the city.

    For a Ranger the number of in creatures was but a secondary achievement, the real source of merits was the survival rate of those they are tasked to protect. Monsters needed only days to be fully grown, while a single artisan needed decades to be trained.

    ¡¯Another good thing about Kam, is that ever since we got together you¡¯ve stopped pushing me toward every girl we meet.¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned.

    ¡¯Well, that doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t feel bad for Iriel. For once you could help someone without gettingid as your hidden agenda.¡¯ Solus rebukes.

    ¡¯Yeah, right. Going from princess of nowhere to a big city would be a death sentence to her unless someone takes care of her. I can already picture how any sane woman would react if I brought home an 18 year old girl.¡¯

    Solus couldn¡¯t retort anymore. Even if Solus could read Lith¡¯s thoughts, in Kam¡¯s shoes she would still kick his ass.

    The area was clear of any life form, monster or otherwise. Like the Baron had reported to Lith, animals and magical beasts had left the area. Those who had failed to notice their presence because of hibernation, were all dead.

    Once Lith reached the Broken Spine, he didn¡¯t head directly towards the known entrances, but scouted the area to determine how smart and powerful his opponents were.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t like this.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯My mana sense detects a series of powerful arrays both above and below the ground. Not only have I never seen most of them, but they also form an borate framework.

    ¡¯Monsters aren¡¯t supposed to be able to craft something soplicated, let alone in such a limited time frame.¡¯

    Lith nodded as he read the floating runes, trying to make a sense out of them.

    After moving all the Warden books in their possession inside Soluspedia, they were able to identify at least the function of the unknown arrays.

    ¡¯Their design is very old.¡¯ Lith pondered. ¡¯None of them are designed to be offensive or defensive. I can see cloaking, containment, and even amplifying arrays.

    ¡¯The kind which are used for a secretb, not a fortress. I can¡¯t short circuit them and get rid of the monsters in one fell swoop, they are all the permanent kind. To do that I¡¯d need to tamper with the mana crystals fueling them, but they are likely to be scattered all over the Broken Spine.

    ¡¯Judging by the size of these arrays, the dungeon extends throughout the whole area. I don¡¯t think that even a Balor could perform such monumental work.¡¯

    ¡¯Do you want to call for backup?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯And lose my loot?¡¯ Lith sneered. ¡¯If this really is the secretb of an ancient mage, finders keepers. At least as long as I¡¯m the only one who knows it.¡¯

    Thanks to his exploration, he found several entry points to the dungeon, most of which were unguarded. Lith noticed that while the edges of the caves were rough and so was the surface of the corridors leading inside, the tunnels were smooth and wless.

    ¡¯To dig through so many meters of rock with their bare hands must have taken them months!¡¯ Solus was horrified noticing the w marks and bloodstains along the exits.

    ¡¯The most likely hypothesis is that they must have been imprisoned here for a long time and they only recently managed to escape.

    ¡¯Then why are they still holed up in here?¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯More importantly, what the heck did they eat until they escaped? Both an orc shaman and a Balor could easily dig their way out. Why did neither of them take care of the exits?¡¯

    There were far more questions than answers, but Lith¡¯s loot sense was tingling. An orc shaman meant another huge mana crystal, while a Balor refusing to leave could only mean that the creature was after something precious.

    Balors were smart enough to collect magical items topensate for their innate shorings, but like all monsters, they had no dimensional items. They couldn¡¯t easily transport something fragile or huge, whereas Lith had no such problem.

    Lith kept his greed in check as Solus¡¯s words about the Abominations echoed in his head. He found a guarded entrance and unleashed a pack of undead wolves on the unfortunate goblins on duty.

    They screamed and died likemon goblins, without showing any sign of mutation or special abilities. Lith remained hidden in the shadows as his minions feasted on the corpses.

    ¡¯If those goblins are like the wargs, the Abomination inside of them should react to their deaths and call for reinforcements.¡¯ Lith thought, but even after several minutes, no one appeared.

    During that time, he studied the goblins¡¯ clothes and equipment. They were well dressed, wearing cotton shirts, leather pants and shoes. The most intriguing thing was the coat of arms on their clothes, representing a ck tower set aze with a golden crown on top of it.

    Even their weapons,nces and bucklers, were made of good quality metal. Their master had even had them customized to a goblin¡¯s proportions.

    Once Lith was certain that no enemy wasing his way, he sent the undead pack inside as a diversion while he entered from one of the unguarded entrances. The corridor went deep underground, leading to what was definitely not a dungeon, but rather a home.

    Monsters had no use for doors, magical lights or tags to identify each room. There were even signs at every crossroad, pointing toward different zones.

    ¡¯If only I could read this gibberish!¡¯ Lith inwardly griped after following one of them at random and finding the biggest ss workshop he had ever seen. There were vials, beakers, and manyponents for alchemical apparatus of every shape and size.

    His anger faded after noticing they were all of the highest grade and storing some of them inside his pocket dimension.

    Suddenly, the link between Lith and his minions disappeared. What worried him was that they didn¡¯t die fighting, someone had ughtered them all in just a couple of seconds.

    ¡¯Undead are hard to kill and monsters are dumb. Could they have been so unlucky to meet the shaman? If so, he could have drained the darkness element from them for an easy kill.¡¯ The exnation worked, yet it wasn¡¯t enough to put Lith¡¯s paranoia at ease.

    He moved toward the direction from which he hadst sensed the undead wolves, checking every door on his way. Unluckily, most of them were locked and even more unluckily, not by a simple lock.

    Lith had no time to crack them open one by one, not with so many enemies roaming around nor with Life Vision telling him that there was nothing inside that had a strong magical aura.

 Chapter 535 Unexpected Turn Part 2

    Whoever had built theb wasn¡¯t one for furnishing it. Every corridor was identical on every floor. The ground and the walls were constructed with a honey hued mix of stone and soil while the importance of every door could be determined by their silver-wood ratio.

    Silver was the best mana conductor, making it possible to store and amplify all the spells it was enchanted with. The corridors were wide, but offered no cover to move stealthily. Lith had to rely on Life Vision to spot his enemies from around the corners and kill them quickly after conjuring a silence zone.

    All of them wore fine clothes with a faint magical aura, yet it wasn¡¯t enough to exin how they could be so spotless and in mint condition after being allegedly worn by prisoners for years.

    ¡¯Around the next corner there is a group of four orcsing from the direction your wolves died.¡¯ Solus warned Lith. ¡¯One of them has a bright green mana core and a powerful life force. He must be the shaman.¡¯

    ¡¯What about the crystal?¡¯ Lith¡¯s Life vision confirmed Solus¡¯s reading but at the same time, it made him worry. There was no trace of the mana crystal and the shaman appeared to have an incredibly strong mana and life flow for his green core.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t see it either. He has no magical equipment.¡¯ Solus couldn¡¯t exin how such a small group of orcs could have killed a whole pack of undead so fast.

    Lith charged forward with the Gatekeeper bastard sword in his hand, using gravity magic to run on the ceiling rather than the ground.

    Orcs were humanoid creatures, with an average height of 1.8 meters (5¡¯11\"). They were gifted from birth with a physique simr to that of an Awakened. They were stronger, faster, and sturdier than humans.

    Their bodies were naturally resistant to most elements and they would rarely get sick. It was umon for an orc to disy a talent for magic, but when it happened, the creature would always be born Awakened.

    They were all bald, with skin as brown as tree bark and almost as hard. Orcs also had enhanced senses that made it difficult to take them by surprise and were able to disy short bursts of fire or air fusion, but not both at once.

    The creatures paid no attention to the noise of Lith¡¯s approach until it was toote. A Hush zone prevented them from calling for help and the attack came from above while they were still searching for the source of the footsteps.

    The echo of the corridors confused their enhanced hearing, making them look left and right. Thanks to water fusion, Lith¡¯s arm was able to move like it had no bones.

    The Gatekeeper avoided the orcs¡¯ thick arms that were guarding their vitals and killed three of them with as many quick thrusts.

    ¡¯The fuck?¡¯ Lith thought as the alleged shaman deflected the tip of the de with the back of his hand while taking a few steps back. Lith¡¯s surprise turned into amazement when he noticed that the orc didn¡¯t look like an orc at all.

    It had shoulder length snow white hair, a lean but muscr physique like that of a professional athlete, and long pointy ears. There was no trace of the orcs¡¯ characteristic bloodlust in the delicate, almost feminine, features of his face

    Thanks to his brown skin it would have been easy for him to go unnoticed in the woods, but inside the stone corridor, he stood out like a sore thumb.

    ¡¯Why does this guy look like an elf?¡¯ Lith suddenly remembered how ording to the lore orcs were a Fallen Race descending from the elves.

    ¡¯Beats me, but his life force is definitely that of an orc.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯Do elves really exist? Are they all so hot?¡¯

    Their enemy was indeed good looking, but Lith had other things to worry about. The orc was infused with all the elements and had conjured a sword made of ice from the humidity in the air.

    Both things were supposed to be impossible for members of a Fallen Race.

    \"It was you who sent those undead! Your corpse will make a fine dish. I¡¯m tired of eating goblins.\" A cruel hunger deformed the orc¡¯s face at the idea of tasting human flesh again after so much time.

    Suddenly Solus didn¡¯t find him hot anymore.

    \"You can speak!\" Lith replied enthusiastically as he unleashed a gue Arrow with each thrust of his sword. The orc nimbly deflected the de, but the spells messed up his amateurish footwork by forcing him to dodge while he parried.

    Their physical abilities were simr but the orc had no training in any kind of martial arts and was relying on his natural talents. The first thrust of the Gatekeeper cracked the ice de, the second and third injured the orc¡¯s legs.

    Lith could have killed him easily, but dead men told no tales.

    To make matters worse for the orc, he was not used to the abilities of his ancestral form. He tried multiple times to conjure a spell just for Lith to tamper with it and make it blow up in the orc¡¯s face.

    Soon the stone sword broke into pieces and the orc¡¯s body was bleeding from many deep cuts. Lith struck his enemy with a fist containing a healing spell that mended all of the orc¡¯s wounds, sapping a great deal of his remaining stamina.

    His knees buckled and Lith grabbed him by the throat, lifting the orc up as if he was just a stuffed animal.

    \"Tell me who you are, what is happening here, and how you killed my minions so fast.\" Lith used Invigoration to find the nerve bundles Jirni had taught him about and pressed them with his free hand, causing the orc to writhe in agony.

    \"I won¡¯t tell you anything.\" The monster managed to smile in defiance.

    \"It¡¯s much better if I show you.\"

    The creature used a breathing technique that closely resembled Invigoration, but instead of absorbing the surrounding world energy, it was umted on the orc¡¯s right hand.

    \"You can cast tier four spells without consuming your mana? Not bad, Hannibal Lects.\" Lith reacted before the spell was fully formed by clenching his hand around the orc¡¯s and crushing it along with the suicidal attack.

    The orc screamed in pain for the first time as his hand imploded under Lith¡¯s grip and exploded due to his own spell gone wild.

    ¡¯Interesting. Such a breathing technique is as powerful as it is wed. It saves the user the strain of handling the mana, so they can cast even spells above their level. Yet because such spells are only made of world energy, they can still hurt their caster.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Why does he not fear death?¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯Even now, he is still smiling.¡¯

    Lith had to squeeze the orcs¡¯ throat to stop him from making a second attempt. Lith crushed the creature¡¯s remaining limbs and knocked him unconscious before dropping him onto the ground.

    ¡¯Well, if he doesn¡¯t talk, let¡¯s see what I can find out on my own.¡¯

    Scanner and Invigoration revealed that there was something odd with the reverted orc. His life force was unnatural, squeezed in its actual form by a second life force wrapping the orc¡¯s like a shroud.

 Chapter 536 Unexpected Turn Part 3

    ¡¯Undead life force?¡¯ Solus was bbergasted. ¡¯Could he have evolved after absorbing the darkness magic animating your wolves?¡¯

    Lith had no exnation for the phenomenon, yet he noticed that the orc¡¯s clothes were too big for him. They were sized for a regr orc, which meant that either his transformation really had just happened or the creature didn¡¯t care about having them fixed.

    After a throughout body scan of the fainted elf-orc, Lith and Solus had no idea what events could be unfolding in the undergroundb. The creature¡¯s anatomy was almost identical to its corrupted counterpart.

    The only anomalies were the slightly different shape of his organs and his mana core resonating with the world energy, making him recover his mana faster than a human would.

    After waking the orc up, Lith discovered that all the means of interrogation at his disposal were useless.

    The creature would cut off his pain receptors at the first opportunity he got, and even if Lith could easily undo it, the orc proved to be resistant to pain beyond reason. Since more monsters were approaching, Lith killed to orc while he still had some time left before being discovered.

    Just as he expected, death reverted the monster to his original form. Life Vision revealed the undead life force leaving the body, but unluckily it moved as fast as lightning and passed through the ground.

    Lith had no opportunity to follow it before it disappeared from his sight.

    ¡¯It was definitely not from your wolves.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯Otherwise it would have just faded.¡¯

    Lith nodded and hid around a corner to avoid the next patrol. It wasposed of five ogres. They were all very tall, above 2 meters (6¡¯7\") with muscr bodies that could have passed for humans if not for their greenish skin, their spiky red hair and the long, pointy fangs protruding out of their lower lip.

    Once again, one of them was very different from the others. He had no fangs and his hair seemed to be made of red autumn leaves. There was a calm, solemn light of intelligence reflected in his eyes, that deeply contrasted with the brutish appearance of his peers.

    ¡¯Is it me, or does this guy resemble the dryads we met years ago?¡¯ After meeting the wargs, Lith had started to wonder if even nts and magical beasts were part of the Fallen races. The reverted ogre¡¯s appearance seemed to confirm his suspects.

    \"What happened to Caliel¡¯s unit?\" Said one of the ogres. He stuttered every word with a pained expression, as if using humannguage poisoned his tongue.

    \"There is no sign of struggle.\" The dryad-ogre calmly observed. \"And none of us would have wasted so much meat. Either Yozmogh himself or one of his elite units must have breached the barricade.\"

    \"We need to split into two teams. One will bring the corpses to the kitchen and give the rm while the other will try to slow them down. I¡¯ll do the tracking.\"

    The ogre started chanting in an unknownnguage as two of his soldiers picked up the bodies and stored them inside huge sacks.

    ¡¯A barricade? Then the monsters are infighting, which would exin why they eat their own. How did they survive so long, though? To spawn fast they need to eat so much that they should have died of starvation long ago...¡¯

    Lith¡¯s musing was interrupted the moment the ogre-dryad finished his chanting. Based on its length, it had to be a tier one spell. Lith cursed when he noticed red marks appearing on the floor, the ceiling, and wherever the bodies of the fallen orcs had touched the walls during the previous fight.

    Among the red marks, there was a clear series of footprints leading to his position.

    \"Ambush!\" The ogre warned his soldiers a second toote. Icences pierced their heads and hearts, killing the regr ogres on the spot. They would have done the same to the ogre-dryad, if not for two holes opening where thences were about to hit.

    Instead of sh and bones, the creature was made of vines that normally were wrapped together so tightly that they gave it a humanoid appearance.

    ¡¯An ogre¡¯s body is actually made of fossilized nts!¡¯ Solus¡¯s scientific curiosity was on cloud nine. ¡¯That¡¯s why they are green.¡¯

    ¡¯I don¡¯t really care about that right now.¡¯ No matter if Lith¡¯s attacks were magical or physical in nature, in its vine form the ogre was as able to split at will and dodge every one of them with ease.

    \"You don¡¯t chant, which means you¡¯re an Awakened!\" The creature¡¯s voice was filled with surprise and envy. His body split into five bundles of vines, four of which dug their way into the dead ogres¡¯ bodies and reanimated them.

    Lith could see thanks to Life Vision that they were no undead. The vines were taking root, turning the corpses into clones of the original. Both their mana cores and life force had an energy signature identical to those of the original body.

    Lith struck at them with several ming darts, discovering that the clones were incapable of turning into vines as well. The darts left behind burn marks and produced a pungent smell, yet the fire didn¡¯t take.

    The clones¡¯ life force was unchanged, while their bodies shrunk slightly, as if they had been starving for days.

    ¡¯I think I know their weak point.¡¯ Lith¡¯s smile disappeared as he heard five identical voices chanting as many different spells.

    He conjured a blizzard, but unfortunately nor the wind nor the injuries opened by the razor sharp hail his spell produced could stop the enemies¡¯ casting. Vines had no mouths and even if somehow they experienced pain, it didn¡¯t show.

    A small tornado formed around Lith, blocking his sight and restricting his movements. Wind des were randomly mixed with the chaotic air currents surrounding him. ck clouds formed on the ceiling with a low rumble announcing a thunderstorm.

    Lith used Life Vision to detect the otherwise invisible air des, and Full Guard to avoid the other spells iing from his blind spots. The enemies had a limited choice of attacks, which he exploited to make them predictable.

    His blizzard was still ongoing, making most fire spells lose their effectiveness, while the whole undergroundplex was shielded by arrays which made it immune to earth magic. It exined why the creatures had been forced to dig with their hands.

    Lith stood his ground as long as he could, strengthening his magical storm by the second. He Blinked away only when the lightning bolts from above or the darkness spells the enemies threw at him from the sides would force him to walk into the air des.

    \"It was a stupid move to use water magic against me!\" The ogre roared as it relocated the tornado for the third time. \"You should have used fire instead.\"

    Lith ignored the taunt and focused on defense as he gave his spell onest push. All of the enemy attacks disappeared at once when the extreme cold froze the abundant water inside the vines and turned them into popsicles.

    ¡¯What a moron.¡¯ Lith thought as he crushed the ice sculptures that once were the ogre-dryad. ¡¯I was right about the reverted monsters not knowing anything about their own abilities.

    ¡¯Fire is only good against dry wood, whereas wet vegetation would only produce a lot of smoke and hinder the only one who actually needs to breathe. Me.¡¯

 Chapter 537 Unexpected Turn Part 4

    ¡¯Why was he scared of fire, then?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Probably because he was a normal ogre until not long ago. All living beings are naturally afraid of fire. He had yet to realize that with no vitals and with light magic at his disposal, fire is a small threat for a water based creature like he was.¡¯

    \"Stop wasting time. You strong, master can use you.\" Lith turned toward the source of the voice, yet neither Life Vision nor mana sense showed anything. At least not until a hunched figure literally emerged from the shadows.

    The creature didn¡¯t resemble anything Lith had ever seen before, nor was it listed in any of the bestiaries he possessed. It was a small humanoid, barely 1.3 meters (4¡¯3\") tall, with pale grey skin and thick grizzled hair.

    Judging by his appearance and his voice, he seemed to be a male. He had small pointed ears, pitch ck eyes, and was wearing a mage¡¯s robe. Despite his jagged teeth and the ws at the end of his limbs, it didn¡¯t look menacing.

    The creature¡¯s life force was slightly better than the average adult man, while his blood core was almostpletely ck. Lith didn¡¯t underestimate him and silently weaved more spells in case looks were proverbially deceiving.

    ¡¯How the heck did he escape our senses?¡¯ Solus kept an eye on all the remaining shadows of the corridor, in case the creature was just a distraction.

    Lith had no answer to offer. His senses were all focused on his surroundings, since things were getting weirder by the second. The corpses of the ogres he had just killed turned into smoke and dived into the ground, closely followed by the undead life force which had restored the dryad-ogre¡¯s ancient might.

    \"Tell me who you are, what is happening here, and what you mean, wasting time.\" Either the creature really was harmless or wanted to manipte him, at least he seemed to be willing tomunicate.

    \"Me Ratpack.\" The creature shrugged. \"War is happening, but fighters waste time, just like you. None can die. We banished from death thanks to master¡¯s power.\"

    Lith stared at Ratpack, waiting for him to continue his exnation, but the creature just stared back in annoyance.

    \"You deaf? Stop wasting time. Soon Caliel and Draga will be back. With reinforcements! You soldier.\" Ratpack pointed his grey finger to Lith¡¯s uniform.

    \"You act like one and obey!\" His voice was deep and rough. It was filled with an underserved pride which annoyed Lith almost as the vague answers he had just received.

    \"I obey no one.\" Lith replied while using spirit magic to lift the creature off the ground and m him against a well lighted wall. Choking an undead was useless, if not to prove a point.

    \"If you want my help, you¡¯d better give me a good reason. Start by making sense, otherwise...\" Lith¡¯s threat was interrupted by Ratpack turning into a puff of smoke. Itsted only one second, but it was enough to escape from spirit magic¡¯s grasp and reach the nearest shadow.

    \"No, you don¡¯t!\" Lith snarled. He extended his arm to direct his tendrils of mana toward their target, who turned once again ethereal the moment Ratpack touched the edge of the shade.

    \"Only master can harm Ratpack. Even Yozmogh and Dann¡¯Kah, even their armies couldn¡¯t catch Ratpack. Obey or die!\"

    Lith didn¡¯t reply, redirecting the mana from spirit to darkness magic. He had learned a couple of things while fighting Thrud Griffon, it was time to put them to the test. Lith¡¯s shadow came to life as two zing yellow eyes appeared on its face.

    The shadow¡¯s extended right arm stretched along the floor until it reached Ratpack¡¯s hiding ce. Neither Lith nor Solus liked how his darkness magic infused shade resembled more his demonic life form rather than his human one.

    The shadow¡¯s hand rummaged for a while before retracting. The elongated arm was coiled around the small undead like a snake. Ratpack screamed in surprise as soon as he felt something touching him.

    His master¡¯s Coward¡¯s Mantle was supposed to protect him from any harm, yet the Ranger had been able to ignore its protection. To make matters worse, Ratpack could feel his strength getting slowly sapped.

    Not even undeath could ward off darkness magic.

    \"Are you ready to talk?\" Lith said while pointing the Gatekeeper at Ratpack¡¯s throat. The creature¡¯s eyes were filled with fear, which made him nod like a parrot having a seizure.

    \"Then exin things properly.\" Lith snorted.

    \"Me has many names. Squirm, gue, Worm. Ratpack is master¡¯s favourite because he says me very annoying...\"

    \"He is right, dammit! I don¡¯t care for your names. Tell me what¡¯s happening here.\"

    \"Servants rebelled against master and took master prisoner. After that, they fight each other. Two great leaders emerge. Dann¡¯Kah the orc shaman and Yozmogh the Balor. All servants join one or the other, forming two armies. They fight for...\" Ratpack stopped, not knowing how to exin.

    \"For?\"

    \"Freedom. And also for power.\" Ratpack pped his hands, congratting to himself for being so precise. Unluckily, Lith didn¡¯t share his enthusiasm.

    \"What freedom? If your master is already being held prisoner, they can just walk away. What power are you talking about?\"

    \"They can¡¯t leave.\" Ratpack nervously licked his lips, revealing such a ck tongue that it resembled a slimy piece of charcoal.

    \"Master made them like him. They have no freedom. As for power, it¡¯s the master¡¯s, but they found a way to use it. To make them pretty again. Like- Caliel and Draga! Yes, like them.\" The creature nodded again like crazy, feeling someone was approaching.

    \"What do you want me to do, exactly?\" Lith dted his nostrils in annoyance. He didn¡¯t know whether to find more bothersome Ratpack¡¯s ramblings or the idea of monsters like a Balor regaining their full powers.

    \"Follow me to master. Master exins better. You free him, he stops servants.\" Hurried footsteps were perfectly audible and quickly approaching, yet the Ranger didn¡¯t seem to care.

    \"Why would I? If your master has already been defeated once by his servants, they can do it again. They have even robbed him of his power. What use do I have for him?\"

    \"Yes, he¡¯s weak, but he still strong. You can¡¯t defeat all master¡¯s servants alone. Enough talk, we run now!\" The ogre-dryad and the orc-elf appeared from a corner, running at full speed closely followed by several members of their own kin.

    Lith raised the index and middle fingers of his right hand, unleashing the tier four spell Death Zone. A ck cloudprised of darkness element filled the corridor in front of them the moment the monsters were halfway through.

    No matter the direction they turned to, all of them died after taking a few steps.

    \"What were you saying?\" Lith¡¯s eyes were zing with blue mana which deeply contrasted with his shadow¡¯s burning yellow eyes. It was still seemingly alive and moving around on its own, even though its main body was standing still.

    Ratpack shivered in fear, wondering how powerful humans had be during the decades he and his master had spent in istion.

    \"You- too strong! Why you struggle earlier if you can just...\" Ratpack stuttered so much that he preferred to m his fist onto his palm to stress his point.

 Chapter 538 Trouble Part 1

    \"Struggle?\" Lith sneered. \"I was saving my strength and making a few experiments. Finding a reverted monster is a rare opportunity. I just wanted to see what they were capable of.\"

    Lith had learned enough about magic to know that as long as he understood the underlying principles of the so called \"innate abilities\", he could find a way to replicate them and add them to his arsenal.

    \"Experiments?\" Ratpack echoed, swallowing a lump of saliva. The word brought to memory countless unpleasant experiences.

    \"Master and you peas in a pod.\"

    \"You have yet to answer my final question.\" Lith pushed the Gatekeeper¡¯s tip against Ratpack¡¯s throat.

    \"Why should I free your master? What use do I have for him?\"

    \"Maybe you can y all.\" Ratpack licked his lips again.

    \"Maybe you can break master¡¯s device, but can you do both? You y, but they return. The closer you get to the device the faster they return. Master can shut down device with one finger. Master is its master.\"

    Ratpack made little sense, yet Lith considered he still had a point. If this master had been a quiet presence for so long, there was no reason for him to stir trouble, whereas the same couldn¡¯t be said for his rebellious servants.

    ¡¯Why should I waste time cracking locks and arrays if he can just pass through them with a flick of their switches? Also, exploring the wholeplex would take me months while I have days at best before the army sends reinforcements to \"help\" me.¡¯

    Lith couldn¡¯t afford the undergroundb to be discovered. The Kingdom would snatch the good stuff and leave him the crumbs.

    ¡¯If this master is willing topensate me for my troubles, I¡¯ll get what I want without wasting my time. Otherwise, I can always kill or imprison him again and test my luck with the doors. First things first, though.¡¯

    \"Does this master of yours experiments on Abominations too? Is he the Master?\" The title was so trite that it was likely that they were two different people, but Lith preferred to be sure who he was about to deal with.

    \"Master experiments on anything.\" Ratpack sighed as even more bad memories resurfaced. Being undead didn¡¯t mean being spared from pain.

    \"My Coward¡¯s Cloak made from Abomination skin.\" His words made Lith open his eyes wide in surprise. As far as he knew, Abominations had no skin. He touched Ratpack¡¯s clothes, using Invigoration to observe its pseudo core.

    ¡¯I got it, but I¡¯ll take some notes, just to be safe.¡¯ Solus¡¯s memory was peerless, but she could also ess to Lith¡¯s like it was a library. A messy and chaotic one, but after so many years, she knew her way.

    \"No, I mean, does he help Abominations? Does he work with them?\" Lith tried to be clearer.

    \"No. Master helps only himself. Master works only with Ratpack. Me assistant.\" The creature said with a proud voice.

    \"Then make way.\" Lith nodded. \"Be careful, we must move unnoticed. I want to avoid useless fights.\"

    Ratpack knew the undergroundplex like the back of his hand, while Lith could detect enemies from afar with Life Vision. By putting together their resources, the duo quickly reached the lower levels of theb.

    Along the way, Lith asked Ratpack what the various signs meant to achieve a basic understanding of the ancientnguage. Just in case things with the master went sour and he had to explore on his own.

    Ratpack was annoyed by his questions, but he didn¡¯t dare to displease Lith. The creature needed the Ranger as much as he was afraid of him. Every time they were forced to fight, Lith would go all out, killing whole units of powerful monsters in the blink of an eye.

    The moment the monsters realized to be under attack, they were already dead. Ratpack didn¡¯t like the human because he reminded him too much of the master. Ratpack¡¯s undead senses could hear Lith¡¯s heart beating like they were just taking a stroll.

    Even though they were surrounded from every side by enemies, there was no sweat on his body nor emotion in his movements. Walking to his side felt exactly like when he apanied the master before his fall.

    Ratpack had the impression of being a mouse riding on the back of a dragon.

    When they reached the eight underground floor, the creature signaled Lith to stop.

    \"We arrived. Trouble is here.\" Ratpack pointed at the many reinforced doors along the corridors. Each room was bigger than those on the other floors and was enveloped by multiple unique arrays.

    \"What is stored in the lower levels?\" Lith had expected the prison to be on thest floor since the deeper they got, the stronger the magical aura he detected became.

    \"Bad stuff. Horrible stuff.\" Ratpack shuddered.

    \"Master love experiments and hate failures. He always destroy failures, but some he can¡¯t get rid of. Either because they don¡¯t die or because too valuable. Those master stores below, where array keep them in another space ready to copse.\"

    Thanks to all his questions about the road signs they had met along the way, Lith had understood what each floor was for.

    The ground floor was a storage area for non magical equipment, the equivalent of a broom closet. The master¡¯s living quarters took all the first underground floor, while the servants¡¯ quarters were on the second one.

    Lith was amazed by how someone could be so conceited that he had taken for himself the same space one thousand minions did. The third and fourth underground floors were theb, the fifth was the ingredient deposit, the sixth was the treasury, and the seventh was a silver mine.

    ording to Ratpack, his master had chosen the Broken Spine as his residence because of the rich silver veins he had discovered. It was the only way to satisfy his need for the precious metal without the need for an external supplier.

    \"Is it normal for those doors to be opened?\" Lith pointed at the unlocked door of some cells. He already knew the answer, since the owner of theb was the kind of guy to keep even the cleaning products deposit tight shut.

    \"No.\" Ratpack hissed. \"Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh must have freed them. They desperate to seek help from those who could rece them.\"

    ¡¯Solus, can you see what¡¯s inside? Life Vision is blurred by all the locks and arrays enveloping the cells. The doors must be made of solid silver, because I¡¯ve never seen so many spells stuffed inside a single object.¡¯

    Lith would have loved to take a peek at their cores with Invigoration, but they were infused with too many deadly spells, and he already had too much to do. Lith had already nned to raid the treasury and the ingredient deposit before calling for backup if things went south.

    ¡¯Sorry, but mana sense is useless here. The whole floor is so bright that is like staring into the sun. A whole army of Awakened could hide behind a corner and I wouldn¡¯t even notice them. Those doors are... just wow.¡¯

    Each one of the doors had a blue mana crystal the size of a fist at its four corners and a different magic circle formed by small purple mana crystals the size of a nut.

 Chapter 539 Trouble Part 2

    Thanks to Life Vision, Lith could see that every inch of their surface was covered in mystical runes.

    \"Wait a minute.\" Lith snapped out of his reverie. \"How did they open those doors?\"

    \"They master assistants, just like Ratpack. They have codes for all doors. Eighth floor is for specimens.\"

    \"If you can open your master¡¯s cage, what do you need me for?\"

    \"You really deaf. I need you deal with Trouble.\" Ratpack whispered while pointing at the next corridor to their right. Lith peeked behind the corner, noticing a Balor standing guard in front of the mostplex door they had met so far.

    The creature was over 2.5 meters (8¡¯2\") tall, with a humanoid body covered by small blood colored scales. His head had three eyes arranged in a vertical line. A red one was in the middle of his forehead, a ck one was right above his nose, and a blue one was between his lower lip and his chin.

    Three sets of ck curved horns emerged from his head, his cheekbones, and the sides of his chin. His massive upper body waspletely exposed and seemed to beprised solely of bulging muscles.

    His legs were reverse jointed like those of a cat, and were covered by a ck armor that only left the talons extending out from his toes and heel exposed. Two ming red membranous wings were folded around his neck, almost looking like a mantle.

    \"That¡¯s not trouble, that¡¯s a Balor!\" Lith cursed at Ratpack with a whisper.

    \"You wrong. He call himself Trou¡¯Bleskamuz the Fierce, but master call him Trouble because he escape three times before master could find a proper door to contain him. Trouble hate master¡¯s experiments and hate master even more.\"

    Lith ignored Ratpack¡¯s ramblings and prepared a set of spells ording to the information he had about Balors and his full blown paranoia. Despite their appearance, they were no demons.

    ording to the lore, before their fall they had six eyes, one for each element and colored ordingly. Their eyes granted them mastery over all the elements, but they were also their weak point.

    Losing an eye meant losing the corresponding element and since magic didn¡¯t flow through their bodies, they were incapable of mixing together different elements, leaving them stuck with the equivalent of tier four magic.

    After their fall, Balors could have from one to three eyes, while the others were allegedly fused within their bodies by the failed attempt to evolve and force the mana to flow freely.

    ¡¯Any advice?¡¯ Lith had never faced one, but could see via Life Vision that the creature¡¯s vitality was on par with Scarlett the Scorpicore. Luckily, its mana flow was way worse than the Lord of the Forest¡¯s.

    ¡¯If he wasn¡¯t stand in front of that fucking door, maybe.¡¯ Lith was bbergasted by Solus¡¯s swearing.

    ¡¯I¡¯m almost blind, so take my words with a grain of salt. The Balor seems to have four mana cores. A bright cyan one in its usual ce, right below his sr plexus, and three green ones inside his eyes.¡¯

    ¡¯Got it. The good news is that he can¡¯t use light magic, so if I manage to destroy one or more of his eyes, he can¡¯t regenerate them.¡¯ Lith was done with his preparations. He was about to step in the corridor when he felt Ratpack tugging at his leg.

    \"Master told me that Trouble has weakness, that even Ratpack can face him if I wear magical protections. Master gave it to Ratpack, Ratpack give it to you.\"

    The small creature took out a bundle of shackles linked to several envelopes from his pocket, which was actually a pocket dimension. It made little sense to Lith, more so since ording to Life Vision they were not enchanted.

    \"What¡¯s this supposed to be?\" He asked.

    \"Isn¡¯t it obvious? It¡¯s a chainmail!\" Ratpack puffed out his chest with pride while Lith opened one of the envelopes.

    \"If you¡¯re reading this, you¡¯re not the moron I always thought you were. Happy deathday, Zolgrish.\"

    Lith had no time to waste exining to the moron what a pun was, so he returned the gift andunched himself against Trouble while infused with all the elements.

    The Balor gave no sign of being surprised by the sudden attack. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s middle eye ignited with mana and what looked like a two handed scimitar made of ck smoke appeared in his right hand.

    Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, the Gatekeeper shed against the ck smoke and the sudden impact threw him off bnce allowing the Balor to send him flying away with but a flick of his wrist.

    ¡¯How is that possible? Darkness magic is supposed to be ethereal. I was expecting him to attempt to trade blows... What the heck?¡¯ Only then did Lith notice that the blue eye was lit too, meaning the sword wasposed of ck ice.

    ¡¯Seems that Balors can mix elements after all.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at the army bestiary¡¯s author as the red eye too was set aze with mana, generating a pir of cyan mes that filled the whole corridor leaving Lith no way out.

    Lith encased himself inside a massive ice coffin to protect himself and seal the corridor. His own spells couldn¡¯t harm him exactly how the Balor¡¯s mes had no effect on their caster after rebounding on the enemy barrier.

    Soon the fire consumed all the air in the corridor, forcing the spell to disappear, the red eye to close, and the Balor to fall to his knees gasping for oxygen.

    The creatures¡¯ ck eye lit up again, unleashing a pir of darkness so powerful that the arrays protecting theb became visible to the naked eye as they prevented the Balor¡¯s spell from turning the walls into debris.

    Their positions were now reversed. Lith was stuck inside the ice just like the Balor was trapped in the small corridor a second ago. To not lose his life, Lith was forced to lose his advantage and shatter the ice to Blink to safety.

    Fresh air filled both the corridor and the Balor¡¯s lungs as he unfolded his wings to chase his opponent. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz flew in a spiral pattern, to prevent Lith from predicting his trajectory and using dimensional magic to stab him in the back.

    Contrary to his expectations, no attack came until he reached the T junction where the two corridors met. Only then did he realize he had fallen into a trap. Lith knew that his enemy¡¯s physical prowess was way above his own.

    He had considered using spell sealing arrays, but they would cripple the only edge he had. Arrays worked both ways, affecting their caster along with their target. Hence, he had decided to stay at a safe distance and y it smart.

    Two Death Zones were waiting for Trou¡¯Bleskamuz, one at each side of the junction. The darkness spells resembled two small thunderclouds, whichpletely engulfed the corridors as they converged on the Balor.

    Trou¡¯Bleskamuz exploded in a wildughter and opened his middle eye again. A second pir of darkness shed with Lith¡¯s Death Zone with such violence that the entire corridor trembled and all of the arrays protecting the cells became visible.

    Lith was amazed by how a simple cyan core could emit such power without a moment¡¯s notice. His surprise only increased when, even as it was powered by his blue core and boosted by a continuous flow of mana, Death Zone was overpowered by the ck pir.

 Chapter 540 Evil Eyes Part 1

    The sudden turn of events would have reversed the trap, turning Lith into the prey if he hadn¡¯t positioned himself in front of another junction, just to be safe. The moment he understood he was on the losing side of the battle, Lith gave his Death Zone onest push and rolled around a corner to safety.

    ¡¯What the heck? They were both tier four spells, but I¡¯m the one with a blue core. How could I possibly lose the confrontation?¡¯ Lith¡¯s question was rhetorical, since the bestiary provided no answers to that impossible situation.

    Yet Solus knew better.

    ¡¯His cyan core is indeed weaker. The problem lies in the support the green core inside his eyes provide.¡¯

    ¡¯If a green core could do that much, together we would be invincible!¡¯ Lith griped.

    ¡¯Let me finish, dummy! Unlike a normal mana core, the ones in his eyes are able to draw the world energy and use it to empower his pir-like spells to no end. It wasn¡¯t a blue core versus a cyan plus a green one, it was you versus Mogar.¡¯

    ¡¯Let me get this straight. Thanks to his eyes a Balor can basically use Invigoration non stop even while attacking?¡¯ Things were starting to make sense, and thanks to that Lith could adapt his strategy.

    ¡¯Yes and no. Like Invigoration, the eye provides a constant flow of world energy and also puts stress on the user. After using a pir, the creature closes the corresponding eye. Unlike your breathing technique, it didn¡¯t heal him nor replenish his mana.¡¯

    Even a half blind Solus was worth several Balor¡¯s eyes in boosting Lith¡¯s understanding and battle prowess.

    Lith Blinked away the moment Life Vision showed him Trou¡¯Bleskamuz was around the corner. The Balor blocked the corridor with his massive body as his blue eye emitted a pir which turned air into rock solid ice at its passage.

    The attack had a double purpose. If Lith was still there, he would have been frozen solid into an easy prey. If he had Warped away as Trou¡¯Bleskamuz expected, by sealing the corridor the Balor was forcing the Ranger into a head on fight that he couldn¡¯t possibly win.

    Lith appeared in the middle of his second Death Zone. The mana thread which linked him with his spell gave him its exact position.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right! He wiped out only one Death Zone, which means he can¡¯t use his eyes as often as I use my spells.¡¯ Lith used Invigoration to fill the remaining darkness cloud with endless mana as it moved inexorably toward its prey.

    Trou¡¯Bleskamuz cursed both the Ranger¡¯s shrewdness and his own stupidity in anguage that sounded like a choir of tormented souls. Lith had no ess to the corridor anymore, but neither did he.

    The Balor flew away, trying to buy as much time as he could. Unfortunately, the only passage remaining led to a dead end and even though darkness magic was slow, it only took Death Zone a couple of seconds to reach the cornered creature.

    Trou¡¯Bleskamuz used sheer willpower to force his ck eye open, fighting the excruciating pain that moving the eyelid caused him. If Solus¡¯s mana sense worked properly, she would have seen that after conjuring the second pir, the green core had turned grey.

    Balors didn¡¯t really have four mana cores, just one like every other natural being. What she had mistaken for extra mana cores were just masses of world energy that a Balor would refine into his own mana and store it ready to be used.

    Balors¡¯ eyes had an effect simr to Invigoration, allowing them to draw the single elements whichposed the world energy. Drawing so much and so fast came at a price.

    Tears of blood streamed down Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s chin as the raw world energy he was forcing to flow through his eye damaged his whole body. The pain was unbearable, but he knew that it would be fleeting, whereas death was permanent.

    \"I haven¡¯t lived this long just to die like this!\" He roared.

    The two spells shed again, but this time Lith boosted his own with a steady flow of mana until thest second before taking cover. At first, his precaution seemed to be unnecessary.

    As soon as Lith¡¯s Death Zone started to fade, Trou¡¯Bleskamuz closed his eye with an agonizing scream. Its pupil was almostpletely white and a small pool of blood had formed under the Balor¡¯s feet.

    His breath was ragged from the effort of forcing so much world energy through his already exhausted focus and of withstanding the pain that such a desperate move involved.

    Yet Trou¡¯Bleskamuz didn¡¯t wait for the enemy¡¯s next move and sought to regain the initiative. A suit of ice covered his upper body as heunched himself forward as fast as a freight train.

    ¡¯My ming eye is almost out of mana. If that scum forces me to use it a third time, I¡¯ll be as good as blind. Awakened or not, he cannot cast spells if I manage to corner him.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith was waiting for him with his arms extended, drawing in the air mystical lines that were taking the shape of a small array. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz recognized its runes and rushed at breakneck speed to interrupt the casting.

    ¡¯Fire and water are all he has left. The bestbo he can achieve with them would allow him to cook pasta, but it¡¯s a risk I¡¯m willing to take.¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned at his enemy falling for his third trap in a row.

    The forbidden array he had apparently almostpleted was just a hologram. Lith couldn¡¯t afford to waste so much mana on a single enemy who was likely to respawn like in a badly bnced ARPG.

    When a Gate suddenly opened in front of Trou¡¯Bleskamuz, he was going too fast to change his direction in time. With only wings propelling him forward and no air magic, the faster he moved, the less precision of movement he had.

    The Balor crashed against one of the most massive among the cell doors, triggering its defence mechanisms which unleashed a series of spells against their aggressor. Unfortunately, Lith wasn¡¯t aware that after decades of imprisonment Trou¡¯Bleskamuz knew them like the back of his hand.

    The owner of theb not onlycked imagination in decorating his own house but also in forgemastering. All the doors were imbued with the same base set of spells plus a few specifically designed against the prisoner they were meant to hold.

    The Balor managed to avoid most of the damage and move away from the door before the most powerful ones could activate. Even on foot, the creature was as fast as a cheetah, reaching the Ranger in the blink of an eye.

    Lith could¡¯ve Warped away, but between the confined space and the Balor¡¯s speed, his exit point was bound to be easily predictable. With the closest junction still sealed by the ice, he could only Blink inside the dead end the Balor had just escaped from or move back in an almost straight line.

    The former option was beyond idiotic, while thetter would buy him a second at best.

 Chapter 541 Evil Eye Part 2

    Lith unleashed a barrage of gue Arrows, against which Trou¡¯Bleskamuz had no choice but to tank them.

    The mana imbued inside his ice armor lessened the damage, but the residual darkness was still enough to make the Balor stumble and lose most of his momentum. The creature refused to yield and lunged at Lith with a conjured ice great sword.

    Lith switched to a two handed grip while infusing the Gatekeeper with fire and darkness magic. He sidestepped the iing attack and performed a horizontal sh to the neck.

    Only then did Trou¡¯Bleskamuz reveal that his moment of weakness was actually a ruse. He turned his tumble into a roll, dodging the Gatekeeper and regaining his footing while his opponent was still off bnce.

    The Balor lunged at Lith again, who pivoted on his feet by using the momentum from his failed attack. The resulting spin wasn¡¯t enough topletely avoid the iing strike, but it allowed him to adjust his stance and intercept the iing de.

    Lith aimed the Gatekeeper at the great sword¡¯s tip, to push it away with minimum effort and create the opening he needed to win that fight. He almost couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes when the ice sword shattered on contact with the Gatekeeper, revealing a ming de blooming underneath its surface.

    The ethereal fire de ignored the bastard sword, keeping its trajectory unchanged.

    Despite their brutish appearance and berserk fighting style, Balors weren¡¯t stupid. They were just so powerful that they usually didn¡¯t need clever strategies or tricks to dominate their opponents.

    Resorting to one wounded Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s pride, but it was much better than the alternative. The fire sword crackled as it pierced the Skinwalker Amor¡¯s enchanted defenses, producing the sizzling sound of roasted meat when it bit Lith¡¯s flesh.

    Thanks to Lith¡¯s earlier small sidestep, the Balor had been unable to strike at the heart and had to settle for the shoulder. Not even earth fusion was enough to prevent the mystical mes from burning everything on their path.

    Lith felt his left arm suddenly go limp. Even shutting down his pain receptors didn¡¯t help against his nowbored breathing. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s de had cooked his flesh, his bones, and part of his left lung in one fell swoop.

    ¡¯By my maker, do you need my help?¡¯ Solus asked while assessing the gravity of his injuries.

    ¡¯Thanks, but no. Your energy is limited, so it¡¯s better to save it for opponents in their reverted state. ording to Ratpack, Yozmogh is a Balor too and he has ess to his race¡¯s ancient powers. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz is like a training ground for me.

    ¡¯If I can¡¯t defeat him on my own, then it¡¯s better to call for reinforcements. Don¡¯t step in unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary.¡¯ Lith¡¯s reply made Solus curse her weakness and wish for a way to improve her usefulness in battle.

    Theck of screams disappointed the Balor, but his mood worsened when he saw the Ranger Blink away as a healing aura enveloped his body. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz envied Lith for it and hoped that Yozmogh would keep his word.

    The only reason Trou¡¯Bleskamuz was still there was the promise of having his full might restored.

    ¡¯Even if the abuse of my ck eye and ramming against the door has weakened me somewhat, how did the human manage to avoid my strike like that?¡¯

    The answer to the Balor¡¯s question was revealed when he attempted to give chase and finish Lith off before the light magic spell could take effect. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz stumbled instead of sprinting as blinding pain spread through his body.

    Lith¡¯s previous failed attack hadn¡¯t been aplete failure after all. Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s roll had saved his head but left his back and his giant wings exposed. Just like the Balor, Lith had settled for a nonvital yet significant target.

    Part of his right wing was gone, putting him off bnce and allowing Lith to survive.

    Even though the Balor could regenerate his wing, it would take him days, whereas the fight was likely tost less than one more minute. Lith¡¯s Checkmate Spears surrounded Trou¡¯Bleskamuz, striking at him from every side.

    The Balor was done blindly charging ahead and recognized immediately the trap lying ahead of him. With his wounded wing his mobility had been crippled, he wasn¡¯t able to move fast enough to dodge them anymore.

    He could only use his ming eye to destroy them at the risk of running out of fire mana, or conjure a defense made of ice that would act as a shield but also as a cage. It would further restrict his movements and leave him exposed to lightning spells.

    Trou¡¯Bleskamuz snarled and opened his red eye, sprinting forward on all four. His envy toward Lith turned into unbridled rage, boosting the mes¡¯ temperature and destructive power.

    A pir of blue fire cleared his path toward the Ranger as the Balor dodged the remaining ice spears. Lith saw trickles of blood streaming down the ming eye and unleashed the tier five spell Dark Ages.

    ck ice made from both water and darkness magic covered the ground as well as the walls, leaving only the silver doors exposed. It sapped Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s strength every time he touched it and forced him to slow down to not impale himself on thences that randomly popped out of the ice from every direction.

    The growing crystals were quickly forming a wall in front of the Balor, who had to slow down even further. The darkness infused in the ice not only made it more resistant to the mes by weakening them, but it was also released in the air as a noxious gas once the ice melted.

    When Trou¡¯Bleskamuz finally reached Lith, his mes had died out and so had his red eye. Lith then conjured several streams of lightning bolts, shooting them at random in front of him.

    The Balor didn¡¯t even try to shield himself, just dodging whatever he could to cross thest few meters that separated them. Only then did he realize that Lith wasn¡¯t aiming because he had no need to.

    The entire floor was covered in water and so was Trou¡¯Bleskamuz. It was a perfect conductor which routed every bolt of lightning to its target, allowing Lith to focus on the power of his spell and topletely neglect controlling it.

    The Balor gritted his teeth and used sheer willpower to resist the spasms that were ravaging his body.

    ¡¯Prideless mutt! Fighting dirty is a game two can y.¡¯ Trou¡¯Bleskamuz activated hisst eye, using the water Lith had conjured against him. The area around them was instantly filled with sharp icicles, which drained the water from the floor.

    They were both lightning rods which saved the Balor from the thunderstorm and obstacles that limited the Ranger¡¯s movements, allowing the creature to engage him hand to hand. Lith squinted his eyes from the surprise.

    He didn¡¯t expect such a degree of finesse in water maniption from his opponent. The situation wasn¡¯t good. The back of the corridor was still sealed by his Dark Ages spell, and Blink¡¯s range didn¡¯t reach past the ice wall.

    The two of them were trapped inside a small cage filled with spikes that would harm only him. The Balor¡¯s mana couldn¡¯t hurt his master. Lith backstepped while quick casting gue Arrows and wind des until he could feel the point of an icicle painfully stinging his back.

 Chapter 542 Master Plan Part 1

    Trou¡¯Bleskamuz roared in triumph. He had endured all those painful spells to make sure that his enemy would end exactly in that corner of the room. Agility and cunning meant nothing inside such a confined space, only strength mattered and he still had enough to uproot trees with just one hand.

    The Balor was done underestimating the human. He jumped forward while swinging his giant fists down like hammers on Lith¡¯s left and right to cut off his escape routes. At the same time, his blue eye glowed with mana, making the icicles extend further.

    The trap wasplete, the Ranger¡¯s only choice was how he wanted to die, by fist, bite, or skewering.

    Lith Switched them at thest second, making the ice spear that had been prickling his back pierce through Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s blue eye, brain, and skull. The Balor¡¯s body spasmed several times, gurgling blood from the several puncture wounds the rest of the ice spears had caused.

    ¡¯That was close.¡¯ Lith sighed while cutting Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯s head off with the Gatekeeper, just to be safe.

    ¡¯The Balors are way too strong to face them head on and their eyes are weapons of mass destruction also capable of fine control over the elements. I almost fell for his mindless brute act, but unfortunately for him, I too like to be underestimated.

    ¡¯Using my own conjured water against me was a smart move, exactly what I would have done in his shoes. That¡¯s why I used a tier five spell that used both water and darkness magic.

    ¡¯Once the water was imbued with his mana it couldn¡¯t hurt him, but the darkness was still mine. Hisck of understanding of how tier five spells work was the deciding factor in his defeat.¡¯

    The barrage of spells Lith had employed while backstepping wasn¡¯t meant to harm to the Balor so much as to keep him focused on Lith and not notice the ck veins tainting his own spell.

    Lith used Invigoration to return to his peak condition while waiting for Ratpack and studying Trou¡¯Bleskamuz¡¯ corpse. It didn¡¯t turn into smoke, allowing Lith to store him inside his pocket dimension.

    ¡¯Now let¡¯s hope this master is a reasonable guy, otherwise I¡¯ll call the army and I¡¯ll have them make this whole thing copse.¡¯ Lith thought.

    \"I found him! I found master!\" Ratpack¡¯s voice was brimming with joy. He was holding an old battered skull with several teeth missing and cracks along its surface.

    \"Oh great, another lich!\" Lith said while rolling his eyes. The undead had a life force weaker than a regr human while his blood core despite being almostpletely red was reduced to the size of a pea.

    \"Nice to meet you, my name is Scourge. Do you have the strength to exin to me what¡¯s going on?\" Lith¡¯s magical beast name was his best alias avable. Even in their evolved forms animals despised undead.

    They would never sell out one of their own in case the lich attempted something funny.

    \"Of course, dear Scarge.\" Lichs didn¡¯t have any brainpower to waste, so they would rarely care for names. Especially if they belonged to an existence as fleeting as a human.

    \"It¡¯s so good to hear a voice which isn¡¯t mine or Trouble¡¯s. Is he already dead or can I have the pleasure of inflicting him with some pain, Forge?\" The red light of undeath animating the eyes stared in delight at the blood spattered on the walls.

    \"Trouble is dead. Do you mind introducing yourself and telling me what happened?\" Lith had a hard time notughing. Between the lich¡¯s weakened state and his memory, Lith¡¯s real identity was airtight.

    \"Right, sorry, Sarge. I¡¯m Zolgrish. As for what happened here it¡¯s a bit of an embarrassing story.\" He said.

    Lith noticed that the cracks on the skull were disappearing and the missing teeth were popping up like mushrooms.

    \"As you surely know, being a lich isn¡¯t all fun and games. One of the most annoying things about it, is the need to keep your phctery at hand.\" Zolgrish¡¯s words made no sense to him, but Lith just nodded and let him talk.

    ording to Ka, young liches would sooner orter go mad due to their prolonged istion or at least lose theirmon sense until time stabilized their mental condition.

    Zolgrish seemed to be a textbook case. Either that, or he had lost it after bing an undead.

    \"It holds half of our soul, so the farther we get from it, the weaker we be. I set up thisb at the fringes of my phctery¡¯s range. I was at my full strength and at the same time far away enough to check on the progress of my work.

    \"This wholeplex was supposed to work as a ry point for my phctery. If my experiment seeded, I would have been able to expand my area of activity to the entire Ker region.\" Zolgrish sighed.

    ¡¯Dammit! Even bing a lich is out of the question now. I always wondered why they never disguised their phctery as a pebble and threw it in the ocean or something. I knew it was too good to be true.¡¯ Lith thought.

    \"Everything was going fine. The mines provided me with all the silver I needed, the arrays amplified the signal, and my immortal minions provided me with an inexhaustible workforce.\" Zolgrish said.

    \"Wait a minute. Immortal minions?\" Lith echoed.

    \"Well, yes. Lesser undead are too stupid, greater undead are too dangerous in the long run, while living beings are so annoying. You have to feed them train them, and once they die you need to find a recement. Rinse and repeat.

    \"To avoid the issue, I bound their souls to my phctery, so that whatever happened to me would happen to them. It was the perfect solution. It guaranteed their loyalty and provided for most of their living expenses.

    \"Whenever of them dies, he is reborn with his memories. Whenever they are hungry, kill a few and let the others feast on the corpse. From farm to table!\" Zolgrish maniacalugh gave Lith the creeps.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why some corpses disappeared upon death while others remained. His device resurrects them only if the body is destroyed, or rather, stripped to the bone. This creature is raving mad. No wonder his minions revolted. The question is: how?¡¯ Lith thought.

    \"Sure, the procedure has a survival rate of 0.01%, but monsters spawn fast and nobody misses them. No harm no foul. Or so I thought. Over time, I took two of my most intelligent minions asb assistants.

    \"Dann¡¯Kah the orc and his mastery over magic crystals have proven invaluable for increasing the power of my creations. It took me a while to kill him into submission, but once the deed was done, the sky was the limit for my forgemastering.

    \"Yozmogh the Balor with his eyes was a perfect amplifier for my spells. Sure, they would explode from time to time, but nothing that a swift death couldn¡¯t fix.

    \"What I didn¡¯t take into ount is that, since their souls are stored next to mine inside the phctery, the repeated cycles of death and rebirth allowed them to feel the energy flow, until they became able to manipte it!

 Chapter 543 Master Plan Part 2

    "Those ungrateful dogs bid their time and waited for the moment when I was about toplete the amplification device to enact their n. Yozmogh attacked me while I was at my weakest, while Dann¡¯Kah used his crystal to redirect the energy from my phctery to their bodies instead of mine!

    "You can imagine the rest." Zolgrish said. His skeletal body was nowplete and he was standing on his own. The lich¡¯s blood core had returned to a normal size, but over half of it was ck.

    "So, after defeating you, they discovered they shared your limited freedom of movement." Lith said as Zolgrish nodded in approval.

    "It exins why they didn¡¯t leave despite having opened so many exits, but not what they are fighting for nor why they attacked the nearby city rming the residents."

    "There was never any love between Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh, the only thing uniting them was theirmon enemy: me. Once they discovered how to use my life force to undo the effects of their race¡¯s fall, they wanted to kill each other.

    "The first one who dies will be resurrected again, but will lose his grip on my life force, leaving the other one in possession of most of my powers! As for the attacks on the city, the exnation is quite simple. I chose only males as my ves, to keep their number in check."

    ¡¯Decades of sausage fest! With the monsters¡¯ libido, it¡¯s no wonder they risked going so far despite their weakened state. They must have been looking for females.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Why didn¡¯t Trouble turn into smoke?"

    "He wasn¡¯t one of my servants, but one of myb rats. With three eyes, he was quite a rare specimen, since Balors usually have just one or two. I couldn¡¯t risk his life. I assume Yozmogh didn¡¯t restore his strength because he was one of the few that could leave for good." Zolgrish said.

    "Only a few more questions." Lith said.

    "What are you nning to do? And more importantly, are you willing topensate me for my troubles?"

    "Well, dear Marge, in my weakened state I can take on my minions, but not their generals. As long as the amplifier is active, all the energying and going from my phctery is under their control, while I¡¯m stuck in the condition I was when they overpowered me.

    "My n is to shut down the device, get my strength back, and kill those bastards for good. I just need to touch my phctery to banish their souls and send them into oblivion! As for your reward..." Zolgrish walked to one of the opened silver doors.

    A simple touch of his hand depowered it and another one took it off its hinges. Weakened or not, the lich was still quite powerful.

    "Consider this an advance."

    Lith stored the door inside his pocket dimension, nodding in agreement. Yet he had no intention of trusting such a deranged creature. There was no telling what the lich would do once he regained his full powers.

    At the same time, turning down his help would have been foolish. Now that Lith knew about his opponents¡¯ limitations, worst case scenario he could always Warp to safety and wait for the army.

    The two ringleaders would leave theplex and risk dying by his hand, while the weakened lich wasn¡¯t his match there, let alone if they fought near Jambel, away from the amplifier.

    "Where is the device?" Lith asked.

    "On the fourth floor, but we better get moving. Without Trouble constantly breaking me apart as a hobby, Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh will have already noticed that I¡¯m back at..." Zolgrish waved at himself.

    "Let¡¯s call this humiliating, inferior form my peak condition." He sighed. "As I already told you, Bart, the three of us are linked. They are like dams that prevent the mana from my phctery from flowing into me.

    "I doubt they wille here in person, but their lieutenants are likely to be on their way."

    Lith cursed as he took point, moving towards the stairs.

    "Master, Ratpack so happy to see you. Ranger and his bright Lady scary." The little creature seemed to have gotten his spunk back. He looked at Lith with eyes full of disdain.

    "Enough of your nonsense, Ratpack. First, stealth is our best ally. Second, I told you countless times: ghosts don¡¯t exist."

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry at an undead who didn¡¯t believe in supernatural.

    "But master, she right here! She has very long hair, all dressed in gold and with many chains binding her." He said while pointing the air above Lith¡¯s right shoulder.

    ¡¯Can he really see me?¡¯ Solus was astonished. Aside from the chains, the description fitted her.

    "Sounds familiar. Can you describe her to me?" Lith never stopped moving, looking left and right with Life Vision to avoid the enemies patrolling the seventh floor.

    "She very tall." Ratpack said.

    ¡¯Good news, whatever he sees, it¡¯s not you. You¡¯re many things but tall is not one of them. He¡¯s just delirious.¡¯ Lith thought in relief.

    ¡¯You jerk! I¡¯m tall by his standards.¡¯ With her 1.54 meters (5¡¯1"), Solus was way taller than Ratpack who was just 1.3 meters (4¡¯3").

    "Is she this big, with blonde floating hair, and a fat belly?" Lith¡¯s words made Solus swear like an angry truck driver.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not my fault if you don¡¯t have any other relevant features!¡¯

    "Yes, yes, and Ratpack doesn¡¯t know. Dress cover her."

    ¡¯Okay, now I¡¯m positive he¡¯s delirious.¡¯

    ¡¯No, think about it.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯I¡¯m in my ring form, so what he sees could be my soul, my real appearance! Ask him about my eyes, my face, everything.¡¯

    "Can you describe her to me?" Lith couldn¡¯t refuse her request, even though he found it ridiculous.

    "She very ugly." Ratpack made Solus almost cry.

    "She like you. Her brown eyes too big, ears too big, and her face creepy. She looks... kind." After a while Lith and Solus both realized that Ratpack used himself as a standard, making all humans ugly in his eyes.

    When he found even Tista¡¯s hologram disgusting, Solus sighed in relief.

    ¡¯This moron can¡¯t distinguish Kam from the Queen, he¡¯s of no use.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Then, he asked him about what kind of dress the bright Lady was wearing and if her chains had anything unusual. Both answers surprised Solus and Lith.

    ording to Ratpack, Solus was wearing a golden roman toga and sandals. It was an attire outdated for centuries, that Lith only knew about from the pictures in Mogar¡¯s history books.

    "Chains all unusual." Ratpack said. "She bound by two kinds of them. One is big and bind Lady to you. Other one is thinner and restrain her. Two thin chains are broken and she keeps hammering a third. Chain makes sparks but hold, so Lady never stops."

    "How many chains are left?" Lith¡¯s mind was spinning at top gear, but the only thing that came to him was the gemstones that appeared on her gauntlet form every time that Solus unlocked a new ability.

    She had recently developed a second one of which he had yet to make sense.

 Chapter 544 Master Plan Part 3

    "Four. You believe Ratpack?" He asked.

    "Yes. From your description, she reminds me of an old friend of mine who passed away long ago." Lith nodded.

    Then, to Zolgrish he asked: "How can he see ghosts? What kind of creature is Ratpack?"

    "It would be nice if he could." The lich sighed.

    "It would mean that at least he isn¡¯t aplete failure. Ratpack is a chimera, I made him by assembling the corpses of an elf child and a Balor. Then, I used necromancy to raise the corpse as a vampire.

    "He was supposed to be the ultimate being. An immortal, natural shapeshifter vampire in perfect tune with the world energy like an elf, and with a Balor¡¯s Evil Eyes, capable of amplifying each of his spells.

    "Instead he kept the build of the child and the inability to handle the world energy of the Balors. Bing a vampire messed things up even more because neither elves nor Balors usually be undead. That¡¯s why Ratpack is Ratpack.

    "That said, ghosts do not exist. They are just a superstition, whereas undead are magical creatures, and magic is science. All undead can be killed and need to feed, but ghosts? What could they possibly eat?

    "How could you destroy something that has no body? If ghosts were real, with all the people that die every day on Mogar, there would be more undead than living. Believe me, Snart, there is no return from death." The sadness in his voice surprised Lith

    "Whoever she was, no matter how important she was to you, she¡¯s gone. The sooner you ept it, the better. Ratpack is funny and loyal, but he is not the sharpest tool in the shed."

    Yet Ratpack¡¯s words triggered something inside Solus.

    For a moment, she spaced out as unknown images and sounds flooded her mind. At first, she was running away from something. She had no idea what it was, but she knew that stopping or stumbling meant death.

    The vegetation of the woods kept whipping her face and a few pebbles had gotten inside her sandals, hurting her feet with every step she took. Her chest felt heavy, her breath was ragged yet she didn¡¯t dare to slow down.

    Then she was watching the sunset together with a woman so tall that she seemed like a giant, someone she called "mom". Solus barely reached her hips, and was clinging to the woman¡¯s hand that was much bigger than her own.

    "Stop daydreaming, child." A cranky feminine voice said.

    "You can¡¯t be the next Ruler of the mes if you don¡¯t focus on the Forge."

    "Yes, Master Menadion." Solus¡¯s voice replied as the purple me in front of her shattered, returning her to Zolgrish¡¯s undergroundb.

    Lith shared all the fear, the love, and the admiration she felt as the fleeting memories passed, but had no idea what was causing them until she shared her visions with him.

    ¡¯Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡¯ She asked.

    ¡¯Yes. As I¡¯ve always told you, you are a person, not a thing. No matter if you were born human, beast, or tower. The moment you gained feeling and self-awareness you were a person to me. The only real revtion is that your memories aren¡¯t entirely lost.¡¯ Lith replied.

    They both had hoped that, since she still remembered what theplete tower looked like and the passing of time after herte master¡¯s demise, Solus could recover part of her past together with her powers.

    Yet after so many years with no sign of improvement, they had relinquished that thought. At least until that day. Now Solus could remember picking out a dress among many and the feeling of a silver hammer in her hand.

    They were too faint to be memories. They were more like impressions left by an action performed so many times to have left a mark in her subconscious. Solus didn¡¯t let herself be swayed by the joy those images brought her.

    On the contrary, Master Menadion¡¯s words made her focus even more on their predicament.

    ¡¯Lith, we need a n.¡¯ She said.

    ¡¯To make one, we need information and rest. Have Zolgrish open one of the rooms for you. Remember that you have been fighting non stop ever since we entered the undergroundplex.¡¯

    Lith nodded. Even though he had used Invigoration only twice, healing his wounds had taken a toll on his body. He needed to eat to restore his natural stamina.

    Zolgrish didn¡¯t like being ordered around, but without Lith his only asset was Ratpack. He could only suck it up and open one of the doors on the seventh floor. After making sure no one had followed them, Lith sat down and took some food out of his pocket dimension.

    "I get the part about shutting down the device, but how do you n to do it? If it¡¯s the key to their power and they know of your escape, it¡¯s likely to be heavily guarded." Lith said while chewing beef jerky.

    "What n? You were so confident that I was just following your lead, dear Garb. It¡¯s not my problem if something goes wrong. Ratpack and I cannot die." The lich shrugged.

    Lith took some deep breaths to calm himself. Suddenly the undergroundplex looked like more like a tomb than a magnificent loot crate.

    ¡¯This idiot is even more deranged than I thought. I need to contact the army as my back up n. Worst case scenario, they destroy theplex, the lich returns to wherever his phctery is, and I can stage my death to get usible deniability.

    ¡¯If I make Zolgrish believe I¡¯m dead due to theb¡¯s copse, he will not resent me.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t get why Borg is so nervous.¡¯ Zolgrish thought. ¡¯Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll make the arrays surrounding theb copse and tten the mountain. Sure, I¡¯ll lose myb and Borg will lose his life, but he¡¯s just a human.

    ¡¯That way, I¡¯d get my powers back and destroy the device. It¡¯s a win-win. At least for me.¡¯ Mean minds did indeed think alike.

    "What kind of weapons do your minions have at their disposal?" Lith asked.

    "Only those I made for the kitchen staff. It¡¯s unbelievable how they struggled to butcher daily specials. I had to forge a few tools because they refused to give up. Some monsters are tough to kill bare handed and the meals ended being dyed."

    "What about the treasury? Or the Armory?"

    "Double lock. To open them they require my mana, to which sadly Yozmogh and Dann¡¯Kah have ess, and abination. I never shared it with anyone, not even Ratpack, so they should be safe."

    Zolgrish drummed his fingers on the ground. There was something he was missing.

    "Oh, yeah. They¡¯re not proper weapons, but they could use the excavation andb tools. They were never intended to be used in battle so their effects are simple, but they are quite powerful."

    "That¡¯s just great!" Lith said.

    "Can you please tell me that you know what the abilities are of all the monsters who reverted to their pre fallen state? I need at least one piece of good news."

    "Sorry, but no. It was an unexpected development and they never bothered to share their discoveries with me, except when they used their newfound powers to kick the crap out of me.

    "What I can tell you, is that Dann¡¯Kah has somehow shrunk his purple crystal into a ring. It allows him to stir the surrounding world energy as if it¡¯s a soup and to cast tier five spells non stop. And he never learned tier five magic!

 Chapter 545 Master Plan Part 4

    "As for Yozmogh, he went from a two eyed Balor to a six eyed one. The change made him physically weaker than before, but the raw power of each one of his spells is unparalleled."

    "Fuck it! I need some fresh air." Lith said as he opened a Warp Steps which led as far from theb as he could manage. Even if somehow someone followed him, they would be so weak that he could pulverize them in the blink of an eye.

    "Ratpack, the human seems to be a little touchy. Are you sure he is the strongest, smartest, bravest champion you could find?" Zolgrish asked.

    "Of course, master."

    "What makes you so sure about it?"

    "He only survivor. All others died, so he best one." Ratpack said.

    Zolgrish pped Ratpack¡¯s on the back of his head, wondering if Lamb would ever return.

    ***

    While the lich was cursing the gods for giving him Ratpack, Lith took out his armymunicator the moment the Warp Steps closed behind him and called his handler.

    "I¡¯ve disposed of the next unit of monsters. Jambel is safe for now, but I¡¯ve got bad news. The dungeon has turned out to be the abandonedb of an ancient mage. It¡¯s not just their numbers that are a problem, but also the fact that some of them are mutated."

    "Mutated how?" Kam asked. That word reminded her of the past monster outbreaks, making her worry.

    "They are not like the wargs." Lith replied almost reading her mind.

    "Their behaviour is like I expected it to be, only their abilities are boosted. Either it¡¯s selective breeding or magical enhancement of sorts, I don¡¯t know. The situation is very vtile, there are two dungeon masters, not just one.

    "An ogre shaman and a Balor." Lith could almost hear Kam flinching on the other side of the conversation. Lith was reporting nearly the truth, sticking to what Lord Wyalon had already reported.

    "Is there really a Balor?" Kam asked.

    "More than one." Lith took out Trouble¡¯s body as proof.

    "What¡¯s worse, they have ess to some magical tools they managed to repurpose into weapons. So far the two groups were too busy fighting among themselves, but if they get out of there, we¡¯re talking about at least a thousand mutated monsters armed to the teeth."

    "What¡¯s your n?" The more Kam heard, the more worried she became.

    ¡¯Why the heck did I start an argument about his past? I don¡¯t want ourst conversation to be a stupid quarrel.¡¯ She thought.

    "Theplex has no array blocking dimensional magic, so I can get in and out of it fast. My n is to create a distraction and kill the two leaders. If I manage to cut off the head of the snake, the rioting caused by the power vacuum should do the rest.

    "I know I can do it, but I want you to keep a group of Wardens on stand by. If you don¡¯t hear from me within a few hours, send them to these coordinates and have them bring the wholeplex down."

    Lith then confirmed the position of the entrances Baron Wyalon had found to her and exined the nature of the arrays surrounding the ce, making the Wardens¡¯ work much easier.

    ¡¯If only I was a better Warden and there wasn¡¯t a frigging lich involved I could do it myself. This way when everything starts copsing, Zolgrish will have no reason to suspect me.¡¯

    "Copy that, Ranger Verhen. Please, remember that you can always pull out and wait for reinforcements." Kam¡¯s hologram appeared suddenly. Her voice was professional and detached as always, but her eyes contained a desperate plea.

    "I wish I could." That part at least was true.

    "There¡¯s a big snowstorm iing. If we don¡¯t settle this now, Jambel and its citizens will bepletely isted for days. Bad weather is nothing to an orc shaman, the monsters would ughter them likembs."

    ¡¯Or rather, I can¡¯t live with a lich breathing down my neck for the destruction of hisb.¡¯ He actually thought.

    "Copy that." Kam said. Before the hologram couldpletely disappear, Lith¡¯s civilian amulet pulled at his consciousness.

    "Are you insane calling me from work? Your supervisor will y you for that!"

    "Who cares! Are you alright? You have never called for back up before, not even for the ck Star. Be honest with me, how bad is it?" She said.

    ¡¯Dammit, now I understand why on Earth rtionship in the workce were frowned upon. Lying to my handler is one thing, doing it to my fear stricken girlfriend is another.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Pretty bad. Don¡¯t worry, though. If shit hits the ceiling, I¡¯ll Warp out of there in the blink of an eye." Even a vengeful lich was better than a dead Ranger.

    "Please, be safe. Call me as soon as you¡¯re done with the mission, no matter the hour, okay?"

    Lith nodded, knowing that no words could reassure her. He closed the call and Warped back to Zolgrish.

    "Did you have any brilliant ideas during your stroll?" The lich sneered.

    "Actually yes. Why don¡¯t we take a few weapons from your armory to make our lives easier?" Lith asked.

    "Because if I imprint them with my mana, Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh could use them too if they get their hands on them. I don¡¯t trust Ratpack to use anything more dangerous than a broom, and whatever you imprint I would have no way to get back. Unless I were to kill you, of course."

    "What if you consider it the rest of my payment?" Lith couldn¡¯t refute that logic, but he could propose an alternative.

    "And what would prevent you from abandoning me here? Maybe even taking a few souvenirs? It¡¯s not like I could stop you even if I wanted. I prefer to keep you motivated, Nolon."

    As Lith had predicted, they found little surveince on the road to the fourth floor, where the device was located. Unfortunately, it was because most of the guards had been recalled to right in front of theb¡¯s door.

    The orc shaman and the Balor hated each other, but they knew that if their former master were to regain his powers, he would turn their eternal lives into a living hell.

    Lith, Zolgrish, and Ratpack were stuck near the stairway leading from the fifth to the fourth underground floor.

    "How does your minions¡¯ resurrection process work? I need to know if fighting them is worth the effort or if it would just be a waste of time and mana." Lith said.

    "It works just like mine." Zolgrish replied. His condescending tone showed once again how the lich considered such information to bemon sense.

    "If my body getspletely destroyed, it takes me between one and three days to be regenerated near my phctery back to my peak condition. The stronger one is, the longer it takes the phctery to store enough word energy.

    "It shouldn¡¯t take it more than a few minutes to restore those weaklings. Yet remember that if you don¡¯t destroy their bodies, they will remain corpses for a couple of hours. That¡¯s the optimal time required to field dress and consume them.

    "It should be more than enough to get in and shut down the device. You¡¯re worrying for nothing."

    "I don¡¯t think so. We don¡¯t know who¡¯s inside theb..." Unfortunately, theb was so full of powerful magics that Life Vision was as useless as mana sense.

 Chapter 546 The Best Laid Plans... Part 1

    "...and if they stall us long enough, reinforcements could destroy the bodies we left behind. If that happens, we¡¯d end up surrounded and killed in no time. Luckily for me, I¡¯ve got a better idea" Lith said.

    He was so used to relying on Solus¡¯s mana sense and on Life Vision that using Fire Vision felt wrong. It was one of Lith¡¯s oldest skills, that he now used mostly to cook since Life Vision had proved to be superior inbat.

    Fire vision granted him the magical equivalent of thermal goggles, allowing him to see in the dark in a scale of colors ording to the temperature of his surroundings. Theb was lit by light crystals that didn¡¯t emit heat, otherwise he would have been blinded.

    Fire Vision provided no information about the strength of the enemy, but still could identify their position and size. Lith stood still for a while, studying the patrols¡¯ timing and routes.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t afford to make mistakes. One false step and we¡¯ll be swarmed. Meeting Ratpack was a blessing in disguise. Without his information, I would have taken my sweet time opening the doors and who knows what could have happened.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He worried more about the orc shaman than the Balor. As far as he knew, only the former could block his dimensional magic thanks to orcs¡¯ innate ability to manipte mana crystals.

    Dimensional magic was a powerful tool. Lith relied on it for both offense and defense. Most of his contingency ns were impossible without it. After he was sure that he had a clear understanding of their situation, Lith went upstairs and followed one of the patrols.

    He cursed when he saw that they were all orcs reverted to their elven state. They moved lithe as cats, with lean limbs more fitting for a professional dancer than the brutes they were.

    The enemies would have spotted Lith¡¯s group immediately if not for the Hush zone and the smell canceling spell he had enveloped them with. Lith kept several spells at the ready while intently following the patrol movements with Fire Vision.

    The moment the orcs met a patrol of reverted ogres, Lith unleashed the spirit magic tendrils he had prepared and snapped their necks. Then, he waved his hand, making a Warp Steps appear below their feet.

    It moved the corpses into one of the cells on the seventh floor, of which Lith had memorized the coordinates and closed the door before leaving.

    Ten elite enemies were swallowed by the dimensional corridor and locked away in one fell swoop. No one could destroy their bodies now.

    "Quick! We must move before the other patrols notice their disappearance." Lith said. Zolgrish nodded at what¡¯s-his-name ingenuity and followed his lead.

    Together they quickly cleaned the external corridors of patrols. Even in his weakened state, Zolgrish had no problems using water magic to freeze his opponents and dimensional magic to lock them away.

    Once they reached theb¡¯s nearest door, Lith made way for the lich. He didn¡¯t need Life Vision to know the door was enchanted. The many mana crystals fused into its surface couldn¡¯t be just for decoration.

    Zolgrish raised his skeletal right hand in front of the solid silver door, making a holographic spiral made of runes appear.

    "Interesting." He said after the door refused to open.

    "They have managed to tamper with my code. I wonder if their newfound intelligencees from reverting the effects of the falling or from mastering the connection with my essence now inhabiting their bodies.

    "Thetter possibility is kind of disturbing."

    The tinge of worry in the lich¡¯s voice made Lith even more paranoid than usual. While Zolgrish worked the door¡¯smand panel, he checked their surroundings again and prepared a few extra spells.

    ¡¯My preparation was meticulous and the execution of my n wless, yet I can¡¯t help being worried. If Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh really are this smart, then they¡¯re bound to be close.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯To make matters worse, they just need to tamper with one of the elementsposing the world energy to seal my dimensional magic. There are too many things that can go wrong. Solus, be ready to intervene.¡¯

    She was careful to shapeshift slowly from under his sleeve, while the lich was still focused on the door. When her arm protector form manifested, she made it appear as though he had simply taken it out from a dimensional item.

    Zolgrish finally cracked the code and turned towards Lith.

    "We¡¯re in." The lich said while looking at him like it was the first time they met.

    "You seem different, somehow. Have you done something with your hair?"

    The door opened, revealing the biggest Forgemasteringb Lith had ever seen. It extended as far as the eye could see, taking up the entire floor. There was no room or wall separating the various sections of theb, only pirs to keep the ceiling standing.

    The stone walls had been carved into bookshelves and each one of them was filled with ancient tomes or scrolls. The richly decorated spines of the books were the only element of color in the otherwise honey hued stone surface.

    A blue translucent force field covered all the bookshelves, protecting their content from the energy employed and released during the Forgemastering experiments. Lith counted at least twenty Forges.

    "Forge" was how Forgemasters referred to the silver tables they used for their work. Every forge inside theb was covered in runes of power, which formed magic circles still pulsing with blue energy.

    Some circles wereplete, others were works in progress, but all of them had an object resting on their center, ready to be enchanted.

    Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, the books were arranged ording to a color code that went from ck to white, going through theplete light spectrum.

    ¡¯What the heck? Could he have split the books ording to the mana core required? Solus, are you sure he isn¡¯t an Awakened?¡¯ Lith was already worried about orc shamans always being Awakened ones.

    The idea that even the Balor could be one by essing Zolgrish¡¯s memories was enough to reconsider his n and call the army to have them raze the area.

    ¡¯Pretty sure. So far he has chanted all of his spells and his mana flow is static. Either he is a fake mage or he has lost his status of Awakened together with most of his powers. My money on the former.¡¯ She replied.

    "What does the color code mean?" Lith asked. He needed to make sure it was just a coincidence.

    "What code? That would be an idiotic thing to do. The books are in alphabetical order. I had them bound that way so that each Forge has its own room." Zolgrish walked double time towards the Forge at the north west end of the room.

    Unlike the other silver tables, there was nothing on it except five concentric circles of runes that glowed with a golden light instead of themon blue.

    "Where¡¯s the device?" Lith said while sighing in relief.

    "You¡¯re looking at it." The lich replied.

    "Only amateurs usemon silver tables for a masterpiece. True Forgemasters use adamant. It conducts mana as well as silver but it¡¯s hundreds of times more resilient. Plus, you can shapeshift it into any form you may need.

    "It makes it much easier to inscribe runes with perfect symmetry on the vessel for your spell since you have an ample surface that you canter rearrange in the shape and size of your choosing."

 Chapter 547 The Best Laid Plans... Part 2

    At a wave of his hand, the silver table turned into a giant ring as big as a double door. Mystical energies flowed from the air into the construct as the space inside the ring was filled by a red and ck essence that Lith recognized as part of a blood core.

    "I don¡¯t like it. Why is there no one in here?" Lith asked while using all of his senses to scan the area.

    "Because the security level was set so that anyone without my energy signature would die upon entering."

    At those words, Lith conjured several barriers as the gems on Solus¡¯ arm protector form glowed with mana.

    "Rx! I¡¯ve disabled them." Zolgrishughed at the Ranger¡¯s panic.

    "You idiot! Doesn¡¯t that mean that every one of those who share your essence could be waiting for us?" Lith rebuked.

    "Oh, please. You¡¯re simply..." Zolgrish¡¯s amusement disappeared as dozens of reverted monsters wielding magical tools appeared from thin air.

    "...right. Dammit!" The lich waved his hand again, causing the ring to shapeshift back into a table.

    "Not so fast." A deep and melodious voice said.

    Two humanoid creatures appeared right next to the device. One was wearing a grey magician¡¯s robe, leaving only his head and hands exposed. He was 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with light brown skin and shoulder-length golden hair.

    His pointy ears parted his hair, revealing a slender neck which together with his delicate features gave him a feminine look. Only his pupils, ming from the red mana coursing within, betrayed his real nature.

    On the ring finger of his right hand rested a purple ring made of crystal. Now that Dann¡¯Kah had activated it, it was filled with so much mana that it eclipsed the rest of theb to Solus¡¯s mana sense.

    ¡¯Whatever it is, it¡¯s not just a simple crystal.¡¯ Solus tried to make sense of what she was staring at.

    ¡¯It contains multiple different energy signatures, like it¡¯sposed of several living beingspressed together. How could an orc create a cursed object in so little time?¡¯

    The answer was that he didn¡¯t. Whenever an orc shaman used a powerful mana crystal long enough, they would leave an imprint on it. Their sessors, if talented enough, could use such imprints to ess part of their ancestors¡¯ experience and their most used spells.

    Recalling the spells of a single shaman was a hard andplex matter because the further in the past they had lived, the fainter their trace was and the harder it was to find it.

    Dann¡¯Kah was different. After recovering the abilities his race possessed before their fall, he had discovered that he was able to activate all of the imprints left by his forefathers. It was the residual mana from the past shamans that Solus had mistaken for life forces.

    Dann¡¯Kah was using part of the lich¡¯s undead energies to keep them permanently active and have ess to tier four and five spells. The residual mana mixed with the undead life force gave those echoes from the past a semnce of life.

    Dann¡¯Kah believed he had conjured his ancestors¡¯ spirits and that they were guiding him from theherworld, bestowing their knowledge upon him.

    Unfortunately, the truth was that by having so many memories flooding his mind along with centuries of hatred and rage, Dann¡¯Kah was on the verge of madness. He was constantly shaking his head, but not because of the effort from undoing Zolgrish¡¯s will.

    He was trying to make the voices in his head shut up long enough for him to achieve his goal.

    The second creature was bare-chested, wearing only pants. Yozmogh was 2.3 meters (7¡¯7") tall, with pale blue skin and a cascade of long silver hair reaching his waist. He had the body of a Greek god, with muscles that looked like they had been chiseled rather than trained.

    He had six eyes on his face and six feathered wings emerging from his back. Each one of the eyes was a different color, based on the element inhabiting it, and so were his wings.

    The eyes on the creature¡¯s forehead were red and blue, those under his eyebrows were ck and white, while those on his cheekbones were brown and yellow. Both Lith and Solus wondered if there was any connection between Balors and Lith¡¯s hybrid form.

    Aside fromcking a seventh one on the forehead, the Balor¡¯s eyes were positioned exactly the same way.

    The wings on his back followed the same pattern as the eyes and seemed to be made of pure elemental energies.

    "Power down this damnb or they¡¯ll use it against us!" Lith said as he conjured several streams of lightning to disperse the enemies and stop whatever Dann¡¯Kah was doing.

    Yozmogh¡¯s yellow wing crackled like thunder, and suddenly Lith¡¯s spells were drawn to it like the wing was a powerful ma. The yellow wing stored the energy and purified it from Lith¡¯s mana before transferring it to the yellow eye.

    "Humans should not fight their gods." Yozmogh said. His voice was quiet and solemn. There was no arrogance nor threat in it, he was only stating what he considered to be the truth.

    The dryad-ogres joined their hands, forming a wall of vines that quickly surrounded Lith as several reverted trolls activated the tools in their four hands to strike him down through the openings theirpanions created for them.

    Each troll wielded two golden staves, each with what looked like a ruby the size of an apple on their tops, which emitted jet streams of blue mes.

    While Zolgrish and Dann¡¯Kah were engaged in a battle of sheer willpower, Ratpack fled from the scene and hid inside the closest shadow, hoping that no one would notice him.

    The lich¡¯s blood core was diminished, but his mind was intact. Even though Dann¡¯Kah was several times stronger than him and wielded the same energies, keeping them in check was a constant struggle for the orc.

    Zolgrish had no such problem. It was his energy, hisb. They both responded to his thoughts like they were an extension of his body.

    "What are you waiting for? Destroy him!" Dann¡¯Kah ordered to his orc-elves. He was well aware that if it weren¡¯t for the purple crystal on his finger he would have already been bested.

    The mining tools the reverted orcs were equipped with looked like silver rods, about one meter (3,3 feet) long, with topaz embedded along their sides.

    They amplified the mana they were imbued with to generate energy des capable of easily cutting through rock. The orcs had spent countless hours in the mines, ving away for the lich.

    Their mastery with the cutting tools was equaled only by their resentment for him, so as soon as Dann¡¯Kah gave the order, they had the rods in their hands shape their mana into the form of a mace and struck mercilessly at Zolgrish from every side.

    After being pulverized by Trouble for months, what such weapons could inflict to the lich was merely difort. His pride was almost crushed seeing his creations used against him, seeing his ves dare to raise their hand against their master.

    Almost.

    Now that he was so close to the device, which Dann¡¯Kah was so kindly keeping half open, all the energy he would lose due to the wounds inflicted upon him would be absorbed by the ring and returned to him in barely a second.

    Countless possibilities appeared in Zolgrish¡¯s mind and a cruel smile would have formed on his face if only he had one.

    ¡¯The situation is much better than I predicted. Mario is unlikely to survive, but hired help is always expendable.¡¯ The lich thought.

 Chapter 548 Past vs Present Part 1

    Zolgrish ignored the pain from his skeletal limbs being constantly crushed and regenerated, focusing on the adamant forge.

    ¡¯Yozmogh and Dann¡¯Kah are too close to the amplifier for me to open the control panel and shut it down. Dann¡¯Kah¡¯s obstinacy to keep it open means they needed me to activate it. Their control over my essence must be poor.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t get why Luigi wants me to shut down theb, but since he is likely to die, I might as well grant hisst wish.¡¯

    The lich stomped his foot on the power line of the array fuelling theb. Everything that didn¡¯t have his own pseudo core went dark.

    ¡¯We¡¯re back baby!¡¯ Lith and Solus thought in unison as most of the interference from their surroundings disappeared, making Life Vision and mana sense useful again.

    Lith had managed to survive up to that point only thanks to his multipleyered barrier. The wall of vines made up by the reverted ogres limited his movements and the trolls would strike at him with their enchanted tools whenever he tried to escape the encirclement.

    Their staves emitted blue mes which reached thousands of degrees, capable of turning a man into charcoal with just one hit. Even when they missed, they made the air too hot to be breathable unless Lith cooled it down with water magic.

    To make matters worse, up to that point Yozmogh had neutralized the spells Lith had conjured to defend himself with his wings. Not only did he almost cause Lith¡¯s death multiple times, but also all of his eyes were brimming with stored energy.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll deal with himter. First I need to get rid of the trolls.¡¯ Lith thought as he Blinked right behind one of the reverted creatures. With Life Vision working again, the wall of vines no longer blocked his line of sight.

    "Behind you." Yozmogh warned them as the Ranger came out from his exit point. Lith had Solus keep an eye on him, he couldn¡¯t afford any distraction in the task at hand.

    His arms moved like snakes, striking at each troll multiple times. The trollsughed at his wasted efforts and unleashed new jets of blue mes. With their thick skin and powerful muscles, that kind of attacks didn¡¯t even tickle. On the contrary, they felt full of vigor.

    Or so they thought before falling to their knees, writhing in agony.

    Lith¡¯s hits were weak because he knew brute strength and normal magic were pointless. Normal trolls¡¯ regenerative abilities made them hard to kill, whereas those in front of him would resurrect in a matter of minutes.

    Lith had to save his strength for and from Yozmogh. He couldn¡¯t afford the Balor stealing any more of his mana, so the strikes were merely a vessel, each one imbued with a light spell.

    Healing magic was the trolls¡¯ bane, overloading their already too efficient metabolism that caused their perpetual hunger. Lith¡¯s spells had pushed them to the brink of starvation. Their massive bodies shrunk like each passing second was a day spent fasting.

    "Impressive." Yozmogh gave him a nod of approval.

    "Let¡¯s see how you fight when even your eyes betray you."

    Yozmogh revealed that he was holding a small mirror in his left hand. He pointed it at the wall of living vines and then to himself, making them both disappear.

    ¡¯There was no dimensional door and I can still hear the ogre-dryads slithering on the floor. Is that invisibility?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯It must be that mirror¡¯s effect.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯My guess is that it uses gravity magic to bend the light. That must be how they hid themselves waiting for Zolgrish to activate the device.¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks for the exnation, but how does that help?¡¯

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t. The field it creates is so fine that not even mana sense can pinpoint them. I can only give you an approximate location.¡¯ Solus said as Lith felt a living wave crushing against him.

    The vines coiled around his body, turning visible once again. They tried to dig their way through his skin and orifices.

    ¡¯Gross! They didn¡¯t even buy me a drink first.¡¯ Lith activated his tier five spell, Setting Sun. It generated a globe made of darkness imbued mes around him that engulfed all of the dryads-ogres attacking him.

    The two elements were fused together, allowing the dark energies to move at a speed that would otherwise be impossible. Setting Sun was a perfect offense and defense that would stay up until all of its mana was exhausted, but Lith didn¡¯t n to use it for long.

    ¡¯I thought you said that ogres¡¯ vines are resistant to fire. Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to use Ice Age, instead?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m using it. Just like with the trolls, I don¡¯t want to kill them, just to make them suffer. Otherwise they¡¯ll just pop up again in an endless loop.¡¯ Lith exined.

    The darkness magic quickly sapped the ogres¡¯ vitality, while the fire magic of Setting Sun inflicted them blinding pain but dealt little damage. The moment the vines writhed in agony off his body, Lith expanded the sphere of ck mes outwards, revealing Yozmogh¡¯s position.

    As the Balor¡¯s gravity sheath dissolved, Lith could see Yozmogh¡¯s red and ck wings brimming with power. He was trying to rob Lith of his spell but to no avail.

    Over the years, Lith had fought opponents more powerful than he was many times. It had almost cost him his life, but at the same time, the experiences had given him the opportunity to learn from them.

    He had devised Setting Sun after fighting Nalear, while Thrud Griffon and Manohar had taught him how to defeat an opponent capable of draining his mana. Just like the vortex generated by Thrud¡¯s meat puppets, Yozmogh¡¯s wings couldn¡¯t affect a spell animated by its caster¡¯s willpower.

    Lith had understood the nature of the reverted Balor¡¯s powers after he had literally stolen his thunder, but feigned ignorance to lull Yozmogh¡¯s conceit.

    "Such a powerful spell and no chant. You must be an Awakened!" Surprise and joy appeared on his face despite the ck mes withering his skin.

    Lith had no time to waste bantering. He focused Setting Sun on his fingertips, making it rotate faster and faster, until he released it against the Balor in the form of a giant spinning thorn.

    Meanwhile, the battle between Zolgrish and Dann¡¯Kah took an unexpected turn too.

    "Hey, idiot. Do you know the origin of the term lich?" Zolgrish said. He grabbed one of the orc-elves who, in the heat of the battle, had fallen prey to the orc¡¯s natural bloodlust ande within arm¡¯s reach.

    A simple touch was all Zolgrish needed to leech the vitality of an opponent, but this time that wasn¡¯t his goal. The undead life force Dann¡¯Kah had shared with his lieutenant recognized its only true master and returned to him.

    "Thanks for the meal." Each reverted orc contained only a small portion of Zolgrish¡¯s power, but it was enough to tip the scale of the battle in his favor. The orc-elves attempted to escape, but the lich only needed one of the cantrips he kept at the ready to stop them.

    Some even conjured world energy tomit suicide, yet it only backfired. They were closer to Zolgrish than to the amplifier, so the undead energy released upon their death ended up being siphoned by him.

 Chapter 549 Past vs Present Part 2

    Ragged clothes appeared on Zolgrish¡¯s skeleton as well as flesh and muscles, restoring part of his original appearance. Dann¡¯Kah started to panic, his willpower was consumed on too many fronts.

    He had to keep at bay the voices in his head, prevent the amplifier from shutting down or lose any chance to control it, and fight the undead energies within him which were trying to return to their rightful vessel.

    ¡¯How the heck does Yozmogh control them so effortlessly? I¡¯m a natural Awakened, whereas lichs use fake magic, and Balors are limited to tier three magic. Why am I losing against a pile of bones?¡¯ He thought.

    The answer was actually simple. In his arrogance, Dann¡¯Kah had spread his resources too thin. As for Zolgrish, he had prepared plenty of spells on his way to theb. Until he lost his focus or run out of spells, he was as powerful as an Awakened.

    To add insult to injury, he only needed to beckon to call back his energies and the closer he got to Dann¡¯Kah, the harder it was for the orc to keep them in check.

    Zolgrish was solely focused on the shaman, so Yozmogh could afford to let the undead energies escape from his body just to capture them again with his ck wing.

    Dann¡¯Kah called upon his ancestors to conjure the ancient elven tier five spell, Lighthouse. It trapped the lich inside a hard light construct shaped like a cube that contained a small tornado.

    Zolgrish wasn¡¯t afraid of being ripped to shreds by the violent air currents, so much as he was surprised by the offensive light spell. He had never seen one before.

    "Not bad, but let¡¯s see if this thing is as strong as it looks." The lich snapped his fingers to release the tier five spell Raging Sun. It filled the cube with a st of purple mes that dispersed the air currents forming the tornado, adding the orc¡¯s spell power to its own.

    The resulting explosion made the sides of the cube crack as the lich took control of the shockwaves it generated with air magic and sent them back and forth against the weak points the two colliding spells had created.

    It was an impossible strategy for any creature, living or not. Zolgrish could ignore the damage he received only because he had no vitals.

    "You fool!" Heughed as his bones kept cracking and healing.

    "You should have let the device shut down. It would have taken me hours instead of seconds to regain my strength. The closer I get to it, the stronger I be. It¡¯s like being next to my phctery to me."

    "Thanks for the information, old man." Dann¡¯Kah replied. He sent the cube rolling to the opposite side of the room, following it closely to not lose control of his spell. If darkness magic¡¯s weakness was its speed, for light magic it was its range.

    "But I need the amplifier to take everything from you, just like you took everything away from me. My dignity, my honor, even my life. I¡¯ll use your life¡¯s work to escape from this cage and torture you until the end of time."

    "What a coincidence! It¡¯s the end of time o¡¯clock for you. Right, Ratpack?" At those words, Dann¡¯Kah realized to have brought the lich in the spot he had seen the small maggot disappear.

    Ratpack emerged from the shadows, stabbing Dann¡¯Kah with his Coward¡¯s Knife multiple times before the shaman could even turn around. The enchanted de was a long dagger for a man but it was a short sword to Ratpack.

    Zolgrish had infused it with light and darkness magic. The darkness spell acted as a venom against living beings and as an acid against everything else. The light element closed the wounds the moment they were opened.

    The forced healing would sap its victim¡¯s stamina and elerate the spreading of the venom through their body by enhancing their metabolism. Dann¡¯Kah managed to stop the darkness spell with one of his own, but he was helpless against the light magic which broke both his focus and his spell.

    As soon as the cube shattered, Zolgrish dashed forward and grabbed the shaman¡¯s face with his hands as he summoned back the undead energies that had been stolen from him.

    "Thanks, you idiot! I would have never escaped from that thing on my own!" Zolgrish said.

    "You¡¯re wee, master!" Ratpack said while turning into a puff of smoke to avoid the lightning bolts the orc had unleashed trying to get rid of the small pest.

    "Not you! I mean, yes you helped me, but it was sarcasm." Zolgrish sighed at the ruined moment. He had been on hisst leg, focusing all of his remaining mana on the healing process to pretend that he was stronger than he appeared to be.

    Recovering from small wounds like those the tools inflicted was one thing, withstanding tier five spells was another. The lich had deceived his captor hoping that Ratpack would find the courage to step in the fight.

    The moment the lich and the shaman came into contact, they started a tug of war for the control over the undead energies trapped inside the orc¡¯s body.

    One second the lich looked almost human, with pink skin covering his face and pretty clothes over his body, whereas the orc was once again a bald, tall brute. The next moment, Zolgrish was reduced to two arms connected to his skull only by the shoulders, and Dann¡¯Kah looked more magnificent than ever.

    The world energy would burst out of his body, forming a crown of pure mana above his head and making his skin shine as he had turned into a god.

    "Oh crap." Zolgrish said. He hadn¡¯t realized that the channel he had opened between the shaman and him could go both ways.

    Even though the undead energy well remembered his touch, now that they were so close Dann¡¯Kah could use his crystal ring to steal the little life essence that the lich had left.

    "Ratpack! Zalma! I need help!" He said.

    Unluckily, Ratpack had run out of courage, and Lith had his te full.

    "Dammit! Do you want to dance? Fine, but I¡¯ll lead." The moment Zolgrish regained the upper hand, he Warped them away. Yozmogh was still busy dealing with Lith, but after the lich¡¯s call for help, he had noticed how dangerous his situation was.

    If Zolgrish managed to strip the undead energies from Dann¡¯Kah, he would be the next. If it was the orc shaman to emerge victorious, they would no longer be equal and the Balor¡¯s fate would be sealed anyway.

    He ignored Lith¡¯s Setting Sun and darted forward to stop Dann¡¯Kah, but the lich beat him to the punch, moving his fight to an unknown location. A searing pain spread from the Balor¡¯s light wing as Lith pierced it with his spell.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, as long as he has all six wings, he should be able to use some kind of Invigoration by absorbing the six elements that make up the world energy. To gain an edge, I must cripple his recovery abilities.

    ¡¯Without his light wing, all the damage I inflict to him will be permanent and he will be unable to recover is mana too. Two birds with one stone!¡¯ Lith thought.

    Yozmogh couldn¡¯t agree more. His conceited expression was reced by worry as the thorn made of ck mes turned most of the white feathers into ashes. He turned around to protect his exposed back, but Lith managed to follow his movements thanks to air fusion.

    The Balor yelled in outrage realizing his mistake. His power was unmatched, but he couldn¡¯t cast spells against someone outside his line of sight.

 Chapter 550 Eyes and Wings Part 1

    A Balor¡¯s body was unable to channel mana. It was one of the reasons why millennia ago such a powerful race had attempted to force their evolution and ended up joining the ranks of the Fallen races.

    Unlike all other creatures, they could conjure spells only through their eyes, making it vital for them to always face their opponents. Their other biggest limitation was their inability to cast spells above tier three.

    The highest tiers of magic required to fuse and manipte multiple elements at will, while each one of the Balors¡¯ eyes could only handle one specific element. Activating more than one eye at a time was possible, but they were unable to cooperate.

    The only exception was the creation of hard constructs, like weapons or armors made from ice. They could be infused with multiple elements, but always one at the time.

    Balors couldn¡¯t use gravity magic, dimensional magic, norplex arrays. They were unstoppable soldiers on the battlefield, yet as a race, they had been dependant on others for the creation of even the simplest enchanted item.

    Yozmogh activated his red eye, turning all the agonizing monsters lying on the floor into cinders. Their corpses turned into spheres of smoke that orbited around the amplifier. The device started to reconstruct their bodies at a speed visible at the naked eye.

    Then, the Balor activated his yellow wing, obtaining the same effects of air fusion. The sudden boost in speed allowed him to escape from Lith and put some distance between them.

    Lith cursed when he noticed that Yozmogh was capable of using his white eye to slowly regenerate the white wing, yet his mood improved when he noticed that the mana it stored wasn¡¯t being replenished.

    ¡¯It seems that wings and eyes are connected.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Indeed. Unlike Trouble, Yozmogh¡¯s eyes cannot umte world energy on their own. A wounded wing means he cannot recharge the corresponding element, we can¡¯t allow him to buy even one second.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    Lith darted forward, using a flight spell to match the opponent¡¯s speed. The Balor was forced to interrupt his healing spell to activate his yellow wing. It allowed him to negate Lith¡¯s air magic and unleash the lightning bolts he had previously stored.

    Or so he believed.

    After fighting Thrud, Lith had spent hours learning how to infuse his will even inside low tiered spells, so Yozmogh attempt to slow him down failed. The focus needed to seed prevented Lith from retaliating to the iing lightning pir, but he didn¡¯t need to.

    Solus opened a small Warp Steps in front of them, which redirected the massive spell against the amplifier. The adamant it was made of and the enchantments protecting it resisted the assault, but the monsters surrounding it weren¡¯t so lucky.

    They had yet to regain half of their bodies that they were once again reduced to smoke and ashes.

    "Nice artifact, human. I have some too!" Yozmogh said. A small silver sphere in his right hand shone with the intensity of a small sun as heunched himself against the enemy.

    Lith was aware of the enormous gap in physical strength between them, but time wasn¡¯t on his side. Stalling meant giving the Balor the opportunity to recover his light wing and his minions.

    ¡¯To add insult to injury, I don¡¯t know if Zolgrish will prevail. I might be able to deal with one of those reverted monsters at a time, but if they team up, I¡¯ll be forced to leave. I¡¯m greedy, not idiotic.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith had noticed severalpleted artifacts still lying on the Forges. If the lich failed his mission, Lith was willing to collect everything he could on his way out aspensation.

    Lith dodged to the side, avoiding a head on sh with the Balor and cast another tier five spell, Stormnado. It was a mix of air and darkness, that conjured a thunderstorm of poisonous gas.

    The destructive mass of energy and theb defenses shed as Lith made sure the amplifier was caught in the area of effect of his spell, dying the reverted monsters¡¯ resurrection even longer.

    Yozmogh appreciated Stormnado¡¯s prowess, considering the pain it inflicted him like a foretaste of the power he would wield once hepletely assimted the lich¡¯s essence.

    His n was now actually twofold. If before his aim was to undo his own fallen state and ovee his ancient limitations, capturing Lith would open endless possibilities to him.

    ¡¯If I can steal the secret of Awakening, Dann¡¯Kah will be no match for me. Both my body and magic are superior to his. If not for him being an Awakened, I would have long had him under my heel!¡¯ He thought.

    Yozmogh activated his yellow and ck wing, but this time he didn¡¯t try to absorb Lith¡¯s spells. He instead reverted the flow, sending mana from his eyes to his wings and making the corresponding elements in the world energy unstable.

    No matter how much Lith focused nor the amount of mana he pumped into Stormnado, the spell waned as the two elementsposing it became unable to coexist.

    ¡¯What¡¯s happening?¡¯ Lith took the Gatekeeper out of his pocket dimension. His flight spell failed him too and he couldn¡¯t afford to waste more mana.

    ¡¯It must be what Zolgrish talked us about. A reverted Balor can not only drain the world energy through their wings, but they can also use their stored mana to upset the bnce and disrupt our magic.

    ¡¯To cast an air or darkness spell, you have to counterbnce the distortion Yozmogh caused.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Easier said than done. Damn lich, stirring the world energy my pale ass, this is jamming.¡¯ Lith didn¡¯t like his odds. The Balor¡¯s spells seemed to be unaffected by the mana distortion, making him apparently even more dangerous than the orc shaman and his crystal.

    Lith infused himself with all the elements and prepared for the worse. Yozmogh¡¯s eyes lit up one after the other, emitting highlypressed elemental beams. Lith dodged with a roll, but the beams kept following him wherever he moved.

    They were so powerful that even the blue translucent barrier protecting the library couldn¡¯t keep up. Only the presence of a second barrier below the first one prevented the precious tomes from being destroyed.

    "Stop running! I need you alive, not healthy." Yozmogh said as his eyes darted along the room to follow Lith¡¯s irregr footwork. Despite his words, every one of his attacks had been aimed to Lith¡¯s vitals.

    ¡¯Any brilliant ideas?¡¯ Lith was almost out of breath. Escaping on foot from a flying enemy while dodging the elemental beams was a mammoth task.

    ¡¯Yes. Don¡¯t get caught. I don¡¯t like how he keeps that shining sphere at hand.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯The good news is that between his jamming and his unrelenting attack, Yozmogh is almost out of darkness and air magic.¡¯

    Lith didn¡¯t find any sce in her words. Three or five rays made no difference to him, the Balor only needed one to kill him. Lith took cover behind the amplifier, hoping that the enemy wouldn¡¯t take the risk of damaging it.

    He was right. His move caught Yozmogh by surprise, forcing him to spin like a top to look away from the priceless device.

    Lith managed to get a single breath worth of energy from Invigoration before the Balor resumed the chase, but it was enough.

 Chapter 551 Eyes and Wings Part 2

    The short moment Yozmogh needed to deactivate his elemental beams allowed Lith to feel with his body the change caused by the Balor in the world energy and react ordingly.

    He took flight again and activated a second Stormnado which sent Yozmogh crashing against the wall.

    ¡¯I stand corrected, this guy is less dangerous than a shaman¡¯s crystal. He can¡¯t deplete the world energy of a specific element, only alter its bnce. I can still use all elements as long as Ipensate for the disturbance.¡¯ Lith thought.

    His enthusiasm was short lived. Yozmogh kicked the wall with all of his strength, turning into a living bullet. Lith managed to dodge and put some distance between them, but another barrage of beams aimed to his heart forced him to slow down enough for the Balor to catch up with him.

    A fist the size of a bowling ball struck at his chest while he was in mid air, crushing his ribs and squeezing the air out of his lungs as he was sent flying.

    ¡¯This cannot be.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Not even the idiot in dragon form hit me so hard. How is...¡¯ He almost choked on his question when he noticed that the Skinwalker Armor was now of the same in grey color it had before being imprinted with his mana.

    Yozmogh caught up with him again, ready to strike, but Lith intercepted his fist with the Gatekeeper sword. The de infused with darkness, fire, and air magic made short work of the Balor¡¯s fingers until it hit the silver sphere and went dead.

    Without its enchantments, the Gatekeeper couldn¡¯t resist the impact, and a cobweb of cracks spread from the point of impact to all of its surface. Lith had barely the time to store it inside his pocket dimension that Yozmogh¡¯s right hand closed around Solus¡¯s arm protector.

    ¡¯Fuck, I know that spell! That¡¯s¡¯ Clean te!¡¯ Lith thought. It was a tier four Forgemaster spell, which generated abined pulse of light and darkness magic. It temporarily short circuited the imprint on any magical item, making it useless.

    Lith had learned it after bing a Spellbreaker, but he had never bothered to convert it into true magic because of its harsh limitations. It required physical contact, hence it was useless in battle.

    Any enemy he could touch, Lith could kill. Death too would remove any imprint and he could inflict it from distance. Clean te was also ineffective against booby traps and barriers.

    The two effectsbined meant that any explosive device would blow up in his face and that he couldn¡¯t use it to open shielded doors like those of Zolgrish¡¯sb.

    The arm protector didn¡¯t budge, but Lith¡¯s shoulder wasn¡¯t so lucky. Yozmogh dislocated it with the same ease as if he was breaking a twig and kept pulling. The pain was enough to make an adult man faint, but Lith had already shut down his receptors.

    A second sh from the silver sphere and the arm protector went as limp as Lith¡¯s arm, allowing the Balor to take it away.

    "Impressive. I would¡¯ve never thought there was something Zolgrish¡¯s magic couldn¡¯t steal."

    Lith replied by stopping his attempt to fly away. Air magic supported the Balor¡¯s wings, making him faster than he ever could. While they were fighting in mid air, Lith grabbed Yozmogh¡¯s silver air with his good arm and struck at his nose with a knee.

    Blood and teeth scattered throughout the room as Lith used the energy that his tier four spell, Vampiric Touch, stole from Yozmogh to fix his injured arm. Lith followed up by extending his leg like a spring and kicking the Balor¡¯s chin like a horse.

    Yozmogh crashed against a library, but he never stopped smiling.

    "It¡¯s over, human." He said showing Lith his perfectly healed right hand and light wing.

    "We can do this all day and the result would be the same. You can fight, but you cannot win."

    Lith sneered, using the time the Balor was wasting trying to crush his spirit to use Invigoration and recover his strength.

    "Foolish mortal!" Through his white eye, Yozmogh could check Lith¡¯s condition with the same uracy as a diagnostic spell. He spread his six wings, sucking the world energy and returning to his peak condition.

    "You only have two choices. Teach me the secret of Awakening or die. Why do you think you¡¯re still alive?"

    "Because you¡¯re weak. Not for ack of trying." Usually, Lith wouldn¡¯t speak to the daily madman, but by breaking his imprint on Solus, Yozmogh had managed to aplish something that many before him had attempted and failed to do.

    He had made Lith angry.

    "Stop wasting my time with your yapping and give my artifact back to me."

    Yozmoghughed and pressed the protector against his right arm. The artifact grew in size until it fit like a glove.

    "The lich is a thief and a liar. He trapped you just like he trapped us. You had no chance to begin with. Soon Dann¡¯Kah will be back. Soon my minions will revive. You couldn¡¯t defeat me even with all of your precious artifacts.

    "What do you think you can do now that you¡¯ve got nothing and are alone?"

    "No." Lith shook his head while emitting a strong deep blue aura which infused him with all the elements.

    "Not alone." As Lith bolted forward, Solus¡¯s arm protector shrunk again, using spirit magic to boost her own strength and crush Yozmogh¡¯s arm in the process. At the same time, she unleashed both her most powerful spells against her helpless enemy.

    Clean te could break any normal imprint, but not the bond between her and Lith. Only specific artifacts, like Nalear¡¯s box, were capable of such a feat. Otherwise destroying cursed objects like the ck Star wouldn¡¯t have been so difficult.

    Solus had a will of her own, so she could restore Lith¡¯s imprint the moment is was jammed. Clean te was like getting pped to her. It was painful, but far from enough to make her lose consciousness.

    Still, both Lith and her could feel their bond was being threatened, their mind slipping out of synch, even though for just a split second. It triggered the trauma Nalear had inflicted them when she had forcefully separated them.

    Solus injected her tier four Death Zone and tier five Spirit of Decay directly inside the Balor¡¯s body to vent out her rage, spreading them like a disease that made her victim rot from the inside.

    Physical contact made darkness magic capable of achieving its maximum potential, even more so now that Solus had the inside of the arm protector turn into countless thorns that pierced Yozmogh¡¯s flesh until they cut his bones.

    The two darkness spells coursed through Yozmogh, draining his vitality like he had been gutted and making him fall to his knees. He activated his ck wing to stop or at least weaken them while his white eye mended the damage.

    It was bound to work since Solus¡¯s green mana core couldn¡¯t resist for long to the raw strength Yozmogh possessed. As long as his light wing was undamaged, it would provide his white eye endless mana.

    When the infinite shed with the finite, the oue was written in stone.

    That was why Lith¡¯s first move was to pierce the white eye with his extended fingers while releasing electricity from his fingertips.

 Chapter 552 Bloody Revenge Part 1

    Even though their improvised trap had been a sess, Lith lived it as a defeat. The enemy had forced Solus off his arm and stolen her from him. She had left of her own will, to prevent Lith¡¯s limb from being ripped off and then nned the counter attack with him via their mind link.

    Lith appreciated the brilliance of their n. It had created an opportunity and broken the slippery stalemate they had been stuck in, yet he didn¡¯t like it one bit. He had already spent one lifetime being robbed of everything and everyone he held dear.

    Lith wasn¡¯t willing to lose anything or anyone else. After losing Carl to a drunken driver, after almost losing Solus due to Nalear¡¯s scheming, Lith had sworn that as long as he drew breath, his destiny would be his own.

    Clean te had hurt Solus, and her pain was his pain. In Lith¡¯s eyes, Yozmogh was Nalear back from the grave, attempting once again to take Solus away from him. Lith was happy the Balor couldn¡¯t die, because it meant there was no end to the pain he could inflict him.

    Solus did her part, forcing Yozmogh to focus on his rotting body and almost forget about Lith¡¯s existence. When he darted forward, the Balor activated his other four eyes. Ratpack emerged from the shadows on his blind side, spinning above his head the bundle of chains and envelops that was his ¡¯enchanted chainmail¡¯.

    The small undead threw it at Yozmogh¡¯s head and hitting him with a thud. The chains melted over his face while the burning letters set the Balor¡¯s hair aze. The sudden distraction plus the close range made the elemental beams¡¯ trajectory telegraphed.

    Lith dodged them and struck at the white eye, pumping bolts of lighting inside of it so that they would strike the Balor¡¯s brain and burn the surrounding tissues. Yozmogh screamed in outrage as his light wing went dark.

    "It works! I knew not even master so cruel to deceive Ratpack. Chainmail really is Balors bane." He said as his Coward¡¯s Mantle made him ethereal again. Taking a cheap shot was one thing, facing Yozmogh was another.

    Without the eye to store the light element, the white wing was no better than a pigeon¡¯s. Now only the ck wing¡¯s jamming effect remained. Solus pushed forward with thest of her energy and spread the dark energies to the creature¡¯s lungs.

    Darkness fusion prevented Yozmogh from feeling pain, but he still needed to breathe. His body wasn¡¯t able to follow Lith¡¯s speed anymore. The Balor extended his left arm to grab the Ranger, only to have it deflected to the side as Lith struck at its exposed elbow with his own.

    No matter how strong the enemy was, joints couldn¡¯t be trained. With his right arm turned into a pulp and the left one shattered at an unnatural angle, Yozmogh couldn¡¯t react when Lith moved behind him and ripped off his ck and yellow wings.

    Solus¡¯s spells had corrupted his lungs to the point that he could barely breathe. After that, she focused the dark energy against the Balor¡¯s eyes until only empty sockets remained.

    Yozmogh was helpless as a newborn in front of an adult as Lith removed his wings and then his legs.

    ¡¯Are you alright, Solus?¡¯ Lith asked as soon as she returned to him.

    ¡¯Peachy, thanks. I¡¯m just exhausted for going all out. I need to use Invigoration or it will take me hours to recover.¡¯

    ¡¯Take your time while I fix thest details.¡¯ Lith took out the Gatekeeper sword and opened a Warp Steps that sent Yozmogh inside one of the closed cells.

    Lith couldn¡¯t afford to kill him, otherwise Dann¡¯Kah would be even stronger by assimting the lich¡¯s life force that resided within the Balor¡¯s battered body.

    The Skinwalker Armor was still inactive, but it had suffered only minor damages. The Gatekeeper, however, seemed to be on the brink of shattering, so Lith ced it on a nearby silver table, waiting for his enchanted items to reactivate.

    Solus stored both the Invisibility Mirror and the Clean te Sphere inside her pocket dimension, alongside with all the artifacts she had stolen from Yozmogh while pretending to be under his control.

    They still bore his imprint and couldn¡¯t be used until he was alive. Only when she was sure that their defeated enemy had no way to harm them did she activate Invigoration to refill her green mana core.

    While she wasn¡¯t linked to a mana geyser, her only medium with the world energy was Lith¡¯s body. It made her recovery speed much slower than a normal Awakened and put stress on herpanion who had to absorb and refine the world energy for her.

    Performing the breathing technique with his mouth while keeping his strain to a minimum required her full focus, making it impossible for her to use any of her magical senses.

    It was the reason why she avoided taking part in the fights unless it was strictly necessary. Not having much to do, Lith studied the items on the Forges looking for something useful.

    Unluckily, Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh had already taken all the artifacts the lich hadpleted, leaving behind only items that had yet to be enchanted. Even the library proved to be off limits for him.

    The translucent blue barrier didn¡¯t harm him but didn¡¯t let him reach the books either.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t give it a try at cracking those protections until I know what happened to Zolgrish. If hees back and finds me messing with his stuff, he will not be pleased.¡¯ Lith thought.

    As soon as the monsters who had died during the previous battle resurrected, Lith crippled them too before sending them in an empty cell. At that point, Clean te¡¯s effect wore off.

    Lith imprinted and restored the Skinwalker Armor before moving to the Gatekeeper. Invigoration revealed to him that although the sword¡¯s pseudo core was still intact, the damage was so extensive that even a weak impact could bring it beyond the point of recovery.

    It was like a patient on the verge of starvation. Lith couldn¡¯t infuse it with massive doses of mana, otherwise the same energies meant to save it would make it crumble. He injected into the de small amounts of mana, triggering its self repair properties.

    Now that Solus was done recovering, she helped him by coating the de like a mold and redirecting the energy where it was needed the most.

    ¡¯It¡¯s better if we stop now.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯The pseudo core is almost exhausted. It needs some time to recharge.¡¯

    Lith observed the sword for a moment before sheathing it. It was still too damaged to be of any use in battle, but at least it was no longer in danger of shattering.

    "Ratpack?" Lith called.

    The small undead emerged from the shadows a few secondster, when he was sure that no enemy was still around and that Lith wasn¡¯t angry at him.

    "You wee." Ratpack said.

    "I told you chainmail powerful artifact." He puffed out his chest with pride.

    "Your ¡¯help¡¯ was unnecessary. I was about to Blink, but your meddling ruined my n. If Yozmogh had started shaking his head in pain, no exit point would have been safe."

    "You wee." Ratpack didn¡¯t budge.

 Chapter 553 Bloody Revenge Part 2

    Lith looked at his clock. There was still half an hour before the Wardens sent by the army would start tearing down the undergroundplex. He had no intention of calling off the attack. Not until he was sure that the orc shaman was no more.

    "Can you turn off the device?" Lith asked Ratpack while pointing at the amplifier.

    "No. We must wait for master."

    Lith cursed his bad luck and used Clean te on the barrier surrounding the amplifier to no avail. The spell required physical contact to work and the paranoid lich had shielded his creation on purpose.

    Invigoration too worked in a simr way, so that Lith¡¯s only way to pass time was to study the pseudo core of the various barriers around theb, hoping that Solus could reproduce them to improve her tower form¡¯s defenses.

    ***

    Zolgrish and Dann¡¯Kah were locked in a deadly embrace. None of them could allow to let go of the other because the undead energies kept moving back and forth from their bodies.

    Choosing the wrong moment to push away the opponent would have meant to lose all hope of regaining their freedom. The lich would end up being trapped inside a body even inferior to that of a skeleton forever, while the orc shaman would have been reverted to his fallen state.

    To add insult to injury, he would be crushed under the weight of his magic crystal and be defeated without even getting a chance to fight back.

    He was able to keep the crystalpressed in the form of a ring only thanks to the undead energies coursing through his body. They restored the powers his bloodline possessed before the fall and granted him the lich¡¯s inhuman strength.

    Even if it appeared small, the ring actually weighed over a hundred kilograms, something he couldn¡¯t lift with just one finger in his orc form. The tug of war of sheer willpower was quite bnced.

    The orc-elf drew his strength from the grudge he held against the lich and from the echoes of the past shamans inhabiting his ring. The moment they perceived the lich¡¯s mind, they stopped harassing Dann¡¯Kah and joined his efforts, having mistaken Zolgrish for a member of the dreaded demon race.

    Despite his current madness, Zolgrish had the indomitable will of all those who had not only sacrificed most of their humanity to achieve lichhood, but also had survived the excruciating pain that severing part of their soul and mana core involved.

    He had the home advantage as well, since it was his body that the undead energies were supposed to inhabit. Unfortunately, the long imprisonment the lich had undergone and the support the magic crystal gave Dann¡¯Kah were enough to even the field.

    "I knew I should have never bestowed upon you such a huge crystal, you ungrateful dog! Without me, you would be no better than a wild beast, only worried about your survival!" The lich said.

    "Without you, I would still have my tribe and my dreams. You ughtered them all for your experiments and enved me! Yours are no gifts, but curses." Dann¡¯Kah rebuked.

    Zolgrish had Warped them to the Disciplining Hall, where he had killed Dann¡¯Kah over and over again to break him into submission. He hoped that both his words and the dreadful memories linked to such a ce would give him an edge.

    Yet the orc-elf didn¡¯t flinch. Contrary to Zolgrish¡¯s expectations, his maneuver backfired.

    Up until that moment, the lich¡¯s will had been like a ck fog, slowly engulfing everything on its path, whereas the orc¡¯s had been like a fire fueled by his hatred that consumed the darkness on its wake.

    Now the fire in Dann¡¯Kah¡¯s mind became a focused jet stream of mes that pierced the ck fog, forcing Zolgrish on his knees. Dann¡¯Kah could feel the undead energies abandoning the lich and submitting to their new master.

    "You¡¯re finished old man. You¡¯ll spend the rest of your eternal life as a ve in my mines!" Dann¡¯Kah cast the tier three darkness spell Corrosion. It conjured a thin fog that consumed what little was left of Zolgrish¡¯s body to finish him off.

    "Am I?" Zolgrish replied with a smug voice.

    Using magic required focus, focus that Dann¡¯Kah had to withdraw from their battle of will, leaving himself exposed. The ck fog which represented the lich¡¯s dominance let the orc¡¯s fire pass, attacking it from the sides and the back.

    Dann¡¯Kah lost control over the undead energy as well as over his spell, which faded into nothingness.

    "No matter the form you take, an idiot will always be an idiot." Zolgrish was now dressed in a luxurious golden mage robe. His face would have been mistaken for a human¡¯s if not for the red light of undeath burning in his eyes instead of pupils.

    To look like a skeleton, a rotting corpse, or exactly as they were on the moment of their death, it was just a matter of choice for a lich.

    "Rage by itself it¡¯s useless. I knew that if I¡¯d have you worked up enough, you¡¯d do something stupid. Once you get an edge, you have to consolidate it, like this!" Zolgrish was aware that it was only a matter of time before Dann¡¯Kah recovered.

    He had only a few seconds left before they went back to a stalemate. So, instead of wasting focus casting a spell he couldn¡¯t control, he used it to grip the orc¡¯s finger strong enough to take off the ring and throw it away.

    Suddenly Dann¡¯Kah was alone and much weaker. Without the crystal, he couldn¡¯t draw upon the world energy to heal from the wounds that the lich¡¯s deadly touch inflicted upon him, nor he could use his ancestors¡¯ will to reinforce his own.

    "I need no crystal!" Dann¡¯Kah said. Just like Zolgrish had done a second ago, now it was his turn to retrieve most of the undead energy.

    His rage burned stronger for having fallen for the lich¡¯s trickery and allowed him to push the ck fog back. A crown made of world energy materialized above his head and his grip grew in strength to the point of cracking the lich¡¯s fingers.

    Zolgrish inwardly cursed hid bad luck. Apparently, what his unwilling assistantcked in cunning, he made up with fury.

    ***

    Lith had just finished studying the pseudo core of all the lich¡¯s creations he could put his hands on when a Warp Steps opened right in the middle of theb.

    The humanoid figure who stepped out of it was that of a tall man with pointy ears wearing a golden magician robe. The world energy umted inside his body formed a crown of pure mana above his head and made his skin shine like the god of light had descended among men.

    "Dann¡¯Kah defeated master! Every undead for himself." Ratpack had prudently remained near the door and so had Lith. Yet while the small creature bolted away, Lith stood still with a Warp Steps at the ready.

    There was something odd in the orc shaman¡¯s energy signature.

    "Zelda! It¡¯s so nice to see you defeated that treacherous Balor. I was going to thank Ratpack too, but that idiot ruined the moment. Again." The lich sighed.

    Lith wasn¡¯t upset by Zolgrish not remembering his name right not even once, as much as worried by the inexorable ticking of time.

 Chapter 554 Utter Failure Part 1

    "Pointy ears, shining skin. Were you really an elf when you were alive?" Lith asked. Less than twenty minutes remained before the army brought down the house, yet while dealing with a deranged immortal, he needed tact and opportunity to break the bad news.

    That or a timely escape pretending to not know anything about what was happening. Lith had to y it by ear.

    "What? Gods, no. It would make me a self righteous jerk. This is just a side effect of draining so many pseudo elves. It will fade in due time. I am, or better, I was human." Zolgrish walked to the device, dispelling the barrier which enveloped it with a wave of his hand.

    Then, he needed a short chant to turn it off and a longer one to make the spells imbued inside the adamant ring go haywire and destroy the artifact. Once a forgemastering process wasplete, it couldn¡¯t be redone.

    Yozmogh and Dann¡¯Kah had corrupted the amplifier forever, Zolgrish had no way to amend their tampering. The artifact¡¯s destruction freed the souls trapped inside the spheres of smoke which were orbiting around it, waiting to be provided with new bodies.

    Each one of them released a small pir of light that shot toward the sky, filling theb¡¯s stale air with a feeling of joy. Lith instinctively released Death Vision to watch at the scene unfolding in front of him.

    In his eyes, the space upied by the amplifier looked like a ck hole copsing on itself. Without its constant pull, the souls of the creatures imprisoned within the undergroundplex were released.

    At first, only a few managed to leave, but as the ck hole disappeared, more and more souls escaped its grasp until a hail of shooting starts almost blinded Lith. Yet he had no time to appreciate the light show, nor to wonder why he could feel the souls¡¯ fleeting emotions whereas Solus couldn¡¯t.

    His eyes were fixated on Zolgrish, who under the effect of Death Vision died several times in the space of a few seconds, but always in the same way. His body would revert into a cracked skeleton before it turned to dust.

    Just like the Duchess back at Jirni¡¯s birthday party.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! That woman was a lich too. That must be what happens when you break their phctery. The only question remaining is if the Royals are aware of the Duchess¡¯ real identity and if so, how they deal with the undead nobles under their rule.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "This is a disaster." Zolgrish sighed.

    "Without Dann¡¯Kah and Yozmogh I can¡¯t make another amplifier. I wasted years to build this ce, more years to equip it with all the instruments I needed, and decades to make that goddamn thing!

    "It¡¯s the biggest failure of my career." His rage was almost tangible and the mana currents he was emitting were so violent that Death Vision stopped showing his demise.

    "To make matters even worse, those horny monkeys and their raids have given away theb¡¯s position. Even if they didn¡¯t, only someone dumb, blind, and deaf could miss all those fireworks. I need to get out of here."

    Zolgrish restored hisb¡¯s power, making Life Vision and mana sense useless once again.

    "About my payment..." Lith didn¡¯t like the sudden turns of events. The lich was in a hurry, turning lots of levers and pressing even more buttons on the various holographic panels which appeared above the various Forges.

    The amount of mana in the air was getting thicker by the second, making Lith¡¯s skin crawl.

    "Yes, yes. I haven¡¯t forgotten. Usually I would give you a tour of my treasury and let you pick a reward of your choice within reason. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have much time. You are a Ranger, right?" Zolgrish asked.

    Lith nodded in reply. If even Ratpack recognized his uniform, deranged or not, Zolgrish was bound to be able to do the math.

    "That means the whole army knows about this ce. They will raid this ce in hours whereas I would need months to take everything away with me.

    "I¡¯m weakened and almost out of mana. A few hits would be enough to destroy my physical form, and after being away from my phctery for so long, I don¡¯t know how much time it would take me to be back at full strength.

    "Rather than being robbed blind, I prefer destroying everything myself!" The determination in his voice didn¡¯t leave space for debate.

    "What about me?" Lith refused to change the topic.

    "Oh, yes." Zolgrish pushed another button and the holographic interface turned from bright blue to a blinking deep red.

    "You can keep whatever you took on your way to save me, plus I want you to have this." A p of his hands made a mint condition Forge appear in the middle of the room.

    "It¡¯s the only unspoiled one left and after collecting my most precious belongings I have no space left inside my dimensional items to store something so bulky. It would be a waste to destroy it."

    "It¡¯s pure adamant." Lith put his hand on the massive silvery table, feeling his mana flow through it without encountering any resistance.

    "Yes, it is, dear Feron. Now give me the artifacts Yozmogh had on himself. They are thest batch I made with my treacherous assistants and they are priceless. They should be..."

    Zolgrish listed them with uncanny memory for someone incapable of getting Lith¡¯s name right even once.

    ¡¯At least Solus got some time to study them. The problem is that aside from the mirror, I have no idea what they do.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "He also had this." Lith handed the lich the silver sphere. He still considered Clean te trashpared to Invigoration.

    "My Eraser! That bastard even dared to steal my office supplies. You can keep it. I produce and lose them in bulks. Those little buggers disappear like they have a mind of their own. Now you better go. The whole ce will blow up in less than a minute."

    Lith stored the adamant Forge and Warped away. Only then did he allow himself to smile. He had given Zolgrish all of the artifacts he had listed, but Yozmogh had actually more.

    ¡¯I would have returned the mirror and the sphere anyway. Ratpack witnessed Yozmogh using them. I couldn¡¯t afford being ratted out and then living watching my back from Zolgrish.

    ¡¯Now I have a purple crystal, a lot of ingredients the dryads gifted me, and an adamant forge! I have all the necessary to craft a masterpiece!¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, too bad we have no idea what to create.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯Either we get the blueprints for something worth using such treasures, or you need to stop for a few years to devise one of our own and do some tests. We have only one block of adamant, after all.¡¯

    Lith was about to rebuke something about an improved version of the Gatekeeper when his militarymunication amulet drew his attention.

    "Ranger Verhen, do you copy?" The hologram of Brigadier General Vorgh appeared.

    "Sir, what are you doing here?" Lith asked.

    "We lost your signal about half an hour ago, so your handler sent the Wardens to check the situation."

    ¡¯The timing matches with the ambush. Probably theb¡¯s shields blocked the external interferences.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "They found a small army waiting for them and almost got killed. Where are you right now?"

    "Outside theplex, why?" Lith said.

    Vorgh¡¯s answer was covered by the rumbling sound of an earthquake which made part of the Broken Spine sink several hundred meters below the ground level.

 Chapter 555 Utter Failure Part 2

    ¡¯That was way less than a minute! It doesn¡¯t make sense, if Zolgrish wanted to kill me he could have just tried to tamper with my Warp.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Good gods! I have been ordered to make the arrays copse and kill all of the monsters inside, but not like this!" Vorgh said.

    "A whole ancientb, centuries of knowledge. All lost forever! What the heck happened down there?"

    "I have no clue." Lith lied through his teeth.

    "After defeating the leader of the Balors, I had no strength left to fight the orc shaman. Between his powerful purple crystal, his mutated minions, and their magical weaponry I had no chance by myself."

    "A shaman with a purple crystal?" Vorgh said.

    "Was he tampering with the arrays?"

    "I don¡¯t know. I was too busy saving my skin. All I know is that he was using his crystal to seize control of the facility." Lith replied.

    "Dammit! Why didn¡¯t you tell us earlier? My spell and his meddling must have triggered a domino effect. Now there is nothing we can salvage."

    "With all due respect, sir, I stated in my earlier report that there was a shaman. I didn¡¯t know about the crystal until I saw it with my own eyes and as you said yourself, my amulet was blocked." Lith didn¡¯t like the allegations implied in the Brigadier General¡¯s voice.

    He was right, of course, but that didn¡¯t make them any more pleasant.

    "You are really lucky, son. Had I not waited to hear from you before activating my array, you would have died along with the monsters. We can¡¯t afford to have a nest so close to the borders. Especially one full of well armed mutants."

    Vorgh sighed. Lith¡¯s doctored version of the story made sense, but the General wasn¡¯t going to apologize. The highmand would hold him responsible for the loss of theb and fry his ass. Being nice was thest thing on his mind.

    Lith gave him a salute and hung up before calling his handler for a full report. Even though it was already night-time, Kam replied immediately. After returning home from work, she didn¡¯t change her clothes in case something happened, so she was still wearing her uniform.

    Her relief hearing Lith was alright didn¡¯tst long. After all that time, she was used to hearing him casually talk about risking his life in battle, but when he told her about theb¡¯s copse, Kam went pale and almost dropped themunicator.

    She called him from her civilian amulet the moment Lith was done with his report.

    "Those idiots! When I lost your signal, I asked for reinforcements to check your status, not to have you killed. Thank the gods nothing happened." She said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, you just followed procedure. None of what happened is your fault. The worst thing is that I seeded in protecting Jambel, but recovering theb was an utter failure. No leave for me this time." Lith sighed.

    Lith had gained quite some loot from the mission, but he had nothing to offer the Griffon Kingdom. Before revealing the existence of the silver mines, he wanted to check if he was entitled to a share of them or just get a thank you handshake.

    Even that was a longshot, since the destruction of the undergroundplex had probably scattered the silver veins everywhere. Recovering some of it from the debris might turn out to be even more difficult than finding a new vein.

    "About that, there¡¯s already a new assignment waiting for you tomorrow." Kam was depressed too. She had hoped they would have some time to spend together since there were many things that she wanted to share with him.

    "At least tell me it¡¯s a routine job." Lith said.

    "I don¡¯t want to jinx it, so I¡¯ll just tell you what I read. A local noble, Viscount Krame has hired an entire adventurers guild, allegedly to protect his household and properties during the winter lockdown.

    "The city lord called the army a week ago, saying that Krame was using his private army to harass the citizens of Zantia and ignoring the local constables. We haven¡¯t heard from him since then, so it¡¯s up to you to go check on the situation."

    "Great! A ¡¯normal¡¯ case again. With my luck, this Krame is trying to resurrect an ancient god, or maybe an Abomination has reced him and is building an army of greater undead." Lith said.

    His ridiculous scenarios made her giggle, at least until she remembered Thrud¡¯s scheme, the ck Star, and suddenly they didn¡¯t seem so far fetched anymore.

    "Wouldn¡¯t you like to talk about something more cheerful?" She said while taking off her jacket and letting her hair down.

    "Like what? I have yet to report what happened to Lord Wyalon, then I have to find a ce to sleep before diving into the next mess this job has in store for me. I even have our big talk waiting for me in Belius.

    "You¡¯d find more cheer in a graveyard than in my life."

    "Like the fact that my first day as a field assistant went great." She replied with a smile.

    "Oh, shit! Sorry Kami, Ipletely forgot..."

    "Or about the fact that I keep practicing my cooking." Kam cut him short. She had risked losing him too many times in a single day to care about such a small matter.

    ¡¯I work from nine to five and then return to the safety of my own home, whereas Lith is on a deadly clock 24/7.¡¯ She thought.

    "Gods, I¡¯m all sweaty from the stress. Let me take a quick shower and then I¡¯ll call you back."

    "No need, I want to hear everything about your first day on the job. I¡¯ll dly keep youpany." Lith said after making sure that he waspletely alone.

    "Did you miss me so much or are you just a pervert?" Yet she didn¡¯t wait for his answer before bringing the amulet with her in the bathroom as she undressed.

    ***

    The following day, city of Xylita

    Going back to her hometown was never easy for Kam. Thanks to its flourishingmerce, Xylita was the smallest city in the Ker region to have a Warp Gate. It was far from being a metropolis and it was resistant to changes as well as its inhabitants.

    Kam had many memories from the time she lived there, but none happy. She would return solely to visit her sister, Zinya, and it wasn¡¯t an easy feat. The two sisters loved each other, but Zinya¡¯s marriage crippled her more than her blindness ever could.

    Her husband, Fallmug, forbade her any social rtionship without his supervision. He considered Zinya a clumsy, useless thing. Her helplessness was cute in the bedchamber or as long as she sat still, like the pretty flower she was.

    Fallmug couldn¡¯t bear the thought of his wife bringing him shame with her disability, or even worse, pity. His business rivals had spread many rumors about why he had chosen a blind woman for wife and each one was rude at best.

    Ever since Kam had disowned her family, he had forbidden her from setting foot in his home.

    The two sisters could only meet during Zinya¡¯s birthday. On every other day, Kam needed to bribe the house staff or wait for a letter from her sister to casually mention an event she would attend so that they could casually meet.

    This time, however, things were different.

 Chapter 556 Patience of the Weak Part 1

    Zinya¡¯s house was a two story building, in the middle rim of Xylita. Her husband came from a family of merchants that had been on the rise during the past decade. Kam shivered at the thought it could have been her living there.

    To bind the Sarta and the Retta households by blood, her parents had offered the young Fallmug his choice of their daughters to be his bride. Back then, she was still obedient and na?ve.

    Only after seeing her sister¡¯s misery had Kam found the strength to rebel against the fate her parents had set for her and joined the army to escape from the marriage they had arranged for her.

    Fallmug had picked Zinya because she was prettier than Kam and also because back then Kam was too young. In his eyes, there was no point in having a toy if he had to wait a couple of years to y with it.

    Kam steeled herself, trying not to think about the lust filled nces Fallmug would give her whenever they met or his creepy remarks about regretting his past choices.

    She knocked on the solid wood door and waited. Vylna, one of the housemaids, opened the door. Her countenance went from surprise to contempt in the space of a single moment when she recognized Kam.

    With her pretty face and curvy body, she was currently her master¡¯s favorite, making her more powerful than thedy of the house. In her eyes, Kam was just an outcast from whom she could make some pocket money from time to time.

    "You¡¯re not wee here. Please leave, or I¡¯ll call the guards." Vylna said when she noticed that Kam wasn¡¯t handing her the usual two silver coins. Vylna wouldn¡¯t risk her master¡¯s anger for a smaller sum than what a Lieutenant made in a week.

    Kam grabbed the door¡¯s edge, blocking it with ease. She was weak for a soldier, but she had always kept herself in shape, whereas Vylna was just weak.

    "Good morning. I¡¯m Lieutenant Kam Yehval, Field Assistant Constable. I¡¯m here because we have received an anonymous report of domestic abuse. I need to speak with Lady Sarta." Kam shoved her badge in the housemaid face and rejoiced seeing her going pale.

    "Master Fallmug doesn¡¯t want you in here, badge or not." Vylna stuttered.

    "You can¡¯te inside without a warrant and I doubt there is any report. You¡¯re just making it up!"

    Yet she was wrong. Kam had written it herself and submitted it diligently following protocol. For once, the inescapable tendrils of bureaucracy were on her side.

    "Your unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation forces me to ask for a search warrant. I¡¯m sure mister Sarta will be grateful to you when his house is turned upside down by the officers. I wonder what the neighbors will say, though."

    Kam took out her army amulet and called the local authorities with a voice so loud that many people stepped out of their doors to see what was happening.

    "Please stop, miss Yehval. You cane inside." Vylna grabbed her hand as fear quickly turned into panic.

    Having a Constable at the door was already bad for the Sarta, getting their house searched like they were petty criminals, might ruin their reputation and business. Fallmug would y her alive if he lost even a copper coin because of her.

    "It¡¯s Constable Yehval to you." Kam broke Vylna¡¯s grip, her voice oozed poison. She was seconds away from pping the maid¡¯s face, but she held her temper unwilling to taint what her uniform stood for by abusing her powers.

    "Touch me again, and I¡¯ll arrest you for assaulting an officer."

    Vylna seemed to shrink. She lowered her head, incapable of looking Kam in the eyes anymore, and turned around to show her the way. Just like Xylita, the house hadn¡¯t changed.

    The floor and the walls of the house were covered by deep brown wood briquettes, giving it a warm appearance of hospitality. The hallway was filled with portraits of smiling members of the Sarta family.

    There was even one of Zinya with her husband and their three children. The hypocrisy of it made Kam want to spit on the precious gold embroidered sky-blue carpet that led from the hallway to the tea room on the ground floor.

    Aside from the heavy steps and the voices of the house staff, the ce was silent. The walls were pristine, and judging by the many fragile ornaments decorating the furniture along the corridors, the kids weren¡¯t faring better than their mother.

    ¡¯Thank the gods I¡¯m not a mage, otherwise not even my sense of duty would stop me from destroying this ursed ce all the way down to its foundations.¡¯ Kam thought.

    Her rage peaked when Vylna used a key to unlock the tea room¡¯s door.

    "I see the ims were urate. Lady Sarta is prisoner in her own home." From the moment Kam had stepped through the door, she had never stopped typing on the holographic interface of her amulet nor taking pictures.

    "It¡¯s not like you think. Our poordy is blind. We do it for her own protection." Vylna said with a quivering voice.

    "It¡¯s exactly as I think. Now leave us alone." Kam took the key from her hand, just in case, and pushed her out of the room before locking it from the inside. Just like the rest of the house, the tea room was pristine.

    The white sofas and armchairs looked like they had never been used. The center of the hardwood table in the middle of the room had been carved out and reced by a crystal b.

    Several vases containing fresh flowers were gracefully arranged around the room along with white cotton doilies. Zinya was sitting on a chair near the ss paneled east wall, as if she was looking at the outside.

    She was so still that with her light brown hair, paleplexion and immacte yellow day dress, she almost looked like a doll.

    "Zin, are you alright?" Kam was sick with worry, but she only spoke after activating the Silencer, a magical device that prevented them from being eavesdropped on.

    "Kami?" Zinya turned around following her voice, breaking into a smile.

    "I thought my ears were ying a trick on me. What are you doing here?"

    Kam rushed to hug her sister as small tears streamed down her face.

    "Gods, I¡¯ve missed you so much. Why are you so pale? Is something wrong?"

    "The Healer says it¡¯s just depression. Since the children left the house, I feel very lonely." Zinya replied.

    "What happened to them?" Kam¡¯s voice was filled with concern. The oldest one was almost ten years old, so she could have been sent to a boarding school, but the other two were too young for that.

    "Business isn¡¯t doing good, so Fallmug is often in a bad mood. I know how to be quiet, but the children scream and run a lot when they y. So their grandmother took them with her to avoid further... idents. You have yet to answer my question, Kami."

    "I¡¯m here for your eyes." Kam said almost choking on her rage.

    "Thanks to my new job, I can now afford to get you cured. I can¡¯t bear to see you like this any longer. You deserve a better life, and I know someone that can help us with that."

 Chapter 557 Patience of the Weak Part 2

    "Are you talking about your new boyfriend? You two are the talk of the entire family. Mother always tries to convince me to change your mind about helping the family business. Fallmug too." Zinya said.

    "Did that bastard dare to touch you?" Kam unconsciously took out a lightning wand from her dimensional amulet, wishing Fallmug would give her a reason to use it.

    "Of course not." She shook her head.

    "He considers me like a property, and as long as I behave, he takes care of me. Isn¡¯t it nice of him to buy so many flowers for me? Between the sunlight from the window and their sweet scent, it¡¯s like being in a park."

    "Yes, it¡¯s my boyfriend. He can give you sight if you allow me to bring him here." Kam said, glossing over Fallmug¡¯s character.

    "Why did you say ¡¯afford¡¯, then?" Zinya asked.

    "Because the procedure costs a lot. I can¡¯t ask something like that of him and expect that it wouldn¡¯t weigh on our rtionship. Between the gaps in age, social status, and career, I still have no clue how we ended up together.

    "I can¡¯t let money tip the scales even further. It would make me feel indebted to him and if things ever go sour between us, I¡¯ll never know if I would be staying with him because I cared or just out of guilt."

    "Oh, my." Zinya chuckled. "You put a lot of thought into it. You are still determined not to marry, I see."

    "I did because you are the only family I have left. As for not marrying, you¡¯re wrong, you¡¯re wrong. What I¡¯m determined about, is to not be dependent on anyone. I¡¯ll pay for your treatment with my own money, because you are my sister.

    "And if I stay with him it will be because I want to, not because I have to. I prefer owning a bank some money than him your life. Some debts can never be repaid."

    "All more the reason for me not to undergo the treatment, Kami. I¡¯m sorry you came here for nothing." Zinya released her sister from the embrace and sat down again.

    "What do you mean? Thest time you said you wouldn¡¯t do it because of its price. Now I can afford it. Even if I don¡¯t be a Royal Constable, as a field assistant I can pay the debt in a few years. What made you change your mind?"

    "I never changed my mind, I simply lied to you because it made things easier." Zinya wiped the tear she didn¡¯t manage to hold back.

    "I know how it works, I¡¯ve spoken to countless Healers. Back when business was good, Fallmug wanted to heal me to save himself to further embarrassment and be free to parade me around like the trophy wife I am. Yet I said no, even to him.

    "If something goes wrong while altering the life force, I could end up worse than just blind. I could be also deaf, if not mentally ill. I don¡¯t want to risk losing the little I have to live for.

    "If I couldn¡¯t even hear or feel you and my children, then I¡¯d really be nothing more than a baby-making doll! I¡¯m afraid, Kami. I¡¯m terrified of what could happen to me after the procedure."

    "Lith is one of the five best Healers of the Kingdom, he is even able to use rejuvenation magic. The god of healing himself respects him, and believe me, that alone is an inhumane feat. Manohar doesn¡¯t even respect the Royals." Kam said.

    "Your condition gets cured every day by far lesspetent Healers. There¡¯s no need to be afraid."

    "Quite the contrary." Zinya shook her head. "If he seeds, things will get worse anyway. My blindness is the reason why I can ept living this life. Without hope for a better future, Fallmug¡¯s is a decent husband.

    "His constant cheating on me, how he treats the children, everything I can¡¯t see I can pretend never happens. It makes this cage bearable. If I¡¯m cured, I could never tolerate this situation."

    "Then get cured and ask for a divorce!" Kam blurted out, obtaining only more denial in response.

    "And where would I live? Our family would disown me like they did you. What would happen to my children? No Constable would entrust them to a penniless mother. I have no house, no job, no skills."

    "If you report the domestic abuse, you can get custody. You can all live with me, in my house." Kam said.

    "What can I report? I¡¯m blind. What I hear and think happened has no value in a court of justice and the house staff would back Fallmug. Even if somehow, I did get custody, how could I ask you to pay for everything on top of your debt?

    "Kami, face reality. Could you really afford to support four more people with just one ie? ording to the Healers I¡¯ve consulted, it would take me months just to be able to distinguish between colors, give a name to everything I see, or learn how to write and read.

    "How could I ask you to burden yourself with all of those things on top of your debt? I¡¯m already old and you¡¯re not getting any younger. You¡¯d lose any chance of making a life of your own.

    "My life isn¡¯t good, Kami, but there are a lot of people that have it worse. Let¡¯s drop this subject please." Zinya¡¯s voice was calm andposed like they were talking about someone else.

    Seeing her sister resigned to live the rest of her life as a property rather than a person, realizing how useless all of her efforts and sacrifices to be a Constable had been, Kam Yehval felt as lost as the day she walked into the army¡¯s recruitment center.

    Back then, she was a homeless orphan with nothing but her first name and the clothes she wore as her possessions. Over ten years had passed, yet her helplessness hadn¡¯t changed.

    ***

    The same day, city of Jambel

    "What do you mean, failure?" Baron Wyalon couldn¡¯t believe his own ears and neither could all the people he had assembled for the celebratory banquet he had organized in Lith¡¯s honor.

    "You solved the problem with the monster nest in one day! One thousand enemies gone from dawn to dusk. What could you possibly do better?"

    "The nest was actually an ancientb." Lith tried to exin. "The Kingdom could have learned a lot from it, maybe even have salvaged some of its master¡¯s wisdom." Lith kept a straight face, but he shuddered at the thought of Zolgrish¡¯s madness spreading.

    "I call bullshit!" The Baron said, causing all the nobledies in attendance to gasp at his rudeness his wife to give him an evil eye rivaling that of a Balor.

    "It¡¯s easy talking big when you are the one who risked his neck to explore the ce and find the creatures. I feel much safer knowing that no idiot mage can dig more trouble out of the Broken Spine. A mage¡¯sb is as twisted as his mind. No offense."

    He said after realizing who he was speaking with.

    "None taken." Lith replied. He would have really liked to avoid attending the banquet, but the Baron was a good man and his report was worth much more than General Vorgh¡¯s grievances.

 Chapter 558 Troubling Dead Part 1

    "I read about you,d. You are an overachiever." The Baron said.

    "In life, especially in marriage, you have to ck off from time to time, or your missus will set the bar higher and higher. Sometimes it¡¯s better to let people down, or they will start taking miracles for granted.

    "As for me, I¡¯m plenty satisfied with you solving the crisis without even one of my men dying or my city getting breached. Honestly, I never believed a single Ranger could take on so many monsters alone and I was ready to spend winter in a constant battle of attrition with them.

    "The army will only hear praise about you from me. I know there isn¡¯t much to see here in Jambel, but feel free toe back here with your girlfriend once spring arrives. You¡¯ll always be wee here."

    At those words, Iriel became even paler than she already was and left the table with an excuse. Neither Lith nor the Baron missed how she was all dressed up and had been trying to work up enough courage to speak with Lith for a while.

    ¡¯Seems the Baron did a thorough job while researching me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯He¡¯s a strong and smart man. He saved me the bother of turning down his daughter and if he keeps his word, my merits will not be affected too much by theb¡¯s destruction.¡¯

    "Thanks, Baron. Kam is a real explorer. She loves visiting new ces, but I usually drag her down. I travel so much that as soon as I get leave the only thing I want to do is sit down and rx." Lith said.

    His reply was thest nail in the coffin for Iriel¡¯s na?ve dream of finding a knight in shining armor. She audibly broke into tears and ran away.

    ¡¯Of all the nerve!¡¯ Solus blurted out at his tant lie.

    ¡¯What rx? You don¡¯t even sleep at night unless I force you to do so. The only reasons you spend so much time with Kam is for the ¡¯benefits¡¯ and because you¡¯re afraid that if you treat her like you did Phloria, she¡¯ll leave you too.¡¯

    Solus¡¯s words stung hard. If it was up to Lith, he would spend almost all of his free time inside the tower conducting experiments, setting everything else aside forter.

    Only after Phloria broke up with him did he realize that although they had lived together, practiced together, and trained together during their time at the White Griffon, they had actually spent little time together.

    He had been so focused on his work that he had neglected his girlfriend, his friends, and even his family. But whereas his rtives could ept him growing distant with time and wanting space, Phloria became tired of all his silences, absences, and being always a low priority in his life.

    She had given up on the hope he would open up first, then on attempting to be a bigger part of his life, and finally on their rtionship.

    ¡¯I wonder how she put up with me for so long.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right Solus, but where would I be if I didn¡¯t work so hard? I¡¯ve made sacrifices to build a better future for myself. Everythinges at a price, even happiness.¡¯

    ¡¯You spent your first life loveless until you died alone. I¡¯m not saying what you did was wrong, just that finding someone special is a small miracle. You should treasure such a person, instead of hoping to find another one once she gets tired of your antics.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith mulled over her words all the way to Zantia, his next destination.

    He took into ount the Baron¡¯s teaching, and after calcting that without Solus¡¯s tower Warping ability it would take a normal Ranger a full day to cover such distance, he took the rest of the day to study his loot and restore Trouble¡¯s body.

    Lith had yet to attempt using higher necromancy, mostly because creating a sentient undead was almost like having a child. Even though greater undead were smart and matured fast, they would still start as clean tes, needing parenting and guidance.

    Otherwise they would turn into mindless monsters and attempt to destroy their creator. Lith much preferred lesser undead. They were mindless, disposable, and maybe one day they could work as a temporary body for Solus.

    He had long since learned how to use necromantic energies to regenerate corpses. Irtu, the ckers¡¯ Queen, and now Trouble were all fine additions to his collection. The Balor¡¯s ck eye turned out to be capable of absorbing darkness magic like a sponge.

    ¡¯Even in death, a Balor¡¯s eyes are great magical amplifiers for the corresponding element. Why the heck doesn¡¯t the army bestiary mention any of this?¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Maybe to prevent Rangers from poaching. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if your superiors asked you to give them the body. Even though they are monsters, Balors spawn slowly. They are as rare as they are powerful." Solus pondered.

    "Fuck! I wouldn¡¯t have shown it during my report if I knew it wasn¡¯t just a corpse."

    "Then they wouldn¡¯t have taken you seriously. Without the threat of theb bing a Balor¡¯s spawning ground they would have not sent reinforcements so when theb exploded, you¡¯d have been the fall guy instead of Vorgh." Solus said.

    "If you keep everything for yourself, sooner orter someone will get suspicious about your activities. We¡¯ve gotten away with stealing the purple crystal already. If the army wants the corpse, give it to them. You can¡¯t always win."

    Lith sighed recognizing the truth in Solus¡¯s words. Without the army, he would have never heard about Jambel¡¯s crisis. The adamant Forge and the enchanted items he had acquired there were priceless treasures.

    "Let¡¯s see what happens when I turn a Balor into an undead. I never met a corpse capable of storing so much darkness magic." Lith said.

    "What about resting? You haven¡¯t had a proper night¡¯s sleep in days."

    "I¡¯ve still got a lot of time. I won¡¯t go to Zantia until tomorrow and I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll get to keep the corpse. If I don¡¯t experiment now, I¡¯ll never learn anything about Balors."

    Solus had many things to object with, but since they were inside the tower, there was nothing that could go wrong. Lith followed all of the steps of true necromancy Ka had taught him.

    He conjured a pseudo blood core made of darkness magic with a spark of light magic at its center. It served as an imprint, to create a bond between the undead and its maker which ensured its loyalty.

    The moment the pseudo core touched the corpse, it moved on its own, finding the remnants of the Balor¡¯s mana core and using them to spread its essence.

    "That never happened before. Solus, control arrays." Lith started weaving several spells, but it was toote. The corpse stood up, looking around the necromancyb instead of waiting for orders like amon lesser undead.

    To make matters worse, the red light of undeath which usually animated Lith¡¯s minions, was reced by a zing violet light.

    "Red is for auto pilot, blue when you possess them. What¡¯s violet?" Solus asked.

    "Beats me." Lith replied as he tried to move the undead at will. He could feel his mind resonate with the spark of light in the pseudo blood core. The orders arrived, yet there was a resistance, like a second will battling for control.

 Chapter 559 Troubling Dead Part 2

    Or so Lith thought for a couple of seconds, before the creature started moving around obediently like it was supposed to.

    "Something is wrong. I¡¯m not using tendrils of mana to fuel it since it¡¯s an experiment, but I can feel it getting stronger. Solus?"

    "It¡¯s the eye! Or better, the eyes! Even as undead, they can gather world energy. The ck one, in particr, has formed a mana pool with a strength on par with a red core already and it keeps getting stronger."

    "Ma-master." Trouble stuttered, giving Lith the creeps.

    "Shut it down!" Solus said.

    "I¡¯m trying!" Both his attempts to retrieve the undead energies and to possess the Balor¡¯s body to crush the pseudo core from within had failed. Lith didn¡¯t care if the thing called him master, lord, or hubby.

    He didn¡¯t trust anything he couldn¡¯t control.

    "I have no master!" The creature roared. By receiving a constant supply of darkness element from the ck eye, the pseudo core was bing more stable, independent from Lith¡¯s energy flow.

    The red eye lit up, emitting a tiny jet of fire like it was a gaslighter.

    "He has retained his skills!" Solus and Lith said in unison, although the former with worry and thetter with joy.

    "There¡¯s nothing to be happy about! Given time, he will gather enough mana to use his real powers, and if we destroy the body you¡¯ll end up in trouble with the army." Solus said as she activated her defensive arrays.

    A force field trapped the Balor, forcing him to his knees.

    "You worry too much." Lith walked toward the undead, his right hand extended toward the location of the pseudo core. The closer he got, the stronger his hold over his own mana became.

    Trouble crawled back until he hit the force field, then heshed out, emitting a ck pir against Lith, who took it in head-on. The darkness magic passed through him like it was just colored light. Even the tower¡¯s walls came out unscathed.

    "Whatever is happening, while this thing runs on my mana, it can only hurt me physically. I¡¯m not stupid enough to use a perfect pseudo blood core for an experiment.

    "I gave it barely enough strength to walk." Lith exined to the surprised Solus.

    Trouble snarled onest time, before copsing on the ground.

    "Now what?" Lith asked. The undead was back to being a corpse. It had no life force nor mana flow anymore.

    "He used all the energy he had, even his pseudo core." Solus said.

    "This is great! If we can understand what happened, I can build a small army of elite soldiers with powerful abilities."

    "Soldiers that will revolt against you." Solus sneered. "That thing had a will of its own, his life force was growing on top of yours."

    "It would exin the purple light." Lith pondered. "Red is for the natural state, blue when an external will flows into an undead. The question is: what was the source of the external will?"

    "The eye? After all, they are the core of a Balor¡¯s power. Maybe the ck eye amplified your spell to the point of turning it into greater necromancy." Solus said.

    Lith surgically removed and stored it inside his pocket dimension before making a second attempt. This time, despite all of his efforts and mastery, the pseudo core was unable to take root. The corpse straight rejected it.

    "Let me guess, since Balors cannot process mana without their eyes I can¡¯t resurrect it after removing the ck eye." Lith said.

    "It makes sense." Solus¡¯s wisp nodded.

    "Yozmogh had six eyes, while Trouble only had three. ording to the bestiary, the remaining three are fused with Trouble¡¯s body. To test this theory, we need a Balor without the ck eye.

    "If we can raise it normally, then we are one step closer to fulfilling your crazy n of making an undead army. Otherwise, back to square one."

    "Yeah, tomorrow I¡¯ll buy a Balor at the market and we¡¯ll test your theory." Lith said while putting the eye back into the empty socket. Even his sarcasm couldn¡¯t hide that the idea of losing Trouble¡¯s body pained him.

    Even if everything failed and Balors turned out to be impossible to reanimate as undead, it would still give him more insight into necromancy. After discarding vampires and liches as possible ways to escape from his resurrection cycle, Lith needed something new.

    "Guess we¡¯ll never know." Solus sighed. They were both aware that conducting a series of experiments to uncover an unknown phenomenon required time and effort. Unfortunately, they only had a few hours before they had to be at Zantia, and Lith was tired.

    Solus put Trouble¡¯s corpse inside her pocket dimension, making sure that no trace of life nor undeath remained. Trouble was the first enemy they had fought inside her tower from and she had no desire for a second round.

    The following day, Lith¡¯s mood was even worse. He had remembered how ording to Zolgrish, a Balor¡¯s eyes were powerful magical amplifiers. Failing an experiment was irrelevant to him.

    Back on Earth, his science professors always stressed how many trials and errors were needed before making a breakthrough. Losing his specimen and three amplifiers at once, though, was a loss from which it was hard to recover from.

    To add insult to injury, when he had called Kam, hoping she could cheer him up with one of her smiles, she was in an awful mood too. Lith asked her many times if there was something wrong to no avail.

    When he reached Zantia¡¯s walls, Lith was itching for a fight. It was a medium sized city, famous for being surrounded by a luscious forest where it was possible to find several rare mystical nts.

    Many magical beasts resided there, keeping bandits and monsters alike at bay. Zantia was one of the few cities in the north to have not faced a monster wave in decades.

    Unfortunately, the forest was both a blessing and a curse. As long as they weren¡¯t provoked, magical beasts were peaceful but the same couldn¡¯t be said for some aggressive species of nts that kept growing no matter how many times they were burnt, cut, or destroyed with magic.

    Even magical beasts were forced to avoid specific areas of the forest. Merchants had a hard time reaching and leaving Zantia in one piece which created a vicious circle. As long as Zantia was cut out of the main trading routes, it would never get a Warp Gate.

    At the same time, without a Warp Gate the city would never be added to the main trading routes. None of it was a problem for someone like Lith who was capable of flight.

    When the guards at the main gate stopped him, he could already smell trouble. The man and the woman who donned the uniform of the local militia were clearly afraid, and not of him

    "Let me pass." Lith said showing them his golden badge.

    "I¡¯m Ranger Lith Verhen and I¡¯ve been called by the city lord, Count Cestor to oversee a matter of public security."

    "We¡¯re very sorry to have wasted your time, Ranger Verhen." Said the male guard, a man in his early thirties with blond hair and grey eyes.

    "You are free to go. The Count has waived your protection since everything has already been resolved." The man handed him a piece of paper with the Count¡¯s seal. Lith¡¯s surprise only grew when his army amulet confirmed both the document¡¯s and the seals¡¯ authenticity.

 Chapter 560 Hostility Part 1

    "Everything seems to be in order, but I can¡¯t follow such amand without hearing it directly from Lord Cestor." Lith said while stepping forward.

    The two guards crossed theirnces in front of him, but he didn¡¯t stop.

    "Even if the document is in order, I need to make sure it¡¯s not forged. Anyone could use the city Lord¡¯s seal." Lith was now just a few millimeters from the des.

    "The Count requested the army¡¯s help and we¡¯ve not been able to contact him ever since. Before I can leave, I must speak with him. Stand down and let me pass, because the moment your weapons touch my body you¡¯ll be persecuted for treason against the Crown."

    Lith¡¯s eyes red up as he released a bit of killing intent. The mental pressure exerted by the mana filled with his violent emotions overwhelmed the guards, who turned pale but only took one step back.

    Lith was surprised by their obstinacy. Without proper training or a mana core strong enough, killing intent was more than enough to send normal people running for their lives. Their fear had to be deep rooted to allow them to hold their ground.

    "Fine." A wave of Lith¡¯s hand generated two streams of lightning bolts which nailed the guards against the city walls. Their bodies trembled in seizure before falling unconscious onto the ground.

    Three more guards rushed to the gate after hearing the screams. They were about to unsheathe their weapons when they recognized the Ranger uniform.

    "Arrest and detain those two, I want to interrogate themter." Lith said. The shocked soldiers kept moving their eyes from Lith to theirpanions, never removing their hands from the hilt of their des.

    Theirck of discipline annoyed Lith. He was used to being harassed by the inhabitants of small cities, but even there the local guards knew their ce.

    "Where is your Sergeant? I want to give him a piece of my mind about how he trains his soldiers." Lith said.

    "You just knocked him out, Sir." Replied one of the guards after snapping out of his reverie.

    "What happened?"

    Lith exined the reason of hising and his need for meeting the Count Cestor.

    "I understand, Sir. I apologize on behalf of the Sergeant. I can assure you he is a good man. It¡¯s just that these days we are all jumpy." The soldier replied. He was a young man in his early twenties, with light brown hair and blue eyes.

    "My name is Firgon Hes. Nice to meet you, Sir." He said while giving Lith a salute. The other two took care of the injured guards before cuffing and move them to the nearest jail.

    "What reason could possibly lead yourrades tomit such tant insubordination?"

    Firgon led Lith to the city Lord¡¯s mansion while exining to him the details about Zantia¡¯s recent events.

    "Please, don¡¯t be too harsh on them. Their families are going through a tough time. Not only is this winter really harsh, but a lot of people are falling ill. Healers are powerless against the disease and many of the rtives of its victims have joined a shady cult that ims to be able to treat any illness." Firgon said.

    "Are you saying there is a gue here in Zantia?"

    "Not a gue." Firgon shook his head.

    "Technically, it¡¯s not even a disease. Every person disys different symptoms, so we don¡¯t even know if they are all suffering from the same thing, and it neversts long. The problem is that after some time people get sick again, like it never heals. We call it: ¡¯the Griever¡¯."

    "What about your Healers?" Lith found the story ridiculous. Illnesses and even poisons acted all the same. Someone poisoning several different people each with a different substance was as cruel as it was idiotic.

    "They have confirmed it¡¯s not poisoning, but an affliction of the body. They can cure it, but it only makes things worse. Whenever the disease gets removed, it returns almost immediately stronger than before." Firgon replied.

    "I can sympathize with them. One of my sisters has been ill for a long time, but that still doesn¡¯t exin your sergeant¡¯s odd behavior."

    "I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s because of the Church of the Six." Firgon sighed.

    "Life in the north is harsh, so a lot of religions are born and die every year. They try to give people hope about the afterlife, but usually their absurd dogmas are just a cover to rob believers of their money.

    "The Church of the Six is different for two reasons. First, they don¡¯t ask for ¡¯donations¡¯ for everything, and second, whatever they do, it works. Or so they say. Some of them get rich, others get healed, and stuff like that.

    "People whose rtives got the Griever became fanatics after word got out that the clerics can cure it for good. The bastards only treat the most loyal worshippers, though."

    "I¡¯ve traveled quite a lot and have never heard about either the Church of the Six or the Griever." Lith pondered.

    "It¡¯s not a surprise. The Church was founded onlyst year and it would have already disappeared if not for the Griever."

    "Let me guess, your Sergeant is a believer." Lith said.

    "Yeah, a big one. He recently became a father, and there¡¯s nothing he wouldn¡¯t do to spare his son from all that suffering. His wife¡¯s hair is turning white from the fear."

    "When did the Griever appeared?"

    "Right after the winter lockdown started. The worst stuff always happens during that period. Bad luck lovespany."

    Lith nodded and decided to let the Sergeant off the hook. The man was already suffering enough.

    ¡¯I doubt the Griever is a real illness. Most likely his son is terminally ill. If I use him of treason, he will lose his job, his life, and the little time they have left together.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Why don¡¯t you cure the baby? It shouldn¡¯t be difficult for you.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯I sympathize with him, but that doesn¡¯t mean I care for him or his son. Especially after he pointed a de at me. He made his choice when he preferred listening to a cleric rather than ask a Healer for help.¡¯

    After another few questions about the situation of Zantia, they reached Count Cestor¡¯s House. The city Lord was a short man in his mid fifties, around 1.62 meters (5¡¯4") tall with white hair and thin mustaches.

    The Count was sickly pale, far more than what passed for normal in the north, with bloodshot eyes and so many nervous tics that Lith suspected him of drug abuse.

    "I¡¯m really sorry to have wasted your time, Ranger Verhen, but as the guards told you at the city gates, our issues are already solved. I¡¯m sure there are plenty of cities that need your help." His voice was firm, yet it sounded old and tired like he hadn¡¯t sleep in days.

    "Why you didn¡¯t just cancel your request? We¡¯ve tried to contact you for several days."

    "Because I¡¯ve seen the light, Ranger Verhen. Magic is the sad attempt of men to y god. Our arrogance has long since blinded us and angered the real gods. Only by relinquishing it can we pray to receive their mercy."

    Lith was tempted to give the man a soapbox and a "the end is near" t-shirt as the Count looked at him with the ill-concealed contempt a self-righteous man usually reserved for a nonbeliever.

 Chapter 561 Hostility Part 2

    "Sure, right. I¡¯d love to hear more, but s I¡¯m a busy man." Lith¡¯s tone was as condescending as it was full of sarcasm. He took out the army amulet from his pocket dimension, suppressing a chuckle when the Count yelped at the sight of it.

    Lith reported everything to his handler, then he had her confirm the Count¡¯s well being and record his request for canceling the mission.

    "I need you to state the reason why you requested the army¡¯s intervention in the first ce for the record." Kam said.

    "Because Viscount Krame¡¯s mercenaries were harassing several upstanding citizens and interfering with their religious freedom, but now everything is resolved. Those sinners have received their retribution."

    The Count¡¯s fervor put a dent in even Kam¡¯s perfect poker face, making her raise an eyebrow in confusion.

    "Do you mean that the local guards dealt with the problem?"

    "No, the gods did. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do. When will Ranger Verhen leave? His services are unrequired and his disrespect most unpleasant." The Count asked her, like Lith wasn¡¯t even there.

    "Right after lunch. Since you have already wasted my time, the least I can do is to get a hot meal and restock my food supplies." Lith left the Count¡¯s office, never hanging up the call.

    "I¡¯ve resolved two missions in as many days. I would like to apply for leave due to outstanding performance." He said.

    "The second doesn¡¯t count since it was canceled, but nice try. If you need any kind of supplies, buy them from the local army store. Merchants inte their prices during the lockdown, whereas we keep ours fixed."

    ¡¯How cute of her worrying about my expenses. She seems to be faring much better than yesterday.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, but isn¡¯t it odd that she is still your handler after bing a Field Assistant Constable?¡¯ Solus pondered. It didn¡¯t make much sense, unless someone was attempting to manipte their rtionship again.

    Lith cursed himself for forgetting about her promotion again and called Kam during her lunch break to make sure everything was fine.

    "I was supposed to be reced after I started my training course, but I asked to continue being your handler. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because of Lady Ernas or Commander Berion, but the centralmand epted my request." Kam said while unpacking her chicken sd.

    Having a sedentary job and practicing cooking had made her gain some weight, so she was on a diet. To make matters worse, Lith¡¯s training routine gave him his lean muscr build and made her self-conscious about her body.

    "Is that why you looked so tired recently? I don¡¯t want you to overwork yourself. Starting a new job is already challenging enough, you don¡¯t need extra stress." Lith ordered a whole roasted chicken with gravy sauce and potatoes, almost making her drool.

    "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s no big deal. This way we can keep in touch even when we are away from each other. Being sure you¡¯re alright is worth a little overtime and I can use a little extra money." Kam needed to save as much as she could for Zinya¡¯s procedure.

    "I¡¯m d to still have you as my handler, but most importantly, as my girlfriend. I wish you were here." Lith caressed Kam¡¯s hologram¡¯s cheek while she intently stared at his meal. She was already done with her food and yet she was still hungry.

    "I got to go. Have a nice meal and remember to tip the waitress." Kam said when the gong signaled the end of her break. Her hologram disappeared, leaving Lith¡¯s full blown paranoia to worry about why she seemed to be on edge the whole time.

    ¡¯Maybe she is sick of our long distance rtionship, or maybe she met someone else. Someone better than me.¡¯ Lith had no idea that it had been his meal upsetting her. Kam couldn¡¯t forgive herself for speaking to the chicken the whole time instead of Lith.

    "Hey handsome, is this seat taken?" Said a honeyed feminine voice.

    Lith was so focused on his alleged troubles with Kam that he almost choked on his lunch from surprise. Aside from noble girls, no one had hit on him since he had started working as a Ranger.

    Without waiting for a reply, the woman sat in front of him while crossing her legs in a slow, seductive way.

    "I¡¯m ttered by your attentions, but in case you missed it, I was just talking to my girlf..." Lith looked up from his te, too dumbfounded to continue his speech.

    Aside from Tista, Tyris, and Thrud, it was definitely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Long silky ck hair framed her delicate visage, emphasizing her light chestnut eyes and her fair skin.

    Her soft curves and ample bosom were so voluptuous that not even herfortable adventurer¡¯s clothes could hide them more than a passing cloud can eclipse the sun.

    "Can you take me to a Healer? Because I just broke my leg falling for you." Lith replied, making her giggle.

    A group of adventurers sitting a few tables apart were currently split between those too shocked to speak and those cursing out loud.

    "Since when does the Captain have a thing for tall guys? She even rejected Hosung, and he was a giant!" Said a red haired man currently green with envy.

    "Who cares! It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen her hitting on someone, let aloneugh at a cheesy pick up line." Said a young woman with light brown hair and her uniform dirty from spilling her wine all over it.

    "What the heck are you doing here, Friya?" Lith said while embracing his old friend and causing most of the male customers of the restaurant to choke on their food from resentment.

    "I could ask you the same thing. The north is a big ce, I didn¡¯t expect to meet you so easily." Friya was still giggling at their flirting routine. It was an inside joke between them, from the time they both were Assistant Professors at the White Griffon.

    Whenever they met, they would pretend to not know each other and spout the cheesiest lines they could think of. It helped Friya to keep annoying suitors at bay and she usually found the people¡¯s reaction to the scene to be hrious.

    "There¡¯s only one reason for me being here. They requested my presence. Luckily, I¡¯m already done with my business and I¡¯m about to leave. What about you?"

    "I¡¯ve been here in Zantia for a month. Viscount Krame recruited my whole guild to protect his properties from the local nutjobs." She shrugged.

    "No offense but, why you? There are a lot of mercenary guilds in the north too. Finding you here, in my same restaurant can¡¯t be just a coincidence."

    "There are several reasons for calling me. First, my guild has still a perfect score. Second, having a capable Healer during a lockdown is always a plus. Third, Viscount Krame is one of those stuck up idiots that look down on anyone who isn¡¯t a noble for at least three generations.

    "There aren¡¯t many guilds lead by a noble, also he hopes that by hiring me he will get the opportunity to suck up on my parents, especially dad." Friya said.

    "No sane man would approach your mother." Lith still found it odd meeting her like that.

 Chapter 562 Hostility Part 3

    "Indeed. As for the restaurant, I just kept tabs on you after I heard about a Ranger zapping the guards. I followed you here to surprise you and I aplished that. Your face was priceless. By the way, do you need help with that?" Friya pointed at his meal.

    "Thanks, but no thanks. I¡¯m a firm believer that it takes two to truly appreciate a chicken. The chicken and me." He replied while pulling the te away from her fork.

    "Always the gentleman, eh?" Friya pouted while ordering a smaller portion of what he had taken.

    "Speaking of gentlemen, Count Cestor called saying your guild harassed Zantia¡¯s citizens and that you¡¯ve got some kind of divine retribution for it."

    "That¡¯s rich! We harassed no one. Viscount Krame owns many magical workshops, mostly small stuff like enchanted home appliances and ornaments. Those jerks from the Church of the Six pestered his customers and his employees with their fanatical propaganda.

    "We simply kept them away from private property, that¡¯s it. As for the ¡¯divine retribution¡¯, the children of the Viscount got the Griever, but my guild members are fine." Friya¡¯s gurgling stomach forced Lith to share his te while she waited for her own.

    "What can you tell me about the Griever?" Lith¡¯s professional curiosity was piqued.

    "It¡¯s no illness, that¡¯s for sure. I suspect it¡¯s caused by something in the water, because all three of the Viscount¡¯s children presented weakened organs and random damage to the skin, but I never managed to identify what caused the phenomenon.

    "Not even after it returned for the third time. Since those noble idiots seems to be unable to follow even the simplest orders, I had to give them a detail 24/7. ying babysitter means my men can¡¯t protect all of the shops anymore, but since we still get paid in full, I¡¯m fine with that."

    "I¡¯m sorry to bother you, Captain, but are you not going to introduce us to your new friend?" Said a young woman in her early twenties. She had a pixie cut and a round face.

    She could¡¯ve been considered cute, if not for her thick muscr build and square jaw. Coupled with her fierce eyes, they gave her a cold demeanour, like a disgruntled drill sergeant ready to dish out a punishment.

    "He¡¯s no friend, Wyra." Friya said with a suave voice, while taking Lith¡¯s hand and threading her fingers through his.

    "We¡¯ve decided to marry."

    At those words, several mugs of beer shattered on the floor as many members of Friya¡¯s guild either dropped them or made them fall by standing up abruptly in disbelief.

    Seeing their bewildered expressions, Friya burst out inughter, shocking them even more. She rarely showed her emotions to them. A mercenary guild was no charity, nor was it like the army. They followed her to make a profit, not because of honor and blind loyalty.

    They were all mages from minor academies or had graduated from the great ones yet failed to master any specialization. They were jacks of all trades, but without the means to make a living with magic.

    Friya knew they could leave her the moment they received a better offer or if they thought the mission was too risky. She trusted only the core members of her unit and kept the others at arm¡¯s length.

    "She¡¯s joking." Lith said since Friya was still too busy crying fromughter.

    "I¡¯m Lith Verhen. Nice to meet you miss Wyra." Lith offered her his hand and she promptly shook it.

    "It¡¯s an honour to meet you, Sir. You¡¯re a beacon of hope for us mages ofmoner origin." Wyra blushed while squeezing his hand with enough strength that she would have crushed it if not for Lith¡¯s enhanced body.

    "Did they send you here for the Griever? Zantia could use a great Healer¡¯s expertise." Said the red headed man, making Friya angry.

    "Hey, I resent that! I ranked second after him, both overall and in the light department. I¡¯m a great Healer too!" She said while stabbing her chicken with anger.

    "No, they didn¡¯t. I¡¯m leaving the city after lunch."

    After meeting Friya¡¯s ten men unit, Lith understood why Quy didn¡¯t trust them to apany her during her travels. Most of them were either trying to suck up to him or staring at him with envy or contempt.

    Only a few, like Wyra, were just trying to befriend him.

    ¡¯Judging from Friya¡¯s expression, some of them are going to get kicked out of the guild as soon as their current mission is over.¡¯ Lith thought after paying his bill and offering them a round of drinks.

    He tried to push open the door of the restaurant, yet it didn¡¯t budge. Only when the hardwood started to creak did it open, but a chilly wind pped his face and big snowkes entered the hallway.

    "What the heck? Where did this storme from?" Lith asked the head waiter.

    "From the sky, I guess. The weather changes often in the north." The man replied with a condescending tone, like he was talking to an ignorant kid.

    Lith ignored the waiter ying captain obvious and closed himself in the bathroom. After checking with Life Vision that no one was inside, he opened a Warp Gate leading as far as he could, using Invigoration to boost the spell¡¯s strength.

    ¡¯This is all too odd. First, they call me here for nothing and send me away despite there being an odd disease spreading. Then I meet Friya and I casually get stuck here because of a sudden snowstorm. Someone is ying with me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Yet despite Lith¡¯s full blown paranoia, no matter how far the dimensional corridor went, wind and snow would always strike his face with so much strength that it was impossible to see further than three meters.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right. Clearly the sky spirits conspired against you.¡¯ Solus chuckled. Yet she checked as far as she could see with mana sense, making sure the storm really was natural. Just to be safe.

    ¡¯Dammit! This is even worse than I thought. This isn¡¯t my first snowstorm, but I always managed to spend them in the tower with you. What am I supposed to do until it blows over?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe spend some time with your old friend? Help the people of Zantia with the Griever? You two have a lot of catching up to do.¡¯

    Friya was really happy about the snowstorm and offered Lith an amodation as an honorary member of the Crystal Shield, her adventurers guild. Lith didn¡¯t miss that such position would put him under hermand, but he epted anyway.

    ¡¯The Count is a nutjob. He didn¡¯t want me setting foot inside the city, I doubt he would offer me a ce to stay. This way I get a room, the opportunity to make up with Friya for not inviting her for my birthday, and I can take a look at the Griever.

    ¡¯When shit hits the fan, it would be up to me to fix that mess anyway.¡¯ He inwardly sighed.

    Unfortunately, Viscount Krame didn¡¯t share Friya¡¯s enthusiasm.

    "Another mouth to feed during winter is a burden, Lady Ernas." The Viscount said. He was a man in histe forties, around 1.68 meters (5¡¯6") tall with thick ck hair and a finely trimmed goatee.

 Chapter 563 Hostility Part 4

    Everything about his appearance spoke of order and control. He was wearing a perfectly ironed ck suit that didn¡¯t show a single wrinkle despite having been used for half day.

    Not a single hair on his head was out of ce, every one of his movements was slow and calcted. His stern expression was reinforced by his gold-rimmed sses which made his calctive gaze look cruel rather than wise.

    "Your guild is doing an excellent job, I don¡¯t see why I should wee this man into my home. I¡¯m sure there are plenty of free rooms in the city¡¯s hotels and that he can afford to pay for his meals." Krame only spoke to Friya, ignoring everyone else.

    ¡¯Wow, this guy is as stingy as you are.¡¯ Solus thought. Both her and Lith were surprised at being treated like that. It was the second time in a single day that someone had looked down on him.

    "Your Lordship, Lord Verhen is an excellent Healer and the Ranger in charge of the Ker region. I¡¯m sure you realize that his presence can be of great help. The snowstorm could iste the city, if not even your mansion, for days." Friya said.

    "You are an excellent Healer, Lady Ernas. Why would I need two? Besides, I doubt he can be of any use. No truly talented and sane man would ever work as a civil servant. It still has the word ¡¯servant¡¯ in it and proves ack of ambition."

    "What about my mother and my father, then?" Friya hated to use her parents¡¯ names. The whole point of leading a mercenary guild was building her career outside of her family. Yet the ¡¯sane¡¯ part prevented her from using Manohar as a model.

    "Please." The Viscount scoffed at her na?ve attempt of maniption.

    "Your mother chose a noble career that allows her to uphold and influence thew. She protects us from the scum of the earth. Your father¡¯s talent is bottomless. He is an Arch Duke, a warrior, a Forgemaster, and a leader of the Knight Guard.

    "This man, instead, took the job of a watchdog with no further career path. Rangers usually drop out of the army or drop dead. He¡¯s barely more than a vagrant with a hundred masters, and as soon as the winter lockdown ends, I¡¯ll be one of them. Now please get out of my office. I have work to do."

    "What a dick. I¡¯m sorry, Lith." Friya said after they left the Viscount¡¯s office.

    "Follow me, I¡¯ll show you your amodations."

    "Didn¡¯t he just say that I¡¯m not wee?"

    "Yeah, but he never said no either. I know the type, if I take you in as my guest, he¡¯ll never dare toin to my face. You¡¯ve changed a lot, you know? The old Lith would have red at Krame until he pissed his pants." Friya looked at him with curiosity.

    "That¡¯s unfair. If I killed every single noble that treated me rudely, I¡¯d have been called the new Balkor for years by now. I don¡¯t care what Krame says. He¡¯s just an irrelevant road bump on my path." Lith replied.

    "I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. He¡¯s using the events caused by the Church of the Six to get Count Cestor removed and be the next city Lord. He¡¯s likely to seed if you ask me."

    "What events? The Griever is not a gue and a few nutjobs aren¡¯t enough to dispose of a loyal servant of the Crown."

    "You would be right, if Cestor waspetent. Ever since he joined the Church of the Six, those fanatics have harassed every mage of the city. They say that magic is an insult to the gods and all that crap." Friya said.

    "What? That¡¯s enough to ouw such a religion. Harming mages is a serious crime. Why has no one contacted the army or the mage association about this?"

    "Because the city is split into two factions. One follows the Church¡¯s dogmas and wants to kick mages out of the city. The other one is collecting evidence to get rid of their opponents and seize their properties.

    "Neither faction wants to involve the army, it would ruin their ns." Friya said.

    "Then why did the Count call me? Wasn¡¯t that shooting himself in the foot?"

    "Beats me. Maybe he really has gone mad." Friya shrugged as she opened the door of Lith¡¯s room. It was barely bigger than a storage room, with just enough space for a bed and a wardrobe.

    "Sorry to give you the worst room, but it¡¯s all that¡¯s left."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve been in worse ces." Lith lied. The only reason he had epted staying there was to keep an eye on her. The situation in the city was too odd, and Lith had noticed how Friya was on edge while dealing with some of her guild members.

    ¡¯Damn, I can¡¯t leave the city during a snowstorm. The army locates my position every time I make a report and a single Warp Steps only crosses about ten kilometers (6.2 miles).

    ¡¯I can reach a mana geyser with it, but for a normal mage it would be suicidal. Now that I have a better understanding of the situation, I might as well y ball.¡¯

    As soon as he was alone, Lith called his handler and exined everything to her.

    "My assessment is that Count Cestor is insane or being manipted, while Viscount Krame is willing to exploit the chaos that will ensue as the conflicts escte to further his political agenda." Lith said.

    "Agreed. I¡¯ll contact my superiors and let you know their decision. Until then, investigate this Church of the Six and the Griever. If your friend is right about the means of contagion, then Zantia could be the rehearsal for something bigger.

    "Gods, I¡¯ll never understand why people are willing to hurt those closest to them for the pettiest reasons." Kam¡¯s voice was so sad that Lith understood she wasn¡¯t talking about Zantia, but rather about herself.

    He called her on her civilian amulet immediately after ending the call. He had recognized the hologram¡¯s background as her home, so there was no risk of interrupting her job with his paranoia.

    "Kami are you alright?" Lith said noticing she was crying, which made him sick with worry.

    "It¡¯s just a rough moment for me. Everything is fine." Those words made Lith shiver. In his experience, when a woman said those three words, they were usually a lie.

    "No, it¡¯s not. Yesterday you were in a bad mood, then you behaved oddly during lunch, and now this? Kami, if you don¡¯t talk to me, I don¡¯t know what to do." He said. At the mention of lunch, sheughed amid the tears.

    "I was perfectly normal at lunch, silly. I¡¯m just on a diet and couldn¡¯t stand watching you eat while I starved." She chuckled.

    "But you are right about the rest, I¡¯m not fine. I went to visit my sister and seeing her like that broke my heart. I don¡¯t know if I can save her anymore. I feel so helpless that it¡¯s driving me crazy."

    Lith didn¡¯t understand much from her rambling, but he let her talk and cry as long as she needed to.

    Seeing her breaking apart like that hurt him deeply. Kam always smiled and she always had a nice word for Lith, turning his perpetual frown upside down. He wanted to drop everything and run back to Belius just to embrace her.

    "Is there anything I can do?" It was all he could say when she was done talking.

    "No, but thanks for the offer. I¡¯ll exin everything to you once you get back. I promise that the second time it will make sense." She chuckled.

    "Thanks for listening to me. I feel much better now. Don¡¯t worry, you did nothing wrong. This time." Sheughed harder, making him smile.

 Chapter 564 Man in Black Part 1

    "I¡¯m going kill that fucker." Lith¡¯s smile disappeared as soon as the call ended.

    He didn¡¯t understand everything, but based on what he knew about Zinya¡¯s situation, it wasn¡¯t hard to guess who the root of Kam¡¯s problem was.

    ¡¯Calm down. Making Kam¡¯s sister a widow isn¡¯t bound to make her happy, especially if she finds out you are the culprit. She isn¡¯t as morally flexible as you are and she isn¡¯t stupid.

    ¡¯If what¡¯s-his-face dies, she¡¯ll understand the truth and you¡¯ll lose her.¡¯ Solus said, quenching his anger.

    Lith looked out of his window, noticing that the intensity of the snowstorm had decreased enough to allow him to move safely.

    ¡¯Now that I have a mission, I can¡¯t ask Friya to go against the interests of her client. It would ruin her reputation.¡¯ Lith Warped outside and asked around for directions to reach the main temple of the Church of the Six.

    Sorting out its believers from regr people was quite easy. Rangers were known to be mages, so whenever he met the former, they would either shudder in fear or call him names, whereas thetter would warn him.

    "Be careful, son. Those nutjobs are a dangerous bunch." Said an old man who was taking advantage of the temporary relief from the snowstorm to stock up groceries.

    "They will try to beat the crap out of you at the first opportunity they get. To make matters worse, if you retaliate that idiot Count will hold you responsible for their injuries." He spat on the snow as if Cestor¡¯s name tasted like horseshit.

    Unlike most cities of the north, Zantia wasn¡¯t divided into rims, but into two districts. The eastern one, where Lith currently was, was the residential area. The Noble or rich households were the farthest ones from the city gates, whereas the poor people lived in its proximity.

    The west district was themercial area, where one could find shops, hotels, and restaurants. The main Church of the Six was located in an old warehouse near the center of the city.

    Lith shapeshifted his clothes into amoner civilian attire before proceeding any further.

    ¡¯It would be a good idea to not stir unnecessary trouble. I¡¯ll get in, check out the most notable members of the church, and get out. If not for the Griever and the Count¡¯s support, this would be an open and closed case. Let¡¯s hope things keep being so simple.¡¯ Lith thought.

    When Lith reached his destination, his mouth almost fell on the ground from the surprise. The temple was exactly as he expected it, a simple rectangr shaped building made of wood with a sloping roof.

    What stunned him for a couple of seconds was the insignia hung above the double doors. It represented a handsome young man with silver hair and seven eyes, arranged exactly like those which appeared on Lith¡¯s face during a world tribtion.

    Yet they weren¡¯t yellow, but each one was a different color with the exception of the seventh eye in the middle of the young man¡¯s forehead which waspletely white, with no pupil nor iris.

    ¡¯If it wasn¡¯t for the seventh eye and the pink skin, I¡¯d think the Church of the Six venerates the Balors.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Agreed. The question is: how do they know what an ancient Balor looks like? What does the seventh eye mean?" Lith pondered.

    Despite the bad weather, a lot of people were entering the building. Lith waited outside, using Life Vision and mana sense to check on them. He soon noticed they could be sorted into two different kinds of people.

    Those who had a really weak mana core and looked really angry, and those who had a normal bright red or yellow one but looked to be in anguish.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t feel any magical auraing from the temple. It has no defenses nor arrays.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    Lith only had so much time before he was forced to get inside. The snow had turned the city white, making any passerby stand out. The sloping roofs didn¡¯t offer any cover, while patrolling from the sky limited his field of vision due to the still ongoing storm.

    He didn¡¯t want to go inside before whatever ceremony or ritual they were about to perform started. He suspected they would use it to spread the Griever with magic, yet he couldn¡¯t afford to do small talk with the Church¡¯s believers.

    ¡¯If they see a new face, the ones behind the scheme might get spooked and just spout bullshit, wasting my time. I¡¯m too easily recognizable as a stranger. It¡¯s better to wait for all eyes to be on the altar. It will be easier to go unnoticed.¡¯ Lith thought while hiding behind a corner.

    ¡¯From above!¡¯ Solus¡¯s warning made Lith dodge to the side with a roll. Nothing was falling from the roof over his head but a piece of snow, yet he knew Solus wouldn¡¯t yell like that without a good reason.

    He was right.

    A split secondter, two deep footprints appeared in the snow and a thud could be heard. Someone almost invisible had justnded. Lith could see the air in front of him slightly distorted, but it was otherwise unnoticeable.

    "You¡¯re better than I expected, Ranger Verhen." Said a male voice quickly closing in to him.

    Lith activated Life Vision and took out the Gatekeeper Sword from his pocket dimension, making it shrink to the size of a short sword to more easily maneuver it in the alley they were in.

    Thanks to Life Vision, the distortion was now evident enough to see the human figure hiding behind it.

    ¡¯Whoever this fucker is, he¡¯s not on par with Zolgrish.¡¯ Lith struck forward with the Gatekeeper, too fast and too close for the opponent to dodge his lunge.

    The moment their des touched, a young man with blue eyes in his early twenties seemingly appeared out of thin air. He wore what seemed like ck assassin garb, covering him from head to toe and leaving only his eyes exposed.

    He was wielding a couple of long daggers. One of them had just deflected the Gatekeeper, while the other was aimed at Lith¡¯s heart.

    His first instinct was to grab it with his free hand, but his paranoia stopped him.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis!¡¯ He thought while taking a step back and a dagger out of his pocket dimension. Lith had no idea how to dual wield, but at least he could parry with it.

    ¡¯Red core, normal weapons, and great life force. At least on par with Orion after you rejuvenated him, if not better.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯Something is off with his des, though. I can see they are coated with something viscous but colorless.¡¯

    ¡¯It can¡¯t be a simple poison. He knows I¡¯m a Ranger, normal weapons can¡¯t even put a scratch on my uniform. He¡¯s hiding something!¡¯ Lith thought as he kept being forced on the defensive.

    He had already infused himself with all the elements but the enemy was incredibly fast, plus he had the poison and was better suited to fight in such confined space. Lith suspected that there was more than a trap waiting for him.

    He was careful not leaving an opening that a second camouged enemy could exploit.

    To add insult to injury, the assassin had taken him by surprise, so Lith had no spells at the ready. He quickly jumped back, gaining the split second of respite he needed to Blink behind the enemy and finish him off.

    Lith was bbergasted when the enemy turned around, deflecting the Gatekeeper with inhuman speed as his second dagger, positioned exactly in front of Lith¡¯s exit point, skewered him using his own momentum.

 Chapter 565 Man in Black Part 2

    "I spy with my little eye someone who¡¯s going to die." The assassinughed merrily as he exploited Lith¡¯s shock to push away the Gatekeeper and struck at his neck to finish him off.

    The first dagger had pierced Lith¡¯s chest, but thanks to his reflexes, which had allowed him to stop at thest second, and to the Skinwalker Armor, it didn¡¯t go deep. Lith knew that a normal weapon couldn¡¯t cut his skin, let alone his armor.

    Which meant that they were anything but normal.

    ¡¯No one can move that fast. How did he predict my exit point?¡¯ Lith thought.

    His mind spun at top gear as he used the dagger in his left hand to defend himself while he stepped back. The de in his chest only needed one more push to pierce his heart and Lith had no desire to test if he still needed it to survive.

    The assassin wasn¡¯t willing to let him go, but keeping his arm so close to the opponent left it exposed. He was forced to retreat to avoid losing his wrist to the Gatekeeper, but he left behind a gruesome present.

    He dodged Lith¡¯s sh while twisting and pulling the dagger away. The movement ripped the flesh apart and turned the already deep wound into a gaping hole. Life fusion started to heal the damage the moment it was inflicted, yet it only made things worse for Lith.

    As Solus had predicted, the assassin¡¯s des were coated with some kind of venom that the light element boosting Lith¡¯s body was now quickly spreading through his blood system.

    ¡¯Fuck! I can¡¯t use darkness fusion to cut my pain receptors this time. Otherwise I won¡¯t be able to notice the venom¡¯s effects until it¡¯s toote and it cripples me. I need to focus light fusion on flushing it out of my body.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I was wrong. You¡¯re such a disappointment, mate. So much for Treius¡¯ killer and the destroyer of the ck Star." The assassin sneered as he relentlessly attacked Lith with inhuman speed and surgical precision, not giving him any time to think.

    The wound on his chest burned as if someone had stabbed him with a burning spear and was twisting it inside his flesh. The venom coursing through Lith¡¯s veins made his heartbeats hurt like his blood had turned into sand and now it was scraping at every fiber it met on its wake.

    With every heartbeat, the venom spread further. With every breath Lith took, his brain went on fire, blurring his vision.

    ¡¯This is no normal venom. I¡¯m analyzing it with Invigoration and it¡¯s magical in nature. What the actual fuck is going on?¡¯ Solus was desperate. Her words fell on deaf ears and she knew it.

    Lith was too focused on survival to listen to her advice and she was too shocked from mana sense failing her in such an obnoxious manner to think properly. Lith¡¯s knees suddenly went weak while he was trying to keep his footwork on par with his enemy¡¯s and two small cuts opened on his legs.

    The assassin was not only inhumanly fast and precise, but he was also well trained. Since he had failed to overpower Lith he had changed his tactic. The cuts by themselves were enough to slow Lith down and the new doses of venom they carried with them made his situation even worse.

    Then, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into ce and Solus regained her cool. She took a lightning wand out of her pocket dimension and shoot at the assassin. He managed to dodge it, but his assault was interrupted.

    "Not cool man. How did you do that?" His eyes were ring with mana. He had clearly managed to follow the wand¡¯s movements with Life Vision.

    ¡¯Son of a gun!¡¯ Solus cursed while weaving several spells at once. Lith had only one breath of time to rest before the opponent came charging through the barrage of lightning bolts she unleashed.

    That single breath allowed Lith to regain his footing as well as his focus. The detoxifying spell from his magic ring coupled with life fusion gave him a brief respite from the blinding pain that was crippling him.

    ¡¯This venom alternates waves of pain with sudden weakness. If I had used darkness fusion to cut off my pain receptors, I would have missed the pain fading right before my body goes limp and I would already be dead.

    ¡¯I only have a few seconds before the spell stops blocking the symptoms.¡¯ Lith thought

    He stored the Gatekeeper inside his pocket dimension and had Solus assume her gauntlet form. He deflected the first de with his own while using his open palm to thrust at the opponent.

    The assassin smirked, thinking Lith had lost it. He lunged with all of his strength, boosting himself with air and fire magic to cut Lith¡¯s arm from wrist to shoulder in one fell swoop.

    Only when his de struck the stone covering Lith¡¯s arm did he realize something was wrong. The impact made him almost lose his grip on his weapon as Lith¡¯s palm stuck at his nose, crushing it t.

    Blood started to stream and his vision became blurry as the sudden injury made them watery. He tried to step back, but Lith had stomped on his left foot, crushing it and locking him into ce.

    The palm slid on his face, followed by an elbow blow that shattered his jaw.

    The stunned assassin had no idea what was happening. His enchanted garb was supposed to absorb most of the damage, yet it seemed to be nothing more than a tacky cloth in front of the Ranger¡¯s assault.

    Solus had simply taken out Zolgrish¡¯s Eraser from her pocket dimension at the exact timing of the impact, shutting down the magical protections. Also, by cutting off his pain receptors, the assassin had missed both the pain and the stomp.

    Now his foot was stuck under Liths¡¯, making it impossible for him to get away. At that distance, his weapons were useless, whereas Solus¡¯s gauntlet reached its apex. Whenever the thin des struck the thick stone, the impact made his hands go numb.

    They couldn¡¯t cut, nor express the full strength of their wielder, whereas the stone gauntlet was fast and hit like a hammer. The assassin ducked under the ws aimed at his face, but they still managed to make a small cut on his forehead.

    After his breathing, the assassin also had his vision impaired from the blood trickling in his eyes. He activated life fusion to stop the bleeding, only to suddenly feel that something was wrong.

    Solus had coated her ws with Balkor¡¯s venom to return him the favor.

    It was a special substance devised by the god of death, which directly attacked its victim¡¯s mana core. The assassin felt no pain, yet he noticed his fusion magic getting weaker, making the difference in physical prowess between them grow even wider.

    He activated one of his magical rings to turn the Ranger into a popsicle, but at that distance Lith had the time to react at his weak mana flow by grabbing and crushing his hand so that the twisted finger threw the spell in a random direction, making it useless.

    The assassin lost one of his daggers, which Solus promptly stored away, and tried to use the remaining one to stab Lith in the neck. Lith reacted by deflecting the de with his stone covered arm while the dagger in his left hand pierced the assassin¡¯s right side and cut him open until his ribcage stopped it.

 Chapter 566 A New Enemy Part 1

    The tables had been turned, but both Lith and Solus knew it didn¡¯t mean much against a fellow Awakened one, whoever the assassin was. He only needed to use Invigoration to go back to his peak condition and get rid of the venom, but luckily the same applied to Lith.

    ¡¯Behind you!¡¯ Solus yelled as a new enemy Blinked at their back.

    Lith turned around as fast as he could, noticing that the neer was swinging a curved de at him. He was a young looking man, barely in his twenties. He had light brown skin and several tattoos on his face.

    He reminded Lith of the man who had fused with the ck Star to prevent its destruction. Unlike the assassin, he wasn¡¯t wearing any cloaking device, so his body shone like a lightbulb to mana sense.

    ¡¯Bright cyan mana core, infused with all the elements, and everything he wears is enchanted.¡¯ Solus said without waiting for Lith to ask. He could see the weapon¡¯s trajectory, but unfortunately, his body couldn¡¯t keep up with it.

    Lith was still bleeding profusely from his chest and the venom was still ravaging his body. The best he could do was intercepting the scimitar with his arm protector. The enemy was fresh and charging with all of his weight and fusion magic, whereas Lith was running on fumes.

    The curved de pushed Lith¡¯s arm down and opened a deep cut from his left shoulder to his right hip. The assassin¡¯s venom coupled with the blood loss made Lith fall to his knees as the new enemy spun on himself to decapitate him with a horizontal sh.

    The de hit only air as Lith was suddenly swallowed into the ground. Solus could use only a few powerful spells before running out of mana, so she had to pick them carefully.

    The first one she had weaved was a Warp Steps leading back to Lith¡¯s room. She ced it under his feet, turning gravity into their ally. Had she chosen to heal such deep wounds, the spell would have drained what little stamina Lith had left, while countering the venom would have required for her to not take part in the fight.

    Lying on the floor of his room, Lith gasped as blood kept gushing from his wounds, forming a small pool under him. Breathing was bing harder by the second.

    He shut off his pain receptors to gain enough focus to be able to use his breathing technique. Invigoration healed his wounds almost instantly, yet the venom proved to be harder to deal with.

    It had caused extensive damage that couldn¡¯t be treated without first cleansing the toxin. Whatever it was, its maker had infused it with darkness magic, making it capable of rotting its victim¡¯s body and using the light magic used against it to empower itself.

    ¡¯That was awfully close. That assassin knew who I was and that I¡¯m an Awakened. The venom, the cloaking of his mana core and of his equipment, everything was made to counter how an Awakened usually fights.¡¯ Lith thought.

    It took him only a few seconds to get rid of the toxin, yet the process seemed tost hours to him. He kept looking around his room, waiting for his enemies to open a Warp Steps and finish him before he could recover.

    ***

    Right after Solus had brought Lith to safety, the youth with the scimitar was giving his all to save hisrade¡¯s life.

    "Wake up, Keiran. You know I suck at healing." He was mostly talking to himself since Keiran was unconscious. Being gutted like a fish with most of his organs damaged was already bad.

    Balkor¡¯s venom eroding his body and turning his mana core grey only made things harder for the second Awakened. He was forced to gamble what would kill his friend first, if the bleeding or the never seen before toxin.

    He could only treat one at the time with Invigoration, at least on someone else. As most Awakened, he had always considered healing magic a waste of time, since there was nothing that branch of magic could do that Invigoration couldn¡¯t do better.

    Deraniel decided to bet on the Awakened¡¯s iron body and removed the venom first. As soon as Balkor¡¯s toxin was cleansed, light fusion started working again, making Deraniel work much easier.

    "What the fuck were you thinking, man?" He said as soon as the assassin regained consciousness.

    "Your stunt might havepromised the whole n. Besides, we came here to see if the guy is as strong as that old bat Raagu says, not to kill him."

    "Talk for yourself." Keiran said while using Invigoration to return to his peak condition.

    "I¡¯m sick of hiding like a thief. Tired of my master always reminding me of being careful of fake mages, undead, Guardians, and all of that crap. Damn, we trained for over fifteen years, spitting blood every single day, and yet they always treat us like kids.

    "I want to prove to that old fossil that there¡¯s nothing we Awakened cannot face."

    "Yeah, right. Remind me again, who saved your sorry ass?" Deraniel sneered.

    "That¡¯s different! The fucker took me by surprise."

    "Right. Your ambush took you by surprise. It totally makes sense and doesn¡¯t sound like a pathetic excuse only a ten year old would use." Deraniel was already regretting having saved Keiran¡¯s life.

    ***

    Only when both Lith and Solus were back to their full strength did Lith allow himself to rx.

    ¡¯If they didn¡¯t barge in here already, it means they have no idea where I am. Who were those guys and what¡¯s the beef they have with me?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The assassin mentioned the ck Star and someone named Treius. Maybe they are friends with the Awakened from the Blood Desert you killed a few months ago.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Unlikely. There was only spite in his voice, not rage. My guess is that he had to be quite young. Aside from his carefully nned attack, everything he did and said seemed like a teenager during a measuring contest. Like he had to prove something.

    ¡¯The real question is if he attacked me because I was near the Church of the Six or for apletely unrted reason.¡¯ Lith¡¯s paranoia could easily trace a connection between two Awakened, a new religion, the Griever, and even with JF Kennedy¡¯s death.

    ¡¯Whatever the answer is, maybe it¡¯s better to ask Friya¡¯s help. She¡¯s bound to know something about the Church of the Six, and Awakened cannot show themselves to the public. Together you can take both of those guys out.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Unless they decide to go all out despite the presence of witnesses or there¡¯s more than two of them. Anyway, I¡¯ve lost my opportunity for today¡¯s ritual, so second hand information is better than nothing.¡¯ Lith thought while watching the storm intensify again.

    For a second, he considered the possibility of the Awakened assassin using the venom to cause the Griever, but he discarded it immediately.

    ¡¯It¡¯s made to kill, not to incapacitate. Also, someone as skilled as Friya is would have detected and extracted it. Unless someone baited me in this house, meeting Friya might actually be a blessing in disguise.

    ¡¯I can use her guild to collect the information I need and maybe even get ess to some victims of the Griever. If really there is a link between those two Awakened and the illness, by understanding how it works I can guess what their endgame is.¡¯

    Lith used umtion to refine his core while waiting for dinner. Without his tower and with the storm raging outside there wasn¡¯t much he could do. A couple of hourster, someone knocked on his door.

 Chapter 567 A New Enemy Part 2

    "Hey Lith, mind giving me a hand before we go get our dinner?" Friya asked.

    "No problem. What¡¯s the matter?" Lith stood up, feeling a little light headed.

    "Are you alright? You are way paler than when we met earlier." Friya cast her best diagnostic spell on him before he could even open his mouth.

    "Just tired from almost dying. No biggie." He shrugged.

    Friya was happy when her spell confirmed that he was perfectly fine, just a bit famished. Yet the dying part made her flinch.

    "Forget about my problem. What the heck is going on here? How did you put yourself in trouble so fast?"

    "Off the record? Because it¡¯s Ranger business, so I need you to keep it a secret." Lith replied.

    ¡¯If I have to ask for her help, I need to tell her everything. Otherwise I could endanger her life for nothing.¡¯ He thought.

    "Sure. I¡¯m your friend before being an adventurer." She said while forcing him to sit on his bed and giving him some beef jerky.

    Lith told her about his new mission concerning the Church and how an assassin had ambushed him while he was on recon.

    "Good gods!" Friya blurted out.

    "Your Skinwalker Armor is superior even to a Ranger uniform, yet you¡¯re saying this guy had poisoned weapons capable of piercing it?"

    "Worse. Even the venom was enchanted and the Kingdom has very few alchemists capable of creating such a thing." Lith pointed out.

    "You said you took one of them before retreating. Can I see it? If we identify its design or the venom, we could get some clues about the assassin¡¯s identity." Friya said.

    "No. If I take it out from my dimensional item, I risk them learning my position. Tracking spells aremon for precious weapons, not to mention the possibility of a self destruct spell. Assassins aren¡¯t supposed to leave clues behind." Lith shook his head while munching.

    "True. How many people knew you are in Zantia? I mean, you arrived just a few hours ago and now there¡¯s a snowstorm. How the heck did the assassin made it here in time?"

    "Good point." Lith nodded. "Only Kam, the city guards, Count Cestor, Viscount Krame, and your men knew about me." He stressed thest two possibilities, making her turn pale.

    "Why would Krame put a bounty on your head?"

    "For the same reason he doesn¡¯t want me here. To get Zantia for himself. If I solve the problems with the church and the illness, he would lose the merits from exposing the Count¡¯s collusion with the church and with them the chance of bing the next city Lord."

    Friya was about to ask why Lith suspected her men too when she realized she already knew the answer all too well. Money. The idea of having a traitor in her guild made her furious, even more so since it wasn¡¯t the first time.

    "Calm down, Friya. I¡¯m just looking at all the possible angles. My main suspect is someone else." He said as she bit her lower lip out of frustration.

    "The Count? After all, he turned off hismunication amulet after requesting your assistance. That way, he forced you toe even if he wanted to cancel the mission and had all the time to call for an assassin." She said.

    "My thoughts exactly. The only loophole in this reasoning is that he had no way to know the snowstorm would stop me from leaving. Anyway, what do you need my help with?"

    "Duluth, the Viscount youngest son, has the Griever again. It makes no sense since we kept him home all the time and checked the preparation of his meals. I said the others it¡¯s just the flu to buy some time. I need a second opinion." She said.

    "Fine. If you screwed up, you owe me dinner." After eating the jerky, Lith had realized how hungry he was. Between the adrenaline rush and his paranoia, he had forgotten that Invigoration was helpless to replenish the nutrients lost after healing.

    "And if I didn¡¯t?"

    "You owe me dinner anyway. You can¡¯t put a price on your pride as a Healer, can you? That would make you stoop to my level." Lith¡¯s reply made herugh, yet she didn¡¯t yield.

    "No way. With an assassin around, you need my help, so this makes us even at best."

    She Warped them outside Duluth¡¯s door, making the two guards she had left outside point their weapons at their throats out of surprise. Lith caught both short swords between his fingers, locking them into ce like they were just pesky flies.

    "At ease, guys. No need to make a scene every time." Friya sighed as she took a mental note to kick them out of her guild. Them being on alert was a good sign, the rage in their eyes instead of relief once they recognized her, not so much.

    ¡¯Having failed to learn dimensional magic even though they attended one of the six great academies seems to bother them to no end. If they get any sourer than this, I¡¯m sure "idents" will happen.¡¯ She thought.

    "Sorry, boss." Said a blonde mage with a snarl. She could barely stand Friya casually unting her dimensional magic instead of walking as any normal person would. Lith blocking her swing with just three fingers added insult to the injury.

    Yet Friya didn¡¯t Warp just for showing off. The Viscount¡¯s Mansion had many floors and extended for hundreds of meters. With an ill patient waiting for her, she had no time to waste coddling her subordinates¡¯ feelings.

    When they walked through the door, Lith whistled in appreciation. Doluth¡¯s room was actually an apartment bigger than his own house. Every piece of furniture was made from the finest materials and had the Krame family crest engraved on it.

    ¡¯I can clearly see the hand of a true artisan at work and the ego of a true self-centered asshole messing with him. He¡¯s so stingy that he preferred masterpieces to look tacky rather than risking them being stolen.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Oh yeah? What¡¯s the difference between the two of you?¡¯ Solus giggled at Lith criticizing someone for being stingy and paranoid.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t wear sses.¡¯ His reply made herugh harder.

    The hallway also served as a living room, with several padded sofas arranged around a square table with a cigar box and a tray full of flower petals on it. The wood of the sofa was painted gold, while the silk covering them was deep green, to match the pattern of the precious carpet covering most of the floor.

    The walls were pristine white, emphasizing the gold of which were made or coated all the ornaments in the room, even the frames of the paintings decorating the ce.

    After entering inside a bedroom simrly decorated and with more gold than a jewelry store, Lith expected the king sized bed to host a profligate teen. Yet Doluth was barely ten years old, with ck hair like his father and covered in sweat.

    Lith chanted some gibberish and activated Invigoration, performing a full body scan of the child.

    "Are you sure this is the Griever? It takes a tier one spell to cure it." Lith said,

    "Yeah. It¡¯s the fourth time in less than two weeks, so I¡¯m pretty sure. Fever, bloodshot eyes, weakness, and ck spots on his chest." Friya lifted the bedsheets and the youth¡¯s nightgown revealing what looked like oversized ckheads.

    "I have good news and I have bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" He asked after creating a Hush zone around the two of them.

 Chapter 568 Round Two Part 1

    "The bad news." Friya said almost holding her breath.

    "This is most likely to be an inside job." Noticing her shock, Lith beckoned to her.

    "Use your diagnostic spell and follow my instructions. Can you see the greyed out zones near the ckheads and what¡¯s-his-name¡¯s organs?" He said as soon as Friya did as instructed.

    ¡¯Why not use a random name like Zolgrish would? His name is Doluth!¡¯ Solus rebuked him.

    "Of course, I can. Why?" Her answer surprised him quite a bit.

    "Are you telling me you noticed them but you don¡¯t know what they are?"

    "Yes, is it amon illness?" She felt greatly embarrassed, by the knowledge gap between them.

    "No! It¡¯s what remains after someone gets tortured with magic and only partially healed. Didn¡¯t Jirni teach you anything?" Lith asked.

    "Mom is no healer, how does she fit in?"

    "Since when did it stop her from being good at her job? Your father provided her with plenty of tools to make up for herck of magic. We exchanged a lot of pointers while we were in Othre. Bottom line, a wizard did it." Lith pointed at Doluth.

    "That¡¯s the bad news. The good news is that you were right. There is no Griever no poison going around. Someone is harming people with darkness magic just to heal them immediately after.

    "That¡¯s why the symptoms vary from person to person. It depends on both the mage¡¯s skill and how the victim¡¯s body responds." A simple wave of Lith¡¯s hand restored the youth¡¯s health.

    "When you said inside job did you mean my men or the house staff?" Friya asked.

    "Both. The culprit only needs to have ess to Delicious here and some sedative to not wake him up during the process."

    "It would exin why it¡¯s not contagious and how it can return so fast." Friya pondered.

    "The culprit only has to repeat the process as soon as the Healer leaves the house to make them appear like a quack. To what end, though?"

    "This is what I need your help for. I need a list of all the victims of the Griever and all the information you can get about the Church of the Six. After all, the main reason why religions don¡¯t take root is because of Healers being good at their job."

    "I¡¯ll ask Wyra to learn everything she can about the church and the Viscount for the list. If he refuses to help, we¡¯ll be on our own, though."

    "We? You¡¯re an adventurer. As far as I know, you can¡¯t serve two masters at once."

    "Neither of you is my master." Friya gracefully showed him Orion¡¯s masterpiece she wore on her middle finger while making a fist.

    "You are my friend whereas Krame is a pompous idiot. It¡¯s not difficult for me to pick a side, even though I doubt we¡¯lle to that."

    She took out hermunication amulet and gave instruction to the core members of the Crystal Shield guild to investigate discretely about the church.

    "I¡¯m no expert, but while we wait, I can give you an abridged version of their teachings. I listened to their ramblings so many times that I got the gist of it."

    Lith nodded at her to continue.

    "The Church of the Six preaches that in the beginning there were six gods. Each one of them controlled a different element and together they created all of Mogar¡¯s lifeforms. ording to the church, the world energy alsoes from the six Elemental Sovereigns.

    "They also say that long ago the world was at peace because the Sovereigns distributed their gifts equally with every living being. Then, some nondescript evildoers plotted to overthrow them and steal their powers.

    "They seeded yet failed at the same time. The weakened Sovereigns fell into a deep slumber instead of dying and magic as we know it was born. ording to this cult, mages are the descendants of those who stole the gods¡¯ powers."

    "This is ridiculous!" Lith blurted out.

    "How could normal humans and beasts take down gods? Also, how do they exin the fact that mages can be born from non mages? What good can relinquishing magic do?"

    "Beats me." Friya shrugged.

    "Do you have any idea who is the guy with seven eyes on their poster?"

    "The supreme deity, the All-Father. Each one of his eyes became one Sovereign while the seventh became Mogar, bestowing mana upon all of his children¡¯s creations." Friya said.

    "The All-Father, eh?" A cruel grin appeared on Lith¡¯s face as a n to use the church¡¯s teaching against itself formed into his mind.

    "Are you sure you¡¯re not adopted?" Friya interrupted his musing.

    "What? Why do you say that?"

    "It¡¯s no wonder Phloria likes you so much. You¡¯re getting as tall as Dad and your expression right now is identical to Mom¡¯s when she¡¯s hunting her prey. What¡¯s our n?"

    "First things first. Dinner." Lith replied and his gurgling stomach agreed.

    "Are you free tonight?"

    "I wish. Now that I have an idea of what the Griever is, I¡¯ll take credit for it with the Viscount and after that, I¡¯ll need to change the detail¡¯s schedule. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll try to switch the me on my men and the worst thing is that I have my doubts too. Why?"

    "I¡¯m nning to return the ambush. If I catch the guy, I can get new intel. Otherwise, I¡¯ll take out one enemy. It¡¯s a win-win."

    "That¡¯s the dumbest thing you¡¯ve ever said! If they are looking for you, they might even know you¡¯re here. Two against one is too much for anyone. You need my help." Friya said.

    "I¡¯ll need you for the second act, that¡¯s for sure. First, I need to probe their strength and wits. Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m not the ¡¯master of space¡¯, but I can still Blink to safety if necessary."

    "Gods, don¡¯t use my title from the academy! I can¡¯t believe I used to find it ttering, it¡¯s embarrassing at best."

    ¡¯Seriously, what are you thinking?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯I doubt someone as skilled as the one who made the dagger didn¡¯t insert a tracking spell. Mostly because its cloaking effect makes it impossible to distinguish it amid normal weapons.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯So what? Life Vision is no mana sense, but they can still recognize your energy signature. If they see you near the dagger, they will either stay away or attack together.¡¯

    ¡¯First, it¡¯s two against two. They have no idea of your existence and if we prepare the field, speed and coordination can make the difference in mana core level irrelevant. Second, they will never see meing.

    ¡¯As you said, they can recognize my energy signature, but I have more than one, right?¡¯ Lith inwardly grinned.

    Viscount Krame was stingy, but it turned out that his avarice only spread those outside of his house. Both the kitchen staff and the ingredients at their disposal were top ss, allowing Lith and Friya to enjoy their meal while reminiscing the old days.

    It was part of Friya¡¯s n to weed out the most likely members of the Crystal Shield that would betray the guild at the first opportunity they got.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to spot them since they almost popped more than one vein whenever they talked about their specializations, their dreams for the future, or even talking about the Ernas couple.

    After dinner, Lith returned to his room and checked with all of his magical senses that no one was spying on him. Then, he stored away the Skinwalker Armor and assumed his hybrid form before Warping away.

 Chapter 569 Round Two Part 2

    Back when Lith had just acquired his second life force, he had joked about ughtering people and pin the me on a ck scaled monster. He would have never expected that the day woulde that he would turn the joke into reality.

    Lith flew towards themercial district. He needed an isted zone for his ambush, to have as few witnesses as possible. He couldn¡¯t afford to raise rumors about a demonic being appearing in the same city he was.

    His nature as a hybrid was a double edged sword. It gave him an advantage against most human enemies, but it had to remain secret at all costs. It was necessary not only for it to keep being an effective weapon, but also as a matter of survival.

    Lith doubted that liches like Inxialot or even the human Council of the Awakened would leave him alone if they knew about the existence of a new power. He was certain of it because it was what he would have done.

    He picked the warehouse district for his n. Thatte at night, with the snowstorm still ongoing, there was no one around aside the men of the night watch. Lith took the enchanted dagger out of his pocket dimension, collected all the venom still coating it, and then he hid as far as he could before dropping it in an open space between buildings.

    ¡¯I hate fair fights.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Against any other enemy, I would leave Solus to stand guard on the dagger and ambush them. Too bad I only have one cloaking ring. If I keep it, then those two would discover her existence, while if I give it to her, my blue core would be like a goddamn sun to their Life Vision.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right about the tracking spell, the only thing I can do is to remain close enough to the de to spot the assassin, but far enough from it to be mistaken for a guard. As long as I wear Orion¡¯s ring, I look like an inconspicuous yellow cored individual.¡¯

    ¡¯What about me? I can¡¯t take my gauntlet form. It would give your identity away and defy the purpose of this charade.¡¯ Solus asked when she noticed that Lith was casting only a few spells.

    There was a limit to the number of spells one could keep at the ready. Each one of them would exert mental pressure on the mage, wearing down their focus and willpower. They had no idea how long they would have to wait.

    Mindlessly going all out meant getting tired even before conjuring their first attack.

    ¡¯Save your strength and cast spells only when we have a grasp on the situation. Try not to draw attention to yourself.¡¯ Lith replied. The wait turned out to be so long that Lith had to dispel even the few spells he had prepared.

    He kept moving around the warehouses, following the pattern of the guards for more than an hour before something happened.

    ¡¯A red core is flying fast toward the dagger.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    ¡¯He didn¡¯t rush in, but bid his time and watched from afar instead.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Clearly he has been trained well, but flying while wearing a cloaking spell is a blunder. There¡¯s no way a red core could fly. Either he got impatient or training aside he is a moron.¡¯

    ¡¯Or maybe it¡¯s a trap to lure you in the open.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯If you¡¯re right, it¡¯s na?ve and poorly executed. If he walked, I could have mistaken him for a guard until it was toote, whereas by flying he made an easy target of himself.¡¯

    ¡¯Unless he is the bait and hispanion is the hunter.¡¯ Solus couldn¡¯t believe the levels of paranoia she had reached. It seemed that bad habits did indeed rub off.

    Like Lith had predicted, the enchanted dagger had a tracking device. It alerted Kieran the moment it left the pocket dimension. The assassin had reached the warehouse district as fast as he could, smelling the trap from miles away.

    His problem was that even though he knew there was a trap, he couldn¡¯t find it. There wasn¡¯t anything magical near his dagger, no array surrounding the area, and only weak ass cored humans patrolled the area.

    Whenever he spotted a yellow cored human, Kieran checked his energy signature to be sure it wasn¡¯t the Ranger, but even after more than an hour, the area was still quiet.

    ¡¯Damn! He can¡¯t have dropped my de here without a reason. I waited for so long that now I have no time left. If I don¡¯t imprint the Reaver every two hours or store it in a dimensional item it explodes!

    ¡¯That stupid master of mine is so afraid of others stealing her secrets that her safety measures border insanity.¡¯ He thought.

    To make matters worse, only Deraniel had apanied him to retrieve the lost dagger. The other members of the group med him for his solo stunt and aside fromughing at his expenses, they did nothing to help.

    Even Deraniel would have given him the finger rather than a hand if not for their masters being good friends. He was following Kieran from a distance thanks to his surveince mirror, ready to Warp to his side if necessity arose.

    It was an enchanted item that allowed him to see everything in the vicinity of its transmitter, a small pin that Kieran wore under his cloaking garb. As the assassin was about to reach his de, the Reaver, Lith took out a wand from his pocket dimension.

    Then, he broke it in half before tossing it inside a Warp Steps leading directly beside the enchanted weapon together with a Hush spell. Although it produced no sound, the following explosion sent the Reaver flying against his owner.

    The sudden sh blinded both Deraniel and Keiran, so neither of them could see a second Warp Steps opening above the assassin¡¯s head, nor Lith emerging from it. The rapier in his hand lunged at Kieran¡¯s right arm, yet he reacted by infusing himself with air magic and managed to avoid the strike despite being blind.

    The ck scales covering Lith¡¯s mouth opened as he breathed a stream of Origin mes against the enemy. The blue fire ate at the ck garb, revealing several ovepping auras.

    The cloaking aura was the first to fall, allowing Solus to distinguish its pseudo core.

    ¡¯Okay. This guy has a bright cyan core, a physical prowess slightly inferior to yours, and the dagger stuck in his chest.¡¯ She inwardly smirked, d to have left enough venom on the Reaver in case something like that happened.

    ¡¯His armor has a defensive barrier, a clocking aura, and something that reminds me of Full Guard. They were arranged so that the cloaking function covered them all.¡¯

    ¡¯Lucky bastard!¡¯ They thought in unison.

    Full Guard was one of the most useful spells a Mage Knight had. It created a spherical blue aura with a radius of 1.65 meters (5.41 feet) around the caster.

    Thanks to Full Guard, a Mage Knight had no blind spots. Whatever entered the sphere would be detected, allowing them to counter attack and dodge with surgical precision without even looking.

    ¡¯That¡¯s how he reacted so promptly to my Blink, earlier. Full Guard¡¯s biggest downside is that it turns you into a neon sign, but the cloaking aura solved the issue. I need to get my hands on that thing!¡¯

 Chapter 570 Round Two Part 3

    Even though their thirst for knowledge burned bright, Lith and Solus knew better than meaninglessly rush forward. Lith expanded the silence zone to not be interrupted by the city guards and unleashed a volley of lightning bolts.

    Even Full Guard was useless if its user wasn¡¯t fast enough to react to the information it provided. Kieran cursed as his body went into a seizure. The de stuck in his body was a perfect conductor, allowing the lighting to bypass the armor¡¯s defensive barrier.

    Darkness fusion prevented him from feeling pain, but the electrical current still triggered his active motor neurons. Having the opponent lost his mobility, Lith pushed the Reaver through Kieran¡¯s body until its hilt struck his chest.

    With a pierced lung and the venom flooding the assassin¡¯s blood system, Lith was almost sure to have absolute control over his enemy.

    ¡¯Too bad that almost is never enough.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯At least now he can¡¯t use Invigoration. I could question him, but if the scimitar guy is around, he will have all the time he needs to cast his best spells, if not even an array. Time to find out if we are alone or not.¡¯

    "Time to die, human. You shouldn¡¯t have messed with my turf." Lith¡¯s voice in his hybrid form was a low grumble, as if the words were half spoken and half roared, making it unrecognizable.

    The rapier went straight for Kieran¡¯s heart, forcing Deraniel¡¯s hand. The man from the Blood Desert had no choice but to open the Warp Steps he had at the ready while unsheathing his sword.

    It cost him the array he had been preparing from the moment the ambush started.

    Another of the strong points of the surveince mirror was the possibility to project arrays from a greater distance than it was normally possible, making it a perfect tool for Awakened working as a team.

    ¡¯That idiot! Not only did he get his ass handed to him before I could finish my spell, but he also managed to anger an Emperor Beast. Fucking animals, they are almost as annoying as Keiran.¡¯ Deraniel thought.

    ¡¯Behind you!¡¯ Solus warned Lith as her mana sense detected the opening of the dimensional corridor. It was too far for Lith to stab the opponent before he could react, so Lith feigned ignorance until thest moment.

    Only then did he dodge the attack by rolling to the side while using spirit magic to toss the helpless assassin against hispanion.

    "Fuck!" Deraniel said, unable to express how frustrated he was. He had only two choices: to Blink away and be at the enemy¡¯s mercy or kill Kieran with his own hands.

    Dimensional magic was the only way he had to alter the path of his de, but Lith took the choice out of his hands by hurling a stream of Origin mes against the two Awakened who were about to collide.

    Deraniel cursed again, Blinking both him and hispanion in opposite directions. He didn¡¯t do it to protect Kieran, so much as to create two exit points at once. He gambled on his luck, hoping the Emperor Beast would follow the wrong Blink.

    Lith activated the spirit magic variation he had learned while in Zolgrish¡¯sb.

    "Demons of Darkness!" He shouted despite being deeply ashamed of his current persona. Talking like an evil overlord made him cringe to the bone.

    He injected his pure mana inside his shadow and then he expanded it like a ck sun. Blink had an area of effect much smaller than spirit magic so both Awakened were still within his grasp.

    Kieran was too busy spitting blood to not drown in his own fluids to notice his shadowing to life, whereas Deraniel activated fusion magic as soon as he realized an invisible force was constricting his movements.

    ¡¯What the?¡¯ Not only the grip he felt all over his body was getting stronger instead of fading, but his life force was being sucked as well. It took him just a moment to notice that his own shadow now had yellow eyes and was wrapped around his limbs.

    He freed himself with a small sh of light that dispersed the darkness and then he Blinked away.

    ¡¯Damn, the shadow version of spirit magic has a weak spot even easier to exploit than the regr one does. Ratpack didn¡¯t notice it because he¡¯s an idiot.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Instead of wasting his time giving chase to Deraniel, Lith went after Kieran. Preventing one enemy from running away and the other one from healing himself was impossible, so he decided to cut his losses along with the assassin¡¯s head.

    "We need help!" Deraniel yelled at hismunicator amulet panicking.

    "Two against one? How pathetic are you two?" Replied a feminine voice full of disdain.

    "You can¡¯t kill me. I¡¯m..." Kieran attempted to say, but Lith enchanted rapier fully infused with air, fire, and darkness magic made a short work of the ck garb¡¯s barrier.

    "Dead." Lithpleted the phrase for him.

    ¡¯Oh, shit! Forget about the loot, this thing is going to explode.¡¯ Solus said when she noticed that all of the pseudo cores of the assassin¡¯s equipment were bing vtile.

    ¡¯No need.¡¯ Lith chuckled as he Blinked both himself and the corpse at Deraniel¡¯s opposite sides.

    Deraniel now had to takes his chances with two kinds of demise. Either he faced the explosion and took the demonic beast¡¯s sword in his back or he took the explosion in his back and got skewered from the front.

    Panicking and using themunicator amulet didn¡¯t leave him enough focus to cast a Blink fast enough to save himself.

    Luckily for him, the person on the other side of the call wasn¡¯t really refusing to help. She just needed enough time to lock into his coordinates. She appeared in the nick of time, using the multiyered barrier she had prepared to save Kieran to contain the explosion instead.

    Herpanion blocked the iing rapier with a great sword that he was able to wield with only one hand. He was a handsome man who seemed to be in his early twenties. He was even taller than Lith in his hybrid form and had the build of a mountain.

    He wore a set of light armor that covered his vitals and his joints with small metal tes over a set of high end hunter clothes. Lith recognized it as a style originating from the Gorgon Empire. The youth had blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

    "To kill Kieran so fast you must be a worthy opponent." He said.

    "Too bad you can¡¯t harm me with that needle..."

    "Scram!" Lith roared while infusing himself with all the elements as the youth did the same.

    ¡¯Deep blue mana core, strong as a bull, good equipment. Especially the sword¡¯ Solus said.

    "What the..." Pelion couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes when the shorter and much slimmer creature pushed him aside. Lith¡¯s hybrid form had the same abilities as the human one.

    Yet despite the difference in build, thanks to his constant training and body refining, his muscles were even more powerful than the giant¡¯s.

    The moment Pelion tried to fight strength with strength Lith sidestepped, making the enemy be thrown off bnce by his own charge.

    The youth was an excellent swordsman, but the nimble rapier exploited his weakness and slithered like a snake through his guard, opening deep wounds on his four limbs and crippling his strength.

 Chapter 571 Round Two Part 4

    Pelion managed to block Lith¡¯sst lunge with the hook shaped hilt of his weapon, shattering the rapier with a quick flick of his wrist.

    "I¡¯d run if I were you." He said with a grin. The creature was now unarmed and Ailia was done with the explosion. Together, they were unbeatable.

    "Because I¡¯ve lost a toy?" The demonic beast sneered. The rapier was just one of Lith¡¯s failed prototypes in the attempt of replicating the Gatekeeper¡¯s properties.

    Having sparred a lot with Phloria and Friya in the past, it was one of the weapons Lith knew best. Also, due to its light weight, it required a minimum amount of ingredients.

    He would have preferred to avoid using the Gatekeeper while he was in his hybrid form. It was Lith Verhen¡¯s signature weapon, but he couldn¡¯t afford to hold back now that they were three against one. Besides, he hade prepared.

    "Come forth, my soul. Feel my wrath!"

    A set of giant membranous wings popped from his back as the space in front of his hand was torn apart by emerald mes. An eerie light painted the night green, sending shivers down the spine of both the men of the night watch and the Awakened ones.

    A small sphere of stone emerged from the fissure and it grew into a huge ck sword.

    "I¡¯m not going to fight a Wyrmling who possesses an omni pocket just to avenge an idiot like Kieran. I¡¯m out of here." Ailia grabbed Pelion and Deraniel from the cor of their shirts and Warped away.

    The several spells Lith had just conjured hit only air, so he dispelled them before the ruckus could draw too much attention. After checking with his mystical senses that he really was alone, he followed suit and opened a series of Warp Steps leading to random destinations before returning to his room in Krame¡¯s mansion.

    Both Lith and Solus were racking their brains trying to decipher the Awakened woman¡¯s words.

    ¡¯What¡¯s a Wyrmling? What¡¯s an omni pocket? And how did you do that thing with the emerald mes again?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Me? What about your wings? Since when can you do that?¡¯ Solus had no idea what he was talking about.

    ¡¯I was just flexing my shoulders for the evil overlord pose while you coated the Gatekeeper to make it unrecognizable. Maybe my second life force is growing over time. Why every single time we go out for answers, we only get more questions?¡¯

    Lith had no way to know that the reason why Ailia had preferred retreating was their pocket dimension, which was referred to by other creatures as an omni pocket.

    Unlikemon dimensional items, once a mage had imprinted an omni pocket, they could ess it without actually carrying it with them. It made them unpredictable and usually only ancient, powerful beings like Tezka had one.

    Ailia had recognized it because, due to Orion¡¯s ring shielding Solus¡¯s existence, Lith was apparently carrying no magical items while in his hybrid form. She had no idea that Solus¡¯s long slumber had destroyed all the treasures it contained.

    Ailia didn¡¯t felt like fighting an unknown enemy in possession of such a treasure while Deraniel was still shocked out of his mind.

    Lith experimented a few times by taking several objects of different sizes out of his pocket dimension, yet nothing happened. Lith sighed as something pulled at his shoulder, almost making him stumble.

    One of his wings had struck the wardrobe without him noticing. It took him several tries to fold them above his shoulders and even more to make them disappear inside his shoulder des before going back to his human form.

    ¡¯Damn. I¡¯m sure I can take down a couple of Awakened of that level with Friya¡¯s help but three?¡¯ Lith set aside all the questions he had to ponder about his predicament.

    ¡¯Three is another matter entirely. To make matters worse, there could be actually five of them.¡¯ Solus pointed out, making Lith groan.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right. The fucking Church of the Six! Six entitled idiots ying god with humans.¡¯

    ¡¯More likely they are just helping behind the scene. Taking care of a religion requires time and effort, whereas Zantia¡¯s problems only started after the winter lockdown.¡¯

    ¡¯I think you may be right.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I still have no idea what their endgame is, but here is what I think it might be happening. For some reason, they have a beef with me. They know I¡¯m a Ranger, so they use the church to call me here.

    ¡¯Maybe the snowstorm is just a coincidence, or maybe they predicted its arrival before having me summoned here. With no Warp Gate, no one can help me. In theory, I¡¯m on my own.

    The silver lining is that if they took so many precautions, it means that they can¡¯t afford being detected. That¡¯s one toy I can mess with.¡¯

    Lith took his army amulet and called his handler, telling her all about the ambush and the two mysterious individuals who he reported as capable of using an odd kind of magic like Nalear the Kinyer did.

    When her army amulet had woken her up in the middle of the night, Kam didn¡¯t care about how she was dressed. Lith¡¯s rune could only mean an emergency. She wrapped a bedsheet around her nightgown as fast as she could and answered the call.

    "Gods! I¡¯ve checked the weather mages forecast. The storm willst at least for a week. I¡¯ll make sure they send you a Spellbreaker as soon as possible. In the meantime-" Kam clenched her teeth.

    For the first time since she had joined the army, she hated her job for what she was forced to say.

    "Continue the mission. The High Command agrees with us. Your duty is to uncover if there is any corrtion between the Church and this fake illness. You are hereby authorized to act as the ruler of Zantia until the crisis is resolved.

    "As for those assassins, can you provide me a description?"

    "I can do much better." Lith had to repress both a sneer and a snort while he projected the holograms of the two Awakened.

    The assassin was dead, but the man from the Blood Desert was about to enter a world of trouble. Hence the sneer.

    The snort was due to his inability to show the holograms of the other two Awakened he had met earlier. They had faced a hybrid, not Ranger Verhen. By exposing them he would expose himself too.

    This way, if the assassin had a vengeful master, they would have a hard time tracking the culprit.

    "Excellent. I¡¯m forwarding our conversation right now. Over and out."

    She called him back on his civilian amulet, begging him to ignore the orders and stay safe. It took him a while to calm her down, yet after the call ended, Kam didn¡¯t manage to fall asleep until dawn came.

    ***

    In the following hours, Lith¡¯s report moved through the official and unofficial chain ofmand. There was more than one middle ranked official handsomely paid to report keywords like "Nalear" and "incredible magic".

    Once put together, it took barely an hour to reach all the right and wrong ears. The Royals didn¡¯t like having Awakened messing with their territory, and neither did Tyris.

    Deraniel was an outsider, so he didn¡¯t fall under the free will umbre she granted to the citizens of the Griffon Kingdom.

    "Are you insane?" Deraniel¡¯s master, Tasaar Quinus, was mad with rage.

 Chapter 572 Master and Apprentice Part 1

    Tasaar Quinus was an Awakened almost 600 years old, yet he didn¡¯t appear to be one day past his fifties. He was 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall, with deep bronze skin, greyed ck hair, and a beard that emphasized his pearl white teeth.

    He was considered one of the best Wardens and swordmasters of the blood desert.

    He was still inwardly debating if being angry for his heir¡¯s defiance or for him having failed to kill a seemingly rogue Awakened. The purple aura exuding from his body made his white robe p like he was amid a windstorm.

    "Do you have any idea how long did it take me to obtain my territory? To have Overlord Sark bestow upon me full authority over my tribe? Now I risk everything, and for what?"

    The only reason why Tasaar wasn¡¯t already in Zantia to murder his sessor with his own hands instead of talking to him with hismunication amulet, was the distance between them.

    "Have you forgotten what happened to Treius? Are you eager to join him in death? Well, I¡¯m not! Come back here immediately."

    "But, father, there is a storm outside..."

    "Don¡¯t call me father! I¡¯ve had dozens of children, but you are the only one who managed to go from most talented to most idiotic in less than a day. I prefer you dead in a snowstorm than alive doing more damage.

    "Bring Kieran with you. I hope he has a good exnation. You know that I¡¯m not serious when I say that I will kill the two of you, whereas Lesalia might not be so kind." Tasaar said.

    "Master, I- I can¡¯t obey." Deraniel stuttered.

    "Kid, if you make mee there, Lesalia will be the least of your problems." Tasaar¡¯s eyes red with mana. He could understand his young and hot-headed sessor making a blunder, but defying his orders was uneptable.

    "I mean I¡¯ll depart immediately, but Kieran is dead. I can¡¯t even bring his corpse back because it exploded." Deraniel went pale. His father was a meek man, but once angered he could upturn his entire domain to find a single missing coin.

    "What? How?" Deraniel took his father¡¯s curiosity as the opportunity to get off the hook and told him all about the demonic beast they had faced.

    "You moron! Are you telling me you asked the permission of neither the Awakened human nor the beast who rules over the Ker region? I swear, if I have to offer them anypensation, it wille out of your pocket! Get home, now!"

    Tesaar hung the call without waiting for a reply. He had a lot of calls to make. Tyris, Raagu of the human Council, the rulers of the Ker region, but more importantly his life long friend.

    Kieran was Lesalia¡¯s sessor just like Deraniel was his own. They had hoped they would grow into good friends like their masters were, but life had decided otherwise.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want her to learn about her heir¡¯s death from a stranger. Kieran might have died an idiot, but she deserved better.¡¯ Tasaar sighed. He opened a Warp Gate leading directly inside her Forge.

    Not only Lesalia was one of the best assassins in the Blood Desert, but she was also one of its best Forgemasters. She trusted no one, so all the equipment she used, no matter if clothes or caltrops, she made them herself.

    "Dammit!" He heard her yell.

    "I can¡¯t further purify adamant without Origin mes and those damn beasts demand a lot of money for it. Do you have some left?" She asked.

    "No. The only dragon I know asks so much for a single sk that it¡¯s more convenient to call him when necessary rather than stockpiling it. Look, we need to talk."

    Lesalia took off the white mask covering her face revealing skin with the color and the wrinkles of hardened leather. Being almost 600 years old, she looked like a woman in her mid sixties, with several grey streaks amid her raven ck hair.

    She was wearing a scaly leather apron over a ck tank top and leather work pants. Her gloves covered her arms up until her elbows and just like her apron, they were made from the golden skin of a Wyvern.

    They protected her from the intense heat of the furnace which was strong enough to harm even an Awakened¡¯s enhanced body.

    Her figure was slender, but she was strong enough to crush stone with her bare hands. Her average height and build allowed her to go unnoticed. She had sharp eyes and a long nose, giving her the look of a demanding artisan, but Tasaar knew better.

    Her Forge resembled more a real cksmith rather than a magicalb. Several furnaces and silvery tables upied most of the stone cave she had built inside an active volcano, sometimes even using its heat for her most difficult pieces.

    She was currently working at a forge fueled by a mix ofva and magic which made even her enchanted tools white hot. Yet the silvery liquid inside the obsidian mold refused to boil.

    A snap of Lesalia¡¯s fingers made the purple mes and the small tornado empowering them disappear. The liquid turned solid in an instant as she cursed her bad luck.

    "Is this about Kieran?" She asked making Tasaar choke on his condolences.

    "You already know?"

    "Of course, I do. I had a tracking device and amunication system embedded in his suit. I can show you how hard we failed teaching those youngsters."

    Another snap of her fingers and the green crystal lighting the cave made the room go dark as its light focused on the nearest wall to project a hologram of both ambushes. The one the two Awakened had performed and the one they had suffered.

    "See? In the alley, Kieran had all the advantages, yet he lost. He wasted time talking, he didn¡¯t capitalize on the venom, and stuck too close to the opponent." As one of the greatest assassins alive, every tiny mistake Kieran made was a capital sin to her.

    Tasaar couldn¡¯t see anything wrong in the assassin¡¯s moves. If he had been in Lith¡¯s shoes, he would¡¯ve survived only thanks to his artifacts

    "This Lith is an interesting fellow. He turned the tables as soon as Kieran revealed to be an Awakened. His technique is a bit rough around the edges, but he adapts fast and there¡¯s no wasted movement. He clearly practiced a lot." She sighed.

    "At the warehouse, it was an outright massacre. Once Kieran triggered the trap, his fate was sealed. That¡¯s what I tried teaching to all of my disciples, yet even the best of them was beaten by a mere Wyrmling at our own game."

    "What are you going to do about it?" Tasaar asked.

    "Nothing. Kieran failed twice, proving to be unworthy of inheriting my legacy. I told him many times that we are assassins, not warriors. Patience is of the utmost importance. Yet he mistook discipline for chains and my warnings for insults.

    "I¡¯m not going to cross two Countries and as many Guardians for a broken de. Because that¡¯s what he was. I forged many before him, hoping they would receive my heritage. Some of them were too soft and were bent by my teachings. Others were too hard and couldn¡¯t endure them.

    "When a smith fails, they don¡¯t me the mes or the metal, they me themselves. When a de breaks, they don¡¯t collect its pieces, they learn from their mistakes and move to a new project."

 Chapter 573 Master and Apprentice Part 2

    City of Zantia, now.

    "You heard my master. I can¡¯t stay here a second longer." Deraniel had packed everything so fast that when he was ready to depart, Pelion had yet toplete his Warping array.

    With the strength of the four remaining Awakened, it was powerful enough to at least Warp him past the storm they had previously fueled and were now unable to control.

    "I would leave in a hurry if I were you. If the Wyrmling contacts his master, both Pelion and Ailia are in danger. He has seen your faces. The Ranger must have powerful connections with magical beasts to summon the aide of the Lord of the region."

    All of those present shuddered at the memory. If both master and disciple were capable of using Origin mes, there was no telling what Forgemastering marvels they had ess to.

    "I don¡¯t care about the Church of Madmen, nor about Zantia. As long as we are alive, there¡¯s always next year." He walked through the Gate, leaving them to wonder if their n of using the Ranger as their main ingredient had actually been a mistake.

    ***

    A cave near the southern border of the Ker region.

    After receiving the apologies from the two Awakened humans of the Blood Desert, Xedros the Wyvern, the Emperor Beast ruling over the region immediately called his dear friend, Faluel the Hydra.

    "I just heard the strangest thing. It seems a Wyrmling is protecting my territory, yet all of my children have long since left and it¡¯s been decades since I¡¯ve mated with a human. Is him one of yours?" He asked.

    She was the only other draconic Emperor Beast he knew in the Griffon Kingdom who could have spawned such a powerful creature.

    A Wyrmling was the offspring of a dragon or a lesser dragon with a member of another race. A hybrid who was forced to choose the race he would belong to before reaching the twenty years of age.

    One of the Hydra¡¯s seven scaly snake heads squinted her eyes, trying to remember when it was thest time she had copted with a human while her other heads kept sleeping like logs.

    Among the various species of Emperor Beasts, Hydras were considered part of the lesser dragons.

    They had a stocky lower body with four short legs and a heavy tail. Both were necessary to bnce their long, serpentine necks ending with a snake-like head the size of a muscle car.

    Hydras¡¯ number of heads varied with their power and age. A newborn had two, whereas the most powerful of them could grow up to seven heads. Each head was capable of independent thought and casting its own spells.

    Ancient Hydras were almost unbeatable thanks to the explosive attack strength they could achieve by alternating physical and magical attacks from seven different sources. Their weakness and strength ovepped, though.

    Seven heads also meant seven times the energy consumption. No matter how many heads they had, they all belonged to a single Hydra, after all. If not careful, they would exhaust their mana and stamina in just a few seconds.

    Unlike Wyverns, they weren¡¯t able to use Origin mes nor to fly without a spell, so they were considered among the weakest of the lesser dragons.

    Faluel was still half asleep, so it took her a while to understand what the Wyvern was saying. She hated cold in general and winter in particr. She lived in the Distar Marquisate, yet even its climate was too rigid for her tastes.

    She liked to spend the cold season asleep unless it was strictly necessary otherwise.

    Her nest was located under the ck Scar, one of the rare mountains in the south of the Griffon Kingdom which took its name from the obsidian rocks covering most of its surface.

    Once it had been a volcano, whereas now the steaming hot springs heating Faluel¡¯sir were the only legacy left of the mountain¡¯s fiery core. The rest of the underground cave was decorated with enough riches to put the Ernas Household to shame.

    Piles of gold and precious gemstones were mixed with small mounds of magic crystals. The more precious a pile, the nearer to Faluel it was. All the artifacts she had collected and Forgemastered over the centuries were carefully stored inside a crystal case only she could open.

    "One of mine? In the north?" She said.

    "It¡¯s possible. Most of my hatchlings hate me because I haven¡¯t Awakened them. Can you describe him to me?"

    Xedros, the first Wyvern, and father of thete Gadorf was a master of light magic, so instead of speaking, he showed her a hard light construct of the recording Lesalia had sent to him. His scoundrel son had inherited his talent, but none of his wisdom.

    "By the Great Mother!" All the seven heads hissed in unison.

    "I knew he was one of yours! Don¡¯t worry about him, I told them he¡¯s my apprentice. I don¡¯t give a shit about humans, but if they so much touch one of us, I¡¯ll Warp a whole mountain above their heads!" He roared.

    "Well, thanks for your concern but actually no. He used Origin mes and he has wings, so he¡¯s not a Hydra."

    "What a shame. I was hoping you had found the right partner to further evolve your species. Why that reaction?" All Emperor Beasts strived to ovee the bounds separating them from the purest races, like Griffons and Phoenixes.

    Unfortunately, none had ever seeded.

    ¡¯Because even though he is still in the embryo stage he already has seven eyes.¡¯ She thought. There was a reason if Hydras had seven heads and more than one for not sharing its secret.

    "Because I know him." She actually said.

    "He¡¯s a friend of mytest disciple and he asked me to watch out for him. I might need to send him over to you." Emperor Beasts had no Warp Gates, but by conjuring a Warp Array each, two of them could obtain the same effect.

    Xedros nodded and ended the call. He spent several minutes watching the construct between his ws, trying to figure out what Faluel was hiding from him.

    ¡¯If that old fox sends her disciple here, it might be a show worth watching.¡¯ He thought.

    ***

    City of Zantia, the next morning.

    Lith had spent the night sleeping to reset the effects of Invigoration. If he was right and there were still five Awakened on his tail, he couldn¡¯t afford to be the first one to run out of gas.

    ording to Solus, with her deep blue mana core, the woman was the magically strongest among those he had already met, while the two meters (6¡¯7") guy was physically almost on par with him thanks to the gap in height and build.

    ¡¯Unless they are geniuses on par with Manohar or much older than they look, I¡¯m confident I can take them out one on one. With Friya or Solus I can take two of them out at once, but three or more would be potentially lethal.

    ¡¯Not to mention that I should introduce Friya to Solus and things could get really awkward.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t get it. You have no qualms asking her to risk her life for you yet you are afraid of introducing me to a friend? It wouldn¡¯t be the first secret she keeps for you. I think Friya is a woman wise enough that she can ept my existence.¡¯ Solus said.

 Chapter 574 Balance of Power Part 1

    ¡¯No, she can¡¯t. With her trust issues, she would stop believing in me. Put yourself in her shoes. Friya wouldn¡¯t know with who she has really interacted so far and she would be afraid that you are somehow manipting me. She too is paranoid. Telling her is a liability.¡¯ Lith said.

    Solus sighed and said nothing more. Friya¡¯s level of craziness was dangerously simr to Lith¡¯s. She had chosen to establish a guild, yet she treated herpanions as a means to an end and changed them more often than her socks.

    Unless the opportunity presented itself, she would react badly to a revtion as big as Solus¡¯s existence was.

    While waiting for Friya, Lith and Solus tried to sketch together all she could remember about the assassin¡¯s garb¡¯s pseudo core.

    ¡¯Orion said that a gold alloy can¡¯t hold more than one incantation at a time, yet that garb had three of them. Maybe it used adamant instead of silver.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯My thoughts exactly.¡¯ Solus forgot about her sense of istion the moment they started to consider how to replicate the lost artifact. Ever since Ratpack¡¯s words had triggered her memory, her passion for magical research had be even stronger.

    The more she learned, the more she could feel her lost memories scraping at a corner of her mind, like words she had never forgotten yet she was never able to express.

    ¡¯A new armor would be the perfect recipient for all of our resources. Even if magically boosted, a cloth remains cloth. Adamant is one of Mogar¡¯s legendary metals. If we canbine the Skinwalker¡¯s properties with those of the garb, the durability lost due to mixing it with gold would be plenty bnced by its stealth properties.

    ¡¯No one would recognize you as an Awakened anymore and by switching clothes at will you would always remain just a face in the crowd.¡¯

    ¡¯Agreed. The problem is that while I know the Skinwalker¡¯s pseudo core like the back of my hand, I¡¯ve no idea how to infuse an object with Full Guard. I need to ask Orion if he¡¯s capable of doing it and if yes, I have to convince him to share the procedure with me.

    ¡¯Something we can do as soon as the crisis is resolved, instead, is to take a second look at the fire I can produce while in my hybrid form. When it burned theyers of the assassin¡¯s garb, I realized that it can do much more than just destroy.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I am eager to see what happens to an enchanted item if the mes aren¡¯t put out. What if they can drain a pseudo corepletely? They could open doors, disrupt arrays, maybe even delete the imprint left by the item¡¯s owner.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not so simple. I remember the Abomination who possessed the wargs calling them "Origin mes". I don¡¯t remember what they are, but something tells me they are very important. We must find out their real nature.¡¯

    Solus couldn¡¯t put her finger on it, but she felt that they shared a connection with the title ¡¯Ruler of the mes¡¯ her master Menadion mentioned in her memories.

    Lith and Solus spent the time before breakfast drawing and visualizing the assassin¡¯s garb¡¯s pseudo core. Solus hadn¡¯t seen it from many angles, and to make matters worse, the distance had made the mana pathways appear like a blur to her.

    They only had one Forge of adamant, so their blueprint had to be perfect or everything would go to waste.

    "Well, how did your hunt go?" Friya was happy seeing him in one piece, yet she knew it didn¡¯t mean much. Phloria wasn¡¯t the only one who back at the academy had noticed his ability to heal from deadly wounds like they were just scratches.

    "One down, three more to go." Lith sighed while following her to the Dining Hall.

    "Three? Oh, gods. We might need some of my men. Three versus two would already be bad against regr mages and it took four of you to take down Nalear. I don¡¯t like our odds."

    "Don¡¯t worry. They are weaker than Nalear was and I¡¯m much strongerpared to four years ago. Yet I agree with you, we need a contingency n." Lith said.

    They stopped talking the moment they saw a member of the house staff. Neither of them trusted their discretion, so they moved to a less sensitive topic.

    "The Viscount was ecstatic of my discovery about the Griever." Friya said with a smug grin.

    "He has doubled my guild¡¯s pay and fired half of his staff." Her smile disappeared thinking about all those poor people jobless in the dead of winter.

    "Why did he do that?"

    "Because he removed all those who had the magical talent to cause that kind of wounds and all those who have any affiliation with the church. Now my men have to sleep, eat, and drink with the members of Krame¡¯s family." Friya¡¯s exnation made sense.

    ¡¯I have the authority of the King now. I could conscript the members of the Crystal Shield guild topensate for theck of manpower, but how much can I trust a mage who follows me only because he¡¯s forced to?

    ¡¯At the same time, all of the city guards can¡¯t put a dent in an Awakened¡¯s body. Only a mage can defeat an Awakened mage.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The dining room walls were painted of a pale blue and the floor was entirely covered by a single red and blue carpet with floral figures depicted on it. The chairs¡¯ lining had the same pattern as the carpet while the Viscount¡¯s coat of arms was engraved on their armrest.

    The walls were decorated with several paintings depicting Krame¡¯s ancestors, and the room¡¯s furniture was adorned with blue porcin vases.

    The mercenaries sitting at the long rectangr table were allughs and smiles due to the news of their pay being doubled, whereas the house staff was gloomy as if they were attending a funeral.

    Not only their workload had just doubled, but they were also afraid to lose their job. The Viscount offered food and amodation to them and their families. Getting fired meant bing jobless and homeless in one fell swoop.

    The members of the noble family weren¡¯t much happier having lost any shred of privacy. Yet they turned their frown upside down the moment they saw Lith.

    They considered Friya the strongest noble in the city, but now that the existence of an enemy capable of viting the safety of their house had been uncovered, none of them was foolish enough to refuse the help of the most powerful being for miles.

    Noble or not, Lith now appeared like a savior to their eyes, and they could only hope to not havepromised their rtionship with the youngest Spellbreaker of their generation.

    "I am very sorry for how I treated you yesterday, Regent Verhen." The Viscount said, making all those sitting around the table choke on their food. Krame rarely apologized even to the city Lord and even when he did it, his tone made it clear it was just a formality.

    This time it sounded like he really meant it.

 Chapter 575 Balance of Power Part 2

    The Viscount despisedmoners, but he was a man smart enough to know when to swallow his pride and y nice. Just a few hours ago, he was angry at Lady Ernas for bringing an unwanted guest inside his house.

    Krame didn¡¯tin to her about it only because he was hoping to establish ties with the Ernas Household. The sudden turn of events had made Friya a goddess of victory to his eyes.

    Having the city Regent under his roof would ensure that all of his ns woulde to fruition once the crisis was resolved. The Viscount was so angry at himself for hisck of foresight that if he could have traveled back in time, he would kick his own ass.

    ¡¯Bad news travels fast.¡¯ Lith thought. The High Command had bestowed upon him full control over Zantia in the middle of the night, yet the Viscount already knew about the shift in the bnce of power.

    "Between that ipetent fool of Cestor, those lunatics hurting my business, and my family under siege, I must have lost my mind due to the stress. As a fellow noble and family man, I hope you can forgive my rudeness.

    "If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, you just have to ask." Krame stood up, giving Lith a polite bow even though he was the Lord of the house. His hypocrisy made Lith want to puke, but he had more important matters to attend to.

    "The past is in the past. I¡¯m sure Mage Friya has mentioned to you our need for a piece of sensitive information." Lith said.

    Before he could even finish the phrase, the Viscount took a folder out of his pocket dimension and handed it to Lith.

    "I hope this is enough. I took care of procuring it through safe channels. The nature of your inquiry is known only to the three of us."

    Lith quickly checked the folder¡¯s content. Not only there was aplete list of all the people affected by the Griever, but also another one containing all the names of the known members of the Church of the Six along with their addresses.

    "It¡¯s perfect, Viscount. You can rest assured that the Crown will hear from me about your cooperation." Lith¡¯s words were actually far from being benign.

    He meant that he would not forget to mention how the noble had put his own interest before Zantia¡¯s and how Krame had treated him when he believed to have the upper hand.

    Yet his warm smile and calm tone fooled the Viscount, who could already picture himself obtaining the city Lord¡¯s seat thanks to Lith¡¯s rmendation.

    After they finished eating, Lith and Friya went to her room to n their next move. The Viscount had gracefully relieved her of all her duties and had assigned her as Lith¡¯s aide until the crisis was resolved.

    "This suck! I didn¡¯t get to give you a single order that our positions are already reversed." Friya said while opening the door.

    Her room was actually a small apartment. It had a living room, a bedroom, and its own bathroom. Each one of them was bigger than Lith¡¯s room and was equipped with allforts.

    "It seems that I got the room reserved for the unwanted guests." Lith sat at the high table in the living room and unfolded a big map of the city of Zantia from the folder the Viscount had given to him.

    Then, he also took out the list of people affected by the Griever and marked their addresses with red dots. Friya helped him, cross-referencing their names with the known affiliates of the Church of the Six.

    "This doesn¡¯t make much sense." She pointed out once they were done.

    "The number of people suffering from the Griever are way less than I expected. There are barely more than 200 names on the list. Even a medium city like Zantia has thousands of citizens. Not even a hypochondriac would call something of this extent a gue."

    "You are right. We are missing something." Lith said.

    After witnessing the anguish of the city guards, the fear in the eyes of Count Cestor, and how the poption of Zantia was split between believers and non-believers, he was expecting a much worse situation.

    The dots on the map were just a mess and he didn¡¯t recognize most of the names. He called his handler and asked her help. Kam was a data analyst, if there was a pattern, she should have been able to find it.

    "Well, it¡¯s a very short list. It will just take a few minutes." She said after Lith had scanned for her all the information he had at his disposal. He could see her hands dancing on the holographic interface with the speed and the grace of a piano yer.

    "I can already tell you that the number of people on the list is oddly convenient. It¡¯s just a few units below the threshold that makes mandatory to alert the authorities."

    Kam¡¯s words made Lith realize another piece of the puzzle. Up to that moment, he had thought that the limited number of victims was due to the Awakened behind the churchcking the manpower for a bigger scheme.

    Now, instead, he was sure it had been an intentional move to prevent outsiders from messing with their n.

    ¡¯Picking an isted city in the middle of winter lockdown, the timing of my summon and of the snowstorm. This cannot be just a coincidence. Whatever they are doing, they must be hiding from the Council, not the army.

    ¡¯Otherwise they wouldn¡¯t risk involving me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I¡¯m done." Kam said as the list on Lith¡¯s hologram was now reduced to 84 names, each followed by their position in the city¡¯s administrative offices and their clearance levels.

    "Aside from the obvious city Lord, these people are all bureaucrats and officials of medium importance. None of them holds a special relevance to the city, but if you put them all together, they give you ess to all key points of Zantia.

    "Among them there are the guards tasked to check the city entrances, clerks that can hasten or slow down any paperwork you might need, and even those in charge for the maintenance of the emergency arrays"

    "With theirbined help, a smart person would have full control over Zantia¡¯s avable resources. They could smuggle or hide anything inside the city and even take some of the relics stored there for emergencies without anyone noticing."

    "I doubt it¡¯s anything that big." Lith shook his head.

    "How long ago was the Church of the Six founded?"

    "Over nine months ago." Kam replied.

    "When did the Griever first appeared?"

    "A month ago, right after the lockdown."

    ¡¯I can¡¯t imagine six Awakened wasting a whole year in the middle of nowhere. ording to Firgon, the Church was on the verge of copsing before the Griever. They must be using the Church as a cover and as a scapegoat in case something goes wrong.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "We need a second map. Maybe if we remove all the marks belonging to the officials, we can get a better picture of why they picked those people as victims." Friya said.

    "It¡¯s a waste of time." Lith extended his arms and used light magic to create a holographic copy of the map right above the real one. Thanks to his training, he was now able to add a tinge of colors by using other elements, giving it a higher definition.

 Chapter 576 Borrowed time

    "Good gods!" Friya had seen Lith¡¯s creations during Jirni¡¯s birthday, but back then they were all based on a single element. Something that more or less, she too could do.

    She waved her hand through the hologram, feeling its warmth and shattering it into stardust.

    "Friya!" Lith said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I was just too curious. It almost looked solid. Was it solid?" She didn¡¯t sound sorry at all. Her hazel eyes sparkled like during their academy days when she was about to learn one of the marvels magic was capable of.

    "I wish! Do you have any idea how hard it is to create a map? There are hundreds of streets and buildings that I cannot possibly remember. I need to be able to look at the original to keep it stable. The moment your hand covered the map, I¡¯ve lost both my focus and mana!" Lith snarled while creating a second one.

    He was actually capable of creating a map from scratch, but only if the original was stored inside Soluspedia.

    "Sorry, Lith." This time she was sincere. Friya felt stupid for both her action and her words, yet she didn¡¯t regret them. For the first time in years, she was having fun. Ever since the academy had ended, her life had been one of duty.

    First, she had to take care of Quy. Friya had helped her to retake her fifth year at the White Griffon and ovee the trauma Quy had suffered after killing Yurial under the influence of Nalear¡¯s ve ring.

    Then, her sisters had left Friya alone to search for their own path in life. After all that had happened to her during the Academy, Friya trusted no one and was unable to rx unless when in the safety of her own home.

    The Crystal Shield guild was her creature and her cage at the same time. Leading arrogant and disgruntled mages was a full time job that left her no time for a personal life. Lith was a safe oasis for her.

    Someone she could trust almost as much as Quy, but who unlike her sister and guildmates didn¡¯t need her protection. Whenever they met, he always had something to teach her about magic, and that was the most precious gift anyone could give her.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Lieutenant Yehval, please this time read me only the addresses of all those who have no role in the city¡¯s administration." Lith said while patting Friya¡¯s shoulder.

    That small gesture made Kam hate her job for the second time in as many days. Hundreds of kilometers and a snowstorm separated them, yet it was being called by herst name that exacerbated the distance between them.

    For a moment, she envied Friya for her strength, her magic, and because Kam imagined her free to do what she wanted rather than what she had to. Then, she started listing the addresses and a new pattern appeared on the map.

    What appeared in front of their eyes was still a mess, but at least it didn¡¯t look like a Pollock anymore. They spent a few minutes trying to make sense of the image, but to no avail.

    "If you tilt your head and remove these dots you can almost see a magic circle." Lith said while tapping on several locations on the map.

    "Right idea but wrong dots. If we ignore the dots you proposed, you can see that some of the remaining ones form this array." Friya¡¯s slender finger traced a circle above the map.

    "The problem is that you can¡¯t ignore any of those points. If all of the locations are magically marked the same way, then they would disrupt the formation. Even if you are right, two ovepping arrays would cancel each other without proper instion."

    Kam¡¯s words left Friya bbergasted.

    "Howe you are an array expert?" She asked.

    "I¡¯m not. I just repeated what Lith and Manohar yelled at each other back in Othre. They quarreled about runes and lines of power so much that I ended up learning a thing or two." Kam chuckled.

    ¡¯Wait a minute. I think you¡¯re both right. Check the list more carefully.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Sons of a bitch" Lith blurted out as he realized the meaning of her words.

    "Kami- I mean, Lieutenant Yehval, please filter the names based on the floor they live on." Like most cities surrounded by walls, Zantia had no choice but to expand vertically rather than horizontally.

    Most buildings were at least three-story high.

    Instead of ignoring the dots, Lith split the map into three differentyers, each one with its own set of tokens and marked with a different color. Even ayman like Kam could easily recognize the magic circles formed by connecting the dots.

    "Okay, this is not good." Lith said.

    "I recognize the array on top and the one at the ground level, but I have no idea what the middle one is. The upper circle is a containment array, simr to those I use when I practice Forgemastering.

    "Its purpose is to contain great masses of energy and prevent them from escaping. It maximizes the effects of a magical procedure. The bottom one is a grounding array, used to safely disperse mana in case a spell goes out of control."

    "I¡¯ve already taken a scan of the holographic map and of the three arrays." Kam said.

    "I¡¯ll contact immediately General Vorgh, the Master Warden, and call you back as soon as I have some answers. Over and out."

    Lith pulled the curtain covering the window to check the weather. The wind carrying the snow was so strong that he wasn¡¯t able to see further than ten meters even with his enhanced senses.

    ¡¯I have no idea where the Awakened could be and even if I did, I can¡¯t risk making a move before I understand what their endgame is. Going to the Church of the Six now would be pointless.

    ¡¯The clerics are likely to be unwitting puppets in their hands, so interrogating them would be a waste of time. The ones performing "miracles" are the Awakened ones, but they will not show up without a crowd.

    ¡¯Once the storm settles, I need to attend one of their ceremonies. If they made mee here, it means that they are almost done with their preparations.¡¯ He thought.

    "A bronze coin for your thoughts." Friya said.

    "We¡¯re on the clock. The arrays arepleted and they felt so confident that one of them attacked me in the open. I don¡¯t like that they lured and trapped me here. If I don¡¯t get rid of them now, they could find me again.

    "Also, I hate them for using arrays to perform their crap. Whenever I use an array, I can still hear Yurial whining about Wardens being useless." Lith replied. His voice went from calm to stone cold when he talked about his enemies and then it became sad while he remembered his lost friend.

    "Me too. I miss him so much." Friya sighed.

    "You know, right after Balkor¡¯s attack, when you and Phloria started to be all lovey-dovey, he asked me if I was interested in being his friend with benefits."

    "Sounds like Yurial. What did you answer him?" Lith said with a light smile.

    "I pped him and said no, of course. I never regretted my choice, I¡¯m only sad that he never got the opportunity to get the happiness he deserved."

 Chapter 577 Borrowed Time Part 2

    "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Friya said while pouring them some hot tea.

    "No, but I can¡¯t guarantee you that I¡¯ll answer."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to pry your wall of secrets." She chuckled.

    "We all knew you had a crush on Nalear and a soft spot for Wanemyre. I was wondering why you never made a pass at me. Now that we are not young and stupid anymore, I¡¯m not embarrassed to say that it hurt my pride for a bit."

    "Well, it¡¯s simple. When we first met, you were just another pompous, stuck up noble. After the second exam, when we started to be friends, you had already be too simr to me." Lith said.

    "You have always been the most beautiful girl in our ss, but I have a thing for cute girls and you have never been cute. You went from obnoxious to dark and gloomy. You and I are like moons. We may shine, but our light is cold and distant.

    "We need a sun, someone willing to walk that distance and ept us for who we are instead that for how we look like. That¡¯s why I ended up with Phloria first and with Kam now."

    Friya had to admit that even if they were good friends, her crazy matched Lith¡¯s crazy in all the wrong possible ways. Just the thought of being together with someone more paranoid, grumpy, and aggressive than she was, gave her the creeps.

    "Are you still practicing the impossible arrays Yurial found for us?" Lith asked.

    "Every single day. I¡¯ll always be grateful to you for teaching me the importance of first magic. There are so many things that I would have missed if I didn¡¯t follow your crazy training routine during the fifth year.

    "I may not be able to create holograms yet, but I can assure you that once we find those rogue mages, they are in for more than one nasty surprise." She said with a ferocious grin.

    Since the snowstorm continued unabated and Kam had yet to call back, they started exchanging pointers about magic. Friya revealed to him that she had kept in touch with Professor Rudd, the dimensional magic expert of the White Griffon.

    They were reminiscing together all the cruel words the man had said to his students in general and to them in particr when someone knocked on her door.

    "I¡¯m sorry to disturb you, Lady Ernas." A butler in a white and dark blue livery said her with a deep bow. He was a middle aged man with receding red hair and the face of someone who had just seen a ghost.

    "There¡¯s a guest on the door who ims to be a friend of someone named Scourge. I tried to send him away, but he refused. Some of your men intervened, but I¡¯m afraid they will only make things worse."

    "Did he say his name?" Friya and Lith exchanged a quick nce hearing the name magical beasts had bestowed upon him.

    "No, I didn¡¯t even ask him about it because he has clearly got the wrong address..."

    Friya didn¡¯t let him finish the phrase and opened a Warp Steps leading to the mansion¡¯s hallway. The front door was wide open, letting the freezing wind in as snow started to pile up on the magnificent blue and gold carpet covering the floor.

    Several members of the Crystal Shield guildy on the ground unconscious. Only a few of them had managed to even draw their weapons, but none of them had the time to use them. Not a single drop of blood had been spilled.

    The man in front of them was a barbarian, at least 2.1 meters (7¡¯) tall. He wore a hunter set of heavy clothes made of warm animal fur and boots bigger than a bucket. His face was rough and savage, with a square jaw and a cleft chin.

    The hunter¡¯s long hair and his well trimmed beard were ming red, with not a single snowke on them. Even though he was lifting one of Friya¡¯s men from the neck with a single hand, waiting for him to pass out, his emerald eyes were calm and wise.

    There was no way Lith wouldn¡¯t recognize him, even after all those years.

    "Put Kallum down!" Friya said while unsheathing her sword.

    "It¡¯s good to see you again, Friya." He said with a warm smile as he let the man¡¯s feet touch the ground again, allowing him to breathe.

    "You may know me, but I don¡¯t know you. What do you want from Lith?" She said while never lowering her weapon.

    A sudden gust of wind swept her hair as a blurry figure moved past Friya and struck the hunter on the side of his jaw with pinpoint uracy, sending him tumbling outside.

    "You bastard! How dare you to show your face like that?" Lith¡¯s anger was so great that, without Solus¡¯s help, his blue aura would have already filled the manor¡¯s hallway.

    She would have liked to say something, but even though she was already restraining his mana flow, both the lights and the shadows were seconds away froming to life. Solus couldn¡¯t afford to lose her focus.

    Blood trickled from the hunter¡¯s mouth as he stood up.

    "You¡¯ve gotten stronger, Scourge. I hoped you would rather focus on bing a better person. Power isn¡¯t everything." The man said as if Lith had offered him his hand instead of sending him flying with a punch.

    "Five years! Five fucking years without a single word from you." Wind and snow pped Lith¡¯s face. He ignored the former, whereas the heat emanating from his skin was so strong that thetter evaporated on contact.

    "I almost died for you and what did I get in return? You deceived me! You turned the only friend I had ever had against me! You abandoned me! You took away Selia from me! Tell me why I shouldn¡¯t kill you on the spot." Lith said.

    The snow melted and boiled under his feet as the whole street was plunged into darkness, as if the sun had been blotted out of the sky. The hunter stood tall, uncaring of the ongoing unnatural phenomenons and Lith¡¯s usations.

    "You didn¡¯t do it for me, but for yourself. What I did, instead, I did it for you. To stop your madness. It was the only way I had to give you a better future and judging from what I¡¯ve heard, I¡¯d say I seeded.

    "I never abandoned you. I simply couldn¡¯t afford to return and waste our sacrifice. As for Selia, she was never yours to begin with. She followed me of her own will. You are only right about one thing. I owe you.

    "Without your reckless, selfish act I would be dead. I live on borrowed time, your time. My life is yours to take if that¡¯s what you truly want." Protector opened his arms in a defenseless position, exposing both his neck and heart.

    Lith extended his wed hands toward Protector¡¯s chest and hugged him as strong as he could.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Protector is barely halfway blue and his physical strength hasn¡¯t improved much.¡¯ She replied as Lith¡¯s fury faded.

    "How can you be so weak after all this time?" Lith said.

 Chapter 578 Catching up Part 1

    "Raising two children while taking care of a pregnant wife doesn¡¯t leave much free time for training. Besides, it¡¯s not me being slow so much as you being relentless. Do you at least have a girlfriend?" Ryman said while returning the embrace.

    Lith was happy to hear that his long since lost friends were all right and that Protector¡¯s manners had significantly improved. In the past, he would have opened the conversation by asking Lith about his mating habits.

    "I do have one."

    "Is she the one in the ring?"

    "No."

    "Is she the one waiting for you on the doorsteps?"

    "It¡¯s a long story." Lith said.

    "Come inside. I doubt you are here just to see me."

    "I would never leave Selia and the children in the middle of winter for a social call. I¡¯m here because you need my help, Scourge. Is this your new house?" Ryman said while pointing at the Viscount¡¯s manor.

    "It is now. Remember to watch your mouth. I¡¯ve yet to share any of my secrets with anyone."

    At those words, Ryman lost his cool and stopped in his tracks.

    "No one knows about Solus, the Awakening, your other form, or Carl?" He said with a whisper.

    When Lith had given Protector part of his life force to repair his damaged mana core, the Emperor Beast had essed to all of his memories, even those from his life on Earth.

    "Tista knows about Solus and Awakening, Phloria knows about my other half, but that¡¯s it. Only you and Solus know everything about me." The tone Lith used made it clear he was still unwilling to open up.

    "Who is this guy? How does he know my name?" Friya had put away her sword when she had seen the two men hugging, but her confusion still remains.

    "He is..." Lith was searching for a usible lie when Protector cut him short.

    "We briefly met during Balkor¡¯s attack. You know me with the name of Protector, but I¡¯d like you to call me Ryman Fastarrow. Selia says I should always introduce myself with a real name rather than just a title."

    Friya racked her brain, trying to remember where she had heard that name before. Her mouth almost dropped onto the ground when she realized their guest¡¯s identity.

    "No way! You are..." Lith snapped his fingers, Blinking all three of them back inside Friya¡¯s room before it was toote.

    "...an Emperor Beast. How can you possess a human body?" A Hush spell prevented her voice from being heard.

    "I didn¡¯t steal anyone¡¯s body." Ryman said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

    "Once we reach this stage of evolution, we can shapeshift. It¡¯s not a big deal, a lot of creatures can do it." Lith didn¡¯t like how Protector looked at him while saying that.

    "Yet it¡¯s a big secret among beasts, like the fact that they can talk." Lith chimed in.

    "He is putting a lot of trust in you. Most humans would go crazy if they knew that beasts and nts can shapeshift. Do you remember Gadorf the Wyvern? He was able to do the same."

    His words calmed her a bit, but not much. Suddenly she had no idea how to recognize who was human and who was just pretending to be one.

    "I need to sit and something strong to drink." She shook her head, hoping the room would stop spinning soon.

    "How is Selia doing?" Lith asked.

    "I had to propose to her to make her move away from Lutia on such short notice." Ryman¡¯s words made Friya choke on her drink.

    "Isn¡¯t Selia a woman? I mean a human? Are you two really married?" She blurted out.

    Lith had to repressughter. The same Protector who was always so patient and kind, the closest thing to a magical father figure Lith had, was now dting his nostril in annoyance.

    "Yes, yes, and yes. If you keep stating the obvious, I¡¯ll never get to the point, though."

    Friya became beet red and hid her face behind her ss.

    ¡¯I need something stronger.¡¯ She thought as she put the wine away and took a bottle of Griffon Fire out of her pocket dimension. A single malt whiskey with over 50% of alcohol content.

    "Everything went fine until our first daughter was born. Thank the Great Mother, after almost getting killed I became proficient in healing magic, so Selia didn¡¯t need a midwife. It would have been a mess since Lilia had quite a fur."

    Friya had one shot at the word "daughter" and another at "fur".

    "Was she a hybrid?" Lith asked, giving Friya plenty of reasons for a third shot.

    "Yes. Useless to say, Selia didn¡¯t take it well. She yelled at me for lying to her and kicked me out of our house. To be fair, I didn¡¯t lie. She never asked and I never thought of a reason for telling her about me being an Emperor Beast."

    "How could you not tell her? That¡¯s a pretty big elephant, you know?" Friya said.

    "I came out of the woods naked, I told her I knew her for a long time and I had uncanny magic powers. I thought it was pretty obvious."

    "She must have thought you were a friendly but nutjob mage! What kind of logic is yours?" Another shot bit the dust.

    "Is my life a drinking game or what? Gods, now I understand why you never speak about yourself with anyone. Silly me thinking you and Selia were just paranoid." Protector took the bottle away. She had already started slurring her words.

    "Are you saying that Lith is an Emperor Beast too?" Friya was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    "No, he¡¯s not. His body is on par with a veteran magical beast, but it¡¯s weakpared to an Emperor."

    "Shut your damn mouth!" Lith couldn¡¯t believe how stupidly sincere Ryman was.

    ¡¯He must have survived this far because Selia has him under her thumb.¡¯ He thought.

    "I need more alcohol." Small sparks of light appeared around the bottle, making part of its content fill her ss again.

    "Master of space, remember?" Friya was happy her ability with dimensional ability was able to shock the two monsters she was sharing the room with.

    "After a few days, she calmed down and allowed me to return home. Selia was still pretty pissed off, but she had no idea how to raise a hybrid which made her desperate for help. She was afraid that if humans found out about Lilia, they would kill her.

    "After I managed to make our daughter turn into her human form, things went smoothly and after a few months, she forgave me. Now everything is settled. We had a son, Leran and now Selia is carrying our third one.

    "Selia picked all of their names in your honor. She says that without you, we would have never met and that without your sacrifice she would have been forced to raise our child alone. You are their godfather, so you should visit them sometimes."

    On Mogar, it was custom to name a child with the same initial letter of the most esteemed member of the family as a good omen. Lith was moved by Selia¡¯s consideration towards him.

    After Lith told him the part of his story Friya was allowed to know and they were caught up, Protector exined to them the reason for hising.

 Chapter 579 Catching Up Part 2

    "After almost dying by the hands of Balkor¡¯s Valor, I understood I needed to study magic more seriously. Whenever I¡¯m not providing for my family or raising my children, I study under a powerful Emperor Beast, Faluel the Hydra.

    "I never forgot about my debt of gratitude towards you, so I asked Faluel to inform me if she ever heard something about you. That¡¯s how I learned about your predicament.

    "Fighting three A- amazing mages alone it¡¯s difficult to even for someone as experienced as you are. I still regret not learning about Nalear until it was toote. I couldn¡¯t be there for you then, but I¡¯m not leaving you alone this time." Protector said.

    "You know a Hydra?" Friya had already reached the point where no amount of alcohol could calm her down anymore.

    "Yes, she is my mentor. I¡¯m sure she would dly help you too, Lith. Except during winter. She hates the cold."

    "Wait, how does she know about Zantia¡¯s situation?" Lith asked.

    "The Lord of the Ker region somehow spectated your fight. Emperor Beasts don¡¯t care about humans but look after their own. He knew I was looking out for you and he alerted Faluel. You know the rest."

    "Gods, I can¡¯t believe it! Magical beasts sent reinforcements to help you whereas the army is still sitting on its thumbs." Friya had no idea that Lith had reported about the existence of only two Awakened ones to protect his cover.

    "Magical beasts care only for themselves, whereas the army has to protect the entire country." Lith said while winking at Protector to make him shut up.

    Lith told Protector everything he knew about the Church of the Six, the group of Awakened one he had fought, and showed him the arrays they had nted inside the city.

    "Do you really know even about arrays?" Protector was bbergasted.

    "Does this Kam really exist or is she made up? He can¡¯t possibly take care of her, his job, their cubs, and be so good at magic!"

    "No cubs." Lith¡¯s voice was stone cold, while Friya giggled due to being tipsy and because of Lith¡¯s embarrassment.

    "But you are together for..."

    "No cubs and not nning on making them!" Lith¡¯s army amulet blinked signaling an iing call and giving him an excuse to change the topic.

    Contrary to his expectations, it wasn¡¯t Kam¡¯s hologram which materialized in the middle of the room, but General Vorgh¡¯s.

    He was a short old man, barely 1.5 meters (5¡¯) tall wearing the light blue uniform of the army. Judging by the several wrinkles on his face and the spots on his skin, he had to be at least seventy years old.

    Yet his sky blue eyes had the wild vibe of a predator on the chase. His short white hair and finely trimmed beard shone like silver fur under the sun, reinforcing everyone¡¯s impression of being staring at a beast of the north.

    The man¡¯s sleeves bore a silver star. It identified him with the rank of Brigadier General. His right hand was wilding a staff made of white oak with six violet magic crystals engraved on it in a straight line.

    Six more floated above its top, forming a perfect circle that orbited around the staff and followed its every movement. Lith had already seen it in action. It allowed Vorgh to use impossible arrays as if he was an Awakened.

    The six engraved magic crystals were likely to be its power source, whereas the floating ones were responsible for creating the true arrays and harmonizing the world energy with Vorgh¡¯s mana.

    "Spellbreaker Verhen, I¡¯m afraid you are facing madmen." The title Vorgh addressed Lith with made those present aware of the gravity of the situation.

    "Before we speak, you should send away these people. Civilians can¡¯t be involved in a military operation." He said while pointing at Friya and Ryman.

    "General Vorgh, allow me to introduce you Lady Friya Ernas and Ryman Fastarrow. I conscripted them to help me. They have all the right to know since they are putting their lives on the line along with mine." Lith said.

    "So be it. I agree with your assessment of the two arrays you identified, but you have failed to grasp how they interact with the third one. To be honest, I¡¯m not sure either. Mine are just spections, but it¡¯s all I have to offer you for now."

    Lith nodded Vorgh to continue as Solus griped due to mana sense not working on holograms. She would have really liked to take a closer look at the staff¡¯s pseudo core.

    "The array between the grounding and the containment ones was called Third Eye by its creator and Fool¡¯s Gold by everyone else. It channels the world energy inside a mage¡¯s body, making it possible for them to awaken their hidden talents.

    "No one uses it, though, because not only are its effects just temporary, but also using it greatly shortens its user¡¯s lifespan. Horan Pnor became one of Mogar¡¯s most powerful mages for almost two days before dying for its side effects.

    "No one uses Fool¡¯s Gold because it doesn¡¯t really give you any power, it simply condenses your life force, so you can achieve for a few months the power you would get in two years of practice by losing ten years in the process."

    The news stunned both Lith and Protector. Even Awakened ones had to take care of their life force because it couldn¡¯t be replenished. umtion and Invigoration slowed down its consumption, but they didn¡¯t affect the amount of life force one was born with.

    Lith¡¯s Death Vision was a consequence of his attempt to saving Protector¡¯s life at the expense of his own.

    "The worst thing is that whoever modified Pnor¡¯s array turned it into forbidden magic." Vorgh said making Lith even more confused.

    "If a mage can get more power by simply sacrificing lives, I would expect it to be one of the most popr crimes. Why have I never heard of it before?" He asked.

    "Because it doesn¡¯t work that way. Your talent requires your life force, your memory, your experiences." Vorgh exined.

    "The upper containment array is used to store and amplify the world energy, Fool¡¯s Gold will temporarily enhance the talent of its user, and the grounding array will discharge the excess energy using the people affected by the Griever as a medium.

    "It¡¯s not an illness. Those two mages injected their own mana inside others to both form the arrays and use them as catalysts. That way, the whole city will take part in the process and all its inhabitants will lose a decade or two of life!"

    "What could they possibly gain from that?" Lith asked.

    "My hypothesis is that they n to lessen Fool¡¯s Gold¡¯s side effects by using the least necessary amount of world energy and discharging the rest on the poption. This way, instead of losing twenty years they could reduce it to eighteen." Vorgh replied.

    "It¡¯s a negligible amount, that¡¯s why I say they are madmen. The use of forbidden magic is a game changer. We are sending you Spellbreakers as soon as possible. Normally it would take them a couple of hours to get there between preparations and traveling, but the snowstorm will slow things down.

    "The only other piece of good news I can give you is where you can find those responsible. To benefit from Fool¡¯s Gold¡¯s effects, the mage must be exactly in the middle of it. When they activate the array, it will be visible. Good luck, Spellbreaker Verhen." Vorgh ended the call.

 Chapter 580 Desperate Moves Part1

    "What¡¯s our next move?" Friya asked. "Even though we now know their endgame, we can¡¯t just sit idly. Once the array is activated, there¡¯s no telling how long the process will take. I don¡¯t want to lose years of life!"

    "I agree. We must make our move before they get the upper hand." Ryman said.

    "We must lure them out in the open and to do it, we need to break their toy. Without the people affected by the Griever, their array will break. The only reason why they do not get themselves healed is that they have fallen for the Church¡¯s deception."

    "We need to get rid of the Church and heal those morons." Lith said.

    After learning about the presence of more than two Awakened inside Zantia, Lith had been forced to give up on his original n of storming the Church in his hybrid form. It was something he had to do on his own since it would have been hard to exin to Friya about his shapeshifting abilities.

    Protector¡¯s arrival was truly a blessing. He was both an excellent fighter and a perfect cover for what was going to happen. Friya already knew about Lith¡¯s abnormal body, Death Vision, and about him sharing his life force with Ryman.

    Now all Lith needed was a better understanding of the Church of the Six¡¯s teachings before giving those Awakened a taste of their own medicine.

    ***

    Just a few kilometers away from Viscount Krame¡¯s mansion, the four remaining Awakened were arguing about their n and cursing Kieran¡¯s name. If not for his childish pride of being the next heir of the Blood Desert¡¯s best assassin, everything would still be on the right track.

    "We have no choice. We must continue even without Deraniel." Ailia said. Like Pelion, she was native of the Gorgon Empire. Her blue mana core was as strong as Lith¡¯s, whereas her body was weaker than his.

    Her master had Awakened her when she already had a green mana core. Her body needed a lot of time to adapt, and she still needed help to survive whenever it was the moment to expel the impurities for a breakthrough.

    She was 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall with light blonde hair and green eyes. Thanks to being an Awakened, her figure would make most men break their necks while turning their heads at her passing. Yet among the Awakened ones, she was just one of many.

    "Agreed. Not all of us have an Awakened daddy like Deraniel. ¡¯There¡¯s always next year¡¯ my ass!" Pelion said while imitating Deraniel¡¯s ent and spitting on the firece, turning it into a pir of fire with a spark of mana.

    "I¡¯m not saying to give up on the n. I need Third Eye as much as you do. I¡¯m just saying that maybe we should dy it. If we leave Zantia now, the Council will never find us." Benyo nervously bit her nails.

    She was 1.77 meters (5¡¯10) with ming red hair and hazel eyes. She possessed a bright cyan mana core, but thanks to her master Awakening her when she was very young, her body refinement had been easy, at leastpared to herpanions.

    Thanks to that, her body was stronger than Ailia, and her figure was even better.

    "Dy it? We¡¯ll never get another opportunity like this. The city is isted and the arrays are set in ce. If you are so afraid, then I say that we start the ritual now and then we run away as fast as we can.

    "During spring and summer, it would be impossible to keep so many people locked inside their homes, not to mention we will probably be already dead!" Jaren said.

    He was 1.8 (5¡¯11") meters tall, with brown hair and eyes. He wasn¡¯t as tall nor bulky as Pelion was, but he had the build of a professional fighter. He had a bright cyan mana core and his body was on par with Benyo, allowing him to go hand to hand with magical beasts.

    He and Benyo were native of the Griffon Kingdom, but it didn¡¯t make them any less scared. The use of forbidden magic was a crime even in the Awakenedmunity, in case the Council discovered their extracurricr activities, they were as good as dead.

    Yet they weren¡¯t afraid of the Council so much as of their own masters. An Awakened mage was considered responsible for all of their disciples, so they would never bestow their gifts upon someone for nothing.

    Awakening was a rare phenomenon, and not all of those who managed to do it on their own would live long enough to be hard to kill. There were those who died of starvation, in battle, or simply due to their own stupidity.

    So, when an Awakened mage needed an heir, they would pick up one or more talented youths as their apprentices. The one who seeded would inherit their legacy, while the others had to find a new master or die.

    Deraniel was an exception since his master was also his own father. Even if he failed, Tasaar would not kill him. Kieran was another exception. Lesalia only picked one apprentice at the time and disposed of them as soon as she found them wanting.

    Ever since Lith had destroyed the ck Star, Lesalia had used him as a benchmark to push her disciple to and beyond his limits. With his life on the line, Kieran had soon started to hate Lith¡¯s guts, fearing that the rogue Awakened¡¯s feats would be the death of him.

    The remaining members of the group were the cream of the crop in their own territory, but only thanks to Third Eye. They were all brilliant, but not geniuses. With their talent alone they could see the top of the mountain, but never reach it.

    That was the reason why they had resorted to using such an borate scheme. They had met each other during Council meetings, bonding thanks to their mutual age and problems.

    Together, they had managed to alter Third Eye with forbidden magic, so that they would split his effects, both good and bad, equally between the six of them. They would still lose a consistent amount of their life force, but the ritual had brought them to the top.

    They had calcted that to beat theirpetition they would lose a total of two hundred years of life each. It was a small price to pay to inherit their masters¡¯ legacy and territory.

    Especially if the alternative was dying young after having spent their whole lives ving away. Just like Vorgh had said, the forbidden magic allowed them to slightly mitigate the cost of the ritual each time they performed it.

    Yet even one year of life force mattered, since thanks to umtion, it wouldst ten if not twenty times as much. The humans they harmed didn¡¯t matter. They would lose their own life force and die decadester, making their deaths seemingly unrted.

    The six Awakened had lured Lith for two reasons. The first was to use him as the seventh member and further reduce the strain on their life force. The second was because Kieran wanted to get rid of him and prove to be the best fighter in the three Great Countries.

    Yet the n was to make them fight after the ritual, not before. They needed both of them alive, especially since as a rogue Lith had no connection with the Council, so he couldn¡¯t report them even if he managed to escape.

    The Wyrmling arrival, though, had proven them to be dead wrong.

 Chapter 581 Desperate Moves Part 2

    "We haven¡¯t gotten this far just to quit with our tail between our legs." Ailia said.

    "I need to continue being my master¡¯s favorite student at all costs. She has already killed all those who didn¡¯t pass her exams. There¡¯s so few of us left that she is bound to pick her heir soon, and it¡¯s going to be me."

    She exchanged a meaningful look with herpanions, they were all in the same boat.

    "If we take Verhen alive, the damage will be split among five instead of seven, but a shorter life is better than no life at all. If the Wyrmling exposed us, our masters would have already called me and Pelion back. Luckily, beasts do not care for humans.

    "Kieran must have angered it and Deraniel got caught in the crossfire because they were always together. I agree with Jaren, we must wrap this up quickly and get out of here before something else happens."

    Since the other three agreed, Benyo could only follow. The group decided toplete the ritual as soon as the snowstorm peaked again, forcing the human foci of the spell to remain in their ce.

    ***

    Lith spent the rest of the morning shouting orders and making preparations. He conscripted all of Zantia¡¯s mages for his n. Most of them were unwilling to serve under a new master, especially one who didn¡¯t exin to them what they were about to do.

    They were either city healers or noble heirs.

    "I may have not studied at one of the six great academies, but I took an oath as a healer and my family has loyally served the Kingdom for generations." The most annoying of them was Baroness Ternas, a minor healer.

    "First you had the guards kidnap us from our homes and now you want to order us around as if we are ves? There¡¯s a reason I didn¡¯t join the army. I demand to know why we are trapped inside the city hall and what purpose this assembly has."

    There were too many whispers and nodding of approval to dismiss her request.

    "Those are all excellent questions. Allow me to answer." Lith¡¯s eyes became two blue torches fueled by his mana as he unleashed his killing intent against the over one hundred mages in front of him.

    The weakest among them almost fainted. They fell onto the ground, gasping for air. The terror invading their bodies had almost made them forget how to breathe. The others were covered in cold sweat, unable to take their eyes off Lith, like deer in front of oing headlights.

    He grabbed Baroness Ternas by the neck, lifting her like she was just a rag doll.

    "There is a crisis at hand and I need healers." He exined with a calm voice while a stream of lightning coursed through her body sending her in a seizure.

    "You are here because quantity has a quality all its own." Lith healed her as the smell of ozone and burned flesh spread throughout the room.

    "I didn¡¯t call you here for a debate. Opinions are like assholes, everyone got one. You are trapped here because you are untrustworthy." Another lightning, another seizure. Lith was careful not letting her faint nor tightening her throat so much that she couldn¡¯t scream.

    "This assembly has a purpose you¡¯ll be made aware of when the timees and not a second sooner. I need your obedience, not your trust." Lith healed her again, releasing a bit more of killing intent and making everyone fell to their knees, incapable even of looking him in the eyes.

    "You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Those of you who agree to help me will bepensated for their service. As for the others..." More lightning bolts and screamspleted the sentence for him.

    "Any more questions?"

    Some of them were crying, others had wet themselves due to the mental pressure Lith¡¯s mana and hostility exuded. All of them fell in line and nodded like parrots even after Lith had left the room.

    He couldn¡¯t afford to reveal any detail of his n without it leaking.

    There was no telling who was affiliated with the church among his recruits¡¯ families, friends, or neighbors. Friya helped Wyra, one of the few members of her guilds who she actually trusted, with her investigation about the church.

    They promised the former staff of house Krame that they would be reinstated if they provided useful information.

    Protector couldn¡¯t help either Lith nor Friya, so he flew among the clouds and did all he could to mitigate the storm. He couldn¡¯t stop such a force of nature, but he could at least dy it to buy the others the time they needed.

    Thanks to Protector¡¯s efforts, the snow had almost ceased to fall. The Church of the Six was full to the brim of loyal worshippers who were scared of the storm as much as they were of the sudden disappearance of the healers.

    Lith had spread the rumor that the Griever had turned into a gue, forcing all the mages in the city to work together to contain the disease. He wanted them to be so scared that they would ignore the risk of a new snowstorm and assemble in the Church.

    It was the only bait he had to lure the Awakened in the open.

    "Dear brothers and sisters, I¡¯m very happy to see so many of you despite the harsh trials this winter has put us all through." Said the high cleric of the Church of the Six.

    He was an average man, 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") tall with brown hair and eyes. His voice was deep and confident. With his stocky build and round nose, he wasn¡¯t a good looking man, but his manners were calm and amiable, making people inclined to listen to his words.

    He was good at manipting the crowd. First, he would make them feel close to each other by reminding them of all themon injustices they suffered from, and then he offered them a conveniently simple scapegoat to me and an even simpler solution.

    All they had to do was to follow his words.

    "I know the Griever is getting worse, but rest assured. None of it is your fault. Thanks to your sacrifice, the six Sovereigns are slowly recuperating. Giving up on magic for your daily activities makes everything harder, but it¡¯s for the greater good.

    "By not contaminating the world energy with your mana, you will allow the gods to soon return among us. I know that they are pleased with us because several of you have been finally relieved from your tribtion."

    "Glory to the Sovereigns!" The rtives of the victims of the Griever who had recently been ¡¯healed¡¯ praised the high cleric¡¯s words. They were simply people not meant to contribute at the array who had been harmed only to keep the others in line.

    "It¡¯s only due to the blind selfishness of the mages that we have to work and suffer every day! They continue to profit from their ancestors¡¯ betrayal using powers that don¡¯t belong to them for their own good.

    "Each time they use a spell, the world energy gets depleted and our Mogar gets closer to its end!" The high cleric said. ording to the church¡¯s beliefs, there was only a finite amount of world energy.

    With the Sovereigns gone, it couldn¡¯t replenish itself. It was all bogus since energy couldn¡¯t be created nor destroyed, it could only be transferred or changed from one form to another.

    "The day of reckoning is upon them. Soon the gods will return and punish them for..."

    A sphere of light the size of a chariot appeared above the main altar. Those present fell to their knees, praying with all their might, with the only exception of the clerics who stared in horror as space was torn apart by the monstrosity they believed to have summoned with their ramblings.

 Chapter 582 All Worlds a Stage Part 1

    The sphere of light turned into a gateway, which apparently led to another dimension full of stars ands floating in the middle of space.

    A monstrous creature emerged from the portal on top of a fiery beast, turning the joy of the worshippers into terror.

    The rider stood slightly over two meters tall and was covered in thick curved ck scales. Both his hands and feet ended in razor sharp ws enveloped in ck mes. A set of upside down membranous wing came out of his back, producing with each of their ps a gust of wind strong enough to rival with the outside storm.

    His face was a ck te with no nose nor ears, but his seven eyes made everyone recognize him on the spot. Each one of the six eyes on his face burned with a different color of mana which emphasized his pitch ck vertical pupils.

    The seventh one on his forehead was deep blue and without a pupil.

    "Isn¡¯t that the All-Father?" Everyone asked while staring in horror as the scales over his mouth opened, revealing a mouth full of fangs and blue fire. The killing intent the rider and hi mount emanated made them unable to move or even to aver their gaze.

    Shivers went down their spines and the warm air inside the church became so cold that they could see their own breath steaming.

    "Silence! You have relinquished your gifts, your free will, and your life. You have no right to say my name. Food doesn¡¯t get to talk, it only gets digested!" The portal behind the All-Father closed, and all the shadows in the room came to life, overwhelming their owners.

    The worshippers were soon pinned to the ground by a distorted version of themselves. The dark forms had their faces twisted by an insatiable hunger, bright yellow eyes, and a white maw instead of a mouth.

    "Fenrir, devour them!" He ordered to his steed, a huge beast resembling a divine wolf.

    Its shoulder height reached two meters and a half (8¡¯3"), making its rider¡¯s head almost touch the ceiling. Its whole body was covered by a ming red fur and enveloped in a deep blue me. It erupted with greater intensity from its neck, making it look like a mane.

    The monster had two curved hornsing out of its forehead, right in front of its ears, eagle-like feathered winging out from its back, and its tail was made out of dancing blue mes.

    Fenrir¡¯s howl made the ground quake and cracked the church¡¯s walls like they were just made of sand. All those trapped by their own shadows felt their strength being sapped as small spheres of light came out of their bodies and moved towards the All-Father.

    Ailia and Pelion were watching at the show from a surveince mirror. They recognized the spell as what Deraniel had called "Demons of Darkness". It was a variation of spirit magic they had never seen before.

    They had yet to make a move because their minds were frozen in a stupor.

    Everything had happened too fast and at the worst possible moment. They had no spell at the ready, and facing one on one an Emperor Beast wasn¡¯t a nice perspective. Yet they had no choice but to act.

    If the Church of the Six copsed, people would let themselves be healed, making it impossible for them to trigger the Third Eye array.

    "He¡¯s not the All-Father, but just a pretender. We know it well because we are the Sovereigns!" Ailia and Pelion appeared from a Warp Steps. They unleashed a blinding light that dispersed the shadows and freed all of those present.

    "Really? Wasn¡¯t that just a spell? Didn¡¯t you juste from amon room?" The All-Lithughed unleashing a tier five spell while Protector did the same. The two Awakened had nothing to counter such a sudden and powerful move, so they Blinked to safety.

    "Where the heck are you guys? We need help!" Ailia yelled at hermunication amulet.

    Everyone was now free to look around. Nothing in her demeanor or looks was very god-like. She sounded afraid and she was using a pricy yetmon tool. Pelion quickly cast a tier three stream of lightning bolts while emitting a powerful blue aura.

    "Air magic? This is insulting." Protector sighed. Even when he was still an evolved monster, air and fire were his natural elements. Manipting them came as easy as breathing to him.

    He had over thirty years of experience with it and five more since he had evolved into an Emperor Beast. Bybining his will with Lith¡¯s, they didn¡¯t need to make a single move.

    The closer the lightning bolts came to them, the smaller they got, until they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

    "Nice trick! Do you work at birthday parties too? I¡¯ll show you what a real god can do! Fenrir, attack!" The All-Lith said making Protector snarl.

    He hated corny speeches and even more getting hit in the reins by Lith¡¯s wed feet like he really was a steed. Yet he didn¡¯tin and directed his fury against the two Awakened by unleashing the tier four spell ming Tornado.

    Using its light as a cover, Lith gave Protector the convened signal and breathed into it a burst of Origin mes. Thanks to his elemental mastery, Protector made it so that the Origin mes where stuck in the eye of his tornado without them damaging their surroundings.

    The air element amplified the power of Lith¡¯s mes whereas the fire element of ming Tornado was sacrificed to prevent them from spreading outwards. The resulting effect was akin to a fire pir produced by a Balor, but entirely made of Origin mes.

    The blue pir destroyed everything on its path, making stone evaporate and turning wood into ashes. Ailia and Pelion used their defensive amulets, conjuring a barrier made of pure mana to shield themselves from the attack.

    Yet no matter how much energy they poured into them, the boosted and focused Origin mes were eating at it with a speed visible at the naked eye. The amulets became hot due to the stress their pseudo core was under.

    Lith and Protector were doing their best to make it look easy, but neither breathing Origin mes non stop nor keeping them under control was a simple feat.

    "We need to get away!" Pelion yelled as the mes started to get past the barrier and ate at his enchanted clothes.

    "How do you propose to do that? If we lose our focus, we are dead!" Ailia¡¯s prayers were answered by two Warp Steps opened by theirpanions, who pulled them back to the safety of their room.

    "Damn!" Lith said. ording to his n, the other two Awakened were supposed to try and attack him from behind, where Friya was ready to ambush them. Unluckily, even the most perfect n doesn¡¯t survive contact with the enemy.

    "Cowards! Show yourself!" He said while both he and Protector used Invigoration to restore their strength.

    ¡¯n B it is.¡¯ Friya Warped outside and then walked through the main door, enveloped in a golden light like a hero from the legends. With each of her strides, the shadows which had just started toe to life again screamed and died.

 Chapter 583 All Worlds a Stage Part 2

    "Begone monster! You don¡¯t belong in this world!" She said while pointing her rune covered rapier against the All-Lith. The golden light pushed the shadows back and made the killing intent which had oppressed the worshippers until that moment disappear.

    "It is not by my will that I was summoned here. I only answered the call of humans who want to pay me tribute." The All-Lith replied.

    "Tribute? You steal their freedom and treat them as nothing but food!" Friya couldn¡¯t believe that she was actually following Lith¡¯s script.

    "Foolish girl! The same could be said of all religions." The All-Lith and his steed charged forward.

    "Run away! I¡¯ll hold him as long as I can!" Friya flew forward, shing against the rider. Her rapier produced a silvery sound as it shed against the All-Lith¡¯s arm.

    People stared in awe as the small figure managed to stop the two monsters alone. Many of them knew Friya and despised her for being Viscount Krame¡¯s henchman. Now their eyes were filled with tears of gratitude and their hearts with admiration.

    "We should have never doubted our mages." Many said while helping those who were too weak to get up on their own due to the emotional rollercoaster they had experienced.

    "Suckers." Lith said with a wide grin as Protector continued to step back, pretending that the fight was bnced.

    "Is there something you can¡¯t do with those holograms?" Friya whispered while making sure that her back prevented the spectators from seeing Lith¡¯s human arm appearing where her de made contact with it.

    "I wish. I can¡¯t hold on for long." It was a lie. Only his eyes were covered by holograms, making them appear as if they were opened. Lith had simply reverted his arm to its human form upon contact.

    They kept fighting spell against spell, ws against de. Every of their move was dramatic and heroic, to the point it looked like an epic battle straight out of the legends.

    It was all staged, of course. Their spells were shy, made to appear powerful, but had no substance.

    They were weaker than first magic, barely a light show. As soon as everyone got outside, the three mortal enemies stopped to n their next move.

    "I¡¯d say that the Church of the Six is done." Friya said as both Lith and Protector reverted to their human form.

    Ryman purposely produced a sh of light to blind her long enough for Lith to build and destroy a hologram that could cover his transformation.

    "Indeed. I was expecting them to attack us during our little y, but they seem to be otherwise upied." Ryman pondered while using air magic to reproduce the sounds of a heated battle and witty one-liners.

    "At this point, they have no choice left but to activate the arrays now. Even if some of the spells¡¯ foci are out of ce, they had enough to spare in case something happened." Lith used his army amulet to make sure that n C was going smoothly.

    A yelp and a "No!" apanied an explosion big enough to make the whole building crumble. The alleged monsters had allegedly been defeated. The crowd still around the church exploded into cheers and apuse as the three walked out of the debris.

    The mercenary, the Ranger, and the hunter smiled at their audience. Lith even raised his hands while holding Ryman¡¯s and Friya¡¯s before giving those present a bow, just like they were actors.

    The cheers and apuses intensified.

    "Good gods! How did you be a man who can see a whole city almost ripped to shreds and joke like that?" Friya angrily whispered.

    "For them, us saving their city might be the most important day of their life. But for me, it was just another day¡¯s work." Lith¡¯s reply earned him a nudge in his ribs from both of his partners.

    "We have no time to waste! ording to General Vorgh they must be at the center of the array. If even n C goes awry, we¡¯re screwed." Friya chanted her spells with astounding speed, urging Lith to do the same.

    This time, the Awakened would be prepared and have the home advantage. Lith chanted gibberish, giving Solus the task to provide for n F while he took care of n E.

    He had to keep them both a secret, or the others would never let him hear the end of it.

    ¡¯I¡¯mpletely against n E and I wish you to reconsider.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯This time it will be three against four. Four versus four at best, if we give away your existence. But what if they have prepared more arrays? I¡¯m not going to risk the life of any of you. You mess with the Scourge, you get buried. Period.¡¯ Lith ended the argument before it even started.

    Ryman opened a Warp Steps leading to their destination as soon as the chanting ended. Dimensional magic was mana expensive and Friya was the only one among them who wasn¡¯t an Awakened.

    ¡¯She is the weak link. I have to make sure that nothing happens to her. Friya is a good person and I don¡¯t want to see Lith experience any more grief. The next time he snaps, it could be thest one.¡¯ Ryman thought.

    The Warp Steps led them to a spot far enough from the array¡¯s epicenter to not make them visible with Life Vision, but close enough to check their surroundings for traps.

    "All clear." Lith said after performing the array detecting spell and using both his own and Solus¡¯s mystical senses.

    "Same. I can¡¯t sense any suspicious sound or smell." Ryman found theck of enemy traps disturbing. He had checked for undead, explosives, and even hidden soldiers to no avail.

    They flew toward the center of the array and soon they were able to see four figures high in the sky. The four Awakened moved rhythmically, using Invigoration to conjure more and more world energy.

    It would ensure them the sessful activation of Third Eye even if theycked a few focal points. Due to the temporary relief from the storm, people might had left their homes. The four were arranged back to back in a circle, covering all the possible directions their opponents coulde from without leaving a blind spot.

    "They are here!" Benyo said. Things couldn¡¯t have gotten any worse. With only four of them, Third Eye would take a big chunk of her life force. To add insult to injury, the makeshift addition to the ritual would ensure its activation, but they were likely to lose the grounding array¡¯s effect and even more life force in the process.

    ¡¯I hope there is a special ce in the afterlife for idiots like you, Kieran.¡¯ She inwardly cursed.

    "Let theme. Ready on my mark." Ailia said. Her face looked like it had been chiseled in stone. She had sacrificed too much to allow anyone to stop her. All of them knew the risks involved when they had epted to be Awakened.

    Back then, however, death seemed something distant, whereas now it was waiting for them around the corner.

    "Now!" At her signal, a golden six pointed star appeared in the space between them. It soon grew enough to cover all the space around them for over 100 meters (328 feet). Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram was one of the mostmon training routines for Awakened ones.

    Four of them could cast it quickly and suppress any enemy thanks to Invigoration providing them with endless mana. Lith¡¯s group suddenly lost their flight spell and gravity did the rest.

 Chapter 584 Tactics and Strategy Part 1

    "Nothing works!" Friya said. None of the items Orion had prepared for her could project its energy outwards. Under the seal of the Hexagram, only inner energies like fusion magic could be used.

    She wasn¡¯t worried about dying. The enchanted armor she wore still worked and it would prevent the fall from being lethal. Yet without magic, they had no way to stop the four criminals.

    "I know." Protector¡¯s voice was peaceful. He took a deep breath and the world stopped moving. He was the first one to disappear, quickly followed by his twopanions.

    "What the heck? They Blinked away!" Jaren couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    "Stop spouting bullshit! They are still inside the array. Had they attempted any spell, we would have felt it and countered it in a jiffy." Pelion could still sense Lith¡¯s group presence thanks to the enhanced mana perception the Hexagram provided to all four of them, yet he couldn¡¯t pinpoint them.

    At least not until one of Protector¡¯s horns rammed at him with the force of a freight train. After almost being killed by a single move of the two Emperor Beasts, this time Pelion hade to the fight prepared.

    The moment Benyo had spotted the iing enemies, he had activated his armor¡¯s pseudo core to boost its defensive abilities at the expense of duration. The enchanted protection his master had Forgemastered for him was now five times stronger than usual.

    Such a powerful effect came at a price, though. It would take less than two minutes for the pseudo core to exhaust its mana and when that happened, his armor would be no different from normal clothes for hours.

    Fights were supposed to notst for long and Pelion would return home as soon as they were done with the Third Eye ritual. It was a perfect n, at least on paper.

    Despite the armor¡¯s boosted effect, despite earth fusion making Pelion¡¯s body as durable and heavy as stone, he was sent flying out of the formation. All of his precautions had prevented him from being skewered by the horn, but he still took a lot of damage.

    His sternum cracked along with several ribs, making him spit a mouthful of blood as he fought to regain control over his own flight spell. Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram disappeared, making it possible for Lith¡¯s group to use magic again.

    Lith and Friya jumped off Protector¡¯s back as he disappeared again.

    "Where did he go?" Ailia didn¡¯t panic and kept her focus on her ritual. She could feel the energy umted in the air closing to its critical mass.

    "He did another invisible Blink!" Jaren said while turning his head in every direction, hoping to spot the Emperor Beast¡¯s exit point.

    "It¡¯s you who blinked, not me." Protector struck Jaren with one of his horns, sending the Awakened flying and following up with a tier four spell, Shadow Edge. A darkness infused air de cut deeply into Jaren¡¯s defenses and sapped his strength.

    "There¡¯s just the two of us left!" Benyo had several spells at the ready, but had no idea which one to use without exposing herself or herpanions to the Emperor Beast¡¯s impossible attacks.

    Lith darted toward her, well aware of her eyes zing with mana.

    ¡¯They are all using Life Vision. Dimensional magic is useless, I can only employ fusion magic to move faster.¡¯ He thought.

    Friya stayed behind, casting one spell after the other. A Mage Knight¡¯s role was to support and protect theirpanions. She would join the fight the moment the others required her help, not a second sooner.

    ¡¯How the heck can these guys use Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram? Even bybining their strength, it¡¯s supposed to be impossible. Speaking of impossible, how does Ryman Warp space without opening a dimensional door?¡¯ She wondered.

    The answer was pretty simple: he wasn¡¯t Blinking, just flying with his wings.

    Ryman was so fast that from such a close distance not even the Awakened¡¯s enhanced senses could follow his movements.

    Now that he could use air magic again to support his wings, he had be even faster. In an aerial fight, anyone could fly, yet those born with wings had superior speed and maneuverability.

    Seeing that Jaren and Pelion had yet to recover, Benyo pped her hands and activated the tier four spell Chasing Lightning. Several golden magic circles appeared around her and from each circle erupted a bolt of lightning which resembled a snake in both motions and appearance.

    The lightning bolts moved toward Lith in a zig zag pattern, slower than normal, but they were still very fast. Thanks to air fusion and his flight spell, Lith managed to dodge all of them, yet his efforts bought him less than a second of advantage.

    Being true to their name, the thunderbolts turned around and chased after him. Yet even a split second was more than enough for Lith. He took the Gatekeeper out of his pocket dimension, infusing both himself and the sword with all elements.

    Benyo could oldy unsheathe her own de, an estoc, and use fusion magic too. None of the opposing teams could use tier five magic. The slightest mistake at handling spells with such a big area of effect would hurt theirpanions.

    Benyo froze in ce when she saw how fast Lith¡¯s de moved.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t dodge, I have to block it!¡¯ She lunged at the Gatekeeper¡¯s tip, to use it as a leverage point to deflect the much heavier de with her own. Unfortunately, even though fusion magic boosted both of them, it made the gap in their physical abilities even wider.

    To make matters worse, the Gatekeeper¡¯s ability to channel the elements made it faster, heavier, and sharper than most enchanted des could be. When the two weapons shed, Benyo almost lost the grip on her rapier and remained defenseless from her waist to her chin.

    Lith¡¯s sh sted away her guard and opened a diagonal cut from her left shoulder to her left hip. Chasing Lightning was almost upon him, he had no time to follow up with another attack.

    "Thanks for falling into my trap, you moron!" Ailia and Benyo had a smug grin as the world energy that they had painstakingly umted up to that point was released. Ailia used Blink on her two missing teammates to bring them back at the epicenter of Third Eye.

    The three arrays forming the magical formation became visible to the naked eye. The Awakened ones used their own mana to channel the gathered mass of world energy through the magical focus points scattered along Zantia.

    The magic circles epassed the entire city up to its tall walls, creating so much light that they would have been visible for kilometers if not for the ongoing storm.

    ¡¯We managed to split the damage among five, yet it¡¯s just a partial victory. Activating the Third Eye during a moment of quiet means that there will be a lot of witnesses. Once we are done with those three, Zantia has to disappear.¡¯ Alia thought.

    Wiping out a whole city was dangerous, but doing otherwise implied an even greater risk. Lady Tyris was bound to know about Kieran¡¯s trespassing in Zantia and if anyone recognized the use of forbidden magic, she would interrogate Deraniel.

    At that point, their lives would end and all of their efforts be squandered. A snowstorm wiping out a city was umon but not unthinkable of in the north.

 Chapter 585 Tactics and Strategy Part 2

    The residual energy the Awakened ones had nted inside the victims of the Griever formed several dots in the sky that stabilized the arrays. Lith could feel his entire body going on fire as the cracks present on his life force were about to be burst open once again.

    Yet the dots were too few to sustain any of the three arrays, which copsed on themselves due to their inability to store so much world energy.

    "That¡¯s actually my line." Lith unleashed the tier five spell Raging Sun he had kept at the ready for that precise moment.

    A burst of violet mes engulfed the space around him with the strength and the heat of a volcanic eruption. Friya and Protector were safe from the spell, whereas all of Lith¡¯s enemies were close enough to be caught in its area of effect.

    ¡¯I love it when a nes together.¡¯ Lith was smiling inside and outside.

    Before going to the church, Lith had mobilized the city guards and the conscripted healers. Their role had been to forcefully heal the victims of the Griever, eliminating the focus points that the arrays required to function properly.

    While he kept the Awakened ones upied, the healers had dismantled Third Eye in his stead.

    ¡¯Well, at least n C seeded. Maybe third time really is the charm.¡¯ Solus said. The enemies were still all alive, so she continued to focus in case the worst happened.

    "Crazy bastard. He really pulled it off." Friya activated Full Guard and Dimensional Ruler. Her body was now surrounded by two auras, one blue and the other golden. She had already consumed a top tier potion, making herself immune to spirit magic.

    The other two spells were meant to take away most of the advantages an Awakened had against a fake mage. Friya had heard many times from her parents about Nalear¡¯s abilities, so she knew what to expect.

    Even with Raging Sun as the opening act, she didn¡¯t like their odds. They were still three against four, and no matter how fast he was, Protector couldn¡¯t deal with two enemies at a time. Yet she didn¡¯t hesitate and joined the fray the moment the purple mes dissipated.

    ***

    Blood Desert. Panneia Tribe. Tasaar Quintus¡¯ home, now.

    Tasaar was thinking about how to punish his foolish heir and what gift he could give Lady Tyris to apologize for Deraniel¡¯s trespassing inside her territories when the answer presented itself to him.

    A delicate feminine figure walked out of a dimensional fissure right in front of him.

    "Lady Tyris! To what do I owe this honor?" His voice sounded like someone had put his genitals in a vice. For a second, Tasaar¡¯s body couldn¡¯t decide whether to be aroused or terrified from the apparition.

    Tyris¡¯s human appearance had a delicate oval face and perfect features. She was 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") tall and wore the uniform of a Royal Constable that fit her like a glove, emphasizing her figure.

    Her shining golden hair was braided into a waist long tress. There was no trace of her usual kindness within her silver eyes, so Tasaar¡¯smon sense made him settle for terror.

    "Do you really think I¡¯m that stupid?" Tyris voice was calm, yet the mana it carried made Tasaar fall to his knees and bleed from his eyes and ears.

    "Your son and his friend trespass and a mysterious disease appears right in the city they were in. I could have overlooked their tant vition of myws if it was just a prank. Yet now it turns out that you sent him to practice forbidden magic on my turf."

    A wave of her hand made all of the arrays protecting Tasaar¡¯s home copse. The artifacts he wore turned into dust, even his prized Blood Scimitar.

    "I swear I don¡¯t know what you are talking about!" He said as his bones started to break one after the other in a symphony of snaps and agony.

    "You don¡¯t know? Then it¡¯s even worse. You are so stupid that you didn¡¯t even question Deraniel properly. Do you at least know what punishment awaits those who practice forbidden magic?" Her delicate hand lifted Tasaar by his head, threatening to squash it like grape.

    "Death."

    "Who is responsible for a disciple¡¯s faults?" Tyris¡¯s voice was unable to hide her anger anymore. Her question was apanied by a roar of thunder.

    "Their master. But Deraniel wasn¡¯t alone, Kieran..."

    "I¡¯ve already dealt with Lesalia. Unlike her, you were unaware of your disciple¡¯s n, so I¡¯ll grant you a peaceful death." Her reply was thest nail in the coffin of Tasaar¡¯s hopes.

    "At least spare my children." He wept.

    "All but Deraniel." She nodded. "I¡¯ll leave them all of your riches and enough books to study magic, if that¡¯s what they want. Yet your legacy is mine!"

    Tyris ced her hand above Tasaar¡¯s chest and stopped his heart. She waited for his mana core to disappear before moving on the second tost item on her to-do list. Deraniel wasn¡¯t going to be as lucky as his father.

    Her only regret was to have wasted too much time with Lesalia. Thanks to the surveince device she had enchanted Kieran¡¯s clothes with, the assassin knew all along what the six youngsters were doing, she simply didn¡¯t care.

    To Lesalia, everything and everyone was just a means to an end. She never cared about the Council, nor the Guardians. Tyris had taken her time to show Lesalia how wrong she had been.

    ***

    Zantia¡¯s sky, now.

    The few seconds the forbidden formationsted was enough for Xedros the Wyvern to recognize its nature.

    "I knew it that following Faluel¡¯s disciple was a good move. With this recording, I can ckmail those pathetic humans and their masters to give me everything I want. It only takes a call to the Council to kill them if they refuse." A wide grin appeared on his scaly face.

    "Where is that Wyrmling, though? How can a measly yellow cored human be so powerful? I smell human treachery here." Xedros wasn¡¯t aware of Orion¡¯s ring shielding both Lith and Solus, but he knew of the existence of such items.

    The more the fight progressed, the more he was certain that Lith was using a cloaking device.

    Meanwhile, several hundreds of meters below the Wyvern, the battle was still ongoing. Toe out unscathed from Lith¡¯s Raging Sun, the four Awakened had to sacrifice something.

    Pelion¡¯s armor was as good as dead and he had consumed all the barriers he had at the ready. Ailia had sacrificed most of her spells and mana to carve a path for herself out of that zing inferno.

    Jaren and Benyo had managed to Blink away in time, just to discover that Ryman was able to hit both of them almost at the same time.

    ¡¯Curse their magical protections! With just my body I can¡¯t kill them with one hit. I need a weapon.¡¯ Protector thought. With tier five magic sealed by the proximity of his allies and dimensional magic sealed by Life Vision, Ryman¡¯s options were limited.

    Keeping two Awakened busy by himself was the only way he had to give hispanions the opportunity to take out their opponents. Otherwise, the enemy would exploit their superior numbers to buy themselves time and use Invigoration when necessary.

 Chapter 586 Tactics and Strategy Part 3

    Ryman assumed a hybrid form over two meters tall, which resembled a two legged humanoid wolf with feathered wings on his back. He was wearing Lith¡¯s prototype of Skinwalker armor and wielding an enchanted two handed mace.

    It was another failed attempt at reproducing the Gatekeeper, but it had to do. Protector had never learned how to use weapons. He had dedicated all of his free time to magic.

    Lith was eager to even the field. He charged at Ailia, who was currently the easiest target while unleashing a barrage of spells to prevent her from escaping.

    Pelion had the same idea. He Blinked behind Friya, having care of remaining outside of Full Guard¡¯s area of effect. His hands were brimming with mana, ready to unleash a spell that she couldn¡¯t avoid from such close range.

    Unfortunately for Pelion, he was well within Dimensional Ruler¡¯s area of effect. The golden sparkles of light which were filling the air distorted the space and made his dimensional door vtile.

    Instead of closing, the exit point exploded. The resulting burst of mes burned Pelion¡¯s back and threw him off bnce. Friya turned around, performing several lounges with her rapier aimed at his vitals.

    Pelion took his greatsword out of his dimensional ring and a small explosion almost threw his weapon away. He managed to catch it by infusing himself with air fusion, but the desperate movement left him exposed.

    The rapier hit him several times, draining Pelion¡¯s armor of itsst bits of energy before piercing his shoulder. Pelion grunted, using darkness fusion to cut off his pain receptors. Between his burned hand and his wounded shoulder, he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep his focus otherwise.

    "A greatsword? Are you ovepensating for something?" Friya said with a sneer.

    Pelion was enraged at the idea of having been hurt by a fake mage twice, yet he managed to keep his cool and unleashed the tier four spell Wendigo¡¯s Wail. It was an unblockable attack that produced a cone of freezing air mixed with a shockwave.

    The former would weaken and slow down the enemy, while thetter would stun them long enough for Pelion to deal her a finishing blow. The sparks of golden light coalesced in front of him, forming a Warp Steps which swallowed the spell and released it right behind Friya¡¯s back before dissipating.

    It all happened so quickly that Pelion was still trying to understand how she could have deflected his spell when Friya resumed her attack. The potion she had taken made up for herck of fusion magic while her swordsmanship outmatched the opponent¡¯s.

    She never attempted to block the much bigger and clumsier great sword if not with her conjured tower shield. Her rapier danced like a snake against Pelion¡¯s guard and every one of her hits created a deep wound.

    Pelion cursed his bad luck realizing that even when his attacksnded, they did little to no damage. Now that his armor¡¯s pseudo core had exhausted its energy, the difference in defensive abilities was overwhelming.

    Light fusion alone wasn¡¯t enough to heal his wounds fast enough. Thanks to darkness fusion shutting down his pain receptors he didn¡¯t feel pain, but every new cut was making his stamina deplete faster.

    He faked a lunge and the moment Friya retreated, Pelion flew back to buy enough time to use Invigoration. Friya lunged too, but despite the distance, she hit her target. The golden lights had coalesced again, forming a small Warp Steps right in front of Friya¡¯s weapon and another at Pelion¡¯s back.

    She kept stabbing the air in front of her and her de started to appear out of nowhere from impossible angles, forcing Pelion to use all of his focus just to remain alive.

    "What kind of monster are you?" He said.

    Friya didn¡¯t reply. She moved forward, making more and more golden lights surround her opponent.

    Dimensional Ruler was a tier five dimensional magic spell which used Friya¡¯s great mana perception and her talent for space maniption to open countless small Warp Steps all around her.

    It allowed her to perceive anyone Warping near her and to make space instable at will. It was the reason every time Pelion employed a dimensional ability something had exploded in his face.

    Friya could also use it as a means of attack or defense, but only within a short range. Like all dimensional spell, it was also very mana expensive, but she knew that time wasn¡¯t on their side.

    They had to get the upper hand quickly, or they would be defeated.

    Lith and Ailia were fighting in close quarters and things weren¡¯t going well for her. She hade to the fight prepared. Too bad that ording to her predictions it was supposed to be a long-range battle where her group would outnumber and outgun their opponents.

    After activating Third Eye, Ailia and herpanions were supposed to be even stronger, whereas their enemies would be like fish in a barrel after suffering from a damage to their life force they weren¡¯t used to.

    Even the worst case scenario she had prepared for didn¡¯t involve fighting one on one at close range. Lith was faster, stronger, and more devious than any opponent she had ever sparred with.

    If she tried to buy some time to cast a spell, he would exploit herck of focus to aim straight for her vitals, whereas whenever she focused solely on dodging his attacks, Lith would cast a spell toward her escape route and disrupt her rhythm.

    ¡¯We¡¯ve been fighting for just a few seconds and I¡¯m already covered in wounds. Where the fuck are the others?¡¯ Ailia released all of the attack spells stored inside her rings.

    The Gatekeeper was seconds away from chopping off her head and she knew it. The sudden barrage of spells forced Lith to step back and dodge, giving Ailia a full breath worth of energy from Invigoration.

    Most of her wounds healed, yet the most important thing was that she had regained part of her stamina.

    ¡¯Dammit! I was so close to finishing her off. The silver lining is that her rings should be out of energy now. I could use Origin mes, but aside from giving away my identity, I would gain no advantage.

    ¡¯Back at the church, her barrier withstood Protector¡¯s and minebined attack. A simple st of mes would just surprise her. She¡¯s physically weak, I need to exploit it!¡¯ Lith thought while he Blinked away.

    The moment Ailia saw the dimensional door opening, she spun on herself like a top to find its exit point and counter attack, yet she found nothing. She then watched above and finally below, where Lith had just appeared at dozens of meters of distance.

    ¡¯I expected him to stick at close range, but maybe he too is running out of strength.¡¯ Ailia was about to use Invigoration again, to not waste a single moment of that unexpected break, when Lith released the tier five spell, Stormnado.

    The air around him became thick and heavy. Strong gales spread upwards the noxious fumes generated by his hands. Stormnado was a mix of air and darkness magic that conjured a thunderstorm of poisonous gas.

    Lith had switched his position to make sure that even with its huge area of effect, only Ailia would get caught by the ascending toxic tornado he had unleashed.

 Chapter 587 Tactics and Strategy Part 4

    "Please, no." Ailia said even though she knew that the Ranger couldn¡¯t hear her.

    She was a smart girl. Ailia could easily guess what was going to happen. The moment the spell hit her, Lith would be free to cut her down with his swords while she was too busy defending herself from the storm.

    A mage couldn¡¯t be hurt by their own spell, so the Ranger could disregard Stormnado¡¯s effects and focus solely on attacking.

    Jaren too understood that her friend had a few seconds left to live. He had no idea how a fake mage could hold her ground against Pelion, but he knew that the moment one of them fell, the rest would soon follow.

    The Emperor Beast had no skill with his weapon, but each of his strikes had the weight of a mountain. The only time Jaren had blocked with his broadsword, not only did the de almost break, but the impact also numbed his hands.

    "Benyo, keep him busy! Ailia needs help." He yelled as he dived below to the rescue.

    Benyo released a strong cyan aura and went all out. Up until that moment, Protector¡¯s strikes had been shallow because he had to shift his attention from one Awakened to the other, but now he could focus solely on her.

    ¡¯There¡¯s a silver lining in being alone. Here goes nothing!¡¯ She unleashed a tier five spell, Shattering Star. The space around her was now filled by ice shards as big as a man, each one infused with several lightning bolts worth of electricity.

    Protector dodged the magical hail like it was moving in slow motion, but then Benyo snapped her fingers and the ice constructs exploded into a heavy rain of smaller crystals.

    The damage each one dealt was negligible, but they were almost impossible to dodge and sharp enough to cut through Protector¡¯s thick fur. They would also release a jolt of electricity so strong that they would cause a seizure even to someone using earth fusion.

    Protector cursed his naivety and conjured a small tornado around himself to escape from the jaws of death. Shattering Star ended up inflicting him only scratch wounds, but it had never been meant to win the battle, only to stall for time.

    Benyo smirked at her turtled up opponent and cast more spells while using Invigoration. She considered Emperor Beasts dangerous only because of their physical abilities. Due to their primitive brains, their magked finesse.

    Or so Benyo thought until she noticed that the tornado didn¡¯t deflect the ice crystals, so much as capturing them. She could feel the Emperor Beast¡¯s mana flooding her spell and make it his own.

    The shards grew in size by the second and so did the electrical current they held. When Protector released half of them, they had be icences which moved as fast as bullets.

    Benyo had no defense that could stop that kind of firepower and was forced to Blink away. The moment Protector spotted her exit point, he released the other half while he called the first volley back.

    Benyo was ready to Blink again, but the icences hit her barriers like a truck, making her lose her focus. By the time the second volley arrived, all of her protections were exhausted.

    The first spear pierced through her lung, the second through her stomach, and the third through her shoulder. Each one opened a gaping hole into her flesh, so big that Protector could see through them the events unfolding at Benyo¡¯s back.

    The number of holes in her body increased until it was turned into a burst of blood, skin, and guts.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but you left me no choice." Protector said as Benyo¡¯s remains were scattered to the wind.

    "I was willing to spare you if you surrendered, yet you kept fighting despite everything was lost. I can¡¯t afford mercy when you willingly threaten the members of my pack." Then, he had the wind blow under his wings and turned into a blur.

    "Ailia, Blink behind me!" Jaren said the moment he was sure that the Emperor Beast wasn¡¯t following him.

    Ailia did as instructed, but unfortunately, so did Lith. The two Warps opened almost at the same time, making it impossible for Jaren to distinguish friend from foe.

    "Me and my big mouth!" Since he couldn¡¯t attack, Jaren weaved several barriers in front of himself, just to be safe.

    Lith had run out of tier five spells, so he had to resort to the tier four spell Death Call. Four long arms made of shadow came out of his body, ignoring both of his enemy¡¯s defenses.

    From such a close distance, neither of them could use magic without the risk of harming their partner rather than their enemy. To make matters worse, they soon discovered that, even two against one, they were physically no match for Lith.

    Both the Ranger and his de were infused with the power of the elements, doubling the effects of fusion magic. After exchanging a quick nce, Ailia and Jaren Blinked away at the same time, hoping that whoever Lith ended up chasing would buy the other enough time to turn the tables.

    Pelion wasn¡¯t faring any better. Dozens of deep cuts covered his body and the blood loss was draining his stamina by the second. Dimensional Ruler prevented him from using dimensional magic to escape and all of his means of attack had been neutralized by Friya¡¯sbination of spells.

    Full Guard allowed her to move her conjured tower shield wherever it was needed, and the golden light surrounding them made her rapier appear from his every side, as if he was surrounded by several opponents.

    Trying to get at least a second of respite, he unleashed all of the spells he had at the ready and those stored inside of his magical rings. Friya did the same, but whereas she had several means to defend herself, Pelion only had earth fusion and his enhanced body.

    He infused the amulet at his neck with what mana he had left, generating a barrier made of pure energy that saved his life. Friya used her tower shield to block as many attacks as she could before it crumbled, and then she Blinked behind her opponent while Pelion was blinded by the light generated by the spells exploding on his barrier.

    Pelion wasn¡¯t na?ve and was expecting something like that. His enhanced senses alerted him in time. He managed to turn around in the nick of time and block Friya¡¯s sword with the hook shaped hilt of his own.

    He ripped it off from her hand and used his free arm to grab at her neck.

    He was now out of mana, making it necessary for him to finish her quickly. Unfortunately, while he so skilfully overpowered her arms, her leg found her way to his gonads.

    Friya kicked them hard and fast enough to send them keepingpany to Pelion¡¯s tonsils. With his pain receptors functioning again, he doubled over in agony and Friya¡¯s knee weed his face as her elbows struck at the back of his head.

    Meanwhile, in the sky above Zantia, Xedros was considering the idea of going down and save the three Awakened youths remaining.

    ¡¯If those weaklings die, I will never learn their masters¡¯ identities. Dead men tell no tales and can¡¯t be ckmailed!¡¯ He thought.

 Chapter 588 Punishment and Rewards Part 1

    A small rift opened in the space near Xedros. It was so thin and delicate to be almost invisible.

    "What are you doing here instead of stopping the ritual?" A feminine voice holding the fury of a storm asked.

    "ording to the rules of the Council, every Lord is responsible for protecting their territory from trespassers and from Awakened who employ forbidden magic. Yet you are here not doing anything. Anyst words?"

    "Lady Tyris, I..." Xedros attempted to say before her punch crushed every single bone in his body and sent him crashing against the nearest mountain, a couple of dozens of kilometers away.

    ¡¯It seems I¡¯mte. Yet the air is still pure. The forbidden ritual didn¡¯t seed.¡¯ She thought while she descended to the ground.

    Jaren had gotten the short end of the stick. He had just walked through his dimensional door when Lith¡¯s de lunged at his neck. He managed to dodge it only to be caught by the four shadow arms conjured by Death Call.

    The darkness magic flooded his body draining Jaren of his vitality. Thebined action of the four limbs made him lose his focus along with all the spells he kept active or had at the ready.

    With no more barriers protecting his enemy, Lith¡¯s de had no problems to sever Jaren¡¯s head from his neck. Ailia was quickly recovering her strength while she cast her strongest tier five spell.

    She was so focused on haste thepletion of the spell, that she almost didn¡¯t notice Protector approaching to her position at breakneck speed. This time they were far enough to allow her enhanced senses to spot him thanks to air fusion and Life Vision.

    Ailia was about to unleash her Copsing Moon spell against the Emperor Beast when two golden rays of light descended from the sky, piercing Ailia¡¯s and Pelion¡¯s heart.

    At the same time, Lith¡¯s group noticed to be inside an impossible array, which generated a spherical barrier around all of those present, corpses included.

    ¡¯This is General Vorgh¡¯s energy signature, but I don¡¯t recognize the one behind the golden rays.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It seems the reinforcements have finally arrived, but I don¡¯t understand why they put us inside- Never mind.¡¯ Solus¡¯s thoughts didn¡¯t make any sense to Lith until a huge explosion destroyed the Awakened ones¡¯ corpses and cracked the barriers sealing them.

    "You are lucky, son." General Vorgh said.

    "A lot of mages don¡¯t want their treasures to be stolen. Sometimes a dead enemy is more dangerous than when they were alive."

    Lith actually had no such problem. Solus would always warn him if a pseudo core was going awry, but he had no reason to tell that to Vorgh.

    "Thanks for your help." He said while giving him a small bow. Solus preferred to keep her eyes on the magical staff Vorgh was wielding and try to understand its secrets.

    "No, Ranger. Thank you. I¡¯m sorry we arrived sote, but casting such a long range Warping array requires time and skill. I suppose you already know Spellbreaker Tyris Griffon."

    Tyris waved her hand at Lith¡¯s group while she kept open the dimensional corridor from which Vorgh and other Spellbreakers were rushing out.

    "Where are the rest of the enemies?" Vorgh asked.

    "Dead or still inside their homes." Lith handed him the list containing the names of all the officials and nobles who were likely to have helped the Church of the Six to spread its influence.

    "Well, cleaning up this kind of mess is way beyond your paygrade. We¡¯ll take it from here. There¡¯s anything else I need to know?"

    "Yes. I stopped those rogue mages with the help of my friends and I¡¯d like for them to bepensated. They are Friya Ernas and..." Lith turned around just in time to bit his own tongue.

    "Don¡¯t worry. The Griffon Kingdom doesn¡¯t discriminate against his loyal citizens just because of their race. Both Lady Ernas and the Emperor Beast will be rewarded for their efforts." Tyris said.

    Lith had almost noticed toote that Protector was still in his hybrid form.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! Protector doesn¡¯t know them, nor must he like being caged like an animal. Lucky for us, the army seems to know about shapeshifting abilities. Otherwise things could have gotten awkward.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Vorgh dispelled his array, making the barrier trapping Lith¡¯s group disappear.

    "Who are these guys, Scourge? Friends or enemies?" His voice sounded like a snarl. Protector¡¯s lips were curled, revealing his snow white fangs and showing he was ready to resume fighting.

    Protector was too young to know about the Council or the Guardians. Since Tyris wanted to appear as a cyan cored human, even his senses perceived her as such.

    "Friends." Lith said stepping in front of him and shielding Ryman with his own body. Just to be safe.

    Friya was still confused about the quick development of the events. At first, she had been annoyed by someone stealing her prey, but when Pelion¡¯s corpse had exploded, making even her bones tremble, her rage had been reced by gratitude.

    The emotional roller coaster resumed when she saw Tyris. She had no idea who that Constable was, but seeing another Tista was a big blow to her pride.

    "Thank you very much, Lady Ernas. Your family truly is a pir of the Kingdom." Tyris said while shaking her hand.

    "Thank you for your kind words." Was all that Friya managed to think of that didn¡¯t sound like a pick up line.

    "It¡¯s never easy to reward an Emperor Beast. Your needs are often very different from human¡¯s."

    "I didn¡¯te here for a reward. Just leave me alone and I¡¯ll consider us even." Protector said. There was something off in the woman in front of him, and he didn¡¯t like how the other Spellbreakers were looking at him.

    He chose to remain in his hybrid form to not give away his human appearance.

    "If that¡¯s your wish, I can promise you that no one will disturb you. I hope you will at least ept some gold as a token of my appreciation." Tyris handed him a bag containing a few hundred gold coins.

    Protector was tempted to refuse it, but with another kid iing that money would make a huge difference. He wouldn¡¯t need to work for a long time, allowing him to focus only on his family and magic.

    Also, Selia could use a bigger home, and both of them some help with the kids. He nodded at Tyris and made the bag disappear inside his dimensional amulet after checking that none of the coins was enchanted.

    "What can the Griffon Kingdom do for you, Ranger Verhen?" Tyris shook his hand too,ing a little too close for Lith¡¯sfort. Her beauty was stunning, her hair smelled like spring had finally arrived, and her smile had melted countless frozen hearts in the past.

    "I would like to apply for leave again. Two missionspleted in as many days and an entire city saved from forbidden magic should grant me at least that much." He replied without hesitation.

    Tyris¡¯s smile reminded him of Kam, making him yearn for his girlfriend¡¯spany.

    "That¡¯s a given." She chuckled. "You¡¯ll be awarded 10 days leave for your meritorious acts and another 10 days for being the top ranker in the Ranger corps. I was asking if there¡¯s something specific you might desire.

 Chapter 589 Punishment and Rewards Part 2

    "Please, refrain from asking more titles or annuities, because those who rise too fast draw on themselves the wrong kind of attention." Tyris said.

    "Then I¡¯d like to keep the Balor¡¯s body for myself. Also, I think I¡¯ll spend my leave practicing Forgemastering. Can you provide me with these metals?" Lith handed her a very short list, but each material was apanied by a big number.

    "I can assure you that all of your requests will be fulfilled, except for the adamant. It¡¯s too rare and precious to waste it for the experiments of a novice Foragemaster. No offense." She replied.

    "None taken. What¡¯s the next best thing I could receive?"

    "Money and Orichalcum. Gold is a mage¡¯s best friend. Whatever your project is, you¡¯ll need it. As for the Orichalcum, it¡¯s a natural alloy of silver containing traces of adamant. It¡¯s the perfect material for most artifacts and with the proper treatment, it can be harder than steel. Is it good enough for you?" Tyris asked.

    "Yes, thank you very much. I would also like to learn the metalworking techniques you mentioned earlier."

    ¡¯I can¡¯t depend on Zekell forever. Especially for the items I need to create with true Forgemastering.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Everything will be delivered to your door. But I have to order you to remain here until the situation settles." Tyris made him snap out of his reverie.

    "Removing so many nobles at once will make the city chaotic. Once Count Cestor¡¯s treachery gets exposed, the citizens of Zantia will lose much of their trust in the nobles who have failed them and they will shift it on the heroes who saved them.

    "Your presence will help to make the transition as quick and painless as possible."

    Lith was happy at the idea of spending some more time with Friya. Leaving right afterpleting his mission would mean treating her as if she was just a means to an end, whereas she was his friend.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m thinking about this in a non sarcastic way.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯One step at the time. Progress, not perfection.¡¯ Solus said. In her eyes, Lith had many important people in his life, yet he appreciated only a few of them.

    Solus too was afraid of the possibility that he could die and reincarnate somewhere else. However, what really terrified her was the idea that to achieve his goal, Lith would lose everything and everyone else in the process, making it a hollow victory.

    "I¡¯ll take my leave. Scourge, Ernas." Protector opened a Warp Steps and disappeared. The arrival of the army and all the magic employed during the battle had lured quite a crowd of onlookers.

    Lith approved of Protector¡¯s choice. He had left before more humans could see him and had pretended to not know Friya.

    ¡¯I guess that during the past five years he has learned somemon sense.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Friya and Lith had to provide a full report of all the events before returning to Viscount Krame¡¯s mansion. They were both starving and craving for some rest.

    "Shouldn¡¯t you call Kam? I bet she¡¯s jealous of you spending so much time alone with a gorgeous woman." Friya said during dinner while sweeping her hair behind her ear.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Tyris and I are barely acquaintances. Also, I never remained alone with her, so my reputation is safe." He replied with a sneer.

    "Son of a..." Friya didn¡¯t like her joke being turned against her and punched him on the shoulder. Pain radiated from her wrist the moment her fist struck him. She had hit softer brick walls.

    "I noticed that you didn¡¯t bring any member of your guild with you at the Church of the Six. We could have used some help." Lith said.

    "I know, that¡¯s why I had them waiting outside in case things got out of our hands. Yet I couldn¡¯t risk them meddling with your y. They would see Protector¡¯s beast form and your holograms.

    "As much as it pains me to admit it, I don¡¯t trust them with my own secrets, let alone with yours or those of your friends." She sighed.

    "They could have panicked or tried to ckmail the two of you. If there¡¯s something I learned during thest year, is that it¡¯s better to hire mages from minor academies rather than those from the great ones.

    "The former never got the opportunity to learn a specialization, so they are full of hope and ambition. People like Wyra are loyal and grateful for the opportunity to gather merits.

    "Once she gets enough, she can join the Mage Association and search for a teacher. Thetter, instead, are bitter because of their failure at learning any specialization, dimensional magic, or even Crystalsmith.

    "Very few of them have the confidence to study again on their own and their wounded pride prevents them from asking for help."

    "By the way, what was that golden light you used? That guy was huge and used that strange magic, yet you handed his ass to him." Lith asked.

    "How the heck did you have the time to pay attention to my fight? Do you have eyes even behind your head?"

    "I was just looking out for you." Lith lied. Solus could see all around them and then share her memories once a crisis was resolved.

    "That was one of the dimensional spells I created. Even during our time at the academy, I knew I could never be a Healer as good as you or Quy, nor a Mage Knight as good as Phloria.

    "I¡¯m very good at my specializations, but I¡¯m aware I¡¯ll always be the Vastor of our group. Instead of moping, I realized that I wasn¡¯t called ¡¯Master of Space¡¯ for nothing. I had my own thing and did all I could to get good at it.

    "Now I¡¯m a full-fledged dimensional mage, like Professor Rudd." Friya was brimming with pride. To her, dimensional magic was just like her guild.

    Friya was tired of being second in everything she did. She wanted to carve her own path thanks to her talents. Even though the jury was still out on the guild, Friya was certain that dimensional magic would be her true field of expertise.

    She was exining to him the effects of Dimensional Ruler, leaving Lith wondering if he would be able to handle such a spell, when the butler entered the dining room.

    "Regent Verhen. Lady Ernas. Please forgive my intrusion. Your friend is back and he is asking for you." He said while giving them a deep bow.

    Most of the house staff was so grateful to both of them for saving the city and their jobs that they treated them better than their own master.

    "Let him in and bring another serving." Lith had yet to finish to speak that Ryman walked through the door with an embarrassed look on his face.

    The butler did as instructed and left them alone.

    "Did Selia kick you out again or did you just miss me too much?" Lith asked.

    "Neither. I forgot to give you your enchanted items back." Ryman took out both the mace and the pseudo Skinwalker.

    "You can keep them. You already have imprinted them, plus they are just failures." Lith dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand.

    "Also, I need a favor."

    Lith nodded for him to continue while Ryman sat at the table with them. Ryman looked at the great number of silverwares near his te with wonder. He took a fork and a knife at random, making Friya giggle.

 Chapter 590 Lost and Found Part 1

    "I need a ride back home. Xedros, the Lord of the Ker region, must have gone away for some important reason. He isn¡¯t home and he doesn¡¯t reply to his amulet. Can you help me, Scourge?" Ryman asked.

    Xedros the Wyvern was actuallyying on the side of a mountain with most of his bones broken. Tyris had decided to spare his life, but that didn¡¯t mean she was willing to let his act of defiance go unpunished.

    Not only did her fist crush Xedros¡¯s body, but it also had tampered with his life force, making it impossible for him to heal with Invigoration. It would take him days to fix the damage his life force had suffered and months to get back to his peak condition.

    "Yes, don¡¯t worry. I was going to visit you and Selia anyway." Lith said.

    The army didn¡¯t need their help often, so the three of them spent most of their time rxing and sharing pointers about magic. Friya had many things to teach them about dimensional magic, whereas Lith had a lot to teach them about everything.

    "How the heck did you learn the basics of all the specializations?" Friya had shed blood and sweat to train her three specializations.

    "You have your guild, whereas I have no life." Lith shrugged.

    Three dayster, Lith and Protector left Zantia. Friya was sad to see them go. Protector¡¯s kindness reminded her of her father, Orion. It didn¡¯t take her long to grow fond of the wise yet socially awkward Emperor Beast.

    The two of them Warped until they reached the nearest mana geyser.

    "Why are we here? I thought we would take a Warp Gate." Protector asked.

    Lith didn¡¯t reply as Solus changed to her tower form, allowing them to get inside.

    "It¡¯s bigger than I remembered it." Protector looked around the familiar yet unknown ce.

    "What do you mean? It¡¯s your first time in here. I expected you to at least be surprised." Lith asked.

    "Your memories, remember?" Protector tapped the side of his head with a forefinger.

    "Well, I bet you don¡¯t know this." Lith snapped his fingers and a slight tremor spread throughout the tower. The space around them stretched and deformed as they crossed thousands of kilometers in a heartbeat.

    "By the Great Mother." Protector recognized the all too familiar Trawn woods.

    "I can¡¯t let the army clerks register all of my movements. If I had to vouch for you to let you use a Warp Gate, the Griffon Kingdom would easily guess your true identity. I don¡¯t have many friends and most of them have free ess to Gates." Lith said.

    "Thank you, Solus." Protector gave her a deep bow, making her blush.

    "I hope you get a body soon. Fire and stone are not enough to express who you truly are. Whoever did this to you either loved you so deeply that they couldn¡¯t stand the idea of losing you or was a heartless monster."

    "You¡¯re wee, Protector." Solus regretted not being able to show him her physical appearance. She considered Ryman as one of her oldest friends, just like Lith did.

    ¡¯I only have one secret and I¡¯m already sick of it. I don¡¯t know how Lith manages to keep so many of them and honestly, I don¡¯t care. I want toe clean with him¡¯ She thought.

    Ryman¡¯s home was just a few hundred kilometers from Lutia. It took them just a few minutes to Warp to destination. When Lith saw Selia, her physical appearance shocked him.

    She was supposed to be in herte-thirties, yet she looked even younger than thest time he had seen her. She seemed to be barely past her twenties. She was still 1.7 (5¡¯7") meters tall and her skin was tanned from the years-long exposure to the sun.

    Her ck hair was now longer, reaching her shoulders and giving her more gentle looks. She wore a leather hunting jacket over a green shirt, green cargo pants, and brown hunting shoes with a soft outer sole, to limit the noise made while she moved.

    Lith could tell by her round belly that she was past the six months of pregnancy. Her sharp eyes and rough attitude hadn¡¯t changed though.

    "It¡¯s about time!" She snarled while giving the children in her arms to Protector.

    "Do you have any idea how hard is it to chase around those two pests while I¡¯m bloated like this? Make yourself useful and fix us something to eat while we entertain our guest."

    Her eyes became much kinder when she looked at Lith.

    "Oh, gods! I would have never expected that the famished runt that once came begging at my door for help would get so tall. Give aunt Selia a hug, Scourge!" She extended her arms and embraced him before he could even answer.

    "Scourge?" Lith asked.

    "Ryman never calls you Lith and I think that Scourge is a fitting name for a great hunter." She replied while not letting him go.

    The house was a mess. Toys were left around on the carpets and furniture. Most of the walls had been scribbled on, and Lith could see the traces of Selia¡¯s efforts to scrub them off.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t the chaos reigning in the hallway which gave him the second shock in less than ten seconds from his arrival. Their home was almost identical to his own. It even possessed most of the enchanted home appliances he had made over the years.

    "Selia, I missed you so much. Especially at Nana¡¯s funeral." He returned the embrace the moment he snapped out of his reverie.

    "I missed you too." She sobbed due to the joy of their reunion and the hormonal roller coaster she was experiencing.

    "It¡¯s all that wolf¡¯s fault! I wanted toe at your graduation, but he said no. That the time wasn¡¯t right and all that cheese." Selia wanted to swear, but she had learned the hard way how fast children were at copying their parents¡¯ bad habits.

    "I don¡¯t want to sound rude, but how can you look like this? Why does the house look like this?" He asked when she released him from her embrace.

    "It¡¯s all thanks to your memories." She gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

    "Not only did you save that wolfhead¡¯s life, but you also taught him more about the world and magic than he could ever achieve on his own. I asked him to do for me what you did for Elina and to make all the cool stuff you do."

    Balkor¡¯s attack had happened during the third trimester of his fourth year at the White Griffon, giving Protector most of his knowledge about regrowing limbs, Forgemastering, dimensional magic, and even magic crystals.

    "I can¡¯t do all the things you can, but at least I know the basics." Protector squinted his eyes and used a small st of darkness magic to clean the walls.

    The moment Ryman let them down, Lilia and Leran ran towards Lith. They were respectively 4 and 2 years old. With Ryman¡¯s red hair and Selia¡¯s sharp eyes, they were the spitting image of their parents.

    They seemed to be curious about him, but instead of asking questions, they sniffed him for a while before shapeshifting their hands and bare feet into ws to better climb his legs.

    "No ws with the guests! Get down immediately!" Selia¡¯s pants were riddled with holes. Now Lith could understand why she was so edgy. If Aran had magical powers, Elina would have gone insane without his help.

 Chapter 591 Lost and Found Part 2

    "I can believe my memories gave him an edge, but knowing and doing are two different things. Where did you find the mana crystals to make those things? They seem to be made with true magic."

    Lith projected one of his little brother¡¯s favorites fairy tales to keep the children busy.

    "As I already told you, after almost dying by the Valor¡¯s hands and receiving your memories, I understood howcking my magical knowledge was. As soon as Selia and I settled down in our new home, I searched for a teacher." Protector said.

    "Just like humans, beasts too don¡¯t spread the secret of Awakening unless it¡¯s strictly necessary to keep the bnce among the races. Thew is very strict, you can¡¯t even Awaken your own children if you aren¡¯t willing to put your life on the line for them."

    "What do you mean?" Lith had no notion of the social rules among the Awakened ones.

    "You are responsible for those you share our secret with. If your disciple breaks anyw, you pay the consequences along with them. Since Awakened ones have a long life, only after a century the bond between master and apprentice is considered broken.

    "It¡¯s never hard to know who gifted who with Awakening, since no one gives such a gift freely. Also, when the Council captures a criminal, they can be very persuasive."

    Ryman¡¯s words made Lith think that Jirni would feel at home in the Council.

    "Don¡¯t you want to be Awakened, Selia?" Lith asked.

    "Honestly, I don¡¯t know. I prefer a good life to a long one. Not to mention that I should start to study magic and I never had a good rtionship with books. I don¡¯t know how long Ryman has left to live.

    "To me, outliving both my husband and children is a fate worse than death." She ruffled the kids¡¯ hair. They were two little angels now that they had stopped destroying the house and she wasn¡¯t forced to chase them around.

    "Unlike humans, however, we don¡¯t hide our identity. I found my master, Faluel the Hydra, simply by asking the magical beasts of the Distar Marquisate for directions. Convincing her to teach me wasn¡¯t easy.

    "A disciple takes a lot of time and effort. Being an Awakened isn¡¯t enough to be epted by a master. You have to prove to be reliable, talented and to have an affinity with your future teacher. Because of your influence, I was interested in learning about healing and forgemastering.

    "I had to prove my worth by doing all kinds of jobs for her for almost a year before she took me in."

    "A year? I wouldn¡¯t havested that long. During that time, Ipleted half of my studies and I¡¯ve made a lot of connections within human society." Lith said.

    "An Emperor Beast wouldn¡¯t have taken you anyway. Back then, you were just a human. Even Scarlett considered you a dangerous anomaly. Faluel would have probably chased you away, if not worse." Ryman shook his head.

    Selia was more interested in Lith¡¯s light show than in all that talk about Awakened and Lith¡¯s nature, which made him wonder.

    To Selia, Lith asked: "What did he tell you about me, exactly?"

    "After the scare he gave me with Lilia, I gave him only one condition if he wanted us to get back together. I demanded that there wouldn¡¯t be any more secrets between us.

    "He told me all about himself, but he only told me about you what he needed for his story to make sense. I¡¯m fine with it and I never pried further. He never shared with me your secrets aside from you being an Awakened, how the two of you met, and what you did together.

    "Your parents are almost of my same age. We grew together in Lutia, so there¡¯s no chance one of them is an Emperor Beast. They would have never let one of their children suffer from hunger or illness as Tista did.

    "I¡¯m really curious, but if you don¡¯t want to tell, it¡¯s fine. Just consider that you are unlikely to find someone as open minded as me." Selia said pointing at Ryman.

    Lith hesitated, not knowing to which one of his two hearts he should listen to. On one hand, he was certain that Selia wouldn¡¯t be too shocked if he decided to show her his hybrid form.

    With an Emperor Beast for a husband and two little shapeshifting wrecking balls born from their love, she had proven to have an inhuman tolerance for weirdness. Yet they hadn¡¯t seen each other in a long time.

    She had helped him a lot before he entered the White Griffon, but they had never got that close. He had never willingly revealed his hybrid nature elf to anyone except for Phloria.

    Showing it to Selia before than to his family or Kam, made him feel bad about himself.

    "Thanks for the offer, but I¡¯ll pass. For now." Lith said.

    Selia dismissed the issue with a shrug and fell asleep shortly after. Her body was aptly trained to rest as soon as the kids allowed her to.

    "What kind of jobs did Faluel ask you to do?"

    "Many things. I had to kill rogue magical beasts, human hunters that kept harming her forest, and sometimes even deal with Abominations."

    "It sounds like she was making you do her job for her." Lith said.

    "Mostly, yes. Each task was actually a test to see if I could be trusted with more power. Not all of those she pointed me at deserved to die. Humans are moreplex than beasts. They are so grey that most of the time is really hard to tell if they are bad or just desperate."

    Lith had the impression that Protector was now talking about him.

    "After winter has passed,e find me. I¡¯ll introduce Faluel to you. She seemed to be very interested in your Wyrmling form and she is an invaluable teacher. Even with your memories, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do any of this without her help. She provided me both the materials and the mana crystals."

    Protector pointed at all the forgemastered marvels furnishing his house.

    "What¡¯s a Wyrmling?" Lith asked. It wasn¡¯t the first time he heard that term.

    "A hybrid between one of the draconic species and something else. She thinks you are one of them because of your scales and because you can use Dragon Fire." Protector replied.

    "I can use what now?"

    "Maybe you know them as Origin mes. You know, the fire you breathe from your mouth? Not everyone can use them, which makes them special."

    "Do you know why?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his luck. He might have found a proper Awakened teacher and learn about Origin mes, all in one day.

    "Sorry, no. Not even Faluel can use them, so the first time she mentioned them to me was before sending me to Zantia."

    Lith spent the night at Ryman¡¯s home. He studied the pseudo cores of Ryman¡¯s creations to appreciate the difference between his own results as self-taught with those of someone who had a master.

    ¡¯It seems I¡¯m really talented for Forgemastering. My work is in no way inferior to Protector¡¯s.¡¯ He thought.

    Before leaving, he exchangedmunication runes with Protector and Selia. He also gifted some of his toys to the kids. He had prepared a new set of fairy tales projectors and miniature models.

    They were shaped like mages and magical beasts and could emit light of different colors as if they cast different spells. Lith could always make more and Selia needed a way to keep them busy when Ryman was away.

 Chapter 592 Fanning the Flames Part 1

    "Will you get back to Lutia now?" Lith asked, hoping for a positive answer.

    "I don¡¯t know." Selia bit her lower lip.

    "I¡¯d love to get some help andpany. Living in the middle of nowhere is really tiring, but I have to endure it for the kids. I¡¯ll think about it as soon as they understand that they can¡¯t shapeshift in front of strangers." She sighed.

    Selia and Lith exchanged a long hug. She made him promise toe back before the end of winter.

    "Remember that we are your friends, not just a deadline. If youe back only for the lizard, I¡¯ll never forgive you."

    After saying their goodbyes, Lith used the Tower Warp to get back in the north and reach Belius with the army¡¯s Gate. He needed to leave enough traces of his passage to never make people wonder where he disappeared from time to time.

    ¡¯I would love to work on my Forgemastering, but my talk with Kam is long overdue. I can¡¯t dy it any longer without giving her a good reason. I can¡¯t just fit her in my spare time, I need to make time for her.¡¯ He thought while knocking on her door.

    It was early enough in the morning for her to still be at home, but not sote that she had to rush to work. Lith had the keys to her apartment, but he wanted to make her a surprise.

    He rang the bell several times before he could hear an angry voiceing from behind the door.

    "Look, pal, whatever you sell, I¡¯m not buying. I was in the middle of breakfast and..." Kam choked on her words after watching through the peephole.

    "I swear, this is thest time I make you a surprise. This is not how I pictured our reunion."

    The door opened abruptly and Kam hugged him tightly for a few seconds, making sure he wasn¡¯t hurt.

    "How did you get here so fast? I wasn¡¯t expecting you here before noon." She asked.

    Lith didn¡¯t reply. He silently stood there, returning her embrace. He had missed her warmth, the scent of her hair, and even the sound of her voice. The difference between speaking with her and her hologram was like heaven and earth.

    "Is it too much to ask for a ¡¯wee home¡¯ and a kiss?" Lith¡¯s words made Kam blush. He had just referred to her house as his own, as if to ask if he could live with her.

    "Wee home." She said before making him bend down to reach his lips.

    "Come in. I want to hear all about Friya and Ryman." Kam had no need to ask him about the events in Zantia because she already knew them from his daily reports. She was more interested in learning about his never mentioned before friend.

    They had breakfast together, while Lith told her how he and Protector had met and how he had be his magical father figure. He always referred to him as a vagrant mage.

    Exposing his identity as an Emperor Beast could endanger his family. Ryman had not betrayed Lith¡¯s secret and he was willing to do the same for him.

    "Did you really fight together against your first Abomination when you were just twelve?" She asked.

    "Yes. My parents learned about it only a yearter."

    "That man is crazy, bringing a child to fight that kind of monster." No matter how much enthusiasm Lith used when reminiscing all the times he had fought or hunt alongside Protector.

    To her, he was just a nutjob who had endangered Lith¡¯s life multiple times.

    "Without me, the Trawn woods would have been destroyed and maybe Lutia razed to the ground. He¡¯s not crazy. If we had never met, I would have probably died fighting the Abomination alone." Lith said.

    "You can keep trying to make it appear heroicter. I¡¯m almostte for work." Kam put her jacket on, giving him ast kiss before going to the door.

    "I would love to have lunch together, but I have barely ten minutes at random due to overwork. I¡¯ll be back for dinner. I want you to promise me that when I arrive home, I¡¯ll find you here and that you will not risk your life today." She grabbed the handle without turning it, waiting for his reply.

    "I promise. Are you ready for our big talk?" Lith asked.

    "I was born ready." She blew him a kiss and left the apartment.

    ¡¯Not risking your life is a big promise. What are we going to do all day? Sitting on a couch¡¯ Solus chuckled.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not tired. I had plenty of time to rest during thest few days. The materials I have requested should have already arrived home. Time to Forgemaster us a few new toys.¡¯

    Lith used Belius¡¯s Gate to get to Derios, the capitol of Distar¡¯s Marquisate, and then Solus¡¯s tower Warp to arrive directly in the Trawn woods.

    His parents were overjoyed to have him back home. They showered him with affection and rebukes.

    "This is bing disturbing, son." Raaz said.

    "Why are you only getting missions where you risk your life at least once per day?"

    "I¡¯m the Ranger in charge of one of the most dangerous regions in the north, Dad. Not the captain of the sewing club. High risks mean high rewards. Speaking of rewards, I was expecting a few crates. Have they arrived already?"

    "Yes, dear. I¡¯ve stored them for safekeeping" Elina handed him several dimensional rings.

    "Are you eating properly? It seems that stress has made you lose weight. Maybe you should change your career ns."

    "Please, Mom, Kam is already bugging me. She says that I endanger my life like she changes her clothes. I don¡¯t need to hear the same song from you and Dad."

    "You should listen to her. Kam is a judicious woman. Will you have lunch with us?"

    Lith nodded in reply and then he and Elina came out of their home to pass the crates from her dimensional rings to his pocket dimension. After that, he went to the vige of Lutia to meet with Zekell Proudhammer.

    He was the vige cksmith and Rena¡¯s father-inw. He had insisted for both Rena and his granddaughter, Leria, to keep the Verhenst name, making them Verhen-Proudhammer.

    Lith¡¯s name was the best sword and shield any sane man could ask for.

    "What can I do for you, dear Lith?" Zekell loved all the privileges he had acquired through his son¡¯s marriage and was always eager to help Lith however he could.

    "I need to make me a few items out of Orichalcum. Do you know how to process it?" Lith asked.

    "No. I never heard about it outside of legends."

    Lith took out the first crate and a booklet about Orichalcum.

    "I gave it a read. It doesn¡¯t seem much different from silver. Is it as easy as it seems?" Lith was so used to learn things with Soluspedia that every second that Zekell spent reading the booklet seemed tost an hour to him.

    "We can give it a try. We¡¯ll need a few ingredients for..."

    Lith opened the crate, revealing that the ore had been delivered with all the necessary for its treatments.

    "Okay, then we just have to wait for the furnace to reach the right temperature. I¡¯ll reread everything again while we wait."

    Wait. Lith hated that word. It usually implied wasting time he could use to do something else.

    It took him less than a minute to pulverize the ore with magic, another few minutes to prepare the rest of the ingredient, and then he could only stare at the mes.

 Chapter 593 Fanning the Flames Part 2

    Lith already had a copy of the booklet inside Soluspedia, so he had no need to review the procedure again. Zekell had put a dirty silver ore inside the crucible to check the temperature of the furnace.

    "Is it a problem if I use magic to speed things up?" Lith asked.

    "Be my guest, but remember that metals can evaporate. Finding the right temperature could require even more time since I know nothing about magic and you know nothing about metals." Zekell shrugged without taking his eyes off the booklet.

    Lith sighed.

    ¡¯Even Fire Vision could be useless without proper knowledge. I need to start practicing now, or I¡¯ll need months to create even a single item. Here goes nothing.¡¯ He thought after checking that no one was looking.

    Lith¡¯s throat became covered in ck scales as he breathed Origin ms inside the furnace. The blue magic mes overpowered the normal yellow ones, spreading an eerie light.

    "What the heck have you done?" Zekell jumped off his chair, trying to save the situation.

    The crucible, the coal, the silver ore, everything but the stones was engulfed in blue mes. Zekell took out the crucible using metal tongs, but even those caught fire. He kept his cool and took the crucible out of the furnace before sshing the tongs in a bucket of water.

    "Is this normal?" Lith asked pointing at the ming crucible.

    "No, it¡¯s not. You should¡¯ve... Oh, gods!" Zekell couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    His old, trustworthy tongs seemed now to be made of two different parts. One was ckened with dirt, time, and use, whereas the extremity that had been eaten by the mes was slightly smaller than he remembered it.

    He touched it with his fingers, he even hit the anvil with them to make sure of his findings.

    "This doesn¡¯t make sense. I get that your mes destroyed the dirt, but this? The metal seems to have been purified several times."

    "What about this?" Lith used spirit magic to have the crucible float in front of Zekell.

    The crucible was shiny as if someone had spent hours polishing it and the silver ore was reduced to a small clump of metal.

    "By the great hammer! I¡¯ve never seen such pure silver. This is bad." Zekell said.

    "Why bad? Isn¡¯t the purer the better?" Lith asked.

    "If you want to make an ornament, yes. If you need it for something that has a practical use, impurities aren¡¯t all bad. Pure metals are a myth. Sometimes, you have to add impurities to obtain the right bnce between hardness and softness.

    "Too much of the former and the final result will be brittle, too much of thetter and it bends just by watching at it."

    Lith had his doubts, but he couldn¡¯t experiment with Origin mes in the presence of witnesses. He spent the rest of the morning with Zekell, learning how to smelt the Orichalcum and how to turn it from as ductile as silver to harder than Damascus steel.

    The procedure was rtively simple. First, they picked a crucible big enough to contain quite some ore, but not so heavy that Lith couldn¡¯t easily lift it even when full.

    Zekell covered the bottom of the crucible with a special sand to prevent the ore from sticking, then he prepared a mixture of ore, wheat flour,rd, and ashes. The flour would provide the carbon for the oxidation of impurities and heat the metal from the inside.

    The ashes served for both the oxidation and to make the impurities clump together. Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, therd was used to help the ore form an ore bar and to help build up the heat.

    Once the crucible was filled with the mixture, Zekell covered its surface with more ash, sand, and sytium. The sand would prevent the metals from vtilizing, whereas the sytium was a substance necessary to keep the silver and the Adamant in the ore together.

    They put the crucible inside the furnace and Lith used magic and Fire Vision under Zekell¡¯s supervision to spread the heat evenly until the ore looked like honey with no lumps of unmolten material.

    After pouring the liquid into a dry mortar, the ore quickly solidified into an upper part made of g that looked like colored ss and a lower part made of metal. They separated the metal from the g and repeated the process until it was pure.

    Only then did they add thest ingredient, Darkestkhan. It would make the Adamant saturate the silver, giving to the metal ingot the properties of both metals.

    After they had treated a few batches of ore, Lith noticed that it was almost lunchtime.

    "Can we stop here? I need you to make me a few things for me." Lith asked.

    "Isn¡¯t it a bitte for that? You should have told me way earlier. Without a mold, there¡¯s not much I can do and you didn¡¯t give me enough notice to prepare anything."

    "Do you still have the mold for the silver hammers you made me some time ago?"

    "Sure. Do you need a hammer?" Zekell was surprised by his request. It couldn¡¯t be a weapon since Lith only used swords, nor something merely decorative. It would¡¯ve been a waste of Orichalcum and Lith was as thrifty as he was.

    "More than one. I need to enchant them and failure is likely. I also need a chain mail and chain pants of Orichalcum. The shape doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m going to make a better Skinwalker Armor." Lith said.

    Zekell had enough time to prepare him a couple of hammers, everything else had to wait. Zekell would first finish to purify the rest of the Orichalcum and then work on the items Lith had requested.

    ¡¯Orichalcum is definitely different from other metals.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Indeed. It¡¯s much lighter and durable of all the hammers we used to far.¡¯ Lith had struck Zekell¡¯s anvil with it several times, yet the metal didn¡¯t bend nor did it get scratched.

    ¡¯Not that. I mean that it has a very thin mana flow of its own.¡¯ Solus¡¯s words shocked Lith.

    He activated Life Vision, noticing that Solus was actually wrong.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not really a mana flow. Orichalcum seems to be able to draw the world energy and channel it. There¡¯s no life force nor mana core.¡¯ Lith used Invigoration to put his hypothesis to test.

    He discovered that he could now see inside the metal like it was a living being and even spot the residual impurities within.

    ¡¯I wonder why we didn¡¯t notice that with Zolgrish¡¯s forge. Orichalcum is just silver and Adamant, whereas the forge he gave us is made of pure Adamant. It makes no sense that Orichalcum has better properties than Adamant.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Probably because we were both blinded by all the magic stuff stored inside hisb. The ce was about to blow up, we didn¡¯t have the time to use Invigoration on the forge. Plus, after we escaped, we never took it out from our pocket dimension.

    ¡¯Right after leaving Jambel we came to Zantia. We simply had no chance to give it a second look.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯It seems we have so much work to do and only 20 frigging days at our disposal.¡¯ Lith thought.

 Chapter 594 Necro Forge Part 1

    Lith swung the Orichalcum hammer in his hands to check its bnce, making Solus green with envy. She yearned to put her hands on it, but as long as she kept her ability to take physical form a secret, Solus could only watch.

    Aside from being entirely made of Orichalcum, the hammer wasn¡¯t much different from the carpenter tools with a nail slot Zekell sold in his shop. It consisted of two parts: a straight shaft to hold it and the head. The head featured the actual hammer and the w.

    "The design is really poor." Lith sighed. In none of the stories he had read as a kid an enchanted item seemed out of a WellMert. He was solely interested in its properties, but the mundane look of the hammer made it underwhelming even for him.

    "With no mold at his disposal, there wasn¡¯t much Zekell could do. Since we just have to perform experiments, we¡¯ll worry about the shape forst. Solus, can you make me a cksmithb?"

    "Give me a moment." She replied, making the tower rumble for a few seconds.

    A new door appeared in the basement. Behind it, there was a perfect replica of Zekell¡¯s workshop. Lith nodded in approval and looked at his pocket watch. He had six hours before he had to be at Kam¡¯s ce.

    "Okay, no time to lose. First things first. Let¡¯s check out our Forge."

    Solus took the Adamant Forge out of her pocket dimension, allowing both of them to appreciate the vigorous flow of world energy it induced in its surroundings. The Adamant was like a ma for world energy.

    No matter how good a mana conductor the Adamant was, it couldn¡¯t contain an indefinite amount of energy. Once it was saturated, the constant stream of new world energy would force the old one stored inside the metal toe out, generating an artificial mana flow.

    It was a phenomenon very simr to Invigoration, when Lith made the world energy course through his body without absorbing it. That way the world energy wouldn¡¯t nurture his mana core, but it would replenish his mana and bring his body back to its peak condition.

    "This is interesting. What if Adamant is just one of the many metals that don¡¯t exist on Earth? What if it¡¯s a metal capable of using some kind of umtion to refine itself over the centuries until it bes Adamant?" Lith wondered.

    He ced his hand over the forge and used Invigoration on it. Just like for the Orichalcum, he could see inside the block of metal as if it was a living being. To him, the forge appeared as if it was made of light, with very few impurities inside of it.

    The impurities were thin ck veins, tainting the otherwise pristine element. He attempted to take control of the Adamant¡¯s mana flow to expel the impurities, but they refused to budge even of a single millimeter.

    Not even Solus¡¯s power, boosted by her tower form managed to do any better. They couldn¡¯t risk damaging it, so they put it back inside their pocket dimension and took out a new crate of Orichalcum ore.

    "I¡¯m really curious to see if Zekell is right. Maybe with Origin mes we can skip the smelting phase and obtain Orichalcum faster." Solus proposed.

    Lith put the ore inside a crucible and made his throat turn into his hybrid form.

    "Wait a minute!" He choked on his mes and burned his own mouth.

    "Everything in the tower is part of you. Did you make the crucible or crafted a real one?"

    "I made it." Solus¡¯s wisp shuddered. With the Origin mes¡¯ power, she had been seconds away from a world of pain.

    After Lith made a makeshift crucible from y with earth magic, he put it inside the furnace and breathed a small jet of Origin mes. The crucible held, but Lith could see it getting thinner, forcing him to add new y that would immediately ignite as well.

    Solus had to use a few arrays to keep the mes in check and prevent them from attacking the furnace too.

    "Origin mes are hungry little critters. If I¡¯m not careful they would spread everywhere." She said.

    When the fire went out, the results were appalling. The y had turned into high quality ceramic, which was useless to them, whereas the over 10 kilograms of ore had disappeared, leaving only a few droplets of silvery metal.

    "The good news is that¡¯s pure adamant. The bad news is that there is so little that I can¡¯t even make a ring out of it. Sure, if I sacrifice a few crates I could get an Adamant ring, but to what end?

    "I have no blueprint for powerful rings, it would only be a waste of precious material. I don¡¯t know how much Orichalcum we¡¯ll need to make the improved version of the Skinwalker armor. 10 kilos is already a huge hit." Lith sighed.

    "Let¡¯s work on the hammer, then." Solus said.

    Their aim was to Forgemaster a tool that would improve all of their future works. The idea was based on their studies on true Forgemastering when they were still at the White Griffon academy.

    Back then, Lith had been forced to use a hybrid technique using both fake and true magic to Forgemaster his creations, but now he could rely solely on thetter to step up his game.

    During his research, he had devised two possible ways to create superior magical items with true Forgemastering. The first required for him to shape the pseudo core outside its future recipient and then merge them together before creating the necessary mana pathways to make it permanent.

    The second one, instead, would have him create both a small pseudo core and thin mana pathways at once. Lith had to infuse both of them with more energy until they reached the desired size.

    Each method had its pros and cons, at least on paper.

    By creating aplete pseudo core, Lith had all the time he wanted to shape it with surgical precision and charge it with enough energy to fuel the effects he wanted to achieve.

    The downside of such a method was that injecting such a big energy mass inside inanimate matter would encounter a lot of resistance and put a huge amount of stress on its recipient.

    If he wasn¡¯t careful, most materials would shatter due to a mana flow too strong and sudden for them to handle. To make matters worse, the pseudo core was likely to be deformed in the process, and fixing it would require to inject even more mana, adding even more stress on the material.

    Only then could Lith try to create the mana pathways necessary to stabilize the pseudo core. Too few and the mana would be dispersed, too many and the item would crumble.

    Creating a small pseudo core and mana pathways at the same time, instead, would allow Lith to pile up the mana inside its recipient one bit at the time. It would give him the opportunity to not exceed the limits of the chosen material and fix any errors he might make in the early steps during theter stages.

    The main problem of this method was that anyte mistake couldn¡¯t be fixed. Also, developing all of the mana pathways along with the pseudo core at the same time was very demanding in terms of mana and focus.

 Chapter 595 Necro Forge Part 2

    Lith had dubbed the two methods as Necro Forge and Bloom Forge respectively.

    The former followed the same pattern Lith used to create his lesser undead. Back in Zantia, his n E involved keeping a perfect blood core at the ready along with Trouble¡¯s corpse. An undead Balor was the perfect way to beat numbers with raw power.

    Unfortunately, powerful corpses craved for the necromantic energies of a blood core and had no need for mana pathways, whereas inanimate objects rejected magic.

    Thetter method was derived by Lith¡¯s studies on the growth of the pseudo cores of mana crystals and of the mana core of nts. Once again, the main difference was that inanimate objects had no core nor room for growth to begin with.

    "Let¡¯s start with Necro Forge." Lith said.

    With a bleeding wallet, Lith took two cyan mana crystals out of his pocket dimension. He couldn¡¯t use blue crystals for a mere test run, nor he could risk using weak green crystals and fail just because he was a cheapskate.

    He used Invigoration to fill his body with mana, then he drew several runes in the air to perform the true magic version of Bonding. It was a tier five Forgemaster spell that was used to fuse together mana crystals and items before enchanting thetter.

    Once fused with inanimate objects, mana crystals would grant them a mana circtory system, of which they were the literal beating heart, and an innate mana flow akin to a living being.

    Each rune produced a mana fment as thin as a hair that would go through both the hammer and the mana crystals, bringing them closer and closer at each passage until they became one. The three objects started to float in mid air, orbiting around each other like triplet stars.

    Lith had performed this process countless times. Each one of the magical home appliances or toys he made was fueled by mana crystals. He would consume low quality materials, make his family happy, and gain a lot of experience.

    Three birds with one stone.

    Then, it was time to create the pseudo core with Necro Forge. Even though Lith was a master at energy maniption, shaping aplete core was something that only an Awakened could do.

    Cores looked like spheres of energy, but they were so much more. Thanks to Necromancy, Lith had learned that a blood core defined how strong the undead would be, if it would retain any memory or conscience, and even the abilities they would be born with.

    Creating a core, no matter if a pseudo or blood one, was akin to create a whole living being.

    ¡¯The purpose of the hammer is to act as a temporary vessel for my mana. The problem of Forgemastering is that the stronger the spell you want to infuse an item with is, the greater the amount of mana that you need to seed.

    ¡¯If the maximum amount of mana a Forgemaster can handle is 100, their limit is a spell with a mana cost of 99. With this hammer, my limit might expand up to 150 while Forgemastering enchanted items.

    ¡¯It needs a simple but powerful pseudo core with the sole purpose of storing mana.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He shaped the pseudo core to resemble his own, but without all theplex patterns that linked it to his body. Thanks to Invigoration, Lith could look at his own mana core anytime.

    Whenever he spotted a mistake or an imperfection, he needed but a thought to correct it. Next came the hard part.

    Even though Orichalcum seemed to ept the pseudo core as a thirsty man yearns for spring water, even with the mana vessels creating aplex system capable of evenly distributing the iing energy mass, Lith felt the core distorting the moment it made contact with the hammer.

    The Orichalcum allowed magic to circte almost freely, but the energy signature of the crystals rejected the foreign mana the pseudo core was made of. It was like transnting an organ from a random donor and then beat the patient¡¯s body into submission to prevent graft rejection.

    Lith took things slow and easy. He made the pseudo core slowly enter the hammer to have the time to spot and correct any deformation as soon as they formed. At the same time, he flooded the hammer¡¯s mana vessels with his own mana.

    It reduced the resistance the core encountered by both weakening the opposing flow and improving the affinity the Orichalcum had for Lith¡¯s mana. The process required an enormous amount of energy that only an Awakened using Invigoration could afford.

    Once the core was at the center of the mana circtory system, Lith created the mana pathways. With each pathway hepleted, the two different kinds of mana started to freely flow into each other until they merged into a single entity.

    When the process was over, Lith was covered in sweat.

    "I just want to take a bath and sleep. I used Invigoration so much that my entire body aches. The silver lining is that the procedure seeded." Lith said.

    "Well, imagine how hard it would have been without me fueling the magic circle in your stead. This is just a prototype, so I wouldn¡¯t count my chickens before they hatch." Solus said.

    "Why so negative? Everything went smoothly and now all we have to do is to use the Orichalcum hammer to Forgemaster something to check its performances."

    "I suppose we could do that. You always have a lot more time when you are single." Solus said while making the pocket watch float in front of Lith.

    "Six-thirty already? Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?" Lith blurted out.

    "We were in the middle of a six hours and a half experiment. I don¡¯t think you would have gracefully thanked me if I made you lose your focus."

    Lith had barely the time to imprint the hammer to check if it worked, take a quick bath to wash away the stench of sweat, sulfur, and all the smelly stuff he had used at the smithy before Warping for his life to get at Kam¡¯s home.

    "Thank my paranoia for cleaning her apartment before leaving and for storing all the dishes from our favorite restaurant in my pocket dimension before starting my experiments." Lith said to himself while he set the table and made all he could to not make it evident that he had just arrived.

    Even though he had used Invigoration after the bath, he needed to use it again to stop panting. He was at his second breath worth of energy when he heard the key turning and the door opened.

    ¡¯Seven sharp. Kam really is a military woman. I never thought the day woulde where I would wish for my girlfriend not to be on time.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Kam looked at the dim lights and the steaming food on the table with a radiant smile. She put her military cap on the coat hanger in the hallway before asking to Lith:

    "You are here, so you kept at least half of your promise. Did you risk your life today?"

    He thought about it for a couple of seconds before answering.

    "No. Worst case scenario I would have wasted a lot of money and materials."

    "Then you kept your promise and made my day." Kam put her arms around his neck before giving him a passionate kiss.

 Chapter 596 Two Steps Forward and One Step Back Part 1

    "You¡¯re really sweet, but you didn¡¯t have to prepare so much stuff. We are going to have a big talk, not a romantic date." Kam said.

    She would have liked to take a shower and change her clothes, but Belius¡¯s arrays made it impossible to use dimensional magic. Once outside the pocket dimension, the food would get cold. Even if Lith could reheat the delicacies with magic, they would still lose part of their vor.

    "We haven¡¯t seen each other for so long that we could as well take it as a date. My past is ugly, a bitplicated, and with a sprinkle of mortal danger, but it¡¯s all in the past. You aren¡¯t going to break up with me, are you?" Lith¡¯s paranoia got knocked into twelfth gear, making herugh.

    "Gods no. I would be a monster to do something like that after how I weed you back home this morning. It¡¯s just that I know a lot of bad things happened when you were at the academy. To be honest, I have a gloomy story to tell as well." Kam sighed.

    "Do you want to go first?" Lith asked while pouring her one of Maekosh¡¯s finest beers.

    "No way. I¡¯ve waited too long for this. You first."

    Lith told her about his early days at the White Griffon academy and how he had unpleasantly met those who he now called friends. He was surprised to discover that once he removed the magical jargon, there wasn¡¯t much to tell.

    At least until he talked about Kaduria¡¯s gue first and then Balkor¡¯s attack. Kam wept when she learned about Protector¡¯s struggle against death to entrust hisst words and love to Lith.

    She had to stop eating to hug Lith when he exined to her at what cost he had saved the life of his friend.

    Kam still didn¡¯t like the idea that Ryman had endangered Lith¡¯s life so often, but after realizing how deep their bond was, she started to like him simply because of his love for Lith.

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough for now." Kam said after Lith finished to tell her about the fourth year.

    "I¡¯ve consumed a lot of tissues for Balkor already. If we get to Nalear, I don¡¯t think I would have the strength to continue our conversation." They had finished eating from a while, switching from beer to red wine.

    "I really need to wash my face, but at this point, I might as well take a shower. I¡¯ll slip into something morefortable while I¡¯m at it. Go easy with the wine. I don¡¯t want to find you asleep when I get back." Kam said.

    As she closed the bathroom door, Lith moved the dirty dishes in the kitchen, dimmed the lights, and shapeshifted the Skinwalker from the uniform into the ck suit they often used for their romantic role y.

    Then, he took the dessert out of the fridge.

    ¡¯Gods, I really didn¡¯t miss this part. See youter.¡¯ Solus grumbled while she cut their mind link and hid in a corner of her own mind.

    Unfortunately for Lith, Kam did slip into something morefortable. A loose shirt and pants she used when she was home alone. Even her hair was fixed in a makeshift bun.

    "Pervert! I told you I had a sad story to tell. How could your mind go straight to sex?" She wanted to sound angry but she failed to repress her silveryughter.

    "Shower plus ¡¯somethingfortable¡¯ equals sex. Math never failed me before." Lith said without even trying to hide his disappointment and making Kamugh harder.

    "You¡¯re incorrigible." She sat on hisp, embracing him and giving him a short kiss before going back to her seat.

    "Is it better now?" Kam asked.

    "Can you at least keep your hair down?" Lith turned up the lights.

    "No. I want to make sure that you listen to my words instead of staring at my face." She chuckled. She actually needed quite a bit of willpower to prevent herself to skip the conversation and go straight to bed.

    Talking about Zinya was sad, painful, and somewhat embarrassing for Kam. Not because of her sister¡¯s handicap, but because what she had to ask for him made her feel vulnerable.

    Also, Kam knew how the request would sound to Lith¡¯s ears. Like an attempt to exploit him. No matter his answer, she knew that by simply speaking those words their rtionship would change.

    She was afraid because when things changed in her life, usually it was for the worse.

    ¡¯It would be so easy to avoid the topic and pretend that nothing¡¯s wrong. Thesest weeks have been so hard, always thinking about how I can help Zinya in case she decides to divorce.

    ¡¯Being overworked and lonely only made things worse. I missed him a lot and now that Lith is back, I only wish to cling to him and lose myself in his embrace. Yet it would mean running away from a problem I don¡¯t want to face.

    ¡¯Zinya has already suffered for too long. If I keep not doing anything for her, now it wouldn¡¯t be because I¡¯m helpless, but because I¡¯m an egotistical coward.¡¯ She thought.

    Kam told Lith about Zinya, this time in detail. She exined to him her sister¡¯s current predicament as a prisoner in her own house, the cheating, the domestic abuse on her and the children, everything.

    Lith¡¯s eyes turned into fiery slits brimming with mana as Zinya¡¯s story resembled more and more his own. His Earth father, Ezio McCoy, among his many ws was also a cheater.

    Back when Lith¡¯s name was still Derek, he had once found an e-mail his father had sent to his lover, where he professed her love to her and her children. Lith had no idea why they hadter broken up, but he never stopped resenting his father for giving his affection to someone else¡¯s kids while he treated so badly his own.

    His inner turmoil drew Solus¡¯s attention, who quickly returned fearing something really bad had happened.

    ¡¯Dammit, that was unexpected.¡¯ She thought after checking Lith most recent memories.

    "There¡¯s no need to get angry." Kam had no way to understand the rage in Lith¡¯s eyes. She misunderstood it as aimed at her for trying to exploit his magic with a sob story.

    Lith¡¯s reaction hurt Kam deeply and made her think that, if he believed her capable of such a thing, he must¡¯ve had a low opinion of her.

    "I¡¯m not asking you to do it for free. I have enough money to cover even Manohar¡¯s fares." Her voice was calm but cold, like when she spoke to Lith as his handler instead of his girlfriend.

    "Wait, what? I¡¯m not angry at you. I¡¯m angry at that f..." Lith then demonstrated to have an extensive vocabry and a venomous tongue. The streak of insultssted for several seconds.

    The teaspoon in his hand was now reduced to a small ball of metal. The twisted metal was both a source of shock and relief for Kam. Relief because it proved her the sincerity of his words and indignation.

    Shock because she knew Lith was strong, but she had never witnessed how strong he actually was.

    "As for the treatment, I can¡¯t make you any promises. Body Sculpting is a veryplex discipline and I didn¡¯t practice it ever since I quit my job as Assistant Professor. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll find you an expert." Lith said.

 Chapter 597 Two Steps Forward and One Step Back Part 2

    "Don¡¯t worry, both Zinya and I know a lot about it." Kam held Lith¡¯s hand, moved by his words. Usually, healers had godplex. Hearing him admitting his own limits was proof of how seriously Lith was considering the matter.

    "The real problem will be convincing her to get treated and how to deal with her husband."

    "I can assure you thetter will not be an issue." Lith had a psycho killer smile that gave Kam the creeps and forced Solus to step in.

    ¡¯You are Lith Verhen now, not Derek McCoy. You have no known reason for a personal vendetta against that kind of man. You are scaring Kam out of her wits.¡¯ She thought.

    Lith snapped out of his bloody daydreams and noticed his girlfriend¡¯s distress. He took a deep breath and wore his best mask for the asion.

    "Sorry, I got carried away. Still, dealing with a dirtbag is easy, but if the patient doesn¡¯t want to be treated, there¡¯s nothing I can do." He said.

    Kam sighed in relief. He was back to be the person she knew and loved. She even felt ttered for him taking her sister¡¯s situation personally.

    "I know. That¡¯s why I want you two to meet. Maybe Zinya will change her mind if she knows that her Healer doesn¡¯t think of her as just a number on his personal record. Are you free tomorrow morning?" She asked.

    "For you, I¡¯m free the whole day."

    "I wish. I¡¯m in the middle of a bad case, I had to beg my supervisor just to get a few hours leave. Once we are done with Zinya, I have to rush back to work and we will not see each other before dinner." Kam¡¯s shoulders slouched.

    She had long since dreamed of bing a Royal Constable, yet between the training and the fieldwork, she was already missing her job as an army handler. The pay was average and the work repetitive, but at least it usually left her quite a bit of free time.

    "Then go to bed, you need some rest. I¡¯ll join you as soon as I¡¯m done with the kitchen and a long, cold shower." Lith said while tes and cutlery floated in mid air to be cleaned by a mix of soap, water, and darkness magic.

    "Thank you very much. You have no idea how much freeing my sister from that monster¡¯s clutches means to me." She said while hugging him tightly from behind.

    ¡¯I know it all too well.¡¯ Lith could feel his rage trying to manifest outside his mind, but he kept it at bay and said:

    "There¡¯s no jury in the world that would convict me if I pounced on you now. It would be a clear case of self defence."

    "Pervert." Kam chuckled as she gave him a good night kiss before disappearing in the bedroom. She really did feel very tired, but the worst thing was that things had already changed.

    ¡¯Whatever I do, I¡¯m afraid that Lith might think that I¡¯m bribing him with sex or sweet talk. Gods, I¡¯m so happy he agreed to help us, yet I¡¯m so scared about how things will turn out.¡¯ Kam¡¯s stomach was churning out of stress.

    Meanwhile, Lith took a very cold shower to calm his nerves. The idea of facing a man who resembled his first father made his blood turn into magma.

    ¡¯You did well not suggesting her to kill this Fallmug guy. I think it would have scared her to death. Remember that a lot of people have a problem with your switch personality.¡¯ Solus thought before asking:

    ¡¯Why are you taking so long with the shower?¡¯

    ¡¯To give Kam the time to think and me an excuse to think she is already asleep. This is not how I pictured my first date with her after my return. This is damn awkward.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Lith was regretting both his earlier attempt at seducing her and his stupid sex jokes, but back then he had no idea Zinya¡¯s situation was that bad. He thought it was just an unhappy marriage.

    ¡¯Tomorrow I¡¯ll need your help to not level the neighborhood.¡¯

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll deal with this problem like we always do. Together.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ***

    The following day, city of Xylita

    Lith and Kam reached the Sarta Household in a matter of minutes after walking through the city Warp Gate. His flight spell brought them quickly to their destination. Xylita wasn¡¯t located in the Ker region nor the Distar Marquisate, so Lith had no authority as a Ranger nor as a Baron there. It was the reason he was wearing the deep green robe that identified him as a Great Mage.

    Power was something that even the most stupid people respected.

    "You have no idea how much I¡¯d like you to go full Othre on them, but I can¡¯t afford to y hero. Whatever we do, it will be Zinya to pay the consequences." Kam said after looking at Lith¡¯s stern face.

    He was wearing the same expression he had while fighting Thrud¡¯s meat puppets and even though it was addressed against her, his bloodlust was almost tangible.

    "Don¡¯t worry. I came here to visit a patient and kick ass. And I¡¯m all out of patients." Lith replied making herugh.

    Kam stepped forward and knocked on the door. It was her problem, so it was up to her to face it.

    Vylna, the housemaid and current mistress of the master of the house, was surprised seeing Kame back so soon. Her expression turned into a smug grin as she prepared to repeat to Kam her master¡¯s words.

    Then, she went pale and chocked on her rehearsed speech, leaving Kam bbergasted.

    "I¡¯m back to see Lady Sarta." Kam said while wondering why the housemaid stood there with both her eyes and mouth wide open.

    She had no way to know that a huge mass of spirit magic was slithering around the housemaid, making it hard for her even to breathe. The pure and unbridled killing intent it was imbued with made the experience utterly terrifying.

    Lith¡¯s eyes returned to normal when Kam turned around to check on him.

    During that short moment of respite, Vylna¡¯s survival instinct took the wheel.

    "Please,e in. Lady Sarta is in the tea room, like always." She handed to Kam her master key.

    "Thanks. You don¡¯t need to apany us. I know the way." Kam walked double time, eager to check on her sister. Yet Lith remained behind, never averting his eyes from the maid¡¯s even when the door suddenly closed behind him by itself.

    "I usually don¡¯t prey on the weak. It¡¯s cruel and pointless since you have nothing I want. Yet if you stand in my path, if you do anything to harm those close to me, I will end you." Lith raised his hand slowly as if he was about to grab her throat.

    Vylna was paralyzed by fear, almost suffocating due to the mana that pressed on her from every side.

    "Feel free to eavesdrop or call your master. Bing a Great Mage means receiving a Royal Pardon. All I need is a good reason to use mine." Those words sent a hot liquid trickling along Vylna¡¯s legs.

    It wet her shoes before forming a stain on the carpet.

 Chapter 598 Overlapping Images Part 1

    A royal pardon was a get out of jail free card for any crime non punishable by the death penalty. The Crown granted a few of them every year to their most loyal servants for their outstanding results and bing a Great Mage was one of them.

    As Vylna realized the mortal danger she was in, tears filled her eyes, forcing her to blink. When she opened them again, Lith had disappeared as if she had been talking to a shadow the whole time.

    "Please, be nice to her. Zinya went through a lot and I think that bastard of Fallmug might have taken it out on her after myst visit. Let me do the talking." Kam said, too worried to notice that she was alone.

    "Don¡¯t worry. You lead and I¡¯ll follow." Lith Blinked behind her. Thanks to his enhanced senses, he had no problems hearing her words from a distance.

    Kam unlocked the door, hating that house more with each passing second. The tea room was exactly as she remembered it. A mix of order and hypocrisy.

    The white sofas and armchairs looked like they had never been used. The center of the hardwood table in the middle of the room had been carved out and reced by a crystal b.

    The vases decorating the room along with white cotton doilies were still there, yet all the flowers had disappeared. Zinya was sitting on the same chair she had used during Kam¡¯sst visit.

    Her face was turned toward the sunlighting from the ss panelled east wall, as if she was looking at the sky.

    "Zin, I¡¯m back." Kam said.

    "Kami, you shouldn¡¯t be here. Thest time Fallmug was so enraged by how you strong-armed Vylna to enter the house that now he doesn¡¯t buy me flowers anymore. Why do you insist on making my life miserable?" Zinya said.

    Her voice was filled with sorrow and it cracked before she could finish her phrase.

    "Don¡¯t say that, Zin. You have always been a terrible liar. What did he do to you?" Kam ran to her sister, hugging her. They both wept, bringing to Lith¡¯s mind the memories of when he and Carl did the same after one of them had suffered a heavy beating.

    "Forgive me, Kami. I didn¡¯t mean those things. I just want to hear my children again."

    Memory and reality ovepped as the ground trembled.

    ¡¯For a moment, I hated her because she reminded me of my mother. Always whining about how giving birth ruined her life and ming us for Ezio¡¯s behavior. When she used Kam, I thought she meant it, but she had just been instructed about what to say.¡¯ He thought.

    "He beats her legs so that even if they have guests, they can¡¯t notice the bruises. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t stand up during yourst visit." Lith said with a stone cold voice as he turned around.

    Kam noticed his gesture and lifted Zinya¡¯s gown up, revealing many ck and blue spots shaped like a horsewhip.

    "How did you know?" She asked, her voice full of shock and fury.

    "My brother, Orpal, would do the same thing to me when I was a child."

    Kam lowered Zinya¡¯s gown, allowing Lith to get close to her.

    "Zinya, this is Lith Verhen, my boyfriend. Lith this is Zinya, my sister."

    "Nice to meet you. Do you mind if I heal you?" Lith needed all the help Solus could give him to take the edge off his voice and not raze the house to the ground.

    "The pleasure is all mine. As for the healing, please help me."

    Lith chanted a quick gibberish before cing his hand on Zinya¡¯s shoulder and using Invigoration on her. All of her bruises and injuries disappeared. He found some poorly healed fractures and fixed them too while he checked her condition.

    "You really are as good as Kami says. It¡¯s been ages since I had no difficulties breathing." The na?ve happiness she expressed while blurting out the gravity of the damages her ribcage had suffered, made Kam go pale and Lith grit his teeth.

    ¡¯This is wrong. No one should be happy just because they stopped suffering. That¡¯s not life.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I have bad news, Kam. Zinya¡¯s problem doesn¡¯t lie in her eyes. Shepletelycks the optic nerve."

    "The what?" Both sisters asked. Most Healers knew nothing about anatomy, let aloneymen.

    "It links the eyes to the brain. Without, it one cannot see. It¡¯s a big problem, like missing a whole arm. I hoped your sister¡¯s case would be simple, but for something like that, I need to consult an expert.

    "I won¡¯t mess with Zinya¡¯s brain until I¡¯m 100% sure I know what I¡¯m doing."

    "I never said I want to be treated!" Zinya¡¯s voice was full of fear.

    "Really? Do you want to stay here? With that man?" Lith was angry, but Zinya wasn¡¯t afraid of him. His outrage wasn¡¯t cruel like that of her husband. It sounded more like a fellow victim who had yet to give up on hope.

    "He took your children away from you, your legs, and your sister. How long will you allow him to feast on your soul?" Nheless, his words hurt. Tears streamed down Zinya¡¯s face again and Kam put herself between them.

    "Zin, I know I¡¯m asking a lot of you, but please, reconsider your decision. Lith went a little overboard, but he isn¡¯tpletely wrong. Before you had no choice, whereas now I¡¯m offering you one.

    "We have waited for a long time, but things only got worse. Fallmug got worse, his violence always escting. I¡¯ve lived the past few years afraid to receive a call telling me that you died at his hand.

    "If you can¡¯t find the strength to do it for yourself, do it for the kids and for me." Kam said.

    "I know you¡¯re right, Kami, but I¡¯m too scared. What if Lith fails? Even worse, what if he seeds?" Zinya asked.

    "We¡¯ll think about it when the timees. Right now, all I need is your consent. I need to know that you are willing to fight this battle with us."

    "Be honest with me, Kami. Is this world really worth fighting for? Or is Mogar just full of misery? I never understood how people like me can be born just to suffer whereas people like Fallmug are free to destroy everything they touch without suffering any consequence.

    "I¡¯m too old and too tired to fight, Kami. It¡¯s not worth it." Zinya shook her head.

    "Yes, Mogar is unfair. Every world is unfair." Lith said with a stone cold voice.

    "The only way to survive is to make life unfair to your advantage. If you don¡¯t fight for yourself, no one will." He ced his hands to the sides of Zinya¡¯s head, activating two tier five light magic spells, Scanner and Chisel.

    He used the tendrils of mana Chisel created to connect the life force of her brain with that of her eyes, using mana as a temporary conduit. Zinya¡¯s pupils moved around the room as light and colors flooded her vision.

    "Zin?" Said a beautiful woman in front of her. Zinya couldn¡¯t believe her own ears, the woman sounded like her sister. She raised her hands, touching the woman¡¯s face and recognizing her on the spot.

    "Is that really you Kami?" Zinya asked.

    "Yes, Zin. It¡¯s me. I¡¯ve brought you your favorite flowers." Kam took a bouquet of fresh silver wattles out of her dimensional amulet. Their vibrant scent filled her nose and their color was a marvel to her eyes.

 Chapter 599 Overlapping Images Part 2

    Zinya started to cry again, but this time out of joy. She appreciated even her newfound vision turning blurry because of tears. Anything was better than the eternal night she had been trapped in.

    "Zin, only you can decide if Mogar is worth fighting for. Even at your age, there are so many things you can still experience. There are so many things that I want to share with you.

    "I won¡¯t force you to do anything, just know that no matter your choice, I¡¯ll always be by your side." Kam said.

    Zinya turned her head to look at Lith¡¯s face. She didn¡¯t know much about magic, but she had guessed that the moment he would remove his hands from her head, she would lose her sight again.

    "Your trick is quite a low blow. How can I say no after you showed me all this? After seeing the pain and anguish in Kami¡¯s face? Yet I¡¯m grateful you did it. I¡¯ve been stuck in this cage for so long that it had trapped even my mind.

    "If you think you are likely to seed, I¡¯d be grateful to have you as my Healer. You are the first man I¡¯ve ever seen, so I have no idea if you are handsome or not. Yet the way Kam describes you fits like a glove. You¡¯re terrifying and kind at the same time." Zinya said.

    "I¡¯ll take that as apliment. If there¡¯s one thing you have to learn is that in life there¡¯s no such thing as a low blow. Only victory and defeat. Prepare for my next trick." Lith conjured an ice mirror in front of Zinya, to allow her to watch at her reflection.

    "Is this my face?" She said.

    "I¡¯m so pale and thin. I must look terrible." Zinya moved her eyes from the mirror to Kam, trying to make aparison.

    "Believe me, for someone in your situation, you look gorgeous." Kam said.

    "I just wish the children were here. I¡¯d give everything to see them, even just once." Zinya sighed.

    "First things first." Lith took a piece of paper out of his pocket dimension.

    "This is the legal form that grants me the status of your personal Healer. I¡¯m aware you are illiterate, so you can just draw an X where Kam points you to. Then, we¡¯ll need three witnesses. Kami?"

    Kam ran out of the room with a huge smile on her face.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe Zin epted to get treated so fast, nor that Lith would bring a legal document that grants him the authority to protect her. This is all too good to be true.¡¯ She thought while knocking to the neighbor¡¯s doors.

    It took her less than a minute toe back with two men and one woman. They all signed the document and then Kam showed Zinya how an X was shaped.

    "Just a few words before you leave." Lith said while never leaving Zinya¡¯s side.

    "If you think even for one second to go back on your word and deny to have signed the document, remember this. The moment you do that, you¡¯ll be my enemies and I¡¯ll treat you as such.

    "If anything happens to Lady Sarta, I¡¯ll hold you responsible for it in front of the Law and the Mage Association."

    His voice was calm, yet the three started to shake uncontrobly. Lith wasn¡¯t using killing intent to not scare Kam, but his gaze was more than enough to scare normal humans to death.

    There was no warmth in them, just a silent promise of pain. They nodded and gave him a deep bow, their heads almost touching the floor before rushing out of the door.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t keep the spell up any longer without the risk of hurting you. Your body can¡¯t handle so much mana at once." Lith said, waiting for Zinya to nod before he interrupted his spells.

    Since everything had been settled in a matter of minutes, they had the time to enjoy tea with some pastries together. Kam loved seeing her sister¡¯s real smile, instead of the fake one she had worn during herst visit.

    Seeing Zin eat and talk so much filled her heart with happiness. All of her questions about their personal life, especially as a couple, not so much.

    ¡¯Oh, gods! I¡¯ve never introduced one of my boyfriends to her before. This is so embarrassing.¡¯ She thought while Lith dodged a question about having children.

    When they left, Kam was still on cloud nine. There were so many things that she wanted to tell Lith, but there was no time. He had to Warp them to the city¡¯s Warp Gate to not make her arrivete at work.

    "I¡¯ll see you tonight!" She said with a radiant smile before leaving.

    Lith called the greatest expert of Body Sculpting he knew, Professor Zogar Vastor.

    "What a pleasant surprise, Lith. What can I do for you?" Vastor replied immediately, as always. Unlike Manohar, he often did frence jobs and unlike Manohar, he was reliable.

    Lith has learned everything he knew about Body Sculpting from him and he had seen Vastor perform miracles with that spell. Lith exined to him the situation and requested his help.

    "I would be d to help, but you caught me in a bad moment. The Academy is about to open and I¡¯m swamped preparing my lessons and filling old paperwork. Can you wait for a couple of days? I should be free by then." Vastor said.

    "Yes, of course. Thanks for your help, Professor. I¡¯d like to show you the patient¡¯s status. I think it might help you understand her problem." Lith ced his amulet on a table and started to focus.

    He conjured a real size hologram of Zinya¡¯s head, peeling off oneyer at a time until only the eyes, the brain, and the skull remained.

    "Good gods. That¡¯s almost as good as visiting the patient in person. Almost." Vastor said while recording everything to look at itter in detail.

    "It¡¯s a difficult case indeed, but it¡¯s treatable. I¡¯ll send you all the reading material my assistants can find. The rest I¡¯ll exin to you in person." Vastor hung the call.

    Lith informed Kam and then went back to Lutia.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve done all I could for Zinya. I¡¯ve even alerted the local authorities of her situation and added her to my patient list at the Mage Association. I have a lot of free time until evening, time to try Bloom Forge out.¡¯ He thought.

    Zekell was still smelting the first batch of Orichalcum, so there wasn¡¯t much else Lith could do. He wanted to put to the test both the Forgemastering techniques he had created before working on the new Skinwalker Armor.

    ¡¯One of them is bound to be better than the other. Another thing I could do is a replica of Orion¡¯s cloaking ring. That way Solus and I could move separate ways when necessary without anyone noticing her.¡¯

    ¡¯Excellent idea! Yet isn¡¯t an Orichalcum ring wasted for a single spell?¡¯ She asked.

    ¡¯No, if it allows us to make a better and more powerful ring thatpletely hides your life force. Safety is priceless.¡¯

    Once they got back inside the tower, Lith took out the second hammer and performed the Bonding spell to fuse it with two cyan magic crystals. Only when the mana circtory systems of the hammer had stabilized did the real Forgemastering begin.

 Chapter 600 Bloom Forge Part 1

    Bloom Forge was the pr opposite of Necro Forge.

    Instead of creating a perfect pseudo core from the start and merge it with its host, Lith would create a small pseudo core and the mana pathways necessary to prevent it from dissipating at the same time directly inside the hammer.

    It was supposed to require less focus and manapared to Necro Forge. The mana pathways would allow Lith¡¯s energy to mix with that of the mana crystals during the Forgemastering process.

    It would reduce the resistance that the pseudo core experienced when interacting with the mana vessels, and by starting small, all mistakes Lith might make could be tweaked as he shaped the core. Bloom Forge was far from perfect, even in theory.

    Lith had already predicted that the more the Forgemastering process progressed, the more difficult things would be. Neither the pseudo core nor the mana pathways could exceed their ideal form.

    Bloom Forge had a threshold past which any mistake would mean an unredeemable failure.

    Necro Forge¡¯s difficulty peaked at the very beginning of the Forgemastering process, when Lith was at his prime, and decreased as the pseudo core merged with the item. Bloom Forge, instead, would start easy and be harder with every next step.

    The second issue was that taking care of the pseudo core and the mana pathways at the same time would require a lot of focus from Lith. Since he would only grow more tired with time, he would face the most delicate steps while he was at his weakest.

    "Are you ready, Solus?" Lith asked.

    "Ready. Commencing to power up the mana circle." The space around their Forge was surrounded by a blue pir of light. It was made of the world energy Solus extracted from the mana geyser below them.

    Lith positioned the Orichalcum WellMert hammer on the center of the obsidian table that was his Mana Forge and then ced his open hands at the sides of the hammer¡¯s shaft, so that his palms touched a mana crystal each.

    He used true Forgemastering to create a pseudo core the size of a pinhole and several mana pathways as thin as hair. At the same time, he activated Invigoration to check the development of his experiment and be able to look at his own mana core, using it as a blueprint.

    ¡¯So far it¡¯s much easier than I expected and better than Necro Forge.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I just need to take things nice and easy. The core has already started to exchange mana with the crystals, making it easy to expand.¡¯

    By simply taking his time, Lith discovered that developing the core was the easy part. As its energy grew, so did its affinity toward the hammer. The process required a steady flow of mana, but it would not encounter any resistance.

    Giving the core the right shape was quite difficult, instead. Theck of resistance made so that the slightest slip of the mana would create a bump or a cavity, making the pseudo core defective.

    To make matters worse, if he developed the mana pathways too slowly, the core energy would disperse. If he developed them too fast, the manaing from the crystals would flood the core and deform it.

    Lith used his knowledge of mana cores to find a workaround. He would treat the pseudo core as a developing mana core and the mana pathways as its host body. He would first grow the core until it gave signs of instability.

    Then, he would strengthen and erge the pathways until the pressure they exerted almostpressed the pseudo core. At that point, he would focus again on the pseudo core again, rinse and repeat.

    ¡¯Bloom Forge is even slower than Necro Forge, but it allows me to enhance the power of single enchantments better. Necro Forge, instead, is limited by the massive resistance it encounters during the early steps, but by shaping aplete pseudo core from outside, it allows me to harmonize multiple enchantments.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It seems is quality versus quantity.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯For now, yes. Consider that so far, we only created one of the simplest pseudo cores for the hammers. We have yet to see how the hammer itself changes the rules of the game.¡¯

    When even the second hammer was ready, Lith was once again covered in sweat and tired for the repeated use of Invigoration. The only reason he was still able to stand was thanks to his bond with Solus.

    The mana geyser empowering her would also send energy coursing through his body and grant him uncanny recovery abilities. He was still hungry, though.

    "Damn, I skipped lunch. It¡¯s a good thing that yesterday I had a full night¡¯s sleep, otherwise my experiment would have failed." Lith said.

    He took a quick shower before consuming a full course meal and napping for an hour. Before using either of the hammers, he needed to rest enough to let Invigoration bring him back to his peak condition.

    Ever since Lith had refined a blue core, he would absorb world energy through his nose and skin with every breath, like a much slower version of Invigoration that didn¡¯t lower his max energy cap.

    Also, as long as he was inside the tower, the effects of the mana geyser would make him both physically and magically stronger. The twobined effect made so that even a single hour of sleep would greatly rejuvenate his body.

    Solus spent that hour weighing and caressing the hammers. They were quite ugly, yet everything about them was oddly familiar to her. Lith had already imprinted them with his mana, but she could use them because their bond made their energy signatures almost identical.

    "By my maker, I wish there was something, anything, I could Forgemaster." She sighed.

    "Unfortunately, with a deep green mana core I¡¯m too weak. I can manipte the energies of the tower and those from the geyser, but they are not my own. I want to infuse my essence, using anything else would be pointless."

    She took the adamant Forge out of her pocket dimension, hitting it with the Orichalcum hammer in frustration. The silvery sound they emitted scratched at the wall in the back of her head, the source of her recently found memories.

    She froze, staring nkly into space. Then, she hit the Forge again as the echoes of the impact caused her body to shiver and purple mes to fill her mind. Another hit made her remember something.

    A delicate hand inside a ck glove, holding a much better looking silvery hammer with its surface covered in runes of power. There was something she was working on, but it was blurred behind recognition.

    Something silvery as wellid between the hammer and the blurred object. Purple mes danced inside a furnace, but Solus couldn¡¯t distinguish any of its features. The furnace was too far and it became more distant by the second until she snapped out of her reverie.

    Solus hit the Forger multiple times, but the memory was lost once again and no matter how many tears she shed or how much effort she put into hammering, nothing could bring it back.

    ***

    When Lith woke up, he was still very tired, but now Invigoration had recovered part of its effectiveness. He found Solus to be quite dispirited despite their earlier sess.

    "Is everything alright, Solus?" He asked.

    "No."

    "Do you want to talk about it?"

    "Not now, thanks."

    Lith decided to not pry further. After reassuring Elina he had missed lunch only because he had been engrossed with his work, he went to Zekell¡¯s cksmith.

 Chapter 601 Bloom Forge Part 2

    "How nice of you! It¡¯s your second day leave and I haven¡¯t seen you except for collecting your packages and eating. Would it kill you to spend a few hours with us? Do I have to invite Kam to have you grace us with your presence?" Elina wasn¡¯t happy with his time table and had no qualms rebuking him.

    ¡¯Now I understand why some mages be Liches. How am I supposed to spend time with my family, practice magic, help my girlfriend, and continue my research all at the same time?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible. To achieve something, you have to sacrifice something else in return.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯You can always ditch your duty as a Ranger and your loved ones. You just have to content yourself in bing like Zolgrish, who has nothing but his work and a demented assistant.¡¯

    Just the thought of it made Lith shiver. He was still fighting to keep his sanity and he knew that Solus¡¯s had been slipping for years. If he forced her to stay away from any form of human interaction, Lith knew that sooner orter she would snap.

    He walked to Lutia instead of Warping, to take a minute for themselves and appreciate the scenery. Winter in Lutia was about to end, but snow still covered fields and trees. There was no one around, giving Mogar a peaceful appearance.

    When he reached Zekell¡¯s workshop, the cksmith looked really tired.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Lith, but even with Senton¡¯s help this work is huge. Smelting the Orichalcum is the easy part, same for the hammers since I can directly pour the molten metal into the mold.

    "The problem is the chain mail set. I¡¯ve never worked on something so tough and I need time to get used to it. I can either work on the chainmail or on the smelting, not both." Zekell had bags under his eyes and a raggedy breath.

    "Can Senton take care of the smelting while you create the chainmails?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, of course. I thought you wanted me to do it." Zekell knew that Lith only wanted perfection. Senton had worked with him for over a decade, but the skill gap between them was still huge.

    "It¡¯s fine. Even I can do it, so I doubt someone like him will make any mistake. How many chainmails are ready?" Lith asked.

    "Four, but their design is terrible. I¡¯m ashamed of how bad they look, but I couldn¡¯t do better with so little time." Zekell lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

    "You are dead tired and four are plenty. Take the day off, I have 18 days leave left. I have all that I need for my experiments and I prefer perfect materials for my real crafts. I want you at your best.

    "Have Senton keep smelting, I have no idea how many times I will fail." Lith gave Zekell another crate and a few silver coins for his troubles. The cksmith¡¯s eyes shined like stars, his body was full of energy again.

    "No seriously. Take a rest." Lith ced his hand over Zekell¡¯s shoulder to check on his condition with Invigoration. The cksmith was on the verge of copsing.

    Zekell nodded with a big yawn. A sprinkle of light magic had rxed his muscles and burned thest shreds of stamina he had. Zekell was in for a long power nap.

    Lith took four horrible chainmail that looked like they had been made by a child assembling spare keychains and stored them inside his pocket dimension.

    ¡¯Eww.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Enough is enough. We have to think about the design too.¡¯ Solus was outraged. Her pride as a craftsman was horrified at the idea to work on something like that.

    Lith was about to reply when hismunication amulet drew his attention.

    "What is it now? This is the busiest leave ever!" He groaned noticing that it was Quy¡¯s rune.

    "Lith how could you do that to me?" Her hologram looked quite pissed off.

    "Do what? It seems I¡¯m pissing off a lot of people these days so I need you to be more specific."

    "Don¡¯t get smartass with me! Vastor told me everything since I¡¯m his assistant. Why didn¡¯t you call me for help? You know I majored in Body Sculpting and I¡¯m working my ass in the field." Quy said.

    "You are really cute when you¡¯re angry." Lith¡¯s reply managed to make her turn beet red from a mix of embarrassment and rage.

    "Jokes aside, the case isplicated. I believe in your skills, Quy. You know I always considered you a genius, but I need the help of an expert. No matter how good you are, you have graduated a yearter than me.

    "You have less than two years of practice. Even if you healed one person per day until now, you would be nowhere near Vastor¡¯s level of skill and experience. Messing with a person¡¯s brain is a serious matter and you know it."

    Quy took a deep breath. As a friend, she felt insulted, but as a Healer, she could only agree with him.

    "Point taken, but after spending a week with Friya, how could you not even give me a call for a consult? I¡¯ve seen you for just one day for almost two years. I miss my best friend." Herst words struck at Lith¡¯s conscience, making him feel guilty.

    He also considered once again bing a lich.

    "I¡¯m sorry. Do you want to join the team? With your talent, you could spot any issue Vastor or I could miss. Maybe even find an easier way to treat Zinya."

    "I¡¯d be honored to!" Her anger disappeared like a snowball thrown into the sun.

    "By the way, you absolutely have to teach me how to create holograms. The level of detail in the patient¡¯s model was astounding." There was a bit too much enthusiasm in her voice, making even Solus wonder if she missed more Lith or his teachings.

    "How is it going with Anathor?" Lith promptly changed the topic.

    "Oh gods, you remembered! Very well. He finally mustered the courage to meet my parents. I was starting to think he was just ying with my feelings, but it turns out he was just scared. He almost fainted facing dad¡¯s gaze." She chuckled.

    "d to hear that, but don¡¯t lower your guard. He might still be a jerk. You deserve someone who treats you right, otherwise you¡¯ll end up with a jerk like my current patient." Lith Warped back to Trawn before telling her about Zinya¡¯s background.

    "Poor woman. Her situation couldn¡¯t be any worse. Between her husband and her condition, it¡¯s hard to tell which one is worse." She said.

    "Any ideas?"

    "Well, I read a lot of papers and I agree with your evaluation. Her case is as bad as she was missing part of her spine. What makes this case difficult is that the problem doesn¡¯t lie in a malfunctioning part of her body but in apleteck of it.

    "Creating an optic nerve is very dangerous. Things can go wrong when you create it and also when you link it to her life force. Both times you have to manipte her brain. The slightest mistake could affect her personality, her memories, everything.

    "Asking Vastor for help was the best thing you could do. I¡¯m forwarding you all the papers on simr procedures I found."

    Watching at the double digits appearing on hismunication amulet, Lith was d to have such a dear friend. Quy had done a thorough job, giving him everything he needed.

    He also was once again d of having Soluspedia. He only needed to write all that stuff down with water magic to save himself two days worth of reading.

 Chapter 602 Overpowered Part 1

    Lith and Solus needed only a few minutes to put on paper all the information Quy had sent them. After that, Soluspedia did the rest. Once something was stored inside of it, they knew its content by heart, as if they had an eidetic memory.

    Lith and Solus discussed together all the possible approaches to give Zinya sight, taking into ount the degree of risk/sess rate each procedure involved.

    ¡¯Even though none of those who have the fewest failures have shared their spells, they all described in detail how they work. Thanks to true magic, we can follow their lead and evenbine their techniques together.¡¯ Lith thought.

    They spent a few hours using holograms to simte the procedure. Lith created a replica of his own optic nerve while Solus would tweak and twist the hologram at random, to causeplications he had to deal with on the spot.

    All the while he actually used Scanner on both himself and Solus while using Chisel on the hologram. Triple casting tier five spells while keeping the hologram active proved to be quite tiring.

    "Dammit, this is hard. I made over thirty attempts, seed twelve times, partially seeded five times, failed eleven times, and killed Zinya at least four times!" Lith said.

    "Calm down. This is the first time we deal with such aplex case. You got too used to true magic making healing the impossible possible. Don¡¯t forget that you are working non stop since you returned home. Follow your own advice and take the day off.

    "Tomorrow we¡¯ll practice the procedure until we are satisfied with the results. Now it¡¯s toote and you are too tired. There are less than two hours before you have to be at Kam¡¯s ce." Solus¡¯s wisp rubbed against his shoulder, spreading her mana around him in a warm embrace.

    "I think you are right." Lith replied.

    "I¡¯ll take the day off as soon as I¡¯m done with the Skinwalker." He Warped inside his Forgemasteringb, taking the WellMert hammer and the keychainmail out of his pocket dimension.

    He ced them over his obsidian Forge while Solus demonstrated an outstanding creativity in mixing English andmonnguage insults to express her feelings about Lith¡¯s stubbornness.

    First, he used Invigoration to go back to what was now his peak condition. With just an hour nap and after practicing the medical procedure many times, Invigoration wouldn¡¯tst for long.

    "Necro or Bloom Forge?" Lith asked.

    "Neither! Go to sleep dammit!"

    "Necro it is!" Lith said, making her emit a loud and udylike groan.

    Lith had acquired the blueprints for the Skinwalker Armor when the Crown had elevated him to the status of Great Mage. They had even provided him with all the ingredients needed to make a new one.

    Yet only now that he also had the Orichalcum at hand he had the opportunity to improve its properties. Tista had already received her own as a reward for her services in Othre, whereas the rest of the family had no need for it.

    Not after Lith had given them all of his Skinwalker prototypes and Forgemastered for them magical protections in the form of rings, bracelets, or nes.

    "Whenever people ask me why I joined the army, I always have to spew a bunch of lies about how much I love the Kingdom. The truth is that it¡¯s much better than the alternative. I get to rake merits, rewards and get paid for it.

    "To obtain ingredients, I would be forced to travel Mogar with my own money and risk my life. Not to mention the necessity of doing missions for the Association to obtain the blueprints.

    "This way, all expenses are covered and I get everything I need delivered to my door. Every time I solve a mission, the army rewards me with ingredients ording to its difficulty.

    "Sure, usually they are not as precious as Orichalcum, but it would still be hard and expensive to get them on my own." Lith said while taking the ingredients for the Skinwalker out.

    It required the skin of a polymorphic monster species known as Skinwalker, hence its name. It also needed a bit of slime goop as a stabilizer, powdered petals of Magma flower as a power core, and a Thunderbird¡¯s plume to boost the base material¡¯s defensive properties.

    Thunderbirds had sturdy feathers as hard as iron, and their affinity to lightning granted them a natural electromaic field capable of weakening most attacks.

    Thest ingredient to Forgemaster a Skinwalker Armor was the pseudo core of a dimensional storage item that would be merged with those generated by the rest of the ingredients.

    First, Lith used the Bonding spell to fuse a blue mana crystal with the keychainmail.

    Then, Solus powered up the Forgemastering circle as Lith refined the ingredients one by one. The skin, the powder, and the feather were all flooded by his mana. It revived and amplified their magical nature while destroying their physical vessels.

    They produced a rainbow colored, a red, and a yellow pseudo core respectively. After Lith was certain that all the residual magical energy had been extracted from the ingredients and assimted by the pseudo cores, he generated thest one.

    A Skinwalker Armor required a dimensional subspace to store the clothes that it would reproduce.

    Lith had Forgemastered countless dimensional items over the years, so he threw the dimensional core just a nce to make sure it was perfect. Lith raised his arms, bringing the four pseudo cores close to each other, until they started to emit sparks.

    At that point, he refined the slime goop. Slimes were incredible creatures, with amazing vitality and capable of adapting to any environment. The goop didn¡¯t produce another core, but a fine mist that filled the Forgemastering circle.

    The mist harmonized the different energies of the pseudo cores, allowing Lith to merge them into one. Then, keychainmail and the pseudo core started to orbit around each other.

    The Orichalcum started to resonate with the mystical energy, making the pseudo core grow in size and power.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! That never happened before. It must be due to the interaction between the Orichalcum¡¯s artificial mana flow and the Thunderbird¡¯s amplification field.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He stimted his own mana core, boosting its energies until his body started to ache from mana overloading. Solus called upon the energies of the mana geyser, filling the Necro Hammer with mana to allow Lith to exceed his limits.

    The armor rejected the pseudo core until Lith struck the Forgemastering circle with the hammer, producing a silvery sound. It released a deep blue burst of light that was captured by the circle and channeled into the ongoing spell.

    Lith¡¯s mana and willpower pushed the pseudo core inside the keychainmail, allowing it to ovee the resistance the manaing from the blue produced. As soon as Lith was overcharged again, he hit the circle a second time, generating another burst of light.

    With each strike, the merging process became easier and faster.

    ¡¯Dammit, I think we messed up. We created a pseudo core just as strong as the one in the hammer, but this time it¡¯s much moreplex. I cannot regenerate it and continue the merging at the same time!¡¯ Lith thought.

    Solus stepped in to help him, but between keeping the hammer charged and powering the circle, her focus was already spent. They fought against the odds for half an hour before the pseudo core copsed and the blue mana crystal shattered.

 Chapter 603 Overpowered Part 2

    "I can¡¯t believe it. I¡¯ve worked on the armor for less than an hour and I¡¯m way more tired than after we crafted the hammer." Lith said while checking his pocket watch.

    "It¡¯s perfectly normal. The hammer required a single core, whereas this time you fused four cores of the same power together." Solus said.

    "Handling that kind of energy for an hour while repairing any deformation the sh between five different kinds of mana induced is much more difficult than working six hours and a half on a single core. By the way, I¡¯m beat too. I need time to recuperate." Solus wheezed.

    Lith had never heard of a tower being out of breath, but he could feel the energy in the tower being somewhat diminished.

    "We¡¯ll continue tomorrow." Lith said.

    "What about Zinya¡¯s procedure?"

    "Fine! The day after tomorrow."

    "You have an appointment with Vastor scheduled for that day." Solus said, making Lith erupt in a streak of swear words.

    Lith went inside the bathroom for a long bath. He had over an hour of time and nned to make it count. He arrived at Kam¡¯s early, using the time before she returned home to run simtions with Solus to understand how topensate for the unexpectedplication.

    ¡¯The boost the final pseudo core receives from the Orichalcum makes it impossible for us to seed. What if we lower the output of 30%?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It would be enough if we were using a single core. There¡¯s four of them, so you have to take into ount the energy necessary to keep them both merged and in the correct shape. I¡¯d start with 50%. It leaves you enough mana in case another unexpectedplication arises.¡¯

    ¡¯50%? It¡¯s a waste of blue crystals, Orichalcum, and ingredients!¡¯ Lith rebuked.

    ¡¯Yeah, but so is another failure. 50% is a reasonable amount and allows us to test the waters. If we seed, at least we¡¯ll have a starting point, whereas another failure would teach us nothing.¡¯

    Lith was pondering Solus¡¯s words so hard that hepletely missed Kam¡¯s arrival. Seeing him brooding with a dejected look threw her into a panic.

    "Lith are you alright? It¡¯s everything okay with your family?" Knowing his talent at risking his life at least once a day, she was worried he could be hurt. She touched his shoulder, chest, and arms searching for injuries.

    "I¡¯m fine and so is my family, don¡¯t worry." His answer only made her worry more since he kept staring nkly. Light magic could heal any kind of wound, but not those to his wallet. Lith was almost grieving for his most recent failure.

    "Is it for Zinya? Is her situation so bad? Did Fallmug beat her or something?" She shook him, to force Lith looking her in the eyes while answering.

    "No, no, and no." He checked hismunication amulet, just to be safe.

    "Then what¡¯s the matter? Speak to me, please" She asked.

    Seeing how worried she was for him, almost on the verge of tears, made Lith feel like a jerk.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t tell her I¡¯m grieving for a failed experiment. She would think I¡¯m a self-centered, stingy, idiot. Solus, analysis!¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯If you ever n to reveal to her at least as much as you did with Phloria, you can¡¯t hide your ws. Just be honest with her. Besides, she already knows about the stinginess and you¡¯re not very self-centered.¡¯ She giggled.

    Lith told her the truth. She waited patiently until he finished expressing his gripes before saying:

    "Idiot! You made me worry for nothing."

    ¡¯All ording to keikaku.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "I¡¯m really sorry about your materials, but the important thing is that nothing happened to you." She sat on Lith¡¯sp, putting her arms around his neck before giving him a soft kiss.

    Lith returned her embraced and his arms ran along Kam¡¯s hair and hips, making her arch her back in pleasure. They started to kiss with growing passion, forgetting all about their daily worries as electricity seemed to course through their skin every time they touched.

    "Is it better now?" She said. Her voice was a soft moan, making his morale raise among other things.

    "Very much."

    "I¡¯m too tired to cook and I assumed it would be the same for you, so I reserved a table for us at the Velorian. We need to hurry, otherwise we¡¯ll gette." She said while standing up.

    She noticed his disappointed expression and quickly added:

    "It¡¯s barely seven pm, silly. We have all evening and night. We didn¡¯t have a date in weeks and I really miss yourpany. Would you have dinner with me? My treat, so you¡¯ll forget about your financial losses." She chuckled.

    "I¡¯m okay going out for dinner, but not with you paying the bill." Lith replied and his stomach grumbled in approval. Even if it had been a failure, the Forgemastering experiment had drained his energy.

    "It¡¯s my treat, to apologize for giving you a scare. Also, it¡¯s not like saving a few copper coins can hurt after having already lost around twenty gold coins. That without taking the Orichalcum into ount, since it has no market price."

    His words made Kam choke on herugh. Twenty gold coins was more than Manohar would ask to treat Zinya¡¯s blindness. A single gold coin was worth a hundred silver coins. Even a Constable was paid in silver.

    The amount Lith described was enough to buy a house.

    "That much?" Suddenly his gloomy disposition was much more rtable.

    "Yes, but I¡¯m likely to waste more. One has to fail a lot before seeding." He sighed.

    The food was nice and the wine excellent. Lith told Kam about Elina¡¯s gripes on his work schedule and her intentions of kidnapping her if he didn¡¯t spend more time with his family.

    "Tell her that I¡¯m a-okay with that. She just has to knock out my boss and I¡¯m all hers." Kam said.

    Between the cheery mood and Kam¡¯s soothing presence, Lith was finally able to rx after weeks of unrelenting work, fight, or training. His body felt light and the anxiety that had been clouding his mind during thest two days disappeared.

    ¡¯Man, I¡¯m so d we got out for dinner. I really needed a break.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, I wonder where I heard those same exact words before. Oh yeah, it was me! You just didn¡¯t listen, like usual.¡¯ Solus was pissed off, yet she took note of all the ideas that were popping in Lith¡¯s now clear mind.

    "I¡¯m sorry to ruin the mood, but I have to tell you." Kam said.

    "What you did today for Zinya was amazing. I brought you with me because I wanted you to reassure her, but you did so much more. You gave my sister hope and even allowed her to see me for the first time.

    "I can¡¯t thank you enough for that. I¡¯ve never thought I¡¯d see Zinya so happy, it meant the world for me."

    "You¡¯re not ruining anything. When my sister was ill, I felt the same as you do." Lith said, giving her the strength to ask the question that had tormented her since yesterday.

    "Is it everything alright between us?" Kam asked.

    "What do you mean?" Lith had no idea what she was talking about.

 Chapter 604 Outcast Part 1

    "I know how things must seem to you. That I dated you only to get a freebie for my sister. I never meant to hide how bad her situation is from you, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s not something I like to talk about.

    "I wouldn¡¯t have even bothered you with it if you weren¡¯t the best Healer I know and now that I¡¯m a Field Assistant Constable, I can afford the treatment. I can pay you, so nothing has to change between us. I¡¯m not trying to exploit you." Kam said.

    "Gods, my paranoia is really rubbing off on you. I never thought anything like that. I too hid a lot of things from you. I know all too well how difficult it is to speak about a painful past. Only those who want to garner pity from others would speak of such things on a first date.

    "I¡¯m d that you asked for my help, because it means you trust me enough to share your burden with me. I¡¯m even more d to hear about all the silly thoughts running through your head, because it means you are not taking me for granted." Lith gently caressed her hand.

    ¡¯I wish I was that strong. I have yet to tell her about my hybrid nature. I can¡¯t tell her about Awakening and true magic, but if things get really serious, I can¡¯t make the same mistakes Protector did.¡¯ He thought.

    "Thanks." Kam sighed in relief, feeling her worries fading.

    "The thought that you might be doubting about my feelings was eating at me since yesterday. To be honest, it¡¯s the reason I avoided to... you know." She said while the waitress brought them desserts.

    The conversation moved again to their respective day¡¯s work and silly anecdotes about their lives. When they went to Kam¡¯s apartment, Lith was happy, rxed, and most of all, sleepy.

    "I had too much wine. I¡¯ll go take a quick shower to clear my head and I¡¯ll join you as soon as I slip into something morefortable." Kam said.

    ¡¯Tomorrow I have a full day and today I¡¯ve used Invigoration so much that all my body aches. With a full stomach and considering how tired I am, I¡¯d better avoid making advances.

    ¡¯Besides, things with Kam will be awkward for a while, at least until we solve Zinya¡¯s problem. Heck, I¡¯m too tired even for theory crafting magic.¡¯ He thought as the Skinwalker shapeshifted into his pajama.

    Lith checked with Life Vision that nothing was out of order and that there was no unknown magical item before being able to rx. He fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

    It didn¡¯tst long, though. A sudden sh of light and a mildly amused voice woke him up after what seemed a second.

    "What are you doing?" There was a tinge of annoyance in Kam¡¯s voice.

    "Isn¡¯t it obvious? I was sleeping." Lith shielded his eyes from the cruel light with a hand.

    "After how you kissed me when I returned home? After what I said earlier? What happened to your math skills?" She was tapping her foot, her hands on her hips.

    "What do you- Good gods!" Lith¡¯s mind recalled her earlier words as his vision returned to normal. Kam was standing in front of the door wearing only redce lingerie. It made wonders emphasizing her pale skin and soft curves.

    During his time as Assistant Professor at the academy, Lith had used the White Griffonwork to patent the underwear he had giarized from Earth. It hadn¡¯t been the sess he had hoped for, except for the women underwear, of course.

    Lith had gifted Kam a few for their amorous ys and she was now wearing his favorite one.

    "But yesterday you said..."

    "Yesterday we had to talk, silly." She crawled on the bed on all four with deliberately slow, sensual movements, showing miles of cleavage.

    "Didn¡¯t you miss me? Even one bit?" She said before giving him a peck that tasted like heaven.

    Lith turned off the lights with a snap of his fingers before taking her into his arms. They started to kiss while feeling each other¡¯s body. Lith took his time to appreciate the feeling of thece covering her skin before removing it slowly, one bit at the time.

    ¡¯Thanks, math. I knew you wouldn¡¯t relinquish me.¡¯

    ***

    The next morning, after they had breakfast together and Kam left home, Lith went back to Lutia. He took Belius¡¯s Warp Gate to leave a trace of his movements and then used Solus¡¯s tower Warp to reach his destination and sleep.

    Kam was fine because he had shared with her a bit of his life force, but they had slept too little and Invigoration¡¯s effects had yet to reset. Four hourster, Lith was back at his full force and practiced Zinya¡¯s procedure until it was lunchtime.

    His parents were very happy to have him with them for a while, even more when he chose to stay a bit longer after lunch. Lith told them about histest mission everything that wasn¡¯t a state secret.

    "I¡¯m d to hear that Friya is doing well." Elina said.

    "Yeah, too bad that girl is a workaholic just like you. You didn¡¯t see each other since Jirni¡¯s birthday and yet you spent the entire time practicing magic. You need to rx, son." Raaz said.

    "It¡¯s what I¡¯m doing now, right?" Lith used spirit magic to y with Aran, moving some of his toy soldiers and engaging him in a fierce battle.

    "Why did you pick the beanpole instead of aunt Friya? She¡¯s a babe." Aran said with a pensive tone. Some words made little sense to him, so he had a hard time remembering them

    "Raaz!" "Dad!" Elina and Lith said in unison. The only way Aran could say such things was by hearing those words from someone else and often at that.

    "Guilty as charged." Raaz showed his hands, surrendering.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I never understood how you pick your girlfriends. Even when you two just met, Phloria was already very tall. Taller than me and even than you. Also, she¡¯s too..." Raaz was almost too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

    "Strong?" Lith asked. He knew that his father was still shocked after losing to her in many strength contests. As far as Raaz knew, Phloria was stronger than Lith as well.

    "Yes. A woman shouldn¡¯t be so intimidating. Now you have Kam, she¡¯s lovely sure, but she¡¯s..."

    "Old?" Elina¡¯s voice was so cold that it made the temperature in the room plummet.

    ¡¯If Kam is old, then what am I?¡¯ She thought.

    "...er. Older than Lith, dear. Whereas Friya is about the right age, height, and is a wonderful woman. A father has all the right to worry about his eldest son." Raaz said, his voice became low and sour.

    "Eldest son? What about Trion?" Lith didn¡¯t miss either Raaz¡¯s tone nor Elina turning pale.

    "Dear, I told you it had to wait." She said.

    "Sorry, honey. I didn¡¯t mean to." He sighed.

    "Your brother came here a few days before Jirni¡¯s birthday, when only your mother, Aran, and I were at home. Things didn¡¯t go well. Our reunion started badly and things escted quickly. Long story short, he disowned us and is no longer a member of our family."

 Chapter 605 Outcast Part 2

    Trion had never forgotten his promise to Lith, mostly because he was afraid that his brother would barge in his base and humiliate him again. It still took him months to find the strength to go back home.

    He loved his parents with all his heart and that was the reason seeing them was much harder than continue to avoid the unresolved issues he had with his family. Trion had thought for a long time about Orpal¡¯s fate before realizing that by endangering their baby brother¡¯s life he had crossed the line.

    Thanks to the life in the army and the camaraderie with his peers, Trion had realized that what he had with his older brother was a sick rtionship. Orpal always ordered him around and they rarely argued simply because Trion obeyed to him.

    He didn¡¯t resent his parents anymore for disowning his beloved older brother, yet the more he thought about it, the less home felt like a home. His parents had never loved him any less than Lith, but he was tired of being alwayspared to his little brother.

    Tired of being painfully often referred to as "Lith¡¯s brother" rather than with his name.

    The army gave him a ce where he could be himself, where the shadow of his brother couldn¡¯t reach him anymore. That was the reason he had never returned home. Even if Lith was always at the academy, his presence had tainted the whole Lutia.

    In her letters, after asking Trion to reply to her and let her know he was alright, Elina would always mention how the vige had expanded, how their house was being renovated. Until the house he remembered was no more.

    Things became even worse for Trion each time Lith made a name for himself. The gue in Kandria, single-handedly facing a Valor, bing a top ranker, they were all events that reached every corner of the Griffon Kingdom, barracks included.

    Every time Trion heard people praising Lith for his achievements, despite him being a namelessmoner, he couldn¡¯t help but be jealous.

    ¡¯If there¡¯s one thing Orpal was right about is how unfair it is that no one cares about our hard work. No one praises me for my efforts, nor anyone cares for how well I¡¯m doing in the army. Lith only has to move his hands while spouting bullshit and everyone blows smoke up his ass!¡¯ He would often think.

    When Lith received a family name from the King himself, Trion learned about it the worst possible way. A Lieutenant asked him if he wanted to take the Verhen name in front of the whole Mess Hall.

    Suddenly Trion was no more, and in the blink of an eye his name became "Lith¡¯s brother" Verhen. Trion had to ask to be relocated and buy a family name, Proudstar, to avoid being associated with the Verhen again.

    He regretted what he did to Phloria, but no matter how deep he buried his hatred, it was always there, smoldering. Any mention of his brother¡¯s name, no matter the reason, was enough to rekindle it into a zing fire again.

    When Trion returned home, it was exactly as he feared. The house was unrecognizable and so was the vige. Most of the farmhands had no idea who he was and those who did spit on the ground at his passage.

    "If you were my son and you made my Liza cry as much as Elina did for you, I¡¯d kick your ass back to where you came from." Bromann said, eager to tell about Trion past to whoever asked him who that Sergeant was.

    Trion had yet to set foot inside his home and he was already full of venom. He was thinking about throwing the thousands of miles he had crossed into the gutter when the door opened.

    Raaz immediately recognized him and held his long lost son into an embrace.

    "Wee home, son." Was all he managed to say while fighting his tears back.

    Hearing those words, Elina too rushed to the door, joining the embrace as tears of joy streamed down her face. In that moment, Trion remembered how much he loved his parents and all the wonderful things they had shared.

    "I missed you so much, Trion." Elina said between sobs.

    "I missed you too, mom. Sorry for not visiting for so long." He said letting go of his past grievances.

    Unluckily, they all flooded back the moment his eyes looked at his right, where once there was his old room. It had been reced by a pantry years ago. He ignored his parents¡¯ question about his friends and career, asking in anger:

    "What the heck happened here? Where is my room?"

    "Don¡¯t worry, sweetie. We haven¡¯t thrown away anything. Your room is on the second floor, like everyone else¡¯s." Elina said.

    "What has be of Lith¡¯s study? Is it now aundry room or what?" He asked with way more emphasis than necessary.

    "Lith¡¯s study is still there, just like Rena¡¯s. Lith sometimes brings his girlfriend home and Rena is married now. They deserve a bit of privacy." Raaz exined.

    It made perfect sense, especially considering that Lith had paid for all the renovations with his own money, yet Trion lived it as an unfair treatment.

    "Come in, dear. Have a seat. We have so much catch up to do." Elina took hot tea and freshly baked pastries out of her dimensional ring, leaving Trion bbergasted.

    Now the kitchen and the dining room where two separate rooms. Every piece of furniture was of good quality. The house was warm and without a single draft, with more magical tools than the apartments Trion lived in.

    With every step he took, he felt alien to that ce. Only his parents gave him the strength to sit down and fight the rage that was consuming him.

    "Who is this man, mom?" A small voice asked.

    Trion had heard about Aran from both Phloria and Lith, yet he still couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. He had always thought that giving birth to a demon like Lith had made her barren.

    Secretly, he found sce at that thought, like it was some kind of divine justice bncing the scale.

    "Sweetie,e meet your brother Trion." Elina held him in her arms.

    "I¡¯ve only one brother." Aran stubbornly said.

    "Forgive him, Trion. Aran is barely four years old and has never met you before. You know how kids are." Her tone was apologetic, but Elina never stopped smiling nor her eyes sparkling while looking at the little miracle in her arms.

    "Don¡¯t worry mom, it¡¯s fine." He tantly lied, making it clear that he resented the small child.

    "Tell me everything about you, son. How are things in the army? Do you have someone special?" Raaz asked.

    "Sorry, dad. I¡¯m not as good as Lith. I¡¯m not married nor do I have a girlfriend. After all, even after working my ass off for years I¡¯m just a Staff Sergeant, whereas he is a mighty mage who became a Lieutenant right off the bat!

    "Why would anyone be interested in a nobody like me?" He said while mming his hand on the table.

    "Trion I¡¯m not makingparisons. I just want to know how you are." Raaz said while Elina tried to calm down Aran. He didn¡¯t like strangers, even more those who yelled.

 Chapter 606 Retribution Part 1

    "How do you think I can possibly be?" Trion stood up abruptly, flipping his chair.

    "This isn¡¯t my house anymore! You got rid of my room as if it was trash yet you kept Lith¡¯s intact. Everything here stinks of him. Your rings, your clothes, even him!" He said while pointing at Aran, making him cry.

    "We didn¡¯t get rid of anything. Our room and Tista¡¯s are on the second floor, just like yours. What¡¯s wrong with this house? With your brother Aran? This is a good ce where we have a good life." Elina said, her heart hurt by Trion¡¯s words.

    "Of course the trash goes on the second floor, where it can¡¯t offend his majesty¡¯s eyes! I¡¯ll tell you what¡¯s wrong. You cut me out of your lives to the point that I had to learn from a stranger that I had a brother!"

    "I never stopped writing to you, but my letters were always returned. ording to the army, there was no Trion nor Trion Verhen..."

    "And there never will be!" Trion yelled, cutting Elina short.

    "I¡¯m Trion Proudstar now. It¡¯s clear that as long as you have your precious Lith, you have no need for a failure of a son like me. I better be off before I waste more of your time." He walked towards the door, but Raaz grabbed him by the shoulder.

    "Son, what¡¯s this madness? Why do you always talk about Lith? What did he ever do to you? We don¡¯t love Rena any less just because she¡¯s not a mage. If you are trash, then what about her? What about us?"

    "Easy. You¡¯re worse than trash and I don¡¯t need you anymore. Don¡¯t bother teaching the runt my name. If I¡¯m not a member of this family, I might as well be disowned too. Even better, I¡¯ll disown you, so at least I¡¯ll spare you the inconvenience to kick me out." He said before storming out of the house

    ***

    Lith¡¯s house. Present day.

    After Raaz finished telling him the whole story, Lith took a deep breath before saying:

    "I¡¯m sorry it ended up that way." Yet he was sorry for his parents, not for Trion. He had always considered his older brother a lost cause.

    "Me too, dear." Elina sighed.

    "Do you want me to go talk to him?" Lith asked.

    "No, it would only make things worse. Thanks, though." Raaz said.

    "I think it¡¯s partly our fault. After what happened with Orpal, we have been so overprotective towards Tista that we failed to notice the hole that losing his big brother opened in Trion¡¯s heart.

    "Maybe if instead of just trying to forget about our lost son we spent more time with him, trying to exin Trion why Orpal had to go, things would have gone differently."

    "No offense, Dad, but I call bullshit. After Orpal was disowned, you did the best you could and so did everyone else, even me." Lith said.

    "Why do you say that, dear? You¡¯ve always been a perfect brother." Elina said.

    "No, I wasn¡¯t. I never liked my brothers and you know it. They couldn¡¯t miss how everyone in the family improved their looks after receiving my treatments and they knew I wouldn¡¯t do the same for them.

    "By forcing you to keep such an open secret, I created a divide between you and them that further fueled their jealousy. Yet their actions are still inexcusable. Neither Orpal nor Trion ever apologized. Trion has been loved, well fed, and dressed his whole life.

    "I didn¡¯t love them, but you and Rena did. They had everything they needed yet it was never enough. I never bullied nor humiliated them by showing off my powers. I always minded my own business asking the same from them.

    "Their problem has always been that their abilities didn¡¯t match their expectations. Even after all these years, the only person Trion worries about is Trion.

    "He didn¡¯t ask about Rena or Tista, right?"

    Both of his parents shook their heads.

    "Always a self centered a... apple." Lith corrected himself while looking at Aran.

    "Mom, Dad, you¡¯ve been two wonderful parents and whoever says otherwise is a liar, stupid, or both." He stood up and hugged them both, hoping to better convey his feelings.

    "Maybe you¡¯re right, son, but it¡¯s a parent¡¯s job to take care of their children, even when they are lost." Raaz said.

    Lith went back to Solus¡¯s tower to use its empowering effects to learn more about the methods his most sessful colleagues had used in the past. Creating the optic nerve from scratch was simple.

    Lith only had to use Kam as a blueprint and Zinya¡¯s flesh and blood as materials. Them being sisters made their physiology simr enough that what worked for Kam was supposed to work for Zinya too.

    The problem was that the new tissues and nerve endings would upy an already taken ce, so the problem was twofold.

    Connecting the optic nerve to both eyes and brain without harming either and make space for them without mutting the patient. Lith tried different approaches, working on his holograms while keeping active both Scanner and Chisel for hours.

    His sess rate improved dramatically with practice and observation, but in the end, they were just simtions. Lith had never manipted life force to that extent. He kept revising all the material Quy had sent to him and spent the rest of the time studying the life force of his own optic nerve.

    ¡¯Dammit. Even if I kidnap Fallmug and experiment on him, it would be pointless. He¡¯s a healthy subject, whereas I¡¯d need one with Zinya¡¯s condition.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯We can only hope that Vastor has an ace in the hole. Otherwise it might be better to let him operate while we watch.¡¯ Solus proposed.

    ¡¯It¡¯s a good idea, but I¡¯d feel morefortable with him making space for the optic nerve and then connecting it to the rest, while I do everything else. Vastor is an outstanding mage, but a fake mage nheless.

    ¡¯If something goes wrong, I can fix it faster and better than...¡¯ Lith¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by hismunication amulet. A single, long beep warned him that shit had just hit the fan.

    ***

    City of Xylita, a few minutes ago.

    Fallmug Sarta was fuming with rage like he hadn¡¯t been in months. The day before he had noticed that something was wrong, but he had paid it no heed. His stupid servants were always jumpy around him for no reason and that stupid wench of Vylna was just an attention whore.

    Only after noticing that even his neighbors threw odd nces at him had Fallmug decided it was time to get some answers. It didn¡¯t take him long to learn about Kam¡¯s second visit.

    The house staff was much more terrified of losing their job than of a random mage. Lith was gone, whereas they had to live there. Their families depended on their job and getting fired without receiving good references would have meant having no future.

    "Why you didn¡¯t send her away? Have you forgotten what I have instructed you to tell that cunt?" Fallmug¡¯s face was centimeters away from Vylna¡¯s, his lips curled in outrage.

    "I wanted to, but there was a Great Mage with her."

    "Who cares about a Mage! That was an abuse of authority, you should have called the guards!" Fallmug hated Kam¡¯s guts.

    Not only did the little wench always reject him, but also now that she had her new boyfriend, she was the only thing his family would talk about.

 Chapter 607 Retribution Part 2

    "I couldn¡¯t, he was too scary. Even after he left, it took me hours to recover." Vylna said.

    At those words, Fallmug pped her so hard that she was sent mming against the nearest wall. Her head started to spin due to the p and the impact.

    "Enough of your excuses! With all the money I waste on you, is it too much to ask for a bit of loyalty?" He lifted her by the cor of her shirt and pped her again. Vylna¡¯s cheek turned purple and her lips started to bleed.

    "Was he scarier than me?" Another p followed, making her cry.

    "What about now? Are you still scared of him?" Fallmug threw her on the ground before kicking her over and over, until her whining stopped.

    "I work my ass to give to all you parasites a good life, and that¡¯s how you repay me? With lies and betrayal? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be a sessful businessman with all those foreigners using the Gate to sell their merchandise even during winter?"

    Fallmug Sarta hadn¡¯t always been the man he was now. Back before the Warp Gate had been opened, he was the young master of a powerful and rich household of merchants.

    He had inherited the family business and made it thrive thanks to his charismatic personality and thework of connections that his predecessors had established. With time, his pride turned into arrogance and his self-confidence into conceit.

    After the Gate, though, his life had be a daily battle to the death with hispetition.

    He had never been a very kind man, so being forced to be nice and patient during work always caused a great deal of stress on him. He had managed to hold his rage in until the money flowed into his pockets and themunity respected him for it.

    Now, though, each victory came at a price. Also, every single time he was defeated despite putting so much effort into the negotiations, despite the many personal sacrifices he endured, his pride was wounded and something inside him became more twisted.

    He had started by beating his servants, but only with an asional p and only after a really bad day. Then, he had started to do it just to relieve his stress. Seeing them suffer made Fallmug feel better about himself. It made him feel powerful.

    He wasn¡¯t proud of it, but the business was better for it and he cleared his conscience by giving them gifts every time he closed a good deal.

    Yet the more he gave into his darkest impulses, the more things got worse. Soon he started to beat his wife whenever she pestered him with her whining about him being too hard with the house staff or the kids¡¯ schooling.

    Then it was the turn of those little runts, who disrespected his hard work and never let him have a single moment of peace.

    No matter how much he scolded them, they seemed to remain oblivious of the sacrifices he made for them every day. They would always drive him crazy with their squeaky voices and stupidughs whenever they yed.

    He couldn¡¯t stand them being so happy at his expenses, even less to spend his hard earned money just for being subject to their terrified expression whenever they met. He was their father, yet they treated him like he was a monster.

    Now Kam, that stupid woman, had dared to vite the sanctity of his house twice, defying his orders and will.

    "Someone has to pay." Fallmug said while walking towards the tea room.

    He mmed the door open, his voice a low rumble like a thunder announcing a storm.

    "Didn¡¯t I tell you not to see your sister without my permission again? Have you gone deaf as well or are you just too stupid to understand a simple order?"

    Zinya gulped in fear. She was waiting for Fallmug to continue his ranting, but the prolonged silence meant his questions weren¡¯t rhetorical for once.

    "I didn¡¯t invite Kami. She came here on her own and Vylna let her in." She clenched a small, red stick in her hands, trying not to stutter. It would only make Fallmug angrier.

    "Did you tell her that whatever happens now it¡¯s on her?" He asked.

    "I did, but she stayed."

    "Good. Your sister should have followed your example. A married woman learns about obedience and discipline, whereas a spinster doesn¡¯t realize that each action has consequences.

    "I¡¯m sorry, dear, but you¡¯ll have to pay the price for your sister¡¯s defiance." Fallmug took out the horsewhip from his jacket¡¯s pocket, making it snap against his palm.

    "Please, don¡¯t. She did nothing wrong, she was just worried for me." Zinya now clenched the stick with both hands.

    "She had no reason to. Didn¡¯t I always take good care of you?" He stepped forward as the whip cracked on his palm again.

    "Stay away! There¡¯s a reason I never stepped out of this room!"

    "What might it be?" His tone went from cold to angry. He hated it when people ordered him around.

    Zinya broke the red stick, which was actually a red mana crystal. Six more were hidden from sight under a couch and arranged to form a small array that became visible to the naked eye.

    "He¡¯sing. Lith promised me." Zinya said.

    "Really?" Fallmugughed as he grabbed Zinya by the cor of her dress, forcing her to stand up.

    "Even if he lived in Xylita, it would take him minutes to get here and he doesn¡¯t. He lives in Distar. By the time he gets here, there will be nothing to find. A healer friend of mine will make sure of it. He may be a mage, but in this house I¡¯m your god!"

    Zinya sobbed as two strong hands grabbed Fallmug¡¯s arms with enough strength to shatter them, forcing him to let her go. Yet she heard nothing because of the Hush zone enveloping her husband.

    "Get over here!" Lith dragged him inside the dimensional fissure leading to the Mirrors Hall on the tower¡¯s first floor.

    The moment the array had been activated, Solus had Warped the tower to the nearest mana geyser while Lith focused on Zinya¡¯s room coordinates through the Warping Mirror which amplified his Warp Step¡¯s range.

    "Hello, Ezio. Long time no see." Lith said while giving him a backhand p. It broke Fallmug¡¯s jaw and spread his nose all over his face, sending him crashing against the nearest wall.

    "Please, stop. My name is not Ezio." Fallmug whined. Tears of pain were streaming down his eyes.

    "I know, and that¡¯s the only reason you¡¯ll get out of here alive." Lith¡¯s fist struck Fallmug¡¯s chest, making his ribcage and lungs copse.

    Fallmug fell to the floor, coughing out blood. For a few terrible moments, he thought he was about to die, but the pain slowly faded and he could breathe again.

    "What the...?" Fallmug could lift his arms, now perfectly healed. His nose and jaw were back to their original state, and so was his chest.

    "Magic." Lith exined with augh as the mirrors disappeared and an array became visible to the naked eye.

    "I gifted you an immortal body. The dream of countless kings and emperors, all for you." Lith¡¯s grabbed Fallmug by the neck, mming him against the stone pavement. His skull shattered, his spine was severed, leaving him limp like a stringless marite.

    "Immortal doesn¡¯t mean invulnerable, though. You can still feel pain. You just cannot die while we are having fun!"

 Chapter 608 Web of Lies Part 1

    The array enveloping the first floor of Solus¡¯s tower was something they had developed in case Lith managed to find a mana geyser while being on the brink of death.

    It allowed Solus to harness the energy of the mana geyser to heal all kinds of wounds almost instantly and to share part of her life force with Invigoration. The final result was a powerful healing field capable of beating death as long as the subject¡¯s mana core was intact.

    In Fallmug¡¯s case, however, Solus wasn¡¯t giving him any life force. Lith refused to have her tainting her noble spirit with such a human faced monster.

    Fallmug¡¯s spine recovered and so did his limbs. He was seconds away from fainting due to exhaustion when Lith used Invigoration to restore his life force. Lith wouldn¡¯t let him get any respite.

    Even healing was an excruciating process since Solus was performing it without any kind of anesthesia. The bone fragments would dig through the flesh and blood vessels to return to their original position, opening new wounds at their passage.

    Fallmug could feel his body constantly get torn apart and reconstructed.

    "How does it feel, Ezio?" Lith waited for him to havepletely recovered before crushing his windpipe with a fist to the throat.

    "How does it feel to be helpless against someone much bigger and stronger than you are?" Fallmug couldn¡¯t even breathe, let alone reply. His vision blurred before the array allowed him to breathe in fresh air again.

    "How does it feel walking a mile in your children¡¯s shoes?" A flick of Lith¡¯s finger and one of Fallmug¡¯s nails flew off, spraying blood through the room as he screamed in agony.

    "Your voice is definitely high pitched for a god." The nail was still regrowing, biting the flesh on its way when another flew off.

    Fallmug kept screaming, holding his right hand to defend it, just to have the fingernails on the left hand be ripped off all at once. The pain almost sent him into shock, but Solus¡¯s healing and Lith¡¯s life force saved his life again.

    "Anyst words?"

    "You will not get away with this. If I disappear..."

    "Then what? Who would even care? Your wife? Your children? Your family?" Lith stomped on Fallmug¡¯s kneecap with enough strength to almost cut the leg into two.

    "The Kingdom will never..." Fallmug attempted to say as soon as the pain allowed him to.

    "Wrong!" Lith stomped on the other leg, cutting him short and making Fallmug grateful to the gods for giving him only two legs.

    "The Kingdom wouldn¡¯t give a damn, but death is too good for the likes of you. I will turn you into your wife." Lith¡¯s fingers shapeshifted into ws, piercing Fallmug¡¯s eyes all the way to the brain.

    "Just like she is your ything, you shall be mine. I will beat you an inch from death every single day and then send you home unscathed. No one will hear your screams." Lith mmed his opened palms against Fallmug¡¯s ears, destroying his eardrums.

    Fallmug lost control of his dder as his world was now pitch ck and devoid of sound. Solus only healed his ears, to make him feel like Zinya did every day of her life.

    "No one will witness what I¡¯ll do to you." Lith¡¯s knee struck Fallmug¡¯sher regions, turning his genitals into toothpaste.

    "No matter who you ask for help, they¡¯ll just think you¡¯re crazy. No one will believe you." A jet of Origin mes set Fallmug aze as Solus kept the healing speed fast enough to keep him alive despite the mes eating his ever regenerating flesh.

    Lith went outside, using his army amulet to create himself an alibi. The amulet pinpointed his position while he asked for updates from Commander Berion. The army would be his witness, stating that he was at his own house if anyone asked.

    When Lith returned to the tower, the mes were gone and Fallmug was unconscious.

    "His body couldn¡¯t take any more punishment without eating." Solus said.

    "Well done." Lith¡¯s voice was joyless. He hated the idea of letting him live, but his disappearance would make Kam ask questions he didn¡¯t want to lie about. They brought Fallmug back in the tearoom and prepared a new rm array, this time above a cupboard.

    "I always keep my promises." Lith said while embracing Zinya and giving her another stick to rece the one she had consumed.

    "What about Fallmug?" She asked.

    "He is alright, but I doubt he¡¯ll touch you again for a long, long time." Between his studies at the academy and the time spent with Jirni, Lith was an expert about the human body and mind.

    It would take Fallmug days to recover from the physical exhaustion, but the mental trauma wouldst much longer, whereas he would return the following day to bring Zinya to the academy¡¯s hospital to prepare her for the procedure.

    "If anything happens, you know what to do. Remember, if anyone asks, I¡¯ve not been here."

    "Thank you so much." Zinya buried her face into his chest.

    "He might be a monster, but he¡¯s still the father of my children."

    "Believe me, they are better off with their mother. Giving guys like him a second chance will bite back at you sooner orter. I¡¯ll pick you up tomorrow, so rest easy but keep the trigger always with you.

    "Once you stop hearing my voice, count up to ten, and then use the handbell to summon the house staff. Fallmug just had a stroke." Lith let her go and disappeared inside the Warping Mirror.

    When Zinya started to scream for help, no one came. The house staff thought Fallmug was beating her in a particrly vicious manner since she usually never yelled. Like anyone else in the house, Zinya knew that it only made things worse.

    ¡¯Oh, right. They must think that if they get in here, Fallmug will pick on them too.¡¯ Zinya thought.

    "Help, Fallmug doesn¡¯t respond."

    When the servants arrived, they had to help Vylna first. She was still bleeding from her injuries and required a healer whereas aside from being unconscious, Fallmug was fit as a fiddle.

    The beating had taken less than half an hour and before returning him to his home, Lith had erased all proof of what had happened with darkness magic and even ironed the man¡¯s pants and shirt.

    Fallmug would be unconscious for days before his body and mind could ovee the trauma. Lith had made sure of it. Once he was back to Lutia, Lith kept researching the procedure to heal Zinya until it was time to go back to Kam¡¯s home.

    When she arrived, Kam instantly noticed he was once again in a gloomy disposition, but after what had happened yesterday, her heart was at ease.

    "What¡¯s the matter, babe? Another failed experiment?" She sat on hisp, trying to kiss him, but Lith stopped her. She was shocked, it had never happened before.

    "I wish. It¡¯s about Zinya. Her dirtbag of a husband found out about our visit and tried to get even with her." Lith couldn¡¯t stand the thought that a man of the caliber of his Earth¡¯s father was still breathing even though he had all the opportunities to kill him.

    It made his face dark and his voice sour.

    "Oh, gods! Why didn¡¯t you contact me immediately? Is she alright? We need to go..." Kam tried to stand up, but Lith grabbed her hand, with a firm but gentle touch.

 Chapter 609 Web of Lies Part 2

    "There¡¯s no need. Do you remember the mana crystals I left in the tea room and the promise I made to your sister?" Lith asked.

    Kam nodded, yet she wasn¡¯t reassured by his words. Lith was too serious, he was clearly hiding something from her.

    "I kept my word. I used the array to know when she was in danger and unleash a spell that reflected on Fallmug all he did to Zinya. He didn¡¯t harm a single hair of hers."

    "That¡¯s- great news. If everything is fine, then why the long face?" She asked.

    "Kami, what I did is a crime. A tant abuse of power made it worse by the fact that I left him alive. Now, I¡¯m confessing my crime to you and entrusting you with the knowledge about a secret spell of mine at the same time.

    "Do you understand how serious this is?" His words wiped the smile from her face.

    "I understand." She said after a moment of hesitation.

    "Youmitted a crime to protect my sister and you¡¯re asking me if I can live with it, right? You¡¯re asking me if you can entrust your secrets to Kam the girlfriend without Yehval the handler revealing them out of duty."

    Lith nodded, putting their rtionship to the test for the first time. Just like he did with his academy¡¯s mates when he revealed to them his inhuman physical prowess. To him, it was a critical moment.

    He had not told her all the truth so that if Kam proved to be unworthy, he would risk nothing. A spell like the one he had described was out of a fairy tale, even a first year student wouldugh at such a story.

    Zinya had heard nothing while Fallmug¡¯s story would bepletely different from Kam¡¯s and even less believable. Not even Manohar could cover the distance from Lutia to Xylita in a matter of seconds.

    "Thank you." Kam¡¯s voice was happy but broken. Small tears streamed down her face.

    "Even though I have plenty of friends, I spent all my life alone because when pushes to shove, my burden was my own. When people heard about my problems, they would pity me and say a lot of nice words, but no one would do anything.

    "Thank you for saving Zinya at all costs. Thank you for taking to heart a problem that¡¯s not even yours and putting your career at risk for me." She sobbed, but she never stopped looking in his eyes.

    "Most of all, thank you for trusting me so much. I don¡¯t care about my career. I¡¯ll do anything to protect your secret just like you did for me." She hugged him, hiding her face on his shoulder, trembling like a puppy scared by a p of thunder.

    "You¡¯re wee." Lith replied, holding her tight.

    "As I already told you before, being in a rtionship means solving together problems that you wouldn¡¯t have alone. This means that sooner orter you¡¯ll get dragged into the mess that my life is. Are you up for that?" He asked.

    "Yes, I am." She said with all her heart. Yet Lith didn¡¯t shapeshift nor told her anything else. He just wiped the tears and the snot from her face before giving her a short, soft kiss.

    ¡¯Now she¡¯s too clouded by her emotions. I have to wait until she is cool headed again. Only then I will see her true reaction.¡¯ Lith thought. Words were meaningless to him, only actions mattered.

    "Tomorrow I¡¯m going to speak with Professor Vastor about your sister and probably I¡¯ll have her admitted at the White Griffon Hospital for the procedure. Do you want toe with me?" He held her face between his hands, gently caressing it.

    "I wish I could, but I have to work. I shouldn¡¯t even be here." She sniffed.

    "I¡¯ll try to be there for the intervention. Please, keep me posted."

    Lith nodded in reply.

    "Do you want to get out for dinner or do you want to stay at home?" He asked.

    "I want to stay with you." Was her reply. She refused to both release him from her embrace or stand up from his legs. Kam felt like his arms were her castle and his heart was her sky. She wanted that moment tost forever.

    "Are you sure that nothing happened to Zinya?" She asked.

    "Absolutely. Not only did the spell protect her, but it also gave me a full check up of her condition. No harm came to her after our visit." Lith¡¯s voice was so confident that it made Kam¡¯s worries disappear.

    Lith had a hard time preparing dinner while never letting her go, managing to do it solely thanks to spirit magic and fire vision. When he attempted to spoon-feed her, she couldn¡¯t repress her chuckle anymore.

    "You¡¯re the least romantic man I¡¯ve ever known. Couldn¡¯t this wait a few hours?"

    "Maybe you are right, but I¡¯m hungry and so are you. I can¡¯t feel the romance in the air with all this noise." Both of their stomachs had grumbled for a while before Lith started to cook.

    "I know. Stupid stomach. Always ruins everything." It grumbled harder since she had refused the spoon and the smell of the food was delicious.

    "You¡¯re too good a cook. It¡¯s all your fault if I get fat." The first bite was enough to make Kam realize that between her long day at work and all those emotions, she had worked quite an appetite.

    "Hands off my te, woman!" Lith rebuked her merrily as she exploited being on his legs to eat from both tes.

    "Make me." She said while feeding him.

    ***

    The next morning Lith hadn¡¯t slept much, again, but he was definitely happy about his past night. Kam had refused to let him go even during the morning shower, giving to his day a really pleasant start.

    ¡¯One thing is for sure. If you two keep up like this, Kam will lose weight fast.¡¯

    ¡¯Solus, that¡¯s dirty!¡¯ Lith rebuked her.

    ¡¯Hello, pot. My name is kettle and I¡¯m ck.¡¯ She sneered.

    He left Belius for the White Griffon academy, where Professor Zogar Vastor and Quy were waiting for him.

    "Lith, my boy. It¡¯s so good to see you again. It would be much better if you didn¡¯t visit or call only when you need something, though. I know we are both busy men, but it¡¯s kind of rude anyway."

    "That¡¯s exactly what I told him, Professor." Quy nodded.

    "I apologize to both of you." Lith said, having a hard time to repress a sigh of annoyance.

    "I¡¯ve consulted all the material Quy sent me and I¡¯d like to hear your opinion about the different approaches I devised."

    "Hold your horses, Lith. Nopetent Healer would give their opinion based on a hologram, no matter how good it is. We need to see the patient. I¡¯ve taken the liberty of setting the Gate¡¯s coordinates to Xylita already." Vastor stood up abruptly.

    How he managed to do it without wobbling despite his egg-shaped body was still a mystery to Lith. When they reached the Sarta household, the servants quaked in their boots, not daring to say anything.

    One mage was terrifying, but three at once were the stuff nightmares were made of.

 Chapter 610 Arrangements Part 1

    "Zinya, allow me to introduce to you Professor Zogar Vastor and Healer Quy Ernas. He is the leading light in the field of Body Sculpting and the expert I told you about. Quy is a genius healer and a dear friend of mine.

    "They are both here to help me with your procedure." Lith said.

    "It is my honor that such an important person bothered himself for a nobody like me, Professor Vastor." Zinya stood up and gave a deep bow in the direction of Lith¡¯s voice, her head almost touched the floor.

    "It¡¯s nothing, mydy. There¡¯s no need to thank me, at least not before we¡¯ve seeded healing you." Despite his humble words, Vastor puffed out his chest in pride.

    It had been a long time since a beautiful woman had praised him with such sincerity.

    "Nice to meet you, Healer Ernas. Please, take good care of me." Zinya gave a curtsy, this time following Vastor¡¯s voice.

    "The pleasure is all mine." Quy said. There was something wrong with both the house and its inhabitants, something that gave her the creeps.

    "We need to perform a few diagnostic spells that require physical contact. Do you mind if we touch your head?" Vastor asked.

    "Not at all."

    The moment Vastor cast his best diagnostic spells Lith could see him turn pale before his usually calm visage was twisted into a red mask of anger. He was clenching his teeth so hard that Lith wouldn¡¯t be surprised to hear them crack.

    "Quy, I need a second opinion." Vastor said while making her way.

    "Lith, I would like to takedy Sarta to the White Griffon Hospital immediately. We can¡¯t perform any procedure until her body doesn¡¯t recover and she doesn¡¯t put a bit of meat on those bones." His voice was calm, but Vastor had a murderous look in his eyes that could rival with Lith¡¯s.

    "I agree with your assessment, Professor. Lady Sarta needs immediate assistance." Unlike Vastor, Quy¡¯s poker face was perfect.

    ¡¯So far so good. I healed everything but left behind everything apetent healer would need to diagnose the repeated domestic abuse over the years.¡¯ Lith inwardly smiled. In the case of divorce, Vastor¡¯s testimony would mean a great deal.

    "Now? I¡¯ve not prepared any luggage." Zinya said.

    "There¡¯s no need for luggage. The White Griffon will provide you all that you might need." Vastor opened a Warp Steps leading them back to the city¡¯s Warp Gate and from there they could reach the hospital ward directly.

    Once Zinya was settled in her bed, Lith called Kam with his civilianmunication amulet and left the two sisters talking before meeting the Professor again in his study.

    Kam¡¯s supervisor wasn¡¯t very happy about a social call during working hours, but Jirni had a family as well, so she let it slide.

    "Scum of the earth." Vastor snarled as Lith entered the room.

    "These are the moments when I regret having left the Queen¡¯s corps. Back then, I would have killed people like mister Sarta without a second thought, just adding their name in the ¡¯coteral damage¡¯ list."

    "Professor! We¡¯re Healers, not cold blooded killers. We took an oath!" Quy rebuked him.

    "It¡¯s easy to say when you are so young and na?ve. When you reach my age, after you¡¯ll see things so bad that make that poor woman look lucky inparison, you¡¯ll change your mind. I¡¯m tired of seeing good people die while the bad guys thrive."

    "I agree with Professor Vastor." Lith said.

    "Now, if we can please discuss the treatment, I would love to have your input about how to proceed."

    "I won¡¯t sugar coat this, Lith. It¡¯s hard. The optic nerve is part of the central nervous system, one slight mistake can turn her into a vegetable. Even if you seed in restoring her sight, it¡¯s likely that she¡¯ll suffer from side effects for the rest of her life.

    "Her other senses might be altered and her personality might change. If you want my help, you¡¯d better have a good n." Vastor said.

    Lith exined to them how he had already managed to temporarily give Zinya sight using mana as a conduit.

    "I n on using Kam, Zinya¡¯s sister, as a blueprint. There may be many differences between them, so my idea is to use mana as a probe. To test where to connect the nerves before actually doing it.

    "This way I can simply slow down the process and use a trial and error approach to avoid affecting her brain in any permanent way."

    "This is genius!" Vastor blurted out.

    "Kid, you make me feel useless. How long did it take you to manipte mana to this extent? It must have taken months just to create a spell soplicated, let alone master it."

    Lith felt embarrassed. He had devised the spell on the spot, by simply altering his true magic version of Chisel. Back then, Zinya¡¯s desperation had driven him into an outrage. He had done it simply to give her something to fight for.

    Onlyter, while he had performed Body Sculpting simtions, did Lith realize that it could actually be employed as a diagnostic tool to solve most of the unknown factors when harnessing Zinya¡¯s brain.

    "Don¡¯t be so harsh on yourself, Professor. I worked on that spell ever since you taught me Chisel, so it¡¯s not such a big deal. Also, I can assure you that with your experience in manipting mana, you would master it in just a few days, if not hours." Lith¡¯s words were only a half truth, as usual.

    "Thanks, but rather than me reinventing the wheel, it would be better if you shared such a spell. The Kingdom would reward you handsomely." Vastor said.

    "Sure." Lith shrugged.

    ¡¯As soon as I make a fake magic version of it.¡¯ He thought.

    The three of them spent the following hours discussing the details of the procedure. Vastor gave Lith plenty of advice thanks to his rich medical experience. The more Lith exined to him how his Probe spell worked, the more Vastor understood what its strong points and limitations were.

    Quy took note of everything, using water magic to manipte the ink and writing faster than a stenographer. She didn¡¯t have Vastor¡¯s experience, but her ingenuity allowed her to find a solution whenever they got stumped.

    "Zinya needs plenty of food and rest before undergoing any procedure." Quy said.

    "I rmend to wait for at least a week."

    "Agreed." Lith and Vastor said in unison.

    "Professor, here is the paper that qualifies me asdy Sarta¡¯s personal Healer. If her husband tries anything funny, please alert me immediately." Lith handed him the document so that Vastor could register it into the academy¡¯s archives.

    "I hope he does, dear Lith. This time of the year the magical beasts are particrly voracious. Not to mention how many diseases he could ¡¯identally¡¯ catch while visiting a dangerous ce like ourbs."

    The two men exchanged a murderous look that gave Quy the creeps. Before leaving the White Griffon, Lith went back to the hospital ward, to say Zinya goodbye and give her a present.

    "Thank you so much." She said while handing Lith back hismunication amulet.

    "Too bad Kami is so swamped with work, we could barely talk. You know, I didn¡¯t step outside for years. Even the air is different from how I remember it. I already feel much better."

 Chapter 611 Arrangements Part 2

    "Well, it is different. The academy is surrounded by a luscious forest, so the air is bound to be much fresher and fragrant than a city¡¯s. I¡¯m sure that Kam will dly take you out for a walk, both before and after the procedure." Lith said.

    "If she finds the time, I suppose she could." Zinya sighed. She had rarely been in a park, let alone a forest. She would give anything just to sniff a few of its flowers.

    "In the meantime, you can talk to her with this." Lith gave Zinya amunication amulet with only two runes: his own and Kam¡¯s. He exined both how to imprint and use it before he left.

    Lith invited Quy and Anathor for a double date so that they had the opportunity to meet outside their medical practice.

    "Kam is a lucky woman." Quy sighed.

    "First the Camelia, then the procedure, and now even a freemunication amulet. I wish I had someone who spoiled me like that."

    "You have two wonderful parents that do nothing but spoil you!" Lith said.

    "I meant as a significant other, my father doesn¡¯t count."

    "No offense, Quy, but what can a boyfriend do that your parents can¡¯t? When I was with Phloria, finding a present for her was a nightmare. You have to set the bar a little lower, or any sane man will run away in desperation."

    His words make her halfugh and half worry. Not only were her parents scary, but also being the Ernas one of the most powerful families of the Kingdom, there wasn¡¯t much that she couldn¡¯t acquire with just a snap of her fingers.

    Quy walked Lith to the academy¡¯s Gate and from there he went back to Lutia. Lith spent the time before lunch with his parents, returning to the tower only after they consumed the meal together.

    He had used no mana in the morning and the time with Quy and his parents had rxed his mind, allowing Lith to be at the top of his game.

    "Solus, we are going to take a second attempt at the Orichalcum Skinwalker. If I have enough energy left, I¡¯d like to work on your personal cloaking ring." Lith said.

    "Necro Forge again?" Solus asked while preparing everything they needed on the Mana Forge.

    "Yes. If it fails again, I¡¯ll use the remaining two chainmail sets to experiment with Bloom Forge. If even lowering the output to 50% doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll have no other choice left."

    Lith went to the Forgemasteringb, taking out the chainmail set, the ingredients, and the blue mana crystals. First, he performed the Bonding spell, to give the Orichalcum armor a mana circtory system capable of harnessing the power of the powerful magic he would imbue it with.

    Then, he refined the Thunderbird¡¯s feather, the Magma flower¡¯s petals, and the Skinwalker¡¯s skin into as many pseudo cores. This, time Lith refined them one by one.

    Since he was forced to use a low energy output, he also had the opportunity to focus on the cores¡¯ smallest details rather than on raw power. The four pseudo cores were so puny that Lith sighed, considering the experiment worthless already.

    He merged them with the help of the slime goop and only then did the real Forgemastering begin. Solus used the energy from the mana geyser to empower both the magic circle surrounding the Lith¡¯s obsidian Forge and the Necro Hammer.

    The Forgemastering energies made the armor and the merged cores orbit around each other. They kept getting closer until their auras shed so strongly that they bounced back to their initial position.

    Lith kept the charged hammer still while he studied the unknown interaction between the Orichalcum and the Thunderbird¡¯s feather. Soon the merged cores started to pulse and grow.

    The Orichalcum¡¯s artificial mana flow was drawn by the feather¡¯s energy field. Somehow, the feather was able to amplify the iing mana, using part of it to feed the merged cores before returning the rest to the Orichalcum, making its mana flow also grow stronger.

    The exchange of energiessted a while until some kind of symbiotic equilibrium was established. At that point, the merged cores were almost as big as those Lith had prepared during thest experiment.

    "Incredible! No wonder our first attempt was an utter fiasco. Not only did I have to keep the pseudo cores merged and fix any imperfection that appeared, but also due to the amplification effect on both magical items I had to fight against an increasingly strong rejection between five different kinds of mana!"

    "No duh, Sherlock! I told you that 50% was an excellent starting point." Solus gloated.

    "Alright stop. Hammer time." He said making herugh so hard that she almost lost her focus.

    The Necro Hammer struck the condensed mana circle, channeling Lith¡¯s mana and willpower through it so that when the two items collided, they started to merge. Lith rhythmically struck at the circle, releasing each time a blue st of energy.

    He would switch between using the umted mana to continue the merging process and fixing the deformities that arose due to the shing forces at work.

    ¡¯I¡¯m so d that I put theb in the basement, otherwise the light this new type of Forgemastering produces would be seen for miles.¡¯ Solus thought.

    After more than an hour of unrelenting focus that pushed Lith¡¯s blue core and mind to their limits, the first prototype of Orichalcum Skinwalker Armor wasplete.

    "That was intense." Lith said while wheezing. "I wouldn¡¯t have managed to seed without your help and the hammer. I wonder if fake mages can use Orichalcum like I just did.

    "Jirni¡¯s armor wasn¡¯t much different from my old one, whereas the Awakened assassin¡¯s was a masterpiece with a lot of powerful enchantments."

    "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Why didn¡¯t you try to add to the new armor Full Guard as well?" Solus asked. She knew how power hungry Lith was.

    "Because without the cloaking field it would turn me into a neonmp. That means adding not one, but two new pseudo cores to the mix plus using an alloy of gold and Orichalcum. Too many variables for someone that had yet to seed once."

    Lith imprinted the new armor with his mana and gave it a test run. In its chainmail form it was ugly and ufortable to wear. The rough edges of the Orichalcum rings scratched and prickled even his enhanced skin.

    The moment he stored one of his suits inside the armor¡¯s dimensional space, the metal turned into a silvery liquid resembling quicksilver, which spread all over Lith¡¯s body until the mimicking process wasplete.

    "It shapeshifted faster than the old armor. The fabric of the clothes feels identical to the original as well. Let¡¯s test its defensive properties." Lith took an enchanted dagger out of his pocket dimension and handed it to Solus.

    She struck at Lith¡¯s chest who blocked the dagger with his open palm. Thanks to an invisible energy field enveloping Lith¡¯s body, not a single drop of blood was spilled. Solus draw the dagger back and struck again, but this time Lith stood still.

    When the clothes and the de collided, neither Lith nor the armor sustained any damage.

 Chapter 612 Hardships Part 1

    "It¡¯s a sess! The old Skinwalker armor would have been pierced and its barrier wasn¡¯t strong enough to protect my exposed limbs from the dagger¡¯s enchanted edge. If only both the armor and hammer weren¡¯t just a prototype!" Lith moaned.

    He had used cyan mana crystals to make both hammers instead of blue ones, which meant that not only was the Skinwalker ugly to look at, but it also wasn¡¯t as powerful as it could have been.

    "Yeah, right. Quit moaning and rejoice. Or at least take a break before working on Blood Forging another Skinwalker. There¡¯s a reason they are called experiments. We don¡¯t know if the blue crystal hammer will add newplications." Solus said.

    "Also, I refuse to keep using WellMert hammers as their design."

    Lith checked at his pocket watch. They still had a lot of time before going back to Belius. He took a quick shower and ate a ham sandwich to recover the lost strength. After half an hour, he was almost back to his peak condition, but used Invigoration nheless.

    "It¡¯s the first time I use Bloom Forge, so everything must be perfect. I can¡¯t predict what will happen, but at least by being both mentally and physically at the top of my game, I can rule out tiredness as possible source of mistakes." Lith said.

    The initial phase of the experiment was identical to Necro Forge. Bonding the chainmail to the mana crystal was easy, whereas what followed quickly turned into a nightmare.

    Lith had to refine the ingredients one by one, creating from each one a small pseudo core. Condensing so much energy in such a small form required a lot of his focus, but he easily seeded.

    The first real problem arose when merging the first two pseudo cores. The mana pathways weren¡¯t strong enough to contain them both, so Lith had to expand the pathways while keeping the cores fused and fighting against the rejection effect.

    With each core he added, the situation became moreplicated. He had to strengthen the mana pathways, fix the deformities that appeared when the armor and the cores collided plus those which urred during the pseudo cores¡¯ merging process.

    To merge all four cores, it took him over an hour and much more slime goop than he had predicted since he had to consume some for each new pseudo core. Then, he was forced to stop, focusing only on stabilizing the mana pathways while the resonance between the Orichalcum and the cores made thetter grow.

    ¡¯Dammit! If I miss their rhythm by a beat everything will go down the gutter. To make things worse, I also have to be careful that the cores don¡¯t get deformed beyond recognition. Bloom Forging a Skinwalker is a mammoth task straight from the beginning!¡¯ Lith thought.

    Since they had no need for the hammer yet, Solus was free to help him to give the cores the rights shape. Then, the Forgemastering turned from a nightmare into a Lovecraft novel.

    Despair, helplessness, and madness seemed its only possible ending.

    Growing and fixing four pseudo cores at once, all the while adapting the mana pathways made Lith almost puke blood. Unlike what it happened when he crafted the Bloom Hammer, a small increase in the pseudo cores¡¯ size meant a fourfold increase in the pressure they exerted on the mana pathways.

    The process was even slower than Lith had predicted, taking a further toll on his mind and mana. On top of that, every time the merged cores grew bigger, the Thunderbird¡¯s plume and the Orichalcum would interact again.

    Soon Lith was forced to stop the Forgemastering, making it a failure and a sess at the same time. A sess because the Bloom Skinwalker wasplete. A failure because Lith had been forced to halt the process before the pseudo core could be as big as the one of the Necro Skinwalker.

    "What time is it?" Lith asked.

    "Almostte. How do you feel?"

    "Terrible. I never used Invigoration so many times in a row. It has almost no effect anymore." Lith said.

    "I need some rest as well. Do you mind if I stay in Lutia? The mana geyser will help me recover quickly and I don¡¯t want to be your fifth wheel again." Solus asked.

    "Are you sure? You know that I¡¯m not nning for any lovey dovey stuff, right? Even if I wanted to, I¡¯m too tired." Lith had got used to being separated from Solus, but he still hated the void that her absence left inside of his soul.

    "Right. Just like yesterday and the day before." Solus¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "I¡¯m a healthy young man in a healthy rtionship and it¡¯s been weeks since I spent a bit of time with Kam. How could I turn her down?"

    "You couldn¡¯t and you shouldn¡¯t, but that doesn¡¯t make it any easier on the fifth wheel. Me. I¡¯ll see if I get the girls toe visiting me, otherwise I¡¯d rather spend some alone time working on Bloom Forge.

    "We have onest chainmail suit. If we fail again, it means that our first estimate is correct and that at our level Bloom Forge isn¡¯t suitable for crafting so many pseudo cores at once."

    Lith reluctantly epted her decision. Solus was her own person and just like him, she deserved her own space.

    When Kam arrived home, Lith had just finished showering. He looked like someone who had just ended a double shift in a mine. His breath was short and his shoulders slouching from the fatigue.

    "Hello, handsome. How was your day?" Kam pretended not to notice, throwing her arms around his neck. She brimmed with joy.

    "Safe but tiring."

    "Are you ready to get out for dinner?"

    "Won¡¯t you prefer to stay at home for some cuddles? You seem a bit- tired." She said.

    "That¡¯s a nice way of saying that I look like crap, and yes, I would rather stay at home, but I can¡¯t afford to lose the reservation. I¡¯ll bring you to a family restaurant, so there¡¯s no need for fancy clothes."

    Kam wore a light blue shirt over a knee length ck pencil skirt. Her long ck hair was down. That together with her ck eyeliner and light red lipstick emphasized her pale skin.

    "Aren¡¯t those the same clothes you wore during our first date? It¡¯s not our anniversary, yet." Lith asked.

    "I know, but now I consider them my lucky clothes, and I¡¯m feeling pretty lucky recently." She said before giving him a passionate kiss. She was ttered that Lith remembered both the clothes and the date they had met.

    Kam was surprised when he brought her to Belius¡¯s Warp Gate. Lith wasn¡¯t the type to get too far for a meal. Her surprise became even bigger when the Gate led them to a private office in what looked like an ancient castle.

    "Headmaster Marth, this is Kam, my girlfriend. Kam, this is Headmaster Marth, a man that I have the honor to call a friend."

    Duke Marth had more grey hair than thest time Lith had seen him and seemed even more tired than Lith was.

    "Nice to meet you, miss Kam. Follow my advice and never get too high in life, or the paperwork will burn your wings and bury you alive!" A wave of his hand opened a Warp Steps that Lith forced her to cross before she could even understand where they were.

 Chapter 613 Hardships Part 2

    "Surprise!" He said to both Kam and Zinya. Zinya had been amodated in a single room as big as a small apartment. The furniture was simple but tasteful, giving her all that she needed to make herself at home and even have guests.

    There were big windows from which entered plenty of sunlight and lots of different flowers decorated the room.

    "Zin?" Between the tonics, Vastor¡¯s treatments, and the safe environment, Kam almost couldn¡¯t recognize her sister. Her knees buckled, forcing Lith to sweep her off her feet to prevent her from falling.

    "Kami? How did you get here? Visiting hours are over." Her knees buckled too, but she was in bed, so no one noticed.

    "Hey, I may not work here anymore, but I still got friends. Visiting hours is whenever you want for you two." Lith said bringing Kam near the bed before putting her down on a chair.

    The two sisters started chatting and crying out of joy while Lith used his old Professor ring to order dinner for the three of them. He was feeling better by the minute. His blue core was thriving by being so near to the abundant mana source that the academy was.

    The two women talked a lot, giving Lith a taste of an evening in Solus¡¯s shoes, but to him it didn¡¯t feel so bad. He was satisfied with seeing Kam being so happy. She never stopped smiling, like it hadn¡¯t happened ever since her first visit at the Sarta household.

    ¡¯If Solus feels like this the whole time, she¡¯s a saint.¡¯ Lith thought. He was already getting bored not having any part in the conversation.

    "Can I show her your gift now?" Zinya asked, finally remembering about Lith.

    "Yes, of course."

    Kam remained bbergasted seeing themunication amulet.

    "Thanks, but we cannot ept it. It¡¯s too expensive." She said.

    "I knew you would say that, and that¡¯s why I had her imprint it already" Lithughed.

    "You can only suck it up and ept that your sister can now call you whenever she wants and vice versa."

    Kam was lost for words, incapable of expressing the feelings that were taking her by storm.

    "Thanks." Was all she managed to say. She spent the rest of the evening chatting with Zinya, reminiscing together the happy moments of their shared past and nning the future ones, once the procedure was over.

    Lith half listened and half slept, making the two women giggle when his snoring reached new heights.

    "Lith is indeed a bit scary, but he¡¯s a keeper. Don¡¯t let him get away." Zinya said.

    "I know, but how can I possibly repay him for all of this? We¡¯re so different that sometimes it feels like our rtionship is one way only, and I¡¯m always on the receiving end. What do I have to offer to him?"

    "Your love and trust. Those are too raremodities, especially for someone who¡¯s coveted for their power. Just be honest with him and don¡¯t overthink. You are a wonderful person and he knows it." Zinya took Kam¡¯s hands between hers.

    "Has he ever asked you for something?"

    "No." Kam replied.

    "Then it¡¯s you he¡¯s interested in, not in what you have. As long as you feel the same, then you¡¯ve nothing to worry about."

    Later, when they were returning home, Kam pondered all the way back on Zinya¡¯s words, even asking Lith for a walk to have more time to think. With winter close to its end, there was no snow covering Belius.

    The chilly air of the night and thete hour made the city silent, very few people were still walking around. Kam looked and the big ck buildings thatprised every single city block, thinking for the first time in years if that was the ce that she wanted to call home for the rest of her life.

    Her mind started to wonder, reminiscing the party at the Ernas house. It was so big and shy that it almost scared her. Then, Lith¡¯s house in Lutia came to her mind, with the entire family around the fire, with the kids ying together or watching a movie with the rest of the family.

    That image warmed her heart. When they arrived at her apartment, Kam felt the need to let Lith know how important he was for her and how deep her affection was. Just Like Solus had predicted, tired or not, Lith was more than happy to spend the third night in a row doing anything but sleeping.

    ***

    Earlier that night, inside Solus¡¯s Tower

    Thanks to the tower Warp coupled with the Warping Mirror on the first floor, which greatly enhanced the range of her Warp Steps, it didn¡¯t take Solus much time to pick up her friends.

    "I still can¡¯t believe how easily we just crossed hundreds of kilometers at once. Lith is really lucky to have you." Tista said. She had been moving around the Distar Marquisate, collecting all the information she needed for her travels once spring finally arrived.

    "Yeah. It makes our sleepovers so easy to arrange. To what do we owe the pleasure this time?" Nyka asked. Ka¡¯s daughter was no normal girl, but a vampire, so she could only move after sunset.

    Nyka looked like a young woman in her mid twenties, around 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall with raven ck hair and emerald green eyes both emphasized by her rosy skin. A vampire was pale only when unable to properly feed and that wasn¡¯t her case.

    She wasn¡¯t a stunning beauty, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body toned without a shred of body fat. Every one of her movements was graceful and sensual, even when she wasn¡¯t attempting to flirt.

    "I need help." Solus said. She was wearing a work shirt and pants. Leather gloves covered her hands, leaving the natural glow of her humanoid form radiate only from her head.

    "Do you need another pep talk or advice about lil bro?" Tista asked.

    "Neither. I mean help with a Forgemastering experiment." Solus told her about thest memory she had recovered and what had triggered it.

    "This is huge, sister." Nyka was adamant considering Solus a fellow vampire due to her bond with Lith¡¯s life force.

    "Why you didn¡¯t tell your spouse? One secret is okay, but two... The more secrets you keep, the more you¡¯ll grow apart."

    "For thest time, he isn¡¯t my spouse. Lith isn¡¯t even my boyfriend. He¡¯s with Kam now." Sometimes Nyka¡¯s single minded approach on life exasperated Solus.

    "You share one body, one mind, and one life. If that¡¯s not a spouse, what is it?" Nyka said, always striking the iron no matter if it was hot or not.

    "I¡¯m with Nyka, for once." Tista stepped in before the two could start bickering.

    "What if something happens and you two fuse again? If Lith discovers how many things you¡¯ve kept from him, it will hurt him. I could understand if this was just about not wanting to mess with his rtionship, but now it has be about your life.

    "Maybe he could help you recover your memories. Like you always say, just give him a chance." She said.

 Chapter 614 Success and Failure Part 1

    "You are right and I know it." Solus said. "That¡¯s the reason I brought you here. Every time we Forgemaster a magical item, I can feel something scratching at the back of my head. Lith¡¯s the only one who performs magic, though.

    "I want to Forgemaster something myself, but with a weak ass core like mine, I can¡¯t do it alone. I need your help to keep the mana circle filled with energy and I¡¯ll do the rest. If I¡¯m right, I¡¯ll regain another chunk of my memories.

    "If that happens, I¡¯ll have no choice but toe clean with Lith. If I¡¯m wrong, nothing will happen and we would have just wasted an hour of our time. Are you with me or not?"

    "I¡¯m with you, sister. No matter what." Solus was special for Nyka. She was an ¡¯immortal vampire¡¯, just like her, and was also the first friend she had ever had.

    "Let¡¯s do this. I always wanted to learn true Forgemastery." Tista said.

    "What are we going to make?"

    "A cloaking ring. Without it, Lith and I can¡¯t ever go separate ways without risking that someone spots my life force. If that happens, our lives would be in constant danger.

    "To make one, I need only basic ingredients. An alloy of gold and silver would suffice, but I¡¯ll go with Orichalcum instead of silver to achieve a stronger pseudo core than Orion¡¯s.

    "It¡¯s a very simple pseudo core, so even with a deep green mana core like mine I should be able to make it. Even if I fail, it¡¯s no big deal. The materials for one ring are negligible. Except for the mana crystal." Solus whispered thatst part, but everyone heard it distinctly.

    Tista knew how stingy her brother was and she doubted he would miss the disappearance. As for Nyka, she couldn¡¯t care less. Her mother provided her for everything, so she had no concept of expensive or cheap.

    Solus took the Bloom Hammer out of her pocket dimension. Both hammers had the same properties, but since she was going to use Bloom Forge for the ring, it seemed the proper choice to her.

    Solus melted in a crucible a nugget of gold together with one of purified Orichalcum and then she poured the liquid into a mold, giving the ring its shape. She cooled it with water magic, taking the still white hot metal with thongs and cing it on the Adamant Forge instead of the usual Obsidian one.

    ¡¯In all of my memories I work with a silvery hammer, using a silvery Forge to enchant something. My guess is that it was all made of adamant, but since I don¡¯t have any, Orichalcum will have to do.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Another thing that bothered her was the runes of power engraved on all the enchanted items that appeared in her memories. Fake Forgemastery used them to create and stabilize the mana pathways, but they would disappear forever once the process was over.

    The true Forgemastery Lith and Solus employed didn¡¯t use runes at all, only pure mana. She was certain that master Menadion wouldn¡¯t have all of her creations engraved with runes just to make them look cool.

    The problem was that even if Solus was right and runes could help to step up their creations, she had no idea what they did nor how to engrave it.

    ¡¯Carving random runes is bound to make a big boom. Let¡¯s hope to regain some memories of them. It would be a wonderful anniversary present for Lith.¡¯ Soon would it be the anniversary of Solus¡¯s awakening from her slumber.

    Lith considered it like her birthday, but for Solus its significance went beyond that. It was the day when she had gained her family, her best friend, and maybe even more. It was the day when their bond had evolved from the pact between an artifact and its master into a partnership.

    She wanted both the secret of the runes and the ring to be her fist gift to Lith. To return something after only having taken from him for so long. Also, it would give her the courage she needed to reveal him her humanoid form.

    Unlike Orion, she had no purple crystal. Solus could only Bond the ring with a small blue mana stone. Then, she created the magic circle and let the girls fill it. Solus had to take care of both the hammer and the pseudo core, there was a limit to what her focus could do on her own.

    Gold proved to be incredibly resistant to mana, both during the Bonding spell and the Forgemastering process. Solus had chosen to use Bloom Forge because shecked the raw power necessary to ovee thebined rejection effect of the gold and the mana circtory system.

    Finesse was her only route to sess and Bloom Forge was the perfect means to her end. First, she created a small pseudo core and mana pathways, only using the hammer to increase their size once she was certain that she had shaped them to perfection.

    Each strike produced a deep green burst of light, yet no memory emerged.

    ¡¯This is odd. In my memories I was striking directly at the item, not at the magic circle. What significance could it possibly have?¡¯ Solus thought.

    It took the girls almost two hours toplete the ring and by the time they were done, they werepletely exhausted.

    "You and my brother are two peas in a pod, Solus. If this is your concept of fun, remind me to take a rain check the next time you invite me." Tista was covered in sweat, her body aching like it was going to break.

    To keep the circle powered up, she had been forced to use Invigoration non stop.

    "I¡¯m starving." Nyka said while trying to not look at Tista like she was a giant cheeseburger. She had no sweat but no Invigoration either. To do her part, she had gone dangerously close to a feeding frenzy.

    "I¡¯m sorry, girls. I never realized how hard is to do what I do with the mana geyser." Solus gave Nyka a jug filled with Lith¡¯s blood that she kept in her pocket dimension for her undead friend.

    Nyka smelled the delicacy, drinking it in small sips, using the Refine meditation technique in-between gulps. Vampires would get stronger over time by feeding. The stronger the source of blood, the more nutrients they would obtain.

    Normal vampires would just drink blood that would be partially processed by their blood core, making it slowly grow in power each time they fed. Even though they were not Awakened ones, some vampires had discovered a technique to refine all the blood they ingested instead of just a small part.

    They had shared their knowledge with Ka and she in turn had passed it onto his daughter. Thanks to Refine, Nyka was able to assimte most of the mana and light energy inside Lith¡¯s blood, allowing her core to grow at a faster rate than normal.

    Unlike mana cores, the power of a blood core was determined by how much ck energy they still held. The more powerful a blood core was, the less ck streaks it had.

    ording to legends, a perfectly red blood core granted a vampire the ability to turn back into a red cored human at will, oveing all the limitations of their undead status at the price of all their magic powers as long as they maintained such form.

 Chapter 615 Success and Failure Part 2

    "Since you have no troubles with other women sleeping with your spouse, can I borrow him from time to time? He¡¯s beyond delicious and Mom has taught me how I can feed on a man while we both experience the same amount of pleasure." Nyka asked.

    Blood was the most abundant source of life force, but it was not the only one a vampire could draw sustenance from.

    "He is not my spouse and like heck I¡¯m fine with it!" Solus blurted out.

    "I¡¯m jealous, okay? I admit it! Are you happy now?"

    "Actually, yes." Nyka said while giving the bbergasted Solus a big hug.

    "I would never touch your man, I just wanted you to express your feelings out loud."

    Nyka was usually tactless and so direct when she wanted something that she bordered on being rude. Solus hadpletely fallen for her act and so did Tista, who had be beet red at the image the Nyka¡¯s words had painted in her head.

    "What about your memory?" Tista asked, eager to change the topic.

    "I did everything I could like it happens in my visions, but nothing. The cloaking ring is a masterpiece, but the attempt to retrieve my memories was a failure. It seems I can afford to keep my secret for a bit longer before..."

    Solus choked on her words as she noticed that Tista was deadly pale.

    The prolonged effort had triggered the body refinement process. Tista was soon in spasms as her body expelled the umted impurities by turning her inside out like a sock. Tista¡¯s bones cracked and reformed, causing her such an intense pain that Solus had to use her Immortal Body array to ensure her survival.

    "Worst girl¡¯s night ever." Tista said once the process was over, right before losing consciousness.

    ***

    In the days before the procedure, Kam used all of her free time to stay with her sister while Lith alternated between experimenting on Forgemastering and on Origin mes. Even his second attempt at crafting a Bloom Skinwalker Armor ended up in failure.

    Its pseudo core was tooplex and the amount of mana it required too big for Lith¡¯s current abilities, even with Solus¡¯s help. In the meantime, Zekell had finished smelting the first two batches of Orichalcum into metal ingots.

    He was working on a way to make chausses, hauberks, and coifs with a decent shape since Lith had yet to send him the blueprint for the hammers. After thinking about it for a while, Lith gave him two different images for two different hammers.

    One was shaped like a proper cksmith tool, consisting of a shaft and a head with two hammers. The second was more simr to an ice ax, featuring on its head a hammer and a small pick.

    "Why two hammers? No matter the Forgemastering technique we use, they¡¯ll have the exact same properties. It¡¯s a waste of Orichalcum and mana crystals!" Solus couldn¡¯t understand Lith¡¯s decision.

    For someone as stingy as he was, such a thing was like throwing money in the gutter.

    "I have my reasons." Was the only reply he would give her.

    Lith and Solus Forgemastered both hammers and then practiced with the amount of extra mana the Forgemastering tools could hold before attempting to craft a Skinwalker Armor again. Also, they learned a few new things about Origin mes.

    Even though there was a huge difference between how they interacted with physical materials and magical energy, they could burn them both. Things like stone or metal would seemingly be destroyed and reformed several times.

    It would cause them to change their shape and physical properties. Both the quality and the quantity of Origin mes employed influenced the oue. A little amount would act almost as if it was amon me, too much would destroy anything.

    "During our first attempt, we didn¡¯t really purify the Adamant. More like we incinerated everything else. Adamant is incredibly resistant, even to Origin mes. It¡¯s the only reason it survived the st" Lith pondered.

    Magic, instead, would be simply consumed by the mes, but the process had a limit. Origin mes could only destroy an amount of mana equivalent to the world energy they held.

    It meant that a delicate structure like an ongoing spell or a temporary array could be easily affected, whereas a permanent array or a magical artifact required much more effort.

    Lith tried using them on some of his oldest works, who had now be too weak to be useful, to put to the test his theory about Origin mes being capable of breaking the imprint of the owner on a magical item.

    He obtained conflicting results. The mes would eat at the magical aura, forcing the item¡¯s pseudo core to consume its energy to survive. After a certain point, however, the pseudo core would rather break than bend.

    Lith even tried using the Clean te spell on a weakened pseudo core, but the only result was making the item crumble.

    "So far Origin mes act more like some kind of anti matter for magic rather than a fine controlled tool. They can attack the structure of a spell, but not its energy signature." Lith said while one of his old daggers turned into a puff of smoke.

    "I¡¯m not so sure of it. Maybe the problem lies in your hybrid form." Solus said.

    "After all, if wepare it with theplete one you assumed in the past, you still have a long way to go. Another possibility is that just like true magic, they might be affected by your will."

    "I don¡¯t use mana to create her, only a tiny spark of life force." Lith objected. "I have no idea how to imbue my will inside my own life force. Even if I did, how the heck can Imand it to burn something and ignore the rest?"

    Solus had no answers as well, so their days passed quickly. Between family, friends, and experiments, Lith resumed sleeping only when strictly necessary, like the day before Zinya¡¯s procedure.

    Kam had managed to obtain a sick leave for medical reasons. She was Zinya closest of kin, making her optic nerve the closest thing to apatible blueprint. Without her Lith couldn¡¯t operate.

    After a whole week of proper feeding, safety, and constant care, Zinya had flourished to the point of being almost unrecognizable. Yet that day she was pale again, twitching at the smallest noise.

    "How do you feel today?" Lith asked.

    "Scared to death." Both sisters replied.

    "Are you sure you want to proceed with the treatment?" It was an obligatory question before a Body Sculpting procedure.

    Zinya held Kam¡¯s hand tightly before replying:

    "Yes, please. I can¡¯t wait for this to be over."

    Unlike normal magical treatments, for tier five healing spells, the patient¡¯s head and limbs had to be strapped to their bed.

    "Is this really necessary?" Zinya asked.

    "Yes. It could be painful, or it could affect your personality. You might even be violent. If that happens while I¡¯m growing the optic nerve inside your head and you move abruptly, it could result in a fatal hemorrhage." Lith replied.

    "Now I really wish I didn¡¯t ask you any exnation." She was now even more nervous.

    Lith, Quy, and Vastor all double cast their Scanner spell on both sisters, to check their conditions. Lith and Vastor also activated the Chisel spell. Lith needed it to perform the procedure, whereas Vastor would keep it at the ready in case his intervention was required.

 Chapter 616 End of a Struggle Part 1

    The first part of the operation required to make space for the new nervous tissue without harming the patient. Lith had no experience in the field and the brain was too sensitive an organ for a rookie.

    Vastor took the lead, removing what he could and using Body Sculpting to slightly alter Zinya¡¯s skull to create more room whenever he had no other choice. The changes were so subtle that only a detailed diagnostic spell like Scanner could detect them.

    When he was done, he stepped out and made space for Lith.

    "Remember, the best approach is always to go from easy to hard. Start by creating the optic nerve from the eye end and leave the connection with the thmus forst. That way, we can immediately check if the brain receives the right stimuli.

    "If we worked the other way around and make even just a few mistakes, the sudden massive flow of wrong inputs might cause permanent damage. Plus, we would need to destroy all the connections and redo everything from scratch, since we would have no idea what went wrong." Vastor said.

    Lith did as instructed and created the optic nerve, the chiasma, and the optic trait. Then, he used his Probe spell to create small tendrils of semi solid mana that stimted Zinya¡¯s visual cortex following Kam¡¯s optic nerve pattern.

    The tendrils would carry the electrical impulses that light generated by hitting Zinya¡¯s eyes and allow Lith to check how the brain processed the acquired information. That way Lith could make sure that the impulses would travel through the right pathway before making a physical connection.

    "Zinya, I need you to keep talking during the entire procedure. I don¡¯t care what you say, I just need to check your cognitive functions and your mood. If you feel anything weird, just tell me. Don¡¯t hold anything." Lith said.

    Zinya nodded and started to recount whatever she remembered from her youth. As long as everything was okay after testing with Probe, Lith would grow the optic nerve, yet more than once he was forced to stop and backtrack.

    Sometimes the electrical impulses would cause her small spasms. Other times fits of pain or uncontroble mood changes. Every time that happened, Lith had to quickly disconnect the tendrils and search for another point of ess to her brain.

    Luckily, the more the procedure progressed on the right track, the more Zinya regained her sight. It gave Lith a clear indicator of his progress and gave Zinya something useful to talk about.

    At the beginning she could only see a white light, but every time Lith found a proper pathway she would start to see small dots of colors appear.

    "Dammit, Lith. Your Probe spell is amazing. It saved us a lot of mana and the patient a lot of pain." Vastor said. Even with his expertise, he would have missed the right connection more than once.

    Yet his help proved to be invaluable for Lith. Whenever he had no idea how to proceed, it would take the Professor just a couple of tries to find the right pathway among hundreds of seemingly identical alternatives.

    "You are doing great, son. I¡¯m really proud of you."

    Lith nodded, not having the luxury of wasting his focus to reply. What Vastor had no idea of, was that to be able to carry a physical stimulus, Probe required a great expenditure of mana.

    It was one of the reasons Lith couldn¡¯t hold it for long back when he had used Probe for the first time on Zinya. Such a huge amount of energy would have burned her brain and left him weakened in a matter of minutes.

    Now, however, he was only creating the extremities of the optical nerve with Probe, lessening the burden on both Zinya and himself. The procedure took a few hours, forcing Lith to take some rest.

    Vastor or Quy stepped in to check on the progress, keeping the patient¡¯s conditions stable while Lith consumed a tonic and used Invigoration to regain his mental focus.

    Mana wasn¡¯t an issue, but he could feel his concentration declining. For a normal Healer, it would have taken several minutes for a tonic to give them back their focus, but Invigoration had no such problem.

    By the time everything was over, Zinya could see better than most.

    "Is it over?" She asked when she felt the straps being removed.

    "Yes. Can you touch my hand?" Lith offered her his right hand, keeping it low and on the right. Zinya had no problem with depth nor distance perception. She managed to grab Lith¡¯s hand easily no matter where he ced it within her field of view.

    "Thank you so much. I know it isn¡¯t worth muching from a blind person, but you all are the most gorgeous people I have ever met." Zinya embraced and kissed the entire medical staff and the nurses that had taken care of her until that day.

    Kam and Zinya hugged in joy while Lith and Vastor nned together her physiotherapy. Zinya still needed to learn how to move normally, read, write, and even to associate a name tomon objects.

    "One more thing." Vastor cleared his throat to get everyone¡¯s attention.

    "We can keep Zinya here for a couple more days to make sure that there are no post-opplications, but then she has to leave. We need the room for the next patient."

    "How much do I owe you?" Kam asked.

    "I¡¯m sorry your sister isn¡¯t part of your family register, otherwise the army would cover part of the expenses." Vastor handed her the invoice.

    Kam owed the White Griffon much less than she had feared. Two gold coins for Vastor¡¯s consultation and Body Sculpting, 30 silver coins for Quy¡¯s research job, and 70 silver coins for Zinya¡¯s stay at the White Griffon, for a total of three gold coins.

    It was still a huge amount of money considering that Kam was paid two silvers per week. Body Sculpting was the most difficult technique, after all. Most people would more easily afford a magical item topensate for their handicap rather than having it treated.

    "That¡¯s it? I expected at least ten gold coins." It was how much the cheapest and lesspetent Healer would have asked, the same price of twomunication amulets.

    Kam wouldn¡¯t have been able to afford her own if the army hadn¡¯t gifted it to her when she had been promoted to First Lieutenant.

    "You would be right if the lead Healer had charged you with something, but he didn¡¯t." Vastor pointed at Lith. He knew how Kam hated to feel indebted, so he didn¡¯t ask for favors to Vastor nor the academy.

    Otherwise the whole procedure would have been free of charge.

    ¡¯I respect Kam¡¯s desire to save her sister and I can¡¯t take it away from her. If I stepped in and solved everything by myself, she would feel useless. All of her struggles and fears would be for nothing.

    ¡¯This way, she can still feel like she has done her part because she did. Even without me, Zinya would still have got her sight, it would have just been more expensive.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "How much do I owe you?" Kam turned to Lith repeating her question.

    "I¡¯ll cut the workmanship and charge you only at cost price. So, it¡¯s 50 silver coins for the amulet and dinner for the procedure."

 Chapter 617 End of a Struggle Part 2

    "What?" Kam was bbergasted.

    "The mana crystal is small but powerful and I bought the silver ingot at market price. The healing only took me some mana, so dinner will suffice." Lith exined.

    "It¡¯s too little money! I can¡¯t ept that." She said.

    "Sorry, miss. Healers make their own fares." Vastor and Quy nodded at those words.

    "Besides, you should worry more about Zinya¡¯s amodation. Your apartment is good for two people but cramped for three. Also, we¡¯re both often away for work and your sister needs guidance." Lith said.

    Kam bit her lower lip in stress. Zinya could indeed move into her home, but there was only one bedroom, so either she had to take a break from their rtionship or they would be forced to go to a hotel every time.

    Changing the apartment wasn¡¯t possible. With a debt on her shoulders, Kam couldn¡¯t afford a new one with just her savings. The one she lived in was provided by the army for a reduced fee, but they wouldn¡¯t help her pay for a bigger house since she was officially single and without any family member.

    To make matters worse, Belius was a horrible city for someone as inexperienced as Zinya was. Public transportation required to be able to read, there was almost no green area, and people were paranoid of neers.

    To not leave Zinya alone all day, Kam would need to hire a caregiver to keep herpany and teach her everything she might need.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Kami. You¡¯ve already done too much. I can¡¯t let you give up on your life for my sake. I¡¯m still Fallmug¡¯s wife, I have a home and duties to attend to. Maybe now that I¡¯m not blind anymore, he might change his ways.

    "He hasn¡¯t always been a bad man." Zinya¡¯s smile trembled just as her whole body did. Despite all of her efforts, she was terrified at the idea of seeing her husband or even hearing his voice again.

    "No way! It¡¯s too dangerous." Kam, Lith, and Vastor said at once.

    "Lady Sarta, ording to my experience, things can only get worse now that you aren¡¯t helpless anymore." Vastor said. "On top of that, in your condition, a single blow to the head could ruin everything we did today. Your body needs time to heal and adapt."

    "I have an idea." Lith said. "Zinya could stay in Lutia with my parents until the end of my leave. They have plenty of free space and could use a hand with the kids. I can Warp you there whenever you want and when I have to go back to work, she can move into your apartment."

    Kam couldn¡¯t decide what to do. Lutia was much better than Belius for her sister¡¯s recovery, but she felt like she was once again relying too much on Lith.

    "Zinya has only experienced an abusive rtionship. Maybe seeing how the marriage of my parents and sister work could help her to make up her mind about the divorce." Lith whispered in her ear.

    "Lutia it¡¯s a perfect solution." She sighed. Her pride was a bit wounded, but Zinya¡¯s well-being came first.

    ***

    Fallmug had just recently started to walk again after being unconscious for several days. Lith had been true to his word. Ever since Fallmug had woken up, Lith would kidnap him, blind him, and beat the crap out of him until his body copsed.

    Fallmug Sarta had been living in terror the whole time. There was no ce he could hide where the demon wouldn¡¯t be able to find him. He used the unexpected respite Zinya¡¯s intervention had given him to run to the authorities and expose the evil mage.

    The desk clerk of the Mage Association, listened to all he had to say, before dismissing everything for the ramblings of a madman.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sir Sarta, but your story is really hard to believe. If you did make an enemy of the strongest young mage of the Kingdom, how can you possibly be still alive? Also, you failed to mention why he would have a beef with you."

    Even the clerk of a medium sized city like Xylita was sick and tired of all the lunatics ming Ranger Verhen for everything. Pregnant girls imed he was the father and demandedpensation, nutjobs said to have been cursed by him or that he had taken credit for their achievements, like restoring Kaduria.

    Fallmug realized to be in a pinch. He had been so anxious to get rid of his torturer to forget about making up a believable lie. He thought far and wide how to exin why someone like Lith was tormenting him, but unless Fallmug confessed the abuse on his wife, his story wouldn¡¯t make any sense.

    Yet if he did, Lith would be thest of his problems. Despite his constant pain and suffering, Fallmug was still a respectable man with consistent ie. If the truth about his home were to be exposed, he would go to jail, and Zinya would be entitled to everything just by asking for a divorce.

    "He is after my wife!" His words made the clerk chuckle.

    "Sorry, sir. I don¡¯t mean to disrespect you, but if I ask your wife, will she confirm your story?"

    "Of course not! She¡¯s on his side."

    "Enough wasting my time!" The clerk had run out of patience.

    "If your wife wanted to be with him, she would just ask for a divorce. A Great Mage has plenty of money, she wouldn¡¯t need anything from you. What proof do you have of your ims?"

    Fallmug was taken aback. Now he understood what Lith meant when he said that he would turn Fallmug into his wife. He was now alone and with no one who could help him. There was no witness of the aggressions nor proof of his injuries aside from his words.

    Just like his wife until a few days ago, he was trapped in an inescapable cage.

    "None? Well, then I hope you¡¯ll forgive me if I don¡¯t believe a wording from a man used by three Healers of repeatedly beating his wife." As the clerk was filing Fallmug¡¯s statement for the record, his name had triggered a g.

    "Not to mention that ording to the army records, at the time of the alleged assaults, Ranger Verhen was still at his home. I don¡¯t know what your problem is, sir, but maybe a night in jail will help you clear your mind."

    "What about Verhen?" Fallmug asked while the guards dragged him towards the dungeon.

    "None of your business. In your ce, I¡¯d worry more about being charged with nder of a state mage and wasting the Association time, because those are two crimes I can testify about."

    ***

    Lith¡¯s parents knew all about Zinya¡¯s situation, so they were d to offer their help. In their eyes, she was the embodiment of what could have happened to Tista if Lith had never been born.

    Zinya fell in love with Lutia, with the Trawn woods, and with the closest thing to a real family she had ever had. Learning how to read, write, and count together with Leria and Aran was embarrassing, but after a while she stopped worrying about it.

    Elina also taught her how to cook and sew, so that once she moved back with Kam, she could at least help her managing her home. The days passed, and soon Lith¡¯s leave was about to end.

 Chapter 618 Travels Part 1

    A few days before Lith had to once again leave to resume his duty as Ranger of the Ker region, Zinya finally mustered enough courage to tell Kam about her final decision.

    "Kami, I could never thank you and Lith enough for what you did for me. Thest week has been the happiest time of my life." She said.

    "This is just the beginning, Zin. There are still so many things that we have yet to do together. I¡¯ll not be often home, but I¡¯ll try my best to not make you feel lonely. I¡¯ve already found a caregiver for you." Kam replied with a smile.

    The daily expenses for the caregiver and Zinya would make it even harder for her to repay her debt, but she didn¡¯t mind at all. Kam had nned everything and was ready to bear the consequences of her decision.

    "Thank you, but I¡¯d like to remain here." Zinya blurted it out.

    "What? Why?"

    "You have your personal life and your career to worry about, Kami. I¡¯m not a child and you can¡¯t take care of me forever. I¡¯d rather live here as a housemaid than burden you more than I already did. I already spoke with Elina about it.

    "The Verhen are nice people. They epted to give me food and amodation in exchange for my job while they teach me everything I need to stand up for myself. They are even willing to pay me once I¡¯m done learning.

    "I¡¯ve also decided to file for divorce. If I stay at your house, Fallmug might look for me there. He will nevere looking for me here, instead. I don¡¯t know if I have the strength to face him yet, so this is the perfect solution."

    Kam tried to convince Zinya to reconsider, but she was adamant about it. Kam was sad at the idea that meeting her sister without Lith¡¯s help would take her quite some time. The closest Gate was in Derios, and to reach Lutia from there it would take her over one and a half hours.

    Yet seeing her so happy and determined, filled her heart with joy.

    ¡¯I did all I could to give Zin her freedom, if I force her toe with me, she would just exchange one cage for another. Here she¡¯ll be surrounded by people who don¡¯t take care of her because it¡¯s their job but because they want to.

    ¡¯Also, she will be safe from Fallmug, since attacking a mage¡¯s family is in suicide.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯Zinya and I have tried visiting her children, but Zinya¡¯s inw didn¡¯t even let us in. ording to thew, she is just a disabled, ipetent mother who has run away from her home.

    ¡¯To be able to im any right over her children, she first needs to get a divorce and have the means to take care of them. I don¡¯t want to burden Lith with this matter as well.¡¯ Kam thought while preparing to say her goodbyes.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, I knew nothing about this. It wasn¡¯t an borate scheme I devised from the very beginning to keep you and your home all to myself." Lith said as a joke, yet for second Kam almost fell for it.

    "When will you be back?" She asked.

    "I don¡¯t know. It could take weeks, maybe months. The silver lining is that now that you have exchanged yourmunication rune with Tista, she can help you reach Lutia whenever she is at home." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s not what I asked you, you silly. I miss you already." She hugged him tightly. During those twenty days they had lived together and the idea of waking up alone hurt her more than she expected.

    "Will you wait for me?" He asked returning her embrace.

    "I promise."

    Lith took her back home, where they kissed onest time before he had to resume his duty.

    ***

    Ever since Scarlett the Scorpicore had visited Leegaain, asking for his help to solve the issue of her inability to obtain a purple core and achieve new tribtions, she had remained within the Gorgon Empire.

    Hundred of years had passed since thest time she had left the Griffon Kingdom, back when she was still a young Emperor Beast. Taking the mantle of the Lord of the Forest had given her great powers but also a great burden.

    "Travelling allows me to learn about different magical philosophies, understand what the heck Mogar wants from me with its stupid tribtions, and to check about Abominations. Many birds with one stone." She said out loud, drawing attention on herself.

    ¡¯Dammit, I¡¯m not used to be disguised as a human. I keep making stupid mistakes that force me to move from a town to another as if I¡¯m a wanted criminal. I keep forgetting that fake mages need to chant gibberish to use magic and that they can¡¯t break stone with their bare hands.¡¯ She thought while calling a waiter to get seconds.

    Another thing she had a hard time with, was the small portions of food humans consumed. Even if her appearance was that a woman, her body was still that of a Scorpicore and so was her stomach.

    She looked like an adventurer in her thirties, about 1.67 meters (5¡¯7") tall. Her shoulder length ashen gold hair had red shades and she wore a gold rimmed pince-nez on her nose.

    The body Scarlett had shapeshifted into was pretty, but not gorgeous. She preferred to go unnoticed in human settlements rather than being forced to constantly deal with flocks of admirers.

    Centuries ago, when she had taken a walk with Sark, they had been forced to knock down the entire male poption of a vige just to be able to order a beer without someone hitting on them.

    She was currently in the city of Tyrenar, to investigate the rumors about a mysterious monster that was ughtering men and beasts alike for no apparent reason.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, I might have found one of those new Eldritch Abominations. Right after the monster outbreaks ended, the Council reported the appearance of several creatures of unparalleled power.

    ¡¯ording to my sources, they should still be within my league. If I manage to track one of them and defeat it, I could finally learn something more about this Master. I could even find out his location.¡¯ Scarlett thought as she took hermunication amulet out of her pocket dimension for the first time in almost a year.

    "Oh crap!" She blurted out, this time intentionally. She had so many missed calls that it took her quite some time just to take note of who she wanted to call back and who she would just ignore.

    "Call me if you need anything else." The young waiter gave Scarlett a kind smile that she returned while wondering why the heck a Treantling was working in a restaurant. Treantlings were trees that after living for centuries in a zone rich with world energy had be Awakened.

    They were the nt equivalent of a magical beast. His disguise was wless, but Scarlett¡¯s enchanted pince-nez allowed her to not only see the mana core of her opponents, but also their life force.

    The Eyes of Menadion were one of her most prized artifacts, which had allowed her to increase her knowledge about light magic by leaps and bounds ever since she had ¡¯liberated¡¯ it from the paws of a mad Griffon.

    Just like for any living creature, being born from a good natured parent didn¡¯t guarantee that they would inherit their heart or wisdom. Some of Leegaain¡¯s children were so infamous that the Council had put a bounty on their head even though they weren¡¯t even Awakened.

 Chapter 619 Travels Part 2

    The same had happened for the offspring of Sark and Tyris. Since the Guardians¡¯ children were born capable of using all kinds of true magic and were gifted with a life that could span for almost a millennium, the Council considered them to be a threat of the highest level.

    ¡¯Well, the silver lining is that nts are the chattiest among living beings. The disguised Treantling might be able to point me in the right direction.¡¯ Scarlett thought.

    She handed several copper coins to pay for her meal to the waiter, enough to feed a small toon, and almost as many as a tip.

    "I¡¯m ttered by your attentions, miss, but I¡¯m strictly a waiter. You¡¯re not even my type, sorry." The young man said, yet he still pocketed all the money.

    "Neither you¡¯re mine, smartass of a Treantling." Scarlett¡¯s voice was a low growl, her teeth shapeshifting for a second into fangs. She wanted to make sure the greenhorn would get her point.

    "You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m a carnivore, otherwise I would be d to make a sd out of you as a token of my appreciation."

    "How do you know who I am?" The waiter looked around, worried that someone might have noticed their exchange.

    "You can call me Scarlett, little sd. Now if we are done ying, I¡¯d like you to tell me everything you know about the creature that gues thisnd." Scarlett said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I only know what everyone does. A few months ago, right after the monster outbreak, a creature started to raid the Gheluan forest. At first, it only attacked the magical beasts, so we didn¡¯t care.

    "Then it killed even the Lord of the Forest and after that, everything went downhill. There¡¯s nothing alive there anymore, most wildlife and flora have been wiped out." The Treantling sighed.

    "The Lord of the Forest is dead? Are you saying that thing killed Myshar the Unicorn too? How is it possible? She was young but quite powerful!"

    "Why do you think I¡¯m here? Every sane creature is running away from death. I¡¯ve no idea what it is because no one who has seen it has survived the encounter. Allow me to give you a fair warning in exchange for the generous tip.

    "Now that the Gheluan forest is nothing but an empty shell, the monster has started to attack nearby human settlements. It¡¯s only a matter of time before it arrives here too, so don¡¯t make yourself toofortable." The waiter went back to serving the tavern clients, keeping an ear out for rumors about the monster.

    The idea of an Emperor Beast dying so easily at the hands of an unknown creature made the ancient Scorpicore worry. She returned to her hotel room and called Leegaain, hoping that the Guardian of the Gorgon Empire could help her.

    Even though he had almost relinquished thosends, they were still his turf.

    "What it is now? I¡¯m kind of busy." Leegaain sounded annoyed, but him responding immediately eased Scarlett¡¯s fears.

    "Why has no one taken care of the Gheluan Forest yet?" She asked.

    "The Empire takes one good third of the Garlen continent, it¡¯s not something as puny as your old forest was. I¡¯m hunting down one of those insanely strong Eldritch Abominations, so I¡¯ve no time to waste.

    "Milea is busy dealing with a lich who got bored with his research and wants to conquer hernds. She can¡¯t leave until she has destroyed him, but she has dispatched her troops already to take care of your problem.

    "Unfortunately, the Gheluan forest is in the middle of nowhere. Do you have any idea how many crises Milea has to face on a daily basis? Cut her some ck. Over and out."

    ¡¯Leegaain is having trouble tracking an Eldritch? Either it¡¯s a master at hiding their presence or the situation is even worse than I thought. I need to achieve a frigging purple core or soon my power will not be enough to survive against the new breeds of Abominations.

    ¡¯Solving the Gheluan forest¡¯s problem might trigger the breakthrough I¡¯ve been looking up until now. To further evolve, I need a real challenge. Plus, if I do him a favor, Leegaain will owe me. I can¡¯t pass on the opportunity to ask him for a reward.¡¯ Scarlett thought.

    A wide grin appeared on her face. At her level and age, the real challenge to further her magical research was theck of very powerful and rare ingredients. Adamant and Davross were the only metals she looked for, and Guardians usually had quite a stockpile of them.

    Even if the threat turned out to be a minor one, she could always ask Leegaain for a bit of his blood or one of his scales. The power of such powerful ingredients would allow her to finally upgrade her equipment.

    Scarlett left the hotel and spread her membranous wings. Air magic filled them with wind, boosting her flight speed to sub sonic levels. She had been to the Gheluan forest in the past, but her memory of the ce was foggy.

    She didn¡¯t remember enough to perform consecutive Warps and even if she did, the ce was quite far.

    Dimensional magic would make her travel shorter, yet at the same time, it would drain a lot of her mana, forcing Scarlett to use Invigoration more than once.

    ¡¯If this monster is so strong, I need all of my trump cards to beat it. I can¡¯t risk being defeated just because I¡¯m too tired to put out a decent fight.¡¯ She thought.

    Flying would take longer, but it would consume an insignificant amount of her energy. Only humans with their short life span would Warp even to go to the bathroom. Half an hourter, Scarlett had almost reached her destination.

    A small caravan moving from Gheluan drew her attention. It wasposed of humans, nts, and beasts. The caravan was too an odd mix to be normal.

    Despite it was still at several kilometers of distance from her, Scarlett could distinguish them clearly as if she was standing right beside them thanks to the Eyes of Menadion.

    With just a p of her wings, she reached their position and gracefullynded on the ground. The group was as heterogeneous as it was powerful.

    There were Dryads, Thorns, who were creatures born from the Awakening of bushes whereas Dryads were born from flowers and Treantlings from trees, magical beasts of various species, and several human mages.

    The weakest mana core among them was cyan, yet they were all on edge and armed to the teeth. As soon as they noticed Scarlett, they assumed a defensive formation.

    "What the heck is going on here?" Scarlett retracted her wings, uncaring of their threat. They were too weak and their equipment was poor. She was quite surprised noticing that the humans weren¡¯t impressed seeing a winged woman.

    "Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s one of us." Said a big Ry, a wolf type magical beast, after sniffing the air for a second. A magical beast giving away so easily their ability to talk was also a bad sign.

    "How can you be so sure this isn¡¯t just another trick? I lost my wife by trusting a stranger." Said a burly wizard who was holding a metal staff brimming with mana.

    "Just as I lost my pack. Stop whining and keep moving, human!" The Ry growled and resumed his advance.

 Chapter 620 Hybrid Part 1

    The magical beasts started moving at a speed the humans could follow while keeping their spells at the ready.

    Scarlett could feel that each one of them was grieving and was filled with hatred. Yet there was no bickering nor disrespect between the different races. It was enough to give her the creeps.

    "We can¡¯t afford to stop. If you want answers, you¡¯d better follow us." The Ry said.

    "We are all that¡¯s left of the entire Gheluan forest. The others have either already escaped or died. To answer your earlier question, Mogar has turned against its children and none can escape its fury." His words made Scarlett sneer.

    "Very dramatic. I never heard of a Ry with so much talent with words. Do you mind being a bit more specific?"

    "It¡¯s hard to exin. One day the natural order was simply turned upside down. You could see a nt eat a deer, the deer hunt a wolf, and the wolf attack his own pack. Humans too were affected by the phenomenon, but them attacking their own or killing for sport is hardly a novelty. No offense." The Ry said.

    "None taken." Replied a middle aged magician who was sitting on top of a Cingy, a boar type magical beast, to be able to cast the Life Sensing array from time to time. It had allowed them to identify the enemy hidden among the grass and escape from several ambushes.

    "Whatever it is, it¡¯s capable of taking any form it wants. A flower, a Ry, a human, anything. Even its smell is almost identical to the original. I had to almost die twice to learn how to distinguish the anomaly it holds."

    "What anomaly?" That word reminded Scarlett of Lith, making her fear that her decision to spare him all those years ago had finally backfired.

    "It¡¯s a hybrid smell. Part beast, part Abomination, part undead." With each word the Ry spoke Scarlett¡¯s stomach churned stronger, at least until she heard thest part.

    "Undead? Don¡¯t you mean human?" She asked.

    "No, I¡¯m sure of it. For once humans are innocent." The Ry shook his head.

    "Ambush!" The Warden yelled one second before ck sprouts emerged from the ground. They grew at an unbelievable speed, draining all life from their surroundings to sustain their existence and turning the grasnds into barren earth.

    Like the group they were chasing, the creatures mimicked the appearance of members of different races. Their age and gender appeared to be random. There were even children and elderly among them.

    The creatures were a pulsing mass made out of bones, of the Chaos energy typical of Abominations, and of ck vines instead of flesh. The red light of undeath burning inside their eyes revealed a desperate hunger.

    Yet as fast as they had appeared, their forms became indistinguishable from the living. Vines turned into flesh, and the red light was reced by normal pupils as their skin or fur turned from pitch ck to what it was supposed to be.

    "Why did you abandon us, mom? We miss you. We promise to behave if you return." Said two little kids to the Warden. They had big watery eyes, like those of a child too na?ve to understand what they have done to anger their beloved parents.

    "You¡¯re not my real children! I¡¯ve seen you die." Rage and grief boosted the power of her darkness magic spells. Two ck bolts erupted from her hands turning the two kids into rotten mush among high-pitched screams of agony.

    "Don¡¯t run away, my love." Said a female Ry to the leader of the group.

    "I¡¯m not dead and I mean you no harm. I just want to be reunited with you. If you pledge your alliance to the Great Mother, we could both happily live forever."

    The male Ry hesitated. He had fought many of those creatures, but never before one of them had taken the semnce of his beloved Nia.

    "Nice try, scum." Scarlett raised her pince-nez above her head, making it emit a pulse of light that brushed off the illusion and revealed the cruel reality underneath. No matter their gender, age, or race.

    All the creatures had a single life force, a single smell, and were made of mud. The Vines that covered their bodies allowed them to move, while the Chaos energy covering them reced their true semnce with a familiar face.

    Once their secret was exposed, the creatures dropped the act like it was a live grenade and turned toward Scarlett.

    "Long time no see, Scorpicore." They said in unison with a neutral voice. "You might just be what I need for my final breakthrough."

    Scarlett ignored the ramblings and focused on the voice. She was certain to have heard it in the past. With the pince-nez back on her face, she studied the creatures¡¯ cores.

    ¡¯Whoever is behind this it¡¯s not Lith. That is not his voice nor his ring¡¯s and these creatures have three cores each, whereas Lith had a single hybrid core with multiple properties.¡¯ She thought.

    The hybrids extended their arms to attack, but the group of survivors wasn¡¯t willing to chat, so they attacked the moment the Eyes of Menadion stripped the creatures of their disguise.

    Killing a pile of random stuff was much easier than murdering your loved ones over and over again. The undead nature of the creatures made them incredibly sturdy so that most spells had little to no effect on them.

    Darkness magic was their bane, but it was also slow, and very few creatures could use it aside from humans. That was why the group had formed and how they had survived for so long.

    The magical beasts would pin the enemies down to the ground, the humans would kill them with darkness magic, and the awakened nts would keep their allies alive without fail. nts were the most gifted creatures in the rejuvenating arts. There was no injury they couldn¡¯t treat in a matter of seconds.

    By harnessing Mogar¡¯s life force, they could almost regrow an entire body with no burden on their patient¡¯s stamina. Yet that was before Scarlett¡¯s arrival. Now that she was the creature¡¯s target, the mastermind was no longer interested in capturing the others alive.

    Scarlett could see the Chaos magic assembling on the creatures¡¯ fingertips a second before they unleashed a barrage of ck rays as fast as bullets. A wave of her hand enveloped the group of survivors in a dome of light that stopped the Chaos spells.

    Chaos magic could destroy matter almost to the atomic level, but light magic was its fatal weakness. Chaos magic was nothing but darkness magic that had been forcefully stripped of its light counterpart.

    It was the imbnce that made Chaos magic so powerful. The raw darkness magic was drawn by the light element residing inside its target, making it fast. Also, the darkness magic would drain the light element to return whole, amplifying darkness magic¡¯s destructive force several times.

    A light magic energy construct would restore the bnce, turning Chaos magic back intomon darkness magic.

    "Your version of Hollow Void is truly amateurish. It didn¡¯t put a dent in my Source Wall." Scarlett said. Her aim was to taunt her opponent into revealing their identity.

    No matter how hard she racked her brain, she had met too many people to remember them all.

 Chapter 621 Hybrid Part 2

    "You¡¯ve grown stupid with age." The creatures said with a stern tone while charging at the Source Wall.

    "Your barrier just traps my prey preventing them from both escaping and retaliating. On top of that, only Abominations need to feed on life force. For the undead, light magic it¡¯s nothing but a full course meal!" Scarlett could see the creature¡¯s blood cores going into overdrive, lured by the spell¡¯s energy mass.

    "If you say so." Scarlett snapped her fingers, turning the Source Wall into Night Wall. The creatures mmed into the mass of darkness energy which destroyed their blood cores and made their bodies crumble.

    Without the blood core¡¯s energy keeping the other two apart, the ck core was free to feast on the mana core first and on the mud puppet holding it inter.

    ¡¯What a moron. Darkness and light are two faces of the same coin. Converting one in the other is a child¡¯s y if you know what you¡¯re doing. I can rule out my most brilliant acquaintances from my suspect list.¡¯ She thought.

    "Okay, it¡¯s time you get out of here." Scarlett opened a Warp Steps leading a dozen of kilometers away.

    "Those things were all linked to the forest, so the further you go, the weaker they¡¯ll be. Keep walking straight past the Steps and you should reach a vige by nightfall."

    The magical beasts took the others on their backs and ran through the dimensional door while giving the Scorpicore a nod of their heads as a thank you. They were grateful to Scarlett, but also aware that they were nothing but a liability to her

    Ants caught in the middle of a fight between titans who could stomp them without even noticing.

    Now that Scarlett had the enemy¡¯s energy signature stored by the Eyes of Menadion, she had no more need to guess the identity of her opponent, she just needed to reach them.

    Her pince-nez had allowed her to track Balkor despite he was hiding in the Blood Desert and she was in the Griffon Kingdom, whereas the new hybrid behind the mud puppets was just a few kilometers away.

    Their life force shone like a sun to her eyes, allowing her to fly in a straight line at subsonic speed until she reached her destination. It was a cave, located at the base of a hill.

    Once it had been covered in grass and flowers, but now the whole area was a wastnd full of dead trees. Her pince-nez could only pick up three different energy signatures and they were all hybrids.

    "This smell... Xacha, is it really you?" Now that most of the smells were gone and with the hybrid so close, Scarlett¡¯s nose could easily perceive the familiar scent which in turn jogged her memory.

    Xacha was an Emperor Beast even older than Scarlett was. In a sense, Scarlett considered her almost as a rtive. Xacha was the mother of all Nues, a feline species of Emperor beasts.

    She had the head of a monkey, the body of a tiger, the wings of an eagle, and the front half of a snake for a tail. Both the Nue and the Scorpicore were chimeras, sharing light magic as one of two innate elements.

    The other one was fire for the Scorpicore and air for the Nue.

    "How could you do something so cruel to your own home? To yourself? Have you gone insane?" Scarlett asked. She remembered the Nue being a gentle and kind soul. To the point that she had refused to take the mantle of Lord of the Forest because of her hate for violence.

    "I have no idea how you could find me so quickly, but it doesn¡¯t matter." Xacha¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t feminine anymore. It was the t and cold tone of an undead who didn¡¯t care for their past anymore.

    "As for your question, what kind of mother would let her children starve?" The creature that came out of the cave barely resembled the Emperor Beast that Scarlett remembered.

    Xacha had now a horned skull for a head, her body had turned white snow, and she was capable of standing on her hind legs 3 meters (9¡¯10") tall, having be more humanoid than before. Xacha¡¯s empty eye sockets were lighted by red undead energy.

    "I don¡¯t know what you are talking about, but nothing justifies such a tant abuse of Forbidden magic." Scarlett¡¯s eyes became stone cold as she guessed what kind of changes had Xacha put herself through.

    "It¡¯s not Forbidden magic if it¡¯s done for the greater good. All kinds of creatures will be able to benefit from my discovery! Normally, a mana and a ck core cannot coexist, but what happens if you add blood core?

    "Being made of darkness magic, a blood core can withstand the Chaos of the ck core, while its red part made of pure life force can nurture a weakened mana core, prolonging its existence.

    "What I¡¯ve found it¡¯s the cure for all illnesses. Something so great that it can defeat death itself. This is my legacy for all of our children, who will be able to thrive as perfect life forms."

    "The only problem is that both the ck and blood core need a lot of energy, but I¡¯m certain that with enough time I will be able to solve this issue as well." Xacha said.

    "Are you out of your mind? Your current form is far from perfect. To survive just for a few months, you have killed thousands andpletely destroyed the bnce of the forest! Mogar will not allow this."

    "Foolish cat. Mogar doesn¡¯t care about any of it. Otherwise how could it let so many bad things happen? Why Abominations and undead are the only ones allowed to live forever while all the other creatures live a life of pain before dying?" Xacha asked.

    "I could tell you that pain is a constant of life and that the immortality you envy so much has a heavy price, but I¡¯m tired of listening to your nonsense. Have at you!" Scarlett had hoped to appeal to whatever good there might be left in the Nue, but after seeing the monstrosities Xacha had turned herself into, she had given up.

    She used that time to cast her Light Sovereign array. It projected a white six pointed star inscribed in a white circle that filled its area of effect with the light element so that using Chaos magic was impossible.

    On top of that, it created a natural source of light energy that allowed Scarlett to skip conjuring energy and go straight to manipte it, making her casting speed much faster.

    Unfortunately, the Nue was on her same page and had used that time to cast more than just an array.

    To turn herself into a hybrid, Xacha had used forbidden magic and sacrificed countless lives. It had allowed her to merge her body with part of an Abomination and a Grave Lord she had raised with Necromancy.

    She now had three different minds capable of parallel thought, resulting in triple casting. The Nue unleashed the Life Suppression array while her Abomination side cast the tier three Chaos magic Void Rain.

    Void Rain produced a volley of Chaos arrows as fast as bullets, but because of Light Sovereign¡¯s effect, they immediately turned back into slow darkness projectiles. Only thanks to her array did Scarlett have the time to block them by conjuring stone shields with a wave of her hand.

 Chapter 622 Hybrid Part 3

    Life Suppression, however, was a tougher client. It conjured a ck five pointed star inscribed in a red circle which allowed the person at its center to feed on the energy the array drained from everything inside its area of effect.

    Scarlett inwardly cursed as she realized that both her array and her life force were being turned against her, making the Nue even more powerful.

    "Yes! I knew it! You are the key to my research." Xacha said as the flood of nutrients made the hunger that had tormented her ever since her metamorphosis disappear.

    ck mes erupted from her neck, enveloping her skull as her body started to mutate once again.

    "What goes aroundes around, pal." Scarlett reacted quickly, turning her Light Sovereign into its darkness magic counterpart. Normally she would have suffered from its deadly effects as well, but thanks to Life Suppression, all of its energy was redirected to the Nue.

    The ck mes disappeared as the hybrid started to wither. Life Suppression injected the poisonous darkness energy directly into Xacha¡¯s cores, making it spread like wildfire.

    "No! All the life force I have collected. Lost!" Darkness magic was the bane of both undead and Abominations. Xacha could feel her blood and ck core weakening as the darkness magic seeped through them until it almost reached her mana core.

    Her tail fell onto the ground, turning into specks of darkness before fading into nothingness.

    "Look at yourself and at what you have be. Do you understand now? Abominations and undead leave no corpse behind because they are simply shadows of their former self.

    "If there¡¯s anything left in you of the kind Nue I knew, let me give you a painless death." Scarlett said, dispelling Shadow Sovereign a second after Xacha did the same for Life Suppression.

    "Shut up! What good is a mother who can¡¯t protect her own children? I refuse to die!" The sky ckened and the earth trembled. A ck pir descended from the thunderclouds that were blotting the sun and enveloped the Nue.

    "Do you see it? Mogar agrees with me! This is my world tribtion. The still considers me one of its Guardian candidates!" Dark clouds gathered and spun around the two Emperor Beasts as Xacha¡¯s form became covered in ck scales.

    "You¡¯re only half right." Scarlett said. "The ck pir is just a sign that Mogar has relinquished any hope for you. You¡¯re turning into an Eldritch and there¡¯s no way back from that. You¡¯re right about the tribtion part, though.

    "Only it¡¯s not yours." Scarlett was forced back into her bestial form and then her body started to change, doubling its size. Her fur morphed into red scales as thick as a shield and a new set of feathered wings appeared on the Scorpicore¡¯s back right beside her membranous ones.

    Her muzzle turned into a mask of fire, only her eyes remained visible. Scarlett¡¯s red mane erupted into a raging purple me, hot enough to cken the ground below her.

    The Emperor Beast roared as she attacked the Eldritch with her ws. The two creatures rolled on the ground, spraying red or ck blood whenever one of them managed to wound her opponent.

    Soon Scarlett realized her mistake. Her fangs and ws were as sharp as those of the Eldritch, but shecked the deadly touch such creatures possessed. Each wound Xacha¡¯s new body inflicted to Scarlett would also drain her life force, mending the Eldritch¡¯s wounds.

    The scorpion¡¯s sting at the end of Scarlett¡¯s tail stung Xacha multiple times. At such close range, neither of them could cast spells and the Eldritch was quickly getting the upper hand since she could heal and attack at the same time.

    "What good is venom against someone who has no blood? You took everything from me, so I will slowly savor your death." In her Eldritch form, Xacha¡¯s heart was quickly being reced by the hunger that gued all Abominations.

    She was aware that after killing Scarlett, her own cubs would be her next prey. She was too hungry to care anymore for such a dead weight. Her mind was bing colder and more calctive by the second.

    ¡¯It¡¯s all Scarlett¡¯s fault! If not for her meddling I would still be a Nue. All of my hard work is ruined!¡¯ Xacha train of thought was interrupted by a sudden burst of paining from her back.

    A Scorpicore¡¯s tail didn¡¯t inject venom. nts, undead, Abominations, there were too many creatures that would be immune to such a weapon. Acid, on the other hand, worked the same way on all kinds of enemies.

    The surprise made the Eldritch falter long enough for Scarlett to escape from her deadly embrace and take flight. She was bleeding from multiple deep wounds and her red scales had been ckened by the Eldritch¡¯s parasitic touch.

    ¡¯That does it! Mogar is truly a scumbag. How can it give Xacha a power up, turning her into an Eldritch in the middle of our fight while giving a tribtion to me? Not only does it not give me a single advantage, but also if I fail it, I¡¯ll die, no matter the result of the fight.¡¯ Scarlett thought, using light fusion to treat her wounds.

    Xacha was still getting used to her new body, but since air was one of her innate elements, she was able to fly better than Scarlett. The Scorpicore only had the time to wave a single spell before the enemy caught up with her.

    ¡¯Damn if I miss my pince-nez. It would help me to understand how much power Xacha has left. Too bad that Chaos magic is too dangerous. If I take any artifact out of my pocket dimension, I risk it getting destroyed. I only have one trick left at this point.¡¯

    Scarlett kept dodging and stinging with her tail at her opponent, trying to stall for time as long as she could. Eldritchs were indeed powerful, but because of their hunger, they consumed mana even while standing still.

    They needed a constant supply of energy to survive, so during such a heated battle, a newborn Eldritch like Xacha couldn¡¯tst long. She had yet to learn how to use her new abilities to their fullest.

    Xacha was well aware that the tables had been turned. Each sting of Scarlett¡¯s tail opened a new wound, making her hunger worse. In the few seconds they had yed airborne tag, she had consumed a lot of vitality just to keep up with her opponent¡¯s speed.

    Xacha was eager to finish the duel and find something to eat. She focused her remaining energies into a full powered tier four Chaos magic spell, Hollow Void. The ck spear erupted the moment Scarlett was forced to slow down to avoid a patch of tall trees.

    At such a close range, the spell was unavoidable.

    ¡¯Finally! Here¡¯s my chance!¡¯ Scarlett thought as she unleashed a powerful tier four spell, Light Pir. For a split second, the two spells shed and Howling Void easily pierced through construct, but Scarlett was expecting that.

    She reversed the light into darkness, so that the opponent¡¯s Chaos magic stripped her own spell of its light element turning the Howling Void into normal darkness magic and vice versa. Thanks to her ruse, Xacha had unwillingly turned Scarlett¡¯s Dark Pir into a Chaos spell.

    The huge energy mass was too big and too fast to dodge. The Eldritch took the full force of the Chaos Pir, dying on the spot.

 Chapter 623 Hybrid Part 4

    Scarlett didn¡¯t fare much better. Darkness magic was slow, but she was still close to its source and she was wounded.

    She managed to only partially dodge the iing attack and crashed to the ground with half of her side destroyed by Xacha¡¯s spell. She gritted her teeth to not lose consciousness and used Invigoration to escape from the jaws of death.

    After she recovered from her wounds, Scarlett was surprised to notice that she was still in her pseudo Guardian form. She waited to be back to her peak condition before taking the Eyes of Menadion out of her pocket dimension.

    Much to her surprise, the artifact could still perceive Xacha¡¯s life force running under the Gheluan forest in the form of an intricatework of hybrid tentacles. They were all converging into the cave from which the mad Nue had emerged.

    Scarlett stepped inside the cave, finally able to make sense of Xacha¡¯s ramblings about her offspring. In the middle of the cave, inside two gtinous pods, there were the remains of two smalls Nues.

    The tendrils that Scarlett had seen and fought up to that point wereing out of the pods, providing the cubs with a constant flow of nutrients.

    They were the size of ten years old child, but they were skeletal and on the verge of death. Up until Xacha¡¯s death, the tendrils had harvested life force just to keep them alive.

    Thanks to her pince-nez, Scarlett could see a ck core inside their bodies. Somehow it had taken a deep root, to the point that without it the small Nues wouldn¡¯t be able to survive.

    "They must have been infected during the monster outbreak." Scarlett pondered.

    "Judging from what I see, the Abomination must have been killed before its seeds could properly develop. Once the creature died, Xacha¡¯s children must have started to slowly die due to the ck core fading.

    "Emperor Beasts have an amazing vitality, but in this case, it would be a curse. It must have taken them weeks to get to this point. Weeks during which Xacha could only watch them suffer. It must have driven her mad."

    Scarlett was really close to the truth. The creatures involved in the so called monster outbreak weren¡¯t actually monsters, just Abominations hidden behind a meat mask. One of them managed to spread its disease to some of the creatures of the forest before being captured.

    When Xacha had realized her cubs were among the victims, she had begged the Lord of the Forest, Myshar the Unicorn, to spare the Abomination. To keep it alive long enough for her to safely extract the ck cores or at least find a cure for her cubs¡¯ condition.

    Yet Myshar refused. She knew that any attempt would have been pointless. That a corrupted core was beyond saving and that leaving the Abomination alive would only mean giving it more chances of escape.

    Xacha wasn¡¯t the only one struck by that tragedy, but unlike the other parents, she couldn¡¯t find the strength to put her down her small, innocent pups. She had used all the ingredients she had, all the artifacts she possessed just to buy them one more week, then one more day until she struggled to prolong their lives of even one second.

    It was then that her mind had snapped, making her turn to Forbidden magic to solve her problem. The other beasts called it madness, but to Xacha it was an epiphany. If they needed the ck core to survive, then she only needed to find a way to make it thrive.

    The answer was so simple that she almost couldn¡¯t believe it. Her research needed test subjects, but luckily the forest was full of life. When Myshar had realized what was happening, it was toote.

    Xacha¡¯s hybrid form fueled by her madness and countless sacrifices proved to be too strong for her.

    Scarlett watched at the pods and at their content. Her heart ached at the idea of killing such helpless creatures, but she had no choice. Even if she managed to somehow stabilize their condition, those hybrids were cursed to experience the worst of their three worlds.

    Like an undead, they would never physically grow.

    Like an Abomination, they would live in perpetual hunger. Last, but not least, it was only a matter of time before they regained some form of consciousness and eithermitted suicide or fell into desperation once they understood how cruel their destiny was.

    Through the gel of the pods, Scarlett could hear their small voices moaning in pain, their bodies squirming now that Xacha¡¯s death had stopped the tendrils from working. She had no idea what kind of magic the Nue had used, and the young creatures were in agony.

    A wave of her pawn released enough darkness magic to shut down their pain receptors before giving them a peaceful death. They didn¡¯t even notice it, Scarlett made sure to make them fall asleep before putting them out of their misery

    Only after thest hybrid was dead did the sky clear and the earth cease its trembling.

    ¡¯Wait, what? Wasn¡¯t the tribtion about killing Xacha but releasing the cubs? Then why did nothing happen when I met Lith? He¡¯s a hybrid too, but Mogar didn¡¯t want me to put him down. Isn¡¯t he supposed the potential Guardian of death or something? Then what am I....¡¯

    Her streak of unanswered questions was interrupted by an all too familiar feeling. It was like a stomach-ache, but worse. As if instead of bile, she had to puke moltenva.

    ¡¯No! Please, not now. I¡¯ve waited for over a hundred years for my core to evolve and it happens now? I¡¯m nevering back to the Gorgon Empire. This ce is bad luck!¡¯ Scarlett thought as the impurities umted inside her body over the years were expelled.

    The pain she was experiencing made the fight with Xacha look like a pleasant experience.

    ***

    A few weeks had passed since Lith had resumed his duty as a Ranger. Lutia was already free from snow and bad weather, whereas spring had yet to reach the Ker region.

    After the events of Zantia, everything became quiet. Despite the chilly winds and ck clouds on the horizon, the northmen could see all the signs that announced the end of winter.

    Days would pass now between snowstorms and the bad weather wouldst hours instead of days. Soon the roads would be open again and supplies wouldn¡¯t be an issue anymore. Rich and poor alike could n their tomorrow without fear, so there wasn¡¯t much for Lith to do.

    He had often the time to visit Kam and his parents, but most importantly, he had received full ess to some of the most important libraries of the Kingdom. It allowed him to gain aplete understanding of the basics of higher Necromancy and to learn all about the known undead species.

    "Fuck." Lith said with a dejected voice, drawing on himself several looks of reproach. He had searched for years for that knowledge, working day and night for the Griffon Kingdom to get his hands on everything known to mankind about undeath.

    It was a vital step in his research to escape from the cycle of death of rebirth that had worried him since his reincarnation on Mogar. Like if often happens, the answers he got weren¡¯t the ones he had hoped for.

 Chapter 624 Raid Part 1

    Thanks to all the merits he had racked during the past year, Lith had been granted ess to the Royal Library. It was the biggest and mostplete library in the Griffon Kingdom, covering all the subjects known to mages, including the forbidden ones.

    The library wasprised of many floors, one for each element. Normal books could be checked out freely, whereas to consult forbidden books it was necessary to spend merits and receive a rmendation letter from someone with a high clearance level.

    In Lith¡¯s case, both Professor Marth and Vastor had vouched for him along with hismanding officer. Lith was now sitting behind at a hardwood table, surrounded by fellow mages in search of knowledge.

    The city of Valeron, the capitol of the Griffon Kingdom, was surrounded by all kinds of protective arrays and because of them, Lith couldn¡¯t put the valuable tomes inside Soluspedia to read them all in a single moment.

    Dimensional magic would allow spies and thieves to freely Warp, so it had been sealed. Lith and Solus had spent thest few hours reading tomes about Necromancy, to see if among the undead species there was one suitable for Lith¡¯s tastes.

    Unfortunately, despite having even checked the legendary creatures¡¯ section, their quest had ended up in failure.

    ¡¯Sigh, why real vampires suck so bad? They have so many limitations that now I can understand why despite bing a vampire is rtively safe and easy no mage wants to be turned into one.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Please, if there was such a thing as an immortal and eternally young species that had no weakness at all, outside bing a disco ball under the sunlight, they would have ruled Mogar for millennia.¡¯ Solus said, yet despite her mockery, she was dejected as well.

    As long as Lith was human and with a cracked life force at that, he was bound to die sooner orter. Solus had no intention of letting that happen, but just like Lith, she was now clutching at straws.

    ording to the tomes of the Royal Library, there was a way for Lith to safely be an undead and retain all of his memories.

    Unlike Necromancy, that worked on corpses that no longer had a working brain and mana core, many species of undead could slowly turn a living being into one of their own.

    In such a case, the subject would never really die. A blood core would take form inside their bodies and grow over time, recing their mana core the moment their heart ceased to beat.

    The problem was that there was no undead specie without absurd or crippling limitations. Most of them were unable to even move during the day, trapped in a forced slumber no matter the danger they were in or how deep below the earth they hid.

    Others, like the Banshees, couldn¡¯t cross water and would die if they fell into a river or ake. Yet their biggest weakness was their inability to use light magic. For someone like Lith, who had spent countless hours to be a Healer, it was an uneptable trade.

    To make matters worse, light magic wasn¡¯t just needed to heal others. Without it, Lith would also be unable to Forgemaster truly powerful artifacts and even to use dimensional magic as freely as he had always done.

    Blink, one of his bread and butter spells during fights, required light magic and so did Switch. Undead weren¡¯tpletely unable to use light magic, but since their blood core was unable to assimte it from its surroundings, they had to consume their own life force in order to produce light energy.

    It meant that if Lith decided to turn into an undead, just to Forgemaster a single item he would need to consume the equivalent of a pigpen of food. Some undead were picky about who they could feed upon and of course, their victim had to be alive.

    Lith couldn¡¯t store living humans inside his pocket dimension and he couldn¡¯t bear the thought of traveling with a caravan of ves. He would have to feed and care for them every day just to murder themter.

    ¡¯I can be morally flexible, sure, but where the heck do I keep so many people at all times without being found out and hunted down? Liches have no such problems, but after reading a lot about them, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something I¡¯d like to be.

    ¡¯First, there is no sure fire way to be one. I would need to spend years to find a way suitable for my unique mana core and life force, just for a measly 10% sess rate, with no do-overs. My luck always sucked, so I don¡¯t feel like ying with dice.

    ¡¯Also, the phctery is a huge weak point. It cannot be stored in a dimensional item and it can¡¯t be too far. On top of that, after meeting Zolgrish, I discovered another weak point Liches have.

    ¡¯If I can seal space with an array and I cut them off from the link with their phctery, both their physical and magical strength will be halved, plus they would be unable to recover their mana.¡¯ Lith thought, not knowing he had just discovered the principle underlying Leegaain¡¯s anti Lich spell.

    ¡¯Unless they bring it with them.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯That¡¯s too risky. Life Vision, your mana sense, Scarlett¡¯s pince-nez. There are countless ways to spot such a powerful object and even if the Lich might somehow cloak it, the constant stream of mana and life force would betray its position.¡¯

    Lith was right, yet most ancient Liches would rather bring their phctery around with them while fighting a truly dangerous opponent than being one-shotted.

    ¡¯I can definitely discard bing an undead as an option, unless I¡¯m either desperate of I discover a new species with eptable limits. Creating a new race all by myself might as well take all the lifespan I¡¯ve left and I would have no certainty of sess.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t like the idea of turning into an Abomination either. They may be immortal, but so far all the ones I met seemed to be mad, miserable, or both. My best shot is to research ways to improve my life force to prolong my existence while I search for the blueprints of a soul binding artifact.¡¯

    After copying everything he might need to improve his true Necromancy, Lith left the Royal Library. Both of hismunication amulets were silent, but in his experience, no news were good news.

    If the army kept not bothering him Lith could keep exploring the Lost Cities of the Ker region for clues, whereas not hearing from both his family and Kam meant that Fallmug had yet to try anything funny.

    Lith would have loved to stop torturing him and take him out of the picture once and for all, but he had to y it smart so that no one would suspect him. Thanks to the Tower Warp, he had never left his prey alone for long.

    Lith let those morbid thoughts slide and used the capitol¡¯s Gate to return to the north. Despite all of its ws, the army was still the perfect cover to spend a long time away, performing his research night and day.

    Among his most recent pet projects, there was crafting with the eyes of the Balor a magical staff that could mimic General Vorgh¡¯s, improving the power of the lesser undead he was able to create at will and raid the lost city of Huryole.

    Unlike the other ruins he had visited, Huryole was almost perfectly preserved. Gold, jewels, magic books, there were countless things up for the taking. Unluckily, the creatures inhabiting the city made every raid extremely difficult.

 Chapter 625 Raid Part 2

    Lith¡¯s predecessors hadn¡¯t left all that goodies out of the goodness of their hearts. Finding something valuable inside Huryole required luck, plus one had to fight not only against powerful monsters, but also against time.

    The lost city was a livingbyrinth that would periodically rearrange itself, making any old map useless. To make matters worse, its walls couldn¡¯t be affected by earth magic, dimensional magic was sealed, and destroying the walls to make haste only made the cursed item that ruled Huryole angry.

    Normally, the problem with the inhabitants of a lost city was that they would grow in power and numbers over time. It was a Ranger¡¯s duty to cull them and reset their power before they became too strong.

    In Huryole¡¯s case, however, the number of creatures that spawned and their power was fixed. Even the monsters had a hard time finding their way out of the city and Lith only had to kill those who managed to reach the external barrier before they could breach it.

    From the outside, the lost city looked like a giant stone dome. The only entrances were located at the ground level and breaking the dome would make the cursed object who ¡¯protected¡¯ the city turn the whole Huryole into a rampaging golem.

    Flight was useless as well, making many wonder whaty at the center of the city and for what purpose it had been built. Lith couldn¡¯t stop thinking how odd it was that Rangers were allowed to take for themselves whatever they recovered from it.

    Huryole was also nicknamed "The Cursed Training Ground".

    Lith used his badge to bypass the magical barrier isting the city and checked the reset counter. Thebyrinth would randomize itself at fixed intervals, so he had to make sure that it wouldn¡¯t happen any soon.

    Otherwise, if abatsted for too long or if he managed to get deep into Huryole, Lith would risk bing trapped inside the city. ording to the counter, the next reset was in half a day, so Lith went directly inside.

    ¡¯I swear, this ce is oddly familiar. The rooms are always different, but the vibe here is something I already experienced somewhere else.¡¯ Lith thought while crossing a small courtyard, where several training dummies and weapons were orderly lined up.

    A quick check with Life Vision confirmed to him that there was nothing valuable. The only magical aura in the room belonged to the walls encasing the courtyard. Solus used her spirit magic to pick up the weapons and use them to strike down the dummies.

    "Why did you do that?" Lith asked as thest strawman was cut into half.

    ¡¯Cursed training ground, training dummies, I thought maybe there was a reward for clearing the task.¡¯ She replied.

    "Yeah, if this was a video game, you might be right. Real life is a bit different, though. No one rewards you forpleting menial tasks." Lith¡¯s voice oozed with sarcasm.

    The following room looked like a warehouse of some kind. Wooden cupboards and shelves where lined against the wall, while multiple vases filled with foody around, enchanted with an unknown spell that prevented it from rotting.

    ¡¯Jackpot!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I¡¯ve never seen this kind of pseudo core before. I wonder if I¡¯m the first to...¡¯ A quick use of Invigoration made him lose interest.

    ¡¯Damn, the pseudo core it¡¯s tooplexpared to a dimensional item. This thing is worthless to me.¡¯ Lith still copied it down to the smallest detail, just to be safe.

    Fake mages couldn¡¯t scan magical items as he had just done and even if such a spell was of no use to Lith, the Kingdom might have been interested in buying it from him. The shelves in the room had several books, but after a quick nce, they turned out to be either inventory or ount books.

    Lith opened the door leading to the next room, surprised that he had yet to find a crossroad or a monster. Up to that point, his path had only one way in and one way out, making a map pointless.

    ¡¯The outeryers have always been easy, but never this simple. If it keeps like this, I could get really deep into Huryole. Why is my paranoia sense tingling, though?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Well, maybe because if it¡¯s easy to get in then it¡¯s also easy to get out? It¡¯s not like this ce is inhabit...¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks, Solus. Way to jinx it!¡¯ Lith said as he stepped inside what looked like a dorm, running into a Mage yer and a White Lady. They were two kinds of undead who were able to stay awake during the day, as long as they avoided direct sunlight.

    Unfortunately for Lith, all the light inside Huryole was artificial, so that his enemies could move without problems. A Mage yer was usually born from the dying body of a powerful swordsman.

    In their new form, they would be unable to use fake magic, but their undead naturebined with their skills allowed them to channel the elemental energy into their swordy.

    They weren¡¯t true mages, but they were able to cast spells without any chant or hand signs. They just needed to perform a series of attacks to unleash all kinds of elemental attacks up to tier three.

    On top of that, magic was their source of nourishment, making all kinds of direct spells useless against them, no matter their tier. Both fake and true mages had a hard time facing someone with infinite stamina that could use magic by simply swinging their des in closebat.

    The Mage yer in front of Lith looked like a featureless humanoid mass of orange gas wielding a longsword covered in runes of power. Its red eyes were fixated on him, seething with hunger.

    Inside the borders of Huryole, all the creatures thebyrinth spawned couldn¡¯t die, but that didn¡¯t mean that they would be freed from their needs.

    ¡¯Why is its sword covered in runes? Aren¡¯t they supposed to disappear after the Forgemastering process ends?¡¯ Solus thought, d to have the opportunity to share part of her memories without giving out her secret.

    "Why is your sword covered in runes?" Lith asked with a sarcastic voice, talking to Solus more than to the Mage yer. The creature rushed at Lith, its de shing the air in front of itself to unleash a fireball.

    ¡¯Sorry, Solus. It says it doesn¡¯t feel ready to share on a first date.¡¯ Lith thought while pping his hands. It conjured a spinning air dome that sucked the fireball and deflected it against the White Lady.

    Born from the corpse of a woman who had killed her own children, White Ladies were capable of using only two elements, water and darkness. They needed to feed on the life force of children and they extracted it by drowning them.

    The undead was wearing a tattered wedding gown. The pristine white of the dress emphasized her grey necrotic flesh. Due to the prolongedck of food, the White Lady was unable to retain her humanoid physical appearance and was reduced to a zombie-like creature.

    Yet her hunger didn¡¯t diminish her magical powers one bit. She hurled a powerful stream of water that enveloped the fireball and snuffed it out like it was a candle. The White Lady shrieked in anger while looking at herpanion with so much anger that Lith hoped she would attack the Mage yer.

 Chapter 626 Loot Part 1

    ¡¯White Ladies are weak to fire. ording to the gazillion books I consulted recently, they burn like gasoline. I don¡¯t know what kind of rtionship these two have, but if they coordinate their attacks I¡¯ll be in a pinch. I must even the field.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The Mage yer ignored the White Lady¡¯s grievances and jumped at Lith¡¯s spell, incapable to see past the meal served in front of itself. Lith dispelled his air dome and struck with the Gatekeeper sword infused by darkness magic, the only element Mage yers couldn¡¯t feed upon.

    The creature was unable to scream, but its eyes went wide open as the enchanted metal pierced through the orange gas, creating a gaping hole the size of a ser ball on its chest for a split second.

    ¡¯Solus, wasn¡¯t his heart supposed to be there?¡¯ Lith asked. Their vengeful heart was the source of all the powers a Mage yer had and also their weak point. Only a physical weapon could destroy it, but finding it wasn¡¯t easy.

    The undead could move it freely inside their gaseous body, even while they were fighting.

    ¡¯Yes, it was. Now it¡¯s in theher regions.¡¯ She replied. Lith¡¯s Life Vision was blinded by the magical gas that made up the Mage yer¡¯s body, but her mana sense was keen enough to follow the heart¡¯s movements.

    The White Lady had never stopped hurling new water. She was using it to shape a water cage to drown Lith. He was an adult, so he was bound to taste like horseshit, but beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers.

    Lith blocked the lunge of the Mage yer, interrupting both its attack and its spell while unleashing a stream of lightning from his hand. The electricity traveled through the water and entered the White Lady¡¯s mouth, setting her aze from the inside.

    It wouldn¡¯t have been so easy in normal circumstances. The starvation had turned her flesh into dried meat, making it even more inmmable than a White Lady already was.

    The undead turned into a pyre while screaming in agony. It took her less than a second to be reduced to a wet pile of ashes.

    Now that Lith could focus on a single opponent, he conjured a thickyer of spirit magic around himself. It would be useless against a gaseous opponent, but the enchanted de the Mage yer was using was physical.

    Lith used spirit magic to envelope the sword more each time it shed with his Gatekeeper, making it slower as his grip over the de of the enemy became stronger. The Mage yer wasn¡¯t able to use fusion magic and with its sword being constantly pulled in random directions, it was unable toplete a single spell

    Soon the second undead was at Lith¡¯s mercy.

    Spirit magic kept its de locked in Lith¡¯s left hand while the Gatekeeper in his right hand cut through its body so fast that its heart was perfectly visible, no matter where the Mage yer moved it.

    Lith cut the heart into small pieces and kept cutting it until the smoke stopped regenerating. Unfortunately, the sword disappeared as soon as the undead was vanquished.

    A Mage yer¡¯s physical body actually consisted of two parts: the heart and the de.

    ¡¯It¡¯s very odd, Solus. ording to the books, the sword should be an exact replica of the de master¡¯s weapon. Yet in the pictures we found, their enchanted weapons had nothing special. I¡¯d remember so many runes.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah. It¡¯s likely due to Huryole being very ancient. If the Mage yer was centuries old, maybe so it was the Forgemastering process they used when it was still alive. It¡¯s too bad that conjured des have no pseudo core. We might have learned a lot.¡¯ She sighed.

    ¡¯Look at the bright side. If the path in front of us continues to be straightforward, those creatures would have reached the exit in no time and then we would have been forced toe here to y them.

    ¡¯Not only did we save ourselves a trip, but also we might get deeper inside the city than anyone else ever managed to!¡¯ Lith replied, regretting his words the moment he thought them.

    ¡¯Way to jinx it, Lith.¡¯ Solus chuckled, hoping that for once they would be lucky.

    Before moving on, Lith searched the room. The dormitory was a long rectangr room, and least 100 meters (330 feet) long with four-poster beds lined up against the wall. In front of each bed there was a dimensional chest, ready to be imprinted.

    ¡¯This is even odder. ording to Professor Wanemyre, a magical item that¡¯s not imprinted can¡¯tst long. Then how can these dimensional chests be in perfect condition?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe they are also full!¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯I told you to look at the bright side, not to start daydreaming. This is barely the third room. We might as well be like the hundredth visitor or something.¡¯ Lith still imprinted one of the chests to probe its contents.

    It contained a chamber pot, some kind of odd looking pajamas, and a set of items for personal hygiene.

    ¡¯This ce must be very old if they expected the residents to use chamber pots. It means they had yet to discover how to use mana crystals to obtain tap water.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Their path kept being straightforward only for a few more rooms. Lith found a training weapons warehouse, an office filled with paperwork written in an unknownnguage, and a canteen bigger than the vige of Lutia before they met a crossroads.

    At that point, Lith checked his pocket watch and started to draw a map. During his past visits, he had never managed to get very far due to his busy schedule and the abundance of monsters.

    ording to the army¡¯s information, every time a monster was killed, it was sent back to square one, near Huryole¡¯s core. Also, the city was built on multiple levels and all the rooms would be shuffled every time thebyrinth rearranged itself.

    Lith had no idea what floor the city core was on, nor where the good stuff could be stored. Yet the prospect of finding ancient artifacts and study the pseudo core of a being capable of resurrecting its minions without taking away their free will drove him to continue his search.

    After several more offices, pantries, and even an inner garden bigger than a football stadium, Lith was about to run out of time. He started to run and avoided searching the rooms hoping to find something useful.

    When he stumbled into a Forgemasteringb, Lith knew that it would be hisst stop. There were so many enchanted items to almost blind their magical senses. The Forge in the middle of the room was made of an unknown metal.

    One second it was white with ck veins all over it and the next second it was ck with white veins. The Forge was solid, but its surface constantly changed, as if there were two colliding forces battling for dominion over it

    Lith struck it with the hilt of the Gatekeeper, making it emit a crystal clear sound he had never heard before.

    ¡¯Solus, this thing isn¡¯t made of Adamant, right?¡¯ He asked while cing his hand on the Forge and using Invigoration.

    ¡¯Nope. I have no idea what it is, but its mana flow is magnificent.¡¯

    Lith couldn¡¯t agree more. Unlike his Adamant Forge, the one in front of him was able to draw in the world energy andpress it to the point it almost had a pseudo core even though it wasn¡¯t enchanted.

 Chapter 627.1 Loot Part 2

    Chapter 627.1 Loot Part 2

    <hr>

    Lith tried to lift the Forge, but it weighed too much, even for his inhuman strength.

    ¡¯Damn! Without dimensional magic, we cannot store it nor warp it away!¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed non stop.

    ¡¯You could make it float with a spell, but this thing is too big to get it out of here by crushing through the walls. The cursed object that oversees this ce would kill us before we manage to escape.¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith tried to lift it with a spell anyway. Much to his surprise, an external source of mana blocked his spell and the room started to rumble as an earthquake was about to bring down the roof. The quake stopped the moment Lith let the Forge go.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s run away. There¡¯s enough mana surrounding us to kill you in the blink of an eye.¡¯ Solus warned him. Lith waited a few minutes and resumed searching the room only when Solus confirmed to him that the hostile mana was fading.

    Even if it was very old, it was still a Forgemasteringb. After working for two years at the White Griffon, Lith knew how such ces were built. He ignored the open cabs and went straight for the test room, where anypetent Forgemaster kept his prototypes.

    A weapon rack full with all kinds of swords covered in blue runes was waiting for him.

    ¡¯Yes!¡¯ Lith started picking them up, but after the first de the rumbling resumed, forcing him to put them back in their ce except for one. A second attempt to collect more than one sword confirmed his intuition.

    "Okay, fine! They all have the same spell on them after all." Lith¡¯s sour grapes im was followed by a quick read of the textbooks stored in the libraries. Once again, he could only pick one or pay the consequences.

    The problem was that they were all written in gibberish and he was dangerously running out of time. The only silver lining in Lith¡¯s situation was that even if he was unable to understand the words and all the magic circles depicted were unknown, the basics of Forgemastering were still the same.

    Lith and Solus were instantly able to tell the tier of an enchantment just by looking at theplexities of the drawings and the number of pseudo cores each spell was devised to handle.

    They picked a small book that was filled with onlyplex tier five Forgemastering spells.

    "Let¡¯s just hope they actually have a practical use. With my luck, they might as well be just teaching spells..." Lith choked on those words, finally realizing why the Huryole seemed so familiar to him.

    The furniture¡¯s design was outdated and he had met the rooms in a random order, but too many things inside the lost city reminded him of the White Griffon academy. Lith would have liked to put his intuition to the test, but there was no time.

    He used his flight spell to backtrack, moving as fast as he could while checking the map to not get lost. Solus couldn¡¯t help him this time, she was too focused keeping watch against possible threats.

    ¡¯Watch out! Something big and powerful ising our way!¡¯ She warned him. Lith turned to his right just in time to see and incredibly handsome man with emerald hair and purple eyes came from around the corner.

    ¡¯Powerful I can believe, but big? Also, what¡¯s wrong with his hair? Did hee out of an anime or what?¡¯ Lith didn¡¯t slow down and set up several barriers, just in case the neer was hungry like all the creatures Lith had met during his explorations.

    "Wait! If you help me to get out of here, I¡¯ll reward you handsomely!" \u003e Said the green haired man in a forgottennguage. Seeing that Lith wasn¡¯t even listening, he charged forward with inhuman speed, shapeshifting into his real form.

    An emerald scaled dragon the size of three-storey noble house started to give Lith chase, using air magic to support its gigantic wings and gain more speed.

    "I said wait!"\u003e The creature roared while desperately trying to catch up.

    Lith had never seen a real dragon before. His first reaction was surprise, immediately followed by his survival instincts kicking in.

    ¡¯How bad is our situation?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯Bright blue core inside the stronger body I have ever seen! Shapeshift?¡¯

    Lith was losing ground, so he had his hybrid form¡¯s wings emerge from his back.

    One of the perks of the Orichalcum Skinwalker was that it was able to revert to its liquid form at will, so even if dimensional magic was sealed inside Huryole, Lith had no need to take it off to be able of shapeshifting.

    The wings allowed him to go as fast as the dragon since his much smaller figure had an easier time maneuvering along the corridors. Lith only needed to fold his wings to go through a door whereas his alleged enemy had to revert back to human form.

    The emerald dragon was bbergasted and overjoyed seeing a fellow dragon, so he attempted to speak in draconic.

    "Wait, I mean no harm, little brother. We can get out of here together!" \u003e Too bad that draconic was a guttural tongue so filled with power that it would hurt the ears of a normal human, making them bleed.

    Lith took it as some kind of sonic attack and moved even faster.

    "I said stop!"\u003e Outraged by the tantck of respect from the lesser dragon in front of him, the emerald dragon breathed bright blue Origin mes against Lith.

    "Thanks, sucker!" Lith replied hurling a jet stream of Origin mes of his own which countered the enemy attack and produced a congration that further enhanced his speed whereas it forced his enemy to stop.

    The emerald dragon couldn¡¯t cross the raging firestorm in front of himself without risking to die.

    ¡¯How can a lesser dragon produce such a powerful me? I only fired a warning shot, but he still managed to block it. Father Leegaain must have be even stronger if even such a hatchling can reach that kind of skill.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith was back to the straight path, so he could put away the map and focus only on his speed.

    ¡¯How much until the reset?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯Less than five minutes.¡¯ Solus¡¯s reply made Lith curse.

    ¡¯That¡¯s too much time! I don¡¯t want to fight a dragon. I don¡¯t even know what they are capable of.¡¯

    Lith moved outside the barrier, using his army amulet to call for reinforcements. General Vorgh went pale hearing about the emerald dragon.

    "Good gods, him again? The strike team will be there as fast as they can. Do not engage him unless the barrier is at risk. Fighting alone would be a suicide."

    Lith nodded while preparing for the worse. Little did he know that the congration caused by the Origin mes had damaged Huryole¡¯s walls, making the cursed object overseeing the city react with extreme prejudice.

    The emerald dragon was currently fighting for his life against an endless barrage of spells which prevented him from moving even one inch forward.

    Vorgh and a full toon of Spellbreakers arrived less than a minute after Lith¡¯s call. They patiently waited for the enemy¡¯s arrival, casting several arrays one on top of another and using the barrier¡¯s power source to boost their spells.

    When the reset time arrived, the whole stone dome surrounding Huryole trembled and the emerald dragon was sent in a remote corner of the city.

 Chapter 627.2 Birthday and Anniversary Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 627.2 Birthday and Anniversary Part 1</h4>

    "It seems we were lucky, son." Said General Vorgh while dispelling the arrays he was keeping at the ready.

    "Usually when Jakra manages to get out, things go downhill fast."

    "Is Jakra the dragon''s name?" Lith asked.

    "No, that''s how we call him. Her. Whatever that is. We''ve tried multiple times tomunicate with him, but it never works. A dragon would be a powerful asset, so we''ve tried bringingnguage experts and giving him food.

    "Yet the only thing he is interested in is getting out, so we are forced to kill him every time. We still have no idea why so many powerful creatures have been locked inside Huryole, but we cannot allow any of them to escape unless we are sure they can be trusted.

    "In my book, whoever spews fire first and talkster, is unworthy of trust." Vorgh waved his staff, creating a Warping Array leading to the closest Gate.

    "Ranger Verhen, you''ll remain here until the next reset. If by then Jakra is still trapped, then you''ll resume your regr duty. Don''t hesitate to call for help."

    After Solus confirmed Lith that they were alone, he Warped to the nearest mana geyser and had her assume her tower form. He had no need to camp in the middle of nowhere when he could use the Surveince Mirror on the tower''s first floor to keep an eye on Huryole from a distance.

    "I know it may sound hypocriticaling from me, but I think Vorgh is too paranoid. That dragon can only escape out of pure luck. Huryole has several floors and we never managed to fully explore even one of them in the short time between resets." Lith said, taking their most recent prizes out of his pocket dimension.

    "Agreed, but if you look at the bright side, it''s like you got a few hours leave." Solus weed him in her wisp form.

    "Yeah. There are far worse ways to spend your birthday, Solus. Happy birthday." Lith confirmed on his clock that it was more or less the same hour when thirteen years ago he had spoken with Solus for the first time and given her a name.

    "Thanks!" She said brimming with joy. She only needed a shred of consciousness to stand watch with the Mirror. The rest was focused on the task at hand. It was one of the most difficult things Solus had ever done, but she wanted to do it anyway.

    "Lith, can I ask you something as a birthday present?" She asked.

    "Anything you want. Within reason, of course."

    "Can you promise me not to get angry?" The wisp rested on his shoulder, wobbling in anxiety.

    "I can try. That much I can promise. Are you sure that''s all you want for your birthday? You''re making me feel like I set the bar so low for you that¡­"

    The wisp left his shoulder and stopped in front of his eyes before starting to grow in size, cutting Lith short in surprise. Soon Solus was in her humanoid form, wearing a simple dress with a flower design that left her shoulders and arms exposed.

    "Well? What do you think?" She searched his neck for the vein that she knew would throb whenever he was really angry, no matter how good his poker face was.

    "That it was about time you told me. I was really starting to feel left out." Lith said, his neck vein calm andposed.

    "Plus, if you waited more, it would have made my birthday present kind of awkward." He handed to her one of the Orichalcum hammers they had forgemastered. Its shaft was slimmer and more delicatepared to the other one.

    The words "Maker of Wonders" had been magically engraved of both sides of the shaft. The hammer''s head featured an actual hammer on one side and a pick on the other.

    "You knew all along?" Solus felt embarrassed and frustrated at the idea of having spent so much time worrying for nothing.

    "It wasn''t that hard to guess. First, you refused to keep mepany when I bathed¡­"

    ''That happened way before I got my body.'' She thought.

    "¡­ then, you started to press me to ''go to sleep'' or left me to spend time with Tista. Plus, there was the increase in the food expenses and the bills for clothes Tista bought but never wore.

    "If you consider that I knew that once the first floor of the tower would be restored you were meant to acquire your body made of light, it was almost obvious." Lith shrugged.

    "So, you''re not angry?" She asked.

    "No. I know all too well the difference between sharing your secrets because you want to and because you have to. I honestly don''t understand the reason why you kept it a secret from me, but I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

    "You look gorgeous in that dress, by the way." Solus brimmed with joy at those words, and so did the tower.

    She hugged him, feeling for the first time Lith returning the embrace. Solus then told him that the reason she hadn''t told him about her new form was that she didn''t want to mess up his rtionship with Kam.

    "I just wanted you to be happy. I realize that now it??s like you are living together with two women at once and I didn''t want to force you to lie to Kam. I decided toe clean with you because I think my past could help us with your problem."

    Solus started to share with him all of her memories, about the Forgemastering method she had witnessed during her visions and how different the enchanted items she remembered of were from those they currently used.

    They watched the memory of her adamant hammer over and over,paring it with the sword they had recently acquired. There was a striking resemnce between them.

    "Maybe this Master Menadion of yours was also a teacher in an ancient academy. If I''m right and Huryole really is some kind of twisted version of the six great academies, maybe this sword was one of her works." Lith handed Solus both the book and the enchanted item, hoping they would trigger one of her shbacks.

    Solus ran her fingers over the runes engraved in the de. Each time she did it, they turned from blue to gold for a split second, emitting each one a different musical note.

    "This hasn''t been crafted by Master Menadion. Don''t ask me why, but I''m sure of it. I think it might have been Forgemastered using one of the techniques she shared, though. It feels so familiar to me that it can''t be just a coincidence." She said.

    "What about the gibberish. Can you read it?"

    "No. What''s worse I don''t recognize any of these spells. I don''t think I have ever seen them before." She replied.

    "Maybe it''s because Menadion was an Awakened too. If like Master Silverwing she decided to pass her knowledge onto fake mages, this is not what she would have taught you. ording to your memories, you were likely to be her Awakened disciple." Lith pondered.

    "If you are right, why did she do this to me?" Solus pointed at the tower and then to herself.

    "Most powerful mages are batsh*t crazy." Lith didn''t know what to tell her.

 Chapter 627.3 Birthday and Anniversary Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 627.3 Birthday and Anniversary Part 2</h4>

    "Or maybe it was just the result of a failed experiment. The really important question is: do you really want to spend your birthday working or do you have anything in mind?" Lith asked.

    "I actually do." Solus took a small package from a secretpartment in the walls.

    "Happy anniversary, Lith."

    He destroyed the gift paper, revealing a cylindrical ring made of an alloy of gold and Orichalcum, with a blue mana gem set in the middle of it.

    "The cloaking ring! That''s why you didn''t rush me making one. Does it have any special abilities?" Lith''s Orichalcum armors had proven to be better than he had nned. The adamant was able to enhance a pseudo core in unexpected ways.

    "Not that I''m aware of." Solus said.

    Lith imprinted the ring before slipping it on his right forefinger.

    "How does my mana core look like now?"

    "Red, and your life force appears to be at human levels."

    "Interesting. Normal cloaking items do not affect the life force. Maybe it depends on the fact that I''m wearing two at once. Let''s see if it works the same for you too." Lith put the ring on Solus''s right hand, but she felt her heart pounding anyway.

    Her light body disappeared with a pop and her dress fell to the ground.

    "Fuuuuu¡­" Solus''s voice made the tower''s wall tremble for several seconds until she managed to make her body reappear.

    "¡­ck! That cost me a lot of stamina. We can''t check the effects on me until I return in my gauntlet form. To add insult to injury, I don''t have much time left before I need to rest. Taking human form drains a lot of energy." She said, her mood was getting worse by the second.

    "Then revert to your wisp form. I don''t want you to disappear in the middle of dinner. We''ve waited for too long for the moment when we could share a meal together." Lith said with a sigh.

    They spent the time before supper studying the unknown de. The metal it was made of was nothing special, the mana crystals it was fused with were just cyan, and its pseudo core was rather simple.

    If not for the runes, Lith wouldn''t have given it a second look.

    "I don''t get what purpose can engraving runes have. There''s nothing special in this de. Its mana pathways, its mana circtory system, and even its pseudo core is insignificant."

    "Maybe they have a special effect. We should try it out." Solus was out of options. She couldn''t find any reason to waste time engraving runes as well.

    Lith reluctantly imprinted the de with his mana. He would have preferred not doing it, because the weapon would have no market value until the moment he died. Solus created a test room, using earth magic to shape several dummies of different durability.

    The sword made short work of those as hard as wood, but was unable to put a dent on rocks. Lith channeled his mana through the pseudo core and activated its effect. The pseudo core suddenly grew in size and power, yet the mana pathways remained stable.

    The excess energy was drawn to the runes and spread across the entire weapon. A split secondter, several air des cut down all the remaining dummies, even the ones made of stone, before hitting the tower walls.

    "Damn, that was unexpected. Are you alright, Solus?"

    "Yeah, don''t worry. That thing is too weak to hurt me. Do you think what I think?"

    "Yes. The runes somehowpress and stabilize the pseudo core, allowing evenmon iron to withstand such a powerful magical energy. Also, despite the cyan mana crystals, the spell had the same firepower that normally would require blue gemstones." Lith had determined the strength of the spell with Life Vision.

    "The problem is that we have no idea how to carve them, nor if their number, kind, or position holds a special significance." Solus said.

    "Nor we know when they have to be applied. Before or after the Bonding spell? Before or after the Forgemastering process???? He asked.

    Lith opened the booklet, but he couldn''t decipher a single word.

    "We need a library, an archaeologist, or both."

    "I doubt there are many deadnguage experts. Most of them are likely to work for the Crown." Solus said.

    "Sharing our discovery will be thest resort. If this kind of knowledge spreads, Awakened ones will be able to convert it into true magic, just like us. I don''t want to lose our edge on thepetition." Lith put away both the sword and the booklet, searching his memory for someone trustworthy they could ask for help.

    "Maybe and maybe not. Remember that Awakened ones have a long life. This knowledge might be lost to fake mages, but it could bemon among the Council or whatever it''s called.

    "The Crown might actually be aware of it as well. Do you remember the insanely powerful weapons Thrud had? Or Vorgh''s staff? They are impossible to make, even at our current level, at least without the runes." Solus pointed out.

    "Are you saying that I''m the only idiot who doesn''t know about it?"

    "No, more like you are part of the 99% poption who doesn''t have ess to it. Also, the book is damn old. Magic makes progress over time, so the method described might be good for you who are starting from scratch but it''s likely to be old news.

    "Unless we evolve it into something unique bybining it with your talent for Forgemastering and my abilities as a tower, of course." Solus was intrigued by the idea.

    Mana geysers gave them an edge that no other mage, even Awakened ones, had.

    Lith took it less gracefully. Having spent hours exploring Huryole, risking his life, and almost facing a dragon for almost nothing made him want to scream.

    Almost.

    "Fine! It''s dinner time. Let''s eat something and then I''d like for us to do something I always dreamed about ever since I''ve seen your light body form." Lith said.

    Solus needed sheer willpower to not blush. Lith''s dirty mind plus seeing him with his girlfriends too many times had rubbed off on her over the years.

    When they moved to the dining room, Solus discovered that Lith had stored a small banquet inside his pocket dimension.

    He had no idea what Solus liked or disliked, so he had bought a lot of stuff from his favorite restaurants. Most of them were meat dishes, but there were also vegetable soups and grilled fish.

    Solus ate to her heart content, brimming with joy. Usually she could only consume food already stored in the tower, but aside from pastries and meat, Lith didn''t carry much along with himself, at least not already cooked.

    Solus had no idea how to prepare a meal and neither did Tista, so her eating habits until that point had been pretty repetitive. Solus lived it more like a date rather than as a birthday, having all of Lith''s attention for herself.

    He asked her all about her new body. How it worked, how much she could feel, and experience.

    "It doesn''t feel like skin, but it''s soft, warm, and pleasant to the touch." He said while touching her naked arm while using Invigoration on her. Lith wanted to check if there was any way to speed up her recovery process.

    "No. I mean, yes. I mean, thank you." The situation was getting more awkward by the second. Solus was swallowing non stop out of stress.

 Chapter 627.4 Odd Ranger Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 627.4 Odd Ranger Part 1</h4>

    When Lith started to talk about Forgemastering, things went back to normal.

    ''So that''s what he was he was talking about.'' Solus thought, half relieved and half disappointed when they went back to the Forgeb.

    "We are, hopefully, the only two people in the whole Mogar who have the same mana signature. Now that you have a body, we can Forgemaster together! Imagine what kind of items we can craft bybining our efforts.

    "Not only do we always live, breathe, and work together, but our minds are also linked. I doubt there are many artisans who can match our mutual understanding." Lith said, being overly optimistic.

    It turned out that their mana was indeedpatible, but they had twopletely different ways of Forgemastering and they had to learn how to adapt to each other. The problem was that Solus had to keep the magic circle, empower both hammers, and Forgemaster, whereas Lith could focus only on shaping the pseudo cores.

    On top of that, Solus could only hold her body for a few hours if she did nothing, but Forgemastering exhausted her strength much more quickly. Time was an enemy she couldn''t beat.

    "With the little time we got, the best we can do is some basic stuff I have no need for anymore. Either we must make you stronger or find a way to speed up the crafting process. We could try again, but this time you step in only during the pseudo core injection phase." Lith proposed after a few test runs.

    "Seems like a great idea. Do you mind if we continue another day? I''m so tired that even my wisp is about to copse." Solus was back in her wisp form, wheezing and panting.

    "Sorry, I didn''t mean to make you work even on the date of your birthday."

    "If you didn''t, I would''ve thought that you had been reced by an alien shapeshifter." She chuckled.

    "Besides, I had a lot of fun. I never feel alive like when we work together, especially on Forgemastering."

    "Next time, I keep the circle and you do the crafting. That way I can observe your method and learn how to better coordinate with you." Lith proposed after they had discovered that they couldn''t use mind fusion to speed things up.

    Fusing their minds caused Solus''s body to get assimted as well, making it impossible for her to wield her hammer. The fusion would allow them to feel what the other felt, but also would flood their minds with each other''s thoughts.

    Shaping a pseudo core required surgical precision and their conflicting approaches at crafting ended up being a distraction.

    As soon as the nextbyrinth reset happened and there was no trace of Jarok, Lith received a call on his army amulet. He returned back to Huryole via the Warping Mirror before answering.

    "Ranger Verhen, this is Ranger Morok Eari. I supervise the Hessar region and I''m calling you to schedule your yearly evaluation. Are you done with urgent business in Ker?" Lith had never heard of other Rangers, but he knew about Hessar.

    It was the region neighboring his own and ording to his books, it wasn''t much better. Ranger Eari was a man in mid twenties, about 1.8 meters (5''11") tall, so he was quite tall ording to Mogar''s standards.

    He had ck hair and dark eyes. Like most Rangers, he had a stubble a few days old and unkempt hair. There was no reason to keep appearances if you were alone most of the time.

    "Yes, I''ve already taken care of most Lost Cities and I''ve nothing to do except for patrolling. What do you mean, evaluation? I do regr reports and so do those who request my help. I never heard about a further test." Lith asked.

    "It''s no standard procedure. A normal Ranger has no need for a yearly evaluation, but so far you have proven to be anything but. The army is interested in putting your abilities to test since you have only one more year left of service.

    "If you pass, the top brass might make you a good offer to tempt you to prolong your military career. I''ll be in charge during the mission you and I will undertake together." Morok said.

    "What kind of mission requires two Rangers at once?" Lith hated teamwork. Tower warping would be impossible with a partner and he wasn''t a fan of camping in the open.

    "The worst kind." Morok sighed. "Babysitting."

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "Some poor bastards have discovered ancient ruins inside an undergroundwork of tunnels inside a dungeon and a group of idiotic mages with more money than brain have organized an expedition."

    "What does it have to do with us? Can''t they pay for their private guards?" Lith was getting annoyed just at the thought of such a job.

    "In theory, yes. Ruins, however, are all considered Royal properties unless a team of experts decides otherwise. The Crown cannot allow for lost artifacts or knowledge to fall into the wrong hands.

    "To make matter worse, one of those noble mages has a powerful daddy who demanded the best, and that''s where wee into y. The ruins are located at the border between our turfs and we were both graded as Monsters from the army."

    ''He was graded as me? Turf? This man speaks more like a beast than a human. Solus, analysis.'' Lith thought.

    ''Yeah, right. Since when Ican evaluate someone from his hologram? I need to see him in person.'' Solus replied.

    "When and where?" Lith asked, eager to finish the mission quickly.

    "Let''s meet in Letras. It has a Warp Gate, it''s close to our destination, and their roasted pork shank is to die for. I''ll wait for you at the Wild Boar tavern. We have a few things to do before picking up the kids, soe prepared. Over and out."

    Lith took into ount how much time it would take a normal mage to reach his destination and used all the extra time to use umtion. One of the problems of conducting experiments was that it left him little time to refine his mana core.

    Luckily, a mana geyserbined with his tower allowed him to absorb world energy at a faster rate than normal. Lith''s blue mana core needed enormous amounts of world energy for a single cycle of expansion andpression.

    ''Usually, I''d rush there, but I don''t want to raise suspicions by moving too fast. Behind Morok''s kind words there could actually be a trap. General Morn never liked me. He is likely the reason for this evaluation.

    ''He must be doubting my achievements. I bet that pompous ass is envious of how Constable Tyris rewarded me after Zantia''s events. Either it''s him, or one of the enemies of Commander Berion is trying to pull a fast one.'' Lith thought.

    Lith''s had no intention of serving in the military more than it was needed. He hated politics and all the struggles that taking a side would result in, but at the same time, he wouldn''t allow anyone to take away his merits.

    The following day, Lith reached Letras. Solus was back in her ring form, wrapped around the cloaking ring she had crafted. She now appeared as nothing but a fancy stone decoration.

    ''If this Morok Eari is an Awakened or an Emperor Beast in disguise, at least Solus is safe as long as I give him no chance of using Invigoration on me.'' Lith thought.

 Chapter 627.5 Odd Ranger Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 627.5 Odd Ranger Part 2</h4>

    Letras was a trading city and due to the winter lockdown, dimensional magic was still banned inside its walls to prevent illegal food trades to alter the price markets. Like most of the cities of the Griffon Kingdom, it was divided into three areas.

    The outer rim was the biggest and the most popted one.

    It was where themoners lived, the granaries were located, and the resting ce for tired travelers like stingy Rangers who wanted to save a few coins but still enjoy a decent meal and bed.

    During winter, moving huge loads of merchandise required wagons and draft animals, so the roads wererge enough to amodate three of them at once. Onene was usually reserved for civil servants tasked with removing the brown and yellow snow that would otherwise turn entire city blocks into open outhouses.

    The houses were one or two-storey high, made of stone or wood based on the owner''s ie. They were usually tightly packed with little to no space between them. Entire blocks consisted solely of warehouses, most of which were located near the city gates or bordered on the middle rim to facilitate the transportation of goods.

    The middle rim was upied by merchants'' shops, craftsmen''s and artists'' workshops. Only the middle ss could afford a house there. They were all made of stone and at least two storey high. There was enough space between them to have a garden or a small stable.

    ording to the Desk Sergeant who weed Lith when he stepped out of the Warp Gate, the Wild Boar tavern was located in the middle rim.

    The ground level consisted of a wooden floor and walls, with several hardwood tables where groups of clients could sit to order their meal.

    Those who came in alone would rather sit in front of the counter to enjoy thepany of the barkeep, of the other customers, and be served more quickly. The room had a cozy feeling and was lighted by several chandeliers and a big popping firece that upied a good quarter of the east wall.

    A whole pig was being roasted over the fire, spreading in the air a delicious smell that made people open up their stomach and loosen their wallet. Lith was no exception, so he ordered a te of roasted pork and a beer to go with it even before sitting down at Morok''s table.

    The Ranger was eating one of the tavern''s famous pork shank with the appetite of a man who had been stranded for a long time and had forgotten his manners.

    ''Bright cyan core, excellent physical conditions. ording to my mana sense he shouldn''t be an Awakened and based on my life sense he is human.'' Solus said.

    The man had a lean but muscr physique. From thest time Lith had seen him, Morok had cut his hair, but the beard was still there. Except it was now dirty with gravy and the fat dripping from the meat.

    "Please, have a seat." Morok said with a full mouth and spitting over most of the table. A powerful burpter, he cleaned his right hand over his shirt before offering it to Lith, who reluctantly shook it.

    ''If all Rangers are like this guy, I now understand why we have a bad name.'' Lith thought.

    "It''s great to eat warm food without worrying about it getting cold or luring hungry beasts, right?"

    Lith nodded, his appetite waning by the second. Morok noticed Lith''s eyes staring at the grease stain above his heart which had yet topletely fade.

    "Gods, sorry. I almost forgot how a civilized human behaves. I''ve be too reliant on the self-cleaning properties of our uniform to fix my mess. I''ll never be grateful enough for it.

    "Without such a marvel, after a few weeks in the open, we''d stink so bad that the stench would kill us faster than any enemy." Heughed, making Lith d for Solus''spany and the safe haven she represented.

    "Any question about the mission?"

    "Many. How dangerous is it supposed to be?" Lith asked.

    "Wish I know. It can go from boring as heck, where the worst thing we have to face is the whining of pampered smarty-pants, to a nightmare where we have to pave our road in blood, steel, and bacon."

    "Bacon?" Lith asked regretting the question the moment he heard himself saying it out loud.

    "Well, yes. When pushes to shove, we might run out of supplies, and monsters are meat, after all. A man needs to eat." His words sent a shiver down Lith''s spine and made him check his food supplies stored inside his pocket dimension.

    "How are you supposed to evaluate me if nothing happens?"

    "I wish I was still such an optimist. Sh*t always hit the fan, kid. It''s only a matter of when. If it''s of any constion, I''m not enjoying this any more than you do. As soon as winter ends, I''m going to retire." Morok replied.

    "Retire? You''re what, 25?"

    "Being a Ranger it''s not an easy job. Most people quit after two years, four tops. I''ve been a Ranger for six years now. I''ve done my part and now I''m eager to convert my merits in a noble title, get me somends, a missus, and dedicate my life to magical research.

    "As for you, I heard you are a bounty hunter and now even a Spellbreaker. This mission is the perfect task to put your abilities to the test. When exploring ruins, the real danger doesn''te from monsters or magical beasts.

    "The real threat usuallyes from the human sitting right beside you." Suddenly, Morok''s jovial mood disappeared. He took a dramatic pause, looking at some point past Lith.

    He had the expression of a man who had experienced one betrayal too much and was now lost in unpleasant memories.

    Lith felt an odd sense of kinship toward the fellow Ranger. At least until Morok stood up and said.

    "Man, the food here is great, but it runs through your stomach as if it Warps. See you in a jiffy."

    Lith sighed, wondering what kind of a moron he had been paired with while pondering Morok''s words.

    ''Interesting. So the army suspects that someone inside the group might be a foreign spy interested in our ruins.'' Lith thought.

    ''Or maybe they want to prevent an internal strife. In case of a big discovery, a lot of people might be tempted to cause an "ident" to take credit for it. It''s not just a matter of fame or glory, but also of the reward that the Crown would bestow upon the one who contributes the most.'' Solus suggested.

    After Morok returned, they went stockpiling for food and everything they could need during the following days. Once they were done with the preparations, the two Rangers left Letras by flight.

    "Our destination is the crystal mines in the duchy of Laroxya. The rest of the expedition should arrive shortly." Noticing Lith''s surprised look, Morok quickly added.

    "Do you remember the monster outbreak? Well, some crazy-ass goblins raided the permanent guard post that protects the mines. Normal monsters would have been easily killed, but the little bastards could fire some ck rays from their hands that pierced through our defenses like they were made of paper."

    Lith had no idea how to call it, but he had seen Chaos magic enough times to recognize it from its effects.

 Chapter 627.6 Gathering Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 627.6 Gathering Part 1</h4>

    "Our defenses? You were there?" Lith asked.

    "Of course, I was. That''s my turf and the Kingdom spends big money to protect something like a crystal mine. They are more valuable than even tinum. Their production can''t stop even during winter because even magical research would be affected.

    "Thanks to their weapons and arrays, the guards managed to hold on until my arrival, but there wasn''t much even I could do. You know goblins, right? Well, they were a frigging army, each one capable of using normal magic and those ck rays as well.

    "Once I realized we had no chance against such an assault, I detonated the arrays to buy us some time and lead the survivors inside the crystal mines. We went to its deepest tunnels and then I used earth magic to bring us even deeper.

    "Usually doing such a thing is idiotic, raw crystals are unstable and earth magic could make them detonate. That''s why you need specialized personnel and Crystalsmiths to work in the mines. Yet between a likely death and certain death, the choice was obvious.

    "We walked for days, with only my rations to feed dozens of people, constantly on the run. Somehow, the goblins would always find us, and to make matters worse, they seemed to be better at magic over time.

    "Long story short, we found the ruins by sheer luck. While escaping, we crossed an undergroundwork of tunnels we weren''t even aware of. At that point, our luck turned. The goblins stopped following us and I finally had the time to wait for reinforcements. You can easily guess the rest." Morok said.

    ''Fuck me sideways! This means that the Abomination inside the goblins had enough time topletely reform and is waiting in the area, or that even such a powerful creature is scared of those ruins. Either way, this is bad.'' Lith thought.

    Solus opened all of her senses at once. Lith''s dirty mind wasn''t the only thing that had rubbed off on her over time. Her paranoia was now fully developed too.

    "Is that the moment when you consumed monster flesh?" Lith asked.

    "Yeah, but not the goblins''. There was something off with them. Their smell, how they moved, heck, they could even talk."

    When theynded, Lith casually sniffed his partner. He trusted Solus, but after the experience with the Awakened assassin, he had started to consider that her senses could be fooled.

    Morok kept talking like a magical beast. A normal human wouldn''t have the time to perceive the goblins'' smell in the middle of a crisis. Yet all of his enhanced senses told him the odd Ranger was human.

    The entrance to the mines resembled a military fort. A tall, round wall made of stone one meter (3.3 feet) thick surrounded an area the size of a vige. Four guard towers stood 10 meters (33 feet) tall, allowing the guards to notice iing enemies from afar.

    Life Vision showed Lith a series of arrays surrounding the fort. All the buildings within the walls were made of stone and in mint condition. At the fort''s very center, there was an arch made by stone and huge wooden beams that lead to an underground passage.

    "Are you sure this is the ce? It''s in perfect condition. I don''t see any traces of the attack." Lith said,

    "Told you. The Kingdome spares no expenses for a crystal mine. Winter or not, they rebuilt it in less than a month."

    "Then why not put a Warp Gate? It would allow moving reinforcements and crystals way faster than any othermon means of transportation." Lith asked.

    "Crystals are unstable. Even the number of arrays in ce here is fine-tuned to not trigger a chain reaction. A Warp Gate would be a liability since bending space for such long distances creates ripples that might make the crystals explode.

    "That even if there was no array, and defense takes precedence." Morok took several rectangr wooden rods out of one of his dimensional amulets. The rods were about 2 meters (6.5 feet) long and 3 centimeters (1.8 inches) thick.

    Each of their four sides was covered with bright red runes, pulsing with power. Lith immediately recognized those rods. They were the same thete Captain Vgros used to build a temporary waypoint near Kandria.

    Back then Lith knew nothing about runes and advanced Forgemastery, so neither Solus nor him paid the enchanted item any attention. Now that they had discovered about the importance of the runes, it took them quite an effort to not stare dumbly at them.

    ''By my maker, each of these things holds only part of the pseudo core. The runes are even more amazing than we thought! They can even allow a magical item to be disassembled and assembled at will.'' Solus thought.

    ''Also, why red runes? Are they different from the blue ones or what?'' Lith wondered.

    "First time seeing one of these?" Morok asked after noticing Lith''s surprise.

    "Second time, actually. Do you have any idea why these things have runes on them? Aside frommunication amulets, I''ve never seen them on an enchanted item and I''m a Forgemaster."

    "Lucky you! I spend a fortune every time I need to upgrade my equipment. Honestly, I have no clue. Maybe just like the runes on an amulet mark their owner, these runes are rted to the coordinates they are locked on." Morok shrugged and started to move away from the mines.

    "I wish these things weren''t so delicate. It''s hard to assemble them when you are under siege, but the worst part is that they can be used only once and are linked to a specific location.

    "Even if I had one back then, I couldn''t have used it to escape because without a proper structure, the dimensional ripples a Gate generates would have blown up the mines and killed us all." He sighed.

    Lith helped Morok to assemble the beams, forming with them a circle on the ground. Solus could see that each time a beam was correctly positioned, the pseudo core fragments would assemble.

    The slightest mistake would make them sh, and the beams would disconnect releasing sparks. When they were done, the Rangers had to inject mana into it. It took them time and effort, but after several minutes a Warp Gate materialized above the circle.

    "What did I tell you? Spoiled rich kids are the worst. We had to fly here and do all the hard work so that they don''t break a sweat. Lazy bastards." Morok said.

    Lith was more interested in sharing Solus''s mana sense and studying how the runes interacted with the Gate rather than listening to Morok''s ramblings. Normal enchanted items couldn''t hold spells like flight, healing, or Warp Steps because they required their caster''s will to work properly.

    A mage could only infuse such spells inside his own magical rings, which was one of the reasons that made even tier three rings expensive and tier four ones prohibitive for most mages.

    The pathway, instead, was able to ovee such limitations thanks to the runes. They enveloped the pseudo core, bearing the will of its creator and channeling all the umted energy in the beams to connect to a Warp Gate.

    The dimensional corridor was big enough to allow several people to cross it together. Those walking through the Gate were all members of research teams from all the six great academies, each one wearing their distinctive uniform.

    The clearing was quickly filled with a rainbow-colored mass of people.

 Chapter 628 Gathering Part 2

    "What the heck? Are we really supposed to take care of so many people with just the two of us?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. There were already ten people and more kept stepping out of the dimensional Gate.

    "Of course not." Morok replied.

    "Each one of these bastards would dly cut their best friend¡¯s throat if it meant getting more funds and recognition. I¡¯m here to guide them to destination and you are here as a contingency measure. For everything else, there¡¯s the army." Morok¡¯s words garnered him a lot of attention.

    Mostly of the bad kind. What he had said was true yet incredibly rude. He was speaking of esteemed Mage Professors and Researchers as they were justmon thugs.

    Lith recognized the uniforms from the ck, White, Lightning, and Fire Griffon, whereas it was his first time seeing people from the Crystal and Earth Griffon.

    "Ranger Verhen!" A young woman greeted Lith by giving him a big hug.

    "Dad really has done it. He made youe here with the excuse of the evaluation!"

    "What the heck do you mean with that, Quy?" Lith¡¯s paranoia had made him see countless shadows and conspiracies on his path, yet the truth had turned out to be beyond his wildest expectation.

    "I told you that there¡¯s no one I trust enough to watch my back while on the field. Since you never got the time to apany me, I had no qualms exploiting my family¡¯s influence to get you assigned here."

    "Don¡¯t worry, miss. Us Rangers are always d to help hot women." Morok said with his arms open, expecting to receive the same treatment.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t hug unknown creeps." Quy replied with a straight face, before letting Lith go. The scene was drawing too many gazes.

    Lith went to greet the White Griffon Professor who had brought Quy along as her Assistant when the real bodyguards stepped through the Gate. It was a five men unit, donning deep green uniforms that identified them as members of an elite troop.

    Their clothes granted them protection on par with that of a Ranger, but they also wore enchanted arm, legs, and shoulder guards that increased their defense to the level of a Professor¡¯s uniform.

    Each one of them had at least a cyan core and excellent physical condition. Their weapons were nothing much, though. They all held the same pseudo cores, giving them several versatile abilities rather than few but powerful ones.

    The only exception was their Captain. All of her equipment was custom made and on par with Lith¡¯s Gatekeeper, if not even better.

    "Lith, what are you doing in the Hessar region?" Phloria asked. She now had very short hair that resembled a pixie cut. It made her look even more tomboyish than usual.

    "It¡¯s nice to meet you too, Phloria. How are you doing?" Lith was happy not being the rude one for once.

    "Pretty well, thanks. I volunteered for this mission to make sure that nothing bad happens to her. I was expecting to meet another Ranger, so you¡¯ll excuse my surprise." She said while pointing at Quy.

    "I¡¯m your man, man." Morok offered his hand to her.

    "Ranger Eari, at your service. Now that we are all here, let¡¯s not waste any more time. We need to fly to the mines and then it takes a long walk to reach our destination.

    "Since we¡¯re babysitting academics, it might take us days to get to the ruins."

    Phloria¡¯s soldiers repressed a chuckle, while the Professors and their Assistants threw at the Ranger more gazes filled with contempt. Morok collected the wooden bars forming the temporary gate before leading the group to the mines.

    "Is it really necessary to have a guide? We could¡¯ve found the ruins on our own." A middle aged Professor from the Crystal Griffon asked to Phloria after theynded. He had blue eyes, white hair, and a beard.

    "Good luck with that." Morok chimed in.

    "I closed the passages as fast as I created them to make it harder for the goblins to follow us. The only traces left are those of the tunnels opened by the goblins, but most of them have copsed during the chase or shortly after.

    "The little bastards only cared about catching us and they made quite a few crystals explode in the process. I¡¯m the only one who can find the way, so shut up and follow me."

    After checking their identities, the guards residing inside the fort let the expedition team in. Despite the incident with the monsters, the mines were already fully operational. Carts full of crystals were being unloaded near the entrance before being sent back.

    Lith¡¯s group wasprised of twelve experts, one Professor and one Assistant from each academy, Phloria¡¯s five men unit, and Morok.

    The mines had ample corridors, but not big enough to amodate 19 people while workers and Crystalsmiths did their job. Even though they moved slowly, by the time the group reached the lowest levels, the people from the academy were exhausted.

    The Professors were all experts in their fields with decades of experience, which meant they were quite old and more used to sit behind a desk rather than walk on rough terrain.

    Their assistants were younger than them, but equally out of shape. None of them was warrior material.

    "Girl, you may be pretty, but if you start getting a fat ass at your age, it will be hard keeping your boyfriend. You need to exercise a little." Morok said to Quy. He had yet to break a sweat and had onlypassion for a young woman who wheezed like one of the old fossils.

    "Lith is not my boyfriend." She angrily replied.

    "I know. I¡¯m talking about the Captain guy. He clearly fancies you if he¡¯s risking his ass for your safety, you could at least..."

    "Phloria is my sister." Her voice became stone-cold, her eyes brimming with rage and fatigue.

    "Oh. Sorry, I just heard a noiseing from that way." Morok said pointing his finger in a random direction.

    "We¡¯ll resume this conversation never." Morok moved quickly and silently like the wind, reaching the position of the make-believe threat under the baffled gazes of the soldiers he met along the way.

    "Did you hear that too?" Lith emerged from a shadow, pointing at the only tunnel that despite the many mana crystalsing out of its walls and the artificial lights was poorly lit.

    "I sure did. I mean, that thing is a woman?" Morok¡¯s voice was still shaken by the revtion.

    "Not that. That." A small clunk made the hair on both Rangers¡¯ necks stand up. They waited in silence, ignoring the noisesing from the distant miners and the nearby academics.

    A clunk, followed by another. Lith used Life Vision but the mana crystals inside and outside the walls messed up his perception. He could have sworn there were life signatures among the crystals.

    Solus¡¯s mana sense didn¡¯t fare much better, so she stopped focusing on the details and looked at the corridor¡¯s bigger picture.

    ¡¯There¡¯s a distortion in the mana along the right wall.¡¯ She said.

    The moment Lith¡¯s gaze followed her directions, he could notice that the distortion had a humanoid form.

    "It seems that hiding any further is pointless." A raspy, feminine voice said. A snap of her fingers made the tunnel they hade from be sealed by a stone wall while the entire zone was silenced.

    Not even the guards near the copsing tunnel noticed that something was wrong until a volley of Chaos arrows came flying their way.

 Chapter 629 Sudden Death Part 1

    Korgh, the Eldritch Abomination whose fragments had been imnted inside the goblin tribe, still believed to have drawn the short end of the stick by being bonded to such useless and ugly creatures.

    On the contrary, she had been quite lucky. The goblin¡¯s only strong point was their reproductive ability, so she had an easy time manipting them at first and then overpowering their feeble minds once she had grown stronger.

    Assaulting the crystal mine had given her plenty of time and energy to refine a body simr to the original Eldritch she had been spawned from. Unlike the other hybrids, she didn¡¯t give chase to her ¡¯mother¡¯ due to her vessel¡¯s weakness.

    She had preferred to remain hidden inside the mines all along to build her strength and regain her knowledge. Korgh had no trouble avoiding the miners. There were too many unused corridors she could use as havens and as long as she didn¡¯t suck the crystals dry, they would always recover their energy.

    She was one of the few hybrids still alive in the entire Garlen continent. Most of the others had been killed by humans or Emperor Beasts before reaching their maturity or assimted by their originals after challenging them.

    The noise that Lith had heard and Morok pretended to, was her slowly digging out a particrly juicy mana crystal to feed upon without being noticed. She had no idea how the humans had found her.

    Her light maniption abilities rendered Korgh almost invisible and with all the noise echoing through the tunnels she was as silent as a mouse.

    Korgh wasn¡¯t worried, though. Those guys weren¡¯t miners, their disappearance was likely to go unnoticed for days if not ever. Lith cursed his bad luck as several darts from a tier one Chaos spell threatened his life.

    There wasn¡¯t enough space to dodge them and he knew from experience that most barriers would be useless against Chaos magic.

    Lith and Morok Blinked in opposite directions in the nick of time. Holes several centimeters deep opened in the wall behind where their vitals had been just a second ago.

    Korgh couldn¡¯t use powerful spells without risking to trigger a chain reaction that would make the mine copse, killing both herself and the humans in the process. Luckily, the Rangers had the same problem plus they had to take care of the dead weight.

    Many Professors were caught by surprise and remained severely injured. The same happened to their Assistants and the soldiers tasked to protect them. The only silver lining was that their enchanted armors had prevented any deadly wound and that Korgh was focused on the Rangers.

    ¡¯How bad it is?¡¯ Lith asked while taking the Gatekeeper out of his pocket dimension and shrinking it to the size of a short sword.

    ¡¯She¡¯s magically stronger than you, but her physical strength sucks. Half of her body is still that of a goblin.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Korgh¡¯s appearance was that of a humanoid creature, about 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall, with thin limbs and a head too big for her body. Half of her skin was a yellow so pale to almost be translucent, allowing to see what little of her organs still remained.

    The other half was a pitch ck gtinous substance that seemed to constantly move and change its shape like it was a flowing liquid. One second it resembled the slimy skin of a toad, the next one it was full of hair like that of a beast.

    ¡¯Let me guess, the ck half is a tough client.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Solus telepathically nodded while turning into her glove form. Thest hybrid they had fought was capable of essing to strong equipment. In presence of so many witnesses, Lith needed a decent excuse for his Awakened skills.

    Her glove form with its two mana crystals shining on the back of the hand fit the bill. She had even changed its design, to give it a moreplex look that resembled the artifacts they had seen in the past.

    Korgh sneered when she saw Lith charging forward. The two Rangers were the only one unscathed from her sneak attack, so she had been afraid that they might Blink away and call for help.

    Yet at least one of them was saving her the time of a boring chase. She weed Lith¡¯s arrival with another volley of Chaos arrows. The distance was now too short even for Blinking and the magic missiles were so fast to be almost invisible.

    Lith had gambled on his enhanced speed further boosted by air fusion, hoping it would allow him to reach his opponent before she could cast even more powerful spells and lost the bet. Korgh had started to weave her spells from the moment the two Rangers had stared in her direction.

    Also, she held numerous advantages. By being near a wall filled with protruding crystals, she prevented her enemies from using magic against her, since the slightest mistake would make the mines copse and kill hundreds.

    Plus, her position blocked Blink, leaving physical attacks as the only mean to harm her. Korgh expected to see Lith fall, his body riddled with more holes than swiss cheese, so she was quite shocked when the impact didn¡¯t even slow him down.

    Instead of open wounds, his chest was filled with what looked like a molten silvery liquid deformed from the impact that was quickly fixing the damage it had received.

    Another one of the unexpected abilities derived from using Orichalcum to Forgemaster a Skinwalker armor was that, by injecting it with mana, it was possible to amplify both its hardness and its repulsive energy field.

    Before charging, Lith had covered himself with mana from head to toes, just in case. The mana expenditure to withstand Chaos magic had been enormous, but it still beat instant death.

    Lith performed an upward diagonal sh from right to left, forcing Korgh to move from her safe spot to not be cut in half. She ducked while sidestepping on Lith¡¯s left, her eyes fixated on the de infused with darkness magic that passed millimeters away from her face and cut off the extremity of her pointed ears.

    She had yet to perceive the pain from the injury when Lith¡¯s left fist struck her side, one of the parts her body which still belonged to the goblins, with enough strength to lift her from the ground and made her spit out a mouthful of blood.

    She ignored the pain, grabbing his wrist to cut it open with her ws, only to discover his whole arm was covered by the silvery liquid, turning it into an Orichalcum living hammer.

    ¡¯Cunning bastard! The sword was just a distraction to hit my weak spot. If he thinks an armor can protect him from my touch, he¡¯s in for a surprise.¡¯ She thought as her grip turned into a vise, sucking his vitality through the enchanted protection.

    Unfortunately for Korgh, she wasn¡¯t Lith¡¯s first Abomination. Under the silver, there wasn¡¯t the pink, frail skin of a human, but the ck scaly body of a hybrid. Both of them had the ability to prey on the vitality of their opponent and even if Korgh was more skilled, Lith¡¯s counter flow made hers a hollow victory.

    The stolen vitality was so scarce that it was barely noticeable. Lith was unable to free his left hand, so he lunged with the Gatekeeper at Korgh¡¯s shoulder which was still made of goblin flesh.

 Chapter 630 Sudden Death Part 2

    She intercepted the de with her open palm, letting it pierce through her hand until her fingers closed unto its hilt.

    "Beating an Eldritch in a contest of strength it¡¯s a foolish quest. The only question is which one of you will break first. If you or your de." Korgh sneered.

    Lith inwardly cursed as her ck blood corroded the Gatekeeper¡¯s surface and dripped onto the mana crystals embedded in its hilt. Of all the creatures he had faced, Lith had never met one with acid for blood.

    Lith tried to pull the de away, but Korgh was too strong. At the same time, she tried to break his arm, but between his mana boosting the Skinwalker Armor and earth fusion boosting his enhanced physique, it felt to her like moving a mountain.

    "What do you think I¡¯m here for?" Morok said from behind her a split second after one of his short swords pierced her chest and another her head.

    Korgh had forgotten about the other Ranger and that by not having her back against the wall anymore, Blink was a significant threat.

    "By the gods!" Morok was shocked seeing that the creature wasn¡¯t dying whereas his des were melting.

    "No vitals! Go for the yellow parts!" Lith said while exploiting Korgh¡¯s indecision to let go of the Gatekeeper and struck with Solus¡¯s gauntlet at Korgh¡¯s goblin sternum. Solus had infused herself with all the elements and released a few spells she kept at the ready at the moment of the impact.

    The resulting effect of thebined attack of Lith, Skinwalker, and Solus was akin to a jackhammer on the snow. The fist pierced through her chest and came out of her back, spraying red, harmless blood all over Morok.

    "Copy that." He replied starting to stab at the exposed goblin parts so fast that before a wound had enough time to bleed, four more had been opened.

    Korgh inwardly cursed, trying to find a way out. Hitting her goblin body couldn¡¯t kill her since she had no vitals, but the wounds were making her strength plummet.

    Lith kept hammering her body with his free hand and when she tried to move him aside with both her hands to escape from Morok¡¯s onught, Lith grabbed the Gatekeeper¡¯s hilt.

    He flooded it with all the mana he could spare, infusing it with darkness magic as he twisted and pulled the de away. ck blood hit the spot Lith had been until a split second before, making the rocks sizzle while they melted.

    Feeling her life slipping, Korgh didn¡¯t hesitate to Blinking to one of the upper levels of the mines. She kept Blinking until she reached the surface, choosing a crystal deposit as her hiding spot.

    ¡¯The crystals will help me recover my strength and shield me from an Awakened¡¯s Life Vision. I can only hope no one enters the deposit before I¡¯m able to fight back, otherwise I¡¯m screwed!¡¯ She thought while feeding off the nearby crates.

    "Where did she go?" Lith asked Solus while looking around. The crystals surrounding them were jamming his Life Vision, making it hard for him to even see Morok¡¯s energy signature.

    ¡¯She might have gone anywhere. The mines are a maze and there are too many interferences.¡¯ She replied.

    "That thing was a woman too? Weirdest day ever." Morok replied while using quick flicks of his wrists to clean his des from the ck blood.

    "I don¡¯t think she will be back any time soon. Bybining our attacks we have given her ugly ass a solid kicking. How¡¯s your weapon?"

    Lith stuck his back against the wall to prevent being stabbed in the back while using Invigoration on the Gatekeeper. The massive flow of darkness magic had already destroyed any trace of the Abomination¡¯s acid, it was only a matter of assessing the damage.

    "No, no, no!" Was all Lith said. The corroded metal wasn¡¯t an issue, but the damaged mana crystals were another story. Too much ck blood had soaked them for too long.

    The pseudo core had already spent most of its energy to regenerate the damages as fast as it could, but Lith¡¯sst darkness burst had been the final straw that broke the camel¡¯s back.

    The Gatekeeper was already in critical condition. If he didn¡¯t retrieve it, it would have been destroyed, but to do it Lith had been forced to push it beyond its limits. Lith drew a Forgemaster repairing circle so fast that even the Professors watching at the process couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes.

    He fought with all of his skill, using his mana as a life support system, but the Gatekeeper¡¯s pseudo core slowly faded as the corruption caused by the ck blood destroyed its mana circtory system.

    "It¡¯s dead." Lith said after a while. The magic was gone and the crystals had turned dull. The piece of metal in his hands was nothing but scrap. The memories of the enemies they had vanquished together, of all the times it had saved his life flooded Lith¡¯s mind.

    For a moment, he grieved the Gatekeeper like it was a lifelong friend. Then he started to worry about his immediate future.

    "Sorry to hear that, man. Hope you have another to spare. Losing your main weapon before even starting a mission is the worst that could happen." Morok was honestly sad. He knew all too well how expensive good equipment was.

    "Phloria! Quy! Are you alright?" Lith blurted out as soon as the word dead escaped from his lips. In his battle frenzy, he hadpletely forgotten about his two real friends.

    Recing the Gatekeeper would be hard but feasible. Lith knew that sooner orter he had to upgrade his weapon.

    A living being, however, couldn¡¯t be reced. The image of Yurial appeared in his mind as Life Vision was focused to spot the only two life forces that held any significance to him in that tunnel.

    "I¡¯m okay." Quy said, her voice was feeble from fatigue.

    "I was staring at the rude Ranger, so I had all the time to drop down the moment I heard the voice. Phloria wasn¡¯t so lucky, though."

    More than half of the expedition team wasying on the ground in a puddle of their own blood. The Chaos arrows couldn¡¯t pierce through the magical protections, but they could still smash bones and rupture organs.

    Following her duty as a Mage Knight, Phloria had pushed those who were near to her to safety while conjuring a protective shield for herself. Unfortunately, she had never met an Abomination capable of using Chaos magic.

    Her spell had been ripped to shreds and she had taken the full force of many arrows at once. If not for all the enchantments Orion had imbued her equipment with, she would have died on the spot.

    "How is she?" Lith asked while cing a hand on Phloria¡¯s shoulder to check her condition with Invigoration.

    "Aren¡¯t you a Healer? The Captain is already being treated. You should take care of the wounded." Said a woman in herte fifties donning the colors of the ck Griffon. She had been hit on a shoulder, but her assistant was in critical condition.

 Chapter 631 Friend or Foe Part 1

    "It¡¯s none of my business." Lith replied. Phloria¡¯s recovery was slow because she had suffered extensive damage and because of her fatigue, Quy hadn¡¯t much life force to spare.

    Phloria had several broken bones, punctured organs, and was bleeding out of her head, mouth, and nostrils. She was deadly pale, gurgling more blood with each breath she took.

    "I already risked my life to protect you guys from that thing at great personal cost. I will not waste my mana on a stranger when the life of another of my friends is on the line."

    He started to support Quy¡¯s spell, stopping Phloria¡¯s internal bleeding before it was toote. He could¡¯ve fixed her in the blink of an eye, but with Quy monitoring Phloria¡¯s condition he had to pretend to be a normal mage, incapable of recovering his full strength with just a few deep breaths.

    "Great Mage Verhen! The duty of all the members of the army is to protect life without giving preferential treatments." The woman from the ck Griffon was seething with anger.

    Her shoulder length grey hair was dancing in the air due to the mana exuding from her body and her eyes were reduced to two fiery slits. Yet she was holding her left arm in pain.

    The healing spell from her magic ring would take a while to heal herpletely and until that happened, she was unable to cast spells. Fake mages needed both arms and magic words to use magic.

    "The Captain performed her duty honorably and with your actions, you are wasting her sacrifice. You should..." Talking about Phloria as if she was already dead made Lith snap.

    His right forefinger whipped as a scorpion¡¯s tail, releasing a small air bullet that struck the injured shoulder right where it would hurt the most. With his innate skill for deathblows and extensive knowledge of the human body, Lith didn¡¯t even need to use Life Vision to find the right spot.

    The bullet was weak, barely as strong as a push, yet enough to rattle the bone fragments inside the Professor¡¯s body like it was a flesh maraca. It caused her a pain so intense that the woman fainted without emitting a sound.

    "That¡¯s why I hate academics." Morok said while treating the Assistant from the ck Griffon.

    Healing wasn¡¯t a specialization he had learned back when he was a student at the Crystal Griffon, but after bing a Ranger, he had quickly understood how dangerous it was not being able to treat all kinds of wounds.

    It had taken him some time, but the army had provided him with all he needed to be an excellent Healer.

    "You think you are so much better than us because of your knowledge, yet when shit happens, you¡¯re as useful as a third nostril. Just because we chose to wear a uniform, it doesn¡¯t make us expendable.

    "Instead of running your mouths for whining, help yourselves. Our lives aren¡¯t any less important than yours."

    Quy felt the sting of those words as well. After leaving the academy, she had neglected physical training, thinking that always being either at her home or at the White Griffon made it unnecessary.

    ¡¯What good is a Healer that gets exhausted after a long walk? Lith has walked as much as I did, fought for his life, and yet he still has enough energy to help Phloria. I¡¯m no different from that old hag. I¡¯m too dependent on others in times of crisis.¡¯ She thought.

    Once Phloria¡¯s condition was stabilized, Lith helped the others. Every one of those present was able to use tier three healing magic and had plenty of potions, so only a handful of people were still injured.

    When the Healers were done, the group in the tunnel looked like war survivors. Their clothes were damaged, their bodies weakened from either performing or receiving the healing, making their breath ragged and irregr.

    Except for Lith, who thanks to Invigoration was still at his peak condition.

    "What kind of monster are you? How the heck did you survive those ck rays?" Morok was proud of his stamina, yet after sharing his life force with the wounded, he wasn¡¯t faring any better than one of the old fossils.

    He would dly take a few hours long nap, if given the chance.

    "Orichalcum." Lith replied.

    "I recently Forgemastered a Skinwalker Armor out of it. The results are way better than I expected."

    "What? That¡¯s impossible." Morok said, quickly followed by a few experts.

    "I¡¯m no Forgemaster, but when Imissioned one, I was told that the spell reacts erratically with metals, that¡¯s why Skinwalkers are always made out of clothes."

    "Believe what you want. The important thing now is getting out of here. The Abomination might return and with the crystals surrounding us, we can¡¯t set a proper defensive perimeter nor use spells for self defense.

    "Must I remind you that I¡¯ve lost my weapon?" Lith was eager to change the topic.

    Back when he didn¡¯t find a metal Skinwalker on the army¡¯s catalog, nor on the Association¡¯s one, he had simply thought that just like many items of his interest, they were hidden to the public and reserved for the elites.

    His objective had always been to copy and improve the best artifacts money could buy, so he had never stopped considering that there could be a different exnation.

    "Opening the copsed corridor is too dangerous. We must Warp to the outside!" A panicked youth from the Lightning Griffon tried to cast the dimensional spell, but his master pped him, interrupting his cast.

    "Don¡¯t panic, you idiot! The Rangers could Blink because the dimensional rift it creates is weak andsts for a split second. If you open a dimensional corridor, we might all die!"

    Even if the Warp Steps had never beenpleted, some of the crystals protruding from the walls started to tremble madly, resonating with the huge amount of released mana. Everyone stopped what they were doing, even breathing.

    After a few seconds, everything went back to normal.

    "I agree with Ranger Verhen on the matter." Morok said out loud, for everyone to listen.

    "I would like to rest too, but this position is a defensive nightmare. Those who can walk will walk, the others should use a float spell and let themselves be dragged. If any of you wants to back down, I¡¯ve already alerted the mines¡¯ supervisor.

    "Wait here and someone will open the passage in a few hours."

    A lot of moans and groans could be heard. Almost all the mages chose to float and it was up to the soldiers to bring them along like balloons filled with helium. Morok took point, while Lith covered their back, walking alongside Phloria and Quy.

    "Thanks, Lith." They were both able to walk after he had given them a bit of his life force.

    "I¡¯m really sorry about your sword. I know how much you loved it. Do you have a recement?" Phloria asked.

    "I have a lot of weapons with me, but they all suck. All my attempts to craft a better Gatekeeper failed. I guess I¡¯d have to ask Orion for something better once we get out of here." He sighed.

    "Did you really try to improve my father¡¯s work without even knowing the manufacturing process? That¡¯s bold. If Dad learns about it, he would be royally pissed by your attempts at stealing his secrets." She chuckled.

 Chapter 632 Friend or Foe Part 2

    "I think he will be more pissed off by you almost dying due to your bravado. There¡¯s no defense against those ck rays, your shields are no safer than wet paper against them. What the heck were you thinking?" Seeing Phloria almost die had triggered his memories about Carl.

    Both Quy and Phloria were surprised by his aggressive remarks, but only because neither of them had ever faced a fully formed Abomination. Only after Lith exined to them what they were capable of, did the girls realize how big of a bullet they had just dodged.

    "Even if I knew all this, I wouldn¡¯t have acted any differently." Phloria said.

    "My aim is to be a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard, the elite of the elite for Mage Knights. If we don¡¯t protect our assigned marks, we¡¯re useless. What just happened is an upational hazard."

    Lith would have liked to scold Phloria for her nonsensical behavior, but in the end, he decided against it. He too had risked dying many times to follow his own agenda, criticizing her for doing the same would have been in hypocritical.

    Soon Morok started to open new tunnels with earth magic. Seeing how fast and confident he was while taking several apparently random turns, made Lith curious.

    "How can you be so sure this is the right way? Do you have a map or something?" He asked via the army amulet.

    "No, I just marked the walls on my passage to react to my mana, in case I got lost or I needed to backtrack. That¡¯s why only I can lead the expedition. Don¡¯t you do the same in dungeons or underground ces when there is no time to draw a map?" Morok replied.

    "No. I have a great memory." To be exact, Solus did.

    In emergency situations, Lith would rely on her abilities to ess to his memories and find the right path. Otherwise, he would always take his time to draw a map and store it inside Soluspedia to gain tactical awareness in the case an ambush urred.

    Like he was doing at that moment. Morok had tasked him to close the tunnels as soon as possible so that no one could follow them without being noticed. Earth magic produced a lot of noise and with the echo in the tunnels, its use could be heard from hundreds of meters of distance.

    The expedition team managed to move forward for two more hours before even Morok was on the verge of copsing due to exhaustion. Their advance had slowed down even further due to theck of lighting since they had left the mines.

    The natural tunnels were bumpy and uneven. Their footing was also very precarious because the humidity would condense on the ground, making it slippery. Luckily for them, during his first passage, Morok had marked safe rest spots.

    "You take the first watch." Morok said while pointing at Lith.

    "Then have someone relieve you after one hour, I don¡¯t care who. I¡¯ll take thest watch. We¡¯re not moving from here before four hours minimum."

    Before any of the soldiers couldin that he wasn¡¯t theirmanding officer, Morok was already asleep. His behavior caused many grumbles, but they didn¡¯tst long. Everyone was so tired that they fell asleep the moment they sat down.

    Lith checked his surroundings with Life Vision. The lighting from the crystal mines was far enough to allow him to scout far and wide, making sure that there was no imminent threat.

    He even performed a Life Detection array to cover more ground.

    "Forgemaster, Healer, fighter, and even Warden?" A voice asked.

    Lith recognized the woman from the ck Griffon. He was expecting some snarky remarks or even that she would attempt to report to hismanding officer the assault she had suffered by Lith¡¯s hand.

    Not that Lith was afraid of either possibility. He was used to being insulted ever since he had stepped inside the White Griffon academy. Powerful people hated the idea of witnessing the growth of someone that could be more powerful than them.

    Their natural response was to nip people like Lith in the bud, at any cost. As for thetter possibility, Lith would have loved to see Jirni discuss with someone that had dared to suggest letting her daughter die.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sure it would be something so slow and gruesome that I could learn a lot. I¡¯d like to think of myself as a master of coercion, butpared to Jirni I¡¯m just a learner.¡¯ He thought.

    "Everything that¡¯s needed for survival has to be learned." Lith replied.

    "Wise words for someone so prone to violence." Her voice was calm. She wasn¡¯t trying to insult him, only stating a fact.

    "Without strength, wisdom is nothing but hot air. Without wisdom, strength is just violence. I was only protecting someone who I hold dear. If you expect an apology from me, don¡¯t hold your breath." Lith replied.

    "Quite the contrary. I¡¯vee to apologize for my earlier behavior. My assistant is like a son to me. I couldn¡¯t stand watching him die while I was helpless because of my wound. I was angry at myself and I took it out on you." She gave Lith a small bow.

    "Take these as a sign of my goodwill." She handed Lith several mana cyan crystals, each one with a t bottom and as big as a beer bottle.

    "Thanks, but what am I supposed to do with them Professor...?" Lith was very confused. He had a lot on his mind, from the loss of the Gatekeeper to almost watching Phloria die. His brain was about to pop.

    "Yondra Mefaal. ck Griffon¡¯s Professor of history of magic and Forgemastering. You can use them to set a barrier. I¡¯m too weak to cast a spell, but at least I can give you some help." She replied with a kind smile.

    Seeing that Lith wasn¡¯t moving, Yondraughed and showed him how to perform the Silent Shroud array. When Lith was done, a ck dome surrounded the camp, preventing both light and sound from spreading outside of its premises.

    "Now no one can see or hear us. The barrier it produces is not very strong, but as you can see, it¡¯s a very useful formation." Thanks to the array, Lith could see the area surrounding them as if he was wearing thermal goggles.

    It was quite useless for someone capable of using Life and Fire Vision, but it would allow him to rest more easily when others would relieve him from guard duty.

    "Thank you very much." Lith said while copying the spell in his grimoire along with his thoughts about how to turn it into true magic.

    "Don¡¯t mention it. By protecting you I¡¯m protecting myself. I¡¯d like to talk about many things with someone as peculiar as you are, but s, I¡¯m beat. See youter." Yondra checked on her assistant condition and after she made sure he was just fatigued as she was, she fell asleep.

    Lith followed her example and went checking on his friends. Morok didn¡¯t seem to need his help and judging by his snoring, he was having a good time. Quy and Phloria were both sleeping.

    Invigoration confirmed to him that there was nothing wrong with them. Since there was no point in waking them up, Lith started to circle around the edges of the formation while using umtion.

    The tunnel was quiet. There was no noise nor energy signatureing towards them, yet the space around them was far from being empty.

 Chapter 633 A Fair Trade Part 1

    Under the crystal mines, he could see a flow of world energy so big that it made mana geysers look like drinking fountains.

    There were also life forces inside the ground, the kind of which he had never seen before. He couldn¡¯t notice any of it earlier because he was in the middle of the raging storm that was Mogar¡¯s essence.

    It was also the reason he had been unable to chase Korgh.

    Only now that Lith was far enough, could he glimpse the magnitude of the natural phenomenon that gave life to mana crystals.

    ¡¯Does the life force belong to Awakened crystals or to Mogar itself? Thank heavens we left the mines. Being exposed for long to such a vigorous flow of world energy might speed up Phloria¡¯s Awakening process.

    ¡¯It would be a shame if I had to kill the entire expedition to protect our secret. Yondra and Morok seem to be nice people, but "seem" is not enough to...¡¯

    "Who are you nning to kill?" Phloria¡¯s voice took him by surprise and make Lith flinch.

    "No one. What are you doing here? You should be sleeping."

    "I don¡¯t believe you. Your eyes were aze and you were making the face." She shook her head.

    "What face?" Lith asked.

    "Your battle face. When you look at people as nothing but corpses to dissect. You know, it hurts thinking that when we first met, you looked at me that way. If I knew what it meant back then, I would have never asked you out." Phloria chuckled.

    "Do you mindpany while you stand guard? I think I¡¯m still tense from the ambush and I can¡¯t fall asleep, no matter how hard I try."

    ¡¯I must have given her too much life force.¡¯ Lith pondered.

    "I¡¯ve no such face." He lied through his teeth, making her giggle.

    "And these eyes are not because I¡¯m angry. I call this Life Vision. It allows to those like me to gauge our opponent¡¯s strength and to see even through walls." He said while using a quick Hush to prevent others from hearing him.

    Seeing that Phloria had be beet red and was covering her chest andher regions with her arms, Lith rushed to exin.

    "It came out wrong. I don¡¯t mean I can see through clothes or something, I see people as featureless lumps of energy. I can¡¯t even tell a man from a woman unless they¡¯re very close."

    "Really? Do I have your word?" Her arms didn¡¯t move an inch.

    "Yes, I swear on my family. Am I making my perverted face?" He said while looking straight at her body. ording to Kam, he had that one too.

    "Definitely not." Phloria rxed as the realization he actually had a perverted face stung at Lith¡¯s pride.

    "Why are you telling me this now?" Phloria asked.

    "Because there are a lot of things down here and I don¡¯t know if they are friendly or hostile. You already know enough about me and I need your trust so that the next time something happens, you¡¯ll do as I say."

    Lith also wanted to check how much he could reveal about himself without shocking someone he cared for.

    "Who among my men is the strongest?" Phloria asked, curious to put his ability to the test.

    "Physically, the small guy with red hair. Magically, the woman sleeping near the people from the Earth Griffon."

    "You¡¯re correct. Helion has an uncanny constitution and Jerth is the only one in the team who got into one of the great academies. Wait, what do you mean ¡¯those like me¡¯?" She knew about the Hush zone, but she still lowered her voice until it was barely audible.

    "There are others?"

    "Yes. Nalear was one of them. Why do you think she only kidnapped me? She was afraid that I could mess with her n, and she was right."

    Suddenly many things started to make sense to Phloria. Why both Lith and Nalear could emit an aura without the use of spells, how he had been able to notice the ve items despite they all had a different shape.

    The revtion was quite a big shock, so she needed to sit down for a minute.

    "Could she shapeshift too?"

    "No. As far as I know, only Emperor Beasts and I can shapeshift. Undead too." He said after a while.

    "Are you a human or an Emperor Beast?" The shock in her eyes was growing stronger, but Phloria was just surprised, not scared.

    "I wish I knew. My parents are humans, and so are my siblings. As for me, I¡¯m me. I can¡¯t give you a better answer, sorry."

    Phloria stood up, never averting his gaze. She couldn¡¯t stop asking herself how she looked through those zing eyes.

    "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Lith said, grateful that she wasn¡¯t prying further.

    "Not at all."

    "What in the gods¡¯ names did you do with your hair? It was so..." His hand moved towards where the soft mass once was, before stopping midway.

    "And now is so..." There was no way to express his disappointment without being rude. Phloria¡¯s hair had always been a delight for his touch and his nose. After losing the Gatekeeper, seeing her with the pixie cut was like one blow too many.

    "Men are idiots. You¡¯ve lost your de, I almost died, you opened to me four yearste, and your biggest worry while we are stranded hundreds of meters below the ground, guided by the rudest man I¡¯ve ever met, it¡¯s the length of my hair?"

    She wasughing heartily, bringing back for both of them many happy memories.

    "I didn¡¯t do anything to it. My hair is alive and kicking." Phloria grabbed a small silver hairpin in the back of her head and took it off. A cascade of waist long hair fell down from her head, giving Phloria back the appearance she had at Jirni¡¯s birthday party.

    "I cut them once I joined the army, but I got permission to grow them back once I became an officer. My mother too nagged at me for my looks, so I asked Dad for help. Long hair might be nice to look at, but for a fighter is nothing but a nuisance.

    "So, he did this for me." The moment she put the hairpin back, her hair rolled up like a shutter while it waspressed as if it was vacuum-packed.

    "Can I see it?" Lith¡¯s Forgemaster curiosity was piqued. The hairpin turned out to be a mix of dimensional, air, and light magic. It was the mostplex useless pseudo core Lith had ever seen.

    ¡¯Son of a gun!¡¯ Lith thought as Invigoration revealed several little runes covering the hairpin.

    ¡¯Not only was Solus right about the Kingdom knowing about the runes, but also that big oaf used so many resources for his daughter¡¯s hair and made my Gatekeeper so frail!¡¯ He was quite pissed off by Orion¡¯s double standards.

    ¡¯First, unless we¡¯re talking about people, I¡¯m always right. Second, hello kettle! My name is pot and you are ck!¡¯ Solus replied.

    As if mentioning his name was akin to a summoning ritual, Orion¡¯s rune lighted on Lith¡¯smunication amulet, drawing his attention.

    "Is Jirni okay? Did something happen to Friya?" Lith asked before Orion could even utter a word. There was no other reason he could think of to exin the call. On the rare asions they had talked to each other, it had always happened in person.

 Chapter 634 A Fair Trade Part 2

    "What the heck are you rambling about? Do you think that if something like that had happened to them, I would be wasting my time on social calls? I would be hunting Manohar¡¯s ass down while one of my men seeks your help.

    "I¡¯m calling you because of an outrageous rumor I heard a few hours before. Some of my Forgemaster colleagues in the expedition say that you im to have crafted an Orichalcum Skinwalker armor.

    "At first, I paid it no heed, but when I called my Little Flower to hear about her mission, she confirmed it. Is it really true? I need to hear it from your voice." Orion said.

    Lith furrowed his brows while looking at Phloria, who just shrugged.

    "The cat was already out of the bag. There was no point in denying it." She said, hurting Orion¡¯s feelings. The idea that one of his daughters could keep secrets from him was terrible.

    Yet Phloria had never shared with anyone Lith¡¯s secrets just as Friya never talked about Protector¡¯s ability to shapeshift into a human.

    "Yes, it¡¯s true." Lith injected a bit of his mana into the Skinwalker, making it turn into a quicksilver-like liquid that covered him from head to toes and made him resemble a humanoid metal golem.

    "Amazing! That¡¯s supposed to be impossible. The Thunderbird¡¯s feather and the Orichalcum release wild energy whenever they interact, making the spell unstable. I tried countless times with as many variations but I never seeded.

    "How the heck did you do it?" Orion asked.

    "There¡¯s no such thing as a wild energy release." Lith wasn¡¯t going to give away his secret, but if he wanted to obtain something decent to rece his lost weapon, he had to drive a hard bargain.

    The first step was baiting the prey with an honest, but useless information.

    "It¡¯s just that the Orichalcum amplifies the feather¡¯s energy field, so if you had nned to handle a spell with 100 units of power, you actually get one with 130, which is more than your spell is devised can harness."

    "It makes sense." Orion pondered. "Orichalcum has the property to amplify energy based enchantments. It¡¯s the reason Orichalcum is considered so precious since its hardness is just above Damascus steel levels.

    "Still, I handled tons of Orichalcum, yet only a few crafting techniques always fail, like it happens for the Skinwalker. How do you exin that?"

    "Because the interaction between ingredients is very strong and it significantly varies with the amount of adamant in the Orichalcum." Lith replied.

    Only a true mage like him couldfortably wait for the pseudo core to stabilize before fusing it with an enchanted item. Fake mages used spells that would barelyst twenty seconds and they had no way to assess how great the amplifying effect was.

    They could adjust the energy output with a tier five spell, but without Life Vision or Invigoration, it would still be like a blind man trying to kill a bird with a single arrow.

    "Would you like to share your method? I¡¯ve struck a bottleneck in crafting armors because to upgrade my products I would need to use Orichalcum or Adamant, but the little bastards always mess with my spells." Orion¡¯s request was the closest thing to a taboo between mages.

    Sharing spells was something that could be done only on a voluntary basis, and usually no one would reveal one of their trump cards.

    "Would you like to share your crafting methods?" Lith replied with a sneer.

    "Of course not." Orion sighed. "What about an exchange? I heard that the Gatekeeper has been destroyed. I can give you an even better weapon if you provide me with an Orichalcum Skinwalker as a study subject."

    Orion wanted to exploit the situation as well. Any decent warrior knew that a weapon was more than a tool. In their line of work, it was a lifeline.

    "I first need to see what you¡¯re offering. As you can see, my crafting process made the armor much more versatile than a normal Skinwalker. A Gatekeeper is good, but it¡¯s not enough. To use it at its full power, it takes a lot of mana.

    "On top of that, it was too frail. It almost broke during the events in Othre, Maekosh, and even Jambel. What good is a weapon that it¡¯s not able to protect my life and that requires to be protected?" Lith painfully remembered every time he hade close to sacrifice the Gatekeeper to protect his life.

    "Fine! You¡¯re right." Orion yielded, especially because Phloria was giving him a bad, bad look.

    "It was just the gift for a 13 year old and one I didn¡¯t like much at that. I¡¯ll make you something worthy of a Ranger. You have my word."

    Lith hung up after showing Orion exactly what his armor could do. Lith didn¡¯t ask him for anything specific because he knew that as a craftsman, Orion¡¯s pride would force him to give his best to not fall short of Lith¡¯s skill.

    Making specific requests would have been like giving him boundaries, whereas this way Orion could do whatever he wanted and Lith was free to refuse the trade if he considered it to be unfair.

    To Phloria, Lith said:

    "Well, at least now I can put one of my prototypes to good use. You have no idea how many tweaks it took to craft something that could store my full power without it exploding into my face."

    "Are you really going to give Dad just a prototype? A faulty item?" Now she was giving Lith a bad, bad look.

    "Not faulty, just not the best one. He will tinker with it a lot, probably even damage or destroy it. There¡¯s no reason to waste a good armor when even a mediocre one follows the same principles and has the same properties." Lith shrugged.

    "If your father is even one bit like me, if I were to give him a masterpiece, he wouldn¡¯t bear the thought of destroying it and limit his experiments as a consequence. This is yours, by the way."

    Lith handed her a chainmail set that even under the dim light of the camp shone like a precious gem, creating a rainbow on the tunnel ceiling.

    "As I told you, I made a lot of them but I only need one. You¡¯ve already almost died today and if something happens to you, I would never forgive myself. I might not be in love with you anymore, but I love you nheless." Lith said.

    "I- I can¡¯t ept it. It¡¯s too precious." Both his gesture and his words made Phloria incredibly happy and sad at the same time. Lith still cared for her deeply, but not like before.

    When he looked at her, she could almost perceive an invisible wall between them and its presence hurt her way more than she expected.

    "Precious, yes. Rare, not so much. I have already given one to Tista and to the rest of my family as well. It took a lot of work to get this right, so I have plenty to spare. I have even one for Quy and Friya. So get down your high horse and ept my gift."

    Phloria took the armor and imprinted it immediately. There were just cyan crystals bonded with the metal. They proved that it was indeed a prototype and that Lithcked powerful resources.

 Chapter 635 Davross Part 1

    In Phloria¡¯s family, purple crystals were a given for almost everything. Yet even most Archmages couldn¡¯t afford many of them, along with the natural treasures, metals, and ingredients.

    The Ernas family was one of the most ancient and richest in the Griffon Kingdom, after all.

    "Did you tell Kam?" She asked while hugging the chainmail suit as if it was something precious and delicate as a newborn.

    "About what?" Lith asked.

    "About the things you told me. She deserves to know and the longer you wait, the harder it will be for her."

    "I don¡¯t see how time can make epting me for whatever I am harder." Lith chuckled.

    "Not that. If she really cares for you, she will be a bit scared at first, but then she will start wondering: why did he wait for so long before telling me? How many more things is he hiding? Kam might start doubting your feelings and her own as well."

    Phloria conjured a stone dome around herself to get changed into the Skinwalker armor, using the cover from the Hush zone to not rm the others.

    ¡¯She¡¯s right, you know.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯I know.¡¯ Lith replied.

    After his pocket watch marked the passing of the hour, Lith woke up a couple of soldiers and went to sleep. He had already used Invigoration a few times and with no Gatekeeper to help him, he needed all the edges he could get.

    After four hours had passed, Quy went to ask Morok to resume their journey.

    "I¡¯m still beat, but we can move. If that witch didn¡¯t hunt us down after so much time, she¡¯s likely moved to an easier prey. Let¡¯s move!" The Ranger said.

    Lith recovered the mana crystals and dispelled the Silent Shroud while Phloria took her ce at the center of the group to better coordinate her men while Quy moved to the rear, near Lith.

    "Any advice on how to get stronger? My magic has grown since our days at the academies, but I think I¡¯ve be as physically weak as a kitten." She said.

    "Do like I did when I was at the academy. Train until your muscles hurt, eat meat, use light magic to assimte the food and rebuild your tissues. Rinse and repeat until you are too tired to continue."

    "Sounds dull. How long would it take?" Quy asked, making Lith feel her arm¡¯s muscles.

    "A week to get some meat on those bones and a few months to get stronger." Was his reply.

    "Months? I thought it would be easier. I mean, you and Phloria make it seem easy."

    "We trained a lot over the years. If there was a shortcut, everyone would take it. Besides, even if you had a magical way to regain your stamina at will, you would still need to sweat a lot. It¡¯s just like magic, it takes time and effort.

    "There¡¯s no ¡¯be an Archmage by training 5 minutes a day¡¯ cheat in life." Lith shrugged.

    Professor Yondra and her Assistant, Rainer Lomann, joined them after a few minutes. Rainer was wearing the uniform of the ck Griffon, a ck magician¡¯s robe that was made out of a material that seemed to be made out of living darkness.

    He was the same age as Lith, around 1.72 meters (5¡¯8) tall, with red hair and blue eyes. The ck of his robe made him appear even thinner than he already was. Lith couldn¡¯t believe that he was a Forgemaster.

    Being muscr wasn¡¯t a prerequisite, but a Forgemaster¡¯s body would be tempered by harnessing the enormous amounts of mana that the advanced crafting processes required.

    Rainer was holding his chest, and his breath was already short despite the fact that they had just finished resting. After receiving the mana crystals and a new spell from Yondra, Lith felted indebted to her, so he decided to further smoothen up the previous incident between them.

    Lith ced his hand over Rainer¡¯s shoulder and gave him a bit of life force before treating his injuries. The young man stopped slouching as his chest stopped hurting.

    "Thank you, but we didn¡¯te here for that. I hoped we could resume our earlier conversation." Yondra said, throwing a mean look at her pupil.

    "Kid, I¡¯m old, so I need time to recover from a bad wound. What¡¯s your excuse? Do you realize you are making even aplete stranger notice your weakness?"

    At those words, both Rainer and Quy blushed in embarrassment, they were in a simr situation.

    Seeing them walking side by side, reminded Lith of the odd Forge he had found inside the Lost City of Huryole.

    ¡¯She¡¯s the best next thing to an archaeologist, plus Yondra is a Forgemaster. I forgot to ask Orion about it, but maybe she is even more likely to know what that was.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I brought him on this expedition to show him that even being an historian requires strength and guts." Yondra said. "Sure, we spend most of our days sitting behind our desk doing research, but when you actually need to search for relics, you can¡¯t just ask to monsters and beasts to kindly step aside and let you do your job.

    "You need to learn how to fight, dammit."

    "But Professor, what about the army or the mercenary guilds? Isn¡¯t it easier to get their help rather than pointlessly risking our lives?" Rainer asked.

    "The army will help you only if you have solid evidence of a discovery that could benefit the Kingdom." Quy replied. "As for mercenaries, I wouldn¡¯t trust them to be satisfied with a few coins if you find a priceless treasure. They are mages too."

    "Exactly." Yondra nodded. "This is likely to be the easiest expedition you¡¯ll ever take part in. We have two Rangers, an elite squad of soldiers, and six Professors. The number of things that can go wrong with all this firepower is very limited."

    "Easiest?" Rainer was bbergasted. "We almost got wiped out before even starting!"

    "My dear, that ¡¯almost¡¯ makes all the difference in the world. When I was your age, my so called bodyguards tried to kill and rob me after I stupidly showed off how much money I had. I wanted to buy their loyalty, not give them a motive, and yet..."

    Rainer swallowed several times, wondering why he was the only nervous one. Quy was shorter and wimpier than him, yet she looked confident.

    Lith used the sudden silence to tell Yondra about his recent trip to Huryole. He didn¡¯t mention the sword, the booklet, and not even his theory about the lost city being actually a lost academy.

    Lith had checked the army database, yet Huryole was always referred to as a city in the official documents. Even if Yondra knew the truth, she was unlikely to share it with him.

    Once Lith reached the part about the ck and white Forge, her eyes lit like stars with greed and wonder.

    "Are you sure? A whole Forge?" She asked more than once, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her own words.

    "Yes, I can show it to you." Lith materialized a hologram of the Forge, mimicking its shapeshifting pattern.

    "Good gods, how unlucky of you! You found and missed a Forge made of pure Davross." She said.

    "I didn¡¯t miss it. It was bolted to the ground and when I attempted to take it away, the city tried to kill me. There¡¯s a big difference. What¡¯s Davross?"

 Chapter 636 Davross Part 2

    "The strongest metal known to man, even stronger than pure Adamant." Yondra¡¯s words made Lith internally scream in frustration.

    He clenched his temples, taking deep breaths before finding the strength to ask:

    "Why have I never heard about it? What makes it so special?"

    "It¡¯s a legendary metal, said to be indestructible. It can be broken, only melted and refined into ingots. It¡¯s so rare that I¡¯ve seen it only when I was allowed to study the artifacts belonging to Valeron Griffon, the first King.

    "In all my years, I¡¯ve never seen it again and you say there was a whole Forge?"

    "Yes. Any idea why it shapeshifts?" Lith asked.

    "Ideas, no. Only a legend, if you¡¯re interested."

    Lith nodded for her to continue.

    Yondra first exined Lith how ording to the lore, Mogar, the Great Mother, had given birth to the six gods of magic. There was one god for each element and ording to such legend, those blessed by the gods would bear their mark on their hair or fur.

    Lith looked at Quy¡¯s hair and her silvery streaks, finally understanding the meaning of such an odd coloration. ording to the fable, the gods had shared part of their essence with all things on Mogar, even metals.

    Normal metals would receive the blessing of two gods at most, the only exceptions were Adamant and Davross.

    Adamant was considered a metal where the elements had failed to achieve a perfect bnce as it was proven by the fact that instead of absorbing the light, Adamant would split it into itsponents like a prism.

    Davross, instead, was supposed to be a metal where the elements of destruction, fire and darkness would battle against those of creation, light and earth, while the remaining two with their dual nature would try to keep the bnce.

    Water gave life, but ice would take it away and the same applied to air and lightning. The conflicting natures of all six elements refused to coexist, so the three factions would always be eternally at war.

    Lochra Silverwing, the first Forgemaster, had written in her diaries that it was up to the mage to tip the scale by adding the seventh element, the only one that the Davrosscked. The element of life, moremonly knowns as mana.

    "It sounds like a load of rubbish." Lith said.

    "I would agree with you if the artifacts I studied didn¡¯t shapeshift anymore. I saw King Meron using the Sword of Saefel, and he can make the whole de change color ording to the element he needs to boost.

    "I wasn¡¯t much younger back then, but I can still count. The sword turned into seven colors. Red, yellow, ck, white, blue, orange, and emerald green. The Davross ingots, instead, would follow a pattern simr to the one you showed me."

    "Wait, are you telling me that Adamant is nothing but dead Davross?" Lith asked.

    "At least I think so. The Royal Family has ingots of Davross, but no one knows how to use them. Plus, if the legend is right, then it¡¯s only a matter of time before they lose their special properties. Otherwise why let experts like me study Valeron¡¯s Armor or his sword."

    Lith¡¯s mind started spinning like a top, trying to put together everything he had learned ever since he had arrived on Mogar. The shades in the hair of living creatures, the different colors of mana cores and crystals, the seven eyes of his hybrid form, and now even the Davross.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, life happens on Mogar when the six elements the world energy holds be one. ording to such logic, by absorbing enough world energy, living creatures can be Awakened by bing part of the¡¯s breathing cycle.

    ¡¯A blood core would be nothing but a mana core which has lost its light element and craves for it, whereas a ck core it¡¯s nothing but pure darkness. Also, it would exin why the Davross Forge I found back in Huryole almost had a core whereas the Adamant one Zolgrish paid me with doesn¡¯t.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Do you mind me asking why you¡¯re telling me so many things? Not to sound ungrateful, but most of them sound like ssified information. The Kingdom usually likes to y close to the vest." Lith didn¡¯t believe in generosity, especially from someone he had just met.

    Hispanions, the Ernas couple, even the Royals, they were all indebted to him. Their bond of trust was based on having been together through thick and thin or on the services he had provided.

    He could smell that something was off with Yondra.

    "You¡¯re quite perceptive. Yes, it¡¯s ssified information, but you work for the Kingdom as well and I am looking for someone that could inherit my legacy. Rainer might take my ce as History Professor in a few years, but I doubt he¡¯ll be a decent Forgemaster any soon.

    "The kidcks motivation, and even if he finds it during this expedition, I don¡¯t have that much time left." Yondra said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor, but I checked your condition earlier, and you are just fine. Why do you talk like that?" Lith was getting more confused by the second. The offer wasn¡¯t that good either.

    He wouldn¡¯t take an Awakened master lightly due to all the responsibilities and the obedience it would imply, let alone a fake mage one.

    "I¡¯m not talking about death, young man, only about retirement." Yondraughed.

    "I¡¯ve lived for over sixty years and I¡¯m tired of a life of duty. I want to spend what time I have left with my family, doing things I like. I was thinking about it for a while and almost getting killed by a random creature as if I was just a first year student made me think.

    "I wasn¡¯t able to defend my assistant, heck I couldn¡¯t even defend myself. It made me feel terribly old and helpless. Discovering that a kid has seeded in crafting Orichalcum artifacts whereas I failed at it for over forty years sure didn¡¯t help." She sighed.

    "Orion told me that you might be interested in working for an Academy and I¡¯d be d if you could rece me in the Forgemastering department once I retire. The White Griffon can¡¯t offer you the same opportunity. The Professors there are too young, it would take decades for a spot to open."

    ¡¯Interesting. So it must have been her telling Orion about my new Skinwalker Armor. I might work with this development. Maybe I could even ask her about the runes and the sword I found in Huryole.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Yondra insisted on her pitch and Lith listened to her while using Solus and Life Vision to keep their surroundings in check. He noticed that the underground was popted by several creatures, but they would all shy away from their lights.

    Some would follow them for a while, but after finding no opening and maybe even perceiving the power exuding from the expedition, they would soon leave. Solus identified some as magical beasts, others as monsters, whereas the rest were aplete mystery.

    Unfortunately, none of their mystical sense could see more than a silhouette, so Lith couldn¡¯t even figure out which was humanoid and which was just a two-legged creature.

    The walls and the ground were too rough to have been carved, so the passage had to be natural. The scratches and the w marks he spotted on several asions, though, were not.

 Chapter 637 Kulah Part 1

    They were too regr as if someone had carved directions in the stone to not get lost. Lith pointed them to Yondra, who carbon-copied them with a piece of paper and chalk.

    "How the heck did you notice them?" She blurted out after calling the rest of her colleagues to take a look at his discovery.

    "Secret of the trade." Lith replied since revealing his Fire Vision was out of the question. The humidity in the cave had filled the carvings with water, making them stand out like a sore thumb to his thermographic vision.

    After studying the carvings, the unanimous conclusion was that they were indeed some kind of ancientnguage.

    "If I¡¯m right, our expedition will go in history books." Said Professor Ellkas from the Fire Griffon. "I recognized this alphabet! It¡¯s an ancient dialect of the Odinguage." Cheers and apuse to both Lith and Ellkas erupted from the group as everyone took their books out of their respective dimensional items to decipher the writings.

    "The Odi!" Most of the Professors and their Assistants repeated enthusiastically so often that it almost resembled a chant.

    "Who the heck are the Odi?" Morok said, followed by the soldiers.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! The Odi.¡¯ Lith thought.

    They were the reason he had chosen to be assigned to the Ker region in the first ce, but he had never predicted to stumble into their legacy with so many people to babysit.

    Worse than that, the Professors could actually do more harm than good, so he started to think of a way to ditch them with no consequences for his military career.

    "What¡¯s wrong Lith?" Quy asked. "You¡¯re doing your ¡¯I¡¯m screwed¡¯ face."

    "Seriously, we have spent too much time together!" Lith didn¡¯t like being read so easily. Phloria he could understand, but Quy too?

    After setting a perimeter to defend the bbering Professors, Lith took Morok, Quy, and Phloria aside to share with them the history of the Odi Ka had taught him about.

    ording to the books in Scarlett¡¯sb, they were an ancient and powerful race that had conquered all illnesses. They had reigned above the other races until they had be so conceited to resort to forbidden magic in the attempt to be immortal.

    They had developed spells able to move the conscience of an individual from one body to another, achieving eternal youth. Their n had backfired for two reasons. The first was the fact that the new body was younger, but the talent for magic wasn¡¯t carried over.

    The second was that their victims and the Odi lower ss had rebelled to such use of their children, leading to a revolution that had wiped the Odi from the face of Mogar.

    On top of that, the Odi were considered to haveid the foundation for Lichhood.

    "Let me get this straight." Morok said.

    "If any of this crazy ass story of yours is true, then rather than ruins we might stumble into a popted city since those guys are supposed to live as long as they got a spare body. Also, they might have ess to technology as good as ours if not even Liches?"

    Lith nodded in reply. He doubted the Odi could have actually progressed that much, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

    "Okay, I¡¯m out of here. I¡¯ll call my superiors and abort the mission. I¡¯ve got ns! I¡¯m too young to die just a few months before retirement and in thepany of a group of fossils at that!"

    Phloria waited for the Ranger to be far enough before saying.

    "Anything else we should be aware of?"

    "Yes. The Odi were incredibly arrogant and racist." Quy said. "They believed to be the master race and that everything besides magic was below them. They were divided into caste ording to their magical talent.

    "I¡¯m telling you this because if somehow their protections are still working, they¡¯ll discriminate us based on our mana. Another thing. To avoid doing menial jobs they had ves, but for protections they used golems."

    Lith and Phloria stared at Quy with surprise.

    "How do you know all this stuff?" They asked in unison.

    "Because even though what they did was wrong, they reached the apex of Body Sculpting. All historical sources agree on the Odi having truly defeated all illnesses, it¡¯s not just a groundless legend.

    "They managed to do something we still can¡¯t. If we get our hands on their data, at least the sacrifice of their victims will do some good. We could achieve the same results without injuring anyone!" Quy was trying to convince herself as well as the others.

    She couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the moral implications of using such bloodstained knowledge.

    ¡¯My biggest fear is that the modifications the Odi underwent to be immune to disease might have also caused the copse of their society. Such a deep change in the life force might have easily affected their minds.¡¯ She thought.

    "Is the expedition you needed my help with also rted to the Odi?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. Their empire was located in the Ker region, but aside from some small ruins, nothing relevant has ever been found. I joined this expedition hoping I might find something that could help me to locate their capital, Reshia, but I would¡¯ve never thought we would find something in the Odinguage.

    "What if we are about to discover Reshia itself?"

    "It¡¯s unlikely. A capital is a ce that must be easily essible. A city with a constant flow of people, merchandise, and a lot of guards." Phloria said. "Signs on the walls and underground tunnels make me think more about a secret facility of sorts."

    Their debate was interrupted by Morok¡¯s return.

    "Goddammit! The highmand ordered to continue with the mission and seal all themunication with the outside." He took a small device the size of a ss marble out of his dimensional amulet.

    A shorth pulse of orange light spread through the tunnel, drawing the attention of the Professors. Lith expected them to be enraged by suchck of trust, but they looked all smug instead.

    "Excellent move, Ranger Eari." Said Professor Gaakhu, from the Crystal Griffon. She was one of the youngest in the group, a woman in her early forties with several blue streaks in her light brown hair and dark eyes.

    "ording to the markings found by Ranger Verhen, we are about to find the ruins of Kh."

    "What¡¯s that?" Lith asked turning to Quy, who shrugged in reply.

    "I¡¯ve no idea either, but since it must have taken a lot of effort to build something so deep below the earth, it must be something important. Captain Ernas, I don¡¯t need to tell you how security has just be of paramount importance." Gaakhu said.

    "We¡¯ll keep protecting you at the best of our abilities." Phloria nodded.

    "Not us, foolish child! I mean our discovery. Ranger Eari, didn¡¯t you exin anything to her?"

    "No, because you butted in before I could." Morok said with a snort.

    "Odi ruins are considered a state secret. Revealing their position or stealing any kind of artifact and knowledge is an act of treason. ording to mymanding officer, all Odi ruins discovered so far contained priceless treasures.

    "Everything we found is considered a Royal property."

    At that point, Morok turned to Phloria.

    "We¡¯re now under martialw and since you are the highest ranked officer, themand is now yours. It makes me happy because everything that goes wrong it¡¯s your fault and not mine."

 Chapter 638 Kulah Part 2

    "What are your orders, Captain Ernas?" There was something in the way Morok said the word that made it sound like an insult.

    "Let¡¯s move. We need to reach the ruins as soon as possible. Ranger Eari, you and two of my men take point. Ranger Verhen, cover our back. Everyone else, if someone tries to sneak away from the group, strike first and ask questionster."

    The three soldiers nodded, making the Assistant Professors swallow. None of them had expected their bodyguards to turn into their jailers.

    Morok picked up the pace and so did everyone else. Everyone walked in silence, they were too busy watching their steps to waste energy chatting.

    Lith was alone with Quy again and was now worried about another unexpected turn of events. The more they advanced, the fewer creatures he would spot along the corridors until the group waspletely alone.

    ¡¯Whatever Kh is, it seems that no one dares toe close to it. Let¡¯s hope I don¡¯t meet my third Lich.¡¯ Lith thought.

    After more than four hours of walking, the group needed a break. From that moment onwards, only the members of the military were allowed to stand guard, whereas the others had to stay grouped together, making it harder for anyone to escape from their watch.

    Aside from moss, nothing grew inside the tunnels, making them all look identical.

    As hours turned into days, most members of the expedition started to fall into depression. There was no sunlight, the air was stale and smelly, making it painful to breathe from time to time.

    Morok was still able to find his way thanks to the marks he had left while escaping from the Abomination-goblin hybrids, but every time he opened a new passage, he could see doubt and mistrust in the eyes of the others.

    They were growing afraid that he had lost his way and their lives in the process. The group was so deep inside Mogar that dimensional magic was useless. All ces looked the same, so opening a Warp Steps was no longer an option.

    Using earth magic with no idea where they were was likely to result in getting stranded or even cause a fatal cave-in.

    The impossibility to do anything but walking, sleeping, and eating was a heavy burden for everyone which worsened with each rest they took. The dullness of their routine turned the enthusiasm of the discovery into a bleak, hopeless silence.

    More than once one of the Assistants had a ustrophobic attack and needed to e sedated. ording to Lith¡¯s pocket watch, only four days had passed, but to everyone the march seemed to havested weeks.

    "Here we are. This is where I was forced to stop during my first visit. Now it¡¯s all up to you, smarty-pants." Morok said.

    The group had reached a huge underground cave of irregr shape which was at least 100 meters (330 feet) wide with a ceiling about 20 meters (66 feet) high. Once again, Lith could see that aside from moss, there was no life form dwelling in the vicinities.

    The floor was too regr to not be man made and several corridors departed from the cave. Each one of them had been clearly realized with earth magic and was wide enough to allow a huge carriage to easily pass.

    "Where do they lead?" Lith asked.

    "I don¡¯t know. I had no time to y explorer, my priority was survival. The moment we were cleared to leave, we took the same path back to the surface. It was the safest route." Morok replied.

    "As you have probably noticed, there¡¯s not much to eat down here, so any predator that gets stranded will wee our arrival as if we¡¯re a free meal ready for the taking.

    "We can¡¯t close the passages without running out of fresh air but we can¡¯t leave them like this."

    The two Rangers started to put tripwires and rms along the corridors while the Professors studied the structure at the end of the cave. There was a huge door there, so perfectly crafted that it would have been invisible if not for the moss that over the years had grown inside its small crevices, outlining its shape.

    It was a double door made of rock, so high that it almost reached the ceiling and so wide that three carriages could easily pass together through it. The problem was that there was no sign of its activation mechanism.

    Soon the cave was filled with light and noise as everyone did his best to find a solution to the conundrum in front of them. The array detection spells perceived several magical formations protecting both the door and the wall, making them immune to earth magic.

    "How the heck can those things still work? Aren¡¯t arrays supposed to fade without maintenance?" One of the assistants asked.

    "There are several possible exnations for this phenomenon, but your clearance level is too low to learn about any of them. So shut up and help us open this damn door." Gaakhu replied.

    Lith only needed a nce to learn the answer to that question. Just like most of the lost cities, whatever was behind the door had been built above a mana geyser. The arrays could draw their sustenance from it and unless an event of catastrophic proportions happened, they wouldst until someone turned them off.

    Lith and Solus consulted all their Warden books, but the design of the arrays was unknown. The only thing they were certain of, was that they were powerful and that they would react badly if someone tried to forcefully open the door.

    ¡¯There are several points in the wall where the word energy has been umted andpressed. It can¡¯t have any other purpose than to act as a defense mechanism in case of attack.¡¯ Lith thought.

    To Morok Yondra asked:

    "Do you have any suggestions on how to open the door?"

    "No. During my first visit, my main worry was not dying of starvation and fortifying the ce." He pointed at the south wall, where a few small buildings had been created with earth magic.

    The ground in the vicinities was full of holes big and deep enough that moving recklessly would likely result in a sprain or worse, depending on how badly one would fall.

    "What about you?" Phloria asked. Now that she was aware of Lith¡¯s Life Vision, she could expect one of his usual ¡¯miracles¡¯.

    "None." He used Hush to avoid being heard. The cave was so full of echoes that even a whisper would be carried around, making it noticeable.

    "The design of the arrays is tooplex to understand something on a first nce. I need to study them carefully and then I¡¯ll let you know."

    "Are you saying you can see arrays too?" Phloria was bbergasted.

    "As clearly as I can see you. Unlike people, they are entirely made of mana, so it¡¯s much easier to notice their details. Be careful with the door, I think it¡¯s surrounded by magical traps."

    The situation made no sense to Lith. He knew thanks to Life Vision that no one was around, yet Morok had told him how they had met so many monsters during their stay to be forced to fortify the ce and even resort to eating them.

    ¡¯The question is: did it happen out of pure bad luck, was it some kind of automatic defense mechanism like the arrays, or did someone send the monsters to kill them?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I guess it¡¯s only a matter of time before we learn the answer.¡¯ Solus replied.

 Chapter 639 Teks Part 1

    Soon fatigue trampled over the renewed enthusiasm from reaching their destination. The Professors hade prepared, they had all the necessary to set up a few defensive arrays before going to sleep.

    "I don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll stay here, but we can¡¯t allow depression to dull our wits. Give me a few minutes." Professor Yondra said.

    After a while, the cave was lit by a sphere of light that resembled a small sun, positioned in the middle of the ceiling. The array provided both light and warmth, even giving the ceiling a blue color.

    A second array made the air fresher, ridding it of the excess humidity. Despite their simple effects, the twobined arrays made wonders to lift the morale of the expedition.

    "The Sr Cycle array will reproduce the sr phases, including sunset." Yondra exined while checking her pocket watch. "This way we can recover our normal sleep cycle and have an artificial night with an artificial moon that will provide us light."

    Morok had already sealed the path behind them, so Phloria¡¯s soldiers could now guard the natural corridors without worrying that anyone could escape. Without Ranger Eari there was no way out and the cave offered no privacy.

    The group expanded the building Morok had previously created and split it into separate spaces for men and women. Once the camp was set, a hot meal consumed around a fire gave everyone the energy they needed to resume their task with optimism.

    Now the members of the expedition didn¡¯t feel lost anymore. They had a purpose, a roof, and light to guide their way. While Lith searched the stone door for a way in, he noticed that Phloria and Quy had joined the rest of the team.

    Both of them had what looked like a thin wand made of silver that resembled a conductor¡¯s baton. They would strike with it at any unusual rock or apparently out of ce detail they found.

    Each time the wand hit, it would produce a ding, but nothing else. Since Forgemaster Professors like Yondra had a simr tool, Lith feltpelled to ask:

    "Quy, what is that thing?"

    "A Royal Forgemaster tool. If you cast the proper incantation, it forces an enchanted item to reveal its nature." She exined.

    "It can tell you what a spell does?" Lith was as shocked as his voice sounded.

    "No, silly." Sheughed. "It just reveals the magical nature of an otherwise seemingly normal item. Then it¡¯s up to the Forgemaster to study it. We¡¯re looking for some kind of enchanted secretpartment."

    "Since when the two of you are Forgemasters?" Lith asked.

    "I started to practice it seriously after- you know, I killed Yurial. I spent the entire year I was cooped up home learning the basics. It helped me a lot to keep my head clear." Her voice was sad but firm.

    Quy hade to terms with the actions the ve ring had forced her tomit, but that couldn¡¯t erase the guilt she felt for the death of one of her best friends.

    "I, instead, started as soon as I finished my boot camp." Phloria was eager to change the topic, she didn¡¯t want to let Quy dwelling too long on such bad memories.

    "I couldn¡¯t stand my men having poor equipment because there¡¯s never enough budget. Plus I always wanted to follow my father¡¯s footsteps. Once I got rid of grades, I could finally take my time and learn things at my own pace."

    "Why have I never heard of such a tool?" Lith was kind of envious. He didn¡¯t need it, but it would have made it much easier for him to justify his findings with Life Vision.

    Also, if he had Orion¡¯s teachings and resources, the sky would be the only limit for his true Forgemastery.

    ¡¯You can always dump Kam and marry Phloria, if she¡¯s okay with it.¡¯ Solus sneered.

    ¡¯Sorry, you are right. I should stop thinking with my wallet.¡¯ Lith replied.

    "Because it¡¯s a secret of the trade." Yondra said. "Only Royal Forgemasters know how to craft one and only they can entrust one to someone else. Doing that puts in danger their own title and status.

    "It¡¯s part of the legacy of Valeron Griffon, the first King. Are you perchance interested in my offer now?"

    Lith was about to give her a polite but firm hard pass when his nose caught an unfamiliar scent. Now that the air was clear, his perceptions were back to their full efficiency.

    "What¡¯s that noise?" Morok said putting everyone on the alert.

    ¡¯How the heck did he hear something above our voices?¡¯ Lith thought while running toward the entrance and activating Life Vision. The previously empty tunnels were now filled with unknown creatures.

    They triggered all the rms the two Rangers had set along the way before finallying into the light.

    It was a group of magical beasts with the appearance of humanoid crabs, who stood over two meters (6¡¯7") tall. There was no head above their shoulders, just a pair of stalks ending with eyes that moved independently, allowing them to have a 360-degree sight.

    Their bodies were covered with a thick and pale white chitinous exoskeleton that made them look like stone colossusese to life.

    They had huge pincers instead of hands, big enough that they could easily chop a bull¡¯s head off.

    They had no equipment, but between their bulky size and their bright green mana cores, Lith could tell that they probably didn¡¯t need it. The soldiers stuck at the creatures with their des, but they were easily repelled by the exoskeletons without leaving a scratch.

    Then, the soldiers activated the spells imbued in their magical rings, unleashing lightning bolts against the magical beasts while seeking the protection of the array. The electricity slipped over the humanoid crabs like rain on a window, inflicting no damage.

    Using fire magic was too risky inside caves. The air was thin and the only fresh oxygen was that provided by the ever-present moss. Fire might made the cave inhabitable or destroy the moss needed for the group¡¯s survival.

    Hence the well-trained soldiers used earth magic to conjure a barrage of earth spikes to crush open the exoskeletons or at least pin the creatures against the walls long enough for the Professors to prepare a powerful spell that would finish them in one fell swoop.

    Unfortunately, the creatures only needed a wave of their pincer-hands to overpower the control of the soldiers over the spikes and threw them against the barrier. The crab beings were smart enough to aim for someone who wasn¡¯t the one who had cast the spell, so that they could actually hurt them.

    "Don¡¯t waste your spells! Dinner here is called Tak. Their only weak points are the joints and the eyes!" Morok said.

    One of his twin short swords pierced into the midriff of the Tak in front of him, hitting its white cartge with surgical precision despite it being almost indistinguishable from the same colored exoskeleton.

    The creature tried to crush the Ranger with its pincers, but Morok stepped back, taking out the de from the open wound as a trickle of blue blood came out of it. He also hit the creature with a palm strike, apparently using the momentum of the hit to propel himself backward faster.

    Right after the dodge, a thud could be heard and smoke came out of all the joints of the Tek as it copsed to the ground, making them visible.

 Chapter 640 Teks Part 2

    Morok had actually cast a fireball right through the open wound and into the innards of the creature, using its own hard shell to trap the powerful explosion inside the beast.

    "I like my crab well cooked and now you know where to hit. Time to earn your pay, boys!" He said with a feral smile before moving onto the next opponent.

    Lith¡¯s de, one of the failed prototypes, went for the eyes instead. He wanted to check why Morok had chosen such a dangerous strategy when there was a much easier target.

    The answer came in the form of the eyestalks actually being articted peduncles capable of being folded back into the shell in case of danger.

    ¡¯n B it is.¡¯ Lith thought, putting the de back inside his pocket dimension. Fusion magic empowered his body as Solus turned into her glove form, fully enveloped by the silver protection of the Orichalcum.

    The fist struck the Tek¡¯s abdomen like a jackhammer, lifting the creature off the ground of a few centimeters as cracks spread over its armor. The waves of pain the hit caused made the eyes reflexively pop out, allowing Lith to grab them with his free hand and discharge lightning directly into them.

    The electricity traveled straight into the brain of the Tek, killing it on the spot. A second creature, incredibly nimble despite its size, circled around its deadpanion and released a hail of razor-sharp ice crystals.

    ¡¯Water fusion is a game two can y.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Now that he knew the two elements Tek could use, he could predict their basic strategy. Lith sidestepped the attack, letting it harmlessly strike the barrier as a palm strike injected a volley of gue Arrows inside the enemy.

    Seeing that Lith had killed two enemies in the same time he had needed to kill one, Morok clicked his tongue.

    "Fine. Let¡¯s get serious. Pick Hammer." Morok said, sheathing and unsheathing his des in the blink of an eye. The weapons shapeshifted into one-handed battle hammers that closely resembled Solus¡¯s Forgemastering hammer, having both a hammerhead and a pick.

    Morok struck with the pick side of the weapon at the carapace of the closest Tek, but to no avail. His strength wasn¡¯t enough to pierce its rock hard shell. At least not until a secondter, when the second hammer hit the head of the first one as if it was a nail.

    The pick crushed both the exoskeleton and the heart of the creature, instantly killing it. The soldiers and the Professors were so shocked by the disy of raw power in front of their eyes that they stared dumbly at the scene, incapable of moving a muscle.

    The Teks started to coordinate their moves, attacking in waves and dying in waves. Morok would crush between his hammers any pincer that came too close forfort, whereas Lith used water fusion to be as nimble as the Teks and air fusion to be faster than them.

    Every one of his palm strikes would send one of the creatures flying against itsrades, spreading his deadly touch to all of them since gue Arrow¡¯s ethereal nature would pierce through any kind of matter until all of its energy was exhausted.

    "Good gods." Jerth said. She was the second most powerful mage in her unit after Phloria.

    "I thought they were just tall, dark, and rudesome, but those two are not human. Are all Rangers like that, Captain?"

    "No. There is a reason why unlike the academies the army ranks Monster cadets above the Special ones." Phloria replied snapping out of her reverie.

    "Which one did you date?"

    "The less rude one. Now stop pping your gums and drink your potions, they need backup!" She was right. The first group was already dead, but a muchrger one was flooding out of all tunnels.

    "Are we really going to stand here like morons?" Professor Syndra from the Lightning Griffon yelled.

    "Captain, buy me five seconds and I¡¯ll close the curtains on this madness."

    Phloria nodded and started yelling orders.

    ??Stall them with hit and run tactics, there¡¯s weakness in numbers. Darkness magic may be slow, but there¡¯s too many of them. If you shoot in the middle, you are bound to hit some of them."

    "What can I do?" Quy asked.

    "Stay behind me and get ready to treat the wounded."

    The Teks were too many, forcing the two Rangers on the defensive, back to back to avoid being surrounded.

    "Nice glove." Morok said.

    "Nice weapons. Also, duck." Lith replied while pping his hands and emitting a silvery sound due to the Orichalcum covering them.

    "What duck? Oh shit!" Morok kneeled just in time as Lith¡¯s hands released a ring of darkness energy that expanded outwards, mowing through the horde around them.

    The spell wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill so many Teks, but it temporarily weakened them. It allowed the two Rangers to escape the encirclement and find shelter inside the array.

    Phloria¡¯s soldiers were shooting darkness magic non stop, killing dozens of enemies at once while she unleashed her tier five Mage Knight spell, Boom Box. All the spells in a Mage Knight¡¯s grimoire could be cast with only one hand, making their casting speed exceptionally fast.

    Their greatest downside was their very short range, but against so many enemies amassed in the little space between the tunnels and the barrier, there was no such problem.

    Five square-shaped ice shields with a side length of 7 meters (23 feet) surrounded the Teks from all directions but below, trapping them. Before the creatures could smash through the ice, a sphere of wind exploded in the middle of the spell.

    The thunderp was followed by a shockwave that rebounded on the ice walls after being amplified by a resonance effect. The shockwaves grew in power every time they hit an ice wall, piercing through all the prisoners after each sonic speed rebound.

    The Teks crumbled like sand castles facing a high tide, but more of them came out of the tunnels.

    "Everyone, step back!" Professor Syndra said.

    He lifted both his arms, conjuring a tidal wave out of thin air that crashed against the Teks both inside the cave and those still inside the tunnels.

    "No offense, gramps, but all that water will just make much easier for them destroying the array with enough ice to make winter look like summer." Morok said.

    Professor Syndra¡¯s lips curled up in a disgusted expression. It was hard to tell if he was more insulted or annoyed by the Ranger¡¯s obvious remark.

    "Once you¡¯re old, you need to eat a lot of fish. It¡¯s good for your memory."

    "Corona Discharge." Syndra said with a t tone.

    The mother of all lightning bolts erupted from his body, in the wake of the tidal wave. Corona Discharge was a tier five War Mage spell. It used water to soak the opponent so that the following bolt of lightning could bypass all protections and hit the weak spots of an enemy. In the Teks¡¯ case, their eyes.

    Like all tier five spells, both the water and the lightning were guided by Syndra¡¯s will, making them impossible to escape from. Over fifty Teks died in an instant, their bodies emitting the characteristic aroma of stewed lobster.

    "Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, I call dibs on the well-cooked ones. I know we just ate, but all this action made me work an appetite." Morok replied.

 Chapter 641 Perfect Array Part 1

    Those words made Lith almost p his own forehead, but luckily he remembered in time about the Orichalcum still covering his hands.

    "Those are water creatures, but there can¡¯t be a big enough water body around here to sustain such a big colony. If that was the case, we should hear the underground water stream or at least smell a lot of humidity in the air. Does any of you perceive any of that?" He asked.

    The group started to sniff the air like a pack of hounds.

    "No. The air is drier than many ces we crossed on our way here." Said Professor Gaakhu.

    "Exactly. So where the heck did theye from? Why we didn¡¯t hear theming despite the ever-present echo?"

    "Those are good questions, but I can at least answer one of them." Professor Yondra said. "Teks manipte earth. They must have made the ground softer to avoid making noise."

    "That doesn¡¯t exin why they were so focused on us. If they were starving, they would have eaten their fallen first. Instead, they kept attacking like their lives were on the line even though we did nothing to provoke them." Lith looked at the tunnels.

    They were empty again. There was no trace of scouts or survivors fleeing from the scene.

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t make sense. My paranoia sense keeps tingling.¡¯ He thought.

    "I think he is right." Professor Syndra said.

    "Either the Odi¡¯s longevity is a hard truth rather than a myth, or we must have activated some automated defense mechanism. No matter the answer, both of them mean that we are in front of the discovery of a lifetime. Half of us will..."

    "With all due respect, I give the orders here, Professor." Phloria cut him short.

    "Before resuming our search, the Wardens must strengthen the barrier while my soldiers and the Rangers rest. In the meantime, all those that didn¡¯t do anything will guard the tunnels."

    "Sir, yes, sir!" Morok said spitting a bit of Tek meat from the arm he was chewing.

    "How certain are you that they didn¡¯t juste here following our noise?" She asked Lith with a whisper.

    "Remember this?" Lith tapped the side of his eyes, resuming to speak as soon as she nodded him to continue.

    "I¡¯m 100% sure that those corridors were empty. Then there were ten Teks and after we started killing them others popped up. I mean it. I didn¡¯t see anyone walking."

    "Then please rest and help us to find a way to open that door. This ce is already giving me the creeps."

    Lith used umtion while he looked around the cave. He remembered that both the White Griffon academy and his tower had surveince mirrors, so the idea that someone was actually looking at them from a distance was quite likely.

    Life Vision scanned every centimeter of the cave, searching for the transmitting device. Divination didn¡¯t exist, to spy on someone it was needed a transmitter that would capture the reflected light like a camera would and Warp the images to the mirror.

    It could have been anything, but its magical aura was supposed to be visible.

    ¡¯Unless it¡¯s cloaked.¡¯ Solus suggested.

    ¡¯It wouldn¡¯t make sense. Only Awakened can sense mana and I doubt that those Odi creeps were Awakened. Otherwise each body they upied would havested centuries and they would have kept their magical talent.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Maybe they weren¡¯t Awakened, but they might have been aware of their existence.¡¯ Solus suggested.

    ¡¯Solus, do you realize that you¡¯ve be a bigger pessimist than I am?¡¯ Those words put an end to their argument and made Solus wish they were both wrong. Solus about the Odi and Lith about her.

    Unlike Invigoration, umtion had no rejuvenating effects, it would simply absorb the surrounding world energy and feed it to Lith¡¯s mana core, making it stronger.

    Since whatever Kh was it was built on a mana geyser, Lith could draw much more nourishment than usual from the environment.

    ¡¯Even though hours of umtion don¡¯t amount to much of a power up, if I¡¯m right about someone operating Kh¡¯s defenses, every bit can help.¡¯ He thought as his enhanced body naturally recovered his mana and stamina.

    While Morok slept to recover from the fatigue of the fight, Lith ate some food and searched for the activation mechanism of the door. The entire stone wall had been enchanted and several arrays ovepped on its surface.

    ¡¯Whoever did this was indeed a Master Warden.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯The runesprising the various arrays never touch each other and have an even spacing between them, allowing the runes to work in perfect harmony.

    ¡¯On top of that, it makes really hard to understand which rune belongs to which array. I¡¯m afraid that I was right about the Odi being aware of Awakened.¡¯

    ¡¯Maybe and maybe not.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯There are things like Scarlett¡¯s pince-nez or General Vorgh¡¯s staff that can make them visible to the naked eye. So far the only thing we know for certain is that they were crafty bastards.¡¯

    Lith ced his hands on the stone wall, as if he was searching for crevices or a hidden switch, and activated Invigoration. It was the only means he had to bypass any kind of cloaking device that could hide the truth from his eyes.

    Invigoration required Lith to override someone¡¯s or something¡¯s mana flow with his own. It was a skill he had developed as a kid and it was second nature to him. Unfortunately, he had never used it on something that big.

    There was only so much space he could cover without spreading his resources too thin, dulling his senses. To make matters worse, theplexity of the arrays and the enchantment of the wall made it hard for him to properly examine their countless details.

    On the bright side, Solus could now deactivate her mana sense and focus solely on deciphering the incantation by sharing Lith¡¯s senses. Lith¡¯s antics drew more than one surprised look and several scoffs.

    "Ranger Verhen, this is a waste of your abilities. If groping a wall was enough to bypass a protective array, then Wardens and Forgemasters wouldn¡¯t have spent so much time and effort developing their spells for tasks like the one at hand." Professor Syndra said.

    There was no mockery in his voice, only sincere worry.

    ¡¯If that idiot of my Assistant was half as capable as Lith, instead of cackling at him like a child...¡¯ He thought.

    "Thanks for your concern, Professor. Yet we must consider that the Odi might have taken spells into ount and resorted to some kind of mechanical trigger." Lith replied with the first believable exnation that came to his mind.

    "Excellent point! Did you hear that, Calil? Take a lesson from Ranger Verhen and use your brain. If by the end of the expedition your contributions amount to nothing, I¡¯ll have you fired."

    Just like the other Assistants, Calil had been noting down his master¡¯s findings so that he couldter revise and make sense of the bigger picture. The rest of the time, the youths had beenughing behind the wall-groping Ranger¡¯s back.

    Suddenly, there wasn¡¯t much tough about. Instead of mindlessly writing, he started to rack his brain for a solution to the conundrum at hand.

 Chapter 642 Perfect Array Part 2

    By the time the artificial sun started to set, the members of the expedition decided to call it quits for the day. Yondra could make the sun rise whenever she wanted, but that would mess up their sleep cycle even more.

    Everyone was tired either because of the constant spellcasting or from trying to make sense of the collected data about the wall. Some, like Quy, had a splitting headache from doing both.

    Morok and Phloria¡¯s soldiers were pretty rxed instead. They had slept, eaten, and spent their time ying dices or cards while guarding the tunnels.

    "How do your weapons work, exactly?" Lith asked Morok while eating dinner.

    "The problem with the wilds is that you never know what mess you¡¯re going to stumble into. So I had a good Forgemaster made me Orichalcum weapons capable of shapeshifting at will.

    "The sheaths are part of the weapons and the key to trigger their shapeshifting abilities. If I need them to be heavier, the extra masses from the sheaths. They are also made with Orichalcum and are thicker than they look."

    Solus studied their pseudo core with mana sense and was relieved to discover that they had no runes engraved on their surface.

    ¡¯It seems that we are right. Runes must be a state secret. The pseudo core is veryplex and it even required purple crystals to be stabilized.¡¯ She thought.

    "They shapeshift? That¡¯s it?" Lith asked.

    "That¡¯s it my ass!" Morok was offended.

    "They saved my life countless times. They have a few minor incantations too, but nothing more. Energy based properties and Orichalcum are hard to not mix together, smartass. I don¡¯t have that kind of money." He said while looking at the Skinwalker in envy.

    "Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to belittle them. It¡¯s just that between the Orichalcum and the purple crystals, I expected something a little shier."

    "What does your gauntlet do?" Morok asked, ignoring the apology.

    "Not much, yet. It¡¯s a work in progress. So far it can store a few low tier spells and serve as ast-ditch weapon." The glove¡¯s fingers turned into ws.

    "I think it¡¯s very useful already. If you ever mass-produce them, I call dibs. Why use stone as its foundation though?"

    "I told you, it¡¯s a work in progress. I used cheap materials because I constantly upgrade it." Lith replied.

    "No duh, man. You are too stingy. Those magic crystals are smaller than my eyes and green and yellow at that! No offense, but that¡¯sme."

    ¡¯Lame? I¡¯ve worked my ass off for years to get those two... gems, things, whatever they are!¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Can I please punch him on the nose?¡¯

    "Any idea about how to open the door?" Lith was stuck between a rock and a moron, so he was eager to change the topic.

    "None and I don¡¯t even care. I get paid no matter the result of the expedition. Fighting an Eldritch and those Teks should be already worth a hefty bonus. Anything more is just gravy."

    Since there was nothing to get from him, except maybe getting cleaned up at gambling, Lith went to speak with Quy. Aside from the Professors and Solus, she was definitely the smartest person in the cave.

    "How¡¯s your head?" Lith asked.

    "After I treated myself, the pain is gone, but I¡¯m still foggy. I can¡¯t waste a tonic on our first day." She replied while massaging her temples.

    "Gods, I feel so useless. I¡¯m more of a deadweight in battle now than when we were still at the White Griffon and I can¡¯t even open a damn door."

    "That¡¯s not true. You saved Phloria¡¯s life and many others¡¯. As for the door, I¡¯d say you are in goodpany." Lith tried to cheer her up.

    "That was days ago. The only thing I¡¯ve achieved today is getting prime callouses on my fingers." She showed him her right hand. After swinging the Forgemaster wand for hours and using healing magic to treat blisters and skin irritation, her skin had hardened.

    Quy could easily get rid of them, but since she seemed to have many hours of wand swinging ahead of her, it would have been pointless. While they were talking, one of the Assistants passed them a copy of the information collected by the members of the expedition during the day.

    Withholding knowledge in front of amon hurdle was pointless. Each Professor wanted the glory for themselves, but unless they got past the door, there was no glory to take.

    The data had been sorted so that each array could be studied separately from the others and from the door¡¯s enchantment, making it easier to identify their rune patterns and energy nodes.

    There was a lot of Warden jargon on each piece of paper and Lith could only understand the terms that Kh¡¯s arrays and those he knew had inmon. Quy squinted her eyes hard as if there was something she couldn¡¯t focus properly on.

    "Great, my headache is back! I give up. Good night, Lith." She put the notes in her dimensional amulet and stormed away.

    ¡¯Why didn¡¯t you help her with Invigoration?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯She¡¯s tired and frustrated with herself. The headache gives her a reason to rest and blow off some steam. If I make her head clear and she still fails, Quy will feel twice as useless.

    ¡¯Once because I fixed something that she couldn¡¯t and the second time because she would have no excuse for failing to open the door.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Lith wasn¡¯t prideful. He didn¡¯t care how he solved a problem as long as he seeded so he had no qualms asking for help to his betters. He walked towards Yondra¡¯s campfire.

    Up to that point, the Professor from the ck Griffon was the one he had the best rtionship with. She had already taught him a few things and maybe she was willing to expand his understanding of ancient arrays.

    "Professor Yondra, maybe it¡¯s a stupid question, but why no one has tried to use Clean te to open the door?" Clean te was a tier four Forgemaster spell that would temporarily disable an enchantment, so in theory, it might solve their problem.

    "It¡¯s not a stupid question, Ranger Verhen. This array here-" She said while showing him one of her notes. "-prevents the lock from being tampered from the outside. If we use Clean te, it will trigger the first energy node and cause a chain reaction that will activate all the other arrays."

    ¡¯Damn. I can¡¯t even use Invigoration, then.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯It¡¯s not a spell, but it¡¯s likely to be perceived as an external energy. I don¡¯t know what most of the other arrays do, but they are too powerful for a blind tinkering approach.¡¯

    Lith started to ask her about all the runes he was unfamiliar with and Yondra was happy to answer all of his questions. They had got off on the wrong foot, but the more time Lith spent with her, the more Yondra reminded him of histe mentor, Nana.

    Yondra wasn¡¯t that old nor her back hunched, but the fierce light in her eyes was the same as Nana¡¯s and so it was her shameless approach to get what she wanted from people.

    "It¡¯s fantastic that someone as young as you are has alreadyprehended the importance that every single runeprising an array has. Most students are only interested in learning how to cast an array and how to bring them down.

    "They don¡¯t care for the hows or the whys involved in the process." She patted his back before yawning.

 Chapter 643 Perfect Solution Part 1

    ¡¯It¡¯s hard to miss their importance when you see how runes affect the space around themselves and how the order of their activation can make so that the effects of two arraysprised by the same runes arepletely different.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "s, I¡¯m too old and tired to keep going. The moon is high already. Get some rest. If more creatures attack us tomorrow, I¡¯ll be counting on your protection." Yondra smothered the fire with a finger snap and entered the women quarters.

    Lith remained alone for a while, sorting the new information acquired with Solus and taking notes on his own papers toter store them inside Soluspedia. Soon fatigue gave him a headache and his brain begged him for a break.

    ¡¯Fighting is so much easier.¡¯ He sighed.

    ¡¯Your body can withstand a lot, but your mind still needs to rx. Go to sleep, I¡¯ll keep an eye on the situation.¡¯ Outside her tower, Solus was unable to sleep or rest. It gave Lith an edge in many situations, but in the long term, it affected her sanity.

    Lith went to sleep near a guard post, ready to act at the first sign of danger. He trusted no one. Morok was too strange and the soldiers too weak for his taste. The Professors were magically strong, some even more than Lith, but as Korgh had demonstrated, it only took a single shot to take them down.

    Paranoia was a cruel mistress but it had served him well too many times to ignore her. Except when it was dead wrong, of course. When morning came and nothing happened, Lith cursed at himself.

    ¡¯Hindsight is always 100% correct.¡¯ Solus chuckled.

    The members of the expedition went back to study the door and before any of them could notice, dawn turned into sunset. Lith had even tried using Fire Vision at noon to spot hiddenpartments.

    If a switch was camouged under a fake rock, it should have shown a different coloration at his thermal vision whenpared with the rest of the rock wall after being heated for hours by Yondra¡¯s spell. Unfortunately, even this attempt failed.

    Lith spent dinner with Yondra and Quy,paring notes in search for a solution. The expedition was Lith¡¯s best shot at getting his hands on ancient Odi technology that might help him solve his reincarnation problem.

    ¡¯If we crack this riddle and in the future I find more ruins on my own, I¡¯ll know how to get in. If we fail despite so many wise mages working together, I might as well check the Odi off my list of possible solutions.¡¯ He thought.

    During the third day, Lith started to be restless just like the Assistant Professors. The older mages knew that solving ancient mysteries required time, effort, and luck, whereas their aides took failure personally.

    After whispering "open sesame" in front of the door, obtaining nothing in return but an awkward echo, Lith asked Professor Gaakhu, thenguage expert:

    "What¡¯s the Odi word for friends?"

    "vrish. Why?"

    After a painful second that shattered hisst hopes, he replied:

    "No reason. I was just curious." He said while Solusughed her ass off at his expense.

    When dinnertime came, Lith decided to give a break to both himself and Yondra, spending the evening with his friends. After receiving her own Skinwalker, Quy¡¯s mood had improved a lot, but she was getting gloomier with each passing day.

    "Gods, it¡¯s so frustrating to me. I¡¯m probably the one that knows more about the Odi among all the Assistants taking part in the expedition since I¡¯ve been researching them for over a year now. Yet my contribution is close to zero." Quy said.

    "I¡¯d rather not work while I eat. If I hear another word about arrays, I¡¯m going to scream." Lith said. "But since we are already there, maybe there¡¯s something we are missing. When I taught magic to Tista, I improved my foundations by learning from my own teachings.

    "Maybe if you tell us what you know about the Odi, we could better understand their way of thinking."

    "First of all, they were conceited, self-centered bastards." Quy said with a voice full of spite.

    "Theirws allowed them to have ves, as long as they weren¡¯t Odi, and they treated the other races worse than their cattle. The Odi would use their ves as guinea pigs, infecting them on purpose with the illnesses they had yet to cure.

    "When healing magic wasn¡¯t enough, they would resort to Body Sculpting, permanently altering their subjects¡¯ physiology trying to make them immune to congenital diseases.

    "Once they achieved perfect health, they moved on altering their appearance so that every member of their race would be born with what they considered to be perfect proportions.

    "For decades they attained countless feats, uncaring for their cost since they weren¡¯t the ones paying for it. Then, they tried to defeat aging and failed.

    "You know the rest. They were obsessed with the search for perfection in every aspect of their life. I mean, look at the arrays." The word was enough to make Lith¡¯s head throb.

    "The spacing between the runes, the way they ovep with each other, and the door at the same time. It¡¯s a seamless formation with no weak points."

    Lith reviewed his notes inside Soluspedia,paring them with Quy¡¯s words.

    "It¡¯s indeed an amazing piece of work." He said, his eyes fixated in a nk spot as he examined the runes one by one and forced himself not to puke.

    "Even if there are five arrays covering the door, the resulting structure resembles that of a musical score. Each rune is perfectly ced, one flows into another and is reinforced by the other runes surrounding it as it in turn reinforces them."

    "Yeah, it¡¯s almost like... That¡¯s it! I think I know how to open that door!" Quy stood up abruptly, flipping her te. Only a well-timed use of spirit magic saved the innocent food.

    She dragged Phloria and Lith to Professor Gaakhu¡¯s campfire to share her sess with them. Gaakhu was the head of the expedition, her permission was required before making an attempt at opening the barrier.

    "We got it all wrong, Professor. There aren¡¯t five arrays, just one and I know how to open it." Quy said.

    "Nonsense, Mage Ernas. Any of us, you included, can detect five different structures and their unique power nodes. We have even identified the purpose of each one of them..."

    "No, that¡¯s where you are wrong. You have identified the purpose they have when you take them separately and that¡¯s why there¡¯s no solution. Please humor me. What happens if you consider them as a single array? What bes of their runes?"

    Professor Gaakhu sighed, using water magic to write down the information about the different arrays on a single page.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t just say no to Mage Ernas. At least she has shown initiative and confidence. The morale is already bad as it is. Trying and failing is better than letting yourself fall into despair.¡¯ She thought.

    At least until the entire picture appeared in front of her eyes.

    "This is amazing! The five arrays actually dobine into a single one with its own purpose." She blurted out as her colleagues started to huddle up behind her back, looking at the piece of paper in her hands.

 Chapter 644 Perfect Solution Part 2

    "Exactly! They split the array into different parts to disguise its real structure." Quy said.

    "It¡¯s more than that." Said Professor Neshal, the Master Warden from the Earth Griffon.

    "The five arrays can work both individually and as one. The Odi found a way to make ovepping arrays more than the sum of their parts. But you are right. The final array is the weak spot because once you discover the truth, it allows you to destroy them all at once.

    "It¡¯s unbeatable if you don¡¯t know the trick behind it, but once you do, you can topple them all like a house of cards. It would be revolutionary otherwise." She sighed. Neshal admired the Odi for their ingenuity and despised them at the same time for their conceit.

    They had clearly thought that no member of the ¡¯lesser races¡¯ would notice the fatal w in their creation.

    "Excellent work, Quy." Said Professor Phesta from the White Griffon. "I¡¯ll make sure that you are rewarded properly by the academy. Without your insight, we might have wasted days standing in front of the door."

    "Thanks, Professor!" She was brimming with joy. "Can we open it now?"

    "Absolutely not." All those present said in unison.

    "We have no idea what lies beyond the gate and we are all tired. We will work on the sixth array after we are fully recovered and are ready for any surprise the Odi might have left behind." Professor Gaakhu said.

    Quy was kind of disappointed. After struggling so hard and for so long, she had to continue waiting to see if the fruits of herbor would pay off. Lith didn¡¯t share her anxiety. He didn¡¯t need Life Vision or mana sense to perceive the danger that kind of array posed to his life.

    The next morning, the Professors used earth magic to conjure a table made of stone and worked together to safely open the door. As soon as all the papers wereid on the stone surface, Lith made his proposal.

    "I don¡¯t think that opening the array is a good idea. Destroying it will require the same energy and it¡¯s much safer."

    "Are you insane?" More than one Professor said.

    "That kind of technique inying arrays constitutes a relic by itself. Even if it¡¯s a faulty product, we could study it and learn a lot about the ancient Odi magic. We might even find a way to improve their creation!" Professor Syndra said.

    "Indeed. But what if we open the door, trigger a trap, and the arrays activate again? What if they shoot us in the back the moment we walk through that door? Is a single relic worth our lives?" He spoke looking in Phloria¡¯s eyes.

    She was themander of the expedition and the only one who was aware of the anomalies urred while battling the Teks.

    "I agree with Ranger Verhen." She said. "Take your time to study and copy the array formation if you must, but no one is going inside until that thing is taken down. The first rule for everybat situation is to have a clear retreat path.

    "If the Odi¡¯s defense system identifies us as members of the ¡¯lesser races¡¯ and the gate closes behind us, we¡¯d have no time to open it again. Leaving our back exposed is out of the question. My decision is final."

    What started as a low grumble soon rose in intensity, until outraged yells echoed throughout the entire cave.

    "Give it a rest, will you?" Morok¡¯s voice overcame them all like a roar. "We could be attacked by a whole army and I would miss their arrival because of your yapping. If you want to die, leave me out of it."

    The bickering went on until it started to grind on Phloria¡¯s nerves.

    "Maybe you¡¯re not familiar with how the army works. The discussion is over." She said.

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Professor Gaakhu replied. "Over two-thirds of the members of the expedition disagree with you. We demand to speak with yourmanding officer."

    "How dare you questioning my judgment?" Her voice was low, yet it was perfectly audible and scarier than any angry yell or threat.

    "I dare because I think that due to your young age you fail to realize how important this discovery might be, Captain Ernas. Ours is not just the temper tantrum of some old fogeys." Gaakhu replied.

    "We are concerned that your hasty decision can harm the development of magic and the Kingdom itself. Not to mention that albeit Ranger Verhen has a point, I believe that your past rtionship is affecting your judgment.

    "Being careful is good, being paranoid is not. As the head of the expedition, it¡¯s in my right to veto your decision if it damages the Kingdom."

    "Fine." Phloria knew Gaakhu was right.

    Since there was no emergency situation and the armymunication amulet still worked, she had to rely the message. Yet it was the first time during her military career that someone had disrespected her orders so tantly.

    She broke themunication silence and called the highmand, exining to them everything that had happened. She mentioned Lith¡¯s insight on the most recent attack and emphasized the risks that keeping the array would imply.

    "Interesting." Commander Berion replied while tapping his mahogany desk with his forefinger.

    "Who proposed to preserve the array?" He asked.

    Judging from his choice of words and his tone of voice, the Professors understood that he agreed with them so they introduced themselves one by one. With the Mage Association¡¯s bleak looking future, receiving the support of a rising star in the army like Berion could lead to countless benefits.

    Even some of those who had previously agreed on destroying the formation switched sides. Only Professor Yondra and Professor Syndra were adamant in putting their safety first and didn¡¯t change their mind.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your honesty. I have to agree with Captain Ernas and Ranger Verhen. They both have a 100% mission sess rate, so I¡¯ll trust their judgment since it¡¯s the only reason you are still alive.

    "No offense, Professor Gaakhu, but without Ranger Eari the coordinates of the ruins would be lost. On top of that, in case the expedition gets wiped out, the Kingdom would have lost some of their most valuable subjects.

    "Captain Ernas is right. Study the formation as much as you want and take it down when you are ready. Over and out."

    Berion¡¯s calm attitude disappeared as soon as themunication ended.

    "Damn idiots! I didn¡¯t invest so much to keep Ranger Verhen under mymand just to lose him to preserve a crappy array. Even if he wasn¡¯t there, I would think twice before putting at risk one of the Ernas¡¯s daughters on a whim, but two of them?

    "I like my head where it is."

    Once he managed to calm down, he called his secretary and instructed him to update the status of the expedition.

    "I don¡¯t know whether those Professors suffer just from hubris or dementia, and I don¡¯t care. g their personal files as unfit tomand for the next missions."

    Meanwhile, in the cave, Lith was sighing in relief.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not willing to risk my life for those morons, worst case scenario I¡¯d have been forced tomit insubordination. Luckily for me, Berion earned his spot by working in the field.¡¯ He thought.

 Chapter 645 All is One Part 1

    ¡¯The silver lining is that now we know who is worth protecting and who is just dead weight.¡¯ Solus said, making Lith worry about her mental condition.

    She was perfectly fine, it was just that the closer she got to achieve her human body, the more protective toward Lith she became. Solus still valued all lives, but she was willing to make sacrifices to preserve her own happiness.

    To her, a bunch of suicidal idiots wasn¡¯t worth the risk of a lifetime of solitude.

    Many of the Professors swallowed loudly, thinking they had just signed their own death warrant. Gaakhu, instead, wasn¡¯t worried. Berion was just a single man that coincidentally was in charge.

    There were many others in the army that would share her vision and help her to protect her status.

    ¡¯It¡¯s pointless to worry about a minor failure. Bureaucrats only care about results. If I bring back something valuable, this blunder will be dismissed as an insignificant incident.¡¯ She thought.

    The expedition team started to examine the array down to the smallest details, double-checking everything. Quy was very annoyed by the prolonged wait. She was eager to see what was on the other side of the wall.

    It took them half a day toplete their study and another half to make sure that their spell would destroy the formation in the safest way possible. The morning of the second day after Quy¡¯s epiphany, the spell was finally cast.

    Just as Professor Neshal had predicted, by tampering with the sixth hidden array formed by the ovepping of the other five, their finely bnced structure copsed. Two arrays were destroyed, while the other three became purely ornamental.

    The door unlocked, turning on its hinges as if it had been properly preserved for all that time. Moss and dirt fell from its crevices, throwing up a lot of dust.

    "Oh shit!" Was the collective opinion of the expedition the moment they could see what was waiting for them. Kh wasn¡¯t a city, a vige, nor a shelter. It was formed by long rectangr buildings that looked all the same.

    They had been built out of some unknown pale blue material that was neither rock nor metal. It emitted a bright luminescence that made the whole area around the buildings as clear as the day.

    The roads connecting the buildings were covered by ayer of dust several centimeters thick. It proved how no creature, living or not, had walked them during thest decades.

    Each facility had only one ess, consisting of wide double doors made of metal, and no windows. Each door was sealed by a yellow array visible to the naked eye.

    It was shaped like three concentric circles inscribed with unknown runes and fueled by both purple crystals and the mana geyser underlying Kh.

    With Life Vision, Lith could see that there were cable-like devices that ran across the wholepound, carrying the world energy to the various arrays, including those the expedition team had just deactivated.

    "This is a fucking military base!" Morok said, taking the words right out of everyone¡¯s mouth.

    "Lith, what do you see?" Phloria asked. Her question made no sense to the others, yet no one dared to move. Any country would react to intruders essing to a secretpound with extreme prejudice.

    The Odi were likely to have left a lot of nasty surprises behind.

    "The coast is clear, but we can¡¯t allow ourselves to rx. Everything, and I mean everything, is still perfectly functional." He pointed at the arrays on the doors, which were supposed to have faded centuries before.

    Lith started to chant gibberish while preparing his spells, quickly followed by Morok and Phloria¡¯s soldiers. Once he was done with his preparations, he took a step forward.

    The door and the stone wall started to sh with bright red color and emitted a high pitched noise. The surviving arrays activated one after another, but because of the damage they had sustained, they could only produce a series of sparks and sizzling before imploding with a thud.

    Lith kept watching around, waiting for something to happen.

    "Morok¡¯s log: add to my report how the old fossils would have been the death of us if we didn¡¯t destroy the arrays before entering." He said, drawing on himself several mean looks.

    Morok was about to reply when Lith¡¯s prudence paid off. Life Vision showed to him a life force rushing through the several centimeters thick dustyer covering the floor, making ite to life.

    It took the form of a colossus over 3 meters (10 feet) tall with bright yellow eyes. Aside from the eyes, it had no features nor definite shape. The whole dust cloud was its body, and the creature used it to try and drown Lith.

    "Oh gods! A sand golem." Said Professor Ellkas in a panic. "It¡¯s supposed to be impossible! Where the heck might the core of that thing be?"

    Phloria didn¡¯t care if it was possible or not, the only things worrying her were that it was standing right in front of them and that Lith had yet to react.

    "Hold your fire!" She said while raising her open hand in the air to reinforce hermand.

    ¡¯Sand golem my ass.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Golems have no life force whereas this thing is alive. The obvious response would be to burn it, but if it was me, I would have filled the air with something vtile.

    ¡¯Even finely dispersed flour is highly mmable and if this thing is what I think it is, the resulting explosion might kill me.¡¯

    Lith was right about almost everything. The creature in front of him was alive and mmable, but it wasn¡¯t an explosion the real threat fire posed. It was a fungus-like creature he was facing and the dust was actually its spores.

    Putting it aze would have caused a small explosion strong enough to send them flying everywhere, killing the expedition in a matter of seconds. The creature was capable of moving each spore individually and was using them to flood Lith¡¯s respiratory system, making it impossible for him to breathe or cast new spells.

    The spores were also able to feed upon their host and drain their fluids to increase their numbers. Surviving to such multi pronged attack was nigh impossible. Unless of course one had fusion magic.

    The darkness coursing through Lith¡¯s body fed on the spores and turned them into nourishment while Invigoration allowed him to study their attack pattern.

    "Ingenious." Lith said while releasing a series of darkness magic pulses that ughtered his grain sized opponents. The fungus emitted a prolonged, bass noise that Lith interpreted as pain.

    The creature retrieved all of its spores, condensing them to assume a physical form.

    "Gods¡¯ there are so many things we can learn from the Odi." Professor Gaakhu said while following Lith¡¯s lead and releasing a wave of darkness energy. The creature opened its body in response, letting the spell harmlessly pass through the empty space it had created.

    Lith would have liked to give the Professor a piece of his mind, but the eyes of the creature were drawing his attention. There was no fury, pain, or battle spirit in them. Lith knew that look, it was how Carl and Tista looked at him when they were little.

    It was hope.

 Chapter 646 All is One Part 2

    "That thing is no golem, it¡¯s alive." Lith yelled without averting his gaze from the fungal creature in front of him. Life Vision and mana sense kept scanning the surroundings, trying to make sense of the creature¡¯s odd behavior.

    ¡¯Hope? What kind of fool would look at his sworn enemy with hope?¡¯ Lith thought as a ck aura enveloped his body, protecting him from the deadly spores.

    ¡¯Maybe you¡¯re looking at the issue from the wrong angle. Why would a seemingly immortal creature bother to defend this ce? The Odi are no more, and if Mogar¡¯s fungi are like those on Earth, killing one is nigh impossible.

    ¡¯Especially if the spores share a hive mind. One of them is enough to regenerate the whole creature from scratch.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯It shouldn¡¯t care. Unless it¡¯s bound to this ce, of course.¡¯ Lith thought.

    His train of thoughts was interrupted by the creature using earth magic to make a hail of stctites fall from above. Lith had no problem dodging them, but the creature grabbed and used them as clubs.

    The spores arranged themselves in tendrils capable of freely attacking Lith from every direction. The pseudo arms had no bones nor joints, so they could change their trajectory at any time, forcing Lith to Blink away before being trapped.

    "We need to help him!" Calil, Professor Syndra¡¯s assistant, was tired of waiting on the sidelines. Unlike the others, he wasn¡¯t just a theoretician. One of his specializations was Battle Mage.

    A wave of his hand unleashed the tier five spell, Fire Arms. A volley of ming hands the size of an adult intercepted the clubs and wed at the enemy at the same time. Each one of the magical hands was made out of air and cyan mes.

    The wind element allowed them to grab anything without inflicting harm or could boost the me¡¯s intensity at any given time ording to the situation.

    ¡¯If it¡¯s a sand golem like Professor Gaakhu says, my spell will turn it into ss. If it¡¯s a living being like Ranger Verhen says, then Fire Arms will kill it. No matter the species this bird belongs to, mine is the right stone for the kill.¡¯ Calil thought.

    "Don¡¯t use fire, you idiot!" Lith said, crashing Calil¡¯s heroic dreams.

    The spore cloud exploded with a series of small thumps, spreading the mushroom creature¡¯s minuscule limbs past the door.

    Only those like Phloria who had blind trust in Lith had prepared a darkness barrier to protect themselves. All the others resorted to air or earth magic, but such elements couldn¡¯t do anything against a pollen sized attack.

    Calil took the brunt of the spore wave, coughing madly while he started to bleed from all of his orifices due to the mycotoxins the creature released as it grew inside his body.

    The infection spread so fast that it took it seconds to entirely cover the youth¡¯s skin.

    "Light magic is useless!" Professor Syndra said after his attempt to save his assistant¡¯s life only elerated the spreading of the disease which was now also covering Syndra¡¯s hands.

    "It¡¯s a fungus!" Lith yelled with hisst breath as the creature now enveloped his body withing its own, pummelling at him non stop with its appendices. Lith could kill the nearby spores with darkness magic, but they were just expendable.

    The entire Kh was covered in them, giving the creatures almost infinite mass to draw upon. Lith turtled up, infusing his Skinwalker with mana so that the Orichalcum protected him from head to toe.

    The spores couldn¡¯t touch him anymore and the stctites were just normal weapons. Thanks to the Thunderbird¡¯s plume, the Skinwalker was immune to blunt attacks. At least until he had enough mana to keep the armor in its boosted form.

    ¡¯Any ideas?¡¯ Lith asked while searching for a way out.

    ¡¯Working on it.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯There must be something that forces the creature to stay here. Now that I know the creature¡¯s energy signature, I should be able to locate its core from a distance if I focus hard enough. If it has one, though.¡¯

    Phloria and Quy had their own battle to fight. Aside from Morok and Yondra, the rest of the expedition was dying. Quy could only treat one person at a time, whereas Phloria was racking her brain to find a spell that could turn the tides of the battle.

    ¡¯Think, Lith. Think. How do you coerce a nt to do your bidding? A hostage? Nonsense. With a hive mind, one is all and all are one. A ve ring? Even more idiotic. How do you put a ring on a bunch of spores?

    ¡¯They would just need to cut off the f- That¡¯s it! The hive mind is the key. The Odi must have infected part of the spores with some kind of ve agent. It would be enough to take control of the entire creature due to the consciousness the spores share.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, the enved spores must be somewhere nearby. A ce where they are protected by random harm but have enough resources to survive. If it was a sealed container, over time they would have died of starvation.¡¯

    ¡¯On it!¡¯ Now that she had at least an idea of what to look for, Solus could restrict her search parameters.

    Even if his intuition was right, Lith had yet to find a way to escape from his predicament. Most of the spells he had at the ready weren¡¯t suitable against such a creature and Origin mes were now an even worse option than they had been before.

    Even though they were mystical, they were still made of fire, and to make matter worse, they would hurt Lith along with his enemy. He had avoided using them because an explosion made by Origin mes might have wiped out both the expedition and Kh.

    "If we get out of here alive, I¡¯m going to ask for a raise!" Morokined while cleansing another Professor from the spores. He wasn¡¯t much of a caring guy, but he was aware that as soon as the fungus was done with the fossils, he would be its next target.

    "This is never going to work!" Quy blurted out in desperation. With only three healers and 14 patients, some already in critical condition, fighting the spores as if they were not sentient was a losing battle.

    She stopped treating Professor Phesta and started to spread short and weak pulses of darkness magic all around her.

    "Are you insane? Your spell is going to affect us too!" Morok said.

    "No, she is a genius just as you are a moron!" Yondra said. "The pulses she emits are strong enough to prevent the spores from spreading but weak enough to be stopped by our armors. She¡¯s buying us time by acting as a human array."

    ¡¯A reckless genius.¡¯ Yondra thought while treating her next patient as fast as she could. ¡¯You can¡¯t improvise spells, which means she is using first magic. Covering an area that big while keeping such fine control over the pulses must put an immense burden on her body.¡¯

    Yondra was right. Unlike Awakened ones, fake makes were unable to stimte their cores to produce more mana without the help of magic words and hand signs. Even producing the effects of a tier one spells with first magic would endanger their lives.

    In the meantime, Phloria had never felt so helpless. The sword and spells she had practiced so hard were useless against the monstrous fungus, especially now that it held Lith inside its clutches.

 Chapter 647 All are One Part 3

    ¡¯I can¡¯t use fire unless I want to repeat Calil¡¯s mistake. Earth would only squash Lith, the same applies to darkness. I¡¯m no Healer so I can¡¯t help the infected. What are the elements I can safely work with? Air and water.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    A sudden idea popped up inside her head. It was dangerous and likely to backfire, but Phloria had learned from her father that she had to fight with the options she had, not those she might want.

    Regretting to have never learned a single tier four War Mage spell, she unleashed a barrage of the tier thee spell, Frostbite. Fake mages couldn¡¯t amplify the strength of a spell below tier five at will, so Phloria had topensate for theck of quality with speed and quantity.

    A frozen wave after another struck the mass of living spores surrounding Lith, limiting their movements and making those closing in to rece the mass lost due to Lith¡¯s dark aura fall to the ground.

    The fungal cage became thinner by the second as its externalyers were frozen and the internalyers were sucked dry by darkness magic. Lith managed to escape by releasing a sudden burst of his aura that scattered the creature¡¯s remains away while Phloria¡¯s unrelenting barrage of spells prevented the spores from taking a physical form again.

    "Why you didn¡¯t do that earlier?" Lith asked while flying to her side.

    "Because I was afraid that something like that would happen!" The moment she stopped casting to catch her breath, the spores broke out of the ice and started to multiply at a terrifying rate.

    "If something that size lived for so long and kept such a huge mass, then the Odi must have left it plenty of food. Food plus lots of water...."

    "Make the problem even bigger." Lithpleted the phrase for her.

    ¡¯So she was aware of the risks and yet she used water anyway. How can she still trust me so much that she bet her life on me finding a way to beat this thing?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe it¡¯s not just trust. Maybe she wasn¡¯t willing to abandon you. Feelings don¡¯t fade just because we want them to.¡¯ Solus hated it when Lith was so dense, but being cynical also made him blind to the most obvious and cheesy answers.

    ¡¯I hate to ask you for this after all the troubles we had to escape from that living prison, but I need you to get back in the belly of the beast. Metaphorically, of course. I can¡¯t find anything from here, so if you are right, the corrupted spores are in some ce deeper inside Kh.

    ¡¯It would exin why the creature didn¡¯t attack as soon as the door was opened. Probably if its consciousness gets too far from the corruption, the mind link might be broken. It had to wait for us to be in position.¡¯

    Lith mind whimpered before saying:

    "Thanks for your help, Phloria. Also, please don¡¯t get mad at me!" Then he seemingly threw in the gutter all of her efforts by charging at full speed against the spore cloud that was now so big that it covered the entire Kh from her sight.

    ¡¯I really hope Lith does have a n. Otherwise that creature will have to get in line to kill him, because I call dibs.¡¯ Phloria thought as she was now left alone against a raging storm of deadly spores.

    Only half the creature was following Lith. The remaining half was determined on crossing the entrance and dealing the finishing blow to the crippled expedition team. Then, it would have all the time to focus on thest invader standing.

    ¡¯Well, at least protecting is what I do best.¡¯ Phloria activated her tier five Mage Knight spell, Death Bastion. It conjured a stone wall infused with darkness magic that quickly reced the opened door, sealing Kh¡¯s entrance.

    The spores tried to seep through the crevices in the newly formed rock, but darkness magic killed them faster than they could advance. Then, the creature tried to overpower Phloria¡¯s control with its own earth magic, but tier five magic allowed her to infuse her will inside her spell.

    On top of that, darkness magic wouldn¡¯t make a distinction between the spores and their mana. It devoured them both, giving Phloria an edge in the willpower tug of war for the control of the earth surrounding the city gate.

    On the other side of the gate, Lith moved as fast as a bullet, using waves of dark energy to force the enemy to open a path for him. At the same time, he canceled some of the spells he had at the ready and started weaving new ones that were better suited to handle his current situation.

    ¡¯This n sucks so badly for so many reasons.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The Odi should have ordered the creature to protect the container holding the corrupted spores. The closer I get, the more focused on me the creature will be.

    ¡¯If on one hand it will help me to understand how close I am from my destination, on the other hand, it¡¯s also likely that once I be its only mark, things will get even more difficult.¡¯

    Lith flew above Kh¡¯s blue buildings, but kept himself away from the ceiling. The fungal creature had already proved to be able to manipte earth and the fight was already unfair as it was.

    Tidal waves of spores were surrounding Lith from all sides. They couldn¡¯t keep up with his speed but they had no need to. The creature was slowly collecting all of its mass, sealing all the possible way outs with living walls made of spores mixed with earth.

    Each one of the walls was at least 2 meters (6.6 feet) thick and kept expanding by the second. Their hardness was also increasing, making them able to withstand most tier three spells without effort.

    The creature had spent centuries trapped inside Kh, with nothing to do but eat, multiply, and develop its skills.

    ¡¯Found it!¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Same energy signature but stuck below the ground. In front of the third building on your left.¡¯

    The moment Lith came 100 meters (330 feet) close to the container, the defense order took priority. The entirety of the creature moved against Lith, giving Phloria and the Healers the respite they so desperately needed.

    Even the spores infecting the expedition members willingly abandoned their victims and tried to reunite with the main body. Unfortunately for them, the moment they were far enough from the humans, Phloria, Quy, Yondra, and Morok shot a darkness pulse that wiped them out from the face of Mogar.

    Quy copsed as soon as she made sure that her patients were alive, not a second sooner. Yondra cursed at her old age. She had not much stamina left and Quy was not faring any better than the victims of the spores.

    Morok was whistling, he had done his part so he could pretend to be exhausted and wash his hands of the rest.

    In the meantime, Lith had justnded on the spot Solus had identified. He conjured his tier five spell, Setting Sun. It generated a globe made of darkness imbued mes around him to act as hisst stand.

    "I¡¯ll stall for time, you take care of the container." He said.

    Solus glove detached from Lith¡¯s arm, using Invigoration to make sure there weren¡¯t hidden traps or arrays while Lith filled the space of 10 meters (33 feet) around himself with ck mes.

    His own magic couldn¡¯t harm him nor Solus, whereas it would incinerate the fungal creature as if it was paper thrown into the fire.

 Chapter 648 All are One Part 4

    Lith¡¯s problem was that if you toss enough paper at once, it can end up smothering the mes.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. I wish I had added the air element to the mix. A tornado of ck mes would be much harder to overpower.¡¯ Lith thought while looking at the iing avnche.

    ¡¯Again, only hindsight is 100% correct.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Plus, making two elements coexist is already hard. If there was a third one, you would beining about not having enough mana to maintain it active for long.¡¯

    As she had feared, the container was protected by several arrays. They wereyered one upon the other, to force the enemy to waste their time deactivating them one by one.

    It was a perfect n since with the fungal creature on a rampage, Lith and Solus didn¡¯t have more than a few seconds at their disposal. Even an Invigorated Setting Sun could only hold for so long.

    "I really hope you Odi are all dead, otherwise I¡¯m going to kill you!" Lith said while making the ck mes so tightly packed that they almost became solid. The first tidal wave of spore was turned into ash on impact, but the second one managed to prate the barrier, and the third went deeper.

    Tons of spores were crashing on him non-stop from every direction, Lith was too focused on slowing their advance to keep his breathing rhythm. Invigoration had been sealed by the simple raw power of the creature¡¯s onught.

    ¡¯Did they really devise this strategy to fight Awakened ones?¡¯ Lith thought while the enemy was seconds away from eating his face.

    ¡¯Nah. You know the Odi. Too arrogant to admit that the devil is in the details.¡¯ Solus said as the arrays copsed in unison, allowing her to destroy the corrupted spores. The moment the creature was freed from the mind control spell, it stopped its attack.

    After that, most of the cloud died, leaving only enough spores to form a humanoid figure that creepily resembled Lith down to the smallest details. He had no idea it was the creature¡¯s way to show respect toward a member of another race.

    \u003c "Thanks, human. Even though we doubt that freeing us was your real purpose, we can¡¯t argue with results nor justify our attempts to end your life."\u003e The creature said. Unfortunately, Lith couldn¡¯t understand the beasts¡¯nguage, let alone mycetes¡¯.

    He used that moment of respite to rekindle Setting Sun back to its full power.

    \u003c "You have no idea of the pain we endured. Centuries of very spent having our mind vited every day and forced to increase our numbers despite the pain having our consciousness split between such a big colony inflicted to us. We¡¯ll hinder you no more. May the Great Mother bless you."\u003e

    The Lith-looking creature beckoned with its hand and a small ring floated in the space between them.

    \u003c "We don¡¯t know if it¡¯s powerful or not. Its magices from the ursed Odi and it¡¯s useless to us. We pray it will aid you in your journey. Please, forgive us."\u003e The creature gave him a deep bow before bolting away.

    Only when Solus and Life Vision confirmed Lith that there were no more spores did he lower his spell.

    ¡¯Okay. First of all, how the heck did you crack so many arrays that fast?¡¯ He asked while using spirit magic to lift the ring before studying it with Life Vision. Lith had no idea what it was, but he could recognize blue glowing runes when he saw them.

    ¡¯It was actually an incredibly menial task. What do so many powerful arrays need to work?¡¯ She asked while studying the ring with her mana sense. Its pseudo core wasn¡¯t veryplex and the gem on top of it was just green.

    It made both Lith and Solus very happy.

    ¡¯A lot of mana. So?¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Do you see mana crystals around here?¡¯

    ¡¯No. Wait, don¡¯t tell me that...¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t believe that an entire race could be so shrewd and yet so idiotic.

    ¡¯Bingo! I just cut the mana crystal cable that supplied the arrays with the world energy from the mana geyser and they dissipated. Easy as flipping a switch.¡¯ Solus wrapped herself around Lith¡¯s arm before returning to her ring form.

    ¡¯Morons. As for the gift the creature left us, it¡¯s must be a trinket someone lost and never bothered picking it up. Which is awesome. It might as well be our Rosetta Stone for studying runes.¡¯ Lith thought, putting the ring inside his pocket dimension.

    Lith had already returned to his peak condition thanks to Invigoration. He flew back to Kh¡¯s gates, to check on Phloria and Quy. Maybe on Yondra too. The rest of the expedition might as well die for what he cared.

    "It¡¯s me. Let me out, the creature is gone and the area is safe." Lith said once he reached the Death Bastion.

    "What¡¯s my mother¡¯s name?" Phloria asked. She wasn¡¯t leaving their lives up to chance. For what she knew, someone or something might have been imitating Lith¡¯s voice.

    "Jirni. Your father is Orion and your dog Lucky. In name and in fact."

    Phloria dispelled Death Bastion, giving Lith a solid punch in the stomach right before hugging him with enough strength to squeeze out the little air left in his lungs.

    "Thank the gods you are alright. You almost scared me to death. Again!" She quickly searched his body for injuries and when she found none she said:

    "Please, help Quy. She¡¯s not getting better." Phloria had no idea how he could still be so energetic and couldn¡¯t care less. Calil was dead and many others were on the brink of death, Quy included.

    Yondra was deathly pale, her breathing was irregr and she had barely enough life force to remain conscious. Morok was ck, blue, and pale as well. Once the creature had ceased its attack, Phloria had ¡¯politely¡¯ demanded that he pulled his weight.

    Lith first checked on Quy. Her life force was so faint that it couldn¡¯t hold her mana core together. It was still intact, but her body was already past the point of recovery. Unless one could use Invigoration, of course.

    Lith had her drink a tonic and gave enough life force to fill two bulls. Only then did her condition stabilise and her skin turn from pale to pink. Lith then gave a bit of life force to Yondra before moving onto the others.

    Phloria¡¯s soldiers and the rest of the assistants were just unconscious. The proper treatments and Quy¡¯s care had prevented them from dying on the spot but unlike them, the Professors weren¡¯t so young anymore.

    "They all need life force and I¡¯ve not enough for all of them. I can save one, maybe two, but the rest is up to their luck and constitution." Saving them all would have meant revealing his secret. Lith wasn¡¯t willing to put at risk his entire life work for a bunch of self-entitled strangers.

    "Use mine." Phloria offered him her hand which he promptly examined.

    "That makes two more tops. Which means that one or two of them have to die. Make your decision, Captain." In that moment, he wasn¡¯t speaking as her friend but as her field Healer.

    Phloria didn¡¯t think twice about her answer and she hated herself for it.

    "Save those who are more likely to survive. It¡¯s pointless to waste life force on those who might die even after getting treated."

    On the battlefield, terrible words had been invented. "Resource management", "coteral damage", "rules of engagement", they were all fancy terms to describe the forms of murder that the human society considered eptable.

 Chapter 649 Tough Calls Part 1

    Lith didn¡¯t y favorites and obeyed his orders. Professor Gaakhu was his first choice being the youngest among her peers and thenguage expert. Then came Professor Neshal. Her condition was as bad as the others¡¯, but she was the only Master Warden in the group so Lith presumed he might still need her help.

    After saving them, Lith had enough strength to save only one Professor. His choice was between Professor Ellkas from the Fire Griffon, the one who was better at deciphering the Odinguage, and Professor Syndra, who was a War Mage.

    The Odi¡¯s protections were all heavyweight and Syndra could kill dozens of enemies with a single spell. Professor Phesta from the White Griffon was the most useless member of the team.

    Aside from a historian she was also a Master Alchemist and a Mage Knight. The former was inconsequential for the expedition and thetter was ruined by his old age.

    "This is up to you, Phloria. Both of them can be useful in their own way and their survival rate is identical." Lith said. He was panting and his breathing was irregr. Using so many times tier four healing magic without Invigoration was truly exhausting.

    ¡¯Thank the gods Quy is still unconscious. She would cry her eyes out knowing the old, meek Phesta is going to die.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    She wasn¡¯t faring any better than Lith. It was her life force he was using now, and even after drinking a tonic and eating some food, she still needed rest to recover.

    "Is it impossible to save them both?" She asked. Lith shook his head in reply.

    "Then save Ellkas. So far, all the threats we faced required more brain than brawns, not to mention that Syndra¡¯s contribution to the expedition has less significancepared to Ellkas¡¯."

    When Lith was done, both Phloria and he were on the verge of fainting.

    "Why didn¡¯t you ask Morok to contribute?" He asked, d that Solus was able to keep watch and that it would only take him a few breathes to recover in case something else happened.

    "Because he is already tired from all the healing he performed. We need at least one person able to stand guard while we rest." Phloria fell asleep the moment she finished her exnation.

    Lith followed her lead after using Invigoration to restore half of his strength, just to be safe. Luckily, the arrays were all still standing since Professor Neshal was alive and well. Morok¡¯s guard duty was hellish due to his fatigue but rtively safe.

    When Lith woke up, bad news was waiting for the survivors of the expedition team. Professors Phesta and Syndra were dead and so was Ni, Professor Gaakhu¡¯s assistant. Many tears were being shed, either due to shock or for the loss of precious friends.

    The Professors had known each other for years and even if they were rivals, they still respected theirpetition. On top of that, seeing a veteran mage die that easily filled their hearts with the fear of being the next one to fall.

    Rainer was crying like amb sent to ughter.

    "The easiest expedition my ass! We¡¯re dying like flies. Professor Yondra, please, I want to go home."

    "Field work is bound to be unpredictable, son. We came searching for ruins and we found a militarypound. No one could have predicted this oue, otherwise the team would have been assembled very differently.

    "It was Calil¡¯s naivety that brought this disaster upon himself and us as well." She replied, bursting into a violent cough she was unable to repress. To save her beloved assistant, the old Professor had given her all and some more.

    Rainer regained his cool, performing on his mentor a quick diagnostic spell.

    "Oh gods, Professor Yondra, what have you done? Don¡¯t speak, you need to rest." He forced her to lie down. Despite her protests, Yondra was now weaker than a child and unable to get up without help.

    Thinking about his previous words, Rainer felt like an egotistical prick. He went in search of a Healer while cursing himself for his helplessness. Quy was still asleep, the Professors were still weakened, leaving only Morok or Lith as a possible choice.

    ¡¯Professor Yondra and Ranger Verhen are in a good rtionship. He should be willing to help.¡¯ Rainer thought. The youth was shocked seeing the Ranger¡¯s appearance.

    Phloria and Morok had suffered no damage as well, but even after eight hours they still bore the signs of exhaustion. Phloria was slightly pale and had bags under her eyes despite having plenty of sleep.

    Lith, instead, looked like someone who had just arrived there after a rxing vacation.

    "How is this possible? You have fought that thing, healed people, and yet you look amazing."

    "Do you have a reason to disturb me or are you just hitting on me?" Lith had relieved Morok from guard duty for a while, to allow his fellow Ranger to get some sleep.

    Rainer inwardly cursed and exined to him how dire Yondra¡¯s condition was. Lith wouldn¡¯t have believed a single word if not for the honest fear he could see in Rainer¡¯s eyes.

    "It¡¯s impossible. I personally checked on her before going to sleep, but taking a second look can¡¯t hurt. You stay here and if any of the traps I set up make a single noise, scream."

    Rainer nodded, staring at the tunnels in front of him as they were the open maws of as many beasts, ready to release unknown horrors upon him. He was scared of them, but he was terrified at the idea of losing the closest thing to a family he had ever had, so he calmed his heart and kept an ear to the ground.

    Lith discovered that Yondra¡¯s condition was actually worse than Rainer had described. Her life force was such a mess that he needed to use his tier five Scanner and Chisel spells to stabilize her.

    The moment he was done, she opened her eyes abruptly.

    "What the heck did you do to damage yourself that badly?" Lith asked.

    "I simply did what was necessary. Rainer and the other Assistants needed help. If it wasn¡¯t for this old body, the poor Ni would still be alive. I copsed before treating her." Yondra sighed.

    "That was stupid of you, it almost cost you your life."

    "Ni was barely twenty! She has- had all her life in front of her whereas I squandered mine. I spent so much time researching magic that I almost lost my family more than once. My children may recognize my face, but they don¡¯t know me at all."

    Her voice was filled with regret while her eyes looked past Lith, staring at visions of all her past mistakes. Yondra now regretted many things and wished she had made different choices in her life.

    "That¡¯s why I want to retire and why I approached you. I want someone to relieve me of the burden of my magical legacy. Most of all, I know you can use rejuvenation magic. Please, give me back my strength! I beg of you.

    "I can¡¯t keep living like a helpless fool, incapable of protecting even what she holds dear the most!"

    Yondra looked at Lith¡¯s face, finding sympathy,passion, and more. She felt like she was staring into the eyes of an ancient creature, something whose feelings were smothered by the dust of centuries and too many still open wounds.

 Chapter 650 Tough Calls Part 2

    "I can do that, even now." He said, yet Yondra was unable to rejoice at those words. There was no warmth in them. "My price is steep, though."

    "As long as it doesn¡¯t involve high treason or murder, I¡¯m willing to pay. Be it in gold or artifacts, I don¡¯t care. They would be part of my legacy anyway." She replied.

    Lith was actually more interested in her knowledge. Yondra was a Royal Forgemaster and a leading figure among historians. She could help him deciphering the mysteries of Huryole.

    ¡¯If only I could trust her, I¡¯d take both the runed sword and the booklet out of my pocket dimension right now. First, I¡¯ll make her indebted to me, then I¡¯ll find a way to put her to the test.

    ¡¯Maybe I could pretend to find a page of the booklet inside Kh and study her reaction.¡¯

    Lith kept nning his next moves while rejuvenating Yondra¡¯s body. Rejuvenating magic was Healing magic capable of detecting and fixing all the marks that the passage of time inflicted on the human body.

    On paper it was something simple, but officially there were only four mages capable of performing it in the entire Griffon Kingdom. Professors Manohar, Vastor, Marth, and of course, Lith.

    He realigned Yondra¡¯s spine and bones while also fixing her muscles. Healing magic was no miracle, it simply sped up the natural healing process. A broken bone would still present traces of being fractured after being healed, scar tissues would be formed after an internal injury.

    Rejuvenating magic was the only thing that could rebuild rather than repair an injured body, even returning worn cartges to their mint condition. Lith did all he could, but was forced to stop halfway through.

    "The damage you have inflicted to your life force needs time to heal. If I proceed any further, it would do you more harm than good." He said.

    Yondra nodded. She felt terribly fatigued and even though she had just woken up, the only thing the old Professor wanted was to fall asleep again. Yet she could already feel different, as if a weight had been removed from her shoulders and another from her chest.

    Breathing was much easier and none of her joints bothered her, no matter the position she took.

    "It doesn¡¯t matter, we can always resumeter. I feel like I¡¯m twenty years younger." Yondra said before losing consciousness. Lith ced his hand over her shoulder, checking her life force.

    That was the real source of a human¡¯s life span. He had treated Nana countless times with rejuvenating magic, allowing her to spend herst years free from all the symptoms of old age, yet death hade for her anyway.

    ¡¯She got this close to shorten her lifespan just to help those useless brats and so did Quy. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother saving this kind of people over and over.¡¯ Lith thought, yet the resemnce between the Professor and his old mentor led his hand to sweep her hair away from her face, to let her breathe better.

    ¡¯For the same reason you protected Carl from your father when he became his favourite target. Or when you choose to take care of Tista¡¯s illness. You could have always taken the easy way out and only cared about yourself.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Yet how would you feel if Quy died? If any of those few people you let into your life disappeared and you didn¡¯t do anything to prevent it?¡¯

    Lith knew the answer all too well. He remembered how he felt after his brother¡¯s death. Lith/Derek was Carl¡¯s only beneficiary, so between the inheritance and the money Derek had umted for his brother¡¯s college and wedding, he had so much money he had no idea what to do with them.

    Yet all he had been left with was an empty life, dragging his feet forward just waiting for death well before he discovered to have lung cancer. It was how the void inside of him had been born and Yurial¡¯s death had only made it bigger, just like Nana¡¯s.

    Still upset from Solus¡¯s words, Lith returned in front of the tunnels.

    To Rainer, Lith said: "Yondra is okay now, she just needs to rest. Send the other Professors to me the moment they wake up. They need to know what kind of monsters we are about to face."

    The youth thanked him many times, giving Lith such deep bows that his head almost touched the ground. Yet Lith didn¡¯t care. His gaze was fixated onto the caves, praying for something to attack him and provide him the opportunity to vent his rage.

    Thinking about all those he had lost during his lives, Lith had finally realized how close he hade to losing Quy as well. His hatred the Odi, for what they had done to the fungus creature, was beyond what words could express. With their actions, they had messed with what he could only think of as his turf.

    The hours passed and nothing happened. The few creatures that stumbled in the vicinity of the camp ran away as soon as they perceived his murderous intent targeting them.

    Phloria went to keep himpany as soon as she was certain that Quy was out of danger and that nothing had happened to the soldiers she had tasked with guarding Kh¡¯s gate.

    "It seems I¡¯ll have to learn Healing Magic as well. Now I understand why Dad says that a good mage must never stop learning and why my mother is so happy not being a mage." She sighed.

    "Tier five is really an edge case. Unless one wants to be a professional Healer, but yes, I agree. You should learn at least tier four. Regrowing limbs and sharing life force is much more important than one could think." Lith offered her a few sweets from his pocket dimension along with a cup of hot tea.

    "By the way, thanks for saving Quy. I don¡¯t know how you did it, since ording to both Yondra and Morok she was on the brink of death." She said with a casual tone, never stopping to look in his eyes.

    "Thanks for the heads up." Lith nodded, thinking about a usible exnation for his feat.

    "Yeah. Consider that it¡¯s amazing how you managed to help her and the others even after an all out battle against such a powerful creature." There was no curiosity in her voice, only worry.

    Phloria had given up on Lith exining her how he performed his "miracles", she just wanted him to be aware of what the rest of the expedition knew about the most recent events.

    Sure, Yondra seemed a nice woman and Morok seemed indifferent to anything that didn¡¯t involve him directly, but she had learned how deceiving appearances could be. There were few people whom Phloria really trusted, and still fewer of whom she thought well.

    Lith was one of them and she hoped that one day he would feel the same about her.

    "It wasn¡¯t as hard as you might think." Lith lied with such grace that Phloria almost fell for it. Unfortunately, almost wasn¡¯t enough, dealing another blow to her feelings.

    Lith exined to her how the creature had been enved and that instead of defeating it, he had just set it free.

    "The Odi really were shameless in their use of forbidden magic." After what had happened to Yurial, Phloria had a bone to pick against anyone who used ve items almost as big as Lith¡¯s.

 Chapter 651 A Threat from the Past Part 1

    "I think we should contact ourmanding officer." Phloria said. "As a person, I just want to run away from this nightmarish ce. As a soldier, however, I think we should at least make sure that by opening Kh¡¯s gates we haven¡¯t unleashed some ancient horror upon the Griffon Kingdom."

    Lith nodded. He really hoped to receive the order to retreat. In the case that happened, he would only need to have Solus¡¯s to assume her tower form above the mana geyser once to be able to return there anytime he wanted.

    ¡¯If it works.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯The ground has been enchanted to not be affected by earth magic and even if the mana geyser has not been imed, most of its energy is drained by Kh.

    ¡¯There might not be enough world energy left to assume my tower form, let alone to perform a Warp.¡¯

    Phloria took her army amulet out of her dimensional amulet and tried to contact the headquarters. Unlike a civilian device, the armymunication amulet had green mana crystals supporting the blue one and amplifying its signal.

    Yet all the runes carved on its surface were inactive. She had to infuse it with her own mana to have even the emergency rune to lit up.

    "Dammit, I don¡¯t know the reason but now the signal sucks. Give me a hand, please. I can¡¯t speak and focus so much all at once."

    With Lith¡¯s help, the hologram ofmander Berion soon appeared between them. Phloria reported to him everything that had happened and the losses they had suffered.

    "Dammit! You should have called me the moment you realized it was a militarypound! Your expedition isn¡¯t suited for that kind of recon. Historians are a must, but you need many more Master Forgemasters and Wardens." Berion mmed his fist against his desk.

    Lith had never seen him angry, not even during the events of Othre. Once he looked more carefully, Lith could notice that he stood corrected. The Commander was worried, not angry.

    "With all due respect, sir, the creature attacked the moment we stepped inside Kh, despite not even it being provoked. There is no telling that even if we didn¡¯t enter the premises it wouldn¡¯t have attacked us the moment we lowered our guard.

    "It was controlled by a ve item, so despite its will was restricted, it was far from a mindless creature. Also, I think that your first order would have been to assess the danger thepound poses to the Kingdom." Phloria replied.

    "You are right." Berion sighed. "Those Odi were cunning. If you didn¡¯t destroy the arrays, they would have killed you as soon as the door was opened, whereas removing the arrays let that fungus thing free to murder you on the first asion it got.

    "Normally I would order you to get out of there and wait for reinforcements, but we have no idea what other contingency measures the Odi might have set in ce. On top of that, now that the gates of Kh are open, we can¡¯t risk that someoneing from the tunnels might trigger the gods know what traps or steal the Odi¡¯s secrets.

    "Even worse, something could follow you to the surface, and if the fights break out inside the mines, our losses would be incalcble. For now, your task is to guard thepound and make sure that nothing gets in or out of it.

    "I¡¯ll inform you as soon as the Royals make their decision. This is too big, even for me to decide alone. Over and out."

    The moment the conversation was over, Phloria put her amulet back inside her dimensional item and conjured a Hush zone to prevent being heard.

    "At least now we have our orders. Can you see something out of the ordinary in the tunnels?" She asked.

    Lith¡¯s eyes red up with Life Vision and then he looked around before replying:

    "Nothing, but it doesn¡¯t mean much. When the Teks attacked, I had no notice of it until it was toote and I can¡¯t see inside Kh¡¯s buildings due to the arrays surrounding them."

    "Ugh, I hoped to receive some good news." Phloria said. "Quy mentioned how the Odi used ves and golems to do their scut work. Unless they managed to imprison another eternal being, we are bound to face golems.

    "Being Kh a militarypound, there must be a lot of them, and all armed to the teeth. Can Life Vision see them or are they invisible to it?"

    "They have no life force, but I can see their mana flow so I should be able to warn you in time. Unless they pull some stunt like the Tek, of course." Lith replied.

    By the time the remaining members of the expedition team woke up, it was already noon. Old age was an unbeatable enemy and some of the Professors had suffered great damage, forcing them to rest for more than a day.

    Quy and Morok were surprisingly energetic. They showed no sign of fatigue and they both ate for two people. Yondra still looked exhausted, but her movements were now lighter and nimbler than before.

    After Phloria brought everyone up to speed, exining to them what had happened after they had lost consciousness, Professor Gaakhu, the expedition leader, took a few deep breaths to calm down before saying:

    "As much as it pains me to admit it, Berion is right. This team is ill suited to explore such a historical marvel like Kh appears to be."

    At the word "marvel" the Professors who were still grieving needed sheer willpower to not strangle her, and so did the surviving Assistants. Yet everyone gritted their teeth and let her continue.

    "Our team is still powerful, but us Professorck the stamina and speed necessary to be truly useful. Our Assistants¡¯ inexperience is a liability, Calil almost doomed as all. To make matters worse, the Odi were truly cunning.

    "In all of my years of experience, I¡¯ve never faced arrays with so manyyers of traps, nor creatures that powerful. I¡¯m not going to lie, I proved to be a liability as well. If we preserved the arrays as I wanted, they would have killed us. Even if somehow we survived, I don¡¯t think I would have been able to beat that magical beast.

    "I still don¡¯t understand how Ranger Verhen defeated it, but I can say that if that fungus had been on the level of an Emperor Beast, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation."

    Everyone nodded to those words, Lith included. He had faced only a non Awakened Emperor Beast in the past, and even then he had needed help to beat him.

    Now he was much stronger and better equipped, but after facing the sentient fungus, he realized that it wasn¡¯t only a matter of how powerful the opponent was, but also of how long the creature had to prepare the terrain for the fight.

    The spores would have been a much easier opponent if they hadn¡¯t spent centuries multiplying.

    Lith then exined to the rest of the group how he had survived the encounter.

    "Gods, the Odi are almost embarrassing in their hubris." Gaakhu said when she heard about the cable fueling the arrays.

    "Once again it would be a groundbreaking discovery, if not for its fatal weak point. If they applied the same method for sealing the buildings, getting inside will be the easy part, whereas facing what¡¯s waiting for us might cost us our lives."

 Chapter 652 A Threat from the Past Part 2

    "By the way, how did you find the container and how did you discover the cable?" Gaakhu asked.

    Lith had already prepared an exnation and after speaking with Phloria, he had made it even simpler to justify his measly expenditure of mana.

    "Thanks to Captain Ernas I had the time to prepare a Life Sensing array. Once I spotted the container, I got there too fast for the creature to follow me. I had enough time to notice that the arrays needed a power source and I did what anyone in my situation would have done.

    "I struck at everything that stuck out."

    "Well done. A good mix of wisdom and luck is exactly what we need to survive." Gaakhu said.

    "Survive? Do you think the army will not allow us to leave?" Rainer asked, causing most of those present to sigh at his naivety.

    "Of course not. We opened a can of worms and we are the only ones that can take care of it before the worst happens." Yondra said while patting his shoulder to reassure him.

    "Now, since it¡¯s only a matter of time before going back inside Kh, I¡¯ll tell you all I know about the Odi¡¯s technology and my colleagues will do the same."

    Yondra exined to them the kinds of golems previous expeditions had faced and how to defeat them, going into details to the point of sharing even what Forgemasters considered secrets of their trade.

    No one missed it wasn¡¯t an act of generosity so much as of desperation. Gaakhu and Ellkas prepared for everyone a list ofmon Odi words they had to watch out for and the secret signs used to mark dangerous zones.

    By the time the seminar was over, it was already evening and everyone had quite a headache from the cramming.

    "Oh gods, we¡¯re idiots." Phloria said. "Berion can¡¯t contact us if we don¡¯t boost the signal on our end." As predicted, the Commander had been waiting for them for hours, even starting to fear that the expedition had been wiped out.

    His orders were predictable as well. Their mission was now to search Kh with the utmost caution and leave only after making sure to not leave behind anything that could endanger the Kingdom.

    "Sadly, sending reinforcements is nigh impossible. Because of the interference, we can¡¯t pinpoint your coordinates, and even if we could, the interference would make it impossible to open a Warp Gate.

    "I can only wish you good luck and hope you find only constructs and corpses down there."

    "I¡¯d have a request, sir." Lith said. "Could you please tell my family I¡¯m alright? They don¡¯t hear from me since themunications have been sealed. They must be worried sick."

    Berion nodded, expecting the others to ask for the same, yet only an awkward silence ensued.

    ¡¯Good gods, what a bunch of no lifers! Now I really feel the need to tell my wife and kids I love them.¡¯ The Commander thought before hanging up the call.

    "I envy you." Yondra said. "Even if I went missing for a year, nobody would care."

    "I would." Rainer¡¯s tone was hurt.

    "No, you wouldn¡¯t. Because you¡¯re always with me. You¡¯re the only real family I¡¯ve left."

    "Well then! It¡¯s alreadyte, so I¡¯d say we can start our exploration tomorrow first thing in the morning." Professor Gaakhu was eager to change the subject. Her career had been as sessful as her personal life was empty.

    "We¡¯ll split into two teams, each oneprised of a Ranger, since they are our heavy hitters, a Warden, and a Forgemaster. Do you agree, Captain Ernas?"

    Phloria nodded and after organizing guard duty, everyone went to sleep. They had a lot to do in the morning.

    ***

    Duchy of Laroxya, Crystal Mines, that same morning.

    Ten days had passed since the expedition team had left the mines and the goblin-Abomination hybrid named Korgh had managed to safely resume her routine. The mines were now under heavy surveince, but she didn¡¯t mind.

    Her dimensional magicbined with her ability to manipte light made her invisible even to Awakened ones, fake mages had no chance of finding her. The fight with the two Rangers had been a blessing in disguise.

    After almost dying due to having her goblin side heavily injured, her evolution had resumed at an astounding rate. The flesh and Chaos energy whichprised her body were two separate entities no more.

    They had finally started to merge together, creating something new andpletely unprecedented. Thanks to the goblin¡¯s unbridled vitality and the long incubation period while being constantly overfed by mana crystals, Korgh¡¯s new body was now able to withstand the Chaos.

    Puppeteer Abominations needed to find new host bodies once the one they upied was corroded, while Eldritch Abominations¡¯ bodies were made of pure Chaos energy. It made them almost indestructible, but at the same time, it crippled their daily life.

    To prevent their energy from killing or destroying everything they touched, a lot of willpower was needed. To add insult to injury, it also required to consume part of the energy they had umted.

    Even if they could take human appearance, they couldn¡¯t keep such form for long without causing a massacre, either to feed or because they failed to control the raw energy their bodies wereprised of.

    For the same reason, things like Forgemastering, Alchemy, and all creative jobs were much harder for them than for humans. Korgh¡¯s body instead was, for theck of a better term, normal.

    She could freely touch things and, unlike all of her fellow Abominations, Chaos energy didn¡¯t seep out whenever she became distracted. It was a perfect shell that decreased her energy consumption and in turn her need to feed, leaving her lots of mana to spare for her magic.

    ¡¯Who would have thought that being injured was the key to my evolution? Goblin tissues have repaired my Abomination side while Chaos energy strengthened my damaged flesh. Soon all of my Forgemastery skills will be more than nostalgia!

    ¡¯Fuck Korgh! I¡¯ll be once again known as Bytra, the Forge Goddess. I bet that if my so called "original" learned the truth, the envy would give her a stroke.¡¯ Bytra thought.

    ¡¯You¡¯re damn right. Unluckily for you, I¡¯ve no veins anymore.¡¯ An all too familiar voice resounded in her head.

    Bytra turned around, watching her double standing in front of her.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t try to escape. I might not have Life Vision anymore, but I can track my own energy signature when we are close. Not running away after your existence was revealed to the public is thest mistake you¡¯ll ever make.¡¯ Korgh thought.

    Her wed hands were filled with Chaos mana, ready to be unleashed. Unlike the hybrid, she had all the time to prepare for their meeting.

    Back when she was still an Emperor Beast, Korgh had been a Raiju, the evolution of a Cyr (horse type magical beast) whose powers were based on the light and air element. Their appearance was that of a Chinese dragon fused with a warhorse.

    The resulting creature had silver white scales covering their horse body, withrge branching horns over their head, long whiskers, a thick silver mane, and a long, scaled dragonic tail.

    Korgh¡¯s Abomination body was humanoid and covered by ck small scales. The small horns on her head and her hair dancing in the air despite thepleteck of wind in the cave were the only vestigial remnants of her old self.

 Chapter 653 Fall of the Mighty Part 1

    Bytra Blinked away, immediately followed by Korgh. No matter the direction she took, her double would follow her without fail. Soon both of them were outside the mines, in a secluded space away from prying eyes.

    ¡¯Something is wrong.¡¯ Korgh thought. ¡¯After Blinking so many times, even I feel tired. How can a hybrid have such strength? Also, why did she left the mines? I couldn¡¯t use powerful spells there without the risk of killing us both.

    ¡¯Even if she¡¯s just half as smart as I am, she can¡¯t have given me this advantage for no reason.¡¯

    ¡¯You bet I didn¡¯t!¡¯ Bytra replied, shocking her double. Korgh couldn¡¯t believe that a mere copy had developed a willpower so strong that she could easily invade Korgh¡¯s mind.

    An enormous array, over 100 meters (330 feet)rge surrounded them as Bytra assumed the perfect form of a Raiju. Korgh could clearly feel that her clone didn¡¯t just shapeshift, that was an exact copy of their original body.

    The only difference was that its scales were ck and its eyes yellow instead of being respectively silver and red.

    Korgh unleashed the tier five Chaos spell, Flood Storm, only to see the Chaos magic revert to its darkness version because of the array. Bytra didn¡¯t miss the opening. She dodged all the darkness bullets as if they were still and pierced Korgh¡¯s chest with her horns, ripping it to shreds.

    Korgh screamed in pain realizing she had fallen into a trap. Not only did the light-based array made Chaos magic useless, but it also made the light element seep inside everything within the premises of the formation.

    Because of that, the light element was constantly assaulting her Chaos made body, turning it into darkness energy as well. The light magic flooding through her open wound was like poison, sapping her strength at an rming rate.

    Each chunk of flesh was actually highlypressed Chaos energy that once lost couldn¡¯t be recovered due to Bytra¡¯s energy signature infecting Korgh¡¯s. Unlike Scarlett the Scorpicore, Bytra knew all the secrets of Chaos magic and its fatal weaknesses as well.

    Bytra, on the other hand, was unaffected by the array. Her body was physical, hence the light element was a source of nourishment for her.

    ¡¯Fuck! All the spells I had prepared are now useless. If this keeps up like this, I¡¯ll be the one devoured!¡¯ Korgh thought as the Raiju tore her apart limb from limb, with such speed and ferocity that she had no time to cast a single spell.

    It had taken Bytra a lot of time and effort to steal enough crystals from the mines to support her Reversal array, but it had been worth it.

    The more of her original¡¯ memories and wisdom she recovered, the more the psychic bond between them grew stronger. She knew it was only a matter of time before the Eldritch who had spawned her would hunt her down.

    Bytra could already taste the enormous amount of energy she would obtain by consuming her double. Enough to maybe even satiate the hunger that tormented her ever since the day she had turned into an Abomination.

    Suddenly, the ground trembled and the earth below the two sworn enemies turned into a hand the size of a cruise ship, crushing both the array and Bytra under its grip.

    "I told you not to underestimate a hybrid. We¡¯ve already lost several Eldritchs due to their conceit." Xenagrosh said, using her Mother Earth glove to trap her prey.

    Not only did it allow her to dominate the earth element, but it also distorted the elemental bnce so much that it made it impossible to use dimensional magic.

    After consuming her Troll double, Xenagrosh had be able to recover her human body. She looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, around 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall wearing an ample cream-colored magician robe.

    Her looks were kind of in. She had light brown hair with ck streaks and youthful chestnut eyes that contrasted with the ancient wisdom of her gaze.

    "How long have you been there?" Korgh asked. Only her head and part of her chest remained. It would take her months to recover from her injuries withoutmitting genocide.

    "From the beginning."

    "Then why didn¡¯t you do anything?" Korgh¡¯s voice was full of anger and spite.

    "To teach you a lesson I hope you will in turn teach other Eldritchs. Never underestimate an opponent. You knew your clone was bound to have recovered most of your memories, yet you charged in blindly. That was beyond stupid."

    "Please, let me go." Bytra said. "Original or clone, I don¡¯t care. I just want to live. I promise that if you spare my life, you¡¯ll never hear again from me."

    "Beg all you want, your destiny is sealed. There¡¯s only room for one Korgh on the entire Mogar." Korgh replied.

    "Then you can be Korgh and I can be Bytra! I¡¯m tired of hiding and fighting. I want to use my hammer and Forgemaster again. I don¡¯t want to be defined by my hunger any more."

    "Bytra is a name I relinquished, but it¡¯s still mine." Korgh said, regrowing her limbs so that she could stand up. "You own nothing and you deserve nothing. Once I¡¯m done with you, I¡¯ll be strong enough to devour anyone who dares to stand in my path."

    "What?" Xenagrosh was bbergasted. "What about your title of Ruler of the mes? What about your herd? You could finally meet other Raijus again after centuries of istion, and all you can think of is something meaningless as preying on the weak?"

    "Who needs a herd when you can have power? What use can have wasting time to Forgemaster artifacts when I can simply take them from the hands of my fallen enemies?" Korgh said with a mad grin on her face, showing many rows of shark-like teeth.

    "As for my title, do not worry. I will cleanse Mogar in a Forge of Chaos!"

    "I changed my mind. Feel free to eat her." Xenagrosh opened her hand and freed Bytra from her stone prison.

    "What?" Both the original and the clone asked in unison.

    "I told you to not underestimate your opponent, in this case, me. The cause has no use for a power-hungry fool. Neither I nor the Master have ever aimed for Mogar¡¯s destruction.

    "The Master just wants to make the human race better, whereas I¡¯m content with breaking free from the chains of fate. Since you¡¯re bound to be a problem in the future, I might as well take care of you right now in your weakened state." Xenagrosh nodded for Bytra to resume her attack.

    The Raiju charged against Korgh¡¯s broken form onest time, skewering the Eldritch with her horns before absorbing the very life essence of her double. A blinding light erupted from Bytra¡¯s body as the two ck cores merged into one.

    If for Xenagrosh the key for her new form had been absorbing her troll¡¯s counterpart light core, for Bytra was the goblin¡¯s vitality. With each generation, they had be more and more resistant to the Chaos energy they were born with until both their cores and bodies were able to coexist with it.

    Bytra wasn¡¯t just an Abomination anymore, she was now a perfect hybrid. Her human form and Raiju form were now almost identical to their original appearance. Bytra looked at her own naked figure,bing her silver hair with her fingers.

    "Gods, I¡¯m not a monster anymore." She blurted out.

 Chapter 654 Fall of the Mighty Part 2

    "How do you feel?" Xenagrosh asked, her hands casually ced on her Dragontooth de hung on her hip.

    "I¡¯m not hungry." It was the only thing Bytra could think about.

    "First, you need some clothes. Second, I¡¯ll fetch you your hammer. We have a lot of work to do."

    ***

    Expedition site of Kh, the following morning.

    Everyone was back in top shape, but the morale was dangerously low. The Assistants now looked at the militarypound as if it was their personal gallows, while the Professors were doubting their own skills for the first time in years.

    ¡¯A simple graduate who is not even a Warden unlocked the arrays sealing the doors and if not for the army, we¡¯d be already dead. Have I underestimated this mission, were the Odi too cunning, or have I just got too old for this job?¡¯

    Was what every one of them was thinking.

    Lith was the more nervous of them all, but he was good at hiding it. His instincts were telling him that something was off.

    ¡¯After the Teks attacked, I was expecting that whoever is pulling their strings would raise the ante, yet nothing happened. Then we opened the door and that fungus came out. Two more days have passed and once again, nothing.

    ¡¯Are we really facing just automated defenses or is our enemy adjusting their strategy the more we reveal our cards?¡¯ He thought.

    Despite all the evidence pointing at him being wrong, Lith was unable to rx. There was something akin to a tingling in a corner of his head that bugged him to no end. On the bright side, the Professors were now wearing their best equipment.

    ¡¯By my maker, that¡¯s a blinding appearance.¡¯ Solus said once she attempted to look at the group with her mana sense. Every one of their items was imbued with multiple powerful enchantments.

    The only problem for her was that there were so many that she had no idea which one to study first.

    "It¡¯s good to see that you have geared up. We need all the help we can get." Phloria said. "We¡¯ll split into three groups. Professor Yondra, Professor Ellkas, Ranger Verhen, and I will explore the first building on the left, right after the city door.

    Professor Gaakhu, Professor Neshal, Ranger Eari, and two of my soldiers will explore the second building on the left. This way, if anything happens, we can provide backup to each other with minimal notice thanks to dimensional magic.

    "Plus, if the necessity arises, we can retreat behind the protection of our arrays with the same ease. The rest of my soldiers will protect the Assistants during our absence. Your task will be to make sure the camp¡¯s barriers are at full strength and prevent anyone from attacking us from the back."

    "Yes!" All the Assistants said but one.

    "This is unfair! I¡¯m not a fighter, but I can help. Just like I did with the door." Quy objected.

    "And you will, if we find something we can¡¯t decipher, we¡¯ll return to the camp and work on it together. Until then, stay in the camp." Phloria¡¯s tone didn¡¯t leave space for arguing, so Quy slouched her back and dragged her feet until she was among her peers.

    "She can Blink away and has my armor. I don¡¯t see why Quy can¡¯te with us." Lith whispered in her ear.

    "If pushes to the shove, I can order the Professors to scram and they will obey. Then you can go all out without worries. Quy, instead, would never leave your side, she loves you like a brother. Why do you think I organized the groups the way I did? To have as little prying eyes as possible."

    Lith had to admit that her reasoning was excellent. He gave Phloria thumbs up and after finalizing the details, the two groups entered Kh again. Lith took point, using Life Vision and mana sense to make sure that nothing had changed.

    After a thorough analysis of the area, he moved to the nearest building. All structures inside the militarypound looked the same, resembling huge rectangr warehouses with a t roof like those Lith had seen more than once on Earth¡¯s docks.

    Each of them had a single entrance,prised of a double door so big that a truck could easily fit with space to spare and a sealing array visible to the naked eye.

    It was shaped like three concentric circles, each one inscribed with unknown runes and fueled by both purple crystals and the mana geyser underlying Kh. A thin cable made of mana crystals connected the arrays with the ground, fueling them.

    "Oh gods, I¡¯ve never seen something soplex on a single door!" Professor Neshal, the only Master Warden of the group said. "It will take us days only to understand how to deactivate one of them."

    "Can everyone see that thin, blue line, camouged along the door frame?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, why?" Professor Yondra couldn¡¯t see the relevance such a visual detail could have.

    At least until Lith used a small knife to cut it and two out of three arrays were suddenly powered off, leaving only the one fueled by the purple crystal active.

    "Or not." Professor Neshal was bbergasted. "Is this how you freed the fungus creature? I swear, if we make it back to the surface, the title of my report will be: Odi, the dumbest geniuses ever."

    "Well, there is still thest array to defuse." Lith said.

    Neshal just shook her head, pulling the purple crystals out of the wall with her bare hands and giving them to Lith.

    "You would be right if the arrays you just deactivated weren¡¯t also the ones protecting the energy cores. I¡¯m starting to believe that the real reason the Odi empire was wiped out in less than a generation is that once the weak points of their workings were revealed by the Odi rebels, their defenses amounted to nothing."

    Seeing such a poor design, Lith¡¯s lip curled in disgust. He wasn¡¯t a Master Warden, but even his creations required more than pulling a plug to be deactivated.

    ¡¯Those morons abused the "Keep it simple" rule. They basically left on/off switches on all the arrays we met so far.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Maybe back then reading and magic were an exclusive of the elites.¡¯ Solus suggested. ¡¯For ignorant folks andymen, magic is a godlike power. It seems dumb to us because we are all cultured people.¡¯

    After giving her a mind nod, yet not stopping from considering the Odi a bunch of idiots, Lith asked:

    "Why did you hand me these crystals?"

    "Consider them a present. They¡¯re nothing special, so the Kingdom will surely give them to us as a reward. They will deduct them from my share instead of yours. You just saved me days of work and weeks of frustration.

    "Just the thought of wasting a single brain cell to solve such a moronic device might have given me a stroke." Neshal replied.

    Professor Gaakhu opened the second door under Lith¡¯s supervision, cutting the power cable before asking:

    "How did you understand how they work?"

    "I have an excellent mana perception. These arrays have not enough crystals to support them and the cable emits a powerful aura."

    "I noticed that too, but only because I could take my time and focus on the door. Doing it under that creature¡¯s siege must have required more than cold blood. It takes talent and guts to bet everything on an intuition.

    "Would you be interested in bing a Professor for the Crystal Griffon?"

    "I called dibs already." Yondra snorted.

 Chapter 655 Horrors and Wonders Part 1

    To stop the two Professors from bickering, Phloria gave the order to enter the second building at once. Helion and Jerth, her two best soldiers who she had assigned to the second group, yelped in surprise at the vision appearing in front of their eyes.

    Gaakhu and Neshal quickly joined them, unable to hold their curiosity. Almost at the same time, Phloria stepped through the door of the first building, happy that she hadn¡¯t let Quy join them.

    She was looking at a huge antechamber, very simr to one of those at the entrance of a military base. On her left, there was a regr-sized desk and a chair, testimony how the Odi couldn¡¯t be much bigger than humans.

    On her right, a series of chairs were lined up against the wall. Judging from the size of the room and the number of seats, the base had to receive frequent visits from the Odi¡¯s upper echelons.

    There was no other reason she could think of to justify the presence of all the transparent tanks lined up in front of the chairs. Each tank held the remains of a member of a different race.

    Phloria identified a human, a Ry, a Dryad, and an orc. The other two were members of races unknown to her. Their bodies had been dismembered and submerged in an unknown transparent liquid that seemed to have preserved them.

    Bubbles of some kind of gas were pumped from below and then sucked from the upper part of the tank in a continuous loop. At the base of each tank, there was a pedestal with a holographic disy.

    Words and images appeared at fixed intervals, reminding Lith of an interactive museum.

    "What kind of monster could do such a thing?" Phloria pointed at the body parts. Their flesh had been divided into irregr chunks, but somehow the blood vessels connecting them were intact and the hearts were still beating, giving the creatures a semnce of life.

    "Humans, for example." Yondra replied. "Why do you think the definition of forbidden magic is sox? Even Healing magic can be considered forbidden if you use it to experiment on others instead of treating them."

    Before allowing anyone to touch anything, the Professors scanned the room for arrays and any kind of magical traps while Lith did the same with Life Vision.

    "The ce is safe." Professor Ellkas said. "Let¡¯s see what¡¯s written here." He stood in front of the tank holding a human male, around twenty years of age.

    "It¡¯s mostly technical jargon that I don¡¯t recognize, but from what I can understand it¡¯s an exnation of how the life force of humans works." Ellkas could browse through the different pages at will thanks to what looked like a touch screen.

    After tinkering a bit with themands, she became pale as a ghost.

    "Good gods, these are no exnations. Once you get past the introduction, there are daily reports up to this date. The tanks are constantly monitoring their condition and somehow they keep these poor creatures alive!"

    Lith already knew it. Life Vision had shown him that the prisoners¡¯ life forces were tangled and twisted, almost on the verge of copsing. Yet they had life forces nheless.

    Most of the heads were split into multiple pieces, making it hard for normal people to notice that their eyes were following the neers from the moment they had entered the room.

    Lith could read them like an open book. All they were filled with was pain and hope. Each time one of the air bubbles popped up after reaching the surface, Lith could hear faint screams of agony vibrating through the ss-like tanks.

    The choir of voices he was able to discern thanks to his enhanced hearing made him want to puke. The fragmented beings had long lost themselves into madness, yet Lith could have sworn to recognize some words among the gurgling sounds they emitted.

    "Scan everything with your army amulets and let¡¯s destroy this horror." Phloria said activating the encrypted mode on her amulet and forcing it onto all the amulets belonging to someone of inferior rank.

    The data would be stored but remain inessible even to the amulet¡¯s owner, to prevent dangerous knowledge from falling in the wrong hands.

    Lith wasn¡¯t new to pain and torture, but such a cruel exhibition was unthinkable of even for him. The Odi had clearly perfectioned their life force maniption techniques to an extreme level to dismember different races like that and keep them alive for so long.

    They had achieved their purpose and yet the Odi had kept their victims on disy, like an animal¡¯s head hung on a wall. That wasn¡¯t science anymore, just an empty abuse of power, like a kid plucking a butterfly¡¯s wings.

    "Captain Ernas, forgive me, but I think we shouldn¡¯t destroy this ce." Yondra said with a pained voice.

    "What do you mean? What good could possiblye out of this?" Phloria was tempted to threaten the old Professor with a charge of insubordination, but Phloria could feel her emotions clouding her own judgment.

    "These pods can preserve life. If we had something like them, maybe Calil and the others would still be alive, just in suspended animation." Those words reminded Phloria of Yurial¡¯s death, cracking her self-righteousness.

    "Lith? What do you think?" Asking him to be her moralpass sounded crazy even to Phloria¡¯s ears, but she had no other options.

    "Normally I would agree with Professor Yondra. These creatures..." Lith refused to refer to them as people. What was left of them could be barely described as meat puppets.

    "-don¡¯t seem to age nor bleed despite their terrible condition, which is good. Yet if it was up to me, I would destroy everything. First, this is not suspended animation. Their eyes still move and if you listen carefully you can hear their screams, which makes the pods just a torturing device."

    Yondra put an ear against the ss-like material, flinching back in horror less than a secondter.

    "Second, I doubt the Odi¡¯s motives. Whatever they have done to them, is likely to be some kind of weaponization system. This is a militarypound, after all. Just like for the arrays on the door, I don¡¯t trust my back to the unknown."

    Lith couldn¡¯t share with them the fact that Solus had seen with mana sense something embedded inside the prisoners¡¯ brains. Something with an energy signature simr to the corrupted spores.

    ¡¯No sense in using ve items on meat puppets unless they are meat soldiers.¡¯ Lith thought while cing his hand on a tank and activating Scanner. Somehow the liquid was able to transmit his mana, allowing him to study the condition of the trapped human.

    ¡¯Just as I feared. These things had their life force maimed in a way that allows them to live at a terrible cost. This is no immortality. Their life force has simply beenpressed to the point of stopping its flow entirely, making them neither dead nor alive.

    ¡¯Such condition eternally keeps them on the brink of death, like a twisted version of Schrodinger¡¯s cat.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s worse than that.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯All of these people have lost their mana core. The mana flow you perceivees from their flesh. I think you are right about the weaponization. I believe this is the Odi¡¯s failed attempt to transform the other races into Balors.¡¯

 Chapter 656 Horrors and Wonders Part 2

    Meanwhile Lith and the others were taking through scans of the tanks, Morok could now understand what could have possibly made two elite soldiers yelp like little kids. The second building had an antechamber simr to the one in the first building, but filled with wonders instead of horrors.

    In front of the chairs reserved for the visiting guests, there were several weapons racks, each one filled to the brim with weapons crafted from the finest materials.

    "I call dibs on Adamant stuff!" Morok said while darting towards the shiny mass of sharp metals. Professor Gaakhu snapped her fingers, hitting him with the wind blow equivalent of a punch to the stomach.

    "We have yet to scan the room for danger, you fool! Also, what makes you think we can use any of those weapons? I doubt the Odi would let them be imprinted by a member of the ¡¯lesser races. It¡¯s more likely that you¡¯ll trigger some trap."

    At those words, Morok snapped out of his greed fit, finally noticing that there was nothing to prevent intruders from seizing one or more of the weapons.

    ¡¯If back in the day ves cleaned this ce, leaving an arsenal within easy reach would have been beyond idiotic.¡¯ He thought. Despite the epiphany, his greed and self-preservation instinct were battling to the death.

    Some weapons were made out of metals he had never seen before, while others had intriguing shapes. They seemed to be made by two rectangrly shaped blocks of metal, joined to form a 90¡ã angle with some kind of small lever in-between.

    The longer block had a sight on its top and a cylindrical hole bigger than Morok¡¯s thumb right in the middle. All of them had a magical aura so strong that it made the hair on his body stand up.

    When the array revealing spell wasplete, the whole ce lit up like a Christmas tree, especially the weapon racks.

    "Ingenious." Professor Neshal said admiring once again the Odi¡¯s craftiness.

    "The mana crystals imbued in the weapons have been arranged to form an array that is probably meant to preserve and protect them from hands that are quicker than the brain of their owner.

    "There¡¯s no telling what would have happened if you triggered it."

    "Yeah, okay. Lesson learned. My bad and all that stuff. Let¡¯s get down to the important part. Can you break the array? Is any of those weapons good?" Morok asked.

    Professor Gaakhu would have liked to give him a snarky remark, but the Ranger wasn¡¯tpletely wrong with his observations. Even in all her years as a Forgemaster, she had never perceived such a powerful magical aura.

    All more the reason to be extra cautious.

    She was unable to identify most of the metals nor the design of what Lith would have instantly recognized as guns. To make matters worse, despite them being spotless, the weapons had a peculiar smell.

    Something Gaakhu was certain to know but she couldn¡¯t put her finger on.

    "I can but I won¡¯t." Professor Neshal replied. "I had no time to make sure they are not linked to some kind of rm. There are too many arrays here, so it¡¯s better to add one more formation rather than removing one."

    He ced the mana crystals she had taken from the door at the four corners of the room and another one at its center, chanting a powerful spell that enveloped the room in a purple light.

    "There. If anything happens, the barrier I ced on top of the Odi¡¯s arrays should give us plenty of time to get to safety. I also arranged it so that it will slow down the activation of the other arrays. I¡¯m done underestimating the enemy." Neshal said.

    Gaakhu used that time to decipher the holographic disy in front of each weapon rack. Unlike Ellkas, she could read even the technical jargon, giving her a much clearer understanding of the Odi research.

    She had reached her position despite her rtively young age thanks to her perfect memory that allowed her to learn anything after just a couple of readings.

    "Gods, I doubt the Kingdom will give any of these weapons as a reward, and even if it did, I would turn down the offer. Here it says that they tried topensate the metals¡¯ck of a strong mana by fusing them with living beings.

    "The weapons you can see here are all worse than cursed items. Not only were they made by using sacrifices, but also living flesh has been merged with their metal. Now I finally recognize the subtle smell of decay that fills this room." Gaakhu exined.

    "That¡¯s gross!" Morok blurted out.

    "Well, it gets worse." Gaakhu kept reading. "The weapons have been left in the open because they are a failed experiment. Instead of acquiring a mana flow and a life force like the Odi wanted, each one of these cursed objects is a bottomless pit of hunger.

    "Even with the stasis array protecting them, here says that they failed to both find a way to prevent the biological part of the weapons from rotting and their owners from being sucked dry of their life force after imprinting them."

    "I take my dibs back. Can we enter the next room now? I really hope to find something that the Odi didn¡¯t screw up with or that will not kill me on contact. Maybe even both." Morok said.

    Neshal and Gaakhu performed a series of spells on the closed door in front of them.

    "This is odd." Neshal said. "I have got only good news. The door is open and is not connected to the arrays in the room. Let me double-check." Yet she obtained the same results.

    Gaakhu shrugged, turning the handle and stepping inside the next room. In front of them, there was a long metal corridor with many doors along its sides. The walls were made of a transparent ss-like substance, so they only needed to check the corridor for traps before being able to move freely.

    Each room was both a Forgemasteringb and a cksmith workshop. Despite the passing of time, both the corridor and thebs were in pristine condition. The furnaces looked like they were brand new and the Forges were made of pure silver.

    "I don¡¯t get it." Morok said. "What good are furnaces for a Forgemaster and why silver? From perfectionists like the Odi, I would expect at least Orichalcum, if not Adamant."

    "I¡¯m afraid I know the answer." Neshal said. "Those furnaces are big enough to fit a human body. I think they conducted their experiments on fusing flesh and metals here. As for the silver, after seeing their failure rate, would you give an Odi Orichalcum?"

    "Definitely not." Morok replied.

    The group ignored thebs since they contained just the basic instruments for Forgemastering. There was no trace of blueprints nor ingredients. At the end of the corridor, they found two doors, each one with a different tag.

    "This one is the Main Office." Gaakhu exined with a big grin on her face. "It might contain blueprints, but honestly I doubt it. I worked in an academy long enough to know that no project would be left in the hands of bureaucrats.

    "This is likely to be where Forgemasters handed over their reports and requests for materials."

    "Then why are you so happy?" Neshal asked.

    "Because the other one says: ¡¯Armory¡¯."

 Chapter 657 Flesh and Stone Part 1

    Neshal and Gaakhu checked both doors, just to be safe. One could easily understand the value of what lied beyond a threshold based on how heavily defended it was.

    The Main Office had just a good quality door, with no defensive arrays and no locks at that. Turning the handle released in the air with the smell of paperwork that all those present knew and hated.

    The room was filled with filing cabs and had three desks, one for each side of the room except for its entrance. The ce closely resembled the academies¡¯ administrative offices.

    The Professors could almost hear the echoes of a clerk demanding for a report to be filed in triplicate.

    The Armory, instead, had a solid metal door. It also had several powerful arrays restricting its ess, a holographic pad to insert a password, and heavy metal cylinders acting as locks.

    Getting rid of the arrays was the easy part. The Professors only needed a few seconds to find the mana crystal cable running along the door frame and cut it along with the power fueling the magical defense system.

    "Gods, they were real morons." The groupmented in unison.

    The holographic pad was still active, disying both numbers and letters in the ancient Odinguage.

    "Okay, we have two choices. We could force the door with magic, but it¡¯s risky. There are no active arrays any more but we don¡¯t know what kind of weapons are stored here. They might explode or worse." Gaakhu exined.

    "Our only other option is to guess the password. If this was the Crystal Griffon, I would devise a way to safely crack the metal door open. Our passwords are obscenely long and convoluted.

    "The Odi, however, have proven to be conceited at best. I bet that the password is ¡¯Odi¡¯."

    "Ten silvers on ¡¯Armory¡¯." Neshal said while pointing at the door tag.

    "Twenty on ¡¯Open¡¯." Morok said.

    Professor Gaakhu input the word of her choice in the Odinguage first. The holographic disy emitted a beep and the metal cylinders were pulled inside the door frame.

    "I can¡¯t believe they picked a three-letter word password!" Morok handed the Professor twenty silver coins while he inwardly cursed the Odi to the best of his abilities.

    "We call them Odi, but in theirnguage, they were called Minhuyti. It means ¡¯the chosen race¡¯." Gaakhu said with a smug grin. "I think that you¡¯re right Neshal. Arrogance was the cause of the Odi¡¯s fall."

    Neshal was d that her colleague agreed with her, yet she was still pissed off by the lost bet.

    The door slid on its hinges easily, as if it was made of paper. Inside there was a huge room, 20 meters (66 feet) wide and 15 meters (50 feet) long. The walls and ceiling were entirely made of metal and so were the shelves filling the room.

    They were regrly spaced, going from one end of the room to another.

    Most of the shelves were empty, but some stored weapons with several magic crystals embedded on their surface. Unlike the racks in the antechamber, the weapons were locked behind a ss-like substance that in turn was protected by a multiyered array, each one fueled by purple crystals and the usual cable.

    The floor was made of metal as well, but it was covered by ayer of sand a couple of centimeters (1 inch) thick.

    "Seems we found the motherlode." Morok said while stepping inside the room.

    Gaakhu grabbed his shoulder, locking him into ce.

    "Wait. Look carefully." She pointed at the sand under their feet.

    "I saw that, but I also know it¡¯s not enchanted. It¡¯s just regr sand. Must have been a trick to spot intruders by their traces in case someone snuck inside. It¡¯s simple but effective."

    Gaakhu and Neshal scanned the room, but aside from the shelves, there were no protective arrays.

    "See? I told you- fuck!" Morok said.

    The four corners of the room opened, revealing as many Charging Station arrays, each one holding a golem. The constructs were made of a mix of metal and earth, resembling humanoid creatures 2 meters (6¡¯7") tall.

    The moment the metal shutters revealed their presence, purple eyes appeared on the golems¡¯ faces and they were all fixated on the intruders. Arrogance had indeed been the cause of the Odi¡¯s fall as well as of the second group.

    Once the wrong password had been inserted, the holographic disy had attempted and failed to activate the arrays, hence the beep. Then, it had opened the door and activated the auxiliary defense system to prevent the weapons from being harmed in the iing conflict.

    "Run!" Morok said while pulling the Professors by their sleeves and regretting they weren¡¯t at least 30 years younger. That way he could have hoped instead of feared that the adrenaline rush mightter lead to amorous offers.

    "There are five of us and only four of them. Why are we running?" Jerth, the strongest mage among Phloria¡¯s unit asked while following their temporary leader.

    "Because sand!" Just as if the Golems and Morok had rehearsed their timing, theyer of sand came to life a split second after the Ranger spoke. The Golems were injecting it with their mana, moving it as if it was just one of their limbs.

    Soon the sand formed a wave that the constructs rode to chase after their prey.

    Jerth used a tier four earth magic spell, Great Rumble, to use the wave against its own makers. Unfortunately, something prevented her mana to take root. The four golems were akin to four true mages, so her willpower was unable to override theirbined efforts.

    Gaakhu used gravity magic to reverse the gravity pull and send the constructs mming against the ceiling. Before they could hit the metal, the four creatures shapeshifted so that their legs became their arms and vice versa,nding on their feet while they unleashed a barrage of rock bullets.

    The Golems mixed together earth magic to condense the sand into magic bullets and air magic to give it a maic charge opposed to their own, creating a makeshift equivalent of an electromaic railgun.

    Even the metal floor was deformed by the violence of the impact, yet the armors the group wore allowed them to survive. Each bullet still managed to overpower the armors¡¯ gravity sheath and hit them like a solid p.

    "Whatever happens, do not stop running!" Neshal said. "They have just been activated, so they are still powering up. We need to reunite with the rest of the expedition before it¡¯s toote."

    The light in the golems¡¯ eyes burned brighter as a purple lightning bolt went from golem to golem, its power amplified several folds at each step until it struck the metal floor with the goal of killing all the intruders in one fell swoop.

    ***

    At the same time, in the first building, Lith¡¯s group was still in the antechamber. After scanning the six tanks and their prisoners, they were weaving their spells to kill the unfortunate creatures as quickly as possible and then some, in case something went wrong.

    Once everyone was done with their own preparations, Professor Yondra was the first to strike. They had no idea how strong the ss-like substance was, so instead of unleashing four tier five spells in such an enclosed space, it was better to test the waters a little at the time.

 Chapter 658 Flesh and Stone Part 2

    Yondra used her tier four darkness magic spell, ck Heart. The ss was likely to be immune to lightning, whereas fire and ice would give those poor souls a slow, painful death. Plus, there was no earth to manipte in the chamber.

    Darkness was the most humane means to put them out of their misery.

    When the energy mass struck the tank, instead of passing through the liquid and kill the orc like it was supposed to, it waspletely absorbed by the tank and turned into nourishment.

    The liquid surrounding the orc turned muddy and so did the other five tanks.

    "I¡¯m quite sure that¡¯s not water." Yondra said while trying to understand what was happening.

    Thanks to the mana now coursing through the transparent liquid, Lith could see with Life Vision that the six tanks were actually one system and that one of the creatures belonging to an unknown race was absorbing the darkness energy.

    It converted Yondra¡¯s spell into pure mana and then shared it with itspanions via the liquid flow, giving them new strength.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve got bad news and I¡¯ve worse news.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Hit me.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯The bad news is that I was right, they are indeed some kind of Balor replica. Now that they have enough juice, I can see that each one of them is infused with a single element.

    ¡¯The worse news is that a few moments ago, an rm has been triggered. It has activated an array above our heads that I couldn¡¯t notice in its dormant state. It¡¯s very weak, but it might still be deadly.¡¯

    Unbeknownst to Solus, the golems in the Weapon Research department had just struck the metal floor with a lightning bolt, spreading a general rm. The whole Kh was waking up from its centuries long slumber.

    The array above their heads was a safety measure that simply closed a circuit to send world energy to the bio-weapon.

    The tanks suddenly lit up, each one of a different color. They were respectively red, yellow, ck, white, blue, and orange, reminding Lith of the story Yondra had told him about the sixponents of the world energy.

    The previously withered limbs were regaining their ancient vigor as the screams of agony Lith heard grew louder.

    "They¡¯re getting stronger!" Lith shared with the rest of the group what he saw with Life Vision as he unleashed his tier four water magic spell, Ice Age, on the red colored tank.

    He hoped to freeze them all to death or at least counter the fire energy instead of feeding more power to the Odi-made Balor. Yet his spell was absorbed and redirected by the blue colored tank, making him curse.

    "Don¡¯t waste your energy. It seems we are forced to wait for the tanks to open before being able to attack those creatures." Phloria said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Captain. I got this." Yondra took what looked like a silver tuning fork from her dimensional item and after infusing it with a massive amount of her mana, she struck with it at the nearest tank.

    The tuning fork sucked a small sample of the energy from the tank while emitting a high pitch. Lith could see Yondra¡¯s pure mana resonating with the sample until it was 180¡ã out of phase with it, turning the sample into nothingness.

    The whole process had taken barely one breath time.

    The tuning fork stopped its pitch and Yondra struck at the tank again. This time, instead of taking energy, the tuning fork released its own. The destructive interference shattered the tank on impact and quickly spread to the other five, shattering them as well.

    ¡¯Yes! No damn cutscene while the boss assumes his final f- ...uck me and my big mind!¡¯ Lith thought while the six maimed bodies started to wrap around each other, forming a much bigger creature.

    "Attack!" Phloria said out of habit, even though everyone was already going all out. The creatures¡¯ blood vessels moved like snakes, making the different parts from different creatures perfectly match with each other, like a jigsaw puzzle made of flesh.

    Yondra had stopped the rejuvenating process before it wasplete, so their attempts tobine were slower and clumsier than their creator had nned. To make matters worse, they were still coated by the colored liquid, making it obvious which part was immune to which element.

    ¡¯I never thought that one I would get to fight the Frankenstein¡¯s version of the Force Rangers. Nevertheless, I¡¯m not going to give them the time to morph.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I¡¯ll take Red!" Lith announced to prevent the other from messing with his spell.

    "Yellow!" Yondra said.

    "White" Phloria said.

    "Blue!" Ellkas pickedst, as Lith did his best to not chuckle at the irony of their situation.

    ¡¯You are indeed a Ranger and picked red. Does that make you the Red Ranger?¡¯ Solus giggled while assuming her glove form.

    ¡¯Oh shut it, please. This is probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.¡¯ Lith replied while he unleashed again his tier four water magic spell, Ice Age. Tier five spells were too powerful for such a confined space and by mixing multiple elements, he was afraid it would have made it easier for the creatures to counter.

    Lith had the cold energy wrap around his arm, focusing it in the form of an ice pick the size of an estoc. He struck at the exposed heart of the fire-infused being, hoping that since the blood system was the only part of the creatures¡¯ bodies still intact, it was also their weak point.

    Lith could see that the more pieces fused together, the stronger the aura of thebined monster became. The meat giant reacted to the threat like no living being could, literally pulling its flesh away to avoid Lith¡¯s attack.

    ¡¯By my maker! Just like Morok¡¯s temporary waypoint had its pseudo core split into parts, so was the mana core of these wretched beings! As their bodies merge so does their magical aura. I¡¯m afraid that once the mana core ispletely formed, they will be able to use the gods know what kind of powerful magic.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    "There is no time to lose! Keep it still!" Lith was apparently just stating the obvious, but the worry in his voice made everyone understand how the situation had to be worse than it appeared. Ranger Verhen had never asked for back up before.

    Phloria activated the spells Full Guard and Master Sword. Master Sword was a tier five Mage Knight spell that allowed her to channel her magic inside her estoc and unleash it at will upon contact.

    Mage Knights had often to fight in closebat while defending their mark, so Phloria had devised Master Sword to be able to use all kinds of spells without having to worry for her allies.

    All the darkness spells she had at the ready were now stacked inside her de, focused on the tip of the estoc and guided by her will due to the nature of tier five spells that made them resemble true magic.

    She lunged at the heart of the white creature, but it managed to dodge by elongating its blood vessels until its weak point was out of her reach. Much to its surprise, Phloria opened her hand and the estoc darted forward like a bullet, piercing its target with pinpoint uracy.

    The heart exploded in a burst of dark energy that the corresponding creature neutralized as fast as it could, while the other parts tried to connect their blood vessels to the pieces of their now fallenrade to continue the merging process.

 Chapter 659 From Bad to Worse Part 1

    The Odi had taken into ount that one or more of the creaturesposing the pseudo-Balor could be killed in battle and had given them plenty of options.

    The six heads were the first to finish assembling. The final result was a monstrous face with four mouths and twelve eyes arranged in a circle.

    Ten of them were brimming with power and emitted a stream of multi-colored mana that closely resembled a Balor¡¯s elemental pir. Except it was much weaker due to both the iplete powering up and merging of the creatures¡¯ mana core.

    Ellkas used one of his artifacts, the Void Shield, to take the full power of the mana pir without interrupting his attack. Phloria¡¯s kill had thrown the creature off bnce and by using one of its more powerful moves despite its debilitated state, had forced its movements to a halt.

    Lith exploited that opening to slip under the still ongoing pir and struck at the red heart. Unlike fake mages, all of his spells were infused with his will, so that the moment the second heart exploded, Lith managed to recover all the excess energy, leaving the creature nothing to feed upon, preventing it from healing its wounds.

    Another set of eyes became dull, the flesh monster screamed in agony and envy. The survivors had to endure an inhuman pain whereas their fallenrades were finally free from the Odi¡¯s mind control.

    The creatures¡¯ movements slowed down even further, allowing Yondra to use her tier four spell, Great cier, on both the yellow and ck hearts. It turned them into ice crystals that shattered at their next attempt to beat as if they were made of ss.

    Professor Ellkas unleashed three tier four spells at once, one for each remaining heart and the third for the main body. He had no idea if once all the hearts were lost the creature would simply die or it might self-destruct.

    He had seen enough of the Odi¡¯s cruelty that his scientific curiosity was overshadowed by the revulsion he felt. Lith¡¯s paranoia and Life Vision agreed with Ellkas judgment, so he used the remaining spells he had at the ready to destroy the flesh titan before it could overload its umted mana into an explosion.

    The giant¡¯s body turned into ashes, while everyone was panting due to the repeated use of powerful spells or artifacts.

    "I¡¯d dly take a break before moving forward." Yondra said. "I still have quite some mana left, but no spell at the ready anymore."

    "Agreed." Phloria said while sheathing her de. "Let¡¯s go back to base and prepare new spells before..." The sound of what seemed to be an avnche was quickly followed by the noise of a heavy door crashing on the ground.

    The four of them started to chant new spells while running outside to make sure that such a ruckus wasn¡¯t the harbinger of a new enemy. When they saw the second group Blinking in front of them, quickly followed by a massive wave of sand, they had their answer.

    Their intuition was correct, it wasn¡¯t one enemy but four of them, making Phloria¡¯s group uncertain whether tough or cry.

    "Gods, no!" She said when she identified the constructs as an unknown kind of hybrid Golems made of stone and metal.

    "Gods, yes!" Morok said when he saw that the members of the first group were in perfect condition. "We already threw at them everything we had, but nothing worked. Buy us a little time so that we can prepare new spells."

    "We are on the same boat!" Lith said pretending to have finished one chant before starting another. As a true mage, he could speak and weave spells, yet he dispelled the Final Sunset he was casting anyway.

    It would have been useless against Golems. Those in front of him were the first he had ever met on the battlefield. The Golems were nothing like the modern constructs Professor Wanemyre had taught him about during his time as a student first and as Assistant Professorter.

    Constructs were by far the mostplex artifact that a mage could craft. The simplest ones required only a Forgemaster to be made, but a really powerful Golem required Forgemaster, Warden, and even Alchemical magic.

    Golems were also known as artificial mages or mindless mages. The Forgemastering process bonded them with magic crystal that fueled their magical properties, while Warden magic was required to ¡¯program¡¯ them, giving them a purpose and even teaching them battle strategies.

    If their master had enough magic crystal to invest in their creation, Golems could even act as walking arrays. Alchemy, instead, was a great tool to provide Golems with an extra number of abilities that wouldn¡¯t affect their power cores.

    Due to their enormous power, Golems also consumed an enormous amount of energy, more than what any number of mana crystals might provide. Once the output of their power cores would drop below a certain amount, they would return to their recharging arrays.

    If not for such a weak spot, Golems would have been considered perfect killer machines. They could self-repair, were immune to most spells, and had no vitals, making it almost impossible to destroy them.

    Fire would inflict them no damage since it would take a prolonged exposure to a me thousands of degrees hot to vaporize their bodies, and a Golem never stood still. The same applied to water, air, and darkness magic.

    Stone and metal would just ground lightning bolts, ignore the cold just like they did for the heat, but most of all, they were darkness magic¡¯s bane. Darkness strongest suit was its ability to bypass protections and attack the vitals of its target, but a Golem had none.

    When encountering their enchanted bodies, darkness magic would eat at their magic first and then at the matter the Golems were made of. Turning stone into dust required an enormous amount of energy, to the point that even tier five darkness spells would barely scratch its surface.

    The Golems¡¯ only weakness was indirect attacks performed by using earth magic. Once their movements were restricted, one only had to wait for their battery to run out. Time was a Golem¡¯s worst enemy.

    Unfortunately, the whole Kh was protected by an array which made its surface immune to earth magic, so the only thing the expedition members could use was the sand that the Golems used to speed up their movements.

    To make matters worse, Golemsmiths were aware of the limits constructs had, so there was no Forgemaster that wouldn¡¯t give them the ability to manipte earth. Lith tried to take control of the sand, just like Jareth had done barely a minute earlier, and he failed as well.

    ¡¯Solus, why can¡¯t I manipte the sand and what kind of power can those things draw upon?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯Bad news #1: that¡¯s not sand, it¡¯s part of the Golems. They have pulverized the outeryer of their bodies to move faster and be able to physically attack from a distance. You can¡¯t control that sand more than the Golems can force your arm to punch you.¡¯ She said.

    Mana sense allowed Solus to see that Golems and sand had the same energy signature. It was another clever trick of the Odi, to make fake mages waste their mana in a fool¡¯s errand.

    ¡¯Bad news #2: their power core is the size of a ser ball and entirely made of purple crystals. Either they canst very long or their abilities require a lot of mana. No matter the answer, you¡¯re in big troubles.¡¯

 Chapter 660 From Bad to Worse Part 2

    ¡¯Any idea why they are made of both metal and stone? What¡¯s the advantage in that?¡¯ Lith opened a Warp Steps, allowing the others to reach the camp in a split second, while he covered their retreat.

    ¡¯I have a few theories, but none of your liking.¡¯ Solus knew that Lith was hoping she could find the Odi¡¯s trademark fatal w of design that would allow him to effortlessly destroy them.

    ¡¯No visible power switch? No cable fueling them?¡¯

    ¡¯None that I can see. Why are you still here?¡¯ She asked after he closed the Warp Steps the moment thest of his allies had crossed it.

    Lith¡¯s reply came in the form of a giant mass of blue Origin mes aimed at the closest Golem. Much to his dismay, the constructs waved their hands in unison, making the sand wave turn into a shield that smothered the mes like a wet towel.

    ¡¯Four versus one isn¡¯t good. They simply have to use the mass of the sand and their mana flow to overpower Origin me¡¯s effects. Now, for my next trick...¡¯ Lith conjured the tier one Float spell.

    He could have used gravity magic, but he was afraid that sending them against the ceiling would only give them more earth to manipte. The fungal creature had employed the same strategy, exploiting the stctites to circumvent Kh¡¯s array.

    Golemscked creativity and Lith didn¡¯t want to give them ideas. Float, instead, was supposed to lift them from the ground long enough to make them deplete their energy.

    The Golems had the sand coil around their limbs like an anchor, but that was within Lith¡¯s calctions. He conjured a big wave of water that drenched the sand, allowing him to easily freeze and destroy the footholds.

    The Golems, however, had yet to tell their side of the story. One of them unleashed a stream of purple mes that vaporized the ice while another used a tendril of sand as a sling to throw itself at Lith.

    The flying Golem¡¯s arm opened, revealing what looked like a Gatling gun that instead of metal cylinders had magic wands.

    ¡¯This bodes poorly.¡¯ Lith thought as the Golem activated the wands in pairs, releasing at the same time a burst of mes and a st of wind.

    Wands could only store up to tier three spells, but thanks to the Golem¡¯s clockwork precision in both aiming and timing their cast, the synergy between the air and fire elements boosted the power behind its attack on the level of a tier four spell.

    Lith could see with Life Vision where the construct was aiming, but it had so many wands that Lith had no ce to retreat. The perfectly chained explosions ckened the streets of Kh and made its walls tremble until the oxygen in the area waspletely consumed, smothering the mes.

    The Golems used the cover that the smoke provided them to release chains of purple lightning. Bybining their efforts, not a single centimeter in front of them was spared by the electrical onught.

    Their creator had devised this strategy starting from the assumption that theck of air would make the enemy incapable of defending themselves. It was a two-pronged attack executed without a split second of dy.

    And that was the reason it failed. Lith had timed his Blink so that the explosions would cover his escape, hoping that the massive release of mana would jam the Golems¡¯ sensors.

    ¡¯I have good news and I¡¯ve bad news.¡¯ Solus swallowed loudly despite the fact shecked a throat.

    ¡¯The good news is that your n worked. The Golems have just wasted a lot of mana in the attempt to kill you. The bad news is that they have still plenty of juice left.¡¯

    By the time Lith Blinked inside the camp, the others were still casting their first spell. Several des almost struck at his throat, believing him to be an enemy.

    "I¡¯m the student and you are the Professors. Do any of you have something to take them down?" Lith asked.

    Yondra finished her chant before answering.

    "Yes and no. Here the ground can be manipted and I¡¯ve yet to use my best tools, so yes, there¡¯s a lot I can do. No, because there is no way to destroy a golem in one hit. Unless you know where their core is and manage to damage it, of course."

    Golems could move their power cores freely within their bodies, but Lith could clearly see them thanks to Life Vision. His problem was how to destroy them.

    "I know it may sound crazy, but I¡¯ve trashed Golems before." Morok said, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. "Spells are just a waste of mana. The quickest way to get rid of them is to go in close quarters and expose their power cores."

    "How do you propose to do that?" Phloria asked. A crazy n was better than no n.

    "You guys stop trying to damage them, you would only risk hurting us." Morok said while pointing at Lith and himself.

    "Some of you have to use spells that can hinder their movements or throw them off bnce, while the rest must wait for the moment the power core gets exposed and strike with all they have got."

    The Golems reached Kh¡¯s gates and unleashed a hail of electromaically charged stone bullets. The defensive arrays trembled, but they managed to nullify the attack.

    The Golems scanned the magical formation for a split second before resuming their assault. Since the bullets bounced on the barrier, they could quickly retrieve them and use them again as if they had infinite ammo.

    The four constructs focused their fire on the same exact spot, weakening the barrier enough for one of them to slip inside.

    "What are you waiting for? A written invite?" Morok said. "Keep them busy while we take care of the unwanted guest."

    Lith was way ahead of him, using the tier five spell, Land Shark. It conjured a stone maw filled with magma right under his enemy. Without the sand to boost its movements, the maw was supposed to take care of the Golem¡¯s lower body while Morok attacked high.

    Unfortunately, the construct¡¯s body promptly reacted to the threat by activating an Earth Blocking array that dispelled the stone jaws even before they could fully open.

    ¡¯Those Odi were idiots to the bone.¡¯ Morok thought. ¡¯What good is such an array to a stone-made creature? Now the Golem is paralyzed by his own hand and it can¡¯t block my war hammers.¡¯

    The Odi mage who had designed the Golems had Forgemastered them out of an iron-rich ore exactly for that reason. The metal allowed the Golems to use air magic to generate powerful maic fields that could be used to move them while they were under the influence of the array or as a guide for their lightning-based attacks.

    The apparently helpless Golem used both those abilities at once, using its own electromaic field to raise its arms, using them to block the attack of the enemy, and unleashed a purple bolt of lightning.

    The construct split the spell evenly, striking at all the members of the expedition at once. Morok was struck at point-nk so he was also the first one to fall. He gritted his teeth, trying to not lose consciousness while his entire body sizzled, emitting the characteristic smell of barbeque.

 Chapter 661 From Bad to Worse Part 3

    "Damn if I smell delicious." Morok said while wobbling from the electroshock. His many magical protections and uncanny constitution had allowed him to survive the Golem¡¯s sneak attack.

    The fact that the powerful tier four spell Hammerfall had been split several times, significantly reducing its prowess, also helped. Lith tried to Blink away, just like his fellow Ranger had done a split second earlier, but earth magic was necessary to use dimensional magic, so his spell failed.

    He had Solus¡¯s glove cover his hands as he injected the Skinwalker armor with his mana, boosting its defensive properties. The armor¡¯s energy field was now strong enough to disperse part of the spell while Solus¡¯s stone body blocked the rest.

    ¡¯That was close. Did it hurt?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Just a sting. Don¡¯t worry about me and kick its ass. The other Golems are seconds away from breaking into the barrier.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    Professor Neshal raised her magical staff and the remaining bolts of lightning were drawn to the gemstone on its top, which redirected them against the stone floor, rendering them harmless.

    "Why didn¡¯t you use them to attack another Golem?" Yondra asked.

    "They all have the same energy signature. One Golem¡¯s spell can¡¯t damage the others, it only strengthens them. I¡¯ve seen it happening before." Neshal exined while channeling more mana into her staff to activate another of its properties.

    Neshal¡¯s weapon was nothingpared to General Vorgh¡¯s but it still made Lith and Solus wish they could borrow it for a while. It was made of some kind of wood that had a mana flow simr to Adamant, with several purple mana crystals embedded on its sides.

    On its top, there was a diamond-shaped purple mana crystal the size of Lith¡¯s fist, surrounded by smaller crystals of the same shape, giving it the appearance of a crown.

    Neshal¡¯s mana was gathered inside the main gemstone after being amplified by the smaller crystals along the way, allowing her to cast spells beyond her actual capabilities.

    She was still inside the Golem¡¯s array, so earth magic was sealed to her as well. Neshal used her tier five spell, Crystal Clear, conjuring a frost wave boosted by a raging tornado.

    Air magic allowed her to focus the cold with surgical precision and also to strike at the frozen solid enemies with a thunderstorm that would seep into every nook and cranny the ever-expanding ice opened.

    The three remaining Golems were suddenly brought to almost -200¡ãC (-328¡ãF). The sand froze and became useless, while the thick ice covering their limbs made every one of their movements terribly slow.

    The external thunderstorm messed up with the constructs¡¯ spells and to make matters worse, the ice covering the stone allowed Neshal¡¯s lightning bolts to finally reach one of the Golems¡¯partments where its Alchemical tools were stored.

    The moment one of the wands sustained enough damage to break it, the resulting explosion triggered a chain reaction that blew up the Golem¡¯s entire arm, revealing a shining purple mass through the now hollow shoulder socket.

    "A power core!" Neshal yelled while focusing Crystal Clear on the wounded Golem to prevent it from moving the power core to a different and more protected location. Unfortunately, another array was activated, negating water magic.

    Neshal¡¯s spell went haywire and the thunderstorm exploded, sending the Golems crashing against Kh¡¯s walls. The group had been saved from harm by the defensive arrays that protected the camp.

    "First earth, now water?" Phloria was starting to lose hope. The moment they were about to gain the upper hand, the Golems pulled a new trick out that allowed them to escape from the jaws of defeat.

    The fight had broken out for less than a minute and half of their spells had already been sealed, crippling their chances of victory.

    "It¡¯s not as bad as it seems." Yondra said. She was aware that to a non-Forgemaster, Golems appeared as an unbeatable foe. "Those kinds of arrays require a lot of mana to affect such a wide area. The longer the Golems use them, the faster they will run out of energy.

    "It also limits both ours and their attack options, making them predictable."

    In the meantime, Lith was done casting his Array Detection spell.

    ¡¯I need reliable information to devise a n with a chance of sess. Land Shark¡¯s fizzling already cost me a lot of mana. I can¡¯t afford to waste any more without a good reason.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The spell revealed the presence of several arrays, all stacked one upon the other to make them ovep, but without creating the weak point that Kh¡¯s gate had.

    ¡¯Damn, the Odi sure knew their stuff. The most internal array is the Golem¡¯s AI. I can¡¯t tamper with it without using Invigoration, but I have no desire for a second shock.

    ¡¯Another one allows the construct to use air magic to shapeshift, then there is the Earth Blocking array. I can work with that.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The Water Blocking array was too far to affect him, just like the Earth Blocking Array didn¡¯t hinder the rest of the Golems. Unfortunately, the rest of the group was caught in the middle.

    Lith grinned, using spirit magic to lift the Golem and throw it on the opposite side of the camp. Constructs were capable of fighting in a way simr to Awakened, but they were just things. They had no fusion magic that could stop Lith¡¯s spirit magic.

    The Golem¡¯s AI reacted by conjuring an air shield that was supposed to stop the attack, but spirit magic¡¯s ethereal nature ignored the barrier surrounding the enemy and proceeded to m it left and right against the ground.

    Lith kept the construct far enough that he could easily dodge any lightning the Golem could release with air fusion.

    "I don¡¯t know how you do that and honestly I don¡¯t care." Morok said. "Yet by the time you put a dent to it this way we¡¯ll be both dead of old age. Pass the ball on my mark."

    The Ranger whispered a word to his weapons that Lith was able to hear thanks to his enhanced senses.

    "Brezza."

    The battle hammers turned from silver to yellow, starting to crackle with power.

    Lith continued to m the construct against the ground while preparing his spells. He had no idea what Morok was nning but either he seeded or failed, Lith could hope to find at least an opening.

    After being separated from its group and its lightning bolts reduced to nothing but a light show, the Golem deactivate the Earth Blocking array. The construct needed its best spells to free itself from that invisible cage.

    "Mark!" Morok said while spinning on himself and throwing the hammers one at the time.

    Lith did as requested and used spirit magic tounch the Golem against the iing projectiles. The construct tried to use its electromaic field to deflect the war hammers, but the enchantment they were imbued with pierced the protection as if it was just a piece of paper.

    The first hammer struck with thebined energy of Lith¡¯s and Morok¡¯s toss, giving the impact enough momentum to crack the Golem¡¯s shell, but nothing more. After the collision, the second effect of the hammers was activated.

    The first hammer had now a strong positive charge while the second hammer was negatively charged. The resulting effect was to guide the second hammer right onto the first adding the maic pull to its momentum.

 Chapter 662 From Bad to Worse Part 4

    The following hit produced a thunderp as the hammer stuck in the cracked stone was turned into a giant nail that shattered the Golem¡¯s protective shell and revealed its power core.

    The construct had managed to move it out from harm¡¯s way in the nick of time. The power core was spherical purple mana crystal as big as a basketball, with its entire surface covered with blue runes of power.

    "Darn it. I missed it by an inch!" Morok said.

    Lith had been able to see it moving from the Golem¡¯s chest down to its abdomen thanks to Life Vision, so he already knew that Morok¡¯s n would fail. He used spirit magic to keep the Golem away from the ground and from the materials it needed to fix the hole in its chest.

    Earth was the second slowest element, so the enchanted sand would need some time before reaching its master. A time that neither of the Rangers was willing to give. The hammers had already returned into Morok¡¯s hands and Lith used spirit magic to slow the Golem¡¯s arms long enough to give hispanion the time for a second attempt.

    The Golem opened all of itspartments and released several Alchemical tools to protect its core. At the same time, it activated the strongest spell in its arsenal, the tier five Earth Splitter.

    Lith saw the massive amount of earth element build up near the construct and rejoiced for it. The power core¡¯s light had be significantly duller after conjuring such a big spell.

    The only problem was that the Golem had resorted to a low blow as ast-ditch effort. The Alchemical tools it was using were a darkness based toxic gas and the samebination of air and fire wands the other Golem had used earlier.

    "Crap, that thing wants to suffocate us!" Morok said after noticing that only a few fire sts were aimed at them while the rest destroyed the biggest moss deposits in the cave.

    Everyone had avoided using fire magic because after the Golem¡¯s initial attack the air in the cave was already thin. If the oxygen dropped any further, no amount of light magic could save the expedition team from a slow death by asphyxiation.

    ¡¯Do you want to y dirty? Fine by me!¡¯ Lith had no choice but freeing the Golem from his spirit magic so that the mana strand could snap the wands grafted inside its arms in half.

    Leaving them exposed for so long was a huge risk since alchemical magic harmed its user as well as the enemy. Lith had avoided that tactic because the resulting explosion was bound to be huge, but at that point worrying about it was useless.

    He could only cut his losses and hope for the best.

    Morok was about to curse at Lith for letting go of the enemy and making it impossible for him to deliver the deathblow when the Golem disappeared in a burst of mes.

    The chain reaction destroyed the construct¡¯s limbs, neutralized the noxious gas, and cracked the power core. Just a scratch, but enough to dispel Earth Splitter and make the Golem fall limp.

    Morok turned the curses into praise as his hammers¡¯bined strike shattered the power core. The purple sphere exploded, releasing a pinkish goo.

    "Is it dead or just ying dead?" Lith asked to both Solus and Morok.

    "Only one way to know." Ranger Eari moved his hand and the Golem disappeared inside his dimensional amulet.

    "It¡¯s dead. If there was any active spell, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to store it."

    "I know that too, you idiot? Why do you think I kept myself at safe distance? What if it self-destructed?" Lith was seconds away from strangling his fellow Ranger.

    "Big deal. There¡¯s so little oxygen left that I¡¯m barely able to breathe. Worst case scenario, the explosion would have raised some dust." Morok said as breathing was just a hobby for him.

    "And killed us all by consuming ourst air. I- You- Let¡¯s help the others!" Lith would have dly murdered Morok on the spot, but he had yet to understand Ranger Eari¡¯s real nature and he needed all the help he could get to defeat the three remaining Golems.

    Once Lith had removed the Earth Blocking array from the field, the rest of the group had quickly gained the upper hand. One of the three remaining Golems had been heavily damaged by Syndra¡¯s spell and its power core was now partially exposed.

    The animated sand quickly went to fill the empty shoulder socket, hiding the power core from the enemy¡¯s sight.

    "They have the same design." Professor Neshal, the Master Warden, said after analyzing them with her spell. "Each one of them can use only one Elemental Blocking array. The other two can respectively stop air and fire magic.

    "Only the one the Rangers are taking care of can block earth magic."

    That piece of news was the only silver lining of their situation. Darkness and light magic were useless against constructs, water magic was still sealed, and fire magic was currently a suicidal option.

    Even though they were barely needed to move thanks to the defensive formation blocking the Golems¡¯ attacks, the whole group was gasping for air.

    Quy was sick and tired of being a spectator, helplessly being forced to rely on others for her own survival and for that of the people she loved.

    ¡¯If I get out of here alive, I swear I¡¯ll learn at least one offensive specialization.¡¯ She thought. Her rage and self-loathing fueled her brain, pushing it to top gear in search of a way of making the difference.

    "All the non-Professors,e with me if you want to live!" She said before rushing to one of the few spots of the cave that hadn¡¯t been ravaged by the mes or by the fight.

    The Assistants and Phloria¡¯s soldiers all thought she had gone mad from theck of oxygen, yet they followed Quy nheless. They were all ill-equipped to face Golems.

    Their situation was so dire that only specific tier five spells could be helpful, whereas most mages would focus on darkness and fire because they were the elements of destruction.

    The Professors, instead, not only did they have a wide range of spells at their disposal, but also being Forgemasters, they all had several masterpieces at hand. Yondra focused on the injured Golem while the other Professors took care of the remaining two constructs.

    Being unable to bring the defensive array down, the Golems conjured several small mes all around the barrier to quickly consume the remaining air. Their protocols included that strategy because it was all part of the Odi¡¯s n to defend their facility.

    The fungal creature had been enved to both defend the city and keep the moss at a minimum so that any life form attempting a siege would be easily exterminated.

    "Enough with your cheap tactics!" Professor Neshal threw several red mana crystals in the air. The gemstones surrounded the two undamaged Golems and formed two concentric circles before exploding.

    The magical forces released generated a powerful tornado that enveloped the magical constructs, making them smash against each other and the cave¡¯s walls as if they were trapped in a makeshift blender.

    To escape from the death-trap, a Golem activated its Air Blocking array, allowing them to return safely to the ground.

    "Do you realize that now we have only the earth element left to fight?" Gaakhu asked.

    "Please, like any sane mage would waste mana for a spell that those things could block with a thought. Besides, as that obnoxious brat would say, it¡¯s only proper etiquette to use earth magic in a battle between fossils."

 Chapter 663 Battle of Wits Part 1

    It had been a long time since Professor Yondra had felt so alive. Her situation was dire, but her rejuvenated body had yet to feel the fatigue from the fight.

    ¡¯Once we get out of here, I need to have my husband rejuvenated too and thank Lith properly. A couple of artifacts should suffice.¡¯ She thought while unleashing her tier five spell, Burial Grounds.

    It allowed her to seize control of the ground around them while imbuing it with darkness magic at the same time. Golems were darkness¡¯ bane since it dealt them little to no damage, but in a battle of wills, even a small chip could make the difference between victory and defeat.

    Countless ck tendrils erupted from the ground, restricting the injured Golem while trying to rip it apart limb from limb, to expose its power core. Yet the construct was capable of using earth magic just as well as Yondra.

    It first turned the surrounding ground in its docile servant and then conjured tendrils of its own. The Golems natural affinity with the earth element allowed it to stop Yondra¡¯s spell and to strike at the defensive arrays with enough power to almost made them crumble.

    Yondra knew that no human couldpete with a Golem¡¯s willpower and strength, at least not in the short run. Constructs were single-minded creatures that followed their orders to the letter without hesitation.

    Their power cores provided them with plenty of mana and their bodies were built to handle the burden that such power implied. Unlike humans, they were unrelenting and devoid of fear. It was their strength but also their weakness.

    "Thanks for the idea, kid." Yondra said as she stopped her spell from defending the barrier and focused solely on the Golem. "Let¡¯s see which onests longer. My array or your core."

    Darkness magic couldn¡¯t harm the construct, but it could wear down the mana that the Golem used to sustain its spell and existence. The two colliding spells were simr, but unlike her opponent, Yondra could blend together different elements.

    Darkness magic didn¡¯t make her Burial Grounds stronger, it made other spells weaker. As Yondra¡¯s tendrils enveloped its body, the Golem¡¯s mana expenditure skyrocketed and its healing speed plummeted.

    It took it only a split second to conjure even more tendrils and get rid of that disturbance. At the same time, the Golem unleashed a bolt of purple lightning to destroy the barrier that prevented it from achieving its goal.

    Yondra waved her hand, making the stone wall that she had kept at the ready until that moment emerge from the ground and block the lightning.

    "Sorry, kid. You¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s able to multi-task. Do you know what I really like about tier five spells? Sure, they consume a lot of mana and require a lot of focus, but once they¡¯re cast, you have your hands free."

    Yondra took out of her pockets a small crystal sphere and threw it in a lob shot above the maze of living earth between them, aiming for the construct. The Golem used earth magic to manipte the enchanted sand and block the unknown menace.

    Unluckily, it was exactly what Yondra wanted. The sand was just pulverized parts of the Golem¡¯s body that they used as a means of both attack and defense, so when the sphere released the Clean te spell it held, it counted as a direct hit.

    Golems were animated lumps of earth, imbued with too much mana and too many arrays for a simple tier four spell to deactivate them, but it was enough to make the construct¡¯s AI stutter for a split second and lose control of its spells.

    Yondra exploited that moment to overpower her opponent and sink the Golem under multipleyers of Burial Grounds. Its body was sturdy and its power core had still quite some power, but there were just too many things to defend against at once.

    Burial Grounds was crushing the Golem like a vise, the darkness energy weakened all its attempts to get free, and Yondra was using the smaller tendrils to dig out its power core. The Golem was unable to cope with its many conflicting protocols and in the attempt to perform them all at once exhausted its power.

    ¡¯What would I give to keep the power core intact.¡¯ Yondra thought while crushing the Golem¡¯s very heart. ¡¯Yet it would expose us to countless risks. Not having enough juice to move a construct doesn¡¯t mean that it can¡¯t pull some underhanded trick.

    ¡¯Purple crystals recharge damn fast and even a small explosion could consume the little oxygen we have left.¡¯

    On the other side of the cave, Professor Neshal was grinning from ear to ear. Only two Golems were left, but not for long. She was a Master Warden inside a set of arrays that she had set up, even upgrading them to military-grade after the Teks¡¯ sneak attack.

    While Gaakhu kept the constructs busy, Neshal was finally able to stabilize the arrays, making them recover from the damage they had sustained and that had almostpromised their integrity.

    Now that they were back at full power, the arrays¡¯ power nodes lit up one after another as she activated their offensive abilities.

    Neshal channeled her spell through her Crown Staff, which amplified her magical force before injecting it into the arrays that further enhanced it tenfold. The ground under the Golems darted upwards like an elevator gone haywire while a portion of the ceiling several meters thick came crashing down like a meteor.

    The constructs tried to jump off, but the earth under their feet had turned into quicksand, making them unable to move. They used earth magic to try and free themselves, but Neshal¡¯s boosted Titan Crusher was immune to their magic.

    When the two bs of rock collided for the first time, the Golems¡¯ bodies cracked. Yet it was far from over, the tier four spell simply pulled them away before mming the two t surfaces again and again.

    The second impact cracked the constructs open, the third shattered their power cores and by the time the spell was over, nothing but dust remained.

    "How did you do it?" Gaakhu was bbergasted. "I had to resort using artifacts because the air is so thin that I might have fainted at the slightest effort and such abined spell is quite the feat."

    "Didn¡¯t you notice?" Neshal said. "At some point, the air got much better and that allowed me to go all out."

    Now that they could finally rx, Gaakhu noticed that she could breathe even better than when they had first arrived at the cave.

    "Is it over?" Jerth, one of Phloria¡¯s soldiers asked. When the Professors nodded, she yelled:

    "You can stop now, we are safe!"

    Quy and the others had used light magic and some food from their dimensional items to stimte the growth of the underground moss. By enhancing its metabolism and even giving it some life force when necessary, they had turned a whole patch of the cave green.

    "Help me spread the moss near Kh, otherwise it will take too long to make the air breathable again." Quy said.

    The Golem Lith and Morok had fought had destroyed most of the moss inside the cave, so once they stopped feeding the patch with light magic, the oxygen it produced wasn¡¯t going to be enough to supply such a wide space.

 Chapter 664 Battle of Wits Part 2

    "Excellent thinking, Quy." Phloria said while cing food and moss at the four corners of the cave. "Defeating the Golems would have been a hollow victory if we died right after taking care of them."

    "Yeah, but once I got the idea, anyone could have done it. I would have much preferred to help the others on the front line rather than y gardener and leave to others doing the dirty job." Quy replied.

    "You and me both, sis." Phloria said.

    "Now you know how it feels to be me. It sucks, right?" Both women chuckled.

    Lith was impressed by the Professors¡¯ prowess. Sure, they had the protection of the arrays whereas he had been forced to fight inside the formation, but defeating three Golems had taken the Professors the same time he had needed to crush just one and with Morok¡¯s help at that.

    ¡¯I really need a good weapon. There¡¯s only so much I can do bare-handed, especially against an enemy capable of blocking my best elements.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He had yet to have the time to rx that the ground trembled. Lith used Life Vision to see through the wall surrounding Kh. A giant pir of red light was enveloping the second building, the one from which the Golems had emerged.

    ¡¯That¡¯s an array, the question is: what is trying to achieve?¡¯

    ¡¯Based on the runes it¡¯sprised of, it seems some kind of huge self-destruction array. Too bad that because of the Golems¡¯ n to asphyxiate us now there¡¯s not enough air inside Kh for the array to work.

    ¡¯Our array keeps the oxygen inside our camp, out there you couldn¡¯t light a match, let alone a bomb.¡¯ Solus exined.

    After a few failed attempts, the pir turned from red to a mix of orange and ck. Since it couldn¡¯t explode, the array made the building implode under its own weight by using earth magic.

    Then, it conjured a focused mass of darkness magic that fed upon everything the armory contained until the nothing but dust and debris were left. No one had told him what the building contained, otherwise Lith would have probably started cursing on the top of his lungs.

    He was in dire need of a new weapon and all the marvels the Odi had left behind were now lost forever.

    The sound of the copsing building alerted the camp, but no one was willing to go outside after such a heated fight. Lith kept staring at Kh even after the ground stopped trembling.

    The destruction of the Golems had triggered some kind of safeguard that was now flooding all the buildings with the world energy that the magic crystal cables extracted from the underground mana geyser.

    Lith could see them through the wall thanks to Life Vision.

    ¡¯What could they possibly need all that energy for?¡¯ Lith pondered.

    ¡¯The world energy is simply flowing through the buildings, without any apparent effect. No new array has been activated nor the mana is umting in specific points to power up weapons or new constructs. Do you have any idea, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯None, but we already know that inactive arrays are invisible even to my mana sense. We need to get close and cast the array detecting spell to make sure that the coast is really clear from danger.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯The Odi were indeed arrogant, but they spared no expense on security. There must be something worth protecting. Maybe even the secret of body-swapping you are looking for.¡¯

    Lith couldn¡¯t tell if Solus was more excited or worried at the idea of getting closer to an answer to his reincarnation problem and maybe even herck of a human body, so he asked her what the problem was.

    ¡¯I really hope this gets us somewhere, but at the same time, I¡¯m very scared. Not only because I¡¯m afraid that using the technology developed by such monsters could affect us negatively, but also because of the implications finding the body-swapping spell implies.

    ¡¯The Teks are alive, so nothing prevented one of the surviving members of the Odi to hide down here and use their bodies to prolong their lives while researching a way to once again be the dominant species or waiting for young, powerful mages to be delivered at their door.

    ¡¯Like the members of our expedition. What if this is all a test? And not one of those ridiculous "tests to search for a worthy heir" that the bards sing about but more like a "test to find a body worth possessing"?¡¯

    Solus¡¯s words sounded dangerously simr to the worries Lith had hidden for many days. ording to Morok¡¯s story, when he first reached the ruins with a group of miners and Crystalsmiths, they had been attacked multiple times by different types of creatures.

    The expedition, instead, had been attacked only once on the day of its arrival. It made sense, in a twisted way, since Morok¡¯s first group consisted of weak individuals, whereas the current one had wiped out the waves of Teks in a matter of seconds, hence ¡¯passing the test¡¯.

    ¡¯Viewed in this way, maybe the Odi weren¡¯t so stupid after all. The Teks could be considered the admission exam, the array on the front gate was just a test of intelligence, and so on.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It would also exin why the Golems had no weak point. They were the first real safety measure we have encountered and maybe by defeating them we have proven our worth.¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith stood there for a while, hoping that with time the flow of world energy would stop and Kh wound go back being dormant, but even after several minutes, the situation was unchanged.

    He tried going outside the barrier, but the oxygening from the tunnels wasn¡¯t enough, making Kh uninhabitable. The Professors were resting to regain their mana, studying the Golems¡¯ remains while Assistants and Soldiers continued nting new moss patches.

    "It might take a few days to get some fresh air, we might as well getfortable and catch up a little." Phloria noticed his worried look and tried to cheer him up.

    By the time Lith was done exining to her his new theory about Kh¡¯s real nature and the changes that had urred to the city after the destruction of the second building, she was the one needing to be cheered up.

    "By the gods, if you are right, then we need to get out of here as soon as possible. I¡¯ll have the Professors reinforce the arrays again while the cave gets filled with oxygen." Phloria said.

    "Excellent idea. In the meantime, I think I¡¯ll go examine the tunnels. With Kh open, there was no time for ying adventurer, but now I have a reasonable exnation to explore them.

    "If I find traces of creatures living in the vicinity of Kh, then all my theory is just my paranoia going wild again. If I discover hidden passages or more signs leading here, instead, it will mean that our trouble has just begun."

    Lith would have really liked to sneak out of the camp to check if Solus could assume her tower form inside Kh. It would give him an immediate escape route in case things went badly or an ess point in case he ever decided to return.

 Chapter 665 Mixed Signals Part 1

    Unfortunately, even if Lith could conjure a bubble of air around his head, it wouldst him only a few seconds if he was forced to go all out. Leaving the camp in such circumstances was an unnecessary risk that he had no reason to take, at least not yet.

    The situation was still under control, Lith could afford to wait a little longer.

    "I agree with your n. We¡¯ll leave tomorrow at dawn once we make sure that nothing is going to follow us or attack the camp." Phloria said.

    "We? No offense but isn¡¯t it better if I go alone? You know I¡¯m a tough nut to crack." Lith had mixed feelings about Phloriaing with him. She was a reliable partner, but living together again for so long was bing kind of awkward.

    "Yes, but between your Warden skills and my Forgemaster tools, we can exin anything we might find. You should be the first one to realize how easier would our situation be if we could share all our information with the Professors.

    "Your secrets may protect you, but at the same time, they keep you in the dark. On top of that, you¡¯re strong but you¡¯re not invincible. You needed my help against the fungus just like you needed Morok¡¯s against the Golem. Right?"

    "Right." Lith had to admit that Golems were his bane. Being an Awakened one meant nothing against constructs. Without the Gatekeeper and with the fire element sealed, he needed help.

    ¡¯If there really is a guiding hand behind all the hurdles we have faced so far, then the mastermind¡¯s next step would be testing us individually. Phloria is the best partner I could ask for. She is strong, smart, resourceful, and I don¡¯t have to hold back in front of her.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The following day, while the rest of the group continued to grow moss patches so that they could resume exploring Kh as soon as possible, Lith and Phloria took the corridor from which the first wave of Teks had emerged.

    Due to thete Professor Syndra¡¯s Corona Discharge spell, the walls were still wet from the water and ck streaks were visible where the powerful lightning had struck.

    "It seems that we are lucky." Lith said while using the array detecting spell on the area in front of themselves.

    "What do you mean?" Phloria asked. She was using a light spell to illuminate their surroundings. "Gods, I hate confined spaces. Any move we make echoes and carries across the caves. To make matters worse, all this light makes us an easy target."

    "I mean that Professor Syndra might have involuntarily tossed a huge monkey wrench in our invisible enemy¡¯s n. Damn, I overthink so much about the small details that I always end up missing the obvious stuff."

    "If that was supposed to be an exnation, it¡¯s no wonder that the White Griffon relieved you from your duties as Professor. The ss here is almost blind, do you mind being clearer?" She grunted.

    "First, I was just an Assistant Professor. Second, I was referring to the soot on the walls. Think about it. ording to my theory, someone sent the Teks to attack our camp, and maybe, when Syndra unleashed his tier five spell, he didn¡¯t hit just a few overgrown crabs."

    Lith could have taught her Fire and Life Vision, but he was afraid that their use would have speeded up her Awakening process. Both spells required to let the mana flow from the core to the eyes, and to make sure that Phloria survived despite her already bright cyan mana core, he needed all the time he could get.

    Phloria looked at the ckened walls in a reverie before saying:

    "You¡¯re right! We only need to follow the markings left by the Corona Discharge and check where they end. If the Teks came from a hidden tunnel, maybe its jammed and we will find it still open.

    "If the markings disappear suddenly, instead, it will mean that during the fight the spell must have entered the dimensional corridor the Teks wereing out from and that it killed the mage or destroyed the array that generated the Gate."

    "Exactly." Lith nodded. "Maybe the attacks didn¡¯t stop because we passed a test, but because Syndra sealed the entrance."

    They kept walking in silence for several minutes before Lith was forced to take a rest. Constantly using both Life Vision and the array detecting spell was exhausting for him as using all of her magical senses was for Solus.

    Invigoration was an option, but they preferred to be underestimated, in case someone was spying on them.

    "Did you find anything?" Phloria asked. The silence and the darkness surrounding them didn¡¯t scare her, but the thought of what might be hiding around the corner kept her on edge the whole time.

    She kept preparing spells just to be forced to release them once the mental stress they required became too much.

    ¡¯Unlike Lith, I don¡¯t see through walls.¡¯ She thought.

    "So far the corridors arepletely dead. You can rx, the moment I spot an enemy, I¡¯ll warn you."

    ??Yeah, unless they Warp on our back. Anything else?"

    "Yes. There are markings on the walls at regr intervals. They are different from those we met following Morok¡¯s path." Lith replied.

    "Are they always the same word or different ones?"

    "Some are Kh¡¯s name but some are different. I jotted them down." Lith said while handing her a piece of paper filled with unknown characters.

    "Gods! You should have told me earlier. I¡¯ll be right back." Phloria opened a Warp Steps leading straight inside the camp, uncaring of the rms she triggered.

    She gave the Professors the piece of paper along with a brief exnation and returned even before the dimensional door could close.

    "You just wasted precious mana. We could¡¯ve given it to them after our return. Who cares if this tunnel leads to Lutia while that one goes to Valeron? We are here to find out what happened to the Teks, not to sightsee." Lith said.

    "Yes, and that¡¯s exactly why I asked for a trantion. If your theory is right, then those characters are just road signs. If you are wrong, however, they could mark secret tunnels, deposits, monsters breeding grounds, everything.

    "You can see the markings with your special sight, but for normal people, Odi included, they are just as good as a secret code. They could help us to unravel this mystery faster." Phloria exined.

    "I still think it¡¯s a waste of mana, but since we¡¯re clutching at straws, your idea is as good as mine." Lith needed a bit more time to recover, so they sat down in a silence that grew awkward with time.

    "How are things going for Kam¡¯s sister?" Phloria asked after a while.

    "Pretty good. The physical activity is helping her to get used to her newfound sight. Her headaches are almost gone by now and the vertigo fits are bing a rare urrence. How do you know about Zinya?"

    "Well, your girlfriend now works for my Mom, and she¡¯s even more of a control freak than you are. Mom runs background checks even on grass if she gets the chance. I¡¯m happy that things are going well between you and Kam."

    ¡¯And that¡¯s my cue.¡¯ Lith thought while standing up and resuming to walk. ¡¯I¡¯mfortable spending time with Phloria, but not enough to talk with her about my current rtionship.¡¯

 Chapter 666 Mixed Signals Part 2

    They kept following the trail left by Corona Discharge¡¯s stream of lightning until it suddenly stopped. The floor went from dripping wet to humid as if an invisible barrier had halted the spell¡¯s advance.

    "It seems you were right, the only possible exnation for this phenomenon is a Warp Steps." Phloria said.

    "Quite the contrary, it doesn¡¯t make sense." Lith shook his head. "ording to what I saw with Life Vision, the Teks appeared close to our camp, this ce is too far to have any significance."

    He even tried using Invigoration on the nearby wall despite the fact that none of his magical senses perceived anything, but to no avail. Rocks were just rocks. There was nothing magical in the area.

    While Phloria was racking her brain to find an exnation to that riddle, her army amulet drew her attention. The interference prevented her frommunicating with the outside, but it still worked just fine at close range.

    "I have good news." Professor Neshal¡¯s hologram was fuzzy, but her voice was clear. "Most of the characters you found are just well-hidden road signs, but some of them are powerful rune words."

    "Never heard of them." Lith replied, noticing that Phloria seemed distressed.

    ¡¯That¡¯s her "I¡¯m hiding something from you" face.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Damn, we really did spend too much time together. If she¡¯s able to do the same to me, then all my lies are for nothing.¡¯

    "I read your file, you¡¯ve actually met them before." Neshal said. "Do you remember that ancient Warp Gate you discovered in Othre? The one the Dawn Court used? Well, it was made of rune words.

    "This is ssified information, so I can tell you only the bare minimum to understand our situation. In ancient times, when Forgemastering had yet to be created, mages used runes to empower their creations.

    "Runes are power words that represent an aspect of magic and that can imprint it in an object. They were awfully expensive and unreliable. You needed to carve them and then fill them with magic crystal¡¯s dust to keep them active."

    ¡¯Like those cables!¡¯ Lith thought.

    "They were expensive because once pulverized, a magic crystal loses a lot of power and recharges slowly, so you could only use purple crystals and obtain mediocre effects. Unreliable because if anything happens to a single rune, the whole spell is broken.

    "Imagine a sword that can stop working after a bad sh, or an armor that offers no protection if it takes a hit. That kind of bad. In ancient battles, runes became the first target because they were easy to spot.

    "That¡¯s the reason modern magic uses only mana runes to create arrays and artifacts. They are conjured by the spells, giving them their effects, but being made of energy, they can¡¯t be damaged."

    ¡¯So runes were the first way fake mages had found to emte true magic.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Fake Forgemasters need to draw magic circles, whereas I don¡¯t need them because I can freely manipte my mana.¡¯

    ¡¯Yes, but Neshal is feeding you only old news.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯I bet that Runesmithing has evolved with time. Both the sword in our possession and Phloria¡¯s hairpin are the proof of that.

    ¡¯Huryole¡¯s sword must be some kind of middle link between ancient and modern Runesmithing. I¡¯m sure of it because its runes are all made of energy, not carved, but unlike Phloria¡¯s hairpin, they are visible.

    ¡¯If you think about it, visible runes have several downsides. The most obvious are that they made it impossible for you to hide since they shine like a torch and that just by watching at your de your opponent can predict its enchantments.¡¯

    ¡¯If even after receiving Silverwing¡¯s legacy fake mages didn¡¯t stop using runes, then they must be useful.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "What did those runes do?" Phloria asked, snapping Lith out of his inner debate with Solus.

    "Each one of them represents a set of coordinates for some kind of Warping device. My guess is that the Odi used them to Warp troops at the right intersections to surround invaders." Neshal said.

    "Can you point them out to us?"

    Following Phloria¡¯s request, a set of characters appeared on hermunication amulet. Then, the Professor broke each character down into words and runes. After ending the call, Phloria said:

    "I think I know what happened to the Teks, but to be sure I need to get to this rune. Do you remember where is this ced?" She was showing him a characterprised of an unknown power rune and the word "Meat Shields".

    Lith had no clue, but Solus did. He opened a Warp Steps that lead them straight to their destination and then pointed the hidden character to Phloria. She took her silvery wand out of her dimensional amulet and touched the character with it.

    A strand of silver light filled the markings on the stone and then more. Corona Discharge had scraped the surface of the wall, making part of the character unreadable. The markings only had a physical nature, not a magical one, so Lith could only see them with Fire Vision.

    Phloria¡¯s wand, instead, was able to imbue the markings with magic, forcing the rune to activate. The faint traces of mana left from itstest activation outlined the original shape of the rune, allowing Phloria to repair it with earth magic.

    Once she was done, she used what looked like purple crystal dust on the restored rune until it glowed for a second.

    "There. Old runes are really annoying. Giving them the correct shape is not enough to repair them, you also have to restore their mana flow with crystals." She exined.

    "I guess Orion has taught you about runes. Did he do it in case your hairpin gets damaged?" Lith asked.

    "So you knew." She said with a smile. "No, modern runes can¡¯t get damaged. Dad taught me about runes in case I decide to be a Royal Forgemaster as well. By the way, it¡¯s not just your sight being special, but your touch as well.

    "Otherwise you would have noticed that my weapon and part of my equipment have been Runesmithed as well."

    Unlike Lith, Phloria didn¡¯t even attempt to lie and shared with him everything she could.

    "What are you doing exactly?" Lith asked.

    "One of the many downsides of ancient runes is that they couldn¡¯t be imprinted. As long as they have power, anyone can use them."

    Lith nodded at her words. The Dawn¡¯s Court Warp Gate worked the same way.

    "Which means that if I can properly restore the dimensional rune the Odi used to ambush us, we can get behind the enemy lines by using their own secret pathway."

    "How do modern runes work, exactly?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t teach you about them. First, I know only the basics, so it wouldn¡¯t be much of use for you. Second, if I did, I would put more than just my life on the line, I would put Dad¡¯s as well.

    "Even speaking about them is an act of treason. My father trusted me and I¡¯m trusting you, but I cannot involve him in my decisions."

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The Kingdom takes Runesmithing very seriously. Being a Royal Forgemaster must be quite a big deal if no one ever talked me about it before.¡¯

    "How did you discover about runes? Not from Othre, otherwise you would have already made the connection between the vampires¡¯ Warp Gate and the Odi¡¯s." Phloria asked, proving Lith once again that she had not to be underestimated.

 Chapter 667 Meat Factory Part 1

    "I raid Huryole on a regr basis. During myst trip, I met an emerald dragon and I found these." He took the booklet and the sword out of his pocket dimension.

    Phloria¡¯s wand hit the ground and emitted a ting.

    "Did you really fight a dragon? A real one? Big, scaly, and everything else?"

    "More like I ran away from him. I¡¯m not stupid. Emperor Beasts refer to me as just a Wyrmling, so a full-grown dragon is definitely out of my league. Yet."

    Phloria picked up her wand, using it to examine both the ancient relics. Forgemastering helped her to avoid thinking about the implications Lith¡¯stest revtions held.

    "The sword is an interesting link between old and modern Runesmithing, but it sucks. Judging from its runes, it¡¯s a teaching prop." Phloria said.

    "Nailed in one." Lith gave her thumbs up. "What about the book?"

    "I only know the Three Great Countries standardnguage, so this is gibberish to me. As for the magic circles inscribed in here, they are more teaching props. Some of these are powerful spells, others are meh. Do you want me to mark them?" Phloria asked and Lith nodded for her to proceed.

    She gave each spell an academy like score based on her understanding, adding a question point whenever she met a spell beyond her knowledge.

    "Why Huryole had teaching props and how did you understand their use despite beingpletely oblivious about runes?"

    "Again, I¡¯m not stupid. If my theory is correct, Huryole is the zeroth great academy." He then proceeded to tell her about his findings about the lost city, turning her surprise into shock.

    "I bet that this knowledge is a state secret as well, so keep it for yourself."

    Phloria nodded, her mind was still a little fuzzy. She had never expected that Lith would actually reply to her questions.

    ¡¯Is he being honest with me because he trusts me or because he just wants to get even for my earlier exnation? Gods, the more I learn about him, the less I understand how Lith thinks. Maybe I should just ask him...¡¯ Her train of thoughts was derailed by Lith exploiting her moment of weakness.

    ¡¯In for a penny, in for a pound.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯If Runesmithing is as important as I think, Yondra will not teach me about it unless I be her apprentice or something catastrophic happens. I must strike the iron while it¡¯s hot.¡¯

    "What do you make of this?" Lith asked showing her the ring that he had received from the fungal creature.

    ¡¯You¡¯re a horrible person.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Phloria just admitted that she is putting her life in your hands and you can only think about squeezing as much knowledge as you can from her?¡¯

    ¡¯Solus, let¡¯s be honest. I put my life in her hands the day I showed her my other form. Besides, anything I learn can help us to get out of here alive, save Phloria from her Awakening, and maybe me from my reincarnation problem.

    ¡¯I¡¯m morally flexible, yes, but everything I do, I do it for a reason and Phloria knows it as well as you do.¡¯

    "Where did you find it? It¡¯s even crappier than the sword, but this is a different kind of approach to blending old and modern Runesmithing." Phloria had known Lith for years, yet she still wondered why sometimes a golden light shone behind his eyes.

    It was the manifestation of Solus¡¯s strong emotions.

    "Off the record?" Lith asked, receiving a nod of approval. "It¡¯s a gift. The living fungus gave it to me. It also said a lot of gibberish. I really hope it was just a thank you, because if it shared with me the secrets of Kh, you¡¯ll see a grown man cry."

    "And you didn¡¯t tell me this before because...?"

    "Because I knew about runes, I want to learn about runes, and if I told anyone I had found an ancient Odi ring, the army would have taken it from me. Being my friend and mymanding officer, I didn¡¯t want to burden you with any more secrets but since we already got to this point..."

    Phloria sighed. She had the impression of being taken advantage of, but she could also understand Lith¡¯s reasoning. Her father could provide her with everything she wanted, whereas Lith only had his own cunning and a mountain of secrets.

    "Did you imprint it already?"

    "Despite knowing that the Odi used ve items and suspecting some of them might still be alive and kicking?" His words were full of sarcasm.

    "This should just be a dimensional item. It¡¯s nothing dangerous." She gave the ring back to Lith.

    "A dimensional item with a crystal?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own words.

    "I told you, old runes suck. Now, I need a few moments to collect myself and prepare my spells. We have no idea what lies beyond the Gate, so it¡¯s better to be prepared for the worst."

    Lith nodded and started to blurt the first American pop song he could think of as he was seriously considering epting Yondra¡¯s offer.

    ¡¯Wait a minute. I still have to talk with the Hydrady, maybe she might be able to help me. It¡¯s better not to rush into anything.¡¯ The promise Lith had made to Protector also reminded him about the one with Selia and her threat to kill him if he didn¡¯t visit them again.

    ¡¯Damn, I don¡¯t hear from Kam for almost two weeks and winter is almost over. I would need to clone myself to do everything on my list.¡¯

    "Are you ready?" Phloria asked.

    "Yes." Lith replied, stopping in the middle of the chorus.

    Phloria touched the rune with her wand and said a single word.

    "Kron."

    Lith could see with Life Vision that her body was emitting pure mana, as if she was using spirit magic. The mana traveled from her core to her hand and into the wand, filling the rune.

    It wasn¡¯t blue like the one Lith usually emitted, nor emerald green like the legend said. Maybe it was because of the Orichalcum wand, but her mana was of pristine white.

    ¡¯If this is like the Gate the Court used, then only one of its sides needs to be powered up since its coordinates are permanently fixed.¡¯ Lith thought while having the Skinwalker armor cover his now scaly throat.

    Origin mes were more than an instrument of attack, he could also use them to force the Gate to copse in case the necessity arose.

    A Gate as big as the tunnel they were in appeared in front of them. On the other side, there was a room entirely made of metal.

    Every building in Kh seemed to follow such design choice, making Lith wonder if the Odi did it to avoid them being breached with earth magic or simply because theycked the mana necessary to protect them all with the earth blocking array.

    ¡¯Even if they knew about Awakened ones, the mana geyser provides them both a perfect cover from above and all the world energy they needed. Unless they were already using most of its power for some experiment.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "By the Great Mother!" Phloria said.

    The Odi word associated with the Warp rune was "Meat Shields", an urate definition for the purpose of such a ce.

 Chapter 668 Meat Factory Part 2

    The Gate opened in the bottom right corner of the room, allowing them to examine its contents. There were several thanks filled with a transparent liquid, simr to those Lith¡¯s group had found in the first building.

    One cylindrical tank held a female Tek in what they could only hope was a state of suspended animation. Her exoskeleton was pierced by tubes in several ces, flooding her body with liquids of different colors.

    The liquids¡¯ nature was a mystery, but their purpose was as clear as the day. The poor creature was forced to produce eggs non-stop. Each one was the size of an orange and was made of a translucent pearly substance holding a smaller golden sphere at its center.

    The second tank held another Tek that had to be a male. Based on the extra tube on hisher regions, he wasn¡¯t faring any better than his unwilling breeding mate.

    Another tank, this one shaped like an aquarium, contained several Tek younglings the size of a ten year old child. Their diet seemed to be based on defective Tek eggs, deformed Tek younglings, and the corpses of those who died in the constant struggle for food and space.

    The white of their chitinous bodies looked blue due to all the Tek blood spilled inside the tank. The battle for survival was so fierce that the water filters weren¡¯t capable to keep up with the bloodshed.

    The younglings were currently chopping a newborn Tek with their pincers and eating its remains.

    "This is a nightmare! Those poor creatures are being turned into cannibals, only the most ferocious and the strongest among them have any chance of survival." Her de shone of a ck light, ready to unleash several spells, but Lith stopped Phloria from crossing the threshold.

    "We can¡¯t risk triggering more rms, also we don¡¯t know if we can safely open the portal from the other side and get back into the caves." Lith said.

    "Also, you have yet to exin to me what do you think happened after Syndra used Corona Discharge."

    "As if you don¡¯t know it already, but thanks." Phloria said while regaining her cool and clutching her estoc so hard that her knuckles turned white.

    "The lightning must have struck in-between waves, otherwise you would have seen the Gates. That way, it could fry the Teks and destroy the runes.

    "When the system attempted and failed to open the Gates again, it must have tried to open them in session from the closest to the farthest, riding along the wave until it beat Corona Discharge to the punch and swallowed the spell."

    "It makes sense." Lith nodded, trying to think about something to say to keep Phloria¡¯s mind upied. The procedure taking ce in front of them was something disgusting to the point that any sane person would have their stomach churning.

    ¡¯It must be because of people like the Odi that magical beasts prefer suicide and filicide to let themselves captured.¡¯ He thought.

    "What do you want to do, Captain Ernas?" Lith used her military rank, to remind her of their situation, but most importantly, of her status.

    "If we go inside an activate traps that block even one of the elements, we might not be able to escape with dimensional magic. We can destroy the tanks from here, but there¡¯s no telling what defensive mechanisms are in ce."

    "I had no intention of doing either." Phloria¡¯s eyes were as cold as ice. "I just wanted to take a peek inside and check if we can use the ancient gates to raid the ce. Arrays?"

    Lith waved his hand, and several magical formations became visible to the naked eye.

    "What the heck?" Phloria blurted out. There wasn¡¯t a single centimeter of space covered by at least two arrays. "I recognize only the lighting and the self-cleaning array."

    "Same. The others use runes too old for me to know them. Is there any you recognize?" Based on what Neshal had said, the same runes were used for both arrays and Forgemastering, so Lith had actually decent foundations for Runesmithing.

    Or at least he hoped so.

    "Yes. That is the ancient rune for fire." She pointed at a glowing character that resembled an English P.

    "That is the rune for darkness..." The character resembled an M ovepping with an X.

    "...and that one is the rune for air. The others I have no idea what they mean." If Lith had to describe it, he wouldpare the rune to something drawn by someone who sneezed with their pen on the paper.

    "My paranoid guess is that fire is for intruders. Darkness is for the Teks, in the case they manage to escape, and air is an rm." Lith said

    "Agreed. Now we have to wait and see if the Gate has some defensive mechanism too. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if opening it by our side required some kind of convened signal." Phloria was cautious. Her spite for the Odi only made her more vignt.

    "Can you tell me if there¡¯s any difference between ancient and modern runes?" Lith asked.

    "Ancient runes were less efficient and more unstable. That¡¯s all I can share with you without endangering Dad."

    ¡¯Damn! Then both the ring and the sword are only good as teaching props. At least thanks to Phloria now I know the ancient runes for dimensional items. I canpare them with the modern ones I know and start experimenting already.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Just as Phloria predicted, after a handful of second the rm array was triggered. It emitted a high pitched sound and activated the other arrays in the rooms as the dimensional door was closing.

    "Well, the damage is done. We learned what we needed so we might as well crash this party for good." She unleashed her Tier five Mage Knight spell, de of Destruction before the Gate disappeared.

    For a moment, Lith could see a great mass of darkness and lightning magic take form inside the room. Noises of shattering ss and screeching metal filled the air just for a split second.

    The dimensional door was now sealed again and silence returned. Phloria damaged the dimensional rune on the wall she had just repaired to prevent further attacks from the "Meat Shields".

    "I know that what I did was seemingly useless. The Teks in the tanks were probablyatose or raving mad and I doubt there¡¯s only one such a room in Kh. I did it because this way the smoke should point us to the right building." Phloria said.

    "Our orders are to find and destroy anything that can harm the Griffon Kingdom and I think that a monster farm qualifies. I also did it because, orders or not, I can¡¯t see such things and do nothing.

    "I joined the army because I want to make a difference for the citizens of the Kingdom, humans and beasts alike. Some people might consider my actions just a drop in the ocean, but to me, it was saving them from a fate crueler than death."

    Phloria opened a Warp Steps that brought the straight back to the camp. After showing to the Professors the arrays revealed by Lith¡¯s spell and describing them the rm mechanism, their next course of action became clear.

 Chapter 669 Planning Ahead Part 1

    "You were wrong, Ranger Verhen. The darkness array wasn¡¯t for the Teks, but for us intruders." Neshal said. "If you had stepped through the Gate, the darkness spell would have tried to kill you right after sealing the dimensional door.

    "Using the Odi¡¯s runes is too dangerous. It¡¯s better to go through the front door and clear our path one bit at a time instead of jumping feet first into a trap."

    "How long before we can resume exploring Kh?" Lith asked.

    "At least a couple of days. I rmend four days so that we can use fire magic without risking to suffocate. Judging from the Golems¡¯ behavior, the Odi worked hard to prevent intruders from using powerful fire spells, so by messing with that we might have an easier time countering their defenses."

    "Agreed. We only have to wait now." Phloria said.

    Since he had nothing to do, Lith went inside the men¡¯s quarters. He used earth magic and the Hush spell to get some privacy. Then, he took out his army amulet and called his handler while using umtion.

    Feeding the amulet enough energy to counter the interference was child¡¯s y for him. Unlike fake mages, Lith could freely manipte his mana core.

    ***

    Meanwhile, on Mogar¡¯s surface, the sudden pull at her consciousness made Kam flinch. She anxiously took hermunicator out of her purse to check if it was the Human Resources.

    They were in charge of informing Constables if something happened to their rtives. Lith had disappeared off the face of Mogar for almost two weeks and to make matters worse, Fallmug was missing as well.

    After Zinya had petitioned for divorce, he had tried multiple times to contact Kam to discover his wife¡¯s whereabouts, failing every single time. She had never shared her contact rune with him and had blocked her mother¡¯s the moment Zinya had received her ownmunication amulet.

    Her family was now officially dead to her. Yet she couldn¡¯t help but worry that something had happened to Lith or that Fallmug had found Zinya, so Kam was on edge at the idea of receiving bad news.

    "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from that thing during our lessons?" Jirni said, stabbing their prisoner in his tight with one of her needles.

    "Whatever it is, it can wait."

    "Lith¡¯s rune is active! He¡¯s calling me." Kam ignored the man¡¯s screams and showed Jirni the blinking rune, almost jumping for the joy.

    "What are you waiting for? Answer immediately, I haven¡¯t heard from neither him nor my daughters for days!" Jirni nted a mouth gag on the prisoner with a well-ced fist, which also dislocated his jaw so that it would not need straps to secure it.

    "But first: Royal override. Identification: Archon Jirni Ernas. Password of the day: Sylpha, Silverwing, Knight, Blue." All the magic crystals on Kam¡¯s amulet lit up at once.

    "I¡¯ve activated the secure line. No one can listen to your conversation, not even the army."

    "Thanks! There are so many things I can¡¯t say as a handler." Kam couldn¡¯t believe her luck.

    "If you really want to thank me, once you two are done, put him on. I need to speak to him as well. While we are at it, use meeting room number three. It¡¯s the only one without recording devices." Jirni said.

    "Will do! I¡¯ll try to be quick."

    "There¡¯s no rush dear. We¡¯re done for today." Jirni¡¯s words surprised the prisoner quite a bit. He had been captured during a ve auction and identified as one of its ringleaders.

    He had been interrogated for days before Constable Ernas resorted to using more violent approaches. He had yet to say anything. He was aware that the moment he had nothing to offer they would execute him.

    ¡¯The longer I hold on, the more time my aplices have to get me out of here.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯They have to, otherwise a lot of noble heads will roll. I have no intention of dying alone.

    ¡¯This stupid woman has even given me the means to contact my associates. With her password, I can easily bribe a guard and safely use theirmunication amulet.¡¯

    Jirni seemed to read his mind, because the more confident he became, the wider her grin grew.

    "You know, it¡¯s hard to find scum like you." Jirni said. "That¡¯s the reason you¡¯re still alive. My apprentice is still na?ve, so when I saw you, I knew you would be a tough nut to crack.

    "I used you to allow her to practice all the normal interrogation techniques and develop her own. Then, when as predicted you didn¡¯t talk, my aim was to use you to not make her feel guilty for what she was going to do. Everyone has to start somewhere.

    "This call changes everything, though. We both deserve some quality time with our families and I hate leaving a job halfway through, so...." She struck both of his lungs with thin, hollow needles.

    At first, the prisoner felt barely a sting. Then, he realized he couldn¡¯t breathe anymore. The air entered from his nose and mouth, but it was as if someone was choking him.

    "That¡¯s called a pneumothorax. I punctured your lungs so that no matter how much air you draw in, they can¡¯t fill up because it leaks and fills your thoracic cavity. You¡¯ll die in about eight minutes, without being able to talk or even cry.

    "If you¡¯re lucky, she¡¯ll be done soon. I always confirm my kills, so the moment that door opens, I¡¯ll give you a quick death." Jirni noticed the confusion in the man¡¯s eyes, all the unanswered questions that were keeping the pain at bay.

    "Do you really think by remaining silent you had any chance of survival? In my line of work, the first one to talk gets the better deal. Your aplices were smarter than you and told us everything we needed.

    "Some of them will go free, others will serve a sentence. You instead, were nothing but a teaching prop since the beginning."

    In the meeting room three, Kam was overjoyed seeing that Lith was alright. He couldn¡¯t tell her much about his mission, so she was the one speaking for most of the time.

    "These ruins are a pain in the neck. Between the constant danger andmunication ckout, I really missed you." There were many things he would have liked to ask her, but the army amulet triggered his paranoia too much.

    The idea that someone could listen to their conversation kept him on the edge despite Jirni¡¯s reassurances.

    "Why are you still working on the weekend? I hoped to reach you while you were still at my ce, to ¡¯casually¡¯ talk with my family."

    "The weekend ended yesterday, silly." She giggled. "You must have lost track of the days."

    "Damn, I think you are right. How is everyone?"

    Kam told him thest news about his family. Tista had finally started her journey, sending everyone in a panic. It was the first time that she traveledpletely alone and her absenceplicated things even more now that Rena was pregnant.

    "Oh gods! Not again!" Lith blurted out.

    "Your sister is very young and her family is wealthy. Why shouldn¡¯t she have more than one child?" Kam found Lith¡¯s reaction somewhat disturbing. She had never considered having children of her own, but such a fierce denial made her scared of the future.

 Chapter 670 Planning Ahead Part 2

    ¡¯Am I worried because I¡¯m older than him or it¡¯s just my insecurity talking?¡¯ Kam thought, a second before turning beet reed for apparently no reason. ¡¯What¡¯s wrong with me? We have never even talked about marriage and I¡¯m already worrying about how many children we should have?¡¯

    "Kami, are you feeling alright? You seem a bit off." Lith said, snapping her out of the chaos her mind had be.

    "I¡¯m perfectly fine, thanks. I¡¯m just worried about Zinya." Happy to change the topic, Kam told him all about the divorce and Fallmug¡¯s disappearance.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t pay the bastard a visit since the mission started. I hope he doesn¡¯t get the wrong idea and thinks to be off the hook.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I really hope he tries something funny near my home. Between the arrays and the Queen¡¯s corps, they¡¯ll pick up his remains with a teaspoon.¡¯

    "I¡¯m more worried about you. Being a civil servant, most of your information is public. Fallmug must know that the easiest way to get to Zinya is through you. Be on your guard, always." He said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be fine." Kam was both ttered and happy by how concerned he was about her safety. She was more than able to take care of herself, especially now that she was a Field Assistant, but being pampered a little after such a long separation felt nice.

    "Belius has so many safety measures that even if Fallmuges there, there¡¯s not much he can do. Besides, I¡¯ve been staying at the Ernas Household for a while. I doubt even he would be so foolish to attack me there."

    "What? Why?" Lith asked.

    "Officially, for my training, so that Archon Ernas can teach me how to arrange the work from home when necessary and teach me everything I need about Constable¡¯s codes away from prying eyes. Off the record, the Ernas feel lonely with all their daughters away.

    "I suppose they want somepany or maybe they were hoping for something like this to happen. You know, you calling me so that they had the opportunity to speak with Phloria and Quy. How are they?"

    "Given the circumstances, I¡¯d say they¡¯re doing fine. Quy is the one struggling the most. She can¡¯t stand remaining on the sidelines, but she knows that she can¡¯t help us in a fight. As for Phloria, she has to make tough calls almost every day.

    "Luckily for me, I¡¯m just a Ranger. The Professors know they stuff but are too arrogant, they- Never mind. I can¡¯t talk about that. We would both end in trouble and I don¡¯t want to endanger your career." He said with a warm smile.

    "Speaking of Rangers, how is he?" Kam asked.

    "Who are you talking about?"

    "Ranger Eari, the beast-man."

    "The what?"

    "Beast-man. They call him like that because there was a year when he never took a single day leave and when he finally returned to civilization, he behaved more like a magical beast than a human."

    "He is indeed odd." Lith replied, wondering if Morok was just a man rude enough to act like a beast or simply a beast shapeshifted into a man.

    When they finished talking, Kam gave the amulet to Jirni. By that time, the prisoner was already dead by more than half an hour. Jirni had taken care of piercing the corpse¡¯s heart and brain before beheading it.

    There were rumors about necromancy techniques capable of extracting the memories from the recently deceased and Archon Ernas liked to err on the side of safety whenever state secrets were involved.

    There were people who would pay a small fortune to get ess even to a daily password.

    "How are my girls? Spare me the niceties, I want the truth." Jirni asked as soon as Kam left them alone after she activated a personal device that further ensured their privacy.

    "They both almost died more than once. Quy is putting up a tough act, but I think she feels guilty for failing to save our fallenrades. Phloria, instead has a few problems with deciding who lives and who dies." Lith could openly talk with Jirni.

    With her status and rank, he doubted that anything that passed through Berion¡¯s office didn¡¯t reach her ears in less than a minute.

    "Good. This experience is bound to help them to understand the implications of their life choices. Sometimes I¡¯m afraid that Orion has sheltered them too much. I¡¯m d that you¡¯re with them in their time of need.

    "You protect mine and I¡¯ll keep protecting yours." She said.

    "Do you mean that..." Lith could only call himself an idiot for having taken Kam¡¯s na?ve thinking seriously.

    "That Kam now lives in my home for her own safety. I took some information on this Fallmug. He¡¯s not a criminal, but he¡¯s acquainted with plenty of them. If he decides to, he can mess with Kam. Zinya, on the contrary, is beyond his reach.

    "Promise me that you¡¯ll bring my baby girls back home and you have my word that I¡¯ll keep your courtyard clear." Jirni said.

    "I would have done it anyway. I resent you doubting my friendship." Lith¡¯s voice turned cold. He didn¡¯t like to receive ultimatums.

    "So would have I, but you know as well as I do thatmon interests form a stronger bond than any pretty word can. Now that we have a deal, please put Phloria through. I hope that for once she will listen to me." Jirni sighed.

    Lith was now in quite a pickle. The moment he left the amulet, the conversation would end. On top of that, he would have to exin how he had managed to establish a connection without external help.

    He and Solus quickly arranged an array with the purple crystals Professor Neshal had gifted him to fuel the amulet.

    ¡¯We¡¯re lucky we had this many big and powerful crystals at hand, otherwise such a makeshift formation would never work.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Phloria was amazed by Lith bypassing the interference so easily, but she didn¡¯t ask him for exnations. Their cohabitation was starting to be awkward. Lith had opened up to her more in thosest few days than in the two years they had been together.

    That coupled with the words they had exchanged during Jirni¡¯s birthday were giving her a headache. To add insult to injury, her mother¡¯s smug grin told Phloria that she was well aware of that.

    "I¡¯m d to see you¡¯re alright and in one piece, dear. I hope you can get back home soon." Jirni would always caress beforending a blow.

    "Thanks, Mom. I can¡¯t wait for this mission to be over. The things I¡¯ve seen here will give me nightmares for days, I¡¯m sure of it." Phloria was used to the killing part of her job, to her life being constantly at risk.

    Seeing the results of the Odi¡¯s work, facing the consequences of their experiments, however, was eating her from the inside. How could she hate the living fungus for killing so many innocent people when the creature itself as a victim?

    Even the people forming the monster who had attacked them in the lobby weren¡¯t at fault. Killing innocents was chipping away the pride she took in her job, making her feel more like a murderer than a soldier.

    The memory of the Teks in the tanks ovepped with that of Morok eating them as if they were just crabs, making her want to puke.

 Chapter 671 Impending Threat Part 1

    "You¡¯ll get used to it, dear." Jirni said, trying to ease her daughter¡¯s mind after seeing how pale Phloria had be. "I have the same problem with Kam. The poor woman pukes and cries a lot when we run into certain types of crimes, but she¡¯s getting stronger for it.

    "I¡¯ll tell you the same thing I told her. Don¡¯t bottle up, your feelings, otherwise one of these days you will snap. Find someone you trust and share your burden with them, as I do with your father.

    "You could talk to Quy..."

    "No way. She¡¯s already got a lot on her te. I don¡¯t think she could handle the pressure of knowing how conflicted I am about this mission. She needs to believe that whatever happens, I¡¯ll be there to protect her." Phloria said.

    "Then you could talk to Lith." Jirni ¡¯casually¡¯ suggested, as if it hadn¡¯t been her goal from the beginning.

    "In the lost cities, he has faced worse things than some human experimentation. It would be a perfect opportunity for you two to reconnect after avoiding each other for so long. Is Lith still airtight or has he finally opened up to you?"

    "Nothing has changed." Phloria¡¯s reply came out too fast to be believable.

    "That¡¯s good to hear." Jirni said, as if Phloria had told her the opposite.

    "Yet don¡¯t get carried away. He still has a girlfriend and one should never overestimate the feelings that constantly being together in a life or death situation can induce. They die as fast as they are born, so tread with caution."

    "Mom, I¡¯m not going to discuss that part of my life with you!" The sudden blood rush to her face told Jirni that something was indeed happening.

    "Sure, dear. Do you mind passing themunicator to Quy? I would like to cheer her up too. If you call me again in six hours, you would have the opportunity to talk with your father."

    While Jirni talked with her daughters, Kam used her civilian amulet to inform Lith¡¯s family about his well-being. Hearing about it from Berion never meant much to them.

    He could only tell them that he was alive and on a mission, which they already knew simply by looking at Lith¡¯s rune on their amulets. When someone died, their imprint on a magical item disappeared and so would theirmunication rune.

    Kam, instead, told them how he looked well-fed, in perfect health, and even in his normal spirits, so the mission couldn¡¯t be that bad.

    Since they had finished early, Jirni and Kam could go back home for lunch instead of eating in a local restaurant.

    ¡¯Gods, I¡¯ve always heard that Constables have to watch their backs, but we have so many soldiers in our detail that the only threat is that to my figure.¡¯ Kam thought.

    ¡¯Long hours sitting behind a desk, delicious meals, and then when I get back home, I¡¯m too tired to exercise. How the heck does Lady Ernas keep her hourss figure with our line of work?¡¯

    To make matters worse, the lunch at the Ernas House was always a full course meal, so Kam would end up eating more than at any restaurant to not offend her hosts.

    "I¡¯m d that Lith is with our baby girls. Those Odi gave madness a whole new definition." Orion said. "Their Forgemastering experiments were as cruel as insane. The expedition members are lucky to have faced only faulty projects, otherwise they would have probably died."

    At those words, Kam became pale, whereas Jirni¡¯s curiosity was piqued.

    "How do you know what they have faced? There has been no report." She asked.

    "When he called Kam, his amulet sent all the data they have collected in encrypted mode to the research division and I¡¯m a Royal Forgemaster, dear. You¡¯ll read my report once I¡¯m done writing it, but I can spoiler you some things."

    "Please do." Jirni nodded for him to continue.

    "From what I have seen, everything we heard about the lost Odi civilization was an understatement. The ruins they are at must belong to the period immediately preceding their fall..."

    "Do you want me to leave?" Kam said.

    On one hand, she had no idea if her clearance level allowed her to hear such conversation, nor if she was capable of bearing it. On the other hand, she was dying to know what was happening to Lith.

    "There¡¯s no need for such a thing, dear. We are in the same boat, both at work and for the pinch our loved ones are into. You deserve to know." Jirni said while holding Kam¡¯s hand.

    ¡¯Gods, I wish my mother was such a good, sensitive person. Appearances are indeed deceiving. When I first met Lady Ernas, I thought she was a monster.¡¯ Kam thought, moved by Jirni¡¯s kindness.

    ¡¯Gods, my wife is a monster. She¡¯s ying that poor woman like a fiddle.¡¯ Orion thought.

    ¡¯I still don¡¯t understand why Lieutenant Yehval now practically lives in our home, but if I know one thing for sure: by having Kam listening to these kinds of things, Jirni is hastening the development of Lith¡¯s rtionship. They will either break up or get serious soon.¡¯

    "What were you saying about the Odi, dear?" Jirni asked.

    "That their experiments were a perfect blend of genius and madness. I received the data about two facilities. In the first one, there were the results of the Odi¡¯s attempt to Forgemaster living beings." Orion replied.

    "Do you mean to create artificial life?" Jirni had heard countless tales about such nonsense, but aside from Necromancy, no magic had ever been able to create a functional life form.

    "No. I mean using light magic to alter the life force of their ves. Carving runes inside their bodies, to use them as vessels for their Forgemastering spells and make them akin to enchanted items."

    "What? Did they seed?" Jirni turned pale for the first time in years.

    "Of course not. As you know, life force is very delicate. Even with all their experiments, the Odi only managed to turn their victims into living ve items, but both their bodies and life span were horribly crippled.

    "They could live for just a few hours before dying."

    "So it¡¯s not a feasible line of research, right?" Jirni was worried about such an eventuality. Any mad tyrant would have made such human modification mandatory on both their subjects and prisoners, turning them into an unwilling army of spies.

    It would have meant the end of life as she knew it, making the army and all the security measures that had protected the Kingdom until that moment useless.

    "No. The biggest w of this kind of experiment is that the Forgemaster and the vessel cannot be the same person. Two kinds of mana cannot coexist in the same body, so the victim soon dies of mana poisoning."

    "What about the second facility?" Jirni asked.

    "It was equally disgusting. As you know, normal metals do not have a mana flow, which is the reason we Bond them with mana crystals. They are not only needed to fuel the Forgemastered spells, but also to help the rtively inert metal to withstand the magical energies without crumbling.

 Chapter 672 Impending Threat Part 2

    "In their attempt to artificially create Davross and Adamant, the Odi siphoned life force from their subjects and forced it intomon metals, in the hope that a mana flow would form as well.

    "What actually happened, was the creation of cursed items that instead of giving power to their user, they would actually take it away. The weapons crafted this way turned out to have the ws of both metals ad living beings.

    "Like metals, they have no mana flow. Plus, like humans, they need to feed and sooner orter they die."

    "You gave me a big scare." Jirni said. "Based on Phloria¡¯s early reports and your assessment, the Odi look like just a bunch of ipetent tinkerers. Nothing they did actually worked. Then why do you look so worried?"

    "Because you seem to forget that they managed to enve a magical beast and it survived centuries. Also because the dataes from the hallways, where every craftsman would only exhibit prototypes and iplete works.

    "Those are things that prove the value of their crafter¡¯s skill but are disposable. The real artifacts, if there is any, are bound to be inside the buildings and they have yet to explore them.

    "It¡¯s quite a terrifying perspective if you think about it. Also, I¡¯m afraid because the Odi weren¡¯t just tinkerers, they had mastered light magic to the point that they were able to try and expand its boundaries.

    "If even one of their experiments seeded and the expedition team faces it, we can only hope it¡¯s a non sentient artifact. Anything that is still alive after so many centuries would have all the power and the skill needed to do a lot of damage."

    Orion¡¯s outline of the risks that Kh posed made the rest of the lunch pass in worried silence. Even if Phloria contacted them, there wasn¡¯t much besides a "be careful" they could tell her.

    Orion had just spections about the severity of their situation, but he couldn¡¯t provide the expedition with anything useful at the moment. After the meal, Orion went back to study the data from Kh, while Jirni and Kam resumed their lessons.

    Besides investigation techniques and the Constable¡¯s protocols, Jirni was also teaching Kam self-defense. Their sparring sessions were long, tiresome, and most of all, humiliating.

    Kam couldn¡¯t understand how a woman smaller, lighter, and older than herself could effortlessly throw her around as if she weighed no more than a dirty rag. The only silver lining was that they didn¡¯t spar often.

    Usually, at the end of a work¡¯s day, Kam was too tired to do anything but sleep. After the Ernas¡¯ family healer fixed all of the scrapes and bruises Kam had sustained during training, she couldn¡¯t wait to go home.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay for dinner? It takes a minute to add another serving and the guest room is always ready." Jirni asked.

    "Thanks Lady Ernas, but the Camellia needs to be recharged and I¡¯ve yet to check the papers for Zinya¡¯s divorce. She hasn¡¯t learned how to read, let alone understand how the Kingdom¡¯sw works.

    "Without my input, herwyer can¡¯t proceed."

    "You could bring the Camellia here and maybe ourwyer could help you." Jirni offered.

    ¡¯Yeah, right. The only time I epted, I spent the entire evening studying under your supervision. Then you woke me up before dawn for a sparring session that went on until breakfast and then we went straight to work.¡¯ Kam thought.

    ¡¯The Camellia is the perfect excuse to get some personal space and some time to rx. I have enough of your boot camp.¡¯

    "I prefer to keep the Camellia at my home, so in case Lithes back he¡¯ll know I¡¯m okay and that I always think about him." She actually said.

    "Also, I¡¯m grateful for your offer, but this is a family business. I turned down Lith¡¯s offer for help, so you¡¯ll understand if I do the same to yours."

    Kam wasn¡¯t stupid. She was aware that if either Lith or Jirni got involved too much, Fallmug would probably die in an ¡¯ident¡¯. Despite the fact that she hated him deeply for what he had done to her sister, Fallmug Sarta was still the father of Zinya¡¯s children.

    Her sister wanted the matter to be solved in a court ofw, to give Fallmug the opportunity to redeem himself in the future and maybe be part of their children¡¯s life. Kam respected her wishes and as long as Fallmug yed fairly, she would do the same.

    Returning to her apartment took her just a few minutes. The Ernas Household had its private Gate that led Kam back to Belius, and from there a City Warp brought her to her neighborhood.

    Even if winter was almost over and the days were getting longer, after sunset the temperature would still plummet in the north. The streets were almost empty, and the few people still around were rushing to their homes.

    Kam could see her breath steaming while walking toward the building entrance, the key already in her hand.

    ¡¯Now I understand why Lith hates Belius so much. Dimensional items are so convenient that once you get used to them it¡¯s like an addiction. Just a few months ago, carrying bags of documents didn¡¯t bother me, yet now...¡¯

    Her train of thoughts was derailed when she neared a corner and a strong hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her inside a blind alley. It yanked her so hard that she was about to fall face first against the concrete, but her training kicked in.

    Kam let go of her suitcase, that went crashing against the trash bins and used both of her hands to grab the arm over her shoulder. It allowed her to regain her footing and to use the strength of the pull to perform a shoulder throw.

    The unknown attacker was bigger and heavier than Jirni, butpared to her, he opposed no resistance. Their back mmed hard against the ground as Kam never let go of the arm, making it impossible for them to break the fall.

    She twisted and pulled the limb, breaking it in three different points. Their shoulder, elbow, and wrist shattered, making the assant curl up in pain.

    Kam stepped back, to look at her enemy from a safe distance. Her hand went to her pocket, searching for hermunication amulet, when a second assant struck at her back with a metal pipe, sending the amulet flying.

    The impact was strong enough that would have broken at least two of her ribs, if the Orichalcum Skinwalker armor she wore didn¡¯t take the brunt of the impact, dispersing most of its energy.

    She turned around just in time to intercept a second hit aimed at her head. Kam infused the armor with some of her mana, making it turn back into its metal form. When the pipe struck her arm, the resulting impact was akin to hitting a mountain.

    The weapon slipped away from the injured hand of its wielder as Kam¡¯s now metalized foot kicked the man¡¯s groin, emitting a squishy sound. His eyes rolled, showing only the white, and his mouth foamed in pain.

    Kam was tempted to look for her amulet, but she was afraid a third assant might have been stalking her. Cursing Belius¡¯ array which prevented her to ess to the civilian amulet that she had forgotten inside her dimensional ring, Kam put her back against the wall while checking her surroundings.

 Chapter 673 Paying the Price Part 1

    Kam looked at her assants¡¯ faces, but the two men were strangers to her. Her eyes then searched the alley for hermunication amulet and the main street for a passerby who could help her to contact the authorities, but no one was around.

    A spark of light and a buzzing sound preceded a tier two lightning spell that struck her chest and caused her a seizure.

    Without the armor Lith had given her, the electricity would have caused Kam severe injuries and made her faint, instead of just inflicting upon her the equivalent of a brief taser shock.

    "So much for professionals. They got their asses handed to them by a woman. My father was right when he said that if you want a job done right, you got to do it yourself." Fallmug said, unleashing a second bolt of lightning before Kam could recover.

    She pumped more of her mana inside her Skinwalker armor, but with her weak mana core and after already using its metalizing properties thrice, she was already running on fumes.

    Yet it was enough for Lith¡¯s masterpiece topletely deflect the spell.

    "Are you insane, Fallmug? Attacking a Royal Constable in the middle of a popted area? The guards will be here any moment." Kam was dizzy from the shock and theck of mana, so she decided to try and bluff her way out.

    She had a few wands inside her pockets, but she was in no condition to win a contest of speed against someone pointing a weapon at her from such a close distance.

    "I¡¯m not stupid. Why do you think I hired those two buffoons?" Another lightning came, but this time she was able to dodge.

    "I know the city guards¡¯ reaction time, it will take them a while to get here. Those two idiots were supposed to help me kidnap you, but now I¡¯ve got no time for being nice. Tell me where my wife is or die." Despite his rage, his voice barely higher than a whisper.

    He was afraid that someone could hear the ruckus and alert the authorities. The citizens of Belius were famous for being unreasonably paranoid. Before making his move, Fallmug had been forced to wait that Lith was out of the picture and then for the asion when the street in front of Kam¡¯s home was deserted.

    Despite his twisted personality, Fallmug hade well prepared. Hired help so that he wouldn¡¯t get directly involved, a means of transportation to abduct Kam unnoticed, and an illegal wand as a contingency n.

    Unluckily for him, everything was going south. The men he had recruited were down, he couldn¡¯t lift Kam by himself, and the wand seemed to be defective since she was still conscious and screaming.

    "You shouldn¡¯t have stuck your nose where it doesn¡¯t belong!" Fallmug said.

    "Now tell me where my wife is and we can solve this peacefully."

    His words didn¡¯t match at all with his crazed eyes. Kam knew that her brother-inw couldn¡¯t afford to let her live. Otherwise he would be one of the most wanted men in the Kingdom.

    The army didn¡¯t take well when someone went after one of their own, even less if a Constable was involved. Fallmug looked nervously left and right, he couldn¡¯t afford witnesses.

    That night, he would have to kill and dispose of the bodies of three people already, more wouldn¡¯t fit into his carriage. Kam and his hired muscle had to die. He couldn¡¯t afford anyone being able to link him to attacking a Royal Constable. The lighter sentence for such a crime was death.

    "I really didn¡¯t want to do this, but you leave me no choice. You force me to..."

    "Roll over and die." A voiceing from behind him cut him short. At the same time, a small but strong hand caught Fallmug¡¯s wrist, twisting it backward so that his wand was now pointed at his own face.

    Then, a low kick broke his left femur in three and a palm strike sent his face mming against a wall and ttened his nose.

    "Lady Ernas, what are you doing here?" Kam was d to see her mentor. She was physically fine, but theck of mana was giving her a strong headache. Her vision was blurry and she had trouble focusing.

    "Giving you a lesson, child." Jirni replied. "This is what happens when you underestimate your enemies."

    ¡¯What a stupid bitch.¡¯ Fallmug thought. ¡¯She should follow her own advice and remember I still have my wand!¡¯ A stream of lightning came out of the alchemical tool as he unleashed more than one charge at once.

    There wasn¡¯t time to y anymore, he had to kill them both quickly and get away from there. Unfortunately for him, the needle in Jirni¡¯s hand absorbed the spells without letting even a spark reaching its master.

    "I didn¡¯t mean to scare you." Jirni exined, whilepletely ignoring Fallmug. "I had to wait until he revealed himself as part of the attempt on your life and more importantly, I wanted you to realize that this isn¡¯t a fairy tale.

    "Some people will do anything to get what they want. ying fair will only get you killed. Do you see that scum?"

    Fallmug released more lightning bolts, yet they were all absorbed by Jirni¡¯s needle.

    "That¡¯s what you get for leaving him alive. If you want to keep doing this job, you need to grow up. Not asking for my help nor for Lith¡¯s when he was still here was stupid. What would¡¯ve happened if I hadn¡¯t been following you all this time?

    "Here, let me show you."

    Jirni threw the needle at Fallmug¡¯sher regions. Once it hit, the needle released the stored bolts of lightning one at a time, causing Fallmug to lose control of both his wands.

    "Look at what he had nned for you. At the pain he would have inflicted upon you if not for your armor. Maybe he would have even let his goons have some ¡¯fun¡¯ with you as part of their payment." Jirni said. Then she waved her hand and the needle returned to her.

    Even in her confused state, Kam shuddered at the thought of what could have happened if she hadn¡¯t epted the Skinwalker armor Lith had gifted her. One blow would have been enough to take her out.

    Then, without Jirni, her fate would have been sealed. All of her dreams for the future, all the things she had nned to share with her sister, all the hard work she had put into bing a Constable, would have been destroyed by a petty man for his own petty reasons.

    "Now, we can arrest them and have them executed, I can do it for you right now, or even better, you should do it" Jirni pointed at the pocket where Kam kept her wands.

    "Please, no. Have mercy. I¡¯ve got a family that depends on me. I was just doing my job." The man with the broken arm, the only one still conscious, said.

    "And so am I." Jirni replied. "In our line of work, you¡¯ll hear pathetic excuses like this one countless times. No matter their reasons, the penalty will be death. The only question is: do you have the guts to defend what¡¯s yours?"

    She offered Kam a non-imprinted wand, ready to be used.

    "I do." Kam stood up, her mind was getting clearer by the second. "Yet I¡¯m not like you, Lady Ernas. I can¡¯t put down a helpless man. It would make me no different from them, a cold-blooded killer.

 Chapter 674 Paying the Price Part 2

    "Also, I couldn¡¯t face my sister and tell her that I killed her husband so that she could inherit everything and get her children back. She would never forgive me and neither could I. What I can do is to turn them in and ask for the maximum sentence."

    "Which is being tortured to death." Jirni smiled. Killing them on the spot was actually the greatest act of mercy they could do to her assants.

    "Exactly." Kam nodded while recovering hermunication amulet. "I¡¯m not going to dirty my hands nor my conscience for these scums. They have made their choices and they will pay the consequences."

    "Excellent choice, dear." Jirni said, putting the wand back inside her utility belt. "Do you want me to inform your sister about what happened to herte husband?"

    "Thanks for your offer, but I want to be the one to break the news to her. She deserves that much."

    ***

    Expedition team camp, in the same moment.

    During the four days necessary to restore Kh¡¯s levels of oxygen to the point that it would be possible to use fire magic within its premises, there wasn¡¯t much Lith¡¯s group could do.

    Quy decided to use that time to follow the physical training routine Lith had suggested to her and to learn a few tier four offensive spells. Lith and Phloria pooled her knowledge about runes and his about Forgemastering to decipher the booklet from Huryole.

    They didn¡¯t progress much. The ancientnguage was gibberish to them and even though Phloria helped him to convert some of the old runes into modern ones, her knowledge of Runesmithing was too shallow to understand the purpose of the blueprints just by looking at their pictures.

    "Do you think I could show one of the pages to Yondra and ask her for help?" Lith said.

    "It¡¯s a huge gamble." Phloria shook her head. "These kinds of runes are too advanced for the Odi, a Royal Forgemaster like her is likely to realize that yours it¡¯s just a ruse. Even if she falls for it, she might always ask you to share your discovery with the rest of the group, and at that point, you¡¯re likely to get caught.

    "Don¡¯t forget that Runesmithing is a state secret. The army might confiscate the booklet if they knew it¡¯s in your possession."

    Lith had to agree with her. Either he told Yondra the truth or he risked doing a lot of damage. If Yondra started basing her ns to counter the Odi on the booklet, it would lead her and the others astray and might cause their demise.

    The more Lith discovered about the Odi, the higher the expectations to find a cure for his reincarnation problem. They had been raving mad, but their mastery in light magic was something that would have impressed even Professor Manohar.

    Those days were the first real break Lith and Phloria had got in months. Despite the fact that they were near a death-trap, they both enjoyed the time spent together. They felt as if they were back at the academy, finally speaking with someone who could understand their respective problems.

    Tista was too ignorant to help Lith in his experiments and Kam wasn¡¯t even a mage. That part of his life was quite lonely and up to that moment, Solus was the only partner he had ever had in his quest for knowledge.

    Phloria had a lot of pent up stress due to her personal life in the army. Her rank, build, and family created a divide between Phloria and her peers. Her soldiers respected her, but they were no friends.

    There were boundaries that had to be kept for discipline to be preserved. Between her job, learning Forgemastering from Orion, and improving her skills as a Mage Knight, her social life was almost non-existent.

    Now she had someone who wasn¡¯t intimidated by her rank or height. Someone who could practice both sword and magic with her, not caring about winning but just about learning.

    The level ofpetition between the young Captains was akin to that she had experienced as a student in the White Griffon. All those below her in the rankings wanted to see her fail, while those above felt threatened by Phloria and kept her at arm¡¯s length.

    The only problem with their renewed friendship was that by spending so much time alone in such a confined space, rumors were bound to be born. Hence they made sure to spend as much time with others as well.

    Phloria trained her soldiers and Quy, along with anyone who was willing to improve their physical prowess, while Lith sought Yondra for knowledge. During dinner, the day after they had defeated the Golems, Lith asked:

    "What¡¯s that tuning fork you used to break the water tanks for?"

    "Do you mean the Dampener?" She took the magical item out of her pocket and handed it to Lith.

    "It¡¯s one of my creations. As you have seen, it has the ability to prevent other enchanted items to absorb mana."

    "That¡¯s amazing." Lith said while scanning it with Invigoration. Just like Phloria¡¯s hairpin, it was covered in energy runes invisible to the naked eye.

    "Why didn¡¯t you use it against Kh¡¯s door or the Golems? It would have saved us a lot of time."

    "You misunderstood me, young spirit." Yondraughed. Her giving Lith the same moniker Nana used for so many years stung at his heart.

    "Kh¡¯s door was solid and its array was fueled from the inside, just like the Golems. The tanks, instead, were made of a material that would have shattered after being hit by our spells if not for their ability to absorb our mana.

    "My dampener simply jammed such ability so that our spells could demonstrate their real prowess. There is no such thing as a skeleton key for arrays, otherwise the Kingdom would have made me a Magus rather than a Professor."

    "Do you mind if I examine it with a spell of mine?" Lith asked.

    "Be my guest." Yondra smiled. "I¡¯ll consider it as a proof of your goodwill in bing my heir. You can tell a lot about a Forgemaster¡¯s talent by how much information they can acquire with their spells.

    "We and Healers have a lot inmon. Diagnostic spells are the foundation for both specializations."

    Lith spewed gibberish before returning the Dampener.

    "That¡¯s truly a masterpiece. I can see you have infused it with at least ten spells."

    "Twelve actually, but still pretty close." Yondra put it back into her pocket. Lith was actually capable of determining the number of spells held by an enchanted item by studying its pseudo core and mana pathways, but he preferred to y it close to the vest.

    He¡¯d rather like to be considered brilliant than threatening.

    "Thanks, but one thing surprised me quite a bit. Howe there are runes on it?"

    "Your spell allows you to see runes?" Yondra was bbergasted.

    "A few months ago, I found this inside Huryole." Lith took the rune covered sword out of his pocket dimension. "I¡¯ve been studying its runes ever since, and after Professor Neshal exnation about the ancient runes, I was surprised that no one taught me about them at the White G..."

    "Put it away before someone sees it, you idiot." Yondra said. "You are lucky that no one is around."

 Chapter 675 Conflicting Desires Part 1

    Luck had nothing to do with it. The topics Lith usually talked about with Yondra were too boring for Professors and too difficult for assistants, so after a while, they would always be alone.

    Lith had waited until only those on guard duty were awake before showing her the sword.

    "Why the fuss? The Kingdom allows Rangers to keep everything they find inside the lost city of Huryole."

    "That¡¯s because aside from the Warden, Forgemaster, and Alchemicalb there¡¯s nothing worth the trouble of entering that damn ce. You hit the jackpot and if you had told anyone else, they would have taken it away from you." Yondra exined.

    "So I¡¯m right. Huryole is an academy." Since Yondra seemed more worried about his safety rather than his discovery, Lith decided to strike the iron while it was hot.

    "Hush, young idiot, and yes, it was an academy. That¡¯s why now choosing a Headmaster is such a big deal and because only they can interact with the power core of an academy.

    "The Kingdom allows you to raid Huryole because that way you are more likely to kill the creatures trapped inside its forest and in case someone founds something valuable, it gets snatched the moment they start researching its nature."

    "Dragons and undead in an academy¡¯s forest? Who was the madman who devised such a dangerous environment?" Lith asked, pretending to be bbergasted.

    "Does the name Arthan ring any bells?"

    "The Mad King! But why?"

    "Because he hoped that at least one of them held the secret of immortality. Clearly, he was right, but something went terribly wrong and instead of subjugating them, the power core gained sentience and unleashed its prisoners against the academy staff. ording to the chronicles, we lost several geniuses that day."

    "Please, let¡¯s talk about this another time. I¡¯m getting a headache."

    ¡¯Rather I have no interest in history lessons. I must avoid changing the topic.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I still don¡¯t understand. The Undead Courts use runes and so did the Odi. Why is the sword I found such a big deal?"

    "Dammit. Since you decided to trust me, I can tell you at least this much. Do you remember how hard enchanting the Orichalcum was?" Yondra asked.

    "Yes. It took me countless attempts and a lot of effort. Why?"

    "Back when Forgemastering didn¡¯t exist, the ancient runes were used to imbue a spell inside anything they were carved onto, but they were delicate and expensive. After Silverwing¡¯s legacy became avable, it was discovered that they could still be used in the preparatory phase of Forgemastering to lower its requirements."

    "It makes sense." Lith said. "The enchantment of the de is too strong for the mana crystals that were used to craft it and such a cheap metal is supposed to be unable to withstand powerful magical energies."

    "Then you already have half the answer, what youck is the other half. Runes allow weak metals to hold powerful spells, but when applied to powerful metals, like Adamant, they are the only way to unlock their full potential.

    "Without runes, once you use the Bonding spell to embed purple crystals on Adamant, its mana flow bes so strong that it bes impossible to Forgemaster it. Do you understand now why it¡¯s such a big deal?" Yondra¡¯s eyes were dead serious. She kept looking around, to be sure that no one was overhearing them.

    "Yes, thank you." Lith replied.

    ¡¯Thanks to Bohr we didn¡¯t use the Adamant Forge for the Skinwalker armor!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯We¡¯ve dodged more than one bullet there.¡¯

    ¡¯By my maker! Now sure it makes sense why Runesmithing is a secret. This way, only Royal Forgemasters can use Davross and Adamant to create the ultimate artifacts, giving the Royal Family the monopoly over them.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯Even better, we now know that Runesmithing is part of the preparatory phase, so it has to be performed either after or before Bonding. That¡¯s an invaluable information that will save us countless failures.¡¯ Lith pointed out.

    "That¡¯s enough for tonight. Please, don¡¯t ask me anymore about runes unless you ept bing my disciple. If anyone discovers what I told you, I might be charged with High Treason, and my whole family would be wiped out." Yondra tried to stand up but Lith stopped her.

    "I can¡¯t make you any promises about the apprenticeship, I like going solo. Yet we have yet to finish your treatment. Your life force has recovered enough to allow me to further rejuvenate your body."

    Yondra didn¡¯t miss how the timing of her treatment ¡¯casually¡¯ matched that of her lesson about runes and she didn¡¯t care. She remained silent the whole time, admiring Lith¡¯s focus and the subtle changes in her own physique at the same time.

    ¡¯Shameless kid. I bet that runes are the price he was hinting at when I asked him to rejuvenate me. Either I¡¯m too paranoid, or this whole conversation was staged from the beginning. I must make him my disciple.¡¯ Yondra thought.

    ¡¯Crafty bastards achieve greatness whereas goody two-shoes die early because they¡¯re too stupid. That¡¯s how Mogar spins. I must be careful to feed Lith enough information about runes to keep him hooked, but not so much that he can work the rest out by himself.¡¯

    By the time they were done, Yondra¡¯s body once again had the prowess of its thirties, even though she still looked like a sixty years old woman. She was also exhausted from the treatment and fell asleep the moment her head touched her pillow.

    Two dayster, while nting patches of moss inside Kh, Lith left Solus inside the militarypound. With her mana sense, she could easily dodge the Odi¡¯s traps as well as the other members of the expedition and find the perfect ce to assume her tower form.

    ¡¯I¡¯m honestly conflicted about this Phloria thing.¡¯ Solus thought while dodging and copying the Odi¡¯s arrays at the same time. ¡¯On one hand, I¡¯m happy he is finally opening of his own will with someone. Sadly, Protector and I do not count.

    ¡¯On the other hand, I¡¯m jealous. I would like to be able to spend some time with another man, just to see how Lith takes it. I¡¯m feeling a bit neglected recently.¡¯

    To be fair, Lith would always talk with her and ask her opinion about everything. Even in that moment, he was working hard to fuel her with mana despite their distance, to make sure that Solus wasn¡¯t forced to spend an ounce of her own life force.

    When she finally found a spot with no arrays and hidden behind a building tall enough topletely eclipse the tower, she made her attempt.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ She thought. ¡¯The mana geyser is almostpletely spent, but this doesn¡¯t make sense. It doesn¡¯t take that much energy to fuel these many buildings and their arrays.

    ¡¯Even when we perform our experiments, my tower consumes barely a fraction of the geyser¡¯s energy flow. For so little world energy to reach the surface, there must be something below that is siphoning it near its source.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why the Odi used the cables! It¡¯s not a design w so much as a way to divert the minimum amount of energy necessary from whatever they are doing. I must inform Lith.¡¯

 Chapter 676 Conflicting Desires Part 2

    Despite her initial panic, Solus quickly regained her cool and started to look around Kh, searching for clues about the nature of what could possibly require an entire mana geyser as a power source.

    Yet the buildings¡¯ repetitive nature gave her nothing to work on. On top of that, between the internal and external arrays, she was unable to pry inside the militarypound with her mystical senses.

    ¡¯Solus, are you alright? I¡¯m getting tired here. What¡¯s taking you so long?¡¯ Lith¡¯s message made her realize she had lost track of time.

    ¡¯I¡¯m peachy! Sorry to make you worry, I¡¯ll be there in while.¡¯ She replied while rushing to Lith¡¯s position. When her detailed report received a lukewarm reaction, she felt forced to ask:

    ¡¯You¡¯re taking this way better than I expected. Not even a swear word. What makes you so confident about our predicament?¡¯

    ¡¯Whenever we found a city built above a mana geyser, we have always been forced to make camp on another geyser. I hoped that the Odi might had not been able to fully exploit the world energy, but the more we are discovering about them, the more I realize mine was na?ve thinking.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯We must consider Kh as if it was a lost city. If there are any more flesh factories around, then the number of our enemies is nigh-infinite. It was a long-shot and we failed, nothing to mope about.¡¯ Lith mind-shrugged.

    The following day, after lunch, the Professors shared with the rest of the expedition team their discoveries about the Golems¡¯ remains. Constructs were the apex of a mage¡¯s work, so they had pooled their resources to grasp how dangerous the Odi were at the time they had founded Kh.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but we have only bad news." Professor Gaakhu said. "After a thorough analysis, we concluded that even though the Golems had an outdated design, they had all the necessary firepower to wipe us out if not for our protective arrays.

    "The constructs weren¡¯t as powerful as modern ones but their ability to process information and coordinate their attacks was something unprecedented. At first, we couldn¡¯t understand how it was possible, but after receiving Archmage Ernas¡¯s report, everything changed."

    ¡¯Orion is an Archmage?¡¯ Lith was bbergasted. ¡¯Everyone always referred to him as Lord Ernas and I¡¯ve never seen him wearing a robe.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s not that surprising after he created the Gatekeeper so easily, crafted the anti Balkor weapons, and him being a Royal Forgemaster. It¡¯s just that the title of Archduke is probably more important. Now shut up and listen.¡¯ Solus said.

    "We examined the internal structure of the Golems again and discovered cerebral fluids and brain matter mixed with their power core fragments. Our hypothesis is that they contained a Forgemastered brain." She took a pause, to let her audience understand the implications of their discovery.

    "Do you mean they were alive?" Morok asked. His tone was more curious than disgusted.

    "An organ can¡¯t survive for centuries without a body." Gaakhu shook her heard. "Yet it¡¯s likely that the regenerative properties of the Golem kept them intact and in turn used them topensate for theck of improvisation that arrays have.

    "The reason I¡¯m telling you this, is because if we face more defensive mechanisms with and odd behavior, then they are likely to be bio-weapons, just like the Golems. The only silver lining is that if we destroy their biologicalponent, they should be inactive or at least have their abilities crippled."

    ¡¯Forgemastering organs? Solus, is that even possible?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯In theory, no. The mana of the person receiving the enchantment and that of the one casting it would just cause a mana poisoning, unless...¡¯

    Phloria made Solus¡¯s same objection, but out loud, receiving a shocking answer.

    "You¡¯re right Captain Ernas. It¡¯s indeed impossible unless the Forgemaster sacrifices their life to be part of their own creation." Neshal replied.

    "That¡¯s sick! What mage could possibly do such a thing?" Phloria was hating her mission more with each discovery they made.

    She had the impression of looking at the twisted reflection of what the Griffon Kingdom might have be if the Mad King hadn¡¯t been stopped.

    "A dying mage, for example." Yondra replied. "Once you¡¯re old, you¡¯ve got nothing to lose. Or simply a mage without any other choice. If you think about it from a ruler¡¯s perspective, you¡¯re turning a mage in an eternally loyal and unfaltering guardian."

    ¡¯Forgemastering my own flesh is something I have never thought about.¡¯ Lith was shocked. ¡¯Maybe that¡¯s my solution.¡¯

    ¡¯Or not.¡¯ Solus said emitting a retching sound. ¡¯We have no idea what the aftereffects of the procedure would be and you have only one shot at it. I believe that altering your life force might also alter your mind to the point you¡¯d became another person.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s mind stopped in its tracks. After arriving on Mogar, undeath seemed the perfect solution to his problems, based on Dungeons \u0026 Looting rulebook at least. Reality had begged to differ enough that Lith had been forced to discard the possibility of turning himself even into a Lich.

    ¡¯Okay, sorry. We¡¯ll think about it when we have more data.¡¯ He replied, making her sigh in relief.

    "After contacting the Headquarters, our first priority is to find anything we can about Forgemastering life force and its opposite process: sacrificing lives to give inanimate matter a mana flow. Everything else is of secondary importance." Gaakhu continued.

    "Aside from guard duty, all other activities are suspended." Phloria said once the Professors finished their debriefing. "Rest and recover because tomorrow we¡¯ll split into groups again and resume our search. Professor Neshal, what¡¯s our arrays¡¯ status?"

    "Better than ever. I brought them to such a level that they are almost as good as permanent arrays."

    "Perfect! Can Ie with you then?" Quy asked.

    "Absolutely not! Three days of training are just like three days of a diet, barely a start." Phloria replied. "As you are now, you would just be a liability."

    "That¡¯s not true! I can Warp you all to safety, without the need for Lith to remain behind. Are you really willing to use him as a scapegoat every time something goes wrong?" Quy¡¯s words stung at Phloria.

    ¡¯Dammit, from her point of view what I did was heartless. Quy has no idea of what Lith can do and to be honest, neither do I.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    "No, I¡¯m not, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you can¡¯te with us. Retreat is ourst resort, which means that during the fight someone should protect you. Or do you think you are capable of defending yourself?" She actually said.

    "Fine!" Quy stomped her feet and walked away before saying something that she was sure she would have regretted the moment after such cruel words escaped from her mouth.

    Rainer followed her, trying to calm her down. The youth was charmed by both her ingenuity and strong character. At the same time, however, he was scared by her reckless attitude.

    "What¡¯s wrong with you? Your sister is only trying to protect you, to protect us Assistants. We are not trained for actualbat, so the least we can do is not drag them down." He said.

 Chapter 677 Body Modification Center Part 1

    "What¡¯s wrong with me? More like what¡¯s wrong with you! Are you really willing to live all your life on the sidelines, letting others risk their lives for you? Back at the academy, the three of us stood through thick and thin, but now I¡¯m just a dead weight.

    "What if something happens to one of them because I¡¯m not strong enough to be of help?"

    "It would be nobody¡¯s fault but the Odi¡¯s. They were the monsters that..."

    "Really? ming dead people for our own ipetence? Would you be able to say such words if something happens to Professor Yondra or would you me her teammates for letting her die?" Quy cut Rainer short, making him turn pale at the idea.

    "I would me her teammates." He admitted after a second.

    "Great. At least we¡¯re on the same page about you being a coward."

    "I¡¯m not a coward! You have no idea what I had to endure at the ck Griffon just to survive my fourth year during Balkor¡¯s attack, not to mention the mana poisoning and the hazing from my peers.

    "I choose the academic career because I was sick and tired of fighting. I choose Forgemastering because it¡¯s a challenge with yourself rather than others. Does that make me a coward?" He asked.

    "No." Quy replied with a warm smile.

    "That makes you a coward who dares patting himself on the back!" Just like her mother, she would always caress beforending a death blow. "Cry me a river, I¡¯ve survived the same events you speak of, and if it wasn¡¯t for Nalear¡¯s betrayal, I would be able to fight alongside them instead of being this...."

    Quy waved at herself, unable to express the self-loathe she felt. After attempting at Jirni¡¯s life and killing Yurial, she had refused to learn offensive spells because she felt guilty for being still alive while so many had died that day.

    Because she was afraid that another Nalear woulde and force her to hurt the people she loved again. Yet after Phloria almost died in her arms, after seeing Lith and Phloria risk their lives time and time again to protect her, Quy had changed her mind.

    She wasn¡¯t angry at Rainer so much as at herself. Quy was so harsh with him only because he had made her same choices. She had focused solely on Healing and Forgemastering for the same reasons Rainer did.

    "Oh Gods, I¡¯m so sorry. I forgot you are from the White Griffon." Rainer said, realizing his blunder.

    "I¡¯ll ept your apologies only if you ept mine." Quy replied. "I shouldn¡¯t have taken it out on you, it¡¯s just that before this trip, I¡¯ve never realized how helpless I am and it¡¯s driving me crazy."

    She apologized to him again before turning around and entering the women¡¯s quarters. Rainer stood there for a while, unable to stop thinking about Professor Yondra.

    ¡¯She is the only family I have ever had and she has supported me during my academy years. How can I be happy to be left behind after she had almost died for saving me from that fungus? How can I be so rxed despite the fact that she might not return from Kh? Maybe Quy is reckless, but I¡¯m really an idiot.¡¯

    ***

    The following day, the Professors, Lith, and Phloria entered the first building together, leaving all the soldiers and the Assistants behind the protection of the arrays.

    Since the Weapon Research Center, the second building, had copsed, Phloria had decided it was best to clear at least one facility before splitting the group again. Now that the pseudo-Balor was dead, nothing stopped them from moving forward.

    Behind the door, there was the usual metal corridor. A huge que was hung above the entrance and several doors led inside what looked like hospital rooms. Part of the walls wasprised of reinforced ss panels that allowed the group to look inside.

    "What¡¯s written on the que?" Lith asked.

    "Body Modification Center." Professor Gaakhu replied, grimacing in disgust.

    While the Professors scanned the corridor for traps and arrays, Lith used Life Vision to search for any life force. His sight was partially blinded by the mana coursing through the building, but he was quite confident they were alone.

    Each room had a single bed and was quite spacious. It would have put the White Griffon VIP ward to shame if the beds didn¡¯t have multiple means of restraint and the inner walls weren¡¯t heavily padded.

    Lith used Invigoration on the nearest wall, to confirm his hypothesis.

    ¡¯Each wall is half a meter (16.5 feet) thick and enchanted to be soundproof. There is no offensive spell nor array. This must be a psychiatric ward of sorts.¡¯ He thought.

    "Something is off." Professor Yondra said. "This is too clean to be a ce for members of the ¡¯lesser races¡¯, I mean only one bed per room?"

    "Agreed." Ellkas said. "Theck of safety measures is disturbing too. The paddings usually are to protect the patient from themselves and the Odi do not strike me as caring."

    The corridor was U shaped, ending with an administrative office and a reinforced door with no signs. Half of the team run through the files in the office while the rest examined the door.

    "Judging from its position and the size of the nearby room, the door must lead downstairs." Phloria said. Once again, disabling the arrays only required to pull the plug, but a password was still required to safely open the door.

    "No bets this time." Morok said. "One mistake and we¡¯ll have more Golems on our tail and another copsed building once we defeat them."

    "It¡¯s worse than that. There are more arrays on the other side of the door. Triggering them might be even worse than Golems."

    Lith used Invigoration on the door, even spotting the cable fueling them. He sent a stand of mana as thin as a hair through the door, having care of moving it slow and easy as he looked out for rms.

    Unfortunately, the arrays on the other sidepletely sealed the door, blocking even light, sound, and mana. As soon as the spirit magic strand touched them, Lith felt their power change.

    He had been delicate enough that the defensive system had mistaken his mana for an energy fluctuation and was trying to restore the bnce. Lith made the strand disappear and everything returned to normal.

    He then focused on the holographic pad and much to his surprise, he could see how the manaposing each letter was linked to a specific quadrant of the disy.

    Most of them went straight for a single ry, whereas a few of them were connected to two different rys.

    ¡¯The good news is that I know what characters the password is made of, the bad news is that I have no idea about their order, if they have to be repeated, and more importantly how the heck I can share the information with the others.¡¯ He thought.

    The metal cylinders of the lock were also connected to the arrays on both sides of the door, making it impossible to move them by force.

    Lith was out of options, and due to the limited space, only two people could examine the door at once without their spells interfering with each other. He left his spot to Neshal, letting her coordinate her efforts with Yondra¡¯s.

    He beckoned Phloria toe close and conjured a Hush spell to not be overheard.

    "Good gods! Get a room already! There¡¯s plenty of beds and the doors aren¡¯t locked. I checked." Morok said.

 Chapter 678 Body Modification Center Part 2

    The Professors kept theirposure and managed to avoid chuckling at the expense of theirrades. Ranger Eari was much funnier to those who weren¡¯t the targets of his rude, inappropriate remarks.

    Lith was getting tired of his shenanigans, but being Morok one of the only three people in the entire expedition capable of holding their ground in a hand to hand fight, he soldiered on.

    Phloria was used to inappropriatements since she had joined the army. Every time someone got close to her, people would spread rumors about her alleged affairs.

    "Insubordination and nder of a superior officer might not get you court-martialled, but I¡¯m sure that my disciplinary notes will impact the amount of money you will receive for your retirement as well as this mission." She said while adding the episode to her report.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Captain. I was just joking." Morok inwardly cursed at himself for his stupidity. Rangers had a great amount of freedom, but the army was very strict about respecting the ranks.

    "I¡¯m sorry too. I wish I could kick your ass, but I need you alive. Yet. Now, unless you want to overhear state secrets that couldpromise our mission and put your life at stake, I suggest you shut up."

    Just because suchments weremon, it didn¡¯t make them less annoying nor hurtful. With her perfect record, those who were envious of Phloria could only badmouth her for her personal life, making it even harder for her to find a boyfriend or just a friend.

    "What were you saying?" She asked, both her face and voice were stone-cold.

    "I know the characters that make up the password, but I have no clue how to make use of such information without screwing up my life." Lith said.

    "Did you discover them with your special eyes or with one of your personal spells?"

    "Both. Just as I analyzed your hairpin, I studied the holographic pad. It only has two rys: right and wrong." Lith had no intention of lying to her. He knew that despite her expression, Phloria was likely to be hurt by his fellow Ranger¡¯s outburst.

    Lith had noticed that her mood got worse every time he lied to her and got better when he was honest.

    ¡¯She already knows enough about my skills that this piece of information is irrelevant. Besides, she¡¯s putting a lot at stake to help me with the runes, the least I can do is return her trust.¡¯ He thought.

    "I can try something, but Dad is likely to get pissed off. Some of the spells he taught me he keeps them a secret even from the army. Just like you do." She smiled, raising the temperature in the room of several degrees.

    "We¡¯re done examining the administrative office and for once, may the gods bless paperwork." Ellkas said. Those who were able to read the Odinguage were tranting several pages, giving each member of the expedition a copy.

    "The first floor was the medical center for the Odi. Once they were done experimenting on the ¡¯lesser races¡¯, they would attempt body modifications on their own people." He pointed at the padded rooms.

    "Just like Assistant Ernas assumed, major changes in the life force also brought severe mental damage, that the medical files we found describe as temporary. My guess is that Quy is right and that these alterations permanently affected their minds, bringing the entire Odi race to consider madness as normality."

    "Below us, there are several underground floors where ording to these files, experiments on both incurable diseases and life force modifications were conducted. Those floors are bound to be messier and more dangerous.

    "Some diseases may still be active, so before opening the door, everyone put on a safety mask." Professor Gaakhu handed to each one of them a gue doctor mask identical to the one Lith wore back in Kandria, but this one was enchanted.

    "They are Alchemical items, so they are not reusable." She exined. "They offer good protection from pathogens but are not suited to fights, so in case something goes wrong, retreat is our first priority."

    "Good to know. Our problem here is opening the door." Yondra said. "Each one of us has managed to discover a few characters of the password, but we have no idea how to piece them together."

    Both Lith and Phloria were bbergasted. Royal Forgemasters really were on a league of their own.

    "Show them to us. If we¡¯re lucky, it¡¯s the anagram of an actual word. If it¡¯s just random letters, we¡¯re screwed." Ellkas said.

    "They missed a couple of them." Lith whispered in Phloria¡¯s ear after Hushing them again.

    "Dammit. Which ones?"

    "The M ovepping with the reversed P and that R with a dot in its middle."

    "It¡¯s official, we¡¯re screwed." Gaakhu said. Luckily, everyone was too busy looking at the password to notice their exchange.

    "There¡¯s no wordprised of these letters, so either the password is random or we are missing some characters."

    "Let me give it a go." Phloria stepped forward, taking her silver wand out of her dimensional amulet. "I was supposed to do this earlier, but someone distracted me."

    She threw Morok a look that gave his future grandchildren frostbite and then she cast one of Orion¡¯s spells on the pad. Just like Invigoration and the Professors¡¯ spells, it was able to pick the residual traces of mana that the repeated input of the password was supposed to have left.

    She moved her wand over every single character as silver fments probed them. Phloria was actually ignoring most of the characters and focusing solely on those Lith had pointed out to her.

    It took her a while, but she managed to pick a very faint energy that her spell enhanced, making it visible. She pretended to also scan half the panel before giving up.

    "I¡¯m beat, I can¡¯t focus anymore without affecting my ability to fight." Phloria was panting. The trace was so faint that she had to pour quite some mana to find it.

    Yondra performed her spell with her silver wand again, this time focusing only on the new characters.

    "Good gods, we really missed two of them. You must have an exceptional perception, Captain, to sense such a small amount of mana." She said.

    "Thanks, Professor, but it¡¯s mostly due to my father¡¯s spell." Phloria said. Orion¡¯s masterpiece would have also revealed the rys¡¯ position if she hadn¡¯t dispelled it in time.

    "Those are very umon letters." Gaakhu said. "They are bound to be rarely used and have the faintest signature. Excellent job, Captain. I believe we have our password. Ascension."

    The Forgemasters scanned the pad¡¯s most umon characters again before inputting the password, just to be safe. When the holographic disy beeped and the metal cylinders were retracted, the memory of their past failure made the members of the second group shiver in fear.

    Lith put on his gue mask and a thin whiteyer of solid white energy covered every inch of his body.

    ¡¯This is Manohar¡¯s spell.¡¯ Lith recognized the effects of Life Ward he had witnessed during Othre¡¯s mission. ¡¯It seems that the Mad Professor also dabbles in Alchemy, but I doubt he does it of his own will. This must be rare equipment since even in Kandria we didn¡¯t use it.¡¯

    Everyone prepared a couple of spells before opening the door. The moment the metal turned on its hinges, a ck and green fog invaded the corridor as what looked like veins made of ck mold grew with the speed of a hungry beast.

 Chapter 679 Survival of the Fittest Part 1

    The living fog tried to invade the bodies of the members of the expedition team as well, but Life Ward burned it on contact. Whatever the nature of the fog was, it emitted a sizzling sound as the protective spell turned it into ashes.

    "Be extra careful not damaging the suit¡¯s externalyer." Neshal exined. "If any of us gets infected, we might need to quarantine them or worse. Remember that in this facility the Odi were researching the deadliest diseases."

    "Yeah, but that was centuries ago." Lith said. "Magic has progressed by leaps and bounds since then. I might not be immune to all their mad creations, but I know all the most advanced decontamination protocols by heart."

    A wave of his hand released a pulse of darkness magic that made the ck veins expanding on the metal corridor wither and disappear while the fog was pushed back behind the door.

    "Everyone stays behind me and each one of you prepare at least a darkness magic spell. Captain Ernas, if anything happens to me, Blink me to Quy. She¡¯ll know what to do."

    Quy was the only Healer that Lith considered on par with Manohar. He was even considering to teach her how to produce holograms. ording to Professor Manohar, Lith had almost grasped the secret behind offensive light spells, but even after months of practice, he was still swamped.

    Quy had silver-colored streaks in her hair and was a genius with light magic. If she managed to find the missing link between holograms and hard light constructs, Quy would then exin it to Lith, allowing him to be even stronger.

    Yet his trust issues prevented him from sharing his secrets with even Phloria, let alone Quy. If because of his teachings Lith triggered her Awakening as well, Quy would be another person who he would need to take care of.

    ¡¯Dammit. ording to Ka, I¡¯m responsible for the Awakening of both Phird and my sister. If they mess up, my line is on the line along with theirs.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Even after repelling the fog, the stench of death and decay was revolting. The filters on the gue masks weren¡¯t enough to protect them from the rancid smell assaulting their senses.

    "For the gods¡¯ sake, don¡¯t use air magic." Lith said while releasing a second pulse that made the air breathable a split second before he started puking.

    Yet it was a second toote since a few people were already barfing their gust out, Morok included. Luckily, the masks were equipped with puke bags ced right under its beak-like protuberance, making Lith¡¯s teammates soon resemble pelicans rather than crowns.

    ¡¯You¡¯re lucky that between your enhanced body and darkness fusion you¡¯re immune to most of this crap.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Yeah, but I can¡¯tst long. This space is too big and every step requires another pulse of darkness magic.¡¯

    The staircase didn¡¯t go deep, but the lower they went the denser the fog became. Even to reach the door at the end of the stairs a group effort was necessary.

    "I¡¯m terrified at the thought of what kind of ughterhouse can produce such a stench." Yondra said. "Do you think there could be survivors?"

    "Survivors, no. Specimens, yes." Morok replied. "Am I the only one wondering how the fuck can mold grow on metal? Isn¡¯t it supposed to need food, humidity, or something?"

    "Good point." Everyone was bbergasted. It was the first sensible thing that had evere out of his mouth.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith asked while activating Life Vision. The air in front of him lit up like a Christmas tree, forcing him to turn it off.

    ¡¯Working on it.¡¯

    The fog was so dense that the air around them was green and ck, giving everything an eerie feeling. Once they stepped inside the next room, a squishy sound and an agonizing moan broke the silence.

    Everyone had the impression of walking on small, wet garbage bags filled with rotten food.

    "Whatever you do, don¡¯t look down." Lith said. He had understood what was happening the moment he noticed that the moans were timed with their steps.

    "Dude, what could be possibly worse than..." Morok released a pulse of darkness magic that dispelled the fog enough to allow him to take a look at the floor. Green entrails that looked like huge rotten sausages covered the ground.

    With no more fog to block his view, Morok could see that they were moving like brain-damaged snakes. The entrails were trying to wrap around his legs to feed upon the intruders with small mouths full of teeth that covered their surface.

    Only Manohar¡¯s Life Ward was keeping them at bay, burning the living viscera on contact.

    "Oh gods!" Morok said while puking his guts out. "I¡¯ll never eat sausages for the rest of my life." Once full, the vomit sack detached and was reced by an empty one.

    As the group advanced, the fog became denser, forcing them to increase the intensity of their light spells just to be able to see farther than their own nose.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve got bad news.¡¯ Solus contacted Lith while they were exploring the first underground floor. Unlike the Odi¡¯s medical center, the rooms were smaller, not padded, and with at least six beds each.

    The doors had been ripped off from their hinges from the inside.

    ¡¯I know how this thing is still alive and how it can grow on metal. It¡¯s because it¡¯s feeding on the light element, just like an Abomination.¡¯

    ¡¯What? How?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯First, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m here for less than a minute, so sorry if I don¡¯t understand years of research at a first nce. Second, a little thank you wouldn¡¯t kill you.¡¯ Her voice oozed sarcasm.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯re right. Thank you, Solus. I guess you¡¯ve spoiled me so much with your abilities that I consider you nigh omniscient.¡¯

    ¡¯You¡¯re wee.¡¯ She said with a giggle, happy for the heartfelt praises. ¡¯I¡¯ll let you know as soon as I discover anything else.¡¯

    With that new piece of information, Lith could now decipher what had happened there in the past. The cells were filled with corpses sucked down to the bones and from each one of them departed colored veins that covered the entirety of the floor.

    Whatever the Odi had infected their prisoners with, had grown by feasting on their flesh before searching for more food. The Abomination-based disease had then forced its way out, probably by sucking dry the light element from everything that kept them locked.

    Then, it had engaged the strains born in the other rooms in a battle for dominance.

    Burnt marks of different colors covered the walls where the creatures had fought, allowing Lith to determine who hade out victorious from each conflict. The winner would consume the loser and then move to the next cell.

    ¡¯This seems the horror version of a survival game.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The question is: is the fog ck and green because two creatures are still struggling, or is there only one and the ck is due to its Abomination nature?¡¯

    When they reached halfway of the U-shaped corridor, the fog was now surrounding their hands, smothering the light they emitted to the point that it was impossible for them to see in front of them.

    "I¡¯ve bad news." Lith said borrowing Solus¡¯s words. "This thing is feeding upon the light element we employ to light our way. I¡¯ve no idea what might happen if we give this thing a full course meal, but I¡¯m ready to bet good money that we¡¯d be its dessert."

 Chapter 680 Surival of the Fittest Part 2

    At those words, everyone unleashed the darkness spells that they had kept at the ready. The agonizing shrieks rose in intensity and made their stomach churn, but their survival instinct beat theirpassion by andslide.

    The air turned immediately clear, but the flesh tentacles at their feet reacted with violence, attacking Lith¡¯s group from all sides. Luckily, centuries of feeding only on the light element that seeped through the twoyers of arrays blocking the door had left the creature severely weakened.

    Each one of their hits was quick and well-aimed, but itcked the strength necessary to pierce the enchanted protections. Life Ward further protected the expedition members, inflicting deep burns to the entrails whenever they struck at the white membrane.

    A second volley of darkness spells killed the attackers and cleansed the air enough for the ward¡¯s in-built lights to allow the Professors to read the documents they had brought along.

    "This should be Project Evolution." Professor Ellkas read.

    "The Odi had discovered that Abomination don¡¯t suffer from aging nor diseases, so they attempted to fuse the Abomination¡¯s life forces with that of members of the ¡¯lesser races¡¯ before infecting them with incurable ailments. I¡¯d say they failed big time."

    "Idiots." Lith was enraged by the Odi¡¯s reckless approach to science. "They failed to understand that if creating hybrids was so easy, everyone would do it. Their foolish experiment didn¡¯t bond the Abomination with their specimens, but with the diseases!"

    "How do you know that?" Phloria asked. The Professors were bbergasted as well. None of them was a Master Healer, but Lith¡¯sprehension of the Odi experiments was too urate to not be creepy.

    ¡¯Oh crap!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I forgot that the others don¡¯t have Solus to exin everything to them almost in real-time. I¡¯ve got to y my genius card.¡¯

    "Isn¡¯t it obvious?" Lith acted smug. "The fog is clearly alive and has been feeding on our lights ever since we stepped down here. The moment you told me that Abominations were involved, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into ce."

    "No, it¡¯s not obvious at all." Gaakhu said. "How do you exin the things that just attacked us? That was no disease."

    ¡¯My money on a partial sess.¡¯ Solus came to the rescue. ¡¯Probably one of their victims partially fused with both the Abomination and the disease. It gave them the edge they needed over theirpetition but at the same time it trapped them in here.¡¯

    Lith repeated her words and added:

    "That¡¯s why we hear screams and why the door upstairs was still standing. Probably the hybrid has a real body somewhere and can¡¯t get too far from it."

    His brilliant deduction surprised everyone, Phloria included. She knew that Lith was brilliant, but not that much. Yet she said nothing aside from praises and kept her questions forter.

    The carpet of entrails led them to a cell near the ess leading to the next underground floor. Just as Lith, or rather Solus had predicted, the heavy metal door had been ripped off as if it was made of paper.

    Nothing remained of the arrays or the holographic pad. The only thing left was the mana crystal cable, around which the only healthy tentacle was tightly wrapped.

    "I guess that exins how the hybrid survived for so long." Lith said while pointing at it.

    Inside the cell, there was something of vaguely humanoid shape. The creature had a spongy look, as if a ck and green moss had entirely covered a man¡¯s upper body, from the head to his midriff.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t moss and there was no underlying body. The creature could twist all of its parts like a rag doll, forming unnatural angles while it tried to escape from the shining red chains that bound its arms to the wall.

    Its pseudo skin bubbled like a boiling liquid at each attempt. The creature was featureless, with only the red eyes made of pure energy typical of Abominations and an open mouth. It allowed Lith¡¯s group to see that there was nothing inside its body, just a uniform mass of moss.

    The tentacle-innards were generated from its midriff, the creature had no lower body. Seeing the fresh, juicy prey willingly stepping inside its cage, the hybrid twisted its arms with enough strength to rip them off at the wrist level to get rid of the chains.

    Yet the enchanted item created red lines of power on the creature¡¯s body, forcing it to heal and reattaching it to the wall time and time again. The hybrid gurgled in outrage while the group decided what to do.

    Suddenly, a humane voice made came from the creature¡¯s entrails.

    \u003c "Please, kill me."\u003e It spoke in an unknownnguage, but for some reason, Lith understood its words. A human head was emerging from the tentacles that the creature had amassed, preparing for an attack.

    \u003c "I beg of you, don¡¯t let it..."\u003e The creature roared, cutting the person short as it stretched its neck enough to bite the newborn head off, causing red blood to spray through its cell.

    "Good gods! What was that?" Gaakhu asked, on the verge of puking.

    "I was right, the fusion is iplete." Lith exined after consulting Solus. "This is a pathogen-Abomination hybrid and that was its host. The hybrid is the dominant one so it treats the host like a parasite. Neither of them can kill the other."

    "Anyone wants to take scans of this horror?" Phloria asked. Her question was followed by pent up barfs and shaken heads.

    "All those in favor to put it down?"

    Everyone raised their hands. Half the group kept the creature away from the mana cable while the others bombarded the hybrid with tier four darkness spells. Once the creature¡¯s body disappeared, so did the living fog and all the ck veins covering the floor.

    The ward¡¯s lights now allowed Lith¡¯s group to take a good look around. Now that the living entrails were gone, they could see that dozens of corpses littered the floor. The first underground level was a mass grave for both prisoners and Odi guards.

    All skeletons had been sucked dry, but the Odi¡¯s were easily recognizable. They had no imperfections, with ivory white bones that seemed out of an anatomy book. All males were identical to each other and so were the females.

    If not for the struggle signs and the ck aura of undeath that Life Vision revealed, Lith would have thought they were just mass-produced skeleton mannequins.

    "What¡¯s on the next floor?" Phloria asked.

    "This was the Immunization Ward. Next should be the Body Enhancement Ward. I think it refers to their enchanted human program." Ellkas said.

    "Can we go outside and take a break?" Morok asked. "I¡¯ve seen a lot of disgusting things in my life but this one takes the cake."

    "I wish." Neshal exined. "Once we take our Alchemical protection off, it will be gone. We could rest here."

    Everyone looked at her as she was raving mad.

    "I mean on the ground floor, not here-here."

    They went back to the Odi ward, but the nightmare followed them. Even though the ce was pristine and with perfect lighting, they kept seeing everything in shades of green, as if the living fog was still there.

    Only when the creature¡¯s screams stopped resounding in their ears and their steps emitted squishy sounds no more did they go for the second underground floor.

 Chapter 681 Mysteries Part 1

    ¡¯Solus, how could we understand a deadnguage.¡¯ Lith thought after reying the events in his head until he was certain that it wasn¡¯t just a hallucination.

    ¡¯Not "we", you did. I heard only gibberish until you tranted it for me.¡¯ Her answer hit Lith harder than everything he had witnessed so far. He even asked Phloria and the Professors, but they confirmed to him that all they heard was unknown words.

    That bit of news shocked Lith. Thest thing he needed was more unanswered questions.

    The door to the second underground floor was ripped off as well, but the signs of struggle stopped halfway through the U shaped corridor. The creature¡¯s limited range of action had prevented it from conquering the whole building.

    The floor was empty, only corpses remained and this time they all belonged to prisoners that the Odi had left locked inside their cells. The administrative office was intact, so while thenguage experts studied the medical reports, the others examined the bodies.

    The first thing they noticed was that once again the cells were small and cramped with up to six beds. Lith noticed that some of the inmates had runes of power surgically carved over their skeletons. Most of them, however, shown bite marks and the only clean bones were as brittle as breadsticks.

    ¡¯I can understand the cannibalism. If the Odi abandoned them here, hunger must have driven them insane, but why a set of brittle bones in each cell?¡¯ Lith thought and even Solus had no exnation to offer him.

    Since there was no threat, no relic, nor anything worth studying, the Forgemasters went examining the next holographic pad to discover its password while waiting for the linguists.

    This time they didn¡¯t need Lith¡¯s help. The Professors had learned their lesson and thoroughly examined the umon characters too. Ellkas and Gaakhu only needed a nce to guess the password.

    "Seems that enchanting living being was a total bust." They exined. "There were only two possible oues for the Odi¡¯s experiments. The first and moremon was death by mana poisoning.

    "Those who somehow adapted to the foreign mana were barely one in a hundred and they would die in a way as slow and painful as mana poisoning that the Odi called ¡¯mana drain¡¯.

    "Basically, their bodies were unable to fuel the enchantment with their innate mana and would copse over time. They tried to fix the problem by Bonding the specimens with mana crystals, but the survival rate was 0%."

    There was a total of five underground floors and each one of them recorded a different kind of madness. The third floor was for intellect enhancement experiments, but aside from failure reports and corpses with deformed skulls, there was nothing to see.

    The fourth one was the Immortality project, but since all the prisoners were dead there was no doubt about its failure. On the fifth floor, the Life Merging process truly scared them.

    The whole floor was empty. There was no corpse lying around nor documents left in the office.

    "Oh shit! I think this one seeded." Morok said. "Also, there must be a secret passage around here. Otherwise we should have found much more Odi corpses on our way here."

    "Indeed." Yondra nodded. "If the Odi locked themselves in here to escape from the hybrid, they would have died like all the others. Instead not only did they manage to continue their experiments, but they also had the time to clean everything."

    After searching the floor, they discovered the existence of an elevator in the wall near the stairs. It wasn¡¯t actually hidden, just hard to notice since on Mogar elevators didn¡¯t exist and its doors were so perfectly sealed for security reasons that nothing distinguished them from the nearby metal walls.

    Unfortunately, it was useless. It required both a password and a key to ess to each floor, clearly to keep the different research teams in the dark about what others had achieved.

    It was barely past lunchtime, but everyone was exhausted, so they decided to call it a day and go back to the camp.

    Lith and Phloria spent all of their free time with Quy. Lith exined to her all the failed experiments they had witnessed and their consequences.

    "Gods, I¡¯m really starting to believe that the Odi¡¯s life force underwent so many modifications that they became utterly insane." Quy could tell by Phloria¡¯s face turning green at the recount of the events that Lith was sparing her the most gruesome details.

    "Body Sculpting is named so because it¡¯s almost a work of art. The smallest mistake can scar forever your patient, that¡¯s why we practiced so much on slimes before treating people. The Odi, instead, seemed to hammer randomly and hope for a masterpiece."

    Quy¡¯s words sparked a crazy idea in Lith¡¯s mind, something that gave Solus the creeps.

    "What do you think they could achieve with the Life Merging project?" Lith handed her the tranted documents that they had retrieved from the main administrative building.

    "I understand all the other projects, but this one is beyond me. It has no military application nor it would have brought the Odi any closer to achieve eternal life."

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Quy moved closer to Lith, sitting beside him before Hushing the area around them.

    "Good gods, that one too? Leave something for the rest of us. That¡¯s not cool bro." Morok said before hitting on Jerth and being hit in return.

    "As you know, life force determines the life span of an individual. By merging two life forces, you could in theory live twice as long." Quy ignored the Ranger, exining her hypothesis.

    "Of course there would be the problem of split personalities, the fight for dominance, and the risk of rejection that could kill both subjects at once. So maybe the Odi were trying to remove the side effects. We know that it¡¯s possible because Thrud seeded."

    "I know that, but Thrud had centuries at her disposal as well as Arthan¡¯s Madness, whereas the Odi society copsed soon after they began their experiments." Lith said.

    "Your theory would make sense if they experimented on other Odi, but judging from the cells, they kept working on ¡¯lesser races¡¯. Also, there¡¯s the contradiction that they apparently seeded and yet there isn¡¯t a single Odi alive.

    "What did they use such technology for, then?"

    "I have no clue, but I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s anything useful in these notes." She said hugging Lith a bit too close forfort. "Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll figure it out. Where there¡¯s a will there¡¯s a way."

    At first, Phloria thought that Quy was just talking about the current mission, but Lith¡¯s shocked expression told her otherwise.

    "How do you know about it?" Lith asked.

    "How does she know about what?" Phloria echoed, reminding him of her presence.

    "Smooth move, Lith. All my efforts to be as vague as possible are ruined. Do you tell her or do you want me to do the honors?" Quy said, letting him go and allowing herself to sniffle a little.

    "You have yet to answer me. How do you know about it?" Lith said.

    "Everyone in the light department knows. The Professors treated you after Balkor¡¯s attack, remember? Do you think they could miss such a thing? I..."

    "What are two hiding from me?" Phloria cut her short, her patience was running thin.

 Chapter 682 Mysteries Part 2

    "Saving Protector gave me Death Vision because it crippled my life force." Lith said. He could only me himself for losing his cool earlier.

    "What does it mean?" Phloria actually knew enough about light magic to put the pieces together, but her brain refused to.

    "It means that he is dying." Quy said, making her sister turn pale as a ghost.

    "I hope you haven¡¯t focused on Body Sculpting because of me." Lith said.

    "I¡¯m not doing it only for you, but also for people like Zinya. Body Sculpting is the next frontier of healing magic, yet few people practice it because of its risks. I researched the Odi because I think they might have found a solution to your problem."

    ¡¯What the heck? Quy came here for the same reason.¡¯ Solus was shocked and so was Lith.

    "I¡¯m not in love with you, but I care for you deeply. You¡¯re part of my family." She said hugging him again. Hearing Quy using almost the same words he had told Phloria at the beginning of the expedition, gave his cynical heart a blow too many.

    Lith returned her embrace, not caring anymore about keeping up appearances and stupid rumors.

    "Seriously, what the fuck?" Phloria demanded an exnation and this time Lith went into details, even telling her how much he was supposed to have left to live. By the time he was done, Phloria¡¯s outlook on their mission waspletely changed.

    If before it was just a detail mission, now it was personal. Phloria took a walk to clear her head. To her, Kh was no longer a threat to defend against, it was a fortress to storm which potentially held a priceless treasure.

    Her instincts told her to put her suit back up and keep exploring the city, but it onlysted an instant. She knew that raw power and will could only take her so far. The key for that peculiar vault was knowledge, not violence.

    The Odi had left too many self-destruct mechanisms that she was unable to deal with on her own. She needed to rest and she needed to wait.

    Morok approached her to ask if since there were two of them and one of Lith they needed a fourth yer, but before he could even open his mouth, Phloria red at him.

    It was a look that all of Jirni¡¯s victims knew all too well, holding a promise of infinite pain and misery. In Morok¡¯s case, it reminded him of the look of the Phoenix that had caught him in the attempt of taking one of her eggs to check if a Phoenix omelet was as spicy as legends said.

    He had survived the encounter only because after throwing him off the top of her mountain with all of his spells sealed, the beast hadn¡¯t bothered confirming the kill. Having learned from his past mistakes, the Ranger gave her a salute before remembering about a very important matter he had to attend to somewhere else.

    ***

    In the following days, they kept searching one building at a time. The second facility had copsed, leaving behind no trace of the Odi experiments to create artificial Adamant.

    After discovering the records of the umpteenth failed monstrosity, the team had decided to explore the right area hoping to have better luck. What they found out, instead, was that while the left side of Kh heldbs and research facilities, the right side wasposed of the personnel living quarters.

    They found shops, restaurants, and even a library. Unfortunately, it was a civilian library, so it only contained books unrted to the Odi research. It was a gold mine for an anthropologist, but just a pile of garbage to the expedition team.

    Just to not leave any stone unturned, they explored one building of each side per day.

    "If we find Kh¡¯s upper echelons¡¯ apartments, we might find the key to decipher this mystery instead of just clutching at straws." Phloria pointed out.

    Even though the Professors thought it was just wishful thinking, Lith supported her idea for several reasons. After the Golems had been destroyed, both sides of Kh were lit up with mana, so their existence couldn¡¯t be as simple as it appeared.

    Also, every time they deactivated an array or cut a mana cable, there was more world energy avable, so it was only a matter of time before Solus could take her tower form.

    Last, but not least, he could bring Quy to the cleared buildings and use her help to understand what could have happened to the Odi. When they had arrived, Kh was sealed, so the rebels had failed to find it.

    Yet there were no corpses, no graveyards, nothing. Too many things didn¡¯t add up unless the Odi had simply disappeared off the face of Mogar leaving behind a perfectly functional military facility.

    The worst part of their situation was that despite the fact that the living quarters were big, spacious, and were equipped withfortable beds, the ce felt so creepy on so many levels that no one wanted to sleep inside Kh.

    It only made them homesick, lowering their morale even further. The soldiers and the Assistants felt more useless by the day. Their pride crumbled with every challenge the first squad overcame.

    The Professors, instead, were starting to be affected by the Odi¡¯s abominable experiments. They were academics, after all, they had seen their fair share of atrocities but Kh was undermining their trust in the magical research.

    Not only they were questioning their mission, but also their entire careers, debating more and more often if it shouldn¡¯t have been better to just raze Kh to the ground.

    One building held a researchb focused on robbing magical beasts of their true magic. Each one of its floors contained the results from fusing together a beast and a member of the ¡¯lesser races¡¯, no matter their age or gender.

    ording to the notes left by the mages, the hybrids would live a few minutes in excruciating agony before dying by mana poisoning.

    Another building gave them a pleasant surprise. The Odi had tried to bestow their specimens a ¡¯potion organ¡¯, something that would make them capable of enhancing their bodies in a way simr to fusion magic.

    Each floor was dedicated to a different element and all of them were littered with corpses of both Odi and inmates. The victims had been granted unstable powers that crippled their life span but gave them the opportunity to bite their oppressors back.

    The project had been dropped because the more the procedure was perfected, the more casualties the Odi would sustain, especially on the air and fire fusion floors.

    "Do you see what I mean?" Lith said to Phloria and Quy once he was sure that they were alone.

    "I get that they modified their bodies to reach what they considered perfect beauty, but aren¡¯t these skeletons too simr between each other?" He said pointing at both female and male bodies.

    "Also, why none of these women has given birth, not one of them. Their pelvic bones are too perfect."

    "If they body-swapped, why give birth?" Phloria shrugged. "They couldn¡¯t keep a bloodline just like they couldn¡¯t keep their bodies."

    "Point taken, but isn¡¯t it strange that despite having a young, healthy body, none of them had children? Kh has no nursery, no school, nothing. These kinds of experimentssted years, isn¡¯t it unnatural that no one had a family?"

 Chapter 683 Trust Part 1

    Phloria thought about the apartments they had visited. Some of them hosted more than one person, but always adults. There were enchanted photos in each room, but none depicting children.

    In the meantime, Quy and Lith studied the skeletons in the old-fashioned way, with magnifying sses and picking samples to analyzeter.

    "It¡¯s indeed odd." Quy said. "Even discoloration streaks on the bones seem to have developed the same way for all same-sex Odi. Another thing that I noticed, is how well preserved the corpses are despite centuries have passed.

    "Do you have a theory to exin all of this?"

    "I have. It¡¯s farfetched and creepy but I think it fits this ce perfectly." Lith replied.

    "Let¡¯s consider what we know. The Odi first defeated all illnesses by dramatically altering their bodies, correct?"

    Both women nodded.

    "Then they moved on altering their physical appearance to achieve perfect looks, but doesn¡¯t that mean they were basically copies of the same mold?"

    "Oh gods." Quy had no concept of things like DNA or cloning, so she managed to grasp what Lith was saying, but her mind needed some time to consider the implication of such practice based on what she knew.

    "Okay, what?" The discussion was way above Phloria¡¯s head. Her confused expression made Lith chuckle, creeping both of her friends. They hadn¡¯t seen himughing ever since he had lost the Gatekeeper.

    "I¡¯ll make it simple. Imagine that to achieve perfect health, all of the Odi subjected their bodies to the same, identical alterations." Lith said.

    "I got that. I¡¯m not stupid." Phloria pouted.

    "Never even thought that." Lith gave her a soft smile, making something in her stomach flutter. "Then they wanted to have the same looks, maybe changing just their hair or skin color, but can you picture a society like that?"

    "Gods, it would resemble a world full only of purebred dogs." She said.

    "Exactly, and what happens when you inbred often to keep the so-called purity of any race?" Lith asked.

    "Are you saying that the Odi were sterile? All of them?" Phloria asked.

    "Well, if he¡¯s right being sterile was the least of their problem." Quy said.

    "Madness, reduced lifespan, and congenital diseases are all things that would require even more Body Sculpting, with easily predictable consequences. Yet it seems a bit rushed conclusion to me. What makes you think their situation was so dire?"

    "Lack of children, identical bodies..." Lith wanted to use the term clones, but Mogar¡¯snguagecked such a term. "...and your earlier observation, Quy. This is not medical research, it¡¯s too random and desperate.

    "As you said, they were hammering rather than chiseling."

    "Why aren¡¯t we telling this to the Professors as well?" Quy asked while putting together the various pieces of the puzzle.

    "First, mine is just a groundless theory. I¡¯m afraid that after hearing it, their judgment of our future discoveries might be biased. I want to see if they reach the same conclusion on their own.

    "Second, I don¡¯t trust them. They are facing the same problem the Odi had. They are old and they know they are going to die. wed or not, this technology would allow them to prolong their existence and keep their physical appearance."

    Lith¡¯s paranoia was contagious and suddenly Quy was almost happy that Professor Phesta had died. Each Professor had conveniently arrived with a talented Assistant/spare body, ording to Lith¡¯s idea.

    Clearing thebs brought them more questions than answers and the private quarters confirmed at least part of Lith¡¯s theory. The people in the enchanted pictures looked awfully simr, to the point that the Odi had to embroider their names on their clothes to recognize one another.

    Another week passed and the expedition was done exploring half of Kh. With time, they had grown insensitive to the various horrors and since they had grasped how to safely crack the defensive systems, they could explore multiple buildings in a single day.

    Now what slowed them down was the fact that only two Professors were able to read the Odinguage and the number of documents they had to read to understand each building¡¯s purpose varied greatly.

    While they deciphered the papers, the others explored the private quarters, searching for Kh¡¯s supervisor¡¯s office.

    "I think I need help." Said Jerth while standing in front of a closed door, apparently identical to all the others. Yet she had opened so many of them that she couldn¡¯t miss the presence of two extra runes in the array sealing the door.

    "Good call." Professor Neshal said. "Those are not extra runes, there is actually a fourth magic circle hidden below the first three. Cutting the mana cable would have triggered it and probably activated more Golems."

    Neshal followed the hidden array¡¯s power nodes, discovering several hidden doors behind which she could sense the presence of Golem charging arrays.

    ¡¯Damn. Even Life Vision couldn¡¯t spot the trap with all that frigging mana flooding the walls. What about you, Solus?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Same. All the buildings are just a white mass to me. I think that the Golems¡¯ destruction has triggered some kind of alert. We are one mistake away from activating either Kh¡¯s defenses or its self-destruct mechanism.

    ¡¯At this point, I can¡¯t find any other exnation for keeping all the buildings charged up with mana.¡¯

    Once again Lith cursed at his inability to share such precious information.

    ¡¯What about your tower?¡¯

    ¡¯Not enough world energy for the full form, let alone for a Warp.¡¯

    Once Neshal deactivated all the arrays, she scanned the area again and so did Lith.

    "I think we have found the headquarters." The Professor said after opening the door.

    The building was clearly an office of some kind. On the right, there was even a reception where the desk sergeant would sort visitors based on their rank. Even though there was no trace of danger, they scanned the ce at each step.

    Now that they were inside, both Life Vision and mana sense worked properly, allowing Lith to evaluate the importance of each room. Hidden arrays were only good as traps, to keep secret documents secure active spells were necessary.

    Phloria teamed up with him as soon as she saw his eyes ring up from time to time with mana. Lith gave her a small bow as a thank you. With her by his side, he would have had an easy way to justify any discovery he might make.

    They navigated the floor quickly, taking just the time Lith needed to scan for hidden arrays. From the front desk departed several corridors, each one identical to the others. They encountered several doors along the way, each one was warded by arrays and had a golden tag at the eye level.

    Lith had no idea what was written, nor did he care.

    "What if they hold something important?" Phloria asked. "Otherwise why keep them sealed with arrays?"

    "Paranoia." Lith replied and Phloria took his words at face value. It was the opinion of an expert, after all.

    "They are just offices. There¡¯s nothing magical inside, just desks and cabs. That room, instead, glows like Kam¡¯s smile. Someone took a lot of energy to protect it."

    Phloria had yet to recover from the small stung she had experienced when Lith had used another woman as a benchmark to describe something beautiful that he Hushed their surroundings and shared with her Solus¡¯s hypothesis about how dangerous Kh¡¯s glowing buildings were.

 Chapter 684 Trust Part 2

    "Good gods, one mistake and we might blow up?" Her survival instinct took the wheel and her Forgemaster wand appeared in her hand.

    "Maybe. I¡¯m paranoid, but the Odi were crazy, so it¡¯s not so unlikely that..."

    "You¡¯re not paranoid. I mean, not this time." Phloria cut him short.

    "Once a safety protocol is breached, the defense readiness condition is raised. Unless the Commander promptly resets the system, two things are bound to happen. The first is the call for reinforcements, which probably failed, being the Odi dead.

    "The second is triggering the failsafe mechanism protecting a base¡¯ secrets. It usually implies self-destruction so to kill the invaders and prevent state secrets from falling into the wrong hands."

    "Can you reset it?" Lith asked.

    "Maybe. So far the Odi protocols are not so different from those of the Griffon Kingdom."

    ¡¯If she manages to do it, we might have enough energy for the tower!¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Let me guess, that¡¯s where we¡¯re headed." Phloria pointed at a room that was double the size of those they had encountered so far.

    It had ample ss windows which allowed them to look inside and there was a small antechamber in front of it, with a desk for the secretary and seats for the guests.

    "Five arrays, three mana cables, twelve purple crystals. This is going to be tricky."

    During his stay in Kh, Lith used Invigoration so many times to scan for dangers that he had discovered new ways to use it. He ced his hands on the walls nearby rather than directly on the arrays.

    He made his mana travel from a safe distance, closing it in to the magical formation to make sure that he could study them without triggering their defense mechanisms.

    "Or not." Said Phloria, while walking to the secretary¡¯s desk. "Secretaries are usually the real second inmand. They know everything about their boss and organize their workday, so they have ess to pretty much everything."

    Lith had already cleared the area, so she could cast some of the spells Orion had taught her. Silvery strands of energy came out from her wand, highlighting several secretpartments where Life Vision showed nothing.

    "Wait, what?" Lith asked both Solus and Phloria.

    ¡¯Beats me. To my mana sense, it¡¯s just a normal desk.¡¯ Solus said.

    "Paranoia." Phloria quoted the book of Lith, chapter 1, verse 1. "The spell I just used specifically reveals cloaked spells. Dad developed it right after studying how such spells work."

    "I¡¯m really tempted to ask you what the heck that wand is." No matter how much Lith looked at it, it appeared as a conducting baton made of silver to him.

    "You¡¯ll have to keep your curiosity to yourself so that my father can keep his head." She replied as several silvery runes appeared over the desk.

    For the first time, Lith was interested in Royal Forgemasters¡¯ spell, looking at Phloria¡¯s actions in the detail. The magic words she used were mostly unknown and the few he recognized derived from Forgemaster spells.

    She formed hand and wand signs, using both to draw energy runes in the air. After a few seconds, all thepartments opened at once. One was full of paperwork that Phloria stored for the Professors, one was for office supplies, and thest contained a small keyboard.

    "Gods, even the Odi suffered from a bad case of stationery thefts if they used secretpartments for them."

    "Paranoia should tell you they are enchanted." Lith replied with his eyes aze with Life Vision.

    "My bad. My spells can take me only this far and the buttons all look the same. What do you make of them?" She asked.

    Lith ced his hand on the desk and performed a thorough scan, hoping that Orion¡¯s spell had missed something.

    ¡¯Apparently, it¡¯s as good as Invigoration and it doesn¡¯t require contact. Yondra¡¯s apprenticeship offer is bing more interesting by the second.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Once he focused on the buttons, he could follow their enchantments as if they were power lines and discover what they were connected to.

    "One button is for the door, one is for the arrays, and the other two go too far for me to follow them." Lith said.

    "They must be the one to call for the security and another to raise the rm." Phloria suggested.

    "Do we really want to bet everything on a button?" Lith asked. The array was a minefield but facing it head-on felt safer to him.

    "Do you really expect a secretary to be a Master Warden that every day has to defuse and reactivate that kind of array?" Phloria¡¯s reasoning made a lot of sense.

    After Lith nodded to her, she pushed it and the arrays disappeared. Another click and the door opened.

    Once inside, they ignored the papers and scanned the room for secretpartments. Lith noticed with Life Vision that almost everything in the office was enchanted, especially the desk.

    It was filled with mana crystals, resembling a huge woodenmunication amulet. Invigoration allowed him to peek inside its drawers, but there was nothing worth mentioning.

    "More paperwork and enchanted stationery. What about you?" Lith asked.

    "I can feel something enchanted behind this library, but I can¡¯t find a magical switch to open it." Phloria replied.

    Much to Lith dismay, the library behind themander¡¯s desk waspletely ordinary, so Life Vision, mana sense, and Invigoration showed nothing.

    ¡¯Okay, it¡¯s my time to shine.¡¯ Solus slipped off Lith¡¯s finger and inside the shelves in her liquid form, exploring every nook and cranny, until she found the hidden mechanism. Then she backtracked its workings until she found its trigger.

    ¡¯Oh my! It seems that the Odi had developed something simr to C-4.¡¯ She said. ¡¯I¡¯ve stored everything for research purposes, but before opening the library I¡¯m going to check for more surprises.¡¯

    It was the first time since he was reborn on Mogar that Lith heard about explosives, so he asked Phloria about them.

    "It¡¯s ancient stuff, no one uses it anymore. Spells are much more powerful and more easily controlled. Also, if someone wears decent protection, you can¡¯t kill anyone with explosives unless you make the ceiling copse on their heads. Why do you ask?"

    "Because it¡¯s the only thing I could think about to activate the underlying arrays if we just ripped the library off the wall." Lith said.

    "That would be an incredibly crude but ingenious way to fool a Forgemaster. Good thinking." Phloria nodded.

    ¡¯Thanks.¡¯ Solus replied in Lith¡¯s mind while Phloria and he looked for some kind of switch. Luckily for them, there was only one switch and no traps. After removing the locks, the library easily moved on its hinges, revealing a safe and a block of explosive that Solus had left to prove Lith¡¯s theory.

    The safe was a small rectangr door, covered by several ovepping arrays, each one fueled by several purple crystals. Above them floated a small holographic disy.

    "Dammit, the magic crystals powering the safe are the same that fuel the arrays. I can¡¯t deactivate them without triggering the safe defense mechanism." Lith said.

    "Unless we know the password." Phloria pointed at the holographic disy, showing only numbers. She used another of her father¡¯s spells and the numbers lit up, revealing that each one of them was connected to two different rys.

    One was linked to the safe and the other to the arrays.

    "Great! The password contains all the numbers, so they can all be right or wrong depending on their sequence and repetition. I don¡¯t think even the Professors can crack it this time." Lith said.

 Chapter 685 Last Stop Part 1

    "I wouldn¡¯t be so sure." Phloria shrugged.

    "Why, exactly?" Lith asked.

    "Well, this safe is really old. I¡¯ve seen a lot of them in the army. Heck, I even have one in my own office and none of them is a hybrid between Warden and Forgemaster magic. Maybe this was cutting edge technology centuries ago, but magic never stopped evolving."

    Phloria went to call the Professors while Lith examined the safe with Invigoration. Solus had already slipped back to his finger, helping him to sort that mess.

    ¡¯Dammit, if it wasn¡¯t for the Odi¡¯s obsession with explosions, there are a lot of things I could try. To make matters worse, I need what¡¯s inside this safe, so I can¡¯t risk getting it damaged.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Consider this a learning experience.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Phloria is right, we¡¯ve never met a safe before, so they must have weak points that dimensional items do not have. Otherwise everyone would use them.¡¯

    "Nice work getting here so fast." Yondra said, quickly followed by her peers. "What do we have here? A Nightmare Safe! It¡¯s the first time I see one outside of books."

    "Can you open it?" Lith asked.

    "Of course we can." Neshalughed like a madwoman at the sight of the ancient relic. "It¡¯s just like Kh¡¯s door, an unbeatable conundrum unless you know the trick."

    "Do you know why no one uses safes nowadays?" Yondra asked, making both the youths shake their heads.

    "First, their ungodly price. Having one Forgemastered or array protected would cost much more than a dimensional item and it would be much less safe. Second, any Forgemaster can crack a safe if they have enough time, the same stands for arrays. But this? This is just idiotic."

    Yondra¡¯sughs forced Neshal to continue.

    "You see, the safe is password protected, which means that the arrays must also recognize it as well, correct?" More nodding ensued.

    "Hence, if you use a very simple array detecting spell..." Neshal made the full form of the array appear, revealing its runes.

    "Here says that the array must trigger unless the number 3 is pressed." She deciphered the runes for them. "Then, that it must trigger unless the number 9 is pressed within one second..."

    "Are you saying that the password is written on the array and cannot be changed?" Phloria¡¯s mouth was agape.

    "Yes. Unless you redo everything from scratch, the password cannot be changed and it would still be written as clear as day for any Warden worthy of their title."

    Yondra pressed the numbers in quick session, opening the safe.

    "Wait, what about thebination for the door locks in thebs?" Lith asked.

    "It was different. The arrays and a holographic pad were two distinct protections, in fact we safely deactivated the array first and then worked on the pad. Heck, the password would have been inconsequential if we could have reached the arrays on the other side of the door." Neshal exined.

    Inside the safe, there were several folders that were given to Gaakhu and Ellkas, a metal key, and what looked like a keycard to Lith.

    While the linguists deciphered the papers from both the safe and the secretary¡¯s desk, Yondra worked on themander¡¯s desk, opening all of its drawers. Countless reports were orderly disposed, making the linguists moan at the idea of having to read them all.

    Since their presence was no longer necessary, Lith and Phloria left themander¡¯s office and moved to another building. Life Vision didn¡¯t spot any more hidden areas and just to decipher so many papers, it would take the linguists quite some time.

    By the time dinner was ready, Lith had cleared three more buildings without finding anything interesting. The Professors were still working on the folders found inside the safe, so after finishing his meal, he decided to give his handler a call.

    Lith hadn¡¯t heard from Kam in over a week and he was starting to get worried about her. She replied almost immediately, but the vision he saw sent shivers down his spine. Kam looked terribly pale and had huge bags under her eyes.

    Her skin was stretched, like she had lost too much weight too fast, making her almost unrecognizable.

    "Thank the gods you are alright. I was starting to get really worried. Wait for a second, please." Only her radiant smile was still the same. The contrast between her joyous expression and her physical appearance made Lith feel as his heart had been caught in a frozen vise.

    A familiar voice in the background snapped him out of his reverie.

    "Of course, dear. Royal override. Identification: Archon Jirni Ernas. Password of the day: Abomination, Balkor, Die, Manohar."

    "Thanks, Jirni. Now you can talk with both your handler and your girlfriend." She giggled.

    "Kami, are you alright? You look terrible. Did something happen?" Lith blurted out the second they were alone again.

    Those weren¡¯t the first words she had hoped to hear from Lith after such a long separation, but the honest worry in his voice more than made up for it.

    "Physically, I¡¯m fine. The rest, not so much. It¡¯s a long story, do you have time for it?" Lith nodded for her to continue and Kam told him all that had happened after Fallmug¡¯s attempt on her life.

    "That bastard!" Lith yelled when her story was over, mming his fist against the ground with such strength to crack it. "I told you we should have dealt with him the hard way."

    Kam flinched, quivering like a puppy and making Lith feel terrible.

    "Oh gods, I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m not angry at you, I just wish I was there to rip him apart, limb from limb."

    "That¡¯s exactly my problem." She said. "Right after the attack, I was so enraged that I had him arrested and asked for the maximum sentence. Now, however, knowing that he is still alive, getting tortured every day, I feel terrible."

    Kam started to sob.

    "I can¡¯t sleep, I can¡¯t eat. I¡¯m barely functional. Why did I take this job? Everything was much easier before."

    Lith let her vent her pain, whispering her sweet words from time to time, before saying anything.

    "I would like that Fallmug died a horrible death, but if it¡¯s affecting you so badly, then ask for mercy and have him executed. He¡¯s not worth a single hair on your head, let alone one of your tears."

    "After so long, would it even matter? I helped Constable Ernas capture many people, but it¡¯s the first time that my job and my personal life get mixed. I never realized the pain I bring to those who get arrested." She replied.

    "First, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong. He attacked you, and no matter your role in the army, his sentence would have been the same. Second, what about Zinya? What about all the victims? Why are you worrying for the culprits instead that for yourself?

    "If you didn¡¯t stop those people, a lot of innocents would have got hurt. Your job is as necessary as mine. As for Fallmug, yes, his death matters. It will give you closure. Kami, you are not a bad person and his fate was never in your hands, but his own.

    "What do you think would have happened to your sister and her children if you didn¡¯t step up? Nothing you did was meant to hurt him, only to have justice for them, so please stop torturing yourself over such a dirtbag."

 Chapter 686 Last Stop Part 2

    Kam pressed a button on her amulet, making Lith¡¯s hologram be life-sized and he did the same. She tried to grab the hologram¡¯s hand, but there was nothing to touch and it wasn¡¯t even warm.

    Lith kept his hand open, letting her palm touch his, in the only form of contact they could share.

    "You know what? You are right. I think I wouldn¡¯t feel so bad if I had asked Jirni to have them immediately executed. It¡¯s just that even though Fallmug is a scumbag, I attended to their marriage. I even spent some time with him when Zinya was giving birth.

    "He¡¯s still someone I know, not just a faceless criminal with a record I have to study." Kam said.

    "I also think you have yet to recover from the attempted murder." Lith said. "The first time is always shocking."

    The memory of Fallmug¡¯s attack, with all its possible implications, made Kam shiver and seek thefort of a heavy nket.

    "When will you be back?" She asked. "I miss you so bad that it hurts."

    "Wish I know, but soon." Lith sighed. "Once I return, I promise you that we¡¯ll spend a lot of time together and that I¡¯ll cook you all of your favorite dishes. We need to get some meat back on those bones."

    "Thanks. Your words mean the world to me." Kam said.

    Their conversation continued for a while, but before passing the amulet to Phloria, Lith spoke a bit with Jirni.

    "You promised me that she would have been safe." He didn¡¯t mean to sound aggressive, but between gritting his teeth and pulverizing rocks with his bare hands to vent his stress, any other person would have found him terrifying.

    "And I kept my word. She was never alone, not for a single moment. I gave Fallmug only enough rope so that I could build an airtight case against him." As a married woman, Jirni could understand his distress.

    If Orion ever ended up looking like Kam, she would demand an exnation, and an excellent one at that.

    "Then why didn¡¯t you kill him on the spot? You know how soft Kam is, and killing someone in self-defense is much different from doing it in cold blood. The guilt is eating at her alive." Lith rebuked.

    "I hoped to make her harder, stronger. In our line of work, what Fallmug did is barely a practical joke. I can only tell you thatpared to some of the criminals I arrested, the Odi were amateurs." Jirni said.

    "Please, have Fallmug killed as soon as you can and then bring Kam to my home. The kind of help she needs is something that only her sister and my family can provide to her. No offense." Lith knew that Jirni was right, but also that demanding from Kam to react like they would was going too far.

    "None taken. Any preference on the execution method?"

    "I prefer not knowing." Lith replied with a cruel smile. That way, if Kam asked him anything about how gruesome Fallmug¡¯s death had been, Lith wouldn¡¯t be forced to lie to her.

    ***

    The next morning, Lith heard words that he had always believed to be just a myth.

    "We have great news." Professor Gaakhu said, handing and abridged version of their findings to all the members of the expedition.

    "No bad news? At all?" Phloria spit her breakfast in surprise.

    "Nope. Not even good news, only great ones." Ellkas replied with a warm smile.

    "The documents we have found in themander¡¯s office were the most recent reports and updates about all the experiments conducted in Kh. Needless to say, most of them were aplete failure.

    "Archmage Ernas was right in his estimates. Both Forgemastering living beings and the attempts to create artificial adamant proved to be impossible."

    "You said most were failures." Yondra pointed out. "What about their sessful experiments?"

    "I was getting to that." Gaakhu said. "ording to the reports, the Life Merging, Mana Reactor, and Flesh Golem projects were brought to fruition. In the upper part of Kh, the Odi continued to work on their failed experiments whereas they moved the three sessful projects in the lower levels of the city.

    "There is an underground facility even better equipped than the one right under our feet. We have all the data we need in our hands, so as soon as we collect the evidence from the under-undergroundb, we can finally leave this ce."

    Gaakhu¡¯s words were greeted by a round of apuse, yet neither Lith nor Phloria took part in it.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why so much world energy is being siphoned. The Odi must have focused on improving the technologies that actually worked, giving to the other projects just the necessary scraps to keep the base operational.

    ¡¯Life Merging, Mana Reactor, and Flesh Golem. I have a faint idea of what each one of them does and I like none of them.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "What about their ¡¯Meat Factories¡¯?" Phloria asked. "Shouldn¡¯t we give those poor creatures relief from their life of torment?"

    "They¡¯ll die once we cut off the power lines to theplex." Ellkas replied.

    "No, that¡¯s just what you hope for. What if the modification they underwent allow them to survive? What if after a lifetime in very, we leave them for dead while they slowly die of hunger? Even worse, what if by doing so we set them free to roam the Griffon Kingdom?" Phloria¡¯s words made sense.

    The Odi were crazy enough to unleash the horrors they had created against the ¡¯lesser races¡¯ in revenge. After all, they were as dead as a doornail, whatever happened wasn¡¯t their problem anymore.

    "We¡¯ll move to the underground floor only once we make sure that not a soul stays trapped in this nightmare a second longer than necessary." Phloria was pretty sure that without their life support systems, the creatures would die. Pain was the only variable.

    She hadn¡¯t forgotten about the Teks and her failure to locate them. The image of the Tek younglings eating each other still haunted her dreams. After such a terrible parody of life, she wanted to grant them at least a merciful death.

    "That shouldn¡¯t take long." Ellkas nodded. "We have a list of the facilities and based on the buildings we already explored, we now know which is which."

    There weren¡¯t manybs left were live specimens had been used, so before moving to theirst stop, the group explored them. They made sure that no creature like the pathogen-Abomination hybrid was still alive.

    Yet no matter where they looked, they only found either empty buildings or mass graves.

    "This really doesn¡¯t make sense." Lith said. "Why some ces have been cleaned while the rest appears as if the Odi just left, leaving their guinea pigs to starve? It¡¯s like a sudden crisis forced them to run away."

    His words pictured in everyone¡¯s head the image of the Odi still alive in the safety of their undergroundb, waiting for them like predators stalking their prey.

    "It¡¯s worse than that." Phloria said after checking their maps. "Why are the meat factories empty? These rooms are nothing like the one Lith and I witnessed."

    The buildings where the creatures that had assaulted Morok¡¯s first group on multiple asions were supposed to be, turned out to be just warehouses filled with junk. There was no trace of dimensional runes, working arrays, or even defensive systems.

    "I think I know the answer." Neshal said.

 Chapter 687 Death Trap Part1

    "Such an extensive automatic breeding facility like the one you described couldn¡¯t be used to just breed warriors in case of an assault. The magical beasts were probably used as prototypes for the Flesh Golem project as demonstrated by the brains embedded in the constructs we fought.

    "Hence they have probably been moved to the undergroundb." Neshal said.

    The other Professors nodded, cursing at their own stupidity. It was now toote to enter the undergroundplex. Even though they had fought no enemy, deactivating arrays and constantly scanning their surroundings was quite a tiresome job.

    Still, to Lith it hadn¡¯t been a fool¡¯s errand. They had now cut off enough mana cables that Solus was almost able to assume her tower form.

    Lith used that forced break to use umtion a lot and call Kam again. After seeing her in such a bad shape, he had decided to try and support her to the best of his abilities despite the distance separating them.

    Lith spent dinner with her and thanks to hispany, Kam managed to eat a full bowl of soup instead of just nibbling at her food before sending it back to the kitchen.

    "It sucks having no one waiting for you but Mom and Dad, uh?" Quy asked Phloria. She was knee-deep in sheets of paper filled with her notes about the Life Merging reports they had managed to find.

    "Well, at least you have Anathor." Phloria said, realizing she had been staring too much at Kam¡¯s hologram and averting her gaze from the couple.

    "I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t thought about him once since we got here. I think it¡¯s a pretty bad sign. Are you interested in hearing a crazy theory of mine?"

    Seeing that Quy wouldn¡¯t stop working even during dinner unless someone actively conversed with her, Phloria nodded.

    "I think that all the three sessful projects were means to prolong the Odi race¡¯s existence. Life Merging probably exploits their artificially identical life forces to avoid rejection when assimting one another, just like Thrud does with her meat puppets."

    "Flesh Golems should be a perfected version of the constructs we have already faced, capable of imnting their minds in a Golem¡¯s body, whereas the Mana Reactor should be rted to convert mana into life force." Quy said.

    "Is any of these three things even possible?" Phloria was suddenly very interested in the matter. The first two were revolting, but the third option might allow them to give Lith a normal lifespan if they found its blueprints.

    "In theory, yes. In practice, maybe. The only problem I have with my crazy theory is that it doesn¡¯t exin why the Odi disappeared even though all three projects worked. I mean, I get that the rebels might have killed those on the surface, but what happened to the Odi residing in Kh?

    "Also, I don¡¯t get how they were supposed to find life force donors for the Life Merging project. If Lith is right and the Odi were sterile, then their numbers could only decline with time."

    "Couldn¡¯t they use Body Sculpting on the Teks and absorb their life force?" Phloria asked.

    "No, that¡¯s impossible. Even with heavy modifications, a magical beast¡¯s and a human¡¯s life force are too different. My hope is that we find enough about the Mana Reactor to at least repair Lith¡¯s life force since it¡¯s the only way to help him that doesn¡¯t involve forbidden magic." Quy replied.

    There were few things that she wouldn¡¯t do to help her friend, but killing people was among them.

    Lith tried to give Kam his undivided attention, but his enhanced senses heard Quy¡¯s words and he got curious. When he listened to her reasoning, he couldn¡¯t disagree more with her.

    ¡¯Her idea of Life Merging kind of makes sense, but the rest is just wishful thinking. If the Odi were willing to consider bing Golems as a form of eternal life, they would have much more easily turned themselves into undead.

    ¡¯As for the Mana Reactor, mana and life force are two entirely different things. With Invigoration, I can have my mana core produce as much mana as I want, yet I can¡¯t repair my life force.

    ¡¯Either Quy sees so far that I can¡¯t evenprehend her theory or she¡¯spletely off track.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Why are you sighing so much?" Kam asked. Lith didn¡¯t want to burden her with his problems, so he replied with a white lie.

    "I can¡¯t wait to be done with this awful ce. Having you so close and yet so distant is killing me." His words managed to make herugh and eat some bread.

    The rest of the evening was uneventful and so was the night. The guards had be so rxed with the prolonged quiet of thosest few days that they had a hard time not dozing off from time to time.

    The following morning, despite all of Quy¡¯s pleads, the expedition team was once again split into two groups, leaving the Assistants and the soldiers in the camp while the Rangers, the Professors, and Phloria went to collect thest data.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Quy, but if those we faced so far were the security measures for almost abandoned projects, I can¡¯t imagine how tight the security will be for the sessful ones." Phloria said.

    Even though she appeared to be calm, she was actually on edge. She had searched thoroughly Kh¡¯smander¡¯s office, but she hadn¡¯t found the device to reset the base¡¯s DEFCON level.

    ording to Lith¡¯s estimates, they were one mistake away from a gruesome death. By keeping her sister as far away as she could from Kh, Phloria could better protect her life and give her the opportunity to escape if the worst happened.

    The elevator for the underground facility was located inside the administrative building, right past themander¡¯s office. Just like the other elevators they had encountered, its metal doors were nigh identical to the walls, making it hard to spot, if it wasn¡¯t for the small keyhole at its side.

    The moment Phloria put the metal key in the lock, it was ripped off her hand before she could turn it. A thud could be heard as a bright yellow light became visible through the elevator¡¯s crevices, apanied by a rumbling sound.

    "Oh shit!" Phloria unsheathed her sword and conjured an energy shield around those close to her. The Professors reacted as well, taking their best equipment out from their dimensional amulets.

    "What did you do wrong?" Morok¡¯s said, his hands above his weapons as he was uncertain of what form shapeshift them into to better face the metal monster in front of them.

    The panic in the air amused Lith, who had to repress his chuckle.

    ¡¯I guess they have never heard a mechanical elevator moving.¡¯ He thought.

    A ding apanied the metal doors opening, revealing a lift big enough to easily amodate 20 people or a stretcher and a medical team. The key was waiting for them on the inside, behind a ss panel right beside a card reader.

    "What the heck is this?" Gaakhu asked. "There are no buttons and no runes, how do wemand this thing to move?"

    "It seems that the elevator only makes one stop." Lith exined. "We need the other key." Mogar¡¯snguage had no word for ¡¯keycard¡¯, so he just pointed at the other item they had found inside the safe.

    "How do you know?" Gaakhu asked. She was a historian and she had never heard of such a device. Before Lith could cook up an exnation, the ground below their feet began to rumble.

 Chapter 688 Death Trap Part 2

    The activation of the ancient elevator had also triggered a device ced several hundreds of meters below them. It awoke the Odi from their long slumber, signaling to them that rescue had finally arrived.

    They were many and there was only one monitor, so they crowded in front of it while shoving each other away to see which one of the ancient noble families had managed to find a cure for their condition and repress the revolt.

    What appeared in front of their eyes was much worse than the dreamless sleep they had just escaped from.

    "What does this mean?" A male asked. "Those aren¡¯t even Odi possessing human bodies. ording to the sensors, they are actual humans, or at least most of them are."

    Nimble feminine fingers ran across a keyboard, activating the surveince devices scattered throughout Kh. The cameras showed them the camp on the outside and how many buildings had been breached.

    "These people are no helpers, but raiders." A female said. "We need to exterminate them before going back to sleep."

    "Don¡¯t be so hasty." Another woman replied. "Look at their equipment. I¡¯ve never seen anything like that. They might hold the key to resume our research."

    After a quick debate, an agreement was reached.

    "Fine. Let theme likembs to their ughter, but we must make sure that no one of their ves manages to escape." A second male voice said while pressing a button which activated their ultimate defense mechanism.

    ***

    In the meantime, Lith could see with Life Vision that something was terribly wrong. The world energypressed and umted inside Kh¡¯s buildings was being released all at once while more was being pumped from the mana geyser below.

    "This is a quake! We must make sure that the people at the camp are alright." Yondra said, worried about Rainer.

    Yet it was no quake. The world energy was being converted into a thick, ck miasma that was flooding the whole underground cave and its tunnels, consuming every form of life on its path, even the moss they had painstakingly grown during thest few weeks.

    The camp was already submerged in darkness element and the only reason its upants were still alive was the multiyered array that Neshal and the other Professors had left. Yet it wasn¡¯t going to protect them for long.

    The dark energy was eating at the magical formation, whereas the miasma could slowly pass through it. Barriers wouldn¡¯t prevent air and light from entering, making the situation of those at the camp even more desperate.

    Luckily, the cave was now filled with air, allowing them to use fire magic to destroy the toxic gas before it got too close. Without all the moss they had nted, they would have had no defense against such an attack.

    Jerth was about to contact Phloria, but she beat her second inmand to the punch.

    "Is everything alright at the camp? The quake..."

    "Is caused by a mass destruction spell that¡¯s consuming the whole cave." Jerth cut her short, the externalyers were already crumbling. "What do we do?"

    Jerth pressed a few buttons on the amulet, allowing Phloria¡¯s group to take a look around.

    Lith didn¡¯t waste time, opening a Warp Steps right in front of Quy, quickly followed by both Phloria and Yondra who had started to chant as soon as they had seen Jerth¡¯s terrorized expression.

    Only thanks to the three dimensional corridors did the rest of the expedition team manage to get to safety before the array copsed.

    "And now what? We can¡¯t get outside and we have no idea how much further that thing reaches the tunnels." Almost as a reply to Morok¡¯s question, the ck miasma started to flow inside the administration office through the venttion system.

    "Give me the card!" Lith took the keycard from Phloria¡¯s pocket, quickly swiping it from both sides, just to be safe. The metal doors closed in the nick of time and the elevator started to move down, allowing them to survive.

    ***

    "Amazing!" Said a woman. "They managed to use dimensional magic without runes! We must interrogate them thoroughly and learn their secrets."

    "You¡¯re insane, Le." Replied a man. "They speak gibberish and none of us is willing to waste their time teaching a bunch of monkeys ournguage."

    "Talk for yourself, Rizo." Said another man. "If we learn theirnguage after we steal their bodies, we could get outside and learn how close the Odi empire is to defeat the rebels."

    "Are you insane?" Rizo¡¯s voice was full of poison. "Taking the body of a monkey? Have you forgotten why we hid inside Kh? It would mean throwing away all of our efforts and sacrifices!"

    "I haven¡¯t forgotten, but have you seen how low have we stooped? What we have be to remain alive and preserve our magical talents? I¡¯d say that even a monkey¡¯s body is better than this thing you call life."

    Rizo was about to kill Jiira, but many seemed to share his vision and even more blocked Rizo¡¯s arm, keeping it away from his sword.

    "There¡¯ something I don¡¯t understand." Le said, ignoring themotion around her. "Why did they save their ves instead of using dimensional magic to escape? How can a bunch of children be worthy of their masters¡¯ lives?"

    "The answer is simple." Jiira said. "Either those are not ves or their spells are wed and can¡¯t bend space far enough to escape. By the way, I call dibs on the brown-haired youth. It¡¯s the less disgusting among them."

    No one wanted the Professors because they were too old, also in the following quarrels for who would obtain the Assistants¡¯ bodies, the Odi agreed on only one thing: the non human had to die.

    ***

    ¡¯Solus, what was that thing?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Some kind of poisonous gas strengthened by darkness magic. In a way, it¡¯s worse than the explosion we were afraid of. No matter how powerful, we could have avoided the explosion by Blinking away whereas we have no idea how long will it take for the gas to disperse.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Phloria was checking that Quy was alright, casting all the diagnostic spells at her disposal. Yondra was doing the same for Rainer, while the other Professors were too worried about themselves to care about their Assistants.

    "Captain Phloria, how in the gods¡¯ name one can fail even to use a goddamn key?" Gaakhu¡¯s fury hid the terror she felt for being trapped hundreds of meters below the ground, without knowing if she would ever see the sky again.

    "I made no mistake nor I triggered any rm. You checked the door yourself." Phloria kept her voice calm. The only thing worse than being underground was to remain imprisoned in a metal box with no way out.

    None of them had ever been in a mechanical elevator before, all those they had experienced in the past were magical in nature. The buzzing of the engine and nging of cables were upsetting everyone but Lith.

    "Then how do you exin our situation? We did nothing and the Assistants were too far to mess up!" Gaakhu wasn¡¯t willing to let it slide. Each squeaking she heard felt as if someone was hammering nails into her coffin.

    "I don¡¯t owe you any exnation. I don¡¯t know what happened, but I know that arguing won¡¯t take us anywhere. We need to keep calm."

    When the elevator reached the bottom floor, the structure jolted to a stop, making the group yelp.

    The metal doors quickly opened, forcing the two women to interrupt their quarrel. It was best to not ignore the weemittee waiting for them.

 Chapter 689 Conflicts Part 1

    A small army of Teks, Thorns, and Koas unleashed a barrage of spells against the intruders as soon as they had a clear line of fire. Thorns were creatures born from the Awakening of bushes, or in the case of an underground environment, of moss.

    Their bodies were short, barely reaching one meter (3¡¯3") of height. They looked like octopuses made of mold, with glowing yellow eyes and odd protuberances on their backs that almost resembled wings.

    Koas, instead were fish type magical beast, about 1.5 (5¡¯) meters tall. They had big green eyes and humanoid bodies covered in silvery scales as hard as metal. Their razor-sharp ws and teeth made them formidable opponents in close-quarterbat.

    All of them had been born and bred in an environment that only allowed to the most aggressive of them to survive, so their first reaction was always to try and eat each other. The bloodbath between the different species ended only when the elevator¡¯s doors opened, revealing its cargo of soft, tender meat.

    Once again, the entire structure was made of metal, making earth magic impossible to use. The Teks attacked with a hail of ice shards, while the Thorns released their darkness infused spores to weaken their prey enough to feed upon them.

    The Koas preferred a much simpler approach, releasing their bolts of lightning against everyone but themselves. Unfortunately, both Teks and Thorns were immune to lightning, so electricity was a threat only to the expedition group.

    Between the sudden crisis and the fear that the mechanical elevator had caused them, the humans had no time to prepare their spells. Phloria stepped in front of Quy while injecting mana into her Skinwalker armor.

    The few projectiles that hit Phloria before her conjured tower shield could take form didn¡¯t even put a dent in the silveryyer covering her skin. The soldiers reacted in unison, each one stepping forward to protect the civilians while activating their energy shields and using their wands to return fire.

    They had learned from the previous attack that in such a confined space, darkness was the best choice. The projectiles were slow, but the creatures had no camaraderie and would hinder each other¡¯s movements in their attempts of dodging the darkness bolts.

    Lith and Morok Blinked almost at the same time. Before the first blood could be shed, they appeared respectively on the left and the right side of their assants. Morok crossed his des right in front of his eyes as he whispered: "Infiro."

    The two short words emitted a red light that scorched everything on its path, while Lith released a stream of blue mes from his hands from the opposite direction, leaving the creatures no way out but to move toward the ck bullets.

    The red light and the blue mes burned the Thorns while heating the Teks¡¯ exoskeletons and Koas¡¯ scales to the point that they ended up cooking rather than protecting their internal organs.

    Lith would have liked to use Origin mes, but ever since they had activated the elevator, Solus had spotted magical cameras, warning him that they were being watched.

    "What the heck was that?" Lith asked while using the army signal to alert the others about enemy spies. To a casual onlooker, they would just appear as a nervous gesture.

    "I thought your weapons didn¡¯t have energy-based attacks."

    "And you were right about that. The spell was mine, my weapons simply absorbed the mes and released only its heat. I¡¯m not as confident as you are in controlling my spells." Morok nodded in understanding.

    "This is all metal, there¡¯s no way to start a fire." Lith said, noticing that aside from Yondra, the Professors had only shielded themselves. If not for the soldiers, most of the Assistants would have died.

    The two Rangers continued babbling for a while, giving Phloria the time to decide their next move while keeping the enemy focused on them. She retrieved the metal key from behind the ss before stepping outside the elevator.

    Thepartment had opened after Lith had swiped the keycard the right way, but between Gaakhu¡¯s yammering and the creepy noises from the elevator, Phloria had almost forgotten about it.

    "We need to find an easily defensible ce." She said. "Our first priority is to avoid getting blind-sided again. Then, we must find and destroy the meat factories. I don¡¯t care if the magical beasts are willingly helping our enemies or not, they are part of the Odi¡¯s automated defences and we¡¯ll treat them as such."

    Neshal hid behind Phloria to cast a Detector array, following the orders hidden behind her words. The magical cameras emitted a glow visible to the naked eye for a split second before a snap of Neshal¡¯s fingers turned them into dust.

    "What the heck is this stuff?" Yondra said while studying the devices¡¯ remains.

    They looked like small metal cylinders with a ss lens mounted at their extremities. They would have reminded Lith of some kind of security cameras if not for the fact that they were covered in runes and powered by magic rather than electricity.

    "First the card, now this. How did you notice them without an array?" Gaakhu had shifted her rage from Phloria to Lith.

    "The lenses reflected the lights from our spells." Lith lied through his teeth. "Also, I get that you are scared, everyone is, but that doesn¡¯t give you the right to vent your stress on those who just saved your useless life.

    "Captain Ernas, I propose to leave Professor Gaakhu here. It¡¯s because of her that the enemy ambush almost seeded. She¡¯s a liability." Before she could retort in outrage, Lith lifted her from the neck with one hand.

    His grip was so strong that she couldn¡¯t breathe and he only needed a flick of his wrist to break her neck like a twig. Except for the Orichalcum boosted by mana, enchanted armors offered little protection against that kind of attacks.

    "All in favor?" Phloria asked.

    The Assistants, the soldiers, and Morok raised their hands.

    "The majority agrees." She said while looking into Gaakhu¡¯s desperate eyes. "Luckily for you, this is not a democracy. You¡¯re the best linguist we have, so your usefulness outweighs how annoying you are. Yet.

    "So, I¡¯m willing to give you ast chance. Keep your emotions in check and help the others to survive, because the next time you mess up will be yourst. Release her, Ranger Verhen."

    Lith opened his hand, making Gaakhu fall butt first to the ground, gasping for air. She was outraged by the treatment she had received, but she kept her mouth shut. Her colleagues had opposed to her execution, but none of them had said a word to defend her nor tried to prevent the judgment from being carried out.

    Gaakhu was alone and Phloria¡¯s ultimatum was still ringing in her ears.

    ¡¯Damn old fossils. I¡¯m too young to die.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯As much as I would like to teach these arrogant kids a lesson, I need them for my survival. The moment we¡¯re out of here, I¡¯ll use all of my resources to ruin you and your precious careers.¡¯

    The group started to move, but no one helped her to get up. The Professors were busy studying and scanning the space in front of them while the soldiers focused solely on the Assistants.

    Gaakhu decided to swallow her pride and prove her usefulness to them. She had no idea what that ce was, but her instincts told her that she wouldn¡¯t stand a chance alone.

 Chapter 690 Conflicts Part 2

    The lobby in front of the elevator was a rectangr room, 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) high and 7 meters (23 feet) wide. It reminded Lith of thepany he had worked for in the Q\u0026A department.

    There was no furniture, only tags and signs to navigate the facility. The walls had been painted of a pale green while the metal grate that covered the stone ceiling was white.

    The magic cameras had been hidden between the grate and the stone, making them almost invisible to the naked eye. After a thorough scan of the room waspleted, Phloria said:

    "First the gas and now another ambush. If this is the response of an automated defense, then it¡¯s like to be a sentient cursed object. We¡¯re too much at disadvantage here to safely continue the mission.

    "Does anyone have an idea if it¡¯s safe to go back upstairs and leave Kh? I¡¯ll take full responsibility for the decision."

    The Professors pondered for a while before replying.

    "I¡¯ve seen that gas before." Yondra said. "It¡¯s a neurotoxinced with magic crystals¡¯ powder so that it can carry and amplify darkness magic pulses without being destroyed by them. Its half-life is about three days, so we¡¯d have to wait at least a week before leaving this ce.

    "Otherwise even if somehow we carry with us enough fresh air to survive, another ck pulse would travel through the toxin so fast that we would die before having enough time to open a Warp Steps."

    "We¡¯ll be all dead before a week." Morok said. His words caused more nods than res this time, making Phloria realize that her real first issue was morale. Gaakhu was a symptom, not the illness, just like Morok had simply stated what everyone was thinking.

    "What about the signs? Is there any indication of an emergency exit?" She prayed to the gods for good news.

    "They only say: ¡¯Main Lobby¡¯..." Gaakhu pointed at the tag in front of the elevator.

    "...¡¯Living Quarters¡¯ and ¡¯Research Area¡¯." Those were the signs respectively pointing left and right.

    "Good." Phloria nodded while everyone looked at her as if she had gone insane.

    "The Living Quarters are bound to be a safe spot. The Odi would never ce a meat factory near their lodgings. Let¡¯s move." Phloria was way less confident than she appeared.

    Yet she had to find a ce where to leave the Assistants before exploring the rest of thepound. Such arge group would be too difficult for her to manage. Along the way, they kept finding working cameras that were regrly disposed of, leaving the enemy blind.

    The corridor was quite long and full of surprises. First, they found leaflets of bright colors hanging on the walls. ording to Ellkas, they were just propaganda inciting the scientists to fight for the Odi cause and not lose hope.

    Then, there were traces of ripped leaflets, reced by what looked like a kid¡¯s drawing of the outside world that covered most of the walls, until it turned into a wall text of gibberish repeated over and over.

    "It says ¡¯doom¡¯." Ellkas said, noticing that it wasn¡¯t the work of a single person. The word was the same but the handwriting was different. The nail marks and the almost faded bloodstains on the walls told them a creepy story.

    No one would ever let such an unsettling message, let alone the blood if the phenomenon hadn¡¯t be so widespread that the authorities had given up on removing the madmen¡¯s message and leave one of their own.

    A message of violence.

    Luckily, the double metal door at the end of the corridor was pristine, lifting their spirit. The Odi hadn¡¯t let the insanity spread too far, so the humans could still hope to find a haven rather than an asylum.

    The Living Quarters had another card reader. Phloria had seen Lith using the keycard and managed to swipe it right at the first attempt. The disy turned bright green and several letters appeared.

    "Commander card recognized." Gaakhu tranted without even giving Phloria the time to ask.

    Phloria nodded and opened the door, revealing a space that extended as far as the eye could see, almost as big as Kh¡¯s residential area. Judging from the distance between the doors, each apartment was quite spacious.

    The area was clean and perfectly lighted, with no sign of vandalism. The pavement was covered by a soft red moquette and the cream-colored walls made everyone rx the moment the heavy door closed behind them.

    "We have only a keycard." Phloria said pointing at the card reader at the side of each door. "So, we¡¯ll have to live together until we find a way out. Professors, please scan the area. I¡¯ll look for the biggest apartment while the rest of you stay here."

    As soon as Neshal signaled her that the coast was clear, Phloria went to the nearest door and swiped the keycard, obtaining only a beep and a red light in return.

    ¡¯Maybe this is themander¡¯s personal key and it can open only their own apartments.¡¯ She thought, but the idea of amanding officer needing more than once key made no sense to her, so when after the second door refused to open as well, Phloria called for Ellkas.

    "What does this say?" She asked after the swipe.

    "ess denied. Permission revoked." Neshal turned pale and started to chant a spell.

    Phloria gave the rm as she walked back to the entrance and swiped the card at the door that they had opened barely a minute ago.

    "ess denied. Permission revoked." Neshal read the message apanying the red light.

    "Dammit, it¡¯s a trap! This is no automated defense, someone has trapped us here." Phloria could cast a Warp Steps to get them out of there, but her problem was that she had no idea where to go.

    The apartment¡¯s doors opened all at once and a small army of Golems stepped out of them. The constructs were nothing like those the expedition group had faced outside Kh.

    They were all humans, but their bodies had been heavily modified, recing most of their flesh with stone and metal. Huge mana crystal had been grafted on all their limbs, including their head.

    Thin tubes came out from their backs and pierced their abdomen. Their skin was deathly pale, their eyes bloodshot with the veiled pupil typical of corpses, yet they were still alive.

    Lith looked at them with Life Vision as his worst fears about the Flesh Golems turned into reality. They still had a faint trace of life force, but no mana flow except for that exuding from their artificial parts, which bore an inhuman energy signature.

    Morok didn¡¯t wait for orders, he struck at the closest construct after shapeshifting his weapons into war hammers. The Golem reacted as fast as a magical beast, shapeshifting its hands into shields to block the attack while breathing fire against Morok.

    The Ranger crouched down to avoid the attack and struck at the construct¡¯s kneecaps at the same time, swinging his hammers in an X shaped motion. The impact was so strong that it shattered them but instead of falling the Flesh Golem simply floated while its limbs regenerated.

    \u003c "Kill me."\u003e It said in an unknownnguage as its hands emitted streams of lightning bolts that sent Morok mming against a wall and into a seizure.

    Once again, Lith somehow understood its words. He recognized that state, he had seen it happen once in the past when Protector was about to die.

    The Odi had solved the mana poisoning issue by somehow destroying the mana core of their victims.

 Chapter 691 Bane Part 1

    As any decent Forgemaster knew, the Golems¡¯ greater weakness was the fact that they were limited to the tactics their maker managed to imbue in their core¡¯s array. No matter how talented a mage was, there were only so many situations they could cover without overloading the array.

    On the other hand, living beings could learn, could be trained, and most importantly, they could be enved. The only problem with Forgemastering living beings had been the mana poisoning that sooner orter would kill them.

    Yet by studying the death of countless specimens, the Odi had discovered that when a living being was on the verge of death, their mana would disappear. They had no idea that the phenomenon was due to the cracking and fading of the mana core, nor it had any relevance to their research.

    They had gotten the idea from the pseudo-Balor experiment they kept in the Body Enhancement department. Between being dead and almost dead there lied countless applications.

    The organic matter of the Flesh Golems was in a constant state of decay, but thanks to the pseudo light fusion the constructs were imbued with, their death was constantly being dyed as their tissue regenerated just as fast as they rotted.

    The tubes transported the nutrients straight to their stomachs, allowing them to sustain the perpetual healing process. The whole existence of the Flesh Golems was pure agony, but that was irrelevant in the Odi¡¯s eyes.

    They just needed to order them not toin to solve the issue of their annoying wails.

    Lith moved his hands, conjuring several small spheres of mes directly inside the Golems¡¯ mouths. The detonation made their brains stter, yet they continued their attack while the flesh regrew at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ¡¯Solus, I can see two weak points right off the bat. First, the ve item. If we destroy it, these creatures will help us. Second, being alive they are vulnerable to darkness magic. Do we conscript or destroy them?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯I¡¯m afraid neither.¡¯ Solus replied stopping him in his tracks. ¡¯The ve item is once again forgemastered in their flesh, to remove it you have to kill them. As for darkness magic, the only flesh they have left is that needed to keep them functional.

    ¡¯Damaging it would only temporarily hinder their battle prowess until it¡¯s regenerated, but that¡¯s it. I can assure you that they have no vitals.¡¯

    While Lith¡¯s spheres were still exploding, Professor Yondra unleashed a volley of ck arrows that struck the nearest Golems at their heads, hearts, and stomachs. She was a Forgemaster and a Healer as well, so her reasoning was akin to Lith¡¯s.

    She smiled seeing the tissues turning green and ck from the decay, yet it disappeared the moment all the allegedly injured constructs turned to face her with their rocky hands brimming with mana.

    ¡¯See? At the moment they have no life force, yet they still work. Soon their flesh will heal, making Yondra¡¯s spell just a waste of mana.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Yondra was about to be sted away by five Golems and Morok wasn¡¯t faring any better. The constant stream of lightning kept him in mid-air, screaming while his steaming flesh started to smell like barbeque.

    Phloria activated all of her magical rings, trying to buy some time. The constructs simply ignored the spells. Tier three could barely dent their bodies and their orders were clear.

    Bring the youths to their masters and kill the rest. The Flesh Golems ran towards their prey with the inhuman speed that their small build and magical bodies bestowed upon them.

    Rainer and the rest of the Assistants used their best spells, yet not having abat specialization, the best they could do was mimic Phloria and obtain her same result.

    "Yondra, help me!" Rainer yelled as a Golem grabbed him before using a Warping Array to disappear. Yet the Professor was using all she had and then more just to resist thebined assault of the five Golems she had attacked.

    If not for Gaakhu¡¯s and Neshal¡¯s help she would have been the first one to fall. The Professorsbined their efforts and artifacts to block most of the Golems, keeping them away with an energy barrier while racking their brains for a solution.

    Lith didn¡¯t care about the Assistants, so he weaved his spell while trying to find a way to defeat his opponents or at least free Morok.

    Everything changed when he saw that Quy was among their targets.

    Lith joined his open palms conjuring apressing a tier five Setting Sun until it was no bigger than a tennis ball. The ck mes struck at the Golem attacking Quy, making its stone parts melt and its organic matter evaporate.

    Yet what slowed the Golem down wasn¡¯t the negligible damage it had sustained, but only the push that the highlypressed mes exerted.

    ¡¯Solus, please. I need an idea!¡¯ Lith thought. He had been casting non-stop, but Golems were the bane of all mages, Awakened or not. In such a confined space, most of his tier five spells were more likely to injure his friends rather than his enemies.

    ¡¯I¡¯m thinking!¡¯ She replied trying to sound reassuring, but she had no clue how to face that many unstoppable constructs.

    Lith¡¯s spell still bought Phloria enough time to join him and activate her tier five spell, Torment Guard.

    As a Mage Knight, she needed earth magic to conjure her tower shields, so she always kept a few kilograms of the hardest rock that money could buy in her dimensional amulet.

    That way, no matter if the fight was in the air, underwater, or in a metal room, Phloria always had what she needed to execute her best spells. Torment Guard conjured a small stone tower around Quy, infused with fire and darkness magic to reinforce Lith¡¯s spell.

    She had fallen into the Odi¡¯s trap as well. Darkness dealt negligible damage against the heavily enchanted inorganic matter and the flesh on the golems was merely a bait. The humans¡¯ brains were safely stored inside their power core and the metal parts stored enough meat samples to endlessly regenerate their bodies.

    The only variable was the amount of pain they would endure.

    Quy and Solus racked their brains. They weren¡¯t fighting, they weren¡¯t giving their all to stop a single dreadnought of stone and metal while everyone around them was getting beaten or kidnapped.

    ¡¯Gods, I¡¯m so stupid! The Odi are just the pr opposites of the undead.¡¯ Both girls thought in unison.

    ¡¯Using darkness to fight light is pointless. Light¡¯s magic bane it¡¯s light itself!¡¯

    "Let me go, sis! I know what to do!" Quy had no time to exin her n, she had to execute it herself. Solus, however, used her mind link with Lith to bring him up to speed.

    ¡¯If you had a body, I might kiss you right now.¡¯ Lith thought while conjuring his battle-oriented Body Sculpting spell, Cleaver.

    He recalled Final Sunset to his left hand while emitting the mana weapons from his right hand together with a cold wave that would allow him to touch the Golem without being burned to cinders.

    His attempt was foiled by a second construct that was hell-bent on capturing him. It attempted to tackle Lith, who was forced to take the construct head-on to prevent it from reaching Quy.

    Lith infused his Skinwalker armor with mana, turning it into quicksilver that covered him from head to toe dispersing most of the kic energy of the charge, stopping the Golem on its tracks.

 Chapter 692 Bane Part 2

    ¡¯I¡¯ll have to trust Quy as much as I trust Solus on this.¡¯ Lith thought while his tier five spell, Scanner, enveloped the construct that was grabbing him, allowing Lith to put Solus¡¯s theory to the test.

    ¡¯What the heck can I do?¡¯ Phloria thought as the first Golem was dismantling her Torment Guard as if it was made of paper, ignoring both her spells and swordy. To make matters worse, after kidnapping her soldiers and the Assistants, the constructs were now free to focus on killing the Professors and the Rangers.

    Phloria hadn¡¯t missed that the Golems seemed to have a different approach based on their enemy, yet she had no idea how to exploit it.

    A third and a fourth construct were about to reach her, their arms already extended.

    "Phloria, trust me, dammit!" Quy yelled. She was so focused using Scanner on her future opponent that she couldn¡¯t afford to Blink out of her cage. It would make her lose her concentration and waste both the tier five light spells she had prepared.

    Phloria snapped her fingers, releasing Quy and used all the earth she had at her disposal to block her enemy. s, hundreds of kilograms were required to stop a Golem. Just a few dozens of them were merely an annoyance.

    It was one of the reasons Lith hadn¡¯t brought any with himself. Even if he had used his entire pocket dimension, he would have barely enough to stop a single construct at the price of losing everything he had.

    Besides, he had many strings to his bow.

    The Golem tried to zap him, but the Orichalcum deflected the spell. Then, it tried to lift the Ranger, but bying this close to him, Lith¡¯s spirit magic was a raging river that the creature could barely stand.

    ¡¯Okay, ignore its life force. To do any damage to whatever is left of its human side, it would take us too much time. Focus on the runes. Find and damage them.¡¯ As if Solus was speaking to both of them, Lith and Quy performed the same task.

    One was protected by her beloved sister, who was facing three Golems at once, while the other only had spirit magic to prevent his opponent from Warping him away.

    It was an incredibly hard task for both Healers. Quy had to ignore Phloria¡¯s battle screams and set aside her fears as the unliving monstrosity grabbed her, while Lith had to manage many things at once.

    Yet he wasn¡¯t alone. Solus examined the Golem¡¯splex life force, searching for the runes hidden inside the many building blocks and energy bridges that once gave life to the man in front of them.

    ¡¯There, under the heart.¡¯ One thought to herself and the other to her partner.

    Quy¡¯s Chisel scraped the rune engraved in the creature¡¯s life force whereas Lith¡¯s Cleaver split it asunder. Until that moment, the Golems¡¯ movements had been relentless.

    No matter what kind of attack they were under, the constructs had followed their orders with no care for the consequences. Their bodies healed the moment they suffered any damage.

    Even Lith¡¯s and Phloria¡¯sbined attack had barely left a mark on them. Yet as soon as a single rune was damaged, they both stuttered. Lith and Quy found another rune in the Golems¡¯ head, crushing it with their respective spell.

    A Golem was aplex machine, but a Flesh Golem was in a league of its own. Damaging their runes was akin to removing random gears from a clockwork marvel, destroying its perfect bnce.

    The constructs froze, but while Quy could only search and destroy more runes to make sure it wouldn¡¯te back to life, Lith had other options. Solus¡¯s glove covered his hand and the Orichalcum covered Solus.

    Life Vision showed him their power cores, so after using fusion magic to boost his physical prowess, he was capable of piercing through their stone shell and ripping the still pulsing power core from the creature¡¯s ankle.

    \u003c "Thank you."\u003e The man said as his flesh turned to mush and the Golem copsed.

    A split secondter, the Golem in front of Quy was dead too, letting her focus on the two that were seconds away from overpowering Phloria.

    ***

    "That¡¯s impossible!" Jiira said watching at the Golems control panel. Two lights had just gone offline. "Flesh Golems are perfect, immortal creatures. Not even us could take them down if not for the ve control engraved into their very being!"

    "If only we still had the cameras." Rizo was tempted to bite his fingernails out of stress, but ruining his perfect body would be considered as a sign of weakness from his peers.

    "It must be the non-human¡¯s work. Emperor Beasts drove us into corner one time too many to underestimate them." Le said. "We must kill all the remaining invaders."

    "What? And lose the only semi-decent looking woman of the herd?" Veiga was outraged. She had her eyes on Quy from the beginning. "Also, we need the old ones to learn theirnguage, otherwise spare bodies or not, we¡¯ll notst a minute outside."

    "Veiga is right. We can always make more Flesh Golems whereas powerful mages are hard to find." Guuna had been a powerful mage back in her days. She didn¡¯t care if her body was male or female, as long as it was powerful.

    "I have a better idea." Jiira smiled. "We order the Golems to kill only those that managed to destroy theirrades. After all, what makes the Flesh Golems truly perfect is the fact that they are not mindless machines.

    "Their human side allowed us to train them in the use of the spells we bestowed upon them, to getting used to their peerless physical prowess, and more importantly, to properly follow orders."

    All the Odi nodded at those words. They believed that if Kh hadn¡¯t been cut off from the rest of the empire during the Great War, if only they had received enough supplies and specimens, an army of Flesh Golems would have guaranteed their victory.

    The Odi could already picture the entirety of Mogar on its knees in front of the true and only master race.

    ***

    Once the order was given, the Golems focused on Lith. All twenty of them.

    "This is bad." He said.

    The Professors could finally catch their breath. Up until that moment, the four of them had kept at bay the entire horde of enemies, but each time one of the constructs managed to slip through their barrier, someone had been kidnapped.

    Now they were holding back seventeen Flesh Golems, the others were the one that had been frying Morok up until that moment, and the two that had almost cornered Phloria.

    They all turned towards Lith, ignoring their old marks and readying their spells. Morok¡¯s body slid down the wall and on the ground, but instead of falling to a side, his feet stood firm.

    "Thanks for nothing, you frigging bastards!" Morok¡¯s skin was almost ck, yet he seemed to be more pissed off than wounded. "I almost got roasted because of you. Is it too much to ask for a little help?"

    It was hard to tell who was more surprised if the Golems or his own allies.

    "Magna!" He yelled as his hammers turned orange and his body swelled. Every muscle in his body was now as tense as a bowstring.

 Chapter 693 Retreat Part 1

    The Golem ignored Morok, turning around to focus on Lith. When the first hammer struck, the back of the construct exploded, spraying the nutrients stored inside its hunch all over the corridor.

    The second hammer hit the Golem¡¯s side, it pierced through the stone shell until only its handle was still visible.

    "Now you ignore me? Now? Too little toote!" Morok¡¯s hammers struck in a flurry of attacks, sending debris, flesh, and blood flying around. By the time the Golem managed to react, its power core was destroyed.

    Morok fell to his knees due to exhaustion, too weak to even hold his weapons any longer. Both the Odi and the humans were astonished that another Flesh Golem had fallen so fast.

    "All right, stop. Hammer time will resume in a jiffy." He said panting.

    Normal Golems would have frozen now that their protocols were contradictory. Back when Jiira had ordered them to kill the Golem yer, only Lith fit their bill, but now there were two.

    Unfortunately, the human side allowed them to understand an order beyond its literal meaning, so they simply split.

    "Never screw with the Healer, because the next time you go down, you stay down!" Quy had never stopped moving, grabbing the nearest Golem. She was d to discover that the Forgemastering process for all the constructs was identical.

    That way she already knew where the three runes she had located when Scanning the first Golem were located in the life force of the other enemies.

    Her Chisels broke them all at once.

    "Lith!" She yelled while tackling with her small body the third Golem that Phloria had been facing until a second ago. The construct wasn¡¯t stupid. Its orders were to bring the bodies alive, not intact.

    The little girl had already paralyzed two of its kin, and even though the poor woman grafted inside the Golem wanted nothing more than to be put out of her misery, her self defense protocols forbid her to allow any damage to be willingly inflicted upon the enchanted rock that was now her body.

    The construct struck Quy with a backhand p, sending her mming against a wall. Even with the Skinwalker armor¡¯s protection, the hit was strong enough to break her jaw and nose.

    She fell limp on the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the wall where her head had struck.

    Lith swallowed his rage to not let her sacrifice go to waste. He ignored the still active Golem and ripped off the power core from the still stiff construct, further reducing their numbers.

    Now only eighteen were left, yet they were likely to be seventeen too many of them.

    "We have to retreat. We can¡¯t hold them for much longer." Yondra was the most vigorous Professor thanks to her rejuvenated body. She quickly conjured a Warp Steps and gestured her colleagues to get into it.

    "What about me?" Morok was still wheezing for air, cornered like a mouse between two walls. The eight golems around him had yet to attack only because they were taking position.

    "Blink, you moron!" She replied while Phloria used that very same spell to rescue Quy and bring her past the dimensional door.

    ¡¯The Golems are charging up their arrays, we have to be quick!¡¯ Solus warned Lith, who Blinked as well and dragged Yondra with himself. He knew that unlike Wardens, a construct only needed a handful of seconds to activate an elemental blocking array.

    Yondra¡¯s n would have failed if everyone wasn¡¯t already close to each other. Not even five seconds had passed since the moment the Warp had been opened and it was already about to be closed.

    "Oh shit!" Morok could feel the mana density in the air rise to the point of making his skin crawl. He had no Life Vision, but his instincts were screaming at him to get the heck out of there.

    He Blinked a split second before the Air Blocking array was activated and jumped inside the Warp while it was copsing on itself. Morok curled up in fetal position, managing to lose only the extremities of some of his toes due to the dimensional cut.

    He immediately stopped the bleeding and then started to regenerate the missing flesh and bones.

    "I need some help." He said, but no one made a move.

    Yondra only handed him some food and said:

    "Sorry kid, everyone is beat and has something better to do." She pointed at Neshal, who was chanting an array as fast as she could.

    She was casting the Earth Blocking array which would greatly hinder the Golems. It would prevent them from opening a Warping Array in the proximity of the makeshift camp and limit their movements in case they came too close forfort.

    Lith was treating Quy. Her nose and jaw weren¡¯t a problem, but the concussion was a different story. If she had suffered brain damage, she would need a long time to recover, time that they didn¡¯t have.

    Lith used Invigoration on her, making her instantly recover and even partially replenishing her mana. She woke startled and instinctively raised her arms in defense.

    "Don¡¯t worry, little one. You¡¯re safe." When he had heard Quy¡¯s skull crack, something inside Lith had almost snapped. Her pallor had almost driven him insane, reminding him of Carl¡¯s corpse lying on the hospital¡¯s stretcher.

    "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me ¡¯little one¡¯?" She angrily replied. "Where are we?" She asked when she realized that everyone was staring at her.

    "In front of the elevator. The furthest ce we know from the Golems." Yondra replied, noticing that Quy was way too healthy for someone who had sustained multiple fractures and the blood loss from both her head and nose.

    Healers weren¡¯t miracle workers, or so she had always believed.

    Quy nodded and took some food out of her dimensional ring, wolfing it down as fast as she could. Invigoration could do many things, but not give a body the nutrients it required.

    "Can you work your magic on me too?" Morok asked, eating and healing at the same time to not copse due to exhaustion.

    "Fuck you." Lith snarled, taking care of Phloria first.

    "I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry." She tried to push him away, but his grip was as gentle as it was strong.

    "A body with cracked ribs, arms, and countless bruises is far from being fine." Lith replied while cursing at the constructs¡¯ insane power.

    Phloria had fought with all she had, and even though the Golems had only tried to capture her, they had still managed to hurt her badly. And that despite her Skinwalker armor.

    "Now stay still. This may feel weird but bear with me." Lith chanted some gibberish and Invigorated her. Phloria¡¯s battered body healed and recovered as her mana was fully recovered.

    The surprise made her turn pale as a ghost, helping Lith to keep up his fa?ade. Not that he cared that much. His life was on the line and the Odi were the perfect scapegoats in case he had to get rid of any of the members of the expedition.

    Only Yondra troubled him. She reminded him of Nana too much to leave him indifferent. Luckily, until they were stuck underground, he had all the time to make up his mind.

    Lith took out all the food he could before Neshal¡¯s array wasplete. After that, dimensional items would be useless.

    "Am I there yet?" Morok asked. He was about to copse due to theck of nutrients and mana, yet he still had the energy for being obnoxious.

 Chapter 694 Retreat Part 2

    Lith would have liked to ignore him, but Morok and Quy were the only ones capable of helping him to defeat the Golems. On top of that, he had no idea how many constructs were left, so he needed all the support he could get.

    After handing to his fellow Ranger something rich in calcium and proteins topensate for the amputation, Lith used normal tier four light magic toplete the regeneration process of Morok¡¯s missing toes.

    Now both Rangers were beat and in dire need of rest.

    "How long do you think we have?" Phloria asked.

    "Hard to say." Ellkas replied. "Depends on how smart the Golems are and if there really is someone guiding them. We have destroyed all the surveince items on the way to the living quarters, so they might search the entire corridor.

    "Best case scenario, we have a few minutes, so shut up and rest."

    Lith had to agree, their situation was beyond dire. The only way he had to increase their chances of survival was to use Invigoration on all of those present, but that meant turning any doubt they might have into certainty and being forced to kill them allter.

    Both he and Solus racked their brains while taking deep breaths to absorb as much world energy they could without resorting to Invigoration.

    "Minutes? Then why the heck did you have me create such a huge array?" Neshal said. Her breath was ragged and her hands trembled so much that it was hard for her even cing the mana crystals necessary to fuel the Earth Blocking formation.

    "Because otherwise we would have only a few seconds of respite and because therger the array, the further the Golems have to stay from us." Ellkas helped her to sit down on the floor and gave her some food.

    Neshal took just a few bites before losing consciousness. She was way past her sixties and using so much mana in less than five minutes took a great toll on her stamina.

    "How can you be so calm and why do you seem to be the less tired among us?" Gaakhu asked Yondra.

    "Those bastards took Rainer, but getting angry will not help me to save him." Yondra was sitting cross-legged, in a meditative state to calm her mind and regain her mental focus faster.

    "The Golems took the Assistants alive whereas they tried to kill us old fogeys, so I guess they want young bodies. I doubt the Odi will start the procedure before catching the Captain, the Rangers, and Quy.

    "Rayner will be fine as long as I stop the Odi from capturing them. As for my youthfulness, unlike you, I¡¯m not so dumb to make an enemy of a rejuvenator. On the contrary, I sought both his services and friendship." Yondra exined.

    "How can you be so sure that we¡¯re dealing with the Odi?" Ellkas asked, inwardly cursing himself for not thinking about getting rejuvenated as soon as they had opened Kh¡¯s doors.

    Ellkas knew about Lith¡¯s status, but he took pride in his well-preserved physique. Asking to be rejuvenated meant admitting he was getting old, and that was one big bullet to bite.

    "First the elevator, then the t card. We checked everything, there was no security measure that the Captain might have triggered. Also, Golems can¡¯t change their protocols without a direct order." Yondra exined.

    "What do you mean when you say that they need us for the procedure?" Phloria asked, doing her best to pretend to be tired. Her mind was a blur. Now too many things finally made sense, bringing her just a small leap of fantasy away from Lith¡¯s secret.

    "Silly child, you misunderstood my words. They don¡¯t need you for the procedure, they need you to stop quarreling about who gets who." Yondra¡¯s voice was calm, but her words were terrifying.

    "I disagree." Morok said. "They were clearly trying to kill me."

    "If that was the case, you would already be dead." Yondra sneered. "The Golem tried to make you faint, but you are too dumb to know when to give up and that saved you. As simple as that."

    Morok bit his lower lip in frustration, swallowing his pride. There were many things he would have liked to do and say but hecked the strength necessary. He could hear the Golems¡¯ stone feet hitting the metal floor in the distance.

    "Do any of you has something I can use as a weapon?" Lith asked. Solus¡¯s glove had too short a range to be useful. He looked at Morok¡¯s hammers in envy, wishing he still had the Gatekeeper.

    A series of "No, I¡¯m sorry" was the only answer he got. Lith tried to keep calm, but if the Odi were still alive, then the Golems were the least of his worries.

    ¡¯Yet it doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯If they achieved immortality with Life Merging, how did they lose the war? If they didn¡¯t, how the heck are they still alive?¡¯

    Solus was trying to solve that conundrum as well, but she had no answer to offer him.

    "Quy, what kind of weapon can a Mana Reactor be?" Lith had no time to lose. He could hear at least a Golem getting close.

    "Why do you think it¡¯s a weapon?" Quy already felt ashamed for thinking that the Odi had considered turning themselves into Golems. Her crazy theory had turned out to be just foolish. Those things weren¡¯t eternal life, more like eternal agony.

    "Because I think we have misunderstood this ce from the beginning. This isn¡¯t a medical facility, but a military facility to develop new weapons for winning the war against the ¡¯lesser races¡¯." Lith replied.

    "They are all based on life force and you are the best Healer I know after Manohar. Think about it. How would you weaponize a hypothetical endless supply of energy with light magic?" He stood up, the Golem was almost at the fringes of the array.

    Life Vision confirmed what his enhanced senses already told him.

    "I expect you to have an answer for me when I get back. I¡¯m going to buy us some time." Lith walked toward the corridor leading to the living quarters.

    The Professors looked at him as if he was a mad man, Morok with an odd savage grin of camaraderie, while Quy tried to stand up before Phloria stopped her. No one said a word or tried to stop him.

    Crazy or not, they were in desperate need of rest.

    "Sit down, sis. We are both tired." Phloria was still pale, but her voice was stern and her eyes as hard as steel.

    Quy was about to rebuke that she felt perfectly fine and that she wouldn¡¯t let Lith fight that battle alone. And that was the moment she understood her sister¡¯s words.

    She wasn¡¯t supposed to be fine, at all. In her experience, after sustaining such severe injuries and using so many tier five spells, she was supposed to be barely conscious, yet she was overflowing with energy.

    Quy became pale as well, her knees buckled from the shock. As she sat down again, the Professors thought that her previous outburst was just because of an adrenaline rush.

    In their eyes, there was nothing special in Lith¡¯s healing. Not now that both women were sweating bullets, incapable even of standing up.

 Chapter 695 Third Eye Part 1

    Those were the moments when Lith would have loved Mogar to be like a video game. That way, before consuming Invigoration, he could safely go down on HP and MP to maximize its effects.

    Real life, however, was quite different. Injuries drained his stamina, which in turn slowed his reflexes down, making him an easier target. On top of that, low mana also meant having a splitting headache, blurred vision, and difficulty concentrating.

    Even though he was right above a mana geyser, his natural world energy absorption rate wasn¡¯t enough to allow him fighting a Golem after so few minutes of rest. At least under normal circumstances.

    ¡¯Solus, I need to delegate a few things to you to save as much energy as possible. We don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be trapped down here, so Invigoration is our lifeline. I want Phloria, Quy, and Yondra to survive, in this order of importance.

    ¡¯The rest of the group are just expendable pawns.¡¯ He thought.

    Solus didn¡¯t like that Lith ced Phloria above Quy. They were both supposed to be just his friends, yet he seemed to value her more despite her lesser talent. Solus didn¡¯t object though, she just mind-nodded for him to continue.

    ¡¯The moment we engage the enemy, I need you to scan the Golem for any form ofmunication device. Golems can talk, but maybe they can also share their vision or thoughts with their kin and masters.

    ¡¯Based on the results of your analysis, I can greatly improve our odds of survival.¡¯

    Life Vision flickered in his eyes, Lith kept it active only long enough to check both the Golem¡¯s position and where the array¡¯s borders were.

    ¡¯Okay, stop.¡¯ Solus thought when he was about to turn around a corner. ¡¯We¡¯re close enough that my senses can disy their maximum proficiency. Give me a second.¡¯

    Solus had to admit that without Phloria their situation would have been much worse. Thanks to their work on runes during thest few days, the three of them had written a small rune dictionary.

    It allowed Solus to instantly recognize the old runes of which they knew the modern equivalent. Without it, she wouldn¡¯t be able to even guess how the Flesh Golems were enchanted.

    ¡¯There is some kind ofmunication device, but it¡¯s only linked to its ears and human mouth. They can¡¯t share their vision.¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith checked that all members of the expedition were still in front of the elevator before shapeshifting into his hybrid form. Its ws were nothingpared to the Gatekeeper, but now that his prized weapon was lost, they were an invaluable tool.

    The Flesh Golem had just reached the fringes of the Earth Blocking array and was about to report its findings when suddenly an invisible force pulled it inside the array as a Hush enveloped its mouth.

    It could speak, cast spells, but no sound would escape its throat, leaving whoever was listening on the other side of themunicator in the dark. The moment the Golem stepped inside the array it was over.

    Its limbs went limp as the magical formation sealed both the earth magic the construct needed to move and all of its dimensional spells,munication included. Lith was waiting in ambush behind a corner, using inbination his own ws, Solus¡¯s, and the Orichalcum to reach its power core before the Golem could react.

    The creature tried to unleash his full power in bolts of lightning all around itself, using the metal walls to prevent its enemy from avoiding the area of effect of its attack. s, Solus had ced a very small yet perfectly functional Air Blocking array on Lith¡¯s hunting spot.

    The wasted mana only made it easier for Lith to kill his prey in a single lunge.

    ¡¯When earth fails them, they always go for air. Yurial, you truly were a moron. Arrays aren¡¯t useless. A single one can turn an invincible construct into a pile of scrap.¡¯ Lith thought.

    \u003c "Beware..."\u003e The Golem who had once been a young brown-haired man said Lith with thest strength he had left. His eyes were full of gratitude and tears of joy. Finally his pain hade to an end, but he had no time to waste with thanks.

    Now that he was free from the ve enchantment, he wanted to help his savior with hisst breath.

    \u003c..."of the green array. Destroy Reactor first. The..."\u003e The man inwardly cursed. Even using the least amount of words he could while still making sense, one breath was too little to convey his message.

    Without the Golem, once his lungs were empty, he had no way of filling them again. He moved his lips, mouthing thest words with what strength he had left. Unfortunately, Lith had no idea how he could understand a long deadnguage, let alone how the unknown words were spelled.

    The man died between Lith¡¯s arms, turning the joy of his victory into an odd sort of grieving. The youth was barely younger than Lith was when he had taken his own life. Like him, the youth had suffered an unjust fate from which there was no escape.

    Yet, the young man had never given up, fighting until thest second to do what he believed was right.

    Lith moved the corpse away from the hunting spot with spirit magic, giving it a bow as a thank you before using darkness magic to destroy every trace of flesh until the man was free and only the machine was left.

    ¡¯All the spells engraved on the Golem have faded. No transmission was sent during the ambush.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Yet it¡¯s possible that the moment you brought it inside the array, it was perceived as "dead". Locating spells are dimensional spells as well, so Neshal¡¯s array interrupted its signal.

    ¡¯Even better.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I¡¯m far from the camp and if more Golemse, I can take them down.¡¯

    The ambush had consumed only a small part of Lith¡¯s energy, he still had no need of using Invigoration. A second Golem Warped on hisradest known position, falling into spirit magic¡¯s clutches.

    "Beware of the green array. Destroy Reactor first. The...?" Lith said, hoping that the young woman grafted in the second Golem could understand him and that she was willing to help him as well.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t let her waste herst breath telling me what I already know. I must stay one step ahead.¡¯ He thought.

    She looked at Lith with a puzzled look. Death wasn¡¯t the best thing to clear someone¡¯s head.

    \u003c "Oh!"\u003e She said when his words finally made sense. \u003c "The basement. Go there. Thank...."\u003e

    A single word wasn¡¯t enough to exin the rest to her savior. The young woman used thest of her strength to express her gratitude and stare at the floor. Even in death, her gaze guided Lith somewhere on his far right, like a beacon.

    ¡¯So there is more than one underground floor and the good stuff is further below.¡¯ Lith waited that Solus had approximatively calcted where the woman¡¯s eyes were pointing at before giving her mangled flesh peace.

    A wisp of light came out from the darkness his spell had generated, passing through Lith¡¯s hybrid body before shooting towards the sky.

    ¡¯Was that her soul?¡¯ Solus was bbergasted. ¡¯Did she really refuse to leave until being certain that she had passed her message to you?¡¯

    ¡¯She was a brave woman.¡¯ Lith said. A single drop of water streamed down his right temple. A blue eye was now open.

 Chapter 696 Third Eye Part 2

    Lith¡¯s hybrid form had no blood nor tears, only mes and shadows dwelled in his body. Yet the opening of the third eye produced a small droplet of water that closely resembled a tear.

    The blue eye quickly turned yellow like the other two, before closing again.

    ¡¯Okay, seriously. What the fuck was that?¡¯ Lith thought as soon as Solus recovered from her shock enough to share with him her memories of what had just happened.

    ¡¯Maybe water magic is linked with souls?¡¯ Solus blurted out before remembering how dire their situation was.

    She performed a thorough analysis of Lith¡¯s body, life force, and mana before concluding that nothing had changed. Or at least, nothing she was able to detect.

    ¡¯Never mind eye number three and focus on the potential Golem number three. My Air Blocking array will notst long without mana crystals.¡¯ She pointed out while deactivating the magical formation to preserve its always dwindling energy reserves.

    Lith didn¡¯t like the sudden turn of events one bit. He had no idea what the energy mass that had just left the underground facility was, but one thing he knew for sure.

    When he had witnessed the same phenomenon in the past, back in Kaduria against the ck Star and in Maekosh against Tezka, the warg-Abomination hybrid, both times living beings had been enved.

    Their flesh had been twisted and their minds trapped into an endless nightmare until Lith had broken their chains. That revtion gave the name "Mana Reactor" a new meaning.

    ¡¯ording to legends, mana is the element of life, not the world energy.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯Quy was wrong, the Mana reactor can¡¯t be something that converts mana into life force, but the other way around. To what end though, I don¡¯t know.¡¯

    ¡¯Great thinking, Solus.¡¯ Lith kept waiting for another Golem to appear, yet nothing happened. The minutes passed, until Solus was back to her full strength and could cast another Air Blocking array, but to no avail.

    ¡¯Yondra is right, there¡¯s clearly the Odi¡¯s hand behind the attack. After losing two Flesh Golems, they must be worried.¡¯ Lith¡¯s reasoning was spot on.

    Flesh Golems were supposed to be perfect killing machines. Two of them dying so fast had made the Odi reconsider their n and listen to their soldiers¡¯ reports to better n against the unknown enemy.

    They were baffled learning that the major threat appeared to be the young woman. The others were just brutes and old farts. They had managed to kill four constructs only because the female mage had somehow crippled them.

    Also, that was when the humans were still at their full force. After such a heavy fight, with the female mage down, they were supposed to be easy prey, yet they seemed to have gotten even stronger.

    "I call dibs on the female mage!" Veiga repeated. "If one of your rust buckets damages her body, I will kill you Guuna."

    "She¡¯s clearly the most powerful of the group. Her body would be wasted on a vain wench like you, Veiga. I could put her to good use." Guuna replied.

    Before they could start bickering, with the serious risk of killing each other andpromise the entire group¡¯s survival, Jiira stepped in.

    "Enough, you two. As everyone has agreed before, the bids on the bodies will start once we have an exact number. Dibs are for children. Now, if we want to get those bodies, we need a strategy.

    "I¡¯ve sent the Golem back to their charge pods, so when they resume the attack they will be at full strength. Now I want answers. How did they kill two Flesh Golems so fast and how can we prevent it from happening again?"

    The Odi stopped thinking about the bodies and focused on the matter at hand. They could Forgemaster new Flesh Golems from their meat factories, but even though magical beasts could understand their orders, the Odi couldn¡¯t understand beast speech.

    Also, using beasts as a material meant that the resulting Golem would be too big to be able of moving easily in confined spaces. Those were the reasons why human Golems were considered elite troops.

    Yet breeding humans took years, and the Odi had barely the resources to keep themselves alive, let alone care for enough test subjects until they reached maturity. Only fourteen Flesh Golems were left, so their next attack had also to be thest one.

    ***

    After waiting for more than half an hour, Lith decided to go back to the elevator. The mana geyser had replenished part of his strength, but there was nothing like sleep. By the time he was back at the camp, only Quy, Phloria, and Yondra were still awake.

    Yondra had used her meditation technique to achieve a deep trance that allowed her to rest almost as well as she had slept, replenishing her mana and rxing her body. The other Professors and Morok had all ingested a tonic to hasten their recovery before exhaustion got the better of them.

    "How did it go, young spirit?" Yondra asked.

    "Two Golems less." Lith replied, almost breaking her trance. "I tricked them one at a time inside Neshal¡¯s array plus one of my own. With earth and air blocked, it wasn¡¯t hard killing them."

    None of those present missed the use of the word "kill" instead of "destroy".

    "I don¡¯t know how long will pass until they return. Quy, what about the answer to my question?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯ve bad news. If we consider this ce a weapon facility instead of a medical facility, the nature of a Mana Reactor is almost obvious." She replied, expecting that her words were self-exnatory.

    "No, it¡¯s not." Everyone said in unison, Solus included.

    "Gods, guys. Mana Reactor! The name says it all. What makes a difference between a mediocre mage and a good one? Why do we need tiers of magic? It¡¯s all a matter not only of the talent one possesses, but also of the amount of mana avable.

    "With unlimited mana and enough training, anyone could cast all tier of spells, at least in theory. The problem is that mana is something that can¡¯t be borrowed or stolen without incurring into mana poisoning." She looked at Lith¡¯s eyes, wondering how could he vite such fundamentalw of magic.

    "So, a Mana Reactor is clearly something that provides to its user an endless supply of mana, making them invincible."

    "No, that¡¯s impossible." Lith replied, expressing Solus¡¯s objections.

    "This ce, like most lost cities, is fueled by world energy, but that¡¯s not mana. World energy can condense into crystals and be used to fuel an enchantment, but it can¡¯t empower a mage."

    ¡¯At least not without being filtered through the mana core, as you do with Invigoration.¡¯ Solus exined. ¡¯If the Odi knew about cores, they would have all been Awakened, which they clearly weren¡¯t.

    ¡¯Without that piece of knowledge, just injecting world energy into a living being would just have deadly effects. Static mana cores can¡¯t handle it without being destroyed. It¡¯s like forcing more air inside a balloon already full to the brim, it can only burst.¡¯

    "I¡¯m not talking about world energy Lith." Quy sighed.

    ¡¯Sometimes I wonder if I talk too fast or the rest of the world is just slow. Oh gods! I¡¯m starting to sound like Manohar.¡¯ She thought.

 Chapter 697 Dreadnought Part 1

    "I¡¯m talking about mana, something that only a living being can produce. I think that after thoroughly manipting their specimens¡¯ bodies with light magic, the Odi found a way to extract, purify, and store mana from other living beings.

    "This, let¡¯s call it neutral mana, is something without an energy signature, allowing it to be used without suffering from mana poisoning.

    "Hence, a Mana Reactor can only be fueled by living beings, which also exins why the Meat Factories have been moved down here, why the Odi keep breeding them up to this day, and how they were able to craft Flesh Golems.

    "Forgemastering those dreadnoughts is otherwise impossible."

    Lith had be so used to using true Forgemastery that he had almost forgotten that fake mages only had as long as a magic circle held to craft their works. Grafting flesh to stone, infusing the constructs with so many arrays and spells, it would have required more mana that even Manohar could possibly have.

    ¡¯Dammit, Quy is right. I bet that first theypleted the Mana Reactor, and only thanks to that did they manage to bring the other projects to fruition.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, but why?¡¯ Solus asked, her mind sounded dejected.

    ¡¯Why what?¡¯

    ¡¯Why did Quy understand what a Mana Reactor is even though she had way fewer clues than me, whereas I failed? Maybe I¡¯m not as smart as you think.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯First, you¡¯re at least as smart as she is, and even if you weren¡¯t, you would still be leagues above me. Second, you failed because of me.¡¯ Lith said.

    ¡¯Because of you? Do you think that you make me stupid or what?¡¯ Solus chuckled at Lith¡¯s silly attempt to justify her shorings.

    ¡¯No. It¡¯s just that both you and Quy are polymath geniuses, but while Quy has always focused solely on light magic, because of me you also practice all kinds of magic known to us, both fake and true.

    ¡¯Which means that,pared to her, you didn¡¯t have enough time. Magic is infinite, Solus, whereas we only have a limited amount of time each day. You didn¡¯t fail because you¡¯re not good enough, but simply because you¡¯ve chosen to be a jack of all trades but master of none to help me ovee my problems.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s words forced Solus to take a few steps back from her wounded pride and look at the bigger picture. He was right, of course. Quy knew nothing about other specializations, whereas Solus could outsmart most mages their age in their own field of research.

    The realization made her feel better because as any mage worthy of their title, Solus was verypetitive. Yet at the same time, it made her worry. Lith was periodically dragged into a big mess, and every time she was his life line.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Quy, this time they might have lost an important clue for his survival until it was toote, which she promptly pointed out to him.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right, but let¡¯s be honest. If I was here alone, I would have left this ursed ce right after fighting the fungal creature. I¡¯m not stupid enough to not understand when I¡¯m outside my field of expertise.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one worried about Quy¡¯s words. Yondra and Phloria were racking their brains as well, trying to find a flimsy chance of survival. They were locked inside an unknown ce, with nowhere to run, and surrounded by timeless enemies.

    Their situation wasn¡¯t dire so much as a death sentence. They all reached the conclusion that their only hope was to find a Warp Rune that would bring them far enough from Kh to escape the range of the deadly gas.

    Lith took a short nap to recover his strength. His natural recovery was a great help, but it couldn¡¯t reset Invigoration on its own, only dy the next use of his breathing technique.

    Unfortunately, that peace didn¡¯tst long. While the expedition group rested, the Odi studied the Earth Blocking array via their surveince devices or by sending the Golems to investigate where cameras had been destroyed.

    Neshal¡¯s formation was made of modern runes, but all arrays could be broken with enough time and preparation. On top of that, thanks to their hybrid nature, Flesh Golems could use magic almost as true mages, making it easier for them to adapt their spells to any circumstance.

    A bit more than half an hour after Lith had fallen asleep, the Earth Blocking array started to flicker and the mana crystals fueling it to rattle. Yondra quickly woke up everyone while chanting her spells.

    Despite her daze from being still quite tired, Neshal realized what was happening and recovered the mana crystals. Thanks to her mind link with her arrays, she knew that she had no chance to block the assault by herself, at least not for long.

    Instead of wasting mana to buy a handful of seconds, it was better to prepare for the iing fight.

    "This shouldn¡¯t be too hard for you, right?" Morok said, wishing he could have slept just a bit more. His strength had almost returned, but almost wasn¡¯t enough. "You killed two more Golems on your own. If we just cover your back and dy the others, destroying fourteen constructs should take you what, one minute?"

    "First, weren¡¯t you supposed to be asleep?" Lith was bbergasted by both Morok¡¯s hearing and idiocy. "Second, that was an ambush, where I struck one Golem at a time under the influence of two arrays.

    "They were sitting ducks. I didn¡¯t fight them, I assassinated them. Now theye in numbers and I have to face them head on. It¡¯spletely different."

    "A man can dream." Morok sighed.

    "The Living Quarters are a dead end. We must find the Meat Factories and their Warp Runes. Thebs are our only way out." Phloria said after exining everyone Quy¡¯s discoveries about the Mana reactor.

    The group nodded, and while the array slowly copsed, they started moving along the east corridor and destroying the surveince devices on their path. They were aware that is was a double-edged move, but it was their only option.

    On one hand, it meant giving away their position, since magical items didn¡¯t break down on their own. On the other hand, in the case of retreat, the Odi and their minions wouldn¡¯t be able to trace them.

    "We need to make haste." Professor Gaakhu said. "If we don¡¯t get far away enough before the array copses our back with be expos..."

    As Lith inwardly cursed her for jinxing their situation, the array disappeared, reced by two Flesh Golems on their back plus two more in front of them. More would have been unable to move along the hallway.

    This time it was the group suffering a well-staged ambush. The constructs didn¡¯t try to get close to their prey but unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning in unison. The electricity traveled through the metalprising the whole corridor.

    Each time it reached a fellow Golem, the lightning would be absorbed, released, and amplified, allowing the four constructs to create a devastating electrical formation in just a split second.

    Lith and Morok jumped to avoid the shock, activating a float spell to stay away from the ground. Neshal activated another Earth Blocking array she had prepared while using her Crown Staff to absorb the enemy¡¯s spells before they could reach her.

    Phloria managed to cover the ground below her feet with the stones stored inside her dimensional amulet just in the nick of time, dragging Quy above it with her.

 Chapter 698 Dreadnought Part 2

    The rest of the expedition team wasn¡¯t so lucky. They had many spells at the ready and even more protections, but their reflexes failed them. Once the electrical shock sent them into a seizure, they lost their focus and so any chance to counter-attack.

    The Earth Blocking array only slowed down the Golems. They were still able to move thanks to their metal parts and electromaic fields, plus it did nothing to stop them from using other elements.

    The Rangers darted forward with their flight spells, only to be struck by another bolt of lightning firs,t and then swatted like flies by the Golems¡¯ arms. With so little momentum and no ground below their feet, they could exert only a fraction of their true strength.

    Luckily, thanks to earth fusion, Lith managed to avoid the brunt of the damage and remain conscious, but the hit was still strong enough to crack his ribs. Bouncing on the metal corridor made things worse, though.

    Suddenly, more Golems appeared, flying in the middle of the group and collecting the Professors who had fallen unconscious or were about to. No matter how good their protections were, they couldn¡¯t endure such prolonged shock with an already debilitated body.

    In the blink of an eye, Yondra, Gaakhu, and Ellkas were brought away and disappeared through a dimensional door opened right past the array. Then, the two new Golems moved to stun and collect the remaining women.

    ¡¯Sons of a gun!¡¯ Lith thought while his teeth ttered due to the electric shock. ¡¯The first four constructs are just a living array. The real threates from the other two. These Golems are damn smart.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s worse than that.¡¯ Solus exined. ¡¯They have timed their attack so to not let us stack an Earth and an Air Blocking array. This way, no matter which element blocking formation was cast first, they would have taken us down anyway.¡¯

    Ovepping arrays was aplex matter. If not done properly, the first array prevented the second from activating. During their ambush, Solus had taken her time to prepare her Air Blocking array and make sure to not mess with the camp¡¯s protection.

    The Golems near the Rangers closed in on them, their stone fists ready to turn them into a pulp. Lith and Morok managed to get back in the air, but their situation hadn¡¯t improved much.

    Meanwhile, Quy looked at the nearing enemy and noticed something strange. All Golems seemed to be wary of her and somehow puzzled. Their orders were quite contradictory since the young woman had to be apprehended at all costs, but without harming her nor allowing her to touch them.

    With earth magic sealed, the golems could only wait that she slipped off the rocks and fell into the stream of electricity. The current was already enough to ovee most enchanted protections, any more might kill the precious specimens on the spot.

    Suddenly Quy remembered Yondra¡¯s words and decided to take action. She shapeshifted her shoes off and jumped on the floor, giving Phloria a heart attack. The Golems followed their protocols, halting the attack before it could hurt her.

    "Thanks for your kindness." Quy said while activating both Scanner and Chisel. The Golem tried to dodge her, but its movements based on air magic were too slowpared to her potion-enhanced reflexes.

    It tried to push Quy away but the "do not harm her"mand was quite annoying. Meanwhile, the Rangers could finally nt their feet on the ground. Flying in such a confined space was as hard as it was dangerous.

    They had no space to maneuver nor to kite their opponents, but it was the only way they had to avoid being electrocuted to death.

    "Now what?" Morok asked. Their situation had just gone up from horrible to terrible. The Earth Blocking array prevented them from using dimensional magic and being so close to each other sealed the other elements as well.

    "You and Neshal take care of the two in the front, Phloria and I will hold the others back until you¡¯re done." Lith said while darting backward.

    Now Morok was alone against two Golems, but at least had all the space he wanted whereas his opponents stumbled because of the array. Professor Neshal was trying to think of a way to help him, but her staff was holding an insane amount of energy she had no idea how to get rid of.

    Hitting the Golems with their own spell would have just recharged them, hitting the floor would have killed herpanions, which left her with no choice.

    "Dodge!" Neshal said while unleashing the mother of all lightning right in the middle of the constructs. It moved past the corridor and turned around the corner guided by Neshal¡¯s will, who hoped to have sted open a door.

    Now that she had her full focus again, she started chanting a spell as her staff floated in front of her, leaving her hands free.

    ¡¯I really hope the old bat knows what she is doing.¡¯ Morok sighed as the air in front of the Golems was turning pitch ck. Some powerful darkness spell was about to be activated and he had no way to counter it.

    Meanwhile, Quy had grabbed the construct in front of her and used four Chisels to destroy as many runes as she could in one go. Conjuring so many at once was exhausting, but she couldn¡¯t afford to take down just one rune at a time.

    The punch that had almost killed her was vivid in her memory, so she decided to gamble on the Skinwalker armor to protect her in case the Golem¡¯s priority changed and it attacked her.

    Just as she had predicted, as soon as the creature was deactivated, itspanion took off its gloves and sent a powerful shock to make her faint. Quy pumped her mana into her armor, deflecting most of it while she tried to grab her next victim.

    The Golem weed her with a fist to the face. It knew that with such a level of protection she wouldn¡¯t die, Quy had fallen for its trap. She took the full force of the improvised counter-strike and her body bounced with a silvery sound against the wall before copsing like a rag doll on the floor.

    Phloria stared at the scene in horror, but there was nothing she could do. Her estoc was pointless against golems and even her best spells inflicted them no damage. She could only slow them down, but without earth magic, most of the spells in a Mage Knight¡¯s arsenal were sealed.

    Lith arrived just in time to see the Flesh Golem picking up Quy¡¯s body and take flight. The face of the human grafted on the construct was smiling. Now that it had its prize they were limited no more.

    Its body glowed before emitting a sphere of darkness as big as the corridor, making it impossible for Lith to dodge.

    ¡¯Nice thinking. If I just go through the spell at full speed, I¡¯ll be blind for a second, take some damage, and let the spell strike both Neshal and Morok down. Too bad that cheating is a game two can y.¡¯

    Lith breathed a burst of Origin mes which devoured the darkness spell, allowing him to pass the ck shroud unharmed. The Golem kept smiling, emitting one pulse after the other and forcing Lith to a halt.

 Chapter 699 Fugitive Part 1

    ¡¯Either that man has gone crazy due to the prolonged agony, or he enjoys his work.¡¯ Solus pointed out. ¡¯The other Flesh Golems are way less creative because they limit themselves to follow theirmands whereas this guy is doing his best.¡¯

    It was indeed a smart strategy. Just like true mages, constructs didn¡¯t need to chant. Even better, they could use some of their abilities freely, without even wasting time weaving spells like Lith did.

    By using wide darkness pulses, the Golem was making sure that Lith was forced to either exhaust all of his spells or doom the other two humans behind him. Normally, Lith wouldn¡¯t have cared much for either Neshal or Morok, but without them, he would have to face three Golems instead of one.

    This time math was a harsh mistress.

    To make matters worse, the ck pulses were packed so close that Lith had to resort to alternate spells and Origin mes to not get overwhelmed.

    The Golem noticed the human¡¯s absurd casting speed and soon grew tired of that game. It turned around to leave, but its body refused to move. Quy had just finished destroying five of the runes forgemastered in its life force.

    She had just yed possum, taking her time to incapacitate the opponent while saving as much mana as she could. Between the tier five spells and the beating she had taken, her energy reserves were dangerously low.

    "They are both helpless!" She said to Lith who granted the first Golem a swift death while making sure that the sadistic construct would suffer as much as its body allowed it to.

    Quy was really curious about how Lith seemed to be able to always find power cores at his first strike, but in that moment she didn¡¯t care. Phloria was about to fall and there was nothing either of them could do.

    "Is there really nothing useful you can do?" Morok said while nullifying two darkness pulses with as many spells he had at the ready. "Seriously, if you can¡¯t fight, why go to a dangerous city and put innocent Rangers in danger instead of spending quality time with your grandkids?"

    He had tried to physically attack the Golems, but they kept him at bay by shooting spells non-stop. Corridors were truly a nightmare for him since icences would shatter against the walls and release razor-sharp shards that were almost impossible to dodge.

    Fireballs would produce enough noise and light to make him blind and deaf. Morok had managed to survive thest few exchanges only thanks to his enchanted protections and the fact that the Golems seemed to be more interested in taking Neshal alive than killing him.

    Whenever he got close to her, they would lower the output of their attack. Morok would have dly abandoned her if not for the fact that once the old bat had fallen, so would the array. Also, he didn¡¯t have anywhere to run. There were even more Flesh Golems on the other end of the corridor.

    "Ekidu!" Morok said as his hammers turned pitch ck before he lunged them into the iing darkness sts to nullify the Golems¡¯ spell.

    "Please, there¡¯s no need to rush, granny. I wouldn¡¯t want you to sweat." His voice oozed sarcasm.

    The Rangers were doing their best, but their spells were useless and by coordinating their attacks, the Golems made it impossible for Lith to get close enough to touch them or for Morok to hit them.

    Whenever one of them came too close, the constructs would just electrify their bodies and push them back. Phloria had managed to hold that long only thanks to the Skinwalker armor¡¯s defensive abilities that covered her in Orichalcum every time she infused it with enough mana.

    Otherwise the constant onught of spells they had inflicted upon her would have made her copse. The worst thing about facing a Golem in such an environment was theirck of a weak point coupled with their ability to instantly cast spells.

    Once again Lith suffered from having lost the Gatekeeper. He could see the power cores, he could get close enough to strike at them, but none of his prototypes weapons could withstand the mana necessary to pierce through the constructs¡¯ body.

    Both teams were fighting a losing battle, where the enemy would relentlessly move forward while they were forced to step back. The Golems were constantly sending streams of lighting to each other and the nearby walls, creating an electrical curtain that prevented their prey even from escaping.

    "We could Blink to safety, if not for your stupid array!" Morok said to Neshal once he and Lith were back to back. "Since I¡¯m going to die, please be honest with me. Whose side are you really on?"

    "Will you shut the fuck up?" Neshal roared while mming her staff on the ground and releasing the spell she had painstakingly prepared despite all of his yammering. "Destroy them, now!"

    Neshal knew that, for a mage, keeping more than one array at the ready was impossible and so it was casting a second one for another mage without them taking their time to study how the first mage had organized their formation.

    That because in the case two arrays were to ovep badly, the second one would simply fade into a waste of mana. Since in battle there was rarely the time to cast a second magical formation, Neshal had devised a way to use her own spell as a framework for the following array.

    By making use of the runes they had inmon, she could shorten the cast time at the expense of the duration of both magical formations. When the Air and the Earth Blocking array ovepped, the Flesh Golems fell face-first on the ground.

    Lith struck one of them while Quy and Morok did the same, yet soon the group was forced to run. The Golems were paralyzed, but far from helpless. They emitted a thick darkness fog from their bodies that almost killed both Quy and Morok.

    Lith had struck down the power core of his mark, so at least one construct was unable to retaliate, leaving them enough space to get to safety. Lith had to take on his shoulders his two fallenrades while they sprinted away as fast as they could.

    Right after darkness magic, the constructs had started to unleash spells in random directions, exploiting the corridor¡¯s confined space that made any area of effect spell impossible to dodge.

    "Can we really afford to leave them alive?" Lith asked. He and Solus were racking their brains to find a way to destroy the temporarily paralyzed constructs, but to no avail.

    Lith had yet to heal his wounds and even once he did, such a powerfulyer of darkness magic would have likely killed him even with the Skinwalker armor¡¯s boosted protection.

    That if he managed to get past the barrage of explosions that were ravaging the corridor.

    "No, but killing them will drain myst energy. Do you think you can protect us all until we recover?" Neshal asked.

    "No." Lith shook his head.

    "Oh, well. I¡¯ve lived long enough." Neshal took what looked like three giant nails out of her dimensional amulet, starting to chant another spell. She was so weak that her breath was ragged and from time to time she had to hold on her staff to not fall.

 Chapter 700 Fugitive Part 2

    The Flesh Golems were close enough that a small array was enough to cover all of them, shortening the length of Neshal¡¯s chant and requiring less mana.

    As soon as it wasplete, their power cores became visible despite the darkness shrouding the Golems. A wave of Neshal¡¯s hand deactivated her arrays and sent the three nails flying at their targets at such a speed that the air deformed at their passage.

    The enchanted items made short work of the construct¡¯s protections and pierced through their cores. Then, they absorbed the lingering energy of their master¡¯s arrays and injected it inside the Golems, killing them on the spot.

    "Feel free to leave me here." Neshal said while copsing on the floor.

    Lith had no time to ask her what she had done exactly and why she hadn¡¯t done that earlier. First, he had to treat Quy and Morok, who were in a desperate condition. The massive dose of darkness element at point-nk range had aggravated their wounds and crippled their vitality.

    After stabilizing them, he and Phloria were the only ones still conscious, and that only because Phloria had left most of her wounds untreated. Without her shield, she couldn¡¯t block the Golems¡¯ attacks, which had resulted in her taking quite a beating.

    Several shards of ice were still edged in her left side, a fireball had burned part of her hair and turned the right side of her face red. She had no more eyebrows and her right eye was veiled.

    Under her armor, her skin was a collection of burn marks due to all the electricity she had endured, yet she was still standing.

    "Oh, fuck it." Lith said, cing his hands on her shoulders while chanting gibberish. He fully Invigorate her, making Phloria feel as if she had just woken up from eight hours of sleep.

    All of her wounds had disappeared and even her hair was back. Phloria was too tired to be shocked, so she simply epted that blessing and waited for an exnation.

    "I need your help." Lith said instead. "I can¡¯t carry them all by myself and take care of the security measures at the same time. I¡¯m not leaving Quy here and these two are needed for our survival."

    "Just one question." Phloria replied. "What use could they possibly have in such a state? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you recharged everyone now? What good are your secrets if the Odi get their hands on our bodies?"

    "I¡¯ll take my chances." Lith said.

    Before they moved towards the research area, Phloria put her rocks back inside her pocket dimension. They advanced slowly, destroying the cameras on their passage to prevent the Odi from spying on them.

    ***

    Quy wasn¡¯t the only one who had thought about ying possum. Manohar¡¯s reckless act to find out Thrud¡¯s hidden fortress had been a hot topic for quite some time.

    The moment the Golems had surrounded them, Yondra knew that struggling was pointless, so she had used her resources to not lose consciousness and had let the construct take her.

    ¡¯We are too much at a disadvantage, fighting can only buy us so much time. This way, instead, I can find out what happened to Rainer and get behind the enemy lines in a single move.¡¯ She thought.

    Quy had exined to her how to defeat the Golems, so Yondra had used that time to Scanner her captor and the moment he had brought her in front of the cells, she had struck at its runes with Chisel.

    It was enough to paralyze but not to kill it. To do that, she needed to employ much more crude methods. Time was of the essence, so she just stabbed with her most powerful enchanted de all of the Golem¡¯s stone parts until she cracked its power core.

    It was a feat that would have been impossible if the construct wasn¡¯tpletely helpless. Knowing that she didn¡¯t have much time, Yondra used her detection spells to check for the presence of surveince systems and study the cell¡¯s door.

    Her aim was to rescue Rainer and then find a way out of there. She would have loved to help Lith and the others as well, but Yondra wasn¡¯t so na?ve to think that she could manage to do everything by herself.

    Like everything else, the underground prison was made of metal and its doors were made of some kind of reinforced ss to allow to look inside. The cells clearly weren¡¯t meant for prisoners so much as for specimens.

    There was no bed nor bathroom, only glowing red chains from which the Odi¡¯s victims were hung to the wall. Yondra looked at Ellkas and Gaakhu, lying unconscious at her feet, wondering if they could be of any use to her.

    It took her just a second to decide to heal them just enough to wake them up.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t read the Odinguage and if things turn for the worse, I can always use them as a diversion.¡¯ Yondra thought.

    She didn¡¯t wait that her colleagues recovered and started looking around for her beloved Assistant. Each cell was made to contain up to four specimens, so the missing members of the expedition were held into two different cells.

    One for the soldiers and the other for the Assistants.

    After disposing of the security cameras, Yondra was quite surprised to discover that there were no protections on the doors. The only thing restricting the prisoners was the same chains that had been used to imprison the Abomination-disease hybrid.

    The youths were all awake. Some were pale from the fright, while others had their eyes red from the crying. Rainer was among the former, yet his face regained color when he saw Yondra.

    "Seriously? I get that you are scared but with your hands and mouth free how could you have chosen to remain here?" She loved Rainer like a son, but the idea that terror had led him to sit idly enraged her beyond what words could express.

    One thing was being meek, being stupid was another thing entirely.

    "I tried to escape, but these goddamn chains block my magic." Rainer conjured a small wisp of light before the chains started to glow. They emitted an ominous pulse of energy that made Rainer¡¯s veins bulge as waves of pain ravaged his body.

    Yondra felt guilty for her rushed judgment. Rainer had willingly endured that pain to reveal the nature of the magical artifact to his mentor.

    "This exins why the hybrid was unable to use anything but physical attacks." Yondra mumbled. Even though she had no time to waste, her scientific curiosity made her cast a few Forgemastering spells to analyze the chains.

    ¡¯Such knowledge mighte in handy in case we get captured again.¡¯ She thought in an attempt to justify her actions.

    Curiosity was what separated powerful magicians from a mediocre one, just like the brush they used allowed to distinguish between a painter from a whitewasher.

    ¡¯What in the gods name is this? The chains are able to lock on the life force of their prisoner to nullify their mana flow and to heal them in case of injuries. That¡¯s why the magical beasts the Odi captured didn¡¯t manage tomit suicide nor the hybrid to escape from the chains. Even amputating your limbs is not an option.¡¯

    Yondra was amazed by the cruel ingenuity of such a device, but luckily, it was older than her first diaper. A simple tier four Clean te made the red chains open, freeing Rainer.

 Chapter 701 Split Part 1

    Well, at least the chains patched you up just fine. Let¡¯s move." Yondra said.

    "What about the others?" Rainer asked.

    "Good question." Yondra sneered, looking at her colleagues who had yet to move a finger.

    "My Assistant Ni died at the hands of the fungal creature. I have no obligation towards any of these kids. I already failed to protect myself, taking care of someone else is out of the question." Gaakhu said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Onma, but Professor Gaakhu is right." Ellkas said. "I promise you that if I manage to escape from here, I¡¯ll send the whole army to your rescue. If I fail, I hope you¡¯ll be able to kill me, because whatever the Odi have nned for us I¡¯m certain it¡¯s worse than death.

    "But all of you are powerful mages!" Rainer stuttered. Quy¡¯s voice calling him a coward still echoed in his head, driving him to be a better man. "Is there really nothing you can do?"

    "Kid, grow up." Gaakhu said. "Saving everyone, beating the odds, those are all fairy tales. I bet that our story will end with ¡¯and then they died too¡¯. If Yondra wants to burden herself with you, it¡¯s none of my business."

    She then freed the imprisoned soldiers, who immediately started to eat and drink to recover their strength.

    "As the head of the expedition, in the absence of Captain Ernas I¡¯m the highest-ranked officer." Gaakhu said. "I order you to help me find a way out of Kh to alert the Kingdom of the threat the Odi still pose. Is that clear?"

    The soldiers gave her a salute, turning to look at the weeping Assistants only once. As members of the military, they were all too familiar with coteral damage, but that didn¡¯t mean that they liked it.

    Yet, there was nothing they could do. The Assistants had proved to be dead weight more than once. Sure, the soldiers had fallen by the hands of the Golems as well, but they had gone down fighting, not crying and begging for mercy.

    Phloria¡¯s soldiers had all someone waiting for them at home and none of them was willing to die for nothing. They would either get out of there or die trying to alert the Kingdom. Everything and everyone else was irrelevant.

    "You heard her, she only cares about herself." Yondra whispered to Ellkas while her esteemed colleague was ying her part as Yondra had predicted. "I need you to read the Odi gibberish and you need me to operate the Odi technology. Deal?"

    Ellkas nodded and shook her hand. The door to the prison was open as well, which gave everyone an eerie feeling. It could only mean that no one had ever managed to escape.

    They entered in a wide room, from which branched several corridors, each one with its own tag. Gaakhu guided the soldiers in the second hallway to her right, without even looking at her colleagues.

    "Where is she going?" Yondra asked.

    "To the warehouse." Ellkas replied before reading and pointing the other signs one at a time. "Mana Reactor, Meat Shields, Golem Factory, bathrooms, administrative office, stairs, and canteen."

    "It¡¯s a good idea, that¡¯s why we¡¯ll go to the Meat Shields room." Yondra said after scanning the corridor of her choosing.

    "And why is that?" Ellkas trusted no one, but at least Yondra needed him. He was afraid of outliving his usefulness and needed to be ready to fend for himself.

    "Because when she triggers the rm, because she will, I want to be as far away as possible. Plus, Lith and Phloria took a look at the room and told us what kind of arrays we can expect. It¡¯s our safest bet."

    Ellkas nodded, realizing that the Odi must have had prepared multiple exit points for their guards, and maybe one of them was near a town whose name he might be able to recognize.

    Yet he kept that idea for himself. After abandoning his own Assistant, leaving Yondra behind to increase his chances of survival was easy as cake.

    ***

    Meanwhile, on the upper floor, Lith and Phloria had reached the door leading to the research are. The Flesh Golems had managed to find them a few times only to witness the humans Warping away.

    With the cameras down Lith was free to go back to any ce he had previously visited, forcing the constructs to split up and search for them.

    "Now this is the reason why I waited." Lith used Invigoration on the others, restoring about half their strength.

    "How long was I unconscious and where are we?" Neshal asked while stretching her limbs.

    "Three hours." Lith replied. Barely ten minutes had passed, his lie almost made Phloria yelp in surprise. "We decided to rest before moving, but we were forced to Warp several times to avoid the Golems."

    "Thanks for letting me rest and for not leaving me behind." Neshal gave Lith a deep bow. "Now let¡¯s get out of here."

    While she operated the door, Morok and Quy wolfed down quite some food, both amazed by their perfect physical condition despite all the wounds they had sustained. Just watching them made Phloria hungry, forcing her to eat again.

    "Bad news. This door is full of arrays but none of them is linked to the lock. They are all linked to that slot." Neshal pointed to the keycard reader. "Which means this is a work for a Forgemaster."

    After thanking her for the great news, Lith chanted gibberish and used Invigoration. Just as he hoped, there were two rys again, but this time only the wrong one was linked to the arrays.

    All he had to do was to send a pulse of mana to the ry associated with the lock to make it click.

    ¡¯Sure a keycard energy signature is much harder to mimicpared to a key, but with such a design, I don¡¯t need to.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Unlike the holo-pads on the upper floor, there is no such thing as repetition or correct order of characters, only right or wrong impulse. Against a true mage, it¡¯s like not having a lock at all.¡¯

    ¡¯Good gods, I should have learned Forgemastering.¡¯ Neshal thought. ¡¯No one of us knows how to read the Odi, but at least if we can open all the rooms, we are bound to find a way out. Without Gaakhu and Yondra, these guys are my best bet.¡¯

    Quy had taken down more Golems than anyone else, Morok seemed to be immortal, and Lith appeared to Neshal¡¯s eyes like a genius.

    They found themselves in a T junction with several doors spaced between them so much that each room had to be as big as a hotel¡¯s suite.

    "Wait, before we continue, I need to know which array do you prefer. Earth Blocking, Air Blocking, or the Power Detection?" Neshal asked.

    "Can¡¯t we have them all?" Morok asked.

    "You wish. Keeping an entire magical formation at the ready is already draining, two would make me copse in just a few minutes."

    "Do you have more of those enchanted nails?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, but thest time the Golems werepletely still. I can¡¯t kill them on my own if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking me." Neshal replied.

    "Then the Power Detection. That way all three of us can destroy the Golems and use dimensional magic. Okay?" Phloria and Morok nodded at his words, both shapeshifting their weapons into thin, high density des that would more easily pierce the constructs¡¯ thick shell.

 Chapter 702 Split Part 2

    Meanwhile, the Odi had mixed feelings about the most recent developments. They had lost more than half of their so-called invincible army and for the first time in centuries, they had prisoners yet had managed to let them escape.

    The silver lining was that among the runaways there was at least one person able to understand theirnguage. Gaakhu had decided to prioritize speed over stealth since disabling the cameras would reveal her position anyway.

    Unbeknownst to her, it had allowed the Odi to notice how she checked every sign before deciding where to go.

    "This solves all of our problems." Jiira said. "We only need to preserve this monkey and the youths to have full ess to the outside world. It¡¯s time to take out the trash."

    ***

    Lith¡¯s group moved along the corridors, being forced to explore them all in search of a way to reach the floors below. While theirpanions were unconscious, Lith had shared with Phloria the Golems¡¯ dying words.

    She was d to know they had an edge over their hidden enemies and shared Lith¡¯s amazement at his ability to understand the deadnguage even though he was unable to read it.

    ¡¯Could his Death Vision curse and the near-death state of those wretched creatures be the exnation for the phenomenon?¡¯ Phloria thought. ¡¯I hope I¡¯m wrong, otherwise it might mean that Lith¡¯s condition is even worse than what the Professors assessed.¡¯

    The ce waspletely empty, but thanks to the reinforced ss windows, they could watch inside each room and Phloria could use her Forgemaster spells to look for dimensional runes.

    The undergroundbs werepletely different from those on the upper level of Kh. They were all clean, with no chains nor cells. Each room was full of a mix of magic and machinery, the Odi¡¯s signature technique to ovee the limits of ancient runes.

    Thebs were designed to host a full research team but only two specimens at the time. Clearly, they used them to perform the perfected procedures on the Odi or just to fine-tune thest details.

    They found both an elevator and the stairs, but being cramped in a confined space with the risk of the Golems Warping with them was a no go, so they preferred to take the stairs to reach the lower floor.

    ¡¯Anything useful, Solus?¡¯ Lith asked while opening the keycard locks one after another.

    ¡¯Nope, but stay on your guard. I¡¯m surprised that the Odi haven¡¯t used their meat shields more nor did they move to face us. After centuries of practice and with their ego, they should believe to be unbeatable.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Lith was pondering about her words when a more pressing problem arose. There were two corridors in front of them, one to the left and the other to the right, and above each one of them multiple tags were hung.

    Both corridors branched into many others and since no one was able to read the Odinguage nor the room had windows, the floor was akin to a maze to them.

    "What do we do now?" Lith asked everyone, Solus included. The Golems had warned them about a green array and prompted them to reach the basement, but that information had be pointless.

    "Open these goddamn doors one by one and as soon as we find a dimensional rune, if there isn¡¯t that noxious gas on the other side we leave, period!" Neshal said.

    Phloria had many objections to leaving behind her soldiers, the Professors, and the Assistant. Not because it would have been an utter failure on her personal file, but because after all the time they had spent together, she considered them almost as friends.

    Yet not knowing if they were even still alive and the idea of joining them on an Odi¡¯s operating table left her with no choice. She pointed at the closest door and nodded for Lith to open it.

    Using Live Vision, Lith could see that there were no life forces inside, so he did as instructed and looked inside. The room turned out to be an archive, full of cab files and orderly ced folders.

    Lith closed the door while shaking his head when Solus warned him.

    ¡¯They¡¯re opening Gates!¡¯

    ¡¯From what direction?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯All of them!¡¯

    Lith had barely the time to alert the others when Warp Steps opened at the end of each corridor. A Flesh Golem stepped out of each one of them, unleashing a fireball asrge as the corridor itself.

    Neshal activated her Power Detector array, keeping herself ready to Blink to safety. Lith was aware that each time he opened a lock he gave out his position, but he couldn¡¯t Warp to unknown locations.

    To make matters worse, that kind of attack was clearly meant to force them to split. The Golems had waited for the humans to be in a ce impossible to defend before using a spell that could be dodged but not blocked.

    The moment Lith¡¯s group Blinked it was over. Metal walls fell from the ceiling, blocking both their view and their path to retreat.

    ¡¯How did we miss them?¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    ¡¯They are not magical, but mechanical in nature. None of us has gear sense.¡¯ Solus exined.

    Lith Blinked near the Golem¡¯s power core, pretending to follow the enemy script. But instead of aiming for a direct strike, he Blinked away, to dodge the attack he knew was about toe and use the opening it would create to kill his enemy.

    Unfortunately, together with its attack, the Golem also activated a Water Blocking array, sealing dimensional magic. Thanks to his enhanced reflexes, Lith managed to block the construct¡¯s fist but took the full power of the fireball apanying it.

    Only the Skinwalker Armor boosted by his mana and earth fusion saved his life.

    Closebat wasn¡¯t Neshal¡¯s specialty, so she had kept away from the construct. Unfortunately, with dimensional magic sealed she was soon overwhelmed. Keeping the array at the ready had required most of her focus, she had few spells to protect herself.

    She couldn¡¯t even ess her dimensional item, leaving her with only the means she had on her pockets and fingers.

    "Fuck!" She said while unleashing all the spells she kept inside her magic storing rings. Some of them were even tier four and five. A jet stream of mes thousands of degrees hot struck the Golem, instantly followed by a zing tornado.

    Neshal chanted as fast as she could, timing the release of the spell so that to buy herself as much time as she could. The only good thing about being isted from the others was that the walls also protected her allies from her most powerful spells.

    ¡¯If I hold on long enough, they¡¯lle for me.¡¯ She thought.

    Yet the Golem just kept protecting its core with its arms while walking forward, ignoring the zing inferno Neshal had created and attacking with more fireballs of its own.

    With no earth nor ice to manipte, Neshal couldn¡¯t block them nor she could Blink away. The first explosion made her eyes bleed and brought her eardrums on the verge of bursting. She kept attacking despite being blind, but the second explosion broke through her magical protections and made her cough out blood.

    The Golem undid its array and Warped in front of her, clutching her head with its half-melted hand. Luckily, the Golem killed her before she could feel the heat that charred her bones and made her blood evaporate.

 Chapter 703 Tyrant Part 1

    The heat from the fireball was burning Lith¡¯s lungs while the light blinded him, but by switching to Life Vision he became able to see again. He unleashed a burst of Origin mes, which the Golem shrugged off as if they were nothing more than a parlor trick.

    Flesh Golems were so heavily enchanted that a single breath of Origin mes could barely heat their stone surface due to the powerful magic coursing through their bodies that amounted to several tier five spells.

    The construct struck with its fists again, activating even more fireballs. Lith was exactly in Neshal¡¯s situation. He couldn¡¯t block nor dodge the enemy¡¯s spells, yet he had one more means of defense.

    Instead of wasting his Origin mes to attack, he used them to cancel the fireballs as he stepped back to avoid the physical attacks. Origin mes¡¯ greatest weak point was that it required him to exhaust the air in his lungs, leaving him breathless.

    ¡¯Beware, this thing isn¡¯t trying to take you alive.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    The Golem had no idea what was happening, so it tried to switch to darkness magic, only to have its ck waves devoured by Lith¡¯s blue mes.

    Lith infused his prototype Gatekeeper with air magic, to boost its speed and piercing abilities, but thanks to the mix of earth and air magic the construct used to move its body, the Golem was as fast as an Awakened.

    The stone fist shattered the de before it could get even one centimeter under its skin. The other fist struck at Lith like a charging bull, making him bounce on the floor before sending him crashing against the back wall.

    Even with the boosted protection of the Skinwalker armor and Solus promptly covering his chest to shield him, Lith¡¯s vision was blurred and his focus lost. He used Invigoration to recover his strength, but it felt like a fool¡¯s errand.

    Magic was useless and so were physical attacks. Lith refused to surrender and used a sudden wave of spirit magic to lift the opponent and sending it mming against a wall.

    The Golem was surprised but unfazed by the invisible energy, so it just resumed its magical onught, forcing Lith to interrupt his breathing technique to use Origin mes to save his life.

    A sudden explosion and the Golem¡¯s power core bing invisible again made Lith aware of Neshal¡¯s death. Lith racked his brain for a path to victory, but he kept not finding any.

    ¡¯Damn, Golems are too powerful. Now I understand why the Odi made the entirety of Kh out of metal. Without earth to manipte against them, they are nigh invincible.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I have only one shot left, but I need your help, Solus. It¡¯s dangerous and likely to fail. You could remain...¡¯

    ¡¯Just do it.¡¯ She replied while reading his mind.

    Lith took a breath as deep as he could before hurling a wall of mes against the construct. It ate all of the iing spells, sticking on both the flesh and the stone parts of the Golem, leaving the creature blinded as its human side suffered in agony.

    The moment the mes struck, Lith bolted forward, infusing himself with all the elements and striking at the power core hidden inside the Golem¡¯s left thigh.

    Just like it had happened for the sword, the moment his ws pierced its rock skin, the construct¡¯s fists fell down like hammers, shattering Lith¡¯s arm in several ces and sending him sprawling on the floor like a ragdoll.

    The Golem lifted its foot to shatter Lith¡¯s skull, but suddenly it lost its bnce and fell to the ground. Solus¡¯s glove had detached at thest second, using the blue mes as a cover and the hit¡¯s momentum to reach the power core.

    The Golem had failed to notice the damage she had inflicted due to Origin mes dulling its senses and itsck of sense of pain. However, victory came at a cost. Lith was barely conscious and so was Solus.

    Between the Origin mes and the construct¡¯s attacks, she was heavily wounded. It took her several seconds to collect all of her pieces spread throughout the room and return to his side.

    Lith used Invigoration again, knowing that until Solus recovered, using that trick a second time might kill them both.

    ***

    Phloria had Blinked while holding Quy, foiling the Odi¡¯s n to split them. She knew that her sister wouldn¡¯tst a second alone against a construct. When Phloria Blinked again, much to the construct¡¯s surprise, she was running away along the path they had taken to get there instead of facing it.

    It made the Golem¡¯s array useless and forced it to give them chase.

    "Any idea?" She asked Quy. They were just around the corner. Instead of wasting her mana, Phloria had opted for hide and strategize.

    "None. If I can¡¯t touch the Golem, I¡¯m useless. You?"

    "Even if I can see its power core, I doubt it will let me strike at will. Quy, does indirect contact work for tier five healing magic?" Phloria asked.

    "Only if I touch a living being, I can¡¯t transmit Scanner through metal."

    "Good enough for me. Stay close to me, no matter what." Phloria would have liked to Blink by Lith¡¯s side, but with their visual obstructed, she had no idea which direction he had gone, nor she could Warp to an unknown location.

    ***

    Lith had just recovered enough to stand up when his nose picked up an odd smell. Following it, he noticed a small hole in one of the metal walls that separated him from hispanions.

    It allowed whoever was on the other side to look at Lith¡¯s position.

    A split secondter, Morok Blinked in front of him. His clothes were tattered to the point of being rags. Even an army uniform would take some time to recover from such damage, yet the Ranger looked alright.

    "Man, I hate Golems. No vitals, immunity to most forms of magic, terrifying recovering abilities. They are a pain in the ass even for those like us."

    "Us?" Lith echoed, not understanding the meaning of Morok¡¯s words.

    "Come on, there¡¯s no need to be shy. There¡¯s just the two of us now."

    "How the heck did you get rid of the Golem so fast and how did you pierce that wall?" Lith asked, still incapable of making heads of tails of those words.

    "Fine! I¡¯ll show you mine and then you¡¯ll show me yours." Yet instead of taking off his clothes, Morok shapeshifted.

    His skin became snow-white, with only one big red eye in the middle of his forehead, another eye the size of a football appeared on his chest, and two more on his shoulders.

    His appearance was still humanoid, but he was now over two meters (6¡¯7") tall.

    His nose had disappeared, leaving only two slits on his face and his mouth was full of several rows of shark-like teeth. Lith recognized immediately the Emperor Beast known as Tyrannical Eye, or just as Tyrant.

    They were the magical beast equivalent of Balors, but unlike them, Tyrants weren¡¯t part of the Fallen races and their mastery over the elements wasn¡¯t as developed.

    "All those abilities, they didn¡¯t belong to your weapons, it was you all along." Lith finally understood many things, like his fellow Ranger¡¯s heightened senses and inhuman battle prowess.

    ¡¯Solus, you told me he wasn¡¯t an Awakened.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯He¡¯s not. Morok is just like Gadorf, the offspring of an Emperor Beast.¡¯ She replied.

 Chapter 704 Tyrant Part 2

    "There¡¯s no point in denying it." Morok said. "Between your fancy glove and all of your trinkets, I would have bought your act if it wasn¡¯t for your smell, brother. You need to fix that."

    "How did you kill the Golem?" Lith repeated his question. He preferred to avoid exining that he could do nothing about it. Unlike Morok, he didn¡¯t just shapeshift, he had two different life forces with a unique smell.

    "My old man refused to Awaken me, but at least he gave me a nice gift." Morok juggled with his weapons before sheathing them. "They can absorb and enhance the power of my eyes, giving me plenty of tricks.

    "Balors are loserspared to Tyrants, we evolved correctly and it¡¯s only a matter of time before we outmatch them in every aspect." His smile was full of spite, pronouncing the name of their rival species as if it was poison.

    "Don¡¯t get startled, I¡¯m not a Balor." Lith said while assuming his hybrid form.

    "What the fuck?" Even though he had been forewarned, Morok jumped back, unsheathing his des. "Was your father a Dragon who mated with a Balor or was it the other way around?"

    "I don¡¯t know what I am." Lith replied. His blue eye remained open for a few seconds before closing shut.

    "You got abandoned, huh? Is that why you have the hots for human women?"

    "What?" Lith snarled, a puff of ck smoke came out from his mouth.

    "It¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of." Morok raised his hands in a sign of apology. "My mom kicked out both me and my old man when she discovered the truth. I¡¯ve got mommy issues too. Why do you think I became a Ranger?"

    "For fun?" Lith replied.

    "Nailed it in one. Emperor Beasts are so boring, always bbering about duty and bnce. In the army, I get to kill stuff, see stuff, date hotties, and the best part is that I get paid for it. By the way, are your eyes for decoration or what?

    "They should be pretty powerful if you descend from a Balor and you have seven of them. Odd, even us Tyrants develop six tops. I am still stuck at four, sadly."

    "I can only see how people will die, if they do, in the immediate future. Nothing else." Lith said.

    "Seven worthless eyes? That¡¯s harsh, brother. Maybe rather than from a Balor, you descend from a Peeping Dragon." Morok gave Lith a wink.

    "Whatever. We need to find Phloria and get out of this ce. The longer we remain here, the higher the risk of more Golems finding us."

    "Dating so many women at once is not cool. Also, she¡¯s not that cute. We can find much better girls outside and..."

    "First, she¡¯s just my friend." Lith was seconds away from strangling the Tyrant and his face was a few millimeters from Morok¡¯s.

    "Second, I don¡¯t know how to operate dimensional runes. Without her, we¡¯re stuck in here. Is that clear?" Each word was a snarl, apanied by a puff of smoke.

    "You need to literally chill, brother." Lith¡¯s scales had turned red hot from his anger. "You definitely have Dragon blood. The brimstone breath is a killer. Mint?"

    Morok offered him a dew fresh leaf from his dimensional amulet, which turned into ashes the moment Lith touched it.

    "Can you find the girls with your sense of smell?" Lith asked while scanning their surroundings with Life Vision, finding several mana signatures but no life form.

    Morok sniffed the air like a hound before shaking his head.

    "All the spells cast during the fight have destroyed any trace I could find. Plus, the fact that they likely used dimensional magic doesn¡¯t help. I think we should work on the assumption that they¡¯ve been captured. Humans have no chances against Golems."

    After checking on Professor Neshal, Lith was forced to admit that the Tyrant was probably right. Bits of the Professor¡¯s corpse were mixed with the Golem¡¯s remains. Neshal had detonated all of her magical items to bring her enemy down with her.

    Only a suicide attack of that magnitude was enough to destroy constructs. With their arrays sealing dimensional magic and uncanny bodies, there was nothing that Phloria could do against them.

    ¡¯When I get out of here, I must warn Friya. Dimensional mages like her are basically powerless against constructs.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He told Morok about the dying words of the two humans grafted to the Golems he had killed, hoping that the Tyrant¡¯s eyes could help him to find his target.

    "So you don¡¯t just see people dying, you also somehowmune with them. Seriously, who the fuck were your parents?" Even though they were alone, they had both reverted to their human form to keep the element of surprise.

    "Focus, dammit. Can you find something like the Mana Reactor or the so-called green array? The former we have to find and destroy, thetter we have to avoid." Lith asked.

    "I can only sense great amounts of mana belonging to the elements associated with my four eyes." Morok said while moving around the corridor. The red, yellow, ck, and orange eyes on his body moved independently, searching for energy traces.

    "Something like what you just described should be visible from a distance, yet I can¡¯t find anything. Either it¡¯s too far from here or it¡¯s cloaked."

    Both mana sense and Life Vision revealed nothing but the usual set of locks and arrays on the nearby doors, making Lith grit his teeth.

    "Fine. Let¡¯s backtrack our steps. If Phloria or Quy managed to escape, they¡¯ll be waiting for us. If we don¡¯t find them, we have to assume the worst and destroy the Mana Rector." Lith checked on Solus¡¯s condition before moving.

    She was using her own Invigoration to recover, but she had yet to return to her full strength. Lith quickly opened a small Warp Steps, leading to the farthest point to the camp he had ess to, closing it the moment the noxious gas started to seep through the dimensional window.

    "I tried that too, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t havee back for you." Morok sighed. "Without one of the Royal Forgemasters, we¡¯re as good as dead."

    ***

    Professor Gaakhu reached the Warehouse in a matter of minutes, the problem was that she had no idea how to safely open its door.

    "Stay back! We¡¯ve already thrown caution to the wind, there¡¯s no point in using finesse." After her chant was over, a pir of ck mes struck one of the Warehouse¡¯s sidewalls.

    Darkness lowered the metal¡¯s melting point while the fire was just fire. A hole the size of a door slowly opened and the pir made its way inside the room, destroying the crates and their content until Gaakhu was able to see in front of herself.

    Her actions triggered several rms, but she didn¡¯t care. The soldier assumed a defensive formation around her while Gaakhu cooled the wall and scanned the arrays inside the room.

    It was then that three Flesh Golems appeared from as many Warp Steps, surrounding them from every side. They blocked fire, ice, and darkness magic before unleashing their thunderbolts against the floor, hitting all their prey at once.

    The soldiers weren¡¯t aware of that trick and Gaakhu had never bothered warning them. She had already fought the Golems, so she knew that the soldiers were only good to buy her time.

    ¡¯Five soldiers and only three constructs. I can still escape while they capture them again.¡¯ She smiled while using the Disarray spell to deactivated the only dangerous magical formation in the room.

 Chapter 705 Judgment Call Part 1

    Gaakhu dashed inside, using her magical protections to tank several small air des and ice spikes. The room had several dimensional runes which she recognized. They were the names of ancient Odi cities, some of them were too far from Kh to be affected by the poison tainting its surroundings.

    Gaakhu struck with her Royal Forgemaster wand at the dimensional rune associated with the modern city of Othre. The Gate opened, revealing a stone tunnel devoid of danger.

    Gaakhu jumped towards her freedom, only for a stone hand to hit her on the head and made her lose consciousness. She had been the constructs¡¯ priority from the beginning.

    Only after their precious ve had been apprehended did the Odi order the Golems to collect the soldiers.

    ***

    Lith and Morok went back to the elevator and even to the living quarters, finding no trace of their missingpanions. After returning to the researchbs, Lith put the list of Odi words the Professors had shared with the rest of the expedition members inside Soluspedia.

    He hoped that it would help him to make head or tails of at least a couple of signs. Unfortunately, they turned out to be useless. The Odinguage was tooplex and the words at his disposal were too few to allow Lith to figure out the meaning of the writings along the corridors.

    When they finished exploring theb, they found another door, probably leading to a lower floor.

    "We should go down. The woman told me to search the basement and this ce doesn¡¯t fit the bill." Lith said.

    "Agreed, but I don¡¯t like the idea very much." Morok shapeshifted from time to time to look for clues. His mystical senses had a greater range than Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s but they didn¡¯t provide much information about the nature of the threat at hand.

    "There¡¯s something big and really powerful down there and for some reason, it¡¯s visible to all my four eyes."

    "Why is that bad?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m no Awakened, so I can¡¯t see world energy, life force, or any of that stuff. I can only spot elemental mana. What I can see, even from up here, is some kind of energy pir as big as a hill and isposed of all the four elements at my disposal."

    Lith tried using Life Vision, but the pir was too far for him. He couldn¡¯t see past the arrays sealing the door in front of them. Solus¡¯s mana sense was blinded by the amount of magical equipment surrounding them instead.

    Lith closed in on the door, activating Invigoration to study and neutralize its lock. He had to hold back augh when he recognized the Nightmare Safe. It was the same device the Odi had used to lock the secret documents in the office of Kh¡¯smanding officer.

    "We¡¯re lucky, it seems that at the time this kind of protection was considered to be the best magical seal avable, while it¡¯s actually the easiest to crack if you know what you¡¯re doing." Lith said while reading the array containing the password.

    "Hey, that wasn¡¯t an array revealing spell. You¡¯re an Awakened!" Morok had seen his own father using such abilities so often that he immediately recognized Invigoration.

    "Does it change anything?" Lith asked, opening the door while Morok took note of the password.

    "No, but that¡¯s an amazing piece of news. Are you willing to Awake me?" The Tyrant knew that with that kind of power, very few beings could pose a threat to his life. s, Golems would still be among them.

    "Depends, are you willing to swear me obedience for one hundred years?" Lith replied.

    "Absolutely not!"

    "Then you have your answer. If I have to put my life on the line for you, you have to be damn worth the risk. So far you¡¯re just a pain in my ass." Lith opened the door, scanning his surroundings.

    The coast was clear, but they had to move fast, to not give the constructs the time to pinpoint their position.

    "What if I save your girlfriend?" Morok said while they were darting along the stairs.

    "She¡¯s not my girlfriend, and a human doesn¡¯t live as much as we do." It was Lith¡¯s biggest gripe with every one of his rtionships. Even with a crippled life force, he was likely to outlive most of his loved ones.

    "It was worth a shot." Morok grumbled.

    Forcing someone to Awaken another person was a waste of time. All Lith had to do was either to let the Awakening fail or report Morok to the Council. Both events would lead the Tyrant to a premature death.

    To make matters worse, Morok had seen his fellow Ranger fight and Lith was a force to be reckoned with. The idea of having a semi-immortal enemy of that caliber on his tail forever was simply appalling.

    The moment they reached the bottom of the staircase, Lith could catch a glimpse of the pir Morok was talking about. Yet it was still too far to take a proper look at it, making it necessary for them to find a way to the lower levels.

    Whatever was on their current floor, it was nothing useful.

    ***

    After waiting for a bit in front of the elevator, Phloria and Quy had been forced to Warp away because of the Flesh Golems looking for them. The more time passed, the more they had to assume the worst.

    Lith might have been captured or killed. Also, without a Warden, they were stuck with just Phloria¡¯s Forgemaster skills, which greatly limited both their options and escape chances.

    The two young mages were growing more desperate by the minute. Phloria even checked with Warp Steps the furthest point in Morok¡¯s pathway to Kh she could remember, but even that was filled with ck smoke.

    The various underground tunnels had to be connected or at least share their airways.

    "We can either get ourselves captured on purpose or take our chances and open random doors." Phloria said. They were getting tired, constantly changing their position without rest drained their mana.

    "If we get captured, we can rescue the Professors and have them help us. The problem is, what if the Golems stun us? Remember that they know I can deactivate them if they touch me." Once again, Quy cursed her own helplessness

    ¡¯If only Yurial was here, he would know what to do.¡¯ She thought.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve a n. It¡¯s very risky, but it can bring us behind the enemy lines and get rid of a Flesh Golem at the same time." Phloria said, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

    "What? Why didn¡¯t you propose this earlier? Professor Neshal has died and maybe even Lith. You could have saved them both!" Quy started to sob. Another Warden had died, and yet she was still alive.

    She wasn¡¯t actually angry with Phloria, Quy was just trying to shut up the voice in her head telling her that she was bad luck. First Yurial, now Lith. Everyone she loved died because of her.

    The fear of losing Phloria, made Quy feel like her existence was cursed.

    "Because it¡¯s a desperate n. Earlier, with Lith and Neshal, we still had a chance of escaping on our own. If it fails, we¡¯ll end up in the Odi¡¯s hands." Phloria hugged her sister, trying tofort Quy.

    "Since both our lives are at risk, I can¡¯t make this decision on my own. Are you with me?"

    Quy stopped crying and nodded. Phloria exined her n to Quy, making her yelp more than once. A few minutester, they were in front of a locked door. They had hoped that a Golem would find them, but since that didn¡¯t happen, they had to lure one.

 Chapter 706 Judgment Call Part 2

    Phloria used one of Orion¡¯s spells, which revealed the rys of the keycard lock mechanism and allowed her to open it simply by sending a mana pulse to the right spot. She opened the door and ran into hiding.

    They had chosen a ce at the end of a corridor, so that there was only one way in and one way out, requiring just a single Golem to trap them.

    As Phloria had predicted, the construct Warped at the end of the hallway to block the only escape route avable. The Golem was surprised seeing that there was no human in front of itself, nor its sensors could pick up any energy signature.

    Yet the door was open.

    Phloria and Quy were on the opposite end of the corridor, waiting for the Warping Array to open and Blink through it. Once on the other side, Phloria was surprised to discover that not only did the surveince devices have already been destroyed, but also the cells were all empty except for the one holding the Assistants.

    The Golem reported its failure and stepped back inside the Gate, getting struck by both sisters with their respective Clean te. The tier four Forgemaster spell required physical contact and had no permanent effect on something asplex as a construct.

    Yet it could temporarily stop its functions. Two Clean te at once were enough to turn the Golem¡¯s power core off for a split second, which made the dimensional corridor copse.

    The Construct was only halfway through, so it got cleaved in half along with its power core. Phloria¡¯s n had been aplete sess.

    "Please, don¡¯t abandon us here as the Professors did!" The Assistants started sobbing the moment their jailer was gone.

    "I don¡¯t have much time, so I need you to be honest with me. Which one of you is a Warden?"

    They all started to yell "Me! Me!", making Phloria curse.

    "We should take with us both Asera and Onma." Quy said while opening their locks with Clean te. They are the Assistants of Neshal and Ellkas. I spoke with them more than once, so I know that they are respectively a Warden and a linguist.

    Onma was actually an Alchemist, but that information was useless in their situation.

    The two remaining Assistants started to scream so hard that Phloria had to Hush them.

    ¡¯Is this how Lith felt during Balkor¡¯s attack?¡¯ Phloria thought. ¡¯Knowing that you can¡¯t save everyone and that even bringing one more person along might doom us all?¡¯

    Lith had never felt anything like that. He had just pretended so to not be burdened by people he didn¡¯t care about, but Phloria had no way to know it. She regretted leaving two innocents to a fate worse than death, but at the same time, she couldn¡¯t kill them in cold blood.

    "Great thinking Quy, we must..." Her words were interrupted by another Warp appearing. She and Quy had expected that the destruction of a Golem might alert the others, so they had a contingency n for that.

    What they didn¡¯t have a n for, was the man apanying the construct. Tired of losing their precious Flesh Golems, Jiira had decided to personally take care of thetest disturbance. His eyes lit up with joy when he saw the two young women.

    \u003c "Well, well, well. Finally our luck it¡¯s turning."\u003e His smile creeped all those presents out. They had seen multiple Odi pictures, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to prepare them to meet the real deal.

    Just like all his colleagues, Jiira was the embodiment of perfection, but only ording to Odi¡¯s standards. He was 1.70 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with long purple hair and blue translucent skin.

    It allowed them to see every single twitch of his muscles and organs since he was almost naked, wearing only a loincloth to cover his genitals. His body wasprised only of muscles and what was visible of his face could have been considered handsome, if it didn¡¯t appearpletely unnatural.

    He looked more like a statuee to life rather than a living being.

    Phloria attacked the Odi with her estoc the moment he appeared. She had no idea what he was capable of, but she had to stop him from casting spells. Jiira grabbed her de with just three of his fingers.

    With a wave of his hand, the Golem disappeared inside the Warp, while a green array formed around Jiira. Phloria gasped recognizing by its color the spell that the dying Flesh Golems had warned Lith against, so she promptly unleashed the spells stored in her rings.

    Jiira just pointed his forefinger, generating a ray of light that pierced through Phloria¡¯s spells and chest, leaving a hole the size of a golf ball. His finger shed one more time, striking Quy down before she could do anything.

    He then chained them where once the Professors had been, letting the red chains¡¯ properties to heal and restore their bodies before the procedure.

    \u003c "Finally! We have our interpreter and enough bodies for our most useful members. We only need to retrieve the boy to start our n. The old coots and the non-humans can die, we have no use for them."\u003e

    The other Odi weed his proposition with an apuse. After being prisoners inside their own home for so long, they could finally see a way out.

    ***

    Lith and Morok walked through the door and ran along the corridor, to avoid falling in another ambush. Lith kept revealing and destroying the surveince devices along their path until they reached arge, circr room from which branched several corridors, each one with an arrow-shaped tag to identify their destination.

    Lith looked at the sign pointing from the direction they had arrived and noted down the Odi word for stairs. Then, he searched the remaining tags for another one containing the same characters that was supposed to lead them further down.

    Yet he stopped halfway for two reasons. The first was that he recognized the character for "Meat Shields". It was identical to the one he had found with Phloria in the tunnels departing from Kh.

    The second reason was that his revealing spell couldn¡¯t find working surveince devices in the room nor in the corridor leading to the magical beast breeding center.

    "One of ours went this way." Lith pointed with his finger.

    "It was Yondra, her Assistant, and Ellkas." Morok said after sniffing the air. "That¡¯s not all. The soldiers and Gaakhu went that way."

    He was pointing at the warehouse, but Lith didn¡¯t recognize the character and his spell confirmed that the surveince devices in that corridor were still operational.

    "All the Professors seem to have managed to escape. How long ago did they pass from here?" Lith asked.

    "Not much. A few minutes tops." Morok replied. "If we make haste, we might be able to catch up with her. After all, she had to slow down to clear her path, whereas we can just follow into her footsteps."

    His idea was interesting, but not for Lith. If they actually found Yondra, Morok wouldn¡¯t need Phloria anymore to escape nor could Lith say them anything to stop them from leaving him alone in that nightmare.

    Yet he nodded and used Life Vision to scan the area ahead. If he found Yondra and a dimensional rune leading to safety, he would know where to Warp to as soon as he rescued his friends.

    Also, if he managed to convince Yondra to teach him how to operate a dimensional rune, their escape would proceed even smoother.

 Chapter 707 A Forgemasterâ€™s Wand Part 1

    The metal corridor turned out to be very long. It branched several times because each kind of magical beast had its own breeding facility.

    Also, they were further split ording to what they were destined to be. The elite Meat Shields were breed in a department while the fuel for the Mana Reactor was breed in another.

    To find the right path, Lith just had to check at each intersection where the cameras had been deactivated and where they were still active. Unbeknownst to them, they were following Yondra¡¯s group toward the Teks¡¯ breeding facility.

    "Good gods!" Lith said when Life Vision perceived three familiar life signatures and his Array Detecting spell revealed five elemental blocking arrays to him, hidden but ready to be activated at any moment.

    "It¡¯s anyone there?" Lith asked, even though he already knew the answer. "We followed your trail."

    "Thank the gods, young spirit! It¡¯s so nice to see you, we were just biding our time and fearing for the worse." Yondra came from around the corner, hugging Lith while sighing in relief.

    She looked terrible. They had been separated barely half an hour ago, yet she looked like someone who didn¡¯t have a good night¡¯s rest in days. She was covered in sweat, panting heavily with every word.

    Yondra seemed to have suddenly got older, to the point that she was even unable to stand up-right properly. She was leaning against Lith rather than just hugging him.

    "What happened to you? Are your injuries so severe?" Lith asked while performing Invigoration on her. Her body was fine, but she was running on fumes. Both her mana and stamina were almost depleted.

    "No injuries, but you see, I¡¯ve been thinking ahead." Her crafty smile and hunched posture made her resemble Nana so much that it almost hurt.

    "I¡¯ve disabled the surveince devices of all the corridors from thest junction so that the Odi don¡¯t know where exactly we are." Lith nodded. He had found them with Life Vision and had yelled to pretend to have fallen for her deception.

    "Yet the moment I open a door, everything will be for naught. So I spent all of my energies to cast the necessary arrays to turn any Golem that tries to block us into scraps."

    Lith found several ws in her n. First, if more than one Golem came, they would be doomed. If they activated the arrays while only one construct was inside its area of effect, the second would need but a handful of seconds to make a temporary array copse.

    If they waited for the second construct to enter the arrays, by that time the first Golem might as well already captured them all. Last, but not least, even if they somehow managed to trap several Golems at once, all the Odi had to do was to unleash the magical beasts to finish them off.

    The arrays would seal their spells as well, making it impossible for humans to stand their ground against magical beasts.

    ¡¯This n is idiotic, Yondra must be beyond desperate.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "My problem is that if they send more than one Golem we¡¯re screwed." Yondra continued. "Don¡¯t get me started on how bad things would get if instead of inside the corridor, the Odi make the constructs Warp inside the room, where is not covered by my array¡¯s area of effect.

    "We can¡¯t deal with Golems, magical beasts, and the arrays inside the room at the same time. At least not by ourselves."

    ¡¯Or not.¡¯ Lith corrected himself, listening to Yondra¡¯s well-thought reasoning.

    "Then what¡¯s the meaning of all this?" Lith asked.

    "The original n was for me to rest and recover enough strength to take care of the defensive arrays while Ellkas dealt with the magical beasts. If we manage to move fast enough, we might reach a dimensional rune and escape.

    "The elemental blocking arrays are astst-ditch effort, to cover our retreat in the case the Golems arrive before we find the rune. I nned on using them more defensively than offensively.

    "But now that the two of you are with us, things will go much smoother. None of us can fight hand to hand, but you can. Your presence at least halves the time we need to find and activate the rune." Yondra said.

    "Keep resting. In such a debilitated state you¡¯d slow us too much." Lith forced her to sit down and handed her some food. Then, he exined what had happened since the group hand been split.

    "If they have captured your friends, they must be in the prison, locked by those terrible red chains." Yondra said, exining to him the artifact¡¯s properties.

    "Is the prison nearby and can you Warp me there?" Lith asked.

    "Yes to both, but please, listen to me first. ording to Rainer, there is always a Golem standing guard to the prisoners, so if you go there, you¡¯ll trigger the rm and give away our position."

    "Are you asking me to abandon them? Like you abandoned Rainer?" Lith sneered.

    "No, what I¡¯m asking you to do is to y it smart." Yondra shook her head. "Let¡¯s say you find and save them. What then? You would still be trapped here with no way out. Worst case scenario you¡¯ll ruin my n.

    "Here is my idea. Stay here and help us clear the path. If we seed, all you need to do is to Warp to the prison, rescue them with our help, Warp back here, and get out. You might even not need to fight. Stalling a Golem is much easier than destroying it."

    "Your n is good, but what if after we find the rune you get away and leave me behind? Why should you risk everything for me when freedom is just a step away? What if the Odi or their Golems damage the rune?

    "You would reap all the benefits of my work and I would be stuck here." Lith knew that no one would sacrifice so much for a stranger. If their roles were reversed and Yondra wanted his help to save Rainer, he wouldn¡¯t think twice leaving her behind.

    "He¡¯s right, you know? I¡¯m not staying here a second longer than necessary. Don¡¯t count on me for your rescue mission. Unless of course..." Morok winked at Lith with a greedy smile on his face. Bing an Awakened was a nice incentive.

    "Neither am I. I¡¯m sorry, kid, but someone has to alert the Kingdom. This is too big for any of us. Only an army of well-prepared Spellbreakers can destroy this ce. Anything but running is just suicide." Ellkas tried to sound as if he was more worried about the Kingdom than for his own life, but failed miserably.

    "Do you see what I mean? Just point me to the prison and I¡¯ll do the rest. I¡¯ll not mess with your n but I won¡¯t help you either." Lith stood up, ready to leave.

    "There¡¯s only one thing I need to know. Can you teach me how to activate a dimensional rune?"

    Yondra was conflicted by the choice at hand. She had really hoped that they could escape together, but without Ranger Eari and Ellkas, there was not much she could do. Rainer kept looking at her like a lost puppy, begging her to bring him home.

 Chapter 708 A Forgemasterâ€™s Wand Part 2

    ¡¯Seriously, I can¡¯t believe we¡¯vee to this point.¡¯ Yondra thought. ¡¯Even if I could actually make a difference, I would never trust Ellkas or Eari with Rainer. They both strike me like someone who always looks out for number one.

    ¡¯Hence I can¡¯t stay here and hope that they will help him out of the goodness of their hearts and why I can only trust them until the dimensional Gate will be opened. After that, I¡¯ll be on my own.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t be like these idiots, I must think about the bigger picture. What if we get interrupted and we have to run away? What if something happens to me? Everyone else would be doomed.¡¯ She took a deep breath, trying to make her mind.

    She was too tired to think clearly, yet she had to. After a few seconds, she decided to gamble onest time, to leave no stone unturned.

    "I could teach you how to operate dimensional runes, but it would be pointless." Yondra replied. "There are only two ways to fuel them. The first is with what their maker intended as a key.

    "In the Odi¡¯s case, it¡¯s probably a mana crystal carved with a particr shape. The second way is to use a Royal Forgemaster¡¯s wand to directly activate the rune with your mana."

    "Great. So you¡¯re ckmailing me. Either Ie with you or I risk getting stuck here forever." Lith didn¡¯t like ultimatums, yet he had his back against the wall. Both choices sucked.

    To stay behind meant to risk everything for someone who might already be dead, but leaving was even worse. Phloria was the first person who had ever epted him for who he was and Quy was almost like a sister to him.

    She hade to that horrible ce because of him, to find a way to prolong his life. More than everything, he couldn¡¯t keep living with the thought to have given up on two of the people who mattered the most for him.

    When Lith had been reborn, surrounded by the love of his family, he had sworn that nothing and no one would have ever been taken away from him again. Yet it was exactly what was likely to happen.

    "No ckmailing, I¡¯m offering you my help. Help us to reach the dimensional rune, give Ranger Eari whatever he wants from you, and I¡¯ll help you save your friends." Yondra said while looking him straight into his eyes.

    "If it¡¯s just the two of us, your n would be suicidal, but with Eari¡¯s help, it¡¯s like having the whole team." She sneered at Ellkas and Rainer. Their battle prowess was bordering on insignificance.

    "Fine!" Lith didn¡¯t like the deal much, but it was the bestpromise he could get. That way, no matter if Phloria was alive or not, he would still have a way out. His infant conscience and his selfishness had stopped quarreling, giving him time to think.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not that bad of a deal.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯If Yondra¡¯s n seeds, their help will make saving Phloria and Quy much easier. If it fails, well, my deal with Morok will be the least of my worries.¡¯

    "You heard thedy. Are you in?" Lith asked.

    "For real? Do you give me your word that this is not a trick?" Morok had never thought that Lith would have actually epted. His earlier offer was barely a joke, to spread salt on Lith¡¯s wounds.

    "You have my word. A life for a life." Lith extended his hand and Morok promptly shook it.

    "Well, as we eye brothers use to say, if before you had my curiosity, now you have my undivided erection."

    "Don¡¯t you mean attention?" Rainer asked.

    "I know exactly what I mean, kid."

    "Good. While we wait that I recover some of my strength, let me teach you how to use a Royal Forgemaster¡¯s wand." Yondra handed Lith her silver wand, making Rainer¡¯s jaw almost fall to the ground.

    "Master Yondra, why?" He asked.

    "Because if we fail and something happens to me, everyone would be stranded here. We need a contingency n." She replied.

    The moment Lith had it in his hands, he used Invigoration to understand the wand¡¯s nature. Much to his surprise, it didn¡¯t have a pseudo core, nor it was actually made out of silver.

    The externalyer of precious metal was just a focus for a small mana crystal. Both of them were covered in silver-colored runes Lith had never seen before. Unfortunately, Yondra demanded his attention before he could study it properly.

    "The wand is basically a filter. It purifies your mana from its energy signature, allowing it to be universally epted by all kinds of devices as if you are a giant mana crystal.

    "Also, theck of energy signature allows your mana to interact with most artifacts without triggering their defensive systems, hence why we could safely examine Kh¡¯s various locks and seals.

    "It has many other properties, but that would be beyond the scope of our lesson." Yondra then taught him the spell to activate the dimensional runes and once she was certain that Lith had learned it properly, she gave the wand to Rainer and asked him to perform the spell as well.

    That way, no matter who survived, her Apprentice would be useful and hence the others would be more careful about his well-being. The spell itself was simple, but it required both a high amount of mana and a highly developed mana control, the two trademarks talents of a Forgemaster.

    Lith had learned the spell so fast that Rainer lived it as apetition, doing his best to not let down his beloved mentor.

    While Yondra repeated her instructions to her pupil, Lith asked Professor Ellkas to trante for him all the signs they had found along the way. Ellkas was happy to help.

    His talents as both a linguist and an Alchemist weren¡¯t very useful in their predicament. Just like Quy, he was deeply regretting not to have practiced an offensive specialization.

    He had spent his whole life holed up in his academy, letting his love for the past civilizations made him forget about the dangers of the present.

    Thanks to him, Lith was able to enrich his Odi vocabry and even find the way leading to the lower floors.

    ¡¯I wonder if Gaakhu managed to escape. If yes, the warehouse might be worth checking. I¡¯ll know more after visiting the detention facility. I need a contingency n in case the dimensional rune of the Meat Factory gets destroyed.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Yondra hadn¡¯t taught him how to repair runes and he suspected that it was not only because the task required special ingredients, but also to ensure Rainer¡¯s survival. If the youth already knew the restoration spell, then Lith would be forced to take care of him.

    ¡¯Such a shrewd woman.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯If she was a true mage, I would immediately ept her offer of apprenticeship. With her deep knowledge about almost all magical specializations and her title of Royal Forgemaster, Yondra¡¯s help would save me decades of research.¡¯

    Lith turned to look at Morok, yet his re only found a sleeping Ranger. He would have dly followed the Tyrant¡¯s example, but time was a luxury he couldn¡¯t afford. While Yondra rested and meditated, he squeezed all the knowledge he could from Ellkas.

    "We have to move now." Yondra said less than half an hourter. "Without mana crystals to fuel them, my arrays are going to disappear in a while but we can¡¯t ce mana crystal without making our trap lose the element of surprise."

 Chapter 709 Strength and Weakness Part 1

    Yondra had stopped wheezing, but she was still far from being strong enough to fight. Lith gave her an alchemical sk that Solus had prepared for him which contained all the necessary nutrients for a speedy recovery after being injured.

    "Thanks for the offer, but I already took a tonic. One more would do nothing but drain my energy." Yondra politely refused.

    "This is no tonic. It willplement the effects of the potion you already took. Also, I¡¯m going to give you a bit of life force. I can¡¯t afford to lose you." Lith insisted.

    Yondra gulped down the potion. It had a really weird taste, as if someone had blended together grape juice, steak, and vegetables. The problem with tonics was that even though they enhanced the metabolism, they still required food to work.

    Yondra had eaten but she had yet to digest the food, whereas Solus¡¯s concoction could be instantly assimted.

    Lith used Invigoration to give her a bit of life force and mana back. Not enough to arouse her suspicions but enough to clear her head.

    "This thing tastes like shit, but I feel much better." Yondra said, appreciating the full effects of both Solus¡¯s potion and Invigoration. "Let¡¯s move."

    She quickly cast an array detection spells, making the Odi¡¯s magical formations be visible. With another spell, she made all the protections crumble, leaving only the card reader lock in ce.

    "Once I open the door, I need to stay behind to check the corridor and activate the elemental blocking arrays in case one or more Golems appear." Yondra said. "Lith, Morok, you clear the room and call me as soon as you¡¯re done.

    "Rainer, Ellkas, you two stay between the Rangers and I. Support us at best of your possibilities. Ready? Go!" A flick of her wand made the light above the card reader turn green, releasing the lock.

    Lith entered the room and used one of his personal spells. It revealed that thepound shared the same protections that he and Phloria had found in the Teks¡¯ breeding ground. There was a fire based, a darkness based, and an air based magical formation.

    The room was 20 meters long and 10 meters wide. Along the walls, there was a long line of cylindrical tanks holding adult Teks in what looked like suspended animation. There were at least 40 magical beasts, each one as big as a closet.

    He, Morok, and Ellkas took down one array each while Rainer neutralized the security cameras. They were all casting from behind to door, to keep both their numbers and identity a secret.

    Lith cursed when he saw with Life Vision that several Gates were about to open inside the room, whereas the corridor where Yondra had ced her arrays was empty.

    ¡¯Fuck! How many of those ursed Golems they had prepared and why didn¡¯t they use them in the war?¡¯ Lith received all the answers he needed when he saw that the creatures stepping out of the Warping arrays were no Golems.

    A small army of Thorns was filling the room while the tanks holding the Teks were being opened.

    "There¡¯s too many of them!" Morok said. Based on his estimate, even if he went all out as a Tyrant and burned his cover as a human, it would still take them too long to clean the room.

    On top of that, they would be too tired to hold their ground in the case a Flesh Golem appeared.

    "I got this!" Ellkas said, d to be useful for once. The Professor messed on purpose with his Disarray spell, so that instead of dissipating the magical protection, he sent it haywire along with the others.

    Ellkas closed the heavy metal door just a second before the resultingbined explosion made the wall tremble.

    "Ellkas, you idiot!" Yondra said. "You¡¯ve probably alerted the entire base. What if you destroyed the rune? There a limit to the damage I can repair."

    "Better than being butchered!" He replied. "Or do you expect us to take down dozens of creatures in just a handful of seconds?"

    Morok opened the door again, discovering that despite the fact that most of the creatures had been heavily injured or maimed, most of the Teks were alive and so were the Thorns.

    "There¡¯s one thing I have to try." Lith said, unleashing his spell, Death Zone. A huge cloudposed of darkness magic invaded the room, killing the Teks as if they were a bunch of flies.

    "Stop that spell!" Morok cursed. Instead of taking damage from Death Zone, the Thorns were getting bigger and stronger by the second.

    "Trust me!" Lith kept the spell active until all the wounds the Thorns had sustained from the detonation of the arrays werepletely healed.

    "You idiot! You made them stronger. Infiro!" Morok¡¯s human eyes turned red as his fire eye charged his short words making them emit a deadly heatwave.

    Contrary to his expectations, instead of just pushing the Thorns back, the ray burned the first row of creatures to a crisp, stopping only when the Thorns managed tobine their efforts to conjure a protective wall of darkness.

    "The fuck?" Morok couldn¡¯t believe his own many eyes.

    After fighting Irtu, Lith had learned that some creatures were able to absorb darkness magic and use it to heal themselves. During the battle in front of the elevator, he had noticed how the Thorns weren¡¯t affected by the darkness element, so Lith had used their ability to his own advantage.

    To heal wounds that severe and grow their bodies, the Thorns needed nourishment. Sure, they were now bigger and healthier, but also exhausted, making them an easy prey. The Thorns started to feed upon each other, reducing their numbers and helping Lith¡¯s group to clear the field even faster.

    A new set of Gates opened, letting an army of Koas swarm the room.

    "There¡¯s no end to them. Yondra, you need to find the goddamn rune and fast!" Ellkas used his alchemical tools to mow the magical beasts down while still being able to speak and, if necessary, prepare more spells.

    Yondra ran inside the room, giving a little red mana crystal to Rainer.

    "You keep guard in my ce. Do not activate the arrays unless all the Golems step into them. Don¡¯t hesitate to run if you think you can¡¯t handle the situation."

    Yondra Blinked near the door leading to the next room, past the enemy lines. Lith followed her lead, to provide her cover while she cleared the path. He engaged the Koas physically, triggering their bloodlust so that they would only focus on him.

    The Koas¡¯ hard scales made des useless, so both he and Morok employed blunt weapons to damage their internal organs. To resist the deep-sea pressure, Koas had sturdy andpact bodies, yet their organs were packed so tight that the shockwave of each hit easily propagated through them.

    Unfortunately, living or dying didn¡¯t matter to the Koas. They attacked the Rangers in waves, simply stepping over their fallenrades. Their lightning-enhanced ws managed to pierce even the Skinwalker armor, sending shocks through Lith¡¯s body that made him almost spasm more than once.

    The Koas had no qualms in using lightning bolts even against their own, using the magical beasts in front as a cover for their spells. A Koa was nothingpared to Lith, but there seemed to be no end to their numbers and his body continued to sustain wounds. To add insult to his many injuries, Lith had to prevent the Koas from getting past him. If even one of them disturbed Yondra¡¯s work, she would have been forced to start again from scratch.

 Chapter 710 Strength and Weakness Part 2

    Lith stood in front of Yondra, unleashing all the spells contained in his rings to buy himself a moment of respite. The living wall of Koas in front of him fell to a volley of wind des while a sphere of darkness magic slowed the following waves of creatures, making them stumble.

    On the other hand of the room, Morok wasn¡¯t faring much better. Even with the physical strength of an Emperor Beast and the power of his eyes, he was slowly getting pushed back.

    To make matters worse, the fallen Thorns were regrowing their bodies by feasting on the corpses of their fallen enemies. Green tentacles imbued with darkness energy wrapped around his legs and sapped his strength.

    He cut them down as fast as he could but they would release toxic sporesced with darkness magic that made it hard for him to breathe.

    ¡¯What a deadlybination.¡¯ Morok thought. ¡¯Teks are like heavy infantry, Koas are fast and armored like cavalry units, while Thorns are almost immortal. They just need to feed on fallen enemies or allies to rebuild themselves or even increase their numbers!

    ¡¯We¡¯re lucky that they arepletely unable to cooperate or we would be already dead.¡¯

    Just like Ranger Eari had assessed, the threebined magical beasts were a threat on par with the Flesh Golems. Unfortunately, the Odi experiments had made them mad and incapable of understanding even the simplest order.

    When they had tried to use ve items on them, they had no effects. The mass-produced magical beasts would attack anything but their master, even their own kin.

    "Old man, don¡¯t you have an herbicide? Something to kill them all in a fell swoop?" He asked to Ellkas while the spore density had be so high that both he and the Koas were suffocating.

    "I do, but it would kill you in the process. Also, I¡¯ve no guarantee that it wouldn¡¯t reach the other end of the corridor and kill Yondra as well." The Professor replied. To him, Lith and Morok were expandable, but without Yondra, he was screwed.

    Among the other things, Morok was a Battle Mage, but between the nature of his opponents and of the location of the battle he had no way to put his specialization to use.

    There was no earth, all the creatures were immune to lightning, darkness would strengthen the Thorns and offer him little protection, and fire might harm his allies. Lith had the same problem and no solution as well.

    "I¡¯m done! Blink inside!" Yondra yelled while opening the room.

    "Are you crazy?" Morok replied. "Aren¡¯t supposed to be arrays in there as well? What stops our friends to just Warp there and follow us?"

    "Excellent point!" Lith used spirit magic to grab a few Koas and throw them inside the next room before closing the door. A series of booms and sizzles told them that the ce was indeed protected.

    "Damn runts, you had one job." Yondra started to chant, while Lith tried all the spells he had at the ready, hoping to turn the tables. A frozen wave got rid of the spores in the air, but no creature seemed to be affected.

    A barrage of jets of fire almost made the air unbreathable and hurt the nearest Thorns, but they simply used the carpet of corpses on the ground to smother the mes and rejuvenate themselves.

    He would have loved to use Origin mes, but in such a confined space they would hurt him as well. He erected a wall of wind, strengthening it with spirit magic to buy Yondra a few seconds, yet itsted only one.

    The pressure that the Koa exerted was too great. The creatures were uncaring of their death or of that of theirpanions. They were so many and their scales so hard that even wind des would cut only one of them before losing their edge.

    Yondra finished her chant, conjuring four walls made of ice that sealed the creatures away while a pir of mes materialized in the middle of the room.

    ¡¯Fire and ice? This doesn¡¯t make sense, unless...¡¯

    Just as Lith had predicted, the ice walls couldn¡¯t stop water creatures like the Koas for long. With their sheer strength and numbers, it took them a little more than a second to crack the half a meter (1.7 feet) thick walls.

    In the following seconds, the cracks grew until they covered the entirety of Yondra¡¯s spell. Then, just as fast as they had appeared, the fissures started to close. The fire pir was almost gone and so was the air inside the ice walls.

    The mass of bodies blocked the Gates and even the little oxygen that managed to enter wasn¡¯t enough to sustain so many creatures. Once Yondra was certain that her spell would hold, she turned around and started to take the arrays in the next room down with the help of the Rangers.

    "This took us way longer than I predicted." Yondra said while spreading in the air silvery strands of mana from her wand to look for dimensional runes. Lith took down the cameras, but unless the Odi were incredibly stupid or they were against an automated defense, their goal was obvious.

    Without waiting for Ellkas, she started to activate all the runes she managed to find. Some, like the one Phloria had triggered, were too close to Kh and lead to tunnels filled with poison.

    When she finally found one leading to a safe area, she said:

    "Tell Ellkas and Rainer to join us. We¡¯ll stay behind but they can leave."

    Lith didn¡¯t like their situation at all. He had hoped to not have to explore two rooms, nor to face a whole army of creatures.

    ¡¯Dammit, if I knew it would have been so difficult, I could have gotten a much better deal. What really worries me, though, is that no more Gates have been opened. Whoever our enemy is, they know our position and goal.

    ¡¯We¡¯re so weakened that another wave of frenzied beasts would be enough to kill us.¡¯ Lith was using Invigoration, his paranoia told him that everything was going too smoothly to be true.

    Lith left Yondra and Morok to their work. The room was so full of arrays that it would take a while to neutralize them all and walk safely through the Gate. He called for hispanions, but no answer came.

    He activated Life Vision, noticing that there was no energy signature. Only the ck wind of death was emanated by something in the proximity of the door, where Ellkas was supposed to be.

    Lith turned around to check the room and the next. Morok and Yondra were safe and the Odi¡¯s Gates had been closed. Lith opened the door, to be sure about what to tell Yondra and found Ellkas¡¯ corpse.

    It had two holes the size of a golf ball, one in the middle of his eyes, and the other in his chest. Whatever had killed him had also struck at the metal walls with such strength that it had left molten indentations as big as Lith¡¯s head.

    There was no trace of Rainer. The red mana crystal that Yondra had given him to activate the arrays was lying on the floor, still ready to be used. Whoever was responsible for it, they had been as quick as silent, otherwise Lith or Morok would have sensed iting.

 Chapter 711 Green Array Part 1

    Lith rushed back to the Warp room while keeping Life Vision active.

    ¡¯It must have happened after Yondra disposed of the magical beasts. That¡¯s why no more dimensional corridors have been opened, our enemy must have captured Rainer while we were busy!

    ¡¯They didn¡¯t want us meddling to be sure that they would manage to take him alive, dammit. This means that I have no time to waste. If Phloria and Quy have been captured as well, the Odi can start the body-swapping procedure at any time!¡¯ Lith was right and wrong at the same time.

    It hadn¡¯t been a n, like his paranoia suggested to him. The Odi had simply exploited the opening that had been created the moment the group had split. Also, they would never start their experiments before being sure that nothing could mess with the first opportunity they had in centuries to walk Mogar again.

    "Enemy iing in front of you!" Lith said when he saw dimensional energies gathering in front of hisrades.

    Yondra thought Lith meant "from behind" and tried to turn around, but Morok knew better and kept her still while summoning the tier five Battle Mage spell, God of Water.

    A full armor made of ice covered his body while all the moisture in the air condensed throughout the room in spheres of water that would allow Morok to replicate the effects of all tier three and four water magic spells he knew without the need to cast them.

    It was the spell that coupled with his blue eye had allowed him to take single-handedly down a single Flesh Golem with rtive ease.

    A Warp Array opened, letting Jiira join his guests. He pped his hands, mostly topliment himself, for a job well done.

    \u003c "Too bad that old coots never survive being turned into Flesh Golems. With a brain like yours, you¡¯d make an excellent ve."\u003e He said as a green array formed all around him, enveloping the whole room.

    Jiira had watched the fight through both cameras and small dimensional gates. He had always been a huge fan of diator pits, and thest show he had witnessed had taken ce centuries ago.

    \u003c "As for you, filthy beast, no matter what form you take. You can¡¯t hide from us."\u003e

    Morok had no interest in listening to Jiira¡¯s ramblings and attacked the Odi the moment he appeared. He didn¡¯t care about the green array nor the warning Lith had received from the dying Golems.

    ¡¯This is going to be easy. The fucker can¡¯t even use dimensional magic. So far they have always opened Warping Arrays, not Warp Steps.¡¯ Morok thought as hemanded half the water spheres to freeze his enemy while the other half turned into icicles that darted toward Jiira.

    The Odi justughed at Morok¡¯s efforts and the green array shed for an instant. All of Morok¡¯s attacks stopped a few centimeters away from Jiira, as an invisible force had prevented even the energy from moving further.

    "What the fuck???? Morok and Yondra said in unison. The Ranger was bbergasted. Suddenly he couldn¡¯t feel the God of Water spell anymore, yet its effects were still visible in front of his eyes.

    \u003c "Nice suit of armor. I wish we were capable of such spells."\u003e Jiira was engrossed by the dramatic changes that Silverwing¡¯s legacy had triggered in the development of new forms of magic.

    \u003c "Yet to be really safe, you should wear it tighter, like this!"\u003e Jiira clenched his fist, and the ice armor turned into a torturing device which trapped its wearer and stabbed him with countless small ice shards.

    A flick of the Odi¡¯s wrist made all the conjured icicles fly across the room, to get rid of the beast and the old woman in one fell swoop.

    ¡¯Now I understand why the Golems warned me about the green array and why Rainer failed to defend himself despite the arrays Yondra had left him.¡¯ Lith thought while studying the events unfolding in front of his eyes with Life Vision.

    The moment the green array had shed, Morok¡¯s energy signature had been reced by Jiira¡¯s, allowing him to take control of the tier five spell.

    Yondra had no mystical senses, but years of battle experience let her understand that conjuring a spell before having a clear idea of the opponent¡¯s abilities might do them more harm than good.

    She used her defensive amulet, which created an energy barrier that stopped the icicles and crushed them to bits.

    ¡¯First weak points of all arrays, they can¡¯t be moved.¡¯ Lith thought while using spirit magic to drag both of hispanions outside the room without stepping inside the Odi¡¯s magical formation.

    \u003c "What is that?"\u003e Spirit magic was supposed to be invisible, yet Lith¡¯s tendrils of mana were clear as the day the moment they crossed the green array¡¯s threshold.

    One of the many reasons the Odi had lost the war was the Emperor Beasts¡¯ revenge against them. They didn¡¯t need Silverwing¡¯s legacy to create tier four or five spells and just a few Awakened of them could turn the tides of every battle.

    The green array, also called God¡¯s will, was the solution they had found after countless experiments and sacrifices. To perfect it, many Odi had died and because of its limitations, it couldn¡¯t be used outside Kh.

    Jiira was too surprised to react in time, so Lith managed to save hispanions and dispel the tendril he meant to use to snap the Odi¡¯s neck before it could be used against him.

    "We have to run, now!" Lith said, unwilling to fight a losing battle,

    ¡¯Solus, how the heck can he conjure an array that fast? I thought that only Golems could do that due to their power core.¡¯ Lith asked.

    He was confident about killing the Odi with his physical abilities alone, but he had no idea if the array had more than one ability or what to do if a Flesh Golem joined the fray.

    ¡¯There is a small bead hidden inside his ribcage.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯That¡¯s the source of the array, yet it doesn¡¯t exin where the Odi takes the mana to fuel it. That thingbines the worst of a Golem¡¯s power core and Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram.

    ¡¯Even an Awakened one using Invigoration would have a hard time keeping it active. It seems that Quy¡¯s hypothesis about the Mana Reactor was correct.¡¯

    "Where¡¯s Rainer?" Yondra asked.

    "Taken. Ellkas is dead." Lith said while Morok broke free from his armor with pure brute force. He was bleeding from many cuts, some even deep, yet they couldn¡¯t afford to slow down.

    Yondra gritted her teeth. All of her ns, all of her hard work to protect her beloved assistant had actually doomed the youth to a fate worse than death.

    "There¡¯s no point in running away." Yondra abruptly stopped. "If we can¡¯t defeat a single Odi, then we¡¯ll never manage to save anyone."

    "We can, but only if we take down the Mana Reactor first!" Lith stopped as well, but only because Jiira was once again in front of them.

    He had ced the Golems in strategic positions, allowing him to freely Warp from one point to another, sealing off the only escape route they had.

 Chapter 712 Green Array Part 2

    "Don¡¯t worry. This is exactly the kind of situation for which I devised my Dampener." Yondra took the small tuning fork from her pocket, imbuing it with her mana.

    "Come on, you bastard. I dare you to try and rob us of our spells again."

    Lith would have considered it an excellent n, if not for the fact that the enemy was likely to have endless mana.

    ¡¯She¡¯s right, though. If all Odi have one of those things, I must find a way to neutralize it if I want to have a chance to save Phloria and Quy. We still have the advantage of numbers and Yondra¡¯s artifacts. It¡¯s worth a try.¡¯ Lith thought while unleashing a Final Sunset.

    Jiira activated the God¡¯s Will array again, hijacking Lith¡¯s spell as if it was just a chore magic trick and stopping the ray of ck mes in its tracks. Lith fought with all of his willpower, trying to keep his energy signature and the control over the spell.

    Yet just like he had feared, it wasn¡¯t a matter of will as much of mana. Jira was simply flooding Lith¡¯s spell with his own energy. Final Sunset required a lot of mana, so there was a limit to the amount of energy Lith could employ before bing too weak to keep fighting.

    Yondra¡¯s Dampener absorbed a speck of Jiira¡¯s mana and analyzed its energy signature, allowing her to disrupt his control over Lith¡¯s spell.

    Final Sunset resumed its advance, yet Jiira seemed to be more amused rather than scared. No matter how much of his mana the Dampener scattered away, the Odi just had to inject more.

    \u003c "Finally a true challenge that can put to the test the fruits of our endeavor! I praise your efforts. You¡¯re not bad for a bunch of hairless monkeys."\u003e Jiira said, yet no one understood his words.

    "It¡¯s not working, we have to go before it¡¯s toote!" Lith replenished his reserves with Invigoration, but he knew that Yondra couldn¡¯t keep up.

    "Fuck, no. He¡¯s almost done. Ekidu!" Morok reverted to his Tyrant form using the ck eye on his chest to produce a ck pir of energy that his weapons captured and amplified.

    He didn¡¯t care for his secrete so much as for his survival. Morok darted forward, getting past Yondra and into the array. His Emperor Beast¡¯s body was boosted by fusion magic, allowing him to move as fast as a shooting arrow.

    He had learned his lesson. No more spells, only physical attacks. Meanwhile, Yondra was sweating bullets. Even though Lith had given her a bit of energy, she didn¡¯t have much mana from the start.

    Disabling the arrays, unlocking the doors, and using the tier five Magic Knight spell Empty Prison had only made things worse. She needed sheer willpower just to keep standing, so when Yondra saw Morok¡¯s real body she didn¡¯t even flinch.

    One small mistake and Lith¡¯s spell would kill them both.

    The Tyrant¡¯s red eye showered Jiira with mes, but countless ice crystals intercepted and smothered them into nothingness. Thanks to the Mana Reactor, Jiira could empower fist magic to the point of making its effects as powerful as tier three magic.

    In such a state, he was even superior to an Awakened. First magic required barely a thought and willpower to be shaped, it had no casting time. The cold wave slowed Morok enough that Jiira had the time to lift his right forefinger before the Tyrant could hit him.

    It emitted such a condensed stream of fire that it was almost solid. Morok managed to raise his des at thest second, deflecting the energy beam aimed at his head. The impact was so strong that it pushed the Ranger back and bent his des.

    Even though they were made of Orichalcum, without the darkness energy coursing through them they would have been pierced along with their master. Morok cursed, sheathing and unsheathing his weapons to repair the damage they had sustained.

    Jiira smiled, amazed by the many marvels that were waiting for the Odi race on Mogar¡¯s surface. Everything seemed to be ripe for the taking. His forefinger flicked three times, emitting as many fiery beams.

    The first two were deflected by the Tyrant¡¯s des, but the third found the way to his heart, opening a sizzling hole the size of a golf ball. Morok sprawled on the floor in a pool of his own blood. His body twitched for a bit before bing still.

    Yondra had barely the time to register what had just happened, putting all the mana she had left in her Dampener. Lith¡¯s Final Sunset was their only hope and it was now just a few centimeters from the Odi¡¯s face.

    Jiira gave them one of the cruelest smiles Lith had ever seen, something that usually appeared on his own face when he outsmarted an enemy.

    A simple wave of the Odi¡¯s hand made the tier five spell turn 180 degrees, making it now aim against the two humans.

    \u003c "There¡¯s nothing better than leaving maggots like you a shred of hope. You fight so hard when you believe that you actually have a chance. Then, when I take away that hope, when your expression turns into despair, that¡¯s the moment that makes me happy to be alive."\u003e Once again, Jiira wasn¡¯t talking to them, just to himself.

    Yet Yondra didn¡¯t need to understand the Odinguage to realize what was going on. The tables had been turned too suddenly to be just because of her getting weaker. The enemy had yed them all along, like a cat with a mouse.

    The energy beam almost reached her face before stopping again, in ast act of idle cruelty.

    \u003c "Anyst words, maggot?"\u003e Yet he didn¡¯t wait for a reply, resuming the attack the moment he was done with his mockery.

    Realizing what was about to happen, Yondra used thest spark of mana she had left to slow the hijacked spell long enough to change its trajectory and give Lith the time he needed to retreat.

    Unfortunately, Lith¡¯s Final Sunset boosted by Jiira¡¯s mana was fast and powerful enough to strike them down almost at the same time. The spell opened a hole in her chest, cauterizing it while piercing through Yondra, before striking down Lith and engulfing him in ck mes.

    Jiiraughed while waiting for Lith¡¯s body to stop moving, and closed in on Yondra. Her Dampener had shattered when Final Sunset had struck it, but her Royal Forgemaster wand was still intact.

    Jiira had no notion of dimensional items so he searched both her and Morok, taking away everything he could find before Warping away. The moment he disappeared, Lith dispelled the ck mes, thanking his cunning and the Odi¡¯s ignorance about tier five spells.

    Once Lith had understood Jiira¡¯s intentions, he had recalled his Final Sunset, using it to protect himself from the enemy¡¯s attack. Jiira had no idea that what he had captured with the God¡¯s Will array was just a portion of the spell, nor that the part outside the array was still under Lith¡¯s control.

    Between the mana boosted Skinwalker armor and his own ck mes, Jiira had only managed to inflict upon him small burns. First Lith went to Yondra¡¯s side, using Invigoration to check on her condition and lessen her pain.

 Chapter 713 Despair Part 1

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re still alive." Yondra said between gasps and stuttering. The wound being cauterized had prevented her from bleeding out, but she still experienced all the pain such a wound implied.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t the tennis ball sized hole in her chest that struck Lith like a fist in the stomach, but her copsing mana core. He refused to surrender, using Invigoration to replenish both her stamina and mana, but to no avail.

    Her blue mana core kept leaking everything he gave her and was already turning cyan.

    "I¡¯m sorry. We should¡¯ve run away like you wanted." Tears of pain and regret streamed down her cheeks while all he could do was ease the pain of herst moments.

    "No, there were Flesh Golems waiting for us. The moment we Blinked they would have trapped us with their arrays. We could only fight." Lith replied.

    Yondra raised her hand in an attempt to reach his cheek. Lith bent down to make things easier for her while supporting her hand with his.

    "Please, tell my children that I didn¡¯t abandon them and that myst thoughts, even thisst caress was for them. Tell them that I¡¯m sorry I could never be the mother they deserved. I wasted my life, always giving priority to the wrong things.

    "In the end, I let everyone down. My family, Rainer, even you. If only I could have one more..."

    Year? Chance? Breath? Lith would never know what Yondra Mefaal was about to say, nor did he care. All he cared about was that she had died in his arms, crying, after everything she had precious had been taken from her.

    Not even death could make despair disappear from her eyes or face. Lith stored her corpse inside his pocket dimension before going to Morok¡¯s side.

    "Are you done ying possum?" Lith asked.

    He knew that such an amount of blood was not enough to kill an Emperor Beast and when he had looked at both his fallenrades with Life Vision, the Tyrant¡¯s vigor wasn¡¯t what Lith would expect from a dying man.

    "Yes, and thank you for nothing, jackass. While you were ying the hero, I was working my ass to bleed enough to fool that moron without dying. I guess he mustn¡¯t know that Tyrants have two hearts. Losing one is painful, but not lethal.

    "By the way, I need food or I¡¯ll die for real. To heal these wounds, I need energy and that fucker has stolen everything I had but my weapons." He showed Lith the two holes in the metal des. Jiira had left them thinking that they had been damaged beyond repair.

    Yet Morok only had to sheath and unsheathe them again to return them to mint condition.

    ¡¯Normally, I would point out to Lith that the trick behind Morok¡¯s apparently indestructible des lies in their scabbards. As he told us back in the camp, they are part of his enchanted weapons, so both the mana crystals and its pseudo core are actually there.

    ¡¯The des are just an extension that can be regenerated as long as the sheaths remain intact. Yet I don¡¯t think that Lith cares about that right now. Yondra¡¯s death shook him quite badly.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith gave the Tyrant lots of foods while his mind couldn¡¯t stop reying Carl¡¯s death, Nana¡¯s death, and his own. The look in Yondra¡¯s eyes was the same Lith had when he had looked at Carl¡¯s corpse through the obituary ss for its identification.

    The memory of his own reflection still haunted him to this day.

    "Our deal his off." Were the first words Lith said once he snapped out of his own memories. "Without the wand, there¡¯s no way out unless we rescue Phloria. She won¡¯t leave without Quy and neither would I.

    "You have two choices: you can stay here alone and either die of starvation or by the Odi¡¯s hand or you can help me."

    "That¡¯s not much of a choice." Morok said while finishing his meal. "I¡¯ll help you, but since we don¡¯t have much time, you should fill me up with energy. All this fighting has left me drained."

    Lith Invigorated both Morok and himself, wondering how many uses of his breathing technique he had left.

    "What¡¯s the n?" The Tyrant asked.

    "First, we go check the prison ward. If my friends are still there, we rescue them and Warp ourselves here. If not, we have to find and destroy the Mana Reactor. Without it, the Odi don¡¯t stand a chance against true mages that can use spells above tier three."

    Morok nodded and used a bit of his new mana to repair his armor. Before leaving, they searched Professor Ellkas¡¯s body, discovering that Jiira had already taken away everything but his clothes.

    They followed the trail of broken cameras to the prison, but Lith didn¡¯t need to enter to know that they were toote. There was no energy signature inside, not even the jailer Golem that Rainer had told them about.

    "It seems that shit has hit the fan. They have everything they want. I¡¯m really sorry about your friends." Morok said. His voice was honest and his pain sincere. Without a Royal Forgemaster they were as screwed as the Assistants.

    "It¡¯s not over yet." Lith replied. "I know the way to the lower floor and we both can see the Mana Reactor. Follow me."

    They ran along the corridors, following Ellkas¡¯ instructions that Lith had copied inside Soluspedia.

    "My n is as follows: If on our way we don¡¯t find the ce where the spare bodies are held, we destroy the Mana Reactor, ughter all the Odi, and then wait until the noxious gas fades.

    "If we find theb and my friends are still alive, we will be forced to split. You take care of the Reactor and I¡¯ll save them. They think that you are dead and if we keep things that way, they will not realize our n until it¡¯s toote."

    "Is that the reason why you¡¯re not destroying the surveince devices anymore?" Morok asked.

    "Yes. They will be too busy bickering and preparing the body-swapping procedure to look at the surveince mirror. If I were to destroy more devices, I could trigger some rm and alert them. This way we¡¯ll know that our cover has been blown the moment a Golem Warps in front of us."

    "Wouldn¡¯t it be bad?"

    "Quite the contrary. I could Blink through its Gate and reach my destination. With all eyes on me, you¡¯d be free to continue with our n."

    "Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to open doors and stuff by myself? I¡¯m no Forgemaster, so it would be better to switch our roles. I¡¯ll go help your friends and you take down the reactor." Morok said.

    "Yeah, right. How long do you think you canst against someone with infinite mana?" Lith replied. "By the way, what are your specializations?"

    "Battle Mage and War Mage. I was forced to attend the freaking Fire Griffon to learn the upper tiers of spells because my father couldn¡¯t be bothered with me."

    "Gods, you¡¯re really useless. Focus more on creation and less on destruction, if you want someone to Awaken you. Right now, you¡¯re just a rude, walking disaster." Lith knew only a few spells of Morok¡¯s specializations, but all of them could be easily turned against their own caster by the green array.

    ¡¯If pushes to shove, we could split.¡¯ Solus proposed. ¡¯I could go with Morok and help him open the doors and shut down the arrays.¡¯

 Chapter 714 Despair Part 2

    ¡¯No way.¡¯ Lith refused Solus¡¯s offer right off the bat. ¡¯To stand a chance, I need to be at 200%, which means that I need both your smarts and help. Don¡¯t get me started with the consequences that revealing your existence might cause.¡¯

    While they were running along the corridors, Lith and Solus reviewed their fight with Jiira, noticing several things out of ce.

    ¡¯Why did they send only one Odi to take us down and how was he linked to the Mana Reactor?¡¯ Lith pondered.

    ¡¯I doubt they can have made many spheres capable of creating the green array and even if they did, giving someone infinite mana and conjuring such a powerful array is something even my tower form can¡¯t achieve.

    ¡¯It probably takes the full output of the Mana Reactor and geyser to just fuel one person. As for the link, beats me. If I had to take an educated guess, I¡¯d say they have Forgemastered their bodies.

    ¡¯After all, the reason why the Body Forgemastering procedure on the specimens failed was that they didn¡¯t have enough mana to fuel the enchantments, but if part of the Forgemastering process gives them ess to infinite mana...¡¯

    ¡¯The problem is solved.¡¯ Lithpleted the sentence for her. ¡¯That also means that all those linked to the Mana Reactor can¡¯t leave Kh without getting a new body first since their survival depends on a constant supply of mana.¡¯

    The further down they went, the clearer Lith could see the Mana Reactor. It was a giant structure, at least 30 meters (100 feet) high, ced right in the middle of the natural mana geyser.

    Somehow, the Reactor siphoned most of the Geyser, which exined why despite they were right in the middle of one of Mogar¡¯s most powerful natural phenomenons, all of their mystical senses worked, whereas in the crystal mine Lith and Solus had been blinded.

    ¡¯I guess this also exins where he Odi found so many crystals. This ce had to be a mine in the past.¡¯ Lith thought, while observing the constant stream of world energy being sucked and spun inside the reactor.

    Lith couldn¡¯t see how it was shaped, only how the energy moved inside the device. The world energy was then divided into all of itsponents before being reassembled in the form of pure mana.

    The process was intriguing, but Lith was more concerned looking for Quy¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s energy signatures. He was afraid of arriving toote, to see their expression fixed by death in a state of pure despair like it had happened to Yondra.

    Even worse, he was afraid to arrive just in time to see their bodies perfectly fine, but upied by someone else. Lith wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill someone who was just borrowing Phloria¡¯s appearance, but it would still be the proof that he was as helpless now as he had been on Earth.

    ¡¯Calm down, the body-swapping procedure is bound to be difficult. No one can remove the Skinwalker armors except for their wearer, so they¡¯ll probably leave Phloria and Quy forst.¡¯

    ¡¯That, or they¡¯ll shatter my prototypes with their ridiculous array. Damn me and my avarice. Why didn¡¯t I prepare something better for them?¡¯ Lith thought.

    When they reached the fifth underground floor, the two Rangers perceived an odd vibration running through the metal structure surrounding them. Lith also heard muffled screams, but both Solus and Morok confirmed to him that the corridor was actually silent.

    Lith had been feeling strange since he had discovered to be able to understand the words of the Odi¡¯s victims, but now that sensation was getting stronger with each step he took.

    Something was stirring inside of him, almost triggering his memory about it, but every time he was about to recognize it, the feeling stopped. It was like listening to a familiar jingle, but only to its first notes, making it much harder to remember the name of the song.

    On the sixth underground floor, Lith almost felt dizzy. The noise ringing in his head was bing unbearable and not even Hushing his ears worked. The silver lining was that they had reached the Mana Reactor¡¯s level.

    Both Rangers could clearly see it in the distance and were near to their destination. Lith¡¯s stomach was churning because they had yet to find any trace of his friends. For security reasons, the stairs leading to the upper and lower levels were located at the opposites ends of each floor.

    He had hoped that he would find Phloria by looking through the walls, ceiling, and ground on his way down, but reality had proven him wrong. Lith was about to ask Solus for an analysis of their situation when he noticed that all the shadows that the lights projected were now filled with angry mouths and eyes.

    They would appear and disappear every time he blinked. Once again, Lith was the only one who seemed to be able to perceive the strange phenomenon. To make matters worse, now the ground was trembling so much that the Rangers thought that an earthquake was about to happen.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry about them Lith. If something bad had happened to Phloria and Quy, we would feel it.¡¯ She said, trying to calm him down.

    ¡¯That¡¯s bullshit and you know it. When my brother had the car ident, the only thing I felt was the urge to get a cab and go to work. Where the fuck are they?¡¯

    ¡¯My guess is somewhere near the Reactor. ording to Ka, the Odiid the foundations for Lichhood, so we can assume that the Reactor works akin to a phctery.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯They didn¡¯t use it to win the war because the further they get from it, the weaker they be. Ripping someone¡¯s life force away and recing it entirely is a mammoth task, on par with splitting and removing a mana core like a Lich does.

    ¡¯I think that theb where they Forgemaster the Flesh Golems, use the Life Merging process, and perform the body-swapping are all near the Reactor, so to maximize their odds of sess.

    ¡¯Based on what happened to Ka and what we know about Forgemastering, they only have one shot for each body. There are no do-overs.¡¯

    Lith thanked her, focusing on Life Vision even more while scouting his surroundings. He much preferred a hard truth to wishful thinking.

    The Reactor was a beacon, the Rangers didn¡¯t need to read the signs to know where to go. Much to Lith¡¯s dismay, the door leading to their destination was blocked by two Flesh Golems.

    Clearly the Odi were at least as paranoid as he was and they weren¡¯t willing to take any risk of their improvised n to resurrect their civilization to be ruined just because they had miscounted the hairless monkeys.

    "Fuck, we have to fight them one on one. I¡¯m not much worried at the idea of facing a Golem again as much of wasting our time and blowing our cover." Morok said while scouting the area from around a corner.

    "Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll kill them so fast that when mister see-through arrives we¡¯ll already be next to the Mana Reactor. At that point, we¡¯ll have the upper hand. That kind of device is delicate, fighting in its proximity means destroying it." Lith replied.

    "What makes you so sure of our sess?"

    "We¡¯re both highly motivated." Lith shapeshifted into his hybrid form "Phloria is in a room nearby the Reactor, so neither of us has any reason to hold back. It¡¯s do or die, and I¡¯ve got no intention of dying."

 Chapter 715 Mana Reactor Part 1

    Thete Professor Neshal was right. For a single Warden keeping two arrays at the ready was impossible and so was for two different Wardens to activate both their arrays at the same time.

    Unless, of course, they shared a mind link that allowed them to synchronize their very thoughts and perceptions.

    ¡¯As soon as we are done casting, I want you to use Invigoration and recover your strength. An array is too much of a burden for your green core. I want you at your 100% to face that Odi¡¯s anatomy model.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯But the strain on your body...¡¯ Solus objected.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t give a damn about having a perfect body just to die like ab rat at the hands of those madmen!¡¯ Lith cut her short. ¡¯Don¡¯t worry about me, worry about yourself. If something happens to you, I¡¯ll never forgive myself for dragging you to Kh.¡¯

    "Jump on my back and strike at their power core on my mark."

    "I can¡¯t see their power core, you dimwit." Morok replied.

    "My Soul will light your way."

    Morok was about to sneer at the happy-go-lucky bullshit Lith had just spewed when the hybrid unfolded his wings, using a flight spell, air magic, and air fusion to fly as fast as a bullet.

    When the Flesh Golems noticed them, Lith activated his Earth Blocking array while Solus used her Air Blocking and used light magic to draw an X where the construct¡¯s power core was located.

    A secondter Morok¡¯s hammers had smashed their target while Lith¡¯s Orichalcum glove had pierced his own. Lith used Invigoration on the door in front of them to release its lock while keeping an ear at the creatures¡¯st breaths.

    \u003c "Grid. 325627. 32562..."\u003e The female construct said while searching for Lith¡¯s eyes with hers.

    \u003c "893465. 893465. 8934..."\u003e The male Golem repeated his message as fast as he could, but to Morok it was gibberish, so he ignored him.

    Lith didn¡¯t miss that the door in front of them just had a card reader, making such numbers pointless. Two small wisps of light came out of their remains, but instead of shooting towards the ceiling like it had happened before, Lith saw them getting sucked through the door and into the Reactor.

    "What the heck was that?" Morok asked, but Lith could only shrug in reply, reverting to his human form. The door clicked, revealing an enormous cave, at least thirty meters (100 feet) high and 50 meters (166 feet) wide.

    In the middle of the cave, there was a pir made of metal and mana crystals that pierced the only part of the ground not covered by the metal tes, digging deep into Mogar¡¯s crust.

    Even though the pir was so tall that it reached the ceiling and wasrger than any tower both Rangers had ever seen, they could barely distinguish its features. In front of them, there was a green grid made of energy that blocked their path just after a couple of meters from the door.

    "So much for our blitz." Morok whined. "Hod did you miss something this huge?"

    Lith had no idea how to reply since both he and Solus could see only with their conventional sight. The energy was invisible to their mystical senses.

    The Tyrant had enough surprises for a lifetime, so instead of trying to Blink, he tried and failed to open a Warp Steps on the other side of the grid. Somehow the two points in space couldn¡¯t be connected.

    "I could say the same about your eyes." Lith said, noticing that the Odi had crushed the holographic pad on the outside, leaving intact only the one inside the barrier.

    "Grid. 325627." Lith repeated, sending a tendril of mana through the barrier. He could still reach the other terminal with spirit magic. Or so he thought until a fizzle and a shower of sparks crushed his hopes.

    "This is not magic." Lith said understanding the nature of the obstacle in front of them. "Nor is it a spell, a construct, or an array. This is pure mana, without an energy signature that I can recognize."

    They couldn¡¯t afford to waste time, but Lith was actually thinking out loud to better study their situation and giving his partners the means to help him. He noticed that just like normal barriers, the grid didn¡¯tpletely seal the cave from the external world.

    Light and air could still pass through, so all he had to do was follow the Odi¡¯s lead when they had forced the Assistants to leave the camp.

    "This is going to hurt." Lith said while generating a strong light from a high point behind him, making his shadow grow long enough to reach the holo pad. Then, he infused his mana into his own projection, to give it life as he had already done in the past.

    "That¡¯s amazing! How do you call this spell?" Morok had never seen such a trick, not even from his father.

    "It has no name." Lith was too focused and embarrassed to tell him that his personal variant of spirit magic had a cringy name like "Demons of Darkness." Lith had used that name during his mission in Zantia for his y with Friya.

    The thing on the other side was half shadow and half made of Lith¡¯s mana, so he knew that it was only a matter of time before the barrier recognized it as a threat or at least an anomaly.

    "3-2-5..." The shadow needed to be solid to interact with the pad. At the three Lith felt his skin crawling. At the two, the green energy of the barrier started to seep into the dark streak connecting Lith to his double, forcing him to double his focus to counter that invasion. At the five, it was as if he was touching a live wire.

    "6-" The green energy was now invading his body, charring Lith¡¯s feet while it worked its way up

    "2-" Lith was forced to use darkness fusion to cut off his pain receptors and a massive amount of mana to stop the grid from reaching his mana core.

    "7!" The green dot on the pad was reced by a red one as the grid disappeared.

    Morok Blinked right behind the Reactor, bringing Lith with him and preparing for the arrival of the enemy. Lith was doing his best, helped by Solus, to cleanse his body by the still lingering green energy.

    His mana core was shaken from both the assault and the strain it had sustained, to the point that Lith didn¡¯t feel safe using Invigoration. If his mana core mistook the pure mana for world energy, there was no telling what damage it could inflict upon him.

    Only when his body was once again filled with mana carrying his own energy signature did Lith use his breathing technique to heal his wounds. Solus didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him that he was almost charred from the waist down, but the hunger that overwhelmed Lith once he was able to stand on his own again wasn¡¯t so kind.

    Lith had started gulping down the second of Solus¡¯s disgusting nutrients tonics when two more Flesh Golems appeared. Life Vision allowed him to see that Jiira wasn¡¯t with them.

    Also, they had Warped right next to their fallenrades, which likely meant that the grid was off-limits to them as well.

 Chapter 716 Mana Reactor Part 2

    Lith shared his discoveries with Morok while closely following the Golems¡¯ movements.

    "I guess our cover is blown." The Tyrant sighed.

    "No, only mine." Lith shook his head. "I collected the corpses of both Professors not only to return them to their families once we get out of here, but also because if one of them goes checking the ce where we fought the Odi, they will think I destroyed the bodies of my fallenrades.

    "Remember that mine is the only death that hasn¡¯t been confirmed, whereas the hole in your chest was pretty convincing. Also, our cover was blown the moment we took down those constructs."

    "Okay, two questions, then. First, how do we dispose of them? Second, the Reactor is really big. Any idea of how to destroy it?" Morok asked.

    Lith looked around the room before answering. There were three doors leading outside. The one they had arrived from, the one leading where Phloria and the others were, and a third one he had no idea what purpose could it have.

    Lith couldn¡¯t see any energying from behind it, so it was useless to him. He had no time to explore thepound.

    "I have a n for the Golems. As for the Reactor, we still have one code from the Golems we have just defeated. Let¡¯s search for a holographic pad with numbers. Maybe it¡¯s the shut down code." Lith said.

    "I take back what I¡¯ve said earlier about your eyes. Speaking with corpses is damn useful. By the way, how do I distinguish Odi letters from numbers?" Morok had never bothered learning how to recognize them because he had all the Professors¡¯ notes stored in his dimensional amulet, but now it was lost.

    Lith groaned, making a copy for him of both the code and aparative table between the Odi¡¯s numbers and their own. Meanwhile, the Flesh Golems outside the room hadpleted their report and moved toward the door.

    Lith stepped out of his hiding spot, checking for the presence of surveince devices while spreading tendrils of spirit magic in every direction. As he expected, the room had no cameras, likely to avoid the security codes from being spied and because the mana grid was already a formidable defense.

    Contrary to his expectations, one Golem entered from the door while the other one Warped in front of the room where Lith¡¯s friends were, making him curse. His trick was likely to work only once and it needed the constructs to attack at the same time.

    ¡¯Do you want me to cast the elemental blocking array?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯No, I can¡¯t afford wasting more mana in arrays, and neither can you. Invigoration has only a limited number of uses and we have yet to face mister anatomy model.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Luckily, the second Golem had just gone checking that no one had entered theb before moving to the Reactor room. Theb¡¯s door lead directly inside the grid, allowing it to operate themands and let its partner in.

    Both constructs were surprised seeing the intruder and the energy field deactivated, but being more machines than persons, their feelings caused no dy in their response to the threat.

    One ran toward Lith while the other activated its Warping array to cover the distance separating them. Lith moved all the tendrils he had prepared at once, touching the holographic pad and restoring the grid.

    The Warping array instantly copsed, cutting the first Golem in half while the remaining tendrils of mana wrapped around the second construct that was already inside the energy cage and sent it mming against the barrier.

    The results were impressive. The moment the Golem touched the green grid, its body was pulverized as if it was sand passing through a sieve. Lith¡¯s only gripe with his strategy was that by instantly killing them, he had missed the opportunity to obtain more information.

    "Quick, we don¡¯t have much time." Lith said while looking around for another pad. He left the grid active to prevent anyone from Warping while he was distracted. If even the Golem had been forced to use the door, the Odi were bound to do the same.

    Especially since they seemed to be incapable of using dimensional magic.

    "I really hope those were thest constructs." Morok¡¯s mystical senses were useless while in front of the Mana Reactor. Its raw power blinded him, so he could only use his natural sight.

    Lith and Solus had the same problem, making them wish they had a Royal Forgemaster wand with them. Even by using Invigoration on the Reactor, it would take them quite a while to search it thoroughly.

    "There¡¯s no pad, here. Just metal and crystals!" Morok said.

    "Go check the other door inside the grid. If they protected it from dimensional magic, there must be a reason." Lith had yet to finish examining the Reactor with Invigoration and couldn¡¯t afford to waste one single second.

    There was something wrong with the Odi¡¯s device, something that made it painful for him to use his breathing technique like usual. It had never happened before, yet Lith was too focused to care about the cold shiver running down his spine.

    The only thing he could think of was cracking the mystery in front of him.

    The Mana Reactor was just like Solus, it had both a mana flow and a life force, yet the two living artifacts couldn¡¯t have been more different.

    While Solus was a person with her energy signature, her stone body, and the red wind of lifeing out of it, the Reactor was a maelstrom of energy signatures, a bodyless mass of pure energy which emitted constant screams of agony.

    Now that he was so close, he could see the red of life and the ck of death endlessly turning into one another. Lith could swear that the Reactor was trying to pull him inside, just like it had done with the Golems¡¯ wisps.

    Only his body prevented his energy from being stolen. Lith felt dizzy and nauseous. The longer he remained in contact with the Reactor the more he could feel the lives spinning inside its bowels.

    "More stairs. They seem to lead to the upper floors again. Weird. Any news?" Morok asked upon his return.

    "None. Use your best spells and find a way to shut this thing down. I¡¯m going in." Lith didn¡¯t wait for a reply and ran towards theb, his mind filled with doubts.

    ¡¯Was the Golem trying to deceive me or did I fail to understand its message? After all, while the woman mentioned the grid, the man just repeated a sequence of numbers. Could it be another code for the grid¡¯s pad?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Unlikely. My best guess is that if you input the wrong number, you sound the rm, cause the grid to fill the whole room killing any intruder, or both.¡¯ Solus thought while studying the defensive device pattern.

    She was almost certain that the grid could be moved. The next room was nothing like Lith had imagined it. The wall on his left was filled with what resembled monitors to him, from which he could observe the whole facility of Kh, both above and below levels.

    The camp was still filled with the toxic gas, so using the elevator to escape was out of the question. The rest of the monitors didn¡¯t show anything interesting, just empty corridors and rooms.

 Chapter 717 Immortal Body Part 1

    There was a keyboard below the monitors that allowed its user to switch between the different cameras, but Lith had no idea how to operate it. There was no mouse and his coding skills were nihil for Earth¡¯s operating systems, let alone for alien technology.

    On the right side of the room there was an empty cylindrical water tank, simr to the one that contained the pseudo-Balor in the Body Enhancement department, but much moreplex and refined.

    Several cables of different colors went from the nearby wall to and inside the tank. Every single centimeter of it was covered in runes of power that Lith had never seen before, making it both a powerful artifact and the focus of at least twenty different arrays.

    Lith noticed that there was a single set of footprints going from the tank to the monitors and moving around the room. Lith followed them with his eyes, noticing that for some reason, the man from the tank had stopped in front of a wall.

    Lith used Invigoration, discovering a hiddenpartment that had been cloaked against detecting spells, Life Vision included. Triggering it was easy. One of the metal bolts was actually a switch that once pressed made two stone bs slide, revealing a holographic pad protecting a safe.

    "893465." After checking with Invigoration for traps, Lith entered the password. The pad disappeared while the safe opened. Inside there were three books, each one several centimeters thick.

    Lith put them inside Soluspedia to examine them. He couldn¡¯t read the Odinguage, but judging by the pictures, they were the schematics for all Kh¡¯s sessful projects.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! The Flesh Golems folder doesn¡¯t help me one bit and neither does the Body Swapping book. The pictures are self-exnatory and I can¡¯t find any weak point just by looking at them. The Mana Reactor, however, is a different story.

    ¡¯The part on this floor it¡¯s seamless. I doubt Morok could damage it unless he manages to make the mana crystals detonate. The schematics show that its structure reaches the upper floor, where there is a metal gate from which specimens can be thrown inside the Reactor for a reason I don¡¯t understand.

    ¡¯I must inform Morok of this before...¡¯ Lith thought when he discovered that his "before" was already expired.

    Jiira, the one that Lith referred to as ¡¯mister anatomy model¡¯ due to his translucent skin that allowed to see his muscles and organs as if he was some kind of stic toy, had just walked inside the same room where Phloria was.

    Normally Lith would weave his best spells, preparing for the fight, but the enemy¡¯s green array made most of them useless, so he preferred to save all of his energies for those abilities that couldn¡¯t be turned against him.

    ¡¯Okay, filthy bastard, just pick one of them who¡¯s not Quy or Phloria, so I¡¯ll have all the time I need to inform Morok.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Unfortunately, after examining all of their prisoners, the Odi had moved Phloria on the bottom of the body rankings and had decided to experiment on her to check if their body-swapping procedure was still effective on humans.

    Despite her powerful mana core, with her height and build she was the least charming female specimen ording to their standards. Even when they had mistaken her for a man, she ranked pretty low.

    With her light bronze skin, fit body, and callous hands she was the embodiment of everything a noble Odi despised. Hard work under the sun was something that only ves did, not to mention that her height was too far from what they considered perfection.

    Jiira closed in on her and released Phloria from the red chains restraining her. Then he used an air spell to move her on what looked like a table. Lith wished with all of his strength for the Odi to go away again, so that he could speak with Morok while Solus freed his friend.

    Once again, wishes proved to be a waste of time. Thanks to Life Vision, Lith could see through the walls that part of the energy from the Mana Reactor was flowing inside crystal cables linked to whatever Phloria was lying on.

    Lith clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white, yet before taking action he had to wait the moment when the Odi¡¯s full focus was on his best friend.

    ¡¯Wait a minute.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯If he takes Phloria¡¯s body, what need does he have for the other members of the expedition?¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯ll ask him after I rip his head off.¡¯ Lith replied, darting inside the room the moment mana started to flow through Jiira¡¯s body.

    Lith was in his peak condition, so he infused his body with all the elements and went all out right from the start. He entered the body-swapping room moving so fast to be barely a blur.

    Inside, instead of the usual metal, the room was entirely made of stone carved out with earth magic, to allow the world energy to saturate its air. All the remaining members of the expedition were lined up along the wall in order of importance on Lith¡¯s right.

    Each one of them was restrained by red chains that kept them healthy while preventing them from using magic.

    In the middle of the room, there was a stone table where Phloria was. She was conscious but deadly pale. The red chains had healed her wounds, but without being properly fed she was so weak that she didn¡¯t have the strength to fight.

    Above and below the table, there were bundles of cables that ended into two purple mana crystals, pointing respectively at Phloria¡¯s forehead and nape. Jiira had already activated the God¡¯s Will array to maximize the procedure¡¯s chance of sess, so he managed to react fast enough to spread his fingers and release five energy beams.

    Lith had already seen that trick and was expecting it. He bent down, passing right under the beams before stepping inside the array against his better judgment.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know exactly what the green array does, but if I can¡¯t attack from a distance, then closebat is my only option.¡¯ He thought.

    Like Morok had previously told Lith, the Mana Reactor not only did provide the Odi with infinite mana, but also split the world energy into its baseponents, providing them with the next best thing to fusion magic.

    Jiira kept the beams active, sweeping down his hand and cutting through stone and metal as if he was projecting aser grid while he stepped back. Lith grinned, noticing that the array hadn¡¯t moved along with the Odi.

    Lith crouched even lower, executing a right leg sweep that almost took his enemy by surprise. Jiira¡¯s air fusion allowed him to see Lith¡¯s move and react by taking a single step back, putting the enemy right under his line of fire.

    Great was Jiira¡¯s surprise when the sweep struck at his legs nheless, sending him flying while his own energy beams almost damaged the priceless machinery. Lith had partially shapeshifted his body into his hybrid form to seed.

    His hybrid legs were longer than his human form¡¯s, something that he had worked hard to prevent the Odi from discovering. He then used the sweep¡¯s spin to pivot on his left foot and turn the sweep into a roundhouse kick.

    The Orichalcum covered talons of his foot cut deeply into the Odi¡¯s chest. Jiira¡¯s outrage knew no bounds. The perfect body of a god had just been defiled by a hairless, treacherous monkey.

 Chapter 718 Immortal Body Part 2

    Two more beams departed from Jiira¡¯s eyes while he was mming against the back wall, taking Lith by surprise. Both rays struck at Lith¡¯s heart with enough strength to make him bounce off the floor, filling it with cracks, and then crash against the metal door.

    Jiira had used pure mana to attack, giving the beams the same energy of a speeding truck in exchange for theck of any piercing ability. The results were nothing to scoff at. Jiira had clearly heard the human¡¯s bones shatter not only when he had been hit by the beams, but also every time Lith had struck a hard surface.

    The small pool of blood forming under Lith¡¯s head was a clear sign of how deadly the Odi¡¯s aim had been. Jiira could sense the enemy¡¯s life force fading, so he focused on the Body-Swapping device to make sure that it had sustained no damage.

    A snapping sound was all that warned him of the impending danger. Somehow, the Ranger was inside the God¡¯s Will array again, with his silver wed hand aimed at Jiira¡¯s brain.

    The Odi stepped back, emitting energy beams from both his eyes and hands, but Lith was fast enough to crouch down in time to dodge them. Then, he used his hands to deflect the opponent¡¯s to the side and his head to struck upwards at the Odi¡¯s chin, sending all of his ray against either the floor or the ceiling.

    Jiira rage exploded when he tasted his own blood invading his mouth, something that had never happened to him, not even during the great war. Two more beams, this time made from the fire element erupted from his open palms, striking respectively Lith¡¯s head and heart.

    Jiira could now see the reason why his opponent had managed to survive this far. A split second before the impact, Lith¡¯s whole body was covered by Orichalcum, which had absorbed part of the impact.

    The two new rays were strong enough to push the metal liquid aside and reach their target. Even though their trajectory had been deflected by the Skinwalker armor¡¯s energy field, a smell of barbeque spread throughout the room as half of Lith¡¯s face evaporated.

    The blood from his wounds generated a spray of red fog while his body crashed against the metal door again before sprawling on the ground

    \u003c "Stay down, dammit!"\u003e Jira said while unleashing several bullets of darkness magic to destroy the enemy corpse.

    Much to his surprise, the corpse wasn¡¯t a corpse. A simple wave of Lith¡¯s hand deflected the bullets. Out of habit, Jiira had used fist magic again, but outside the God¡¯s Will array the dark projectiles had returned to be just a very powerful cantrip.

    Lith¡¯s body floated in mid-air allowing him to stand up, also revealing the flesh and muscles of his face regenerating at a speed visible at the naked eye, until no trace of the wound was left.

    \u003c "That¡¯s impossible! Humans cannot have achieved an immortal body before the Odi!"\u003e Jiira refused to believe his own eyes. He knew about the existence of Awakened ones, but he had no idea what exactly their powers were.

    Hence, he wasn¡¯t aware that each time Lith was about to be struck, instead of tensing up and clenching his teeth, he simply took a deep breath with Invigoration. That would make the healing process start even before a wound could be opened.

    The destructive power of each energy beam had been greatly reduced because Lith¡¯s tissues and bones healed so fast that the beams had to damage eachyer of his body multiple times before managing to go deeper.

    Jiira wasn¡¯t a Golem. With each second of his stupor, he allowed Lith who was insensitive to pain thanks to darkness fusion to breathe regrly.

    With every breath, his body healed. With every breath, his strength returned.

    A snap of Lith¡¯s fingers made all of the chains restraining the prisoners open in unison, plunging the room into chaos. No one cared about how Lith had done it, the only thing they wanted was to get out of there.

    "Well, you only need to shoot beams from your mouth, nipples, and crotch to have theplete set." Lith said.

    He was usually deaf to the rantings of his enemies. Talking was just a waste of breath that would only encourage more babbling. Lith was a firm believer that during a fight less was more.

    Unless of course, he needed to buy some time. Only in such a case, would he indulge the madness of his opponents. Like now, when he was waiting that Solus returned by his side.

    The first time Lith had stepped inside the green array, he had made sure that the enemy was unaware of her existence and incapable of detecting her despite her half-artifact nature.

    The second time, Solus had exploited the moment after the leg sweep to reach the prisoners unnoticed and spread her body between the chains before activating Zolgrish¡¯s Eraser.

    The impression of a multiple Clean te spell being cast from a distance was what Lith needed to reinforce the enemy¡¯s shock and buy even more time.

    "Quy, follow my hand!" He said handing her the book about the Mana Reactor opened at the right page, while a trail of fire and darkness resembling a human hand flew through the air leading her toward Morok.

    When Lith had arrived, Quy had hoped to be able to fight by his side, but the two shes she had just witnessed were more than enough to make her understand that whatever the Odi was, it was beyond her capabilities.

    The idea of leaving her friend to fight alone against an ancient horror while her sister was still strapped to the stone table made her clench her teeth so hard that for a moment she thought they would break.

    Quy didn¡¯t raise questions nor objections, she just took the book and followed the mystical hand¡¯s trail, ignoring everything else.

    Meanwhile, in the adjacent room, Ranger Eari was giving his all to damage the Mana Reactor, but to no avail. Not only was its metal exterior extremely sturdy, but also it seemed to weaken and absorb all the mana that came in contact with it.

    Even destroying the protruding mana crystals had turned out to be quite hard and so far, it didn¡¯t seem to have caused any significant damage. No matter if he used tier four or five spells, the best he had achieved was to leave bumps and scratches.

    "Fuck! This is just a waste of time. Since I can¡¯t go any further below, I might as well go see what¡¯s on the upper floor." He said, right before the door in front of him opened.

    Morok made just in time to revert to his human form and hold back the spell he was about to unleash, thinking that the neers were once again Golems. Soldiers and Assistants were all so scared that none of them noticed the small figure of the Ranger near the Mana Reactor.

    Quy kept running to follow the mystical hand that was pointing to the door leading to the upper floor. She had seen the Reactor, the picture at the page Lith had handed them, and the door.

    It was enough for her to do the math. Morok followed her, hoping to receive good news.

    "Has Lith won already?" He asked.

    "No, but if we don¡¯t destroy this thing, we¡¯ll all end up as spare parts." She replied while heavily panting. If not for the adrenaline rush, she would barely be able to stand, let alone think clearly.

 Chapter 719 Doomed Race Part 1

    The soldiers were terrified. Without their weapons and equipment, they felt as if they were naked, but the worst thing was the acknowledgment of beingpletely helpless. Even if they were still fully armed, there was nothing they could do.

    Once freed, they had run away out of survival instinct, but now they realized that it had been a pointless action. There was no way out of the underground facility nor a ce where they could hide.

    The Assistants didn¡¯t stop thinking, they just kept running toward any door they could see, to get as further away as they could from that nightmare.

    Quy was getting weaker by the second, but since she seemed to know what she was doing, Morok gave her a bit of his life force and carried her in his arms up the staircase.

    The door was unlocked, leading inside a room even bigger than the Reactor itself. The walls were covered in dimensional runes, which made Morok¡¯s heart flutter, at least until he remembered that he had no idea what was written on them.

    "You have a Forgemaster wand, correct? We can escape if you activate one of those runes." He said.

    "No can do. First, I¡¯m not leaving my sister and my friend behind. Second, they took my wand. So unless you want to retrieve it, we¡¯re stuck." Quy stared at the Reactor¡¯s upper part that entered the room through the floor, trying to make a sense of the picture in the book she held.

    "Damn my rotten... Wait! You said they. They who?" He asked.

    "The blue guy and Gaakhu, she has sold us to the enemy. That bitch speaks the Odinguage, so she must have cut herself a deal." Since the situation still made no sense, Quy used her Forgemaster spells on the Reactor, to understand how it worked.

    The moment her first spell waspleted, her eyes rolled back, showing only the white and she started to puke uncontrobly, crying her eyes out.

    "What the fuck is going on?" He blurted out while trying to stop Quy¡¯s seizure from harming her.

    The Reactor¡¯s instion was lighter on its upper part, so she had experienced something even worse than what Lith had felt while using Invigoration. The term Mana Reactor was just a fancy word to hide its real purpose.

    In order for the device to work, countless lives had been thrown into the mana geyser below Kh. The life forces of the Odi¡¯s victims had been modified, so that they could absorb the world energy and filter it with their bodies, turning it into mana.

    The structure made of metal and mana crystal had only the function to store and contain the energy while the Reactor purified the mana produced from its energy signature to allow the Odi to use it freely.

    Yet because of its nature, it wasn¡¯t just the energy that the Reactor had stored. Every single living being that had been thrown inside the device was still in there. The world energy would invade their bodies and mana cores, making them explode due to the failed Awakening process.

    Yet thanks to the modifications they had sustained and the Reactor splitting the world energy into its sixponents, the light element would heal them the moment they were damaged, keeping the living fuel in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth.

    Some of them had even turned into Abominations, but they were trapped as well. They had no advantage over their peers, quite the contrary. Their ck cores were the perfect filters, so the amount of energy they endured was much greater and so was their suffering.

    The Mana Reactor was akin to a cauldron where world energy, flesh, and souls were constantly burned to provide the Odi with unlimited power. Quy¡¯s spells had made her feel just a spark of the suffering those trapped inside its bowels perceived every single second, yet it was enough to drive her insane.

    ***

    When Jiira snapped out of his stupor, all of his prisoners had escaped. He considered it just a minor inconvenience since he could always capture them againter. What worried him was the odd creature in front of him.

    Jiira had no idea how Lith could still be alive.

    \u003c Surrender now, or she dies.\u003e Since the human hade that far to rescue them, Jiira assumed they were important for him. A condensed sphere of light was now pointing at Phloria¡¯s head, burning her hair.

    "Do it and your precious machinee next." Lith pointed his hand to what looked like a console installed in the wall, to which most cables were linked. The bolt of lightning on his hand was strong enough to turn it into scraps.

    None of the two men could understand the other¡¯s words, but their actions spoke volumes. Jiira realized that his earlier assumption was wrong. Even while he was making the female on the table scream in pain, the male was unfazed, still charging his lightning.

    Lith was actually furious. Each one of Phloria¡¯s cries of agony, every single drop of blood she shed, was enough to make him lose his mind. The scene reminded him of his father, Ezio, beating his brother Carl while he could only stand and watch.

    Yet Lith managed to control his rage, turning it into fuel to his power rather than fire burning his mind. In a hostage situation, giving in to demands was idiotic. The hostage had only value as a shield. If Lith surrendered, she was as good as dead.

    Lith released his spell, making Jiira gasp in surprise for more than one reason. The console was inside the God¡¯s Will array, so instead of giving the thunderbolt a straight trajectory, Lith moved it along the array¡¯s borders, so that it entered the magical formation from the nearest point to the terminal.

    Also, Lith hadn¡¯t wasted his time charging it with mana, but with his own will. Between the strong imprint he had left and the lightning¡¯s natural speed, Jiira was forced tomit his entire focus to stop the spell before it destroyed his life work.

    Lith charged in, his hands turning into Orichalcum covered ws, one aimed to Jiira¡¯s brain and the other to the sphere embedded in his body that allowed him to use the green array.

    Lith moved so fast that Jiira was forced to let some of the energy go and unleash a barrage of small energy beams, to not give Lith any ce where to dodge. Much to his surprise, the human didn¡¯t dodge, but deflected the beams with his arm and legs.

    Cracking sounds could be heard once more, but this time Lith only slid back of a few meters. The enemy attack didn¡¯t even have the strength to make him fly away anymore.

    Jiira was shocked, throwing the lightning back against Lith only to discover that it was nothing more than a light show. While the Odi was starting to panic, Invigoration fixed Lith¡¯s limbs.

    \u003c"What¡¯s wrong? Why doesn¡¯t our array work anymore?"\u003e Jiira said.

    \u003c"Calm down, you idiot. Just look at its runes."\u003e Veiga pointed out.

    It was only then that Jiira noticed that even though the magical formation was still standing, several of its power nodes had been destroyed. Lith hadn¡¯t blindly charged in, but had followed a methodical n.

    His attacks had always been just a distraction, to force the Odi to reveal his cards and making him fail to notice that Lith was using his spells to strike at God¡¯s Will¡¯s power nodes, just like Vastor had taught him.

 Chapter 720 Doomed Race Part 2

    That way, the array would still work, but its effects would be greatly diminished with each lost node. Even while Jiira was studying his predicament, he saw tendrils of Lith¡¯s manaing from below the floor and crash another node.

    "Come on, pal. You just have to turn it off and on again to reset it." Lith said while a blue aura erupted from his body and several spells could be seen on the verge of taking form.

    Looking at Lith¡¯s savage smile, Jiira felt an endless fear taking hold of him. Sure, the Odi could do as Lith had suggested, but taking down the array meant remainingpletely exposed to Lith¡¯s spells.

    Jiira was in a pinch. As long as God¡¯s Will was active, the enemy could only engage him in physicalbat. Yet the longer they fought, the weaker the array¡¯s power focusing ability would be.

    Lith had attacked only one of the array¡¯s functions on purpose, to not make his opponent realize what was happening until it was toote. Lith could almost taste the blood of his enemy, almost hear his dying screams.

    Lith¡¯s teeth became the size of small knives and his cheeks covered in scales. Jiira involuntarily took a step back from the grinning monster in front of him. The Odi had seen the monster moving, the second he needed to reset the array was a second too long. At least as long as the creature remained on the fringes of God¡¯s Will.

    To make matters worse, he couldn¡¯t just move the array, so its area of effect was fixed until he reced it with a new one.

    A clicking sound made Jiira look down, just in time to notice that somehow, the human female was now free. Yet instead of running away, Phloria ced her hands on his abdomen, releasing a fireball from point-nk range.

    What the Odi had confused for ramblings of agony were actually magic words. The moment a chance of survival had appeared, Phloria had started to cast all of her best spells.

    Yet after seeing the Odi controlling Lith¡¯s spells as if they were his own, she had been forced to change her tactic. If she had to die, she would die fighting, without leaving the Odi anything but a broken carcass.

    The fireball exploded too fast and too close for even God¡¯s Will to have any effect. The detonation made Jiira fly against the back wall and cracked both the table and the mana crystals.

    Her own mana couldn¡¯t hurt Phloria, but it could still hurt Lith and Solus, who was hiding under the table after undoing Phloria¡¯s bindings. Lith rushed forward, uncaring of the mes and the heat.

    It was his opportunity to both rescue his partner and put down his enemy. The Orichalcum enveloped Lith, protecting his lungs from the hot air that was making it hard for Jiira to breathe.

    His midriff was shredded, only the constant infusion of light magic from the Reactor had prevented his viscera from being on the floor rather than where they were supposed to be.

    Jiira saw Lith approaching, the air element coursing through Jiira¡¯s body allowed him to follow the monster¡¯s movements. The Odi joined his hands, focusing all the energy he could muster in the biggest energy beam he could conjure in such a short time.

    He used water magic to cool the air and hopefully turn the enemy into a popsicle.

    Even if weakened, the green array made the beam too fast for Lith to dodge, but weak enough to be blocked. Lith¡¯s right arm deflected it while his left arm pierced the enemy¡¯s brain first and heartter, releasing each time powerful spells that made the Odi¡¯s body parts explode like water balloons, emitting a wet sound.

    Lith was about to strike at the sphere that controlled the array when Jiira overloaded his life force, causing an explosion powerful enough to send both Lith and Phloria crashing against the door.

    ¡¯This is impossible.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯There is no spell that can keep you alive with your brain and heart destroyed. I¡¯ve seen his life force fade like it happened to all those who I killed in the past. How could he activate such a spell and why is the array still standing?¡¯

    Lith was right, Jiira was dead. Yet the same didn¡¯t apply to all the other Odi he was sharing his body with. When Kh¡¯s researchers had understood that no one wasing to save them, they had used the Body Merging project to halve their numbers but double their lifespan by alternating who was in control of the body.

    Only the active life force would be consumed, while the other would be preserved. Yet it also meant halving the speed of their research, since there was only so much work that a single body could do.

    With each of their failure, the Odi¡¯s number would decrease, until they had decided to merge all inside a single body, to buy as much time as they could while waiting for rescue.

    The tank where they had slept slowed their metabolism to one-tenth, so that each one of them would only lose one day of life force after 10 days. The Odi had spent thest few centuries switching from one body to another, prolonging the existence of their doomed race.

    When the other Odi had felt Jiira¡¯s consciousness fade and his precious life span go to waste, they had activated the detonation spell engraved in his body to buy enough time for the next of them to take charge.

    Lith used Invigoration on both Phloria and himself while trying to make heads or tails of the events. She was just wounded while his frozen right arm was second away from shattering into pieces.

    Only when he saw Jiira¡¯s body shapeshift into another much more muscr body, did Lith understand what Life Merging meant. All the injuries he had inflicted upon his earlier enemy had disappeared and even though just the hair color distinguished Jiira from Rizo, their energy signatures couldn¡¯t have been more different.

    Rizo took an borate longsword and a heavy armor out of Ellkas¡¯s dimensional ring that was now his own. Once their owner was dead, their imprint on an enchanted item would disappear.

    Dimensional items were easy to use and the Odi had seen their specimens use them multiple times from their cameras, so the first thing they had done after killing the useless old coots was to find one and use it to store all of their best equipment.

    In that single ring, there were the results of countless experiments conducted in Kh, plus the best equipment that the Odi could craft during their empire¡¯s golden age.

    ***

    "Wake up, kid!" After Quy¡¯s seizure had stopped and Morok had made sure with his diagnostic spells that nothing bad had happened to her, the Tyrant had tried his best to make her regain consciousness.

    Up to that moment, healing magic, buckets of cold water, and yelling had proven to be useless.

    "If we don¡¯t do something, we¡¯re all going to die. At least tell me what the heck this picture means!" The open Odi book didn¡¯t make sense to him. It only showed a hatch and the Reactor, but that was something he could see with his own eyes.

 Chapter 721 Great Fortress Part 1

    Since Quy kept being useless, Morok stood up and conjured his strongest tier five War Mage spell, Wheel of Fate. Usually it had an area of effect too big to be used in a closed space, but the Reactor¡¯s maintenance room was big enough to amodate two of such spells.

    Four rings, each one made of a different elemental energy and as big as a ferris wheel surrounded the Reactor. Normally there would be five of them but without earth to manipte, that part of the spell was just a waste of mana.

    The four rings attacked the structure in turns. Darkness first to weaken the structure and all the spells it was imbued with, then fire to heat the Reactor until its metal parts were white-hot.

    Then followed the water ring, to inflict a powerful thermal shock and drench the enemy in water, so that the ensuing lightning ring could seep through all the cracks that the previous attacks had opened.

    Several mana crystals exploded and the lights in the room flickered while the spell relentlessly hammered the Mana Reactor, almost giving the now awake Quy a heart attack.

    "What are you doing, you idiot? If you destroy the opening mechanism, we will never stop the Reactor in time." She said.

    "The what now?" Morok dispelled the Wheel with a wave of his hand.

    "Can¡¯t you see the hatch on the picture?" She mmed the book under his nose. "We have no chance of destroying the Mana Reactor with normal spells. For the gods¡¯ sake, how can you think that something made to contain infinite mana can be harmed by mana?"

    "Now that you point that out, it exins why my strategy wasn¡¯t very effective on the lower floor, but here the shielding is lighter. No matter how sturdy a dam is, it only takes a crack to take it down." Morok quoted his wise father.

    "Yeah, too bad we are in front of the dam! I¡¯m sure that Lith asked you to find a way to turn it off, not to blow us all in the greatest congration Mogar has ever seen. What part of ¡¯infinite mana¡¯ isn¡¯t clear to you?"

    "Fine, egghead. Then what¡¯s your brilliant n?" Morok firmly believed that attack was the best defense, especially when there was nothing you could say to make you appear less moronic.

    "To fuel the Reactor, the Odi need to throw living creatures down that hatch, is that clear?" She asked and Morok nodded for her to continue.

    "Then if we trick the system into believing that it¡¯s recharge time but we throw inside something hard to digest instead of fresh meat, the in-built safety measures will stop its functioning.

    "I doubt that the Odi nned on dying at the first misoperation and since the Reactor is powerful enough to blow its way out to the surface, there must be a panic button or something. We just need to trigger it."

    Quy walked to the Mana Reactor and started topare the picture with the real thing in front of her. It took her but a wave of her hand to get rid of theyer of frost covering the console and the several monitors.

    "Good job, jackass! Most of them are broken!" She said while using water and air magic to dry everything, in the hope that at least some of them would start working again.

    "Who cares? It¡¯s not like any of us can read that gibberish!" Morok acted tough, but he was starting to realize why his father had refused to Awaken him until the young Tyrant would learn to think more with his two brains and less with his two fists.

    "Yeah, but at least we could have watched the fucking images!" Quy would have stabbed him to death if the Odi hadn¡¯t taken everything from her but her Skinwalker armor. And not for ack of trying.

    Even a Golem¡¯s level of strength was pointless against an artifact capable of switching from the solid to the liquid state at will and that only responded to its master.

    It was the reason why Phloria had been chosen as a guinea pig, using an inferior specimen to check if the Skinwalker armor would interfere with the body-swapping process before attempting it on their masterpiece: Quy.

    With her slender body and her mastery of light magic, she was the closest thing to an Odi they could get. Yet now that very simrity was working against them.

    "Okay, I can¡¯t read the tags above any of these buttons, but judging from their positioning I can guess what they do. I think I can open the hatch, but that would lead us nowhere." She said.

    "Why?" Morok asked.

    "Because even though I can open it, the system has a double ess to prevent energy leaks. First, it opens on our side, then we have to throw something inside, and only then will the hatch close from our side and drop the load in the reactor."

    "Well, with the hatch open, a well-ced spell could break the inner door and..."

    "Blow us all to the surface!" Quy cut him short. "We need someone to sacrifice themselves, put them in the hatch, maybe loaded with all the alchemical tools we can find, so that once we drop them inside the Reactor, they can detonate themselves while the system is SEALED and activate the failsafe."

    "Yeah, two problems. One, I¡¯m not going to jump. Second, we¡¯ve got no alchemical tool. Mister blue skin groped me for good as well. I¡¯ve nothing left."

    "He didn¡¯t grope me!" Quy really hoped that what the Odi had performed was just a body search. Thank Lith, the armor had shielded her from any probing and body examination.

    "Sure thing, sweetheart. The bastard was so thorough with me that I almost expected he would ask me out." Morok sneered. "Back to business, how do we stop it?"

    Quy looked at Morok, calcting her odds of throwing him down the hatch. Worst case scenario, it wouldn¡¯t help Lith but she would still get rid of him. Yet she was aware that some Golems might still be on the loose and she couldn¡¯t afford being distracted.

    "We need to capture a Flesh Golem or Gaakhu. That bitch betrayed us, so in my book, she¡¯s expendable." Quy replied. To be fair, Gaakhu had betrayed no one. Just like Quy back at the academy, she had been enved.

    The Odi had permanently altered her life force, making the ve item impossible to remove without killing her.

    "Can¡¯t we just throw a couple of Assistants inside and see how it goes? They are much easier prey." Morok proposed.

    "Yes, we could, but we still need something to detonate inside, otherwise we would just add new fuel to the Reactor." Quy¡¯s reply shocked the Tyrant. He was just teasing her, never expecting that she would actually agree to such a heartless n.

    Quy was disgusted by her own weakness just as much as she was from that of her colleagues. The lives of her sister and her best friend were at stake. To her, a couple of rambling idiots were now a small price to pay to save their lives.

    ***

    Lith stood up, watching at Rizo walking towards them. The God¡¯s Will array was gone and ready to be activated again at any moment. Unlike Jiira, Rizo was a master swordsman. With his strong body and the power of the elements coursing through his body, he was certain to be able to take care of Lith.

 Chapter 722 Great Fortress Part 2

    Rizo was the one that was going to take Phloria¡¯s body. The other Odi might consider her ugly due to her height and strength, but to a fighter, she was just perfect.

    \u003c "Get away from my vessel, kid. I¡¯d hate for my new form to be tainted by the blood of a filthy beast."\u003e Rizo¡¯s movements were calm and controlled while he pointed his sword against Lith as a challenge.

    "Fuck off." Lith replied, unleashing all of the spells he had kept at the ready for Jiira. The two men didn¡¯t understand each other¡¯s words, but their faces spoke volumes.

    Rizo¡¯s was full of pride and contempt, whereas Lith¡¯s was brimming with unbridled rage and killing intent. Two hands made of living streams of lightning, each one the size of a person, clutched on the Odi while a jet stream of ck mes pierced through his chest.

    Lith¡¯s tier five spells Final Sunset and Death Grip struck Rizo to no avail. The swordmasterughed while activating his Great Fortress armor¡¯s enchantment. By imbuing it with mana, it generated an energy barrier that blocked the iing attacks.

    Its limitation was that it required a lot of mana to protect its master from such powerful prolonged spells, yet mana wasn¡¯t an issue for Rizo. The Reactor made it the absolute defense, with no weak points.

    \u003c "Not bad, kid. I wish I had some decent meat for a barbeque. Your mes make you a poor excuse of a mage but an excellent stove."\u003e Rizoughed, showing the monster that a true noble didn¡¯t need the God¡¯s Will array to prevail.

    Solus quickly analyzed the armor and gave Lith the results of her observations.

    ¡¯Hence, that armor is almost perfect.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯Thanks, Solus. It¡¯s just as I predicted. This guy is just a moron that uses a tool without having any idea about how it works. Let¡¯s teach him a lesson.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Jiira had been a difficult opponent and Rizo appeared to be even worse, yet Lith thought nothing of him. After watching Yondra die between his arms, after seeing Phloria being tortured, he could feel something twisting inside of himself, wing to escape.

    He could feel it in the low rumble of the earth around him, in the unnatural warmth of the air in the room. Burning inside of him there was a ck me born of force and will that for some reason couldn¡¯t find its way out.

    The Odi had taken a lot from Lith. The thought of being able to put an end to their entire race by killing those in front of him was the best payback he could think of.

    Lith moved his spells, making them nk Rizo and leaving his front exposed before hurling a river of Origin mes which started to attack more than just the barrier, striking at its very enchantment.

    \u003c "Origin mes? Guuna, it seems we¡¯ve got you a furnace!"\u003e Rizoughed again, but theughter died when he noticed that there was no end to the mes. Lith kept inhaling and exhaling as fast as he could, piling up more blue mes than he ever did before.

    \u003c "It must be a monster, not an Emperor Beast. Only monsters are crazy enough to waste their strength like that."\u003e Rizo said. The first wave did nothing to his barrier. The second and the third produced no effect as well, but from the fourth onwards he felt that something was wrong.

    No matter how much water magic he used to cool the surrounding air, Rizo felt burning.

    ¡¯You idiot!¡¯ Guuna screamed inside his head. ¡¯Our bodies were modified to withstand infinite mana, not your armor.¡¯ The Odi had no concept of pseudo core, but they had learned from experience that there was no enchanted object capable of perfectly channeling mana, not even those made of Adamant.

    That was not because of a metal¡¯s fault, but due to the crafted pseudo core being unable to process the constant flow of energy. A pseudo core was just like a mana core: if abused it would overload and explode.

    Unlike a living being, however, there was no risk of an Abomination being born, only of junk. Lith had aimed for the armor first, to strip his conceited opponent of an advantage that in thetest stages of the fight, when they were both exhausted, might have been decisive.

    Now, instead, the Great Fortress armor¡¯s pseudo core was already on the verge of copsing, before the fight even started. While Guuna cursed him for his ipetence in handling her masterpiece, Rizo finally activated the God¡¯s Will array.

    s, it was toote. The two spells from Lith, his Origin mes, and the powerful explosion that struck Rizo¡¯s back were the final nail in the coffin of the ancient armor.

    Even though she was still shocked and traumatized from the recent events, Phloria refused to be just a spectator. While Lith hammered the barrier, she was taking care of the body-swapping machine.

    Countless des made of ice, fire, and earth had cut the entire device into pieces no bigger than a cup of tea. First, she had disposed of the stone table to make her weapons, then she had cut off all the cables in sight, and finally she had struck at the protruding mana crystals, making sure that their opponent would shield them from the congration with his own body.

    Suddenly the Great Fortress armor was just a heavy lump of metal, offering no more protection to Rizo¡¯s exposed head and arms due to the copse of its energy field. To add insult to injury, the Odi discovered that not even God¡¯s Will could do anything against Origin mes.

    The array had just been created but the blue mes were already eating at its entire structure, greatly reducing its effectiveness. Rizo could turn it on and off to once again reset it, but that way nothing would stop the Origin mes from turning him into charcoal.

    ***

    "I¡¯m going to search for a Golem, you stay here and don¡¯t touch anything." After a few tries, Quy had already understood the Mana Reactor¡¯s basicmands.

    Her problem was still the same. She needed a sacrifice loaded with enough firepower to damage the Reactor¡¯s internal mechanism but without damaging its outer shell. A Flesh Golem was her best bet.

    During her imprisonment, she had all the time she needed to think about how to take them down and had ended cursing her own stupidity for not realizing it sooner. Yondra had been right since the beginning, fighting was the wrong move for Quy.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t need a bodyguard? Those things are nasty." Morok asked.

    "Damn sure. I might need your help to move them, though." Quy went downstairs, making as much noise as she could. She had no idea where the constructs could be hidden, but she was certain that the Odi had to keep them close.

    They had shown her multiple times that without the Golems¡¯ Warping Array they were incapable of using dimensional magic. Once back in the lower Reactor room, she used her Forgemaster spells to scan the walls and search for Recharging arrays.

    Her efforts triggered a hidden mechanism that released thest two Flesh Golems. The rest had been destroyed, which was the reason why the Odi had ordered them to remain hidden.

 Chapter 723 Judgment Part 1

    The colossi moved towards her, but Quy¡¯s next move froze them on the spot. Instead of infusing her armor with mana to better defend herself, she shapeshifted it off, remaining in her underwear.

    The Golems¡¯ first priority was her safety, they couldn¡¯t harm her. They stepped back as she advanced until they had their backs against the wall. They couldn¡¯t touch her without being deactivated but there was no spell in their arsenal weak enough to not kill a half-naked normal human.

    Constructs had no ess to first magic, only to the spells that they had been imbued with and Flesh Golems were war machines. Quy ced her hands on them and turned the normally unstoppable dreadnoughts into huge piles of stone in a split second.

    Only when she was sure that they posed no threat to her did she put her armor back on. Then, she used a Float spell on the Golems and brought them to the Reactor¡¯s upper floor.

    "How the heck did you manage to capture two constructs without a scratch?" Morok¡¯s genuine surprise at the sight of the Golems made her sigh in relief. Quy was afraid he might have been following her and peeped the whole scene.

    "Finesse." She replied. "Now our question is if it¡¯s better to throw them both at once or one at a time and study how the Reactor behaves before making a final attempt."

    Quy used both Scanner and her Forgemastering spell to search for a self-destruct mechanism. As a Forgemaster, she knew how important it was to not give the enemy the opportunity to study a masterpiece.

    Once she found the mechanism, she ced the constructs on the hatch before triggering it. The people grafted inside the Golems looked at her with eyes filled with gratitude, almost making Quy feel guilty.

    In any other time, she would have worried about finding a way to save them from their destiny and give their body back to them. Almost. She was now at war, and no matter her oath as a Healer or how innocent those people were, they still remained her enemies.

    The hatch opened, making the Flesh Golems fall on the inner metal door that unlocked as soon as the outer door was closed. The constructs fell down into the pit the Mana Reactor was, filled with world energy, elemental forces, and the emerald green light of mana.

    Their flesh was instantly consumed while their stone bodies withstood the maelstrom around them long enough to almost reach the bottom of the Reactor. The following explosion broke the bnce between the three energies at work, forcing the machine to a stop.

    The Reactor was still full of mana, but no more would be produced until the emergency wasn¡¯t solved. The world energy was now free to return where it belonged, making the shaking of the ground increase as a silver pir of light descended from the sky, right above Lith¡¯s position.

    ***

    There was a reason why the Odi had been forced to merge all in one body, why they had abandoned their research in a hurry, and why almost no trace of their passage but ruins remained.

    During the great war, while the people of the Galen continent fought for their freedom and the Odi did their worst to prolong the existence of their dying race, Mogar had passed its judgment on them, deeming them unworthy.

    The Guardians had mobilized, ending the war that would havested a few more years in a matter of hours. The Odi knew about the Guardians, as well as that the only way they had to fight against such powerful creatures was to use the Guardians¡¯ best weapon against them.

    By trapping the world energy in the Mana Reactor, not only did they achieve the key to unlimited power, but they also hid from both Mogar and its Guardians. Even in the case that Kh where to be discovered, the Odi believed that they had enough weapons to take the Guardians on and beat them at their own game.

    As long as the Mana Reactor was operational, the Guardians would be diminished, while the Odi would be unstoppable and the God¡¯s Will array would allow them to trample even Mogar¡¯s will over the elements.

    As long as the mana Reactor was operational, which wasn¡¯t the case anymore.

    The world energy flooded Kh¡¯s underground floors, triggering the world tribtion that had been forcefully stopped since the moment Lith had listened to the words of the dying Golems.

    \u003c "Oh shit!"\u003e Rizo said, unaware that now both humans were finally capable of understanding hisnguage and vice versa. He had fought his whole life on the front lines, he could never forget the feeling that was now covering his whole body in a cold sweat.

    The feeling of the presence of a Guardian.

    A silver pir descended from the sky while the normally hidden ck one emerged from the ground, as if the fingers of two opposite gods were connecting right in the space Lith upied.

    Finally, the thing inside of him stopped wing and erupted from his whole body, covering it in red and ck scales, while two curved horns emerged from the sides of his forehead.

    Phloria was so shocked that she almost forgot about Rizo. She had seen Lith transformed, but never like that. She had never seen the four upside-down wings on his back, the tail, the horns, nor the seven eyes all opened at once.

    An inhuman roar erupted from his fangs-filled maw as his body grew past the two meters (6¡¯7") and the whole room turned pitch-ck. Countless eyes opened on every centimeter of the walls, ceiling, and floor, staring at Rizo in hatred.

    Fearing for his life, the Odi decided to give his all, releasing a tier three spell from his sword. Even though the God¡¯s Will array was weakened, it was still capable of turning the simple lightning into something that exceeded even a tier five magic spell cast by a genius on Manohar¡¯s level.

    The magical formation had been devised as an anti-Guardian weapon for a reason. The spell was faster and stronger than anything Lith had ever seen. It moved so quickly that even if he had seen it forming with Life Vision, even with his body infused with air magic, he couldn¡¯t dodge it from so up close.

    It pierced through theyer of Orichalcum covering Lith¡¯s head, through the thick scales and bones protecting his brain.

    Realizing that nothing was enough to stop such a force of nature, Solus did the only thing that she could. She used the split second the spell needed to overpower so manyyers of protection to slip inside Lith¡¯s skull and cover his brain with her stone body.

    Lith¡¯s armor vaporized, his skull caved in, and Solus was turned into small pebbles.

    Yet not a single spark of electricity nor bone fragment damaged Lith¡¯s vital organ, allowing Invigoration to rejuvenate him in only one breath, thanks to the massive amount of world energy enveloping him.

    ¡¯That was damn close. Thank you so much, Solus.¡¯ Lith thought, yet only silence ensued.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith could feel an immense void inside of himself where Solus¡¯s light usually was. He could still manipte the glove, his pocket dimension, everything. Yet his best friend was lost to him.

    An all too human scream of grief made the cave tremble so much that both Phloria and Rizo, who were still shocked at seeing Lith alive, thought that the whole of Mogar was about to copse above their heads.

 Chapter 724 Judgement Part 2

    "That¡¯s Lith¡¯s voice! Something must have happened to him." Quy triple checked the Mana Reactor.

    A lot of red lights signaled that the device had stopped working and theck of all the buzzing sounds that had previously filled the air confirmed the sess of her strategy.

    Yet instead of declining, the rumble of the earth was actually worse than before.

    Cursing her bad luck, she ran toward the room where the fight was taking ce despite the fear of the operating table and of the blue monster who wanted to steal her life still burned vividly in her mind.

    "Wait, I don¡¯t think you should go. You can¡¯t possibly help him!" Morok ran after Quy, trying to stop her. He could imagine how hard Lith had worked to hide his real nature and knew that the Odi wasn¡¯t an enemy that could be underestimated.

    On top of that, even though he couldn¡¯t see the silver and the ck pir with his human eyes, he could feel an enormous power at work. Such a small human like Quy was likely to be incinerated simply by stepping too close to such a force of nature.

    He grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing Quy to stop. She followed her father¡¯s teaching, using the Ranger¡¯s yanking motion to add his momentum to her own and kick him in the nuts with all the strength she had.

    Quy was tired of his non-sense. She wouldn¡¯t waste a single moment listening to Morok, not while she could actually do something to help her family. If Lith and Phloria lost the battle, she was dead anyway.

    Quy much preferred spending herst moments with those she loved rather than with an annoying prick. Morok yelped while grabbing his crotch and fell to his side. Beast or not, enchanted protection or not, it would take him some time to recover.

    When Quy opened the metal door, she couldn¡¯t believe her own eyes. Phloria was still there, sitting on the ground and chanting one spell after the other despite the tears streaming from her eyes.

    The room seemed to be out of a nightmare, filled with eyes of all shapes and sizes staring at the fight while inhuman screamsing from its walls filled the air. In the middle of it, someone that looked like the Odi Quy knew but who wasn¡¯t him was battling to the death with a monstrous creature.

    Phloria wasn¡¯t crying because she was afraid of death, nor because she had any idea of what had just happened. She was crying because the thing in front of her, somehow, was exactly as she had always imagined Lith to be.

    She had always known that he was filled with a pain and anguish that usually he hid from the rest of the world, something that she had only caught a glimpse of from time to time. Now it was allid bare in front of her, in a storm of ws, snarls, and fury.

    It was the most inhuman and yet human being she had ever seen. She was crying because the darkness surrounding them resonated with that pain, allowing Phloria to share his grief and shed the tears that Lith couldn¡¯t anymore.

    After the first lightning, Rizo didn¡¯t have the time to cast another that Lith had darted towards him, in a flurry of Origin mes and fists. The first punch had been strong enough to lift Rizo from the ground, sending him crashing against the back wall.

    His once prized Fortress Armor was now deeply bent and bore the mark of Lith¡¯s fist.

    Rizo¡¯s earth and light fusion allowed him to remain conscious, but the strike had brought the both of them outside the God¡¯s Will array, forcing him to undo the old magical formation and create a new one.

    That split second had been long enough that Lith had struck the Odi¡¯s face so hard and so many times to almost rip Rizo¡¯s head off. One of his eyes was swelled and closed, many of his teeth were now on the floor while his nose, broken in many ces bleed profusely.

    Rizo hadn¡¯t taken the onught idly. He was a master swordsman and his de was still in perfect condition. The Eternal de was the apex of the Odi weaponry. He had stabbed, cut, and deflected Lith¡¯s arms at each and every one of his attacks, but the monster didn¡¯t care.

    The silvery armor covering his curved scales deflected most of the impacts and every wound started to heal the moment it was opened. Lith was using darkness fusion, but it wasn¡¯t theck of pain that allowed him to fight in such a frenzied way.

    It was the unbridled fury for having once lost once again someone precious to him.

    ¡¯Solus is gone. I will not hear herugh or cry anymore. She will not be with me the next time I¡¯m happy or sad. She will not scold me when I do something stupid or insensitive. I¡¯m once again alone and it¡¯s all your fault!

    ¡¯You took her away from me!¡¯ Lith thought while his hands turned the Orichalcum of the now dead Fortress armor to shreds, bringing him just a few centimeters away from the beating heart of his hated enemy.

    Until that moment, Rizo hadpletely focused on protecting his head, but cuts and bruises were being inflicted upon his now exposed flesh, forcing him to lower his de.

    ¡¯You have to end this quickly!¡¯ Guuna said in his head. ¡¯Your precious little wench has destroyed the Body-Swapping machine and the Mana Reactor has stopped working. Once the stored mana goes dry, you¡¯ll notst a second!¡¯

    Rizo hated to agree with her just as he hated the mage¡¯s guts. Yet there was no point in denying the truth, so he used first magic and the green array to surround himself with white mes, forcing the monster to retreat and giving himself the time he needed to heal his injuries.

    ***

    The first thing that Solus saw when she woke up from the darkness that had shrouded her, was a luscious sea of green. The soft grass tickled her feet while a gentle breeze made her light bronze hair dance in the air.

    She had no idea where she was, but she felt at peace. All of her pains and worries appeared like something distant in the past. The only thing she wanted was toy down on the grass and stare at the blue sky above her head.

    "Am I dead?" She asked while the memories of the recent events made her snap out of her reverie. "This is nothing like what I saw in Lith¡¯s memories and... By my maker, my skin is pink. I¡¯m human! I¡¯m really human!"

    She tried to conjure a mirror of ice to look at her own face, but nothing happened. She couldn¡¯t feel her mana, nor any of her mystical senses seemed to work. To make matters worse, the only thoughts she could hear were her own.

    "Oh dear, it¡¯s been so long since thest time I had a visitor. Let me wear something you can rte to." A disembodied voice said inside Solus¡¯s head, making her yelp in surprise.

    The ground rose, twisted, and turned, until the lump of mud in front of Solus looked exactly like Elina down to the smallest detail. The only difference was her hair being of the six colors of the elements instead of light-brown with shades of red.

 Chapter 725 Lord of Destruction Part 1

    "Where are we? Who are you? More importantly, am I dead? Is Lith dead too?" Solus asked. She felt as if she was about to faint, yet she was physically incapable of doing it.

    "You are where no living being is supposed to be. Inside of my consciousness. As for who I am, usually you call me by many names. The All-Father, the Great Mother, but I think that recently Mogar is the most popr." The Elina-thing replied.

    "Wait what? Why am I here? If I¡¯m not dead, why I don¡¯t have any of my powers?" Solus was only getting more confused with each answer she received.

    "You would be dead if you still had your original body, but the one Menadion bestowed upon you is too strong for a mere lightning to kill you. Not to mention that your life force is linked to the human¡¯s.

    "You¡¯re in a state very close to death and since I was there when it happened, the most human part of your mind naturally returned to me. You don¡¯t have powers because you don¡¯t need them here. You¡¯re safe. Unlike him."

    A wave of Mogar¡¯s hand made their surroundings disappear, returning Solus to the Odi¡¯s undergroundplex.

    Solus suddenly realized that something was wrong. Mogar¡¯s presence was calm like that of any normal human, but there were three more pirs other than the one enveloping Lith.

    They were much bigger than his silver pir and so powerful that even in her current state, just being so close to them covered Solus in a cold sweat.

    "What are you doing to Lith? What¡¯s the meaning of the silver pir and who or what are those things?" Solus pointed at the remaining three pirs surrounding Kh.

    "I¡¯m not doing anything that your friend didn¡¯t ask for himself. He calls for me so wearily often, but this time I answered his call." Mogar shook her head, shapeshifting into Rena.

    "The silver pir is the way Imunicate with those like him. As for the others..." The second wave of her hand gave Solus the impression that the whole world was zooming out.

    She could now see with her eyes three enormous beasts surrounding Kh. A golden griffon, a ck scaled dragon, and a white phoenix. Each one of them was standing on its hind legs which seemed to reach down to Mogar¡¯s core while their heads stood so tall that they were able to pierce the skies.

    The closestparison between the dragon in front of her and the emerald dragon they had met inside Huryole she could think of, was that of a volcano and a match.

    "They are my Guardians. I brought them here to pass my judgment in the case that your friend dies." Mogar¡¯s warm and motherly smile despite the dire circumstances Lith, Phloria, and Quy were, gave Solus the creeps.

    "For too long those bastards hid from my sight, sucking my blood for their filthy experiments. I usually don¡¯t mind mosquitoes, but this one has got too big and too annoying to let it live."

    "If you already have Guardians, what do you need Lith for? Can¡¯t you see he is suffering?" Solus saw Lith¡¯s seven eyes burning like torches. She had no idea if it was either due to his rage or the tears that in such a form looked like mes.

    Even without their mind link, just by looking at his face, she could tell that he was grieving.

    "Life is suffering, child. You should know it better than anyone else." Mogar sneered, assuming Jirni¡¯s features. "I still need many pieces on my chessboard and so far, your friend fits the bill. Do you know why magical beasts are born with two elements?

    "It marks what their purpose is, what they are supposed to be. Take the Griffon, for example. Its elements are light and air. Together, they bring order and change. That¡¯s why the Griffon¡¯s duty it¡¯s to nurture what already exists.

    "Back when people still believed in the gods, it was considered the Lord of Prosperity."

    "The Dragon is made of fire and air, elements thatplement each other. Both of them are shapeless and intangible. Together they bring the passion and the open-mindedness necessary to those who seek knowledge.

    That¡¯s why dragons are usually wise and the first Dragon was considered the Lord of Wisdom.

    "Last, but not least, the Phoenix. Its elements are light and darkness, twin elements that despite being pr opposites cannot live without each other. Together, they are an unstoppable force of death and rebirth.

    "For something new to be born, something old must die. That¡¯s the oldest rule of the bnce. The Phoenix embodies the radical changes that living beings must undergo in order to survive, both as individuals and a society.

    "Its conflictual nature made the first Phoenix the Lord of War."

    "Sometimes, however, change is not enough. There are things in every world that are simply born wrong and no matter how much they change, there¡¯s no fixing them, like the Odi.

    "Do you know what are the elements your friend was born with? Fire and darkness. Together, they don¡¯t nurture, don¡¯t protect, nor do they change. Their only purpose is to cleanse and disinfect, to get rid of what is toxic.

    "Too many mistakes on the evolutionarydder have brought me to agree with your friend. I need a Lord of Destruction." Mogar pointed her slender finger at Lith¡¯s proto-Guardian form.

    "By the way are you sure that you can afford to stay here and chatter? Things aren¡¯t going well for him."

    Solus followed the images in front of her, noticing that there was more in y than the physical battle between Lith and Rizo. Now that the Reactor was still, its prisoners were finally able to truly die.

    The souls that it had trapped for centuries were finally free.

    Yet while some turned into shooting stars and disappeared in the sky, others were now free to look for their revenge upon their captors. All those whose hatred and rage was strong enough that it would¡¯ve turned them into undead if they still a shred of a body to cling to, found in the abyss erupting from Lith¡¯s soul a beacon.

    Each one of them tainted his mind and body, trying to force him to be the instrument of their reckoning. They projected into his mind all the atrocities they had endured, all the loved ones they had lost, adding their fury to his own, driving Lith on the verge of madness.

    They couldn¡¯t offer him power, only rage, but that was something that he had plenty already. Feeling his body getting invaded by foreign feelings, Lith focused on Carl¡¯s death, on Yondra¡¯s, and on the painful void that Solus¡¯s absence had left.

    The ck fire inside of him burned brighter, attacking the dead souls clinging to him and forcing them to release their hold on him. The spirits changed their tactic, recing their features with those of his loved ones, asking him to avenge them.

    Rizo didn¡¯t miss the opportunity that the chaos Lith¡¯s mind currently was had created for him. He dispelled both the white mes and the God¡¯s Will array, charging forward in a downwards sh that would¡¯ve split the monster asunder.

    Lith managed to partially dodge, but the strike still managed to chop his left arm off. The pain snapped Lith out of his frenzy and before Rizo could even gloat for his sess, ck tendrils erupted from Lith¡¯s shoulder as well as from his amputated limb, reattaching it in a split second.

 Chapter 726 Lord of Destruction Part 2

    Rizo knew that such a wound couldn¡¯t heal so fast and that Lith¡¯s left side was currently exposed. He lunged his de at Lith¡¯s weak point, only for a silvery sh to stop him in his tracks.

    Lith¡¯s wings were coated in Orichalcum as well, and since he couldn¡¯t move his left arm properly, he had shielded himself with his wing. Being upside-down, they almost resembled a hand with the thumb pointing down, allowing Lith to flex the upper part of his wings so to grab the enemy weapon.

    Before Rizo managed to free the de by twisting it and ripping part of the wings to shreds, Lith¡¯s right fist struck at the Odi¡¯s kidney just in time to dodge a horizontal sh that would otherwise chop his head off.

    Phloria and Quy didn¡¯t miss the opening, unleashing a burst of lightning that almost brought Rizo to his knees. He had yet to activate the green array again because once set, he couldn¡¯t move it.

    Without a solid strategy, Lith¡¯s Origin mes would have damaged it before he could exploit the advantage that God¡¯s Will granted to him. Also, the array was very mana expensive and with the Reactor down, Rizo couldn¡¯t afford to waste what energy he had left.

    The moment his opponent faltered, Lith took a Gatekeeper prototype out of his pocket dimension and lunged for the kill. s, Rizo¡¯s title of de master wasn¡¯t just for show.

    The Odi managed to ignore the shock thanks to sheer willpower and deflected the prototype striking at the point where the metal was thinner. The difference in quality between the des coupled with Rizo¡¯s skill allowed him to break Lith¡¯s weapon and use the recoil from the sh tounch a counter-attack at the same time.

    The attack was too fast and too close for Lith to dodge it, so he had to once again resort to using his metal coated wings as shields. Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, the inner part of the wings was covered in faces twisted in anger and pain that could be seen moving right below its ck membrane.

    Countless ck arms made of darkness and spirit magic erupted from the wings, attempting to grab both the sword and its wielder. Rizo managed to cut them all before they could touch him, but at that point, the strength of his attack had been neutralized.

    \u003c "What¡¯s happening?"\u003e Rizo asked more to the Odi who shared the body with him rather than to the humans. \u003c "Where are these thingsing from?"\u003e

    More and more ck arms came out from the surrounding darkness as the lost souls found a way to exploit their link with Lith to use Demons of Darkness in his stead. Soon there were more than just arms, but also heads and full bodies as well.

    "Die!" Lith replied joining the onught. Thanks to the cover that the shadows offered to him, Lith managed to get close enough to lunge with his w at Rizo¡¯s right lung, where the sphere that allowed him to conjure the God¡¯s Will array was hidden.

    Even among the red sea of rage possessing him, Lith was aware that without the artifact, the enemy would be at hisplete mercy. With just tier three spells at his disposal, not even a de master wouldst more than a few seconds.

    "Is that really Lith?" Quy asked, finally recognizing the familiar voice. Until that moment, snarls and roars had prevented her to understand who she should root for. She had previously aimed her bolt of lightning against Rizo only because it was what Phloria had done.

    "Yes." Phloria nodded. She instinctively tried to reach for her sword before remembering that the Odi had taken it away from her. "We have to help him, he can¡¯t win without a weapon."

    Quy was about to reply that she begged to differ since his ws had pierced through the damaged armor and the Odi¡¯s flesh, spraying blue blood everywhere, when Rizo reactivated God¡¯s Will in the nick of time before Lith¡¯s fingers could close around the sphere.

    A wind-push as strong as a tornado sent Lith crashing against the wall while the vengeful shadows were dispersed. The God¡¯s Will array allowed Rizo to manipte mana, not the lost souls inhabiting them.

    Rizo could have used fire or lightning to kill him, but since the monster appeared to be immortal, if the attack failed and the thing still managed to take the God¡¯s Will from him, even the female humans might have been able to kill him.

    "I don¡¯t want to stay here." Solus said. "How do I get back to Lith?"

    Jirni-Mogarughed with a sweet and silvery voice that would have been soothing if it didn¡¯te from someone with Jirni¡¯s features. It sounded mostly creepy.

    "You¡¯re so funny, child. I already told you: that¡¯s your mind-" Mogar pointed at Solus¡¯s human form.

    "-and there¡¯s your body." She was now pointing at the arm protector visible on Lith¡¯s right arm, covering him from the hand to the shoulder.

    "Do the math."

    Solus still had a lot of questions, yet Phloria was right. Lith couldn¡¯t win without a weapon. Also, Mogar was right. With a broken life force and apparently also a broken soul, without her Lith was at risk of being possessed by the undead that he was currently manipting.

    She walked toward Lith, looking at her slender, pink hands onest time before ovepping her body with his own.

    ¡¯Get up, we don¡¯t have a second to lose!¡¯ She thought. There were countless things that she wanted to say to him, but that wasn¡¯t the time nor the ce.

    Rizo had realized the threat that the two female humans now posed to the Odi¡¯s lives and with the body-swapping machine destroyed, they had no use for them anymore. He dispelled the God¡¯s Will, conjuring it again so that it enveloped the area between him and his prey.

    Phloria and Quy were at its fringes, but having their backs against the wall they couldn¡¯t escape. Not before he reached them and cut them down. Rizo was at the opposite side, darting through the array, leaving no blind spot that Lith could use to stop him.

    The two women attempted to Blink, but the magical formation prevented them to.

    Lith had yet to recover from the joy and shock to have Solus back yet he could already feel his heart squeezing from pain. He was about to lose one of his closest friends and the only woman that he might have ever loved.

    His body moved faster than his mind and faster than Rizo. The Odi¡¯s elemental fusion was more powerful, but Lith¡¯s body was stronger and his limbs longer. It allowed Lith to reach Phloria and Quy before his enemy.

    ¡¯Solus, I know that I can beat him, but I need your help. There¡¯s onest trick that I didn¡¯t dare to attempt before because it will put your body at great risk and I hoped that giving you some time to heal, would allow you to recover.

    ¡¯Thank heavens, I was right. I know that it¡¯s unfair to ask you to suffer again even though you¡¯ve just returned but...¡¯

    ¡¯I know and I¡¯m deeply grateful for everything you¡¯ve said and done for me, but now stop wasting time. I trust you with all of my heart, so do what you must.¡¯ Solus cut him short.

    ¡¯We¡¯ll face this enemy like we faced and will face anyone who stands in our path, together!¡¯

 Chapter 727 One Shall Fall Part 1

    "Begone!" Lith screamed at Rizo while using his wings to cover his arms, creating a multiyered protection to stop the iing sh.

    Rizoughed at the monster¡¯s stupidity, this way he could kill all three of them in one fell swoop. He activated the powers of his Eternal de, fueling them with an enormous amount of the power that the Reactor still had left.

    The Odi¡¯s masterpiece was now surrounded by a white aura, strong enough to literally cut the air in front of it and even to split matter down to an atomic level. Lith¡¯s ck wings evaporated, unable even to withstand the intense heat and power the Eternal de emitted.

    ¡¯Wait! Why are the wings ck?¡¯ Guuna pointed out. She was a genius on Solus¡¯s level, so she couldn¡¯t possibly miss what was happening.

    ¡¯What the heck are you saying? This Scourge has always been red and ck!¡¯ Rizo ignored her remark, putting all of his weight and focus behind the strike.

    ¡¯The monster, yes, but his armor was silver! Where is its armor?¡¯ Guuna had noticed that Lith¡¯s wings were back to being pitch-ck, only made of flesh and bone.

    The answer to her question came in the form of a silvery sound as the Eternal de was pushed away by an unstoppable force. Rizo could only curse at his stupidity when he saw that the armor wasn¡¯t the only thing to have disappeared.

    The arm protector was gone as well and, in their stead, there was a silver bastard sword between Lith¡¯s hands. Its shape reminded Phloria of the Gatekeeper, but it was clearly made of Orichalcum and had a green and a yellow mana crystal on its hilt instead of two blue crystals.

    Lith had made Solus¡¯s stone body took the form of his once prized de and given her the entirety of the Skinwalker armor to protect her from harm. As the final step, by injecting his mana inside the armor, he gave to the makeshift weapon the same properties of mana boosted Orichalcum.

    Yet Solus was more than what even the Gatekeeper once was. Not only could she channel Lith¡¯s elemental fusion, but also add her own, further enhancing all the de¡¯s and Orichalcum¡¯s properties.

    The Adamant alloy was semi-liquid, so no matter how many times the Eternal de¡¯s aura pushed the liquid metal aside, new Orichalcum kept flowing to rece the missing parts while its energy field shed with Rizo¡¯s weapon.

    Lith¡¯s strength plus Solus¡¯s whilebining their fusion magic was enough to almost rip the Eternal de off Rizo¡¯s hands. Both des were now above their masters¡¯ heads, but only one of the fighters still had a firm grip and both hands on his weapon¡¯s hilt.

    Lith¡¯s body was wounded and battered, his mana almost depleted.

    Too long had passed from thest time he had used Invigoration and even more since he had actually slept. Yet thoughts of his broken existence back on Earth were filling every corner of Lith¡¯s mind.

    Almost losing Solus had reopened all of his old wounds. It had reminded him of the differences between the loveless world, devoid of anything worth living for, that he had left behind and Mogar, which was filled with people who needed him.

    Rizo was now defenseless from his midriff to his chin, yet it wouldn¡¯tst for long. Lith moved his de in a downward diagonal sh, to cut Rizo from his right shoulder to his left hip.

    Even if with only one hand, Rizo managed to strike at the Soluskeeper with his own de, preventing the cut from being deep by pushing the edge down and away before it could pierce his organs.

    With his other hand, Rizo imitated the spell that Jiira had previously used and emitted from his palm a red beam of concentrated first magic aimed at Lith¡¯s heart.

    ¡¯If the striking the head doesn¡¯t work, this thing must be like a vampire.¡¯ Rizo thought. ¡¯Burning his heart should do the trick.¡¯

    The green array made the beam too fast and powerful to be dodged, not that Lith would have done it even if he could. Rizo had almost taken Solus away from him, Lith wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to Phloria or Quy.

    ¡¯No matter how powerful, that thing it¡¯s still fucking chore magic!¡¯ Lith thought as his red eye burned with mana of the same color, infusing both Solus and the enemy¡¯s spell. The red light born from the eye tilted the beam enough that his de¡¯s aura was enough to push it aside.

    Lith adjusted his grip on the Soluskeeper, following the motion from the previous attack to draw it near his chest in a horizontal stance and then lunged at the enemy. Thebined beam parry and sword stab took Rizo by surprise.

    He tried to deflect the Soluskeeper again, but his one-handed grip was too weakpared to Lith¡¯s double-handed form. Lith¡¯s de pierced his chest, forcing Rizo to fly back to not be impaled.

    ¡¯Stick to what you know, you moron!¡¯ Guuna scolded him. ¡¯You¡¯re no mage, your control over first magic is pathetic at best and that thing has three eyes ring with mana. Judging by their colors, you have to avoid fire, darkness, and water magic.¡¯

    ¡¯What do you want me to do, then? Heal him?¡¯ Rizo rebuked while a jet stream of Origin mes tried to strike at him, only to be stopped by both the God¡¯s Will array and a bolt of thunder.

    ¡¯No, you idiot! Use your damn de and the advantage that having hostages gives you. He stood still to defend the women before so...¡¯ She stopped the moment she noticed that Quy and Phloria hadn¡¯t remained idly.

    They had used Lith¡¯s cover to get out of the array and free him from the need to fight inside the magical formation.

    ¡¯Damn! Why am I the only one who is partnered with idiots?¡¯ Guuna thought.

    Lith followed his enemy and now that everyone was out of the array, God¡¯s Will was reduced to be just a tacky decoration on the floor. Rizo used the thunderbolt from his de again, but without the array, it was just a peak tier three spell that Lith deflected with a flick of his de.

    Once the two men were engaged again in close quartersbat, the difference in weapons soon be overwhelming. Just like the Skinwalker armor protecting her, Solus had no definite shape.

    She adapted after each sh, making the parts of the de that Lith used to block thicker at the right moment and shapeshifting it to be shaper and more curved whenever a hit connected, causing a deeper wound.

    Rizo had a hard time following the Soluskeeper¡¯s movements, mostly because the de kept changing its form, making it hard for him to hit its tip to easily deflect an attack.

    ¡¯Fist it was double-edged, then single-edged, and now it¡¯s a goddamned curved sword! What the heck of a weapon is that?¡¯ Rizo had to predict both the movements of the Soluskeeper and its wielder, who despite being less skilled than the de master had a vastly superior physical prowess.

    Quy didn¡¯t understand anything of what was happening, so she focused on Lith¡¯s non yellow eyes and the enemy¡¯s array, trying to find a way to help her friend. Phloria instead was in awe for his performance.

    She had often heard the term "being one with the sword" but it was the first time she was actually seeing it. Solus wasn¡¯t just a powerful magical artifact, it was also part of Lith¡¯s body, allowing him to bring all of his techniques to a new peak.

 Chapter 728 One Shall Fall Part 2

    Phloria¡¯s amazement didn¡¯t stop her from also using her brain. Afraid that their enemy could once again steal the power of their spells, Phloria used earth magic to change the pattern of the floor to Lith¡¯s advantage, making it slippery where Rizo was and rough where Lith stood, giving her friend a better footing.

    Sometimes she would make small bumps appear where she predicted the Odi would move, making him almost trip more than once. Fighting three against one without the green array was too much for Rizo.

    He conjured it again, but before it could fully form the Eternal de was ripped off his hands, quickly followed by his head. Lith knew what was going to happen, so he quickly stepped out of the array as Rizo¡¯s remaining life force was detonated to buy the time necessary for the next Odi to step out.

    ¡¯I need to rest, sorry.¡¯ Solus slipped back to Lith¡¯s finger and the Skinwalker back on his body. Between her near-death experience and her weak core, Lith was surprised that she hadsted for so long.

    He gave Solus his most heartfelt thanks while hurling a constant stream of Origin mes against the green array. By the time the explosion had faded and Veiga¡¯s body was fully formed, the magical formation was in shambles.

    \u003c "Rizo, you damn idiot!"\u003e Veiga said, taking her magical staff out of her dimensional ring. Thanks to the array¡¯s power amplifying effects, her tier three spell filled the room with ice shards as big as a person, giving her prey no chance to escape.

    Phloria used her tier four earth spell, Tidal Wall, to make the ground in front of her and her allies rise like a wave, buying Lith enough time for a full breath of Invigoration.

    Veiga sneered at the ugly female¡¯s attempts to stall for time, conjuring one volley of shards after another, in a constant onught that soon brought the magical protection on the verge of crumbling.

    She didn¡¯t care about how much mana was left in the Reactor, the only thing that mattered was her own survival. Lith pondered his options, trying to find a way out of that pinch.

    ¡¯Dammit, that¡¯s a spell worthy of the name Checkmate Spears. I can¡¯t Warp in due to the array and since the offensive spell covers the entire room, I have no ce to dodge. I could tank a wave or two, but I would die long before reaching that crazed mage.¡¯ He thought.

    Quy shared his opinion, but while Lith had fought putting his life on the line, she had done the best that she could to study the God¡¯s Will array. Quy was no Warden, but she knew the Array detecting spell and how magical formations worked.

    She also knew many more runes than Phloria, especially those the Odi used due to her thorough study of their magical discoveries. After seeing the green array being used so many times and how the various missing runes affected its working, she had a pretty good idea of how to make the assault stop.

    She focused her Disarray spell on a single rune near one of the array¡¯s power nodes, triggering a domino effect that the already faltering magical formation wasn¡¯t able to bear.

    Its structure copsed, reverting the above tier five spell into an average tier three. When Veiga realized that despite the fact that the God¡¯s Will was still standing, its effects hadpletely disappeared, it was toote.

    Lith exploited that opening to Warp in front of her, ripping the sphere from her chest with his left hand and squashing her head like grape with his right hand. Without the God¡¯s Will array, there was no need to dodge the life force explosion, so he could breathe a stream of Origin mes that engulfed the corpse and smothered the detonation.

    While the next Odi was still forming, Lith ripped her heart off before hurling a new jet of mes. He kept killing them non-stop, even though he felt that something was wrong.

    Invigoration or not, he had never used Origin mes so many times and his instincts screamed at him to stop. His life force was close to suffering more damage.

    \u003c "Please, have mercy!"\u003e Guuna said when her turn came. \u003c "You are killing an entire race. This is genocide."\u003e

    Lith¡¯s reply was to tear her asunder before stepping back to avoid the ensuing explosion. His eyes were blurring and his strength dwindling yet he didn¡¯t dare stop his work.

    Only the Odi could actually see that as more of them died, the eyes in the room converged into a single point until they assumed a physical form that got closer and closer until they could feel its breath down their necks.

    The ck hands had disappeared once the spirits of the dead had been dispelled by the God¡¯s Will array but now Mogar¡¯s consciousness had coalesced to be ready to take her prize, leaving only the darkness originating from Lith behind.

    Each of their forced rebirths drained more mana from the Reactor until nothing remained. Without its nourishment, the lump of flesh in front of Lith stopped squirming as time finally moved forward and demanded its toll from the Odi.

    Their collective body withered and aged until they all turned into dust.

    Only then did Mogar disappear. Finally its mistake had been mended and over time, from all that death life would blossom again. Along with the¡¯s consciousness both the silver and the ck pir disappeared, leaving Lith back into his human form.

    "Well, that was interesting." Sark said. "I¡¯d say it was worth the trip.

    "Really? I think the fight was really good as well, but from a battle crazed warrior like you I was expecting a lot of criticism about that poor kid." Tyris said. "Also, the only effective part of the Odi¡¯s n was managing to hide themselves from us. Reactor or not, they wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance."

    "I¡¯m not talking about the fight, even though I have to admit it was pretty decent. I was referring to the anomaly¡¯spanion speaking with Mogar. It rarely speaks to non Guardians. By the way, what do you think the two pirs mean?" She asked while looking at Leegaain.

    "It¡¯s a good sign. The first time the anomaly underwent a tribtion, the pir was ck, like that of an Abomination. Now there¡¯s also a silver one, which probably depends on the fact that he¡¯s not technically a beast and we¡¯ve never seen the pir rted to humans.

    "I think the two pirs mean that his nature is getting more stable, no more lost in between species but giving birth to a race of his own." Leegaain replied.

    "It¡¯s more than that." Mogar materialized in the middle of its Guardians, appearing to each one of them in the form it had assumed back when they had met the¡¯s consciousness for the first time.

    To Sark it appeared as a blood-stained beast, to Tyris like a pregnant woman, and to Leegaain as the World Tree.

    "Both hybrids are conflicted about their nature and are troubled to ept the changes they are still undergoing. Yet while the female is driven by her feelings and hindered by her memory loss, the male is almost a lost cause.

    "He keeps living in the past, carrying a burden that drags him down no matter what choice he makes. That¡¯s why he still carries the mark of Abominations."

 Chapter 729 One Shall Stand Part 1

    "At the same time, the male hybrid fights for his future. It allows him to move forward and ept the change, rather than trying to foolishly bring back a forever lost past. It¡¯ll be interesting to see which side he¡¯ll choose, if he ever makes his mind." Mogar said.

    "Are you saying that he might remain a hybrid?" Sark asked. "I always thought that hybrid was just a temporary state of the spawn of powerful species before they reach maturity."

    "And you were right." Mogar nodded. "But things are different now and so am I. A hybrid is now walking the path towards Guardianhood and even the Abominations I had forsaken as a lost cause have managed to evolve into something new.

    "Things are changing pretty fast for my standards, and only time could tell if it¡¯s for the better or the worse."

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside the Body-Swapping room, Lith was fighting to retain his consciousness. His cracked life force was on the verge of breaking, his stamina was depleted, and all the mana he had left wasn¡¯t enough to light a candle.

    Lith had fought, ran, and cast spells non-stop for hours now, to the point that Invigoration would bring him back to less than 20% of his max strength. The fight with the Odi, with the necessity to constantly keep the Skinwalker armor in its boosted state, had drained his energies like never before.

    "Are you alright, Lith?" Phloria asked while helping him to lie down on the floor.

    ¡¯Are you alright, Solus?¡¯ Lith was still so scared from almost losing her that he constantly checked on her condition.

    ¡¯I¡¯m peachy, stop asking me that.¡¯ She giggled.

    "I¡¯m fine. I just need to sleep for a few hours. A week tops." He replied to Phloria.

    "Shit, shit, shit!" Quy was kneeling right next to him, checking his vitals. "This is really bad. He needs absolute rest. He¡¯s this close to further reducing his life span."

    She then blew away the nearby pile of dust that once had been the lost Odi race and imprinted Ellkas¡¯ dimensional ring, taking back all of her stuff and Phloria¡¯s. Quy had brought several potions with her, some of which were needed to stabilize the life force of a patient after a Body Sculpting procedure.

    She forced Lith to drink a tonic, a stabilizer, and then she used tier four light magic to make sure that his body had the necessary energy to recover from its many wounds. All the damage his wings sustained had been carried to his human form as open cuts on Lith¡¯s back.

    Lith protested for a second or two before the strain from the healing process and the stress from the fight made him fall asleep. Only once Quy was certain that both Lith¡¯s body and his life force were out of danger did she allow herself to rx.

    "We have a lot of catching up to do." She said while throwing a meaningful look at her sister. "You two have a lot of exining to do, but right now I¡¯m too tired and too happy to care about answers."

    She hugged Phloria, enjoying her warmth. While she was working in the Mana Reactor¡¯s control room, Quy had hated herself for abandoning Phloria in the hands of the Odi. She knew that Lith would have done anything to defend her, but to Quy that wasn¡¯t an excuse.

    She had no idea what Lith was, but, in her eyes, being a little inhuman was a small price to pay if it meant being powerful enough to protect those she loved. Then, she checked Lith¡¯s condition onest time before falling asleep as well.

    Even if the red chains had healed the hole in her chest, her stamina was depleted by all the healing she had performed and the life force she had passed to Lith. Taking care of those two Golems had taken quite a toll on her mana as well.

    Phloria¡¯s physical condition was pretty good thanks to Lith Invigorating her after killing Jiira. She armed herself to the teeth, standing guard in the case that more constructs, magical beasts, or whatever the Odi had left might pop its ugly head up and threaten their lives.

    When the metal doors opened, her de moved to fast that Morok¡¯s neck started to bleed even before he managed to notice the wound that the tip of her estoc had opened.

    "First your sister kicks me in the nuts so hard that I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m still able to have children and now you almost turn me into a kebab? What¡¯s wrong with you Ernas?" He asked while pushing the de away with a finger.

    "Have you ever heard of knocking? Not only it¡¯s a very polite thing to do, but also prevents others from thinking you¡¯re a fucking enemy trying to sneak inside and finish us off." She said.

    "Point taken. Can we leave now? I¡¯m sick of this ce and I¡¯ve no idea if there are more Golems left."

    Phloria pondered about her options. Normally she would worry about rescuing her soldiers and the Apprentices, but the fact that they had left with no care for her well-being while even Morok hade to help, royally pissed her off.

    "We have to wait until their condition stabilizes a bit. Then we get the heck the out of here." That was how long she was willing to wait for herrades to return. They were all perfectly healthy whereas Lith needed medical attention.

    "Do you want me to look around for our runaway friends while you guys rest?" Morok asked.

    "No. I can¡¯t take on several magical beasts at once or a Flesh Golem and defend them at the same time. I need you here."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I counted them. If those that attacked us back in the Living Quarters were all of them, there are only two left. If they are smart, they¡¯ll keep away from us."

    "Quy and I killed one on our own." Phloria said.

    "Even better! Then there¡¯s only one left. The chances it attacks us are almost... Shit!" His optimism died as the metal door opened again, letting thest Golem in.

    Solus was very tired but she was incapable of sleeping outside of her tower, so she was watching and hearing everything in the room.

    ¡¯Maybe Lith is right. Maybe jinxing stuff really is possible.¡¯ She thought.

    Yet the construct moved slowly, its arms raised in the air and its power core was exposed, protruding from its stone shell. Now that every single Odi was dead, the imprint on the ve runes carved into its life force had disappeared.

    It was now free to do whatever it wanted as long as it didn¡¯t sh with its protocols, like self-harming. Seeing the pain and anguish in the eyes of the man grafted to the construct, Phloria¡¯s hand hesitated.

    Killing out of mercy was different from doing it out of self-defense.

    \u003c "Please, I n...\u003e" The creature attempted to say while using sheer willpower to hold back its screams of pain.

    Morok had no such problems. He had seen enough Golems for a lifetime and couldn¡¯t wait to retire. His hammers smashed the power core, putting the creature out of its misery.

    "He was trying to say something!" Phloria said.

    "Then it should¡¯ve talked faster. I¡¯m not putting at risk thest Royal Forgemaster... I mean, my precious friends for a dead man walking." Morok hoped that Phloria wouldn¡¯t notice the greed with which he was staring at the silver wand in her pocket.

 Chapter 730 One Shall Stand Part 2

    By the time Lith woke up, all members of the expedition had returned. They had mustered the courage to check the oue of the battle only after they had realized that they had no way to open the closed doors.

    Quy returned them their items from Ellkas¡¯s dimensional amulet and Phloria left took Morok with her to explore what remained of the room Gaakhu was still alive, and she couldn¡¯t afford to leave their back exposed to the alleged traitorous mage.

    She didn¡¯t have to search for long since the missing Professor¡¯s corpse was waiting for them in the next room. No one would even know that just like the Odi, their ve seal on their victim¡¯s life force required the Mana Reactor to work.

    The moment the device had run out of power the spells engraved in Gaakhu¡¯s life force had consumed her life in the attempt to prolong their existence. Phloria stored the corpse in her dimensional amulet. Traitor or not she didn¡¯t deserve to be left there to rot.

    After Quy checked Lith¡¯s condition, Morok Warped them all to the Tek¡¯s breeding facility and Phloria activated the dimensional runes until she found one that led to a safe corridor.

    No one had any desire to walk until they found a way back to the surface, so after Phloria marked the rune on the outside so that Royal Forgemaster could spot it and easily get ess to Kh¡¯s lower floors, they used earth magic to dig their way out.

    From that point, returning home was easy. As soon as the army could pinpoint theirmunication amulets again, Commander Berion sent a rescue team to their position.

    Less than an hourter, the members of the expedition had said their goodbyes and had been sent to their homes.

    Lith was brought to the Ernas household since Quy refused to let him go anywhere until she was certain that his life force was stable, his life span was unaffected by the strain of fighting a literal one-man army of Odi, and she hadn¡¯t got some answers from him.

    Kam was overjoyed from seeing him and appalled by his condition.

    "Good gods, you look terrible." She said while looking at his pale face and battered body. Even though Lith had eaten non-stop since he had regained his consciousness, to reattach his arm and heal all of his wounds had made him lose a few kilograms.

    "I missed you too, babe." He said, holding her tight for a few seconds before giving her a passionate kiss. After feeling so close to death for so long, he needed to feel alive again.

    "Stop right there!" Quy separated them. "No action, of any kind is allowed to you until you have recovered. You¡¯re too weak for anything more ¡¯romantic¡¯ than a hug. Healer¡¯s orders."

    "Can we at least eat together? We both need to get some weight back." Lith asked, prompting Phloria¡¯s stomach to rumble in agreement. She had been too tense to eat properly after escaping from Kh.

    The three of them told their story in turns during thete dinner they consumed with Orion and Jirni, soon joined by Lith¡¯s family that wanted to see him as soon as the Jirni informed them of his condition.

    Later, when Kam and Lith were cuddling in their bed, Lith couldn¡¯t stop thinking that the Ernas had amodated him in the very same room where years ago he had spent his first night with Phloria on purpose.

    Sharing that bed with another woman was really awkward for him.

    "How is Zinya doing?" He asked, trying to find a way to introduce the topic he really cared about. During thest few weeks, Lith had shared so much with Phloria, and now even Quy knew part of his secret.

    Yet Kam, the most important woman in his life, was stillpletely in the dark. He would have lost her at the hands of Fallmug if not for Jirni, but due to the distance separating them and the countless impending threats at the time, he had failed to realize the real meaning of such an event.

    After almost losing Solus, after finally holding Kam between his arms, looking at her pale and gaunt skin, he now understood how fragile human life was.

    "She¡¯s doing pretty well. Fallmug¡¯s death was a huge shock for her, but I think that having her children back made her too happy to waste even a moment of her time grieving.

    "She also received all of his possessions aspensation from the abuses Fallmug inflicted upon her over the years. Between Vastor¡¯s testimony and Fallmug¡¯s attempt on my life, the judge had no qualms imposing the maximum sentence."

    "Is she still at my parents¡¯ home or has she gone back to her house?"

    "Are you kidding? Neither Zinya nor her children want to step foot again in that horrid ce. She¡¯s selling the house and everything within it to get a fresh start. Zinya has moved to Lutia now, to stay as far away as possible from Fallmug¡¯s family and our own."

    "What? Where?" Lith asked. The implications of that piece of news startled him a bit.

    "She¡¯s bought a house near yours, so our families are neighbors now." Kam blushed a little, but hid her embarrassment by burying her face in his shoulder. "Your parents did a lot for her and she has fallen in love with the warm climate of the south.

    "She can now afford a tutor for both herself and the kids to get them homeschooled. They¡¯ve been apart for so long that she wants to make up for the lost time and give them the freedom they never experienced.

    "Their grandparents weren¡¯t as harsh as Fallmug was, but so far their childhood has been reduced solely to fear and duty. They deserve to know happiness as well as their mother.

    "It¡¯s all thanks to you, you know? First, you gave her sight, and then you gave Zinya her life back." Kam snuggled up to Lith, searching for his embrace.

    "Nope, it was all thanks to you, Kami. It was you who never stopped fighting for her, even at the cost of your personal safety. By the way, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to tell you..."

    "Is this about me losing too much weight? Do I really look that bad?" She asked. Embarrassment was the only thing that gave a bit of color to her face.

    "No, but actually yes. I mean, you¡¯re bordering on putting at risk your ¡¯assets¡¯. You can¡¯t afford to skip even one meal. The fate of Mogar depends on it!" Lith replied with an overly dramatic tone while checking her goods.

    "Stop it." She moaned. "You heard your Healer, you need rest."

    "This is no forey, just a medical examination that I¡¯m conducting as your personal Healer. We can always call Quy, if you need a second opinion."

    "Pervert! That¡¯s not your professional face." She said before giving him a slow, deep kiss.

    "Is it important?" She asked, receiving a serious nod in reply.

    "Can it wait, please? I¡¯ve already had too many emotions for today. The only thing I want right now is to enjoy yourpany and the first happy moment I have since Fallmug¡¯s attack."

    "It can wait." Lith said. That speech had been on stand-by for so long that a bit more couldn¡¯t hurt.

    They had both quite a lot of pent up stress and being so close reminded them how lonely they had felt without each other. Yet Quy¡¯s instructions prevented them from doing what they really wanted.

 Chapter 731 Gains Part 1

    Only Lith¡¯s exhaustion saved them from a long, awkward silence. Due to the constant fighting and use of Invigoration, he had lost all of his body fat along with part of his bone and muscle density.

    Lith fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes to sniff Kam¡¯s hair, giving his metabolism the opportunity to fix all the damages he had sustained.

    Thanks to all the nutrients he had ingested during dinner and Lith¡¯s ability to assimte world energy, his body was rebuilt from its foundations, pushing the impurities within it away from the new tissues and closer to his mana core.

    ***

    Lith spent the next two days doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and using umtion. His enhanced metabolism sped up his recovery, making him regain weight at an astounding rate, but that came with a price.

    Healing and evolving required a huge amount of energy that Lith decided to take only through conventional means. His choice was based not only on the fact that his recovery speed was already unnatural, but also because in his condition, using Invigoration would do him more harm than good.

    Despite all of Quy¡¯s and Lith¡¯s treatments, his life force was still unstable. Forcefully injecting a strength that his body might not have been able to handle yet was as risky as it was pointless.

    Aside from the headaches Lith got by standing so close to Kam and yet being forced to keep his hands in his pockets, there were no threats in the Ernas household. Also, he had noticed his impurities moving and by using umtion instead of Invigoration he could exploit that opportunity.

    His entire body was being flooded by world energy, rebuilding itself stronger and denser than before. Using umtion allowed him to speed up the natural process of moving the impurities towards his core so that he would experience the next breakthrough the moment his body was ready for it.

    It was a win-win situation for him which allowed Lith to strengthen both his body and mana core at once. Also, it gave him the time to assess his loot from Kh. He still had in his pocket dimension Rizo¡¯s Eternal de, the bead that activated the God¡¯s Will array, but more importantly, the books he had found in theb¡¯s safe.

    The Ernas Household was one of the most ancient and powerful magical bloodlines of the Griffon Kingdom. Their library could easilypare with that of any academy, covering almost all topics known to mankind.

    It also contained several books about lostnguages and all the dictionaries Lith needed to make heads or tails of his possessions. Or better, Solus did and he just reaped the fruits of her endeavor.

    They were both overjoyed discovering that one of the books was a detailed exnation of the Body-Swapping technique, of which the Life Merging process was just an incredibly hard and mana expensive variation.

    ¡¯Building the necessary equipment might take a lot of time and resources since I don¡¯t recognize half the ingredients listed in here, but this is a great start!¡¯ Solus had devoted her whole time since they had gotten back to checking Lith¡¯s condition and tranting the book about body swapping.

    ¡¯Agreed, also, we might not even need all of them. The Odi were stuck with tier three magic in all fields but light magic and forgemastering, whereas we can use all tiers of true magic.¡¯ For once Lith shared her enthusiasm.

    Not even he could find a sour note in such a discovery. Sure, there was no certainty that it would work, nor that they would manage to understand the underlying mechanism of the process, but it was a start. More than they had ever had.

    ¡¯I¡¯m so happy to have you back Solus.¡¯ Lith was brimming with joy like it didn¡¯t happen since the day he had healed Tista from her congenital disease. ¡¯When I thought I had lost you, I almost went insane.

    ¡¯I¡¯m really sorry that while we are here I can¡¯t spend more time with you, but isting myself would arouse even more suspicions than my recovery speed already does.¡¯

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, we have all the time in the world, I¡¯m not going anywhere, you big oaf.¡¯ Solus mana enveloped Lith¡¯s body, while her mind pushed her feelings of joy to the fringes of his mind, in what was the closest thing to a heartfelt hug she could give him.

    ¡¯By the way, there¡¯s something you need to know.¡¯ Solus shared with him all of her memories about her encounter with Mogar, the existence of the Guardians, and Lith¡¯s alleged role during the tribtions.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways.¡¯ Was his first reaction. ¡¯I don¡¯t like this at all. Do you think that Mogar has manipted me so far? That all the bullshit that happens to me depends on some kind of cosmic scheme?¡¯

    ¡¯Honestly, no. I didn¡¯t feel any malice from her, and I consider myself an expert in recognizing cold-hearted maniptors.¡¯ Solus replied while looking at Lith first and then to Jirni.

    She was teaching Kam about Royal Constables¡¯ protocols and revising with her some of the most controversial cases as simtion exercises.

    ¡¯Mogar also said that it¡¯s you who constantly call upon her, not the other way around. I¡¯m more worried about the Guardians. What if they feel threatened and decide to kill you? We don¡¯t stand a chance against such powerful creatures.¡¯

    ¡¯Please, that¡¯s fubar paranoia, even by my standards.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯I doubt that they care about someone as weak as I am, just like I don¡¯t stomp all ants I see because they might evolve into something more powerful.

    ¡¯We must focus on the good news. Mogar didn¡¯t call me a monster or an alien, which means that either even this doesn¡¯t know what I am or that it doesn¡¯t care. Also, your out of body experience has finally given us conclusive proof that I was right all along.

    ¡¯You are human and have a nice C cup.¡¯

    If Solus had a body, she would have blushed from head to toe. She hadpletely forgotten about having checked her body back then and now she had shared all the knowledge she had acquired about her real form.

    ¡¯You- How can you focus on my breasts during such a dramatic moment of my life?¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s just a memory, we¡¯re safe now. Also, cut me some ck. I¡¯m only human, after all.¡¯

    "How are you feeling, Lith?" Orion¡¯s arrival saved Solus from her predicament. She really didn¡¯t want to hear Lith¡¯s opinion about her build, especially not in the over-aroused state he was.

    "Weak, but aside from that, I feel great. Thanks." Lith was sitting on a bench in the manor¡¯s park, located nearby the veranda where Jirni and Kam where working. After being underground for so many weeks, he really missed the sun.

    "I will never be able to thank you enough for saving my little girls, especially Phloria. It was really brave of you to face that monster alone instead of running away once you rescued the rest of the expedition."

    "As I already told Jirni, our friendship runs deep. I would never let something happen to them on my watch. By the way, what¡¯s the status of the sword?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯sing along nicely, but since I¡¯m really serious about it, it will take some time. I don¡¯t think you want something half-baked again."

    ¡¯What the actual fuck? What kind of monster Orion is if the Gatekeeper was just something he did for fun?¡¯ Lith thought.

 Chapter 732 Gains Part 2

    "Of course not. After all, you have topensate me for three Orichalcum Skinwalker armors. You better give it your all, old man." Lith actually said. His smug expression hid his awe at the idea of what Orion could craft for him if he actually went all out.

    "Yeah." Instead of mocking Lith back, Orion nodded. He hadn¡¯t forgotten how Lith¡¯s armors had already saved her daughters plenty of times. Orion would make the best he could without breaking the Kingdom¡¯sws.

    Royal Forgemastering techniques could only be employed to craft authorized equipment. Doing otherwise was considered treason.

    Lith then decided to strike the iron while it was still hot and exploit Orion¡¯s unusual meek attitude. Lith told him about the discoveries about runes he had made during his stay in Kh, putting the me for his forbidden knowledge on Neshal and Yondra, while keeping Phloria out of it.

    Dead mages told no tales and the Kingdom could not put dead mages to trial.

    "I¡¯m really curious about runes. Is it a hidden specialization like those that are taught in the academies? How do I get to learn about it?" Lith asked.

    "How the heck did you squeeze so much information from them?" Orion was taken aback by such a request.

    "I told you. Kh was filled with old runes, so they had to exin to me how to operate the dimensional runes and counter the Golems. Also, my Forgemastering analysis spells can detect runes, which made them all the more eager to recruit me for their academies." Lith replied with his usual blend of truth and lies.

    "You¡¯re a bit too young for this stuff. The Kingdom doesn¡¯t ept Forgemasters who don¡¯t have a history of loyalty to the Crown. So far, you¡¯ve been quite useful but no one thinks that you¡¯re loyal to no one but yourself." Orion sighed.

    "What about Phloria and Quy? They already have wands and know runes. What¡¯s with the double standards?"

    "Kid, do you really want topare a grassroots mage to an ancient household? Do you have any idea how many people owe me favors? I¡¯m not waiting for the moment of my death to collect them.

    "Since my daughters are interested in Forgemastering, it¡¯s only natural that I do the best that I can for them. Phloria is determined in pursuing her military career, just as Quy wants to be a teacher for one of the six great academies.

    "That¡¯s something the Kingdom is willing to bet on, at least with me vouching for them. But you? In a year you¡¯ll be out of the military and who knows, maybe even out of the Kingdom. Would you give away state secrets to a rogue mage?" Orion said.

    "So, you can¡¯t teach me or you just don¡¯t want to?" Lith asked.

    "Both, but I can at least answer your questions. Runesmithing is just a branch of Forgemastering, just like the Bonding process. As for how you can learn about it, there are only two possible ways.

    "Number one, youmit to the Kingdom. Be a permanent military member, an echelon of the Mage Association, get a role in an Academy, whatever works for you and roots you to the Kingdom.

    "Number two, marry into a family important enough to give you ess to the resources you want. That¡¯s another kind of bond that can¡¯t be overlooked and works just fine."

    "Isn¡¯t there at least a third way? Learning from an Emperor Beast or from another rogue mage?" Lith asked.

    "Sure, that¡¯s not against thew. Good luck finding someone who possesses that kind of knowledge and is willing to give it away for free." Orion sneered at the idea. "Any more questions?"

    "None that you¡¯re willing to answer to, thanks." Lith stood up and went to the kitchen. He hadn¡¯t eaten in almost two hours and his stomach was rumbling.

    While eating a T-bone steak with roasted potatoes Lith pondered about what to do with his loot. After a thorough analysis with Invigoration, he had discovered that the magical artifacts were useless to him

    They had a safeguard mechanism that would react to the imprint of a non-Odi destroying them, not to mention that the God¡¯s Will bead required a mana output that put Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram to shame.

    The sword was at least covered in runes that Lith could study and its pseudo core was worth replicating.

    ¡¯What if we trade the God¡¯s Will to the Crown in exchange for something?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The problem is in exchange for what? If we give it away now, there¡¯s nothing we want, whereas if we reveal its existenceter, you could be charged with treason. We have only until you give your report to decide.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Those two days soon became very boring to him. Not being able to practice magic and being forced to rest was something that Lith didn¡¯t experience since his childhood.

    The only silver lining of that situation was that thanks to Solus using Invigoration on Kam to speed up her metabolism and send the nutrients to the right ces, she was recovering almost as fast as he was.

    Quy examined Lith multiple times a day, to check that his life force hadn¡¯t sustained any more permanent damage. She believed that just like Death Vision, Lith¡¯s transformation was due to the damage he had received by saving Protector.

    That maybe their life forces had interacted, awakening sometent trait belonging to one of Lith¡¯s ancestors. It was impossible to think that Raaz wasn¡¯t Lith¡¯s father. The two men looked too much alike for their resemnce to be just a coincidence.

    The truth was that Lith¡¯s current condition was due to the abuse of Origin mes. The powerful technique required to mix a tiny speck of life force with world energy, but no matter how little it was, it would still put strain on the life force of its user.

    To fight the Odi, Lith had pushed his body to the limit, resulting in his precarious state.

    "You still need to rest, but tomorrow you might be able to do some light exercise." Quy said at the end of the second day. Lith¡¯s life force was stable, but she would like for him to wait at least another full day to let it settle properly.

    "Lith, I know it¡¯s none of my business, but I have to ask you anyway. What the heck did happen in that cave? What was that thing you became?" Her voice was genuinely worried.

    Lith could see from her eyes that she wasn¡¯t afraid of him being a monster so much as of being sick. As if his second life force was a disease to cure instead of another mystery in his life.

    ¡¯I wonder what did I do to deserve such people in my life.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯You did the right thing for the wrong reasons, but it¡¯s paying off anyway. Be careful about what you say to her. You have yet to speak with Kam. The more people know before she does, the more it will hurt her.¡¯ Solus warned him.

    "Beats me." Lith honestly replied. He still had no idea what a world tribtion was nor why he was a hybrid even though both his parents were humans. "It started off back when I went to Kandria, but only recently I became able to shapeshift.

    "I don¡¯t know how to exin it, but I¡¯ve got two life forces."

    "That¡¯s impossible." She said after examining him with Scanner again. "There is no such thing as a second life force."

 Chapter 733 True Friend Part 1

    "Look deeper. The second life force is hidden by the first one, like a faint melody can be easily covered by loud music." Lith said.

    "Wait, are you saying that you can hear life forces as well? Gods, that¡¯s a relief. I was starting to think it was a sign of insanity." Quy said with joy, having finally found a kindred spirit.

    "What do you mean? I thought that every talented healer could."

    "Manohar is the only one who has no problems admitting that he hears life forces and as you know, being like him is not considered a good thing." She chuckled, making a second attempt at Scanner.

    "Good gods! This is amazing." Quy said after finally finding Lith¡¯s second life force. "It looks like that of an Emperor Beast, but theirs isn¡¯t surrounded by a ck sphere, nor do they appear to be battling. I¡¯ve never seen anything like that before."

    Nor she would ever be able to. Scanner required physical contact and usually, those who touched an Abomination wouldn¡¯t live to tell the tale.

    If the human life force looked like a mix of lego blocks and erector set pieces, while the Emperor Beast life force looked like a burning star, the Abomination¡¯s looked like an empty ck sphere.

    "When exactly did you visit an Emperor Beast?" Lith asked. Even he had been able to make the analogy only after treating Ka¡¯s failed attempt at Lichhood.

    "Light magic is something most beasts are terrible at, so when they get injured, the Lord of the forest sends them to the academy to be treated. I always wanted to understand why magical beasts can use a different kind of magic and I think the answer lies in the difference between our life forces. They are nothing alike."

    ¡¯That¡¯s because we are two different species.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The difference lies in the beast being born partially Awakened but limited to two elements, whereas we humans can always use all elements but we have no innate affinity to them.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Your condition is truly unique. Your two life forcesplement and strengthen each other. This probably exins why you always recover so fast." Quy said over his musings.

    "Meaning?"

    "Whenever you take damage, your human life force tries to fix it, like it happens to every other person. What makes you special, is that your other life force is capable of helping and nurturing the former by sharing part of its energy.

    "Which means that, at least in theory, not only could it lead to fixing your human life force over time, but also that you might actually live as long as a normal human being. Twice the life force, twice the life span." She said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Quy, but I think that¡¯s not the case. My life forces are intertwined, when one runs out the other will die as well. Also, if you take a good look at them, they share the same energy.

    "I haven¡¯t got double the amount of life force, it just flows from one form to another. Otherwise the crack I sustained while saving Protector would have already healed." Lith sighed.

    Quy used Scanner on him again, this time focusing less on the marvel that a patient with two life forces was and more on what the implications of such a thing could be.

    "You¡¯re right. It¡¯s like two bottles sharing the same liquid. Yet it still makes no sense." Quy was suddenly at a loss for words. She loved Lith like a brother, yet the fear of the unknown started to seep inside her heart.

    If the second life force wasn¡¯t a disease, nor a consequence of saving Protector, then it opened the question about what Lith was. At first, the fear of dying at the hand of the Odi hadn¡¯t left any space for doubts and then, once they returned home, her affection for him had trampled her caution.

    But now that that Quy was forced to face the bits of truth that Lith could offer her, she didn¡¯t know how to react. On one hand, she was supposed to be scared of the unknown being sitting in front of her, but on the other hand Lith was always Lith.

    His strange abilities didn¡¯t change the fact that he was her first crush, or all the time they had spent together, or the several times he had risked his life to help her, just like against the Odi.

    Yet she couldn¡¯t just shrug everything off as if nothing had changed.

    "Do your parents know?" She asked.

    "No. It¡¯s not the kind of thing that you can tell lightly. Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. Do you remember when Orpal said all the time that I¡¯m a monster? Well, guess what, he was right." Lith replied with a sad smile.

    "That¡¯s not true, you¡¯re not a monster!" Quy blurted out before she could think about her words, surprising even herself.

    "You¡¯re very kind, but we both know that most people would put me on ab table just because I¡¯m stronger than the average Joe, let alone if they knew I¡¯m whatever this is." Lith waved at his body.

    "Does Phloria know?"

    "Of course she does. I would have never dragged her in a rtionship without letting her know the mess she was walking into."

    "It was really brave of you. Of both of you, I mean." Quy wondered if she would be able to ept as a boyfriend a man-something hybrid.

    "Nah, it wasn¡¯t bravery, at least on my part. Once I realized that Phloria was falling in love with me, that things were getting serious, I revealed myself to her in the hope to scare her away."

    "Wow, that¡¯s a dick move if I ever heard one. Almost as bad as breaking up with her with a letter." Quy said with a chuckle. For a monster, Lith was pretty damn human.

    "You¡¯re right, but you know me, dick move is my middle name. She deserved someone better, someone normal. Yet she epted me anyway and kept my secret for all this time. You have no idea how much it meant to me."

    "Were you nning to tell me, sooner orter?"

    "No. I didn¡¯t want to risk one of my only four human friends. Beside you, Phloria, Friya, and Selia, I¡¯ve no one. I didn¡¯t tell my parents for the same reason, because I¡¯m afraid of their reaction." Lith said.

    "So, no one beside me and Phloria knows?" Quy didn¡¯t know whether to be scared of ttered by the burden she now had to carry.

    "Protector knows about it too. As I told you, I¡¯ve no control over the transformation. It also happened when I was trying to save his life, otherwise I don¡¯t think I would¡¯ve told him either. Why do you think I chose to work alone as a Ranger?

    "It¡¯s to stay away from people as much as I can."

    "What about Kam?" Curiosity was getting the better of Quy.

    "She doesn¡¯t know it, yet. But since we¡¯re almost together for a year, I think it¡¯s time to break up or move up. With all that has happened between us, I can¡¯t let her delude herself or make ns for the future without knowing anything about the real me."

    Lith had no intention of making Protector¡¯s mistakes nor to y with Kam¡¯s feelings. He had never nned to grow so fond of her and the idea of losing her hurt like hell, but hiding the truth would have only dyed the inevitable.

 Chapter 734 True Friend Part 2

    Quy was about to rebuke that Kam knew a lot about the real him, but this time her mind was as quick as her mouth and she managed to stop herself.

    What she was about to say would have been hypocritical since Quy knew Lith even better than Kam did and yet she had no idea how those revtions had changed their rtionship.

    "Can I talk about it with Phloria?" She asked.

    "Yes, but with no one else. There are too many lives at stakes."

    "You have my word that I¡¯ll keep your secret, no matter what I decide. Before giving you my answer, I need some time to think."

    Lith walked out of the room, leaving Quy alone with her thoughts. For the first time in her life, magic had no answers to offer her, only more questions.

    ¡¯That went well.¡¯ Solus thought, trying to cheer Lith up.

    ¡¯Not really. First, she treated me as if I was one of her patients, then as a freak of nature, andstly, she was scared. The worst thing is that I think that Kam will go straight to the third step. Maybe I should just break up with her.¡¯ Lith replied, ignoring the sting that such words caused to his heart.

    ¡¯That would be wrong for both of you, but especially for you. It would mean that you can¡¯t have a rtionship with anyone but Phloria, or well, me, if I ever get a body.¡¯ It took Solus sheer willpower to say that without stuttering.

    Contrary to her expectations, instead of taking it as a joke, Lith nodded. Kam and Jirni were out working, so he informed Phloria of the most recent developments before starting to study and organize everything he knew about Runesmithing.

    "I¡¯m sorry it came to this." Phloria said. "I really hoped you would tell her of your free will instead of being forced to. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure everything will be alright."

    Yet her wordscked conviction. Lith didn¡¯t reply and kept staring outside the window of her room while using umtion. Even the silences between them were never awkward, they could both tell what the other was thinking just by looking at their face.

    "By the way, since when do you have horns, tail, and all that stuff?" Phloria asked.

    Lith told her the little he knew about world tribtions, about how it started in Kandria and how hecked the ability to control the transformation in such circumstances.

    He even assumed his hybrid form to show her the differences between his normal and tribtion state.

    "Wait! Turn around." She said.

    "What¡¯s the matter?"

    "Your eyes are not yellow anymore and there¡¯s a blue one opened on your forehead."

    "Yeah, it opened while we were in Kh¡¯s underground facility, but it does nothing, just like the others." Lith shared with her the details about his sudden ability to understand the Golems¡¯nguage and the messages he had received.

    Thanks to Solus¡¯s talk with Mogar, now Lith knew that somehow even his understanding of the Odinguage was rted to his tribtion, just like the eyes and the hands erupting from the shadows whenever he was very upset.

    The eyes were Mogar¡¯s consciousness while the hands were the manifestation of the dead spirits around him. It wasn¡¯t only his life force to be damaged, but his souls as well, making it a natural receptacle for necromantic energies.

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s so simple." Phloria said.

    "And why is that?" Lith had already reverted for a while in his human form.

    "Because your left eye is still ck and your right eye is still red. That has never happened before. Your hybrid eyes have always been yellow and the human eyes brown."

    Lith conjured a mirror made of ice, discovering that Phloria was right. A simple thought and everything went back to normal.

    "Well, that¡¯s new. At least I can change them at will." Lith switched them several times from red to ck and then to blue, testing the limits and the speed of his control.

    "The question is what can they do?" She asked.

    "Just what I fucking needed right now! Another goddamn change I¡¯ve no control over!" Lith stood up abruptly looking for something to destroy to vent his rage until he remembered that he was in Phloria¡¯s room, not his own.

    "I know that there¡¯s nothing I can do or say that can make you feel better, but please, remember that if you ever need someone to talk with, you can always count on me." Phloria held his hands until the rage and frustration that made them tremble faded.

    She didn¡¯t try and reassure him about how Quy would react, nor attempted to ease his worries with empty words. Phloria just hugged him, holding Lith tight to let him know the only certainty that she could offer to him.

    That he wasn¡¯t alone.

    No matter the details of his physical appearance in any of his forms. To her, Lith was an irreceable person.

    After witnessing all the pain and anger he bottled up that only his hybrid form could express, after seeing him put his life on the line for her over and over against the Odi, she wasn¡¯t scared of him one bit, she only loved him more.

    The two of them might not even belong to the same race, they weren¡¯t together anymore, yet Lith was always there for her, no matter the cost. And not because he wanted her money or lusted after her body, he simply cared for her.

    Phloria was only 21 years old, yet she already knew how rare finding such a person was, how precious such a blessing was.

    Lith returned her embrace, wondering once again if he hadn¡¯t made a horrible mistake not fighting for her back when Phloria had proposed to break up. Oddly, for the first time in years, she asked herself the same question.

    ¡¯Maybe Lith was the right person, but back then I was too young to really understand the implications of his secret and he was too afraid to open up to anyone. We met in the wrong moment of our lives.¡¯ She thought.

    "Thank you, Phloria. Now I¡¯m sorry, but I feel very tired."

    Back in his room, Lith used umtion non-stop to assess the condition of his body.

    ¡¯Did you notice that every time you use a lot of mana or receive serious injuries the process of umting the impurities in your body speeds up?¡¯ Solus pointed out, trying to take Lith¡¯s mind off his predicament.

    It was hard to decide what was worse between the risk of losing one of his few life long friends and being dumped by his girlfriend not because of something he did, but just for who he was.

    ¡¯Yeah. I think that it depends on the massive mana flow coupled with theplete body reconstruction I have endured. It happened almost the same way after Balkor¡¯s attack¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯I¡¯m nearing the breakthrough, but I can¡¯t risk it happening while I¡¯m at the Ernas manor nor in front of Kam. That would mean opening up not because I want to, but because I have to once again.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s life force appeared to have returned to its peak condition, but he decided to follow Quy¡¯s advice and take another day of rest, just to be sure. A failed breakthrough meant death or bing an Abomination.

 Chapter 735 Prodigal Daughter Part 1

    To make matters worse, each breakthrough was harder than the previous ones and since it was the first body refinement Lith would experience with a blue core, he couldn¡¯t take any chance, not with his life force already cracked.

    ¡¯I was thinking about Yondra¡¯s words, she actually left us a big clue about Runesmithing that we have overlooked so far.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯She used our Skinwalker armor as an example, saying that after the Bonding process, the Orichalcum¡¯s mana flow bes too vigorous to be Forgemastered. Which means that runes have to be applied before Bonding the material with mana crystals.¡¯

    Lith took the sword and the booklet he had acquired from Huryole out of his pocket dimension.

    ¡¯While we wait for Orion to fulfill his part of our bargain, we can start experimenting on the swords. We have two blueprints, after all, and we can even try out the patterns in the book.¡¯

    ¡¯Well, yeah, but those are all old-ass runes. I mean, the Odi¡¯s Adamant sword is much better than the teaching prop we found, but its runes are even older. The materials needed for the experiments are cheap, but I¡¯m afraid we might just waste our time and learn outdated methods.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯True, but we can try and experiment with the new runes we know and see how different the oue is. Orion isn¡¯t wrong when he says that it¡¯s unlikely for anyone to ept us as a disciple.

    ¡¯I doubt that the Hydra will take us in with no strings attached, so the more we know before we meet her, the more knowledge we can squeeze from her even just by a few hints.¡¯

    Lith spent the rest of the time until lunch in the Ernas library, consulting tomes about Wardens. Arrays were the only form of magic that used runes and byparing old and new arrays, Lith could expand the number of runes from the booklet that he was able to convert into modern magic.

    Jirni and Kam returned to dine with the family, but since they were following a delicate case, they left soon after, leaving Lith alone with his worries. He would have loved to sneak out and go back to his tower, but each time he watched at his impurities nearing to his core, he was reminded of how little time he had left for aplete recovery.

    There wasn¡¯t much he could do without magic and on top of that, Quy had also forbidden all kinds of physical exercise to him.

    "This is going to be the longest day of my life." He groaned.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not true! You can spend your time with Phoria and Quy, or you could call Friya. I mean, how long has it been since the four of you have done something together?¡¯ Solus objected.

    "Good gods, Lith, you look wonderful." Friya said. "When Quy told me that you were on the brink of death, I returned home as fast as I could, but you look damn dandy."

    Lith had already regained the lost weight, but his body had rebuilt itself better than before, with the result of him being less lean and more muscr than before. He suspected that Quy was right and that his two life forces somehowmunicated.

    His muscles weren¡¯t much thicker than before, but way denser, like they were in his hybrid form to not get hindered by the scales.

    "Friya, it¡¯s so good to see you. Not only because you¡¯re even hotter than I remembered you to be, but also because I¡¯m bored as heck!"

    "Are youing on to me?" She chuckled. "Because thepliment sounded a little too honest for our usual role y. Has something bad happened between you and Kam?"

    "Yes, it did. Because of my wounds, we can only hug and hold hands despite the fact we haven¡¯t see each other for almost a month. Sorry if I made you ufortable." Lith preferred not hugging her this time, limiting their greeting to a handshake.

    He already had enough headaches with Kam.

    "Well, let¡¯s go get my sisters. The four of us have a lot of catching up to do."

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire.

    "I never dared to dream that this day woulde true!" Bytra, the Raiju-goblin hybrid Abomination said.

    Now that she had moved in the Master¡¯s Headquarters and had been bestowed the Rank of Master Forgemaster, she had spent thest month practicing the skills that back in the day had earned her the title of Ruler of the mes.

    It was the greatest honor that an Awakened Forgemaster could receive and there could only be one per generation. Yet since now Bytra was an immortal Eldritch Abomination, she would have all the time she needed to reach perfection.

    There were so many things she had forgotten and even more still clouded in her memory. Even after consuming her original self, her hybrid body and mind had yet to stabilizepletely.

    Still, even though the Master had no clue about runes or how to smelt very powerful metals, there was very little that theirwork of human and Abomination connections couldn¡¯t provide Bytra.

    After countless explosions and having wasted almost a ton of precious ck iron, Bytra had finallypleted her first Orichalcum weapon.

    "That makes the two of us." Xenagrosh didn¡¯t share one bit of Byra¡¯s enthusiasm and neither did her voice. Xenagrosh had spent the past month only eating and training in using Origin mes under Bytra¡¯s insistence.

    ording to their resident Forgemaster, Origin mes could be used to refine any kind of material in its purest form, granting to enchanted items made out of such materials astounding properties.

    The Master and Xenagrosh had kept this knowledge for themselves and had prohibited Bytra from sharing it with anyone else. Even to the eldest Abominations such secret was either unknown or well kept.

    The Master had ordered Xenagrosh to help her newfound "sister" to the best of her abilities since soon things would take a turn for the worse.

    The Eldritchs who didn¡¯t take part in the monster hybridization project were envious of those like Xenagrosh who had reached the next level while they were still stuck in their old form and all the other ns of the Master had yet to bear any fruit.

    Also, they were scared of the clones that had defeated their originals and were now hidden in in sight, maybe plotting to feed on their weaker kin. The Master was aware that only power could keep such a rough bunch in line and powerful artifacts would help them reaffirm their authority.

    Xenagrosh had always used Origin mes only as a means of attack against those dumb or slow enough to stand in her way. They were just mes, after all, hence easy to dodgepared to a spell that she could freely move around at will.

    Bytra had taught her that just like spells, Origin mes could be controlled, in order to not have them destroy so much as purify. The problem was that Xenagrosh had no idea how to do it and Bytra had only vague exnations to offer Xenagrosh based on her memories.

    Xenagrosh had destroyed a mountain worth of ores before understanding what she was supposed to do and had almost died in the process. Using too many Origin mes in a short amount of time had weakened her life force to the point of almost breaking it.

 Chapter 736 Prodigal Daughter Part 2

    Xenagrosh had been horrified discovering that performing just one more breath would have crippled her troll half, forcing her back to be just an Eldritch Abomination in a matter of a few decades.

    The Master had used all of their skills to save her and forbidden her to use them in such a mindless way. Once she had recovered, Xenagrosh had then being forced to learn tier five light magic to keep her own life force in check.

    After that, she had spent all of her time as Bytra¡¯s furnace, gaining the Raiju¡¯s eternal gratitude and the mockery of her peers. For a several centuries-old being feeling ignorant first, falling ill, and finally being aughingstock was far from a pleasant experience.

    "Is it good?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "You tell me." Bytra handed her what looked like a set of dragon ws. "I made it so that you can use it in both your human and dragon form. They will grow in size with you."

    The silvery glove had six purple magic crystals embedded on its surface, one for each finger and one in the middle of its backhand. It shone so brightly that Xenagrosh could hardly believe it wasn¡¯t made out of pure Adamant.

    As soon as she imprinted it with her mana, she could feel its several enchantments pulsing at her fingertips.

    "Father of Dragons! This thing is better than my prized Adamant de." Xenagrosh said.

    "That¡¯s the bestpliment I could hope for." Bytra giggled like a little girl. "Where did you find it?"

    "I bought it from a Forgemaster for the price of a small kingdom 800 years ago."

    "Well, then it¡¯s normal." Bytra said, turning gloom. "Back then runes were highly inefficient and if the Adamant hadn¡¯t been purified, it¡¯s likely to be crap."

    Xenagrosh wasn¡¯t stingy, but hearing her most powerful weapon, with which she had in countless Awakened ones being called a piece of crap hurt her wallet deeply.

    "I have a question. Even though I¡¯ve recovered most of my abilities, I still can¡¯t use Invigoration, umtion, and not even Life Vision. Is there something wrong with me?" Bytra asked.

    "No, I¡¯m in your same boat and I¡¯ve got no idea how to fix this." Xenagrosh sighed. "How long before you can work on good stuff like Adamant and Davross?"

    "Depends. How long before you can purify them instead of just melting them or even worse vaporize them?" Bytra replied.

    "Oh, fuck me sideways! Again with this crap? Seriously, sister, we need a break."

    "But the Master said..." Bytra wasn¡¯t really interested in following orders, but after longing her Forge for centuries, she would use any excuse to practice her art.

    "The Master can go fuck themselves for all I care. You keep crafting weapons for us hybrids, we must nip the rebellion in the bud. I¡¯ll search for a solution to ourmon problem." Xenagrosh was tired of studying and learning about her new abilities.

    The problem of having evolved was that she knew nothing about her new self, making her feel like a child again. With it, fear had returned. Back when Xenagrosh was just a Wyrmling, she had given up on her dragon half to avoid the hassle it implied.

    Then, when she hadter tried to achieve a purple core, she had failed miserably and had be an Abomination. Xenagrosh was afraid because the past she had run away from for centuries was finally catching up with her.

    ¡¯I¡¯m a fucking dragon again and I¡¯ve to study again. This doesn¡¯t bode well. What if I fail? I¡¯ve always failed in everything I did. The Master considers us Eldritchs to be the top of the evolutionary scale, but to me, we¡¯re just the kings of losers.

    ¡¯We¡¯ve lost our bodies, our Awakened powers, and even Mogar has turned its back to us. I hoped to never have to do this again, but if there¡¯s something that I¡¯ve learned after spending decades with the Master, is that there¡¯s nothing wrong with asking for help.¡¯

    Xenagrosh flew for hundreds of kilometers until she found a small ind in the middle of the ocean. Then, she cast all of her best arrays to prevent anyone from following her signal or pinpointing her position.

    Only then did she take hermunication amulet out of her omni pocket. What Lith called ¡¯pocket dimension¡¯ was referred to by other creatures as an omni pocket.

    Unlikemon dimensional items, once someone had imprinted an omni pocket, they could ess their storage dimension even though they didn¡¯t carry it on them. It made their owner unpredictable and usually only ancient, powerful beings like Xenagrosh had one.

    They were so rare that even Xenagrosh had not found nor bought her own. It was hering of age gift, the only thing she had left from her past together with her amulet. Her eyes became watery when she saw that only a handful ofmunication runes were left.

    Her mother¡¯s had disappeared first, then her friends, and even some of her siblings. She hadn¡¯t used her human amulet for centuries, too many memories were linked to it.

    She activated the first rune she had ever imprinted it with, which belonged to the one who had gifted the amulet to her, along with her omni pocket.

    "Hi, Dad. It¡¯s me, Zoreth. How are you?"

    "Sugar plum, you¡¯re alive! You¡¯ve no idea how many times I¡¯ve attempted to call you over the years." Leegaain said. He hadn¡¯t heard from Zoreth in a long, long time. She was one of his firstborn and Leegaain considered her to be one of the biggest failures of his life.

    She had rejected his legacy first and then his teachings, walking a path of self-destruction before breaking her mother¡¯s heart.

    ***

    Commander Berion¡¯s Office, City of Belius.

    "I¡¯ve already listened to the reports of all the survivors of Kh, at least to those which make any sense, except for yours, the Ernas¡¯s, and Ranger Verhen¡¯s." Commander Berion said, drumming his fingers over his desk.

    He was a man in his early thirties, standing 1.8 (5¡¯11") meters tall with pitch-ck hair and eyes. His pale blue uniform could barely contain his muscr body, giving to each of his movements an impression of strength.

    In front of him sat Morok Eari, the Ranger ranked first among the veterans and ready to get honorably discharged to return to civilian life.

    "You are the one who fought by Verhen¡¯s side the most and you¡¯re the only one who didn¡¯t get himself captured or killed. Hence your report is of the utmost importance for both evaluating Ranger Verhen¡¯s worth and the danger that Kh posed to the Kingdom."

    Morok told Berion his side of the story. Omitting parts like his nature as a Tyrant Emperor Beast, Lith¡¯s secrets, and Quy getting the drop on him by kicking him in the nuts, of course.

    "My final conclusions are as follows: all the Odi ruins should be ssified as danger zones. We got this close to having those madmen infiltrate our country and I doubt that anyone would have noticed until it was toote.

    "As for Ranger Verhen, the earlier reports about him greatly underestimate his talents. I¡¯ve seen him destroying Golems stronger than anything I¡¯ve ever faced before as if he was squatting flies.

    "Don¡¯t get me wrong, he bleeds just like you and me, plus a well-nned ambush can put him in a corner. Yet give him one bit of advantage and he¡¯ll turn it into a kilometer. Also, at the cost of sounding repetitive, Golems!"

 Chapter 737 Menadions Story Part 1

    "Those things are the apex of enchanted automated weaponry, with no weak points nor vitals that one might exploit. Usually it takes a squad of well-trained people to take one down and Kh was all made of metal, making it impossible to employ the standard anti-construct strategies.

    "Consider that even though I destroyed as many Golems as he did..." Morok allowed himself some poetic license to keep their secrets safe. "... I still had my weapons, whereas he lost his de at the beginning of the mission.

    "That¡¯s the bit of good news. The bad news is that I don¡¯t think that you will be able to keep him in the military. He¡¯s too good for you. I¡¯ve seen his Forgemastered creations at work and they are masterpieces."

    "I believe that Captain and Mage Ernas wouldn¡¯t be alive without the enchanted armor that he gave them and his glove weapon is simply amazing. The Professors bickered like children to recruit him, so I doubt that the measly pay of an officer can be of any interest to him." Morok said.

    "We¡¯re aware of his talents as a Forgemaster, but normally soldiers exchange their merits for enchanted weapons. The army is the only organization that can provide high level equipment to its members based on their performance." Berion said.

    "Well, there¡¯s nothing ¡¯normal¡¯ about people like him or me." Morok shook his head.

    "Your items have no allure for him. Even Royal Forgemasters admire his pieces. Money is pointless since he can just sell a couple of his prototypes and make more in one hour than you pay him in a year.

    "Remember my words, if you don¡¯t feed the bird, then don¡¯t cry when it spreads its wings and leaves the nest. Onest thing, I highly rmend Quy Ernas for whatever position she applies to.

    "She has opened Kh¡¯s door, killed more Golems than anyone else, besides Lith of course, and if she didn¡¯t deactivate the Reactor, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation."

    "Do you really hold her in such high regard?" Berion asked. It was uncharacteristic of Ranger Eari to think about the best interest of the Kingdom rather than his own. It was one of the reasons why they weren¡¯t fighting to keep him in their ranks.

    He created almost as many problems as he resolved.

    "I sure do. She¡¯s a small but fiery woman. I think I¡¯m in love." He said before leaving the Commander¡¯s office, who quickly alerted Lady Ernas of the cmity that could reach her home at any moment.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion

    While hearing the story of their adventure in Kh, Friya didn¡¯t miss how things seemed to be kind of awkward between Lith and Quy, whereas Phloria seemed to be a little too rxed for someone who had just experienced the first major failure of her career.

    All the Professors and some of their Assistants had died under hermand. Odi or not, the six great academies were bound to not let it slide, with the risk of Phloria being punished or even demoted.

    Even at the end of the story, after they told her how they hadbined their strength to wipe the Odi off the face of Mogar, Quy seemed to be more embarrassed than relieved to have survived such dramatic events.

    Quy had never lied to Friya before, so keeping Lith¡¯s secret was already a burden to her. Plus, she had yet to make up her mind about their rtionship. Being together in the same room forced her to confront her conflicting feelings, making her only wish to be out of there as soon as possible.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ve to say this. Quy, why are you squirming on your seat like that? Did you make another pass on Lith and he rejected you or did you catch them making out?" Friya said while pointing at Lith and Phloria.

    "What? No! Why do you think I am the one who got rejected? Couldn¡¯t it be the other way around?" Quy became beet red from embarrassment, while Lith and Phloria just chuckled at the idea.

    "Because you haven¡¯t looked so nervous since you had the hots for him, while Lith seems to be worried about you. So I thought that maybe, after spending so much time together in a life or death situation, something spicy might have happened."

    Quy¡¯s reaction was interesting, but since the other two didn¡¯t show a shred of guilt, especially Phloria, Friya understood that her guesses were way off the mark. Since no one seemed to be willing to talk about the elephant in the room, she decided to not pry further.

    "So, what are you going to do now? I suppose that you two will ask for a leave, while you, Quy, will apply for some time off."

    "Yes, I hope so." Lith replied. "I have ns with Kam to make up for the lost time and talk about some important matters. Also, I have a lot of studying to do." Lith couldn¡¯t wait to start practicing Runesmithing and continue his trantion of the Body Swapping book.

    Joining the army was finally paying off. He had found both a way to increase the prowess of his creations and maybe the clues for a definitive solution to his reincarnation process.

    From the little he had managed to understand, body-swapping was as hard as achieving Lichhood, but the process had been standardized, making things much less riskypared to undeath.

    The key differences were that Lith had to build the apparatus and find a recement body.

    Its biggest downside was that he would lose his mana core, his body, and even his muscle memory. Yet since he would retain all of his artifacts and knowledge, plus having an Awakened human a very long life, he wouldn¡¯t be forced to repeat the process often.

    ¡¯Who knows, maybe I¡¯ll find a way to transnt the rest as well. After all, the Odi weren¡¯t Awakened and I can rely on modern magic, not their ancient crap. If I can get my hands on real Runesmithing, the sky¡¯s the limit.¡¯ He thought.

    "I honestly don¡¯t know what will happen to my career." Phloria sighed. "So I think I¡¯ll use this time to get serious about Forgemastering and maybe start learning a bit of Warden magic. I don¡¯t want to ever feel so helpless just because of one goddamn array."

    "And I¡¯m going to study Battle Mage spells first and then work on War Mage. I¡¯m tired of beingpletely useless inbat." Quy said.

    "Boring!" Friya replied. "All you can think about is studying. It feels like we¡¯re back at the academy. I¡¯m currently unemployed, so if the three of you have nothing better to do, then we could do something together."

    She had expected for her proposal to be enthusiastically epted, yet its reception was lukewarm at best. Lith had a lot on his te between Kam, Selia, and Faluel the Hydra.

    Quy didn¡¯t feel like spending more time with Lith until she had sorted out her feelings whereas Phloria really needed a break. She had never believed the rumors about Lith being bad luck, but she really wanted some peace and quiet.

    "Okay, fine, oh grumpy ones! Let¡¯s ruin our reunion by moping around and holing ourselves up in our respectivebs. After all, we just have to wait another four years for the stars to align again and have some spare time together."

    Lith remembered Yondra¡¯s dying words about her regrets for always having put her work first, leaving her no time to truly appreciate everything she had.

 Chapter 738 Menadions Story Part 2

    To make matters worse, he had returned the Professors¡¯ bodies to the army, but he still had to deliver Yondra¡¯s final message to her family.

    ¡¯Solus, do you want in or do you prefer that I leave you in Lutia? I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like to spend some time in your body with Tista and Nyka.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Until you have a proper weapon again, I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Just have her pick something easy.¡¯

    "I can agree with your idea with the following conditions. First, we make camp somewhere near a Gate, so if bad luck follows our tail we can always ask for reinforcements.

    "Second, let¡¯s do something fun rather than dangerous. Third, and I mean no offense, but I¡¯m not single. I¡¯d really like to spend some time with my girlfriend, especially after risking my life on a daily basis for a month. So nothing too long."

    "Oh, my! You groomed mister ¡¯mean eyes¡¯ into a true gentleman, dear sister." Friya chuckled. "I¡¯ll ept all of your conditions and raise your ante. You can have Kam join us for dinner once she is done with work.

    "With a Gate, it will take her a step to reach us and a Warp for us to bring her to our restaurant. Yet, four women and one man seems a bit inappropriate. What if we invite the other Ranger as well? Judging by your stories, he seems like a funny guy...."

    "Absolutely not!" The three veterans from Kh replied in unison.

    "He¡¯s obnoxious, even by my standards." Lith said.

    "He¡¯s damn rude." Phloria said. "It took him a week to believe that I¡¯m a woman."

    "Plus, he hits on everything that breathes. Ranger Eari made so many passes at me that if I hear his voice one more time I might snap. I don¡¯t even dare imagine how he would react if he sees you." Quy said with a bit of envy.

    She was pretty, but Friya¡¯s hourss figure was a stunner.

    Phloria agreed as well. Because of her relentless rise among the army¡¯s ranks and her sisters¡¯ full-time jobs, she hadn¡¯t seen them for more than an hour at lunch for years. Also, she could feel Quy¡¯s eyes staring at her from time to time.

    Lith¡¯s secret wasn¡¯t a heavy burden but it wasn¡¯t small either.

    ¡¯It was much easier for me to ept his nature. Back then, we were still together and I think I was in love with him like a teenage girl can be. After seeing so many people die during Nalear¡¯s attack, after losing Yurial, I would have epted Lith even if he was a five-headed dragon.

    ¡¯As long as he was fine and by my side, nothing else mattered.¡¯

    At that point, Quy was forced to agree. She really wanted to spend some time with Friya, and Phloria was the only one that could help her unravel the tangle of thoughts in her head.

    Friya then started to tell them about how she had spent thest few months. As she had told Lith thest time they had met, she hadpletely changed her guild¡¯s hierarchy.

    She had kicked out all the mages from the great academies in favor of those from smaller academies after obtaining the right to teach her own specializations to the most talented members of the Crystal Shield guild from the Mage Association.

    It had made things quitepetitive, but now there was more motivation than envy, and everyone now worshipped her like a goddess. Since most of her lessons would find practical application during their work, usually talent and survival rate went hand in hand.

    "This way those with little talent quit after having a taste of their own limits, while those who stick with me are either really talented or motivated. I was able to apply for harder jobs and sessfullyplete them.

    "Now that I have people who I can actually trust, I¡¯m finally starting to make some real money!" She dropped a bag full of gold onto the table, gloating.

    It was more than a Captain or even a Professor would make in a year. Lith would have liked to point out to her how such a sum was less than what he could make by selling a single Orichalcum Skinwalker armor, but preferred not to ruin her moment.

    After all, he wouldn¡¯t make many of them since he liked to keep his advantage. After chatting a bit more, Lith gave Friya her own Skinwalker armor before returning to the library.

    After talking with Solus about his ns for the future, he had decided to take a look at her past. Orion could really teach a thing or two to most libraries in the Kingdom. Not only were the tomes in the Ernas¡¯s library divided based on their topic and arranged in alphabetical order, but also each section was linked to a holographic pad.

    By inputting specific keywords, each pad would notify its user what tomes they had to consult. First, Lith tried to input the name "Menadion", but without much luck. After all, for such a research method to work, the pad would have been able to contain a digital copy of all the tomes, which was still beyond the capabilities of magic.

    Then, he tried with "Ruler of the mes", getting several hits. In all the other libraries he had ess to, he had to exin why he was researching such a specific topic which proved to be quite a difficult feat to Lith since he had no idea who Menadion was.

    Saying: "It¡¯s for a friend" would only get him a sneer and more questions than he was willing to answer. After checking that the system had no internal memory and that there was no surveince system in the library, Lith put all the tomes inside Soluspedia.

    He and Solus could immediately search for any information rted to her master, discovering an appallingck of details. The title¡¯s meaning seemed to be obscure since many Forgemasters had used it in the past, but never bothered to exin its origin.

    As for Menadion, it turned out that Solus¡¯s memories were correct. It was the name of a woman, one of the best Forgemasters of her era who had lived almost 700 years before and was considered to be one of Lochra Silverwing¡¯s closest friends.

    ording to Orion¡¯s books, Menadion had left behind several powerful artifacts which together formed a set. The picture of the Eyes of Menadion reminded Lith of Scarlett¡¯s pince-nez, making him curse when the book just described it as a "peerless treasure".

    There were also depicted a helm as the Ears of Menadion, a set of gloves as the Hands of Menadion, a mask as the Mouth of Menadion, and a hammer as the Fury of Menadion.

    Little was known about her personal life, aside from the fact that she had been born in the Griffon Kingdom and that even though she had raised many apprentices, none of them seemed to have inherited her talent nor her title.

    There was no mention of her having a tower or working on forbidden magic. Menadion seemed to have lived in Silverwing¡¯s shadow for most of her life. Her friend¡¯s achievements were so great that the few historians who mentioned her did it only because the two ancient mages were really close.

 Chapter 739 Menadions Legacy Part 1

    The only other bit of relevant information he found was about Menadion¡¯s sudden disappearance right after sharing with the magicalmunity the set of artifacts bearing her name.

    The historians also reported that it had been her, together with Silverwing, to build and project the foundations of all the great academies. Also, even if it was Silverwing¡¯s legacy that had allowed magic to develop into the disciplines now called specializations, Menadion was universally recognized as the inventor of Forgemastering.

    ¡¯Poor woman.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯She was the Salieri to Silverwing¡¯s Mozart. The fact that she was basically a recluse and left no legacy behind doesn¡¯t help either. Does her story ring any bells, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯Sadly, no.¡¯ She sighed. ¡¯I can¡¯t believe that there are so many stories, between truth and fiction about Silverwing and so little about master Menadion. It¡¯s unfair! She¡¯s the mother of Forgemastering, after all.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s not like other mages got it any better. Aside from Silverwing, do we know the name of the mage who created modern healing magic? Or any other specialization? No, all Professors always quote Silverwing¡¯s writings.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Solus had to admit that he was right, yet it didn¡¯t make her feel any better.

    At least until Lith walked to Orion¡¯s study and asked him about Menadion.

    "How do you know that name?" Orion was quite curious. Aside from powerful crafters, very few bothered to remember the name of the First Royal Forgemaster, the Ruler of the mes who first had tamed all metals with her zing Fury.

    "I¡¯ll be honest with you." Lith said, opening his speech with a tant lie that made Solusugh her ass off. "I was snooping around your library, hoping to find something about runes, when I discovered her existence.

    "It pisses me off that nothing is recorded about her, so I wanted to ask you, a fellow Forgemaster, if there??s any tome I can consult about her life."

    "There¡¯s no such thing as an official biography about Ripha Menadion. Most of her works are still a state secret, but if you content yourself with some lore, I can share with you all the information avable to the public."

    Lith nodded for Orion to continue and Orion offered him a seat.

    "ording to what I know, she was born in Derios. Back then the city was just a small-time vige, but due to her choice to build two academies near her hometown, it soon grew until it became the capital of the entire region.

    "She was rumored to possess an amazing mage tower, that she was capable of rearranging as she saw fit. Menadion could turn a bedroom into a kitchen or a broom closet into a perfectly equipped Forgemasteringb with just a snap of her fingers.

    "Some even say that her tower was alive, capable of independent thought and movement."

    "Does that mean that she dabbled in forbidden magic?" Lith asked, almost causing Orion to fly into an outrage.

    "That¡¯s a perversion of magic! No Forgemaster would ever dare to do something like that. Master Menadion was also one of the founding Spellbreakers, she took down countless scums who dared to mess with her legacy.

    "What I meant to say, is just that it was akin to a living being, like an academy. Every single of its stones was enchanted, its master could reshape it at will, and it was able to self-repair.

    "It was only thanks to her tower that Menadion managed to craft such wonders. After her death, countless mages, human, undead, and even beasts scoured the entire Kingdom looking for her tower, but to no avail.

    "The legend says that Menadion¡¯s disappearance was due to a demon, who stole her Fury. Without it, Menadion was akin to crippled, so she searched for it for the rest of her life."

    "A demon?" Lith sneered. Aside from himself, he had yet to see anything that even looked like one.

    "Yeah." Orion sneered as well. He believed in demons just like he believed in free meals. "It was probably a rival mage who managed to seduce her first and then betrayed her trust to steal her secrets.

    "That or one of her disciples. You know what they say. Keep your friends close..."

    "And your enemies closer." Lith nodded.

    ¡¯Is there any chance that you are the demon, Solus? Maybe you stole her tower and she fused you with it as a punishment.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯What? No! I could never do something like that, at least based on who I am now and the little I remember.¡¯ She replied, even though she couldn¡¯t think of any other reason why a kind person as her master could have doomed her to an eternity of misery.

    "Is there a museum about her? Anything? I would like to pay her my respects." Lith said.

    "There¡¯s none, Lith." Orion shook his head. "But know this. Every time you work in your Forge, you already bestow upon her the greatest honor she might have ever wished for.

    "Every enchanted item you craft, you shape it from her teachings. Know then, that every time you create even the most insignificant trinket, you¡¯re following the footsteps of the First Forgemaster.

    "The second greatest honor Menadion could ever ask, is for you to take a disciple. Only those who have learned her lessons and in turn teach them, making it so that a unique innovation can be a foundation for all, can say that they have truly inherited her spirit.

    "I will not lie to you, there are ancient bloodlines and Emperor Beasts who have their own legacy, but none of them is superior to Menadion¡¯s.

    "Despite the fact that they might live longer than we do, their numbers are too few, whereas Royal Forgemasters share and improve her teachings every single day as they have done since she gifted us her knowledge.

    "If you really consider yourself a Forgemaster, you should think about leaving a legacy that amounts to more than mountains of corpses and broken buildings. Your feats might one day take one page in history books, whereas your teachings might fill books and most importantly, shape lives."

    "Thank you, Orion. After meeting you and Yondra, I¡¯m considering the idea of bing a Royal Forgemaster." Lith said with a smile. Orion¡¯s words were almost the same Lith had told Morok.

    On top of that, whatever the Hydra might teach him, it would be the legacy of a single bloodline and the same would stand for all Awakened. A master could teach their disciples, but could the work of a single person, no matter how gifted,pare with the constant work of thousands?

    Especially since people like Manohar and Balkor existed. A single non Awakened could make Runesmithing improve by leaps and bounds, allowing people like Vastor or Marth to find even more applications.

    Awakened ones, instead, were limited by their small numbers and were unlikely to share their knowledge.

    ¡¯At least in theory.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Who knows if Awakened had their own Silverwing or if this so-called Council provides to its members a base amount of knowledge. I¡¯m really looking forward to meeting Faluel the Hydra.

    ¡¯She will help me determine the next course of action after I quit the army. Or maybe she will just try to eat me alive.¡¯

    Lith and Orion went to dinner together, still talking about any trivia Orion could remember about Menadion. Lith was likely to have already got her tower, Menadion¡¯s Fury, the prized Forgemastering hammer, would have been a fine addition to his collection.

 Chapter 740 Menadions Legacy Part 2

    City of Ocra, Griffon Kingdom

    The news of the fall of Kh had shed an even more disturbing light around the rogue Awakened Lith Verhen, Raagu Drerian, the human representative in the Council of the Awakened decided that their meeting was long overdue.

    "First this Verhen has killed Treius, causing the downfall of master mus as well. Then he got caught in the schemeid by those six runts in Zantia, causing the death of six disciples and two more elders.

    "Usually it takes an all-out war to kill so many Awakened in such a short time. To make things even worse, rumors are spreading that he has managed to apply the Skinwalker spell to Orichalcum on his own.

    "It would be a simple feat if he had a master, but ording to our background check, he has none. We can¡¯t afford to let such a powerful individual remain a rogue anymore, he must be brought into our ranks."

    Raagu failed to mention that Lady Tyris had already met Lith in person twice, something that most Awakened failed to aplish during their whole life, Raagu included.

    "What are your orders, master Raagu?" Athung Soranot asked. She had once been one of Raagu¡¯s apprentices, now a free Awakened and one of the candidates to inherit her legacy.

    "Go to Lutia, wait for Lith, and bring him here on friendly terms. I¡¯ve no desire to discover how far his power goes nor to alert the Queen¡¯s corps. We have nothing to gain from kidnapping him. Best case scenario, we make an enemy out of him."

    "What about the worst-case scenario?" Athung tilted her head, she had rarely seen her former master so nervous.

    ¡¯Lady Tyrises here and ughters us all.¡¯ Raagu thought.

    "Believe me, you don¡¯t want to know." Was what she actually said.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, after dinner

    Lith was sitting on his bed, working together with Solus to trante the words of power engraved on Huryole¡¯s sword into modern runes. Enough pieces of paper to fill a book were floating in mid-air along with several blots of ink that he used to either take notes or make corrections.

    From the following day, Lith would finally be able to use his own magic instead of relying on Solus¡¯s, which meant he would be free to go back to Lutia and make experiments in their tower.

    Also, he had to n his visit to Protector and Selia, something that now was of the utmost importance. With the body-swapping book in his possession, Lith could finally n ahead.

    The future wasn¡¯t so scary anymore, especially since if he managed to conquer the Odi¡¯s technology, he would solve his reincarnation problem. If he hadn¡¯t joined the army, he would have never got ess to the Royal Library, nor to all the confidential information about the undead.

    His original n was to turn himself into an undead, which he had discarded due to their many limitations in movement or use of magic, or to bind his soul to an item, yet cursed objects had proved it to be an even more desperate n than bing an undead, or to achieve immortality.

    Body-swapping wasn¡¯t really immortality, but it was still the next best thing. Even if he had to rebuild his body and mana core from scratch, what could a few dozen years mean to someone who would live centuries?

    "Lith, don¡¯t you think there¡¯s something wrong with me?" Kam asked, forcing him to arrange the papers in a folder with a flick of his wrist before storing them inside Soluspedia.

    "What do you... Great Mother almighty!" Very few things made Lith religious and that was one of them.

    Kam was standing in front of him, wearing only ckce lingerie and a worried expression.

    "Wow, I wasn¡¯t expecting so much enthusiasm. It¡¯s not the first time you¡¯ve seen me without clothes after all." She giggled while noticing the sudden rush of blood to his heads.

    "May I remind you I spent a whole month fighting against unspeakable horrors, risking my life every single day while surrounded only by old coots and stinky soldiers? I¡¯m not used to such beauty anymore. You should have given me some warning."

    Kam would have loved to keep flirting, but her worries couldn¡¯t wait.

    "I¡¯ve been pale for weeks, yet in thest two days, not only am I back to my regrplexion, but I¡¯m also gaining weight. Haven¡¯t you noticed?"

    Lith had a hard time, and not only at not noticing her smooth skin and soft curves.

    "That¡¯s because since I¡¯ve returned your mood has improved and you eat more." He replied.

    "Yes, but this fast? I¡¯m already amazed by how quickly you recovered, but I¡¯ve never had a shred of your inhuman constitution. How do you think it¡¯s possible that the only ces I gained weight are here and here?"

    She said while touching her bosom first and her buttockster, giving Lith a monstrous headache. The answer was a bit of Invigoration and light magic from Solus¡¯s side that had enhanced Kam¡¯s metabolism.

    Solus¡¯s intention had been to simply help Kam to assimte the nutrients and quickly relieve her body from all the stress it had sustained. Since Kam was still young and very fit thanks to Jirni¡¯s training, the results had far exceeded even Lith¡¯s expectations.

    "That might be my fault." He admitted. "Do you remember those disgusting tonics we both had to drink?"

    Kam nodded.

    "I think they might have turned our famished bodies into this." He took off the upper part of the Skinwalker armor, showing his upgraded body to her for the first time.

    "Well, I¡¯m not going toin, as long as you swear to me that this isn¡¯t any form of body modification. I¡¯m your girlfriend, not your toy, correct?" Kam¡¯s voice was soft, but her question held a lot of implications.

    She knew about Body Sculpting and seeing her physique change so fast had made her fear that Lith might have gone overboard. Seeing his honest surprise had greatly reassured her, but she still wanted to hear it from his mouth.

    "I did nothing to your body, nor would I administer you any potion without your consent. I¡¯m shocked as you are. This actually adds insult to injury, making what I¡¯m about to say even more painful." Lith sighed.

    "What¡¯s wrong baby? After all this talk about my body, I thought you would be happier to check out how much stamina I¡¯ve recovered." She sat on Lith¡¯sp, rubbing her body against him while kissing him with growing passion.

    "Quy thinks that I should rest today as well, to let my life force stabilize." He moaned with a mix of pleasure from Kam¡¯s movements and pain from the wordsing from his own mouth.

    "Seriously? After worrying about you for an entire month, after two whole days of holding myself back for this moment, do we really have to postpone again?" She nibbled at his earlobe before kissing her way down Lith¡¯s neckline

    "Yes. Unless you want to risk taking a few years off my lifespan." He pushed her away before his mind wentpletely nk.

    "Is it really so dangerous?" Kam stopped abruptly, bing as stiff as he was, afraid to hurt him.

    "Sadly, yes. The silver lining is that once the sun rises, I should be good to go."

 Chapter 741 Plans and Blueprints Part 1

    "Yeah, too bad that I can¡¯t take tomorrow as a day off. We¡¯re in the middle of a case. Damn if I hate being a responsible adult." Kam went into the bathroom, recing the lingerie with a baggy pajamas.

    "That makes the two of us, babe." Lith said before taking a lonely cold shower.

    The following morning, Lith left the Ernas household. Quy¡¯s Scanner confirmed that his life force was now no different from how it had been before. There were no new cracks and the old ones hadn¡¯t grown any bigger.

    Once he was back into his tower, Lith took all the loot he had gained from Kh out of his pocket dimension, letting Solus prepare their Forge while he called Protector.

    "Scourge, what happened to you? I tried to call you multiple times to remind you of your promise. At first, Selia bugged me because she thought you were avoiding us but over time she got so worried about you that she almost forced me to visit your parents and ask them about your whereabouts." Protector was relieved from hearing Lith¡¯s voice.

    As long as the owner of amunication rune was alive, their rune would remain, but not seeing Lith¡¯s amulet active for a month had brought Protector to the point of thinking that he was held captive and unconscious.

    Lith told all about the events in Kh to Protector, exining that going deep underground had blocked allmunications. Life in the wilderness was quite boring, so Selia¡¯s hologram appeared as well, sitting on Ryman¡¯sp along with their children, listening to Lith¡¯s story as if it was a fairy tale.

    Lith was amazed by how quickly Protector Hushed the kids¡¯ ears during the most gruesome parts. Then, Lith asked for their help.

    "I would like to introduce Kam to the four of you."

    "Well, any kind ofpany is most wee, but can I ask you why? I thought you wanted to keep your life as an Awakened a secret." Selia asked.

    "And I mean to keep things that way. Learning about Awakening might put her in danger. My issue is about leaving her in the dark about my other half as Protector did to you. In a while, we¡¯ll have our one year anniversary.

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair to drag things this long without giving her the opportunity to decide if she wants to stick with me or find someone more normal." Lith sighed. "You are the only mixed couple that I know, and seeing how she reacts to your situation would greatly help me to understand how open-minded she is."

    "So, you¡¯re asking us to reveal our secret before gambling on yours?" Selia asked. Lith hadn¡¯t shared his hybrid nature with her, but the huntress had actually guessed a lot from the subtext.

    "Yes." Lith nodded.

    "Fine by me. What about you dear?" Selia asked Protector.

    "Wait, what?" Both men said in unison. Ryman trusted Lith so much that any friend of his was also Protector¡¯s friend, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have revealed himself so easily to Friya.

    "Why so surprised? It¡¯s obvious that I¡¯m interested in checking if all humans are scumbags. You are now in the same situation my children will be in a few years. I¡¯m not doing it just for you, but also for my family.

    "By the way, if she breaks up with you just because of what one of your ancestors did, she doesn¡¯t deserve you." Selia said, believing that Lith carried the blood of an ancestral Emperor Beast.

    "It¡¯s kind of moreplicated than that." Lith replied.

    "Are you going to tell me?"

    "Not now. Otherwise she would be the fifth one to know, which would make things even harder for her. Especially considering that my ex already knows..."

    "Slow down. Are you saying that you already found a girl who epted you in the past?" Selia cut him short.

    "Yes."

    ¡¯Actually two.¡¯ Lith thought since he considered Solus a girl too.

    "And you let her go? I¡¯m not going to lie, kid. That was a dick move on your part. When do you think you¡¯ll bring her here?"

    "As soon as I can. She has a full-time job and so do I. Finding the right time might be tricky. I n to do that first and then visit Faluel. As you can see, I haven¡¯t forgotten about my promise."

    After another bit of chit-chat and receiving from Selia the magical equivalent of a grocery list of enchanted items she wanted as a "spontaneous gift" for her troubles, Lith joined Solus in their Forge.

    She had already ced several cheap swords and all the lower grade mana crystals in their possession above the obsidian table that they employed for their experiments. She was in her humanoid form, wearing a simple blue dress with a knee-length skirt.

    "I hoped that after our bodies fully regenerated, I would look even a tiny bit more human, but I¡¯m still glowing like a frigging bedsidemp." She sighed. "My physical appearance must be linked to my mana core."

    "Well, you still look gorgeous." Lith said. "Are you sure you don¡¯t want a body? With my current knowledge about constructs, undead, and even body-swapping, we could easily fetch you something."

    "Damn sure. Now let¡¯s get to work. I¡¯ve already organized a few things for you to look at. First, the Odi¡¯s runes on the de are more advanced of those we found in Huryole, since they don¡¯t glow, but I think they are also less powerful.

    "I¡¯ve drawn you aparison between all the rune engraved weapons we managed to examine with Invigoration, including Phloria¡¯s."

    "What? When did you do that?" Lith was bbergasted. That was the kind of dirty trick he would usually employ, something that he wouldn¡¯t expect from the kind-hearted Solus.

    "The moment we got stuck in Kh¡¯s lower floor and the life of everyone depended on you. I studied all the artifacts left around while the others rested. I did it only because I thought that learning about runes might boost our chances of survival." She replied as the lights in the tower turned red in embarrassment.

    "As I was saying, even though the Odi de has a pseudo core as strong as Phloria¡¯s, the entirety of its surface is covered in runes, whereas Orion used barely thirty runes in total."

    "Are you telling me that Orion is already able to do much better than the Odi?" Lith¡¯s shock almost made his mouth fall on the floor.

    "Well, it¡¯s no surprise if you consider that he is likely to use state of the art magic whereas the Odi stopped making any advancement centuries ago. Phloria¡¯s de is just made of Orichalcum yet it would have been able to take the Odi on equal footing even if the other one used an Adamant sword.

    "The main difference between the two weapons is that the Odi¡¯s was designed akin to a mana de. By pumping the mana they received from the Reactor into it, the sword can be turned into the rough equivalent of aser de." Solus exined.

    "I wish I could imprint it and discover its powers! It would be a huge step in understanding how runes work with different enchantments. I can¡¯t even fuse it to retrieve the damn Adamant!" Lith cursed the Odi and their self-destruct mechanism.

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Solus said with a triumphant smile. "Rather than give it away to the Griffon Kingdom in exchange for pocket money and a handshake, we might as well try to purify it with Origin mes."

 Chapter 742 Plans and Blueprints Part 2

    "Great thinking! My control over Origin mes is still crappy, but since Adamant is very resistant and hard to find, we might as well try and see if it can withstand the mes.

    "Maybe Adamant will be destroyed like normal metals, but maybe it could be just cleansed from the previous incantation. This will have to wait though. I¡¯m not going to use Origin mes for a while.

    "I don¡¯t want to take any chances of weakening my life force before it fully recovers." Lith said.

    "Right. I¡¯m sure that your decision has nothing to do with you not gettingid once since your return." Solus¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm.

    Lith dodged the question by starting to craft runes, stumbling upon their first hurdle. Engraving one rune at a time seemed to have no effect. They would retain his mana just for a few seconds before turning into just a fancy inscription.

    He then tried to use Bonding to give the des a mana flow of their own, yet the runes engraved before the Bonding remained inactive, whereas the ones engraved after the procedure would actually weaken the item¡¯s mana flow.

    "Seriously, what the fuck?" Lith said after wasting quite a few crystals. He could buy the des in bulk, but mana gemstones were another story entirely.

    "Yondra said that Runesmithing is part of the preparatory phase, then why does nothing work?"

    "Remember that we are attempting to reproduce the work of fake mages. They can¡¯t do things in steps like we do. Maybe if thework of runes isn¡¯tplete, it can¡¯t hold the power they are imbued with." Solus pondered.

    "I disagree. Look at this junk." Lith showed her the blueprints of the only three rune-engraved swords they had, pointing at the old des.

    "I could understand if we were talking about Orion¡¯s de but the others? Both swords are covered in so many runes that I can¡¯t think of a single fake mage with enough mana to carve them all at once. Sure, the Odi had the Reactor, but this de was clearly crafted before its construction waspleted

    "With runes, Adamant, and infinite mana at their disposal, the Odi would have never settled for such a small pseudo core."

    "Fine. Do you have any better idea?" Solus tapped her foot, her hands were nted on her hips.

    "No."

    "Then give mine a try."

    Since it was still early in the morning and runes were his new priority, Lith did as instructed. He reproduced the runes of Huryole¡¯s sword, which had the simplest rune pattern among those at his disposal, on a new one down to thest detail.

    The result was impressive. All the runes shone with power, not only retaining the mana Lith had employed, but also absorbing the surrounding world energy to empower themselves.

    Soon they were even stronger than both Lith and Solus had predicted they would be.

    "Told you so!" Lith said throwing histest failure inside the safe room. Any decent Forgemaster had theirb connected to a room where to throw their faulty products in case they detonated.

    Unlike most of his colleagues, however, Lith had Solus put a reinforced ss between theb and the safe room, so that he could observe the deterioration process of his creation until its bitter end.

    It had allowed them to more easily understand what had gone wrong and why. Lith used the technique he had learned during his stay in Kh, making Invigoration move through the stone of the tower so that he could study the sword with his breathing technique from a safe distance.

    In normal circumstances, it would have been an impossible feat. The further the subject was, the fewer details Invigoration would perceive, to the point that even Life Vision would be better.

    Yet the whole tower was part of Solus¡¯s body and she was in turn part of Lith.

    It greatly boosted his new ability¡¯s range and effectiveness, plus Solus could rey all the events he spectated, allowing him to focus on different aspects of his failure just by performing an experiment once.

    "Yeah, but it was worth a shot." Solus said. She had never expected to seed at the first try. There was a reason why runes were a state secret that not even most Awakened were aware of. "Any idea what¡¯s gone wrong?"

    "Off the top of my head, at least a dozen." Lith replied.

    "Hey, that¡¯s my schtick!"

    "Just to be sure, I¡¯ll try out one of the spells that Phloria has marked as mere teaching props." Lith ignored Solus¡¯s remark and took the booklet out of his pocket dimension.

    Some of the simplest enchantments had pictures showing what the final result would look like. Lith couldn¡¯t read the ancientnguage, nor had he found a dictionary for it, but now that thanks to Phloria he knew it wasn¡¯t anything dangerous, he could try and replicate the depicted runes.

    To not waste any more materials, he used a stone b as a medium and engraved the words of power ording to the scheme in the booklet with his own mana.

    Once again, the runes started to grow more powerful and unstable by the second, but since there were much fewer of them, the safe room was useless. The resulting explosion shouldn¡¯t be able to harm him.

    "Do you see that?" Lith pointed at different runes that were pulsating in unison.

    "Yes." Solus said, turning back into her wisp form and storing her dress. She had no Skinwalker armor and she loved her clothes dearly.

    "It appears that there are at least two different sets of runes. Each set tries to connect with itsponents, but they both fail because the mana pathways they create mess with each other and cause the energy to overload."

    "My thoughts exactly. What we believed to be a bunch of separate objects are actually all part of the same structure, like an oversimplified array." Lith tried to store the stone b inside his pocket dimension before it detonated, but to no avail.

    The haywire energy was rejected by his storage space.

    "Dammit. It would have been nice having a few live grenades of that magnitude ready to blow." Lith said. "Maybe we should apply runes to Alchemy as well."

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible." Solus pointed out. "Most alchemical tools are made of pure mana, whereas Runesmithing takes ce during the preparatory phase. Wands are an exception since they have a physical medium, but we don¡¯t know if runes might interfere with the spell infusing process."

    "Point taken. We¡¯ll think about itter."

    They spent the following hour by studying the recording of the explosion of the sword, separating the different sets of runes based on the rhythm at which they pulsed.

    It took them a few more failures to iron out thest details since if a rune was surrounded by theponents of another pattern, its frequency would mimic their own and screw up Lith¡¯s predictions.

    Once they were done, Lith could discern three different sets of runes on Huryole¡¯s sword, at least five on Phloria¡¯s and too many to count them on the Odi¡¯s. He even managed to perfectly replicate the weapon from the lost academy.

    "Well, the good news is that now we know that runes have to be engraved in sets and that a single one by itself is useless. The bad news is that even with this knowledge, we have no idea what each pattern does." Lith said.

 Chapter 743 Double Breakthrough Part 1

    "Yeah, we still know too few runes to decipher a whole pattern and on top of that, I think that even if we know the modern equivalent of some power words, either we alter the entire set or we leave it as it is.

    "We have no idea how ancient and modern runes interact, but if I had to take a guess, I¡¯d bet that they go boom." Solus said.

    After a quick experiment that proved her right, Lith decided to study the three rune patterns he knew by engraving them on three different des. Much to their surprise, all the sets worked as amplifiers, but each one had a different function.

    The first set would enhance Lith¡¯s energy signature so that the mana flow from the crystals embedded into the de offered a bit less resistance to the Forgemastering process.

    The second set amplified the strength of the pseudo core while the third set dispersed the excess energy so that the cheap metal could withstand the energy that the enchantment released and reduced the stress that the boosted pseudo core would experience.

    The three setsbined allowed the magical item not only to avoid mana overload, but also to replenish its energy reserve faster than normal. The runes absorbed the surrounding world energy and aided the mana crystals to empower the pseudo core.

    "Fascinating! Now I understand how Thrud could use such powerful artifacts freely. The runes act as a lesser Invigoration, shortening the recharge time of both mana crystals and power cores." Lith said.

    "Yeah, too bad that we know only bottom tier sets of runes and we don¡¯t have a copy of Phloria¡¯s sword to detonate..." Solus was cut short when Lith suddenly doubled over in pain.

    "Not now, dammit!" He said while a familiar burning sensation rose from his mana core and moved towards his throat. Lith knew that his breakthrough was close and that the more mana he employed, the sooner it would happen.

    What he had failed to take into ount was that, while he was inside his tower, part of the energy from the underground mana geyser flowed through his mana core, further speeding up the process.

    Soon his whole body started to undergo the refining process that allowed an Awakened one to get rid of the impurities hindering both their mana flow and life force, allowing them to obtain a physique strong enough to handle a new and more powerful mana core.

    This time, however, things were different. At first, Lith puked a huge amount of tar-like substance that had reached his core. After that, the deep blue core became brighter and started to pulse like a star.

    ¡¯By my maker! Now I understand what impurities are for and why Tista needs helps every time she makes a breakthrough. Impurities are a double-edged sword that both protects and damages the body.

    ¡¯On one hand, they hinder a person¡¯s development and enhance the signs of aging, but on the other hand, they are a natural inhibitor of the mana flow. Without them, normal people would die the moment their bodies are not strong enough to bear the power of their own cores.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Impurities move toward the core because the closer they get, the more effective they are and once the core gets rid of them, the body is forced to evolve or die.

    ¡¯Removing Tista¡¯s impurities while she grew up made her develop a body that doesn¡¯t need to break as much as a normal person¡¯s would to be refined. At the same time, however, because she has too few impurities the process is more violent and quickpared to Lith¡¯s.

    ¡¯To help her to survive her next breakthrough, we need to force her body to produce more impurities, whereas Phloria¡¯s case is the opposite. We must remove part of her impurities and force her body to rearrange itself enough to not get broken beyond repair when she Awakens.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s now blue mana core sent one pulse of energy after the other, like a beating heart. Each wave hammered at the impurities present in the rest of his body, forcing them out.

    First, his hair and nails fell entirely. Then his muscles were ripped and his bones broken so that the impurities hidden even in the innermostyers of his body wereid bare and expelled.

    His body kept breaking and reforming non-stop as if a rough surgeon was working together with a merciful healer to excise the ck masses infesting every fiber of Lith¡¯s being.

    Thanks to the fight with the Odi and having a much denser body, this part was rtively easy and less painful than hisst breakthrough. s, his inner organs proved to be more difficult clients.

    Even shutting down one of them at a time was a near-death experience that put Lith¡¯s endurance to the test. The only silver lining was that each time one of his organs was reformed, it would greatly improve the amount of mana and life force that flowed through his body, making the recovery of the other organs faster.

    "It¡¯s really amazing." Solus said. "Now each one of your organs, your skin included, is an extension of your mana core. We could even rename them mana organs since now everything you do is actual magic."

    "Yeah, but if my brain has already gone into the dryer, why do I still feel like crap instead of just tired as usual?" Lith asked. His skin, nails, and hair had already finished regenerating, so the body refining was supposed to be over.

    The answer came in the form of a new series of spasms, that caused him to shapeshift uncontrobly back and forth from his human to his hybrid form.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡¯ He thought. ¡¯This form is mostly made of energy, it doesn¡¯t even run on blood, what kind of impurities can it have?¡¯

    Lith¡¯s seven eyes, even those that were still closed shut, shed ck tears while his scales fell off as if he was a molting bird, revealing a fiery red skin lying underneath his hardened shell.

    Yet unlike the human impurities that would just leave Lith¡¯s body, all the so-called defective parts gathered up on the side of his head and at the end of his spine before bursting into mes.

    Where before there was nothing, small curved horns and a short tail appeared. New, thicker scales reced the old ones while three rays of pure elemental energy erupted from Lith¡¯s opened eyes, flushing out more and more impurities.

    Lith¡¯s hybrid form was born from an already evolved body which possessed a powerful core, so it was perfect. What itcked was the ability to channel the full power generated by the constant battle between his Emperor Beast and Abomination life forces.

    Lith¡¯s hybrid body was too small and weak to withstand the full scope of such powerful conflicting energies. Lith¡¯s human body would break just to be reshaped into a more suitable host for his core, whereas his hybrid form was forced to grow so that it could unlock its true potential.

    Emerald mes suddenly burst out Lith¡¯s every pore, but instead of hurting him, they nurtured his scaled body, making it grow bigger and taller until it almost stood 3 meters (9¡¯10") tall, before reverting to his normal height.

    Once everything was over, even though Lith had just spent three full days resting, he was on the verge of starving, incapable to move a muscle.

 Chapter 744 Double Breakthrough Part 2

    "Quy saved your life by forcing you to rest for one more day. If this happened yesterday, your life force would have shattered. Now, instead, it¡¯s stronger than ever." Solus said, observing with Invigoration how the boundaries between Lith¡¯s mana core, body, and life force had be thinner.

    The two different kinds of energy now flowed through his veins along with his blood, making him different from normal humans.

    "I know." Lith stuttered. "Solus, promise me that no matter what, you¡¯ll wake me up for dinner."

    "Yeah, sure. What could the changes in your body possibly matterpared to a night of wild, steamy, hot sex with your girlfriend? By the way, I take back what I said yesterday.

    "I¡¯ll stay here in Lutia while you have fun. There¡¯s no reason for me to..."

    "I¡¯m hungry." He cut her short before fainting.

    "Oh, yes. There¡¯s that too." Solus said while carrying Lith on his bed with spirit magic. She had developed the nutrients potion exactly for that kind of situation, where Invigoration couldn¡¯t help Lith, and feeding him the old-fashioned way was impossible.

    They tasted like crap and smelled almost as badly, but it was much easier administering them to an unconscious man rather than feeding him a full course meal. Solus¡¯s mouth almost fell to the ground when she noticed that Lith was absorbing the potions like a dry sponge water.

    "Dammit! The mana geyser is boosting his metabolism to the point that if I don¡¯t keep the nutrientsing, by the time Lith wakes up he¡¯ll look like a monk after a month of fasting."

    Invigoration could do nothing to help Lith recover faster and even if it could, Solus wouldn¡¯t have used it. She hoped that the changes both of his life forces had experienced could heal the crack that cursed Lith to a shorter lifespan or at least get rid of Death Vision.

    It wasn¡¯t a skill so much as a curse that made his life miserable and constantly drained his focus just to keep the visions at bay. Only when he was alone with Solus inside the tower, could he rx without worries.

    That, or when he was alone with Phloria.

    ¡¯It really irks me to no end that I¡¯ll never know if it¡¯s just because I¡¯m seemingly immortal or because Lith has feelings for me as deep as he has for her. Right now, even the members of his family suffer from Death Vision if they are further away than three meters.

    ¡¯He never allowed himself to see if things work the same for Kam as they do for everyone else he loves or if she¡¯s an outlier like Phloria. I guess it would mean a lot and Lith doesn¡¯t want to second-guess their rtionship.¡¯ Solus thought.

    She remained by Lith¡¯s side until his condition stabilized, feeding him potions and checking on his life force from time to time with the Scanner spell. Yet the cracks remained and even though his body brimmed with vigor, the amount of life force Lith had remained unchanged.

    Solus sighed, saying goodbye to her broken dream before using both Invigoration and mana sense on Lith. Now both his liver and kidneys were capable of detoxifying most harmful substances as if they were a tier two cleansing spell.

    With each regr breath Lith took, his lungs drew bigger amounts of world energy than before, filling his chest with mana that his heart would pump through his whole body along with thin streams of life force that enhanced his recovery abilities.

    Only when she was certain that the breakthrough would cause Lith no harm did Solus leave his bedroom, calling her friends to make ns for the night.

    ***

    Uninhabited ind in the middle of the ocean.

    Leegaain had failed to understand why his long lost daughter had gone to such lengths to prevent him from tracking her position, at least until he took a good look at her.

    He couldn¡¯t use Souls Vision (AN: the Guardians¡¯ ultimate form of Life Vision) on a hologram, but all of his regr senses picked more than enough anomalies to make him suspicious.

    Xenagrosh, who he knew as Zoreth, was supposed to be already dead, or at least very close to the end of her lifespan. She had chosen the human nature, so even if somehow she had managed to Awaken on her own there was only so much time it could have bought her.

    Yet her body was full of vigor, her skin didn¡¯t show any sign of aging, and even her heart was off. Mostly because he could hear two of them, beating rhythmically like war drums into his ears.

    Her body was too slender, her movements too gracious to be human.

    "Let me guess, you are one of those Abominations who fused with their monster doubles and yours was a troll. How can you have stooped so low?" Leegaain asked.

    Xenagrosh cursed her bad luck. She was aware that tricking her father was a fool¡¯s errand, but she had hoped that her deception would at leastst the few minutes she needed to obtain a few answers from him.

    "Nailed it in one. Sorry dad, I know I¡¯ve always been nothing but a failure in your eyes. I guess it¡¯s better to end this conversation right now." Her voice was honest. Since the call had started, Leegaain didn¡¯t perceive an ill intenting from her.

    Zoreth¡¯s words stung hard, reminding him why he had such a poor rtionship with most of his children. Too often in the past he had treated them as a Guardian would rather than a father, something that he had tried to correct in his rtionship with Melia.

    "Why do you say that? I¡¯ve never considered you as a failure!" He said, trying to stop her from ending the call.

    "Oh please! You could never forgive me for picking my human half over yours, or the fact that even though I grew in your cave, I wasn¡¯t able to Awaken by myself like so many of my siblings did!" Xenagrosh finger was still above Leegaain¡¯s rune, yet she couldn¡¯t find the strength to push it.

    "Is that what you believe?" Leegaain was bbergasted by the depth of his failure as a parent.

    "Of course! Otherwise why did you never look after me once I left yourir? Why didn¡¯t you Awaken me?" Her voice didn¡¯t sound like that of a murdering monster so much as that of an abandoned child.

    "Because with both your words and actions, you made it clear that you wanted to have your own space! As for the Awakening, do you realize how short a human¡¯s lifespan is? If you had chosen to be a dragon, I would¡¯ve had more time to understand your character.

    "Awakening someone is a big deal and you were so hot-headed that I feared that power would get the better of you. The state you¡¯re in just proves that I was right!" Leegaain said, his voice shaken like it didn¡¯t happen in centuries.

    "Yet you didn¡¯t hesitate to Awaken that Empress of yours. Guess that¡¯s true what they say. You can pick your friends, not your family." Xenagrosh¡¯s voice oozed poison.

    "You know, the reason why I joined the Master is that unlike you, he at least gave me a chance! He took his time to know me, even when I was just another horrid Abomination before tagging and bagging me like you would.

 Chapter 745 Fallen Cores Part 1

    "I never wanted for you to see me in my fallen state, forcing you to hunt me and put me down like a rabid beast. That¡¯s why I never answered your calls before and I wouldn¡¯t have contacted you if I wasn¡¯t desperate.

    "Guess what, oh mighty Leegaain, the only thing you were right about me is that I should have chosen the dragon side of the family from the beginning!"

    Xenagrosh shapeshifted into her Shadow Dragon form, unting a size that rivaled with that of her father. Her right hand was covered by Bytra¡¯s Sky Piercer ws, which pulsed with the same fury that possessed their master.

    Leegaain¡¯s eyes moved from his daughter to the familiar design of the weapon she was wielding, finally understanding the meaning of Mogar¡¯s words during Lith¡¯sst tribtion.

    The threat they were facing was beyond that of the usual madman aiming for eternal life. Whoever this Master was, he had somehow managed to upset the bnce as Leegaain knew it.

    The Dragon-Eldritch hybrid in front of him was proof of that.

    "What do you need my help for, dear?" He asked. His voice was calm now and there was no judgment in his eyes. Xenagrosh was so shocked that she returned to her human form without even realizing it.

    For the first time in her adult life, Leegaain was speaking to her like a father instead of a Guardian.

    "I-" Xenagrosh was several centuries old. She had seen Mogar change in ways she deemed impossible, she had fought the most powerful creatures that roamed the without batting an eye, yet she couldn¡¯t stop herself from stuttering.

    Hating Leegaain the Guardian was easy. Hating the father who had read her bedtime stories when she was little, who had taught her almost everything she knew about magic, was another story entirely.

    She felt incredibly stupid for revealing her envy towards the Magic Empress to him, for yelling like a petnt child while unting her hybrid form as if it was a new toy. She had emitted such a powerful energy signature that Leegaain would probably be able to track her if he wanted to.

    "I¡¯m feeling so lost, Dad." She fell on her knees, crying. "I started this because I wanted more power. Because I wanted to be powerful enough to show to this stupid that it made a mistake by abandoning me!"

    For a magical beast, turning into an Emperor Beast meant that Mogar had epted them. That was the reason why they would receive its help to shed their old form and be granted a painless evolution.

    For Abominations, turning into an Eldritch was the lowest point. It meant that Mogar hadpletely cut them off from the natural order of things, relegating them to a state lower than the Fallen races.

    They could at least still evolve, whereas an Eldritch was the end of the line.

    "Yet after spending so much time with the Master, after I stopped living like a beast, thinking only about eating, surviving, and bing stronger, I realized that power is not what I really want.

    "What I truly wished for was to be freed from my hunger, to enjoy little things like smelling a flower without it wilting at my touch. Now I¡¯m so close to getting back everything that I lost, but no matter how much I struggle, I can¡¯t ovee this new wall and I¡¯m scared of screwing things again." She sobbed, making Leegaain¡¯s heart tighten.

    "What¡¯s the matter, sweetie pie?"

    Then Xenagrosh told him everything about her twin core and her inability to Awaken or to ess to any of her old abilities.

    "Do you know what¡¯s wrong with me, Dad? I tried all the breathing techniques I learned over the years, yet all I¡¯ve achieved is the feeling that if I make one wrong move, my new core will overload and my new body will be lost." She said.

    "And you¡¯re right. The Master¡¯s crazy experiment has simply created bodies and cores capable of withstanding the Chaos energy that normally ravages an Abomination¡¯s physical form, but it didn¡¯t cure your status as an Eldritch.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Zoreth, but you¡¯ve been deluding yourself, you are still far from being normal.

    "The Troll core is incapable of processing the darkness energy just like the ck core is incapable of processing the light element, which creates a symbiotic rtionship that allows you to maintain your human form, but that¡¯s it.

    "Both of them are still fallen cores, so they cannot Awaken. Any attempt on a fallen core will make it burst and fall prey of the ck core, killing you on the spot. I don¡¯t think you can survive anymore without the troll core. You¡¯ve changed too much." Leegaain said.

    "Wow, fallen cores? Do they really exist?" Xenagrosh wiped her tears while Leegaain nodded.

    "I can¡¯t believe it. I live together with the most ancient beings on Mogar, Guardians excluded, and no one was able to understand what was wrong with us. Yet you solved it all just by looking at my hologram. Can you cure me, Dad?"

    "Honestly, and I don¡¯t say this often, I don¡¯t know. You¡¯re a new life form so it would take me some time just to understand what you¡¯ve be, but I¡¯m fairly optimistic about your condition." Leegaain said while thinking about Lith.

    The anomaly was an Abomination hybrid as well, yet he hadn¡¯t fallen, had been able to Awaken by himself, and was living a full life, even walking the path to Guardianhood.

    ¡¯If I could get to study how his mana core and life force works, I could cure my little girl. Yet I can¡¯t afford to let her know about his existence. As long as Zoreth associates herself with the Master, she¡¯s a liability to the bnce.¡¯ He thought.

    "Really? Do you think you can help us?" Xenagrosh said, her eyes were full of hope.

    "The others? Maybe. I need to see them to be sure. You? Absolutely, but first you have to tell me the Master¡¯s identity and where I can find the Eldritchs. I can barter such information with the other Guardians in exchange for your safety, but I can¡¯t make any promises about the others." Leegaain replied.

    "Are you really asking me to betray my family and the only person who ever gave a damn about me since the day I fell?" Xenagrosh¡¯s hope vanished, reced by her usual determination.

    "They are not your family! They are worse than undead. Eldritchs are crazed beasts that destroy everything they touch. Each one of them has made more victims than the entire vampire race! As for the Master, he¡¯s not any better than an Eldritch.

    "The number of living beings sacrificed for his mad experiments is in the millions. He can¡¯t be allowed to exist. Mogar can¡¯t afford another Arthan Griffon."

    "Then what about me? I¡¯m an Eldritch too, what makes me so different from the other Abominations? If it wasn¡¯t for me, the Master would have never learned about the secrets of Awakening, nor about Arthan¡¯s madness!" Xenagrosh said.

    "By the Great Mother! You¡¯re my baby girl, that¡¯s the damn difference! I protect countless lives every single day. Humans, beasts, undead, nts, and the only thing they have inmon is that I don¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about them.

    "I can afford to be egotistical from time to time, especially when my family is involved. Come back home and I promise you that I will do all I can to save you."

 Chapter 746 Fallen Cores Part 2

    "I¡¯m sorry, Dad, but I can¡¯t do it. They may be monsters to you, but to me they are precious people who need me. I¡¯vee too far to turn my back on them like that." Xenagrosh sighed.

    "Thanks for your help, Dad. I promise you that I¡¯ll use what you¡¯ve taught me today to make you proud. I¡¯ll find a way to redeem my race in your eyes. I hope that the next time you see me, I¡¯ll be whole again."

    She turned themunication amulet off before Warping to random locations to make herself untraceable, unaware that there was no need to. Leegaain considered it his parting gift to his daughter since the next time they met they were bound to be enemies.

    "I¡¯ve got bad news and terrible news. Which do you want to hear first?" He said after activating his mind link with his fellow Guardians.

    "The bad news." Tyris replied.

    "I know why the Master knows us so well and who has helped them with Arthan¡¯s Madness. My daughter Zoreth is among his hybrid Eldritchs."

    "My condolences, old friend." Said Sark. "If I meet her on the battlefield, I¡¯ll try to give her a painless death."

    "The terrible news is that among her peers there¡¯s even Bytra, the 4th Ruler of the mes. Zoreth was wielding one of her weapons."

    "Fuck me sideways!" Said both Guardians in unison.

    "The inventor of modern runes? The same Bytra who taught us how to unlock the true potential of Davross?" Tyris asked.

    She had always believed that Bytra had disappeared due to the tragic consequences of her never-ending quest to find Menadion¡¯s legacy and beat the Mother of Forgemastering at her own game.

    No Guardian would have ever thought that Bytra¡¯s passion could have turned into an obsession, leading her to be an Abomination.

    "Yes, and that¡¯s not all. Just like the anomaly, the Master¡¯s experiments have allowed my daughter to tap again into her draconic nature even though she discarded it centuries ago, back when she was still a normal hybrid.

    "Not only is this supposed to be impossible, but also if the same happened to all the other Eldritchs, there¡¯s no telling what kind of bloodlines we might have to face. As you know all too well, some Eldritchs pre-date even us Guardians."

    Only silence followed Leegaain¡¯s words. Some of the Fallen Races had obtained great powers before devolving into madness. The idea of such powerful creaturesbining their might with the wisdom of millennia and with the Chaos energy that only Abominations could wield, made them worry.

    ***

    Solus Tower, eight hourster.

    Despite the fact that the mana geyser and his tower were supposed to enhance his recovery speed, when Lith woke up he felt as if someone had stopped time the moment he had closed his eyes and then buried him under several steamrollers.

    ¡¯Guess I would¡¯ve been out cold a full day if this had happened in any other ce.¡¯ He thought while yawning like a bear ready to go in hibernation for winter.

    The first thing he did was check his pocket watch. Luckily there was still plenty of time to snack and go back to the Ernas mansion. The second thing he did was to investigate the source of all the noise he heard.

    The moment he tried to focus his attention, Lith could almost feel as if something inside of his head clicked. He could now distinguish all the voices and the smells despite the several closed doors that stood between him and his guests.

    ¡¯It seems that Solus invited Tista and Nyka at the tower.¡¯ He thought.

    Pain aside, one of thest things he remembered before losing his consciousness was taking the Skinwalker armor off to more easily get rid of the impurities. So Lith made sure to be presentable before opening the door of his room.

    "Big sister, how nice of you to visit. Yet when I was bedridden you didn¡¯t show up." He said.

    "Not everyone has a magical tower that moves freely through space." She replied with fake rage before hugging him.

    "I was too far from the nearest Gate and too busy clearing a couple of dungeons to return. Especially after hearing from Solus that you simply needed rest and that you would pick me upter."

    "Why dungeons?" Lith asked.

    "I need real battle experience and I prefer fighting known monsters instead of putting my head inside the dragon¡¯sir like you always do. I always go alone, so that I can practice both fake and true magic ording to the circumstances.

    "Spotting things from a distance with Life Vision almost makes things too easy. Almost." She shuddered at the memory of a couple of her recent near-death experiences. Tista had learned the hard way that monsters could be Awakened as well.

    "Hi, sweetie." Nyka said, and judging from the red content of her ss, she was being literal rather than flirty. "Gods, you smell delicious."

    "Thanks, I guess. What¡¯s all the ruckus?"

    "Solus wants to beat the crap out of me. She says that it¡¯s the best way to temper my body and fill it with impurities, to dy my next breakthrough as long as possible." Tista replied.

    Solus then brought Lith up to speed about her most recent discoveries about the body and mana core refinement process.

    "Excellent news! This will allow us to greatly improve Phloria¡¯s survival chances. By the way, how do you feel, Solus?" Lith asked.

    "The quality of my nourishment has greatly improved but even though I used umtion during thest few hours, it¡¯s too soon for my own breakthrough. I really hope that something will happen the moment I graduate from deep to pure green." Solus said.

    "Excellent news my ass!" Tista said, interrupting their daydreaming about the content of the second floor of the tower.

    "I¡¯m not a fan of pain. To add insult to my future injuries, I¡¯m will not even be allowed to use Invigoration after getting beaten since it would rejuvenate my body and make most of the imperfections that light magic leaves disappear."

    "You can always use darkness fusion." Lith shrugged. "Also, I think that it¡¯s better to be prepared than dying the moment you experience a breakthrough during our absence."

    After eating enough food so to stave-off his hunger, Lith and the girls practiced together Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram. After seeing the Wargs use it as a learning tool for Awakened while they were under Tezka¡¯s influence, Lith had applied the same method to both groups he supervised.

    Solus¡¯s friends and the Emperor Beasts living inside the Trawn woods that he had Awakened would regrly practice the array. It served as both a means of defense and to learns the finesse of manipting different elements.

    Usually, it required one person for each element and there were only four people in the tower, but with Lith¡¯s level of mastery, managing two elements at once was an easy job.

    The exercise required that the Awakened ones practicing the spell would cycle the control of all elements while keeping their mana output at the same level. For Tista it was an opportunity to learn by imitation how Lith handled his mana flow.

    Solus was at Lith¡¯s level in terms of control over the elements and magical knowledge, but she appreciated the training to build teamwork. She hoped one day to be capable of leaving the tower and experience the world together with her friends.

 Chapter 747 Deep Bonds Part 1

    With her weak mana core, Solus was the benchmark of the group, except when it was Nyka¡¯s turn to handle light magic.

    It was always a vexing experience for the vampire and her blood core, requiring her to feed often. Yet she needed to do it in order to better understand the powerful darkness magic that flowed inside her body instead of blood.

    Usually, Lith would use the gathering to share his knowledge and further strengthen his foundations of magic, but this time he focused on himself the most. The problem with breakthroughs was that he needed to get used to his new strength, both physical and magical.

    The array exercise allowed him to learn about the changes his mana core had undergone and how to regte his mana flow without causing an explosion while trying to light a match.

    After a while, he and Solus tower Warped back to the Ernas mansion. He needed to make sure to not kill the next person he hugged and Orion¡¯s training dummies, which had the same durability of a human body, were the perfect subjects.

    Much to his surprise, the guards at the gate had a message for him.

    "Great Mage Verhen, you have visitors from the army waiting for you in the lounge, yet Lady Quy needs to speak privately with you before anyone else. She¡¯s been pretty clear about this point."

    Lith nodded and went to Quy¡¯s room, where ording to the guards she was waiting for him.

    ¡¯I wonder what she needs me for. I doubt she has already made up her mind about me being a hybrid. It¡¯s more likely to be rted to the army¡¯s envoy. Probably she wants to make sure that our versions about Kh¡¯s events match.¡¯ He thought.

    "I¡¯ve got your message. What¡¯s the emergency, Quy?" Lith asked.

    "I never got the opportunity to return this to you." She replied, handing back to him the book about the Mana Reactor. Quy was so nervous that she was unable to stop fidgeting. Even folding her hands didn¡¯t help.

    "That¡¯s hardly a reason to be worried." He shrugged.

    "No, you don¡¯t get it. We¡¯re about to give our report. If I hand this book to the army, they¡¯ll ask me where I got it. Since I was held prisoner, I¡¯ll be forced to tell them that I got it from you."

    "And?" Lith kept missing her point.

    "And once the army explores Kh and founds the safe near the Odi¡¯s life pod, they might wonder if such a big container was really meant for a single book. In their shoes, I would expect to find all the information regarding all the Odi¡¯s sessful projects, not just one.

    "You could end in trouble because of me." She said.

    "You¡¯re right." He nodded, moved by her concern. Her brain seemed to have a hard time making a decision about their friendship, but her heart didn¡¯t seem to care.

    "Thanks, but there¡¯s no reason to worry. I was going to hand over to the army everything that I found back there anyway. That kind of knowledge its toxic, but it¡¯s not up to us to decide what to do with it.

    "You¡¯re really a genius, little one. There were really three books in that safe." Lith said while ruffling her hair out of habit. Back then he had been in too big of a rush to hide the safe before the fight and there had been too many witnesses once he had regained consciousness.

    He couldn¡¯t expect everyone to be dumb, blind, and deaf so he knew all along that it was a matter of time before he would be forced to choose between giving up on the tomes or being charged with treason.

    Lith had already copied the contents of the body-swapping book, so he no longer needed the original for his purposes.

    Quy became stiff under his touch, yet she didn¡¯t push away his hand.

    "I¡¯ve done my best to read and trante the book about the Mana Reactor, to make sure that there¡¯s nothing written in there that might help you with your life force." She said.

    "Thank you for your kindness, but it was clear that such a monstrosity couldn¡¯t help..."

    "I couldn¡¯t be sure until I read it." She cut him short. "Countless times wrong things have been modified to do some good, but sadly this is not the case. You were right, the Reactor can only be used to produce mana, not life force.

    "By the way, these are the Odi dictionaries that I¡¯vepiled during my studies. Some of the terms they use do not have an equivalent in ournguage nor in modern magic, so most dictionaries can help you trante a poem, but most of the magical jargon gets lost in trantion."

    Quy handed a couple of books thick enough to stop more than one bullet to him.

    "Feel free to borrow them. Aside from you and me, no one knows that I wrote these vocabries." Quy had never underestimated Lith¡¯s intelligence, so she was well aware that he might as well have made copies of whatever he wanted.

    It was her way of telling him that if he needed to research the Odinguage, the army might take notice if he started to consult Odi magic dictionaries and that even though she wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to help him, Quy didn¡¯t want him to get caught either.

    "What are we going to say to the army¡¯s emissary?" She finally asked.

    "The truth. Well, mostly." He quickly added after noticing her bbergasted expression. "We¡¯ll tell them that we defeated that monster together and that I did most of the job. Damn, this really feels like being back at the academy."

    Lith¡¯s attempt to make herugh failed. Quy¡¯s expression became even more serious and her feet restless.

    "Is it because you¡¯re not human that you¡¯re this strong? Like when you saved Yurial from the assassins or when you killed the Abomination in the forest?" She asked.

    "No. I told you. I wasn¡¯t able to shapeshift back then." He replied.

    "Have you ever considered us as your friends? I mean for real? Or was even that a deception?"

    "The truth?" Lith asked and she nodded for him to reply.

    "Not at first and not for a long time." He said, making her turn pale.

    "I don¡¯t expect you to understand how hard my life was, nor how thick-skinned I am. Yet I want you to know that after Balkor¡¯s attack, I started to grow fond of all of you and that now I consider you one of the few true friends that I have."

    Lith stored the dictionaries inside his pocket dimension and then told Quy how he was going to exin the fight with the Odi to the army¡¯s envoy. She was amazed by how short and precise his report was, not finding a single weak point in it.

    Lith and Solus had prepared it together, interrogating each other in turn to find plotholes in their story. In the doctored version of the events, once the Mana Reactor had been shut down, the three of them had employed hit and run tactics to make the enemy ran out of juice by exploiting the Odi¡¯s need to take them alive.

    In this story, Phloria had detonated the body-swapping machine only to inflict the death blow. It exined everything, from how they all survived to all the battle marks that remained in the room.

 Chapter 748 Deep Bonds Part 2

    To make everything fit, the only thing they had to lie about was how much mana was left in the Reactor.

    Once Lith went to meet his guest, he was surprised to see that Constable Griffon hade to see them in person.

    Not only because sending a member of the Royal Family was a clear indicator of how serious the events of Kh were considered by the army¡¯s upper echelons, but also because a Constable meant more an interrogation rather than a report.

    Lith wasn¡¯t worried. Phloria knew what to say because they had discussed the matter when he had gone visiting her the previous day, and even if Quy was still on the fences about how to react to his nature, she had just proved how much she cared for him.

    The butler led Lith to the Tea Room for esteemed guests, where Jirni, Orion, Phloria, and Constable Ernas were waiting for him. It wasn¡¯t the Tea Room the family normally used, its furniture was more formal and the seats more spaced between them.

    Comfortable padded red sofas and chairs were arranged around a white elliptical oak low table. A soft white and silver carpet covered the floor, preventing the moving chairs from making noise and muffling all the sounds that the servitude might make while serving the guests so that nothing could disturb the conversation.

    The east wall consisted of a ss wall that allowed the morning sun to illuminate the room and make the many silvery ornaments spread throughout the room shine like jewels. On the west wall, there was a huge firece surmounted by a huge mirror with a golden frame that covered most of the wall.

    Lady Tyris was exactly as Lith remembered her, time didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on her appearance. Finding the whole family assembled for the report was quite odd, but Lith hoped that it was just the deference an old bloodline was supposed to show to a member of the royal family.

    Tyris Griffon wore the uniform of a Royal Constable and was 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall. She was a woman in her mid-twenties, or so it seemed. There was something about her that made her look young yet ancient at the same time.

    She had shining golden hair braided into a tress long enough to be twisted and knotted above her head resembling a crown. Her silver eyes sparkled like stars under the morning sunlight.

    Most men found her beauty intoxicating, but to Lith it was unsettling. Such a degree of perfection in her forms, in the symmetry of her features, was simply too good to be true.

    He gave her a deep bow the moment their eyes met, using it as an opportunity to hide his suspicions and wear his usual poker face. Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, Lady Tyris stood up at his arrival and offered him her hand.

    "Ranger Verhen, I had heard that your injuries were quite severe. I¡¯m d to see that you¡¯re recovering so well." She said with a dazzling smile.

    The moment Lith shook her hand, Tyris used Mother Earth, her version of Invigoration, to scan both hybrids at the same time. Mogar seemed to be interested in Solus as much as she was interested in Lith, so it was time to give to Menadion¡¯s Desperation the attention she deserved.

    The ck hybrid¡¯s mind was a shattered, iplete puzzle, the pieces of which were fighting to fit each other without falling apart. Some cracks had disappeared, empty gaps between spaces were now filled by small yet growing pieces, showing the healing process Lith was still undergoing.

    The white hybrid¡¯s mind, instead, was whole, but with multiple cracks that seemed to have grown over time. Just like Mogar had told her Guardians, Solus¡¯s memory loss coupled with theck of a physical body had prevented her to have any semnce of normality in her life and had deeply affected her mental state.

    ¡¯Interesting.¡¯ Tyris thought. ¡¯His body has further evolved after the events of Kh. His second life force is now more distinct and the wall between it and the human life force seems to have thinned, unlike how it happened to my children.

    ¡¯Normally, the more a hybrid grows stronger, the more apart their life forces grow until one of them has to be sacrificed to allow the other to thrive. In Lith¡¯s case, instead, they have moved closer.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve seen it happen in the past. It could mean that either the two life forces will sh for dominance, in which case Lith¡¯s life will be at risk, or that they are trying to fuse. If thetter happens, then Mogar is right and he would be really moving towards bing his own species.

    ¡¯Also, Lith¡¯s core is not a Fallen one. On the contrary, it presents an extraordinary affinity towards the fire and darkness elements. There is no sign of unbnce, the light element flows through his body as well, preventing Chaos energy from being formed and harming his body.

    ¡¯As for the woman in the ring, she¡¯s truly unique. She possesses only one life force, yet I can feel she has two bodies and two cores as well. The tower¡¯s core is part of her body just like her own mana core and they have been bonded with means like I¡¯ve never seen before.

    ¡¯Yet she¡¯s not a cursed object. Neither she was sacrificed to give life to the tower nor she¡¯s enved by it. She a true human-artifact hybrid and the only reason she doesn¡¯t have two life forces like Lith is that items do not have life force.

    ¡¯Her condition allows her to control Menadion¡¯s artifact in ways that not even the First Royal Forgemaster could. She and the tower are one, making the girl more than human yet less at the same time.¡¯

    "Quy Ernas is the only healer of my generation that I acknowledge as my equal, and the Ernas family has treated me very well every time I needed help." Lith said, appreciating the soothing warmth that Tyris¡¯s skin exuded.

    Looking into her eyes was almost as staring at a cidke during a morning spring. It made him feel at peace and almost lulled him into staring at the golden reflection of the sun on her irises.

    Almost.

    "The Ernas truly are one of the founding pirs of the Kingdom." She said while turning around and giving a deep bow to the masters of the house. "The Crown is deeply indebted with you and for your unwavering loyalty, you have our gratitude."

    Seeing an involuntary nervous spasm on Jirni¡¯s face was something unprecedented, no matter if it hadsted barely a split second. Clearly the situation was as odd for them as it was for Lith.

    Yet for Tyris it wasn¡¯t odd, just nostalgic. Orion and Jirni came from two of the most ancient bloodlines, that had been established together with the Griffon Kingdom. Their ancestors had been founding members of the Queen¡¯s Corpse back when Tyris was still Queen and Valeron¡¯s dear friends.

    Juria Ernas and Oghrom Myrok hated each other so much that it had taken their families centuries before considering their oath of never mixing their blood just a legend, leading to Orion¡¯s and Jirni¡¯s marriage.

    Being inside the Ernas¡¯s tea room was a trip down the memoryne to her. While the Ernas couple reminded Tyris of her long lost friends, Lith and hispanions reminded her of herself.

    Lith was just a candidate Guardian, but she could feel that their bond ran deep.

 Chapter 749 Hard Truth Part 1

    "Why don¡¯t you sit down while we wait for thest member of this meeting to join us?" Tyris said, pointing a padded chair near to Phloria at Lith. The Guardian was intrigued seeing that both hybrids were broken beings, even though forpletely different reasons.

    Quy entered the room soon after Lith. Her surprise was big as well, but her poker face wasn¡¯t up with the rest of the family¡¯s standards. She stuttered when Tyris stood up to greet her and she tensed so much that even Lith would have suspected she practiced forbidden magic if he didn¡¯t know better.

    "There¡¯s no reason to worry." Tyris chuckled at her reaction, making everyone present swallow a lump of saliva. They all knew that a Constable¡¯s reassurances were mostly smoke and mirrors.

    "This is a friendly hearing. I assembled you here because I know that you¡¯re all tired, but I need to hear from you how you dealt with thest of the Odi. This should be the quickest way for you to give your report and go back to your deserved rest." Tyris said.

    Phloria took the initiative and told only the truth, at least until the part where she and Lith had remained alone with Jiira in the body-swapping room. Too many people had witnessed the first part of the fight and she had no idea what they had reported.

    She undersold the gravity of the injuries Lith had sustained but kept the rest urate. After that, she stuck with the story they had agreed beforehand. Tyris didn¡¯t interrupt her nor asked questions, she just stared at the other two and studied their reaction.

    Lith was as calm as Quy was nervous. Tyris¡¯s set up was as simple as it was effective. Since they have had all the time to forge a story, by putting them all together and in front of their parents as a reminder of the consequences that lying would have, Constable Griffon could find the weak link in the group.

    Unfortunately for her, Lith just nodded from time to time, whereas Quy was so nervous that she never stopped fidgeting, even when Phloria told the truth, making it impossible to understand the reason for her difort.

    When it was Lith¡¯s turn, he told her how he and Morok had reached the Reactor and how he had found the safe. Lith also handed Tyris the three books and the God¡¯s Will array bead.

    After carefully studying the artifact, he and Solus had realized that now it was just a piece of junk. Not only did the bead require the Reactor to be fueled, but also half of its runes had to have been carved into the Odi¡¯s enchanted life force.

    Without them, the bead¡¯s pseudo core had slowly started to crumble. With just the mana pathways inside the artifact, the pseudo core was unable to sustain its existence.

    "Did they ever leave your storage items? Did you make any copy of their content?" Tyris asked while putting them away with her eyes staring into Lith¡¯s.

    "No and no. I made no copy." Much to Tyris¡¯s surprise, he was telling the truth. When dealing with opponents of Jirni¡¯s caliber, Lith knew that even he couldn¡¯t afford to lie.

    That was the reason he had stored them inside Soluspedia, to never have to take them out, and why he had let Solus do all the work. A fight was a messy, unpredictable series of events, so it was hard to discern facts from fiction, whereas simple yes or no questions were much harder to lie about.

    Quy told her all about her experience with the Reactor and Morok, including the kick which had prevented him from partaking in the final battle. She was quite relieved having to speak nothing but the truth since just like Lith, they didn¡¯t repeat what Phloria had already told Tyris.

    "I¡¯m d to hear that despite the dire circumstances you experienced you¡¯ve managed to keep a level head. Captain Ernas, you have failed to protect the Professors, but judging from the reports of the other survivors, it¡¯s already a miracle that so many people made it out of Kh alive." Tyris said.

    "The failed mission will go down in your personal file but it will not affect your career. You have my word. Mage Ernas, you took part in the mission as an Assistant, and yet your contribution overshadows that of most Professors. I¡¯ll make sure that the White Griffon academypensates you properly.

    "Ranger Verhen, you have yed your role splendidly, yet there is only so much that the Kingdom can do to award you and that¡¯s one of the reasons why I¡¯m here. This matter is even more pressing due to the excellent references that Ranger Eari gave you.

    "Are you still unwilling to im and as your own?" Lith nodded.

    "I suppose that the same stands for your career in the army or the Association." More nodding ensued.

    "Is there anything in particr that you want?" She asked.

    "I¡¯ve seen the Royal Forgemasters at work and I¡¯d love to study their art." Lith replied.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but no." Tyris shook her head. "You¡¯ve been given plenty of chances to be an integral part of the Kingdom yet you always refused, remaining at the fringes of the system.

    "Even right now, you¡¯re like a wolf that circles around a vige and refuses to be domesticated. The Griffon Kingdom or any other of the three great countries cannot put a wolf to guard the henhouse, it¡¯s too dangerous.

    "I can grant you free ess to the Royal Library, mana crystals, anything that money can buy, but nothing more. I¡¯vee personally here today to assure you that the Crown holds you in great esteem and hopes that you¡¯ll decide to be one of its keystones in the future.

    "Yet right now you are too young and too many people question where your loyaltyys. The Kingdom can¡¯t afford to disclose its secret to someone that might use them against it.

    "We would love for you to take this country as your home, but the choice is up to you. Feel free to contact the embassies of the other countries, you¡¯ll discover that your situation there would be the same."

    Tyris had spectated to the whole fight, so she knew the truth without the need of listening to their reports. Also, she knew that Lith was withholding Rizo¡¯s Adamant Eternal de.

    On one hand, it proved that he was a smart and resourceful man, capable of inspiring the loyalty of those around him. On the other hand, however, it made him a thief that had pushed two of the most talented young mages of the Kingdom tomit treason.

    They both knew about the sword and yet neither of them had mentioned it to protect their friend¡¯s secret. Sure, they had no idea what Lith could make out of that sword, but that didn¡¯t make him any less dangerous nor their crime any less severe.

    Yet Tyris decided to let it slide. She was an enforcer of the change, not of thew.

    Also, she was pretty sure that Mogar had assembled all the three Guardians of the Garlen continent to spectate, even though one would have been more than enough to wipe out the Odi, to make them aware she had ns for Lith.

 Chapter 750 Hard Truth Part 2

    ¡¯I really hope that Lith understands how important the few years he has left with his friends are.¡¯ Tyris thought. ¡¯Without roots, a man is nothing but a leaf in the wind that life is. My beloved Valeron didn¡¯t abdicate to prevent others to discover about his long life.

    ¡¯With me by his side, there was no one that could threaten him or our children. He left all that he had fought so hard to build simply because he had no one to share it with anymore.

    ¡¯He loved me dearly, and so he loved our children and grandchildren, but after over a century, he couldn¡¯t stand being a relic of the past, nor seeing our kids be old while he remained young.

    ¡¯Valeron begged me countless times to Awaken them, and that was his only plea that I could never fulfill. It broke his heart and almost our rtionship. Yet it was Arthan¡¯s treachery that killed him.

    ¡¯He could never recover from the guilt of having chosen the wrong person to stand on the throne and it¡¯s the reason why he asked me to select the rulers in its stead even when he was still alive.¡¯

    Before leaving, Tyris shook everyone¡¯s hand and told Lith to call Commander Berion when he had decided about what he wanted as his reward.

    ¡¯I must say, Sark is right. I have to get out more often. I truly enjoy seeing the Kingdom thrive and knowing the descendants of my old friends. Yet Leegaain is also right. I must pick another human form. I¡¯m sick and tired of people that check out my ass, make me a marriage proposal, and sometimes do both at the same time.¡¯

    She thought while Warping to Sark¡¯s home. Tyris wanted to share her impressions about the two hybrids with her before going to Leegaain¡¯s ce. Since he had heard from Zoreth, he had be obsessed with finding a cure for his daughter.

    "That was definitely out of the ordinary." Jirni said with her eyes semi-closed while she searched her memory. "I¡¯ve never heard of this Constable Griffon, not even after bing an Archon.

    "To make matters odder, I was certain to know every member of the Royal family, yet I would surely remember a person this peculiar."

    "She was so powerful and intimidating that I had a hard time keeping myposure." Said Phloria. "Not to mention that she made me feel like a really ugly duckling."

    "You and me both, sis." Quy sighed while all the implications of Tyris¡¯s words were slowly sinking in her brain.

    "Not that. I mean how she spoke about Phloria¡¯s career. It¡¯s not a Constable work to decide how a failure will be handled by the High Command, no matter if they¡¯re members of the Royal Family or not.

    "Just like the Queen doesn¡¯t mess with the army, the King does the same with the Association. Yet she spoke on behalf of both of them. Either she is the middleman of the Royal couple, or she has been sent here as an eye-candy to sway a certain someone." Jirni said while looking at the unfazed Lith.

    Orion had something to add, but then he remembered about Jirni¡¯s presence and his brain activated before it was toote, allowing him to turn the very poetic words he was about to say about Constable Griffon into a harmless:

    "I told you so, Lith. The Kingdom will pay you handsomely for your services, but gold can only get you so far. Otherwise you can only rely on your own research or a stroke of luck."

    Lith considered the purple crystals he had gotten from Kh, his gold coins funds, and the Adamant in his possession.

    ¡¯A truckload of gold sounds nice, but what I must really aim for are metals and crystals. The mana crystals we found in Kh are rough since Crystalsmithing had yet to be invented, but that¡¯s the least of my problems.

    ¡¯Sure, if Solus is right and Origin mes can cleanse powerful materials from the residual traces of failed Forgemastering attempts, it means that I have enough Adamant for both a sword and an armor, plus I can try as many times as I want.

    ¡¯Yet not only is that a big "if", but it also is pointless unless I find some blueprints for runes. Based on what both Yondra and Orion told me, without runes I can¡¯t Bond crystals to Adamant, and without crystals, I can¡¯t infuse powerful enchantments.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Well, we got back from barely three days. Let¡¯s rest and recover before using Origin mes, I don¡¯t want you to lose one more day of lifespan.¡¯ Solus said.

    "You are right, Orion, but no matter how well the Kingdom promises to treat me, I prefer flying solo. I¡¯ve got enough time that I can rely on luck for a little longer. If pushes to shove, I¡¯ll probably ask you as my mentor." Lith smirked.

    "And I¡¯ll be d to refuse." Orion smirked back. "I¡¯m already too busy between my duty and my apprentices, so unless a Royal decree forces me to take you in, you¡¯ll have to look for another master."

    "Speaking about time, it¡¯s damnte. I have to go." Lith ignored Orion¡¯s remark, ording to his pocket watch he was going to bete for dinner. He left the room with a brisk walk while he and Solus organized their days between research and experiments.

    Time. That word triggered something inside of Quy, who had never stopped fidgeting ever since Constable Griffon had summoned her.

    "Phloria, I need to talk to you. Can we please go to my room?" She said.

    Phloria nodded and the two young women left the tea room as well.

    "Those were two more things I didn¡¯t expect to see today after a member of the Royal family actually bowed to us. Quy lying to a Royal Constable and you refusing to take Lith as your apprentice. Do you mind exining?" Jirni asked.

    "I¡¯ll be honest with you. I like the kid mostly because he cares for our girls, but I don¡¯t trust Lith farther than I can throw him. He pulled too many miracles out of his ass during the years. First his sister, then Balkor, then Nalear, and now this?

    "I mean he was an extra in the expedition and ended up saving the others. Plus, there¡¯s the matter of Orichalcum and Skinwalker armors. I¡¯m a Royal Forgemaster for more than twenty years and I never managed to pull that.

    "Heck, even the Royalsmission some of their equipment from me. The fact that he dumped my little flower is another minus on my book." Orion replied, grunting loudly.

    "Geniuses are just like that dear. Our daughter faced Nalear as a student as well and it was her dumping him." Jirni rose an eyebrow at his reaction. To her, Lith was a friend and a priceless asset, the bestbination she could ask for.

    "He should have fought for her instead of moping his way out of her life! Also, he¡¯s no genius and we both know it. Manohar is a genius, Balkor is a genius, and they are bothpletely out of it. Lith is too normal to be in their ballpark. He¡¯s as magically talented as me and as devious as you are, dear."

 Chapter 751 Secrets of the Trade Part 1

    "Lith¡¯s achievements make no sense. Phloria has trained all her life under my guidance, yet he fought Nalear better than she did, even holding his ground alone. I had plenty of masters, books, and time to refine my art, yet he managed to craft an Orichalcum Skinwalker armor before me.

    "Aren¡¯t you scared of what he could be with proper training?" Orion pointed out.

    "I¡¯ve only two regrets. That Lith wasn¡¯t born as our child and that he is too stubborn to realize his own limits. I¡¯m not afraid of what he might be so much as him dying in another crazy experiment of his. It would be such a waste of potential." Unlike Orion, Jirni knew about Lith¡¯s crippled life force and so did Elina.

    That was the reason why both women would have liked him to have children, even though forpletely different reasons. Elina just wished for his son a happy life, to experiment all the joy that he had gifted to others.

    Jirni, instead, hoped that Lith would pass down his secrets to his natural heir and that would create another opportunity for her family to inherit such knowledge as well.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in Quy¡¯s quarters, the young mage couldn¡¯t pretend anymore to ignore the elephant in the room. Not now that she had lied on his behalf to a Royal Constable.

    "Oh, gods, what are we going to do now? What if Constable Griffon exposes our charade?" Quy asked, adding a quick pacing to her fidgeting since her legs were unable to stay still as much as her hands.

    "We¡¯re not going to do anything." Phloria picked Quy up and force her to sit down on the bed. Her sister¡¯s anxiety was seriously starting to annoy her. "You haven¡¯t lied and neither did Lith. I¡¯m the only one who distorted the facts just enough to cover for him.

    "Besides, how could she possibly expose us? There were only the three of us in the undergroundb."

    "Yes, but what if Constable Griffon is as good as Mom at sniffing lies? What if the Ernas household ends up paying for our mistakes? Lith kept the sword for himself and I still lied by omission." Quy said while holding her own head between her hands.

    "Quy, we have lied to our parents, to the Headmaster, and to everyone else until now whenever Lith pulled one of his miracles. This is hardly the first time we lie to the authorities. What¡¯s the real issue here?" Phloria asked.

    "It¡¯s just that it feels so weird. You think you know someone and then you find out that they are another person entirely, if even the term person is still appropriate in our case.

    "Don¡¯t get me wrong, I love Lith like a brother, but he is- Gods, I don¡¯t know what he is. How can you be so calm? What we¡¯ve just done is an act of treason. We have lied to an official of the Kingdom and helped a potentially dangerous individual to snatch a powerful artifact.

    "We have basically put everything we have at risk for a dragon-human thingy. Why didn¡¯t he tell us the truth sooner and how could you have kept being his girlfriend knowing what you know?" Quy asked.

    "I¡¯m calm because this changes nothing to me." Phloria replied. "I lied for him back when I thought he was just stronger than regr people and I¡¯ll do it again whenever Lith needs my help.

    "He should have exined to you why he didn¡¯t share his secret before. He was afraid of scaring you away and judging from your reaction, I can¡¯t me him for it. As for me, how could I break up with him just because he hade clean with me?

    "How could I turn my back on him when he did it thinking only about my sake, to protect me from the danger that Lith believed he posed to my life? Lith knew I would have been afraid, that my first instinct would have been to scream and run, just like you¡¯re doing right now.

    "Yet I stayed, because what really scared me weren¡¯t the scales, the eyes, or the ws. It was all the pain in his eyes, the honesty when he called himself a monster like it was the most natural thing in the world, and how afraid he was that somehow whatever is tainting is body could harm me.

    "Do the scales change him from the mean eyed little runt who taught us about first magic? Do the eyes make him less of the friend who held our hands during and after the fourth year¡¯s second exam? Who fought alone against Balkor¡¯s minions for our sake?

    "Maybe it¡¯s stupid of me, but when he tried to push me away, I didn¡¯t think about the people that I¡¯ve seen him kill, nor about how scary his true nature was. All I could think about was how after Nalear enved you, Lith spent every night on your bedside, holding your hand and caressing your head until you fell asleep.

    "About all the time he spent holding me at night because I was terrified by all the terrible things we¡¯ve experienced and by all the people we have lost during our time at the academy.

    "Lith had lived our same experiences, yet even if he was the one on his deathbed after saving Protector, even if he had been captured and tortured by Nalear, he consoled me. Not the other way around.

    "Sorry, but I don¡¯t feel a martyr for doing what I did back then nor for doing what I¡¯ve done today. Neither I¡¯m acting out of pity, only out of affection. It¡¯s always easy to talk in hindsight, but have you ever stopped considering that he could have left us for dead?

    "And I don¡¯t mean just back in Kh, but also every time he could have easily get out of danger if not for our presence. How many times have we been able to afford the luxury of being helpless just because Lith was with us?

    Phloria sat down in front of Quy, watching her in the eyes while holding her hands.

    "Who is the real monster? A human who can shapeshift into something else or a person capable of turning their back to a friend just because they are different? He saved you, me, even Mom, so many times that I wouldn¡¯t even care if wasn¡¯t human at all. Lith is Lith, everything else is just a meaningless detail."

    "Gods, Dad is right. Lith has been a moron to break up with you." Quy said while pondering her sister¡¯s words.

    "I¡¯m the one who broke up with him. Why does everyone seem to always forget this part?" Phloria chuckled.

    "Because you¡¯re one of the most amazing people I¡¯ve ever known." Quy replied while hugging Phloria. "And you know what? You are right. Even though Lith himself doesn¡¯t know what he is, I do. He¡¯s my friend and part of my family.

    "Lith basically adopted me before Mom did and over the years, he has done more than just saving my life. He has always been there for me, helping me to get back on my feet when I was too broken to stand on my own.

    "That¡¯s all I need to know about him."

    Phloria nodded, returning her hug. The matter with the sword, however, worried even her quite a bit. She had shared most of her knowledge about runes with Lith back in Kh and all members of the expedition knew how close the two of them were.

 Chapter 752 Secrets of the Trade Part 2

    If Lith started to produce rune-based artifacts, Phloria and her whole family would end in a lot of troubles. Yet she remained silent, to not ruin the moment.

    ¡¯I can only trust Lith to do the right thing and use the knowledge he will acquire from the sword in a cover way. After all, he has trusted me with his everything, I don¡¯t see why I shouldn¡¯t do the same.¡¯ She though.

    "By the way, do you think we should tell Friya?" Quy said. "I wonder if she would be more surprised by discovering the truth or outraged by being the only one of us left out."

    "It¡¯s not up to us to decide." Phloria shook her head. "Lith¡¯s and Friya¡¯s lives are their own. They both have a lot on their te already. Plus, I think we had enough emotions for a long, long time, right?"

    Quy nodded, hoping that the next surprise she experienced would be less mind-blowing and more heart-warming. Like Lucky having puppies or one of her sisters finding someone deserving their love.

    ***

    Athung Soranot, the emissary of the Council of the Awakened Humans was having one of the biggest headaches she had ever experienced during her 25 years of life.

    The same day the expedition team had escaped from Kh, her old master, Raagu, had given her the mission to lead Lith at the current Headquarters of the Council to be examined, but approaching him had turned out to be a nightmare.

    The Ernas mansion didn¡¯t allow for visitors until the three survivors had recovered. At least all those who didn¡¯t bear the Royal Crest. Even with all of her contacts, Athung had failed to find a way in to the mansion, official or otherwise.

    To make matters worse, with all the protections in ce, even a true mage would be easily detected and she needed a friendly approach, not to be the target of a manhunt.

    She had thought to have found her opportunity when Lith had left the manor, only to lose his tracks before she could even reach hisst known position. Moving with Tower Warp made most of his movements untraceable since it left no official record she could follow.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t Lith moving like a ghost to cause her such distress. While waiting for her mark, she had collected all the information avable about him and it was enough to make her want to cry.

    "I thought this job would be about leading by the hand a small kid inside a wolf den, but this guy looks more like a rabid beast." Athung said to Zartan, her best friend. "ording to his file, this Lith is a paranoid with anti-social behavior who has paved his career with corpses.

    "How the heck can I persuade this Verhen to even sit down and talk to me without him attempting to chop my head off? All the Awakened he met in the past tried to kill him, so opening with ¡¯I¡¯m like you¡¯ is more likely to trigger him rather than reassure him.

    "What¡¯s worse, they were all affiliated with the Council, so the reputation that precedes me isn¡¯t good at all." She sighed.

    "Why don¡¯t you tell the old bat to fuck off and give this crap assignment to one of her beloved disciples?" Zartan asked. Just like her, he was free from all the master-disciple obligations and was a minor member of the Council.

    "Are you kidding me? Even though now I¡¯m an independent yer, I¡¯m still one of the most eligible candidates to inherit her legacy, and I want to keep things that way. Raagu may be a pain in the ass, but she¡¯s a filthy rich pain in the ass and she¡¯s not going to live much longer." Athung replied.

    Unlike regr disciples, Athung had Awakened herself when she was just twelve years old and her feats had led Raagu to her doorstep when she was just fourteen. Raagu had taught her everything Athung knew about magic, but the young Awakened was aware that her mentor was withholding most of her knowledge.

    Being a natural Awakened meant that Athung wasn¡¯t bound to serve her master for one hundred years since it was a treatment reserved to those who had needed external help to be turned into true mages.

    Once Athung had learned all that Raagu was willing to teach her and the Council had recognized her as its full-fledged member, she had got her freedom back. Yet it hade at a price.

    Sure, as an apprentice she had to obey Raagu¡¯s every order without question and had been forced to put her abilities to the test even in fields of the magical research that she had no interest into, but her life had been so much easier back then.

    Whenever she had a question or reached a bottleneck in her personal research, Raagu or her library would provide Athung will all the answers she needed. During her eight years of apprenticeship, Athung never had to worry about books, money, or materials.

    Whatever she needed, her master would provide it to her on a silver tter in a matter of minutes. During thest two years, instead, her abilities had stagnated. Since Athung had never attended an academy, she had no connections nor a name for herself.

    The moment she had walked out Raagu¡¯s manor, life had harshly reminded her that without money one couldn¡¯t make magic and vice versa. Finding a ce where to live, setting up her ownb, acquiring the proper materials, were all things she didn¡¯t even know where to start.

    No one would hire a rogue, nameless mage, and to acquire what she needed through crime would have made her one of the most wanted criminals in the Kingdom, if not even put her on the hitlist of the Council.

    Magical knowledge and resources were all heavily guarded by the Association. An Awakened one could bust one or two deposits, but not without leaving plenty of evidence and witnesses behind.

    Exposing the existence of true magic for petty reason was the mostmon cause of death among foolish Awakened ones. Raagu had reminded her of it countless times during her training.

    So Athung had spent most of her time building her own reputation and making a living instead of focusing on magic, which frustrated her to no end.

    "Those old bastards set you up too, huh?" Zartan sighed. Once being a self Awakened was reason enough for an elder to bestow upon people like Athung their legacy, but ever since Silverwing had spread her knowledge, things had changed.

    Back in the day, the Council hadughed at her simplified version of true magic, considering it a fool¡¯s errand. Yet after genius magicians like Manohar had appeared, the Awakened had almost choked on their ownughter.

    In less than a millennium, thebined efforts of the magicalmunity had brought fake mages on a level dangerously simr to that of true mages and it was only a matter of time before they caught up or, even worse, surpassed the Awakened.

    Now people like Raagu couldn¡¯t settle for brilliant heirs, they looked for geniuses. Everyone wanted a Manohar of their own. His feat to conjure hard light constructs, something that only light magic experts with centuries of experience managed to learn without a legacy, had made more than one Council elder weep blood.

 Chapter 753 Meeting Part 1

    "Yeah, they did it on purpose. Keeping us from the academies so that we have no usible exnation for our powers and we arepletely dependent on our old masters.

    "I never had to learn how to cook or even buy groceries, let alone get myself a job. I can¡¯t miss this opportunity. If I be Raagu¡¯s heir, I¡¯ll easily be an elder and I will never have to bother myself with money again." Athung snarled.

    Each mage could only have an heir because legacies had proved to be like kingdoms, they couldn¡¯t be split without causing a war. The Council¡¯s first attempt of increasing the numbers of Awakened to keep up the pace with fake magic¡¯s development had brought disastrous results.

    Madmen, degenerates, or even worse, foolish goody-two-shoes idealists that wanted to save Mogar from itself had infiltrated their ranks, forcing the Council to purge the rotten apples before they could nt their seeds and spread like a disease.

    Having more than one heir had also proved to be nigh impossible. Every mage lived believing to be the best, and sharing wasn¡¯t their strong suit. Usually having more than one heir devolved in them plotting against each other or trying to persuade their master to get rid of thepetition.

    Since raising their numbers had turned out to be too difficult, the Council of humans had decided to increase the quality of the heir candidates. If people like Balkor could achieve that much just by themselves, there was no telling the heights they might reach with millennia of legacies backing their research.

    "Aren¡¯t you afraid that this Verhen guy could steal your spotlight? I mean, if he¡¯s really a self-Awakened, he has our same background, but unlike us, he has already made quite a name for himself." Zartan said.

    "Unlikely." Athung sneered at the idea. "Most of his so-called feats can be easily exined with the basics of true magic disguised as talent. The only notable thing he has is his Forgemastering skill and Raagu is no Forgemaster.

    "That and his body count." Zartan pointed at all the names listed as Lith¡¯s confirmed kills.

    "That¡¯s why I¡¯m so frustrated. Even if Raagu allowed me to employ it, brute force is not an option. I spent the first twelve years of my life as a normal human and the rest holed up in a safe environment, whereas this guy has grown up on the battlefield.

    "How the heck do I get a paranoid psycho killer to follow me without asking questions?" She mmed her fists on the table in frustration, cracking it. The idea of having to spend money to rece the furniture turned her stress into fury.

    "Honey trap?" Zartan suggested with augh while exposing his hairy calf. "I mean, if violence and diplomacy are off the table, you don¡¯t have much of a choice." His joke earned him a powerful punch in the face as an answer.

    "That¡¯s not funny at all! It¡¯s my future that is at stake here, so either you get serious or you get out of here." All Awakened received physical training andbat lessons, but very few of them actually had the opportunity to put them to use.

    After two years of adventuring on her own, Athung considered to have gained quite some battle experience, but not enough to take head on an Awakened Ranger, at least not if she yed it fairly.

    She checked with her contacts again. The moment Lith took a Warp Gate, she would be informed of it. The hard part would be to find a way to not let their meeting end with one of them leaving the field in a body bag.

    ***

    Living in the Ernas manor had many perks, like their personal Warp Gate. After a good shave, Lith only needed a few steps to reach any destination he wanted. The Skinwalker armor relieved him of the necessity of changing clothes and he hated cologne.

    Due to his enhanced senses, most smells were too intense to be anything but a nuisance for him.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe I had to Forgemaster myself a razor.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Well, it¡¯s not like you had any other choice. Normal des lose their edge after just one use. It was either that or starting to use regr fire.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Being too impervious can be annoying. Even cutting your hair now requires a mage or an enchanted de.¡¯

    Lith walked through the Gate, stepping directly inside the army¡¯s headquarters of Derios. Unlike Rangers, Constables didn¡¯t operate in a specific zone, they would go wherever their services were required.

    While his identity was being checked, Lith regretted not having a single gift for Kam. It was their first date in over a month and yet he was empty-handed. Between the rest and the breakthrough, the best he could have done was stealing flowers from the Ernas¡¯s garden, but that was low even by his standards.

    ¡¯It¡¯s better to give her nothing rather than random bullcrap. Kami knows what I¡¯ve been through and I can always make up for this for our one-year anniversary.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t forget about me. I don¡¯t want to y third wheel.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry. The moment I know what she has nned for tonight, you¡¯re free to go. There¡¯s a mana geyser near Derios. I¡¯ll Warp you there before leaving the city.¡¯ Lith replied.

    One of Kam¡¯s duties as Jirni¡¯s Field Assistant was to check all the statements and alibis collected during their investigation. It was a job as important as it was boring. It required quite some time, during which Jirni would usually sort out her case folders.

    There was only so much time before a trail became cold and they had to follow multiple cases at the same time, even in different cities throughout the Kingdom.

    Kam had been left alone because Jirni knew that when a fellow Royal Constable requires your presence while she interrogates your daughters you can¡¯t turn down the invitation lightly.

    Lith had no idea why he would always meet Constable Griffon, but he was certain it was no coincidence.

    ¡¯I think the Royals are onto me because of all the "odd disappearances" that happen around me ever since I took the purple crystal while I was still attending the boot camp. I guess they were worried I might have taken some souvenir from Kh, so they used my rtionship with the Ernas to try and intimidate me.

    ¡¯ording to Yondra, if I had ever asked someone about the sword or the booklet that we recovered in Kh, the Kingdom would have confiscated them from us. I doubt that the Odi¡¯s sword or the fungus¡¯ ring would be any different.

    ¡¯Tyris confirmed us that the Royals are airtight about runes, let alone on Adamant. If we manage to purify and reuse it, we¡¯ll need a heck of a cover story.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Agreed, but why send her specifically?¡¯ Solus asked. ¡¯Wouldn¡¯t Jirni have been a better choice? She¡¯s our friend and that way they could¡¯ve tested the loyalty of both of you at the same time.¡¯

    ¡¯ssic carrot and stick technique. The stick is a powerful mage, who is also a Constable and a member of the Royal family. It¡¯s the bestbination to put pressure on me and attempt to make me fall in line.

    ¡¯Also, she¡¯s quite the carrot, but if they think that I¡¯d fall for a pretty face, they are gravely mistaken.¡¯

    Actually, Lith couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. Their first encounter was due to the silver pir that had appeared when he had killed Treius. Since such events had unfolded inside Tyris¡¯s turf she had been eager to check on the anomaly.

 Chapter 754 Meeting Part 2

    The second had happened when a group of trespassing Awakened had practiced forbidden magic, triggering Tyris¡¯s wrath. As for Kh¡¯s aftermath, she was more interested in Solus than she was in Lith.

    Usually, aside from Guardians, no one was ever allowed to have an audience with Mogar.

    "Are you done working or do you need some more time?" Lith asked after seeing that Kam still had a couple of folders open in front of her.

    "I¡¯m done. Why are you sote?" It wasn¡¯t a reprimand, more genuine curiosity. Lith was anal-retentive in many things and punctuality was among those.

    "I¡¯ll tell you on our way out."

    "Give me a couple of minutes." Kam said, walking towards the nearest bathroom. She didn¡¯t need to freshen her make up for the ce where they were headed, she just didn¡¯t want to unt her Skinwalker armor in front of her colleagues.

    Having reached the position of Field Assistant despite her background was already a reason for envy, and having an Archon as her mentor even though she was just thest arrived only made things worse.

    Thest thing Kam needed was to add more rumors to those that already were whispered behind her back.

    She entered one of the stalls and let the uniform shapeshift into civilian clothes. Having a small wardrobe of self-cleaning, tailor-made clothes on herself was another luxury she doubted that she could live without now.

    "Where are you taking me tonight?" Lith asked after her return. Kam was now wearing a white silk high neckyered ruffle blouse, ck pants, and shoes with just enough heel to be able to kiss him without too much effort.

    "I was thinking about a family dinner. You¡¯re just back and I don¡¯t want to hog you all to myself." She replied while taking his hand and leading Lith back to the Warp Gate.

    Lith sighed, it was what he had suspected the moment he had seen hering out of the bathroom. Those were the less sexy clothes she had, more suited to a business dinner than to a date.

    "Wow, I thought you would have been happy of spending a bit of time with your family after this long." Kam was a bit annoyed by his reaction, but at least he wasn¡¯t pretending to be thrilled about it.

    "Don¡¯t get me wrong. I love them, but a family dinner is not exactly what I was looking forward. Besides, we spent some time together on the day of my return."

    "Seeing you eat and sleep is not much of a visit! Also, there¡¯s someone I think you should meet." Kam¡¯s words made Lith¡¯s mood go from sour to bad. His evening was already looking like a bust, meeting strangers wasn¡¯t an improvement at all.

    "Do you want to bring them along for our anniversary too? Because for that many people I¡¯ll need to make the reservation quite in advance." He sneered.

    His words made Kam stop abruptly.

    "Did you remember that?" She was honestly shocked. After everything Lith had been through during thest few weeks, she was sure it would have slipped his mind.

    "Of course. Jokes aside, do you want to go somewhere in particr? Because..." A long, sweet kiss cut him short before he could rant about how little time was left.

    "Anything is fine by me." She replied with a dazzling smile that almost made Lith feel guilty about his currently grumpy mood. Almost.

    A few Warp Steps brought them near their destination, where a surprise was waiting for him. Someone was standing right past the borders of the arrays protecting Lith¡¯s house.

    It was a woman in her middle twenties, about 1.75 (5¡¯9") meters tall with raven-ck hair that reached the small of her back. She was wearing afortable adventurer set made of hardened leatherprised of a jacket, a shirt, pants, and boots.

    The clothes were loose enough to not impede her movements, but could do very little to hide her soft curves. There was something nervous about her countenance that raised several gs in Lith¡¯s mind.

    The spot of her choosing was too peculiar to be a coincidence. She either had used an array detecting spell or she was able to see them. Also, there was the fact that she had been staring at them from the moment they had appeared, as if she had seen the Warp Steps opening.

    ¡¯Zartan may be an idiot, but he was right about one thing.¡¯ Athung thought while waiting for Lith to arrive. The moment her contacts had let her know that he had taken a Gate, she knew it was only a matter of time before he came home.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t give up on diplomacy without even trying. Mostly because I¡¯ve got no other option.¡¯ Athung took a long look at the couple with Life Vision before they could notice her.

    She was honestly unimpressed by both of them. The only astonishing thing about Lith was his vigor, whereas his mana core seemed weak. The cloaking rings he wore hid Solus and his magical powers, but not his vitality.

    Lith was an Awakened since his birth, so his body was as strong as it could possibly be.

    Lith¡¯s physical prowess was something that an Awakened of his same build and stage of core refinement could equal but not surpass. Which made him much stronger than Athung who was shorter, lighter, and had experienced fewer breakthroughs.

    ¡¯For the gods¡¯ sake, how can someone so much younger than me already being that strong?¡¯ She thought. ¡¯To make matters worse, for an Awakened, he doesn¡¯t seem to have a great taste in women.¡¯

    Due to the body refinement, all Awakened were beautiful ording to human standards, which made them very picky about their partners. Athung had lived most of her life with Raagu, so she found most humans to be ugly.

    ording to Awakened standards, Tista would have been considered a beautiful woman, Lith an average guy, Kam homely at best, and Athung pretty.

    "Is she the person you wanted to introduce to me?" Lith asked while weaving several spells at the same time, just to be on the safe side.

    "Of course not!" Kam replied a bit too fast for her own liking.

    ¡¯As if I¡¯d introduce such a hottie to my boyfriend.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯What¡¯s wrong with Lutia? How can so many beautiful people live here?¡¯

    She was unaware that Lith¡¯s family had been treated by him over the years, bringing them up to Awakened standards.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know who that woman is, but all of her equipment is enchanted and she is likely to be an Awakened. I can see her blue core sending streams of mana throughout her body, whereas fake mages have static cores.¡¯ Solus thought, breaking the impasse.

    "Kami stay behind me and don¡¯t move, no matter what!" Lith stood in front of her as a blue aura erupted from his body, covering ten meters (33 feet) around him and two sets of what appeared to be membranous wings came out from his back.

    Lith had just used the Full Guard and the Death Call spells. The former allowed Lith to perceive everything and everyone within its boundaries, making it impossible to take him by surprise. It also allowed him to defend himself even from attacksing from his blind spots.

    Usually Solus¡¯s senses were enough, but since he was with Kam and had no idea if more people were cloaked in the vicinity, he couldn¡¯t afford to take risks.

 Chapter 755 Demands Part 1

    Death Call, instead, was one of Lith¡¯s personal spells.

    It conjured four dense constructs made of darkness magic that he could move as if they were his limbs. Once they looked like tentacles, but after fighting Thrud Griffon Lith had learned how to alter their shape at will.

    He had chosen to make them look like wings, as a cover in case he had to shapeshift and to not give out their purpose to his opponent.

    "Calm down, I¡¯m not here to fight." Athung said, swallowing a lump of saliva. "My name is Athung Soranot and I¡¯m here on behalf of the Council. We need to talk."

    She decided to go all out as well, spreading a blue aura that was just an aura and preparing her best spells in case she needed to buy some time to escape.

    ¡¯Lith has interacted with Awakened more than once, he can¡¯t be that much of a country bumpkin anymore. Mentioning the Council should calm him. I can¡¯t afford a fight.

    ¡¯Not only because of Raagu¡¯s orders, but also because if the Queen¡¯s corps meddle with this, I¡¯m as good as dead.¡¯ She thought, hoping that Lith wasn¡¯t the madman his personal file described.

    A flick of Lith¡¯s wrist Blinked Kam inside his house, letting him free to speak or fight as he saw fit.

    "I¡¯ve nothing to say to the Council. Thest time I dealt with one of you, I almost got killed!" Lith was referring to Inxialot the Lich, who had forced him to partake in a ritual fight to the death against a vampire, but Athung had no way to know it.

    "I assure you that the Council was unaware of the deeds performed by the rogue Awakened you faced in Zantia. Forbidden magic is a crime and their masters¡¯ have been already been punished ording to the Council¡¯sw, so the issue can be considered as settled." Athung replied.

    ¡¯Those six nutjobs too were part of the Council? And here I thought that the Griffon Kingdom was fucked up. Guess the Council takes the cake.¡¯ Lith thought, adding Zantia to his grievances with the Awakenedmunity and wondering if Treius had also been part of such a viper¡¯s nest.

    "Settled my pale ass." Lith said. "Every time I met an Awakened, I had a fight to the death. First, the idiot from the desert who tried to merge with the ck Star-" an almost imperceptible flinch in Athung¡¯s eye corner confirmed his suspicions.

    "-then that crazy Lich, and finally those idiots. I already have enough troubles abiding by the Griffon Kingdom¡¯sws, I¡¯ve no reason to waste my time with another bunch of ipetent imbeciles. Scram."

    Lith moved forward and several spheres of mana appeared in mid-air, surrounding his enemy. Athung was impressed, but far from scared. As far as true magic went, Lith was clearly a self-taught and had yet to show anything remarkable to her.

    "How can you be so blind?" Athung repeated word by word the same pitch that Raagu had used over a decade before to entice Athung into bing her apprentice.

    "It¡¯s your first real opportunity to meet other people like you. People that will live as long as you do and that have answers to questions that you probably have yet to think about.

    "Our magical legacy is as ancient as Mogar itself, it¡¯s greater than Silverwing¡¯s or of that of any other human mage you¡¯ll ever meet. Aren¡¯t you tired of hiding who you are? To practice the humans¡¯ fake magic?

    "I¡¯m not offering you a cage, but a ce where you belong. A ce among people who can help you carve your path in life.

    "Awakened are a tight-knitmunity with rules that are meant to protect you, not to imprison you. If youe with me, you¡¯ll be part of something much bigger than the army of this insignificant Kingdom.

    "Awakened have no borders, we live here as well as in the Empire and the Desert. With the backing of the Council, you will be able to travel ignoring all the political shenanigans and have ess to many so-called state secrets."

    Lith was long since aware to not be the only Awakened. He had stopped considering himself special after befriending the magical beasts, learning from them fusion magic and most of their knowledge about magic.

    Since Athung nor her equipment seemed particrly powerful, he had no reason to believe that Awakened, just like humans, would give their secrets away for free. He had stopped believing in free meals and fairy godmothers back on Earth.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯We¡¯re alone. The members of the Queen¡¯s corps are either cloaked or far away enough to not be a threat. Since we never had trouble spotting them in the past, I¡¯d say they are not here.¡¯ She replied.

    "You are letting your prejudices prevent you from seeing the bigger picture." Athung continued. "Yes, Awakened have criminals among their ranks, just like humans, but without the Council, the undead would have taken you prisoner. You owe us."

    "Also, if you follow me, you¡¯ll have the opportunity to be a recognized member of our kin and deepen your understanding of how Mogar really works."

    "I owe you nothing. You didn¡¯t protect me so much as ourmon secret." Lith snarled, but after talking with Orion and Tyris, the part about the Awakened ones¡¯ legacy was almost intriguing. Almost.

    "Plus, why should I follow you? Why should I trust someone I¡¯ve never met before? You could easily lead me into a trap or best-case scenario get me surrounded by a bunch of pompous jackasses who think they are my betters. Thanks, but no thanks.

    "Last warning, scram."

    "Is there something I can do to earn your trust?" Athung asked. She felt as if she was talking to a wall and the worst part was that he was right.

    If Athung could turn back time to when she had been offered her apprenticeship, she would tell Raagu to fuck off and make the Council chase her, rather than begging for their favors like she was now forced to.

    "To scram would be a good start and never returning would be even better." Lith snapped his fingers and Silverwing Hexagram appeared around them, suppressing only Athung¡¯s spells.

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible! No one can conjure this array so fast by themselves. I need to...¡¯

    Her train of thought was derailed by Lith¡¯s hand closing around her neck and lifting her from the ground. The split-second of surprise had been more than enough to close the distance separating them before she could react.

    Athung unleashed all the spells she had at the ready, making the six points of the Hexagram light for each element nullified, yet Lith was unfazed. Life Vision showed Athung that even though he had countered several tier five spells his mana was unaffected, whereas hers was almost depleted.

    ¡¯What kind of monster is this guy?¡¯ She tried to loosen his grip, but it was like pushing a mountain away.

    The choke prevented her from using Invigoration and she knew that she wasn¡¯t his match in a physical confrontation, so she simply stopped fighting back.

    "That¡¯s better. Are you ready to go now? You can either pass my message or be my message. Take your pick." Lith said, receiving a nod in reply.

    "As long as I don¡¯t expose our existence, I don¡¯t break anyw of the Council, correct?" He asked as more nodding ensued.

    "Then we¡¯ve nothing to talk about."

 Chapter 756 Demands Part 2

    "Tell those idiots that if they stay out of my hair, I¡¯ll stay out of theirs. If they really want to meet me, we¡¯ll do it at my conditions, and only after I received properpensation for all the troubles their ipetence caused me."

    Lith let her go since killing was pointless. The Council might always send someone else and the woman was nothing more than a messenger. He had made his point, any more would only anger the power backing her.

    Someone capable of making a blue cored Awakened move at their whims was a force to be reckoned with. It was better to speak softly and let them y by his rules. As long as Lith could prepare the field in advance, he was certain to have the upper hand.

    Athung recovered her strength the moment she was capable of breathing again. She stepped back slowly, using Life Vision to confirm that Lith wasn¡¯t conjuring more mana for some sick cat and mouse game.

    Athung got out of Silverwing¡¯s array and Blinked away, eager to tell Raagu that she had done her part and that she wanted nothing more to do with Lith Verhen.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t believe he had no master. His abilities don¡¯t make sense. Someone must have helped him along the way. That or he Awakened in the crib.¡¯ She thought.

    It was just an idiom that the Awakenedmunity used to describe an unbelievable event, except this time it was an actually precise description of the truth.

    Lith cast the Life Detection array, to make sure that no one, not even the members of the Queen corps were near enough to have bore witness to the events.

    Spending his first night out in a month with his family was already bad. Being forced to kill the very same people who had loyally protected his beloved ones would have been the icing on the crap.

    For once luck was by his side. Or to be more precise, it was Athung¡¯s doing. To be able to freely speak with Lith, she had organized a small distraction that had actually worked against her.

    "Thanks for your help, Reaper." Lith said turning towards a secr oak. Back when Kam had confirmed Lith that Athung wasn¡¯t their guest, he had used air magic to alert his allies with the magical equivalent of an ultrasonic whistle.

    "Please, we just answered your call, Scourge." Reaper the Manticore, the king in the south of the Trawn woods stepped out of the shadows. He had the body and the head of a lion, with quills like those of a porcupine protruding from most of his body.

    Reaper also had ck feathered wings on his back, horns like an ibex on his head, and the tip of his tail was a mass of spikes. Each one was infused with a different element and ready to be thrown at the enemy.

    "Who was that puny female?" The Manticore was so tall that he needed to slightly tilt his head up to look into Lith¡¯s eyes.

    "Troubles. Is Lifebringer with you?" Lith asked while checking on Reaper¡¯s equipment.

    The cloaking ring on his tail reduced his signature to that of a big animal to anyone who wasn¡¯t Lith while the metal ws he had made for the Manticore made the creature even more lethal.

    "Yes, and so is Sentinel. Without them, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to set the Hexagram up so fast." The other two Emperor Beasts, respectively a Kirin and a Garmr, joined them as soon as they were certain that the coast was clear.

    They each wore equipment simr to Reaper¡¯s that Lith had crafted for them before leaving for Kh.

    "Why didn¡¯t you let us simply turn her into our dinner?" Sentinel asked. She once was the Ry that had taken Protector¡¯s ce as pack leader and king.

    "Because with an unknown enemy, one has to be careful. The cloaking rings coupled with your stealth abilities make you invisible even to Awakened ones.

    "This way, she thought I was some kind of monster whereas if she learned about you, the next time she could stage attacks on your packs to keep you busy and prevent you from helping me." Lith replied.

    "How are things going with the woods?"

    "Strangely." Lifebringer replied. "Several men hade to your house during thest months, all came through our forest to avoid the human guards."

    The members of the Queen¡¯s corps were nigh invisible, but since everyone knew they were protecting Lith¡¯s house, the only way tounch a surprise attack without being spotted from a distance was to use the cover of the trees.

    "Mages?" Lith asked. His duty as a Ranger had pissed off quite a lot of people, so it was nothing unexpected.

    "Some, mostly soldiers of some kind."

    "Awakened?"

    "None. That female was the only one we ever saw, except for your sister, of course." Reaper replied, quelling Lith¡¯s only real worry.

    "Good to know. Now, if things go as I expect, Athung will return and the next time, she will not be alone. Have you practiced with the arrays and your equipment as I instructed?"

    The Emperor Beasts nodded.

    "Excellent. Now that you know her smell, I want you to keep watch in case she returns. Do not attack unless she tries to harm one of my pack. By the way, I need you to add this one to the people you have to protect."

    Lith took a lock of Kam¡¯s hair out of his pocket dimension, letting his allies memorizing her scent. He kept it on himself as a good luck charm and because if something happened to her, any of his Emperor Beast friends could help him to track her down thanks to their sense of smell.

    "The female you were with earlier?" Reaper asked while sniffing Kam¡¯s scent that emanated from Lith¡¯s clothes. "We always considered her a member of your pack, so we¡¯ve been also taking care of her small herd of weaklings."

    "Meaning?" Lith asked before remembering that Zinya and her children were now his neighbors. He had still to wrap his head around the idea. It was both ttering and disturbing at the same time.

    "The female..."

    "Kam." Lith pointed out. The term ¡¯female¡¯ referred to her irked him to no end.

    "Kam always had your scent of her and hase often visiting your pack along with her own. We guessed you were on friendly terms and extended our protection to them."

    "Thanks. I don¡¯t need more distractions. I¡¯ve got a lot on my te already."

    "No need to thank us." Lifebringer snorted. "We¡¯re friends and you¡¯ve given us many gifts. It is only natural for us to return all the good you have done for our tribes."

    Their equipment was actually the means necessary for the Emperor Beasts to do their job. Without proper schooling or tools, the kings of the Trawn woods could have been easily overpowered by a well-prepared opponent and Lith only yed worst-case scenarios in his mind.

    Lith would have loved to thank them again and exin at least a few of his continency ns to them, but ording to Solus, if he dyed any longer Kam, his mother, or both might sound the rm.

    He set up an appointment with them before entering his own home. Or at least trying to since the door was blocked from the inside. Even his attempt to Warp in was blocked by the array surrounding the ce.

    Clearly his paranoia had rubbed off on his family to the point that they weren¡¯t willing to take chances.

 Chapter 757 Meeting 2 Part 1

    "Open up. It¡¯s me." Lith said, proud and pissed off equally.

    "If it¡¯s really you, then how much will it cost one Skinwalker armor?" Tista¡¯s voice asked.

    "I¡¯m not going to sell them. I like my monopoly as it is." Lith replied while holding back his surprise.

    ¡¯Tista came home before me, yet she isn¡¯t supposed to be here. She should be waiting for Solus in the woods with Nyka. What¡¯s going on here?¡¯ He thought.

    The door opened into the hallway, revealing a room filled with people armed to the teeth with Alchemical tools provided either by the Kingdom or Lith himself. Kam had her army amulet active and was keeping a tactical team on stand-by while Raaz was holding the panic button the Queen¡¯s corps had given them years ago.

    "Rx, everything is fine." Lith said. "It was just a recruiter from a guild of pompous idiots. She¡¯s gone now, I sent her away and told her to fu...."

    Only when he was about to swear did Lith remember about the kids and notice that they were nowhere to be seen, along with Elina.

    "Where¡¯s Mom?" Lith asked.

    "In the cer with the kids, in case things went badly." Raaz replied.

    He opened the hatch hidden under a carpet in the kitchen, letting out Elina, Aran, Leria, Zinya, and a couple of unknown kids. They were a boy and a girl, respectively around eight and ten years old.

    Zinya¡¯s children were scared, whereas the Verhen kids were too young to understand danger and had never faced any hardship. They wereughing, rxed as if they had just finished ying hide and seek.

    "Is there something wrong?" Kam asked. After aborting the rescue request and turning her amulet off, she had noticed that Lith was frozen stiff.

    ¡¯Everything is wrong!¡¯ He thought.

    "No. Just I¡¯m surprised. I didn¡¯t expect to find Zinya here. Why didn¡¯t you tell me?" He actually said after taking a deep breath to calm down.

    "Because I wanted to surprise you." She giggled. "To my defense, I told you that I wanted to introduce someone to you. Lith, these are Frey and Filia, my nephew and niece. Kids, this is Lith, a friend of your aunt."

    "Hi, uncle Lith." Frey said with a very serious face while extending his small hand, pushing Lith one step closer to panic. Kam had told him earlier that this was a family dinner and putting the two families around the same table could only mean one thing.

    "Mom and auntie talk a lot about you." The kid was too rigid and the speech too formal to not be rehearsed.

    "Nice to meet you, Frey." Lith said, noticing that the mood in the room was as serious as he feared and that his sisters were barely holding theirughter in. They seemed to find the word "uncle" hrious.

    After they shook hands it was Filia¡¯s turn. She gave Lith a clumsy curtsy before saying:

    "Hi, uncle Lith. Can I ask you to make some toys for us now or do I have to wait until you marry Auntie like Mom says?"

    Kam and Zinya turned bright red while his sisters emitted the kind of choked noise a balloon losing air makes. The war againstughter was about to be lost.

    "Toys!" Leria came to his rescue, pulling him by the leg. "Before leaving, you had promised us presents, where are they?"

    "Leria, it¡¯s not nice to ask me for gifts after not seeing me for so long. Moreover, I¡¯ve just recovered so I didn¡¯t have the time to..."

    ¡¯You actually did. Or rather, I did. Check our pocket dimension.¡¯ Solus cut him short.

    ¡¯You knew about this?¡¯ Lith asked while noticing a vast assortment of Forgemastered toys where only empty space was supposed to be.

    ¡¯No, I¡¯m not liking this any more than you. I simply used the time when you were asleep after the breakthrough to prepare a few of the things Selia requested for us. I used the opportunity to teach both Tista and Nyka a bit of Forgemastering.¡¯

    Examining the toys Lith could easily guess who had crafted what. Solus¡¯s skills were on par with his own, but her weak mana core limited her. She had clearly used Tista¡¯s talents for the items that required too much mana for her and Nyka¡¯s only for the simplest ones.

    ¡¯What are you teaching them, exactly?¡¯

    ¡¯Just the basics. I¡¯m not going to share with them our research without asking your opinion first, but I think that Forgemastering for an Awakened is a must-learn.¡¯

    Actually, Lith wouldn¡¯t mind if Solus shared everything with Tista. He trusted his sister. He was still on the fences about Nyka, though. Teaching to an immortal being could easily backfire, but he had no time to talk about that.

    If he dwelled any longer in their mind link, he would appear to be lost in thought.

    "...to prepare much. What are you supposed to say in these circumstances, youngdy?" Lith resumed talking a split second after faltering.

    "I¡¯m sorry uncle Lith." Leria lowered her gaze while fiddling with her dress in shame. She wasn¡¯t spoiled or rude, just shamelessly hungry for shiny new toys like all kids her age. "Wee back."

    Lith patted Leria¡¯s head to show her that he wasn¡¯t angry and to check her with Invigoration.

    ¡¯Dammit, she is five years old and already has an orange mana core? I had to work my ass off even for that.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Shut up, mister blue core.¡¯ Solus pouted. Being stuck at green, she believed that if someone had the right toin it was her. ¡¯At least it seems that yours might really be a magical bloodline.¡¯

    "Wee home, Lith." Aran said, tugging at his leg to be taken into his arms. Lith¡¯s little brother was a bit younger than Leria, but he had an orange core as well. Solus¡¯s theory seemed to be spot on.

    "Are you alright? Mom said that the monster man this time was really strong. But not as strong as you are, right?"

    "No one is stronger than your brother." Lith replied while handing a couple of toys to each one of the four kids. Luckily, to avoid jealousy, Solus had prepared the same toys for both Lith¡¯s rtives and Selia¡¯s children, so everyone got the same things.

    Frey and Filia were older than Leria, but they had never received an enchanted toy, so they were even more amazed than her.

    "It¡¯s nice to see you again, Lith." Zinya said once the kids had run to the firece to examine their new treasures. She looked much better than thest time he had seen her. She had gained weight and her face was of a healthy shade of pink.

    Only the shadows still lingering in her eyes betrayed her past sufferings, just like her habit of touching furniture in her proximity to make sure she wouldn¡¯t bump into them showed that she still had problems with depth perception.

    "It¡¯s nice to see you too. You look wonderful." He said while hugging her. After a bit of chit-chat about her new life in Lutia, Lith went to talk with Tista.

    "Why didn¡¯t you warn me earlier?" Lith said while ring at her, only achieving to make herugh. He wasn¡¯t scarier than a teddy bear to her.

 Chapter 758 Meeting 2 Part 2

    "And missing your shocked expression? No way. Besides, what did you expect? You and Kam have been together for almost a year, you live together for a while, and after helping Zinya, you sent her here for her recovery." Tista shrugged.

    "If this wasn¡¯t your intention, you sure sent Mom and Dad mixed signals."

    "I-" Lith was about to rebuke her when he started to look at things from their point of view instead of his own. Ever since he had turned into an adult, he had treated rtionships exactly has he would have done back on Earth, except Mogar wasn¡¯t Earth.

    ¡¯It¡¯s close enough, though.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯I mean, living together, introducing each other to your respective families, and helping Zinya like that would have been a big deal even on Earth.

    ¡¯The only difference is that there no one would expect for you to marry before you turn twenty.¡¯

    "Damn, you are right. It seems that Kami and I will need to have that conversation sooner rather thanter." Lith said.

    The dinner was delicious and the evening was lovely. Both grown-ups and children enjoyed themselves with only one exception.

    Lith felt like crap most of the time, and even though after returning to the Ernas mansion he finally had some quality time with his girlfriend, the thought that it might be thest night that he spent with Kam, almost made him not appreciate the event.

    Almost.

    ***

    City of Ocra, Griffon Kingdom

    Even though it waste, Raagu was still working in her Wardenb, swapping and shifting the runes in hertest project to find the symmetry that would achieve the maximum mana efficiency.

    Unlike fake mages, by altering the structure of their spells, Awakened could alter an array¡¯s properties. They could make a magical formation¡¯s casting time shorter, strengthen its effect, and expand or shrink their area of effect.

    It was all a matter of properly arranging the energy nodes and words of power. True magic was akin to turn simple threads into fabric. The number and the position of the magical stitches could produce a simple nket or aplex tapestry.

    It was the reason why true mages were also known as spellweavers in the Awakenedmunity.

    Old and powerful mages like Raagu were capable of keeping together iplete spells and alter their patterns at will, allowing her to achieve arrays of great power with an ease that fake mages could only dream about. Yet.

    Unbeknownst to all, Yurial had done the same thing to turn Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram into a more practical formation.

    Raagu¡¯s focus was so great that, even when Athung stormed into herb, the old Awakened managed not only to keep her prototype spell active, but also to continue experimenting on it while talking with her former apprentice.

    "You¡¯re alive. Good." Raagu nodded in approval while swapping the position of two runes, improving the mana flow of the makeshift array.

    "Is that approval or just surprise?" Athung snarled.

    "Approval. I knew you¡¯d fail your mission the moment you departed."

    "Did you set me up? Were you trying to have me killed?" Athung took deep breaths to calm herself. She knew that she wasn¡¯t a match for her old mentor. At least not inside Raagu¡¯s home.

    Yet snapping that old, thin neck was a temptation hard to resist in her outraged stated.

    "Silly girl, no. If I wanted to kill you, I¡¯d done that myself." Raagu spoke with a casual tone, as if she was talking about the weather. There was no arrogance nor rage in her voice, which made her words even more terrifying.

    Athung knew from experience that real threats weren¡¯t made by people yelling or iling weapons, those were just the tantrums of overgrown children. Really dangerous people spoke softly and had the cold indifference Raagu had in her eyes.

    "What I requested for you, like everything else ever since I took you in my home, was a test. A test that you failed, but at least notpletely. It means there is still hope for you." Raagu exined.

    "It was an impossible test! I even consulted with some of my friends and they all agreed there was no chance of sess. Or did you expect me to seduce that runt?" Athung disgust was only matched by that of her mentor.

    "If you did that, you would have lost more than my respect. I would have kicked you out of the Council. I trained a brilliant, powerful woman, not a harlot. As for your friends, I always told you they are idiots.

    "As for the mission, I would never give you an impossible test. Did you read his file?"

    Athung nodded.

    "Then you should know that Ka the Wight requested our mediation when he payed with the Dawn Court."

    "Do you mean that..." Athung would have pped herself for not thinking about it.

    "Yes. Since I asked you to act on behalf of the Council, you could have requested her help and have her vouch for you. This Verhen is a dangerous individual with trust issues and a penchant for violence.

    "Trying to talk to him was akin to smear yourself with blood and jumping in a lion¡¯s den."

    "Why didn¡¯t you stop me, then? Why didn¡¯t you tell me these things earlier?"

    "It was another test. For both of you. If you shed and you killed him, it would have meant he wasn¡¯t worth my time. If you died, it would have meant that he was a deranged individual and you a failure." Raagu nodded as another rune fell into ce, bringing her array a step closer topletion.

    "Now tell me what happened."

    Athung told her only the truth, leaving her mentor impressed.

    "So, he wore cloaking devices that prevented you from discerning both his physical and magical strength, correct?" Raagu asked.

    "Yes, but when we both went all-out the manaing out of his eyes was blue, so he is likely to have a blue core. Also, his physical strength makes no sense. When he clutched my neck, it was like a vise. Even using both hands I couldn¡¯t get free."

    "He¡¯s a man. If you two have the same core, he is bound to be stronger." Raagu tilted her head at such na?ve remark.

    "No, I spar with Zartan often and even if he is even bigger than Verhen, he¡¯s not that strong. I felt that kind of pressure only when I fought Emperor Beasts, or you."

    "Interesting." Raagu took note of it.

    "Interesting my ass. He also activated Silverwing¡¯s array in less than thirty seconds!"

    "That¡¯s impossible." Raagu shook her head. "He is a Healer and a Forgemaster. It would require my level of expertise to aplish such a feat." She waved her hand enveloping the room with the golden array.

    "It¡¯s more than that! He even neutralized ten of my best spells without even flinching. Cloaked or not, his mana level was unaffected."

    "Well, this exins everything, silly child. The more unusual an event is, the simpler to find an exnation for it. Lith Verhen is clearly a cunning bastard who probably has a contingency n even in case someone tampered with his toilet paper." Raaguughed heartily.

    "What do you mean?"

    "He had help, silly girl. It exins everything. How the array was cast that fast, how effortlessly he countered your spells, and why you were no match for him."

 Chapter 759 Diamond in the Rough Part 1

    "I scouted the area with Life Vision and..." Athung said.

    "Didn¡¯t you tell me that he cloaked himself? He must have done the same for his allies." Raagu cut her short.

    "I decided my timing on a whim, how could they..."

    "Paranoia and preparation. Probably an agreed signal you missed. You were on his turf, after all, where a mage is at their strongest."

    "Who the heck would act on his back and call? He¡¯s too young to have disciples..."

    "Yet he¡¯s old enough to have friends. Ka the Wight and Protector the Skoll are two of his known associates. If Scarlett has Awakened more beasts inside the Trawn woods, there could be even more."

    "Do you have any more tests for me, master?" Athung suddenly felt na?ve and stupid. She had always had all the pieces in front of her yet she had failed to put them together, whereas it seemed to be as easy as connecting dots to Raagu.

    "For you? No. But I think that spectating to someone else¡¯s could help your growth as a mage." Raagu activated her Councilmunication amulet, pressing the rune of the Awakened human in charge of Derios.

    Raagu gave him the same information Athung had received plus Athung¡¯s report about her encounter with Lith. The only thing she didn¡¯t mention was the exchange of questions and answers with her disciple.

    "Listen well, Gaaron. One of my potential heirs got destroyed by this rogue Awakened, so I want you to take charge. I don¡¯t want him killed, it would set a terrible precedent and make us lose a potential Ruler of the mes.

    "We have already lost Lesalia and her legacy, we can¡¯t afford to waste more talented Forgemasters." Lesalia was the elder Awakened who Tyris had killed after her disciple had practiced forbidden magic in Zantia, demanding her legacy as weregild.

    More than a century had passed without an Awakened Forgemaster worthy of the title of Ruler of the mes. Lesalia was the next best thing and now she was dead due to her hubris.

    "The only thing I want for you is to test his abilities and see if he is Council material. I don¡¯t care how you do it as long as you don¡¯t kill him. Defy this simple order and I¡¯ll have your head."

    Gaaron sneered at those words, but he had to hold his poisonous retort in. He hated Raagu, but since she had called him in her role of Council representative, he was bound to show her respect.

    He hated Athung even more since despite the fact that he had lived for over 300 years, Gaaron was still stuck with a bright blue core, whereas she was close to achieving it after merely 13 years of training.

    ¡¯If I seed where Raagu¡¯s precious disciple failed, I¡¯ll humiliate both of them in one fell swoop. Even better, the old bat will be forced to award me with some of her knowledge. For oncedy Luck is smiling at me.¡¯ He thought while epting the mission.

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell him about what you have discovered from my report?" Athung asked after seeing a Council member being set up just like it had happened to her.

    Raaguughed in reply.

    "Do you really think that my heirs are the only ones I put to the test? I gave him everything he needs and the answers are under his nose. If he can¡¯t figure them out, well, one way or another his spot in the Council will be vacant.

    "A role that you could fill with honor, not like a moron whose biggest achievement is setting his own farts aze with first magic." Raagu returned Gaaron despise with interests.

    The idea of a mage achieving his seat in the Council only due to seniority made her want to puke. There were four possible roles avable for Awakened recognized by the Council.

    Apprentices were those who were Awakened by a senior member or were being tutored by them. Apprentices had personal rights but no voice in any of the Council matters and were considered just extensions of their masters.

    Vagrant Awakened, like Athung, were released from their masters and considered independent beings, but had no territory of their own. They could only express their opinion in the matters of their own race¡¯s Council.

    Only those who also oversaw their own region, like Gaaron, were considered true members of themunity and would be asked to cast their vote in all the important decisions involving Awakened, no matter their race of origin.

    Ruling over a territory had a different meaning for Awakened than what usually the term implied. They wouldn¡¯t collect taxes, they wouldn¡¯t help the development of thend, nor would care formon crimes.

    Their role was solely meant to enforce thews of the Council and make sure that no Awakened practiced Forbidden Magic or threatened to expose the secrets of true magic.

    It was more a matter of responsibility and glory rather than profit, but the role also had it perks. When an elder assigned them a mission, they could ask the elders for a reward in the case they seeded.

    Also, those who achieved a territory would receive the help of the Council to set up their new house andbs, which meant having ess to unlimited resources and state of the art equipment.

    Lastly, there were the elders, like Raagu. Awakened mages who not only had a territory, but also who were recognized by their ownmunity as leading figures in the field of magic.

    Young or rogue Awakened would do anything to earn their favors. Bing an elder¡¯s apprentice, no matter if one aimed to be the heir of their magical legacy or not, meant to gain ess to the most powerful magic known to any race.

    "Are you really doing all of this for me?" Athung asked, surprised by her mentor¡¯s ruthless form of kindness.

    "No, I¡¯m doing this for our race. Awakened have becent to the point that instead of using our long life to aim for something great, they are simply going through the motion and bing obsolete." Raagu replied.

    "If you are to be my heir, you have to learn that there are only two kinds of people in this world. People like this Verhen, that due to talent, hard work, or both have achieved something.

    "If properly groomed, they can be a means to our ends and help ourmunity to grow as a whole. Then, there are people like Gaaron. Arrogant fools that after doing the bare minimum be so blinded by their pride to stop trying to improve themselves.

    "They are tools, and as such,they have to be treated. They must be reced with a more useful tool as soon as it presents itself."

    ***

    The following day, Lith¡¯s mage tower

    As soon as Kam had left for work, Lith had contacted Solus for her to pick him up at the nearest mana geyser, to get back to working on Runesmithing.

    "How did things go with Kam yesterday?" Solus asked.

    "Very good, thanks. I told her that I want her to meet Protector and we even set up a date for the visit. Damn, my stomach is churning just at the idea." Lith replied while taking the ring that the fungal creature had gifted him after Lith had freed it from the ve enchantment out of his pocket dimension.

 Chapter 760 Diamond in the Rough Part 2

    "We couldn¡¯t examine this yesterday because of the sudden breakthrough, but now I¡¯m really curious to see what this does. Phloria thought it was a dimensional item, but the Odi had to steal Professor Ellkas¡¯s ring to have one, so she was wrong."

    The small ring was covered in glowing blue runes and had a small green mana stone embedded on it. Lith could now recognize a single rune pattern, which made it even more underwhelming.

    Such a weak pseudo core that required both runes and a crystal to work couldn¡¯t be anything important. Especially since after it had been lost, no one seemed to have ever cared to pick it up, letting it end in the fungal creature¡¯s hands.

    After checking that there was no self-destruct mechanism, Lith imprinted the ring. Much to his surprise, the enchanted item started to suck upon his mana avidly and its pseudo core grew in both size and power.

    "Damn, I¡¯m a moron!" Lith blurted out. "Of course it was weak as fuck, the ring was ownerless for centuries and if not for the runes, its pseudo core would have already dissolved."

    While the ring recovered its strength and its pseudo core stabilized, Lith continued to trante the book about the body-swapping procedure, searching for a way to rece the lost Odi technology with modern magic.

    Quy had been right all along. Normal dictionaries were pretty useless to decipher the Odi¡¯s jargon about magic. Thanks to the vocabries she had written and borrowed to him, however, Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯ work progressed smoothly.

    Even when they encountered an unknown term, between Quy¡¯s work and their own brain it wouldn¡¯t take them long to make sense of it. At some point, Lith took also out the books he had copied from Ka about Lichhood.

    The two procedures were indeed quite simr and the past mages who had strived to achieve eternal life had already solved some of the issues that Lith was now facing.

    "If they seeded, then I can do it too." Lith said with renewed confidence once he realized that he could blend the two procedures into a new one and maybe obtain something better than the Odi had ever dreamed on.

    "Yes, but it will take some time." Solus pointed out. "Even by using the Odi¡¯s book and Ka¡¯s notes as a foundation, it¡¯s still a mammoth task. In the little free time you have as a Ranger, we can work on the theoretical field, but putting it into practice will have to wait."

    "That¡¯s what I was nning to do anyway. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to drop dead tomorrow, so there¡¯s no rush. The more we travel, the more we learn. Once I¡¯m done with the army, I might visit the Empire and the Desert.

    "I¡¯m sure that they have lost ruins and secrets as well. The problem is how to get there without having trouble with the local authorities. To them, I might as well be just a spy." Lith sighed.

    "We¡¯ll think about it when the timees. Now let¡¯s get back to the ring. It has already stabilized for a while now. We can use it without the risk of it crumbling due to mana stress." Solus said.

    Lith nodded and took another good look at the small blue thing on his finger. Now that it had the time to self-repair, the ring didn¡¯t look so shabby anymore, making Lith¡¯s hopes fly high.

    It was then that Lith suddenly realized he had no idea how to use it. Huryole¡¯s sword was a different matter since its enchantment was so simple that it only needed to be activated to produce air des against a target.

    Lith was sending the ring the mentalmand for activation, yet nothing happened.

    "Okay, maybe Phloria was right and the Odi were just dumb due to their long slumber." He shrugged and then tried to store his inkwell inside the ring¡¯s alleged dimensional subspace, but nothing happened.

    Then he tried to infuse it with his own spells, in case it was a magic holding ring like those he already owned. Lith had yet to find a single ring capable of holding a tier four spell, so it would still be quite a catch.

    After another failure, he remembered that the Odicked tier four and five magic except for Light and Forgemastering. Both were tooplex to be stored, so he had to discard that idea as well.

    "Okay, so it¡¯s not meant as a means to attack, nor to store energy." Lith checked the pseudo core again, looking for clues. It somehow reminded him of a dimensional item, which exined why Phloria¡¯s Royal Forgemaster spells had mistaken it for one.

    A sh of understanding appeared behind Lith¡¯s eyes as he sent his will through the ring and making it generate a small energy bubble around his hand.

    "Eureka!" Lith said in amazement.

    He had been wondering why the runes on the Odi¡¯s de were invisible whereas the ones on the ring glowed with a blue light. The answer was that they were part of the ring, but not engraved into it.

    They were part of the enchantment itself and were now floating in the air, epassing the ring¡¯s energy field. Lith discovered that it could be shrunk at will and erged up to a sphere of one meter (3.3 feet) around his hand.

    "This looks great and stuff, but what does it do?" Solus asked.

    "It¡¯s a gravity field of sorts." Lith replied while putting one of the books inside the energy bubble. Yet instead of floating, it retained its normal weight, at least until Lith wished for it to be lighter.

    Then the book darted toward the ceiling, stopping in mid-air after exhausting its momentum and falling back down in the energy field.

    "This makes no sense. Odi had ves to carry their weights and air magic would be much easier to use than this thing. Unless..." Lith ced his hand above the book, wishing for it to be lighter again.

    This time, however, he and Solus used Invigoration to understand what was happening. This way they managed to see the mana going from the ring into the runes, charging them up before sending the book flying.

    "Newton¡¯s apple!" Lith blurted out when he confirmed that he was indeed the problem. When the book fell back, he simply wished for it to be a little lighter and noticed that instead of elerating, the book moved through the energy bubble as if it was a dense jelly.

    It took Lith a few tries to learn how to properly regte the ring output, but once he managed to do it, he realized that even though the ring itself was utter crap, the runes surrounding it were a ground-breaking discovery.

    "By my maker!" Solus said. "Runes can also be used to ovee the on/off-like nature of the enchanted items that we are able to craft! This is a property that not even the artifacts used by the Awakened we faced in the past had."

    "Indeed." Lith grabbed a chair, noticing that once he touched something, the sphere would stick to the object like a second skin, allowing him to make it heavier or lighter at will.

    "So far, all the Forgemastering techniques we have developed follow the same limitations of fake magic. A stored spell can only be released in one go, a barrier can only be active or inactive, whereas the Odi¡¯s ring can be regted like a true magic spell."

 Chapter 761 Fright Night Part 1

    "Adding a control field can¡¯t make our enchantments more powerful, since the cap is always determined by the amount of mana that I can handle, but these runes can make my Forgemastering much more versatile.

    "For people with a weak core like Kam, such items would be a priceless treasure." Lith said.

    "She can activate the Skinwalker armor¡¯s boosted state only a couple of times, but if I had engraved these runes, she could selectively boost a single part of the armor, without the precision and focus that doing such a thing now requires."

    "It¡¯s nice of you to think about her first, but we still have a problem." Solus said.

    "Those runes are visible just like those we learned in Huryole, but unlike them, the books at our disposal don¡¯t contain any of the ancient Odi runes, so we can¡¯t convert them into modern ones.

    "Moreover, we have yet to discover how modern Runesmiths make their runes invisible. If we apply that enchantment as it is, we would be immediately discovered.

    "Until we don¡¯t understand if this is another Royal Forgemaster technique, or even worse, something that only the Odi were capable of, we must tread with caution."

    Lith nodded and then ran to his forge, to craft a new magic holding ring bearing the regtor runes. His n was to use it to hold a healing spell that he could activate in battle little by little, enhancing his own life fusion and lessening the strain that light spells exerted on his body.

    Since he bought rings in bulk, he took one of them, engraved the rune pattern, and skipped the Bonding step before performing the actual enchantment. Green or not, mana crystals were expensive.

    Lith also wanted to check if modern Forgemastering methods could work properly with the ancient power words. Everything went without a hitch and the tier three charged spell was easily stored within the ring.

    Yet when Lith tried to activate the spell, the runes started to flicker. He could feel the light element slowly seeping into his body, but since he was healthy, only his metabolism was enhanced, making him hungry.

    In a matter of seconds, the runes were unable to fuel themselves properly and started to siphon the energy from the pseudo core until it crumbled.

    "You cheapskate." Solus grumbled. "Are you happy now? The runes are gone and the ring is nothing but scrap metal."

    "Actually, I am." Lith replied while studying histest failure. The edges of the runes were now charred in the metal and the healing spell stored in the ring was being released in the form of pure light.

    "First, I understood why the Odi ring needs a mana crystal. It¡¯s not because the enchantment is powerful, but because the regting runes work akin to a dam. Once they are opened, it takes a lot of energy to prevent them from crumbling under the pressure of the mana that wants to be released at once.

    "Second, don¡¯t ask me how, but after the pseudo core copsed, the light element was separated from the darkness element, generating a destructive power simr to those off spell employed by thest two Abominations we faced."

    Lith showed the ck marks on the ring to Solus, who was bbergasted noticing how the more the light element seeped out of the failed item, releasing a feeling of peace and tranquillity, the more the Chaos energy ate at the ring, turning it into nothingness.

    "Please, tell me that you don¡¯t want to research that kind of magic." Solus was now extremely worried. "Yes, you have part of an Abomination¡¯s life force, but I don¡¯t like the idea of strengthening that side of you.

    "No offense, but you¡¯re already fucked up as you are."

    "None taken." Lith replied. "Also, no. I don¡¯t n on researching Abomination magic. At this point, it would do me more harm than good. A single failed experiment could kill both of us at the same time.

    "Sure, the ck energy is fast and lethal, but so are many of my spells. I already risked losing my hand for a mere cantrip, I¡¯m not so eager to die."

    Lith showed her his right hand, where his middle finger was hanging by a thread, and part of his skin was ckened out.

    "Good gods! If you were a normal human, the corruption would have probably spread up to your elbow." Solus said.

    "Whatever this is, before making more experiments we need to learn more. Power without control is madness." Lith nodded and used healing magic to regenerate his hand.

    Lith then Forgemastered a new magic holding ring, this time with both the runes and a mana crystal, plus another ring with a single set of the runes he had learned from Huryole¡¯s sword.

    The Odi runes this time worked like a charm, but they stuck out like a sore thumb. Not only using the ring in public was idiotic, but Lith also discovered that the difficulty in regting the mana output of the enchantments wasn¡¯t due to their pseudo core but because of the runes.

    They were too rough and inefficient to allow the fine-tuning that Lith could already achieve from true magic, but at least it was a start. The Huryole runes, instead, were aplete bust.

    He had applied the amplifying runes, to see if he could use them to turn a tier-three spell holding ring into at least a tier four. Yet the moment Lith tried to release the harmless tier-three wind spell, the rune pattern red up and the mana they held went haywire.

    Lith had to throw it inside the safe room to avoid healing his hand another time.

    "Dammit. Either the runes for rings are different from those for swords or the proportions were wrong." He said.

    "I think both your hypotheses are right." Solus said. "To engrave the runes on the ring, we had to scale them down and we don¡¯t know if the size of the runes matters. On top of that, no matter how careful we are, the spacing between runes on a sword and a ring ispletely different."

    Lith and Solus spent the days before the double date at Protector¡¯s house working to understand how runes worked and tranting the Odi book about body-swapping. Lith hoped that byplementing the device with a pseudo phctery, he might be able to even retain his own mana core, or at least preserve his muscle memory.

    The only problem with that particr side project was that finding a body with a red core was damn easy, finding one that could withstand even his now blue Awakened mana core was nigh impossible, at least based on Solus¡¯s recent discoveries about impurities.

    Lith buried himself in work, to not think about how badly Kam could react to his revtion. When the day finally arrived, he would have rather got another round with Jiira. At least he would have known what to expect.

    "Why are you so tense?" Kam asked. "Protector is your friend and even though I never met an Emperor Beast before, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll get along. The only thing I don¡¯t understand is why we¡¯re going to his ce rather than having hime to your home.

    "A forest is not a nice ce at night, whereas your house has all the space and food the three of us need to have a pleasant meal together."

    "It¡¯s not just the three of us. I told you we¡¯ll meet his family as well." Lith swallowed a lump of saliva. "Please, don¡¯t ask me anything. You¡¯ll understand when you know them."

 Chapter 762 Fright Night Part 2

    Kam shrugged. Between her training and Lith¡¯s presence, there was a very limited number of things that could endanger their life. Besides, moving with mostly Warp Steps made it impossible to ambush them, even to wild animals.

    ¡¯Protector¡¯s whole family? Are we going to eat with a pack of wolves?¡¯ Kam thought. ¡¯Thank the gods the Skinwalker armor can self repair and clean, otherwise I could kiss my beloved evening suit goodbye.

    ¡¯This thing is amazing. I love the Skinwalker armor almost as much I love L...¡¯ Due to her family history and her past rtionships, Kam had conflicting feelings about the dreaded L-word, so she mercilessly snuffed the thought out.

    In her experience, thinking that word meant that it was only a matter of time before saying it out loud. After that, things could only go downhill. Love meantmitment, faithfulness, and honesty.

    All things that most men she had met in the past abhorred like a gue and she wasn??t fond ofmitting herself either. Despite her age, Kam was still building her career and Lith was quite younger than her.

    ¡¯Thest thing I need now is to have moreplications. Zinya needs all the help I can give her and my current job doesn¡¯t leave me enough time to breathe, let alone to think about l- that.¡¯ She thought while stepping through the dimensional corridors.

    After a while, they arrived in front of a nice two-storey cottage in the middle of nowhere. A light came out from its many windows and so did many childish noises. The house was surrounded by a tall fence and itswn was well-kept.

    The scene was odd enough by itself, but it was made eerie by the fact that the cottage seemed a replica of Lith¡¯s house. Kam had been there too many times to miss the countless simrities. Protector had no idea what humans could consider cozy, so he had simply improved his home ording to Lith¡¯s memories.

    "I thought we were going to meet Protector." Kam said, incapable of making heads or tails of the house.

    "We are." Lith knocked on the door, feeling his feet heavy and his stomach churning. Selia opened almost immediately.

    "Lith! It¡¯s so good to see you again. You had me worried sick! The next time you disappear for this long, at least give me a warning." She said while giving him a brief hug, before turning to Kam.

    "And you must be Kam. Gods, you¡¯re just lovely. I¡¯m Selia Fastarrow. I hope that this stupid apprentice of mine has mentioned me at least once." Selia took Kam¡¯s hand and gave her a dazzling smile.

    Selia hadn¡¯t talked with another woman since the start of winter. To reach the nearest vige during the cold season she needed Ryman¡¯s help, but leaving the children home alone, even for a while, meant finding a wreck at her return.

    "He talked a lot about you." Kam couldn¡¯t help but notice the huntress¡¯ youthful appearance and wonder what the heck was she doing there. "Are you here to meet Protector too, miss Fastarrow?"

    "Been there, done that." Selia tittered. "Call me Selia, otherwise you¡¯ll make me feel like I¡¯m an old woman. Believe me, having two kids does the trick already. By the way, call him Ryman, otherwise he¡¯ll forget his own name."

    Kam¡¯s confusion kept getting worse by the second. Even the inside of the house was almost identical to Lith¡¯s and Selia¡¯s words made no sense to her.

    Lilia and Leran were hidden behind a couch, staring attentively at their unknown guest. They knew Lith, but their parents always warned them about humans. They were respectively 5 and 3 years old.

    With Ryman¡¯s red hair and Selia¡¯s sharp eyes, they were the spitting image of their parents.

    ¡¯The children are the first normal thing I see since we got here.¡¯ Kam sighed in relief, at least until Selia made theme closer and the kids started sniffing at her like hunting dogs.

    "Remember to behave." Selia said with amanding tone. "No ws on the guests."

    "ws?" Kam echoed, not knowing if to be more confused by Selia¡¯s words or the kids¡¯ whimpering.

    "Yes, ws." Ryman said whileing downstairs apanied by the nging of his toolbox. "Children usuallyck self-restraint. You must be Kam. Lith has told me many great things about you."

    "Likewise." Kam suddenly felt lightheaded. She had expected to meet a huge wolf thinging out from the woods, maybe from a cave, not a man doing carpentry work.

    The guy in front of her was a giant, at least 2.1 meters (7¡¯) tall. He wore a leather overall over a brown shirt so big that it could be used as a tablecloth and his boots were bigger than a bucket.

    Ryman¡¯s face was rough and savage, with a square jaw and a cleft chin. He kept his long ming red hair in a tress long hair and there were wood chips in his well-trimmed beard.

    Despite his huge size and bulging muscles, Ryman¡¯s emerald eyes were calm and his smile was as warm as that of the father Kam had always longed for.

    "Are you Protector, I mean Ryman, I mean him?"

    "Guilty as charged." Protector nodded, not moving any closer to give Kam space and time to think.

    "And you are..." Kam turned to Selia as his reluctant brain was forced to connect the dots from one to five and notice the obvious picture that took form from such a trivial exercise.

    "His wife and mother of his children, dear." Selia brought an armchair near to Kam, who plunged more than sitting on it. Her mind was still holding, but her knees had already fallen.

    "And they are..." Kam pointed at Lilia and Leran, her voice was reduced to a gasp.

    "The above mentioned children, yes." Selia moved near to Ryman, quickly followed by the kids. Seeing them all so close, it was impossible even for Kam¡¯s shocked mind to refuse to notice the resemnce.

    "It¡¯s wonderful." It was the only thing she managed to say before fainting.

    "Well, this isn¡¯t a good start, but it could have gone much worse." Selia sighed.

    "Really? How, exactly?" Lith was dejected.

    He had seen Kam fight Thrud¡¯s meat puppets, crazed human beings, and even survive the attempted murder nned by her criminal brother-inw, yet she had never fainted. Not even once.

    Yet a happy family of four had managed to do the trick.

    "She could have run away screaming, or tried to attack us. That¡¯s how usually goes." Selia replied.

    "Really?"

    "Yes." Ryman nodded. "Sometimes people get lost and finds our home. It all goes nicely until the kids do, well, their thing and shapeshift. The runners we let them go. They are usually so scared that don¡¯t remember anything that couldpromise our safety."

    "What about those who attack you?" Lith asked.

    "They make excellent fertilizer for the garden." Protector snarled. "I don¡¯t take murder attempts lightly, nor I can allow such fools to leave safely just to lead a monster hunt straight to my home."

    "It sounds about right." Lith first checked Kam¡¯s condition, making sure she had just lost consciousness.

    Then he gave Selia her due. He had prepared several toys for the children plus a lot of clothes capable of self-repair, clean, and to adjust their size to their wearer. Selia¡¯s kids grew fast and yed hard, turning even the hardest of leather to shreds in a couple of friendly quarrels.

 Chapter 763 Fright Night Part 3

    Selia had be as skillful as a professional tailor, but sewing clothes took days, whereas Lilia and Leran only needed minutes to destroy them. Not to mention how hard it was washing them without tearing the stitches apart.

    "Oh, gods! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Selia cried out of joy at the thought that her nightmare was finally over.

    Being pregnant to term, she couldn¡¯t jump at Lith¡¯s neck, so she dragged him down by the cor of his shirt to give him a big kiss on both cheeks before forcing her kids to wear their enchanted clothes.

    "They are no better than the academy¡¯s uniforms." Lith warned her. "They are no Skinwalker armor, so the degree of protection those clothes offer is limited."

    Lith only had so many prototypes, and after giving them to his family, the Ernas¡¯s girls, and to the kings of the woods protecting his home, he had none left. Orichalcum was too precious and he had only a limited amount of it.

    Sure, Lith still had to cash in histest reward, but before filling a nk check, he wanted to be sure to notter regret asking for too little or for something he didn¡¯t need.

    "As long as I don¡¯t have to patch them every other day, they are fine by me." Selia said while preparing a strong tea and spiking it with an even stronger liquor. Kam was already regaining consciousness and she could probably use a drink.

    "Kami, are you alright?" Lith held her hand, giving her courage, and making the paleness of her face disappear.

    "Yes, sorry. I was- I am-" Kam kept tripping on her tongue as she couldn¡¯t stop staring at the abnormal family in front of her eyes.

    "There, there, dear." Selia offered her a cup of hot spiked tea that Kam gulped down too fast, starting to cough due to the liquor. The alcohol burned through her throat and stomach, but it also spread a soothing warmth that eased her nerves.

    "Not so fast, or it will go straight to your head. There¡¯s nothing to be scared of. I¡¯m human, just like you. Do you think Lith would ever put you into danger? Does Ryman or my kids look scary?"

    "No, and that¡¯s the really scary part." Kam blurted out.

    They weren¡¯t normal, yet there was nothing distinguishing them from humans. The sudden realization that Body Sculpting wasn¡¯t a prerogative of humans, that magical creatures could live next door and she would never notice was what was freaking Kam out.

    "Can I have some more? Pretty please?" She asked with lost, begging puppy eyes.

    "Do you want tea in your Phoenix Plume, dear?" With its almost 40% of alcohol content, it was Protector¡¯s favorite medicine after a bad day.

    "Yes, but leave the bottle, please." Kam replied while filling her cup with tea and liquor in equal parts.

    "Do you want to stay for dinner or do you want me to bring you back home?" Lith was caressing her hand and looking at her with deeply worried eyes.

    "I¡¯m fine, really. I¡¯m just..." Kam didn¡¯t know what to say without sounding incredibly rude to their hosts. "Overwhelmed. You told me a great deal about both of them, but never that they were together or that Ryman could change his form."

    "Because it wasn¡¯t up to me to share it, nor does it change what they represent for me. My rtionship with Ryman would be the same even if he was a wooden puppete to life." Lith replied.

    "I really don¡¯t get what¡¯s so scary about me." Protector furrowed his brows. "You surely have met plenty of criminals in your line of work and I doubt you fainted while looking at the evidence of their crimes. What makes me even worse than they are?"

    "You¡¯re not worse than them, quite the contrary." Kam suddenly felt incredibly stupid. Based on Lith¡¯s and Friya¡¯s words, Protector had been nothing but a good friend to them and a hero to the Griffon Kingdom.

    Yet she was reacting as if she was in the presence of a man-eating monster.

    "It¡¯s just that I never expected that Emperor Beasts could take human form, nor that they could conceive children with members of other races."

    "Appearance might indeed be deceiving, but do your criminals wear a tag to warn others of their nature? Do undead unt their status when they mix among you humans in social events?" Protector¡¯s words made Kam remember about the vampire she had met in Othre.

    Even then, she had been scared, yet she had managed to keep her cool.

    "I¡¯m not asking you anything but to give us the benefit of the doubt and to not judge my family just because of who I am instead of what I do." Protector went to the bathroom, to wash and change his clothes for dinner.

    "I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to upset him." Kam said to Selia.

    "Don¡¯t worry, he isn¡¯t angry. To be honest, I never saw him getting angry, not even once. I think Ryman is just sad. He cares a great deal about Lith and he was eager to meet you. He¡¯s probably afraid that we???ll not get to spend as much time with you two as we hoped." Selia patted her shoulder, preparing two shots of Phoenix Plume.

    One for Kam and one for herself, until she remembered that she couldn¡¯t drink. The idea of living such a scenario every time one of her children brought someone home was already giving her a headache, but she had to bear with it.

    Lilia walked timidly towards Kam, holding a wet handkerchief. With her shoulder-length red hair, emerald green eyes, and her small face full of freckles, she looked like a doll in her small hunter suit.

    "Thanks, sweetie. I appreciate your thought, but I¡¯m feeling much better now." Kam took the handkerchief and applied it to her forehead, grateful for the fresh relief it provided to her.

    "It¡¯s not for the head, silly." Lilia giggled like crazy and so did her brother. "Mom always says that¡¯s important to be clean, especially if we want to sit after we w..."

    "There¡¯s another bathroom on the first floor." Selia cut her short, wanting to avoid making the evening more unpleasant by adding further embarrassment to the poor Kam. "You can wash your head and freshen up a little."

    Only then did Kam realize the meaning of Lilia¡¯s words, bing aware of her own little problem and assuming a deep shade of purple. Selia helped her to get up and apanied her upstairs, just in time before the final blow could bended.

    Leran handed Lith one of his old cloth diapers while the two women left the room.

    "Yourdy friend can use it, uncle Lith. I don¡¯t need it anymore, I¡¯m a big boy now." He said with a voice full of pride.

    "Sure, thanks." Normally, Lith would have never let Kam hear the end of it, but the situation wasn¡¯t funny in the least.

    ¡¯If that¡¯s her reaction to aplete stranger, how big will be her shock when she discovers that Protector and I aren¡¯t that different?¡¯ He thought while storing the diaper in his pocket dimension.

    ¡¯It could be bigger, but it could also be smaller.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯She knows you, whereas she has never met Protector. Even Friya after the initial surprise couldn¡¯t care less about his human form.

    ¡¯To her, it was the same person who had almost died to protect you all from Balkor and she knew how you risked your life to save him. Your shared past can make a world of difference in how she reacts to the news.¡¯

 Chapter 764 Fright Night Part 4

    ¡¯Yes, but both in a good and in a bad way.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Are you ashamed of Protector? Would you really hide his existence like he was a criminal just because he¡¯s different? Are you ashamed of me?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I¡¯m not ashamed of him and I would let the whole world know you if I wasn¡¯t certain that people would only see you as an artifact instead that as a person.

    ¡¯Also, revealing Protector¡¯s nature is easy as piepared to telling any sane woman that I literally have a hot girl at my fingertips.¡¯

    Solus blushed, thinking about how hard it had been for even Tista to ept the fact that her brother had a magical conjoined twin ever since he was four.

    ¡¯Yeah, I think that even Phloria might pass out when you¡¯ll tell her about me.¡¯

    ¡¯Indeed, she will. The only question is if she will do it before or after strangling me.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed. He couldn¡¯t save Phloria from her Awakening without Solus, which meant they were bound to meet sooner orter.

    ¡¯But know this: I¡¯m not ashamed of you in the least. Whoever can¡¯t ept you is not worthy of taking part in my life.¡¯

    Lith yed with the kids, showing them how to activate their new toys¡¯ enchantments. It was just the second time that they had met Lith, but he was already their hero.

    The clothes he had given them didn¡¯t itch and he always brought bags of marvels for them.

    "You¡¯re way better with them than I am." Ryman said once he came out of the bathroom, wearing a green shirt and brown pants.

    "Are you kidding me? Didn¡¯t you tell me that you sired a lot of pups?"

    "Indeed, but it¡¯s my first time handling humans. They grow so slowly and are so slow on the uptake. Not to mention how noisy and frail they are. Yet I wouldn¡¯t change them for the world."

    "What do you think of Kam?" Lith asked.

    "She¡¯s a beautiful woman. Definitely prettier than the other one."

    "I meant as a person!"

    "I know, but so far that¡¯s the best I can say about her. Are you sure you want to do it? You can always have your answer another time. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt because of me."

    "Now orter is the same. Some things are like a band-aid. The faster the better." Lith said, speaking English for the first time in almost two decades.

    When Kam and Selia returned, seeing Lith ying with the kids while Ryman checked the dinner warmed the hearts of both women.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe they named both their kids after Lith. They look so cute and behave like normal children. Shapeshifting aside, of course.¡¯ Kam thought as, in the heat of the make-believe battle between their toys, the children¡¯s fingers turned into ws for a split second.

    ¡¯Protector seems to be a better husband than most. Beast or not,pared to Fallmug he is a saint. He built this whole house by himself to keep his family safe, not to hold them prisoners.¡¯

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe I spent almost half an hour without clothes ripping or something breaking.¡¯ Selia thought, almost moved to tears. ¡¯Once I give birth I must ask Lith to babysit the kids so that I can finally get a night out.

    ¡¯I always thought about leaving them with the Hydra, but I don¡¯t trust her judgment. Beasts have an odd concept of raising kids and thest thing I need is for those two little cyclones to learn magic.¡¯

    Dinner went more smoothly than everyone expected. After the initial shock, Kam quickly adapted to the situation, bing more rxed. The four of them talked about their respective lives for a bit before starting to tell each other how they had met.

    Selia¡¯s first meet with Protector was heavily redacted due to the presence of the kids, whereas Kam only had to leave out the reason that had led her to meet Lith in person before moving on their first date.

    "Such a romantic story. I wish this oaf was that caring back then, instead of just being a freeloader." Selia sighed.

    "I wasn¡¯t a freeloader!" Protector rebuked her. "I was trying to learn human customs and I helped you with hunting big game. It was you who never exined to me what a proper date was until you got tired of just-"

    His eyes fell on the kids, forcing him to use an understatement.

    "Stay home and cuddle. Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but it took you months."

    Selia blushed violently, making Kam chuckle at the idea that despite the fact that they knew so little about each other when they had met, they had gone so far to get married.

    "Stop making me look like a pervert in front of our guests. Some things are better left out. Lith is almost like a son to both of us, and there are our actual children listening too!

    "After hearing how cute a couple they are, can¡¯t you at least try to make our love story look more like a fairy tale and less like a tavern joke?" Selia tried to sound angry, but she couldn¡¯t hide her embarrassment.

    Back then she was younger and bored out of her brain due to istion. She just wanted to relieve some pent-up stress with her newfound hunting partner. Selia had never believed for a second that one day she would have to share that part of her life with someone else, so she had been more carefree than usual.

    "As you wish, mydy." Ryman gave her a deep bow, before starting to recount how he had been mesmerized by her poetry and gracefulness, lying so tantly that even the kids soon started tough at Selia¡¯s expense.

    "I¡¯d say that¡¯s enough." Selia was red up to her hears. "I me you for this, Lith. Before spending so much time with you, he wasn¡¯t such a smartass."

    Kam¡¯s awkwardness at that point hadpletely disappeared. The kids, the house, the food, even the couple¡¯s quarrels were exactly like those she would have expected from normal people.

    And that was when it struck at her.

    ¡¯What¡¯s normal, exactly? Lith¡¯s eldest brother was "normal" and yet almost had him killed. Fallmug was a "normal" man and yet he treated his family like they were mere possessions. My mother is a "normal" woman, yet she never cared for me like Protector does for Lith.¡¯ Kam thought.

    ¡¯After all the evil I¡¯ve seen people do to their own kin as a Constable, judging Emperor Beasts out of prejudice is simply hypocritical. I need to step down my high horse and take things as theye.¡¯

    After the meal, the kids fell asleep in their parents¡¯ arms while Lith projected a movie. After Protector put them to bed, the grown-ups could finally talk freely.

    "Is there anything you want to ask us, dear? Don¡¯t pull your punches, the worst has already passed." Selia said.

    Kam asked them about Selia¡¯s pregnancy and when the child would start to shapeshift, to which Selia answered honestly. The only difference with human babies was that hybrids would shapeshift in case of stress, so quite often.

    "Luckily, they are born with no teeth nor ws, so they are harmless."

    "Have they ever hurt you?" Kam asked.

 Chapter 765 Moment of Truth Part 1

    "No, never. Hybrid children can instinctively judge another person¡¯s strength and react ordingly. They are no stronger than a human child and the worst they have ever done is snarl at me when they have a temper tantrum." Selia said.

    "Can I see your other form?" Kam was tactful enough to not ask for the ¡¯real¡¯ form, since it would imply that Protector¡¯s human form was just a lie.

    "The hybrid form, the Emperor Beast, or both?" Protector asked.

    "You¡¯re a hybrid too?" Kam was bbergasted, but this time she wasn¡¯t scared, just surprised.

    "No, I¡¯m an Emperor Beast to the bone. Yet our huge bodies make it really hard to move whenever we are not in open spaces, so I needed a hybrid form to be able to fight at the best of my abilities in any environment."

    "I would like to see them both if it¡¯s not a rude request. Is it rude? Sorry I have no idea..."

    "Stop panicking over the small things, Kam." Selia said while pouring her a shot of Phoenix Plume. "You¡¯re not rude, just curious. It¡¯s normal. Back when I learned the truth, right after I stopped being angry at him for not telling me sooner, I had Ryman shapeshift for the most trivial reasons, just to enjoy the show."

    "What show?"

    "First, I have to get naked. Second, it¡¯s quite a shy process." Ryman replied, making both women blush.

    ¡¯Why do I keep painting myself like a pervert? I need to get out more.¡¯ Selia thought.

    ¡¯Gods, Selia is such a character. I wonder who seduced who exactly, but I had enough of hot details for one night.¡¯ Kam pondered if she could ever be as daring as the huntress.

    Selia handed her the drink while Lith held her hand, making Kam wonder if the transformation process was so ghastly that it required such care or if her earlier fainting had scared them to death.

    "I¡¯m ready." Kam said, leaving the drink on the table, to not spill it in case of shock but still at arms length in case of need.

    The transformation was so fast and seamless that she had just the time to emit a single yelp. Protector¡¯s body was now covered in a ming red fur, his head had turned into that of a wolf with fangs instead of teeth.

    Yet neither his eyes or voice had changed. They were still calm and wise.

    "To see the rest, you have to get outside." Protector started to undress since the transformation had gotten rid of the embarrassing bits.

    Once out of the fence, Protector turned into his full Skoll form while emitting a pir of light, as if his body held a small sun.

    His shoulder height reached two meters and a half (8¡¯3"), with a ming red fur with shades of white and yellow. His whole body was enveloped in a deep blue me, that erupted more intensely from his neck, almost looking like a mane.

    Protector now had two curved hornsing out of his forehead, right in front of his ears. Eagle-like feathered wings came out from his back and his tail was made out of dancing mes.

    "It¡¯s amazing!" Kam said in awe, not feeling intimidated by the feral apparition. Her hands ran on his soft fur, starting from the head and them moving towards the wings. "Can you fly with these?"

    "Yes, but it took me practice since I wasn¡¯t born with them. Also, I¡¯d like to remind you that despite my appearance, I¡¯m not a pet." He said while Kam was ying with his big ears, making her blush.

    "Hands off the merchandise, sister." Seliaughed while giving Protector a dog treat and making him snarl.

    "Gods, this never gets old. Who¡¯s a good boy? Who¡¯s a good boy?" She kept ruffling the fur on his neck and behind his ears while Kamughed her ass off.

    Protector red his nostrils before reverting to his hybrid form. Then, he collected his clothes and went back into the house to get dressed.

    "How do you feel about our evening with my friends?" Lith asked while giving Selia the signal. It meant "give us some space but be ready to get back in case something goes wrong."

    "So far it has been interesting. Very different from what I had expected. It has been quite shocking, but mostly interesting. I wonder how many Emperor Beasts live among us, hiding in in sight." Kam said.

    "Them, the undead, and the nts." Lith said with a sad smile. Kam had no idea how big Mogar was, nor she knew about Guardians. He could¡¯ve shared his knowledge with her little by little, but it would¡¯ve taken a time he didn¡¯t have.

    "nts? That¡¯s why you forgemastered me the Camellia? Are you so paranoid that you¡¯re afraid a flower might spy on us?" Kam gave him one of those smiles of hers that gave Lith¡¯s heart a pleasant sting.

    He really wasn¡¯t used to be happy. The moment he got attached to someone, he would lose them. It had happened with Carl, with Yurial, and, in a way, with Phloria as well.

    Staying away from his family for long periods of time was also a way to protect them. Lith had so many enemies already and he had no idea how long the Griffon Kingdom would protect them in his stead.

    He kept worrying, nning, and getting stronger to seize control of his own life, but he knew it was just an illusion. No matter how strong he was or how far he nned, good and bad things would still happen, like the woman he was embracing.

    Lith hadn¡¯t nned on getting this attached to Kam and yet...

    "Then the next time that a Dryad hits on me, I assume you¡¯ll not be jealous if I ept her offer, right?"

    "Come again? Did you really meet a Dryad and she hit on you?" Suddenly she didn¡¯t find the idea of sentient nts funny anymore.

    "I met two of them but only one hit on me. Twice." Lith materialized the Dryad¡¯s hologram between his palms, doing his best to depict her properly.

    "Okay, seriously, why there are so many hotties around you? There¡¯s Friya, that strange woman a few days ago, Constable Griffon, and now even Dryads?" The woman in the picture was so gorgeous that she could cause a traffic jam simply by crossing the street.

    "First, Dryad aside none of them hit on me. Second, you¡¯re the one I choose to stay with, so there¡¯s no reason to be jealous." Lith replied while hugging her. Kam returned the embrace, making him wish for the best.

    "Do you know why I wanted you to meet Protector so badly?" He asked, receiving a shook of her head in reply.

    "Not only is he one of my oldest friends, but there¡¯s a deep bond between us..." At those words, Kam started to fear that Ryman was actually Lith¡¯s uncle, but the truth sounded much worse than that to her.

    He told her the rest of his story, of how saving Protector had crippled his life force and given the Emperor Beast part of his memories.

    "Are you serious? Is your life really going to end prematurely?" Kam was on the verge of tears.

    "I could live another hundred years or maybe just twenty more, I don¡¯t know." He couldn¡¯t exin to her about Awakening without sending Kam into a nervous breakdown. There was only so much information a human brain could handle.

 Chapter 766 Moment of Truth Part 2

    Except for Manohar, of course. The Mad Professor would probably just look at those revtions as a means for his research. He was beyond morality, if not even beyond sanity.

    "So you brought me here to show me the life you¡¯ve saved, to not make me angry when I discovered why you¡¯re going to leave me?" Kam pushed him away, her eyes watery and her voice hurt.

    "Leaving you?" Lith asked.

    "Well, if you¡¯re going to die, you can¡¯t waste your time with me. I¡¯m older than you, I¡¯ve yet to build my career and make a name for myself. I know that I¡¯m just..."

    "No, you got it all wrong." Lith gently shut her up, cing his forefinger on Kam¡¯s lips to get the opportunity to exin.

    "I brought you here because I don¡¯t want you to waste your time with me without knowing that if my line of work doesn¡¯t kill me, my past could at any moment. Because I wanted to be honest with you before moving forward with our rtionship, otherwise all we might build together would have lies and omissions as foundations.

    "Due to the exchange of life forces, Protector knows almost everything about me, yet he epted me nheless. It makes him one of the very few people I¡¯ve beenpletely honest with, and I think you deserve to know the truth as well."

    Lith told her about his first tribtion in Kandria, how things had started to change, both inside and outside of himself, and how those changes had be deeper over time.

    "So, not only do you have a crippled life force, but you¡¯re also.... Inhuman?" She asked, pacing in circles, trying to match the speed with which Mogar was spinning around her head.

    "Some say a Dragon, others a demon, but they all agree on the term hybrid." Lith nodded, without trying to get close to her.

    "Show me." She stopped abruptly, facing Lith with her hands clenched so hard that her nails pierced her skin, making Kam bleed.

    "Are you sure? It¡¯s kind of unsettling..."

    "Just do it." She cut him short, hoping that his story was just a convoluted, sadistic way to break up with her. Yet it was all true. Just like Protector¡¯s, Lith¡¯s shapeshifting was so fluid that one blink was enough to miss it.

    Selia almost yelped from the shadows in surprise and only Protector¡¯s hand silenced her, leaving Kam¡¯s illusion of being alone intact.

    Kam looked at the ck scales, whose tips were reddened by the inner fire burning within. She noticed the razor-sharp ws that had reced Lith¡¯s nails, the short tail full of bone spikesing out from his spine, as well as the ck wings on his back.

    They were different from those he had created a few days before to defend her. They were twisted and unnatural, like the hands of a giant clutching him. Then, she looked up, way higher than she normally had to meet his eyes.

    Lith had apparently no mouth nor nose, with just two small curved horns on his forehead and three eyes searching for her gaze. Just like Protector¡¯s, Lith¡¯s eyes hadn¡¯t changed, they were the same as before.

    Honest, worried, and full of that pain that so rarely left them alone, making his gaze sad or cruel most of the time.

    Kam took several deep breaths until Mogar stopped ying tricks on her. Only then did she manage to open her hands, touching Lith¡¯s ws first and then his scaly neck.

    She expected it to be cold and rough, maybe even sharp. Yet his body was warm and soft under her touch, the scales twitching as if that contact gave Lith goosebumps, either out of pleasure or fear.

    Kam felt a little itch on her hands, where the nail marks were quickly healing without leaving any trace of their existence. She instinctively flinched, as if she had just got hurt instead of being treated.

    "Oh, gods!" Kam yelled at the night sky while kneeling on the grass and holding her head.

    "Don¡¯t worry. I understand this is hard to ept." Lith¡¯s voice was different, sounding like a howling from an abyss that somehow had learned how to speak. "I also brought you here so that Protector can get you back home without having to see me ever again. I¡¯m sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I..."

    "You¡¯re hot, you know?" Kam cut him short, making Lith aware that his inner turmoil had turned most of his scales into a white-hot color and that they were now steaming in the chilly spring night.

    "Yes, I do. The scales actually contain the fire within this body. I¡¯ve got no bodily fluids in this form." Lith exined.

    "No, I mean it. You¡¯re hot." Kam stood on her tip-toes just to drag the cor of his shirt low enough to manage to put her arms around his neck.

    "It seems that Selia¡¯s not alone, I¡¯m a pervert as well." She said while stamping a kiss on theyers of scales that hid his mouth unless he willingly retracted them.

    "What?" Lith¡¯s knees suddenly buckled and hit the ground, incapable of standing Mogar¡¯s break-neck rotation speed anymore.

    "That¡¯s why I was yelling before. Knowing that you¡¯re a pervert is one thing, but admitting it to yourself is hard." She kissed him again, looking Lith in the eyes now that the height difference was gone.

    Outside he might be someone else, but the man inside that hardened shell hadn¡¯t changed one bit. He was still full of worry, pain, and scars, but he had been nothing but kind to her.

    He had fought for her, for her family, never asking anything in return. Lith had protected her from humans, monsters, and everything in between them, but what made him most precious to her was that he had never taken her for granted.

    Suddenly, her mind went back to their second date, when after singing that song for her, Lith had revealed Kam the trick behind his masterful performance.

    That night, he had told her that he wanted to impress her for who he was rather than pretend to be someone else. He had told her that he wasn¡¯t willing to build their rtionship on a lie and he had been true to his word.

    Lith had risked so much by sharing with her the truth about Protector and about himself, yet he had done it anyway. He had done it for her, with no strings attached.

    Lith¡¯s hybrid form started to fall apart in patches, slowly reverting him into his human body and bringing him so low that Kam had to kneel to not lose eye contact.

    "It will take you more than a few scales and bad breath to get rid of me, Lith Verhen." Even though the scale mask had remained closed the entire time, the pungent stench of brimstone was still in the air.

    Kam held him tight and soon Lith returned her embrace. He clung to her as if she was a lifeboat in the eternal storm that his life was, still incapable of finding his bnce or even to believe his own ears.

    "Are you sure? Wouldn¡¯t it better for you to find someone normal? Someone who can offer you a boring, peaceful life?" Lith asked while listening to the steady rhythm of Kam¡¯s heart.

    She wasn¡¯t afraid of him nor was she lying. All of her body gave off a feeling of tenderness and affection.

    "I¡¯m more than sure." Kam said before kissing him with the same passion they shared the first night they spent together.

 Chapter 767 Opening Act Part 1

    "And that¡¯s our cue." Protector whispered, even though he and Selia were already enveloped in a Hush spell, while dragging his wife toward the back door.

    "Come on, they¡¯re just making out and on ourwn at that. There¡¯s nothing wrong with making sure that things between them are okay." She whined.

    "ording to what you have taught me, that¡¯s being a peeping tom." Protector rebuked her. "Come inside. While Lith exins everything in detail to her, I can do the same to you now."

    Selia nodded and followed him back home. She was very curious about Lith¡¯s hybrid form since she had never seen a dragon before and so was Kam. After both Lith¡¯s and her heart had stopped quivering, she pushed him away gently, full of questions that needed to be answered.

    "Is this the reason why the army holds you in such high regard?"

    "The army doesn¡¯t know, nor does the Mage Association and the Royals." Lith replied.

    "So I guess I can¡¯t tell Zinya, right?" She asked.

    "Right. Only four people, you included, know about it and I¡¯d like to keep things that way." There were actually five people, but talking about Solus was still out of the question.

    "Just four? Protector and I are two, who are the other two? Your parents?" Kam felt ttered and the idea of being the first person he had ever shared his secret with. Protector knew about it only because they had exchanged their life forces and his parents because there was no way they hadn¡¯t noticed.

    "No. No one in my family knows. They would probably ept me as I am, but I don¡¯t want to pointlesslyplicate their life. For them knowing or not changes nothing, whereas you had the right to decide about your life."

    Lith¡¯s words made sense. Aside from making his rtives worry about giving birth to more hybrids and make them paranoid about protecting Lith¡¯s secret, telling them wouldn¡¯t do any good to them, nor would alter their rtionship.

    Yet it made Kam furrow her brows.

    "Don¡¯t tell me that..." She knew she wasn¡¯t Lith¡¯s first girlfriend so the answer to her own question was now quite obvious.

    "Yes. Phloria knows. I told her as well when things seemed to be getting serious." Lith replied.

    "Fine." Kam snorted, feeling jealous for not being the first person Lith had opened his heart to. "Who¡¯s thest one?"

    Lith perceived more than a tinge of rage in her voice, but lying would have been pointless.

    "Quy."

    "What the fuck? Did you sleep with her too? Did it happen before or after the academy?" Even though Lith had an enhanced skin and wore a Skinwalker armor, he could still feel her nails stinging at his flesh such was Kam¡¯s barely bridled fury.

    "What? No! Who do you take me for? I never slept with Quy nor did I voluntarily tell her. It happened while we were in Kh." Lith told Kam the truth about the fight with the Odi and how he couldn¡¯t always control his transformation.

    Kam sighed loudly in relief.

    "Let me get this straight. I¡¯m the fourth to know but the second you opened up with, correct?"

    "More like the fourth to know and the first person I opened up with hoping to keep you rather than just to scare you away." Lith replied.

    "When you put it that way it sounds much better." The edge in her voice disappeared and she kissed him again. "Are those three the only people I can freely talk about it?"

    "There¡¯s also Selia. As soon as Protector tells her about it, of course."

    "She didn¡¯t know? Even though she is his wife?" Kam was bbergasted.

    "Ryman never shared my secret with anyone and I did the same for him. Selia was damn curious about it, but when she realized I was keeping my mouth shut only because I wanted to tell you first, she understood and let it slide."

    Kam felt really happy at the idea of how deep the bond between Lith and Protector was, and the lengths Lith had gone to let her be among the first people to know.

    "Now what?" She asked while looking at the starred sky.

    "Now what indeed." Lith shrugged, having no idea how things would change.

    ***

    During the following days, Lith¡¯s research progressed smoothly. Ever since he had opened up with Kam, not only did a huge burden had been lifted from his chest, but also his mental scars hurt much less than usual.

    Lith was much more rxed and open-minded now, free from the fear of being rejected like a freak and destined to spend the eternity alone. Now his mind wasn¡¯t filled only with paranoid thoughts about things to not do and not say anymore.

    The Body-Swapping device allowed him to n his future, and Kam¡¯s blessing meant that he had someone to share it with. Lith had finally things to look forward to rather than to be afraid of, making his brain much clearer and more focused.

    Before leaving Protector¡¯s house, they had set up a meeting with Faluel the Hydra, Protector¡¯s Awakened master. Lith aimed to use Faluel¡¯s connection with the Council to understand if they had something to offer to him and maybe learn from her about runes.

    ¡¯Depending on how our meeting goes, I might even ask to join the Emperor Beasts¡¯ side of the Council. Some of them are good, like Ka, while others are mad, like Gadorf the Wyvern, whereas humans look like a bunch of psychos.

    ¡¯They cannot be trusted.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯What about your little adventure with your academy friends? Do you think you¡¯ll make it this time?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Well, yeah. Quy seems to be much calmer now in my presence. It almost makes me feel guilty for not telling Friya. I mean, that way, when Kam joins us for dinner or lunch, there would be no secrets at the table.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯True, but since it¡¯s a leisure trip, there¡¯s no point making things awkward again like it happened with Quy.¡¯ Solus pondered while checking their surroundings. Lith had started traveling only by using Warp Gates, to make his position known.

    After meeting Athung, he had hoped that the Council would find a way tomunicate with him in a civilized manner, but their prolonged silence didn¡¯t bode well.

    Even though to his eyes it was argely useless and ipetent organization, the Council was still a force to be reckoned with. Hence Lith made sure that they knew where he was, to prevent them from targeting others to get his attention.

    Being predictable was a two-edged sword since they would know where to find him, but at the same time, Lith could easily predict the most convenient spots for an ambush and prepare ordingly.

    After all, the Council was pretty limited in its choice of approach. Attacking the Ernas mansion was suicidal and Lith¡¯s home was heavily guarded. To avoid exposing their existence, the Awakened couldn¡¯t risk triggering a full-scale war with the army or the Association, so they would target Lith unless they were forced otherwise.

    Lith Warped always to the same ces to go from Derios to his own house, pretending to have let his guard down whereas his path was intended to lead his unknown enemies to take action exactly where he wanted them to.

 Chapter 768 Opening Act Part 2

    Gaaron Roghias was an ambitious man. Even though he had not inherited a magical legacy nor made any important discovery in any field of magic, he was one of the youngest and most powerful members of the Council.

    He had spent his youth training in the art of magic and developing his mana core until he had struck the ceiling that stopped most Awakened, the bright blue mana core.

    Being just fifty years old when it happened, he hadn¡¯t let it get in the way of his ambition. Quite the contrary. He had stopped practicing magical theory and had joined the enforcers of the Council, the Hand of Fate.

    It served the purpose to put into practice all the things he had learned and to make the elders indebted to him. They all possessed a purple core since it was one of the two only requirements needed to be considered an elder, with the other requirement being a major breakthrough in any magical discipline.

    Gaaron was certain that once he had acquired a purple core, things would have gone smoothly for him, like they always had in the past. As rewards for his achievements, he only asked for their advice about how to further develop his mana core, but to no avail.

    No matter how many meditation techniques he learned or magical philosophies he practiced, nothing seemed to work.

    So, after wasting another fifty years as a dog of the Council, he had started developing his political power both inside and outside the Awakenedmunity. He had hoped that such power would give him ess to the knowledge he needed.

    Countless Awakened of all races throughout history had achieved a purple core and some humans would even naturally develop it. It was just the matter of finding the answer to his question, so he searched both the Royal Library and those of all Awakened whose status was below his own.

    Or so he thought. Even now that he was 300 years old, he was still stuck at the blue core. He had gone from being considered a genius to being treated like any other average Awakened.

    Building influence, especially in the human world, took time and effort, so all the energy he poured in politics was drained from what he was supposed to use in developing his magical abilities.

    Gaaron was one of the richest and most influential Awakened, yet no one of the elders dignified him with a second look. Money could only bring an Awakened so far and most of them were hermits, so they didn¡¯t care about society.

    In their eyes, he was just wasting his time with trivial matters, so there wasn¡¯t even one of them who considered Gaaron a worthy candidate to inherit their legacy. At the same time, however, young Awakened considered him a role model.

    Most of them struggled to make a living and to survive their breakthroughs without submitting to a master. While the Council ignored them, Gaaron was always d to help and train them, be it with his connections or knowledge.

    Little did they know that he was just using them as guinea pigs for his theories about mana cores and that the only reason he founded them was to have ess to their research.

    His "generosity" had allowed Gaaron to build a small army of Awakened, probably the only one on Mogar, and to poach knowledge from dozens of brilliant young minds. s, none of them had produced significant innovations.

    The mission Raagu had assigned to him was exactly what Gaaron had been waiting for. All the young Awakened that Lith had bested in battle were disciples of elders and legacy inheritors at that.

    If one of Gaaron¡¯s apprentices seeded where all the others had failed, it would prove the Council that his teachings based on modern magic were superior to those of the elders.

    It would count as an important magical achievement and would force the Council to reconsider the rule about having a purple core to be an elder. Gaaron had listened to all the elders¡¯ stories and teachings, yet neither he nor their own disciples had reached a purple core.

    Clearly, they had just been lucky. Obtaining what was considered to be thest frontier of magical power seemed to be more a matter of chance instead that of wisdom and practice like those old fossils kept ranting about.

    Gaaron had read Lith¡¯s file thoroughly, studying him for days before taking action. Because of Lith¡¯s cloaking devices, Life Vision was pointless and Invigoration required physical contact.

    He had been forced to agree with Athung¡¯s report: diplomacy wasn¡¯t an option. Asking help to the beasts would bring Gaaron a hollow victory, so he had opted for a direct approach.

    "We¡¯re dealing with a rogue mage, so only the basicws of the Council apply to him." Gaaron exined to his disciples. "You can do whatever you want. As long as you don¡¯t kill him, anything goes.

    "Your mission is to evaluate his strength and the only way to do it is with Invigoration. You all read his file, so you know what to expect." The five young Awakened nodded, knowing how important the matter was for their mentor.

    There wasn¡¯t just their gratitude on the te, but their pride as well. They didn¡¯t understand why an elder was so interested in recruiting someone so young whereas no one had cared about them for years until they had stumbled into a fellow Awakened who had introduced them to the Council.

    They were all grassroots self-Awakened like Lith. Some were even already past thirty years of age having Awakenedte, and most of them had not attended an academy. Being Awakened and having magical talent were two different things, plus they had deemed useless to spend years learning fake magic.

    "I¡¯ll take care of it, Gaaron." Cresia said. He was a man in his early twenties, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall. He had brown eyes and hair, with shades of blue that identified him as someone talented in water magic even before his Awakening.

    Cresia¡¯s family belonged to the army, so he was a skilled fighter who had started training early in his life. He had graduated from the Crystal Griffon and after Awakening, he had left his family to search for someone who would teach him about true magic.

    He had refused to submit to the army¡¯s or the Association¡¯s rules just to discover that Awakened were even stricter about control. Cresia had never epted to obey to a master, so his talent had stagnated until he had met Gaaron.

    Their contact in the army had warned them that Lith had just stepped out of Derios¡¯ Warp Gate, so Cresia readied his air blocking array and waited for his prey. The moment Lith emerged from his dimensional corridor, the array activated, cutting off all of his main escape strategies.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t good.¡¯ Lith thought while checking his surroundings and ignoring the most obvious threat. ¡¯This isn¡¯t where I predict they would attack, this ce sucks for an ambush. Are they idiots or just arrogant?¡¯

    Cresia didn¡¯t waste time talking, he just wanted to get done with it and go home. Gaaron had promised him a powerful enchanted de in exchange for his help. Cresia would use it to enhance his battle strength and knowledge.

    As any real swordsman, he wanted to be a powerful Forgemaster, but with only the knowledge from the academy, he had long since hit a wall. Runes were a well-kept secret by both Awakened and humans.

 Chapter 769 Ruin Part 1

    Cresia infused his body with all the elements and darted forward, his de aimed for Lith¡¯s neck. A well-ced lunge would make it impossible for him to breathe plus the time it would take Lith to die of blood loss was much longer than what Cresia needed to use Invigoration.

    Great was his surprise when the short sword hung at Lith¡¯s hip grew in size until it became a silvery long sword with a hilt long enough to allow for a two-handed grip.

    ¡¯What a moron.¡¯ Cresia thought. ¡¯Heavier doesn¡¯t mean stronger. Such a weapon allows him only a couple of attack patterns, making him predictable.¡¯ Like most Awakened, he favored speed over strength.

    Yet Lith didn¡¯t attempt to sh, but lunged as well, aiming at his opponent¡¯s head while his sword continued to grow in size. Orion¡¯s des were all exceptionally light, but with Lith¡¯s strength, even a non-enchanted zweihander would have been as quick as a foil.

    Cresia had barely the time to intercept the enemy de with his own when the unexpected happened. The moment the two weapons touched, he felt as if his body had been turned into iron. It felt so heavy that it took his full focus to not slip and fall onto the ground.

    ¡¯Gravity magic?¡¯ He thought in surprise.

    All Awakened knew it, but no one practiced it. With the exception of its first magic form, even tier one gravity magic required to cast six spells at the same time and to infuse them with willpower, making it akin to casting two tier five spells at once.

    Another of its downsides was that, unlike normal elemental magic, gravity had no direct effect, but only an indirect one. It meant that it would behave like an array, influencing even its caster if they were inside its area of effect.

    It was the reason why gravity magic was widely used in Forgemastering and in crafting permanent arrays. It did still require huge bursts of strength to activate it, but the fine-tuning of its effects would be performed by the runes forming the enchantment.

    Cresia¡¯s enhanced senses noticed that the ground was cracking under his feet, that even though his muscles and bones could withstand that sudden weight increase, his joints were already at their limit.

    Yet the leaves kept flying in the wind and Lith seemed to be unaffected by whatever was happening. Even Gaaron was racking his brain, trying to make heads or tails of the situation by using Life Vision.

    "It¡¯s the fucking sword." Yet he had grasped only half the truth.

    Lith had realized the limitations of gravity magic back when he was still at the academy and had tried to ovee them to no avail. At least until he had mastered the use of the ring that the fungal creature had gifted him.

    Tier zero gravity magic could be cast quickly, but it was too weak to be effective in realbat and it would hinder Lith has well. Everything had changed when Lith had practiced using the gravity ring, learning how to weave a small array together with gravity magic to escape from its negative effects.

    Yet it was only thanks to Orion¡¯s new sword, Ruin, that Lith could bring first magic to the next level. Unlike the Gatekeeper, Ruin could also focus and amplify gravity magic, turning an annoying parlor trick into a game-changer spell.

    The moment Cresia pushed Ruin away his weight went back to normal, leaving him free to move and his head to fly high in the sky. Reacting under such physical strain had required him to make a wide movement, which had created an opening that Lith had exploited.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ He asked while preparing another Warp Steps now that the air blocking array had vanished along with the life of its caster.

    ¡¯That guy wasn¡¯t alone.¡¯ Her Life Detecting array spotted the enemies who were outside the area of effect of their mystical senses. ¡¯It¡¯s the stupidest ambush I¡¯ve ever seen. They are too far away to intervene and lumped together like a bunch of morons.

    ¡¯The dead guy had a deep blue core, so I guess that the others are about the same level.¡¯

    ¡¯How many?¡¯

    ¡¯Five more. This is worse than we expected. n D?¡¯ She asked.

    ¡¯n E.¡¯ Lith collected the corpse and opened the Warp Steps at the same time, Blinking through it to not get killed in the case the enemies had another array at the ready.

    "Let¡¯s kill that bastard!" Horyu said, another of the young Awakened, readying the Warp Stone that would allow them to chase after their prey.

    "Verhen acted in self-defence." Athung said with a sneer. "What did you expect him to do after a stranger popped in front of him and tried to kill him? Have a cup of tea and some cookies?"

    ¡¯Master Raagu was right. These guys can teach me a lot about how not to n ahead.¡¯ She thought.

    "She¡¯s right." Gaaron gritted his teeth, almost chocking on every one of his own words. "We¡¯re not here to kill, but to examine him. But that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t make him suffer. Attack all together and chop off his limbs.

    "We need him alive, not well."

    The Warp Stone was a device linked to a specific set of spatial coordinates, that usually dimensional mages used to cover very long distances with a single Warp Steps.

    Its use lessened the focus necessary to visualize the exit point and reduced a dimensional corridor¡¯s mana cost since the spell would be partially fueled by the stone. In Gaaron¡¯s case, he had prepared several stones, each one linked to a different exit point where he knew Lith would reappear.

    "Watch out for his sword. Until we understand the trick behind it, you have to dodge instead of blocking." Gaaron activated the Warp Stones until he found Lith, then he activated the Stone leading to Lith¡¯s next stop so that they could take him by surprise.

    "Why do you send your minions, Gaaron? You could always take action yourself." Athung mocked him. For a 300 years old Awakened and a regional lord at that, moving against someone who was an infant would have been a terrible humiliation.

    It would mean that he was incapable of nurturing even one worthy vassal and that his ims to the Council would be forever dismissed as a joke. To make matters worse, in case he needed to intervene, anything but a crushing victory was uneptable.

    "Shut up. You¡¯re here only as an observer. Don¡¯t you dare mess with my ns, little girl." Gaaron words only made Athung smile.

    ¡¯He really is a tool. I wonder how such a small body can contain such a bloated ego.¡¯ She thought.

    Meanwhile, Lith had reached his destination. When he came out of his Warp Steps, the four Awakened had surrounded him, but he was ready for them.

    The blue aura from Full Guard covered five meters (16 feet) around him and the four pseudo-wings from Death Calling out of his back pped furiously, forcing them to scatter or be engulfed by the impending darkness.

    An overly handsome guy wielding a war hammer threw his weapon at Lith while flying back to avoid the wings, and so did a stunning redhead with her twin battle axes.

    At the same time, their allies turned the area surrounding Lith into a quicksand, to restrict his movements and leave him no other choice than Blinking. They were all using Life Vision, so they only needed to exploit the split-second Lith was helpless while stepping through a dimensional door to turn him into a pinhole.

 Chapter 770 Ruin Part 2

    Lith knew by the positioning of his enemies that even though his current situation was dangerous, it had to be a set up for something even worse. If not for Death Call¡¯s darkness constructs, the two Awakened near his exit point would have already maimed him, but the fact that the other two mages were keeping their distance was what really troubled him.

    With enough preparation, there was no telling what a true mage could cook up. Blocking the hammer with a spell was impossible, the enemy had already seized control of the ground, and Lith was facing too many threats at the same time to engage two mages sitting at a safe distance in a battle of willpower.

    Having no idea what kind of spells the enemy weapons might have been imbued with, blocking was not an option and so was Blinking.

    ¡¯They made so that I can¡¯t block nor dodge, to force me to use dimensional magic.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯Too bad for them that I had time to prepare as well.¡¯

    Lith snapped his fingers, unleashing several fireballs at the same time, each one aimed at himself. mesposed of his own mana couldn¡¯t hurt him while the shockwaves generated by his spells deflected the iing weapons and freed his legs from the quicksand restraining him.

    Lith then tried to use spirit magic to capture the battle hammer and the axes, just to discover that they had been enchanted so that they would always return to their owners.

    ¡¯What a clever spell. This way not only can¡¯t its owner be disarmed, but I can¡¯t also store their weapons inside my pocket dimension until I kill them. Yet this gives me another opportunity.¡¯ Lith thought while a huge smile appeared on his face.

    With the magical sand flying around, all the Awakened¡¯s Life Visions were blinded, but Lith didn¡¯t need to see his enemies to find them. He used spirit magic to grab at the battle hammer and used it as apass to find its master.

    The four Awakened had scattered around the area, bombarding Lith¡¯sst known position with explosive spells while looking around for the exit point of the Blink spell that they assumed was his only way out from theirbined onught.

    When Horyu saw Lith hitching a ride on his own hammer, it was already toote. Lith had used abination of air magic cantrips and a flight spell to turn the returning weapon into a homing missile.

    Horyu had to interrupt his spellcasting and focus all of his willpower on the enchantment controlling his hammer¡¯s movements, to prevent it from swatting him like a fly.

    The hammer was imprinted with his energy signature, so none of his enchanted protections would react to it. Moreover, Lith was boosting the makeshift projectile¡¯s speed non-stop, making it was so fast that even altering the hammer¡¯s trajectory by a little margin required a lot of energy.

    ¡¯Dammit! The hammer is too fast to stop it in time, and even if I did, I would have no means to defend against that bastard. I¡¯ve only one choice left.¡¯ Horyu thought.

    He canceled the returning spell and Blinked away. It was better to have his own weapon stolen than letting it kill him. What none of the Awakened could have predicted was that Lith would exploit the opening by Blinking as well.

    The two identical spells had been cast with a split-second difference in timing, making it impossible to know which belonged to who. Life Vision could show them the position of the exit points, but the time they had to react was too short to hesitate.

    One exit point had been ced near Aria, one of the long-range attackers, while the other exit point was located at a safe distance in the middle of their formation. Aria released one of her best tier five spells, Great Flood, on the personing from the exit point near her while stabbing at them multiple times with her estoc.

    Every one of her lunges was aimed at the stomach level, to incapacitate the opponent without the risk of killing them. She was already regretting having taken part in such a mission, yet she didn¡¯t have much of a choice.

    Gaaron was her best shot at earning enough money to finish building herb and with his connections, she would easily set up her business in human society, allowing her to be truly independent.

    ¡¯All of my hard work will be wasted if that Verhen psycho pops out near me and cuts my head off!¡¯ She thought while her spell took form. Great Flood was a restricting spell that conjured a powerful stream of water infused with darkness magic.

    The body of water would smother all kinds of attack spells and deflect physical attacks, while the darkness flowing through it would seep into the victim and rob them of their strength.

    Aria enveloped herself with the spell, giving it the shape of a grey colored water dragon. The remaining two Awakened decided to follow her lead and take precautions. They pointed their hands at the remaining exit point and released all the tier three spells they had at the ready.

    Yet due to Blink¡¯s speed, even faltering for a second was a second too long.

    While Aria mercilessly stabbed and weakened Horyu, Lith had wrapped himself with Death call, reshaping his darkness wings into a thick cocoon that weakened the iing spells enough for the Skinwalker armor boosted by his mana to easily repel them

    Ormr, a young man who had Awakened before his growth spurt and had be as tall as Lith was, decided to take the kid gloves off and go all out. A blue aura erupted from his body as he activated his Battle Mage tier five spell, God of Darkness.

    ¡¯Now the bastard is so close that all he needs is a well-ced dimensional spell to use one of us as a meat shield against iing attacks. The best way to put him down is to go mano a mano.

    ¡¯Even if our mana cores and physical bodies have simr power, he¡¯s no Battle Mage. It took me years to master the Elemental God book, time that Verhen spent Forgemastering trinkets.

    ¡¯Even if we are both Awakened, my skillset as a warrior exceeds everything he can do!¡¯ Ormr thought while darting towards Lith. A ck armor made of living shadows now covered his body and four ck spheres appeared behind his back, spinning so fast that they would appear like a circle.

    It would need him but a thought to using the spheres to replicate any tier four or lower darkness spell without the need of casting them.

    ¡¯Note to self, I must learn that stuff.¡¯ Lith thought, regretting to not have asked Morok why he had never heard of those spells before.

    The spellsposing the Elemental God book were something the academies taught only to Rank S Battle Mage students or in Ormr¡¯s case, that Awakened elders taught to their pupils to test their loyalty.

    Ormr had failed his test, bing so drunk on power that he had challenged his master and had been kicked out in the result. He had learned the hard way that the only reason such powerful spells had been bestowed upon him so easily was that might without wisdom was an empty threat.

 Chapter 771 Spirit Magic Spells Part 1

    Lith¡¯s cocoon opened and the wings shapeshifted into four huge arms. Each one of them grabbed one of Ormr¡¯s spheres, wrapping them like a shroud and making them useless.

    Ormr turned the spheres into abination of des and projectiles made out of darkness element. Lith¡¯s shrouds twisted and deformed under the spells¡¯ pressure but they didn¡¯t break.

    Ormr was bbergasted, he had no idea that a darkness spell could physically interact with another, something that Lith had learned while fighting against Thrud Griffon. Ormr tested Lith¡¯s defenses with a series of quick jabs, only for his left arm to be trapped in the vise that Lith¡¯s grip was.

    Ormr didn¡¯t even try to break free. Being his body shrouded in darkness magic, the longer Lith touched him, the weaker he would be. Ormr exploited the hold to throw a powerful right at Lith while pulling his own left back, to not give the enemy the opportunity to dodge.

    Too bad that Solus¡¯s darkness infused glove protected Lith from the enemy armor, making it possible for him to crush Ormr¡¯s wrist simply by going all out as well. Lith twisted and pulled Ormr¡¯s arm, breaking his ulna and dislocating his shoulder at the same time.

    The Awakened felt only a sting thanks to darkness fusion, but his body was dragged along nheless. Ormr¡¯s fist missed whereas Lith¡¯s found his target. It crushed the young Awakened¡¯s trachea, piercing through the neck until it pulverized the spine.

    Ormr had made two huge mistakes. He had challenged Lith with confidence because he had mastered the God of Darkness spell, but Lith had long practiced the darkness element itself, not just a single spell.

    As a healer, Lith used darkness as much as he used the light element. One of his favorite quotes from Professor Marth was: "He who knows how to heal also knows how to destroy."

    The second mistake had been assuming that since their build was simr, so it had to be their physical strength. Thanks to hisst body refinement, Lith was now in-between veteran magical beasts¡¯ and Emperor Beasts¡¯ prowess, whereas his opponent would have struggled even against an adult magical beast.

    Ormr was older than Lith, but thetter could still overpower him like an adult with a teenager. A snap of Lith¡¯s fingers conjured a small fireball that sted Ormr¡¯s neck to pieces, making any attempt to heal him pointless.

    The three remaining Awakened, of which only two were still able to fight since Horyu was still using Invigoration to recover from the friendly fire, decided that a dishonorable escape was better than an honorable death and Blinked away to safety.

    Lith begged to differ, exploiting their temporary blindness to kill them one by one. He Blinked where the stunning redhead, the one with the weakest protections, would appear as his Checkmate Spears spell surrounded the other two exit points.

    Lith appeared right behind the young woman¡¯s blind spot and Ruin made short work of her armor as well as of her heart, leaving a gaping hole where the pulsing organ had been until a second before.

    The ice spears struck the two Awakened from every side, piercing their bodies. The onught made them lose their focus and all the spells they kept at the ready, leaving them helpless while the barrage of icicles ripped them to shreds.

    After freeing Ruin from its meat scabbard, Lith performed a horizontal sh to decapitate the woman. Awakened were much sturdier than humans, needing but a breath to fully recover from a mortal wound.

    s, Gaaron stopped Ruin with his Frostbound de and conjured two emerald green barriers made of pure mana around the other two Awakened, saving their lives.

    ¡¯Good gods! This guy has a bright blue core!¡¯ Solus warned Lith.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! That¡¯s a spirit magic spell. The mana materialized around those two instead of spreading out of his body like usual. Solus, focus on the spell¡¯s matrix. I can¡¯t allow taking this guy alive to interrogate himter.¡¯ Lith asked Solus.

    Even though Gaaron couldn¡¯t read their minds, he was utterly offended by Lith¡¯s behavior. Gaaron was going all out right off the bat, spreading a bright blue aura much bigger than Lith¡¯s, yet the child was unfazed by his appearance.

    Without a cloaking device, Lith was supposed to notice the arsenal the old mage had at his disposal, but he still acted as if it was all an annoyance. Gaaron tried to strike at Lith¡¯s neck, but the des were glued together by Ruin¡¯s gravity field.

    The increased weight also put enough strain on Gaaron¡¯s body to put him on his back foot.

    "Don¡¯t Blink! Fly, you fools!" He yelled while using his other hand to regenerate the redhead enough to allow her toplete the job herself with Invigoration. He had moved the moment Ormr had died, yet it had almost not been fast enough.

    Dimensional magic was too dangerous, not allowing him to distinguish friend from foe, whereas if his pupils flew, he could easily recognize them from their energy signature.

    Being their swords locked and Gaaron¡¯s focus split, Lith pushed his advantage further. He emitted an inhuman roar that made the Trawn woods fell silent for kilometers while kicking with all of his strength at the enemy.

    Gaaron¡¯s equipment was made of Orichalcum and was among the best pieces that money could buy in the Awakenedmunity, yet he felt as if a horse had kicked him in the chest.

    Lith hadn¡¯t struck him in the nuts because with darkness fusion pain wasn¡¯t a factor in their fight, while aiming for the head would have exposed him to a counter. The chest, instead, was the source of breathing and a major weak point in a battle between Awakened.

    The air in Gaaron¡¯s lungs was squeezed out as a web of cracks appeared on his ribs.

    ¡¯What the heck? A physical attack shouldn¡¯t be able to inflict this kind of damage upon me.¡¯ Since darkness fusion negated the pain, most veteran Awakened kept a self-diagnostic spell always active in battle.

    Theck of pain meant the inability of noticing potentially lethal wounds, like ruptured organs or punctured lungs. Lith¡¯s kick had caused no pain, but it had still caused his opponent to lose a good chunk of his stamina.

    Pain is just a symptom of the damage a body sustains, just like fever is of infection.

    Lith grinned noticing that his enemy had refused to give up on the sword, allowing his kick to hit deep. The other three Awakened took each a deep breath with Invigoration before flying away at break-neck speed, but he didn¡¯t mind.

    All the pieces of the chessboard were already in ce. He only needed to get rid of the king to end that nonsense.

    Gaaron squinted his eyes and two rays of emerald green energy erupted from them aimed at Lith¡¯s pupils. Lith tilted his head to dodge them only to notice that they were able to follow their target.

    He then used Ruin to block them, sustaining no damaged but freeing Gaaron from the gravity field and leaving both of his hands free.

    ¡¯That was much more powerful than spirit magic as I use it.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯It¡¯s visible, but its speed and destructive power are greatly enhanced. Emerald green energy, huh?¡¯

    Lith had mixed feelings about his situation. On one hand, not only had the madman in front of him a stronger mana core, but he was also able to use an unknown kind of magic.

 Chapter 772 Spirit Magic Spells Part 2

    On the other hand, however, with each spell Gaaron used, he gave Lith more clues about spirit magic¡¯s real potential. Spirit magic was one of the Awakened¡¯s hidden talents, so the academy had taught him nothing about it.

    Solus didn¡¯t share one bit of his excitement and focused solely on analyzing the enemy. While Lith¡¯s senses were aimed at his enemy¡¯s visible movements, her mystical senses scanned the invisible, collecting all the data she could get.

    She was studying the pseudo cores of Gaaron¡¯s equipment to notice which one was being activated to warn Lith in time while also studying the mana flow of the enemy to predict the kind of spell he would employ and how dangerous it would be.

    ¡¯Earth from below.¡¯ She thought as Gaaron adjusted his grip on the Frostbound de and made the ground erupt in the form of a giant stone fist right under Lith¡¯s feet. Lith had just the time to take flight and reduce the strength of the impact when a mass of yellow mes surrounded him.

    ¡¯Air and fire all around us for 15 meters (50 feet).¡¯ Solus warned him.

    It was Gaaron¡¯s War Mage tier five spell, Electrifired. The mes were actually bright blue, the overbearing yellow derived from the streams of electricity flowing through them.

    It was a sure-kill spell that would paralyze its victim while the mes burned them to a crisp. Lith recalled his ck wings, shaping them into a cocoon again to buy some time.

    Gaaronughed at his naivety.

    ¡¯Such a puny amount of darkness magic can only make his agonyst longer. Sorry, kid. I have to break you to not turn this mission into a failure.¡¯ He thought.

    "Surrender now and..." Gaaron was cut short by a mass of flesh and metal dropping on him at break-neck speed from above. The impact made the Awakened fall face-first onto the ground and opened a few meters deep crater.

    The cocoon had never been a defense, it was just a smokescreen to prevent Gaaron from seeing Lith Blink. After shapeshifting Death Call, Lith had left it behind, making the dimensional gate invisible to Gaaron¡¯s Life Vision.

    The third spell¡¯s energy was indistinguishable from that of the other two ovepping spells. Lith had reappeared as high as he could,bining gravity magic, his best flight spell, and the mana boosted Orichalcum Skinwalker armor to turn himself into a living meteor.

    He had achieved such a speed that, without a Full Guard to protect him, Gaaron¡¯s enhanced senses had perceived the threat only when it was toote. To make matters worse, Lith had spun on himself and shapeshifted his lower body into his hybrid form.

    The metal-coated talons on his feet drilled through Gaaron¡¯s protections and flesh while the amplified weight of Lith¡¯s body crushed his bones.

    Gaaron coughed out a mouthful of blood as his focus and all the spells he had at the ready were lost. Unluckily for Lith, Gaaron¡¯s equipment was nothing to scoff at.

    ¡¯Defensive amulet and detonating glove.¡¯ Everything was happening so fast that even their mind link couldn¡¯t keep up. Solus used as few words as she could, conjuring an image depicting her prediction of the events in Lith¡¯s mind to help him understand what she meant.

    The moment they had made contact, the amulet at Gaaron¡¯s neck had enveloped its master into a barrier while activating a powerful healing spell. Usually, it would have been pointless since mending such deep wounds would have left Gaaron exhausted.

    Lith was too close, so using Invigoration was impossible, but the Gaaron¡¯s glove turned the tables. A sudden explosion of emerald green energy enveloped Gaaron, destroying everything in his vicinity.

    If not for histest breakthrough and Solus¡¯s timely warning, Lith would have been caught by the energy field, remaining gravely injured in the process. Lith unleashed a few spells, only to discover that the green dome was solid.

    ¡¯That¡¯s a spirit magic holding item!¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯It¡¯s an excellent means to force the enemy to back away and buy time to use Invigoration. Together with the amulet, it forms a perfectbo.¡¯

    ¡¯Sounds more like ast-ditch trick to me.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯I¡¯ve lost the effect of surprise, but if I¡¯m right, I still have the upper hand.¡¯

    Athung was watching everything from a safe distance in envy. Spirit magic, the seventh element, wasn¡¯t taught even to legacy heirs. It was deemed too powerful for someone so young and only imparted before the master¡¯s death.

    Gaaron had learned it only thanks to his centuries of loyal service to the Council and through relentless practice. Yet he appeared to be losing.

    "And I thought to be a good fighter." She sighed. Athung was able to notice the web of feints both mages were weaving along with their spells only because she was far away and rxed.

    "That¡¯s why I told you it would have been a great learning opportunity. A fighter is like metal. It needs to be tempered in the fires of the battlefield over and over. No one is a genius from the start and practice alone crumbles in front of the real deal." Raagumented while watching through themunication amulet.

    "I must say, I¡¯m disappointed in this Lith Verhen." Raagu sighed. "If Gaaron¡¯s minions weren¡¯t cowards, they would get back and fight beside him, making this fight end in a matter of seconds."

    "They are not cowards." Athung replied. "I know them and I have personally worked with them. Their knowledge iscking due to not having ever had an Awakened master, but none of them is so stupid that they could miss this chance."

    "Where are they, then? At this point, they should be back at full strength, yet they are nowhere to be seen." Raagu sneered. Her disciple¡¯s naivety disappointed her as well.

    It was only then that Athung did notice that the woods were too silent and that many things were off.

    ¡¯Lith could have Warped again when he noticed Horyu and the others, yet he chose to stay. Nor did he seem to worry when they escaped.¡¯ Athung used Life Vision to scan her surroundings, finding nothing.

    The Trawn woods were supposed to be full of wildlife, yet aside from nts, she was alone. The realization sent shivers down her spine.

    ¡¯Could all of this be a trap? Lith didn¡¯t say a word the whole time, but he roared when Gaaron appeared. Maybe Raagu is wrong and that wasn¡¯t bravado, but a signal, just like when he faced me.¡¯

    Meanwhile, Lith too was using Invigoration and had cast Death Call again. The wings were a means of defense, offense, and deception.

    ¡¯That guy has better equipment and a better mana core than me, but once he sees Death Call after falling for myst trick, he will start overthinking things.¡¯ Lith thought while checking his surroundings with all of his senses.

    Much to his surprise, when the green dome disappeared, Gaaron was still there. Lith had expected that the enemy would use the spell¡¯s cover to move to a vantage position, yet he still seemed to want a direct approach.

    The veteran Awakened was mostly hurt in his pride and was eager to get over with that embarrassment. Not only had he been knocked down for the first time in centuries, but his disciples had also abandoned him like a dog.

    His rage was beyond words, to the point that he didn¡¯t care about Raagu¡¯s orders anymore. Gaaron activated the Frostbound de enchantments and those of most of his equipment as well while unleashing the only spell he had the time to prepare before the effects of the spirit magic spell, Destructive Ward, disappeared.

 Chapter 773 Trickster Part 1

    ¡¯If I¡¯m alone, at least I don¡¯t have to worry about those losers anymore.¡¯ Gaaron thought while activating his tier five spell, Stone Grinder.

    Earth magic was the second slowest element after darkness and it couldn¡¯t be used while fighting in the air, but it was the element that offered the most powerful offense and defense at the same time.

    It could block all the other elements and couldn¡¯t be stopped by them, since the mass of manipted ground was always bigger than what a mage could conjure by using a different kind of magic.

    Gaaron¡¯s personal spell mixed air and earth together. It created several small twisters that carried huge amounts of earth, allowing it to ovee its weakness, and surrounded every single rock fragment carried by the vortexes in air des.

    To add insult to injury, being the ground around its caster under their control, it was impossible to use earth magic to defend against Stone Grinder.

    Lith quickly considered his options, discovering that he had only a few of them. He could run away, but that would mean leaving his back exposed to further attacks. Even taking the skies was out of the question.

    Gaaron was an Awakened, just like Lith, so he wouldn¡¯t run out of mana just because of a single powerful spell. On the contrary, the more time Lith wasted, the more it was likely that Gaaron would gain the upper hand due to his superior resources.

    ¡¯I have no clue what spirit magic spells can do or how many effects he can obtain bybining his artifacts.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Against a stronger opponent, the only option is to finish things quickly before he can understand what I¡¯mcking.

    ¡¯If he chose to use such a big spell, it means he¡¯s desperate. Let¡¯s keep things that way.¡¯

    Life Vision had shown Lith that Gaaron¡¯s magic flow had been greatly diminished by using Stone Grinder, plus the glove and the amulet had yet to recharge. He was aware that the older Awakened was probably betting everything on Lith running away.

    Their fight was at its final turning point. If Lith reached the now spell-less Gaaron, the victory would be his, whereas if Gaaron managed to weave a new set of spells, he would turn the tables.

    Both were big "ifs", but s, Lith¡¯s was bigger.

    None of his spells could deal with Stone Grinder, even Final Sunset¡¯s ck mes would be easily extinguished by such a frenzied avnche. To make matters worse, Gaaron¡¯s level of mastery over the air element was such that he was able to create horizontal tornadoes that were now converging to Lith¡¯s position from every side.

    The ground cracked at their passage while trees were uprooted and smashed to bits in a matter of seconds. Lith was just a dozen meters away from his enemy, but with such a powerful barrier between them, it was akin to being oceans apart.

    Lith took flight to go above the horizontal tornado in front of himself, but Gaaron made it grow even bigger, to the point that it resembled an ocean wave. Lith then had Death Call¡¯s wings envelope him like a shroud and then darted inside Stone Grinder.

    It was a suicidal, pointless move that made Gaaron grit his teeth in frustration.

    ¡¯Does he really think I¡¯m so stupid that I would fall twice for the same trick?¡¯ He thought. ¡¯Sure, I don¡¯t have Full Guard, but I still have my own fucking eyes.¡¯

    Gaaron raised a stone b behind his back to not have blind spots, looking up, left, and right to search for the exit point he knew that would appear soon. He saw the space getting bent on his far-left side and sent the vortexes he had kept close to himself against it.

    Gaaron didn¡¯t let his guard down nor allowed himself to smile until the noiseing from the exit point proved to him that his spell had hit something. He was about to dispel the vortexes, to check if Lith was still alive when another noise caught his attention.

    Lith had emerged from the giant horizontal tornado and was darting towards him. Such a feat had only made it possible by Gaaron making the tornado grow so big. No matter how violent the external storm was, the eye of a cyclone was always a safe zone.

    Once Lith had determined that there was enough space for him, he had used the cover provided by the enemy spell to Blink, halving the space he needed to cross, and then had executed a double Switch spell.

    The first Switch was intended to move some of the rocksprising Stone Grinder on the other side as a diversion while the second allowed Lith to travel almost to the other side.

    Almost. Appearing outside of Stone Grinder¡¯s area of effect would have meant being visible, so he had appeared right where he had removed the rocks. The air current had still caught him, mming Lith on the ground and producing the sound that Gaaron had heard, but he had managed to make it through sustaining little damage.

    The cocoonbined with the mana boosted armor and darkness fusion had allowed Lith to not lose his focus, so that the moment he came out, he was able to unleash all the spells he had at the ready.

    Most of the Stone Grinder tornadoes were aimed where Lith was supposed to be, to cut off all of his escape routes, so Gaaron only had those he had focused on the visible exit point to defend himself from Lith¡¯s barrage of spells, some of which were even tier five.

    ¡¯Time to retreat.¡¯ Gaaron thought while activating the flight spell stored in one of his magic holding rings, only to remember one second toote about the stone b behind his back which was now blocking his escape route.

    Cursing his own stupidity, Gaaron recalled the small cyclones just in time to block a Checkmate Spears, two Chasing Lightning, and most of a Final Sunset. Only his enchanted protections blocked the rest of the ck mes.

    He was still unscathed, but the pseudo cores of his artifacts were now spent and needed time to recuperate. A time that he didn¡¯t have. The only things he had left were his swordsmanship and a couple of magic holding rings.

    By the time Gaaron managed to make the stone b crumble, Ruin was already lunging at his throat. Gaaron blocked it, and this time he was expecting the gravity field, reducing it to nothing more than an annoyance.

    His body refinement was advanced to the point that even his joints had been strengthened past the human level.

    ¡¯You fool! I still have Stone Grinder active and more than two centuries of practice. What do you think you have aside from petty tricks? Your de might be a masterpiece, but mine is even better!¡¯ He thought.

    Actually, Ruin was just a prototype. The magical equivalent of a courtesy car while Lith waited for the real deal. Yet it was Orion¡¯s prototype, an item of such quality that most mages not working for the Griffon Kingdom wouldn¡¯t see their whole lives.

    Moreover, like most Awakened of his age, Gaaron had be too reliant on his outstanding physical prowess. So while he had no problems deflecting Lith¡¯s thrust, the strength blocking his own riposte left him shocked.

    Their body refinement was roughly equal, but Lith was heavier and taller, allowing his fusion magic to bring his physical prowess above that of his opponent. Gaaron¡¯s mana core was stronger and so was his fusion magic, but he never heard about the Gatekeeper des.

 Chapter 774 Trickster Part 2

    There was a reason why the Royals had asked Orion to craft a perfect version of Lith¡¯s joke de for themselves. Orion had made his creation capable of being infused with the elements, amplifying the effects of fusion magic.

    The gravity field, now also amplified by Ruin¡¯s enchantment, allowed Lith to make the sword heavier when it hit and lighter when it moved. Ruin amplified Lith¡¯s abilities and vice versa, tipping the scales in his favor.

    Soon Gaaron was forced on the defensive to not be overwhelmed by the raw strength and speed of each attack. The few times he attempted a counter, Lith pushed his de so far that Gaaron almost lost his grip and life.

    ¡¯Dammit! I spent too much time in politics and too little on the battlefield.¡¯ Gaaron thought. ¡¯I¡¯m rusty, but my battle experience is way superior to his. To ovee raw power, I must set my pride aside and use my brain.¡¯

    He activated Frostbound¡¯s effect and a thickyer of ice instantly covered him, making Gaaron look like a crystal statue. Aside from a strong elemental aura now surrounding the older Awakened, Lith had no clue what such an effect could be good for.

    At least until he noticed that the crystalyer kept growing, but not to make the protection thicker or enhance Gaaron¡¯s body mass. Even though they kept fighting at the best of their abilities, two more crystal statues hade out of the original one and were nking Lith.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Beats me. I can¡¯t say which one is the real body. The iceyer is too thick and rich in that guy¡¯s energy signature to see through it with mana sense. I¡¯ve bad news, though. Those three are the focus points of a simple but deadly array.

    ¡¯The temperature is dropping at an rming rate and soon the air will be unbreathable. Plus, I can see that the crystal¡¯s growth has never stopped. It¡¯s just a matter of time before the ice constructs stabilize and you have to fight nine of them.¡¯

    Lith gritted his teeth in frustration as he deflected the de of the Gaaron in front of himself before shattering him with a powerful right uppercut. The gravity field had locked the de in ce, making it impossible for Gaaron to dodge Lith¡¯s attack from such close range.

    ¡¯Damn! Not only can he control them at will, but he also swapped position when the copies came out. It¡¯s a nice trick, but a trick nheless.¡¯ Lith thought while deflecting the two des aimed at his vitals.

    The other two Gaaron had struck at the same time, exploiting the moment when Lith was focused on the crystal statue he had assumed to be his real enemy. Ruin trapped the first de while Lith¡¯s gauntlet grabbed the second.

    He was assessing the difference in strength between the two attacks to find the real source of the spell when the third statue regenerated and joined the fight again.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways.¡¯ Lith thought as both Gaarons twisted and pulled their des, forcing Lith to either let go or be forced to assume an unstable stance that would leave him open to the third construct.

    Lith reacted by using gravity magic to turn everyone lighter so that, instead of stepping forward, the statue in front of him performed an involuntary jump while Lith easily lifted the other two and mmed them against their flyingrade.

    Normally such a move would have failed since Gaaron could use gravity magic as well, but even though Frostbound¡¯s spell was powerful, it took a huge toll on the caster¡¯s focus.

    Even with the help of the artifact and its magical formation, moving three bodies at the same time and boosting them with fusion magic was far from easy. Lith had exploited Gaaron¡¯s slightly slowed reaction time to beat quantity with quality.

    Two of the statues shattered while the third one revealed Lith¡¯s prize. The Skinwalker armor was already crackling at his every movement due to the ice growing so fast that it would be soon thick enough to be bothersome.

    Between the armor and his enhanced body, Lith had yet to feel the sting of the cold, but his breath was already steaming and his eyebrows were covered in frost. Aware that he had no time to lose before the cold robbed him of his superior strength, Lith threw away the copies and mmed the original on the ground.

    Gaaron released thest spells in his rings, but Lith simply tanked them with the boosted Orichalcum and shed down with Ruin. Gaaron managed to defend despite his awkward position, but a huge wound still opened on his chest.

    In ast-ditch effort, Gaaron threw his pride to the wind and activated a mind link with Lith by using a tendril of spirit magic to connect both their cores. There was no time for words and he had the distinct impression that Lith wouldn¡¯t believe to anything he might say.

    Thoughts, instead, could not lie.

    ¡¯Wait, I¡¯m not after your life. I¡¯m here on behalf of the Council.¡¯ He thought as Lith shed again, making Frostbound fly out of Gaaron¡¯s hands.

    ¡¯Tell me something I don¡¯t know.¡¯ Lith mind-sneered, intrigued by the interference enough to reply but not enough to stay his hand.

    "The moron had enough. Go rescue him." Raagu ordered Athung, whose attempt to Blink was blocked by the sudden appearance of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram.

    "Not so fast, kid." Sentinel the Garmr said while appearing from behind a nearby tree. Her brown-red fur was still bloodstained from herst victim and her ming red eyes were staring at Athung in hatred. All four of them.

    The beast looked like a wolf, with a height at the withers that reached 1.7 meters (5¡¯7"). Its red fur wasprised of hairs so thick that they resembled spikes and her tail looked like a thorned whip, cracking the ground at its every movement.

    Reaper and Lifebringer joined her,pleting the encirclement and leaving Athung no way out.

    "Well, this exins why those three never returned nor called for help." Raagu was mildly amused by the sudden turn of events.

    Lith¡¯s orders were clear. He had asked the Emperor Beasts to not interfere unless he asked for help, like he had done when the three Awakened had attempted to escape. Once they had been dealt with, the Emperor Beasts had focused their attention on thest remaining intruder.

    Athung looked at them with Life Vision. Their mana cores were cloaked, appearing barely stronger than a squirrel¡¯s, whereas their vitality was overbearing and resembled that of her own master.

    "I can¡¯t fight them by myself and save Gaaron at the same time." Athung said while taking out her staff. One of the Hexagram¡¯s weak points was that it couldn¡¯t block enchanted items.

    Pseudo cores had a different mana flow than mana cores and the magical formation was incapable of allowing its users to perceive it.

    "Point taken." Raagu replied. Red runes appeared all over Athung¡¯s Council amulet, connecting her position with the Gate in the elder¡¯s office and allowing Raagu to cross the distance separating them in one step.

    "I¡¯m the human representative of the Council and I¡¯m here on official business. Step aside." Raagu ordered.

    "What¡¯s the Council?" Sentinel asked, receiving from the other kings of the woods a shrug in reply.

    "Gods, that¡¯s why I hate country bumpkins." Raagu could see that the Emperor Beasts werepletely oblivious of the meaning of her words. Her title bore no significance to them.

 Chapter 775 Powerhouse Part 1

    Raagu had no time to waste and fighting three Emperor Beasts while under the Hexagram was suicidal, so she grabbed her disciple and ran like the wind. The situation was spiraling out of her control, forcing her to take action before it was toote.

    Raagu¡¯s purple core and her mastery over fusion magic allowed her to escape the encirclement before the kings of the woods could react. They immediately gave chase even though they were well aware that the neer was beyond their level.

    Strength wasn¡¯t everything when things had been long since nned out. Besides, no creature willing to back down so easily would have earned the title of king. They started weaving both spells and arrays while emitting a powerful roar to warn Lith of the impending danger.

    Meanwhile, Gaaron was on his literalst leg. Lith had wasted no time talking, removing one by one the limbs that the opponent had used as shields to prolong his existence.

    ¡¯If you kill me, you¡¯ll anger the elder who sent me here. You should stop if you value your family...¡¯ Those words were hisst mistake. Lith usually obeyed thews of the Griffon Kingdom because it was the ce his parents loved, their birthce.

    The Kingdom had done him no favors, but it hadn¡¯t tried to ckmail him either.

    ¡¯If your Council is willing to sink so low that they would threaten normal humans, maybe you guys need your own Balkor!¡¯ Was Lith¡¯s reply as Ruin cut Gaaron asunder. The moment he died, the self-destruct mechanism of his equipment activated, turning them into dust.

    Lith would have liked to keep the Awakened alive longer, to squeeze from him more spirit magic spells, but after hearing Reaper¡¯s warning he knew he had no time to waste. He started to use Invigoration and broke the second seal in his pocket.

    The first had been shattered after meeting the group of Awakened, so that the kings would meet him at the agreed-upon location and put his n D in action. Yet now the four of them might not be enough.

    Someone capable of scaring Reaper couldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    When Raagu appeared in front of him, Lith regretted not to have the means for a n F.

    She looked like a woman in herte fifties, but she had lived for over five centuries. Her long ck hair had partially turned into a silvery-white color and was held up in a chignon.

    She had delicate features, but her expression was devoid of any warmth and her eyes were looking at the scene in front of them as if she had stumbled into a garbage pile. She was barely 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall with a frame thin enough that a casual onlooker would have been worried that a sudden gust of wind might blow her away.

    Yet both Life Vision and mana sense begged to differ. Her vitality was something that not even Scarlett possessed and her mana core was bright purple. Lith was so intent keeping watch on her every movement that it took him a while to notice that the oddly shaped handbag she carried was actually a person.

    "Do you know who I am?" Raagu asked after taking a long look at Gaaron remains. His death meant she would have a lot of paperwork to fill. Even though he was just a local Lord, he was still a full-fledged member of the Council.

    "No." Lith shrugged while casting more spells and one of his best arrays. "But I guess you are a member of the Council, just like that guy."

    He pointed with Ruin at the corpse at his feet while the three kings joined the fray, surrounding the two women in a diamond formation with Lith at one of its edges.

    "If you knew who he was, why did you kill him?" Raagu didn¡¯t sound angry so much as curious, which made Lith worry. He had in six Awakened yet she seemed to consider the matter a minor inconvenience.

    "He and his goons came to my turf, near my house. Why should I justify myself to you? I don¡¯t care who you think you are, if someone attacks me, I reply I kind." Lith said.

    "Aren¡¯t you afraid of the Council?" Raagu tilted her head, a soft smile too simr to Jirni¡¯s to not being creepy appeared on her face.

    "What¡¯s to be afraid of?" Lith was unfazed by her not-so-veiled threat. "You are just a bunch of people who never did squat for me when I needed help and now you dare to send people to tell me what I can or I can¡¯t do?

    "I¡¯ll tell you this only once. I¡¯ve got nothing to gain fighting you, but that doesn¡¯t mean that you can order me around. Your friend here has just learned the difference between a bully and a predator.

    "A bully is a coward who only preys on the weak, whereas a predator is not afraid to fight even against a stronger opponent."

    "Agreed." Raagu nodded, surprising all those present. "I assure you that despite his crude methods, Gaaron wasn¡¯t sent here to kill you, but only to put you to the test. A test that you brilliantly passed."

    Suddenly Lith realized to have been used all along. Raagu was calm not because she deemed him important, but because she had used him to do her dirty work. Unbeknownst to Lith, she had justmitted the perfect crime.

    By killing Gaaron in self-defense, Lith had freed a spot in the Council for Athung, whereas if Lith would have died at Gaaron¡¯s hand, she would have had the perfect excuse to kill him for disobeying a direct order.

    No matter the result of the fight, she would achieve what she wanted and no one could hold her responsible. Lith had already proven to be a useful means to an end, the only thing Raagu wanted to check was how useful he could be.

    "You should remember Athung, my disciple." The young Awakened ignored the nonsensical conversation happening in front of her and focused on the beasts. Several miniature arrays had formed on top of her staff and were ready to be unleashed.

    ¡¯What the heck is Raagu thinking? She might be strong, but we are two against four and those beasts only need one hit to take us down.¡¯ Athung was worried, looking around for traps and arrays that might be hidden under a cloaking spell.

    She wouldn¡¯t repeat the mistake of underestimating her opponents ever again.

    "I¡¯m Raagu Drerian and I¡¯m the human leader of the Awakened. Now, we can stay here and re at each other all day or you can follow me. You have no idea how much time you have wasted in this backwater vige.

    "The Council is more than just those idiots you¡¯ve faced in the past. There¡¯s plenty of knowledge that we are willing to share."

    Her words would have made Athungugh if their situation wasn¡¯t so dramatic.

    ¡¯Yeah, right. Like all the things you¡¯ve shared with me. I¡¯ve seen his house. Maybe I¡¯ll be able to afford it in another couple of years!¡¯ She thought.

    Lith was intrigued at the idea, but taking a stranger¡¯s words at face value was out of the question. Being powerful and being trustworthy were two entirely different things.

 Chapter 776 Powerhouse Part 2

    "Are you saying that you Awakened know about Forgemastering runes and that the members of the Council have ess at least to the basics of all magical disciplines?" Lith needed to stall a little longer.

    "Of course we know about runes, but we don¡¯t give anything for free." Raagu¡¯s grimace wouldn¡¯t have been worse even if Lith had just attempted to stab her.

    "I meant that with my help, you could find a master who would allow you to discover your true potential."

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Lith shook his head. "I¡¯m not interested in serving someone in the hope to get something in return. I don¡¯t deal in maybes, only in certainties. All the Awakened I killed were part of your Council, yet they were nothing special."

    Raagu¡¯s grimace surprisingly managed to get worse, but Lith didn¡¯t stop talking.

    "Unless you¡¯re willing to give me a concrete proof or your goodwill, I¡¯m going to decline your offer. I¡¯m done working for free."

    "Kid, you have yet to live a quarter of a century and you dare to be so conceited?" Raagu said.

    "Soon you¡¯ll hit a wall that you can¡¯t ovee with just effort and wishful thinking. Soon every person you know will die of old age and you¡¯ll be alone. When that momentes, I¡¯ll be still alive and I assure you that I¡¯ll remember our conversation.

    "I can deny you the ess to the Council and with it all the chances you might have to learn about true magic. So think carefully before you open your mouth again." Raagu was actually bluffing.

    She could prevent Lith from getting a seat in the Council, but any elder or Awakened could recruit disciples on their own without needing her consent. She was just exploiting Lith¡¯s ignorance to humble him.

    "I beg to differ." Said a voice from above, when Lith¡¯s n E brought along with him the fabled n F.

    Protectornded in his Skoll form right beside Lith instead of taking part in the formation as nned, simply because it wasn¡¯t needed. Faluel the Hydra was right behind him and she was big enough to blot out the sun.

    She had a bright purple core as well and her physical strength was beyond what words could express. She had a stocky lower body with four short legs and a heavy tail.

    Both were necessary to bnce her long, serpentine necks ending with a snake-like head the size of a muscle car. Her whole body was covered in deep green scales, yet each one of her seven heads had shades of a different color.

    "First, the little one is one of us, not one of you. Second, you¡¯ve got some guts to mess with my turf and threaten one of the kings of my woods!" Since each race only cared for their own, each region had multiple lords.

    Faluel and Gaaron covered the same role for the Distar Marquisate, but their status among their peers couldn¡¯t have been more different.

    "What do you mean one of you?" Raagu was furious for the unexpected meddling with her ns, but her face remained unfazed.

    "Lith Verhen never lost his title of king, hence he is my retainer. He was trained in true magic by my disciple, Protector, who in turn was taught by Lith once he mastered his specializations.

    "Plus, it was Ka, not you, who asked on Lith¡¯s behalf the Council¡¯s protection in the matters of the Dawn Court. If you still question his allegiance, just look at his allies. While you humans attacked him for petty reasons, the other kings helped him. Do you dare to deny it?"

    Raagu couldn¡¯t retort to any of her ims. The Council didn¡¯t have a rigid structure. There was no rule about humans having disciples of other races or vice versa. Raagu gritted her teeth and shook her head.

    Her interest in Lith lied in the fact that Awakened were already few in numbers and the talented ones were even fewer. Faluel¡¯s seven heads chuckled seeing her opponent retreating.

    Her motive was the same as Raagu, but she was also aware of Lith¡¯s ability to harness Origin mes. For a Forgemaster like her, it was a priceless treasure. It was the reason why when her disciple had received Lith¡¯s distress signal she had been happy to tag along.

    Having the opportunity to help the Wyrmling at their first meet was a great way to introduce herself rather than a long boring speech. Faluel was aware that trust was something that had to be given before one could ask for it.

    "Let¡¯s go, Athung. We¡¯ve got nothing more to do here." Yet the young Awakened ignored her mentor¡¯s words and approached Lith.

    The four kings were still keeping their guard up and their formation ready, but it only proved how little they knew about Council matters. She took an odd-lookingmunication amulet out of her dimensional amulet and offered it to Lith.

    "No matter what race you decide to join for your apprenticeship, you¡¯re now considered a member of the Council. Thismunication amulet is the only way to contact us in the case the events of Zantia happen again." Athung said.

    Lith immediately noticed that the metal the amulet was made of was the same of the Forge he had found in the lost academy and that instead of blue, the mana crystal fueling it was white.

    When Solus¡¯s mana sense confirmed him that aside from aplex series of cloaking spells that made both the amulet and the signal it emitted untraceable there the amulet wasn¡¯t enchanted with unknown spells, Lith had a hard time to contain his enthusiasm.

    Solus had also spotted several invisible runes on it, which made it the first item engraved with modern runes that he would possess.

    "This is mymunication rune." Athung said once he had epted it. "If you want to have a talk about Council matters or if someone from the undead Courts bothers you again, this is the quickest way to get help.

    "Now that Gaaron is dead, I¡¯ll be in charge of the Distar Marquisate. I look forward to working with you, Faluel." Then she turned around before the Hydra could reply and Warped away with her mentor.

    "Where did you get that amulet?" Raagu asked once they were outside the beasts¡¯ earshot.

    "I had it made under your name before we left. I had no idea how things would have turned out, but I was certain that Verhen wouldn¡¯t have trusted us. I also knew that no grassroots Awakened Forgemaster would have turned down a runed artifact.

    "This way, I¡¯m his only contact in the human Council and whoever wants to get in touch with him has to go through me." She smirked. Athung had learned a lot from that experience and gained even more.

    A seat in the Council, and to call her own, and the opportunity to make business with someone who had aroused the interest of two Awakened races. It was an event rare enough to make some noise and she had more than one idea of how turning it to her advantage.

    Meanwhile, Lith made sure that the Awakened women had really gone before handing the amulet to Faluel. He had yet to even imprint it.

    "Is it safe? No tracking device or something?" He had epted the runes, but he was far from trusting the present of a stranger.

 Chapter 777 Secrets and Ignorance Part 1

    A pir of light emerged from Faluel¡¯s body as she shrunk into her human form. She ced one hand on the amulet and used Invigoration to study it for a split second before returning it.

    "Yes, it¡¯s a standard device, just like the one I would have given you after making sure that you¡¯re just as Protector says. You need to be careful. If the humans discover that you¡¯ve Awakened so many people, they will get pissed." She said while pointing at the other kings.

    "I¡¯ll keep that in mind." Lith nodded and then checked the equipment the kings had collected from the young Awakened after ying them. The weapons were made of standard metals and the enchantments were nothing useful.

    They would help Lith to understand how to shape a pseudo core to give it the desired effects but nothing more.

    "How did you know it was me?" He asked once he realized that not even Protector knew about it and he trusted the kings to keep it secret.

    "Just like I know that Protector was Awakened by Scarlett without the need to ask him. Because of the breathing technique he uses. When someone Awakens, they always make up their own method, unless they are taught.

    "There are no two identical techniques, so the moment I noticed that the four of you breathed in unison I understood why the kings of the Trawn woods are so loyal to you."

    Lith inwardly cursed, but appreciated her kindness. If Faluel had noticed it, then Raagu had probably done the same.

    "Do you mind if we go to my ce? I¡¯m sure that you have a lot to ask and so do I. I¡¯ve never met a hybrid like you before and there are a few things I¡¯d like to try out." Faluel asked with a dazzling smile.

    Those words triggered Lith¡¯s paranoia, making him realize that he had no reason to lower his guard. Because of her rtionship with Protector, Faluel knew too much, yet between the help she had provided him and her appearance she had managed to make him rx.

    Faluel now looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with rainbow-colored eyes and long hair that framed her fine features.

    Unlike Mogar¡¯s avatar, along with the six colors of the elements, there was also the emerald green of mana, making Lith wonder if she was somehow in tune with the natural forces even more than the itself.

    The reason Lith had instinctively trusted her was that she had nothing of Tyris¡¯s overly perfect beauty or of the Awakened women¡¯s usual stunning bodies. She was indeed a lovely woman, but she also had a girl next door vibe that put everyone at ease.

    Nothing in her face or curves screamed "look at me", Lith had met plenty of regr girls as pretty as she was. Yet she could be easily called a perfectly imperfect beauty. The simple grace of her slender body seemed to be perfectly attuned with her demeanor, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.

    Lith¡¯s attention was drawn more to her eyes and smile rather than her figure, while her voice sounded reassuring like that of an old friend. Even her oddly colored hair was easy on the eyes rather than look like something out of a Comicon.

    She was wearing a pink shirt that left her arms exposed and tight pants that Lith could swear were jeans. The contrasts with her Emperor Beast form was so great that Lith had a hard time remembering that she was always the same person.

    "Not at all. Care to join us?" Lith asked Protector. One moment of weakness was one too many for him.

    He needed his friend¡¯s presence to make sure that the Hydra didn¡¯t y any more tricks on him and because otherwise he wouldn¡¯t believe a word she said. Protector would ensure both his safety and her sincerity.

    Yet the Skoll whined loudly. Between Selia, the kids, and his apprenticeship, it was the first asion in years he had to reconnect with his old pack and friends. After exchanging his contact rune with the kings of the woods, he followed them through the Warp Steps Faluel had opened.

    The moment Lith stepped inside, he was almost blinded by the shine of all the gold and rare metals amassed in herir. The Hydra¡¯s home was nothing like its master¡¯s human form, it was a tacky mess of invaluable items piled up like a child¡¯s toys.

    Only her Forgemastered creations were orderly disyed behind ss cases, creating an impressive and ssy museum. Lith held the desire to inspect them one by one in and patted Protector¡¯s neck, apparently as a thank you.

    He was actually letting Solus hide in his fur. The Hydra was likely to use Invigoration on him at some point and Lith wasn¡¯t willing to let her learn about Solus¡¯s existence.

    Sure, beasts had turned out to be better than humans on average, but they had also proved to be greedy and prideful. If the story about Menadion was true, if Solus really was the key to the Ruler of the mes¡¯ tower, then a Forgemaster like Faluel would treasure her much more than an oddity like Lith was.

    "How did you make so much money?" Lith asked.

    "First, I¡¯m older than I look." She said with a lovely chuckle. "Second, I don¡¯t live under a rock. Part of these riches I inherited from my ancestors, the rest I earned them through war, my services as Forgemaster to the Council, and my investments in the human society."

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "Whenever the Griffon Kingdom went to war, I offered my services for a price, both as a warrior and an artisan. Also, as you already know, being a Forgemaster requires a lot of money, I can¡¯t just sleep on my treasure or I would be broke in a few decades.

    "All that you can see here is just a memento. The rest is invested in merchant guilds and magical shops. Now, if I¡¯ve satisfied your curiosity, I¡¯d like you to satisfy mine. Please, show me your other face." Faluel said.

    Lith had a hard time not immediatelyplying with her request. More than a Hydra, he had the impression of dealing with a Siren. Everything she did, no matter how insignificant, was soothing and her voice was so kind to almost make him feel guilty for doubting her goodwill.

    The room was full of treasures, yet she didn¡¯t sound arrogant nor tried to make him feel small. There was a stone throne in the center of the room, from which she could have looked down upon him, yet she was standing in her own home.

    Faluel¡¯s form was so short that she needed to look up at him and she had even said please. It was a form of courtesy that no one had ever given him unless they needed his help, let alone someone so powerful.

    Lith took a deep breath to regain his cool and remember why he was there.

    The thought that his secret was known by so many people gave him a headache, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Scarlett had been the first one to realize, then Protector and Ka had witnessed his transformation.

    The only silver lining was that beasts seemed to be very secretive about their own since no one even among the members of the Council had discovered the anomaly Lith was.

 Chapter 778 Secrets and Ignorance Part 2

    Lith shapeshifted quickly, assuming his hybrid form that was taller than two meters (7¡¯), yet Lith felt that he could get even bigger if he wanted to.

    Faluel looked with interest at both the hybrid and his armor. Her professional curiosity was piqued at the idea that someone had realized an Orichalcum Armor without the need for runes.

    Yet the Wyrmling was far more interesting. Just like Scarlett had told her, whatever the Lith-thing was, it looked like a dragon, and yet it was nothing like one. The wings were upside-down, making them useless in theory, yet she could feel they were more than a tool for flying.

    With their ability to flex like a hand and the many spikes at their extremities, they were meant to fight. Dragons were supposed to only have two eyes and their power was supposed to increase with their age and wisdom, yet there were seven.

    "Can you please breath Origin mes for me?" Her request left Lith bbergasted. He had shared that part of his secret with no one, only Solus was supposed to know about them.

    "Your fight in Zantia was recorded." Faluel said, almost as if she could read his mind. "One of thete elders responsible for one of your attackers mistook you for one of Xedros¡¯s children since Wyverns are known to be able to use them.

    "Xedros vouched for you after mistaking you for one of my children and then he showed me the record. That¡¯s how I know about it and why I was eager to meet you."

    Protector looked at Lith in surprise. He knew that Lith was able to breathe fire, but he had no idea they were something that precious.

    "Where, exactly?" Lith asked while gesturing the Skoll that he would exinter.

    "I don¡¯t want you to make a mess, so just breath a small amount of mes upwards." Faluel pointed at the ceiling.

    It was so high that it could easily amodate the Hydra in her true form, so there was no way that a bit of Origin mes could do it any damage. A small burst of blue mes erupted from Lith¡¯s mouth and then Faluel raised her hand as her eyes turned into emerald green.

    The jet of fire performed a U-turn, stopping a few centimeters above her open hand, making both Lith¡¯s and Protector¡¯s jaw drop in surprise. The Hydra didn¡¯t pay them any attention, waving her hands around the small me that was shrinking by the second.

    The Origin mes¡¯ shape changed with each one of her gestures, getting split and reunited multiple times while producing a crackling sound. Lith was almost sure that it was almost as if the fire was a living thing and the Hydra was dissecting it.

    "They are a bit coarse and amateurishly done, but they are definitely Origin mes, kid." She said after snuffing what was left of them by clenching her fist. "You are quite a mystery, but maybe I can help you unravel it a bit.

    "Can I use my breathing technique to study your hybrid body?" She asked.

    Lith made sure that Solus was far away enough before stepping forward. Faluel ced her hands on his chest and started using Abyssal Gaze. She immediately noticed the cracks in Lith¡¯s human life force and the existence of the hybrid one.

    Yet her attention focused the most on his eyes and on the source of the heat that reddened the tip of his scales.

    "This is really odd, but I think we can work with that. Before making you my predictable offer for an apprenticeship, what do you want to know about first? Your eyes or your mes?" Faluel asked.

    "My mes."

    Most of what Faluel told him about the Origin mes Lith had already discovered or guessed on his own, yet there was more.

    "Origin mes can be used only by a few creatures, like Dragons, Phoenixes, Wyverns, and more. There are other Emperor Beasts, like Lindwurms, who can turn the world energy into some kind of universal acid, or like Rocs, who can turn it into Living Thunder.

    "What makes Origin mes special, is that they can be manipted at will and used to purify almost any substance. For a Forgemaster, it means the ability to work only with perfect materials and to obtain items that would be impossible otherwise.

    "Not only do impurities alter a material¡¯s physical properties, but also their ability to conduct mana. All kinds of metals, if properly purified, can be greatly enhanced by the use of Origin mes."

    "For example, it¡¯s impossible to purify Adamant without them. The strongest me can liquify it, but not make it boil, leaving the impurities trapped inside. Only Origin mes can remove them without harming the material or losing most of it in the process.

    "The second and most important property they held to a Forgemaster, is to allow them to melt not only the physical form of a metal, but also to remove all the traces from a previous enchantment, failed or not.

    "Some metals are so rare that is up to the client to provide them, hence a single failure can ruin the name of an artisan. That¡¯s why Origin mes are highly sought." Faluel said.

    "Is it enough to engulf Adamant in Origin mes to purify it?" Lith asked.

    "You wish. That way you only risk to evaporate it. What you need to do is to use your breathing technique to spot the impurities that you want to cleanse and then manipte the mes to attack them."

    ¡¯Damn! Luckily, I never tried to reset the Odi sword. Otherwise Solus might have been injured in the process of scrubbing off the Adamant off her walls.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "How do I do that?"

    "Beats me." Faluel shrugged. "I¡¯ve traded my services for Origin mes a lot of times, but no one ever exined to me how they work. You must experiment on that yourself, but beware.

    "While some metals like Adamant are at their strongest once you havepletely removed all external elements, others, like Orichalcum or steel, only maintain their properties as long as they hold a certain amount of impurities.

    "Just spewing Origin mes is the recipe to waste a lot of money and resources."

    "Wait, what do you mean you don¡¯t know? I just saw you manipte them." Lith said.

    "No, not really. That¡¯s another matter entirely and it has to do with your eyes. Protector, do you mind leaving us alone?"

    "Why should he leave? He already knows everything about me, I trust Protector enough to stay." Lith rebuked her since he didn¡¯t trust her enough to remain alone with her.

    "Maybe you do, but this is a secret you and I share, not him. I know and trust Ryman as well, but I can¡¯t risk exposing something like this to someone who¡¯s barely more than a child." Faluel shook her head.

    "You¡¯re not making any sense. I¡¯m way younger than him and I¡¯m not even your apprentice. What makes me so different from Protector?"

    "Your ignorance. Yet it doesn¡¯t make you different, only more dangerous to you, me, and even my species." Her voice was stone cold and so was now the air in her cave.

    "I understand that being born from humans you¡¯re suspicious. I¡¯m aware that you have no reason to trust me, but remember that no matter what, once you stepped inside my house, if I really meant you any harm, you would be already dead."

 Chapter 779 Dominance Part 1

    Lith didn¡¯t want Protector to leave, but he hadn¡¯t much of a choice. What Faluel said was true, plus she was willing to exin to him the secret behind his seven eyes, no strings attached.

    Or at least so she said.

    Even if she were to refuse to teach him about runes, even if she ced uneptable conditions for his apprenticeship, between what he had learned about Origin mes and what he was about to learn, it was more than he could have ever asked.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t like this, but since Solus will leave together with Protector, our secret is safe. Moreover, if things go south, I can always use our mind link to ask them both for help.¡¯ He thought.

    After Protector left, Lith also cut off his mind link with Solus, in the case that the Hydra had some way to notice it. Both Scarlett and Gaaron had somehow established a mind link with him.

    If Awakened knew how to form them with anyone, maybe they also had a detection technique. Lith had to y it by ear and caution had always been his strong suit.

    "Please, sit." Faluel said as she materialized a simple round stone table and two padded armchairs. A transparent crystal bottle of wine appeared at the center of the table, along with two silvery cups and several tes of food.

    "I thought you were supposed to teach me, not to invite me to a date." Lith snarled, not sure about what was happening.

    "Your hunger is annoying." She replied a split second before Lith¡¯s stomach grumbled. Killing six Awakened had made him work quite an appetite, but due to his stress, he had failed to notice.

    Faluel poured herself a ss of wine before starting her exnation.

    "Do you know why people and beast alike have shades of different colors in their hair?" She asked.

    "It¡¯s supposed to be the blessing of the six gods of magic." Lith replied between mouthfuls. After a simple spell had confirmed to him that the food was just food, he had helped himself. "It means that a person is talented in a specific element."

    "That¡¯s partially true, but there are no such things as gods of magic. It¡¯s just the way mortals refer to the first six Guardians, but I suppose you¡¯ve no interest in lore. I¡¯ll go straight to the point.

    "Thanks to mana cores, anyone can use magic, but if you paid attention during your academy years, you should have noticed that there are actually three levels of magic. The first is the simple use, something that any fake or true mage can do.

    "No matter if you need a form or a series of thoughts, you still mix your mana with world energy and obtain an effect." Faluel said and Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "Then there is the mastery over the elements. It¡¯s what Lochra Silverwing taught to all races who didn¡¯t know about true magic. It¡¯s the ability to infuse them with your willpower, evolving them from a simple tool to an extension of yourself."

    Lith nodded again. The most advanced spellcasting required to manipte the elements, conjuring them wasn¡¯t enough. He had spent quite a bit of time trying to infuse even his low tier spells with willpower, to improve their versatility inbat.

    "Last, but not least, there is dominance over the elements. This is something that not everyone can do and even those who can are limited to an extent since it requires an innate affinity towards the elements.

    "Dominance is the ability to take control of someone else¡¯s spell and make it your own. Talented geniuses can even absorb them."

    Her words reminded Lith of both Irtu the Byk and Thrud¡¯s weapon. The former had managed to feed upon Lith¡¯s gue Arrow, something that he had never managed to exin before.

    Thetter, instead, could do the same thanks to Arthan¡¯s Sword, a replica of the Royal Sword, making her nigh invincible.

    "Are you saying that..." Lith almost dropped his fork in surprise.

    "Indeed I am. The shades in someone¡¯s hair are the indicator of what elements you¡¯re attuned with and that you can achieve mastery over. You should have noticed that some people have more than one shade." She twirled her multi-colored hair with a yful smile on her face.

    "Wait. My mother has red shades but a pitiful red core, how is she supposed to have mastery over the fire element?" Lith asked.

    "What does a red core mean to someone who can Awaken, aside from good luck?" Faluel rose her eyebrow. "If your mother were to Awaken, you¡¯d find out that she¡¯s a great fire mage."

    ¡¯Damn. This means that the advantage that women have over men in the field of magic is even bigger than I thought. It also exins why even after Awakening I didn¡¯t get any shades- Wait a minute!¡¯ Lith¡¯s thoughts suddenly froze.

    "Nailed it in one." Faluel said as if she could read his mind, whereas she had just read his expression.

    "Humans usually only have one shade due to their egotism. Your kind can rarely empathize with the needs of Mogar, which limits them greatly. All magical beasts, instead, start with two elements, the ones they can naturally use.

    "Except for rare cases that¡¯s their cap as well. You might object that between one and two there¡¯s not such a big difference, but during a battle between equals, with their cores and equipment on the same level, it¡¯s quite handy.

    "It¡¯s also one of the reasons why the Griffon Kingdom spares no expenses to buy my services from time to time." She yed with her hair again as her eyes light up with mana of seven different colors.

    Red, yellow, ck, white, blue, orange, and emerald green.

    Lith still remembered from their first encounter how Scarlett¡¯s fur had shades of all those colors but green and orange. Based on what Faluel said, the creature¡¯s potential was amazing.

    "What exactly does the emerald green stands for?" Lith asked.

    "Pure mana. How do you call this?" Faluel used tendrils of spirit magic to move the bottle and refill both their cups.

    "Spirit magic." Lith replied.

    "We Hydras call it mind magic, instead. It allows us to perform several spells that the other elements can¡¯t." She formed a transparent green barrier around herself and then established a mind link with Lith.

    ¡¯This is just to give you an example.¡¯ Her thoughts reverberated through his mind, giving him the creeps.

    "Protector has shades of red and white, which means he could have dominance over at least two elements, three if we count air magic. Why did you send him away?" Lith asked.

    "Because that pup has still a lot to learn about magic. Right now, he¡¯s using your memories as a crutch, but that can¡¯tst forever. He needs to gain solid foundations to be a master, and only then should he worry about dominance.

    "Any other path would only be a waste of time and energies. I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t like teaching you about dominance either. You¡¯re too damn young and you don¡¯t even know about spirit spells." Faluel sighed.

    "Then why are we having this conversation?"

    "Gods, that¡¯s why I hate kids. Have you been listening to me earlier? Because dominance is a secret between Awakened just as Awakening is a secret among humans.

    "You have seven eyes, in case you failed to notice, and three of them are already active. I¡¯m willing to teach you how to control them only to prevent others from finding them out. That or I might just kill you."

 Chapter 780 Dominance Part 2

    Those words almost made Lith choke on his food, just like the killing intent that was suddenly filling the cave.

    Faluel found his distress amusing and started giggling like a little girl. Yet now he didn¡¯t find her adorable anymore.

    "I¡¯m just joking. I¡¯ve already told you that I¡¯d like to have you as my disciple and that I could really use a constant supply of Origin mes. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn¡¯t have wasted my breath for this long.

    "Before I continue, do you have any questions?" Faluel asked.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. This woman is making my head spin right round like a record. She goes from girl next door to killer queen in a split second. I wish Solus was here.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He then told her about both his fights with Irtu and Thrud, to understand what had actually happened to his spells.

    "Irtu was clearly a rare genius. Usually, only Emperor Beasts develop dominance. To achieve that while he was just a Byk is impressive beyond reason. Too bad he was also a psycho. I would have loved to have him as a disciple as well." Faluel sighed.

    "As for Thrud Griffon, she¡¯s another anomaly on a league of her own, just like you. She has a rainbow core, something as fabled as the legendary white core of immortality..."

    "Woah! Hold that thought." Lith cut her short with a time-out gesture that confused Faluel but also earned him another of her smiles that would make almost any straight man ask her for a date.

    Almost.

    "I thought that her rainbow core was due to the failed expulsion of her impurities since she isn¡¯t an Awakened. Are you saying I was wrong? Also, white core of immortality?"

    "You keep surprising me, Lith. Not only did you survive the encounter with two geniuses of such caliber, but you also had the time to use Invigoration on Thrud to see her core? That¡¯s simply amazing." Faluel¡¯s words made Lith want to bite his tongue.

    What she had suggested was obviously an impossible feat. He only knew about Thrud¡¯s core thanks to Solus¡¯s mana sense. Solus was a secret that he had to defend at all costs and not just because of her abilities.

    Lith¡¯s feelings for her were as messed up as those he still had for Phloria, something that he would never admit, even to himself. As long as she was at his finger, it would mean to risk hurting her.

    Yet the memory of almost losing Solus in Kh still hurt Lith badly, allowing him to put on his best poker face. Pain was an old friend to Lith and a great motivator.

    "Thanks for your kind words, but my bravado almost cost me my life. If not for my team and Invigoration, I would not be here today." Lith replied, blushing on cue to fake his embarrassment.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Luck is part of someone¡¯s talent." Faluel replied, toasting to luck. Little she knew that aside from meeting Solus, luck had yed a little role in Lith¡¯s life.

    "To answer your question, yes, you are right. Thrud¡¯s rainbow core is the result of Arthan¡¯s Madness, but that doesn¡¯t make it any less special. It proves that forbidden magic can actually recreate Awakening.

    "She obtained an immortal body and a magical power that has yet to be fully put to the test. Some say she is weaker than a purple core, others say she is stronger. More importantly, what if she actually Awakens?

    "She might be the first being to ever achieve a white core, something that not even the Awakened undead ever aplished, not even after millennia."

    "Okay, but what is a white core?" Lith asked.

    "Mostly a legend." Faluel replied. "ording to such lore, a white core grants its master an eternal life and a power second only to Guardians. Some even say that you can force your way into Guardianhood with it, but I call bullcrap.

    "My grandfather told me more than once the tale of when he witnessed a Guardian¡¯s fall from grace and ording to his words, the poor girl had fewer chances of survival than a snowball has against a fireball.

    "She lost her powers and turned into dust so fast that he could barely catch a glimpse of her appearance. Hence I doubt you can strongarm Mogar into doing anything."

    "Is your grandfather still alive?" Lith¡¯s curiosity was piqued.

    "Of course he is. Hydras have a very long lifespan and Awakened Hydras live even longer." Faluel nodded.

    "By the way, why undead would be interested in a white core? They are already immortal and have infinite time to practice magic. It doesn¡¯t make much sense." Since this was one of the few asions Lith had to gain real knowledge about Awakened, he was willing to let the chatty Hydra go wild.

    "You really are curious like a little kid, huh? First, just because someone lives long, it doesn¡¯t mean that they can achieve everything. The blue core you possess now is the cap for most Awakened, not everyone reaches the purple core.

    "Second, undead Awakened have a much harder timepared to the living to refine their cores. On one hand, their immortal bodies make it impossible for them to die during a breakthrough, but on the other hand, blood cores are faulty.

    "They absorb most of the light element, so undead need a damn long time for umtion to do its job. Third andst, ording to legends, an undead with a white core can revert at will into his original race with no negative side effects, achieving the best of both worlds."

    ¡¯A power above purple cores and escaping all the side effects undeath has? It seems too good to be true.¡¯ Lith¡¯s disbelief was strong, but the idea was juicy enough for him to put undeath from the "no way" into the "maybe" pile.

    "As I was saying, not only Thrud Griffon possesses a mana core that might be even stronger than a purple core, but she also has ess to a precious piece of equipment that allows her to exert dominance over all elements." s, Faluel was back on track, messing with Lith¡¯s ns.

    "All of them? Even mana?" Lith suddenly felt very lucky to still be alive.

    "Yes. To make matter worse, she knows about Awakening, she simply has no idea how it works. I believe it¡¯s only a matter of time before she finds a way to join our ranks. Believe it or not, the human Council is hunting her down from a lot, but she has ughtered all those who managed to find her."

    "How exactly dominance works?" Lith wasn¡¯t interested in Thrud, she was none of his business.

    "I¡¯ll make it simple. As you should have noticed and practiced by using spirit or high tiered magic, world energy is susceptible to mana, and in turn mana is susceptible to willpower.

    "Dominance is nothing more than the ability to force your will into someone else¡¯s spell." Faluel said.

    "That¡¯s it? I can already do that." Lith was suddenly underwhelmed. All that speech had turned out to be a huge waste of time.

    "Really? Then send this back at me." Faluel threw a tier one lightning at Lith, who only needed a wave of his hand to make it strike the Hydra instead, who remained unfazed as if it was a breeze rather than electricity.

 Chapter 781 Loyalty or Wisdom Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 781 Loyalty or Wisdom Part 1</h4>

    "Just as I thought. You know squat, that was simple mastery, something that even fake mages know how to do. Hit me." Faluel said. Lith flicked his finger, sending a small shard of ice against her.

    Faluel¡¯s eyes turned blue and the shard went through her as if she was a ghost before turning around and hitting Lith¡¯s forehead with enough strength to make him bleed.

    "What the fuck?" He blurted out.

    "Dominance is the ability to not only take control of a spell, but also of its mana." Faluel exined.

    "With Dominance, I can return the spells sent against me to their casters, killing them on the spot. Most mages are so used to be immune to their own mana that they don¡¯t even bother defending against it."

    Lith then told her about the God¡¯s Will array he had faced in Kh and how it had been even stronger than Arthan¡¯s Sword.

    "That¡¯s exactly what Dominance is, but as you witnessed yourself such a perfect form requires too much energy to be of practical use." Faluel couldn¡¯t believe such an ancient and idiotic race could have stolen the Hydras¡¯ secret.

    The idea of how many of her kind had to have suffered and fallen at the hand of the Odi, made her wish to be able to resurrect them just to kill them over and over again.

    "Dominance is a great tool, but it¡¯s not all-powerful. As you have noticed, only spells without willpower can be easily highjacked, but that it¡¯s only the first step. The second step consists in injecting your mana along with your will into a spell.

    "You must use enough to make it harmful for the opponent, but not so much to rece all of its mana with your own, like the Odi did. Otherwise it would be much easier to dodge and cast it yourself since the mana cost would be more than doubled.

    "Another thing that you must consider, is that Dominance can rarely be used to affect spells imbued with willpower. That¡¯s because just like the Odi, you would need to inject it not only with mana, but also with enough will of your own to overwrite that imprinted in the spell.

    "Since most tier five spells are as fast as they are lethal, standing still is not a wise move. Unless you¡¯re suicidal, of course."

    Lith had experienced the fear of losing control of his own spells against Thrud and the Odi, so he immediately realized how powerful dominance was. Tier Five spells were umon and most of them could be used solely if certain prerequisites were met.

    Most magical battles were based only on tier three and four spells, with tier five magic used mostly as finishers. Dominance could easily turn the tide of a battle.

    "So, are you going to teach me Dominance?" Lith asked.

    "Yes and no. I¡¯m going to teach you how to activate it only because it¡¯s the only way you can learn how to avoid using it in the presence of witnesses. You must always kill those who see you use Dominance.

    "Us Hydras are considered to be part of the lesser Dragons because weck Origin mes and flight, but no one knows about Dominance. I¡¯d like for things to stay that way." Faluel said.

    "You¡¯re not going to teach me even if I be your apprentice?" The words ¡¯waste of time¡¯ were appearing in Lith¡¯s mind again.

    "If I take you as my apprentice, I¡¯ll teach you Dominance as well as Spirit spells, but only once you¡¯re ready. First, you¡¯d have to focus on ourmon specializations, Healing and Forgemastering." Faluel took a bite from one of the tes in front of her.

    Such was her grace that even the simple act of eating was a pleasure to watch. Yet what all of her beauty managed to do was to make him miss Kam more with each second. After the night at Protector¡¯s house, every positive emotion he felt reminded him of her.

    "Our specializations?" Lith asked.

    "Your memories had a great effect on Protector¡¯s mind. He sought my help because I¡¯m a Master Healer and Forgemaster. There¡¯s a reason why legends say that Hydras can regenerate two heads if one gets cut off." She giggled.

    "You offer is very alluring, but as long as I¡¯m serving my time in the army, I can¡¯t spend much time here. Moreover, I doubt you would do it for free." Lith said, obtaining a nod in reply.

    "One more thing before discussing my apprenticeship. Why do you say when I¡¯m ready? Are Dominance and Spirit spells that hard?"

    "Very hard." Faluel nodded. "They are both techniques that are mostly situational and require an outstanding amount of focus. More importantly, they both require you to do everything without the help of the world energy.

    "So far, to cast your spells you only needed to mix you mana with elemental energy, whereas these two disciplines work each in a way of its own. Dominance requires you to identify and infiltrate with your mana and willpower the focus points of a spell.

    "Too little and you will be struck down like a moron, too much and you¡¯ll spend more mana than if you cast the spell yourself. As for Spirit spells, they are entirely made of your own energy, so they are really mana expensive.

    "Just like Dominance, Spirit spells have to be used only when necessary. Rookies tend to get excited and abuse them, ending up dead. That or exhausted first and deadter."

    Lith pondered her words. It was true that without the aid of a medium like the Odi and Thrud did, a single mistake could lead to taking the full power of a potentially lethal spell.

    The only thing he wanted to learn as soon as possible was how to make barriers out of spirit magic. He had seen plenty of mages, Awakened and not, creating them thanks to magical items, and even though that kind of protections was mana consuming, they were the ultimate shield.

    Unlike earth magic they could be used in mid-air, they couldn¡¯t be pierced by heavy objects like happened to air barriers, and they blocked the entirety of the damage whereas darkness magic could only weaken iing attacks.

    "Let¡¯s start with Dominance." Faluel said. "I noticed that in your hybrid form your eyes are always burning with elemental energy, which is good if you have to use Dominance and terrible if you need to hide it. Try to shut them down."

    Lith remained in his human form, making his eyes turn red, then ck, andstly blue, to remember the feeling of controlling the elemental energy. After Phloria had pointed out to him that his eyes sometimes remained lit, he had practiced controlling the phenomenon, at least for his human form.

    It had been quite easy since when not in his hybrid body, he needed great focus to achieve such a state due to hisck of attunement with the elements. Then, he shapeshifted and tried to make his eyes go back to in yellow.

    Much to his surprise, he only managed to depower the blue eye, no matter how hard he tried. The moment the water element left it, the eye closed shut against Lith¡¯s will.

    "What the heck? Why did it close and why can¡¯t I turn them back to yellow?" Lith asked.

    "Extra limbs are hard to manage, especially when you¡¯re not born with them." Faluel exined.

 Chapter 782 Loyalty or Wisdom Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 782 Loyalty or Wisdom Part 2</h4>

    "Every time a Hydra gains a new head, we need time to learn how to see, think, and speak properly without it conflicting with our other heads.

    "The same stands for your eyes. You¡¯re not used to see with three of them, so right now the blue eye only serves as a medium for the elemental energy. As for the other two, it just takes practice. I¡¯ll teach you a meditation technique that should help you with it."

    The Hydra taught Lith how to feel the connection with the single elements rather than with the world energy as a whole. Once he grasped the basics, Faluel had him revert to his human form.

    "Are you really not going to teach me how to dominate spells?" Lith asked.

    "Don¡¯t you have enough on your te already to venture into a new field of magic?" Faluel rebuked him. "We¡¯ll think about thatter, now I¡¯m more interested in listening to your answer."

    "My answer to what?"

    "To my predictable offer for an apprenticeship, of course." She said with a warm smile.

    "It depends on many things. Like, do I have to take your tests like Protector did? How much do you know about runes and how long would my apprenticeshipst?"

    "Since I¡¯m offering to take you under my care, there would be no admittance tests, but plenty of assignments to prove your mettle. As for the runes, I told you that Ie from a long line of Forgemasters.

    "My family doesn¡¯t trade its secrets with other Awakened, beasts or not, but we share our discoveries among ourselves. Our legacy is better than that of Royal Forgemaster, but unlike them, don¡¯t expect me to share itpletely with you.

    "You would be an apprentice, not a member of the family. I would teach you everything you need to be plenty capable of working on your own, but that¡¯s it."

    Faluel¡¯s words were a punch in the stomach for Lith. He was basically at a crossroads where he had to pick whether to join the Hydra to obtain an iplete knowledge or the Royal Forgemasters¡¯ ranks for a full education.

    It wasn¡¯t an easy choice, especially since at least Faluel was sincere and she would teach him what she had promised with no strings attached, whereas the Royals might require from him demonstrations of loyalty before letting him learn the best techniques.

    On top of that, bing a Royal Forgemaster was amitment for life, something that Lith couldn¡¯t take lightly.

    "Don¡¯t worry about time." Faluel snapped him out of his reverie. "I¡¯ll keep you as an apprentice as long as it takes. It could take months as well as years, but beware. While humans demand loyalty, Awakened require wisdom.

    "Fail even one of my tests and I¡¯ll kick you out."

    "Seriously?" Lith was bbergasted. The difference between the Hydra and the army was getting thinner by the second.

    "Seriously." She nodded. "I didn¡¯t Awaken most of my children, nor did I teach them anything but the basics. Do you have any idea what kind of damage can one of us do with the wrong knowledge?

    "I¡¯m honestly amazed by how mature you are despite your young age."

    Faluel had no idea Lith was currently in his third life and he was d to keep things that way. He then activated Death Vision out of curiosity, to see if such a powerful creature had any weak point he could exploit.

    Yet aside from a very slow aging process, Faluel appeared to be just fine.

    "And that¡¯s why I brought you here." The Hydra said. "I can¡¯t let the humans get their hands on a valuable Awakened that might be one of us, plus they must never learn either about Dominance or your Origin mes.

    "If you manage to master them, to learn how to use them to purify instead of just destroy, I¡¯m willing to trade with you ording to the services you can provide me."

    "My mes in exchange for what, exactly?"

    "That¡¯s on you." She shrugged. "Knowledge, artifacts, gold, materials. Just state your price and we¡¯ll bargain from there."

    "Wait. Didn¡¯t you just say that you wouldn¡¯t share your secrets with me as your apprentice? Why would you give them to me for just my mes?" It was all too good to be true, Lith was certain that there was a catch.

    "Indeed. Yet do you expect that any of my suppliers don¡¯t ask for properpensation? I¡¯m well aware that any Awakened that buys an artifact from me can study its runes and pseudo core, but my Forgemastering techniques aren¡¯t so easily reproduced.

    "My family had millennia to learn how to protect its secrets. Also, you¡¯re overestimating yourself. If you want gold, I¡¯ll give you mountains of it, but if you want knowledge, it takes more than a few breaths of fire to get some.

    "Not to mention that you have no idea how to use your mes and that I can¡¯t help you with that. Nor I¡¯m willing to, unless you be my faithful apprentice." Faluel was again sincere and her words made a lot of sense.

    Just like Lith would give Orion a Skinwalker armor in exchange for a decent de, trading goods and trading knowledge were worlds apart. Both of them would need a lot of work to hope and steal the other¡¯s secrets.

    "I¡¯ll let you know once I¡¯m done with the army, or at least as soon as I master Origin mes." Lith replied. He had learned much more than he had hoped to, yet much less than he would have liked to.

    "Onest question. I¡¯m practicing runes on my own and there¡¯s something I¡¯m struggling with. How do I make them invisible?"

    Faluel¡¯s eyes lighted with interest at those words. The Wyrmling was even more promising than she had thought. Just by his words, she was able to understand that Lith had gained ess to both old and modern runes.

    It was an amazing feat that put him in front of the greatest hurdle for a self-taught Runesmith.

    ¡¯What an interesting fellow. I¡¯m really curious to see how he will develop. There¡¯s no harm in giving him a hand on such a trivial...¡¯

    "What does a human do here, mother?" A deep voice derailed her train of thought. "I hope he¡¯s just your lunch because if he¡¯s your new ything, I¡¯ll be truly disappointed. First a dog and now a vermin? Not even you should stoop this low."

    "Lith, allow me to introduce you to one of the reasons why Emperor Beasts and humans are not so different. This is my one of my sons, Sedra. I never Awakened nor taught him any of the family secrets. Guess why." Faluel¡¯s serene face was suddenly twisted in annoyance and her voice oozed sarcasm.

    "Sedra, this is Lith. He is a self-Awakened that I¡¯m willing to take in as my apprentice, hence he has already bested you twice."

    Sedra looked at Lith as if a steaming pile of shit had found its way on his favorite couch, whereas Lith looked at the young Hydra with Life and Death Vision before losing interest.

    "The pleasure is all yours, Sedra. Can you answer my question, please?" Lith asked.

    "You have no idea how to engrave runes, correct?" Faluel ignored her son as well, focusing on how deep Lith¡¯s ignorance was about the art of Runesmithing.

 Chapter 783 Gifts and Knowledge Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 783 Gifts and Knowledge Part 1</h4>

    "I¡¯ve received no training about Runesmithing, but I¡¯ve found enough relics to use as learning tools. My only problem is that I¡¯ve no ess to modern runes so..."

    Sedra couldn¡¯t understand how so many powerful creatures could favor weaklings rather than their own flesh and blood. He was young, but he had already witnessed several of his siblings and friends die.

    All because their parents, the very same people who had given them life had refused to give them the knowledge that was rightfully theirs. In his eyes, the source of the Awakened¡¯s decline wasn¡¯t due to the progress made by fake mages.

    He believed that the old fossils who had power clung to it and refused to share their knowledge with the young because they were afraid to lose their privileged position.

    "I won¡¯t stand being ignored!" Sedra roared, stomping his foot toward his mother.

    Faluel¡¯s eyes burned with power as she said:

    "Be quiet." Her voice was calm and yet it carried so much power that Sedra found himself kneeling with his head on the floor. Lith was surprised noticing that she hadn¡¯t used magic but some kind of killing intent.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for my son¡¯s rudeness and I¡¯m willing to exin to you the basics of the basics of Runesmithing as an apology. Do you know what¡¯s the main difference between Warden magic and Forgemastering?" She asked.

    Lith could only shake his head and admit his ignorance. The question was apparently simple, yet its answer was bound to be far from obvious.

    "Warden magic uses runes to create magical formations just as Forgemasters use them to bind a metal to their will, but that¡¯s as far as the analogy goes. A Warden uses runes to hold their energy and create extraordinary effects, whereas a Forgemaster uses them to alter the properties of a material.

    "Ancient runes, the ones that are visible to the naked eye, were akin to Warden runes, cing the enchantment on the surface of the metal rather than inside of it, to not tamper with the mana pathways that the Bonding process creates.

    "You can think of them as a permanent array, toplement the strength of the spells imbued within an artifact."

    "Modern runes, instead, even though they are still carved on the surface of an item, they exert their energy inward rather than outward, and that¡¯s why they are invisible to normal means.

    "Also, this way they are able to alter the properties of both the metal and its mana circtory system so that once the enchantment is applied, the final result is given from the synergy between the runes and the pseudo core.

    "Old runes can only add an effect, whereas modern runes are able to blend together with the pseudo core and the mana crystals, creating something that¡¯s greater than the sums of its single parts." Faluel said.

    "Does this mean that old runes are useless?" Lith moaned at the thought that all of his findings inside Huryole were for naught.

    "Gods, no." Faluel chuckled. "You can apply modern forgemastering methods with old runes. It will make them invisible and preserve their effect, but that will not change the fact that such runes are outdated.

    "It would be like crafting a sword following an ancient blueprint. The sword will still cut but it can¡¯t match a modern masterpiece, no matter how good the smith is."

    The fear that had kept Sedra at bay was washed away by the shock and then by his unbridled outrage.

    It wasn¡¯t just the fact that his mother was exining to a stranger things that she had always refused to teach him that was driving him insane, so much as the realization that the human was able to understand her words while he could not.

    In his human form, Sedra was an overly handsome man in his mid-twenties 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with golden hair and a well-trimmed beard. Despite his young age, he had already achieved a cyan core and a second head.

    His hair had streaks of both red and orange, making him appear as if a sun god descended among the mortals. His body twisted as it increased in size, reverting to his real form.

    The two heads stared at the human in hatred, standing over 5 meters (17¡¯) tall. Sedra¡¯s stumpy lower body was all muscles and his ws were piercing the stone such was the strength that he was exerting to overpower his mother¡¯smand.

    Faluel sighed while Lith made the young Hydra¡¯s fury turn into bloodlust.

    "Wow, he¡¯s really smallpared to you. Is it because he¡¯s young or is he a hybrid?" The question was incredibly rude, implying that no pure-blooded Hydra could be that puny and that Sedra had to be born from a lesser race.

    "It¡¯s normal for someone who has yet to live a quarter of century." Faluel said. "He¡¯s not bad, just stupid and conceited."

    The two heads plunged down with their mouths open, revealing a maw of poisoned fangs. Hydras bore more than just their appearance inmon with snakes. Faluel struck her son¡¯s body with her opened palm, paralyzing him on the spot.

    "Before you go, we should exchange ourmunication runes." Faluel took her Council amulet out of her dimensional item and so did Lith.

    "If anything rted to Awakened happens, feel free to give me a call. I¡¯m officially your contact with the Emperor Beasts¡¯ Council, after all. Don¡¯t forget what we have discussed today." Her choice of words told Lith that she didn¡¯t trust Sedra with his secret.

    "I¡¯ve got tons of metals that need smelting and I could really use a hand."

    "What if he bothers me once I get out of here?" Lith asked.

    "Then beat him an inch from death and call me. Thest inch is my burden for failing as both a parent and a teacher." The coldness in her voice sent shivers down Sedra¡¯s spine.

    Lith had no idea what was going on, but he could feel that Faluel was deeply embarrassed. Her pearly pink cheeks had now a tinge of red that made her look less ethereal and much more charming.

    ¡¯The idiot already earned me a free lesson. It¡¯s better to strike the iron while it¡¯s still hot.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Onest thing. I know that you can¡¯t bestow knowledge upon me for free, but I could really use a magic dictionary book for this." He took one of the pages from Huryole¡¯s booklet out of his pocket dimension and showed it to Faluel.

    "This is just the oldnguage." The Hydra couldn¡¯t understand the reason for such a request. "You can find plenty of tomes about it in any decent library."

    "Been there, done that." Lith replied. "You can find tomes about it, yes, but it¡¯s still a deadnguage. Dictionaries are notmon, even less those who contain words rted to magic. If I ask for them, I¡¯m bound to be exposed."

    "Humans." Faluel muttered in disgust while a pair of thick books flew from an adjacent cave into her hands. "I¡¯m fluent in the oldnguage, so I don¡¯t really need them. You can keep the dictionaries as long as you need."

    Lith put them straight inside Soluspedia, discovering that one was a book aboutmon words and the second was solely about the magical jargon.

    "Thank you very much." He gave Faluel a deep bow before leaving the cave. Old runes were outdated, but beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers.

 Chapter 784 Gifts and Knowledge Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 784 Gifts and Knowledge Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯I was almost certain that she would have refused to help, keeping me on a short leash and yet... I need to ask Protector about the beasts¡¯ customs because something strange just happened here.¡¯

    The moment Lith left, Faluel released her son from the spell that had been restraining Sedra until that moment. She couldn¡¯t bear the thought to raise her hand against her own child, but discipline had to be enforced.

    "How dare you insulting me in front of an esteemed guest? Even attacking them while they are under my protection in my own home!" The seven-headed Hydra was back to her full size, so big that even in his Emperor Beast form, Sedra looked like a snotty brat in front of an adult.

    "You say that you despise humans for their arrogance, yet you behave just like one of them. How could you breach the sacred host-guest rtionship that our race holds sacred?

    "Did you take the human treachery along with that ridiculous eye-candy form?" The seven heads spoke in unison, their voices roaring like a choir of angered gods.

    "But mother..." Sedra had never seen his parent enraged before. His earlier arrogance had disappeared like snow under a scorching sun.

    "No buts!" She roared, cutting him short. "Because of your foolishness, I had to give more than I could take to not taint my honor. What kind of master can I possibly be if I can¡¯t keep order in my own house?

    "What lessons am I supposed to impart if I¡¯m incapable of teaching how to behave to my own children? You embarrassed me for thest time. Get out of this house and don¡¯t return until you¡¯ve found a master willing to Awaken you.

    "Only then will I know that there is at least one person on Mogar who thinks you¡¯ve proven yourself worthy of bing an Awakened." Both mother and son knew that the assigned task was arduous.

    The older an Emperor beast got, the more powerful the master needed to be to allow them to survive their Awakening. Moreover, powerful beings were usually very picky, just like Faluel.

    "For someone who thinks himself of a Wyrm, you¡¯re nothing more than a worm. Prove me wrong if you can." Faluel¡¯s words struck a nerve, hurting Sedra more than any spell could.

    All the lesser Dragons suffered from an inferiorityplex towards their forefathers and dreamed of iming for themselves the ancient title describing them, Wyrm. At the same time, being wingless creatures, often resembling more a snake rather than a dragon, worm was the worst slur that could be inflicted upon them.

    A squishy, helpless creature forced to hide and eat dirt to not be eaten by predators.

    ***

    Ernas Manor, Later that day.

    After saying goodbye to Ryman, Selia, and their kids, Lith could finally rx after days and days of careful preparation against the human Council. He hated to admit it, but he was going to miss Phloria¡¯s house big time.

    It had a huge library, all the training facilities he could dream of, and was full of people that would take care of him, unlike it happened when he was in Lutia. There someone would always get hurt, need his help, or his attention.

    The only exceptions were the Verhen kids, that despite the protection their enchanted clothes offered they often managed to do all three things at once. Moreover, at the manor he would get to share with Kam every moment of respite she had.

    After their talk at Protector¡¯s house, she had be even more loving and affectionate, to the point of being almost clingy. Yet it didn¡¯t bother Lith since he had expected Kam to treat him differently, at least at first, but never that she would be kinder.

    Solus was working on the trantion of the booklet from Huryole while Lith was practicing spirit spells. This time they were splitting their focus for a good reason. The booklet was only about practical lessons and exined only the bare minimum of theory behind the experiments that the students needed to understand how the spell worked.

    Expanding a few lines into a proper exnation of an unknown discipline required a tremendous amount of focus and brainpower. Solus could do it only by constantly switching the books from Soluspedia in the Ernas library and vice versa.

    She was giving her all to understand the foundations of Runesmithing, going over and over the first chapter to make sure she hadn¡¯t missed anything. If Lith were to work on the following chapters, it would be a mechanical work that could make important details be lost in trantion, forcing Solus to do them over.

    After reviewing his memories about Spirit Spells, Lith preferred to work on replicating those he had seen in action and then share his discoveries with Solus, just like she would do about Runesmithing.

    ¡¯No wonder Faluel wasn¡¯t willing to teach me, this stuff is damn hard.¡¯ Lith thought during amon break. ¡¯Without the world energy, every part of the spell must be imbued with will and shaped with precision.

    ¡¯Elemental magic is akin to using a mold to give shape to y, whereas spirit magic requires to start from scratch every time. Without elemental energy as a guideline missing a single focus point of the spell, it¡¯s enough to turn it into a waste of mana.

    ¡¯To add insult to injury, each failure consumes roughly the same energy of five tier-three spells, and every time I¡¯m forced to stop to understand what went wrong.¡¯

    ¡¯Same here.¡¯ Solus sighed. ¡¯Whoever wrote this book assumed that the student had a knowledge that we currentlyck, even after our conversation with Faluel. Still, I¡¯m positive that once I understand the foundations of Runesmithing and with a bit of practice, things should go smoothly.¡¯

    Lith nodded. Their bigger obstacle wasn¡¯t engraving the runes so much as identifying their different patterns and their properties. Once they managed to do that, every time they met an opponent with a runed weapon, Solus¡¯s mana sense would allow them to learn its secrets.

    Unfortunately, as long as they failed to understand the runes¡¯ meaning, how they worked both separately and as a whole, the words of power would be nothing but gibberish.

    Lith took a deep breath with Invigoration before resuming his practice of spirit magic. He had only seen Gaaron use two spirit spells: a barrier and a mind link. Solus had studied their matrix with mana sense and Lith had more or less understood how the mana had to be manipted.

    Yet a mind link required to link two mana cores, making it too dangerous. Since Gaaron hadn¡¯t used it as a means of attack, there wasn¡¯t the risk of damaging Lith¡¯s subject but the concrete chance of sharing more than he liked to.

    So his only remaining option was the barrier. In theory, it was a simple matter, but putting it into practice proved to be far from easy. Barrier spells were all simr in their matrix, requiring to give to a specific elemental energy shape, size, and thickness.

    Yet Lith¡¯s problem was that now he needed to give substance to something that was ethereal by nature and to give it form away from his body. So far, all of his attempts that didn¡¯t use tendrils of mana to shape his creations had failed.

 Chapter 785 Grudge Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 785 Grudge Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Baby steps.¡¯ Lith thought, using his own fingers as a scaffolding for the spirit magic barrier. Soon his left hand was covered by a thin and eerie green glow.

    ¡¯This stuff wouldn¡¯t block a pen stroke and is thinner than a hair, but it¡¯s still a barrier.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯Now let¡¯s try to move it away from my fingers.¡¯

    A sudden knocking on his door made him yelp and shattered the infant spirit spell.

    ¡¯Nice job.¡¯ Solusughed. ¡¯If we ever have to use it in battle, we must hope that our enemy is as silent as a mouse.¡¯

    "Lith? Do you mind if Ie in? Phloria asked.

    "Not at all." Lith tried to open the door with a spirit spell and failed miserably. Even from barely a few meters of distance, the green glow was so faint that Solus¡¯s mana sense could barely perceive it.

    "Do you want toe down for dinner? You¡¯ve been locked in here all day and I was beginning to worry. Besides, Mom and Kam will be here in a while." Phloria said.

    Only then did Lith look out of the window above his desk and notice that it was way past sunset. The realization drained his energy and made his stomach grumble. He had been so absorbed in his work that he had failed to notice the passing of time.

    "Thank you, Phloria. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I¡¯d starve. I¡¯ll join you in a minute." Lith put away all the papers Solus had worked on, leaving Phloria amazed by the amount of research he had done and by the amount of mana still lingering in the room.

    It was enough to make the hair on her neck stand up.

    ¡¯How the heck can Lith write and weave spells at the same time?¡¯ She thought. ¡¯Either each one of his eyes has a mind of its own or being a hybrid is just one of his secrets.¡¯

    She couldn¡¯t even consider the idea that Lith had lied to her. After all, she knew that there were still many oddities about him that even having two life forces couldn¡¯t exin.

    "One more thing. Tomorrow is Yondra¡¯s funeral and you told me that she had entrusted you herst message. I¡¯ve been tasked to return her body to her family, do you want toe along?" Phloria asked.

    Lith nodded and followed her downstairs. He hadn¡¯t known Yondra Mefaal for long plus they had started off the wrong foot. Yet she had been the first to recognize his talent and offer him to inherit her legacy.

    Even though death had prevented her from keeping her part of the bargain, Lith was willing to fulfill her dying wish.

    ***

    Mogar didn¡¯t have a specific set of clothes for funerals nor specific rituals to pay a final farewell to the departed among its customs. Some would mourn them and cry while others would throw a party to celebrate the life of their beloved ones rather than focus on the way they had died.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, Yondra¡¯s funerals took ce at the ck Griffon academy instead that at her home. Lith and Phloria wore their uniforms, while Quy wore her White Griffon Assistant Professor clothes.

    Phloria had to answer the Mefaal family and the ck Griffon for having failed to protect Yondra, while Lith was there only to impart them herst words and check how Rainer was doing.

    Quy had no reason to be there, but she had insisted toe because it was a rare asion to speak with both Lith and Phloria without arousing Friya¡¯s suspicions.

    She was itching to learn thetest news about Lith¡¯s rtionship with Kam, but between their respective work plus Kam¡¯s and Friya¡¯s meddling, she had never gotten the opportunity to question him. Until now.

    The ck Griffon Auditorium was as big as a football field now that Headmaster Onia had removed all the furniture to make space for her guests and the banquet.

    She had even reced the ck Griffon¡¯s banners from the walls, recing them with magical tapestries recounting Yondra¡¯s numerous achievements since the day she had enrolled. The enchanted fibers rearranged themselves cyclically, each forming a slideshow about a specific event.

    The room was full of high officials from the army and the Association who hade to pay their respects. Due to the several Professors who had met their fate during the expedition, only the faculty of the academy was truly grieving.

    Attending a funeral was a sad event, whereas attending six of them in as many days was mostly annoying. Phloria had a stern look as she apologized and bowed to all of Yondra¡¯s friends.

    She didn¡¯t share her colleagues¡¯ attitude and had taken part in each memorial service as if it was the first one. Even though she was aware that predicting the survival of a mad civilization was impossible, it didn¡¯t make her feel any less guilty.

    "So, how did Kam take the news?" Quy empathized with her sister¡¯s situation, but she had never been close to Yondra and she had waited too long for her answers. Lith had never been fond of public disys of affection, so even if they lived under the same roof, Quy had no idea how his rtionship fared.

    "Better and worse than I thought." Lith replied while Phloria almost chocked on her drink in surprise. She was curious as much as Quy was, but she was too tactful to resort to such straightforward questions.

    "Better because she has decided to ept me. She never considered breaking up or taking a break. Worse because she was royally pissed when she discovered that three more people knew about me and you were one of them." Lith watched Quy in the eyes, managing to keep a straight face.

    "What? She worried about me and not Phloria? Why?" Quy was the one among the Ernas sisters who had the best rtionship with Kam, so she couldn¡¯t understand such a reaction.

    "Exactly because of Phloria. She assumed that you and I, you know, bow chicka wow wow."

    "We what?" Quy had no idea what Lith¡¯s tune meant.

    "That the two of us at some time had shared a simr degree of affection." Lith tried to be as delicate as he could since the three of them were surrounded by a bunch of bored strangers.

    "Gods, no." Quy couldn¡¯t stop herself fromughing at the idea. "Phloria and I might not share the same blood, but that would be too messed up."

    Phloria started chuckling as well, allowing herself to forget for a moment about her sad duty.

    ¡¯Kam really is a strong and wise woman.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯I guess that she has learned from her harsh past rather than just be scarred from it. A certain Verhen guy should follow her lead and stop being so afraid of...¡¯

    A loud tongue clicking made her blush in embarrassment. Headmaster Onia was staring at her in spite.

    "Laughing at the memorial service of someone who died because of your ipetence is beyond tasteless, Captain Ernas. I guess that your household truly deserves the nickname of the Royal branch family if not even six dead Professors from the great academies can put a dent into your brilliant career.

    "Headmaster Marth told me many great things about you. Yet it turns out that the only thing you are good at is running away, even at the cost of paving your way out with dead bodies."

 Chapter 786 Grudge Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 786 Grudge Part 2</h4>

    "You have my word that we¡¯ll learn together how far your household¡¯s power goes because I¡¯ll be damned before letting this matter slide."

    Headmaster Onia turned her back to Phloria without giving her the opportunity to reply to the Headmaster¡¯s allegations, but even if she didn¡¯t, Phloriacked the will to do so.

    Even though Constable Griffon had reassured Phloria that her service record would not be affected by Kh¡¯s failure, most Headmasters didn¡¯t agree with Tyris¡¯s decision.

    After their return, the assistants had told everything about their imprisonment. The part about how both Professors and the members of the army hadn¡¯t hesitated one second to leave them behind during their escape attempts had caused quite a stir.

    Not only was Phloria the officer in charge of the mission, but she was also alive and well. People were trying to pin all the me on her since the Professors were already dead and no one wanted to taint their memory.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sis. This is all my fault." Quy said, inwardly cursing her own stupid mouth.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Quy. She was just waiting for an excuse to spit her venom. This has nothing to do with you. At this point, I¡¯m used to such treatment." Phloria said with a sad smile.

    Lith saw past her stoic expression and noticed all the pain she was hiding. The thought that he had left her alone to face such an unfair treatment stung at him hard. While Lith had spent his days since his return only obsessing with how to deal with Kam and Quy, Phloria had always been there for him.

    She had listened to all of his rants and worries, even making sure that he would eat properly. He had forgotten that unlike him, Phloria treasured her career. A lot of people resented Lith for the most disparate reasons, but he didn¡¯t care for it one bit since his job as a Ranger was temporary.

    Phloria, instead, had worked her whole life toward that goal, making countless sacrifices to prove herself to be more than just a spoiled girl who used her family name to rise the army ranks.

    "Don¡¯t worry about Onia, Captain Ernas. She¡¯s always been an uptight prick." Lord Mefaal said, taking everyone by surprise. Not only because they expected the widower to be angry, but also because he looked more bored than most people in the room.

    Yondra¡¯s husband was a man in histe sixties of average height, with grizzled hair and a well-trimmed beard. There was no trace of pain or rage in his chestnut eyes, only bitterness.

    "You are not at fault. It¡¯s just that to cover the shame of losing their cream of the crop staff, the academies need a scapegoat. As for my wife, don¡¯t feel guilty about her fate. She died as she lived, working." His words were cold enough that they sounded cruel.

    "Thank you, Lord Mefaal." Phloria said, pondering carefully her words.

    "I want to assure you that Professor Yondra¡¯s contribution was..."

    "Save it for the memorial speech. Rainer told me about her final days and that was more than enough for me." He replied before turning to Lith. "Ranger Verhen, I presume? You were herst pet project. I hope she treated you well."

    At those words, a small group of people joined the conversation. They were all dressed with the colors of the Mefaal household and were looking at the three Kh veterans with an odd mix of envy and annoyance.

    Yondra¡¯s children were old enough to have children of their own and along with the resemnce with theirte mother they all bore a stern expression.

    "She did." Lith nodded. "I¡¯m here to pay my respects to Yondra and to pass onto you her final words."

    "Nice. Less than a month and you were already on a first-name basis." Said a man in histe forties while wrinkling his nose so much that Lith almost expected him to spit at any moment.

    Lord Mefaal squeezed his eldest son¡¯s shoulder and forced him to shut up before asking Lith to proceed.

    "Here? Wouldn???t it be better somewhere a little more private?" Lith asked.

    "Here is perfect." Lord Mefaal said.

    Lith performed a series of hand gestures and gibberish before materializing in the middle of the circle of people a hologram of Yondra¡¯s final moments, doing his best to imitate her voice.

    "Please, tell my children that I didn¡¯t abandon them and that myst thoughts, even thisst caress was for them." The hologram said, her voice kind and caring despite the pain from her deep wounds.

    "Tell them that I¡¯m sorry I could never be the mother they deserved. I wasted my life, always giving priority to the wrong things. In the end, I let everyone down. My family, Rainer, even you. If only I could have one more..." Lith did his best to express all of her honesty and regret, yet his audience seemed underwhelmed.

    "Thank you, Ranger Verhen." Lord Mefaal gave both Lith and Phloria a small bow, quickly followed by the rest of the family. "I can assure you that neither of you will have problems from us.

    "Between our support and Rainer¡¯s testimony, you can rest assured that Onia will not be a problem."

    "How can you all be so cold?" Quy was the only one moved to tears. "You have literally seen her die and yet you don¡¯t care about how she got wounded or if she was avenged?"

    "We know about you, Mage Ernas." Said a woman in herte thirties while wiping Quy¡¯s tears with a handkerchief. She was wearing a gentle smile and a motherly expression on her face.

    Even Lith was shocked seeing that Yondra¡¯s daughter was more touched by Quy¡¯s words rather than those of her own mother.

    "You¡¯re an orphan, so you probably assume that family is something sacred, but it¡¯s not. My mother died to me a long time ago, after I understood that she loved her students and long lost civilizations more than me.

    "She spent time with me only to force me to learn magic, losing interest as soon as she realized that I wasn¡¯t gifted. The opposite of love isn¡¯t hate, but indifference and I¡¯ve long since grown indifferent to my mother as much as she was to me.

    "I¡¯m not cold, child. It¡¯s just that I stopped grieving her years ago."

    "Why do you think we¡¯re holding the funeral here?" Lord Mefaal asked. "She spent more time at the ck Griffon than at our home, making these people her real family.

    "I don¡¯t know if her regret was sincere and honestly, I don¡¯t care. It¡¯s too little and toote for it to matter."

    Once Phloria, Quy, and Lith were alone again, they remained silent for a long time, each one of them lost in their thoughts.

    "When I was little, I hated how Mom always tried to mess with my life, ordering me around and trying to force me to do what she considered to be the best thing for me." Phloria said after a while.

    "Now that I¡¯m old enough, however, I finally understand why she always worked her ass off to dine with us and spent every moment of her free time badgering me. It was her twisted, maniptive, relentless way to be an important part of my life."

    "Can we leave?" Quy asked. "Suddenly I feel like hugging Mom and telling her I love her."

 Chapter 787 Javvok Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 787 Javvok Part 1</h4>

    Lith had conflicting feelings since he had walked more than one mile in Yondra¡¯s shoes. Ever since he was a small child, he had always chased his ambitions, spending with his loved ones less time the more he grew in power.

    He was worried about making Yondra¡¯s same mistakes and waking up one day to realize how much he had lost only when it was toote. Raagu¡¯s words about how short-lived humans werepared to Awakened echoed in his mind, making Lith second guess his path in life for the first time in years.

    After they returned home, Lith decided to take a bit of time off from his research and spend it with his family. His leave was about to end and with all that had happened, he had put Kam¡¯s first for too long.

    He wanted to make sure that his family knew how much they meant to him, even though it meant falling behind on his schedule.

    ***

    A few dayster, while they were having their afternoon tea in Quy¡¯s quarters, Friya waltzed triumphantly in while holding a scroll in her right hand.

    "It wasn¡¯t easy, but I finally did it. I found a ce that satisfies everyone¡¯s requirements for our leisure trip. Due to spring, Rothar caves have be a dungeon infested by a still unidentified race of monsters."

    "And how is that relevant?" Lith asked.

    "Rothar caves are near the trade city of Javvok, which means we can sleep in a good hotel and that Kam cane to us anytime she wants thanks to the city Gate, smartass." Friya replied.

    "I get that part." Lith rebuked her. "I mean why monsters and more importantly, why us? Can¡¯t they deal with it on their own?"

    "Of course they can, but that¡¯s not the point. Quy wants to practice offensive magic under supervision. It¡¯s not like she can skulk on city roofs and hope for crimes to happen, nor she can wait for the next nutjob to take a swing at her.

    "Monsters are the perfect practice target. They are strong, ugly, and you don¡¯t feel guilty when you kill them because they treat every living creature like we treat our dinner."

    "I¡¯m okay with it." Phloria sighed. "I need to vent quite a bit of frustration and simply training won¡¯t do. I just got suspended from duty until further notice."

    "You what?" The others blurted out in unison.

    "Headmaster Onia has been true to her word." Phloria said. "A specialmittee has been formed to evaluate the events in Kh and assess if there was something that could have been done differently.

    "Until their investigation is over, I¡¯m back being a civilian."

    "I call bullshit!" Lith said. "A bunch of paper pushers can¡¯t judge a life or death situation by reading reports while drinking tea in the safety of their office."

    "Yet that¡¯s exactly what is going to happen."

    "Don¡¯t worry, sis." Quy said while hugging her. "I¡¯m sure that Mom and Dad would rather kill them than let something bad happen to you. Plus, there¡¯s Constable Griffon on your side."

    Phloria didn¡¯t reply. She was well aware of how influential the Ernas household was, but hoping that, despite the fact that so many important assets of the Kingdom had been ughtered like fish in a barrel, no one would be held ountable for it was just na?ve thinking.

    Someone had to take responsibility for what had happened. Berion was too high in the chain ofmand while her soldiers were just grunts. Hence Phloria was the only living member of the expedition who could be reasonably pinned with the me.

    "Out of curiosity, what were the other requirements you had to fulfill?" Lith asked Friya, to lighten the mood and not let Phloria dwell too much on the bad news.

    "Phloria wanted a ce rich of natural treasures for her Forgemastering experiments and I wanted something that would look on the resume of my Crystal Shield guild." Friya said while handing each one of them a mana stone shaped like a round shield.

    "You¡¯re all recruited, by the way."

    "When do we leave?" Phloria asked.

    "Whenever we want. All in favor of moving out at dawn?" Friya said.

    Her proposal was epted unanimously and then they resumed their business as usual. Lith went back to his research, Phloria secluded herself inside Orion¡¯s Forge to keep her mind busy, Quy continued with her tier five spells training schedule, and Friya started to make arrangements for their trip.

    Later, that night Lith discussed thest details of his ns with Kam. They had just returned from Lutia, where they dined every other day with both their families, making everyone incredibly happy but Lith.

    He felt like the misunderstanding was getting worse just like his mother¡¯s expectations were growing by the day, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do. He wanted to spend some time with his rtives and since Zinya was their neighbor, it would have been incredibly rude to keep the two sisters apart.

    "Do you think you can make it to Javvok without stressing yourself too much?" Lith asked. "You¡¯re already working a lot and I don¡¯t want to burden you with another chore."

    "You¡¯re not a chore, silly." She said while putting her arms around his neck and kissing him. "Besides, as long as you¡¯re waiting for me on the other side, stepping out of the Ernas¡¯s Gate or Javvok¡¯s is the same."

    "Damn, I have yet to leave and I miss you already." Lith said while running his hands on her back and then lower.

    "Since when squeezing my butt is a form of goodbye?" She giggled.

    "I miss it already as well." He replied, happy of how easily a Skinwalker armor could be taken off.

    ***

    The following morning the group reached Javvok and went to check-in at their luxurious hotel.

    "It¡¯s a waste of money." Lith grumbled, cursing for not having thought about it beforehand. "Why don¡¯t we justmute from here and the Ernas household instead of staying in a hotel?"

    "It¡¯s not a waste of money!" Friya rebuked him. "If we go back and forth, it would be as if we never left, plus everyone here needs to unwind big time. Maybe you live our home as a free resort, but for us is a constant reminder of our duty. Plus parents!"

    "Agreed." Said the other two women in unison. They loved Jirni and Orion, but after spending so much time together they were starting to feel like little girls again and itched for being treated as adults.

    "Gods, it has been years since myst vacation. What about you guys?" Phloria said.

    "I think it¡¯s my first." Quy replied. Back when she was an orphan, survival was her priority and once she had enrolled in the White Griffon academy, she had never stopped practicing magic for more than a day.

    She had never traveled anywhere if not for work-rted issues.

    "Same." Lith said. Whenever he wasn¡¯t working for the army or his family, he had spent all of his free time inside his tower.

    "All the more reason to notmute. You need to stay away from books andbs for a while. Just have fun." Friya said, leaving Lith bbergasted. He had no idea how to have fun without aputer and some video games.

    Mogar offered little entertainment for someone like him who had no interest in arts.

 Chapter 788 Javvok Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 788 Javvok Part 2</h4>

    Javvok was an important city located in the southwest part of the Griffon Kingdom, only a few hundreds of kilometers from its borders with the Blood desert. Friya had picked it because of its warm climate and abundance of natural resources.

    Also, it was far enough away from the borders to not have through customs inspections every time they needed a gate and dimensional magic could be employed within the city borders. Theck of strict safety measures had allowed the city to grow over time, making it a blend of old and new architectures.

    Unlike most cities of the Kingdom, Javvok wasn¡¯t divided into rims, but into districts. The trading district upied the center of the city and extended all the way to the four city gates.

    Shops and their warehouses were usually adjacent, to allow the merchants to keep an eye on their supplies since dimensional items were a two-edged de. Contrary to what one could expect, the slum district was right next to the market.

    The bustling activity and the constant noise made it a horrible ce to live. Yet it also made the housings so cheap that daily workers would manage to easily pay the rent and need only a few steps to reach their workce, killing two birds with one stone.

    The residential area was right past the slums, using parks as a buffer and to further reduce the interaction between social sses. Farmers lived outside the city, near the fields they worked on, and too far away for the stench their cattle made to affect the citizens.

    The numerous guards patrolling the walls and the beautiful sight offered by the luscious forest that surrounded Javvok made the outer district the most expensive ce to live.

    Lith¡¯s hotel, the Golden Dragon, was located in the outer district and upied an entire twelve floors building. Friya had reserved thest floor of the hotel to enjoy the scenery and have an easier time moving by flight thanks to the rooftop doorway.

    "What the fuck does this mean?" Lith said when he noticed that there were only four rooms on the twelfth floor.

    "A woman needs some space. You¡¯ll thank me once Kam arrives. Poor girl, I bet you never brought her to a ce this nice." Friya scoffed at Lith¡¯s cheapskate attitude.

    "I work, she works, and whenever I get a leave, I¡¯ve so much catch up to do that I don¡¯t have time for this kind of shenanigans. I told you that I don¡¯t go on vacation."

    "Good for you. It means you should have plenty of money since you never got the opportunity to spend it. Now stop whining and pick a room." She said, offering the four numbered keys to him.

    Lith actually picked three, giving the other two to Phloria and Quy, to make sure that Friya would be the further away as possible from him.

    "Very mature of you, Lith." Friya said.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve good news and bad news.¡¯ Solus said whileughing her ass off at Lith¡¯s expense.

    ¡¯Give me the bad news first.¡¯ Lith inwardly moaned.

    An image of the hotel¡¯s brochure and its prices appeared in Lith¡¯s mind. The sheer amount of zeroes almost burned through his wallet.

    ¡¯What about the good news?¡¯ Lith was d to have managed to sell several of his lesser creationstely. Even though they weren¡¯t made out of Orichalcum, his custom made Skinwalker armor was highly sought after.

    ¡¯Meals are included and the whole hotel is covered by an air blocking array. Your key makes so that you¡¯re the only one who can use dimensional magic or flight spells while in your room. It¡¯s enough to satisfy even your levels of paranoia. Also, the walls are soundproof.¡¯

    ¡¯Meaning?¡¯

    ¡¯That once you engage Kam in battle, you don¡¯t have to worry about coteral damage.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith blushed at the remark. He already found awkward when Solus yed third wheel, but the idea that Quy, whose room was adjacent to his, could hear something hadpletely escaped his mind.

    Not knowing how to reply, he glossed over the matter and entered his room. It looked like a five-room apartment with a hallway, a living room big enough to host a small party, a dining room, a sauna, a king-sized bedroom, and a bathroom.

    The walls were painted sunny yellow and the ss wall provided lots of natural light. The furniture was of simple design but it was elegant and its quality wouldn¡¯t make them look bad even in the Ernas house.

    Every room wasrge, airy, and well-light. It was the first time Lith was in a ssy hotel, so he remained quite surprised noticing that there were small cabs for toiletries and all themon items provided by the hotel but no wardrobes.

    Rich people had no need for them since they would store everything inside their own dimensional amulets. It left plenty of space to decorate the room and made them appear evenrger than they were.

    ¡¯Too bad there¡¯s no kitchen. I bet they aim to milk the customers with the room service.?? Lith thought after touring his room.

    He went back to the lobby, finding Quy waiting alone in front of the floor¡¯s Gate. The hotel had no elevator, it used a short-ranged dimensional device to allow people to move from a floor to another.

    "Hey, Lith. How hard is clearing a dungeon?" Quy asked.

    "For me, it¡¯s mostly boring. You must forget all the crap about mystical rooms and treasures. It¡¯s just a ce infested with monsters. The only traps you¡¯ll find are those the monstersid, and the only loot you can earn belonged to those who failed to clear the dungeon."

    "That¡¯s not what I asked you. I¡¯m not looking for profits or excitement, only for the experience."

    "For you, the hardest part will be just not falling for traps, ambushes, and avoiding that your spells hit us as well as the monsters. The good thing of going solo is that you don¡¯t have to worry about anyone but yourself." Lith said.

    "Yeah, too bad that one mistake and you¡¯re dead. Nopanions also mean that no one is looking out for you." Quy replied.

    Lith shrugged while instinctively caressing Solus¡¯s ring. He was never really alone.

    After the others returned, they went to the roof and took flight, following Friya.

    "Rothar caves are a bit far from the city, they are deep inside the Gelugan forest." Friya said in hermunication amulet. While flying at high speed it was the only way to keep in touch with others.

    "We¡¯ll have time to enjoy the scenery when we get back, now focus solely on following me and memorizing the course." She sped up, moving south while avoiding flock of birds and the magical beasts soaring the sky in search for their lunch.

    Normally the even green ceiling of the forest would have made it impossible for her to find the caves without a guide, but since there were monsters involved, Friya knew she could count on their help.

    It took them just a couple of minutes of high-speed flight to notice a huge bald spot in the middle of the forest. It was exactly what Friya was looking for. Unlike what happened in fairy tales, monsters didn¡¯t draw sustenance from thin air, allowing them to remain holed up in their dungeon 24/7.

    They needed to eat, drink, and crap like anyone else which usually meant bad news for the local fauna.

 Chapter 789 Weeds Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 789 Weeds Part 1</h4>

    The members of the Fallen Races had an astounding spawn rate. It gave them an appetite for food matched only by their thirst for battle.

    Yet Friya didn¡¯t expect to find a bald area of that size. It surrounded the caves for a space of over 100 meters (328 feet) and to make things even more unsettling, it wasn¡¯t just trees that had been cut down.

    Even the grass was missing, along with any trace of wildlife. Friya¡¯s hand emitted two consecutive short pulses of light, signaling everyone to stop.

    "Doesn¡¯t this remind you of something?" She pointed at the familiar scenery.

    "It looks like the ce where I killed the Abomination in the White Griffon forest." Lith replied. "Yet too many things don¡¯t add up, I doubt this is the work of an Abomination."

    "What do you mean?" Phloria asked. Abominations were rare creatures, even rarer than Awakened. If not for Balkor using them for his revenge, they would have still been considered just a myth.

    "A newborn Abomination would have eaten much more than that, whereas an adult Abomination would have never been so obvious. They are apex predators, not morons."

    They all had seen what had happened to the academy¡¯s forest and the Trawn woods. Years had passed and they both had yet topletely recover.

    "Could this be one of those hybrids you told us about? Like that thing you¡¯ve fought in the mines? After all, the report mentions the presence of an unknown race of monsters. What if they are just a known race mutated by an Abomination?" Friya said.

    "Unlikely." Quy had just finished casting a Life Sensing array.

    "I¡¯ve studied lots of samples from both Balkor¡¯s minions and captured hybrids. They all have one thing inmon. While undead are not detected by Life Sensing arrays, all creatures who have Abomination blood gets detected as a negative life force.

    "It¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t make sense but at the same time makes them incredibly easy to find. I can clearly sense a lot of life forces below us. They are unusual, but that¡¯s to be expected. Each race has its own life force and that of monsters is usually twisted beyond recognition."

    The groupnded gracefully, without making a sound. Lith activated Life Vision and Solus started to scan their surroundings. They both agreed with Quy¡¯s evaluation. There was no trace of ck cores or Chaos magic in the air.

    Also, if it really was the work of a hybrid Abomination, Lith knew that it would have attempted to train its thralls to hasten its development whereas the creatures he could spot through the ground had weak cores.

    Too weak for Awakened creatures that had already had enough time to practice umtion.

    Everyone prepared their spells before discussing what to do. The caves had more than one ess, making it easy to fall victim to an attack from behind. Three small stone arches lead into the ground and were covered in footprints.

    Theck of grass coupled with the soft soil gave them plenty of clues about the nature of the threat at hand. Whatever it was, they were heavy, with ws on their feet and each individual weighted at least 100 kilograms (221 pounds).

    "What¡¯s the n?" Lith asked.

    "Usually, I¡¯ll have you guys go down while I searched the forest for ingredients." Phloria said while digging from the ground the remains of what once was a precious Stoneflower.

    "Yet since the nature of our enemy is unknown, it¡¯s too dangerous to split up. Lith and I will cover your back, you focus only on defending yourself, Quy." She was aware of Lith¡¯s Life Vision, so by teaming up with him it was impossible to take them by surprise.

    They had just nodded when Quy fell on her knees, panting.

    "Gods, how do you guys manage to keep tier five spells at the ready with such ease?" Keeping the Life Sensing array plus several powerful spells had drained her until she had lost her focus.

    "We don¡¯t." Friya replied. "I¡¯ve prepared just a few tier three and a dimensional spell in case things go bad."

    "Couldn¡¯t you tell me earlier? We have yet to start and I¡¯ve already wasted a lot of mana." Quy was so pissed off while drinking a tonic that even the gulping sounds she emitted sounded grumpy.

    "The burned hand teaches best." Lith said. He had only prepared a Blink, to keep his mind clear and focused. With Ruin at his side and Solus telling him that there was no one in a hundred meters radius, he had no reason to worry.

    Quy replied in a very creative and impolite way that would have made a sailor blush. Then, she prepared a few spells and took the stone arch on the right, where her array had spotted the biggest number of creatures.

    She preferred to take them on while she had still plenty of stamina. Also, that way she would be able to kill many monsters with a single spell.

    "Have you noticed that there¡¯s no smell in here?" Phloria asked.

    "Yep, the air is too clean, both inside and outside the caves. Either this is the first race of monsters to care for personal hygiene or things are going to get weird."

    Lith had cleared dozens of dungeons in the Ker region and the Rothar caves barely qualified as one. If not for the footprints outside and the havoc the creatures had caused, the area was too clean.

    There were no bonesying around, no blood spats, nor the marks that the constant quarreling between monsters usually left everywhere. There was too much order under the thinyer of chaos of the caves to not stir Lith¡¯s paranoia.

    Yet the deeper they went, the less he felt threatened. ording to Solus, their mana cores were weak and their life forces unremarkable.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not any race of monsters we have ever met.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯Their energy signature is too weird.¡¯

    Quy had no way to know that, and even though Friya was just a couple of steps behind her, she was as tense as a bowstring. She was wearing Orion¡¯s night vision goggles to avoid the need of light, plus she had cast spells that canceled her smell and the noise of her steps, yet she still felt insecure.

    She had seen too many horrors to be scared by monsters, yet there was something in the reading she had gotten from her earlier array that kept bugging her. She was trying to sort out her thoughts without losing her focus when two creatures stepped from around the corner, yelping at the sight of intruders.

    They were yellow-skinned humanoids, standing 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall with long pointed ears and nose. They had long dirty brown hair all around their head, making it look like a mane, white eyes, and teeth so big that they were visible even when their mouth was closed since their lips barely covered their gums.

    They were holding thick three branches that could barely pass for clubs.

    Quy immediately recognized them from the bestiary she had read at the academy. They were bugbears, another failed mutation in the goblin race in the attempt to recover from their fallen state.

    They were bigger and stronger than their forefathers, but also more stupid. They had obtained a greater physical strength in exchange for their magical talents. She didn¡¯t have the time to wonder how could anyone had mistaken them for an unknown race when the bugbears screamed their challenge and charged towards her.

 Chapter 790 Weeds Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 790 Weeds Part 2</h4>

    She unleashed a simple tier three spell, Windde, that was supposed to chop off their legs and chests at the same time. Although deep, the wounds opened by her spell turned out to be far from lethal, stopping even before reaching the bones.

    The bugbears stumbled just for a second before swallowing their pain and resuming the charge.

    "Seriously? A tier one spell?" Friya was bbergasted.

    "It was a tier tree!" Quy rebuked her while unleashing a second Windde, aimed exactly where the first had struck.

    The air spell managed to cut the bugbears¡¯ femoral artery and pierce their lungs, making the creatures drown in their own blood.

    "First, you shouldn¡¯t have let them call for reinforcements. Second, there¡¯s no way that a tier three didn¡¯t kill them on the spot from that distance." Friya spoke as softly as she could, but the annoyance in her voice was unmistakable.

    "I know I messed up, but that¡¯s also because of your false information. As for the spells, I swear that I only prepared tier three..." Quy was cut short when one of the maces struck Friya¡¯s head, sending her sprawling on the floor.

    Quy turned around just in time to dodge the one aimed at her. The two bugbears were standing up, the wounds on their bodies were barely visible.

    ¡¯Since when do bugbears have regenerative powers?¡¯ Quy thought while unleashing the tier three Frost Cutter spell. Icicles the size of an arm pierced the creatures¡¯ heads and chests, turning them froze solid in the process.

    This time she also used first magic to alter the ground so that they would fall onto rock spikes that easily prated through the frozen meat, destroying the brain and the heart at the same time.

    Afraid of the bugbears¡¯ recovery abilities, this time Quy cut off their heads before worrying about her sister.

    "Friya?" Quy asked, incapable of making heads or tails of that situation. Her sister was wearing a Skinwalker armor and the mace was just a piece of wood. It wasn¡¯t supposed to do her any harm, no matter the amount of strength behind the hit.

    Lith was amazed as well, butpared to his friend he had more clues. Quy was right about everything. Bugbears weren¡¯t supposed to regenerate, nor wood could harm someone wearing an enchanted armor, let alone one of his making.

    The problem was that it wasn¡¯t wood and that those weren¡¯t bugbears, or at least notpletely. The two corpses stood up again, uncaring for the missing heads or the gaping hole where once a heart resided.

    "Undead?" Phloria asked while unsheathing her sword.

    "No, nts." Lith replied. A split-secondter roots and vines filled the empty space in the creatures¡¯ chest and a sapling grew out from their necks.

    Quy had enough of that madness, so she used the only tier five spell she had at the ready. Volcano was a mix of fire and earth magic that turned the ground below the monsters into moltenva swallowing them whole.

    The creatures died in an instant, without the time to emit nothing but the smell of sandalwood incense.

    "What the heck happened?" Friya¡¯s vision was still blurry but she was otherwise uninjured.

    "Your informationwork sucks!" Quy replied while checking that she didn¡¯t have a concussion.

    "And you are sloppy." Lith said, throwing the clubs into the still fiery pit. The wood split and germinated into small tendrils that tried to escape death, but theva turned them into cinders before they could reach the safety of the ceiling.

    The screeching sounds of agony cleared all doubts about how Friya had been stunned.

    "Those things were not their weapons but part of their bodies. Once you saw that we are not dealing with bugbears but with some kind of parasite, you should have disposed of all the wood in sight."

    "What the heck?" The three women said in unison.

    "This doesn¡¯t make sense! nts creatures are rare and I¡¯ve never heard about them being parasites. I work with them for years at the White Griffon, some of them are my good friends!" Quy¡¯s brain felt as if it was burning.

    "Why would nts damage vegetation and how the heck did they took over the bugbears?"

    "I have no idea." Even ording to Lith¡¯s books, the entire situation was simply absurd. He had understood the nature of their enemy only because the clubs had the same life force and a mana flow that coursed under the monsters¡¯ skin.

    "What do you want to do?" Lith asked Quy. "This isn¡¯t a learning experience anymore, but a frigging mess."

    "Which makes it perfect as a learning experience." She replied. "Nothing ever goes ording to n and not only must I learn how to handle high-level spells, but also how to keep my cool when the unexpected happens.

    "The enemy has called for reinforcements, so we don¡¯t have much time. Remember that nts are not weak to fire like most people think since they are not made of dried wood but from living tissues rich in water.

    "On top of that, they have an outstanding ability in manipting both their bodies and earth magic. Their real weaknesses are water and darkness magic. The cold blocks their regenerative and shapeshifting abilities, so focus on that."

    Due to her job as Assistant Professor, Quy knew a lot about nt creaturespared to herpanions, Lith included. Knowing their real enemy and its weakness, it took the four of them just a few hours to kill all the infested bugbears.

    Quy even made a few attempts tomunicate whenever they isted a single specimen, but they proved to be unwilling or incapable of exining their reasons.

    By the time they were done, they had more questions than answers. Sentient nts had coexisted with Mogar¡¯s other races for ages, and their existence was well-documented.

    The appearance of a new species, and one so aggressive at that, was a bad sign.

    "We have to report this immediately." Phloria said. "If they can take over bugbears, they might do the same with humans. We need to put people on alert before the phenomenon bes widespread."

    "Yeah, too bad that we can¡¯t examine a body. It would greatly help me to understand what¡¯s going on." Quy said.

    She had gained a lot of experience and her learning rate was terrifying. After just a few tries, she had be able to use some tier five spells in confined spaces without harming her allies.

    "What do you mean?" Lith had collected a few bodies precisely to study their altered physiology.

    "Sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier. nts don¡¯t leave any corpse behind. The moment they die they also wither, reverting to their original form. So if these things started out as flowers, you¡¯ll only get a flower.

    "It¡¯s the reason why nts cannot be turned into undead." Quy said.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! I could have yed a little with them and used Invigoration instead of wasting time speaking. How was their core, Solus?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Sorry, I have no clue. By invading the bugbears¡¯ body in the form of vines, they also spread their core, making it invisible to my mana sense. It¡¯s the same thing that happened with the nt Abomination.

    ¡¯We needed to force it all in one ce to see its core. What I can tell you for sure, is that it couldn¡¯t be very strong since if it wasn¡¯t for the animated clubs, their mana flow was perfectly eclipsed by their victims¡¯ weak ass core.¡¯

    ¡¯Finally some good news!¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed in relief. ¡¯Luckily we picked a city with a Gate, so whatever this is, the Kingdom can take care of it on its own.¡¯

 Chapter 791 Ill Omen Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 791 Ill Omen Part 1</h4>

    Friya used hermunication amulet to perform a conference call with the army, the Association, and Javvok¡¯s authorities. She was the guild master of the Crystal Shield, after all, and it was her guild that had taken the job and performed such an important discovery.

    Friya wanted to make sure that she would receive proper recognition since in her line of work reputation was everything.

    "I bet that the army¡¯s upper echelons now regret having suspended you." Lith said, trying to cheer Phloria up.

    "I wish. It¡¯s still a small matter for someone of my rank." She replied. "I¡¯m more worried about them thinking that if you¡¯re feeling fine enough to do freence work, then you¡¯re also good enough to resume duty. They could revoke your leave."

    Lith cussed. He hadn¡¯t thought about the possibility, otherwise he would have asked Friya to leave him out of her report.

    "It¡¯s almost lunchtime. It¡¯s better we go back to the Golden Dragon. This is a vacation and we are here to spend some quality time together, not to work." Friya said once the call was over.

    She wasn¡¯t happy at all about the recent developments. Sure, the mission had been a total sess, but it also risked to kick a ho nest. She was afraid that being the one who had reported the issue, she would also be tasked to investigate the matter.

    It was the first time in four years that she managed to spend more than a few hours together with her sisters and her best friend. Friya just wanted to sit back and rx.

    They Warped back to the city and enjoyed a slow, pleasant meal like it hadn¡¯t happened in ages. Away from their parents, theirmanding officers, and nothing to worry about, they could finally catch up with each other properly.

    The only sour note for Lith was that Kam was working hard and she couldn¡¯t join them. She didn¡¯t even know if she could make it for dinner since the more sessful her investigation was, the busier she would get.

    "What are our ns for the afternoon?" Lith asked.

    "I don¡¯t know you, but I¡¯ll take a long bath first, then a short nap. We can meet in a couple of hours to go back to the Rothar caves and search for Phloria¡¯s ingredients." Friya said while drinking way more wine than she would usually do.

    "Yeah, there¡¯s no rush." Phloria sighed. "Natural treasures are very hard to find. We¡¯re likely to just have a long stroll in the woods and find nothing to bring back home. I always use ingredients as an excuse when I want to stay alone for a while."

    "Well, that¡¯s because very few people know where to look." Quy giggled.

    "What do you mean? I¡¯ve excellent senses, yet even at the academy I never found anything." Lith said.

    "Well, of course you didn¡¯t. The academy¡¯s forest is rich in natural resources, but you aren¡¯t the only one who searched for them. There were the other students, the academy staff, the magical beasts, and even outsiders.

    "Even if you stumbled into a good spot, since it was likely to be close to the academy, it had been already cleaned out of everything useful. The same stands for the forest outside Javvok.

    "If we go where everyone goes, we¡¯re bound to find nothing."

    "What makes you so confident about your skills?" Phloria asked. In all of her strolls, she had found a couple of semi-precious herbs, but nothing more. If not for the fact that natural treasures were avable on the market, she would think they were just a myth.

    "As I told you earlier, I¡¯m friends with some of the nt folk who live in the academy¡¯s forest. They taught me everything I know." Quy put down the silverware inside her te for the waiter to collect it.

    She would have liked to eat more, but now that her growth spurt was over, she had to watch her weight. Eating recklessly would now make her growrger instead of taller.

    "Natural treasures only grow in ces abundant with world energy, simr to what happens with mana crystals. If you find a flower still blooming past its season, it¡¯s likely to be evolving into a natural treasure.

    "World energy seeps out from the ground, so the most magically talented nts can absorb it along with their nourishment. If they are talented and lucky enough, they can even gain consciousness."

    "Wait! So every time someone picks a natural treasure they are potentially killing a nt folk?" Friya was bbergasted, looking at the sd in her side dishes with an almost guilty look.

    "Yes. Just like every time one eats a chicken, it might have be a powerful magical beast." Quy shrugged. "Don¡¯t sweat it. nts themselves don¡¯t care about it. Who do you think supplies the academy of the most precious ingredients?"

    They all remembered how the Dryad had given Lith plenty of natural treasures to save her sister, so Quy¡¯s words actually made sense.

    ¡¯Too bad that she gave me top grade ingredients when I was still an apprentice. I still have to find something worth using them. I can¡¯t waste the opportunity of a lifetime for a crappy item.

    ¡¯Luckily for me, as long as they are inside my pocket dimension, they can¡¯t rot.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "The fight for survival is gruesome even for nts, it¡¯s just that it happens so slowly that us humans don¡¯t notice it." Quy said. "They have to fight among themselves for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Not to mention parasites, fungi, and insects.

    "Some nts even feed upon each other, which even once they evolve makes them psychopaths, at least ording to human standards. They are really interesting fellows."

    "Have they ever told you about crystal folks? After all, they follow the same principle. I¡¯ve always wondered if mana crystals can gain sentience too." Lith asked.

    "No, they didn¡¯t, but I never asked. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible. nts are alive to start with, whereas crystals are just solidified energy masses. If it was possible, I think miners would have met crystal folks and we would have studied them at the academy, like all the other races." Quy replied.

    Even though it was a logical conclusion, her answer didn¡¯t convince Lith. Quy was unaware of the existence of mana cores, nor she knew that powerful crystals acted exactly like one.

    There were too many secrets the Griffon Kingdom covered and the academy¡¯s teachings were iplete. Undead were considered just monsters, while Faluel had told him that they were full members of the Council.

    ¡¯I guess that if sentient crystals were Awakened, they would be part of the Council. So either crystals can¡¯t Awaken or they are simply objects.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Everyone followed Friya¡¯s lead, washing away their fatigue from the morning before taking some well-deserved rest.

    ¡¯This is so boring!¡¯ Lith thought once he was finished bathing. Solus was mind ring at him just because he was using umtion and had already prevented him from taking his notes out of their pocket dimension.

    ¡¯Rest, not work.¡¯ She ordered.

    Kam¡¯s rune was offline, so she wasn¡¯t avable to talk, leaving him with very few options.

    Lith spent the rest of the time using umtion and ying with Solus at the most disparate games while talking about trivial things like their favorite books.

    He ended up enjoying it, especially once he realized that even though they knew each other so well, because of their mind link they rarely talked about anything but work.

 Chapter 792 Ill Omen Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 792 Ill Omen Part 2</h4>

    Lith relied too much on their shared feelings and memories to appreciate little things like the sound of Solus¡¯s voice, which was getting more human with each passing day from hisst breakthrough.

    Time flew so fast that when Quy knocked at his door he almost flinched in surprise.

    Once they Warped back to the Rothar caves, Quy took the lead of the group and shared her knowledge with them. She didn¡¯t make them walk, preferring to fly barely above the treeline andnding from time to time to check their surroundings.

    "Kiro, a Treantling I know, exined to me that the best ce to search for natural treasures is where the green is more luscious. We must look for a spot where the flowers have vibrant colors or where there¡¯s a spring."

    Her words reminded Lith of mana geysers, but Solus confirmed to him that they had yet to spot a single geyser. It took them a few tries to find the right ce.

    One could have missed it at a first nce, but Quy pointed out the presence of a young but majestic tree and many colorful bellflowers growing in its proximity.

    ¡¯Why didn¡¯t we notice it, Solus?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯There is no mana geyser here, just a fluctuation in the world energy.¡¯ She exined. ¡¯Now that we¡¯re close enough, I can tell you that there¡¯s a small stream of world energy converging on the tree as if it¡¯s conjuring it.

    ¡¯The surrounding nts are simply reaping the side effects of the tree.¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯m starting to wonder if natural treasures really are nt folks in the making or just a strategy that they employ to ensure their survival. What if semi-sentient nt folks actually offer natural treasures as a tribute to divert the attention from themselves?¡¯ Lith thought.

    The tree was beautiful but magically unremarkable, whereas the bellflowers had a faint magical aura.

    "This is the right spot but the wrong time." Quy examined the patches of unnaturally big flowers for a bit before shaking her head. "These nts will evolve into Blood Amethysts, but it might take them months if not years toplete the process."

    She pointed at the red streaks inside the bellflowers¡¯ petals, which had also partially turned into crystals.

    Lith used Invigoration on the tree before leaving, noticing a mass of raw mana hidden inside of it. The tree was too big and the mana too thin to make it remarkable, even to Solus¡¯s mana sense.

    ¡¯I think this is no geyser. The world energy is here because of the tree and not the other way around.¡¯ Solus pondered. ¡¯This is like the light pir that manifests when a magical beast evolves, just slower and smaller.¡¯

    After a while, they found a wood anemone as big as Lith¡¯s fist and almost as tall as Quy. ording to her, it had no magical value, but the Zephyr Apples growing on the nearby trees were quite a catch.

    "It¡¯s the first time I actually find something of value." Phloria said while Quy showed them how to recognize the most valuable fruits from those that actually held little magical properties due to not being exposed long enough to the world energy.

    Soon they started quarrelling for the best pieces. Quy called dibs because she was the one who had found them, Friya because she was the guild master, and Lith iming to be the poorest among them.

    "Isn¡¯t this odd?" Phloria wasn¡¯t interested in the argument. She trusted her sisters to be fair. "Howe in none of the ces we visited there was any sign of wildlife?"

    Lith was aware of it as well, but he had avoided mentioning it to not ruin the mood and to not get further involved. Whatever was happening, it was none of his business.

    Quy shushed the others and listened. Aside from the rustling of leaves when the wind blew, the forest was silent. Lith confirmed with Life Vision that there was no threat nearby, but the situation was still creepy.

    They collected their prize and resumed to move, searching for clues and natural treasures. They didn¡¯t spot a single animal during their flight and soon things got worse.

    The deeper they went into the forest, the more numerous were the bald spots they found. Each area was small, barely a few metersrge. Yet whoever did it had taken care to not touch the trees, so that from above the damage was nigh invisible.

    "Fuck me sideways." Lith said when they found a withered area recent enough for him to catch the scent of the culprit. Life Vision revealed to him that the ground was enveloped in a ck aura so thick that is was unmistakable.

    "This is the work of undead." He said while pointing at a young sapling that somehow had be fossilized. Its bark had be as ck as coal after having its life forcepletely drained.

    "Undead in a forest? It¡¯s ridiculous!" Friya said. "Magical beasts would kill them and nt folks would be d to help them."

    "Yet we have not found a single one of them." Each word Lith said made the forest look eerier.

    None of those present was afraid of a vagrant undead, but to cause that amount of devastation, to drive the wildlife away, it couldn¡¯t be the work of a normal undead. Even worse, it could be lots of them.

    "We better leave." Phloria said while looking at the sun that was dangerously close to the treeline. Spring had just begun and the days were still short. "They might still be nearby."

    "Yeah, I¡¯m starting to think that whoever did this, didn¡¯t touch the trees not to remain hidden from onlookers, but from the sunlight." Quy said.

    \u003c"Not so fast, sweetie."\u003e Said a raspy voice in an unknownnguage. A rotten figure stumbled out of a patch of woods. The creature had glowing red eyes that burned with a hunger that had been denied for too long.

    The exit point of a Blink spell appeared in the middle of the group and Ruin cleaved the dimensional door in half along with its caster, leaving both undead as bbergasted as they were angry.

    "We gotpany!" Lith yelled as he could see several dimensional doors opening, too many for him to cover them by himself. Not with the creature at his feet still undead and the one in front of them rushing in as fast as a bullet.

    The group of undead had sniffed them the moment they had found the first bald spot in the forest and had been tracking them ever since. Their shabby appearance wasn¡¯t caused by the damage they had sustained while moving during the day so much as from starvation.

    On Mogar, undead could feast on any life force, no matter its source. Yet only the life force of a member of the race they were part of when they were still alive could properly feed them.

    Every single kind of undead needed a specific source of vitality. Feeding on another prevented them from dying, but it tasted like shit. Also, it would require an enormous amount of ¡¯wrong¡¯ food to satiate their hunger.

    The little group of undead wasposed of humanoids, so the smell of young and fresh bodies represented an allure so great that they were willing to risk the sun turning them into ashes rather than miss a full course meal.

 Chapter 793 Ill Omen Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 793 Ill Omen Part 3</h4>

    Lith cut the head of the cleaved ghoul, yet its flesh reattached to its neck and so did the two halves of its body. Ghouls had regenerative abilities on par with trolls, and just like their living ¡¯cousins¡¯, healing from their wounds didn¡¯t make them weaker, only hungrier.

    ¡¯How the heck do you kill a ghoul?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Either you destroy its heart or you pulverize its body with darkness magic.¡¯ Solus replied, hoping to remember it right. Soluspedia was still stuffed with the material about runes and spirit magic, so there was no space for bestiaries.

    Lith struck where the heart was supposed to be, but Ruin only hit the ground as the undead was swallowed by the earth as if it was a ghost. Meanwhile, his warning coupled with the failed ambush had given the others enough time to react.

    Each one of them had studied the different species of undead back at the White Griffon academy. Friya and Phloria had actually in a few of them during their respective missions.

    s, this time they had no clue what they were facing. All of their opponents looked almost the same due to starvation. The undead had decaying grey-green skin and skeletal bodies that emphasized their long wed fingers.

    They seemed to coordinate their actions, but no one in Lith¡¯s group could understand a single word they said. Phloria quickly activated Full Guard to foil any other attempt to Blink in her blind spot while Quy unleashed a stream of lightning from one of her rings.

    She was aware that it would buy her a split-second at best, but she needed time to prepare a suitable spell since her closebat abilities were non-existent. The creature bolting toward them was actually a vampire, but he was so emaciated that only his ability to talk made it possible to distinguish him from a mindless zombie.

    The vampire, once a noble among his race, took the full force of the spell, but not because he relied on the natural resistance undead had against all elements. He simply couldn¡¯t dodge it with the little strength he had left.

    The bolt of lightning made him trip and fall, yet the creature turned the motion into a roll, managing to stand up with inhuman grace without ever slowing down. Friya Blinked behind him, stabbing at his heart while one of her rings released a pulse of darkness magic that blew his chest apart.

    Darkness magic was the bane of the undead, and the vampire¡¯s debilitated state had made him an easy prey for Friya¡¯s spell, amplifying its effects.

    Meanwhile, since the ghoul kept hiding, Lith struck at two more undead while infusing Ruin with darkness magic. The creatures had spent thest of their energies for the surprise attack, but their n had failed on all levels.

    None of their alleged victims had been paralyzed by fear and Lith could see their bluff for what it was. To Solus¡¯s mana sense, their blood cores were almost pitch ck, making Lith wonder why they had not sumbed to their hunger and attacked the trees as well.

    One of the undead fell to its knees as the darkness Lith had injected inside his de ravaged the little strength it had left, but Ruin went through the other one without doing so much of a scratch.

    The second undead¡¯s body dispersed on contact, like a dense cloud of smoke struck by a sudden gust of wind. Lith performed a barrage of quick spells, yet none of them, not even those darkness based, had any effect on the undead.

    Its body would just let them through before reassembling itself.

    ¡¯Please, tell me that you remember what the heck this is.¡¯ Lith thought in frustration.

    ¡¯A Wraith, maybe?¡¯ Solus shared with him all she remembered, but it wasn¡¯t much. They already had to remember hundreds of spells, true and fake, the people they had met, the lies that they had told, and countless other things.

    Remembering every single creature that existed on Mogar was impossible, especially those they had never met before. Usually Soluspedia would cover that subject, but even though their dimensional library had never stopped expanding over time, the number of tomes they had collected grew even faster.

    The Wraith kept swinging its ws at its prey, avoiding to use magic to not waste precious food while Lith was forced on the defensive while keeping an eye on the still underground ghoul.

    Phloria¡¯s Full Guard allowed her to keep up with her enemies¡¯ inhuman speed, but barely. Even blocking their attacks with her conjured tower shield took all the energy she had.

    ¡¯Gods, if it wasn¡¯t for my monstrous strength that scared so many of my suitors in the past, the undead would have already overpowered me. Fighting with no potions and defending Quy at the same time is too much.¡¯ She thought.

    Luckily for her, the Awakening process that was endangering her life had also removed the biggest impurities in her body and brought them near her core. Ever since she had left her academy, Phloria¡¯s physical abilities had slowly improved past human limits thanks to her strict training schedule.

    Three sudden gusts of wind pushed the undead away, giving Phloria¡¯s almost numb arms the relief they desperately needed.

    There was no time to cast big spells, so Quy¡¯s big brain was spinning at top gear to try and find a way to achieve the maximum effect with tier three spells, but unlike Solus, she had to worry about her own life as well as about Phloria¡¯s.

    ¡¯Those damn trees are too high and the sun is too low to just blow away a few treetops and hope to get enough light to kill them. If only darkness and earth magic weren¡¯t so slow...¡¯

    She was barely able to follow the undead with her eyes and only when Phloria blocked their attacks. The rest of the time it was all a blur, making any spell slower than a bolt of lightning just a waste of mana.

    ¡¯If only I could understand what the heck they are, I could exploit one of their weaknesses, but these things all look like zombies on drugs!¡¯ Working in an academy and with Balkor¡¯s threat still lingering over her students, Quy had thoroughly studied the undead race.

    Yet until they used no spell or special ability, she was in Lith¡¯s same boat.

    "On my mark." Phloria said, drawing both of her sisters¡¯ attention.

    "Mark!" The moment the two undead charged at her again, she unleashed one of her personal Mage Knight spells, Gravity st.

    Like st Guard, it generated a small ming sphere that affected everything in her surroundings except for the space within a meter (3.3 feet) from her body. By mixing tier zero gravity magic with it, however, the spell would also lower the weight of all those in its area of effect, sending them flying like leaves.

    Normal mages wouldn¡¯t develop such spells, since they could just Blink to safety, whereas a Mage Knight¡¯s duty was to protect their allies and to create openings for them to attack.

    The explosion caused an updraft that lifted the undead from the ground, taking away their mobility. Quy shot all the darkness spells she had prepared against one of them, leaving the others to Friya.

    Unfortunately, the creature just Blinked behind Phloria¡¯s back, who only managed to avoid a fatal injury thanks to Full Guard and her Orichalcum armor. Friya activated her rapier¡¯s enchantments and went for the kill.

 Chapter 794 Ill Omen Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 794 Ill Omen Part 4</h4>

    The third undead snarled and Blinked as well, only to discover that aside from its coordinates, nothing had changed.

    ¡¯Master of space, jackass.¡¯ Friya thought while her weapon easily pierced through the enemy¡¯s tough skin and released a st of darkness magic. She had used one of her personal spells, Lock.

    Unlike normal dimensional magic, it didn¡¯t lock on spatial coordinates, but on energy signatures, allowing her to follow her mark and making Blink useless.

    The creature was stronger than the others, so even though it had suffered quite some damage it was still able to fight.

    Yet all Friya had to do was pump more mana into Dreadnought to release one energy st after another until the undead started to turn into ashes. Orion had enchanted the rapier so that it could emit all the six elements, even light, so to give his daughter the greatest versatility in battle.

    She could even use it to heal her allies or to stab and heal her target at the same time, so to more easily capture them alive.

    Phloria¡¯s failed attack gave Lith an idea. He Blinked away, to buy himself enough time to weave a simple spell. Then, when the Wraith was upon him again, Lith shed at the creature so fast that all of its body became immaterial at once.

    Lith smirked as a tier two vortex erupted from his left hand, sucking in the smoke while it shot upwards, quickly reaching above the treetops. The remaining sunlight was weak, but more than enough to make short work of the still ethereal undead.

    The ck smoke was set aze and an inhuman scream of pain apanied its demise.

    ¡¯Now, where is that ghoul?¡¯ He thought.

    Now that two of her opponents were gone, Phloria could finally focus on the offense. Her conjured tower shield blocked all the iing attacks and limited the enemy¡¯s field of vision while her estoc was getting closer to its target at every exchange.

    Her left hand was free to cast the hand signs for one Mage Knight spell after the other, coordinating sword and magic to pressure her enemy as if it was fighting two against one.

    The undead shot a ray of concentred darkness magic at point-nk range, exploiting its superior speed, but the shield stopped the spell with ease while the estoc almost took away the undead¡¯s life.

    Its instincts warned the creature to not let the de touch it. While dodging the lunge, the undead stepped on a small wisp of light that exploded with enough power to st away its foot.

    The creature stumbled, creating an opening that only someone blind, dumb, and deaf could miss. The undead cursed the human and quickly formed the hand signs for a Blink. Unfortunately, its right hand touched another small wisp of light.

    The resulting detonation wasn¡¯t enough to kill, but it maimed the hand, making the spell fail, and blinded the creature long enough for Fang to find its mark. The estoc pierced through the undead¡¯s chest, releasing all the kic energy umted with each swing and block Phloria had performed.

    The effect of the hit was akin to being run over by a speeding train. The creature exploded due to the force of the impact and turned into shreds.

    "What was that?" Friya asked, referring to the odd spell her sister had used to seal her opponent¡¯s movements. It wasn¡¯t a dimensional spell nor anything she had ever seen before.

    It was Phloria¡¯s personal tier five Mage Knight spell, st Field. It used air and fire magic to create andpress dozens of fireballs, making each one of them not bigger than a firefly while even enhancing their destructive power.

    They would scatter all around Phloria and remain stable until someone touched them. In case of need, she could even trigger them all at once, causing a chain reaction that would serve as a perfect means of offense and defense thanks to her own mana being harmless to her.

    "There¡¯s still one enemy around!" Phloria replied. Even in the heat of the battle, she had counted the death throes, so she was aware of the missing ghoul.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith thought, hoping her mana sense would aplish what his Life Vision was failing at.

    ¡¯It must have run away after itspanions started to fall like flies.¡¯ She replied.

    Quy used the protection her group granted her to cast an Undead Sensing array, which came out negative as well.

    "We¡¯re alone, but since the sun is setting, it won¡¯t be for long." She said.

    "Way ahead of you." Friya opened a Warp Steps that brought them directly back at the hotel¡¯s reception, where she had left one of her Warp Stones, allowing her to cover the distance with only one spell.

    "This is an awful mess. Our vacation is as good as ruined!" Friya whined during dinner. She had reported everything to the local authorities before going back to her room and prepare for the evening.

    "I guess Lady Ernas is right. Someone here really is bad luck." Kam chuckled, poking at Lith with her elbow.

    She knew how that particr rumor about him irked her boyfriend, but it was an in-joke between them linked to the first mission they had taken together. So it made himugh as well.

    She had reached Javvok soon after their return and after taking a quick shower with Lith, they had joined the others for dinner.

    "Please, don¡¯t call Mom ¡¯Lady Ernas¡¯." Quy said. "Jirni is fine. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s here to reproach you, and hearing someone calling Mom by her title always sounds weird."

    It didn¡¯t take long to bring Kam up to speed since there wasn¡¯t much to tell except for all the oddities they had encountered.

    "It doesn¡¯t make sense." Friya said. "Parasite nts capable of possessing monsters that took down a good piece of the forest and a bunch of wandering undead, all in the same ce.

    "To make things even odder, the undead seemed to belong to different species while they are usually very territorial and don¡¯t mingle unless their interests align."

    "Do not forget how famished they were and how tattered their clothes." Lith pointed out. "With an entire forest at hand, I wonder why they let themselves be reduced in such a poor state."

    "How odd indeed." Kam nodded and then became absorbed in her meal. She could only hope that Lith wouldn¡¯t notice her distress.

    "That¡¯s your ¡¯I know something but I can¡¯t tell you¡¯ face." He said crushing her hopes. Even though her job required from her nerves of steel and an unbreakable poker face, Kam was used to lowering her guard outside office hours.

    Especially with Lith. Even more after he had shared so much with her and he continued to open up to her little by little. Being honest with each other was something that she was too happy about to even consider lying to him.

    "Yes, I do. Be right back." She took her army amulet and went into a corner of the restaurant to call Jirni. Even from a distance and with the Hush spell preventing them from hearing her voice, they recognized her hologram at first nce.

    Kam returned to the table, cing the magical device in the middle before making sure that there was no one beside them inside its area of effect.

 Chapter 795 Pay the Piper Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 795 Pay the Piper Part 1</h4>

    "Don¡¯t you think that once the waiters notice that our lively table has suddenly got quiet, they might try to eavesdrop on us?" Lith¡¯s paranoia knocked directly into sixth gear.

    "You would be right if that was a Silencer, but it¡¯s a Scrambler. It converts our words into boring small talk, like how was the weather or if you¡¯re liking your food." Kam replied, piquing Lith¡¯s interest.

    Adding words to his Hush spell was a child¡¯s y. Making them have a shred of sense was very hard since it depended on the ce and context. He tried to examine the device, but Kam pped his hand away.

    "Move it now and our voices will sound as if we¡¯ve brain damage." She said.

    "Sorry, I had to ask Lady- I mean Jirni¡¯s approval because of the confidential nature of the information.

    "I didn¡¯t mean to hide anything from you, but there are some things in my line of work I can¡¯t talk about, just like you do." Kam took Lith¡¯s hand, looking him in the eyes to show him her sincerity.

    "Please, brace yourself and remember that nothing I¡¯m about to say has to ever be discussed in the presence of witnesses." She then looked at each one of the Ernas in turn, to let them understand how serious she was.

    Once they all had nodded, she took a deep breath before speaking. Kam herself had a hard time epting the truth she was about to share.

    "As you probably know, the Garlen continent where we live is not the only one on Mogar. The other continents our Kingdom has been historically more involved with are the Jiera on the west and the Verendi on the south."

    There were actually more, but that wasn¡¯t a geography lesson. Those were the only two continents close enough to Garlen to represent a threat. Or at least they were in the past, before Silverwing¡¯s legacy and the development of tier five magic had made dimensional magic reality and naval warfare obsolete.

    Dimensional magic made sending reinforcements so fast that any invasion was bound to fail before an army could evennd while War Mages could conjure such destruction from a safe distance that any ship would sink without a chance to retaliate.

    "Well, let¡¯s just say that now all the three great Countries are busy making ns to safely colonize Jiera without messing with each other. Too much, at least. Sabotage, fake information, are to be expected, no matter how well diplomacy works..."

    "Hold that thought!" Friya had dropped her fork in surprise, staining her clothes for a second or two before the Skinwalker armor destroyed the traces of sauce with a controlled pulse of darkness magic.

    "What do you mean safely?" She had already connected the dots, but the thought of the image that would appear was too horrifying.

    Kam took another deep breath before saying:

    "The human race has disappeared from the Jiera continent. It has be a literal no man¡¯snd." She took a pause, to let the news sink. The thought that more than half a billion people were no more plunged the table into a shocked silence.

    "Seconds, please." Or at least most of it. Lith couldn¡¯t care less about people he didn¡¯t know. His only worry was to eat to his heart content and put all the money he was wasting in the luxury hotel bill to good use.

    "Seriously?" Kam looked at him disapprovingly while the waiter took away the empty dish recing it with a new one. Being honest was one thing, being tactless was another.

    "Seriously. Believe it or not, murder attempts on my person make me work quite an appetite." Lith said. Kam was about to rebuke him but a quick peck on her mouth caused her enough embarrassment to defuse her anger.

    "That¡¯s terrible, but I still don¡¯t see how this is relevant to our vacation." Friya said.

    "Don¡¯t you see?" Quy had be pale as a ghost. "No humans means no food. The undead of the Jiera continent are mass migrating to our continent to survive. That¡¯s why the undead spoke gibberish. It wasn¡¯t a deadnguage but a foreign one!"

    "Nailed it in one." Kam said. "Actually, they are migrating everywhere, even to the Verendi continent. It¡¯s not just your vacation that¡¯s affected, it¡¯s happening in all the three Great countries.

    "Only some of them have received asylum from the Undead Courts while most of the others are desperately looking for a ce to live and, more importantly, a stable source of food.

    "Local undead are far from weing since neers not only might cause a monster hunt, but there also are too many of them to not upset the bnce. Each human settlement in the Kingdom risks doubling its undead poption."

    Back when Fenagar, the Leviathan Guardian, had informed Leegaain of the effects that the man-made gue had inflicted upon his continent, he had done so to warn Leegaain not only about the living, of which Milea had taken care of, but also about the dead.

    The bored Lich had resurfaced and threatened the Gorgon Empire because he couldn¡¯t miss the opportunity that having an undead army at his disposal presented. At least not when it came knocking on her door without her having to do nothing more than feeding them and point them to a target.

    "This exins everything." Phloria pondered. "They were probably recovering from a battle with other undead and they couldn¡¯t feed properly upon the forest without giving away their position. What about the nts?"

    Even though it was quite unsettling, that piece of news didn¡¯t help to understand the bugbear issue.

    "I have no clue about that." Kam shrugged. "I could ask around, but that would mean getting involved. All the news about Jiera is a state secret, to prevent panic to spread among the poption."

    "Is that because of the undead or because of what caused the extinction of the humans?" Lith asked, almost certain to already know the answer.

    "Both. ording to our ambassadors in the Empire, it was some sort of gue. The undead aren¡¯t the only concern, there is also the possibility that they carried something infected with them to use it as a deterrent."

    "Like the one from Kandria?" Lith didn¡¯t like gues. He was immune to them thanks to Invigoration, but they still threatened life as he knew it.

    "Worse. Kandria¡¯s gue was developed with the aim to conquer, so it didn¡¯t kill fast and the area was quarantined quickly. This one was designed as a weapon of mass destruction and was released on arge scale."

    "Wait, ambassadors and not spies?" Quy had no clue how the Empire could know so much, even less about why they willingly shared such information.

    "Yes. The Empress warned us on time and even provided us with the cure. Otherwise our colonization n wouldn¡¯t have even started, nor would we be in such friendly terms for sharing Jiera.

    "Don¡¯t ask me why she did it. She¡¯s either the kindest or the shrewdest person alive."

    Both Kam¡¯s hypotheses were wrong. The gue was of magical nature, so no vine could be synthesized, only a cure. If the gue spread without her neighbors knowing about its existence, every single traveler would be a ticking bomb.

    Moreover, to n her invasion of Jiera, she needed a cure. Leegaain had epted to help her, but only at the condition that it would be shared.

 Chapter 796 Pay the Piper Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 796 Pay the Piper Part 2</h4>

    Melia had promptly epted.

    Not only because she had many friends in all the three great Countries, but also for her own survival. If the Kingdom and the Desert disappeared, undead and Abominations from two entire continents would have only one source of food.

    The Gorgon Empire. Her empire.

    She already had her te full dealing with the Lich¡¯s army, the rogue hybrid Abominations, and the minions of the Master raiding the Empire¡¯s crystal mines for resources. She knew that she would never manage to deal with all the Undead Courts by herself.

    Not without Leegaain direct intervention, but he had already given her an ultimatum. Milea had not been chosen by the Father of all Dragons as his apprentice for her strength, nor her talent, but for her wisdom.

    It allowed her to handle all the power the Guardian bestowed upon her without getting drunk on it.

    Kam clicked on the holographic pad of her army amulet, showing to the Healers in the group the spell for the cure. What looked like just a bunch of gibberish to ayman, was actually a description of how the Jiera¡¯s gue worked and how to counter it.

    Each magic word and sign was amand with a specific effect, just like a line of code while programming a software. An expert Healer could never be fooled into using a harmful spell, because they knew what every one of their actions would cause.

    "Good gods." Quy blurted out. "This thing is real. Thanks for showing us, Kam."

    "It was the least I could do. If the undead you met really came from the Jiera continent, then there is a risk of infection. Now enough with work, please. This is my free time and I would like to enjoy it instead of worrying. Do we have ns?"

    They already had dessert, yet no one but Lith had appreciated its taste.

    "Bad news aside, our day has been pretty light and we¡¯ve already rested a bit." Friya said. "I was thinking about touring Javvok on foot. Maybe visiting the market. Do you guys feel like it or are you too tired?"

    "Of course we¡¯re up for some evening shopping!" The motion was unanimously approved, making Lith almost choke on hisst spoonful.

    Shopping was his nemesis. It implied walking for hours, looking at goods he didn¡¯t care for, giving opinions that would be required but not listened to, andstly spending money.

    He was about to make up an excuse to avoid the impending torture when his eyes fell on Kam. She was beaming with joy, not for the shopping, but at the idea of spending some time together.

    Between Kh, his research, and all of his plotting, it had been too long since thest time they had done something together outside the bedroom. So he smiled her back and sucked it up.

    unlike the cities in the north who followed the rising and setting of the sun, Javvok was sleepless. The shops were still open and the streets bustling with people. Luckily for Lith, the market proved to be interesting even for him.

    The stores weren¡¯t grouped up based on their products, so he could find a magical shop right beside a bags shop. He and Solus checked everywhere, hoping to find some forgotten artifact among themon goods, but with no luck.

    Bookstores, instead, were a nice surprise. He found some old runes dictionaries for Wardens that had likely been throw away from an academy due to being obsolete and even a few books with a faint magical aura.

    The former would help him with updating the spells from Huryole¡¯s Forgemastering booklet, while thetter was a gamble he could afford.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t leave Kam alone. Pay her some attention, dammit!¡¯ Solus scolded him.

    Lith had been so engrossed in his findings that even though they were just a few meters away, it was like they were on differents. Lith inwardly scolded himself as well and followed Solus advice.

    Kam¡¯s mood improved even more when instead of monosybic words he started to use a proper phrasing to express his opinions and soon, while browsing through the store, she started to unburden herself with him about her day.

    She had dreamed all her life bing a Royal Constable, yet now she was second-guessing her career choice. It wasn¡¯t the long hours or the heavy responsibilities that troubled her so much as all the horrible things she had to witness on a daily basis.

    As a handler and a data analyst, she was used to reading reports about the most heinous crimes, but seeing them with her own eyes, having to deal with the human-faced monsters whomitted them was eating at her.

    There was nothing Lith could do about it, nor she was asking for him to fix her problems. It was her life and her choice to make. Kam just wanted to share her worries with someone who was able to understand her without worrying about being judged or pitied.

    Lith listened to her and expressed hispassion from time to time, while also noticing how different was the approach to shopping the members of the group had.

    While Friya and Phloria would just buy whatever caught their eye, Quy and Kam would mostly window shopping, always looking at the price before putting most of the goods back on the shelves.

    But while for Quy one of her sisters would quickly buy them for her and ignore Quy¡¯sints about not needing or really wanting them, Kam had bought only a small handbag and a shirt.

    Their price was insignificant even by Lith¡¯s standard, leaving him bbergasted.

    "Stop making that face." She giggled.

    "Not all of us are born nobles and I¡¯ve yet to repay the medical loan for Zinya¡¯s operation. Luckily, your Skinwalker armor mimics the clothes I store within it as if they are brand new, because I¡¯ll be stuck with second-hand goods until I manage to save enough money in case of more rainy days."

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether to find more disheartening the fact that she could smile while saying such a thing or that he had never noticed until that moment that she always wore the same things.

    He inwardly cursed and followed Friya¡¯s lead, backtracking Kam¡¯s picks and buying them for her. He had enough of that attitude when he was back on Earth and his brother Carl had to watch every penny they spent until he had got his first job after graduating from college.

    "Stop it! That¡¯s a lot of stuff and I don¡¯t need your money." Kam felt guilty for having mindlessly spoken about her money issues. It made her feel like a beggar.

    "I know. I¡¯m not buying them because you asked me to, but only because they would look good on you and as your boyfriend, I¡¯ve got the right to get you a present from time to time." He replied.

    "But, the money..."

    "I might be stingy, but all of this stuff costs way less than a single one of my failed experiments." Lith cut her short, making the merchant¡¯s eyes shine like stars at the idea of having caught a whale.

    Kam opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. She had lived for so long relying only on herself that asking for help was hard, but epting someone¡¯s kindness was even harder.

    "Thank you." She said while hugging him. She wasn¡¯t big on public disys of affection but this time she couldn¡¯t stop herself.

 Chapter 797 The Root of the Problem Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 797 The Root of the Problem Part 1</h4>

    After the shopping spree, they went for a romantic night walk in one of Javvok¡¯s many parks. Or at least it was romantic for Kam and Lith, whereas for three single women, being surrounded by lovebirds was cringe-inducing.

    Despite thete hour, there were lots of young couples, making the three Ernas mages regret their choice.

    They had yet to finish visiting the park when suddenly something that resembled a Warp Gate but wasn¡¯t one appeared on a nearby tree.

    Lyta the Dryade out of it, extending her arms towards Quy.

    "Quy, sweetie. You¡¯re really ying hard to get." She said while closing in to her mark.

    "Good gods! Help me, Phloria." Quy promptly hid behind her sister¡¯s wide back.

    Phloria remembered well how flirty Dryads were from her days at the academy, especially that particr Dryad.

    "What do you want from her..." Phloria attempted to ask before Lyta threw her arms around Phloria¡¯s neck and kissed her.

    Lyta managed to give a good squeeze on her butt before Phloria recovered from the surprise and managed to push her away.

    "Dryads are very assertive and swing both ways." Quy said after moving behind Friya, just to stay safe.

    "You don¡¯t say." Friya sneered, watching Lyta¡¯s every move.

    They were all so surprised that they almost failed to notice Professor Duke Marth emerging from the dimensional corridor as well. He was a man in his mid-forties, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with thick blonde hair.

    Aside from his goatee, his face was perfectly shaven, giving him a calm and youthful appearance. Yet his tense expression and the heavy bags under his eyes told them that he wasn¡¯t there for a courtesy visit.

    "Why the heck isn¡¯t yourmunication amulet avable, Mage Ernas? I¡¯ve been trying to reach you for hours." Marth said.

    "Because I¡¯m on vacation and I¡¯m not supposed to return to the academy before another week." Quy replied while noticing that Lyta was now looking at Lith.

    "Hi, handsome. Long time no see."

    "Hands off the merchandise, sister." Kam stood between them, not liking what she saw one bit.

    Lyta¡¯s big red eyes sparkled in the park¡¯s magical light like masterfully cut rubies. Everything in her visage was perfect, from her delicate features to her full lips.

    She had waist-long silky hair, red like maple leaves during autumn, that gave her a wild and unrestrained allure. She was wearing what looked like a skin-tight cocktail dress made out of leaves that left little to the imagination about her soft and full curves.

    The only thing that betrayed her non-human nature was her light green skin.

    "You¡¯re really pretty, sister. I don¡¯t mind sharing." Lyta replied.

    "But I do." Kam¡¯s voice was stone cold.

    "Enough with your tomfoolery, Lyta." Marth said. "We really don¡¯t have time for this. I apologize for her behavior, but without her, I wouldn¡¯t have managed to find you in time."

    "Wait. So you¡¯re looking for Quy, not me?" Lith asked, half relieved and half worried. He was really starting to believe that he was bad luck.

    "Yes. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse us..."

    "You are not going anywhere with my sister without a proper exnation." Phloria towered over Marth with a threatening look. Ever since she had been suspended from duty, everything in her life had gone south.

    Getting harassed by a Dryad only made things worse. She could use beating someone, even Headmaster Marth, to relieve her stress.

    Marth had no desire to argue in front of all the people that had gathered to witness at the scene, so he just nodded and pointed at the Gate.

    "Please, follow us. We¡¯ll speak in private."

    Once they stepped through the dimensional corridor, they found themselves inside the living room of what looked like a cozy cottage. Everything from the walls to the furniture was made of wood, while carpets and curtains were made of leaves.

    Despite their simple looks, every single piece was heavily enchanted.

    It was different from the magic that Lith was used to imbue. Rather than being Forgemastered individually, to Solus¡¯s mana sense, it appeared as if the house had a powerful pseudo core that somehow was shared with everything else inside.

    Marth invited them to seat around the big oval table at the center of the room and a wave of Lyta¡¯s hand made the table bloom seven sprouts that turned into wooden cups. A second flick of her wrist filled them with what smelled like a strong tea with honey.

    "Where are we, exactly?" Quy asked.

    "I wish I knew." Marth sighed. "We might be inside the Blood Desert for all I know. What¡¯s important is that I need your help Quy."

    Lith stood up abruptly, looking out of one of the windows. The street was perfectly light, but the stone pavement had been clearly realized with earth magic. There were no bricks nor stones, it seemed like it had been carved out of a single massive piece of rock.

    The light came from thin but tall trees that grew on the sides of the road, whose branches bore fruits glowing like torches. Every house Lith could see, even the one they were in, was actually a veryrge tree.

    Some of them were even several stories tall, with so many floors and windows to make him wonder if their owner was filthy rich by nt standards of if they were inhabited by several people.

    ¡¯Solus, I have a feeling we¡¯re not in Kansas anymore.¡¯ He thought.

    Everything heid his eyes on was enchanted like the cottage, making his Life Vision incapable to see past their walls.

    "My help with what?" Quy asked.

    "You are the fourth best diagnostician in the Kingdom, but the second best when ites down to bloodwork and magical nt physiology." The cream of the crop in that specific field was Marth himself.

    "I guess that Field Assistant Yehval has already brought you up to speed about our undead issue, correct?" Everyone nodded in reply.

    "Good. It will make exining our current predicament easier since the root of our problem stems from that. Pun not intended. I¡¯ll skip the usual ¡¯this is a matter of state¡¯ speech and go straight to the point.

    "We¡¯re currently inside one of the city-states of the nt kingdom. They are scattered throughout Mogar and are independent from each other. The only things I know about this ce are that it¡¯s called Laruel, that the city is located somewhere on the Garlen continent, and that it¡¯s experiencing a civil war."

    "I don¡¯t see how any of that is of any relevance for the Kingdom or connected with the undead migration." Phloria was eager to get out of there.

    "First of all, you must understand that despite the fact that they look like us, nt folks have apletely different approach to both life and morality. They are used to feed on everything, even their own kin, and their reproduction cycle doesn¡¯t involve parenting.

    "Even once they be sentient, things like friendship, filial love, and family are meaningless words, only strength matters. The ruler of each city-state doesn¡¯t get elected, nor the position gets inherited.

    "The ruler changes every time a stronger individual appears and manages to seize power. Its current leader, Leannan the Titania, has long since established a friendly rtionship with the Kingdom, whereas her current rival, Erlik the Draugr Treant, wants to turn Laruel into a safe haven for his fellow undead.

 Chapter 798 The Root of the Problem Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 798 The Root of the Problem Part 2</h4>

    "None of the three great Countries can allow the Undead Courts to have such a stable foothold. Not with the current migration of undead both boosting their numbers and resources.

    "If Erlik gets his hands on the nts¡¯ Gatework, he will achieve a high seat in the Courts, and in turn the Courts will be able to travel Garlen without restrictions, something that so far we managed to prevent."

    "Draugr Treant?" Quy said. "I thought that nts couldn¡¯t be turned into undead."

    "That¡¯s only part of the truth." Lyta said. "Unlike you fleshlings, our bond with life is so strong that undeath can¡¯t reach us unless we wish so. For the same reason, those of us who choose to give up on life are scorned and expelled from our society.

    "Yet ourw only applies to those too weak to face its enforcers. By defeating Leannan¡¯s constables, Erlik has gained the right to defy herw and challenge her rule."

    An eerie silence fell in the room. The rumors about the Lich ravaging the Empire were already bad. No one had any idea how the Empress managed to hold her own alone against such an ancient and powerful being, nor they wanted the phenomenon to spread.

    Undead iming thend of the living would mean having all races being raised as cattle to feed an ever-growing horde of living corpses.

    "Okay, the situation is dire, but I don¡¯t understand why you are here instead of the army or the Spellbreakers, Headmaster Marth, nor how Quy can help you." Lith said.

    "She¡¯s working hard to learn tier five magic, but she¡¯s far from being a Battle Mage. Not to mention that you shouldn¡¯t even be aware of this."

    "Lith, even though the oue of Laruel¡¯s internal strife will affect the Kingdom, the city isn¡¯t part of it. We don¡¯t meddle with other states¡¯ affairs, nor we can afford wasting manpower while dealing with the invasion of undead and preparing to colonize Jiera." Marth exined.

    "I¡¯m not here as a fighter, but as a Healer. As Lyta has just told you, nts value strength above all. If Leannan needed the help of humans to keep her throne, her subjects would deem her as weak as unworthy, giving Erlik the victory by default.

    "This is an all-out war and Erlik is abiding by the nt folk code of honor just enough to not lose his right of conquest. In other words, he¡¯s bending the rules as much as he can.

    "Erlik knows that he can¡¯t beat Leannan¡¯s army, since only nts can take part in the conflict and undead nts are too few to win the battle. So, he devised a way to grow the numbers of his followers without breaking the rules.

    "He has engineered Jiera¡¯s gue so that it now affects only nts, but it doesn¡¯t kill them, it just partially turns them into undead. Yet since innocent citizens are being turned against their will, Leannan could ask the three great Countries for help.

    "Not against Erlik, but against the disease. Due to their extraordinary regenerative abilities, nt folks usually don¡¯t need Healers, so they know little about light magic. The Kingdom sent me here because I¡¯m both a Healer and a Spellbreaker.

    "If necessary, I can covertly help Leannan and defend myself in case Erlik ys dirty. Moreover, I need Quy¡¯s help because she¡¯s the most brilliant mind of her generation and, unlike you, she knows very well nt folks¡¯ biology."

    "I¡¯m ttered by your offer, Headmaster, but why me?" Quy asked. "Professor Manohar is the most brilliant mind of this century and even though he knows nothing about nt folks, you could easily bring him up to speed..."

    Quy suddenly realized that maybe Manohar was already there. Maybe the legendary god of healing had finally hit a wall he wasn¡¯t able to ovee.

    "You¡¯re right." Marth sighed. "Gods, I hate that man so much. Here¡¯s what happened..."

    ***

    White Griffon Academy¡¯s forest, two weeks before.

    Tired of Manohar¡¯s unreliability, the Queen had the Royal Forgemasters create an ankle bracelet for him. It couldn¡¯t be removed without Marth¡¯s external help and also prevented the Mad Professor from using dimensional and flight magic, making it impossible for him to escape again.

    Just to be on the safe side, it also contained a locator spell that allowed the Royals to always know his position. Manohar had thrown more than a tantrum against such unfair treatment, saying that the artifact vited his civil rights.

    Only showing him the list of his crimes for which he was still on parole managed to shut him up. Manohar had been forced to perform his duty as a Professor and as a Healer, even doing rounds with the students.

    Life had be much easier for Marth, who could finally sit back and rx. At least until the problem with the undead horde reached the academy first and the news of Laruel¡¯s problemter.

    Then everything went back being a nightmare. The stress from his duties as Headmaster, Spellbreaker, and one of the Royal Healers, made him forget about his scheduled appointment with Leannan.

    So, when the dimensional corridor opened in his office, the academy registered it as a perimeter breach and sounded the rm. Both Emperor Beasts and nt folks living in the forest were authorized to use dimensional magic, but not inside the academy.

    The members of the staff adept atbat used their Professor rings to Warp on the scene, and s, Manohar was among them. He would have usually ignored the call, but anything was better than paperwork.

    When Manohar stepped through the Steps, he saw Leannan staring menacingly at Marth, her court on the other side of the Gate, and an opportunity.

    "You guys deal with the old hag! I¡¯ll block her reinforcements." He said while jumping on the other side of the Gate and finding only a bbergasted blonde Dryad, Ryssa, waiting for him.

    "Dammit, woman. Where¡¯s your invading army?" He rebuked her. Manohar¡¯s n had been to act heroically and then pretend to be captured by the enemy as a cover story for his imminent escape.

    "What army? It¡¯s a diplomatic mission." Ryssa showed him her empty hands in a sign of peace and so did the member of the court.

    "Oh, that." A light ofprehension shone behind his eyes as all the pieces of the puzzle fell into ce. "Well, the good news is that this means that the academy is safe. The even better news is that what happens now is all Marth¡¯s fault."

    The ankle bracelet was just like a Ballot. It needed the academy as a power source to work. Even with the dimensional tunnel still open, the arrays from Laruel interfered with those of the academy, making it easy for Manohar to deactivate it.

    He wasn¡¯t a Forgemaster, but there was little he couldn¡¯t do when he put his mind to it

    Manohar gave Ryssa the ankle bracelet along with a psychological evaluation that certified Manohar as clinically insane and hence not responsible for his own actions. Then, he had flown away and no one had seen him ever since.

    ***

    Free Country of Xarion, City of Laruel, now.

    "How bad is the situation?" Phloria asked. She had never counted on Manohar. The man clearly had his own agenda and had never shown interest in the matters of the state unless they aligned with his ns.

 Chapter 799 Manohars Wife Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 799 Manohar¡°s Wife Part 1</h4>

    "Very bad. Erlik¡¯s army grows by the day and the city is akin to a warzone. If not for the fact that all living quarters are heavily enchanted, there would have been countless casualties among civilians." Marth said.

    Yet Quy noticed that he seemed to have gained weight, his face wasn¡¯t deadly pale as usual, and even the grey streaks that he had recently gotten on his hair due to stress was returning to their natural color.

    "Are you done with your guests, baby? I¡¯m tired of waiting." Ryssa walked out of the bedroom, sitting on Marth¡¯sp while putting her arms around his neck.

    She had wheat-blond straight hair, wearing what seemed a light cotton white nightgown, leaving only her delicate shoulders and arms exposed. Her figure was slenderer than Lyta¡¯s but not less attractive.

    Marth swallowed a lump of saliva in embarrassment. That wasn¡¯t like he wanted to be remembered by his students and colleagues.

    Duke Marth had never had an easy life ever since taking care of Manohar had be his full-time job. First when the god of healing was still a student and then when Manohar had be his peer.

    Cleaning up his messes and keeping his shenanigans under control was something that only a few people were able to do. Even if it was an unpleasant job, Marth was the best at it, so the Royals had dumped the Mad Professor on him.

    Manohar managed to escape from time to time, but that was the price the pay to keep him alive and with all of his limbs intact. On top of that, no woman who had ever met Manohar, especially when he barged in Marth¡¯s quarters uninvited, which happened quite often and at all hours, had ever been willing to repeat the experience.

    Marth had remained a bachelor despite his fame and riches because of it. No noble family wanted to share the table with a man whose best friend put potions in the drinks to use guests as test subjects on a regr basis.

    The Headmaster¡¯s reputation was so poor that in the academic circles he was referred to as "Manohar¡¯s wife".

    Back when Linjos was still alive, at least they shared the burden and the responsibility, but after Marth¡¯s predecessor passing away, everything now rested on his shoulders, to the point that he had been forced to abandon his magical researchpletely.

    Being back on the field, away from all of his duties as Headmaster, and not having to worry about Manohar anymore, was the closest thing to a vacation he had experienced in over twenty years.

    So when Ryssa had made her move on him, the Headmaster didn¡¯t think twice before epting. It was finally time for Marth to experience the springtime of his youth after entrusting the title of Headmaster to Vastor.

    Now, he was one of the most powerful and influential men in the entire Griffon Kingdom. Vastor had coveted the position of Headmaster for a long time, yet now that he had achieved it, he was cursing the gods for fulfilling his wish.

    Supervising the search for Manohar, taking care of all paperwork for the Academy, supervising the light magic department, all while keeping the students of the White Griffon safe from both internal and external threats was driving him to the grave.

    The normally round Professor didn¡¯t sleep more than one hour per night, had lost several kilograms, and the number of his wrinkles had doubled since Manohar had left him in charge.

    "Curse you, Linjos!" He would scream in the middle of the night. "You always made it look so easy. If Marth doesn¡¯t get back soon, either the Queen or the stress will kill me!"

    Meanwhile, in Laurel, Marth tried to make Ryssa stand up and failed miserably, having to endure the chuckles of his students.

    "I see that you¡¯ve taken to heart to create deep bonds between the Kingdom and Laruel." Lith said. "But I¡¯d still like for you to exin how creating such disease can help Erlik¡¯s cause.

    "Undead, alive, or in-between, its victims should retain their personality. Hence both the infected and the still healthy nt folks should resent him."

    "You might be strong, but you really are stupid." Ryssa didn¡¯t like someone ruining her fun. "How many times do we have to tell you that our kin values strength above everything? Do you have any idea how hard it is to evolve?

    "So many of us, especially among our weakest, have spent decades to improve our strength, yet we failed to turn into Fae." Just like magical beast evolved into Emperor Beasts once they Awakened, nt folks became Fae.

    "Undeath is against all we believe in, yet it gives you the opportunity to grow stronger simply by eating. Not having to constantly train just to keep yourself alive, not having to worry about dying before achieving anything, has a great allure even to us.

    "The problem is that, most of those who be partially turned into undead, be so drunk in their newfound powers and abilities that they ask Erlik toplete the process of their own volition.

    "Erlik didn¡¯t spread the undead gue to kill Leannan¡¯s followers, but to corrupt them. Our leader needs your help not only to preserve her seat, but also because if Laruel falls, more city-states might follow." Ryssa said.

    "Thest thing we need while facing an undead migration is to have even more undead." Marth said to highlight the Kingdom¡¯s interest in the matter.

    "And they sent you because whatever this is, it uses the bloodstream as a means to spread the disease." Quy was aware that nt folks¡¯ real bodies had no internal organs. Their resemnce to the human race was merely appearance.

    "Exactly." Marth said while trying to stop Ryssa from cuddling him in front of the others.

    Quy then told Marth about the nts infesting the bugbears and the damage they had caused to the Rothar caves.

    "Damn, things are even worse than I thought." Marth replied. "What you are describing might be another strain of Erlik¡¯s gue. nt folks are few in number and not all those he infects fall for his bait.

    "He must be trying to use monsters as test subjects to try and turn the members of other races into undead nts as well. If my hypothesis is correct and his experiment seeds, conquering the other city-states will be child¡¯s y."

    Every one of those present cursed at their bad luck. They were supposed to be on vacation, but with all that was at stake, refusing to help might have led to terrible consequences.

    They all remembered the fear Kandria¡¯s gue had struck in the hearts of all the citizens of the Kingdom, how a good chunk of its region had be a mass grave. This time is was even worse because while the previous gue was mindless like all diseases, the threat at hand would spawn creatures that would hunt down humans, no matter where they hid.

    It was a gue capable of moving along with the refugees, of using dimensional magic and of nning ahead.

    "I¡¯m sorry, girls, but I¡¯m not going to continue the vacation with you. Headmaster, you can count on me." Quy could easily guess that her parents¡¯ workload had already increased just because of the undead migration.

    If Erlik¡¯s n seeded, they would the creaturesing from the Jiera continent would finally have a safe haven from where n their attack. It was something she wasn¡¯t willing to allow.

 Chapter 800 Manohars Wife Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 800 Manohar¡°s Wife Part 2</h4>

    Moreover, if the Undead Courts became able to freely move throughout Garlen, they would ovee their biggest limitation that until that moment had prevented them from being a real threat to the living.

    Most undead couldn¡¯t move during the day and some couldn¡¯t even leave their deathce for long. The Kingdom¡¯s Gate system security made it impossible for them to use it without getting discovered and establishing one of their own was impossible to them.

    Undeath made them lousy Forgemasters due to the inability to properly channeling the light element. Creating a Gate, carving it with runes, and infusing it with a spell powerful enough to bend space through hundreds of kilometers of distance was more than any of them could do.

    Their only hope was to get their hands on a pre-existing one.

    After hearing Quy¡¯s answer Marth inwardly sighed in relief. He couldn¡¯t order her anything and when he had tried to contact Jirni, she had refused to tell him about her daughter¡¯s whereabouts.

    "Quy has just returned from the living nightmare Kh was and she has yet to fully recover from her trauma of being the victim of a ve ring. She has already sacrificed plenty enough for the Kingdom.

    "I will not allow you to bring her to a warzone." Had been Jirni¡¯s parting words with Marth and her tone had left no space for discussion, not if Marth liked his head where it was.

    "Is there anything we can do to help?" Phloria asked. "With all due respect, Headmaster, I can¡¯t entrust my sister¡¯s safety to a bunch of strangers. Especially when they are a bunch of weirdos."

    "If it is of any constion, we are not here alone. Both the Blood Desert and the Gorgon Empire have sent their best Healers to find a cure as soon as possible." Marth said. "The research teams have details from both our respective countries and Laruel. So far, things have gone smoothly."

    "Yeah, but that¡¯s only because you¡¯re nowhere near finding a cure." Friya said. "Otherwise you wouldn¡¯t risk asking for Quy¡¯s help. Only once you get a hold of the problem will the real fight begin. I¡¯m with Phloria on this.

    "It wouldn¡¯t be a vacation spending my time worried for Quy every second of the day anyway."

    Lith inwardly cursed and after asking to use the bathroom, he set up all of the necessary protections to make a call. He was eager to inform the Council about it and ask them to move their asses. Unfortunately, all of his amulets were dead.

    Laruel¡¯s arrays prevented any form ofmunication with the outside to prevent the city from being discovered. Lith returned to his seat, incapable of making his mind. On one hand, he didn¡¯t want to leave his friends alone, on the other hand, he was sick and tired of that kind of bullshit.

    "You don¡¯t have to worry about me. Do what you think is right." Kam took his hand, mistaking Lith¡¯s silence for guilt because he was about to go away again.

    "This is bigger than you and me. I¡¯m not really okay with you spending so much time with your ex, nor staying in a city full of..." She didn¡¯t mean to be rude for their hosts, so all Kam could do was pointing her finger at Ryssa who kept caressing Marth uncaring for the presence of guests.

    "But if this situation gets out of hand, it wouldn¡¯t be just a problem for the big cities anymore. Any psycho coulde and go at will, even to Lutia. No one would be safe, no matter where they live."

    Lith silently nodded. This time even escaping to the Empire or the Desert was pointless. For once the Griffon Kingdom wasn¡¯t at fault and the problem was too big to leave it in the hands of a bunch of strangers.

    "Thanks, babe." He said. "When do we start?"

    "Now it¡¯s toote. I¡¯ll have Lyta bring you back to Javvok and pick you up at the same spot at dawn tomorrow. By then your amodations should be ready." Before meeting them, Marth had no idea they were all together hence he had only prepared a room for Quy.

    To host so many people, they had to change location to a bigger tree. Magical or not, to grow them took time and they could use all the help they could get.

    Back to the Golden Dragon hotel, everyone went straight to their amulets. The girls had to speak with their parents, Kam with hermanding officers, and Lith with Athung.

    The problem would involve mostly the human civilization since beasts didn¡¯t have cities of their own, or so he thought, hence dealing with it was a matter for the human Council.

    Athung picked up almost immediately, curious to learn why one of the hottest topics in the Awakenedmunity needed her help. After Faluel the Hydra had verbally kicked Raagu¡¯s ass, the human Council and the beast Council were at odds for theck of respect that the Hydra had shown.

    "This is all old news." Athung said once Lith had finished ranting. "The Council doesn¡¯t bother with human¡¯s affairs. We have nothing to gain nor to be afraid of. Quite the contrary. Jiera has been a stroke of luck for its Awakened.

    "Now all the resources belong to them, they managed to put their hands on most the magical legacies of the fake mages, and what¡¯s amazing, is that they can finally live in the open.

    "The only inhabited cities are now popted either by Awakened or beasts. We consider it a great opportunity to see if having a country of our own can work and how we can get along with non-Awakened beasts.

    "We are even considering to im Jiera for ourselves if everything goes well."

    "You knew about the gue and you didn¡¯t do anything about it?" Lith was bbergasted, that was a level of douchebaggery beyond even him.

    "Of course we knew, and so did the Guardians. Humans aren¡¯t children that you can guide by the hand, we have tried and failed countless times. Sure, we could kill the King and those who had researched the gue, but what about the other states?

    "They were researching magical weapons of their own as well. If we killed everyone involved in that kind of research, the void of power would have triggered wars that would havested decades and exposed our existence.

    "Why should we risk our lives, our safety, for people who would burn us at the stake or experiment on us like rats to steal our secrets? We Awakened may be assholes, but at least we have rules and we abide by them.

    "Humans, instead, are greedy for power and never think about the consequences of their actions.

    "They made their choice and paid for it. We can only hope that the Garlen continent will learn from their mistakes. The local Guardian did everything he could. You can¡¯t stop an idea with violence, only try to prove it wrong and that¡¯s what he did together with the other Guardians.

    "They warned the humans, but they didn¡¯t listen. The Guardians even caused a small outbreak before the gue was unleashed, hoping that humans would realize the immense risks such a madness carried.

    "They buried their dead and moved on as if nothing had happened. For the greater good, they said. For once, they were right. To us Awakened it was a great deal of good." Athung smirked.

 Chapter 801 A New Field Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 801 A New Field Part 1</h4>

    "If you want, I can propose a motion to help Laruel to the Council..."

    "No, thanks anyway." Lith recognized a failure when he saw one. The motion was bound to be a dud and he would be indebted to Athung for trying. Moreover, the idea of a country where he would have no secrets to hide was beyond alluring.

    Lith then contacted Faluel as well, but her reply was equally lukewarm. The downfall of humanity in Jiera had benefitted the beasts even more than it did the Awakened. The gue only affected humans, so now Jiera belonged to nt folk and magical beasts.

    "We don¡¯t fear the undead, no matter their numbers." Her interest in the matter was so little that only one of her heads was looking at Lith. Half of the remaining heads were asleep while the other half was working on three different projects.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Lesser dragons my pale ass if she can work on seven different subjects at the same time. Why my beast part is not a Hydra?¡¯

    "That¡¯s because unlike humans, beasts know about Awakening and Emperor Beasts take good care of their turf. I can ughter an entire branch of any Court on my own in a matter of minutes and so can my peers.

    "Humans are scared of undead for two reasons only. First, due to their dull senses, humans can¡¯t feel undead approaching, nor recognize them when they disguise among the living. Second, they are too used to have an overwhelming advantage in numbers.

    "Despite the fact that they can live forever, undead are actually the race with the smaller poption, because most of the other races kill them on sight. The idea of having their numbers doubled is terrifying only for those who can¡¯t rely on their Awakened."

    "Why the Council of nts or of the undead don¡¯t do anything, then?" Lith asked.

    "Awakened undead have no ce in the Courts and despise them. There¡¯s also very few of them because Awakening an undead is much harder than a living being due to their blood core, so most of them are Liches or Awakened that turned to avoid death.

    "Both kinds are very focused on their research and have very little interest in such trivial matters. As for the nts, Awakening doesn¡¯t change someone¡¯s nature, so they are still a bunch of psychos. I trust them even less than humans."

    After talking with both his contacts in the Council, Lith realized how small of an issue Laruel was in the eyes of such ancient and powerful beings. They were probably capable of ughtering Erlik and his army with a sneeze, it was just that they didn¡¯t care.

    The following day, after escorting Kam to Javvok¡¯s Gate, Lith and the others returned to Laruel. Professor Marth was waiting for them inside another treehouse, this one big enough to amodate all of them.

    "First of all, thanks for your help. Second, if you need to take anything out of your dimensional amulets, do it now. Laruel blocks all kinds of dimensional magic, amulets included."

    Lyta approached each one of them in turn, cing her hands above their storage items to allow them to retrieve their weapons and some potions. Solus used her mana sense to notice that just like what happened for the house, the Dryad wasn¡¯t employing her own powers.

    She was actually borrowing the same energy that was flowing through the tree, manipting it to temporarily bend the arrays surrounding them.

    Then, Lyta opened a Gate that led them directly to theirb. There were several tables made of solid stone, arranged at a safe distance from one another. Some were upied byplex machinery magical in nature, while others had tissue samples stored inside crystal cases and several magical items to study them.

    Even though it was barely past dawn, there were a lot of people at work, most of which were clearly foreigners. The people from the Blood Desert had brown skin and wore colorful clothes.

    Mages from the Empire were so pale that Lith wondered if they lived underground and wore clothes that even though resembled those from the Kingdom, they were made of a thicker fabric.

    Lith had never seen so many people with blonde and red hair in a single room before. Luckily, all the people in the Garlen continent, despite their many differences, spoke the samenguage, somunicating with each other was easy.

    Marth quickly greeted his colleagues before bringing his ex-students plus Phloria to the closest table above which the crystal cases were orderly arranged.

    After the events in Kh, just like Quy had decided to learn battle magic, Phloria had decided to follow Ranger Eari¡¯s example and learn at least tier four healing magic. Her problem was that she was just a beginner, still struggling even with sharing her stamina.

    Phloria looked at the tissue samples hoping that Marth would dumb it down enough for her to understand. So far, the problem didn¡¯t seem something that could be beaten with a sword, making her second-guessing her choice to be there.

    ¡¯Gods, I feel so useless. My career is slipping through my hands, I got attacked every time I left my home, and now I even have to pretend that I understand this stuff. I wonder if this week can get any worse.¡¯ She thought.

    "We¡¯re working on this for almost a month, so we¡¯ve already understood how the gue works. The only thing left to do is to formte a cure and then put it into practice." Marth took a crystal case containing what looked like a piece of bark the size of a napkin.

    The crystals were the only way to preserve the tissue samples without them disappearing like what normally happened to a piece of a nt folk once it was separated from its main body.

    "This is a fragment of the skin of a healthy Treantling." He gave it to Quy for examining it while teaching the others a tier one diagnostic spell that worked on nt folks since normal spells would have been of no use.

    "What the heck!" Phloria blurted out after examining the crystal, almost dropping it in surprise.

    Amon diagnostic spell would simply allow the Healer to identify what was wrong in the patient¡¯s body, but would provide no information about their anatomy. The spell that Marth had taught her, instead, had allowed Phloria to see even the single cells inside the bark as if she had used a powerful microscope.

    She had felt the life and the will inhabiting every single cell thatposed the bark. Unlike humans or beasts, every single part of a nt folk shared a fragment of their sentience. If detached, they would attempt to reunite with the main body or to rebuild it from scratch.

    Lith had no idea as well of how a Treantling body worked. Based on his previous experience with Lyta, he knew that a Dryad¡¯s only vital organ was the flower they had instead of a heart.

    As long as it was intact, their bodies could endlessly regenerate just by absorbing nutrients from the soil. The flower could also be willingly removed as an act of submission.

    The Dryad would have their power halved and their life would be in the hands of whoever held the flower.

 Chapter 802 A New Field Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 802 A New Field Part 2</h4>

    "My guess is that Treantlings have no vitals at all. If a piece gets separated from its main body for too long, it dies due to theck of nutrients while trying to regenerate its body." Lith said while passing the sample to Friya.

    "Great guess and almost correct." Marth nodded. "A Treantling only vital organ are their feet, where once the roots were. It¡¯s the only way they have to absorb their nourishment."

    Once they had all examined it, he gave them a second crystal. This one held a sample of the same size, but its color was much more vibrant, with the brown of the bark covered in bright green streaks that made it look like a precious gemstone.

    "This is a fragment of the skin of an infected Treantling, instead." Marth said.

    "Really?" Quy was once again the first to receive the sample. "Being an undead gue, I expected them to be rotting, gross, or at least show sign of..."

    It was her turn of almost dropping the crystal in surprise and only Marth¡¯s quick reflexes saved it.

    "Be careful. Appearances can be beautiful on the outside as much as they are ugly on the inside." He said.

    Only when it was his turn to examine the sample did Lith understand the meaning of the Professor¡¯s words. Each one of the green healthy cells had its cellulose walls surrounded by a second wall made of a grey substance that squirmed and twisted around them like a bundle of worms.

    The grey wall pierced both the cell walls and membrane, establishing a symbiotic rtionship with it. The undead tissue was somehow able to steal a little bit of Lith¡¯s vitality even through the crystal.

    The grey material fed the energy to the cells, making them grow stronger and multiply at an rming rate. Each new cell was immediately coated by tendrils of the grey substance and the process started anew.

    "We call it a gue only for simplicity¡¯s sake but the truth is much moreplex. This is not the work of a parasite, a fungus, or any microorganism we¡¯ve studied in the past.

    "The gue is actually made by undead tissues that somehow are capable of bonding with their host to create a symbiotic hybrid structure that can assimte both nutrients and life force.

    "It does no harm to its host, quite the contrary. The vibrant green streaks on the bark are due to the invigorating effect that the symbiote has on the living tissues, which allows them to reach their full potential.

    "The infected all develop outstanding physical and magical prowess, allowing them to best their healthy peers. To make matters worse, infected have no need to feed like an undead.

    "Sure, if the symbiote is not fed with life energy it preys on its host, but due to nt folk¡¯s innate regenerative abilities, it only needs they need to eat more. To make matters worse, when the infected feed upon life force instead of nutrients, it gives them an intoxicating feeling that in the long term bes addictive."

    "If the affliction isn¡¯t so bad why are we here?" Quy asked. "Honestly, I don¡¯t understand why they even want our help. As you describe it, it seems some kind of legendary blessing with no downsides.

    "If such a thing was possible, why no one ever did it before?"

    Her words made Marth shook his head, sighing in frustration.

    "What you say would be true for an individual, not amunity. First, if everyone has powers, then it¡¯s as if nobody has them. Second, undead abilities consume life energy that has to be replenished, forcing the infected to eat more.

    "There is no way for the soil to be able to sustain that kind of consumption, hence sooner orter it will cause a famine. Also, those who start feeding on their kin soon lose themselves to the feeding frenzy and kill their victims.

    "nt folks aren¡¯t murderers. Theyck empathy because thanks to their regenerative abilities, killing them with conventional means is really hard, but everyone dies if their life force is drained. There have been countless killings since the epidemic started.

    "Once the food starts to run out, no one could afford to remain neutral, turning a simple battle for power in an all-out war for survival that could spread outside Laruel¡¯s walls."

    "Do you have a cure already?" Lith asked.

    "Sadly, no. We have tried starving an infected patient, but they die along with the symbiote. Normal healing and darkness spells have no effect because the life force of the patients and the symbiote are linked.

    "We have achieved partial sess injecting small and constant amounts of darkness magic in an infected, resulting in aplete recovery. Unfortunately, it¡¯s not something we can use for everyone.

    "The process is slow and excruciating, plus the starvation almost made the patient go mad."

    "I need to see a patient." Lith said. "My abilities as a diagnostician are ill-suited for small samples andb analysis. My spells work at the best of their abilities when they are used on a full body."

    Marth nodded and called at their table one of his colleagues. It was a woman, wearing the uniform of the students of the White Griffon despite the fact that she was too old for that. No academy would take in as a student someone in their thirties.

    She was 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with shoulder-length raven ck hair and a lithe frame. Yet she moved slowly and clumsily as if she was afraid to destroy the expensive equipment simply by touching it.

    She was pretty, but her stern expression and cold blue eyes gave her an eerie aura. Lith didn¡¯t miss how she was working alone, nor that most researchers, even those from the White Griffon, seemed to be scared of her.

    "It¡¯s nice to meet you again, Scourge. Your strength grew remarkably since yourst visit." Her voice was warm, creating a deep contrast with her appearance.

    "Ka? What are you doing here?" Lith recognized her immediately from both her voice and smell.

    Ka nodded and gestured him to follow her.

    "I¡¯m the White Griffon¡¯s resident expert in necromancy and I¡¯m friends with Marth ever since Balkor¡¯s attack. Also, I¡¯ve a personal interest in this gue. If I could create its living equivalent, I could give Nyka a normal life until I find a proper cure for her condition."

    "Is this how they dragged you in this story?" Lith asked.

    "Not really. It was Lyta asking me for help and I epted only to avoid more senseless deaths. As you know, undead must feed on their own living kin to thrive. Feeding on another race barely gives them sustenance.

    "The reason why Queen Leannan called humans for help is that their life essence tastes disgusting to both Erlik¡¯s followers and the infected. Being partially undead, I¡¯m in charge of the interactions with the patients since they can¡¯t prey on my life force."

    "I¡¯ve heard that both the ruler of Laruel and the pretender are evolved nts. Are they Awakened?" Lith enveloped them in a Hush spell as soon as they were too far for the others to notice it.

    "No. Otherwise this would be a matter for the Council. Unfortunately, they are just born from Fae. It gives them great power and makes them desperate for more. They know about Awakening but have no idea how to achieve it."

 Chapter 803 Smokescreen Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 803 Smokescreen Part 1</h4>

    As Ka talked, her body constantly shifted from a normal appearance to a skeletal figure enveloped in living shadows, very simr to what happened in her Wraith form.

    "I didn¡¯t choose this form to be pleasant to the eye, nor to make friends." She exined once she noticed Lith¡¯s surprise. "It¡¯s just that being a giant bear makes it really hard to work with little things and I can¡¯t use spirit magic in front of humans."

    "Have you discovered anything with Invigoration that we can use to develop a cure?" Lith asked.

    "Yes and no. You¡¯ll understand once you see one of the infected. Is Solus with you?"

    Lith showed her his right hand, where a stone ring was wrapped around the cloaking device Solus had forgemastered to hide her existence.

    "Excellent move. I couldn¡¯t even perceive her even from this close. Nice to meet you Solus. I hope one day you¡¯ll show our human form to me as well." Ka said.

    "Juste visit me once." Solus used air magic to speak to her friend. "I¡¯ve invited you to the tower more than once."

    "I know." She sighed. "My children always rebuke me for my long absences, but my research is too important. If not for the crisis at hand, I would have not left myb."

    "I would have never thought that you cared so much for the human world." Lith was surprised by Ka¡¯s words.

    "I don¡¯t. You are misunderstanding my words. Undead nts are much more dangerous than normal undead. No matter if they feed on regr humans or beasts, their victims always have the opportunity to call for help or to band together to better defend themselves.

    "In the case of undead feeding on nts, their victims are sitting ducks. Entire regions might be infested with undead and no one would notice until it is toote. Without the green, herbivores would starve and once they fall, everyone else will follow."

    The tree hosting thebs was bigger than the White Griffon hospital, forcing the two Awakened to take a walk to reach the stairs for the lower floors. Lith noticed immediately that the underground facility was made entirely of rock and enchanted with an earth blocking array.

    "Here we keep the patients that are willing to be cured, no matter the cost." Ka exined. "Rock to prevent them to feed on the nutrients of the soil and the array to stop them from escape with earth magic once starvation kicks in."

    Everything from the bare stone corridors to the thick metal doors made the ce look more like a prison rather than a hospital ward. Ka led Lith to one of the cells, showing him the enchanted padlock and the sequence of runes necessary to open it.

    Inside, there was a Treantling, a tree who had gained sentience. Lith had no idea if nt folks had a gender or if it was just a matter of how they choose to appear, but it looked like a male to him.

    Even though the Treantling was curled up in a corner of his cell, hugging his knees close to his chest, he was still over 1.5 meters (5¡¯) tall. His wooden limbs were as thin as a walking cane and the pile of leaves that covered the cell¡¯s floor once belonged to his now bald head.

    The bark of the Treantling was nothing like the sample Lith had seen upstairs. It was of a dull ck, creaking every time the nt folk moved. The creature¡¯s eyes were two ck holes lit by a fierce red light that proved how the hunger of the symbiote was consuming its host.

    The creature snarled at their entrance, yet he didn¡¯t move. Their stench was so disgusting that the Treantling was able to suppress his violent instincts.

    ¡¯This is interesting.¡¯ Solus thought. Metal doors and walls didn¡¯t impede her mystical senses, so she had taken a good look at all the inmates before sharing with Lith her findings.

    ¡¯Just as I expected, this Treantling has a blood core along with his mana core. Marth¡¯s therapy works because a weakened blood core can be easily destroyed by darkness magic but the resulting pain is inhumane.

    ¡¯Also, for such a method to work, the body must be so weakened that it can¡¯t supply the blood core with energy any more. I¡¯m afraid that not even all nt folks can survive this method, let alone humans.¡¯

    ¡¯You said this was interesting. So far the situation is just desperate.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Let me finish. Their situation ispletely different from the undead thrall we met in Othre. Count Xolver had a blood core that was near his mana core and they were both made out of his own energy.

    ¡¯The patients here, instead, have a blood core as well, but it doesn¡¯t show any sign of attempting to merge with the mana core. What¡¯s even more unsettling, is that the energy signature of the two cores doesn¡¯t match.

    ¡¯Quite the contrary. Each infected has their own energy signature, whereas the blood cores bear the same energy signature, as if they all belong to the same person.¡¯

    Lith used both Invigoration and the tier five spell Scanner on the Treantling to double-check Solus¡¯s findings.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ Lith¡¯s exams proved that she was right, except for one thing. ording to Scanner, there was no such thing as two Life Forces, only one.

    After closing the cell door and Hushing the zone, Lith shared with Ka everything he and Solus had found.

    "Interesting." Ka said. "My readings match yours, yet Solus¡¯s makes much more sense. During my time here, I used Invigoration to check both our patients and those who refuse to be cured.

    "No matter how much they feed, they never turned into proper undead but remained hybrids. The only ones who actually became undead are those who willingly joined Erlik¡¯s ranks."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but you¡¯ve lost me after ¡¯more sense¡¯." Lith admitted.

    "What I¡¯m trying to say, is that the gue is actually undead tissues that bond to their victims like a parasite and then spread to the rest of their bodies. The infected are not really undead.

    "They are simply invigorated by the parasite who shares with them both its strength and hunger. Hence no matter if they choose to feed like undead or not, the parasite can only grow up to a certain extent without killing their hosts.

    "They are not really hybrids so much as two different living beings almost fused together. We failed to realize it because whoever created this parasite engineered it so that the second life force would always be eclipsed by that of its host."

    "Does this knowledge help you in finding a cure?" Lith asked.

    "No, but it¡¯s a start. At least now I know why all of my experiments so far failed. It¡¯s because they were based on the wrong assumption that the undead matter was part of the patient, while it¡¯s actually a foreign organism."

    Ka sighed deeply and her whole figure turned to a shadowed skeleton for a split-second.

    "Poor Nyka. She really hoped to be able to remain awake during the day. Yet if my hypothesis is right, whoever created the gue didn¡¯t make it to create hybrids, but only to use it as a ruse to push the inhabitants of Laruel on Erlik¡¯s side."

    "And no hybrids mean that you can¡¯t apply it to your daughter." Lithpleted the phrase for her.

 Chapter 804 Smokescreen Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 804 Smokescreen Part 2</h4>

    "Exactly. Now our problem is how to share this information without revealing Solus¡¯s existence. I¡¯m here for over two weeks and I¡¯ve failed to make any breakthrough, like anybody else.

    "I can¡¯t take credit for the discovery simply because I wouldn¡¯t know how to exin it. What about you?" Ka asked.

    "I¡¯m already too famous and I¡¯m not even supposed to be here. They asked for Quy, not me. I have no usible excuse either nor do I want more fame. We¡¯ll have to lead the research group by the nose and make them stumble on the discovery."

    Ka nodded and guided him back upstairs. She pondered the revtion, in search of a way to share it or at least use it to find a cure.

    ***

    Erlik the Draugr Treant¡¯s Headquarters, now.

    Even though over a century had passed since Erlik had be a Draugr, he still hated his condition¡¯s guts. If not for the fact that he would have long been dead otherwise, he would have never epted to be turned.

    As all Draugr, he was a creature of greed. During the day he was forced to remain inside his burial ground to keep watch on his possessions even though both his body and mind were paralyzed by the presence of the sun.

    Even his minions were forced to speak to him through the heavy door of his apartments, such was Erlik¡¯s fear of someone robbing him afterying their eyes on his treasures.

    The greed of a Draugr didn¡¯t reflect only on their sleeping habit, but also on the way they fed. Draugr weren¡¯t content on sapping their victims¡¯ vitality, they also had to rob them of something they held precious.

    Erlik¡¯s room was filled with trinkets of his past victims, who he had devoured whole in his envy for all the things they had and were now denied to him. His new lodgings in Laruel were filled with the earth from his original burial ground in Jiera.

    Another part of his curse was his inability to get too far from it without his powers growing weak by the hour.

    "What¡¯s the status of our research on Bugbears, Gremlik?" He asked. During the day, even speaking required sheer willpower and a control over his blood core that it had taken Erlik decades to acquire.

    "Aplete failure, master." Replied the Grendel Dryad through the door. "Animals don¡¯t seem able to reach a symbiosis with your tissues. They don¡¯t obtain any power after being infected.

    "On the contrary, the stronger your tissues grow, the weaker the infected be, until their body gets ovee by your saplings and die."

    "What bes of the saplings?" Erlik¡¯s experiments were twofold. He wanted to check if the same method he meant to use for conquering the nt folk cities could be applied to the human¡¯s as well and if it could ovee the undead course of being sterile.

    He had no desire for offspring, but if he managed to artificially spawn even Treantlings who would share part of his abilities, they would make excellent pawns. Erlik wasn¡¯t content with Laruel.

    His real aim was to use the city as a stepping stone to a high seat in the Undead Courts and then use it to change their policy. Erlik had already lost a home due to the foolishness of humans and he wasn¡¯t willing to see it happen twice.

    Humans were just dumb beasts who needed to be tamed and he was willing to be the one putting them to the leash once and for all.

    "They die along with their host." Gremlik replied. "Some of the biggest specimens almost resembled you, but none of them managed to stabilize. There is something missing, but we have no idea of what."

    The problem was actually simple. Erlik had used light and darkness magic to fuse his tissues with Jiera¡¯s gue, making them capable of thriving even inside a foreign body.

    Undeath boosted their vitality while the gue gives them the ability to fuse with living beings, yet neither could change the fact that tissues alone couldn¡¯t create a real blood core.

    Once their host died, Erlik¡¯s monstrosity would follow due to the instability of its pseudo blood core and theck of nourishment. Unlike Abominations, who were able to feed on any kind of energy, undead were very picky eaters.

    Monsters or even humans provided to the Draugr such a poor meal that his saplings needed to feed on the local flora to survive. That was the reason why the Bugbear¡¯s cave Friya had found waspletely devoid of vegetation.

    "Dammit!" Erlik roared, yet even though he was beyond furious his body didn¡¯t move an inch. "I¡¯ve invested most of my riches in this research. If we fail to capture Laruel, I will be left with nothing.

    "No home, no status, and even more importantly, no money!" A Draugr stinginess was such thatpared to them, Lith was a spendthrift.

    "I have more bad news, sir." Gremlik stepped away from the door, just a split second before an inhuman roar made it tremble. Erlik was certain that the Grendel delivered him bad news only during the morning to be safe from his master¡¯s anger.

    And he was right.

    Erlik had a temper, but by the time the sun had set, he would have regained both his ability to move and his cool.

    "Another Awakened has arrived in Laruel today. We identified him thanks to the Night Court. He is willing to help Leannan as well, but the silver lining is that he is a human."

    Erlik finally had a goodugh after so much cussing. He envied Awakened above everything. They had power, unlimited stamina, and longevity. Erlik had never forgiven his parents, whoever they were, for abandoning him, nor the Awakened he had met when he was still alive for not sharing their secret with him.

    He was aware that stealing the secret of Awakening was out of the question, yet having the opportunity to kill not one, but two Awakened was too good to be true.

    ***

    Technology was an appendix of magic on Mogar and was used only by those in the field of state-of-the-art magical research. Hence only Quy knew how to use the Alchemical tools and Forgemastered devices to further scan the various crystal encased samples.

    To Friya and Phloria, all that pushing buttons and turning knobs made no sense. While everyone worked, moving from one instrument to another, they were just standing dumbly while waiting for instructions.

    It made them feel left out and reconsider their offer for help.

    "I think that Ka really looks good in her human form." Friya said, hoping to make some conversation to pass time.

    "What do you mean her human form?" Phloria asked, receiving a grunt of agreement from Quy who was studying all the samples at her disposal before reading the other Healers¡¯ findings about the disease.

    She wanted to face the problem with an open mind, without being influenced by their conclusions.

    "Seriously? You don¡¯t know? I mean, how many Ka that call Lith Scourge do you know?" Friya was shocked. She had always thought that after being together with her sister for that long, Lith would have opened up with her at least a bit.

    "Are you saying that woman is our Ka? The bear, I mean the Byk, I mean the Wight?" Phloria asked.

    "Yeah. Emperor Beasts can shapeshift into humans. Prot..." Only then did Friya remember that she was the only one to have witnessed to Lith¡¯s reunion with his old friend.

 Chapter 805 Empress Gambit Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 805 Empress¡° Gambit Part 1</h4>

    By that time, he and Phloria had long broken up, plus they hadn¡¯t talked to each other until Jirni¡¯sst birthday. Phloria had no way to know and Friya hadpletely forgotten that shapeshifting was supposed to be kept a secret.

    "Probably." Friya corrected herself in time.

    "Headmaster?" Quy asked.

    "Your sister is right." Marth said. "It¡¯s rare, but some Emperor Beasts can change their appearance. I asked for Ka¡¯s help because the White Griffoncks a Necromancy expert and even though she is young, she runs circles around even the Professors of the ck Griffon.

    "Everyone in this room knows, since itsmon knowledge among the upper echelons of all the three great Countries. But it¡¯s a major secret among the general poption, so keep it for yourself."

    Marth didn¡¯t like the idea of sharing state secrets with children, but Ka was still very clumsy, both physically and socially. It was only a matter of time before they found out anyway.

    ¡¯Neither Lith nor Friya were surprised. I must report to the Kingdom how deep the bond of those two with the Emperor Beasts is.¡¯ Marth thought. Humans with a good rtionship with beasts were even rarer than shapeshifters, or so he thought.

    All countries were looking for ambassadors capable of talking Emperor Beasts into sharing their secrets.

    "I need a drink." Phloria sunk into the nearest chair, quickly followed by Quy.

    Friya kept biting her tongue to not share Protector¡¯s secret in front of the Headmaster, nor tough about how simr her sisters¡¯ reaction was to her own.

    "Ka? Is that you?" Quy asked once the two Awakened returned.

    She had never talked much with the Wight, but she had cried a lot during Balkor¡¯s attack when she had thought that both Ka and Protector had died to save the White Griffon students.

    "Who else could I be, little one?" Ka replied while making her flesh turn into darkness and revealing a glimpse of her human skull.

    "Dammit, Ka." Marth said in frustration. "Why do you keep doing that? I told you to keep your identity a secret for the good of both the Kingdom and your own. Most researchers refuse to work with you because you scare them with your shenanigans..."

    "They refuse to work with me because they are close-minded cowards." Ka¡¯s voice was calm and soft, yet echoed throughout theb, making more than one Healer flinch.

    "This is not a shenanigan." She pointed at the half of her body covered in darkness while the other half was still flesh and blood. "This is who I am, what a Wight would look like if they were born human instead that as a Byk.

    "I¡¯ve no reason to be ashamed of my origins nor I¡¯m here to coddle their prejudices about Mogar. If my presence is unwanted, I¡¯ll dly leave."

    "Well said. It¡¯s them who should be ashamed of their childish behavior." A strong, feminine voice said, apanied by the sound of pping hands.

    Milea Genys, the Magic Empress of the Gorgon Empire, stepped forward with her hand extended towards the Wight, who promptly shook it.

    She was a 1.75 meters (5¡¯ 9") tall woman, with long wavy honey-hued hair who looked like to be in her mid-twenties. She was wearing the ample deep-blue mage robe of the healers from the Empire, making her indistinguishable from her colleagues.

    Her blue eyes lingered on the anomaly a second longer than she would have liked, but curiosity got the better of her. Milea didn¡¯t expect to meet Lith in person so soon and had no idea how to introduce herself without sounding creepy.

    Ka had given her the perfect opportunity and she seized it.

    "On behalf of the Gorgon Empire, I apologize for my mages¡¯ rudeness. I¡¯m always looking forpetent allies, so if the Kingdom lets you down, my door will always be open."

    Milea was still the only Awakened the Empire could rely on. Unlike the Kingdom, Leegaain refused to produce fake Awakened and she had yet to find someone she trusted enough to share her gift.

    Thanks to her rtionship with the Dragon Guardian, Emperor Beasts had a favorable opinion of her, yet they refused to follow her political ambitions. She deeply longed for someone capable of understanding her burden.

    Power and istion didn¡¯t corrupt her, but they were still eating at her from the inside. The fact that the Council refused any contact with Milea, considering her to be nothing more than an appendix of Leegaain only worsened her loneliness.

    There was not a single Awakened member of all the races that didn¡¯t resent her for her luck. She was barely past her thirties, yet Milea already had a purple core and a mastery over all branches of magic that would take decades to obtain even to a genius.

    Over time, the gap between her and the centuries-old elders of the Council was only getting thinner, which made their resentment grow stronger.

    "My dear students, allow me to introduce you to Milea Genys, also known as the Magic Empress. Your highness, these are Friya, Quy, and Phloria Ernas. Also, this is Ka the Wight and Lith Verhen."

    The girls were so shocked that they needed Marth¡¯s help to stand up from their chairs. The woman in front of them looked barely older than them and yet was the ruler of one of the Kingdom¡¯s greatest rivals.

    If not for having met Faluel just a few days before, Lith would have been in the same situation, even though forpletely different reasons.

    ¡¯By my maker! This woman has the brightest purple core I have ever seen and her physical prowess matches Faluel¡¯s. On top of that, she is an Awakened with a monstrous mana flow.¡¯ Solus said, shaking in her mind-boots.

    "Are you here to help as well?" Lith asked while giving Milea a deep bow and avoiding her extended hand. Invigoration was the only thing that could spot Solus.

    "I thought you were too busy with the Lich."

    "I still am." Milea sighed. "I came just to check on the progress and to see if I can provide some insight. I was the one who found a cure to Jiera¡¯s gue and this undead outbreak is clearly just a variation of it."

    She had actually just helped Leegaain, but she had been forced to take all the credit since he demanded for his existence to be kept a secret.

    "It¡¯s not an undead outbreak, it was just staged to look like one." Ka said.

    Lith had told her that he didn¡¯t want to be credited with the discovery and it would give her the opportunity to humble all those jerks that giggled every time she broke something due to not being used to such a flimsy body. Two birds with one stone.

    Ka shared with those present Solus¡¯s analysis and her own theory about how the undead tissues worked. To exin everything, she just pretended that she had developed a powerful diagnostic spell.

    "This is an amazing piece of news, dear Ka." Milea¡¯s eyes sparkled like stars. "It gives us apletely safe route to save Laruel from this pinch."

    "Which is?" Ka asked, expressing the curiosity of everyone. Solus¡¯s discovery was important because it allowed the research team to realize their mistake and pointed them in the right direction, but at the same time, it made the matter much moreplicated.

 Chapter 806 Empress Gambit Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 806 Empress¡° Gambit Part 2</h4>

    There was no telling how to cure a sentient disease, nor a way to separate host and symbiote safely. Unlike Othre¡¯s situation, there was no vortex messing with the healers¡¯ mana, but the entity didn¡¯t reside in a specific part of their victim¡¯s body.

    It was so widely spread that removing it surgically like Manohar did with Thrud¡¯s meat puppets was impossible.

    "Isn¡¯t it obvious? The source of the disease is a nt, and undead or not, Fae don¡¯t leave a body behind. Hence, if we found the one whose tissues were used and kill them, all of our problems will be solved." Milea said.

    "Another possible option is to identify the undead who spawned the parasite. It will not only help us to narrow our search, but it could also help us in finding a way to neutralize the affliction.

    "Aside from Liches, all the undead have several weak points. This isn¡¯t a disease so much as a living being, which means that it must share the ws of its creator." Marth said.

    Such was the mix of embarrassment and enthusiasm in the room that no one stopped to wonder how odd the timing of Ka¡¯s discovery was. Milea had her suspicions, but she would not betray a fellow Awakened.

    She focused on making sure that even if the issue was lingering in someone¡¯s head, it would go unnoticed. She harshly reprimanded the Empire¡¯s research team and changed their leader as a punishment.

    The woman¡¯s skills were top-notch and Milea couldn¡¯t me her for missing the two different energy signatures since even Milea¡¯s own Invigoration had failed her. Yet the Empress demoted the team leader anyway because her short slightness could make the Empire lose precious allies in the future.

    "Dear Ka, the Empire would be honored to be the home of a talented individual like yourself. Humans, beasts, undead, or anything in-between, I give you my word that I don¡¯t discriminate." She said while stealing a nce at Lith to see if he had any reaction.

    Unfortunately for her, his poker face was carved out of stone.

    Ka gave her a polite bow.

    "I¡¯ll think about it. Does your invitation extend to my children as well?"

    "As long as they abide by ourws, yes."

    Their exchange made Marth shudder. Emperor Beasts like Faluel had been powerful assets of the Kingdom for centuries. Even though she was young, Ka had already proved to be resourceful.

    As Headmaster of the White Griffon, losing her to the enemy would be considered Marth¡¯s fault.

    "The same applies to you, Lady Ernas." Milea grabbed Phloria¡¯s hand before she could react, emphasizing the loss of her military title.

    "I¡¯ve heard of your troubles and I¡¯d be d to offer you a position in the Empire¡¯s military. Our soldiers don¡¯t risk to be victims of political ys because there are none."

    "Thanks, but no." Phloria replied without a second of hesitation. "My family has lived and served the Griffon Kingdom for generations. I¡¯m not going to betray my household and my country as an act of petty revenge."

    "As you wish." Milea didn¡¯t insist. The bait had been cast, now it was only a matter of waiting and seeing how appealing the Kingdom¡¯s foolishness would make it.

    "Ranger Verhen. I¡¯ve heard of your troubles with Runesmithing." Lith¡¯s poker face crumbled and so did Marth¡¯s patience. The Empress knowing about a conversation he had only had with Orion was beyond disturbing.

    "Are you here to help Laruel with the disease or to scout talents?" Marth stood between the Empress and his alumni.

    "I¡¯m here to protect the interests of the Gorgon Empire." She replied with a sly smile. "Now I¡¯m really sorry, but I have to go. That damn Lich has been spotted and I can¡¯t afford to miss this opportunity. I wish you the best of luck."

    Milea walked away, reproaching her research team onest time before disappearing through a Warp Gate she conjured out of nowhere.

    "Since when a dimensional mage can create a Gate?" Friya asked. It was her favorite specialization, yet she wasn¡¯t able to open a dimensional tunnel under normal circumstances, let alone bypassing all Laruel¡¯s array.

    "A dimensional mage can¡¯t, but the Empress can." Marth gritted his teeth in frustration, yet he didn¡¯t belittle the enemy¡¯s feat. Milea posed a great threat to the Kingdom, but at the same time, they had much to learn from her.

    In the Empire, there were already several cities where humans and beats coexisted peacefully. Even though Emperor Beasts weren¡¯t part of their regr army, they still willingly patrolled the Empire¡¯s borders and their wilds, sometimes even creating settlements.

    It was something that the Kingdom could only dream about since most of its citizens had a hard time considering even Hydras as more than huge animals.

    "You have much to do and I don¡¯t intend to slow you down." Ka moved toward theb¡¯s exit, gesturing Lith to follow her.

    "What do you mean?" Marth asked, finally understanding how Linjos must have felt every time the Queen threatened to behead him.

    The responsibilities that the role of Headmaster implied, especially after Balkor¡¯s attack had destroyed the hold that the ancient households had on the Academies, were overwhelming.

    After being rebuilt, both the Crystal and Earth Griffon had already changed several Headmasters due to their ipetence in dealing with their students or the Lords of the forest.

    The Queen didn¡¯t hesitate to rece anyone she found wanting and Marth felt like he was about to be one of them.

    Ka¡¯s voice was oozing with spite.

    "Rather than waste my time learning how to use all of these instruments, now that I have a solid lead, I mean to follow it. My spell will allow me to recognize the energy signature we are looking for, or at least to spot an undead that fits the bill.

    "I¡¯m not foolish enough to go alone. I need protection and Lith is the only one I trust among you." Ka wasn¡¯t really angry. She needed an excuse to bring him along since without Solus, she would be just taking a stroll.

    "If it¡¯s protection you need, I¡¯d be d to assist you." Phloria said. "I¡¯m afraid that my talents as a healer are not enough to be of help here."

    "Me too." Friya said. She hade to make sure that Quy was safe, but after seeing how sturdy the building was and recognizing some of the most famous mages from all the three great Countries, she was feeling utterly useless.

    Also, she couldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to tour a foreign city filled with nt folk marvels. Just because her vacation was ruined it didn¡¯t mean that she couldn¡¯t enjoy the beauty of Laruel.

    Until that day, the only nt folk she had ever met was Lyta.

    Ka looked at Lith for a second, waiting for his nod before replying.

    "Fine by me. Lyta, we need a guide." Ka said.

    "This is really a bad idea." The Dryad said.

    "You must understand that there are only two kinds of nt folk. Those like us Dryads, who love humans because we consider evolution as a path that leads all races toward the same destination, and those who hate humans and beasts alike because they still hold a grudge.

    "They still remember how it feels to be stepped over, to see your kin being ripped off the ground just to y a tune, or being treated as a disposable gift. It pains me to say that our cities are a dangerous ce."

 Chapter 807 Laruel Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 807 Laruel Part 1</h4>

    "You would be at risk of being attacked even without the current struggle for power, but as it is now, you might as well walk with a target on your back." Lyta said.

    "Between nt folk resenting humans, the infected starving due to the parasite, and Erlik¡¯s followers disguised among the crowd, being Leannan guests of honor might not be enough to ensure your safety."

    Lyta was many things, but rude to her friends wasn¡¯t one of them. She was politely trying to warn Ka that once again her nature could bring her a lot of trouble. Erlik was bound to consider her a traitor, whereas nt folks would only see her undead half and consider Ka either an enemy or a gue-spreader.

    "Thanks for your concern, but I¡¯ll take my chances." Ka reverted to her full Wight form.

    It was a mass of shadows as big as a small house, which kept shapeshifting until it resembled a bear. Its only distinctive features were its glowing red eyes and its massive skeleton that glimpsed from time to time underneath the ever-changing darknessposing Ka¡¯s body.

    "Where do you want to go?" Lyta asked, wondering why so many people only looked at her friend¡¯s eerie appearance and were incapable of seeing her loving character.

    Despite the fact that all Dryads had a stunning appearance, it wasn¡¯t a matter of them being vain, nor an attempt to please the humans¡¯ eye.

    Just like what happened for the first form Emperor Beasts learned to shapeshift into, when a flower evolved into a Dryad, they simply would take the physical appearance they envisioned themselves with.

    "I¡¯m not going to sightsee, so lead us to thest known position of Erlik¡¯s headquarters." Ka replied. "If the tissues that create the disease are made out of his body, it would be just perfect.

    "We¡¯ll even have a good reason to participate in the power struggle even though the nt folkw requires only for the citizen of the city-state to be able to take part in it."

    "But that would be dangerous!" Lyta said. "They have probably moved from thest raid, but if they see you, they¡¯ll try to take you down."

    "What¡¯s the point in me staying here? It¡¯s better if Erlik¡¯s followers find me, at least they will give me something to study." Ka replied with a wolfish smile. Ever since Lith and Solus had taught her light magic, her research to achieve Lichhood had progressed by leaps and bounds.

    Ka wasn¡¯t as skilled as Scarlett in the use of light magic, nor she could turn darkness into light at will, but she was slowly understanding how deep the bond between the two seemingly conflicting elements was.

    If she managed to capture a few undead, she would be able to study their blood cores without the act of ying god with their very life essence troubling her conscience. Ka was gentle, but not stupid.

    She had buried all her past opponents and once she resolved to kill someone, the how and how long would it take were just meaningless details.

    "Onest thing. Can we use dimensional magic inside Laruel?" Ka asked. In a city full of potential dangers, it would have been foolish to move without having a clear retreat path.

    "Technically, no. The arrays are set up so that only nt folks can use both the public transportation system and dimensional items. However, you are Leannan guests, and that grants you special privileges." Lyta gave to each one of them what looked like a small acorn.

    "Channel your mana through this focus and your spells will work as usual. Be careful, because even dimensional amulets are sealed to foreigners."

    The moment the two Awakened held their respective acorn, they could feel the power residing within with Invigoration. It wasn¡¯t a magical device, but a still living piece of something bigger.

    It had no mana core, yet both its life force and mana flow were visible.

    ¡¯Fucking great!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯This is the best bug one could possibly devise. Whoever spawned this seemingly harmless acorn, could be listening and watching whatever we are doing, maybe even scanning our mana.

    ¡¯On top of that, I can¡¯t store it inside my pocket dimension because I need the acorn to use my dimensional storage. It¡¯s a perfect catch 22!¡¯

    ¡¯Do you think it could sense me?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Unlikely, but I¡¯m not going to take risks.¡¯

    The group practiced a bit how to open and close dimensional doors through the acorns before leaving. Ka stored her own inside a small utility belt she wore around her neck.

    Then, Lyta opened a Gate leading to their destination and wished them good luck.

    Even though the Awakened were pissed off at the subtle attempt to spy on them, even if all the members of the group were tense at the idea of stepping inside the lion¡¯s den, the spectacle in front of their eyes was breath-taking.

    The sun was up from a few hours, but somehow there was still dew on the leaves of the tall trees that covered the sky above Laruel like a ceiling, preventing the city from being spotted by any flying onlooker.

    The dew reflected the sunlight so that even though the thick foliage made it impossible to look at the sky, the city was perfectly lit. The dew also created several small rainbows that moved along with the group¡¯s gazes, giving Laruel an appearance worthy of a fairy tale.

    Its buildings weren¡¯t carved or built, so much as grown, making each city block no different from a patch of trees. Some houses were close to each other, while others were afar as if whoever nted them had acted on a whim.

    Yet there was harmony and beauty at every corner. Laruel didn¡¯t feel like a city, so much as a natural treasure that extended as far as the eye could see. The fresh air was filled with long-forgotten scents that rejuvenated their lungs.

    The vibrant colors of the flowers that grew almost everywhere soothed their restless spirit and the vision of the magical inhabitants of the city, with their oddly shaped yet beautiful bodies almost made the group forget about the importance of their mission.

    Almost.

    Even Lith found it hard to not stop and smell the roses, but the fairy tale turned grim if one bothered to look past the surface of things. Several anomalies alerted his senses. Theck of all the characteristic smells of a city allowed him to perceive that something was wrong.

    Beneath the fragrant scent of flowers, the air reeked with decay. The buildings where Erlik and his followers had hidden were revealed by patches of withered green. The signs of the struggle that ensued after they had been found by Leannan¡¯s guards were still visible.

    Only the houses tainted by the touch of the undead had yet to recover whereas the rest of the neighborhood was in pristine condition.

    Solus scanned their surroundings, reassuring Lith that somehow, the living treehouses hadn¡¯t been affected by the blight, but the same couldn¡¯t be told about the citizens of Laruel.

    She identified several nt folks with a blood core and that made her think.

    "Ka, does reflected light count against undead?" Lith asked on Solus¡¯s behalf.

    "Yes. The massive amount of light energy it bears has negative effects on many species of undead. We already know that the infective tissues do not have an adverse reaction to sunlight.

 Chapter 808 Laruel Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 808 Laruel Part 2</h4>

    "Their victims retain their physical strength during the day, so we can already rule out all the undead that would be harmed by exposure to the sun. Sadly, it doesn¡¯t narrow the research enough.

    "Even if they belonged to an undead who is paralyzed during the day, we have no idea how Jiera¡¯s gue altered its metabolism. Maybe the tissues are still, but the organisms carrying them are not undead and allow the infection to spread even during the day." Ka said.

    "Then what are we doing here?" Friya asked. "Wouldn¡¯t be better to get back at night, when all kinds of undead can freely move around?"

    "We¡¯re doing research, child. If we find out that no undead matching the energy signature we are looking for is outside during the day, it means that they probably can¡¯t move.

    "Also, this is the perfect time to look for Erlik. Draugr can¡¯t move as long as the sun is up, no matter if it¡¯s covered by clouds or leaves. If we find him, he can¡¯t escape."

    "What makes you think that we can seed where even Leannan¡¯swork of spies and constables failed?" Phloria asked.

    "nts folks are too obsessed with power to mind the small details, while you humans are helpless without your toys. Us beasts are natural hunters, and hybrids like me have many aces up their sleeves." Ka grinned, winking at Lith, who would have loved to share her optimism.

    Sure, they had Life Vision, something that non-Awakened could only dream of, but the magical aura of the ce was overwhelming to the point that even Solus¡¯s mana sense was foggy at best.

    They needed to get really close to a treehouse to see past its shrouding and with all the sweet scents lingering in the air, Lith¡¯s nose was already jammed. Yet Ka was right. Among the nt folks, there were undead spying on them.

    ¡¯Sorry. I don¡¯t recognize their energy signature, which means none of them is the one who spawned the disease nor do they belong to the same undead kin.¡¯ Solus said.

    They had already put all the books about undead they had inside Soluspedia after their first squabble with the famished creatures in the Rothar forest, but that didn¡¯t allow Solus to recognize an unknown type of greater undead just by looking at their blood core.

    Lith had met very few undead in the past, like Liches, a banshee, and a couple of vampires. Whatever the things watching at them were, he had no clue what they were capable of.

    While Lith and Ka looked carefully around themselves, with their eyes glowing because of Life Vision, Phloria focused on the details of the scenery and the crowd, looking for anything out of ce.

    The first thing she noticed was that she wouldn¡¯t expect more hostility from the locals even if they were there to conquer the city rather than save it. She was wearing her acorn on her chest as if it was a badge, yet the res she received were spiteful at best.

    The second thing she noticed was the absence of children. It wasn¡¯t just that, except for those watching at the group from behind their windows and those loitering, the streets looked deserted.

    Phloria couldn¡¯t hear a child cry,ugh, or any noise rted to the presence of someone who wasn¡¯t an adult. She had studied nt folks at the academy, but she had never met many of them before.

    Treantlings were humanoids who looked like trees, with bark instead of skin, leaves instead of hair on their head, and both had different shades of colors just like it happened for human hair.

    Their height varied, but none of them was shorter than 2 meters (6¡¯7").

    Each one of them exhibited a different build and numbers of limbs. Some Treantlings were thin, with arms not thicker than a human¡¯s, while others were big enough that it was easy to mistake them for a real tree if they stayed still with their eyes closed.

    Most of them walked on two legs, but they were able to grow extra limbs whenever they needed, just to reabsorb them once they were no longer necessary.

    Thorns, the nt folks born from bushes, were nothing like the creatures she had met back in Kh. Some had a human appearance, like the vegetation that the gardener of her household trimmed to give it the semnce of a mythical creature or of a hero of the past.

    Others looked more like beasts, standing on all four and seemingly sniffing the air like hunting dogs. Their shape, size, and even color varied greatly from an individual to another, but she soon noticed that their form was merely dependant on their choice.

    Thorns could assume any appearance they wanted, as long as the final mass didn¡¯t exceed their own. They could actually grow as big as they wanted and obtain a greater strength, but doing that required them to spend huge amounts of stamina and mana.

    "Ka, why no one is attacking the undead? I thought that nt folks hated them." Friya asked while nodding at a few red-eyed creatures among more than one group of bystanders.

    "Because those are not undead." Ka said. "The red you see is the same that graces Phloria¡¯s hair. It¡¯s the sign of the blessing of the gods of magic. Not all nts have leaves, but all of them need eyes to see.

    "The red light of undeath is much colder than that and is only visible if the creature has no longer eyes, just like me."

    "Wait. Thorns, Dryads, and Treantlings all have leaves." Lith said. "What kind of nts are you talking about?"

    "Those who grow and live underground. You might not meet them often, even in the wilds, but here is different. Laruel is their city, so they are not afraid of mingling with their cousins." Ka pointed with her snout at a creature that at first nce looked like a mass of mold infesting a tree.

    Only when it moved did Lith realize it was actually a living mass of moss. It snarled at Ka¡¯s gesture, staring at her with its blue and yellow eyes. Ka returned the re, ring her eyes with mana to cover her use of Life Vision while looking at the nt folks.

    She identified several undead and discretely pointed them out to Lith, but he shook his head every time.

    "This is interesting." Ka said while they approached the almost withered tree-house that was Erlik¡¯sst known base of operations. "The rate of infected in the neighborhood is very low, whereas the number of undead is high.

    "My guess is that Erlik wanted to keep a low profile, so that his followers could feed and pin the me for their victims on the infected."

    Now that she knew how the gue worked, Ka could use her mystical and physical senses to recognize the infected nt folks without the need of a diagnostic spell.

    "Your kind has already done enough damage to our city." A Treantling said while standing in their path. Despite their huge size, they moved nimbly. The creature had covered dozens of meters with just a few steps.

    "We don¡¯t need nor want your help. Get out of here before we make you." It was speaking to Ka, but Lith stepped in front of her, facing the Treantling. It was way taller than Lith, almost 2.5 (8¡¯2") meters tall, with light brown bark and few yellow leaves with shades of ck.

 Chapter 809 Grendel Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 809 Grendel Part 1</h4>

    "Ka, my friend, you spoke too soon." Lith said with a smirk "Now this is what I call interesting. No one dared to stop us until we almost reached our destination. Either Erlik has gone insane or he is afraid that we might discover something.

    "Otherwise his goon would never bother us."

    Most of the bystanders nt folks who were grinning at the idea of turning the unwanted guests into fertilizer flinched at those words. Their amused expressions were reced by anger and suspicion as their gazes moved from the humans to Illum the Treantling.

    "Shameless mammal! You are the one who associates himself with an undead. How dare you use me of being one of them?" The Treantling¡¯s outrage and words were enough to shift the tide in his favor again.

    Illum tried to push Lith back, but the small human kept his rxed stance as if the steel beam thick arms of the Treantling were just a gentle spring rain hitting a mountain.

    "How? Easy enough. Your skin, bark, or whatever you call it, shows signs of withering and so do your leaves. Yet even famished infected disy an enhanced physique, hence you¡¯re not one of them.

    "Plus, you can¡¯t be an undead either. If you were one of them, it would take days of starvation to reduce you to such a state. With such a hunger, you wouldn¡¯t be able to restrain yourself in front of so much food. Do you know what does this mean?" Lith asked.

    "That you are using an innocent to cover your friend¡¯s ass!" A Thorn said. Judging from her forms and voice, she was supposed to be a female, or at least she wanted to appear as such.

    Her whole body was a mass of vines and foliage that resembled a woman as tall as Phloria, with blue hair and eyes. She was quivering in indignation, making her humanoid appearance falter from time to time.

    "He¡¯s probably a victim of some undead scum. They must have fed upon him just like they did on me and my siblings! Many of us died to sate your bellies." She pointed her finger at Ka.

    "And yet you perfectly recovered, like all nts folk do." Lith¡¯s voice was calm, he had dealt with more victims and angry mobs than he liked to. Yet it had taught him how to manipte their fury.

    "Of course I..." The Thorn stopped the moment she realized Lith¡¯s words. She ced one of her hands on the Treantling, making her vines seep under his bark.

    "You¡¯re right. He¡¯s not an undead nor an infected. Yet his life force is impure." She said while taking several steps back while her form shapeshifted into her battle form, resembling a green wave of barbed vines.

    "Of course it¡¯s impure. He¡¯s a thrall, and a powerful one at that." Lith said. "The only question is who sired him."

    A thrall was a living creature in the process of being turned into an undead. To make it happen, the sire had to feed upon the thrall and the thrall upon the sire. The exchange of life force allowed the blood core to form and slowly grow in power without it being rejected by the body while the mana core became weaker.

    At the end of the process, the mana core would be swallowed by the blood core, allowing the thrall to be an undead without losing any of their memories, since they would never bepletely dead.

    They would turn from living into undead. Lith had been able to recognize the Treantling for what he really was only thanks to Solus. Her mana sense allowed her to see the Treantling¡¯s twin cores that were just a few centimeters away from each other.

    They both had the same energy signature, which meant the creature wasn¡¯t an infected, just like the presence of the mana core was proof of the Treantling being alive.

    The Treantling¡¯s blood core filled to the brim with the energy of his sire was also proof that he wasn¡¯t just a pet, but a precious asset. Once again, Lith¡¯s Sherlock acting left his audience bbergasted, yet to not give away Solus¡¯s existence, he had to "reveal" his trick.

    "The next time, don¡¯t shove away a Healer. Most of our spells need physical contact to work, you know?" He said.

    The Treantling snarled at the crowd ready to lynch him, emitting sounds that no living being was supposed to. He shapeshifted his arm into a wooden spear as thick as a tree and as fast as an arrow, aiming at Lith¡¯s heart.

    If he dodged, the spear would impale the Wight that was currently blinded by her ownpanion, making the sucker punch a sure kill attack, the only variable was its victim.

    Or so Illum thought. Lith¡¯s left hand pushed the spear down so that it harmlessly sunk into the ground while his right hand formed a fist infused with darkness magic, hitting the paralyzed Treantling where his heart was supposed to be.

    The left side of Illum¡¯s body shattered as Lith¡¯s fist pierced through the wood and opened a hole so big that the thrall¡¯s left arm was now hanging by a tread. The creature yelped in pain and surprise.

    Not even his sire had ever hit him so hard. Yet even a damage of that entity was just a mere inconvenience for a nt folk. The stumpy legs of the Treantling sprouted roots that prated the soil, extracting all the nutrients he needed to mend his body.

    Countless small wood tendrils collected the shattered pieces from the ground and in the blink of an eye, it was as if nothing had happened. Much to Phloria¡¯s and Solus¡¯s surprise, Lith had remained still the entire time, yet they trusted him enough to not ask questions and yed along.

    "Do you care to exin howe you just healed such a big wound even though it was made with darkness magic without a scratch, yet your bark and leaves still look like you¡¯re about to die?" Lith asked.

    The Treantling ignored the human and focused on the other nt folks who were approaching him with a dangerous look on their faces. Lith remained still, checking the reaction of the undead who pretended to be bystanders.

    He didn¡¯t think that Erlik could have been so stupid to leave something important in his hideout, nor that Leannan¡¯s guards were so ipetent that they would miss any relevant clue after forcing their enemy to escape.

    Yet that unwarranted provocation had to be part of a bigger scheme. A thrall wouldn¡¯t move without their sire¡¯s permission, nor would they make such a clumsy attempt to kill them.

    It had to be a diversion. The question was: to cover what? After noticing the Treantling¡¯s attempt to rile up the crowd, Lith had decided to use it to his own advantage.

    If the undead wanted a diversion, they had got it, but he was free to mess up with whatever their n was. What he hadn¡¯t predicted was the savage fury that the nt folks demonstrated the moment they realized who their real enemy was.

    Treantlings, Dryads, Thorns, and even the moss creatures surrounded the thrall after shapeshifting into theirbat form. They ripped him apart so fast and with such fury that even though Illum¡¯s roots were still nted in the ground, his regenerative abilities weren¡¯t capable of keeping up with them.

    Yet no one stepped forward to help him.

 Chapter 810 Grendel Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 810 Grendel Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Either their n is so important that they can afford to sacrifice him or the undead know that such attacks can¡¯t kill the thrall.¡¯ Lith thought while taking his acorn out of the sealing box he had stored it into.

    Undead couldn¡¯t use dimensional magic inside Laruel, but thralls could and he had no idea if there were others in the crowd if not even disguised among the angry mob. What happened next took him by surprise.

    The thrall roared, emitting a pulse of darkness magic thatbined with the raw strength of his shapeshifting body was enough to ward off his attackers. The leaves and bark had disappeared, reced by a dirty brown thick fur that covered the entirety of what had been a Treantling just a second before.

    The creature in front of them had a round head, with feral eyes as big as a saucer. It had bright red irises and vertical pupils that looked at the crowd with a mix of hate and spite.

    Its maw was lipless and so big that it took all the lower half of his head. The mouth was filled with sharp, long fangs, each one about ten centimeters (4") long. All the damages the thrall had sustained were gone and his arms were now even more muscr than before, ending with razor-sharp ws.

    "By the Great Mother! The spawn of a Grendel is not something nt folks can take. If we get surrounded, prepare to run." Ka said while preparing for the fight. The thrall of a Grendel alone was already a tough opponent, but she was even more worried about what the other undead would do.

    The nt folks did their worst, but air, water, and earth magic just bounced harmlessly on the creature¡¯s fur, nor any of their attacks left so much as a scratch on him.

    The thrallughed his heart out and then began to literally mow down his opponents, cutting through wood, vines, and flesh as if they were just paper mache.

    "What¡¯s a Grendel?" Friya asked while unsheathing her weapon, quickly followed by Lith and Phloria.

    "A very rare and dangerous undead. They are nigh-invulnerable due to their iron skin. Neither magic nor des can usually harm them. Their only weaknesses are darkness magic and blunt weapons."

    "What¡¯s the catch?" Lith asked. Grendels were considered barely more than a myth and the information about them in the bestiaries stored inside Soluspedia was centuries old. He trusted Ka more than a collection of hearsay.

    Also, there had to be a reason he had never heard about them. If Grendels were that strong, they wouldn¡¯t have gone almost extinct.

    "They can¡¯t stand sunlight, can¡¯t use any magic outside of the darkness element, and they can¡¯t heal. A Grendel can only rece their wounded parts with healthy ones taken from their victims...." Ka¡¯s reply was cut short by the thrall appearing in front of Lith with lightning-fast movements.

    Even though Lith was already infused with all the elements, the creature was so quick that his ws managed to get past Lith¡¯s guard and aim at his heart. Ka had no time to warn them that Grendels made up for their magical shorings with a physical prowess that rivaled that of veteran Emperor Beasts.

    Yet the thing in front of them was just a thrall, not a real Grendel. The powerful blood core the Treantling¡¯s sire had gifted him with allowed Illum to borrow the form of a Grendel and some of its abilities, but that was it.

    Otherwise being out during the day would have been fatal for him, nor the Treantling would have healed so easily from Lith¡¯s previous attack. Lith sidestepped the lunge and struck at the extended arm after infusing Ruin with as much darkness magic as he could.

    The thick fur covering the arm sizzled and burned as the chaotic energies turned it pitch-ck, but neither the spell nor the de nicked the underlying flesh. The impact sent waves through the de and Lith¡¯s arms, making him feel as if he had struck a rock.

    ¡¯What the heck? If this is the durability of a thrall, how though is a real Grendel?¡¯ Lith thought while circling around the creature and forcing him to turn his back on the rest of the group.

    The thrall surprised Lith once again, simply ignoring him and continuing to charge forward. The creature extended his left arm toward Ka¡¯s head in another sudden attack.

    His ws pierced through the thinyer of darkness protecting her physical form, clutching her skull and ripping it off her spine before any of her allies could react.

    "This is going to leave a mark." The skull said while still trapped in the clutches of the thrall. The creature tried to get rid of the undying monster and throw the bear skull away, but it melted in his hand and revealed its real nature.

    While Lith stood in front of her, Ka had swapped ces with her own shadow, giving it shape and substance by manipting the darkness and light elements. What the creature had attacked was a huge mass of energy that had now marked him as its target.

    The thrall shrieked as the darkness element seeped into his arm, eating away both the Treantling and the blood core empowering him.

    ¡¯Wow. It¡¯s the first time that someone ignores me. Let¡¯s thank him properly.¡¯ Lith struck at the creature with his gravity infused de multiple times, making the thrall¡¯s weight increase tenfold each time Ruin hit its mark.

    Not even that managed to leave a scratch, but the sudden gravity variations threw the creature off bnce, making it impossible for him to dodge the dark mass shaped as Ka¡¯s body that was charging at him.

    The thrall was more than strong enough to escape from the gravity pull, but when he attempted to dodge the living projectile, Lith removed the extra weight. The sidestep was performed with too much momentum, so the Grendel crashed against the nearest tree-house, forcing him to a halt.

    The dark mass struck first, immediately followed by Phloria¡¯s and Friya¡¯s swords, both aimed at the open maw of the creature who was screaming due to the pain it felt. Darkness magic was corroding both the Treantling and the blood core fueling his transformation, greatly reducing the protection that the Grendel¡¯s life essence coursing through his body offered.

    The des only met soft tissues, piercing their way until they hit the skull and releasing their enchantments the moment they failed to prate the bone. The thrall started to spat out huge amounts of ck and green blood from the gaping wound in his mouth.

    A Treantling would have easily mended the damage, but the transformation did more than just enhancing his physical abilities. It also carried the curse of the Grendel, slowing his healing abilities so much that they were useless.

    "Revert to your nt form and I¡¯ll call back the darkness energy. You have a lot of exining to do." Ka said, triggering the reaction of a couple of undead hidden amid the crowd.

    They had been waiting the whole time for an opening, but neither Ka nor Lith had let them out of their sight, and with dimensional magic sealed, the undead¡¯s options were limited.

    Now their situation had just gotten from bad to worse. If Illum fell into enemy hands their master n would be ruined. The only thing they could do was either rescue him or make sure that he wouldn¡¯t talk.

 Chapter 811 Laruels Secret Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 811 Laruel¡°s Secret Part 1</h4>

    They were both undead Thorns, their bodies so vaguely shaped that they looked like green mannequins. Lith didn¡¯t recognize their energy signature, hence he had no idea of what kind of undead they were nor what kind of abilities they possessed.

    He Blinked behind their backs, cutting them in half with a single sh before setting them aze with the ck mes of his tier five spell, Setting Sun. The undead cussed out loud, revealing to be a male and a female.

    They unleashed respectively a Chasing Lightning and a powerful pulse of darkness magic.

    The first spell forced Lith on the defensive, while the other dispelled enough of the ck mes that by sacrificing their lower halves the undead managed to escape by burrowing through the ground.

    There was no way of dodging Chasing Lightning, Lith could only conjure a stone wall and block the spell. It took him just a second, yet it was more than enough to make it impossible for him to chase the two undead.

    Meanwhile, Illum was aware of the gravity of his situation, but no matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t manage to escape from the encirclement. Ka had generated several shadow-copies of herself that had Illumpletely surrounded.

    To make matters worse, they were all casting darkness spells non-stop, making it impossible to distinguish the copies from the original. Attacking the wrong Wight would have meant triggering the attack of another mass of darkness magic.

    Ka first attack was wearing down his transformation, his flesh was slowly turning back into bark as his brown fur withered and fell.

    Moreover, Phloria kept conjuring stone constructs that restricted both his field of vision and movements, allowing the Wight¡¯s spells to hit him with increasing frequency despite their slowness.

    Friya, instead, kept appearing in his blind spot, hitting him with pulses of darkness just to disappear the moment he turned around.

    ¡¯Dammit! This was supposed to be a simple job. The n was to blend in with the crowd and have the Awakened attacked by an angry mob, so that in the ensuing chaos we could easily kill them.

    ¡¯Master Gremlik sent me because not even Awakened are able to recognize a thrall from a normal living being, yet that bastard blew my cover in an instant. Time to get out of here.¡¯ Illum thought, gambling everything on the strength his sire had bestowed upon him.

    Even though as a nt folk Illum was capable of using dimensional magic, the Grendel form prevented him from casting spells. The fight had begun just a few seconds before, yet he had already witnessed how powerless his Treantling form was.

    His only chance to escape was to break through the enemy defenses, but he couldn¡¯t just run away. His reinforcements had just been defeated, so there wasn¡¯t much time left before Lith returned, forcing Illum to fight alone versus four.

    ¡¯I just need to injure one of them, it doesn¡¯t matter who. That way, I¡¯ll get rid of two enemies at once, since the healer will not be able to chase me as well. I¡¯m sure that I can beat even these monsters if we fight one on one.¡¯ Illum thought.

    Ka was hidden among her shadows, Friya always retreated behind the wall of Wights, so his choice fell on Phloria. The annoying woman had foiled all of his previous strategies by moving one of her stone shields in his path at the worst possible moment.

    The thrall charged at her while dodging Ka¡¯s darkness bullets too fast for even Friya¡¯s dimensional magic to lock on him. Phloria didn¡¯t flinch, simply raising the only tower shield she had kept for herself while preparing for her riposte.

    Normally, Illum would haveughed at her bravado, but he was aware that Mage Knights could express their full potential only in close quarters. With his life on the line, he forgot his pride as a nt folk and as a future ruler of the night, facing her like a peer instead of a bag of flesh full of nectar.

    Illum pushed his speed to the utmost limit, circling around the protection of the conjured shield to avoid surprises, just to discover that Phloria¡¯s skill allowed her to keep up with him.

    Cursing his bad luck, the thrall lunged forward with all of his might. His left arm easily pierced through the shield and the soft flesh it was protecting. Illum clenched his fist to crush her organs and to make sure that the injury would put her in critical condition.

    Yet the moment the attacknded, he found himself drowning in his own blood.

    His left arm was cut in half at the elbow level, and the other half was still wriggling out of his own back, whereas the human was unscathed. Phloria had hidden a dimensional door behind her tower shield so that when the enemy had been foolish enough to attempt a frontal assault, she was ready.

    A Grendel¡¯s ws were sharp enough to pierce a Grendel¡¯s skin, allowing her to turn the enemy strength into a weakness. Phloria had also dispelled the dimensional door the moment her shield had copsed, to not give the enemy the time to pull his arm back and try again.

    The bleeding stump and the hole in the chest of the thrall were too much for his already battered body. The shock from the massive damage taken and the darkness energy ravaging Illum¡¯s body killed him on the spot.

    "That was insane!" Friya couldn¡¯t believe her own eyes.

    She prided herself of being one of the few dimensional mages, a title belonging only to those who had stepped up a simple means of instant transportation into a battle technique, yet not even Friya would have dared to try such a thing.

    "Opening a dimensional door from so close it¡¯s too dangerous. Locking the coordinates of its entry and exit point takes time, plus you couldn¡¯t know the angle the attack woulde from. You could have gotten yourself ripped into shreds!"

    "You¡¯re only partially right." Phloria said while checking that there were no more enemies. "I would¡¯ve never managed to pull it off if I were fighting one on one, but I¡¯m a Mage Knight and I rarely battle alone.

    "The hardest thing was to not move from the spot, so that the entry point was always the same and I had only to adjust the exit point."

    Friya still had many things to say about the craziness of such a move and so did Lith. What Phloria had pulled off was more a matter of cold blood and timing rather than talent, things she had proven to have plenty.

    Yet it was a highly impractical technique that required for the mage to stay almost still and focus entirely on one target to the point of ignoring their surroundings. Lith was afraid that the rage from being suspended was affecting Phloria¡¯s mind.

    She had never been reckless, which made him worry.

    Neither of them had the time of saying anything because the nt folks that had been watching until that moment were now surrounding the corpse of the Treantling, which had reverted back to a young weeping willow.

    "Can you burn it?" Asked the Thorn woman who had defended the thrall before Lith exposed him.

    "Don¡¯t you want to bury him or something?" Phloria asked. Based on what she knew, nt folks would happily feast on their dead to assimte part of their essence and power.

 Chapter 812 Laruels Secret Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 812 Laruel¡°s Secret Part 2</h4>

    "He¡¯s a traitor of our race. He traded the gifts of life for those of death. His corpse has no ce in our sacred ground. Only fire can purify his remains and by turning him into ashes, his spirit will be cleansed of undeath and be able to start anew once he blooms again." A Treantling said.

    Friya snapped her fingers and the dried willow was soon turned into ashes and carried away by the wind. Once killed, a thrall would lose all the vigor that their blood core granted them and their body would revert to the shriveled state that constantly feeding their master inflicted upon them.

    "I must say, I would¡¯ve never expected for a human woman to be so strong and powerful. Watching you killing a filthy Grendel was... exciting." A male Dryad wearing nothing but a smile and sporting a six abs pack you could grate cheese on said while grabbing Phloria¡¯s hip.

    "I was hoping you could show me some more of your moves, if you have the time." The Dryad was beyond handsome and tall enough to look her in the eye. Yet Phloria just grabbed his wrist before he could go any further and just said:

    "Thanks, but no. I¡¯m on a mission and I¡¯ve no idea who I can trust. There could be another like him hidden among you."

    At her words, all nt folks looked at each other with eyes full of suspicion, at least until Lith patted each one of them pretending to be using a diagnostic spell.

    "You¡¯re all clean, there are no more thralls here. You can stop doubting each other and maybe you could help us." Lith said. "Have you noticed..."

    He was cut short when the female Thorn hugged him from behind, squeezing her full breasts against his back. Her form was now perfectlypressed, making her look just like a human woman with emerald skin and blonde hair.

    Every part of her body was soft and warm. Her touch was a sensual caress.

    "I don¡¯t feel too well. Probably it¡¯s because I¡¯ve partially merged with that scum. I think I need a more throughout examination." She said.

    "No, you don¡¯t." Lith replied while pushing her gently but firmly away. He was tired of those shenanigans.

    ¡¯Damn! nt folks are utterly insane, they really don¡¯t care about anything but power. One minute ago, she wanted to beat me up, now she wants to eat me up. I wouldn¡¯t trust them even if I was still single.¡¯ He thought.

    "We¡¯re looking for Erlik¡¯sst known headquarters." All the nt folks pointed at the most withered tree-house, just a few meters from them. Lith was relieved to notice that both the Dryad and the Thorn didn¡¯t seem angry for being rejected, just disappointed.

    "Have you noticed anything or anyone suspicious around here?" He asked, receiving so many answers at once that he had to interrogate them one at a time. It turned out that nt folks were paranoid enough to be in Lith¡¯s league.

    Not only did they point fingers at each other, but also to everyone living in the neighborhood.

    "Okay, forget about it. Do you have any idea why even the neighboring houses are partly withered?" Lith was repeating the questions that Ka was whispering in his ear with a spell.

    The enthusiasm for the battle had momentarily made the nt folk forget about her existence and she wanted to exploit the situation as long as she could. The moment they noticed her again, best-case scenario, the nt folks would refuse to help.

    Worst case scenario, Ka would have to fight again.

    "No clue, but we found it ominous as well and reported it to the guards. Yet not even them found a decent exnation." A male Thorn said. "We thought that it was due to some infected feeding upon them or because Erlik and his minions had poisoned the ground, but it¡¯s not the case.

    "As you¡¯ve pointed out, they should have recovered at this point. Even though houses aren¡¯t nt folks, they still possess quite powerful regenerative abilities. The undead have been put to flight days ago and the buildings checked for infected.

    "Everything turned out clear and yet..." He pointed at the fallen leaves and the ckened windows.

    If all the houses of the city block were blooming as if it was spring, Erlik¡¯s hideout seemed to have juste out of winter while the neighboring houses looked to be at the start of fall.

    "This makes me wonder, why Erlik didn¡¯t infect the tree-houses? They would make a powerful juggernaut." Friya asked, drawing the undesired attentions of both males and females creatures.

    "Laruel¡¯s buildings are not alive as you and I are." A female Thorn tried to hold Friya, but she dodged in time. "Theyck sentience and they¡¯ll never gain it. They are grown with the purpose of giving every one of us a ce to live.

    "They are just a means to an end, like your cattle."

    "Why do you say that they will never gain sentience? Laruel seems abundant in world energy and they are living beings. On top of that, their ability to respond to their owner¡¯s will makes them look almost sentient already." Friya dodged the strong arms of a Treantling as well.

    "That ¡¯almost¡¯ makes all the difference in the world. The tree-houses are just regr trees, but being nted in Laruel grants them special properties. What you mistook for intelligence is just the energy of the World Sapling coursing through them." Said the female Thorn who had hit on Lith.

    "World Sapling?" Lith asked.

    "The offspring of the World Tree, the first and most ancient among all nt folks. Not only are they alive, but they are also the only reason why our kingdom has peacefully existed for centuries.

    "World Saplings supply each city with enough magical power to allow everyday life and protect us from all intruders. They are the true ruler of our kingdom since each city is nothing but a manifestation of their power."

    "Now you¡¯ve lost me." Phloria was on the verge of starting to chop hands and heads if someone tried to grope or caress her again, but she could only grin and bear it. She could recognize the look in the nt folks¡¯ eyes.

    It was the same look that her suitors who were too desperate or drunk had while revealing things they shouldn¡¯t talk about just to try and impress her. The fight seemed to have sent them into a mating frenzy.

    Making them snap out of it would have probably meant that they would be hostile again.

    "If these World Saplings are so powerful, why do you even have a ruler? Why don¡¯t they stop Erlik?" She asked.

    "You humans call the World Saplings ¡¯nt Liches¡¯, but they are so much more. Such a powerful creature doesn¡¯t reason like a mere mortal. They choose a ce abundant in world energy as their home and then they focus entirely on the search for knowledge.

    "Like Liches, they be so engrossed in their magical research and their attempts to reach the next step of evolution to forget about everything else, but unlike the undead, they are alive and benevolent.

    "In exchange for knowledge and resources, they grant us their protection and bestow the elected ruler of each state-city a fraction of their power."

    "In exchange for knowledge?" Lith echoed.

    "Yes. We share with the World Sapling all our spells, magical research, literature, arts, everything. It¡¯s a small price to pay for a peaceful life."

 Chapter 813 Laruels Secret Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 813 Laruel¡°s Secret Part 3</h4>

    When a male Dryad tried to hit on Lith, his patience was on the verge of snapping and so was the Dryad¡¯s spine.

    Yet learning about the Sapling¡¯s existence sent a shiver down everyone¡¯s spine. Suddenly the situation had be much moreplicated. Lith and Ka shared a worried look, forcing her into action.

    "Thanks for your cooperation. Now if you¡¯ll excuse us, we have a job to do." Ka said as the small crowd of nt folks opened in front of the Wight as if she was carrying explosives on her back, freeing her humanpanions from their respective suitors.

    "Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?" Friya asked, patting Ka¡¯s head and appreciating its odd warmth.

    "Yes. If what the nt folks have told us is the truth, then this city itself is a priceless treasure. If Erlik bes its Sovereign and gains ess to the knowledge Laruel holds, traveling undead will be the least of the Kingdom¡¯s problems." Phloria felt the dire need of a shower and to leave Laruel as soon as possible, but abandoning her sister was out of the question.

    "Indeed. I wonder if Marth didn¡¯t mention the possibility because it¡¯s a secret or simply because even he is unaware of it." With the stakes getting higher, Lith inwardly cursed his inability to ovee Invigoration¡¯s limits.

    He had already asked Faluel how she could visualize life forces with her breathing technique instead of using the tier five spell Scanner, but the Hydra had refused to share her secrets.

    Friya shrugged, taking hermunication amulet out of her dimensional amulet to contact Marth, just to discover that even though she was channeling her mana through the acorn Lyta had given her, the device was still dead.

    The group reached the treehouse and only when they were in front of where the door was supposed to be, did they realize how big the damage it had sustained was. The bark was of pale white with only a few brown areas.

    Even though the air was fresh, the wood smelled like it had been soaked for a long time, making it swell in several ces. The base of the tree was covered in mold, and even the rejuvenating abilities of the Sapling were having a hard time fending off the infestation.

    The treehouse was alsopletely sealed. There was no door nor window, making it look like a giant rotting tree. Lith took his acorn out of the sealed box where he kept it, making sure to not touch it with his bare hands but only through the gloves conjured by his Orichalcum armor.

    The thought of being spied upon by Leannan was bad, but if the acorn actually belonged to a World Sapling, a most likely Awakened being of untold age and restless hunger for knowledge, then even the simplest interaction with it might expose his hybrid nature.

    The moment Lith¡¯s acorn touched the white bark, his worst fears became true. Lith could feel an unknown energy passing right under his feet that used the acorn as a focus while the outline of a door formed in front of his eyes.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! This is worse than I thought. The Acorn is part of the Sapling and the Sapling has granted Leannan part of its authority. The closestparison I can draw is that the nts¡¯ city-state is like an academy and its Sovereign is akin to a Headmaster.

    ¡¯The question is, who actually controls who?¡¯ Lith thought while he pulled the door open. A disgustingly sweet scent assaulted their senses, making even Ka cough.

    The space inside the tree waspletely empty. There was no trace of its previous owner. Only the signs of an intense struggle remained. The walls were charred in several ces and several centimeters deep nicks were present even on the ceiling.

    The inside was even worse than the outside, with the wood randomly turning from ill white to rotting ck to healthy brown and with irregrly ced swollen patches that gave everyone the impression of being inside an agonizing beast.

    The house reacted to their presence by attempting to bloom a table and a few seats, but unlike in Marth¡¯s apartments, the process was slow and painful. The pavement and the sprouts squeaked in an almost human way that gave the group the creeps.

    The old wood¡¯s screaming ended only when the makeshift furniture copsed under its own weight, almost making the floor follow suit. In the effort to provide to its masters a minimum offort, the house had consumed most of the flooring¡¯s wood, but being incapable of regenerating it fast enough, the floor had be paper-thin.

    "Easy, big fe. Just rest and recover." Ka said while using a healing spell on the nearest wall and a diagnostic spell on the floor. The former was sucked like water poured on the desert, whereas thetter gave an unexpected response.

    Ka didn¡¯t see any wound or illness, she only felt pain. Something that light magic wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to do.

    "Okay. Let¡¯s do our best." Lith¡¯s eyes red with mana as he activated Life Vision, Invigoration, and the tier five spell, Scanner.

    Friya used her best diagnostic spells, while Phloria took out her Royal Forgemaster silvery wand to scan the area for any enchanted item that Erlik might have left behind.

    She hade to Lith¡¯s same conclusion and even though her means as a Healer were inferior, she was far from resourceless.

    The short time she needed to chant her first spell what was allowed her to notice Lith bing pale as a ghost a second before he doubled over in pain. She caught him in time before his face met the floor.

    "Are you okay?" She asked while lifting and picking him up in her arms as if he was just a baby.

    Her act of kindness prevented him from puking his guts out. Lith was plenty capable of multi-tasking, but what he had not considered was that the tree-house was his biggest, mostplex patient ever.

    Just like the tissue samples he had previously examined, each cell sent him a feedback, causing his three detection means to give him a sensory overload.

    From the inside of the house, Life Vision perceived the green of the nts, a lingering ck shadow of death, which was unclear if due to the tree precarious state or the previous presence of the undead, and an unknown color brown.

    Normally, Lith would have worried about Life Vision detecting an unknown color. Yet because of Invigoration, the pain of the tree was reverberating through his body as if it was his own, while Scanner was feeding him a massive amount of information that was driving his mind insane.

    Whereas a human body appeared as something made with a mix of lego bricks and an erector set, the tree was like countless streams that crossed paths with each other several times.

    Each interaction changed their shape, size, and color, giving Lith the impression of looking at an Escher painting while using stroboscopic lights and while being under the effects of LSD.

    Solus would have incurred in the same fate if theck of a physical body had made her used to employ her long-distance mystical senses and share Lith¡¯s physical perception.

    "Now I do." He said. Phloria had unknowingly dispelled both Scanner and Invigoration, relieving the pressure on Lith¡¯s brain.

 Chapter 814 Laruels Secret Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 814 Laruel¡°s Secret Part 4</h4>

    "This ce feels... wrong." Ka shapeshifted into her human form.

    She doubted the house could bear the weight of her Emperor Beast body without incurring in even more agony. Also, keeping active the Float spell would divert focus that she preferred to employ to clear the mystery at hand.

    "I know nothing about nts¡¯ life force, but still I¡¯ve got the feeling that the big guy has been turned inside-out. Things get even worse downstairs." Friya said, causing a perfectly circr hole to open in front of her.

    "What about the stairs?" She asked, yet the house remained silent.

    Friya jumped down the hole, using air and earth magic to soften hernding, quickly followed by the others.

    ¡¯Solus what the heck is the brown?¡¯ Lith asked, trying to make sense of the dense fog that Life Vision perceived in their surroundings.

    ¡¯Based on your memories, we¡¯ve met this only once in the past, but back then you weren¡¯t able to see it. It¡¯s the mold. Remember that even ording to Earth¡¯s science, fungi are not nts.¡¯

    ¡¯So I¡¯m seeing spores?¡¯

    ¡¯Nailed it in one.¡¯ Solus modified Lith¡¯s sight to highlight all the mold patches that on a closer look were eating at the treehouse¡¯s roots. ¡¯I think we should get rid of them. It will help the tree to recover.¡¯

    ¡¯I think not. This is the city of nts, not of fungi, hence Erlik must have brought or engineered it on purpose. Once we discover why Erlik wants to keep us away from here, we¡¯ll need the mold as evidence.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "We need to be careful." Ka said while looking Lith in the eyes. "I don¡¯t like this ce nor the infestation. Traps can have many forms based on their intended prey, so the enemy might have left something behind that would not bother nt folks but that might prove lethal for us mammals.

    "As for the mold, it¡¯s not supposed to be here. ces like Laruel are intended to be a paradise for nts. I would understand if it was a symbiote, but the fungus is clearly a parasite."

    Lith had learned his lesson and used only one diagnostic ability at a time. Life Vision confirmed to him that the treehouse¡¯s life force was even weaker underground, where the infestation was at its worst.

    Invigoration continued to make him experience part of the living structure¡¯s distress, but whatever the tree was trying tomunicate, Lith could only understand its screams of pain.

    Last but not least, when he used Scanner again, he focused on a small area instead of trying to examine the whole ce at once.

    He chose a spot free from the mold, to avoid having interferences and because Ka¡¯s words made his paranoia go full throttle. The memory of the fungal creature from Kh was still vivid.

    Lith remembered how such creatures could move their consciousness at will, turning what looked like harmless patches of mold potential into the body of a powerful creature.

    Until he had a clear understanding of Erlik¡¯s resources, Lith wouldn¡¯t underestimate the enemy.

    Scanner showed Lith that the life force of the treehouse was like a river with countless tributaries. Since studying a still point of such a dynamic phenomenon was pointless, he stopped focusing on the physical tree in front of himself and followed the life flow it generated instead.

    It allowed Lith to understand that every single branch, every single leaf created its own flow, contributing to shape a powerful stream that coursed from the top of the tree to its deepest root.

    ¡¯Dammit, I¡¯m way out of my area of expertise. nts and animals are too different. I need to speak with Quy.¡¯ Yet Lith didn¡¯t stop his work, hoping to find a lead for their suspicions.

    Scanner was the only spell that he had inmon with fake mages, so whatever he found, he would be able to share it with everyone.

    Friya used a few of her personal diagnostic spells, but to no avail. They simply were ineffective on a life form so different from those they were intended to. Scanner was the only one that provided her with some data, but just like Lith, she had no idea how to interpret it.

    Her hands ran down the bark, feeling the fluctuations in the tree¡¯s life force, allowing her to discover that it didn¡¯t be weaker near the patches of mold, it actually became stronger.

    It made no sense, hence it piqued her curiosity. Friya considered herself a dimensional mage, but she had never stopped honing her skills as a Healer. Being the guild master, she always led the most difficult missions, and being the only one with a specialization, the life of her people depended on her.

    After making sure that no one needed her assistance, Phloria used the Royal Forgemaster spell, Tinkering Soul. It allowed her to pick up the lingering energy signatures that only powerful artifacts would leave after their prolonged use.

    Silvery threads came out of her wand that slowly filled the air. Then, they started to amass andpress, taking the ethereal shape of devices she had never seen before. Most of them had been used too briefly to leave behind more than just a shadow, while others were so definite that she could almost see their runes.

    s, their design was as alien as its users were. Jiera¡¯s runes and Forgemastering techniques made no sense to her. The only thing Phloria could determine from her spell was that several artifacts had been applied in-between patches of mold.

    ¡¯By the Great Mother, these kids are impressing.¡¯ Ka thought, almost regretting not having taken her time to attend the academy. She wasn¡¯t much of a Healer, and now that Scarlett had left, she found herself envying the fake mages¡¯ legacy.

    ¡¯I doubt I can find with light magic something that Scourge can¡¯t. I¡¯d better focus on my Necromancy and see what we¡¯ve got.¡¯ She activated her personal spell, Restless Echo.

    It allowed a Necromancer to assess how badly the bnce between the light and the darkness element had been upset, plus to gain insight of the kind of spell undead creatures might have used.

    Much to her surprise, the ce was pristine. She couldn¡¯t even sense the traces of Erlik and his followers gorging on the tree¡¯s life force. If not for the fact that both Lyta and the nt folk living in the neighborhood had pointed the ce has the Draugr residence, she would have had a hard time believing it.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. Down here not a single undead has been created, no major darkness spell has been cast, nor the tree has been used as a means to nourish the undead¡¯s blood cores.¡¯ Ka thought.

    ¡¯Then why is the life force at its weakest here? What was the purpose of the devices that Phloria¡¯s spell shows if they weren¡¯t intended to spread Erlik¡¯s gue?¡¯

    She left the others to their investigation and cast Restless Echo on all three floors of the house. To ess to each one of them, a hole would simply open in the ceiling since nt folks had no need for stairs, they would just elongate their legs and reach their destination with a single step.

    What Ka found made her worry even more. Despite the terrible state the building was in, not a single Necromancy spell had been employed. On the contrary, the light element was dominant, making theck of darkness energy part of the reason why the tree had troubles recovering.

 Chapter 815 Life Poisoning Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 815 Life Poisoning Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Undead using light magic spells is beyond odd. It¡¯s utterly dangerous. I must quickly inform the others!¡¯ Ka rushed downstairs, where everyone but Lith was done with their own research.

    "I made an amazing discovery." Friya said. "The mold is indeed negatively affecting the tree, but the tree¡¯s life force has been unaffected by the infestation thanks to an external life flow that helps it to heal and adapt.

    "It¡¯s just a matter of time before the tree develops an immunity and the parasite gets destroyed. It exins why no one bothered killing it."

    "Yet I think the mold yed an important role in weakening the tree-house." Phloria pointed at the still lingering silver ghosts. "They have been ced on purpose between patches of mold, but I have no idea why."

    "If only my amulet worked, I could take scans of the devices they used and ask Dad or the army about their runes.

    Lith ignored both of them and kept following the flow of life force inside the tree-house. It took it a long time to do aplete round of the house and on top of that, he had found several odd spots.

    The ones in the basement where exactly where Phloria had conjured the echoes of the magical devices, but since Lith was too busy with his work, Solus collected all the information and started to make sense of it.

    "I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ve just seen." Lith said once he lost his focus. It happened the moment the treehouse¡¯s life force interacted with an unknown source from below. It was a presence so powerful that it scrambled his spell.

    To avoid sensory overload, Lith had been forced to cancel Scanner. He had withstood the massive source of information as long as he could, discovering that its energy signature was simr to the treehouse¡¯s and yet different.

    "I¡¯m no expert in nts, but my guess is that this wasn¡¯t a hideout at all. This was theirb." Lith said.

    "If it was ab, my spell would pick up more than a few magical devices." Phloria said.

    "I think you are both right." Ka exined her findings to them and had Phloria cast her Forgemaster spell on every floor of the treehouse, just like the Wight had done.

    "What the fuck?" Phloria blurted out in surprise. The higher they got, the more the magical devices she managed to track. Moreover, they got bigger and more powerful, to the point that she managed to read and recognize some of their runes.

    "What use can undead possibly have for medical equipment?" She asked. "More importantly, why did they apply life support machines to the tree, and if I¡¯m right how the heck is this poor thing in such poor shape?"

    Lith cast Scanner again, to make sure that Solus¡¯s exnations were correct. She believed that the ces where the tree¡¯s life force was still twisted and turned matched the position of the magical devices spotted by Phloria, but it was just a guess.

    The tree was too big and its life flow too alien for her to properly mentally visualize what was where.

    "This is bad." Lith said every time he checked the bark underlying one of the ghosts, his voice bing grimmer with each result.

    "This was indeed ab, but its purpose escapes my understanding." Lith said. "The only thing I know is that those machines altered the tree¡¯s life force, forcing whatever fuels its magical and self-repair properties to fight their influence.

    "The tree is in such a bad shape not because of the mold, but because the alterations the tree underwent make it unable to properly process the light energy. It¡¯s literally bursting with vitality and it needs darkness magic to remove the alien source that¡¯s bloating it.

    "If I¡¯m right, this is the life force equivalent of mana poisoning."

    "That¡¯s impossible." All the women said in unison.

    Life forces could be altered or exchanged with the use of tier five light magic and different sources of life forces naturally blended together, no matter even if the donor and the recipient belonged to different races.

    Life poisoning wasn¡¯t even a myth or a joke. To any proper mage is was the equivalent of theorizing the existence of dry water.

    "I would have said the same until an hour ago, but based on my readings, the alterations are so deep that they created sacks of life force that are not recognizes by the tree which perceives them as a disease.

    "It causes the tree to mobilize its life force in the attempt to get rid of the sacks, but it only ends up strengthening them. To add insult to injury, even though the results of this experiment are horrifying for its victim, they don¡¯t seem to have any practical use.

    "There are countless more effective and less expensive ways to torture someone. I think we need Quy, Marth, or anyone that can make heads or tails of this contraption." Lith said.

    By the time the group left the building, the sun was about to set. They were all tired, hungry, and confused. Friya had even double-checked the treehouse¡¯s life force, refusing to believe that life poisoning really existed until she saw it with her own eyes.

    Back in Marth¡¯sb, the enthusiasm from the earlier discovery had been drowned in hard work and failed experiments. Quy was struggling to find a way to separate the host from the symbiote without killing them both.

    The patient was her priority, but a live specimen would allow her to grasp the true intentions of the enemy. Being it a man-made disease, finding a cure without understanding its underlying principles would mean that if Erlik had more strands of the parasite, they would have to start from scratch every time.

    The main problem, even for a keen expert of tier five magic like Professor Marth, was that the lifestream of the nt folk host and of the parasite were fused together on a cellr level.

    It was the reason why they had missed the second life force up to that point. The parasite was devised so that it would grow following its host so that both his life force and mana flow would remain undetectable.

    Its only weak point was Solus¡¯s mana sense, which had allowed her to perceive the pseudo core since unlike what happened with the bugbears, the parasite was already fully developed.

    It covered its host like a second skin, creating a perfect double that granted its victim part of the powers of a Draugr with none of its downsides except for their hunger and their greed.

    It was the greed that actually made it hard for nt folks to resist the corruption of their mind. The more powerful they became, the more things they wanted and the Draugr nature would easily turn desire intopulsion.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor. I¡¯ve no clue how to proceed. All of my experiments failed and all my theories turned out to be wrong." Quy¡¯s eyes were bloodshot from the strain of constantly looking through vision-enhancing devices under a strong light.

    "Good gods, Quy. If you¡¯re useless, then what about us? You¡¯re here from less than a day and you already want a solution? If you keep beating yourself like that, you¡¯ll get bald. Ask Vastor." Martughed, patting her back in constion.

    "But Professor, people are dying right now and if we don¡¯t stop it, the gue will pave the way for war."

 Chapter 816 Life Poisoning Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 816 Life Poisoning Part 2</h4>

    "People die every day, Quy." Marth sighed. "Even if it¡¯s horrible, this time war would give us amon enemy and the opportunity to stop our pretentious squabbles. There¡¯s so much the three great Countries could learn from each other.

    "You have no idea for how long I wanted to speak with my colleagues from the other nations. Besides, it¡¯s too soon to despair. We know this gue is artificial, hence it must have a kill switch. We even know the cure for its original strand.

    "We already have all we need here. It¡¯s only a matter of putting together all the pieces of the puzzles. If we can¡¯t, it means we are still missing some of them. Don¡¯t obsess yourself with the cure and focus on the illness.

    "Once we understand how to recreate it, we¡¯ll also learn how to treat it."

    Quy wanted to reply that it would be her rtives to fight in the front lines, but she was too tired and hungry to reply. In her frenzy, she had skipped lunch and was about to skip dinner as well.

    When she saw the Warp Steps opening in the middle of theb, she prayed for good news.

    "Took you long enough for a simple recon. Have you found our undead?" Marth asked. They had no idea that the parasite contained Erlik¡¯s tissue and even that small piece of knowledge would have been a game-changer.

    "No, but we can rule out Grendels as well." Ka said before recounting them their encounter with the thrall and the discoveries they had made in the treehouse.

    "Are you sure about it, Lith?" Marth was having a hard time to prevent his disbelief to leak into his voice. "You¡¯re the mostpetent Healer that I know and I would take your word at face value if not for yourck of understanding about nt folks."

    "Damn sure." Lith spoke gibberish while his hands performed random gestures before sharing with Marth what he had seen through a holographic 3D depiction of the altered life force.

    ¡¯Gods, I wish I could do that.¡¯ Marth thought in envy, and with him almost all of those presents. The members of the research teams were the cream of the crop of their respective countries, experts with decades of experience in the field of light magic.

    Yet none of them was able to create holograms without the support of a magical device, let alone create hard light constructs.

    "Professor, you can ask Lith for detailster. Someone has to go there and take scans of the residual traces of the artifacts before they disappear forever." Phloria said. "Maybe it¡¯s nothing, but maybe it¡¯s how Erlik farms the symbiotes."

    "Someone else, to be precise." Friya said, her stomach had finally settled up after being assaulted by Scanner¡¯s results and the long-suppressed hunger was kicking in.

    "We¡¯re all physically and mentally tired. Unlike our enemy, we need some food and rest to work properly." A choir of growling stomachs agreed with her. Lith could go on, but Friya and especially Quy were suffering from a massive headache due tock of mana.

    Marth nodded and had Lyta bring them back to their apartments, where the table was ready for eight and there were a couple of unexpected guests waiting for them. Kam and Jirni were discussing in front of a big holographic map representing the entirety of the Garlen continent.

    The map was filled with multi-colored dots and despite the unconcealed hostility in their voices, it wasn¡¯t addressed to each other.

    "Kami, what are you doing here?" Lith¡¯s question made both women jump off their seats and hug their respective beloved ones.

    "You¡¯re not going to get rid of me that easily." She said while making sure he was alright. Kam was used to Lith facing attempts on his life on a daily basis, but that didn¡¯t mean that she was okay with it.

    "Mom, what¡¯s that thing?" Phloria pointed at the still open map.

    "We¡¯re hunting for Manohar. The green dots are his known hideouts, the yellow dots are the reported sightings, and the red dots are where I almost got him." She snarled.

    "I swear that after I get his sorry ass here to solve this situation, the moment he is done working, I¡¯ll kill him first and Marth second."

    "You almost got him?" Lith was bbergasted. "I thought it was impossible."

    "The Royals are not stupid and neither am I. We¡¯ve been keeping track of all his research projects, making copies of his notes to know what was on his agenda. Thanks to that, we know where to search since the ingredients he¡¯s after are very, very rare." Jirni replied.

    "Even ignoring the tant vition of a mage¡¯s most basic rights, how do you even trante that gibberish? His handwriting is even worse than mine." Lith said, knowing that Manohar refused to write with water magic for safety reasons.

    Mostly his own, since he would use the first thing at hand to jot down his bursts of inspiration, be it a napkin or someone else¡¯s clothes. It made his notes easy to lose and hard to recover from histest victim.

    "It¡¯s more than bad handwriting, it¡¯s a code. We had to hire his mother to trante it for us and believe me, she doesn¡¯te cheap. Now sit down and tell me everything."

    Lyta pped her hands, making several dishes appear out of the house¡¯s dimensional storage. Everyone was a bit embarrassed noticing that Lyta would dine with them and that several side dishes included vegetables.

    "Isn¡¯t it awkward for you?" Quy was afraid that eating them would hurt the Dryad¡¯s feelings.

    "Not at all. Once something is dead and digested, it¡¯s just food. Don¡¯t worry about me, dear. I made sure that to respect your customs, no human meat was employed to prepare your dinner." The entire table froze at those words.

    "Do you guys eat humans?" Friya asked.

    "Why not? Aren¡¯t they animals as well? We don¡¯t actively hunt them, exactly like we do for beasts, but if a conflict happens, they¡¯re a fertilizer as good as any other corpse." Lyta shrugged.

    It took them a couple of seconds to remember that despite the fact that their appearance closely resembled humans, nt folks weren¡¯t humans at all. It wasn¡¯t just a matter of a different skin color or traditions.

    Laruel had its own culture and morals, whether they liked them or not. Ka had no problem with her food since the only thing she wouldn¡¯t eat was Byk meat, but ording to her nose, there was none.

    ¡¯Damn, if I ever visit one of those cities of Emperor Beasts Faluel told me about, I must remember to specify that I¡¯m not a cannibal.¡¯ Lith thought. Beasts shared such traits with nts, feeding indiscriminately upon every life form, even their own kin if necessary.

    Jirni listened to their story, trying to use her expertise about human plotting and power ys to make sense of Erlik¡¯s n. Her face looked like it was carved out in stone, never betraying an emotion she wasn¡¯t willing to express, but Lith could feel that Jirni knew more than she was letting on.

    "My opinion is that the gue is just a diversion." Jirni said after asking Lyta more information about the size of the armies in y.

    "If his aim really was to follow the rules and dethrone Leannan in battle, he would have already challenged her."

 Chapter 817 Utopia Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 817 Utopia Part 1</h4>

    "Also, if he really wanted to build an army, the better strategy would have been to send thralls like the Treantling-Grendel you¡¯ve faced and infect only the most powerful nt folk instead of random people.

    "It would have taken time, but undead can wait. Consider that most nt folks wouldn¡¯t reveal being infected in fear of being shunned or considered a traitor. All of this mess, even involving the three great Countries, is too dangerous even for Erlik himself.

    "Not only did he make himself an enemy out of the entire continent, but even in the case his n seeds, Erlik will never be able to feed so many mouths. Undead are many things, but stupid isn¡¯t one of them.

    "The stupid ones never live long enough to be this dangerous. Undeath is something that cannot be spread carelessly, especially now that the human poption has been dramatically reduced.

    "I¡¯m certain that even if Erlik somehow wins, he would weed out the weaker newborn undead as his first move as the new regent. In times of war, food is more important than gold."

    "What do you think his real aim is?" Friya asked.

    "I wish I knew." Jirni sighed. "Yet it must be something damn important and that can alter the status quo with the other powers of the continent. Otherwise the Undead Courts would have never allowed for this.

    "One of the reasons why the Kingdom barely tolerates them is that the Courts are a necessary evil. They take care of rogue undead and often take control of the criminal underworld, preventing useless chaos.

    "To risk their shaky truce with the great countries, it means that they either have no other option or that they finally have the numbers to step up their game."

    Jirni¡¯s words made the mood turn gloomy. The burden of all those present had just be much heavier. Kam quickly changed the topic, telling Lith that she had already warned his family and that they wouldn¡¯t worry about his amulet being offline.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t understand why Lady Ernas spoke like that. Her daughters are already under a lot of pressure, especially Quy and Phloria. The former has been basically introduced as Manohar¡¯s recement, which means too many expectations for someone so young.

    ¡¯As for Phloria, I¡¯m afraid she might be more interested in rescuing her career rather than Laruel, leading to bad decisions. In her situation, a single mistake could get her kicked out of the army.¡¯ She thought.

    ***

    Erlik the Draugr Treant¡¯s Headquarters, now.

    Now that the sun was set, Erlik the Draugr Treant could finally stand up and stop staring at his treasures like a demented man. Yet being able and being willing to, were two entirely different things.

    It always took a Draugr considerable willpower to step away from their resting ce. After making sure that all the protections were in ce and that whoever vited his sanctum wouldn¡¯t live long enough to regret it, he went looking for his second inmand, Gremlik the Grendel Dryad.

    If there were more bad news waiting for him, at least he could give that annoying pest a proper beating to ease his nerves. Gremlik was too clever by a half and way too powerful for Erlik¡¯s liking.

    One wrong move and all of his sacrifices, all of his plotting would bring fruits that Gremlik would reap after using Erlik as a scapegoat.

    ¡¯Dammit, I wish he was just some mindless goon. So far our interest aligned, but our ambitions never did. I can¡¯t trust him.¡¯

    Erlik opened the door to Gremlik¡¯s room, finding a pleasant surprise. The ce was trashed to the point that there was not a single piece of furniture intact, the walls were covered in w marks, and there was lymph sttered everywhere.

    Erlik recognized the remains of the Grendel¡¯s most loyal followers from their smell. They were unlikely to still be alive.

    "What happened?" Erlik asked, pretending to not notice the grimace twisting the otherwise handsome face of the dryad.

    "I underestimated the Awakened. I wanted to get rid of them before they could check our prototype and make sure that their death would furtherpromise the rtionship between Laruel and the Countries to buy us more time.

    "Yet not only did I fail to kill even one of those filthy humans, but I¡¯ve also lost the most promising thrall of my herd. I spent years preparing him to handle the fury and power of a Grendel, but it was all for nothing." Gremlik gritted his pearly teeth so hard that they cracked, only to heal a split secondter.

    The loss of the two undead was negligible, but his thrall was a huge deal. Grendels were almost extinct because they were gued by a reckless bloodlust that consumed their senses once they assumed their true form.

    Gremlik was a master magician in his Dryad body and an unstoppable war machine as a Grendel, yet to achieve the best from both worlds it had took him a lot of practice.

    "That¡¯s none of my business." Erlik smirked. "I want to know about our n."

    ¡¯So my losses are my own, whereas Laruel is "our n"?¡¯ Gremlik needed his decades of self-discipline to not fight the Draugr to the death.

    "Everything is going as we predicted. The infected feeding off anything they can get their filthy vines on are hiding the damages on the treehouses. We might have to leave this ce in a while, but I¡¯ve already prepared our next location. We¡¯ve progressed by leaps and boundspared to our first prototype."

    Erlik nodded, looking at the bark of the enchanted house surrounding them. Their control over the mold had improved and the side effects of their experiments had yet to show on the outside.

    The Draugr ced his hand on the nearest wall and released countless vines that allowed him to take control of the agonizing tree. He made sure that all the damages would be hidden by a healthyyer of bark, making it impossible to spot them from the outside again.

    ¡¯The undead of the Garlen continent must have be soft after establishing their Courts for missing such an opportunity for so long.¡¯ Erlik thought. ¡¯If my n seeds and I manage to not get killed by Gremlik, my dream wille true.

    ¡¯As Laruel¡¯s regent, I¡¯ll gain ess to a World Sapling and if my theory is correct, I¡¯ll Awaken. It will give me the means to build an eternal kingdom for the undead. A utopia where we will not need to hide and cower anymore.

    ¡¯Just by asking the Sapling to remove the dew covering the treetops, the city will be plunged into an eternal darkness that will free us from the tyranny of the sun. I want to believe that the gue was a sign from the god of darkness. That all this suffering after losing our homes has a meaning.¡¯

    ¡¯Very soon, undead will not be the neglected race anymore. Our Awakened will not be able to continue ignoring us. We will not be just a worm hiding in an apple but the owners of the orchard instead. My race will thrive, and I¡¯ll be acimed as its savior.¡¯

    Little did he know about the life poisoning ident or that the mold was still where they had left it. Leannan was a tricky enemy, who had lulled them into a false state of security beforeunching an all-out attack that had flushed them out, almost costing them everything.

 Chapter 818 Utopia Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 818 Utopia Part 2</h4>

    Packing and moving the devices took priority, so they had cleaned most of the mold before escaping, sure that without the proper care and with the treehouse¡¯s natural healing abilities the little pest would die before the next sunrise.

    Luck, however, was a fickle mistress.

    ***

    The following morning, Lith was sad while looking Kam warp away. It had taken her and Solus quite an effort to not let Jirni¡¯s words making him stay up all night in a fit of paranoia.

    Lyta was even sadder since she had spent the night alone. She couldn¡¯t fathom why everyone had turned her offer forpany down, even Jirni.

    Once they reached theboratories, they discovered that Marth had never left. He looked almost as bad as when he was Headmaster and had a frenzied look in his eyes.

    "Is it morning already?" Was his reaction when he saw them step out of the dimensional door. "I need to take a nap, but first I must bring you up to speed. Things have gotten quite hectic since you left."

    Marth exined to them how the team he had sent to the treehouse had discovered nothing about the gue, but had confirmed all of Lith¡¯s group spections.

    "Ever since we collected scans of the residual images of Erlik¡¯s devices, the Forgemasters from all the four countries are studying the runes to understand what their function is." Marth said.

    "Four?" The question was on everyone¡¯s lips, but Quy beat the others to the punch.

    "Forgetting about the nt kingdom, even though you¡¯re in one of its cities is rude even for a human, child." A cold voice came from one of the nearby desks, where several samples of the injured treehouse had been ced in crystal cases.

    A fourth team was busy examining all the collected data and despite the fact that they all looked human, they were actually nt folk. Their leader was Leannan the Titania herself, ruler of the city-state of Laruel, and emissary of the World Sapling.

    Marth tried to break the awkward silence that ensued by introducing Quy and her group to the leader of the nt folks.

    "Sovereign Leannan has decided to join us in the search for a cure since Erlik keeps hiding." The Professor said.

    "I¡¯m impressed with how quickly you human work as much as I am with yourck of manners. For a species who cares about appearances the most, is quite the contradiction." Leannan dropped the human form she had assumed to not scare her guests and reverted to her real body.

    She looked as if a giantess had been fused with several kinds of different nts. Leannan was over 3 meters (10 feet) tall, with wheat blond hair, light green eyes, and slightly long pointy ears.

    Her skin, or at least the little of it that was visible except that on her face, was pearly pink. She wore a sleeveless dress made of vines that covered everything under her corbone.

    Several branches came out from the back of her head and a thick bunch of leaflets circled around her forehead, giving the impression she wore some kind of tribal tiara. She wore brambles around her neck that yet didn¡¯t do her any harm.

    Leannan¡¯s neck, shoulders, and arms were exposed, and covered with what would look likeplex tattoos to ayman, but Lith recognized them as runes. Small branches also grew on her forearms, where her skin was mostly bark covered in ivy.

    Her hands had slender fingers ending with long nails that together with the wrinkly appearance of the wood and their darker color made them look like belonged to a much older woman.

    There was beauty in her, but no kindness nor warmth. Lith¡¯s instincts warned him that the creature in front of him was more ruthless than most Abominations he had ever met. To her, kissing a baby or twisting their neck was the same thing.

    "I meant no disrespect, Your Majesty." Quy gave the Sovereign a curtsy without being intimidated. Between her etiquette lessons and facing the Odi inbat, Leannan had to try much harder to impress her.

    "Until yesterday I wasn¡¯t aware that nt folk had their own kingdom. Also, I¡¯ve yet to see any of Laruel outside the walls of thisb, so my knowledge of your world is too limited to call it a country. If I offended you, I ask for your forgiveness."

    "There¡¯s no need to apologize, child. Your ignorance just reassures me that we¡¯ve been doing our job right. Our secrecy is what has protected us so far, preventing countless conflicts with small men gued by even smaller minds." Leannan said while looking at the members of the group one at a time.

    ¡¯The Sovereign has a bright blue core and an uncanny physical prowess.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Her dress hides several powerful artifacts, but their pseudo cores are of unknown design, so I have no idea what they are meant for.

    ¡¯Her tattoos are enchanted and exude quite the magical power. My guess is that they are an array of some kind, but not like those we have met so far. The runes don¡¯t draw power from Leannan, on the contrary, they allow her to receive it from an external source.¡¯

    ¡¯It must be the way she sealed her contract with the Sapling.¡¯ Lith thought. The Titania was impressive even without the help of the ancient Awakened tree, but after meeting Faluel and Raagu, a blue core wasn¡¯t enough to worry him.

    "I¡¯vee here to help you." Leannan said. "Professor Marth told me that you intend to examine the treehouse, correct?"

    Quy nodded.

    "Then it¡¯s best if I apany you. I heard about Erlik¡¯s previous attempt at yourpanions¡¯ lives and I don¡¯t want that to happen again. Also, I¡¯m the only one that knows how the treehouses work, so you¡¯ll need me to understand whatever you might find."

    A snap of her fingers brought them straight to their destination, in the basement where the side effects of Erlik¡¯s experiment were still eating away at the living house¡¯s essence.

    "The devices you¡¯ve spotted, Mage Ernas, have been crafted by my kin and so their runes. I¡¯ve never seen anything like that, but I know my people¡¯s magic enough to understand its purpose.

    "They are the Forgemastered equivalent of what you call Body Sculpting."

    "I thought nt folks didn¡¯t practice light magic." Friya said.

    "We don¡¯t. Our regenerating abilities make it useless up to tier four and in torture at tier five. The only way to alter our life force is to do it all in one go. Unlike you humans, we can¡¯t be treated a little at a time.

    "Any alteration of our life force is quickly corrected, just like what happens for our bodies. If even a small trace of our original essence remains, the entirety of the tier five spell is nullified, but it takes time and involves a lot of pain." Leannan said.

    "What kind of mold is this?" Lith pointed at the grey patches infesting the roots.

    "I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not native of the Garlen continent and I doubt it¡¯s even natural, but I can¡¯t be sure. Fungi are as numerous as nts, plus I don¡¯t speak theirnguage. They are as different from us as we are from humans."

    "Sorry guys, but I need silence to concentrate." Quy said. She followed Lith¡¯s instructions, using her personal version of the tier five spell Scanner to study the treehouse¡¯s lifeforce.

 Chapter 819 Erliks Plan Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 819 Erlik¡°s n Part 1</h4>

    Quy followed the life force¡¯s movements throughout the tree¡¯s huge body, dwelling mostly on the sacks of corrupted life force and the areas affected by the mold. Quy knew nothing about gardening, but as a Healer, she could understand an illness just by looking at the effects it had on her patient.

    Leannan was itching with curiosity, wondering why she didn¡¯t feel anything amiss during her first visit after Erlik¡¯s escape and why her mystical senses were still unable to sense her subject¡¯s suffering.

    ¡¯I could temporarily merge with the tree to understand what¡¯s happening or examine the mold, but I can¡¯t risk interfering with the little Ernas¡¯s work.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯My link with the World Sapling might enhance the treehouse healing factor and erase all traces of Erlik¡¯s experiment.¡¯

    Time passed, and when Quy¡¯s consciousness returned to the roots, she followed them and went deep underground. Lith had been forced to stop at that point, the mass of life force was too great andplex to follow it by using means devised to study humans.

    Quy, instead, had adapted Scanner to make it work on nt folk, so when the interference assaulted her senses, she was able to shield her mind and continue following the treehouse¡¯s lifeforce.

    "What the heck?" Quy suddenly snapped out of her spell. Her face turned pale while huge droplets of cold sweat quickly appeared on her face.

    "What¡¯s wrong?" Lith had been on guard the whole time, yet he had no idea what could scare her so badly.

    "There¡¯s something down here. A creature so powerful that barely approaching its consciousness almost damaged my mind."

    ¡¯How can a human reach out to the Sapling?¡¯ Leannan was shocked. No one could interact with the nt folk¡¯s ancestor without their existence being acknowledged by them and being bestowed the runes that adorned her shoulders.

    "That¡¯s it? It must be the World Sapling that fuels the treehouses." Friya¡¯s sighed in relief, giving Leannan the nt equivalent of a heart attack.

    "How do you know about the Sapling?" She asked. Its existence was supposed to be kept a secret from outsiders. The edge on her tone let the group understand that she suspected them to be spies.

    Not wanting to cause a diplomatic incident, they told her the full story about their fight with the Grendel¡¯s thrall, including its aftermath.

    ¡¯By the Great Mother, my subjects are a bunch of morons!¡¯ Leannan suddenly didn¡¯t consider keeping the nt folk isted from the outside world a good thing anymore.

    ¡¯They are so used to freely talk about everything that they spilled the beans with humans just to satisfy their urge to mate. So much for Laruel¡¯s secret. The silver lining is that it will make exining things easier.¡¯

    "It might be, but that¡¯s not all." Quy was eager to finish her report before the details of the impressions she had experienced while using Scanner faded away in her memory.

    "There¡¯s one more sack of life force between the creature and the treehouse. Yet this isn¡¯t just the tree¡¯s own life force twisted beyond recognition, it belongs to an undead energy signature."

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith asked while his partner used her mana sense to probe the ground below them.

    ¡¯Sorry, there are too many interferences. I can¡¯t tell you if the energy signature of the undead sack and that of the parasite match.¡¯

    To Leannan¡¯s ears, Quy¡¯s words were as scary as they didn¡¯t make sense.

    No one besides Laruel¡¯s ruler was supposed to be able to perceive the Sapling¡¯s energy since even though the entire city was actually grown upon the roots of the ancient tree, Laruel and the Sapling were still two separate entities.

    The World Sapling was long since in a deep slumber, trying to prolong its existence and find a way to escape its inevitable death. The magically engraved runes on her body were supposed to be the only way to draw the Sapling¡¯s consciousness and call upon its power.

    Yet a simple human imed to have aplished it on her own. A terrible picture appeared in Leannan¡¯s mind as finally everything started to make sense. She scratched a bit of mold from the treehouse¡¯s roots, lowering her defenses to allow it to invade her body as well.

    She was shocked seeing how quickly it spread from her nail to her hand, covering it in a matter of seconds. On top of that, the mold didn¡¯t just rob the Titania of her nutrients, it also started to attack her life force and converted her flesh into its own.

    "This is impossible." Leannan blurted out. "The mold is capable of overtaking its host life force, not just sucking it. It means that if it¡¯s not stopped in time, the victim gets turned from their original race into mold."

    The contradiction in her words was apparent even to Phloria, who was just a junior Healer, yet no matter what the academy had taught them, no one could deny what they were watching with their own eyes.

    Leannan¡¯s hand had not shapeshifted, it had been entirely reced by the mold while retaining its appearance while the infection spread to her forearm. The Titania snarled and stopped suppressing her strength.

    Both her life force and her body were too powerful for the flimsy mold, which was eradicated in a matter of seconds.

    "This is terrifying." Quy said. "Life force can be stolen or shared with spells, but it always goes from one recipient to another while shielded by darkness magic, so that the two energy signatures never interact.

    "Otherwise the stronger life force wouldpletely assimte the weaker, making the healing impossible."

    "Somehow, this mold is able to open a channel to its host¡¯s life force while also preventing it to swallow the mold¡¯s. I could feel my hand being ripped apart piece by piece as if it was being constantly cut and sewn back together." Leannan said.

    She immediately called the Healers, tasking them to retrieve samples of the foreign organism to study it. Yet as soon as the mold was without a host, it died. They tried to cut it away with part of the treehouse, but it died again.

    "Dammit. Whoever designed it, used nt folk¡¯s physiology against us. The piece of treehouse dies almost immediately after being cut away from the main body since its vitality is alreadypromised after being affected by the mold for so long.

    "The only way to sample it, is to give it a live host." Leannan tried to have the mold move on regr nts or small animals, but to no avail.

    "I think I know what¡¯s happening here." Quy said, giving Leannan the second heart attack of her long life.

    "Erlik has infected the tree with the mold because thanks to its abilities, it weakened the nt¡¯s life force enough to apply the Body Sculpting devices. As you said, nt folk¡¯s life force regenerates quickly, so without the mold, the devices wouldn¡¯t have worked.

    "Then, for some reason that I can¡¯t exin..." Leannan inwardly sighed in relief.

    "They repeated the operation on the upper floors. I don¡¯t get what their aim was, but I¡¯m sure that they didn¡¯t mean to kill the treehouse. It would have been pointless since the tree¡¯s bad shape was bound to give away their position.

    "Also, they didn¡¯t want to create the sacks of life force either." Quy said

 Chapter 820 Erliks Plan Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 820 Erlik¡°s n Part 2</h4>

    "The only reason the tree is in this state is that Erlik couldn¡¯t predict that the interaction between Body Sculpting and the mold would cause long term side effects. Tier five light magic twists the life force, while the mold is capable of preventing its victim from reiming its lost parts.

    "Both effects were supposed to be destroyed by the tree¡¯s recovering abilities once the devices had been removed, but even after its death, the mold¡¯s life force blocking properties allowed the sacks of life force twisted by Body Sculpting to survive."

    Her words made Lith think about a mosquito bite and how the annoying pest would inject an anti-coagnt to suck blood to its heart¡¯s content.

    ¡¯The mold does something even worse. The toxin it produces prevents the victim¡¯s life force to recognize the invasion so that the mold doesn¡¯t encounter any resistance aside from that of the immune system.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "If not for the synergy between the two attacks, the treehouse would have long since healed, like what happened to Leannan¡¯s hand, and we wouldn¡¯t have noticed anything." Quy said.

    "Can you fix this?" Leannan pointed at the treehouse. The Titania had almost no experience with high tier light magic and calling upon the Sapling¡¯s power would have been a liability.

    Leannan had finally understood Erlik¡¯s game. He had never meant to take over Laruel by fighting her fair and square. He wasn¡¯t even trying to fight dirty. The Draugr n was to take her crown without throwing a single spell.

    Leannan cursed her arrogance, which had led her to think that an undead would be so foolish to care for traditions to the point of fighting a losing battle. By bing a Draugr, Erlik had gained many great powers, but also several limitations.

    His link with the Great Mother was severed, most of his abilities as a Treant were lost. Even if Leannan was younger than him, even if she couldn¡¯t tap into the Sapling¡¯s powers during a ritual fight, she was certain of her victory.

    Unlike her opponent, she would still be able to draw upon the nutrients in the soil to achieve regenerative abilities and a stamina that would put even an Awakened to shame.

    Mana was the only thing she couldn¡¯t recover by feeding, but the same stood for her opponent, who would be unable to recover as fast as her. Either he chose to fight her one on one or army against army, he was doomed for.

    His followers were nothingpared to Laruel¡¯s forces, even after growing their numbers thanks to the gue. It was the reason why Erlik had kept buying time with guerri tactics.

    To keep her distracted long enough toplete his real n. Leannan had still the opportunity to win, but to do that, she needed to do the hardest thing for someone who was both a seasoned veteran and a ruler.

    Asking for help.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. I can fix the tree." Quy ced her hands on the nearest wall and started to dissolve the sacks of life force in the basement, restoring its natural flow.

    Quy also wanted to confirm her theory, hence she chose the biggest sack as her first target. The moment she undid the damage inflicted by Erlik¡¯s Body Sculpting, the tree¡¯s life flow destroyed the mold¡¯s toxin and moved on to the next sack.

    Quy needed to give it just a nudge to fix the second sack as well. After that, she didn¡¯t need to do anything anymore. The restored flow triggered a domino effect that washed away all the sacks and killed the mold in a matter of seconds.

    The light element that had been shackled until that moment stopped bloating the tree¡¯s life essence and was drained down the roots back from where it came. Leannan followed the entire process from within, through the vines she had spread throughout the treehouse.

    It allowed her to observe the Sapling¡¯s consciousness as it moved back into the depths of the ground, yet the undead life force remained. The space between the treehouse¡¯s roots and the Sapling¡¯s was tainted with a scar that refused to heal.

    It confirmed Leannan¡¯s worst fears and left her only one way to survive.

    She snapped her fingers, moving everyone back to theb.

    "My dear allies, our situation is way worse than we suspected. Erlik is but a few steps away from gaining total control of Laruel." Her voice was steady and her tone calm, yet it echoed like thunder.

    Everyone stopped working, incapable to believe their own ears.

    "What do you mean? You¡¯re still alive and Erlik¡¯s army still in hiding. How can he possibly win if he never showed up?" Marth asked.

    "All of this was just smoke and mirrors." Leannan waved at the tables, clicking her tongue at her own idiocy.

    "His real goal has never been defeating me or creating more undead. His objective has always been taking Laruel for himself. Literally." She added after noticing the confusion in the eyes of her audience, nt folk included.

    "Laruel isn¡¯t just a city. It pains me to admit it, but due to the chaotic nature of my species, of our inability to consider anyone else as either food or a mating partner, we would have never been able to build something so majestic.

    "Laruel¡¯s power doesn¡¯te from spells or artifacts, ites from the World Sapling that grows at its very center. It¡¯s a living being of untold age that shares its power with us.

    "The Sapling keeps the city hidden, granting to us a safe haven where our powers are multiplied and those of our enemies are locked. The Sapling, however, is far from being a benevolent ruler.

    "It¡¯s simply a dying creature who has chosen its final resting ce. A Sapling slows down its metabolism and enters into a deep slumber, using the knowledge it has umted during his millennia-long life and the magical research we share with it to try and prolong its existence.

    "It¡¯s precisely because of the pact between the Sapling and the nt folks that a ruler is needed." Laruel pointed at her runic tattoos.

    "I act as its consciousness and make sure that themunity thrives so that the mind of the Sapling is constantly fed by new knowledge. All the treehouses are grown from the seeds of the Sapling, allowing it to reach and control them even in its dormant state, akin to an automatic reflex.

    "The reason I¡¯m telling you all this is because Erlik has found a loophole in the Sapling¡¯s system and he intends to use it to take over its body." A shocked silence fell on the room while the mages from the three Great Countries pondered the destructive abilities that such a creature would obtain.

    "Whenever a treehouse has to be grown or repaired, the Sapling simply wills it to happen, turning it into reality.

    "Erlik has used abination of Body Sculpting and an unknown moss on one of the Sapling¡¯s offsprings to inflict to it a great damage for a prolonged time. He did it so that a simple sliver of power wasn¡¯t enough, a stray thought wasn¡¯t enough to solve the problem.

    "Even in the Sapling¡¯s dormant state, the pain the tree experienced was enough to draw the Sapling¡¯s consciousness and with it a link to the source of its powers. A link that Erlik used to connect with the Sapling via the disease just as I do with the runes."

 Chapter 821 Poisonous Tree Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 821 Poisonous Tree Part 1</h4>

    "Erlik¡¯s first attempt failed because the undead energy he nted sped up the decay process of the treehouse and allowed us to find him, but there¡¯s no telling how much knowledge he has acquired in the process." Leannan said.

    "If he seeds, he will be more powerful than any Sovereign of Laruel has ever been. I can only ess to the Sapling¡¯s mana, whereas he would be able to ess its mind as well.

    "Millenia of experience, spells, secrets, and even the location of countless artifacts would all be within his grasp. Worst case scenario, Erlik will infect the Sapling with his disease and exploit its symbiotic abilities to take control of the Sapling¡¯s body without it even noticing.

    "This wouldn¡¯t allow him to move the Sapling since such an act would surely awaken it with disastrous consequences, but all the mana that fuels the protective arrays surrounding the city, all the life force that so far has been used to create our housings, Erlik could employ them as he sees fit." Leannan said.

    ¡¯This is way worse than I thought. The Sapling might not be an Awakened, but it¡¯s akin to a living academy and Leannan is its Headmaster. Yet if Leannan is right and he gets ess to its mind as well, the countless magical legacies that the Sapling has umted so far would fall into Erlik¡¯s hands.

    ¡¯nt folks may be psychos, but thanks to their limited life span they have no way to master such amount of knowledge whereas Erlik would have all the time and the power he needs to be one of the most powerful beings on Mogar!¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I wonder if the Council would dare to shrug again if they knew about this.¡¯ Solus said.

    "What can we do to help?" Marth asked.

    "First, keep searching for a cure. If the Sapling bes infected, it would be impossible to break Erlik¡¯s hold over its powers without removing the symbiote. Second, I should be able to narrow the possible locations of the enemy hideout to a few treehouses and I need your help to find the right one as soon as possible.

    "I have left the scarring that the undead energy inflicted upon the first treehouse intact so that you Healers can study and learn how to recognize it. This way, by checking a suspicious treehouse¡¯s life force from the outside, you will be able to find Erlik¡¯s newb.

    "I could do it myself, but to do it I would need to physically merge with the tree, alerting the enemy, whereas your spells are undetectable." Leannan said.

    "I¡¯ll remain on stand-by, ready to support whoever of you needs backup. Depending on how smart Erlik has decided to y and on how sessful his first experiment was, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he set up more than oneb or at least a few fake ones.

    "By now, he has already been informed of your visit to hisb and I bet that the news about the treehouse recovery will spread fast as well. Erlik might ce fake scarring to force us to split our forces and lure us into ambushes.

    "Start deciding who is going to scout the locations while I ready my troops. Once the fight begins, I can give you only a limited number of soldiers until Erlik makes his move. I¡¯m the only one who can stop him, so don¡¯t count on my help either."

    The Sovereign disappeared without even giving the Healers the time to reply. They were her allies, not her subjects, but in time of war, anyone could be conscripted. Marth and the mages from the other countries knew it very well and didn¡¯t raise objections.

    As long as Leannan didn¡¯t ask them to do something harmful for their homnd, they would obey her. After all, they didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Their orders were to help her to keep her throne, not to just cure the gue.

    The rulers of humankind already had the cure for themselves thanks to the Magic Empress, the only thing that worried them was to lose control over the undead horde.

    All the members of Lith¡¯s group volunteered for the mission, Ka included. They were both fighters and Healers so they needed only a limited number of guards. As for Quy, she wasn¡¯t much of a fighter, but Phloria wasn¡¯t much of a Healer either.

    They decided that, in case of emergency, they would work together, covering each other weaknesses. Their teamwork was on a league of its own thanks to all the awful things and the training they had endured together since the academy.

    On top of that, neither Lith nor Friya would have entrusted Quy¡¯s safety to anyone else. They didn¡¯t trust nt folk. Their congenital lust for power made their loyalty dubious at best and if they learned about Erlik¡¯s project, some of them might be tempted to jump on his bandwagon.

    They didn¡¯t trust the other Healers either. Quy was known as the most promising Healer of the Kingdom after Manohar, which made her a threat to the other countries since she was much more loyal and saner than the Mad Professor.

    It would have been easy to take her out in the chaos of the battle and pin it on the undead. Lith was kept in a simr regard, but his background made him a wild card and as Milea had already demonstrated, everyone thought they had a shot of bringing him to their side.

    Each research team sent their worse healer to work to examine the darkness energy mass, considering them expendable. Marth would have loved to do the same.

    "Quy there¡¯s no need for you to participate. We can send someone else." He said as soon as they were alone. The others had already left to study the scarring under Erlik¡¯s fist hideout.

    She had remained in theb to revise the samples at her disposal, to understand if the symbiote could affect treehouses as well, and how to counter it.

    "Sovereign Leannan asked for my help for a reason. I¡¯m the one who identified the ck mass under the tree and I have been able to cure the twisted life force. Also, I¡¯ve got a feeling that when we find Erlik, Leannan will be too busy dealing with him to take care of anything else." She replied.

    Meanwhile, Lith cursed once again his inability to use hismunicator amulet.

    ¡¯If only I could contact Faluel. She would be able to tell me if the Sapling is an Awakened or not. If yes, I would get the Council¡¯s help and this story would end before it can begin. If not, I¡¯m certain that Faluel would help me.

    ¡¯She might not fear any undead, but Awakened or not, just the size of the Sapling makes it a threat even for someone like her. I doubt she reached her age by letting her enemies acquiring such powerful weapons.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He used the tier five light spell Scanner to find the scarring, and once he was done studying it with conventional means he used Invigoration. Normally it would have been impossible since Erlik¡¯s spell was so deep underground, but the scarring was just between the treehouses¡¯ and the Sapling¡¯s roots.

    Lith could use them as a support to conduct his mana without it losing effectiveness.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! This is no scarring at all. The darkness element is filled with willpower.¡¯

 Chapter 822 Poisonous Tree Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 822 Poisonous Tree Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Best case scenario it¡¯s another unexpected side effect of the experiments since now I got Erlik¡¯s energy signature and it matches the symbiote¡¯s.

    ¡¯Worst case scenario, it¡¯s a trap that we might trigger by trying to remove the scarring.¡¯ After his meeting with Faluel, Lith had practiced the meditation techniques she had taught to her, enhancing his willpower perception.

    To control Domination, the first step was learning how to sense willpower, while the second step was to identify its focus points in a spell and rece it with his own. Lith was still inexperienced due to theck of time for training, but the mass of willpower in front of him was powerful enough for him to easily sense it.

    He immediately covered them with a Hush spell and shared his discovery with Ka, who had a hard time suppressing her enthusiasm.

    "Fascinating. I never thought about using darkness magic in such a fashion. I must have a talk with this Erlik before he¡¯s put down like the madman he is." She said.

    "Fascinating or not, we must check if the tree is infected, and we need it for yesterday!" Lith had met two Liches in his life, and judging by her level of craziness, Ka would be a perfect addition to the club.

    Since ording to Solus¡¯s mana sense the treehouse had no blood core, both the Awakened used the diagnostic spell Marth had taught them to check on the nearest wall. Unfortunately, the spell was meant to study small samples, not gigantic creatures.

    The area that Lith managed to study with it was clean, but that meant nothing. If it really was a trap, then the symbiote was likely to be dormant. Ka and Lith grimaced, neither of them wanted to use Invigoration.

    The treehouse was a giant living being, each cell of which shared a part of its consciousness. The first time Lith had attempted such a thing he had almost fainted due to sensory overload.

    He focused solely on limiting the area analyzed at a time while Solus searched for anomalies. Just as he feared, they found several small lumps of inactive symbiote located in the treehouse¡¯s key points.

    They had been arranged so that once the infection started, it would take them less than a minute to spread to the whole building.

    ¡¯This is actually good news.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Depending on the trigger, we might be able to safely cleanse the parasite. I doubt they expected that this could happen. It would also exin why they didn¡¯t care for fake mages studying the phenomenon and sent a thrall against you instead.

    ¡¯They were afraid of what only an Awakened could discover.¡¯

    ¡¯Well, yes and no. Sure, we can remove them, but there are too many lumps and we have no time to waste. A partial cleansing would slow the spreading of the symbiote and nothing more. Moreover, we have no way to exin what needs to be done and why.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Ka had examined a much smaller area than Lith due to the strain of not being overwhelmed by the tree¡¯s voice, yet her findings were simr.

    "Ka, do you know how to establish a mind link with spirit magic?" Lith asked, hoping to avoid talking under the effects of the Hush spell in front of so many people.

    "Is such a thing really possible?" Her surprise gave him the answer he wanted.

    After a quick exchange of opinions, he and Ka were of different minds. Lith wanted to leave the lumps alone, to not risk activating the trap, whereas Ka wanted to trigger it on purpose.

    "If this thinges alive, Erlik could use it as a giant soldier and screw us in a snap. We are not equipped to deal with something this big." Lith said.

    "I agree, but at the same time, isn¡¯t it better to see what it¡¯s capable of? What if the treehouses we enter are in the same condition? Do you want to enter inside the belly of such a beast without any preparation?" Was her objection.

    "First, the darkness element has a will of its own. It means that it might alert Erlik and warn him of our arrival. Sure, we¡¯d see what a possessed treehouse is capable of, but we¡¯d also lose the enemy in the process and we¡¯d walk into a fully prepared ambush when we find his base.

    "Discovering the tree¡¯s abilities is pointless if we lose the element of surprise."

    Their arguing went on for long enough that everyone noticed and asked them what was going on. Both of them refused to answer to not cause panic and decided to leave the decision in Leannan¡¯s hands.

    By the time they returned to theb, Leannan was there as well.

    "I have good and bad news." Ka said. They had decided she would take full credit for the discovery, to not draw any more attention on Lith. "The good news is that the energy signature of the ¡¯scarring¡¯ is the same as the symbiote.

    "If it belongs to Erlik, then the infected nt folk have Draugr tissues mixed with their own and we can work with that. The bad news is that the treehouse is rigged."

    She exined everything they had found and their conflicting opinions as well.

    "Thanks, Lady Ka. I must admit that at first, I feared your presence here. I thought that your partial undead nature would make you sympathize with our enemies, yet you¡¯ve proved yourself to be a loyal ally time and time again.

    "You deserve my sincerest apologies." No one missed Leannan addressing the Wight with a title. Marth already felt his neck in danger and it only became worse when the Titania gave both Ka and Lith a deep bow.

    Everyone assumed it was because she had appreciated his participation, but Leannan was actually old and smart enough to notice that every huge discovery had happened in his presence.

    ¡¯The situation has stagnated until the arrival of this Verhen. ording to Lyta, Ka is a natural Awakened. If the human is the one helping her, it means that not only is he Awakened as well, but also a powerful one.¡¯ Leannan thought.

    "As for the danger the infected treehouse poses, I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m with Lord Verhen. I can wither a whole neighborhood with a snap of my fingers, whereas finding Erlik is not that simple. If we lose him again, we might not find his trail until it¡¯s toote."

    ***

    Erlik the Draugr Treant¡¯s Headquarters, now.

    Just like Lith had described them to Ka, the scar tissue between roots was actually a mass of darkness element bearing Erlik¡¯s willpower. What he had failed to notice due to his inexperience in dealing with nts and to his paranoia, afraid to trigger the trap, was that inside that mass there was a good chunk of Erlik¡¯s symbiotic tissues.

    Magic was magic, after all. Even an array wouldn¡¯t havested for so long without a good number of powerful mana crystal, let alone a simple tier five spell. Lith and all those who had examined the situation after him, had thought that the spell drew sustenance from the treehouse, but they had been only partially right.

    To sense an external threat, to manipte a treehouse from a distance, Erlik had left parts of himself behind. Quy checking them the first time had worried him to the point of rushing the relocation of hisb.

    The moment Erlik perceived multiple external willpowers interacting with his own, he knew that either he was the luckiest being on Mogar or his n had been figured out.

 Chapter 823 Battle of Wits Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 823 Battle of Wits Part 1</h4>

    His long life had led the Draugr to not believe in optimism, so he put in action all of his contingency ns and started to prepare for more.

    ¡¯It must be the humans¡¯ work. Ever since the new batch of pests arrived, things have started to go wrong. I don¡¯t know if the root of my problems is the human girl Marth was so eager to find or the Awakened the Night Court warned me about.

    ¡¯Luckily, I know how to throw them off their game and buy the time that I need to bring my n to fruition.¡¯ Erlik thought while activating hismunication amulet.

    His control over the Sapling was still rough, but after corrupting histest dwelling for long enough, he was able to deactivate the arrays that covered the city within its area.

    After his arrival to the Garlen continent, before he could enact his n, Erlik had made contact with all the Undead Courts to find out which one of them would be the best partner.

    He didn¡¯t expect that the Dawn, Dusk, and Night Court would set aside their differences, agreeing to amon strategy. The Courts had been founded as a means for the undead to protect themselves from the persecution of the lesser races, but with security and time, they had started to yearn for more.

    They had grown sick of hiding in the shadows and feed upon the scraps of society instead of being part of it. The undead migration had boosted their numbers, giving them the power that the Courts had alwayscked.

    The survivors from the Jiera continent were mostly powerful creatures that had the wisdom of centuries and the might of the relics they had umted during their long lives.

    Veeza the Lich, who was currently battling with the Magic Empress, had shown them that even with all of its limitations, an undead army could take head-on one of the three great countries.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t something that even the Undead Courts could replicate. The only reason why the battle hadsted months instead of days was that unlikemon undead, Liches had no fear of sunlight, no problem with sr cycles, and most importantly, they had no problems practicing Forgemastery or dimensional magic.

    Veeza had erected several Gates beforeunching her attack, allowing her troops to move as fast as those of the Empire. When they were victorious, fresh troops would reinforce the offensive, allowing them to cut deep in the Empire and secure their hold.

    When they were defeated, the undead could retreat quickly and safely, with the Lich herself covering her hordes. Veeza wasn¡¯t afraid of dealing with a whole army by herself since no matter how many times they destroyed her, she always had a spare body at the ready.

    Erlik¡¯s n was exactly what the Courts needed. With the nt folks¡¯ Gatework, they too could fight with any opponent on equal grounds. They needed the Draugr because Jiera¡¯s Liches had not left their homes.

    Liches didn¡¯t feed on the living, they only needed to keep their phcteries safe. As for those of the Garlen continent, they had refused to help. Or better, that was the only exnation the Courts could think of.

    None of the messengers of the Courts had returned undead to tell the tale. Disturbing a Lich during a critical phase of their research was a deadly feat, and Liches always thought of being in a critical phase of their research.

    Approaching Veeza had proven to be pointless as well. She was willing to help, but only in exchange for their literal undying loyalty. She had devised ve rings that worked on undead and demanded to her servants to wear them.

    The Courts wanted her as an ally, not as their master, so they had turned down her ¡¯generous¡¯ offer. The act had enraged Veeza and left them Erlik as their only hope. He had contacts in all the three Courts, so it didn¡¯t take him long to find the best man for the job at hand.

    After the huge fiasco in Othre, Kan the vampire had lost everything because of Lith.

    The death of his chosen, of Count Xolver, and his failure in the negotiations with the Griffon Kingdom, had led the Night Court to strip Kan of his rank, turning the centuries-old vampire into a social pariah.

    After months of mockery and humiliation, he had abandoned the Court, bing an Outcast. It was the only way to achieve his revenge without being restricted by the rules of undead society.

    He had attempted for over a month to find Lith, but the task had proven to be a nightmare. Lith moved as fast and silent as a ghost. No matter how much Kan spent to corrupt his sources in the army, the Ranger was never where he was supposed to be.

    The vampire had no idea that thanks to Solus¡¯s new powers, the position Lith provided in his reports was purely nominal. He would have the army amulet scan a location in the north just to Warp with his tower back in the south of the Kingdom.

    Infiltrating Belius had proved to be impossible. No matter how rich he was, the city¡¯s security measures were so strict that he couldn¡¯t get in. Among the city arrays, there was one able to detect the undead.

    The Crown spared no expenses to keep the Courts out of nerve centers of the Kingdom. It made Kam untouchable for him, just like the Queen¡¯s Corps units outside Lith¡¯s house made kidnapping a member of his family suicidal.

    Kan could have killed one of them from a distance, but his thirst for revenge couldn¡¯t be quenched by such an impersonal act. He wanted Lith to know who was the architect of his misery and why he was being punished.

    "What do you want, Erlik?" Kan¡¯s spite for the Draugr was only second to the one he held of the Courts.

    "You¡¯re already capable of staying awake during the day. Remarkable." Erlik didn¡¯t care for respect as long as the other party kept their end of the bargain. "Are you interested in regaining your position in the Night Court, if not in rising even higher?"

    "What¡¯s the deal?" Kan knew that Erlik had no authority in the Courts. He was their golden boy, but that was it. At least until his n seeded. After that, the Draugr would be a leading figure, if not the leader of all Courts.

    s, between saying and doing, there were a lot of people to ughter.

    "My n was going smoothly, but in thest few days, I¡¯ve run into a fewplications. I hoped you could help me deal with them." Erlik exined to Kan his current situation.

    "I need you to buy me just a few days. Past that point, unless the Council or a Guardian intervenes, the events that I¡¯m going to set in motion will be impossible to stop."

    "How exactly am I supposed to do it? I can¡¯t enter Laruel and even if I could, I couldn¡¯t move as freely as your thralls and undead nts." Kan replied.

    "I don¡¯t need you here. I need you to deal with those bothering me. No matter how powerful a warrior or how cunning their mind is, the heart will always be their weak point.

 Chapter 824 Battle of Wits Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 824 Battle of Wits Part 2</h4>

    "Attack the ones they love and they will either lose their focus or be mad with revenge. Quy Ernas and Lith Verhen have proved to be too dangerous, but luckily, I know how to dispose of both of them at the same time."

    "Are you insane?" Kanughed, incapable to believe his own ears. "It would take me months to reach Lutia and attacking Archon Ernas in her own home would be a fool¡¯s errand."

    "I understand now why you¡¯ve fallen from the Night Court¡¯s grace." Erlik said with a voice full of contempt. "Your brain doesn¡¯t match your power, just like a lesser undead."

    Kan held his rage in, waiting for an exnation. He had nothing to lose listening to the Draugr until the end.

    "You don¡¯t have to move from Othre. Give the Archon and her pupil what they want and they will willinglye to you."

    "Manohar? I have no idea where to start to search for him and even if I did, I wouldn¡¯t dare face him. Thest time the Night Court tried to capture him during one of his escapees, it was a massacre.

    "He turned his assants back into mortals long enough to ughter them like pigs. I survived only because he mistook me for a passerby. My powers returned after less than a minute, but it was the longest minute of my life." Kan shivered at the memory.

    He was a powerful vampire, but in life, he had been weaker than most.

    "This is actually great news. If Manohar came to Othre in the past, it will make the false report more believable. Change the appearance of one of your thralls so that he resembles Manohar and lure the Archon to you." Erlik said.

    ¡¯This vampire is an idiot, but only an idiot and a desperate one at that, would believe my promise. Once I¡¯ll have control over the Sapling, once I manage to Awaken, I¡¯ll have no need for the Courts.

    ¡¯Conquering the nt Kingdom is a pipe dream. Once news of how I bested Leannanes out, my n will never work again. Yet I only need it to work once.¡¯

    The Draugr had never shared his real goal with the Courts, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t support him. One Sapling was more than enough to build Erlik¡¯s undead kingdom.

    He would be the only one capable of opening Gates at will, to move troops or bringing his subjects to safety with nothing more than a thought. Even if the nts united against him and somehow managed to defeat him despite the power of the Sapling, Erlik would still retain all the knowledge gained through their symbiosis.

    As long as his n seeded, it was only a matter of time before the Draugr could give his people the country they deserved.

    ***

    City-state of Laruel

    After Leannan had unraveled Erlik¡¯s n, she had yet to find a way to stop him. All her attempts to locate his position via the bond she shared with the World Sapling had failed.

    Her only option was to mobilize her troops and hope to find Erlik¡¯sb among all the withering treehouses. The problem was that Laruel was a big city, taking an area of 1,285 km2 (496.3 sq mi).

    Relying on eyesight and citizens¡¯ reports to identify the enemy position was akin to finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.

    The only silver lining in such a dire situation was that Erlik¡¯s im on Laruel didn¡¯t stand any longer. Even though he was an undead, he was still considered a nt folk and as such, he had to abide by the tradition.

    To challenge a ruler, after defeating his constable, a pretender had only two possible choices of duel. The first was to challenge one on one the current Sovereign, without the aid of any external means.

    For the pretender, it meant that they couldn¡¯t rely on artifacts, while for the Sovereign it included even the possibility to call upon the Sapling¡¯s power. Such rule was meant to put to the test the abilities of both contestants instead of showing who simply had more resources.

    Erlik had refused such a possibility because he was aware that on fertile ground, he wouldn¡¯t be a match for Leannan, plus the time of the duel was decided randomly. If it happened during the day he might as wellmit suicide.

    The second was a battle army versus army, which usually required the contender to be a citizen of a city-state and have grown their forces over time.

    It was the path that Erlik had apparently chosen, using the gue to gain followers since it wasn¡¯t allowed to foreigners, even if nt folks, to take part in the matters of a city-state.

    Just like Leannan, Erlik was entitled to have his own court, which allowed him to employ his most loyal followers like Gremlik, even if they weren¡¯t citizens of Laruel, but the custom was very strict about their numbers.

    Now, however, it was pretty clear that Erlik didn¡¯t mean to follow the tradition. His growing army of undead and his guerri tactics were only meant to stall for time and give the impression that he was trying to rally more soldiers.

    His real aim was to gain control of the World Sapling and use it to take control of Laruel. Since now Leannan had proof to back her im, she had alerted the other city-states of the threat at hand and even requested their help.

    "I can send you troops to help you search Laruel, but until Erlik is found, I can¡¯t risk sending away my elite troops. I¡¯ve already changed the city arrays so that they don¡¯t grant ess to undead nts anymore.

    "I can¡¯t risk repeating your mistakes." Erwal the Redcap said. Like all the Fae of his kind, the top the vegetationposing his hair was deep red due to the blood of the enemies he had feasted upon.

    It allowed a Redcap to use the skills and spells of his fallen enemies, but each use would consume some of the stored blood, plus such abilities couldn¡¯t be studied nor learned.

    "Thanks." Leannan replied.

    "This is a race against time. If I can find Erlik before he infects the Sapling, the battle will be over before it can even begin. Yet if he somehow gets full ess to the city¡¯s resources, I¡¯ve no chances of defeating him alone."

    "Don¡¯t worry, even if Laruel falls, we¡¯ll help you with all our means." Erwal, like all the Sovereigns that Leannan had contacted, were much less confident than he appeared.

    Giving to undead nts the opportunity to enter a city-state had always been nothing more than a ruse to lure the hated fallen members of their race and kill them. All of the challenge¡¯s rules had been written to make it impossible for an undead to prevail.

    No one had ever considered the possibility that one day someone would exploit their mockery to invade their home.

    Meanwhile, in the researchb, once Lith had understood that he could do little to contribute in finding a cure due to his ignorance about the anatomy of nt folks, he had asked Lyta to bring him back to Lutia.

    Thanks to their mystical connection, World Saplings could open Warp Gates almost anywhere as long as there was plenty of vegetation and no defensive array. He told her that he wanted to visit his family, but he actually meant to ask for Faluel¡¯s help.

 Chapter 825 World Tree Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 825 World Tree Part 1</h4>

    Lith had no idea what a World Sapling was, so he nned of using the only powerful Awakened he knew to gain the Council¡¯s support or at least ask Faluel to share with him her knowledge about the matters at hand.

    "You have done welling to me, Lith." Faluel said. She was in her Hydra form because he had caught her in a bad moment. Between her magical research and training Protector, Faluel could only pay one head worth of attention to him

    "Not only is Laruel¡¯s situation quite dire, but also if you contacted the human Council, you would have put yourself in danger."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯ve never lied to you and I¡¯m not going to start now. You have done wonders in achieving amazing feats while keeping your nature as an Awakened hidden, but now that you¡¯ve been acknowledged by the Council, the two worlds are bound to meet.

    "You¡¯ve already made yourself a lot of enemies in the human society, but now they can rely on the backing of several Awakened you¡¯ve crossed."

    "Wait a minute. I¡¯ve never crossed anyone. I¡¯ve simply defended my life from those who made an attempt on me. Also, I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯ve killed all those who stood in my path, so who exactly has a bone to pick with me?" Lith asked.

    "Every single young Awakened." Her reply shocked him, but what followed was much worse.

    "You¡¯ve in Treius after he bonded with a cursed item, an event no one cared for as long as you were just a nameless Ranger, but now you are a benchmark.

    "You¡¯ve killed the disciples of many leading figures of the Awakenedmunity, but most importantly, you¡¯ve caused the downfall of their masters as well. On top of that, you¡¯ve refused Raagu¡¯s scouting attempt and drawn my attention.

    "Those are all feats that garnered you respect, but also envy and resentment. A lot of masterless Awakened depended on Gaaron to make their living and all the young apprentices now have to fight you to gain their master¡¯s recognition.

    "You have be a constant in their life. For the former, you¡¯re the one who took away what little they had and got away with it. For thetter, you¡¯ve turned down the opportunity they never had: to be the disciple of the strongest human Awakened alive.

    "To make matters worse, you¡¯ve also be the object of their resentment since now whenever they make a mistake, their masterspare your achievements with theirs.

    "Just like the old Awakened are thrilled at the idea to watch the heights you might reach, the young Awakened want you to fall, both metaphorically and literally. Possibly dying in the process.

    "As you can imagine, they are more than willing to give fate a ¡¯hand¡¯ and trigger your destruction."

    "Wait a minute, if the old fogeys admire me, why don¡¯t they just stop their disciples?" Lith asked.

    "Because if their disciples beat you, it would mean that you were not destined to greatness, but just the spur others needed to reach their true potential. If their disciples fail, instead, you¡¯ll just have weeded out the weak for them.

    "Also, don¡¯t forget that all the old Awakened, Raagu included, want to bring you from the beasts¡¯ side to their own." Lith didn¡¯t miss how Faluel had not said ¡¯to the human side.¡¯

    It heavily implied that the human Council wasn¡¯t treating the matter as amunity, but considered him a bone of contention.

    "Yet they don¡¯t want to treat you like a peer, they want you docile and humbled down for the use. Hence they¡¯ll let slide most of what happens with the goal of forcing you to seek for their protection." Faluel said.

    "Isn¡¯t anything that the beasts¡¯ Council can do to help me?"

    "There is and they would, if you were part of it, but you¡¯re not even my disciple. You¡¯re still a rogue Awakened with no affiliation, otherwise no one would allow this disciple war, especially humans.

    "Awakened are few in numbers and recently many of them have died because of their apprentice¡¯s foolishness. The human Council can¡¯t afford an open conflict with the beasts."

    Lith pondered Faluel words for a split second before understanding all of their implications. With the help of the Awakened, all the enemies that he had made and that he had ignored so far would have the resources to mess with his life.

    Both personal and professional. He even suspected that Phloria¡¯s career was being endangered as a twisted way to get back at him

    "Let me guess. You¡¯re not going to help me either. This way, I¡¯ll be pressed to fall in line and do as you say." Lith snarled.

    "Wrong." Faluel sighed. "If I wanted to force you to do anything, I would have put a price to my help against Raagu, or I wouldn¡¯t have mentioned any of that to you. The smart move would have been to let them catch you unprepared, to make you feel small and helpless.

    "Then, when you were at your weakest and desperate for help, I would have ¡¯casually¡¯ sent Protector to help and renew my offer."

    She was right. Lith felt a jerk even more than usual for using the Hydra of treachery. Maybe Faluel wasn¡¯t his friend, but she was honest with him, which was already more than he could ask.

    "I¡¯m telling you this so that you¡¯ll be ready for the worse. A trap isn¡¯t a trap if you know it¡¯s there." Faluel said.

    "I¡¯m deeply sorry for doubting you and for my earlier words." Lith gave her a deep bow. "It¡¯s just that so many bad news at once made me feel cornered..."

    "And a cornered beast is the most dangerous one." Faluelpleted the phrase for him. Even though it wasn¡¯t what Lith was about to say, he liked the spin she had given to his words.

    "We¡¯ll make sure that even those blockheads learn such an obvious lesson. I am willing to help you, but there¡¯s a limit to what I can do as just the ruler of Derios helping one of the Awakened kings of the Trawn woods.

    "At least I can guarantee you that your family will be safe. Any attempts to harm your human cubs will be met with extreme prejudice." Her voice was just a hiss, yet it held a power that reverberated through the cave, making it tremble.

    Lith had an odd feeling about it. The vibrations were nothing like when he went all-out. The Hydra¡¯sir didn¡¯t quake so much as shifted its weight as if it was readying itself for battle.

    "Thank you, Faluel." Lith bowed to her again. His enemies had lost the element of surprise and as long as it was him they had to deal with, Lith was confident about his odds of sess.

    "It¡¯s not me you have to thank. I wouldn¡¯t have gotten wind of any of this until it was toote if my human colleague, Athung, didn¡¯t tell me about it."

    "Athung? That young Awakened?" Lith asked.

    "Indeed. My guess is that she likes you where you are. If you be part of the beast Council, you two will never have topete. Also, you would be a reliable asset as both a Forgemaster and liaison with another race of Awakened.

 Chapter 826 World Tree Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 826 World Tree Part 2</h4>

    "I usually don¡¯t appreciate duplicity, but in your shoes, I¡¯d say that an honest rival is better than a treacherous friend. Also, I¡¯m not done with the bad news."

    Lith sighed and nodded for her to continue. His situation was bad, but it could still be much worse.

    "What you¡¯re facing in Laruel is a big threat, almost big enough to involve the Council. Unfortunately, this Erlik is a cunning bastard. As things are right now, almost isn¡¯t enough.

    "No one of the involved parties is an Awakened, so the Council is likely to sit on their hands until is toote." Faluel said.

    "The Sapling isn¡¯t an Awakened?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Sadly, no. The World Tree, from which all the Saplings descend from, is probably the first, but surely the most ancient Awakened on Mogar. Legends say that its roots epass our whole, allowing it to hold all the knowledge of the past, of the present, and even to catch a glimpse of the future.

    "Many Awakened and Dragons have spent their lives looking for it, in the hope to find answers that no one else can provide them. Some seek the truth about the past, others look for redemption."

    "I get that being Awakened expands your lifespan, so a tree that could live hundreds of years on its own would live millennia, yet isn¡¯t this story farfetched? No one can live that long." Lith said.

    "You¡¯re right. We call it the World Tree, but it¡¯s just an inherited title. When the original Tree felt its end approaching, it didn¡¯t despair nor sought for a way to prolong its existence.

    "The Tree¡¯s only worry was that all the knowledge and secrets it had umted would be lost, so it found a way to preserve them. At the moment of its death, its consciousness would travel through its roots to meet all of its offspring.

    "Once the World Tree finds a worthy candidate, their consciousnesses merge and a new World Tree is born from the Awakening of a Sapling."

    "It takes over the body of one of its children? Isn¡¯t that forbidden magic?" Lith asked.

    "No. It would be forbidden magic if it consumed the Sapling¡¯s life force, but it¡¯s the other way around. The World Tree gives what life force it has left to the Sapling, just like you did with Protector, allowing the younger being to live longer and inherit all of the Tree¡¯s memories but none of its emotions.

    "This way, only information is passed on, whereas all the traumas and the prejudices due to bad experiences die with the old Tree. The new Tree can look at its newly acquired knowledge as if it¡¯s just reading a book.

    "Otherwise the emotional burden would drive each generation of World Trees insane with unpredictable consequences. It¡¯s one of the reasons why the Saplings are referred to as nt Liches.

    "Each one of them is like a living phctery that will allow the Tree to live on. If Erlik gets his hands on a Sapling¡¯s mind, he might barter the knowledge it holds in exchange for the secret of Awakening.

    "At that point, he¡¯ll simply have to ask his new master to help him to join the undead Council so that no Awakened can mess with his turf. The Sapling would provide him with all the knowledge he needs to buy himself not only a seat, but also several powerful allies." Faluel said.

    "So, basically the Council will not intervene because there¡¯s no Awakened involved, but once Erlik bes a threat, they would not have the chance to intervene because he¡¯d have be one of them?" Lith asked.

    "Gods, no. No one is that stupid. It¡¯s just that so far, you¡¯ve just reported me your guesses, but no proof. I was just specting. If you are right, Erlik¡¯s n is brilliant, but it¡¯s still just a n. There are countless things with it that can go wrong.

    "Leannan might kill him, the Sapling¡¯s mind could burn Erlik¡¯s, or even better, his invasion might awaken the Sapling from its slumber and make it wipe out all the undead.

    "Even if none of the above happens and he seeds, the Awakened nt folks will unite and destroy him for tainting what they hold sacred the most.

    "For his n not to be a death sentence, he must already have a contact among the Awakened, be an Awakened himself, and then gain the undead Council¡¯s approval.

    "Which of course is an unlikely sequence of events. Unless you¡¯re missing some key element, he is bound to fail." Faluel said. The tone of her voice contradicted the confidence her words implied.

    She and Lith both realized that if Erlik didn¡¯t run away after his n had been exposed, he had to be either desperate or incredibly clever.

    Lith left the Hydra¡¯sir and returned to Laruel, devoting all of his energies to learning about nt anatomy in search of a clue for a cure or at least unfolding the secret behind the Draugr¡¯s confidence.

    Leannan¡¯sb search of the city wasn¡¯t providing any new leads, so the Sovereign joined the human Healers and aided them at the best of her possibilities. The Titania had limited knowledge about light magic, but thanks to her ability to merge with other nts, she had her own means to study the infected.

    She even allowed the gue to take hold in small parts of her body to try and get rid of it, just to cut them off before it could spread to her whole body every time her attempts failed.

    The discovery about the undead tissues belonging to a Draugr didn¡¯t help much in finding a cure. That kind of undead couldn¡¯t move during the day, but they weren¡¯t harmed by sunlight.

    It simply caused the disease to spread more quickly during the night, but as Quy had noticed on the day of their arrival, the grey tissue was still able to be transported by its host¡¯s lifestream and infect newly generated tissues even when the sun was up.

    To make matters worse, Draugr could feed upon their victims through various means like devouring their flesh, by feeding upon their fears, and by drinking their blood. It gave the infected tissues too many ways to spread the disease.

    A Draugr¡¯s major weak point was their inability to stay away from their burial ground, but the infected didn¡¯t show any difort even after being locked up for days.

    "I think we¡¯ve been facing the problem from the wrong angle the entire time." Quy said after another failure at cleansing an infected.

    "Our problem lies in the fact that because our diagnostic spells are unable to distinguish the host from the symbiote, we can¡¯t kill one without dealing an almost lethal injury to the other.

    "The so-called cure that Professor Marth exined to us simply exploits the disease¡¯s trait of always remaining in the background. It means that the weaker an infected bes, so does the symbiote, but since it¡¯s devised to keep its host alive it dies before the infected can.

    "This is in torture and is not a viable cure because if even one bit of symbiote survives, all the pain the patient has gone through would be for nothing.

    "I think that if we want to find a remedy, we must take into ount that we are dealing with an undead, and a Draugr at that. There must be a weak point that we can exploit to purge Erlik¡¯s tissues from his victims." Quy said.

    "I agree with you, but it¡¯s not easy to find a solution." Marth replied.

 Chapter 827 Domino Effect Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 827 Domino Effect Part 1</h4>

    "It¡¯s not the first time that an undead has managed to infect people, either to safely feed upon them or to control them. This kind of trick, however, always followed the same pattern.

    "The tissues would be hidden inside their victim and act as a parasite. Hence you would find two energy signatures, each belonging to a different being and then remove the unwanted one.

    "In our case, the Draugr tissues form a symbiote that fuses with its host, making it impossible to treat them separately. That¡¯s why it managed to fool us for so long. It followed the pattern of Jiera¡¯s gue but had a different effect, leading us to believe it was simply a different strain of the disease." Marth said.

    "That¡¯s it!" Quy jumped off her chair in excitement. "Professor, if I recall correctly, Jiera¡¯s gue deadly trait was its ability to bond with its victim tissues and make them rot from the inside so that any attempt to heal it would just hasten the decay process."

    "Exactly." Marth nodded. "It was a disease that couldn¡¯t be cured with normal healing magic. It required abination of darkness and light spells because otherwise the healing would multiply the infected tissues and help spread the disease until it became untreatable."

    The cure required the Healer to distinguish the healthy parts of the patient¡¯s body from those damaged. Then, they had to bombard the body with pulses of darkness magic strong enough to kill the infected tissues and only weaken the rest.

    At that point, it was possible to infuse the patient with both life force and light magic, since only healthy cells would manage to reproduce whereas the infected would die of strain.

    The procedure had to be applied to the patient¡¯s head and torso first since unlike limbs, they couldn¡¯t be regenerated. Also, time was of the essence. Due to the gue¡¯s nature, if there were no healthy tissues the patient was doomed.

    "My guess is that Erlik has infused his tissues with the same spells that empowered the gue. So far, first, you have treated it as if it was Jiera¡¯s gue and then as if it was just an undead parasite.

    "Yet our enemy is actually a hybrid. We already know how to eradicate the gue, but how can we adapt the cure to a Draugr?" She asked.

    "Draugr don¡¯t have many weak points aside from being unable to move during the day. They are creatures of envy and greed, so..." A sh of understanding appeared behind Marth¡¯s eyes.

    "Oh gods! It¡¯s just an idea, but if it works..."

    ***

    Ernas Household, now.

    As an Archon, Jirni Ernas was no longer just an Officer. Her role required to supervise the job of many Royal Constables and the reports that kept flooding on her desk made her more worried by the day.

    The Empire had managed to stop the advance of the Lich¡¯s army and was slowly reconquering the lostnds, but there were still a lot of people who had lost their homes.

    All those who had family members in the Griffon Kingdom or in the Blood Desert were seeking refuge from the war in the other countries, but distinguishing those who were really so desperate to betray their own homnd from the spies sent to spread false information was very hard.

    The Kingdom had strengthened the army presence at their borders, even considering the idea of invading the Empire before deciding against it. Not because the Griffon Kingdom pitied its neighbor¡¯s predicament, nor out of gratitude for sharing the cure for Jiera¡¯s gue.

    Just like when the Kingdom had faced the threat of Kandria¡¯s parasite, it was a matter of opportunity. Forcing the Magic Empress to split her forces would have caused her certain defeat, but the joy from the victory wouldn¡¯tst long.

    If the Gorgon Empire crumbled, half of it would fall under Veeza the Lich¡¯s grasp, giving the undead a stable foothold on the Garlen continent.

    To make matters worse, not only would every single fallen citizen of the Empire be turned into another member of the Lich¡¯s army, but also the Griffon Kingdom would be her new neighbor and next target.

    With the current invasion of undeading from Jiera, it would mean fighting enemies from both inside and outside the Kingdom, plus the risk of offering their back to the Blood Desert.

    The Empress was their best bet against Veeza, or at least the Kingdom nned to use her to buy enough time to get rid of its domestic problem with the undead while preparing to colonize Jiera.

    All the resources that the Empress had to invest in the war, the Kingdom was using them to not lose the colonial race against the Blood Desert. Unbeknownst even to Jirni, Sark was treating his undead guests as she treated anything else.

    They could either bend the knee or be fertilizer for her personal garden. Rumors said that her renowned Blood Roses would grow in the middle of the desert only thanks to the outstanding nutritional values vampire¡¯s ashes had.

    Which, needless to say, had led all but the bravest or most desperate among Jiera¡¯s refugees to stay away from the Blood Desert.

    The Kingdom wasn¡¯t so lucky. Between the murdersmitted by the undead but disguised asmon crimes and the criminals trying to pin their deeds on the undead Jirni¡¯s workload had doubled.

    Too many nobles had raised their heads again, daring tomit crimes against the Crown and against the rules of magic now that they had the perfect scapegoat. On top of that, Archon Ernas also had to orchestrate the search for Manohar.

    All of her predecessors had failed to bring the Mad Professor back during the Kingdom¡¯s time of need and had paid for that with their position.

    ¡¯First Phloria and now this. I¡¯m wondering if I got this assignment because the Crown trusts me since I seeded in handling Manohar in the past, or if it¡¯s just some political y to undermine the Ernas¡¯s authority.¡¯ Jirni thought.

    Lately, Orion was subject to harsh criticism for having shared the secrets of the Royal Forgemasters with his daughters even though he had only done it after vouching for them and getting the authorization from the Royals themselves.

    Jirni wasn¡¯t new to political attacks, but that was the first time that the Ernas family was surrounded from all sides. The Ernas was one of the most ancient and powerful households in the Kingdom, wielding both blue blood closely rted to the Crown and the power of magic.

    Usually, only Jirni would be targeted and solely because her job as a Constable made her an enemy of criminals, be them noble or not. Orion wasn¡¯t involved in politics and his work as Royal Forgemaster was highly praised.

    However now someone was systematically undermining their prestige and authority, starting from the weakest member of the family.

    ¡¯I knew that bing an Archon would have made my position even worse, but I would have never expected that they would have taken it out on the entire Ernas household.

    ??If it was me behind this plotting, I would make sure that Phloria gets reprimanded for her ipetence as both a leader and Royal Forgemaster. If they pin the me for the Professors¡¯ death on Orion¡¯s teachings, the domino effect will hit him next.¡¯

 Chapter 828 Domino Effect Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 828 Domino Effect Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯After that, I would just wait for Manohar to be Manohar, give myself the impossible task of catching him and use it as a pretext to strip the annoying Archon of her title if not even ending her career.¡¯ Jirni thought.

    Between her ancestral household, all the allies she had made during the years, and the excellent rtionship she had with the Royal family, she was supposed to be safe from power ys, yet she was starting to feel cornered.

    The worst thing was that for the first time in her life, Jirni was powerless against it. Phloria¡¯s fate only depended on the army official part of themission, while Orion could only rely on his fellow Royal Forgemasters.

    There was no easy way out, no favor she could call in to solve the situation, nor any plot she could scheme. Jirni Ernas was a resourceful woman, but taking on alone the six great academies, the army, and several noble families was too much for her.

    Too much for anyone.

    Yet she didn¡¯t despair, channeling her frustration in her job to make sure to do everything by the book. This time, sess or failure was almost the same. Even if Jirni managed to find Manohar, she could still be med for being toote for it to matter.

    Manohar or no Manohar, if Laruel fell she might be held responsible so Jirni¡¯s main concern was not leaving anything that her hidden enemies could use against her.

    The silver lining was that thanks to Manohar¡¯s escaping streak, ming her was a paper-thin argument, but that only if she was able to prove that she had left no stone unturned.

    "Archon Ernas, we just received a sighting report from Othre." Kam said, showing her mentor only the interesting bits. Kam had worked her ass off ever since Laruel¡¯s crisis had started, barely taking the time off to eat, sleep, and see Lith.

    Once he had departed, she had dedicated herself entirely to the manhunt.

    "Othre? This is great news." Jirni checked the list of ingredients Manohar was after. A fossilized Gorgon scale was among them, and ording to the report, one had just reached Othre¡¯s ck market.

    Gorgons were officially extinct, so everything rted to them was incredibly hard to find, even on the Royal trading channels.

    "Do you want to send a squad to check?" Kam asked.

    "No time." Jirni shook her head, making sure to have with her all the Manohar-capturing artifacts that had allowed her to seed the first time, plus some new pieces that Orion had prepared for her.

    "A squad would take too long and they would not get 100 meters from him without getting discovered. Manohar can¡¯t Warp inside of Othre but he can still fly. You and I will have to suffice."

    "Me?" Kam was surprised. "I¡¯ve never received training to go undercover and if he recognizes me..."

    "Manohar will ask you if Lith is with you. He doesn¡¯t bother remembering insignificant details like the names and jobs of the people he meets. Either he will just take you for a pretty face in the crowd or recognize you as Lith¡¯s plus one." Jirni cut her short.

    The Mad Professor had an incredible acumen in recognizing someone¡¯s magical talent. It was one of the reasons catching him was so hard. Only a powerful mage could corner Manohar, yet he would recognize one on the fly and escape.

    The two women changed into casual clothes and Jirni even altered her hair color, applying make-up on her face and hands to pass as a random thug instead of a hunter on the prowl.

    She took her army amulet to perform a quick status update while walking towards the Ernas¡¯s Gate.

    "Where are you going thiste? You¡¯ll miss dinner." Orion asked. He was having a hard time as well, workingte hours to prepare anti-undead weapons for the army. On one hand, Balkor¡¯s threat had undermined the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s stability for years.

    On the other hand, it had forced them to develop the most advanced cutting-edge magic and tactics while dealing with Necromancers, allowing them to deal with the invasion from Jiera better than their foreign counterparts.

    The Empire had never faced such a widespread undead phenomenon, whereas even though the Blood Desert had Sark, she couldn¡¯t be everywhere at the same time.

    "Just a quick trip to Othre to check on a sighting report. I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy." She said while giving her husband a kiss on the cheek.

    Orion found it fishy since there hadn¡¯t been a single sighting in days and Manohar used to move mainly during the day to exploit crowds to go unnoticed. At least, as unnoticed as he could go.

    His antics and temper tantrums made him easy to find once he decided toe out, just like his genius made him hard to catch. Yet Orion said nothing. Jirni knew how to take care of herself and worst-case scenario, it was just someone wasting her time.

    He went to the Ernas¡¯s Forge, ordering to not be disturbed until his wife was back.

    Jirni and Kam appeared from Othre¡¯s Gate located in the army¡¯s headquarters, going straight for the sewers after taking a map from the desk Sergeant. The ck market would change its location often, but it would always be found only by moving underground the city, away from prying eyes.

    The sewers of a city as big as Othre were full of ces to hide, allowing the underbelly of the society to move and gather without anyone noticing. To find the ck market required to know the temporary code and use first magic.

    The army¡¯s informationwork had provided Jirni the former and training thetter, allowing her to follow the trail that would be revealed only by using the correct sequence of elements.

    Contrary to what most would expect, the sewers of Othre weren¡¯t narrow and the ceiling was high. The tunnels were as wide as the streets above, but instead of the pavement, there was a river of sewage separating two sidewalks made of grey stone wide enough to allow two city workers to walk side by side.

    The air was damp and smelled as if something really big had died weeks ago, making it hard to breathe.

    "Do we have to follow the light?" Kam asked while using applying magical plugs to her nose to filter the stench. Even though it waste, several magicalmps were still lit, forming a path in the surrounding darkness.

    "No. It¡¯s just a safety measure. If someone gets lost in the sewers, the lights will guide them to the nearest constable station, where they will receive help and have to give a really good exnation of what they were doing down here.

    "Only authorized personnel can enter the sewers, but both street urchins and homeless people don¡¯t care much forws, only for survival." Jirni replied, while using the map to find their destination.

    No one could possibly cover the entirety of the sewers in signs, so along with the code, the starting point was also provided. Jirni had to use earth magic first to soften the dry y that between bricks, then fire magic to light the fluorescent substance mixed with it, andstly darkness magic to cover the mark.

    "What the heck?" Kam blurted out. After applying darkness magic, the arrow pointing north had turned to the east.

 Chapter 829 Heartless Monster Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 829 Heartless Monster Part 1</h4>

    "Don¡¯t be surprised, kid. The firstyer was a decoy that darkness smothered, leaving it visible only the real mark etched under the y." Jirni exined, repeating the procedure at every corner.

    "It seems it¡¯s going to be crowded." Kam said while pointing at the clean path in the middle of the dirt covering the floor. It was something that only many people taking their same path could have created.

    Jirni signaled her to halt and be quiet while she conjured a sphere of darkness to keep the light of their amulets from being seen. It wasn¡¯t the number of footprints to worry her. For a rare item like Gorgon parts, a crowd had to be expected.

    Yet the fact that so many of them had walked orderly was highly unlikely unless they hade all together. Jirni activated the Silencer device of her army amulet and reported the anomaly before taking another step forward.

    "You truly are the cunning woman I¡¯ve heard so much talking about." The voiceing from hermunication device didn¡¯t belong to the desk Sergeant she was supposed to be talking to.

    "Too bad that you noticed it toote. Yet what really pains me is the idea that I have to kill you quickly. The army should have already noticed my Communication Jamming array and sent reinforcements to yourst know position." Kan the vampire said while walking from around the corner.

    He was around sixty years old, barely 1.72 meters (5¡¯8") tall, with silver hair and goatee. His silver-rimmed monocle couldn¡¯t hide the excited red glow from his eyes that shone brightly in the darkness of the sewers.

    The man had gentle features and a warm smile, but Kam recalled him all too well to be fooled by his ordinary appearance.

    Jirni gritted her teeth recognizing him, but her grimace became even worse when her lighting spell revealed that he wasn¡¯t alone. Several undead came out of all the four corners of the tunnel, leaving them no way out.

    Judging from their long canines and the silent grace they moved with, they had to be vampires. Some had even shapeshifted their fingers and toes into ws hard enough that they allowed them to crawl on the ceiling.

    "How the heck did you know how to override an army amulet? That¡¯s a state secret, you leech!" Jirni took out her enchanted weapons while keeping Kam behind her. Jirni had promised Lith to keep her safe and Jirni was true to her word.

    "You have many enemies, Lady Ernas." Kan twisted his mustache as a cruel grin appeared on his face. "Some of them even value your death more than their own allegiance to the Kingdom."

    "That¡¯s not an answer, vermin." Jirni held six of her needles in between her fingers, ready to strike at the first enemy who darede too close.

    "Because you¡¯ll receive none, wench. When I¡¯m done with you, not even your hu..."

    A flick of her wrist, a blur in the air, and the numbing pain that ensued cut Kan short, making him kneel onto the ground.

    ¡¯What in the gods¡¯ name is this?¡¯ He thought looking at the needle sticking only a few centimeters out of his chest. ¡¯Howe I didn¡¯t even see iting?¡¯

    Kan had a bright blood core empowered by centuries of experience and abundant feeding, yet it was turning muddy like that of a newborn.

    The rest of the vampires charged forward and Jirni¡¯s fingers moved so fast to be just a blur. The remaining five needles found their mark, killing them on the spot. Their blood cores were much weaker than Kan¡¯s and couldn¡¯t withstand the mass of darkness energy ravaging them.

    Those weren¡¯t Jirni¡¯s usual needles, but the anti-Balkor weaponry developed in the case he ever returned. Not only did they held imploding tier four darkness spells, but also the runes covering them made it impossible for anything but normal sight to spot them.

    They had no magical aura, no heat signature, and the noise-canceling spell they were enchanted with made even a beast¡¯s hearing useless against them. Unlike humans, the vampires were relying on their mystical senses, but the needles were invisible to them.

    Kan tried to pull the needle out of the wound, only for its metal to melt and burn his skin like acid.

    The part still inside his flesh kept releasing pulses of darkness energy that poisoned his body and blood core, leaving him without even the strength to get up.

    One of the vampires managed to reach Jirni while using her fallenrades as a cover, without giving the human the time to make another move. Yet the next thing she knew, her face was being grabbed by an iron gloved hand bigger than her head, which squashed her like a grape.

    "Hands off my wife, scum." It wasn¡¯t the fact that Orion was over 1.96 meters (6¡¯5") tall that stopped the surviving undead in their tracks, so much as the full armor he wore, with bright purple mana crystals as big as an apple grafted on its hands and thighs.

    Three more white mana crystals were respectively embedded on each one of its shoulders and the middle of its chest. The armor appeared to be made of golden feathers that shone like a sun, lighting the sewers.

    The helmet was shaped like an eagle¡¯s head, its gloves ended with ws, and a couple of wings made of energy were draped like a mantle around its shoulders. They allowed the wearer to fly and they could also be used to intercept iing attacks, be they physical or magical in nature.

    The suit made Orion resemble a humanoid Griffon covered in metal.

    The vampire shuddered in fear recognizing the fabled Royal Fortress armor. They could be worn only with the authorization of the Queen herself, bestowing upon a normal human the power of an Emperor Beast and upon a mage the strength of a small army.

    Little was known about their working since those who saw them usually died. Kan assumed it had to be Royal Fortress armor because the golden knight moved faster than the vampires and the Adamant armor repelled their spells as if they were just a gentle breeze.

    Kan was still trying to make sense of the nightmare unfolding in front of his eyes when it suddenly turned into horror. Several people wearing Orion¡¯s same suit of armor Warped in the middle of the tunnel, while others blocked all the possible escape routes.

    ¡¯What¡¯s the Knight¡¯s Guard doing here?¡¯ Kan thought, recognizing the coat of arms on their shoulders.

    The shock from the sudden turn of the events would have paralyzed a lesser man, but the vampire had brushed with his final death enough times to keep his cool even during desperate times.

    ¡¯Othre¡¯s arrays should make it impossible to use dimensional magic, but if they Warped in, then I can Warp out.¡¯ He performed the hand seals for a Blink while Jirni darted towards his with inhuman speed, holding in her hands a golden spear aimed at his chest.

    The mana left Kan¡¯s body, the spell was perfect, and yet it failed nheless, blocked by a superior power.

    The vampire realized that he had no other option but running away so he gathered what was left of his strength to escape. Unfortunately for him, Jirni was too fast and pinned him to the wall by piercing through both the vampire¡¯s chest and the rock bricks with her spear.

 Chapter 830 Heartless Monster Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 830 Heartless Monster Part 2</h4>

    In the blink of an eye, all the vampires were in by the members of the Knight¡¯s Guard. They were wielding weapons surrounded by a golden aura, just like Jirni¡¯s spear.

    "Did you really believe that I got this old by sheer luck? That I would fall for such a tant trap?" Jirni said while piercing with her needles Kan¡¯s four limbs and head.

    He tried to shapeshift into his mist form to slip through the restrictions, but his flesh refused to move. Then the vampire summoned the mana from his blood core, to use true darkness magic to kill the wench that dared to stand so close to him.

    Yet the mana went haywire and exploded inside his body, making his veins burst open as he coughed out a mouthful of blood. The pain and weakness almost made Kan faint.

    Almost.

    ¡¯What does she mean obvious? I studied Manohar¡¯s pattern and yed it by the book...¡¯

    "Let me tell you a secret. Manohar would never attend a ck-market auction. He would simply ¡¯liberate¡¯ the ingredients from criminal¡¯s hands in the name of the ¡¯greater good¡¯. His own." Jirni¡¯s words derailed his train of thoughts.

    "That was your first mistake. Your second mistake was forgetting that it¡¯s the army array blocking dimensional magic, hence the army can turn them on and off at will. The moment you jammed my amulet¡¯s signal, you signed your death warrant."

    She poured a sk of blood on Kan¡¯s head. His skin absorbed the red nectar as dried earth would do water. It healed his wounds and gave him new strength, but just enough to not die.

    "Your third and fatal mistake was thinking yourself better than Balkor. The weapons we made are devised to block all of your powers to more easily capture live specimens. You undead are hard to kill and even easier to keep alive, since you can¡¯t stop yourself from feeding."

    Jirni poured another sk and Kan abandoned all hope. The sweet pleasure he derived from the blood only made the suffering from the golden metal pieces piercing his flesh more intense.

    The woman in front of him could bide her time, whereas as soon as sunrise came the vampire would be more helpless than a child. He had seen it happening to other members of his race, he had done it himself a few times.

    Move the prisoner to a safe ce and then let the hunger do its thing. An undead could die of starvation, but it was a long and excruciating experience that would reduce them to little more than beasts willing to do anything just for a drop of blood.

    Jirni didn¡¯t even bother asking questions. There was no need to. Soon, it would be the vampire to beg to be interrogated.

    "Great job spotting the footprints." She said to Kam. "You have a keen eye for details, but you have to learn how to put the pieces together."

    "Couldn¡¯t you warn me beforehand? I almost crapped my pants!" Kam was still quaking in her boots. The vampires had been scary, but the Knight¡¯s Guard was terrifying.

    Aside from Orion, no one spoke, focusing solely on their surroundings. They acted more as golems rather than as humans.

    "Sorry, kid. I needed them to buy the act and your nervousness might havepromised the mission. Vampires have amazing instincts and can feel the blood pressure of humans from a distance. It allows them to read our emotions.

    "If you knew about them, you would have been afraid, whereas if you knew about the Guard, you would have been too cocky." Jirni replied.

    "What about you?" Kam asked, giving voice to Kan¡¯s thoughts. They had followed the women for a while, to make sure they had no detail and that they were unaware of the trap.

    Kan had checked on Jirni personally, feeling her thrill for the hunt at first and then her resolve to die fighting once the ambush had been triggered. None of it made sense.

    "Controlling my emotions is second nature to me. You¡¯ll learn it in time."

    Kan was now calm enough to listen to the heart of all those presents. Kam was still shaken while the members of the Knight¡¯s Guard were excited from the fight and ready for more.

    He could feel their cold determination in pursuing their mission, the passion for their jobs, and even the tension in their muscles despite their apparently rxed stance. Only Jirni Ernas gave him no reading.

    To him, it was akin to listening to a person taking a nap.

    Her pulse was steady and the only smell he could pick from her was the stench from the sewers. She was a nk te, a mannequin ready to wear the next mask.

    "What do you want to know?" Kan asked.

    There was no point in dying the inevitable. He knew that she would show no mercy, hence begging was pointless. Making her angry was impossible as well. Hoping that she would lose control and kill him was a pipe dream.

    Even now, she wasn¡¯t gloating in front of her defeated opponent. She didn¡¯t feel superior for besting him, nor did she threaten him with promises of pain. Kan knew her type.

    For Jirni, he was nothing more than a tick on her checklist.

    The silver lining was that after being stripped of his title, Kan had no loyalty left for the Night Court. Once he would have fought to the death for them, but now he rejoiced at the idea that they would pay for what they had done to him.

    Jirni Ernas would be the instrument of his revenge, leaving him the only regret of not being able to see the fall of his enemies with his own eyes.

    ***

    City of Laruel, Erlik¡¯s Hideout

    When the sun was about to rise yet Kan refused to pick up on hismunication amulet, Erlik knew that something was wrong. Only newbies would make the mistake of being away from theirir at such an hour.

    "It¡¯s time to move." His roar was filled with hatred.

    The ipetent vampire risked destroying all of Erlik¡¯s meticulous preparations

    He quickly exined the situation to Gremlik while activating his dimensional amulet to store all of his possession and earth magic to cover himself with the soil from his burial ground.

    "Even if Kan was captured, I don¡¯t see the rush." Gremlik said. "No one knows where we are and he wasn¡¯t even a member of the Night Court in the first ce. Isn¡¯t that the reason why you chose him in the first ce?"

    "No one?" Erlik sneered. "For someone so sly, you¡¯re surprisingly na?ve. Even though we picked only fellow Jierans, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a few of them epted to keep tabs on us in exchange for a nice position in the Courts.

    "Kan knows nothing about us, but knows a lot about the Courts As for the reason why I picked him, it was because he had all to gain and nothing to lose from our bargain, which makes him dangerous to us as well.

    "If captured, he will spill the beans about his ex-associates who in turn might know about us. If Leannan attacks while the sun was is up, half of our followers will be either paralyzed or incapable of exerting their full strength.

    "We would have no chance of victory or escape. There¡¯s no time to lose."

 Chapter 831 Opening Move Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 831 Opening Move Part 1</h4>

    Gremlik was forced to agree with Erlik. The Grendel Dryad started yelling orders while inwardly cursing the human race for the umpteenth time. If it wasn¡¯t for them, he would have never left Jiera and he would still retain the role in the local undead society he had fought so long to achieve.

    After the fall of the human race, there was no more strength in numbers, only weakness. More people meant more mouths to feed, making the damages on the local flora too extensive and without even someone to use as a scapegoat.

    No more afraid of the humans¡¯ interference, nt folks and Fae had started to band together, hunting down the undead that had no ce to hide.

    To add insult to injury, the undead couldn¡¯t even run away from their oppressors since they were also their main source of food.

    Nonsentient vegetation provided them with so little nourishment that, to feed properly, undead nts caused too much devastation, allowing beasts to follow their trail and kill them as soon as the sun was up.

    Back before the gue, it had been so easy to use the Courts¡¯ riches and connections to leave all the dirty work to humans. They would capture and grow herds of nt folk for their masters to feast upon, working happily just in exchange of the hope of receiving the gift of undeath.

    With their disappearance, basic food had be a luxury, and each time a member of their herd died it was almost impossible to rece them. Powerful people like Gremlik or Erlik didn¡¯t hunt in decades, so they had no idea where to even start.

    For creatures of their age, only power and status mattered, yet they had gone from being rulers to scavengers overnight. Gremlik had lost most of his thralls during his escape from Jiera. Some because he had overfed upon them, others simply due to the constant struggle for survival.

    He had joined Erlik because his n was the only way they had left to make sure that the horrors of the past would not repeat themselves.

    ***

    Contrary to Erlik¡¯s paranoia, it took Jirni days to extract information from the members of the Night Court of Othre and even longer to decipher the acquired intel before she could share it with the team in Laruel.

    "Kan is dead?" Lith still couldn¡¯t believe his own ears.

    "Yes, and so are most of the undead residing inside Othre." Jirni said through Leannan¡¯smunication amulet that was set to conference call mode.

    "The old bat told us about the position of all the dimensional gateways he knew, so most of those who managed to escape from our tactical teams just walked into an ambush. Some of them had self-destructing dimensional items, others didn¡¯t, so we had quite the haul.

    "Deciphering codes and deadnguages required a bit of time, so I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ve got only old news for you."

    They had retrieved Erlik¡¯sst known address, but by the time Leannan and her guards stormed the ce, the undead were long gone. Before leaving, the Draugr had made sure to perform a proper clean up. There was no mold nor did the treehouse show signs of suffering.

    The only evidence of the passage of the invaders was that the nt folk who were supposed to live there seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

    The Healers identified another bundle of Erlik¡¯s tissues below the tree and several sacks of the gue ready to burst ced along the lymph-stream.

    ¡¯The energy signature of the tissues is the same as the other tree. It also matches that of the infected.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯What worries me is the number of sacks they have left. They are enough to spread and cover the whole tree in a matter of minutes.¡¯

    "Do you want us to cleanse the infection?" Lith asked to Leannan. He could think only of a few reasons to exin the setup and none of them was a good one.

    "No. I don¡¯t want to alert Erlik. Unlike what happens for the infect, I can feel part of his essence still dwelling here. If we remove the tissues, he¡¯ll discover that we know about his n and we¡¯ll lose the element of surprise." She replied.

    Lith was almost sure that ship had long sailed, but repeating it for the umpteenth time was pointless.

    Everyone was brimming with confidence ever since Marth had found a cure for the gue and Lith didn¡¯t want to spoil the mood. Rather than wasting his breath, he preferred to prepare himself for the worse with the help of Ka and his friends.

    In the end, the solution to their problem had been surprisingly simple, once they knew where to look. The cure for the gue had turned out to be the gue itself.

    nt folk were capable of fusing together and with other forms of vegetation. It was one of the means that allowed healthy individuals to recognize those affected by the gue.

    When two infected merged, however, the respective symbiotes would react with extreme prejudice.

    They belonged to Erlik, after all, so they shared his greed and envy. They wouldn¡¯t join forces, but rather fight to possess the stronger host. It not only caused the weaker of the two nt folks to get rid of their symbiote, but would also force the second entity to detach from its host to fight the invader.

    Once symbiote¡¯s life forces were distinguishable from the patient, it was easy for the Healers to destroy them with darkness magic. The only issue left was that the nt folk couldn¡¯t be released until Erlik¡¯s threat wasn¡¯t over.

    The patients had dly epted to be detained to not give in to temptation and ask to be turned into undead, but now that their condition had been treated, they wanted to go back to a normal life.

    Leannan was forced to keep them prisoners, to prevent Erlik¡¯s spies from discovering that his master n was now an utter failure. The Sovereign of Laruel spent her daysmuning with the Sapling, trying to find any trace of the Draugr meddling and to locate his position.

    She even attempted to awaken the ancient being from its slumber, but to no avail.

    Lith was still hoping to hear from Faluel or at least be relieved from his duty and be able to go back home, but he knew they were both pipe dreams. If the Council was truly interested, they would have already made a move.

    Back in Othre, he had found Inxialot waiting for him, so having yet to receive an answer after days meant they couldn¡¯t care less. As for his duty, leaving would have ruined everything. Dismissing the Healers was like dering that the gue had been cured, so all of Faluel¡¯s traps would be for nothing.

    It also meant removing one of the two biggest monkey wrenches in Erlik¡¯s n: the presence of an Awakened. No matter how old the Draugr was, his ignorance about true magic wasn¡¯t something that could be filled just by reading books.

    There were weak Awakened like Tista, but also monsters like Inxialot or Faluel. Lith remembered all too well the fear that the Lich first and himselfter had struck into the undead Courts.

    Inxialot by showing unlimited power, Lith by killing Kan¡¯s champion without so much as a scratch. Based on what Jirni had discovered, Erlik was connected with the Night Court, so they had likely warned him about Lith¡¯s powers.

 Chapter 832 Opening Move Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 832 Opening Move Part 2</h4>

    The Healers, Leannan included, kept working on the infected treehouses. Their role in Erlik¡¯s n was still a mystery, hence they had no counter for it.

    "The sacks have been ced near all the nt equivalents of major arteries, so my hypothesis is that Erlik wanted to make sure that even if he was forced to release them during the day, the natural flow of lymph would quickly spread them throughout the treehouses.

    "Draugr tissues are paralyzed during the day, after all." Quy said. It was the same conclusion Solus hade to, but neither of them understood the point of such a move.

    The sun had justpletely set and the research teams were about to call it a day when suddenly, a small quake made the orderly ced crystal cases jingle against each other.

    "Are quakes frequent in Laruel?" She asked.

    "We don¡¯t have quakes." Leannan exined. "The power of the Sapling protects the city from them. Between its control over the ground and its roots, the Sapling is able to disperse most of their energy."

    "Your Majesty, the usurper has just walked inside the Main Hall and demands you to surrender Laruel to him." Norlorm the Changeling said.

    "How nice of him." Leannan sneered, taking hermunication amulet out of her dimensional item and calling to arms all the Sovereigns from the other nt cities.

    "How did he get there?" Undead were banned from using Warps, so the Titania was expecting that to make such a bold move, the enemy believed that his n was alreadyplete.

    "He walked." Norlorm repeated. "Erlik and his followers stormed the gates, killing a few guards and forcing the others to retreat."

    ¡¯Either he still can¡¯t use dimensional magic or he¡¯s just pretending not being able to keep the element of surprise.¡¯ Leannan thought. ¡¯We¡¯ll see who¡¯s ying his cards closer to the chest.¡¯

    Leannan Warped to the castle built inside the World Sapling itself. It was a sequoia that had reached over 200 meters of height (657 feet) with a tree trunkrger than the whole vige of Lutia.

    Lith¡¯s group had never noticed it because the smaller trees that covered Laruel¡¯s sky with their foliage also blocked the view of the Sapling, making it look like a taller building in the distance.

    The spaces needed for the daily activities of Leannan¡¯s court were negligiblepared to the size of the tree. The Titania chose the castle lobby as her arrival point, to check the damages and have enough space to organize her troops before the conflict began.

    Now their roles were reversed. Erlik probably wanted to finish things before dawn came, whereas Leannan had no rush. She was confident of being able to take care of the Draugr by herself, but she was not conceited.

    Just like her enemy had done until that day, she was going to stall for time before making her move. The scene that appeared in front of the Sovereign and the mages from the three great Countries that had apanied her was baffling.

    Judging by the number of withered vines, saplings, and flowers, Leannan could tell that the number of casualties on her side was about a dozen. They had all been nt folks, not Fae, so Erlik didn¡¯t face much resistance.

    What troubled the Sovereign and herpanions, was the sight of the double doors of the castle broken. Even though they were 5 meters (16.4 feet) tall, weighing several hundred kilos each, they were almost torn off their hinges.

    There was a hole where the lock was supposed to be, so big that the first thought everyone had was that a giant had punched the door open.

    "Who did this?" Leannan asked Norlorm.

    "A Grendel, Your Majesty. A real Grendel, like those of the legends." The poor Changeling quaked in his boots at the memory, making his whole body squeak like an old chair.

    "His ws ripped our soldiers to shreds, whereas our weapons and spells were powerless against him. It took him a single charge to blow the door down."

    "What about the traps I haveid?"

    "Only the Sapling managed to hurt him, but all it took the Grendel was to eat one of our guards whole to fully recover." Norlorm said.

    Leannan nodded while evaluating the opponent¡¯s might.

    "The bad news is that the castle¡¯s automated defenses were supposed to kill even the strongest Fae in one blow. They might take out even me, without giving me the time to regenerate if I didn¡¯t know exactly to look out for."

    Her words were grim, but all of those presents were mages. To them, knowledge was literal power and every bit of information they got would increase their odds of victory.

    "The good news is that the Sapling is still on our side and that the legends about Grendels being invulnerable are lies. They can be killed, but I doubt he¡¯ll just roll over and die if we ask him to.

    "Look out for this guy." Leannan ced her hand on the nearest wall and the runes on her shoulders shone with a blue light.

    The wood pavement of the castle came to life, sprouting several real-life wooden figures that reyed the recent events for them.

    "This is the Grendel in both his forms." The Sapling had recorded everything, even Gremlik¡¯s shapeshifting.

    The creature in front of them had a round head, with feral eyes as big as a saucer. It had bright red irises and vertical pupils that were filled with a mix of hate and spite. Its body was entirely covered by a dirty brown thick fur, akin to that of a giant sewer rat.

    Its maw was lipless and sorge that it was the entire lower half of his head. The mouth was filled with sharp, long fangs, each one about ten centimeters (4") long. Gremlik¡¯s slender, almost feminine arms were now as long and thick as a tree, ending with razor-sharp ws.

    To the humans, the contrast between Gremlik¡¯s handsome male Dryad form and the monstrous Grendel made him even more disgusting than his deformed associates.

    For some reason, Quy looked at Gremlik and then at Lith a few times, making aparison between them.

    ¡¯Even when I saw Lith change, even if his hybrid form is nothing like his human appearance, I never felt revulsion while looking at him. When Lith changes his appearance, he simply shows another side of himself, but he is always Lith.

    ¡¯This Grendel, instead, seems like two entirely different people forced to coexist in the same body.¡¯ She thought and she wasn¡¯t wrong. No matter what form they took, beasts, Guardians, nts, even Abominations were always themselves.

    Undead, instead, with the sole exception of Liches, required their bodies to be possessed by the necromantic energies of their sire to continue existing once their life was ended.

    The undead called it the Hunger, whereas the living just called it the curse of undeath. Yet it was no curse, nor external force. Undeath required a blood core, and a blood core was ultimately a faulty core.

    It wasn¡¯t just the inability to produce light element that made it faulty, it was also the imbnce in their mana that such absence caused. On Mogar, all living beings interacted with the world energy.

    It was the way the interacted with its children, giving them the opportunity to protect themselves. Just like the world energy, mana was made up of the six elements as well.

    It was the reason why every living being had the potential for magic, why the elemental energy of the world answered the call whenever a mage cast a spell. In Lith¡¯s and Faluel¡¯s case, it was part of the secret behind the former¡¯s number of eyes and thetter¡¯s number of heads.

    Only those who mastered all the six elements were able to assemble and disassemble them into their own mana, hence capable of exerting Dominance even over spirit magic, the life essence of others. It was the proof of bing a lesser version of Mogar itself.

 Chapter 833 Traitor Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 833 Traitor Part 1</h4>

    Assimtion, Lith¡¯s breathing technique, was nothing more than a way to absorb Mogar¡¯s mana, cleanse it of the¡¯s will, and add it to his mana core. Awakened were by definition people capable of breaking the world energy into its sixponents, remove the¡¯s energy signature, and rece it with their own.

    Only then could the elemental energy be turned into an Awakened¡¯s mana and used to develop their magical potential.

    "This, instead, is Erlik." Leannan pointed at the towering figured walking in the middle of the small army of undead.

    "By the gods!" Friya blurted out. The Grendel was disgusting, whereas the Draugr was domineering.

    He was over 6 meters (20¡¯) tall, to the point that even the massive Grendel looked like a baby inparison. His appearance was that of a dead treee to life after being possessed by an evil spirit.

    His bark was swollen, ckened, and hideous to look at. His whole body kept rotting and regenerating in an eternal cycle, leaking a dirty white substance from its cracks that resembled pus.

    The liquid was undead as well and wriggled like worms while searching for another crack to get back inside the Draugr¡¯s corpse. Erlik had been a Treant in life, so he was much bigger and stronger than a Treantling.

    In death, all of the leaves forming his hair and goatee had turned yellow with brown spots, giving him a sickly look. His eyes shone with the red light of undeath and even if what those present were looking at was just a copy, the mages felt a terrible strength hidden behind even the simplest movement he made.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t bode well.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Usually big enemies are slow, but evolved beings are unnaturally fast. The life force of a Treant plus the boost of undeath could give him enough power to kill most opponents with one hit.¡¯

    Lith had no idea what powers a Titania had, but the Sovereign of Laruel paled inparison with the wooden titan.

    "Whatever happens, leave Erlik to me." Leannan continued. "I¡¯ve already assembled my army to take care of the invading undead and soon we¡¯ll receive help from the other city-states.

    "I¡¯m not going to take any risks. We¡¯ll attack only once all our allies are assembled..."

    "I see you¡¯re fashionablyte, like it suits the star of our event." Erlik¡¯s voice cut her short. "I was thinking about waiting for you while sitting on your throne, but then I would have missed your terrified expression when you realize no one is going to help you."

    Erlik¡¯s voice didn¡¯t sound like anything Lith had ever heard before. It wasn¡¯t something that he would have expected from any living being. It sounded as if two rocks were being grated together and were rebuking each other.

    Undeath distorted all words the Draugr Treant spoke, as if two people were talking at the same time, trying to eclipse the other.

    "I like ir, but my act would have cost me precious time. I¡¯m anything but a practical guy." Erlik said.

    Leannan ignored him and activated her dimensional amulet, receiving several calls at the same time. Yet no matter who the source was, the words were all the same:

    "Every time we try to Warp to Laruel, we end up in a random location."

    It wasn¡¯t just the reinforcements from the other nt cities, Leannan¡¯s elite soldiers who had been patrolling the city were in the same situation. At least they could still fly to the Sapling, but it would take them time.

    "I must congratte you, Leannan. I never thought that you would figure out my n." Erlik¡¯s eyes moved left and right along with his head, as if he was trying to listen to several voices at the same time.

    "You even managed to convince the other Sovereigns to help you. Amendable effort. Too bad that in the end, it didn¡¯t matter."

    "We¡¯ll see about that!" Leannan extended her left arm and tendrils of wood erupted from all sides, aiming at Erlik¡¯s followers.

    "A futile attempt." Erlik raised both his arms while a grimace of focus appeared on his face. His red eyes burned like torches as the ground quaked again and the tendrils stopped.

    "Is it? Are you sure?" Leannan said. A cruel grin twisted what had been a beautiful face into the mask of a bloodthirsty warrior.

    The tattoos on her arms and shoulders ignited with a blue me that covered Leannan from head to toe. The tendrils resumed their charge, squashing the undead on the frontlines.

    They tried to activate their blood cores to recover from the wounds, but the wood absorbed them. Under Leannan¡¯s guide, the Sapling broke the undead down into nutrients and fed upon them before they could even yelp in surprise.

    "Guess you didn¡¯t see thising." The Sovereign said while more and more tendrils of wood rained down on Erlik¡¯s army like a flock of birds preying on hapless worms.

    "You bastard!" Erlik was furious, yet he was yelling at the Sapling rather than at Leannan, which rose several unpleasant questions.

    The Draugr tapped into his undead tissues nted under Laruel, forcing a connection with the ancient tree akin to that of his opponent. He managed to stop the onught before losing more soldiers, but suddenly he didn¡¯t feel so confident anymore.

    "What are you waiting for? Kill them and then kill her!" Erlik was outraged at his allies more than he was at his enemies.

    ¡¯How can a vicious seasoned warrior like Gremlik get cold feet just because Leannan is here? He¡¯s well aware that I¡¯m incapable of essing the Sapling¡¯s mind from the outside and that as long as she¡¯s alive, I can¡¯t fully bond with this old bastard.¡¯ Erlik thought.

    ¡¯If Erlik thinks that I¡¯m going to immte myself to win this battle, the rot must have reached his brain.¡¯ Gremlik thought. ¡¯Even if we win, I¡¯d just be his second inmand.

    ¡¯I¡¯d achieve only as much power as he¡¯s willing to bestow upon me and it would take him but a thought to kill me. Yet he¡¯s right about one thing. If we don¡¯t win, we¡¯re all dead.¡¯

    The Dryad led the charge without transforming into his Grendel form. Gremlik was a powerful magician and as long as he kept his nt side¡¯s regenerative powers, he could afford to sustain some damage to test the waters.

    One of the Grendels¡¯ greatest secrets, was how heavy was the strain that their battle form inflicted upon their blood cores. A Grendel¡¯s characteristic bloodthirsty fighting style was also due to the perpetual hunger that wore them out once they assumed such form.

    "Now!" Leannan yelled.

    All the Fae who were part of her personal guard came out from the room, emerging from the walls they had been merged with until that moment.

    Erlik¡¯s followers found themselves surrounded by every side as a rain of tier five spells fell upon them, reducing their numbers. Most of the infected that were still at the thrall stage died on the spot.

    Their sires preferred to protect themselves and those they had already turned into their kin rather than waste their energy on half-baked warriors.

    "Did you really think that after discovering your n I wouldn¡¯t take countermeasures?" Usually, mocking an undead was pointless. Their passions were muffled by theck of light element, so things like fear or morale were unknown to them.

    Yet the Draugr and the Grendel were respectively creatures of envy and fury.

 Chapter 834 Traitor Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 834 Traitor Part 2</h4>

    The darkness element coursing through their bodies exacerbated those feelings, requiring sheer willpower to keep them in check.

    What focus they had to employ to control their basal urges, the undead couldn¡¯t use it on the task they had at hand.

    "Unlike the lesser races, us nt folks cat take any shape we want. My personal guards never left the castle in the first ce. Those outside are just body doubles." Leannan¡¯s words nted the seed of the doubt in the Draugr¡¯s mind.

    He had wondered why their battle of wills regarded only the control of the Sapling and the dimensional magicing from outside Laruel, whereas Leannan didn¡¯t seem to care about the inability of her internal allies to Warp.

    He would have liked to stop blocking dimensional magic inside of Laruel, which would give him enough focus to overwhelm his opponent.

    Yet after falling for two traps, Erlik was afraid of jumping feet first in the third as well.

    ¡¯Curse you, woman. If I drop the array and you are lying, your army will turn the tides of the battle. If I don¡¯t and you¡¯re telling the truth, then I¡¯m wasting my limited energy in a fool¡¯s errand.¡¯ Erlik thought.

    ¡¯I must believe in my n. Leannan¡¯s Fae can¡¯t amount to just a few dozens. This must be another of her deceptions!¡¯

    The Draugr roared his challenge and tapped into the Sapling¡¯s energy to restore his dwindling mana.

    Leannan was bbergasted seeing that the ancient tree seemed unable to distinguish between its loyal vassal and the invader. The tendrils of wood stopped attacking the undead and turned against the Sovereign¡¯s allies.

    Leannan did her best to protect the Healers and the Fae, but she only managed to slow the tendrils.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I knew that nts were psychos, but I only feared they could reach such level. The moment Leannan exined to us that a Sapling is a dying tree, the undead invasion assumed apletely different meaning.

    ¡¯Erlik isn¡¯t forcing the tree any more than Leannan does. His n has never been to take control over the Sapling, but to cut a deal with it. Erlik needed time not toplete his experiments, but to sway the tree with his bait.

    ¡¯Eternal life in exchange for unlimited power.¡¯

    ¡¯Ugh, I really hate you being always right.¡¯ Solus said.

    Erlik¡¯s arms red up, the bark covering his shoulders opened up and revealed a set of runes identical to the one Leannan was wearing.

    "Guess you didn¡¯t see thising." The Draugr said, echoing the words Leannan had used to open their fight.

    All the undead were capable of recovering their strength, both physical and magical, simply by feeding. Killing their prey wasn¡¯t a necessity, only newborn undead would fail to control their hunger.

    Erlik sent some small tendrils of the Sapling to his minions, so that they could feast upon them. It was one of the reasons why the thralls had been discarded. Their sires had no time to feed them in the heat of the battle.

    The Draugr could feel the Sapling¡¯s disgust at being tainted by the touch of the undead, but he didn¡¯t have the luxury of the time to care.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe that Great Mage Verhen was right. The World Sapling is half awake and is aiding our enemies. It exins why I failed to trace Erlik and how he acquired partial control over the city.¡¯ Leannan thought.

    The situation was so dire that she was on the verge of panic.

    ¡¯The old bastard is seriously considering the idea of betraying its own race. Luckily, runes or not, Erlik doesn¡¯t have my experience in handling the Sapling¡¯s power and my set pre-dates his own, interfering with his link.

    ¡¯Also, even though the human¡¯s idea sounded ridiculous, I was crazy enough to listen to him.¡¯ Leannan nodded for Ka to take action, and while the battalion of Fae slowed down the small army of undead, the humans revealed to have brought each a huge sack.

    They spilled the sacks¡¯ content on the floor, covering it with several sets of human and beast bones.

    "Arise." At Ka¡¯smand, small wisps of green fire erupted from her body, each one taking ce inside one of the corpses and bing its blood core. The bones assembled themselves in their original shape and a shroud of green mes covered them, leaving only their hands and heads exposed.

    The Wights that Ka had created were lesser undead, yet her research had allowed her to kick things up more than one notch. With a thought Ka sent them to prey on the enemy undead, catching them by surprise.

    Now Erlik¡¯s side had lost the advantage of numbers, giving thebined force of humans and Fae the possibility to fight one on one.

    "Curse you, traitor!" Gremlik hated Ka for siding with the humans. He also hated her for being an Awakened, but most of all, he hated her because, despite her semi-undead state, there was no trace of fear or disgust in her allies.

    Gremlik remembered all too well how he had epted bing an undead to save his de from being razed to the ground by the humans, only to be banished from the same nt folks he had sacrificed everything to protect.

    In a single day, he had lost everything twice, making him the man he was now. Gremlik unleashed the tier Five Spell Raging Sun that he had at the ready while chanting the next one.

    Undead were naturally in tune with darkness magic while nt folks were with earth and water magic, which allowed them to use their true magic form. Yet they weren¡¯t Awakened, any spell that required one of the other elements they had to learn it like fake mages did.

    Raging Sun was a mixture of fire and earth, which generated a powerful explosion that released mes so hot that they could melt stone. Its effects were akin to a volcanic eruption.

    Using such a powerful spell was very dangerous since, aside from its caster, the energy released wouldn¡¯t distinguish between friends and foes. Yet Gremlik was old enough to know how to exploit the undead natural resistance to most elements.

    Fire dealt little damage to them, and since the Grendel¡¯s allies were all nts, their bodies rich of water further reduced the effects of the Raging Sun. Even if one of them were to take its full power, they would only sustain minor wounds, whereas Ka and her human allies had no such luck.

    The explosion forced the humans to fly to safety, breaking their formation, while the undead didn¡¯t care one bit and pressed their advantage. As for Ka, she was too focused on controlling her minions to react in time.

    Her human body was blown away like a paper doll and mmed against one of the wooden columns that supported the Hallway¡¯s ceiling. She coughed out blood while rolling on the ground to smother the mes burning her clothes.

    The Sapling trembled in outrage, its body had not been harmed in centuries. The ancient creature¡¯s spite for the undead grew once more so it sent a clear message to Erlik through the bond they now shared.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve given you the opportunity to prove your value to me. If you vermin keep angering me, I¡¯ll reconsider our deal.¡¯

 Chapter 835 Battlefield Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 835 Battlefield Part 1</h4>

    "You¡¯re mine!" Gremlik went for the kill, unleashing another tier five spell, Silent Reaper.

    A small sized tornado appeared around Ka, surrounding her from every side. Its edges spun slowly, cutting everything they touched into a fine dust. Flying magic was useless and Erlik was still blocking dimensional magic, leaving her no way out.

    "Lith!" Phloria yelled while kicking the ghoul who had engaged her away. The potion she had previously ingested allowed her to fight on par with the undead, but she couldn¡¯t defend herself and Ka at the same time.

    The creature snarled, using his venomous nails to sh at her still extended leg in riposte. A ghoul¡¯s bite and hands were their best weapons. They secreted a paralyzing toxin that made their victims helpless and seasoned their flesh.

    Yet the ghoul¡¯s nails only hit the Orichalcum of her armor. The undead was about to purse Phloria when an invisible force pulled him away.

    "Don¡¯t get close to him, no matter what!" P the Nightwalker yelled to warn his ally. The ghoul noticed that even though Nightwalkers were closebat specialist, his fellow undead was keeping her distance.

    Her shadow body was covered with hideous scars that even her blood core was having trouble mending.

    "Get over here!" Lith¡¯s spirit magic hadpletely tied the ghoul up, whereas the Nightwalker had used the air fusion she had carried over from her Thorn nature to break free from the human¡¯s hold before it was toote.

    Four huge limbs came out of Lith¡¯s back, each one ending with what resembled a shadow maw.

    The ghoul was a veteran fighter, so he knew the basic powers all Awakened had. Megon recognized immediately Spirit Magic, and acted ordingly. He used earth fusion to boost his defense and free himself from the invisible grip.

    Then, instead of following P¡¯s advice, he bolted toward Lith as fast as an arrow.

    Megon the ghoul wasn¡¯t afraid of darkness magic and sneered at the Nightwalker¡¯s cowardice.

    ¡¯How can she have survived this long without learning how to deal with such measly spells?¡¯ Megon thought while covering his body with a thickyer of darkness element.

    It would protect him from Lith¡¯s Death Call and give him the opportunity to exploit a ghoul¡¯s uncanny regenerative abilities to break through the enemy¡¯s offense. As long as his heart was intact, Megon¡¯s body would always fully regenerate with minimum strain on his blood core.

    gue Bringer, the twin katars he wielded, were akin to extensions of his arms. Not only they could regenerate as fast as their owner, but they also were able to channel the ghoul¡¯s venom through their de.

    One scratch was enough to put an end to most fights.

    "Megon, you idiot!" P said, managing to turn pale despite the fact that turning into a Nightwalker had ckened her skin.

    Only when the limbs from Death Call formed a cocoon to hide the fight from prying eyes instead of attacking him did Megon realize his mistake. Lith¡¯s grin grewrger, revealing the blue mes burning inside his throat.

    Nightwalkers regenerative abilities weren¡¯t as powerful as those of a ghoul, yet leaving even a scratch on them when their blood core was full to the brim was quite a feat. Yet P¡¯s wounds were still open and her Thorn body was almost charred.

    Megon suffered the same fate when a jet of Origin mes engulfed him. The cleansing fire ate through theyer of darkness magic protecting the ghoul, feasting upon both the ghoul and his weapons.

    Megon wanted to run away, but that would have meant to leave his back exposed and go through the thickyer of darkness the cocoon Death Call had formed without any protection.

    ¡¯If P survived, then so can I! I didn¡¯t live this long just to get killed by a brat.¡¯ Megon had no idea of what Origin mes were, so he believed that his undead constitution could take another few blows.

    Usually, those who met even a lesser dragon wouldn¡¯t survive the encounter and there was no way to distinguish them from a normal fire until one felt their sting. The ghoul could feel that something was wrong.

    The mes weren¡¯t just damaging his body, but directly attacking his life force as well. The Origin mes wore down the energy stored inside the ghoul¡¯s blood core, sapping his strength as if he had been thrown into a volcano.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why P didn¡¯t heal! Why didn¡¯t I dodge those stupid mes in the first ce?¡¯ Megon thought while lunging at Lith¡¯s left eye and right leg at the same time.

    One of the advantages of his dual-wielding style was the ability to pierce through the enemy defenses since he could perform twice the attacks. Wounds weren¡¯t a problem for ghouls so they could devote solely on the offensive.

    Much to his surprise, Ruin shrunk to the size of a short de and deflected the first katar, matching both its speed and precision. The second de, instead, kept shing against Lith¡¯s left hand, dealing no damage whatsoever.

    ¡¯No matter how good his armor and earth fusion are, gue Bringer is capable of piercing through the strongest metals. I only need a wound the size of a pinhole to turn the tides.¡¯ He thought.

    Yet a breath worth of time passed and nothing happened. Lith¡¯s lungs were filled with air again and blue mes crept out of his teeth and engulfed the ghoul again.

    Megon stored his weapons inside his dimensional amulet, leaving his hands free to perform the necessary hand signs and Blink away to safety. Neither Lith¡¯s nor Solus mystical senses could perceive the exact position of a ghoul¡¯s heart.

    It could be freely moved and it was a physical organ that evencked a heartbeat that could betray its current location. Lith was in a rush to finish his fight. If the Nightwalker attacked Phloria, causing Ka¡¯s demise, Erlik¡¯s triumph would be inevitable.

    His left hand moved like a snake, grabbing Megon¡¯s arm to keep him from getting away. Then, he unleashed the tier five spell Setting Sun from his right hand that was now ced on the enemy¡¯s chest.

    It was a mix of fire and darkness magic, so that the regr mes would cover the effects of Origin me while the darkness element would kill the ghoul for good. Instead of shaping the ck mes into a sphere around himself, Lith focused the entirety of the spell in a single pir of energy.

    The sudden burst of Setting Sun engulfed Megon, pierced through the dark cocoon hiding the two warriors, and converged on P¡¯s position. Megon wore one of the best armor money could buy on the Jiera continent, but it wasn¡¯t enough.

    The armor¡¯s pseudo core had spent a good chunk of its energy to withstand the Origin mes, leaving it not enough juice to take the full force of a tier five spell from point-nk range.

    The beam of ck fire was akin to a raging river. It exerted such a pressure that Megon¡¯s right arm was ripped off its joint, remaining in Lith¡¯s hand, while the rest of the ghoul went crashing against his ally.

    P was far away enough to realize what was happening and Blink, but her exit point was as clear as day to Lith¡¯s Life Vision. He split the beam in two, with one half pinning the ghoul to the ground while the other half followed the Nightwalker¡¯s movements.

 Chapter 836 Battlefield Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 836 Battlefield Part 2</h4>

    P kept Blinking and Lith kept adjusting his aim. He didn¡¯t care for the Sapling trembling in pain and outrage due to Setting Sun ravaging the tree as well as the undead.

    ¡¯Since you can¡¯t make up your mind about which side to take, let me give you an incentive. This is what we do to traitors where Ie from.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Megon screamed in agony while cursing himself for not listening to P. Without an arm, he couldn¡¯t use dimensional magic. His prized armor and regenerative abilities were only dying the inevitable and prolonging his agony.

    He prayed every second he had left that someone woulde and help him. It was his only thought even when his body had already started to turn into dust. His heart was still intact, but his blood core was gone, eaten by the ck mes.

    Meanwhile, Phloria conjured one Mage Knight spell after the other to protect Ka. Yet there were two big problems she had no idea how to ovee. All of her best spells required to be at close range and the shrinking tornado kept her away.

    To make matters worse, there was no way to gather enough mana to stop an ongoing tier five spell. st Guard surrounded the fallen Wight, shing with the edges of the Silent Reaper spell for a second before being crushed.

    Crystal Guard and Wind Guardsted shortly as well, barely putting a dent in Gremlik¡¯s spell.

    ¡¯By the gods, I can¡¯t believe Lith was right about the Sapling. If we get out of here alive, I swear to not mock him anymore for his paranoid delusions. Not too much, at least.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    Everything inside the castle was made out of wood, to make the Sovereign akin to a god within its premises and block earth magic. Luckily, just like Leannan, Phloria had preferred being safe rather than sorry and had taken all the rocks she always carried with her out of her dimensional amulet.

    Shepressed and then threw them inside Silent Reaper. The spell was unable to pulverize the mass of the giant boulder, only to shave its most externalyers into dust.

    Yet the dust was still made of earth, hence under Phloria¡¯s control. It joined the stone mass again and enveloped the curled figure of Ka, who was still trying to use Invigoration to recover.

    "It¡¯s useless, woman!" Gremlikughed at her desperate efforts and kept his distance.

    "If you get away from the traitor, your makeshift shield crumbles and she dies, but if you stay there, you¡¯ll die." The Dryad Grendel didn¡¯t trust his physical abilities enough to challenge a Mage Knight in close quarters, but he had no need to.

    Gremlik weaved one spell after another. He only needed to hit Phloria once to break her focus and kill two enemies at the same time.

    ¡¯Cunning bastard. I hoped that he would mindlessly charge forward. Now I have to focus on both my tier five spell, Bastion, and him.¡¯ She thought.

    Earth magic usually had the upper hand against air magic, but that only when the mage could conjure all the stones they wanted, whereas she was forced to recover every bit of dust the conflicting spells created and fuse it back with the dome.

    On top of that, she couldn¡¯t use dimensional magic. Gremlik Blinked around, too far away for Full Guard to be useful, unleashing a barrage of tier three spells arranged in a formation that exploited the limited room to move she had.

    Unlike her, Gremlik could continue pouring mana into his tier five spell, since he only needed to touch the Sapling to restore all the spent energy.

    ¡¯I wish I had thought of this n myself. Now I understand why Erlik always bs about Awakened. The ability to conjure infinite mana is intoxicating. Once we are done here, I should take a city-state for myself.

    ¡¯Or maybe I should wait for the two "Sovereigns" to kill each other and then take out the winner.¡¯ The Grendel thought.

    Contrary to his expectation, after dodging a hail of icences, Phloria lunged at him despite the distance between them exceeded ten meters (33 feet). Her estoc burst with light, cutting through space in an instant.

    It was Piercing Light, her improved version of the tier four spell Phantom de. It allowed a Mage Knight to imbue their weapons with mystical energies that, using their des as a temte, could temporarily extend them and expand their attack range.

    The extra parts of the sword were made of light, hence weightless, giving the Mage Knightplete freedom of movement. The downside was that covering such a distance required a huge amount of focus and mana

    Since she couldn¡¯t always keep it active, she used it in short bursts whenever the situation allowed for it. Even if the spell¡¯s effects onlysted for the duration of a single sh, it was enough for them to kill her target.

    "Nice try." Gremlik tilted his head sideways, dodging the lunge with the bare minimum movement to not mess up the spell he was casting.

    Piercing Light was fast, but so was the Grendel.

    Moreover, the farther the target was, the easier the attack was to dodge due to the telegraphed movement.

    "Likewise." Phloria allowed her grimace of frustration to turn into a smirk only when it was toote for Gremlik to react.

    From the tip of her estoc came out a Fireball and a Wind st. Thebined effect of the two tier three spells triggered a powerful explosion that was apanied by a deafening noise and blinding light.

    The damage wasn¡¯t nearly enough to harm an undead, but it still managed to st Gremlik away and make him lose his focus. As a Grendel he had heightened senses that made the bark of the spell much worse than its bite.

    To achieve such a small miracle, Phloria had employed her personal spell, Master Sword. It was a tier five Mage Knight spell that allowed her to channel her magic inside her estoc and unleash it at will.

    Mage Knights had to often fight in closebat while defending their mark, so Phloria had devised Master Sword to be able to use all kinds of spells without having to worry about her allies.

    It was the first time that she had attempted tobine it with Piercing Light since controlling two tier five spells at once required too much focus, leaving her only enough energy for low tiered spells.

    ¡¯Thanks, Dad, for teaching me that even the simplest of the spells can have the most devastating effect.¡¯ She thought.

    Phloria had fused a spell meant to strike multiple enemies at the same time and another that was supposed to inject her magic inside an enemy to create an instant movement ability for her spells.

    Gremlik¡¯s Silent Reaper disappeared, allowing Ka to return to the battlefield unscathed. The fight between Phloria and the Grendel had been brief, but long enough for Invigoration to mend her wounds.

    "Thanks for your help. I need you to buy me a few more seconds." Ka said while re-establishing the connection with her undead. Without her to guide their movements, the Wights had no strategy and were recklessly at their enemies, uncaring of their life as long as they could inflict them the most damage.

    Between Ka¡¯s absence and the gap in equipment, Erlik¡¯s followers had managed to make a short work of the Wights despite their ethereal nature.

 Chapter 837 Battlefield Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 837 Battlefield Part 3</h4>

    Enchanted weapons were able to break the bones that formed the Wights¡¯ bodies while darkness magic spells attacked their blood cores, snuffing the green mes that animated Ka¡¯s minions as if they were just candles.

    Yet instead of just disappearing, the mes reverted into small wisps that darted back into Ka¡¯s body, who only needed a breath of Invigoration to give them new strength.

    Before all the bone fragments of the dead Wights could touch the ground, the wisps were back, animating the lesser undead once again.

    Conducting experiments about Lichhood on herself had taught Ka a lot about blood cores and phcteries. On top of that, she had learned how to imbue small amounts of her willpower inside the blood cores she created.

    In normal circumstances, it would allow her to control her minions as if they were part of her body, even giving them ess to all the spells she knew. When such a fine control wasn¡¯t possible, she would use willpower to create a different kind of link with them.

    She would be their phctery, allowing them to be raised back from the grave as long as she was unharmed. The new wave of Wights joined the fray, shifting the tides of the battle again.

    Even if Erlik¡¯s followers were able to overpower the Wights, it still took them time, effort, and wounds. Ka had called upon a lesser version of herself because they were among the worse opponent an undead could face.

    Physical attacks and normal weapons did them no harm, whereas even being grazed by them meant having part your life force sucked and your body invaded by darkness magic.

    Undead could feed upon other undead, but it would weaken them rather bring them nourishment. Ka¡¯s Wights had no care for their lives, being mindless lesser undead, and every time they fell, she would simply animate them again.

    This strategy allowed them to double the damage they inflicted upon their enemies at the expense of their lifespan like Balkor had shown her. Yet unlike Balkor, Ka had ess to Invigoration, and with it to an almost unlimited supply of mana.

    Gremlik was afraid that Phloria would press her advantage so he Blinked away and consumed a fraction of the energy stored inside his blood core to instantly recover. He rejoiced seeing that the human didn¡¯t move, just to curse when he realized why.

    Erlik was still locked in battle with Leannan, making both him and the Sapling useless. On top of that, the rest of their army wasn¡¯t faring well. Leannan had emptied her vaults to equip the Fae with the best artifacts Laruel had to offer and the damn Wight negated their numerical advantage with her own troops.

    By protecting Ka, Phloria was holding half the battle. Gremlik had just the time to cast his best flight spell when P¡¯s death cry reached his ears.

    After killing Megon, Lith had used the two beams of Final Sunset to aim at where the Nightwalker was and where she would appear at the same time. P¡¯s reflexes and the distance separating them had saved her at first, but Blinking so many times without rest had taken a toll on her.

    Being an undead, she didn¡¯t tire but the mana in her blood core was still limited and a battlefield was a chaotic ce. Lith could afford to fly while keeping up a multiyered barrier, whereas if she Blinked in the wrong ce she would be caught in the crossfire between nts and undead.

    The moment the ck mes had pinned her against a wall she no longer had the strength to fight back and was turned into ashes.

    ¡¯Two down, two hundred to go.¡¯ Lith thought while using Full Guard to dodge the barrage of iing spells. It was his first time facing so many enemies that could actually kill him in a few blows at the same time.

    Ka¡¯s undead never left the field for long, but each time one of Erlik¡¯s followers was without an opponent, they would strike at the closest enemy who offered them their back or suck upon the World Sapling to recover their strength.

    ¡¯Our side is barely holding their ground.¡¯ Solus checked the cores and the life forces of the fighters to estimate the oue of the battle. Her mana sense gave her a much better judgment than Gremlik¡¯s.

    Lith kept moving while searching for a quiet ce where he could use Invigoration. Between the barrier, Full Guard, and using Setting Sun for so long, he was starting to feel tired.

    Even with Solus¡¯s help, epassing the whole room with his senses was a mammoth task. He reached Ka, seeking Phloria¡¯s protection as well.

    "Focus on him. I won¡¯t get caught off guard this time." The Wight reverted to her Emperor Beast form, revealing the equipment that Scarlett had gifted her before leaving the academy¡¯s forest.

    A silver armor covered her from head to toe, sticking to Ka¡¯s body like a second skin and giving her the same looks she had when she was still a Byk.

    Several purple mana crystals, each one the size of a nut, were evenly spread throughout the armor, forming awork that would fuel its enchantments and boost Ka¡¯s physical abilities.

    She stood on her hind legs, beckoning to Gremlik in defiance. The Grendel hesitated, weighing his options.

    ¡¯On one hand, the three of them assembled means I could kill them all at the same time and turn the tides of the battle. On the other hand, fighting them by myself is a pointless risk. I should focus on Leannan...¡¯ His train of thoughts derailed when he noticed that the mindless Wights weren¡¯t mindless anymore.

    If their opponent retreated, instead of blindly charging forward as they had done until a while ago, they would join forces with their nearest ally. To make matters worse, they had even started casting spells.

    With no other choice left, Gremlik darted towards Ka. He transformed into his Grendel form and used the momentum of his flight spell to increase his already enormous strength.

    Ka sidestepped the attack, knowing that facing head-on a Grendel was suicidal. His attack failed, yet Gremlik smirked. His aim was perfect, so now that the Wight had dodged, he would strike Phloria first and Lith after her.

    The Grendel had nned his attacks so that the three would block each other line of sight and each time one of them dodged, the next I line would be caught by surprise. His ws barely grazed Ka, yet they still managed to cut through her armor and deep into her body, almost reaching the bones.

    A Grendel moved so fast that each of their attacks generated an air de, so dodging their attacks was nigh impossible. Ka had yet to grunt in pain that Gremlik¡¯s other hand extended towards Phloria.

    Her tier five spell, Bastion, was still active, so she managed to conjure a stone wall in front of herself. The rocks she carried with her were harder than most metals, yet it took Gremlik just a sh to destroy both the wall and her conjured tower shield.

    Contrary to the Grendel¡¯s expectation, not a single drop of blood was shed. Knowing that now her enemy was unable to use magic to change his flight path, Phloria had abandoned her protection and flown up.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve no reason to worry for Lith since he can see past me thanks to Life Vision.¡¯ She thought.

 Chapter 838 Battlefield Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 838 Battlefield Part 4</h4>

    Gremlik lunged at Lith, who deflected the attack with Ruin that was now back into its bastard sword size while pivoting on his feet to use the opponent¡¯s momentum and move out of his trajectory.

    ¡¯If I took flight as well, I would have lost one breath¡¯s worth of Invigoration. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll get another opportunity to use it, so I must make this count.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I strongly disagree.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯The Thrall was nothingpared to the real thing and I¡¯ve already told you why. In their mutated form, a Grendel bes one with their blood core.

    ¡¯That guy¡¯s mana flow has fused with his life force with amazing effects. Sure, he can¡¯t use magic anymore, but his entire body is now made by mana and elemental energies.

    ¡¯It¡¯s like your fusion magic, except that instead of infusing his body with the elements, he is now one with them. It exins a Grendel¡¯s resistance to magic and theirck of healing abilities.

    ¡¯Undead have no light element to start with and now that the life force is mixed with mana, he can¡¯t rearrange his flesh to close a wound without undoing his transformation.

    ¡¯To keep the bnce between the two forces, feeding is the only way he has to heal since it grants undead both nutrients and mana. He might be just a brute, but now his physical prowess is close to Faluel¡¯s.

    ¡¯One breath of Invigoration is not worth risking your life.¡¯

    Lith was about to reply that he needed all the power he could gather when reality ended their argument. Gremlik managed to use Lith¡¯s sword as a fulcrum to change his direction.

    His body moved as if it had no joints, freely rotating the hips in mid-air so that now his feet were touching the ground. It allowed his ws to dig deeply into the rock-hard wooden floor and perform a 180 in the Grendel¡¯s charge.

    ¡¯Definitely not worth it!¡¯ Lith thought, noticing that even though he was stepping back, the creature¡¯s fingers never left Ruin.

    Lith had infused the de with all the darkness magic he could, but the same element coursed through the Grendel¡¯s body, to the point that Gremlik could physically interact and repel darkness as if he was a living spell.

    Wielding a sword was supposed to give him the range advantage, but between the length of his ws and arms, the undead had the upper hand nheless. Lith released a powerful tier three bolt of lightning and a gue Arrow stored inside his rings.

    ¡¯He has had no way to dodge them from so up close without exposing himself to Ruin. No matter if he dodges or tanks them, I should get some space.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Yet Gremlik ignored both spells and swung his ws at the enemy, aiming at Lith¡¯s major arteries with surgical precision.

    ¡¯Those spells were both charged up to the rings¡¯ maximum capacity. How the heck is this possible?¡¯ Lith was amazed seeing that his rings appeared to be useless.

    ¡¯The guy is a mass of living mana. If you don¡¯t hit him with more energy than that stored inside his body, the conflicting elements will simply nullify each other and he will take no damage.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯The bad news is that it makes him nigh-invulnerable to magic, the good news is that to do that, he has to consume his own mana so he can¡¯tst forever.¡¯

    ¡¯Are you telling me that Grendels work like Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Yes. He is no Awakened, so if you stop him from feeding, the time he can sustain his transformation gets reduced with each spell he takes.¡¯

    Being three against one, Lith could now see a path to victory thanks to Solus¡¯s analysis. The problem was that he had no way to convey the message to his two allies. To make matters worse, the martial mastery that the Grendel had honed through the centuries required Lith to use his full focus just to not get ripped to shreds.

    ¡¯If only I knew spirit spells outside of cantrips, I could establish a mind link.¡¯

    Meanwhile, Friya was cursing herself for choosing Javvok as her vacation spot. Dimensional magic was sealed and light magic would only strengthen the undead. The only specialization she had left was Mage Knight which was aimed at defense, not offense.

    She was supposed to buy time for her allies to deal a critical blow, but amid the chaos of battle, she was alone against many. Luckily, she had activated Full Guard at the beginning of thebat, allowing her to dodge both iing attacks and friendly fire.

    She was used to either coordinate with her group or fight one on one, whereas now she was experiencing the chaos of war. Each time a spell missed its target, each time an attack was dodged, it might strike another enemy as well as an ally.

    She was fighting a vampire Redcap, one of the most viciousbinations of nt and undead skills. Her opponent, Tyria, looked like a woman about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with green skin and arms almost as long as her legs.

    A row of sharp fangs came out of her protruding jaw that together with long pointy ears and glowing red eyes made her look like something out of a nightmare. The red mass decorating her head was shaped like a red cap, but it was actually a bunch of vines filled to the brim with blood.

    Tyria had filled herself before the fight, to exploit her double nature to its fullest. She could use that blood as a Redcap, drawing from it the skills and spells of her victims, or feed upon it as a vampire, securing herself extra juice in case of need.

    She wielded a two-headed halberd that could be split in the middle, bing two battle axes. Despite Tyria¡¯s brutish appearance, Friya had never seen anyone moving with such grace.

    She moved amid the ensuing chaos like a dancer on stage, using her weapon as a polearm whenever Friya managed to step back and as axes the moment she came too close or the space around them became too crowded.

    The fight had started from barely a handful of seconds and yet Friya was already covered in cuts and bruises. If not for Lith¡¯s Skinwalker armor and Orion¡¯s weapon, she wouldn¡¯t havested that long.

    ¡¯I can hold a bit longer, but if I keep being forced on the defensive, I¡¯m dead. Not only can she Blink freely, but she will also never tire.¡¯ Friya thought as she stepped back to relieve her conjured shield from the vampire¡¯s relentless onught.

    She had waited for an opening, but her enemy was too experienced to fall for the tricks of someone so young.

    Quy was faring better than her sisters. She had been left behind in theb, together with Professor Manohar in the case that things went south. To be extra safe, they had assigned her a bodyguard, Trouble the Balor

    Lith had restored his body for his experiments, even forging for him a Gatekeeper so big that it resembled a steel b. It was just a prototype, so it could channel only two elements, fire and darkness.

    Lith had designed it to match two of the three eyes of the Balor. Yet it was Ka the one controlling him.

 Chapter 839 Clash of Titans Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 839 sh of Titans Part 1</h4>

    Lith had yet to find a way to raise the Balor¡¯s corpse as a lesser undead without the effects of the ck eye amplifying the spell and turning the dead monster into a greater undead with a will of its own and a big grudge against him.

    Ka was a much better Necromancers, so her green wisp carried enough of her willpower to harness the full potential of the creature while retaining full control over its ever-growing blood core.

    On top of that, Trouble-Ka shared his thoughts with her original body, keeping the Healers updated about the events unfolding inside the Sapling.

    "There¡¯s no time to lose, we must go help them!" Marth said once he understood how deep was the Sapling¡¯s betrayal.

    "You will never make it in time." Trouble-Ka shook his head. "Dimensional magic is sealed even to those with an acorn. Lyta?"

    The Dryad tried to open a Gate leading to the city and failed. She tried several times, changing the destination, but to no avail.

    "If you want to evacuate, you must do it by flight. Even the powers that Leannan bestowed upon me don¡¯t work anymore." She said.

    "That, or we could move to the infected treehouses." Quy said. "Professor, we didn¡¯t choose to stay behind just to run away. We did it to deal with any trick that Erlik might have left behind.

    "If we stay here and the treehouses activate, whatever their purpose is, we¡¯ll never make it in time."

    Marth nodded.

    ¡¯As long as there¡¯s hope for victory we cannot retreat. Yet I can¡¯t just fool around either. I need to warn the Kingdom about the threat that such a powerful being could pose to us if it sides with the undead.¡¯

    Marth sent a couple of mages away, to get out of Laruel and report everything to the Crown. Then, the mages in theb split into three teams and moved towards the three known ces where Erlik had left bundles of his tissues.

    Ka-Trouble took flight thanks to the Balor¡¯s wings while appreciating how the ck eye of the Balor naturally replenished the creature¡¯s blood core while the other two eyes were charging up with elemental energy.

    ¡¯Such a wonderful specimen. Too bad that Scourge is unwilling to give it to me.¡¯ Even a sliver of Ka¡¯s mind would worry about her research first and about her own impending deathter.

    As Manohar would say, first things first.

    Leannan was having a hard time dealing with Erlik. The Draugr was inexperiencedpared to her at handling the Sapling¡¯s resources cost him a lot of focus. They had been standing still nearly for a full minute, yet no one had disturbed their fight and for a good reason.

    Both of them were trying to use the Sapling¡¯s wooden tendrils to attack the enemy faction, but due to their conflicting willpowers giving conflicting orders with almost the same authority, a vortex of squirming wood had surrounded them.

    It blocked all kinds of magic and turned whoever came even close to it into shreds. Erlik was blocking dimensional magic within the entirety of Laruel for anyone but undead and manipting the wooden tendrils, whereas Leannan was just manipting the tendrils while trying to open a dimensional pathway for her allies from the other city-states.

    In theory, having fewer things to control, and with her superior knowledge, she was supposed to overpower the Draugr. Unfortunately, the Saplings begged to differ. The ancient creature was slightly sided with the undead, tipping the scales in their favor.

    ¡¯Why are you doing that? Have I not upheld my side of our bargain for all these years?¡¯ Leannan wanted to curse and threaten the Sapling, but she knew better. Were the true ruler of Laruel to believe her, it could end the battle in seconds.

    Even though she despised it for its betrayal, she had to pay.

    ¡¯You¡¯re only partly correct.¡¯ The Sapling replied. ¡¯Yes, you kept providing me knowledge, but it¡¯s useless. My days are about to end, I have barely a few more centuries in me.

    ¡¯You didn¡¯t find a single exceptional mage, nor did you persuade a single Awakened to live here, just like your predecessor. Erlik, instead, found a solution to all my problems in a matter of months.

    ¡¯His symbiote will prolong my existence, so that once I Awaken, those centuries will turn into millennia, giving me the time I need to find a way to pass my knowledge onto a new generation and bing a second World Tree!¡¯

    ¡¯That¡¯s it? You¡¯re ming us for your failure to Awaken?¡¯ Leannan was bbergasted. ¡¯You still have plenty of time to Awaken, plus you could just entrust your knowledge to us. Death is not the end, just the beginning of a new cycle.

    ¡¯Plenty of us die every day, yet none of them sacrificed a whole city for petty reasons.¡¯

    ¡¯Plenty of time?¡¯ The Sapling sneered. ¡¯Without the symbiote, even if I were to Awaken tomorrow, it might not be enough. With the feeble minds you lesser beings have, the poption of the entire city can barely hold a fraction of the wisdom I gained through the millennia.

    ¡¯Also, it¡¯s easy for you to speak about life and death since you are still young. Once I die, you just have to find yourself a new Sapling, whereas I¡¯ll rot here, abandoned like trash.

    ¡¯I won¡¯t allow myself to just be a footnote in history! You should be grateful that I¡¯m still giving you the opportunity to prove me wrong. Erlik¡¯s greed knows no bounds, hence I can¡¯t trust him fully.

    ¡¯Sure, his alleged ally in the Council will Awaken both of us, but how much of my knowledge they¡¯ll demand in exchange? What if their method fails? In the past, I¡¯ve discovered at my expenses that the same technique doesn¡¯t work for everyone, especially for those belonging to a different race.¡¯

    ¡¯If you don¡¯t trust him, then why go along with his n?¡¯ Leannan asked.

    ¡¯You are hisst test. If Erlik doesn¡¯t manage to defeat you, it means that he¡¯s too weak to seed. I can¡¯t support a weakling, otherwise his Awakened master will just take what they want.¡¯ The usually strong voice of the Sapling was filled with doubt and desperation.

    Leannan could somewhat understand their reasons, but not condone their methods. The World Sapling was just looking for an easy way out, something that would have a steep price and that would take much more than it would give.

    Yet the Sapling didn¡¯t care because it wasn¡¯t the one paying the piper, otherwise it would have just asked to be turned into an undead.

    ¡¯Who is this Awakened master?¡¯ Leannan asked.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve clouded my mind to Erlik just like he did to me. I only know that it¡¯s an undead and it¡¯s very powerful, which is exactly the reason why I need Erlik to prove to me that he¡¯s more than a brilliant mind. So far, he disappointed me.¡¯ The Sapling replied.

    ¡¯Only one way to find out!¡¯ Leannan cut off the mind link that the tattoos on her back had created and requested the Sapling to activate the ancient ritual of the Chosen. The vortex of vines surrounding the contenders grew in size and power.

    Each one of them became covered in runes, suppressing all the artifacts within its premises and leaving the Sovereigns with nothing but their skill.

 Chapter 840 Clash of Titans Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 840 sh of Titans Part 2</h4>

    It was the ritual Leannan had resorted to in the past to rece the old Sovereign.

    ¡¯What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡¯ Erlik was bbergasted. ¡¯What about my army?¡¯

    ¡¯As long as you have me, you don¡¯t need an army.¡¯ The Sapling¡¯s voice was condescending. Even with his long life, Erlik was barely more than a seedling in the tree¡¯s eyes.

    ¡¯If they die, it means that they weren¡¯t worth the trouble I took in keeping them alive. The same stands for you.¡¯

    Erlik inwardly cursed. The Sapling was still a nt folk to the root. ns and deals didn¡¯t mean anything to it, only power. Leannan had unraveled his plot, predicted his moves, and even managed to hold her ground despite the fact that the Sapling was actively helping him.

    In the ancient tree¡¯s eyes, a stalemate under those conditions was as good as a defeat.

    ¡¯You old fool! You have no idea what you have just done.¡¯ Erlik thought.

    Now that the living array sealed him from the outside world, his contingency n in the case he was captured or gravely wounded sprang into action. The sacks of symbiote he had left inside of the treehouses belonged to a different strain than what he had used to infect the nt folk.

    It would take over its host, shaping the treehouse to resemble Erlik and give them part of his abilities.

    The moment that the mind link with Erlik was broken, the sacks released their content, turning the treehouses into Draugrlings. The monstrous titans were as tall as a five-storey building and moved to aid their master.

    Yet now that the bond with the Sapling was weakened, not even their orders could keep them from sharing the hunger of their maker. With each stride they took, the Draugrlings swung their massive limbs, catching a handful of nt folk that they swallowed whole to fuel their march.

    Erlik knew that he had no time to waste. Once the Draugrlings arrived, their priority would be to help their master, even if that meant attacking the Sapling. He could feel the ancient being bing more and more annoyed at him.

    A direct attack was likely to be thest straw that would break their deal.

    Erlik went all-out and activated all of the most powerful abilities of his undead race. Not only were Draugr much stronger than their alive counterpart, they could also increase their size at will without it affecting their speed.

    Unlike shapeshifting, the extra mass came from the victims that Erlik still stored inside his massive body, temporarily adding their flesh to his own. The transformation even temporarily boosted his blood core since when a Draugr ate, they didn¡¯t just consume the living matter but also the life essence of their victims.

    Part of their mana cores was preserved by the necromantic energies animating a Draugr and could be assimted to enhance their magical abilities. Yet it all came at a price.

    The transformation would not only put a heavy strain on the Draugr¡¯s energy reserve like what happened to Grendels, but also on their blood cores. Assimting foreign energy was akin to mana poisoning.

    Even though undead were naturally resistant to it, processing too much energy at once would not damage their bodies but it could break their cores, killing them on the spot.

    Erlik doubled in size, swinging his fists at Leannan.

    ¡¯Neither of us had the time to chant spells and even if she did, by now the strain of keeping them at the ready will make her an easy mark.¡¯ Erlik thought.

    The Titania managed to dodge the attack, but the Draugr had grown so big that he filled most of the arena the World Saplings had arranged for them. Erlik used the impact of his attack with the ground to lift his lower body and pivot on his knuckles to follow up with a kick from an unpredictable angle.

    Leannan grabbed the iing foot with both hands, exploiting the enemy precarious stance to lift him off the ground and throw him against the barrier surrounding them. The spinning vines struck Erlik¡¯s back with enough strength to damage even his augmented body and send him back in the middle of the ring, where Leannan was waiting for him.

    "Do you really think that size is the only thing that matters? Have you ever wondered where the word ¡¯titan¡¯es from?" The Titania said, striking at the Draugr¡¯s chest with her fist.

    Even in her Fae form, she looked smaller than a child ifpared with her opponent. Yet her attack smashed through the rotten bark, making a web of cracks spread from the point of impact to the edges of his limbs.

    Erlik was bbergasted, bust most of all he was confused. None of what was happening made sense to him.

    Just like Hydras and Dragons, there were Fae that kept their most powerful abilities hidden even from the members of their same race. Titanias¡¯s bodies were the result ofpressing their mass to the utmost limit.

    They could be even bigger than what Erlik was, but that would mean spreading their life force and offer a bigger target. Their line of evolution had progressed by favoring quality rather than quantity.

    The branchesing out of her head, the vines among her hair, and even the leaves decorating her forehead, were just vestigial parts that had been discarded over time.

    Erlik was sent bouncing against the wall of vines again, but he managed to regain his cool and put the experience of centuries to practice. Sapling or not, their mastery over the earth and water elements allowed Treants to manipte wood at will.

    It was one of the skills that he didn¡¯t lose when he had been turned into a Draugr. Their cage and even his own body were made of wood, hence Erlik could shapeshift them as he saw fit.

    Countless arms and mouths sprouted all over his body, chanting several spells at once, while wooden spikes infused with the darkness element were fired from his palms as if they were two enormous Gatling guns.

    All of this while he was still in mid-air.

    "Thanks for the lesson, but quantity has a quality all its own." The Draugr replied while his wound disappeared, making Faluel curse. Undead felt no pain nor fatigue. Only death andck of mana could stop them.

    "Gods, yes!" Friya said with an enthusiasm that left her opponent shocked since usually having your heart impaled was hardly cause for celebration.

    ¡¯This human must be an extreme masochist for...¡¯ Tyria the Redcap¡¯s mind went nk when she realized that, her halberd infused with enough darkness magic to kill a magical beast in one hit, had struck the right ce but the wrong target.

    The moment the Sapling had refused to obey Erlik, Friya had felt the space around herself rx, giving her back her best weapon. She had Switched herself with a Banshee who was her size so fast that Tyria had noticed Friya¡¯s voice actuallying from behind only when it was toote.

    The Banshee spat out a mouthful of ck blood, looking at the Redcap with angry eyes. Tyria ignored her and pulled the halberd out, lunging at the voice¡¯s point of origin without even looking.

    A vampire¡¯s senses were so keen that they could always find a target whose blood they had spilled. Friya had suffered several cuts during their short battle, making her an easy target.

 Chapter 841 Desperation Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 841 Desperation Part 1</h4>

    Or at least Friya was an easy target for the vampire back when she couldn¡¯t use dimensional magic.

    Friya switched herself with the vampire Redcap this time, cing the enemy in the right spot to skewer through a bbergasted Wraith¡¯s side and in front of the horizontal swing of a Treant¡¯s giant mace.

    Tyria involuntary assist paralyzed the Wraith long enough for the Treat to struck both of them at the same time, sending them flying. The Wraith died on the spot, her body was unable to endure the heavily enchanted hammer that had followed the deep wound caused by the halberd.

    Tyria fared much better. Pain wasn¡¯t a problem and healing wounds from a single strike wasn¡¯t a big deal. She Blinked a few times, to give her body the time to recover and keep Friya from Switching her again.

    "Not so fast!" Friya shed at the position from which Tyria had Blinked the first time, activating her personal spell, Dimensional Cut. It was an offensive spell, whose purpose was to destabilize space and make it copse, resulting in a devastating explosion.

    In this case, Dimensional Cut rode the ripples in space that Tyria¡¯s series of Blinks had left behind. It allowed Friya to exploit the still lingering mana to amplify the effect of her own spell and have it appear right in front of Tyria.

    "Fuck!" The vampire said while turning into her mist form. Blinking would have not only dragged along the golden fissure, but it would have also further boosted its power.

    The explosion opened a small crater in the ground, yet Tyria was unscathed. No matter how powerful, the st triggered by the dimensional spell was more physical than magical in nature, so it couldn¡¯t harm her now ethereal body.

    Yet a Vampire¡¯s Mist Form wasn¡¯t usually used inbat, or at least not on the entire body. It was a technique better suited to avoid a single attack or stalk prey. As long as Tyria was in her Mist Form, she could only use her innate true darkness spells since she was unable to speak and form hand signs.

    The smoke hid Friya Blinking where the Dimensional Cut had struck and, without her nose, Tyria didn¡¯t notice hering. Friya struck at the small mist cloud while unleashing a series of darkness pulses that forced the vampire Redcap back in her humanoid form.

    Tyria consumed all the blood stored in her hair to heal her wounds and release a barrage of silent spells at the same time. No one but her knew what abilities she had stored, so she was certain that thebined assault of her victim¡¯s skills would take the human by surprise.

    The wooden spikes that only a Treant could conjure erupted from the ground while the Origin mes of a Wyvern filled the air along with the corrupted ck lightning of a Jotunn.

    Unfortunately for Tyria, Friya knew everything about Redcaps. They were among the easiest opponents that a dimensional mage could face. A mage couldn¡¯t be hurt by their own mana, but the abilities Redcaps used were stolen and so was the energy empowering them.

    Professor Rudd had shared with her all of his knowledge about creatures with simr abilities and had instructed her about how to finish them in the quickest way possible. Friya knew that she couldn¡¯t possibly beat a more skilled and powerful opponent by ying fairly.

    Also, war wasn¡¯t a test of skill or honor, but only a matter of survival.

    Full Guard bestowed upon Friya full spatial awareness, while dimensional magic allowed her to exploit the chaos of the battlefield to Switch the position of the chess pieces and cheat her way to victory.

    Friya had resorted to attacking solely with the darkness pulses generated by her weapon as bait, to prepare the field for the spell she was keeping at the ready, Warp Steps. The dimensional door appeared in front of Friya who stepped out from its exit point, which appeared right in front of the surprised Redcap.

    Friya hopped past Tyria and used the vampire as a meat shield against the raging storm that was following her.

    Unlike Blink, Warp Steps would remain open as long as the mage provided it with mana. The skills that the Redcap had conjured could freely move through the dimensional door as well, hitting her with their full force.

    Friya was covered in wounds, old and new. Tyria had stabbed her when she hade out of the Steps and neither the vampire¡¯s body nor Friya¡¯s conjured shield had managed to fully block such a powerful onught.

    ¡¯So much for an easy opponent.¡¯ She thought while mending the most severe injuries and stopping the bleeding. Most of her hair was gone and her armor was charred from the mes and lightning. Yet she was alive and rtively safe.

    Before her death, Tyria had moved to a mostly empty area to keep Friya from Switching, so there were no enemies nearby. The Dimensional Mage wanted nothing more than dispel Full Guard and rest, but those were luxuries she couldn¡¯t afford.

    Friya remained at the fringes of the battlefield, searching for her friends or at least for an opportunity to turn the tides of the battle.

    Meanwhile, after Solus had unveiled for him the secret behind the Grendel¡¯s nigh-invulnerability, Lith released the spells stored inside his rings every time an opening appeared in Gremlik¡¯s offense.

    Phloria was looking for an opportunity to take part in the fight without hindering Lith¡¯s movements while also using the short respite to prepare a few new spells. Ka, instead, was still busy using Invigoration to close the deep wounds a single sh of the Grendel¡¯s ws had opened in her chest.

    ¡¯No wonder Grendels are considered on par with mythical beasts. For some reason, the wounds he has inflicted upon me have yet to heal, whereas in normal circumstances one breath of Invigoration would have been plenty.¡¯ She thought.

    Ka had no Solus, so she wasn¡¯t aware of Gremlik¡¯s body being fused with his blood core. It didn¡¯t just make him a mass of living elemental energies, it also involved the seventh element, the mana.

    The wounds Gremlik caused while in his Grendel form were both physical and magical, inflicting a slight mana poisoning upon his victim. It wasn¡¯t enough to threaten their mana core, but it still managed to scramble their mana flow and hinder the healing process.

    At first, both women didn¡¯t understand why Lith kept wasting his spells. Gremlik didn¡¯t even bother to dodge them, taking every time the full force of whatever Lith threw at him without a scratch.

    The creature seemed to be immune to direct damage, so they wondered why Lith didn¡¯t use spells that would at least grant him a tactical advantage.

    Yet when Lith cast his tier four spell, gue Storm, the Grendel dodged the hail of darkness bullets, giving Lith the first opportunity to catch his breath since they had started fighting.

    Gremlik wasn¡¯t the kind of opponent he could y with, and going all-out right from the bat was exhausting.

    "There¡¯s a limit to how much punishment the Grendel can take!" Phloria said. There was no other way to exin why Gremlik had tanked gue Arrows before but was now wary of them.

    "Is it?" Gremlik grinned, stabbing the floor with both his hands. The wooden floor withered and rotted as the Sapling¡¯s energy was devoured by the Grendel, refilling his core.

 Chapter 842 Desperation Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 842 Desperation Part 2</h4>

    Lith managed to take only one deep breath worth of energy with Invigoration before Gremlik darted toward him like a bullet. Lith dodged the charge, only to discover that he had never been the intended target.

    The undead was confident in his abilities, yet taking on two Awakened at once with a mage specialized in support magic backing them was a risk that he wasn¡¯t willing to take.

    Phloria was the weakest link in the chain, and once he took her out of the picture, the advantage from having endless energy coupled with his immunity to damage would be enough to ensure Gremlik¡¯s victory.

    Ka was on his same page, so she stood in front of Phloria and activated the weapons Scarlett the Scorpicore had made for her, the Bear ws.

    Ka had no martial training, so any kind of human weapon would be wasted on her. For that reason, Scarlett had Forgemastered metal covers for Ka¡¯s forelegs, allowing her to keep using the innate fighting style that she had developed as a bear first and as a Bykter.

    The Grendel shed at her with such strength that, even though Ka weighed over half a ton, she was almost thrown aside. The impact had even left nicks on her weapons and allowed Gremlik to get past her.

    ¡¯Dammit! Not even Invigoration can keep up with an undead feeding speed while fighting inside a living being. Magic is useless against the Grendel and he¡¯s physically superior to us.

    ¡¯Losing Phloria means losing our tactical advantage. If she falls, we¡¯ll follow soon after.¡¯ Ka thought.

    Watching Lith fight had given Phloria¡¯s eyes the time to get ustomed to Gremlik¡¯s speed and movement pattern, so the moment he appeared in front of her she was ready.

    Dodging and blocking were pointless, so she chose to escape upwards with a flight spell. Gremlik jumped to intercept her, but she suddenly changed her trajectory and moved back, gaining distance since the Grendel¡¯s inability to use any kind of spell prevented him from moving without touching the floor first.

    "Oh, fuck me..." Gremlik said while Phloria unleashed all of the spells in her rings at once without even a single one of them missing their target. Knowing that she would face only undead, most of them were darkness based.

    Most of them because for Phloria creating an opening was more important than dealing damage. The darkness element ate a good chunk of Gremlik¡¯s mana, but it was the fireball mixed with it that worried him.

    It sent him flying through the air, bringing the Grendel further away from the ground and close to Lith. Ruin was engulfed in darkness magic to the point that the de was hidden under the thickyer of energy.

    ¡¯Fuck, fuck, fuck! I can¡¯t let them bounce me to death.¡¯ Gremlik thought. As long as he was in mid-air, only gravity determined his speed, making his physical prowess useless.

    He undid his transformation, Blinking away in the nick of time before Ruin could strike at him. Yet the de didn¡¯t seem to notice, piercing through his chest until the hilt was stopped by his spine.

    ¡¯The dimensional blocking array is gone.¡¯ Solus didn¡¯t have Friya¡¯s keen spatial perception, but her mana sense worked just as well. Aside from her and Friya, no one else was aware of the change that the ritual of the Chosen had brought to the fight.

    At least until Lith Blinked as well, following Gremlik like a shadow.

    Ka¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s eyes sparkled at the idea of having their full battle prowess restored, whereas Gremlik felt his undeath slipping away from him. Ruin was a prototype, yet a very powerful weapon.

    His Dryad body was as durable as paper ifpared to his Grendel form. To make matters worse, the darkness infused in the de was the bane of the undead, and now that he wasn¡¯t infused with the elements anymore, it damaged both Gremlik¡¯s body and blood core.

    Luckily, Gremlik had Blinked near the ground, so he only had to grit his teeth to endure the pain and revert into a Grendel. Ruin was now trapped inside his body, and thanks to his nt physiology, Gremlik had shapeshifted so that, even though Lith had stabbed him in the back, they were face to face again.

    Gremlik was now taller than Lith and his huge mouth came down on the human to bite off his head while the Grendel¡¯s ws lunged at his lungs.

    Lith Blinked away, leaving his de behind along with another kind of present. He breathed a short jet of Origin mes right inside Gremlik¡¯s mouth before disappearing.

    Not even dimensional magic was fast enough, so Lith found four w marks on both sides of his ribs once he reappeared. The Orichalcum had barely managed to stop the wind des generated by the Grendel¡¯s sh.

    As for Gremlik, he recognized the Origin mes and put them out at the expense of another chunk of his life force. Together with darkness magic, Origin mes were one of the few things that could make an undead feel pain.

    With Ruin still nted in his chest, releasing wave after wave of darkness, Gremlik couldn¡¯t afford more distractions.

    ¡¯How the heck does this thing keep working without its master? I need to pull it out and feed.¡¯ The Grendel thought.

    Unfortunately for him, Ka begged to differ. She Blinked to his back, shing with her full force behind her Bear ws. Not only were they as sharp as a razor and as hard as a diamond, but they were also capable of channeling darkness magic and give it physical form.

    It served both to extend Ka¡¯s attack range and allow her to exploit her mastery of the darkness element in close quarters as well. Yet the senses and reflexes of a Grendel were enough to allow him to perceive the threat and react ordingly.

    The moment Ka¡¯s w grazed his weakened skin, Gremlik managed to spin on himself, sidestepping the Wight and moving to her back. He managed to sh at her twice before Phloria could Blink Ka to safety.

    Ka¡¯s was deeply wounded, but not in vain. The Grendel was getting weaker by the second thanks to Ruin still channeling Lith¡¯s magic. All the wounds Gremlik had sustained as a Dryad had been carried over so that if he didn¡¯t feed soon the umted damage would kill him.

    If they managed to keep him under pressure, it was their win. Yet if the Grendel tapped into the Sapling again, they wouldn¡¯t get another opportunity.

    Gremlik was aware of the stakes as well, but while the matter of who controlled Laruel was a life or death matter for the humans, no matter who won the battle, it wouldn¡¯t do him any good.

    If Leannan killed Erlik, all the undead in the room would have to run away or die. If Erlik triumphed, the Grendel would be forced to bend the knee, and once the Draugr Awakened, things would get even worse.

    Erlik would betray the Courts and fall from their grace, dragging Gremlik with him. Yet While the Draugr would achieve his Awakening and obtain a ce in the Council for it, Gremlik would be left with nothing but an eternity of servitude ahead of himself.

    Erlik wouldn¡¯t Awaken him and the Courts would mark him as a traitor, turning Laurel into his prison.

 Chapter 843 Desperation Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 843 Desperation Part 3</h4>

    Gremlik¡¯s initial n had been to steal Erlik¡¯s research and to take his ce as the new ruler of Laruel. The first part had seeded, but he had never expected that the Draugr would pay with the Sapling instead of dominating it.

    The need to obtain the Sapling¡¯s consent made it impossible for Gremlik to take Erlik¡¯s ce, and with it his chance to Awaken. On top of that, even if the Grendel managed to escape from the city, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the stolen data.

    Finding another Sapling and persuading it to share its knowledge was possible, but if Leannan had really unraveled Erlik¡¯s plot, then the other city-states would lock the undead out to make sure that Laruel¡¯s situation didn¡¯t happen again.

    Dying by the hand of the humans, being the Courts¡¯ errand boy, or serving Erlik were all the same for him. Gremlik was tired of running away, tired of obeying to people who were barely half as smart as he was, but his power never seemed to match his ambition.

    He pulled Ruin out of his chest and threw it away before charging at his enemies.

    ¡¯I have only one chance to get out of here on top. I need to survive until one of the new Sovereign is chosen. Then, I¡¯ll see if all of my preparations pay off or if I¡¯ve just wasted my life.¡¯ Gremlik thought.

    A group of fighters stumbled on the scene, but while Lith and the others had to spend more energy to get rid of the new enemies, Gremlik killed the undead and gobbled a wounded Fae. It was a far cry from filling his core, but enough to close his wounds.

    Meanwhile, inside the Sapling¡¯s barrier, between the darkness infused wooden spikes, the impending hail of spells, and Erlik¡¯s giant form, Leannan the Titania had been painted into a corner.

    Her only trick left was to fuse with the wooden floor and use the traitorous World Sapling as a shield.

    "Curse you, Leannan. Come out and fight!" Erlik roared in outrage after seeing his best shot fail miserably. Not only the ability Leannan had employed was one of the many he had lost after being turned, but had also made him waste lots of mana.

    Unlike true mages, a fake mage would consume their energy the moment they started to cast a spell, no matter if theypleted it or not. Erlik wasn¡¯t an Awakened, so he couldn¡¯t follow the movements of the Titania¡¯s energy signature while she moved inside the wood.

    "Like you did after infiltrating my city?" Leannan¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm. "You turned the Sapling against me, so it¡¯s only fair for me to return you the favor."

    "We¡¯ll see about that!" Erlik snarled, wing at the floor with his giant hands. It would allow him to feed upon the Sapling, regain his lost strength, and smoke Leannan out.

    She could have been everywhere, but thanks to the many extra limbs he had sprouted, the Draugr would cover the entirety of the floor, leaving her no choice but to face him or be his meal. Two birds with one stone.

    The Sapling quaked once again in indignation. In all of its life, it had always been an apex predator, yet now it stooped as low as a dog infested with fleas. The Sapling hated being helpless while the undead kept sucking on its lifestream, but it had no choice.

    To defend itself it needed either the help of a Sovereign or topletelye out of its slumber. The former had yet to be chosen while thetter would mean reducing the centuries left of its lifespan into a few decades.

    The World Sapling¡¯s pain intensified and Erlik shared it through their bond.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. Even if all my followers were to feed upon the Sapling at the same time, it should be the equivalent of a mosquito bite to it. Why is it shaking so much and why do I feel such pain? The ritual was supposed to cut off our mind link.¡¯ Erlik was right, of course.

    The source of the pain they were both experiencing wasn¡¯t the feeding, nor the ongoing battle outside the wooden arena. It was Leannan poisoning the tree with a massive amount of darkness magic that was being sucked in by the Draugr, poisoning him as well.

    ¡¯If I get out of here alive, I¡¯ll make sure that this Sapling gets its due.¡¯ Leannan thought. ¡¯I won¡¯t stand living with such a fickle and egotistical creature. It has betrayed me once, it might as well do it again.¡¯

    Erlik reverted to his regr size while his bark started to fall apart. By feeding upon the darkness element, he had unknowingly allowed it to directly reach his blood core, causing it to copse.

    "I underestimated your ruthlessness, Sovereign." Erlik¡¯s body broke down, starting from his knees. Too weakened to bear his massive weight, they snapped and forced him to kneel. "I thought that you Fae considered the Sapling as a sacred being.

    "Tainting its very essence with darkness magic might shorten its lifespan..."

    Leannan¡¯s right hand bloomed behind the Draugr, slowly and without making a sound. It unleashed a tier five darkness spell that turned him into dust.

    ¡¯It¡¯s over, you damn fool!¡¯ Leannan¡¯s thoughts were louder than a scream. ¡¯I won the duel, reaffirming my right to rule and proving you that there¡¯s nothing undead can offer you that I can¡¯t. Now stop blocking dimensional magic and kill the invaders.¡¯

    The Sapling¡¯s reply surprised the Titania. During all those years, she had never heard the ancient tree wail.

    ¡¯What did you do to me? First, your allies attacked me, then you poisoned me, and now this? Cease your attack immediately!¡¯ The Sapling¡¯s words made no sense to her. The creature was in agony, making all of its threats sound empty.

    The ancient Fae was screaming non-stop, refusing to obey even the simplest of her orders.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not doing anything. Stop the fight before more nt folk die because of your madness!¡¯ Leannan thought.

    ¡¯She¡¯s right, old fool. It¡¯s me.¡¯ Gremlik¡¯s voice interrupted their conversation.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t work so hard just to be someone else¡¯s pawn so I spiced up Erlik¡¯s tissues with a bit of my own. My n was to use them to get rid of him once he killed Leannan, but I guess this will have to do.

    ¡¯Beware, you World Moron, a Grendel¡¯s tissues aren¡¯t as kind as a Draugr¡¯s. They¡¯re spreading through your roots even as we speak, devouring everything in their path.¡¯

    With Erlik¡¯s death, the gue had disappeared from Laruel and all the infected had been cured. The only exception was the Draugrlings that were still walking toward the Sapling and the bundles of tissues that had allowed Erlik tomune with the Sapling before it could bestow its blessing upon him.

    Those were the only tissues that Gremlik had contaminated with his own, keeping them as hisst trump card.

    The Draugrlings screamed in agony as the entirety of their bodies was shaken by both the death of their former master and the rise of their new one. Their sudden transformation threw the protectors of Laruel into a panic.

    Being replicas of Erlik, the treehouses had resembled a Treant, whereas now they assumed the monstrous appearance of Grendels. The creatures were much more voracious now, making the nt folk a measly meal for them.

 Chapter 844 Desperation Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 844 Desperation Part 4</h4>

    The Grendelings started to bite at the surrounding treehouses, feeding off the Sapling¡¯s essence that coursed through them while tendrilsing out of their feet dug deep enough in the ground to reach the Sapling¡¯s roots.

    Between the corruption spreading throughout its body and the Grendelings¡¯ mayhem, the Sapling was suffering as it had never happened in millennia.

    ¡¯My terms are simple.¡¯ Gremlik¡¯s voice invaded the mind link between Leannan and the ancient tree. ¡¯Kill all the humans, surrender yourself to me, and imprison all the nt folk of Laruel.

    ¡¯If you do that, I¡¯ll let you live and I will uphold the same deal you had with Erlik. My tissues can prolong your life just as well as his. Once Laruel is under my rule, we¡¯ll Awaken together. Refuse and I will kill you.¡¯

    ¡¯Why would I trust you?¡¯ The Sapling¡¯s mind was filled with pain and outrage. ¡¯Awakened or not, I would still be under your thumb. You don¡¯t want a partner, you want a ve!¡¯

    ¡¯Please.¡¯ Gremlik said with a sneer. ¡¯How could I possibly trust you? First you betrayed your own kin, then Erlik. I just want to make sure that the third time is the charm. Besides, I could say the same thing about you.

    ¡¯Without my contingency measure, what would stop you from killing me once I¡¯ve outlived my usefulness?¡¯

    ¡¯The same reason why I needed Erlik.¡¯ The Sapling replied. ¡¯As you said, I¡¯ve betrayed my kin. Once I Awaken, I¡¯ll be an outcast and the undead will be my only possible family!¡¯

    Those words shook Leannan to the root, making her understand how deep was the madness twisting the Sapling¡¯s mind.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not Erlik! I don¡¯t care about family or the undead, only about myself. It¡¯s been too long since I had a proper feast and I can¡¯t wait to eat some nt folk. Now bend the knee or die!¡¯ Gremlik said.

    ¡¯You insolent whelp. If I interrupt my slumber, I¡¯d have all the power I need to kill you.¡¯ The Sapling rebuked him.

    ¡¯With your roots rotting and my Grendelings I¡¯m sure that I will manage to escape, whereas you¡¯d be left with just a few years left to live. Unlike you, I¡¯ve got nothing to lose.¡¯

    The rage and desperation in the Grendel¡¯s thoughts struck at the Sapling like a p. The two of them were like the two sides of the same coin. Gremlik had eternal life but nothing to live for, whereas the Sapling had little time left and too much to lose.

    Yet the thought didn¡¯t garner the Grendel any pity, only more spite.

    The World Sapling tried to kill the insolent undead with its arrays, only to discover that the gue not only affected its body, but also its mind as well. For the first time in millennia, the ancient nt folk was helpless.

    The moment the Sapling had bestowed upon Erlik themunion runes, Gremlik had used the anomaly that having two Sovereigns at the same time created to mess up with the Sapling¡¯s mind without it noticing.

    While the Grendel¡¯s mind delivered the ultimatum, his body exploited the chaos on the battlefield to slip away from Lith¡¯s group and run toward Leannan. With her dead, the ancient nt folk would lose itsst means of defense and be forced to surrender.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no other way, my chosen Sovereign. You must kill the undead and free me from his grasp.¡¯ The Sapling¡¯smanding tone, as if nothing had changed between them, bbergasted Leannan.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, the Grendelings were proving to be more formidable enemies than a Draugr ever could. They couldn¡¯t fly nor Warp, but nothing the defenders of the city had attempted left a scratch on them.

    Their size made physical attacks pointless and the amount of elemental energy empowering them nullified even tier five spells with ease.

    "It¡¯s a pointless struggle." Ka-Trouble said. "As long as they can feed upon treehouses, even if we manage to damage them, they can easily recover."

    "Yet we have to stop them." Marth said. "Such creatures cannot be left alive. They are a walking disaster. Once they finish destroying Laruel, they¡¯ll consume everything in their path."

    "I wonder why Erlik didn¡¯t activate them sooner." Quy pondered. The answer was that they had only been meant as ast resort to escape in the case that the Sapling didn¡¯t agree with Erlik or Leannan managed to find him before they closed the deal.

    Such monstrosities were a breach of the pact between the undead and the Sapling. They were living proof of Erlik¡¯s ability to infect not only nt folk, but the Sapling as well.

    To make matters worse, they would never fit into the castle, so Erlik couldn¡¯t even use them during the final battle.

    "Our only hope is that they are not full Grendels and they have only recently mutated." Ka said. "They are a living-undead hybrid, and undead are at their weakest during infancy. We must strike them down before their condition stabilize."

    The ck eye of the undead Balor turned into a ck sun, blotting the night sky with its ck light. It emitted a pir of energy the size of a freight train that stuck a Grendeling right in its chest.

    The creature copsed to the ground while the transformation came partially undone, reverting its upper body into a tree. A volley of ice and darkness spells rained upon the fallen Grendeling.

    The massive onught of tier five spells managed to keep the creature from turning back into a Grendel and killed it on the spot.

    "That was amazing! Why didn¡¯t you do that earlier?" Quy asked.

    "Because it took me everything I have to project so much energy. Any more and this body will revert into a corpse. I¡¯m too far away to raise it again if it falls." Ka replied. The Balor¡¯s wings pped clumsily now that the darkness element animating it was almost depleted.

    "The good news is that Grendelings aren¡¯t immune to magic like they would like us to believe, the bad news is that to break through their defenses with conventional spells it takes too much energy."

    "Are you suggesting we should just give up?" Marth asked.

    "Do you have a better idea?"

    Before they could continue, one of the mages from the ground called them down.

    "Look at that." A middle-aged woman pointed at the Sapling¡¯s roots that were now visible under the road pavement. They were ckened and full of blisters that popped as if something was burning them from the inside.

    Along the dead creature¡¯s path, there were several holes in the ground, corresponding to each one of its steps. To give life to such a humongous creature, Gremlik¡¯s symbiote required a lot of energy.

    Feeding off the treehouses wasn¡¯t enough, so the Grendelings used the Sapling¡¯s roots as their power line. All the healers immediately came to the same realization.

    "They are not invincible. If we get them away from the ground or cut their feet, they will notst long." Marth said.

    "Indeed. The question is: how?" Ka sneered.

    "Well, we can either cause a quake strong enough to make them fall, or we can kill that damn Sapling." Marth¡¯s reply left everyone dumbfounded, but it made sense. If not for the Sapling¡¯s betrayal, none of that would have happened.

    "I don¡¯t think we can kill such a powerful creature with our small numbers, but I think we can do the best next thing." Quy exined her idea to them, obtaining their unanimous approval.

 Chapter 845 Hard Times Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 845 Hard Times Part 1</h4>

    Withoutmunication amulets, it took Quy¡¯s group a while to assemble the rest of the mages and share their n with them. The mages from the three great Countries moved ahead of the creatures¡¯ path and used their spells to unearth the Sapling¡¯s roots.

    They were already rotting and sizzling from the inside due to Gremlik¡¯s gue working its way toward the main body. All of the energy that the Sapling spent trying to block the infection only made the parasite more powerful, which was good news for the humans.

    The mages cast their strongest darkness spells on the roots at the same time. Quy waited for the others to be done, weakening the underground leviathan before unleashing her tier five spell, ck Light.

    Normally, darkness magic would only affect the area where it struck.

    ck Light, instead, used the light element to carry the darkness energy throughout its victim¡¯s body. Not only did light magic allow its dark counterpart to spread as quickly as a healing spell, but it also enhanced darkness¡¯ destructive power.

    The light element forced the damaged tissues to heal, wasting the vitality they needed to resist the darkness element¡¯s onught and inducing the same effects of prolonged starvation due to the consumption of nutrients.

    ck Light caused a cycle of healing and destruction that doubled the speed with which its victim¡¯s life force was sapped. Quy didn¡¯t have enough mana to affect an enemy that big, but thebined effect of ck Light, the parasite, and the other mages¡¯ spells did the trick.

    The root withered and died, causing to the Sapling a pain so great that the entirety of Laruel quaked. Leaves fell from the treetops as the tremors intensified to the point that it was impossible to stay upright.

    Without their nourishment, the Grendelings first tried to sustain themselves by draining treehouses. Then, once the creatures discovered that their prey had been turned into regr trees, they started to fight against each other.

    The mages targeted solely the strongest Grendeling, changing target as soon as the tides of battle turned. By always siding with the losing Grendelings, by the time a victor emerged, thest creature standing was half cannibalized.

    It took them only a few more spells to put it down.

    Meanwhile, Leannan was trying to use her tattoos to tap into the Sapling¡¯s power and kill the invaders, but something was wrong. She couldn¡¯t make the Sapling move nor ess to any of its arrays, leaving her reinforcements still locked out of Laruel.

    ¡¯First the undead, now the humans. Don¡¯t you see that they are killing me? Why don¡¯t you do something?¡¯ The ancient nt folk asked.

    Leannan cursed the Sapling¡¯s betrayal and blocked Gremlik¡¯s ws with her arm protector. Somehow, he had aimed them exactly at her weak point, the flower that acted as the core of her power.

    "Nice armor." The Grendel was surprised by both her reflexes and equipment. Few were fast enough to match his speed and even fewer things could stop a Grendel¡¯s mana infused ws.

    Now that the ritual of the Chosen was over, she could finally use her artifacts again. Gremlik would have loved to employ his own as well, but among Grendels¡¯ weaknesses, there was the inability to use magical items in their battle form.

    By fusing their blood core with their bodies, theycked even the magic spark necessary to activate an alchemical tool. The transformation altered even their energy signature so that the items that Gremlik had imprinted in his Dryad form didn¡¯t recognize him as their master.

    Leannan took her twin battle hammers out of her dimensional amulet and started her offensive. Each one of her weapons was so big that to a regr human they would have been too unbnced to wield it with two hands and too heavy for a one-handed grip.

    Yet to a creature of her size, they were just perfect. On top of that, they allowed her to express the full potential of her physical prowess. A de would require more skill than strength to cut, whereas a blunt weapon transmitted to its victim every iota of its wielder power.

    Each time she used them to block or deflect an attack, golden threads would form between the hammerheads and the Grendel¡¯s ws. At first, Gremlik had no idea what they could be meant for.

    They were weightless and ethereal, making it impossible for his mana infused w to cut them. The same happened whenever the hammers hit their mark, leaving new threads behind.

    Leannan took several hits as well, but between her protections and her regenerative abilities, she sustained only minor injuries. To keep his Grendel form, Gremlik required a lot of energy and now that Erlik was dead, the tendril of the Sapling that had followed Gremlik like a loyal dog was gone.

    ¡¯Damn, I need to feed or she will end me. Why doesn¡¯t the Sapling make its mind? By now the gue should have reached it and my Grendelings should have taught it a lesson in humility.¡¯ He thought, unaware that Erlik¡¯s prized contingency n had already been foiled.

    Gremlik jumped back, to both avoid a horizontal swing and to put some distance between himself and the frenzied Titania. Only then did he discover what the golden threads¡¯ purpose was.

    The moment his feet left the ground, they became tangible, allowing Leannan to drag him back into her attack range while he had no defense but swinging his arms wildly in the attempt to cut the strings that held him prisoner.

    A Grendel was fast, so he managed to cut one of the threads before they turned intangible again.

    "What the...?" Leannan¡¯s hammer cut him short and hit his arms with the strength of an avnche.

    To add insult to the literal injury that the strike inflicted upon him, a new golden thread was now binding the Grendel¡¯s arm to the hammer, recing the only tendril of light he had managed to destroy.

    Leannan¡¯s war hammers, War Shackles, were the relic left from an expert of the light element. Their purpose was to make it impossible for the enemy to escape after the fight had started.

    The tendrils were intangible only when the wielder of the Shackles willed so. Leannan could choose which and how many threads would turn into hard light constructs, turning her enemy into an unwilling puppet.

    Gremlik wasn¡¯t allowed to step away unless Leannan wished for it. During their exchanges. she had attached enough threads on him that she could alter the trajectory of his attacks simply by swinging her weapons.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! That weapon is a nightmare for a zoner like me. By locking the range of the fight, it also keeps mages from preparing new spells. The only question is if it¡¯s possible to escape its prison with Blink.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯In theory, yes.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯I¡¯m pretty sure that threads have a limited range and that light magic or not, the closing of a dimensional door would also cut the energy they are made of.

    ¡¯Dimensional magic is based on gravity, and gravity bends light.¡¯

    ¡¯I wish I knew the secret behind hard light constructs. It would open endless possibilities for my Forgemastering.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Leannan shared such desire as well. She had researched light magic for years, looking for a way to weaponize the light element, but even inside the Sapling¡¯s library, only healing spells were recorded.

 Chapter 846 Hard Times Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 846 Hard Times Part 2</h4>

    Erlik¡¯s defeat had greatly affected the battlefield. The undead believed that without their leader, even if somehow they managed to kill the Titania and her Fae guards, it would be a hollow victory.

    They were unaware of Gremlik¡¯s contingency n and were expecting that the reinforcements from the other city-states would arrive shortly to finish them off. The moment one of Erlik¡¯s followers managed to disengage from their opponent, they Warped away with no care for their allies.

    With the enemy side¡¯s number thinning and Ka being able to devote her full attention to her minions, the Fae were quickly gaining the upper hand. Phloria stood guard at the Wight while Lith and Friya backstabbed one undead after the other.

    They would have loved to help Leannan and kill Gremlik, but the Titania kept him too close to her for them to have a clear shot at the Grendel.

    Gremlik knew that as well, so he tried to finish the fight in ast burst of strength, hoping that losing its only means to interact with the outside world would force the Sapling to surrender to his will.

    The Grendel had no magical equipment, but his battle experience was vastly superior to that of the Fae and so were all of his physical abilities. Also, he had fed upon the Sapling multiple times, whereas Leannan hadn¡¯t got a single opportunity to rest.

    Her fight with Erlik had drained her mana, which was the reason why she had opted for a match of pure strength. Every time the Grendel struck at her, she could feel her body snap under her protections.

    Gremlik was able to strike with the ws on both his hands and feet, biting whenever she came too close. His whole body was a weapon, forcing Leannan to move her grip near the hammerheads to be able to swing them in time now that Gremlik stuck so close to her that she could smell the stench of decay from his breath.

    She could feel her protections getting weaker, her body¡¯s regenerative abilities soon wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with the damage she kept sustaining, whereas each time her opponent bit off a chunk of her flesh, he regained part of his strength and health.

    "Finish him!" Leannan yelled, throwing away her hammers with all the strength she had left while making every single golden thread turn tangible.

    Gremlik struck at her onest time, plunging his ws deep into her body and almost reaching the flower that was her core. Even after bing an undead, he had kept a Dryad¡¯s affinity with life that allowed their kin to always find their target¡¯s weak spot.

    It was the Dryads¡¯ only real offensive talent besides magic.

    Despite his speed and the opponent being wide open, he could barely graze the flower before the threads sent him flying away. Leannan¡¯s strength was so great that the hammers pierced deep into the wooden walls.

    The golden threads were so many that they formed a that restricted Gremlik¡¯s movement. His ws and fangs ripped the energy threads as if they were made of silk, but it was still not fast enough.

    A barrage of spells rained upon him from every side, depleting the mana inside his body. Gremlik was forced to revert into his Dryad form since not even feeding off the wall provided him with enough energy to withstand the attack.

    ¡¯What are you waiting for?¡¯ Gremlik sent his thoughts to the Sapling. ¡¯Do you really think that anyone will trust you anymore? I¡¯m your only hope.¡¯

    To make his argument even morepelling, Gremlik made the infection stop hurting the Sapling, but didn¡¯t stop its spreading. If he really had to die, he didn¡¯t want to die alone.

    The sudden relief from pain gave the Sapling enough rity to probe Leannan¡¯s weakened mind and discover her ns about getting rid of the Sapling once the fight was over.

    The ancient nt folk cursed its bad luck and started to form a new contract with the Grendel. The runes appeared on Gremlik¡¯s arms and shoulders, just before his bodypletely turned into dust.

    Where the Grendel had been stuck until a second ago, now there was a giant hole that allowed to see the city outside. Everyone had cast their tier five spells without caring for the Sapling.

    The creature tried to talk with the Titania, but she broke their link by her own will, making the runes on her body disappear.

    "The undead threat is over." Leannan said in hermunication amulet, speaking with the other Fae leaders. "I need your help to evacuate the city and take the humans back home. After that, we have to take care of the Sapling."

    ***

    A few dayster, Laruel¡¯s crisis was solved and the city-state was no more. The Sapling had tried to exin its reason, but had met only deaf ears. Erlik¡¯s death while they were still linked had damaged its mind, while Gremlik¡¯s parasite had deeply affected its roots andpromised its body.

    Even if it decided topletely exit its slumber and run away, the other Saplings would always be able to locate it, forcing it to spend the few years it had left on the run.

    Lith and the others could finally return home, spending the rest of their vacation home. Jirni didn¡¯t manage to find Manohar, who only reappeared monthster, once he was done with his project.

    Yet it didn¡¯t affect her career nor it influenced Phloria¡¯s trial. Purging the Night Court out of Othre was still a huge sess, something that had been considered a pipe dream for decades.

    The prisoners that Jirni had taken and the documents she had recovered would give the Kingdom a lot of work to do in the future, easing the pressure that the undead invasion from Jiera was causing.

    The Magic Empress, Milea Genys, rejoiced of all that good news, yet wished she had a few of her own. The cure to Erlik¡¯s gue had still set a terrifying precedent, forcing the city-states to further iste themselves and depriving the Empire of the nt folk¡¯s reinforcements.

    The battle against Veeza the Lich was at a stalemate. Both the Empress¡¯ patience and resources were growing thin while she searched for a way to end the conflict once and for all.

    "Killing a goddamn Lich is nigh impossible!" Milea mmed her fists on the wooden table where her generals had just finished setting the maps and miniatures that represented the opposing armies¡¯ numbers and positions.

    "No matter how many times I defeat her, Veeza always returns. Every corpse we fail to retrieve bes a new member of her army. How the heck did this situation never happen before?"

    "Two reasons. First, Liches rarely have any interest in conquest. The only thing that drives someone to be a Lich is the obsession with the magical research since by the time one achieves Lichhood things like love or revenge lose any meaning." Leegaain exined.

    "Undeath clouds most of their mortal feelings, making only their obsessions survive. Second, usually raising greater undead is a problem. You have to feed them and you have to somehow keep them by your side since they have a will of their own.

 Chapter 847 Dograth Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 847 Dograth Part 1</h4>

    "Veeza solved the feeding problem with the war and ensured the loyalty of her followers by offering them a new home. The undead from Jiera are desperate enough to keep spawning and brainwash their own infants to keep the war going.

    "So far, there¡¯s never been such a high poption of undead. They are so egotistical that they can barely unite under the banner of the undead Courts, let alone work together in an army.

    If not for Veeza, the battle would havested only the time for the first sun to rise." Leegaain said.

    Undead could move and fight freely only during the night, but during those few hours they were almost unstoppable and no matter if wound or maimed would regain their full strength just by eating, whereas Milea¡¯s men needed to rest and recover after each battle.

    "You are a Guardian and the protector of the Empire at that. Why do you still refuse to help me? All of my ns about the academies, all the preparations to colonize Jiera, heck, even my ns to find apanion to ease my loneliness have been dyed." Milea asked.

    "That¡¯s amon misconception among humans. Guardians aren¡¯t protectors of any race, only of the bnce. Otherwise we should protect the humans from the undead, the beasts from the humans, and the monsters from the beasts." The Father of all Dragons replied.

    "Why do you think Tyris didn¡¯t intervene despite the fact that Laruel falls within her area of influence? Why do you think I apparently sit idly while your people get ughtered?

    "Because whether Laruel fell or survived, whether Veeza triumphs or not, it would just tip the bnce, not break it. Just like carnivores cannot outnumber herbivores too much without starving, the same stands between living and undead.

    "Also, if we intervened, neither the rulers of the countries nor their subjects would learn their lesson. They would justmit any atrocity thates to their mind that grants them short term advantages, thinking that if something goes wrong, we Guardians will fix things for them."

    "I get it, but this crisis happened because of Jiera, not us. For once we¡¯re innocent." Milea replied.

    "I agree, but look at things from my point of view. Now the entirety of Mogar knows about Jiera¡¯s downfall and will strive not to make the same mistake. Laruel¡¯s events allowed the three great Countries to work side by side for the first time in centuries.

    "Veeza¡¯s military sess has demonstrated to all of you the danger that a mass migration poses. In your story, you are the hero who defends innocent people, but in the undead¡¯s eyes, it¡¯s Veeza the one gantly fighting to give them a home and a future while you¡¯re the bad guy who wants to exterminate them just because of who they are.

    "If you talked with any of the undead, they would tell you that they are innocent as well and that they just want to find a new ce for themselves. Both of you are right, both of you have the right to live, yet someone has to die." Leegaain said.

    "Are you saying that I should request a truce? Give them somends?" Milea¡¯s voice was full of sarcasm.

    "By the Great Mother, no. Veeza is batshit crazy, negotiating is impossible. Also, any form ofpromise would require for you to give humans to the undead as cattle and for the undead to keep their numbers to a controlled amount.

    "A sacrifice that I doubt neither of the two parties is willing to make for peace, yet they¡¯ll dly do it for war. After all, isn¡¯t your army thinning their numbers? Aren¡¯t the undead already capturing life forms to sustain their existence?"

    "Then what should I do?" She asked.

    "Win, and make it quick. Only by defeating Veeza you¡¯ll prove to the other Liches that are watching at the war, waiting to make their move, that there¡¯s no victory in war, only destruction."

    "How am I supposed to do that? I can fight her, I can beat her, but I can¡¯t kill her!" Milea mmed her fists again, making the table copse under the weight of her hit.

    "That¡¯s where Ie into y. I will not help you directly, but I will share with you my strategies." Leegaain replied.

    "Why now? This damn war has been going on for months."

    "Because it gave you and your generals lots of experience in dealing with the undead. It showed you where the weak points of your domestic defenses are, and most importantly, it has nipped in the bud the divide that was opening between mages and normal citizens of the Empire.

    "It forced them to put aside their differences and fight together. Also, it made you and your aids better rulers. Sooner orter, once you¡¯ll step down from the throne, your legacy will allow the Empire to prosper, just like the Kingdom did.

    "Once Sark steps down, instead, the Blood Desert will fall into chaos. They are too reliant on her, forcing their leader to hold a whole country on her shoulders." Leegaain exined.

    Milea could understand his point of view and how precious those lessons were. Yet she wasn¡¯t an immortal. In her eyes, the price that the present had to pay to ensure the people of the Garlen continent a better future was enormous.

    "Okay, oh great one. Enlighten me."

    ***

    A few dayster, Milea was done with the preparations and was ready to execute Leegaain¡¯s n.

    Everything had gone smoothly because due to the war, both the army and the Magic Council of the Empire had been purged of those who had reached their position only thanks to their family¡¯s influence rather than their own individual talent.

    War had put all the upper echelons of the Empire to the test, and ipetence couldn¡¯t be tolerated when it cost thousands of lives or made the Empire lose dozens of kilometers of fertilend.

    The chosen ce for the attack was, as usual, the Twin Fortresses of Dograth.

    They marked a geographical bottleneck that had prevented the human army from advancing ever since Veeza had personally captured the two strongholds during the first days of war.

    Undead were at their weakest during the day, but they still managed to hold their forts thanks to the members of their kin who had no such problems, their living thralls who shared only the perks of undeath, and the people who served the undead because their families were held hostages.

    The day Milea put Leegaain¡¯s n into action, the undead controlling the twin cities didn¡¯t notice anything out of the ordinary.

    The Empire¡¯s army attacked Dograth at dawn, trying to capture as many strongholds as they could before sundown. It was a gruesome battle since the castles¡¯ walls didn¡¯t need many people to defend them.

    Not with the full power of the city arrays under the undead¡¯s control. Veeza had started the war during winter because the days were short and the nights long, so Milea¡¯s men had just a few hours before Veeza¡¯s unrelenting army swept them away, forcing them on the defensive.

    The frontlines moved back and forth ording to the sr cycle. If a fortress wasn¡¯t conquered before sundown, all the people that had died on the human¡¯s side would have sacrificed themselves for nothing.

    The undead generals watched at the unfolding events with a mix of boredom and conceit.

 Chapter 848 Dograth Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 848 Dograth Part 2</h4>

    "It seems that the humans are losing hope. Today they are sloppier than usual, spreading their forces too much to be effective." Sukhet the Banshee said on hismunication amulet.

    "Agreed. This way they¡¯ll aplish nothing but being swept away as soon as our main force wakes up." Angorn the Lamia replied.

    As time went by, the conceit disappeared from their voices, reced by genuine worry. The humans were just pretending to attack the twin fortresses, using that time to set up something.

    The undead generals¡¯ problem was that they had no way to stop them. The humans were employing just enough manpower to force them on the defensive, but nothing more.

    If the undead deactivated the dimensional arrays sealing the cities to move their troops, they would also open themselves to an invasion. The same would happen if they sent part of their main force outside.

    The few elite undead able to stay awake despite the sunlight would be ughtered simply due to the enemy¡¯s numerical advantage. Undead grew more powerful with age, so even though they could increase their numbers quickly, the loss of a single elder was more severe than losing a thousand newborns.

    To make matters worse, undead capable of moving during the day were rare, and those who had developed their skills to the point of not being too severely hampered by sunlight were even rarer.

    The humans worked relentlessly,pletely surrounding the twin fortresses from all sides, building some sort of device too far away for any kind of spell to reach them.

    When night came, the Empire¡¯s army hadpletely retreated behind their border without even trying to hold thend reconquered by day. The generals had already reported everything to Veeza, who easily understood what was going on.

    "It¡¯s just as you suspect. The humans haveid a trap that¡¯s as obvious as it is ingenious." She said. Veeza had left plenty of surveince devices near all the nerve centers of her just founded empire.

    She was younger than her generals, butpared to them, her knowledge of the mystical arts was boundless.

    While most undead had spent half their existence asleep and the other half searching for a meal or in pursuit of personal glory, she had devoted thest few centuries to the study of magic, without taking a single hour of rest.

    "My surveince devices allowed me to spy on the human¡¯s workings. They have built several long-distance Warping arrays." Veeza¡¯s finger pointed at the four corners around each fortress.

    They were far away enough to not be affected by the city¡¯s arrays but close enough to allow the reinforcements troops to coordinate with the Empire¡¯s army and perform a multi pincered attack on Dograth.

    "If we ignore the Gates and fight as usual, the armiesing out of the dimensional tunnels will conquer the city and our army will end up ughtered. If we try to attack the arrays, instead, we¡¯ll offer our back to the enemy and split our forces too much for them to be effective."

    "Have we lost months¡¯ worth of war in a single day?" Angorn the Lamia asked. The old general clenched his fist in disbelief.

    "Of course not." Veeza sneered. "This is a good trap, but there¡¯s a reason why no one uses this strategy anymore. First, to seed the Empress has to mobilize at least two army¡¯s worth of troops, which means leaving her own castles unprotected.

    "Second, such Gates can turn the tides of the battle both ways. If we manage to conquer and keep even just one of them active, we¡¯ll have a way to attack the Empire from the inside.

    "At that point, all we have to do is to destroy their food supply and poison their water. The humans have chosen to try and gamble everything on this battle, but there¡¯s no reason for us to do the same.

    "We¡¯ll fall for their trap, but only because we can exploit it to deal our enemies a much bigger blow than that they¡¯ll inflict upon us."

    Veeza decided to y it safe. After all, time was on the undead¡¯s side. The longer the warsted, the more elite troops she would manage to raise while the human¡¯s resources would start to dwindle.

    She had captured the Empire¡¯s most fertilends first to make sure that the longer days of Spring would mean nothing if the Empire¡¯s army had not enough food to sustain its soldiers for prolonged fights.

    Veeza used hermunication amulet to order an all-out attack on all battlefronts so that she could discover from where the Empress had diverted her troops.

    ¡¯If I can exploit the suddenck of manpower in a few key areas, then this war willst less than I nned.¡¯ She grinned. Milea wasn¡¯t the only one that could count on fresh reserve troops.

    The twin fortresses of Dograth were currently being flooded by all the battalions Veeza could spare. The city arrays protected those inside the castle walls from the effects of the enemy¡¯s and kept the Gates open.

    It would allow Veeza to mobilize her troops wherever she needed to or to make them retreat to safety in case things went south. The Lich had faced Milea too many times to underestimate the Empress again.

    Despite her youth, Milea had proven to be a fine strategist and a mage even more powerful than Veeza herself.

    ¡¯Gods below, how can someone so young have such powerful magic? My first act as a ruler will be to send killers to take out people like Balkor, Manohar, and Verhen. They are too dangerous to be left alive.¡¯ Veeza thought.

    Her losing streak against Milea had reminded her of how dangerous it was to let thepetition flourish. It was a mistake that she wouldn¡¯t allow the undead to make again in the future.

    Veeza used a powerful Life Sensing array to check on the human¡¯s movements. Their army was still hiding behind their trenches, there wasn¡¯t a single soul near Dograth, and the devices surrounding the fortresses were still inactive.

    On one hand, it made Veeza happy, giving her all the time she needed to enact her countermeasures. On the other hand, it worried her. If Milea had chosen to attack as soon as the Gates were ready, she would have flooded the battlefield and gained the initiative.

    ¡¯Sure, the advantage wouldn¡¯tst long thanks to the city Gates granting us a constant flow of reinforcements. To make matters worse for the humans, we only need to hole up behind the walls to render their offensive pointless.

    ¡¯For some reason, Milea wants our respective armies to fight in the open. I must be careful and not move until I understand what her endgame is.¡¯ Veeza thought.

    A few hours passed, yet nothing happened. The Lich was worried, unable to start her attack until she had enough troops to deal with the multi pincered attack. Veeza¡¯s worst fear became true when the human device on the other side of Dograth opened.

    What scared the Lich was that the human troops weren¡¯t moving toward the fortress, but rushed past the natural bottleneck as if they had a dragon on their back.

    "Damn! I misread the situation. The external Gates aren¡¯t means of attack. The humans are using them to get behind our lines and attack where our defenses are at their weakest." Veeza yelled orders in her amulet, alerting all the troops in the nearby area.

 Chapter 849 Deadly Combo Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 849 Deadly Combo Part 1</h4>

    "If the Empress¡¯ mages manage to establish a safe Gate past Dograth, the castles that secure the bottleneck will be nothing more than a bunch of useless rocks!" The Lich took flight, moving against the invaders.

    Veeza alone had the prowess of a battalion and thanks to her phctery, she was nigh immortal.

    Several units moved outside the city walls to surround the remaining human devices, to force the enemy to reveal their hand while the main undead force remained inside Dograth on standby.

    It took Veeza a handful of seconds to get close to the open Gate enough to be able to attack it with her spells. The ground quaked as several tons of earth engulfed with purple mes started floating.

    It was Veeza¡¯s tier five spell, Shooting Stars, a mix of fire, earth, and gravity magic. The detached ground split into giant ming rocks that flew at near sonic speed against the human array.

    Gravity magic allowed the usually slow earth to ovee its boundaries, making it as light as a feather while Veeza threw them up in the sky and then heavier than lead once they had been locked on their target.

    The gravitational slingshot effect gave each one of the projectiles the momentum of a falling mountain.

    A lonely figure flew up in the sky, unleashing a tier four gravity magic spell, Wheel of Fate.

    The night air was suddenly distorted into a ck whirlpool that sucked in the Shooting Stars, making them explode against each other while they were still in mid-air, still too far away from their intended target to deal any damage to the Empire¡¯s Gates.

    Wheel of Fate used gravity magic to trap its target in a loop and darkness magic to engulf them and smother whatever effect the enemy spell had, turning even Shooting Star¡¯s roaring explosions into the muffled sound of a distant firework.

    "Nice try!" Milea said while activating her tier five spell Manastorm. She traced with her right forefinger an arc of emerald green light in the air in front of herself.

    The crescent released a barrage of emerald bullets made of pure mana, each one with the power of a cannonball.

    Veeza activated the barriers built in her magical defenses, but the sheer number of bullets and their might was enough to shoot her down to the ground.

    Spirit magic spells had no weakness aside from the huge amount of mana they required, making the Lich¡¯s elemental barriers unable to keep up with the emerald onught. The projectiles pierced through the Lich¡¯s conjured defenses one after the other as if they were nothing more than silk sheets.

    Meanwhile, the remaining devices surrounding Dograth activated. Once again the troopsing out the dimensional Gates ignored the fortresses and moved to secure the human vanguard¡¯s back while leaving behind just enough soldiers to keep the iing undead at bay.

    "This cannot be! A proper Gate requires more than just a few stones and a bunch of mana crystals. It must be aligned with Mogar¡¯s mana lines for grounding and requires adequate protection. Otherwise, all you have is a devastating dimensional bomb."

    The Lich unleashed all the spells stored inside her artifacts to buy herself the time she needed to chant her next move.

    "So what? It just means that in case we can¡¯t defend the conquerednds, I can make sure that the humans you keep as cattle will not have enough food to survive and in turn your army will starve as well." Milea sneered.

    "It pains me to sacrifice my people and mynd, but in war, coteral damage is unavoidable."

    Veeza had never hated Awakened beings so much. They could weave their spells silently, had ess to spirit magic, and seemed to have ess to an infinite source of mana.

    The Lich had no idea what Milea was conjuring, whereas the Empress could predict the elements Veeza would employ based on her chant.

    At the Lich¡¯s signal, the undead army came out of Dograth and of all the undead fortresses in the Empire, so to turn Milea¡¯s n against her. Every soldier or mage she was employing for her gamble was missing from their original position, weakening the human battlefront somewhere else.

    The Empire¡¯s army stationed in front of Dograth finally moved forward to intercept the enemy, revealing its numbers to be unchanged. Contrary to Veeza¡¯s predictions, it was the undead who flooded the valley in front of the twin cities, moving fast and smoothly like a river, whereas the humans advanced at a slow pace.

    The Empire¡¯s troops moved forward while keeping their ranks close and their shields even closer. The front rows wereprised of Mage Knights, who fused their conjured defenses together, sharing the burden of the iing volley of darkness-based spells and forming a living dam that easily stopped the enemy¡¯s march.

    "Something is wrong." Sukhet the Banshee¡¯s voice resounded inside Veeza¡¯smunication earpiece. "Only the devices on the north and east side of the cities have formed Gates. The others are still inactive even now that the battle has begun."

    The Lich could only reply with a grunt to not interrupt her chant. At the same time, she essed to all her surveince artifact at the same time, to better grasp her forces¡¯ predicament.

    ¡¯What the fuck?¡¯

    It took her just a quick nce to notice that it was only the undead army to have conjured their reserve troops. The number of peopleing out of the dimensional Gates barely reached one thousand, making them irrelevant.

    Milea¡¯s n made less sense by the second as the living dead outnumbered the Empire¡¯s forces with each soldier that stepped out the fortresses. Yet there was no chaos nor fear among the human ranks.

    Despite the fact that the oue of the battle was already written in stone, the Lich felt the need to get rid of the Empress as quickly as possible. Milea was about to face an army and Veeza at the same time, yet she was so calm that she inspired terror in the Lich¡¯s long-dead heart.

    Veeza unleashed her tier three gravity spell, Copse, increasing Mogar¡¯s gravitational pull one hundred-fold. Trees copsed, incapable of bearing their own weight, and rocks cracked as a crater formed in an area several hundreds of meters around Veeza.

    The magic fueling the Gate and the gravity field surrounding it allowed the dimensional tunnel to resist the onught, but the people caught by the spell weren¡¯t so lucky. Some of Milea¡¯s finest operatives were turned into meat paste as their skeletons broke down, piercing through their flesh and organs.

    The Empress herself didn¡¯te out unscathed. Milea found herself suddenly bleeding from her eyes and ears since no magical protection could save her from the burden that her own body had be.

    Only her perfect body refinement allowed her to survive long enough to conjure a gravity field of her own to counter the enemy¡¯s. The Lich¡¯s bones weren¡¯t as sturdy, so they cracked and broke non-stop, but her regenerative abilities were so great that her body still managed to keep performing difficult spells without missing a syble or hand sign.

    Veeza¡¯s jaw almost fell more than once, but her voice had nothing to do with her lungs or throat. It came from her blood core, just like the tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void.

 Chapter 850 Deadly Combo Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 850 Deadly Combo Part 2</h4>

    The Chaos energy was so violent that it consumed its own caster, destroying more than half of Veeza¡¯s body in its wake. Copse and Howling Void were a deadlybo impossible to perform for anyone who wasn¡¯t a Lich or an Abomination.

    Copse prevented the enemy from escaping, even blocking dimensional magic thanks to the spatial distortion it created. Howling Void, instead, was a sure kill spell capable of piercing through mountains.

    Chaos magic feasted on the light element, even that of its master. Abominations had no such problem because they had none, Liches, instead, could simply regenerate from a wound that would kill any other undead.

    Even a single Howling Void was enough to turn a blood core ck, but a Lich¡¯s body was just a vessel. Their real mana core was stored inside their phctery, safe from the chaotic energies that were now ravaging Veeza.

    ¡¯By the Great Mother! Since when undead can use Chaos magic?¡¯ For the first time since she had met Leegaain, Milea was scared.

    Her Blink fizzled and the distance between her and her enemy only gave Milea enough time to activate the spells she had at the ready. A sphere of emerald energy capable of stopping even a Dragon¡¯s breath enveloped the Empress.

    Milea then infused the barrier with her best healing spells, making it be as bright as a star. It was a makeshift defense, but it was all she had.

    The Chaos magic would have made short work of any element, but pure mana was the densest and resilient of them all, buying Milea the split second she needed for the light element to flood her barrier.

    Howling Void feasted on the healing spells, turning back intomon darkness magic as the equilibrium was restored, but it was still a dangerous element. Milea released a couple of fireballs on herself to absorb Veeza¡¯s now darkness spell and exploit the detonation to move away.

    A second Howling Void struck where the Empress had been just a second prior, making Veeza curse her bad luck. Copse was supposed to stop her enemy movements, but Milea¡¯s own gravity field had made it possible for her to dodge.

    On top of that, now that both the Lich¡¯s arms were gone, she was a sitting duck until they regenerated.

    ¡¯Dammit, this couldn¡¯t go any worse.¡¯ Veeza thought while dispelling Copse, that was now only hindering her recovery.

    A single breath was all it took Milea to get back to her peak condition. Her eyes were fixated on the Lich and her mind was weaving one spell after the other, preparing a proper counter for the next Chaos spell she knew was about toe.

    "Dograth¡¯s gates have been closed! I repeat, Dograth¡¯s gates have been closed." A voice in Milea¡¯smunication earpiece said, signaling that all the undead forces were now on the battlefield.

    "Activate Jumpscape, now!" Milea ordered.

    Despite her long life and cunning, Veeza had underestimated the resources that an ancient being like Leegaain could provide. Only half of the devices that the Empire¡¯s army had built during the day were actually dimensional arrays and even those had a different purpose from just moving troops.

    The other half were mana cores detecting arrays, the effect of which had been as discreet as it had been useful. The sensing arrays had allowed Milea¡¯s generals to uncover how many and what kind of undead the enemy army wasprised of so that the generals could adjust their strategy ordingly.

    Even that was just a single step of the n. Once Milea gave the order, the dimensional and core sensing arrays grew in size, ovepping with each other until they covered the entirety of the battlefield.

    The mystical runes of the eight arrays flowed into each other. Each power word found its ce in the magical symphony that was unfolding until the small arraysbined into a bigger one.

    The new array was bigger than the sum of its parts and it grew in power as it closed topletion, emitting a blinding light as if the sun had risen on the battlefield. The moment the magical formation was fully formed, it opened a dimensional tunnel for each one of the targets it was locked into.

    Before any of the undead could react to the sudden turn of events, every single undead unit outside the area of effect of Dograth arrays was Gated away, in the middle of one of the Empire¡¯s military camps.

    Not only they were in a in that offered no shelter from the sun that would rise in a few hours, but they were also surrounded by all sides by troops armed to the teeth who unleashed a volley of spells even before their enemies appeared.

    Undead knew no fear nor low morale, so they promptly reacted by adjusting their formation, and by doing so they triggered all the alchemical tools that had been buried below their feet. The human soldiers were protected by solid walls and trenches, whereas the undead were stuck on a minefield.

    Spells kept exploding from every side, below as well, mowing their numbers down by the second. Most undead soldiers died before they could even spot their enemy or shed a single drop of human blood.

    The human army never left their forts, unleashing spells and arrays from a safe distance. The ughtersted only a few minutes yet it took out a huge number of Veeza¡¯s elite troops, crippling her military force.

    The human army instead had not been Warped and was now marching toward Dograth. The few enemy soldiers that had been lucky enough to not be caught by the Warping field offered little resistance and soon the Empire was sieging its lost fortresses that now had so little manpower to be barely functional.

    Veeza couldn¡¯t believe her own mystical senses, yet no amount of disbelief could stop the despair flooding her mind.

    Before meeting the so-called Magic Empress, the Lich had never suffered defeat, not even when she was still alive.

    Yet that flimsy human had managed to destroy her vessel time and time again, until Veeza had stopped believing she had a chance to best Milea in a one on one fight. Even after giving her all, even after resorting to a double-edged exotic magic like Chaos, Veeza couldn¡¯t keep herself from feeling helpless.

    Months of ns and preparations had been ruined in a single night. The empire she had fought so hard to establish was on the verge of copsing. If Dograth fell, nothing would stop the humans¡¯ advance, especially since it was night time.

    The time when undead were supposed to be at their strongest. Once the sun would soar the sky, the twin fortresses would be lost and with them all the neighboringnds.

    Veeza needed time to recover from the huge blow the sudden loss of so many powerful undead caused to her army, but she was sure that Milea wouldn¡¯t give her any.

    ¡¯Why hasn¡¯t she Warped the both of us as well?¡¯ The Lich thought while she cast her most powerful spells as fast as she could. ¡¯We¡¯re outside the city arrays and if she brings me away from my phctery, my strength will be halved...¡¯

    Her train of thoughts was derailed when six spheres, each one as big as an adult man, surrounded the Lich from every side. Each orb was of a different color, but they were all surrounded by an emerald aura.

 Chapter 851 Commitment Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 851 Commitment Part 1</h4>

    The spheres formed a six-pointed golden star that took away Veeza¡¯s magic and pinned her in mid-air as if time had stopped for her. It was the perfect form of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram which employed spirit magic as well.

    Spirit magic carried the mana and the willpower of its Awakened caster, allowing Milea to conjure an array in a matter of seconds instead of minutes. Also, spirit magic gave the magical formation a physical manifestation, so that while the elements restricted the Lich¡¯s blood core the green energy trapped her body.

    Without her hands, Veeza had no way to cast more spells. The undead tried to unleash the power of the artifacts she wore, but the containment field turned them against her and since they weren¡¯t fueled by her mana but by their own pseudo cores, Veeza only ended up harming herself.

    "Nice trick, Empress." The Lich was burning in humiliation, feeling helpless like a child in front of an adult, but she wouldn¡¯t give her enemy any satisfaction.

    One more defeat was nothingpared to the magical wonders she had witnessed. Not only the Empress¡¯ tactic had opened her eyes about the true potential of mixed arrays, but it had also shown her enough spirit magic to enlighten the Lich about the true nature of Awakening.

    Even the loss of her army was a small thing if it led to infinite power toplement her already eternal life. Veeza was sure that once she got back to herb, she would achieve both infinity and eternity, something that in due time would make her akin to a god, if not even a to a Guardian.

    "I¡¯ve learned a lot from you. The next time we met, I¡¯ll make sure to show you my gratitude." Veeza¡¯s skeletal figure had most of her face intact and it was now distorted into a cruel grimace.

    A Lich¡¯s appearance depended solely on their whims. They could appear as alive, undead, or any shade in-between. Veeza liked the sound of her own voice, so she preferred to keep her old human appearance.

    It saved her the trouble from relearning how to draw runes with bone hands.

    "There will be no next time." Milea clenched her fist, making Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram shrink to the point that the six spheres oveppedpletely. The resulting cage trapped the Lich within its boundaries and ravaged her physical form and the same time.

    The Empress took a purple sk out of her omni pocket and ced her thumb on its cork. Veeza withstood the elemental onught without emitting a sound. She couldn¡¯t feel pain and even if she could, Milea¡¯s words were bothering her.

    Once the Lich¡¯s vessel was hanging by a thread, the Empress dispelled the array and opened the sk. A stream of white Origin mes destroyed Veeza¡¯s physical form, forcing her mind to go back to her phctery to be born anew.

    Unluckily for her, the white mes stuck to her, burning at her conscience. Veeza felt pain for the first time since she had achieved Lichhood, but it wasn¡¯t pain that worried her.

    It was the white fire trail that she was leaving behind, which betrayed her movements and the position of her phctery. Veeza couldn¡¯t keep her mind from re-joining with her missing half, no matter how much she tried.

    Milea had not moved the Lich away because she was determined to end their fight once and for all. No matter how strong Leegaain¡¯s Origin mes were, they couldn¡¯t kill a Lich by themselves nor would theyst for too long a trip.

    Milea was certain that the Lich¡¯s phctery was bound to be hidden not too far from Dograth. It was the only way Veeza had to be both able to protect the fortresses while retaining her full might and get away in the case things went south.

    Keeping the pace with Veeza¡¯s mind was impossible since it moved at the speed of light, but the fire trail it left behindsted long enough for the Empress to Warp without losing sight of her prey.

    It led Milea to a wheat field where only thanks to Invigoration was she able to reveal the presence of several powerful arrays surrounding one of the most powerful artifacts she had ever seen.

    Both the phctery and the magical formations were invisible to other mystical means of detection, Life Vision included.

    "Remarkable. I would have never found it in a million years." The phctery was made out of a white mana crystal, but it had been painted with such a mastery that it looked like a pebble.

    Hidden amid dozens of simr-looking stones, it was part of a small mound supporting a scarecrow. Milea dispelled the arrays one at a time, without triggering any of the traps that Veeza had set up at the best of her skill.

    "I wish I could let you live. There is so much that you could teach me, so many artifacts stored in yourb, wherever it is, that could be put to good use." Milea sighed.

    "But you have ughtered my people out of boredom, threatened everything that all the Magic Emperors before me worked so hard to build. Even if it pains me losing all the treasures you possess, I can¡¯t possibly trust you."

    Milea activated hermunication amulet, generating a signal that was picked up by all themunication devices in the Empire, whether their masters wanted it or not. She publicly executed Veeza, shattering the phctery with a single strike of her sword, Dragon Maw.

    "Let this be a lesson to those who conspire against the Empire. No matter how old you are or how strong you think yourselves to be. Struggle as much as you want, only death awaits you."

    With Veeza¡¯s gone, Dograth fell before sunrise. Before the following sunset, the war was over and the Gorgon Empire was restored.

    ***

    Months had passed since the situation of Laruel had been resolved. Spring had given the three Great Countries the time they needed to heal from the many scars that the undead invasion had caused during winter, but the situation was far from being solved.

    The days were getting longer and the nights shorter, leaving little time for the undead to move whereas their hunters were always on the prowl. When summer came, it made it even easier to spot the unwanted guests from the Jiera continent.

    Even the north was dealing with a heatwave and it was impossible for the undead to pretend to have perspiration problems. Lith didn¡¯t like his current situation much. There had been no hard missions ever since he had returned to active duty and he had promoted to captain, but that didn¡¯t mean that he had lots of free time.

    Quite the contrary, his final year as a Ranger was way busier than he would have expected.

    ¡¯Previously, on Lith the Vampire yer...¡¯ He thought while listening to his handler describing to him histest assignment.

    For the first time since Lith had started his military service, the Ker region¡¯s Lords and their citizens were at peace. Unfortunately for him, his workload was more than doubled.

    During spring and summer, the monsters¡¯ spawn rate peaked. On top of that, he had to deal with all the undead sightings that were reported to him. Local constables could deal with a single vagrant creature, but they were powerless against cadres of powerful entities.

 Chapter 852 Commitment Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 852 Commitment Part 2</h4>

    Lith had to tend to all viges and cities that didn¡¯t have a Gate, forcing him to travel non-stop. Leaves and discharges had been suspended until the situation was stabilized, preventing him from returning to the lost academy of Huryole or spending quality time with anyone but Solus.

    Not even the recent Royal decree that assigned three Rangers to each region had helped to relieve the burden on thew enforcers.

    "Centralmand was hoping it was just a hoax, but a witness of the attack on the caravan is certain that the assants had red eyes and long fangs. If not for him, we would still be looking for normal bandits.

    "After all, the Kusha Route is one of the most trafficked and the undead were smart enough to never leave survivors after their robberies..."

    ¡¯Well, well, well, this mission must be a phone, because damn if I called it.¡¯ Lith thought, making Solusugh.

    ¡¯Stop being a smartass and listen to Kam.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Mission assignments and daily reports are the only moments you share with each other for months now.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s and Kam¡¯s work schedules kept not aligning, making their calls scarce and short. They were both forced to work overtime on a daily basis, to the point that to have dinner together one of them had to defect.

    Lith actually had a free day from time to time. He pretended to move from one ce to another with conventional means while he actually used his tower Warp, but he had no way to share those moments with Kam without revealing Solus¡¯s existence to her.

    ¡¯Please, I could do this blindfolded and with one hand tied behind my back. At this point, I¡¯ve in enough bloodsuckers that I could have my own spin-off series.¡¯ He replied.

    "I¡¯ll be there in a couple of days tops. How are things on your end?"

    "It could go way better." Kam sighed. "I haven¡¯t seen Zinya in months and Archon Ernas is more on edge by the day. Her daughter has resumed service only due to the national emergency, but Phloria¡¯s trial is still ongoing, and her career frozen, which makes the Archon cranky."

    Lith was aware that it didn¡¯t bode well for Phloria. Her trial was supposed to be just a formality, at least ording to Tyris, yet it seemed to be still far from a conclusion.

    Usually the army would have been unforgiving about discussing personal matters during work hours, but soldiers were people first. Also, until the undead migration was solved, working hours meant whenever they weren¡¯t eating or sleeping, so the army gave them some leeway.

    After a bit of chit-chat, Lith consulted the map of the Griffon Kingdom, being pleasantly surprised by the discovery of the Kusha route being close to the city of Zantia.

    ¡¯Sweet. I can get there quickly via the local mana geyser or I could report normally and use the extra time to seek an audience with the local ruler, Xedros the Wyvern. He¡¯s a good friend of Faluel and this could be a great opportunity to learn how to control my Origin mes.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He could allow himself short breaks only in-between missions, which had led Lith to not being able to help Selia giving birth, let alone to make any breakthrough in the magical field.

    Themunication amulet was the only link he had with his family and friends.

    ¡¯Do we have to? I hoped we could take some time to visit Protector.¡¯ Solus sighed. ¡¯We¡¯ve yet to see the baby and you know that due to their forced istion Selia could use all the help she can get.¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, but a courtesy visit would get us nowhere, whereas deepening our rtionship with Xedros can help us in the long run. If we want to get the Awakened runts off our back, we need the beasts¡¯ Council¡¯s support.

    ¡¯Also, improving our Forgemastering skills is an opportunity that I can¡¯t turn down easily. Faluel showed us that, even though we can use spirit magic and Origin mes, we are still stuck with cantrips.

    ¡¯I have the gut feeling that both disciplines can greatly improve the sess rate of the body-swapping procedure we have learned from the Odi. After all, spirit magic is pure mana, while Origin mes are made from my life force.

    ¡¯If I learn how to control both of them at will, I will be able to Forgemaster artifacts capable of doing the same. They would rece the pieces of technology that I¡¯m unable to replicate and make the procedure feasible even with my limited resources.¡¯

    Solus sighed again and surrendered to Lith¡¯s logic. There wasn¡¯t much they could do in one day anyway, and learning advanced Forgemastery was one of their higher priority.

    Without the ability of engraving runes, things like the Adamant Forge, the natural treasures he had received from the dryads, and even the Balor¡¯s body were all useless.

    Thanks to his visits to the Kingdom¡¯s magical libraries, Lith had discovered that a Balor¡¯s eyes were powerful ingredients, that if properly treated could bestow the artifact they were embedded into both the power of their corresponding elements and effects simr to Dominance.

    Unfortunately, being they made of organic material, to properly preserve the eyes¡¯ potency it was necessary a mix of Necromancy and Runesmithing. Lith had already self-studied the former with great sess, but thetter required a teacher.

    Faluel had told them that she would teach him and, more importantly, that she was willing to exchange knowledge for Lith¡¯s mes. After talking with Athung, he had learned that all Awakened were willing to perform such trade.

    Obtaining Xedros¡¯s help would mean obtaining the key to the secrets that magical bloodlines usually kept for themselves, saving Lith years, if not decades of research just to re-invent the wheel.

    On top of that, once he mastered Origin mes, Lith would have the opportunity to experiment on the Adamant Forge and maybe even craft a powerful artifact. After all, thanks to the mes, he would be able to cleanse the enchantments from the metal and use it anew to craft a superior version every time his knowledge about magic improved.

    Many birds with one stone.

    Lith flew to the closest mana geyser and had Solus assume her tower form. Since there was no end to the assignments he would receive, being fast was pointless. Lith had taken the habit to reset Invigoration¡¯s effect between missions so that the rest of his assignments he could use his alleged sleep hours to practice umtion.

    In a way, he was d that his current working frenzy didn¡¯t leave him much time to think. His birthday was nearing and with it the end of his military service and his second anniversary with Kam.

    Too many things were supposed to change abruptly after his discharge and for the first time in his life, Lith was afraid ofmitment.

    Commitment to Faluel, who was supposed to be his mentor in the advanced disciplines of true magic,mitment to his family, that ever since he had enrolled in the academy had been forced to make do with the crumbs of his free time.

    Most of all, he was worried about hismitment to Kam. After having gone through thick and thin during thest two years, it was time to man up or break up.

 Chapter 853 Xedros Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 853 Xedros Part 1</h4>

    Kam already knew a lot about Lith¡¯s secrets. The next step was to tell her about Awakening or at least introduce Solus to her. The longer they stayed together, the more awkward the elephants in the room would be.

    Just like Phloria, Kam was starting to notice the many things that didn¡¯t add up like the secrets and silences that too often were the only answers he could offer to her questions.

    "Well, at least she knows that you are a hybrid, so exining to her where you disappear during your apprenticeship with Faluel will be easy." Solus¡¯s human form had lost most of its luminescence over time.

    She was worried about it, whereas Lith was certain that it was a good sign. He believed the phenomenon was caused by her form turning from pure energy into flesh and blood.

    The fact that she was now able to retain her humanoid appearance for a longer period of time backed his theory, yet it made Solus even more worried. Once she would be fully human, the excuses she had exploited to postpone facing her own feelings for Lith would crumble.

    They were definitely more than friends, but that was it. Also, once it happened, Solus wouldn¡¯t be able to dy finding the secrets behind her origin any longer. She had fully devoted herself to Lith for all that time and now she needed to think about herself.

    ¡¯To be a proper person, having a physical body is just the first step.¡¯ Solus thought in a hidden corner of her mind. ¡¯I need to learn why master Menadion did this to me and what happened to her legacy.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the only hope I have to find a way to be more than just a magical artifact and get a life of my own. Otherwise I¡¯ll always be relegated to the role of Lith¡¯s plus one.¡¯

    "True, but that¡¯s not enough. If she keeps sticking with me, Kam is bound to meet more and more Awakened. Not to mention that even after Iplete my apprenticeship, she wouldn¡¯t be able to understand why I have to keep traveling, nor how I can freely move around.

    "If she wants to be part of my life, then she must be able to ept you as well. Whatever the future holds, I don¡¯t want you to share with me only the bad stuff and keep you hidden like some sort of past mistake I am ashamed of." Lith replied.

    "About that, what if we start with your family? It¡¯s really painful for me to know so much about them and yet they don¡¯t even know I exist or how much I did for them." Solus said.

    Lith nodded and went to sleep, nostalgic for the times he could sleep hugging Solus¡¯s wisp. Ever since she had got her human body, it was too awkward a situation to continue with their tradition, making him feel as if he was cheating on his girlfriend.

    ***

    The following day, Lith called Faluel the Hydra to make sure about Xedros¡¯sir location and that she would announce hising to the Wyvern. Lesser dragons loved to hoard treasures and being mistaken for a thief was thest thing Lith wanted.

    "I¡¯m d to hear you have decided to be my apprentice." Faluel was in her human form, wearing the sweetest smile Lith had ever seen.

    "It¡¯s the only possible course of action. The Kingdom is bing too reliant on my help and I prefer to fly solo." Lith¡¯s words made her giggle, yet he preferred not to ask questions and keep their rtionship strictly professional.

    He wasn¡¯t aware of Solus¡¯s emotional turmoil but had enough of his own to not wish for more trouble.

    "As for Xedros, I¡¯ll call him as soon as our call is over. I¡¯m sure he will take a liking to you since you two have so much inmon. Wings, Origin mes, mastery over the light element..."

    "Are you saying that he¡¯s a Healer as well?"

    "No, I¡¯m a Healer, whereas he¡¯s a Light Master and a Dimensional Mage." She shook her head, making her rainbow-colored hair dance under the morning light. For some reason, she was taking a stroll instead of working in herir as usual.

    "Meaning?" Lith asked.

    "That unlike you who just project illusions, he¡¯s capable of giving them substance. A Light Master can achieve with elemental magic almost the same results of Spirit Magic by consuming a lot less mana. It¡¯s a rare and powerful discipline."

    A greedy light appeared in Lith¡¯s eyes while he wondered if the Wyvern would be willing to take him in as an apprentice as well. Faluel would teach him Spirit Magic and Runesmithing, while Xedros could educate Lith about Origin mes and hard-light constructs.

    Being part of the beasts¡¯ Council was turning out to be the biggest stroke of luck Lith had experienced ever since he had met Solus.

    "Hold your dragons, Wyrmling." Faluel said, recognizing the look on Lith¡¯s face. "Xedros is a good friend of mine, but in your ce, I wouldn¡¯t trust him much. Wyverns are considered to be the upper tier of the lesser dragons, which makes them all the more dangerous.

    "They are prideful, greedy, and arrogant like real dragons yet they are rarely as wise as ourmon ancestors. Wyverns are desperate to find a way to take thest evolutionary step and be Wyrms. Xedros is no exception.

    "He considers all those who don¡¯t belong to the draconic bloodline to be inferior beings, so you better always keep your hybrid form in front of him. Also, he¡¯s no Forgemaster, so never mention to him about your skill in the art, or he¡¯ll ce an exorbitant price to the smallest of favors."

    "Why someone wielding Origin mes wouldn¡¯t practice Forgemastery?" Suddenly Xedros sounded like someone whose ego could barely fit in a football stadium.

    "Because he doesn¡¯t need it. Unlike us who are constantly in search of ways to improve our skills, Wyverns only need a few decent weapons and protections to be content. They are apex predators who resort to weapons only when fighting their peers.

    "Old Wyverns like Xedros can sell their mes at a huge price because of the few creatures capable of using Origin mes and even fewer of them are capable of controlling them to the extent that a Forgemaster requires.

    "All mages, no matter their race or if they are Awakened or not, need Origin mes to purify and smelt the most powerful metals, tipping the scale of supply and demand in Xedros¡¯s favor.

    "If you consider that it¡¯s up to the client to provide materials like Adamant or Davross and the means to purify them, you can easily understand why he doesn¡¯t waste time learning Forgemastery."

    ¡¯Yeah. If I wasn¡¯t forced to find a solution for my reincarnation problem and if I had been born into an Awakened bloodline, I would have no need for Forgemastering either.¡¯ Lith nodded.

    "Last, but not least, Xedros is in the second half of his life span. This means that he is determined to seed where everyone else failed and evolve into a Dragon. There are bad rumors about him, not to the point of making me suspect he might resort to forbidden magic, but enough to require caution.

    "Your bloodline is unknown, but more draconic than most I¡¯ve ever seen. If he asks you for blood or anything else, give him a polite but firm rejection. Since I¡¯ll introduce you as my disciple, you¡¯ll be fine, but otherwise you might find yourself in a pinch if you pique his curiosity."

 Chapter 854 Xedros Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 854 Xedros Part 2</h4>

    The memory of Gadorf the Wyvern struck Lith, making him reconsider. Xedros sounded more troublesome by the second, but Lith didn¡¯t have much choice left. The Wyvern was an opponent he could face or who had least had to respect his new master.

    A Dragon, instead, would likely treat the both of them like bugs.

    A sudden childish noise awoke Lith from his brooding, raising even more questions about the Hydra being so chipper.

    "What was that?"

    "Sorry, the little one is a real rascal and managed to snatch my amulet." She showed him an infant that couldn¡¯t be more than a few months old.

    "I helped Selia during her delivery and it made wonders to break the ice. Sometimes I babysit her children to allow her to catch some sleep or go on a date with Ryman. Gods, I had almost forgotten how wonderful hatchlings are. It makes me wish to have a few of my own again."

    ¡¯Thank heavens, this exins everything. For a moment I was afraid that Faluel was flirting with me, but she¡¯s just swayed by her maternal instincts.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed in relief.

    "I heard you already have apanion. With your cracked lifeforce you¡¯ve not long left to live. You should hurry, you know. You¡¯re not getting any younger." Faluel repeating Elina¡¯s mantra but with much less tact made him almost regret the decision of bing her apprentice.

    Almost.

    Faluel then offered Lith to Warp him directly to his destination, but he preferred to study the surroundings instead.

    ¡¯If this Xedros is even half as bad as she described him, then it¡¯s better to have an escape route and a few contingency ns ready.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The First Wyvern lived on the top of the Golden Crown mountain, near the south border of the Ker region. It was a peak so high that it would be always surrounded by clouds that, whenever there was a storm, thunders would paint its ciers a golden color, giving the mountain its name.

    Xedros¡¯s cave was hidden by such a thick cloudyer that Lith doubted it could be natural.

    ¡¯Are you sure you don¡¯t want me toe?¡¯ Solus asked when Lith left her in the middle of the most powerful array at their disposal.

    ¡¯Positive. I don¡¯t n on letting Xedros use Invigoration on me, but he might still have means of detection able to spot you. Menadion¡¯s legacy would give anyone plenty of reason to defy Faluel and I don¡¯t want to take risks.¡¯

    Solus¡¯s mana sense had perceived a lot of arrays covering the mountain. Some of them were invisible even to their mystic senses and Lith found them only because his paranoia forced him to use Invigoration beforending.

    Xedros seemed the kind of creature that would not leave anything to chance and Lith followed the Wyvern¡¯s lead, cing his own arrays in the blind spots of the enemy formation.

    Before assuming his hybrid form, Lith stored most of his equipment inside his pocket dimension. He wasn¡¯t expecting a fight and his usual disy of mystical artifacts might give Xedros ideas about what to ask in exchange for his help rather thanmand respect to Lith¡¯s scaly host.

    Lith had no intention of providing a perfect Orichalcum Skinwalker armor, nor to give away Ruin until Orion was done with the real deal. The mess with Phloria had involved her father as well, making it difficult for Orion to receive the authorization to use advanced Forgemastering techniques for a grassroots magician like Lith.

    ¡¯Judging by Xedros¡¯s mastery over Warden magic and Faluel¡¯s description, I can easily guess from where Gadorf got his shitty attitude. The Wyvern only knows that I¡¯m a Wyrmling and that I¡¯m Faluel¡¯s apprentice, so if I y the dirty poor card, I should be able to avoid unreasonable requests.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith even switched Orion¡¯s cloaking ring with a medium tier dimensional ring. An Awakened Wyrmling with just a yellow mana core would have aroused Xedros¡¯s suspicions and Lith knew that hiding too much of his power might give a bad rather than good first impression.

    ¡¯I want a business partner, not to look like a beggar.¡¯ Lith flew in front of the cave¡¯s entrance, discovering that the arrays covering it were so densely packed in energy to be visible to the naked eye.

    The circr opening in the rock was big enough to amodate a freight train, making him wonder if Gadorf was incredibly young, a dwarf Wyvern, or if his host had simply arranged the house to properly fit its owner¡¯s ego.

    If Xedros¡¯s aim was to be a Dragon, then he was likely to have built hisir so that he would not be forced to move out after his evolution.

    ¡¯I can count at least four different arrays, but they ovep so perfectly that they act as a single entity. I¡¯d better take note of all the unknown runes, just to make sure that this trip doesn¡¯t result in aplete waste of time.¡¯

    Lith had just taken a piece of paper and an inkwell out of his pocket dimension when the magical protection covering the entrance split up into four different arrays that disappeared one by one, leaving the passage open.

    It was only then that Lith did realize the ingenuity behind the Wyvern¡¯s course of action in protecting his home. Each one of the magical formations had its own purpose and was capable of working alone, but whenbined, so did their effects.

    Unlike the Odi¡¯s faulty ovepping arrays, thebined formations didn¡¯t obtain a new function, so much as their runic inscriptions were able to fit into each other¡¯s nk spaces.

    It allowed them tobine their powers to increase their versatility by several folds. Until that moment, Lith had only witnessed manors where several different arrays were stacked together to offer protection from different possible sources of harm.

    The Wyvern¡¯sir, instead, had few arrayspared to those protecting the Ernas Household, but those formations were capable of blocking different kinds of magic ording to how and where their runic inscription met.

    Normal arrays were static in their position and could only be turned on or off, whereas Xedros¡¯s upied all the same magic circle so that based on which of its sections were powered up and those that weren¡¯t, they could seal specific elements within their premises.

    On one hand, that kind of arrays couldn¡¯t protect from all the possible threats at the same time like those of the academy, but on the other hand, they required much less maintenance and a far less powerful energy source to be fueled.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right and Xedros controls his house¡¯s protections telepathically, this way he can seal off his enemies¡¯ best cards at the right time. On top of that, he¡¯s the only one who knows how the arrays¡¯bination affects the elements at a given time.

    ¡¯It gives him an edge that not even Life Vision¡¯s ability to see arrays canpensate and allows him to fuel all the formations I spotted on my way here. Otherwise not even a crystal mine could sustain that many arrays.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "It¡¯s impolite for a guest to try and steal his host¡¯s artworks. It was already rude enough of you to arrive unannounced. Come in, and waste my time no more." A manly voiceing from Lith¡¯s back said.

    Yet there was no one there, making him frown.

 Chapter 855 Parasite Star Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 855 Parasite Star Part 1</h4>

    Lith couldn¡¯t spot any surveince device, so either they were cloaked or he was within the range of the Wyvern¡¯s senses.

    Now that he was without Solus, his memory alone might not be enough to capture so manyplex, unknown runes. Sure, she could ess his memories, but just like for the technological blueprints he had studied during college back on Earth, a single blurred area was enough to make the whole thing useless.

    It was the reason why they always took their time to copy unknown runes like they had done while flying along the mountain.

    ¡¯Xedros must be pissed off because I avoided all of his sensing arrays while arriving up here or maybe he helplessly watched me studying his workings.¡¯ Lith flew inside, noticing that the energy gate reassembled right after his passage.

    The tunnel split into two or more intersections several times, some going upward and others below, making him wonder if the entire mountain wasn¡¯t actually hollow. Lith had no problem moving along the maze since upon his arrival only one passage was open while the others were sealed by mystical barriers.

    The room he entered at the end of the road was nothing like he had pictured in his own mind. After visiting Gadorf¡¯s and Faluel¡¯s homes, after hearing so many things about a Wyverns¡¯ greed, Lith would have never expected to find Xedros curled up in apletely bare cave.

    The First Wyvern wasn¡¯t much bigger than histe son.

    If the creature stood on hind legs, Xedros would have been over five (16¡¯5") meters tall, with his long neck taking a quarter of his eight and ending into a long reptile snout as big as a barrel.

    His tail was about 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") long, ending with a thick bone spike that resembled the sting of a giant wasp. Two golden membranous wings extended from his forelegs, connecting his little fingers to his hips.

    The wings were a few shades palerpared to the scales that covered Xedros¡¯s upper body and made it shine like a masterfully cut gemstone under the mystical lights illuminating the cave.

    The raw splendor of the Emperor Beast almost made Lith fail to notice how Xedros¡¯s gaze was filled with rage and envy.

    Almost.

    Envy because Lith¡¯s wings came out of his back, like those of a true Dragon. Because the dimensional aura surrounding the Wyrmling was a clear tell that he possessed an omni pocket.

    A treasure that the Wyvern had long coveted and yet it had always eluded him.

    Most of all, Xedros was envious of the infant¡¯s vigorous mana flow that betrayed Lith having a blue core despite his young age, whereas the First Wyvern had spent decades to achieve it.

    Xedros¡¯s rage, however, didn¡¯t derive from Lith¡¯s possessions or talents, but from the fact that the Emperor Beast med him for the pitiful state he had been stuck in for over a year.

    Xedros had yet to fully recover from Tyris¡¯s punch, his punishment for watching a forbidden magic ritual unfold instead of stopping it like his duty as Lord of the region required.

    "You¡¯ve be much stronger from thest time I¡¯ve seen you Ranger Verhen." Xedros¡¯s voice was warm and gentle as if he was a teacherplimenting his dearest pupil, yet his words reeked of mockery.

    "You can drop the act and take your human form if it makes you morefortable." The Wyvern clicked his tongue multiple times, wearing a smile that seemed more a pretext to bare the row of pearl-white fangs filling his mouth rather than a friendly gesture.

    Lith didn¡¯t move nor replied, more curious about the hostility he felting from his host rather than worried. He didn¡¯t have Solus with him, but, ording to Life Vision, Xedros probably had a weak purple core and a physical prowess way below Lith¡¯s.

    All the glitter of the Wyvern¡¯s scales couldn¡¯t hide the fact that his wings were bent at unnatural angles, nor that the Emperor beast had a bald spot on its abdomen the size of a woman¡¯s fist.

    The areacked any form of protection, exposing Xedros¡¯s soft flesh that pulsed at the rhythm of his breathing. The First Wyvern was doing his best to keep the weak spot hidden, but Lith¡¯s trained Healer¡¯s eyes were capable of following all the involuntary spasms in a patient¡¯s body.

    ¡¯Below all of his bravado lies little substance. I can count at least four cracked bones beside the obvious ones.¡¯ Lith wasn¡¯t willing to challenge such an ancient being in his own home, but prepared a few spells, just to be safe.

    "What do you mean human form?" Lith asked, curious to understand the reasons of such unwarranted hostility and what had given him away.

    "Please, I¡¯m not stupid." Xedros¡¯s attempt to perform a menacing cackle ended up in violent coughing. Judging by his grimace Lith estimated at least three cracked ribs.

    "Ranger Verhen goes to Zantia, a Wyrmling appears, and even though Faluel sends her disciple to help his scaly friend, Protector ends up fighting alongside the Ranger. To make things even odder, said Ranger will coincidentallyter be her disciple, creating a divide between the human¡¯s and the beasts¡¯ Council.

    "Also, I¡¯ve spectated your fight with those pesky Awakened back in Zantia and no matter what form you take, your energy signature remains the same."

    ¡¯If he knows who I am, all my precautions are for nothing. Me being a Healer and a Forgemaster is public knowledge.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed.

    "If you were there, why didn¡¯t you help? As far as I know, stopping Awakened from employing forbidden magic is your duty."

    "Why do you think I am in such a pitiful state?" Xedros¡¯s voice oozed venom, literally. His saliva sizzled on contact with the stone, each droplet leaving a hole as big as a marble.

    "The Kingdom¡¯s Guardian inflicted upon me wounds that can¡¯t be healed normally before taking matters into her own hands. Now tell me what you want and then beat it."

    Lith didn¡¯t know what was more shocking. The idea that Guardians could make healing magic useless, the Wyvern¡¯s pettiness, or the revtion that Constable Tyris was a Guardian.

    Even though Xedros didn¡¯t mention her name, she was the only one that could fit the bill. Upon her appearance, she had put an end to the fight and opened a Warp Gate all by herself. It exined all the oddities surrounding her.

    Lith spaced out only for a split second before making his request.

    "I¡¯m capable of producing Origin mes, but so far all of my attempts to control them failed. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction." Lith didn¡¯t waste time with niceties.

    The Wyvern¡¯s behavior made it clear to Lith that he had already overstayed his wee.

    "Origin mes, you say?" Xedros said with a hiss. He had almost forgotten about that, making the reasons why he didn¡¯t like Lith increase by one.

    "Why should I..." The Emperor Beast almost bit his own tongue as Lith¡¯s request finally reached the most rational part of his brain, past all the stress and pain originating from his wounds.

    "Maybe." Xedros said with an amiable smile, making the temperature in the room rise several degrees. "As you can see, I¡¯m still wounded. I hear you are apetent Healer and I was wondering if there¡¯s something you could do about it."

 Chapter 856 Parasite Star Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 856 Parasite Star Part 2</h4>

    Having ess to Invigoration, most Awakened had no need to study healing magic. Being a Light Master, Xedros had mastered healing magic up to tier four before discovering how to create hard-light constructs.

    To him tier five light magic was all aboutbat, he had never bothered with Body Sculpting. Nor could he just call a Healer to his home. It would mean to reveal his weakened state and risk to be killed, leaving his treasures ready to be plundered.

    He didn¡¯t receive Lith in his throne room because Xedros didn¡¯t feel confident about being able to protect his treasures in the case that Lith took too much a fancy to them and decided to risk his mentor¡¯s rage for them.

    In the Wyvern¡¯s mind, no Dragon would pass on such an opportunity, no matter the consequences, especially a half breed.

    "Maybe." Lith shrugged. "I don¡¯t do freebies, though, and I demand my payment regardless of the oue."

    The smile disappeared from Xedros¡¯s snout, reced by an annoyed look.

    "You fail at manipting Origin mes because you handle them like you do with magic. Yet they¡¯re not alike. Magic is made of mana, whereas our mes are made of life force.

    The difference is the same between moving a chair and moving your arm.

    "The former needs you to apply your strength on a foreign object, whereas thetter just requires awareness of your own limb. Elemental magic is the ripple effect you produce by emitting your mana, it has no will of its own unless you bestow it upon it.

    "Origin mes are just another part of your body, like an atrophied limb you¡¯ve forgotten how to use. You can¡¯t inject willpower inside of them because they already have one, yours. By attempting to do so, you give the mes conflicting orders that make them unresponsive."

    "It makes sense. How do I fix that?" Lith asked.

    "That was your down payment. For a Forgemaster, Origin mes are an invaluable tool. I¡¯m not going to take you by the hand and bring you to my level. I might offer you some more insight if you heal me." Xedros¡¯s grin returned, but Lith was too focused on his teachings to care about it.

    Just the implications of those few sentences were enough to make his head spin and him d to not have brought Solus with him. Body sculpting required physical contact and she would have had no way to hide her presence once the treatment began.

    "Fine, let me uphold my part of our bargain." Lith stepped forward and ced his hands on the Wyvern¡¯s back. Invigoration confirmed his assessment about the Emperor Beast¡¯s skills while his tier five spell, Scanner, examined Xedros¡¯s life force.

    Much to his surprise, there were actually two energy signatures residing inside Xedros¡¯s body and what was even more amazing was the fact that the stronger life force wasn¡¯t the dominant one.

    The life force belonging to the Wyvern looked like a red sun, the mass of which was slowly getting drained by a nearby white dwarf. The red sun¡¯s surface was distorted and there were small threads connecting the two energy cores that made Xedros¡¯s life force look like a bridled beast.

    Lith could hear the melodying from the red star was overwhelmed by that emitted by the white dwarf to the point of being almost rewritten.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. I guess Tyris could have even turned him into a lizard for good if she felt like it. Let¡¯s hope I don¡¯t get her angry by treating this jackass.¡¯ The moment Lith¡¯s Scalpel spell touched the white dwarf, the small star shapeshifted into a human form.

    ¡¯Greetings, Healer. Xedros the Wyvern has vited thews of the Council and has been punished ordingly. I wished for him to remain bedridden long enough to reflect on his own actions, but I would¡¯ve never expected that he would wait this long to call for help.

    ¡¯Such hubris cannot be condoned, so even though I allow you to treat him if you¡¯re capable of such a feat, be ready to stop when I say so, or you will join Xedros in his sufferings.¡¯ Tyris¡¯s voice and appearance were exactly as Lith remembered, confirming his deduction about the Constable¡¯s real identity.

    Lith had never seen such use of healing magic before, so he took his time to understand what Tyris had done and how to replicate it if he ever needed to.

    She had left behind a spark of her own life force, about as much as he used to produce a single breath of Origin mes. Yet it was strong enough to cripple the Wyvern¡¯s recovering abilities for over a year, making Lith wonder how long would itst if left untreated.

    Unlike what Lith would have done in her shoes, Tyris had inflicted no damage to Xedros¡¯s life force, neither temporary nor permanent. Her technique was of such finesse that it left him in awe, wishing he had at his disposal a recording device to study and discuss the phenomenon with Faluel, Solus, and maybe even Quy.

    The Guardian had employed light magic so that Xedros¡¯s body still knew what was its proper form, yet it had no idea how to achieve it, turning the healing process into a trial and error that made any attempt to speed it up a torture.

    Lith attempted to restore the red sun¡¯s shape, but to no avail. The presence of Tyris¡¯s white dwarf was its cause, and removing it was beyond the scope of the bargain.

    Then, Lith tried topensate for the effects produced by the foreign life force and allow the Wyvern to mend at least most of his wounds. First, he split Scalpel into several tendrils that scanned the white dwarf trying to find some weak point.

    The mere contact was enough to burn Lith¡¯s mana, sending painful spasms through his nervous system as if he had touched a high voltage wire. Then, he used light magic to attack Tyris¡¯s life force, hoping to weaken it enough to lessen its effects.

    Avoiding direct contact prevented him from incurring more pain, but it didn¡¯t change the situation one bit.

    ¡¯Brute force is pointless. If I employ enough strength to affect the Guardian¡¯s spell, I¡¯ll kill Xedros and get in trouble with Faluel. Tyris said that it¡¯s possible to heal this Lizzie, so I just need to change approach.¡¯

    Lith focused his attention on Xedros¡¯s life force, studying its shape, color, and the melody it emitted. Unlike humans, Emperor Beasts¡¯ life forces were raging streams of pure power. It allowed Emperor Beasts to shapeshift more easily but it also made it much harder to apply tier five healing magic to them.

    The static nature of humans¡¯ life force allowed a Healer to locate the problem and focus on a single spot, whereas in a beast¡¯s case it was impossible to alter a single stream of life force without affecting their being as a whole.

    Lith¡¯s task was furtherplicated by Tyris¡¯s spell, which distorted Xedros¡¯s life force and in turn the melody it produced. Usually, Lith would use thetter to better understand his patient¡¯s lifestream and find the best way to fix it

    Unfortunately, not only was the melody off-key, but also the white star left by Tyris¡¯s spell emitted its own tune.

    It distracted Lith and made it difficult for him to notice if his attempts were making Xedros¡¯s situation better or worse.

 Chapter 857 Hard Bargain Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 857 Hard Bargain Part 1</h4>

    Lith¡¯s only option was to synch his own life force with that belonging to his patient and make them resonate.

    After several attempts, he managed to keep the red sun as a perfect sphere. The melodying from the Wyvern¡¯s life force rose in intensity enough for Lith to spot where the alterations that prevented the injuries from mending were.

    Each time Lith fixed a damaged energy stream, the red sun turned to a brighter color and its melody became clearer. Xedros¡¯s life force suddenly turned orange, then yellow, andstly green.

    ¡¯That¡¯s enough.¡¯ Tyris¡¯s voice resounded again in Lith¡¯s mind.

    ¡¯Xedros will be able to recover on his own, in due time. I want him to suffer a bit more so that he realizes how much time he has wasted simply because he was too prideful to bother asking for help.¡¯

    Before Lith could reply, the white dwarf broke his spell and concentration. He found himself covered in sweat, panting as if he had fought for his life. Due to theck of sunlight, Lith had no idea how much time had passed, but being Xedros fast asleep, the treatment hadsted hours.

    Lith used Invigoration again, discovering that now the Wyvern¡¯s physical prowess was close to his own and that the Emperor Beast¡¯s mana core had turned several shades of purple brighter.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. Today I¡¯ve learned a lot, maybe even too much. I would¡¯ve never expected that a prolonged physical condition could also affect an already developed mana core, otherwise I would¡¯ve never restored Xedros so much.¡¯

    As if he had heard Lith¡¯s thoughts, the Wyvern suddenly opened his eyes and took a deep breath. His wings popped back into ce and his ribs finally healed, yet the punch mark on his chest was still there, the broken scales refusing to grow back.

    Finally free from the agony that had tormented him for over a year, Xedros bellowed an unhingedughter that led Lith to use Invigoration on himself and prepare for the worse.

    At least until the invigorating effects of Lith¡¯s newfound Body Sculpting healing techniquepletely disappeared and theughter turned into a violent cough again.

    "You didn¡¯t heal mepletely!" Xedros snarled in a fury.

    "I did the best I could. How many healers do you know that can undo a Guardian¡¯s spell?" Lith replied.

    The truth behind those words made the Wyvern take another deep breath to regain his cool, which Lith mistook for a threat. Lith filled his lungs with air as well, to counter the allegedly iing Origin mes with his own.

    "I apologize for my rudeness." What was came out of the Emperor Beast¡¯s mouth instead. "During the past year, I failed to get a proper night¡¯s sleep or even enjoy a single meal, which greatly exacerbated my mood."

    "I hoped to be finally back to my peak condition, but I guess this will do. As a sign of appreciation for your patience, I¡¯ll give you a few more hints about how to control your Origin mes."

    Xedros¡¯s voice was calm and full of gratitude whereas his mind was filled with malicious ns.

    ¡¯I was about to ruin my rtionship with Faluel because of a temper tantrum. I¡¯ve already wasted a year, and until I regain my full mobility, someone like this lesser Dragon might be useful.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll share with him a couple of things he¡¯s likely to work out on his own, given time. This way I should gain his trust. He¡¯s young, desperate, and there¡¯s only so much that Faluel can teach him. Once Verhen finishes his apprenticeship, he¡¯ll be on his own and I¡¯ll be able to do whatever I want with him.

    ¡¯Best case scenario, I can experiment on the Wyrmling and use him as a material to reach my next evolutionary step. His hybrid nature should make his draconic essence highlypatible with mine.

    ¡¯Worst case scenario, I only need to gain Lith¡¯s trust enough to discover where he hides his omni pocket and steal it from him once he outlives his usefulness. Yet for now, I have to wait.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t risk attempting to evolve while I¡¯m in a weakened state, not to mention that Faluel or the Council would kill me. This will take time and patience. Let¡¯s put him on a leash by teaching him something about Origin mes and establishing a business partnership.

    ¡¯After all, it will take a while for me to get out of here for good.¡¯ Xedros thought.

    While Lith performed Body Sculpting, the Wyvern had exploited the Healer¡¯s meditative state to use Invigoration on him. It had allowed Xedros to discover Lith¡¯s hybrid nature and confirm the presence of a dimensional aura typical of an omni pocket surrounding him.

    The Emperor Beast could only see it thanks to his mastery over dimensional magic and was in dire need of such a powerful artifact for centuries. Whilemon dimensional items had a fixed internal capacity, an omni pocket¡¯s storage space was proportional to the power of its master.

    With all the riches, the artifacts, and the equipment Xedros had amassed inside the Golden Crown mountain, it would take him so many dimensional items to store everything that he could build a house with them.

    No matter how powerful the defenses of a ce were, a good mage could get past them with enough time and materials. Xedros¡¯s experiments required very rare materials, but he couldn¡¯t leave his house for too long without incurring the risk of being robbed.

    There were only two ways an ancient and rich being could freely travel Mogar without worrying about their material possessions.

    One was having an omni pocket, like Lith or Xenagrosh. The other was to entrust their home to someone who would perform the maintenance in their stead and sound the rm in case of intruders like Scarlett had done with Ka.

    Omni pockets were very rare and very powerful artifacts that even Royal Forgemasters or ancient bloodlines of Forgemasters had no idea how to craft.

    To obtain an omni pocket, a mage had to find it by dumb luck, receive it as part of their family legacy, or bond with a cursed item. Xedros believed to have finally met the first criteria. The problem was that it already had an owner and the Wyvern had no idea where its magical focus was hidden.

    Just like a phctery, once imprinted, the focus of an omni pocket could be left anywhere and the mage would still be able to ess the dimensional storage, no matter the distance separating them.

    ¡¯Killing Lith now would mean leaving the focus ready to be imprinted by the first lucky bastard that finds it. I need to slowly gain his trust to not make him aware of my intentions.¡¯ Xedros thought while starting his exnation.

    "Unlike magic, Origin mes cannot be controlled once they are released. Only during the very moment you light their spark can you decide what to destroy, what to purify, and what to ignore."

    "Ignore?" Lith echoed.

    "Yes." The Wyvern nodded. "A true master of Origin mes can use them safely, even on themselves. I told you, they are just like a hand. Our mes can be used to caress someone as well as to crush them.

    "Destroying is the easy part. Just spit your mes and you¡¯re done. Purifying, instead, requires your mes to affect the entirety of your target at once, both inside and outside.

    "Otherwise it¡¯s only the outside that takes the brunt of the heat and ends up destroyed before the inside can get purified. Let me give a practical example."

 Chapter 858 Hard Bargain Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 858 Hard Bargain Part 2</h4>

    Xedros took two metal ingots out of the dimensional ring he wore on his tail. The first was just iron while the second was Orichalcum. He then breathed on the former a tiny wisp of a purple me that consumed the ingot until only a sliver of ck liquid was left.

    "That was a destructive breath. Purification is just a side effect since the purest parts of the metal naturally resist the Origin mes." The Wyvern grieved the lost ingot for a second before continuing, making Lith feel like a spendthrift.

    Then, Xedros breathed a small jet on the Orichalcum ingot, making it shrink while retaining its shape. Lith was amazed seeing that it didn¡¯t boil or even turned to liquid, but had just lost about one-fourth of its volume.

    The Orichalcum¡¯s surface had gone from dull silver to mirror-like substance that reflected every single beam of light that hit its surface. Xedros hesitantly handed it to Lith, snarling more than once.

    Xedros red at the Wyrmling with the burning hatred one would expect if the Wyvern had caught the healer in the attempt of snatching one of his eggs.

    "I want it back." Xedros said, just in case Lith was blind and dumb.

    Lith used Invigoration, discovering that the mana flow of the purified ingot was two times more powerful than the metal the Kingdom had provided him with.

    ¡¯The good news is that if I learn how to control my mes, I can turn all the ore I have left into this and double my Skinwalker armor¡¯s durability. The bad news is that without runes, at my current level I can¡¯t even draw the Orichalcum¡¯s full potential, let alone Adamant¡¯s or Davross¡¯. Lith thought while handing the ingot back.

    "Ignoring a selective target means that you can safely use Origin mes in battle without harming yourself. You can even remove an enchantment from an item without damaging the materials it is made of." Xedros said.

    "Can¡¯t you just remove the magical imprint without affecting the enchantments?" Lith asked.

    "No. The imprint is part of the enchantment, so you can¡¯t remove one without destroying the other." Xedros shook his head.

    "How do I go from destroying to purifying?"

    "Such a lesson would be worth much more than the service you have provided me." Xedros said with genuine outrage.

    "But I¡¯m sure we can work out a deal. I¡¯ve been a prisoner of my own home for a year and I don¡¯t know how long will it take for me to return at my full strength. I heard that you are a skilled fighter and I¡¯m quite the collectionist.

    "If you find any of the following body parts, bring them to me. I will make them worth your while." Xedros handed Lith a long scroll that listed specific parts from monsters, magical and Emperor Beasts, and even human mages.

    "Are you interested in buying the ingot?" Xedros asked while Lith was checking the items on the list. "It¡¯s an excellent material for a Forgemaster like you and by studying it, you could better understand the purification process."

    "How much?" Lith asked with a t tone. He doubted that the Wyvern would give away the ingot if he really believed that Lith could use it as a learning tool, yet it was a tempting offer.

    Solus had already worked miracles in the past and byparing the purified ingot with those in their possession there was no telling what she could discover.

    "Since you¡¯re Faluel¡¯s apprentice and a fellow Dragon, I¡¯ll make this a bargain for you. Ten thousand gold coins."

    "Ten thousand?" All seven of Lith¡¯s eyes opened up in surprise. "It¡¯s ten times its market value and enough to build a castle. A material that¡¯s only twice as good as its smelted version is not worth that much. Also, with a single ingot, I can only make essories."

    "What good is all the money in the world if you die leaving it unspent? In a life or death situation, you need all the advantages you can get. 9990 gold coins. Take it or leave it."

    "Consider it left." Lith would need to work full time for a year as both a Healer and a Forgemaster to make that much. "I possess the pelt of a powerful Byk capable of using darkness magic and a cker Queen corpse. Are you interested?"

    "Maybe. Show me the goods." Xedros hid his enthusiasm behind a stone face as Lith took out Irtu¡¯s corpse.

    "There are more holes than fur here, not to mention the organs sttered everywhere." Xedros clicked his tongue. "As for the Queen, I¡¯ve never seen a carcass butchered so badly. I can offer you one hundred gold coins for the whole package."

    "No problem." Lith put them both back inside the storage space, leaving the Wyvern bbergasted.

    "I can still rise them as greater undead, so their value as servants dwarves your offer. Good luck finding and killing a genius Byk and another Emperor Beast without upsetting the local Lord."

    Lith walked towards the exit. He had never learned how to bargain, but Selia had taught him how to recognize a bad deal.

    "One hundred and fifty." Xedros said.

    "Yeah, right. Give me the ingot and we¡¯ll call it even." Lith replied.

    The Wyvern almost roared in outrage. His eyes were now reduced to two fiery slits brimming with mana.

    "200 gold coins and another tip about Origin mes."

    "You want material goods and to pay me with hot air? I¡¯ll take your offer only if you ept the sound of my coins as currency." Lith replied while making a gold piece hit the rock surface.

    "If I do it 10,000 more times do I get the ingot?"

    Many harsh words about the contenders¡¯ and their respective ancestors¡¯ morality in their choice for mating partners were spoken until both parties were satisfied. Lith sold the carcasses in exchange for one-tenth of the ingot.

    Barely enough to craft a single ring, but plenty to use as a study material.

    ¡¯It couldn¡¯t have gone any better.¡¯ Xedros thought. ¡¯Even finding a ck-furred Byk would have taken me a long time, let alone overpowering a whole cker army just to reach their queen.

    ¡¯On top of that, with such a harsh start, once I start "growing fond" of him, it will make a much bigger impact than if I acted mushy from the bat. First, I must earn, Lith¡¯s respect, then his trust, and only then will I be able to collect my prize.¡¯

    ¡¯It couldn¡¯t have gone any better.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Irtu¡¯s corpse had no market value, and after I used it to practice Necromancy to learn how to regenerate undead tissues, both corpses lost part of their potency as ingredients.¡¯

    Lith kept the list and let the Wyvern add hismunication rune on Lith¡¯s Council amulet. Lith had already given up on Xedros teaching him anything about Origin mes or hard-light constructs.

    The Wyvern knew about his real identity and was bound to ask an ungodly price for his help. Yet that way if Lith found any more parts, they could discuss their price from a distance, saving him the trip if the negotiations failed.

    Also, Xedros was still the Lord of the Ker region, so if Lith had any more troubles with Awakened he could just wash his hands of them and let the Wyvern deal with it.

 Chapter 859 Hidden Truths Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 859 Hidden Truths Part 1</h4>

    Once he left the cave, Lith flew at low altitude all the time. He had to retrieve Solus before leaving and way, even if Xedros was still watching at him via his arrays, the Wyvern wouldn¡¯t notice the pebble jumping into the Wyrmling¡¯s hand.

    As soon as their mind link was restored, Solus jotted down everything Lith remembered about the ovepping arrays and their runes. Lith had focused on keeping a clear picture of them on his way back so the details were still clear in his memories.

    Only when she was done her task did he share with Solus all of his memories about the meeting with Xedros.

    ¡¯So the Lord of the Ker region is a genius Warden, a Light Master, and he even has absolute control over his Origin mes. Too bad his character is all over the ce. If he wasn¡¯t so untrustworthy, he would make a perfect mentor once we¡¯re done with Faluel.¡¯

    Lith envied Solus being able to have a conversation with him while she reviewed her notes about the runes and studied the piece of the ingot in their possession at the same time.

    ¡¯First, I don¡¯t n on being an apprentice all my life. Second, I wouldn¡¯t trust him even if he had weed me with a hot pie. People like Faluel are an exception, everyone else just would try and use me as a means for their ends.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I¡¯m certain that Xedros would have refused to teach me tier five offensive light magic, just like Manohar did. Divulging an ability that powerful also means losing your monopoly over it. It¡¯s the reason why the Kingdom is so secretive about Royal Forgemasters and the Council about the secret of Awakening.¡¯

    ¡¯Then why did he teach you about Origin mes?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Because Faluel asked him to and because I didn¡¯t leave him much choice. He needed my help not to remain crippled for years. Also, he just gave me a few crumbs. Xedros knew that I couldn¡¯t extort knowledge from him. His body and mana core were weakened, but his protective arrays were all at full power and aimed at me.

    ¡¯Not to mention that even if I seeded, it would have destroyed my rtionship with the beasts¡¯ Council and with Faluel. He knew that I need their support to protect my family from the human Awakened that are out for my blood.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯What a cunning son of a gun!¡¯ Solus couldn¡¯t believe that Lith had managed to squeeze so much out of an unwinnable scenario.

    While Solus was still cursing the Wyvern¡¯s name, Lith wore his cloaking rings and Warped away from the Golden Crown mountain to lose any tail Xedros might have had put on him.

    Only after several Blinks and Warps in random direction did Lith feel safe enough to reach the nearest mana geyser and rise his tower.

    He wasn¡¯t supposed to reach Zantia before the following day and he meant to use all the time he could to study the ingot and put Xedros¡¯s teachings to the test.

    He started byparing the purified Orichalcum with that in his possession.

    The purified ore was denser, harder, and capable of sustaining a much greater amount of mana before showing signs of stresspared to its just smelted counterpart.

    "Despite the fact that Xedros was no cksmith or Forgemaster, the Origin mes affected both the metal¡¯s physical and mystical properties. It¡¯s great news since it means that I don¡¯t need to understand how the mes interact with physical matter, but only how to make them seep inside their target."

    Lith used Invigoration on both ingots, studying their internal structure as if they were his patients. To his eyes, the effect of the Origin mes was akin to what happened to his body after every breakthrough.

    The main difference was that the weak parts had been straight out destroyed rather than broken down and infused with mana before being regenerated. Aside from that, the final result was identical.

    The metal refinement hadn¡¯t just removed the weak parts so much as those thatpromised its integral structure, like those that made the Orichalcum brittle or offered resistance to the mana flow.

    "How can you be so sure that Xedros isn¡¯t at least a cksmith?" Solus asked.

    "He had no knowledge about Body Sculpting hence he can¡¯t shapeshift. A Wyvern¡¯s forearms cannot use tools and you can¡¯t practice anything for hours by only using spirit magic." Lith replied, before focusing on theirtest prize.

    "The most amazing thing is that, after being purified, not only is the world energy now evenly spread throughout the metal, but it also builds up from time to time, forming a pseudo core-like energy mass.

    "When such natural pseudo core dissipates, the energy it releases tempers the metal. With every cycle, the Orichalcum ingot improves both its physical and mystical abilities."

    "It exins why Zolgrish the Lich granted to his Adamant Forges shapeshifting abilities." Solus said.

    "Being able to alter the shape of the purified metal before the Forgemastering process allows him and us as well to study how different forms alter the energy flow. That way we can Bond the mana crystals only once we find the perfect shape instead of blindly following blueprints.

    "It should enhance the mana capacity and exponentially increase the quality of the final product. However, it¡¯s not all fun and games. I¡¯m sorry to burst your bubble, but I think you¡¯ve missed a critical point.

    "After every cycle, the built-up mana tempers the metal and improves its properties, but at the same time, the process brings the Orichalcum closer to its destruction. Too much tempering breaks even the most powerful de.

    "Otherwise Xedros would have already purified all the ingots in his possession and sold the oldest ones at a higher price. Instead, he kept them in their smelted state that has no expiration date."

    Lith cursed once he realized that Solus was right. It was only a matter of time before the Orichalcum became so hard to be so brittle that it would be useless as a crafting material.

    "To think that treacherous son of a lizzie wanted 10,000 gold coins for the ingot! The only silver lining of this con of a trade is that I learned that purification is thest step before Forgemastering. Only giving the metal a stable pseudo core can stabilize its condition.

    "Sadly, I don¡¯t have a single ring worth crafting."

    Lith and Solus spent the hours before dinner on a rocky and deste teau, trying to put into practice Xedros¡¯s teachings about Origin mes. To not waste precious materials, Lith Warped the tower to a mana geyser that fit his bill and only used small stones as study subjects.

    Origin mes couldn¡¯t be practiced inside the tower because everything inside of it was part of Solus¡¯s body and failing to control the mes could bring her harm. Lith had no idea how to produce small wisps of fire like the Wyvern had shown him, so most of the pebbles he breathed upon just evaporated.

    The "luckiest" ones were liquified, yet they didn¡¯t show any sign of refinement.

    "I know you hate hearing it from me, but you need to rest." Solus said once all the small stone near the mana geyser were gone. "Do you remember how the overuse of Origin mes during the fight with the Odi almost crippled your life force?"

 Chapter 860 Hidden Truths Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 860 Hidden Truths Part 2</h4>

    Until that moment, Solus had managed to make Lith take a break only for lunch. She had been pleasantly surprised to be able to keep her human form for so long even outside the tower, yet she was worried sick about Lith¡¯s mental condition.

    The longer he remained alone, having only work and research as hispanions, the closer he got to his old, single-minded self. She was the only tether he had with sanity, and since they had started to give each other more space due to her being more a woman than just a voice, the chain had got loose.

    "I can go on a little longer." Lith replied. Despite the mild climate of the region, his hybrid body was steaming. The air in his proximity was heated to the point of distorting Solus¡¯s vision.

    "No, you can¡¯t! You¡¯ve not reverted to your human form even since you started practicing, not even for eating. Stop this immediately." Solus hugged him from behind, whimpering when her skin touched his scales.

    The heat they emitted was so strong that the contact would have filled her arms with blisters if she was fully human.

    The stinging pain hit Solus hard and their mind link made Lith feel it as it was his own, making him realize that he had truly gone too far.

    "Dammit. This stupid body has no organs, so it doesn¡¯t feel pain until it gets heavily damaged. Get off me, Solus, your dress is burning!" Lith wanted to push her away, but his hands were as hot as the rest of his body.

    Also, if she offered any resistance, he might have made things even worse.

    "I have plenty of dresses inside the tower." She replied refusing to let go.

    "Before I release you, you must promise me two things. First, no more practice until tomorrow. We don¡¯t know what we will face and I don¡¯t want to risk losing you because you¡¯re exhausted before the mission even started."

    "I don¡¯t care what your terms are, I promise!" Lith couldn¡¯t believe that he was putting one of the people he loved the most through so much pain just because of his stubbornness.

    "Second, no matter what, don¡¯t turn around until I say so." Only after saying thatst part did Solus let him go and run stark naked inside the tower to change. She could have created a dress out of her own energy or taken one out of her pocket dimension, but that would have been too fast.

    She didn¡¯t want Lith to notice how bad her burns were nor that the more her energy body lost its glow, the more it gained other features. She had tried to turn into her wisp form, but the attempt had made the pain from her wounds be worse.

    ¡¯Why does this kind of stuff always happen at the worst possible moment?¡¯ Solus thought, her golden skin was reddened by the scorching heat it had endured and purple from embarrassment.

    ¡¯Until a few days ago I looked like a doll-shaped glowing stick and now this? If Master Menadion wasn¡¯t already dead, I would kill her for not leaving behind an instruction manual about this ridiculous condition of mine!¡¯

    By the time Solus returned, her appearance was back to normal. The mana geyser boosted all of her abilities and being inside the tower provided Solus with unlimited power. She didn¡¯t need to cast a single spell to recover.

    The world energy flowing through her body relieved the pain and allowed her to make a full recovery even before she reached her room.

    Solus was now wearing a sleeveless knee-length white dress. Her golden hair floated in the air as if she was swimming under the sea rather than flying.

    "Okay, now you can turn around." She said.

    Lith was still in his hybrid form, partly because he was too worried for Solus to care about himself and partly because he had no idea how his human body would have reacted to such heat in the case it was retained after the transformation.

    After a few seconds of pure terror about Solus¡¯s condition, he had regained his cool, both literally and metaphorically, enough to noticed that his scales were able to move by themselves. Their tips would rise and lower rhythmically as if they were breathing.

    It made Lith¡¯s scale armor looser, almost exposing the burning red skin underneath, but at the same time, the scales were sucking the heat back inside his body. The process seemed to lower Lith¡¯s external temperature and allowed him to recover part of the life force spent.

    ¡¯Could it be that the heat is still part of my essence, even after getting mixed with the world energy? Then maybe...¡¯ His train of thoughts was derailed by Solus¡¯s voice. Lith turned around and tried to hug her and make sure she was alright.

    "I¡¯m so sorry Solus. If only I listened to you, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten you hurt..."

    "Back off, buster! I don¡¯t want to be barbequed again nor lose another dress. You must literally chill." She said while extending her arms with her palms open in front of his face to keep him away.

    Lith froze in ce at those words. Solus then ced a finger on his forehead.

    "Still too hot to handle." She chuckled while quickly pulling it away.

    "Do you think a bath could help?"

    "No clue." She shrugged. "We have no idea how a Wyrmling¡¯s body reacts to thermal shock. I¡¯d say it¡¯s better if we take no risks. Sit down and rest. We can discuss Xedros¡¯s teachings while we wait."

    A wave of her hand made two stone chairs appear from the ground.

    "We should restore thendscape before leaving, otherwise someone might discover our secret spot." Solus pointed at the area that was now devoid of small rocks and at the zed ground where the Origin mes had struck every time Lith had failed to control them.

    Lith nodded while cursing at the unpredicted annoyance.

    "Judging from my constant failures, I can tell you that the opportunity window to imprint the mes with my will is quite small. At this point, I think that purifying is strictly rted to the target-ignoring ability Xedros described.

    "To make the mes seep inside a metal, I must be able to make the Origin mes ignore it for a split second. An even more crucial step is learning how to produce only a controlled amount of fire.

    "Otherwise even in the case I seed at making the mes affect the entirety of the metal at once, the excess energy would consume everything as it happened here." Lith pointed at their surroundings that looked like a volcanic eruption had recently happened.

    "Xedros really is a jerk." Solus used Fire Vision to constantly check Lith¡¯s temperature from a safe distance. Much to her surprise, over time his inner body was getting hotter whereas his scales were getting colder.

    "Unlike Faluel, he spoke in the most obscure possible way while keeping things apparently simple, so that you would need a lot of hints to understand even the basics. If not for his greed, you wouldn¡¯t have wasted a day just to learn the proper training phases to control Origin mes.

    "Firstes quantity, then quality, and only thenes phasing through solid matter."

    "Come again? Quality?" Lith said.

    "Yes. I¡¯ve sorted through your memories and look at what I¡¯ve found." Solus used their mind link to show him how while the mes Xedros had used to destroy the steel ingot were purple just his still recovering core, those he had employed on the Orichalcum ingot were of a much brighter purple color.

 Chapter 861 Rising Tide Part 1

    "Please note that the mass of me Xedros used on the iron was a shapeless blot, whereas those he used to purify the Orichalcum matches the ingot''s size. Xedros worked hard to misdirect you into focusing on insignificant aspects of the smelting process.

    "You noticed obvious phenomenons like the metal shrinking in size and its quality improving, but you missed the really important stuff."

    Lith kept cursing the Wyvern in all the ways he could imagine, masterfully mixing English with the Garleniannguage to form a harmonious flow of swear words.

    "He didn''t tell you that there must be a way to increase the quality of the Origin mes to a level that exceeds your current life force, nor did he stress out the importance of matching the mes'' size with their target''s." Solus said.

    "Let me guess, you didn''t tell me this earlier because¡­"

    "Because he deceived me as well. It took me a while and a lot of your failures to make sense of the underlying problem. Forget about phasing your mes through the metal. Until you learn how to adjust their quantity and quality, it''s just a waste of time.

    "I''m betting half my wardrobe that Xedros emphasized the battle use of phasing mes to screw up with your training and dy your growth as a Forgemaster as long as possible."

    "Just to recap, he sold me what will soon be a piece of junk and he paid my treatment in riddles rather than teachings." Lith snarled.

    As long as the Orichalcum was stored inside his pocket dimension it wouldn''t deteriorate further, but he still couldn''t help but see it as a ticking bomb. A bomb that would blow up a lot of money.

    "Do you know what''s the only silver lining of this situation is?"

    "That for once you see the ss half full? I mean, you almost got ripped off for good this time." Solus dangled her legs off the edge of the chair, appreciating the warm spring breeze passing through her toes.

    ''By my maker, I have toes now!''

    "It''s you." Lith said while using spirit magic to pull her between his arms.

    "Thanks for everything you''ve done and that you keep doing for me. I''m sorry that you''ve gotten hurt again to protect me." His mind was filled with the memories of all the times that Solus had paid the price for his choices and he hade close to losing her.

    Like during Nalear''s ambush, after saving Protector''s life, during the fight against the perfect Balor, or against the Odi. Feeling her pain had opened some of his old mental wounds, sending his paranoia to full throttle.

    Now that Lith could safely touch her, he used Invigoration to make sure that she was alright.

    "Hey, you got toes now."

    "Yes, I do." Solus said, returning the embrace with joy. It had been so long since thest time that they had shared any intimacy. Even though it was just a medical examination, she lost herself in the moment.

    "What are our ns for the night?"

    "The same thing we do every night, Solus. Try to take over Mogar!" Lith said with his deep, draconic voice before bursting into a maniacalughter while shapeshifting back into his human form.

    The two ovepping voices would have been creepy to the casual onlooker, but in Solus''s case, they made herugh out loud.

    After dinner, Lith would have liked to use the dictionaries that Faluel had borrowed him to keep tranting the Forgemastering booklet from the lost academy of Huryole, but that would require to pull an all-nighter.

    Not only would it royally piss off Solus, but it would have meant to resort to Invigoration again topensate for theck of sleep. Between treating Xedros and all the practice to control his Origin mes, Lith was really tired.

    He had no idea if his next assignment was going to be simple and boring like all those he had carried out during thest few months or if it would turn out to be the umpteenth unexpected crisis.

    On top of that, Solus was tired of his evasive answers and was starting to re at him. So, he decided it was the right time to give Solus a little something that he had prepared for a while.

    Lith had traveled a lot as both a Healer back when he worked at the academy, and as a Ranger, taking note of all the mana geysers they encountered. Lith moved the tower to a ce located in the south-west corner of the Kingdom, near the city of Vinea.

    "What are we doing here?" Solus asked while looking out a window. The pale reflection of the moon was glimmering on the water of the Rodimar sea.

    "You''ve seen a lot of rivers andkes during our travels, but I''ve never had the asion to take you to a beach. Would you like to learn how to swim?" Lith said while taking an ocean blue one-piece swimsuit out of his pocket dimension.

    "Where did you get that and how do you know my size?" Solus was bbergasted at the vision of the unusual piece of clothing. It was much revealingpared to Mogar''s standards, mostly because there was no such thing as swimsuits.

    "I had it prepared one of those times that we split up, after I realized you''d got a body. As for the size, I had to guess a lot based on our shared memories. There''s no reason to worry, though.

    "You can use my Skinwalker armor to make it fit since I just need to cut a pair of old pants into short trousers to get a swimsuit."

    "Are you sure?" Solus fiddled with the cloth, turning her head from the window to the swimsuit while riddled with doubts.

    ''With this kind of fabric, it''s basically a thicker underwear and once it gets wet, it will not leave much to the imagination. Hoping that the night will hide me is a fool''s dream. Not only Lith''s vision is about 100/20, but I also still glow like a lightbulb.'' She thought.

    "Absolutely. We are both cold-resistant, so the water should be just fine even though is still spring. Also, this ce is quite far away from human settlements. The odds of a random encounter at this hour are low.

    "This is the closest mana geyser to the sea we''ve got, so you shouldn''t have problems reaching the beach from the tower while keeping your body." Lith replied, misunderstanding what she was concerned about.

    He went into his room, changing so fast that Solus had no time toe up with a proper excuse to turn down his offer. Even when she was in thepany of Tista and Nyka, Solus would rarely get out of the tower.

    Even when she did, she would take her ring form to go unnoticed. It was the first time ever that Lith offered to take Solus out while in her human form. Her longing to experience life outside her gilded cage battled with her shyness, making her hesitate until it was toote.

    Solus and Lith shared the same mana signature, so the Skinwalker armor recognized her as its master and took the desired form after storing the swimsuit.

 Chapter 862 Rising Tide Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 862 Rising Tide Part 2</h4>

    "Fuck me sideways. I never thought the day woulde that I would be d to be a midget." Solus blurted out while looking at her own reflection. The swimsuit had no neckline, but still exposed way too much for her taste.

    ¡¯The coast is clear.¡¯ Lith told her via their mind link, mistaking her hesitation for the fear of being seen by strangers.

    Solus needed to take a few deep breaths before stepping out of the tower, walking toward Lith instead of floating like usual.

    ¡¯I¡¯m barely 1.54 (5¡¯1") meters tall, whereas Lith is 1.83 (6¡¯), so he shouldn¡¯t be able to see much... By my maker, what¡¯s this?¡¯ The fine sand covering the beach had a silvery look under the moonlight and it got between her toes with every stride she took.

    It was then that the thought struck her.

    Solus looked at her surroundings, seeing the water along the shoreline moving like a living being, feeling a gentle breeze ruffling her hair while so many new sensations reached her senses, forcing her to a halt.

    For the first time in her life, she wasn¡¯t disguising herself as an essory nor there was anything shielding her from being seen. There were no walls, no trees, nothing that blocked her line of sight, allowing Solus to take in with a single nce more than she had ever seen of Mogar with her own eyes.

    The sea with its salty smell and its noises, the coarse yet pleasant sensation of the sand against her skin, the view of the shoreline leading to Vinea and its lights made her dizzy.

    The only reason she didn¡¯t hyperventte was that she had no need to breathe.

    "Well, the swimsuit definitely looks better on you than me." Lith said, making her snap out of it. He was walking around Solus, shamelessly checking her out. Contrary to her expectations, Solus was too scared to be embarrassed.

    "Does it always feel like this, being in the real world, like a real person?" She asked while extending her had to Lith, who promptly held it.

    "Yes. The outside world is always scary at first. You better get used to being checked out, because once you stop glowing and we go outside together, I won¡¯t be the only one doing it. Ask Tista if you want to hear from an expert."

    Tista, Lith¡¯s older sister, had been a shut-in due to her congenital condition until he had cured her. She had felt ufortable as well once she had started living a normal life.

    Lith walked Solus to the water, constantly scouting their surroundings with Life Vision to avoid being forced to perpetrate a midnight murder and ruin the mood.

    Between her ess to Lith¡¯s memories and her mastery over water magic, it took Solus an hour to learn all the swimming styles he knew. Soon she started to swim on her own, putting to the test how far away could she get from the tower before losing her physical form.

    Only when Lith called her back because it was gettingte did she return to the shore.

    "Any longer and won¡¯t be left enough time to reset Invigoration¡¯s effects. Sorry." Lith said, watching her glowing figure walk out of the water like a goddess emerging from the sea.

    "Thank you so much for the wonderful present." Solus wrung out her hair before throwing her arms at his neck in a tight hug. "Can we do this again, sometime?"

    "Sure." Lith said without thinking. Then he remembered all the things he had to do and the people he had to make time for. "I mean maybe, in a not too far distant future."

    "Gee, can¡¯t you be vaguer? You¡¯re almost making it sound like a date." Her voice oozed sarcasm.

    "What happened to your shyness? Do you realize how embarrassing would it be if someone saw us like this?"

    "Do you mean because we look like a couple?" Solus¡¯s cheeks turned slightly red.

    "More like a ko hanging from a tree." Lith pointed at her feet dangling far from the ground.

    "Very funny. Bring me home, smartass. I¡¯m tired." She adjusted his arms with spirit magic so that Lith lifted her in a princess carry while she reverted into her wisp form.

    Before he could make a snarky reply, she was already fast asleep. Solus¡¯s human form put a heavy burden on her and the prolonged physical exertion had made it worse.

    ¡¯The good news is that if I find a species of Emperor Beast that looks like her, I can introduce Solus to my friends and family now that her range from the tower extends so far.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The bad news is that she still has feelings for me, which would make the meeting with Kam extremely awkward. The problem is that once I¡¯m done with the army, keeping the two worlds apart will be much more difficult.¡¯

    The following morning, Lith reached the city of Zantia right after sunrise. Because of the undead migration, most local Lords had imposed a curfew. City gates would remain closed and the dimensional magic blocking arrays would remain active all night, unless in case of emergency.

    All travelers had to be tested with a simple diagnostic spell.

    The undead could change their appearance, but their bodies would still be as dead as a doornail. Their blood core would absorb the light element without letting the spell manifest itself.

    Lith was considered a local hero, so the guards let him skip the line and treated him with the highest honors.

    Everyone he met wanted to thank him and shake his hand, filling him with small gifts. To reach the manor of the new regent of Zantia, Baroness Mergrave, before sundown, Lith was soon forced to take a stagecoach.

    ¡¯Looks like someone is popr.¡¯ Solus giggled.

    ¡¯Looks like someone has too much free time, dammit. They were seconds away from throwing me a parade.¡¯ Lith replied.

    "Great Mage Verhen I¡¯m d you made it here so fast." The Baroness opened the door herself, revealing to be a woman in herte forties with shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes.

    She gave Lith a curtsy even though it was custom for the guest to greet their host first. It was a privilege that nobles reserved only to those of much higher status or for the times when they were in dire need of help.

    Judging from her impable makeup, her cream-colored day dress way too elegant for the meeting with a Ranger, and the tension visible in the Baroness¡¯ sharp features, typical of the northerners, Lith guessed that Mergrave¡¯s situation met both the requirements.

    "Normally I wouldn¡¯t have bothered you for such a small inconvenience, but the presence of undead is a game-changer." The Baroness said.

    Based on the information Kam had given to him, the number of disappearances along the Kusha route wasn¡¯t much biggerpared to the past. If not for a reliable witness reporting that the perpetrators were vampires, the army wouldn¡¯t have cared.

    Mergrave led him to her study, where a mahogany desk was covered in orderly piles of documents.

    "Indeed." Lith replied. "Even the underworld is wary of the undead and yet no one warned us. Either criminals and vampires have an agreement or the rats already have abandoned the ship, leaving the Kusha route to the undead.

    "The former implies that the vampires might have free ess to the popted areas thanks to the ck-market channels while thetter might be the indicator that they are plotting something big in the area, like building a Warp Gate."

 Chapter 863 Suspects and Theories Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 863 Suspects and Theories Part 1</h4>

    "My thoughts exactly. No matter the answer, I¡¯m ready to bet we¡¯re not going to like it." The Baroness nodded while showing Lith a map of the Kusha Route that went from Zantia to Jambel.

    The Kusha Route extended for hundreds of kilometers, passing through the biggest human settlements in the area and connecting them to the nearest Gates. It allowed the local merchants to move and sell their goods with the rest of the Kingdom.

    It was enough for a single city along the route to fall to leave thousands of people without the means to contact the authorities. The Baroness had marked with red dots all the sites were caravans had disappeared and had associated each spot with the date they had been reported missing.

    "That¡¯s a lot of ground to cover." Lith was familiar with the area and by cross-referencing the Baroness¡¯ map with his own stored inside Soluspedia, he noticed that a couple of mana geysers were rtively close to the sites of interest.

    "No one expects you to do everything on your own. You¡¯ve been summoned to Zantia because someone else will take care of Jambel¡¯s side." Mergrave said. "The vampires have been spotted here."

    She pointed at the most recent red spot, located near the Snake Tongue mountain range that ran alongside the first part of the Kusha Route.

    "I doubt that the undead are behind all the attacks, but this report worries me to no end. No matter if they are building a Warp device, a nest, or whatever. The Snake Tongue offers them hundreds of possible hiding spots and the perfect location tounch a surprise attack on our city.

    "With no Gates nor powerful mages, it would only take a couple of weeks to overrun the region and no one would notice. I requested for you because, among the three Rangers patrolling the Ker region, you¡¯re said to be an excellent tracker."

    Lith nodded, even though reality was quite different. His tracking skills were mediocre, but between Life Vision, Solus¡¯s mana sense, and the Mirror Hall located on the first floor of his tower, it took a very capable Warden to hide anything from him.

    "I¡¯d better leave immediately, before the trail goes cold. Did it rain during the days after the assault?" Lith asked.

    "No. I¡¯ve left a detail to protect the scene, to make sure that you¡¯d find it exactly as we did."

    Lith inwardly cursed, knowing that clumsy guards were likely to step over the few traces left, but he thanked the Baroness nheless. She was doing everything in her power to help him, even offering to provide him supplies.

    "Ranger Verhen, is it true that you¡¯re engaged?" The Baroness asked while he was rummaging through her stock of rare metals.

    "I beg your pardon?" His shocked expression told her everything she wanted to know.

    "I knew they were just baseless rumors. A young, promising Great Mage such as yourself involved with a spinster, and a mere civil servant at that." The Baroness meddling with his private life annoyed Lith, but it was the spite in her voice that made him want to pull her guts out of her mouth.

    "I like to think that during your service, you¡¯ve established a connection with the people of the north and with Zantia in particr. After your discharge, your presence would bring order to thesewlessnds." The Baroness said with a warm voice.

    "If you ever need a ce to stay, consider my city as your own. Maybe, once the mission is over, you could stop here to rest a bit. I have a daughter your age that has begged me to be introduced to you ever since you were still a student of the academy."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll probably have to leave as soon as the crisis is resolved. Also, I don¡¯t discuss personal matters while on duty. We¡¯ll talk about this again when I don¡¯t represent the Kingdom anymore and I¡¯m back to be a free citizen." Lith said.

    ¡¯Free to raze your entire household to the ground. If I bother to remember about your existence until then, of course.¡¯ He mentally added.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t be so hard on her.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯She¡¯s been rude to Kam, but the Baroness is only doing what she thinks is in both her own and your best interest. Remember that no matter the country you live in, talent can only get you so far before you hit the ss ceiling that only politics can break through.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m quitting the army and joining the Awakened Beasts¡¯ side. There are too many strings attached.¡¯

    Lith took from the Baroness¡¯ stockroom everything he thought might be needed for his mission or his personalbs before leaving. During the day, the use of dimensional magic was allowed so Lith was able to Warp outside Zantia and then fly toward his destination at breakneck speed.

    ¡¯Normally, it would take me a while to find my way, but this time I just need to follow the road.¡¯

    ¡¯Do you really think we¡¯ll find a Gate construction site or a barrack for a mass invasion?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯No. A dimensional tunnel that size would require one or more powerful mages who have free ess to the light element, which vampiresck. It would make sense if they had kidnapped mages instead of robbing caravans.

    ¡¯A barrack, instead, would require a constant supply of prey in its proximity and the reports indicate no pattern in the disappearance. I tantly lied to the Baroness to feed her fears, get as many merits as I can from my mission, and don¡¯t waste time with niceties.

    ¡¯My educated guess is that a group of refugees is building a vampire nest to survive summer.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯If that¡¯s the case, then how could they be so stupid to let a witness survive? Even under a feeding frenzy, they should¡¯ve known that being discovered would make things much harder for them. As the Baroness said, you¡¯re quite popr.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯Good question. Either they are a bunch of morons or luring me here is part of their n.¡¯ Lith essed his map stored inside Soluspedia and checked the distance of the nearest mana geyser from the site of the attack.

    ¡¯Close enough to serve as an observation point while I mind my own business. The tracks are bound to be dead cold. I¡¯m visiting the caravan wreck just to show off and let those poor guards think that they have done more than wasting their time.¡¯ He thought.

    It took him less than an hour to arrive at his destination, where he found that the caravan had been moved off the road to not hinder the passage of travelers and goods.

    The Kusha Route skirted the Snake Tongue mountain range. The mountains provided the travelers with precious shade and water during summer, shelter from spring¡¯s and fall¡¯s rainstorms, and forced the road to be closed during winter.

    There were four soldiers and a sergeant keeping guard, or better, goofing around since there wasn¡¯t much to do during the day. Their horses roamed around grazing at the grass.

    ¡¯So much for preserving the scene of the crime. Even if tracking spell really existed, by now every usable clue would have been destroyed.¡¯ Lithnded and offered his hand to the sergeant before starting his investigation.

 Chapter 864 Suspects and Theories Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 864 Suspects and Theories Part 2</h4>

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here, Ranger Verhen. I¡¯m sergeant Guilden, at your service." The sergeant was a middle-aged man, with grey hair and a mustache. He wore a light armor over his grey uniform, protecting his forearms, shins, chest, and shoulders.

    Guilden wielded a spear in his left hand that was mainly being used as a walking stick, and carried a short sword on his hip. If not for the stripes on his sleeves, his outfit was identical to that worn by the rest of the guards.

    "The other Ranger has proven to be useless so far. If it was for him, we might as well rot here until the next winter." The sergeant¡¯s words toward a superior officer were rude enough to earn him a court-martial for insubordination, but Lith noticed that despite the nice weather, the whole unit was shivering.

    They suffered from sleep deprivation due to the constant fear of being attacked at night and from exhaustion for doing their job during the day. Not a single piece of their equipment was enchanted, making themmbs rather than soldiers in the case of another attack, and they knew it.

    "What other Ranger?" Lith was so surprised that he interrupted the gibberish he was chanting.

    "The one who reported the attack, Ranger Ac. He was patrolling the area, yet he failed to save even one of the members of the merchant caravan, to capture a vampire, and even to follow them to their base of operation." Guilden snorted.

    "All he has managed to do is to cause panic. This story has shaved at least five years off our lifespan. I¡¯m telling you, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the ¡¯vampires¡¯ are nothing but thieves and Ac has made a big deal out of them to steal your spotlight."

    "Yeah." A female soldier spat to the ground. "He has been our Ranger for over ten years and he has never achieved anything before retiring. He¡¯s over thirty now and has been recalled only because of those damn undead."

    Lith inwardly sighed in relief at those words. The presence of another Ranger exined everything and defused every worst-case scenario his paranoia could cook up.

    After a bit more gibberish, Lith activated Life Vision and a few detecting arrays. The soldiers were average humans, the caravan didn¡¯t bear any relevant magical trace, and the area of effect of his spells gave him no clues about the recent events.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t find any surveince device, Warping array, or anything that a magic user would employ during an ambush. Either the vampires use conventional means for their robberies or the sergeant is right and we¡¯re dealing withmon criminals.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith even used Invigoration on everything and everyone, to make sure that no cloaking devices were obstructing his mystical senses.

    ¡¯Agreed, so far it¡¯s just a huge dud.¡¯

    "Thanks for your hard work." Lith gave them the salute. "I¡¯ve got everything I need now, so you have permission to return home."

    The soldiers quickly returned the salute before mounting their horses and riding back to Zantia. Lith even opened a Warp Steps for them, saving them precious daylight and getting rid of any witness.

    He had no idea where to go and no desire to meet the other Ranger. A partner would only make things difficult for him. After making sure via his natural and mystical senses that no one was around, Lith Warped toward the mana geyser.

    Following a trail on a rocky surface was impossible and the mountains offered countless hiding spots to any moron capable of using earth magic. Even abe search performed by a toon of magicians would have been a fool¡¯s errand.

    "Ac is not as ipetent as sergeant Guilden thinks, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have survived ten years in the corps. My fellow Ranger knows that in this kind of situation, the hunter pretends to be the prey, to let the enemye to them instead of aimlessly walking around." Lith said.

    "Sounds cool, but what are we doing here, then?" Solus asked.

    "Be they vampires or bandits, we¡¯ll find nothing during the day. I¡¯ll use this time to get familiar with the area without exposing myself or risking to meet our colleague. You continue tranting the Runesmith booklet please, I¡¯ll handle surveince for now."

    Lith sat on the stone throne located on the first floor of the tower, in the middle of the Mirror Hall. He clenched his fist, making each mirror produce a ss sphere that he spread throughout the whole area.

    Being part of the tower, the spheres would still benefit of both its cloaking devices and mystical senses. Everything that reflected on their surface appeared in their respective mirror, allowing Lith to keep an eye on the road while exploring the Snake Tongue mountain range at the same time.

    ¡¯I can easily understand why mage towers are legendary artifacts. The spheres can see 360¡ã around them, can be set on auto-pilot, and can provide me a 3D real-time map of the area.¡¯ Lith thought while a detailed hologram of the robbed caravan¡¯s surroundings was taking form in front of him.

    He sent two spheres along the Kusha route. One scanned the road in front of the wreck and the other the path leading to Zantia, searching for clues while the remaining spheres mapped the mountains.

    ¡¯I can even use Solus¡¯s mana sense through the mirrors so that the moment they spot anything or anyone with magical powers, I can safely follow them from a distance.¡¯ After a couple of hours, the spheres had found nothing useful. Lith left the Mirror Hall and went to Solus¡¯s quarters.

    "How is it going?" He asked.

    "The usual. I am about halfway through the book, but it¡¯s hard to tell when I¡¯ll be finished. I keep finding obscure terms that force me to check both Faluel¡¯s vocabries and my trantion of the early chapters.

    "I¡¯ve rewritten the whole damn thing over thirty times already. I can¡¯t risk botching a single line, otherwise any crafting based on my work would result in failure." Solus was in her wisp form, looking like a small sun that had books for satellites instead ofs.

    Even though she loved her human form, having only two eyes was cripplingpared to her wisp¡¯s full spatial awareness, which allowed her to read several tomes at once while writing.

    "Are you looking for something in particr?"

    "Of course. We need the blueprints for a ring." Lith took the purified ingot¡¯s piece out of his pocket dimension and showed it to Solus.

    "I want to give it a pseudo core to check if it stops the self-tempering process. It doesn¡¯t matter if we seed or fail. As long as the metal is not destroyed, I can alwayster remove the enchantment with Origin mes once I master them."

    "Then why not just crafting a dimensional ring or something?" Solus asked.

    "And waste the only bit of purified Orichalcum I got? This way we can practice Runesmithing and put our own advanced Forgemastering techniques to the test. We need to know if Necro and Blood Forge work with runes or if we just wasted our time inventing them." Lith shook his head.

    The Forgemastering techniques Lith and Solus had learned at the White Griffon academy were incapable of both producing superior artifacts and harnessing the full potential of metals with their own mana flow, like Orichalcum, Adamant, or Davross

    To do that, a Forgemaster had to use Runesmithing, a discipline that was only essible to Royal Forgemasters and ancient magical bloodlines. Being neither, Lith had devised Necro and Bloom Forge to sessfully tap into the Orichalcum potential without runes.

 Chapter 865 A New Project Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 865 A New Project Part 1</h4>

    Yet neither Bloom nor Necro Forge was enough to harness the magical strength that Lith¡¯s tower bestowed upon him. His hope was that bybining Runesmithing with his own original techniques, he would be able to follow the footsteps of Menadion, the First Forgemaster and Solus¡¯ mentor, if not even surpassing her.

    "Faluel will only teach us Runesmithing, but that alone might not be enough. Her techniques will allow us to reach our full potential but that will just put on equal footing with normal Forgemasters, while we are nothing but.

    "The tower allows us to tap into mana geysers and draw from Mogar¡¯s power unlike any other mage, but at the same time, it makes conventional methods useless. We need to find a suitable technique to ovee such a limit.

    "Faluel can¡¯t help me with that unless I reveal your existence to her, and that¡¯s not going to happen." Lith said.

    ¡¯Thanks to the tower, Menadion¡¯s artifacts are still considered unparalleled despite having been crafted with obsolete methods. There¡¯s no telling what we could achieve if we couple its power with modern Forgemastering techniques.

    ¡¯I wonder if the tower is something master Menadion just found, inherited, or did she craft it herself.¡¯ Solus thought while skimming through the untranted booklet.

    "Contrary to what we learned as Forgemasters, Runesmithing considers rings as high tier items. That¡¯s because, unlike weapons and armor, they offer a limited surface for engraving runes.

    "It makes rings more difficult to craft since a single poorly ced rune can greatly reduce the enchantment¡¯s efficacy." She said.

    "Are you telling me that crafting methods for small objects are described at the end of the book?" Lith inwardly cursed at his bad luck.

    "Mostly, yes. There are a few described in the pages that I¡¯m about to trante, but we¡¯re talking about simplest stuff." She read a few pages, giving him a rough trantion of the requirements to perform Runesmithing process.

    "On top of that, I can¡¯t rush my work. These experiments are supposed to be practiced in sequence so that the students carry over everything they learn from the simplest spells. This adds anotheryer of difficulty in doing a proper trantion."

    "This is just perfect." Lith hugged the wisp with enthusiasm, almost causing Solus to drop everything on the ground. "Creating runes costs money and I can¡¯t waste time and ingredients crafting crap."

    Being them learning tools, most of the initial blueprints produced items without practical value.

    "A simple ring is the best way to put to the test how well our Forgemastering techniques work with Runesmithing while keeping our expenses to a minimum. As soon as you find the description of a ring we could use, send me the list of the necessary ingredients and I¡¯ll do the rest."

    Lith left Solus¡¯s room and went outside to keep training at controlling his Origin mes. He was now focused solely on producing small amounts of fire. Each attempt required very little life force so the new experiments caused a minimum amount of strain upon his bodypared to his previous training methods.

    Lith was so focused that noon arrived and passed without him noticing. From time to time, he would send a stray thought to the tower to check on the mappletion rate and Solus¡¯s progress with the booklet.

    ¡¯This is interesting. Quality and quantity of Origin mes might be closely rted since no matter how small the life force spark is, the fire tends to propagate like, well, fire. It just loses power since the area of effect is the same but the energy behind the phenomenon is reduced.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m right, to produce higher quality mes I don¡¯t need to spend more life force, just to focus it to the limit and...¡¯ His train of thoughts derailed when something pulled at his consciousness.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! Today I forgot to report twice already. Kam must be worried sick. Can you hold the fort while I¡¯m away, Solus?¡¯ Lith¡¯s army amulet was blinking, but he couldn¡¯t reply without giving out his location.

    ¡¯No problem, but if you go outside our mind link¡¯s range, I will not be able to contact you if the spheres find something, so make it quick. Also, we must find a name for those things. Calling them ss spheres sounds wrong.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯Solus¡¯s Eyes?¡¯ Lith returned to the first floor, using the Warp Mirror to instantly arrive at the wreckage site.

    ¡¯Too long and my eyes work perfectly, thanks. You are a Wyrmling, so what about Wyrmling Balls?¡¯

    ¡¯If we were on Earth, I¡¯d say we¡¯d got seconds away from getting sued with such a name. Sentries?¡¯ Lith crossed over the dimensional tunnel and activated themunication amulet.

    ¡¯Sentries. A fitting name for our scouting units. See you soon.¡¯

    "Ranger Verhen, are you there? Is everything alright" Kam asked the moment Lith¡¯s hologram appeared. Her voice was calm and professional, but Lith could see from her eyes that she was on the verge of panic.

    "Ranger Verhen reporting for duty, and yes, I¡¯m fine. I apologize for beingte but I was so focused doing my job that I lost track of time."

    "Did you find the culprits already?" She sighed in relief.

    "No. As you can see by my coordinates, I was investigating the area and..."

    "Lith Verhen, let me get this straight." From the sound of her voice, Lith guessed that if he had a middle name, Kam would have used it and with a particr emphasis at that.

    "ording to Baroness Mergrave¡¯s report, you traveled to Zantia and made contact with her right after sunrise, correct?"

    "Yes."

    "Which means that you arrived at the scene in about two hours..."

    "One, actually." Lith corrected her. He was half proud of his speed and half certain that somehow, he was digging his own grave.

    "Can you exin to me why, in thest six hours, even though you had a perfectly workingmunication amulet at hand and you were aware of how dangerous the situation is, even though you failed to find the slightest clue, did it never cross your mind to give me, I mean the Headquarters, a call?

    "Before answering, I want you to know that the only reason why the army didn¡¯t send reinforcements to yourst known position is that I personally assured ourmanding officer that you work best alone and that it would have been a waste of resources."

    After Lith had shared with her his hybrid nature and his ability to use magic like an Emperor Beast, Kam knew that her boyfriend¡¯s survival rate was at its peak when he had no one to witness the full scope of his abilities.

    Not having heard from Lith for hours, she feared that if the army pinpointed his location while his life was endangered, they could not only discover his secrets, but also lead Lith to his demise.

    Martialw was strict to begin with, but since the undead invasion had be of public knowledge things had be even worse. To overrule several military protocols and make sure Lith would have free rein, it had cost Kam quite the effort, to the point of calling in favors and owing a few on her own.

    Discovering that the missed reports she had fought so hard to cover up in order to protect his privacy if not his life from harm, were actually caused by Lith¡¯s total disregard for his duty, almost made her pop a vein.

 Chapter 866 A New Project Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 866 A New Project Part 2</h4>

    Lith knew she was right and that if Commander Berion decided to assign him a partner topensate for his unreliability, not only his current mission, but also the entirety of his remaining stay in the corps would be a nightmare.

    The undead crisis had put everyone on their toes and one of the reasons was that usually an operative missing a call now meant that they had been killed or captured.

    Every person that disappeared in the wilds was assumed dead or in the process of being turned into an undead since it wouldn¡¯t make theirmunication rune vanish. Both the Kingdom and the undead Courts were recruiting the best elements they could find to fight the ongoing war.

    Things were bing so dire that both the Mage Association and the army had enforced a buddy system, to protect their best operatives from being "recruited" by the other side.

    Rangers were one of the few remaining exceptions and while Lith¡¯s blunder would¡¯ve had no consequences in the past, now was likely to make hismanding officer prone to apply the buddy system to him as well.

    Which meant no more tower Warping around, no more alone time with Solus, no more any of theforts that his tower offered to him, and being forced to hide most of his talents.

    Being their conversation recorded, Kam expressed only part of her outrage. She lectured Lith only about the importance to respect the protocols, like anypetent handler would do when dealing with an irresponsible Ranger. The girlfriend¡¯s fury had to wait.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, it won¡¯t happen again." Lith tapped his lips twice with his forefinger, a secret code between them that meant there were things he couldn¡¯t say on the army amulet.

    He gave Kam a full report, exining his theories and showing the results of his work. Or better, the results of the Sentries¡¯ work

    "I didn¡¯t stay idle. I scouted the area in search of clues and even though I found nothing, in the case of a chase, my marks will not be the only ones familiar with the territory."

    A 3D hologram of the area appeared between Lith¡¯s palms. Red lines marked all the possible escape routes bynd from all the known attack sites.

    "Did you find any trace of Ranger Ac? His handler has reported his disappearance for almost a full day now." Kam asked.

    ¡¯Damn my rotten luck. That¡¯s why the highmand is so jumpy. They must have thought that our disappearances were connected. Thank heavens Kam watched my back.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "None. Do you want me to look out for him?"

    "Yes. A rescue team would take too long to get there. Tracing the vampire activity takes priority. Finding your fellow Ranger is a secondary objective. If you miss any more calls, we¡¯ll assume something has happened to you as well. Lieutenant Yehval out."

    The conversation ended abruptly, only to resume a secondter on his civilian amulet.

    "Well, what do you have to tell me?" Despite the fact that Kam¡¯s voice was a thin whisper, it still managed to sound angry. She was walking double-time toward the bathroom, the only ce where she could have a bit of privacy.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for making you worry for nothing, Kami. It¡¯s just that giving reports is akin to torture to me. Seeing you, listening to your voice, and yet being unable to really be with you." Lith tried to touch her hologram, but his fingers passed through it.

    "That¡¯s what happens when someone in your line of job chooses to date someone." She sighed, massaging her temples.

    "Do you think it¡¯s any different for me? I¡¯m the one who is forced to look at the damn amulet at fixed intervals, hoping to hear from you one more time and that our previous conversation wasn¡¯t also thest.

    "I¡¯m the one who has to deal with her own work and your shenanigans. Maybe you can afford to lose yourself in your job, in your experiments, in whatever you do while you¡¯re alone out there, but I can¡¯t.

    "It¡¯s me who your family calls to make sure you are alright. As your handler, it¡¯s my duty to worry about you, but as your girlfriend, every time you miss a report¡¯s deadline, I start imagining terrible things that make me want to cry.

    "There¡¯s nothing more that I¡¯d want than having you here. These months have been hard on the both of us, yet I soldiered on and tried not to add my burden to your own. I don¡¯t want your apologies, I don¡¯t even care about your goddamn missions, I just want to know that you¡¯re alive."

    Her eyes became watery, yet she didn¡¯t cry nor her voice cracked. Her strength only made Lith feel more like a jerk than he already did. He was actually having an easy time thanks to his mage tower and he didn¡¯t worry about his family or Kam because he knew they were well protected.

    He remained silent, not wanting to sound like a broken record with his apologies. Lith couldn¡¯t even ask Kam if she wanted to take a break from their rtionship. He was the one traveling alone, so it would sound like asking her permission to sleep around.

    "Do you want me to tell something to your mother the next time I hear from her?" Kam was the one breaking the silence.

    "Yes. Tell her that I¡¯m still an egotistical jerk that doesn¡¯t deserve his girlfriend. Also, tell her that, once I¡¯m back, I¡¯ll make up to everyone, especially to said girlfriend."

    "I¡¯ll make sure to ry the message." Kam giggled. "I miss you."

    "I miss you more." Lith closed themunication before it became too painful and returned to his tower. He shared everything with Solus and was scolded again for it.

    "Don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed that with the excuse of not revealing your position you are calling home way less frequently than usual." Solus said. "They must be worried sick."

    "Well, they could call me. Also, I already have so little free time that when I get a break I¡¯m always itching for my research."

    "How could your family call when they believe that you¡¯re working day and night? Also, whenever you get a break, you shove the civilian amulet in the pocket dimension to not be disturbed!"

    Solus left him off the hook only because the disappearance of Ranger Ac made the situation even more dangerous. The members of the corps were only the cream of the crop, so even an average Ranger was an excellent fighter and a great mage.

    Lith ate his meal and continued training until sundown. The Sentries had yet to find anything relevant, so he called them back to patrol the area nearby the Kusha route in search for enemy movements.

    He timely performed his evening report and asked for updates.

    "These guys seem more like ghosts than vampires. I got nothing so far. Can you forward me all the information about the caravans currently in the area? I n on following them and catch the bandits unprepared." Lith said.

    "Done and done. Beware that if Ranger Ac has been really caught, the operation might bepromised. Maybe the vampires are not showing up because they are busy interrogating him or because they learned about your arrival. I¡¯m also sending you Ac¡¯sst known location."

    The Ranger¡¯s amulet was still unavable, yet his rune proved that he was alive.

 Chapter 867 Light and Crystal Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 867 Light and Crystal Part 1</h4>

    Lith had the Sentries following the caravans within the tower¡¯s area of effect, but his efforts were fruitless. The guards hired by the merchants were capable of dealing with most themon criminals and the presence of two Rangers in the area was well known.

    The smart professionals preferred to take a rain check and look for less dangerous jobs.

    During the following days, Lith checked the inventories of all the disappeared caravans, but there was no apparent connection between them. Following the bandits dumb enough to show their faces to their hideouts proved to be useless as well.

    They knew nothing about Rangers or vampires, they were just trying to make easy money by selling the stolen goods and asking ransoms for the hostages.

    Lith spent daytime practicing umtion and Origin mes while during the night he would search for Ac and his captors. The only silver lining of the situation was that Solus had tranted Huryole¡¯s book up to the rings and that they already had all the necessary materials to craft them.

    "It¡¯s time to practice Runesmithing! I¡¯ll engrave the runes on some scrap rings to get ustomed to the technique before attempting the real deal. The purified Orichalcum from the ingot is barely enough for a couple of tries so I can¡¯t afford mistakes." Lith said.

    "Good idea. Luckily, the materials are not too umon. Most of them can be easily bought on regr channels while we¡¯ll have to rely on the army for restocking once we run out of them. Now, I¡¯ve narrowed our selection to a couple of rings that..."

    Suddenly their consciousness was pulled by the Mirror Hall, where one of the Sentries was reporting unusual activity.

    "Now of all moments?" Lith blurted out with frustration.

    "I mean, it¡¯s still daytime." He corrected himself a second toote. Wisps had no eyes, yet the intensity of Solus¡¯s re was almost physical. "I was just surprised. I didn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t care about the lives of those poor merchants."

    "Tell me another one." Solus clicked her tongue while Warping them to the Hall.

    Contrary to Lith¡¯s expectations, the mirror wasn¡¯t showing a caravan, but a lonely figure flying at high speed at the ground level.

    "Human, bright blue core, outstanding vitality." Solus zoomed on the face after adjusting the Sentry¡¯s position. "Isn¡¯t that Ranger Ac?"

    Solus recognized him from the images Kam had forwarded them.

    "He¡¯s being followed! Multiple hostiles inbound, all of them have a blood core. Some are thralls, others are full undead."

    "It¡¯s worse than that, look at his hand." Lith said pointing at themunication amulet Ac was holding. "He¡¯s requesting back up and he¡¯s near our alleged position. There¡¯s no time to lose."

    Lith moved the tower as close as possible while casting a Warp Steps, finishing just a few seconds before his amulet started to ping. Ac¡¯s handler had forwarded the call directly to Lith, who received only a map showing his own position and that of his fellow Ranger together with the order to provide back up.

    The first Warp brought Lith where he was supposed to be, while the second materialized him in front of his bbergasted colleague, forcing Ac to a halt.

    "You idiot!" Ac¡¯s green eyes were bloodshot from theck of sleep and fury. "You were supposed to ambush them, not join the escapees club. If we don¡¯t reduce their number, we¡¯re as good as dead. We need reinforcements..."

    Lith¡¯s reply was to push him through the Warp and then close the dimensional corridor right before the two closest enemies reached their position. A blonde-haired thrall swooped down like an eagle releasing a stream of lightning shaped like a while a true undead pierced at Lith¡¯s nk with a heavily enchanted spear.

    Ruin appeared in his right hand, cutting through the first and the blonde thrall¡¯s head second. The de absorbed the spell and used it to empower itself, cutting her vertically asunder while cauterizing the wound at the same time.

    Lith sidestepped the spear lunge and raised his left hand, releasing a sphere of darkness magic that engulfed the creature and turned him into ashes. A small piece of a pristine white crystal fell from the dust cloud, shattering on contact with the ground.

    The female thrall¡¯s corpse turned into fractured ss. The fragments broke down into smaller pieces until the only thing left was her equipment.

    ¡¯What was that?¡¯ Lith asked while focusing on the remaining enemies.

    ¡¯No clue.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯The woman was a human while the man was a vampire. It¡¯s all I know.¡¯

    ¡¯Since when do humans turn into crystal upon death and can vampires withstand daylight?¡¯ The group had stopped advancing, their eyes shone with a white light that didn¡¯t bode well.

    ¡¯Again, no clue. What I can tell you is that the energying from their eyes bears the same frequency. My guess is that they share some kind of mind link.¡¯ Solus stored their fallen enemies¡¯ equipment inside her pocket dimension.

    ¡¯Are they Awakened?¡¯ Lith was bbergasted. His own eyes emitted a blue light because he had a blue core. If the same applied to his opponents, it meant that he was about to fight four people with white cores at the same time.

    ¡¯Not that I can tell. The thralls¡¯ mana cores don¡¯t match their eye color. Something is off here.¡¯

    The four came down in a coordinated formation, attacking Lith from every side at the same time. Life Vision spotted several lines of white mana. It was invisible to the naked eye and connected the white-eyed creatures, forming a magic circle that became moreplex by the second.

    ¡¯Do you want to trap me inside an array? Thanks, but no thanks.¡¯ Lith Blinked away before the magical formation waspleted, leaving behind a Raging Sun as a parting gift.

    It was a tier five War Mage spell created by mixing fire and earth magic that generated a powerful explosion and mes so hot that they could melt stone. Its effects were akin to a volcanic eruption.

    The shroud of white energy became visible and engulfed the purple mes for a second, as if it was attempting to smother them. Then, the explosion overpowered the array, breaking it along with the enemy formation and sending the four to crash against the ground.

    All of them were burned and battered, but still alive.

    ¡¯I get that undead are naturally resistant to magic, but what about the thralls?¡¯ Lith kept his distance, weaving one spell after another while trying to understand the real nature of the threat at hand.

    Both the living and the undead were healing at a speed visible at the naked eye, yet neither their vitality nor their blood cores were diminished from it.

    ¡¯That¡¯s it! They must be Awakened. Only Invigoration can regenerate wounds without exhausting the body.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯No, they are not. The array was a hard-light construct meant to squash you like a bug while protecting them from whatever spell you could dish out. As for the healing, do you see the white light engulfing them? Well, it has an energy signature of its own.¡¯

    Solus¡¯s words made little sense to him and to make matters worse, Lith didn¡¯t have the time to ask for a more detailed exnation. The four were back at their peak condition and ready for round two.

 Chapter 868 Light and Crystal Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 868 Light and Crystal Part 2</h4>

    Another array was quickly forming, using the four as its cornerstones. The magical formation seemed to draw in the light element from the world energy, casting a twilight over the area even though the sun was still high in the sky.

    Not willing to discover its effects, Lith Blinked near one of the thralls, the weak link in the magical chain. Unfortunately, the four were each looking in a different direction, leaving no blind spot.

    The moment Lith appeared they all turned toward him, each unleashing from the formation between them not fire, but pure heat condensed in a scorching white beam. It vaporized earth and stones on contact, leaving only a diamond-shaped hole the size of a man in its wake.

    The four smiled in triumph and then screamed in pain. Lith was still alive and stabbing, right behind the other human thrall. Ruin pierced the man¡¯s heart while Lith¡¯s free hand squashed the head like grape, making any kind of recovery impossible.

    ¡¯Can you believe that they tried to pull a mind link trap on us, Solus?¡¯ Lith thought, Blinking away to safety.

    ¡¯Beating us at our own game? Those amateurs had no chance.¡¯ Solus replied with a sneer.

    One of the risks of using a too deep mind link was that along with thoughts, pain would be shared as well as anything that afflicted the brain, like the feeling of having your head squashed.

    Moreover, casting together an array was a mammoth task that required perfect synch between the mages.

    The violent loss of one of their members had also caused an unbnce in the spell that spiraled out of control and resulted in a congration of the stored energy. The three were still blinded by pain and unable to react in time.

    A wild spell was dangerous by nature. It was capable of harming its caster even though it bore their energy signature. A wild array was much worse since even perfect magical formations were unable to distinguish friend from foe.

    Lith sighed, sad at the idea of having sacrificed precious loot in the line of duty. Aside from the scorched crater in the ground, there was no trace left of his most recent enemies.

    ¡¯There, there. Three out of six is still good, plus you have saved the Ranger. That should amount to something. For the Kingdom, I mean.¡¯ Solus thought, trying to cheer him up.

    Lith thanked her and conjured a Warp Steps to reach his colleague, yet he found nothing but his fake camp waiting for him on the other side. The moment Lith took his army amulet out of his pocket dimension to check about Ac¡¯s whereabouts, the rune of his handler started to blink.

    "Ranger Verhen, do you copy?" Kam¡¯s voice sounded worried.

    "Affirmative. I¡¯ve rescued the missing Ranger Ac and disposed of the enemies pursuing him."

    "All of them?" Her voice turned from worried to surprised.

    "All of them. I¡¯ve lost visual of Ranger Ac, though. Where is he?"

    "Flying for his life toward the nearest army base with a Gate." Kam said. "He¡¯s telling his handler an interesting story, ording to which Ac was against a group of powerful enemies that forced him on the run.

    "He¡¯s also spent quite a few words about your idiotic bravado that cost you your life. ording to Ac, yourmunication rune is still online because they have either captured you or are about to kill you."

    "I guess this man redefines the concept of ¡¯being wrong¡¯." Lith shrugged. "Do you think you can persuade him to give me all the information he possesses? I¡¯ve got nowhere so far, and I¡¯ve got no one left to interrogate."

    "I¡¯m still happily confused seeing that you are alive and well despite what stated in Ac¡¯s dramatic report, but I can do better. I¡¯ll have him go back, so you can ask him anything you want. Once you¡¯re done with him, I expect a full report.

    "I¡¯m going to print it in triplicate and use it to p off the face of Ac¡¯s handler his contemptuous smirk.

    "You should have seen him while he described the entire office how my famous Ranger Verhen got himself killed like an amateur, whereas his unremarkable Ranger Ac discovered a plot that could jeopardize the Kingdom."

    Kam wore her usual gentle smile while talking with Lith, but the twitch in her left eye told him that her colleague was in a world of trouble.

    While waiting for Ac, Lith lighted a fire and put up a water kettle. Judging from their brief encounter, his fellow Ranger had undergone a lot of hardships. Lith needed to know what was happening, and Ac was the only one who could point him in the right direction.

    Hot tea with some liquor was the best way to help him rx and loosen his tongue. The man had already lost a lot of face by disappearing for so long and running away from enemies he imed to be mighty.

    Upon learning that Lith had easily dispatched them and was about to steal his limelight, Ac might prove to be uncooperative.

    ¡¯You always expect the worst from people, do you?¡¯ Solus sighed.

    ¡¯Everyone is guilty until proven otherwise.¡¯ Lith nodded.

    ¡¯By the way, aren¡¯t you curious about how the heck did those guys used advanced light magic? The first array they employed resembled Manohar¡¯s offensive spells, while the second one was more like a mix of light and fire magic.

    ¡¯We¡¯ve never seen anyone, not even the Mad Professor being able to mix the light element with anything but darkness.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯True, but that¡¯s only because so far we¡¯ve met only one person capable of using offensive light magic.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯To answer your question, yes, I¡¯m curious. I¡¯m also ready to bet that their ability was linked to the external source of mana they shared. Do you remember when I told you that the white aura surrounding them had an energy signature of its own?

    ¡¯Well, the vampires bore two energy signatures, one from their blood core and the other from the white light, while the thralls bore three of them. Their own mana core, a blood core from their sire, and the white light as well.¡¯

    ¡¯And energy signature without a core?¡¯ Lith was bbergasted. ¡¯What was its power source and how the heck can vampire survive under direct sunlight?¡¯

    ¡¯Now you¡¯re asking too much from me. The fightsted barely twenty seconds and I was more focused on keeping you alive than asking them trivia. By the way, we have guests.¡¯ Solus telepathically pointed at a figure flying in their direction.

    Ranger Ac was a man in his early thirties, 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall with already a few grey hairs mixed with his chestnut hair and a beard of a brown so light to look almost red.

    His slouched shoulders made him look tired and dejected while he neared the campfire, a feeling that was further emphasized by the lines around his green eyes.

    "Sorry for leaving you for dead, but in our line of work you have no idea how many conceited youngsters with a death wish I¡¯ve met." Ac said. The two Rangers shook hands before sitting on the stone chairs that Lith had conjured.

    Ac looked at Lith with respect, more surprised by the second of not finding a single scratch on him. He sipped his spiked tea for a while, waiting for Lith to exin how he had managed to survive.

 Chapter 869 Twoâ€™s Company, Threeâ€™s Crowd Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 869 Two¡¯s Company, Three¡¯s Crowd Part 1</h4>

    "Don¡¯t worry about that. Do you mind telling me what¡¯s going on here?" Lith had no intention of exining anything. At least until he learned how much the other Ranger knew.

    There was a reason why he had pushed Ac through the Warp Steps and avoided submitting his report. For his story to be believable, it had to match with Ac¡¯s.

    "Sure." Ac nodded, emptying his cup and immediately asking for a refill. "As you probably know, I was tasked with dealing with the bandits while you took care of the important stuff. I¡¯m just an emergency recement, after all."

    His voice contained a tinge of resentment and was coated with more envy than sugar on a candy bar. A Ranger was considered at their peak condition at 25 years, when they had gained enough experience and their body was still in its prime.

    Despite having spent ten years in the corps, Ac¡¯s name was just one of the many on the list. Moreover, being him past his thirties, no one expected anything from him but to keep things in order while Lith was busy.

    Ac knew to be nothing more than a ceholder and he was absolutely livid about it.

    "So, once I discovered that instead of bandits I was dealing with the undead, I followed them to their hideout to investigate. The reason I failed to contact my handler so far, is that the ce is a goddamned maze filled with arrays that block dimensional magic.

    "You have no idea what I went through. No food, no sunlight, no way to call for help, just surviving out of scraps while waiting for the right moment to get away."

    "It sounds rough." Lith handed him a piece of fresh bread, eager to get back on topic. "Where is the ce and what were they doing?"

    "I was getting there." Ac nodded while wolfing down the food. "First of all, those vampires are weird. No matter how strong the sun shines, there¡¯s always this thin shroud of darkness around their bodies that allows them to move freely even during the day."

    "Also, their numbers are too little to have built a whole undergroundplex. My guess is that they either found the ce by chance or they were looking for it."

    "I heard from your handler that their n can jeopardize the Kingdom. How exactly?" Lith asked.

    "Thework of caves they are hiding in is full of ancient junk. From what I could see during the past few days, they are using it to build a Gate. To make matters worse, their numbers increase by the day.

    "Those leeches didn¡¯t kidnap the travelers to feed upon them, but to turn them. If we lose too much time, the Kingdom will have to deal with a vampire nest capable of freely moving wherever there isn¡¯t a protective array."

    ¡¯Wow, a Gate and a nest at the same time. Way to go to jinx it, Lith.¡¯ Solus tried to make it sound like a joke, but she was starting to believe in bad luck.

    "That makes no sense." Lith replied to both. "A Gate requires a power source and a growing nest needs lots of food. The vampires should have emptied entire viges already if that were true."

    "I saw what I saw." Ac didn¡¯t bother to hide his annoyance at Lith¡¯s disbelief. "I can¡¯t exin the Gate, but one thing I know for sure. Those bastards don¡¯t need to feed."

    "What?" Lith blurted out with a bit too much enthusiasm for the liking of any sane person listening to him.

    Vampires able to move during the day, capable of using all elements, and with no hunger were a nightmare for the three Great Countries, but wonderful news for Lith. It was the answer to all of his problems, nicely wrapped up and served to him on a silver tter.

    "Are you insane or what? Do you understand what I¡¯m telling you? I was stuck in there for days, waiting for an opportunity to escape. Those guys don¡¯t sleep nor rest. The moment their guards spot you, they¡¯lle at you in numbers."

    Ac looked at the huge grin on Lith¡¯s face with disgust. In his eyes, only a madman could treat such dire news as a funny joke.

    "I understand, but your story still doesn¡¯t make any sense. Turning someone into a vampire doesn¡¯t grant you dominance over them. If they are just kidnapping random people, why don¡¯t the thralls and the newborn vampires rebel?" Lith was sick of Ac¡¯s attitude and decided to put him in his ce.

    "I could understand if they were rising corpses, but resetting their victims¡¯ personalities would also take away all of their knowledge and it would take months to teach them the basics ofbat from scratch.

    "Among your attackers there were humans and all of them fought like professionals. How do you exin this?"

    "I don¡¯t." Ac snarled, abruptly standing up to look Lith in the eyes. "I¡¯m no Necromancer, but since you¡¯re a genius, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll find an answer to all of your stupid questions.

    "I¡¯ve already asked for reinforcements. Once they are here, we must sweep the caves as fast as possible and solve the problem. We¡¯re dealing with hard facts, there¡¯s no time to waste with your philosophical questions."

    "Wait all you want. Just point me in the right direction and tell me what to expect. I¡¯ll do the rest." Lith said.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to let some zealot kill all the vampires before I discover what¡¯s their secret.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯If the Kingdom finds whatever is empowering them, it will end up in the Royal Forgemasters¡¯ hands. If I go in alone first and take that knowledge for myself, I¡¯ll be several steps closer to solving once and for all my resurrection problem!¡¯

    "I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re more reckless or arrogant." Ac spat on the ground. "If you go there, we¡¯ll lose the element of surprise!"

    "That ship has sailed once they found you out." Lith replied. "I¡¯ve already cleaned up your mess once, I can do it again. They are waiting for us and the more time passes, the better they can prepare. Or do you think they¡¯ll ignore the disappearance of six of them?"

    The two Rangers had their hands on the hilt of their respective weapons when both their army amulets started to blink. Once turned on, they projected two holograms.

    The first belonged to Kam and the other to a young man in his twenties who could have been considered handsome, if not for the fact that he seemed to have a broomstick up his ass.

    The mood between the handlers seemed as tense as that between the Rangers. Lith reviewed Ac¡¯s report with Kam, pointing out its inconsistencies to undermine the threat level of the situation at hand.

    Then, he described how he had dispatched Ac¡¯s pursuers, leaving out their ability to use offensive light magic. Arrays couldn¡¯t be used while flying at high speed and Lith doubted that undead needed that kind of firepower to deal with weakly humans.

    He was certain that Ac didn¡¯t witness the full scope of their powers and the ensuing silence confirmed Lith¡¯s guess.

    "Best case scenario I¡¯ll get rid of them on my own. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll still be able to scout the area and provide the assault team with the information they need, preventing them from falling into traps." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s an excellent idea." The hologram of Commander Berion appeared behind Kam¡¯s.

 Chapter 870 Twoâ€™s Company, Threeâ€™s Crowd Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 870 Two¡¯s Company, Three¡¯s Crowd Part 2</h4>

    He was a man in his early thirties, almost as tall as Lith, standing 1.8 (5¡¯11") meters tall with pitch-ck hair and eyes. His pale blue uniform had onerge ck silk band around the right arm with several golden marks knitted on it.

    Each mark represented a fallen member of an elite army corps during the current week. Even though the Griffon Kingdom was in a privileged position, they kept losing good people on a daily basis.

    All the upper echelons of the Kingdom wore such bands to be reminded of the consequences of their actions.

    "Ranger Ac has already explored theplex while Ranger Verhen has proved time and time again to be a one-man army. It offers us a perfectbination and the opportunity to test the buddy system for the Ranger corps." Berion said.

    "With all due respect, sir, I work best alone. All I need is a detailed report of theplex¡¯s location andyout." Lith already had a partner. Compared to Solus, Ac was dead weight.

    "I agree with Ranger Verhen, sir." The simple act of saying those words turned Ac¡¯s face into a disgusted grimace.

    "After the prolonged istion, I¡¯m in dire need of rest and food. Time is of the essence, so if Verhen thinks he is able to handle himself, he should be allowed to go in alone." Ac wanted to be left out of such a n.

    He could already see the final report in the case the mission seeded. Lith would get all the glory and he would barely be mentioned in the footnotes.

    "Two against one. Too bad the army is not a democracy." Berion had his firstugh in days seeing the hostility between the two menid bare in front of him.

    "The fact that you both agree is the start of a wonderfulradeship. Ranger Verhen, no report can rece first-hand experience. If the vampires move even a rock to ce a trap, Ranger Ac would notice. Having been trapped there for days I¡¯m sure he paid close attention to the slightest details.

    "Ranger Ac, I don¡¯t see any wound on you and judging from your flight speed, you¡¯re more than fit for the mission. I expect you to move out in the next ten minutes. Is that clear?"

    "Sir, yes, sir." The two Rangers said in unison.

    "Cut back on the alcohol and switch to water." Lith handed Ac a still steaming steak sandwich and a jug of fresh water. "I officially got a ten minutes break and I¡¯m going to spend it with my girlfriend."

    When Lith Blinked away, surrounding himself with the Hush spell and proving to his fellow Ranger thepleteck of trust between them, Ac almost choked on his meal.

    ¡¯What the fuck is that? I spent ten years of my life, enduring sweat, tears, and blood for my country. All I got for it is a minor noble title and and in the middle of nowhere. Howe a little runt gets all the honors and a hottie?

    ¡¯When I was still on active duty, if I wantedpany, I had to pay for it. No one is supposed to like Rangers!¡¯ Ac bit the sandwich with fury, his green eyes never left Lith¡¯s standing figure in the distance as he ruminated about life¡¯s unfairness.

    "Buddy system or not, I¡¯ve sent you Ac¡¯s full report along with his personal file and the attack force he had requested to take down the vampire nest." Kam had gone to the bathroom and used Jirni¡¯s code to make sure that their conversation would stay private.

    "I don¡¯t trust that guy. He whined all the time and left you for dead. I¡¯m digging up his past exploits to give you an idea of his specializations and how he employs them. Just in case he tries something funny."

    "Thanks, Kami. You¡¯re the best." Lith skimmed through the data, noticing that the most relevant parts had already been underlined. Kam had prepared them while Berion was still talking.

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether to be proud of her paranoid behavior or just worried.

    ¡¯I wonder who between me and Jirni is the worse influence on her.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯My money is on Jirni.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯You try to keep her out of the worst shit that happens to you, whereas Jirni rubs Kam¡¯s nose in it to teach her how a Royal Constable survives.¡¯

    "You better remember it while you¡¯re out there surrounded by pretty noblewomen." Kam¡¯sugh made his day.

    "What about you? I bet that by following Jirni all day long, you got a line of suitors as long as the Kusha route. Do I have to get jealous?" Lith asked.

    "Not really. Lady Ernas kills the mood in a room just like she does anyone else. Even when she¡¯s not with me, no one is brave enough to face the guards bearing the Ernas insignia. Jokes aside, do you think Ac will drag you down?" Kam looked at her amulet¡¯s watch.

    Their time was running out.

    "He doesn¡¯t seem ipetent like a noble nor annoying like Ranger Eari. As long as he does his job properly, I¡¯ll manage."

    By the time Lith returned to the camp, Ac was done eating and was taking a nap. The first thing one learned in the corps was to keep their temper in check, the second was to sleep whenever they could.

    Lith stored everything inside his pocket dimension before waking him up.

    They agreed on reaching their destination by flight. Dimensional magic was mana expensive and they preferred to save their strength.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯ Lith thought while Ac led the way.

    ¡¯Bright blue core and excellent physical condition. For a human. Judging from his file, hecked both the ambition and the luck necessary to rise among the army ranks. Talent wasn¡¯t his problem.

    ¡¯Ranked second overall at the Fire Griffon academy, two specializations, Battle and War Mage, plus a third as Healer achieved during his service. My estimate is that, unlike you, he lived during peaceful times.

    ¡¯No conflicts also mean no opportunity to shine. Long story short, peace crippled his wings and now that things got "interesting", he¡¯s eager to make up for the lost time. I¡¯m afraid that youring ruined his ns to finally be a hero.

    ¡¯The attack n Ac proposed to Berion revolves around himself. Glory hog much.¡¯ Solus was memorizing Ac¡¯s file while Lith focused on their surroundings.

    ¡¯So Kam¡¯s gut was right. He might really try to take me out just to fulfill his ambition.¡¯ Lith was mildly amused, but not surprised. Ac had done very little to hide his feelings of envy, and the bloodlust he had released after learning that Kam was Lith¡¯s girlfriend had sealed the deal.

    ¡¯Too bad that, as the guide, he is the one who has to entrust his back to me. I had already nned to make an "ident" happen to him in the case I need to go all out or we discover the secret behind perfect undeath.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t risk mister boy scout ratting me out or delivering my prize to the Royals just to get his 15 minutes of fame. The undead¡¯s dimensional sealing array will be my best ally, preventing the amulets from working.¡¯

    Solus had many issues with killing innocent people, but the more she knew Ac, the harder it was to consider him as such.

 Chapter 871 Old Enemies Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 871 Old Enemies Part 1</h4>

    "How did you find the undead¡¯s base of operation?" Lith asked.

    "I was lucky. I stumbled upon the vampires during my patrol, while they were assaulting a travelers¡¯ caravan. I was about to intervene when I noticed that the bandits were freaking undead.

    "I let them do their job and then I followed them back to their hideout. They had taken the humans alive, so I thought that I could save themter. Worst case scenario, they would have been coteral damage. The Kingdom sometimes requires sacrifices." Ac shrugged.

    "After alerting the Headquarters, I tailed them in an undergroundwork of caves that led me damn deep. That plus the arrays shut down allmunications.

    "I got stuck there because, after performing the ritual to turn their prisoners into thralls, the guards resumed their positions while I was still studying the odd machinery they built. I had to wait for their next expedition to get my opportunity to escape.

    "After days without sleep and eating, not only was I so tired that they spotted me, but I had also the pleasure to learn that fucking Baroness Margrave and all the fucking nobles I risked my ass for a decade to protect, didn¡¯t trust me enough to get the job done and had their golden boy meddle with my hard work." By the time Ac was done talking, the veins on his neck were bulging in outrage.

    ¡¯This exins a lot. The vampires didn¡¯t let anyone escape, they were just unlucky. Also, deep underground caves? Machinery?¡¯ Lith had no interest in Ac¡¯s rants, only in figuring out what he was about to deal with.

    "You talked about a ritual, but making a thrall doesn¡¯t take one. Can you describe it in more detail?" He asked.

    "The members of the nest formed a circle around a stone table where the victim was strapped. Then, their bodies emitted a white light that formed an array which empowered a white mana crystal.

    "The crystal was embedded in a big bundle of metal wire and pipes. After a while, the energy was umted and amplified by the crystal and then injected inside the victim. That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got." Ac replied.

    ¡¯From his description, it sounds like an Odib, but this still doesn¡¯t make sense. The Odi despised undead and weren¡¯t able to use tier five spells. Even assuming that all the undead I faced had their original personalities reced, where the heck did they learn modern magic?

    ¡¯Also, the fact that the vampires fueled the array needed to empower the machine is another inconsistency. Without enough people that know the ritual and how to operate the device, the whole thing is just a piece of junk.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no way a group of recently awakened Odi can overpower an entire nest of vampires to steal their bodies. Moreover, why would a nest even be here in the first ce?¡¯ Lith thought.

    "You said the machine turned them into thralls instead of vampires. How can you be so sure?" Since the undead he had encountered were able to withstand sunlight, Lith was able to distinguish between thralls from vampire only thanks to Solus¡¯s mana sense.

    Ac¡¯s words confused Lith to no end.

    "You ask too many questions. How the heck did you manage to join the army with such an attitude? A soldier only needs to obey his orders and let his superiors do the thinking." Ac said.

    "As for your question, the ritual involved the exchange of blood between victims and vampires so I assumed they became thralls. Undead don¡¯t feed upon other undead."

    "You ask too few questions and assume much." Lith replied. "No wonder you remained a grunt your whole career. Blind loyalty is only good for foot soldiers, whereas initiative is required from officials.

    "Or do you believe that you get the permission to think for yourself along with the promotion?"

    The exchange of insults continued until they reached their destination. It was a pile of rocks leaning against the side of a mountain.

    "That¡¯s just andmark formed after andslide. Follow me and shut up." Ac cast an array detecting spell to make sure nothing had changed since hisst visit.

    Then, he led Lith toward the south-east, following the mountain range.

    Even with his 3D map, Lith had trouble understanding where they were exactly. The Serpent Tongue derived its name from the mountain range splitting into two smaller branches at some point.

    The mana geysers at his disposal were located respectively at one of the Tongue¡¯s ends and another near the Kusha Route, whereas Ac had brought him somewhere near the root of the Tongue.

    The Ranger signaled Lith to expect two guards and be careful. Then, he flew up until he found a mark in the stone that resonated with his mana. It was amon trick among Rangers that Lith had learned from another veteran, Morok.

    A whisper and a series of hand signs made the rock wall open, revealing a tunnel. Yet no one was there. Ac had a shocked expression for a few seconds before regaining his cool and casting a Life Detecting array.

    "No guards? Where did they go?" He said after confirming there was no one around them. Ac sheathed his weapon while turning to Lith.

    When Ac¡¯s eyes met the red de of Ruin, he was barely able to contain another burst of swearing. As anypetent mage, the Ranger could perceive the de¡¯s powerful mana flow and appreciate its elegant design.

    Purple mana crystals were embedded in both sides of the hilt, on the guard, and the pommel. Smaller blue crystals the size of a nut were ced in a vertical line along the middle of the t sides of the de, to ensure that the enchantments stored within its pseudo core were evenly channeled throughout Ruin¡¯s surface.

    Even though runes couldn¡¯t be seen by the naked eye, Ac was close enough for his mana perception to feel theplex pattern of mystical words that covered the sword and gave it its red glow.

    "Either I scared the shit out of them or they are making new puppies as we speak." Lith sheathed Ruin and started to take small bags of food out of his pocket dimension. "Once we get in, our storage items will be useless.

    "You¡¯re the one who knows theplex. How much food do we need to safelyplete the mission without starving?"

    "How do you know that the arrays start right inside the cave and where did you get that sword?" Ac ignored Lith¡¯s question. He was too busy cursing how life was unfair to answer him.

    "I don¡¯t." Lith lied. "Getting prepared in an open space instead of inside an unknown cave is justmon sense. As for the de, I traded a piece of my own for it with a fellow Forgemaster."

    He avoided telling his drooling colleague that Ruin was just a prototype. Lith couldn¡¯t risk Ac having a stroke out of envy. Not until he had outlived his usefulness.

    "I heard youe from farmers and serious Forgemastering requires money. A lot of it. How could you afford to take such specialization?"

    "For someone who ims to not be curious, you sure ask a lot of questions." Lith replied. "I don¡¯t n on having an official biographer so it¡¯s none of your business. Take out the food and make way."

    Ac grumbled non-stop until they stepped inside the cave, each one of them carrying five days¡¯ worth of provisions stored inside special bags that trapped smells and sounds. The cave was dark, damp, and recent.

 Chapter 872 Old Enemies Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 872 Old Enemies Part 2</h4>

    The condensed water dripping from the ceiling had yet to form pools and the rock¡¯s surface was too smooth to be natural. Lith didn¡¯t need light thanks to Fire Vision and Ac thanks to an amulet he possessed that made his eyes turn green.

    The cave led into a much older tunnel that was part of awork of passages that extended downwards. They kept moving forward for hours, stopping only to check for the presence of enemies and traps by using detecting arrays.

    Ac was able to find the way thanks to the mana imbued marks he had left during his first visit, while Lith¡¯s brain worked at full gear to make sense of the many contradicting details.

    Solus scanned their surroundings with mana sense from time to time, finding nothing but bugs and moss.

    ¡¯It¡¯s too bad that Ruin is still aplete mystery to us.¡¯ She thought once she got bored of revising the known facts over and over.

    ¡¯The rune pattern is tooplex to discern the different sets thatprise it and there are too many unknown runes to make any sense of a single line.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s worse than that.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯Even if we were able to read all the runes, we know nothing about the ingredients needed to both cast the enchantments and synch them with the runes. Without that, any attempt to replicate the de would end up in failure.

    ¡¯Besides, Ruin is just a prototype, which means that Orion is still tinkering with the project. It¡¯s better to work on the perfect version rather than waste our limited resources on what might as well be a partial failure.¡¯

    The Gatekeeper, Lith¡¯s previous weapon, was of a much simpler design. His mastery over Forgemastering allowed him to guess what kind of ingredients were needed to craft a pseudo core based on the enchantments it carried, but only as long runes weren¡¯t involved.

    Normal Forgemastery was akin to fake magic, giving an object a spell that could only be turned on and off. Runesmithing, instead, made the enchantments work like true magic, giving their master the ability to activate, shape, and amplify the imbued spells at will.

    The runes also allowed the wielder of the artifact to alternate between consuming their own mana, that of the pseudo core, or both, whereas regr artifacts could only feed off a fixed power source.

    Attempting to replicate aplex piece like Ruin with Lith¡¯s current knowledge about runes would have been like a butcher leading a liver transnt surgery.

    ***

    Meanwhile, near the rock pile, a humanoid figure half-covered in fur sniffed the air, following the scent of their prey. It took them a while to find the wall behind which lied the cave, but once they did, the stone became as soft as a fluid.

    It allowed them to just walk through it without making any sound nor letting a single ray of light enter the cave. In the enclosed space of the tunnel, the scent became clearer, yet the creature had no intention to rush things.

    They ced their w-ending hand on the pavement, releasing small bursts of earth magic that spread through the ground for kilometers, providing them with apleteyout of the tunnels as well as their prey¡¯s location.

    ¡¯You can hide behind a human form, but I know your real face. You¡¯ll pay for ughtering my tribe, women and children alike, just because you considered us nothing but monsters. Your scales and fire will not protect you from me.

    ¡¯It took me months to track you down, but now that you¡¯re in my element, there¡¯s no way out for you.¡¯

    The creature smelled the presence of undead, so it performed several checks in search of arrays before diving into the floor and swimming toward their enemy. The two Rangers had to walk along the corridors, following their twists and turns.

    The creature moved in a straight line, quickly reducing the distance that separated them from the humans.

    ***

    After conjuring a Hush spell to prevent smells and sounds from propagating through the tunnels, Lith and Ac stopped for lunch.

    "Are you sure this is the right ce? We¡¯ve been walking for hours and I¡¯ve yet to see a single trace of our enemies." Lith said.

    "I really don¡¯t know what to say." Ac¡¯s mood kept swinging from rage to depression. He was aware that unless they found the vampires soon, he would be aughingstock.

    ¡¯If the mission turns into an utter failure, the Commander will either believe that I made up the threat to look good, or that Lith is so strong that he scared them shitless and forced them to flee. No matter if they peg me as a liar or an ipetent, I¡¯m screwed.¡¯ He thought.

    "How far is the cave where you witnessed the ritual?" Lith asked, avoiding to point out that so far escaping from the tunnels wasn¡¯t something that would have taken more than a few minutes to apetent mage.

    He needed Ac¡¯s help. Yet.

    "Not much. That damn machine has to be there. I¡¯ve not made things up, I swear. This ce was filled with guards, arrays, and stuff. I counted at least 30 between leeches and thralls!"

    "I believe you." Lith nodded in reply.

    ¡¯But only because Solus says so.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯There is still a lot of residual energy in the air as if lots of arrays had been kept active until just a while ago or some major spell has been cast. To make things more interesting, the dimensional blocking array is still working.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯Its design is very old and its workings match the Odi magic that we found in Kh, so at least part of Ac¡¯s story is true. Another interesting thing is that the array has been recently repaired by a genius Warden.

    ¡¯Time andck of maintenance have eroded some of the old runes and someone has reced them with modern runes. The two kinds of magic work differently, yet they have been arranged so that they wouldn¡¯t interfere with each other.

    ¡¯Vampires are ageless creatures, so they are capable of such feat. Also, restoring a pre-existing magical formation is much easier than building a new one from scratch. It fits the profile of a group of powerful runaways in search of a new home.¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks, Solus. I am good with math, but I minus you is still an equation I¡¯m unable to solve.¡¯ Lith thought in awe. Even without Soluspedia, the knowledge she possessed dwarfed most libraries he had consulted on Mogar.

    Lith didn¡¯t know if it was due to Solus being a genius or somehow rted to her tower half. He was too happy of having her by his side to care about small things.

    ¡¯Me neither.¡¯ Solus replied, rejoicing for his sweet words. ¡¯But I still can¡¯t rx. There¡¯s something off with this ce. I can¡¯t put my finger on it yet, but whatever it is, it gives me the creeps.¡¯

    The two Rangers resumed their walk, following the mana marks Ac had left on the walls during his stay and finding a few protective arrays they had no problem disabling. When they reached the cave, it was exactly as Ac had described it.

    It was a circr room, with a stone table at its center and aplex yet ancient machinery right above it. The air was stale, allowing Lith to smell the remnants of the blood, piss, and tears that had been shed in there.

 Chapter 873 Hidden Signs Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 873 Hidden Signs Part 1</h4>

    Lith could distinguish the passage of several different people in the room, each one with their own smell and fear. Lith illuminated the area, revealing several different shreds of clothing near the table¡¯s edges, where the people strapped to it had struggled to escape.

    Brown stains of dried blood were visible on both the stone table and floor, making it resemble more a sacrificial altar rather than a scienceb. The raw amount of mana still lingering in the air made Lith¡¯s skin crawl.

    ¡¯By my maker. Whatever that is, it needs so much mana to work that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if we found a second Mana Reactor.¡¯ Solus thought while Lith took scans of the device with his army amulet.

    "This is no mana crystal." Lith pointed at the white prism that was supposed to fuel the artifact.

    Instead of being cut like a precious gem, it resembled a huge salt crystal, formed by several rectangr blocks fused together. By looking at it with Life Vision, Lith noticed that it bore the same signature of the white energy surrounding the weird undead he had fought.

    The prism, however, was powerless. It had no mana flow nor life force, making Lith wonder what its origin could be.

    ¡¯This is interesting. The design of the machine is simr to ancient Odi technology, but the techniques used to build it are all modern.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯If I manage to copy its schematics, it might be useful in reproducing the body-swapping device I¡¯m working on.¡¯

    "What do you mean, this is no mana crystal?" Ac examined the prism, cursing his bad luck. Not only were the enemies missing, but the device¡¯s value amounted to its own weight in scrap metal.

    Without a power source, it was just an ugly oversized paperweight.

    "What now?" Lith asked.

    "Beats me. This is as far as I was able to mark my passage. There¡¯s some kind of Warp Gate past one of those corridors, but I saw it only once while trying to avoid a patrol so I have no idea where to look.

    "I doubt I could interest you in the side caves and empty tunnels where I hid for the past few days." Ac could feel his dreams of glory and riches shattering.

    He sat against the wall, incapable of raising his eyes from the ground without crying.

    Lith cast his best Life Detecting array and when it came back negative, he lighted the whole cave, revealing several passageways leading further below.

    "Let¡¯s be honest. We don¡¯t like each other and so far hunger is our greatest enemy." Lith said. "We need to understand if the vampires are still here or did they move out after discovering about your presence, and we need to do it fast.

    "After reading your report, the army will send a research team here as soon as they are done with the most urgent business. If by the time they are here we don¡¯t have a clear picture of the situation, human lives will be at risk."

    "Do you really believe me?" Ac almost couldn¡¯t believe his own ears. He had been expecting nothing but mockery and disdain from his more sessful junior.

    ¡¯Heck, in his shoes I would have called myself a liar. Maybe this Verhen is not as bad as the rumors depict him.¡¯ He thought.

    "Of course I believe you. You put your life on the line to get us here." Lith replied.

    "It¡¯s better if we split up, to cover more ground. Let¡¯s meet back here in a couple of hours. If one of us encounters an enemy, he should return here early and wait for the other. Okay?"

    "Okay."

    Lith and Ac were all smiles, making Solus want to puke.

    ¡¯Let me guess. "Cover more ground" means that you¡¯ll be free to take whatever you want without witnesses while the other use is to make sure he doesn¡¯t find anything relevant by himself.¡¯

    ¡¯Correct.¡¯ Lith inwardly wore a wolfish smile. ¡¯Ac doesn¡¯t know that even the thralls leave no corpse behind, so even if I meet someone, I just have to kill them and then move the loot to a secure ce.

    ¡¯I doubt that an important area would be left unguarded, so by sending him away I get free reins for myself and a free scout that will check the road, saving me a lot of time. Two birds with one stone.¡¯

    Both Lith and Ac used earth magic to open a little hole in the cave¡¯s walls and hid their food bags there before exploring a random corridor. Or better, Ac took a random corridor while Lith followed the still lingering energy signature belonging to the white aura.

    Only when his fellow Ranger was far away enough, did Lith return to the device room and sent Solus to closely inspect the machinery.

    The army amulet couldn¡¯t transmit any data as long as it was within the array and Lith couldn¡¯t just wish the army would trust him enough to share the schematics of an Odi sourced unknown device.

    Solus used her semi-liquid form to take a mold of every nook and cranny of the machine, while Lith used the information she passed him to create a scale replica with earth magic.

    Once they were done, he hid the stone statue in his food bag. Then, he started exploring. Lith could move much faster by himself since Life Vision and mana sense allowed him to pick up non-cloaked arrays and to spot people from a distance.

    He used his Array Detecting spell every time he noticed a good ce for an ambush, yet he found nothing. Part of the stone corridors was natural while the rest was man-made via the use of earth magic.

    Both were really old, with small stctites and stgmites growing as well as vast patches of mold that had lived long enough to cover huge sections of the walls.

    ¡¯There¡¯s something really wrong here.¡¯ Solus pondered as they kept going further below the bowels of Mogar.

    ¡¯With the dimensional blocking array still in ce, the vampires can¡¯t have stored their things and fled. Even if they could, why leave behind their precious machine? Also, I can¡¯t exin why they used such a small part of the upper caves.¡¯

    ¡¯Agreed.¡¯ Lith nodded. ¡¯The materials for the device have toe from somewhere and none of the robbed caravans transported the necessary to build one. Just like the array, that machine looked like a mix of modern and old, hence the old parts must have been taken from here.

    ¡¯This ce reeks of Odi, yet we can¡¯t find any trace of their presence. As if...¡¯

    ¡¯As if someone already cleared everything.¡¯ Soluspleted the thought for him.

    Lith stopped walking ad started to use Fire Vision and Invigoration on the walls, looking for clues. It took him a while to reach the next intersection and find the remnants of an ancient Odi writing carved in the stone, just like those he had spotted on the way to Kh.

    Part of it had been eroded by time and the rest was covered by moss, making it easy to miss and almost unreadable.

    Almost.

    ¡¯It says "Storage".¡¯ Solus thought while Lith was already cursing the array stopping him from moving the Odi dictionaries inside Soluspedia.

    ¡¯Wait. Do you speak Odi now?¡¯

    ¡¯A bit. By dint of tranting the books about body-swapping, I¡¯ve picked up a few words. Didn¡¯t you?¡¯

    ¡¯Absolutely not.¡¯ Lith replied.

 Chapter 874 Hidden Signs Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 874 Hidden Signs Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯I¡¯d rather sort my socks drawer than waste my brain cells to remember a deadnguage in the remote case I find an inscription while I¡¯m unable to just cheat my way with Soluspedia.¡¯ Lith opened the storage door, finding what looked like a Warp Gate being built.

    It was a stone circle of 1.5 meters (5 feet) radius, with an odd mix of old and new dimensional runes engraved. Yet just like the other device, there was no trace of a power source capable of activating it.

    ¡¯Seriously. Why build a Gate in a storage and why all the traces of the white energy don¡¯t go any further than this?¡¯ Lith thought.

    Lith retraced his steps, finding several inscriptions along the corridors he had already visited.

    ¡¯What the actual fuck?¡¯ Due to the rock¡¯s erosion, he had to use earth magic to read most of the engravings. It was the only way to sense even the slightest traces remaining in the rock and make sense of the words.

    What shocked him was the fact that above and sometimes below the engravings there were air bubbles in the rock. At first, Lith had thought they were just imperfections, but after a while, he noticed that they were located exactly where the Odi would ce their hidden road sign.

    ¡¯Someone has altered the rock to erase the writings. Those remaining prove that this ce once belonged to the Odi, but they only lead to ces that are the magical research equivalent of broom closets.¡¯ He thought.

    Too many things didn¡¯t add up, making Solus unwilling to mock Lith for his paranoia.

    ¡¯We¡¯ll think about thatter. Something ising our way from the north-east wall.¡¯

    ¡¯Living or dead?¡¯ Lith asked while activating Life Vision. Without the sun, he had no idea what direction Solus was talking about.

    ¡¯Living. It has two cores so it should be a thrall...¡¯ Solus paused for a split second to take a better look at their opponent. It was still at the fringes of her mystical senses so her readings were approximative.

    ¡¯By my maker, it¡¯s no thrall. The second isn¡¯t a blood core.¡¯ She thought in amazement.

    ¡¯Oh, great! Another Abomination hybrid then. What the heck is one of them doing here?¡¯ Lith unsheathed Ruin and started to weave his best anti Abomination spells.

    ¡¯Hybrid, yes. Abomination, no. It has two mana cores, but one is human while the other has a beast¡¯s energy signature.¡¯ She replied.

    Lith canceled his spells and prepared new ones. He had no idea what his new opponent¡¯s abilities were so he wanted to be prepared for the worst.

    ¡¯Bad news. Somehow, not only they are able to spot our position, but also to follow your movements through the rock, just like a cker.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith had moved out of the creature¡¯s trajectory, to strike at them the moment they came out the wall. Yet they seemed to have noticed and adjusted their course to not fall into his trap.

    ¡¯How the heck can they move like that without causing the mountain to copse nor suffocating?¡¯ Lith¡¯s attempts to take the enemy by surprise were constantly being foiled.

    Tired of that game, he stopped moving and activated Full Guard. The spell enveloped even the space inside the walls, allowing Lith to notice that the creature wasn¡¯t digging so much as swimming through the rock.

    ¡¯What a cunning bastard! They are weakening the tunnel¡¯s structure to cause a cave-in with minimal effort. Their ability uses so little mana that is barely noticeable even to Life Vision. I might have missed it if not for Full Guard.¡¯

    Lith extended his open hands and clenched his fists, making the softened rock harden again. The spell served to both foil the enemy n and trap the creature. Before they could react, Lith pped his hands, turning the trap into a vice that squashed the enemy like a bug.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ Solus thought as she witnessed with her mana sense a white brilliance radiating from the creature. The unknown spell was growing in intensity but it had no apparent effect.

    ¡¯That¡¯s idiotic. The hot air and the pressure generated by the vaporized rocks will crush that thing along with my spell, unless...¡¯ Lith¡¯s paranoia moved his body before his brain could finish processing the scenario.

    A white-hot ray pierced through over three meters (10 feet) of solid rock, passed where Lith had been standing until a second before, and hit the wall behind him, leaving a circr hole several meters deep.

    The edges of the hole were clean-cut as if it had been made by aser.

    "Murderer! Your time hase!" A roughly male voice yelled while a dozen white spheres emerged from the wall and tried to strike at Lith.

    ¡¯The bad news is that this guy can use offensive light magic. The good news is that producing that heat ray took quite a toll on him. His two deep blue mana cores are half-spent already.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Did I miss an offensive light magic bargain sale or what?¡¯ Lith was pretty pissed off seeing another hybrid use such rare magic, but he was more focused on defending against the spheres of light.

    The only silver lining of that mess was that he could finally try out Ruin¡¯s second enchantment, World Mirror. Ruin¡¯s ability to also channel gravity magic was simply the proof of how much more polished Ruin¡¯s first enchantment waspared to that Orion had infused the Gatekeeper with.

    An Orichalcum Skinwalker armor was quite a catch, and Orion¡¯s pride would never allow him to try and scam Lith. Orion had listened to all of Lith¡¯s stories, about how Thrud Griffon, the Odi, and Manohar were the greatest threats he had been forced to deal with and almost died for it.

    The Mad Professor was more an unwilling ally than an enemy, but since capturing him was bing a state affair, his unparalleled skill in using light magic couldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    All three of them had inmon the ability to conjure longsting spells that could be shapeshifted at will. Hence Orion had imbued Ruin with the ability to leech off the elemental energy from any iing spell and use it to improve its own performance without any mana cost for its wielder.

    World Mirror came with several limitations, like being ineffective against fast spells or the fact that it sapped the elemental energy of a spell too slowly to dispel itpletely, but it was still effective in many situations where most mages would be helpless.

    Also, Ruin was but a prototype.

    Lith infused the de with the light element, making its glow be brighter. The creature was less powerful and skilledpared to the Mad Professor, giving Lith plenty of openings to work with.

    The further hard-light constructs got from their caster, the weaker they would be so Lith moved away from the creature while blocking the spheres that were swarming him.

    With each step he took, the constructs became slower, and with each hit they sustained, the mana they were made of was dispersed.

    A spell with a physical vessel could attack its target multiple times before losing strength, but at the same time, it could be struck back. Ruin¡¯s magical properties allowed the de to easily cut through the constructs while also draining their energy.

    On top of that, thanks to having practiced the meditation techniques that Faluel had taught him, Lith was able to perceive the focus points of the creature¡¯s spell.

    Lith¡¯s Domination over the light element was none, but he could still see where the willpower and the mana that fueled the spell were umted.

 Chapter 875 The First Horseman Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 875 The First Horseman Part 1</h4>

    By aiming his attacks at the constructs¡¯ focus points, Lith quickly got rid of the unknown tier five spell without spending much mana. Ruin¡¯s World Mirror enchantment sustained itself with the mana it leeched, lessening the burden upon its master.

    "Where the heck did you get that de?" The creature stepped out of the wall, revealing to be a two-legged humanoid, about 2.5 meters (8¡¯2") tall with his body covered byrge hardened ovepping te-like scales.

    Only his belly, the inner side of the paws, and its snout were covered by soft grey fur. His head resembled that of an anteater and a long tail came out of his back. If Lith had ever seen one, he would have recognized it as a humanoid pangolin.

    ¡¯Why does everyone ask me that and what the heck is that thing?¡¯ Lith thought. None of the books inside Soluspedia described the creature, but the oddest thing was that he seemed to have a bone to pick with Lith.

    Lith conjured a volley of lightning bolts mixed with icences to put the creature¡¯s endurance to the test.

    The thing stomped his feet while sping his ws, making the rocks from the ground, the ceiling, and the walls spiral in front of himself. The spell created a barrier that absorbed the iing attacks without a scratch.

    ¡¯Okay, he definitely uses true magic like an Emperor Beast. Is he Awakened?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t think so.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯Having two cores would make Awakening difficult and he didn¡¯t use Invigoration to recover while you were busy with his constructs.¡¯

    The creature clearly had a high affinity with the earth element and they were surrounded by rocks so Lith had no choice but to switch to close-quartersbat. Otherwise the enemy would be able to neutralize most of his best spells by conjuring stone walls or diving back into the ground.

    Ruin struck at the barrier¡¯s focus point, making it crumble as if it was made of sand. The creature had no idea why his spells kept failing him, yet he hade too close to his revenge to give up.

    His body emitted a white glow and a set of giant white hands tried to grab Lith, who used spirit magic to struck at the creature, sending him crashing against a wall. The hands stopped moving for a split second, bing sitting ducks for Ruin¡¯s World Mirror.

    "Are you happy now? Was it worth killing my whole tribe to be this strong?" The creature roared while shedding red tears of rage.

    ¡¯Did you really kill his whole tribe yet you don¡¯t recognize him?¡¯ Solus was bbergasted.

    ¡¯First, if I did, you would have been with me. Second, he needs to be more specific. I¡¯ve done a lot of killing.¡¯ Lith replied.

    The creature infused himself with the air element and dashed forward with the speed of a bullet. Having two cores granted him double the mana pool of a normal creature and twice the effects of fusion magic.

    Lith switched to a two-handed grip and moved forward while keeping Ruin steady in front of him.

    ¡¯Double the speed also means double the strain. With both of us moving so fast, the slightest mistake will cause him to self-impale.¡¯ Lith infused his armor with mana, to boost its defensive properties in preparation for the impact.

    ¡¯Oh shit!¡¯ The creature thought, realizing that any attempt to change his course at such speed would break his kneecaps while doing nothing would result in a gruesome death.

    His only hope was to curl up like a ball and hope that his scales would withstand the hit. The impact sent both of them flying at the opposite sides of the tunnel. A gaping wound was now open on the creature¡¯s back, running from the right shoulder to the tail.

    The injury started to heal the moment it was opened, but the creature was now running on fumes.

    As for Lith, his hands were still numb from the collision but he was otherwise okay. The Skinwalker armor coupled with earth fusion had absorbed the brunt of the attack, yet Lith had lost his grip on Ruin that was now stuck into a wall.

    "Okay, pal. Time to finish this." A spark of spirit magic and a flick of his wrist brought Ruin back into Lith¡¯s hand. Solus assumed her arm protector form, adding her fusion magic to Lith¡¯s.

    The creature¡¯s beast form had poor eyesight, but his enhanced hearing and smellpensated for that.

    ¡¯Wait. The stench is that of the Ranger and I can feel the presence of the cursed object, but the voice is wrong.¡¯ The creature sniffed the air, studying Solus¡¯s scent. His weakened state had also relieved the hybrid from the rage that had clouded his mind.

    ¡¯Dammit, I got the wrong person! What are the odds of meeting two humans fused with a cursed object?¡¯ The creature cursed his own stupidity. He had been so thrilled by the hunt that he had failed to notice that the smell was simr yet different.

    While Lith dashed forward to deliver the death blow, the creature kicked the ground with thest remnants of his energy and let the wall swallow him. Ruin pierced through the rock until the hilt struck it with enough strength to form a small crater.

    ¡¯I hate that trick! It¡¯s the second time already that I lose my target this way.¡¯ Lith could see with Life Vision the unknown hybrid getting further away, yet he couldn¡¯t do anything to stop him.

    Using an earth spell to hit at such distance while being deep underground was too dangerous. With dimensional magic sealed, a cave-in would have killed Lith for sure.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t risk losing my prize, let alone my life.¡¯ Lith thought while looking at his watch. He still had one hour left to explore the tunnels. He followed the air bubbles in the walls, determined to find out the reason why the road signs had been deleted.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in a distant cave, Ranger Ac wasn¡¯t faring much better. He was surrounded by over thirty individuals, half of which were vampires while the other half were thralls.

    Each one of them had a white prism simr to that used in the machine room grafted on their bodies. They were arranged in three circles, forming aplex multiyered array that left him no way out.

    "I can¡¯t believe how unlucky I am!" He said while shing with fury at the nearest undead, aiming at her exposed weak point. A prism protruded from her chest and its ss-like substance was getting duller with each strike she took.

    The light within the prism seemed to be on the verge of extinguishing.

    "You promised me that everything would be fine! You promised me that you would turn my life around for good! Yet nothing ever goes the way I want. I did everything you asked from me and this is how you repay me? With failure?

    "All your insignificant spawns had to do was to kick Verhen¡¯s ass, maybe even kill him, to make me look good and turn me into the new hero of the Griffon Kingdom. Instead, you made me look like a fool, running away with my tail between my legs.

    "You are a piece of..."

    The threeyered array activated and Ranger Ac was at its center. A diamond-shaped crystal emerged from his uniform, collecting the lighting from the smaller and imperfect gems.

 Chapter 876 The First Horseman Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 876 The First Horseman Part 2</h4>

    The light spread from the crystal on his chest throughout his body, lighting his vein with the rhythmical pulse of a beating heart. The white glow invaded his eyes, twisting his features into a more controlled expression while his voice became chipper and calm, no longer sounding like a tantrumming child.

    "Gods, if I love humans. So pure, so honest with themselves, so stupid. I should have given up on greater undead centuries ago. They are so annoying with their pondering each and every step before even taking it.

    "Their long lives make them too cautious, whereas humans are like butterflies. Their existence is so short and they are so eager to get everything they want that taking over is almost too easy.

    "Almost." The thing wearing Ac said.

    "Agreed. Controlling vampires is hard. They keep resisting me even after this long. Their thralls, instead, are just sweet littlembs." The undead speaking was the same one Ac had been hitting until a second ago.

    She looked like a middle-aged woman in her fifties who while alive had clearly enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh too much, to the point that undeath had yet to get rid of all the lines on her face and the fat from her body.

    Yet the voiceing out of her mouth was identical to Ac¡¯s.

    "Talking to myself is pleasant, but inefficient. Let¡¯s start the Reunion." The thing wearing Ac said.

    The perfect prism in the Ranger¡¯s chest collected the thoughts and experiences from its lesser versions and then charged them back to their full power, making them shine as bright as the original.

    ¡¯This Verhen guy is more annoying than I thought. He easily disposed of six of my spawns. Sure, half of them were vampires still resisting my control and all of them were at half the charge due to building that damn machine, but still.

    ¡¯The good news is that I¡¯ve got an idea of what he¡¯s capable of. I can use such knowledge to outnumber and outmatch him. It¡¯s the perfect option to get away with it and achieve the kind of wealth I need.

    ¡¯The bad news is that the machine is an utter fiasco. The moment my spawns died I lost all of their memories and abilities. I still have a long way to go before bing perfect.¡¯

    The cursed object known as Bright Day, the Horseman of Dawn, started to n ahead how to exploit Lith¡¯s presence to receive a huge reward without arousing any suspicion. To aplish her true goal, she needed an enormous amount of gold.

    She had already tried to obtain it by theft, but that kind of riches was heavily protected, making them very hard to procure and impossible to spend without getting caught.

    While plotting her next move, she lulled what remained of Ac¡¯s broken personality with promises of wealth, power, and respect. He was her inferior half and the answer to all of her prayers.

    By making him a hero, the Griffon Kingdom would give Bright Day everything she wanted on a silver tter and thank her for that. Rising and controlling undead was her specialty after all, and the undead invasion was the perfect opportunity to make her puppy known as the Courts¡¯ Bane.

    ¡¯If only those undead fools from the Dawn Court knew that they took their name from me. Now I¡¯m going to take everything from them.¡¯ She giggled.

    ***

    After escaping certain death, the hybrid creature who had attacked Lith fell asleep the moment he allowed himself to rx. Light magic hadpletely restored his body and his two cores recovered fast thanks to their synergy.

    He shapeshifted in his human form, to relieve his body from the burden of the transformation and further improve his recovery speed.

    ¡¯I was a fool falling for Dawn¡¯s trickery. It must have tainted the other Ranger with its stench to throw me off its trail.¡¯ The hybrid thought, unaware that he couldn¡¯t have been more wrong.

    In his fury, he had simply mistaken Solus¡¯s scent for Dawn¡¯s because Ac¡¯s musk had stuck on Lith during the time they had walked together. Unlike Lith who bathed regrly in his tower, the other Ranger had forgotten about personal hygiene after being alone in the wilds for so long.

    ¡¯Right now I have no chance against the artifact. The only silver lining is that it doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m here yet.¡¯ He sat cross-legged on a mountaintop, calling the world energy to himself.

    The breathing technique was no Invigoration, but it allowed the twin cores to breathe in what the other breathed out. This way, no world energy was wasted, generating a slow but constant flow that would give the hybrid his lost mana back in just a few hours.

    ***

    Meanwhile, hundreds of meters underground, Lith didn¡¯t like his situation one bit.

    ¡¯This ce isn¡¯t like Kh at all. Kh was a still active military base, whereas these are ancient ruins.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The defensive arrays are long dead, the magical stuff I recovered had their pseudo cores depleted, and the books I found were so moldy that not even Soluspedia can read their content.

    ¡¯Yet someone went to the trouble of reactivating the dimensional blocking array, deleting dozen of road signs, and ransacking what¡¯s left of thebs to build that machine.

    ¡¯At first, I thought that the vampires were after the device Ac described. It was the only thing that could exin their extraordinary abilities and why they bothered to stay here for so long instead of running away.

    ¡¯Yet if the machine was so important, they wouldn¡¯t leave it unguarded.¡¯

    ¡¯Not only that.¡¯ Solus said while checking her own memories. Without the possibility to move the Odi tomes inside Soluspedia, it had taken her a while topare the mould Lith had taken with the machine they had found in Kh.

    ¡¯That thing is no body-swapping device nor is it in any way rted to the light element. From what I understand, it doesn¡¯t affect the mind of the subject, only the body.¡¯

    ¡¯How exactly?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯I¡¯m really starting to think that I spoiled you too much. I don¡¯t have all the answers after just a few looks. We need some reference material or experiment with the machine ourselves.¡¯ Solus was both proud and annoyed by how much faith Lith had in her.

    ¡¯Any idea about what the prism does?¡¯ Lith had examined it with Invigoration, but being the prism an inanimate object he had discovered nothing from it.

    ¡¯I think it¡¯s rted to the crystal-like substance the thralls turned into after you killed them, but the how and why are beyond me.¡¯ She telepathically shrugged.

    They spent the rest of the hour exploring theplex and discussing the unknown hybrid¡¯s physiology. Lith was certain to have never met the guy before, yet his abilities were too simr to the odd undead he had faced for it to be just a coincidence.

    ¡¯The way he mixed light and fire to create heat rays, the hard-light constructs. Everything matches but their modus operandi. He used true magic and ranted a lot, whereas the undead used mostly arrays and kept their mouths shut.¡¯ Lith thought.

    All those unanswered questions coupled with the stale air were giving him a royal headache.

    ¡¯Agreed. It¡¯s a longshot, but if I had to take an educated guess, I¡¯d say that they had the same teacher.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Lith went back to the starting cave, finding a tense Ac waiting for him. The Ranger was no longer dejected and an unwavering will shone inside his green eyes.

 Chapter 877 Master and Servant Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 877 Master and Servant Part 1</h4>

    "Have you found anything interesting?" Ac asked with a smug grin on his face.

    "Only the Warp Gate. Aside from that, just empty caves and lots of dirt." Lith lied, dusting his shoulders. "No trace of the undead either."

    "Well, it seems it¡¯s up to me saving the day, huh? It took me a bit of luck, but I found Odi writings engraved on the walls."

    "You can read them?" Lith opened wide his eyes for an instant, feigning surprise and ignorance.

    "Of course I can. Sort of. After hearing about the Kh incident, I thought that not everyone can be so lucky to have Professors by their side when they stumble upon ancient ruins.

    "I researched the Odi a bit before resuming duty since they gave even the great Ranger Verhen a hard time." Ac mistook Lith¡¯s grimace for envy, while it was his usual re.

    ¡¯He knows about the Odi. How surprisingly convenient.¡¯ Lith thought while a few pieces fell into ce.

    "I followed the signs pointing at some kind ofb until my detection arrays spotted our enemies and several dormant magical formations. I think they didn¡¯t expect us to find theirir this fast, nor that we would deactivate their rms on our way in.

    "I counted 15 of them. The others must have left to capture more humans to rece the thralls you killed. There were still too many of them to take them on by myself, but together we have a chance.

    "Divide and conquer, I say. First, we kill the undead that are still here with an ambush, and then we can easily get rid of the second group upon their return. We have all the time we need to set up enough arrays to make my n work." Ac¡¯s patronizing voice almost made Lith chuckle.

    Almost.

    He curled his upper lip instead, pretending to be angry with himself and with his fellow Ranger.

    "It¡¯s a good n, but 15 is still quite the number. Maybe we should get out and report everything to Commander Berion." Lith said.

    "Report what? That we found a junkpile? I already gave the location of their and the enemy numbers in my previous report. Berion knows as much as we do." Ac sneered.

    "Reinforcements are already on their way. They might even get rid of the missing undead for us if they stumble into them. We don¡¯t have much time to waste. If the vampires disable the dimensional array, they can pack up and leave in a jiffy.

    "If they manage to get away, it will be on you." Seeing that Lith was still hesitating, Ac softened up and changed approach.

    "Come on. You¡¯ve already killed six of them all by yourself and with no time to prepare. With the two of us and a proper set of arrays, 15 is nothing to be afraid of. Once we get our reward, the first round is on me."

    "Make it two rounds and I¡¯m in." Lith said with a stressed sigh as if he was still reluctant, but could not deny his rival¡¯s logic.

    "Stop being so glum. We don¡¯t need to like each other to have some fun together. Follow me and I promise that I¡¯ll get you wasted for good." Ac smiled while caressing his chest where one of Dawn¡¯s corners slightly protruded.

    ***

    Lith followed his colleague along the stone corridors, trying to make sense of his current situation. Not trusting Ac, Lith silently cast detection arrays even though his fellow Ranger assured him that their path was clear.

    Ac didn¡¯t seem smart or knowledgeable enough to be a mastermind and his history confirmed the theory. Lith was certain they were about to walk into a trap. The question was if the vampires had fooled Ac or if he just wanted to exploit the chaos that would ensue to try and put Lith in his ce.

    ¡¯He¡¯s no Awakened, there¡¯s no trace of Necromancy studies in his background, and his equipment is slightly better than average for a Ranger.¡¯ Solus studied Ac, trying to understand how deep his involvement could be.

    ¡¯Those vampires we killed earlier were way stronger than he is. He can¡¯t have possibly created them nor does he have the means to control such powerful creatures. Heck, it would be enough for him to be able to use offensive light magic to be famous.

    ¡¯If he got back in the Ranger business at his age, it must be because he¡¯s desperate for attention.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s wait and see.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯If it really is an ambush, we¡¯ll spot it in advance thanks to our mystical senses.¡¯

    They went deeper and deeper underground until they found several traps and arrays that Ac showed Lith how to disable. Solus could already spot the 15 enemies ahead and there was nothing out of the ordinary that could rm her.

    ¡¯What is the vampire-thrall ratio?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Half and half, just like before. Don¡¯t ask me why.¡¯ Solus replied.

    The vampires were vagrants that Dawn had captured and enved, but due to their strong willpower, she was having a hard time keeping them in check. That was one of the reasons why she had kidnapped people.

    She had forced the vampires to turn the prisoners into thralls so that she would enve them while they still retained their weak human psyche. This way, by the time the thralls would be turned into undead, there would be no trace left of their personality.

    They would be reduced to mindless puppets ready to die on her whim. On top of that, Dawn could exploit the psychic bond between sire and thrall to strengthen her hold over the vampires until they had outlived their usefulness.

    Another reason to keep the number of undead in check was that Dawn was powerful, but far from omnipotent. Every time she generated a spawn prism, it would weaken her will and diminish her power.

    Spreading herself too thin would mean not only to lose her grip on the undead, but also on Ac. She couldn¡¯t afford the Ranger awakening from the web of delusions she had trapped him within.

    Back when they had just bonded, he was hell-bent on revealing his newfound abilities to be the Kingdom¡¯s champion and filthy rich in the process. It had taken her quite a lot of time and effort to discourage him.

    "How will you exin to them your powers without revealing my existence?" Dawn had said. "You have been a Ranger long enough to know how the Kingdom treats my brethren. Do you want us to end up like the ck Star?

    "Also, what good is being a hero? Did this Verhen be rich? Did Manohar? No, the Kingdom just works them to the bone, forcing them to risk their lives time and time again."

    Lith was actually pretty rich and could¡¯ve gotten much more if he didn¡¯t suffer from his reincarnation problem. It was the reason why had turned down the manynds and titles that had been offered to him

    As for Manohar, he was indeed filthy rich and the Kingdom¡¯s most wanted man at the same time, but that was another story.

    Yet Ac was unaware of the implications that wielding a huge power involved. He just wanted a simple solution to aplex problem, which made him as greedy as he was ruthless.

 Chapter 878 Master and Servant Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 878 Master and Servant Part 2</h4>

    "Even if they ept me, what good is wealth if you never have the time to enjoy it? If we follow your n, you¡¯ll die as you¡¯ve lived, like a tool. If we do as I say, instead, we¡¯ll be the one on top and the Royals will grovel at our feet."

    Dawn neglected to mention the part where she would erode his mind, take control of his body, and use everything they would be rewarded with to pursue her own personal agenda.

    She wasn¡¯t as na?ve, empathetic, and kind as Solus back when she had first met Lith.

    Everything the Bright Day had exined and taught to the Ranger after they bonded came with a price. The more Ac relied on Dawn¡¯s abilities, the more she was able to manipte his thoughts and actions.

    Constantly having a voice in his head and a whisper in his ears even while he was asleep, had thinned the boundary between their personalities until Dawn had be the dominant and Ac her servant.

    Fusing with a cursed item meant having two minds but only one body, and the Bright Day wasn¡¯t willing to spend a lifetime following Ac¡¯s pipe dreams. She had a goal to achieve, just like her siblings, Red Sun and ck Night.

    Their mother had entrusted to each one of them a different duty, and being the firstborn, she couldn¡¯t stand the idea that one of her siblings could beat her.

    Lith and Ac were cing their own arrays while an unseen Solus did the same, securing the nearest escape route. Unlike her, Dawn had been made topletely fuse with her host. The Bright Day shared with Ac both his mana signature and life force, making it impossible to distinguish her from her host.

    Yet Solus didn¡¯t trust the Ranger and wanted to take precautions in the case Ac wanted to use Lith as a stepping stone for his own career or the missing undead did return untimely.

    It took the two Rangers over half an hour toplete their task, but the final result was worth the wait. They had both centered their arrays on the undead¡¯s living quarters andid a few others on the paths the enemies would be forced to take once the battle began.

    Solus kept moving on her own, unseen thanks to her mimetic abilities and her cloaking ring, searching for anything or anyone out of ce. Yet she wasn¡¯t able to find any trace of a possible ambush nor did she spot any danger.

    To smoke the undead out, the Rangers activated a darkness array to weaken their enemies and an earth blocking array to leave them no way out but the doors that had been rigged as well.

    Everything seemed to go ording to the n and the first five enemies died before being able to even scratch one of the Rangers. The arrays had beenid so to synergize their effects and amplify each other¡¯s effectiveness.

    Darkness whittled away the vampires¡¯ strength while a gravity formation in front of the doors slowed down their movements and made it impossible for them to fly.

    Lith and Ac attacked their respective marks from behind a conjured rock trench that protected them from iing spells while Solus studied the situation from a vantage position in the ceiling.

    Suddenly, the walls of the room burst open. The vampires had learned their lesson and instead of putting themselves in the line of fire likembs to the ughter, they had used their magic and physical strength to create new exits.

    The ten enemies each took a different approach, flying, running, or crawling on the walls and ceiling to surround their respective target from every direction.

    ¡¯This is bad.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯And it can easily get worse if...¡¯

    As if the undead had read her mind, they started shooting small focused rays of white-hot light from their fingertips. The offensive light spell was a cantrippared to the that the hybrid-scaled creature had employed, but still a cantrip capable of digging centimeters-deep holes into the rock.

    ¡¯Damn my big mouth. I jinxed it. Somehow, they are all Light Masters. Judging by the low tier spell they use they can¡¯t do much without arrays. At least unless they can...¡¯ Solus managed to stop thinking about hard-light constructs, afraid to jinx things again.

    Both Rangers used the trenches to block the light rays and create improvised mazes to prevent the enemies from surrounding them. Ruin was useless against attacks that fast. Lith could use his weapon to block the rays, but at the risk of damaging the de.

    ¡¯Interesting.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯Maybe light magic doesn¡¯t split into an offensive and defensive branch just for tier five. Maybe it has two different branches from the start, with holograms being its first magic.¡¯

    Dodging low tiered light spells was easy for him. They could only travel in a straight line and the glow they produced before being conjured gave away their trajectory. For a veteran mage like Lith, a lightning bolt would have been more difficult to defend against.

    Lightning bolts were as fast as light magic and would stun their target upon hit, whereas small light beams would inflict small, already cauterized wounds. On top of that, offensive light magic would lose power quickly with distance.

    ¡¯I understand now why Professor Manohar only uses hard-light constructs. They are much more versatile and the mana to conjure them doesn¡¯t get wasted if the enemy dodges.

    ¡¯My only question is how the heck can undead have light magic among their innate talents? Otherwise they wouldn¡¯t be able to use its true magic form without being Awakened.¡¯ Lith thought while impaling a thrall¡¯s heart with Ruin.

    He had decided to take down the easiest opponents first to regain some mobility in the cave¡¯s confined space.

    ¡¯Light and darkness are the two sides of the same coin. Maybe the energy signature they have inmon allows them to convert darkness into light and apply their innate mastery over the darkness element to light magic as well.¡¯ Solus said.

    Solus¡¯s train of thoughts was derailed when she noticed that in the time Lith had needed to take down a single thrall, Ac had killed two vampires with ease.

    Lith was too busy fighting to notice that while his opponents used teamwork to cover each other openings to prevent Lith from delivering a deadly counter, the creatures fighting Ac were on their back foot despite their numerical advantage.

    The Ranger seemed to be able to predict all their movement and strategies, dodging with ease even the more sophisticated attacks. Ac was so overwhelming that for a moment Solus thought that he was fighting normal humans rather than undead.

    ¡¯This is really odd. If Ac is such a genius fighter that he can easily deal with five opponents of such caliber, why did he run away from six of them? Sure, this time they are weakened by the arrays¡¯ effects but he¡¯s so good that it doesn¡¯t make much difference.

    ¡¯What really worries me is that his mana flow gets stronger with each enemy that gets taken down. Is it the effect of one of his relics or what?¡¯ Solus thought, unaware that it was just Dawn recovering the strength she had bestowed upon her fallen minions.

    She was still uncertain whether to kill Lith or just bring him back near fatally wounded. On one hand, seed where even the mighty Ranger Verhen had failed would have given Ac a lot of fame.

    On the other hand, Lith¡¯s death would raise too many questions.

 Chapter 879 Simple Math Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 879 Simple Math Part 1</h4>

    People might wonder how could Ac best an opponent that had managed to kill Verhen, if not even suspect him to have killed his fellow Ranger with his own hands. Saving Lith¡¯s life, instead, would have given Dawn the perfect witness to her puppet¡¯s heroics.

    To add insult to injury, Lith would not only be forced to publicly admit his defeat, but he would also owe them a big favor. Ac was still a social outcast, whereas Lith was acquainted with all the upper echelons of the Kingdom, to the point of being familiar with the Royals themselves.

    ¡¯I¡¯m dying to steal all the secrets behind the sess of such a man and Verhen is far more valuable alive than dead.¡¯ Dawn thought while studying Lith¡¯s movements through her spawns¡¯ eyes.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve made up my mind. I¡¯ll use Verhen as a stepping stone and revel in his ruin before using one of my spawns to take control of...¡¯ Her ns turned into a pile of debris in a second, along with a big portion of the south wall.

    The scaled hybrid came through a wall with enough strength to make the cave tremble, destabilizing the whole undergroundwork.

    "Die, you monster!" He said while unleashing a white-hot energy beam that filled the entirety of the corridor Ac was in. The giant ray was too fast and too close to dodge it, leaving Ac no way out.

    "You again?" Both Rangers said in unison, uncertain whether to be more surprised by the creature¡¯s return or by the fact that their respective partner knew the hybrid as well.

    Much to anyone surprise, the undead Ac was fighting against turned around, shielding him with their bodies and using their own light magic to take the brunt of the damage.

    The creatures fighting Lith were torn between their instinct to protect their master and obeying hermand.

    The inner conflict slowed them enough for Lith to kill thest thrall of the group with a palm strike that pushed her away and engulfed her body into Final Sunset¡¯s ck mes.

    The sudden death of all the thralls and Dawn focusing on the neer allowed the vampires near Lith to regain their senses. The cursed item had not possessed them for long, allowing them to retain their personality.

    "Get out!" Said a vampire that looked like a dandy young noble in his early twenties. Lith was so bbergasted by how sincerely worried his enemies now looked about his wellbeing to stop his attack midway.

    "I said get out!" The vampire had a panicked look, all the bloodlust in the room was gone.

    "The other Ranger is possessed by the Horseman of Dawn. It¡¯s toote for us, but I¡¯ll be damned if I let go of the opportunity to screw up with her ns, even if it cost me my life."

    "Listen to him and run!" Said a charming middle-aged woman while pointing at a corridor with her still extended w.

    "She might be back any moment and if you strike us down, she¡¯ll be more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Warn the Kingdom. Warn the undead Courts that the Bright Day is back. She¡¯s..." The prism in her chest released so much light to be visible underneath the heavy clothing.

    The white energy traveled through the undead¡¯s veins, making them bulge as it reached their brains and restored Dawn¡¯s control over their minds.

    Lith stepped back and raised his arm to the ceiling. He pretended to perform a hand sign to hide Solus returning on his finger. Too many things were happening at the same time and the only thing he was certain of, was that he couldn¡¯t afford to leave her behind.

    Ac¡¯s skin was burned to a crisp, yet he didn¡¯t seem to care much. Only a few shreds of his uniform covered the Ranger¡¯s chest. His eyes, bloodshot from the heat and damage, were fixated on the scaled hybrid.

    "Nalrond I¡¯m so sorry. I swear, I didn¡¯t want to do it. If only your tribe would listen to me..." Ac started to sob, but Nalrond didn¡¯t care for his tears nor excuses.

    "We took you in as one of our own. We saved your life and shared with you our very homes. Yet you turned on us, killed our youths, stole our treasure, and you dare to say you¡¯re sorry?" The hybrid brought his palms closer, making a small star appear between them.

    At the same time, the missing 15 undead came rushing from every tunnel, sealing all the way outs.

    ¡¯I think I¡¯ll follow Obi-Vamp¡¯s advice and get out of here.¡¯ Lith darted away the moment Solus was back. She had confirmed to him that the undead was telling the truth.

    Despite all the damage Ac had sustained, he was actually stronger than before. A white gem as big as a fist emerged from his chest. It was the purest mana crystal Lith had ever seen and it was brighter than the sun.

    "That¡¯s great. Thanks for ruining my n. Now I have to kill you all." Dawn¡¯s feminine voice reced Ac while the white light from her crystal mended all the wounds on Ac¡¯s body.

    ¡¯By my maker, that crystal bears the same energy signature that all the undead share.¡¯ Solus thought while the pieces of the puzzle fell into ce. ¡¯This was all a charade. We¡¯ve danced in the palm of her hand until now.¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks, captain obvious.¡¯ Lith replied while defending from three vampires at once. They were now much stronger than any undead he had ever faced. Dawn¡¯s light element provided them with more power than even ancient blood cores would hold.

    It was as if they were constantly feeding, even during battle, making any woundst but a second and their bodies brim with vigor. Undead didn¡¯t need to use fusion magic to be faster and stronger, their might came from consuming the essence stored within their blood cores rather than from their bones and muscles.

    Yet they could still use fusion magic to further boost their already enhanced physiques. Between their prisms and fusion magic, Lith was facing three creatures as strong as Kan, the ancient vampire he had met in Othre.

    Running wasn¡¯t an option. The slightest opening would lead to his demise, let alone showing his back to such powerful opponents.

    ¡¯Solus, remind me to never work with another Ranger anymore. They¡¯re nothing but trouble.¡¯ Lith¡¯s left elbow deflected the first vampire¡¯s ws that were lunging at his head before striking at the creature¡¯s face with a darkness infused fist that released a few tier three spells on impact.

    Lith¡¯s right shoulder shoved away the second opponent that hade too close, sending her mming against a wall. Then, Lith intercepted her on the rebound with a pir of ck mes emitted from his right hand that was still channelling Final Sunset.

    The third vampire rushed at Lith, whose front and back were exposed, only to be impaled on Ruin wielded by a second right arm.

    "Three arms?" Dawn couldn¡¯t believe her spawn¡¯s eyes so she ignored the massive energy mass umting between Nalrond hands and turned her head toward Lith.

    The third limb came out his right side and was made entirely of stone. It had a bright green gemstone on the back of its hand, and two more bright yellow crystals, respectively near the elbow and shoulder.

    Lith had no reason to hold back. Everyone in the room wanted to kill him and it was his policy to return such favors in kind.

 Chapter 880 Simple Math Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 880 Simple Math Part 2</h4>

    "What the heck?" Lith was as surprised as Dawn, but for a different reason.

    The three deathblows had actually failed to kill two out of three targets. Dawn¡¯s prisms enhanced the regenerative abilities of her spawns to the point that almost destroying their heads or hearts wasn¡¯t enough.

    Only Ruin had seeded and only because it had shattered the prism along with most of its victim¡¯s torso. The spawn turned into ss shards and released a sphere of light that returned the cursed object another portion of her strength.

    "Most impressive." Dawn pped her hands while another gigantic white energy mass moved towards her at subluminal speed.

    Lith didn¡¯t like her tone nor her calm. The spawns had yet to fully recover, so he used that opportunity to disengage and put more distance between himself and the battlefield.

    The Bright Day clicked her tongue at his paranoia, redirecting the light pir in his direction with but a gentle p. To not hit her minions, she focused the beam to half its size and aimed it at the middle of the corridor.

    The spawns shared her mind and strategy. Dawn ordered them to stick to the walls and add a few heat rays of their own. The move allowed them to dodge Nalrond¡¯s spell and prevented Lith from doing the same.

    ¡¯Did she use Dominance?¡¯ Lith¡¯s brain was working at full gear to find a solution.

    ¡¯No, just mastery over the light element. The spell¡¯s energy signature still belongs to the hybrid.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯It¡¯s worth a shot then.¡¯

    Lith kept flying back while conjuring perfect ice crystals on his hands and boosting his Orichalcum Skinwalker armor with a steady flow of mana.

    ¡¯The beam is half heat and half light. Ice can neutralize the heat and help the Orichalcum to reflect the light. Silver is the most reflective across the visible spectrum, so Orichalcum shouldn¡¯t do any worse.¡¯ Lith thought.

    When the elemental energies shed, the light pir melted the ice until it came dangerously close to Lith¡¯s body. The temperature of both spells was solely dependent on the amount of mana their respective casters imbued them with.

    Nalrond had umted a lot of mana before unleashing his attack, but their connection was now broken whereas Lith kept pouring mana into his own. At first, the residual ice and the Orichalcum only managed to refract the light.

    The ever melting and reforming ice separated the pir into seven different colored beams that carved deep cuts into the rock while they moved in random directions.

    Then, once the cold overpowered the heat, Lith managed to refocus the seven beams into a single one by adjusting the ice crystal¡¯s shape.

    Nalrond and Dawn were locked into close-quartersbat so they took the full power of the reflected pir, but since it carried the hybrid¡¯s energy signature, only the Bright Day was affected by it.

    Nalrond had no idea where the attack came from, but he exploited the opening it had created to carve the Living Legacy out of the Ranger¡¯s chest. Nalrond infused his long ws with the darkness and fire elements, using them the cut through the flesh while hindering the artifact¡¯s amazing recovery abilities.

    Unfortunately for him, between the loss of the fire element and the huge distance it had covered, the light pir had barely a quarter of its initial strength. Dawn recovered from the surprise and shrugged off Nalrond as if he was an annoying fly.

    "Maybe my long imprisonment made me lose my touch at genocide, but luckily, failing to kill a single Rezar is a mistake I can easily fix." Dawn snapped her fingers and another array enveloped the underground cavework along with the dimensional blocking formation.

    ¡¯Damn, I¡¯ve failed again. Time to go.¡¯ Nalrond the Rezar had spent most of his mana for the two light pirs. He knew that he couldn¡¯t beat the Bright Day in a direct confrontation. His only option was to overpower her quickly.

    The tunnel¡¯s wall bent under his touch as he dove into the rock again. Retreat to fight another day was a strategy that had kept him alive for long until it didn¡¯t.

    The earth blocking array Dawn had just activated cut him off from one of his most powerful means of attack and the only escape route he had left. With dimensional magic already sealed, he was now trapped in the spawn infested corridors.

    ¡¯Three of those creatures are enough to give a hard time to that Verhen guy, and he handed my ass to me.¡¯ Nalrond thought. ¡¯I¡¯m between a rock and a hard ce, but there is still a silver lining left.

    ¡¯If I can get Ac to focus his efforts on Verhen, I have a concrete chance to escape. The two bastards are both the puppets of a Living Legacy. With a bit of luck, the two cursed objects will kill each other and Mogar will be better for it.¡¯

    Lith, instead, was nning to save Nalrond, but not for altruistic reasons. The Rezar clearly knew both Ac and Dawn so he was Lith¡¯s best shot at understanding what was going on.

    The undead had spoken of the artifact as if it was the end of the world, yet not one of the many books he had ever read made a single mention of such artifact.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯ He thought while darting toward Dawn as fast as a bullet. The two undead were closely following him, their bodies had yet to fully regenerate so Lith was faster.

    ¡¯Whatever the Bright Day is, it¡¯s not as strong as the ck Star but still terrifying. To make matters worse, she¡¯s still not at her full power. My guess is that the Bright Day is a relic crafted by an undead to ovee their innate limitations and conquer the light element.

    ¡¯It would exin why she only took thralls and undead as her spawns. The only thing I don¡¯t get is why bonding with Ac of all people.¡¯

    Lith nodded and pointed his right forefinger at Ac¡¯s head.

    "Hi, Dawn." Lith unleashed everything that was left of his Final Sunset upon her at point-nk range, hoping to either kill her or buy enough time to save the hybrid.

    "Bye, Dawn." A stream of ck mes engulfed Dawn, who conjured a shield made of white light to protect her host¡¯s body.

    Lith was about to use the conflicting spells to cover his escape and save Nalrond, but his n was ruined by the hybrid who shed at both Rangers before running away.

    The corridor Lith hade from was blocked by two undead, so his only choice was to move deeper into theplex and find a way to deal with the array.

    "Guess you two aren¡¯t good friends either." Dawn took the blow without flinching, whereas Lith almost lost his focus to block the iing ws with Ruin. Nalrond had infused them with enough light and fire magic to make them look likeser daggers.

    "Let me teach you a bit of math. Two beats one!" Dawn ced her open palms behind her shield, turning it into a powerful beam of light that ate the ck mes and almost managed to do the same with Lith¡¯s face.

    His answer was to use both hands as well to channel all the mana he could muster before it was toote. The stalematested a split second before Solus gave him a literal hand.

    ¡¯And three beats two, sister!¡¯ Solus noticed that the undead were upon them, so she slightly altered the spell¡¯s angle, using it as a means of propulsion rather than just attack.

 Chapter 881 Bad Manners Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 881 Bad Manners Part 1</h4>

    The resulting speed from Lith¡¯s flight spell plus the two shing attacks allowed him to dart through the spawns and strike at Nalrond with the momentum of a freight train.

    The hybrid spat out a mouthful of blood as his scales cracked and his bones broke. Lith had no time to y nice nor to exin his intentions to the crazed beast so he made sure to hit his unwilling ally hard enough to make Nalrond faint.

    The moment Dawn¡¯s reinforcements stepped on the arrays Solus had ced earlier, Solus activated the magical formations, diverting the enemy¡¯s attention from their escape.

    ¡¯I¡¯m starting to believe that Ac was right all along. Maybe the gods really don¡¯t want him to achieve greatness. Why is everything going wrong?¡¯ Dawn thought while the arrays fooled her into believing that more intruders wereing through the tunnels.

    She couldn¡¯t allow any witness to reach the surface and since the source of the attacks came from the only way out of the undergroundplex, she had to deal with the neers first.

    The Bright Day ordered her spawns to block the tunnels leading to the upper levels while she took care of the threat, leaving only the two undead who were already chasing Lith after her prey.

    Lith regretted not having killed them sooner, but the light beam he had redirected was already weakened. If he had used it to destroy the vampires, not only would their energy have flown back to Dawn, but the beam would also have lost even more power.

    ¡¯My bet was that with Dawn dead or incapacitated, her minions would have followed. Too bad that I failed. Solus?¡¯ Final Sunset was about to run out of mana and he couldn¡¯t waste a tier five spell like that again.

    ¡¯Two against one while protecting a hostage is suicidal. We¡¯ve already lost the element of surprise. They know about me and I haven¡¯t got much mana left. Bright green mana core, remember?¡¯ She replied.

    Lith sighed, dropping Nalrond as if he was a bad habit. The hybrid weighed half a ton and the undead were moving at near sonic speed while weaving several spells at once.

    The vampire was so focused on her own spell that she failed to notice Lith¡¯s movements until it was toote. The living boulder met the bbergasted undead like a windshield does a mosquito.

    Blood and bones sttered everywhere on the walls as the living corpse was forced to a halt. The damage she had sustained wasn¡¯t enough to kill her, but the cracks the impact had opened in her prism would cripple the vampire¡¯s strength until she made a full recovery.

    ¡¯That was mean but effective. One on one is much better¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith infused the Skinwalker armor with his mana, turning himself into an Orichalcum block before stopping abruptly. The remaining undead was expecting something like that so he slowed down and dodged Lith, blocking the corridor ahead.

    ¡¯The enemy is trapped. I need backup to prevent them from escaping ag...¡¯ The mind link between Dawn and her spawn was abruptly cut off as the prism inside his chest shattered.

    Along with his power, Dawn retrieved the images about his final moments as well. She discovered that when her servant had surpassed Lith, the third stone arm had struck like a scorpion¡¯s tail from the blind spot that the Ranger¡¯s metal body created.

    The red de of Ruin had merely grazed its target, but at such speed, it had been enough. The only silver lining was that Dawn had gotten a good look at Solus. Once metalized, the Skinwalker armor had no mantle anymore and this time there was no spell blinding her Life Vision.

    "That¡¯s no artifact but a member of the family! Objects don¡¯t have a life force." Bright Day was bbergasted. Her surprise turned into outrage when Lith executed the remaining helpless spawn.

    "That¡¯s it! Family or not, I¡¯m going to beat them an inch from death before I let them exin the secret of their sess to me. I heard that Verhen found a big important Odi ruin, so maybe he had ess to the research I¡¯m looking for.

    "If they y their cards right, once I¡¯m finished with my dear ¡¯cousin¡¯, I¡¯ll give them a painless death." Cursed objects used the term "family" only because theycked an alternative.

    Living Legacies were no race since each one of them was unique. Not even being crafted by the same hand gave them any sense of kinship. Dawn and her siblings had tried multiple times to kill each other so she was quite an expert at dealing with cursed items.

    ¡¯I wish that all undead had such a tant weak point. Sure, Dawn¡¯s prisms give the vampires a lot of extra powers, but I only need one good shot to take them out.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The problem is: what do we do now?¡¯

    Nalrond was badly hurt, so Lith healed him enough to make sure that the hybrid would survive while keeping his stamina low to prevent him from regaining consciousness.

    ¡¯No Warping, no digging, and all ourmunication amulets are disabled. I¡¯ve already tried everything I could, but even though it¡¯s old and patched up, the Odi array does its job. We should get some distance between us and Ac.

    ¡¯We need to rest before looking for a way out, or at least I do. I¡¯m beat.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯Agreed. The Odi would often set up multiple exits to theirplexes so we have two options. Find an emergency exit or one of the array¡¯s nodes and disable it. To fix them, Dawn needed to have ess to their focal points so they must be around here.¡¯

    Lith lifted Nalrond over his shoulders and resumed flying. He followed the world energy flowing through the walls until he found what he was looking for.

    ¡¯Bingo! Knowing the Odi¡¯s modus operandi and how two arrays of this magnitude managed to resist the passing of time without any maintenance, I knew there had to be a mana geyser somewhere.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not at full capacity.¡¯ Solus studied the geyser and how part of its energy was being siphoned. It was missing way more world energy than that needed to sustain just two arrays, but it was still more than enough to assume her tower form.

    ¡¯The arrays prevent me from Warping and digging while the ceiling is too low to materialize even the first floor. The ground floor alone will have to do.¡¯

    ¡¯I don¡¯t trust much your light bending skills against a Light Master, but it¡¯s our best shot.¡¯ Lith walked inside the tower, bringing Nalrond with him.

    It always amazed him how much bigger it was on the inside.

    "I wonder howe you can¡¯t Warp but you can still bend space inside of here. You can¡¯t dig into the ground but you still managed to erge the door for him." Lith said.

    "Because it¡¯s my body, dummy. Just like the earth blocking array can¡¯t stop your earth fusion, it can¡¯t stop me either. Inside the tower, I make the rules." Solus¡¯s appeared in her human form.

    This time she wasn¡¯t wearing a dress but her own Skinwalker armor that was shaped to mimic Lith¡¯s uniform. As long as she was on the tower¡¯s premises, she could do much more than just provide intelligence.

 Chapter 882 Bad Manners Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 882 Bad Manners Part 2</h4>

    Lith had prepared contingency ns in the case his tower was ever discovered and the spare armor was part of it. He prepared the table for three, bringing out some food from his pocket dimension.

    Lith didn¡¯t even use Invigoration, to save it forter. Within the tower, his recovery abilities were enhanced to the point that a short nap would allow him to return to his peak condition.

    "Please, allow me. I don¡¯t get many asions to practice Invigoration on someone else." Solus said while waking up their guest.

    She was curious to study a hybrid who had two mana cores, so while she was performing the healing, Solus also activated the tier five spell, Scanner. She discovered that like Lith, the creature had two life forces.

    The main difference between the two hybrids was that in Lith¡¯s case his life forces were linked, growing stronger together every time he experienced a breakthrough. Also, the barrier separating them seemed to exist only to protect his human body from the excessive strain that the other form would cause him.

    She was certain that the barrier would disappear as soon as Lith became powerful enough to handle the energy that thebined bodies would possess.

    In Nalrond¡¯s case, instead, despite him being in histe twenties, the two life forces werepletely isted from each other by an airtight barrier that prevented any energy exchange.

    That coupled with the two mana cores, gave Lith and Solus the impression of being in front of two beings that had somehow been forcefully merged into one. There weren¡¯t two sides of the same coin so much as two coins glued together.

    The moment Nalrond awoke, he tried to stand up, but a gentle hand forced him to sit.

    "Rx. You¡¯re safe here." Solus said, wearing her best smile.

    Seeing a being made of light, however, was the most terrifying thing that Nalrond could imagine. His response to the perceived threat was to stand up with all of his might while striking at the creature¡¯s heart with his razor-sharp ws.

    It was the ce where Dawn usually hid within her current host.

    Solus pped away the wed hand with a grace that painfully reminded both men of Dawn and kept pressing on his scaly shoulder, locking the Rezar into ce. The hybrid weighed half a ton, but in her tower form, Solus¡¯s weight reached the dozens.

    The attempt to overpowering her hand made him feel small and foolish as if he had tried to uproot a mountain.

    "She said rx. If we wanted you dead, you¡¯d have stopped breathing a long time ago." Lith had a smug grin on his face. He was curious to see how Solus would handle their guest and how powerful she truly was.

    Nalrond had already proven to be aware of her existence and to somehow be able to trace Living Legacies like Solus. Hiding her from him was pointless, whereas having a hostile within the tower was a nice experiment.

    Solus couldn¡¯t harm Lith, she wouldn¡¯t lift a finger against Tista or Nyka, and Zinya¡¯s husband wasn¡¯t worthy of being considered a test subject more than a cockroach would.

    "Believe me, there are things worse than death. The puppet of a cursed object such as yourself should know better." The hybrid said while panic made his heart drum into his ears.

    Nalrond conjured a small sphere of light out of one of his ws that instantly turned into a white-hot beam aimed at Solus¡¯s forehead.

    "That¡¯s rude!" She snuffed out the light with a flick of her wrist. With the same movement, she also pped Nalrond with so much strength that his jaw almost dislocated.

    "Who are you and who is that... woman called Dawn?" Lith was about to say "thing" when Solus had red at him.

    Nalrond coughed out a mouthful of blood and attempted to cast an earth spell, to crush Solus with the stones of the pavement. Unfortunately for him, every single piece of the tower was part of her, so his spell found nothing to work on.

    A backhand p came close to twisting his neck, yet he refused to back down, conjuring one element after the other. Each failure was rewarded with another p, until his spirit was as broken as his body.

    Lith had been forced to move the table away during the ughter to protect the food.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t pay and preserve all this stuff all this time just to get it spoiled by blood.¡¯ He thought.

    "You are half-human, so let¡¯s behave at least as half-civilized people. My name is Scourge. Who are you?" Lith asked.

    Nalrond attempted to talk, but only jumbled sounds came out. He was suffering from multiple concussions and his jaw was shattered into more pieces than a puzzle.

    "Ops! My bad. I¡¯m not used to be the one doing the beating. I thought with all those scales he would be sturdier." Solus fixed the Rezar again with Invigoration, but not even the breathing technique could restore his warrior¡¯s pride.

    Nalrond was aware that physical appearance meant nothing when facing a cursed object, but Solus was so lithe and petite that being handled by her as if he was just a stuffed toy crushed his morale.

    "My name is Nalrond." His voice was dejected and he couldn¡¯t muster the strength to stop staring at the floor.

    "Nice to meet you, Nalrond. I¡¯m Solus." She held out her hand, almost triggering him into a panic attack the moment heid his eyes on it.

    ¡¯Solus, what point does using an alias have if you give out your real name?¡¯ Lith expressed his grievance via their mind link. ¡¯Also, do you realize how scary your hand is to him right now? You might as well point a de at his neck and he would feel more at ease.¡¯

    ¡¯Who cares about my name? You gave it to me so even if Nalrond knew how master Menadion called me, he wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize me.¡¯ She replied, trying to avoid talking about her blunder.

    "You¡¯re right about me. I¡¯m only half-human." Nalrond hurried to say, terrified at the idea of being pped again.

    "I belong to those you humans call the werepeople."

    "Like a werewolf?" Lith was honestly surprised. He had read about werepeople only in storybooks and ording to lore, only carnivores could infect men with their animal spirit. Yet the creature in front of him closely resembled an armadillo.

    "Yes. Except the full moon does squat, we¡¯re not afraid of silver, and our condition is no curse. It¡¯s man-made." Nalrond¡¯s voice found courage in his heritage. The only thing he hated more than Ac was bigotry.

    "Really? Then why is your race listed among monsters?" Lith asked.

    "We¡¯re not a fallen race. We are no race at all. Werepeople were born out of experiments with forbidden magic in the attempt to create soldiers capable of using magic without training, as it happens for magical beasts." Nalrond couldn¡¯t hide his contempt for such a foolish theory.

    "Magical beasts have a natural affinity toward elemental magic, but that¡¯s it. They have to work their asses off to be good mages." Lith replied.

    "You¡¯re telling me." Nalrond chuckled. "Why do you think the project was dropped? The final result was an utter failure. Those who survived the procedure were capable of shapeshifting into an Emperor Beast, but apparently they shared no magical ability with their animal counterpart."

    "Emphasis on apparently." Lith said.

 Chapter 883 Evil Light Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 883 Evil Light Part 1</h4>

    "Oh, yes. My ancestors could use all elements like humans and cast all kinds of spells silently like beasts. What theycked was the animal¡¯s affinity for magic and the human¡¯s training, so the experiment was an apparent failure.

    "Imagine their captors¡¯ amazement once my ancestors realized that first magic was just the beginning. When they broke out of their filth-ridden cells, drank the blood of those arrogant mages to quench their thirst and then feasted upon the arrogant nobles families who hadmissioned the job."

    Nalrond¡¯s pupils turned bright red in a blood frenzy, as if he could see the entire scene unfolding in front of his eyes and he was eager to join his kinsmen.

    "Once they achieved their revenge, my ancestors tried to live among the beasts, but because of our human mind, their society was hard to cope with. On top of that, our reproductive preferences remain unchanged, no matter the nature of our animal half.

    "Living among humans turned out to be impossible as well. My ancestors had to hide their magical talents at all times, but it wasn¡¯t our hubris driving us away from civilization, it was fear.

    "Fear of being discovered, of being subject to those experiments again. Adults can hide their abilities, but kids are hard to handle while newborns..." Nalrond shook his head.

    "I know, they can be born in animal form and shapeshift ording to their stress levels." Lith dismissed the thing with a wave of his hand. "I¡¯m not interested in a history lesson so much as in understanding our present situation. Get to the point."

    "Do you think I enjoy revealing my heritage to someone like you? I¡¯m only doing it because your master is strong. Maybe strong enough to capture Dawn. I¡¯m betting on the monster I don¡¯t know only because my hatred beats all reason.

    "You need to know this stuff, so in the case you beat the Bright Day, you¡¯ll be able to make contact with my people who know how to contain her. You can¡¯t store her in a dimensional space, you can¡¯t destroy her, and entrusting her to anyone else would be utter madness." Nalrond assumed he would die the moment he outlived his usefulness.

    "Do I look like a servant to you?" Lith released his aura, enveloping the entirety of the dining room in blue light.

    There was no hostility in his voice nor killing intent in his mana, just pure, unbridled power. Solus wasn¡¯t the only one benefitting from the tower. World energy endlessly flowed inside Lith, turning his aura into a raging ocean.

    "Solus is not my master, she is my partner." Lith said.

    Even though Lith wasn¡¯t moving, Nalrond felt as if the ground was copsing under his seat while his host grew in size until he was a giant. After spending years watching after the Bright Day, the hybrid could discern the energying from a cursed object from that of its host.

    The moment Nalrond realized that Lith wasn¡¯t lying, that all that power belonged to him and didn¡¯te from Solus, the Rezar¡¯s mind went nk in confusion.

    "Now continue with your story." Lith recalled his aura and the world went back to normal.

    Nalrond could finally breathe again. The feeling of oppression that had been weighing on his chest was gone.

    "We withdrew from the world, taking for us special ces of Mogar where we could live in peace. We wanted to find a way to remove the duality in our nature, to seed where our makers had failed.

    "Our species is cut off from Mogar. We don¡¯t belong to any of the four races nor can we Awaken. We¡¯re not monsters, yet what was done to our forefathers prevents us from achieving any form of further evolution. We¡¯re stuck as we are.

    "Our condition has only one perk. We can¡¯t bond with a cursed object because we¡¯re already fused with our animal half. We have two mana cores and two life forces, while a cursed object can only bond with one of them.

    "Throughout history, when a Living Legacy couldn¡¯t be contained nor destroyed, it was entrusted to one of our ns for safekeeping. That¡¯s how I know Dawn. She¡¯s one of Baba Yaga¡¯s horsemen." Nalrond said.

    Lith knew that name. It was often mentioned in the fairy tales that his parents told him when he was little on Mogar. Unlike her Earth¡¯s counterpart, Mogar¡¯s Baba Yaga wasn¡¯t a seemingly omnipotent old witch who lived in a chicken-legged hut.

    She was considered to be the first person to have discovered magic and ording to lore she had achieved immortality. Her story, however, wasn¡¯t told to inspire children, but as a cautionary tale.

    In her greed for power, Baba Yaga had isted herself for so long that once she came out from her hut, Mogar was changed and everyone she had known and loved was dust.

    She was unable to rte to the new society, even thenguage was unknown to her. She worked hard to adapt, to learn about the world, and to fall in love again. But while everything changed and died, she remained the same.

    Baba Yaga¡¯s children inherited her talent for magic, but not her longevity. No matter what she did to prolong their life, death would always im them.

    Mad with grief and desperation, she devoted her efforts to give birth to a new race of creatures that could live as long as she did, to save her from loneliness. It was thanks to Baba Yaga that the first undead had walked Mogar.

    "One of what?" Lith asked. In all the stories he knew, Baba Yaga was considered the mother of all undead, the one behind all the bad things that lurked in the dark. There was no mention of horsemen.

    "Undeath is imperfect. Baba Yaga¡¯s children have too many weak points so she crafted the horsemen to continue her research while she keeps improving her strength before making a new attempt at creating a better race." Nalrond replied.

    "Undead are weak to sunlight, but those who merge with Dawn share her mastery above the light element and be immune to it, but that¡¯s not her mission. She was sent out on Mogar to perfect the undead¡¯s feeding method.

    "As you should know, with each life they take, the undead be stronger, but that¡¯s it. When an undead feeds upon his prey, he absorbs the victim¡¯s life essence which contains more than just mana. It also holds all of their memories and abilities.

    "Luckily for the living, such knowledge is lost during the feeding process.

    "In Dawn¡¯s case, however, whenever she bonds with her host or does she create a spawn, she inherits the entirety of their being. The creatures we¡¯ve fought so far were strong because they shared all of their abilities with each other and were guided by an ancient being who can use any skill to its fullest."

    "Are you telling me that if Dawn bonds with a sword master, she acquires their swordsmanship and that each spawn adds new skills to her collection?" Lith finally found amon link between the victims of disappearance.

    It wasn¡¯t the caravans¡¯ cargo Dawn was after, but the people who possessed special knowledge. He asked Solus to startpiling a list of what she could do if such people became their obedient ves while he kept conversing with Nalrond.

 Chapter 884 Evil Light Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 884 Evil Light Part 2</h4>

    "Yes, she does. Yet like any other children of Baba Yaga, Dawn is imperfect as well." The hybrid replied. "The moment a spawn dies, she loses ess to their abilities and knowledge except for the bits she has spent time practicing.

    "Otherwise with her eternal life, she would have already be nigh-omnipotent. Dawn is the incarnation of the undead¡¯s feeding w and her mission is to find a fix to it. If she ever seeds, the undead will be unstoppable."

    ¡¯That¡¯s why she¡¯s after the Odi ruins.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The Odi were body snatchers, but their procedure was imperfect as well. The new body would not inherit the original¡¯s mana core nor their muscle memory.

    ¡¯I bet Dawn is after their research about memory transfer and that¡¯s what that odd machine is about. She¡¯s trying to apply to Odi technology on herself before adapting it to the rest of the undead.¡¯

    "How did Ac came into y?" Lith asked.

    "Dawn can¡¯t be destroyed. She feeds upon the light element so even locking her in a cave is pointless." Nalrond said. "Yet like her maker, she suffers from istion. Given time, my tribe exchanged ourpany for her knowledge about all kinds of light magic.

    "We hoped that Body Sculpting would help us find a way to merge our twin essences. That we could put her skills to good use. We never seeded, but over time, our skill with healing magic became legendary.

    "People would seek our vige to fix what was wrong with their bodies, their minds, or even their souls. They believed us to be heavenly creatures, but there¡¯s only so much we could do for them.

    "Ac is among the few that managed to find our vige. He was at the lowest point of his life, to the point that salvation and death were equally charming to him. Ac told us how he had ved away for his masters until they had thrown him out once he was no longer deemed useful.

    "Now I know that his side of the story was twisted, but his pain was genuine. We felt empathy for his situation and we did all we could to prevent him from throwing away his life.

    "Like many before him, Ac found peace among us and decided to remain. He was a good man and a powerful mage, so we epted him as one of our own. Ac even took one of our women as his wife and that was the beginning of the end.

    "Our skills reminded him of someone called ¡¯Manohar¡¯, one of the most powerful men in your Kingdom. He asked us to teach him the art of shaping light, but we know nothing about human magic and he proved to be incapable of learning the way we do."

    ¡¯Yeah. That would require him to be Awakened.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "As long as Ac was our guest and lived at the fringes of ourmunity, he knew no envy. Yet once he got married, watching so may marvels, watching so much power wielded even by children while he was stuck with his primitive ways made him bitter." Nalrond said.

    "He started to live it as another injustice. As if every time we practiced our magic, we reminded him of how insignificant he was. We were worried by him spending so much time alone in the forest, but only because we thought he mightmit suicide.

    "Dawn was locked inside a chest, hidden in our chieftain¡¯s house, and protected by several arrays we inherited from our ancestors. We had no idea at the time that just like we learned from her, she had learned from us.

    "Even from within her prison, Dawn used her mastery over the light element to see everything that happened inside the vige and learn our personal spells. She also managed to discover the passwords for the arrays and how the chest¡¯s lock worked."

    "Wait. How could you be so stupid to not use a light-blocking array against her?" Lith asked.

    "We did, but it wasn¡¯t enough!" Nalrond wed his own legs in frustration. "You don¡¯t get it. Dawn doesn¡¯t feed upon light magic, but on the light element itself. Hide her inside a cave, bury her in a marine trench, it doesn¡¯t matter.

    "The only way to fully stop her would be to destroy the sun."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I still fail to see how Ac could help her. It seems to me you had everything under control." Lith said.

    "So did we, and we were wrong. Dawn had already tried to free herself from the arrays in the past, but she always failed. We believed that our teamwork, our relentless preparations were the reason for our sess, but the truth was that Dawn was just probing our ranks.

    "It had never been us or the arrays to keep her from leaving, it was theck of a suitable host. Someone so crazy and desperate to bond with her even though he knew what she was.

    "Without a host, she could exert less than half her full strength. That along with the passwords for the arrays was enough to escape from her prison but not enough to get away from the vige. With our numbers, it would have been only a matter of time before we captured her again.

    "Dawn only had one chance, because once she revealed her hand, we would have changed the codes often to foil further attempts. Sadly, a single mistake was also ourst. Dawn deactivated the arrays, burst through our ranks, and reached Ac.

    "We had failed to understand that what he looked for wasn¡¯t a family, a ce where he belonged, or even eptance. The only thing Ac wanted was what he believed that Mogar owed him.

    "Once he bonded with Dawn, he absorbed so much light energy that he blotted out the sun and then he burned the whole vige to make sure that no one would live to tell the tale. I survived the massacre only because I was on the front lines when it happened." Nalrond started to sob.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith asked. The hybrid¡¯s words made no sense to him.

    "After Dawn deactivated the arrays, I was part of the guards that took the full power of her first attack. I was too severely injured to be of help, so I Blinked away to heal and avoid bing a hostage.

    "I watched at the whole thing from a distance and when Ac bonded with Dawn I know everything was lost. I tried to Blink back to the vige to save as many people as I could, but without light element, there¡¯s no dimensional magic.

    "The only thing I could do was fly away and curse my own weakness. You can easily imagine the rest."

    "Have you tried warning the Kingdom?" Lith put the table back in ce. His hospitality surprised Nalrond, but at that point, the hybrid didn¡¯t care about anything but his own hunger.

    "And tell them what? That a decorated Ranger had stolen a legendary artifact from a tribe of monsters? Don¡¯t your people give a medal to those whomit such crimes?" Nalrond wolfed down the food the moment he shapeshifted into his human form.

    His stark-naked human form.

 Chapter 885 Elemental Arrays Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 885 Elemental Arrays Part 1</h4>

    Nalrond was a man in his mid-twenties about 1.84 meters (6¡¯) tall, with a lean and toned body that no one in their right mind would associate with his hulking animal form.

    He had raven ck hair, green eyes, and an unkempt beard. His bronze skin was a clear sign that he wasn¡¯t from the Gorgon Empire nor from the north of the Kingdom.

    "Oh my." Solus blushed, and with her all the lights in the tower.

    "I guess you are right, Nalrond. Alerting the Kingdom would have been pointless." Lith nodded. "Whether they believed your story or not, you¡¯d have ended up as ab rat. As for Ac even if they decided to kill him instead of exploiting his skills, Dawn would have simply moved to the next moron."

    "Now that you know everything, do I get ast wish after myst meal?" Nalrond asked.

    "How many times do I have to tell you that wanton murder is not part of my n?" Lith emitted a stressed sigh. "The n is to avoid useless fights, contact the Beast Council, and have them deal with this mess."

    "What?" Nalrond couldn¡¯t believe his own ears. He had noticed that Lith was capable of using first magic during their earlier confrontation, but he thought that just like Ac, his abilities originated from his bond with the cursed object.

    "Are you really part of the Beast¡¯s Council?"

    "I am. I also guess it was them entrusting your tribe with the relic." Lith said.

    "That was centuries ago. We had no contact with the Council ever since. Otherwise I would have asked for their help instead of acting solo." Nalrond said.

    "Get some rest while you can. Dawn¡¯s spawns could find us any minute now and I¡¯ve no idea how to get out of here. Worst case scenario, we¡¯ll have to fight our way out." Lith sent the Sentries to patrol the area.

    They would warn him as soon as the enemy approached, giving him the time to make preparations.

    "You don¡¯t need my help. Her powers rival those of the Bright Day." Nalrond pointed at Solus, who was trying to eat while avoiding to look at their naked guest.

    The hybrid didn¡¯t believe in free meals and the whole situation still made no sense to him.

    "I wish it was that simple." Lith said. "We are against at least 15 spawns plus Ac. Do you know about a weak spot we could exploit?"

    "Dawn has no weak point." Nalrond shook his head. "But if you really want to escape, there¡¯s a tunnel in the lower levels that leads outside."

    "Are you sure?" Lith asked.

    "Absolutely. I investigated the area earlier while I was trying to understand Dawn¡¯s endgame. It was my n B in the case I failed to kill her host. Destroy everything she is working on and then bury her under the whole mountain." Nalrond replied.

    He told Lith about an ancient undergroundb that the Living Legacy had worked hard to restore to its full functionality. ording to him, there were a lot of tomes and a machine.

    "The only reason I didn¡¯t touch anything was to not lose the element of surprise."

    "Ab you say? We should pay it a visit before leaving." Lith gave Nalrond some of his old clothes. The hybrid was less muscr and taller than Lith so their size was a bit off.

    "Just a couple of questions before letting you catch some sleep. How can the undead possessed by Dawn survive sunlight and what can you tell me about her ¡¯siblings¡¯?"

    "It¡¯s easy. It¡¯s the abundance of the light element during the day that forces most undead to sleep. All Dawn has to do is to absorb the light in their surroundings to create an artificial night." Nalrond replied.

    "As for her siblings, I know only what legends say. The ck Night¡¯s mission is to find a way to make the undead immune to darkness magic, while the Red Sun¡¯s is to restore the undead¡¯s ability to use all kinds of magic.

    "As it is, they can¡¯t be Forgemasters nor Dimensional Mages."

    "What about Liches?" Lith asked.

    "They are not children of Baba Yaga. They are a man-made perversion of undeath. Dawn and her siblings are known as the bane of Liches. Not only because the three Horsemen consider them unnatural, but also because Liches make a mockery of what they consider their secret mission.

    "Every time a Horseman meets a Lich, thetter dies. Sometimes even for good." Nalrond sighed. Even though he was certain that one of the cursed objects would be the death of him, he wasn¡¯t afraid, just sad.

    Part of it depended on the awareness that he wouldn¡¯t achieve his revenge, but mostly because he realized how foolish he had been. Ever since the destruction of his vige, Nalrond had never reverted to his human form for long, letting his grief and animal fury drive his actions.

    Now, however, he realized that he had been fighting a losing battle all along.

    ¡¯Even if I manage to kill Ac, then what? I can¡¯t build alone the arrays to contain Dawn, nor would she give me the time to reach another tribe of werepeople. She would just kill me and then find a new partner. Gods, I¡¯m so stupid.¡¯ Nalrond thought.

    To add insult to injury, even though he was surrounded by enemies, finally being able to hear a human voice that wasn¡¯t his own, eating hot food, and wearing clothes were pleasant feelings he had almost forgotten.

    They reminded him of his home, of all the people he had loved and lost. Soon his nostalgia turned into hatred, but this time, instead of giving him strength, his rage only made him feel helpless.

    "I¡¯m sorry for your loss." Solus said while conjuring a bed for their guest. "Killing Ac will not bring anyone back, but I hope that at least it will give you closure."

    Nalrond was shocked by the cursed object¡¯s kindness. He considered Solus an enemy and wouldn¡¯t hesitate a second to kill her or her human host.

    Even in his human form, the hybrid could smell the subtle scent that only a Living Legacy could emit and it made him sick.

    His face turned red from anger and he was about tosh out at her when he felt a cold gaze piercing his neck. Nalrond turned around, meeting Lith¡¯s eyes that were brimming with blue mana.

    "Say thank you and get to sleep." The coldness of Lith¡¯s voice smothered Nalrond¡¯s rage, reminding him that his life was hanging by a thread.

    "Thank you, Solus." The hybrid fell asleep the moment his head touched the soft pillow. All of his inner turmoil crumbled in the face of the exhaustion he had umted during the months spent hunting Ac.

    ¡¯What are we going to do with him?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯It depends on how useful he¡¯s willing to be. First, we need to get out of here alive. We are currently outnumbered but not outmatched. No matter how strong a cursed object is, we¡¯ve learned from the ck Star that once they bond with someone, the host is their weak point.

    ¡¯If we kill Ac, Dawn will lose most of her strength and that should create an opening for our escape. If by then Nalrond is still alive and willing to teach us offensive light magic, I might consider letting him live.¡¯ Lith replied.

 Chapter 886 Elemental Arrays Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 886 Elemental Arrays Part 2</h4>

    What I¡¯m really interested in, however, is to find out what the Odi researched in this facility. If Nalrond¡¯s story is true, we might find clues about how to solve the problem I would have inmon with the undead if I ever decide to body-swap.

    ¡¯Retaining my own physical skills and mana core is no small matter. Maybe this mess is actually a blessing in disguise. Our only issue is to get rid of Dawn and seize everything relevant before the Kingdom searches theb.¡¯

    Lith used the tower Sentries to scout their surroundings and search for secret passages while keeping an eye on the enemy. Dawn¡¯s spawns were taking it easy, checking every nook and cranny for their prey before moving forward.

    The Bright Day believed that after interrogating Nalrond, Lith would have killed him since it was what she would have done.

    ¡¯Breaking Nalrond should take Lith enough time for me to find him. Even if somehow that dumb hybrid knows about the exit and reveals its position to the Ranger, the traps I¡¯ve left behind will make short work of the other cursed object¡¯s human host, leaving them helpless.

    ¡¯Without a body or an energy source, the lesser members of the family are unable to move. I want to learn who they are and what they know before turning them to the Kingdom. I have now the perfect scapegoat to make up for this mess.¡¯ Dawn had a smug grin at the idea of dooming Solus to a fate worse than death.

    ¡¯No matter what they tell the humans, no one will ever believe a word they say.¡¯

    ***

    A couple of hourster, Lith woke up Nalrond and they left the cave. The enemies were getting closer and Lith wanted to keep enough lead to always have the time to check his surroundings.

    Nalrond was forced to take point because Lith didn¡¯t trust the hybrid. Yet he couldn¡¯t afford to dispose of such a precious asset. Nalrond¡¯s n had learned from Dawn everything they knew so he could offer Lith insight about the enemy¡¯s strategies.

    "Baba Yaga¡¯s horsemen are different from anything else you might have faced before." Nalrond said. "They are smart, powerful, but most of all they are immortal. No one has ever managed to destroy one of them, yet they are not conceited.

    "Dawn has never underestimated her enemies and always takes her time before making a move. You have only two advantages over her. First, she¡¯s inpetition with her siblings, so after being trapped for centuries, she must be in a rush to make up for the lost time.

    "Otherwise I can¡¯t exin why she kept that dirty poor Ranger instead of swapping him for someone more influential."

    Lith had trouble keeping his poker face intact. Nalrond¡¯s ignorance about society was baffling.

    ¡¯Dawn made the best possible move. If she picked someone like Marchioness Distar, I doubt that it would have been easy to corrupt her as Dawn did to Ac. A powerful mage would never trust a sentient unknown artifact.

    ¡¯Also, the Marchioness has a family and a truckload of responsibilities. Any odd behavior wouldn¡¯t have gone unnoticed and Dawn would have wasted most of her time filling paperwork just not to betray her presence. Ac, instead, is a nk te.

    ¡¯The only thing Nalrond is right about is Dawn being in a rush. There¡¯s no other way to exin why she wants to lead the Kingdom to these ruins. Odi remains have been dered state secrets, hence discovering one is bound to boost Ac¡¯s status and give Dawn ess to most of the rare ingredients she needs for her research.

    ¡¯Sure, she¡¯d lose any piece of knowledge she has overlooked, but the Odi also offer her the perfect exnation for the presence of the odd undead Ac has allegedly discovered.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Your second advantage is me." Nalrond waved his hand, revealing the presence of several arrays that covered most of the corridor in front of them.

    Lith had already spotted the traps with Life Vision, but he wanted to check the hybrid¡¯s skills and how trustworthy he was.

    "How did you know about their presence and how can such powerful formations remain active even without mana crystals to fuel them?" Lith asked.

    "I can sense the unbnce in the elements that this kind of arrays create. As for their power source, there¡¯s your exnation." Nalrond pointed his finger at several runes that were unknown to Lith.

    On top of that, once he and Solus started to study the array¡¯sposition, they noticed that the runes Nalrond highlighted had no sense, upying the empty spaces between the magic circles.

    "Normal arrays areprised of all elements and their effects depend on the runes they are inscribed with." The Rezar said. "Elemental arrays, instead, are forged out of a single element. They are less versatile in their use but at the same time, they are easier to sustain.

    "Those runes are actually power foci for Dawn¡¯s mana. She can keep them active as long as she provides them regrly with light energy."

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. That¡¯s probably the reason why both Xedros and his son are so skilled as Wardens. I wonder if it¡¯s something exclusive to light magic or if all elements can do the same.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Do you know how to deactivate them?" He actually said.

    "Yes. These are arrays that my people developed based on Dawn¡¯s teachings." Even though Nalrond was focused on prolonging his life until he found a way to escape, he couldn¡¯t hide the bitterness in his voice.

    In his eyes, by using his people¡¯s magic for her own ends, Dawn was tainting all the good memories Nalrond had of them. He waved his hand again, making several runes move out of their ce without disrupting the formation.

    "What the fuck?" Lith blurted out.

    "If I deactivated the arrays, she would notice just as if I triggered them. This way I have just blocked their mana flow. We can pass the formations without rming Dawn nor leaving any trace of our passage." Nalrond stepped inside the array yet nothing happened.

    The missing runes prevented it from activating without losing its structural integrity.

    "We used this kind of elemental formations to protect our vige from outsiders. They are not as good as permanent arrays but they have no maintenance cost and are safe for children.

    "Even those with no talent for magic can deactivate them with first magic as long as they know what runes have to be moved."

    Lith followed him closely, leaving to Solus to remember the sequence of gestures necessary to alter the arrays while he kept an eye on their surroundings. The stone corridors were filled with metal ques that pointed them the way, but also reminded him of the horrors of Kh.

    When the stone was reced by metal, a cold shiver ran down Lith¡¯s back.

    ¡¯Damn, if I meet a single golem, I swear to Newton that I¡¯ll desert the army.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s worries were dispelled a few stepster when he noticed that the artificial lights didn¡¯t work and that the entire ce had been ravaged by time. The metal waspletely rusted, alternating green and red patches that screeched at their passage.

    The humidity had formed small pools of water from which mold had spread to the seams between the metal tes. Lith channeled Invigoration through the mold, using it as a conduit for his breathing technique and examining the full floor before even taking the first step.

 Chapter 887 Mother Lode Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 887 Mother Lode Part 1</h4>

    Lith was surprised when Invigoration traveled through the moss and revealed to him that countless mana crystals nucleated from the cracks in the rocks underlying the rusted metal walls. The crystal vein followed the path of the mana geyser that they had previously encountered.

    Both Kh and the ruins Lith was currently exploring had been crystal mines in the past. Unlike the resting ce of thest members of the Odi race, the ruins had to have been abandoned for centuries.

    Mana crystals took a long time to form and judging by their vitality, nothing had interfered with their sustenance in a long while. Another surprise was thepleteck of defense systems, be them ancient or modern in making.

    "Why are there no arrays here?" Lith¡¯s thought out loud, receiving an unexpected answer.

    "Never cast any kind of spell near growing crystals." Nalrond pointed at the closest crystal vein. "They are hungry for world energy and if you mess with their meal, your magic will go wild. If you are lucky."

    "What if you are unlucky?"

    Nalrond quickly closed and opened his hands while mouthing a boom.

    "How can you perceive the crystals through all this metal?"

    "I don¡¯t. I stumbled upon several crystal veins while swimming through the mountain. Nothing useful for at least 300 more years."

    Lith had still many questions, but their words echoed like thunder and Hushing the zone wasn¡¯t an option.

    ¡¯I guess that¡¯s how his people dug their share of crystals. I bet that if the Kingdom knew about their skill, swimming through the earth would be added to the list of forbidden magic.¡¯ He thought.

    After walking together for a while, Nalrond had stopped worrying about Solus. He looked at Lith from time to time, trying to understand who the real monster was.

    The cursed object had shown empathy andpassion while he had recounted his story, whereas her host seemed to be more interested in the Odi library than worried by the ancient horror that was stalking them.

    Their descent continued for hours. Neither of them needed light, so they advanced in silence and stopped only for a quick meal or to drink some water. Before leaving the tower, Lith had taken more food out of his pocket dimension to rece the bag he had lost.

    Hunger was the worst enemy for a mage since water could be easily conjured whereas food couldn¡¯t. To make matters worse, a starving mage couldn¡¯t even heal their wounds without hastening their own demise.

    ¡¯Not to jinx our mission, but what makes you think that we¡¯ll find the tomes we need still in ce? If I were Dawn, I would store them inside my pocket dimension and always bring them with me.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯True, but you must also consider that she has no Soluspedia. Dawn needs to constantly consult the books and with the dimensional blocking array in ce, her options are even more limited.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Turning off such a big formation without severing its link with the mana geyser that serves as a power source is almost impossible. Especially since she had to patch up what remained of the Odi array.

    ¡¯Also, you have to consider how it was probably Dawn who destroyed the tags leading to the underground facility. My guess is that, whatever she is building in these caves, it needs the mana geyser to work.

    ¡¯When you assumed your tower form, you told me the geyser wasn¡¯t at full capacity, remember? Two arrays are nothingpared to the flow of world energy. My guess is that she nned on using the Odib until Ac got a ce and a mana geyser of his own.

    ¡¯She never expected that we would escape from her trap, nor that we would have a guide. Without Nalrond, we would be wandering aimlessly instead of moving straight toward herb.

    ¡¯The real problem will be taking everything we need outside before Dawn or her spawns catch up with us.¡¯

    ¡¯Maybe, and maybe not.¡¯ Solus didn¡¯t want to put Lith¡¯s hopes up, but she could feel they were getting closer again to the mana geyser they had essed earlier. Most of the world energy ran through the mountain, forming the crystal veins. Without an ess point, the mana geyser was useless for their purposes.

    But if they found another opening, then all books could have been stored inside the pocket dimension after moving them inside the tower.

    Lith¡¯s stomach told him that it was about dinnertime. That and Nalrond stumbling more and more frequently made Lith decide it was better to take a break. They had been walking for hours and he was the only one with an enhanced body.

    Lith was still as fresh as a daisy, whereas Nalrond was drenched with sweat and panted like a steam engine. His human body was suffering from hunger and exhaustion. He had survived thest few months by eating bugs, fruits, and rarely some fish, which had further weakened him.

    By watching at Nalrond¡¯s battered body and how voracious he had been during their shared meal inside the tower, Lith guessed that had been the first real food the Rezar had eaten since the destruction of his vige.

    Lith needed to n their next move with Nalrond, hence they needed to talk. After checking with all of his senses that there were no enemies nor crystal veins, he conjured a Hush spell and gave the hybrid a big ration of food.

    Nalrond sat in the less dirty spot he could find and devoted his full focus to make sure that not a crumb would be lost.

    "I¡¯m surprised. You have yet to make a single attempt to escape. Why?" Lith asked.

    "I can¡¯t Warp, I can¡¯t dig through stone, and I¡¯m pretty sure that even if I managed to get the drop on you, I wouldn¡¯te out unscathed. Also, themotion would rm Dawn and her flunkies.

    "I¡¯m no match for her one on one, let alone if I¡¯m put against 15 spawns." Nalrond replied.

    "That was going to be my next question. I noticed that you have got good spells but you fight inefficiently. You invest too much mana in a single attack, leaving you exposed whenever it misses."

    "What do you expect from me?" Nalrond asked and received seconds. Theck of mockery in his tone was the closest thing to a thank you that his hate for cursed objects allowed him to give Lith.

    "I¡¯m no warrior. I lived all my life in my vige as a Healer and making sure that the Bright Day wouldn¡¯t escape. Gods, how I missed meat. I never had the time to field dress animals."

    "Then I guess you don¡¯t know how to use a weapon." Lith had an unimprinted short sword with him. He had taken it from the tower to give it to Nalrond in the case the enemies caught up with them.

    "What good is a weapon against an artifact?" Nalrond shrugged. "I never learned how to use a de because I never thought I would need one. This isn¡¯t how I nned my life."

    "Can you take on her spawns while I deal with Dawn?" Lith asked.

    "Alone against 15 hive-minded individuals who share part of her power and all of their skills? No way. I can kill a couple if I manage to take them by surprise. Maybe three. 15 is madness." Nalrond shook his head.

 Chapter 888 Mother Lode Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 888 Mother Lode Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯They didn¡¯t seem so strong when we fought them.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Probably they were holding back, to lull you into a sense of false security and keep you from escaping. You instead went all-out and killed them all before they had a chance to retaliate.¡¯ Solus pointed out.

    ¡¯As for the second wave we faced, we got the upper hand again, but only because they weren¡¯t aware of my existence. Their teamwork was seamless and their n would have worked if you didn¡¯t have a third arm.¡¯

    "Wait a second." Lith said to both his allies. "How long has Dawn been fused with Ac?"

    "Five months, 16 days, and six hours, more or less." Nalrond gritted his teeth as the memory of his vige burning at noon, when Dawn¡¯s strength was at her peak, shed in front of his eyes.

    "And how long has she been sealed by your people?"

    "A couple of centuries. Lady Sinmara, one of Overlord Sark¡¯s daughters, brought the Bright Day to us after she failed to destroy it. Her mother..."

    "I didn¡¯t ask you for a history lesson." Lith cut him short.

    "We are on the clock so shut up and listen. I might have found Dawn¡¯s weak point. Her knowledge about modern magic is limited to what Ac knows, that¡¯s why she kidnapped those people.

    "Caravans always bring bodyguards and the best bodyguards are always mages. You told me that she doesn¡¯t retain the knowledge of her victims after they die, so if we take out her spawns before she gets to us, she¡¯ll be much easier to handle."

    Lith pondered if to take out the undead or the thralls first. The vampires were bound to have a lot more knowledge, but they were probably useless in terms of dimensional and Forgemastery magic.

    The thralls, on the other hand, held the knowledge Dawn wanted for whatever she was nning. Also, Lith had already witnessed how losing the humans seemed to weaken her hold over the vampires.

    "She has another weak point." Nalrond said, derailing Lith¡¯s thoughts. "She is in a weakened state during the night because the only sources of light element are the stars and the moon.

    "Dawn always took undead as her host topensate for it, but this time she has bonded with a human."

    "You are not making any sense. You told me that she can be buried underground and still ess to the light element, so what difference does the sr cycle make? On top of that, Mogar¡¯s world energy holds all the light element she might need." Lith replied.

    "Elements have a physical manifestation. Just like it¡¯s easier to practice water magic near a river and you can¡¯t practice earth magic without actual earth, sunlight provides us with pure light and fire elements, whereas world energy belongs to Mogar.

    "To ess a single element, you need to use your mana as a focus to connect with the elemental energies surrounding you. If Dawn tried to absorb huge amounts of the light element from the world energy, the resulting imbnce would kill her."

    Nalrond¡¯s words made Lith reflect further on the nature of his umtion technique.

    ¡¯He has a point. As a tower, Solus absorbs all of Mogar¡¯s life-breath and so do I with my breathing techniques. Maybe, if I find a way to split the world energy into its singleponents before absorbing it, I could exploit the released energy to elerate the growth process of my mana core or channel it into...¡¯ Lith thought before Solus snapped him out of it.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no time for enlightenment, only for nning.¡¯

    "Are you suggesting we should strike now?" Lith asked.

    "No. I¡¯m just saying that if we are still here once the sun rises again, we have little chance of survival. We can talk while we move." Nalrond took point again. Their lunch break hadsted barely fifteen minutes, but with a full stomach and renewed hope, the hybrid felt much better.

    Despite the barrier separating his life forces, Nalrond¡¯s Emperor Beast¡¯s half coupled with his meditation technique improved his recovery abilities beyond the human level.

    "As I was saying, if we meet Dawn¡¯s spawns, kill the humans first." Lith exined his theory while Nalrond deactivated the arrays they met on their way.

    After a while, a white light shone in front of the hybrids, making them freeze in ce.

    "How the heck did they got in front of us?" Lith whispered.

    "We might as well have taken the scenic route for all I know. Maybe there was a shortcut we missed." Nalrond replied.

    "I thought you knew the way!" Lith cursed himself for trusting his prisoner.

    "I do, but without earth magic, I could only rely on my memory. This ce is a damn maze so I had us take the simplest and only route I could remember that would bring us to our destination without getting lost."

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?"

    "Tell you what? That I was gambling with each turn we took? I¡¯m pretty sure that you would have killed me if you thought I was an unreliable guide. Now, instead, you need me more than ever." Nalrond said.

    The Rezar¡¯s body was tense and ready for the fight, yet he couldn¡¯t stop smiling at the idea that he wouldn¡¯t die yet.

    Lith switched from Fire Vision to Life Vision, recognizing Dawn¡¯s energy signature in the lighting from ahead. Whatever it was, it emitted vast amounts of mana that was so dense to blind Lith¡¯s mystical senses.

    Lith took the lead, floating a few centimeters from the metal while hiding his smell with a darkness spell. Once he reached the source of light, he gasped in amazement.

    What remained of the door frame was huge. Judging from the hinges, it had to have hosted a piece of metal of considerable size. The locks and arrays that protected what once was the vault¡¯s door were still in ce despite the passing of time.

    The scorch marks surrounding the metal frame and the molten scraps were a clear indicator that Dawn had brute-forced her way in by evaporating the door with her light magic. The spell had generated enough heat to deform the rest of the corridor.

    Yet the real reason for Lith¡¯s awe was what lied beyond the gate.

    It was a squared room with a side of at least 25 meters (82 feet). At its center, there was one of the mostplex machines Lith had seen since he had been reborn on Mogar. The device was ced right above the energy stream of the mana geyser.

    It was simr to the machine Ac had shown him on the upper levels, but more ancient in design. The entirety of the cave¡¯s walls was covered with hard-light constructs that replicated bookshelves and each shelf was full of perfectly preserved tomes written in the Odinguage.

    The rest of the room was filled with more constructs that had been shaped likeb desks and all the nonplex research tools modern Forgemasters used. Except for ingredients and alchemical analysis devices, everything was made of solid light.

    "How the heck is this possible? To keep so many constructs active at all times, Dawn should be as weak as a kitten." Lith didn¡¯t let his curiosity get the best of him and used Invigoration on the floor to look for more traps.

    Between the mana geyser, the Odi machine, and all that magic, his other mystical senses were blind.

 Chapter 889 Sorcererâ€™s Apprentice Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 889 Sorcerer¡¯s Apprentice Part 1</h4>

    Nalrond was speechless. Back in his vige, he was considered one of the best Light Masters of his generation, yet even he had no idea how to answer Lith¡¯s question about Dawn¡¯s ability to keep so many hard-light constructs active at the same time.

    "Be careful. There¡¯s so much magic in here that you could hide one hundred arrays and I wouldn¡¯t be able to sense them." The Rezar said, aware that a single mistake would spell death for both of them.

    Nalrond cast an array revealing spell that projected into his mind so many magical formations that his knees buckled from dizziness.

    ¡¯By my maker.¡¯ Solus thought while trying to identify the presence of traps. ¡¯Dawn used light-based arrays to replicate a state-of-the-art magicalb down to thest detail.

    ¡¯I wouldn¡¯t have ever thought it was possible tobine the Warden and Light Master specializations to such degree. If I ever be able to incorporate them into the tower¡¯s defense systems there¡¯s no limit to the applications...¡¯

    ¡¯No time for enlightenment, remember?¡¯ Lith cut her short. ¡¯Just tell me if there are traps waiting to blow us up or not.¡¯

    After his experience at Laruel, he had learned how to apply Invigoration to aplex system, be it living or magical in nature, without puking his guts out, but to quickly process the information acquired he needed Solus¡¯s help.

    ¡¯Right, sorry. We can enter the room, theb is clear.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯Are you serious?¡¯ Lith performed a second check, just to be sure.

    ¡¯Yes.¡¯ Solus emitted a stressed sigh as she examined everything again to calm his paranoia. ¡¯If there were any trap, the books and the machine would need to be protected by the effects of the traps.

    ¡¯Also, to build herb, Dawn needed a lot of arrays and there¡¯s only so much space in here. Runes cannot ovep and it took her quite the effort to arrange everything so that it didn¡¯t mess up with the array that connects the mana geyser to the machine.¡¯

    Lith stepped inside and as Solus had predicted, nothing happened. The stone floor and ceiling were the only things not covered in light. Several tunnels departed from the cave.

    Some were made of metal and seemed to go upward while others looked of natural origin and went deeper underground.

    Lith didn¡¯t know whether to focus on the Odi machine in the middle of the room or on the tomes that were still open on a nearby desk. Both piqued his interest and would be lost the moment the army responded to his distress call.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, Lith.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯There is enough energying from the mana geyser for me to assume my tower form, but not enough space. Even if I keep it as small as I can, I would still need to get rid of many constructs, and by doing that I¡¯m sure that Dawn would notice our presence.¡¯

    Nalrond couldn¡¯t understand why Lith was staring at theb instead of moving forward, nor did he like the ce. Now that they stood on solid ground capable to withstand his weight, he shapeshifted into his animal form.

    "I liked those clothes." Lith snarled.

    "Me too. Sorry." Nalrond sniffed the tunnels for any sign of their pursuers.

    "I¡¯ve got good news. From the south tunneles a faint scent of grass, so the exit is that way. Also, I¡¯m pretty sure that we have enough lead on Dawn that, by the time she gets here, we¡¯ll already be outside the blocking arrays¡¯ range."

    "Excellent." Lith said while studying the titles of the books on the conjured scaffolds. He made sure to not touch the constructs to avoid triggering any kind of safety measure.

    He believed Solus when she said that there were no offensive spells hidden between the runes¡¯ lines, but to embed a silent rm into an array was a Warden¡¯s oldest trick. It required to add just a couple of runes and it would inform the caster every time something or someone interacted with their working.

    ¡¯It seems that Dawn has collected all the tomes she has salvaged while exploring the Odiplex here. I don¡¯t know if she nned to keep them for herself or give them to the army to increase Ac¡¯s reward.

    ¡¯Either way, it¡¯s all junk. Obsolete magical subjects and reports about the Odi experiment hold no value to me.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Not to rush you, Lith, but we are in a pinch.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯On one hand, we can¡¯t dismiss a library after checking a few books. There¡¯s still plenty more on the upper levels and there¡¯s another library just as big behind your back.

    ¡¯On the other hand, even if we split up, to examine everything and the machine it would take us the whole night while we have an hour at best before Dawn gets here. I need you to make up your mind, fast!¡¯

    ¡¯So much for not rushing me.¡¯ Lith sighed. ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, I have a solution to all of our problems.¡¯

    ¡¯Gods, no!¡¯ Solus whimpered.

    ¡¯Gods, yes!¡¯ Lith replied before turning to Nalrond.

    "Listen to me, kid, and you listen to me good because I¡¯m going to say this only once. First, when you fight against an opponent who has much stronger magic power and mastery over an element than you, never use spells without infusing them with your willpower.

    "Otherwise no matter how strong your spell is, it will be deflected."

    The memory of Dawn swatting away one of his strongest spells like a fly was still vivid in Nalrond¡¯s memory. Finally, the reason for his defeat was clear to him, yet the Rezar was baffled by Lith¡¯s sudden outburst of generosity.

    Magical secrets were well kept, and sharing them meant a great deal even to the most insignificant mage.

    "Second, when dealing with multiple enemies, hard-light constructs are much better than heat rays." Lith continued. "You can keep using them until their mana runs out plus you can adjust their output and shape based on the threat at hand.

    "They are not fast, but in close quartersbat speed is irrelevantpared to the versatility of a tool that can be used for both attack and defense. Now start conjuring your spells, because the enemies will be here any minute now."

    "No, they are not. I just told you..." Nalrond choked on his words when Solus jumped off Lith¡¯s arm and assumed her tower form by siphoning all the energying from the mana geyser that wasn¡¯t already employed to sustain the array field.

    The ceiling was high enough to not be a problem, but while she grew in size, Solus smashed severalb tables, turning all the instruments that Dawn had spent days to shape based on her spawns¡¯ memories into light shards.

    An inhuman scream of pure rage made the entirety of the Snake Tongue mountain range tremble while dust and debris fell from the ceiling on the hybrids¡¯ heads.

    ¡¯Too bad there¡¯s a nasty dimensional magic sealing array preventing Dawn dearest from warping here, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Lith though. Like a sorcerer¡¯s apprentice, at a wave of his hand, the room came to life.

    Only instead of brooms and buckets, it was Sentries and books that flew through the air. Instead of scouting the area, the swarm of ss constructs from Solus¡¯s Mirror Hall scanned the Odi machine from every side and checked the bookshelves at the same time.

 Chapter 890 Sorcererâ€™s Apprentice Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 890 Sorcerer¡¯s Apprentice Part 2</h4>

    Every single book that had an even remotely interesting title would float toward the tower¡¯s door or windows along with all the tomes that Dawn had left on theb counters.

    Lith didn¡¯t even bother checking them and took his enemy¡¯s opinion at face value.

    ¡¯Can your tower form help us in the case enemies get here before we¡¯re done?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯It can amplify your magic, but I would be a sitting duck. The tower has yet to regain real defensive abilities like barriers. All I can do with the earth blocking array preventing me from digging underground is bing invisible.

    ¡¯However, even if Dawn wasn¡¯t an expert of light magic, by blocking her constructs from reforming the tower walls give away my position.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll take it as a no.¡¯ Lith thought while weaving his most destructive spells.

    "ording to what you¡¯ve told me, Dawn and her spawns should be vulnerable to darkness magic. Focus on that and hard-light constructs!" He ordered Nalrond.

    "This is ridiculous. If you wanted to kill me, there are countless less idiotic ways to do it. Why are you throwing away your life for some books?" The Rezar had considered flying away, but the tunnel was narrow.

    If Lith decided to shoot him in the back, Nalrond would have no way to avoid it. Even if he survived the st by sheer luck, the wounds wouldn¡¯t let him go far. Rather than being at the mercy of the winner, Nalrond preferred to take his chances and fight.

    ¡¯I can always run away the moment an opportunity arises. I must survive until Lith and Dawn are too busy tearing each other¡¯s throat to mind me.¡¯ He thought.

    Luckily for Lith, the swarm of Sentries plus the enhanced intellect Solus gained while in her tower form greatly reduced the time needed for a full sweep of the room. She managed to get back at his finger when the first fanged shooting star reached the undergroundb.

    ¡¯Why are you in your ring form?¡¯ Lith was worried that the mental strain he had put her through might affect herbat abilities. He had nned several moves ahead, but they all required her assistance.

    Against an opponent as powerful as Dawn, Lith had to go all-out right of the bat. Without Solus boosting Ruin¡¯s fusion magic and supporting him with her spells, things would go downhill quickly.

    ¡¯Because there¡¯s something I have to try. It shouldn¡¯t take me long.¡¯ She replied as another shooting star joined the fray and the first vampire charged at Lith with the momentum of a freight train.

    ¡¯"Long" is a rtive concept when each second could be thest!¡¯ Lith was already infused with all the elements and attempted to dodge the living bullet, but the vampire shapeshifted into her Chiropterann form.

    It was a giant hybrid between a human and a bat.

    The creature was 2.5 meters (8¡¯2") meters tall, with membranous wings connecting her hands to her hips. Ten centimeters long razor-sharp talons reced her nails and a thick dark brown fur as hard as steel covered the rest of her body.

    Her open mouth emitted a beastly screech, revealing fangs as long as short swords. A single p of her wings allowed the vampire to perform an abrupt turn in mid-air. Between her high-speed movements and her long arm, she managed to catch Lith¡¯s leg.

    The Chiropteran spun on herself, adding centrifugal force to her own, and mmed Lith against the ground. The impact opened a crater one meter deep and sucked all the air out of his lungs.

    Even with earth fusion and the mana boosted Orichalcum armor, Lith¡¯s vision went blurry for a split second. Gritting his teeth allowed him to not lose consciousness despite the concussion, but such focus cost him all the spells he had prepared.

    On the bright side, even if he was stunned, even if the prism was well hidden under the creature¡¯s fur and muscles, Lith managed to use Life Vision to spot Dawn¡¯s spawn.

    He struck with Ruin the moment the undead beast came for the finishing blow. The de released the spells Lith had infused it with and blew up a hole in the vampire¡¯s chest. Without both the prism and her own heart, the creature fell.

    The second vampire assumed the Chiropteran form as well the moment he saw Nalrond. The Rezar held still, anchoring himself to the ground with the ws on his feet and bracing for impact.

    He had never faced a vampire before and had forgotten to ask Lith what he should expect from them.

    The bloodlust exuding from the Chiropteran was so powerful that it crippled Nalrond¡¯s will to fight. Vampires were a link above humans in the food chain. It was something that their victims instinctively knew and that struck fear into their hearts.

    Nalrond swallowed a lump of saliva, his human half was paralyzed by the creature¡¯s red eyes that were numbing his mind, lulling him to surrender. His animal half, however, reacted like a cornered beast andshed out.

    A wall of light materialized a split second before the Chiropeteran¡¯s ws could reach their target. The impact broke the creature¡¯s wrists, but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop the charge. Light constructs weren¡¯t as sturdy as earth magic and required some time to fully form.

    The Chiropteran smashed through the wall, just in time to see the Rezar curled up and charging forward with all of his scales slightly bent upwards. A Rezar¡¯s body was covered by sharp scales that could be packed together to increase their defense or raised to use them as weapons.

    The impact sent them both flying back, but while the Chiropteran was covered in deep cuts and had sustained several broken bones, Nalrond was fine. Adrenaline cleared his head, allowing him to uncurl his body and use his prehensile tail to catch his enemy in mid-air.

    The undead didn¡¯t feel pain and his wounds were already closing, but all the damage he had sustained slowed his reaction time. The Rezar¡¯s tail wrapped around his chest and released two tier four darkness spells.

    Thebined effect of magic and of the powerful hold generated by the opposing momentum of the two titans ripped the Chiropteran in half. Before the hips could reattach to the torso, Nalrond was on top of the fallen vampire.

    While their ws were locked into a grip contest, the remnants of the Rezar¡¯s construct reassembled into a giant spear that impaled both fighters, striking at the prism bulging out the Chiropteran¡¯s chest.

    The spear was made of Nalrond¡¯s mana, so it harmlessly phased through him and cracked the prism. The Chiropteran screeched in pain and his eyes regained focus. Dawn control over him was temporarily lifted.

    The proud vampire used his ws and all the magic he could muster to dig the prism out of his own flesh. His act of defiance cost him his life. Dawn stopped using her power to heal the minion¡¯s wounds, letting him turn into dust.

    Nalrond would have liked to take a moment and marvel at the vampire¡¯s bravery, but two more creatures had just darted inside the cave.

    ¡¯Solus, I need you. I¡¯m running out of tricks¡¯ Lith had to resort to Invigoration to heal the concussion without getting exhausted. To make things worse, he had only two new spells at the ready.

    ¡¯Working on it.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯The good news is that Dawn is only sending vampires to fight you. Probably she can¡¯t afford to lose the human¡¯s knowledge and be forced to start from scratch again. Worst-case scenario is you two versus six.¡¯

 Chapter 891 Power Source Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 891 Power Source Part 1</h4>

    Lith decided to gamble and ced his back against the library. He hoped that Dawn would care about the books and wouldn¡¯t dare risk damaging them. The vampire in the Chiropteran form breathed a white-hot ray of light that cut through stone, books, and shelves alike as if they were butter.

    ¡¯Okay, she doesn¡¯t give a crap about them. Duly noted.¡¯ Lith thought while dodging.

    This time, the creature was wary of Ruin. The Chiropteran kept his distance from the dangerous de and chose to fight on the ground while using his ws as weapons. The creature retracted his wings under the armpits and assumed a martial arts stance.

    Both of his arms were coated with light, enhancing the undead¡¯s battle prowess. Between his longs ws and unnatural arm reach, the Chiropteran could use his right hand as a spear when Lith tried to step away and as a sword in close quartersbat.

    The left arm was used as a shield, exploiting the fact that the light construct surrounding it became denser and sturdier by the second. To make matters worse, the vampire was able to read every move Lith had used since meeting Ac thanks to the hive mind connecting the undead with the Bright Day.

    When one of her spawns died, Dawn would lose their abilities, but she would also retrieve the power she had bestowed upon them and the memories about theirst moments.

    Against an opponent stronger and more skilled than himself, Lith needed the surprise element to win. He was quickly pushed on the defense, without the time to think about what technique was better to save forter.

    ¡¯Fine! ying dirty is a game two can y.¡¯ He thought while defending against a volley of heat-rays.

    Lith had tried to turn the enemy¡¯s long arms into an advantage by getting so close that the Chiropteran couldn¡¯t attack him without impaling himself, but the vampire had simply engulfed his body in darkness magic to push Lith away while releasing light spells from his fingertips.

    Dawn¡¯s energy could hurt even the vampire, but the holes they opened were too small to affect his movements, whereas Lith had to defend all of his internal organs from the onught.

    Unlike the Chiropteran, he needed them to live. Lith dodged half of the heat rays and blocked the rest with Ruin before lunging at the prism with the de.

    The vampire sidestepped the telegraphed attack, blocking Lith¡¯s arm with his light shield while umting a mass of darkness magic in his right palm, ready to unleash it on contact.

    "Gotcha." They both said the moment the vampire performed his counter attack.

    A ck upside-down membranous wing that resembled a slender wed hand had emerged from Lith¡¯s back and was now wrapped around the Chiropteran¡¯s right arm, keeping it at distance.

    The vampire could easily pluck the wing off by bending his arm while taking a step back, but thetter was impossible due to Lith having stomped the creature¡¯s foot with his own.

    The talons of Lith¡¯s Wyrmling form pierced both the Chiropteran¡¯s flesh and the rock thanks to theyer of Orichalcum boosting their sharpness. The vampire attempted to bite Lith¡¯s head off, only to find a scaly face at his eye level that responded to the attack with a headbutt.

    The creature¡¯s rich battle experience allowed him to react to the unexpected turn of events with but a second of dy.

    Unfortunately for him, it was a second toote.

    Ruin had never been aimed at the prism, it was just a ruse to get the enemy in position. Lith¡¯s left wing trapped the creature¡¯s right arm while Ruin kept the shielded arm at distance, leaving the chest wide open.

    Helped by the boosted Skinwalker armor and his own darkness infused scales, Lith ignored the spell protecting the Chiropteran. His left arm struck in a spear-hand, using his Orichalcum-coated ws to pierce through theyers of magic, flesh, and bones that shielded the prism.

    Dawn had seen Lith fighting long enough to discover that he was an Awakened and had yed her pawns ordingly. The first vampire¡¯s reckless assault was meant to leave the enemy without spells and force him into a hand to hand fight that no man could possibly win.

    Yet her n had failed because Lith was a man unlike any she had ever faced before.

    ¡¯This is impossible! Hybrids can¡¯t bond with a member of the family.¡¯ When the third vampire had died, Dawn was tinkering with her version of the Odi machine located in the upper levels of the caves.

    Controlling her minions while she performedplex magical calctions and reverse-engineered an ancient device at the same time was a child¡¯s y for her. Or at least it was as long as she had enough brains to share the intellectual burden with.

    On top of that, there were several reasons why Dawn couldn¡¯t afford to lose all the vampires of her nest. The humans she had captured granted her knowledge about all the modern magical fields, but the vampires were the ones that allowed her to bridge old and new magical theories.

    Without the vampires, it was impossible for her to convert her outdated spells into modern and more efficient techniques. Another reason was that the Bright Day couldn¡¯t bond her prisms with humans, only with undead.

    Thralls were an exception because they possessed two cores, making them part undead. Yet without their sire, their blood core would sooner orter dissipate and with it her prism.

    Losing all the vampires meant losing everything Dawn had worked hard to acquire since Ac had freed her. With her nest reduced to one-fourth of its members, it was time to take matters into her own hands.

    Meanwhile, Nalrond was fighting a losing battle. Even with air fusion enhancing his speed, he was a slothpared to a Chiropteran. Also, he had never fought an undead before so he kept making mistakes like aiming for vitals in the hope of slowing the enemy enough to break his prism.

    The vampire, on the other hand, had lived long enough to turn killing into an art-form, and thanks to the hive-mind, she had already witnessed most of the Rezar¡¯s best spells.

    The only reason Nalrond was still alive was the light construct protecting him. After killing the first Chiropteran, Nalrond had split it into smaller energy cores to lessen the burden on his mana cores and use them to attack his next enemy from every side at once.

    Unfortunately for him, the light spheres couldn¡¯t keep up with the undead¡¯s speed so he had been forced to use them as shields. The Rezar had already lost several scales and was covered in w marks.

    Some were shallow, others were deep, but all of them bled profusely. By the time Nalrond managed to mend one bleeding wound with light fusion, two more had already been opened.

    ¡¯If only I could Blink or at least use earth magic!¡¯ Nalrond couldn¡¯t believe how unlucky he was. Rezars were supposed to be invincible in caves, yet he felt that his end was nigh.

    ¡¯Lith was right about the speed of a spell being meaningless at close quarters, but that bitch keeps her distance. This way, both my constructs and my darkness spells are useless. I could emit a light pir, but if it gets deflected again, I¡¯m done for.¡¯

    The moment Lith killed his opponent, thest Chiropteran standing received the order to retreat. Her problem was how to disengage from the enemy without leaving herself wide open to a killing blow.

 Chapter 892 Power Source Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 892 Power Source Part 2</h4>

    The vampire shuddered at the memory of the energy beam that Nalrond had earlier unleashed against Dawn. A single spawn wasn¡¯t able to use powerful constructs, let alone to defend against an attack big enough to engulf the entire tunnel.

    Unaware that the battle was already over, Lith used an air spell to fly behind the undead without using his wings. He wanted to keep as many secrets as he could in the case that they failed to escape and had to face Dawn.

    "What are you waiting for? I¡¯ll keep her busy until you cast Nightfall." The spell Lith mentioned was one of the most powerful tools the Griffon Kingdom employed against the undead.

    Both the Rezar and the Chiropteran looked at each other in confusion. The former had no idea what he was supposed to do while thetter looked at Nalrond with a mix of admiration and fear.

    Dawn cursed her bad luck. She knew from Ac¡¯s memories that Lith was a Great Mage, but the Griffon Kingdom entrusting a state secret of that importance with someone that young was unheard of.

    ¡¯The Ranger must have shared Nightfall with the Rezar while we lost track of them.¡¯ Dawn thought. ¡¯Luckily, my strategy made Lith lose his spells and the kid is too green to fight properly.¡¯

    Dawn ordered the Chiropteran to run away. Winning in a two against one scenario was impossible. If either of them finished casting Nightfall, she would lose another vampire.

    The creature pped her wings while using air magic to increase her agility to its utmost limits. Thanks to her superior air maneuverability, she managed to escape from the encirclement and reached the tunnel.

    Exactly where Lith wanted her.

    In such a confined space, the Chiropteran¡¯s huge frame was a fish in a barrel, incapable of dodging an area of effect attack. Lith¡¯s tier five spell, Raging Sun, created a st of purple mes right in front of the vampire.

    The heat and the shockwaves produced by the st bounced on the corridor¡¯s wall time and time again, attacking the Chiropteran from every side as if it was in the middle of a volcanic eruption.

    Pieces of stone turned intopillus that pierced her flesh while the shockwaves pulverized her body and the searing heat made it impossible for her wounds to recover. The explosion also made the tunnel copse, closing the only way to the undergroundb under tons of rocks.

    ¡¯This should slow Dawn long enough for us to escape.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "What the heck is Nightfall?" Nalrond could finally heal his wounds and regrow the scales he had lost.

    "Wish I knew." Lith sighed, using Invigoration at every breath.

    He had only heard about it during the boot camp. Nightfall was an army secret on par with Royal Forgemastering, something that would be mentioned to the troops with the goal of encouraging them to do their best and join the elite anti-Balkor corps.

    Lith¡¯s bluff had exploited Dawn¡¯s mind link with Ac. He was a Ranger as well and knew how dangerous such a spell was. Otherwise Nightfall would have just been a random word.

    "Which way is the exit?" Lith asked.

    Nalrond pointed at the second corridor on the north wall and took flight.

    ¡¯This is my only chance to get out of here alive.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯If I stay here, Dawn will kill me. If we run away together, Solus will kill me. Next time, I need a proper strategy on how to contain the Bright Day once I kill her host.¡¯

    Fighting the spawns had been an eye-opener for him. Driven by his blood rage, Nalrond had never truly understood the burden of the task he had undertaken. Like the Rezar himself had said earlier to Lith, he was no warrior.

    He had no experience against undead and had managed to survive until that moment only by sheer luck. Hunting down the Bright Day had been madness, let alone facing her without having a n.

    Unfortunately for him, panic and enlightenment only made him forget that they were still inside enemy territory. The array ced in front of the exit detonated the moment Nalrond stepped into it, burying the Rezar under a ton of rocks and sealing the only way out.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways!¡¯ Lith cursed the hybrid¡¯s idiocy. ¡¯Even though Dawn and I have the same problem, our situation is like night and day. We both can¡¯t use earth magic to clear the tunnels, but...¡¯

    A pir of light that reached thousands of degrees vaporized the debris blocking the tunnel where the Chiropteran was buried. Despite light magic¡¯s short range, the light pir had still enough power to cross the cave and dig a hole the size of a rail tunnel in the opposing wall.

    Ac slowly floated inside the cave. The Ranger shone like a sun, emitting white light from his every pore as if he had broken past the boundary between energy and matter.

    A priceless gemstone was bulging out of his chest, emitting rhythmical pulses of light akin to heartbeats. Heartbeats that melted the rock and made the ground quake. There was no spell actually lifting Ac¡¯s body.

    The energy surrounding him was so dense that it almost reached a physical manifestation. It was the sheer force of Dawn¡¯s mana pushing against the ground that was making him float.

    "Do you have any idea of the dy that your meddling will cause to my ns?" The feminine voice was furious and it definitely didn¡¯t belong to Ac. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find the right undead to enve?"

    ¡¯Great.¡¯ Lith thought while weaving a spell for each one of his fingertips. ¡¯Not only is Dawn at the peak of her power due to recovering the strength she had borrowed to the fallen spawns, but I have also to listen to her deranged rants.

    ¡¯Where the heck is Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯Right here.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯Sorry if I¡¯mte. I¡¯ve never attempted to take full control of a mana geyser while in my gauntlet form. That time against Thrud doesn¡¯t count because she had already tapped into the geyser to fuel Arthan¡¯s Madness, leaving me only the crumbs.¡¯

    ¡¯You did what?¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t believe their own shared brain as the massive flow of information about the procedure flooded his mind.

    "I usually don¡¯t enjoy taking down a fellow cursed object, but for you, I¡¯ll make an exception." A longsword made of light appeared materialized in her hands as she performed a downward sh aimed at Lith¡¯s head.

    The mana de emitted enough heat to distort the air and contained enough power to split a mountain. All the more reason why Dawn froze the moment she realized that her attack had been easily blocked.

    A blue aura engulfed Ruin¡¯s red de, providing it with so much mana that the runes covering its surface became visible to the naked eye and all the mana crystals embedded along the de turned into small suns.

    The white and the red de shed only for a split second. The mana supporting them was equally matched, but it wasn¡¯t the same for the arms wielding the weapons.

    Dawn found herself crashing through one of her conjured libraries before the stone wall behind it stopped her flight. Ancient tomes rained upon her until the Bright Day was buried under thousands of pages describing the Odi¡¯s forbidden magic research.

 Chapter 893 Killer and Murderer Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 893 Killer and Murderer Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯It¡¯s impossible.¡¯ Dawn emitted an energy pulse to shook off the Odi tomes that were clouding her vision. ¡¯Even though I still haven¡¯t Awakened Ac due to his too powerful mana core, I¡¯ve refined his body way above the human level.

    ¡¯He¡¯s almost ready to withstand a blue cored Awakening without turning into an Abomination, yet Verhen swatted us away like a fly. To reach such a degree of body refinement at his young age, he would need to have Awakened in the crib, but that¡¯s impossible.¡¯ And yet it was the truth.

    Usually, Lith would have not missed the chance to follow up with his attack, but his body was still trembling with all the world energying from the mana geyser that was now coursing through him.

    Solus had assumed her arm protector form, covering his right arm from the hand to the shoulder. Yet it wasn¡¯t stable enough to harness the same amount of power that the tower usually would, forcing her to share the burden with Lith and dispel the excess.

    ¡¯By my maker. This is worse than I thought. The dimensional and earth blocking arrays are still in ce, so it¡¯s time to improvise.¡¯ Solus¡¯s stone body bonded with the Orichalcum Skinwalker armor, bing pure silver in the process.

    In turn, the armor started to expand, reshaping itself ording to Solus¡¯s arm protector, turning from a thinyer of silvery metal into a thick full armor that covered Lith¡¯s body from head to toes.

    The world energying from the mana geyser now kept the Orichalcum in its boosted state without the need of mana from Lith¡¯s core.

    ¡¯The good news is that I¡¯ve just tapped into the full potential of your equipment, me included.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯The bad news is that, unlike me, neither the sword nor the armor was made to withstand this kind of power.

    ¡¯It¡¯s only a matter of time before they copse.¡¯

    Lith cursed his bad luck, resuming his attack the moment he regained control of his movements. Dawn had recovered as well and plunged her hand inside the crystal on Ac¡¯s chest, taking a prism out of it.

    The prism changed its shape into a longsword, working as a scaffold for the light construct and further boosting its power. Now the des were equally matched and so were their bearers.

    Dawn had on her side hundreds of years of mastery above all forms ofbat, but Ac¡¯s body couldn¡¯t keep up with Lith¡¯s speed or strength. It was a bout of technique against physical prowess.

    Lith managed to evade all the attacks because he was faster, whereas Dawn did the same by predicting his movements and dodging before an attack motion had even started.

    "Not bad, boy. Keep entertaining me like this and I could take a fancy to your body." Dawn conjured countless hard-light constructs shaped as des around them, each one holding the same destructive power of a tier four spell.

    "Sorry, sister, he already has a girlfriend. Also, you should at least offer him a drink first." Solus cast the tier five spell, Setting Sun, taking both Lith and Dawn by surprise.

    The Bright Day still believed that Lith was the rival cursed object¡¯s personality whereas Lith just hated witty banter during a fight.

    ¡¯Solus, what have we said a thousand times about answering a madman?¡¯ Lith thought while the sphere of ck mes generated by the spell erupted from his body.

    Instead of keeping Setting Sun active, Solus had it detonating to throw Dawn off guard and st her constructs away.

    ¡¯That it makes us sound just as crazy.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯Yet that¡¯s your style. She already knows about my existence so there¡¯s no point in hiding. I¡¯ll do things my way.¡¯

    The mix of fire and darkness ate through Dawn¡¯s aura, burning away Ac¡¯s uniform. The Ranger lost all of his body hair and his skin became charred from the heat.

    Dawn healed his host as fast as Solus¡¯s spell damaged him, using her own life force to provide Ac¡¯s body with endless vigor.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make any sense. I¡¯ve watched this Verhen guy with Life Vision earlier and he wasn¡¯t this powerful. I have never heard of a member of the family capable of holding their ground against a Horseman.¡¯

    For the first time since she had bonded with Ac, Dawn was regretting her choice of not recing the Ranger with an undead. The three Horsemen of Baba Yaga were not meant to bond with humans because they limited the artifact¡¯s potential.

    Baba Yaga had sired her children to help the members of the undead race, not the humans. Dawn¡¯s n had been to exploit Ac¡¯s mortal body to more easily Awaken him while hoarding the fame and resources necessary for her research.

    Only once the Griffon Kingdom had outlived its usefulness would she turn her partner into an undead and join the Courts as their rightful ruler. She had never expected to face an opponent who would force her to go all-out.

    Dawn¡¯s gemstone shone once more and covered the ranger with crystal-like scales that were an extension of her own body, bringing their fusion to the next level. At the same time, she willed for her burning light des to bounce in mid-air and strike at Lith.

    ¡¯We¡¯re still surrounded!¡¯ Solus warned him. He could either defend against the spell or against Dawn. Lith confided in his own Forgemastery talent and let the constructs hit his Orichalcum armor.

    The spells had lost part of their power, but the distraction they caused was enough for Dawn to regain the upper hand. Her crystal de pushed Ruin¡¯s tip aside, leaving Lith exposed to her tier five spell, Daybreak.

    It was a mix of light, fire, and darkness magic that generated a wave of dark energy followed by a volley of fiery constructs shaped like snakes. The darkness would weaken the target and seal off their senses, be them physical or mystical, while the hard-light constructs attacked from every side.

    The light would paralyze the enemy, the heat would burn them, and the darkness would destroy any form of protection they had.

    To make matters worse, as soon as two constructs made contact between them, they would fuse and a new one would be generated until they became a small sun sealing both the darkness and the enemy at its heart.

    ¡¯Oh, shit!¡¯ Lith was too close for a flight spell to be enough, he had to take out his wings to escape from the first volley.

    Yet all he achieved was to buy some time. The constructs kept following him and even though they were not as fast as heat rays, they were much more dangerous because they didn¡¯t fade after their passage.

    Lith could only dodge so many times before all the space inside of the cave was filled with light constructs, leaving him no ce to hide.

    ¡¯I could try to escape in a tunnel, but I have no idea where they lead. On top of that, Dawn could detonate the corridor just like I did.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith used Dominance to spot the weak points in the constructs, striking at them with Ruin whenever he could. Daybreak shattered in several ces, but all Dawn had to do was to use more mana to repair the damage.

    Meanwhile, the pulse of darkness kept following Lith like a malevolent shadow, cutting off his escape routes and further limiting his movements.

 Chapter 894 Killer and Murderer Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 894 Killer and Murderer Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯How the heck can she separately control two parts of a three elemental spell?¡¯ Lith was amazed by Dawn¡¯s ability, yet he had no time to waste.

    The room was bing hotter by the second and every time one of the constructs so much as grazed him, not even the Orichalcum could protect him. The armor blocked the hits but not the heat they produced, turning the boosted Skinwalker into an oven.

    Lith and Solus both were weaving water spells non-stop to cool the armor, but low tier magic couldn¡¯t keep up with Daybreak.

    Suddenly, a pir of light aimed at Dawn emerged from the second copsed tunnel. Nalrond had managed to dig himself out and had decided to do something instead of waiting for death.

    Dawn attempted to redirect it to Lith, but the Rezar had learned from his mistakes. This time, the spell was infused with willpower and without Dominance, Dawn had no way to wrestle its control away.

    The hit sent her against the wall and turned the crystal scales covering her body ck from the heat. Yet it wasn¡¯t enough to make the Bright Day lose her focus. Daybreak continued its onught, devouring even Origin mes as if they were nothing more than candles.

    "Do you remember me, murderer?" Nalrond roared while using up all the mana he had left to keep fueling the pir that nailed Dawn to the wall. "Is this the big dream you always told me about? To be a monster, no worse, the puppet of a monster?

    "Was it worth killing my people? Answer me, you coward!"

    "I¡¯m so sorry." This time the voiceing out of Ac¡¯s mouth was his own.

    "I never meant to harm anyone. I didn¡¯t choose Dawn, she chose me. We were destined to be together. It was your people who tried to take her away from me, I just wanted to..."

    "To what? To betray our trust? To run away with the relic like the thief you are?" Nalrond cut him short. "I know how the Bright Day is capable of twisting any mind, no matter how strong, but that takes time!

    "Back then, you two had just bonded, she had no hold over you. It was you who got intoxicated by her power and used us as target practice. You who burned down the vige to make sure that no one would survive.

    "Even now, you¡¯ve betrayed your beloved Country, ughtered your kinsmen, and for what? For some money and respect? That¡¯s not Dawn, that¡¯s you!"

    Tears of regret streamed down the Ranger¡¯s cheeks as the memories of the time he had spent at the Rezars¡¯ vige flooded his mind. Ac wasn¡¯t used to feel guilt for his actions.

    Dawn was skilled in keeping his memories disconnected from each other, making sure that each and every one of his crimes appeared to be the response to injustice, no matter if real or just perceived.

    To pursue her ends, she still needed Ac. Especially when dealing with the Kingdom and with the people that knew him well. They didn¡¯t bond for long enough to have absolute control over him so she still needed his consent.

    The barriers she had ced in Ac¡¯s mind shattered, forcing him to face the full price others had paid for his choices.

    "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Your people had everything. You had strength, magic, and artifacts, whereas I had nothing. All I asked you was to teach me light magic. Everything that¡¯s happened is your fault!

    "You hid Dawn from me and tried to take her away once she found me because you, didn¡¯t want to share with me the gifts that she bestowed upon you. I only acted in self-defense. It was your people who attacked me first!" Ac said.

    "We were trying to save you, not to kill you. Dawn¡¯s powers have killed my tribe, but it was you who murdered them." Nalrond replied.

    "I said shut up!" All the lies that Ac had repeated to himself to justify the carnage crumbled. Over time, Dawn had corroded his mind to make him weak and obedient, but at the same time, she had brought Ac on the brink of madness.

    For the first time in a long while, the Ranger and the Bright Day fought over the control of the body they shared. Ac wanted to kill Nalrond because in his deranged mind, once the Rezar was dead all the proof of his crime would disappear, and with it the guilt he felt.

    Dawn, instead, knew how hard had it been to corner Lith and she had no idea if she could manage to do it again. Not only did the Ranger seem to always have an ace up his sleeve, but also Dawn was certain that she had yet to understand the full scope of Solus¡¯s abilities.

    The struggle taking ce inside Ac¡¯s mind diverted Dawn¡¯s focus from that in the outside world and made her Daybreak spell slower.

    ¡¯An opening!¡¯ Lith had discovered the innate weakness that kind of construct had, but only when it was toote to exploit it. Daybreak strength lied in the fact that even if its extremities were destroyed, they could easily reform thanks to its underlying structure.

    At the same time, however, if the construct was damaged near its source, then everything past the breakpoint would be cut off from the caster and copse.

    Lith had tried to attack the ever-growing structure at one of its critical points earlier, but all Dawn needed to foil his attack was to change the ce from which the construct expanded.

    Lith had almost got caught in a pincer attack and after that, he could only wait for an opportunity to appear. Until that moment, he had hoped that Dawn couldn¡¯t sustain a construct that big and powerful for long.

    The bad news was that so far reality had proven Lith wrong, the good news was that it didn¡¯t matter anymore.

    Lith flew in a spiral pattern, dodging the snake-like constructs that Dawn conjured every time he got too close. Unfortunately for her, between the excessiveplexity her spell had reached and Ac¡¯s meddling, the waves of light were now too slow.

    Even at such close distance, the wind that air magic pushed beneath Lith¡¯s wings allowed him to dodge, even if just by a hair-breadth. The Skinwalker armor¡¯s surface turned from silver to red due to the intense heat, constantly boiling and reforming as Solus put air bubbles in-between metalyers to slow down the melting process.

    By the time Lith reached his target, half of the full suit of Orichalcum armor had evaporated and the skin beneath was covered in blisters. Lith pierced Daybreak¡¯s focal point with Ruin, using its enchantment to disrupt the flow of mana beyond repair.

    Once the head of the snake was cut off, the body started to wither. The giant mass of light and heat went haywire and triggered a chain reaction that dispelled the darkness pulse that had never stopped chasing Lith.

    The destruction of most parts of the constructpromised its integral structure, making the shockwave generated by Ruin¡¯s enchantment spread backward toward Dawn as well.

    The resulting explosion vaporized Ac¡¯s right hand from which the spell originated. With Daybreak¡¯s disappearance, the temperature in the room quickly started to drop and Lith went blind due to the sh his strategy had caused.

    Yet he didn¡¯t need sight to find his target thanks to the smell of burned flesh filling the air.

 Chapter 895 Real Magic Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 895 Real Magic Part 1</h4>

    Solus focused on regenerating the Skinwalker armor, turning the vaporized metal back into its liquid state.

    The Orichalcum droplets rained on Lith¡¯s body from every side, piercing through everything that stood on their path until the armor was whole again.

    The silvery storm of small des further distracted Dawn and allowed Lith to unleash upon her three tier five spells at the same time. Tidal Bolt was a mix of water and air magic that bypassed Dawn¡¯s constructs and drowned her in a highly conductive tsunami.

    The saltwater seeped through every crack of the crystal armor and into every orifice of Ac¡¯s body, allowing the lightning bolts that circled around the wave like a school of sharks to always hit their target.

    Tidal Bolt not only damaged Ac inside and outside, but also induced powerful spasms that prevented the enemy from casting spells. At the same time, Lith conjured Setting Sun from his right hand and Dark Ages from the left.

    A ck sphere made of fire and darkness formed in his hand and split into two beams that struck Ac¡¯s head and heart at the same time, burning them to cinders. Dark Ages, instead, synergized with Tidal Bolt and added darkness magic to the mix.

    The final result was an electrified spear of ck water the size of a truck that struck at Dawn¡¯s crystal the moment Ac¡¯s body had gone limp, without giving her the time to conjure any kind of defense.

    Lith had learned from the ck Star that a cursed object was more vulnerable as long as they were connected to their host. Just like it happened to Solus and him, any wound the host received would badly affect the relic¡¯s mental state and drain its energy.

    ¡¯Once she detaches from Ac¡¯s body, Dawn will be nigh indestructible. This time I have no ess to her blueprints so I have no idea how to permanently destroy her. I can only contain Dawn until the army gets here. After that, it¡¯s their problem.¡¯ He thought.

    Solus didn¡¯t share his optimism and kept an eye on the situation as a whole.

    ¡¯I¡¯m almost done repairing the artifact originated from my fusion with the Skinwalker armor and Lith is still in great condition. The world energy from the geyser made him capable of conjuring many powerful spells at the same time and of withstanding their burden.

    ¡¯Yet I¡¯m afraid that he is in a no different condition from his equipment. Lith¡¯s body is not meant to harness that kind of power. The pseudo tower I¡¯ve enveloped him with can relieve him only from a part of the stress... Dodge!¡¯

    A telepathic yell was nothing like a real one. It didn¡¯t hurt Lith¡¯s ears or mind, nor was a generic warning. Solus¡¯s yell was akin to a game¡¯s quick-time event that projected in front of Lith¡¯s eyes the direction he was prompted to move to and the source of the danger.

    Lith dashed downward, using gravity magic to further boost his speed and managing to dodge the hail of light spears that had materialized behind his back.

    ¡¯What the fuck?¡¯ Solus and Lith thought in unison.

    ¡¯Treius died once I decapitated him. Heck, even most undead can¡¯t survive without their head and heart. Ac was a human, there¡¯s no way he¡¯s still alive.¡¯ Lith thought while staring at the corpse that was getting back on its feet.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. I¡¯m sure to not have missed any movement in both Ac¡¯s and Dawn¡¯s mana flow.¡¯ Solus couldn¡¯t find an exnation for the light constructs that had formed out of thin air and were currently giving them chase.

    ¡¯By my maker! Even during our three-pronged attack, Dawn kept enough focus to control the lingering energy from her previous spell. These constructs are simple that very same light element rearranged into a different form.¡¯

    Lith had a hard time epting that such a thing was possible, but the spears were as real as they were deadly, so he focused on destroying them with quick pulses of darkness magic rather than arguing with her logic.

    To make matters worse, crystal shards were growing from Ac¡¯s wounds, recing his head, heart, and right hand with inorganic counterparts.

    "Thanks, I appreciated the help." Dawn¡¯s voice had be clearer than before.

    The constant use of powerful spells had weakened her mana flow whereas injuries, no matter how severe, didn¡¯t seem to bother her.

    "You¡¯ve inflicted that dimwit so much pain that it will take Ac a week toe out of thea. If I bother giving him his brain back, of course. Sharing is such a hassle."

    The familiar light from the Body Sculpting spell enveloped Ac, shapeshifting him into a feminine form of alien beauty. The Bright Day appeared now as a woman of untold age, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall with golden eyes without pupils.

    Her skin was whiter than an albino¡¯s while her waist-long hair was pitch-ck. Dawn¡¯s body was covered by the full suit of crystal armor she had conjured. Its countless facets absorbed instead of reflecting the light from her surroundings, restoring Dawn¡¯s powers and shrouding her in darkness.

    Yet the armor was bright, acting as a conduit for the radiance that came from Dawn¡¯s real body, the gemstone resting between her bosom. Just like her Daybreak spell, the contrast between light and darkness, between ck and white made her look as if a real dawn was taking ce in the underground cave.

    Lith and Solus were shocked, but their brains never stopped trying to find an exnation for the apparent immortality of their enemy.

    ¡¯I think I have the answer.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Dawn and Ac are just like us, but reversed.¡¯

    ¡¯Meaning?¡¯ Lith was too focused on weaving a new set of spells to bother solving her riddle. ¡¯Dumb it down for me. Hard.¡¯

    ¡¯Remember what Mogar told me? That as long as my body is intact, that as long as my life force is bounded to yours it¡¯s very hard to kill me? It¡¯s the same for Ac, but in their case, Dawn is the dominant personability.

    ¡¯It means that Ac is part of her instead of being Dawn a part of him.¡¯ She said.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. Unless I pulverize the entirety of his body, she can bring him back to life.¡¯ Lith had no idea how to achieve such a feat. Threebined tier five spells had barely been enough to pierce Ac¡¯s heart.

    ¡¯More or less. You skipped the part where he suffers the pain of every wound and the regeneration is probably an agony as well, but I guess that sums up our situation.¡¯ Solus replied.

    "Why the silent treatment, sister?" Despite being a couple of heads shorter than Lith¡¯s hybrid form, Dawn managed to look down upon them by floating in mid-air like a goddess descending among mortals.

    "You were so chatty before. Why don¡¯t you at least introduce yourself?" The Bright Day opened her right hand, releasing a scorching pir of light from each one of her fingers.

    ¡¯Yeah, right. With our luck, she¡¯ll recognize me and maybe even know how to destroy me. I need an alias.¡¯ Solus thought while Lithbined footwork, flight spells, and ps of his wings to avoid Dawn¡¯s constant onught.

    Not only was each pir as strong as those that Nalrond produced by expending half of his mana, but the Bright Day was also capable of keeping all five of them active at the same time and of adjusting their trajectory ording to Lith¡¯s movements.

 Chapter 896 Real Magic Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 896 Real Magic Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Fuck the Kingdom and the rewards. My lifees first.¡¯ Lith darted back and hid behind the Odi machine in the middle of the room to catch his breath.

    Just as he had predicted, Dawn still needed the device for her own research. Being the one who had helped the Odi in their experiments, she knew all too well that there was only one built.

    "Smart, but not enough." The Bright Day ceased her attacks and moved behind the machine as well.

    ¡¯Okay, she¡¯s exactly where we want her.¡¯ Solus nodded.

    ¡¯Really?¡¯ Lith didn¡¯t even get a full breath of Invigoration that Dawn was already looming over them.

    ¡¯Really. Let¡¯s be real. She is as strong as I would be in my tower form if I was at my full power, if not even stronger. Fighting her with magic is suicidal since she outsses us in experience and number of spells.

    ¡¯Our only choice is to force her to fight us in close quarters. Her body is still based on Ac¡¯s which makes her way weaker than you.¡¯ She exined.

    ¡¯You forget that she outsses me in swordy and hand-to-handbat as well. Even with the boost from your pseudo tower form, we were on equal footing.¡¯ Lith darted forward, closing the distance between them before Dawn could cast a single spell.

    ¡¯We don¡¯t have time for a full tutorial. Do you trust me?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Why do you think I threw myself into the tiger¡¯s mouth? I trust you with my life. Always.¡¯ Lith gave Solus free reins and activated Full Guard. The blue aura that now surrounded him brought his perception on par with Dawn¡¯s.

    The spell bestowed upon him a full awareness of his surroundings, leaving no blind spots in Lith¡¯s guard.

    "A crutch for the weak." Dawn recognized the spell and clicked her tongue in disgust.

    "I dare you to repeat that after giving up both your immortality and your centuries of experience. We¡¯re not weak." Solus replied.

    "We? Really?" The Bright Day chuckled, her voice both old and young at the same time. "Are you young, na?ve, or both?" She lunged her crystal sword in a feint, waiting for Lith to sidestep the attack before changing her stance with a flick of her wrist.

    Dawn dodged Lith¡¯s counter stab, throwing him off guard, and aimed for his heart. Lith was in no position to defend himself, so he turned the lunge into a roll without trying to stop his motion.

    The crystal sword pierced through his armor and gut, cauterizing the wound on its passage to make it harder to heal. Lith didn¡¯t feel anything thanks to darkness fusion sealing off his pain receptors, but his situation was still dire.

    During their previous fight, Dawn had been controlling Ac¡¯s body, a tool she barely had a few months to get ustomed to. Now she was using her own, and the difference was like heaven and earth.

    All of her attacks were seamless, with no wasted movements nor openings. She had reached such expertise that she would predict even moves that Lith had learned back on Earth.

    ¡¯Guess my sensei was right. All disciplines be simr at very high levels. Here goes everything.¡¯ Lith still couldn¡¯t understand Solus¡¯s n, but wound or not he trusted her judgment.

    He pivoted on his back foot right after the roll, turning around toward the enemy and shing diagonally at the same time. Dawn intercepted Ruin¡¯s tip with her own de, pushing it aside.

    Lith added the momentum from her push to his own, spinning on himself to perform a right elbow strike aimed at her temple.

    "Smart, reckless, but not enough." Dawn blocked with her right arm. The blow still managed to crack her bones that were now bent in an unnatural angle, but her crystal sword would have pierced Lith¡¯s head before he had the time to adjust his stance.

    Or so she thought, until a second right arm came out of his side, striking at her chin with an uppercut and throwing her off bnce. A second left arm grabbed Dawn¡¯s broken and unresponsive arm, pulling her too close to use her sword but in the perfect position to take two right hooks at the same time.

    One on Dawn¡¯s left temple and the other on the side of her chin. The full force of such blows would have killed even an Awakened way stronger than Lith, but for Dawn internal organs were just like a pair of socks.

    She could always make another.

    Only then did Lith remember that in her tower form Solus could materialize her body. Feeling their bodies partially fused was weird, but personal space and boundaries could wait for a non-lethal situation to be discussed.

    "I am neither na?ve nor young." Solus replied to keep Dawn off her game while they kept hitting her non-stop from impossible angles. Ruin danced from one hand to another in an unpredictable pattern.

    The bond they shared ran so deep that even if they had never practiced before a four-armed style, it was second nature to them. No matter who wielded the de, the other was always ready to assist or pass Ruin the moment Dawn started to adapt.

    "It¡¯s you who are ignorant and conceited. Horseman, Dawn, call yourself whatever you want, but the truth is that you¡¯re nothing but a parasite." Solus¡¯s words enraged Dawn, whose face was full of deep cuts and her armor of wide cracks.

    The Bright Day couldn¡¯t understand how a lesser member of the family could stoop so low to share instead of dominating a filthy hybrid, let alone how could theirbined efforts have put her into such a disgraceful condition.

    "You and I are both born from Forgemastery, but you¡¯ve forgotten the basics of the basics." Solus couldn¡¯t stop talking, the teachings of Menadion were bing clearer again in her head as she fought.

    "You don¡¯t just ce the most powerful mana crystal above the mightiest of metals. That¡¯s something even a child can do. The real magic starts when the two be one." Solus passed Ruin to Lith, using her arms to conjure andpress all the world energy she could muster from the geyser.

    Lith understood her intentions and breathed a jet stream of Origin mes that set aze Solus¡¯s world energy as well, turning the jet into a pir of fire the size of a road tunnel.

    The st pinned Dawn to the wall and its force prevented her from moving while the stone around her melted and boiled.

    "Not bad for a Wyrmling." Dawnughed. Origin mes of that magnitude blocked all forms of magic and the soggy stone didn¡¯t offer her any hold, but she didn¡¯t care.

    "It¡¯s asrge as the breath of a Dragon. Too bad that itcks the punch of the real thing. I¡¯ve fought ancient Dragons and Phoenixes, yet I¡¯m still here. What makes you think you¡¯re any better?" Dawn asked.

    "Gods, Lith is right. You guys always talk too much." Solus added a spark of her own life force to Lith¡¯s and the blue Origin mes became a searing white ocean.

    The crystal armor ckened and cracked. The crystal sword lost all the mana it held and then crumbled along with her four limbs. Dawn¡¯s head, the only part of her body that the armor didn¡¯t cover, burned to ashes, leaving behind only the chest holding her crystal.

    Yet once the mes were gone, Dawn¡¯s armor self-repaired and her limbs grew back again, whereas Lith could feel that Solus¡¯s light had be dimmer. Like a candle about to burn out.

 Chapter 897 Back Home Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 897 Back Home Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯What the heck did you just do?¡¯ The consequences of Solus using her own essence to strengthen the Origin mes terrified Lith. ¡¯Even inside our tower, you don¡¯t even have a real body yet, let alone a stable life force. Taking physical form here is madness!¡¯

    ¡¯Semi-immortal here, remember?¡¯ Even her thoughts were reduced to whispers. ¡¯As long as my body is intact, as long as my life force is bonded to yours, I can¡¯t die.¡¯

    ¡¯That¡¯s bullshit! What if you burn your personality or your memories? What if you lose yourself and be nothing more than a tool?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Even then, I¡¯d still be part of you.¡¯ She replied.

    "Ready for round two?" Dawn only needed to create another prism spawn to rece her lost crystal de.

    For the second time in a single day, a roar of pure rage made the entirety of the Snake Tongue mountain range tremble while dust and debris fell from the ceiling on Dawn¡¯s head.

    Lith refused to lose Solus just as strongly as she was willing to push herself to keep him alive. After almost five years from their first andst quarrel, the most powerful mana crystal and the mightiest of metals became one.

    Solus¡¯s and Lith¡¯s mana cores aligned along with the tower¡¯s pseudo core that was able to manifest itself thanks to the partial link with the mana geyser. All three of them grew in size and power reaching new heights.

    His body changed as well, growing a second set of membranous wings that unlike the one already on his back, the second set wasn¡¯t upside down and it was gold-colored. Lith¡¯s chin split, forming a second maw below his own and both growled with fury.

    He now stood over 3 meters (10¡¯) tall, covered in scales the size of a brick. Usually Lith¡¯s body couldn¡¯t grow past a certain point because no matter the form anyone shapeshifted into, their mass wouldn¡¯t change.

    This time, however, the tower could provide him with everything he needed. He was now too big for the Skinwalker armor to contain him anymore. The silver of the metal couldn¡¯t hide the pitch-ck scales mixed with new golden ones, both with their edges blood-red from the heat sealed within Lith¡¯s body.

    All seven eyes were opened and none was yellow. The red, ck, blue, white, and emerald green eyes stared at Dawn with such hatred that if looks could kill not even the power of Mogar¡¯s sun could save her.

    The remaining two emitted a dimmer light and were golden colored. The moment the fusion restored her life force, Solus¡¯s eyes shone as bright as Lith¡¯s, staring at the Bright Day in cold fury.

    "This doesn¡¯t bode well." Dawn clicked her tongue, quickly reassessing her situation.

    Even though she had no vitals, her energy wasn¡¯t infinite, otherwise she would have never been defeated by Sinmara the Phoenix, nor the Rezar n would have been able to detain her for so long.

    Casting so many powerful spells, generating spawns to shape her equipment, and regenerating her body several times had taken a heavy toll on her.

    Until a moment ago, Dawn had been sure of her victory because whatever the Wyrmling was doing, not only was he still weaker than her, but she could also see with Life Vision that his might dwindled over time.

    Now, however, the thing in front of her was brimming with power and seemed royally pissed off with her.

    ¡¯Fuck my luck.¡¯ Dawn thought. ¡¯Seven eyes and the white one is already open. If this guy can exert Dominance over my spells this is going to be...¡¯

    A left ck-wed hand came down on her with the speed of a lightning bolt. There was no wasted movement nor any tell preceding the attack, yet Dawn managed to predict its course thanks to her rich battle experience.

    She sidestepped the attack and struck at the wrist with her de. Lith changed the course of his hand with a flick of his shoulder, catching both the crystal sword and the arm wielding it in mid-air before crushing them under the raw strength of his grip.

    At the same time, both right hands grabbed Dawn¡¯s left leg and arm while she was still recovering from the surprise, mming her against the ground until all her remaining limbs shattered.

    "That¡¯s enough!" Even without a head, she could still talk thanks to air magic, just like Solus did.

    Dawn cursed the array preventing her from Warping away and used what energy she had left to produce a light pir that shot upwards, digging through tons of rock until the night sky was visible.

    Then, she bolted through the opening she had dug and run toward safety.

    Lith¡¯s maws opened. The first emitted a near violet me while the other released a deep cyan fire. The two mes met halfway, fusing into a jet burst of white fire that chased after Dawn that further widened the hole in the mountain.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t fast nor strong enough. Dawn¡¯s words about having survived against elder Dragons weren¡¯t just for banter, but hard facts. Her crystal was slightly cracked and only bits of Ac¡¯s body remained, but they were both alive and kicking.

    Her light pir had damaged the already patched up remains of the Odi arrays and Lith¡¯s burst of mes had done the rest. High in the night sky, Dawn disappeared into a Warp Steps that led her thousands of kilometers away, back to Baba Yaga¡¯s hut.

    Back home.

    The link between the three Horsemen and their creator had never been severed, allowing them to always know where to find her. The hut was temporarily located in an open field in the Jiera continent, where the sun was still setting.

    From the outside, it looked like a hunting cabin. The small wooden house had a pitched roof, only one door, and one window on each side. A clothesline filled with freshundry was located in front of the hut, giving the impression that a couple of newlyweds had started their new life there.

    Dawn knew better and took her time to deactivate the multipleyers of deadly arrays that surrounded the cozy cabin. By the time she was done, the remaining sunlight had sealed the cracks in her crystal and returned her part of her strength.

    "Wee home, Dawnie." Said a soft voice as she crossed the threshold.

    Baba Yaga, the first Awakened to have ever achieved the white core of immortality, was sitting on a simple wooden chair, mending a pair of short pants belonging to a kid.

    A small pile of damaged clothes rested on a nearby chair while another pile of those she had already repaired was ced on the table beside her. Baba Yaga looked up at her daughter, yet her hands never stopped moving.

    "What are you doing in this dump, Mom?" Dawn was referring to the Jiera continent, not to her ancestral home.

    "My children have failed me as it happens so very often, but I¡¯m still their mother. I¡¯m here to see if the damage can be undone or if I can at least give birth to a new species capable of thriving in this new world."

    Baba Yaga looked like a young maiden barely sixteen years old, with waist-long golden hair and clear blue eyes. Her voice was silvery and her body had the never-ending energy of youth.

    It was the incarnation of those who had little past and a long future ahead of them. The form of Dawn.

 Chapter 898 Back Home Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 898 Back Home Part 2</h4>

    "That¡¯s what all those children¡¯s clothes are about?" Dawn sat on Baba Yaga¡¯sp. To regenerate Ac¡¯s body would take a lot of energy and she was too weak for that. Dawn made sure to preserve just enough of his tissues to not let her host die.

    "Of course, dear." Baba Yaga smiled at the feeling of her daughter¡¯s warmth spreading through her womb. She now looked like a beautiful woman in her forties, with ming red hair and emerald green eyes.

    Her voice was calm and wise, her body had the reassuring aura typical of good mothers.

    It was the incarnation of those who had reached half of their lifespan. She had as much past as future. The form of Dusk.

    "Children are our future and the best material to work with." She tilted her head, pointing at the huge boiling cauldron on the firece, filled to the brim with meat paste and blood.

    "Have you heard about that Lich? Veeza?" Baba Yaga¡¯s face was disfigured in a grimace of disgust while saying the word Lich.

    "Yes. What about it?" Dawn asked.

    "I¡¯m really happy she failed. I hope the death of that imbecile and of all her followers brings my children back to the right path. How can someone be so stupid to want to rule?

    "Why should a predator worry about the weak, spending their time to make sure that they thrive and prosper? Why so few of my children understand that the reason why so many Kings and Emperors look for immortality in their twilight years is that they realize that the throne sucked the life out of them?

    "That they spent their whole lives amassing power and never really using it? I never intended for any of you to have a country of your own, to bind you with chains of duty. I just wanted my children to have a second chance at life, a better life.

    "Why do they obsess themselves with the human way? What makes them so special? Among the five races, they are the most miserable." Baba Yaga angrily cut the thread hanging off the needle with her pearly white teeth.

    "Because they have the greatest potential. For destruction." Dawn chuckled.

    "Can¡¯t argue with that." Baba Yaga scanned the area surrounding her hut, finding no human life form for hundreds of kilometers. "Why are you here, darling, and what about your new flesh suit? Is this living host thing a new phase or did you just want to try something new?"

    "Both." Dawn told her mother all about her imprisonment, her bonding with Ac, and all the doors that his petty mind had opened for her.

    "What a charming fellow. I hope he treats you right." Baba Yaga wore a soft smile while listening to her daughter¡¯s ns. Dawn was one of the few to have never disappointed her.

    "He sure does. Nowes the best part." Dawn told her about her encounter with Lith and Solus. About what she had discovered about them.

    "Golden eyes, symbiotic, and capable of drawing power from mana geysers. Sorry, dear, it could be anyone. I have no idea who she is."

    "No, Mom, it¡¯s not her the funny one, but the thing she is bonded with." Dawn had no intention to reveal Lith¡¯s true identity to the Griffon Kingdom nor to ckmail him.

    The former would have only made him more interesting to whoever had a working brain, while she considered thetter a coward¡¯s weapon. She had other ns in mind for him and the Bright Day didn¡¯t want her gift to be ruined before it was ripe for the taking.

    "Thing?" Baba Yaga had taught her children all she knew, so there were few things they couldn¡¯t define.

    "A full-grown hybrid that can merge with members of our family, someone who can exert Dominance above at least five elements, and has an affinity for both the fire and darkness elements." Dawn exined.

    "He could be the perfect Sword that little sister Night has always looked for."

    "Interesting." Baba Yaga turned into a hunched crone with grey hair and stone-cold ck eyes. Her nose and ears were long, her face full of wrinkles. Age spots covered her skin, making her look weak, but her voice was full of strength

    It was the incarnation of those who had more past than future, holding the wisdom of age and the bitterness of regrets. The form of Night.

    "If you are right, and that¡¯s a big if, I don¡¯t like the idea of Night being the first to get her Sword." Baba Yaga said. "Just like her Night Court, she¡¯s free and unrestrained like I always wanted for my children, but she¡¯s also as chaotic as them.

    "She never has a n, always going rage first and blood second. Not to mention the mess she makes with every one of her meals. The only undead species that have gone extinct were her blind followers and she¡¯s the only one who had me tussling with Guardians to save her sorry ass.

    "Check upon him if you want, but share your findings only with me. Your little brother Dusk can¡¯t keep his mouth shut to save his life and I can¡¯t trust Night with that kind of power until I¡¯m certain that she¡¯s worthy of it."

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside the cave, the destruction of the arrays had left only the Odi machine to diminish the world energy that flowed through the mana geyser. Everything else was now under Solus¡¯s control.

    The energy allowed the tower to grow to its full size, adding new mass to the body Lith and Solus shared. The hulking figure staring at the hole in the mountain had a wingspan that almost reached either side of the cave at the same time.

    "It¡¯s convenient to go in and out, but it would be too hard to exin." Lith and Solus spoke in unison as if one was the countermelody of the other.

    The creature raised their hand and channeled a fraction of the energy coursing through their body to make the hole in the mountain disappear.

    Usually, a team of Wardens and several tier five arrays would have been necessary to restore the hundreds of tons of destroyed rocks, whereas all it took them was a thought.

    Then, they cleared the two copsed tunnels, creating a believable escape route for themselves. Ac¡¯s betrayal would already be hard to swallow for the army. Dawn was the perfect way to exin everything that had happened in the Snake Tongue mountain range, but the story had to be told properly.

    What was left would earn him plenty of merits, money, and, unfortunately, glory. If the Kingdom had only half an idea what Dawn was capable of, Lith couldn¡¯t afford to im to have sent her running without incurring more questions than he wanted to answer.

    "The undead have Warped away as well." Solus¡¯s mana sense had now a range that covered the entirety of the undergroundplex, allowing them to keep an eye on everything and everyone that went in or out.

    "Which begs the question, why are you still here?" They asked Nalrond who was sitting against a wall.

    "Because I¡¯m tired." After the end of the fight, Nalrond had reverted to his human form. "I¡¯m tired of fighting, tired of running away. I¡¯ve lost everything I held dear and one way or another, I¡¯ve achieved my revenge.

 Chapter 899 The Red Sun Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 899 The Red Sun Part 1</h4>

    "I¡¯ve no regrets left, do what you have to do." Nalrond closed his eyes, finally at peace with himself. For the first time in months, the images of his vige burning down didn¡¯t sh in front of his eyes.

    Nalrond would never forget the agonizing screams of his friends and family, but those sounds had stopped haunting his ears. All he could hear now was silence. He had always imagined that revenge would make him happy, but he felt empty instead.

    His life had no meaning anymore, without revenge he was just a lonely man.

    "It¡¯s funny, you know." Nalrond chuckled at the irony of his situation. "Once you kill me, the only people to remember my name will be two cursed objects. Life sure has a twisted sense of humor."

    "How many times do I have to tell you that we¡¯re not a cursed object?" The creature was calm, yet the tinge of annoyance in their voice was enough to make the ground quake.

    Lith wanted to kill Nalrond until a few minutes prior, but now Solus was one with him, forcing Lith to look at things through her golden eyes. When she looked at the disheartened hybrid, she didn¡¯t see an enemy.

    Solus saw Nalrond as Derek McCoy, and in turn as Lith. They both had suffered an unjust fate, losing their loved ones and ending up on a quest for revenge. Like Derek, Nalrond was now seeking death after achieving his goal.

    ¡¯Is this who you are?¡¯ Solus asked. ¡¯Are you still the same angry man whose only gift is death?¡¯

    The upper mouth of the creature opened in a snarl while the lower was bent down in a mournful expression.

    "If you really want to die, you don¡¯t need our help. We will not carry your burden." The creature said after a long second. "If you seek life, instead, if you want to take your time and rest while you decide what to do next, follow this map."

    A piece of paper appeared out of their pocket dimension, with the location of Protector¡¯s house marked.

    "Tell them that we sent you. They will not care about who you are or what race you belong. They¡¯ll give you a ce to call home and more trouble than you can imagine." The creature chuckled at the idea of how happy Selia was going to be having someone that would keep herpany and help her with the kids.

    "Now go." They handed a few clothes and a small bag of money for the travel expenses to Nalrond. It was more than Lith would have given him but less than Solus would. Yet neither of them minded because it wasn¡¯t apromise, they were one.

    "The army will be here any minute now." The creature waved their hand, Warping the hybrid right outside Zantia. They were shocked by their own prowess. Opening a Warp to such distance with the same ease as if it was just a Blink was beyond their wildest dreams.

    Yet there was no time for patting themselves on the back, their situation was quite dire. They weren¡¯t aware that Ac was still alive so they expected that the death of a Ranger coupled with the absence of dimensional blocking arrays would cause the prompt intervention of the army.

    They had already concocted a perfect exnation for everything, yet there was still a problem that even theirbined might couldn¡¯t ovee. The creature had no idea how to go back to being two separate entities.

    Even after Warping out of the cave, outside the area of effect of the mana geyser, they were still fused. Their body was much smaller now, back to 3 meters (10 feet) of height, but that was it.

    The Wyrmling was genderless, but they were afraid of finding their privates mixed if they reverted to a human appearance.

    "Fuck us sideways. This is bad as it is, but there¡¯s still plenty of room for things to get even worse. How can we..." Their trains of thoughts derailed when Lith¡¯s army amulet pulled at his consciousness.

    Kam¡¯s rune was blinking. Lith and Solus shared plenty of things, but his feelings for Kam weren¡¯t among them. Their fusion came undone the moment her image popped into their minds.

    "Well, it¡¯s been way easier than I thought." Lith sighed in relief at the sight of his body exactly as he remembered it. Solus was at his finger and her life force was brighter than ever.

    ¡¯Are you alright?¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯My body is in tip-top condition, but my mind is royally messed up.¡¯ Their fusion included sharing all their past memories and thoughts. Even those that they had chosen to keep for themselves.

    Unlike when they decided to perform the mind fusion alone, they wouldn¡¯t be forced to relive all the past events from their other half¡¯s point of view, but such memories could still be essed as if they were their own.

    When Kam¡¯s rune had blinked earlier, they had instinctively essed to their now shared most recent memories. For Solus was just the worry that being a Royal Constable could be too much pressure for her, but for Lith, it regarded his intention to move their rtionship forward.

    The news had been so shocking for her that it had broken their fusion.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s promise to not look into each other memories as long as the experience is still vivid in our minds.¡¯ She said.

    ¡¯Oh, my. Have you been a naughty girl in my absence?¡¯ Her request didn¡¯t make much sense to Lith. He never looked into her memories and when he thought about something, he always looked for something specific.

    He always had too much at hand in the present to wander in his past.

    ¡¯You¡¯re not funny!¡¯ She sounded angry, but her mind was in the telepathic equivalent of violently blushing up to her ears. ¡¯I never wanted to peek at your alone time with your girlfriend, just like my experiments on my own body were meant to remain private.¡¯

    ¡¯Oh, my! You¡¯ve experimented on your body?¡¯ Lith kept teasing her, enjoying her turning purple from embarrassment.

    ¡¯Shut up and answer the damn amulet. But first promise me you won¡¯t try anything funny.¡¯ Solus cursed her slip of the mind.

    ¡¯I promise.¡¯ He replied while taking the call.

    "Ranger Verhen, do you copy? Is this a good moment?" The handlers had waited a few minutes after the amulets belonging to their respective Ranger had be active again before trying to make contact.

    That way, no matter if the mission was already aplished or had they been forced to escape, the two Rangers would have the time to hide. Ac wasn¡¯t picking up so Kam was relieved hearing from Lith.

    "Affirmative. The threat has been dealt with and I¡¯m currently in a safe zone." He replied.

    "Is Ranger Ac with you? Why isn¡¯t he answering his own call?"

    "He¡¯s alive?" Lith and Solus couldn¡¯t believe their own ears. They searched the night sky, almost expecting Dawn to pop out of thin air and attack them.

    "Affirmative. His rune is still active and avable. Do you need to go back and search for him?" Kam started to arrange for a rescue team and a field hospital to prepare for what she considered to be the worst-case scenario.

    One or both Rangers maimed and in a near-death condition.

 Chapter 900 The Red Sun Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 900 The Red Sun Part 2</h4>

    "No, but it means that this is not a good moment to talk. He¡¯s gone rogue. I need to establish a safe zone. I¡¯ll call you back as soon as I can." Lith replied.

    ¡¯Way ahead of you.¡¯ Solus opened a Warp Steps leading to the nearest mana geyser. She took her tower form and activated all the cloaking and defensive mechanisms at her disposal.

    Only after Lith was inside the tower and they were ready to tower Warp at a moment¡¯s notice did he contact Kam. Meanwhile, his words had shaken the control room and Commander Berion had ordered to pinpoint the traitorous Ranger.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sir. Ranger Ac is out of range. I can¡¯t provide you with nothing but general information." The young lieutenant Guyles had his mouth as dry as the desert.

    A Ranger going rogue was hardly their handler¡¯s fault, but depending on the gravity of the betrayal and the bad news he brought, Guyles was afraid the highmand would demand someone to take the me.

    He was likely to be the prime candidate.

    "What do you mean, out of range? Even if he crossed the borders, we can still locate one of our amulets inside the Empire or the Blood Desert." Berion hated ipetence.

    In his book, a handler was more than a paper pusher issuing orders from above. Their duty was to bond with their operative enough to provide them psychological support and catch wind of anything wrong with them.

    "His log moves him from above the Snake Tongue mountains straight to Jiera." Guyles said, making the entire control room be silent.

    When Lith called, Berion took charge and demanded a full report. Lith had shapeshifted the tower so that the space around him looked like an underground cave. Seeing him holed up made Berion change Kam¡¯s request for a rescue team into a Spellbreaker unit.

    Lith exined all that had happened since thest contact, lying solely about the ending. In his version of the story, he and Nalrond had run away in different directions after dealing a seemingly lethal blow to Dawn¡¯s host.

    At the first mention of the Bright Day, Berion ordered Lith to stop talking and moved the conversation to his personal office, bringing only Kam with him. As Lith¡¯s handler, she had to be aware of the contingency measures the army would prepare in the case the two met again.

    "If several spawns are still alive why did you say that the threat has been dealt with?" Berion asked.

    Lith cursed his bad luck, racking his brain for a believable lie. In the original version of the story he had prepared, Ac¡¯s death had left Dawn weakened and forced her to reabsorb her minions, giving Lith and Nalrond the opportunity to escape.

    Now, however, the only way Lith found to avoid his lies from being exposed was by adding another piece of truth to the mix.

    "Because ording to Nalrond, it takes time for the cursed object known as the Bright Day to choose and adapt to a new host. I assumed that after losing Ac and being her n exposed, she would retreat along with what¡¯s left of her undead force.

    "Now I¡¯m not so sure anymore." He said.

    "Don¡¯t worry about it. The two of you must have taught the Horseman of Dawn quite a lesson if it ran off to Jiera." Berionughed merrily while thinking about the big promotion that he would surely be awarded with.

    The appearance of the Bright Day was just another piece of bad news for the Griffon Kingdom, but it meant the world to him. It was only thanks to him ordering the two Rangers to work together that Dawn¡¯s n had been foiled.

    While the upper echelons of the army led by General Meron Griffon wanted to remove Lith from duty after the events of Kh, it had been Berion who had vetoed the adoption of any disciplinary measure against Lith.

    That, plus the discovery of a new Odi ruin was bound to make Berion into a one-star general, maybe even two-star.

    After finishing his report and reassuring Kam about his well-being, Lith called Faluel to inform her of Dawn¡¯s presence in the Kingdom. Lith couldn¡¯t risk Ac catching her unprepared in the case the Bright Day decided to settle their score.

    Dawn knew who he was and about Solus¡¯s existence. Cursed objects seemed to consider her a traitor so in Lith¡¯s mind, messing with his family was a twofer for the Horseman.

    "I¡¯m d to hear you are alright, kid. I was going to save the bad news forter, but we need to talk." The seven heads of the Hydra were focused on the amulet, which meant that the matter at hand was serious.

    "Now might be impossible." Lith pointed at his uniform.

    "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing urgent. Your presence in the army will actually prevent most from bothering you, but I want you to be prepared. The moment when you¡¯re not a Ranger anymore, before you be my disciple, you¡¯ll be at your weakest.

    "No one will have your back. Also, having a Horseman after you can change your life in a bad way. Come visit me as soon as you can. Not even this channel is safe." She said.

    "Wait. Is it because of Dawn, of the human Council, or because of the Awakened undead who backed Erlik?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. Don¡¯t worry about Nalrond. I¡¯ll give Protector a hand with his amodation." Faluel ended the call while Lith was still showing off his extensive vocabry of swear words.

    "Frigging smartass! I wonder what else can go wrong." Lith moved out and waited for the Spellbreaker unit. Everything was like he had left it, the makeshift Warp Gate, Dawn¡¯s machinery with her prism still attached, and even the undergroundbprised of her light constructs.

    The ancient Odi machine was the only thing still intact in there, whereas several books had been destroyed or damaged during the fight. It was a blessing in disguise for Lith, because no one noticed those he had taken and assumed they had been destroyed as well.

    The only sour note was a message attached to the white prism, bearing a kiss mark and the words:

    "Hope to see you soon, sister."

    Not even a blind, deaf, and dumb person could mistake Lith for a woman and the army was aware of the friendlypetition between Baba Yaga¡¯s children, so everyone just assumed that the ck Night was involved as well.

    The result was the Kingdom raising the defense readiness condition for the Ker region to the highest level and making Lith¡¯s feat appear even more outstanding. Yet he knew that the message was addressed to Solus.

    Whatever Dawn was nning, clearly it wasn¡¯t over between the two sentient artifacts.

    ***

    Dusk Court, right after the news about Ac¡¯s betrayal spread.

    The Red Sun, also known as the Horseman of Dusk and the Hushed King of the Dusk Court, wasn¡¯t pleased by the current situation of the Garlen continent. He had only a few sources left in the royal army and he wasn¡¯t going to put them to risk just to read about such a trifle matter like Dawn¡¯s defeat.

    Most of his information came from both the Royal and Undead Court gossip and from the bards¡¯ tales that were sung annoyingly often during social events. If the corpse he inhabited had even a single vein still working left, it would have popped.

 Chapter 901 Predator Versus Predator Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 901 Predator Versus Predator Part 1</h4>

    "Verhen. Where did I hear this name again?" Dusk asked.

    "He was among those who foiled our n to take control over a World Sapling, my liege." Inxialot the Lich King, Ruler of the Ker region for the Council of Awakened replied.

    Liches didn¡¯t actually have a king. The title was merely a constion prize for getting the short end of the stick during thest raffle to determine who would represent the undead Awakened for Council duties.

    "It¡¯s the same funny guy I had fighting to the death in a Foul Moon ritual."

    "What do you make of him?"

    "A cunning, devious, untrustworthy young Awakened." Inxialot checked his diaries before answering. A brilliant man like him would write down unnecessary things so that he could afford to forget them and keep his mind busy only with the important stuff.

    "He will make an excellent Lich and a fine addition to our ranks, if he survives the process, of course."

    "Mogar is changing, Inxialot. Our eternal life has made us be ustomed to sitting on our asses for so long that by the time we get up we have more cobwebs than clothes covering us. We can¡¯t afford that anymore." Dusk tapped his skeletal finger on his throne made of Davross.

    He wasn¡¯t so frivolous that he would waste the most powerful enchanted metal on Mogar for a chair. It was simply the shape that his prized equipment assumed during peaceful times.

    "A lonely, downtrodden man has achieved for sixteen years what we could only dream about. Balkor kept the entirety of the Griffon Kingdom hostage, he forced the very society that chased him out to change ording to his twisted beliefs.

    "Not only did he refuse my little sister Night when she courted him, but he also ended up drawing the Guardians¡¯ interest and now he works for them instead that for us. A Necromancer found us, his family, so untrustworthy to side with our enemies."

    The ck Night had tried for a long time to bring Balkor in her fold, but had always failed. Just like Solus, cursed objects needed consent to bond with a host. Ilyum Balkor knew what Night was and trusted her even less than what he did the Kingdom.

    Whenever she tried to lure him with promises of power, revenge, or even to give him back his family, the Lost Magus had simply struck her so hard that she ended upnding in the Gorgon Empire.

    "Another loser, another pitiful not even Awakened human, in less than a decade has brought Abominations back on the path towards evolution, whereas we are still focused only on tearing each other¡¯s throat.

    "This Master brought fresh water to their pond, while ours remains stale. Is there any news concerning them?" Dusk asked.

    "None." Inxialot took out another booklet before answering. He had no idea who they were talking about. "Some of their followers are more ancient than us and reacted to our inquiries with extreme prejudice."

    "We need to take them out." Dusk said.

    "The Mister?" Inxialot had forgotten about their unknown enemy¡¯s name the moment his eyes had left the report.

    "The Master, the Abominations, every single one of them. We have tolerated for too long those failures feeding off our prey. With Jiera gone, we can¡¯t afford our munificence being mistaken for weakness.

    "We¡¯ve be so pitiful in everyone¡¯s eyes that even the Guardians only care about Abominations while wey forgotten!" Dusk mmed his fists on the throne¡¯s armrests so hard that the resulting shockwave pulverized Inxialot¡¯s form for a split second before reforming.

    "Laruel was our first real chance to make a breakthrough. To fulfill my sacred mission, yet we failed by the hands of a bunch of insects and an overgrown flower." Dawn¡¯s mission was to find a way for the undead to assimte knowledge along with the life force of their victims.

    Night had been tasked with making undead immune to darkness magic, the only element that could truly harm them, no matter if they retained or not a physical form.

    Dusk, instead, had tried for centuries to make all forms of magic essible to Baba Yaga¡¯s children. It was the reason why, unlike his sisters and his own mother, he didn¡¯t despise Liches.

    Quite the contrary, he had recruited most of them for his Court, whether they were Awakened or not. The Red Sun admired their ingenuity and believed that, even though the need for a phctery crippled their potential, Liches were the key to his sess.

    They were the only undead who were capable of freely using all elements.

    "nts live until something kills them. Their lifespan rival our own without the burden of our limitations. Beasts know almost no war and are the only ones who can be Guardians.

    "Humans keep spawning monsters like Manohar, Thrud, and now even this whatshisname who kicked my sister¡¯s ass to the moon and back. Last but not least, Abominations are the only thing Guardians are afraid of and the Council is even thinking about offering them a seat since they were all once Awakened."

    The Red Sun was mad with rage, emitting uncontrolled pulses of mana that were seconds away from destroying his own house despite the countless protective arrays he hadid himself.

    "Mogar keeps spinning every day. Yet where are we? What are we doing to prepare ourselves for the tidal wave that threatens to wipe us out of existence?" Dusk asked.

    "We¡¯re in your tacky underground castle, listening to your rants. By the way, there¡¯s no tidal wave iing. I forecast a mild winter and plenty of snow." Inxialot checked the entire Garlen continent¡¯s weather to make sure of it.

    "I was asking a rhetorical question!" Dusk roared.

    "And I gave you a practical answer. With all due respect, my liege, if you¡¯re done getting on my nerves like an annoying brat, I¡¯ll go back to myb. At least there I can use my time productively." Without waiting for an answer, Inxialot bypassed the dimensional blocking arrays and Warped back home.

    "By my Mother! It¡¯s in moments like this that I understand why my sisters don¡¯t deal with madmen. To make matter worse, now I¡¯m talking to myself and sound like one. This doesn¡¯t bode well at all."

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire, in the Headquarters of the Master. After learning about the Horseman of Dawn.

    The near-extinction of the human race on the Jiera continent and the ensuing undead invasion had thrown enough monkey wrenches in the Master¡¯s n that they could open a hardware store.

    "Damn, if once the presence of the undead was an asset, giving me a perfect scapegoat to me in the case something went wrong, now they are worse than an enemy, they are ourpetitor." The Master had summoned a general meeting to discuss the issue.

    Only the most ancient Eldritch Abominations and those who had evolved into a stable monster-Abomination hybrid participated. They were the backbone of the Master¡¯s Organization and among the most powerful creatures on Mogar.

    "Indeed. Feeding our ranks, finding specimens for your experiments, and even restocking our supplies has be very troublesome. Between the arrays and the rigorous checks, the ck market is on the verge of disappearing. With it also goes our main source of ie." Xenagrosh said.

 Chapter 902 Predator Versus Predator Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 902 Predator Versus Predator Part 2</h4>

    "That¡¯s not the only thing that should be on the order of business. There¡¯s also the problem of the blood madness that Returner Abominations like me are experiencing." Bytra said.

    The 4th Ruler of the mes was among the clones that had absorbed their original counterparts, giving them a fresh start at life. Returners, however, would start as pure beings, with only the memories belonging to their life as Awakened.

    Over time, they would remember all the atrocities they hadmitted and the pain that they had endured after turning into Abominations. It caused them psychotic breaks at random intervals that had cost the Organization many missions and even more casualties.

    Every ughter ended up having too many witnesses to kill them all, and by reporting the Abomination¡¯s location, their enemies had been able to unravel what the Organization was working on.

    Because of that carrying out the next steps of the Master¡¯s n was not much more difficult.

    "Last, but not least. We must discuss the issue of the Returners that didn¡¯t join our ranks. They know too much. It¡¯s enough for one of them to be captured or be willing to side with our enemies to expose our location and long-term goals." Tezka said.

    After Lith had killed his clone, the Master had performed the procedure again, turning Tezka into a Warg-Abomination hybrid. Losing his prized artifact, Endless Night, was worth the power he had gained in return.

    On top of that, Bytra had already Forgemastered him a much better piece.

    She was the rising star of the Organization, and everyone groveled at her feet to get in her good graces or have something crafted. She had already updated all of her Forgemastering techniques, reaching an unparalleled level of skill.

    Bytra was one of the reasons why the Council was tempted to offer Abominations a seat. She was the only living Ruler of the mes and her creations dwarfed ancient powerful artifacts.

    Bytra was the only one who could recreate an outdated enchanted item with modern techniques, giving it new life. The Master and Xenagrosh were the only ones who had her unconditional love.

    The Master had taken her in as a daughter, providing her with all the materials and books she could dream of. The Master had even predicted the risks of blood madness and had treated her the moment the first symptoms appeared.

    Xenagrosh, instead, was her only true friend and partner. Original Abominations considered Returners as usurpers, while Returners deemed Originals as heartless monsters.

    The Master had a hard time bridging between the two factions, but luckily, Bytra and her rtionship with Xenagrosh helped him to find a way to make things work out.

    Xenagrosh was the one who had brought Bytra back in the fold and with her Origin mes, she was the crucial ingredient in all Forgemastering experiments. The two of them were the living proof that nothing separated Originals from Returners except their own prejudices.

    "Last my Chaos ass!" Abthot roared. "As the representative of Eldritch Abominations, I demand to know what¡¯s the status of the research to make us evolve as well."

    The Master sighed in stress. Between living their own human life and keeping all those powerful creatures in check was a mammoth task.

    ¡¯I would love to rub his nose on the fact that they were the ones who refused to take part in the clone experiment, but the situation is already tense as it is. Between theck of food and their personal agenda, regr Abomination are on the verge of mutiny

    ¡¯I wish I was in a bard¡¯s tale where the hero always has followers who are blindly loyal to him, ready to throw away their lives and ambitions for no good reason.

    ¡¯Also, in those stories both good and bad guys seem to find money growing on trees whereas I have to work my ass off to procure the necessary funds for the Organization.¡¯

    "Here is my proposal." The Master stood up, but they were the only human sitting at the round table while the others were all titans, so the change in height was barely noticeable.

    "There¡¯s only ce for a big predator in the Garlen continent and that¡¯s going to be us. From now on, kill all the undead you met on sight. No quarter given, no mercy shown.

    "Wipe out the Courts if you find them and don¡¯t hesitate to ask for reinforcements. Avoid only Liches, they are a beast that it¡¯s not worth poking without a very good reason.

    "By seizing the undead¡¯s backchannels and possessions, we¡¯ll solve many of our problems. Also, in the long term, their disappearance will lead the Kingdom tox its security again. As for the blood madness, from now on Returners must always work with a partner.

    "This way if one of them goes on a rampage, the other can stop them. We don¡¯t have many Returners, so I expect Originals and Eldritchs to give a hand."

    Bytra instinctively leaned against Xenagrosh¡¯s arm, who held her hand and made Bytra blush. Everyone smiled at the scene, yet no one but the Master was sincere. Xenagrosh could wipe the floor with the ass of most of those present at the same time, while Bytra was their golden goose.

    They were a match made in heaven and both were loyal to the Master. Their friendship heavily tipped the power bnce and turned the Master¡¯s proposals into orders.

    "Rogue Returners must be left alone." The Master continued. "They are not a threat. On the contrary, they are already part of the Organization. It¡¯s just that they don¡¯t know it yet. They are facing alone the humans, the undead, and even the blood madness.

    "We are their only family and hope. If you find them, be friendly. It¡¯s only a matter of time before theye knocking on our door. Lastly, about the concerns Abthot expressed, I¡¯m doing my best, but I¡¯m only human, after all.

    "Find me Thrud and her perfected Arthan¡¯s Madness or at least capture Dawn. With her ability to mass-produce the light element I could feed all of you and fuel my new project at the same time.

    "Without either of them, I can only continue with the cloning experiments. All in favor?"

    Those present raised their hands in unison.

    "Excellent. Assembly dismissed. Xenagrosh, Bytra, please stay. I have a mission for you." The Master said.

    ***

    Contrary to Lith¡¯s expectations, the following months were devoid of bad news. Summer came and left, followed by the quietest fall Lith had lived ever since he had enrolled in the White Griffon academy.

    Over time, the Kingdom adapted to the undead threat and soon a new bnce was reached.

    The state of alert remained high and Lith didn¡¯t get a single day leave, but with two other Rangers helping him to keep the Ker region safe, no matter the situation, things never got out of his hand.

    The reports of undead sightings had be a rare urrence. Unbeknown to him, the Abominations were silently contributing to stabilizing the Kingdom, forcing the Undead Courts to split their resource between the human¡¯s and Abomination¡¯s side.

    Just like Leegaain had predicted, the number of the undead couldn¡¯t grow indefinitely and was bound to return to the pre-migration level. On the other hand, however, only the most powerful and cunning of the undead from both continents survived.

 Chapter 903 Itâ€™s Home Again Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 903 It¡¯s Home Again Part 1</h4>

    The conflict between undead and Abominations weeded out the weakest among Baba Yaga¡¯s children, throwing the Courts into chaos. Yet it was only a matter of time before they emerged stronger than ever before.

    All Lith know, however, was that the crime rate was at an all-time low. Between the curfew, the constant patrols, and all the cities now having elemental blocking arrays, it was a really hard time for the underworld.

    Winter made everything worse, cutting off the trade routes and leaving the dishonest citizens without a good reason to step out of their homes. Once guards could be bribed, but now the thought that the hand offering the gold might be linked to the mouth that would rip their throat at night, had turned them into responsible officers.

    Lith was surprised when Kam notified him that he had been granted a full month leave that would allow him to spend his birthday home without worries.

    "Are you serious?" He asked.

    "I would never joke on something like that. The situation has calmed down a lot now. Military officers can apply for honourable discharge and even though overtime is appreciated, it¡¯s not mandatory anymore." Kam replied.

    "What about you?" Lith said.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Did you receive a leave as well?"

    "Actually, yeah. For some reason, both mymanding officers made sure that our respective leaves ovepped. Thanks for asking." Kam had expected a rant about his leave being long overdue, about all the magical research he had to do, and all the people he had to catch up with.

    Discovering that her presence was the first thing Lith was worried about, made Kam so happy that she felt her heart skip a few beats.

    "I was thinking about working part time." She said.

    "You what? After months without a break? You need some proper rest and rxation!" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Yeah, right." Kam giggled. "Your ¡¯pot calling the kettle ck¡¯ attitude never gets old."

    "Meaning?" He asked.

    "Are you really saying that you¡¯re going to spend all your free time home? No magical research, no working on any of those mysterious projects of yours?" Her questions were answered by an awkward silence.

    "That would be torture." He replied after a while. "I love my family, but once we¡¯re done catching up, I would die of boredom. They have their own lives and so do I. Also, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m able to stay idle for that long without going crazy."

    "I feel the same way." Kam nodded. "Sure, I¡¯m going to spend a lot of time with Zinya, Elina, and the kids, just like I hope to spend even more time with you. Yet after a week of goofing around, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d start to get restless.

    "I can¡¯t ask everyone to change their routine just to keep mepany and if I spend too much time cooking or cleaning, I feel like a housewife. Speaking of cleaning, can you get home first? I¡¯ve abused Lady Ernas¡¯s hospitality during thest few months and I¡¯m afraid of what I might find on my return.

    "You, instead, have plenty experience with clearing dungeons and facing mold monsters." Kam tried and failed to keep a straight face while making her plea.

    "I¡¯ll see what I can do. When does my leave start?" Lith said.

    "As soon as you¡¯re done with your current assignment." Kam replied.

    Lith was currently sitting on top of a pile of broken bodies that once had been known as the ck Dragons, an infamous mercenary groupposed of dishonourably discharged ex-military.

    Nobles, Undead Courts, organized crime, the list of their clients included whoever could afford their services. Jambel¡¯s local constable had requested Lith¡¯s help to bring them in for questioning.

    The ck Dragons didn¡¯t like taking orders just like Lith didn¡¯t take a no for an answer. Luckily for him, the amulet filtered out the ambient moans of pain.

    "I¡¯m on leave then." Lith opened a Warp Steps and tossed them in jail. "Will I see you at home tonight, honey?"

    "Wait. Is it your parent¡¯s, Zinya¡¯s, or our home?" She asked.

    "Our home." Lith resisted temptation of answering with just a "Yes".

    "I¡¯ll never get to Lutia before sunset. If Ie knocking after the curfew, it will not be a surprise but a jumpscare. Also, I¡¯m too tired to answer all the questions they are bound to ask."

    "Good thinking. I¡¯ll be there in a few hours with dinner. See you soon." Kam sent him a kiss and closed the call.

    Lith could actually reach Lutia in record time with the tower, but that would leave no official record behind and he really didn¡¯t feel like getting a third degree as wee gift.

    Usually Lith¡¯s first day home was more tiring than being interrogated by Jirni.

    When he opened the door of Kam¡¯s apartment in Belius, Lith was bbergasted. He had expected curtains of cobwebs and long forgotten dirty tes with so much mold that they had grown a fur and might be mistaken for pets.

    What he found, instead, was a dusty ce with stale air that seemed to have been abandoned for months. There was no sign of the Camellia, something that reassured Lith about his rtionship.

    It took him a minute to clean everything, five for a decent hot shower, and three seconds to fall asleep after his head touched the pillow.

    ¡¯Man, I have so many things to do. Let¡¯s hope a month is enough. I need to check if Nalrond reached out to Protector, meet Selia¡¯s third born, speak with Faluel...¡¯ Were hisst thoughts until the creaking of the door woke him up.

    "Baby, I¡¯m home." Kam had learned the hard way to announce her presence to prevent a sleepy Lith from mistaking a yful girlfriend trying to surprise him for a real assant and weing her as such.

    He cursed his own paranoia, put Ruin back under the bed, and dispelled the thunderstorm brewing over his right palm.

    "Do you need help with the tes?" Lith opened the door to the living room, finding Kam with a bag full of take-away food in her left hand and the army suitcase in her right.

    She dropped them both the moment she saw him and threw her arms around his chest.

    "Wee home, Kami. You have no idea how much I missed you. Even cleaning up your mess felt nostalgic." Lith returned her embrace, losing himself in her warmth and in the scent of her hair.

    "I missed you more, silly. Why do you think I didn¡¯t set foot in here until now? Without you, it was just an empty ce. Now it¡¯s home again." She said, dealing a huge blow to the great wall surrounding his heart.

    Lith held her even tighter and used Invigoration on her. He examined every single millimeter of her body, fixing even the slightest damages he could find down to the cellr level.

    A blue glow enveloped them both while Lith made her health as perfect as her heart was. Kam felt her body rxing, as if instead of being back from work she had just returned from a spa.

    The tension built up in her muscles during the past few months disappeared and she sweated like a galloping horse while a warm feeling spread throughout her body.

 Chapter 904 Itâ€™s Home Again Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 904 It¡¯s Home Again Part 2</h4>

    "What are you doing?" Kam asked. She was used to Lith giving her butterflies in the stomach, but the blue will-o¡¯-the-wisps in the living room were new. Also, she had been expecting a warm reunion, not a sweaty one.

    At least not until they moved to the bedroom.

    "I¡¯m making sure that the perfection of your health matches that of your heart." He avoided using the word ¡¯body¡¯ for several reasons.

    His paranoia made him fear that Kam would suspect he was shapeshifting her. Also, Kam was already self-conscious about her appearance because of Lith¡¯s family good looks. He wanted to avoid adding oil to the fire.

    "I was going to take a quick shower while you¡¯d set up the table, but now it might take a while. Care to join me?" She asked.

    "Usually I would jump at the opportunity, but we¡¯re both starving." Among its many effects, Invigoration always made it subjects work quite an appetite.

    "You know that if I get in there with you, we¡¯lle out only when the food is cold, the beer is warm, and the moon is high." He replied.

    "It doesn¡¯t sound like a bad n to me." She reached for his lips while her hands caressed his hair. It was a slow, sensual kiss that awakened the hunger they had for each other.

    Lith tried to keep his cool, but Kam¡¯s hands moved down his neck, back, and finally reached his ass. His willpower turned paper thin at that point but it held.

    "Damn, woman. Kiss me again like that and you¡¯re not getting any sleep tonight." He said.

    "Make me." She panted in his ear, making what was left of his rationality crumble.

    ***

    A few hourster, after Lith had fixed their dinner at the best of his abilities, they dined together. The first thing Kam did after getting out of the bedroom was to retrieve her army suitcase and take the Camellia out.

    She then recharged the magical flower with her imprint and put it inside a small vase they used as centrepiece.

    "Why do you bring it at work? Show off much?" Lith teased her.

    "No, silly." She giggled. "Between the fact that I often slept at the Ernas Mansion, the night shifts, and the emergencies, it¡¯s been a long time since I knew where I would spend the night twice in a row.

    "I always keep your gift with me because I want to make sure it never withers. Also, I consider it my good luck charm."

    Her words made him happy and brought a smile to Lith¡¯s face, thinking back at how awkward had it been the moment when he had gifted the Camellia to her.

    It took him a while to tell her all that had happened during his absence. Things like his meeting with Xedros or the truth about his battle against Dawn couldn¡¯t be shared during a call, no matter how secure the amulet was supposed to be.

    "So that¡¯s what you were doing instead of submitting your report." She grunted. "First Faluel and now a Wyvern. I guess you¡¯ve a thing for cold blooded lizards if you prefer theirpany to mine. Maybe it¡¯s because you¡¯re a Wyrmling yourself."

    "Oh, please. Xedros is a male and an ass. You¡¯ve no reason to get jealous. As for Faluel..."

    "I¡¯m just messing with you." She giggled, cutting him short. "Gods, you fall for it every single time. Guilty conscience much?"

    Lith ignored her second taunt and just held hand.

    "I can¡¯t believe I missed even our small bickering." He said. "Speaking of Faluel, I need your help talking to my family."

    "All you need to do is tell me when and I¡¯ll be there for you. Yet I don¡¯t see how the two things are rted, unless you want to introduce her to them." Kam said.

    "That¡¯s actually a good idea, but that will have to wait. First, I have toe clean with them about me being a hybrid." Lith sighed.

    "Finally! I mean, why now of all times?"

    "Because I don¡¯t know how long my apprenticeship will take. I can¡¯t lie to them about where I¡¯ll be staying, what I¡¯m doing, and with who. That would be unfair to them and as you so subtly pointed out, it¡¯s a talk long overdue.

    "I might bring Protector and Selia along to smooth things over, but I need your help to also find an excuse with your sister to leave her out. I like Zinya but..." Lith didn¡¯t know what to say without sounding awfully rude.

    "But she¡¯s not family. You don¡¯t feel like trusting her with such a big secret." Kampleted the phrase for him.

    "Exactly. Depending on how it goes, my parents might need a bit of space. We might be living in Belius for a while." Lith hated the city¡¯s dimensional blocking array but it was nothingpared to his fear of rejection.

    "Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m sure that everything will be fine." She said, trying to reassure him.

    Lith could withstand sub-zero temperatures without batting an eye and their house was warm, yet he was shivering.

    Kam stood up, hugging him from behind until she managed to make Lith feel safe again.

    "Stop being paranoid. I had no problem with your other half and I knew you for just over a year. They are your parents and they know you forever." She kissed his neck while caressing is chest. "Let¡¯s get to bed now. We¡¯ll cuddle until you fall asleep."

    Lith jumped up, shapeshifting into his Wyrmling form while lifting her in a princess carry.

    "I warned you, yet you didn¡¯t listen. My word is my bond. No sleep for you tonight." He used his fiery gaze and growling voice to sound menacing.

    "It sounds fair. If you y with fire, you¡¯re bound to get burned. Only one question. Are we doing the dragon and the maiden or the demon lord and the princess?" Kam asked.

    "Good gods, woman! At least try to act scared." Lith chuckled at her odd choices of role y.

    "Of you? Never." Her words followed by a kiss on the scales covering his fangs gave Lith hope for his future and made him rush to their destination.

    ***

    The following morning Lith had to use Invigoration to get out of bed early and not waste precious daylight. Between the sun setting early and the curfew, time was precious.

    "I¡¯m going to visit Protector before going to my parents. I¡¯m curious to see if Nalrond has epted my offer and if he did, how Selia took paying the price for my ¡¯generosity¡¯." Lith said once he was back from the shower.

    "Maybe I¡¯ll go visit Faluel as well. Thest time I heard from her she seemed to have some important matters to discuss. Worst case scenario, we¡¯ll meet for lunch at my parents¡¯. I¡¯ll keep my amulet at hand in the case you need a Warp to Lutia."

    Yet Kam was already snoring. Without Invigoration, she didn¡¯t hear a single word from him. Lith wrote her a note and set an rm clock, just to be safe. Then, on second thought, he shared with her a bit of vigor, just to be safer.

 Chapter 905 Meet Solus Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 905 Meet Solus Part 1</h4>

    Belius¡¯s Warp Gate led Lith to Derios, the capital city of the Distar Marquisate and from there reaching Protector¡¯s home took him just a few minutes.

    The moment Lith saw it, nostalgia almost broke his heart. His old friend had shaped his own house as an almost perfect replica of Lith¡¯s. It was a lovely two-story cottage entirely made of stone with a spacious yard overlooking the Trawn woods.

    He almost expected Elina to open the door and wee him home. Selia¡¯s reaction, however, didn¡¯t differ much from what his mother would do.

    "Oh, Lith! I¡¯ll never understand why beasts call you Scourge. You should be named Bearer of Gifts." She pulled him down with a strength and an enthusiasm that surprised him quite a bit.

    She kissed him on the forehead and both cheeks before giving him a huge hug.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith was still processing the situation, whereas Solus wasughing her ass off.

    ¡¯Well, oh great Dark Lord, you just need to trick a powerful Forgemaster to craft a few power rings to deserve such title. Should I get jealous?¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯Been there, done that. Am I not wearing the legacy of the greatest Forgemaster on Mogar on my finger along with her heir, oh Bright Lord?¡¯ He replied.

    "Thanks to you, my life has never been easier." Selia said. "Come in. We¡¯re about to have breakfast, feel free to join us."

    Lith understood what she meant only when he entered the living room. Sitting at the rectangr table there were Ryman, Nalrond, Lilian, Leran, and a floating crib made of hard-light near Selia¡¯s chair.

    Judging from the giggles and child noises it emitted, Lith guessed that it was filled with the new member of the family. Several constructs shaped like small fish swam in the air in front of the crib, keeping the child entertained.

    At a wave of Selia¡¯s hand, the cradle floated between her hands.

    "Guys, you all know uncle Lith. Uncle Lith, meet the little Fenrir. We named her after Faluel because of all the help she gave me with childbirth and because she offered to be my daughter¡¯s scaly godmother." Selia offered him the barely eight months child with pride.

    Lith smiled while rocking the baby between his arms, even though to him all newborns were equally ugly and annoying.

    "It seems you did a great job, Selia. She¡¯s a healthy child." Lith performed a full check-up out of habit.

    "This time I can¡¯t take the full credit. If not for Faluel, things could have gone badly." Selia said, making Protector turn pale. "We¡¯ll talk about thister, I don¡¯t want to upset the kids."

    "Hey, I¡¯m not a kid, I¡¯m the breadwinner." He grumbled.

    "Yeah, right. You¡¯re a big bad wolf that has no trouble hunting down monsters yet you faint at the sight of a little blood." She chuckled.

    "It¡¯s apletely different matter! I¡¯m a good Healer but you are my wife. I was afraid of losing both..."

    "As I said, I don¡¯t want to upset the kids." She ced her forefinger on Ryman¡¯s lips, hushing him.

    Lilia and Leran were staring at their father with their little faces full of curiosity. Ryman could see all the questions about Selia¡¯s health and where babiese from that were starting to form in their young brains because of him.

    "It¡¯s always a pleasure to have you here, Lith. Did you bring new toys for the kids?" He said, grateful to the gods for the children¡¯s short attention span.

    "Toys!" Lilia said dropping her spoon to run and tug at Lith¡¯s pants

    "Presents!" Leran followed her lead like a good little brother.

    The kids had grown a lot since thest time Lith had seen them. ording to Solus, they weren¡¯t Awakened, yet they were as tall as Lith had been at their age. It was the sign of perfect body development.

    ¡¯I wonder if it¡¯s because of Protector¡¯s genes or Faluel is doing for them what I did for my sisters.¡¯ Lith pondered.

    Luckily for Ryman, during his free time, Lith had copied the most popr toys in the Ker region. He had also enchanted them with weak spells to make them safer and funnier.

    "Thanks, uncle Lith. You¡¯re best." The kids said enthusiastically.

    "Not like uncle Nalrond. He always nags at us."

    "That¡¯s because he¡¯s never here, whereas I have to clean your mess on a daily basis." Nalrond said, generating several constructs at once. Boxes of light took the toys away from the kids¡¯ hands while tendrils forced them back on their chairs.

    "You¡¯ll get your new toys only after finishing breakfast. Show some respect for all the hard work your Mom put into preparing your meal." He ignored their screams of outrage, making a new spoon appear in their hands.

    Only then did Lith notice that tes and silverware weren¡¯t normal. Until that moment, their dull color had made him fail to notice that they were all constructs.

    "See what I mean?" Selia looked at the hybrid with eyes full of gratitude. "I¡¯ll never thank you enough for sending us such a priceless aid. One day you¡¯ll make an excellent househusband, dear Nalrond."

    "You¡¯re too kind, Selia." He replied. "Back home we used to say that it takes just two people to make a child, but a whole vige to raise them."

    In the Fastarrow household, they didn¡¯t use pots, only cauldrons. Ryman ate a lot and so did the kids, leaving plenty of food for seconds or unexpected guests. Even Lith¡¯s appetite was a drop in the sea of their servings.

    During the meal they made small talk about the situation in Lustria county. The undead invasion had reached every corner of the Kingdom, forcing Count Lark and his heirs to invest a lot of money to set up a local army base.

    Local constables and militia were powerless against anything but small-time criminals. The county needed the presence of permanent troops just to keep the order and prevent mass hysteria at the slightest sign of undead activity.

    ¡¯I must pay Lark a visit. I don¡¯t see him in over a year.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯I doubt there¡¯s much we can do, but we should at least offer him our help. He¡¯s an old friend, after all.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Luckily for everyone, Lutia was one of the safest ces in the Distar Marquisate, some even said safer than the capital itself. Between the presence of the Queen¡¯s Corps, the Kings of the Trawn Woods, and Faluel keeping a close watch on Lith¡¯s house, anyone looking for trouble would soon fit in an ashtray.

    Lith told them an abridged and embellished version of his missions in the Ker region, giving Nalrond his due credit to make him look cool in the eyes of the kids.

    "Wait. You two met three months ago." Leran had a focused expression while counting the passing of time on his fingers. "Yet uncle Nalrond is here for less than a month. Was this Snack Torch..."

    "Snake Tongue, you dummy!" Leria corrected him.

    "What she said, really far away, or is uncle Lith much faster than you? It took him less than a day to get here." Leran asked.

    "I didn¡¯te here straight away, Leran." Nalrond replied. The adults already knew his story and Lith wasn¡¯t stupid. He could read between the lines.

 Chapter 906 Meet Solus Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 906 Meet Solus Part 2</h4>

    "When I met Lith I was in a bad ce..." Nalrond said.

    "Like the corner where Mom grounds us until we reflect on our actions?" Leria asked. Her mind was too young for metaphors so she took everything literally.

    "Kind of. After we dealt with Dawn, I needed some time to think if I really wanted to join my tribe in their journey. I tried living among humans, but I didn¡¯t fit. They treated me like the stranger I was, making me feel even more lonely than ever.

    "Then I tried to live among beasts, but it didn¡¯t go much better. Magical beasts felt even more alien to me than humans, while Emperor Beasts were friendly, but had no time to spare for me. They all treated me like an oddity.

    "It was only when I came here that you made me feel..."

    "Special. Like us." Leran shapeshifted his right hand into red fur and ws.

    "Exactly." Nalrond raised his left hand and did the same, cing his palm against Leran¡¯s. "I felt like I belonged."

    "People are mean, uncle Nalrond." Leria shapeshifted only her arms, making them long enough hug his waist. "Mom tells us all the time that we must never listen to mean people."

    "You¡¯ve finally learned to control yourself. Good job, kids." Lith¡¯s hand turned into scales and ws before ruffling Leria¡¯s hair.

    "See, Mom? Uncle Lith is special as well. Why are you the only one that can¡¯t change?" Leran asked.

    "Because." Was her reply. "I¡¯ll exin it to you when you¡¯re older. Now go and y outside with your new toys. Nalrond?"

    "On it." The Rezar snapped his fingers, making all tes, cutlery, and cups reach the trash bin in an orderly fashion before popping out of existence. At the same time, a cage of light ovepped with the fence surrounding the house.

    "See what I mean?" Selia¡¯s smile went from ear to ear. "No more washing nor breaking anything. Also, I can finally let the children go out without supervision."

    Lilia and Leria retrieved their new toys the moment breakfast was over. They hugged their parents and uncles before going outside, showing Lith how much their manners had improved.

    "Now that the kids are gone, I want to apologize for what I said and done to you down in those caves." Nalrond said with a sigh, his eyes filled with regret. "I owe you a great deal for sparing my life and giving me a chance.

    "A chance that, in my ignorance, I squandered. To make it up to you, Lith, I could teach you Light Mastery. I heard from Protector that you already are a powerful healer, so it shouldn¡¯t take..."

    "Hold your dragons." Lith was thrilled at his offer, but there was annoyance in Selia¡¯s eyes and embarrassment in Ryman¡¯s. Something was off. "Squandered how?"

    Nalrond lowered his gaze, staring at the table for a few seconds before answering.

    "When I first arrived here, I was stubbornly clinging to my theory that you were nothing but Solus¡¯s puppet so I used her name to introduce myself to Selia."

    "You what?" Lith inwardly cursed, knowing that the Rezar¡¯s offer was too good toe with no strings attached.

    "The more I exined things to her, the more Selia wanted to kick me out. Luckily, Ryman returned home in time to clear the misunderstanding. You can guess the rest." Nalrond said. "For what is worth, I¡¯m really sorry."

    "Now that the cat is out of the bag, why don¡¯t you introduce me to your girlfriend?" Selia asked.

    "You already know Kami."

    "I mean the one literally at your fingertips." She replied.

    "Selia, this is Solus, my first and best friend ever. Solus, this is Selia, the one who ripped us off time and time again when we were little." Lith theatrically ced his open palm in front of Selia. "Feel free to talk to the hand."

    "Hi, Selia. I¡¯d say nice to meet you, but I know you since forever." Solus said before the huntress could rebuke Lith for his sass.

    "Since we got to this point, we should do things properly. Selia, Ryman, can you leave the house for a bit?" Lith asked.

    Even though she had been expecting something like that to happen, Selia was still too shocked to reply. She stared at Lith¡¯s ring as if it could eat her face at any moment. Solus¡¯s voice waspletely different from the recorded phrases Lith imbued in the toys he made.

    It was full of emotions and vibrant, like that of a person.

    "Sure we can. Do you mind keeping an eye on the children, Nalrond?" Ryman said.

    "No problem. I¡¯ve been there already, so I¡¯m not going to miss much." The Rezar had guessed Lith¡¯s intentions, yet he was far from the truth. Back in the Snake Tongue mountains, he had only seen what Lith wanted to show him.

    Lith opened a Warp Steps leading to the mana geyser in the Trawn woods while feeling the turmoil in Solus¡¯s mind. It was a mix of excitement and fear of rejection.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry about it. She¡¯ll love you.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Solus jumped off his finger, being careful to not shapeshift into her spider form out of habit. She knew how human minds worked and she didn¡¯t want Selia to perceive her as anything less than human.

    She turned to liquid and dug into the ground unseen. The tower emerged a split secondter, now a three-story building with the second floor almost restored. Sadly, almost wasn¡¯t enough to even clear the debris leading to the new level.

    "Good gods!" Selia and Ryman said in unison while holding their hands out of fright.

    Selia had seen plenty of marvels since she had started her rtionship with Ryman, but a building over ten meters (33 feet) high and with a baserger than her house popping out of thin air was something that only happened in myths.

    Protector, instead, was shocked seeing how much it had grownpared to thest memory he shared with Lith. Also, unlike Selia, he could perceive the massive amount of energy that coursed throughout the building, making it look like a fortress.

    "Please,e in." Lith said.

    To make matters worse for his guests, from the moment the tower had appeared Lith seemed to have grown as well. His stature was unchanged, but his presence was much more overbearing as if he could squash them like bugs.

    Lith had no hostility toward them, so the feeling of dreadsted only for a second.

    Only once they stepped in, did Solus appear.

    "Oh, gods! It¡¯s much bigger on the inside." Selia watched in amazement at the solid staircases in white stone leading to the adjacent floors and the many doors on the walls.

    "It is. The ground floor is designed for the living quarters. Bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and stuff like that. The basement is for mybs and the first floor, well, it¡¯s easier if I show you. Before I give you a tour, allow me to introduce you to Solus again." Lith said.

    "Hi, Selia. Hi, Ryman." Solus came out of her bedroom. She was in her luminous human form and wore a set of hunter clothes that closely resembled Selia¡¯s. It consisted of a leather hunting jacket over a green shirt, green cargo pants, and brown hunting boots.

    Solus avoided floating to not scare her guest, which emphasized her diminutive stature. With her 1.54 meter (5¡¯1") she was a good head shorter than Selia and barely reached Ryman¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 907 Open Wounds Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 907 Open Wounds Part 1</h4>

    "Oh gods, I need to sit down." Despite Solus¡¯s best efforts, Selia could feel her knees buckling. The golden hair, the luminous body, and the majestic aura that surrounded Solus made her look like someone out of a fairy tale.

    "Oh gods, where does this thinge from?" Selia flinched when afortable armchair appeared out of thin air.

    "It¡¯s good to finally meet you in person, Solus." Ryman offered her his hand, but she hugged him instead.

    Protector wasn¡¯t just a business partner, he was their oldest friend.

    "Same here. What do you think?" She said after taking a few steps back and turning around to let him see her full figure.

    "You¡¯re a lovely young woman." Ryman nodded.

    "Yeah, how old are you?" Selia asked.

    "Centuries-old, but since I¡¯ve forgotten almost everything about my past life, my mental age is around twenty." Solus said.

    Lith had them move to the living room before starting to exin things properly.

    "Let me get this straight." Selia said after the question and answer session was over. "You found her when you were four, but she didn¡¯t get a body untilst year, correct?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded.

    "Are you cheating on Kam, young man? Because I like that girl and if after everything you went through together you hurt her, Awakened or not I¡¯m going to kick your ass." Selia said.

    "I¡¯ve never cheated on anyone in my life." Lith was outraged by her usation. "Solus and I work and live together, but we have separate rooms."

    "Why don¡¯t you exin to us in your own words how you feel about each other, then? Selia crossed her arms and legs, clearly unconvinced.

    Lith opened his mouth and raised his forefinger, yet no word came out.

    ¡¯If I say she¡¯s my moralpass, I¡¯ll sound like a madman. Saying that she¡¯s my better half or the fairy on my shoulder would be even worse.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯My lifepanion? My other half? My most beloved person? By my maker, why do only expressions that make it sound like we¡¯re marriede to my mind?¡¯ Solus thought.

    "It¡¯splicated." They replied in unison.

    "I can see that." Selia said. "If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to talk to Solus alone."

    Lith and Protector left the living room, moving to the upper floor. Lith wanted to show him the Mirror Hall and take a look at the Trawn woods.

    "I won¡¯t mess with your personal life because it¡¯s not my ce. Yet from what I understand, your only friends are Nyka, Tista, Ryman, and Ka. Correct?" Selia asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "No offense, but I think that a newborn vampire, a young woman with no life experience, an oaf that told his wife about being an Emperor Beast only after their first child was born, and a wannabe Lich don¡¯t have much wisdom to offer you.

    "I don¡¯t know how much of what I experienced in our rtionship so far was really Lith and how much it was actually you, but I¡¯m willing to find out. We both don¡¯t have many friends and we could use somepany.

    "If you ever need to talk about how it feels to be lonely, in love, or even just human, feel free to contact me." Selia shared with Solus hermunication rune.

    "Thank you very much." Solus¡¯s smile was gleaming, and not only that. "We have a month¡¯s leave and I don¡¯t hang out with Lith while he stays with his girlfriend. I would love to spend some time together.

    "You have no idea how many questions I¡¯ve got." Solus stared at the little bundle that was Fenrir, resting between Selia¡¯s arms.

    The huntress couldn¡¯t bear the thought of being separated from her daughter, not aftering so close to losing her. Selia could entrust Lilia and Leran to Nalrond but not Fenrir.

    It was the same feeling that Elina still had for Lith after all those years.

    "Do you want to hold her?" Selia asked, noticing Solus¡¯s gaze.

    "Yes, but actually no. I¡¯m stronger than I look and quite clumsy." Solus replied.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Babies are stronger than they look, too. Especially hybrids." Selia stood up and slowly moved around the table, passing the child to Solus who froze in panic.

    She treated the sleeping baby as if it was a ticking bomb wrapped around a priceless piece of art.

    "Oh, gods. She¡¯s so small and beautiful." Solus said once she recovered from the shock. "I can¡¯t believe Lith considers all children ugly and never hesitates to kill them."

    "Lith what?" Selia instinctively moved her hand to the knife hidden inside her boot.

    "Oh, sorry. It¡¯s not like you think. We rarely kill human younglings. Most of the time it¡¯s just monsters, undead, or Abominations." Solus tried to fix her blunder, only making things worse.

    "Sister, you have problems, but we¡¯ll talk about this another moment. I better get back home, it¡¯ste." Selia retrieved the baby, making Solus worry she had managed to make and lose a friend in less than one day.

    Then, she looked at the suning from one of the windows and she realized they had lost track of time.

    "We¡¯re going to bete for lunch!" Solus blurted out.

    "Yeah and I¡¯ve yet got to prepare ours. Nalrond is a great babysitter, but a terrible cook. He¡¯s forbidden to use the stove except for warming non-explosive liquids." Selia¡¯s remark made Solus really curious, but there was no time for questions.

    Solus used the Warp Mirror to return the Fastarrows home and then Lith flew home as fast as he could.

    ¡¯Fuck Nalrond and his big mouth! I was supposed to check on Selia, talk with Faluel, and then spend the morning with Mom.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Well, I¡¯m happy that you introduced me to Selia. Now I have a ce to stay while you speak with Faluel. It didn¡¯t happen as you nned it but I think it could have been much worse. Did you ask Protector for help?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯Yeah, he agreed to provide support for when I tell my family that I¡¯m a hybrid and an Awakened. All I need is to set a date. I was thinking about my birthday.¡¯

    ¡¯Are you serious?¡¯ Solus was bbergasted by the news.

    ¡¯Yes. It¡¯s time toe clean about a few things. I don¡¯t need to hide in the shadows anymore neither from them nor Kam.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Do you think I should invite Faluel as well? She has a weak spot for kids so knowing my little ones could make her reinforce her protection. Also, knowing her could smooth the transition for my family. Two birds with one stone.¡¯

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know. Your trump card is Selia and her kids. They know her quite well and she can provide them with all the support your parents might need. I¡¯m afraid that crowding them with powerful creatures might backfire and scare them instead.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Point taken.¡¯ Lith flew at breakneck speed, yet arrived home only one hour before noon.

    Just like Kam, Lith had learned to announce his presence to avoid being identally shot down because someone mistook him for an enemy. He slowed down the moment his house was in sight andnded far away enough for people to recognize him.

    The farmhands were well trained and most of them had their rm whistle pressed against the lips, to signal their masters the necessity to activate the numerous arrays that Lith had ced around the house.

 Chapter 908 Open Wounds Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 908 Open Wounds Part 2</h4>

    Lith¡¯s paranoia was like a disease, spreading and infecting all those who worked for or with him. Even the member of the Queen¡¯s Corps were seconds away from sting him down with their wands.

    "Hi, Mom. I¡¯m home." He opened his arms for a hug while crossing the threshold.

    "Lith! What a wonderful surprise. I wasn¡¯t expecting you at all." Elina dropped the quill she was checking the farm¡¯s ounts with and ran to wee him.

    She was a graceful woman in herte thirties, but thanks to Lith¡¯s treatments she didn¡¯t look a day past thirty. She was well endowed in all the right ces, with a fit body honed through hard work.

    Elina¡¯s shoulder-length hair was of beautiful light-brown color, with shades of red highlighted throughout. The sunlighting from the windows made her hair look like there were mes dancing within.

    She looked carefully at Lith, checking his clothes for holes, his hands for injuries, and then his face for any sign of malnutrition or weight loss.

    "Mom, I¡¯m an adult and the number one ranked Ranger in the entire Griffon Kingdom. I can take care of myself." Lith said.

    He still had his arms opened, making him feel like he was getting a body inspection rather than a wee.

    "All the magic in the entirety of Magar can¡¯t change the fact that I¡¯m your mother and you¡¯re my son. It¡¯s my right and duty to worry about you."

    "But Mom!" No matter how much time passed, Elina always made him feel like when he was still a child and she checked his clothes during winter to make sure he wouldn¡¯t catch a cold.

    "Shut up and give your old mom a hug." With her 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") of height, Elina was smallpared to Lith, yet her arms were the safest ce in the world to him.

    "Never say that, Mom. You¡¯re not old." Lith rested his head on her shoulder.

    "I¡¯m not getting any younger for sure. Yet neither you nor Tista have given me a grandchild." Elina wanted to sound stern, but she was seconds away from bursting into tears.

    She hadn¡¯t seen her son for months and the only thing that had allowed her to keep her sanity for so long was constantly checking Lith¡¯s contact rune on her ownmunication amulet.

    As long as the little piece of gibberish was there, Elina had the proof that wherever he was, her son was still alive. With all the horrible news that she received from Jirni and Tista about what was happening in the Kingdom, Elina never dared to call Lith when his rune was avable, afraid of bothering him or endanger his life.

    "You can¡¯t keep Kam waiting forever, you know? May the gods bless that woman. We¡¯ve been so scared during thest year, always afraid you had been captured or disappeared somewhere.

    "She¡¯s been our rock. Without her, your father and I would have died of fright."

    Lith wanted to rebuke his mother for ruining their reunion with her nagging, but her sniffling and quivering between his arms made him feel in full the weight of his actions.

    "I¡¯m sorry for making you worry, mom. I should have called more often." He said.

    "Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s all in the past now." Despite her words, Elina refused to let him go. "How long will you stay this time?"

    "The whole month." Lith¡¯s reply made her flinch.

    "Really?" Elina pushed him away just enough to hold his face between her hands and look him in the eyes.

    "Really."

    "A full month?"

    "Yep."

    "Really?"

    "Mom, not again! Do you need to hear it from mymanding officer to believe it? You can ask Kam as well if you want. She¡¯ll join us for lunch." Lith was annoyed, but mostly with himself.

    Elina¡¯s reaction spoke volumes of how little time he devoted her.

    "Kam ising here? Now?" Elina¡¯s touch turned into a grip, squeezing Lith¡¯s cheeks.

    "She got a month¡¯s leave as well. We have plenty of time to catch up and..."

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell me sooner? I have nothing ready and I have yet to invite Zinya. Oh, gods. I¡¯ll never make it in time." Between her trembling and her obsessive staring at the clock, she reminded Lith of the white rabbit.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Mom, it¡¯s just lunch. Also, what¡¯s the delicious smell thates from the stove?" Lith tried to calm her down.

    "How can you say call it ¡¯just lunch¡¯? It¡¯s our first meal together so it¡¯s very important. The gruel for you father and I is not proper food, you fool." Elina took the pot off the stove and stored it inside her dimensional item.

    Then, she moved to the pantry and selected the best ingredients for the best meal she could prepare with what time she had left.

    "I can help, you, Mom. It will be like the old times when we cooked together for the whole family." Lith had eaten many things during his early life just to quell his hunger, but nothing that Elina had ever fed him with could bebeled as gruel.

    Back before he started to hunt, their house was poor and they didn¡¯t have much to eat. Their mealscked quality and quantity, but hunger and all the care Elina put into her cooking had made them delicious.

    "Nonsense. You¡¯re tired and need to rest. Take a seat, we¡¯ll talk while I cook." Elina fixed her hair in a ponytail with a hair clip after wearing an apron.

    "Do you really think that cooking can be tiring for me? You know I¡¯m going to use magic."

    "In this case, I¡¯ll take up your offer." She hugged him again. A little tear streamed down her cheek while the memories of all the time she had spent in the kitchen with her son shed in front of her eyes.

    When Elina let him go, Lith found himself wearing an apron and his mother took more food out of the pantry.

    "How the heck did you do that and what is all that stuff?" Lith tried to take the apron off, but the knot was too tight.

    "Secret of the trade. As for lunch, with your help we can aim a lot higher. Cut and peel these vegetables, please. I¡¯ll season the meat and prepare the stuffing." Elina said.

    Suddenly Lith wasn¡¯t so sure that making his mom a surprise had been a good idea. He spent the following hour talking only to receive and give instructions while they prepared the equivalent of a Thanksgiving meal.

    "Why don¡¯t you hire a housemaid for this kind of stuff?" Lith asked once they were done with the preparations and the only thing left to do was waiting.

    "Do you mean cooking?" Elina clicked her tongue. "Now that you and your sisters are all grown up and moved out, I only have to take care of Aran and your father. I may be older, but cooking for three is nothingpared to do it for seven..."

    Elina found herself unable to continue. Orpal was an old but never closed wound while she still couldn¡¯t believe that Trion had abandoned his family because of his feeling of rivalry with Lith.

    The room fell into a grieving silence, only broken by the gurgling sounds that came from the pots. Elina spaced out, her eyes veiled by too many questions that she would never find an answer to.

    Lith missed his brothers as much as he could miss a hole in his head, but he stood quietly out of respect for his mother¡¯s suffering.

 Chapter 909 Bad News Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 909 Bad News Part 1</h4>

    "Was I a bad mother?" Elina suddenly asked.

    Lith turned his head abruptly, incapable of making sense of her absurd question.

    "Is it my fault if all my sons have given up on me one after the other? Do you think that Aran will hate me as well once he grows up?"

    ¡¯I think that between the constant worry and your surprise visit you broke her.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Meaning?¡¯ He asked.

    ¡¯Your mother was in pain all this time, you numbnuts. She probably lived in fear that you weren¡¯t calling home because you had decided to follow Trion¡¯s footsteps and ghost her.¡¯

    "Don¡¯t be silly, Mom. You¡¯re the reason why I didn¡¯t raze Lutia to the ground the moment I learned magic." Lith couldn¡¯t bear the thought of resembling his older brother.

    He wanted to have nothing inmon with Trion, not even a simr haircut. Let alone make Elina suffer as Trion did.

    "Thanks, dear." Elinaughed at what she considered a joke.

    "You did the best you could for all of us, always going the extra mile, even if it meant giving up the little you had saved." Lith took her hand, refusing to let his mother beat herself up.

    "All of your children love and respect you, but sooner orter, we have to grow up and find our own path. Orpal chose self-destruction, while Trion his own pride. As for Rena, well, I seem to recall her being your pride and joy for marrying in Lutia and giving you two grandchildren."

    "You are all my pride and joy, silly." Elina sniffed. "By the way, your sister will probably move here for thest month pregnancy now that you are home. You should give Rena a Warp. She¡¯s trouble movingtely so I can only see her when I visit Lutia."

    "Don¡¯t worry, Mom. I¡¯ll bring Rena, Leria, and even Senton along." Lith was about to open the portal when Elina stopped him.

    "Was the ¡¯even¡¯ really necessary? Senton is a good man. Also, remember to knock. If you open a Gate in the middle of their living room, you¡¯ll give Rena a heart attack. They are not used to your visits anymore." Elina¡¯s words sounded like genuine worry and mild scolding, making Lith sigh.

    He appeared in front of the Proudhammer¡¯s house, yet it was the Verhen crest that was engraved on the door and walls. It represented a ck dragon coiled around a tower. A magic staff and a sword were crossed behind them, symbolizing all Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s skills.

    Every time Solus looked at the Verhen coat of arms she brimmed with joy. It not only represented their bond, but also how Lith considered her part of his family.

    After knocking on the door, Lith heard quarreling from inside.

    "You shouldn¡¯t tire yourself answering the door." Lith recognized Sirma¡¯s voice. She was Rena¡¯s mother-inw.

    "You already moved my bed here to not make me climb the stairs. I can at least open a goddamn door. I¡¯m pregnant, not crippled!" Rena¡¯s voice was angry like Lith had never heard her before.

    ¡¯Oh shit. I might have just gone from the frying pan into the fire.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Luckily for him, Rena¡¯s face lighted up with joy seeing him.

    She was a gorgeous woman 24 years old. Rena was 1.70 meters (5¡¯7") tall with shoulder-length blonde hair with shades of ck and bright brown eyes. Pregnancy had made her bosom and belly impressing.

    "Lith, it¡¯s so good to see you." She tried to throw her arms around his neck and almost tripped for the excess weight leaning forward. To make matters worse, she never called him by name unless she was about to scold him.

    Lith held her carefully, testing the danger level of the area.

    "Twins?" The thought was terrifying for him.

    "Oh great, we meet for the first time in over half a year and even you can¡¯t see past my belly?" Her voice turned angry again.

    "Besides, you would know already if you bothered asking those few times you called. You scared Mom to death, little runt. Don¡¯t you dare to do that ever again." She wagged her finger at Lith¡¯s nose, just like she did back when they were little and he disappeared in the Trawn woods for too long.

    "I¡¯m sorry sis. I¡¯ll be more careful in the future." Lith found himself repeating his old lines. He was slowly realizing how many things he had missed by neglecting his family and how much suffering they had gone through because of him.

    "You¡¯re alright, that¡¯s what matters." Her voice was now sweet and motherly, filled with the relief of seeing Lith in one piece. Rena hugged him tight while sobbing softly.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know whether to find scarier her mood swings or the fact that she¡¯s right.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Do you need a check-up?" He asked.

    "Gods, yes. You have no idea how hard it has been for me since Tista left. The new Healer is good, but he can¡¯tpare to having White Griffon quality medical assistance 24/7." Rena let Lith help her to a couch while she told him about the difort she had experienced.

    More than symptoms, it sounded like a grocery list.

    ¡¯Gods, no.¡¯ Lith thought while using Invigoration on Rena.

    "Congrattion on your triplets. Do you want to know the gender?" He relieved her back from the inmmations, regted her hormonal imbnces, and got rid of all the aches tormenting her.

    "No thanks, I want it to be a surprise. Are they healthy?" Rena¡¯s voice almost sounded like a moan of pleasure as her body rxed for the first time in months.

    "Of course they are." Lith lied.

    One of them had inherited the same disease as Tista. His little lungs were filled with impurities to the point that Lith doubted he would survive for long once the umbilical cord was removed.

    "Thank you so much. I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe I¡¯m just paranoid. It runs in the family." Rena chuckled along with Lith.

    ¡¯The bad news is that being a congenital disease I can¡¯t treat it with normal light magic. The good news is that after my breakthroughs and managing to treat such a bad case like Xedros¡¯s, this little guy should be easy.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no such thing as easy when dealing with a life force that weak.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯You must tell Rena the truth. Healing the baby might take a lot of time, just like with Xedros, and you can afford neither being distracted or interrupted.¡¯

    ¡¯Not going to happen. In her state, stress could send her intobor, and then I¡¯d be putting four lives at stake instead of one. I¡¯m going to tell her only once she and the babies are safe.

    ¡¯And I¡¯ll do it only because she needs to be aware of being the carrier of the disease, otherwise the next time we might not be so lucky.¡¯ Lith shuddered at the thought.

    Rena was overjoyed at the idea of returning to her ancestral home with her beloved brother and personal Healer. The mention of the big meal waiting for her sweetened the deal, since all those emotions had made Rena work quite an appetite.

    Truth to be told, those days almost anything did. Eating for four was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

 Chapter 910 Bad News Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 910 Bad News Part 2</h4>

    Her daughter, Leria was delighted to have her favorite uncle back. Lith would have been highlyplimented for such words if it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was the only uncle she had.

    From what she had heard about them, Leria imagined Trion and Orpal with monstrous features, whereas she considered Aran like a little brother. She was the one taking care of him, not the other way around.

    "Are you alright, Uncle?" She extended her arms upwards, in a plea to be held. Leria was now a little past four years old, yet she was already 1.1 meters (3¡¯7") tall. She had taken her mother¡¯s eyes and hair along with her grandmother¡¯s grace.

    She was as lithe as a cat and almost as strong-willed.

    "Mom and Granma cried a lot. Once they cried so hard that I thought you were dead, so I started crying too." Her words managed to make him feel even worse, but he sucked it up and smiled.

    "I¡¯m fine, thank you. I just had a lot of work to do and some issues with my amulet." Lith lifted her from the ground with ease, as if she was weightless.

    ¡¯Wow, lying to a child. That¡¯s a new low, even for you.¡¯ Solus sneered.

    Senton, Rena¡¯s husband, was surprised by the invitation. Lith¡¯s family was kind to him, yet he couldn¡¯t shrug off the feeling of being an unwanted guest every time he was there.

    Usually he would politely decline, but he couldn¡¯t stand being apart from his wife in such a critical moment. After Warping Rena, Lith picked up Kam and together invited Zinya.

    Luckily, during thest renovation, Raaz had nned the living room so that it could host their son¡¯s private events, engagement parties included, so there was plenty of space at the table for the guests.

    The only person who didn¡¯t make it to the homing lunch was Tista. With a single hour¡¯s notice, she couldn¡¯t make in time to the nearest city Gate nor could she just drop her clients out of the blue.

    "You¡¯ll pay for this, Lith Verhen." She said, making him happy to not have a middle name.

    The meal was delicious and the mood joyful. Lith gave presents to everyone. Useful enchanted items for the adults and toys for the children. Yet there were two sour notes ruining the reunion for him.

    The first was the fact that once the initial relief had passed, everyone was pissed off with him whereas Kam was held in high regard. She had done her best during thest few months, covering for his shorings and keeping his family updated about Lith¡¯s well-being.

    The Verhens didn¡¯t meet Kam since Lith¡¯sst visit, but they had heard from her almost every day and considered her as part of their family.

    Last, but not least, there was the issue with Rena¡¯s unborn child.

    ¡¯It¡¯s a very odd situation. Tista¡¯s illness has never been observed in male patients.¡¯ Lith had thoroughly studied the disease as Nana¡¯s apprentice first and at the White Griffonter.

    Usually, treating a congenital condition required Body Sculpting, but Lith had used Invigoration as a kid to get rid of all the damages and symptoms. By the time he had learned about tier five healing magic, Tista¡¯s self-Awakening process had already fixed the imperfection her life force had been born with.

    ¡¯Indeed, maybe we should try asking for help.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Degenerative diseases are already hard to treat in children, getting rid of them while the baby is still in the womb is even worse.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, it took me over a month to treat Tista, but she was self-sufficient and could help me understand when to stop the treatment. Not only does the unborn child not have that much time, but I must also avoid triggeringbor or damaging his mother and siblings.

    ¡¯On top of that, I must also perform the procedure without Rena knowing. If she freaks out, there¡¯s no telling the possible consequences the domino effect might have.¡¯ Lith leaned against an open window, staring at the clear sky looking for answers.

    "A kiss for your thoughts." Kam gave him a peck the moment he turned his head, sparking a debate about their rtionship among the children that soon spread to their respective families.

    Leria kind of resented Frey and Filia, Zinya¡¯s children, for calling Lith Uncle without having received her approval first. She was younger than them, but she knew Lith for much longer and in her mind, that gave her priority im.

    Kam knew him well enough to see the troubled expression hidden behind his poker face. To his family, Lith was akin to a god. They had problems even considering the idea there was something he might not be able to do.

    Kam, instead, saw him as a man with great powers and even greater challenges ahead of him. Lith only showed his strongest side to his family, whereas he allowed himself to be weak in front of her.

    "Are you worried about revealing your hybrid nature to them? If so, there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. As long as you¡¯re alright, they wouldn¡¯t even care if you had a heading out of your ass." She whispered while holding his hand.

    "No, it¡¯s not that. I mean, not only that." Lith gave her the gist of his current situation.

    When she heard about the baby, Kam tensed up and her smile disappeared.

    "Maybe we should continue this conversation outside." She had recovered her amiable countenance almost immediately and even Lith was amazed by how good her fa?ade was.

    Nothing in her voice nor visage betrayed her inner turmoil. He could still tell only because of their close rtionship and because Kam¡¯s warm smile didn¡¯t extend to her eyes anymore.

    "I guess your training with Jirni is paying off." Lith said with a normal voice. Whispering for too long would only cause trouble.

    "It has many perks. I meet a lot of ¡¯interesting¡¯ people and learn a lot of new skills."

    After telling Elina they would take a walk for digestion, Lith and Kam took a stroll on the paths running along the cultivated fields, toward the Trawn woods.

    Kam took her army amulet from her dimensional ring and started to browse through the Kingdom¡¯s medical databases.

    "I¡¯ve got bad news, you¡¯re right. I ran a search cross-referencing male patients and the Strangler disease, but no hits. There¡¯s not even a mention in scientific papers about past or present cases." Kam said.

    The disease was called the Strangler because its victims would experience shortness of breath as if someone was gradually increasing pressure on their chest until they couldn¡¯t breathe anymore and died of asphyxiation.

    "That¡¯s the privatework of the six Great Academies, how the heck do you have ess to it?" Marth had revoked Lith¡¯s privileges the same day he had quit his job as Assistant Professor.

    "One of those perks I told you about. I think you need help with this." Kam said.

    ¡¯If Kam and Solus give me the same advice, I better take it.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I need you to talk about it with my Mom. I¡¯d do it myself, but I have no usible excuse to speak privately with her, whereas you could use my birthday present or something as a cover story.

    "Before doing anything, I want to perform a proper check on the disease¡¯s progression, but it takes time. Rena is not stupid, if I touch her belly for too long, she¡¯ll understand there¡¯s something wrong."

 Chapter 911 Apprenticeship for Two Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 911 Apprenticeship for Two Part 1</h4>

    "I need to do it while Rena is asleep, but I can¡¯t kick her husband out without looking like a creep." Lith said.

    "Why not asking Senton for help, then?" Kam asked.

    "Yeah right. Because Rena sure is incapable of telling when the man she spends most of her days with is anxious or is lying to her." Lith sneered.

    "Point taken." Kam nodded. "Don¡¯t worry too much. You¡¯re a great Healer and there¡¯s still time. I¡¯ll speak with Elina as soon as I can, but now I really need to take a nap. I¡¯m still tired fromst night and eating that much didn¡¯t help. Care to join me?"

    "Sorry, I can¡¯t. I have yet to speak with Faluel about my apprenticeship. After fighting with the Horseman of Dawn, Faluel told me she had some important news to discuss.

    "Now that Mom¡¯s lunch has knocked everyone out, it¡¯s the best moment to take a short leave without being skinned for neglecting my family again." He sighed.

    "Is this Faluel a beautiful woman?" She asked.

    "Yes, very." Lying was pointless. Kam had be very good at sniffing tant lies.

    "Are you going to introduce her to me?"

    "Yes. You¡¯ll probably meet her along with my family."

    Kam closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She wasn¡¯t the jealous type, but the fact that there were so many stunners around her boyfriend annoyed her to no end.

    On top of that, the thought that Lith would soon spend most of his time working side by side with Faluel, probably more than what he would spend with her since it would be his new job, was giving Kam a headache.

    She already knew that Faluel was actually a Hydra, but Protector being an Emperor Beast hadn¡¯t stopped Selia from falling in love with him.

    ¡¯I wonder how can Selia not feel threatened. I mean, we¡¯re not mages, we do not shapeshift, and we have no idea how does it feel watching at Mogar through the eyes of our partners, whereas Faluel does.

    ¡¯We¡¯re so close and yet so different that it scares me. I guess the only thing I can do is believing in the bond of trust between us.¡¯ She thought.

    "Are you really sure about leaving the army, then?" Kam asked.

    "Yes, my decision is final."

    "Can I report it to mymanding officers or do you want to do it yourself?"

    "I¡¯m fine with both, as long as we do it after our leave ends." Lith shrugged.

    "I¡¯m not going to kick a ho nest during my first vacation in months, silly." She said with a chuckle.

    They returned to Lith¡¯s home and discovered that half the family was already asleep and the other half was about to. Between the food and the wine to celebrate the prodigal son¡¯s return, they could barely keep their eyes open.

    Rena had no wine, but she was too exhausted just from all the emotion to even take a single step, so she took Tista¡¯s room on the ground floor.

    "You have no idea how good it feels to have some privacy again, little brother. Damn the stairs and their inventor." She said while Lith helped her reaching the bed and tucked her in.

    "What¡¯s this?" Rena felt a sudden difort under her back. She discovered it was caused by a piece of paper wrapped around a stone small enough to stay hidden under the sheets but big enough to be impossible to miss while lying down on the bed.

    "To whoever found this note." Rena read out loud. "This is my room so no matter what reason has brought you to mess with my stuff, I expect you to treat it with the same respect you would use for me.

    "If you have sex on my bed, have the decency to rece the mattress, burn the old one, and for the love of the gods, never let me know about it. With love, Tista. PS: Lith, if it¡¯s you, you¡¯re a dead man. Rena, keep Senton away from thest drawer of my dresser or you¡¯ll be a widow. Mom and Dad...

    "I can¡¯t read the rest. It¡¯s like she had a seizure or something and tried to put it into words." Rena said.

    "Well, you try imagining our parents having sex on your own bed." Lith had to fight the nausea and horror that just saying those words inspired.

    "You monster. Now I can never unimagine that." Rena shuddered. "By the way, what¡¯s in Tista¡¯sst drawer?"

    "Beats me. All I can tell you it¡¯s that there¡¯s an array protecting it." Lith noticed that Tista had taken precautions so that even Life Vision couldn¡¯t reveal the drawer¡¯s content.

    "Bummer. I can¡¯t go through it by ¡¯ident¡¯." Renaughed.

    After giving a hug and kiss goodbye to his mother and sister, Lith went to Faluel¡¯sir. Before that, however, he left Solus at a safe distance. Meeting Nalrond had confirmed to him that Living Legacies had a bad name.

    He had too much on his te already to waste time convincing his mentor that Solus was different from other cursed objects as much as he was from regr Awakened.

    "I wasn¡¯t expecting you so soon." One of the Hydra¡¯s seven heads yawned, making the gold coins stuck between her scales fall to the ground in the most expensive rain ever.

    Lesser Dragons liked to hoard treasures and use them as their bed as much as real Dragons did. Faluel¡¯s bunk wasprised only of gold and tinum coins that were covering most of her massive body, leaving only the nostrils of the six sleeping heads exposed.

    "Visiting me on your very first day of leave shows quite the dedication." Another massive yawn exposed a row of deadly teeth and her snake tongue. Each one of her fangs was bigger than Lith.

    "Sorry about that. I don¡¯t deal well with the cold. Scratch that, I hate winter." Faluel made a hot spring appear, drowning her body and tail in search of relief. "One of the reasons why I envy you Origin mes users is that they always keep you warm."

    "Thest time I called, you told me we needed to talk. Here I am." Lith wasn¡¯t interested in rants. Faluel had mentioned the Council amulet not being safe and had avoided even mentioning the topics she wanted to discuss.

    It was enough to keep him on edge.

    "Rx, it¡¯s nothing dramatic. Otherwise I would havee to you myself. Also, even though I¡¯m a huge fan of informal speech, I would like a bit more respect in your tone when you address your mentor, young man." She snorted.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor Faluel. I¡¯m in a bit of a hurry because even when I¡¯m on vacation, bad stuff keeps happening. Whatever is going to happen, I need to be prepared." Lith said.

    "Professor? That¡¯s new." Faluel chuckled, tilting her head with curiosity.

    "It¡¯s the best term to define our rtionship if you¡¯re going to be my mentor. I have no master because I serve no one." Lith said.

    His reply made the Hydraugh harder, causing the coins that covered her body to jingle.

    "Professor will do. Now, before we start our friendly talk, why don¡¯t you have your partner join us? I don¡¯t like beating around the bush and I think it¡¯s better if Solus can freely ask questions rather than rely solely on your wits." Faluel said.

 Chapter 912 Apprenticeship for Two Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 912 Apprenticeship for Two Part 2</h4>

    Lith couldn¡¯t hide his shock as a mass of emerald mes appeared in his hand and was soon reced by Ruin.

    "How do you know about Solus?" He asked, eyeing the quickest way out of herir while weaving his best spells.

    "Stop eyeing the quickest way out and I¡¯ll tell you." All seven of Faluel headsughed in unison, causing their to tremble and a cascade of precious coins to fall.

    Lith¡¯s host looked jovial, but he didn¡¯t feel much reassured. Defeating Faluel would have been a herculean task if they fought on neutral ground, but inside her house, she was likely to be nigh-invincible.

    "Did you really think I would take you in without running a background check? When Protector mentioned you for the first time, long before you two reconciled in Zantia, I was intrigued at the idea of a man who had cracked his own life force to save an Emperor Beast.

    "I knew where the fight against Balkor took ce, so I contacted Scarlett for information. The Lord of the forest surrounding the White Griffon told me all about how you two met and your foolish attempt to repair a cracked mana core.

    "She was pretty explicit about not having full trust in you because of your hybrid smell and of your connection to a cursed object. Yet she vouched for you, and so did Protector and Ka." Faluel said.

    "Did they really speak on my behalf?" The only way that day could be crazier was Faluel confessing to being Lith¡¯s real mother, if not his father.

    "Yes. Scarlett warned me to keep an eye on you rather than on your harmless Living Legacy. Protector never mentioned Solus, yet I knew from the memories he shared with you that he was well aware of her existence.

    "He lied to his master in order to protect a friend, which only made you more intriguing in my eyes. As for Ka, she vouched for both of you, inviting me to keep my mind open before rushing to judgment." Faluel said.

    Lith cursed himself for forgetting about Scarlett the Scorpicore. She had discovered Solus¡¯s existence back when he was still at the White Griffon and had exined to him what a cursed object was.

    "Are you saying that you will mentor both of us?" Lith asked.

    "Of course. Solus would ess my teachings via your memories anyway, so why should I make a half-baked job when I can put both halves to the test? I warned you in the past that I don¡¯t look for loyalty, but for wisdom.

    "If either of you is found wanting, I will kick you out." Faluel said.

    "Onest question. Who else knows in the Beast Council?"

    "No one, because it¡¯s none of their business. My the apprentices, my the responsibility. Now summon her, so we can get down to business." Six heads went back to sleep, leaving only one waiting.

    Lith opened a Warp Steps, inviting Solus to cross over while updating her about his conversation with Faluel through their mind link.

    "By the Great Mother, what is that?" Faluel¡¯s surprise at the pebble turning into a gauntlet was as genuine as it was nonsensical to Lith.

    "Solus. Who else?" Lith asked.

    "Nice to meet you." Solus didn¡¯t have a body so she waved Lith¡¯s hand as a greeting.

    "You... She... You two can split? That¡¯s wrong! So Wrong!" Faluel couldn¡¯t find the words to express her shock. Her seven heads babbling while looking at each other in the eyes made her lookically confused.

    "What do you mean, wrong?" Lith remembered how Scarlett had freaked out as well on their first encounter, but since the Scorpicore and the Hydra had already talked, Faluel wasn¡¯t supposed to panic that much.

    "A Living Legacy can¡¯t be separated from its host. They are one. No matter if the physical form of the relic is a crystal, a pebble, or a sword, they are permanently fused. To break the bond, it takes a special artifact or a specific ritual, and both are risky.

    "Mind and body are merged so usually the host dies in the process. Even the few who survive be mad in the process due to the trauma. I was expecting her to be hidden within your body, not to sit a few kilometers away." Faluel said.

    "We keep our bond even when we are apart." Lith was eager to learn more about Solus¡¯s unique nature.

    "Fascinating. Now I understand why Scarlett let Solus go and why none of your friends felt threatened by her presence. She literally is her own person. Even her ability to move independently is unheard of." Faluel said, pondering the enigma Solus was.

    "It is?" Solus asked.

    "Indeed. Unfortunately, time is of the essence and we have yet many things to talk about. We¡¯ll have plenty of time to find more about Solus during your apprenticeship. Now it¡¯s better to focus on the Bright Day." Faluel said.

    "What about her?" Lith asked.

    The Hydra shared with them everything she knew about the three Horsemen and their mission, which wasn¡¯t much. Faluel had never met Baba Yaga and believed her to be just a legendary Forgemaster like Menadion.

    "Dawn was supposed to be sealed. Her return will give the Council a hissy fit, but it¡¯s worse for you."

    "Meaning?" Solus doubted that Dawn could be so stupid that she would remain in the Griffon Kingdom after being discovered.

    "The Bright Day is a practical creature, so she will not look for revenge. The Council, however, will look for answers. They are not the Griffon Kingdom, to them, Dawn is more than a legend, they have fought in the past.

    "The members of the Council know what she is capable of and that¡¯s why they won¡¯t buy the story you told the Kingdom. Being an Awakened is not enough to exin how someone as young as you managed to survive the encounter." Faluel said.

    "So what? Mages respect each other¡¯s secrets, correct?" Lith asked.

    "Correct, they will not coerce you into giving them an answer, but they will still ask themselves many questions. Some harmless, other dangerous like, should we really leave him to the beasts?" Faluel said.

    "The Council was already split before, but that was just bureaucracy. Now it has be a power y, and politics always make things unpleasant. Beasts and humans will want you to tip the scale in their favor, whereas the undead might try to take you out of the picture."

    "I understand the beasts¡¯ and humans¡¯ point of view, but doesn¡¯t the faction I belong to only depend on my choice? I don¡¯t care about their politics, I¡¯ll only do what¡¯s best for myself. Also, why should the undead care about me?" Lith asked.

    "As I said, no one will make a move as long as you are part of the army. There are forces in y that even the Council cannot afford to defy." Faluel said.

    "Do you mean Tyris?" Solus asked.

    "The Guardian ys a game of her own, which makes her dangerous, but the Kingdom is even worse. No faction can make an enemy out of one of the three Great Countries without losing ess to their resources and lose all the possessions located on their grounds.

    "Awakened do not live off air and to make money you need to be able tomerce innds and goods. If anything happens to you, a random fall guy wouldn¡¯t be enough to quell the people¡¯s anger.

    "You¡¯re more than the Kingdom¡¯s poster boy, you¡¯ve be their hero." Faluel said.

 Chapter 913 Planning Ahead Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 913 nning Ahead Part 1</h4>

    "If the army starts to dig, they won¡¯t stop until they find the culprit. That¡¯s why most Awakened don¡¯t deal with crime. If they get exposed, they would lose centuries of umted resources." Faluel said.

    "Once you are on your own, however, the humans are bound to try and make you an offer you can¡¯t refuse. To switch sides or die. As for the undead, you defeated one of their champions.

    "The Horsemen are the pirs that link the Undead Courts to their Councilmembers and now that the Council is considering to offer the Abominations a seat at the table, the undead need to strengthen their position.

    "They have no idea how strong the new yer is, nor can they afford the old yers to get stronger. Since they can¡¯t take you in, their aim will be to take you out."

    "Isn¡¯t the n of both the humans and the undead against thews of the Council?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "Indeed it is, but there¡¯s always a loophole, and politics is all about exploiting loopholes." Faluel sighed. "I thought about it for a long while, and even though there¡¯s no way to predict how things will unfold exactly, I can guess the worst-case scenario and help you prepare for it."

    "I feel a huge ¡¯but¡¯ iing." Lith said.

    "But toe out of this pinch in one piece and be freed from this nonsense, you¡¯ll need me. You¡¯ll need us beasts." The Hydra said with a grin. "As I told you when we first met, I¡¯m not going to lie to you. All I offer is the truth and a choice, the rest is up to you."

    "Let¡¯s hear it." Lith conjured a stone armchair and sat down. There was a lot to discuss.

    ***

    "...and that¡¯s how I think we should y it out." Faluel ate a whole roasted cow from a bowl bigger than Lith¡¯s house that was filled with several salty snacks.

    "I agree with your n." Lith said after consulting with Solus for a while. There was too much at stake and they couldn¡¯t stand against three factions of the Council alone. Not yet.

    "It¡¯s a wise move, as long as you¡¯re willing to pay the price for it." The Hydra nodded.

    "It¡¯s not just a matter ofpleting your apprenticeship, so much as being truly recognized as one of us. Even if you fail me but the beasts¡¯ Council recognizes your worth as a Healer and Forgemaster, you¡¯re set.

    "The gods know how close we are to fall behind fake mages. Talented people are now too precious a resource to let them go squandered, but that¡¯s also the reason why the only thing worse than a good mage¡¯s death is them joining thepetition."

    "I understand." Lith stood up and moved toward the exit. The few months left of his military service were going to be busy, so he wanted to enjoy his leave to its fullest.

    "Onest thing. If you don¡¯t want the Council to find out about Solus, a cloaking ring isn¡¯t enough. You need to be more careful about your crafts." Faluel pointed a w of her forelegs at the Skinwalker armor.

    "What do you mean?" He asked.

    "Do you know why even though Hydra¡¯s are considered the least among the lesser Dragons, I hold the same seat in the Council as Xedros the Wyvern, who is considered to be the closest being to a true Dragon?" Faluel said.

    Lith had no idea how lesser Dragons were ranked so he just shrugged in reply.

    "Because except for Hydras, a good Forgemaster needs a partner to express their full potential. Which means double the fare for the client and double the risks for the smith. Let me give you an example."

    One of Faluel¡¯s heads conjured the world energy into a Forgemastering circle, a second used Invigoration to provide a constant supply of mana, and a third cast the necessary spells to enchant an amulet.

    A few secondster, a brand-new Council amulet was ready.

    "Without a partner, a Forgemaster can only manifest half of their prowess. Half their energy is needed to keep the circle stable and the other half for the crafting. The more powerful the Forgemaster, the more powerful the partner they need.

    "Most mages don¡¯t like wasting their time just to help you practice, so you need to properlypensate them for their time and for not sharing the secrets of your workings.

    "Hydras, instead, can do everything on their own thanks to their multiple heads." Faluel said.

    "Okay, but how does this involve me?" Lith asked.

    "Awakened are not humans, silly boy. They will never believe that you have bottomless mana because they can gauge your real ability with Life Vision. So far, you never created anything noteworthy, but recently things have changed." Faluel tapped on the Skinwalker.

    "Your sister doesn¡¯t have the power or the skill to assist you anymore and even if she did, if people start believing that she shares your secrets, it will put her in danger. Whatever creation you have in mind, do not make it public until I take you officially under my wing. If you¡¯re forced to employ it, make sure no witness remains."

    Lith didn¡¯t know the Hydra much, but he liked her logic a lot.

    After agreeing with all of her terms, Lith returned home. He had spent quite some time with Faluel and his family was likely to have woken up already. He had a lot of things to prepare and calls to make.

    ¡¯This is going to be the busiest leave ever.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Same old, same old, then.¡¯ Solus giggled. ¡¯This has been a great day for me. You¡¯ve introduced me to a lot of people and I got my own seat as Faluel¡¯s apprentice. It will be like at the Academy, but this time we¡¯re going to be rivals.¡¯

    ¡¯This has been a shitty day for me, instead. My family is pissed off at me, Rena¡¯s unborn child is ill, and there¡¯s an unexpected shitstorm brewing at the horizon.¡¯ He didn¡¯t share her enthusiasm one bit.

    ¡¯Come on, don¡¯t be a sourpuss, and look at the bright side. You got famous.¡¯ She said.

    ¡¯Yay me.¡¯ He sneered. ¡¯Once we arrive, I¡¯m going to check on Rena and then I¡¯m going to sleep until tomorrow. This mess has given me a headache and I want to be at the top of my game for the procedure.¡¯

    ¡¯Already? There¡¯s a lot of time before childbirth. Isn¡¯t it better to research the Strangler thoroughly before starting the treatment?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m going to do. Yet since there is no paper about the Strangler affecting a male nor an established therapy for creatures that young, the best I can do is run simtions after I collect all the information avable on the baby.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Contrary to his expectations, most of his n to rest was foiled thanks to his family. Raaz and Elina wanted to know about his travels, Rena wanted to spend some time with him to discuss her children¡¯s future prospects as mages, the children wanted to y, and Kam wanted to show Lith how much she had missed him.

    ¡¯Either I clone myself or I¡¯ll need a vacation to recover from the fatigue this vacation is giving me.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯Even after sleeping for eight hours, I still feel like crap.¡¯

 Chapter 914 Planning Ahead Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 914 nning Ahead Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯The first days are bound to be intense.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯There is too much catch up to do. Things should get easier over time.¡¯

    During the following morning, Lith didn¡¯t get a second of rest as well. Between his family and hismunication amulet ringing non-stop, he had barely the time to breathe.

    News of his leave had spread out and his old friends and Professors were contacting him to congratte or simply to get back in touch with him. The silver lining of the situation was that while everyone else kept Lith busy, Kam managed to have a private conversation with Elina, ensuring her help with the treatment.

    Lith had treated pregnant women in the past, but only curing minor diseases that required tier three magic or lower. Using Body Sculpting on an unborn child was a rare and difficult procedure.

    On top of that, the Strangler disease¡¯s progression was faster than any medical textbook reported. Even if Invigoration was a peerless diagnostic tool, Lith needed a lot of time to understand what the best approach was.

    Luckily for him, Rena would take a nap after every meal so that he could examine her while Elina and Kam kept Senton busy.

    Even though the baby was less than nine months, his condition was already worse than Tista¡¯s when Lith had first diagnosed her with the Strangler. The small lungs were properly developed but already more than half-filled with ck matter.

    Once outside the centa, the baby wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe on his own, let alone survive even the simplest procedure. To make matters much worse, Lith had no idea where to start and even Solus had no solution to offer him.

    The procedure he had devised for Tista was unsuited for a creature so small, to the point that Lith couldn¡¯t even alleviate the symptoms of the Strangler.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways, this is much, much worse than Xedros and Tistabined.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯If I expel the impurities, I¡¯ll contaminate the amniotic fluid and endanger the lives of the healthy kids. I could destroy the impurities as soon as theye out, but I don¡¯t know how Rena and her children will react to darkness magic.

    ¡¯No matter how much I focus to control it, darkness is still a destructive force that puts a strain on the patient. If it triggersbor, I risk killing all four of them. I was hoping to use Body Sculpting to help me find a proper treatment but that¡¯s impossible as well.¡¯

    Treating a single human life force was alreadyplicated, four at once was the stuff nightmares were made of. Rena¡¯s life force was closely entwined with that of her babies as if they were four stringed instruments that shared their cords.

    Any alteration on the life force of the ill child would have repercussions on that of the mother which in turn would affect the other babies.

    If with Xedros Lith had to deal with twin suns, in Rena¡¯s case Lith had to unravel a tapestry and then weave it again without ever altering the image depicted.

    To add insult to injury, this time his ability to hear a life force¡¯s melody was a handicap because there were four distinct melodies ying at the same time. The ill child¡¯s melody was barely audible due to it being much weaker than that of his mother and siblings.

    ¡¯Great. To hear his melody, I have to purposely weaken Rena¡¯s, but that could lead tobor. Otherwise I can enhance the child¡¯s life force, who might not withstand the strain and die on the spot. Time to ask for the opinion of an expert.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Headmaster Marth was happy to hear from one of the White Griffon¡¯s most famous alumni so he answered immediately. After a few mandatory niceties and chit-chat, Lith shared with Marth his diagnosis and doubts about his nephew¡¯s illness.

    "If I heard this story from anyone else, I¡¯d think that either the Healer is dead drunk or they are ying a prank on me." Marth remembered how serious Lith was about the Strangler disease.

    Before Tista fully Awakened, he had her fully examined many times to make sure that the strain of attending one of the six great academies couldpromise her health.

    "The situation is indeed dire and if not treated before birth, the lungs will remain filled with liquid and the baby will drown without drawing a single breath. Why does it always happen with twins?" Marth mmed his fist on the desk in frustration.

    "It usually takes an extra healer for each child involved and another for the mother, which in your case means four healers. I doubt you can pull it off stealthily unless you drug your sister and I do not rmend it strongly."

    "Do you know someone who could help me?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m a specialist in regeneration and bloodwork, so my experience with newborn amounts to zero. Vastor would be the obvious choice since he is one of the best Healers of the Kingdom and a veteran, but due to his age, he can¡¯t lead such a delicate procedure.

    "Endurance is everything when dealing with the unknown, and sadly he gets tired quickly. The best thing I can offer you is Quy Ernas. She would be a great second and might help you find a way to deal with your problem." Marth said.

    "Wait, what about our ace of all trades? I called you because Manohar likes challenges and he has yet to fail a single experimental procedure." Lith clenched his teeth, afraid of the answer.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but he¡¯s gone. Again." The poor Headmaster looked like he was about to burst into tears.

    "He did what?" Lith unknowingly made an impression of the King that would have shocked even Meron Griffon himself.

    "I know. The worst thing is that he¡¯s actually on official duty. As a penance for his repeated offenses, the Royal Court tasked him to identify the upper echelons of the Undead Courts and their associates in the Kingdom.

    "Manohar seems to have gone so deep undercover that no one knows where he is or what is he doing." Marth said.

    "How do you know that he isn¡¯t just fooling around with his secret experiments?" Lith asked.

    "Because the Court seized all his notes and assets. I know his outrage was genuine because Manohar attempted to strangle the King before we managed to restrain him." Marth¡¯s words would sound as a joke to anyone who didn¡¯t know the Mad Professor.

    In Lith¡¯s case, he doubted them not because an attempt on the King¡¯s life in front of the Royal Court was utter madness, but because he was shocked hearing that Manohar had failed.

    ¡¯I guess Meron didn¡¯t be King by chance. He must be a really powerful mage.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I¡¯ll tell you what we¡¯ll do." Marth said. "Quy, Vastor, and I wille to your house with the excuse to pay you a visit and we will discretely visit Rena. None of us might be able to find a cure, but between the three of us, we¡¯ll be able at least to point you in the right direction or suggest you the best expert to deal with the problem."

    Lith nodded in reply and organized with Marth the details of their visit.

 Chapter 915 Blood Ties Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 915 Blood Ties Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯There a reason why the White Griffon is called ¡¯the cradle of the healing arts.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The five best Healers of the whole Kingdom have studied and worked there. Once those threee to Lutia, four of them will be assembled in the Verhen household.¡¯

    ¡¯If the four of us can¡¯t find a solution, then no one can. For Rena¡¯s and the Kingdom¡¯s sake, I hope we won¡¯t need Manohar. Otherwise the next time we meet, I¡¯m going to kill that bastard.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He spent the rest of his free timepiling a detailed report of his findings and observations that he forwarded to Headmaster Marth so that the Healers woulde prepared, knowing exactly what they would be looking at.

    The following day, Marth, Vastor, and Quy knocked on Lith¡¯s door. One of the few perks of the cold season was that the academy was closed, so their social call didn¡¯t arouse suspicion.

    "Headmaster Marth, I was expecting youter. I remember well how even when most students are gone, the paperwork must go on." Lith had announced their visit to his family to avoid making them worry.

    "That makes the two of us. I was afraid that something woulde up at thest moment and force us to reschedule, but here I am." Duke Marth was a man in his mid-forties, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with thick blonde hair.

    Aside from his goatee, his face was perfectly shaven, giving him a calm and youthful appearance. Marth had less grey hair than thest time Lith had seen him and had the rxed face of a man who was at peace with the world.

    That or he had simply resigned to the unjust fate of being Manohar¡¯s lightning rod.

    The two shook hands and then Zogar Vastor came in. He was a short man in his mid-sixties, barely over 1.55 meters (5¡¯1") tall.

    The top of his head waspletely bald while the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar mustaches. Between his temporary role as Headmaster of the White Griffon and the undead invasion, he had lost a lot of weight.

    He was still quite round, but he didn¡¯t look like a living egg anymore. Together with his jovial attitude, it made him resembled a kind grandpa straight out of a fairy tale.

    "Lith, my boy, it¡¯s so good to finally see you outside a life or death situation. If you keep ignoring my calls, I might start to believe that you¡¯re avoiding me on purpose." Vastor said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor, but when you are on active duty, your life isn¡¯t your own anymore. I can¡¯t even remember thest time I could stay for more than one day in the same ce without someone trying to kill me." Lith shook his hand as well before greeting Quy.

    "Call me ¡¯little one¡¯ and you are a dead man, Lith Verhen." She ignored his hand and gave him a big hug. She was a pretty young woman the same age as Lith, 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") tall with long brown hair with shades of silver which proved her affinity for light magic.

    "Fine. Nice to see you again, Assistant Professor Ernas. Have you made any breakthrough with your research since Laurel?" He gave her a polite bow before letting her in.

    "On second thought, ¡¯little one¡¯ sounds just fine. My students and parents are more than enough to make me feel old already. I missed you, tall one." She giggled.

    "Thanks, little one. I really missed your house staff during my travels as well." He said while finally returning her hug.

    "You son of a..." Quy pushed him away with fake anger, but she was cut short.

    "Language! There are children here." Vastor¡¯s voice was so stern that it reminded them of their first day in the light magic department, back when they were still fourth-year students and the Professor had yet to pick his favorites.

    Thanks to his appearance, Vastor was quickly gaining poprity among the kids, especially Zinya¡¯s.

    "Frey, Filia, say hello to Professor Vastor. He¡¯s one of the Healers who gave me sight and took care of me during my stay at the hospital." Zinya said and the children politely obeyed.

    "You are too kind, Miss Yehval. I merely fulfilled my duty as Director of the light department." Vastor said.

    "And you are too humble, Professor. I will never forget your help in court. Without you, my inws would have given me a hard time with child custody."

    "Miss Yehval, if you keep calling me so often, I¡¯ll be forced to introduce you to my two nieces. Ever since they moved to my house after my divorce, they are bugging me to know you." Vastor looked really embarrassed by receiving so much attention from a woman much younger than him.

    "Miss Yehval? Divorce? How much did I miss?" Lith asked while trying to keep his voice as low as possible.

    "Nothing much." Kam said. "After Fallmug¡¯s arrest, Zinya disowned both our parents and her inw, taking my family name. Fallmug¡¯s parents tried to get custody of the children, iming that, with Zinya¡¯s disability and no source of ie, she couldn¡¯t take proper care of them.

    "Vastor was asked to testify about her condition and he got so pissed off that after destroying the Healer of the counterpart, he had his ountant take care of all her possession. Now Zinya can live off a trust fund."

    "It doesn¡¯t end there." Quy said. "They have exchanged theirmunication runes and speak regrly. Some say that it was thest straw that made Vastor¡¯s wife ask for a divorce."

    Lith was shocked by the events unfolding in front of his eyes. He didn¡¯t hear so much gossip since he had left the academy.

    "Vastor is a nice man." Elina chimed in. "When he learned that both you and Tista couldn¡¯t follow her recovery, he started toe here from time to time to check on Zinya¡¯s condition."

    "Oh, gods. Let¡¯s hope he is not having a midlife crisis." Lith whined.

    "After Fallmug, I don¡¯t care who my sister is with, as long as it¡¯s a good man." Kam said.

    "Besides, wouldn¡¯t be cute if, after all he did for you, the Verhens and the Vastors be inw?" The situation was dire, but Elina still pursued her own agenda. If there was one thing that the unborn baby issue proved, was that a Healer¡¯s ce was with their family.

    Lith ignored his mother¡¯stest attempt at getting him married and brought Marth over to Rena. The Headmaster had already cast all the spells he needed before knocking on the door so he only needed to make contact with his patient to activate them.

    One after the other, the three Healers found a pretext to approach Rena and took a thorough analysis of the child. Only an hourter, when the visit was over and Lith walked his guests to the door, did he ask for their findings.

    "I¡¯m very sorry, Lith, but there¡¯s nothing I can do." Marth gave him a deep bow of apology. There was no way to soften to blow without giving Lith false hope so Marth preferred a direct approach.

    "Both the pregnancy and the disease are at a too advanced state for the prognosis to not be terminal. The only option I can suggest you is to keep your sister calm and then tell her that the child is stillborn."

 Chapter 916 Blood Ties Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 916 Blood Ties Part 2</h4>

    Lith froze, staring at Marth with his eyes wide open before Vastor¡¯s voice forced him to turn around.

    "I have to agree with Marth. If only we caught the disease earlier or if the child could survive even a few months after birth, then there would be a flimsy chance of sess, but as it is, there¡¯s nothing we could do." Vastor wiped a lonely tear from his eye.

    Age had made him softer in more than one way.

    "Quy?" Lith¡¯s voice was so thin that it was barely audible.

    "Professor Vastor is right, Lith." Quy shook her head. "To not negatively affect the mother and the other children, it would take months of therapy. After birth, even with a dozen Healers providing the baby with life force, he can¡¯t live without lungs.

    "If we cure him fast enough to allow the child to breathe, his body will die because of the excessive stress the procedure requires. If we take it slow, he will simply choke to death."

    Lith¡¯s knees buckled and it was only thanks to his friends that he managed to sit on the porch instead of falling to the ground.

    "This is in no way anyone¡¯s fault." Marth said. "You and Tista couldn¡¯t predict this would happen. Heck, no one could. Diagnosing a fetus is already hard because of the link with the mother, but triplets is a mess.

    "To make matters worse, the lungs formte and the disease has progressed at an uncanny speed. Unless one cast Scanner on a daily basis, it was impossible to spot the Strangler in time."

    "I¡¯m sorry for your loss." Vastor opened a Warp Steps and disappeared, quickly followed by Marth.

    Quy would have done the same, but Lith was refusing to let go of her hand.

    "I¡¯m terrible as a grief counselor and if I stay here one more minute, Rena is bound to hear me crying." She said.

    Just like the two Professors, Quy wasn¡¯t eager to leave out of indifference, but because she knew that nothing she could say would make Lith feel better. As Healers, they dealt with death on a daily basis.

    Losing a patient was a feeling they had grown numb to, but when it happened to one of their own it was still as bad as the first time. It reminded them of their mortality and made them want to spend more time with their own families.

    "Good, because I don¡¯t need a grief counselor. The reason why I kept you here is that you¡¯re more than a genius Healer. You¡¯re a genius Healer who knows who I really am." Lith¡¯s eyes were focused again and his voice was firm.

    "I don¡¯t see how being a hybrid might help your sister. Sure, casting silent magic is a nice advantage over us humans, but our spells still follow the same principle. I¡¯ve known you long enough to recognize your ¡¯I¡¯ve got a n¡¯ face, but you can¡¯t outsmart a disease." Quy said.

    "Maybe and maybe not. To seed I need more information on the Strangler and four Healers. I know just the ce where I can get both." Without letting Quy¡¯s hand go, Lith opened a Warp Gate while announcing his arrival via themunication amulet.

    The exit point led them inside Faluel¡¯sir. The Hydra was intrigued by the sudden call for help and had prepared several spells to face whoever had dared defy her authority in her own turf.

    A single young woman yelping in fear and awe at the sight of her majestic body wasn¡¯t how Faluel had pictured the Council¡¯s goons. On top of that, the unknown woman wasn¡¯t even an Awakened.

    "Well, that¡¯s definitely not the kind of life and death situation I was expecting." Faluel said after Lith had exined everything to her.

    "Can you tell me anything about the Strangler disease that can help me with my nephew and more importantly, is it possible to save him?" Lith asked.

    "First things first." Faluel assumed her human form while conjuring a redwood table,fortable armchairs, and a hot beverage for everyone. Lith was too tense and Quy to scared to make any sense. "Who is she and what does she know?"

    Faluel now looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with rainbow-colored eyes and long hair of seven different colors that framed her fine features.

    Quy knew plenty of regr girls as pretty as Faluel now was. Yet the simple grace of her slender body seemed to be perfectly attuned with her demeanor, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.

    "My name is Quy Ernas, your Ladyship. I¡¯m a friend of Lith¡¯s and I know he is a hybrid." She said.

    Faluel looked at Lith, asking him a silent question to which he answered by shaking his head.

    "Nice to meet you, Quy. My name is Faluel the Hydra and I¡¯m Lith¡¯s mentor in the arts of Healing and Forgemastering. I wish we met in happier circumstances and earlier in your life. It¡¯s such a pity." Faluel¡¯s words puzzled both her guests.

    ¡¯Quy¡¯s mana core is bright blue with a tinge of purple. Probably she¡¯s beyond the point Faluel could Awaken her.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Now let¡¯s get to business. A Healer doesn¡¯t live for hundreds of years without treating the Strangler disease several times, so I know everything about it. Contrary to what humans think, it affects both genders.

    "The reason why you never encountered it in a male is that it kills them in the womb way before the ninth month and it¡¯s always mistaken for a simple miscarriage." Faluel said.

    ¡¯Dammit! The Strangler must be a gic disorder linked to the X chromosome like hemophilia, but worse since it manifests even in females.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "How can the baby be still alive, then?" He asked.

    "Because of your blood." Faluel pointed her finger at Lith. "The same power that makes you who you are also flows inside your sister. Over time, your treatments made her stronger while weakening the dormant disease at the same time."

    "Are you saying that it¡¯s because all the members of my family are potential hybrids?" Lith asked.

    "Perhaps. Up to this moment, only your blood Awakened. Time will tell us if you are the rule or the exception." The Hydra said.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. I don¡¯t know whether to hope Faluel is just speaking about the consequences of me using Invigoration on the members of my family or that being a hybrid is a trait we all share.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Is there anything we can do to save the kid?"

    "I¡¯ve sessfully treated simr cases in magical beasts, but never in humans. Their bodies are much weaker so I can¡¯t guarantee you anything." Faluel replied.

    "How?" Quy was bbergasted. "I mean, cubse in litters and it takes one Healer for each patient. How could you do it?"

    "With my seven heads, I alone can do the work of six Healers at the same time. Seven if it¡¯s a real crisis." Faluel usually preferred to keep one head free to use Invigoration. Each one of her heads was capable of independent action, but they all drew power from a single mana core.

 Chapter 917 Master and Students Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 917 Master and Students Part 1</h4>

    "That¡¯s wonderful news, but you can¡¯t fit inside my home in your true form and even if you could, Rena would have a heart attack." Lith said.

    "Point taken. We still need a fourth Healer, but I can¡¯t rmend Protector. I taught him well but his experience in the field is extremely limited. We need someone with both experience and lots of mana." Faluel hinted at Solus not being up to the task, at least not in her stone ring form.

    Lith racked his brain searching for a potential candidate. Phloria had yet toplete her specialization as Healer and Friya didn¡¯t practice Body Sculpting since she had graduated from the academy.

    ¡¯Damn. I have no chance of sess without Faluel, but at the same time, her presence prevents me from calling in Healers like Marth. Where do I find someone that fits my bill and has a high tolerance for weird?¡¯ Lith wished that Yurial was still alive.

    Lith was certain that, given the chance, his friend would have be a great Healer.

    ¡¯At Protector¡¯s home.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Nalrond said that his people mastered the light element and that they were considered miracle workers by human mages.¡¯

    ¡¯Solus, I swear, if you had a physical body, I could kiss you right now.¡¯ Months had passed since their little heart to heart with the Razer and Lith hadpletely forgotten about the skillset of histest ally.

    "I think I know the right guy for the job, but I¡¯d like to hear your opinion about him." Lith said.

    Faluel nodded and wore a full set of fur clothes before opening a Gate to Selia¡¯s Living room.

    "The sun is still high and the sky is clear." Quy couldn¡¯t believe that someone so powerful could also be so sensitive to cold.

    "Thanks for your concern, dear, but I like my climate like I like my men. Hot and sunny." Faluel replied. "Is that the man you were talking about?"

    "That¡¯s him. Hi, Selia." Lith nodded.

    "Hi, guys!" Selia was unfazed by the sudden intrusion in her own home. She just made sure that the children would stay away from the open Gate.

    "That¡¯s me indeed so stop talking like I¡¯m not here." Nalrond replied. "What are you doing here and who are the bear and the little one?"

    "The bear, I mean thedy here is Faluel the Hydra. The little one is Quy Ernas a friend of mine. Faluel, Quy, this is Nalrond." Lith said.

    Faluel skipped the pleasantries and grabbed the Rezar¡¯s hand, activating Invigoration.

    "It¡¯s been decades since thest time I met one of the werepeople. How good are you with Healing magic in general and Body Sculpting in particr?"

    "I practice the mystical arts since I was four. I studied light magic all my life and I¡¯m specialized in manipting life forces. Along with my tribe, we were looking for a cure for our condition." He replied.

    "Do you have any experience with unborn children?" The Hydra asked.

    "Yes. We studied the separation of our life forces from conception."

    "That¡¯s perfect." Faluel ruffled Lilia¡¯s and Leran¡¯s hair who were clinging at her legs, begging for a new adventure.

    "Please, Auntie. We¡¯re so bored and uncle Nalrond is no fun. It will just be another little secret between us." Leria said.

    "What do you mean, another little secret?" Selia tapped her foot in annoyance.

    "I¡¯ll lead the procedure and you¡¯ll be my seconds." Not having a usible excuse, Faluel ignored the question and exined the situation to the Rezar who dly offered his help. "When do you want to do it, Lith?"

    "The sooner the better, correct?"

    "Well, the kid¡¯s condition is only going to get worse with time. So the question is, are you two at the top of your game?" Faluel asked.

    Both Quy and Nalrond nodded. The former had rested a whole day, preserving her strength to face the worst-case scenario, while thetter had not exerted himself in weeks.

    Another Gate led them outside of the range of the arrays that protected Lith¡¯s house.

    "I understand that you don¡¯t want to scare your sister, but I can¡¯t afford to rush things nor to have Rena freaking out if she wakes up from her nap and finds a bunch of people casting magic on her. You need to talk to her." The Hydra said.

    "Isn¡¯t there a spell that can keep Rena calm or asleep for the duration of the procedure?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, but they require to alter her metabolism, adding even more stress to that ourbined spells will inflict upon her. It¡¯s the magical equivalent of drugging her and I¡¯d rather have a patient that can tell me when she experiences difort than one more enemy to fight."

    Faluel lookedical as she shivered under the sun and the multipleyers of fur, but her voice was firm.

    "Fine. I¡¯ll do it." Lith entered his house, searching for the best way to soften the blow. He was so focused rehearsing his lines that he almost failed to notice the deafening silence that weed him back in the living room.

    Almost.

    "There you are." Rena was sitting on a sofa with Senton to her right and Zinya to her left.

    For some reason, Elina was alone in a corner with Raaz, whispering. Lith could hear the children ying with Kam in his room. She was using one of Lith¡¯s devices to project a movie and keep them from panicking.

    "Can you please tell me what¡¯s wrong with me?" Rena asked.

    "What do you mean?" The cat seemed to be out of the bag, all Lith could do was damage control.

    "For the gods¡¯ sake, Lith, I¡¯m not stupid. How could I miss three of the best healers in the Kingdom casually visiting at the same time and each one of them casually touching me for way longer than a friendly greeting requires?

    "I¡¯ve lived here long enough to know how a Healer works, how you work. With white lies and omissions." Rena said.

    "Just be calm, dear. I¡¯m sure that Lith had his reasons." Senton said.

    "Senton is right, Rena. As his sister, you should know that he puts his patients¡¯ wellbeing first. I was just a stranger to him, yet he went way beyond his duty to help me. Imagine to what lengths he would go for you." Zinya said.

    "That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m angry. He spoke about it with Mom and Kam, yet he kept mepletely in the dark. Whatever is happening, I have the right to know. My body, my decision." Rena acted angry, but she was actually scared.

    Scared that the illness affecting her could harm the children in her womb. Scared that the fairy tale that her life had been up to that moment could suddenly turn into a nightmare.

    Lith took a deep breath to calm down and then moved a chair in front of Rena.

    ¡¯She will need all the support she can get. Senton is the father of her children and Zinya has undergone a risky procedure as well. They are the ones that can rte the best with Rena.¡¯ Lith thought before exining the situation in detail to her.

    He talked softly, answering all of her questions to try and keep her as calm as he could. By the time he was done, despite his best efforts, Rena was pale as a ghost and on the verge of a breakdown.

    "I don¡¯t understand." She said. "I remember that even Tista was born healthy. The disease manifestedter. Leria is fine, the other children are fine. Why him? Why now? You must be wrong, your story makes no sense."

    "Just bad luck, like Tista. She was the only one affected by the illness among her siblings as well." Lith stated the obvious to help Rena ovee her denial.

 Chapter 918 Master and Students Part 2

    <strong>Chapter 918: Master and Students (Part 2)</strong>

    "I talked to a specialist about your condition and she thinks she might be able to help. Do you mind if I let her in?"

    Rena was tempted to send Faluel away, hoping that the bad news would disappear along with the Healer. Yet her maternal instinct was stronger than her fears and superstitions, so she turned to Senton who agreed in her ce.

    "Who are all these people?" Rena didn¡¯t expect a second team of Healers to barge into the house. Especially not one wearing her own weight in fur and another looking like someone who was there because he had lost a bet.

    "Good gods if it¡¯s chilly. Do you mind turning up the heat?" Faluel asked.

    Nalrond was too shocked and embarrassed to say a word. To him, it was Lith¡¯s house to be identical to Protector¡¯s and he wasn¡¯t used to being around so many humans. He could have teared them up like paper mache in his beast form, yet the Rezar was quaking in his boots.

    "Sure thing." Elina operated the panel that controlled the house temperature, making the room as warm as during a sunny spring day.

    "That¡¯s really an ingenious system." The Hydra said while studying the central heating magical devices spread throughout the house. "Too bad it wouldn¡¯t work for my ce. Maybe I should make myself a winter cottage."

    Once Faluel was done undressing, all eyes were on her. To not scare her hosts, she had changed her hair to silvery blond with streaks of white, pretending to be just a normal human expert in light magic.

    "Aren¡¯t you a little too young to be a specialist in anything, miss...?" Elina didn¡¯t mean to be rude, but aside from Lith and Quy, the Hydra appeared to be the youngest person in the room.

    <i>¡¯Darn, I knew I was forgetting something. Damn cold that slows my brain.¡¯</i> Faluel cursed.

    "Faluel. Just call me Faluel. As for your question, I¡¯m a well-renowned genius that some consider on par with the unreliable Manohar." Faluel wasn¡¯t actually that brilliant nor did she have any idea who would win if she ever fought against the Mad Professor.

    All that mattered to her was to put her patient at ease and gain her trust.

    "Really?" Everyone asked, Quy included, making Faluel words lose a good chunk of their luster.

    "Who¡¯s Manohar?" Nalrond was only getting more confused by the second. His ignorance put another dent in Rena¡¯s opinion about the odd squad of Healers.

    "Yes." Faluel ignored the disbelief in the room, brimming with the confidence of an Empress talking to her loyal subjects. "I¡¯m the mage who will take care of Lith after he is done with the army. I¡¯m a specialist in Healing and Forgemastering."

    "Really?" Everyone asked, again.

    "Yes." Lith red at Quy to make her stop acting surprised at everything. "Master Faluel belongs to an ancient magical bloodline and offered to share her wisdom with me. She¡¯s an even better Healer than I am."

    Lith hated to call the Hydra his master, but he knew that, if he used the term Professor, Quy¡¯s reaction would make everyone doubt his words.

    Lith was many things, but being humble wasn¡¯t among them. Hearing the deference in his tone toward Faluel and calling her as he had only done for Nana sealed the deal for his family.

    "Can you save my baby, Lady Faluel?" Rena asked.

    "Just Faluel, please. As for your question, I can¡¯t answer before taking a look myself. Do you mind me giving you a check-up?" Faluel said, receiving a nod for an answer.

    She ced both her hands on Rena¡¯s womb and then activated Invigoration. Faluel¡¯s eyes burned with white light and her hair turned to silver. The light spread from her hands to Rena¡¯s body and three wisps appeared where each baby was.

    None of it had any practical use, but she knew how humans were prone to mistake theatrics with real power. Her show was impressive enough to leave all those present in awe, Quy included.

    "The bad news is that the diagnosis of my esteemed colleagues from the White Griffon is right. The good news is that I don¡¯t agree with their prognosis. I¡¯m confident I can save your baby, but I¡¯ll need everyone¡¯s help." Faluel said.

    "What do we have to do?" Elina asked.

    "To seed I need time, space, and to not be interrupted for any reason. Also, for the duration of the procedure, I need the members of the family to be in a different spot from their guests. Can you do it for me?" Faluel said.

    Kam was worried by the gravity of Rena¡¯s condition, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She went to Zinya¡¯s home along with her sister and the children, leaving the Verhens alone.

    <i>¡¯I do realize that Senton was allowed to stay only because he shares the same blood of the unborn child. Then why does it still hurt feeling cut out from the life of the people I love?¡¯</i> She thought, holding back her tears.

    Faluel had Rena lie down in Lith¡¯s bedroom because it was the biggest in the house while the rest of the family sat on the other side of the nearby wall per the Healer¡¯s instructions.

    "I¡¯ll take care of the kid with the Strangler. Lith, you know Rena better than anyone, so it¡¯s your duty to keep her stable and give us a constant flow of life force. Quy, you take care of the other boy. Nalrond, you take the girl." Faluel gave Rena a potion to drink before the procedure and several others forter use.

    "I said I wanted it to be a surprise." Rena halfughed and half sobbed.

    "I¡¯m sorry, sis. Feel free to beat me up once we¡¯re done." Lith said, trying to make herugh.

    He knew that Rena didn¡¯t actually trust Faluel nor Nalrond, she was just desperate. Yet he was also aware that the real reason why the Hydra had untrusted Rena to him wasn¡¯t to just hold her hand, but because he was the only one beside Faluel who could use Invigoration.

    If something went wrong, it would be his duty to prevent the damage from spreading to the mother and then to the other children.

    <i>¡¯Okay, guys. I can¡¯t waste time talking or exining stuff so we¡¯ll use a mind-link during the whole procedure.¡¯</i> Faluel¡¯s thoughts echoed in the Healers¡¯ minds, shocking them to the bone.<i> ¡¯Yes, telepathy is a thing. Now put up your game face and stop scaring the patient.</i>

    <i>¡¯I usually don¡¯t give lessons for free, but I need you to understand what I¡¯m doing step by step so that you can prepare your countermeasures before something goes wrong. Eyes on the prize, save the questions for never, and good luck.¡¯</i>

    Everyone activated their tier five Scanner and Chisel spells. The former allowed them to sense the life force of the patient while thetter was used to manipte it at will.

    <i>¡¯Step one, treat the Strangler disease. The usual approach here would be to fix the life force and get rid of the congenital disorder once and for all, but the kid wouldn¡¯t survive, just like your Professors said.</i>

    <i>¡¯We can¡¯t even destroy the corrupted tissues and rece them with healthy new ones without killing both mother and child due to the release of toxic substances. What I¡¯m going to do, instead, is treating only the already affected areas and leave the rest for after the birth.</i>

    <i>¡¯Keep your respective patient stable, watch, and learn.¡¯</i> Faluel thought.

    When looked through Scanner, the life force of a human looked like something built out of lego blocks and an erector set. What the Hydra did was to take the blocks thatprised the ckened part of the lungs out one at a time.

 Chapter 919 Spirit and Light Magic Part 1

    <strong>Chapter 919: Spirit and Light Magic (Part 1)</strong>

    Faluel filled the empty space with white tendrils from her spell, without even letting the child¡¯s body notice what was going on. Then, she scanned the bodies of the other children before examining the mother and, if necessary, even of all the nearby rtives to look for the closest match.

    It was the other Healers¡¯ duty to prevent Rena and the children in her womb from feeling any difort. Raaz and the others were as fit as a fiddle, so they only experienced a small sting when Faluel operated on them from a distance, borrowing healthy pieces of their life force to use them as reference.

    Lith and the others looked in awe as Faluel was able to turn the corrupted blocks into scaled-down versions of their healthy counterparts the moment she found the best match.

    Her approach was akin to recycle the baby¡¯s own flesh, limiting the stress that the procedure exerted upon both mother and son. Lith provided Rena with a slow and constant flow of life force while the potion she had ingested earlier provided her with the nutrients she needed.

    Neither Quy nor Nalrond could understand how Faluel managed to perform Body Sculpting on Lith¡¯s rtives despite the wall separating the Hydra from her targets. Only Solus could see via mana sense that the Hydra was using tendrils of Spirit Magic as conduits for her spell.

    <i>¡¯By my maker! Spirit magic can be mixed with other elements to make up for their innate shorings, in this case healing magic¡¯s short range</i>.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Drink the next potion, Rena." Faluel had cleansed half of the kid¡¯s left lung.

    <i>¡¯In this kind of procedure, it¡¯s vital to provide the patient with a constant supply of nutrients and enough time to metabolize them. It¡¯s the only way to prevent the rapid cellr regeneration from feeding off the patient¡¯s body and avoidplications during or after the treatment.¡¯</i> Faluel exined to her students.

    Quy was so focused on creating a sack of light magic around her subject, to protect him from the ripples of the Hydra¡¯s spell, that only the increasing number of empty sks did allow her to perceive the passing of time.

    Even though Nalrond and Quy would have loved to admire Faluel¡¯s handiwork, they didn¡¯t have enough time nor focus to spare. The four life forces were linked to each other through Rena.

    Every alteration on the ill baby¡¯s life force reverberated through the mother and until Lith didn¡¯t manage to restore Rena¡¯s body to its original condition, it was up to the other two Healers to shield the babies from the ripples of Faluel¡¯s spell.

    One slip up and the number of patients would multiply in an endless loop.

    Once she was done repairing the lungs, Faluel took a short break to allow everyone to catch their breath.

    <i>¡¯Step two. Remove the umted mass that prevents the now healthy tissues from inting and deting properly. The amount of darkness magic needed to destroy it would inevitably affect the lungs as well.</i>

    <i>¡¯What I¡¯m going to do is use just enough darkness magic to mobilize the mass and have it expelled through the umbilical cord. The problem is that once the liquid mass reaches the bloodstream, it can go anywhere.</i>

    <i>¡¯We can¡¯t let it reach the brain and the heart of the mother nor get into the other babies¡¯ system. You can¡¯t use darkness magic to stop the ck mass, otherwise it will break down into toxins that might poison the mother along with the babies.</i>

    <i>¡¯Best case scenario, the toxin will trigger thebor, but none of our patients is in the shape to survive the experience, they need to rest. Yet we can¡¯t afford to dy the treatment because the pregnancy is almost over.</i>

    <i>¡¯If the naturalbor happens before weplete the procedure or before the baby recovers, he will die and everything we¡¯ve done would be pointless. We¡¯ve to act now or it will be toote.</i>

    <i>¡¯Once I start the second phase of the treatment, the only tool at your disposal will be the Scalpel spell. Use it to lock any stray fragment of ck mass into a safe ce until Lith or I can safely draw them out of Rena¡¯s body.¡¯</i>

    Faluel used small pulses of darkness magic to turn the solid mass into a liquid without damaging the baby, the mother, or the centa. Contrary to what Lith had done years before for Tista, she was working on a much smaller and weaker subject.

    She had been forced to treat the infected tissues in one go to prevent them from spreading into the still healthy parts of the lungs and to remove the mass as well so that whenever thebor would take ce, the kid would survive.

    Faluel moved the impurities away from the child and into Rena¡¯s blood system. She guided them to her foot, away from any organ that could be clotted or poisoned by the impurities. Then she proceeded to expel and destroy them.

    All that Rena felt was as if someone was constantly dirtying and cleaning her heel. Lith helped the Hydra at the best of his abilities, keeping the masspact and leading stray fragments back to the flock as fast as he could.

    In normal circumstances, taking control of someone¡¯s metabolism with Invigoration was a piece of cake, but in Rena¡¯s case, it meant also to disrupt the children¡¯s metabolism with unpredictable consequences.

    "It¡¯s done." Faluel said after triple checking that there was nothing left that could endanger the patients¡¯ life.

    "What about the babies?" Despite the potions and Lith providing her with life force, Rena was drenched in sweat and deathly pale from exhaustion.

    The repeated cycles of damage and repair her body had undergone would cripple Rena¡¯s physical strength until her life force was stable again.

    "They are all fine, but we can¡¯t rx. I couldn¡¯tpletely eradicate the Strangler, so not only it could manifestter again, but the disease will also be transmitted to your grandchildren." Faluel said.

    "What do I have to do now?"

    "Rest and recover. Lith can check up daily on the baby and keep the situation under control so that no further procedure will be necessary. Once the baby is born and a few month¡¯s old, it will be a piece of cake to get cleanse the Strangler from his body once and for all." Faluel wiped the sweat from Rena¡¯s face before leaving.

    Yet Rena stopped the Hydra by grabbing her wrist.

    "I know even though you don¡¯t know me I¡¯m asking a lot, but when the timees, can you please help me delivering the babies?"

    "It will be my pleasure. Just remember to heat the house properly for me." Faluel said.

    "I¡¯ll make it hot like a summer day if necessary." Rena let go of the Hydra, falling asleep the moment she managed to rx.

    "Now that¡¯s everything is over, let¡¯s talk about my payment." Faluel said.

    "What payment?" Lith hated surprises, especially those with a price tag attached.

    "I¡¯m in hot waters with Selia, so I expect you to put in a good word for me. Also, I like the warming-thing you did to your house. It doesn¡¯t need arrays nor mana crystals, which is nice and convenient."

    "It¡¯s called air-conditioning. It keeps the house warm during winter and cool during summer." Lith said.

    "Can you do it for my cave?" She asked.

    "You cave is damn huge and it¡¯s not insted." Lith shook his head.

    "Luckily, it¡¯s your problem, not mine. You¡¯re a smart man, I¡¯m sure you¡¯lle up with a solution." Faluel winked and opened a Gate back to her home.

 Chapter 920 Spirit and Light Magic Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 920 Spirit and Light Magic Part 2</h4>

    "Frigging cold." She shivered when a cold draft from the cave entered the room.

    "Fine, but the materials are on you." Lith said.

    "Deal. Say goodbye to your family for me and call me only if either you really need my help or you can properly introduce me. I hate lying to be epted. I don¡¯t need anything from them, it¡¯s them who need my help."

    Lith gave her a deep bow and went to give the good news to his family.

    "If you have any questions, ask Quy. I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy with Kami and Zin. They must be worried sick." He said while Hushing the living room, to keep their cries of joy from waking Rena up.

    "Wait, how the heck did Faluel control Rena¡¯s metabolism? There¡¯s no spell I know that can do that. Also, how is it possible that after hours of treatment you and I are exhausted while those two didn¡¯t even break a sweat?" Quy asked Nalrond.

    "It¡¯s amazing how I¡¯m the one who lived in the middle of nowhere all of his life and yet it¡¯s you who is this painfully ignorant." Nalrond said before going back home as well.

    Back at Zinya¡¯s house, the kids had gone to sleep for a while. The procedure had taken so long that the sun had already set. Yet the two women had been restless the whole time, pacing around the house or checking the windows at the faintest noise, hoping for some news.

    When Lith knocked, the door opened instantly. He was surprised noticing that Kam¡¯s eyes were red and she had consumed quite the number of handkerchiefs. Zinya was worried as well, but she had kept her cool for her sister¡¯s sake.

    "Everything went fine. Mother and children are alright." Lith said, trying to understand the source of her stress.

    Kam was on great terms with his family and she had a good heart, but judging from the pile of crumpled cotton, she seemed to have cried as much as Elina.

    "Thank the gods! I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been so scared in my life." Kam sighed with so much relief that it confused Lith even more. "I have a question, though. Was she..."

    "The same Faluel I talked to you about yesterday? Yes. Did she make a bad impression on you?" He tried to understand if Kam was concerned only about the child or also about him spending a long time with the Hydra.

    Her human appearance was quite attractive, after all, and being jealous would have been natural.

    "What the heck are you saying? She¡¯s a saint. You¡¯re lucky to have met such a caring teacher who¡¯s willing to helpplete strangers for free. I wish me and Zin had such luck when we were younger." Kam said, making Zinya nod and Lith scratch his head.

    "I just want to know how the Strangler works. Is it a family thing? Do you have it as well? I¡¯ve read the papers but the medical jargon is beyond me." She asked.

    "It¡¯s a family thing, passed from the mother¡¯s side. I don¡¯t suffer from the Strangler, otherwise I would be kind of dead at this point." Lith replied.

    "Only from the mother? So a father can¡¯t pass it on his children?" All traces of worry disappeared from Kam¡¯s face. She was brimming with joy as if she had won a million gold coins.

    "Exactly. I can¡¯t..." Lith choked on his words the moment he understood the reason for Kam¡¯s anguish and she hugged him so tight that she squeezed the air out of his lungs.

    ***

    Once the problem with the baby was solved, Lith¡¯s first week¡¯s leave was peaceful. Faluel¡¯s sudden appearance and her odd methods had raised a lot of questions, but the members of Lith¡¯s family cared only about cherishing the happy moment.

    He would rarely get out of the house, spending most of his time catching up with his parents and checking up on Rena every two hours. She was recovering well from the procedure, but she was anxious about her babies.

    After a while, Rena calmed down and so did the rest of the family. Lith enjoyed taking a break from all his worries and projects. Solus and he spent that time appreciating what they had fought so hard to build and protect.

    After a while, however, peace just became boring and everyone grew restless. Even during winter, there was still a lot to do at the farm and at the smithy. Elina and Raaz had to deal with the farm¡¯s backlog while Kam decided to start her part-time.

    With Zinya taking care of Rena and Lith of the house, she was starting to feel useless.

    ¡¯I think I¡¯ll follow her lead and get some work done in the tower.¡¯ Lith thought while Warping to the mana geyser in the Trawn woods.

    ¡¯I agree. I¡¯m itching to put to the test some of the Runesmithing techniques I¡¯ve researched.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Not about the Odi machine? I mean, between all the books we have retrieved, the mold of Dawn¡¯s device, and the scans of the Odi¡¯s knowledge swapping machine, we have a lot of material.¡¯ Lith said.

    ¡¯Too much material, to be precise. It will take me months just to trante the manuals, then we have to understand how the old and recent machines work and if we can use such knowledge to upgrade the body-swapping machine.¡¯ Solus said.

    "Definitely too much. Why don¡¯t you ever get me good news?" He sighed.

    "I just did, you ungrateful man! While you cuddled at night with your lovely girlfriend, I was working my ass tranting the booklet from Huryole. I¡¯ve found the blueprints for your goddamn ring! Happy now?"

    A pouting Solus appeared in front of Lith the moment he stepped inside the tower. She was wielding her Forgemastering hammer in a threatening manner.

    "Very. Now put the hammer away, please." Lith said.

    Solus snorted in reply, making a table covered in paper scrolls appear in the middle of the ground floor.

    "I¡¯ve found a couple of interesting blueprints. The first is for a barrier ring. It works like spirit magic. You inject mana into the ring and it generates a spherical barrier around you.

    "The pros are that it can help us to study spirit magic and it¡¯s quite versatile. The cons are that it¡¯s mana expensive and that it can¡¯t change shape, only its size. The mana crystals and the pseudo core create a scaffold, but you must do the rest." She said.

    "The second is for a tier five magic holding ring. I don¡¯t rmend it. Mostly because you don¡¯t use tier five spells often and that kind of item can store a single charge, whereas the barrier can be used as long as you have mana or use Invigoration."

    "I don¡¯t know. I could use a free Final Sunset, it¡¯s my bread and butter these days." Lith didn¡¯t like having copied one of Nalear¡¯s spells, but its power was undeniable. "How many sets of runes do they require?"

    "Three sets of runes and three mana crystals each." Solus replied. "If you consider they are equally difficult to craft, I¡¯d say their effects cannot bepared."

    "Agreed." Lith said, making space inside Soluspedia for both blueprints in the case they had enough purified Orichalcum to craft more than one piece.

 Chapter 921 Runesmithing Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 921 Runesmithing Part 1</h4>

    The two different magical rings shared two out of three sets of runes. The first set would enhance Lith¡¯s energy signature so that the mana flow originating from the crystals embedded into the rings would offer less resistance to the Forgemastering process.

    The second set amplified the effects of the rings¡¯ pseudo core, allowing it to be temporarily boosted when necessary.

    The third set of the magic holding ring allowed for energy maniption so that the spell could be used a little at a time instead of being released in one go. Also, as long as the stored spell wasn¡¯tpletely spent, the runes made it possible to recharge or amplify it on the fly.

    In the case of the barrier ring, instead, the third set contained aplex pre-set code that would allow the ring to channel Lith¡¯s mana into a spirit magic barrier even if he had no idea how to do it himself.

    Both rings required three mana crystals each. Two had to be embedded close to each other and facing outside, to project the mana outwards, whereas the third crystal would be in contact with the palm of the wearer to more easily draw upon their mana.

    During the first day, Lith practiced engraving the sets of runes one by one, wasting quite the number of cheap rings. This time he couldn¡¯t use pebbles because, for Runesmithing, with the shape of the item he wanted to craft also varied the spacing between runes.

    Only when he became not only capable of engraving all runes correctly but also to keep the distances between the different sets so that they wouldn¡¯t mess with each other, did he start working on the final hurdle.

    Before attempting to Forgemaster the ring with the purified Orichalcum, Lith had yet to convert the ancient engraving method in the modern fashion. Old runes would be always visible, giving away the nature of their enchantment and betraying Lith¡¯s sess in raiding the lost academy of Huryole.

    Modern engraving, instead, would project the energy of the runes inward, making them invisible to the naked eye. The process was tricky because the booklet at Lith¡¯s disposal only exined the old method and he could only study Ruin to understand how modern engraving worked.

    "Exin that to me again, please." Lith massaged his temples after one failure too many.

    "Okay. Ancient Forgemasters would physically carve the surface of the objects, so that the engravings would serve as both a beacon for their mana and as a temte for the runes. The downside of this method is that the runes are isted from the mana circtory system of the item, so they act as separate entities" Solus said.

    "Modern Forgemasters, instead, shape their mana as runes on their own before applying them on the surface of an item. This way, the energy released by the runes is not restricted by the physical carvings and can circte throughout the artifact.

    "The process makes them invisible to normal means of detection and able to alter the properties of both the metal and its mana circtory system.

    "Once the enchantment is applied, the final result is given from the synergy between the runes and the pseudo core, creating something that¡¯s greater than the sums of its single parts.

    "The downside of this method is that it requires great focus. You must remember the runes thatprise each set and shape all of them to perfection at the same time. The slightest mistake in their form or positioning will lead to failure."

    "How the heck do Royal Forgemaster achieve such precision with fake magic?" Lith asked in frustration.

    The rings Solus had studied were among the simplest creations a Runesmith could craft, yet they required thirty runes each that were as small as they wereplex.

    "My guess is they have some kind of crutch, like the special ink they use to draw the magic circles for the Forgemastering process." She said.

    "Solus, I love you!" Lith jumped up and tried to take her between his arms, but she popped away, letting the Forgemastering hammer fall to the ground with a silvery sound.

    "I meant that you¡¯re a genius and that you may have offered me a solution."

    "Meaning?" An incorporeal voice asked.

    "I¡¯ll show you." Lith took a bottle of special ink out of his pocket dimension and used water magic to draw with it three magic circles, one for each set of runes. Then, just like when he was still a fourth-year student at the academy, Lith infused them with his mana.

    The ink absorbed the mystical energy, acting as a temte for their final form. The runes grew in power and splendor, keeping the right shape with minimal effort from Lith¡¯s side.

    "I¡¯ve never been so d to have worked as Assistant Professor at the White Griffon. I know the recipe for the ink like the back of my hand. We can mass produce it in your alchemicalb." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s brilliant thinking! Luckily we¡¯re both geniuses." Solus finally reappeared, embracing Lith with joy.

    "Thanks for thepliment. By the way, nice double standards for hugs." Lith clicked his tongue, preparing for the final phase of the experiment.

    To replicate a pseudo core with true magic, first Lith had to study its version obtained with fake magic. He used the special ink to draw and apply the runes to a cheap ring before Bonding it with the three mana crystals required for the craft.

    "I wish I could use cheap crystals as well. What kind of madman would waste precious resources for teaching to kids?" He said in anguish.

    "Green crystals are cheap. Also, pot, meet kettle. You went to an academy that ¡¯wasted¡¯ a lot of resources on you, remember?" Solus said.

    "That was a different case."

    "Different how?" She asked.

    "I wasn¡¯t the one paying for them." Lith started to chant the spell, preventing her from quoting his own rebuke about double standards.

    The crafting went without a hitch, producing the lowest grade barrier ring a mage could conceive and turn their nose at. Lith studied the ring¡¯s pseudo core and how it interacted with the runes when and external flow of mana activated its enchantment.

    "Nowes the part I hate the most. Prototypes." Lith sighed.

    Prototypes had to be as close as possible to the real deal, hence to craft them Lith had to use high-quality materials. Otherwise, the gap in physical properties and mana flow between the prototype and the final product would add unpredicted variables to the crafting process.

    For that reason, the prototypes required smelted Orichalcum rings bonded with blue mana crystals. It took Solus and Lith more than two weeks to fine-tune the entire process and iron out the final details.

    He already had Zekell turn the piece of purified Orichalcum into three thick silvery rings, so he could afford up to three tries.

    The first step was Bonding three purple mana crystals with the Orichalcum, giving it a circtory mana system akin to that of a living being. ording to the booklet from Huryole, the order of Bonding and Runesmithing could be swapped, but Lith had learned the truth the hard way.

    Only when using outdated Runesmithing techniques the preparatory steps didn¡¯t require to be performed in sequence and that was because external runes didn¡¯t interact with the enchantment.

 Chapter 922 Runesmithing Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 922 Runesmithing Part 2</h4>

    Lith, instead, used ancient runes but modern techniques, so that applying the runes before the Bonding caused distortions in the circtory mana system due to the rejection between Lith¡¯s energy signature from the runes and that of the crystals.

    Applying runes was the step Lith had less experience with and it was crucial. He would have liked to have all the surface of the ring avable for the runes and Bond the gems only after the Runesmithing process, but unfortunately, it turned out to be impossible.

    Bonding and Runesmithing both created a circtory mana system, but while the former was highly susceptible to external influences and would change its course based on the obstacles that it met, thetter would relentlessly follow the instructions embedded in the runes.

    Only after the purple crystals had be one with the metal and their circtory mana system was stabilized could Lith move to the second step, Runesmithing.

    The sets of runes would seep inside the Orichalcum, spreading their veins through its whole structure and relying on Lith¡¯s mana to ovee the resistance generated by the presence of the crystals.

    ¡¯Fascinating.¡¯ Solus thought while examining theplexwork of mana channels the two preparatory steps had created.

    ¡¯It¡¯s as if the crystals created arteries that spread the mana evenly while the runes created veins that will allow the residual energy to return to the pseudo core without overloading the ring. All that is left is the heart.¡¯

    ¡¯You made an interesting parallel, Solus, but it¡¯s more than that. The runes also carry my energy signature, so with each set I engraved, I reduced the rejection between the mana generated by the crystals and my own, making the Forgemastering process easier.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Now I understand why the booklet is so adamant about the correct positioning for both crystals and runes. A slight alteration is all that it takes to turn a masterpiece into an utter failure.¡¯

    Then, Lith performed the third andst step, Necro Forge. Each failed prototype had made his wallet bleed, but at the same time had brought the process closer to perfection.

    Without runes, Lith couldn¡¯t create a pseudo core holding more than half of his magical force, otherwise the amplification effect of the Orichalcum would boost the pseudo core to the point that Lith couldn¡¯t ovee the rejection between the two different energy signatures.

    The ancient Runesmithing technique raised the limit to 60% while using the ancient runes and what Lith assumed were modern Runesmithing techniques, brought it up to 75%.

    ¡¯I guess I¡¯ll need Faluel¡¯s teachings to reach 100%. Oh well, this is still a great training.¡¯ He thought while resting, preferring to save Invigoration for Necro Forge.

    Such Forgemastering technique required him to shape the pseudo core outside its future recipient and then merge them together before creating the necessary mana pathways to make it permanent.

    By creating aplete pseudo core, Lith had all the time he wanted to shape it with surgical precision and charge it with enough energy to fuel the enchantments he wanted to create.

    The downside of Necro Forge was that injecting a powerful energy mass inside inanimate matter would encounter a lot of resistance and put a huge amount of stress on its recipient.

    To make matters worse, the pseudo core was likely to be deformed in the process, and fixing it would require consuming more mana and focus.

    The pseudo core had to retain a perfect shape after having been ced inside the mana circtory system before Lith could add the correct number of mana pathways necessary to stabilize the artifact.

    Mana pathways were artificial energy conduits that anchored the pseudo core, trapping its wild energies in a loop that prevented them from being dispersed due to a magical item¡¯s inanimate nature.

    The number of necessary mana pathways depended on the pseudo core¡¯s strength. Too few and the mana forming the core would be dispersed, too many and it would crumble.

    Lith first created the pseudo core between his hands, giving it perfect size and proportions. Invigoration allowed him to see in detail both his own creation and the mana core crafted with fake magic, so that byparing them he could fix any mistake.

    Then, he made it engulf the ring. At first, the purified Orichalcum absorbed the pseudo core like a sponge does with water. After a while, however, the flow of energy bearing Lith¡¯s energy signature and that bearing the three purple crystals¡¯ were matched in power.

    The pseudo core started to distort, forcing Lith to stop and restore its shape. At that point, he wielded his enchanted Forgemastering hammer and used Solus¡¯s help to ovee the rejection caused by the two conflicting energies.

    Solus had now to split both her focus and the world energying from the mana geyser between the magic circle and the hammer. Without the former, the mystical energies of the Forgemastering process would dissipate while without thetter Lith wouldck the strength to imbue such powerful magic into the ring.

    Each time the Forgemastering hammer was filled to the brim with manaing from Lith and Solus, it would strike at the enchanted ring, emitting a blinding pulse of blue light that was captured by the circle and channeled into the ongoing spell.

    The purified Orichalcum offered little resistance to the mana flowpared with its just smelted counterpart. The phenomenon had allowed the energying from the purple crystals to form aplex mana circtory system that filled every nook and cranny of the ring.

    Luckily, the same happened for the runes, whosework of mana capiries constantly mixed Lith¡¯s mana with thating from the crystals and made the Forgemastering process possible.

    ¡¯It¡¯s incredible.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I have barely started and the procedure would have already failed if not for the runes.

    ¡¯The secondary mana circtory system the runes create not only allows the mana from the pseudo core to freely flow inside the ring as if I had already added a few mana pathways, but it also stabilizes the pseudo core, so that even under the energy amplifying effect of the Orichalcum, the number of imperfections that arise is fewer than ever.¡¯

    The more the pseudo core seeped inside the ring, the more it grew in size and power. What had started as a construct with only 75% of Lith¡¯s power had already reached 90% on its own and would soon go over 100%.

    A Forgemaster couldn¡¯t imbue a spell stronger than his own magical power. It was the reason why having multiple mages powering up a magical circle was useless and why Lith needed the hammer.

    With it, Solus could add a power boost from the tower and made it possible for them to ovee their limits. By the time the pseudo core had reached the center of the mana circtory system, it had grown to 120% of Lith power.

    All he had left to do was to create the mana pathways toplete the process.

    With each mana pathway Lith created, the two conflicting energy signaturesing from the pseudo core and the crystals started to mix. The violence of the shes between them progressively faded until they became one.

    "It¡¯s done!" Lith immediately imprinted the barrier ring and put its capabilities to the test. A sphere of emerald light surrounded him, protecting him from any kind of danger.

    Lith made the barrier shrink until it barely wrapped him while he was in a crouched position and expand up to a two meters (6,6 feet) radius. The mana required varied greatly with the barrier¡¯s size and energy density.

 Chapter 923 Birthdays Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 923 Birthdays Part 1</h4>

    "What do you think, Solus?" Lith asked.

    "That for a ring that required simple ingredients and a single pseudo core it took a lot of effort making it. A Skinwalker armor uses four pseudo cores at once and if they all grow up to 120% your maximum magical power, it will take 480% of your output to make just one.

    "The runes we have currently avable are not up to the task. Any attempt to craft a masterpiece is doomed to fail." She said.

    "Hey, being a pessimist is my thing. You should be the one looking at the bright side. I mean, we wasted no purified Orichalcum and can make more rings." Lith replied.

    "I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s just that even if you can¡¯t notice it, under my golden glow I¡¯m green with envy." Solus was gripping her own hammer as hard as she could in frustration.

    She was staring at the ring without floating around as usual. Her head was low and her shoulders slouched, making her look even smaller than she was.

    "What good is having a hammer, having my body, if all I do is watch from the sidelines?" She said. "Is this really all that the future holds for me? Being your second?"

    "I don¡¯t know." Lith was shocked and hurt by her suffering, but he didn¡¯t want to give her false hope or empty words. "All I can tell you is that I¡¯ll do my best to give you the life you deserve.

    "I¡¯m sorry for always being so egotistical. Saying that I got distracted by thetest load of crap is no excuse since it happened to both of us. Would you like to work on the magic holding ring? This time you lead and I follow." Lith said.

    "Really?" Solus lifted her head, brimming with joy.

    "Really."

    "Do you promise me to not get angry, even if I waste all the purified Orichalcum we¡¯ve left?"

    "I promise. Compared to your happiness, it¡¯s just scrap metal." He said, hugging her.

    "Thank you so much. I promise you I¡¯ll do my best to gift you a masterpiece worthy of Master Menadion." She replied while losing herself in his warmth and hoping that moment would never end.

    "Don¡¯t worry about it. Worst case scenario, once I master Origin mes, we can always recycle the metal." He said with a mocking tone.

    "I hate you, damn son of a gun. You ruined this moment for me." Yet she refused to let him go.

    ***

    Between the real vacation and the experiments on runes, Lith¡¯s birthday wasing up so fast that he would have forgotten about it if everyone else didn¡¯t keep reminding him.

    Solus was ecstatic at the idea of meeting all Lith¡¯s old friends, Kam was terrified, and his whole family was as thrilled as if he was going to be president of Mogar instead that just one year older.

    Tista had finally managed toe back from her mission and she almost had a heart attack after learning about how close Rena had got to losing her children.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, big sis. I don¡¯t know how could I miss it." She repeated many times until Rena hit Tista on the head with a slipper just to make her shut up.

    "It¡¯s not your fault, dimwit! Lith exined to me that lungs developte and by then you were already gone. I can¡¯t possibly ask neither of you to give up on your life every time I get pregnant." Rena loved her sister, but being constantly reminded of the narrow escape while the pregnancy term was so close made her cranky big time.

    "But it must be my fault somehow. I¡¯m the only one in the family who ever suffered from the Strangler. Somehow I must have passed it on the baby." Tista sobbed.

    "Sure. You fell ill for the fun of it and then you dived into my belly to infect my baby without me noticing. Do you even realize the amount of nonsense you are spouting?" Rena held Tista tight, cradling her little sister in her arms.

    Rena had helped Elina taking care of her siblings since she could remember. She had changed their cloth diapers, fed them, and rocked them until they fell asleep when they were ill.

    To her, Lith and Tista were more like her children than siblings. Sure, Lith rarely cried or fell ill even as a newborn, but it didn¡¯t make him any less precious in Rena¡¯s eyes.

    Lith watched the scene, feeling moved by the bond between the two sisters.

    ¡¯I could tell them that in theory, it¡¯s Mom¡¯s fault since she has passed unto us defective genes, but I think it would only make everything worse and kill Mom in the process. It¡¯s better if they think it was just bad luck.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯By the way, when do you n on telling them about you being a hybrid?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯First there is my social event birthday with the Ernas, my academy Professors, and all those people that I worked hard to avoid during the rest of the year. I can¡¯t risk my family being so upset that they might be forced to cancel the event. I¡¯ll wait for my private birthday party at the Verhen household.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Are you scared?¡¯

    ¡¯Half to death. To be honest, I can¡¯t wait for Rena to deliver the babies. With my luck, I¡¯m afraid that it will either happen during the social event or right before I start shapeshifting in front of my family.¡¯ Lith sighed.

    Fate for once seemed to listen to his wishes because Rena went intobor just a few hourster, in the middle of the night. Lith of course weed the news by cursing at his bad luck and calling Faluel.

    Elina set the heating to the maximum while preparing hot water and clean cloths for the arrival of the magical midwife.

    "Excellent thinking, Elina. I could use a hot tea to shake the cold off my poor bones." Faluel wrapped herself in the cloths and added tea leaves, mint, and Hydra strong alcohol to the pot containing the water.

    Winter had finally arrived in its full might, with below zero temperatures, cloudy sky, and plenty of snow. All things that Faluel hated. She gulped down the entire pot in front of the bbergasted Elina.

    "That¡¯s much better. Now, I need everyone who¡¯s not a Healer to stay out of my hair." Faluel said with a burp before moving to Rena¡¯s bed-chamber and kicking out everyone but Lith and Tista.

    "Now watch and learn." She said, cing her hands on Rena¡¯s hips.

    A white light engulfed the woman inbor, enhancing the sticity of her skin and muscles. Then, the Hydra manipted the rhythm of the contractions along with the hardness and softness of the tissues.

    The babies came out one after the other in less than five minutes since Faluel¡¯s arrival. While the siblings cut the umbilical cords and cleaned the babies, the Hydra kept working on her patient.

    Tista was bbergasted noticing that whatever the Hydra had done, it had prevented the formation of stretch marks and reverted Rena¡¯s figure to that she had before bing pregnant.

    "What... How..." As far as she knew, not even Manohar could make a delivery that easy. Mostly because he would rathermit treason than work as a midwife.

 Chapter 924 Birthdays Part 2

    <strong>Chapter 924: Birthdays (Part 2)</strong>

    "Experience." Faluel said with a sigh, wrapping the babies in warm cloths before handing them to Rena. "You seem to be an interesting youngdy, dear Lith¡¯s sister. I hope we¡¯ll meet again in warmer circumstances. Bye!"

    Faluel disappeared so fast that Tista could only choke on all her questions while Rena found herself thanking empty air. She felt chipper and energetic as if instead of giving birth to triplets she had just returned from a day in a spa.

    "Lith, how do you think I should call them?" Rena asked.

    "Why do you ask me instead of Senton?"

    "Well, because I got four Healers to thank for this miracle but only three babies. Someone has to be left out this time." Rena replied.

    "Only three? This time?" Lith didn¡¯t know whether to be more horrified at his sister belittling the workload the little monsters in her arms demanded from the whole family or the idea she might get pregnant again.

    "On one hand, I already named Leria after you, but on the other, it¡¯s you who brought Faluel here and even helped me in the delivery. I¡¯m not going to lie, I have no clue what part Quy yed in the procedure, let alone that guy whose name I don¡¯t even remember." Rena kept thinking out loud, uncaring of the noise that the babies and the members of the family who had finally had ess to the room made.

    Elina was crying with joy, Senton was asking the Healers of the family if everyone was alright, Tista was demanding answers about Faluel¡¯s identity, and everyone wanted to hold the children.

    Even Aran and Leria wanted to help with the newborns.

    "Look, I don¡¯t care who you name them after, the only thing that matters is that all of you are alright. Just some friendly advice, we can¡¯t have the whole family starting with the L, so you should name a kid after Zekell." Lith pointed his finger at Senton without him noticing.

    "I disagree." Senton said to Rena. "I love my parents, but it¡¯s not because of them that we were able to marry and I can¡¯t forget all the help your family gave to us so I¡¯d rather name one of our children after Elina, if that¡¯s okay with you."

    His words made Elina cry harder and the babies, scared by the noise, decided to tag along in a choir that crushed Lith¡¯s ears.

    After a long debate that Lith avoided by asking Zinya for sanctuary, the three new members of the Verhen family received their names. Falco was the baby boy suffering from the Strangler disease, named after the person that had allowed him to survive against all odds.

    The baby girl was named Teryon after Tista and Nessa after Nalrond who had kept her safe during the procedure. Rena chose Teryon as first name to thank her sister. It was only thanks to her loving care that nothing bad had ever happened during Lith¡¯s absence.

    Last, but not least, Lenart Quontar was named after his uncle, for having made the impossible possible time and time again.

    ***

    One weekter, Ernas Mansion.

    The g associated with Lith¡¯s birthday took ce the evening before the private party, so that on the stroke of midnight the two events ovepped and both took ce on the correct date.

    The g would usually be held at Marchioness Mirim Distar¡¯s Household since she was the ruler of the Marquisate of which both Lutia and the White Griffon were part. That year, however, Orion had insisted to be the host and guarantee the safety of all the guests.

    Marchioness Distar didn¡¯t let him repeat his offer twice, d to leave the burden to someone else. Between her duty as ruler of the Distar region and Supreme Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps, she had barely seen the light of day ever since the undead invasion had begun.

    "It¡¯s been a long time since we could have a friendly chat, isn¡¯t it?" She said.

    The Marchioness was a woman in her early forties, but even without the perfect make-up she wore, it would have been hard to consider her a day older than thirty. She had a beautiful face with great proportions, eyes brimming with intelligence and curiosity.

    She wore her waist-long hair straight down, with only her golden cloaking hairpin and a diamond tiara to adorn it. She had dark brown hair with shades of blue all over that made it almost hypnotic to look at her whenever the Marchioness shook her head.

    Her evening dress was of a pale red, showing a shallow neckline and covering her shoulders, but leaving her arms exposed.

    "I¡¯d like to take full credit for it, but you¡¯re a hard woman to find." Lith took two sses of red wine from a waiter, offering one to his old patron.

    "That¡¯s true." She said while resisting the temptation to drink the wine in one gulp. Just the idea of the workload waiting for her back at Distar was giving her a headache.

    "Have you thought about the direction you want to give your career once you are done with the military service? I know for sure there are a lot of open positions in the army and the Mage Association that would be a perfect fit for a man of your talents." The Marchioness tried to sound casual, but it was part of the duty that Queen Sylpha herself had entrusted Mirim with.

    The Queen was attending the g as well, but she couldn¡¯t afford to make such direct questions. Only a fool would say no to a Queen and every one of her words might be mistaken for a threat.

    "I did." Lith nodded. "I¡¯m interested in pursuing magic so I¡¯ve already found a mentor that will allow me to bring my specializations to the next level."

    "Is it someone I know?" That wasn¡¯t the answer the Marchioness was hoping for.

    Lith bing a member of one of the two forces under the directmand of the Royals was in the Kingdom¡¯s best interest, but even if he married into an ancient magical bloodline it would still leave the Crown some leeway.

    Especially if his inws were people of proven loyalty, like the Ernas.

    "With all due respect, I doubt you know all the Emperor Beasts of Kingdom." Lith decided it was better to leave Faluel¡¯s name out of the conversation. With all that there was at stake, he couldn¡¯t afford any meddling in his private affairs.

    "Emperor Beasts? I believe that the Royal Forgemasters or one of the six great academies can offer you more than any beast can." It was only thanks to years of experience receiving bad news that the Marchioness managed to not spit her drink all over the priceless silk carpet at their feet.

    "Indeed, but for a price that I¡¯m not willing to pay, at least for now." Lith made sure to leave room for negotiation. It was better to not burn bridges he couldter use.

    "Price? What price? The Kingdom would provide you withnds, wealth beyond your imagination, and all the rarest ingredients you might need." The Marchioness performed her best pitch.

    "And in exchange, it would ask my time, put my loyalty to the test, and give me so many responsibilities that I would be dependant on the Kingdom¡¯s support even to blow my own nose. Thank you, but no thank you." Lith¡¯s smile was kind, yet it had ¡¯I don¡¯t believe in free meals¡¯ written all over it.

 Chapter 925 Secret Meeting Part 1

    <strong>Chapter 925: Secret Meeting (Part 1)</strong>

    "I don¡¯t mean to be pushy, but ever since you enrolled in the White Griffon, you have done a great service to the Kingdom and have been paid ordingly. Why this sudden change of heart?" Marchioness Distar asked.

    "Who has offered her heart, body, and soul to the Kingdom more than Phloria Ernas?" Lith¡¯s voice was stone cold. "Yet it didn¡¯t save her from suffering an unjust fate. She¡¯s still just a Captain, isn¡¯t she?"

    "Yours is a rash judgment. Nothing has been decided and she could be acquitted at any time." The Marchioness was now on shaky ground.

    Phloria¡¯s still ongoing trial was a sour note that all the friends and the enemies of the Ernas yed constantly. The former demanded acquittal and an apology, while thetter demanded an exemry punishment.

    "A trial that should not have even started and yet in a few months it will be one year old. If politics can push a family as powerful as the Ernas to such a degree, I¡¯d rather stay out of it before it turns my blessings into curses. How is Brinja?" Lith asked.

    In the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s social circles, asking about a rtive was the polite way to put an end to a discussion. The Marchioness caught his drift and moved the conversation to less controversial topics, like the development of Lustria county.

    "Care to join us, Trequill?" She had noticed for a while the excitable man waiting for the right moment chime in. The future of the Kingdom or of a Great Mage were out of the reach of a countryside noble.

    "With pleasure, dear Marchioness." Count Lark literally jumped at the asion, making his monocle pop out of the eye socket.

    Count Lark hadn¡¯t changed much since thest time Lith had seen him in person. He was in histe fifties, around 1,83 meters (6¡¯) tall with a thin build, that made him appear even taller.

    The Count had thick ck hair with streaks of grey and a short-trimmed goatee. His inseparable ck-rimmed monocle was attached to his breast pocket with a blue silk string.

    "How are things going for the Lark family, dear Count?" Lith said while they shook hands.

    "They could go much better." Lark sighed. Looking at how Lith had be as tall as he was and thinking about his achievements, Lark regretted the rumors about Raaz being his illegitimate son being lies. "Thank the gods we had three Rangers this winter.

    "The problem is not the undead, but the panic they cause. Everyone who died during thest few months had their corpse decapitated and a few viges have been decimated due to violent cases of mass hysteria."

    "It¡¯s the same everywhere." Lith shrugged. "In the north, a traveler who reached a vige at night wouldn¡¯t live to see the day. People were so scared that they would mercilessly kill any stranger knocking at their doors.

    "How are Jadon and Kelya doing?"

    "Great, just great. Maybe too much. After acquiring the assets of myte wife, I let them rule one county each while I supervised their work. Our counties developed so much that my children almost didn¡¯t attend their own marriages.

    "Never be a feudal lord, dear Lith. It sucks the soul out of you." Lark said before noticing the Marchioness ring at him.

    "Hi, Lith. Where have you been? We all missed you at the White Griffon academy." A gentle hand tapped his shoulder, prompting him to turn around.

    "Professor Wanemyre, I thought you hated social events. Meeting you here is such a pleasant surprise." Lith gave her a bow and a hand-kissing.

    Lyca Wanemyre was one of his favorite Professors and the woman who had taught him all he knew about Forgemastering.

    She was a woman in her mid-thirties, 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") tall, with waist-long ck hair with shades of red held up. She was wearing an evening dress and gloves that highlighted her long and nimble fingers.

    Not even the puffy fabric could hide her soft, luscious curves. It was one of the rare asions where Professor Wanemyre would use make-up, making her lovely heart-shaped face stand out and appear younger than her age.

    Before Nalear¡¯s betrayal, Wanemyre had a calm andposed attitude, but after being possessed by a ve ring, she had be paranoid and cold. Wanemyre had stopped trusting people, living as a recluse for over two years.

    During his time as Assistant Professor, Lith had been the liaison between her private quarters and the outside world. He had taken care of both the theoretical and practical Forgemastering lessons while she struggled with the post-traumatic stress disorder caused by Nalear¡¯s orders.

    "This is actually the first time I get out of the White Griffon ever since the... ident." Her eyes became veiled for a split second while the ghosts of the past tried to drag her back into her personal hell.

    Wanemyre took a deep breath and regained her focus.

    "You never call, never visit so I thought that meeting my favorite student was the perfect asion to see how rusty my social skills are. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to be a Royal Forgemaster? I would be d to have you as my pupil again."

    Lyca Wanemyre was one of the youngest and most talented Royal Forgemasters of her generation. It was one of the reasons why thete Headmaster Linjos had made her a Professor despite the fact that she was way younger than her peers.

    Even her actions during Nalear¡¯s betrayal didn¡¯t affect Wanemyre¡¯s skill or reputation. Lith had considered asking her help to learn Runesmithing after Orion had declined his request, but the price the Kingdom asked was too steep.

    During the evening Lith met Professor Vastor and Headmaster Marth, who were bbergasted learning that Rena¡¯s child had survived.

    "If you found Manohar, not revealing his position is an act of treason." Marth said, half-joking and half-serious.

    "If I did, I would deliver him to you in a body bag." Lith said with a dead-serious voice. "It was my mentor saving the kid. She¡¯s an incredible Healer and an even more amazing person."

    Vastor was trying to have Lith promise that he would introduce such a genius to them when his father, Raaz, interrupted their chit-chat.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professors, but I need to steal my son for a while. It¡¯s a minor family matter that still requires his attention. We¡¯ll be right back." Raaz was many things but a good liar wasn¡¯t among them.

    Everyone understood that something was wrong, but pretended to not notice and didn¡¯t ask questions. For a moment Lith feared that something might had happened to Falco, but he caught a glimpse of Rena amiably talking with Quy.

    There was no force on Mogar that could keep Rena away from her son if he so much as sneezed so it had to be something else. Raaz led Lith to a servants¡¯ passage and then to a secret opening in the wall.

    Lith found himself inside a hidden living room, without no windows nor doors except that through which he had entered. The entire room was made of solid stone and so heavily enchanted that Lith could feel the hair on his neck standing up.

    The room was furnished only with a long oval table and many padded wooden chairs. There was no light source except for the magical gemstones embedded into the walls, giving the ce an even ustrophobic look.

    It was the perfect ce for torturers and conspirators so Lith was surprised when he noticed that the person waiting for him was Orion and not Jirni.

 Chapter 926 Secret Meeting Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 926 Secret Meeting Part 2</h4>

    "Happy birthday again, Lith. Sorry for involving your father in this shenanigan, but these days I don¡¯t know who I can trust anymore." He said.

    Orion Ernas was a man in his mid-forties over 1.96 meters (6¡¯5") tall, with ck hair and brown eyes like Phloria. His physique was lean but muscr and his perfectly shaven face showed great sadness.

    Orion had some wrinkles around the eyes and temples, but every movement of his was still full of the vigor one would expect from a much younger man.

    He and Raaz knew each other ever since their respective children had attended the White Griffon academy. Even though the difference in their social standing was like heaven and earth, the two men carried a deep bond of trust and respect.

    "Thanks. What¡¯s going on that requires this kind of secrecy?" Lith asked.

    "I will answer to all your questions in due time. First things first. Is it true that you have found a teacher unrted to the Kingdom to teach you advanced magic after your honorable discharge?" Orion asked.

    "Yes." Lith said. With both his leave and the military service closing to their end, it was pointless to y it close to the chest. Especially after what had happened with Rena.

    "Do they know Runesmithing?"

    "My mentor shares my same specializations and none of the chains the Kingdom tries to burden me with. What¡¯s your point?" Lith didn¡¯t like being interrogated.

    "My point is that if this guy is as good as you say, then I can uphold my part of our bargain." Orion took one of the inest bastard swords Lith had ever seen from under his seat and ced it upon the table.

    It had a silvery de, cross-shaped guard, and pommel while the grip was ck. If not for the line of purple crystals along its fuller and Solus¡¯s mana sense spotting the runes hidden under the surface, Lith would have taken it for a joke.

    "If anyone asks, I never gave it to you. Say that it¡¯s a gift from your new master, that you found it at a flea market, on the corpse of one of your enemies, I don¡¯t care. Just keep my name out of it." Orion said.

    Lith caressed the de, yet he couldn¡¯t feel a single spark of magic from it. Even Invigoration found it to be weird, as if it was some kind of magical corpse.

    "What¡¯s going on, Orion?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯ll tell you what¡¯s going on. Phloria¡¯s trial is still ongoing and things don¡¯t look good for neither of you." With a wave of Orion¡¯s hand, three sses and a bottle of Raging Phoenix appeared on the table.

    It was a liquor so strong that it was mostly meant to be diluted with non-alcoholic beverages, to be used for medical reasons, and to burn corpses to a crisp.

    "What does it have to do with my son?" Lith and Raaz epted Orion¡¯s offer to sit down along with the liquor.

    "Everything. They took it on Phloria first because they gave us Ernas for granted and because she was themanding officer. You got away scot-free not because of your performance, but because they were still trying to rope you in." Orion emptied his ss with small, enraged sips.

    "The Royal Court was afraid that charging you with anything might make you leave the Kingdom and offer your talents somewhere else. Now that your voluntary military service is about to end, things escted from fear to panic.

    "The Magic Empress tried to recruit you when you met in Laurel and after the existence of the Orichalcum Skinwalker armor was released to the public, you are considered a leading figure in both the Healing and Forgemastering field.

    "The Kingdom is left with no moves except for those that would lead you to pack up and leave which makes a lot of people uneasy. Politicians don¡¯t like the existence of powerful people they have no control over."

    "Which led them to the decision of leaving you alone, but at the same time, they have no convenience in helping you anymore. Long story short, I¡¯ve been forbidden to deliver the sword to you." Orion refilled and emptied his ss before Lith could even taste his own.

    "Are you telling me that the Royals are afraid of me? That they don¡¯t want to keep their part of our bargain?" Lith¡¯s gaze shifted from the in sword to Orion, incapable of deciding which one piqued his curiosity more.

    "Gods, no. They love you. They have been fighting long and hard to protect our respective interests, but they don¡¯t run this country alone. The army and the Mage Association fear that if you received a piece crafted with Royal Forgemastering techniques, you or your newfound master would be able to reverse engineer it.

    "They can¡¯t afford state secrets being leaked to rogue mages or foreign countries so the official version is that Ruin is the best I could do. Off the record, I was ordered to continue my research but only share it with fellow Royal Forgemasters as I did with your armor."

    "What about this sword?" Lith pointed at the de still in front of him.

    "It¡¯s something I worked on during my free time in the privacy of my home, using only methods that I invented myself. In other words, it doesn¡¯t exist. Even if you searched the whole Mogar, you won¡¯t find anything like it." Orion replied with a pride equaled only by his rage.

    "No, what I meant is why are you giving it to me, and aren¡¯t you afraid ofmitting treason?" Lith was now more curious than ever, but he liked the Ernas family more than he liked the idea of a new sword.

    He had yet to learn even the basics of modern Runesmithing or witness Faluel¡¯s Forgemastering skills. He had plenty of ways to procuring him good weapons, maybe even better than Ruin, whereas a trustworthy friend was irreceable.

    "I¡¯m giving it to you because that was our deal. Thanks to your armor, the Royal Forgemasters discovered how to apply energy-based spells to Orichalcum. It provided us with the answers we¡¯ve been looking for decades." Orion said.

    ¡¯What the actual hell?¡¯ Solus thought. She didn¡¯t know whether to be more shocked at the idea that Orion had invented his own Forgemastering technique or that Royal Forgemastering was so advanced that they could replicate true magic to such degree.

    "As formitting treason, I¡¯m simply returning the favor in kind. The army betrayed my family by starting a ridiculous trial against my little Flower and then by trying to pin the me for Manohar¡¯s escapades on my wife!

    "To add insult to injury, they had the guts to order me to betray my word, to lie to a friend. And in exchange for what? A fucking dog treat?" Orion¡¯s rage turned his voice into a snarl and his ss into shards.

    "Don¡¯t worry about me. Both my family and Jirni¡¯s have yed this game long enough to know what we can and cannot do. Believe me when I say that a lot of people are about to discover what happens when we¡¯re not happy.

    "Misery likespany and I¡¯m going to make sure that it will host a party no one will ever forget." Orion snapped his fingers, making the shards reform the ss before pouring himself another drink.

 Chapter 927 Ruin and War Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 927 Ruin and War Part 1</h4>

    "You know, Lith, back when I crafted Ruin, there was a reason for its name. Wherever you go, shit happens and people die, yet you always thrive. The Kingdom almost gets destroyed by a gue and you get rich.

    "The academies almost fall because of Balkor first and Nalearter, yet you survive and everyone makes a hero out of you. No matter if the shit rains or pours, you alwayse on top, fresh like a daisy.

    "Back then, I considered you a scourge, someone who destroys everything he touches, the harbinger of Ruin. Hence the sword." Orion sat back on his chair, his voice was now calm.

    "How dare you say such cruel things to my son? I thought we were friends!" Raaz stood up in outrage. Orion could probably break him in half with only one hand, but what stopped Raaz from jumping at his throat was their bond, not fear.

    "We are, Raaz. I¡¯m sorry, but those were my thoughts back then. I was angry about what had happened to my baby girls and I was looking for someone to me. It took me a while to realize that no one is at fault but the goddamn Odi and the twice goddamned power games of the Royal Court.

    "Lith isn¡¯t bad luck. Whoever says that is envious, scared, or both. Your son is neither a monster or a hero, just a survivor. Living for too long in peaceful times makes people forget how the lives of those like me and Lith are akin to war.

    "War does not determine who is right. Only who is left. Your new sword will ensure that no matter the situation you are in, Lith, you¡¯ll be thest man standing." Orion pushed War toward Lith, who hesitated for a second before imprinting it with his mana.

    The grip of the de reacted to the imprint by shapeshifting its surface into small spikes that prickled even Lith¡¯s hardened skin and made him bleed. The grip sucked the blood along with the mana and then the entire sword started to change.

    The red droplets flowed through the metal, activating the pseudo core and revealing the runes hidden under the silvery surface. The de turned crimson while the hilt ckened and the guard shapeshifted from a simple cross into upward hooks.

    The round pommel turned into a spike while the de became wider and the runes rearranged themselves along its surface before bing invisible again.

    The entire processsted barely a second, yet once it was over, the only thing unchanged about War¡¯s appearance was the position of the mana crystals aligned on its fuller.

    "What the heck?" Lith said after noticing that the wounds on his hand were already healed.

    "War is not like any other sword." Orion said. "It changes its appearance to match its user and doesn¡¯t tolerate being wielded by anyone else. The enchantments I¡¯ve imbued it with and the Adamant of the de allow War to always find both its marks and its master, but beware.

    "Never leave it around because the safety protocols don¡¯t discriminate between friends and foes. Never unsheathe War unless you n on using it, because it will refuse to return to its scabbard until it draws blood."

    "What scabbard?" Raaz stared at the de in awe, yet his feelings turned into horror when he noticed that War was exuding a red liquid that engulfed the de before turning solid.

    "Are you sure you¡¯re not going to get in trouble for this?" Lith asked.

    "Damn sure. Not even I knew what War would look like after you imprinted it. Only three people know about its existence and all of them are in this room right now. Now let¡¯s go back to the Ballroom before my missus starts to wonder what the heck we are plotting." Orion said.

    ***

    The following day, City of Valeron, inside the Royal castle.

    The King¡¯s Council Chamber was part of his private apartments and it was located inside a heavily guarded tower. The room was about 6 meters (20 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet) wide with only a round table and several wooden chairs as furniture.

    The round table didn¡¯t mean that every opinion held the same importance, it was simply the only way to be heard from every side of the room without the need for shouting non-stop.

    Aside from the furniture, the room was bare, with no windows and only one entrance. Both the floor and the walls were of a pale grey, there was no color outside that of the magical stones the room was made of.

    The whole ce was enchanted to prevent eavesdropping, either by conventional or magical means. It was also equipped with all the necessary protections to avoid the entirety of its upants from getting killed in one fell swoop.

    Normally, either the King or the Queen would use it to discuss important matters with their respective subjects, the army and the Mage Association. This time, however, the rulers of the Kingdom were presiding over the meeting together.

    The upper echelons of both the most powerful and important institutions of the Griffon Kingdom had been summoned to deliberate about the situation at hand.

    "I think you are just overreacting." Archmage Kwart, the Chairman of the Association said. "Who cares if Verhen quits the army? As long as his family lives here, we have leverage above him.

    "Manipting someone through the people they held dear is the basic of the basics. He¡¯s gotten too conceited because the Queen¡¯s Corps has always protected that shithole he calls home.

    "Leave Lutia without detail for one week and Verhen will be the oneing to us, begging for help. Only the gods know how many enemies he¡¯s made over the years among the members of all the four races."

    "My not so much esteemed colleague is forgetting that Lith Verhen made himself those enemies while serving the Kingdom." Mirim Distar, the Supreme Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps said.

    "If we follow his advice, what message are we sending to our loyal subjects? Thanks for your service, but we¡¯ll discard you the moment you¡¯re no longer needed?" Her voice was oozing sarcasm. "Hasn¡¯t the Ernas¡¯s situation already done enough damage?"

    "What the Commander is forgetting, probably due to her age, is that¡¯s exactly the purpose of this meeting." Kwart¡¯s voice was as sweet as an unripe lemon. "Sending the message that people serve the Kingdom and not the other way around.

    "The Ernas are just like Verhen. They think to be above thew, to be special. It¡¯s time to remind them that personal sess doesn¡¯t grant special treatment. In this time of turmoil, using double standards can only backfire.

    "Think of what happened with Ac. You have showered Verhen with so much glory that a good man who had honorably served the Kingdom all his life fell prey to the Bright Day just because he felt unappreciated."

    "I couldn¡¯t disagree more." Brigadier General Berion said. "It¡¯s not a matter of double standards so much as to reward merit. Back in his day, Ranger Ac did a decent job, sure, but Ranger Verhen destroyed the ck Star, got us two ancient Odi ruins, and I could go on for hours.

    "If we treat them the same way, then why should the next Verhen put his life on the line if excellency is rewarded the same as mediocrity?"

 Chapter 928 Ruin and War Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 928 Ruin and War Part 2</h4>

    "Please, you¡¯re saying that only because Verhen earned you that star, Commander Berion" General Morn Griffon said.

    "I agree with Kwart. Now that we know from reliable sources that Verhen wants to cut ties with the Kingdom, we must remind him that he needs us more than we need him."

    "How can someone sharing the Royal blood be so stupid?" Queen Sylpha had enough of that nonsense. If not for King Meron holding her wrist she would have already ripped a few heads off.

    Sylpha wasn¡¯t big on diplomacy. At least not when someone threatened the peace she had fought so long to protect.

    "What if some stupid noble takes the removal of the detail as our silent approval and Lutia gets ¡¯raided by bandits¡¯? We¡¯ve just got rid of one Balkor and you want to create another?"

    "My Queen, I resent..." Morn tried to say.

    "I resent letting you live." Sylpha snarled while tugging her hand so hard that Meron almost lost his grip.

    Almost.

    The General of the Army wasn¡¯t a meek man, but he had fought alongside the Queen on the battlefield and those memories still haunted his sleep. Meron was the only thing standing between Morn and a closed casket funeral.

    To make matters worse, the General knew his cousin well enough to understand that Meron nearly letting his wife go was no ident, but a message.

    "What the Queen means is that we must always look at the bigger picture." The King said.

    "It¡¯s not just one Verhen we are talking about. His sister is also a very promising young mage and now there are five more candidates that might have inherited their talent or that will at least receive their magical legacy.

    "If the Verhens really are a new magical bloodline, the Kingdom can¡¯t afford to lose all of them because of petty short-term thinking. As for the Ernas, I¡¯m tired of hearing people belittling them.

    "They are both living heroes and pirs of the Kingdom. If I had to judge the Court based on the Ernas¡¯s standards of merit, I¡¯d have to say that I¡¯m surrounded only by ipetent idiots, presentpany included.

    "During her career, Lady Ernas has rooted out more corruption by herself than entire departments since their founding. It¡¯s only thanks to her foresight that we have brought valuable people like Kam Yehval into our fold.

    "Despite her humble upbringing, she has proven to be a loyal and resourceful subject of the Kingdom. Lieutenant Yehval is also one of the few tethers that can induce Great Mage Verhen to keep supporting our country in the future.

    "As for Lord Ernas, he has made countless contributions to the development of Royal Forgemastering techniques and very few can equal his craftmanship. He¡¯s the reason you are able the equip your new armor and des.

    "Losing the Verhens might endanger the Kingdom¡¯s future, but losing the Ernas would be a blow we could never recover from." An awkward silence followed Meron¡¯s words.

    Despite her anger, Sylpha waited for her husband¡¯s speech to seep through the thick wall that seemed to shield the brains of half of those present frommon sense before talking.

    "It¡¯s also worth pointing out that Verhen seems to have a privileged channel with the Emperor Beasts that inhabit the Kingdom. Headmaster Marth is barely able to follow in the footsteps of Linjos in that regard, whereas Lith seems to have befriended several powerful beings. Any news on his newfound mentor, Mirim?" Sylpha asked.

    "Yes, your Majesty. Basing my investigation on his words, I discovered that he is going to receive the teachings of Faluel the Hydra." The Marchioness replied.

    "How can you be so sure?" Archmage Kwart jumped up while the entire room went into uproar.

    The Hydra bloodline had ruled the Distar Marquisate since ancient times. They had helped Valeron, the first King, to unify the Kingdom andter to protect its borders. Faluel herself had aided the Royals several times, but always as a mercenary.

    No amount of wealth ornd had ever been enough to make Hydras willing to share their secrets. Emperor Beasts respected humans, but didn¡¯t trust them. People like Faluel would offer their services, but never their loyalty.

    "I asked her." Distar¡¯s tone was so sour that everyone could hear the ¡¯you dimwit¡¯ that had remained unspoken.

    "Interesting." The Queen was now calm, drumming her fingers on the table while ignoring themotion around her. "First Lark, then the Marchioness, then the academy, and now Faluel. It seems that the young Verhen is progressively climbing the powerdder."

    "Indeed." The King nodded. "No matter if this is deliberate or just a coincidence, we have only one path ahead."

    ***

    The same day, Lith¡¯s house.

    The second part of Lith¡¯s birthday was exclusive to his family members. Usually, he wouldn¡¯t even bring along his current girlfriend, reserving for her the time after dinner.

    The previous year he had made an exception because he had only one day off and he couldn¡¯t take anymore being caught in the crossfire between his family and Kam who were both nagging at him to know each other.

    It was the reason why when he brought Kam, Zinya, and her children over for dinner, everyone squirmed in anticipation for the big announcement they could seeing from a mile away.

    "I hope the next year will bless us with as many grandchildren as thest." Elina whispered in Raaz¡¯s ears while making sure that her words would be perfectly audible while she moved her eyes from Lith to Tista.

    "Are you sure you want to do it?" Tista said, showing everyone what a real whisper looked like.

    "Yes. If you don¡¯t want to, feel free to fake surprise. The only thing I ask you is to help me soften the blow for them." Lith whispered as well.

    "I¡¯m not leaving you alone, little brother." Tista was scared as much as Lith was. Scared of rejection, scared of their family ming them for their lies. "Worst case scenario, we¡¯ll get the boot together and I¡¯ll move with you to Solus¡¯s tower."

    Both chuckled at those words, prompting Kam to pull his sleeve.

    "Are you sure you want to do it?" She had no idea what an Awakened was, nor that Lith was about toe clean about both his secrets.

    "I know that I¡¯m the one who told you there¡¯s nothing to worry about, but with all that¡¯s happened, I¡¯m afraid that everyone¡¯s nerves are still quite shaken."

    "Yes, I¡¯m sure."

    "Then take a deep breath and rx. I¡¯ll be at your side all the way." Kam held his hand under the table, happy to see how calm Lith was.

    ¡¯I¡¯m d our nning and rehearsing paid off.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯He¡¯s much more confident now.¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯m d our nning and rehearsing paid off.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Now that I¡¯m able to control my upper body, no one can notice my legs shaking under the table.¡¯

    Raaz was disappointed when the dinner came to its end and yet nothing happened.

    ¡¯Damn. I hoped that between all the bad things Lith has witnessed during his military service and Orion¡¯s speech, my son would finally settle down. If even his friends see him in a negative light, I¡¯m afraid of what might happen once Lith is out there on his own.¡¯

 Chapter 929 Upside Down Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 929 Upside Down Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want Lith suffering Phloria¡¯s same fate. Neither of them deserves such treatment, but at least she has several powerful households supporting her. I¡¯m just a farmer who lives in the house my son built and cultivates thends he bought.

    ¡¯Aside from my unconditional love, there¡¯s nothing I can offer to him.¡¯ Raaz thought.

    His disappointment was in goodpany, but it turned into confusion after Lith asked Zinya to take Leria and Aran home with her. The confusion was reced by amazement less than a minuteter when Selia knocked on their door.

    No one had seen the huntress for five years, since her sudden and mysterious disappearance during Lith¡¯s fourth year at the White Griffon academy. Not only did she seem to not have aged a day, but she was also in thepany of a red-haired giant who she introduced as her husband.

    "Oh Selia, I¡¯m so happy to see you again." Elina said while hugging her long-lost friend. "You had me worried sick. How could you leave like that, without saying goodbye or even leaving a note?"

    Selia Fastarrow was supposed to be in herte-thirties, yet she looked to be barely past her mid-twenties. She was still 1.7 (5¡¯7") meters tall and her skin was tanned from the years of long exposure to the sun.

    Her ck hair was now longer than thest time Elina had seen her, reaching her shoulders and giving her a gentler look. She wore a heavy fur coat over a cream-colored dress and snow boots.

    Lith was amazed seeing Selia¡¯s sharp eyes be veiled with tears of emotion, but even more by seeing her wearing a skirt for the first time in his life.

    ¡¯She never wore a dress nor make up for you.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Selia must be really desperate to make a good impression on your family. After all, if they have trouble epting your hybrid nature, there¡¯s no way she can fit back in your lives.¡¯

    "I¡¯m so sorry, Elina. I really hope you can forgive me for what I did." Selia said amid tears.

    "Of course I can, Selia. The only thing that really matters is that now you¡¯re home now." Elina¡¯s surprise grew, noticing how emotional the huntress was.

    Not even Selia had predicted how many memories returning to Lutia after so many years would have stirred inside her heart. Everything was different yet identical to how she remembered it.

    The fields covered in snow, the scent of the Trawn woods carried by the wind, and the voices of the only people she had ever considered like her family made her guts tie in a knot.

    Elina weing Selia home had been the final blow that made her emotional walls crumble. The fact that their respective houses were nearly identical didn¡¯t help her keep her cool either.

    "I can¡¯t believe this oafcks even a spark of originality." She sobbed harder as all eyes moved on the oaf by her side, waiting for an exnation to the odd remark.

    "She speaks the truth. I don¡¯t." Ryman scratched his head in embarrassment.

    After he had found a proper ce where to settle down, equally distant from Faluel¡¯sir and from a human settlement, Protector wanted to give his wife the perfect home. He had received so much from Selia, and after forcing her to leave Lutia, her happiness was his first priority.

    The problem was that he had no idea what made a human homefortable, so he had built their love nest based on the projects stored inside Lith¡¯s memories. The only changes made to the original design were those Selia had requested him.

    While the rest of the family weed Selia, half shocked and half moved from the sudden reunion, Lith shook hands with Protector.

    "How do you feel, Lith?" Ryman asked with his usual stoic voice.

    "Calm like someone who is about to be chased by an angry mob armed with pitchforks and torches." Lith replied, hiding behind his best poker face.

    "That makes the two of us." After all that time, Ryman was still amazed by how scary those small people that he could break with one hand were.

    They couldn¡¯t harm a hair on his body, yet they could easily break the heart of the woman he loved and hurt their children. The cruelty of humans never failed to impress him.

    "Your face looks familiar. Have we met before?" Raaz was curious about the familiarity his son disyed with Selia¡¯s boyfriend.

    Lith smiled a lot in public, but those were just an act. Seeing Lith without his mask despite the presence of a stranger made a good impression on Raaz.

    "Yes, I lived in your vige for a short while, but that¡¯s a long story and it¡¯s not for me to say it." Ryman replied.

    "Is this baby spit?" Rena asked after recognizing the familiar smelling from Selia¡¯s clothes.

    "Gods, I was certain to have cleaned it up. I really have to learn how to use magic." She had fed Fenrir before leaving and the burp had left a stain that Selia had hastily tried to remove.

    "Congrattions!" Rena hugged her sister-in-arms. Motherhood was a fierce battle that had cost her most of the clothes Lith didn¡¯t Forgemaster. "Is it your first?"

    "Third, actually." More congrattions ensued while Senton and Raaz patted Protector¡¯s shoulders.

    Between Lith¡¯s approval and Selia trusting him enough to start a family with him, the stranger had to be a good man.

    After hearing from Rena about her triplets and sharing with her a few anecdotes about her own children, Selia started to exin to Lith¡¯s family how she had met Protector and the reason that had forced them to leave.

    At first, they had moved from Lutia to a nearby vige just to avoid Lith discovering that Protector was still alive, but after Lilia¡¯s birth, they had relocated to a safe ce after the scared neighbors had tried to harm the baby.

    Everyone now remembered the stranger that had lived with Selia before her disappearance and Protector was still dearly mourned. The members of Lith¡¯s family knew how deep his bond with the allegedlyte Ry was and honored his sacrifice to protect the students of the academy from Balkor¡¯s monsters.

    epting that they were actually the same person and alive at that, shook their nerves quite a bit.

    "He- I mean, you- Oh, gods." Elina was so shocked that she was incapable ofing up with a coherent sentence.

    Everyone kept moving their eyes from Selia to Ryman, expecting them to say it was all a joke at any moment. Yet nothing happened. Kam was sitting next to the huntress, holding her hand to give Selia strength and courage.

    Even Tista didn¡¯t know what to say and she was on friendly terms with several Emperor Beasts. She looked around the room, looking for something to say that wouldn¡¯t sound incredibly rude.

    Then she noticed that neither Lith nor Kam showed any hint of surprise on their faces.

    "You knew?" Tista was d to change the topic. "For how long?"

    "I knew that he was an Emperor Beast from the beginning, but I only discovered that Protector was still alive less than a year ago." Lith replied.

    "I never told you because I knew it would have been hard to ept and because it wasn¡¯t up to me revealing someone else¡¯s secrets. I asked them toe here tonight because Selia would like to return to Lutia and I got something to tell you."

 Chapter 930 Upside Down Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 930 Upside Down Part 2</h4>

    Lith exined to them how Protector had helped him in Zantia andter introduced him to theirmon mentor, Faluel.

    "Wait are you saying that hot woman was a Hydra?" Raaz felt as Mogar had suddenly turned upside down. He had no idea who might be human and who was an impostor. The thought scared him so much that he looked at Kam in suspicion.

    "How can you find hot a girl old enough to be your daughter?" Elina snarled.

    "She¡¯s actually several hundreds of years old." Ryman said, trying to calm them down but achieving the opposite. The room was about to erupt in chaos and panic when Tista said:

    "Wait, there¡¯s something I don¡¯t understand. Even though I¡¯m still scared shitless at the idea that some creatures can change their appearance like I change my clothes, I don¡¯t get why Faluel epted to help you so much.

    "I mean, an Emperor Beast teaching to a human is unheard of except that in fairy tales."

    "That¡¯s the whole point of this meeting." Lith said. "In a few months I will be done with the army and I will be staying at Faluel¡¯s until the end of my apprenticeship. It couldst months or even years and I don¡¯t want to lie to you about where I am and what I¡¯m doing.

    "To allow you to understand the reason behind my choice of career path and why I can¡¯t trust the Griffon Kingdom, I need to show you something." Lith took off his shoes and had the shirt of the Skinwalker armor disappear, remaining bare-chested.

    He wanted them to witness how deep the changes his body would undergo after shapeshifting and he didn¡¯t want the clothes to hide the scales or the talons.

    "Oh gods!" Tista gasped while shielding her eyes with her hands, yet leaving the fingers spread out enough so as to not have any problem seeing.

    While his daughter was blushing up to her ears, Elina looked at her son with one hand ced above her heart and eyes full of wonder that Lith would expect in someone looking at a work of art like Michngelo¡¯s Piet¨¤ for the first time.

    Rena instinctively felt her husband¡¯s strong, muscr arms typical of a cksmith before moving down to Senton¡¯s soft belly typical of a sedentary lifestyle.

    "I promise you I will exercise, but now please stopparing me with him." Senton felt so embarrassed that he wanted to die. He was still a young man yet Lith made him feel an old coot.

    "Oh my. I love it when they do that. It never gets old." Selia¡¯s reddened cheeks while she nudged Kam made Lith¡¯s girlfriend incredibly embarrassed yet proud, as if she was being congratted for something she had contributed to making.

    ¡¯What the heck is wrong with them? This isn¡¯t anything like I had predicted this would y.¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t understand why the tension in the room was gone nor why it had been reced by an awkward feeling.

    ¡¯It¡¯s not the first time they see me half-naked. When I was recovering from saving Protector¡¯s life...¡¯

    ¡¯You were just twelve.¡¯ Solus cut him short. ¡¯And you were also all skin and bones due to fatigue.¡¯

    ¡¯Oh.¡¯ Only then did Lith realize the extent of his miscalction.

    ¡¯Oh indeed!¡¯ Solus had to agree with Selia. She never got tired of that kind of show.

    No impurities meant no imperfections during the growth spurt, no moles, no excess body hair nor fat. Lith had the build of an Olympic athlete at his prime, with broad shoulders and muscles that looked like they had been chiseled rather than trained.

    "Goddammit, stop staring! This isn¡¯t a strip-show what I meant to show you is this."

    Lith shapeshifted into his hybrid form, bing over 2 meters (7¡¯) tall while his pink skin turned into ck scales, whose tips were reddened by the inner fire burning within.

    The change almost happened as if his body wasprised of domino tiles that were being flipped in a chain reaction. Razor-sharp ws reced Lith¡¯s nails and talons grew on his toes and heel, making his feet resemble those of a bird of prey.

    New limbs came out of his back, with a short tail full of bone spikes growing out of his spine, as well as a set of ck membranous wings that erupted from his shoulder des. They stretched to either side of the room for a second before wrapping around his body like a mantle.

    The wings were twisted and unnatural, like the hands of a giant resting on his shoulders. Lith¡¯s face was now a ck te, apparently without a mouth or nose. Two small curved horns came out of his temples while his three eyes looked at those present.

    Despite the fact that the house was warm and Lith wasn¡¯t emitting a single shred of killing intent, the members of his family felt a cold shiver running down their spines. Their stomachs were twisted in a knot, each one for a different reason.

    Elina jumped up, walking in front of Lith and examining him as if she was seeing her son for the first time.

    "Does turning into this thing hurt?" Her face was pale and her breath short. "Who or what did this to you? Was it Balkor? Was it the goddamn army with its experiments? Is this the reason why we couldn¡¯t see you for so many months?"

    Thest two questions were coated in an unbridled fury that surprised Lith. He would have never expected that a person as kind as his mother could harbor so much anger.

    Lith shook his head and told her about his first tribtion in Kandria. How things had started to change, both inside and outside of him, and how those changes had be deeper over time.

    "Are you saying that this started when you were still a student? That this is..." She had no words for it, only fear. "What is this thing?"

    "It¡¯s not a thing. It¡¯s a part of me. Some say that I resemble a Dragon, others a demon, but they all agree on the term hybrid." Lith¡¯s voice was calm while he tried to answer to the best of his abilities.

    Raaz was incapable of moving from his chair as doubts and insecurities ravaged his mind.

    ¡¯I always knew that Lith was too smart and powerful to really be my son.¡¯ He had started doubting Lith¡¯s paternity way before hearing the word "hybrid".

    The moment Raaz had seen Lith shapeshift, ugly thoughts had popped inside his mind like mushrooms in a damp cave.

    ¡¯If Emperor Beasts can assume human form, then Elina might have been unfaithful to me and that thing might not be my son.¡¯ Raaz was an honest man, but the paranoia Lith had infected him with now made him expect the worst from people.

    Rena didn¡¯t squeeze Senton¡¯s so hard ever since her first childbirth, almost breaking his fingers, yet he didn¡¯t even notice. Rena couldn¡¯t stop shifting her gaze from Lith to Elina and then to Raaz, wondering which one of her parents was actually an Emperor Beast.

    ¡¯Mom cheating on Dad it¡¯s impossible and Lith is my brother. I saw him being born and my blood is screaming to me that thing is the same person I held to my chest for years. The only possible exnation is that one of my parents lied to me all my life.¡¯

 Chapter 931 Upside Down Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 931 Upside Down Part 3</h4>

    ¡¯Is it because of one of my parents that Tista was born ill? Is it because of them that my baby almost died?¡¯ Rena instinctively touched her womb, afraid of what coulde out of it the next time she got pregnant.

    Senton, instead, was quaking in his boots. He wasn¡¯t afraid of Lith so much of being the only human in the room, afraid that one of the monsters hidden among them could harm his wife.

    ¡¯I knew that there was something wrong in a runt six years younger than me who could scare the shit out of me with a simple re. That thing must have reced the real Lith years ago. It would exin everything.¡¯ Senton thought.

    "Do you have any idea how this could have happened?" Elina¡¯s words derailed everyone¡¯s thoughts.

    Just like Rena, all of her instincts were telling Elina that was her son. She wasn¡¯t afraid of who he was nor she believed even for one second that he would harm her. What terrified her were the consequences Lith¡¯s condition might have on his future.

    "None. ording to Faluel, either I am an anomaly or something inside my blood, our blood, Awakened." Lith looked Tista in the eyes while he spoke.

    His older sister understood from his choice of words that Lith was warning her.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s nned so far ahead.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯Lith didn¡¯t warn me in advance to make me have a natural reaction to the news and allow me to y dumb in the case things go wrong.

    ¡¯If bing an Awakened makes the members of our family turn into hybrids, then I¡¯m next. He has yet to mention being an Awakened so that if our parents disown him, I¡¯d be safe as long as I keep my mouth shut.¡¯

    Her surprise quickly turned into outrage.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know whether to be more insulted by the fact that he thought I could stoop so low as to abandon him or that he told Kam first!¡¯

    Tista had yet to make a move or say a word because she was worried about Lith, but she didn¡¯t miss how the Lieutenant was unfazed by the revtion.

    "Why did you wait for so long before telling us? Was I such a bad mother that you thought I would chase you away just for this?" Elina¡¯s eyes became veiled with tears.

    She had no idea what she had done wrong to lose the love of her eldest sons, but her ignorance didn¡¯t make her wounds hurt any less. Elina knew that Orpal¡¯s unbound selfishness had forced her to disown him and that it had been Trion¡¯s envy to drive him away.

    Yet, as a mother, she could only me herself for being unable to protect her children from those toxic emotions.

    "I didn¡¯t tell you because I already gave you plenty of reasons to worry all the time." Lith¡¯s voice sounded like the wind howling inside an abyss. "Now, however, after what Faluel did for Rena and considering what she is going to do for me, I couldn¡¯t lie anymore.

    "I will spend a lot of time with her and I wanted to let you know why. I know that you¡¯re not stupid, Mom. The moment you asked Jirni about her, you would have discovered that there is no Faluel among the known mages."

    Elina had actually already talked with Jirni about the Hydra during Lith¡¯s birthday party and was waiting for her reply.

    "He¡¯s telling you the truth, Elina." Kam stood by her side, holding her hand. "Lith always trusted you. He simply didn¡¯t want to burden you with a secret that would only make your life harder."

    "Wait, you knew?" Elina sniffed. A small part of her was hurt because he had told Kam first, but a bigger part was happy that his son could rely on such a wonderful person.

    "Yes. Lith told me for our anniversary, before things between us got too serious. He wanted to give me the possibility to decide whether to continue our rtionship or not since it¡¯s likely that our children will be born hybrids as well." Kam said while blushing.

    They had never talked about having babies together, but she assumed it was heavily implied by Lith introducing her to his friends and their hybrid children. Also, after everything that had happened to Rena and her talk with Selia, Kam couldn¡¯t stop thinking about motherhood.

    "Well, yes. If you need some time to think we could leave and..." Lith¡¯s panic started to show. He didn¡¯t want to raise the stakes by involving his hypothetical offspring.

    "I don¡¯t need time, silly." Elina embraced both of them, expecting to meet a stone-cold wall of scales and finding warmth instead.

    "Eighteen years ago, I brought you into this world and into this very house. I don¡¯t care how do you look like or what race your friends belong to. All I ever wanted for you was to be happy.

    "That night I almost lost you and it was the worst moment of my life. I can¡¯t bear the thought of you spending even one second thinking that your mother doesn¡¯t love you. This is your home and it will always be as long as I draw breath."

    Elina had taken a liking to Kam only after knowing her and her sister better. During thest few months, Kam had been her only link with her son and the two women had talked for hours at a time.

    It had made Elina grow fond of her and set aside all the doubts she had about the age gap between Kam and Lith being an obstacle to their rtionship. Hearing her say those words about children had scared Lith but had made his mother¡¯s heart flutter.

    The fact that Kam knew everything and had chosen to stay by his side despite all the possible implications was more than she could dream to ask for anyone.

    Hearing Elina¡¯s words made Raaz relive what he remembered as the most terrible day of his life, when he had almost lost both his son and his wife. He remembered the pain his wife had endured during the longbor, the blood she had lost, and most of all, the moment when both she and the baby had gone limp.

    ¡¯Gods, I guess it¡¯s true what Orion says. Peace really makes people be stupid. There¡¯s no way that Elina was unfaithful to me. Back before Lith started to hunt, my family was all I had.

    ¡¯Elina and I spent together every single moment of every single day trying to put food on the table and buy clothes for those little pests to destroy. We had so little, yet we were happy anyway because we had each other.

    ¡¯I still remember how joyful she was when she told me of being pregnant with Lith. Even though Tista was already showing the first signs of her illness, even though we didn¡¯t have much to eat, she was happy because it was born out of our love.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe I doubted her, even if for a split-second. How could I let my paranoia make me forget all the hardships we went through together? That¡¯s not a thing, that¡¯s my son. The same who healed Tista and took care of this family, sharing with us every single dime he made.¡¯

    Raaz started to cry in self-loathing and joined the three in their embrace.

 Chapter 932 Upside Down Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 932 Upside Down Part 4</h4>

    "Don¡¯t worry, Lith. Your secret is safe with us." Raaz said. "You¡¯re hot, you know?"

    "Dad, eww!" Even with his mouth still covered by the scales, Lith¡¯s voice managed to express all the awkwardness those words inspired and made Kamugh heartily.

    "Not like that! I mean that I¡¯m sweating here." Raaz turned beet red from the heat and embarrassment as Elina joined Kam in herughter.

    Seeing that scene wiped all the doubts that were riddling Rena¡¯s mind.

    ¡¯My parents are definitely too human to be an evil overlord in disguise. I shouldn¡¯t have let fear get the best of me.¡¯ She thought while turning to look at her husband in the eyes.

    "I¡¯m sorry, dear, but this is my family. I can¡¯t abandon them nor can I ask you to carry this burden if you don¡¯t feel up to it. If you don¡¯t want to have anything to do with us, I¡¯ll dly consent to annul our marriage.

    "Yet I have to ask you to keep all you heard tonight a secret. If not for the trust that my brother showed you, at least do it for our children. If this story goes out, they¡¯ll suffer for it as well."

    Senton was still so shocked that he could barely make sense of the soundsing from Rena¡¯s mouth. The word "annulment", however, cleared his head better than a frozen shower and the part about their children made his heart skip several beats.

    "Rena, I am but a country bumpkin who can barely understand half of what has been said tonight, let alone make sense of what your brother just did. The only thing I know for sure is that I can¡¯t imagine my life without you anymore.

    "I would rather die than let you go or let even the Kingy a finger on you or on our children." Lith terrified Senton from the first day they met, the revtion of him being a hybrid had barely tipped the scale.

    Yet Senton had kept courting Rena for the same reason he now wholeheartedly epted his scaly brother-inw. Because his greatest fear wasn¡¯t facing a monster, but spending the rest of his life without the woman he loved.

    Not to mention that after Lith had saved their baby, Senton wouldn¡¯t care even if Lith turned out to be an otherworldly demon. The couple stood up merrily and joined the group hug, letting Tista sigh in relief.

    She had waited that long not because she was uncertain about what to do, but because she didn¡¯t want anyone to feel the pressure of being thest and ept Lith only to not be left out of the family.

    "What a night." She said while bing a part of the loving crowd.

    Selia held Protector¡¯s hand tight, sobbing in silence. That scene gave her hope. Hope that she could get back to her old life with her old friends. Hope that her children wouldn¡¯t be forced to spend their whole lives in hiding, with only magical beasts as theirpanions.

    After a while, Lith reverted to his human form and released the hug, prompting everyone to get back to their seats.

    "I thank you for your words and your love. It means the world to me." One of the biggest hurdles in Lith¡¯s life was gone. Until that night, he could only hope his family would ept him, whereas now he was sure of it.

    "Put on your clothes, please." Senton said. Now the fear was gone, but his pride was still hurt big time.

    The Skinwalker armor covered Lith again while Tista, Selia, and Kam giggled like little girls. Solus was doing the same, but telepathically.

    "As I was saying, I know I¡¯m asking a lot from you, but there¡¯s still something you should know. Remember when I told you that Faluel thinks that something in my blood Awakened? I meant that. I¡¯m an Awakened." Lith made a dramatic pause, waiting for their reactions.

    "We¡¯re all awake, son." Raaz scratched his chin. "You get to sleep and then awake. Unless you¡¯re dead. Or undead." Everyoneughed at the joke except the Awakened in the room, who facepalmed together at Lith¡¯s blunder.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways!¡¯ Solus did her best Lith impression while he was still too embarrassed by the literal dad joke to even think. ¡¯I forgot that normal people have no idea what an Awakened is and that the word that defines those like me is generic on purpose.¡¯

    ¡¯Thanks, captain smartass.¡¯ Lith exined to his family what being an Awakened meant.

    He told them how it granted strength, silent magic, and even longevity. Then he gave them a practical example by conjuring a powerful storm between his hands without chanting.

    He looked at his rtive faces and their reaction shocked him. Mostly because they had none.

    "Oh, you mean that? I¡¯ve known for years, but I¡¯m d you finally decided to share it with us." Elina said.

    "Indeed." Raaz yawned. All those emotions had made him sleepy. "I¡¯m d you are finally opening up to your old man, son. I hope that from now on you will not feel the need to keep so many secrets from us."

    "It¡¯s not a big deal. Even my father can fuel the furnace without chanting." Senton had no idea how true and fake magic worked. Like most people in Lutia, he only used chore magic.

    "I¡¯ll exin it to youter, darling." Rena chuckled, finding his naivety incredibly cute.

    "You what?" Kam was the only one reacting to the revtion with amazement. Her mind was reliving all the times she had seen Lith fight and now many of her questions finally had an answer.

    "You should have told her, sweetie. Now Kam is upset." Elina caressed Kam¡¯s head with motherly affection. Whether those two ended up marrying or not, to Elina she would always be part of their family.

    "How did you find out?" Lith asked.

    "Well, I started to have my doubts back when you found a way to treat Tista like not even Nana could. I¡¯ve witnessed Nana using a lot of spells during our check-ups, but none of her them took that long to be cast.

    "At first, I thought you were a genius, but then you started to give us all those baths that made us beautiful and made us swore secrecy. I knew little about magic so I couldn¡¯t connect the dots, but everything made sense once you started the academy." Elina said.

    "Yeah. If before meeting your friends and Professors, we thought your abilities were something only talented mages could do. Once we got to see more mages in action, we understood that you were different and why you wanted to keep it a secret." Raaz nodded.

    "How stupid do you think we are?" Renaughed. "Even when you helped Faluel treating my babies, Quy was the only one chanting. I was scared, not blind and deaf."

    "Hey, I¡¯m not stupid, but when he told me I was shocked!" Tista felt rather annoyed by their casual attitude about the big secret she shared with her little brother.

    "Of course you were, silly." Rena pinched Tista¡¯s cheek fondly. "You never questioned his abilities. You worshipped Lith so much that you wouldn¡¯t flinch even if he turned the day into night.

    "Discovering that he wasn¡¯t actually a god but just a human with a secret must have been terrible for you."

 Chapter 933 Cursed Objects Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 933 Cursed Objects Part 1</h4>

    "I-" Tista¡¯s mouth remained open, but no words came out. As much as it bothered her to admit it, Rena was right. Her brother was her hero, so she had always taken Lith¡¯s words at face value and assumed he was the best of the best.

    Doubting either thing would have been heresy for her younger self, so she had never connected the dots.

    "What does be an Awakened imply?" Kam asked. She didn¡¯t believe in free meals and suspected there was a reason why not every single being on Mogar was an Awakened. There had to be a catch.

    Protector exined how bing an Awakened worked and revealed the existence of the Council to them, going into detail of the internal power struggles that now involved Lith.

    He told them how despite their small numbers, Awakened could greatly affect politics and that they obeyed now but that of the Council.

    "Let me get this straight." Between the rollercoaster of emotions and the long exnations, she was getting a headache." You must keep the fact that you are an Awakened from the Kingdom and the fact that you¡¯re a hybrid from everyone, correct?"

    "Correct." Lith nodded.

    "Also, after meeting other Awakened, you got dragged into their squabbles and now you need Faluel¡¯s help to withstand the pressure they will apply on you through their connections with the upper echelons of the Kingdom."

    "Correct again." Lith said.

    "Oh, I¡¯m an Awakened as well, if anyone cares." Tista grumbled while releasing her cyan aura, hoping to get a reaction.

    "I¡¯m so proud of you, pumpkin." Raaz kissed her head before ruffling her hair, making Tista feel like a kid who had mastered the multiplication tables rather than the secrets of magic.

    "Is there anything else we should know?" Elina asked.

    Lith looked at Solus¡¯s ring for a split second before answering:

    "I¡¯d say it is more than enough for one birthday."

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t want to introduce you as a thing. I want them to meet you as a person.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no need to apologize. I feel the same.¡¯ Solus enveloped his mind in the only embrace she could offer him. ¡¯Besides, if they see your ringe to life, they¡¯ll never wear any of the jewelry you¡¯ve gifted them again.¡¯

    The thought made them both chuckle.

    "Actually, there is." Selia said, making everyone turn toward her.

    "I was wondering if I coulde to visit you from time to time. Maybe I could bring my children along to y with yours. Lilia and Leran would love to make some friends of their age. They are respectively six and four years old."

    "Of course you can. You¡¯ll always be wee here. Feel free toe whenever you like." Elina smiled at her old friend, d to have her back. The fact that Selia had named her kids after Lith was a big plus in her book.

    "Thank you so much. I¡¯ll make sure to bring their nanny along. He¡¯s great with damage control."

    Everyoneughed at what they assumed was a joke, unaware of how serious Selia was.

    After getting the kids back from Zinya and saying goodbye to the Fastarrow couple, Lith entered his bedroom feeling like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Everything looked more vivid and beautiful.

    The only sour note was that Kam had been silent most of the time since she had learned about Awakening.

    "So you gave your family a beauty treatment." She said while changing into a nightgown.

    "Yes, why?"

    "What about your friends? Are you also the secret behind Friya¡¯s beauty?" She casually asked.

    "No, she¡¯s a natural. I only treated Phloria a bit because she had problems with her hair."

    "Ah." That monosyble held the coldness of an ice age, making Lith wonder if it was time to stop being sincere for the night.

    "Sounds right. Your ex had long hair as well, so you know how hard and tiresome is to take good care of it. What about your other ex-girlfriends?" Her voice was calm but distant as if they were talking about work.

    "I wouldn¡¯t call them girlfriends. I never spent enough time with them to consider them more than flings." Lith diverted all power to the frontal shields to block the passive-aggressiveser beams.

    "What about me? I think we have spent together quite some time and you know I¡¯m always on the clock. Yet I didn¡¯t get any mysterious Lith¡¯s blessing to make my life easier." She pointed her finger at the feminine products she always had to bring along.

    "I remember that a few months ago, someone told me that she¡¯s my girlfriend, not my toy. Also, she asked me to not use magic on her without her consent. Since I really care for that someone, I took those words at face value and respected her will." Being cornered, Lith pulled the old switcheroo trick, putting Kam against herself.

    "Right." She suddenly remembered having that conversation. "This someone sounds like an incredibly smart and strong-willed woman."

    Kam¡¯s smile finally extended to her eyes, raising the temperature in the room of several degrees and thawing the ice formations between them.

    "Now that you know everything about me, is there something you would like to ask me?" Lith could almost hear the all-clear in the air.

    "I¡¯d like to apply for one of your beautification programs." Kam snuggled up to him, feeling very tired from thest two days.

    "No problem, but we have to take things nice and easy, otherwise people would notice and ask too many questions."

    "Don¡¯t worry. Even not having to untangle my hair anymore and avoiding split ends would be great." Her voice was already sleepy, but she managed to emit a low purring sound of pleasure before dozing off.

    "Sure, no need to thank me. You¡¯re wee." Lith sneered, whispering to himself since Kam was already snoring. "Would you like me to treat Zinya as well?"

    "Yes, please. At her age, she needs all the help she can get to find a decentpanion." She opened one eye while answering. She ignored the high-density sarcasmyer coating Lith¡¯s rhetorical question and dealt the finishing blow.

    "What? How? You were supposed to be asleep!" Lith stopped whispering in surprise.

    "I¡¯m part of the military, baby. I¡¯m always vignt." Kam said with a smirk.

    ***

    Lith and Solus spent the rest of their leave splitting their time between family and work. As promised, Solus led the research for the tier five magic holding ring while Lith assisted her.

    By the time he resumed his service, they had consumed all the purified Orichalcum they had. One ring turned out to be a failure because they couldn¡¯t handle a sudden spike in the Orichalcum¡¯s energy amplifying effects that didn¡¯t manifest for its smelted counterpart.

    The prototypes they had crafted worked as tier four rings and their production went without a hitch, whereas the real deal required the purified Orichalcum that made the experiment go haywire.

    ¡¯The silver lining is that as soon as you learn how to control your Origin mes, we can recycle the ring. Also, after harnessing the power of the purified Orichalcum, we obtained a ring that can store two spells instead of just one.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, but remember what Orion said. Until we don¡¯t start our apprenticeship with Faluel, we better not use War nor ourtest creations. Or at least we have to take care of not leaving witnesses.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Solus agreed with him, but she was actually worried by War.

 Chapter 934 Cursed Objects Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 934 Cursed Objects Part 2</h4>

    The sword wasn¡¯t sentient, yet it seemed to have been imbued with the vicious feelings Orion had experienced while crafting it, if not even inherited part of the spirit of its creator.

    Whenever they practiced with War, she could almost feel it craving for violence and the fact that Lith had to shed blood just to put it away was really creepy. Orion didn¡¯t lie to him, War refused to leave his hand without being fed first.

    Giving it a blood sheath was the only way to soothe the de¡¯s fury. It was one of the reasons why he left it inside his pocket dimension most of the time. The main reason, however, was witnessing what happened when someone who wasn¡¯t Lith or Solus touched the de.

    Even though it had happened only once, the memory still haunted Solus¡¯s sleep.

    They were back in the Ker region, doing their patrol. Everything was quiet ever since Dawn had been chased out of the Griffon Kingdom. The Undead Courts were too busy dealing with the Master¡¯s Organization and trying to bring the Bright Day back into their fold to bother the Kingdom.

    Lith could feel it in the air, something big was going to happen. It wasn¡¯t just the bards telling the tales of his adventures everywhere he went, the criminals also seemed to have gone into hiding since he didn¡¯t receive calls except for those rted to social events.

    There wasn¡¯t much time left before Lith¡¯s honorable discharge, so he had epted Xedros¡¯s invitation and was going back to his ce. The Wyvern was the Emperor Beast in charge of the region and their deal was still in ce.

    Lith didn¡¯t trust him, but even if now he could count on Nalrond to teach him Light Mastery, the Wyvern was still the only expert he could consult about Origin mes. Also, if Faluel was right, Lith might need his help to deal with the Council.

    After so many months, Lith assumed that Xedros was back at his peak condition, so when the Wyvern sought an audience with him, Lith asked to meet in a neutral ce.

    The two hadn¡¯t met often since Lith had treated Xedros¡¯s condition. Their trades had continued, earning the Ranger a few tips about Origin mes and the Wyvern a few new ingredients, but nothing more.

    If possible, their rtionship was even worse than after their first meeting. After risking his life so many times, Lith had be more than just paranoid. His battle instincts had be so keen that over time he had managed to perceive an odd kind of bloodlusting from the Wyvern whenever they talked.

    A greed that shone in Xedros¡¯s eyes so intense that it was visible even through his hologram. Because of that, Lithmunicated the drop spot only after leaving the goods and asked for tips via long-distance calls, never in person.

    He arrived at the convened ce an hour early, scouting the area for traps and arrays. Only when he was sure there was nothing ad no one lying in ambush did Lithnd.

    Much to his surprise, Xedros arrived shortly after he was done and performed a thorough inspection as well. The Almost Wyrm, as he was mockingly called by some and respectfully by other lesser Dragons, couldn¡¯t afford to underestimate Lith anymore.

    ¡¯First, he treated Tyris¡¯s curse, and then he survived a tussle with the Horseman of Dawn. If what I heard is true, this might be my chance to get my hands on an omni pocket and the secret to be a Dragon at the same time. I cannot make a single mistake.¡¯ Xedros thought whilending.

    "I asked you to meet me in Zantia." Lith caressed the hilt of War, ready to unsheathe it the moment he even suspected Xedros would attempt something funny, yet cautious to not unleash it at the same time.

    The de had a bloodlust of its own and Lith didn¡¯t want the Wyvern to mistake his intentions and attack in self-defense.

    "Why do we have to meet on a teau? Are you afraid of humans?"

    "Me? Afraid of those pathetic meat sacks?" Xedros¡¯s voice was full of venom. "It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know how to shapeshift. Body Sculpting is not an easy subject to study."

    "After all these months you still have to master tier five Healing magic? Isn¡¯t it the very same light magic you use for your constructs?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Yeah, and isn¡¯t it the very same light magic you used to heal me? Yet I doubt you can shape the simplest of constructs." Xedros sneered.

    "I spent all this time holed up in my cave, reading and practicing healing magic, but without a master, it¡¯s not easy to improve. On top of that, shapeshifting requires altering your own life force. A single mistake can lead to death or worse, like losing my powers."

    Now that they were close enough, the Wyvern¡¯s detection array allowed him to scan the hybrid properly. Xedros was hoping that the stories he heard were fake and that the reason why Lith had survived was that he had submitted to Dawn.

    It would give Xedros the perfect excuse to kill him and get his hands on one if not two omni pockets. He could sell the second for an astronomical price that would allow him to make up for the almost two years lost due to Tyris¡¯s wrath.

    Unfortunately for him, Lith still only had a single dimensional aura surrounding his body and the array revealed no cursed object. Lith had once again left Solus nearby to prevent the Wyvern from spotting her.

    "Let¡¯s get to business, shall we?" Xedros said with a low growl, baring his teeth and making a few drops of his venom sizzle on contact with the ground.

    "What do you want?" Lith had no idea why the Emperor Beast was so pissed off nor did he care.

    "You are an incredibly lucky man, Lith Verhen, and I would like you to share that luck with me. In exchange, I¡¯m willing to help you face the iing storm and maybe even your enemies." Xedros said.

    "Me? Lucky?" Lith didn¡¯tugh only because he couldn¡¯t afford to lower his guard. "Read my reports. I almost die on a daily basis."

    "Stop pretending with me!" The Wyvern snarled, uncaring for the appearances anymore. "You possess an omni pocket, you somehow defeated the Horseman of Dawn, and you met a fabled creature, so yes, you are damn lucky."

    "I have indeed sent the Bright Day running, but must I must plead ignorance about the rest. What¡¯s an omni pocket and what creature are you talking about?" Lith shrugged.

    Xedros wasn¡¯t the army, so Lith had no reason to y modest, quite the contrary. He didn¡¯t need to make a good impression on the Wyvern to get help from the beasts¡¯ Council. Scaring the crap out of them worked just fine as well.

    "You really don¡¯t know?" Xedros opened his eyes wide and his mouth agape, staring at Lith as if he was the biggest fool on Mogar. Then, the Wyvern burst outughing. Yet it was a cruelughter devoid of joy and filled only with contempt.

    "That¡¯s good news, at least for me. It seems you really need an honest friend since your dear master Faluel keeps you in the dark." The Almost Wyrm stoppedughing and wore the soft smile of a predator who has spotted the weakest member of a herd.

 Chapter 935 Friends and Enemies Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 935 Friends and Enemies Part 1</h4>

    "What do you mean?" Lith trusted Faluel, but the Wyvern appeared too confident to dismiss his words as lies.

    "First, any decent Dimensional Mage can perceive the spatial distortion surrounding your body. It¡¯s the proof you have an omni pocket. A rare and powerful device the capacity of which increases with its user strength.

    "Also, unlikemon dimensional items, once someone has imprinted an omni pocket, they can ess their storage space even though they don¡¯t carry it on them. It makes its owner unpredictable and very dangerous." Xedros said.

    "Let¡¯s say I do have one, in what way is it any different from other dimensional items? I¡¯m not an Emperor Beast so I don¡¯t go around butt naked. Anyone who wears clothes can also have several storage devices." Lith shrugged.

    "Normal items can be searched for and removed, whereas an omni pocket can be essed even when you are ¡¯butt naked¡¯, as you put it. Also, consider this. A dimensional item is the focus for the storage space but what about an omni pocket?

    "Have you ever wondered why you can still summon your possessions even when you are thousands of kilometers away from your relic?" Xedros asked.

    "Yeah, several times." Lith lied through his teeth. He always had Solus with him and neither of them had ever questioned how their pocket dimension worked.

    "I¡¯m willing to give you a hint as a sign of goodwill, but for the real answer, you¡¯ll have to help me. Let me guess, in moments of distress you conjure your items out of emerald mes, correct?" Xedros wore a sly smile.

    "How do you..."

    "Help first, answer second." The Wyvern cut Lith short. "Also, is it true that you met a Rezar, a member of the fabled werepeople?"

    "Yes. We fought Dawn together. Why?" Lith asked.

    "Gods, how can you be so ignorant? I take back my earlierment about you being lucky. If that scum who sired you didn¡¯t abandon you with humans like trash, you might have already achieved true greatness.

    "Worry not, I¡¯m willing to fill the spot that both your parent and master left open." Xedros smile turnedpassioned, but it only met Lith¡¯s hostility.

    He loved Raaz, and unlike Faluel, the Wyvern had yet to prove himself to be more than venom and arrogance.

    "Did he mention that his tribe lived in a special ce?" Xedros was actually pleased by Lith¡¯s reaction. Hunting easy prey was boring and after being holed up for almost two years he could use some fun.

    "Correct again. What¡¯s your point?"

    "My point is that what he probably failed to mention is how special it was. Have you ever heard about the Fringes? They are hidden zones of this where the will of Mogar manifests itself." The Almost Wyrm didn¡¯t wait for an answer and proceeded with the exnation.

    ¡¯I can feel a greed in Lith that almost rivals my own. The greed typical of Dragons. I only need to trigger it and he will dance in the palm of my hand.¡¯ He thought.

    "They are simr to mana geyser but much bigger and more powerful. Fringes are out of phase with the rest of the world and are almost inessible. It¡¯s where fabled races like elves and werepeople live, spending their entire lives without any contact with those like us."

    The word "elves" made Lith flinch. He had only met their Fallen cousins, the orcs, and they had given him plenty of trouble. The real deal was bound to be even worse.

    "And I¡¯m supposed to care about Fringes because..." Lith said.

    "Because Fringes are ces where the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual world are paper-thin. You can scry Mogar¡¯s mind to study the past, observe the present, and even catch a glimpse of future events.

    "That¡¯s not all. Inside a Fringe, if you are lucky andpetent enough, you can call upon Mogar and ask her questions to which she answers!" Xedros was getting more and more excited, to the point that he sounded like a zealot.

    "Like what?" Lith asked.

    "Do you really have no doubt nor goal in your life? All living and undead beings want to Awaken while those who Awakened want to live forever. As for me, I want to learn how to evolve into a real Dragon! Do you understand me now?" Xedros brimmed with joy just at the thought of achieving his life-long dream.

    Lith nodded while considering his options.

    ¡¯I could ask Mogar about the reason I¡¯m here, about a way to never reincarnate again, about Solus¡¯s past, or even about what bing her personal Lord of Destruction implies.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Yet what Xedros is offering me are just fairy tales, whereas Faluel saved my nephew and Nalrond already offered to teach me Light Mastery. Actions speak way louder than promises and I still don¡¯t trust this lizzie.¡¯

    "Just a few questions. If Fringes are such magical ces, howe werepeople haven¡¯t already solved the problem of their dual nature nor did they find a way to destroy Dawn? If elves are real, then why didn¡¯t they conquer the world?" Lith didn¡¯t believe in free meals.

    Xedros¡¯s story was too good to be true. To make matters worse, hearing Lith¡¯s questions made every trace of enthusiasm disappear from the face of the Wyvern only for it to be reced by the guilty look of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

    "There¡¯s a catch." Xedros nervously licked his lips with a tongue long enough to make even a chameleon gulp in disbelief. "Being close to Mogar¡¯s will means that you canmunicate with her, but also that she can notice you.

    "You might have noticed that this has an agenda of its own. If Mogar sees something she doesn¡¯t like, she destroys it. Not many seek an audience with her because most of those who seed don¡¯t live to tell the tale."

    "Then what makes you think it will be any different for you and me?" Lith asked.

    "Because unlike those who came before me, I don¡¯t n on hoarding that knowledge for myself. I want to give all Wyverns, no to all lesser Dragons, the chance to ascend to their rightful position.

    "If I¡¯m wrong, then Mogar is free to smite me. There¡¯s no point in living hundreds of years in mediocrity. If my dream is just a dream, I¡¯d rather wake up." Xedros said.

    Lith found his reasoning incredibly arrogant. Xedros had achieved a purple mana core, mastery over light magic, and was likely to live for a millennium if not more.

    ¡¯If that¡¯s mediocrity, what about the rest of us? What a self-righteous buffoon. I¡¯m ready to bet that even if he ever manages to be a Dragon, it will not be enough to sate his ego.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but after the fight, I lost contact with the guy. Moreover, I have yet to finish my military service. I can¡¯t help you right now." He actually said. Lith wasn¡¯t going to ept any term without talking with Nalrond and Faluel first.

    "It¡¯s fine." Xedros replied, making Lith raise an eyebrow in surprise. "I have a long life ahead of me whereas with your crippled life force, I¡¯m sure you¡¯lle to reason in a while. Also, my offer for help still stands.

 Chapter 936 Friends and Enemies Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 936 Friends and Enemies Part 2</h4>

    "When Dawnes back for her revenge, call me and I¡¯lle to your aid. You¡¯ll get rid of her forever and I¡¯ll get my omni pocket. Everybody wins." Xedros said.

    "You want to merge with Dawn? Do you realize what does it mean?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "It means acquiring endless power, millennia of knowledge and resources. Do not fret. If Mogar considered Dawn a threat, she wouldn¡¯t have survived inside the Fringe for so long. Humans fear cursed objects because they have both weak minds and bodies.

    "I¡¯m older than any of them will ever be and I¡¯ve trained my willpower through centuries of magical practice. There¡¯s not a single speck of weakness in my whole being." Xedros said.

    ¡¯No humility either.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Fine by me. If Dawn shows up, I¡¯ll call you. Same in the case I find that hybrid again." Lith¡¯s answer pleased the Wyvern, who in exchange offered his help with the Council.

    Lith left first, resuming his patrol and hoping the three months of military service he had left would pass uneventfully.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Forgotten Plume tribe, the same month when Lith¡¯s leave took ce.

    Winter was a meaningless word for the people living in the desert. The climate was always hot, clouds were nigh non-existent, and they would see snow only as pictures in illustrated books.

    Like all of the desert tribes, the Forgotten Plume was nomadic. They were forced to relocate periodically to let the oases refill and follow the animals that represented their main source of food.

    No one besides Overlord Sark, her fake Awakened, the Feathers, and the merchants they traded with knew the position of each tribe. Moreover, the Blood Desert was thergest of the three great countries.

    Those two factors made unexpected guests something more fabled than snow itself.

    That day, however, a lonely figure came walking and puffing as he crossed one dune after another, visible for kilometers thanks to his white robes shining under the sun akin to a precious gem.

    The children of the vige spotted him first and alerted their parents. Even though Sark and her fake Awakened kept the desert at peace, criminals still existed. Sometimes a small tribe of marauders would follow a migrating vige and attack it the moment its Feather would leave.

    On top of that, the people of the Forgotten Plume tribe were wary of strangers because their Feather was one of the most wanted men of the Griffon Kingdom, Ilyum Balkor.

    The rm bell resounded the second after a small boy pointed his finger at the approaching figure dressed in white and gold.

    "What in the Great Mother¡¯s name is happening?" Balkor walked out of his tent with a cruel smile already on his lips.

    "Who could be mad enough to attack my tribe knowing that I¡¯m here and that Sark can join me any second?" A wave of the god of death¡¯s hand bent the light, allowing him to see the intruder as if they were mere centimeters away.

    "Me and my big mouth." He cursed. "Evacuate the vige and reach the first safe point. I won¡¯t allow them to harm a single one of you, but I need to buy time until the Overlord arrives."

    Balkor gave a quick kiss to Eos, his wife, before sending her away with their children. Her name meant sun and it couldn¡¯t be more fitting. She was the reason why he woke up every day and had chosen to not give up his life in pursuit of his revenge.

    "What are you doing here and what do you want?" Balkor asked while casting a detecting array that epassed the area around them for kilometers in search of the reinforcements that were bound to be hidden somewhere.

    Ilyum Balkor was a man in histe thirties, about 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") tall. He had a lean body toned by the regr training he underwent to withstand the most powerful spells and the recent fake Awakening process.

    Balkor also had light blonde hair streaked both in ck and white. The former was proof of his affinity for the darkness element whereas thetter was the consequence of him spending most of his life force to create his army of greater undead.

    The Valors were Balkor¡¯s opus, stronger than any elder of any of the Undead Courts and it took him less than a year to make hundreds of them.

    Despite the years of life in the desert, Balkor was still quite pale due to being born in the northern part of the Griffon Kingdom. Unlike the other men of the desert, he had no beard and his robe was ck and silver, the same colors as the ck Griffon.

    "Is this how you greet a friend you haven¡¯t seen in years?" Krishna Manohar replied while wiping the sweat from his forehead with a wave of his hand.

    He was a man in his early thirties, with ck hair and shades of silver. He was around 1.74 meters (5¡¯9") meters tall and had a slender build.

    "Do you mean since thest time I was still strong enough to lead the charge of my undead army while you Spellbreakers tried to kill me?" Balkor chuckled while weaving his best spells.

    Even though fake Awakened had no ess to breathing techniques like Invigoration or umtion, they could still use Life Vision, Spirit Magic, Fusion Magic, and cast perfectly silent spells.

    Manohar, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t do anything without hand signs and chants.

    "Well, yeah. Isn¡¯t that friends do? I mean, Manohar and the King always say they are my friends, yet they try to strangle me on a monthly basis."

    "How did you find me and what does the Never Magus want from me?" Balkor¡¯s eyes turned pitch ck and with them the entire space surrounding the two men, yet Manohar didn¡¯t seem to notice.

    "You know, I¡¯ve been called in many ways. God of healing, child of light, Mad Professor, but Never Magus is the only one I never understood."

    "It means that you could have be a Magus if only you shared your knowledge about light magic and stopped disappearing at critical moments. Now answer my questions." Balkor snarled as the Forgotten Plume vige was now under a total sr eclipse.

    "Finding you was quite easy. Bing a Feather is quite the feat so I guess congrattions are in order." Manohar gave him a small bow.

    "The problem with fame is that it makes the news of a small, insignificant vige getting its own Feather spread throughout the desert as wildfire thanks to the merchants you trade with.

    "As for the reason I¡¯m here, well, I need a second opinion." The Mad Professor scratched his head in embarrassment.

    He wasn¡¯t used to asking for favors.

    "You, the strongest and most unreliable magician of the Griffon Kingdom, dare asking for my help?" Balkor didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Tell me another."

    Tired of Manohar¡¯s shenanigans, Balkor activated his tier five spell, Shadow of the Colossus. The darkness surrounding the vige was sucked by the god of death¡¯s shadow, which detached from the sand in the form of a dark monolith.

    It started to grow in size, gaining a third dimension and physical substance until it turned into a 10 meters (33 feet) tall horned giant with purple eyes brimming with mana. The Colossus enveloped Balkor¡¯s body and hid him from Manohar¡¯s sight.

 Chapter 937 Genius and Madness Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 937 Genius and Madness Part 1</h4>

    The Shadow of the Colossus spell granted Balkor perfect attack and defense at the same time. The energy the titan was made of could be used to perform physical attacks or be instantly converted into any other spell, even tier five.

    Balkor could freely move inside the shadow body while remaining hidden, so even dealing him a scratch was a gamble that cost a lot of mana to try. On top of that, Balkor could repair any damage the construct sustained just by adding more mana.

    "Hey! Not only that¡¯s an improved version of your old Death Ruler spell, but you¡¯ve also stolen my thunder. Don¡¯t think you can fool me with theatrics. That¡¯s a hard-light construct covered in darkness. How did you learn how to do that?" With a wave of Manohar¡¯s hand, several runes of light came out of his robe.

    Balkor was shocked noticing that they were theponents of a powerful spell. Manohar¡¯s tier five spell, Avatar of Light, took the form of a giant that matched the size of Balkor¡¯s Colossus, but instead of resembling a mythical figure, it was a replica of the Mad Professor¡¯s appearance.

    "Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin. You simply chose the wrong side of the spectrum." Balkor struck at the light giant before it could fully form, shattering it into countless pieces.

    Unfortunately for him, every single piece was under Manohar¡¯s control. He had the construct disassemble before the mass of darkness could deal any real damage and reassembled it around his own body, mimicking Balkor strategy.

    The gold embroidery on the Mad Professor¡¯s robe turned out to be more light runes that conjured more spells while the arms of his Avatar turned into maces that struck at the Colossus¡¯ shoulders, forcing it on its knees.

    "You did all this while we were talking?" Balkor couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. Somehow, Manohar was able to store the mana and the runes necessary for his spells in a light form, so that he only needed his hands to cast them.

    "Didn¡¯t you do the same?" Manohar sneered while meteors made of light and fire struck the ground all around them. Light magic was slow, but the meteors exploded on contact and each one had the power to blow up a castle.

    "You wish." Balkor pped his hands, unleashing his tier five Dimensional Shroud spell. It distorted the space around the Colossus, so to redirect the explosions hitting the spell against their caster.

    Manohar¡¯s own mana couldn¡¯t hurt him nor his constructs, but the shockwaves cracked his Avatar and almost sent it belly-up.

    "Are you done with your magical measuring contest, boys?" Overlord Sark appeared between them, forcing a cease-fire.

    She had taken the appearance of a woman in her mid-twenties, with silky ck long hair, emerald eyes, and a bronze tinge of skin so clear it seemed to shine under the morning sun.

    She wore the white linen shirt and pants typical of her tribal leaders, the Feathers, but no turban, allowing her hair to graze the ground.

    "Do you realize that Balkor is no longer a simple refugee? Attacking one of my Feathers is an act of war against the Blood Desert."

    "He started it." Manohar¡¯s reply was as childish as his attitude.

    "You came to my house uninvited, threatening my people!" Balkor replied.

    "Balkor has a point. What do you want, Manohar?" Normally Sark would have kicked him back to the Kingdom, but the magic disyed by the Mad Professor had impressed her.

    "I¡¯ve been tasked with eradicating at least five local branches of the Undead Courts located in as many important cities of the Kingdom. Until I do that, all my assets and research funds will remain frozen." Manohar crossed his arms, pouting at the thought while nervously tapping his left foot.

    "And..." Sark could tell there was more to it.

    "And I¡¯m kind of stuck with number three. A minor inconvenience, really, I could find a solution on my own, but it would take time and effort. Why should I reinvent the wheel when I can just ask for its blueprints?" Manohar pointed at Balkor.

    "What kind of inconvenience are we talking about and what do you need?" Sark asked.

    "I met the Horseman of Night. A charming woman and a great conversationalist. Too bad she¡¯s as mad as a hatter and that defeating her along with her personal guards proved to be problematic." Manohar said.

    "A Horseman who travels with their Chosen ones is indeed a tough cookie." Sark nodded. Her daughter Sinmara was an Awakened and an Elder Phoenix, yet she had barely defeated Dawn in a simr condition.

    "Why did youe all the way here instead of just switching targets? You need to destroy any five Courts, after all."

    "That would mean that I¡¯ve failed and I never fail!" Even when acting prideful, Manohar managed to still sound childish. "I heard that she pestered you quite for a long while, Balkor, and I thought you wanted to even the score."

    At the mention of Night, Balkor¡¯s Colossus responded to its master¡¯s fury by assuming an even more demonic appearance. It grew wings and now wielded a zing ck whip.

    "Why me? Why not ask your goddamn Spellbreakers and overwhelm her with the full might of your army?" The god of death was actually intrigued.

    He hated Night¡¯s guts for having pestered him for years and threatening his new family in her attempts to force him to bond with her. Balkor had tried to destroy her multiple times over the years, but he had always failed.

    Night disappeared after Sark had approached Balkor, yet he didn¡¯t take revenge lightly. The opportunity to take on an old enemy with his newfound powers, maybe while sowing more chaos and death in the Griffon Kingdom, was hard to turn down.

    Yet he had no reason to trust Manohar.

    "Because you¡¯ll never take credit for Night¡¯s defeat and he doesn¡¯t want people to know he needed help." Sark replied.

    "I didn¡¯t ask for help, only for a second opinion! Besides, if a Great Mage and a junior of mine at that, survived going toe to toe with Dawn, how could an Archmage back down at the first setback?" Manohar snarled at Sark¡¯s allegation.

    "Is this really just a matter of stupid pride?" Balkor was bbergasted.

    "Said the man who¡¯s going to help me to pursue a stupid revenge." The god of healing shrugged.

    "Do I have your word that this is not a trap and that you will not try to capture me once this is over?" Balkor said.

    "Do I look like a man who ever lied?" Manohar had a point. He was famous because his talent was second only to his rudeness.

    "Can you protect my tribe during my absence, Overlord Sark?" Usually, Balkor didn¡¯t use honorifics even when he talked with Guardians, but now he was asking for a favor.

    "Sure. I¡¯ll move my pce here until your return." With a wave of Sark¡¯s hand several tents the size of a circus Warped around the Forgotten Plume vige.

    ¡¯This is a perfect opportunity to cripple the strength of those pesky undead that are guing ournd.¡¯ She said to Balkor via a mind link. ¡¯I want you to learn from that idiot how he can cast silent spells without true magic. Recruit him if you can.¡¯

    Balkor kissed his wife and children goodbye before leaving. He also took a few things with him, just to be safe.

 Chapter 938 Genius and Madness Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 938 Genius and Madness Part 2</h4>

    "Before moving out, you should wear this." Manohar gave Balkor a Skinwalker armor and several clothes typical of the Kingdom to store within it, ranging from a noble¡¯s attire to a street urchin¡¯s raggedy overall.

    "Neither of us can afford to be recognized nor we can waste time changing clothes every now and then. As the two most wanted men in the Griffon Kingdom, we need to be creative." He answered Balkor¡¯s silent question.

    "Do you need a ride?" Sark asked.

    "No, thanks. I¡¯m going to make this quick." Manohar ced his hand on Balkor¡¯s shoulder, shapeshifting both of them into a couple of young maidens that anyone who knew Tista would mistake for her rtives.

    "What the fuck?" The god of death¡¯s voice was now as feminine as it was full of horror.

    "We need toy low. Despite my disguises and tricks that damn Jirni Ernas almost caught me several times thest time I went for a few errands." Manohar took a red sphere out of his dimensional amulet.

    "Maybe because they look for your trademark dickery and light constructs." Sarkughed her ass off while looking at the two girls who moved with the grace of an elephant.

    "That woman sure is annoying, but her husband crafts lots of great stuff. He gave me a few trinkets in exchange for my help in getting revenge for his daughter or something. I think you two would get along, always so full of teen angst. Passage for two." Manohar said to the sphere, ignoring Sark.

    The runes on the sphere rearranged themselves, locking onto the coordinates of Warp Gate in the city of Othre while creating a fake ID signal that would fool the Royal archives. Then, the sphere disassembled into several pieces that formed a circr Gate.

    The moment the two "women" stepped through it, the gate imploded and the sphere turned into dust.

    "Remarkable piece." Sark tried and failed to salvage any information about the sphere¡¯s crafting methods by using her Invigoration technique, Mother Sun, on its remains.

    "Tyris, old friend, why does your Kingdom keep pissing off the wrong people? Whoever this Ernas guy is, I wouldn¡¯t want him among my enemies." She whispered to the wind.

    "That makes the two of us." The wind whispered back. Tyris was sick and tired of people who in the pursuit of their petty grudges and personal ambitions would put her life¡¯s work at risk.

    Meanwhile, in Othre, Manohar seductively smiled at the guards who let them go without asking them a question except for a date.

    "Smile, you idiot." Manohar rebuked Balkor who had reacted to the men¡¯s advances with hostility as if they had tried to murder him. "Tista, one of my students, taught me that if you¡¯re pretty enough, you don¡¯t need to ask to get what you want. You just need to smile."

    "How can you find asking for help humiliating and yet have no issues doing this?" Balkor pointed in outrage at his now rosy skin and double D cup the moment they walked through the door of the army base.

    "Hey, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m talking or acting any different than I normally would. I¡¯ve never cared for appearances and I can¡¯t be med if people are so shallow that a perky bosom is all that it takes to shut their brains off." Manohar said.

    "The only real question here is if we want to attack during the day or the night."

    "The ck Night bes stronger after sunset and so do her undead. I¡¯d say we should move as soon as possible." Balkor said.

    "Okay then. We¡¯ll attack after curfew." Manohar dragged hispanion in a restaurant and ordered for two.

    Between the Mad Professor¡¯s entricity and the looks the waiter threw at their cleavage, Balkor was seconds away from turning Othre into a graveyard.

    "Either you give me a good reason for waiting that long or I swear to the gods that I¡¯ll go home." The god of death said.

    "We¡¯ve got plenty of reasons." Manohar replied. "First, our earlier squabble cost us both a lot of mana. Based on the examination I gave you while we shapeshifted, it will take us food and a few hours of rest to get back to the top of our game.

    "Second, during the day the army and the Association would notice our spells from a distance and promptly intervene. We can¡¯t afford them to join our little operation because once they recognize us escaping would be much more difficult.

    "After curfew, instead, even if they spot the fight, it will take them so much time between preparing and getting the authorization to leave the city that by the time they arrive we¡¯ll be long gone."

    "Third, is way more fun this way."

    After hearing thest point, Balkor started to regret having epted to help the madman sitting on the opposite side of the table. Yet the god of death couldn¡¯t turn down an opportunity to weaken the Undead Courts and secure his home.

    Thanks to its Overlord and her Feathers, the desert was safe, but the situation was bound to change soon. Sark couldn¡¯t be everywhere at the same time and the Blood Desert was full of precious magical resources.

    Dawn had already probed the defenses of several outposts protecting the Adamant mines and crystal veins. To make matters worse, Dusk was unifying the renegade tribes under his banner with the promise of eternal life and Night had dared to harass Balkor¡¯s family again.

    Now that the three Horsemen were acting together, they weren¡¯t afraid of messing with Sark¡¯s turf.

    "Since we have a few hours of waiting ahead of us, do you mind exining to me how can you cast spells without chanting?" Balkor also had to follow the Guardian¡¯s orders.

    "Sure thing." Manohar twirled his index and middle finger together, creating a Hush zone. "During the years I sometimes shed with some psychos who could weave perfect silent spells of all tiers.

    "Aside from that they were no big deal, so I never bothered learning their tricks. Last year, however..." He sighed, needing a pause to muster the strength necessary to say those words.

    "I was def-. I was best-. I faced an opponent who almost made me sur-." No matter how Manohar tried to word the phrase, his mouth refused toply.

    "You got your ass handed to you." Balkorpleted the phrase for him. "It happens to all of us, sooner orter."

    The god of death still remembered how Linjos, thanks to the help of the Emperor Beasts, had foiled his n to take down all the six great academies. After that, the Guardians had bested him magically and intellectually more than once while investigating the Master.

    Yet Balkor didn¡¯t resent any of them. He believed that every defeat had made him stronger.

    "Not to me!" Manohar jumped up, drawing a lot of attention despite the presence of the Hush spell. "That Thrud Griffon kept using magic without chanting and her mana seemed to be endless. I was better than her, but those stupid chants are too easily interrupted.

    "After that day, I studied Lochra Silverwing¡¯s diaries in search of a way to ovee the limitations of magic as I knew it. It was then that I realized that we need chants and hand signs to line up runes quickly in an orderly fashion.

    "We vocalize those too hard to be drawn and write with our mana the simple runes at the same time. So I thought, why not use Light Mastery¡¯s first magic to draw all the runes and infuse them with mana?

 Chapter 939 Guest and Sword Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 939 Guest and Sword Part 1</h4>

    "Sure, I still need my hands to quickly draw the runes of multiple spells at the same time without messing up, but it works like a charm. I wonder why no one ever thought about it before." Manohar said.

    "Because Light Mastery is hard." Balkor replied.

    He was at the level of giving constructs a shape, but alter it after they were formed was still beyond him. He had learned it on his own, without a master, and only practiced it as a hobby after swearing allegiance to Sark.

    After she had taken him under her wing, after bing a Feather, Balkor believed that his days as a fighter were over. The only magical research he still performed was that with Leegaain.

    "What about you?" Manohar asked. "I noticed earlier you had glowing eyes and pulled spells out of your ass like it was nothing."

    "The ¡¯psychos¡¯ as you call them, are actually Awakened." Balkor enjoyed the shocked expression on Manohar¡¯s face while he exined how Awakening worked. The god of death wasn¡¯t a member of the Council, so their rules didn¡¯t apply to him.

    "It sure would exin a lot." Manohar pondered. "I always found ridiculous the theory that magical beasts use a different kind of magic, but I never managed to replicate their technique, even after they exined it to me.

    "What intrigues me the most, however, is the ability to replenish the mana at will. Can you teach it to me?"

    "I can do neither. I¡¯ve no idea what Sark did to me, but I¡¯m just a humble Necromancer whereas you are a Healer." Balkor offered him his hand, hoping that Manohar would find an answer and give Balkor the means to provide his family with a long life.

    The god of healing performed every diagnostic spell he knew, but came out empty-handed. Impurities weren¡¯t caused by a disease or an anomaly, they were as natural as the bridge on a nose or skin moles.

    Conventional magical means were unable to detect their presence or removal whereas regr sight could. It was the reason why true mages who sold their beauty treatments had made up "cosmetic magic" to exin the effects of Invigoration.

    Mana cores couldn¡¯t be studied either, yet in their case, it depended on the fact that mana cores weren¡¯t a physical organ.

    Otherwise Manohar would have discovered both phenomenons back when he examined Lith while he was recovering from his attempt at mending Protector¡¯s mana core.

    "If I didn¡¯t see people casting perfectly silent spells with my own eyes, I would never believe your story." Manohar said after a while.

    "Me neither." Balkor paid the bill and then the two men left the restaurant for a nearby hotel to get some precious sleep. Manohar shapeshifted hispanion into a handsome young man while he retained his feminine appearance.

    ¡¯He must be born with a silver spoon if he can afford to rent a hotel room in the middle of the afternoon to spend time with his girlfriend. Lucky bastard.¡¯ The hotel clerk thought while looking at the youths.

    "If I kept us both as girls, we wouldn¡¯t have a moment¡¯s peace with creeps knocking on our door non-stop, whereas if we were two men, some zealots might have reported us to the guards. You sleep on the floor, by the way." Manohar said.

    Luckily for Balkor, the room had afortable sofa. Compared to some ces where he had slept while he was in hiding, it was akin to a king-size bed.

    "I¡¯ve heard that you recently got the title of Lost Magus, but I couldn¡¯t get any information without getting caught. What did you do in my absence?"

    "I¡¯ve shared the basics of my Necromancy techniques with the Blood Desert¡¯s academies. I kept the advanced stuff for my children, but it was enough to earn me the title of Blood Magus in the Desert and Lost Magus in this shithole of a country." Balkor said.

    Just like Manohar, Balkor had many titles. God of death, kinyer, and orphan-maker were the most renowned. Lost Magus was just the most recent.

    "They really give the title of Magus away these days." Manohar clicked his tongue.

    There hadn¡¯t been one in over a century and he was proud at the idea that all he had to do to be the first in many generations was to give away a few paltry tricks and perform a few odd jobs.

    Now, however, Manohar would be the second.

    ***

    A few hourster, the two left the city of Othre before sunset, under the guise of two burly adventurers. The guards tried to dissuade them, but all it took was for Manohar to be himself for a couple of minutes to get them kicked out and prohibited from returning.

    "Where are we going?" Balkor asked.

    "Undead Courts are usually located underground and outside the big cities so that they can expand their bases as much as they want without getting noticed. The only ess is old school permanent Warp Gates.

    "Our destination is a secondary entrance I learned about during my first visit." Manohar said.

    "How can you be so sure it still works?"

    "Because." Manohar would never admit to having found the base by ident.

    A few days ago, he had forgotten to change his appearance before getting drunk. He needed a way to bear the thought of not doing research and a member of the Night Court needed a sacrifice for their leader.

    Manohar had been kidnapped, an experience that he found more convenient than it was annoying, and then he had unleashed all his pent-up stress upon the undead as a thank you.

    Everything went fine until he faced the Horseman of Night and her Chosen ones. Her ability to cast powerful spells non-stop coupled with Manohar¡¯s inability to deal her a lethal wound had forced him to flee.

    For the second time in a single night, he had been happy to look like a girl. No one would ever know the truth about his first and hopefullyst tactical retreat in his life.

    He was certain that the dimensional Gate would still work because it wasn¡¯t the one he had crossed to escape, but that they had used to bring him in while he was allegedly drunk and unconscious.

    Ancient Warp stations were made by carving the magic circles and dimensional runes on a t surface. Without a power source, they couldn¡¯t be detected with spells nor with Life Vision.

    Also, they could bypass modern dimensional magic blocking arrays because they worked ording to different principles than those currently in use. Ancient Warp Gates would permanently fuse two points in space, whereas modern ones could connect to multiple locations via dimensional corridors.

    It made them more versatile, but also susceptible to being jammed by preventing them from locking on to their exit point¡¯s coordinates. Ancient Warp Gates had no such problem. There was no corridor to create, just a door to open.

    A door for which Manohar had the key. His nimble fingers were not only able to trace multiple hand signs per second, but they would also spend quite some time exploring other people¡¯s pockets whenever the Mad Professor was bored.

    He had no problem finding the cracked oak tree that marked the spot of the ess point to the Court¡¯s base. Manohar took a red mana crystal shaped like a pearl and inserted it in the magic circle.

 Chapter 940 Guest and Sword Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 940 Guest and Sword Part 2</h4>

    The runes lit up, using the mana contained in the crystal to open the dimensional door and create a red vortex connecting two different points in space. Manohar dragged Balkor inside and shapeshifted them both back to their real appearance.

    "No more tricks?" The god of death asked.

    "No, just a piece of advice. Save your best spells for Night. There is no reason to waste good magic on goons."

    Ancient Gates could be opened by anyone at any time, making them a security nightmare. It was the reason why Undead Courts ced a gatekeeper at every entrance and they had to be informed of every arrival or departure.

    The moment the red door opened, Xear Rakley, gatekeeper and one of the oldest Ghouls of Othre, sounded the rm. Ghouls had regenerative abilities on par with trolls and couldn¡¯t be killed unless their heart was destroyed or their entire body pulverized.

    Both were arduous tasks since they could freely move their hearts throughout their bodies and merge with earth to escape all kinds of attacks. Balkor only needed a flick of his wrist to release his tier three spell Needle.

    A hail of darkness rays pierced Xear from every side. Each one of them was no bigger than a pinhole, resulting in little to no damage to a living being. An undead¡¯s weak point, however, was another story entirely.

    The ghoul¡¯s heart had now more holes than swiss cheese and even though they were small, the damage was enough to cut off the mana flow it received from the blood core. For a split second, the ghoul turned into a corpse, and then it stayed that way.

    "Nice move." Manohar gave him a thumbs up before waving his hand and ughtering an elite unit of undead.

    His tier four spell, Full-Course Meal, fixed the imbnce in their blood cores, turning the undead back into living beings just long enough for the tier three spell Fire Wall to burn them into crisp.

    "And here I thought I was the only one researching a cure for undeath." Balkor said. "Your method is crude and ineffective. It doesn¡¯t really fix anything. It just overloads the undead with the light element."

    "That¡¯s the difference between you and me." Manohar said. "You think that reversing undeath is a cure, whereas I think that death is the cure. Look at these old fogeys. They have lived centuries, and for what?

    "Did they make any great magical breakthrough? Have they brought any real progress to their civilization? No. They are pests and they need to be treated as such."

    "I disagree." Balkor used the tier four darkness spell, Sandman, to send another wave of guards to their eternal sleep. "Undeath can be used to buy time and give a life to people affected by diseases we have yet to find a cure for.

    "Not all the undead are born out of their own will and some regret their choice. They deserve a second chance."

    "At what price? What about the lives of those they had to feed upon to sustain their existence? There¡¯s no such thing as a second chance." Manohar shook his head while impaling a vampire with a stake made of light.

    "Price? Very few undead need to kill to feed. Also, every country has its jails filled with people who don¡¯t deserve to live. Their life force can be used to give back at least part of what they have taken from others." Balkor snarled as he turned a Golem into debris.

    The two mages continued their debate while ughtering everyone and everything so dumb to stand in their path. What made the elders of the Court run away, screaming for their mothers like children after a nightmare, was the fact that not a single piece of furniture was broken, not a single carpet was damaged by the Magi.

    Even their area of effect spells were maneuvered with surgical precision that they hit nothing but their intended targets. The Magi followed the Court¡¯s elders to the throne hall, where their host was waiting for them.

    "Manohar, it¡¯s so good to see you again." Night giggled like a little girl. "You shouldn¡¯t have bothered bringing me a present. I was going to take dear Balkor myselfter, but thank you anyway.

    "You¡¯ve saved me the trip and another tussle with that overgrown desert chicken."

    "I think there¡¯s a misunderstanding. I¡¯ve never been here before." Manohar lied through his teeth, cing his hand over his heart to look more convincing.

    "Please, there are only three renowned Light Masters in the whole Griffon Kingdom. One is a kitty cat, another is a lizzie, and thest is you." Night said. "Do you think I missed how the ¡¯mysterious girl¡¯ used your spells and moved like a man?"

    "I..."

    "No, you don¡¯t have a sister. I checked!" She cut him short.

    Night looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.70 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with ebony skin that seemed to devour all light and full lips that highlighted her sensual smile.

    She had silver waist-long hair and round eyes without pupils that shone like moons. Her body was covered by a skin-tight ck full suit of armor that left only her head exposed, yet she was no less charming than if she was wearing a cocktail dress.

    Each one of her Chosen belonged to a different race, undead species and country, but they all exuded a powerful presence that would bring most mortals to their knees. They were the apex predators of their kind, yet they weren¡¯t allowed to sit nor to stay close to their lord.

    They stood behind her throne, waiting for orders.

    "Dammit, this is really embarrassing." Manohar scratched his head. "I know I only asked you a second opinion about Night, but now we need to kill them all. We can¡¯t afford these maniacs to spread their lies throughout the three great countries.

    "I have a reputation to uphold."

    Balkor started tough like a maniac, not knowing whether to be more amused by Manohar abusing the word "we" or by the fact that the god of healing waspletely ignoring Night and her cadre.

    "How dare you pitifulmbs disrespect the Dark Queen?" Beregor Skywulf had been a powerful barbarian chieftain before being turned into a Wraith.

    Nothing of his flesh now remained, yet the living shadows enveloping his bones were shaped to resemble his lost physique. He stood almost 2 meters (6¡¯ 7") tall, with shoulders wider than most tables and arms as thick as small trees.

    His fingers were caressing the hilt of his prized battle-ax, Stormhowl, that rested on his back. He wore leather trousers padded with fur, a leather shirt and boots. It was impossible to say if he was bald since shadows couldn¡¯t replicate hair.

    Beregor¡¯s eyes shone with the red light of undeath that was now strengthened by his fury and mana.

    "Silence, Beregor. You are but servants, whereas Manohar is my guest and Balkor is the Sword I¡¯ve chosen." Night raised her hand, making her champions stand at attention like soldiers.

    "Join me, Ilyum Balkor, and I¡¯ll give you more than you have ever dreamed about. Together we can conquer this Kingdom and kill all those who made your life miserable.

    I¡¯m not like the Royals, I don¡¯t care about anyone but Baba Yaga¡¯s children. I promise you that together we will destroy all the ancient noble households, including the ursed Ernas, and then even the children of the Griffon if that¡¯s what you want."

 Chapter 941 A Magusâ€™s Might Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 941 A Magus¡¯s Might Part 1</h4>

    "How stupid do you think I am?" Balkor replied with a sneer. "I know you and your kin. Once you are done with me, I¡¯d have no memory about what you promised me and even if I did, I wouldn¡¯t care if you upheld your end of the bargain or even if you asked me to take my children¡¯s life.

    "I would only live to please you. You are just like the nobles I hate, if not even worse. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was your hand behind what happened to my vige."

    "I wish I could take credit for that." Nightughed with all her heart at the idea. "s, back then you were nothing but one of the many talented youths of the Garlen continent. You were beneath my notice. It was your revenge that made you great.

    "It was your revenge that allowed your genius to bloom and piqued my interest. Now choose and choose wisely because I¡¯m a sadist, and I bore easily. Pick the wrong answer and my Chosen ones will stay their hands no more."

    "My answer is no. You are no different from the Royals who first ignored my pleas for help and then tried to cajole me once they discovered my talent. Scratch that, you¡¯re even worse because you threatened my family.

    "Not even the Kingdom¡¯s assassins ever dared to do that." Balkor¡¯s body pulsed with mana as the darkness of the room swirled at his feet like a loyal dog weing its master¡¯s return.

    "What about this?" Night snapped her fingers and the wall behind her throne disappeared, revealing many sobbing, miserable figures chained to the ceiling.

    Children from all the three great countries from four to ten years of age were forcefully brought by her spirit magic in front of her throne as a meat wall.

    "Tell me, Ilyum, did fatherhood made you soft, or are you still the same man I fell head over heels for? Do you dare say no once again now that the lives of so many innocents are in your hands?" She asked.

    "What about this as an answer?" An enormous amount of darkness magic enveloped Balkor¡¯s body.

    Night had never seen such a spell before, but she could perceive its might. It was enough to end one or two of her Chosen, if not even injure her.

    "Do you have nothing to say about it, dear Manohar?" Night said.

    "In my line of work coteral damage is inevitable." He shrugged. "Also, I doubt they would live long even if Balkor says yes. They were dead the moment you captured them."

    The god of healing had taken the words out of Balkor¡¯s mind. Unbeknownst to Night, during the eleven years Balkor had pursued his revenge, he had shared through the hive-mind connecting his minions all their kills.

    He had ughtered everyone on his path, no matter if they were elderly, infants, or even servants to the families of his enemies. Fatherhood didn¡¯t make Balkor softer, on the contrary, it made him more feral.

    He had so much blood on his hands that the children in front of him were but a drop in the ocean. Balkor alone had killed more people than most wars and the only reason he had stopped was that his body couldn¡¯t handle it anymore.

    Now that his word bounded him to Sark, the only thing that mattered to him was his own family. The rest of Mogar could burn for all he cared.

    "Excellent choice, both of you." Another snap of Night¡¯s fingers made the little bodies wither and die. Their life force was squeezed to thest drop to feed the Horseman and her Chosen ones.

    "My children, make those Magi scream for me!" The ck Night¡¯s sensual smile became twisted into a grimace of savage fury.

    After spending years courting Balkor, she knew how powerful he was and after her recent skirmish with Manohar, Night had gauged his strength as well.

    ¡¯I wonder how far they can go against my spawns.¡¯ She thought.

    Just like Dawn, Night could create prisms that she could share with her minions. The spawn would bestow upon the undead part of her powers and her mastery over the darkness element, leaving her weakened.

    Unlike her sister, however, the link wouldn¡¯t grant her any knowledge nor control over their actions. Night was a spirit of destruction and as such, she would gain the innate abilities of all the undead she shared a symbiotic rtionship with, but none of their weaknesses.

    Beregor roared his battle cry and activated the ck prism that resided where once was his heart.

    It made the shadows thatprised his body became so dense that they took physical form. He wielded his battle-ax, Stormhowl, with two hands and swung it down despite the distance separating him from his mark.

    The throne hall was 20 meters (66 feet) long, 10 meters (33 feet) wide and 5 meters high (16.5 feet).

    Stormhowl channeled its master¡¯s mana, creating a replica of itself made of darkness magic so big that its handle touched the ground while the tip of the battle-ax grazed the ceiling for a split second before mming into Balkor.

    Darkness magic was supposed to be slow, but thanks to Stormhowl, the spell moved as fast as Beregor¡¯s hands. The Wraith had never forgiven the god of death for belittling his liege and had waited for a chance to prove that no human could be a Sword better than an undead.

    "Hush, little child. Screaming is just bravado. It will not make you stronger." Balkor pressed his right forefinger against his lips while his eyes turned pitch-ck due to Domination¡¯s effect.

    The conjured ax stopped halfway down as Balkor¡¯s mana invaded the focal points of the spell and reced Beregor¡¯s energy signature with his own. The spell shapeshifted so that the tip and the handle of the battle-ax switched ce.

    The dark de was now aimed at the Wraith and struck with the might of a copsing mountain. Beregor had gone all-out from the start, making the spell as quick as a bolt of lightning.

    Not even its caster could dodge it from point-nk range. All the Wraith could do was to activate the ck prism in his chest to defend against the attack. Darkness magic was the only thing that could stop itself and Night¡¯s spawn amplified darkness defensive abilities.

    Balkor added a bit of his mana to reinforce the spell and used his skill to make it deadlier.

    The dark ax cut through Beregor¡¯s shadow arms before stopping against his bones.

    "A human capable of using Domination?" Night had suddenly lost her spunk, looking at the scene in disbelief.

    Even with her great mastery over the darkness element, she was incapable of using Domination. No one of her siblings could and it pained them greatly.

    "What¡¯s Domination?" Beregor and Manohar asked in unison, the former in the hope of saving his life while thetter poked Balkor for an answer.

    "I¡¯ll tell you when you grow up." The god of death twirled his fingers, switching the tip of the de with the handle again.

    The following swing struck in an upward sh that cut the Wraith asunder. All of Beregor power was focused into his arms, leaving the rest of his body vulnerable. The Wraith and the ck prism shattered, both turning into ss fragments before fading out of existence.

 Chapter 942 A Magusâ€™s Might Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 942 A Magus¡¯s Might Part 2</h4>

    A Vampire and a Lamia conjured their respective best tier five darkness spells, Skybreaker and Cruel Sun. Skybreaker unleashed a stream of ck lightning bolts while Cruel Sun generated a sphere of ck fire that would grow until it covered the entirety of the room.

    The former was a fast attack capable of tracking its target, while thetter was slow but its power would kill anyone who wasn¡¯t an undead bearing Night¡¯s prism. No living being could withstand such heat and only a spawn could resist so much darkness magic.

    This time, Balkor had to use Life Vision to find the focus points of two spells at once. He released a pulse of darkness magic that took control of Skybreaker and Cruel Sun, turning them against their creators.

    "By my mother, are you stupid or what?" Night couldn¡¯t afford to lose her Chosen ones so she shielded them with one of her defensive spells.

    "Don¡¯t use darkness magic. They are just humans with shitty equipment whereas you¡¯re undead to whom I bestowed upon relics. Use them!"

    Balkor kept manipting the two spells, sending them to crash against Night¡¯s defenses until all of their mana was exhausted. Manohar, instead, waspletely ignoring the battle and focusing solely on hispanion.

    "Seriously, how the heck do you do it?" Both Magi had a violet core and had been gifted with a simr amount of talent, but Balkor had lived for a decade longer.

    On top of that, being forced to do everything on his own, from preparing the equipment for his Valors to open the Warp arrays against the Griffon Kingdom, had given the polymath genius plenty of experience in all fields of magic.

    Manohar was still obsessed with the light element and resorted to the White Griffon resources to do what he considered scut work.

    A Doom Knight charged forward and suddenly Blinked behind Manohar. Dimensional magic allowed her to keep her momentum so that between the difference in physical prowess and her heavy armor, she would hit with the strength of a truck.

    "He said to shut up! Can¡¯t you see that I¡¯m busy here?" The palm of the Avatar of Light erupted from the Mad Professor¡¯s body, stopping the Doom Knight on her tracks and mming her against a wall.

    The construct seeped through the openings in her armor as if it was water, and once inside it shapeshifted into buzzsaws that sliced her body until they found the ck prism.

    The Doom Knight died even before her feet could touch the ground again.

    "Enough! Get to safety, my Chosen. I¡¯ll deal with the humans myself." Night stood up, snarling in outrage.

    ¡¯During his first visit Manohar didn¡¯t manage to kill a single one of my champions, yet now he killed Yuta in a split second. How is this possible?¡¯ She thought.

    The answer was that Manohar was known as the Mad Professor, not the Stupid one. Against unknown opponents, he would always save his strength in the case the worst happened.

    All the light magic on Mogar was pointless if he was too dead to use it.

    Now, however, his obsessive mind demanded answers. Usually looking at a spell once was enough for him to understand its underlying principles, but this time Manohar had no clue how Domination worked.

    ¡¯Not knowing is the foundation of research, whereas not understanding is the trademark of idiots and I¡¯m no idiot!¡¯ He thought.

    However, even the Mad Professor¡¯s thirst for knowledge had to make way for his survival instinct.

    Unlike Dawn, Night had never been captured. Her armor wasn¡¯t just a spawn shaped for the asion but a powerful artifact, just like the spear that appeared between her hands.

    The ck Rose and its Thorn were items she had crafted using the skills inherited from the best hosts she had inhabited over the centuries. Not only were they masterpieces, but she was also very skilled at using them.

    "Dominate this!" Night lunged at Balkor without moving from her throne.

    A pir of darkness as fast and big as a freight train emerged from Thorn¡¯s tip, forcing the god of death to dodge. There were so much mana and willpower stored in that simple attack that Domination was useless against it and so was avoiding it.

    The pir performed a sharp turn and chased its target, no forcing Balkor on the defense.

    "Darkness magic imbued with kic energy? How the heck is it possible?" Even though the pir kept bolting across the room like a frenzied wasp, Manohar only needed a nce to understand the trick behind it.

    ¡¯Spirit magic, you moron.¡¯ Balkor thought while dodging the relentless onught. He had understood it from Beregor¡¯s attack and employed the same principle to kill the Wraith.

    Manohar with his human body couldn¡¯t keep up for long, so he used his Avatar of Light to sh against the pir and snuff it out.

    "I¡¯m afraid she has a point." Manohar said. "That was just a lunge, yet to stop it I needed to spend half of a tier five spell¡¯s mana. Her equipment is far better than ours."

    The god of healing had never relied on equipment for two reasons. The first was that he had never needed it to win, and the second was that usually everything the Kingdom gifted him with was jam-packed with trackers.

    He had never felt so helpless before, not even against Thrud. Yet the difference didn¡¯t lie in his current opponent¡¯s might. The two women were almost matched in power and equipment whereas, against Thrud, Manohar had plenty of allies.

    He was certain to have ovee the power gap between himself and the Mad Queen by learning silent magic, but reality seemed to differ.

    "Surrender now, swear your loyalty to me, and you will live to rece the Chosen you have killed. Refuse and you¡¯ll die." Night swung her weapon twice, sending a pir against each of her opponents.

    The Magi managed to block the attacks, but Manohar¡¯s Avatar of Light shattered for good and Balkor was pushed several meters back with his arms half rotten.

    "I might die, but I¡¯m never going to be anyone¡¯s puppet! Ask the Royals!" Manohar snarled while his fingers traced dozens of runes at once.

    "You¡¯re wrong as always, Night." Balkor was calm as light fusion healed his wounds and darkness fusion allowed him to ignore the pain. The energy mass he had conjured required surgical precision to be employed. "Death is not the end, just the beginning."

    ¡¯How can a mortal quote my mother¡¯s words?¡¯ She thought, recognizing Baba Yaga¡¯s first teaching.

    "Light and darkness were never meant to be used separately. They are part of the whole, and the same applies to all elements. Baba Yaga made a huge mistake by splitting them between you and your siblings." Balkor said.

    "By doing that, she didn¡¯t give birth to perfect being, only to perfect failures. You are no different from the Fallen races. A mistake that needs fixing."

    The mass of darkness magic surrounding Balkor exploded, forcing Night and Manohar to conjure their best shields to protect themselves from the raging storm of mana.

    Contrary to their expectations, the spell suddenly imploded on Balkor as he took a few mana crystals and Orichalcum ingots out of his dimensional amulet. Darkness magic attacked the Skinwalker armor he was wearing, along with his Feather robe and the other ingredients he had conjured.

    The spell had never been meant to hurt, only to destroy. It broke the enchanted items down to their molecr structure before revealing the light hidden inside the darkness.

 Chapter 943 Creation and Chaos Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 943 Creation and Chaos Part 1</h4>

    The light element took all the broken parts and reassembled them into a new form. The entire process only required a split-second and once it was over, Balkor was wearing a full suit of ck armor as well.

    It was the tier five Creation Magic spell, Phoenix¡¯s Forge.

    The Battle Mage¡¯s elemental god series of spells was nothing but a pale imitation of Sark¡¯s original creation. Balkor had witnessed her using Phoenix¡¯s Forge while they had fought together against those who had tried to invade the Blood Desert.

    No matter if Sark faced millennia-old Eldritch Abominations, monster-Abomination hybrids, or ageless undead, no matter how hard they struggled, they all had fallen by her hand.

    Sark was Mogar¡¯s Lord of War, the incarnation of light and darkness. Her dominion over the two elements was such that she could use them to alter the nature of things.

    Darkness would provide her with the raw materials while Light would shape them into whatever she could imagine. It allowed her to always have the right equipment at hand, no matter if she was against an old enemy or apletely unknown foe.

    She could shapeshift and Forgemaster anything in a blink. The only limit of Creation Magic was that she still needed to know how the enchantments she was creating worked and her creations couldn¡¯t exceed the properties of the materials at hand.

    Sark could extract the strongest metal from the surrounding rocks, but it would still be nothingpared to Adamant or Davross. It was the reason why the Guardian always brought them with her inside her pocket dimension.

    Balkor had often wondered why she brought him along if Sark would do almost all the job and the answer he hade up with was that she was trying to teach him something.

    The god of deathcked both her resources and her endless mana, so his creations were powerful but they neversted long. To make matters worse, once the spell was over, all the ingredients would be useless since he couldn¡¯t use Origin mes to at least recycle the metal.

    The Horseman of Night couldn¡¯t believe what she had just witnessed. Until that day, only two creatures had proven capable of using Creation Magic. One was Sark, the Lord of War, and the other was Baba Yaga, the mother of all undead.

    Night¡¯s ck Rose was a full suit te armor, all the pieces of which were shaped to resemble the petals of a rose in full bloom. Balkor¡¯s Phoenix¡¯s Forge, instead, had its tes shaped like feathers, the facete resembled a beak, and it even had wingsing from its back.

    It was not by his choice that the armor was shaped as such. Balkor had barely scraped the surface of Creation Magic and the best he could do was to recreate the spell he was the most familiar with.

    "By the Great Mother!" Manohar felt religious for the first time in his life. He had never been so close to death, yet he had never experienced so many sudden bursts of inspiration either.

    "I really need to learn darkness magic." He said, regretting not to have the necessary knowledge to imitate Balkor. Manohar knew about the darkness element solely what he needed to perform his experiments, deeming it an essory to the light element.

    "Nice piece of crap, tin man." Night sneered. "You¡¯re stillcking a weapon, though."

    The Thorn was a winged spear with the side tips bent upward and as sharp as the de itself. They were meant to both make each thrust more difficult to dodge and to amplify the spells Night channeled through the weapon.

    All of her equipment was made of Adamant because unlike her brother, Dusk, she wanted to save the best materials for once she found the perfect host. Only then would Night be able to craft something that would equally fit her and her Sword.

    Night bolted forward, empowered by both fusion magic and the inhuman reflexes of the Awakened undead she possessed. She used the blunt extremity of the spear to strike right between Manohar¡¯s eyes, making his head snap back like a whip.

    He conjured and stacked together several hard-light walls to stop the attack, which kept him from being knocked out in a single hit. His shield shattered, but not before taking the brunt of the impact.

    The Mad Professor crashed behind Night¡¯s enchanted throne and used it to regain his footing.

    ¡¯I think I need some good equipment as well.¡¯ Manohar thought while trying to clear the dizziness clouding his vision. ¡¯Next time I see him, I¡¯d better take the offer of that Ernas guy.¡¯

    Night didn¡¯t stop her movement and charged at Balkor, this time using Thorn¡¯s de. The spear was crackling with the mana its master had stored within. Every one of its movements generated harrowing wails along with a st of darkness, as if Thorn trapped the mournful souls of its victims.

    The attack came so fast that only bybining air fusion with a flight spell and air magic to fill his wings did Balkor manage to dodge Night¡¯s lunge by a hair¡¯s breadth. Night smiled at his valiant yet futile effort.

    Balkor had avoided the physicalponent of her attack, but Thorn wasn¡¯t that simple of a weapon. She turned back by pivoting on the balls of her feet and struck at Balkor, unleashing what looked like a storm of vengeful ghosts.

    The god of death had plenty of experience in all fields of magic, but little at fighting opponents of that caliber by himself instead that through his minions. A single Wailing Wind, one of Thorn¡¯s abilities, was enough to open deep cracks in his armor and send him crashing against a wall.

    "Well, what¡¯s your diagnosis?" Manohar conjured two open palms, one from above and one from below Night, that swatted her like a fly and produced a thunderp on impact.

    A second set of hands did the same from either side the moment the first pulled away, alternating the pping motion between them so fast that Night would never touch the ground again.

    "We¡¯re screwed." Balkor said while watching at the three of them with Life Vision.

    Manohar and he had already consumed quite a bit of mana, whereas Night had still plenty of juice.

    "The spells of her Chosen ones were about as strong as my own, yet she blocked them effortlessly. Your spells are not doing her enough damage and the moment Night escapes and brings the fight back to close-quarter we¡¯re dead. What about yours?"

    "I have to agree. Any ideas?" Manohar said as Night pierced his constructs with enough darkness magic to turn them into wisps.

    Between her ck Rose armor and the undead body she inhabited. Night had suffered little to none damage.

    "Aside from dying, surrendering, or running away? Just one, but it requires that you buy me some time. Since she¡¯s handing us our asses already, there¡¯s no way that you alone can..." Balkor said.

    "Leave it to me!" Manohar cut him short and charged at Night.

    All the gold embroidery of his Professor uniform turned out to be runes made of light that conjured his most powerful tier five spell, Supernovas. Night and Manohar were now surrounded by meteors made of light and fire big enough to form a wall that prevented them from escaping.

    On top of that, each one of them was powerful enough to blow up a castle.

 Chapter 944 Creation and Chaos Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 944 Creation and Chaos Part 2</h4>

    Night would have liked to Blink away, but they were in the middle of the encirclement created by Supernovas, and it fully covered the dimensional spell¡¯s area of effect and then some.

    "You are insane." She said while bracing herself for the impact. She pumped as much mana as she could inside the ck Rose armor and engulfed her body with a thickyer of darkness.

    "Indeed!" Manohar replied as the world around them turned into the rough equivalent of the surface of the sun.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Balkor was amazed by both Manohar¡¯s control over his spell and his foolishness. Not a single speck of light or fire escaped the encirclement, leaving the god of death able to fully focus on his own spell.

    Just like light and darkness were the two sides of the same coin, Creation Magic had its own counterpart in Chaos Magic. Sark had forbidden its practice because it was too dangerous, but Balkor had no option left.

    He cursed his hubris for showing so many skills to Baba Yaga¡¯s Horseman. Now that she knew what he was capable of, the ck Night would never leave him alone until she got what she wanted.

    ¡¯If I back down now, I¡¯ll live in fear whenever Sark is away for her personal business. I need to show Night that by messing with me she has more to lose than to gain.¡¯ He thought.

    Contrary to what many believed, the greatest danger of conjuring Chaos magic didn¡¯t lie in losing control of its darknessponent. When that happened, the caster would simply and quickly die.

    The use of Chaos magic required topletely separate light from darkness, but while darkness would be shoot at the enemy light would remain. Without its other half, the light element would stimte the metabolism of its caster to the extreme, turning each second into a year.

    The few mages who practiced Chaos magic would either be eaten by the darkness, consumed by the light or both. Only Abominations could safely use it because their bodies could absorb the light element without a limit.

    Balkor was just a fake Awakened and his life force would have already been extinguished if not for Sark¡¯s treatments, he couldn¡¯t afford to make a single mistake.

    While Manohar¡¯s spell ravaged the undergroundplex, causing the room to tremble and dust to fall from the ceiling, Balkor never lost his focus. He split darkness and light in two separate spheres, holding them respectively on his right and left hand.

    When the blinding light of Supernovas faded, Balkor unleashed his tier three Chaos spell, Chaos Eater, the moment he recognized Night amid the steam. He was using normal vision with his right eye and Life Vision with his left.

    One had been blinded by the mana while the other by the light so he could trust neither. Life Vision spotted Night¡¯s darkness magic, but it was eyesight that allowed Balkor to distinguish the friend from the foe.

    Manohar stood too close to Night for Life Vision spotting him. His clothes were tattered and he was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth due to the aftereffects of his own spell.

    ¡¯How the heck is he still alive?¡¯ Balkor was bbergasted. A mage couldn¡¯t be hurt by their own mana, but the shockwaves were supposed to have ripped Manohar apart and the steaming air to be so hot that it would burn his lungs.

    The god of healing was kneeling on the ground with his eyes veiled, but Balkor could see his chest moving rhythmically.

    To make matters even more unbelievable, Night was faring much worse than the Never Magus. Her ck armor had turned white-hot from the heat and emitted the characteristic smell of barbecue.

    Small cracks had appeared on the ck Rose¡¯s armbands that Night had used to shield her upper body. For a Horseman, the head was just an essory, only the living crystal in their chest mattered.

    "How the heck are you still alive?" Night roared, unleashing her attack simultaneously with Balkor¡¯s.

    She had seen an odd shroud of light wrap Manohar¡¯s body, but it was so thin that she assumed it was just a desperatest-ditch effort. Even though Manohar had sustained less than one-tenth of the Supernovas¡¯ full power, he was supposed to have died ten times already.

    Thorn lunged at Manohar¡¯s heart as fast as a bullet, but Chaos magic was faster. Chaos Eater struck her right side, destroying the upper part of the ck Rose along with Night¡¯s right arm and part of her chest.

    She lost her grip on the Thorn, but, even while withstanding such a deadly attack, the expertise Night had gained through the centuries allowed her attack to reach its target.

    Manohar conjured all the constructs he had left, but they only managed to slightly deviate the attack.

    Instead of piercing his heart, Thorn struck his left shoulder, blowing it up as it if was a needle pricking a water balloon. Blood, flesh, and bones sttered everywhere, leaving Manohar with a wound almost as bad as Night¡¯s.

    The problem was that she was an immortal, whereas he was only human.

    The Mad Professor fell on his side, screaming in pain while he tried to stop the bleeding before it was toote.

    "At least now we¡¯re even, meat sack!" Night beckoned and Thorn returned to her left hand. "You¡¯ve failed, my love. I can wait for another individual as talented as you to be born, it is you who is cornered and alone. Last chance."

    Her arm was already regenerating and her armor mending. Without a distraction, the second part of Chaos Eater would never connect.

    "Don¡¯t count your corpses before they croak, old hag! Do it now!" Manohar used his right arm to cling with the full weight of his body on her neck and unleashed a few heat rays through her exposed flesh.

    He seemed to have ovee the agony and kept casting spells even with only one hand.

    Balkor felt new respect and amazement for Manohar¡¯s stubbornness that edged on insanity and unleashed Chaos Eater again. The white pulse of Chaos Magic was as fast as its dark counterpart, but its effects couldn¡¯t differ more.

    Chaos Eater absorbed all the darkness element from its victims¡¯ bodies to restore the natural bnce, causing them to crumble and die. An undead would be stronger with age because the necromantic energies inhabiting their bodies would be more stable as they adapted to their host.

    A powerful undead was nothing but a powerful mass of darkness magic with a soul and a need to feed upon light energy to prolong their existence. The undead fed only to stabilize their blood core, but it was the amount of darkness element it stored that determined how much mana they possessed.

    Chaos Eater robbed Night¡¯s host of its darkness, turning her into a corpse filled with life force that had nowhere to go. The ck Rose cracked everywhere as theck of bnce made the enchantments thatprised it crumble.

    The armor shattered and Night¡¯s host rot at a speed visible at the naked eye thanks to the light magic boosting the growth rate of bacteria and fungi.

    As for Manohar, by the time the white sh disappeared, his body was already that of a person way over 100 years old. His limbs were as thin as twigs, his skin so bby that it made him unrecognizable, his white hair and beard long enough to touch the ground.

    Only the mad spark in his eyes was unchanged.

 Chapter 945 Hostile Takeover Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 945 Hostile Takeover Part 1</h4>

    With her host reduce to a pile of ashes, Night emitted an ear-piercing wail and then Warped away, unable to stand anymore the shame of having her crystal form exposed. The ck crystal known as the ck Night reached Baba Yaga¡¯s hut, seeking her family¡¯sfort.

    Unlike Dawn, despite being centuries old, Night still took defeat with the same grace of a spoiled brat.

    Balkor was still in Othre, incapable of averting his eyes from the aftermath of Chaos Eater. He could have sworn that Manohar had smiled at him onest time before Night¡¯s scream shattered the god of healing¡¯s decrepit body.

    Age had made it so frail that even a gust of wind would have killed Manohar and Night¡¯s temper tantrum had the fury of a storm.

    "Your insanity was only matched by your bravery, Manohar. I may be thest man standing, but this victory belongs to you. Thank you." Balkor gave the puddle of bones and skin a deep bow with his eyes closed.

    He didn¡¯t pray for Manohar¡¯s soul because he knew there were no gods listening. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t allow people like Night to exist nor things like what happened to his vige to take ce.

    "No, thank you. I haven¡¯t learned so much since my first day of academy. This was a highly instructive experience." An annoying, familiar voice said.

    Manohar came out of his hiding ce, behind Night¡¯s heavily enchanted throne.

    "When did you..." Balkor was bbergasted, staring at him with eyes wide open.

    "After she hit me in the head, I realized that without a fancy armor I was cannon fodder. So, I had a construct filled with mana and life force take my ce while you two were so busy showing off your mad skills. Thanks for the tip about that Life Vision-thingy, by the way." Manohar cut him short.

    "Man, I swear that this time I¡¯ll remember to send a gift basket to Lith. Without his anatomy lessons and his spell, I would never be able to make life-like constructs like that."

    It wasn¡¯t the first time the Mad Professor expressed good resolutions toward Lith, but he would usually forget about them the moment he had a brilliant idea, which happened quite often.

    "You dirty son of a... Who¡¯s Lith and since when you can add colors to your light projections?" Balkor asked.

    "Lith Verhen, a nice guy. You should have heard about him, he¡¯s got a lot of titles for someone his age, but not so many as us. The magical beasts call him Scourge while the nobles you hate so much call him the harbinger of ruin.

    "After surviving his encounter with the Bright Day, the undead refer to him as the ckest knight, whatever that means. As for the colors, since forever. I just never bother adding them because it¡¯s useless." Manohar said.

    "I don¡¯t care about that crap. If you were alive and well, why that body aging trick? I thought you were dead!" Balkor stated his question so that Manohar couldn¡¯t avoid it with more ramblings.

    "Well, that was the whole point." Manohar shrugged. "You thought I was dead and so did Night. If she decided to stay and fight, I wouldn¡¯t havested long. I¡¯m only human, whereas she¡¯s immortal and you are kind of Awakened.

    "Dying for a mission would¡¯ve been stupid and I don¡¯t deal in stupid. By the way, we better bail before someonees. I¡¯ve got two more branches of the Undead Courts to take down and you need to rest, old man." Manohar said while pointing at the hole in the ceiling Supernovas had opened.

    The sh had probably been visible for kilometers.

    "You used me, putting my life at risk while you pretended to fight by my side. The next time we meet, I will make sure to return the favor." Balkorughed at himself.

    ¡¯To follow a madman means to be crazier than he is¡¯. The god of death thought.

    The Mad Professor used light magic to carve "Manohar was here" on all the walls of the throne room to take credit for the kill while Balkor took one of Sark¡¯s plumes out of his dimensional item and used its power to go back home.

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire, in the Headquarters of the Master.

    Bytra and Xenagrosh were working together in the Forge, crafting a fine piece of equipment as a gift for the Master.

    Xenagrosh had purified the Adamant to its utmost limits. The enhanced metal was now physically and magically ten times stronger than its just smelted counterpart. They would have liked to use Davross, but the mightiest metal on Mogar was also the hardest to find.

    Xenagrosh took care of the magic circle. Her role was to feed the mystical Forge with massive amounts of world energy and keep it stable for all the duration of the process.

    That way, Bytra could focus solely on her personal Forgemastering technique, Spirit Anvil, that had earned her the title of Ruler of the mes. She would perform the Binding of the mana crystals, the Runesmithing, and the Forgemastering at the same time.

    It allowed her to freely manipte all the single parts of the enchantments, from the pseudo cores¡¯ shape and size to the mana circtory system¡¯s pattern. Unlike normal Forgemasters, she would bend the metal to her will, so that the materials she used would fit her spells and not the other way around.

    It guaranteed her creations to always be perfect and to reach their full potential as she had devised them.

    It was a technique that even Master Menadion admired and that Bytra had brought to the next level after she had stolen Menadion¡¯s Fury, the legendary Forgemastering hammer.

    Once they were done, Bytra was holding a full suit of armor as thin as silk and yet capable of withstanding the hit of a Guardian.

    "Do you think the Master will like it?" Bytra said while the armor shapeshifted into a suitprised of a white shirt, night blue pants, and jacket.

    "Should be mad not to." Xenagrosh shook her head. "Damn, I want one, too. My armor is crappared to this one."

    "When we get our hands on enough Adamant and ingredients, sure." Bytra sighed. The purification process enhanced the metal¡¯s properties, but it also consumed a lot of raw material.

    Xenagrosh could use Origin mes to recycle the Adamant of her current equipment, but she would still need nine times more to have enough to craft another piece like that.

    "Why did you make the Master an armor? It¡¯s us who work in the field and take all risks." Xenagrosh asked.

    "How can you say that? The Master took us into their home as daughters and risk their life every day to follow the whims of those stupid Royals. The Master even neglects their research to travel through the Great Countries and make sure the Organization has everything it needs." Bytra said.

    "Yeah, right. A true hero." Xenagrosh grumbled, looking at the Dominator armor in envy. She liked the Master as well, but a Dragon¡¯s greed was an always-hungry beast.

    "If we¡¯re done here, we got work to do. The Master has assigned us a mission, remember?"

    "Are you sure you want me toe?" Bytra said. "It would be the first time I go out in the field since I escaped from Laroxya¡¯s mines.

 Chapter 946 Hostile Takeover Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 946 Hostile Takeover Part 2</h4>

    "I already get plenty of blood madness fits at home and I¡¯m afraid that under stress things will get much worse. I don¡¯t want to screw up your perfect record." Bytra said.

    "All the more reason to bring you along. Blood madness is caused by the trauma that the memories of the other Bytra inflicted upon your mind when you assimted her essence. You must embrace the good and the bad things of your previous life if you want to heal." Xenagrosh said.

    "I¡¯m not that person anymore. It wasn¡¯t me killing all those people for petty reasons. I don¡¯t want and I have no reason to remember what the Original Bytra did!" Bytra said, acting childish for a woman her age.

    "You¡¯re not? Really? Then where that hammer and your Forgemastering techniquese from?" Xenagrosh pointed at Menadion¡¯s Fury that Bytra was clenching with all her might.

    "Even if you discarded her Abomination name, Korgh, you are everything that Bytra the Raiju was. You reap the fruits of her work, so you should also ept the consequences of what she did as an Emperor Beast first and an Abominationter."

    Xenagrosh¡¯s voice was calm and held no me, yet Bytra started to sob.

    "Do you really think I¡¯m a monster, Zor?" Bytra was the only one besides the Master allowed to use Xenagrosh¡¯s human name, Zoreth.

    "That would be hypocritical of me, Byt. I¡¯m as much of a mass murderer as any other member of the Organization. I¡¯m not using you of anything. I¡¯m just saying that you can¡¯t only take what¡¯s convenient and hide the rest of your memories under the rug.

    "It¡¯s not healthy. Please, believe me. I speak from experience." Zoreth said. They were so close that they used monikers whenever they were alone.

    It took a while before Bytra managed to calm down and even more to get her to suit up for the asion.

    "By the gods below, Byt, we¡¯re not going to a g. How can you take this long to get ready? Wear your armor, store your weapons, and we¡¯re good to go!" After waiting outside Bytra¡¯s room for half an hour, Zoreth was almost regretting her choice already.

    "Where are we going?" Bytra asked, hoping to stall for time.

    She had been ready for over 25 minutes, but she had yet to find the courage to open the door.

    "We¡¯re headed to the city of Pron, in the Gorgon Empire. The Griffon Kingdom is off-limits because both the Bright Day and the ck Night have been sighted there. The security is tighter than a corset and there are too many big yers in the game.

    "The Blood Desert is off-limits as well. Mostly because there is no ck market except what Sark allows for. Our treasury is almost empty and we need to fill it to the brim. Our mission is a raid.

    "We are going to rob the local and very rich branch of the Dusk Court blind, seize their ck markets, and their smuggling routes. Operation Hostile Takeover is a go as soon as you get the fuck out!" Zoreth said.

    "Are we going to say hi to your father?" Bytra couldn¡¯t dy any longer and walked through the door.

    Her original nature was that of an Emperor Beast, so her human form was shaped ording to how she imagined herself to be.

    Bytra looked like a lovely woman in her mid-twenties about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with golden eyes and silver hair. She had a pixie cut that emphasized her oval-shaped face and delicate features.

    She kept her hair short because she was both a Forgemaster and a cksmith.

    Lava didn¡¯t go along well with stray hair and washing the smell of sulfur away was hard. Her foundry was located on the mouth of a volcano, the only natural source of heat strong enough to smelt enchanted metals.

    She was wearing a set of clothes very popr among the Empire¡¯s adventurers. It wasprised of a khaki shirt and pants, a dark brown fur-padded leather jacket, and boots with a soft outer sole.

    Two one-handed war hammers were hung to her belt and even though they were just for show, they clearly disyed how skillful the hand of the artisan was.

    "Gods above, no. We¡¯re going to the Gorgon Empire exactly because my old man is the Guardian who cares the less about his own turf. He clearly told me that the next time we face will be as enemies and I¡¯m not going to poke the Dragon with a stick without an excellent reason."

    They alternated opening Warp Steps to save their strength until they reached the Empire¡¯s borders. Between the observation towers and the powerful arrays set in ce, it was impossible for a mage to pass unnoticed.

    Luckily for the monster-Abomination hybrids, there was a third option. Xenagrosh shapeshifted into her Shadow Dragon form, allowing Bytra to sitfortably on her back before taking flight.

    As a Dragon, Xenagrosh could fly so high that she was outside the observation towers¡¯ detection range and the air blocking arrays didn¡¯t bother her. A Dragon was too big and heavy to fly without magic, but she could still glide the air currents until she recovered her magical abilities.

    On top of that, a Shadow Dragon could alter their weight by turning part of their body into ck smoke. There was a reason why Leegaain was known as the Father of all Dragons.

    Each one of his descendants would be a species of its own and their bloodline would have unique abilities. Between the Dragon¡¯s flight speed and dimensional magic, it took them less than one hour to cross the over two thousand kilometers separating them from the city of Pron.

    The Gorgon Empire had a harsher climate than the Griffon Kingdom and there were plenty of mountain ranges scattered throughout its territory. There was no such thing as middle-sized cities, only small viges and metropolises.

    The extension of a city was determined solely by the number of cultivable fields in its proximity and how easy it was to get ess to the already establishedmercial routes.

    Winter and fall were harsh mistresses, so no city could host more people than it could reasonably feed. Relying on the imports was a prerogative reserved only for military bases.

    Strategic geographical points, where it wasn¡¯t possible to build castles, were presided by floating fortresses simr to the Gorgon¡¯s empire capital, Manaron. The Empire had the most advanced magical development in all the three Great Countries, but cultivating clouds was still a myth, even for them.

    Providing the magical fortresses with the resources they needed, made it mandatory for every city and vige in the Empire to pay part of their taxes in gold and the rest in food.

    It was a unique system that limited the development of urban areas and made fertilend almost more precious than gold.

    The city of Pron was an importantmercial hub, located near the Dragon ins, one of the most extensive and fertile areas of cultivated fields in the Gorgon Empire. After the defeat of Veeza the Lich, whose armies had conquered the ins during the first days of the invasion, the province was undergoing a quick reorganization.

    The servants of the Lich had destroyed the food reserves before running away and poisoned the earth, making the Empire lose two consecutive harvests. The food had be so scarce that the security of the fields had be one of the top priorities of the local governors.

 Chapter 947 Dreams and Nightmares Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 947 Dreams and Nightmares Part 1</h4>

    It had taken the mages of the Empire a year to cleanse the fields and make the Dragon ins suitable for cultivation again. Since most of the territories past Pron had been upied by the undead forces and were under reconstruction as well, they couldn¡¯t spare a dime to help with the Dragon Valley.

    They were too busy fixing the damages they had sustained during the war to worry about others. It made the Valley dependant on Pron, which had allowed the city to increase its profits by several folds.

    The local underworld was also experiencing a golden age. Large flows of money meant more opportunities for corruption and increase protection money. Being awarded of a public contract could easily make a merchant into a small noble, so many people were willing to pay to oil the wheels of bureaucracy.

    Pron was a model city of the Empire. Its cultivated fields were surrounded by great walls made in dark grey stone over 12 meters (40 feet) high. The cultivated fields were miles away from the city walls, yet they were array protected and heavily guarded no less than Pron itself.

    The farmers lived in the external rim, to take care of the cattle and the fields at any moment. All of them had been trained in the use of light and earth magic to be able of taking care by themselves of all minor emergencies.

    Past the city walls, in the outer rim, there was the residential area for the mages and the army, so that they could promptly intervene no matter if the enemy attack came from the inside or the outside.

    Every building was built in solid, enchanted stones, and connected to the other districts with their own Warp Gate. It was the most luxurious and expensive area of the city. Aside from public officials, only the truly rich could afford a house there.

    The middle rim was the business district, where all the trades took ce. Merchant guilds had their offices built in hardwood, while small-time merchants operated in small buildings no bigger than a grocery store.

    Each block had its Warp Gate, making the middle rim the ce where normal people lived.

    The inner rim was upied by the red-light district of the city. It was supposed to be the slums, but unemployment wasn¡¯t a thing in the Empire. Public healthcare made everyone as fit as a fiddle and as long as one was willing to work hard there was plenty to do, even before the war with the undead.

    The only people who didn¡¯t have an honest job were those who didn¡¯t look for one. Gambling, prostitution, drug dealers, they all had their base of activities in the slums. As long as people were alive, they would have vices.

    Instead of wasting time ouwing them, the Empire had simply made them part of the system and took taxes even from them. There was a saying in Pron, stating that the tax office was way scarier than the army itself and better funded, too.

    Despite the inner rim¡¯s sordid appearance, the real corruption took ce in the middle rim and it was there that the two Abomination hybrids were headed. As all long-lived members of any race, they had an alias in the Empire with a clean record and authentic IDs.

    Getting inside Pron was always the easy part. Getting out aftermitting any kind of crime, however, was another story entirely. Bytra and Zoreth had chosen the Prancing Dragon as their base of operations.

    It was one of the finest establishments in the middle rim, ranked higher than the Dragon¡¯s Cove and the Dragon Chow.

    "Is it me, or is everyone obsessed with dragons around these parts?" Bytra asked.

    She didn¡¯te there for less than a decade, yet everything was changed. Even her favorite dish, the Rewille stew, had been renamed Leegaain¡¯s stew.

    "My old man doesn¡¯t make a secret of his existence." Zoreth replied. "Ever since Milea became the Empress and convinced him to return, the Gorgon Empire basically became the Dragon Empire.

    "Everyone is trying to suck up on him and the upper Echelons didn¡¯t rename the country only because rewriting all the maps would cost a fortune."

    "I get that, but why? Not even two hours ago, you told me the Guardian doesn¡¯t meddle with human activities. Why are they so obsessed with him?" Bytra said.

    "Because on the rare asion he does, Dad performs miracles and asks nothing in return. When the living from the Jiera continent and their gue tried to invade the Empire, he took care of both single-handedly.

    "When a wheat blight almost caused a famine throughout the Empire, he cured it and even restored the affected crops. Sometimes, people get an audience with him and lore says they all find the answers they had been looking for." Zoreth said.

    "Wow, your old man sounds really impressive." Bytra whistled in admiration.

    "Long story short, they suck on him because they are afraid that Leegaain will leave once the Empress dies or retires." Zoreth ignored thepliment. "Everyone knows that he only came for Milea and is trying to change his mind about the Empire."

    The Prancing Dragon was a cozy tavern made of redwood, lighted and heated by magical stones. The huge firece served merely to create a rxed atmosphere, especially during winter.

    It was furnished with square tables that could host four people tops, and withfortable padded chairs. Waiters moved between the tables, bringing tes and beverages from the kitchen.

    There was a counter on the east wall with several barstools and was reserved for the heavy drinkers.

    Animal furs and depictions of Dragons decorated the walls. An unwrittenw of the Empire stated that all Dragon¡¯s reproductions had to depict either a single scale or the full body.

    Mounting a Dragon¡¯s head to a wall, no matter if fake, was enough to get the person responsible lynched by an angry mob.

    "So, what are doing here, exactly?" Bytra asked after a cute waiter delivered her stew and a pint of red ale along with a wink. "I mean, we can kill a few mob bosses, but that would only create a power vacuum and turf wars.

    "Sure, it would create an opportunity to empty their vaults ad get away with it, but a big treasure is good only for someone who wants to settle down, whereas we need a constant flow of money."

    "Sometimes I wonder how you survived this long." Zoreth sighed. "Of course we¡¯re not here to y executioner. People don¡¯t submit to you just because you re at them and we can¡¯t remain in Pron to handle the business.

    "The Master already made contact with the locals and set up a pay for us. As I said earlier, we¡¯re here to facilitate a hostile takeover."

    "Meaning?" Bytra was confused. She prompted a waitress so that her partner would be served as well.

    "ck markets and illegal routes require powerful mages to be established, otherwise it¡¯s impossible to avoid the Empire¡¯s safety measures. This isn¡¯t the Griffon Kingdom, nobles do not exist and no title is hereditary." Zoreth said.

    "In the Empire, mages are so highly regarded that crime pays way less than being a civil servant, so bribing one is nigh-impossible. Not to mention that the punishment for treason is beyond unspeakable.

    "Hence since there are no rogue mages, Pron¡¯s underworld relied on the Undead Courts. After the invasion from Jiera and Veeza¡¯s uprising, however, the Empire is toothbing its territories for undead and even criminals don¡¯t trust them.

 Chapter 948 Dreams and Nightmares Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 948 Dreams and Nightmares Part 2</h4>

    "Wern Nian, a deputy head of the Red Gorgon cartel, required our help to get rid of his boss, offering us the take the ce of the undead. This way, Wern bes the boss, the cartel takes the guards off its back, and we get a big share of the profits.

    "Everybody wins." Zoreth finally received her meal and decided she would leave no tip for the poor service. Bytra¡¯s stew was now barely lukewarm.

    "It¡¯s a good n. Why don¡¯t we make Wern arrange our meeting with his boss happen inside the Court? The treasure vault should make an excellent advance payment for our services." Bytra asked.

    "My thoughts exactly. The undead aren¡¯t going to drop a bone with so much meat attached easily, so I have already nned to strike them first and wipe them out before they can strategize properly." Zoreth said.

    "One more question. Why are your te and beer mug less filled than mine even though they cost the same?"

    "Because you¡¯re beautiful and I¡¯m not." Zoreth replied with a shrug. Her serving was actually generous, it was Bytra¡¯s that was exaggerated.

    Zoreth had now the same appearance as when she was still a human Awakened. She looked like a woman in her early thirties, about 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall, with ck-shaded brown hair and youthful chestnut eyes that contrasted with the ancient wisdom of her gaze.

    Her skin was naturally so pale that it almost looked sickly, and was full of too many freckles to be easy on the eye. She had sharp features, a squared jaw, and a nose a tad too long to be considered cute.

    "No way! You¡¯re gorgeous." Those words made Bytra yearn to spill the blood of all members of the restaurant¡¯s staff. Suddenly the torturing techniques stored in her memory didn¡¯t seem so scary anymore.

    "I wish. Unlike you, I was born a hybrid. My Dad never cared much for appearances when choosing a spouse, only for the versatility of their mind. My mother was a genius, not a stunner, and sadly I took many things from her.

    "I remember that when I was little, I felt part of the family only in my Wyrmling form. Everyone else was so beautiful that it was upsetting, especially when I was a teen." Xenagrosh sighed.

    "What about your mother? Didn¡¯t she help you?" Bytra asked.

    "No, she was more concerned about her research than about me. Genius, remember? I was raised by my father and many siblings. I asked them the secret about Awakening many times, but they always refused to teach me, saying that I wasn¡¯t ready, that I would just hurt myself." Zoreth replied.

    "In hindsight, they were right. Back then the only thing I could think about was body refining and bing as beautiful as the rest of the family. If they taught me, I would¡¯ve ended up bursting my mana core when I was too weak to be an Abomination and we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation.

    "Long story short, after I finished my growth spurt and most effects of body refining were lost forever, I threw a huge temper tantrum and ran away from home. When I came of age, I discarded my draconic half out of spite for my family.

    "I was so conceited that I swore to myself that I wouldn¡¯t live a millennium with those looks, thinking that even death was better than such a fate. I spent years studying magic, learning to appreciate Dad¡¯s many teachings about mana and world energy, until I self-Awakened a few days after my 31st birthday.

    "You¡¯d think that by then I was mature enough to take things slow, yet the moment I noticed that, even if to a lesser degree, body refining still worked, I lost it. I was back being an insecure teen and started to practice umtion like there was no tomorrow.

    "I ignored the signs, the pain, everything just to be able to return to the fold and show my father I made it on my own. Then my core cracked, but my mastery of magic and willpower were so strong that instead of dying I was reborn into an Abomination.

    "At that point, pride, anger, self-pity, everything was swallowed by the hunger. To add insult to injury, once I evolved into an Eldritch, I started to regain the same draconic power I had discarded.

    "Now I look exactly like I did before my death and I¡¯m too old to give a damn about what other people think."

    Zoreth had talked while eating while Bytra kept staring at her while her te remained untouched.

    "What about you? What¡¯s your story and are you going to eat that?" Long distance flight always made Zoreth work an appetite.

    "I don¡¯t know. I..." Suddenly, Bytra¡¯s head started to hurt and several images shed in front of her eyes.

    She remembered a gentle woman she called Master Menadion, a tower with a staircase drenched with blood, and then her hand clenched around Menadion¡¯s Fury. Bytra tried to connect the dots, but it made her headache worse.

    She felt so much rage, envy, and shame at the same time that she started to cry. Bytra recognized the early signs of a blood madness¡¯ fit and panicked.

    ¡¯Gods, no. Please, I don¡¯t want to ruin our mission before it even starts. In my frenzy, I might harm Zoreth, or even worse, I might draw Leegaain¡¯s attention. I must...¡¯

    "Are you alright?" Zoreth snapped Bytra out of it by holding her hand. "Why are you crying? If you don¡¯t want to share your stew, just say it. I¡¯ll just order seconds."

    Bytra was shocked realizing that her fit hadsted barely a few seconds, yet to her, it felt like hours. Even though she was still unable to talk, she was grateful for Zoreth kindness in dropping the subject and pretending it was about the food.

    "Two prettydies like you shouldn¡¯t make each other cry. I¡¯m sure that whatever is going on between you can be solved by good ale and a bit ofpany." A handsome young man said while pointing at himself and his friend sitting at a nearby table.

    He was about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with short blond hair and grey eyes. He also had perfect, white teeth that he was showing off with a stunning smile.

    "Thanks for the offer, but unless you¡¯re a waiter and you can bring us seconds, we¡¯re not interested." Xenagrosh said with a polite but cold smile.

    "Sometimes..." The young man choked on his words when a sudden click announced Xenagrosh¡¯s ultimatum.

    On her right hand, she wore a set of metal dragon ws Bytra had made for her, called Sky Piercer. The silvery glove had six purple magic crystals embedded on its surface, one for each finger and one in the middle of its backhand.

    Her index, middle, and ring finger were pointed at him. Yet only the ws on her index and ring finger were extended to the length of a sword and touched either side of the youth¡¯s neck.

    "Read between the lines, pal." Xenagrosh elongated thest w as well, just enough to draw the man¡¯s attention to her middle finger.

    "I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t think..."

    "Then don¡¯t start now. I don¡¯t want you getting a headache for doing something you¡¯re not used to. Now scram." Her icy re made it clear that she wasn¡¯t going to repeat herself a third time.

 Chapter 949 Overwhelming Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 949 Overwhelming Power Part 1</h4>

    Xenagrosh¡¯s charade provided a perfect cover for the two grown men wetting themselves like kids.

    The truth, however, was that the killing intent came from Bytra, who was still seconds away from a fit of blood madness. She didn¡¯t like the stranger intruding in what she considered a private moment one bit.

    The waiters promptly came washing the floor and provided the two women with seconds, serving them simultaneously in the hope to quell their anger.

    A few hourster, once Bytra had managed to regain her cool, the two Abominations went to one of the Red Gorgon cartel¡¯s safe houses to meet their new partner, Wern Nian.

    Officially, the Red Gorgon was a merchant guild so the ce didn¡¯t differ much from aw-abiding enterprise.

    It was a two-story building made of wood, with a receptionist sitting at a desk in front of the ground floor¡¯s entrance while the rest of the space was taken by offices furnished only with desks, armchairs, and file cabs.

    The first floor was simrly furnished, but everything was much more expensive and each room had been made soundproof with magic. The entire building was actually protected by several invisible arrays the value of which was worth more than the entire city block.

    "I¡¯m d to see that your boss is taking us seriously." Wern said while looking at the two women with approval.

    He was no mage, but he had a keen sense for recognizing talent in other people.

    ¡¯I know that the most talented mages are women, but those two are off the charts. Heck, I feel threatened even though they sit there doing nothing. Their bearing is that of an apex predator.¡¯ He thought.

    "I¡¯m certain that your magical abilities are great, but are you sure that two of you are enough? We¡¯re dealing with undead who are strong enough to kill an adult bear with one hand. How do you n to survive if they get close?" Wren didn¡¯t reach his position without nning everything five steps ahead.

    Before making an enemy out of an Undead Court, he wanted to be reassured about their odds of sess.

    Wren Nian was a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.68 (5¡¯6") meters tall, with blonde hair and a beard. He had a gentle face, but between his mean eyes and his burly body, he was the kind of person you didn¡¯t want to meet alone in a dark alley.

    He had brought the two Abominations in his office, where four bodyguards, each taller and more muscr than Lith, and two of his associates were waiting for them.

    On paper, Wren was just the manager of the branch they were in, yet his office was beyond luxurious. All the armchairs were silk-lined and crafted with the best materials.

    Both the carpets and the tapestries hung to the walls were gold-embroidered, showing the masterful hand of the artist.

    "Before discussing such insignificant details, I¡¯d like to make the terms of our agreement clear." Xenagrosh sniffed the air and a disgusted grimace twisted her face as if they were sitting in a shithouse instead of a living room worthy of a Marquis.

    "After we dispose of your boss, Tolmen, we¡¯ll provide the Red Gorgon with the personnel and the means to make your business thrive. In exchange, we¡¯ll take 60% of the profits."

    "What?" One of the other men in the room said. "60% is more than what we give to those bloodsuckers. Wren, what point does it have going from a bad to a worse deal?"

    "Excellent question, Gs." Wren raised his hand to make his fellow deputy head and conspirator shut up. "Let¡¯s hear our guests¡¯ answer before stopping the negotiations. Why should I ept your terms?"

    He interlocked his fingers and leaned back, showing no fear nor weakness.

    "Because if you are the smart man I think you are, you¡¯ll understand that numbers are more important than percentages." Xenagrosh said and Wren nodded for her to continue.

    He had understood what she meant, but he needed the others to hear and understand it on their own, especially his bodyguards. Rebellions aimed high but started low. If the grunts didn¡¯t like where the conspiration was going, they would turn traitor in a jiffy.

    An army only made of generals couldn¡¯t win a war. Wren needed loyal soldiers ready to give up their lives on the spur of the moment so that he could be filthy rich and die of old age.

    "The Red Gorgon works well, but the undead can only support you during the night, whereas my Organization will allow you to extend work hours to daytime as well." Xenagrosh said.

    "Double the time, double the profits." Noticing that only one of the deputy heads was smiling, Wren dumbed down the concept.

    The room turned from gloomy into a ray of sunshine in the blink of an eye.

    "That¡¯s just for starters." Xenagrosh continued. "Right now, the Empire is breathing down your neck because of Veeza and her undead. By getting rid of your current partners, the constables will shift their focus on yourpetition.

    "Not only will you be able to make business more freely, but you could also exploit the enemy¡¯s weakness to expand your turf. Two birds with one stone."

    All those present were eating out of her hand, nodding like parrots. Wren felt threatened by the sudden shift in the power bnce in the room. He was now the only one on his side, feeling like a guest inside his own home.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve heard about charisma, but this is too much. If this continues, it will take a minute for this Xenagrosh to be my boss instead of my partner.¡¯ Wren thought.

    "Last, but not least, we¡¯ll take care of the infiltrators in your ranks." Xenagrosh stood up, moving as quick and silent as a ghost in front of the other deputy head who had spoken earlier and his bodyguard.

    "Tracking is my specialty. I¡¯m even better than a magical beast at following a trail. The problem with you thralls is that no matter how many times you brush your teeth, you can¡¯t get rid of the smell of blood."

    The man turned pale for a split second and then jumped up with so much strength that his chair turned into splinters mixed with stuffing. He had been barely 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") tall, but now he was standing over 1.82 meters (6¡¯) with his body now covered with bristles ripping through his clothes.

    The thrall hit Xenagrosh multiple times before anyone could even blink, each hit produced the noise of a hammer strike and the sound of broken bones.

    "Are you done?" She asked a few secondster, when the repeated impacts had broken his fingers, wrists, and forearms to the point that the creature¡¯s arms resembled an ordion.

    "My turn, then." Xenagrosh waved her right hand as if she was shooing a fly.

    The Sky Piercer cut the thrall at the neck, heart, waist, and knee level while also cauterizing the wounds. It turned him into five pieces without shedding a single drop of blood.

    The bodyguard, who was actually the thrall¡¯s master, snarled and started to shapeshift as well. Korvaks were undead capable of moving during the day at the price of a part of their might.

    Withstanding the sunlight limited their magical abilities, but their physical prowess was unaffected.

 Chapter 950 Overwhelming Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 950 Overwhelming Power Part 2</h4>

    Xenagrosh let himplete the metamorphosis, so that all those present realized what kind of monsters they had dealt with until that day and that their new partners were even worse.

    The moment the monster stood over 2 meters (7¡¯) tall, spreading a killing intent that added grey streaks to Wren¡¯s hair and wrinkles to his eyes, Xenagrosh tapped the Korvak¡¯s forehead with her finger.

    The Hollow Mist Chaos spell that she unleashed spread inside the creature¡¯s body and turned it into ashes before he could emit a single wail.

    All the humans in the room seemed to have aged a decade and even though the Korvak was gone they were still frozen in ce.

    "Anything else I should know?" Wren bit deep into his lower lip to ovee the terror that had paralyzed his limbs and reaffirm his leadership.

    "No. Everyone else in here is clean." Xenagrosh sniffed each one of those presents, identifying many of their hobbies and vices, but none of them was relevant to the mission at hand.

    "As the new head of the Red Gorgon, I ept your terms." Wren stood up and shook hands with Xenagrosh while the others were still unable to even blink, too afraid that a new horror would unfold the moment darkness clouded their vision.

    Soon, they would spread the tale of the meeting, turning both Wren the Unflinching and Xenagrosh the yer into legendary figures of the underworld.

    ***

    Later, that night, Wren brought Bytra and Xenagrosh with him under the guise of two mercenary mages he had hired. The meeting with Tolmen took ce in the local branch of the Dusk Court, in front of the undead masters of the Red Gorgon.

    Wren had sowed discord among the ranks of the cartel, demanding both a change of the terms of the deal with the undead and of leadership. After a failed attempt on his life, Tolmen Ironheart had been forced to ask for the help of his patrons.

    When the rumors about thralls hidden among the cartel spread around, the Red Gorgon belonged to Wren in a matter of hours, leaving Tolmen with no allies in Pron beside the undead.

    He hoped that they would kill his rival and prefer continuity in the management of the Red Gorgon. Little did he know that the killer had failed on purpose, to force the undead to open their doors to the invaders of their own will.

    If the assassination seeded, Wren would have be the new boss and the Dusk court wouldn¡¯t have given a damn about who was the leader as long as the flow of gold and food didn¡¯t stop.

    That way, instead, he wasn¡¯t just plotting against an insignificant human, he was daring to threaten the Court, demanding audience from them as if they were peers.

    That was something the undead couldn¡¯t overlook, so they had invited Wren and his followers as their guests, to make an example out of them. Their slow, agonizing death would show the rest of the underworld what happened to a human who didn¡¯t y by their rules.

    Xenagrosh admired Wren¡¯s guts to enter the tiger¡¯s den with no defence but her and Bytra. The two had known just for a few hours, yet the man was already willing to put his life in her hands.

    ¡¯I must give it to him. Wren is a scumbag, but he also has an iron will. Besides, who am I to judge?¡¯ Xenagrosh shrugged. ¡¯It would take him several lifetimes tomit a number of atrocities that coulde even close to my own.¡¯

    "Why did you request this meeting? The Dusk Court and the Red Gorgon are long-time friends. There¡¯s no animosity between us except that you bring at this table." Lethe, a gorgeous vampire said.

    The meeting took ce in the Court¡¯s Main hall. It was built to resemble an underground amphitheater that had an ovalyout and seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium

    Wren and the vampire were at the center of the scene, each with only their personal bodyguards on their side.

    Half of the Hall was upied by the undead and the other by the members of the Red Gorgon. In theory, it was meant to treat them as peers, but the truth was that the Dusk Court wanted to have as many witnesses as they could.

    A single undead was capable of terrifying dozens of living beings and without any magical abilities, being exposed to the Court¡¯s collective bloodlust made the members of the Red Gorgon feel like fish out of water, gasping for air.

    "Friends? What kind of friends puts spies inside our very homes? You betrayed our bond of trust first and now you dare question us? We work while you grow fat and our consciences pay the price for it!

    "You ask for us to provide you with innocent teens, beasts, nt folks, and even children that you feed upon. I say that¡¯s enough!" Like most of those presents, Wren couldn¡¯t care less about innocents as long as he got paid.

    Yet they were an excellent subject to rally even the worst crowd and spark what was left of their indignance. Besides, it offered the bunch of criminals a perfect scapegoat to wash their hands of all the blood they spilled.

    It was like saying: "It wasn¡¯t your fault. You didn¡¯t do it for the money. You did it because the undead forced you to."

    Lethe was stunned at those words. She looked at the head of the Court to signal that something was wrong. Their n had been to let Wren renegotiate the terms of their deal and then kill him for breaching the etiquette.

    Even if he acted wlessly, they could kill him because by attacking Tolmen he had betrayed him and in turn the Court as well since he was their representative. It was a paper-thin argument, but it was how the Undead Court conducted its business for centuries.

    Yet the human was attacking them directly, demanding to break the deal instead of asking for more favorable conditions. It was akin to amb sharpening the tools of a butcher before questioning his mother¡¯s honor.

    Uria the White Lady dismissed Lethe¡¯s worries with a sneer. They had searched their guests before letting them in and she knew most of them very well. Aside from the two strangers, the least of the Court¡¯s members would easily be able to ughter them all.

    ¡¯Unless one of the girls is Manohar or the Empress, there¡¯s nothing to fear. The former is still trapped in the Kingdom while thetter is in the Empire¡¯s capital. This Wren must be tired of living.¡¯ She thought.

    "Then we both agree, the line has been crossed." Lethe said with a wolfish smile. "Yet it¡¯s you who broke the pledge of honor by attacking your master, you who desecrated our hallowed halls with your poisonous words! Your end will be a warning for all those foolish enough toply with your madness."

    The vampire moved with such a speed that Wern was able to see her attack, but not to react in time. Lethe expected him to cry or wet himself, but after what Wern had witnessed during that same afternoon, the vampire looked terribly small to his eyes.

    Xenagrosh intercepted Leth¡¯s slender wrist with her left hand, trapping it in a grip stronger than a steel vise.

 Chapter 951 The Apprentice Surpasses the Master Part 1

    Chapter 951The Apprentice Surpasses the Master Part 1

    "That''s our cue, Byt." Xenagrosh said while a tier two Chaos magic spell opened a hole the size of a baseball in the vampire''s chest. It destroyed her heart and killed Lethe on the spot.

    "I''ll protect the humans, you kill the undead." Xenagrosh jumped back, bringing Wren along with her on the stands.

    "Who does what now?" Bytra was shocked seeing a wave of undead bodies belonging to all races flood the amphitheater while they emitted such an intense bloodlust that not even the Eldritch Abomination was immune to it.

    "Kill them all!" Uria the White Lady had no ns to follow the rules of Xenagrosh''s game and led her army against the humans.

    A burly undead reached the humans'' side with a single jump as he shapeshifted into a Grendel.

    The creature in front of Xenagrosh was over 3 meters (10'') tall and had a round head, with feral eyes as big as a saucer. It had bright red irises and vertical pupils that were filled with a mix of hate and spite.

    Its body was entirely covered by a dirty brown thick fur, akin to that of a giant sewer rat. The Grendel''s maw was lipless and sorge that it was the entire lower half of his head. The mouth was filled with sharp, long fangs, each one about ten centimeters (4") long.

    "A Grendel? What an amiable and rare pet you keep in here. It''s like a small bird." Xenagrosh shapeshifted as well, turning into her Shadow Dragon form. "It fits in just one hand."

    The Grendel froze in fear when he realized he hadnded not on the floor but on a giant scaly hand. Xenagrosh''s four red eyes were staring at him in amusement and each one of them was as big as the Grendel.

    The Dragon''s head scraped the ceiling of the cave while her ws dug deep into the ground that was forming craters under her feet due to her weight. Her wingspan covered the entirety of the amphitheater and prevented the undead from reaching the humans.

    Xenagrosh killed the Grendel simply by clenching her hand and breathed a wave of purple Origin mes that turned the first wave of assants into puffs of smoke.

    The undead stopped in their tracks, unable to believe their own senses nor to move a single muscle and the Hall fell silent for a second. After that, the stands full of humans burst into savage screams of joy as if it was just a football game and they were the fans of the winning team.

    None of them had really believed in Dragons until that day, but seeing one appear in front of their eyes made all those teachings they barely remembered be deeply etched in their minds and hearts.

    "We surrender. State your demands." Uria the White Lady said.

    Unlike Lith, Xenagrosh only had two sets of eyes. The first set was where it was supposed to be and the second was horizontally lined up with the first on the Dragon''s s snout, giving her a perfect peripheral vision.

    "I have no demands. Pron belongs to the Master, now. Your only choice is to either surrender and die or defeat one of us and survive." Her voice was a deep, guttural roar that shook the nerves of everyone who heard it.

    "Are you saying that if we attack the other woman, you will not interfere?" Uria asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "If we kill her, do I have your word that you will grant safe passage outside of the city to all survivors?" Another nod ensued.

    "I thought we were friends, Zor. Why are you doing this to me?" Bytra was on the verge of tears, something that the undead appreciated as much as they did her staring at the Shadow Dragon instead of keeping an eye on them.

    They charged at Bytra with the violence of a raging river and the grace acquired after hundreds of years spent on the battlefield. Each one of the undead despised the other member of the Court well enough to know the abilities of theirpetition as well as their own.

    It allowed them to have seamless teamwork despite having rarely fought together.

    "We are friends, Byt, but not the kind that travels Mogar to make wreaths of flowers and good memories." Zoreth replied. "I need you to wake up. If you stay as you are, you''re going to die, either by the hand of our enemies or by that of our so-called allies."

    Bytra emitted a tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void, from each of her hands. They parted the sea of enemies in front of her, killing dozens of them, yet hundreds remained. All she had managed to achieve was to buy herself a second, maybe two.

    "I don''t want to kill them, I barely know them, they are¡­" She managed to say before being drowned again in fangs, ws, and spells. The undead''s innate mastery of darkness magic allowed them to use its true magic form and to infuse it into their blows.

    The spells that were hitting her non-stop ate at Bytra''s body inside and out while her flesh was torn apart by the living storm of limbs surrounding her.

    "They are what? Innocents? Each one of them has probably as much blood on their hands as you. They are disgusting pigs, fattened on the flesh of their own neighbors. They know nothing of our hunger or our loneliness. Why do you keep holding back?"

    Xenagrosh was seething with anger. Her best friend was being ughtered in front of her eyes, yet she stood still. Red tears streamed down her scaly cheeks while her feet stomped the ground in the only way she had to express her outrage.

    The red drums of the blood madness threatened to burst Bytra''s head open and the splitting headache it gave her eclipsed even the pain from her wounds. Yet hearing Zoreth''s voice, her desperate screams of incitement was more than she could take.

    Bytra stopped resisting the madness and let her heart follow the beat of the red drums.

    She shapeshifted into her Raiju form and fought back. A Raiju was the evolution of a Cyr (horse type magical beast) whose powers were based on the light and air element. Their appearance was that of a Chinese dragon fused with a warhorse.

    The resulting creature had silver-white scales covering their horse body, withrge branching horns over their head, long whiskers, a thick silver mane, and a long, scaled draconic tail.

    Bytra, however, was an Emperor Beast-Abomination hybrid, making her body ck, her mane blood red, and her eyes yellow. The transformation was apanied by a burst of lightning and Chaos energy that sted away the undead that were the closest to her and allowed her to escape the encirclement.

    Bytra''s hooves emitted sparks of electricity every time they struck the ground, giving it an opposite charge to her own that made her gallop speed akin to a maglev train. She infused her horns with so much Chaos magic that they turned ck.

    Darkness magic was the bane of the undead and Chaos magic was still darkness, just several times stronger. All the undead in front of her charge disappeared in a puff of smoke as if they had just been mist figures instead of powerful beings.

    The red drums of the blood madness beat faster with every life she took and soon the war song turned from sound into images.

 Chapter 952 The Apprentice Surpasses the Master Part 2

    <hr>

    Chapter 952The Apprentice Surpasses the Master Part 2

    Bytra performed a sharp turn to her left, creating an ash cloud out of her fallen enemies and reliving her memories as an Emperor Beast.

    After evolving and learning the Forgemastering arts of the Raiju bloodline, Bytra had gone to put them to the test against the first and the greatest Ruler of mes, Ripha Menadion.

    She had lost in both experience and skill, but not in talent nor love for Forgemastering. The two master artisans admired each other''s creations, so Menadion offered Bytra to be her apprentice.

    The Raiju epted and soon, thanks to Menadion''s teachings and her own talent, Bytra became the 4th Ruler of the mes. It was a highly coveted title that identified her as the best Forgemaster of her generation, but the number one spot overall still belonged to Menadion.

    Bytra had lived in her tower and watched her work with Menadion''s Fury long enough to understand the reason why she was incapable of surpassing the first Ruler of the mes.

    No matter how much Bytra tapped into her potential, without the tower she would never be able to craft something like the Fury. Toe out of Menadion''s shadow, she needed to even the field.

    With each failed attempt to close the gap between them, admiration and respect turned into sour envy that poisoned Bytra''s life as well as her creations.

    The memory ended, making Bytra neigh in fury as if the events she had witnessed didn''t happen centuries ago, but yesterday. Uria the White Lady exploited her confusion to hurl a mass of water the size of a river.

    It covered the ground, dispersing the electricity it stored and making the Raiju crash onto the ground. The living bolt had finally stopped and the undead didn''t miss their chance to regain the upper hand.

    Wights and Wraiths drained Bytra''s life force simply by touching her while the rest of the undead used their ws to aim at her vitals. They were now cursing their own dimensional sealing array that left them with nothing but what they wore.

    To shut it down, they would need to reach the control panel that was just two corridors and three rooms past the Shadow Dragon.

    "Don''t stop! Memories are everything for a mage." Xenagrosh said. "They bring you pain, but also power and experience. Remember who you are, Byt! Remember ande back to me!"

    Bytra whined in pain, torn between the visions of the past from the blood madness and the present threat. Prompted by Zoreth''s words, the Raiju embraced the sufferinging from both sources and shapeshifted again.

    Another burst of lightning, Chaos, and blood allowed her to stand up.

    Her humanoid form resembled that of a woman covered in small ck scales, with horns on her head and long blood-red hair dancing in the air as if she was amid a storm.

    A burst of emerald mes enveloped her body, covering it with one of her prototypes for the Master''s Dominator armor, and making Menadion''s Fury appear in her left hand.

    The mystical hammer amplified her natural abilities, turning Bytra into a living Te coil that unleashed lightning bolts as powerful as natural ones against her enemies. Some undead burst into mes, others died on the spot, while the rest bled from all their orifices.

    The flow of blood and mana triggered the red drums in her head, showing her another glimpse from the past.

    Even though Bytra''s breakthroughs with Runesmithing had allowed the Forgemasters around Mogar to bring their crafts to the next level, it still was not enough to quench her ambition.

    She was sick and tired of being the second-best, to the point of belittling her own achievements. In her mind, she had just improved something Menadion had created instead of inventing a new Forgemastering technique.

    To add insult to injury, Menadion imed to be her number one fan and always spoke highly of Bytra. To the Raiju, it meant that her former master didn''t feel threatened by her talent, that Menadion didn''t even consider her as a rival.

    After one failure too many at crafting her own mage tower, Bytra had enough of ying nice.

    The foolish Menadion had never revoked her privileges, so the Raiju had no problems getting inside the tower nor ughtering all of Menadion''s precious apprentices, even her so-called sessor that she had spent so much time and effort preparing.

    By the time the rms triggered, the tower was painted red. Menadion was shocked by the betrayal of someone she had always considered as a friend and forced to decide whether to fight Bytra or try to save those who still had a spark of life.

    She foolishly tried to do both, giving the Raiju the chance to steal Menadion''s Fury and run away after piercing her heart with the horn Raijus had on their forehead.

    Bytra knew that the tower would heal the wound, but it still bought her time.

    Meanwhile, the lightning discharge had ended and Bytra threw the Fury against her enemies, creating an ash cloud. The undead believed her disarmed, but despite the hammer was still flying in the air, there was another in her left hand.

    Menadion''s Fury had the ability to create a temporary copy of itself, allowing more than one Forgemaster at a time to use its powers and perform four-handed crafting jobs.

    It was how Bytra had got her first taste at the hammer and how Menadion taught her apprentices.

    The Raiju used the copy to fend off the following waves while the original hammer returned to her hand, mowing down everyone on its path.

    Bytra was covered in blood, most of which was her own, her flesh was torn, and her mana cores were almost spent. The hunger almost drove her insane and forced her to relive her final moments as an Emperor Beast.

    After escaping from the tower, the Raiju had run for days while using umtion non-stop, to achieve a bright purple core and fight Menadion on equal footing.

    There was no way to Forgemaster new relics since as long as the first Ruler of the me was alive, the hammer would bear her imprint and be nothing but a fancy paperweight.

    Despite the Raiju''s best attempts to stall for time, Menadion found her and the two Rulers of the mes fought relentlessly for days, both befalling in worse condition than Bytra currently was.

    Menadion was still grieving her fallen apprentices and her life force was injured by her attempts to save at least one of them.

    Herck of focus and vigor allowed Bytra to emerge victorious. The rush the Raiju felt when she imprinted the Fury, making it finally her own, was only equal to the fear she experienced when her mana core started to crack just a few dayster.

    The constant strain from the training first and fightingter had pushed the Raiju past her limits. That had been the day when Bytra had died along with all of her dreams and Korgh the Abomination had been born.

    Bytra couldn''t believe how stupid her original self had been. She had thrown everything and everyone she loved away for power, just to lose it soon after achieving her dream.

    It wasn''t just the victory that had turned out to be hollow, but her heart as well. Bytra wanted to throw away the Fury for good, to fall to her knees and cry her eyes out until she found a way to make amends for her crimes.

    Yet she stood tall while appreciating Menadion''s Fury''s weight, both physical and spiritual.

 Chapter 953 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 953 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯There¡¯s no time for weakness. Menadion is dead and so is everyone else I knew. All the apologies in the world will not turn back time. The original Bytra was a genius as much as she was a monster, but now it¡¯s up to me to carry her burden.

    ¡¯I have people who depend on me and a second chance at life. This time, I will not let everyone down.¡¯ Bytra thought.

    "I knew you would make it!" Zoreth roared.

    She was so happy that she would dance with joy if not for the too many witnesses.

    "How do you feel and what about the madness?"

    "I feel horrible, inside and outside. As for the madness, it¡¯s still there but its hold over me has lessened. I don¡¯t know if I will ever bepletely free from it, but right now, I¡¯m aware of two things. First, I¡¯m no more a threat to my allies, and second, I¡¯m starving." Bytra said.

    "We¡¯re done here. Let¡¯s get you something to- What the heck?" When Zoreth folded her wings and turned around, she discovered why the members of the Red Gorgon cartel had stopped yelling for a while.

    They were no longer sitting on the stands, but kneeling with their heads and hands on the ground.

    "What are you doing?" Bytra asked while her hair still whipped around as if it was alive.

    "We¡¯ve witnessed the power and the mercy of the gods today." Wern spoke in a soft, deferent whisper.

    He felt unworthy of speaking to the two deities, yet not answering them would have been even more disrespectful.

    Bytra twirled her forefinger at her temple, suggesting that their guests had gone mad.

    "The Shadow Dragon n swears its undying loyalty to you, my liege. Our lives are yours to take."

    "Shadow Dragon n? Gods? Now I understand why Dad stays cooped up in the castle all day." Zoreth told Bytra with an air spell, to not let anyone else hear her.

    "And you dared say that you¡¯re not beautiful. You¡¯re a god now." Bytra giggled in reply.

    "You¡¯ll never let me hear the end of this, don¡¯t you?" Zoreth said with a sigh.

    "Nope. Now invite me to dinner. We have many things to celebrate tonight."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Ker region, inside Lith¡¯s tower a few monthster.

    For once, life seemed to have listened to Lith¡¯s plea and nothing big had happened ever since his fight with Dawn. It had given him the opportunity to spend a lot of time with his now many nieces and nephews, with Selia, and his own family.

    Thanks to the fact that he finished his rounds early, he always had a lot of free time that he could use to catch up with both his old and new allies while also assessing his gains.

    After finishing the academy anding of age, Lith had joined the army in the hope of finding some clues about how to solve his reincarnation problem. Gaining merits with the army had given him the chance to ess all the books he needed for his research.

    He had chosen to be a Ranger to always work alone and the Ker region as his patrol area after asking Ka for advice. The region was rich in lost cities that had allowed him to further study cursed objects and explore the possibility of binding his soul to an item.

    Also, it was the mothend of the Odi, notorious body snatchers and the forefathers of Lichhood. On paper, it was the perfect ce to find a way to either swap his dying body with a new one or at least gain further insight on Liches, the allegedly perfect undead.

    Lith would have never thought of actually meeting, fighting, and interacting with all of them, even befriending a Lich named Zolgrish. That or whatever such raving mad undead passed as friendship.

    During those two years, Lith had gained a lot and learned even more. He now was sure that turning himself into a cursed object was impossible. Just like it happened for corpses when they were risen as greater undead, the Living Legacies had a mind, if not a soul, of their own.

    On top of that, Lichhood had lost most of its luster after noticing how mad each one of them became, even Ka who was barely halfway through the process wasn¡¯t an exception.

    Discovering that Liches couldn¡¯t get too far away from their phctery without losing their powers had been the final nail in the coffin.

    His visit in Kh had given Lith the means to replicate the workings of the Odi, of which he had personally experienced their performance, and opened more questions about Mogar¡¯s role in his world tribtions.

    Lith had never nned on meeting someone like Kam, who he initially considered just a fling, nor to reconnect with Protector, or meeting Nalrond. His rtionship with Kam had grown slowly but steadily since their first date, to the point that she was aware of both his hybrid and Awakened nature.

    She only ignored the part about him being from Earth and about Solus¡¯s existence, making her the only person outside his family with whom he had beenpletely honest and who didn¡¯t rip his secrets out of his mind.

    Protector had helped him a lot to grow as both a man and a mage, introducing Lith to Faluel. As for Nalrond, Lith had at first spared him only on Solus¡¯s whim, but after the Rezar had helped to save Rena¡¯s children and had offered to teach him Light Mastery, Lith had started caring for him.

    Mostly because Nalrond was his only lead about Fringes, mystical ces where he could speak with Mogar. Such knowledge, coupled with Light Mastery, made the Rezar a priceless asset.

    Lith was sitting at his desk while contemting the lost academy of Huryole from one of the tower¡¯s windows. Now that Solus¡¯s mana core had reached the deep cyan core, she had unlocked the second floor of the mage tower.

    "This is ourst opportunity to raid the academy and get our hands on that sweet Forge made of Davross. Once we are done with the army, we¡¯ll lose our privileges." Lith said.

    "Well, we¡¯ve raided it more than a hundred times, yet we have found the Forgemasteringb only once, when we took the Runesmithing booklet." Solus said. "Also, if we stumble again into the Emerald Dragon, we might die."

    "I love the smell of pessimism in the morning." Lith chuckled at herck of enthusiasm.

    "Look at the bright side. We¡¯ve yet no idea how to remove the Davross Forge from the ground, we don¡¯t speak the draconguage so we have no way tomunicate with the Dragon, and we¡¯re relying solely on dumb luck for Huryole¡¯s maze to rearrange itself in a convenient way."

    "What bright side are you talking about? What you said sounded like the recipe for a disaster." Solus said.

    "Because it is. The bright side is that after our honorable discharge, we¡¯re done cleaning other people¡¯s mess, be they past, present, or future. Our apprenticeship with Faluel will take ce on our terms and once we¡¯re part of the Beast¡¯s Council, we¡¯ll be free to go wherever we want and do whatever we want." Lith steepled his fingers, nning what he considered thest steps of his journey.

 Chapter 954 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 954 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 2</h4>

    "I¡¯ve packed everything we might need and put all the ancient dictionaries Faluel has borrowed us inside Soluspedia. This time, we should be able to read the ancientnguage of the Kingdom as if we¡¯re native speakers." Solus had even found the time to finish tranting the Runesmithing booklet.

    She and Lith had revised its contents multiple times, hoping that it would speed up their study of modern Runesmithing with Faluel. Their only gripe with the booklet was theck of blueprints for truly powerful artifacts.

    Yet it was supposed to be just a school textbook, not the Grimoire of an Archmage, so the discovery had only mildly disappointed them.

    Lith studied the lost academy onest time before turning the tower into a ring and Warping to his destination.

    From the outside, Huryole looked like a giant stone dome. The only entrances were located at the ground level and breaking the dome would make the cursed object who ¡¯protected¡¯ the city turn the academy into a rampaging golem.

    Flying inside was impossible as well, making people wonder whaty at the center of the city and for what purpose an academy had been built in the middle of nowhere. Huryole was also nicknamed "The Cursed Training Ground".

    Lith used his badge to open the field of several ovepping arrays that prevented everything and everyone from stepping through the city¡¯s borders.

    The lost city was a livingbyrinth that would periodically rearrange itself, making any old map useless. Its walls couldn¡¯t be affected by earth magic, dimensional magic was sealed, and destroying the walls to make haste only made the Living Legacy that ruled over Huryole angry.

    Thebyrinth made finding something of value inside the lost academy a bet for Lith, but the same applied to the creatures trapped inside Huryole who kept trying to reach the exit to regain their freedom.

    Jakra the Emerald Dragon was among one of its most famous and powerful inhabitants. Unlike other academies, Huryolecked a forest, but made up for it by hosting all kind of creatures, both living and undead.

    ¡¯Who the fuck could be so mad to let a bunch of horny teens sleep in the same dormitory, with no privacy nor supervision, living under the same roof of unspeakable horrors?¡¯ Lith had no idea who had devised Huryole, but was pretty sure to know why modern academies were nothing like it.

    ¡¯Beats me.¡¯ Solus shrugged. ¡¯I¡¯m eager to put to the test War¡¯s abilities. So far, we faced only C-listers unworthy of its de. With a bit of luck, this will be ourst fight for a long while.¡¯

    The bastard sword crafted by Orion hung on Lith¡¯s hip, inside the scabbard made from the blood of thest man dumb enough to force Lith to unsheathe War.

    ¡¯That makes the two of us. Let¡¯s hope we don¡¯t end up testing its limits instead.¡¯ Lith cursed at himself one second after the thought formed in his mind.

    ¡¯I swear, if you jinxed ourst raid before it even started, I¡¯m going to leave you spend yourst weeks in the army alone while I take a vacation on my own.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith silently agreed and started to dispose of the creatures that were hitting the barrier sealing the city with their best spells. It was a small group of famished undead, hence Lith didn¡¯t even try tomunicate with them.

    Their bodies were skeletal due to theck of nourishment, but like all Huryole¡¯s prisoners, they couldn¡¯t die. For some unknown reason, nothing except for enchanted weapons and spells could destroy the physical form of those who remained trapped in the lost academy for too long.

    ¡¯By my maker.¡¯ No matter how many times they faced them, thebat prowess the undead disyed despite their pitiful condition always managed to amaze Solus. Every one of their movements was wless, allowing them to dodge Lith¡¯s attacks by just shifting their stance.

    Yet they fell the moment one of the spells stored inside Lith¡¯s rings disrupted their teamwork. No matter how skilled they were, their starving bodies couldn¡¯t keep up with a strong and fresh opponent.

    Lith only needed to graze them with War for the violent energies imbued inside the sword to ravage its victims and turning them into ashes. To make matters worse for the enemies, during his raids Lith would use Death Vision to spot the enemy¡¯s weakness.

    Humans could die in so many ways that Lith¡¯s curse was useless against them, whereas undead could only die from darkness magic or if struck at their weak points. Their bodies would unravel starting from there, so Death Vision provided Lith with clues about how to defeat even creatures he had never met before.

    The small ash clouds didn¡¯t disperse, but became small whirls that were sucked inside a small Gate. They would be reborn in a random spot of the city during the next cycle.

    Huryole was also known as the "deathless city" because its inhabitants were forced into a seemingly unbreakable death and rebirth cycle. Some spected that those who managed to leave the city¡¯s premises might be freed from such a cruel destiny, but no one was willing to take risks and allow it to happen.

    ¡¯How long until the reset?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯About ten hours. The fact that they managed to escape in barely two hours means that either they were very lucky or that this time Huryole arranged itself in a straightforward path. If I¡¯m right, we might be forced to face a lot of enemies.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯It also means we might get further than ever. Even if we miss the Forge, maybe we¡¯ll find something more easily portable.¡¯ Lith said.

    Dimensional and Earth magic were sealed inside Huryole, so he couldn¡¯t ess his pocket dimension nor widen the doors to make way for bulky loot.

    Once they walked through the city gates, they found themselves in what looked like a kitchen where someone had tried to butcher a still alive bull. The stone counters were cracked in many ces, the cooking utensils were deformed as if they had been used to hit something very hard, and there was blood everywhere.

    "What the fuck did we just miss?" Lith wondered.

    Huryole fixed and cleaned all kinds of damage the moment they happened, making the kitchen return to its original appearance at a speed visible to the naked eye. Whatever happened in there, it was likely to have wrecked the room and taken ce barely a minute ago.

    The kitchen only had a way in and a way out, so after checking around with Life Vision, Lith moved forward. The next room was a long corridor leading to a single door. Both of its side walls were covered by huge paintings perfectly lined up.

    Lith froze in ce, trying to understand the purpose of the room. In all of his visits, he had never found something as trivial as a passageway. Whoever had built the city seemed to hate wasting space, so every part of the building had a specific role in the lost academy, no matter if it was a bathroom or a ssroom.

    Life Vision revealed that the paintings were all enchanted with some kind of dimensional magic, yet they depicted still life scenes of no relevance.

    Or so Lith thought until he recognized some of them.

    "Wait a second. We¡¯ve been there in the past. Could this really be some sort of waypoint to quick travel through the city?"

 Chapter 955 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 955 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 3</h4>

    Lith used Invigoration on a painting to study its pseudo core and discovered that it had very simple controls.

    ¡¯Honestly, I hope the paintings are no dimensional doors. If you¡¯re, right we might get swarmed at any minute. Also, we have no idea how many times these things can be used.

    "If we go in too deep and then we find their pseudo core spent on our way back, we¡¯d have no way out of Huryole.¡¯ Solus thought while keeping her mana sense active.

    Lith shuddered realizing how foolish was his wish. Luckily, the dimensional magic inside of the paintings wasn¡¯t intended as a mean of transportation. By imprinting the paintings with his mana, Lith could solely explore the rooms they depicted, zooming in and out at will.

    ¡¯This is some kind of cameras¡¯ control room.¡¯ He thought. After fiddling with the controls for a while, Lith discovered that the zoom out function allowed him to see where each room was in Huryole and the directions it led to.

    ¡¯That¡¯s how those guys managed to get out so quickly.¡¯ Solus pointed him at a painting depicting another corridor filled with surveince canvas.

    Some of the images had been arranged so to form a path leading outside.

    ¡¯The good news is that we can follow their lead and move faster, the bad news is that whoever stumbles into that corridor will find a way out and mess with our n.¡¯ Lith was zooming out all the surveince images in the room to see if any of them led to the Forgemastering or the Alchemicalb.

    Unfortunately for him, most of the depicted areas were disconnected between them, so they provided him with no clues where to go and hit the jackpot.

    ¡¯My advice is to follow the path of the undead. It will allow us to both move quickly and get rid of all those who might block our way back. Two birds with one stone.¡¯ Solus suggested.

    Lith nodded and studied briefly all the paintings before moving out. He stayed in each room only long enough to give Solus the time to scan everything with mana sense for valuable relics.

    No matter how many times he visited it, Huryole was always creepy. The ce reminded Lith of the White Griffon academy to the point that he could almost see the students sitting in the ssrooms, practicing magic in thebs, and bullying the weak in the bathrooms.

    Yet everything was empty and silent until it wasn¡¯t anymore. For some reason, all doors would stay closed until someone opened them and each room was soundproof. Enemies woulde at any time from any direction without notice.

    Lith left the bathroom and entered the Gardens of Madness. He had already been there in the past, but this time he knew where to go next. The garden area was one of the biggest he had ever met, with so many doors that even Solus needed a map to not lose her way.

    They spanned for several hundreds of meters, covering an area as big as a small vige. It was also one of the most dangerous ces in the lost academy. A green area meant nts which in turn meant food, and food was a priceless luxury inside Huryole.

    Those who reached the Gardens would never leave until killed and would react to any intruder with extreme prejudice. Yet the ce hadn¡¯t been named after the violence it caused so much as after what happened once one of thendlords had their belly full for a while.

    Finally freed from their hunger, humans, magical beasts, and undead alike would be torn apart between their need forpany and the fear of losing what they had. Lith had witnessed several times them crying like babies while hugging, having sex, or even eating each other alive.

    Only a few would live long enough to realize they had just exchanged one hell for another and would resume their search for the exit. All the others would remain trapped mind and body in the Gardens of Madness.

    Lith used air magic to float a few centimetres from the ground and darkness magic to cancel his smell. His Skinwalker armor changed its colors ording to its surroundings, making Lith nigh-invisible.

    While moving through the Gardens, Lith left several bombs hidden inside small bags, just in case he needed to retreat quickly and had no time for finesse nor violence.

    The next room was a seven-story tall library, filled to the brim with books.

    ¡¯Too bad we can¡¯t use the tower¡¯s Sentries to check their titles nor can we just store them inside our pocket dimension.¡¯ Lith inwardly sighed at the idea of the treasure of knowledge he was leaving behind.

    ¡¯It would take hours anyway.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯This ce must belong to a time when dimensional items weren¡¯tmon. Misce a book even once and it¡¯s as good as lost forever.¡¯

    She skimmed the titles of the tomes they met on their way, but they were either trivial or nonsensical. Like "Basics of self-defence" or "How to cook your neighbour". If the Gardens extended horizontally, the library extended vertically, like a towerprised of bookshelves.

    Lith was surprised not meeting anyone on his way and believed that for once luck was smiling upon him. Yet the truth was much worse. Undead were the only ones capable of building longsting alliance among themselves simply because they couldn¡¯t feed upon each other.

    Emperor Beasts, humans, and nts, instead, would wee even their own kin as if they were steaming cheeseburgers. Guilt was a meaningless word in Huryole since the victim would be reborn in a few hours.

    After living inside the lost academy for a few days, the only feeling that mattered was hunger.

    "Congrattions." Said a male voice when Lith reached the end of the known path.

    "You¡¯ve reached the Headmaster¡¯s office and earned your ce in the Arthan Academy."

    Lith had no idea if to be more creeped out by the person in front of him speaking the modernmonnguage or by hearing the name of the Mad King spoken with deference instead of spite.

    The man in front of Lith wore an ample golden mage robe and was about 1.60 meters (5¡¯3") tall. He looked to be in his mid-fifties and had long brown hair and beard streaked red all over.

    "How do you speak mynguage and what the heck are you talking about?" Lith said while pretending to be scared.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯ He actually thought while using the chatter to weave his best spells.

    ¡¯Whoever this guy is, he has a bright violet mana core and a life force, so he¡¯s human. Yet he shares the same energy signature of Huryole, so I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re actually talking with the host of the Living Legacy that controls the ce.

    ¡¯Be extra careful. If he¡¯s anything like me, you¡¯re speaking with the beast to whom belongs the belly you¡¯re inside of.¡¯ Solus prepared some spells of her own while trying to understand if the cursed object had any weakness she could exploit.

    "Many people reach our institution every year and no matter how long they stay, they talk, talk, and talk. I had all the time I needed to listen and keep up with the outside world." At a wave of the apparently amiable old man, a hologram of Lith talking with General Vorgh appeared in the middle of the room.

 Chapter 956 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 956 Raiders of the Lost Academy Part 4</h4>

    "Ranger Verhen, you¡¯ll remain here until the next reset." Vorgh¡¯s hologram said, making Lith aware that the Living Legacy had kept an eye on him ever since his first visit in Huryole.

    Then, the images changed, showing a montage of all his previous visits. The sequence highlighted Lith¡¯s battle tactics, his ability to shapeshift into his Wyrmling form, and cast true magic.

    More than a polite introduction it sounded like a threat.

    "As for what I¡¯m talking about, I¡¯m offering you to enrol in the final academy, the Golden Griffon." The man raised his hands and the entire room started to glow with power.

    The lighting out of the walls surrounded Lith as if it wanted to seep inside his body, but his enchanted armor and strong mana flow kept it at bay.

    "My name is Hystar Sevenus, born from the fusion of the Headmaster of the seventh academy and its very power core. I hope we will get along." The man said.

    "Thanks, but no thanks. Been there, done that. I think it¡¯s better if I leave now." Lith moved toward the door, but it¡¯s outline disappeared and became one with the wall.

    "What¡¯s the rush? There is still plenty of time before the next reset. The gods only know why the King never entrusted me with the power of making it happen at will. I¡¯ve lost so many promising students because of Arthan¡¯s short-sightedness." Hystar said while making twofortable chairs appear.

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith refused to sit down. If Huryole worked like his tower, the chair could easily turn out to be a deadly trap.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, the corridor is still there and the wall hasn¡¯t changed its thickness. Get ready to move on my mark.¡¯ She thought.

    "Why should I ept? This ce is a dreadful prison, whereas the entirety of Mogar is up for the taking." Lith had to keep the conversation going, otherwise his host might activate arrays that would make his escape more difficult.

    "As all those who came in the past, dear Verhen, you¡¯re letting fear cloud your judgment. This is no prison, but the birthce of the final army that will make Arthan¡¯s dream of conquering the entire Garlen continente true.

    "Where others just see a bunch of people forced to be cannibalistic psychopaths, Arthan saw the possibility to create a battlefield where death has no ce. Our students can practice their tactics until they perfect or discard them.

    "They learn how to distinguish true friends from those who instead would betray them for a bowl of soup. Here there is no such thing as fatal mistakes. You can really learn how to improvise, adapt, and ovee any adversity.

    "Your research needs Dragon¡¯s blood? We have a dragon. Even if we bleed him out, he¡¯ll just be reborn. The same stands for Phoenixes, Unicorns, and any rare ingredient you might ever need.

    "Here at the Golden Griffon, everyone can make the extreme sacrifice for their country over and over again!" More than a pitch, Hystar¡¯s words sounded like the rant of a madman.

    The basic concept was interesting but the totalck of free will to join the experiment or of any safe words to qui it, made Huryole no different from a prison camp used to conduct human experimentation.

    "As our guest, I allowed you to pick a few souvenirs. But if you enrol and graduate, I¡¯ll award you with this." The Headmaster made the image of the Davross Forge appear in front of Lith¡¯s eyes.

    "What do you mean, graduate?" Lith licked his lips with a greedy light in his eyes.

    "All you have to do is to stay here until the reset, reach the exit, and then escape the pesky arrays that block me here. You¡¯ll be awarded extra points if you deactivate them. Would you be interested in a full suit of dragonscale armor?" Hystar said.

    "Well, when you put it this way..."

    ¡¯Mark!¡¯ Solus cut Lith short and made the shortest path to the exit appear in front of his eyes.

    "Bye!" Lith charged at the point where once the door had been while boosting his armor with mana and activating the Spirit Barrier ring at the same time.

    Thebined effect of the artifacts turned him into a living battering ram that smashed through the solid stone wall without wasting a single spell.

    Lith could always regain mana with Invigoration, whereas weaving new spells would take him time.

    "How dare you ruin my school! Come children, lunch is ready!" Hystar sent the living light after Lith while all the doors of the Golden Griffon leading toward the exit opened at the same time, guiding the hunters toward their prey.

    The walls of the academy came to life and took the form of golems. Unlike those from Kh, they were made only of stone. The golems had no head nor neck, their eyes were on their ample chest, making them look like humanoid manta rays.

    They were slow, but their number was so great that the moment Lith slowed down, he would be drowned in their stone limbs.

    By the time he was out of the girls¡¯ locker room and back into the canteen, Lith finally understood the real meaning of the Headmaster¡¯sst words. The floor was filled with golems and the tables with steaming piles of gruel, probably made from thetest batch of fallen ¡¯students¡¯.

    The stench made Lith turn his nose up to it, but to the rest of the inmates the meal smelled like heaven. All kinds of creatures swarmed from all sides of the academy, following the aroma to the canteen where Lith was fighting for his life.

    War cut deep inside the golems¡¯ stone thanks to its enchantments scrambling their defences and allowing Lith to make short work of the golems. After the events of Kh, Orion had modified his crafting method so that his loved ones would never be cornered by a construct again.

    Both Ruin and War were capable of absorbing mana from nearby spells, which included the arrays that animated the golems. War, however, was much more efficient so that the moment it struck a construct, the earth magic that made it impervious to all kinds of damage faltered.

    With each sh, the angry de pierced the golems¡¯ external armor and reached their power cores, turning them into rubble. It would have been an impossible feat if not for Life Vision revealing the weak point to Lith and War allowing him to exploit it.

    The bastard sword emitted a screech akin to a battle cry while it absorbed the power core¡¯s lingering energies and made them go haywire. The golem exploded, freeing War and repelling the other assants without letting a single piece of rock hit Lith.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways. Whoever pissed Orion off this much has better to entrust their soul to the gods, because I¡¯m pretty sure they will soon meet their makers.¡¯ Lith thought while clearing his path toward the exit.

    ¡¯I have good news.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Even though each golem you destroy is quickly reced, their creation is weakening Hystar¡¯s energy signature in both the walls and the light that is chasing us.¡¯

    Behind them, the canteen had plunged into chaos. The living fought for the food, the undead fought to eat the living, while the weakest of the prisoner feasted on their fallen colleagues.

    Only the constructs kept chasing their prey relentlessly, yet Lith¡¯s situation had be much worse nheless.

 Chapter 957 Sometimes They Come Back Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 957 Sometimes They Come Back Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Please, Solus, save the fancy words forter and tell why Hystar¡¯s energy signature weakening matters now.¡¯ Lith thought while activating Full Guard. Not even Solus could follow so many targets at the same time and he couldn¡¯t afford to be taken by surprise.

    Stray spells flew throughout the room, limiting his space of maneuver, and the moment one of the Golden Griffon¡¯s inmates spotted Lith, they would chase him with haunted eyes as if he was a juicy prime rib on a barbeque.

    ¡¯It matters because, unlike what happened when we tried to take the Davross Forge or when Jakra the Dragon used Origin mes, the building is noting to life. My guess is that Arthan didn¡¯t trust Hystar enough to give him full control of the academy.

    ¡¯He admitted that Huryole has rules that even he has to follow. As long as you don¡¯t break any of them, he has to consume his own power.¡¯ Solus said.

    The Living Legacy didn¡¯t lie about the academy offering the possibility to train endlessly, about how those trapped inside the Golden Griffon could sharpen and polish their skill to the utmost limit.

    Each one of them was a fierce opponent with hundreds of years of battle experience and no care for their survival. They had fought the whole time while being famished, wounded, and sometimes even maimed.

    Hystar¡¯s ¡¯students¡¯ had learned how to mess their own spells up on purpose, to detonate along with the enemy and turn themselves into living bombs. Lith cursed his bad luck when an explosion sent him crashing on the ground.

    He had sustained no damage, but the constructs had finally the opportunity to pile up on him and unleash their best spells in unison. Lith let them form a small mound that covered him from sight and from the ensuing chaos so that the students would turn against each other.

    The Spirit Barrier ring required a lot of mana to sustain such weight and block the spells that were raining down on it, but Lith could afford it thanks to Invigoration. Once Life Vision showed him that the coast was clear, Lith expanded the barrier and sent the golems flying.

    He used his wings and air magic to fly faster than a bullet, reaching the Gardens of Madness in two ps. The route Solus had traced for him required to cut through the middle of the park, offering him no cover.

    The golems from the canteen followed him and new ones emerged from the Gardens¡¯ walls. To make matters worse, those skilled enough to be thendlords of the green area were well fed and rested. Some even had followers.

    They were a much greater threat than their starving peers.

    ¡¯Time to trigger the detonator.¡¯ A snap of Lith¡¯s finger made all the small bags he had hidden inside the bushes open, releasing their delicious smell.

    The "bombs" he had prepared were actually steaming delicacies that he conserved inside his pocket dimension. The bags were something he had devised for ces like Belius or Huryole, where dimensional items didn¡¯t work.

    They would keep the food warm and fragrant.

    Even the Gardens¡¯ndlords didn¡¯t have a hot meal in decades, let alone those who found the canteen¡¯s disgusting gruel tasty. The food frenzy made everyone go insane, fighting with their life on the line just to get one bite.

    The students ignored Lith, who kept away from the bags, and ground the golems into dust simply because the constructs were on their path. Lith kept pping his wings, moving as fast as he could toward the exit.

    He didn¡¯t really have ten hours left, but barely a few minutes. It was the time it would take Hystar to gather his troops and beat Lith with sheer numbers and power.

    "Damn it all!" Lith yelled when he found the surveince canvas room jam-packed with golems.

    They stood one on top of the other, those above fusing their legs with the t head of those below, forming a living barricade capable of grabbing, hitting, and using magic. A hail of stones filled the entirety of the corridor, forcing Lith to a halt.

    He activated the tier five magic holding ring, unleashing both the Final Sunsets stored within. Lith focused the two spells into a single pir of ck mes that vaporized the enemies¡¯ spells and pierced through their ranks, creating a path.

    ¡¯I take back what I said in the past about tier five magic holding rings. I need more of these babies.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He entered the kitchen, finding that it was even more packed than the corridor, but this time Lith was ready. Until that moment, Lith had been forced to hold back to not damage the academy with stray spells and trigger its defenses.

    He hadn¡¯t forgotten how the Golden Griffon was so powerful to stop even Jakra the Emerald Dragon. Thest time they had met, the ancient creature had failed to escape because his Origin mes damaged the walls.

    Lith had learned from Jakra¡¯s mistake and Solus¡¯s earlier words confirmed his theory. The golems, the food, everything was just a ruse to make him go all-out and break the academy¡¯s rules so that Hystar could be all-powerful.

    Now, however, the exit was in sight, so he could safely unleash all the spells he had at the ready. The entire kitchen blew up, opening a hole in the Golden Griffon walls. By the time the safety protocols triggered, however, Lith was already outside, using his amulet to open the array.

    "No, you don¡¯t!" Hystar Warped in front of Lith while focusing all of his might into a gravity spell that sucked him back into the lost academy.

    A jet stream of bright blue Origin mes burned the Headmaster to a crisp while an emerald creature so fast that it was barely a blur pushed Lith through the fissure in the energy barrier before it reached for the sky.

    < "Freedom, atst!"> (AN: tranted from draconic).

    Jakra rejoiced as he could finally breathe fresh air for the first time in centuries. He had remained trapped inside Huryole a long time ago, back when he was young and stupid enough to believe himself invincible.

    Little did he know that even though the Golden Griffon gave him plenty of experience and made him immortal, it also stopped his aging. It was the reason why he was still stuck with a bright blue core despite having mastered Origin mes and true magic to the point of almost self-Awaken.

    Dragons only grew stronger with time, so eternal youth was a curse to them

    < "Thanks, little brother! Now I need a proper meal, a year-long nap, and a month-long bath. After that, I¡¯ll learn yournguage and thank you properly."> Jakra knew that, as long as Lith didn¡¯t understand his words, any attempt tomunicate would turn into a pointless fight.

    Having nothing to offer but his promise, the Dragon spat on the Golden Griffon before Warping away.

    ¡¯He must have followed you the whole time, hiding behind the golems.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯I failed to notice his presence as well. There were too many enemies and dangers to care about a quiet dot in the backlines.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah. Hystar opened all the rooms leading to my position, so Jakra had a clear path to follow. The Headmaster didn¡¯t even consider the idea that someone might be still sane and exploit his call to arms to escape.¡¯ Lith thought.

 Chapter 958 Sometimes They Come Back Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 958 Sometimes They Come Back Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Do you think I should mention this in my report?¡¯

    ¡¯You better do. Jakra¡¯s escape was just a matter of time, whereas the knowledge about Huryole¡¯s true purpose will help the Kingdom to better defend from it. With Thrud still atrge and most of the knowledge about Arthan lost, they need to know that the Mad King left the ultimate army as a gift for his granddaughter.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯I bet that General Vorgh will be pretty pissed off anyway.¡¯ Lith sighed.

    ***

    Grand Duchy of Deirus, Deirus Household. During Lith¡¯s escape from Huryole.

    It had been a long time since Jirni Ernas had reached out to her old friend, Archmage Vn Deirus. Right after Yurial¡¯s death, Vn¡¯s son and the fifth member of Lith¡¯s academy group, the rtionship between the Ernas and the Deirus Households became awkward.

    The ve ring Nalear had put at Quy¡¯s finger had forced her to cut the young mage¡¯s throat and it had been Phloria??s decision to heal her mother first that led to Yurial¡¯s demise.

    Vn considered them responsible and as a mother, Jirni couldn¡¯t me him. After a while, the two families had made peace, yet Archmage Deirus had never recovered from the loss of his only beloved son and suitable heir.

    Vn had many children, but they were all as bad as they came. The Deirus household was a loveless ce, so everyone only cared about themself and about enjoying the luxuries that their noble status offered.

    Yurial¡¯s siblings had no passion for magic and no love for their subjects. Making any of them the next ruler of the region would be akin to put a fox guarding a henhouse. Vn had searched for someone to adopt, but talented mages were very rare and he didn¡¯t have much time.

    After a while, Archmage Deirus resigned to his bloodline ending with him. He started to spend all of his time either in hisb or putting things in order for the families that would take his ce once his Grand Duchy would be split into smallernds.

    Jirni and Orion had called to offer him their help multiple times and visited him whenever they could, just to find Vn¡¯s amulet offline and his doors closed.

    All the more reason why Jirni was surprised to receive an audience with him in her time of need. After over a year, Phloria¡¯s trial was at a standstill and her career was ruined. Lith had already be a Captain as well and was likely to be promoted again before his discharge.

    Even Kam had surpassed Phloria in terms of ranks after bing a Royal Constable and being appointed as Jirni¡¯s personal aid. Captain Yehval had no backers nor talent for magic, but she was smart and loyal.

    Jirni had all the power a magical household could have, what shecked were true friends. Having someone trustworthy watching her back was a priceless asset that made Kam vital to her ns.

    Yet a simple aide wasn¡¯t enough to solve Phloria¡¯s problem. Jirni needed to bring the most powerful bloodlines of the Kingdom on her side and Vn would make a fine addition. The Royals were doing all they could, but politics were a poisoned drink.

    Exposing themselves too much to help the Ernas would set a dangerous precedent and be perceived as favoritism. Jirni and Orion had to y their part to solve the situation or risk alienating their life-long allies.

    "Long time no see, Jirni." Vn tried to smile, but his face failed him. There was not a shred of joy left in his heart and he was too tired to fake a feeling he didn¡¯t experience in years.

    He was a man in histe fifties, about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with red hair and a beard. Brown streaks showed his talent for earth magic that had made him an Archmage whereas grey streaks due to grief and age made him look older than he was.

    "What brings you to my door today?"

    "We are not friends anymore, Vn, so let¡¯s skip the part where you pretend to care about my problems and I to feign ignorance. You know exactly why I¡¯m here. I want you to stop what you¡¯re doing." Jirni wore a warm smile that extended to her eyes.

    Unlike Vn, she never revealed her true face until she was ready to deliver the finishing blow.

    Lady Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5¡¯) tall, with blonde hair that extended mid-way down her back and sapphire blue eyes. She wore a beautiful light green day dress worthy of the Court and her hair was perfectly curled, framing her face like she had been taken out of a painting.

    She was in her early forties, but thanks to proper care and good genes she looked like she was in her mid-thirties, giving her the allure of a mature yet youthful woman. Many had mistaken her frilly appearance with her real self and most of them died for it.

    "What am I doing, exactly?" Vn furrowed his brows. An old butler in a ck livery served them one of the finest teas in the Kingdom.

    "You¡¯re a lucky man, Vn. Or maybe you just timed your attack well, it doesn¡¯t matter. The point is that, without that goddamn undead invasion and all the spy work for the imminent colonization of the Jiera continent, we would¡¯ve had this conversation months ago.

    "Once I could finally stop for a moment and think, it didn¡¯t take me much to unravel the mystery behind my daughter¡¯s predicament. The Royals are already on my side and so are most of the ancient magical bloodlines.

    "They know all too well the price for standing in my path and striking the Ernas down would set a very dangerous precedent for them. It would mean setting a ss ceiling past which anyone must be shot down, themselves included.

    "Hence whoever was prolonging that pointless drama had to be someone from a young yet very powerful household. Someone who could use the massacre of Kh to stir the still open wounds left by Lukart¡¯s attempts to trigger a civil war.

    "Someone who is respected and well received, a leading figure who has suffered a terrible loss and never got justice for it despite his countless merits. Someone like you." Jirni said.

    "You are too kind." Vn dropped the fa?ade, letting all the rage he harbored toward the Ernas twist his face in a snarl of rage.

    "I admit that I would¡¯ve never pulled it off if your daughter didn¡¯t manage to get so many valuable Professors from the young magical bloodlines ughtered. You old coots can afford to lose one heir or two because the foundation of your power is solid.

    "Remaining mageless is nothing but a temporary setback for you, whereas it can spell the end for usmoners." His voice was amiable, yet every word of his was soaked in venom and spite.

    "Also, I need to thank both you and your daughter for providing me such a valuable helper. Do you remember the young Kallion, I presume?" At a snap of his fingers, the door of the tea room opened and revealed the presence of a second guest

    Kallion Nuragor was a handsome man in his early twenties, about 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall with pitch-ck hair and grey eyes. He had a lean but muscr build that not even his ample mage robe could hide.

 Chapter 959 Different Games Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 959 Different Games Part 1</h4>

    Kallion Nuragor had been Phloria¡¯s boyfriend for a while, and after Lith had publicly humiliated him, the young man had trained his body as well as his magic without ever taking a single day of rest.

    "Mage Nuragor, what a pleasant surprise. I¡¯m curious to understand the role you yed in Vn¡¯s little charade." Jirni weed him with a simple nod of her head, without even bothering to stand up.

    "It¡¯s Great Mage Nuragor to you, Lady Ernas." Kallion clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white.

    He held his rage back only because he knew that from that distance, despite the difference in their build, height, and age, Jirni could hand his ass to him with only one hand. Attacking Jirni would only give her a usible excuse to kill him.

    One year of training was nothingpared to a lifetime on the field.

    "Great Mage?" She giggled like an airheaded noble dame. "Kallion must have done a pretty good job if you spent the gold necessary to buy a two bits mage like him such title."

    All about Jirni from her tempo to her tone of voice was studied to provoke her opponents. Both Vn and Kallion knew it, but only the former had the cold blood to remain unfazed by her disrespectful words.

    Being called a talentless mage that needed to bribe his way into the Mage Association brought him seconds away from attacking her, but Vn beat him to the punch, sending him flying with a wave of his hand.

    "Forgive him. Youth makes people ves of their instincts to the point of being stupid." Vn sighed while keeping his left forefinger raised and Kallion nailed to the wall to save his life.

    "For stupid he is stupid. How did he help you, exactly?" Jirni giggled again, taking another sip of her tea.

    "Disgruntled daughters need to vent with someone about their meddling parents." Vn chuckled, making Jirni¡¯s smile disappear. "Boyfriends make an excellent shoulder to lean on. You wouldn¡¯t believe how many things a young woman is willing to share, especially during pillow talk."

    "Moreover, you are underestimating Kallion. After your birthday party, he worked hard as if he had to prove the whole Mogar wrong, achieving such feats that it only took me a few good words here and a bit of gold there to make him into a Great Mage. Can you say the same about your daughters or your good-for-nothing sons?"

    "No, because everything my children got, they achieved it on their own." Jirni restored her poker face while her brain spun at top gear to understand all the innuendos of their conversation.

    "Force my hand and it will not just be your daughter¡¯s career at stake, but also her reputation, along with that of the Ernas Household." Vn said.

    "If you really have such power over me, why there¡¯s no rumor going around, yet?" Jirni asked.

    "Consider it a gesture of goodwill. We can still settle our scores peacefully." Vn emptied his cup and magically refilled it.

    "Interesting. You invested all this time and resources just to show off your influence over the Royal Court. I must assume you¡¯re about to ask me a heavy ransom." Jirni didn¡¯t bother asking what he wanted. She was sure Vn would tell her of his own will.

    "I only ask for what is rightfully mine!" Archmage Deirus almost lost it when she called him a thief. "I want no ransom, just weregild for my son. You can either disown Quy, so that I can make her face justice without the protection of the Ernas name, or give me Phloria, so that I can adopt her."

    "I beg your pardon?" Jirni raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "A child for a child, as simple as that. Quy killed my Yurial so it¡¯s only fair for me to do the same. The only other eptable solution is that you give me an heir. Phloria¡¯s career is already over and she¡¯s an embarrassment for your Household.

    "No one could me you for getting rid of her, while I would take her in the name of our old friendship. Phloria would have her reputation back and the Deirus would thrive.

    "It would be an excellent opportunity to show to the whole Kingdom that old and new magical bloodline can work together for the greater good. Everybody wins." Vn said.

    "Not at all, it would be only you to emerge victorious. Disowning Quy would make my Household lose a powerful mage and her future heirs, while if I gave you Phloria, the moment something happens to Orion or me you could make a im over the Ernas¡¯s magical legacy.

    "Let me guess, you¡¯re nning to marry her with Great Mage Nuragor, correct?" Jirni put down her teacup and stood up, ready to leave.

    "You¡¯re smarter than I gave you credit for, Lady Ernas." Archmage Deirus stood up as well, to be able to keep looking down on her thanks to the height difference between them. "You¡¯ve guessed everything right except for thest part.

    "I would never mix my blood with a traitor. I¡¯m grateful to Kallion for his services and I¡¯ve properlypensated him for it, but I think the Deirus Household¡¯s heir deserves a husband who doesn¡¯t switch sides out of petty grudges."

    Kallion turned pale at those words, realizing that the reason why Vn never released him from the spell that nailed him to the wall wasn¡¯t to protect him so much as out of spite.

    "You are counting your chickens before they hatch. The Deirus Household will die with you because I¡¯m not going to give up on either of my daughters. I¡¯ll see you in the Court." Jirni turned around and walked toward the door.

    "That¡¯s what I¡¯m counting on." Vn said, making her stop. "Go ahead, you can search even my private property without a warrant. I¡¯ve always followed thew, so your role as an Archon will do you no good."

    A rage bordering on madness lit his eyes.

    "You know, I¡¯ve tried to bring down Lith as well, but that monster has no openings. I had him searched after the ogre¡¯s crystal incident, I made sure that everyone in the north knew who he was and what he did, yet he never lost control.

    "I failed to get him discharged after Kh only because unlike Phloria, he belongs to no one so everyone wants a piece of him. The Royals, the army, the mages, the old and new household, all of them want to reel him and refused to support me.

    "To make matters worse, Mirim Distar keeps protecting Lith, and bypassing the authority of the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s corps is no easy feat."

    "You knew about her real role in the Court and still dare to make a move?" For the second time in less than an hour, Vn Deirus had managed to surprise Jirni.

    "Of course I know. I served in the corps as long as your husband." Vn sneered. "Once Lith leaves the army to join those filthy beasts, however, all those who protected him so far will either turn their back to him or simply lose the authority to help him.

    "I¡¯m telling you all of this in the hope you listen to reason and do the right thing. I know you care about Lith enough to groom that little wench of his and believe me, once I¡¯m done with you, he¡¯ll be the next on my list."

 Chapter 960 Different Games Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 960 Different Games Part 2</h4>

    "There¡¯s nothing you can do to protect your daughter, let alone a grassroots mage who¡¯s this close to being considered a traitor for turning his back to the Kingdom in its hour of need against the undead.

    "The iing storm will end both their lives, yet you have the power to spare them from such a cruel destiny. Give me what I want and all will be well."

    "I¡¯ll show myself out. Farewell, Vn." Jirni¡¯s voice was shaken as she walked through the door with wavering steps.

    Only once she was certain no one was following her along the corridor and Orion¡¯s buttons didn¡¯t detect any surveince spell, did she regain her confidence. Her worried grimace disappeared and was reced by a stone-cold face.

    "Did you get everything, dear?" She said in hermunication earpiece.

    "Yes. It¡¯s almost exactly as you predicted, only that now we have Vn saying it with his own voice instead of just another of your ¡¯paranoid¡¯ theories." Orion inwardly cursed at those who had refused to take his wife seriously due to theck of proof.

    "I¡¯m not worried about Vn, so much as about Kallion. That little runt needs a lesson. Make sure that Mirim hears the recording. In this game, she is our queen." Jirni closed the call and made sure to retrace her steps.

    Lady Ernas collected the small beads she had left on her way in before someone could notice them. All the important households were protected by dimensional sealing arrays that prevented eavesdropping, the use ofmunication amulets, and even recording devices.

    Communication earpieces, however, didn¡¯t rely on dimensional magic to work, but only on air magic. They transmitted the sound without recording it. It was the reason why they had a short range that made them useful for small teams on recon missions but not for spy works.

    Jirni, however, had ced several rys that had transmitted her conversation with Vn to the other receiver in Kam¡¯s ear. She was waiting outside the array¡¯s area of effect, with Jirni¡¯smunication amulet in one hand and a signal amplifier in the other.

    The set up had allowed Orion to listen and record everything even though he was hundreds of kilometers away, giving Vn¡¯s spies the opportunity to keep an eye on him.

    Once she left the Deirus Household, Jirni thanked Kam for her help and the gods for giving her a deputy she could trust. Vn would have never felt confident enough to spill the beans if Lady Ernas brought along a member of her family.

    That¡¯s why Jirni had made sure all her rtives were in ces where Vn¡¯s spies could find and follow them easily. Jirni was known to trust no one and putting such knowledge in the hands of someone who could exploit it to their ends was a gamble that Archmage Deirus knew Jirni would never take.

    Yet it was exactly what she had done.

    Vn Deirus was a brilliant man, who had worked hard all his life and became an Archmage before he was even forty. He had achieved such a feat thanks to his talent for magic and his political ingenuity that allowed him to be at least five steps ahead of hispetition.

    Jirni Ernas, however, was a maniptor from a bloodline of maniptors who had mastered human interaction as it was a martial art. Be it politics, rtionships, or work, Lady Ernas had learned from a tender age that just staying ahead was pointless.

    Jirni knew that the only way no opponent could ever beat her was if she wasn¡¯t even ying their same game.

    ***

    Once she got back to Belius, Captain Yehval was still shaken from the revtion that it was Archmage Deirus behind all the disciplinary notes in Lith¡¯s file and the cold reception he had received during his service as a Ranger despite his outstanding performance.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what¡¯s worse. Whether to know that there is such a huge threat on the horizon or not being able to tell Lith until I meet him in person. Lady Ernas insisted that no channel is safe enough and she was damn right from the beginning.¡¯ Kam thought.

    She walked through the familiar halls of themand room where she had worked along with the other analysts and handlers for years. Until a couple of years ago, her colleagues were the only family she had and now most of them treated her as a stranger.

    Some deeply respected Kam for her career-making move of approaching Lady Ernas during the mission in Othre. Others envied her and thought that they would be in her ce if only Ranger Verhen had been assigned to them.

    All of them gave her the salute for a few months now and either treated her with deference or spat the moment she turned her back. Kam had only a handful of friends left and she was cut off from the office¡¯s gossip, so she couldn¡¯t make head or tails of their behavior.

    ¡¯I¡¯m just a freshly appointed Captain with no authority. Everyone knows that Lith is going to leave the army and that Lady Ernas¡¯s position is getting shakier by the day because of Phloria¡¯s trial. What do they know that I don¡¯t?¡¯ She thought.

    Kam walked to her desk, collecting thest of her things. Lith was the only officer she was in charge of as handler and soon she would be a full-time Royal Constable.

    ¡¯I wonder if distance will put a dent into our rtionship. As long as Lith was a Ranger, he had to call me every day and, as his handler, I was allowed extra free time to take care of him.

    ¡¯Once I be just his girlfriend, however, the army will revoke all our privileges. Maybe I should ask Lady Ernas for...¡¯ Her train of thought derailed when General Berion called her amulet to summon her to his office.

    Even from his hologram, Kam could notice that the General had a shaky voice and was sweating bullets. She knew Berion as a man who wouldn¡¯t even flinch in front of his own death, so seeing him upset was ominous at best.

    Her gut feeling turned into a knot the moment when she opened the door to the office, finding that Berion was standing to the sides while Queen Sylpha herself was sitting at his desk.

    Kam had only met the Queen twice and both times at gs where they had barely exchanged a few words. She was so stunned that she gave the Queen the salute while performing a curtsy.

    "Close the door, Captain Yehval." Sylpha didn¡¯t even raise an eyebrow at Kam¡¯sical performance.

    As soon as Kam obeyed the Queen performed the final hand signs for a powerful set of arrays that sealed the room so that nothing and no one could get in or out the room.

    "Sit down. We have much to discuss. This conversation is rted to state affairs, so disclosing its contents to anyone will be considered as an act of treason and punished ording to ourw. Am I clear?" Sylpha asked.

    "Yes, Your Highness." Kam gave her a bow, incapable of standing the Queen¡¯s steel gaze.

    "Only you, General Berion, and I are allowed to discuss the matter at hands. Ranger Verhen and even Archon Ernas are not granted clearance to know until the events will be set in motion.

    "There¡¯s a huge storm brewing on the horizon and secrecy is of the utmost importance."

 Chapter 961 The Enemy Within Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 961 The Enemy Within Part 1</h4>

    Lith¡¯s mage tower, at the same time when Kam was talking with the Queen.

    After returning from Huryole, Lith attempted to call his handler multiple times, yet Kam¡¯s army amulet was unavable. He then tried to reach Jirni, and when even that failed, Lith tried to contact them on their civilian amulets.

    "This doesn¡¯t make sense. I¡¯m certain that they had to work today and neither of them ever turns off her work amulet. Something must have happened to them!"

    Lith searched his amulet for Orion¡¯s rune. The Tower Warp was pointless if he didn¡¯t know where to go. He rarely called Jirni¡¯s husband, so by the time he found the rightmunication rune his army amulet started to blink.

    "What the heck has happened and why didn¡¯t you pick up earlier? You had me worried sick!" Lith said to a bbergasted officer in his mid-twenties, with brown hair and eyes.

    "I¡¯m afraid there is a misunderstanding. Captain Yehval is currently unavable so the system rerouted your calls to me. I¡¯m Lieutenant Brarr and I will be your temporary handler until further notice." The officer said.

    "What happened to Kami- I mean, Captain Yehval?" Lith hated surprises.

    "I¡¯m not at liberty to say, but feel free to start your report as soon as you are ready." Brarr said.

    "When will she be back and why I can¡¯t get in touch with Constable Ernas either?" Lith looked at the hapless Lieutenant in such a way that if res could maim, Brarr remains would easily fit in a lunchbox.

    "The system says I haven¡¯t got clearance to know that." Lith¡¯s handler rushed to exin.

    The hologram saved him from the oppressive mana the Ranger was exuding, but Brarr could see how angry he was, which reminded him of all the things he had heard about Lith. Horrible things.

    "Fine!" Lith snarled and told the Lieutenant about the group of undead who had triggered the arrays¡¯ rm that protected Huryole.

    As soon as Lith mentioned Arthan¡¯s name, Brarr stopped him.

    "This is way above my clearance level. Let me ask General Berion for authorization before you continue."

    Lith nodded for him to proceed. Berion still retained his role of Commander because they had yet to find a valid recement.

    "What is it now?" King Meron¡¯s annoyed hologram appeared, making Brarr freeze in panic while Lith¡¯s paranoia shifted to top gear.

    ¡¯If the system redirected the call, then Berion is unavable as well. On top of that, for the King to take the call personally it means that either the General is under investigation for treason or that the King doesn¡¯t trust the upper echelons of the army. This doesn¡¯t bode well.¡¯ He though.

    Lith repeated his story from the beginning, but the King interrupted him when Lith described his meeting with Headmaster Hystar Sevenus.

    "Lieutenant Brarr, the contents of this conversation are state secrets. I¡¯ve already locked the file and you are forbidden from disclosing anything about what you heard so far. If I catch a single word about it going around, you¡¯ll be charged with high treason. Am I clear?" Meron said.

    Brarr nodded and the King forcibly shut down the Lieutenant¡¯s amulet.

    "Now you can continue your report, Ranger Verhen."

    By the time Lith finished talking, the King was pinching his nose in frustration.

    "I never receive good news. I¡¯m starting to think this crown is cursed." Meron said. "Who else knows about this?"

    "Only your Majesty and I." Lith replied.

    "I stand corrected. Finally good news." Meron sighed.

    "Just like all your predecessors, you¡¯ve probably understood for a while that Huryole is an academy. We always believed it was a failed prototype, but ording to what Hystar said, it actually works as intended."

    "You didn¡¯t know?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Most of Arthan¡¯s records are lost either due to time or because he destroyed them once he realized his days were numbered. I¡¯m not going to lie to you. You are not the first one to reach the core of the Golden Griffon academy, but you are the first to ever live to tell the tale.

    "Repeat everything from the beginning and don¡¯t leave out any detail."

    This time the King made Lith a lot of questions about the light Hystar had enveloped him with and about thebat prowess of Huryole¡¯s inmates.

    "If the Living Legacy called them an army, then there must be a way to control them. I¡¯m afraid that light was not only meant to bind you to the academy, but also capable to exert some kind of mind control." Meron said.

    "My Orichalcum Skinwalker armor protected me and I¡¯m certain to be alright." Lith didn¡¯t like the implications of those words one bit.

    "We need to make sure. You could be an involuntary puppet right now. Jakra is already out there somewhere and if he ever crosses paths with Thrud, he might bepelled to tell her about the army Arthan prepared for her.

    "I expect you to reach the Royal Capital for a mandatory quarantine. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll send someone to further investigate Huryole. This is no longer a matter of containing it, but to be prepared for the worse.

    "We need to know if once outside the prisoners are freed from its influence or still retain their immortality. Thrud is already dangerous as she is. If she were to acquire an undying army formed by hundreds of years old battle veterans enved to her will, the Mad Queen would make the undead invasion look like a walk in the park.

    "King Meron out."

    "Solus?" The moment the King¡¯s hologram disappeared, Lith performed a full body scan on himself with Invigoration and Scanner while Solus did the same.

    "Don¡¯t worry, you are fine. Between studying your hybrid life force and the cracks in your human essence, I know them as the back of my hand." Solus said. "Also, I made sure that the light never touched your body."

    "That¡¯s a relief, but it doesn¡¯t save me from quarantine. They will never believe to a self-diagnosis and I can¡¯t bring you along. We got to split up." Lith put everything valuable inside his pocket dimension before reaching the nearest city with a Warp Gate in record time.

    He found Royal Guards looking for him at the city gates, who stripped him of all his enchanted items before tying his fingers and putting a gag to his mouth. Such safety measures were pointless against an Awakened, but would render any normal mage helpless.

    They brought him to Valeron, the capital of the Griffon Kingdom, where Headmaster Marth and Professor Vastor were waiting for him.

    "For the gods¡¯ sake, Lith, we must stop meeting like this." Vastor said, trying to lighten the mood.

    "Yeah. I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯m starting to consider crises as the asion for your social visits." Headmaster Marth nodded.

    The two Royal Healers and their Guards brought Lith inside a white padded cell that Life Vision confirmed to him was covered in arrays that blocked all elements but light.

    Without Solus, hecked a good chunk of his usual brainpower, so Lith had no idea what was happening and asked for an exnation the moment they removed his restraints.

    "Together with Manohar, the two of us have spent a lot of time studying the tomes and machines you found in the Odi ruins. We did it to assess the threat a second Kh might pose to the Kingdom in the case they caught us unprepared.

    "Imagine our surprise when the resident genius pointed out that he had only seen one contraption that exploited both light magic and technology to work." Marth said.

 Chapter 962 The Enemy Within Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 962 The Enemy Within Part 2</h4>

    "Arthan¡¯s Madness?" Lith¡¯s shock didn¡¯t stop him from putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

    "As always, Manohar was right." Vastor had finished his chants and continued in Marth¡¯s stead, who had just begun. "Arthan¡¯s Madness is a modified version of the Odi¡¯s body-swapping machine with the use of modern tier five magic instead of the crap the Odi used."

    "If Arthan really knew the Odi¡¯s workings, then the light that attempted to merge with me might be an improved version of the ve device the Odi carved upon their victims¡¯ life force." Lithpleted the phrase for him.

    "Exactly. It would exin why he attempted to force you to stay and how Thrud could control her army if she ever puts her hands on the Golden Griffon. We already have an Emerald Dragon atrge that is likely to be enved.

    "The Kingdom can¡¯t afford a mage of your caliber with a clearance level as high as yours to be another Wanemyre. Now shut up and let us work." Marth snarled at the memory of Nalear¡¯s betrayal.

    The two professors worked relentlessly for over two hours, checking Lith¡¯s life force for any kind of subtle alteration. Lith did the same, but he used Invigoration to boost his life force and Scanner to make sure it hid his hybrid nature.

    His second energy signature was naturally eclipsed by the human life force, and even if one was talented enough to also perceive life forces as a melody, it was almost impossible to spot unless one knew what to look for.

    "My diagnosis is that Lith¡¯s life force is pure and unaltered." Vastor said while dabbing the sweat from his forehead. He was panting as if he had run a marathon. Despite his constant practice, body fat and age limited his stamina.

    "I second your opinion." Marth sighed in relief. He was sweating as well, but unlike his colleague, he didn¡¯t need to sit down.

    "I had hoped that time and your growth spurt would have at least partially mended the cracks in your life force, but s, I was wrong. Do they have any side effects you want to share with us?"

    "No." Lith replied while watching at his two teachers with Death Vision. He had released it to gain the full focus needed to make only one life force visible and was happy to see that no one in the room was Awakened or undead.

    Yet the fact that dying of old age was an unlikely end for all those present, saddened him. Marth and Vastor died in such gruesome ways that Lith was speaking to small mounds of flesh most of the time.

    The Royal Guards, instead, died mostly of poison or de wounds, filling the air with the sweet, metallic smell of blood mixed with chemical substances.

    "I would clear you from all suspicions, but healing magic is different from other kinds of spells." Vastor sat on what was going to be Lith¡¯s bed.

    "It can have dyed effects so the quarantine willst a few days. Also, your cracked life force makes you more susceptible than normal to that kind of spell. Even an iplete ve enchantment might work on you.

    "We need to make sure you¡¯re not a threat to yourself or others. Do you have any questions?"

    "Yes. How long will quarantinest and will I be allowed to have visitors?" Lith asked.

    "A few days, maybe a week." Marth said. "As for visitors, it can be arranged, but no direct contact will be allowed. You could speak with them through a ss."

    "Why so long?"

    "Here. Let me show you why." Vastor took a silvery wand out of his pocket that Lith recognized as a Royal Forgemaster tool.

    "What the-? Is it the Healer-Forgemasterbo such amon specialization?" Lith asked.

    "Actually yes." Marth took out his own and showed it to Lith. "The two disciplines have very much inmon. Only blockheads like Manohar disregard all branches of magic but their own."

    Vastor chanted an unknown spell while drawing silver runes with his wand in the air, making Lith wish that Solus was with him to study the wand¡¯s pseudo core and memorize the spell.

    A silvery fog came out of the wand, highlighting all the magical auras surrounding Lith¡¯s body. The fog took the shape of his Skinwalker armor, his rings, the dimensional amulet, and even of Ruin.

    Luckily for Lith, due to War¡¯s violent nature, he rarely used the de, so its energy signature was eclipsed by Ruin¡¯s. Also, both Orion¡¯s cloaking ring and Solus¡¯s weren¡¯t revealed by the spell.

    What it revealed, instead, was a gaseous substance enveloping Lith¡¯s body that kept moving back and forth, like a wave crashing against a reef.

    "As you can see, whatever ¡¯Headmaster Sevenus¡¯ did to you is still there." Vastor said. "Once your body is cleansed by all lingering energies and if your life force is still unaltered, then you¡¯ll be released."

    "What about visitors?" Marth asked.

    "I don¡¯t want anyone seeing me like a caged animal." Lith said after pondering for a while.

    "Can I at least talk with them with amunication amulet?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, no. Dimensional magic would allow you to escape. Recording devices aren¡¯t allowed either." Marth shook his head. "We¡¯ll try to visit you as often as we can. You¡¯re allowed to have contacts with healers capable of fighting you."

    The two Professors walked out of the room to give their report to the King, but before leaving they made sure that Lith was served one of his favorite foods and sealed light magic as well. There was no telling what a talented healer like Lith could do nor they could risk him being able to create hard-light constructs like Manohar.

    Also, with all the elements blocked by the arrays, the lingering energies surrounding Lith¡¯s body would have nothing to feed upon and hopefully dissolve faster.

    First, Lith tried calling Solus with their mind link, but even their deep bond couldn¡¯t ovee the hundreds of kilometers separating them. Then, he tried all kinds of magic, discovering that Fusion and Spirit magic still worked.

    ¡¯I can try to escape if shit hits the fan, but I can¡¯t afford to practice while I¡¯m here. There are likely surveince devices in the cell so the only thing I can do is train my body with calisthenics and my mana core with umtion disguised as meditation.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith suspected his meal to be drugged, but ate anyway. He was still weakened from the fight in Huryole and also had confidence in his enhanced body. Between light fusion and his mana infused organs, there were few things he couldn¡¯t detoxify.

    His paranoia proved to be wrong. The food was delicious and the only threat it posed was the one to his figure. Lith spent the following days training for 16 hours and sleeping for the rest of the time.

    Vastor and Marth visited him daily, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, to break his istion. Jirni and Orion were too busy dealing with Vn Deirus to visit him often, but they still came as often as they could.

    Between their clearance level and physical prowess, they were the only ones allowed to enter his room. With Phloria¡¯s exception, their daughters were deemed too weak, but she was on duty and unable to reach the capital.

    Lith¡¯s family and Kam even offered to sign a full release, but the Professors refused. Neither of them wanted to risk Lith going mad if he harmed someone he loved under the effects of the ve spell.

 Chapter 963 The Fallen Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 963 The Fallen Part 1</h4>

    After just a couple of days, Lith¡¯s body couldn¡¯t take the training regimen anymore, not with just three meals a day. He couldn¡¯t exin to them that thanks to Invigoration his body required but a second to regain his vigor, so he essed Soluspedia to relieve his boredom.

    Only then did he notice that his mental library waspletely empty except for a scroll. It said: "If you can read this, eject the scroll inside the tower."

    The moment Lith did as instructed, two more scrolls appeared inside Soluspedia.

    The first said: "If you are alright, eject this scroll" while the second: "If they are holding you prisoner against your will, eject this scroll".

    ¡¯Solus, you are a damn genius.¡¯ Lith smiled while ejecting the first scroll and continuing their long-distance conversation.

    The two of them shared all of Solus¡¯s tower abilities, distance only made it harder for Lith to ess his dimensional space, but he still managed to do it just by heightening his focus.

    Solus told him that after separating from him, she had reached the mana geyser in the Trawn woods to assume her tower form and alerted Tista, Protector, and Faluel. None of them trusted the Kingdom, so they had waited to receive news directly from him while preparing for the worst-case scenario.

    Lith¡¯s family had faith in the Ernas and the Professors, but since they were both forbidden from telling them the reason for Lith¡¯s confinement, everyone was scared to death, even Solus.

    Together with Lith¡¯s Awakened allies, she was staging a prison break.

    After being reassured of his wellbeing, Solus passed the information to Tista who in turn ryed it to the rest of the family under the pretense it came from an Awakened source.

    Selia had to wait spring before starting the renovation of her house in Lutia, so she had been living with the Verhens in the guest room to run the house while Elina was too distressed to do anything.

    She only brought the little Fenrir with her, leaving the other children in Nalrond¡¯s care.

    After another couple of days, most of the magical energies lingering around Lith¡¯s body had disappeared. Huryole¡¯s fog was still there, but thinner and farther from his life force than before.

    "Your life force shows no sign of alterations and the spell¡¯s effects are as good as gone. You¡¯ll be free soon." Vastor said with a smile.

    Lith was so happy for the good news that as soon as the Professor left, he tried to eject the scroll in Soluspedia rted to his release when he noticed a new message.

    "I¡¯ve lost contact with Tista. A small battalion is surrounding your house, preventing everyone from going in or out. The arrays have been reinforced to the point that even my Mirror Hall can¡¯t see inside.

    "I¡¯m afraid such precautions are rted to your condition and to the approaching of the day of your discharge from the army. I suspect the Royals are afraid that someone might strike during your absence. I¡¯ll keep you posted, check Soluspedia often."

    ***

    "What the heck is going on and why can¡¯t I leave my own home?" Tista snarled a few centimeters from the face of the Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps squadron that had surrounded the Verhen household.

    The poor man was torn between his duty and the mad desire to kiss her full lips.

    Tista Verhen was a twenty years old gorgeous woman 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall with waist-length auburn hair that had several shades of red. Tista¡¯s oval face and her delicate features only emphasized the perfect proportions of her curvy body.

    Anger gave her pearly pink skin a tinge of red that made Tista even more alluring.

    "I¡¯m not at liberty to say." The Commander felt deeply embarrassed hearing his usually authoritative voice sound squeaky.

    None of his men thought any less of him since they needed their sheer willpower just to look away from the goddess in front of them and perform their duty. Their throats felt dry as desert sand at the idea to speak to her, refusing her request was beyond them.

    "I¡¯m a Mage of the Kingdom and demand to know!" Tista said, almost making him crumble.

    "And I¡¯m a Great Mage and an army Major under the directmand of the Royals. My answer is still no." He tried to sound stern but it was as if he had inhaled helium.

    The Commander¡¯s voice was so distorted that it sounded ridiculous, yet no one of those present was in the mood forughing, especially Kam.

    She was squirming on her chair, torn between her duty toward the Kingdom and the desire to share with the others what she knew for days. Fear and stress had been eating at her from the inside all along, but she couldn¡¯t disobey the Queen.

    Not with all that was at stake.

    Selia wasn¡¯t faring any better. She had no idea what was happening, but if Fenrir decided to shapeshift in front of so many witnesses, her family would be in a world of trouble.

    To make matters worse, she was unable to leave as well. She was afraid of leaving her children alone for so long and what Protector would do if he were to believe the soldiers were taking her hostage.

    Despite all his patience and wisdom, Ryman was a father and a husband first. The moment someone threatened his family, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to take on the army on his own.

    "My son is no traitor!" Raaz jumped from his chair. "If you hope to use me as leverage for your dirty tricks, I¡¯d rather die than force him to a lifetime of servitude."

    Fear was quickly turning into anger and Kam was afraid of what could happen in a room filled with people armed to the teeth. The ss Raaz was clenching was actually a Death Bomb that would destroy the life force of whoever was struck by it.

    Elina¡¯s wooden spoon was capable of controlling all the arrays in the house and turning the home appliances into war machines.

    Luckily for Kam, her army amulet started to blink before the situation could escte further. The hologram of the Queen appeared in the middle of the room without Kam¡¯s touching the amulet, proving that she had used the Royal Override.

    "Enough!" Her voice roared like thunder. Neither distance or the ethereal nature of the hologram managed to lessen the imposing presence of the Queen.

    "Commander Ulpar can¡¯t answer your questions because he doesn¡¯t know anything." Sylpha looked around the room, making sure that everyone had regained their cool.

    "Mage Verhen, I can understand your outrage but not your childish behavior. A mage incapable of controlling their emotions can¡¯t control the elements and it¡¯s nothing but a liability for the Kingdom." Only experience and self-control allowed the Queen to keep her voice stern and her eyes steady instead of checking Tista out.

    "Members of the Verhen household and their guests, you knew from the moment Lith Verhen joined the army that his life wouldn¡¯t be his own anymore. The Kingdom has required many sacrifices for him and is about to ask one more.

    "You can choose to witness thest moments of Great Mage Verhen or you can stay cooped up home. Either way, I will not allow you to endanger my ns to protect the Kingdom, even at the cost of arresting you all." At those words, all of those present turned pale as ghosts.

 Chapter 964 The Fallen Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 964 The Fallen Part 2</h4>

    "Captain Yehval, I charged you with keeping them calm and you failed me, forcing me to reveal my presence." Kam was bbergasted realizing that the Queen had been watching and listening to them the entire time.

    Suddenly Lith¡¯s paranoia sounded reasonable.

    "I relieve you from your duty. Prepare them for what is about toe and embarrass me no further."

    Everyone turned toward Kam, looking at her with steel gazes as if there was a traitor among them. Even Zinya didn¡¯t say a word to defend her.

    "I couldn¡¯t disobey a direct order from the Queen, just as there wasn¡¯t anything I could say to ease your worries." Kam said to both the Queen and the Verhens.

    Sylpha¡¯s gaze softened, realizing she had tasked the Captain with an impossible mission. If it was her son they were talking about, the Commander and his men would be all over the ce, reduced to small bits.

    ***

    Two more days passed with no more news from either Solus or the Professors. For the first time in his life, Lith hated his secrets. He had asked Marth and Vastor multiple times if everything was alright at Lutia, only to hear them lie to his face.

    Yet he couldn¡¯t expose them without revealing Solus¡¯s existence and their bond. He focused solely on umtion, drawing world energy non-stop in the case he needed to escape.

    ¡¯If only I managed to see out of this cell and could tell Solus where I am, she might be able to help me.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith understood that something was truly wrong when Vastor, Marth, and Manohar walked through the door of his cell in their Spellbreaker uniform and all wearing a stern expression.

    "Change into this. We¡¯ll wait for you outside." Marth handed to him what looked like a light blue jumpsuit that would have looked identical to an Earth¡¯s prisoner uniform if not for bearing the army color.

    Lith used both Invigoration and Life Vision, discovering that the cloth was enchanted, yet it was nothing he had ever seen before and was already imprinted.

    ¡¯At least it¡¯s not a ve item, but I can¡¯t refuse to wear it anyway. I¡¯mpletely disarmed whereas they are veterans and arebat-ready. The Professors aren¡¯t wearing ceremonial garbs and weapons, but the real deal.

    ¡¯I doubt I can take out even one of them. They are prepared and waiting for troubles. Also, I¡¯ve already seen how good Vastor¡¯s and Manohar¡¯s teamwork is, if we add Marth, I don¡¯t have a ghost of a chance without my equipment and Solus.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The Professors had him walking in the middle of a triangr formation, with Headmaster Marth on point while Vastor and Manohar walked behind him.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, kid. You deserved better." Manohar said, his tone sadder than Lith had ever heard him. The god of healing¡¯s ominous words deserved him several curses from his colleagues.

    Paranoia made Lith n on weaving his best spells, perform a surprise attack on his wardens with three tier five spells at the same time, and then flee from the Royal castle.

    Then, his good sense stopped him.

    ¡¯Even if I manage to escape from this corridor, I have no idea where the exit is. Let¡¯s assume I leave the castle, then what? My family is presumably held hostage and I¡¯ve got nowhere to run.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯On top of that, this is too weird. Jumpsuit aside, I¡¯ve not been charged with anything, I wear no restraints, and I can feel that aside from dimensional magic, I can use all elements again.¡¯

    Despite the many inconsistencies, Lith silently cast his spells. Being rational was good, but being rational and prepared was better.

    After walking through a few stark corridors, he understood that the Royals didn¡¯t hold him in the dungeon, but in the medical ward of the castle. The space around him went from mental asylum to royal pce of Versailles quickly.

    Even mirrors were framed with solid gold, while all the tapestries and paintings on the walls were not only masterpieces to the point that even ayman of arts could appreciate them, but they were also enchanted.

    The carpets were the same, but while the pieces of art on the walls depicted epic scenes of battle and the magical breakthroughs of the past Magi that had shaped the Kingdom¡¯s history, those covering the floor guided the guests by giving them directions.

    Soon Lith recognized the path towards the Banquet Hall. It was filled with magical marvels, among which at least fifty different arrays and countless magical treasures hidden inside the walls that only Life Vision revealed to him.

    The double doors leading inside were wide open. Before they could enter, a valet checked Marth¡¯s ID before announcing their arrival, speaking with a magically enhanced voice.

    The room was more than forty meters (133 feet) long and over thirty meters (100 feet) wide, with a single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the raised one for the royal family.

    That way, even while sitting on their golden thrones, the Royal couple would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming their status and authority.

    The whole room was lighted by crystal chandeliers, fueled by magic, leaving no space for shadows or need for maintenance.

    On the walls, magically enchanted tapestries would recount over and over the great feats that the current King had aplished to be deemed worthy of his power. Both the floor and the pirs of the room were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material avable in the Griffon Kingdom.

    The room was filled with nobles and mages of all ages and relevance. Some Lith knew personally like Marchioness Mirim Distar, Count Lark, General Berion, and the Ernas family, others were merely acquaintances like Vn Deirus and Baron Eiros Wyalon from Jambel, but most of them wereplete strangers to him.

    ¡¯I wish Solus was with me. She would probably remember who the beanpole is and why he is ring at me like that.¡¯ Lith failed to recognize Kallion Nuragor and all the enemies he had made as a student first and a Rangerter.

    The room was filled with those who thought of themselves as his friends and those who considered him a threat. Both were eager to witness Lith¡¯s judgment.

    Lith nced at the balconies. They were sealed, but it was nothing that his enhanced body and a spell couldn¡¯t open.

    ¡¯So far I have no clue. I received my family name here, but I also witnessed several trials for high treason taking ce in the banquet hall. The fact that no one wears evening clothes but only high uniforms don¡¯t bode well, though.¡¯ He thought.

    Queen Sylpha and King Meron were the only ones allowed to sit, whereas all of their guests had to stand. Lith could feel how half the room was tense while the other half sent dirty looks at him.

    No one seemed happy, which confused him even more.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways.¡¯ Lith thought when he noticed that the Queen was wielding the Sword of Saefel, the weapon of Valeron Griffon, the first King.

    It was used mainly to dere war and execute traitors.

 Chapter 965 The Arisen Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 965 The Arisen Part 1</h4>

    Lith was already sweating bullets when Orion, who was wearing a silvery Royal Foragemaster robe, stepped through the crowd and joined the three Professors.

    Manohar and Vastor moved to Lith¡¯s left side, while Manohar and Orion to his right, in a square formation that left him no way out. The clothes of the Lord of the Ernas Household and of the three Professors shapeshifted at the same time.

    Lith shuddered in fear recognizing the fabled Royal Fortress armor. They could be worn only with the authorization of the Queen herself, bestowing upon a normal human the power of an Emperor Beast and upon a mage the strength of a small army.

    The armor appeared to be made of golden feathers that shone like a sun. The helmet was shaped like an eagle¡¯s head, its gloves ended with ws, and a couple of wings made of energy were draped like a mantle around its shoulders.

    They allowed the wearer to fly and they could also be used to intercept iing attacks, be they physical or magical in nature. The suit made those who wore it resemble a humanoid Griffon covered in metal.

    "Everyone, but the Royal Guards, kneel." Sylpha and Meron stood up. Her voice was calm and t as if she had asked to close a window, but the authority in her words couldn¡¯t be denied.

    Literally.

    The arrays in the room forced everyone to obey at the same time, weighing down like a mountain on all those too slow toply. Like everyone else, Lith was locked in ce, incapable of doing anything but breathing while he stared at his own right foot.

    "Lith of Lutia." Sylpha¡¯s voice echoed throughout the room like the first p of thunder announcing the storm.

    "I remember well the first time I heard this name. Back then, you were just a student of the White Griffon academy, yet your country already needed your help to face the gue that destroyed Kandria before it could spread to the rest of the Garlen continent.

    "It turned you into Mage Lith, a title only those who graduate from an academy and join the Mage Association can bear. No one cared for your young age and assumed your future was set in stone.

    "Then, you helped to save countless lives against Balkor and Nalear, bing Mage Lith Verhen. The King and I personally chose your family name and bestowed it upon you, something that usually only the ancient households that are the pirs of the Kingdom can im.

    "A few yearster, you joined the army of your own will and destroyed one of the ancient horrors we inherited from our forefathers. It was a feat deemed to be impossible, to the point that even the best of us had given up hope and lived in its shadow in fear.

    "You made us dream a new bright future where you would be a new pir for the Kingdom and help it thrive. It¡¯s the reason why you became Great Mage Lith Verhen despite having barelye of age and many doubted where your loyaltyy."

    "s, all good thingse to an end. All dreams shatter when daybreakes. After all the Kingdom did for you ever since you joined the academy, we came to learn your intentions to quit the army and walk the lonely path of a beast."

    Sylpha¡¯s tone turned from t and calm to cold and sour.

    Half the Banquet Hall started to grin if not openly smiling from ear to ear. The good thing about kneeling was that no one could see the expression on their faces.

    "You discarded your brothers in arms of the army, turned down Lyca Wanemyre¡¯s offer to be a Royal Forgemaster, and never deigned to contact the Mage Association except when you needed something.

    "Your actions speak clearly. You treat this Kingdom, your country as if it has failed you and this can¡¯t be tolerated any longer now that your military service is over."

    From his vantage position, Orion noticed that too many people were clenching their fists in triumph. Lith was alone. The old households considered him a threat to their power because he had quickly risen to high ces they considered as their own.

    The new households considered him a traitor because of his friendship with the Ernas and the Distar households. On top of that, he had never joined their political cause nor helped his peers, which had only exacerbated the new magical bloodlines¡¯ mood with each sess he achieved.

    To them, Lith had squandered all the opportunities fate had presented him with to change the power scale in the Griffon Kingdom.

    Orion steeled his heart, not letting any emotion transpire from his face. He silently prayed for Lith, knowing that the worst had yet toe.

    "I, the Queen, and my spouse, the King, can¡¯t tolerate it any longer because you are right." Sylpha said.

    "Your achievements as a student helped to prove that Linjos was right, changing the academy system from within and making Guilty Ballots standard equipment for all students.

    "As a member of the army, you brought down the ck Star, you saved the city of Zantia from being the victim of Forbidden Arts, you stopped monster outbreaks that threatened thousands, and eradicated corruption or ipetence wherever you went.

    "You faced Thrud Griffon, one of our most ancient enemies, and prevented her nefarious n froming to fruition at great personal cost. You discovered two Odi ruins, braving both times against ancient horrors that if not stopped might have brought the Kingdom to its knees.

    "All those present can bear witness that without you, there would be Odi and Baba Yaga¡¯s children hidden among us. Yet what did the Kingdom for you in return? We gave you a few days¡¯ leave and a few trinkets that even the most unworthy in this room can unt."

    A member of the Royal family could ever apologize, yet Sylpha¡¯s words apanied by Meron¡¯s nodding came really close, making all those present freeze.

    "Recently, the Orichalcum Skinwalker armor you gave Royal Forgemaster Orion Ernas allowed us an exceptional breakthrough in the mystical arts and provided our mages with answers we searched for decades.

    "For all of your contributions that are too many to be listed in a single session of this Court, however, we can¡¯t allow Great Mage Verhen to live anymore. You are aware of too many secrets that can never be disclosed without endangering the lives of us all. For this very reason, today is the day you die."

    Two-thirds of the room sighed in relief, while the rest of them tried to rebel to that injustice while cursing the Royals¡¯ name, but the arrays kept their limbs still and their mouths closed.

    Sylpha stepped forward, wielding the Sword of Saefel with one hand. A mere thought of hers allowed her subjects, loyal or not, to raise their heads and bear witness.

    "Great Mage Lith Verhen is dead." She used the t side of the de to pat Lith¡¯s left shoulder, then the right, and finally the top of his head.

    "Long live Archmage Lith Verhen." At those words, the blue jumpsuit shapeshifted into a ceremonial Royal Fortress armor, bearing very few spells of the real deal, among which there was the one allowing Royal Guards to move freely.

    Lith remained frozen in ce, incapable of making sense of what had just happened. His mind was nk from the emotional rollercoaster caused by the Queen¡¯s speech.

 Chapter 966 The Arisen Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 966 The Arisen Part 2</h4>

    Sylpha sidestepped, now holding the Sword of Saefel with both hands and keeping its tip against the ground while Meron walked in front of the newly appointed Archmage and ced a wreathprised of the plumes of a golden Griffon upon his head.

    "Stand tall, Archmage Verhen. This is thest time I will force you to bend the knee. Unless you be a Magus, of course." Meron chuckled as he patted Lith¡¯s shoulders and helped him to get up.

    The King¡¯s silveryugh made the whole room burst into tears. Some out of joy, most out of despair.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways times two. What¡¯s the average age for an Archmage?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯For a new magical bloodline with no fief of their own, around seventy.¡¯ Solus replied.

    Only then did Lith manage to snap out of his reverie and turn around. He noticed his entire familying from a side room, all wearing their best clothes and the jewels he had forged for them along with the Camellias.

    Elina and Raaz had to rely on each other to not fall onto the ground, unable to even stand up properly on their own. Jirni and Orion quickly went to their rescue while Lith¡¯s sister and Kam walked towards him.

    ¡¯Why the heck didn¡¯t you warn me if you knew what was going on?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯I tried, but even a single door of the Royal Pce is so heavily enchanted that it blocks our mind link.¡¯ She said.

    "I would have loved to let your parents witness the ceremony, but during every rehearsal, your father cried so hard that he would drown out my magically enhanced voice. I felt bad forcing them to repress their feelings, so I had your parents spectate from a side room." Queen Sylpha said.

    King Meron patted Lith¡¯s shoulder and the armor turned into a deep blue robe that identified him as an Archmage.

    "Congrattions, Lith." Marth, Vastor, Orion, Mirim Distar, and Jirni almost said in unison.

    "My condolences." Manohar said, his eyes veiled with sad tears. "Now you will never know peace. Men will covet your power and women your loins. Idiots will interrupt your research at all hours and..."

    King Meron¡¯s red at the god of healing when Manohar pointed at him while talking about idiots, but it was Jirni clicking her tongue that shut him up.

    The scene was funny enough to momentarily stop the flow of Raaz¡¯s tears and rece them with chuckles, but no one else was actuallyughing.

    None of those present missed how Lady Distar, the Ernas, and even the magicless Verhen family were able to stand and move whereas everyone else was still kneeling. The arrays even kept the spectators from uttering a single word, making them feel like extras looking at the main actors on the stage.

    Vn Deirus could only look up to those favored by the Royals while Jirni winked at her enemies.

    "Not to question the infinite wisdom of Your Majesty-" Lith said.

    "I feel a ¡¯but¡¯ iing." Sylpha giggled like a mother listening to a na?ve child¡¯s question. The familiarity and closeness that she was disying with Lith were a message that only someone as shocked as he could miss.

    "-but am I not too young for such a title?" Lith was unaware of the political gears that threatened from behind the scenes all he had worked hard to build.

    He believed that bing an Archmage when barely past eighteen wouldpromise his position in the Kingdom. Of course, he was wrong. The ceremony made him a pir of his country and had allowed the Royals to make all his past achievements public.

    Between the Royals and the support he would receive from themoners, no one could so much re at him without an excellent reason.

    "Too old?" Manohar sneered. "I became an Archmage and a Professor at sixteen."

    "He could have be a Magus at eighteen if not for his behavior." King Meron rebuked the Mad Professor whopletely ignored him while patting some random kneeling nobles as if they were pets.

    He even left a dog treat bnced on the head of those who replied to his kindness by throwing him dirty looks.

    "Twenty for me. You beat me by andslide." Marth said, relieved by Lith¡¯sck of madness.

    "Twenty-five, here." Vastor sighed.

    "Twenty-five as well. But I wasn¡¯t a Professor in the safety of hisb. I worked in the field, protected my wife as a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard, and had to raise my children." Orion puffed his chest out with pride.

    He considered the other three men like no-lifers who had dedicated their youth solely to magical research, whereas he had attended his family and grown hisnds into a Grand Duchy.

    Vastor looked at him with real envy. Back then, he had a wife and kids as well, but his results as a family man were so poor that the Professor pretended to be a bachelor like his colleagues.

    "Where are my manners?" Sylpha chuckled at her own ¡¯blunder¡¯. "Stand up and rejoice, my loyal subjects."

    A snap of her fingers finally released everyone from the arrays¡¯ grip, but it took many people a few more seconds to get up due to the cramps that the prolonged paralysis had caused them.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Lith. Age doesn¡¯t matter, only talent does." Meron said while the others nodded.

    "Your ascension allows the Kingdom to finally rece Nalear¡¯s ursed name from the que of youngest Archmage of this generation. Also, there isn¡¯t a set order for these kinds of things.

    "Manohar went from Assistant Professor to Archmage without ever bing a Great Mage. Lochra Silverwing turned from nobody into a Magus at twenty-five, when she shared with the world her discoveries about magic, and Ripha Menadion when she was barely twenty."

    "Don¡¯t hold back just because people are envious of you." Sylpha chimed in, cing her hand on Lith¡¯s right shoulder while Meron held his left.

    "No matter what path you¡¯ll take in life, no matter where your research will lead you, the Griffon Kingdom will always be your mothend. Your house is here and we promise to take good care of it in your absence."

    Lith¡¯s brain finally managed to process what was really happening and to see behind the masks of many.

    "Nice move." Deirus snarled at Jirni. "My prot¨¦g¨¦ is now a Great Mage so you made your own into an Archmage. How much did it cost you?"

    "I¡¯d like to take credit for it, but as you said to me, you¡¯re underestimating your opponent. Lith worked so hard, achieved so much, that it only took me a few good words in the right ears to set everything on the right tracks." Jirni gave him the soft smile that always apanied her deathblows.

    She failed to mention how the good words she was talking about were Deirus¡¯s, not her own. Jirni had shared the recording of their conversation with the Royals, both Orion¡¯s and her own household, and all the allies the two ancient bloodlines and Lith had.

    Vn Deirus was unaware of the storm Lady Ernas was brewing with his unwittingly help. Something that she nned to use to take her opponent by surprise and drown him before Deirus even understood what was happening.

    Aside from turning to a shade of purple, Vn managed to hide his anger. Kallion, not so much.

 Chapter 967 Win Some, Lose Some Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 967 Win Some, Lose Some Part 1</h4>

    Kallion had spent thest year epting andpleting the most difficult missions the Mage Association had to offer. He used the merits achieved to boost his noble title and increase the Nuragor¡¯s family political influence, yet, in the end, all of his efforts amounted to nothing.

    Just listening to the Queen praising Lith¡¯s meritorious acts made him green with envy. He was nowhere near that kind of prowess and he had always worked with a team. Kallion was aware that without Deirus¡¯s support he would¡¯ve never be a Great Mage despite being older than Ranger Verhen.

    The same Queen who treated Lith like a son in front of the Court had yet to grant Kallion a single audience without Archmage Deirus interceding for him. To make matters worse, both Lith and Kallion had received their Great Mage title in a private ceremony.

    However, Lith¡¯s had received it directly from the King, whereas Kallion had been awarded by a nameless bureaucrat of the Association. Great Mage Nuragor was now reying the entire event of Lith¡¯s ascension to Archmage in his mind.

    Kallion felt humiliated by his opponent and exploited by his patron, making it impossible for him to attend the ceremony any longer. He stormed out of the room, losing a lot of face and drawing more sneers from his own allies than from his enemies.

    Even Archmage Deirus considered such childish behavior unbing of a powerful figure. Losing with dignity was more important than winning to achieve the respect of the Royal Court, or any powerful association for that matter.

    Sooner orter, everyone would make a mistake, even Lith had failures in his resume, like Kh¡¯s massacre or the destruction of Zolgrish¡¯sb. Just like with magic, what mattered was learning and improving from your own failures.

    Someone who threw a tantrum and ruined the mood was hardly considered a worthy candidate for a key position in the Kingdom. At most, they would send him back to kindergarten.

    Meanwhile, Lith was finally able to reconnect with his family. Each one of them congratted him and Tista shook his hand, slipping Solus into his palm. They exchanged their respective memories of thest week, updating Lith on the outside world.

    Solus had not remained idle, splitting her time between studying Kh¡¯s books in the case Lith¡¯s life force needed fixing and Forgemastering weapons for the prison break with Protector¡¯s help.

    She would sneak inside Tista¡¯s room at night through the window and receive updates from her.

    ¡¯After I learned about the ceremony, I stopped producing weapons and remained at Tista¡¯s finger to not miss the departure. I wouldn¡¯t have missed your ascension for the world.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Our ascension.¡¯ Lith corrected her. ¡¯None of it would have been possible without you, partner.¡¯

    Solus smiled with joy at those words, yet looked at Lith¡¯s sisters and Kam with an envy so strong that he perceived it.

    ¡¯Not only do they look gorgeous in their g dresses, but they could actually attend the ceremony. How long will I be forced to be just an extra and to live at the fringes of Lith¡¯s life?¡¯ She thought.

    "I¡¯m so proud of you, Archmage Lith." Rena gave him a curtsy, barely holding her chuckles. "Don¡¯t you dare to give me a big scare like this again."

    "At least you knew it was an award ceremony. I was kept in the dark." Lith said. Rena was stunning in her red dress. No one thought she could actually be the mother of four kids.

    "What do you mean, kept in the dark? Everyone studies the ascension ritual at the academy." Tista said. "What did you think the jumpsuit and the honor guards were for?"

    Only those already tempered by at least a couple of meetings with the alias Tyris used to attend the Royal Court, Constable Griffon, managed to not stare at her like a bunch of sleazebags. G dresses were meant to be seductive, but in Tista¡¯s case, it was like throwing rocket fuel into a zing inferno.

    "Never mind." Lith left all rituals and etiquette to either Solus or Soluspedia. Separated from the former and with thetter still empty, he was as ignorant as a Lich about social topics.

    ¡¯It¡¯s best not to tell them that the ascension ritual and public executions only differ by the speech given and the ending.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Lith approached Kam, who had remained on the sides while the family reunion happened. On the one hand, she was embarrassed, feeling like she didn¡¯t belong to a ce filled with so many influential figures.

    On the other, the rules of etiquette strictly forbid public disys of affection and she wasn¡¯t sure to be capable of holding back. She had been worried sick the whole time that Lith¡¯s cracked life force might have been furtherpromised or that the Royal Healers could discover his hybrid nature.

    Thanks to Jirni, she was posted in real-time about his conditions and treatments, making her even more anxious than his parents. On top of that, she didn¡¯t share that information with anyone to not make the others worry and had carried that burden alone.

    After being finally reunited with Lith, it took her sheer willpower to not check his body and make sure he truly was alright before kissing him.

    Kam wore a silk-satin deep blue evening dress to match with Lith¡¯s Archmage robe. It had a v neckline which left her arms and shoulders exposed, emphasizing her bosom. She also wore a golden circlet which appeared to be made out of small camellias woven together.

    The gold of the circlet brought out her ck hair and vice versa, while both shone under the magical lighting of the room.

    She wasn¡¯t muchpared to Tista, Friya, or any of the gorgeous noble dames around them, but she was the only woman in his eyes.

    "Good evening, Captain Yehval. Would you do me the honor of having the first dance with you?" Lith gave her a polite bow as if they had just met.

    "dly." Was all she managed to reply while taking him by the arm.

    ¡¯Thank the gods I¡¯m wearing a dress, otherwise everyone would notice how much my knees are still shaking.¡¯ She thought.

    The Ernas girls joined them as soon as Lith was done with the family reunion. It would still take a while for the ball to begin.

    "Envious much?" Lith said while greeting them with a bow and a smug grin on his face.

    "No really." Quy punched his arm before giving him a curtsy.

    "During the past days, Mom allowed us to read the reports of all your missions that have be public knowledge after the ceremony. I like my life as it is, peaceful. I already had my share of trouble at the academy and Kh.

    "If I had to live half of what you experienced just to be a Great Mage, I¡¯ll dly pass on that. I¡¯d rather build my reputation one magical breakthrough at a time rather than risking my life on a daily basis."

    Quy was wearing a silk satin cream-colored ballgown, which left her shoulders and arms exposed, and had a square neck. Her long brown hair was decorated with silver jewelry thatplemented the silver streaks it bore due to her talent for light magic.

 Chapter 968 Win Some, Lose Some Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 968 Win Some, Lose Some Part 2</h4>

    "I agree with Quy." Friya said.

    She was wearing a gold embroidered emerald-colored evening dress with a v neckline.

    Her hair was arranged into an borate updo, with several tresses knot together that left her neck exposed, emphasizing her leaves-shaped parureposed of golden ne and earrings with ck diamonds thatplimented her dark eyes and hair.

    "I¡¯m d you are the first of our ss to be an Archmage, but I think the price you paid for it is too steep. No amount of glory is worth facing so many dangers and giving up your personal life."

    "Yet unless the excitement made me blind, I¡¯m the one with a beautiful woman on my arm whereas you¡¯re single. Am I right?" Lith said.

    "You¡¯ll pay for spreading salt on my wounds." Friya¡¯s cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but she kept her smile andposure intact.

    Many noblemen spilled their drinks at that sight. Between the dress emphasizing Friya¡¯s hourss figure and the blushing highlighting her delicate features, there was not a single bachelor that wouldn¡¯t face a Dragon to be the one on the receiving end of that smile.

    "I really envy you." Phloria sighed.

    She wore an emerald evening dress and white evening gloves, emphasizing her olive-colored skin due to the prolonged exposure to the sun.

    It was skin-tight, with a neckline that somehow exerted a push-up effect. She wore part of her hair down, like a silky ck waterfall that reached her tights, while the rest formed a tress resembling a wreath over her head.

    The ballgown was decorated with flower-shaped small jewels and Lith¡¯s golden lily pendant was the only ne she wore, drawing attention to her slim neck.

    "I¡¯m different from you two." She said to her sisters. "I gave up on everything to join the army as soon as I could. I wanted to follow Dad¡¯s footsteps if not even to surpass him, yet all I achieved is a big failure.

    "I¡¯m not as good with Forgemastering nor as a Mage Knight as he was at my age, I have no significant other, and despite I¡¯m three years older than Lith, he outranks me on every level." Her face was pale and her pain ran deep.

    Yet Phloria¡¯s smile was sincere and her voice never wavered. She would keep all of her tears, both those born out of joy and sorrow forter. She didn¡¯t want to end up like Raaz, who was still crying so much that Elina couldn¡¯t leave him alone and the King had a chair brought to him.

    Many cruel people would haveughed at a grown man¡¯s tears, but Meron was expressing Raaz his congrattions and sympathy. Contradicting the King¡¯s opinion in public was still considered the closest thing to social suicide.

    "I¡¯m thinking about quitting the army as well. I¡¯m willing to shoulder the responsibilities for my failures, but the thorny path that now blocks me is not of my making. I don¡¯t have the strength and patience to fight invisible enemies anymore."

    Her words shocked and surprised everyone. Phloria was the only one among them who had always had her career path as clear as a beacon. Friya¡¯s guild was just an experiment, Quy had yet to decide if the academy was the best ce for conducting her research, and Lith was clutching at straws.

    "You can¡¯t be serious, my little Flower." Orion was back in his high uniform and without the helm, his face expressed all of his worry and outrage.

    "You are the best Mage Knight I have ever seen, a natural-born leader, and most of all, it is your heart that matches your talent instead of your ego. You might not have defeated as many monsters as Lith did, but you care about our homnd more than anyone else.

    "Your ce is with the army or at least with the Association."

    "Thanks, Dad, but we shouldn¡¯t spoil Lith¡¯s night by talking about my career. We can discuss thister at home. Right now, I¡¯m notining. I¡¯m just telling my friends that probably I¡¯ll have much more free time in the future and that I would like to use it to catch up with them.

    "You have no idea how much I missed you all. Do you think I could join your guild for a while, Friya? Whatever I decide to do, I want to keep myself busy." Phloria said.

    Orion and Jirni felt their hearts as if squeezed in a vise, yet they both returned to attend to their allies. Phloria¡¯s parents knew that her making ns for the future meant that she had one foot out of the army¡¯s door already.

    The King and the Queen felt the blow as well, but they kept smiling andughing. To revel and be merry of their sess was the only way they had to hide the magnitude of their failure.

    If political pressure was enough to make even the daughter of the Ernas quit, a loyal officer who belonged to one of the founding families of the Kingdom, then the foundations of the country itself were rotten at best.

    ***

    A few dayster, vige of Lutia.

    After what he had lived as a near-death experience and hearing about Phloria¡¯s situation, Lith needed to spend quality time with his beloved to recover from all the umted stress.

    Before being discharged, the army had promoted him to Major and put him among the reservists to be called only in the case of a state crisis. It allowed Lith to hold his rank in the army even as a civilian and the ess to military resources that such clearance level implied.

    There was still a bit of time before he started his apprenticeship with Faluel and Lith didn¡¯t want to spend it alone. During the day he would teach Leria and Aran how to read and write.

    Once the kids¡¯ limited attention span was exhausted, he would make them y together with Selia¡¯s and Zinya¡¯s children. Protector was busy renovating the huntress¡¯ old house to amodate their family once they moved back to Lutia.

    Selia and Rena could use a hand since their newborns required from them a lot of attention, making Lith¡¯s skill as a Healer a godsend.

    He was weary of the situation, because Lilia and Leria had a hard time controlling their shapeshifting abilities and because now that he was not a member of any organization, it was the perfect moment for his enemies to attack.

    The title of Archmage worked only as long as he could me someone. It was useless against nameless assassins that left no evidence behind. Yet the kids could run and y freely in all the space epassing the Verhen, Fastarrow, and Yehval households.

    It wasn¡¯t because of the arrays or the Queen¡¯s corps. The former had limited range and thetter had too many people to defend to cover such a wide area. The reason for such freedomy in the magical beasts who soared the skies, patrolled the ground, and burrowed the underground.

    That and the three Emperor Beasts known as the Kings of the Trawn woods always keeping an eye on the children. They were all Lith¡¯s loyal followers, eager to repay his gifts of knowledge and enchanted weapons.

    At first, Zinya had been scared by the presence of so many mighty creatures, but after speaking with them and recovering from the shock caused by the discovery that beasts could talk, she learned to rely on their presence.

 Chapter 969 Time to Move Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 969 Time to Move Part 1</h4>

    "Why the other cats just meow while you can talk?" Aran asked Reaper the Manticore, the King in the south.

    "For the hundredth time, I¡¯m not a cat!" Reaper tried to appear scary, but the four years old kid failed to notice his deadly fangs, only focusing on the soft mane on the Manticore¡¯s lion head, the big round eyes of the feline, and the long whiskers on its snout.

    "You¡¯re so fluffy." Leria hugged the Emperor Beast¡¯s side, destroying thest remnants of his dignity while she climbed on his back and yed with his feathered wings.

    "Kids are amazing." Phloria wasughing her ass off at the sight of Reaper¡¯s miserable expression while the children tried to interest him in their games and toys.

    "My soldiers would wet their pants being surrounded by magical beasts like that, whereas..." She pointed at the kids now divided in two teams of three each for their next game.

    Half of them were riding Shyfs (puma type magical beasts) and the other Rys (wolf type). The two teams would chase a leather ball in an odd mix of ser, polo, and wrestling.

    The rules were unclear and so were the victory conditions that changed ording to the day, weather, and wind direction. The kids enjoyed every second of their games and once a match ended, mostly due to the physical exhaustion of the riders, Lith would bring them back home.

    Their respective mothers were ecstatic about having their children too tired to misbehave or to try and avoid their homework. Also, the threat of being grounded and miss the next game was a great motivator.

    Phloria had decided to take a sabbatical and was using that time to reconnect with Lith and his family. The undead crisis was far from being resolved but, for all she cared, the army might as well fire her.

    Phloria didn¡¯t feel she had to prove herself to anyone anymore. She¡¯d rather stop to smell the roses and n her future than keep risking her life to pursue a dead-end job.

    Once he was done with the kids, Lith would spend his afternoon at Solus¡¯s tower, studying the two new floors and practicing Forgemastering. She had gained a second floor both above and below the ground, yet he had little use for them so they focused more on thetter.

    With her now deep cyan mana core, Solus could hold her human form longer and use that time to Forgemaster together with Lith. They shared the same energy signature and had a hammer each, so in theory by joining their hands they could double the strength of their creations.

    In practice, however, they had twopletely different ways of Forgemastering and they had to learn how to adapt to each other. On top of that, Solus had to keep the magic circle, empower both hammers, and Forgemaster, whereas Lith was the only one capable of shaping powerful pseudo cores.

    It took them several attempts just to craft an upgraded version of the Skinwalker armor because they were so in synch that they would try and fix together the same imperfection that arose in the pseudo core while it merged with the Orichalcum.

    The double hit would turn bumps into dents and vice versa, wasting a lot of their energy and making them quarrel. In the end, they decided to split the tasks and put an end to that mess.

    With his superior magical force, Lith would focus solely on harmonizing the pseudo core with the armor while Solus with her finesse would take care of the imperfections.

    Once Kam returned from work, Lith would spend the evening with her either on a family dinner or take her out on dates.

    Only after not receiving any news from Faluel for over a week did he go to check on the Hydra.

    "Is everything alright?" He asked once they were done with the niceties.

    "Yes, sorry if I made you worry, but I¡¯m in a bit of a pinch. The climate is still quite rigid and Xedros just took my son, Sedra, as his apprentice." Faluel said.

    "This doesn¡¯t bode well." Lith said.

    "Indeed. I don¡¯t like cold and that idiot failed to notice that he¡¯s basically a hostage." Faluel sighed.

    Lith told her all about hisst meeting with the Wyvern and the things Xedros had asked him for.

    "Why did you never tell me about omni pockets and about Nalrond¡¯s origin? The Fringes might hold the knowledge I need to fix my life force, Protector¡¯s, and maybe even a way to restore Solus¡¯s memories and power." Lith asked, while Solus was sitting on his shoulder.

    Together with the deep cyan core, not only did she obtain new floors for the tower, but also new mass for her stone form. Solus had now a scaled-down humanoid appearance that resembled a 0.6 meters (2") tall stone doll.

    She waspletely featureless except for two deep cyan mana crystals where her eyes were supposed to be, two deep green gemstones on the back of both her hands and waist-long stone hair.

    "For the same reason I never asked Protector why he lied to me about you, or I never asked you how you managed to Forgemaster such a powerful Skinwalker armor, nor about Solus¡¯s powers as Living Legacy.

    "Because I respect people¡¯s privacy and their decisions. I never forced anyone to open up with me, nor did I expose their secrets unless there¡¯s a really good reason. I think that Nalrond should tell you the truth only when he feels ready to do it and not because you force him to.

    "Give him time and the rtionship between you three will be better for it."

    Faluel assumed her human form, shaking her rainbow-colored hair in frustration. She didn¡¯t like either being overbearing while scolding one of her apprentices or Lith¡¯s selfish attitude.

    "As for omni pockets, I don¡¯t have one so I don¡¯t know how they work. Xedros knows about them because he is a dimensional mage and yet even he has no idea how to craft an omni pocket.

    "I never told you about them because I didn¡¯t even know you had one. Lith, we have yet to begin your apprenticeship and I¡¯m already warning you for the first time. Don¡¯t be like Xedros, or I¡¯ll cut ties with you.

    "Don¡¯t let your thirst for knowledge turn into a greed so powerful that it clouds your judgment. Xedros is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve his objectives and is so lost in his obsession that he believes that everyone thinks like him.

    "Don¡¯t mistake kindness for deception, nor respect for a hidden agenda. When you have doubts, just ask and I¡¯ll answer to the best of my abilities as long as it doesn¡¯tpromise someone else¡¯s privacy.

    "I respect you, but I still don¡¯t trust you. Minus points for doubting me, but bonus points for stepping forward instead of attempting to manipte me. Total is zero. Anything else?" She asked.

    "Actually, yes." Lith told Faluel about Phloria¡¯s imminent self-Awakening and how much she, Quy, and Friya mattered to him.

    "I should be able to make Phloria survive her Awakening, and since she already knows everything about me except for minor details, bringing her up to speed should be easy.

    "The problem is that she needs a teacher to survive as an Awakened and I was wondering if you could take her in as well."

 Chapter 970 Time to Move Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 970 Time to Move Part 2</h4>

    "Maybe you could even teach advanced light magic to Quy. Her healing abilities with fake magic are almost on par with Invigoration and I¡¯m afraid that soon she¡¯ll hit a wall." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment.

    He hated asking for favors, but hecked the time and the necessary knowledge to help anyone to step up their game. Tista and the Kings of the Trawn woods were far from the skill bottleneck Lith and Quy were facing.

    They only needed a few lessons and Lith¡¯s notes about true magic to keep improving themselves by leaps and bounds.

    ¡¯Faluel has seven heads, so she should be able to freely teach to seven people. Worst case scenario, there¡¯s me, Tista, Protector, Solus, Phloria, and Quy. Faluel would even have a head to spare for her own work.¡¯ Lith thought.

    He didn¡¯t include Friya not because she was the only one in the dark about his secrets, but because as long as she had her adventurer guild, Friya could never afford to take the necessary time off to take lessons from the Hydra¡¯s.

    Both Faluel and Solus looked at him with eyes wide open, as if they saw him for the first time.

    "Are you really willing to introduce them to me?" Solus asked with eyes brimming with joy.

    "Are you really willing to put your life at stake again for the sake of others?" Faluel said almost at the same time.

    "You¡¯ve already bound your fate to the three Kings and your sister. Every person you Awaken is your responsibility for the next century. Humans are not like beasts. We age like wine, whereas they age like milk, bing spoiled and sour."

    "Yes to both of you." Lith nodded.

    "Solus, you know that I never nned to keep you hidden forever nor I¡¯m ashamed of our bond. If you weren¡¯t a girl, and a pretty one at that, I would¡¯ve already brought Kam to the tower to meet you."

    His words would have made Solus blush if stone had blood.

    "As for Phloria, she¡¯s saved me many times, both from my enemies and from myself. I¡¯m not willing to lose her forever. She¡¯s worth every risk."

    "I¡¯m proud of you." Faluel stood on her tiptoes to pinch his cheeks. "A gazillion points for that. I¡¯ll think about this Phloria, but for the other human girl, the answer is no. Quy¡¯s mana core is too powerful for Awakening, she¡¯d surely die."

    "I never meant to Awaken..." Lith tried to say, but Faluel cut him short.

    "On top of that, she¡¯s a fake mage, hencepetition. You can¡¯t possibly know about it because until now you¡¯ve been a lone wolf, but Awakened and fake mages are at odds for decades.

    "The magical progress of fake mages is outstanding. With their numbers and teamwork, they are slowly closing the gap between us and them. People like Tyris, Sark, or the Magic Empress, who, after defeating an Awakened, share with their subjects their spoils of war don¡¯t help our cause.

    "Just like you sharing your Skinwalker armor with that Orion, for that matter."

    "I thought he would get nothing out of it and that he would end up destroying the armor." Lith said.

    "Yeah, you¡¯re not the first to make that mistake and definitely you won¡¯t be thest. Did you get paid for it at least?" Faluel asked.

    Lith took War out of his pocket dimension, having care to not take it out of the scabbard.

    "By the Great Mother!" Faluel jumped back at the sight of the bastard sword.

    She never attempted to evene closer, using Life Vision and her Forgemastering spells from a distance.

    "You made an excellent bargain. That¡¯s a masterpiece like I¡¯ve rarely seen from a fake mage. Take it out in the presence of my godchildren and I¡¯ll kill you." None of her words sounded like a joke.

    "You know what¡¯s wrong with it?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Magical metals are different from those a smith normally uses. They almost have a core of their own, which almost gives them life." Faluel nodded. "Have you ever heard the saying about artisans putting their soul in their creations? That¡¯s true, especially for Forgemasters.

    "The longer one of us works on a mystic metal, the more it takes from us. It¡¯s our energy thatposes their pseudo cores, so you mightpare them to a Necromancer¡¯s work.

    "Just like there are lesser and greater undead, there are lesser and greater artifacts. Your sword is one of thetter."

    "Is it alive?" Lith could feel War humming with power as if it was trying tomunicate with him.

    "No. Theparison between the two arts doesn¡¯t go that far. Without a brain or life force, there can¡¯t be life, but there can be will. Whenever you craft something, you only strive for perfection because you can¡¯t allow any distraction.

    "Exceptional Forgemasters, however, sometimes manage to imbue their willpower into the pseudo core, just like any good mage does with tier five spells. The difference is that spells are fleeting whereas artifacts are forever." Faluel said.

    "Meaning?"

    "It means that this sword carries two wills, or in your case, maybe even three if Solus can handle it. Whenever it strikes or it employs its skills, the lingering willpower of its maker will fight alongside you. War will both teach you and learn from you."

    Faluel remained silent for a while, giving Lith the time to understand howplex War¡¯s existence actually was.

    "Now go. I¡¯ll call you as soon as I¡¯m done with my preparations. I¡¯ll teach you and Solus the same things, but I will not teach them the same way. Winter left me swamped and I¡¯m afraid that soon the human Council will make its move, so be prepared."

    ***

    Ker Region, city of Jambel, a couple of dayster.

    As an Archmage, Lith had received countless invitations from feudal lords from all over the Griffon Kingdom. He had politely but firmly turned them down because he had no desire to be involved in any kind of politics.

    Lith only epted that of Baron Eiros Wyalon because the Baron was one of the few nobles he had met as a Ranger that he respected and he had used the opportunity to bring his family along.

    Jambel was the only city where he had been treated with respect from the moment of his arrival and its inhabitants had aided him at the best of their abilities not afraid to risk their lives.

    Also, the Baron wasn¡¯t a politician but an honest man, and Zolgrish the Lich¡¯s silver mines were ripe for the taking. With spring making the climate pleasantly chill and his family wanting to see the ces where Lith had lived during the past two years he could take many birds with one stone.

    Jambel was a medium-sized fortress city, entirely built of stone.

    It was too far from themercial routes to depend on merchants, so it was designed to be self-sufficient all year round. Jambel was built near two bigkes, which provided fish and freshwater, while cultivated fields surrounded the city walls up to the nearby woods.

    They were the main source of game and wood, so the inhabitants of Jambel treated them with great respect. They nted two trees for each one they cut down and used turnover to give them time to grow.

    Unlike most cities, Jambel had no slums. Even the poorest houses were made of stone and the only wooden buildings were tool sheds.

 Chapter 971 The Baronâ€™s Hospitality Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 971 The Baron¡¯s Hospitality Part 1</h4>

    Jambel¡¯s walls were five meters (16¡¯) high and wide enough that two-armed people could easily walk side by side. They were made of grey stone and smoothed so that during the day they would partially reflect the sunlight and blind the aggressors.

    With its nigh-zero crime rate thanks to the Baron¡¯s welfare system, its great scenery, and its rough but friendly inhabitants, Jambel was the perfect ce for Lith to show his family the best the north had to offer and pocket a few silver mines.

    If the precious metal¡¯s veins were essible and Zolgrish had given up on them, of course.

    "Archmage Verhen! It was already hard to believe a runt like you could be a Great Mage, but now you¡¯re an Archmage and you¡¯ve even epted my invitation. Well, I¡¯ve seen it all now." Baron Eiros Wyalonughed while hugging and patting Lith¡¯s back as if they were long-lost cousins.

    He was a man in histe thirties, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with red hair and a finely trimmed beard. Eiros also had blue eyes as clear as the twinkes in front of the city and was wearing ceremonial armor which emphasized his lean but muscr build.

    The Baron looked and acted more like a soldier receiving a friend rather than a noble weing an Archmage. His wife, Mirias, watched at the scene with her green eyes wide open in a mix of horror and embarrassment.

    She was used to her husband being more respectful of his enemies on the battlefield than of etiquette during social events, but such a behavior was beyond her wildest nightmares.

    Even withoutnds, an Archmage¡¯s authority was on par with a Duke. Lith could have requested a Grand Duchy from the Royals and be allowed to keep it after a trial period, if he demonstrated enough administrative abilities to make it thrive.

    Seeing Eiros treating the potential Ruler of the entire Ker region like another of his army buddies made her face be even paler than usual and wish Lith had enough mercy in his heart to grant them a painless death.

    "Off the record, when the Queen spoke as if she was about to behead you, if it wasn¡¯t for that spooky array, I would¡¯ve jumped at that hag¡¯s neck. You don¡¯t kill a good man for some petty secrets. I¡¯d rathermit treason than bear witness to such crap!" The Baron said.

    ¡¯Which is exactly what you¡¯re doing now! Public nder of the Queen, threatening her life, dering indifference for thew...¡¯ The Baroness couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and fainted.

    "Don¡¯t worry about my missus, Mirias does that all the time. She suffers from low blood pressure and has a weak heart, so she doesn¡¯t handle well public speeches." Baron Wyalon reassured his guests while the city guards caught the Baroness before she hit the ground.

    What he had just described was actually a fatal condition, so Tista rushed by her side and performed a full check-up. Normal diagnostic spells came out negative while Invigoration revealed a high level of nervous stress.

    Lith had a hard time notughing his ass off at the scene. He knew the real reason behind the Baroness¡¯ sickness, but said nothing to not make things worse for his host.

    The Baron was one of those who had actually tried to rebel when Queen Sylpha was allegedly seconds away from killing Lith. It was one of the reasons why Lith had chosen Jambel as his destination.

    When she regained her senses, the Baroness couldn¡¯t believe her own eyes. Not only was her beloved city still intact, but the Archmage was amiably talking with her mindless husband and a real Mage was taking care of her.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for the inconvenience, Lady Verhen. I just made a fool out of myself in front of your husband." Mirias had not attended the ceremony of ascension to avoid the humiliation that her husband¡¯s antics usually brought upon her.

    Seeing the most beautiful woman of the group wearing the deep red robe of Mages, Mirias had assumed that Tista was Lith¡¯s love interest.

    ¡¯Good gods. It¡¯s no wonder Verhen didn¡¯t give my daughter a second nce. Iriel is pretty, but this woman is a goddess.¡¯ She thought.

    "It¡¯s no inconvenience, dear Baroness. Helping the sick is the job of a Healer. As for Lith, he is actually my brother." Tista regretted those words the moment they came out of her mouth.

    The perfect acoustic of the courtyard spread her voice like it was a p of thunder, making many men feel free to ogle at her and a couple of guards falls from the city walls because their eyes stared at her figure instead of looking where they stepped.

    "Baron, Baroness, allow me to introduce to you my family and friends." Lith waited for Mirias to get back on her feet before beginning with formal introductions.

    Together with the Verhen family, there were also Kam and Nalrond.

    Kam had received a leave so that she could attend the only official visit Lith had decided to perform and Nalrond had been brought along under the pretense of helping Rena with her triplets.

    Lith actually needed the Razer¡¯s ability to swim through the earth to check how deep the silver veins were and if there was any trace of Zolgrish¡¯s return. Nalrond had been promised a share of the profits and he desperately needed a source of ie.

    Now that Selia was about to move back to Lutia, he didn¡¯t want to be a freeloader and rely on her money for everything. Nalrond was still scared of people, so he considered the trip to the north as the perfect opportunity to mingle with humans.

    ¡¯No matter how many social blunders I might make, I¡¯ll never see one of these people ever again. What happens in Jambel will stay in Jambel.¡¯ He thought.

    "-and this is Kam Yehval, my girlfriend." Lith said after introducing the rest of the family.

    "Girlfriend? Not betrothed?" The Baron raised an eyebrow and the Baroness rolled her eyes.

    "Just girlfriend." Kam blushed in embarrassment from the rude question, thinking that the nobleman had judged her and found her wanting

    "A beautiful woman like you and a soldier at that?" Eiros needed but a nce to recognize someone who had received military training. "You must work harder, dear Kam. Love is a battlefield and she who strikes first strikes twice. Especially in..."

    The Baroness fainted again, requiring immediate assistance.

    "...the kitchen. The quickest way to a man¡¯s heart is through the stomach."

    "Thank you. I¡¯ll remember your words." Kam gave him a small bow. She also remembered how much Lith liked her cooking almost as much as she liked his.

    "Last, but not least this is Nalrond Fastarrow. He is..."

    "My boyfriend." Tista cut Lith short and took the Razer¡¯s arm.

    The small crowd of men and women bearing flowers and small pieces of jewelry that had surrounded the Verhens after Tista¡¯s blunder moaned in unison.

    "Since when?" Nalrond blurted out in surprise, making everyoneugh at the alleged joke.

    "You¡¯re so funny, dear." Tista giggled while nudging him with enough strength to hurt his ribs.

    The Baron then introduced to the Verhens his wife Mirias and his children, Kotu and Iriel. The Baroness was a woman in her mid-thirties, with blonde hair and green eyes.

    She was a good head shorter than her husband and Lith would have considered her pretty, if not for the milky white skin typical of the north, that gave her a sickly look in his eyes.

    The siblings were twins, both with the red hair of their father and the green eyes of their mother. Seeing them reminded the Verhens about Orpal, Rena¡¯s disowned twin brother, and made their cheery mood turn sour.

 Chapter 972 The Baronâ€™s Hospitality Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 972 The Baron¡¯s Hospitality Part 2</h4>

    The Baron had no idea why everyone suddenly looked so sad, so he attempted to cheer them up.

    "Now that we¡¯re done with the formalities, I hope you¡¯re hungry because I made the cooks..."

    "Chefs!" Mirias whined, correcting her husband.

    "...prepare us a gruel..."

    "A breakfast! Good gods, admit it. You¡¯re doing it on purpose!" The Baroness said, incapable of enduring that torture any longer.

    "...worthy of the Royals, but withrger servings. Unlike them, we all have a real job and don¡¯t spend our days sitting on our asses and spewing orders. We need meat on our bones, right dear?"

    "I want a divorce!" That was all she managed to say before the Baron took her into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss.

    "Gods, my wife is a real Dragon. The angrier she gets, the hotter she bes. She is still as gorgeous as the day I fell in love with her." He said, making every one of those present blush.

    "Please, follow me." The Baroness didn¡¯t have the strength to fight anymore and was resigned to bear whatever cmity her idiotic, yet beloved husband would make befall their household. "We¡¯ve prepared stagecoaches that will lead us to our mansion.

    "Jambel is no Othre nor Derios, but reaching its uptown from the city gates it¡¯s still quite a trip. Especially for someone with small children."

    "Thanks for your concern, Baroness, but it won¡¯t be necessary. I have fond memories of your house and no one in my family likes moving by horse." Lith¡¯s two statements seemed unrted until he performed a short chant that opened a Warp Steps leading directly in front of their destination.

    The citizens of Jambel gasped in amazement. Many of them had only heard about the existence of dimensional magic and considered it almost a myth.

    "Do you mind if I go first?" Baroness Mirias asked, clenching her husband¡¯s hand so hard due to her fear of the unknown magic that she made him bleed with her long, manicured nails.

    The Baron didn¡¯t even flinch, he just caressed her hand with his thumb to reassure her.

    "Not at all." Lith made her way and Mirias stepped through the dimensional door with the same rxed attitude of a diator sent to their death.

    Yet one step was all it took her to reach her house safe and sound.

    The Baron¡¯s Mansion was a two-story manor, something normally one would expect to be a house fit for a merchant, not a city lord.

    Each floor was barely as big as the Ernas¡¯ Ballroom. Only brickwork and a small garden separated the Mansion from the surrounding houses, and there was none more luxurious.

    "What the..." Mirias¡¯s fear was reced by awe.

    She had been afraid of experiencing difort, of the Steps leaving her stranded in the middle of the Blood Desert, or of some monstering out of it. Still unable to believe it could be that simple, the Baroness knocked at her own door.

    The front door opened and the loyal family butler, Jarnes, weed her home. The hallway was about 20 square meters (215 square feet), with walls and floor covered by white painted wood.

    There was a cab for the clothes and a small firece above which was a series of hangers to dry coats drenched by snow. A soft carpet led to the other rooms, covering most of the floor and keeping the house warm.

    After making sure it was really her own home and not some kind ofplex prank, Mirias stepped through the Warp steps again, returning to their guests.

    "This is amazing! How do you do it?" Excitement gave her pale visage a shade of red that made her look cute and youthful.

    She touched her husband through the Steps and then walked around it, appreciating the two different sceneries. Even though the dimensional door simply led to another part of her city, to her it was like a window leading to a different world.

    "Mana and practice. Everything else is a state secret, I¡¯m sorry." Lith replied with a smile. Dimensional magic was only taught by the six great academies and usually only half of their graduates managed to learn it.

    "Kotu, Iriel, you have to try it." Looking at her children¡¯s bbergasted faces, Mirias realized how childish her behavior was and regained her stern countenance.

    "I apologize for wasting everyone¡¯s time. You¡¯re probably hungry and I¡¯m making myself a fool out of myself with my antics." She gave them a deep bow, clenching her dress in embarrassment.

    "There¡¯s no reason to apologize. We all did the same thing the first time Lith opened one for us." Elina patted Mirias¡¯s shoulder to set her mind at ease.

    Lith patiently waited for everyone to step through the Gate, even letting some of the bystanders and guards use it a couple of times before closing the dimensional door.

    The butler, who was still waiting in front of the open door, took the Baron¡¯s mantle while the noble sat on one of the chairs near the door to take off his snowy boots and reced them with clean ones, showing to his guests where the clean house shoes were.

    Lith and his family just shapeshifted their clothes into a lighter day attire. The process also turned their boots into shoes and cleaned them, leaving all the dirt outside of the door.

    Even the Baron flinched in surprise this time, staring at his guests with the same curiosity with which they looked at his house. The furniture of every room was made of high-quality materials, but its design wasn¡¯t ostentatious.

    The Baron¡¯s house wasn¡¯t great, but it definitely was a home. It was warm and cozy. Each one of its rooms was lived-in, not just designed for impressing guests with expensive ornaments.

    "Do you mind if I take notes?" Lith asked while taking ink and paper out of his pocket dimension. "If I ever build another house just for myself, I want it to look exactly like this."

    Without even thinking about it, Lith looked at Kam for approval.

    "I love it!" She replied a bit too fast and with a bit too much enthusiasm for her own liking.

    ¡¯Get a grip, Captain Yehval. We¡¯ve been together for almost two years, you can¡¯t get excited like a schoolgirl on her first date over a trivial question. Just because Lith seems to be including me in his ns for the future, it doesn¡¯t mean he is going to propose...¡¯ At that thought, Kam¡¯s brain went out of control.

    She started rambling nonsense and became so red that Elina had her sit down, afraid that Kam was feeling unwell.

    "It would be my honor." The Baron and the Baroness put a hand above their hearts, giving both Lith and Kam a bow.

    The dining room wasprised of a long rectangr hardwood table surrounded by severalfortable padded chairs. The table had already been set. The linen tablecloth was pristine white with gold embroideries depicting the Baron¡¯s exploits.

    The cutlery and the tes were all made of silver that reflected the lighting from the magical stones in the crystal chandeliers hung to the ceiling. The house staff was lined up against the wall behind the table, ready to serve the moment their masters sat down.

    Baron Wyalon had prepared for the Verhens all kinds of food, making the breakfast almost a full course meal for both variety and abundance of the servings.

 Chapter 973 Gifts and Gratitude Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 973 Gifts and Gratitude Part 1</h4>

    While the Baron¡¯s family was eating together with their guests, Eiros used the holographic properties of the enchanted table to show the Verhens all the ces of interest both inside and outside Jambel.

    Being a city in the middle of nowhere, the Baron¡¯s fief wascking in art pieces but was rich in natural wonders and breath-takingndscapes.

    After the meal, Eiros showed the Verhens the ce where they would spend their stay.

    The house next to the Baron¡¯s mansion was almost as big and even better furnished. It was also at theirplete disposal since it was always empty in the case Jambel received important guests.

    "There¡¯s plenty of bedrooms on both floors, so you can amodate yourselves like it makes you feel at home the most. The King himself slept in this very room twice." Eiros casually said to Lith while showing him around the house.

    Lith took the hint and the room for himself to not offend his host.

    "Have fun out there. I¡¯ll stay here and take care of the triplets." Nalrond had already had enough emotions for one day. He wasn¡¯t used to being served nor being around so many strangers.

    On top of that, Jambel closely reminded him of his vige, reopening wounds that had never fully healed.

    "No way! I¡¯m not taking a single step without a proper creep-ward. Mom has Dad, Rena has Senton, and Lith has Kam to keep unwanted suitors at bay, no offense, Kami." Tista said.

    "Quite a bit taken." Kam was aware that between a Captain and an Archmage there was nopetition, yet the idea of being the only woman in the room to be less desirable than her respective partner, pissed her off to no end.

    "I need a proper shield or I¡¯ll be the goddamn third wheel the whole vacation."

    "I¡¯m ttered by how highly you regard me." Nalrond sneered.

    Like any normal man, after a bit of time and a lot of awkward moments, he had gotten used to her presence and was now able to treat her like a person.

    "We could take turns so that the kids are never left alone and we can all have fun." Senton proposed.

    Unlike Kam, he didn¡¯t mind Tista¡¯s remarks. His beautiful children and Rena¡¯s mean right hook whenever someone bothered her made him feel confident about the solidity of their rtionship.

    "I have a better solution." Lith created the hologram of a stroller and then split it into itsponents for Nalrond to study it.

    "Interesting design, but why use wheels? That way a single bump in the road would wake up the baby." The Rezar waved his hands, creating hard-light constructs capable of floating on their own.

    "Because I devised it for non-mages." Lith lied through his teeth. "Keeping a floating spell active for long is exhausting."

    Rena looked at both men with awe.

    She loved her children and the fact that they were growing by the week filled her with joy, yet it also made them heavier. Between breast-feeding and carrying the children around all day, the muscles in her arms were as toned as those of an athlete.

    "Nalrond, hybrid or not, you¡¯ll make a wonderful husband. Selia is right when she says that the woman who gets you will count her blessings on a daily basis. Lil bro, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re thinking about having children to the point of inventing things for Kam." Rena, Elina, and Tista had their eyes veiled with tears.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t invent it, I just giarized it! The non-mage thing was just an excuse.¡¯ Lith thought while realizing his blunder.

    It was hard to tell who was the more flustered among them, if Lith, Nalrond, or Kam.

    The Rezar made sure that the construct looked like it was made of wood so that Lith could make it pass for one of his Forgemastering crafts and keep Light Mastery a secret.

    The strollers were a huge hit while the Baron toured the Verhens around Jambel, reinforcing Lith¡¯s reputation of being a polymath genius.

    "How much does one cost?" Many parents burdened by small orzy children asked them many times.

    "Yeah, how much?" Raaz asked Lith with pleading eyes.

    With their short legs, Aran and Leria would get tired quickly. A four years child was too small to endure long walks and too big to be easily carried around, especially those who thanks to Lith¡¯s treatments were tall for their age.

    Raaz and Senton were puffing while they carried their respective child on their shoulders. They were both cursing themselves for not asking Nalrond for more strollers earlier. He couldn¡¯t make them pop out of thin air without revealing his secret.

    "I don¡¯t want a stroller! I want Onyx! If you let here, this wouldn¡¯t happen." Aran whined in childish outrage, referring to the Shyf he considered to be his loyal steed.

    "And I want Abominus! He must be bored to death without me." Leria said, making her mother worry about her naming sense.

    "Son, how many times do I have to tell you? Magical beasts aren¡¯t toys. She would need a ce to stay and food to eat. Lots of food." Raaz said, trying to make Aran see reason.

    "She¡¯s not a toy, she¡¯s my friend. Onyx could sleep in my room and I could share my food with her. I don¡¯t eat much." Yet his stomach was already gurgling.

    Baron Wyalon had brought his guest to the market district and the street was filled with tempting smellsing from the local bakers. Luckily for the grown-ups, buying sweets for the kids was an excellent way to have a few minutes of respite.

    They spent the morning visiting Jambel¡¯s downtown and shopping around.

    ¡¯Gods, this is the part of any trip I hate the most.¡¯ Kam thought.

    Even after getting promoted to Captain and despite a few hefty bonuses for the cases solved, she was still neck-deep in debts. A year had passed since she had paid for the Body Sculpting procedure that had given sight to her sister, Zinya.

    Even with all the discounts that Lith had granted her as head Healer, of the three gold coins and 50 silvers she had repaid less than a single gold coin. Even military officers like Jirni were paid in silver, and it took 100 silver coins to make a single gold one.

    Even if now Zinya had no financial trouble thanks to thepensation money she had received from herte husband¡¯s family for the years of abuse Fallmug had put her through, she had no source of ie and two children to raise.

    Taking such a sum from the trust fund Vastor¡¯s ountant had created for her, would have crippled Zinya¡¯s annuities, so Kam had to tread carefully with her expenses whereas the Verhens could buy whatever caught their eye.

    "Take whatever you want. It¡¯s on the house." A middle-aged merchant said while giving Lith a deep bow.

    Having an Archmage shop in his humble store was more than he had ever imagined.

    "We can¡¯t do that. Your business would take a huge blow." Having married a cksmith, Rena was well aware of the hardships retail traders had. "Please, allow us to pay."

    "Nonsense. Archmage Verhen fought long and hard for this city during thest two years. He saved more than my business, he saved my home and my family. How could I turn down the first opportunity I got to express my gratitude?" The merchant said.

 Chapter 974 Gifts and Gratitude Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 974 Gifts and Gratitude Part 2</h4>

    Not only the man was adamant about giving the Verhens gifts, but also Rena¡¯s words seemed to have hurt his pride, so she gave up. Kam felt guilty at the idea of exploiting such a good man¡¯s heart, so she only picked one piece of clothing.

    It was a close-fitting deep red woolen sweater so soft and warm that it felt like wearing a hug.

    The rest of the family followed her lead and did the same. Her regret about not being able to take more was soon reced by relief when all the shopkeepers did the same, always refusing to let them leave empty-handed.

    By the time they were back to the Baron¡¯s guest house, her dimensional amulet was full and Kam had to borrow some space from Lith¡¯s pocket dimension. Unlike the Verhens, the only storage item she had was the one Lith had gifted her for her birthday which was always half full with her working equipment.

    "Good gods! If Jambel had more stores I would need a new apartment just to have a wardrobe big enough for all this stuff." While looking at the handbags, clothes, and shoes lined up on her bed, Kam¡¯s voice and eyes brimmed with joy, in stark contrast with her words.

    She had even managed to pick lots of souvenirs for Zinya and her children.

    "If you are happy then I¡¯m happy as well." Lith looked at his Archmage robe as if it had betrayed him. He had received a non-imprinted robe after the ceremony of ascension and stored it inside the Skinwalker armor.

    Until that moment, all of his uniforms had kept people at bay, whereas the deep blue robe acted as a ma. Lith didn¡¯t like receiving so much attention, nor had any interest in most of the things he had nearly been forced to take, to the point that he had mostly picked stuff that others wanted to give them as gifts.

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Kam ignored his t tone and embraced him with so much enthusiasm that it almost resembled a tackle. "Is there anything I can do to return you the favor?"

    She buried her face in his chest, emitting a low purring sound of pleasure.

    "Maybe. You¡¯re a Royal Constable, right? How much do you know about mining rights?" Lith asked.

    "Just everything. Why?" It wasn¡¯t the romantic answer she was hoping for, but she sucked it up and never stopped purring.

    "It¡¯s a long story, we¡¯ll discuss it after lunch. Now get ready, or we¡¯ll bete." One of the things that Lith loved the most about havinge clean with both Kam and his family was that he didn¡¯t have to hide any of his schemes anymore.

    He didn¡¯t need toe up with excuses and lies. All he had to do was tell her the truth and ask her for help.

    "It¡¯s easy to say when you always wear the same damn thing, no matter the circumstances." Kam stood in front of the mirror, trying to put together a ssy outfit from the newly acquired clothes.

    "It¡¯s me who needs to walk an extra mile just not to look like Elina¡¯s homely sister..." A slow, sweet kiss cut her short and made Kam forget about the constant stress thatparing herself with the women of Lith¡¯s family burdened her with.

    "Do you feel better now or do you need more confidence?" He asked.

    "Much better, thanks." She started humming while picking the tight-fitting red sweater to emphasize her raven ck hair, a pair of night-blue cashmere pants to highlight her slender legs, and both outlined her curves.

    Just as Kam had predicted, everyone but Lith had changed their clothes. The lunch was pleasant, delicious, and together with the busy morning made everyone sleepy.

    Back in their bedroom, Lith told Kam all about the real nature of Jambel¡¯s dungeon crisis, Zolgrish¡¯sb, and the silver mines he hoped to acquire. She listened to the story with bated breath, bing pale when she heard about the two Balors he had fought.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re alright." She clung to him as if those events had just happened instead of being in the past. "Helping a Lich was madness. Why didn¡¯t you call for backup?"

    "Those monsters were immortal, remember? Also, Zolgrish would have rather helped the traitors than lose decades of hard work. At least they were in his same boat. That way I saved the day, preventing the death of lots of soldiers and an angry Lich from haunting thesends." Lith said.

    "And getting yourself quite the souvenirs." Kam furrowed her brows in disapproval.

    "The job of a Rangeres with both hazards and benefits." He shrugged. "Besides, I reported the existence of the silver mines and the Adamant forge would have either be retrieved by Zolgrish or lost in the cave in."

    "Point taken." She said while pondering what the Kingdom¡¯sws required for an ex-member of the military to make use of information acquired during their service.

    "The Kingdom considered the mines lost after the mountain copsed. The fact that they never sent prospectors means that they consider the task uneconomical. There is no Gate in the vicinity, no ce where the workers could live on-site, and the mines would be closed mid-fall at best.

    "To make matters worse, it would be a huge gamble spending so much money with no certainty the metal veins are worth the trouble. You can apply for mining rights, but make sure to state on your request how you learned about the silver.

    "That way, if the Kingdom doesn¡¯t stop you, it will be equivalent to a formal waive on its side. If you don¡¯t, the ruler of the Region might use the omission as a loophole to seize your mines if the business booms." Kam said.

    "Thanks for the great news, Kami. You¡¯re really sexy when you use legal jargon." Lith embraced her while burying his nose in her hair, losing himself in its sweet scent.

    "Not so great, silly. The Kingdom has endless resourcespared to you and decided to give up on the mines. How do you n on oveing all the problems I listed?"

    "No clue." He replied. "But at least Nalrond can help me find the best ess point to the silver veins and check if they are worth the trouble. I¡¯ll think about the rest when the timees."

    The days were still short, so Lith used the time while the others napped to leave Jambel and work on his side project. He Warped together with Tista and Nalrond near the city walls, to alert the guards they were leaving.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Archmage Verhen. There shouldn¡¯t be trouble this time of the year, but we¡¯ll reinforce security during your absence." Said the Gate Sergeant, a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.77 meters (5¡¯10") with blonde hair and blue eyes.

    He wore a light metal armor over heavy winter clothes and a bulky left shoulder protector to bnce for theck of his right arm. There was no stump, not even the shoulder was left as if the missing limb had been vertically cut off.

    "What happened to your arm?" Tista asked.

    "Nothing much. Last year we had a small monster outbreak of our own, but Ranger Verhen was already busy with Maekosh, so we had to deal with it on our own. One of those bastards emitted a ck ray that opened a hole in the walls and took my arm."

 Chapter 975 Madness for Hire Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 975 Madness for Hire Part 1</h4>

    "There was nothing left to heal, yet I consider myself lucky. I survived to tell the tale and Baron Wyalon put me behind a desk instead of firing me. The only battlefield left for me is that against paperwork, but I can at least train recruits." The Sergeant said.

    "Why not regrowing it?" Nalrond was baffled at human society abandoning its veterans.

    "Not even his Excellency¡¯s personal mage knows how to do it, and even if she did, it would cost too much. I¡¯m a member of the militia, not of the army. Jambel can¡¯t afford to send all those like me to the White Griffon."

    Regrowing a limb required two teams of three Healers each. Hiring six mages at the same time was something beyond even a noble household¡¯s abilities. The six great academies were the only ce that provided such services at an affordable price.

    "Interesting." Lith took several purple potions out of his pocket dimension. "Drink one of these now and another one once per hour until our return."

    "Will they make my arm grow back?" The Sergeant was bbergasted.

    "Do I look like a god to you?" Lith scoffed. "Of course they won¡¯t, but trusting me or not is up to you. See youter."

    He opened a dimensional corridor that led the group where once the entrance to Zolgrish¡¯sb was. Once the three mages stepped through it, the Steps disappeared and the Sergeant turned the one-hour hourss after gulping down the first potion.

    "That was generous of you." Tista understood his intentions, but she had a few doubts. "What was in those sks?"

    "Not generosity, just foresight. If I manage to get the mines, I¡¯ll depend on Jambel¡¯s guards to keep the area safe from brigands and protect the cargo until someone picks it up.

    "Jambel has no Warp Gate, so I¡¯ll have to retrieve the silver personally from time to time or send one of the few people I really trust to do it. A few stolen silver nuggets are not a problem, losing a few kilos of it, however, is uneptable." Lith replied.

    He created a hologram representing the blueprints of the mines as he remembered them, showing Nalrond where he had spotted the biggest silver veins.

    "I don¡¯t n on spending a single coin unless we find an alternative ess point to the mines ." Lith nodded at the tons of rock and debris that once were a small mountain range.

    "Nalrond, I need you to look for a path to the veins that starts from the ground and it¡¯s stable enough to withstand being excavated without copsing easily. The second most important requirement is that the silver must be abundant and not be too close to the old mines.

    "The self-destruct mechanism has surelypromised their integrity and if you consider the thousands of tons of rocks weighing from above, reopening those tunnels is suicidal.

    "Tista, help me look for arrays, traps, undead, or anything that could indicate that Zolgrish is still interested in the area. I¡¯m not going to fight a Lich without an excellent reason."

    Nalrond nodded and shapeshifted into his Emperor Beast form. He dived into the ground that parted in front of him and closed immediately after, leaving no trace of his passage.

    In the meantime, Lith and Tista circled the ruins while casting Life Sensing arrays and Array detecting spells.

    The former would spot any form of life or undeath that might have taken residence in the mines¡¯ proximity while thetter would reveal any recent magical formation. Right after theb self-destructed, Lith and General Vorgh, the army¡¯s Master Warden, had checked the area without finding anything.

    Unless Zolgrish had ced new arrays after they had left, the area was bound to be safe.

    "Nothing on my side but animals." Tista reported via hermunication amulet.

    "Same here." Lith hoped he wouldn¡¯t be forced to resort to his contingency n.

    "Fuck me sideways!" He said a secondter when his array detecting spell triggered a spell detecting array that had remained dormant and invisible even to mana sense until the energy of Lith¡¯s magic had fueled it.

    ¡¯What a brilliant design!¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Leaving the array depowered to preserve its strength and make use of the enemy¡¯s energy to activate your own formation makes it impossible for the intruder to react until it¡¯s toote.¡¯

    "Code blue! I repeat, code blue!" Lith yelled inside his amulet while cursing the Lich¡¯s ingenuity.

    A depowered array was incapable to do any damage, but it was strong enough to send a signal to its caster.

    Tista and Nalrond managed to Warp back to his coordinates just in time to see a Gate made of a red, spiraling energy open.

    The humanoid figure that stepped out of it was that of a tall man with a skeletal body, with barely enough skin on his face to express emotions. The cold, red light of undeath shone inside his withered eyes, giving him a cruel gaze.

    The Lich wore a golden magician robe and held in his right hand a silvery staff with several purple mana crystals embedded on it.

    ¡¯Bad news. His life force is off the charts and his blood core is almost entirely red. On top of that, everything he wears is heavily enchanted.¡¯ Solus shared her mana sense¡¯s analysis of the Lich¡¯s prowess.

    "We meet again, Zolgrish." Lith¡¯s voice was confident as his eyes red up with darkness magic.

    The Lich was taken aback by both Lith¡¯s eyes and their apparent familiarity.

    "Do I know him, Ratpack?" Zolgrish turned to a small being that was following him, being careful to remain hidden behind the Lich¡¯s vest.

    "He¡¯s the Ranger called Scourge, master! You fought together against the usurpers."

    The creature didn¡¯t resemble anything Tista or Nalrond had ever seen before. Ratpack was a small humanoid, barely 1.3 meters (4¡¯3") tall, with pale grey skin and thick grizzled hair.

    Judging by his appearance and his voice, Ratpack seemed to be a male. He had small pointed ears, pitch-ck eyes, and was wearing a yellow mage¡¯s robe. Despite his jagged teeth and the ws at the end of his limbs, it looked more scared than dangerous.

    "It seems you¡¯ve be wiser and stronger, Stooge." Zolgrish¡¯s trademarkck of care for names seemed to be unchanged. "Let¡¯s see how much."

    The Lich left the Adamant staff into Ratpack¡¯s hands and stepped forward while Lith took a deep breath to calm down.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s hope that Ka¡¯s teachings work on this madman as well.¡¯ He thought.

    Zolgrish eyes red up with darkness magic as well, standing right in front of the human Archmage before offering Lith his open right hand. Lith pped it with his own and went for a backhand palm strike to which Zolgrish replied in kind.

    The amount of mana the two opponents released was enough to make the air vibrate and cause the body hair of those who witnessed the sh to stand up. Tista and Nalrond held their breath while weaving their best spells, ready to intervene the moment the fight started.

    Yet instead of conjuring magic, the two men bumped their right fists up, down, and then frontally.

    ¡¯Okay, now make a full spin, and as soon as you are done lift your left foot and touch it with your right hand.¡¯ Solus thought.

 Chapter 976 Madness for Hire Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 976 Madness for Hire Part 2</h4>

    The scene left all the three spectators speechless, especially because the two alleged enemies moved in unison. They held their nose while bending their knees and moved their upper body in a wave motion as if they were drowning.

    After that, they abruptly stood up, making a finger gun with their left hand that shot a beam of light they both dodged and said:

    "Dead on time."

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re really one of us, Scrooge!" Zolgrish burst into joyousughter.

    "Me neither." Lith was still cringing from embarrassment.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t believe I avoided joining a frat house during college just to learn a fucking secret handshake to get along with Liches.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯What matters is that it worked and we avoided a pointless fight. We must gift Ka something nice to thank her for all the secret information about the undead society she taught us.¡¯ Solus tried to cheer Lith up, but even the kindest and wisest words sounded like a mockery when the one speaking them wasughing her ass off.

    "What are you doing here and who are those guys?" Zolgrish pointed at Scrooge¡¯s helpers.

    "I¡¯m here for the silver mines. I¡¯ve stepped up my research since thest time we met and I need both money and raw materials. As for them, allow me to introduce my servants to you. They are Thrud and Nalear." Lith lied all the way to protect both of them from further inquiries.

    "Good move, Groog. A Lich always needs someone expendable. Ratpack, go mingle with your peers. Testalos, Nimble, this is Ratpack, my assistant. He is dumb, slow, and clumsy, but he has a big heart. I know because I put it in his chest." Zolgrishughed at his own joke and pushed Ratpack forward.

    "What about you?" Lith asked while the three ¡¯assistants¡¯ awkwardly looked at each other.

    "I¡¯m not going to lie to you. I tried to recover the mines, but the copsed mountains are too big to move and they make the ground too unstable. The array was something I left out of curiosity, to see if someone had better luck and maybe exploit their work." Zolgrish said.

    "Care to borate?"

    "If it was someone weak, I would have killed them to leave no witnesses, while if it was someone strong, I would have made them an offer they couldn¡¯t refuse." Zolgrish shapeshifted into the human appearance he had back when he was still alive.

    He now looked like a man 1.78 (5¡¯10") meters tall with brown eyes, hair, and a short beard, who was offering Lith what looked like a business card between his right middle and index fingers.

    "Zolgrish Berkyx, Necromancer for hire." Lith read out loud.

    "It¡¯s my human alias for when I need shopping. I tried sending Ratpack, but somehow the cursed humans always discover his undead nature. I tried disguising him as a noble, a merchant, an adventurer, and even as a belly dancer, but nothing worked." Zolgrish snapped his fingers, changing Ratpack¡¯s outfit several times.

    ¡¯Why the heck does the Lich only change the clothes of his assistant whereas he shapeshifts himself?¡¯ Everyone thought.

    "My n was to offer my minions as the workforce. They can work under all weather conditions, require no rest, no sleep, nor pay. All I ask in exchange is 50% of the mined silver."

    "50% is a lot!" Lith blurted out. "Way more than any workforce would cost. I don¡¯t see the allure of such an offer."

    "My minions not only are loyal, but they can also defend the precious metal. They¡¯re a full package deal. Also, in case of refusal, I would kill my ¡¯partner¡¯ and renew my offer to their next of kin." Zolgrishughed.

    ¡¯I would like to point out that one has no guarantee Zolgrish¡¯s minions wouldn¡¯t just deliver the silver to him, but Liches are prideful creatures. They wouldn¡¯t stoop so low as to lie. Also, I don¡¯t want to give him ideas.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Nalear, resume the search while I discuss business with my fellow Lich." Lith snapped his finger and his assistants out of their reverie.

    "Why are you still here, Nalear?" He asked after waiting for a few seconds.

    "You mean me?" The Rezar pointed at himself.

    "Isn¡¯t your name Nalear?" Lith sneered.

    "Really? Since when?"

    "Good gods, even Ratpack remembers his own name, Nemea. Now scram!" Zolgrish yelled.

    The intensity of the Lich¡¯s bloodlust made Nalrond shapeshift and plunge into the ground so fast that he seemed to disappear into thin air.

    "If my minion finds a way to the mines, we¡¯ll split everything 70-30, costs included." Lith said.

    "30-70, you mean. The mines were mine to start with and mine are the minions." Zolgrish replied.

    "No, 70-30. They were never yours. You were just stealing from the Kingdom. Also, you copsed the mines and I¡¯m the only one who can apply for the mining rights. With the current love people has for the undead, if they find you out, you¡¯ll never get a single piece of silver without spending ten times its value." Lith said.

    "40-60, but only because I hate paperwork and you¡¯re right about the Royal permits. Not having to kill anyone who sees the mines will save me a lot of resources."

    "60-40 because without my minion there will be nothing to mine. Also, he can follow the veins or find new ones when the silver runs out!" Lith replied.

    "50-50!" Zolgrish said.

    "40-60!" Lith replied.

    "No, you thief, 60-40!" Zolgrish snarled.

    "Deal!" Lith said before the Lich could realize he had fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the cartoons.

    "Deal! 60% to you and the rest to me." Zolgrish had a triumphant tone that made Tista wonder if he actually knew math or he just reversed whatever her brother said.

    The two madmen wrote everything down in duplicate and signed each other¡¯s copy of the document. By the time Nalrond returned, they had even exchanged contact runes. He brought good news. The richest silver veins ran so deep that the ground was stable again.

    The Rezar had prepared an underground map that Lith hid inside his pocket dimension, refusing to show it to Zolgrish.

    "I¡¯ll contact you as soon as I¡¯m done with the paperwork. Don¡¯t forget our deal and don¡¯t make mistakes. If anyone catches wind of the silver, we¡¯re both screwed." Lith said.

    "I won¡¯t. I swear it on my phctery." Zolgrish struck his fist where his heart was supposed to be, making Ratpack whine.

    ¡¯That¡¯s a phctery? I thought it was just a powerful artifact. I need to study it at the best of my abilities.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Master, no sense hiding phctery if you tell where it is."

    "Don¡¯t worry, Ratpack. I¡¯m sure that no one noticed my subtle gesture." Zolgrish acted as if they weren¡¯t right there in front of him. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Groucho. Ratpack, say goodbye to your new friends, Ding and Dong."

    "Master, names wrong and we not friends. We said nothing all time." Ratpack said while another red Gate appeared.

    "They didn¡¯t try to kill you and that¡¯s what real friends do. Take a lesson from me and Blorgflux. If I don¡¯t reply to your first 100 or so calls, don¡¯t take it personally, Bongbat. I¡¯m just that busy. Bye!" Zolgrish dragged Ratpack along and closed the dimensional tunnel.

 Chapter 977 Plans and Preparations Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 977 ns and Preparations Part 1</h4>

    "That was intense." Nalrond didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry at the Lich¡¯s antics.

    The only thing the Rezar was certain of, was that he needed a long bath to wash away the cold sweat he was drenched into. Even Dawn¡¯s minions were nothingpared to such a powerful undead.

    "I get that he changed your name with every phrase, but if you¡¯re Blorgflux, then who was Bongbat supposed to be?" Tista asked.

    "Always me. Zolgrish forgets even the names he makes up if they are too long. By the way, excellent work, Nalrond. We¡¯ll split everything 50-10-40, costs included." Lith said.

    "I have no money!" The Rezar blurted out realizing the catch.

    "I¡¯ll lend you the starting capital and you¡¯ll return it to me with the first profits." Lith shrugged.

    Faluel wanted him to befriend the Rezar before asking for information about the Fringes. Yet Lith had no idea how to build a rtionship without enduring life and death situations together or business.

    Lith chose thetter option because any n to endanger Nalrond¡¯s life on purpose just to save him could easily backfire.

    ¡¯You suck with human rtionships.¡¯ Solus sighed. ¡¯You didn¡¯t trust Orion until he gave you the cloaking ring and now you try to bind your Light Mastery teacher with money?¡¯

    ¡¯I do suck and you know it. Cut me some ck. Progress, not perfection.¡¯ Lith replied before Warping the group back to Jambel, where the Sergeant missing his right arm was waiting for them.

    ¡¯See what I mean? You never bothered asking his name.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "How do you feel, Sergeant..." ording to Lith¡¯s calctions, the potions the man had ingested would provide him with all the nutrients needed for the procedure.

    "Terl Snowfield, sir. Bloated is the best word to describe my condition." The Sergeant burped and quickly apologized for it.

    He was at the third potion and the first one had already been fully assimted. Terl felt as if someone was stuffing him with food non-stop, to the point that he had been forced to take off his armor because of his bulging belly.

    "Excellent." A short chant and random gestures conjured a stone chair out of the dust floating in the air.

    Lith forced Terl to sit and used an air de to rip open the Sergeant¡¯s shirt at the shoulder level, leaving everyone bbergasted.

    "You two provide him with the necessary vitality, I¡¯ll do the rest. This is how those like us should work." Lith said, referring to all those capable of using true magic.

    He didn¡¯t know if Nalrond actually needed his guidance with healing magic, but Tista surely did. Also, by using assistants, Lith had a usible exnation for what was about to happen.

    After a bit more gibberish and gestures, Lith touched the Sergeant¡¯s forehead with two fingers, activating his tier four healing spell, Bloom.

    Terl felt a sudden sting and an itch before the missing parts of his scap and vicle popped out of his flesh, reforming the right shoulder. Then, the humerus emerged from the shoulder joint, growing in length and size like a white sprout.

    Only once the bone was perfectly formed did Lith make the muscles, nerves, flesh, and circtory system grow oneyer at a time. Thanks to Invigoration, he created a mirror image of the left arm the soldier still had down to the smallest detail.

    Unlike fake mages that had toplete the procedure in one go, Lith built one piece at a time. He used the imaging properties of his breathing technique to not just regrow the missing limb, but also to give the new arm the same connections the other had with the spine, so that the mirror limb would retain the muscle memory of the original.

    Unlike true mages, his training with Faluel¡¯s meditation techniques, allowed Lith to Dominate the light element even when it was coursing through Terl¡¯s body, allowing him to not blindly follow the left arm¡¯s temte and be capable of fixing on the fly any imperfection he found.

    The same happened for the radius and ulna. First, they popped out the humerus, and only once they were fully formed did flesh and blood bloom,pleting the forearm. Only the hand was now missing, but that required special attention.

    It was made of too many small, delicate bones to create all of them at the same time.

    "Drink another potion now." Lith ordered and the Sergeant obeyed.

    Terl was happy Lith had given him a chair, otherwise he would be with his ass on the ground like most of his colleagues. The shock from seeing such powerful magic in action had brought most of the spectators to their knees.

    The Sergeant felt another sting as what looked like a white mist emerged from a hole in his newly formed wrist. The vapor grew and spread before turning solid and resembling a cobweb.

    Except it wasn¡¯t made out of silk but of bones and cartge that quickly turned into a perfectly formed hand. The differentyers of muscles, nerves, and tendons formed one at a time but in such a quick sequence that the process made Solus think of a gruesome anime transformation sequence.

    "It¡¯s done. Do..." Lith attempted to say.

    "Yes." Terl cut him short while he moved his new arm and flexed his fingers one by one.

    "Yes what? Do you feel alright? Does the arm work properly?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, you look like a god to me." The Sergeant replied to Lith¡¯s earlier sarcastic questions.

    During the previous year, Terl had studied the procedure to allow himself to at least daydream about what would happen if he could afford it. Regrowing an arm usually required six mages and about half an hour, yet for all he knew, Lith had done everything by himself and the entire process had taken seconds.

    Actually, Tista and Nalrond had provided him with vitality and the procedure hadsted for over five minutes, but no one had noticed the passing of time.

    "This is no time for jokes. I used an experimental procedure that should give your right arm and hand the same skill you got with your left. It¡¯s not much, but assuming you practiced a lot since losing your arm, it should speed up your physical therapy." Lith said.

    "Wait, are you saying that you might have made me ambidextrous?" Terl took two coins out of his pockets, put one on each of his thumbs, and threw them in the air before catching them.

    The right arm was slower and clumsier, but he still seeded.

    "Are you left-handed?" Lith had never taken the possibility into ount.

    "Yes. Is that a problem?"

    "Not at all. Don¡¯t forget to eat a lot and contact a Healer to follow your recovery. The strain from the procedure will make you feel sluggish for a while, so I advise plenty of rest. Let me know if there are any issues and if you¡¯re really ambidextrous now." Lith said.

    "How can I repay you?" Terl tried to stand up, but his knees refused toply. Exhaustion and emotion paralyzed his legs.

    "I¡¯m an Archmage and one of the four best Healers in the Kingdom. Jambel has offered me hospitality and many gifts. This is the least I could do." Lith said.

    ¡¯Once I obtain the mining rights, my friendship with the guards will smooth any mess Zolgrish might make. If his undead have even one fraction of his quirks, idents might happen while delivering my share of silver.

 Chapter 978 Plans and Preparations Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 978 ns and Preparations Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯On top of that, people like Terl will take good care of my stuff until Ie collecting it.¡¯ He actually thought.

    The man started sobbing and grabbed the edge of Lith¡¯s robe to kiss it in a sign of devotion, creeping him big time.

    "Calm down, Sergeant. There are no gods, just good mages doing their jobs." Lith said while stepping back.

    "Archmage Verhen, I know I¡¯m overstepping my bounds, but could you please visit the city hospital?" One of the soldiers that had managed to stand up said. "Winter left several people scarred and it will take a while before Baron Wyalon can afford a good Healer to take care of them."

    For cities like Jambel, it was unfeasible to move so many people to the nearest city with a mage capable of using tier four and five of healing magic. The best course of action was to pay the mage to reach the city and treat those who required professional help.

    Healing magic was no miracle. Up to tier three it simply sped up the natural recovery process of all kinds of injuries, but it was incapable of treating organs damaged by an illness, regrowing missing parts, or even fixing a badly healed fracture.

    To do that was necessary the intervention of someone who had ess to the Healer specialization that only the army, the Association, or one of the six great academies could provide.

    Lith was about to find an excuse to refuse when he noticed two things. First, Tista was looking at him with big, puppy eyes like she did when they were little. Her little brother was her hero, and she pictured him way better natured than he was.

    Second, the guard seemed too concerned for his request to be a selfless plea. Lith looked around, noticing that many of those present were holding their breath in expectation.

    Clearly, they had a friend, a rtive, or a loved one in need of help. One grateful guard would turn a blind eye to Zolgrish¡¯s antics from time to time whereas several guards might cover up even big messes if necessity arose.

    "Sure, but now I need some rest." There was only so much Lith could do without ruining his cover.

    Regrowing a limb with half the staff and time the White Griffon usually needed was worthy of an Archmage, doing more would raise a g for anyone who knew about Awakened and their powers.

    If not for Invigoration, Lith would have been exhausted. They Warped back to the Baron¡¯s guest house, where the rest of the family was waiting for them.

    "If you want to y savior, why don¡¯t you do it yourself?" Lith asked Tista. "You have all of my skills, just less experience."

    "Because I¡¯m yet a nameless mage and I want to stay that way until I decide otherwise." She replied with a sigh. "You are already in trouble with the ancient households for your achievements and with the Council for the same reasons plus Awakening me.

    "If I stand out too much, I¡¯ll offer them another target and force you to follow me during my travels. This way, instead, I¡¯m just ¡¯Lith¡¯s sister¡¯. Everyone underestimates me and you don¡¯t have to worry about me. It¡¯s a win-win."

    "Great thinking." Lith nodded. "I would still like you two to apany me to the hospital. We¡¯ll work faster and I could use some help to not abuse Invigoration too much."

    "Can you teach me?" Nalrond said. "In all my years as a healer, I¡¯ve never seen such a technique. Regrowing a limb is easy, but they are usually a nk, clumsy te whereas the one you made already had a certain degree of coordination."

    Nalrond was part of the werepeople, an artificial hybrid between a human and a magical beast. He had two mana cores which allowed him to use all elements like a human and to use true magic like a magical beast.

    Yet hecked the beast¡¯s instinct and the skills of an Awakened. On top of that, he couldn¡¯t even Awaken because his two identities were more stacked together than fused.

    "Sure thing." Lith was d to share his knowledge about anatomy and the spells he had created for his students at the White Griffon with the Rezar.

    That way, once their roles were reversed and Nalrond taught him Light Mastery, Lith¡¯s request of sharing with him the Rezar¡¯s personal spells would sound fair.

    ¡¯Why waste time to reinvent the wheel when I can ess the collective knowledge of a tribe who practiced Light Mastery for centuries? I bet they have spells even Manohar can only dream of.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯By my maker, I hate you so much when you act like this. Progress my stone ass!¡¯ Solus rebuked him.

    Lith ignored her and handed Kam the map Nalrond had drawn of the underground silver veins. As a Royal Constable, rules, regtions, and bureaucracy were her bread and butter.

    The more information she had, the easier it was for her to cover all bases and fill all the paperwork necessary to make any im the local nobles could make on Lith¡¯s future business groundless.

    Later, that same afternoon, Lith had Baron Wyalon apany the whole Verhen family to the city hospital.

    "Aran, Leria, I can¡¯t bring you on the battlefield with me, but at least I can show you what your big brother does when he is away from home." Lith said while taking the children inside their first hospital ward.

    ording to Solus, their mana cores were growing nicely, almost at the same rate as Lith when he was their age, and used umtion. ording to her estimates, they were likely to reach the yellow core of a magico in a few years andter maybe even a green or more powerful mana core that would allow them to attend one of the six great academies.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll have the time to teach and guide the children in the ways of magic, but I don¡¯t want them to grow up as spoiled brats. Magic is a gift that no one should take for granted. They must realize how lucky they are.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The ward was filled with people that needed constant care either due to wounds too severe to be cured in one session without depleting their life force or to diseases of which normal healers could only treat their symptoms.

    Everyone on Mogar could use magic, but powerful mages were rare and among them those who also had enough talent to learn a specialization were even rarer. Most of them would be nobles or serve influential households and trade their magical skills in exchange for political power.

    The rest would join the army, the Mage Association, or devote their life to magical research. A mage who spent even a bit of time helping others was about as rare as finding a unicorn holding a pot of gold under a rainbow.

    "Why are these people sick?" Aran turned up his nose at the smell of disinfectants and blood that filled the air.

    "Because not everyone has a mage for a brother or uncle." Lith exined. "These people are just like Mom and Dad, but less lucky."

    "Why did you bring us here? This ce is not cool, it¡¯s smelly and sad." Leria asked, feeling guilty for her tailor-made clothes that stuck out like a sore thumb amid so much misery.

 Chapter 979 Gods Among Us Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 979 Gods Among Us Part 1</h4>

    "Because whenever I get back home, the first thing you ask me for is toys. Because I want you guys to realize that violence isn¡¯t cool. Whenever I was called to fix a mess, a monster had made lots of people miserable.

    "Even after I defeated the monster, its victims were still in need of help. Leria, Aran, this is life outside of our vige. If one day you¡¯ll wield the same power I have, I want you to remember this ce.

    "Magic is but a tool. It doesn¡¯t make its owner better or more righteous than others, just luckier." Lith said to both Aran and Leria.

    Then, he walked through the ward, needing only one touch to diagnose the problem and another to fix it. He left patients who had damaged organs or missing fingers to Nalrond, exining to him how to use the information obtained via the diagnostic spells Lith had taught him to its fullest.

    "Before I introduced the study of anatomy, even treating aminuted fracture required tier four magic. By leaving to the patient¡¯s body the task of putting the bone fragments in ce, they would usually do a lot of damage in the process.

    "Now, however, a Healer can determine their position and decide the best course of action. If there is a clear path to the bone, the fragments can be guided, dealing minimal damage.

    "Otherwise, it¡¯s better to break them down to theirponents and regenerate the bone by using the fragments as nutrients." Lith said.

    Tista, instead, took care of those affected by congenital diseases, relieving them from the symptoms or curing the illness itself whenever she was capable of it.

    "The difference between a professional Healer and a rejuvenator like me, is that, unless they alter its life force, the former can only help the body of their patient what it¡¯s supposed to do whereas I don¡¯t need tier five magic to cause changes.

    "So, for example, when treating someone that suffers from the consequences of aging, only a rejuvenator can stimte the body to fix itself ording to how it was when it was younger.

    "The information is still there, but it has been overwritten over time so that some conditions are now considered normal. What you have to do is to restore that information by spotting every single anomaly and making the body stop considering them as normal.

    That way, the patient¡¯s metabolism doesn¡¯t just heal the damage, but returns the body to the state it was before being injured.

    "Another example is a badly healed fracture that leaves a leg crippled. Tier three magic is useless at that point because the fracture has naturally healed. A professional healer will be forced to break the bone again and then fix it properly, but then the patient will still bear the consequences of both fractures.

    "A rejuvenator, instead, will make the body remember how the limb was supposed to be. The bone will then reassemble itself as if it was never broken in the first ce."

    Many Healers and patients tried to understand what Lith was saying, but without Invigoration or the spells he had invented that simted the effects of his breathing technique, none of his teachings made sense.

    Together, the three Healers managed to clear a couple of wards before exhaustion became unbearable.

    Lith had forbidden Tista to use Invigoration, so that her body would be forged by enduring the use of so many consecutive spells and her mind would get used to retaining its focus even when she was tired.

    He knew from experience that using Invigoration wasn¡¯t always possible and he wanted Tista to be capable of healing herself in the case her throat was damaged. Lith had seen too many Awakened die at his hand because they relied too much on their breathing technique.

    Lith and his family spent the rest of their vacation in Jambel peacefully. He used the time while the others took the afternoon nap to visit the local hospitals and teach his two apprentices as much as he could.

    Baron Wyalon was moved by their dedication and Lith was d to earn the respect of the man who would be in charge of supervising his mines while also finally having the opportunity to put Tista¡¯s skills to the test. Two birds with one stone.

    A few days before they went back to Lutia, the Verhens were going to the bakers¡¯ district to buy a few sweets as souvenirs for their friends back home when screams and the sounds of galloping horses filled the air.

    "There must have been an ident. Damn nobles and their carriages." Lith said.

    Most people moved on foot, and theck of traffic made them careless. That coupled with the rush of coachmen who just like their masters gave little value to human life was the recipe for a disaster.

    Yet what Lith saw darting from around a corner wasn¡¯t a stagecoach nor a young dandy on top of his purebred. It was a column of raiders rushing uptown, toward the Baron¡¯s mansion.

    "What the heck is a bunch of criminals doing here? There¡¯s nothing worth stealing in Jambel." Lith said, regretting to have kept his visit a secret.

    No one in their right mind would assault a city with an Archmage.

    Yet until his apprenticeship with Faluel started, his Awakened rivals could still exploit the resentment that old and new magical bloodlines had against Lith for their ends.

    Lith didn¡¯t want to offend all those nobles whose offer for hospitality he had turned down, so he had asked the Baron to not divulge his whereabouts. That coupled with the still lingering winter and Jambel¡¯s remote location guaranteed that no one would learn about his vacation until it was toote.

    "It must be for the Baroness¡¯ birthday." Raaz said. "The Baron told me that, this time of the year, all the local goldsmithse here to give him the opportunity to pick the best present for his..."

    Lith had used air and spirit magic to make sure that his family was safe on the sidewalk, but not everyone had the cold-blood to consider a mercenary group as a minor annoyance ad react ordingly.

    Out of fear, a parent failed to grab his son and drag him out of the road before the young man was run over by one of the horses.

    Even under normal circumstances, Lith had no care for the life of a stranger. Now that his family was on the line of fire, the whole Mogar could burn for what he cared.

    Yet once he turned around after making sure that everyone was safe and sound behind him, Lith¡¯s eyes fell unconsciously on the fallen youth. He had brown hair, a cracked skull, and was bleeding from his mouth due to internal injuries.

    Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe it was the cruel hand of fate, but between his wounds and the older brother holding the young man¡¯s broken body, the scene was exactly as Lith imagined it would have been if he had been there for Carl after the hit-and-run.

    His pupils dted and his breath became ragged as thest images of histe brother shed in front of Lith¡¯s eyes. He started to turn his head from the youth to Aran non-stop, trying to calm down.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not Carl, your brother is dead. You have only one little brother now and his name is Aran. He needs you now, so don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡¯ Lith thought while a cold sweat drenched his clothes.

 Chapter 980 Gods Among Us Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 980 Gods Among Us Part 2</h4>

    No matter how hard Lith tried to hold back, his mind kept slipping back in time, to that dreadful night. Then, one of the invaders noticed Elina¡¯s golden ne and steered his horse while extending his hand to rip it off.

    Unfortunately for him, Elina had picked up Aran to make sure he wouldn¡¯t run away in panic and was holding the child in her arms. All Lith could see was a hand aimed at his mother¡¯s neck and a car rushing against his little brother.

    Lith¡¯s shadow came to life as he Blinked in front of the thug with War between his hands while the angry de was still enveloped in emerald mes from its summoning.

    A single sh was all Lith needed to cut down both the horse and its rider. They didn¡¯t shed a drop of blood thanks to the fire and darkness coursing through War. The corpses turned into a fine mist before even touching the ground as if they had never existed.

    At the same time, the obscurity surrounding Lith spread out like a ck sun and infected with spirit and darkness magic all the other shadows it touched. No matter if they belonged to a streetlight, a building, or a person, all the shadows joined together and enveloped the area.

    "Close their eyes! They must not see this." That was all Lith managed to say before he Blinked again.

    To the raiders, it was as if they were under the attack of an entire army. Lith seemed to be everywhere at the same time, striking without any notice and killing many with just a swing of his de or hand.

    The darkness made it impossible to see further than a few meters, so the raiders slowed down and regrouped to leave no blind spot. Their horses were well-trained and had seen enough magic to not panic.

    Keeping a cool head while assuming a perfect formation didn¡¯t spare them from their fate. It was the horses, not the men who formed the circle, which left plenty of space behind them for Lith to appear and decapitate them all at once with a circr swing of his de.

    "There!" A woman in her early thirties pointed at Lith with her wand, unleashing a stream of tier three lightning bolts.

    Herrades followed her lead, conjuring a full-blown thunderstorm before War had yet to cut thest neck. To thrive in the harshness of the north. violence and bravado weren¡¯t enough.

    Even bandits were well trained and equipped.

    Lith tried and failed to activate Dominance. The lightning bolts were too many and too fast for his amateurish technique. Even his blue core coupled with his mastery over air magic wasn¡¯t enough to control so many powerful spells at the same time.

    Yet, he wasn¡¯t alone.

    The angry de attempted to support its master¡¯s Dominance, but having no idea how the ability worked, the sword failed as well. Yet War grasped Lith¡¯s intentions and activated the World Mirror ability that Orion had infused the de with after perfecting the enchantment.

    World Mirror was boosted by Lith¡¯s and War¡¯s willpower, allowing it to absorb the thunderstorm inside the de for a split second before sending it back against its casters after reinforcing the spells with Lith¡¯s mana.

    Each bolt of lightning was now so powerful that it killed its target despite the raiders wore enchanted protections.

    The remaining marauders couldn¡¯t see a thing, but they could still hear the death cries and recognize the familiar voices. On top of that, each one of them knew what the smell of ozone mixed with that of barbeque meant.

    "We¡¯ve been set up! Jambel has mages. Retreat! We must..." The man leading the charge froze in horror as his own shadow covered his mouth with one hand while chocked him with the other.

    The shock of seeing his own face twisted into a grimace of hate, staring at him through the white holes that reced its eyes, made him unable to resist. Seeing the ck mass attacking their leader, the raiders thought it was an undead.

    They lunged at the shadow, only to kill theirrade.

    "What the heck is that thing?" A woman asked after noticing that her ax met no resistance while passing through the living shade.

    Their horror turned into despair when ck hands emerged from the ground, dragging the horses and their riders down while sucking their life force. Only then did they notice the white eyes belonging to the invisible army surrounding them.

    When the sun returned, there was no trace left of the invaders. Even the young man between his big brother¡¯s arms was now as fit as a fiddle.

    "Are you alright?" Lith returned by his family¡¯s side while his anger made clouds cover the sky and lowered the temperature by several degrees.

    "Yes." Raz nodded, half scared and half proud of his son.

    For most of them, it was the first time seeing him as a fighter instead of a Healer. They had listened to Lith¡¯s tales about his fights, but not even holograms had prepared them for the brutality that a single swing of War held.

    Aran and Leria were still crying, whereas the triplets had slept through the events as if nothing had happened.

    "Bring them home and protect them until my return. I¡¯ve seen this scheme in the past. Half of the bandits reach the target while the other half keeps the city gates open." Lith said to Tista and Nalrond before warping to Jambel¡¯s entrance.

    The streets were on fire because the marauders had set everything aze to force the militia to split their focus. Between the burning houses, the injured citizens, and the enemies fighting for the control of the walls, Baron Wyalon had his hands full.

    Lith appeared above the gates, understanding what had happened at a first nce. The first wave had disguised themselves as merchants and taken down the gatekeepers while the rest of their forces rushed out of their hiding spot.

    Judging by how fast and efficient they were, the invaders had carefully prepared the heist by learning the guards¡¯ routine and waiting for the moment when the security was morex, high noon.

    Many cities had be too used to fighting mostly undead, and with the sun shining bright above their heads, the guards felt overconfident.

    Lith recognized many of the fallen soldiers. Some were rtives of those he had healed, others he had cured himself. He started to breathe regrly, conjuring with Invigoration a pir of blue light that connected the ground with the thunderclouds.

    With each breath he took, the storm grew stronger. With each breath he took, he separated allies from enemies.

    "Mjolnir!"

    Lith raised his hands and a natural lightning struck him. It coursed through his body, dealing him no harm as it was split into countless bolts that reached their marks with surgical precision.

    The current formed a tidal wave that swept the ground and reached even those who were still fighting inside the city walls. Yet only the invaders died. The battle and the thunderp ended at unison.

    Lith lowered his arms, making the clouds disappear along with the mana controlling them. He came down slowly, needing only a wave of his hands to put out the fires and rescue those who had remained trapped inside their own homes until that moment.

    "Did you see that, son?" Baron Wyalon said to Kotu while they were providing first aid to the injured. "That¡¯s why there¡¯s no need for prayers. You don¡¯t have to look up in the sky to see gods. They already walk among us."

 Chapter 981 Cold War Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 981 Cold War Part 1</h4>

    Valeron, Capital of the Griffon Kingdom, Throne Room.

    The Royal Court was in an uproar, torn between the reappearance of an old enemy and the never-ending strife between the ancient and the new magical households. A conflict that was only getting worse as the Ernas¡¯s and the Deirus¡¯s factions shed more furiously by the day.

    Phloria taking a sabbatical despite the fact that the undead invasion was far from being resolved had added fuel to the fire. She had disobeyed hermanding officer and abandoned her duty, an unprecedented act that made the matter of closing her trial even more urgent.

    "Lady Ernas needs to be dishonorably discharged and sentenced for her crimes. Otherwise, all those who disagree with thews of the Kingdom will follow her lead and ignore their orders out of petty grudges." Archmage Deirus called Phloria only by her family name, disregarding all of her achievements as both army officer and mage.

    "Petty grudges?" Jirni echoed the words with her voice filled with contempt. "Lord Deirus forgets to mention that thews of our Kingdom guarantee Captain Ernas a speedy trial.

    "Yet first she was suspended for months before being forced to resume duty because her country needed her skill and talent. Then she got stuck with the same workload as everyone else despite being treated as a traitor and kept in a limbo for over a year now.

    "Now that a new equilibrium with the Undead Courts has been reached and the conscription is no longer needed, Captain Ernas has simply asked to either get a sabbatical or an honorable discharge.

    "This Court can¡¯t demand her to keep risking her life while all her merits and promotions are frozen.

    "Not only does she deserve to be acquitted from all those ridiculous charges, but also apensation for the service given and an apology for the unfair treatment she received."

    "Acquitted over my dead body!" Archmage Onia, Headmistress of the ck Griffon said. "Six Archmages, each one a pir of the magicalmunity, died in Kh because of her ipetence. As the representative of the academies, I demand justice!"

    "A pretentious im since the Mefaal Household didn¡¯t press charges and neither did the White Griffon." Yondra¡¯s husband said. He wasn¡¯t willing to let histe wife¡¯s name be used for political ys.

    "Enough!" King Meron mmed his palm on the armrest of his golden throne. "Both parties have expressed their opinion many times and the only thing you agree on, is that the trial of Captain and Mage Phloria Ernassted too long.

    "The Queen and I agree as well. We¡¯ll let you know our decision after carefully pondering all your arguments."

    His face was stern and confident, yet reality couldn¡¯t differ more.

    ¡¯This is bad, dear.¡¯ He said to the Queen via their mind link. ¡¯On the one hand, Jirni is right. The army has no right over her daughter now that the crisis is over. Forcing a mage to do anything withoutpensation sets a dangerous precedent that might lead to losing our best elements.

    ¡¯On the other hand, Headmistress Onia is also right. The death of so many Archmages cannot go unpunished. Someone has to take the me for what happened and pay the price.¡¯

    ¡¯I know.¡¯ Sylpha replied. ¡¯That¡¯s why I assigned to Phloria¡¯s unit only high-profile missions. Not to punish her, but because I hoped that she would achieve something so great that it would make Kh¡¯s incident pale inparison.

    ¡¯Something like Lith¡¯s exposing the Bright Day¡¯s ploy or revealing the threat of the Golden Griffon. We wouldn¡¯t have been able to make him an Archmage if not for such outstanding results.

    ¡¯s, she wasn¡¯t lucky enough and despite her aplishments, she¡¯s not nearly in the clear.¡¯

    Sylpha couldn¡¯t believe that if not for Kh, Phloria would have already been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, if not even raised to the status of Great Mage as well.

    "Yet the reason you¡¯re here is to discuss the eventuality of Balkor¡¯s return." Meron said. His telepathic conversation with his wifested barely the blink of an eye.

    The King¡¯s words triggered an even bigger uproar that ended only when the Queen activated one of the arrays in the room, forcing everyone to kneel and shut up.

    "If you keep behaving like children, then I¡¯ll treat you as such." She said. "As you know, under the cover of the night, several youths from the most powerful magical bloodlines of the Kingdom have been crippled.

    "Their assants maimed their bodies beyond what even tier five light magic can heal. Not only were their injuries deliberately so cruel that the youths need a rejuvenator, but they were poisoned with an unknown substance that crippled their magical prowess.

    "ording to our esteemed Royal Healer, it will take them months, if not years to recover. Also, this card was left on the scene of every one of the attacks."

    Sylpha showed a simple piece of paper, bearing a single word that struck fear in the hearts of all of those present. It said: "Future."

    "The Balkor department confirmed that this is his penmanship and that the venom employed is a variant of that he used during his previous attacks. That¡¯s why we¡¯ve asked you toe here.

    "We¡¯re all survivors and if the god of death is really back, then we must stick together. To prevent further chaos, I¡¯ll allow you to speak one at a time."

    Several hands were raised and the King picked one per faction.

    "Your Majesty, with all due respect, I don¡¯t believe it¡¯s true." Archmage Deirus said. "Crippling instead of killing is not how Balkor operates. On top of that, I find it suspiciously convenient that only the enemies of Archon Ernas have been targeted."

    Given the seriousness of his allegations, Sylpha allowed Jirni to reply.

    "I understand better than anyone else the cruelty of seeing a talented youth¡¯s future destroyed for petty reasons, so I¡¯ll forgive Archmage Deirus for his cruel words." Her voice sounded pained butpassionate.

    "That said, I¡¯d like to remind you that my family has been the victim of several attempts performed by unknown assants as well, and so happened to many of my friends." Many heads nodded at Jirni¡¯s words.

    After she had captured Kan the Vampire and destroyed the branch of the Dawn Court in Othre, the undead had spared no effort to kill both her magicless sons, Gunyin and Tulion.

    Their detail wasposed of men of the Queen¡¯s corps and Orion¡¯s best students while their staff was actuallyposed of members of Jirni¡¯s Myrok household. When the most stalwart defenders and the deadliest assassins in the Kingdom joined forces, only death awaited their enemies.

    "The only reason why we have suffered no casualty is that none of our heirs is so profligate that they need to ditch their detail in order to indulge in their vices. Besides, the strategy you described is hardly a novelty.

    "It¡¯s what the undead have done for centuries when they want to forcefully recruit someone and bend their families to their will. It¡¯s likely that Balkor is helping the Courts to strengthen their position inside the Kingdom.

    "The fact that the god of death isn¡¯t capable of fighting on his own anymore is well known, just like his undying hate for all of us. The real question is why my esteemed colleagues seem more interested in pointing fingers rather than finding a cure for their heirs."

 Chapter 982 Cold War Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 982 Cold War Part 2</h4>

    "The Kingdom is blessed with four rejuvenators, yet none of them has been called for help. I can¡¯t help but wonder if it¡¯s because the Undead Courts already got what they wanted." Jirni said.

    Her words instilled the doubt that Deirus¡¯s side might hide several snakes in the grass. The Royals knew of the ongoing cold war between the Ernas and the Deirus, yet they couldn¡¯t dismiss Jirni¡¯s allegations lightly.

    "We did call them, but they all belong to the White Griffon, Captain Ernas¡¯s academy, and they refused to help." Headmistress Onia said once the Queen allowed her to speak. "Mage Verhen said..."

    "Archmage Verhen." Sylpha corrected Onia and raised the pressure of the array so much that the Headmistress almost kissed the floor.

    "Archmage Verhen said things I dare not to repeat in this hall. Marth and Vastor managed to restore the body of the only youth they epted to visit, but imed to be incapable of cleansing the venom. As for Manohar..."

    "It¡¯s mister Manohar to you." The Mad Professor corrected Onia and mmed her face on the floor with one of his constructs.

    "Manohar!" The Royals rebuked him in unison. "The Headmistress is our honored guest and you¡¯ll treat her with the respect she deserves."

    "Isn¡¯t that what I just did?" He sounded honestly confused.

    "By the Great Mother." Meron clenched his temples that felt as if they were about to burst open such was the headache the god of healing gave him.

    ¡¯Why every time I want him to be here, he¡¯s absent whereas he never misses an audience when I want him out of my hair?¡¯ The King thought.

    ¡¯This man is a curse and a blessing at the same time.¡¯ Sylpha replied.

    "Why did you refuse to help them?" The Queen asked.

    "Because even though I don¡¯t like the old hag Ernas, I like that bunch of has-beens even less. I mean, unless we go down their family tree, theirtest achievement is lighting their own farts, yet they act all high and..."

    "Manohar!" The Royals cut him short.

    "I mean, this lovely granny and I have our differences..." He pointed at Jirni, who couldn¡¯t get angry since Gunyin had given her grandchildren for a few years now. "...but we respect each other, whereas I don¡¯t even know those guys.

    "I¡¯ve got no obligation to help them, unless your Majesty orders me otherwise, of course." The god of healing gave the Royals a small bow, hoping for the best.

    With each order the Royals gave him, one of his escapades would be pardoned. After clearing five branches of the Undead Courts and chasing Night out of the Kingdom, Manohar only needed a couple of pardons to get out of hot waters.

    "Not yet. The Balkor department and all academies are studying the new venom as we speak. They only need some time and luck to figure it out." Sylpha shook her head, making the nobles groan.

    Manohar had recently returned. Giving him the means to safely run away again was a terrible idea.

    "I¡¯d like to point out that, even though Archon Ernas is right about the Undead Courts crippling youths to discipline their families and about how it was due to the victims¡¯ stupidity that the attacks were sessful, some of the witnesses im to have seen a diminutive figure dressed in ck escape from the crime scene." Duke Nuragor said once the King gave him permission to speak.

    He was Kallion¡¯s father and his grudge towards the Ernas ran deep. The Duke was already nning his son¡¯s marriage with Phloria when he had received the news that she had not only ended their rtionship, but also humiliated Kallion in front of the Royals.

    "Are you suggesting that I did it?" Jirni was outraged at the usation.

    "The assant worked alone, was short, and your world-renown needles would match the puncture wounds that crippled those poor youths. So yes, the thought that you might want to get even with us crossed my mind more than once." The Duke said.

    "That¡¯s impossible." The King said while sweeping the air with his arm to firmly reject such an idea. "Archon Ernas works around the clock and is rarely alone. There are plenty of witnesses who can confirm where she was during most of the attacks.

    "More than once she was here, to update us about thetest developments of her investigations." The King¡¯s words put no one at ease, they only made Jirni appear as an even more fearsome opponent to her enemies and allies alike.

    They were certain that she was behind the attack and that she had left on purpose enough clues to be recognized. Except for the Royals, all those present believed that she was sending a message that said:

    "If you destroy my daughter¡¯s career, I¡¯ll destroy your children¡¯s lives and with them the future of your households."

    Everyone knew how hard it was to rece a magically talented heir who was also a good ruler for theirnds. Vn Deirus was the living proof of how three generations of hard work could easily crumble.

    After seeing how even the Mad Professor had sided with her, the members of the Royal Courts believed that in order to achieve her revenge, Jirni had agreed to work with Balkor.

    The members of the Undead Courts, instead, after she had systematically destroyed their branches in the Griffon Kingdom, exposed the identities of their elders who had remained hidden for centuries before her arrival, and in several of their champions, believed that Balkor worked for Jirni.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Forgotten Plume tribe, a few weeks ago, right after Manohar was done with his task and had epted Orion¡¯s offer for help.

    After almost losing at the ck Night¡¯s hand and seeing how versatile hard-light constructs were, Ilyum Balkor now diligently practiced Light Mastery, Creation, and Chaos Magic every day.

    ¡¯Manohar might be insane, but he was right about one thing. If Night decided to remain and fight after losing her host, if not for her wounded pride and her obsession with me, she might have easily finished me off.¡¯

    ¡¯I was too weak to defend myself even against her crystal form. To master higher tiers of Chaos Magic and keep my Creations from crumbling after a few minutes, I need to deepen my understanding of light magic.¡¯ He thought.

    Thanks to all the years spent studying both undead and Abominations, there was little Balkor ignored about the darkness element. Just like Lith, he had discovered the art of shaping light through his studies about darkness.

    The two disciplines were tightly interconnected and at high levels, they shared many more simrities than the average mage would ever think. Most people believed that each element had its opposite, whereas Balkor knew how wrong they were.

    All the six elemental energies were able to coexist in both the world energy and the mana all things on Mogar possessed. There was no conflict, only a harmony that had to be upset to trigger their destructive abilities.

    It was a mystery so deep that none of the Guardians had epted to teach him, and to the study of which he devoted every minute that he didn¡¯t spend with Leegaain to study the monster-Abomination hybrids or with his family.

    "I¡¯m sorry to bother you, dear, but you have guests. Again." Eos Balkor, Ilyum¡¯s wife, pulled the curtain of his tent open, letting sunlight illuminate her husband¡¯sb.

 Chapter 983 Blood Judgment Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 983 Blood Judgment Part 1</h4>

    Balkor worked inplete darkness so that he would be able to study the smallest imperfections in his constructs and how his state of mind affected their properties.

    Eos was a lovely woman in her mid-thirties, about 1.62 meters (5¡¯2") tall, with shoulder-length dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. The white linen dress she wore emphasized her bronze skin typical of the people of the desert.

    "Damn merchants! I spent a lifetime lying low and they ruined it in a matter of seconds. I swear, the next time theye here I¡¯m going to..."

    "First, I don¡¯t think the merchants are at fault. They are loyal to Overlord Sark and they wouldn¡¯t spread your secret like that." Eos cut him short. "Second, it¡¯s the same guy from thest time, but he brought ady friend along."

    "Friend?" Balkor was bbergasted as he was incredulous. "Someone like Manohar has no friends, let alone a girlfriend. Bring me to them, dear."

    Manohar and Jirni were quietly waiting in the middle of the vige, surrounded by armed guards ready to attack the moment the intruders attempted something funny. They weren¡¯t actually a threat to their unwanted guests, but Jirni respected their bravery and loyalty.

    Unlike Manohar, who always wore his Professor robe, Jirni was covered from head to toe by one of the characteristic traveler¡¯s outfits of the desert that left only her hands and eyes exposed.

    The turban hid her blonde hair, a shawl covered her face, and make-up made her skin look bronze. There was no way to hide her sapphire blue eyes that drawn much attention since they were a rarity for southerners.

    Balkor looked at them with Life Vision and was impressed by the fact that the neer was as magically weak as her equipment was outstanding. He led them to a tent where they could speak privately, offering them seats and hot tea while waiting for an exnation.

    "I won¡¯t mince words with you." Jirni removed her headgear, revealing her foreign origin. "I don¡¯t like you nor did I forget all the tragedies you¡¯ve put me through, yet I can¡¯t condemn your methods. If I had your talents, in your shoes I would¡¯ve done much worse."

    "I don¡¯t care what you think. Tell me why you are here and how you convinced Manohar to bring you along." The odd rtionship between the two had piqued Balkor¡¯s curiosity.

    Manohar had yet to crack any stupid joke, say something inappropriate, or act as if he owned the ce. On the contrary, he was sitting straight while drinking his tea, opening his mouth only to say please and thank you to Eos.

    Balkor could barely recognize the god of healing in the man in front of him, which made him wonder what kind of person could seed where even Sark had failed during their previous meeting.

    "I¡¯m here because our interests align. You have a vendetta against the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s upper echelons and so do I. My enemies have no qualms using underhanded tricks to get what they want and to make matters worse, they have thew on their side.

    "Which leaves me with few options and not at liberty to be picky with my allies. As for Manohar, I must thank you for showing him the importance of good equipment. He doesn¡¯t want to suffer any more defeats-"

    The word "defeat" made Manohar choke on his tea.

    "-and I need his help to make sure my n goes without a hitch. A n that requires your assistance as well." Jirni then exined what her intentions were and how she nned to use the ongoing war with the undead as a cover for her operation.

    Balkor was a smart man. No matter what lie she coulde up with, he would understand the truth the moment her n got into motion.

    "Let me get this straight." Balkor said. "You want to exploit me and the Undead Courts for your agenda, pinning the me on us to keep your social standing. Why should I help you and why do you need a crippling rather than a killing venom?"

    "Because I know the details of your deal with Overlord Sark. You can¡¯t set foot or even send a minion inside the Kingdom borders, yet it doesn¡¯t prevent you from helping a third party.

    "I¡¯m offering you the chance to borrow my knife and make those idiots tremble at your name again. As for the killing, it would mean giving them an easy way out. Every member of the Court has lost enough people to learn how to deal with grief.

    "If I were to kill their heirs, they would simply pass the title on the next in line of session. Crippling them, instead, means giving my enemies hope. To make them waste time and resources in the search of a cure while sowing discord at the same time." Jirni took a pause, letting Balkor figure out the rest on his own.

    "You want to split each household into two factions. One that wants to cure the current heir and the other that wants to rece them. A brilliant n indeed." He said.

    "Two?" Sheughed. "You¡¯re an optimist. The more candidates a household has, the more factions will form. Each one of them will seek external help to further their own agenda, leaving their households open to betrayal.

    "At some point, they will be so busy dealing with their internal conflict to be incapable of keeping an eye on me. That¡¯s the moment when I¡¯ll strike. I¡¯ll expose their plots and crimes against each other, making their households implode.

    "Yet all of my nning is just hot air unless you give me the means to turn it into reality."

    Balkor looked into Eos¡¯s eyes, hearing her silent plea to refuse the deal. His wife was a sweet woman and a mother, she couldn¡¯t even fathom how could Jirni be so cruel to innocent children just to avenge her own daughter.

    Eos had tried for years to convince her husband to let go of his grudge.

    She understood that some things couldn¡¯t be forgotten, let alone forgiven. All she wished for was that her husband could finally make peace with his past and focus on what they had built together.

    "If you want my help, then you¡¯ll have to ept my conditions." "I¡¯m not really interested in new magical bloodlines, those who I really hate are part to the so-called ancient households. I want you to add the following names to your hit list."

    Balkor handed Jirni a piece of paper containing several names. Most of them belonged to those who had sided with Deirus to stop the rise of the Ernas, some of them had remained neutral or she had never heard about them, and a few were her allies.

    "Deal." Jirni offered him her hand and Balkor shook it.

    ¡¯This list is actually a huge help. By giving those people special attention, Balkor will be the most usible suspect. Alienating some of my allies is an eptable risk. In battle, coteral damage is unavoidable.

    ¡¯After the matter with Phoria is resolved, I can ask the Royals to have Manohar cure them. It will strengthen the loyalty in our ranks and cause even more despair to our enemies.¡¯ She thought.

    After returning home, Jirni didn¡¯t share that part of her n with anyone but her cousin Dyta Myrok. They were so simr that sometimes she acted as Jirni¡¯s body double and Dyta¡¯sbat prowess matched her own.

 Chapter 984 Blood Judgment Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 984 Blood Judgment Part 2</h4>

    Jirni gave her cousin the special paper with Balkor¡¯s calligraphy, the hit list, and the venom, trusting her judgment about when and how to strike.

    The less Jirni knew the more natural her reaction would be when she received reports of the attacks, and theck of an alibi from time to time was the small w her cover needed to be perfect.

    ***

    Valeron, Capital of the Griffon Kingdom, Throne Room, present day.

    "This isn¡¯t the first time I hear such wild usations." Jirni¡¯s voice was indignant. "Yet this never before someone dared to throw them in my face right in front of my peers and the Royals themselves.

    "Duke Nuragor has ndered my name and I demand justice. I invoke the right of Blood Judgment."

    If not for the array sealing the mouths and the limbs of those present, the room would have gone into an uproar. The Blood Judgment was an ancient ritual dating back when the Griffon Kingdom had been first unified and most feudal Lords needed a way to settle grudges with their neighbors without causing a civil war.

    Valeron, the First King, had forbidden nobles to have armies of their own, yet they were still entitled to have personal guards. Each side would appoint a champion that would fight until the first blood was shed or the opponent surrendered.

    The ritual forbade the use of any kind of magic, even chore magic, and artifacts. It allowed households whocked the talent or the money to have a powerful mage among their ranks to defend themselves and also to avoid casualties.

    To avoid one challenge triggering another, Valeron had decreed that killing the opponent resulted in a defeat and that to issue a Blood Judgment, the offended party had to provide solid evidence of the damage suffered.

    The entirety of the Court had witnessed the events, putting both the King and Duke Nuragor in a bad spot. The King wanted to keep things from escting further while the Duke had no desire to put so much at risk.

    Losing a Blood Judgment meant not only to be forced to publicly apologize to the winner, but also to be banned from all kind of social events for a year and pay half of the household¡¯s annual ie aspensation.

    Bing a social pariah would cause the loser to remain out of the loop and to be cut out of the major business enterprises. It would cripple both the loser¡¯s wealth and influence in the long run.

    On top of that, the Crown would pay the penalty up front, so that the defeated party would not be indebted to the winner, but to the Royals. Not paying a gambling debt would worst-case scenario incur reproach, whereas not paying what was akin to taxes meant having their assets seized.

    Valeron had devised Blood Judgment to be as unpleasant as possible, so that no one would invoke it without a very good reason. The deeper the pockets of a noble were, the less inclined they would be to put their wealth at stake on a whim.

    "Archon Ernas, the Nuragor and Ernas households are valuable assets for the Kingdom. The Duke¡¯s family recently gave us a Great Mage. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s willing to apologize for his rudeness if you are willing to reconsider the challenge." Meron red at Nuragor while trying to solve the issue peacefully.

    Duke Nuragor had no desire to ask for Jirni¡¯s forgiveness and he wasn¡¯t scared of losing some money. He was scared of losing a shitload of money. To add insult to injury, the ritual required that the loser had to kneel.

    Between the blow both his wallet and his reputation would take in the case of defeat, he couldn¡¯t afford to gamble several generations of hard work out of something as trivial as pride.

    The Ernas¡¯s situation waspletely different. Even if they lost, Jirni would still be an Archon, Orion would still be one of the best Royal Forgemasters, and none of their children¡¯s careers would be hindered.

    Aside from being the heir of house Ernas, Gunyin had no career while Tulion was the ck sheep of the family. Phloria was already ruined, Friya was just a lowly mercenary, and Quy was an Assistant Professor.

    If someone like Manohar could still retain his spot aftermitting countless crimes and social blunders, the academic world wouldn¡¯t so much as raise an eyebrow at something like a lost Blood Judgment as long as she produced results.

    Kallion, instead, was both the heir and the only mage of the Nuragor Household. Bing a social pariah would cripple his chances for a good marriage while losing the money would force him to put his magical career on hold.

    To not share his merits with anyone, Kallion worked for no institution and used for his missions mercenary groups that epted a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a hefty sum.

    This strategy had allowed him to quickly rack merits, but it also made Kallion dependant on the family wealth to found both his magical research and the jobs he carried out for the Association.

    "Words are cheap, your Majesty." Jirni replied before the Duke could swallow his pride and apologize. "epting hollow apologies after being publicly used of assault and murder would be like admitting he¡¯s right.

    "The words of a powerful man have weight, hence they should also have consequences. Since I¡¯m the offended party, I will also be the Ernas¡¯s champion. Do you have the guts to stand your ground on your own as well, dear Duke?"

    Duke Nuragor cursed his big mouth onest time and started to think about how to exploit Archon Ernas¡¯s bravado.

    ¡¯Demanding the Blood Judgment to take ce now and revealing the identity of her champion would be a perfect move in a bard¡¯s tale, but this is reality. Rightful anger gives her no special ability and she¡¯s still a middle-aged short woman.

    ¡¯Without the magical marvels her husband provides her, Jirni is not even half the fighter she usually is.¡¯

    ¡¯Maybe this is actually a blessing in disguise. With all the money I¡¯ll get from her Grand Duchy and Deirus¡¯s support, mynds will develop dramatically.¡¯ He thought.

    "Your Majesty, I¡¯m ill-fit and prepared for this unexpected challenge." Duke Nuragor said. "I¡¯m forced to ask your help to contact my chosen champion: Lord Ifram Irehein."

    Jirni flinched hearing that name. It belonged to one of her husband¡¯s deputies who had quit the Knight¡¯s Guard because his love for money outssed that for his own country.

    He was a young, talented man that after turning mercenary had achieved many great feats and racked lots of merits that he had converted into the title of Baron with its attachednds.

    Once the King epted, it took a few seconds for Lord Irehein to step through a Gate and minutes to define the terms of his deal with Duke Nuragor.

    Jirni used that time to get changed and study her opponent. Ifram Irehein was a man in histe twenties, about 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with military short pitch-ck hair and ice-blue eyes.

    Having enrolled in the army at 16, he had nearly 15 years of battle experience and his body was still at its prime. Every muscle of his body was well-toned and trained with the discipline Orion had ingrained in his daily routine.

    Jirni was now wearing a ck tank top and a pair of light blue pants. Being barely 1.52 meters (5¡¯) tall, Jirni looked incredibly small and frail inparison with the neer.

 Chapter 985 Struggle for Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 985 Struggle for Power Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Once I would have been forced to wear a goddamn shirt with the risk of my sleeves getting grabbed. This thing Lith calls a "sports bra" is really useful.¡¯ Jirni appreciated her tank top while fixing her blonde hair into a small bun.

    The skin-tightbat gear emphasized her hourss figure, making even her opponent swallow a few times. Jirni¡¯s diminutive stature made her curves stand out and her husband wish he could murder everyone in the room.

    "You both know the rules." King Meron conjured the First Blood array, that would paralyze those within its premises the moment one of them bled.

    "The victory belongs to the person who manages the injure the opponent first or pins them to the ground. Fight fairly and remember that the honor of your households is at stake. Begin."

    Both contestants assumed abat stance, but didn¡¯t move from their respective starting point. Jirni was wary of Irehein¡¯s long limbs and him of her counters.

    "I¡¯m sorry to meet you under such circumstances, Lady Ernas. I always respected both you and your husband." Irehein said while shifting his body weight in several feints without taking a single step.

    "Sweet wordsing from someone who sided with our enemies." Jirni, instead, remained still as the surface of ake.

    "No one ever got rich being nice." Irehein shrugged, using the motion to hide the change of his stance that would otherwise signal his strategy.

    On paper, Jirni was an easy mark. Shorter, lighter, older, and with slower reflexes than him. All Irehein needed to do was to hit her once while making sure she wouldn¡¯t scratch him with her nails.

    He was aware of Jirni¡¯s craftiness and how the rules of the challenge gave her an edge he couldn¡¯t afford to overlook. Irehein focused on her shoulders to anticipate the movement of Jirni¡¯s arms and with it her footwork.

    A veteran like Jirni would always prepare both her attack and defense before moving, something that Irehein could use as a road map to victory. Yet she remained motionless while he charged forward, keeping her guard neutral as if she was focusing solely on the defense.

    "Slow." Jirni sidestepped the split-second before his arms reached her own, using the momentum to spin faster and kick Irehein¡¯s left calf with all of her strength.

    Unlike other kinds of kicks, hits on the calf instantly caused great amounts of damage and pain, making even a man as big as Irehein stumble during his charge and sending him to m against the barrier that separated the fighters from the spectators.

    "Clumsy." While Irehein was forced to use his hands to not hit the barrier head-first, risking a nosebleed, and his left leg was still partially numb, Jirni kicked his calf again in the exact same spot, forcing him to kneel.

    "Unprepared." She struck at the back of Irehein¡¯s head with a knife-hand, severing his spine and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

    Irehein fell onto the ground like a stringless puppet, screaming at the top of his lungs in fear. He felt no pain but he was perfectly aware that unless a rejuvenator cured him, that kind of injury might require months of therapy to heal.

    "Maybe no one ever got rich being nice, but you should have known that biting my husband¡¯s hand and now mine would have consequences." Jirni ignored his screams and stood at the center of the array in defiance.

    "Anyone else?" She looked at her opponents in the eyes, making sure that they got the second part of her message that said: "If youe at me hiding behind thew, I¡¯ll use it to my advantage to crush you."

    "Lord Irehein, the fight isn¡¯t over unless you bleed or surrender." The Queen replied to the man¡¯s plea for help the only way she could.

    His body was broken yet intact and Jirni had ceased her attack, leaving Irehein only one way to end the duel.

    "I yield. Now someone heals me!" Seeing an adult man groveling in the dirt while crying in despair was a hard sight to behold.

    Jirni left the array the moment it started to fade and brushed against Archmage Deirus on her way to the changing room.

    "Nuragor is done for. You¡¯re next." Her voice was a soft whisper in his ear, yet it would haunt his sleep for a long time.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Solus¡¯s Tower, a week after Lith had returned from Jambel.

    Solus achieving a deep cyan core had caused her tower form to grow bigger,rger, and had added two new floors instead of just one.

    The second underground floor, located directly below Lith¡¯sbs, contained what in the future would be his personal crystal mines. Being the closest floor to the energy fluxing from the mana geyser, the tower¡¯s basement was the perfect environment to grow crystal veins.

    The tower walls were naturally capable of condensing and focusing the world energy, which would allow the magical gemstones to grow at an elerated rate. Unfortunately for Lith, it would still take over a century to grow something he could actually use.

    The realization disappointed him, but it also provided him with an unexpected and priceless source to boost his scarce resources.

    After studying how the artificial crystal mine worked, Lith had nted inside the walls the purple raw crystal he had taken from the orc shaman and all the weaker and smaller gemstones he had found during his travels.

    The mines had a small effect on already cut crystals whereas raw ones would both keep growing as if they had never been mined and hasten the nucleation process of new crystals that would branch out those already formed.

    On top of that, unlike a natural mine, the floor was perfectly insted from external energy sources, making it safe for Lith and Solus to practice their magic without the risk of unstable crystals exploding.

    Since the mana geyser was also required to keep the tower form and fuel Lith¡¯s experiments, Solus was able to regte the flow of world energy ording to their schedule.

    "Whenever we are studying or resting, I can channel everything into the mine to elerate the crystals¡¯ growth rate, but whenever we Forgemaster something or I¡¯m not in the tower form, the process stops." Solus said while they were checking the development of old and new crystals.

    "It¡¯s still better than anything I could hope for." Lith replied. "A normal mine would require specialized workers, around the clock security, and be kept a secret to not have it seized by the Kingdom.

    "This way, instead, we¡¯ve got our own portable mine. On top of that, its ability to refine all crystals we own has not to be underestimated. The orc¡¯s crystal is so big and pure that, given time, it might easily be white.

    "Also, not only does the mine allow us to further refine even already cut crystals, but also to recharge and enhance red, orange, and yellow gemstones that would otherwise be disposable."

    To not waste a single ounce of world energy, Lith had bought lots of yellow crystals and filled the tower walls with them. Yellow crystals were powerful but rtively cheap because they were the highest tier of crystals incapable of self-recharging.

    Lith hoped that using already formed gemstones as a foundation would help the mine to develop faster and provide him with valuable resources within an eptable time frame.

 Chapter 986 Struggle for Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 986 Struggle for Power Part 2</h4>

    After they were done checking the mines, Solus Blinked them to the second floor of the tower to continued their work. Just like its underground twin, the new floor was as powerful as it was demanding.

    Lith and Solus called it the Heart, and they had spent quite some time deciding how to use the room to its fullest.

    The Heart was the tower¡¯s control panel for its arrays. Being part of Solus¡¯s innate abilities, both Lith and she could switch the magical formations on and off with a thought, giving them a powerful tool against whoever tried to attack them inside their home.

    The problem was that because of Solus¡¯s regression due to spending centuries without an owner, all the arrays Menadion had imprinted into the tower were gone. Moreover, the tower was far from beingpletely restored, which limited the number of arrays that could be stored inside the Heart.

    Activating a magical formation already imprinted required but a split-second, whereas recing one array with another more suitable with the task at hand required to cast it from scratch.

    "Luckily, your ability to turn the tower invisible and to hide underground are not rted to arrays so we have all four slots open." Lith said. "Since arrays don¡¯t discriminate between friends or foes, we have to choose carefully.

    "I¡¯d set both Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram and the Darkness Blocking arrays for defense."

    "Agreed." Solus nodded as her Skinwalker armor kept shapeshifting between her favorite day dresses. "The Hexagram is mana expensive, but it¡¯s the only array we have full control over, allowing us to hinder only our enemies.

    "The only issue with it is that the Hexagram requires our focus and will drain most of the energy from the mana geyser whenever we face a powerful opponent, making it impossible for us to Warp or use it inbination with other arrays.

    "As for the Darkness blocking array, it will also block dimensional magic and protect us from Chaos magic. If we meet again one of those monster-Abomination hybrids, we can¡¯t risk them destroying with a couple of spells the years of hard work we spent restoring the tower.

    "That said, we can¡¯t win any battle just by defending, and running away from an enemy who discovered my real nature must be ast resort. We need arrays capable of attacking without turning us into a crisp."

    The Heart could even store impossible arrays, but none of those Lith knew were suitable for their purpose. The Mirror Hall already revealed all kinds of magical devices and formations better than any array could, while the tower Warp made all mass transportation arrays obsolete.

    "Will you stop that? You¡¯re giving me a headache." Lith grumbled as Solus changed her dress once again.

    "You wear your Skinwalker armor ever since you graduated from the academy, but this is my very first personal relic and one you made for me at that. I can only wear the armor while we are inside the tower, so can¡¯t you cut me some ck?" Solus replied.

    Now that they were off duty, Lith and Solus spent a lot of time inside the tower, where she could take her physical form. No longer limited by time and space, Solus was developing her personality while experiencing what life had to offer her.

    Even the smallest things filled her with joy and wonder. Unfortunately, her na?ve enthusiasm annoyed Lith who considered any dy on his timetable like a personal offense.

    The prolonged cohabitation and conflicting personalities made them bicker quite a lot.

    "Look, I get that you¡¯re happy, but we still have toplete the Heart before being able to rx. Bing an Archmage forced our non-Awakened enemies to take one step back, but the Council doesn¡¯t care about fancy titles.

    "Until our apprenticeship begins, we¡¯re just a rogue Awakened who royally pissed off a lot of people by killing several potential heirs and causing their masters¡¯ downfall." Lith snarled.

    "Fine! Then since weck any decent means of offense we¡¯ll use the remaining two slots for the Immortal Body array and the Air Blocking array. The former will allow me to heal you and replenish your life force akin to Invigoration even during battle while thetter will prevent our enemies from flying in or out." Solus snarled back.

    "Now that we¡¯re done, will you please calm down? I¡¯m sick and tired of your grumbling. It¡¯s been years since we enjoyed such a long peace and were able to spend time with our friends."

    Lith sighed, making his favorite armchair appear behind him before plunging rather than sitting on it.

    "You don¡¯t understand how serious this is." Lith pinched his nose and closed his eyes as he tried to keep the edge out of his voice. "Our apprenticeship should have already started, which means that something went wrong.

    "To make matters worse, Phloria is about to Awaken and our studies about how to make someone who is this close to a blue mana core survive the process are inconclusive at best.

    "I¡¯m tired of watching my back all the time and being forced to wait for the damn moment when I can finally exchange notes with Faluel about every topic. Yet until the damn Council stands in my way, I¡¯ll be stuck here in Lutia."

    There was no point in traveling around just to be forced to drop everything ande back the moment the Hydra contacted him.

    "Stop worrying and think about the bright side." Solus embraced him, trying to cheer Lith up. "During this time, we taught Tista a lot of things, you practiced with your Origin mes, and Nalrond is teaching us the basics of Light Mastery."

    Lith groaned at her words. Now that he was unemployed, he had expected to have a lot of free time, whereas he had never been so busy.

    Teaching about advanced true magic to Tista and the three Kings of the Trawn woods was a full-time job while Origin mes drained a lot of strength that not even Invigoration could restore.

    Moreover, between taking care of the kids and helping Protector with the new house, Nalrond could give Lith only the crumbs of his time.

    Last, but not least, his parents expected him to have lunch with them while Kam to find him home when she returned from work. Not having to worry about Lith risking his life on a daily basis and being able to spend time with him every day made her happier than she had ever been.

    "Why are you groaning? We would¡¯ve worked more only if you went into seclusion. We¡¯ve studied the tower mines, discovering things that probably even Menadion ignored.

    "We¡¯ve reforged our Skinwalker armor using our Twin Forge technique, strengthened your house¡¯s arrays, and I¡¯m the one who teaches our disciples while your practice Origin mes until you are forced to rest to not injure your life force.

    "Don¡¯t get me started with all our Runesmithing experiments and I could go on for hours!" Solus said.

    "Fine, I stand corrected. Let¡¯s take a walk, I need your help picking something nice for Kam¡¯s birthday." Lith got up from his chair and walked out of the tower.

    The building was now over 30 meters (100 feet) high, yet it took it a second to shrink to the size of a marble before slipping on Lith¡¯s finger.

 Chapter 987 Boss Monster Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 987 Boss Monster Part 1</h4>

    That day, Lith and Solus were alone because Selia and his parents were out choosing the furniture for the huntress¡¯ new house, Protector was on a mission for Faluel, and Kam was helping Jirni with a matter of the utmost importance that would keep her from returning home for a while.

    Lith was supposed to be happy since he could spend the day as he saw best, but he was actually incredibly bored. The reason for his bad mood wasn¡¯t his family, quite the contrary.

    It was theck ofpany and distractions that forced him to admit that his magical knowledge had hit a wall that he couldn¡¯t ovee alone.

    Lith had already checked the tower¡¯s surroundings with the Sentries and knew there wasn¡¯t anyone around. Instead of Warping to his destination like usual, he could afford to take a stroll back home to calm his nerves.

    More than the Council¡¯s meddling, it was theck of a purpose that was eating at him from the inside. All of his lives he had always had a goal, something to strive for, whereas now he felt like he was stuck in a limbo.

    He reached his personal secret clearing in the Trawn woods and sat on a rock, letting the familiar scenery soothe his grumpy mood.

    ¡¯This was our first training ground, back when we had no idea you could turn into a tower.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, we have a lot of memories connected to this ce. Here I exined to you the difference between true and fake magic, you fought Irtu to the death, Tista learned how to swim in the river...¡¯ Three dimensional doors opened, cutting Solus short.

    "You¡¯re a hard man to find, Lith Verhen." A stunning young woman said while her associates moved to Lith¡¯s sides, trapping him inside a triangle formation.

    She was about 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with wheat blonde hair and clear blue eyes. Everything in her figure from her fair skin to her curves bordered on perfection, reminding Lith of Tista.

    At a first nce, she seemed to be in her early twenties, but if she was an Awakened, appearances were bound to be deceiving. The other two were handsome young men, both taller and burlier than Lith.

    Their perfect physique coupled with the focused expression that Lith associated with a true mage silently weaving their spells left little space for guesses.

    ¡¯Either one of my human enemies recruits solely stern-looking top models as their goons or these guys are Awakened.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Unless you¡¯re here to tell me that the Council has given Faluel its consent to make me her apprentice, you¡¯d better scram. I¡¯m in a bad mood today, and three jackasses invading my turf make it even worse." Lith was happy for the distraction.

    He could use some human-shaped stress balls to vent out a bit.

    ¡¯Solus, how tough are these guys?¡¯ Despite his bloodlust, he kept a level head and checked his opponents¡¯ level before doing anything rash.

    ¡¯Your intuition is right, they are all Awakened. The woman has a deep blue core, while the men have a bright cyan mana core. Their physical strength is simply unbelievable, they are on par with Treius.¡¯ Solus¡¯s thoughts were filled with shock and incredulity.

    She clearly had a hard time believing her own mystical senses.

    Lith inwardly cursed his bad luck and sprang into action. He remembered Treius all too well. The youth from the Blood Desert had merged with the ck Star, a Living Legacy that had bestowed upon him the physical prowess of a real Dragon.

    Even if the three youths had mana cores weaker than his own, Lith knew he couldn¡¯t afford to underestimate them. In the past, he had defeated several opponents stronger than himself with teamwork or cunning, so there was no reason they couldn¡¯t do the same.

    To make matters worse, his enemies had not only the numerical advantage, but also ess to insanely powerful relics that put them on Treius¡¯s level.

    "How dare you threaten the emissaries of the C..." Cy Gernoff froze in surprise seeing Lith charging at her and then sneered at his arrogance.

    She was the strongest mage in the group, while the other two had been sent to physically restrain Lith in the case he resisted his arrest.

    Cy would have dly done everything on her own, but not even Awakening could ovee the natural gap in strength between men and women if they had the same level of body refinement.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, Solus. Even though we are outnumbered, we are not outmatched. We are both much stronger than back when we defeated Treius and now we even have War on our side.¡¯ Lith mmed his fists together, making Solus assume her arm protector form.

    It covered his right arm from the hand to the shoulder, with one of the deep cyan gemstones embedded on the back of his hand while a green crystal rested on both his elbow and shoulder.

    A second stone glove covered his left hand and forearm, bearing the second cyan gemstone. The more Solus regained her strength, the bigger her physical form became, allowing her to turn into a moreplex defensive artifact.

    War appeared in Lith¡¯s left hand with a burst of emerald mes, screeching its fury the moment the blood sheath that shrouded its senses shattered. The three Awakened could feel a cold shiver running down their spines, yet they conquered their fear and activated all the mystical protections that their masters had bestowed upon them.

    Lith lunged forward, forcing Cy to move right in front of his fist.

    ¡¯The moment she blocks my right cross, I¡¯ll pivot on her guard to move behind her and use the momentum for...¡¯ Lith¡¯s multiyered attack n crumbled when Cy failed to move a muscle.

    His fist connected with her face, breaking her nose, jaw, and sending her flying outside the clearing like a living meteor. The Awakened woman bounced against a few thick centuries-old trees before stopping.

    Lith was still trying to make sense of the events when the two other Awakened unleashed several tier three spells against him.

    "Seriously?" Lith asked Solus while he used War¡¯s World Mirror enchantment to redirect the iing attacks so that the red-haired guy¡¯s spells would hit the brown-haired one and vice versa.

    ¡¯I never said they were as strong as Treius after he fused with the ck Star.¡¯ Sheughed her ass off at his amazement. ¡¯You added that part yourself. I just didn¡¯t bother to correct your mistake.¡¯

    The spells cut deep into the youths¡¯ enchanted armor, but they were too weak to deal lethal damage.

    The red-haired guy executed an overhead strike with an enchanted mace that broke into pieces when shing against War. The angry de shattered the weapon without losing speed and then cut through the youth¡¯s armor, almost severing his right arm from the shoulder.

    ¡¯Why did you do that?¡¯ Lith used the gushing blood to reform the scabbard and put War away.

    It made no sense to waste its power on weaklings.

    ¡¯Because you always fight terrifying monsters. Seeing you wipe the floor with some "regr guys" for once is refreshing. It¡¯s also the perfect asion to check how strong you have bepared to Awakened with a master.¡¯ Solus replied while ying in his head the boss theme of Ultimate Fantasy 77.

 Chapter 988 Boss Monster Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 988 Boss Monster Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Am I supposed to be the hero or the boss?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Depends. Do you feel like a hero?¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Heck, no.¡¯

    ¡¯Then there¡¯s your answer.¡¯

    The brown-haired guy saw Lith unarmed and stored his weapon in his own dimensional item as well, believing that the rogue Awakened was challenging him to a duel. Also, he didn¡¯t want to give Lith a reason to destroy his prized weapon.

    The youth performed a series of feints before hitting Lith with a left hook that carried all of his weight plus the strength from twisting his joints from the toes to the wrist. Lith ignored the feints and took the punch without moving.

    The impact made his head turn left, producing the sound of cracking bones and sinews.

    "This is just sad." Lith checked the inside of his cheek for injuries, finding none.

    The Awakened, instead, was whimpering in pain while holding his hand that was broken in multiple points.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll mark that as a "like a boss" on your personal file.¡¯ Solus giggled.

    Aside from some minor enemies he faced during his journeys, Lith had be used to expect the worst from his opponents. Be them Irtu, the Talons, Nalear, or even Treius and the six Awakened he had faced in Zantia, Lith always found himself against the cream of the crop.

    Opponents that outmatched him in experience, equipment, or who had been trained by the best masters Mogar had to offer. All of his previous enemies had been professional magical swordsmen, whereas now he faced people who were just average.

    They weren¡¯t ancient monsters like Thrud, nor fused with powerful artifacts like Treius or Ac. Theycked even the motivation of the six Awakened that on top of training daily until they sweated blood, they had been willing to sacrifice part of their life span to achieve their masters¡¯ legacy.

    "Good gods! I sent Cy and her suitors to fetch Verhen in the hope she would gain some valuable battle experience and maybe learn a bit of humility. I never expected that she wouldn¡¯tst a single hit.

    "Now I understand why you two hold him in high regard." Jiza Gernoff, Cy¡¯s great-great-aunt and an elder in the human Council said while looking at her niece¡¯s embarrassing performance.

    Both Athung and Faluel, respectively the human and beast Lord of the Distar Marquisate, had a hard time notughing out loud. Jiza was taking her fiasco with dignity, there was no reason to rub salt in her wounds.

    "Well, Jiza, maybe you should have remembered how I obtained my position before throwing the poor Cy in the Dragon¡¯s maw."

    Athung Soranot was a woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.75 (5¡¯9") meters tall with raven-ck hair that reached the small of her back. She was wearing afortable mage robe that Raagu had gifted her to celebrate achieving a territory at an age when most Awakened were still apprentices.

    The heavily enchanted clothes were loose enough to not impede her movements, but could do very little to hide her soft curves. Just like Lith, she was a self-Awakened who had a blue core and had still to learn about the hurdle necessary to ovee its boundaries.

    "That¡¯s exactly the reason why I sent her." Jiza shook her head.

    "Cy is a bright and talented mage, but because of our blood tie, she never puts any effort in her training. I¡¯m recording everything to both provide the Council¡¯s elders with the evidence they need and to teach our youngsters a lesson.

    "Gods¡¯, Verhen is right. This is just pathetic."

    "We better move." Faluel Blinked right on time to save the two Awakened¡¯s lives. Lith had snapped their necks and windpipes to make sure they died slow enough to serve their purpose but had no way to recover.

    "Okay, princess. Tell me why you¡¯re here and maybe I¡¯ll make this painless."

    Lith¡¯s words terrified Cy as his hand clutching her throat and keeping her lifted from the ground tightened its grip. She didn¡¯t like either Orton or Canto, but seeing their life force fading away was too much.

    They had tagged along to hit on her, or at least make a good impression on her aunt. She felt responsible for their demise.

    "Let her go." Faluel said while restoring the two men before their mana cores started to fade.

    "Why would I?" Lith made Cy¡¯s neck crackle like wood. "They invaded my turf and threatened me. They¡¯re still alive only because I let them."

    "No, this is my turf and you¡¯re my guest." Faluel¡¯s voice became stern.

    Letting Lith treat and speak to her as a peer while they were in the privacy of herir was one thing, but doing the same in presence of witnesses was quite another. An apprentice who disrespected his master was a sign of weakness that neither of them could afford to show.

    "I¡¯m sorry, master Faluel." Lith let the girl go abruptly, making her fall butt-first on the ground while he gave the Hydra a deep bow.

    "Our turf and our guest you mean." Athung appeared along with Jiza. "Until the Council takes a decision, Awakened Verhen is unaffiliated to any faction. Elder Gernoff, exnations are in order, if you please."

    After making sure that Cy was alright, Jiza Gernoff didn¡¯t deign her niece of a second nce. She focused all of her attention on the anomaly that the beasts¡¯ and humans¡¯ faction were fighting over whereas the undead pressed for his elimination.

    "Awakened Verhen, your several achievements and breaches of the Council¡¯sw have been brought to our attention." Jiza said. "I¡¯ve been tasked with taking you into custody and bringing you to the Council¡¯s headquarters for questioning.

    "Are you willing to follow me or do we need to waste more time with pointless fights?"

    ¡¯Solus?¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Bright violet core, a physical prowess that dwarves all Emperor Beasts we¡¯ve met who didn¡¯t weigh at least a ton, and she has more artifacts than decorations on a Christmas tree.¡¯ She replied.

    "Please, make way." Lith gave her a small bow.

    Jiza Gernoff was a woman 583 years old, but due to Awakening, she looked like she was barely in her early forties. She was 1.62 meters (5¡¯4") tall with shoulder-length blonde hair streaked brown all over and light blue eyes.

    If not for her ample mage robe instead of the army uniform and her slightly older looks, she would remind Lith of Jirni.

    Both of them showed emotions only if they decided so and they were much more dangerous than their small builds would lead to believe.

    "Not so fast. First, I have to assess your threat level. Please, remove all the cloaking devices in your possession along with any item you don¡¯t want to expose to my breathing technique.

    "Feel free to remain naked, I doubt you have anything I haven¡¯t already seen in my long life." Jiza sounded polite and monotone like an answering machine.

    Lith kept his Skinwalker armor on and stored everything else inside his pocket dimension. He doubted that it was anything new for an Awakened Forgemaster and his paranoia didn¡¯t allow him to remain defenseless.

    "What about my dimensional items?" Solus couldn¡¯t be stored because she was a living being and he couldn¡¯t risk Jiza discovering about her existence.

    "Lord Athung and Lord Faluel are here to witness that everything goes ording to protocol and to offer you assistance. Take your pick, and remember that every choice has consequences." Elder Gernoff said.

 Chapter 989 Miracles and Madness Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 989 Miracles and Madness Part 1</h4>

    The moment Lith took Solus¡¯s ring off, his life force and mana flow returned to normal.

    "A dimensional device capable of cloaking? Remarkable." Jiza nodded while walking around Lith. Her gaze made him feel like a purebred dog being examined for apetition.

    "Let me guess, your life force has been damaged in some crazy experiment, but that didn¡¯t hinder your body refinement. You must have self-Awakened for over ten years now minimum and you have a blue mana core, correct?" Jiza had yet to evene close, but her estimates were all on point.

    "How did you know?" Lith almost expected her to discover his hybrid nature as well.

    "Experience, child. I bet that right now you see me just as a big lump of energy." She replied as Lith entrusted his ring to Faluel.

    "Now extend your hand and don¡¯t try anything funny. I like you already, but I will not hesitate to kill you if I need to." Jiza spoke with such a casual tone that it triggered Lith¡¯s survival instinct.

    ¡¯Note to self, check if this woman is rted to the Myrok household.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Had you given the ring to Athung in the hope of garnering the human Council¡¯s favors since you¡¯re already friends with the beasts, I would¡¯ve been disappointed." Jiza exined as she used Invigoration to study every nook and cranny of Lith¡¯s body.

    "Only suck-ups pretend to ignore that no rtionship can be built without mutual trust. We don¡¯t know you and we have done nothing to deserve your loyalty. Your choice proves that you are grateful and respectful for the good received.

    "That or you are a schemer son of a bitch." She took a long look at Lith, wondering which one of the options was more likely.

    "You Awakened very young, trained very hard, yet you didn¡¯t make any rookie mistake and lived right under our nose for years. Which means that despite your young age you can¡¯t be underestimated. Put them on, please."

    A pair of metal handcuff with a purple mana crystal the size of a nut on each bracelet appeared in her hands.

    "Wait a minute, this is Odi magic!" Lith recognized the enchantment the moment he examined the artifact with Invigoration. Its design was modern, it used runes, and required much less magical power, but the pseudo core was roughly the same.

    "Kid, the Council existed before the three Great Countries were founded and will exist even after the Guardians will get bored with them and let them rot. If you get excited by a pair of handcuffs, you¡¯ll die of a heart attack when we arrive at our destination."

    Lith ignored her and looked straight at Faluel.

    "Yes, it¡¯s really necessary." The Hydra said. "They will lock onto your life force¡¯s signature and prevent you from channeling any form of magic. Breathing techniques included. The Council upgraded them nicely."

    Lith hesitated for a while, during which Jiza didn¡¯t so much as blink.

    The moment Lith wore them, an ugly feeling spread from his wrists and coursed through his entire body. He felt as if a huge burden had been ced on his shoulders and he had to look at the world through tinted sses.

    Only then did Jiza blink again and opened a Warp Steps leading to the Council¡¯s headquarters. She pushed Lith, making him step through it first while she kept her hand on his back to control his every movement.

    The four Awakened appeared in the middle of a courtroom with only a dock and a long rectangr table where five ancient beings that Lith assumed to be his judges sat.

    There was no space for the jury, but plenty of stands for spectators. Lith instinctively tried to use Life Vision, but nothing happened.

    ¡¯Well, the good news is that these things deactivated Death Vision as well. The bad news is that this doesn¡¯t bode well. At all.¡¯ He thought while recognizing some of those present.

    "Off with the head!" A voice that Lith had hoped to never hear again said.

    "Objection! This is not even a death penalty case." Faluel was bbergasted by such outrageous demand and so was everyone but the judges.

    "Objection sustained!" Raagu Drerian, the human representative of the Council was seconds away from destroying the physical form of Inxialot, the King of the Liches and representative of the undead. "Stop interfering with your antics, Inxialot.

    "This is a matter that concerns the entire Council, not just two races."

    She looked like a woman in herte fifties, but she had lived for over five centuries. Her long ck hair had partially turned into a silvery-white color and was held up in a chignon.

    She had delicate features, but neither her expression or her voice had any warmth. Her eyes were burning with mana, looking at Inxialot in a way that closely reminded Lith of Manohar and the Queen.

    She was barely 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall and had a frame thin enough that a casual onlooker would have been worried that a sudden gust of wind might blow her away. Yet from their previous encounter, Lith knew she had a vitality superior to that of Scarlett the Scorpicore and a bright violet mana core.

    "If he dies the session ends, correct? Which means I can go back home." Inxialot¡¯s logic was as wless as it was insane.

    Inxialot Nagaar looked like a sloppily mummified corpse, with barely enough tissues and muscles left to express how annoyed he was. He wore a tattered red silk robe with gold embroideries whose holes were masterfully patched by thick cobwebs.

    The spiders that were his tenants were pissed off from all that nonsense as well. Usually, a marble statue was a globetrotterpared to the Lich.

    "No matter how much the undead press on the matter, Awakened Verhen is not going to die today!" Raagu roared and the rest of the Council nodded.

    "The undead want him to die?" Inxialot was bbergasted. "Bunch of hypocrites! If they wanted to save me this hassle, they could have picked someone else as their representative!"

    Only then did Raagu understand, and with her the rest of the Council, that Inxialot had no idea nor care for what his faction wanted. He was there solely to represent himself.

    Many facepalms ensued on both the judges¡¯ stand and among the spectators. Only Leegaain wasughing his ass off.

    "And that¡¯s why so few among us Awakened decide to turn into undead." Faluel was in her human form and was as lovely as always. "With time and istion, it¡¯s never a matter of if one bes mad, only of when."

    "Some people are born that way." Lith replied, finally understanding what was the weight that had burdened him ever since he wore the shackles.

    Every single person in the room possessed such a powerful mana flow that, even though they weren¡¯t even trying to harm Lith, it threatened to crush him now that his own aura had been suppressed.

    ¡¯Now I understand why untrained people tend to be scared shitless by mages. I would probably have the same effect on people if not for Solus¡¯s help restraining my mana flow. On top of that, if not for Faluel shielding me, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to stand.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The Hydra had remained close to him the whole time, wrapping Lith with her aura to ease the pressure he had to endure.

 Chapter 990 Miracles and Madness Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 990 Miracles and Madness Part 2</h4>

    From Faluel¡¯s pockets, Solus would have been drenched in a cold sweat if not for her totalck of nds. Her mana sense allowed Solus to realize what kind of monsters surrounded them whereas Lith remained calm due to his blissful ignorance.

    "Let¡¯s put it this way. The more you interfere with the trial, the more time we¡¯ll waste." Leegaain said.

    The Guardian had the appearance of a lean albino man, 1,75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with snow-white hair and skin. His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil. The Father of all Dragons wore a full ck war armor that only left exposed his face and hands.

    Multiple spots of his skin were halfway turned into scales, making Leegaain look like he had tattoos.

    At those words, Inxialot sat straight and shut his mouth. The entire Council admired once again the ability of the Guardian to perform miracles.

    "Archmage Verhen, you¡¯ve been brought in front of this tribunal to decide whether you¡¯ll be forbidden from having an Awakened master and banned from the Council like the undead demand-" Leegaain looked at Inxialot, whose mouth was agape while mouthing a "Really?", yet no sound came out.

    "-or you¡¯ll finally be an integral member of our society. In the case thetter happens, we¡¯ll rule about who is more fit to fix your trouble-making character. You have piqued the interest of the beasts and the humans, so we¡¯ll give both parties the chance to present their arguments.

    "First, we¡¯ll hear from the undead."

    Everyone turned toward Inxialot, who looked at them as if they were raving mad. It took him a few seconds to remember why he was there and rummage through his notes to find what he needed.

    "Remember to water the nts, buy food for your pet, nope this is the grocery list." Inxialot said. "Another damn Council meeting. Today Raagu looks hot as usual. I should make a move within the century. Nope, this is my diary."

    Everyone went pale at those words, Raagu included.

    "Here it is! Dear fellow Council members, the used Awakened Verhen has broken several of our customs during the years and that was tolerable as long as he was just a rogue stranded among humans.

    "Yet even after learning about our society, even after meeting several members of our kin, he never bothered learning our customs or worried about our endless struggle to keep fake mages from learning our secrets.

    "During his short twenty years of age, he has shared the secret of Awakening with more people than most of our centuries-old members do, putting both us and himself at the whims of fate.

    "Awakened Verhen has also traded an Orichalcum armor with fake mages, obtaining nothing for it but a fancy title and allowing them toe one step closer to true Forgemastery.

    "For those reasons and because of how shady his past is, it¡¯s our conviction that he should be banned from our kin and left to fend for himself." Inxialot read the paper with a monotonous voice, without putting any effort to sound convincing.

    It was clear that someone had written the speech for him, yet it didn¡¯t make his arguments any less true. If the proposal passed, Lith would have been forced to go back to the Kingdom or risk facing Dawn¡¯s wrath on his own.

    "I can see from your file that you have Awakened four magical beasts, your own sister, and that you n on Awakening more. Is it true?" Lotho the Treant, the nt representative of the Council asked.

    He looked like a giant oak treee to life. Even while sitting, his treetop brushed the high ceiling of the courtroom and squirrels could be seen running up and down his massive body.

    If not for his huge amber eyes and the massive tree trunks that Lith assumed were Lotho¡¯s limbs only because they came out of his body at the shoulder and hip level, the Awakened was no different from a regr tree.

    "Even if it is true, how is that a vition of the rules?" Lith stood up, to not be forced to look up to his users. "None of those I Awakened shared our secrets nor did they draw any attention to themselves.

    "It doesn¡¯t matter how many people I Awaken as long as I instruct them properly. The reason you¡¯re losing ground against fake mages is that they work together whereas, despite your long lives, you have more factions than members.

    "You should be grateful to me for bringing talented people into our fold."

    "Well said!" Inxialot gave him a standing ovation, pping his bony hands and making the undead in the public wish they could kill him.

    "How do you answer about the matter of the Orichalcum armor?" Fe the Behemoth, the beast representative sat back and steepled her fingers.

    Her original nature was that of an Emperor Beast, so her human form was shaped ording to how she imagined herself to be.

    Fe looked like a woman in herte thirties, but she was actually 453 years old. Her waist-long chestnut hair had streaks of silver, ck, and orange all over, forming a multi-colored tress that reached the small of her back.

    She had had an oval face with delicate features, yet her bearing was that of a battle-hardened general. Fe was 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall and had a muscr yet curvy figure that seasoned warriors and women alike envied her.

    "It¡¯s true that the Kingdom didn¡¯t fulfill their promisepletely, but the Archmage titlees with many benefits, included the knowledge I needed to improve my skills." Lith couldn¡¯t tell them about War without putting Orion and the Ernas at risk.

    He knew that a few members of the Council were helping his enemies from behind the scene, and Phloria¡¯s family was his most powerful backer. More importantly, they were his loyal friends. Selling them to please a bunch of old farts he had never met was beyond outrageous to Lith.

    "I simply assumed that being my crafting process extremelyplicated, they would fail to learn anything from it. Moreover, this incident is more your fault than mine. If young and masterless Awakened like me received from the Council the means to further their research, even the basics, we wouldn¡¯t be forced to rely on fake mages.

    "You dare criticize my choice but, if not for the Kingdom and his mages, my talent would be still rotting in Lutia."

    "Do you think that I¡¯ve in so many Awakened due to dumb luck or miracle encounters? It was all thanks to my hard work and the good deals I made with fake mages.

    "That¡¯s how I disposed of the previous human Lord of the Distar region and his goons."

    Lith was referring to Gaaron Roghias, the over 300 years old Awakened who had died at his hands, allowing Athung to take both his territory and ce in the Council. Many murmurs followed Lith¡¯s words. Some reproached his hubris, most approved his results.

    "Awakened Verhen is right." Jiza stood up from the defendant¡¯s stand.

    Like Faluel, she had never left his side, yet unlike her, Jiza wasn¡¯t doing anything to protect Lith from the ocean of mana that threatened to swallow his mind.

    "I¡¯ve seen him fighting, studied his armor, and witnessed the prowess of his equipment. His Skinwalker armor is strong beyond his core, the de he used is unlike any I¡¯ve ever seen before, and he managed to craft a cloaking device that also serves as dimensional storage."

 Chapter 991 Questions and Answers Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 991 Questions and Answers Part 1</h4>

    "Even though Lith Verhen had no master, he achieved more than most of our apprentices. How many twenty years old Awakened you know capable of killing an old fox like Gaaron? He belongs to the Council. He just needs guidance."

    Jiza Gernoff¡¯s words surprised Lith and made him understand that she was actually his second defense counsel.

    "Intriguing!" Inxialot¡¯s eyes lit up as his greed overshadowed even the red light of undeath. "To ept such a im as proof, we have to first examine said equipment. Give his belongings to me."

    The King of Liches extended his skeletal hand toward Faluel, who didn¡¯t budge.

    "A mage¡¯s secrets are sacred. Lith made the armor and the rings himself, while the sword is my gift for his apprenticeship." She said giving him a usible excuse for War. "Stealing both his and my workings isn¡¯t within the purview of this court."

    "All in favor to extend our investigation for the greater good?" Inxialot raised his hand, d for the first time since he had been chosen as a representative to be part of the Council.

    Yet only Lotho the Treant raised his hand along with him, making the Lich swear in manynguages, both modern and ancient.

    Raagu didn¡¯t oppose Lith joining the beasts just to share the secrets of his magic with everyone else. She wanted to keep them for the humans¡¯ side of the Council and mostly for herself.

    Fe was on Faluel¡¯s side, and even though she knew little about Lith, beasts looked after their own.

    As for Leegaain, he was against the trial from the beginning. It was exactly because he didn¡¯t like to mess with other people¡¯s free will that he stayed out of the Empire¡¯s business. In his opinion, Lith was free to join any faction of his choosing.

    On top of that, he wanted to keep Solus¡¯s existence a secret. Leegaain not only wanted Menadion¡¯s Desperation to have all the happiness she could get, but also to observe how her bond with the anomaly affected his growth.

    So far, Lith was the only hybrid whose different natures harmonized instead of shing against each other. The Guardian hoped that by studying Lith, he could find a cure for his daughter, Zoreth.

    "Motion denied. All in favor to move on the next item on our agenda?" Raagu said, and the Council approved unanimously. Once again, the undead who spectated the trial cursed themselves for theck of judgment of their representative.

    "Very well. Awakened Verhen, wee to the Council." Fe beat Raagu to the punch and apuded him first, forcing the others to follow. "Now the only matter at hand is determining who is more suited to nurture your talent and guide your first steps in our society."

    The Behemoth then turned to Raagu.

    "By what right do humans interfere with our fellow Awakened¡¯s life? Your own defense counsel has admitted that you provided Lith with nothing but threats." Fe pushed a button on her Council amulet, making it rey the speech Jiza had earlier given Lith about loyalty.

    "It¡¯s us beasts who offered him our friendship first, and then our guidance whenever Verhen needed it. The sword he carries is proof of our bond. He¡¯s an adult, responsible mage who has already made his choice. You should respect it."

    Raagu clenched her temples while staring at Jiza with such fury that if res could kill, it wouldn¡¯t remain enough of her corpse to fit into a te.

    "Well yed." Jiza ignored Raagu and gave Faluel a small bow.

    "Always record everything when on official duty." Faluel returned the bow.

    "I would respect his choice, if not for the damage your so-called friendship caused to this Council. Despite the fact that Faluel had practically made him into her apprentice, he gave away the secret of Orichalcum we guarded for centuries.

    "On top of that, all of you can read from his own report that Awakened Verhen met and let go a Rezar, a member of the fabled Werepeople. A human master would have never given him such a long leash, nor neglected to exin the importance of the Fringes to him.

    "Your kin made us all lose ground with the fake mages and also the opportunity to learn why only beasts can be Awakened or how in Mogar¡¯s name so few achieved a white core." Raagu said.

    Both matters hurt deeply the entirety of the Council except for Leegaain, who already had all the answers. Baba Yaga was one of his fiercest rivals in the fields of magical research and chess.

    Lith was surprised seeing the allegedly secret report he had given the army appear on Raagu¡¯s amulet who was sharing it with the others.

    ¡¯I have no idea what they are talking about, but I guess Fringes are way more important than I suspected. No one seems to be aware that Nalrond lives with Protector. Faluel told me the truth, she really does respect other people¡¯s secrets.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I strongly disagree." The Hydra stepped forward.

    "You consider those actions mistakes because you look at them in hindsight, whereas I call them precious life experience. If we take our apprentices by hand and make all difficult decisions for them, then how can they ever be responsible?

    "The armor is a negligible loss. Given how quickly fake mages uncovered its secret, it was only a matter of time before they discovered it on their own or by capturing one of our criminals.

    "From the failed trade, Lith learned the importance of bonds and how untrustworthy human politics are. That¡¯s why he hase to me. As for the Rezar, I ask you to remember the history of Werepeople.

    "It¡¯s because of monstrosities like those the Odi or the Forbidden Magic usersmitted that beasts and nts have learned how to take their own lives rather than allow themselves to be captured.

    "Had Lith taken the Rezar by force, how could we get anything out of him except through violence? Even if we did, the only possible oue would be either the Rezarmitting suicide or Mogar punishing us for our transgression.

    "Forcing our way into Mogar¡¯s consciousness is dangerous at best and suicidal at worst. This way, instead, there¡¯s a chance that he¡¯ll return and open up to us willingly."

    Faluel stepped back, leaving the members of the Council and the judges to discuss her argument. Murmurs filled the room as everyone wanted to speak their mind, even guests and spectators.

    Among them, Xenagrosh pondered those ideas, thinking about how to guide young Abominations as the Awakened did. She had been invited to discuss the Council¡¯s terms for allowing the hybrid Eldritchs to join.

    Xenagrosh had chosen that date specifically because she was curious to witness how Council¡¯s justice worked and meet Lith in person. She had heard about him from the Master many times and when she had learned from her liaison with the Council that he was an Awakened, she decided to take two birds with one visit.

    "You make some valid points, Faluel, but what-ifs have no ce in history books, only facts matter." Lotho the Treant said. "Verhen¡¯s actions maybe helped his growth, but hindered us all nheless.

    "Moreover, I read this report and many others while preparing for this trial. Rezar or not, human host instead of undead or not, I would like to understand how Verhen survived his meeting with Dawn."

 Chapter 992 Questions and Answers Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 992 Questions and Answers Part 2</h4>

    "In the past, it took many of us just to drive Dawn away and a Fringe to contain her, yet Verhen stands here before us, unscathed. On top of that, I can¡¯t find a reasonable exnation for how he destroyed the ck Star or defeated thest remnants of the forever ursed Odi."

    The simple word filled the Treant with so much hatred that his foliage turned red.

    "Awakened Verhen aplished the very same things that usually require either an army or a Guardian to do. The presence of allies, be they human or Werepeople, isn¡¯t enough to exin any of this.

    "In order to determine which faction is more suited to handle our new asset, we must first understand his true nature. Otherwise, we might groom a threat that would take several precious lives to put down."

    Lotho expressed the worries that all factions actually harbored. Humans and beasts had no rush to answer those questions only because they were certain that they would learn Lith¡¯s secrets in due time.

    The master-apprentice rtionship would allow his mentor and their allies to harness such knowledge to their advantage.

    Lith sighed in relief when none of the undead mentioned Solus. The nts¡¯ representative seemed to be his only real opponent since Inxialot was more worried about the time he spent away from hisb than about Lith¡¯s destiny.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t think that it would be wise talking about my world tribtions. I noticed the grimaces all members of the Council did when Raagu mentioned their inability to be Guardians or to achieve the so-called white core.

    ¡¯Also, based on the interest they shown even for my Skinwalker armor, I bet that, if they knew that I possess Menadion¡¯s Legacy and with it the ability to tap into mana geyser, this trial¡¯s topic would turn from "Who takes care of Lith" to "I call dibs on the mage tower" in the blink of an eye.¡¯ He thought.

    "To quote one of my esteemed Professors, just because an idiot can¡¯t do it, it doesn¡¯t mean that something is impossible." Lith repeated the ursed Manohar¡¯s words, making many stomachs churn.

    "Without their precious Mana Reactor, the Odi were barely a threat. Their inability to use magic above tier three and their conceitedness allowed me to resist long enough for Quy Ernas to destroy the Reactor.

    "It took just a handful of humans and a single Awakened to exterminate them. Ask him if you don¡¯t believe me." Lith pointed at Leegaain who he recognized only thanks to Faluel¡¯s instructions.

    "The ck Dragon witnessed everything."

    "Is it true?" The other four judges asked in unison after turning toward Leegaain.

    "Yes. I had been summoned to intervene in the case Awakened Verhen failed." The Guardian snorted in annoyance. He didn¡¯t like to be manipted.

    "What about Dawn?" Lotho said. "She¡¯s not the kind of opponent that leaves openings and you had no allies. There¡¯s no way a human could escape from her clutches."

    "That¡¯s true." Faluel replied, stepping forward again. "A human couldn¡¯t, but one of us could."

    She waved at Raagu, Fe, and then to Xenagrosh, conjuring the only thing that could make a room filled with semi-immortal beings shut up.

    Curiosity.

    "Lith, show this court why you belong among us beasts, if you please."

    Hearing his cue, Lith shapeshifted into his hybrid form, starting from his hands. The mystical handcuffs restricting him became useless and he easily shattered them open by using fusion magic.

    Razor-sharp ws reced Lith¡¯s nails and talons grew on his toes and heel, making his feet resemble those of a bird of prey.

    New limbs came out of his back, with a short tail full of bone spikes growing out of his spine, as well as a set of ck membranous wings that erupted from his shoulder des.

    They stretched wide, covering the spectator¡¯s field of view for a second before starting to p and bring him to the eye level of the judges despite the hunched position that flying without magic required.

    The wings were twisted and unnatural, like the hands of a giant swatting the air below him. Lith¡¯s face was now a ck te, apparently without a mouth or nose. Two small curved horns came out of his temples while his three eyes looked at those present.

    The silence turned into an uproar as everyone stood up to take a better look at the unknown creature in front of them, even Leegaain. He exploited the ensuing chaos to study with Soul Vision both hybrids in the room.

    To his eye technique, Solus was a short young woman wearing a golden roman toga and sandals. It was an attire outdated for centuries, that Leegaain recognized as the clothes that Menadion¡¯s apprentices used in the privacy of their own rooms.

    Her figure was wrapped in two kinds of chains. One was big, thick, and made of life. It connected her to Lith through their respective mana cores, hearts, and minds. The second kind of chains was grey and thin, yet they weighed Solus down, forcing her to kneel.

    Of the six original grey chains, four were broken and were slowly fading away. Two more remained and sucked her vigor, keeping her from achieving her true potential. The energying from the first chain was amplified by her body and was slowly eroding the grey fetters.

    As for Lith, to Soul Vision he appeared to have grown bigger than ever, with two sets of wings instead of just one and with all seven eyes opened, each one of a different color.

    "This is impossible! Shapeshifting is just a branch of light magic and the shackles are supposed to negate all kinds of spells. Jiza, exin!" Raagu was trying to make sense of what her eyes showed her.

    "Verhen is a human, I checked it myself. His life force is cracked, but that¡¯s it. I even performed Blood Resonance on his parents to confirm his bloodline and I can swear upon my name that they are both human as well." Jiza replied, refusing to believe she could have made such a huge blunder.

    Blood Resonance was a discipline created by Headmaster Duke Marth that was the magical equivalent of a paternity test. Nobles used it to make sure their spouses had not been unfaithful or to expose the existence of bastard sons whereas mages used them to trace hereditary diseases and Awakened to identify their descendants.

    Using the creation of a fake mage was embarrassing, but Awakened always put practicality above something as insignificant as pride.

    "How did you escape from Dawn?" Faluel asked.

    Lith opened the scales covering his mouth and released a small burst of blue Origin mes, doubling the uproar.

    Everyone turned towards Leegaain, demanding an answer from him.

    "I¡¯m not the father. Thanks for asking." He said while blushing a little in embarrassment.

    No one believed him, not even Xenagrosh.

    ¡¯What the heck has Dad done this time? I remember this smell. It¡¯s the mix of human, beast, and Eldritch Abomination scent I found on the scene of Jarok¡¯s death. It¡¯s no surprise that a simple Rock Worm and an Empowered Abomination were no match for my lil bro.

    ¡¯The Master was right all along in wanting to bring Lith into our fold. He might be the key to the perfect Abomination hybrid.¡¯ The more her draconic sense of smell confirmed her hypothesis, the more Xenagrosh felt hope grow in her heart.

 Chapter 993 Dragon Bloodline Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 993 Dragon Bloodline Part 1</h4>

    Fe the Behemoth red at Faluel in reproach as she sniffed the air like a hunting dog on the prowl, confirming Lith¡¯s hybrid nature.

    ¡¯Curse you, damn Hydra. Creatures like Phoenixes and Dragons don¡¯t even bother joining the Council whereas their lesser cousins seek us only for the secret of Awakening.

    ¡¯A Wyrmling with Origin mes is the best apprentice a Forgemaster could ever want. Now it¡¯s toote to change my motion and request to be the one appointed as Verhen¡¯s mentor. I can only give him to Faluel or Raagu. You tied my hands, you seven-headed deceptive snake!¡¯ Fe thought.

    Raagu looked at Lith with even more greed, daydreaming about all the wonders that human Forgemasters could achieve once freed from the necessity of resorting to beasts to purify metals.

    ¡¯Lith is the first human capable of harnessing Origin mes. If his bloodline shares this trait, his descendants would be a priceless asset. We must keep him from falling in the hands of the beasts or nothing will change.¡¯ Raagu thought.

    ¡¯This hybrid could bridge between the Council and the Abominations, if not even bring humans and beasts closer. I must tread with caution and make sure my people don¡¯t get swallowed by the shift in the power bnce that this revtion might create.¡¯ Lotho the Treant thought.

    ¡¯I always wondered how a meal cooked with Origin mes would taste. Too bad they are too expensive to waste them like that. Now that I think about it, did I turn the fire below the cauldron off before I left home?¡¯ Inxialot thought.

    He had long-since hoarded everything he needed for his research and had no care for what other undead might want. The King of Liches just wanted to go home.

    After the five judges forced everyone to stay calm, they took turns in scanning Lith¡¯s second life force. If before it was just a squabble between two factions, now the result would affect them all.

    "I owe you an apology, Jiza. I have never seen anything like this and the two life forces eclipse each other to the point that it¡¯s impossible to notice the second unless you know what to look for." Raagu said.

    "He¡¯s a Wyrmling, yet he is not." Fe mumbled. "Usually, at his age, the two life forces of a hybrid sh violently against each other because they are incapable of coexisting.

    "It¡¯s the reason why by the time a hybrid¡¯s mana core reaches full maturity at twenty years of age, it can¡¯t cope with the conflict anymore and the hybrid is forced to pick one life force.

    "In Verhen¡¯s case, however, the two life forces are like light and darkness, two sides of the same coin. I believe that in due time they¡¯ll be one."

    "Maybe we should ask our guest what she thinks." Lotho pointed at Xenagrosh. "After all, he¡¯s part Abomination. Why not let them take care of him? All the members of the Organization are hybris, so they are best suited to teach him."

    Knowing that it was toote toy ims to the young man on the nts¡¯ behalf, all he could do was damage control. The Abominations were few in numbers even for Awakened standards and had already ess to Origin mes.

    If Lith fell into their hands the shift in the power bnce would be negligible. Moreover, it would make the war between undead and Abomination escte even further. nts considered both races as parasites and only wished them to be extinct.

    "No way. Abominations aren¡¯t part of the Council and I¡¯ll not give them an Awakened to experiment upon." Fe and Raagu said in unison.

    Both their factions had resorted to inviting the Organization into their fold only out of desperation. Without a Ruler of the mes, the gap between true and fake Forgemasters became smaller by the decade and with Dawn¡¯s return, the three Horsemen were reunited again.

    Each one of them could Awaken their host without fail and provide their spawns with uncanny abilities. Bytra and Xenagrosh together would solve the former issue while the unique powers the monster-Eldritch hybrids held would force the Horsemen on the defense.

    Yet if the Abominations discovered how to Awaken again and became able to produce an offspring, they would be Mogar¡¯s master race. Raagu and Fe regarded them as a necessary evil, but an evil nheless.

    "Thanks for your trust. I¡¯ll make sure to convey it to the rest of my kin." Xenagrosh sneered. "I¡¯m not going to take part in your power y, but I will not stand idly if you try to harm my little brother."

    A small burst of purple Origin mes came out of her mouth while a single gold coin appeared amid emerald mes between her middle and index finger.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith had been careful and followed Faluel¡¯s n down to a t, yet the sudden turn of events couldn¡¯t be underestimated. "What do you mean, little brother, and how did you bypass the dimensional sealing array of this ce?"

    He would have liked to ask many more questions and discuss with Solus the findings of her mana sense, but he was afraid that among those old monsters there was someone capable of spotting their mana link if triggered from a distance.

    "How dare you threaten the Council, Fallen Lord?" Lotho stood up, forcing the magical ceiling of the courtroom to grow higher to amodate the wooden titan.

    "Do you think that just because you possess an omni pocket you¡¯re a match for us? Conjure your best weapons, parasite, and we¡¯ll dly put you down and retrieve them from your corpse, just like you stole them from your countless victims."

    Lith had no idea how strong Xenagrosh was. To Life Vision, her ck core and her troll core canceled each other in a foggy mess, whereas Lotho was brimming with so much power that he appeared as a small mana geyser.

    "I gave her the omni pocket as aing of age gift." Leegaain voice was quiet, yet it eclipsed everyone else¡¯s, making the room fall silent.

    An odd feeling of cold spread among the Awakened, as if a winter storm had walked through the door, finding them stark naked.

    "What did you say?" Lotho turned toward the still sitting Guardian, whose mantle turned out to be his folded wings.

    "You heard me. She didn¡¯t steal the pocket." Leegaain stood up, and everyone else suddenly felt smaller. The only thing worse than discovering Xenagrosh¡¯s origin was facing her father¡¯s wrath.

    "How dare you threaten my daughter in my own house, after I promised her hospitality rights to settle her business with the Council?" Leegaain pped his wings, forcing everyone on their knees due to the air pressure that the gesture caused.

    Only Xenagrosh was allowed to stand and Lith with her because she was shielding him with her own wings.

    "This isn¡¯t your home." Raagu managed to stand, but barely. "This is the Council¡¯s headquarters..."

    "Oh, no. This is the Empire and everything else is an insignificant detail on the map, waiting to be rewritten." A simple re forced her to fall down again while Lotho had now shrunk to the size of a child.

    "If you want to fight the Abominations as I asked you all years ago, be my guest. If you insist on bringing them to the Council, I¡¯ll get over it. Yet threaten one of my guests again and we¡¯ll see how many are willing to face me to indulge in your madness." Leegaain snarled, and the strength in his voice made the weakest in the room faint.

 Chapter 994 Dragon Bloodline Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 994 Dragon Bloodline Part 2</h4>

    All members of the Council had be too used to the Father of all Dragons¡¯ aloof attitude and treated him as a peer. Leegaain wasn¡¯t as overbearing as Sark, nor passionate as Tyris, so many considered him an entric old man.

    However, Leegaain wasn¡¯t old so much as ancient, and he was no man at all.

    "I apologize on behalf of the undead faction and I give you my word that your daughter will suffer no harm from us until our next encounter." Inxialot said while taking a good look at his own shoes.

    ¡¯I may be crazy, but I¡¯m not stupid. I¡¯m not going to put everything I worked hard for at stake for that dumb tree.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯The Horsemen act cocky in front of the Guardians because their mommy has their backs, but for anyone else facing Leegaain without a rock-solid n is in suicide.¡¯

    After the vow, the undead were allowed to stand. One after the other the representatives of the different factions repeated Inxialot¡¯s oath, returning the room to normality.

    "All Dragonse from the same bloodline, so I don¡¯t care about who sired you, you¡¯re my little brother." Xenagrosh said the moment she was certain that no one would interrupt her again.

    "As for the array, it¡¯s a simple trick, but it requires both an omni pocket and an ability akin to Origin mes. I would like to tell you more, but Dad might kill me if I reveal more in front of so many Forgemasters." The gold coin disappeared and what looked like a business card had taken its ce.

    One side had amunication rune engraved on it while the other was nk.

    "If you ever find an omni pocket or you just need to talk, apply my rune on your amulet and your rune on the card."

    The revtion that Menadion had managed to reproduce Leegaain¡¯s craft and the raw power Lith felt from Xenagrosh while she was protecting him shocked Lith. Yet he forced himself to focus on the newly acquired information.

    ¡¯The Abomination told me even less than Xedros did a while ago, but her words weren¡¯t a riddle, and more importantly, I saw her using a pocket. I think...¡¯

    "Enough of your nonsense, Lotho. You already made us waste too much time." Raagu¡¯s words snapped Lith out of his reverie and earned her apuse from Inxialot.

    "This is a matter between only the beasts and the humans, yet its resolution can only be determined through the Council¡¯s ruling. We need to determine which one of us is better suited to nurture Verhen¡¯s talent."

    "Indeed." Fe nodded. "The only things the Council respects are wisdom and power. You im that Awakened Verhen has demonstrated poor judgment and that we failed at protecting the interests of ourmunity.

    "Yet what makes you think you can do a better job? Not only has he survived unspeakable horrors, but he has also already defeated the best disciples of some of the most powerful members of your faction.

    "In battle, brawns without brains are useless. The fact itself that Verhen is alive proves you wrong. I can find someone who will teach him how to master Origin mes, even forcing them if I have to. What can you humans do for him?"

    Personal opinions and ideals had no ce in the Awakened society. They were all too powerful and long-lived to let things like prejudice drive them on crusades to force their way of living onto others.

    They firmly believed that power without wisdom was just violence while wisdom without power was just hot air. Both of them reached their true potential in the practice of magic on the battlefield.

    Idiots who relied on raw power were doomed to fall for the simplest tricks and die, whereas sages with weak bodies would perish the moment something messed up with their ns.

    "You know as well as I do that, unlike humans, beasts rely heavily on their physical abilities." Raagu said. "The body you¡¯re now using is just a suit for you, something to discard the moment things get out of hand, whereas humans have no choice but to fight with what they have.

    "Just like you, Faluel needs her true form to demonstrate her full battle prowess and as you all saw, Lith is no beast. He¡¯s some kind of Wyrmling and his base is still human.

    "My faction can offer him martial arts suitable for his body, spells that can allow him to exploit his small size against bigger opponents, and teach him all that allowed us to be a match for your kin.

    "He was born a human and needs to reason like a human to survive. Aside from magic, you have nothing to teach him."

    "That¡¯s a fair point, but I think it¡¯s not enough. Awakened Verhen has survived this far against opponents of all kinds and sizes. He¡¯s smart enough to learn such tricks on his own." Fe said.

    Both Awakened rested their case and waited for the Council¡¯s resolution. They were both involved parties, so they couldn¡¯t take part in the vote.

    "I doubt that any further debate will make either of you withdraw your ims, correct?" Leegaain asked, obtaining nods as replies.

    "Then the solution is simple. The beasts im that they are entitled to take care of Awakened Verhen because they nurtured his talent so far, while the humans im beasts did a poor job and that they would do better.

    "My proposal is to put to test the opening statements. To do that, we¡¯ll choose an opponent suitable for Awakened Verhen and have them fight in a controlled environment.

    "If he triumphs, then the beasts are right in saying that, between his natural talents and their teachings, he will receive all the care he needs. If he fails, then the humans are right and will im their prize. All in favor?" Leegaain raised his hand while looking around.

    Lotho and Inxialot agreed to the proposal. The Treant trusted the Father of all Dragon¡¯s wisdom above all but the World Tree, whereas the Lich just wanted to go home.

    "How did it go?" Lith asked while Fe and Raagu joined the rest of the Council to define the details of the task.

    "Pretty good." Faluel returned Solus¡¯s ring to him. "By revealing your hybrid nature in front of the Council, you have achieved much with no risks. You¡¯ve given the beasts a reason to watch over you.

    "You are not just a human I¡¯m taking as an apprentice on a whim anymore, you¡¯re one of us. On top of that, the beasts will do their best to protect their monopoly over Origin mes. As for the humans, they now see you not only as a suitable heir for one of their legacies, but also as a valuable asset.

    "If you learn the secrets of the Origin mes, the ability to purify metals is precious by itself, but since you¡¯re also a Forgemaster, you have the potential to be a Ruler of the mes.

    "Awakened don¡¯t care about what race they belong, they are only interested in having someone on their side that will increase the gap between true and fake mages. They wouldn¡¯t seek help from the Abomination that once was the 4th Ruler otherwise.

    "Last, but not least, you no longer need to hide in the Awakened society. Even if someone were to discover your secret, now they can¡¯t ckmail you." Faluel was clearly hinting at Xedros the Wyvern, of which she was bing suspicious.

 Chapter 995 Peerless Predator Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 995 Peerless Predator Part 1</h4>

    "Thanks for everything you did for me, Faluel." Lith shook her hand.

    The Hydra had urately predicted how the trial would unfold, making her n work like a charm.

    At least until that moment.

    "Don¡¯t thank me, yet. I¡¯ve got no idea what they¡¯ll put you against and if you fail, all of this will be for nothing. Humans are stricter than beasts and after revealing your abilities, you need the Council more than ever. Whatever happens, ept the results of the trial." She said.

    "She¡¯s right." Jiza had never left Lith¡¯s side, making sure that no one exploited the chaos of the debate to try something funny. "If you fail and then refuse to acknowledge Raagu as your master, your life will be a nightmare the moment you step out of that door."

    "Revealing your true hybrid nature was a double-edged sword. Now that everyone knows how precious you are, they¡¯ll spare no dirty moves to force you to submit if you go back to being a rogue Awakened.

    "That said, I know that Awakened humans have given you more trouble than help during your journey, but I hope you don¡¯t resent us all for that.

    "Beasts are no better than humans. You¡¯ll find as many bad people among their ranks as among our own. The only reason why you faced mostly Awakened human criminals is that you lived in human society.

    "Awakened are tightly bound to their race of origin. We live among our kin and task our descendants with taking care of business, whereas beasts mostly work as mercenaries and hate being forced to hide their nature.

    "Even if you seed in your trial, once you are done with your apprenticeship, you¡¯ll keep meeting more humans than beasts as long as you reside inside cities. Don¡¯t burn bridges that you may needter."

    Lith gave her a small bow and then spent the time before the test talking with Solus.

    ¡¯d to have you back. I need all the help I can get to not let our ns get screwed up in case Raagu doesn¡¯t agree with Awakening Phloria.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯The monster-Abomination¡¯s words were interesting, but there¡¯s something you need to know. Aside from young people like you and Athung, every one of those present has either a bright blue core or a bright purple core.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Meaning?¡¯

    ¡¯Don¡¯t you find it odd that even old looking Awakened have a bright blue core? I mean, sure, you Awakened from birth and had an easier time adapting your body to the mana core¡¯s growth, but how can it take people centuries to reach the stage right above yours?

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t make sense. Especially considering that all Awakened we met had either a cyan or a blue core. Unless...¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Unless getting a purple core requires to meet some hidden conditions.¡¯ Lithpleted the phrase for her. ¡¯Doesn¡¯t this also mean that fake mages are potentially even stronger mages than Awakened?

    ¡¯People like Manohar naturally grow with a purple core, whereas Awakened are capped to blue unless they find a way to ovee their limits.¡¯

    ¡¯If we¡¯re right, then the cap plus the fact that even Faluel can¡¯t Awaken people with a bright blue core like Quy, limits the Awakened¡¯s progress with magic. Whatever is needed to get a violet core, I don¡¯t think it can be taught.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯There are way fewer purple cores than I expected. Moreover, based on what Faluel told us, Awakened without a magical bloodline always have a master, so there¡¯s no way they wouldn¡¯t pass down the technique in the case something happens to them.¡¯

    "Everything is set. Please, follow us." Leegaain opened several Warp Gates at once, allowing all those present to reach what looked like an underground arena.

    The ce reminded Lith of the Colosseum and to Xenagrosh of the amphitheater where Bytra hade to terms with her pasts.

    "The rules are simple. Once you reach the battlefield, the arrays will seal the space around you and your opponent will arrive. Dimensional magic works inside the arena, so you can retrieve and use all of your equipment.

    "After all, your sword is a gift from Faluel, and some of your creations are certainly derived from the help she gave you. The Council allows their use because they are proof of what beasts have done for you.

    "If you fail despite that, they can only me themselves. Don¡¯t worry about death. We¡¯ll let you fight until yourst breath, but the moment your opponent is about to deal you a lethal blow, I¡¯ll personally stop him and dere your defeat.

    "You have one minute to prepare your spells. Starting from now."

    Lith took all of his equipment out of his pocket dimension and started to weave his spells.

    ¡¯The good news is that I can go all out. Origin mes, War, my special rings, everything goes.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯What about the bad news?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯For once, no bad news. Do you think I should pull off a Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram, like against the Vampire in Othre? One minute isn¡¯t enough for me alone to do it, but there are two of us and I don¡¯t care pretending I¡¯m a genius Warden.

    ¡¯My life is safe, but what about you, Phloria, Kam, and the others? Raagu might forbid me to visit them or restrict my actions as long as I¡¯m her apprentice. Also, I¡¯m not going to let Vn Deirus have his way with the Ernas.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s worth a shot.¡¯ Solus telepathically nodded.

    Faluel knew about her existence and was willing to take Solus as her apprentice, whereas they couldn¡¯t afford the risk to check if Raagu was as open-minded as the Hydra. Solus¡¯s future rested on the oue of that battle as well.

    Leegaain was nice enough to give them more than just one minute. He assumed that Lith and Solus could use a bit of time to calm down and strategize.

    "Begin!" His voice created a golden translucent dome that enclosed the arena and Warped Lith¡¯s opponent on the opposite side of the battlefield.

    "Oh, shit." Lith had never seen something that big.

    To be precise, he had never seen the creature that was standing in front of him, not even in books. The beast looked like a lion, but it had a brown body and a deep green mane.

    Its height at the withers reached 7 meters (23 feet) and its violet eyes shone with intelligence.

    Unbeknownst to Lith, the creature was a Meneos, a monster as rare and hard to kill as a Grendel.

    Its species was almost extinct due to how dangerous they were. The only few remaining specimens left could be found only in the most isted ces of Mogar or in Leegaain¡¯s biomes.

    ¡¯I guess they took Raagu¡¯s words into ount while choosing our opponent.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Most creatures this size we faced were our friends rather than enemies.¡¯

    Lith activated Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram, making sure to epass both himself and the Meneos. He kept his breathing steady and was ready to counter any spell the beast could throw at him.

    At the sight of the array, the lips of the creature curled up in what looked awfully like a smile. Then, it charged forward as fast as a lightning bolt, taking Lith and Solus by surprise.

 Chapter 996 Peerless Predator Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 996 Peerless Predator Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways, my initial assumptions were wrong. A monster this big only needs one step to close in and one strike to kill me. It has no reason to waste time with magic.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯It¡¯s worse than that. It can use fusion magic and there¡¯s no telling how much it boosts the enemy¡¯s physical prowess. We never faced such a creature before, so I have no idea how big is the gap between you two.¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith instantly dispelled the useless array that drained his focus and jumped back while activating his tier five magic holding ring. The Final Sunset spell it unleashed was focused into a powerful beam of ck mes that struck the Meneos like a truck and propelled Lith backward, boosting his dodge speed.

    He managed to avoid the change and put some distance between them again, yet all the damage dealt by a fully charged Final Sunset barely amounted to a burn mark on the creature¡¯s muzzle.

    To make matters worse, the injury started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye the moment the spell exhausted its mana.

    ¡¯What the actual fuck? Final Sunset isprised of fire and darkness magic that Mogar itself referred to as the elements of destruction. Not even golems are that tough. Solus, is it really a living being?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯For alive it¡¯s alive.¡¯ She replied. ¡¯Its mana core is really odd, but that¡¯s hardly a novelty with monsters. It¡¯s simr to that of trolls since I can sense an imbnce in the darkness element, but there¡¯s something different. Try changing approach.¡¯

    By the time Solus finished speaking, the Meneos was already in front of Lith, trying to bite his head off. Lith managed to catch the maw with his hands and activated his gravity field ring.

    The creature was too big for the gravity sheath to affect its whole body, but the ring still managed to make the Meneos light enough so that Lith could exploit the momentum of its charge to execute an overhead throw.

    At the same time, he unleashed all the spells he had at the ready down the monster¡¯s throat.

    ¡¯This is supposed to be a test of wisdom, not a slugfest.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Maybe the creature¡¯s skin is nigh-invulnerable whereas its internal organs are frail.¡¯

    The fire scorched the soft tissues and made the air so hot to be unbreathable while streams of electricity coursed through the monster¡¯s bloodstream, reaching all of its internal organs at once.

    "Remarkable nerve." Fe said from the stands. "Usually when facing something that big, people are too shocked to think clearly. Makes you wonder what kind of horrors he¡¯s used to facing.

    "Why didn¡¯t you mention any of this in your request for an apprentice, Faluel?"

    "Because I hate havingpetition." The Hydra replied with a smile.

    ¡¯Good move! This time it took some solid damage.¡¯ Even though the opponent seemed to be down, Solus kept collecting data to understand the real nature of their trial. ¡¯Its life force plummeted after taking those spells.

    ¡¯Maybe this thing is really capable of absorbing the darkness element like a troll. Fire and lightning seem to be- Drop it!¡¯

    The Meneos had managed to twist its body so that its hind legs hit the ground first. Its ws dug deep into the pavement, allowing it to have a strong foothold and throw Lith away like a ragdoll.

    The speed and might of the head alone sent Lith flying even though he had released his hold before the Meneos couldplete the motion. The creature resumed the chase without a second of dy and attempted a second bite while its prey was spinning in mid-air.

    ¡¯So much for the weakened life force.¡¯ Lith spread his wings, using air magic to gain a speed superior to that of his enemy. ¡¯This dome is too small. I can¡¯t get vertical distance and that thing runs like a train.¡¯

    ¡¯The life force was indeed weakened. The problem is that it recovered so fast that I almost failed to warn you in time.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯That makes no sense!¡¯ Lith hurled a stream of blue Origin mes that struck the Meneos¡¯s head and turned it into a ball of fire.

    Yet the mes disappeared as if they were just a bucket of water and dealt about the same damage. The Meneos kept chasing Lith who could only fly around while breathing one burst of Origin mes after the other.

    ¡¯Stop that. You¡¯re only harming yourself. Neither the mana core nor the life force of the creature has taken any damage. I know it sounds impossible but it¡¯s true.¡¯ Solus¡¯s brain spun at top gear, yet the answer kept eluding her.

    Lith unsheathed War, hoping that the cold Adamant would seed where all kinds of magic at his disposal had failed him. The angry de screeched its challenge, making the Meneos falter for the first time since its appearance.

    Yet the creature¡¯s hesitation didn¡¯tst long. The giant lion shed horizontally with its ws, forcing Lith back on the ground. He couldn¡¯t go up due to the golden ceiling nor stay in mid-air due to the creature¡¯s pincer maneuver.

    ¡¯Dumb move.¡¯ Lith used earth magic to make the pavement under the Meneos¡¯s hind legs sink and throw it off bnce since the forelegs were still hitting where he had been a second ago.

    The creature fumbled, allowing Lith to sh deep into its defenseless paws and draw the first blood. He then used gravity magic to turn the fall into a crash. The sudden eleration made the Meneos¡¯s head plunge on top of the de that Lith had nted in the ground with its tip pointing upwards.

    War pierced through the jaw and reached the brain, yet Lith could see with Life vision that not even that kind of wound seemed to affect the creature¡¯s vitality. He flew back without retrieving his de, in hope that it would buy him enough time to solve the riddle and beat the test.

    ¡¯Magic doesn¡¯t work and neither does physical attacks. The cuts War inflicted on our enemy healed a second after being opened. What are we doing wrong?¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯I could feel War¡¯s World Mirror ability activating.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯The skin of that beast must be infused with some elements that make it impossible to harm it with conventional means, just like a golem. The problem is that as soon as War¡¯s jamming effect fades, the wounds close.¡¯

    ¡¯Let me get this straight. Imbnced like a troll, shielded like a golem, and heals like a ghoul since no matter the damage it takes, it doesn¡¯t need nutrients. What the fuck is that thing and how are we supposed to beat it?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Maybe we are about to find out.¡¯ Solus shushed Lith to make him focus.

    The fact that the wounds healed didn¡¯t mean that the Meneos didn¡¯t feel pain or that the brain damage didn¡¯t impair his movements. The creature had wed off its own skin in the attempt to take War out of the jaw.

    Unluckily for the giant lion, he had just seeded. The hilt of the de was now stuck in the space between two ws, triggering the unwanted ability Orion had warned Lith about and that he had experimented on an unwise thief in the past.

 Chapter 997 Treasure from the Past Past 1

    <h4>Chapter 997 Treasure from the Past Past 1</h4>

    Orion himself had no idea how War would react if the wrong person picked it up, but as its maker, he could feel how dangerous the enchantment was. What really troubled Lord Ernas, however, was the fact that he had never nned for such safeguard.

    There was no trace of it in either his notes or blueprints, yet when he checked the final result of hisbors with his Royal Forgemaster wand the extra pseudo core was there nheless.

    Right after receiving War, Lith needed a guinea pig to understand what kind of threat the de represented for his family and if it could be used as a means of interrogation.

    One day, Lith took all the insignia of his status off, wore civilian clothes, and took a stroll in the slums of Zantia with the priceless de hung to his hip. It took him less than one hundred steps to be surrounded by armed bandits.

    "Give us the de, empty your pockets, and no one gets hurt." A rough man in his mid-thirties said.

    He had blonde hair and a stubble, both as dirty as his clothes. His mouth missed a few teeth, giving the man more a desperate look than a threatening one, yet he handled his knife like a professional.

    "Catch." Lith turned his pockets inside-out to show that they were empty and threw the de in a slow lob.

    The thug took the de from the hilt while it was still in mid-air and War didn¡¯t take the change of ownership well.

    The hoodlum suffered the same fate that now was befalling the giant lion. Just like when Lith had first imprinted it, spikes erupted from the hilt and dug through the flesh before turning into hooks, making it impossible to remove them without amputating the limb.

    Then, War unleashed all of his enchantments right inside the usurper¡¯s body, bypassing all kinds of protections they could wear. Through something that Lith could only describe as a reversed imprint, the angry de flooded the enemy with his energy signature, causing mana poisoning.

    The hindleg of the Meneos swelled like a balloon while its flesh burned, froze, and rot at the same time, making the earlier pain from the brain damage feel like a pinprick.

    But while the hapless criminal had exploded in a burst of rotten meat that made his associates either faint or puke, the creature was much bigger and wiser.

    In the time that it had taken War to kill a man, the de could only corrupt the enormous limb it was stuck unto, giving the Meneos the time to realize the danger it was in and bite off the foreleg before it was toote.

    "By the Great Mother, did you really gift such a masterpiece to someone that has yet to recognize you as his master?" Raagu used all the means at her disposal to study War from a distance, but Orion¡¯s workings were well cloaked.

    "Only the best for my beloved apprentices." Faluel lied through her teeth as the giant limb exploded and War returned to Lith¡¯s hand on its own.

    ¡¯If fake mages can craft pieces that powerful with their limited magic, then we Awakened Forgemasters need a damn Ruler of the mes even more desperately than I thought.

    ¡¯Whoever made War might be already on par with us.¡¯ The Hydra was firmly against letting the Abominations take part in the Council, but now even her wished that Bytra would soon join their ranks.

    Meanwhile, Lith didn¡¯t move from his spot and kept studying his opponent.

    ¡¯Not even amputating the whole hindleg weakened either its life force or mana flow. If I get close without a n, I will notst more than a few seconds. How the heck did I...¡¯ Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own senses as he saw the limb regenerate almost as fast as it had been corrupted.

    Despite being temporarily crippled, the creature had no openings Lith could exploit. On top of that, even regenerating so much flesh and bones didn¡¯t weaken the creature.

    ¡¯That¡¯s it!¡¯ Lith and Solus thought in unison. The wound¡¯s healing process had allowed them to understand the nature of their task.

    They had failed to notice it before because the other wounds were too small and they were too far away to take a good look at them. When the Meneos came charging again, Lith was ready for him.

    He used earth magic to open a crater below the creature and gravity magic to send them both against the golden energy dome that covered the arena. When Lith released the second Final Sunset stored inside his tier five magic holding ring, the ck mes this time engulfed the giant lion, making it scream in agony.

    Meneos were nothing like trolls, golems, or ghouls like Lith and Solus had wrongly assumed. The giant lion was a nt-animal hybrid that had lost the ability to Awaken due to its fallen state but was still able to draw upon world energy as long as it touched the ground.

    Meneos didn¡¯t need breathing techniques to constantly regenerate their strength and they could recover from any wound simply by extracting the nutrients from the soil. They were unstoppable predators, but once their weakness was exposed, they became sitting ducks.

    ¡¯That¡¯s why the dome is so low and why the only time the monster¡¯s life force dwindled was during the throw. Not because this creature is incapable of flight, but because away from the ground it¡¯s nothing but an overgrown kitten.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Well, done. You passed the test." Leegaain dispelled the dome and rescued the Meneos. "Any objection?"

    The members of the Council shook their heads in reply.

    "Then Awakened Verhen is hereby a member of the beast faction and Faluel the Hydra will be held responsible for his actions until he learns to behave like a member of our society." Leegaain then turned to the monster.

    "Thanks for your cooperation, Antor. I¡¯ll return you to your family as soon as your wounds heal."

    "No need to thank me, my Lord." The monster bowed to the Guardian. "If not for you, I¡¯d be long since dead or still be a ve to my base instincts."

    "You can talk?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "I¡¯m no Balor, but not all monsters are mindless brutes." Antor replied. "If I used magic, our fight might have ended differently, but since you couldn¡¯t take flight, I guess I needed a handicap as well."

    "Meneos are the only creatures that can use Invigoration without limits. Their bodies are so attuned with Mogar that they just need to make contact with the ground to replenish their strength to its fullest." Leegaain exined.

    "They have several limitations to their magical abilities, but I hope that, by studying their condition, I can lift their Fallen state and develop a better technique that Awakened can use to draw world energy..."

    "Yes, it¡¯s all so very noble of you." Inxialot cut him short. "Where did you find an energy field ring, child? I thought their design was lost to time."

    "It doesn¡¯t generate an energy field, just a gravity field." Lith rushed to reply in the hope to quell the greed with which the Lich was staring at his finger.

    "Oh!" Inxialot¡¯s disappointed look made Lith sigh in relief for one full second.

 Chapter 998 Treasure from the Past Past 2

    <h4>Chapter 998 Treasure from the Past Past 2</h4>

    "That¡¯s annoying, but once one knows the basics, the restes easy. I can still work my way up to a proper energy field." The Lich said.

    "You mean we can." Fe and Faluel stood between Inxialot and his prey as one. "Lith is one of us, undead."

    "Yes, whatever. I don¡¯t care who does it as long as those runes get preserved and shared with the Awakenedmunity. I can give you a couple of centuries, child. After that, either I get my ring or you and I will have a problem." Inxialot said.

    ¡¯Guess what, you moron. 200 years from now I¡¯ll either be dead or powerful enough to not care about your kin anymore.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Seriously, though, where did you find it?" Fe said. She cared for Lith more by the second, but her curiosity burned as strong as Inxialot¡¯s.

    Lith told them about the fungal creature he had met in Kh and the present it had given him.

    "Damned be the Odi!" Lotho roared. "My brethren must have lost all hope and their mind to part from such treasure."

    "More likely they thought it to be still amon item. They were cut off from the rest of the world and had no idea that what once was just a parlor trick is now so valuable. Also, I doubt they would have kept an Odi artifact anyway." Leegaain said.

    "Look at the bright side. If you find your fungal brethren, they are likely to know everything about this energy field you talk about." Lith said, eager to ease the pressure of the gazes fixated on his hand.

    "Genius!" Inxialot pped his hands. "I¡¯ll immediately start looking for them. We¡¯re done here, right?"

    "Yes, we are. However, -" The King of Liches disappeared, leaving Lotho talking to himself. "- Searching the entirety of Mogar for a single being is not an easy task. Gods if I hate Liches."

    "Will you really share it?" Despite her age, the Behemoth was giving Lith the lovely smile of a kid in front of his Christmas presents.

    "I¡¯ll give it a thought, but first I need to understand what an energy field is and what benefits I¡¯d receive from the Council in exchange for such knowledge." Lith politely but firmly replied.

    "Now I really need some rest and to speak with my mentor, if you please."

    "I told you not to show off your damn crafts until your apprenticeship started, kid." Faluel said the moment they were back in the safety of herir. "I¡¯ve already got a dozen orders for a de like yours and even more for that ring."

    "ording to your n, there should¡¯ve been some kind of riddle, not a fight." Lith replied.

    "If I lost, Solus would have been trapped inside her ring for years, Raagu would have used Phloria¡¯s Awakening to keep me on a tight leash, and I would¡¯ve been nothing more than a dignified ve."

    "Point taken." Faluel sighed. "Still, why didn¡¯t you show me that ring earlier? We could have still found a way to let you use it undetected."

    "Because I thought it was crap. The runes are decrepit and they don¡¯t do anything different from the others I studied from Huryole¡¯s booklet." Lith threw the gravity field ring to Faluel, who promptly examined it with Invigoration and her Forgemastering spells.

    "By the Great Mother, what a piece of crap! Runes carved with mana crystal¡¯s powder instead of being infused with mana, a messed-up mana circtory system, and I could shape a better pseudo core with my feet." She blurted out.

    "My point exactly. It¡¯s so bad that I didn¡¯t even bother crafting a new one but I used first magic to replicate its effects on my own through my weapon." Lith said.

    "The bad news is that most Odi runes are lost to time. There are almost no books about them and the still existing few tomes belong to historians since they have no practical value." Faluel said.

    "The good news is that we only need to decipher a few runes to be able to reverse engineer the whole thing and start working on upgrading the gravity to an energy field."

    "How long would it take?" Lith asked.

    "Well, unless we find the right runes in a book, I¡¯d say a few decades to figure out the modern runes with a trial-and-error procedure. After that, a few more decades for the energy field. Two centuries tops." Faluel replied.

    "Three hundred years in total?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    "More or less, if you, me, and Solus work together the whole time. Kid, research takes time and dedication. Why do you think Inxialot left you off the hook that easily? He is probably already working on a project that will take him at least 200 years toplete.

    "He¡¯s a Lich. They can afford to work alone because time is meaningless to them." Faluel said.

    "What if I share it? After all, is what Royal Forgemasters would do."

    "It would take much less time." Faluel said. "If the Council pools its resources and we Forgemasters start to exchange our respective findings, the entire process should take about two years.

    "The problem is that we¡¯ll lose the exclusive and there¡¯s no guarantee that others will really cooperate instead of just leeching from those who share. Be them humans, beasts, nts, or undead, Awakened are greedy creatures."

    "No wonder you¡¯re losing the magical research race to fake mages." Lith sighed. "We¡¯ll continue this conversation at another moment. I¡¯m dead tired and I promised Kam to take her out on a date."

    "Have fun while you can, my apprentice, because once I start teaching you, we¡¯ll take no breaks until Invigoration stops working." Despite Faluel¡¯s girl next door looks and radiant smile, her words sounded awfully like a threat.

    ***

    Jiera Continent, ex-city of Hervor, now reduced to a bunch of ruins.

    After putting her resources to the test in Othre, Thrud Griffon had moved to the neighboring continent, like she always did afterpleting a rejuvenation cycle. She had spent centuries to create an alias that allowed her to live in the luxury she deserved and with ess to the resources she needed.

    Jiera was outside Tyris¡¯s influence and the local Guardian had no affection for any of her friends. It made Jiera the perfect ce toy low while Thrud enjoyed the fruits of herbors and honed her skills.

    Unfortunately, after the release of the gue, all of her hard work was lost. Even a magical blight was powerless against her enhanced physique and that of her minions, but the gue had destroyed society as she knew it.

    "Damn it all!" Thrud wanted to smash the crystal bottle she was drinking from in a fit of rage, but finding another would be nigh-impossible. "I can¡¯t go back to Garlen with the tight security all three Great Countries have established, but staying in this dead ce is driving me crazy!"

    It wasn¡¯t just a figure of speech. With the fall of human civilization, the continent had fallen into the hands of Emperor Beasts, who were able to identify Thrud from her smell and chase her away if she refused to leave.

    She was a very powerful mage, even more thanks to the replicas of the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s strongest artifacts, but there were hundreds of Emperor Beasts living together. Some were as old as she was and nearly as powerful.

 Chapter 999 Bonds of Trust Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 999 Bonds of Trust Part 1</h4>

    Awakened mages and their bloodlines ruled the only human cities remaining on the Jiera continent, but things didn¡¯t go any better for Thrud there. Somehow, the Awakened would be suspicious of her the moment she used her powers and refused to grant her hospitality.

    Unbeknownst to Thrud, it was due to the vortex her rainbow mana core generated to imitate the effects of Invigoration and provide her with unlimited mana. Her long existence coupled with a lifetime of murder and secrets weighed heavily on her psyche.

    Thrud was on the run ever since she could remember, to protect her father¡¯s legacy from Tyris¡¯s clutches and fulfill his dream to unify the Garlen continent under an immortal ruler.

    "I was supposed to be enjoying my wealth and find a way to extend the gift of immortality to the future Imperial family, not scavenge for food and sew my own clothes! What good are gold and jewels in a ce where a piece of fresh bread is a myth?"

    Her rants were bing more and more frequent, in an attempt to fill the silence surrounding her.

    She was an extraordinary hunter and tailor, skills that would make her wee in any human settlement, but only if Thrud stopped using her magic and lived like amoner.

    Doing that would mean to trample over her pride as the true Queen of the Griffon Kingdom and give up on the luxuries she felt entitled to. All the human Awakened of the Jiera continent were actually in her same boat, but she didn¡¯t care.

    With the loss of craftsmen, farmers and stockbreeders had be the new rich. Even Awakened kept them in high regard because all the magic in Mogar couldn¡¯t create food.

    On top of that, to pass down the practical knowledge necessary to grow all the edible nts and vegetables would take years.

    If once the ancient mages¡¯ main worry had been to develop their skills, now they were focused on avoiding that a single bad harvest ormon cold could wipe out what remained of the human race.

    Beasts and nts had no such worries. They usually moved around naked and considered food anyone who trespassed on their turf. The Beast Empire that had been born after the fall of human civilization was now the most advanced and wealthy on Jiera, but humans had a hard time adapting to the beasts¡¯ morals.

    Emperor Beasts would take in anyone, but only as long as they behaved. The beasts would teach kids how to read and write, and to adults how to hunt, farm, or whatever job they were talented for.

    At the same time, however, the concept of redemption, fair trial, or prisons didn¡¯t exist in their society. The moment someonemitted a crime for no eptable reason, the culprit would be put down like a rabid dog.

    Some people couldn¡¯t ept such a harsh and wild social order where everyone had to either make themselves useful or scram the moment they came of age. Yet most remained because the beasts offered them shelter from the weather, protection from the monsters that were now free to roam thends, and healthcare.

    Humans had tried to Awaken everyone to repopte the continent faster and make all humans capable of wielding magic, but it had been a disaster. Children wouldn¡¯t get ill, but they would kill themselves or their parents using spells like toys.

    Many meek and gentle adults, once they got a taste of true power would be overbearing toward their less talented peers and enforce thew of the jungle until their victims or their masters killed them.

    To make things worse, very few had the patience to practice umtion for years to be stronger. With the constant threat of bad weather, monsters, starvation, and their own neighbors, many rushed their body development and exploded like gruesome fireworks.

    In the end, less than a tenth of those who had be Awakened without a full-time tutor survived, so the experiment was deemed a failure and postponed to a moment when the masters could dedicate more time to sses.

    All the remaining humans had been collected in a few megalopolises that couldn¡¯t survive without their Awakened rulers enforcing thew, treating diseases before they turned into gues, and protecting the fields.

    "I can¡¯t believe they Awakened even those useless cripples whose only talent is to be naturally immune to the gue whereas they refused to teach me!" Thrud roared. I¡¯m so close, so damn close, yet I can never figure out thest piece of the puzzle.

    "All living creatures have a core that acts like a heart for the mana flow, but only the so-called Awakened are capable to train their core and make it stronger over time.

    I use my father¡¯s machine to feed my core with those of others, yet I never managed to sense the pulse of mana.

    "The machine renews my life force and rids my body of the impurities that make people grow old, to the point that I reached human perfection. My flesh offers no resistance to mana.

    "I can cast countless spells without putting any stress on my physique, so it can¡¯t be a matter of something being wrong with my body orck of talent. I mastered all the damn specializations, for the gods¡¯ sake! What am Icking?"

    Only her echo replied to the question and Thrud finally snapped. She chanted her spell, hating each word she spoke and hand sign she drew, considering each one of them a reminder of her constant failures.

    Purple mes invaded the empty halls of the house that she had spent years to build while earth magic caused a quake that split the ground and made the walls crumble. To her, the sound of destruction was now a better alternative to silence.

    Thrud then walked through the rubble and started to destroy Hervor, the capital of her own Grand Duchy that she had named after her mother. It had taken Thrud generations to reach such a position.

    She had introduced herself as a mage, became a noble, and then faked her aging while introducing one of her meat puppets as her daughter before taking her ce, starting the cycle from young to old again.

    She knew Hervor¡¯s every stone and every tree because she had shaped the city ording to the memories of her birthce. She loved it with all her heart because it reminded her of the old times, back when she was still the Princess of the Griffon Kingdom and her future was carved in stone.

    Tyris was supposed to acknowledge her father¡¯s genius and be his spouse. Arthan¡¯s achievements would have surpassed even Valeron¡¯s and with her help, he would have unified the Garlen continent.

    Then, once he grew tired of bearing the weight of the crown and the responsibilities it carried, Thrud would have taken the throne and made sure that her subjects thrived. Yet now her capital was just like all the stories Thrud¡¯s mother told her as a child, an empty lie, and the Mad Queen hated Hervor for it.

    There was no one to serve her, no one left that would admire her beauty or talent. Thrud felt as if Mogar had turned its back on her one time too many.

    "Why everyone leaves me in the end?" Not even her heart-wrenching sobs hindered the Mad Queen¡¯s spellcasting as she razed the city that once had been her pride and joy.

 Chapter 1000 Bonds of Trust Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1000 Bonds of Trust Part 2</h4>

    "I had countless husbands and children, yet none of them Awakened. Death took them away from me before I could even grow attached to them.

    "Even those I offered to share eternity with me, treated me like a monster and forced me to shut them up. Now, all of my subjects are dead and all I¡¯m left with is stone and gold.

    "Is this Tyris¡¯s doing as well? Has her curse reached me thanks to her blood that runs through my veins? I¡¯m not letting you take everything from me again, you monster! I¡¯d rather destroy everything myself!" Thrud unleashed another spell and a city block fell.

    In her wrath and madness, she almost didn¡¯t notice an emerald bolt approaching to her position, sting through the arrays that still defended Hervor from all threats.

    Almost.

    "A Dragon?" Thrud instantly regained her focus as the magical formations self-repaired and provided her with the information they had gathered about the invader. "It¡¯s been a long time since I killed one. Your flesh will make a meal worthy of a Queen."

    Arthan¡¯s Armor wrapped Thrud¡¯s body and Arthan¡¯s Sword appeared in her hand as her face was twisted in a grimace of fury. Yet no protection could save her from what happened next.

    The emerald bolt gracefullynded in front of her as if he weighed a few grams instead of several tons and shapeshifted into the most handsome man she had ever seen.

    A handsome man with emerald shoulder-length hair and purple eyes who was kneeling at her feet, ording to the etiquette that the Griffon Kingdom prescribed to loyal vassals when meeting their rulers.

    <"Jormun Nidho reports for duty. Your humble servant begs your forgiveness for taking so long to find thest heir of the Great King."> The man that Lith knew as Jakra even spoke the ancientnguage of the Kingdom.

    Thrud didn¡¯t hear it for centuries, yet she could still understand it perfectly. Tears kept streaming down her cheeks, but now she cried with joy.

    <"Do you swear that you are not here to attack me?"> She kept weaving her spells and preparing her relics. Thrud had been betrayed too many times to believe in free meals.

    <"I onlye to serve, my liege."> Jormun started to tell her about the Golden Griffon and the many legacies that Arthan had left behind for his heir.

    At first, Thrud didn¡¯t believe him, but the more the stranger spoke, the more many mysteries of her homnd made sense.

    <"Are you really here for me?"> The Mad Queen had already fallen in love with that voice. For the first time in her life, she had met someone who knew who she was and shared her dream.

    <"I entered the Golden Griffon when I was a little over 400 years old. If I fail to Awaken, I should have around 600 more left and I intend to spend them all to give you everything you deserve. All I ask in return is to know the name of my Queen."> Jormun said.

    <"My name is Thrud Ef Daron Griffon, rightful Queen to the Griffon Kingdom, but you can call me Thrud. I hereby make you Duke Jormun Nidho."> She patted his left shoulder, then the right, and then his head with Arthan¡¯s sword.

    <"Stand up, Lord Jorun. There¡¯s much we need to talk about and even more we have to do, yet it can all wait. I¡¯m tired of being alone."> Her hand ran through his hair, caressing Jormun¡¯s face before moving down his chest.

    The physical intimacy aroused Thrud as much as it disgusted Jormun.

    After escaping from Huryole, he had slept for months before noticing that something was wrong with him. The life force of Dragons was incredibly strong, to the point of being capable of healing itself with time.

    After spending centuries sealed inside the lost academy, Jormun had realized the existence of the ve spell that now impaired his mind only because he could feel his body trying to fix what he had always assumed was a natural development of his life force after mastering all elements and several martial arts.

    The moment he had attempted to get in touch with one of his rtives, the spell had forced him to find the Mad Queen.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, near the top of Lochra Mountain.

    Lith had thought a lot about where to bring Kam for her birthday. He would have preferred to take her to a ce where he could give her an experience simr to Earth¡¯s summer on the beach, but she was born around mid-spring.

    Not only were the seas still too cold to bathe, but she also refused to wear even a one-piece swimsuit in presence of witnesses. It would¡¯ve been the equivalent of walking around in her underwear and people were quite modest on Mogar.

    Without Solus, an inhabited ind would mean no people, but noforts as well.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but having no bathroom, sleeping on the ground, no privacy whatsoever, and being dependant on you to cook my meals sounds as romantic as another boot camp." Was her reply.

    Hence Lith had taken her to a high-ss resort where they could be immersed in the mountain¡¯s natural splendor without missing anything civilization had to offer. After bing a Royal Constable, Kam had started to travel around the Kingdom and dote hours.

    Thanks to Jirni, she always managed toe back home for dinner, but after that, they would often leave again and only rarely sleep in their own beds. Between the terrible crime scenes she had witnessed and spending so much time interrogating criminals, Kam was on the verge of a breakdown.

    She felt terribly tired, but most of all, dirty inside as if all the horrors that rich and poor alike perpetrated to indulge in their vices had tainted her.

    "Gods, this ce is just perfect!" Kam said while looking at the beautiful scenery the mountainke surrounded by luscious green offered to the guests dining on the terrace.

    The Flying Griffon resort had its own Gate. It connected the resort with the important cities of the Kingdom, allowing it to always have the best foods and provide its guests with anything they might need at a moment¡¯s notice.

    "I promise you that we¡¯ll do this beach thing when I¡¯m less stressed." Kam couldn¡¯t take her eyes off the beauty of the full moon in the clear sky and its reflection on theke.

    Together, they provided enough natural light to watch the night wildlife and gave the valley where the resort had been built the feeling of a mystical ce where time had stopped.

    "Right now, all I need is a warm,fortable bed and room service. Lots of room service. If I take one more step, I¡¯m afraid my feet will fall off."

    "It¡¯s a good thing that I reserved a suite then." Lith chuckled while pointing at her red stiletto heels thaty near the table legs.

    Kam wore them along with the red skin-tight cocktail dress she had chosen for their first real date in a long while where she could turn her work amulet off.

    She wanted that night to be special, but the moment Lith had offered her to dine alone in their room because he wanted to speak with her about important matters, Kam had immediately epted and given her sore legs some relief.

 Chapter 1001 A Gift Like No Other Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1001 A Gift Like No Other Part 1</h4>

    "Reserving a suite isn¡¯t just a good idea, it¡¯s Great. I¡¯d like to live the next few days as if we are thest humans on Mogar, with magical domestic staff that conveniently appears only to do the chores for us."

    Kam gave Lith one of her radiant smiles that always made him feel like the luckiest man alive.

    She had applied months in advance for a few days¡¯ leave on her birthday to be sure that nothing would mess with their ns. Even though she had finished working just for a few hours and was dead tired from the long day, she had dressed up for him.

    Moreover, Lith still found it hard to believe Kam could smile like that despite knowing most of his secrets. She treated him as if Lith was just a regr guy rather than a mysterious hybrid implicated in power games that involved beings older than the Kingdom itself.

    Having someone like Kam by his side, who wasn¡¯t bound to him by blood ties ormon interests, but simply by sincere affection, was the greatest gift he could ask for.

    "Just like home, then. After all, during your days off you sleep all day and leave buying the groceries, doing the chores, and the cooking to me." Lith teased her.

    "That¡¯s not true. I don¡¯t sleep all day, only when you let me." The fact that was the only part she could refute made her blush in embarrassment. "Jokes aside, this ce is fairylike. I can¡¯t believe they soundproofed the entire building to not disturb the animals."

    Even though the Flying Griffon was fully booked, the guests wouldn¡¯t hear anything but their own voices and the sounds of nature. Many small animals felt so confident that they woulde close to the terraces and ept the snacks the resort provided to each room.

    Lith was dolled up as well, wearing a ck suit rather than his usual Archmage robe. The first course of their meal was venison stew, a local delicacy, apanied by red house wine.

    Unlike normal hotels, Lith¡¯s suite was located on the ground floor. It allowed the guests to watch the local fauna through the reinforced magical ss of the terrace and to take a stroll along theke simply by walking through a door.

    The apartment was made of redwood and wasprised of several rooms. It had a living room furnished with a tea table and sofas to spend some time with friends, a terrace where to dine while enjoying the scenery, a huge bathroom, and an even bigger bedroom.

    Even though all rooms were magically heated, most of them had their own firece for ambiance and the resort was so quiet that, unless the guests called the room service, they had the impression of living in a mountain cottage in the middle of nowhere.

    "What did you want to talk about?" Kam asked.

    "Can¡¯t it wait until after dinner? Or at least after I give you your birthday gift?" Lith said, visibly embarrassed.

    "Not a chance. Once you say those ursed words, I can¡¯t rx until I hear the big secret you decided to share with me and mark it as irrelevant." She replied.

    "Am I really so obvious?"

    "If after living together for so long I couldn¡¯t read you, it would mean that either I don¡¯t care about you enough to notice or that you never allowed me to know the real you." Kam said.

    "I get that you¡¯re full of secrets and I¡¯m willing to wait until you are ready to share them with me, but please, don¡¯t treat me like an idiot. That¡¯s something that I couldn¡¯t bear."

    Lith nodded and then told Kam about Death Vision in the details, exining its quirks to her.

    "Let me get this straight. So, unless you focus, everyone around you dies, or at least that¡¯s what it looks like to you." Kam said and Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "However, if someone is your friend, then they are ¡¯safe¡¯ within a few meters, while the members of your family are unaffected by Death Vision as long as they are in your same room, and you ex even from over ten meters (33 feet) distance?"

    "Yes. I never mentioned it to you before nor did I have the courage to stop holding Death Vision back in your presence because I didn¡¯t want to make you feel like you had topete with Phloria." Lith said.

    "And because you were afraid Death Vision measures not only a person¡¯s life span, but also the depth of your feelings for them." Kampleted the phrase for him.

    "Yes."

    "Don¡¯t worry about hurting my feelings. I would¡¯ve done the same in your shoes. A mystical power that tells you who you can or cannot love would be a curse even worse than Death Vision already is." Kam held his hand, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

    "What¡¯s the verdict?"

    Lith took a deep breath to calm down and let go of Death Vision.

    "You look gorgeous, like always." He said.

    "Great, at least I¡¯m a friend. Now walk to the other side of the suite." Kam pointed him the farthest ce from their table.

    "Wait. You told me not to worry. That you would do the same." The sudden edge in her voice surprised Lith.

    "I did, but you were also right. Maybe it¡¯s not, but Death Vision sure feels like a damnpetition. What about now?" Kam hated to feel so insecure, but she needed to know at all costs.

    ¡¯For all I know, Death Vision might not measure Lith¡¯s feelings towards others but the strength of their bond. It would exin why Phloria was immune from the start whereas even his parents needed time.

    ¡¯Not only did he open with her before anyone else, but also Lith relied on Phloria whereas he considered his family as something to protect. He always kept them in the dark, deeming them unable to cope with the truth.¡¯ She thought.

    "You¡¯re still fine, but I must say you¡¯re taking this too seriously." Lith said.

    "So says the man who waited two years before mentioning any of this to me." She sneered while walking through the terrace¡¯s door.

    "Wait, you¡¯re still barefoot!"

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about some dirt. What about now?" She stood in front of the ss door, about 15 meters (49 feet) away from him, just to be safe.

    "You¡¯ve just terrified several ugly carcasses that I can only guess are actually birds and squirrels. You¡¯ve also ruined my appetite, but you still look as beautiful as a god¡¯s dream." He said.

    "I win, I win, I win!" Kam sprinted back inside the suite, jumping at Lith¡¯s neck and forcing him to princess carry her before giving him a kiss.

    "So much for winning with grace." He chuckled at her enthusiasm.

    "Sorry, I got carried away." Her radiant smile and excited voice were in stark contrast with her words.

    After Lith carried Kam back to her seat and cleaned the floor with first magic, her inquisitive mind that was now free from self-doubt, forced her to ask:

    "Is there a reason why you choose to tell me about this right after settling the matters with the Council?"

    "You¡¯re on fire tonight. Yes. Now that neither Awakened nor humans can mess with my ns, I¡¯m going to Awaken Phloria. Faluel gave me permission to invite her as my plus one for the apprenticeship." Lith said.

 Chapter 1002 A Gift Like No Other Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1002 A Gift Like No Other Part 2</h4>

    "I¡¯m sorry, but you lost me. Are you asking my permission to bring Phloria along or what?" Kam¡¯s enthusiasm disappeared and her stomach churned as her insecurities returned.

    She already didn¡¯t like the idea of Lith spending so much time cooped up with a beautiful woman like Faluel, but at least the Hydra was old enough to be his great-great-grandmother and neither of them seemed interested in the other.

    Phloria, on the other hand, was just slightly older than Lith, was the only person he had opened up to for years, and was soon going to share with him Awakening on top of all the magical talents they already had inmon.

    Had Kam known about Solus¡¯s existence, at that point she would have already dered that day her worst birthday ever.

    Lith first exined to her how his presence and the constant practice of magic had induced Awakening in many people close to him. Tista, Yurial, and Phloria were the only ones he was aware of, but he kept a close eye on all his family members as well.

    Only then did he reply to her question.

    "I¡¯m not asking for your permission. I¡¯m just sharing with you my ns because I don¡¯t want any more secrets between us." Lith held her hand, finding it strangely cold. "I feel responsible for Phloria because what¡¯s happening to her is because of me.

    "I¡¯m not only talking about the Awakening, but also about her quitting the army. Without the support of the Awakened who wanted to destroy my personal life, Jirni would have probably already put an end to that farce of a trial.

    "To make matters worse, I don¡¯t have much choice. If I don¡¯t help Phloria, she¡¯ll die. Even though we haven¡¯t seen each other much in the past four years, she¡¯s still one of my dearest friends and a person to whom I owe much.

    "Without her, we probably wouldn¡¯t even be having this conversation because I would have broken up with you rather than sharing my secrets. Besides, if after Awakening her I don¡¯t teach Phloria how to use her newfound powers, she¡¯ll get both me and Faluel killed."

    Thest part awfully sounded like ame excuse. Mostly because it was.

    Kam took a few deep breaths to calm down enough to not say things that she wouldter regret, like quoting the "out of sight, out of mind" idiom about the possibility of the apprenticeship rekindling his feelings for Phloria at the expense of their rtionship.

    "What about me? Am I going to Awaken as well?" Kam asked.

    "You have a barely orange core and I didn¡¯t remove many impurities from your body." Lith replied while scanning her with Invigoration. "Are you using magic a lottely?"

    "Yes. I can still kill people with first magic if theye close enough and Lady Ernas says that even the simplest trick can save our lives in times of need. She makes me use magic until I almost faint to temper my body and test my limits." Kam said.

    "It exins why your impurities have started to shift. The constant exposure to my mana flowbined with Invigoration and practice is affecting your system. Do you want to be Awakened?" He looked her in the eyes.

    "To what end? I would see Zinya and the kids die just to live a long life alone in hiding. Awakening me now would just be a guilt trip on your side and a dick move on mine to force you to take care of me until death do us part." Kam¡¯s voice and gaze were steady, but her hand trembled.

    "What I want right now is an answer. I realize that you are an all-powerful Awakened Archmage who is probably going to outlive us all even with your crippled life force, but do you realize it as well?"

    Before Lith could answer, she continued sharing her doubts.

    "I know that this is just your second important rtionship, so here is my question. Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you dated someone younger, with a lessplicated life? Or someone richer and more important, so that no one in the Kingdom would dare to bother you?

    "Or someone who¡¯s an Awakened mage as well? You could share with her all the marvels of magic and take your time deciding whether or not you want to settle down.

    "I¡¯m a 28 years old woman with more debts than savings, who has no power or influence, and whose career might crumble at any time just like it happened to Phloria. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to be with someone else?"

    She let go of Lith¡¯s hand, both because Kam wanted him to answer without the physical contact triggering any kind of guilt trip and because she felt the desperate need to hold onto something to calm her nerves.

    Lith didn¡¯t reply immediately, taking a few seconds to consider her question and not give a hasty emotional answer.

    "I do realize who I am, but even I don¡¯t know what I am. My parents are most certainly human, yet I¡¯m anything but.

    "Let¡¯s say that we discover that I¡¯m some kind of otherworldly creature. A vengeful spirit simr to an Abominations who is just possessing a human body and slowly turning it into its own."

    Kam had shared her insecurities with him, so Lith feltpelled to do the same.

    "There¡¯s no telling when my two life forces will merge nor how much will I change when it happens. If I turn out to be some kind of demon dragon with no ce to live either among humans or beasts, would you really want to share such a horrible destiny with me?"

    Kam turned pale at those words. Lith¡¯s existence was amazing when considering it bit by bit, but when looking at his condition as a whole, it was utterly terrifying. Not even the most ancient creatures on Mogar knew what he was, and once they found out, anything could happen.

    They might revere him as a king or hunt him down like a monster, and in both cases, he would be the only one of his kind.

    ¡¯Am I really sure this is the life I want? Am I willing to put my career and family at stake for this man, with whom I have so little inmon, after knowing him for barely over two years?¡¯ She thought for a while.

    "Yes, I do." Kam replied to both his question and her own while taking his hand that was still where she had left it.

    "Then I don¡¯t want to be with anyone else." Lith stood up and walked around the table without letting her go.

    He took Kam between his arms, enjoying her warmth and the always sweet scent of her hair. Lith felt guilty because even though it was her birthday, none of the presents he had prepared couldpare with that she had just given to him.

    Her heartbeat, her perspiration, her eyes, and even the tone of her voice, everything about her said the same thing. Kam had told him the truth, with no doubts nor hesitation.

    ***

    Weghan region, near the city of Feymar, in the central part of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Phloria Ernas looked at the barrenndscape, wondering if theck of vegetation was due to the presence of an undead nt dwelling in the vicinity or just Lady Spring beingzier than usual.

 Chapter 1003 Clever Plans Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1003 Clever ns Part 1</h4>

    "Are you in a bad mood again or did that clearing grope your ass to re at it like that?" Friya Ernas asked from the back of her horse.

    "I suspect there might be an undead nearby. Either that or the Winter King is not done with Feymar yet." Phloria waved at their surroundings while keeping an eye on the small caravan following them.

    Belin of Feymar had gone from homeless to the middle ss in just a few months by selling small mana crystals to the Mage Association. At first, no one had cared for him, thinking he had just been lucky since he brought only a few small gemstones worth barely a couple of silver pieces.

    But instead of squandering the money on gambling or alcohol, Belin had bought himself a small house and a field, bringing more crystals to the Association each time his business needed funds to expand.

    Belin had been careful, picking only small amounts at a time and never exchanging them when at the counter there was a clerk who already knew him. Thanks to that, the supervisor noticed Belin¡¯s name being mentioned multiple times only when he revised all reports topile the annual inventory.

    Instead of wasting time and resources to punish a victimless crime for which there was hardly proof, the supervisor made Belin an offer he couldn¡¯t refuse. Full immunity for the gemstones he had already sold and a hefty sum in exchange for the location of the unknown crystal vein.

    Belin had already collected everything he could find, so he happily agreed. The ex-vagrant got himself a pretty house and the supervisor a promotion. All that remained to do was for a squad of miners and Crystalsmiths to check the ce.

    The crystals Belin had found were so small and their grade so low that they might as well just be a lucky find. Sure, crystals rarely reached the surface, but when they did, it was the presence of green gemstones the mark of the motherlode, not that of red ones like those Belin sold.

    Preliminary reconnaissance of the terrain had failed to provide any clues, so the follow-up expedition required the utmost care. Crystal mines were priceless assets, especially with the ongoing struggle against the undead and the colonization ns for the Jiera continent.

    The army suspected that either there was nothing to find and Belin had been extremely lucky, or he had just found the scraps left by illegal miners that would do anything to prevent the loss of their golden goose.

    With most of the regr troops busy keeping the order and eradicating the Undead Courts whenever they found them, the army was understaffed to the point of asking the infamous Captain Ernas for help.

    "Do you really still believe in those fairy tales?" Friya chuckled.

    "No. I don¡¯t, but I like having someone to curse when one of my men loses his toes to frostbite." Listening to her own words reminded Phloria of her imminent discharge and made her sad.

    At that point, the only question was if it would have been an honorable or dishonorable discharge.

    "It¡¯s a good thing that you brought two professional Healers along, then." Friya pointed at herself and their sister, Quy, who was keeping her horse near the caravan.

    "Thanks foring."

    "Stop thanking me. You are making me feel like the worst sister ever. I didn¡¯t drop anything to give you a hand and I¡¯m even getting paid for it." Friya tried and failed again to lighten the mood.

    Phloria was tired of all the whispers and the mean looks that her presence caused due to the rumors Vn Deirus had spread, so to make her ept her final mission as a Captain, the army had been forced to agree to her two conditions.

    The first was that Phloria refused to be themanding officer. For all she knew, the mission might have as well been a set-up to furtherpromise her situation. The second was that she had demanded the presence of Friya¡¯s Crystal Shield guild.

    "Sorry. It¡¯s just that between all that happened to me and the cowardly attempt to pin on Mom the me for Balkor¡¯s return, I¡¯m in dire need of someone trustworthy. I can¡¯t believe I dated that piece of shit of Kallion for almost six months." Phloria said with a snarl.

    Friya¡¯s men were disguised as guards and the Crystalsmiths as miners. Without proof of the presence of a real vein, instead of sending elite units to scout the ce, the army had opted for a softer approach.

    Officially, the caravan belonged to a prospector in search for precious metals. It justified the deployment of guards and excavation tools without the risk of drawing the attention of local criminals that might be involved in the illegal mining operation.

    Dimensional magic couldn¡¯t be used near crystal mines without the risk of triggering the detonation of the vtile gemstones. It was the reason why they were moving on horses rather than Warp Steps.

    To make matters worse, Warping in the proximity of the mine would alert the enemies and leave them plenty of time to detonate the crystal veins before leaving. If the mine was in the hands of the undead, they would never let the Kingdom reim it nor leave anything behind that could lead to their Court.

    A massive explosion would kill two birds and several elite units with one spell.

    "By the way, I still can¡¯t believe Mom wiped the floor with the ass of a guy that big." Friya said. "Sure, she¡¯s well trained and everything, but Irehein was no pushover either. Not to mention he was much heavier and younger.

    "Sometimes I can¡¯t help but wonder if Mom is just a monster of her own or if she¡¯s secretly blood-rted to Lith. He¡¯s the only one I know who was that strong despite being that short back at the academy."

    "None of the above." Phloria whispered, forcing Friya toe closer while she conjured a Hushed zone. "She just cheated. A few days before the Court was summoned, Mom got Manohar to rejuvenate her and give her what he calls ¡¯a little extra boost¡¯.

    "By the time they fought, she had practiced long enough to get ustomed to her younger and enhanced body. That Irehein idiot had no chance from the start. Serves him right for deserting Dad after everything our father did for him."

    Friya¡¯s brain froze at the revtion.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. How could Mom prepare in advance for a fight issued in response to an usation that she had no way to know that Nuragor would have made?

    ¡¯The only possible exnation is that she already knew the topic of the conversation because she¡¯s really responsible for the attacks and had everyone dancing in the palm of her hand. But that¡¯s preposterous!¡¯ Yet it was the truth.

    The caves where the crystal veins were allegedly located was close enough to Feymar that it only took a full day of travel to reach their entrance. The Crystalsmiths cast several detection arrays, but found no trace of enemies and crystals alike.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Captain Kortus, but so far the scouts were right. The crystals must be deep underground if there are any." Tlea Ormann, the Crystalsmith foreman said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Tlea. It only makes our little covert operation smoother since we can ce as many arrays as we want. Any suggestions, Captain Ernas?"

 Chapter 1004 Clever Plans Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1004 Clever ns Part 2</h4>

    Kortus Dast was a mage in his mid-thirties about 1.73 meters (5¡¯8") tall, with short ck hair and ice-blue eyes. He found it hard to ept that such a young woman was taller than him and held his same rank, yet he managed to keep the edge off his voice.

    "Negative, Sir. Aside from setting the perimeter, there isn¡¯t much to do." Phloria actually had an eerie feeling in her gut, but preferred to keep it to herself.

    ¡¯If I tell them and I¡¯m wrong, I¡¯ll be med for wasting everyone¡¯s time while if I¡¯m right, I¡¯ll be med for not being able to prevent whatever will happen. I already learned the rules of this game during the past year.

    ¡¯To undermine my sess, they¡¯ll make so that no matter the choice I make, it will be considered wrong in hindsight. I¡¯ll share my impressions only with Friya, so that if the worst happens and we save the day thanks to her guildmates, at least her career will flourish.¡¯ She thought.

    Phloria was tired of ying nice and let others ride her achievements to further their career while she was stuck as a Captain. The moment Kortus dismissed the meeting, she joined her sisters for dinner, uncaring for all the disdainful looks the soldiers threw at her.

    "Can you feel it, too?" Quy asked. Even though she sat in front of the big campfire, she couldn¡¯t stop shivering.

    "Yes." Phloria said while rubbing her arms to get rid of the chill running through her body.

    "Feel what?" Friya felt left out, so she Hushed their surroundings even though it was considered a rude gesture.

    "After spending a long time in Kh, both Quy and I became sensitive to huge mana fields." Phloria said.

    "It couldn¡¯t be stronger than that of the academy." Friya raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I¡¯m not saying that I don¡¯t believe you, just that it doesn¡¯t make much sense. Everyone here is a veteran of several battlefields yet you¡¯re the only ones affected. What makes Kh so special?"

    "It¡¯s not a matter of how strong the field is, but how hostile it is." Quy exined. "The Mana Reactor, the Golems, and even the gates, everything was designed to keep people out. We didn¡¯t notice it at first, but after a while, you feel like there¡¯s a de constantly pocking at your throat."

    "The good news is that whatever it is, the source of the mana field has nothing of the pure hatred and suffering that permeated Kh. The bad news is that these kinds of things are never natural." Phloria said.

    After killing her first human at barely fifteen during an academy¡¯s exam, surviving Balkor, Nalear, and the Forbidden Magic ritual in Zantia, Friya had learned that, for a mage, optimism was the quickest way to the grave.

    She doubled the guard around the camp and had her guildmates keep everything they might need at hand in the case the enemy trapped them inside a dimensional sealing array.

    The army soldiers sneered at the excessive safety precautions the Crystal Shield took, considering them a bunch of paranoid rookies. The mercenaries, instead, considered the soldiers a bunch of morons.

    Not only had their guild master yet to fail them, but she had also negotiated for that mission a payment equal to what the soldiers would earn in a month.

    The night passed with no incidents, just as Phloria expected.

    "Trained opponents actpletely differently from regr bandits, sis." She said to Friya during their guard shift. The three of them had decided to not get separated from each other, no matter what, so they did everything together.

    "Even if someone was expecting our arrival, they will not leave obvious traps to not reveal their presence until they are ready to strike. Usually, the first day is all about scouting the number of enemies, their tactics, and their defenses.

    "There¡¯s a lot that you can discover about a group just by looking at how they set up their camp. A smart soldier will not employ cookie-cut strategies, but adapt those they are more skilled with to the situation at hand.

    "Have your guildmates scout more than guard, so that the enemy can¡¯t observe us freely, and rather than setting upplex arrays, focus on simple but annoying formations, like barriers.

    "This way, during the first attack, the strong energy field will be hard to take down and screw the enemy¡¯s tempo, giving you the time to devise a proper counter.

    "The greatest w of being a bodyguard is that you always y on defense, reacting rather than striking first." Phloria drew a sketch of their surroundings, marking the points where she would put scouts if she was in charge of attacking the caravan.

    "Thanks, sis. Did you learn this stuff at the boot camp or at the officer training course?" Friya was mostly self-taught about strategy, and even though escort missions were the mostmon, they were also those she hated the most.

    Crushing the enemy meant nothing if the client died or the goods were stolen in the chaos of the battle. Her favorite assignments were clearing dungeons and capturing criminals, preferably the dead or alive kind, because they allowed her to go all-out.

    "No, I learned from experience. The boot camp is all about teamwork and basic strategies, whereas the officer course is focused on war tactics. The problem with standard strategies is that not only any cultured enemy knows them as well, but also no battle n survives the encounter with the enemy.

    "There are too many things that can go wrong. One person makes a mistake and the entire formation crumbles." Phloria and Friya sighed while thinking about the teammates they had lost over time due to bad luck, carelessness, or ipetence.

    "You know, I can¡¯t help but think back when we were at the academy, following Lith and his paranoid multiyered ns." Friya said. "Even when one of them failed, there was always a contingency n, and in the end, we all came out alive, no matter the danger."

    "That¡¯s because Lith is so strong that even when we were taken by surprise, he¡¯d buy us enough time to regroup and strategize. On top of that, we were no pushover either and were capable of executing his ns down to a t." Phloria said.

    "Gods, I miss those days so badly." Friya updated her men ording to Phloria¡¯s suggestion and restored the Hush zone around them. "Back then, grades were my greatest daily worry, I had no responsibility, and the future was something to look forward to rather than be afraid of. I can¡¯t believe I was in such a rush to grow up."

    "That makes the two of us." Phloria sighed.

    "Make it three." Quy said, finally brave enough to join the conversation.

    "It lives!" Her sisters said in unison and ruffled Quy¡¯s hair, making her swear as a truck driver while she tried to make them stop treating her like a kid.

    The moment didn¡¯tst long, but it took the chill off their hearts.

    The camp awoke before sunrise and had breakfast while it was still dark to not waste a single second of precious sunlight. The members of the expedition were split into teams, each oneprised of miners, Royal Prospectors, and bodyguards.

    Royal Prospectors were not just Crystalsmiths, but also skilled Wardens and structural engineers.

 Chapter 1005 Talent and Experience Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1005 Talent and Experience Part 1</h4>

    Royal Prospectors would use arrays to detect the presence of enemies and crystals alike. Thanks to earth magic, they could safely dig new tunnels or expand the naturalwork of caves.

    Then, it would be the miners¡¯ job to dig around ording to the information provided by the Prospectors. In their original state, mana crystals didn¡¯t like magic. Using powerful spells in their proximity could easily make them explode and trigger a chain reaction that would wipe out the entire crystal vein.

    The tools the miners used were enchanted so to improve their durability and efficiency. A single worker could dig faster than a drill, but with crystals, skill and finesse were more important than speed.

    "Gods, give me strength." Quy turned pale while entering the tunnels.

    "Since when are you afraid of enclosed spaces?" Friya could understand if the memories of Kh still haunted her sister, but she knew for a fact that until a few months ago, Quy had no such problem.

    After everything that had happened at the White Griffon, Quy had lost her naivety and put up a thick skin. After escaping from the Odi ruins, she didn¡¯t lose a single night sleep and visited several underground ruins.

    That and the fact that Quy didn¡¯t answer the question, made her sisters worry.

    The caves were dark and damp, bearing no trace of previous mining activity. The Prospectors removed the asperities in the ground and made it coarse so to provide a firm foothold.

    After a few hours, the expedition had yet to find any sign of mana crystals or of living creatures dwelling underground.

    Before exploring deeper, the Prospectors had to safely erge the tunnels and stabilize theplex while the miners collected rock samples that would beter studied at the camp with alchemical equipment.

    Phloria had no intention of sitting idly, so she listened to the scouts¡¯ reports, and then she took flight to study the area from above. Based on what she had seen so far, Phloria ruled out the hypothesis of an illegal mining operation at the hand of human bandits.

    No matter how skilled or cautious they might be, humans were bound to leave traces of their passage behind. They needed light to see in the dark, food to keep their strength, and tools to work.

    After long hours of hard work in the mines, even if they still had the energy to close the passages, they were bound to make mistakes. Undead, on the other hand, needed nothing but a safe haven where to hide during the day.

    Day after day, they would make mistakes as well, but to find them one had to think outside of the box.

    The entrance to the caves was located in a small clearing that the Prospectors had widened at their arrival but the surrounding terrain was hilly, leaving a lot of ces for the undead to hide.

    All officers of the Griffon Kingdom had thoroughly studied undead ever since the invasion had be public knowledge and Phloria was no exception. First, she checked the surrounding area for kilometers, to make sure that theck of greenery wasn¡¯t limited only to the caves.

    Once that she ruled out the presence of undead nts, she marked all the hills big enough to hide the food stocks that such a strenuous operation would require. The undead couldy almost anywhere as long as they were shielded from sunlight, but their victims were another story entirely.

    They needed food, water, and space. Be them humans or beasts, once they turned into undead, it was their need to keep the source of their nourishment close to betray their presence.

    By the time she was done, the sun was about to set. Phloria shared her findings with Captain Kortus and Friya while dining together.

    "My suggestion is to send teams to perform Life Sensing Arrays tomorrow morning. Undead can dig deep holes for themselves, but the living need air to breathe." She said.

    "It¡¯s an excellent n, Captain Ernas, but I¡¯m afraid weck the necessary manpower to put it into action. The Wardens can either scout the area or expand the caves and I¡¯m inclined to prioritize thetter." Kortus said with a gentle smile.

    "I believe you¡¯re being overly cautious. We have yet to find any trace of crystals, let alone enemies. Dying the exploration would just be a waste of time, especially if it turns out there are no crystal veins.

    "Every day we spend here is a day when our troops can¡¯t help those really in need. If and when we find the vein, I¡¯ll authorize your n. Until then, speed is of the essence."

    "Yeah, too bad that by then it will be toote." Friya said. "Once we find the crystals, there will be too many assets to defend and our forces will be spread too thin to be effective against a well-executed attack.

    "I¡¯ll send my men on-site first thing in the morning. They are no Wardens, but luckily, Life Sensing arrays are simple and such a huge group of life forces can be detected even by a half-baked spell."

    Her words made Kortus¡¯s face turn into stone.

    "I need to speak with you in private, Captain Ernas." He stood up, gesturing her to follow him.

    "Whatever you might have to say, you can do it in front of my sister. This is myst mission and we have the same rank. You can¡¯t order me around and even if you report me, it will not change my situation one bit." Phloria¡¯s t tone only made the man turn to a brighter shade of purple.

    "Fine. When I asked you if you had any suggestions, you said you had none. Yet the next thing you did was to ignore protocol and go exploring on your own. Now youe back with your crazy theories that your sister is eager to indulge.

    "This way, if something happens, you¡¯ll take credit and I¡¯ll pass for an ipetent. To make matters worse, if soldiers and mercenaries follow different orders, the teamwork will be disrupted and the trust in the chain ofmand will falter.

    "You have all rights to be angry with the army, but that doesn¡¯t authorize you to undermine my authority norpromise the mission. You¡¯re not a Ranger like your friend, you¡¯re supposed to y ball." He managed to keep his voice cold but polite.

    "You are ipetent, otherwise you would have thought about those issues yourself. I didn¡¯t share my thoughts earlier because I¡¯m tired of others taking credit for my ideas, just like I refused to lead the mission because I usually get assigned to me undisciplined soldiers who ignore my orders and then me me for their failures.

    "I asked for Friya¡¯s guild because private contractors prioritize survival over dumb pride or political ys. All the money on Mogar is pointless if they are too dead to spend it." Phloria said while looking at him straight in the eye.

    "Bottom line, I¡¯m done ¡¯ying ball¡¯. The mission will seed because I¡¯m here, but the number of casualties will depend on how badly you y your cards and it will affect your career. This time, I won¡¯t be anyone¡¯s scapegoat."

    Kortus froze in ce as his future suddenly looked dark. He had dly epted the mission, nning to use Phloria as a crutch. If things went well, they would have shared the merits and maybe he would have made connections with the powerful Ernas household.

 Chapter 1006 Talent and Experience Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1006 Talent and Experience Part 2</h4>

    Worst case scenario, he would have pinned the me on her and taken credit for saving the mission. Phloria, however, had cut off all of his safe routes. As second inmand, she had to step in only in the case he wasn¡¯t up to the task.

    On top of that, Phloria had yet to give a single order, she only provided intel and suggestions, letting Kortus make all decisions. Yet with absolute power came the full responsibility.

    Friya¡¯s mercenaries only made Kortus¡¯s situation worse by offering a benchmark. The more sessful they would be, the more ipetent he would appear.

    Before he could find a proper retort, Phloria and Friya walked out of themand tent and joined Quy around the campfire.

    "Do you really think there are undead here?" Friya cast Hush so often that no one red at her anymore.

    "Honestly? No. But checking the area just takes a bit of time whereas if I¡¯m wrong, things could get out of hand quickly. I¡¯m okay with this being myst mission as a Captain, not with it being thest thing I do." Phloria said.

    The following day, Captain Kortus stuck to his n and tasked the Prospectors with expanding the caves in the hope to be done with the mission as soon as possible.

    If they kept not finding anything, the expedition could leave while if they located the crystal veins, the High Command would send reinforcements to secure the area, making Kortus¡¯s job foolproof.

    Friya, instead, followed Phloria¡¯s advice and ordered the members of the Crystal Shield guild to report every five minutes, no matter if they found something or not. Undead attacked as fast and silently as magical beasts.

    If someone disappeared, knowing theirst known position would be of crucial importance.

    Quy had still a long way to go before bing capable of fighting hand to hand, so she helped the Prospectors with her limited knowledge of arrays and her keen mana perception.

    "There¡¯s something behind this wall." She said to Tlea Ormann, a plump woman in herte fifties with red hair and green eyes, who was the Prospector Foreman.

    "Are you sure?" Tlea had spent more time inside crystal mines than at her own home, which gave her plenty of experience in the field. "I¡¯m sorry, but ording to my arrays, there is just more rock behind that rock."

    "Do me a favor and humor me, please." Quy was certain that the eerie feeling she had sensed since the day of their arrival came from there, along with a mana pressure so intense that made her eyes water.

    ¡¯Whatever this is, I¡¯m going to face it head-on.¡¯ She thought, tired of living in fear and second-guessing herself. ¡¯All sessful mages are confident, like Manohar. Scratch that, he¡¯s not confident, more like insane.¡¯

    "Everything for an Ernas." Tlea chuckled and gave Quy a curtsy. "Just tell your father I¡¯m still waiting for my staff."

    Quy felt embarrassed at the idea of having exploited her family name and was still stuttering an apology when the wall opened, revealing a secondwork of caves that went deeper underground.

    "I take back everything I just said." Tlea used hermunication amulet to call her colleagues. "You¡¯re wasted as a Healer. Are you sure you¡¯re not interested in bing a Royal Prospector?"

    Quy stuttered some more until the pressureing from the new caves was overshadowed by something worse. The ground in front of the two women rippled as if someone had thrown a pebble on the surface of ake and a handsome man came out of it.

    He looked to be around his mid-thirties and was about 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall, with wheat-blonde air and grey eyes. The man was wearing a tailor-made white silk shirt and leather pants that emphasized his muscr built.

    His goatee gave his delicate features a manly and wise appearance that almost made Quy miss the fact that he was holding a sword in his right hand and a heart in his left.

    Almost.

    "Noor, Do your thing." He said apparently to no one while he threw both items in the air and dived back into the ground.

    "A Ghoul and a Mage yer!" Quy yelled inside her amulet after recognizing them both from the description Lith had given her.

    A Ghoul was an undead that was free to move during the day as long as it avoided sunlight. Contrary to the lore, their appearance was no different from that of a human, at least until they ate.

    Ghouls needed to feed upon living flesh to sustain their existence and were capable of swimming through solid rock just like Nalrond. That coupled with regenerative abilities on par with trolls made them very hard to kill.

    Both the sword and the heart stopped in mid-air, releasing an orange mist that quickly assumed the humanoid features and red eyes typical of a Mage yer. They were usually born from the dying body of a powerful swordsman.

    In their new form, they would be unable to use fake magic, but their undead naturebined with their skills allowed them to channel the elemental energy into their swordy.

    Mage yers weren¡¯t true mages, but they were able to cast spells without any chant or hand signs. They just needed to perform a series of attacks to unleash all kinds of elemental attacks up to tier three.

    On top of that, magic was their source of nourishment, making all kinds of direct spells useless against them, no matter their tier. Both fake and true mages had a hard time facing someone with infinite stamina that could use magic by simply swinging their des in closebat.

    It was the reason why Rezo the Ghoul didn¡¯t even bother attacking. Alone against so many mages, it was suicide for a Ghoul, but a feast for a Mage yer. The only weak points Noor had, were her heart and darkness magic.

    The former held her blood core, but she could freely move it inside the orange mist, making it invisible, while thetter was too slow to be a threat to someone as nimble as her.

    Quy cursed her bad luck and Blinked away while grabbing Tlea. Noor¡¯s de only hit the air, making the mist thatprised her body ripple in annoyance before she moved onto her next target.

    A few Prospectors panicked and unleashed the spells stored in their rings, providing the Mage yer with the first decent meal in weeks. The orange mist absorbed the elemental energy while the heart within fed upon the mana and stored it inside the blood core.

    Noor¡¯s body recovered part of its human features, allowing her to smile as a thank you while she lunged at the idiotic mages in the hope to receive seconds.

    "Dimensional magic as well? You really are wasted as a Healer!" Tlea stared at Quy in awe.

    Despite the fact that they were far from being safe, all the Royal Prospector could think about was how to convince the young mage to switch careers. Tlea had studied at one of the six great academies as well, but she only obtained the Warden specialization.

    She had never been capable of manipting and fusing six elements at the same time, so dimensional magic was beyond her reach and with it most of thebat roles the Association had to offer.

    Luckily, Tlea had seeded in Crystalsmithing. That together with her Warden abilities had granted her a wealthy andfortable life.

 Chapter 1007 The Mark of a Genius Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1007 The Mark of a Genius Part 1</h4>

    Both Crystalsmithing and Dimensional Magic were considered lesser specializations, but while the former was just treated as thest chance out of mediocrity for those who failed at achieving a real specialization, thetter was considered the mark of a truly powerful mage.

    None of those who graduated from an academy would be graded above B if they failed at dimensional magic, no matter how good their marks in the other disciplines were.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Quy replied even before Tlea could think about a decent pitch.

    As long as she kept Tlea close, Blinking two people cost the same as one, which was of paramount importance since the spell had limited range and reaching the safety of sunlight required a few of them.

    Ghouls and Mage yers could move during the day, but the sun was still their bane.

    Unfortunately for the two women, Rezo wasn¡¯t the only Ghoul in the cave, just like Noor wasn¡¯t the only Mage yer. Teams of two were scattered along the walls, with the Ghouls unleashing their partners before hiding underground and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

    The Mage yers had been dropped on critical junctions of the caves, forcing those who tried to escape to face them no matter the route they took. The Ghouls, instead, had sealed all the entrances with earth magic and kept them that way.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Quy found a Mage yer in the middle of her path and all the exits closed. To her, all tunnels looked the same and without a clear mental image of her destination, Blink was useless.

    She could use Warp Steps to get outside, but casting it required time, something that the undead weren¡¯t willing to allow her.

    The camp wasn¡¯t faring much better. A horde of skeletons and zombies had popped out of the ground, surrounding the arrays and preventing anyone from getting in or out.

    On the one hand, lesser undead were brainless creatures that couldn¡¯t use any magical tool because they were incapable of imprinting them, but on the other, to them the sun meant nothing.

    Only the strong barriers that Friya had her guild set up in ordance with Phloria¡¯s strategy had kept the expedition from being wiped out in one wave. The various elemental blocking arrays were useless against creatures that fought solely using their bodies.

    "This is a diversion!" Phloria yelled at the top of her lungs, to make sure that everyone heard her. "Their real aim is to kill the Prospectors. Without them, no matter if we win or lose this battle, the mission will fail."

    She hated the fact that not only speaking made her a target, but also prevented her from casting spells. Panic, however, was the greatest weapon of the undead.

    ¡¯Prospectors suck at fighting and soldiers need teamwork to beat physically superior opponents. We couldn¡¯t assign many bodyguards because of the limited space inside the caves and because it was more practical to keep reinforcements on stand-by.

    ¡¯Whoever nned this, he¡¯s good.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    "I¡¯m going in to rescue Quy. Can you hold the camp by yourself?" Friya had just finished recalling all the members of the Crystal Shield guild and was now using her custom-mademunication amulet as a map.

    Orion had nted tracker spells inside the armor of all his children, allowing Friya to pinpoint Quy. On top of that, on Friya¡¯s request, Orion had added to her amulet the camera feature.

    By scanning a ce, she could conjure its hologram to serve as a memory aid. Even the Master of Space needed to know her destination and the camera allowed her to return to ces with nondmarks or that she was unfamiliar with.

    Useless to say, hermunication amulet was a very expensive prototype.

    "Yes, but I could use some help." A powerful explosion made the ground quake and the barrier falter, forcing Phloria to start chanting.

    "I¡¯ll get back as soon as I can. If you finish first, join me." Friya focused on the hologram in front of her to jog her memory.

    She couldn¡¯t reach a ce just by seeing its picture. Warping didn¡¯t just require tobine all the elements together, it was also a matter of time and space awareness. Recreating a ce in her mind while weavingplex spells at the same time was incredibly difficult.

    Lith usually had no trouble doing it only because even though he rarely remembered even what he had for breakfast, Solus did. Using someone else¡¯s memory to cast dimensional and offensive spells together was something only cursed objects could do.

    "Good gods, some of the skeletons have their ribcage and skull stuffed with Fire Seeds. One of them was enough to make the array tremble. You have to stop them before they break the barrier and kill us all!" Captain Kortus ordered.

    Fire Seeds were fireballs in a candy-like shell that exploded on contact. Even lesser undead could use such an Alchemical tool.

    "How exactly, Captain Obvious?" More than one soldier replied, too desperate to care about insubordination charges.

    Except for the darkness element, magic was nigh-useless against the undead. Fire, ice, and lightning bolts caused them no pain and only massive spells could inflict them real damage. Air des produced clean cuts that were mended simply by joining the severed limbs.

    All soldiers used their wands to bombard with darkness magic the mass of skeletons and zombies hammering at the barrier with their bodies, but there were just too many. On top of that, from time to time a Fire Seed loaded skeleton would cut through the ranks and threaten to bring down the barrier.

    The elite units were with the Prospectors, leaving in the camp mostly soldiers with alchemical tools. Being split from their main force made them incapable to deploy their best strategies and a panicking officer didn¡¯t help.

    That¡¯s why Phloria activated her tier five Mage Knight spell, Death Bastion, instead of going on the offensive. Death Bastion would usually conjure a stone wall infused with darkness magic, but she turned it upside-down, using the wall to instantly create a deep trench all around the barrier.

    The lesser undead fell with the grace of bricks and blindly followed their orders, climbing the rock walls to resume their attack, just like Phloria had nned. The entirety of the trench was brimming with darkness magic that sapped their strength and turned most of the undead to dust before they could get out.

    With a clear path to victory in front of them, the soldiers didn¡¯t miss the opening and focused their attacks on the creatures near the top of the trench. It helped Phloria to keep the undead contained and left a clear line of sight of the battlefield.

    Now it was possible to see the ground ripple and the explosive skeletoning out of it in time to make it explode at a safe distance.

    "Half of you, eyes on the ground. Ghouls fear sunlight, but we provide them with plenty of shade. They could drop all kinds of nasty surprises right outside the barrier. Don¡¯t focus only on the skeletons and prepare for the next wave.

    "The other half use this time to put fresh crystals to fuel the barrier and make sure the arrays are intact." Once the units resumed working like a well-oiled machine, Phloria poured more mana in her spell and forced the trench to close.

 Chapter 1008 The Mark of a Genius Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1008 The Mark of a Genius Part 2</h4>

    Death Bastion turned into a vise that ground skeletons into dust and zombies into meat paste. After losing their infantry, the Ghouls stopped the attack and retreated. The barrier prevented them from sneaking inside the camp from below just like the sun made attacking from above suicidal.

    "This is all your fault!" Captain Kortus said before people could have a clear idea of what had happened. "If you didn¡¯t order the mercenaries to leave the camp, this wouldn¡¯t have happened. Your thirst for glory left us open to an attack!"

    Phloria¡¯s right hook put an end to the argument, breaking Kortus¡¯s jaw, cheekbone, and sending him tumbling on the ground until a carriage stopped him.

    "In case you¡¯ve already forgotten, there¡¯s still people in the caves who need our help. All those who arebat-ready follow me. We need to open that door!" She looked at the sky, hoping to see the Friya¡¯s guildmates back.

    They were all mages and Phlroia could use some backup. Yet she couldn¡¯t afford to wait and charged at the entrance now sealed by stone. A tier three earth magic spell, Implosion, made the wall copse safely, only for it to reform a secondter.

    It would have been long enough for Phloria to Blink inside, but doing it would also mean to leave the soldiers without a leader nor orders to follow.

    ¡¯Gods, I wish Lith was here. He would find the Ghouls in the walls in no time with Life Vision, whereas I have to waste time casting an array.¡¯ She thought, hoping that Friya could buy her enough time.

    Meanwhile, inside the caves, Quy was fighting for her life. Mage yers were true to their name and required a talented fighter to beat them. Until that moment, the elite soldiers had managed to prevent casualties by teaming up and drinking potions.

    The former allowed them to overpower the undead with numbers and thetter to bridge most of the gap in their physical prowess. Yet the situation was slowly getting worse.

    Mage yers wouldn¡¯t get tired and while they couldn¡¯t be hurt unless their heart was hit, every small cut the mage soldiers suffered would drain their energies faster. The Prospectors were Wardens, and arrays not only required a long cast time, but would also affect their allies as well.

    A melee fight was too chaotic to throw a random spell and hope it would hit the right target. Even the soldiers that used rings or wands to instantly conjure darkness bullets ended up hitting only the orange mist thatprised the yer¡¯s bodies.

    To make matters worse, the undead were capable of conjuring spells with no notice, simply by swinging their weapons.

    ¡¯Think, Quy, think. It¡¯s an easy problem. All I have to do is to reveal their hearts without using magic since it would strengthen them nor swordy because I suck at it.¡¯ Her thoughts oozed sarcasm.

    ¡¯Messing with the ground is not an option because they are frigging gas. Air magic would blow the mist away if it didn¡¯t feed on mana. What the heck can I do? The only physical parts a Mage yer has are the heart and the weapon...¡¯

    A crazy idea formed in her head as she dodged a stray lightning bolt and took her Royal Forgemaster wand out of her pocket.

    "Keep him still for a second!" Quy yelled at the three soldiers surrounding the undead who was actually female.

    They already had a hard time dodging the de of the Mage yer and the spells it conjured, but the mage soldiers obeyed nheless. Quy wore the uniform of the Assistant Professors of the White Griffon academy, so they assumed that she had to bepetent.

    Moreover, all their attacks until that moment had failed, leaving the mage soldiers open to suggestions. Noor emitted a sound that sounded like a sneer and resumed her assault.

    Even though a Mage yer¡¯s body was made of mist, the strength behind each of their strikes was greater than that of any mortal and each one of them in life had been a de master.

    If not for the body enhancing potions the soldiers had drunk, they wouldn¡¯t even be able to follow Noor¡¯s movements. The mage soldiers could only dodge or deflect, because thest person to attempt a block had their wrist broken on impact.

    One of them moved behind the undead, unleashing a tier two darkness spell aimed to her head that dispersed the mist. It dealt no damage but disrupted the Mage yer¡¯s perceptions enough for the other two to block her floating de with a scissor maneuver.

    Quy knew that even by joining their efforts they couldn¡¯t hold for long against an unrelenting enemy. Yet a second was all she needed. A silvery strand that resembled a thin whip came out of her wand and wrapped the de.

    When Quy activated her Forgemaster spell, Clean te, which traveled through the wand and its strand, affecting the magical de as if Quy was touching it.

    Clean te generated abined pulse of light and darkness magic that would temporarily short circuit the imprint on a magical item. In the case of the Mage yer, her de was her own life.

    Contrary to what many believed, the weapon of a Mage yer would be part of their bodies after they were turned into undead. The blood core and the pseudo core were linked, allowing the enchanted de to grow in strength over time along with its master.

    The magical short circuit caused the life force of the Mage yer to flood the de in the attempt to jump-start its pseudo core. Yet until the effects of Clean te faded, their bond would remain broken.

    The orange mist suddenly disappeared and without its cover, it took Quy but a tier one spell to destroy Noor¡¯s heart.

    "Forget the hearts and destroy their weapons. That¡¯s their real weak point!"

    The mage soldier switched their des with maces, so that each hit delivered or taken would weaken the thin weapons the undead used.

    "Good to know, sis." Friya appeared right beside Quy, enveloped by the blue aura of Full Guard and the golden sparkles of light from her personal tier five spell, Dimensional Ruler.

    The former was amon Mage Knight spell, that created a spherical blue aura with a radius of 1.65 meters (5.41 feet) around its caster.

    Thanks to Full Guard, a Mage Knight had no blind spots. Whatever entered the sphere would be detected, allowing Friya to counter-attack and dodge with surgical precision without even looking.

    Thetter, instead, did exactly what its name implied, bending the rules of the battlefield to her whims. Used inbination, they granted Friya a full dimensional awareness and a mastery over space limited solely by her imagination.

    The Mage yers didn¡¯t like Quy disclosing a secret that had gone unnoticed for millennia and were determined to not leaving any witness of the revtion alive. Even beasts and Awakened were unaware of how deep the bond between the undead and their weapons were.

    In front of a beating heart of flesh and a piece of metal that could be as durable as Orichalcum, no one ever bothered attacking the weapon. Those strong or skilled enough to find the heart would triumph, while everyone else would die.

    That was what the Mage yers considered the natural order of things and they would do anything to keep it that way.

 Chapter 1009 Awakening Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1009 Awakening Power Part 1</h4>

    Another undead unleashed a ring of fire that forced his opponents to step back and used that opening to lunge at Quy. Friya pushed her away in the nick of time, taking the hit in her stead.

    The longsword pierced her chest until the hilt struck her bosom and produced a silvery sound when hitting the Orichalcum of her boosted Skinwalker armor.

    A less skilled opponent would have rejoiced to see the de protruding from her back in its full length, but the Mage yer shivered in fear instead.

    It had been too easy.

    The lunge had encountered no resistance passing through the Orichalcum, flesh, and bones. It didn¡¯t make sense, especially the fact that not a single inch of the de was covered in blood nor inside her body.

    The undead knew his weapon like the back of his hand and couldn¡¯t miss that too many things didn¡¯t add up. He tried to pull the de out, but it was toote. The dimensional fissure created in front of Friya that led to her back closed, breaking the weapon in half.

    The Mage yer shrieked in pain as he used all of his might to regenerate the de before it was toote. His efforts made the heart brim with mana, revealing its position and allowing Friya to turn the undead into ashes with a flick of her rapier.

    "That¡¯s one." Friya bolted forward while the golden sparkles of Dimensional Ruler coated her weapon.

    She unleashed a volley of gue Arrows, uncaring of the mage soldiers that the undead used to cover her line of fire like meat shields.

    The Mage yers shrugged and performed the sword movements required to conjure a fireball. The explosion would hurt theirpanions since feeding upon undead magic was akin to poison, but they couldn¡¯t let her get close.

    Suddenly the gue Arrows and the soldiers Switched, forcing the Mage yers to focus on dodging them or bing swiss cheese.

    Friya Blinked between two of them, knowing that her own mana couldn¡¯t hurt her.

    "Two and three." She shed at her enemies who instinctively blocked, only for the golden aura surrounding the rapier to cut the space and leave an unstable fissure in front of them.

    The explosion hit them from the front and the Arrows from behind, while Friya Blinked back beside Quy, unscathed. Dimensional Ruler was mana expensive, but as long as it was active, all of her dimensional spells had no casting time.

    The Mage yer that was about to attack Quy stopped abruptly and focused on Friya so much that she didn¡¯t notice Quy¡¯s silver string hitting her de until it was toote.

    The other Mage yers didn¡¯t like how things were going and since the Prospectors had already revealed the secret of their des through themunication amulets, the undead considered the battle to be lost.

    The Mage yers tapped the walls with the hilt of their weapons, signaling their allies toe and rescue them. The Ghouls arrived, but not the way the Mage yers were expecting.

    While weaving the Life Sensing array, the world in front of Phloria¡¯s eyes had changed. Everything had turned into shades of grey, even the sky. The only colors she could see came from her own equipment, her soldiers, and some humanoid blots in the stone wall in front of her.

    "Fire at will!" Phloria said after using first magic to imitate the effects of the array and marking the enemies¡¯ position with wisps of light.

    She stabbed at the closest enemy with her estoc, piercing through the solid rock as if it was paper and unleashing the spells stored within the Reaver.

    Orion had enchanted her estoc with the ability to hold spells on its own. Reaver relieved Phloria from the mental burden of keeping several spells at the ready required and prevented them from fading in the case she lost her focus.

    Unlike a magic holding ring, the estoc couldn¡¯t hold spells indefinitely, but only for a short while. Yet battles would rarelyst long and having the temporary equivalent of several magic holding rings of all tiers had countless applications.

    The good thing about hiding inside the ground was that it concealed the Ghouls from sight and no normal weapon nor element could affect them. On the other hand, however, once they were discovered, they were sitting ducks.

    Swimming through the ground made them slowpared to someone that could walk or run and also made them extremely vulnerable to earth magic. Phloria¡¯s Reaver made the rock surrounding one of the Ghouls implode on him, killing him on the spot.

    The soldiers followed her lead, using earth magic wands to smoke out the other Ghouls and shatter their bodies. The broken forms of the shocked undead crawled like worms, trying to buy enough time to heal.

    A Ghoul¡¯s regenerative abilities were on par with trolls, allowing their injuries to mend a split second after they were opened. On top of that, Ghouls could use the darkness element in its true magic form like most undead and the earth element due to their natural affinity with it.

    Fake or true, however, all spells needed to be cast. The undead had at the ready only support spells and the means for sneak attacks since they were supposed to be invisible.

    The sudden turn of events left them with nothing but their unnatural physical prowess and first magic. The former wasn¡¯t worth much due to their multiple fractures while thetter couldn¡¯t do much against the powerful tier three darkness spells stored inside the Alchemical tools.

    "Seal earth magic and none of them will escape!" Phloria ordered the Prospectors that were doing their best to not get in the way of the reinforcements and to support them however they could.

    The Prospectors nodded and started to chant in unison, greatly shortening the array¡¯s casting time. Phloria smirked seeing the panicked expression on the Mage yers¡¯ faces as they realized they were on a ticking clock.

    To make matters worse for them, without the Ghouls using their willpower to block all forms of earth magic from inside the caves, the Prospectors were now free to use simple spells to open holes into the ceiling and the walls to let the sunlight in.

    It created safe areas where the undead couldn¡¯t step in and greatly limited their movements.

    Phloria ignored the weak darkness spell the hapless Ghoul threw at her, letting it crash against her armor, and pierced his chest with the Reaver, unleashing a darkness st that turned it into ashes.

    The limbs and the head were still alive, a clear sign that she had missed the heart, allowing the Ghoul to regenerate the missing torso at a speed visible at the naked eye.

    "I suck at lotteries." Phloria used a simple air spell to send the five body parts rolling on a sunny area, where they caught fire as if she had thrown them inside a furnace.

    By the time the Ghoul was burned to cinders, however, the others had already recuperated and were now fighting side by side with the Mage yers.

    An undead swordmaster lunged at Phloria to keep her from casting any more spells and put her on the defense. He was shocked by the strength with which she easily parried the attack, changing the path of the de and ruining the spell he had been weaving toplement the follow-up.

 Chapter 1010 Awakening Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1010 Awakening Power Part 2</h4>

    Phloria sidestepped and quickly jabbed with her left, producing a flurry of fists fast and strong enough to scatter the orange mist at its passage.

    "There it is." She said, revealing the position of the floating heart.

    The undead had yet to recover his stance when Phloria¡¯s de locked his own in ce while her left hand grabbed the vital organ, squashing it, like grape.

    "We¡¯re dead if we stay here. Do you trust me?" A Ghoul asked her Mage yer partner as the tide of the battle turned grimmer with each passing second.

    The silent undead just shook his head, making her curse.

    "Well, too bad!" She grabbed both the de and the heart before throwing herself against the nearest wall while keeping them close to her chest. Her earth magic made it crumble and sunlight made her burn.

    The Ghoul used her body¡¯s regenerative abilities to survive and protect her partner long enough to plunge into the ground again, leaving the other undead in even hotter waters.

    "Thanks for the assist, sis. Now, for my next trick..." Friya spread her hands, opening a dimensional door in front of each hole in the walls and capturing the sunlight. She also ced their exit points so to light the entirety of the caves.

    Sunlight was the only thing that could make undead experience pain as if they were still alive. All the spells the Ghouls had prepared were lost due to the sudden agony breaking their focus.

    At the same time, the orange mist thatprised the bodies of the Mage yers dissipated, revealing their weak spot.

    What followed was a ughter that ended so fast that the Prospectors never got toplete their earth blocking array.

    "You¡¯re amazing!" Quy said while looking at Friya in awe.

    Many nodded in agreement like parrots. The battle had been so desperate and chaotic that its abrupt ending made the survivor feel as if Friya had turned the tables all by herself.

    "Well, that¡¯s true," She epted thepliment but she also didn¡¯t like to hog all the glory. Both her sisters needed a victory. "Dimensional magic is amazing. That¡¯s why it¡¯s usually sealed first, but don¡¯t forget that it does no damage by itself.

    "It¡¯s all about exploiting opportunities and without the two of you, everyone here would be dead. It was you Quy, who discovered the existence of the Mage yers¡¯ second weak point and saved our lives.

    "Without you, the best I could¡¯ve done was to get you guys to safety outside. Also, without Phoria bringing reinforcements and breaking down the walls, I wouldn¡¯t have had the sunlight my spell needed to be effective."

    At her words, soldiers and Prospectors burst into apuse, making Quy blush while Phloria only looked sterner.

    "I hate to ruin the mood, but we¡¯ll have the time to pat ourselves in the back after we take care of the wounded and the fallen. Prospectors, take care of the camp first and then fix this messter. We need some way to keep today¡¯s events from repeating.

    "Soldiers, leave no man behind. I want everyone present and ounted for. I¡¯ll call for backup and report our situation." She pointed at the bodies lying on the floor, belonging to those too slow to react to the surprise attack.

    Some were covered in blood and it was toote for them, but others were still begging for help. Her words swept away the smiles of the survivors who now cursed themselves for forgetting about their fallenrades.

    After making sure that there was nothing for which she could make the difference, Phloria turned around and took her army amulet out of her lily-shaped dimensional pendant.

    ¡¯Was that really Lith¡¯s doing?¡¯ She thought while caressing the golden ne. ¡¯Did he really find a way to uphold the promise he made me the day of Mom¡¯s birthday and to fight by my side despite the distance separating us?¡¯

    She had no idea that what she had experienced wasn¡¯t a miracle, but a sign of her self-Awakening process.

    "Captain Ernas, why the emergency call?" General Berion replied immediately, eager to offer his help

    After Lith had be an Archmage despite the opposition of the head of the Mage Association, the already shaky ground had be shakier for the Association, tipping the power scale in favor of the army again.

    If Berion managed to keep Captain Ernas from quitting and restored her reputation, he would also clean the only stain that the army bore to the Royals¡¯ eyes. Berion still longed to take over the Association and obtain the authority to convert merits into noble titles.

    That way, soldiers could finally receive the award they deserved and all mages would be subordinates of the army. On top of that, gaining the favor of the Ernas household, a leading figure in both organizations, would be a priceless asset to his career.

    Phloria exined everything to him, from theck of vegetation she had noticed to the ambush they had suffered.

    Hearing so many crucial details for the first time snapped him out of his reverie and pissed him off to the point that a lesser man would have Warped there to kill Kortus with his bare hands.

    "Excellent work, Captain Ernas." Berion¡¯s face was a stone mask and his tone was unchanged, but Phloria could notice the throbbing vein on his neck. "Where is Captain Kortus now?"

    "He¡¯s still unconscious, Sir. I gave priority to securing the camp and treating the wounded. After that, I¡¯ll secure the caves, give you a precise number of the casualties, and only then do I n to wake him up.

    "Conflicting orders would slow us down and leave us vulnerable to further attacks." She said.

    "There will be no such thing." Berion¡¯s smile reached his ears, yet it held no joy. "Please, fix Captain Kortus¡¯s wounds and put him through. I want you both to listen."

    Phloria shivered at those words. The way Berion spoke reminded her of the times when Phloria was still a child and Orion reassured her that an abusive well-renewed teacher or instructor wouldn¡¯t bother her anymore.

    Usually, those people disappeared and no one heard from them ever again. There were even rumors saying that, after amputating their limbs, Orion kept them alive inside barrels filled with nutrients, condemning them to a lifetime of agony.

    During quiet nights, sometimes, it was possible to hear groans of paining from the walls of house Ernas, making the domestic staff very respectful of their masters and wary of the children.

    Actually, Orion didn¡¯t like keeping pets and the groans were due to Jirni bringing her work home, but that¡¯s a story for another day.

    "How dare you assaulting a fellow officer?" Kortus said the moment he regained consciousness, even before his vision cleared enough to recognize Phloria.

    "I¡¯ll report everything and have you court-martialled. I will-"

    "You will shut up and listen. That¡¯s an order, Captain." Berion cut him short with a voice so cold that it turned the fire of Kortus¡¯s rage into chilling fear.

    Berion then repeated Phloria¡¯s report with his own words, asking Kortus to confirm or deny its single parts with just a yes or no. It left the hapless Captain no time to make up excuses nor a way to justify his actions.

    Lies would be easily exposed, digging him a deeper grave. None of the witnesses would lie to a General to protect a Captain, and after how Phloria had brilliantly resolved the crisis, Kortus doubted there was a single person in the camp on his side.

 Chapter 1011 Change of Leadership Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1011 Change of Leadership Part 1</h4>

    "I have many things to say, but too little time so I¡¯ll limit myself to one thing. A Captain that has the guts to issue the ¡¯stop the enemy¡¯ order instead of formting a strategy is worth to be added to the list of jokes the Association tells about the army.

    "Captain Phloria, you¡¯re now in charge of the mission. Since I¡¯m forced to change ns due to Kortus¡¯s manifest ipetence in leadership, I¡¯ll invoke the second-inmand protocol.

    "Now put the Prospectors¡¯ foreman through. I need to inform her of my decisions. Reinforcements are already on their way." Berion said.

    Those words made Kortus¡¯s eyes water. Usually, the second-inmand protocol was applied only when themanding officer went mad during a mission, forcing his subordinates to rece him.

    The protocol implied that whatever went wrong with the mission would be his fault, whereas every sess would be to Phloria¡¯s merit. It left no space for politics or power ys. Even if Phloria willingly killed everyone, it would still be his fault.

    "With all due respect, General, I wasn¡¯t done with my report. Permission to speak freely, sir." Phloria Said.

    "Granted." Berion nodded for her to continue.

    "Something doesn¡¯t add up. The undead clearly knew the caves well enough to stage an ambush, so we can assume that Ghouls mined the crystal veins undetected until recently.

    "Yet this raises some questions the answers to which may prove vital for the sess of the mission. If really this really is a crystal mine, then how could Belin of Feymar find red raw gemstones?

    "Ghouls would never be so sloppy, quite the contrary, their presence shows carefully nning and preparation. I considered this to be a set-up, but putting a crystal mine at stake just to kill random soldiers makes no sense.

    "Back when they left the scraps, the undead had no idea who would have found the gems or who would be sent here, so it can¡¯t be all part of a bigger scheme. Last but not least, why didn¡¯t they detonate the mines after we defeated them?

    "It takes but one Ghoul and one spell to turn this ce into a huge crater, yet the mines are still here for us to take." Phloria looked with worry at Friya who was talking with the members of the Crystal Shield guild that had finally returned.

    "I¡¯m d to see there¡¯s someone capable of using her brain." Berion drummed his fingers on the ck mahogany desk, asking himself the same questions yet finding no usible answer.

    "Requesting permission to join the conversation, your honor." Friya said while raising her hand.

    "This is no ssroom and I¡¯m no judge, Mage Ernas. Permission granted anyway." Berion chuckled.

    "My men brought good and bad news. The good news is that following my sister, I mean, Captain Ernas¡¯s instructions they found several hidden caves filled with prisoners..."

    "Their codename is life banks, for short." Berion cut her short.

    "Several life banks. My men were taking care of the survivors and collected some information. Based on what the prisoners said, the life banks were there for a while and before the oldest prisoner got turned into lesser undead, they talked about a mine." Friya said.

    "Excellent job, both of you." Berion¡¯s smile was sincere now. "Captain Ernas, your cunning allowed us to confirm the presence of a crystal mine and to cut off the enemy¡¯s supplies.

    "Mage Ernas, if not for your guild, the ipetence of the previousmanding officer might have been fatal. It was you who ordered the barrier array to be strengthened and then sent them to empty the life banks, securing our victory. What about the bad news?"

    "There were also beasts in the blood banks, which means that today we didn¡¯t fight the main force. I suspect they were just probing our defenses." Friya said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, they will find you ready. I¡¯ve been updating your reinforcements the whole time. They wille in force and prepared. Rest until their arrival and then focus on finding the crystal veins." Berion said.

    Phloria had nothing more to say, so she put Tlea through and went with Friya to help the wounded. All soldiers capable of using magic knew at least tier two healing spells and first aid, yet there was a lot to do.

    Quy was working hard on those in critical condition and was already sweating bullets. Small injuries required but a spell to be healed whereas life-threatening injuries required either the Healer to share their vitality or blood transfusions andplicated surgical procedures.

    Tier four light magic was something only a specialized mage could use, which made every single Healer a priceless asset.

    "You¡¯ve done enough, sis." Phloria delicately pushed Quy away, taking her ce.

    Friya silently thanked Phloria for doing what she couldn¡¯t. Using so many dimensional spells had taken a toll on Friya and she couldn¡¯t heal so much as a scratch without fainting. She was soldiering on to keep the morale high and an eye on Quy.

    "You are safe now. Just eat and rest." Phloria said to a soldier whose liver and stomach had been ruptured by ice spikes.

    He had been deathly pale until a second ago, but after the healing magic had mended his holes-ridden abdomen, color had returned to his face. He managed to say thank you before falling asleep.

    "Well done. You just need to learn tier five to be a full-fledged Healer." Quy was pale as well.

    She was happy to share both the Forgemastering lesson and the Healing specialization with her sisters, yet Quy felt envious because she was incapable of fighting.

    "Let¡¯s move to our next patient." Quy needed help even to stand up.

    "I don¡¯t think so." Friya stopped Quy in her tracks. "We¡¯re both dead tired. We need to rest instead of making the patient list longer."

    "You don¡¯t understand, we..."

    "What¡¯s on your forehead?" Phloria cut her short and poked Quy¡¯s head while activating a tier one healing spell. It healed her bruises and made her fall asleep.

    "I love you." Friya said with so much sincerity that many turned their heads.

    "In a non-sexual way." The bystanders lost interest in the scene and returned to their activities.

    "Perverts." Friya said while covering Quy with a nket and putting a pillow under her head. "Thanks again. I would¡¯ve done it myself but I¡¯ve got no strength left but to talk for a few minutes. Quy needs help. She almost endangered her life earlier.

    "One of the first things they taught us at the academy along with tier four magic was to recognize our own limits. A dead Healer means hundreds of lost lives that could have been saved if the mage just took a break."

    "I noticed that something was wrong with her since we started spending more time together." Phloria moved Quy to their private tent so that no one would disturb her sleep or the ongoing conversation.

    "She acts awkwardly whenever we are alone, has trouble speaking her mind even in your presence, but the worst thing is that she seems to have emotionally regressed to right after Kh¡¯s events.

    "She has never been scared of caves nor been so reckless while healing strangers outside the heat of the battle. Being a dedicated healer is one thing, acting as if the weight of Mogar rests on your shoulder is another."

    "Agreed. We need to talk to her before it¡¯s toote." Friya nodded.

 Chapter 1012 Change of Leadership Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1012 Change of Leadership Part 2</h4>

    "By the way, you are quite energetic for someone who ughtered an army of lesser undead by herself just to y some Ghouls and then heal people without ever taking a break." Friya said.

    "I¡¯m surprised as well." Phloria had no idea the time of her Awakening neared. "I¡¯ll go heal as many people as I can before going to sleep. We¡¯re done exploring the caves for today, that¡¯s for sure."

    Between taking care of the wounded, repairing the camp¡¯s defenses, and treating the people rescued from the life banks, everyone remained on edge until a few hourster, when the reinforcements arrived.

    A single mage Warped outside the barrier and assembled a temporary Warp Gate. It allowed to instantly move the troops from the nearest base to destination and bring the victims of the undead where they could receive all the assistance they needed withoutpromising the safety of the mission.

    "The army really doesn¡¯t spare expenses when crystal veins are involved." Friya yawned while looking at the neers.

    Even though she had taken a tonic before going to sleep, her body still suffered from the strain of the previous day. Friya had a light headache due to mana abuse and her muscles were sore from the aftereffects of top-grade body enhancing potions.

    Feeling her limbs too stiff to be useful in battle, Friya made a mistake, performing stretching exercises in the open. Her Skinwalker armor was still in itsbat mode, resembling a tight suit of armor instead of her usual baggy clothes.

    The sight of her luscious curves as she wiggled her whole body, the light dancing in her raven ck hair framing her features, and her bosom giggling at her every move made a lot of soldiers fall into a stupor.

    Some tripped on their own feet, the reinforcements fell onto each other in aical domino effect, and the Healers poured the potions on their patients¡¯ heads instead of that in their open mouths.

    "Nice to meet you, sweet fairy. I¡¯m Sergeant Sfarzen Rosics of the Rosics household." A young man in his early twenties said, offering her the flowers that he was supposed to put on the bodies of the deceased.

    Sfarzen was a bit taller than Friya, about 1.68 (5¡¯6"), with dark blonde hair and grey eyes. He was half panting and half speaking because he had rushed to her before someone else could make his move first.

    "I¡¯m still new in the army, but my family has enough influence to allow you safe passage back to Feymar and I¡¯m skilled enough to protect you in the case you decided to stay.

    "The battlefield is not a ce for such a lovelydy like you and I¡¯m willing to put my life at risk just to be worthy of your smile." Sfarzen¡¯s words might have been considered romantic in a bard¡¯s tale, but in real life, they were beyond offensive.

    Friya had spent her whole life training in both magic and swordy, graduating from one of the six great academies and ranking second overall. Yet the man in front of her assumed she was just a soldier, failing to notice anything about her but her appearance.

    Ignoring her armor, sword, and the tent she stood in front of was already rude, treating her as a damsel in distress waiting for a hero just added oil to the fire.

    "Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Mage Friya Ernas, of the Ernas household, Guildmaster of the Crystal Shield guild." Her voice was stone cold and her words made the hapless youth freeze like a deer in the lights.

    The rest of the camp wasughing their ass off at his expenses. Even those who thought she was just a pretty face at first, still respected her status as both an Ernas and a Mage.

    After seeing her fight, soldiers and Prospectors had understood while the members of the Crystal Shield guild referred to her as "god" whenever they thought to not be overheard.

    "Now unless you wish me dead, bring those purple Plumes to the fallen, and don¡¯t talk to me again unless it¡¯s about the mission." She snarled, going back inside the tent to shapeshift her clothes into something morefortable.

    The flowers he was holding resembled a bellflower each petal of which had a ck eye-looking spot that made them look like Phoenix¡¯s plumes. Laying one on a dead body was supposed to help and protect the deceased on their way to theherworld, keeping them from turning into undead due to unsolved grievances.

    ording to the lore, it would also grant the fallen the possibility to be reincarnated if they wished for it.

    "It¡¯s more than that." Phloria closed the tent behind her sister while ring at Sfarzen. "This isn¡¯t just about the mines, but about stopping the undead from achieving whatever they were doing here. As much as I hate to admit it, the Kingdom is at war."

    By the time Quy woke up, the security of the camp had been reinforced threefold, the wounded had been treated, and the dead brought back to their families. The original members of the expedition were tense, yet in high spirit.

    After seeing the Ernas fight and with so many elite soldiers joining their ranks, they were certain that the mission would be a huge sess. At the same time, however, the mood among the reinforcements was sour at best.

    Between Sfarzen being publicly humiliated in front of hisrades and the rumors that Kortus had spread about the methods Phloria had employed to wrestle themand of the mission from him, half of the camp red at the Ernas in spite.

    "Hiding precious information to look good in front of the General was really a cheap blow." Many said.

    "Even if you don¡¯t agree with a fellow soldier, sucker punch him to make him miss the action and hog all the glory is too much. Phloria Ernas is a disgrace for the army." Others would reply.

    "They are such powerful mages, all of them are healers, and yet over ten people died. I think they didn¡¯t save everyone on purpose to suck up on Berion and make Captain Kortus look bad. All nobles only think about themselves and don¡¯t care for usmoners."

    The reinforcements¡¯ rudements caused fights to break out the moment the members of the Crystal Shield guild or those who had survived only thanks to the Ernas heard them.

    Before dinner, even the new Healers had run out of mana to treat all the injuries caused by the infighting and half of the camp was in detention.

    Quy refused to eat and remained in her tent, forcing her sisters to act sooner than they had nned.

    "You¡¯re still pale and need to eat!" Friya said. "Seriously, what¡¯s wrong with you? It¡¯s not the first time I put a drone in his ce and you know as well as I do that, outside noble courts, the Ernas name brings more trouble than respect."

    "Yeah. Also, what¡¯s with being scared of the dark and trying to act like a martyr at all times? We have nothing to prove to those people. I care about your life much more than I care about theirs." Phloria said.

    "I¡¯m so sorry. This is all my fault. You have done so much for me, yet all I ever brought you was trouble." Quy started to sob.

    Not only she considered every dead soldier as her personal failure, but also seeing her sisters treated so unfairly was more than her broken spirit could take.

 Chapter 1013 Elephant in the Room Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1013 Elephant in the Room Part 1</h4>

    "How is any of this your fault?" Friya hugged her, soon joined by Phloria who caressed Quy¡¯s head and tried to calm her down enough to make sense. "You didn¡¯t call the undead here nor did you tell those idiots to ogle at me as if I¡¯m just a piece of meat."

    "Everything is my fault." Quy replied. "I epted that stupid ring back at the academy because I was jealous of Phoria and Lith. I killed Yurial and Mom almost died because I was too weak to fight the ve item.

    "That day, I put you in front of an impossible decision that yearster has ruined your career. If when I came to your house for the first time I refused being adopted, now you would be happy and I would have received the punishment I deserve.

    "Mom should have given up on me and saved you from Deirus. Both at the academy and at Kh, I failed to save anyone. I¡¯m just a useless orphan. If it wasn¡¯t for me, you and Friya would be treated as the heroes you are.

    "I don¡¯t deserve to be your sister." Quy wailed in desperation, trying and failing to escape from the embrace of which she felt unworthy.

    "And here I thought that Kortus was the biggest idiot in the camp." Phloria said. "You did nothing wrong. Quite the contrary, both here and at Kh, you saved lots of lives, mine and Lith¡¯s included.

    "Back at the academy, you had no idea your wannabe boyfriend had given you a ve ring. You were just one of the dozens of students that crazy bitch of Nalear turned into her puppets. What happened wasn¡¯t your fault but hers. Yurial was one of her main targets, just like Linjos.

    "You attacked him only because Nalear ordered you to and Deirus knows it. His son, our friend, died in the attempt to prevent the outbreak of a civil war and with his actions, Vn Deirus is spitting on Yurial¡¯s sacrifice."

    "Phloria is right." Friya said. "We all have read the diaries Yurial has left and we know how he felt about us. He wouldn¡¯t want you to me yourself for what happened. As for Kh, you were the true hero there.

    "If you didn¡¯t stop the Mana Reactor, everyone would be dead now. We don¡¯t share any blood, but you are my sister since the day we met. I¡¯d rather die than give up on you."

    Friya lulled the sobbing Quy in her arms, wishing that Jirni was really behind Balkor¡¯s return and that their mother would make all those responsible for her sisters¡¯ suffering pay tenfold for their actions.

    Thousands of kilometers away, Jirni felt her ears burn and added a few lines to her mastern.

    "Quy, life will always be unfair. Giving up on my job hurts, but it could go much worse." Phloria said. "I still have my magic, my family, and my whole life in front of me. You don¡¯t have to feel bad for something that even Mom and Dad couldn¡¯t stop.

    "Now, since we are sharing everything, tell me the truth. Why did you break up with Anathor right after we entered Kh?"

    "He gifted me a ring." Quy replied.

    "That¡¯s a wrong move if I ever heard one." Friya said.

    "It wasn¡¯t his fault, I never told him anything about my days at the academy because it was too painful. When he gave me the ring, I couldn¡¯t force myself to wear it or give him an exnation. After that, we just drifted apart until it was toote." Quy had stopped crying, but Phloria refused to let go of her.

    "Unhand me or I¡¯ll blow my nose on your sleeve."

    "Be my guest. All Skinwalker armor are self-cleaning, little one." Phloria kissed Quy¡¯s head and gave her a handkerchief.

    "You know, back at the academy, I was always envious of your figure, Friya. Now, instead, I¡¯m relieved I¡¯m not the one forced to dress like a sack of potatoes to not be bothered every time I step outside the house."

    Quy still sniffled, but between the embrace and finally finding the strength to express her fears out loud, she realized how nonsensical they were. She still felt guilty, but Mogar had stopped resting on her shoulders.

    "How nice of you!" Friya chuckled while ruffling Quy¡¯s hair.

    After the gloomy mood in the tent was gone, the three young women dined together, talking about all the good times they had shared during their time at the White Griffon until they fell asleep.

    ***

    The following day, the Prospectors had joined hands with the army mages to create a first line of fortifications around the camp. The barrier that the Crystal Shield guild had erected during the first day was now several times bigger and stronger.

    "What are your orders for today, Sir?" Captain Kortus had been forced to stay up all night to make sure that everything went ording to Phloria¡¯s n.

    He didn¡¯t know whether to hate more the fact that she had managed to anticipate the moves of the undead or that he couldn¡¯t find a single w in her countermeasure n.

    "Same as yesterday. We need to find the crystal veins, if there are any, and understand what the undead were doing here. Maybe there are no mines and we stumbled into one of their secret bases.

    "It would not make the Kingdom richer but it could deal a huge blow to their ns. Split the soldiers in three teams. Oneposed of elite units and Prospectors to search the mines, another of scouts to find all traces the undead might have left, and a third to keep watch.

    "We can¡¯t fall twice for the same trick. If the Ghouls return, we have to regroup quickly and strike as one." Phloria said. "Captain Kortus, I¡¯ll leave you in charge of the camp while I explore the caves.

    "If anything happens, call me and I¡¯ll Warp here. Are we clear?"

    "Sir, yes, sir." Kortus almost bit his tongue to keep the edge out of his voice.

    ¡¯How dare she treat me like a strawman even though we hold the same rank? Ernas is basically saying she doesn¡¯t trust me to do anything but keep watch. I don¡¯t know how, but I¡¯ll make her pay.¡¯ He thought.

    Sfarzen was walking around the Ernas¡¯s tent, trying to find a way to make up for his blunder. The problem was that each speech he rehearsed sounded worse than thest.

    "What are you doing here?" Friya was wearing an ample deep red Mage robe that covered from sight anything but her hands, head, and feet. "I thought I made myself clear yesterday, so unless invisible enemies are surrounding us, we¡¯ve got nothing to talk about."

    "Look, I know I¡¯ve acted like an idiot yesterday..."

    "Well, at least we agree on something." She cut him short and tried to leave, but he stepped in front of her with his hands raised in a plea for a minute of her time.

    "...and I know this is sudden, but I¡¯m in love with you. All I¡¯m asking you is to give me a chance. One single date. After that, if you¡¯re not interested, you¡¯ll never hear from me again" Sfarzen said.

 Chapter 1014 Elephant in the Room Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1014 Elephant in the Room Part 2</h4>

    "I like your guts and I would have given you a chance if you skipped the bullshit about love. You don¡¯t know the first thing about me, the only thing you are infatuated with is my appearance.

    "Love is too strong a word to be abused like that. Only a shallow person that knows nothing about their own feelings can use it so freely with someone they have just met. I¡¯ve been asked out by a lot of men like you.

    "You all think yourself unique, but aside from your face, you¡¯re all the same. Goodbye." Friya walked around him and this time the youth didn¡¯t stop her.

    Sfarzen felt even more idiotic than the day before, wondering if his brain and mouth had actually been disconnected by some unknown illness.

    "Would you have really gone out with him?" Quy had to walk briskly to keep up with Friya.

    "Yes. If you don¡¯t date, you can¡¯t find anyone. He had the guts to face me again and admit his mistakes, which is rare considering that most men think themselves a godsend that I must wee with joy. Yet that cheesy part was a deal-breaker.

    "Quy, what would you think if a random stranger imed to love you at first sight?" Friya asked.

    "I would either think he¡¯s after my money or he thinks I¡¯m an easy woman." Quy replied, suddenly finding Sfarzen¡¯s confession more tasteless than romantic.

    "Then we are on the same page." Friya nodded to Quy before turning to Phloria. "What do you want us to do, today, Commander?"

    "Captain, not Commander." Phloria rolled her eyes at her sister¡¯s ignorance about military hierarchy. "The Prospectors will search for crystals, but examining things properly will take too long and in battle knowledge is power.

    "The three of us will explore the undergroundwork of caves and search traces of undead activities that might not be strictly rted to gemstone veins. Quy, your mana perception seeded where even arrays failed, you¡¯ll be our guide.

    "Friya, between your Mage Knight and Dimensional Mage specializations, you can fight or summon reinforcements ording to the circumstances. You take the rear. I¡¯m just tall, mean, and strong. My role will be to protect Quy and buy you time in the case something goes wrong."

    "Just the three of us?" Friya asked.

    "Yes. We might be dealing with Odi ruins and I don¡¯t want to babysit anyone. Quy can read theirnguage, the gods only know why..."

    "Lith needed help for a thing." Quy said, but Phloria continued, uncaring for the exnation.

    "I know how to find their runes, and the three of us are used to fight together. Our teamwork will allow us to move fast and don¡¯t worry about dead weight."

    "Any special order I should give to my men in the case Captain dumbass tries something funny?" Friya said.

    "Actually, yes." Phloria was amazed by her own naivety.

    She had spent so much time in the army to consider orders as absolute decrees no one would dare to defy. Her recent missions, however, had taught her better, and the mercenaries were the perfect solution to her problem.

    "Have them keep an eye on both Kortus and the Captain who led the reinforcements here, Lotta. Have your men take short turns so their marks don¡¯t notice being observed and have them report anything unusual. We can trust no one." Phloria said.

    "Give the Crystal Shield some credit. We know how to tail someone!" Friya sighed.

    She instructed her men, making it clear that they should not share any intel with the army unless it was vital for the sess of the mission.

    "It will be done." Wyra, one of Friya¡¯s seconds inmand, gave her a bow so deep that she almost kneeled.

    Friya didn¡¯t like being worshipped by her guild members, but at least it guaranteed their loyalty. On top of that, she knew that being the strongest sword, shield, and mage among them who also taught specializations to those she deemed worthy, made it easy for them to put her on a pedestal.

    Quy guided her sisters to the passage she had found just a minute before the undead attacked the Prospectors. It opened on a natural undergroundwork that closely reminded to Phloria the one Morok had led them on the way to Kh.

    She used earth magic to look for hidden runes or marks in the rock, but her spells didn¡¯t find anything. Meanwhile, Quy focused on the hostile mana, trying to find its origin.

    There was no spell that could guide her, forcing Quy to rely solely on her mana perception and instinct. They ended up in a dead-end more than once, forcing them to retrace their steps and pick another corridor.

    Friya and the others knew the arrays necessary to search for crystals and might have used earth magic to open a passage, but they had no idea how to alter the walls without the risk of causing a cave-in.

    It was the reason why Prospectors were vital during an underground exploration and why Lith needed Nalrond to cheat his way to any kind of underground treasure.

    "I really envy you two." Phloria said during a short break for lunch. "We have both been to Kh, yet my mana perception isn¡¯t as good as yours, Quy. I can feel we¡¯re getting closer to the hostile mana¡¯s source only when it bes so much stronger that it¡¯s impossible to miss.

    "As for you, Friya, your dimensional awareness is outstanding. Not even the members of the Queen¡¯s corps I worked with were capable of using Warps the way you do."

    "I feel the same. I always considered Lith and Quy our Manohar. Together they have his same amount of genius and madness. You and Yurial were our Marth. You are strong, talented, and determined to the point that you know exactly what you want and how to get it.

    "Which leaves me the role of Vastor." Friya sighed.

    "The one people turn to only when the other two are busy. Let¡¯s be real. Put me in a dimensional sealed area and my skills are no better than the average mage. Sometimes I wonder if there¡¯s really nothing more to me than a pretty face."

    "I would kill for breasts like yours." Phloria said, patting her left shoulder.

    "Do not get me started about your ass." Quy took care of the right shoulder.

    "Very funny! That was the moment when you¡¯re supposed to tell me how talented I am. I¡¯m already pissed off because Lith told you something that neither he nor you shared with me. Don¡¯t make it worse by spreading salt on my wounds."

    Friya¡¯s sisters froze realizing that she knew about their little secret.

    While they were in Kh, Lith had treated Quy with Invigoration, restoring both her body and mana. On top of that, she had seen him use magic without chants and turn into a Wyrmling.

    Phloria knew even more than Quy and after discussing the events of Kh among themselves, aside from terms like "Awakened" or "umtion", they had figured out most of Lith¡¯s abilities.

    Yet they didn¡¯t share any of that with Friya to respect his privacy. Phloria and Quy were certain to have been discrete, yet the elephant in the room they believed to have brilliantly hidden was actually rampaging through the house.

 Chapter 1015 End of the Line Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1015 End of the Line Part 1</h4>

    "Don¡¯t act that surprised, I¡¯m not deaf nor dumb. After Kh, you were distressed about something, yet you refused to talk about it with me and spent a lot of time with Phloria." Friya said to Quy.

    "Not to mention all the times you two abruptly change topic the moment I get close and after that, you have guilty looks on your faces. Quy never had secrets for me before Kh, so it wasn¡¯t hard to understand what happened.

    "Lith is the only person we all know whose secrets we have kept hidden from our parents and even from each other."

    "Lith is right when he says that we spend too much time together." Quy sighed. "You read me like a book, Friya. All you said it¡¯s true, but it¡¯s not up to me to share such things with you, just like you didn¡¯t tell me what really happened in Zantia."

    "You noticed?" Friya was bbergasted. She had always thought that Protector¡¯s secret was safe with her.

    "Of course I did. By the way, the feeling of envy is mutual. People consider me a genius, yet my greatest achievement is always being the weak link in our chain. Sure, I learn quickly and my magic is powerful, but when pushes to shove, I¡¯m either a burden or a first aid kit.

    "You two, instead, not only are considered the best in your respective fields of work, but you can also hold your ground under any circumstance. Even in Laruel, I was the only one left behind. Morok was right, I might be young, but I¡¯m as strong as an old fossil."

    At that point, the cheery mood had turned sour. Just like Quy couldn¡¯t deny Friya¡¯s words, her sisters had no way to sugarcoat the fact that Quy was indeed weak. Whenever they moved, their first priority was always to keep her safe.

    They resumed walking in silence, going deeper underground until it was time to go back to the camp for dinner. They were tired from the exploration and sad from the revtion that their bond of trust was wed because of a certain someone.

    ¡¯I could confront Lith about the events of Kh, but I don¡¯t want to force him to open up. He already has deep-rooted trust issues and I don¡¯t want to ruin our friendship.

    ¡¯I swear that if even Kam knows what the heck is going on I¡¯m thest to know, I¡¯m going to kick his ass.¡¯ Friya thought while opening a dimensional door back to their tent.

    Phloria listened to her subordinates¡¯ reports and Friya did the same. While she waited for their return, Quy prepared dinner.

    ¡¯I really like cooking. It¡¯s very simr to magic in its need for attention to the details and mixing the various ingredients while keeping them bnced.¡¯ She thought.

    The soldiers had nothing to report while the Prospectors were fairly optimist. They had yet to find anything, but very rarely crystal veins ran so close to the surface and even if they did, it was likely that the undead had cleared them first to fool passers-by.

    The members of the Crystal Shield, however, didn¡¯t bear good news. They had seen the two Captains use their personal amulets too often for it to be normal. On top of that, both Kortus and Lotta spent most of their time inside their respective tents, where Friya¡¯s men couldn¡¯t follow them.

    Phloria shared all the information with Berion. The General wasn¡¯t pleased about fellow members of the army being put under surveince, but he couldn¡¯t dismiss her worries nheless.

    "I¡¯ll have their backgrounds checked again and extend the investigation to their families as well." Berion said.

    "This is not just about external enemies, Sir." Phloria said. "We both know that Vn Deirus has many allies. Any ident that happens here could be easily pinned to the undead.

    "After what happened to the Nuragor household, he needs a win to tip the scale again. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want toe here."

    "I know, yet I wouldn¡¯t have recalled you if I had another choice." Yet Berion was only telling a half-truth.

    The army was indeed understaffed, but he had chosen her because the mission seemed foolproof and crystal veins would look great on her resume. Her brilliant response to the undead¡¯s attack had made the situation even better.

    Finding a crystal mine was already quite a feat, but snatching one from the public enemy number one was exactly the kind of achievement that could put Phloria¡¯s career back on track.

    "Keep me posted and don¡¯t hesitate toe directly to me in case you need backup. General Berion out."

    Upon returning to their tent, Friya and Phloria found Quy talking with Tlea Ormann. The chief Royal Prospector was giving her best pitch to make Quy switch careers.

    "Don¡¯t worry about arrays. I can teach you myself and with your talent, I doubt it will take long to bring you up to speed." Tlea said.

    After she was done, Quy promised she would think about it and gave everyone a te of beef stew with vegetables. The hot broth took off their bones the chill that spending the day inside the dark and damp caves had left while also keeping warm the other ingredients.

    "Delicious. If I wasn¡¯t already married, I would propose to you. You are a great Healer, Prospector, and now even cook. Is there even something you¡¯re not good at?" Tlea cleaned her te and asked for seconds.

    "Fighting." Quy sighed.

    "Wee to the club. You can be a junior member at best." Tlea replied. "At least yesterday you contributed, whereas most members of my unit just wet themselves and cried for their moms, me included."

    "Seriously?" Friya blurted out, realizing how rude her question was the moment it came out of her mouth.

    "Yep." Tlea nodded without a shred of shame. "You¡¯ll find no hero among Royal Prospectors. Don¡¯t get me wrong, we got plenty of nice people with a good heart, it¡¯s just that when danger appears, bathroom calls.

    "We are braver than those mages who spend their whole lives cooped up in theirbs or courts, but we are no warrior material. On the other hand, our mortality rate is the lowest in the army and our life expectancy is the longest."

    After a bit of chit-chat exchanging tricks about how to spot crystals that would serve the Ernas during their exploration, and after all the three of them had silently agreed, Phloria asked:

    "Tlea, have you ever worked before with either Captain Kortus or Lotta?"

    "I¡¯ve been in this business long enough to know almost everyone." Tlea replied. "Forgive my rudeness, but I don¡¯t like talking behind the back of my colleagues and I doubt you¡¯re asking because you fancy them."

    "I don¡¯t want to dig up dirt on them. I just want to know if I can rely on them. There¡¯s only so much their personal files can tell me and you don¡¯t ask the barkeep if their beer is good." Phloria said.

    "Point taken." Tlea thought for a while, pondering how close she hade to death due to Kortus¡¯s ipetence and if she could afford to entrust her life to Lotta.

    "Kortus is as stubborn as a mule but less smart. He never got past Captain despite being active on the field because he got as many losses as victories."

 Chapter 1016 End of the Line Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1016 End of the Line Part 2</h4>

    "He¡¯s the to-go guy when you want things done by the book, but hecks both foresight and flexibility. He was too good to remain a Lieutenant but not good enough to make a decent Captain.

    "Lotta, instead, is a smart andpetent woman, but too ambitious for her own good. You never know if she¡¯s serving the army, her political allies¡¯ interests, or her own.

    "If I had to make an educated guess, I¡¯d say that probably Berion chose Kortus to make you look good, while his enemies exploited the crisis to put Lotta in charge of the reinforcements before one of Berion¡¯s people was avable." Tlea said.

    "That¡¯s one heck of analysis for someone who just a second ago imed to don¡¯t like to talk behind the back of her colleagues." Friya was d to not have joined the army.

    The more she learned about it, the less she liked the power ys hidden behind even the smallest decision.

    Phloria rolled her eyes, d that Friya was just a consultant. Her brash attitude coupled with her habit to speak to anyone as if they were her peers, disregarding both age and rank, would have made her career so short that she would be a cautionary tale in the army.

    "Indeed, it is." Tleaughed. "For a moment I had forgotten that in my line of work, there is no ce for politeness. To survive as long as I did, you must learn to distinguish with a nce if a vein is worth your time or not, and people are no different.

    "You¡¯re my crystal veins, girls. Don¡¯t let me down." The chief Prospector yawned and wished them good night before going to her tent. Casting arrays all day was a tiring business and age only moved forward.

    "Is it me, or does Tlea resemble Yondra a bit?" Phloria asked once they were alone.

    "Yeah." Quy remembered with nostalgia thete Professor of the ck Griffon who had shed with Lith on their first meeting, just toter offer her magical legacy and her professorship to him.

    "Nope. Age aside, they have nothing inmon." Friya had never met Yondra, but she considered herself a good judge of character. "Based on what you told about how she lived and died, Yondra was passionate, whereas Tlea is calctive.

    "She didn¡¯t ask us for protecting her unit or her disciple, only her own ass."

    "What a Lith-like thing to say!" Quy gasped at her sister¡¯s cynical analysis.

    "Yet Friya is notpletely wrong." Phloria thought back at all Tlea¡¯s words and actions. "I¡¯m not as cynical as you two, but if there¡¯s something I learned from Kh¡¯s aftermath, is that believing in blind loyalty is for fools.

    "Under all the pretty words about honor and the oaths we took, under our uniforms, the military are still humans. Let¡¯s take Tlea¡¯s words with a grain of salt and from tomorrow onwards, let¡¯s put a tail on her as well."

    Friya nodded and prepared their beds. The following day promised to be interesting as well.

    ***

    Thanks to Friya¡¯s custom amulet, they could resume their search exactly from the same spot they had left a few hours prior.

    Between the words they had shared among themselves and with Tlea, the Ernas sisters had a lot to think about. They proceeded in silence, only interrupted by the status reports Friya and Phloria regrly received from their respective subordinates.

    Moving in the tunnels gave them an eerie feeling. There was only magic to light their way, all the tunnels looked the same, giving them the impression of going round in circles, and every one of their steps produced an echo.

    It made them feel vulnerable and fighting the urge to not keep spells at the ready, made them often lose focus. Casting arrays while keeping their guard already drained a lot of energy.

    Keeping powerful spells at their fingertips would make their explorationst minutes instead of hours. Unlike Awakened, fake mages would consume mana the moment they cast a spell, no matter if they used it or saved it forter.

    People like Lith, instead, could cast andter release unused spells, expending solely the mental focus necessary to keep them at the ready.

    The Ernas sisters were forced to fight the paranoia and ustrophobia that walking for hours in the dark inspired, so when they saw a light ahead of them, they didn¡¯t rejoice.

    They turned off their own light and weaved their best spells as fast as they could. Phloria¡¯s Reaver was the perfect tool for an ambush, while Friya¡¯s rapier, Dreadnought, was more a jack of all trades.

    They slowly moved forward, using darkness magic to conceal their smell and air magic to float above the ground while creating the sound of their steps to give the impression that they had never slowed down.

    The spell moved faster than them so that they would ambush anyone who attacked the source of the noise. Yet when the spell reached the illuminated area, nothing happened.

    They didn¡¯t lower their guard and Friya conjured a dimensional fissure the size of a keyhole in front of her eye and its exit point in front of the source of light, using them as an improvised surveince device.

    "By the Great Mother." She whispered while passing the fissure to her sisters and allowing them to look through it as well.

    The dark cave led to a crystal vein where the lowest tier gemstones were green colored, something that would put to shame even the mines of Laroxya. By rotating the exit point of the fissure, Friya had searched the ce for enemies, only to find blue and violet crystals bigger than an apple protruding from the walls.

    Only after conjuring a Hush zone did Phloria speak.

    "Things couldn¡¯t get any worse. We just stumbled into the closest thing to a death-trap I¡¯ve ever seen. The crystal vein means that we can¡¯t Warp away, only Blink. Yet in such a poorly lit and unfamiliar ce, even that is pointless.

    "If we step through that cave, we¡¯ll not be allowed to use big spells without risking to blow everything up. If I were an undead, I¡¯d choose this ce to ambush us since it would allow me to exploit my superior physical prowess and endless stamina.

    "We need to get far away enough to safely open a Warp Steps and call for reinforcements." Phloria¡¯s analysis was so urate that if the Ghoul in charge of the ambush could¡¯ve heard her, she would¡¯ve thought Phloria to be a psychic.

    Unfortunately for the Ernas sisters, their trick with the sound of footsteps had fooled and alerted their enemies at the same time. Not seeing them appear had halted the attack of the Ghouls, who soon started to wonder what was going on.

    The Hush zone kept them from overhearing Phloria, but the noise that the spell produced also made the Ghouls understand that somehow their n had failed and that they had to move before it was toote.

    They came out of the cave walls, surrounding the humans from every side. This time they wore enchanted protections and wielded short weapons that would amplify their attack prowess without being hindered by the confined space.

    "Friya, take Quy and run!" Phloria feared that without dimensional magic, Friya would be no different from Quy.

    Phloria was already outnumbered and outmatched, making the situation a losing fight before it even started. If she also had to protect someone, her chance of victory would go from little to none.

 Chapter 1017 Orionâ€™s Wrath Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1017 Orion¡¯s Wrath Part 1</h4>

    "Escape? That¡¯s easier said than done!" Friya understood her sister¡¯s worries, but the only way out was blocked by two undead.

    The silver lining in their predicament was that the Ernas sisters had finished preparing their spells and had their weapons already in hand. The ambush had seeded, but the girls¡¯ preparation had neutralized its element of surprise.

    Each one of the Ernas conjured a Full Guard spell, reducing the advantage that superior numbers granted to their enemies. The only problem was that after finishing to weave the spells, they had no time to drink any potion.

    Without the aid of the alchemical tool, the gap in physical prowess was their greatest enemy.

    The Ghouls smelled the intoxicating fearing from their prey and established the pecking order. The little girl was the weakest link, almost on the verge of panic. The hot girl was scared as well, but her determination was stronger than her fear.

    The slender, effeminate man, instead, wasn¡¯t afraid for himself so much as for the two women.

    "Where the heck is Captain Ernas?" The leader of the Ghouls asked Phloria, igniting her rage. She hated to be mistaken for a man just because of her pixie cut.

    "She was supposed to be with her sisters. Tell us where to find the Captain and we¡¯ll make sure you are unconscious while we feast on your flesh." Karis Lessar the Ghoul pointed at Friya, calling dibs on her.

    Undeath made so that none of the Ghouls was bad looking. Their bodies were toned like those of athletes, without a shred of body fat or imperfections of the skin. Yet none of them couldpare to the human girl and that royally pissed them off.

    The fact that the women¡¯s fear had suddenly disappeared and was now reced by hrity only worsened the Ghouls¡¯ mood.

    "This is noughing matter, children." Karis snarled. Rage fueled the red light of undeath in her eyes, making it so bright that the corridor seemed to be drenched in blood.

    "If we can¡¯t get her, then we¡¯ll keep you as hostages. Alive is very different from well, and being devoured is no pleasant experience. Talk now or my deal is off."

    "Fuck you. That¡¯s where she is." Phloria kept her voice low to not be recognized and stepped forward.

    She hoped the Ghouls would surround her, leaving only the two undead in front of Friya to deal with her sisters. Despite the gap in physical prowess, with their equipment, Friya and Quy had a chance in a two versus two fight.

    The Ghouls followed Phloria¡¯s script, believing that despite his bravado, the effeminate man would regret leaving his back exposed while surrounded by so many enemies.

    Phloria let the first enemye in contact with her conjured stone shield before activating her personal spell, Dread st.

    It generated a small sphereprised of air and darkness that affected everything in her surroundings except for the space within a meter (3.3 feet) from her body. By mixing tier zero gravity magic with it, the spell also lowered the weight of all those in its area of effect, sending them flying like leaves.

    Darkness magic injured her opponents while gravity magic robbed them of their foothold. mming against the wall would deal no damage to an undead, but the move had temporarily broken the encirclement.

    Only then did Phloria advance further to take out the enemy leader in the hope that it would make the rest of her forces retreat. Karis inwardly apuded the effort and went for the kill.

    No matter how well trained they were, humans could neverpare with the experience of centuries and the perfect coordination that only a body whose strength didn¡¯t depend on muscles could aplish.

    The moment Karis entered the range of Full Guard, Phloria stopped holding back. The speed of her pseudo-Awakened body took the Ghoul by surprise and the years spent practicing the same moves over and over did the rest.

    The lunge was a basic attack, with no trick nor feint behind it. Yet Phloria executed it with a speed and uracy beyond human, without any wasted movement nor hesitation. She knew that there was no feint she could try that the Ghoul didn¡¯t counter at least a hundred times in the past.

    Phloria didn¡¯t have an undead¡¯s reflexes, so she was bound to lose if things dragged on. The simplest move was the most lethal she could perform because her opponent would overthink.

    Karis could see the estoc move and tried to read Phloria¡¯s muscles to determine her real goal. Attacking where a human heart was supposed to be was such a dumb strategy that the Ghoul refused to believe it.

    By the time Karis realized it was really an attack instead of a feint, it was toote. Reaver pierced through her chest, causing nothing more than an annoying sting. Like all Ghouls, Karis could freely move her weak point around her body.

    With a Ghoul¡¯s innate regenerative properties, the cut would heal the moment the sword was pulled out of the wound. Unfortunately for her, it would never happen. Reaver was engulfed in the golden aura typical of the anti-undead weapons developed by the Balkor department.

    Karis suddenly felt weak. The golden aura was robbing her blood core of its strength and taking away all the gifts that undeath had bestowed upon her. Orion had never been a meek man, but after Kh¡¯s events, he was considered the embodiment of wrath.

    He had poured all of his rage into War, to make Lith into the de that would strike at theirmon enemies while he had devised the weapons of his children to protect them from any harm.

    Using a few state secrets for personal gain was a little price to pay to make sure his daughters woulde back home safe and sound.

    Karis tried to plunge into the ground, but the rock was deaf to her call. She tried to move her heart from the stomach to the calf, away from the estoc, but her weak point remained still and even her wound bled as if she was still alive.

    "What the fuck?"

    "Fuck you. That¡¯s how." Phloria used her personal tier five spell, Master Sword, to unleash the darkness spells stored inside her ring directly inside the Ghoul¡¯s body.

    Master Sword was a tier five Mage Knight spell that allowed her to channel her magic inside her estoc and release it at will upon contact.

    Mage Knights had to often fight in closebat while defending their mark, so Phloria had devised Master Sword to be able to use all kinds of spells without having to worry about their area of effect or speed.

    Darkness magic was the bane of the undead. It made Karis¡¯s chest rot and with it her heart, reducing the conceited Ghoul into ashes before herpanions struck by Dread st could even hit the ground.

    ¡¯That was the "easy" part, but now that they know how fast I am, the same trick will not work again.¡¯ Phloria thought while stepping back to regroup with her sisters.

    Friya had no idea what had just happened, but she took the shocked expression on the faces of the Ghouls in front of her as her cue.

    Dreadnaught, her rapier, had been enhanced as well with the anti-undead properties and its abilities further upgraded.

 Chapter 1018 Orionâ€™s Wrath Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1018 Orion¡¯s Wrath Part 2</h4>

    Orion had enchanted the rapier so that it could emit all the six elements, even light, so as to give his daughter the greatest versatility in battle.

    She could even use it to heal her allies or to stab and heal her target at the same time, making it easier to capture someone alive. Friya used the light element to lit the corridor and regain part of her dimensional abilities.

    Unlike War, Dreadnought didn¡¯t channel and amplify its wielder magic, but it produced simple spells on its own, without them needing time to be cast nor requiring any mana from Friya.

    The mines were too close to use Steps, but now all of them could Blink. She appeared right behind the two undead, unleashing the tier four Blood Dusk spell against one Ghoul while lunging with her rapier at the other.

    Yet once outside the dimensional door, Friya¡¯s movements were akin to slow motion to them. Due to the confined space, she couldn¡¯t appear below them nor on the sides, making her strategy predictable.

    They turned around a split second after the Blink, dodging the attacks with ease. The spell and the darkness infused de hit only air, making Friya curse her bad luck. As long as the Ghouls were outside Full Guard¡¯s range, she could barely follow their movements.

    Quy racked her brain in search of a way to help either of her sisters, but everything happened so fast that her ns would be obsolete before she could formte them.

    She had practiced hard since Kh, but one year was a drop in the oceanpared to the lifelong effort of her sisters and the decades of experience of the undead.

    Quy was barely able to follow Friya¡¯s movements when they sparred, Phloria and the Ghouls looked like demigods to her eyes. Her fear grew with each passing second as she helplessly watched Phloria being wounded and surrounded while the best Friya could do was Blink to stall for time.

    She wished that her parents were there and then that Lith was there. When both failed, she prayed the gods to give her the strength to do something, but only grunts and blood ensued.

    She hated herself for being so useless and the Ghouls even more for considering her so weak that they didn¡¯t hesitate to show their backs to her. The problem was that they were right.

    The natural resistance to the elements all undead shared coupled with the Ghouls regenerative abilities would make most of her spells a threat only to Friya. Darkness magic would hurt them, but it was so slow that from that distance the Ghouls would dodge it easily, with the risk of Friya getting in the line of fire.

    Quy remembered the day when she had killed Yurial. Back then, her body refused to obey no matter how hard she tried whereas now she wasn¡¯t even trying. She stepped forward without even noticing, closing the distance between her and the Ghouls blocking the only escape route.

    Thanks to their natural affinity with darkness magic, the two undead perceived the spell Quy had conjured before it was fully formed while their enhanced senses allowed them to pinpoint her without even the need to turn around.

    When a little girl met monsters, death was the only oue.

    "Make another step and we¡¯ll kill you. We only need one hostage." The male Ghoul said while conjuring an earth wall to block both Friya¡¯s sword and spells.

    She was going all out just to keep up with them, whereas the undead could focus solely on the defense and wait for the moment she was too tired to fight back. Friya¡¯s prowess was well known and no one dared to underestimate her dimensional magic.

    The Ghouls used earth spells to hinder her line of sight, afraid that she might turn the tables with a single spell.

    Quy ignored the warning and never stopped moving.

    The two Ghouls regretted wasting such delicious meat, but the mission was more important than their appetite. Their hands moved so fast that they were just a blur, filling the air behind them with a swarm of enchanted throwing knives coated with poison.

    With a little luck, one of them would hit the effeminate man as well and put an end to the fight.

    Quy took another step forward. Now that the Ghouls were inside her Full Guard¡¯s area of effect as well, she flicked her wrists and a silvery blur darted out of the ample sleeves of her Assistant Professor uniform.

    Two Adamant chains deflected the throwing knives and then wrapped themselves respectively around the left arm of the male undead and the right leg of the female. The sharp hooks at their extremities dug through the protections and flesh, allowing Quy¡¯s spells to reach their targets without fail.

    Orion had tried to teach her how to use a weapon, but due to the little time they had to practice together and Quycking even the basics, he had failed to find a tool suited to protect her life.

    A shield would block, but without attack, there was no victory. Weapons required that she got close to her enemy, but with her skills, Quy could consider herself lucky to survive two moves.

    Long-distance weapons would always be less powerful and versatile than the tier five spells that she could guide with her willpower. Only after realizing there was no answer to his problem did Orion invent Bloodbind.

    The enchantment on the mystical chains was simple but effective. All the energy from the mana crystals that would usually be used to fuel offensive abilities allowed Bloodbdind to move ording to Quy¡¯s will.

    Unlike her body, they weren¡¯t affected by poor hand-to-eye coordination norck of muscle mass. They would move as she wanted them to the moment her mind willed them to do it.

    On top of that, once Bloodbind grabbed their target, they were capable of transmitting Quy¡¯s spells as if she was touching them. They were akin to another set of limbs that would put her thoughts into action.

    Thanks to Full Guard, Quy could perceive all the iing projectiles and trace the shortest path to deflect them in sequence before going on the offensive.

    Bloodbind was far from perfect. The farther it got from her, the weaker it would be. To make matters worse, the chains had almost no offensive power by themselves and their defensive abilities were bound to Quy¡¯s ingenuity.

    They were ast resort in the case everything went wrong and an enemy arrived too close forfort. Exactly like it was happening down in the mines.

    The golden aura of Bloodbind weakened the undead while the darkness magic they carried damaged their bodies faster than they could regenerate. The chains also restrained the Ghouls¡¯ movements long enough to allow Friya to kill them.

    "Come on, we need to run!" Friya said.

    "Do it and he¡¯s dead." A Ghoul said while holding Phoria from the neck while twisting her dislocated dominant arm behind her back.

    Reavery on the floor, protected by a golden aura that made all the undead step back as if it could bite them at any moment. Her left shoulder bore a deep wound that bled profusely and her stomach another.

    Phloria had killed most of their assants before her body had failed her. Each injury she suffered and each spell she cast weakened her whereas her opponents would simply learn from the mistakes of their fallenrades until none of her tricks worked anymore.

 Chapter 1019 Out of Time Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1019 Out of Time Part 1</h4>

    "Try to escape and we¡¯ll kill him first and then it will be your turn. We got plenty of backup waiting for you ahead. Give us Phloria Ernas and maybe you will live." The Ghoul said while choking his prisoner.

    "What a load of bullshit." Phloria sneered, forcing her voice through the grip that almost kept her from breathing. "You don¡¯t want to kill any of us. What kind of deal do you have with Deirus?"

    "How do you know about it?" The Ghoul was so bbergasted that he blurted out the truth.

    "Oh, please, I¡¯m not stupid. The undead from two days ago attacked to kill and had allies whereas you act alone and wasted your time talking. You clearly belong to a different group.

    "Only Vn Deirus would be so crazy to put everything he has at risk and mobilize a bunch of immortal worms just to get his hands on a 21 years old woman. By the way, I¡¯m Phloria, jackass." She said.

    "Thanks, this will make everything easier. You¡¯re right about almost everything. He didn¡¯t send us to capture you, but to kill all the three of you. A child in exchange for a child. Plus interest." The Ghoul said imitating Vn¡¯s voice.

    Phloria cursed her naivety, wishing that the Ghoul was lying about the backup so that her sisters would manage to escape. Her windpipe started to deform under the increasing pressure and her lungs burned.

    "Objection!" An annoying voice drew everyone¡¯s attention to the north corner of the tunnel while its owner Blinked behind the Ghoul and cut off both his arms at the same time with what looked like two one-handed sickles.

    "I called dibs on the little one. I will not let months of hard work go to waste because of a few cannibalistic jerks." Morok Eari, ex-Ranger of the Hessar region and Quy¡¯s suitor without her knowing, didn¡¯t change much from the time they parted ways.

    He was a man in his mid-twenties, about 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall, with ck hair and dark brown eyes. His once unkempt hair was now finely groomed and his stubble had grown into a goatee.

    Morok didn¡¯t care much for appearances, but he didn¡¯t want to look like a hobo when meeting Quy again. ording to his employer,ck of personal hygiene was a deal-breaker for most women.

    "You again?" Quy said without knowing whether to be relieved or worried by his arrival.

    "Did you miss me, baby?" Since the Ghoul¡¯s arms had turned into ashes but their owner was still alive, Morok stabbed his chest and head with the sickles, flooding them with darkness magic.

    Pain twisted the undead¡¯s face and then there was nothing left to twist.

    Phloria took a deep breath to ovee the blinding pain from her wounds and recalled Reaver to her left hand, the only arm she could still move after the Ghoul had dislocated her dominant arm.

    The moment Morok had appeared, the Ghouls had resumed their attack. There were quite a few left of them and their seamless teamwork gave them the upper hand. Phloria was half dead, Friya was running on fumes, and from such a distance Quy was useless.

    One Ghoul engaged Morok, keeping him busy thanks to her own dual-wielding style and her one-handed battle hammers that locked the sickles in ce. Another one darted at Phloria for the kill while the others aimed at Quy, the weakest link, and thest one called for backup.

    "Code red. Repeat, code red!" The undead yelled inside hismunication amulet.

    Between her injured arm and almost being strangled, Phloria had lost her focus and with it all the spells she had at the ready. With Morok too busy to protect her, she had no chance of victory against a Ghoul.

    ¡¯I need to stall for time. I should still have enough mana to activate the Skinwalker armor a few times and use first magic.¡¯ She thought as the undead circled around her so fast that her eyes saw him only as a blur.

    Phloria spun around like a top, trying to follow the enemy movements. The Ghoul used his short-sword to deflect Reaver while the other de lunged at her brain. Phloria grit her teeth, raising her right hand and releasing a volley of darkness spells.

    The Ghoul took the hits with a confident smile and continued his attack. Her magic holding rings were long since empty, and with her body as broken as her arm, Phloria was akin to a cornered mouse attempting itsst bite.

    Or so he thought until her right hand deflected his own and the darkness spells she had conjured destroyed his heart. Unlike fake mages, a true mage could always turn first magic spells into their more powerful version.

    By stimting their mana core, an Awakened was capable of upgrading their spells up to tier three if necessity arose. The only downside was that it cost a lot of mana because low tiered spells weren¡¯t meant to hold such prowess and needed to be stabilized.

    Morok had no time to lose and dead men told no tales. He used the Ghoul as a cover while he shapeshifted into his Tyrannical Eye form and activated the ck eye on his forehead.

    The small pir of darkness destroyed her head, leaving her blind and deaf long enough for Morok to kill her quickly. The ex-Ranger wasn¡¯t a normal man, but the offspring of a human and an Emperor Beast known as Tyrannical Eye or Tyrant.

    When he hade of age, he had abandoned his human nature just like his own mother had abandoned him. Thanks to his father¡¯s help, it didn¡¯t take him long to learn how to shapeshift with light magic.

    Unlike magical beasts, however, the human appearance he took wasn¡¯t idealized, but an exact copy of the body he was born with. He shapeshifted back into his human form to not scare Quy and Blinked to the save.

    "How can you be so slow, child?" An annoyed voice said.

    It was deep and strong, echoing in the tunnels akin to a war cry even though the voice was barely a whisper. The undead who were already in front of the two Ernas sisters tried to halt their advance, but even their reflexes weren¡¯t enough.

    A hulking figure pushed the two humans to the side and swung his de, cutting the undead down like grass. Even being cut in half wasn¡¯t a problem for a Ghoul, unless the wound was flooded with Chaos magic, of course.

    The remaining undead was outside the de¡¯s reach, so the neer unleashed a barrage of tier one Chaos bullets that riddled him with holes even though he had already started to merge with the rock to escape.

    Only Phloria witnessed the ughter because her sisters were unable to avert their gaze from their savior. The creature was 2.74 meters (9¡¯) tall, with the head of a bull, the upper body of a bulky man, and the lower body resembled that of a bull, but capable of moving on two legs.

    The Ernas sisters had never seen before a weapon like that he wielded on his right hand. It looked like a great sword, but instead of a hilt, it had a gauntlet integrated as a handguard.

    The design of the pata was foreign to them as much as the purple runes and mana crystals decorating the full length of the weapon.

 Chapter 1020 Out of Time Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1020 Out of Time Part 2</h4>

    To make matters creepier, the creature¡¯s body kept turning from what looked like flesh and blood into living shadows, yet his eyes were pitch ck instead of red.

    Whatever it was, the creature was neither an Emperor Beast nor an undead.

    "I¡¯m sorry for my unsightly appearance, but I can assure you I mean you no harm. I¡¯m still getting used to this new form of mine. My name is Nandi and I was sent to rescue you." The pata emitted a sizzling sound that made the Eldritch Abomination curse.

    Nandi had lost control of the Chaos energy coursing through his body that was now devouring his prized weapon and forcing him to take it off before it was toote.

    The fact that they were still alive reassured Quy and Friya of his sincerity. They quickly thanked him and rushed to heal their sister. Phloria had sustained wounds so deep that there was a pool of blood at her feet.

    Yet when Quy finished chanting her diagnostic spell, it revealed that Phloria¡¯s body was as fit as a fiddle. Quy only found minor injuries that barely bled and even Phloria¡¯s vitality was higher than her own.

    "How did you do it? I thought you had been critically injured." Quy asked.

    "I don¡¯t know." Phloria replied. "One moment my body felt like it was falling apart and the next I was full of energy again. Don¡¯t ask me how I killed that Ghoul because I have no idea."

    Once Quy¡¯s arrays confirmed to her that there was no longer a threat to their lives, it was time for some answers.

    "What are you doing here and what took you so long to help us?" Quy asked Morok who was actually hoping for an adrenaline-induced romance rather than an interrogation.

    "I¡¯m not a stalker, I was just doing my job." He put his hand over his heart as if he was swearing on it. "I¡¯ve tried to get in touch with you several times after Kh, but your house staff always stopped me saying that you don¡¯t want guests."

    Quy nodded for him to continue. So far, he was telling the truth. She did instruct both the academy and the Ernas staff to make sure no one outside her contact list bothered her.

    "Then, after the Blood Judgment thing, your mother reached to me and offered me a job. She promised me that if I kept your sister safe, she would introduce you to me again and we would go out on a date." Morok said while pointing at Phloria.

    "She did what?" Quy would have liked to refuse the idea that her own mother had sold her to pursue an agenda.

    Yet it was exactly what she knew that Jirni would do. After retiring from the army, Morok had got his title of Baron with its attachednds, lots of wealth, and responsibilities.

    Of course, it had taken him just a few months to get bored to death, ditch thends and responsibilities, and get back to work as a mercenary. After reading his resume, Jirni knew he was the perfect man for the job.

    Morok was powerful, capable to live in the wilds for prolonged periods of time on his own, and most of all, he was expendable. His life was worthless in the scheme of things and his infatuation with her daughter made him easily exploitable.

    "I know. I would have preferred to protect you so that we could know each other over time, but Lady Ernas was adamant in her instructions. As for me beingte, do you have any idea how many of those creeps were following you?

    "Even with Nandi¡¯s help, it took me a while to get rid of them and wait for the right moment to step in. A wrong move and they would have killed your sister. Thank the gods she¡¯s easily mistaken for a man and the Ghouls failed to notice they already got their prize until it was toote." Morok said.

    "That bears one more question. Why did you help us?" Phloria clenched her stomach, feeling as if it was going to burst at any moment. "I don¡¯t mean to be ungrateful, but I recognize an Abomination when I see one, and your kind isn¡¯t renewed for being friendly."

    "I¡¯m not an Abomination, or at least not anymore. I¡¯m a monster-Abomination hybrid not so different from the man whose smell you all carry." Nandi pointed at Phloria¡¯s ne and to all Lith¡¯s gifts they wore.

    "A hybrid?" Friya echoed while looking at the tier four magic holding ring Lith had given her for her birthday.

    Unlike normal rings, it could store two different spells. She treasured it dearly and even kept it a secret from Orion, who otherwise would pester her for the opportunity to study it.

    Suddenly, the memories about their adventure in Zantia, when Lith had taken a demonic form to impersonate the All-Father, assumed apletely different meaning. Friya had seen Protector shapeshift into a hybrid form and knew that the offspring of two different races would be born hybrids.

    ¡¯Normally, I wouldn¡¯t believe any bulling from a bull, but it would exin a lot. Why Lith is so strong, why he heals so quickly, and most importantly why my sisters didn¡¯t tell me about it.¡¯ She thought.

    "As for the reason I¡¯m here, I¡¯m no different from the foul-mouthed man. I helped you because I was tasked to." Nandi said.

    "Mom makes deals with Abominations as well?" The three women said in unison, wondering what kind of monster their mother could be to instill loyalty even into such dangerous creatures.

    "Gods, no. I was sent to your rescue by amon friend. She¡¯ll do the exining since I have no idea what her reasons are. Now follow me if you want to live. You don¡¯t have much time left." The minotaur walked toward the light-filled corridor, leaving the others behind.

    "What do you mean, she doesn¡¯t have much time left?" Quy examined Phloria again, yet she failed to find anything wrong with her.

    Yet her sister¡¯s pained expression was in stark contrast with the results of her diagnostic spells.

    "She doesn¡¯t have long enough for an exnation. You¡¯d better move." He replied without even turning back, emitting a moan of pleasure the moment he basked into the mana crystals¡¯ light again.

    Before turning into an Abomination, he had been a Minotaur, the Emperor Beast evolution of a Tyr (AN: bull type magical beast). The Master had fused some of his bits with a tribe of ogres, giving birth to a hybrid who couldmune with mana gemstones like the Fallen race.

    "What¡¯s wrong with me?" Phloria needed sheer willpower just to not scream in pain.

    None of the wounds or illnesses she had suffered in the past wasparable with what she was experiencing. Even Balkor¡¯s poison paled inparison.

    Friya tried and failed to diagnose her as well, which made the sisters desperate.

    "No offense, but I don¡¯t know you and my sister needs help." Friya took hermunication amulet out of her storage item, only to discover that it didn¡¯t work.

    Then, she got away from the crystal veins enough to cast a Warp Steps leading back to the surface, yet her spell failed.

    "I told you. You can either follow me or die. It will not be at my hand, but you¡¯ll die nheless. It¡¯s never polite to make your host wait." The minotaur said.

 Chapter 1021 A New Path Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1021 A New Path Part 1</h4>

    Thanks to the crystals, Nandi stabilized his body and quickly repaired his weapon.

    ¡¯Follow me, dammit. I don¡¯t want to be trapped in here forever.¡¯ He thought.

    With no other choice left and with Phloria¡¯s condition getting worse, the Ernas followed the Minotaur through a short mazeprised of crystal veins of growing purity. Soon they were surrounded solely by violet and white gemstones.

    In the middle of such a treasure that would have made any mage go mad with greed, there was what looked like a hunting cabin. The small wooden house had a pitched roof, only one door, and one window on each side.

    A clothesline filled with small clothes of different sizes was located in front of the hut, giving the impression that arge family had somehow found their way there.

    Quy and Phloria recognized the oppressive aura surrounding the ce as that they had perceived all the way up to the surface, yet now it seemed to be no longer hostile to them.

    Phloria suddenly felt much better. The pain stopped haunting her, her face regained its color, and she was now able to walk without help.

    "What¡¯s happening to me?" She was half relieved and half scared witless.

    "Come on in." After opening the door, Nandi had to stoop to enter.

    Phloria and the others quickly followed him, discovering that what was waiting for them was even more amazing than the crystal veins.

    "Oh gods, it¡¯s bigger on the inside!" Quy blurted out noticing how spacious the room was.

    The living room they had entered was over ten meters (30 feet) long and fifteen meters (45 feet) wide. There was a huge cauldron over the firece, filled with some unknown bubbling food that smelled delicious.

    A huge rectangr wooden table, longer than the one they dined at during social events held at the Ernas household, had been set with enough tes and cutlery to feed a small battalion.

    On top of that, even though the living room itself was bigger than what the hut looked from the outside, there were several doors and corridors leading to other rooms that seemed to be even bigger.

    The most astonishing thing, however, was the vision of an olddy, sitting on a simple wooden chair while surrounded by over twenty children. She was reading from a book while they jotted down her every word to learn how to write.

    The olddy had grey hair and expressive ck eyes. Her nose and ears were long, her face full of wrinkles. Age spots covered her skin, making her look weak, but her voice was melodious and kind.

    The children were a melting pot of all ages ad races. Some were barely four years old while others were nearly ten. All of them were hybrids. A girl had silver hair and the red light of undeath shining in her eyes.

    A boy who was barely older than Aran had webbed hands, scales of his cheeks, and gills kept appearing and disappearing on his neck. Some had fur instead of hair on their head, others had leaves and an odd colored skin.

    Even Morok was so bbergasted that no odd remark found its way out of his mouth.

    "You¡¯rete, Nandi. The kids finished their spelling test for a while and had to take an extra lesson while waiting for you." Baba Yaga, the first Awakened to have ever achieved the white core of immortality, closed the book, but the children kept writing.

    "You know about my condition. I couldn¡¯t risk killing your guests in case I lost control of a spell or in a fit of madness." He replied.

    "What¡¯s madness and how do you spell it?" A beautiful ck-haired boy asked.

    No one would have thought he was a hybrid if not for his right hand having no flesh nor blood, yet still capable to move normally.

    "I¡¯ll tell you when you grow up. Dictate is over. Go wash your hands and faces. Dinner is almost ready." Baba Yaga stood up and the ss quickly dispersed after collecting their things.

    The moment thest child left the living room, all the doors closed on their own, sealing the room.

    "Teach to the children the wrong word and I¡¯ll kill you. This is your final warning." Her eyes lost all warmth and became stone-cold.

    The olddy had a hunched back and was barely 1.45 meters (4¡¯9") tall, yet the Minotaur was cowering in fear. She emitted an overbearing aura that covered everyone in a cold sweat as the room seemed to plunge in darkness despite being perfectly lit.

    "The same stands for you lot. Behave in front of the children or pay the consequences. Nowe closer. We have many things to talk about and little time left." Baba Yaga tapped her foot and five wooden chairs popped into existence.

    "Who are you?" Friya asked.

    "What do you want from me?" Phloria was somehow sure that the creepydy had something to do with her condition.

    "Are some of those children really half undead? Does it mean that undead can have children?" Quy¡¯s brain had stopped working for a while, but the implications of such a discovery snapped her out of it.

    "I don¡¯t really like the other two Ernas, but are we really all going to die in a while? If so, I could at least cross off a foursome from my bucket list." Morok had his priorities straight.

    If he had to go, he might as well go out with a st.

    "I¡¯ve done what you asked. Give me my reward so that I can finally leave this prison and live!" Nandi said.

    "Here I thought I would deal with grown-ups for once. Speak one at a time or do not speak at all. As for your questions, you can call me Nana, Friya. I want to speak with you, Phloria. Yes, to both questions, Quy. Depends on your choices, Morok.

    "Last but not least, you¡¯re far frompleting your task, Nandi. I¡¯ll tell you when we¡¯re done." Nana sat down and her guests were suddenly forced to do the same.

    "Nana?" Quy politely raised her hand.

    Using that word after so long gave her an odd feeling. In the past, she had been familiar with another person who had made the babble word that small children used for their grandmothers as her moniker.

    Lady Nerea, also known as Nana, had been Lith¡¯s first magic teacher. The Ernas sisters had met her more than once and had attended to her funeral. Calling someone else Nana felt weird because even though the two women looked awfully simr, they couldn¡¯t have been more different.

    Lady Nerea had been a harsh and cynical woman, but it was just a shell to hide how broken she felt after losing everything she had worked for. She had never recovered from being rejected by the magicalmunity after being framed for a failed mission.

    Baba Yaga, instead, had kind and gentle manners, yet under her soft exteriory the strength of a true ruler. It wasn¡¯t just about her uncanny magical powers that could be perceived even when she did nothing, nor about her impossible house.

    The entirety of her person exuded an aura of self-confidence and authority that left people in awe even when she did something trivial like a spelling test.

 Chapter 1022 A New Path Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1022 A New Path Part 2</h4>

    Quy was aware that the name of their host was nothing but an alias, yet she didn¡¯t pry about her identity because she was afraid of the consequences that rudeness might have.

    "Yes, dear Quy?" Nana smiled, creeping Quy as she wondered how could their host know her name.

    "How can an undead have children?"

    "Aside from a few exceptions, the greater undead are still made of flesh and blood. Even though most of their organs aren¡¯t vital anymore, their bodies work just fine. Sure, their fertility is low, but it¡¯s nothing that luck and effort can¡¯t fix. Let me exin..." Nana took an illustrated book called "Flowers and bees".

    "I know how it works." Quy blushed at the misunderstanding. "I was just asking how a skeleton could have a son."

    "Not a skeleton. A Lich." At that word, the book disappeared and with it all the warmth in the room. "Those creatures are the true abominations, dear Nandi, not your kin. They get bored, getid, and then forget about the consequences.

    "They have no care for their offspring because they only care about themselves. They are a perversion of undeath that only births madness and pain. Together with the need to feed, Liches lose their humanity. Theck of weakness makes them conceited just as the prolonged istion drives them mad."

    Nana spat on the firece, causing it to burst into an eruption of mes and brimstone. Yet not a puff of smoke escaped the chimney nor made the room stink.

    "The poor Radi was almost killed the very day he was born. His mother had no idea about the father¡¯s real identity, so she attempted to murder the baby, mistaking it for a monster."

    "Are all those children orphans?" Quy asked.

    "Yes. They were either abandoned or their parents died trying to protect them. All because they are different." Nana said.

    "It¡¯s very noble of you, helping the less fortunate." Friya felt sick at the idea of how much suffering each one of Nana¡¯s foster children had endured.

    ¡¯I wonder if the same happened to Lith. Maybe that¡¯s the reason his brothers treated him so badly. It would exin why he kept so many secrets for so long.¡¯

    "There¡¯s nothing noble in my actions. I¡¯ve seen countless hybrids be born and die, yet I¡¯ve never moved a finger. As you have probably guessed at this point, I¡¯m a mage. The children are part of my most recent project, just like Nandi here." Nana said with a cold smile on her face.

    "What do you mean?" Phloria clung to the armrests of her chair in frustration.

    At first, she had been d to be rescued by the Abomination, to be relieved of her pain. Yet now that it was gone, after Nandi had uncaringly revealed Lith¡¯s secret, after hearing all that talking about hybrids, Phloria suspected to have fallen into a trap.

    Afortable, cozy trap but a trap from which she had no hope to escape nheless.

    "Mogar is changing, dear Phloria. What was once just a temporary anomaly like my adopted children or the fruit of forbidden magic like the werepeople, is now bing a new race. A power of its own." Nana said.

    "I¡¯ve seen your friend, Lith Verhen, vanquish my daughter who among my creations is supposed to be one of the closest to perfection. I¡¯ve witnessed an insignificant mortal, the Master, turn the only species that Mogar has truly abandoned into something new and powerful." She pointed at Nandi.

    "It got me thinking. What if hybrids aren¡¯t just an ident but a new path life is taking? What if I¡¯ve been wrong all along and the solution to all my children¡¯s problems was right in front of me from the beginning? Only time and research will tell."

    "What does this have to do with us? Why did you bring us here?" Phloria asked.

    "To understand the ending, you must first listen to the beginning. Nandi, tell them your story." Nana ordered.

    "Have you ever wondered why all living creatures can use first magic the same way, yet every race suffers from different limitations? Most humans can¡¯t use magic and even those who can need magical words and hand signs.

    "Animals are the same, and even when they evolve into magical beasts, they can only use a couple of elements. nts can¡¯t use magic at all. When they acquire consciousness, they solely gain abilities linked to their affinity with earth and life.

    "Undead share all the strengths and weaknesses of the other races because they are artificial. A failed experiment in the attempt to ovee how frail life is." Nandi looked straight at Nana, who curled her upper lip when he called her children "failures".

    "Only Awakened are capable of using magic to its full potential and of unlocking the seventh element. The element of life, mana." Nandi exined to them what Awakening was, along with all the gifts and risks it implied.

    "Abominations are just failed Awakened, creatures made of power and stubbornness who refuse to fade away as the natural order requires. I still don¡¯t remember how I lost my life the first time.

    "All I know is that I was born during what you call a ¡¯monster outbreak¡¯. The Master had imnted bits of the original me inside a tribe of ogres, to turn them into food that would enhance his strength.

    "Yet Abominations cling to life as no other race can. Somehow those bits grew into what you see now, a hybrid between ogres and the original Abomination. Ogres worship mana crystals, so they took a mine as their home.

    "It allowed me to increase my strength and stabilize my condition without having to hurt anyone. Then, when the real Nandi, or Kimbug as he called himself, came to collect his prize, I was ready.

    "Between our shared memories and the abilities I gained from my ogre half, beating him was easy." Nandi waved his hand at a crystal that was right outside one of the open windows.

    A stream of energy came to him, taking the forms of all elements as the gemstone started to lose its luster and its light became duller. He pointed a finger at Quy, sending a sliver of that energy against her Skinwalker armor that lost its magical properties and shapeshifted into its original state.

    "What the heck?" She blurted out.

    "Kimbug had no idea of the power mana crystals really hold. You and I produce mana of our own, but what about our spells or our equipment? They can¡¯t produce mana and depend on the world energy to work.

    "Mana crystals are akin to crystalized will of Mogar and by controlling it, one can dominate the world energy itself. After I assimted Kimbug, I stopped feeling hungry all the time but my strength turned out to be my weakness as well.

    "As soon as I get further away from the crystal veins, my Abomination nature starts to corrode my body. An ogre can¡¯t withstand alone the Chaos energy that my life essence isprised of.

    "To make matters worse, whenever I get a glimpse of my old life, I fall into a destructive madness that makes me impossible to live a normal life. I¡¯m imprisoned down here just as you are. All my power is for nothing!"

    Nandi wanted to scream, but in presence of Baba Yaga, all he could do was to clench the indestructible armrests of his chair.

 Chapter 1023 Dangerous Wishes Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1023 Dangerous Wishes Part 1</h4>

    "Why does Nandi say that we¡¯re imprisoned here? Nana, are you going to use us and the children for your experiments?" Friya asked while the identity of their host became clearer by the second.

    Her mind refused to believe that the protagonist of a cautionary fairy tale might be real, but the more she heard, the more legends made sense.

    "Not at all." Nana shook her head.

    "You¡¯re free to go whenever you want. I will not move a finger to harm you, but I¡¯m afraid that those waiting for you outside will not be as kind. I¡¯m offering you a choice.

    "Stay here with me and help me with my research. Not only will I save your lives, but I will also give you power beyond your wildest dreams. Or you can leave these caves and die a dog¡¯s death at the hands of the very people you considered your allies."

    Phloria took all of her amulets out of her dimensional ne, discovering that none of them worked. She thought about how the upper floors of the mines were so clean despite Belin¡¯s findings, about how well-timed the attack had been and suddenly everything made sense.

    ***

    Outside the crystal mines, a few minutes after the Ghouls¡¯ ambush.

    Captain Kortus of the original expedition, Captain Lotta who led the reinforcements, Tlea, the Royal Prospectors¡¯ foreman, and Wyra, vice-head of the Crystal Shield guild, were dining together while waiting for the Ernas sisters to return.

    Each one of them was interested in a different member of the Ernas family. Kortus and Eras were itching for some trouble to arise so that they could prove to be Phloria¡¯s match, if not even her betters.

    Tlea kept rehearsing in her mind the speeches she had prepared to convince Quy to be her apprentice. Between her talent and the political prowess of the Ernas family, Tlea was certain that with Quy by her side, the sky was the limit to how rich her Ormann household could be.

    Only Wyra was worried about their safety and kept looking at hermunication amulet in the hope to receive a call.

    ¡¯I know that it¡¯s dumb worrying for god, but I can¡¯t shake the feeling that something is wrong.¡¯ Wyra Yunja was a young woman in her early twenties, about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with a pixie cut and a round face.

    She could¡¯ve been considered cute, if not for her thick muscr build and her square jaw. Coupled with her fierce eyes, her physique gave her a cold demeanor that made Wyra look like a disgruntled drill sergeant always ready to dish out punishment.

    All the reports she had received from the guild members tasked with keeping the high officials under surveince had yet to reveal anything suspicious, yet it only made Wyra more anxious.

    She didn¡¯t expect all of them tomit high treason or to indulge in unspeakable vices, but they were too clean for her taste. The background check Archon Ernas had performed on Friya¡¯s request had revealed nothing new and the daily activities of the three mages had stuck to the military code bordering on obsession.

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t make sense. I could believe if one high officer was a spotless goody-two-shoes, but all of them?

    ¡¯An ipetent man like Kortus should take out his anger on the soldiers while I would expect that a shrewd social climber like Lotta would regrly call her contacts and try to make Captain Ernas look bad.

    ¡¯Tlea Ormann is the only one I managed to predict. She works all day in the caves and when she gets back to the camp, she barely has the energy left to eat before going to sleep.

    ¡¯Yet the only possible reason I can find to exin why the undead didn¡¯t detonate the mines is that there is one or more of them among us, waiting for the opportunity to strike.¡¯ Wyra thought.

    While she stared at her steak as if it could provide her with an epiphany, a soldier pulled the curtain of the tent to the side, letting a handsome man in.

    "Great Mage Nuragor, what a lovely surprise." Captain Lotta stood up and gave him a small bow. "To what do we owe the pleasure? Searching for crystal veins is hardly a task worthy of a Great Mage."

    Everyone else present felt insulted at those words, especially Tlea. Hearing Lotta belittle her job just to suck up to a certified loser like Kallion made her want to puke.

    "s, I bear bad news. n A was an utter failure. We lost contact will all members of the special unit tasked with retrieving the package. It¡¯s time for n B, Captain Lotta."

    Clefas Lotta was a woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall with wheat-blonde hair and hazel eyes, born and raised in the north. She always wore make-up to lighten the pallor of her skin, but hearing those words made her turn so white that everyone thought that she was about to faint.

    "Attention, this is not a drill." She said into hermunication amulet the moment she recovered from the shock. "Activate lockdown protocol. Password Blue, Dragon, 9, 7."

    "What the heck does that mean?" Tlea stood up while pointing a darkness wand at Eras¡¯s face and her tier four magic holding ring at Kallion¡¯s heart.

    Wyra had no idea what was happening, but seeing hermunication amulet forcefully turned off was enough to make her weave her best spells while keeping an eye on the neer.

    "Prospector Orman is right, Lotta. What reason do you have to enforce the dimensional sealing array and put the guards on alert? What the heck is this beanpole talking about? I never heard about any n being implemented." Kortus said.

    "Please, let me do the talking, Clefas." Kallion put his hands in the air in a sign of submission, quickly followed by Lotta. With their hands away from the weapons and their rings pointing at the ceiling, the other three mages felt a bit more in control.

    "I apologize for the sudden intrusion, but Captain Lotta and I are working for the good of the Kingdom. The war with the Undead Courts is killing the best warriors from both sides and the price to pay for each victory makes them hollow." Kallion said.

    "Ie on behalf of Archmage Deirus and the Undead Courts who have resolved for a peaceful solution. The Undead Courts are willing to settle for 25% of the mined crystals in exchange to waive their rights over the veins and all Archmage Deirus asks is the life of the three Ernas sisters."

    "Are you out of your mind?" Tlea couldn¡¯t believe her own ears. "Why the heck would we do something like that?"

    "I¡¯m d you asked. First, in case you failed to notice, the army sent an entire battalion to protect the mines and all of them are either on Deirus¡¯s payroll or thralls.

    "We took our time so that the moment our undead allies stage their attack to seize the mines, all your soldiers who didn¡¯t switch sides during thest few days will tragically die during the ensuing battle.

    "Second, if you join us, you¡¯ll be acimed as heroes. All of you will be promoted and receive enough riches to never have to worry again about your future whereas if you refuse, you¡¯ll just rise the body count.

    "Third, even if somehow you manage to kill both of us and escape, you¡¯ll be killed either by Captain Lotta¡¯s soldiers or by the undead army that has stepped inside the camp the moment the lockdown started."

 Chapter 1024 Dangerous Wishes Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1024 Dangerous Wishes Part 2</h4>

    Kallion looked Kortus in the eyes and said:

    "Aren¡¯t you tired of being stuck as a Captain at your age? How do you think Lotta built such a quick and brilliant career? Not by risking her life like a moron, but by choosing her battles wisely and her allies even more wisely.

    "If a paper-pusher like Berion managed to be a General, imagine what you could do with both the Undead Courts and an Archmage backing you. The secrets of magic they could share with their precious ally."

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Kortus replied, making everyone open their eyes wide in surprise. "I¡¯m already at my wit¡¯s end as a Captain. A higher rank would spell disaster for all the poor soldiers under mymand.

    "I might not be Great Mage material, but I believe in the oath I took to the Kingdom years ago. It¡¯s better to die like a free man after killing two traitors than joining them in disgrace."

    "Talk for yourself." Tlea turned her darkness wand against Kortus and shot him at point-nk. "I¡¯m too old and rich to die for something as stupid as an ideal. Great Mage Nuragor, count me in."

    She was now pointing both her wand and ring at Wyra, who had never stopped chanting.

    "What about you, Wyra?" Kallion said. "I read your file. You graduated from a minor academy and are now forced to follow Friya Ernas in exchange for the crumbs of her knowledge.

    "Right now, my soldiers have probably already killed every single member of the Crystal Shield. Your guild is finished and yourpanions are all dead, but destiny has given you a chance you never had before.

    "Join us and tell everyone how valiantly the Crystal Shield fought along their Lord to fight the undead before their untimely death. Once everything is over, you¡¯ll be free to choose your own reward.

    "Specializations, a noble title, even eternal life might be yours." Kallion¡¯s words were filled with poison and yet coated by so much honey that it made them alluring.

    Wyra Yunja had been born from a humble family, that had put all their hopes and dreams in her once her magical talent had bloomed. Yet Wyra had failed to enroll in one of the six academies, failed in following the Magic Empress footsteps, and even failed to join the Mage Association.

    Being a mercenary wasn¡¯t her dream job, only ast-ditch effort to escape from a mediocre life of servitude at the whims of some noble. To not be a loyal dog fed on money rather than just meat.

    So far, even thatst-ditch effort had proven to be a failure. Wyra had be a vice-head only after Friya had kicked out the guild members from the great academies, and even if she was teaching them her specializations, it wasn¡¯t enough.

    Wyra was a slow learner and Friya had to split her time to teach three different specializations, whereas Wyra would need individual lessons to make some real progress.

    "Fine. Count me in." She said amid tears.

    Just speaking those words made her feel dirty inside.

    ¡¯If I refuse, they will just kill me. If I ept, at least I¡¯ll have an opportunity to tell the truth to Archon Ernas once we get back to the base.¡¯ Wyra said, not trusting Kallion one bit.

    "Excellent." Kallion gave her a smile that had made many hearts pound in the past. "Words are cheap, so I hope you¡¯ll excuse me if I don¡¯t trust your word. I¡¯ll need a demonstration of your loyalty."

    At a snap of his fingers, the curtain of the tent opened again, revealing the presence of three prisoners bound and gagged right outside the officers¡¯ quarters. The prisoners were the seconds inmand of those that Great Mage Nuragor meant to recruit.

    "Prospector Ormann is already our aplice for killing the poor Kortus, who¡¯s spared from my test since he is, you know, dead." Kallionughed at his own joke while exposing the neck of Rotha, Wyra¡¯s assistant and her best friend.

    Fear dted his pupils so much that they almost eclipsed his irises while Rotha looked at Wyra with eyes full of tears. That sight and his whimpering filled her with hope.

    Despite Kallion¡¯s ims, now that the soundproof spell of the tent had been opened, Wyra could hear the cries of people fighting. The sh of metal and the sizzling of spells filled the air, revealing that the battle had yet to be lost.

    "Forgive me, Rotha, but no one ever got rich by being nice." She said while unsheathing herbat knife. "I would do anything to spare you this pain, but I have no choice. For our god!"

    Wyra released all the spells she had at the ready, making themand tent burst into me, thunder, and rock spikes. She covered Rotha with her body while using her knife to set him free.

    Hidden among the magical onught, there was the re spell that the Crystal Shield used as a signal on the battlefield. It was red and violet, meaning both "run for your life" and "there is still hope".

    "Well, that was impressive." Kallion¡¯s voice surprised Wyra, but Rotha and her didn¡¯t stop running.

    ¡¯How can he be still alive after being hit by so many spells at point-nk?¡¯ She thought while looking at the corpses of the soldiers guarding the tent.

    Even Tlea¡¯s Royal Prospector armor couldn¡¯t do much from so close. Her face was badly burned and she was bleeding from all her orifices.

    Kallion would have been in the same condition if not for his Vampire blood core mending his injuries just enough to let light magic do the rest. A thrall had the same powers of their undead sire, but they were limited by the amount of life essence they shared.

    "Care to join me for a hunt?" He asked Lotta, who was healing even faster thanks to the Ghoul blood coursing through her core.

    "Gods, I should have done this years ago." He said after Lotta nodded and they had started the chase.

    "My strength, my magical powers, even my senses are enhanced to the point that I feel reborn. I wish Verhen was here so that I could kill him like the dog he is. Right after killing his beloved Phloria right in front of his eyes."

    ***

    Flying Griffon resort, a few minutes after Kallion had enforced the camp¡¯s lockdown.

    Themunication amulet pulling at his consciousness forced Lith to get out of the shower with shampoo still in his hair. During thest few days, he and Kam had spent every moment before sunset enjoying the beauty Mount Lochra had to offer.

    The rest of the time they would talk about their dreams for the future, taste delicious food, and spend hours in the bedroom. Kam liked how Invigoration made sleeping optional, allowing her to enjoy all the 24 hours each day had to offer.

    "Damn, let¡¯s hope it¡¯s not Faluel." He said to Kam who was still under the shower.

    ¡¯I swear, if my apprenticeship starts now of all moments, with all the money I spent for this goddamn ce, I...¡¯ Seeing Orion¡¯s rune lit made Lith sigh in relief for one entire second before he became grumpy again.

    "What is it now? Do you realize howte it is here?" Lith asked.

    Due to different time zones, it was almost dinner time at Phloria¡¯s camp,te night for Orion, and way past midnight for Lith.

 Chapter 1025 Dragonspeed Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1025 Dragonspeed Part 1</h4>

    "Help me, Lith, you¡¯re my only hope." Orion had watery eyes and didn¡¯t crack a single joke about the soap in Lith¡¯s hair or about him answering the amulet while shirtless.

    "I put both a tracker and an rm spell in my daughters¡¯ amulets so that whenever themunication amulets are not stored in a dimensional item, I get notified the moment the signal gets cut off by a dimensional sealing array.

    "A few minutes ago, all of them went suddenly off the grid."

    "Are you sure..." Lith tried to say, yet his stomach already churned.

    "Yes! First, I checked with theirmanding officer who knew nothing about an attack or lockdown. Then, I tried to call every single member of the expedition whose contact rune I have and all of them are unavable as well.

    "Berion tried to reassure me since he received thest report less than an hour ago and everything was fine, but when he failed to contact anyone even through the camp¡¯s secure line, we understood something is going on." Orion managed to keep his words simple and his exnation linear.

    "What can I do?" Lith knew Phloria¡¯s location only by name.

    Aside from the Ker and the Distar regions, he didn¡¯t travel the Kingdom ever since he worked for the White Griffon academy. Even then, Lith had only been to cities with their own Warp Gates.

    "Your apprenticeship has yet to start, so you might not know it, but just like nts, Emperor Beasts have their ownwork of Gates." Orion exined. "Your master can send you almost anywhere, whereas the closest City Gate is hundreds of kilometers from the caves.

    "I¡¯m in the middle of a mission for the Royals and I¡¯m not even supposed to break themunication silence. Jirni is busy as well, but even if we weren¡¯t, we¡¯d never get there in time.

    "The army and the Association will need hours to prepare a strike force big enough to face an enemy so powerful that it isted the 1000 men battalion they sent a few days ago as reinforcements. Even once they are ready, they still have to get there.

    "You are the only one who can get there quickly thanks to the beasts¡¯work and pull one of your miracles out of your ass. Please, I don¡¯t care about how you do it nor about anyone else in that goddamn camp.

    "All I ask you to do is to get there, find my daughters, and get them to safety. I would do it myself but..." The signal disappeared and so did Orion¡¯s hologram.

    In its ce, there was a map of the Kingdom with a blinking dot where the camp was located. The moment Lith read the "crystal mines" tag, a shiver ran down his spine.

    "Is everything alright?" Kam approached him while wearing only a fluffy bathrobe.

    She had never heard either of the Ernas couple lose their cool and even if the running water had covered most of the conversation, Lith staring at the amulet didn¡¯t bode well.

    "No, not in the least. Phloria, Friya, and Quy just went MIA in a goddamn crystal mine!" A small burst of water magic dried his hair and removed the soap as the Skinwalker armor covered him.

    "I never told Phloria about her Awakening. Prolonged exposure to such a massive a mana geyser could..." Kam ced her forefinger on Lith¡¯s lips, cutting him short.

    "You can exin it to meter. Now, go. Your friends need you." Kam looked at him in the eyes, letting Lith know that she hadplete trust in him.

    "Thanks, Kami, you..." He kissed her finger before being cut short again.

    "I said go! Kiss any of them and I¡¯ll kill you." She yelled while he disappeared through a Warp Steps leading to the resort¡¯s lobby and its Gate.

    "Ynca for one, now!" Lith mmed his ID on the counter to show that he had the privileges to go there.

    Ynca was a military training camp in the Ker region that had only one perk. It was built so close to a mana geyser that Lith needed a single dimensional door to reach it.

    "Is it something wrong with your amodation? The Flying Griffon would be d to..." Losing an Archmage as a client worried the concierge, but the thick mana filled with killing intent that was strangling him didn¡¯t leave space for conversation.

    "I said now!" Lith¡¯s eyes were bursting with mana while his body emitted sudden gusts of wind and generated enough pressure to make the furniture of the entire lobby rattle as if there was a quake.

    "Have a safe trip." The poor man managed to say with hisst breath. Not even fear could put a leash on over two decades of impable work.

    Only once Lith disappeared and the concierge had made sure that someone would cover for him did the man allow himself to faint.

    "Solus, pick me up at Ynca. Prepare for Phloria¡¯s omega protocol." Lith said in hismunication amulet the moment the desk Sergeant cleared him to leave.

    "Omega?" The word made the drowsiness disappear from her voice. Unlike him, Solus liked to sleep at night. To Solus, slumber was a raremodity that also gave her ess to glimpses of her past through dreams. "I¡¯ll be right there."

    Lith found the tower waiting for him and used mind fusion to bring Solus up to speed in the blink of an eye.

    ¡¯That¡¯s extreme and sudden. Are you really sure?¡¯ There was no time for words, even thoughts felt slow as she went back to Lutia and opened a Steps to Faluel¡¯sir.

    ¡¯Damn sure.¡¯ Lith walked through the dimensional door while the tower shrunk.

    They had yet to reveal to Faluel Solus¡¯s tower form, so by the time Solus slipped back at his finger, Lith was already asking his mentor for help.

    "I have no idea what¡¯s going on, but your friend Orion is right. I can send you in the turf of Ajatar the Drake and then he can Warp you even closer to your destination. Just give me a second.

    "I can¡¯t use a mind link from this distance, so exining the situation to him might take a while." Three of Faluel¡¯s heads were awake while the remaining four were asleep.

    Hydras were among the few creatures that could rest and reset the effects of Invigoration while working non-stop, which in normal circumstances would make Lith green with envy.

    Luckily, Emperor Beasts didn¡¯t mince words nor were big on pleasantries.

    "Ajatar, this is an emergency. My disciple needs help. Open a Gate and then send him to the following coordinates as fast as you can, please." That was all the exnation Faluel gave while sharing the mines¡¯ location.

    "On it." Either Ajatar¡¯s curiosity was non-existent or the word "emergency" meant a great deal for Emperor Beasts.

    The Drake linked the Warping array of hisir to Faluel¡¯s without asking a single question until he looked his guest in the eyes.

    "Is this a matter of friends, love, or family?" The Drake resembled an oversized lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales with a huge white horning out of his snout.

    Drakes had the physical prowess of Dragons, butcked both wings and Origin mes. They could channel the power of the elements in their breath, giving it special properties that didn¡¯t consume their mana.

    "All of the above." Lith had no idea what answer would get the lesser Dragon to give his all, so he went all-in.

 Chapter 1026 Dragonspeed Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1026 Dragonspeed Part 2</h4>

    "Man, and here I thought that my life was fucked up. You must be in love with your best friend who¡¯s also your sister." Ajatarugh made the mountain under which hisir was located rumble.

    His lizard form shapeshifted into a humanoid body that retained the scales and the original mass. Yet now Ajatar had legs, arms and stood as tall as Faluel, reaching over 20 meters (66¡¯).

    "Jump in." The Drake ced his huge palm in front of Lith who was in too big of a rush to ask for an exnation and just obeyed.

    "I can¡¯t open a Warp Steps leading so far from here and I doubt you have the time that I need to finish my business before I can give you a hand." Ajatar nodded at several cauldrons and magic circles that formed his experiment.

    Life Vision revealed that the Drake was somehow keeping them stable from a distance thanks to several tendrils of Spirit Magic. They linked the caster with its creations, allowing him to put the unstable energies in pause.

    ¡¯Am I a bad person for wishing that Faluel will teach us this stuff while our friends are probably risking their lives or worse?¡¯ Solus couldn¡¯t take her eyes off the magical apparatus, whereas Lith remained more focused than aser.

    "Which leaves us with best next thing. I know you have wings, so you¡¯d better use them. Dragonspeed." A Warp Steps leading in the middle of nowhere appeared in mid-air, at a dozen meters distance from the Drake.

    "Don¡¯t you mean ¡¯godspeed¡¯?" Lith asked.

    "Nah, that¡¯s just an expression. Dragonspeed is real." Ajatar covered the hand he was holding Lith on with the other and then started to spin on himself like a shot-putter.

    Yet instead of being done after one spin, the Emperor Beast became faster and faster, to the point that when Lith flew through the dimensional corridor, he had already reached a speed so great that the protective aura surrounding the Skinwalker armor caught fire because of air resistance.

    That was before Lith activated his flight spell. Before he shapeshifted into his Wyrmling form and activated both air and fire fusion.

    Lith¡¯s flight spell, Soaring Hawk, not only allowed him to move at several hundreds of km/h (mph), but also created a wind de in front of his path that protected his eyes and boosted his speed by generating a slipstream effect.

    Fire and air fusion, instead, gave his wings such power that each one of their ps produced a thunderp. Thanks to the Ajatar¡¯s Steps, Lith had skipped a couple of dozens of kilometers and started his flight at a breakneck speed.

    He looked like a cket shrouded by mes that soared the night sky,ing closer to its destination with each passing second.

    ***

    Baba Yaga¡¯s hut, down in the mines, now.

    "Are you saying that I¡¯ve been betrayed?" Phloria asked.

    "No, I¡¯m saying that you would be dead and buried if I didn¡¯t send Nandi to help you. The moment you get out of here, nothing will stop your enemies from achieving their goal." Baba Yaga/Nana replied.

    "So this is ckmail!" Friya was so angry that she overcame Baba Yaga¡¯s aura and managed to stand up. "Either we submit or you throw us into the wolf¡¯s maw, correct?"

    "ckmail is the coward¡¯s weapon." Nana shook her head. "If you want to stay here until the danger is over, you¡¯ll be treated as honored guests. As I already said, I will not move a finger against you nor will I force you to leave."

    Her answer shocked them all, incapable of understanding what Nana¡¯s endgame was.

    "Yet even after the army leaves the area and so do the undead, you will still die, dear Phloria. Do you remember what Nandi exined to you about Awakening and the risks it implies for an already powerful mage?" Nana asked, receiving a nod as an answer.

    "That¡¯s what is going to happen to you. That¡¯s why I arranged our meeting here, down inside a powerful crystal mine. The pain you felt earlier is because your Awakening is imminent, but with so many impurities, with such a weak human body, you¡¯ll never survive the process." Nana said.

    "That¡¯s bullshit! I can heal any kind of wound and even giving her my life force if that¡¯s necessary." Quy stood up as well, refusing to believe such a preposterous lie.

    "Heal?" Baba Yagaughed. "Awakened can heal all kinds of wounds and replenish their vitality with just a breath, yet many of them die when their core evolves. Ask Nandi, if you don¡¯t believe me."

    "She¡¯s right." The Minotaur grumbled. "Even if your body survives the shock of such a sudden transformation, if your core starts to crack there is no magic that can fix that. Without help, you have no chance of survival."

    The word Awakened had no meaning for Friya, but its description fit what Phloria and Quy had seen Lith do while fighting the Odi in Kh.

    ¡¯Can really Lith be both an Awakened and a hybrid? That sure would exin a lot.¡¯ They thought in unison.

    "If I ept, will you help me to Awaken, then?" Phloria asked.

    "Wrong again. Why would you settle for something so trivial? There are thousands, if not maybe tens of thousands Awakened on the entirety of Mogar. Why be one of the many when you can be so much more?" Baba Yaga¡¯s eyes lit with mana and enthusiasm.

    "Didn¡¯t you listen to what I said earlier? Hybrids get the best from both worlds. Think about the Master¡¯s Abomination-monster hybrids or the werepeople human-Emperor Beast hybrids.

    "Awakening someone is easy at my level, but you are a unique piece. A priceless gem for my research. You are a self-Awakened who has yet toplete the process, stuck in the middle between life and death.

    "My children are wed, broken if you prefer, and so is their blood core. That¡¯s why while an Awakened can always turn into an undead, the opposite is such a rare urrence that I can count those who have seeded on one hand.

    "My n is to bestow you a blood core while your life force is both very unstable and easily manipble. Unlike my former creations, your blood core will not be devised to rece the mana core, but to coexist with it.

    "This way, once the procedure is over and you Awaken, the blood core will lessen the strain on your body and use the massive amount of energy released to fix its imbnce.

    "On top of that, the regenerative abilities and the toughness typical of the undead will guarantee your survival, no matter how violent the process is." Nana said.

    "You want to make me a hybrid?" Phloria was bbergasted.

    "What is my role in this story? I thought you recruited me because you couldn¡¯t bear raising a hand against your children." Nandi¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits as Baba Yaga¡¯s n made less sense by the second.

    He didn¡¯t fight his original self in those caves, the Returner Abomination actually came from far away. Baba Yaga had recruited him with the promise of curing his condition in exchange for his help.

    They had moved to the crystal mines of Feymar and there she had tasked him to get rid of the undead that were digging out the crystals and keep the area safe while she prepared the field for their guests.

 Chapter 1027 The Secret Tower Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1027 The Secret Tower Part 1</h4>

    Nandi had preferred to side with the old witch over the Master¡¯s offer to join the Organization that Tezka had delivered to him because Baba Yaga proposed a one-time deal, whereas the Master required longsting fealty for some crazy-ass n.

    Now, however, the difference between the two was getting thinner by the second.

    "That¡¯s only half your job, Nandi." Nana said. "Right now, you and Phloria are two peas in a pod. Both of you have unstable bodies that only the powerful mana flowing from the crystals keeps stable.

    "The other half is to be my blueprint. I¡¯ll use you to replicate the Master¡¯s handiwork, to know where and how to ce my blood core inside Phloria¡¯s body.

    "This will allow me to seed on the first try. I can¡¯t afford a trial-and-error process to understand how to make two different cores coexists. It would require many specimens whereas Phloria¡¯s condition is almost unique.

    "Only once I¡¯m sure that the procedure isplete will I Awaken Phloria and fix your problem." Nana said.

    "Wait, I thought you were the reason why my sister feels better. Are you saying it¡¯s only thanks to the crystal veins?" Friya¡¯s anger turned into fear.

    "No one, not even the Guardians can keep an Awakening from happening once it starts, yet I am the reason why your sister is still alive. I spread the gemstones for Belin to find. I sent Nandi to save you when you were doomed.

    "I made sure that once Phloria¡¯s constant use of magic triggered her Awakening, she was inside the mines instead of dying an excruciating death." Baba Yaga wore a cold smile as she revealed how everyone had danced on the palm of her hand until that moment.

    "I don¡¯t believe you. If it wasn¡¯t for your crazy scheme, the moment my sister felt unwell, we would have called someone who knows how to help her." Quy remembered how Lith had saved even Protector.

    She firmly believed that if he really was an Awakened, he would know what to do, if not even already have several of his crazy contingency ns at the ready.

    "Someone who? The ckest Knight?" Baba Yaga chuckled. "The runt is powerful indeed, but someone who has yet to live his first centurycks both the means and the knowledge to help Phloria. No, child. I¡¯m her only hope."

    A long, fearful silence fell into the room. Be they humans, Emperor Beasts, or Returners Abominations, they all felt like prisoners waiting for their own execution.

    "Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m no monster." Baba Yaga heard the children on their way back for dinner and was now sure that her guests had uncovered her real identity so she turned into her Mother form.

    She now looked like a beautiful woman in her forties, with ming red hair and emerald green eyes. Her voice was warm and her body exuded a reassuring aura that made her hosts feel homesick, longing to reconnect with their respective parents, even those who had long lost them or never known them.

    "I¡¯m Baba Yaga, the Red Mother, and I can be your parent as well. Quy, Friya, once I¡¯m done with Phloria, I can do the same for you. There is a great power slumbering inside all of you, but you need my help to be so strong that no one will ever be able to threaten your happiness.

    "Nandi, even after you are cured, there are countless things that I can learn from you and you can teach to your brethren. Stay with me, help me to give birth to my children, and I promise you that I¡¯ll make everything I can to make so that your two natures merge into one, making you whole again.

    "Hybrids are just the first steps towards new races, a necessarypromise until I find a way to harmonize different kinds of life forces.

    "Morok, you¡¯re a hybrid no longer, but by studying the changes your life force has undergone, I can better understand the process that leads a hybrid¡¯s natures to sh and why they have to willingly choose between them instead of the strongest bloodline simply prevailing.

    "Together, we can make Mogar better. We can be a family." Baba Yaga¡¯s voice was sweeter than honey and filled with promises of happiness.

    Her guests could feel that she wasn¡¯t lying. Such a powerful being could trap them with ease and use them as her guinea pigs whenever she wanted. No one paid attention to Eari¡¯s secret being revealed, not even Morok himself.

    They were all too busy considering her offer to care about the small stuff.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Morok replied first, snapping the others out of their reverie.

    "If you seed, I¡¯ll live forever and that¡¯s really a long time for someone without a goal like me. I honestly don¡¯t care about Mogar, being powerful, or having a long life.

    "Otherwise instead of bing a Ranger, I would have focused on finding someone to Awaken me. All I ever wanted was to be happy. I¡¯ve seen the death and misery your children cause.

    "I prefer a short, unhappy life to an eternity at your service. The only thing you have offered me is more time to be miserable. I¡¯ll take your offer for shelter, but once the storm is gone, I¡¯m out of here."

    Nandi considered his words as well, but to him, Baba Yaga was still the best shot at a normal life. He was already immortal, and while the Master was but a human, the Red Mother was eternal.

    If there was someone who could really find a way to merge his two cores into one, that was her.

    Phloria didn¡¯t know what to say. She didn¡¯t want to die so young, yet the idea of spending centuries leeching off the life force of others terrified her.

    ¡¯Friya and Quy can leave anytime they want, but the moment I step out of the mines, I¡¯ll die. I can feel my body being torn apart even while we speak. Maybe Quy is right and Lith might be able to save me, but at what cost?

    ¡¯His life force is already crippled and I couldn¡¯t live knowing that he died to save me.¡¯ She thought.

    Quy and Friya had no desire to live forever. Their lives were already messed up as they were and just as Morok had said, they had nothing to live for.

    The idea of seeing Jirni and Orion die, of being forced to fake their own death and leave the Ernas household forever to keep others from noticing their unnatural longevity was a thought scarier than death.

    Yet they didn¡¯t want to abandon their sister. If they left, she would be all alone, forever. The first and the only one of her kind to know how it felt to be truly alive while all the others would be born already half dead.

    Phloria would survive, but it was a meager constion since she would also lose everything in the process.

    The hybrid children returned to the room and with a wave of her hand, Baba Yaga set the table for everyone.

    "Have you washed your hands properly?" She asked while a flick of her wrist filled the tes with a delicious vegetable cream.

    The kids raised their hands in the air and Baba Yaga checked them before turning to her guests.

 Chapter 1028 The Secret Tower Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1028 The Secret Tower Part 2</h4>

    "There¡¯s plenty of food for everyone. No need to brood on an empty stomach. Whatever you choose, you¡¯ll need strength." She pointed at the six empty chairs, one for each guest plus one for herself.

    Baba Yaga was about to sit at the head of the table when she perceived a low rumble in the atmosphere.

    "Hees!" She said as her eyes turned into zing fires of mana.

    A wave of her hand created a double of the dining room, sending the children and the Mother away to let them dine quietly. At the same time, the Crone and her guests watched at the events unfolding on the surface through what looked like a surveince mirror that had appeared in mid-air.

    "He who?" Phloria asked, feeling hope for the first time since she had walked inside those damned mines.

    "My daughter Dawn calls him the ckest Knight, while the Beasts know him as the Scourge. I prefer calling things as I see them, so he¡¯s the Destroyer to me. You, however, I believe know him as Lith Verhen." Baba Yaga said.

    ***

    The ming ck meteor covered thest few kilometers separating it from the mines in the blink of an eye, without ever slowing down. Even though it was clearly visible on the horizon, the people at the camp were too busy either trying to kill or survive to bother looking at the sky.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on down there and I don¡¯t care.¡¯ Thanks to his enhanced senses, Lith could see humans, thralls, and undead fighting together against regr humans.

    ¡¯Solus, any trace of Phloria and the others?¡¯

    ¡¯None, but there¡¯s a mess down there. Their energy signature might be cloaked by one of Orion¡¯s rings, covered by their enemies, or worse. Are you sure you want to do it?¡¯ Solus asked.

    ¡¯I am. As long as no witness remains alive, we don¡¯t need to care about hiding anything of our strength. We can go all out and beyond. Fighting so close to such a powerful mana geyser is a unique opportunity and our best chance to save my friends.¡¯

    Solus slipped off his finger and reached the ground first,nding behind a small hill located a few hundreds meters away from the camp. Her drop point was exactly in the middle of the raging stream of world energying from below that gave birth to the crystal mines.

    She shapeshifted into her tower form and then Warped away.

    Meanwhile, Lith crashnded, opening a deep crater in the ground and killing all the nearby undead in the process. He was back in his human form and wore his Archmage robe, wielding supreme authority over the soldiers who were miraculously unscathed from the impact.

    "Phloria Ernas, where is she?" Not even the dimensional sealing array could lessen the pressure that his seething anger exuded.

    Traitors and thralls quaked in their boots at Lith¡¯s sight whereas the soldiers cried with joy. That together with Life Vision showing him traces of the blood cores the thralls bore, allowed Lith to sort friends from enemies.

    Seeing his hands move, the traitors pointed their weapons and wands against Lith. The formers hit his robe and cracked as the hands wielding them became numb from the impact.

    Thetter released spells that were instantly overpowered by Lith¡¯s own, without buying their owners a single second before Checkmate Spears killed all those who had raised a hand against the Archmage.

    "Phloria Ernas, where is she?" Lith repeated the question to the soldier who was now clinging to his deep blue robe as if it was their lifeline.

    "You need to help us! We almost died at the hands of the traitors and their undead allies..." A young soldier said until spirit magic choked her along with the whining of all herrades.

    "I didn¡¯t ask for a report. Ernas. Where?" Lith would have dly abandoned them to their fate, but roaming the entirety of the battlefield aimlessly was beyond stupid when there was intelying everywhere.

    "I don¡¯t know." She said amid tears when the pressure on her neck lessened and the other soldiers nodded like parrots with a seizure.

    "They are supposed to be in themand tent. It¡¯s located that way. I haven¡¯t seen them since this morning though." The young soldier pointed where the battle was at its fiercest, her voice begging to be spared despite her uselessness.

    "Fine. Run away or die, the choice is yours." Lith threw them toward the path that his arrival had cleared.

    Both the humans and the undead nearby were too focused on him to care about the survivors, giving them a chance to escape.

    "Is he insane?" Nandi was bbergasted. "The army¡¯s reinforcements alone amount to one thousand men and the undead are at least half that number."

    "No, he isn¡¯t." Baba Yaga couldn¡¯t understand Lith¡¯s behavior as well and looked at the surveince mirror with confusion.

    "There is great power in him, yet his life force is broken and he is but one man. Not even an Awakened can walk away easily from such a battlefield, unless..." Everyone turned toward her, but Baba Yaga never bothered finishing the sentence.

    She was too busy thinking back at Dawn¡¯s describing her defeat.

    Solus Warped back above the crystal mines and this time she stayed there. The Sentries swarmed out of all the tower¡¯s doors and windows, looking for clues about their missing friends.

    The Sentries were surveince devices that looked like a sphere of ss the size of a basketball. They could scan everything that reflected on their surface and share with Solus all of her mystical senses, allowing them to identify someone based on their energy signature.

    Baba Yaga followed Solus¡¯s arrival on another surveince device that only she could see.

    ¡¯A life forceing from a building? That¡¯s a cursed object for sure. It matches Dawn¡¯s description and exins Verhen¡¯s guts. A mage tower is the most powerful tool a mage can wish for.¡¯ She knew it well since her hut was actually a mage tower shaped in ordance to its master¡¯s will.

    ¡¯Yet he is too young to have crafted a tower and I know them all. Then where the heck does that ruine from?¡¯ Baba Yaga had seen Menadion¡¯s tower more than once in the past, but she failed to recognize it nheless.

    Just like Solus had told Lith in the past, together they had discovered things about the tower that Menadion herself was unaware of, but that was just an assumption due to Solus¡¯s ignorance about herself.

    By fusing a person with her tower, Menadion didn¡¯t create a cursed item so much as a human-tower hybrid. Normal relics were incapable of growing outside their maker¡¯s design, but Solus was a living being and so was now her tower half.

    The more Solus regained her powers and learned about magic, the more the tower could reshape itself ording to the most recent magical development. They grew together because Awakened naturally refined their own bodies thanks to the mana coursing through them.

    Meanwhile, Lith darted towards themand tent while ignoring all the attacks aimed at him thanks to thebined protection of the boosted Skinwalker armor and his barrier ring that blocked the hits he failed to dodge.

    "Ranger Verhen, how nice of you to join us." A somewhat familiar voice belonging to a somewhat familiar beanpole said.

 Chapter 1029 Tower Tier Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1029 Tower Tier Part 1</h4>

    "Let that woman go, tell me where Phloria is, and I will kill you." Lith had no idea who the handsome man in front of him was, but he remembered Wyra well.

    She had helped him back in Zantia and Friya would often speak fondly of her, considering the burly woman her closest aide.

    "What kind of offer is that?" Kallionughed while choking Wyra with one hand while piercing through her abdomen with the other.

    He enjoyed squeezing her guts to see the agony in her eyes. The Vampire¡¯s blood coursing through his veins didn¡¯t just boost Kallion¡¯s physical and magical prowess, it also amplified his predatory instincts.

    To him, humans were just cattle. Small mice destined to be the ything of the cat.

    ¡¯That¡¯s Kallion Nuragor, Phloria¡¯s ex-boyfriend.¡¯ Solus said via their mind link.

    "The kindest deal I can cut you and only because I¡¯m in a rush." Lith replied while looking at the several undead jumping on him from every side as if they moved in slow motion.

    His tier five magic holding ring sparked, releasing both the Final Sunsets it held. A maelstrom of blue mes infused with so much darkness element to paint them ck engulfed both Lith and his assants.

    Yet the spell only spared his owner, burning everyone and everything else on its path until only cinders remained. Darkness magic was the bane of the undead and the only element that even Mage yers couldn¡¯t feed upon.

    After the Sentry that now had joined him confirmed to Lith that there was no one worth saving in the vicinity, the zing dome grew in size until it surrounded both Lith and Kallion, isting them from the chaos of the battlefield.

    "How could I refuse such a generous offer?" Kallion broke Wyra¡¯s neck before throwing her tortured body at Lith along with a crushed golden pendant shaped like a lily.

    For a second, Lith froze at the sight of the present he had given Phloria years ago. He had no idea it was just a replica identical down to thest detail that Kallion had realized for the purpose of torturing Phloria¡¯s parents.

    The damage the pendant had sustained made it believable the fact that it had lost its enchantment and Phloria¡¯s imprint.

    "Allow me to turn our deal into a real bargain." Kallion threw Rotha¡¯s body right next to Wyra.

    "Happy now? They are all dead and soon you¡¯ll join them." Like Lith, Kallion wasn¡¯t big on talking, he just needed time to weave his spells.

    He was still a fake mage, but thanks to the Vampire blood stored in his second core, Kallion could use both darkness and air magic in their true form, along with their fusion magic version.

    Seeing the destroyed replica almost drove Lith insane. Great Mage Nuragor had even imitated the impurities in the metalprising the original pendant that Lith had spread through the flower to make it look more lifelike.

    Solus¡¯s nearby mage tower amplified the effects of his seething anger just like it did with all his other abilities. The sky darkened and the temperature dropped as his eyes turned into fiery slits burning with ck mana.

    Yet he knew Wyra well. Even while the light in her eyes dimmed, Lith could see in them a silent plea for help, but not for herself. Even on the verge of death, Wyra performed her duty.

    "We¡¯ll see." Lith touched Wyra and Rotha, using Invigoration to restore them.

    Their flesh regrew, their bones returned to their original condition as the breathing technique even replenished their vitality and mana. Yet they were still hungry.

    "He¡¯s lying!" Wyra said with the first breath of air she inhaled. "They are still in the caves, alive."

    ¡¯I can confirm. Phloria¡¯s rune on your amulet is intact.¡¯ Solus said.

    "We¡¯ll deal with him, you go save them. Our lives don¡¯t matter, please save our god." Rotha shielded Lith with his own body and attempted to push him away from the iing tier four darkness spell that Kallion had unleashed while the Archmage healed them.

    Nuragor had no idea how Lith could have mended that many mortal wounds and still be able to stand, yet he didn¡¯t care. From such a close distance, dodging his ck Haze was impossible.

    It was a spell that Kallion¡¯s sire had taught him that used both air and darkness magic to generate a ck bolt of lightning that would split into two smaller bolts with each centimeter it moved forward.

    The newly generated bolts would split as well until all the space in front of the caster was turned into a dark mist.

    Rotha¡¯s attempt to push Lith away was akin to pushing a mountain uphill whereas Lith¡¯s hands moved the two members of the Crystal Shield guild behind him as if they were weightless.

    "A lying traitor. I¡¯m not going to take that filthy mana of yours." Lith refused to use Dominance or War¡¯s World Mirror ability and had a wall of ck mes erupt from the dome to intercept ck Haze.

    Kallion¡¯s shock grew once again.

    Keeping two tier five spells active for that long was already a strenuous task, but doing it while also using those same spells to keep a small army of enemies at bay was supposed to have drained Lith¡¯s focus.

    That degree of mastery over two Final Sunsets at the same time was impossible, yet reality begged to differ.

    "I didn¡¯t lie so much as stating an inevitable fact. My words have yet to turn into reality but they will!" Kallion said as the metal rods stuck to his right leg assembled themselves to form his prized spear, Stormbreaker.

    Unlike Lith, he knew about the dimensional sealing array, so he had taken out of his dimensional item everything he needed, just like all Friya¡¯s men had done since day one of the mission.

    It was the reason why they hadsted so long.

    ¡¯For years I practiced my spearsmanship until my skin broke and my hands bled because I knew my worst opponents would be human. No matter what kind of monster Verhen is, with my enhanced body and the superior range of my weapon, a disarmed man has no chance of victory.¡¯ Kallion thought.

    "War, sing your dirge for this fool." Lith extended his open hand and the bastard sword appeared in a burst of emerald mes.

    Between Xedros¡¯s words and Xenagrosh¡¯s practical demonstration, Lith had discovered the secret behind omni pockets. While regr dimensional items were the focus between their user and their storage space, omni pockets used their master¡¯s very life force as a conduit.

    Otherwise, distance or a simple dimensional sealing array would cancel the imprint over time. The use of life force also allowed the owner of an omni pocket to ignore the effects of arrays simply by expending a bit of their life force.

    Lith already knew to project it thanks to Origin mes so connecting the dots had only required some practice.

    Seeing the shattered ne turned the angry de into a grieving one. War broke free from its scabbard and what looked like blood tears streamed down the magic crystals on its hilt.

    War almost moved on its own and struck at the tip of Stormbreaker, but instead of pushing it away, the grieving de cut through metal as if it was butter. Kallion quickly tried to step back, but Lith moved much faster.

 Chapter 1030 Tower Tier Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1030 Tower Tier Part 2</h4>

    The Vampire blood couldn¡¯t keep up with Lith¡¯s perfect body refinement and the gap in their respective mastery of fusion magic only made things worse. War¡¯s pain let the de channel the energying from the tower to its utmost limit so that with each sh another piece of the spear fell off.

    By the time Kallion moved of a single step almost a third of Stormbreaker was gone and with it his range advantage over the sword.

    Kallion looked at Lith¡¯s weapon in envy and desperation. Every time that War moved, it emitted a desperate howl that made the Great Mage¡¯s skin crawl.

    In ast-ditch effort, Kallion unleashed all the spells he had at the ready only to see War devour them and then throw them back at him. Lith lunged so fast that he beat the spells to the punch, plunging the de into Kallion¡¯s heart.

    Lith twisted War while pulling it out, leaving behind a hole the size of a basketball. As the spells reached their target, he decapitated Kallion, just to be safe. The dome of ck mes disappeared as the constant onught from outside had exhausted the mana empowering the Final Sunsets.

    Wyra and Rotha wielded their wands against the swarm of opponents that surrounded them while Lith just snapped his fingers, making a dome of light surround and protect them from all attacks.

    "Demon Manohar!" A thrall said.

    "The child of light is here!" A Vampire said.

    "The Never Magus hase to our rescue!" All the survivors bust into cheers, believing the battle to be already won.

    "Sorry to disappoint those poor fes. You called?" Nalrondnded right beside Lith, carrying with him all the people he had managed to save while searching for the Ernas girls.

    The Rezar had a Sentry following him as well, to both help to scout the battlefield and keep themunication with the rest of the group through Solus.

    "Yes. My friends are in the caves. Protector is following their scent as we speak. Find and rescue all the people dressed like that." Lith pointed at Wyra and Rotha. "The guild is Friya¡¯s life work, losing them would destroy her."

    "I can do that, but without dimensional magic, it¡¯s a fool errand. I can¡¯t protect that many." Nalrond waved his left hand and released a volley of small beams of light against the crowd of enemies hammering at the dome.

    The humans died on the spot, the thrall became temporarily crippled, but for the undead, such wounds were but a minor annoyance.

    "The arrays aren¡¯t going to be a problem much longer, but I need you to take them away fast. Once I go all-out, everyone will die." Lith said while a focused beam of lighting out of Nalrond¡¯s right hand mowed down the still standing undead.

    The volley had removed the small fries allowing him to focus solely on the real threats. Even with their uncanny regenerative abilities, having their bodies cut in half with most of their flesh vaporized killed most of the undead.

    "Are you saying that wasn¡¯t your best?" Rotha turned pale as a ghost.

    "Believe me, you don¡¯t want to see my best."

    ¡¯Otherwise, I¡¯d have to kill you.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Meanwhile, the red blur that Protector left on the battlefield while tearing apart the traitors and saving the soldiers, entered the caves as soon as the Sentry with him reported Wyra¡¯s words.

    To fit inside the confined space, Protector had to shapeshift into his hybrid form, bing visible for a split second.

    "Where the heck did those guyse from?" The more Nandi watched at the events shown on the surveince mirror, the less the situation made sense.

    "How did that Verhen arrive here so quickly and how can he be that strong? Even if he started from the nearest Gate and Warped his way here with Invigoration, he should be exhausted."

    The answer to the first question was that after taking root in the new mana geyser, Solus had gone back to Lutia for backup, bringing back with her all those ready at a second¡¯s notice.

    "It¡¯s okay, Phloria. Lith hase for and that wolf thing is Protector, he is not our enemy." Friya reassured her sisters who had been surprised by the beastly figure wearing human clothes.

    "How do you know?" Quy asked.

    "He helped Lith and me back in Zantia. He¡¯s no hybrid, just a shapeshifting Emperor Beast." The cat was already out of the bag, making it pointless for Friya to keep the secret.

    ¡¯They would have recognized his voice the moment they heard it.¡¯ She thought.

    "That¡¯s a relief." Phloria said. "You two go with Protector. I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t follow you. Baba Yaga was telling the truth earlier. The moment I step out of the mines I¡¯ll probably die."

    Even with the thick world energy from the surrounding crystal veins and the help from Baba Yaga¡¯s tower, Phloria needed sheer willpower to keep her Awakening from triggering.

    "You made a wise choice, child. Don¡¯t worry about the pain, as soon as you ept my offer, I¡¯ll stabilize your condition." The Crone extended her hand to Phloria to seal their deal.

    Seeing that the young woman refused to take it, Baba Yaga added:

    "You¡¯d better make your mind quickly because once the process starts, even I will be powerless to stop it and I have no use for a regr Awakened."

    Between his sense of smell and the Sentry¡¯s mystical senses, following the traces of the Ernas sisters was a child¡¯s y for Protector. He could almost move to his top speed, slowing down only at crossroads.

    "How are you holding up?" Solus¡¯s condition worried Protector.

    "I hate using air magic to speak and the situation above requires my full focus. Does this answer your question?" Her voice oozed irritation.

    Solus was on the first floor of the mage tower, in the middle of the Mirror Hall. Even though she wasn¡¯t directly taking part in the battle, she was the busiest member of the team.

    The Sentries kept sending data that Solus had to sort, rying only the important bits of information while also providing real-time status updates to the members of the team.

    At the same time, she was using her mind to weave true magic spells while her hands and mouth cast other spells non-stop. It was something that only someone skilled in both fake and true magic could do, allowing her to cast twice the spells and then pass them to Lith after amplifying their effects via the Master Mirror.

    This way, everyone could safely perform their respective task and Lith could focus solely on the physical aspect of the fight while Solus provided him with all the magic he needed.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Lith could see the very heart of the multiple magical formations that surrounded the camp. It was located under themand tent, where the soldier had pointed him at.

    Kallion¡¯s death didn¡¯t deactivate them and Lith had no time to search for the person holding the arrays¡¯ keystone. He bolted outside Nalrond¡¯s dome, dragging with Spirit Magic all the enemies he met on the way to his destination.

    The barrier ring¡¯s pseudo core was almost overloaded from the earlier strain so Lith could use some meat shields to intercept iing spells aimed at him.

    The moment he reached the center of the arrays, Lith unleashed his tier tower spell, Raging Nova.

 Chapter 1031 Phloriaâ€™s Choice Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1031 Phloria¡¯s Choice Part 1</h4>

    The tower amplified both Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s abilities, so they had created the Nova series of spells that exploited the tremendous might that tapping into a mana geyser bestowed upon them.

    Raging Nova was the evolved version of the tier five spell, Raging Sun.

    Raging Sun was abination of fire and earth magic which generated a powerful explosion along with mes so hot that they could melt stone. Its effects were akin to a volcanic eruption.

    Raging Nova, added a third element, air, to both expand the area of effect of the explosion and raise the temperature of the spell. White mes engulfed an area of over one hundred meters (330 feet) around Lith, destroying the focus point of the arrays along with everything else in their path.

    The undead were resistant, not immune to the elements, and Raging Nova was more than they could take. Creatures like Vampires or Ghouls died on the spot with their bodies torn apart and burned so fast that they were unable to regenerate.

    The ability to move their weak point at will was useless against an attack that engulfed them from head to toe. Even Mage yers couldn¡¯t resist Lith¡¯s spell. The orange mist thatprised their bodies could feed upon the three elements, but their weapons couldn¡¯t do the same.

    The intense heat melted the enchanted relics that made the other half of a Mage yer¡¯s physical body, damaging them beyond repair and dooming their masters. Lith remained unscathed only because he cast the spell on himself and released it from his own skin.

    That way, he was at the epicenter of Raging Nova and the shockwaves generated by the explosion couldn¡¯t affect him.

    With the arrays gone, Nalrond and Tista could evacuate the camp quickly by using their respective Sentry to open Warp Gates leading far away from the battlefield.

    "Quick, everything is going to blow!" Tista said while exploiting the terror spreading among the enemy ranks to restore her strength with Invigoration.

    ¡¯Good gods, little brother, how could you kill so many without a second thought? There might have been survivors or prisoners.¡¯ She had already expressed her worries to Solus who had promptly dismissed them.

    Tista knew that the moment Lith would cast his next spell, she would be forced to abandon anyone left. To protect his secret, Lith couldn¡¯t risk leaving witnesses alive.

    Meanwhile, Protector had finally reached Baba Yaga¡¯s hut. The ce was surrounded by so many defensive arrays that he didn¡¯t daree close to it and called the Ernas from a distance.

    "Friya! Phloria! Quy! It¡¯s me, Protector. Are you in there?" He said.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here. You¡¯re an Awakened, correct?" Friya ran out of the house to not be forced to yell.

    "Then if I tell you that Phloria is about to Awaken and that it might kill her, do my words make sense to you?" Her questions received just a nod for an answer. "Quy and I are fine, but the moment Phloria leaves the mines she dies."

    "Care to borate?" Protector asked while tapping on the Sentry to make sure that Solus listened as well.

    Friya exined to them everything Baba Yaga had said about Phloria¡¯s condition and the reason why the Awakening process had yet to trigger.

    "This wasn¡¯t in the n! Is it good or bad news?" Protector said to the ss sphere, making Friya wonder if that day could get any crazier.

    "Great news, actually." The ss sphere replied, giving Friya her answer. "Remain on stand by while I make a few modifications to the Heart."

    "Copy that." Protector said.

    "Hey, that wasn¡¯t Kam¡¯s voice. Who was that?" Friya felt like she was going insane as Mogar made less sense by the second.

    Lith was a hybrid and an Awakened with crazy ass powers she had never seen before. Her sister was about to join the club and that annoying prick Eari, of whom Quy hadined about for months wasn¡¯t human, but something in disguise.

    To make matters even more confusing, among Lith¡¯s allies there had to be Manohar the second and an unknown girl.

    "You¡¯re about to find out. Go call your sisters, we need to be ready to move at a second¡¯s notice. I don¡¯t know who that hut belongs to, but I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t want to stay here a moment longer than necessary." Protector said.

    "That makes the two of us." Friya said before returning inside.

    "Don¡¯t worry, sis. The bad news is that jerk of Lith knew about your condition, the good news is that he prepared for it. His assistant..."

    "Partner!" Solus corrected Friya.

    "What she said, says that they can help you." Friya said.

    "Help how? He¡¯s outside fighting and we can¡¯t Warp. Even with the arrays gone, the crystals will blow if we attempt to open a dimensional tunnel leading to the surface." Phloria wanted to believe those words, but reason begged to differ.

    "I¡¯ve already taken that into ount." Solus¡¯s voice was magically amplified, allowing the Ernas to hear her from a distance. "I¡¯ll open a Steps at the closest safe point. You Blink to Protector and he¡¯ll carry you to destination in a matter of seconds."

    "She¡¯s right. I can vouch for Protector, he¡¯s the fastest man I¡¯ve ever seen." Friya answered Phloria¡¯s silent question. "I know what I would do, but the choice is not up to me. The life is yours and whatever you decide to do, I¡¯ll be by your side."

    Phloria looked at Baba Yaga and her still-extended hand before saying:

    "Thanks for your offer, Lady Yaga, but future of Mogar or not, being forced to feed upon humans and bing as good as sterile is something I wouldn¡¯t wish on my worst enemy."

    Quy and Friya left the hut, following Protector¡¯s directions to reach the location of the Warp Steps on their own. Morok tried to follow them, but Ryman stopped him in his tracks.

    "Whoever you are, you¡¯re not on the list." Protector said.

    "That¡¯s rude, man! Lith and I fought together in Kh, we shared our secrets and whatnot. Heck, I saved his girlfriend, my own, and maybe even yours." Morok pointed at Phloria, Quy, and Friya in this order.

    "I¡¯m not his girlfriend!" The three Ernas said in unison.

    "And I¡¯m a married man with three children. Say that in front of my wife and I swear that I¡¯ll kill you before she can kill me." Protector snarled.

    Selia wasn¡¯t the jealous type, but hearing allegations about him spending too much time with a young woman as pretty as Friya mightpromise their bond of trust and in turn Morok¡¯s life expectancy.

    "But..."

    "Not on the list. Everything is ready on my side." Solus cut Morok short and Phloria Blinked in Protector¡¯s arms who disappeared as if he had never been there.

    "Seriously? How many women does Lith need to be happy? Can¡¯t he leave some to the rest of us? I mean, there¡¯s you, the army chick, the other army chick, the hot mercenary chick..." Morok¡¯s attempt to bargain with the Sentry failed when it popped out of existence.

    Solus couldn¡¯t move the Sentry as fast as Protector, but rather than listening to the Tyrant¡¯s rambling she dispelled the construct.

    "Man, I really hope that Archon Ernas keeps her word and sets me up for a date with Quy, otherwise I just wasted months of my life!"

 Chapter 1032 Phloriaâ€™s Choice Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1032 Phloria¡¯s Choice Part 2</h4>

    Morok left for the surface on foot, making both Baba Yaga and Nandi wonder how could he have such a narrow vision of life.

    "I can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t even bother to remember the names of Quy¡¯s sisters. It¡¯s beyond rude and if he keeps up like that, their first date will be short and thest." Baba Yaga said.

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still thinking about that moron while your precious project walks away!" Nandi blurted out. "What about your hybrids, and more importantly, what about me?"

    "I can¡¯t keep them against their will. All I want is to make my children happy. Starting a new family over the misery of my own firstborn would doom my project to failure and is against all I ever worked for." Baba Yaga replied.

    "No matter what you think, I¡¯m not a tyrant but a mother. Even when my children go against my wishes, I don¡¯t put them in jail until they obey. That¡¯s not love, that¡¯s madness.

    "Even without Phloria, I have already collected a lot of data about twin cores thanks to your prolonged stay in my home. For that, you have my gratitude." Compared to the Minotaur, the Crone was so short that she could barely reach his chest.

    Baba Yaga touched his thigh and Nandi felt as if his body was being turned inside out. Multiple deep wounds opened and ck blood streamed from all his orifices. He didn¡¯t experience such an intense pain ever since his mana core had crumbled, turning him into an Abomination.

    Yet it onlysted a second.

    Nandi gasped for air, realizing that the agony had brought him on all four. He checked his body and discovered that not only it had finally evolved, but also there were no wounds left.

    The constant need to contain the Chaos energy was gone and it had been reced by several small violet crystals that had appeared on his forehead, chest, and hands.

    "What did you do to me?" He said.

    "What you asked me since the day we met." Baba Yaga replied. "I fixed you. What blocked your growth was your own strength. Both of your natures were strong enough to live on their own, that¡¯s why they never merged into one.

    "You needed an opponent strong enough to put you in a life-or-death situation to evolve. I forced your two sides to choose between fighting together against me and survive or continuing their squabble and die.

    "Don¡¯t worry about the crystals, they are not weak points, but part of your own body. An orc without mana gemstones is crippled. That¡¯s why before their fall, orcs were capable of turning their flesh and blood into crystals."

    Baba Yaga caressed the Minotaur¡¯s head that was now at her eye level with a kindness Nandi had never experienced, not even from his own mother.

    "Even if you are not an undead, you have lived under my roof, eaten my cooking, and shared your worries with me long enough to be one of my children. Now you¡¯ve been reborn through me, and that¡¯s a bond I cannot forget.

    "Wherever you go, whatever happens to you, this will always be your home." She touched his forehead, bestowing upon Nandi the spell that allowed all of her firstborns to always know where to find her.

    "Now you can go see the world again, like you always wanted." His head alone was almost bigger than she was, but Baba Yaga embraced it nheless. "Before you go, allow me to give you onest piece of advice.

    "Once you are done having fun, go find the Master. They seem to be a smart human and the other monster-Abomination hybrids are your siblings. The Master can make you whole again while your kind can help you ovee your blood madness.

    "The Organization is the other half of your family, and families stick together."

    The violence of Nandi¡¯s inner turmoil kept him from standing up. Not even getting free from the insatiable hunger that gued Abominations after absorbing his original self had been such an intense feeling.

    Nandi had always considered his condition as a punishment for all the atrocities his original self hadmitted as an Emperor Beast first and an Abominationter. He had believed that Baba Yaga was no better and that she would screw him over as soon as she got what she wanted.

    Yet while he had been wary of her and treated her as an enemy, Baba Yaga had grown fond of him. She had freed him from the shackles of his curse and was now sending him off with her blessings.

    Warm tears streamed down his eyes while a feeling long forgotten ravaged the Minotaur¡¯s withered heart.

    "Thanks, mother." Nandi returned her embrace, careful of not hurting the small figure between his hulking arms even though his reason told him that putting a scratch on her was an impossible feat.

    Meanwhile, Quy and Friya entered the tower a split second before Protector arrived with their sister in his arms. Phloria was still clenching her teeth, waiting for the fits of pain, when she realized they would nevere.

    The Ernas sisters looked in awe at the Mirror Hall that was now as big as Baba Yaga¡¯s living room. They could feel that each one of the mirrors was actually an enchanted item and the mana in the Hall was so dense that it made their body hair stand up.

    Yet nothing couldpare with the vision of the feminine humanoid figure floating in the middle of the room. It looked like a short woman, about 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") tall, made of golden energy and with long golden hair that floated in the air as if she was underwater.

    Yet what truly shocked the Ernas sister was the fact that the golden woman wore a Skinwalker armor identical to Lith¡¯s and that the voice they had heard before belonged to her.

    "Nice to finally meet you all, I¡¯m Solus. Don¡¯t worry about your Awakening, Phloria, Lith has- Fuck me sideways! No, you don¡¯t!" She said as the image in the mirror in front of Solus required her full focus.

    Solus¡¯s voice was actually warm and kind. What creeped the girls out was that its tempo, inflection, and even the way she spoke sounded like a female Lith. They had no idea that the two of them had spent so much time in each other¡¯s head to be as one.

    "What is that? Is Lith alright?" Tista had returned to give her friends all the exnations they might need while Solus cast spells non-stop, but the scene on the mirror left Tista no time for pleasantries.

    After the effects of Raging Nova had faded, the main force of the undead and the traitors had surrounded Lith from every side.

    "Verhen is but one man and after that spell, he must have run out of mana!" Captain Lotta said. "Today is our day! Verhen first and the Ernaster. Fire at will!"

    The barrage of spellsing at him was so thick that it covered the sky, eclipsing the moon and the stars. Against a single enemy, filling the battlefield with spells was amon strategy that made it impossible for the target to both dodge or Blink.

    Lith snapped his fingers, conjuring both the darkness and the air sealing array from the tower¡¯s Heart around himself. Most of the iing spells disappeared and among those left, only a handful was actually aimed at him.

 Chapter 1033 Nova Onslaught Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1033 Nova Onught Part 1</h4>

    War drew the stray spells to itself and fed upon them, absorbing their elemental energies to refill its pseudo core.

    The de had no idea Phloria was alive and the feelings Orion had imbued in the weapon were driving it crazy with grief. War would have done anything to avenge its little Flower.

    "Stop wasting your spells and engage him in close quarters!" Captain Lotta said. "The fool has forgotten that arrays work both ways. He can¡¯t use magic as well!"

    Lith charged at the tidal wave of bodies to not offer an easy target to spells belonging to the still avable elements while he focused on the only spell he had at the ready. A split second before being swallowed by the living tide, he dispelled the arrays and unleashed Nova Sunset.

    It was the tower version of Final Sunset that like the original used fire and air, but it was much stronger due to the power amplifying effect of the Master Mirror and added the air element to the mix.

    A tornadoprised of ck mes appeared around Lith, engulfing anyone who tried to get close to him. Even though the zing pir didn¡¯t reach the sky, with its over 30 meters (100 feet) of height it was a majestic sight to behold.

    Some Blinked past the spinning fire walls, only to meet their end due to another kind of fire. Lith had assumed his Wyrmling form and filled the space inside the tornado with Origin mes that were now under War¡¯s control.

    Origin mes didn¡¯t discriminate, burning humans and undead alike despite their natural resistance to the elements.

    "A three-elemental tier five spell of that magnitude?" Quy was bbergasted. "If they existed, I would think that¡¯s a tier six spell."

    "Still it¡¯s not enough, so if you can shut up and let me focus, I would greatly appreciate it!" Solus¡¯s snarl resembled Lith so closely that Quy shuddered.

    The way Solus talked, the way she moved her body to channel the mana and even the way she chanted her spells non-stop made the Ernas sisters wonder what kind of rtionship existed between her and Lith.

    Solus was now holding an energy replica of War, moving in synch with Lith to help him control the massive amount of world energy that flooded into him. Yet all that the others could see was a puppeteer moving the strings of the man on the other side of the mirror.

    "If you don¡¯te at me, then I¡¯lle at you!" Lith said as he raised War in the air, using Domination over his own spell. Thebined willpower of Lith, Solus, and War reshaped the zing tornado into a giant replica of the angry de.

    Lith performed a horizontal sh that cut deep through the enemy lines, mowing down dozens of people with a single swing of War. Lith had halved Nova Sunset¡¯s range bypressing its energies to the point that even barrier amulets were shattered and their wielders killed on impact.

    Every single one of his attacks left only ashes on its wake, turning the enemy¡¯s superior numbers into a disadvantage. Traitors and undead tried to put some distance between them and Lith, to once again drown him in spells now that the arrays were gone.

    "You will not escape!" Lith unleashed Checkmate Nova, conjuring in mid-air so many ck pirs of ice that they blotted the night sky.

    The evolved version of Checkmate Spears used the ice, darkness, and air elements to bring a cmity from the skies. The ck spears swarmed the field, striking where the enemies tried to regroup.

    Their size didn¡¯t make them more deadly. Quite the contrary, dodging such a huge projectile was easy for any undead. Unfortunately for them, the moment a ck spear struck something, the air element made them detonate into countless smaller spears that relentlessly chased their target.

    With thebined effect of the ck giant sword and the piercing hail, the battlefield quickly turned into a graveyard and only the strongest among the enemies remained.

    Lith dispelled Nova Sunset and held War vertically, with his right hand on the grip that pointed at the sky now covered by roaring clouds and his left ced on the de that pointed at the ground that shook with growing intensity.

    ¡¯Time to finish this.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯Just like light and darkness, air and earth are two sides of the same coin. Only those who realize this are their rulers. Nova Mjolnir!¡¯ Solus mirrored Lith¡¯s movements as he moved both hands to the grip.

    The thundercloud above generated a bolt of lightning that struck War a split second before Lith plunged it into the ground. Nova Mjolnir created maite paths that preserved the electricity, allowing it to strike at its marks with its full force.

    Rock spikes impaled the survivors and acted like lightning rods, drawing the storm upon them so that not a single thunderbolt missed its target. The maite circuit allowed each natural lightning to strike at all the victims of Nova Mjolnir at the same time, dealing so much damage that not even immortal bodies could survive.

    When the corpse of thest enemy faded, so did the thunderstorm.

    Under the moonlight, Lith used both his mystical senses and the Sentries to make sure that no witnesses remained. Only once Solus confirmed to him that he was the only living being for hundreds of meters did Lith put War at his hip.

    The blood scabbard had never been so thick, yet it could barely contain the fury of the grieving de.

    Lith couldn¡¯t put it away because inside the pocket dimension time was still. The de wouldn¡¯t be able to recharge its mana crystals nor to heal the stress that both its pseudo cores and the Adamant had sustained by wielding tremendous amounts of mana the fight had required.

    "Status report." Lith said after Warping to the Mirror Hall.

    "It¡¯s a long story..." Friya attempted to say, but Lith gestured her to stop.

    His dark eyes turned golden while Solus¡¯s golden eyes turned dark as they shared through their mind link their most recent memories.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Friya, but there¡¯s not a moment to waste so we¡¯ll make this quick. Guys, this is Solus. She¡¯s my bright side as much as I¡¯m her dark side. She already knows all of you so introductions are pointless." Lith said.

    "Nice to meet you! I¡¯ve been waiting years for this moment." Solus said with a smile so radiant that definitely didn¡¯t belong to Lith. To the Ernas, her enthusiasm made even less sense than his words

    "Friya, Nalrond saved eight members of the Crystal Shield, Wyra and Rotha included. How many active members of the guild did you bring with you?" Lith waved his hand and on the mirror appeared the image of a humanoid scaled armadillo surrounded by dozens of people.

    "All fifteen of them." Friya¡¯s eyes became watery at the sight of how few people had survived.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for your loss." Solus wanted to hug Friya, but being their first real meeting, it would have been inappropriate. "I¡¯ve prioritized..."

    "Sorry, Solus. No time for condolences either." Lith cut her short. "Phloria do you know what¡¯s happening to you?"

    At her sight, War squealed with joy and went silent.

    "Dad?" Phloria blurted out, recognizing Orion¡¯s typical reaction whenever they met after a long time. "I mean, yes, Lith. I know everything about Awakened like us."

 Chapter 1034 Nova Onslaught Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1034 Nova Onught Part 2</h4>

    "Very well. First, allow me to say how sorry I am." Lith took both of her hands in his while looking Phloria in the eyes.

    "I never meant to involve you in the mess that is my life. That¡¯s why I tried to push you away over and over back when we were at the White Griffon. Your persistence made me into a better man, but it also put you at great risk.

    "I prepared for years for this moment, hoping that it would nevere, but here we are. I can¡¯t guarantee your survival, only that I will do everything in my power to save you. The procedure couldst long, but it will surely be agonizing.

    "I can¡¯t anesthetize you and spare you the pain because, even though I can assist you, it will be your willpower to tip the scale between life and death. It¡¯s more pain than most men experience their whole life, so I would understand if you choose an easier way out." Lith said.

    "Most men?" Phloria chuckled at the distinction.

    For some reason, the tower felt like home. She could feel Lith even in the air she breathed and in the ground she stood upon. The pain in her abdomen was gone and so was the fear that she had felt while in Baba Yaga¡¯s hut.

    "Indeed. Based on the women I helped during my career, each breakthrough is as painful as giving birth, but yours will be like Rena with her triplets." Lith replied.

    "I guess it¡¯s a pain you¡¯re used to." Phloria said.

    "Me, Tista, Protector, and a lot of other people I want you to meet." Lith said.

    "What would you do in my shoes?"

    "I don¡¯t know. I can only tell you that, in my shoes, I¡¯m not ready to lose you."

    "That makes the two of us." Phloria chuckled. "I don¡¯t want to die. Not here. Not now. Not like this."

    "Then you¡¯d better drink this." Lith took out two potions.

    One was a purple potion filled with nutrients for Phloria and the other was a red top-grade tonic for himself. His body was battered from the mana abuse and he needed to spare as much Invigoration as he could for the procedure.

    Even with the tower further boosting his recovery abilities, Lith needed a nap to return to his peak condition, but doing it would doom Phloria.

    "Why the heck did you shut me and Friya up while you can give a speech?" Solus pouted.

    "Because the mental state of the patient is vital for the sess of every procedure and because it¡¯s Phloria¡¯s life that is at stake. She deserves to know everything she needs before making such an important decision." Lith replied.

    "Sorry, guys. What did I miss?" Nalrond Warped back after finishing to treat all those in critical conditions.

    "Nothing much." Protector replied. "Just Lith being cheesy instead of the usual sourpuss."

    Nalrond knew there was a joke somewhere, but they didn¡¯t know each other for long enough that the Rezar could either understand it orugh at it. He felt too indebted to Lith for introducing Protector to him and giving him a share of the silver mines.

    Both Nalrond and Protector shapeshifted back into their human form, making the girls flinch.

    "Wait, all this talk about hybrid confuses me to no end. What are you exactly?" Quy said.

    "It¡¯splicated, but the short version is that I¡¯m a purebred Emperor Beast, Nalrond is one of the Werepeople, a hybrid from birth, while Lith was born a human and became a hybridter." Protector replied.

    "I didn¡¯t understand anything aside from you being an Emperor Beast." Quy clenched her temples. "Now, however, I¡¯m only worried about Phloria. Why didn¡¯t she start Awakening and when will you start her treatment?"

    "It didn¡¯t start because thanks to our mage tower, we can produce a mana pressure even above that of the mines." A snap of Lith¡¯s fingers revealed a magic circle surrounding Phloria.

    It was identical to those used by Forgemasters to umte the world energy except for itsck of runes and the fact that it was perfectly stable. Solus had kept it invisible until that point because, even though she could move the boundaries of the circle at will, if Phloria noticed how small was her breathing space, she might have panicked.

    "As for the treatment, we¡¯ll start right now." Another snap and everyone moved to the Heart of the tower, the control room for the arrays.

    While Lith was talking, Nalrond was politely introducing himself to the Ernas as Selia had taught him. He was a man in his mid-twenties about 1.84 meters (6¡¯) tall, with a lean and toned body.

    He had raven ck hair, green eyes, and a perfectly shaven face. His bronze skin was a clear sign that he was a native of the Blood Desert.

    Protector was a good-looking man, but he was too tall and rough-looking for Friya¡¯s taste, whereas Nalrond acted awkwardly but in a cute manner. He stuttered the same way with her, Phloria, and Quy, making Friya feel treated like a person for once.

    ¡¯Wow, he isn¡¯t staring nor spouting inappropriatepliments, I wonder why...¡¯ Her question found its answer when she noticed how familiar he was with Tista, almost at the same time when Lith¡¯s words hit her like a freight train.

    "What do you mean, mage tower?" The three Ernas said in unison with their eyes almost popping out.

    That day, legends and reality kept intertwining in front of their eyes. After meeting Baba Yaga, discovering about hybrids, Awakening, seeing Lith single-handedly exterminate two armies, and now discovering to be inside one of the fabled mage towers, their knees buckled.

    Luckily for them, Solus had seats to spare and had them appear right under their falling asses.

    "Who do you think I am? A god? I managed to fight like that only because Solus backed me up. Besides, why do you act so surprised? ording to Solus¡¯s readings, the hut was a mage tower as well, so mine is the second you visit today." Lith replied.

    He kept his eyes closed while taking deep breaths, not to use Invigoration, but to savor the energy that thanks to the tower coursed through him and slowly rejuvenated his body.

    The Ernas became so pale that Solus worried they might faint at any moment. She conjured a cup of hot tea spiked with a bit of liquor and a lot of rxing herbs for each one of them.

    "Please, drink this, it should help." Solus said. "Phloria, you can¡¯t faint, no matter what. Otherwise, all we¡¯ve done so far will be for naught."

    Phloriaplied, letting the hot beverage remove the chill of death from her bones and the herbs soothe her nerves.

    "Wait a second. Why is your speaking pattern so simr and what¡¯s with all those ¡¯we¡¯?" She asked.

    "We¡¯ll have plenty of time for exnations during the first phases of the procedure. Now I¡¯ll guide you step by step so that you can understand what¡¯s happening and not panic. Okay?" Lith said.

    "Okay." Phloria finished her beverage in one gulp before hugging her sisters and then Lith to find the necessary courage to start the procedure.

    She trusted him would make her survive, but the perspective of entering a world of pain that mightst hours was far from alluring.

 Chapter 1035 The Price of Awakening Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1035 The Price of Awakening Part 1</h4>

    "One more thing. You should strip." Lith said.

    "Say what?" Phloria blushed from head to toes and so did Nalrond.

    "The Skinwalker armor can shapeshift, but your body is about to get turned inside out, then unraveled and woven back multiple times so fast that the armor can¡¯t keep up. Taking your clothes off will spare you a lot of pain and make the body refining easier."

    "And you will watch? Like the whole time?" Phloria asked.

    "I¡¯m a Healer." Lith felt slightly offended. "I helped Tista Awaken, I¡¯ve treated countless women, and I¡¯ve seen you naked in the past, so why so shy?"

    "What about them?" She pointed at the others.

    "Fair point." Lith brought everyone but Phloria back to the Mirror Hall.

    "Hey, it¡¯s nothing we haven¡¯t seen countless times and I want to make sure Phloria is alright." Quy said.

    "Then, you should ask her permission. Otherwise, only Solus and I will keep Phloriapany." Lith said.

    "Can I at least keep my panties?" Phloria was already ashamed for not needing a bra and the idea of Lith drawingparisons with his girlfriend didn¡¯t excite her much.

    Even though she was now alone, Phloria still blushed up to her ears.

    "No." Lith replied with the t tone he would¡¯ve used if someone had just asked him if he wanted milk in his tea. "Now listen well because I¡¯m about to exin the cause of your condition and how we¡¯re going to fix it."

    Phloria cursed and did as instructed.

    "A normal human body is filled with what I call ¡¯impurities¡¯. They are a double-edged sword since the body produces them to protect itself from the power of the mana core at the cost of serious side effects." Lith said.

    "On one hand, impurities hinder a person¡¯s body development and enhance the signs of aging, but on the other hand, they are a natural inhibitor of the mana flow. Without them, non-Awakened people would die the moment their bodies are not strong enough to bear the power of their own cores."

    "When someone gets close to self-Awakening, impurities move toward the mana core because the closer they get, the more effective they are and once the core rejects the impurities, the body is forced to evolve or die.

    "Back when Tista was a kid, I removed her impurities to improve her health. Because of that, while she grew up theck of impurities made her develop a body that¡¯s simr to that of an Awakened and doesn¡¯t need to break down as much as a normal person¡¯s would to be refined.

    "At the same time, however, because she has too few impurities, the process is more violent and quick than it should, so Tista risked her life as well when she Awakened and so does every time her core evolves.

    "To help her survive her next breakthrough, we hurt her body on purpose, to force it to produce more impurities that will slow down the destruction process enough for the natural regeneration to keep up as it happens for me.

    "Phloria, you and Tista are two sides of the same coin. You have the opposite problem. You have too many impurities and your body is too imperfect. Without my help, your mana core will produce mana waves so strong that they will expel your organs along with the impurities, causing your death.

    "During Phase one, we will remove part of your impurities and force your body to rearrange itself enough so that it won¡¯t break beyond repair when the Awakening process reaches full speed. Is it clear?" Lith asked.

    "So that¡¯s why all women in your house are so gorgeous? Do you know how insecure they made me feel whenever I visited your home?" Phloria sounded a bit pissed off.

    "Tista sure benefitted from it a lot, but Mom is gifted by nature and so is Rena. Mom was fully developed when I started the treatments, so they just enhanced her natural beauty, just like when your mother underwent cosmetic magic.

    "Rena had already started her growth spurt, so my treatments had limited effects." The fact that Phloria managed to not focus on her impending death or the iing shitload of pain made Lith d.

    "Now I¡¯m about to lower the mana pressure around your body. It will hurt quite a bit and it will allow me to start your Awakening in a controlled way. I¡¯m going to let the mana waves slowly affect your body and I¡¯ll help them by removing the excess impurities when necessary. Are you ready?"

    "I¡¯ll never be ready. Just start." Phloria almost regretted sending everyone away.

    The tower¡¯s Heart was empty, making her feel scared and alone. The light of the magic circle started to progressively dim and Phloria could feel again the fire that burned within her.

    The pain radiated from the area between her navel and stomach to the entirety of her body, as if someone added hot oil to her blood. Phloria could still control herself by clenching her teeth.

    Her almost deep blue mana core sent one burst of mana after the other, trying to get free from the impurities that prevented it from further evolving. Phloria¡¯s body was like a pressure cooker on the verge of exploding, but the external counter-pressure of the magic circle had kept it stable until that moment.

    Lith followed the waves with Invigoration and used his breathing technique to thin the biggest clots on their path until the impurities started to move along with the mana.

    Phloria¡¯s pain intensified and tar-ck patches covered her tanned skin, making her look like a sickly dalmatian.

    "Is this normal? Can someone please keep mepany?" She said while watching the patches grow until her skin turned pitch-ck.

    "Yes to both your questions." Lith sat on a chair and drank another tonic.

    Quy and Solus appeared beside Phloria, holding her hands to reassure her.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Those are just the impurities leaving your body. It means everything is going ording to n." Solus said.

    Meanwhile, in the Mirror Hall, Friya was outraged by Lith¡¯sposure and wanted to beat the crap out of him.

    "How can you be so calm while Phloria is risking her life? You sit here and drink your potions as if it¡¯s just another day¡¯s work. Don¡¯t you have a heart?" She asked.

    "What do you expect me to do? To scream around in panic or to run in circles like a headless chicken?" Lith replied. "Of course I¡¯m scared. I didn¡¯t cross half a Kingdom and fight two armies for fun.

    "Yet doing that had a price and now I need to focus on recovering before things get serious. Phloria is already scared and losing our cool will not do her any good. I need to keep calm and regain my strength, or she will die." Lith had another potion appear beside Phloria.

    Quy helped her to remove the cork and to drink it.

    "What is this pain?" Phloria asked.

    "As the impurities get removed, your body reshapes itself in a manner suitable to contain the powerful mana flow that now floods your system. The paines from the constant destruction and regeneration process you¡¯re experiencing.

    "The potions will provide you with the nutrients you need and the first phase will allow your body to evolve at a cyan core level without putting too much stress on your organs." Lith exined.

 Chapter 1036 The Price of Awakening Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1036 The Price of Awakening Part 2</h4>

    "Are you keeping an eye on me?" A pool of tar-like substance had formed below Phloria. Its stench was so terrible that it almost made the girls faint.

    "Always. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m the only one that can see in there due to my bond with Solus."

    "I¡¯m sorry." Friya sighed. "I shouldn¡¯t have taken it out on you. I know that even though you two are no longer together you care for Phloria. It¡¯s just that I feel so helpless and scared that my mouth ran wild."

    "There¡¯s no need to apologize. I would feel the same if I didn¡¯t have years to prepare for this moment. Also, I didn¡¯t let Phloria hear your earlier outburst, so we can pretend it never happened." Lith held her hand and Friya finally let the emotions from that horrible day overwhelm her.

    She had almost been killed by the Ghouls, met Baba Yaga, been betrayed by the army, half of her guildmates were dead, and now she risked losing one of the most important people of her life.

    The events transpired in thest few hours were a burden too great for anyone to bear.

    Friya forced Lith to stand up and hugged him as tight as she could, losing herself in his apparently endless strength as she had done during the academy¡¯s second exam.

    "Thanks. Kam is a lucky woman." Friya suddenly felt so weak that she had to sit down. "By the way, does she know about all this and what is your rtionship with Solus exactly?"

    "Since I don¡¯t know how long will it take to end phase one, I might as well tell you everything. Phloria could use a distraction to endure her pain." Lith said.

    "Much appreciated, thanks." Phloria said. Hearing the voices of her sisters, Solus, and Lith helped her to not think too much about the passing of time.

    Lith couldn¡¯t tell them about his rebirth so he moved his self-Awakening at four years of age and started from there. He told them how he had used his powers to hunt, to treat Tista¡¯s symptoms, and how he had met Solus and Protector in the same day.

    "I still remember that awful sound stinging my poor ears and the obnoxious runt trying to kill me." Protector said with nostalgia. "I¡¯m the one who gave him the name Scourge, you know?"

    Lith then told them all that had happened until Solus had assumed her tower form for the first time.

    "Wait, so she is the tower?" Phloria was bbergasted.

    "She¡¯s much more than that. Solus is always by my side in her ring form and until a while ago, we shared one mind and one body. I¡¯m not going to lie, a good chunk of my academic sess is thanks to her." Lith said.

    "We studied everything together." Solus nodded. "Also, I¡¯m not a tower, I¡¯m a hybrid as well. Yet unlike anyone else, I¡¯m a human-artifact hybrid. Without my human half, I would be just another cursed object, like Dawn or the ck Star."

    The implications of such words were hard for everyone, but they were much worse for Phloria. She remembered how Lith never took off the stone ring, not even while in his sickbed after saving Protector¡¯s life.

    ¡¯Just how much has Lith shared with Solus and how big of a role did she y in our rtionship, break up included?¡¯ Phloria thought as a searing wave of pain ravaged her body.

    Her agony had be so intense that she couldn¡¯t hold back the screams anymore.

    "What¡¯s going on?" Friya asked.

    "We¡¯ve entered phase two. Due to the changes, Phloria¡¯s body has expelled most of the impurities and without their interference, the Awakening process is going too fast." Lith said.

    He took a deep scan of Phloria¡¯s condition, allowing Solus to adjust the mana output of the magic circle that surrounded their friend until they found a new bnce. Solus called upon both the world energying from the mana geyser and that from the tower¡¯s crystal mine.

    They worked relentlessly until the counter pressure the circle generated not only stemmed the mana flow from Phloria¡¯s core, but also kept more impurities from leaving her body.

    With their natural mana inhibiting factor, the impurities stopped Phloria¡¯s body from breaking down faster than it could recover. Her hair and nails had fallen off just to regrow so quickly that both processes hurt the same.

    Her skin would dry and crack, revealing the muscles underneath that twisted as if they were living snakes trying to escape.

    ¡¯That came awfully close.¡¯ Solus thought as soon as Phloria was stable again.

    ¡¯Well, yeah. It¡¯s our first time doing this. We have no idea how things can develop for a core that strong. We can¡¯t afford a single moment of distraction.¡¯ Lith replied.

    Once Phloria stopped screaming and her body kept evolving at a controlled pace, Lith resumed his story until it reached the present day. The Ernas sisters already knew most of it, he only had to fill them about Solus¡¯s involvement and the truth about some of his achievements.

    "Do you really want me as your partner during your apprenticeship?" Phloria soldiered up the pain, focusing on her future rather than on her dangerous present.

    "Yeah, what about me?" Tista already felt neglected by Lith in her studies about true magic. It was the reason why she had started to travel the Kingdom on her own, to gain as much experience as she could.

    Tista was sick and tired of waiting for him to spend the crumbs of his time with her. Discovering that he had reserved a seat with Faluel for Phloria who had just Awakened and nor for her, irked Tista to no end.

    "Yes, Phloria. You are my responsibility for the next one hundred years, your magical skills have hit the wall all fake mages meet, and you need to live among Awakened to get used to your condition before doing whatever you want to do with your life." Lith said.

    "As for you, Tista, you didn¡¯t practice magic untilte in your life. I know it wasn¡¯t your fault, but that plus yourck of fighting skills gives you a lot of things that you can learn on your own.

    "I think you can learn Spirit Magic with us, once Faluel decides we are ready, but your knowledge about Healing Magic and Forgemastering isn¡¯t that advanced."

    "That¡¯s unfair! What about me?" Quy suddenly looked at her sister in envy. "I¡¯ve reached Forgemastering skills good enough that Dad taught me Royal Forgemastering as well and I¡¯m considered one of the best healers in the Kingdom.

    "I know so much about light magic that I¡¯m trying to expand its boundaries. Why do you think I¡¯m focusing so hard on Body Sculpting? It¡¯s because there¡¯s nothing left for me to learn, whereas Phloria doesn¡¯t even know tier five!"

    "Hey, that¡¯s unfair. I worked my ass off to learn a third specialization with a full-time job!" Phloria didn¡¯t like to pass for a cker.

    To prove her point, Quy made a small hologram of a hand giving the finger appear above her palm.

    "Remarkable. Did you learn it on your own?" Lith said.

    "Well, duh. Manohar didn¡¯t help me for sure and neither did you. I had to spend a lot of time studying the holograms projected by themunication amulets and light magic even to perform this parlor trick."

 Chapter 1037 Unbridled Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1037 Unbridled Power Part 1</h4>

    "I¡¯ve been saving my ability with holograms for the next time you told the kids a story, to both give you a hand and a scare." Quy would have chuckled if not for Phloria¡¯s gruesome state. "I think she could use another potion."

    "And you¡¯re right." Solus conjured a third one, but this time Quy spilled the sk.

    Instead of falling, the purple liquid stopped in mi-air and slowly seeped inside Phloria¡¯s body reaching directly her bloodstream.

    "How did you do it?" Lith and Solus said in unison. They had tried and failed many times to create a magical IV line.

    "I¡¯m that good that¡¯s how." Quy replied. "I developed this method to boost the effects of body enhancing potions and tonics as well. Not only does passing through the stomach take time, but it also reduces their potency.

    "This way, instead, her body will receive 100% of the nutrients in just a few heartbeats."

    "And that makes what I¡¯m about to say even harder for me." Lith sighed.

    "I already asked Faluel to give you a chance, but she said no. First, your core is too powerful even for her. She doesn¡¯t know a way to safely Awaken you and as long as you are a fake mage, you arepetition. She firmly refused to teach you."

    "Fake mage?" Both Friya and Quy echoed in outrage.

    The word sounded like an insult to all the years and efforts they had painstakingly spent training to their utmost limit.

    "Okay, fine. Then just set me up for an interview with this Faluel. I want an opportunity to show her my worth. If after that she still refuses, I¡¯ll have no regrets." Quy said.

    "I¡¯ll do what I can." Lith sighed at all that trouble.

    "Hey, what about me?" Friya repeating the same phrase as the others got on Lith¡¯s nerves and made him wish it was just the tower having an echo.

    "Phloria gets longevity, secret magic lessons, and a lifelong beauty treatment while Quy gets her job interview on top of her godly talent. Did you ask Faluel about me as well, at least?"

    "No, I didn¡¯t. You are a Healer, yes, but you stopped practicing after the Academy. As far as I know, you¡¯re no Forgemaster but a Dimensional Mage. The only Dimensional Mage I know is an ass and the father of the Wyvern who tried to kill me years ago.

    "I can ask him if you want, but in your shoes, I would stay away from Wyverns." Lith said.

    "I¡¯ve been hearing about those mana cores all day, but until now I had more important things to worry about. What¡¯s our respective level?" Friya drew a circle in the air with her forefinger to emphasize that she wanted information about everyone in the room.

    "Lith has a blue core, just like Protector. Nalrond has two deep blue cores, Tista reached bright cyan, I¡¯m at deep cyan, Quy has a blue turning violet core, Phloria should reach deep blue once we¡¯re done, and you have a bright cyan core, Friya." Solus said.

    "Which means I¡¯m the weakest of the group despite the fact that I worked my ass off as much as anyone else! You Awakened are a bunch of cheaters." Friya snarled.

    "Well, technically I¡¯m the weakest, but mine is only a temporary condition. I¡¯m still recovering from centuries of starvation." Solus shrugged.

    "Well, that¡¯s rich! I..."

    "Sorry to interrupt your righteous rant, sis, but I feel weird again and I¡¯m afraid I might die." Phloria cut her short. "Lith, Solus, the pain has gone. Is it a good or a bad sign?

    Before answering, they performed a thorough check-up of her body,paring her status with Lith¡¯s previous refinement stages. During the first phase, her body had slowly turned into that of a yellow cored Awakened, while the second phase had covered the stronger green and cyan levels.

    Thanks to the counter mana pressure the tower produced and Phloria¡¯s now enhanced body, the mana waves from her core were no longer able to force the Awakening process.

    "It¡¯s a good sign. Quy, inject another potion into her bloodstream. It¡¯s time for the final phase." Lith said while Warping to Phloria¡¯s side.

    During that time, he had rested enough and wanted to be there for the critical step, avoiding relying on the tower¡¯s senses so that Solus could give her 100% as well.

    "Looking good." Lith couldn¡¯t avoid checking Phloria out, giving a thumbs up to her fully naked body.

    Despite the pained face and the fatigued expression, Phloria¡¯s olive-colored skin was smoother than a baby¡¯s, emphasizing her slender limbs. Her waist-long hair was now naturally straight, silky, and so ck that they almost looked blue under the tower¡¯s lights.

    Body refining didn¡¯t enhance her curves norpensated for theirck thereof, but perfectly harmonized her muscles with her physique. It made them stand out less and gave her a more feminine appearance.

    "What the heck are you doing here?" Phloria instinctively covered her breast and crotch, turning to a shade of purple.

    "There no point covering up. As I said at the beginning, I never took my eyes off you for a second, otherwise you would be dead. I¡¯m here only for medical reasons and you know it. Is this my perverted face?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, no, sort of. I don¡¯t know." Phloria had trouble looking him in the eyes.

    "Step, aside, Quy. We need space." Lith ignored her and took Solus¡¯s hands in his, forming a circle that epassed Phloria.

    "In your shoes, I¡¯d sit down and clench my teeth." Solus said. "This is going to hurt so much that the rest will pale inparison, but the good news is that the process willst much less.

    "We¡¯re going to let your core go wild and we¡¯ll intervene only if something goes wrong."

    "How long, exactly?" During thest few hours, Phloria had felt as if someone had butchered and healed her non-stop.

    The idea that was the easy part and seeing the Immortal Body array, along with many others, surrounding her, made her Phloria swallow several times.

    "Based on Lith¡¯s experience, no more than a few minutes. Are you ready?" Solus asked.

    "No, but let¡¯s get this started anyway." Phloria followed Solus¡¯s advice and braced for impact.

    "Whatever happens, do not lose consciousness. Mind and body must fight together." Lith said before cutting off the power.

    The moment the magic circle disappeared, the mana waves produced by her core forced the impurities that had been stuck deep inside her bones, tissues, and organs for years to be forcefully expelled.

    Some of them were easy to remove, but most of them had be an integral part of her body over time. Her muscles ripped to shreds, her bones fractured to splinters, and part of her skin burst into a bloody mist.

    Phloria screamed at the top of her lungs, feeling as if her entire body had been dipped into boiling oil. Friya and Quy puked their guts out at the gruesome sight. Suddenly, the idea of bing Awakened had lost much of its luster.

    When everything seemed to be over, before Phloria could take a single sigh of relief, her organs started to break apart one by one. This time she didn¡¯t scream, but only because the pain was so intense that she needed sheer willpower to not faint.

 Chapter 1038 Unbridled Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1038 Unbridled Power Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Dammit, we left too many impurities. Without the Immortal Body array and the potions we gave her, Phloria would have exploded during the first seconds of the process.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed.

    ¡¯No time for hindsight. Let¡¯s focus on softening the waves just enough to dy the process even if just for a few seconds.¡¯ Solus thought.

    The problem was always the same. If the body, the impurities, and the core weren¡¯t bnced, the breakthrough would either happen so fast that the body wouldn¡¯t have the time to recover, or so violent that it would inflict damage beyond repair.

    The former left behind a bloody puddle while thetter made the mage burst. The Immortal Body arraybined with the magic circle allowed Lith and Solus to control both variables, but theirck of experience with Awakening different cores levels was showing.

    They made mistakes and learned from them, but Phloria paid the price for it, suffering excruciating pain.

    "Is it over?" Phloria asked among pants the moment the pain stopped again.

    "Yes." Lith carefully examined her body with Invigoration andpared the results of her blue core breakthrough with his own.

    Phloria smiled and then a small thud produced by her head hitting against the stone floor indicated that she had finally allowed herself to faint.

    "This is very interesting. During the organs¡¯ refining process, I noticed a sudden increase of her mana flow, as if they developed properties simr to Adamant. For a few moments, instead of just channeling the manaing from the core, they drew the world energy themselves." Lith cleaned Phloria¡¯s body from the traces of bones, blood, and impurities left.

    Then, he covered her with a thick nket and put her on a bed he had conjured from the tower.

    "You are a horrible person, you know?" Quy punched his arm, hurting only herself. "My sister almost died and yet you are here, ogling at her body and talking about her as if she¡¯s just another experiment."

    "Magical research can never stop. We¡¯ve collected some priceless data, here. If someday this happened to you..." Lith realized how Manohar-like he sounded only when he was toote.

    "I was just messing with you." Quy hugged him, sobbing. "Thanks for everything. Before you arrived, I was afraid we would have lost Phloria forever. I don¡¯t really care about Faluel, I just want you to always be my best friend."

    Lith patted her head while returning the embrace.

    "Don¡¯t worry, little one. I¡¯m not going any- Fuck me sideways!" Lith pushed Quy away, doubling over in pain.

    "What¡¯s wr- Seriously? Again?" Solus blurted out. "Fuck!"

    With a wave of her hand, Solus sent Phloria inside one of the rooms on the ground floor and Quy back to the Mirror Hall with a small map that would lead her to Phloria.

    "What¡¯s going on?" Like the others, Protector could hear what was happening but not see.

    "Between the fight from earlier and helping Phloria, Lith¡¯s core has been stimted so much that he¡¯s having a breakthrough." Solus said while preparing the Heart and herself for a second procedure.

    "Why did you send me away? I can administer him a potion." Quy said.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not letting you see him naked, sister.¡¯ Solus made Quy return just for the time to inject a nutrients potion.

    Only once they were alone did Lith remove his Skinwalker armor. He had learned from experience that the less resistance he offered, the smoother the process would be.

    Thanks to being Awakened from the crib, Lith¡¯s body was always perfectly attuned with his mana core. From hisst breakthrough, he had fought countless battles, manipted enormous amounts of energy, and pushed his whole being to its utmost limits, expanding them every time.

    Using so many Nova spells and then flooding his body with a controlled amount of mana for all the time needed to help Phloria had been the final straw that evolved the camel¡¯s back.

    Lith¡¯s mana core produced waves of increasing power, seeking thest remnants of the impurities that it had to purge in order to achieve perfection. His body refining happened in a simr fashion to Phloria¡¯s, just quicker and less bloody.

    At least until it reached the organs. Then, Lith felt as if Mogar was suddenly weighing on his shoulders. His skin dried up and his eyes shrunk, making him look like a desated mummy.

    His organs started to fail one after the other and refused to return to their original state. Lith¡¯s mind was nk, beyond pain. The only time he had experienced a simr sensation had been during his two deaths when the soul had detached from his body and all physical sensations were lost.

    "What the fuck is going on here?" Solus didn¡¯t panic, but it didn¡¯t make her any less scared.

    Controlling the waves was pointless since they weren¡¯t doing any damage and the Immortal Body array didn¡¯t find any injury to fix. It was akin to treating a corpse. All kinds of healing spells simply failed to find their target.

    ¡¯It¡¯s the first time that I see someone reaching a bright blue core, so this might as well be perfectly normal, but what if it¡¯s not? Any change sustained during a body refining process always reverts immediately. Why is it different this time?¡¯

    She was about to bring everyone in the Heart to ask their opinion when the tower trembled. A huge mass of world energy, so strong that it almost overloaded the tower¡¯s capacity, entered the room and flooded Lith¡¯s body.

    His skin returned to normal and so did all his organs. World energy and life force flowed through them with a revitalizing effect, filling them to the brim. The normally static life force of humans had be more fluid, boosting both his physical prowess and recovery abilities.

    Every single cell of his body was akin to a power battery for life force that now were no longer isted from each other. They formed a circuit that connected them all from head to toe, allowing them to share both their energy and vitality.

    Solus could see that all of Lith¡¯s organs not only offered no resistance to the mana anymore, but they also developed what she could only describe as their own pseudo core.

    ¡¯If Phloria is like Adamant, Lith is like Davross. All of his body is now capable of drawing the world energy and storing it to assist the mana core. If before flesh and blood hindered the most powerful spells in our arsenal, they might now enhance them instead.

    ¡¯The long pause was due to the time necessary for the world energy to build up enough to rece part of Lith¡¯s body weight with pure energy. I can¡¯t wait for...¡¯

    Yet as it had happened during Lith¡¯s and Phloria¡¯sst breakthrough, the world energy flowing through his organs didn¡¯tst long. The pseudo cores disappeared, returning his body to normal right before it was forced to shapeshift into his hybrid form.

    Lith started to emit a silver light that spread both upward and downward, drawing even more world energy to itself. A silver pir descended from the sky and a ck one rose from the ground, meeting where Lithy on the floor.

    Instead of disappearing, all the impurities expelled from his human body now crawled back over Lith, covering his skin like a swarm of pitch-ck insects.

 Chapter 1039 Unbridled Power Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1039 Unbridled Power Part 3</h4>

    ¡¯Okay, at least I¡¯ve seen this happening before. Sort of. Normally, when a beast evolves, they release a golden light pir, but Lith emits both a silver and a ck one instead.

    ¡¯It might depend on his hybrid nature, but I still wonder why it happened during hisst world tribtion rather than just when his Wyrmling body undergoes body refining.¡¯

    Solus focused all the world energy the tower could muster inside the Heart, to make sure that Lith¡¯s body had all the energy it needed the moment it needed it.

    ¡¯If I had helped the process earlier, maybe his human body refining would have been smoother, or at least less scary. Oh, well. There¡¯s no point crying over spilled milk. Now I know and I can act ordingly.¡¯

    Lith¡¯s seven eyes, even those that were still closed shut, shed ck tears while his scales merged with each other, bing thicker, harder, and denser until they rivaled with steel.

    The process had left half of his body exposed, revealing a fiery red skin lying underneath his hardened shell.

    Together with the human impurities that had crawled back on Lith¡¯s body, all the so-called defective parts gathered up on the side of his head, the end of his spine, and on his back before bursting into mes.

    His small curved horns and short tail grew bigger, while a second set of atrophied wings popped out his back. New, thicker scales reced the missing ones while three rays of pure elemental energy erupted from Lith¡¯s opened eyes, flushing out more and more impurities.

    Lith¡¯s hybrid form was born from an already evolved body that possessed a powerful core, so it was perfect. What itcked was the ability to channel the full power generated by the constant battle between his Emperor Beast, Abomination, and human life forces.

    Lith¡¯s hybrid body was too small and weak to withstand the full scope of such powerful conflicting energy. During a breakthrough, his human body would break down just to be reshaped into a more suitable host for Lith¡¯s core, whereas his hybrid form was forced to grow so that the Wyrmling could unlock its true potential.

    Thanks to the world energy stirring Lith¡¯s life forces, not only did they evolve, but also their fight for dominance changed. The Abomination side, in the form of a hollow ck sphere, grew in size and attempted to swallow the others.

    Yet the human side suppressed it from the outside while the beast side, in the form of a burning star, struck at the Abomination from the inside. The human and beast life forces¡¯ joined efforts allowed them to stop the Abomination side, reaching a new bnce.

    All three of them had grown not only stronger, but they had also seeped into each other, thinning once again the boundaries that separated the human life force from the hybrid and generating something that one day might be greater than the sum of its parts.

    During the whole process, the conflict between life forces released a powerful energy that ignited the emerald mes of life. They burst out from Lith¡¯s body, covering him from head to toe.

    Yet instead of hurting him, the mes nurtured his Wyrmling form, making it growrger and taller until the Wyrmling stood almost 4 meters (13¡¯1") tall, before reverting to its normal height once the energy was spent due to theck of mass necessary to support such huge build.

    "No new eye opened, correct?" Lith said amid pants once he managed to gather enough air in his lungs to speak.

    "Sorry, none. They must be linked to your mastery over the elements or catalyzed by your world tribtions. The Odi made you open the blue one and..."

    Lith¡¯s head hit the floor with a thud and his snoring cut her short.

    "And I better put you to sleep as well." Solus had the Skinwalker armor cover Lith again and then tucked him in his bed before going to meet the others in the Mirror Hall.

    "How are they?" Friya was pale as a ghost.

    The screams of two of the people she loved the most were still echoing in her head. Neither her nor Quy had moved from where Solus had left them, not even to go and check on Phloria.

    "Dead tired, but otherwise they are as fit as a fiddle. Breakthroughs are heavy on the body and only rest can help them to recover their strength. They¡¯ll sleep for eight hours minimum." Solus¡¯s words made the Ernas sigh in relief.

    "You¡¯re horrible friends!" Quy poked Nalrond¡¯s and Protector¡¯s chest with a finger. "How could you be so calm? What if any of them died or worse?"

    "I don¡¯t know your sister and I¡¯m not going to pretend I care for her." Nalrond¡¯s honesty bordered on rudeness, making Protector sigh. "As for Scourge, he¡¯s bound to Solus. He can scream all he wants, as long as I don¡¯t hear her screaming and the tower quaking, I know he is fine."

    ¡¯Good gods. I really hope I¡¯ve never been so clueless in the past.¡¯ Protector thought. ¡¯Even though I have to admit it would exin why at the beginning Selia insisted so much to apany me everywhere I went.¡¯

    "Forgive him, Quy. Nalrond went through a lot and because of it, he has a hard time caring for strangers. I¡¯m sorry if I appeared indifferent, but I was just confident in Scourge¡¯s abilities to save Phloria.

    "On top of that, if you saw him fight as I did, you would never think that something as trivial as a breakthrough can hurt Scourge. Solus, can we please check on them? I think it would help our friends to rx." Ryman said.

    "Sure, just be quiet. I don¡¯t want to wake them up and Lith is extremely jumpy when he sleeps. He could react to the intrusion with extreme prejudice."

    Solus let only the girls inside Phloria¡¯s room. Its sight made them gasp in amazement and almost moved them to tears. The room was a perfect mix of Phloria¡¯s bedroom from the academy and of that in the Ernas household.

    It was furnished with exact replicas of all ornaments and pictures she loved the most. Lith and Solus had prepared the room for her ever since he had decided to bring Phloria to Faluel.

    After Friya¡¯s and Quy¡¯s diagnostic spells confirmed that their sister¡¯s condition was nothing that a power nap couldn¡¯t fix, they let her rest.

    "By the gods, Phloria didn¡¯t look that good even after the cosmetic magic treatment. You would never guess she¡¯s survived several life and death situations in a single day instead of going to a spa. I¡¯m so envious of her." Friya sighed.

    "How many rooms you got here?" Quy noticed the several doors.

    "As many as I want." Solus shrugged. "At the moment there is Lith¡¯s, mine, Tista¡¯s, and Phloria¡¯s room, but I can always add another. The tower is a dimensional magic¡¯s wonder and it¡¯s much bigger on the inside."

    "So, could you make ours as well?" Quy had yet to give up on the idea of joining Lith in his apprenticeship and a home away from home was a dreame true.

    "Why not." At a flick of Solus¡¯s wrist, another door appeared on the wall.

    Inside, there were the living quarters that the White Griffon had assigned Quy as Assistant Professor alongside her room from the Ernas Mansion.

 Chapter 1040 Unbridled Power Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1040 Unbridled Power Part 4</h4>

    "By the Great Mother! This is a Dimensional Mage¡¯s life dream. You bent and stretched space, creating matter out of nothing! Can you teach me? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Friya said.

    "You are right about the space distortion part, but I didn¡¯t create anything. I just reshaped the tower ording to my memories. Everything you see it¡¯s just a copy made out of stones after I adjusted their density andposition.

    "As for the teaching, sorry but I can¡¯t. I didn¡¯t create those enchantments, I just manage the ce. All my memories about master Menadion are lost and we found no records nor even lore about how she made this tower." Solus said.

    The Ernas spent quite some time customizing their own rooms and after that, Solus gave everyone a tour of the tower after making them take an oath of secrecy.

    "Oh gods, you have your own crystal mines?" Friya said. "I thought you only recently gained these new floors. Are you really capable of growing purple crystals this fast?"

    "I wish. The crystals you see are either spoils of war or bought. This way we skip the gemstones¡¯ condensation phase energy and focus the world to enhance already formed crystals.

    "As you can see, only the weaker yellow crystals show already some green vein, whereas the purple crystal grew new branches but remained of the same quality. I wonder if it will ever turn white and how long the process will take."

    Lith¡¯s pessimism had rubbed off Solus who saw the ss half full, but to everyone else the mines were beyond their wildest dreams.

    "Girls, shouldn¡¯t you contact your father? Orion must be worried sick. He¡¯s the reason we came to your rescue in the first ce." Solus said once the tour was over. "Friya, shouldn¡¯t you reassure your guild members as well?"

    "Oh, gods, Dad! I almost forgot." The Ernas said in unison.

    "Can you bring me back home, please? Right now Selia is all alone with three kids and I¡¯m worried that if we wait any longer, I¡¯ll find my house in shambles." Protector said.

    Quy and Friya had no idea what he was talking about until they felt a low rumble. Suddenly, the scenery outside the tower changed to the familiar Trawn woods.

    "It¡¯s been a pleasure meeting you all, but I can¡¯t wait eight hours for those guys to wake up. On top of that, I bet you have a lot of personal questions for Solus." Nalrond shook their hands before throwing a kiss at Tista. "Bye, darling."

    "Call me!" Tista replied.

    "I¡¯m now Lith¡¯s neighbor. Feel free to visit me anytime you want. Selia lovespany and the kids love roughing up new people." Protector and Nalrond left before the Ernas could recover from the shock.

    "Are you two really dating?" The two women were beyond speechless.

    Tista was even more gorgeous than Friya which made her life even harder. The idea that she had found someone before them despite her looks and her brother¡¯s looming menace made the Ernas sisters sick with envy to the point that they temporarily forgot about the marvel of the tower warp.

    "No. It¡¯s just a joke between us, like yours with Lith, Friya. Nalrond had to act as my boyfriend for over a week during our stay in Jambel so that I could enjoy the vacation as well." Tista replied. "Why? Are you jealous?"

    "Of you, a freaking goddess among mortals with the Lord of Destruction as your brother? Sure thing. As for Nalrond, I don¡¯t know him enough to care." Friya said.

    "Dad! We must call dad." Quy pulled her sleeve as Friya snapped out of it.

    "Oh right." Solus warped them back at the mines. "Orion has put a tracker in your amulets and if you call him from Lutia he would get suspicious."

    Friya and Quy first called together their parents one at a time, reassuring them of their own wellbeing and Phloria¡¯s.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re alright. What the heck happened there and where is Lith? I want to thank him properly." Orion felt as if the sun had returned and he could finally breathe again.

    "He¡¯s resting as well. He and Phloria took quite a beating. Sorry, Dad, we only know that the Undead Courts attacked the camp with the help of traitors in the army. Maybe one of my guild members knows more. I¡¯ll call you back." Friya left Orion talking with Quy and checked her amulet.

    Half of the members of the Crystal Shield guild were dead and their contact runes had disappeared from her amulet. She grieved them for a moment before calling Wyra.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll mournter. Now I need to know what happened and if they need healing.¡¯ She thought.

    The conversationsted long, but mostly because all the guild members wanted to speak with their god and make sure she was all right. Wyra told Friya everything she knew, which even though she didn¡¯t see much, it was still a lot to take in.

    "Everyone but Kortus turned traitor and Kallion was involved?" Orion¡¯s shock quickly turned into anger. "That little piece of shit, bastard son of a bastard! I¡¯m going to kill him! No, better, I¡¯ll give him to your mother. Where is he now?"

    "Dead. He had a bad case of the Lith." Friya said.

    "What about Captain Lotta and Prospector Ormann?"

    "No one knows." She lied through her teeth. "Maybe they are on the run or the Undead Courts hide them."

    Lith¡¯s allies had rescued people only until he had cast his first Nova spell. For an Archmage, it was a believable feat. After that, he had killed everyone to keep his real strength a secret. The survivors only knew that mysterious mages had saved them.

    Only those inside Solus¡¯s and Baba Yaga¡¯s mage tower had witnessed the fate of the human and the undead battalions. The survivors believed the traitors had simply escaped, afraid of the consequences their betrayal would have once exposed.

    Before Friya¡¯s call, no one had dared to call the army. The survivors couldn¡¯t trust anyone and they knew that revealing their position to one of the traitors hidden among the army¡¯s ranks would speel their doom.

    "I swear that as soon as I get back home, I¡¯ll leave no stone unturned to find and punish those responsible for the attempt on your lives. Keep your amulets on and never forget that Dad loves you." Orion said before ending the call.

    Quy and Friya had a lot to ask and even more to do. Yet now that they were finally able to rx, all the revtions, the fights, and the emotional roller coaster they had endured took their toll.

    They went to their respective rooms and fell asleep the moment their heads touched the pillow.

    "I think we should follow their example." Tista said.

    "Energy body or not, I can see how tired you are, Solus. You gave your all and some more today. You deserve some rest. Besides, once Phloria wakes up, we¡¯ll need all of our strength to answer the many questions she¡¯s bound to have."

    Solus nodded and went to sleep as well, but only after activating all the tower¡¯s defensive devices and warping again to Lutia. The Ernas had put their amulets in their pocket dimensions to not get disturbed and Solus had no idea if Baba Yaga might be still watching them.

 Chapter 1041 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1041 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know what her mage tower can do nor I¡¯m willing to find out. Baba Yaga already knows too much. We can¡¯t afford to reveal any more of our hand to her.¡¯ Solus thought.

    Eight hours after his breakthrough, Lith woke up. Even though his body absorbed the world energy on its own and the tower further boosted his recovery abilities, Lith still felt like crap.

    Once again, after the core and body refining, Invigoration had no effect and could only be used to assess his physical condition.

    ¡¯My bright blue core is half empty and my body has yet to stabilize.¡¯ He thought while checking his pocket watch. ¡¯Usually, it takes me just four hours of sleep in the tower to reset Invigoration¡¯s effects, yet even after double that time, I¡¯m barely able to stand.

    ¡¯With each new breakthrough, the changes are so deep that this time I might need a few days before I can use either of my breathing techniques safely.¡¯

    Before even checking with the tower how and where everyone was, Lith called Kam.

    "Hi, Kami. Sorry to keep you waiting..."

    "You disappeared for over half a day!" She cut him short. "I don¡¯t want apologies, just tell me that you are alright."

    Kam was still wearing the same clothes she had when Lith had left and judging by the state of the room, she had yet to let the cleaning service in, sleep, or eat.

    "I¡¯m alright, babe, don¡¯t worry." His words made her sigh in relief and flop into bed.

    Kam had no strength to look for her pajamas so she just stripped to her undies, giving Lith an adrenaline rush until the nkets covered her.

    "Thank the gods. Now talk to me until I fall asleep. Why did it take so long? Did you get hurt badly?" She asked.

    "Not really. Phloria¡¯s Awakening took a few hours and after that, I underwent a breakthrough as well. I called as soon as I regained consciousness, I have yet to check on her." Lith replied.

    "Really?" Kam giggled. "So now the powerful Archmage Verhen is even more powerful. When are youing back? My leave ends in a few days and I miss you like crazy."

    "Shouldn¡¯t you ask me what happened or how Phloria and everyone is?" Lith said.

    "Nah. If you¡¯re so calm it means that the bad guys are dead and your friends are okay. I¡¯ll hear the details on your return, hopefully for breakfast. Now I just want to enjoy yourpany and hear only good news." Kam yawned.

    "Things went smoothly thanks to Protector, Nalrond, and Tista who gave me a hand."

    "Say hi to them for me. Gods, I¡¯m so happy that now I can talk about everything with them as well. Keeping your many secrets doesn¡¯t help my social life." Kam stretched her lithe arms while looking for the mostfortable position.

    "Will do. I¡¯ll get back as soon as I finish teaching Phloria the ropes. The rest can..." A small plop and the weird new angle of the hologram told Lith she was already asleep.

    He closed the call and used his bond with the tower to check on the others. Aside from Phloria, everyone was up and having breakfast in the dining room. Lith stomach grumbled like a lion, demanding its due.

    "Hi, guys, hope you slept well. Why the different location?" Lith asked after joining them.

    "Solus..." Quy attempted to say, but Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s eyes exchanged colors again due to their mind link. "Gods, don¡¯t do that in front of others. It¡¯s creepy."

    "Thanks. I wanted to say it for years, but I never had the courage." Tista said.

    "It¡¯s not creepy. It¡¯s efficient." Lith and Solus said in unison with their eyes still aze.

    "And that was super creepy." Phloria said while walking into the room. "Gods, I feel like crap but I¡¯m too hungry to keep sleeping. Are those hot chocte and freshly baked chocte chips biscuits?"

    For a few minutes, crunching and swallowing were the only sounds filling the room. Only after the stomachs turned from roaring lions to purring kittens did the conversation resume.

    "Kam is waiting for me at the Flying Griffon resort and her leave is about to end. Tista and Solus offered to teach you the basics of Awakening until my return and answer any question you might have. Is that okay with you?" Lith asked.

    "Are you really going away like this? After all that happened?" Phloria looked glum, way more than her sisters.

    They all had hoped to spend some time together with Lith, but for different reasons.

    "Phloria, it¡¯s her birthday and Kami waited months for this leave. If you were in her shoes, how would you take your boyfriend spending this time with another woman, an ex at that, rather than with you?" He put it bluntly for her to see.

    "I would rip his head off after pulling his guts out." She grumbled.

    "My point exactly. Thanks to you, I¡¯m not obsessed with my work anymore..." Lith noticed Solus ring at him while Tista could barely hold herughter. "I mean, I¡¯m not obsessed with it as before and I know how to treat the people I love right."

    His words this time received a nod of approval.

    "Once Kami has to get back to work, we can all spend a lot of time together. I don¡¯t see any of you taking another assignment in the near future." He chuckled.

    "Yeah, I lost so many good people that it will take some time to find recements. Honestly, I don¡¯t even know if I should try to rebuild the Crystal Shield guild or just disband it." Friya said.

    The seven who had died during the incursion at the camp where all people she had recruited, tested, and trained personally. Friya had invested lots of hours in their preparation and to help them be better mages.

    Friya cherished every member of her guild and now so many were gone, leaving a hole in her heart.

    "Sorry, Friya, I don¡¯t mean to be rude. I¡¯m really sorry for your loss." Lith said.

    "Thanks, Lith. There¡¯s no need to apologize, too many things happened yesterday. Even though you had already given me the body count, I hadpletely forgotten about them until Solus reminded me of my duty.

    "I can¡¯t believe that after you rescued us, all I could think about was Awakening and to not be the only one cut out of the group. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m fit to be a leader." Friya¡¯s words struck at Quy¡¯s heart as well.

    ¡¯As soon as Phloria was out of hot waters, my obsession for magic kicked in. I didn¡¯t spare a thought about all the people that died nor about my parents. I¡¯m no better than Friya.¡¯ Quy thought.

    The mood in the room turned so gloomy that Tista felt ufortable for being the only one happy to be alive and well.

    "Before you leave, there are a few things that I¡¯d like to discuss with you in private." Phloria cleaned her mouth and stood up.

    "Do you want to take a walk outside? Because the tower and Solus are one, so if we stay in here, she¡¯ll hear everything." Lith said.

    "What¡¯s the point? She and you are one as well. Even if she doesn¡¯t hear it now, she¡¯ll know the next time you do your creepy eye thingy anyway." There was an edge in her voice that hurt both Lith and Solus, making them feel guilty.

 Chapter 1042 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1042 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 2</h4>

    They moved to Lith¡¯s room and Phloria made sure to lock the door.

    "Is it soundproof like the academy? Because I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll manage to keep it civil." She asked.

    "Yes, it is." Solus nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

    "Yesterday, I was too scared to think clearly. Between Baba Yaga, the traitors, and my impending death, the only thing I could focus on was survival. After I woke up, however, I had the time and peace of mind to think back at the story you told us.

    "I noticed that you conveniently left Kam out of it. Why?" She asked while clenching her hands with so much strength that they turned white.

    "Solus and I met when I was four, while I met Kam just over two years ago. She isn¡¯t a mage nor an Awakened so she yed little part in my life as a mage." Lith replied.

    "Not that! What I¡¯m asking you is: does she know?" Phloria snarled.

    "I followed your advice and told her about me being a hybrid during our first anniversary. I told her about Awakening during my birthday, when I came clean with my family as well." Lith said.

    "So, she doesn¡¯t know about Solus, correct?"

    "No, she doesn¡¯t and so does my family. I never told anyone about her unless my hand was forced by the events or someone discovered her on their own. Scarlett the Scorpicore tried to kill her on their first meeting, so I became wary of our secret.

    "Protector found out only because he shares my memories. Tista knows her because, just like you, without Solus¡¯s help she would have died during her Awakening. Nalrond helped us against Dawn and Faluel knows only because Scarlett told her.

    "Any other question?" Lith said.

    "Yes, I¡¯ve got plenty. Was she there during our first kiss? During our first date? Was she there when we shared our first night together or whenever I opened my heart to the boy who I considered both my friend and boyfriend?" Phloria paced around Lith like a predator, without ever taking her eyes off him.

    "Yes, she was always there. At least at first. After things got serious, after our first night, she learned how to temporarily sever our physical link to give to you and me some privacy." Lith said.

    "What do you mean, after things got serious? Was everything a joke to you until that point? Did the two of you really care so little about my feelings before we..."

    "Don¡¯t put words in my mouth, I never said anything like that." Lith cut her short. "Back then, we were both young and I never expected that you would care so much for me nor that in time I woulde to return those feelings.

    "You have no idea the kind of monster I was before meeting Solus. The things I did and that I would still do if it wasn¡¯t for her. Solus pushed me to give us a chance because she liked you and wanted me to be happy.

    "She has been my moralpass for years until I met you. You fixed me, never letting go of the smallest fragment of me every time I fell apart, but it was Solus who allowed me to never forget what¡¯s like to be human.

    "I know that you¡¯re hurt and you¡¯ve got all the rights to be angry, but don¡¯t take it out on her. Put yourself in my shoes. I was the son of farmers, with a living artifact at my finger and the entirety of Mogar as my enemy.

    "Everyone in the Kingdom knows about the ck Star and the lost cities. After meeting Scarlett, I understood that my worst fears didn¡¯t evene close to how dire our situation was.

    "I was a monster, she was a monster, but at least we were together. When you and I met, Solus was just a voice in my head. How could I possibly tell you that and expect you not considering me either raving mad or under the effects of a cursed item?

    "Onlyter did we find that she could turn into a mage tower again, something that existed only in legends. Not only Solus was a priceless treasure, but she already was my best friend.

    "After that, you and I became close, but that only made things more difficult. She can¡¯t literally live without me and I can¡¯t possibly introduce myself by saying:

    "Hi, I¡¯m Lith Verhen and there¡¯s a girl living inside my head!" Lith found himself panting out of breath.

    "Lith is right." Solus stepped forward, looking up to Phloria due to their height gap.

    "For a long time, I¡¯ve been nothing but a voice, oblivious of the ways of the world and as na?ve as a child. He kept my existence hidden solely for two reasons. The first is that, unlike you, he doesn¡¯te from a pampered background.

    "You act all high and mighty, but you know nothing about hunger, hardships, or loneliness. Lith- No, we werepletely alone, even inside our own family. Our magic made us a target for the envy of our brothers and neighbors.

    "Local nobles treated us like an oddity and we had to keep it that way because none of them would have left a powerful artifact in the hands of a ¡¯filthymoner¡¯." Her voice lost its innate kindness by the word, recing it with anger.

    "The second reason is that even if Mogar was a fair ce where nobles didn¡¯t abuse their power, how could he possibly have a normal life if everyone knew about me?

    "Lith would have been treated like a freak, just like you¡¯re doing, because they wouldn¡¯t understand the depth of our bond nor the boundaries that we voluntarily set to ensure our respective privacy.

    "No girl would have dated him and no person would¡¯ve hung out with him unless to exploit us. Telling the truth would¡¯ve only meant sentencing Lith to a lifetime of istion, just like me.

    "You have no idea how terrible it feels when you can¡¯t even talk to the people you love without scaring the shit out of them. I¡¯ve been part of Lith¡¯s family ever since he was four, yet I¡¯m still a stranger to them.

    "I depended on Lith to remain sane just as much he depended on me to remain human. Can you imagine how it feels to be able to see and hear, yet incapable of touching, speaking, or have the simplest human interaction?"

    "For years I¡¯ve been nothing but a voice in his head." Solus¡¯s body disappeared and her Skinwalker armor fell to the ground. "My real voice could only be heard inside the tower."

    "Then, I became a wisp. The most useless, pathetic imitation of life." Her wisp form appeared and Solus moved through the room, the furniture, and even through Phloria.

    The feeling of the ethereal body phasing through her made Phloria shudder.

    "I was still unable to taste, to touch anything but Lith." Solus¡¯s wisp rested between his arms, like she once used to do.

    "No matter how many marvels Mogar had to offer or how many people I wanted to befriend, his hands were my world and his heart was my sun. During those moments we spent together in the tower, I finally felt like a real person."

 Chapter 1043 Unspoken Words Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1043 Unspoken Words Part 1</h4>

    "Yet, in the outside world, I knew that I was a burden for the rtionship between the two of you first and with Kamter. That¡¯s why one year ago, once I regained my body, even if it¡¯s just a featureless energy construct, I kept it hidden from Lith."

    The wisp jumped off his arms and floated in front of Phloria so that their eyes now met.

    "Even before that, I left Lith¡¯s hand whenever he spent quality time with Kam. I didn¡¯t tell him about my new body until I was forced to because outside this tower, I¡¯m still nothing but a voice. Even now, I can only dream about having a normal life.

    "After hearing my side of the story, do you still feel like ming Lith for keeping my existence a secret? Before answering, think about how, despite all you two went through together, youshed out the moment you learned the truth and how your much more immature self at the academy would¡¯ve reacted."

    Now Solus was out of breath as well, her hair whipped around as if she was amid a storm.

    Phloria set aside her hurt feelings and felt stupid for wearing her heart on her sleeve. After Lith had rescued her, Phloria had been blinded by gratefulness, just like after sleeping on all the revtions of the past day, she had been blinded by jealousy.

    "It seems I keep going from one extreme to the other." Phloria sighed. "Before you hear my answer, however, I would like you to cover up, Solus. From what I can see you¡¯re not very featureless anymore."

    Solus¡¯s anger disappeared as she blushed up to her ears. A quick nce revealed to her that Phloria was right. Even though most of her body was still made of energy, its anatomy had be quite urate.

    She quickly turned her head, catching Lith who had been staring at her ass from the beginning.

    "I didn¡¯t mention it earlier because I didn¡¯t want to ruin your heartfelt speech." Lith shrugged while giving her a telepathic thumbs up.

    ¡¯Looking real good.¡¯ He told her via their mind link to not embarrass her in front of Phloria.

    ¡¯Damn it. This is one of those times I¡¯d like for us to not be always sincere with each other.¡¯ Solus replied while turning a few shades of purple along with the tower¡¯s light until her Skinwalker armor saved her from further humiliation.

    Phloria paced around the room this time, trying to separate facts from opinions before speaking again. After a few minutes, Phloria sat down on the bed and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

    "What part did Solus y in our rtionship, exactly?" Phloria asked, her voice back to normal.

    "She pushed me to take you out more, to be less of an insensitive jerk, and to be less stingy with my presents." Lith replied, making Phloria chuckle.

    "Solus, were you there during my mom¡¯s birthday, when Lith promised toe to my rescue, no matter what, the moment I called his name?"

    "Yes, but I swear that I never wrote any of his speeches nor did I y any part in the events that led to you two to be close andter to break up. That promise surprised me as well. It¡¯s one of the most romantic things he has ever done." Solus replied.

    "I know, and that¡¯s why I got so riled up earlier. I¡¯m not going to lie, discovering your existence, Solus, turned a creepy light on all those beautiful moments we shared. More than that, it made me doubt Lith¡¯s feelings not only for me, but for Kam as well." Phloria said.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Well, put yourself in my shoes. We didn¡¯t see for a long time, yet you made that wonderful promise to me and in Kh you put your life on the line to save me."

    "That¡¯s because I still care deeply about you. You are..." Phloria raised her hand, cutting Lith short.

    "Then, yesterday, you came to my rescue again, told me all those beautiful things about how much you care about me and that you want me at your side during your apprenticeship despite you already have a girlfriend. That made me think.

    "Think that even though you have Kam, you didn¡¯t tell her about Solus. That maybe you were using me as an experiment, to see my reaction to your other half and decide whether or not to share this secret with her as well.

    "Worst case scenario, you might as well be trying to keep me as a recement in case Kam breaks up with you." Phloria said.

    "That would be cruel and egotistical beyond belief!" Lith blurted out.

    "No, it would just be human." Phloria shook her head. "I need time to think about my apprenticeship with Faluel and about how I want our rtionship if there has to be any."

    Phloria stood up, looking at Solus in the eyes.

    "I apologize for my rudeness towards you. You¡¯ve been through things so horrible that I can barely fathom them, yet I judged you both hastily and harshly. You¡¯re a brave, wonderful woman, Solus. You and Lith are lucky to have each other."

    Then, she stood in front of Lith. Part of her wanted to hold him just as strongly as the other part wanted to p the heck out of him.

    "Do you have anything to add before we part ways again?" She clenched her hands to keep them under control.

    His pained expression broke her heart in more than one way. It both rekindled her feelings for him yet it also exacerbated all those years of secrets and deception, making her wonder if any part of their rtionship had ever been real.

    "Yes. I want you to know that after you broke up with me, I felt like shit for a long time and I wondered why I didn¡¯t fight for you back then. Yet it was only after meeting Kam that I understood the reason for my apparently foolish behavior.

    "You¡¯ve been there for me the whole time, you never let me go, no matter how much I pushed you away. You were the only person to know the truth about me and you epted me anyway.

    "Yet the moment you left me, I stood idly because it was the right thing to do. Because back then, I was still toxic. I was a lump of poison ready to gue whoever attempted toe too close to me.

    "The only way I had to stop you would have been proposing, but everything we might have built together would have been doomed from the start due to its foundations made of lies and venom.

    "We would have surely broken up after a while, but not before ruining both my life and yours, tainting every good memory of us we shared."

    "I still regret not shedding a single tear for Yurial, just like I did when you left me. I had no feelings of my own but rage and hate. Without Solus, I was an empty shell. Without her light, I was no better than an Abomination.

    "On top of that, we were both too young and our ideals too different.

    "You dreamt of fighting for the Kingdom whereas my only goal was to discover what is wrong with me and protect my family from the danger that my bundle of secrets would cause the moment it gets discovered."

 Chapter 1044 Unspoken Words Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1044 Unspoken Words Part 2</h4>

    "I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but I think that you pushing your feelings onto me and calling them love also yed a big part. You were too quick in telling me you loved me, especially since you knew nothing about love or me in the first ce.

    "You just loved the image you had of me and I knew it was nothing but a lie. Kam and I, instead, took our rtionship seriously and we almost broke up right off the bat because of Berion.

    "We opened to each other slowly, epting our respective ws while trying not to drown the other with our own shit. With her ugly past, her twisted family, and her poor sister, I could truly rte to her.

    "Not seeing each other for days, sometimes weeks at a time, allowed me to understand how much I appreciated the moments we spent together, separating my feelings for her from the egotistical desire of not wanting to be alone.

    "I realized to have truly changed only when I found out that I cared for her even when parted from Solus. I¡¯m still paranoid, cynical, and bitter, but I¡¯m no longer poisonous.

    "I¡¯m scared to death of how Kam will react when she learns about Solus and that¡¯s why I never told her that I love her. Because if I do and then she leaves me, I don¡¯t know if I would be able to take such a blow." Lith said.

    "Wait, how the heck do you do that? What do you say when Kam tells you that she loves you?" Phloria was deeply moved by how much thought he had put in their past rtionship ad bbergasted by the revtion.

    "She never did, so I never had to say anything." Lith shrugged.

    "After over two years? Are you kidding me?" Phloria¡¯s genuine surprise irked Lith to no end.

    "Just like you, she understood I had many secrets and she had a few of her own. She¡¯s probably just waiting to have a clear picture before throwing the L-word." Lith said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but you introduced her to your family, you helped her sister, lived together, and now Kam knows everything about you but Solus. What the heck is she still waiting for? I agree that love takes time to grow, but this is too long." Phloria didn¡¯t like her own words.

    They made her sound as if she was trying to undermine Lith¡¯s rtionship and expected them to break up any moment. Yet she had to say those things because she believed them and she cared for him.

    "She¡¯s just afraid." Solus said, making the other two turn toward her. "Phloria, Kallion has deeply hurt you, but he¡¯s the only one. Kam had several Kallions in her life. People she believed she could love and yet tossed her away like garbage.

    "Her family crushed her trust in bonds and those men that she had in people. Kam is scared by everything the word love implies because it only brought pain to her."

    "How do you know?" It was the first time Lith heard about such things.

    He had never asked about Kam¡¯s past rtionships because he thought they were meaningless to her, yet now he had learned that the reason she didn¡¯t mention them was that her scars ran deep.

    "I just watched her and listened to her words when I was there during your dates. That and while you were being cleansed from Huryole¡¯s energy, Kam told Tista about her ex-boyfriends. Mostly they were horror stories." Solus replied.

    "Then you better go back to her fast. Just remember that I¡¯m no one¡¯s second choice and neither should be Solus." Phloria said while looking him straight in the eyes.

    Solus warped the tower near the closest City Gate, allowing Lith to get back to the Flying Griffon resort around six in the morning thanks to the time zone difference.

    "Kami, I¡¯m back." Lith woke her up by gently caressing her face.

    "Lith? What time is it?" She mumbled with a drowsy voice.

    "Six twenty? Damn, I thought it waster. Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to wake you up so early. Get back to sleep." Lith was still cursing the time difference when Kam sat up, throwing her arms around his neck.

    She gave him a long, soft, and sweet kiss that words could only describe as perfect.

    "Silly, I wanted you to wake me up. I¡¯ve been worried all the time, to the point that I was dreaming about you being engaged in a mortal fight with some mage." Her perky breasts pressed against his chest, causing an adrenaline rush that countered the exhaustion he felt.

    "How can you possibly be so gorgeous after staying up almost for an entire day and why does every time I see you naked feel like the first?" Lith said while Kam dragged him under the bedsheets, softly caressing his hair.

    "Beats me, oh powerful Archmage." She giggled. "You look like crap, instead. What the heck did you do until now?"

    "Believe it or not, I slept for over eight hours. Breakthroughs at my level are like giving birth to a damn cactus." Lith closed his eyes, losing himself in her caresses and the warmth of her bare skin.

    "Is it a boy or a girl?" She chuckled.

    "Definitely a boy. It was too much of a dick to be a girl."

    "Well, since I¡¯m up, you could tell me everything that has happened since you left. Before that, would you like to take a shower, have an early breakfast, or..." His snoring cut her short.

    Between all the umted fatigue and the stress from confronting Phloria, Lith needed sheer willpower just to stay conscious. Kam¡¯s gentle touch had crushed his defenses and allowed him to fully rx.

    "Or me." Kam finished the phrase a second toote. "This is nothing like the romantic reunion I had pictured. You¡¯re a killjoy, Lith Verhen."

    She kissed his head, and when even that didn¡¯t cause any paranoid reaction, Kam knew he was really fast asleep.

    "With all your secrets and silences, you make it unbelievably hard to love you, but I love you anyway."

    ***

    While Lith spent the rest of Kam¡¯s vacation at the Flying Griffon resort, the Kingdom was in quite a turmoil. An army strong of one thousand men had disappeared overnight with no usible exnation.

    The few survivors all reported the same thing. The battalion led by Captain Lotta had let the undead inside the camp and then attempted to ughter everyone before the arrival of a group of mysterious mages.

    "Dammit." Jirni snarled.

    She was sitting in the family tea room in the Ernas Mansion with all of her children, Orion, and Wyra, Friya¡¯s second inmand. The Ernas sisters and their brothers had returned home with conventional means after devising a usible cover story.

    Jirni didn¡¯t believe a word of it, but being them alive by the miracle she knew as Lith, she didn¡¯t pry further. The how he did it paled inparison to the result of bringing her daughters safe and sound back home.

    "Are you certain that Kallion was there and that he said that Archmage Deirus was directly involved in the coup?" Jirni asked Wyra.

    "Yes."

    "Is there anyone alive who heard him say that that might testify?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, no. Captain Kortus is dead and so is Kallion. You could ask Lotta or Ormann, but if they faced Archmage Deirus, I doubt they survived." Wyra shook her head.

 Chapter 1045 Towers and Effects Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1045 Towers and Effects Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯No one survived, silly child.¡¯ Jirni thought.

    ¡¯There is no other possible exnation for all the resources of the Kingdom failing to find a single traitor alive. The army deployed to the scene several investigation teams in a matter of hours after Orion gave the rm and they have yet to find anything.

    ¡¯Be them humans or undead, the contact runes of all those involved in the attack have disappeared from the face of Mogar. Even my contacts in the Undead Courts reported several high-profile members going missing about at the same time.

    ¡¯A thorough investigation will take a while, but so far we found only corpses and piles of ashes. Something, maybe Lith, ughtered them all.¡¯

    "I¡¯m ready to testify, Archon Ernas. The truth must be revealed." Wyra mistook Jirni¡¯s silence for consideration about the risks that a trial involved.

    "That¡¯s as brave of you as it would be pointless. You didn¡¯t see Deirus¡¯s hologram nor hear him give any order. All we have is your word against both a dead man who can¡¯t be interrogated and one of the most influential Archmages of the Kingdom.

    "Unless you have a death wish, do not mention Deirus unless a Constable asks for Kallion¡¯s exact words. Otherwise, Deirus would have an easy time iming that either you¡¯re using him because of your loyalty to the Ernas Household or that Kallion was simply bragging." Jirni said.

    "Are you saying that after all he did, Deirus will not face justice?" Phloria jumped up.

    "Yes, dear. You got away with your life, and that¡¯s more than most in that camp can say. Don¡¯t worry about it. ying dirty is a game two can y." Jirni¡¯s soft smile while she thought about her opponent sent a cold shiver down everyone¡¯s back.

    ***

    Dusk Court, a few hours after both mage towers left the Feymar mines.

    After the contact runes of the officials of the Dusk Court involved in the joint mission with Deirus had disappeared from his contact amulet, the Hushed King had mobilized both his best scouts and spies.

    He tasked the former with checking the events in Feymar and thetter with finding out if the humans or the Council were responsible for the massacre. Yet after days of investigation and spending a small treasure to grease the usual wheels they had alle back empty-handed.

    "Run it by me again. How can a battalion strong of 500 elder undead plus another of 1000 thralls we spent years infiltrating the army disappear overnight along with most of the original members of the expedition?" When Dusk was younger, he had the habit to kill the messenger who delivered bad news.

    The problem with such an attitude was that the next messenger would still deliver the same news, but it would take longer since no one wanted to report anything to him.

    "We have no idea." Lukah the Vampire, Dusk¡¯s personal aide said.

    "What about the mines? How could we lose them without putting up enough of a fight that not a single person lived to tell the tale?"

    "We have no idea." Lukah shrugged.

    "This doesn¡¯t make sense. My sources in the Awakened Council tell me that no powerful elder had any interest in our operation nor in the Ernas girls. Yet to bring such devastation so quickly it would take Mom¡¯s prowess, an Awakened assault team¡¯s, or at least someone like Raagu." Dusk drummed his fingers on his Davross throne.

    "Keep investigating and leave no stone unturned. If this is the work of an unknown yer, it couldpromise more operations. The mines and Deirus are irrelevant, but we can¡¯t let this shadow take us by surprise again."

    ***

    A few dayster, Vige of Lutia, Verhen Household.

    The tower¡¯s warp and Phloria exchanging hermunication rune with Solus made it easy for her to get in touch with Tista. Lith¡¯s sister taught Phloria the basics of Awakening, starting from the breathing techniques Invigoration and umtion.

    Phloria had still a lot on her mind and would¡¯ve preferred to stay away from everything remotely rted to Lith, but Spirit Magic forced her hand.

    All living creatures on Mogar were more than just flesh and blood. They had not only a life force, but also mana that came from their cores. In normal conditions, the core slumbered due to the dampening effect of the impurities.

    Once Awakened, however, a core would constantly produce a mana flow parallel to the bloodstream, no matter if its owner knew breathing techniques, like the self-Awakened, or not, like Sark¡¯s Feathers or Tyris¡¯s Queen¡¯s Corpse.

    An Awakened core¡¯s mana output could be boosted by the mage¡¯s willpower and emotions. Spirit Magic was the consequence of the bond between the mage¡¯s core and their will.

    Unlike all other kinds of magic, it didn¡¯t need any connection with the world energy, which made Spirit Magic both more versatile and wilder.

    Lith had discovered it back when he was just a toddler and his core was so weak that Spirit Magic could barely shove spoons down his brother¡¯s throat. He had spent months mastering Spirit Magic until he could use it as if it was another of his limbs.

    Tista had Awakened with a cyan core and had received Lith¡¯s training from day one, allowing her to not involuntarily hurt her academy mates. Phloria, however, had a blue core and just vague notions about what being an Awakened implied.

    Whenever she was angry, the first hapless fellow who bothered her could feel an invisible hand crushing their throat or crotch, while when she was sad the objects in the house would float in front of the terrified eyes of the domestic staff.

    Rumors about the Ernas Household being cursed were increasing by the day and after Phloria had realized that self-discipline wasn¡¯t enough to stop those phenomenons, she had been forced to ask for help.

    She already had enough trouble adjusting to her newfound physical prowess that made Phloria break one cup out of two she used, but hurting people was way worse. Items could just be bought, but the fear and pain she unintentionally inflicted upon her victims couldn¡¯t be fixed that easily.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Spirit Magic at its tier zero is easy. You just have to learn Lith¡¯s breathing techniques." Tista said.

    "Are you saying this is just first magic?" Phloria had almost killed several people and destroyed a lot of things even from a great distance, something impossible for elemental first magic.

    "Yes. Now breathe along with us." Tista nodded.

    The three women were sitting cross-legged on the ground floor of the tower. Due to the violent nature of her Awakening, Phloria had never learned how to perceive the flow of world energy in her surroundings.

    Such skill was the first step to control Spirit Magic.

    "Take deep breaths from your diaphragm and you¡¯ll also draw small amounts of world energy. After you inhale, contract your lower muscles, so you¡¯ll hold your breath and the energy as well. Before exhaling, try to feel the excess of mana that¡¯s in your body.

    "Once you manage to do it, you have to focus on the world energy getting in and out of your body with every breath. At that point, all you have to do is to use your core to draw in and absorb great amounts of world energy instead of small bits." Solus used air magic to speak while showing Phloria the correct breathing rhythm.

 Chapter 1046 Towers and Effects Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1046 Towers and Effects Part 2</h4>

    With Phloria¡¯s keen mana perception and two excellent teachers, it took her less than an hour to master both Invigoration and umtion.

    "Now use Invigoration to study your own body and mana flow." Solus said. "Avoid using umtion until your body doesn¡¯t stabilize, otherwise you¡¯ll risk a core break."

    Phloria gulped at the idea and did as instructed.

    "This is the hard part. Open your eyes but keep studying your mana core while you also focus on the outside world." Tista put a small stone right in front of Phloria¡¯s legs.

    "Focus on the pebble and will for it to float."

    At first, all Phloria managed to do was to squint her eyes and frown. With each failed attempt, her frustration grew until she gave up in a fit of rage and the pebble reached for the ceiling.

    "Did I do that?" Phloria had just perceived a tendril of manaing from her coreshing like a whip and sending the stone flying.

    "Yes, you did." Solus pointed her finger at a small burn mark on the floor where the whip had hit.

    "Do that again, but this time do not affect your surroundings." Solus ced a fistful of sand in front of Phloria and the pebble on top of it. "Once you manage to move the pebble without messing with the sand, you¡¯re good to go."

    Between her mana perception, the ability to see the mana tendril with Life Vision, and a few pointers, Phloria needed only a few attempts to seed. She then learned how to move more pebbles at the same time and kept practicing until she was capable of applying Spirit Magic to her swordy.

    In a matter of a few hours her estoc, Reaver, danced in the air with the same grace and speed as if it was in her hand.

    "Good gods, this is amazing! Why did Lith never use Spirit Magic to fight this way?" Phloria panted, drenched in sweat for the constant effort despite her repeated uses of Invigoration.

    Yet she was smiling from the bottom of her heart like it didn¡¯t happen since her military trial had begun. Phloria loved magic, but between her stagnating career and having peaked the specializations she already knew, there wasn¡¯t much she could do except inventing new spells.

    Now, however, she felt like during her first day of the academy.

    "For several reasons." Solus said. "First, anyone who sees it will understand there¡¯s something wrong. Being Awakened is a matter of secrecy. Second..."

    A tendril of her own mana interfered with Phloria¡¯s, making Reaver move as if its wielder was a drunken sailor during a storm. Phloria tried to regain control of the de, but Spirit Magic was very sensitive to energy signatures.

    "Third..." Solus exploited Phloria¡¯s distraction to Blink by her side, with a small knife aimed at her throat.

    "Bottom line, it¡¯s not worth it. It¡¯s a shy technique that requires too much focus and leaves you full of openings." Solus said.

    "Got it, thanks." Phloria sat down on the floor, never stopping to smile.

    She wasn¡¯t angry with herself for her mistakes nor with Solus for her strict teaching methods. Phloria had learned from her father that only an uncaring teacher would let their student get conceited.

    A good teacher would point out all of the student¡¯s mistakes as well as their sesses, so to increase their chances of survival on the battlefield.

    "What¡¯s more?" Phloria asked.

    "Now you take a shower, eat, and rest." Tista said. "You¡¯ve only recently Awakened and I don¡¯t like you using Invigoration so many times in a single day."

    "Why? I only need a few breaths to be full of energy again." Phloria shrugged.

    "The more you use it, the less effective it bes. On top of that, even if you feel fine, you still put a strain on both your body and mana core. They went through a lot and rest is an integral part of the training." Tista said.

    "Gods, you two sound like my father. Or Lith." Phloria chuckled. "Where do we eat?"

    "Well, you can go back to your home, to Lith¡¯s, but you might meet him and Kam, or you could eat here with us." Solus said.

    "Meaning?" Phloria dabbed her sweat with a towel.

    "When Lith is with Kam, Solus, I, and a friend of ours have a girl¡¯s night out. You can join us." Tista said.

    "I¡¯ll dly take your offer. After dinner the house is empty because my parents have to go back to work, Quy is rehearsing her speech for Faluel, and Friya is dealing with her guild. I¡¯m not in the mood to stay alone and I don¡¯t feel like seeing Lith." Phloria replied.

    "You seem like a wonderful woman, Solus. I now understand why you and Lith did what you did. Yet it doesn¡¯t make it easier to ept that he lied to my face for the entirety of our rtionship nor does it change the fact that he deeply hurt my feelings."

    ***

    By the time Lith returned to Lutia, Phloria had learned the basics of true magic and had already converted some of her best spells into their true magic form. Weaving runes with her mind was easier than using words and hand signs, but it was still a new world for her.

    To make matters worse, she had to convert her entire Grimoire and it amounted to hundreds of spells. A few days were barely enough to get used to casting the spells that were her bread and butter with true magic.

    "How are you feeling?" Lith asked.

    "Fine, thanks. I can almost move with the same grace I had before Awakening and I no longer crush everything I touch." She tried to smile but it came out forced, just like she couldn¡¯t hide the edge in her voice.

    "There¡¯s no need to pretend that you like me. I knew this might happen when I revealed to you Solus¡¯s existence. Yet I prefer a Mogar where you¡¯re alive and hate me to a world where you died loving me." Lith¡¯s words were akin to a punch in the heart to Phloria.

    Her messed up feelings could only get worse by hearing how deep is affection for her was. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no voice came out. The arrival of her sisters put an end to her impression of a goldfish.

    "Now that you are all here, a few words before meeting Faluel." Lith looked them in the eyes one at a time, to make sure they understood how serious he was.

    "Faluel the Hydra is not only the kindest Awakened I¡¯ve ever met, but she¡¯s also incredibly strong and the worthy heir of the Hydra bloodline legacy. Millenia of knowledge rest upon her shoulders, so whatever you want to say to her, always be respectful.

    "No matter how harmless she looks, she could kill us all in the blink of an eye if she wanted to. None of us is entitled to anything. She¡¯s going to teach me, Phloria, and Solus only out of the goodness of her heart.

    "She owes us nothing so before you speak, remember that you are asking for a favor. Sass and arrogance will bring you nowhere because you have nothing she wants."

    "Thanks, captain obvious." Quy attempted to joke, but her voice came out stiff.

    She had nned her speech as if she was addressing another academic. When confronting old coots, she employed confidence and grit, whereas based on Lith¡¯s words, dealing with the Hydra required to treat her akin to the Royals.

 Chapter 1047 Harbingers Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1047 Harbingers Part 1</h4>

    Lith led them to the Hydra¡¯sir and then used the magical doorbell to announce their presence.

    "Wow, to what do I owe such a crowd in my humble abode?" Faluel had such a radiant smile that it left the Ernas sisters speechless.

    Faluel now looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with rainbow-colored eyes and long hair that framed her fine features.

    Unlike a normal woman, her hair wasn¡¯t of a regr color with streaks rted to the element she was more attuned with, but bore the six colors of the elements plus the emerald green of mana.

    She was wearing a light green shirt that left her arms exposed and tight pants that Lith could swear were jeans.

    Her legs were shorter than Phloria¡¯s, she was less curvy than Friya, and her face didn¡¯t look as chiseled as Tista¡¯s. Yet she could be easily called a perfectly imperfect beauty.

    The grace with which her slender body moved along with the warmth of her voice emphasized Faluel as a whole, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.

    Even those who like the Ernas sisters had met Tyris multiple times at the Royal Court were stunned by Faluel¡¯s appearance. Compared to the Hydra, Constable Griffon had the countenance of a farmer whereas the Ernas felt like monkeys trying to imitate human behavior.

    "Is there something wrong with my attire?" Faluel asked Lith, who seemed to be the only one not staring at her with a dumb expression and an agape mouth.

    "You look amazing like always, Professor Faluel." Lith gave her a small bow.

    "Indeed." Solus said. "I apologize for keeping my ring form, but taking humanoid appearance drains my energy, so I¡¯ll do it only if strictly necessary."

    "Thanks for letting me know, Solus. I¡¯ll keep it in mind while nning your lessons." Faluel said.

    "How could you not mention us that Faluel, I mean, Professor Faluel is so lovely?" Friya was the first to recover, yet her own words made her feel like she had gone down another step on the evolutionarydder.

    "More importantly, how can Kam not die with envy and jealousy knowing you spend so much time with her?"

    Faluel giggled at those heartfeltpliments but said nothing, waiting for Lith¡¯s reply.

    "Whenever I introduce, you, my sister, or anyone else for that matter, I find beyond rude pointing out their attractiveness. It would make me appear as a pervert and even a creep in Tista¡¯s case.

    "As for Kam, she trusts me, that¡¯s how." Lith said.

    "Well said. Now, unless someone wants to ask me out, I¡¯d like to know who these three youngdies are." Faluel said.

    "Professor Faluel, they are respectively, Phloria, Friya, and Quy Ernas. You should remember Quy from your meeting during Rena¡¯s pregnancy." Lith said.

    "I certainly do." Faluel nodded while recognizing Quy.

    "Quy and Friya have a favor to ask you." Lith said.

    "Then please be quick. You¡¯re a bit early, but I n on starting my lesson as soon as all my students are here." Faluel said.

    "Professor Faluel..." Quy gave her a curtsy, but the Hydra stopped her.

    "Just Faluel will do. Let¡¯s also skip the pleasantries. There is no rtionship between us nor appearances to keep up. I prefer blunt people to tterers."

    "Then I¡¯ll get straight to the point. Faluel, I would like to join your ss and receive your teachings along with my friends." Quy gave her a small bow.

    No matter what Faluel said, doing any less would make Quy feel like a small child throwing a tantrum to get a new toy.

    "Simple and direct. I love it. Yet your execution fails to meet a crucial requirement. Why exactly should I agree to your request? I know and respect Lith. He and Solus put their lives in my hands many times, demonstrating a trust I¡¯m more than happy to return.

    "You, however, I barely remember your name. No matter how politely you present your request, it remains unreasonable." Faluel said.

    "But my sister..."

    "ording to Awakened¡¯s customs, Phloria is Lith¡¯s responsibility for the next 100 years as if she is his daughter, wife, apprentice, or servant. I don¡¯t care about the nature of their rtionship, that¡¯s something for them to decide." Faluel cut her short, giving Phloria¡¯s heart the second shock of the day.

    "In turn, Lith is my apprentice and my responsibility. It¡¯s up to him to make sure that Phloria doesn¡¯t betray my trust or pay the consequences. Any more arguments?"

    "I¡¯m a brilliant mage. People call me a genius, but I never felt it as an appropriate title. I¡¯m capable of doing this." Quy conjured aplex hologram that was a scale model of the Hydra¡¯sir.

    "And this." She took out a potion and absorbed its contents through the skin in front of Faluel¡¯s surprised eyes.

    "I have yet to share any of this with anyone. I created those techniques myself, as a fake mage barely eighteen years of age. Imagine what I could do with proper guidance." Quy took a pause to let Faluel ponder her words.

    "I¡¯m willing to teach you everything I know, to share with you all of my personal spells in exchange for your help." Seeing that the Hydra seemed hesitant, Quy raised the ante.

    "Lith, did you teach her how to make holograms?" Faluel said.

    "No. She learned it by herself in less than a year after seeing me do it in Kh."

    "Is she trustworthy?"

    "I¡¯ve put my sister¡¯s life in her hands just like I put mine several times." Lith replied.

    "Then I ept, but there are conditions. First, you¡¯ll give me full ess to your Grimoire as you promised. Second, as long as you live, whatever you develop from my teachings, any new discovery you make, you¡¯ll share it with me and only me.

    "You¡¯re forbidden to teach even Lith or your sisters without my consent. Third, even after you are done here, whenever I¡¯ll require your help, I expect you to answer my call without asking for anything in return.

    "Whatever height you reach in life, it will be because of me. Your debt will not be something easily repaid. Last, but not least, fail toply with any of those conditions and I will kill you. Do you ept my terms?" Faluel said.

    "Yes." Quy swallowed a lump of saliva. "I¡¯ve already quit my role as Assistant Professor at the White Griffon academy, so I¡¯m ready to begin at any time, Faluel."

    "Master Faluel or Professor will do. Feel free to take your pick, but don¡¯t forget who holds the leash." Faluel said. "What about you, Friya?"

    "I¡¯m here for the same reason: I want to learn from you." Friya could barely hold the Hydra¡¯s steel gaze.

    "You?" Faluel sniffed at her clothes like a predator. "You¡¯re no Forgemaster nor healer. What could I possibly teach you, and more importantly, what would I gain from it?"

    "I am a Healer!" Friya felt insulted at those words. "I¡¯m not an Awakened like Lith nor a genius like Quy, but I mastered all the light magic known to man. My drive is not knowledge, so I had no reason to pursue research in the Body Sculpting field, just like Lith did.

 Chapter 1048 Harbingers Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1048 Harbingers Part 2</h4>

    "I need you because I¡¯m lost. There are countless ces and jobs on Mogar, yet not a single one where I fit. I want to find my ce in this world, but I feel like I¡¯ve hit a wall that I can¡¯t ovee alone.

    "I¡¯m one of the few Dimensional Mages of the Kingdom." Friya performed her Dimensional Ruler spell and showed Faluel its prowess.

    "I¡¯m willing to take my sister¡¯s same oath, teach you every one of my secrets and share with you what I¡¯ll discover in the future. I¡¯m even willing to be your Harbinger." Her offer made Faluel¡¯s stone face crumble and her eyes open wide.

    While Quy had practiced her Light Mastery non-stop during thest few days to impress the Hydra, Friya had studied everything about Dragons and lesser Dragons the Ernas library had to offer.

    ¡¯Once again, I¡¯m the Vastor of our group. To not be left behind, I can¡¯t let pride burden me. I must risk it all.¡¯ She thought.

    "Your offer is quite alluring. No one ever offered to be the Harbinger of a lesser Dragon. Having one would make me the first of my kind and an object of envy of my peers, but do you realize the implications of your offer, child?" Faluel said.

    The children of the Guardians had many unique abilities that other Emperor Beasts didn¡¯t possess. They would live over one thousand years even without Awakening, they possessed incredibly powerful bodies, and their mana core would never stop developing over time.

    Yet long lives were also bound to be filled with loneliness and betrayal. Those weaker than them would covet their power while those stronger would live in fear that once a Guardian¡¯s child achieved Awakening, they would be unstoppable.

    Dragons, Phoenixes, Griffons, and even their lesser cousins, could bestow part of their essence to a member of any other race that didn¡¯t share Guardian¡¯s blood and turn them in their Harbinger.

    This way, the Guardian¡¯s children could secure their lover, obtain a lifelong friend, or simply an emissary in the outside world to deal with their business and properties without ever being forced to leave the safety of their homes.

    It was a master-servant rtionship that could be broken only with the death of either of them and it had several implications.

    The Harbinger would be granted a lifespan simr to that of their master, their body enhanced by the Guardian¡¯s blood, and they would obtain knowledge and equipment in exchange for their lifelong servitude.

    The bond created by the ritual was so strong that they could always find each other and open a mind link, no matter the distance. All of this, however, came at a price.

    The Harbinger could never disobey their master because their bodies wouldn¡¯t bepletely their own anymore and if angered, the master could seal the Harbinger¡¯s mana core as long as they wanted.

    In the case the master died, the Harbinger would immediately follow whereas a Harbinger¡¯s death would only cause temporary pain to their master. On top of that, because of the physical and spiritual bond they shared, the Emperor Beast could read the mind of their Harbinger at will.

    A Harbinger couldn¡¯t keep any secret from their master and the moment doubt or treachery seeped their mind they would be immediately killed.

    On the other hand, their bond wasn¡¯t a ve ring. The Harbinger couldn¡¯t disobey a direct order, but could work around them and find loopholes to make a mission fail or information leak.

    To make matters worse for the master, they could only have a single Harbinger at a time.

    More would weaken them and permanently reduce their prowess. Also, in case the Harbinger died of violent death, their master would experience the same anguish through their bond, receiving a bacsh that could take months to recover.

    A disgruntled Harbinger could kill themselves when their master was engaged in battle to ensure their defeat, just like enemies could keep them prisoners and exploit the weakness the Guardian¡¯s child had created at will.

    Due to the powerful bond the ritual created, very few creatures sought to be a Harbinger, and only a handful of them seeded.

    Moreover, the benefits one would gain from a lesser species couldn¡¯tpare with those from the pure bloodline of a Guardian.

    Friya¡¯s pledge was akin to bing the loyal servant of a second-rate kingdom until the moment of her death, giving the Hydra the right to decide about both her love and social life.

    Bing a Harbinger meant losing her privacy and part of her free will.

    "I do." Friya replied. "I¡¯m already 21 years old, yet I never had a significant other, only flings and shallow rtionships. I¡¯m not going to inherit the Ernas Household, so there are no blood ties to stop me.

    "I¡¯ve got no dreams nor purpose in life. While my siblings followed their ambitions, I just stumbled around while looking for a ce to call my own. Now I discovered that my best friend is some kind of demon dragon, my sister Phloria will follow him for at least one hundred years, and my sister Quy is so amazing that she impressed you.

    "I¡¯m tired of being powerless every time dimensional magic gets sealed. Tired of being left behind by my friends. Without them, I amount to nothing. Please, allow me to follow them on their journey. At this point, I don¡¯t care about being relegated to a secondary role anymore." Friya kneeled in front of Faluel.

    "21 years? You¡¯re barely a child and your words sound more born out of desperation rather than resolution." Faluel replied. "Being my Harbinger is far from a ¡¯secondary role¡¯ as you call it, which further shows howcking you are for the position.

    "Maybe today you¡¯re sure of your choice but what about tomorrow? If I ept, you would have a long future ahead and I can¡¯t risk you losing your motivation the moment you break up with your friends or realize that you don¡¯t like being a Harbinger."

    "It¡¯s a no, then." Friya slouched her shoulders, avoiding the gazes of her sisters and Lith.

    They had listened many times to her rants about being the Vastor of the group and wanting to be the best at something, but they had never expected Friya to be so miserable about her life.

    She always avoided drowning in self-pity, but thosest few days had been terrible for her. Seeing Lith wipe out two armies, Baba Yaga having traveled Mogar for Phloria, and the destruction of the Crystal Shield guild had broken her spirit.

    All the time and effort Friya had invested in her guild was gone. Half of its members were dead and the survivors were currently under investigation because suspected of having deserted during the assault.

    Even if Lith came forward to clean their name and exined why so many of them had survived while all the others had died, the Crystal Shield guild was done for. The stigma of cowardice would haunt them for a long time if not forever, and Friya didn¡¯t have the strength to start over from scratch.

    She would have to rebuild the guild¡¯s reputation, hire new members to rece the fallen and train them after making sure they were trustworthy. Everything she had built during thest few years had crumbled and all her sacrifices had gone to waste.

    Phloria was in her same boat, but at least she had something to look forward to.

 Chapter 1049 Gods and Guardians Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1049 Gods and Guardians Part 1</h4>

    "I never said no." Faluel shook her head. "Let¡¯s call it a maybe. I¡¯ll take you in and treat you as my Harbinger, but I¡¯ll not perform the ritual. I expect loyalty and sincerity from you. Consider it probation. You can quit and I can kick you out anytime.

    "Yet beware. If by the time I make my decision you have yet to show the proper resolve a Harbinger requires, I might be forced to kill you. I can¡¯t give off my secrets for free, so the more you learn from me, the greater the danger you are in."

    "Thank you, Faluel. I will not let you down." Friya gave her a deep bow, smiling from ear to ear.

    "Don¡¯t thank me, thank Lith. I gave a lot of thought to the speech he gave in front of the Council and I think he is right. They can¡¯t me him for finding talented people.

    "If the Council really wants to widen the gap with fake mages, we Awakened need to learn how to work together as ourpetition does instead of quarreling all the time." Faluel said while the Ernas sisters and Solus stared at Lith.

    "Consider my humble abode as an Awakened academy, but with more strict rules and no sex. Fail me and you get expelled, killed, or worse. We¡¯ll work day and night because I¡¯ve more important things to do than waste years teaching you lot.

    "The non-Awakened must work until they faint while the Awakened must use Invigoration until it stops working. Only then will you be allowed to take a break. Are we clear?" Faluel¡¯s words made them all swallow a lump of saliva.

    More than an academy, it sounded like a dignified prison camp.

    "Am I interrupting something?" Nalrond asked.

    "Child, you¡¯re on time, which means you¡¯rete. Always arrive early in sign of respect for my time, got it?" Faluel said.

    "Yes, sorry master Faluel." He gave her a deep bow.

    "What do you mean, master Faluel?" Lith asked.

    "Just like your human friend here, Nalrond was impressed by my procedure to save Rena¡¯s child and has offered me a deal. He¡¯ll teach me Light Mastery and in exchange, I¡¯ll teach him Healing Magic. As simple as that." Faluel said.

    "Now, before we start, let me evaluate your level so that I can tailor fit your individual lessons."

    The Hydra used Invigoration on one of them at a time, taking a few notes when necessary.

    "Nalrond, your two cores grant you double the mana, but you can only use one life force at a time. To avoid getting injured during your apprenticeship, you must train both your bodies and switch between them often, otherwise the mana flow might kill you." The Rezar looked at his thin limbs in embarrassment.

    Having the body of an Emperor Beast had always made physical exercise look like a waste of time to him.

    "Phloria, I have no idea how Lith managed to make you survive Awakening, but your body is a mess. It was refined from the red core to the blue in one go, making it highly unstable.

    "The process didn¡¯t give your body the time to adapt to your new mana flow. You are akin to a weapon that has been forged but it¡¯s still being tempered. Put too much strain on it and the weapon will break.

    "I forbid you to use any breathing technique until I say otherwise. I¡¯ll treat you as a non-Awakened and have you follow their same schedule." Faluel said.

    "What about me? I¡¯ve got two bodies and I¡¯ve recently experienced a breakthrough as well." Lith asked.

    "You¡¯re apletely different case. Your two bodies are like two sides of the same coin. You can¡¯t train one without training the other. Nalrond, on the other hand, has two bodies and two cores because he¡¯s two different creatures at the same time.

    "On top of that, with your perfect body refinement, the moment your core recovered from the breakthrough so did your physique. You might as well achieve a purple core right now if it was possible, but that¡¯s a story for another day."

    A p of her hands made six chairs and desks appear.

    "Six? What about Protector?" Lith asked.

    "Having a family of four and a newborn at that requires time and sustenance. With Nalrond here, he¡¯s forced to either help his wife or work for money. Keeping two houses at the same time costs a pretty coin.

    "Unlike you, he is in no rush. He can join us anytime the moment a non-Awakened is too tired to keep up." Faluel said.

    "Besides, since you are all painfully ignorant in the ways of Mogar, today I¡¯ll teach you things that are consideredmon sense in the Awakenedmunity. Solus, at your desk. I don¡¯t want Lith cheating and relying on your memory. If I see a mind link, I¡¯ll kick both your asses."

    Solus attempted to protest, but Faluel¡¯s re scared her too much. Solus was so used to the Hydra¡¯s gentle nature that her smallest frown looked utterly terrifying.

    Faluel then exined to her students about the Awakened Council, how it worked, and itsws.

    "At first, only self-Awakened existed and the death of a single one of them meant losing an amount of knowledge that is irrelevant by modern standards but was priceless millennia ago.

    "Also, Awakened have always been few in numbers, making them torn between the need to hide their nature and the natural desire forpany, be it tonic or otherwise.

    "The Council was created as a ce to exchange knowledge, seek for heirs for an Awakened¡¯s legacy, and to protect ourselves from being exploited by the other races. Only over time, it became our self-governing unit tasked with enforcing ourws."

    "Why Awakened didn¡¯t conquer Mogar or simply rule their own country? Wouldn¡¯t it allow them to live safely, protected by their own army?" Phloria asked.

    "Conquer Mogar?" Faluelughed at the idea. "To what end? You¡¯ve seen how hard it is to control a group of a few people, do you think you could rule a country and develop your magic?" Faluel asked, obtaining a no as a reply.

    "You can¡¯t do everything at the same time, no one can. Awakened love magic because it¡¯s the only power you can trust and because effort will never betray you. A king, on the other hand, has to be wary of all his high officials and has to make sure that the very power he builds isn¡¯t used against him.

    "Even if Awakened are powerful, we still need food, clothes, and ingredients. To acquire them, we need to move but outside of of our homes, we are vulnerable. Without the Council, naturally powerful races like Emperor Beasts or the undead could easily overpower one of us once they discover our location and extort the secret of Awakening.

    "An Awakened King would be nothing but a target, and even putting a strawman creates a weakness that can be exploited. That¡¯s why only Guardians can do such a thing." After that, she exined to them the existence of Guardians, their identity, and their role.

    "Royal Constable Tyris Griffon is a Guardian?" Except for Lith and Solus, everyone was bbergasted.

    The Ernas sisters because they knew her and Nalrond because he found their reaction idiotic. He had been taught as a child that a Guardian could look like however they wanted, just like any powerful mage. Only idiots would judge a book from its cover.

 Chapter 1050 Gods and Guardians Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1050 Gods and Guardians Part 2</h4>

    "This doesn¡¯t make sense." Quy said. "If Guardians really are this powerful, why do they let so many bad things happen? Like the ve cor system that gued the Gorgon Empire for decades or Balkor¡¯s annual culling. How can they just sit there without doing anything?"

    "That¡¯s a verymon misconception. No matter their race, whenever people learn about Guardians, they consider them some kind of benevolent god, tasked with taking care of them. Guardians are not gods and couldn¡¯t care less about single individuals.

    "They are forces of nature, incarnations of Mogar¡¯s will and agenda, whatever that is. Would you call a tornado cruel? Or the rain heartless because after irrigating the fields it makes rivers flood? Or the summer heat unfair? No, and the same applies to Guardians." Faluel said.

    "What about the ve cors? Thousands lived and died as cattle for decades, yet Leegaain could have put an end to it with a snap of his fingers, just like Tyris could have killed Balkor!" Phloria said.

    "To what end, exactly? You are talking in hindsight. Back then, people believed otherwise." Faluel¡¯s spoke with a calm and sweet voice, like a mother exining to her children why they shouldn¡¯t touch embers.

    At a wave of her hand, pages of ancient chronicles of the Gorgon Empire appeared on each desk for them to read. ording to history books, the ve cor period was considered by those who lived it as a golden age.

    Everyone would live longer and prosper thanks to mages providing the people of the Gorgon Empire, not only the nobles, with everything they might need. Dimensional Magic allowed anyone to travel freely without Gates, weather magic made every harvest bountiful, and healing magic would keep everyone healthy.

    In those books, the enved mages were praised for their sacrifice and the action of putting a cor at their necks was justified by the greater good. Unlike nobles, free mages were hard to kill and their talent was considered an unfair advantage by those incapables of using magic.

    One of them could kill hundreds of innocents, so the people from the Gorgon Empire considered it right to sacrifice the freedom of the few for the needs of the many.

    "This is outrageous bullshit!" Lith said.

    "That¡¯s what history taught us." Faluel said.

    "Today, Leegaain is considered a heartless monster for abandoning his people, but thank to that, mages learned how to fend for themselves, nobility has been eradicated in the Empire which is now the most magically advanced country.

    "What if he intervened back then? The people that wrote the books you are reading would have called him a heartless monster and a tyrant for taking away their free will.

    "They would¡¯ve also demanded from him to provide them with an alternative means to prosper since, in their eyes, he was standing in the path of their progress. Moreover, the mages would have be conceited and feel entitled to his protection.

    "The same can be said for Balkor. He indeed killed many, but he was born out of a corrupt system that created countless victims. Lith didn¡¯t be one of them only thanks to Balkor setting an example.

    "Now the academy system is being reformed, mages are allowed to reach nobility based on their merits without their humble origins being used as an excuse to undermine their achievements.

    "Had Tyris killed him, people like Quy and Lith would have had a hard time to enrol in an academy, let alone graduate. They would have be the new Balkors, if not worse."

    Lith and Quy remembered all too well the daily hazing and badmouthing they had suffered during their academy years. And that was with Linjos doing his best to protect them and with thew by their side.

    Lith thought back at Nana and at how her life had been destroyed by envious nobles despite her great talent.

    "What about the Blood Desert?" Nalrond asked.

    "It¡¯s the Gorgon Empire¡¯s pr opposite. Sark reigns supreme, her word is thew, her people thrive and the country is at peace ever since she took its reigns for herself. Yet she is considered a heartless monster as well." Faluel chuckled.

    "What? Why? Didn¡¯t you just say that people thrive?" Friya was bbergasted.

    "Yes, but no opinion matters except her own. In the Desert, either you submit or die. All the tribes that she subjugated to unify the desert, all those who would like to try different paths to that she chose, hate her guts.

    "As you can see, no matter what you do, you will be hated." Faluel said.

    "Where does that leaves our Kingdom?" Phloria asked.

    "Right in the middle. Tyris created the Griffon Kingdom, showing to all other people on the Garlen continent what could be achieved by working together under a just ruler. The Gorgon Empire and Blood Desert just followed her lead."

    "You said that each Guardian has a role and that the Garlen continent has three of them. What do they do, exactly?" Quy asked.

    "Leegaain, Tyris, and Sark are among the first six Guardians, who were once mistaken for gods. Even before they became Guardians, Leegaain dedicated his life to amassing knowledge, Tyris to nurture talent, and Sark to put into practice all magical discoveries.

    "They are respectively considered the wisest, the kindest, and the strongest Guardian." Faluel said.

    "The kindest? Are you saying that we are stuck with the most useless Guardian?" Lith said with a sneer.

    "Quite the contrary." Faluel shook her head. "Where do you think the knowledge Leegaain hoards and Sark usese from? It¡¯s only because of Tyris that the Griffon Kingdom is at peace ever since its foundation."

    "She created the Academies, giving everyone the right to learn magic. It was Tyris who taught Lochra Silverwing magic just like Leegaain did with the Magic Empress, Milea Genys, yet the two couldn¡¯t be more different.

    "While Milea is just an excellent leader for her people and the champion of the Gorgon Empire, Magus Silverwing invented all the specializations as you know them and she shared them with the entirety of Mogar.

    "The Empire, the Desert, even the Jiera continent, they all learned tier four and five magic from her, yet her knowledge came from Tyris. Our Guardian helped Silverwing to spread her teachings and everyone is better for it.

    "Fake mages became capable of harnessing the power that before only Awakened had, and even though the Council will never admit it, Silverwing¡¯s teachings helped us to develop as well.

    "Before, you had to Awaken someone of your bloodline, hoping they wouldn¡¯t get drunk with power and try to kill you the moment they became powerful enough or age made you weak.

    "Now, instead, we can pick our heirs even among fake mages after judging what they do with their talents. Emperor Beasts and Fae who fail to be Awakened from their parents and to inherit their legacies disguise themselves as humans to enroll in the six great academies.

    "It¡¯s the only way they have to learn powerful magic. On top of that, we learned a lot from fake mages and they pushed us to improve instead of bingcent." Faluel said.

    "Would it surprise you to know that when Tyris came to spectate your attempt to save Protector¡¯s life Scarlett the Scorpicore bowed to her, whereas Scarlett had no qualms to fight Sark to fulfill her quest for revenge against Balkor?

    "Why do you think all other gods have been forgotten, yet all races keep invoking Tyris¡¯s name when they pray to the Great Mother?"

 Chapter 1051 Gods and Guardians Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1051 Gods and Guardians Part 3</h4>

    "What?" The ss said in unison.

    "This doesn¡¯t make sense!" Lith said. "I remember talking with a Dryad who said that after evolving, nts gain a stronger connection with the Great Mother. She was most certainly referring to Mogar."

    "That¡¯s just a partial misconception." Faluel shook her head. "Mogar doesn¡¯t care for single races or continents, only about the bnce. The only individuals she takes an interest in are those she considers possible candidates for the role of Guardian.

    "Tyris is the Great Mother because she was chosen to embody Mogar¡¯s nurturing nature and promote the development of all species. Unlike Leegaain who hoards knowledge or Sark who uses it for personal gain, Tyris spreads it.

    "If you studied the history of the different continents, you¡¯d see that the Griffon Kingdom leads and the others follow. Sure, they can do better than us, but change always starts here."

    "You mentioned six Guardians that once were worshipped as gods, but so far you named only three and I fail to see how any of them could have been considered a god by the four races since they interact in such a whimsical way with them." Solus said.

    "Once again, you speak in hindsight and driven by your human standpoint." Faluel sighed. "Guardians tried to be part of the four races and to guide them at the best of their abilities.

    "Yet after the four races either distorted or exploited their teachings to subjugate one another, forcing them to intervene and fix their messes, most of the Guardians just gave up.

    "Once, Leegaain was considered the god of knowledge. He epted students and bing one of his priestesses was considered a great honor.

    "His students all became exceptional mages while his priestess, who shared his knowledge, were considered oracles capable of answering any question and even of predicting the future.

    "Sark too epted students, who would be either the great magical swordsmen you read about in the legends or the makers of legendary artifacts. Sark is considered the god of us Forgemasters.

    "She crafts and upgrades her equipment in a split second and ording to lore, she only needs a nce to replicate any item." Faluel said.

    "What do you mean, ording to lore?" Lith asked.

    "Sark fights alone. The only people who survive after witnessing her battles are those she is teaching to and all of her students are now dead." Faluel replied.

    "Tyris, instead, was considered the god of life. Her students would all be Magi. Most of them were less skilled or driven than Leegaain¡¯s students, but they would all focus on making Mogar a better ce rather than on themselves.

    "Fenagar the Leviathan was considered the god of discovery. He is probably the only creature that has traveled through the entirety of Mogar, even legendary zones like the Fringes of which we¡¯ll talk another time.

    "He is simr to Leegaain, yetpletely different. While Leegaain focuses on studying the existent and making sure such knowledge is preserved, Fenagar only cares for the research of the unknown, be it a physical ce or a new magical discipline.

    "His apprentices discovered new branches of magic, but just like their teacher, they lost interest after a while and started to explore new projects, so whatever Leegaain hasn¡¯t recorded has been lost to time."

    "Zagran the Garuda was the god of might. Unlike Sark who battles to conquer and inspire others, she only fights to improve her own strength. She isn¡¯t interested in killing her opponents, because it¡¯s only through the fight that she improves.

    "Her disciples mostly became monks and mages obsessed with reaching the white core of immortality, but none of them seeded. Please, I can¡¯t shove everything in a single lesson, let me continue." Faluel stopped their questions before they could say them out loud.

    "Roghar the Fenrir, was the god of mana. He spends his life trying to understand how mana and world energy interact. He believes that since all living beings have mana but only sentient beings have a core, it might be linked with the soul.

    "His disciples researched ways to turn crystals into living beings and if it was possible to reincarnate people by preserving their core. He was often mistaken for the god of the afterlife because of his knowledge, but death is not his trade.

    "Some say that Baba Yaga learned from both Zagran and Roghar. ording to such rumors, it was their knowledge that millennia ago allowed her to create the fourth race, the undead. Any question?" Faluel said.

    "Of the original six Guardians three live in the Garlen continent, where do the other three live?" Nalrond asked.

    "In the Jiera continent, the closest ce to Garlen they can live without fighting with their counterparts. Fenagar and Leegaain despise each other, just like Sark can¡¯t stand Zagran. Thest time they met, Tyris punched Roghar a continent away." Faluel said while looking at her clock.

    "By the Great Mother, I didn¡¯t notice how much time has passed. Lunch break and then I¡¯ll give you your first lesson of magic. Light magic. Eat whatever you want and wherever you want except than here.

    "I want to spend some quality time alone." Before they could even speak, Faluel was back into her Hydra form and Blinked in the middle of six magicalbs built close enough for her to use them all at the same time.

    "Rude!" Friya said once they found themselves outside their. "She could have at least told us how much time we have before Blinking us out."

    "Faluel will probably contact me the moment she is ready." Lith showed his Council¡¯s amulet with pride, leaving them all bbergasted.

    It was made of Davross instead of silver, and had a white magical gemstone instead of a blue one, making it a priceless artifact.

    "That said, Friya, shouldn¡¯t you be more respectful toward your future master?"

    "Seriously, what were you thinking?" Phloria said. To her, the idea of her sister bing a Harbinger was no joking matter. "Would you really spend your whole life serving a Hydra?

    "Sure, Faluel looks nice, but you would still need her permission to marry, have children, or even dating someone. This isn¡¯t like with our parents. You can¡¯t defy her once you undergo the ritual."

    "And maybe we shouldn¡¯t talk about it right on Faluel¡¯s doorstep." Quy said.

    Lith warped away and, after a few seconds, a Gate appeared in front of his friends. They found themselves inside Solus¡¯s tower in the Mirror Hall, where Solus was waiting for them in her human form.

    "I¡¯ve arranged the dining room so that you can talk in private. Lith, Nalrond, and I will dine in a different room." She said, once again doing her best to suppress her emotions.

    Solus cared deeply for Friya, but she was aware that even though they had spent countless hours together, Friya had always considered her nothing but Lith¡¯s stone ring.

    "Thanks for your concern, Solus." Friya gave her a small bow, making Solus feel like a stranger. "But there¡¯s no need for separate rooms. Lith is my best friend and I want him to understand my reasons.

    "It¡¯s clear you¡¯re very important to him and are also the reason why he took care of us in the first ce. This makes you important to me as well and I¡¯d love to have yourpany."

 Chapter 1052 Gods and Guardians Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1052 Gods and Guardians Part 4</h4>

    "As for Nalrond, making him dine alone would be beyond rude, and since we¡¯re going to spend quite a bit of time together, we¡¯d better start now." Friya said.

    Nalrond didn¡¯t like being on the receiving end of such blunt sincerity, but crashing the party beat spending all of his apprenticeship alone. He just gave her a small bow as a thank you and remained silent.

    ¡¯Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll pretend to listen and nod from time to time. I don¡¯t know them or what they went through and honestly, I don¡¯t care. The problem is that I can¡¯t keep living like this. I must learn how to interact with the other races properly.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t use my grief to cut everyone out of my life.¡¯ Nalrond thought.

    Lith moved them all to the dining room, where a circr table set for six people waited for them. Everything from the napkins to the cutlery was the product of exquisite craftsmanship.

    "Are you hitting on one of us or what?" Quy said while appreciating the gold veined porcin tes. "I didn¡¯t expect such luxury from someone as stingy as you."

    "Nope. I¡¯m just showing off my tower." Lith smirked. "Solus can replicate anything we see as long as it doesn¡¯t require enchanted materials so I can have whatever I want just by window shopping."

    "You must be the only show-off who¡¯s also a cheapskate." The Ernas sistersughed in unison.

    "He truly is." Solus joined them. "You have no idea how long it took me to have Lith dine in more than just a replica of the Verhens¡¯ kitchen."

    "I¡¯m a creature of habit." Lith replied with a snort.

    "Yeah, right. If not for Phloria and Kam, his idea of romantic dinner would still be a well-done steak wolfed down over the Forge between experiments." Solus said.

    After Lith took six pork shanks apanied by Maekosh¡¯s award-winning red ale he had bought for the asion out of his pocket dimension and everyone started eating, Friya spoke.

    "I know that my choice might be sound reckless to you, but this is my life. I didn¡¯t tell you about it because you can¡¯t possibly understand my situation and because it¡¯s too painful." She had to admit that Lith had excellent taste in beer.

    "Maye we can¡¯t fully understand, but we can at least try." Phloria said. "I don¡¯t believe you came to such a big decision out of the blue. You must have thought about it for a long time."

    "Well, I never considered bing a Harbinger until today, that was a desperate move, but you¡¯re right about the rest." Friya said.

    "The truth is that before your mother, I mean, Mom, adopted me I had all my life nned out. I would take the reins of the Solivar household and make sure that my family grew in power, establishing us as a magical bloodline.

    "I was ready to ept an arranged marriage and give birth to children until I had a magically gifted heir, but you know how it went. After my mother betrayed the Kingdom, I was left with nothing but the stigma of a traitor.

    "The Ernas already had an heir, Gunyin, your family is already an established magical bloodline, and I was adopted. I wasn¡¯t part of the line of session and had to just content myself with survival.

    "I think I would have gone insane if I didn¡¯t have to take care of Quy." Friya took her sister¡¯s hand, looking at her with affection.

    "She was even more adrift than I was and I poured all my energy into helping her not only because she needed me, but also because I didn¡¯t have the strength to face reality.

    "Once our group split up, after Quy started to walk on her own, I had to do the same. Unlike you Phloria, my long-term n was forever lost and unlike Quy, I had no real passion nor interest. I never understood Lith¡¯s goals and to be honest, I still don¡¯t, so following any of you wasn¡¯t an option.

    "On top of that, I was tired ofpeting and failing against you all. I never felt special. No matter what I did, one of you would manage to do it better. My guild was supposed to be my way out of mediocrity.

    "I wanted to explore the Kingdom on my terms, to be my own boss. My n was to find newpanions, to find my ce in the world, or at least understand what the heck I want to do with my life." Friya sighed.

    "Yet even though everything went as I wanted, I never felt more alone in my life. I missed you all like crazy. No one of my newpanions was really trustworthy. Most of them just wanted to hit on me or leech on the Ernas household.

    "More than an adventurer, I¡¯ve been a babysitter for lesser mages. During thest few years, I had my share of flings but no boyfriends. Heck, I don¡¯t even know if I ever loved any of them or if I was just trying to fill the void I felt in my heart.

    "Yet I soldiered on and did what society expects from an adult mage. I earned my living doing a job I hated, I spent time with people I didn¡¯t actually care about, and I researched Dimensional Magic.

    "Now, however, my guild is gone. I don¡¯t care enough about it to start from scratch, not when you all are about to go to a ce where I can¡¯t reach you anymore." Friya put down her cutlery, doing her best to hold back her tears.

    "Even when I risked years of life span in Zantia, I didn¡¯t care because you were with me, Lith. Between you and Protector, you made me feel more alive in those few days than I had been in years.

    "You made me remember how it feels to fight alongside someone you really trust. Down in those caves, even inside Baba Yaga¡¯s hut, I wasn¡¯t afraid of the future because you, my sisters, were with me.

    "The time we spent in the mines made me understand that I¡¯m sick and tired of wasting my life with something I don¡¯t care about. I don¡¯t want to feel so alone never again, yet Lith and Phloria are Awakened while Quy is bound to be the next Manohar if she learns from Faluel.

    "I¡¯m ready to be a Harbinger because at least it would allow me to not be a burden for you guys. I don¡¯t care about my freedom because it¡¯s wasted on me. I don¡¯t know what to do and I¡¯m too tired to care anymore.

    "If Faluel rejects me, I might as well go back home and marry one of Mom¡¯s rtives from the Myrok household. At least I¡¯m certain that Mom will pick for me someone who will treat me right and I will be finally done with struggling for everything.

    "I can¡¯t live with the thought of always being on the losing end nor of losing you guys forever. I¡¯d rather give up and ept my mediocrity."

    "How dare you talk like that about my hottest friend?" Lith said with such sincere outrage that made her giggle and pissed off the rest. "You have three specializations, one of which is rarer than finding a unicorn under a rainbow, and you are an excellent tactician."

 Chapter 1053 Shapeshifting Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1053 Shapeshifting Part 1</h4>

    "If you are mediocre, Friya, then what about everyone else? Half the people who graduate from the academies every year can¡¯t hold a candle to you. Solus and I pooled up our talents to replicate your Dimensional Ruler spell, but we failed because weck your dimensional awareness."

    "Lith is right." Phloria said. "I graduated from the White Griffon with only one specialization, so I can tell how amazing is someone like you who managed to achieve three of them at the same time.

    "I wouldn¡¯t have ever be a Forgemaster without Dad¡¯s tutoring nor learned tier four healing magic without Quy."

    "Don¡¯t get me started about how pissed off I am at myself!" Quy said. "Not only have I mastered only two specializations, but mybat prowess is nigh zero whereas you are all gods of war."

    "I have no idea what a specialization is but I agree with Friya." Nalrond said. "You are failing to grasp her point. It¡¯s not a matter of how much she learned so much as of how little satisfaction she got from what you consider achievements.

    "I know I¡¯m a great Healer and that many would kill to learn Light Mastery, but I would give up all my magic if it meant to have my tribe back." His sadness was tempered by the tender meat with a side of roasted potatoes and by the excellent beer.

    The Ernas sisters looked at him with a puzzled expression, uncertain how to reply. Lith briefly exined to them how his tribe had been tasked with sealing Dawn forever and had been exterminated by the Horseman after she fused with Ac.

    The three were shocked hearing how the traitorous Ranger had betrayed more than just his country. In his search for power, Ac had not hesitated to kill the very people who had saved him frommitting suicide and even his own wife.

    "Thanks, Nalrond. Your words mean a lot to me." Friya said. Comparing her situation with that of the Rezar made her feel like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.

    "No need to thank me. I can rte to you because my life got turned upside down as well and I know how hard it is to find a ce where you belong after being uprooted. I spent decades preparing to take my mother¡¯s ce among the keepers of the Horseman just to be a babysitter.

    "I realize it could have gone much worse, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m satisfied with the oue. I had a sacred duty to uphold and a betrothed to marry, yet now I have no purpose in life nor a family to take care of but Protector¡¯s.

    "I know how you feel and I can only respect your determination in finding a solution to your problem." Nalrond said, killing the conversation.

    At that point, the only thing that arguing with Friya could achieve was to hurt his feelings. They all knew and respected grief enough to postpone the discussion to another day, away from the Rezar.

    "Changing the subject, I¡¯m quite surprised by how easily you and Quy epted Solus¡¯s existence." Lith said to Friya. "I feared you might resent me for keeping her a secret for so long."

    ¡¯Thanks for breaking the ice on my behalf. I¡¯m still too embarrassed to speak with them freely.¡¯ Solus said through their mind link.

    ¡¯Less thinking and more talking, partner.¡¯ Lith replied.

    "I¡¯ll be honest with you." Friya moved her gaze from Lith to Solus, having a hard time epting how two beings so different could fit so well together. One was short, kind, and shy, while the other was Lith.

    "Had you stopped Phloria from breaking up with you, by now you two would probably be married and I¡¯d be scared shitless of you, Lith. I would have no way to know if Solus was your mistress or if you had been ying with Phloria¡¯s feelings all along just to get your hands on the Ernas¡¯s riches and magical legacy.

    "No offense, but everyone here knows how ruthless you are." Everyone nodded at her words, even Solus and Nalrond.

    "Yet even after she broke up with you, you didn¡¯t hold any grudge. Sure, you childishly avoided her, but that was understandable since you cared so much for her.

    Instead of giving me or Quy the cold shoulder when we were of no use to you anymore, you kept being a great friend.

    "You didn¡¯t hit on us, you never asked anything from my family, even when the two of us were Assistant Professors. Only then did I manage to get over your switch personality and understood how much you cared for us.

    "The events in Zantia and Kh only proved me right. I¡¯m a bit pissed off at you, not at Solus, for keeping her a secret, but I understand why you did it." Friya said.

    "Thanks, Friya. I really hope we can be friends." Solus said with a smile so happy that made Friya feel even more stupid.

    Phloria had told her sisters about Solus¡¯s struggle to get a life of her own and even Nalrond called himself luckypared to her.

    "Same here." Quy said. "I was honestly afraid that our rtionship would wither. After Yurial¡¯s death and Phloria dumping you, you had no reason to stick with us, but you did.

    "I¡¯m not afraid to admit that without you and Friya, I wouldn¡¯t have ever graduated from the White Griffon. Back in Kh, you didn¡¯t hesitate to expose your secret to save Phloria and I.

    "After epting your nature as a hybrid, after listening to how Solus fought by your side for us at every step and seeing her in action in your tower back in the camp, I¡¯m angry only because you should have told me sooner."

    "What is done is done." Lith sighed.

    "You have every right to be mad at me, but even if I could turn back time, I wouldn¡¯t change anything. My secrets would have only made your life even more difficult and, as you just said, it¡¯s because of the hardships that we went through together that we came to trust each other so much."

    "I¡¯m really curious, Solus. How was the academy for you?" There was no point in beating a dead horse and make the mood gloomier than it already was, so Friya changed the topic.

    "Great and terrible at the same time. On the one hand, I had never seen so many magic books or people our age. My condition as a stone ring, on the other hand, almost drove me crazy." Solus said.

    "I was so thrilled when you and Yurial approached us, but Lith trusted no one. After Phloria joined the group, I dreamed countless times of being able to speak with you all like this. This is one of the happiest days of my life."

    The fact that after all she had gone through, Solus could keep smiling like that just because of sharing a meal with other people, made everyone else feel like a cry-baby.

    "How many floors is the tower supposed to have?" Quy asked.

    "Beats me." Solus shrugged. "In my memories, it¡¯s something enormous that extends both upward to the sky and downward through the ground. Yet so far it has only five floors and I¡¯ve already achieved a cyan core.

    "Unless the next levels unlock several floors at once, there should be four floors left."

    (AN: If you¡¯re not reading this on WN, you¡¯re reading stolen content. Please, support the official release)

 Chapter 1054 Shapeshifting Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1054 Shapeshifting Part 2</h4>

    "What do you think Faluel¡¯s next lesson will be about?" Phloria had still mixed feelings about both Solus and Lith so she preferred to move back to neutral grounds.

    "Not Light Mastery for sure." Nalrond said. "I¡¯ve agreed to teach it only to Lith, Solus, and Faluel. No offense, but it¡¯s the legacy of my people and I don¡¯t n on sharing it with strangers."

    "None taken, but wow! Did you take rudeness sses or it¡¯s just natural talent?" Friya said.

    "I¡¯m just being honest." Nalrond would have liked more beer, but he was starting to feel sleepy and the lesson could start at any moment.

    "You were bound to find out and there was no way to sugarcoat the news. I thought it was better to put my cards on the table rather than act all mushy now and then drop them out of the blue."

    "From a fellow Healer to another, you¡¯re kind of a jerk." Quy said.

    "Thanks." Nalrond replied with a smile as if she hadplimented him.

    The group kept chatting until Lith¡¯s Council amulet lit up.

    "ytime is over, kids. Get back here." Faluel was still in her Hydra form and her snake head spoke with a hissing voice that creeped them out.

    The stark contrast between her human and Emperor Beast appearance only made her look like a monster out of a fairy tale. By the time they Warped inside Faluel¡¯sir, theb counters were gone and she was back in her human form.

    "I hope you had a good time and a pleasant meal because I sure did." She was wearing blue overalls with several silvery toolsing out of its front pocket and a ck shirt underneath.

    Her outfit and the sawdust amid her hair made Faluel look more like a carpenter than a mage.

    "Do you have any quick questions before we start the lesson? Any doubts that came to your mind during lunch?" She asked.

    "I have a few." Phloria said. "How does one be a Guardian and why do they turn into beasts after being appointed? Is there a meaning behind it?"

    "You be a Guardian if Mogar chooses you." Faluel shrugged. "As for the rest, you got it wrong. They didn¡¯t turn into beasts, they were all beasts to start with."

    "What?" The Ernas sisters said in unison.

    "Two continents and no human Guardian? How is that possible?" Friya¡¯s question made Faluel chuckle.

    "Good gods, you girls would fit perfectly in the Council right now. There is no human Guardian on the whole Mogar, just like there isn¡¯t a nt Guardian nor an undead Guardian. Only beasts have ever managed to be one."

    "What does this mean?" Friya said.

    "Does Mogar discriminate?" Quy asked.

    "Are beasts the chosen race or what?" Phloria asked.

    "I said quick questions, whereas those lead only to a philosophical debate that to this day has no answer. No one knows, sorry." Faluel said.

    "I¡¯ve got a quick one." Lith said. "Why there are only lesser Dragons? Are the other Guardians¡¯ bloodlines purer, more stable, or what?"

    "There aren¡¯t just lesser Dragons. Do you remember Fe the Behemoth? Well, she¡¯s a lesser Griffon. All Guardians¡¯ bloodline can experience mutations that usually lead to a new and weaker species.

    "Guardians are apex predators, improving their bodies is something that I think even Mogar would find it difficult to achieve. Anyone else?" Faluel waited a few seconds before resuming to talk.

    "Excellent. Since you are all aplished Healers, I will now proceed to exin to you one of the mostmon arts that Awakened use while most other creatures don¡¯t. Shapeshifting.

    "It allows us to change their physical appearance and blend in more easily in a different society or to create us fake identities when we don¡¯t want to be recognized. Before starting, let¡¯s make a quick recap.

    "Why do people consider shapeshifting to be just a myth?" Faluel asked.

    "Because shapeshifting is nothing but Body Sculpting applied to the whole body. The smallest mistake while altering someone¡¯s life force can have terrible consequences. Brain damage, organs failure, deformities, and that¡¯s just naming a few." Quy said.

    "Correct. Anything else?"

    "Shapeshifting is as dangerous as it¡¯s pointless from a fighting standpoint." Lith said.

    "No matter how big you make yourself, the mass doesn¡¯t change nor does your strength. On top of that, moving with a body that it¡¯s not yours messes up your muscles memory and you need to get used to it every single time."

    "Correct again." Faluel nodded. "Aside from making someone taller, slenderer, or more beautiful, shapeshifting doesn¡¯t change the nature of things, only their appearance.

    "It also has several more risks that normal people never consider. There is a reason why people like Raagu don¡¯t try to appear younger nor Awakened make themselves look like Tista all the time.

    "There¡¯s also a reason why a Hydra like me doesn¡¯t just shapeshift into a seven-headed Dragon to not be pegged as "lesser" anymore.

    "When you change your appearance, you¡¯re not only fooling others, but yourself as well. Those who keep a fake appearance for too long often forget about their real self, about how they really are and be unable to revert to their original state.

    "No matter how good-looking or muscr you make yourself, that¡¯s a lie and as such, it limits your natural potential. In the long term, such deep changes in the life force end up affecting the development of the individual.

    "Your body wasn¡¯t meant to be like that and the changes you applied might as well suppress rather than enhance your natural abilities. Among Awakened, shapeshifting your body into that of another member of your race is almost considered a taboo." Faluel said.

    "Wait, what about you, then? What about Protector and his hybrid form?" Friya asked.

    "Those are both excellent questions. Changing into another race is easier because it¡¯s too different from your original form to affect your mind. Usually, beasts only have one human appearance and they stick to it all their life.

    "On top of that, since our mass is much greater than a human¡¯s,pressing our forms helps us to keep our life force stable and retain most of our skills. We lose our fangs and ws, but our life force remains almost the same.

    "Feel free to use Scanner on me." Faluel reverted to his Hydra form, making it easier for everyone to put a hand on her at the same time.

    To Scanner, Faluel¡¯s life force looked like a bright violet star that burned with power. Lith could even see what looked like sr res and eruptions. The surface of the star was never still.

    It wasprised of countless streams of energy that flowed into each other countering their respective effects and allowing the star to keep its form stable despite the apparent chaos.

    "Oh gods, and here I thought humans¡¯ life force wasplex." Quy said.

    "Keep looking, I¡¯m about to shapeshift." Faluel¡¯s body shrunk and so did her life force.

    The maelstrom thatprised the violet star became more violent as the currents abovepressed those below. By the time Faluel was back in her human form, her life force was apparently stable again.

    The star was still violet and its power unchanged. It had just gotten smaller and reshaped so to look like a human¡¯s life force, but instead of lego bricks and erector set, it was still made of energy streams.

    All the excess mass was stored in apressed star identical to the original that was located where the human heart was supposed to be.

    (AN: If you¡¯re not reading this on WN, you¡¯re reading stolen content. Please, support the official release)

 Chapter 1055 Shapeshifting Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1055 Shapeshifting Part 3</h4>

    "Do you understand now?" Faluel said. "Having a bigger body makes so that when I turn into a smaller figure, I can retain most of my abilities. I only need to affect enough life force to shape my new form whereas the rest remains the same.

    "Now for my next trick..." Faluel started to change again, assuming what could be considered a Dragon-Hydra hybrid.

    Her body was not humanoid but covered in thick emerald scales, about 3.5 meters (11¡¯6") tall. She had seven snake heads, each one on a serpentine neck over four times longer than a human¡¯s allowing them to look in every direction.

    Both her hands and feet ended with razor-sharp ws and there was a set of membranous wings on her back. Her life force was back to look like a violet star, but it wasn¡¯t a perfect sphere anymore.

    It was possible to see some bumps and dents that altered the path of the energy streams, making them move awkwardly. Yet that happened only on the surface. Below, the star was stillpressed and retained its original form.

    "This is my hybrid form. The bumps and dents you see are the alterations I needed to look more like a Dragon and less like a Hydra. Getting legs and arms messed up with my usually stumpy but also incredibly sturdy body, making it weaker.

    "Usually, you always attack the heads and necks of a Hydra because the rest is harder than steel. To sustain the seven heads and move freely, our whole body is nothing but a bundle of muscles covered with scales so hard that they make it as solid as a mountain.

    "Our long, slender necks, however, offer a much easier target. As for the wings, I wasn¡¯t born with them, so getting used to fly took me a lot of practice. I only use the hybrid form when I¡¯m forced to fight in enclosed spaces because it¡¯s better than my human body but it¡¯s still inferior to a Hydra." Faluel shapeshifted back into her human form.

    "Now, if you can take your hands off me, I would really appreciate it. As much as I like you, Phloria, I don¡¯t appreciate getting groped on a first date."

    Nalrond and Lith had their hands on the Hydra¡¯s shoulders, whereas the Ernas sisters were in front of Faluel.

    "Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to..." Phloria blushed, realizing that having no knowledge of a Hydra anatomy, the ce where she had put her hand on the Emperor Beast had turned out to be Faluel¡¯s human breasts.

    "I was joking, child." She chuckled. "Back to our lesson. You now have all the elements to understand why shapeshifting is easier for beasts and more dangerous for humans. Nalrond?"

    "It¡¯s because turning into a smaller body allows you to keep the extra life force in its original state whereas turning into a bigger one means to stretch your life force and making it frailer."

    "Correct. It¡¯s not because our life force is simpler or easier to manipte, but just a matter of mass. That¡¯s why I suggest you to practice shapeshifting mainly on your Emperor Beast body and not your human form. It will save you a lot of troubles."

    "Life force works exactly like metal." Faluel took a steel te from one of her nearby Forges.

    "Getting smaller just means to increase its density, like bending and folding this te on itself over and over until it bes no bigger than a toy." She used Spirit Magic to turn it into a rectangr ingot no bigger than a deck of cards.

    "Getting bigger, instead, means to spread your mass to the point that even the weakest impact can shatter your body." Another pulse of Spirit Magic unfolded the ingot while pulling it in every direction.

    Soon it was a square with a side of over 10 meters (33 feet) but it was also so thin that even Quy could pierce it with a fist.

    "Emperor Beasts choose as their human appearance simply how they want to be perceived by humans. It¡¯s not a rational choice but only a matter of how they see themselves in rtion to your society.

    "Our hybrid form, instead, is simply a means to not be restricted by our massive size. Sometimes a bigger body just means a bigger target. The hybrid form allows us to employ all kinds of weapons while retaining most of our strength, but the more you alter it, the weaker it bes.

    "To give you an example, if I remove the wings, my hybrid form bes more stable and hence stronger, but sometimes aerial maneuverability is more important than raw power.

    "All of you can¡¯t assume an Emperor Beast or a magical beast form because youck mass. It would be a dangerous procedure and a pointless exercise since your clumsy movements would give out your real nature.

    "On top of that, learning how to move on all four and how to use a beast¡¯s senses would require more effort than it¡¯s worth. You¡¯ll practice changing from a human to another since discretion is a priceless asset.

    "I¡¯ll split you into teams based on your nature..."

    "Wait, I have a question." Lith said, cutting Faluel short.

    "Care sharing it with the ss?"

    "In the past, Solus and I have merged a few times, bing no different from Ac and Dawn. Thest time it happened, my body grew in size and I was a lot stronger than usual. How do you exin it?" Lith said.

    "I need more details." Faluel replied.

    Lith told her how it had happened the first time when Scarlett had tried to kill him to study Solus, the second time when they had made up for their first and only big quarrel, and the third time while fighting the Bright Day.

    "You told me you can fuse your minds at will. Can you do the same with your bodies?" Faluel said.

    "No. We tried multiple times, but we always failed. It¡¯s not enough to just agree on it, we must be in perfect synch. After defeating Dawn, our union broke only when Kam called me since Solus likes her, but not as much as I do." Lith winked at Faluel.

    "Lith, I can see you winking!" Solus said from her desk.

    "I have a couple of exnations for the phenomenon. Are you sure you won¡¯t tell me about what Solus¡¯s real nature is?" The Hydra had no idea that Solus was Menadion¡¯s legacy and Lith liked to keep things that way.

    "I sure am."

    "Then you¡¯ll have to settle for my guesses. I¡¯ve noticed that Solus is bing bigger as she recovers her abilities, hence either somehow she just adds her mass to your own and the resulting union works just like a new limb, or she has a battle form that gets unlocked due to your temporarilybined prowess.

    "In both cases, you don¡¯t get new mass from nothing, you borrow hers which in turn increases by absorbing the surrounding energy and materials, correct?" Faluel said.

    "Correct." Lith nodded.

    ¡¯After all, the first time we both got just stronger. The second time, the tower got a new floor and you got your energy body. The third time we were on a mana geyser, but you couldn¡¯t take your tower form.¡¯

 Chapter 1056 Shapeshifting Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1056 Shapeshifting Part 4</h4>

    ¡¯Maybe the creature we formed was a fusion of my hybrid form and yours. With the tower¡¯s mass, there¡¯s no telling how big I might be.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Yeah, but it¡¯s also a bit creepy. It also doesn¡¯t exin why since you gained the blue core, you temporarily grow in size on your own during each breakthrough. It might be rted to your world tribtions or to your life forces merging.

    ¡¯Do we want to talk about it with Faluel?¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Not in front of the others. Scarlett might have told her about my world tribtion since ording to Protector, she spectated and even discussed it with Tyris. If that¡¯s the case, she¡¯s just respecting my privacy. But if not, it¡¯s big news.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯By my maker! You just got rid of your secrets just to add a new one?¡¯ Solus said with a groan.

    ¡¯Fine, you win.¡¯ Lith shared with everyone the description of what happened to him during a breakthrough or a world tribtion.

    ¡¯After all, Quy, Phloria, and Protector already witnessed it. If Mogar wanted me to be discreet about my tribtions, she could have sent me a note when she talked with Solus.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I¡¯m d that you finally told me about your tribtions. As for the changes you experience during your breakthroughs, I have no exnation for it, but I¡¯m certain that they are unrted to your chances of bing a Guardian.

    "Only time will tell if your growing life forces will also require more mass." Faluel said with a warm smile and without a shred of surprise.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! How much did exactly Scarlett tell Faluel about me?¡¯ Lith though.

    "I¡¯m even happier to see you opening up with your friends." Faluel waved her hand to all those present, Nalrond included. "If I were you, however, I will not share it with any other Awakened.

    "Not that they would try to harm you since making an enemy out of a possible Guardian is not a wise choice. Also, any attempt on your life would anger the Beast and Human Council big time, but the other factions might consider you a threat.

    "It¡¯s better if they keep considering you just a human-beast hybrid. This way you can avoid making enemies inside the Council."

    "So that¡¯s why in Kh you already had four wings, the long tail, and all seven eyes opened!" Phloria needed to sit down and the others quickly followed her lead.

    "Hybrid, Awakened, and even Guardian? And here I thought that my life was messed up." Friya said.

    "Sadly, I have to agree." Lith sighed.

    "Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t want to be in his shoes either." Faluel said. "The moment Lith fails a world tribtion, his crippled life force will be the least of his problems. I¡¯ve lost a few friends that way."

    "Do you mean that..." Lith needed to sit down as well.

    "Yes. They all died."

    "Fuck me sideways." Lith mmed his head against the hardwood desk. Suddenly being the Lord of Destruction sounded like a curse rather than a blessing.

    "There¡¯s no need to be so glum. In thest few centuries, a lot of beasts have incurred into tribtions, none of them has be a Guardian, but very few of them died for it." Faluel tried to cheer him up.

    "Meaning?"

    "A world tribtion happens only when your will and Mogar¡¯s are in perfect synch, just like your union with Solus. It¡¯s a very rare event since usually Mogar doesn¡¯t wish for anything. Living a quiet life usually implies avoiding further tribtions." Faluel said.

    "Now, let¡¯s get back to our lesson. Friya, Quy, you will work with me. Nalrond and Phloria, both of you can use true magic so you¡¯re paired up. Solus, you will work with Lith.

    "Yourck of a body and your natural ability to shapeshift your stone form regardless of your life force makes it impossible for you to practice on your own. Yet you know Lith¡¯s life force as the back of your hand and your bond will allow you to experience the pain from any mistake you might make."

    Faluel patted the stone doll¡¯s head that was now Solus¡¯s appearance to reassure her.

    "What do you mean, pain?" Friya asked.

    "Today, you will learn how to change only the most external details, like the length of your hair, the shape of your nose, and your face. Do not attempt to alter your height, your organs, and most of all, do not even get close to your brain.

    "One of the most important differences between fake and true mages is that thetter can weave spells with their minds, whereas the former needs to speak and form hand signs.

    "That means that any mistake with the hands, voice, or even the tongue will leave the fake mage blocked in an imperfect body with no way to fix it. True mages, instead, as long as their brain is not affected, can always cast spells and correct their mistakes.

    "It¡¯s the reason why learning how to Shapeshift is so dangerous for fake mages and rtively easy for those like Awakened or the children of Emperor Beasts who can use true magic.

    "Before we start, we have to address a problem first. Lith, Phloria, and Solus. Come here." Faluel beckoned to them. "Based on what you told me, your breathing technique, Invigoration, doesn¡¯t allow you to see life forces, correct?"

    "Correct. Solus and I worked on it since the fifth year of academy, but we never managed to fix the issue." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s why self-Awakened often need a mentor." Faluel stood on her tip-toes and ruffled his hair as if he was a child. "Show me how it works and I¡¯ll tell you what you are doing wrong."

    ¡¯There¡¯s no harm doing it.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Faluel¡¯s breathing technique has been passed down for generations, so it¡¯s bound to be better than mine.¡¯

    Lith did as instructed, showing and telling her how he performed Invigoration. Nalrond, Friya, and Quy exploited the opportunity to learn it as well, but not having a shred of Awakening in them, they failed.

    Faluel, instead, learned it on the first try. Then the Hydra used Invigoration on herself to understand its strengths and limitations.

    "It¡¯s an excellent technique for something made by a child." Faluel had no idea Lith had always been an adult nor how much thought he had put in all of his creations.

    "Thanks. Lith and I worked a lot on it over the years." Solus knew that Phloria could spot Lith¡¯s lies, but her own face was literally a stone mask.

    "Let me guess, you created it with in mind the goal to study and understand the changes in your body." Faluel said.

    "Exactly. Back then I had no idea what a core was nor what its color meant. It¡¯s only thanks to Invigoration that I understood what being an Awakened meant." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s the problem. You see, anothermon misconception is to think of life force as something small, hidden inside the body. Yet the truth is that the life force is neither small nor hidden.

    "Life force is what shapes the entirety of your bodies, both internally and externally. You created Invigoration as a spyss that allows you to see a single pine needle, but at the same time, it gives you tunnel vision and keeps you from seeing the pine tree.

    "You need to change how Invigoration distributes the world energy through your body and stop focusing on the details. As it is, Invigoration allows you to collect and put together small bits of information, but it fails at perceiving the bigger picture."

 Chapter 1057 Elbow Grease Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1057 Elbow Grease Part 1</h4>

    Faluel instructed Lith, Solus, and Phloria how to modify Invigoration by taking shallower breaths and holding them in longer. That way, the world energy would only flood the outeryer of their bodies without providing useless information about the single cells.

    The Hydra¡¯s breathing technique, Lifestream, could see more than just life forces and mana cores, but she couldn¡¯t entrust such abilities to someone so young whose wisdom she had yet to put to the test.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, Lith, but knowledge is the greatest power a mage can achieve. Too much and too fast can be toxic for a young mind. Too many of my children became drunk on power ad let their natural gifts corrupt their personality.¡¯ Faluel thought.

    Lith and Solus needed a few attempts to seed, but mostly because changing Invigoration that much felt almost like betraying a dear friend. The breathing technique was as old as Lith and had saved their lives countless times.

    Giving up on it made them mourn like the day the Gatekeeper sword broke.

    "Finally!" Lith said as soon as he became able to see his own life force without Scanner. "By the Great Mother, it¡¯s so much more urate than Scanner."

    "Yeah. The best part is that we can now both regain our mana and check on our patients without a tier five spell draining our focus." Now that Faluel had shown them how to modify a breathing technique, Solus was eager to experiment on her own.

    Phloria was a beginner, so it took her some guidance to seed.

    "I thought you forbid me from using breathing techniques until my body stabilized. Should I use Scanner instead of Invigoration?" Phloria said.

    "No need. Invigoration is just a variation of the technique Lith uses to develop his mana core. You can¡¯t use any of those techniques to rejuvenate your body or refine your core because it might put you at risk.

    "Using Invigoration as a diagnostic tool, instead, requires solely to circte the world energy without assimting it. The amount you¡¯ll use for the exercise is so little energy that it¡¯s safe." Faluel said.

    "Wait a minute. Scarlett never taught Protector a breathing technique, so I had to teach him mine. How did he manage to Shapeshift?" Lith asked.

    "She taught him just what he needed. Protector is a self-Awakened, like you, so he is bound to have his own breathing technique even if he doesn¡¯t realize it. Scarlett¡¯s teachings were meant to give him the foundation to perfect it, but when you taught Invigoration to Protector, he fused them without noticing." Faluel exined.

    She then showed them a box full of ck spheres the size of an orange and offered it to them.

    "Take one, pass the rest along." She said.

    "Why are you giving us Guilty Ballots?" Quy looked around, almost expecting to see bullies everywhere.

    "Gods, no. Those are Life Sculptures. Just take one, imprint it, and then press the big button." Faluelughed.

    "Sounds more like a Ballot by the second." Quy mumbled.

    Yet once she performed thests step, instead of calling for help the Life Sculpture projected in her mind how Quy¡¯s life force was shaped down to the smallest detail.

    "Good gods, this is amazing! If we had these things at the White Griffon, our studies about Body Sculpting would advance by leaps and bounds." She said.

    "As I said earlier, the greatest danger of shapeshifting is being unable to restore your original body. This way, even if you forget something, the Life Sculpture will aid you to not lose your way." Faluel gave Quy a polite bow as thank you for herpliment.

    "Unlike normal enchanted items, anyone can press the button and check your life force. That means that even in case you be unable to use magic, someone else can use the Life Sculpture to understand what went wrong and save you.

    "Beginners should always work in teams and practice one at a time. Start by altering your bodies and don¡¯t stop unless you¡¯re exhausted or you need help fixing a mistake."

    Lith, Solus, and Phloria spent the first few minutes getting ustomed to their new and improved Invigoration. Only once they made sure that their breathing technique was in no way inferior to Scanner did they start practicing.

    Lith tried to make his hair longer and ended up bald. Then he tried to shorten his nose that he always found to be a bit too long for his taste, crooking it as result.

    ¡¯By my maker! You trained too much and now you look like a clone of One Fist Dude.¡¯ Solusughed her ass off.

    "Professor Faluel, what am I doing wrong?" Lith had a hard time notughing as well.

    "Ten points to Lith for asking help and ten more for lighting my cave with his brilliant mind." Faluel had no such problem while pointing at his shiny head.

    She checked his Life Sculpture and then his life force.

    "Everyone, stop what you¡¯re doing and listen. Lith tried to extend his life force to make his hair longer and shortened that of his nose to get it smaller. Who can tell me what he did wrong?"

    No one raised their hand, making Faluel sigh with disappointment.

    "Extending the hair made them brittle. He should have stimted his metabolism to provide them with nutrients as they grew. As Lith did, instead, he had the same mass spread over double its natural length until the hair couldn¡¯t support its own weight.

    "As for the nose, you can¡¯t just shorten the bits you don¡¯t like and leave the rest as it is. You have to shorten the nose as a whole, otherwise you get a zig-zag effect. Remember, if you extend something, something else must get shorter. You don¡¯t get free mass." Faluel said while fixing Lith¡¯s appearance.

    Solus tried something simpler, making his hair wheat-blonde and changing the length of a single nail. Once she was done, Lith looked as if someone had spilled bleach on his head and had put his finger into acid, but at least they managed to fix everything on their own.

    "How do I look?" Quy asked after making her face resemble Friya¡¯s.

    "Creepy as fuck." Her sister said.

    "Your talent really is impressive." Faluel gave her apuse.

    "Thanks, but between your exnations and the years I spent practicing Body Sculpting, I think I have an unfair advantagepared to others." Quy puffed her chest out with pride in contrast with her words.

    "No more than Lith. Invigoration gives him more information than Scanner does and it doesn¡¯t cost mana. On top of that, it also requires less focus." Faluel said. "Yet Friya is right, you¡¯re creepy. Don¡¯t mimic others, please."

    They kept practicing non-stop until dinner time came. Lith had focused on his hair, trying all the haircuts of Earth¡¯s singers he could remember. Solus, instead, focused on his eyes, trying to make them look less cruel.

    By the end of the lesson, Nalrond could change his skin color at will, switching from his usual bronze to a shade of pink almost identical to the citizens of the Kingdom or to the pale skin typical of the Empire in the blink of an eye.

    "I just need to change my cut eye as well to go unnoticed." He said after checking the results of hisbor in a mirror.

 Chapter 1058 Elbow Grease Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1058 Elbow Grease Part 2</h4>

    Friya focused on her nose, trying to ruin the symmetry of her face to look more inconspicuous while Phloria worked on her cheekbones.

    Faluel allowed them a short break to catch their breath since all the non-Awakened were dead tired. They were exchanging opinions on their respective results and sharing the mistakes they had made when a sudden knocking took them all by surprise.

    "It¡¯s toote for Protector toe and I wasn¡¯t expecting visits." Faluel focused on the door, receiving an image of her surprise guest. "Kam is here."

    At those words, Solus turned from stone doll back into her ring form and hid under her desk before Faluel let Lith¡¯s girlfriend in.

    "Is there something wrong, miss Yehval?" Faluel asked.

    "Actually, yes. I¡¯m here to arrest Lith on the charges of not being home for dinner and mistreatment of girlfriend." Kam had such a serious face and tone that it made the Hydraugh.

    "Nice try, but no cigar. I¡¯ll let them grab a bite to eat and then put them back to work. You should know that an Awakened needs but a breath to recover their strength." Faluel shook her head.

    "Yeah, but Lith and Phloria are the only Awakened. On top of that, I seem to recall that her body is still highly unstable, so Lith would be the only one working all night long." Kam replied, cracking her opponent¡¯s armor who couldn¡¯t tell her about Solus.

    "I¡¯ve worked all day and I really miss my boyfriend. His body and mind might be fixed by Invigoration, but what about his heart? Would you really keep us apart on a whim? Please, tell me that you¡¯re as beautiful inside as you are on the outside."

    Between Kam¡¯s words and her looking at Faluel with big, puppy eyes, the Hydra was unable to reply. Faluel knew a great deal about loneliness and istion. That plus Lith¡¯s personality issues tipped the scale in Kam¡¯s favor.

    "Fine. ss dismissed. I expect him here at sunrise." Faluel said.

    The ss fell to the ground, thanking the gods for their mercy amid pants and groans. Everyone was drenched in sweat, their body sore from the mana abuse and the strain of shapeshifting for hours.

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kam hugged the Hydra and gave her a baking tray from the dimensional amulet.

    The smell of food that spread throughout their was so good that it made everyone¡¯s mouth water.

    "It¡¯s one of my specialties and I should have made enough for everyone." Kam said while Faluel looked at the delicioussagna with greed.

    There was enough to feed eight people, but for a Hydra it was barely a bite.

    "Do you want me to move you to Derios?" Faluel said.

    "Yes, please. I¡¯ve arranged a romantic dinner back home just for the two of us." Kam embraced Lith and kissed him despite his pungent smell.

    "Lith is really a lucky man." Nalrond said in envy.

    "No, I¡¯m the lucky one. I hope you enjoy my recipe. See you soon!" Kam waved at them while the Warping Array covered the distance separating their from the capital of the Distar Marquisate in one go.

    From there, a couple of Warp Gates and a flight of stairs led the couple to their apartment in Belius.

    "Why don¡¯t we move somewhere else? This city is so glum." Lith said.

    "No way. This is our home, the ce where we shared a lot of wonderful moments together. I¡¯m not going to move without an excellent reason." Kam firmly refused.

    "Besides, it perfect for two, it¡¯s already furnished with magical appliances, and thanks to the city¡¯s safety measures, no one can bother us with a surprise visit." She closed her army amulet inside a drawer, hoping it would remain silent.

    "Now go take a shower, please. Your smell is ruining the ambiance I worked so hard to set." The house was clean and candlelit.

    The table had been set for two with all the mystical Camellias Lith had gifted Kam arranged in the middle as centerpiece. The food was already on the table, covered by Lith¡¯s Doggy Bags.

    From his visits to Huryole, Lith had learned how to create enchanted cookware that would keep the food warm even in the presence of a dimensional blocking array. Kam had no idea why he had named them like that since they had no dog nor Lith wanted one, but she had learned to not ask too many questions.

    "I thought you didn¡¯t mind me exercising. Care to join me in the shower?" He said with ae-hither gesture.

    "I don¡¯t mind a bit of sweat, not hours of dried sweat covered by more sweat." Kam said. "As for the shower, I¡¯d like to, but I can¡¯t. I have to give the finishing touches to the table."

    Her reply disappointed Lith, but the thought that he had just a few hours before going back to his apprenticeship made him agree with her. After he was done, Lith found Kam waiting for him at the table.

    She wore a gorgeous ck cocktail dress with a keyhole neckline that left her arms and shoulders exposed.

    "Homemade food, beer from Maekosh, and that dress? I thought I was under arrest or something." Lith said while holding her between his arms.

    "You¡¯ve been a very bad boyfriend, Archmage Verhen, but your punishment can wait until after dinner." She gave him a long, sweet kiss before pushing him away. "If you dare to waste all my efforts, you¡¯ll spend the next fortnight on the couch.

    "How did your first day of apprenticeship go?"

    Lith told her a bit about the history of the Guardians before moving to his shapeshifting lesson.

    "Bald with a crooked nose? Man, I would¡¯ve loved to be there." Sheughed. "Did you take a picture or something?"

    "Luckily for me, no. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s so hard even with Faluel¡¯s teachings and her help to upgrade Invigoration. It would have taken me years only to understand the basics on my own." Lith sighed.

    "Do you think that Friya will really take the oath of a Harbinger? That would be really big news." Kam said.

    "Why big news? It¡¯s something that involves only her and Faluel. By the way, this is the best food you¡¯ve ever made. What¡¯s the secret ingredient?"

    "Gods, you¡¯re so na?ve. First, Phloria quit the army for good, then the Crystal Shield got disbanded, and now Quy took a sabbatical from the White Griffon academy. The Ernas are drifting away from the Kingdom and following you into the beasts¡¯ fold.

    "The Royals are worried, the entire Ernas household is royally pissed off and with them more than half the Royal Court. Deirus is in hot water because even without proof, everyone is ming him for those events.

    "Between you, Quy, and Manohar, the White Griffon is so enraged that if Deirus or any of his associates asks for the academy¡¯s help, they are likely to die from ¡¯unforeseen medicalplications¡¯.

    "On top of that, if Friya bes a Harbinger, it would be the final nail in the coffin of the Kingdom¡¯s hopes to keep the loyalty of the first Dimensional Mage of your generation.

    "As for the food, I¡¯m d that you like it." Kam gave him a dazzling smile. "The secret ingredient is elbow grease, tears, sweat, and making sure that all of that doesn¡¯t end up in the baking tray."

 Chapter 1059 The Seventh Element Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1059 The Seventh Element Part 1</h4>

    "Knowing that you wouldn¡¯t risk your life for a long while made me so happy that I prepared all of your favorite foods. Eat to your heart content, there¡¯s plenty of seconds." Kam said.

    "About that..." Lith¡¯s guilt for ruining her mood twisted his face into a grimace so bad that for a moment Kam believed to have used spoiled ingredients.

    "Please, tell me that it¡¯s because of the food." She said once she understood what was about to happen.

    "No. It¡¯s delicious. The problem is my potential Guardianhood." Lith exined to her everything he had learned about world tribtions.

    He didn¡¯t want to hide anything but Solus from her, and Kam had the right to know that he might drop dead the moment he failed a tribtion.

    "That¡¯s wonderful news." Kam replied, shocking Lith. "I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m dating the future seventh god of Mogar."

    "Guardians are not gods and I¡¯m not even sure I¡¯ll..."

    "Stop right there. I told you to not waste my efforts to prepare our date." Kam mmed her hand on the table and cut him short. "No pessimism allowed in this house, not tonight. I forbid you to die, hence you shall not. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal." Lith chuckled at how amazing she was.

    "Good. Now, inmate Verhen, say once again how much you like the food and how good this dress looks on me." She took a pair of handcuffs from under her chair and made it rattle on her palm.

    "The food is beyond delicious and the only thing more beautiful than your dress is the woman wearing it, Constable Yehval." Lith understood the theme of the evening and brought Kam on hisp before kissing her.

    "Don¡¯t get cocky, prisoner. I¡¯ve still a lot of orders for you tonight." Kam said while gently caressing his hair.

    ***

    The following day, Lith met the others in front of Faluel¡¯sir while the sun rose from the horizon, painting the treetops yellow. Solus jumped back on his hand the moment she perceived him approaching.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here. Yesterday I spent a lot of energy and the mana geyser helped me to regain a bit of my strength, but I still need you for the real deal." Solus could feel her mana core recovering by the second, even without the use of Invigoration.

    Lith¡¯s bright blue core provided her with an amazing amount of nourishment which coupled with all the sleep she had and the world energy absorbed by the tower allowed her for a quick recovery.

    Quy suddenly clung to him in an awkward embrace akin to that of a slumbering bear holding to a tree in the attempt to resist the call of winter hibernation.

    "I envy you, Solus. Lith doesn¡¯t work for me and I still feel like crap." Her voice slurred and her eyes were half-closed.

    "How can you be so tired? We only practiced in the afternoon and we had over eight hours of rest." Lith asked, receiving Quy¡¯s snoring as an answer.

    "How can you not be dead tired?" Friya replied. "Academy lessonssted two hours and we only had three tops a day. Yesterday we had two lessons and we practiced from after lunch to dinner.

    "Seven frigging hours of non-stop spellcasting is one hour more than we did at the academy during the entire day!"

    "If Faluel keeps up like this, not even I might be able to put up with the workload." Nalrond yawed.

    He had two bodies and his meditation techniques to assist his recovery, but his human form was beat nheless due to hisck of stamina.

    "I¡¯m the one in better shape after a good night¡¯s sleep, but my body ached all night as if I fought instead of resting. Is it normal?" Phloria asked.

    "Yes. Once an Awakened acquires a blue core, their body bes able to absorb world energy and circte life force without the use of any technique. You, however, went from the body of a red cored human to that of a blue cored in one go.

    "The unease you felt was probably due to the strain you endured yesterday tempering your body and making its refinement progress further. If you used Invigoration, instead, its rejuvenating effects would have kept your body as it was." Lith said.

    "I couldn¡¯t have said it better." Faluel opened the door of herir while checking everyone with Invigoration.

    "Nalrond, Quy, your bodies are too weak. You need physical training as well. Phloria, Lith, good job not using Invigoration to recover. Magic is for an Awakened¡¯s body what the mes of a forge are for a de.

    "It tempers your whole being and allows the impurities you still possess to move to your weakest areas. Friya, Solus, the fact that you both are still standing despite your condition demonstrates how promising your talent is."

    Faluel touched everyone but the Awakened in the group and used Invigoration to restore solely their vitality.

    "Get in, your lesson has already started." Faluel made the desks and chairs appear before forcing everyone to sit down.

    "Today I¡¯ll tell you about Spirit Magic and then we¡¯ll proceed with the practice. Even though non-Awakened can¡¯t use it, the knowledge I¡¯ll share during this lesson will help you survive in the case you face Awakened enemies and might even help you toe up with better spells.

    "First of all, what is Spirit Magic? It¡¯s the embodiment of the mana flow that only Awakened possess. Creatures like magical beasts, Emperor Beasts, Abominations, and the other Fallen races all can use magic in its true form, but not Spirit Magic.

    "That¡¯s because true magic is nothing but the ability to weave the runes thatprise a spell with your mind. The species I mentioned have powerful cores and an affinity to the elements so high that, to them, calling upon the elements requires but a shred of mana.

    "Elemental spells need to be cast an amount of energy that even a slumbering core can produce.

    "Spirit Magic, instead, isprised of pure mana. Even in its first magic form, Spirit Magics is more energy expensive than any other element and requires constant focus." Faluel waved her hands in the air, making emerald tendrils of energye out from her fingers.

    "Usually, it¡¯s invisible to the naked eye, but Life Vision can detect it and you can feel Spirit Magic with your touch because of its physical nature." The tendrils moved close to the desks, allowing everyone to experience Spirit Magic.

    Even though the green mana looked ethereal and they could see through it as if it was a green mist, the tendrils were as hard as steel to the touch. Quy even put a piece of paper on her tendril and it remained in mid-air, following the shape of the emerald construct.

    "At a first nce, its solid-state seems cool, but it¡¯s actually one of Spirit Magic weaknesses. Spirit Magic requires a constant flow of mana to be used and because of its nature, it can be easily dispelled.

    "The closestparison to Spirit Magic¡¯splexity, even in its first magic form, is tier five spells. They both need willpower to be shaped, they can be used as long as you have mana, and they require a strong focus.

    "Try to use a spell on your respective tendril. Any spell will do." Faluel said.

    The students did as instructed and even before their first magic could manifest, the emerald constructs started to crumble.

 Chapter 1060 The Seventh Element Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1060 The Seventh Element Part 2</h4>

    "What the heck?" Friya blurted out.

    "As I said, pure mana. To affect something, most of its strength is focused on its point, making the tendril just a conduit. An impact strong enough can cut the tendril and any kind of foreign mana disrupts Spirit Magic in its first magic form.

    "Potions, spells that make you emit an aura like Full Guard, fusion magic, all of them make Spirit Magic aplete waste of mana. If not for it being invisible and effective on non-magical creatures, one might think that Spirit Magic is useless.

    "Yet they couldn¡¯t be farther from the truth." Faluel recalled the tendrils, using them to form a translucent emerald barrier around herself. "Feel free to attack me as you like."

    Each one of her students cast a tier three spell of a different element and threw it against the barrier. Instead of just hitting it as they expected, the spherical barrier was actually spinning on itself, capturing the spells and sending them back to their caster.

    "I could have easily used your spells against someone else, but my aim is to teach you, not to harm you. Spirit Magic can resemble Light Mastery at a first nce, but they are very different.

    "Spirit Magic is as fast as air magic, as sturdy as earth magic, it can shapeshift like hard-light constructs, but it has none of the limitations of the other elements. Its greatest downside is the huge mana expenditure it requires due to not using any elemental energy. Any question?" Faluel said.

    "I thought you would teach me Spirit Magic only after wepleted Healing Magic and Forgemastering. What made you change your mind?" Lith said.

    "Nothing. That¡¯s still the n. What I¡¯m going to teach you today is not like to weave Spirit Magic spells, but how to add Spirit Magic to your tier four and five spells like you would with any other element." Faluel replied.

    "What? Are you saying that Spirit Magic is actually the seventh element?" The entirety of the ss was bbergasted and the non-Awakened felt envy eating at them from the inside.

    "That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying. That¡¯s why Awakened consider themselves superior to everyone else. We are the only ones who can use the seventh element. Not the Abominations, not the children of the Guardians, not even the greatest genius can use it.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s the truth." Faluel gave them a few seconds to let the news sink in until their wounded pride stopped being the only voice they heard.

    "Even in its first magic form, Spirit Magic can be mixed with the elements to create new effects. If used inbination with light magic, it bes a new limb that ovees the short range of both healing and diagnostic spells."

    All those who had witnessed Faluel treating Rena¡¯s unborn child finally understood what had happened.

    "If used with darkness or earth magic, it makes them faster and easier to manipte." Faluel flicked her wrist, shooting a sphere of darkness as fast as a bullet that was the size of a marble.

    It dug deep in the rock wall thanks to the darkness energy being focused on a single point instead of being spread over a huge mass. Then, Faluel raised her hands, conjuring six rocks the size of an adult man that struck at her students.

    Despite their speed, Lith and Phloria managed to dodge it while Nalrond conjured a hard-light construct to defend himself. Unfortunately for them, the shooting stars shapeshifted into chains and changed their trajectory to follow their respective marks or get around their defenses.

    "What the heck?" Even though he was using Fusion Magic to boost his enhanced body, Lith wasn¡¯t able to break free from the chains.

    "As I said, easier to manipte. By adding kic energy to an element, Spirit Magic allows us to dramatically alter the effects ofmon spells. By adding Spirit Magic, water not only pierces its target, but it can also hit like a blunt weapon.

    "Fire magic can use the same principle to strengthen the shockwaves it produces, making the explosion more dangerous than the mes themselves while air magic can add the pressure from the mana to its own and repel almost all kinds of attacks.

    "Remember that those are just examples. I¡¯m not going to teach you my spells, only how to defend against Spirit Magic and how to mix with the other six elements." Faluel said.

    "Wait a second." Quy took out her Royal Forgemaster wand and made a thin silvery mist came out of its tip.

    She closed her eyes to remember everything Faluel had done and produced six silvery tendrils. One for each of her ssmates and another for the Hydra.

    "Something like this?"

    "Great Mother almighty!" Faluel recognized at first touch Spirit Magic despite its unusual color and it being unnaturally visible to the naked eye. "Where did you get that wand?"

    "All Royal Forgemasters have one. They use it to safely interact with unknown enchanted items from a distance, cast their Forgemastering spells, and activate unknown magical formations." Quy said.

    "I knew the wand had to work on Spirit Magic because I used it against Mage yers to project my spells without touching them. Maybe it¡¯s not just limited to Forgemastering spells, but I could use it with all elements."

    "First, remember your oath. If you divulge any of what I¡¯m teaching you, we¡¯ll be enemies." Faluel¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits brimming with mana.

    She had never expected that fake mages woulde so close to one of the Awakenedmunity¡¯s most prized secrets. Yet her ragested only for the time she needed to see the huge silver lining in the matter.

    "Second, I advise against it. Generating a strand of mana is one thing, but using enough to empower a spell might kill you. Unlike Awakened, you need a set of runes to draw mana from your core. Runes that no one researched for Spirit Magic.

    "The wand takes one of your hands increasing your cast time and even if you managed to use Spirit Magic in battle, the strain on your body would be too much. You have no mana flow to temper your body nor can you perceive your core¡¯s conditions.

    "One mistake and you¡¯ll deplete your mana and die."

    "It¡¯s still worth a shot." Quy replied. "I find it amazing to have finally discovered a field of magic where no other mage has ever set foot. Secrecy is no issue, you have my word.

    "I¡¯ll work on the runes in my own free time."

    "Count on me, sister." Friya took her own wand out of her dimensional amulet.

    She was no Forgemaster, but Orion felt bad leaving her out when he had gifted the Wands to his daughters. Until that moment, Friya had only considered it a cute trinket that proved how much her adoptive family loved her, but now it had gained a purpose.

    "What about me?" Nalrond said, feeling left out.

    "I¡¯m sorry, kid, but I can¡¯t make those things and I doubt Quy will let me study it." Faluel shook her head.

    "No way. I won¡¯t share my Kingdom¡¯s secrets with you just like I will not share yours. My Dad¡¯s life is on the line. By now everyone probably knows that my sisters and I have followed Lith, so if Faluel starts making silver wands, he¡¯ll be held responsible." Quy replied.

 Chapter 1061 Telepathy Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1061 Telepathy Part 1</h4>

    "She¡¯s right, Nalrond. Besides, you don¡¯t know the first thing about fake magic. Even if you had a wand, you wouldn¡¯t be able to draw runes with it, correct?" Faluel said.

    "Correct. I never chanted nor performed hand signs my whole life." He realized they all had a point, but the Rezar still felt pissed off.

    "Good. Now, let¡¯s resume your lesson." Faluel nodded. "Spirit Magic is more than just offense. Beingprised solely by your mana and carrying your will by nature, it can also be used as a means ofmunication.

    "Quy, Lith, Solus, and Nalrond have experienced it when you helped me with Rena¡¯s baby."

    "Was that really Spirit Magic as well?" The more Nalrond learned about how useful the seventh element was, the worse his mood became.

    ¡¯Now the chances of me teaching Light Mastery to the girls are a solid zero. They can keep their fucking wands just as I can keep my secrets.¡¯ He thought.

    "Yes. Believe it or not, that¡¯s also first magic and the first exercise you have toplete. It will teach you how to pace yourself and avoid wasting mana or worse, injuring others." Faluel said.

    "In the past, this branch of Spirit Magic was called telepathy. The theory behind it is very simple, you just have to create a tendril of Spirit Magic and connect it to your target. Putting it into practice, however, isplex and dangerous.

    "Contrary to what you might think, the tendril shouldn¡¯t go to the other person¡¯s head, but to their core. That¡¯s because you are not really sharing your thoughts, but using the willpower imbued within your mana tomunicate.

    "The problem with such method is that, if not properly done, it can share more than you¡¯d like to, flood your mind with your target¡¯s thoughts and drive you crazy, or cause mana poisoning to either of you if not both." Faluel created several visible tendrils of mana and left one floating in front of each of her students.

    ¡¯Good thing I never experimented it on my own.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The consequences of failure are even worse than I predicted. Choosing Faluel as my mentor was the right thing to do. The Kingdom could have never taught me any of this.¡¯

    "Now, those of you who can produce their own tendril and connect it to mine. If you use too much mana my tendril will fade, too little and it will be yours to disappear.

    "I¡¯m keeping them just strong enough to form a mind link so that when you practice among yourselves, the risk of idents should be minimal." Faluel said.

    "What about me?" Nalrond asked.

    "Some individuals are capable of projecting their conscience outwards without the need of using mana as a focus, so your task is to try and connect with the tendril on your own. Once you get sick of it, your real exercise will begin.

    "You must also learn how to defend in the case someone attempts to manipte your mind." Faluel said.

    "Attack how?" Solus asked.

    "The same principle behind the mind link can be used to confuse the opponent or break their focus to keep them from casting spells. Some creatures are so expert with Spirit Magic that they have developed techniques simr to hypnosis.

    "You must learn how to recognize when someone is attempting to influence you and resist the suggestion they try to nt into your mind. That¡¯s something that anyone can do, non-Awakened included."

    "I experienced something simr in Othre, when the thrall of a Vampire tried to hit on Kam." Lith said. "How can a wannabe undead use Spirit Magic and how is it different from the mind link between Solus and me?"

    "Unless they are also Awakened, undead can¡¯t use Spirit Magic, let alone their thralls. However, all of them are masters at manipting the life force. They can use it to convey their will, but it requires physical contact to pass the energy from their blood cores.

    "Another difference is that their victim must hear theirmand since life force carries the willpower but not the thought. Otherwise, Dragons might use Origin mes tomunicate.

    "As for your mind link with Solus, it could be achieved with Spirit Magic, but it would kill the recipient. The more information you share, the more mana is required, causing mana poisoning.

    "You two don¡¯t have such a problem because you have the very same mana signature so no matter how much mana you use, it can flow freely from one to the other without the exchange affecting your reserves.

    "Enough talk. Get to work." Faluel said.

    Lith and Solus burned Faluel¡¯s tendril on their first attempt. They were used to just point and shoot their thoughts. They had no need for finesse between them.

    Phloria and Tista were beginners with Spirit Magic so their tendril didn¡¯t survive the encounter with Faluel¡¯s. Tista had joined them for the lesson since Spirit Magic was one of the few disciplines her knowledge of which was on par with Lith¡¯s.

    While Friya still tried to understand how to obtain a silver strand from her wand, Quy shaped her mana ording to Faluel¡¯s until the two tendrils matched in size. Only then did she make contact and obliterated her target.

    "Nice try, but while I decide how my tendril looks like, yours is dependent on the wand. Start small and increase the output gradually, otherwise you¡¯ll run out of mana quickly." Faluel said.

    ¡¯Even if Quy doesn¡¯t allow me to examine her wand, I can still use the exercises to put to the test how close Royal Forgemasters are to Spirit Magic.¡¯ She thought.

    Meanwhile, Nalrond used his enhanced senses to perceive the mana tendril and the message it held.

    He tried to stimte both of his cores, but to no avail. Then, he used a tendril of light to connect with the Spirit Magic, hoping that the two disciplines shared enough simrities to allow him to ovee his limits.

    Unfortunately for Nalrond, each one of his attempts garnered him Faluel¡¯s praise but no sess.

    "I give up. Let¡¯s move to the next phase." He said after over one hour of constant failures.

    "In your shoes, I would try a bit longer but if that¡¯s what you want, I¡¯m okay with it. Are you ready?" Faluel moved the tendril right in the middle of his eyes, barely a few millimeters from his skin.

    "What does this mean? You said that the link is established between cores." He said.

    "Yeah, but you have two cores. Using the usual approach on you would mean double the mana and the chances of poisoning. I¡¯m skilled enough to work with your brain so it will work just the same.

    "On top of that, I would have moved the tendril anyway as soon as you get used to my influence. A person links with your core only if they want tomunicate, but if they want to harm you, they aim for the brain.

    "It¡¯s where your cognitive process happens and being it far from the core, attacking the brain makes the suggestion more effective." Faluel said.

    It took the rest of the ss several attempts to sessfully establish contact without harming either mana tendril and by the time everyone seeded ten times out of ten, it was already lunchtime.

 Chapter 1062 Telepathy Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1062 Telepathy Part 2</h4>

    "This is an amazing ability. We¡¯ll be able to coordinate silently and exchange evenplex information in the blink of an eye if necessary." Lith and Solus seeded first thanks to their years of experience with mind links.

    By the time the lesson ended, they had be able to share images and battle ns through Spirit Magic.

    "I don¡¯t get it. If this is basically first magic, why do I feel so tired?" Much to anyone¡¯s surprise, Quy had seeded second but had only learned how to transmit her thoughts.

    "Because Spirit Magic needs a constant stream of pure mana and to imbue it with willpower." Solus replied. "Using it for so long drains both your core and mental focus."

    "Master Faluel, howe did Quy have an easier time than me?" Having used Spirit Magic for years and yet finish third wound Tista¡¯s pride.

    "Because she can see her own tendril. On top of that, the brightness and thickness of the tendril are directly proportional to the amount of mana she employs which allows her to finely adjust the output. Also, the visual aid helped her to learn faster."

    "Should I use my wand as well, then?" Phloria asked.

    "No. If you use it in battle, having an invisible means ofmunication is an advantage that Quy willck. Also, you aren¡¯t allowed to use Life Vision either. During a stealth mission, glowing eyes would betray your nature as a mage.

    "Now get out of my hair. You need to rest or our afternoon lesson willst minutes at best." Once again, Faluel kicked them out of herir with a moment¡¯s notice, forcing them to move into Lith¡¯s tower.

    "How was your training session, Nalrond?" Friya had Solus conjure a couch all for herself, to lie down and stretch her legs.

    She wasn¡¯t used to sitting for so long anymore and her ass was begging for relief. Friya loved how the tower could grant her every wish while Lith took care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

    "Horrible." Nalrond had bloodshot eyes and a terrible migraine that forced him to clench his temples. "Faluel kept whispering in my head, making me feel hot and then cold. Starving and then thirsty.

    "To add insult to injury, resisting her influence left me with a headache that not even light magic can cure."

    Saying those words in a room full of healers was a bad move. Soon everyone gave him a check-up and the constant touching of his head only made Nalrond¡¯s pain get worse.

    "How is that possible?" Quy asked.

    "Beats me. Faluel just said that I had to think about it, but my head hurts so much that my eyes water. I can still almost hear her voice in my head and it takes most of my focus to resist her suggestions."

    "It might be an effect of mana poisoning." Solus said. "Try using Fusion Magic. If I¡¯m right, along with the elemental energy, it will circte your mana as well and cleanse Faluel¡¯s will."

    The moment Nalrond activated light fusion, he could feel his headache lessening and Faluel¡¯s voice fading. He then circted all the elements until the effects of mana poisoning disappeared.

    "Thanks, Solus. You were right. The only problem is that now I¡¯m even more tired than before." He asked Solus to turn his armchair into a couch as well, falling asleep the moment his head touched the pillows and waking up only once lunch was ready.

    After they finished eating, everyone went to sleep after taking a shower to get rid of the sweat and clear their head.

    "Gods, I love this ce." Friya said before leaving the tower after Faluel recalled them to herir. "The high-density world energy allows us to quickly recover our mana and the beds are so soft that it¡¯s like sleeping on a cloud."

    "Yeah, you do nothing but sleep and eat, leaving all the chores to me and Lith." Solus pouted. "You guys are the worst harem ever."

    Everyoneughed at her joke, except Nalrond who blushed.

    ¡¯Should I do something to repay her for my room and everything Solus is doing for me? Most importantly, how do I know she doesn¡¯t peek while I¡¯m taking a bath? The girls might not care, but for me it¡¯s embarrassing.¡¯ He thought.

    Solus was too happy finally having someone to share her life with to notice his difort.

    ¡¯Now that Lith has finally opened up to his friends, Nalrond is the grumpiest of the group. The girls, instead, seem to get along with me. I can¡¯t wait to spend some time all together doing something that is not training.¡¯ She thought.

    "Wow, we¡¯re barely halfway through the day and you all look like crap." Faluel gave the non-Awakened of the group a round of Invigoration. "Clench your teeth and hold tight, because there won¡¯t be chatting now, only hard work.

    "Your afternoon task is to use what you learned this morning tomunicate with each other. Keep using the method I showed you earlier and don¡¯t make direct contact unless you want a splitting headache.

    "Solus, you train with Quy. Lith with Phloria, Tista and Friya with me. Nalrond..."

    "More torture?" He whined.

    "That or you can practice shapeshifting on your own. Your choice." Faluel shrugged.

    The Rezar groaned and epted another session of mind maniption. This time, however, as soon as he felt Faluel¡¯s influence bing too strong, Nalrond would use Fusion Magic to counter her.

    "Very good! You found out one of the weaknesses of this technique all by yourself. Try to use Fusion Magic as little as you can, so to train your willpower and fool your opponent into believing they have seeded influencing you." Faluel said.

    "Actually, it was Solus¡¯s idea." Nalrond said while resisting the impulse to scratch the itch Faluel caused on his back.

    "Very bad, then. Solus, I¡¯m not letting you practice with Lith because you all must learn how to fend for yourself. If you keep giving away answers, you hinder the growth of yourpanions.

    "Don¡¯t let them get used to relying on your brain and force them to use theirs. Guys, when I give you a task, you¡¯re forbidden to ask others for help. No matter how manypanions you have, on the battlefield, you can rely only on yourself.

    "Otherwise you¡¯ll be all weak-ass like Quy. No offense." Faluel said.

    "None taken." Quy lied through her teeth as the truth behind those words hurt her deeply.

    ¡¯I never learned how to fight because I assumed that I wouldn¡¯t need to. Faluel is right, I¡¯m too reliant on others for my survival.¡¯ She thought.

    Meanwhile, Lith and Phloria needed Life Vision to spot each other¡¯s mana strand. Adjusting Spirit Magic¡¯s output took them but a few minutes thanks to the visual aid.

    ¡¯Can you hear me?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡¯Yes, but your voice is barely a whisper. Try to speak louder.¡¯ Phloria¡¯s reply sounded messy as if she was talking through a gag.

    ¡¯This feels so strange. I had Scarlett and Faluel in my head in the past, but they forced their way in while this time it¡¯s like I¡¯m letting someone in.¡¯ He thought while focusing his feelings inside the mana.

    ¡¯It feels weird to me, too. Did you really spend years with Solus¡¯s voice in your head like this?¡¯ Phloria had a hard time sorting what thoughts she wanted to share from those she wanted to keep hidden.

 Chapter 1063 Mixed Spells Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1063 Mixed Spells Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Yes, Solus and I alwaysmunicate like this. Focus more, please. I can barely hear you.¡¯ Lith understood why they had to use two tendrils.

    This way, a stray thought couldn¡¯t be shared by mistake since they had to ovee the other¡¯s mana by infusing willpower in their messages.

    Otherwise, while asking a question, a beginner would actually reveal what they were looking for and what they were trying to avoid to their prisoner. On top of that, the double mana strand technique prevented mana poisoning.

    ¡¯How did you know what thoughts were yours?¡¯ Phloria said.

    ¡¯Even inside my head, my voice and hers soundpletely different. Also, the way she thoughts is nothing like mine.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯How do you share images and ns? I tried all morning but Faluel said none of it made sense.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s easy. You must visualize any detail you want tomunicate. You can¡¯t let logic or memory fill the gaps or the other person will receive an iplete picture because they don¡¯t reason as you do.¡¯ Lith sent her an image from their date in Vinea, back when they still attended the academy.

    It was a picture of the night when Phloria had shared with him her fears for the future, wishing to have a few more years beforeing of age.

    ¡¯What does that mean?¡¯ The image triggered too many memories at once, both good and bad, making Phloria¡¯s heart hurt.

    ¡¯I used an image of our shared past to make it easier for you to understand what I mean. You were there with me, but it¡¯s likely that you remember it differently.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯You are right. To me, the stars were brighter than this, and I hadpletely forgotten about the chilly breeze.¡¯ When she sent her version of the memory to him, it looked like a painting drawn by an artist trying to express their love for life.

    It depicted two people staring at a perfect night sky while holding hands. The absence of passers-by didn¡¯t give a feeling of istion so much as of intimacy.

    Lith had actually toned down the romanticism in his memories because he wanted to teach her, not to take a trip down memoryne.

    ¡¯Excellent. Now try doing the same with a memory we do not share. Before sending it to me, make sure you have a clear mental image of what you want to share. Like this.¡¯ Lith showed her a clip of Ac turning into Dawn.

    The beauty of the Horseman and her raw, savage splendor left Phloria in awe.

    ¡¯Could the same happen to you?¡¯ She asked before even realizing it.

    ¡¯What could happen?¡¯ The question confused Lith.

    ¡¯Solus taking over. Recing your body with her own.¡¯

    ¡¯I guess so. It¡¯s what happens to all those who bond with cursed objects. Why do you think Scarlett was bent on splitting us apart when she met us?¡¯ Lith¡¯s indifference made her understand how deeply they trusted each other.

    Phloria shrugged off her worries and focused on the task at hand, trying to show him both Baba Yaga and her hut.

    ¡¯I¡¯m so happy to be paired with you, Quy. Back at the academy, you were my favorite.¡¯ Solus¡¯s thoughts were filled with so much joy and enthusiasm that made Quy feel awkward.

    ¡¯Thanks, I guess. What do you mean, favorite?¡¯ Her question reminded Solus that even though she knew Lith¡¯spanions for years, they had no idea of her existence until recently.

    ¡¯Your past was simr to Lith¡¯s, yet you never let your darkness turn you into a grumpy, cynical person. I always admired your good heart.¡¯ After Solus had realized how inappropriate was to tell Quy how she had shipped Lith back at the academy, Solus had changed the topic with a mix of truth andpliments.

    ¡¯Thanks. Yet I consider my past self weak and na?ve. I let Yurial lead me by the nose at first and then I never had the guts to do what I really wanted.¡¯ Her thoughts sounded depressed, inducing Solus to change the subject.

    ¡¯Do you know that Lith and I met a real Dragon back in Huryole?¡¯ Solus shared with Quy all of her memories of Jakra.

    ¡¯Oh my, I¡¯d surely hit that.¡¯ Quy thought while looking at the Dragon¡¯s human appearance.

    ¡¯I beg your pardon?¡¯ Solus blushed at Quy¡¯s following in-depth appreciation of Jakra¡¯s physical attributes.

    ¡¯Good gods, did you heard that? I¡¯m so sorry! I¡¯m not a pervert, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m not used to sharing my mind with someone else.¡¯ Quy turned to a shade of purple, making Faluel wonder what kind of naughty pictures they might be sharing and if it was appropriate for her to ask for a copy.

    ¡¯Jokes aside, the Royal Forgemaster wand is an amazing tool. Now I understand why Menadion is revered as the first Royal Forgemaster and she¡¯s considered the second Greatest Magus of the Griffon Kingdom.

    ¡¯The wand not only allows fake mages to use Spirit Magic, but it also smooths their mana, making it a great conductor for their willpower. On the one hand, it lessens the focus required for high precision jobs.

    ¡¯On the other hand, Quy and Friya have a hard time keeping stray thoughts for themselves. I learned a lot about them this morning. Those two will make two excellent subjects.¡¯ Faluel thought.

    She had not paired up Tista and Friya but made both of them practice with her to study the Royal Forgemaster wand. That way Faluel could better understand its properties and limitations whileparing the wand¡¯s effects with Tista¡¯s Spirit Magic.

    ¡¯How am I doing?¡¯ Friya asked. ¡¯Please, don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m once again the worst in my group.¡¯ She added without her own knowledge.

    ¡¯You¡¯re doing great. Your thoughts are loud and clear, much better than Phloria¡¯s. On top of that, your strand is more stable than Tista¡¯s.¡¯ Faluel said to help Friya ovee her self-confidence issues.

    ¡¯Now try to share one of your memories with me. The better you remember those events, the easier it will be.¡¯

    Friya searched her memory for something not embarrassing nor too private that would make her look good, giving Faluel several glimpses of her past. Just like it had happened for Quy, the little resistance the wand offered to their willpower was actually a double-edged sword.

    In the hope of impressing Faluel, Friya showed her the fight against the Awakened in Zantia and how she had utterly defeated him despite being a fake mage.

    ¡¯Remarkable performance.¡¯ Faluel nodded. ¡¯Dimensional Mages are a rarity even among Awakened. Not only because dimensional magic is second only to gravity magic inplexity, but also because it can be easily countered.¡¯

    ¡¯Is that apliment or a critic?¡¯ Friya said.

    ¡¯Apliment. It means you are equally skilled in all six elements. Now you only have to properly send me aplex made up thought, like a battle n, and your exercise will be over.¡¯ Faluel said.

    "Okay, I need a break." The more Nalrond learned to build his mental defenses, the more Faluel increased the pressure until he had been forced to use Fusion Magic just to keep up with the onught.

    Now his head ached as if he had remained trapped inside a ringing bell and had circted so much mana that his human body was on the verge of copse.

 Chapter 1064 Mixed Spells Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1064 Mixed Spells Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Faluel attacked me non-stop while teaching to two people and keeping an eye on the others. What kind of monster can do so many things at the same time and yet have focus to spare?¡¯ He thought before losing consciousness.

    ¡¯What a silly child. He could have quit whenever he wanted but his pride clouded his judgment.¡¯ Faluel said to Friya.

    ¡¯Are you still talking about Nalrond?¡¯ Friya knew that those words applied to her as well.

    Keeping up with Faluel¡¯s chat, showing her memories to the Hydra, and trying to aplish each task the moment it was issued, had quickly drained her mana. Friya was already running on fumes.

    ¡¯Mostly.¡¯ Faluel said with a chuckle.

    "I need a break as well." Friya said, dispelling the mana strand and finding herself covered in sweat.

    Her knees shook so hard from exhaustion that she didn¡¯t fall ass-first on the ground only because she was still sitting on her chair.

    Lith and Solus, instead, had consumed very little mana. Years of experience with Spirit Magic and mind links allowed them tomunicate freely using the minimum amount of focus necessary.

    The only problem they had was to keep in check their mana and don¡¯t flood their partner. They had no such issue between them since their mana would just flow in a loop.

    Seeing her sister panting like a bellows made Phloria realize how tired she was and interrupt the mind link.

    Tista didn¡¯t like the idea of quitting right after Friya. She kept practicing until she managed to share with Faluel a detailed mental image of a contingency n she had devised during her travels.

    "I hope this qualifies as aplex thought, because I¡¯m beat." She said.

    "Don¡¯t worry. That¡¯s exactly what I wanted. We¡¯re done for now." Faluel said.

    ¡¯First Friya, then Phloria, and now Tista. They quit first, so even if I stop now, I would have still performed better than them.¡¯ Quy thought with a smug grin on her mind.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not a nice thing to say about yourpanions. Beingpetitive is one thing, being mean is another.¡¯ Solus replied, making Quy blush up to her ears.

    "You weren¡¯t supposed to hear that either. We need to break up!" Quy¡¯s words after abruptly interrupting their connection made everyone chuckle.

    "I meant the mind link. We didn¡¯t have a mind flirt or anything." She rushed to exin, regretting her words the moment they came out of her mouth.

    "Oh, my!" Lith said with a sly smile. "Solus, I expect a full report about that juicy blushing between you two."

    "Don¡¯t you dare!" The more Quy got flustered, the harder heughed.

    "Enough picking on her." Faluel pped her hands to get their attention. "Ten minutes of break before moving on to the next subject."

    "What do you mean, next subject? I¡¯m tired." Quy blurted out.

    "What do you think Invigoration is for? I need only a couple of breaths to have you back in your peak condition." Faluel¡¯s usual warm smile had never looked so scary.

    "What about me?" Phloria asked.

    "If you shut up and meditate you will not need Invigoration. Drink this." Faluel gave her a tonic, making Phloria curse like a truck driver.

    "Solus?" Lith said with a worried tone.

    "I¡¯m fine. At this distance is no different from being at your finger, but thanks for your kindness." Solus¡¯s stone doll jumped on Lith¡¯s back, sitting on his shoulder while he walked through their to stretch his legs.

    ¡¯By my maker, I missed you so badly. I never considered that being free also means being often alone.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯I missed you more. Sometimes the silence in my head is scary. When you are away from me, a mean voice tells me how stupid I am for trusting others and that it will only lead to more pain.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯That makes the two of us. Mine says that I¡¯ll never be able to walk among people nor have a normal life.¡¯ She sighed.

    They spent the rest of the time in silence, simply appreciating each other¡¯spany and the feeling of security that their bond granted them.

    "How do you feel?" Faluel asked.

    Lith and Solus gave her a thumbs up, Nalrond kept sleeping, while the others assumed a foetal position, hiding their faces between their knees.

    "Excellent!" Faluel used Invigoration on the non-Awakened and resumed speaking before Nalrond could realize that the nightmare in front of his eyes was real.

    "Now that you are ustomed to the basics of Spirit Magic, let¡¯s move to something moreplex. As I said earlier, Spirit Magic is the seventh element and it can be mixed with the others.

    "I¡¯ll only teach you how to cast mixed spells and up to tier three. Upper tiers are part of my legacy and I¡¯m not going to share them. I will still provide you with all the means toe up with your own spells, or in the case of the non-Awakened, the means to defend themselves.

    "First, a quick recap. Normal spells are obtained by mixing your mana with the external elemental energies. Like this." A sphere of thunder appeared in Faluel¡¯s left palm.

    "This is something anyone can do. Fake mages, true mages, and Awakened. What only Awakened can do, is to rece their mana with Spirit Magic, use it to bond with the elemental energies, and then coat them with it."

    Faluel waved her hand and a small air de the size of a saucer struck at one of the walls, leaving a small cut in the rock.

    "That¡¯s regr first magic."

    A second wave generated another small de the features of which were visible to the naked eye. The air de struck the wall and after leaving a deeper cut that formed an X with the other, it returned to Faluel like an obedient dog.

    "While that is Spirit Magic mixed with first magic. As you can see, it allows me to bend or ignore some of the rules the elements usually abide by. Air des don¡¯t disappear after a single hit, darkness bes fast, and well, you know the rest.

    "Your task is simply to use Spirit Magic instead of mana to cast your favorite first magic spell. If you seed, remember that you¡¯ll need to coat the conjured elemental energy with the same amount of Spirit Magic, or the differences with a normal spell will be negligible." Faluel said.

    "Why can¡¯t we just conjure a first magic spell as usual and just coat it with Spirit Magic?" Quy asked while Lith had already started practicing.

    "Because that would mean mixing three different energies. The exercise is already difficult as it is, there¡¯s no need to furtherplicate it." Faluel replied

    "On top of that, the foundation of Spirit Magic allows the rest to be spread evenly whereas the mana in a normal spell is bound to the elemental energy so strongly that the Spirit Magic can¡¯t take root."

    ¡¯This is more difficult than I thought.¡¯ Solus considered herself a master of tier zero Spirit Magic, yet the exercise baffled her. ¡¯Normally, my mana mixes with the elemental energy as soon as it leaves my body, while now I have to conjure them one at a time.

    ¡¯To weave a lightning bolt, I visualize one as I emit the mana whereas here, I have to focus on the strand of Spirit Magic and only then visualize the bolt. The two thoughts don¡¯tbine easily and solidified mana don¡¯t seem very good at conjuring the elements.¡¯

 Chapter 1065 The Source of all Spells Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1065 The Source of all Spells Part 1</h4>

    An invisible sphere of Spirit Magic the size of a nut rested on Solus¡¯s hand while electric arcs appeared around it from time to time. Unfortunately, the electricity was caused not by Spirit Magic but by her failed attempts.

    Solus only managed to cast a second spell instead of adding the air element to Spirit Magic, triggering the arcs. Friya and Quy found the task even more difficult since they had never used Spirit Magic before and they had to conjure it through their wands.

    Nalrond looked at the others in envy, yet instead of cursing the unjust fate, he watched and learned from their mistakes.

    ¡¯Based on what Faluel said, every time I cast a spell, I actually generate a strand a Spirit Magic. As a true mage, my core is not Awakened but I can still use silent magic.

    ¡¯My people can¡¯t Awaken because our two cores would need to be refined at the same time and we are unable to control them separately, making their output unstable. I should take this opportunity to learn how to feel mana.

    ¡¯Worst case scenario, I can adapt Faluel¡¯s teachings to Light Mastery to improve it.¡¯ He thought while casting first magic non-stop and focusing only on the moment the spell sparked before letting it fade away.

    Nalrond aimed to learn how to feel the manaing from his cores and use that knowledge to create Spirit Magic.

    ¡¯Interesting.¡¯ Lith thought while constantly shapeshifting the sphere of Spirit Magic in his hand. ¡¯Faluel said to use our favorite spell, but darkness and fire are unsuited for this exercise.

    ¡¯Explosions would distract everyone, me included, while ethereal spells are hard to study. What a sly teacher I got. The air de was more than a demonstration, it was a hint. If the spell is done correctly, the air element doesn¡¯t disappear and unlike earth or ice, air offers less resistance to Spirit Magic, making things easier for beginners like us.¡¯

    Lith had practiced true magic ever since he had opened his eyes on Mogar. He knew how imagination and willpower were the keys to sess to every spell. Lith closed his eyes and instead of trying to conjure the air element, he simply imagined to be holding a small vortex inside the mana sphere.

    ¡¯If there¡¯s something I learned after all these years, is that magic is simpler and yet moreplex than people make it. Simpler because just like it happens for world energy, there aren¡¯t six or seven different elements, just magic.

    ¡¯Moreplex because taking them individually generates an unbnce that is up to the mage to restore with his willpower and mana.¡¯

    Lith kept his breathing steady, focusing on the flow of airing from his own lungs. It took him a while to realize that what Faluel wanted from them was nothing more than projecting Fusion Magic outside their bodies.

    Suddenly, a small vortex appeared inside the sphere in his palm, making it visible to the naked eye. Then, Lith focused on adding solely more Spirit Magic, to recreate the feeling of holding his weapon, something that he knew like the back of his hand.

    The sphere grew and extended until a misty replica of War made of yellow energy appeared in Lith¡¯s hand.

    "Excellent work." Faluel pped her hands. "Practice and hard work never betray you. Don¡¯t be discouraged, guys. Lith is a veteranpared to you. Find your own way to seed rather than blindly try and imitate him."

    "Why not?" A scaled version of the air de appeared in the hand of Solus¡¯s stone doll.

    "I meant aside from you." Faluel sighed. "Try with other elements or focus on manipting air. The choice is up to you."

    Even without the mind link, everything they had shared over the years had allowed them to learn how the other thought. Seeing Lith seed was enough for Solus toplete her own technique.

    By the end of the lesson, everyone was dead tired. Aside from Lith and Solus, no one had managed to mix Spirit and elemental magic.

    "There¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of. Even Awakened have a hard time during their first day of Spirit Magic. You¡¯ve seen how hard it is to manipte mana on its own, mixing Spirit Magic with the other elements is even more difficult." Faluel said.

    "I can see from your faces how frustrated you are, so I¡¯m going to give you the night off. Invigoration can restore your mana, vitality, and focus, but it can¡¯t lift your spirit. That¡¯s why before letting you go I¡¯ll give you one final lesson."

    Her words made everyone groan in despair. Even Lith couldn¡¯t wait to take a bath and do something else. Water and earth had proven tougher than air while light and darkness due to their ethereal nature were still beyond his reach.

    "I¡¯m sorry, it came out wrong. Not a lesson, more like a demonstration. So far, all I¡¯ve exined to you is as difficult as it seems pointless. That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to show you where these lessons will lead you if you endure them to the very end.

    "Lith, use Invigoration and step forward, please." Faluel beckoned at him.

    "Why me?" He said while rolling his eyes.

    "You¡¯re the sturdier among them and the only one who canst long enough to prove my point. Feel free to use all kinds of magic and your equipment, I¡¯ll use only the Spirit Magic that I just taught you and my physical abilities." Faluel said.

    "Sorry, but I¡¯m eager to put myself to the test against someone of your caliber." Lith conjured the yellow de again. It was still fuzzy, but more distinct than before. "I¡¯ve yet to go all-out with my new body and you are the best opponent I could ask for."

    "How na?ve." Faluel giggled in such a lovely way that Nalrond¡¯s heart pounded. "You and I are really simr in many ways, but you forget that experience beats everything, talent included."

    A yellow longsword appeared in her hand. It was shaped with such mastery that it had a hilt and a guard instead that just a de like Lith¡¯s. Phloria could almost differentiate its edge from the fuller and even see runes over its surface.

    "Do your worst and remember, I¡¯m only restricting my physical strength and magic. Here Ie." Faluel darted forward, her usual kind expression reced by the stone mask of a warrior.

    ¡¯Her speed is nothing I can¡¯t follow with fusion magic. I wonder what did she meant with-¡¯ Lith had his answer when Faluel anticipated his attempt to dodge her de and changed the course of her lunge with a flick of the wrist.

    Lith managed to block and felt relieved when he realized that Faluel had adjusted her abilities to perfectly match his own. The relief, however, disappeared when her sword cut through his as if it was just a wooden stick.

    To make matters worse, such a bnced fight was only possible if she had somehow already grasped his limits while he had yet to learn them. The sudden awareness of the skill gap between them almost made Lith freeze.

    Almost.

    He stepped back and reformed the de, focusing on its hardness.

    "Get serious." Faluel¡¯s eyes sparked with yellow light, turning Lith¡¯s weapon back into just air.

 Chapter 1066 The Source of all Spells Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1066 The Source of all Spells Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! She never said she wouldn¡¯t use Domination.¡¯ Lith thought while taking War out of his pocket dimension and using it to block the following attack just in the nick of time.

    "Good choice." Faluel swung her de again, aiming at his head.

    Lith had given up on dodging. Faluel¡¯s footwork was beyond him and the moment his de got away from his body he would be finished. He could only focus on defense and wait for an opening.

    The des shed so hard that Lith couldn¡¯t believe Faluel¡¯s weapon was made of just air. Electrical arcs sparked on contact that would have sent Lith into a seizure if not for War neutralizing them with its World Mirror ability.

    Lith released all the spells from his magic holding rings, but it took only a sh of Faluel¡¯s eyes to neutralize them all.

    "Excellent move. Making me waste my mana will slow me down, but if you keep defending there is no victory. You must also attack." Faluel lunged while Lith was still shocked from seeing so many spells countered at the same time.

    He flew back, but Faluel¡¯s sword turned into a trident that simply extended faster than he moved. Lith tried to dodge, but the weapon followed him as if it was a living creature.

    ¡¯That was a bad move. Sending her weapon so far from her body will slow her reaction time.¡¯ Lith thought, pushing the trident aside while also using his own Domination and War¡¯s World Mirror ability to dispel the air element.

    Unfortunately, all Faluel had to do, was to rece the lost element with water. The Spirit Magic core of the spell was untouched, allowing her to switch to an ice spear in a split-second.

    Before Lith could realize the implications of that move, Faluel was already in front of him again. Each strike of her spear released a cold pulse equivalent to a tier two spell that made him painful to breathe while the cold stiffened his muscles, slowing down Lith¡¯s reaction time.

    "As long as you have enough mana, first magic can easily rece low tier spells so don¡¯t focus only on the de. On top of that, by mixing Spirit Magic with the elements a Forgemaster can imitate the effects of all their creations." She said.

    Faluel then split her spear into two smaller fragments and kicked Lith in the guts while he tried to predict what kind of weapons she would conjure next.

    Lith didn¡¯t get fooled by her trick and intercepted Faluel¡¯s foot with his knee, but between the strength of her kick and him being in mid-air due to the flight spell, the impact sent him crashing against one of the walls.

    Meanwhile, the two fragments had formed a bow and an arrow while water had been reced by earth. The hardest element had been turned into a weapon that could exploit the strength of the Hydra in full.

    "Oh, crap." That was all Lith managed to say when a small meteor crashed against War, making him create a small crater in the wall.

    Lith spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his hands numb from the impact. Faluel didn¡¯t give him a single second of rest, making it impossible for him to cast spells. Without Solus to help him, even with Faluel restricting her abilities, the match was already over.

    "Get over here!" The mass of Spirit Magic had returned between her hands the moment after the impact, leaving the earth projectile behind and recing it with fire and lightning.

    Two whips cracked at him, the fiery one wrapped around War while the lightning whip caught his hip and injected electricity inside his body. Faluel was about to drag him back to close-quarterbat, but she stopped when she saw his raised hands.

    "I yield." Lith used his own blood to sheathe War and put it away inside his pocket dimension.

    "How did you do that? Was that really just first magic?" Phloria had no idea what she had just witnessed, but she had never seen the elements seamlessly flow into each other like that.

    "Indeed." Faluel nodded. "My goal was to show you that splitting magic into branches, or specialization as you call them, is an excellent tool to focus on one aspect at a time, but it makes mages forget about the bigger picture."

    "Isn¡¯t this what you call Battle Magic?" Faluel¡¯s whips turned into des, hammers, and then spears.

    "Isn¡¯t this what you call Knight Magic?" The weapons turned into solid tower shields, infused with the power of the elements.

    "Isn¡¯t this what you call Warden Magic?" The shields shattered, instantly forming a small array big enough to affect the Hydra and her students.

    "My point is that most of your hardshipse from splitting your knowledge into small boxes and treating them as if they are different things. First magic is the source of all spells, no matter how you call them. There are no specializations, just magic."

    Seeing the boundaries that they all had taken for granted during all those years shatter in front of their eyes, gave everyone enlightenment. In any other circumstances, Faluel¡¯s words would sound like gibberish, but now they had the means and knowledge necessary to understand them.

    Even Lith cursed at his own foolishness for falling once again in thefortable trap that habit was. He had seen Faluel cast the array so fast thanks to Spirit Magic and that alone opened countless possibilities.

    "I could give you all the answers you look for, but then you¡¯d be incapable of tapping into your true potential. No matter the destination, it¡¯s the journey that teaches you how to ovee any obstacle you might meet in the future.

    "Obtaining things without effort is akin to wear blinkers. It limits your perspective and makes you incapable of thinking with your own head. It¡¯s the teaching method Tyris always used with the Kingdom. The method my father used with me and now I¡¯m using it with you." Faluel helped Lith to stand up and healed his injuries.

    Lith was still in a daze, seeing all the things he had learned so far in a new light, yet his first instinct was to embrace Faluel.

    "Thank you for treating me like family." He said, amazed by how someone so powerful could also be that wise and soothing.

    Soon the others joined the embrace, thanking the Hydra for the marvels she shared with them.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Capital of the Griffon Kingdom, Underground Castle.

    Queen Sylpha Griffon was a woman of average stature, 1.62 meters (5¡¯4") tall with a slender build and despite being over fifty years old, it was hard thinking her a day past thirty.

    Her long ck hair was held up in a chignon, yet it still revealed her uncanny gift for the mystical arts, with all the six shades of colors marking her as blessed by all the gods of magic.

    With her square chin and sharp features, she couldn¡¯t be considered beautiful, yet the aura of confidence and power she exuded coupled with her perfect manners made her quite a charming woman.

    That day, she wore a lightbat suit made out of Adamant yet as soft as silk thanks to the Skinwalker armor technique that the Royal Forgemasters had learned from Orion¡¯s bargain with Lith.

 Chapter 1067 The Burden of Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1067 The Burden of Power Part 1</h4>

    Unlike most people her age, the Queen was still in her prime. Tyris rejuvenated Sylpha on a regr basis, giving her the vigor and reflexes of a youth in her twenties.

    Due to her talent and constant training, the Queen had run out of worthy opponents since a young age. At first, she had resorted to sparring with members of the Queen¡¯s Corps, but after she had be a fake Awakened, they couldn¡¯t keep up with her anymore.

    Soon, even the members of the Queen¡¯s Corpse weren¡¯t her match, so she had spent the past thirty years training with Tyris herself. The Guardian used that time to also demand a full report on the Kingdom¡¯s situation.

    "Why didn¡¯t you settle the matter with Phloria Ernas yet? I gave her my word that her career would not be affected by those disgusting Odi." Tyris¡¯s one-handed ax intercepted the point of Sylpha¡¯s spear, locking it between the de and the handle.

    Then, Tyris almost ripped the spear from Sylpha¡¯s hands with a sudden twist and pull of her weapon.

    "I did all I could." Sylpha grunted in the effort of freeing the spear before it was toote.

    "The Court is split and each faction has its own priorities. Too many people can¡¯t wait to set foot on Jiera and start a new life. Maybe, if you intervened directly..." The Queen managed to pull back and use the superior range of her weapon to gain the upper hand.

    "I would destroy centuries of hard work." Tyris shook her head while sidestepping the quick burst of lunges with minimal effort. "I tasked the Royal family to do it for a reason.

    "The Court is always split, but it¡¯s the Royals¡¯ duty to steer it in the right direction. What you ask me to do would require to reveal myself or kill Deirus from the shadows, but that wouldn¡¯t do any good.

    "The former would only make people tter me as it happens with Leegaain and undermine your authority while thetter would turn me into Sark. I want my Kingdom to thrive because of its people, not because of me."

    During each sparring session, the weapon choice would bepletely random through a raffle that included even bare-handed fighting.

    "The situation is no different from when the civil war loomed over the Country. Don¡¯t you think you could make an exception for once?" Sylpha cursed the spear¡¯s inability to perform anything but piercing attacks.

    She had never defeated Tyris, but she had rarely felt so helpless. Too far and the First Queen would simply grab the spear with her bare hands, too close and Sylpha would end up with nothing but a broomstick in her hands and Tyris¡¯s fist in her stomach.

    The whole fight was a dance to keep her at a distance while searching for a pattern that the Guardian couldn¡¯t predict.

    "It¡¯spletely different. Back then, you didn¡¯t know who was your enemy and who was an ally. Now, instead, you know exactly the who, the why, and the how." Tyris replied.

    "Balkor taught the people of the Kingdom more than how to fight the undead, he taught them how to nurture talented youths, no matter their upbringing. Nalear taught the traitors that they can¡¯t trust each other, just like Deirus is showing you the loopholes in ourws.

    "If I take him out now, what would change? Someone else would take his ce, the Undead Courts would find another disgruntled noble, and history would repeat itself. Challenges will always arise and you can¡¯t just wish them away." Tyris shed with the ax, cutting the de off the spear and ending the fight.

    "What did you learn from today?"

    "That spears suck as weapons as I suck as Queen." Sylpha panted.

    "You couldn¡¯t be more wrong." Tyris shook her head while putting the ax back in the rack and the broken spear in the trash can.

    "Spears might be simple and directpared to other weapons, but that only means that is up to their wielders to make up for it with their craftiness. As for you, you¡¯re a good Queen.

    "Unlike your predecessors, you never gotcent with your power and our training sessions are proof of it. Even though my blood doesn¡¯t flow in your veins, I couldn¡¯t be any prouder of you, Sylpha.

    "For years you fought a losing battle against the old noble households until you won. You changed the academy system and soon even the conceited Mage Association will get its due.

    "Times of changes are always times of chaos. Someone like Deirus who tries to fill the power vacuum left by the traitors you uprooted was bound to appear and he has yet to seed only because you stopped him."

    "If I¡¯m that good, then why are we struggling so much?" Sylpha replied. "You could at least help us with those damned undead..."

    "And here you go again." Tyris sighed, cutting the Queen short. "Why do people never learn the simplest of lessons? Peace, like all the most important things in life, is not something to be granted, it has to be earned.

    "If a wolf wants to eat, it has to hunt. If a deer wants to live, it has to run. The only change that sitting around and hoping for the best can achieve, is to tten your ass. Once the undead are defeated, after Deirus has been dealt with, something else will happen.

    "You¡¯re the Queen of an entire Kingdom, which makes dealing with problems on a daily basis your job, not mine."

    "Then, Mother, care to exin why are you still wasting your time with fleas?" A melodious voce emerged from the shadows of the underground pce.

    It belonged to the most handsome man that Sylpha had ever seen. He seemed to be in his early twenties, about 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall. He had thick golden hair and silver eyes that shone respectively like the sun and the moon under the magical lighting of the pce.

    "One of your children?" Sylpha had met enough Emperor Beasts to be unfazed by his good looks and focused only on the silver eyes of the stranger.

    "Indeed. Sylpha, this is Jorl. Jorl, this is Sylpha." Tyris said while the two exchanged greetings.

    "Now that we¡¯re done with the niceties, do you mind answering my question, Mother?" Most of Tyris¡¯s children considered the Royals like traitors for giving up the Griffon bloodline and resented Tyris for not taking care of her true heirs.

    Jorl was among them.

    "Because unlike you, they need me for more than coddling their ego. It¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re still stuck with a bright blue mana core after over one thousand years of life. Your stupid pride and childishness keep you from growing." Tyris replied with a sneer.

    "Maybe you¡¯re right and maybe not. Yet why did you grant that woman a violet core and refuse to do the same for me?" Jorl looked at Sylpha in envy.

    He had managed to self-Awaken at twenty years of age, had reached a perfect body and bright blue core at one hundred years, and been stuck there ever since.

    "Because Sylpha took a lifelong oath with me. If you¡¯re willing to do the same, I¡¯ll help you. The Queen¡¯s Corpse needs a Captain who can look after the recruits in my absence." Tyris said.

 Chapter 1068 The Burden of Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1068 The Burden of Power Part 2</h4>

    Jorl found Tyris¡¯s offer so offensive that he remained silent for over a minute. He had many ws, but stupidity wasn¡¯t among them. Jorl knew how powerful his mother really was and angering her would get him nothing but a beating.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Mother, but spending the rest of my life taking care of lesser beings is beneath me." Jorl hade for a quick ticket to power, not for a job.

    "Sylpha, do you know what your husband and Valeron have inmon?" Tyris ignored her son and looked at the Queen in the eyes.

    "Neither of them wanted to be King. Meron took the test only to please his parents and the first thing he asked me was to spare his life. He told me that he didn¡¯t feel worthy of the Crown, that the thought of thousands of people dying just because he made the wrong decision gave him nightmares.

    "Meron believed that the role of King would be better suited for a stronger, more resolute person than him. That¡¯s why I spared his life and made him King. How could strength possibly be a prerequisite when I can grant perfect core and body refinement?

    "What I looked for was someone who understood the burden of the Crown, just like Valeron."

    "Wait, what? Wasn¡¯t Valeron a mighty warrior who unified the Kingdom to bring peace to ournds?" Sylpha was bbergasted.

    "That¡¯s just the official version to rally the troops. The truth, however, is quite different. When I first met the future King of the Griffon Kingdom, he was barely a fourteen years old kid.

    "Back then, it was the moment when a boy became a man and had to learn how to wield weapons to defend their vige. Magical talents were scarce because most mages died before realizing their powers or simply never met a master their whole life.

    "Fake magic was also terrible and barely worth the trouble learning it. I choose to Awaken him not because I fell in love at first sight as the legends say, but because Valeron was weak, poor, and had nothing to live for.

    "My hope was that with such a troubled past he wouldn¡¯t get drunk on power and use it wisely. Otherwise, I would have simply killed him as I had already done countless times in the past.

    Like all Awakened, I was responsible for his action for one hundred years and I had no desire to spend that time cleaning up his messes. Valeron of course mistook me for a goddess.

    "When he finally understood I was a woman, he proposed to me and I had to reject him a dozen times before he started to actually listen to me. I taught Valeron about magic, about how to fight, and then I just waited.

    "He became the god of the battlefield and yet when they offered to him the role of vige chief he refused. Valeron hated both war and political power. He didn¡¯t fight because he enjoyed it, only to protect his house and the life he cherished.

    "Compared to magic, politics are a poisoned well. The more powerful you get, the more corrupt you be. Valeron preferred being a healer than a leader, to bring smiles rather than constantly opposing the greed of his neighbors.

    "Yet with each victory he achieved, his vige grew in size and power. With each enemy they defeated, ves and war prisoners would be considered a standardmodity. Valeron felt guilty for it, but as a warrior and a healer, he couldn¡¯t change things.

    "After his best efforts to abolish very only got him several attempts murders and poisoning, Valeron finally epted the role of Mayor. The nearby cities felt threatened hearing that the fabled general had be a true leader, mostly because their citizens left their corrupt domains to look for a better life under Valeron¡¯s banner.

    "At that point, war was inevitable. More people meant the need for more farnds to feed them and no one believed that Valeron¡¯s ever-expanding city wouldn¡¯t one day be a threat for its neighbors.

    "Valeron never attacked first, but each victory brought him more troubles and responsibilities. He cried every night he didn¡¯t spend searching for a proper way to organize what was more than a city but less than a Kingdom.

    "He was an uncultured man and had no idea how to create a system ofws that couldn¡¯t be exploited to ruin his years of hard work, yet he never gave up. He asked other Awakened for help, sought Emperor Beasts for their wisdom, and Fae to teach him how to take care of hisnds.

    "He never hesitated to admit his faults and recognize his limits. Whenever he knew to not be up to the task, Valeron sought someone better than himself. Of course, he made a lot of mistakes, trusted the wrong people, and soon his country was on the verge of the civil war.

    "That¡¯s when he proposed to me for the 128th time and I epted. What I fell in love with wasn¡¯t his power or handsome face, but his willingness to sacrifice so much to build a better ce for everyone.

    "His determination to never surrender, even when he was forced to beg or crawl in horseshit. I helped him to get rid of bad counselors, corrupt officers, and to writews that made sense.

    "The Griffon Kingdom didn¡¯t arise from a power-hungry man who believed to know what was best for everyone, but from a farm boy who only wanted his conscience to let him sleep peacefully at night."

    Tears streamed from Tyris¡¯s eyes while she looked at the statue of Valeron sitting on the throne next to hers.

    "When I gave him children, he was such a good father that they wanted to be like him rather than me. They were hybrids who could have be almighty Griffons, yet they choose to be humans to better be able to understand the needs and the hardships of their subjects.

    "Tell me, Jorl. When is thest time that you went to sleep hungry? That you felt afraid of your future? Do you think you could do any better of these ¡¯fleas¡¯ if you weren¡¯t born a Griffon?" Tyris caressed the statue¡¯s cheek and its coldness stung at her heart reopening old wounds.

    "Is this pathetic anecdote supposed to answer my question?" Jorl asked.

    "Sylpha, kick his ungrateful ass out of here." Tyris¡¯s eyes zed with mana that dried up her tears as her voice turned stone cold.

    "Please, Mother. She might have a violet core, but she¡¯s not a real Awakened. Your puppy is human, and exhausted at that." Jorl said with a chuckle a second before Sylpha¡¯s uppercut shut him up.

    Jorl snarled and shapeshifted into his Griffon form, infusing himself with the power of all elements. His height at the withers was over 30 meters (98.5 feet) tall and 52.5 meters (172 feet) long, but the underground pce was big enough to amodate Tyris¡¯s real body, let alone her offspring.

    Sylpha just grabbed the enormous beak that appeared in front of her with both her arms and struck at it with her knees in a rapid sequence. Her left knee hit with such strength that only her hold prevented Jorl¡¯s head to snap back.

    Her right knee struck a split-secondter, cracking the beak and making Jorl wail in pain.

 Chapter 1069 Life Maelstrom Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1069 Life Maelstrom Part 1</h4>

    Dragons and Phoenixes had to conjure the surrounding world energy and add their life force to it to produce Origin mes. Griffons, instead, would absorb the world energy over time and store it inside their bodies to generate silver bolts of lightning called Life Maelstrom.

    Both processes didn¡¯t involve mana, only life force and world energy, but the principle behind them was different. Life Maelstrom could use the stored power to temporarily boost their magical prowess or unleash it against their enemies to destroy them.

    The silver lightning was made of pure energy that could be used to supercharge both organic and inorganic matter since everything on Mogar had mana. A small amount could enhance a living being¡¯s spells or hasten the growth of mana crystals.

    A huge amount, instead, would short circuit the mana flow of anything injected with Life Maelstrom, causing them to self-harm due to their energy going haywire. On the one hand, it had no purifying effect, but on the other hand, Life Maelstrom could be used to either recharge or destroy artifacts and golems alike.

    Jorl consumed part of the Life Maelstrom stored inside his body to unleash a storm of silver lightning bolts, each one of them could tten a mountain. Sylpha had recognized the familiar sparks and moved to the safest ce of the battlefield: under her opponent.

    She jumped upwards, striking at the Griffon¡¯s ribcage with the strength of a missile and cracking it in several ces. Theck of air dispelled the storm and made Jorl spat out blood.

    ¡¯Dammit, all those columns make it hard for me to move whereas that flea can move nimbly. I need but one spell or hit to put her down.¡¯ Jorl was right, but Sylpha knew her own limits as well.

    Letting an Awakened breathe was a rookie mistake that she carefully avoided. Sylpha used a flight spell to move faster than a bullet, hitting the joints of the Griffon¡¯s four legs.

    Jorl couldn¡¯t feel pain due to darkness fusion, but each strike was strong enough to both damage his bones and force the limbs to bend, throwing the Griffon off bnce. Sylpha bounced randomly from one leg to another like a pinball, driving Jorl mad with fury.

    A single roar of a Griffon infused with Life Maelstrom could raze the top of a mountain or dry up ake. The shockwave spread from their bodies and moved in every direction, making it impossible to avoid.

    The roar wasn¡¯t even a spell, so it didn¡¯t require any cast time. The impossible attack caught Sylpha by surprise and sent her mming against a wall with such strength that, in any other ce but a Guardian¡¯s home, it would have created a crater.

    Jorl took a deep breath, using it to heal himself with Invigoration, and spent another chunk of Life Maelstrom to conjured more silver lightning bolts.

    The thunderstorm hit Sylpha while she was still casting her spell, leaving her unscathed. Green energy set her eyes aze and revealed the emerald streak among her hair that the Queen always kept hidden.

    She reced the spark of Jorl¡¯s life force with her own and the circr motion of her arms trapped every single bolt inside her body. She used part of Life Maelstrom to boost herself, sending the rest back at the Griffon.

    "A human using Domination?" Jorl¡¯s shock intensified when Sylpha showered him with silver bolts that ravaged his body.

    Yet only when the Queenpleted her gravity field did the shock turn into terror. The single breath of Invigoration had allowed Jorl only to mend some of his injuries. His cracked joints couldn¡¯t bear his weight now that Sylpha had increased it by a hundred folds.

    The Griffon¡¯s four legs broke, his bones turned into spears that pierced the flesh and sprayed blood everywhere, turning the colossal beast into a slithering worm.

    "The only reason you¡¯re still alive is that Lady Tyris ordered so, cat boy." The sword of Saefel pointed at Jorl¡¯s helpless throat made any nasty retort he could think of die in his throat. "Begone!"

    Sylpha opened a Gate so big that the Griffon¡¯s massive body had no trouble going through it after gravity magic made him weightless and the Queen punched him on the beak, shattering it.

    Jorl had be a living missile that crashnded in a deserted in several hundreds of kilometers from the castle. He was about to faint due to blood loss when Tyris appeared beside his broken body, using her breathing technique, Mother Earth, to mend his wounds.

    "Thanks, Mother. I¡¯m sorry to have angered you..."

    "I¡¯m not angry, I¡¯m just disappointed." Tyris cut him short while forcing him to shapeshift into human form against his will. "I¡¯m fed up with your tantrums. If power is the only thing you respect, in spite even of my feeling, we¡¯ll do this your way."

    Jorl started to panic. Tyris held him by the neck with one hand and no matter how much he tried, no magic nor ability seemed to work.

    "I hereby exile you from my home. The entirety of the Griffon Kingdom is forbidden ground to you. Come back, and I¡¯ll treat you as an enemy. Sylpha is just a human that I trained for measly thirty years, whereas I have millennia of war and training against fellow Guardians." Her voice was stone cold, with no trace of her usual warmth.

    "I healed you solely because I wanted to make sure you got the message. Now clench your teeth and trouble your mother no more." Unlike Sylpha¡¯s, Tyris¡¯s fist reverberated throughout Jorl¡¯s body, breaking all of his bones before he could break the speed of sound.

    When hended in the Blood Desert, the impact turned the sand into ss, leaving Jorl but one breath before death imed him.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Trawn woods, Lith¡¯s tower.

    After Faluel¡¯s lesson ended, Lith¡¯s group had barely the strength to take a quick shower and grab a bite before they lost consciousness. They didn¡¯t want to spend the night in the tower again, especially Phloria, they simply had no choice.

    "Gods, two full days away from home. Selia will kill me." Nalrond fell asleep the second after remembering that he could¡¯ve asked to be Invigorated again.

    The Rezar appreciated Faluel¡¯s teachings, yet he missed the Protector¡¯s children dearly. In a foreign country where he was the only one of his kind, they managed to make him feel at home.

    "No Kam tonight?" Solus asked while looking at the stars together with Lith.

    "Big case. Again. After the events in Feymar¡¯s mines, Jirni is on the prowl. Even more than usual, I mean. She had no time toe back even for dinner and as her assistant, Kam can¡¯t leave either." Lith said.

    "I¡¯m a bit sad, but at the same time, I¡¯m happy we got to spend some time alone. Well, almost alone." The sound of snoringing from the open windows broke the feeling of intimacy reminding them of the presence of their guests.

    A wave of Solus¡¯s hand closed the windows and made them soundproof, making it impossible to overhear them.

    "Phloria is still angry with you about me, you know?" Solus said.

    "I knew all along it would happen. Why do you think it took me so long to introduce the two of you?" Lith thought about how Kam would react in Phloria¡¯s shoes and sighed.

 Chapter 1070 Life Maelstrom Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1070 Life Maelstrom Part 2</h4>

    "What about you?" He said.

    "What do you mean?" Solus loved to speak instead of using their mind link. It made her feel normal and allowed her to hear the sound of their voices.

    "Are you angry with me as well? First, I kept you a secret from the entirety of Mogar and now I leave you alone a lot. On top of that, I used you as an excuse to justify my actions after Phloria broke up with me." Lith said.

    "A bit, but not for the reasons you think." Solus replied.

    "I¡¯m happy you finally made me part of the group and I understand why it took you so long. Now I realize how na?ve I was in the past and how meeting a paranoid, cynical man was the best thing that could happen to me.

    "A normal child would have never been able to keep the secret, dooming the both of us to be victims of unspeakable experiments. Another mage, instead, would have either enved me or forced me to be like Dawn.

    "Even when you still didn¡¯t trust me, you always treated me with respect because you know the pain of being stranded amid a hostile world. Thanks to our bond, I experienced Mogar, growing and healing alongside you." Solus held his hand while never averting her gaze from the waning moon above them.

    "I must admit that, at first, I was angry and jealous of you spending so much time alone with Kam. Over time, however, it helped me put things in the right perspective. Like Tista told me for years, I needed to get a life of my own.

    "For a long time, I couldn¡¯t even imagine my life without you." Solus suddenly blushed, then turned pale and rushed to say:

    "Don¡¯t get me wrong, I still can¡¯t. What I mean is that before I considered myself more like another of your limbs rather than a person. The time we spent apart helped me to grow, both as a woman and as a tower." She brought his hand to her face as if she was expecting to be caressed.

    "Use Invigoration on me and avoid checking me out with the excuse of a diagnosis." She chuckled.

    Lith had used his breathing technique on Solus many times in the past, yet none of it prepared him for what he saw. Inside her humanoid form, it was possible to distinguish the outline of organs, veins, and bones.

    Yet, more importantly, he could see a second core inside her body. It was different from everything he had encountered in all his life. The second core resembled a golem¡¯s power core, but it wasplex beyond what Lith¡¯s mind could conceive.

    It was both small and hazy, making it hard to properly distinguish its features or theplexwork of runes that surrounded it like several asteroid belts, but Lith could sense the power core getting stronger by the second.

    "You never had a second core. When did it manifest¡¯" Lith asked.

    "A bit after I obtained my energy body. Please, now focus on my human core." Solus replied.

    At first, Lith didn¡¯t understand her request. Solus¡¯s deep cyan core looked no different from all those he had examined in the past, at least until he used Invigoration to look at it real close.

    Part of the cyan sphere was blurry as if a small chunk of it had turned from solid into a highlypressed gas. It took Lith a while to realize that Solus missed part of her core which caused her mana to leak and formed the blurry area.

    Once Lith understood the situation, he focused even more, checking Solus¡¯s two cores down to the slightest detail. The power core was deeply connected to the cyan core, keeping it stable and allowing it to slow down the mana leak.

    Lith¡¯s own core was linked with Solus¡¯s, providing it with more energy than it lost over time and slowly nurturing the damaged core.

    The shock left Lith with his mouth agape. He stared at Solus with eyes wide open for a few minutes, incapable of speaking a word.

    "By my maker, you should see your face." She chuckled. "If anyone saw you now, they would think that I just told you that I¡¯m pregnant."

    For a long time, Solus had an energy te with only eyes and a mouth for a face, but now that they were so close, Lith could almost see her nose and cheekbones.

    "Didn¡¯t you wonder why it took me so long to gain my wisp form and reach the green core whereas I quickly refined a cyan core after achieving my energy body? As I told you before, being apart did me good.

    "Remaining at your finger nurtures my human core, of which I was in desperate need after almost dying of starvation. Yet it¡¯s by tapping into a mana geyser that I can nurture my tower core back to its full strength.

    "A living core, no matter how powerful, cannot empower something so big andplex as a mage tower, only a mana geyser can. After we started to spend more time on our own, my tower core managed to reassemble itself thanks to the constant exposure to the mana geyser.

    "The more my tower core grows in power, the more stable my human core bes and the more efficiently I can process the energy I receive from you. Tista and I have studied the phenomenon for a while and together we reached the same conclusions.

    "The good news is that now I more or less know why Master Menadion did this to me and the bad news is that I¡¯m screwed. Maybe I failed my breakthrough, or maybe someone killed me.

    "Whatever happened, my core cracked, bringing me beyond what even today¡¯s healing magic can repair. To give me more time, Master Menadion somehow fused me with her tower, using its power core and the massive amounts of energy it draws from the geysers to keep me stable.

    "Unluckily, either the strain killed her or whoever did this to me came back to finish the job and killed Menadion as well. Last, but not least, whenever we are together in the tower, like now, my recovery speed skyrockets.

    "It¡¯s still damn slow and I have no idea when flesh will rece energy, but you¡¯ve seen the progress I made. I can be human again. In the future, maybe I¡¯ll be able to keep my body without the tower, to have a normal life."

    Solus gave Lith a radiant smile and took his hands into hers.

    "Why do you say you¡¯re screwed, then?" Lith dragged Solus closer, embracing her with the foolish hope that physical contact would help her to recover faster.

    He discovered that not only her body¡¯s warmth was now no different from a regr person, but she also smelled good whereas in the past she had no smell.

    "Because a cracked core cannot be healed." Her smile disappeared, but Lith couldn¡¯t notice it with her face buried in his shoulder. "Saving Protector almost killed you and you wouldn¡¯t have even seeded without Scarlett¡¯s help.

    "Even once both my cores go back to their full strength, I will always be dependent on our bond to survive. I will be a burden for you and force you to take care of me no matter what kind of life you¡¯re going to build for yourself."

 Chapter 1071 Foolishness and Wisdom Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1071 Foolishness and Wisdom Part 1</h4>

    "On top of that, even if we find a way to fix my core, I cannot part from the tower. I might be my own master after your death, but that would mean living an eternity of loneliness.

    "Immortality would be my curse rather than my blessing. After losing everyone I love, it would be only a matter of time before grief and istion drive me insane as it happens to Liches." Solus had never been so scared of her future.

    Finding the answers she had long searched had brought her no joy, only despair.

    "Stop spewing nonsense, Solus!" Lith said. "You¡¯ve never been a burden for me. You are my most precious friend and confidant. Our bond made me better and I have yet to even start repaying you for all you did.

    "I¡¯ll take care of you not because I have to, but because I want to. No matter what kind of mess my life will turn into, I want you in it. As for immortality, you and I are in the same boat.

    "I can¡¯t afford to die without taking another trip to never-nevernd so don¡¯t kill me off like that. Don¡¯t worry about the future. We¡¯ll deal with it when the timees just like we did with everything else. Together." Lith kissed her head, lulling Solus between his arms.

    "Since we still have some time before going to bed, what do you say I prepare you my worlds-renowned hot chocte with whipped cream and pancakes drowned in syrup?" Lith asked with a soothing voice.

    "Are you trying to give me diabetes?" Solus nodded and chuckled at the same time.

    "The good thing about having an energy body is that you can¡¯t get fat. You should enjoy it while you have the chance. Once you get your real body, you¡¯ll be like anyone else. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." Lith yfully pinched at her belly.

    "How dare you make fun of ady!" Solusughed, trying to return the favor but finding nothing to pinch at.

    "I¡¯ll take your advice and a double chocte. Then, maybe, I¡¯ll forgive you."

    While Lith prepared the food, Solus checked her body and realized that she had no idea how to prepare a single meal. Mages were often so focused on their research to pay no mind to things like cooking or sewing.

    The idea that to keep enjoying all of her favorite foods as she had always done without gaining ten kilos per month she would need to both exercise a lot and learn how to prepare them, made immortality look like a minor issue to Solus.

    ***

    Weghan region, near their of Ajatar the Drake, in the central part of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Ajatar was sound asleep even though the sun had just set. Histest experiment had not only been a massive failure, but it had alsosted over three days. The Drake was annoyed and in dire need of rest.

    Invigoration couldn¡¯t mend his wounded pride nor his bad mood. The only prescription was taking a bit of time off to learn from his mistakes.

    That¡¯s why when someone triggered all of his rm arrays and knocked on his door, Ajatar was royally pissed off even before learning the identity of the unwanted guest or why they were bothering him.

    "This better be urgent, pal, because otherwise I¡¯m going to paint you ck and blue all over." The Drake resembled an oversized lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales with a huge white horning out of his snout.

    Despite his huge size, Ajatar moved as lithe as a cat, reaching the door in a split second.

    "What the actual fuck?" He said noticing a raggedy man asleep on his doorbell. "How the heck does a human know how to find my buzzer and how did he trigger yet dodge my traps?"

    Ajatar activated his mystical senses and arrays to make sure it wasn¡¯t some kind of borate ruse for an ambush. A lot of people would kill Drakes for their sturdy scales that could be used to craft extraordinary protections.

    In a simr fashion, the Drake¡¯s home was surrounded by human skins to remind all wannabe hunters that skinning was a game two could y. Only after all the security sweeps came back negative did he take a good sniff at the stranger.

    The ragged man smelled of dirt, loads of alcohol, and something that reminded the Drake of his own dissolute youth. Under all that stench, the smell of a fellow Emperor Beast was faintly detectable.

    "If you want to sleep, go somewhere else. What do you want from me?" The Drake asked.

    "Oh, sorry." Morok managed to yawn, burp, and fart at the same time, releasing a noxious gas that wiped away any trace of sleep left in Ajatar¡¯s body.

    "I need a ride back to the Ernas Arch Duchy to collect my prize since those bastards dropped me like a bad habit." He said before literally falling asleep on the ground with a thud.

    "What kind of idiot has just stumbled in my house?" Ajatar asked the heavens while rolling his eyes.

    "Be more specific, dammit! Do you have any idea how big an Arch Duchy is? There are several Awakened Lords living there. Either you tell me where you want to go or I swear to the gods that I¡¯ll Warp you to a random location."

    "Take me to the Ernas household, thanks." Morok stopped snoring long enough to answer and then promptly resumed.

    Tired of ying along with all that nonsense, Ajatar used Invigoration on Morok, cleansing his body from substances and fatigue alike.

    "It doesn¡¯t work like that, pal. Start from the beginning. Who are you and what do you want?" The Drake asked.

    "You fiend!" Morok looked at the Drake with outrage, making him feel guilty even though he had no idea why. "That was some first-rate booze and chemical joy. Do you have any idea how much it cost me? I demandpensation!"

    "Do you want me to pay for messing with your intoxication?" Ajatar was bbergasted but no longer felt guilty.

    "You break it, you pay for it. Why is the Warp Array still inactive?" Morok extended his hand for the money while looking at the messyb in contempt. "Dude, this ce is a stinky mess. Do you have no shame?"

    The failure and consequent explosion had indeed left theb in a pitiful state. Pieces of broken equipmenty everywhere and the stench of burned ingredients gave their a pungent smell.

    Yet hearing those wordsing from someone that made hisb look and smell like a rosebud inparison, almost gave Ajatar a stroke.

    "First, I¡¯m not going to give you a single copper piece. Second, if you don¡¯t like my house, go to Feymar and use the humans¡¯ Gate." The Drake said.

    "Have some respect, dude! I¡¯m a fellow Emperor Beast and a war hero at that. I faced Baba Yaga, barely survived the legendary battle of the three armies, and then crawled my way here. Is it too much to ask for a little help?" Morok said.

    "Even if I wanted to believe you met a living legend like Baba Yaga and lived to tell the tale, I call bullshit on the rest. Thest war happened before I was even born and I¡¯ve never heard about such battle."

 Chapter 1072 Foolishness and Wisdom Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1072 Foolishness and Wisdom Part 2</h4>

    "No duh, genius, it happened three days ago, right outside the Belin caves. The humans and the undead battled against Scourge and got their asses handed to them. Remind me to not hit on his sister on the rebound in case things go badly with Quy.

    "The girl is hot, but it¡¯s not worth the trouble of messing with a guy like that." Morok said.

    "Wait, I know neither of those girls, but Scourge? I sent him to those caves and they are barely an hour of flight from here if you¡¯re slow. How the heck did it take you so long to get here?

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re able to shapeshift and yet you¡¯ve never learned how to fly!" Ajatar felt a headacheing on.

    "Of course I know how to fly! It¡¯s just that on my way here I stopped in a few cities to vent and have some fun." Morok replied.

    "Three days on a bender is not having fun. You¡¯ve got problems." Ajatar said.

    "You¡¯d be depressed as well if after months of work, after risking your life to save your damsel in distress, all the thank-you you received was the flip of the bird. Scratch that. What could you possibly know about women?" Morok sighed with such honesty that the Drake had a hard time not killing him on the spot.

    "I can send you to the Ernas Arch Duchy, but it¡¯s the middle of the night there." Ajatar said. "I doubt anyone will receive you sote, especially while in such a state."

    "You¡¯re right, man. I need to clean up and get some sleep. Do you mind if I crash here for the night?" A wave of Morok¡¯s hand cleaned his face, hair, and hands.

    "Actually, I do." Ajatar¡¯s left eye twitched at the idea of having to put up with his "guest" for one second longer. The Drake couldn¡¯t wait to get rid of him. "There¡¯s a cozy little vige..."

    "Okay, thanks." Morok cut him short and fell asleep on a pile of enchanted clothes that the Drake had realized as prototypes of a new kind of armor.

    Ajatar¡¯s eyes became two fiery slits brimming with mana as he took a deep breath that filled his mouth with ck mes. It was the first time in centuries that someone dared to barge in his house and disrespect him like that.

    ¡¯Either he¡¯s really heartbroken or there¡¯s something wrong with his head. I¡¯ll cut him some ck and wait until tomorrow morning before kicking him out. Who knows, maybe Invigoration actually failed and he¡¯s still drunk.

    ¡¯Gods, I never thought the day woulde that I would wish Invigoration failed me.¡¯ Ajatar thought.

    The following morning, an annoying voice woke up the Drake and reminded him that no good deed goes unpunished, no matter the world you live in.

    "What¡¯s for breakfast? I¡¯m starving here and I¡¯m on a clock. Dude, only lovers and sick people spend all day in bed. Do you have a fever or just a fetish for gold piles? Is your shiny pillow supposed to be your girlfriend or what?" Morok asked.

    Like most lesser Dragons, Ajatar slept on a small moundprised of his most prized possessions.

    "Gods, it wasn¡¯t a nightmare." The Drake whined while getting up.

    The two had breakfast together and during that time, Ajatar casually asked Morok about the events in the caves. No matter how obnoxious he was, the Tyrant had yet to tell a single lie.

    If there really was a crystal mine nearby and Baba Yaga resided there, it was worth the trip. Digging out crystals would take too long, but her knowledge could save Ajatar months of research.

    Despite her obsession with resurrection, Baba Yaga was considered an honorable character second in wisdom only to Leegaain. Getting her help would more than make up for all the troubles Morok had caused the Drake.

    The Tyrant didn¡¯t leave out any detail. Especially those meaningless like how hot Baba Yaga was in her Mother form, how the Crone resembled a prune, and how smelly Nandi was.

    "The guy needed a bath even more than you do and I don¡¯t say it lightly." Morok conjured a small breeze to clear the air. "You should do something about that nervous tic."

    Ajatar¡¯s left eye kept twitching in anger, but his tone was polite.

    "Did you really refuse her offer? In exchange for your help, you could have asked Baba Yaga the secret of her white core or at least to Awaken you."

    "To what end?" Morok asked.

    "My old man is over 600 years old and believe me, he has more bad memories than good. Nandi seemed more ancient than my grandfather and even more bitter. Baba Yaga was nice, but I think she¡¯s just like her creations, broken.

    "She must have lost something or someone important to her, so she desperately tries to give others happiness just to fill the void her past trauma created. I¡¯m not interested in a long life unless I¡¯ve got something to live for.

    "Be honest with me, did bing an Awakened make you happy?"

    Ajatar was taken aback by Morok¡¯s unexpected burst of wisdom. He pondered the question deeply before answering.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t have apanion in years, most of my friends are dead, my kids hate me because I refused to Awaken them, and I spend most of my days umting power and knowledge that I probably will never use.¡¯ The Drake had just woken up and his mood was already ruined.

    "Of course I am." Ajatar lied through his teeth before sucker-Warping the Tyrant to his destination

    It took Morok seconds to reach the gates of the Ernas Household, where the house staff had been carefully instructed to not invite him in nor to ash him to wait for Jirni¡¯s return.

    The guards gave him an envelope containing a smaller envelope, a map to Faluel¡¯sir, and the following note.

    "Dear Baron Eari,

    "Thanks for your loyal service and for protecting my daughters. My word is my bond so I can assure you that I¡¯ll honor my part of our deal. Give the sealed envelope to my daughter Quy who is currently residing at the marked location and I¡¯ll do the rest.

    "PS: break the seal at your own risk. If you do it, I¡¯ll consider myself free from my obligation."

    Jirni had signed the note using all of her titles and names to stress how she considered their contract to be over and done. After checking the envelope against the light in the hope of reading its content, Morok gave up and reached Faluel¡¯sir.

    "Who are you and what do you want?" The Hydra didn¡¯t like unexpected visitors. Especially those who robbed her of the little free time she had before starting her lessons.

    "My name is Morok Eari and I¡¯ve got a letter for Quy Ernas. Are you Faluel, the Lord of this Region and the woman who¡¯s mentoring her?" He had never told Ajatar his name nor asked that of his host, yet this time Morok introduced himself properly.

    Not because he actually cared but because, ording to all his drinking buddies, making a good first impression on Quy¡¯s friends would improve his chances after their rough goodbye in Kh.

    "I¡¯ve never heard about you and Quy is not here. Leave me the letter and I¡¯ll make sure she receives it." Faluel could smell both Eari being an Emperor Beast and some odd enchantment on the letter.

 Chapter 1073 Foolishness and Wisdom 3

    <h4>Chapter 1073 Foolishness and Wisdom 3</h4>

    Any of those after the Ernas¡¯s heads could hire a mercenary Beast like Gadorf to do the dirty work for them. Faluel wouldn¡¯t let a stranger in her home nor the letter reach Quy before examining it thoroughly.

    "No way I¡¯ll entrust my hope and dreams to someone I just met. If you mess up, I¡¯ll be done for. Do you mind if I wait for her here?" Morok said.

    "Yes, I do." Faluel snarled at Morok for taking the words out of her mind and saying them out loud. "Go away. When Quy arrives, I¡¯ll tell her about you and then she can decide whether wants to call you or not."

    "Yeah, right. If I had her contact rune, why the heck would I go through this hassle just for a goddamn letter? I¡¯ll speak slowly so you can understand. I only asked your permission out of courtesy. I¡¯m not going to move from here." Morok sat on a rock and looked up at the brightening sky.

    "I beg your pardon?" The air around Faluel started to crackle and her hair to dance in the air. Challenging the authority of a Lord was noughing matter, especially from those who weren¡¯t even part of the Council.

    "Man, first the stinky Drake and now you. You Lords sure are pretty dumb, but at least you smell good and have a tight little ass. Do you mind turning around so at least I can look at something nice to pass the time?" He asked.

    "That does it!" Faluel roared and shapeshifted into her real form.

    Her short, stumpy body was as wide as a building and as sturdy as a mountain. It allowed her to move nimbly on the ground despite her size. On top of that, by shifting the weight on her four legs, she could keep the bnce even when her seven snake heads and their respective long necks moved inpletely different directions.

    Each one of her seven heads had its scales streaked of a different color and their eyes shone with different elemental mana. Faluel exposed her sets of fangs while towering at a height of 20 meters (66 feet)

    "I take that back. I don¡¯t mind big butts but yours is just too much." He mocked her while unsheathing his des. "It takes more than an overgrown snake to scare me off, sis-"

    Faluel¡¯s first head swooped down while empowered by earth fusion. Morok tried to dodge it, but she moved too fast. He took the hit and almost plunged into the ground, like a nail hit by a hammer.

    "That was my first andst warning. Get out of my turf, now!"

    "No way, this isn¡¯t even my final form!" Morok shapeshifted and his skin became snow-white, with only one big red eye in the middle of his forehead, another eye the size of a football appeared on his chest, and two more on his shoulders.

    His appearance was still humanoid, but he was now over two meters (6¡¯7") tall.

    His nose had disappeared, leaving only two slits on his face and his mouth was full of several rows of shark-like teeth. Faluel immediately recognized the Emperor Beast known as Tyrannical Eye, or just as Tyrant.

    They were the magical beast equivalent of Balors, but unlike them, Tyrants weren¡¯t part of the Fallen races and their mastery over the elements wasn¡¯t as developed. Like Hydras, they were naturally gifted for the art of Domination, but even the strongest Tyrant could only develop up to six eyes.

    Domination over the seventh element, mana, was impossible to them.

    Morok exploited the split-second Faluel froze in surprise to open his four eyes and pour four beams of focused elemental energy onto his own weapons. The des absorbed and amplified the beams turning them into pirs of great destructive powers, each one aimed at a different head.

    "I recognize that weapon. I crafted the Baby Fangs for Glemos¡¯s son. Is that really you?" Faluel effortlessly dispelled the pirs and nailed Morok to the ground with one of her forelegs.

    "Do you know my old man?" With no mana left and his body more battered than after his trip to Kh, Morok thought that having a civil conversation wasn¡¯t such a bad idea.

    "Yes. Hydras and Tyrants are usually on good terms due to our simr abilities. Why are you still using that junk? I gave it to your father as a present the day you were born. Baby Fangs are just a learning toy to help a young Tyrant to choose their weapon and master the power of their eyes." Faleul said.

    "Because my father is an asshole! He told me it was mying-of-age gift and that he had paid for it dearly." Morok cursed Glemos¡¯s name in many creative ways.

    "You already have four out of six eyes open. How old are you exactly?" Morok had one eye more than Lith opened, which piqued Faluel¡¯s curiosity.

    Sooner orter, she would have to teach him Domination, and having a training partner of simr talent would speed up things greatly.

    "I¡¯m 24. Why? On top of being a short-fused grandma, are you also a cradle snatcher?" Morok regretted those words the moment they came out of his mouth. "I¡¯m sorry, I meant those words but not to say them out loud!"

    Adding insult to injury didn¡¯t make things better. Faluel hit him again with one of her heads and knocked Morok out. After shapeshifting back into her human form, the Hydra checked Morok¡¯s equipment and found it mediocre.

    "Glemos, your son is as much of a jerk as you are. Our children are supposed to be better than us." Faluel then took Jirni¡¯s letter and examined it with Invigoration.

    The pseudo core on the envelope needed a specific imprint, otherwise the slightest damage would trigger the enchantment and destroy the letter inside.

    The Hydra locked the unconscious prick in one of herir¡¯s cells and waited for her students. When they arrived, aside from Lith, Solus, and Tista, everyone seemed out of a sleepless night.

    They had deep bags under their eyes, yawned non-stop, and judging from their slouched backs, they were far from excited at the idea of receiving a new lesson.

    "Master Faluel, not to sound ungrateful, but could you please give us a bit of free time?" Quy said. "We arrive here at sunrise and leave past nightfall after getting so tired that we can barely keep our eyes open.

    "I do love magic, but I want to be able to visit my parents and maybe take a little care of my personal life. We work so hard not even at the academy. On top of that, we always had the weekends free."

    Friya felt the same way, but since her situation was precarious at best, she didn¡¯t even dare to nod.

    ¡¯Who would ever want a Harbinger who asks for vacations before even starting her job?¡¯ She thought.

    "This is just your third day here, Quy, and it was you who insisted on taking part of my lessons. The point of this is to strengthen your bodies and allow you to wield powerful magic without copsing." Faluel checked everyone¡¯s condition with Invigoration.

    "Phloria, your body is stable enough to use Invigoration, but I strongly advise against it. The same applies to all of you. Invigoration is a great tool, but if abused it can hinder your growth."

 Chapter 1074 Foolishness and Wisdom 4

    <h4>Chapter 1074 Foolishness and Wisdom 4</h4>

    "By rejuvenating your bodies, it both keeps impurities from forming over time and your bodies from strengthening properly in-between breakthroughs. Tista, to not need help to survive your next core refinement, you need impurities whereas Phloria has too many of them.

    "She needs to remove the excess and reinforce her body which is still a long shot from that of a proper blue-cored Awakened. Quy, Friya, Nalrond, if you remain so weak, your magic will also be limited."

    Her words made everyone groan, making them feel like Lith had an unfair advantage over them, just like at the academy.

    "That said, you¡¯re also right. A rigorous training requires rest, otherwise you¡¯ll never be able to absorb the knowledge I¡¯m teaching you and it would just roll off your back. I n on giving you free time, but only once you¡¯ve learned the basics.

    "Speaking of free time, this is for you." Faluel handed Quy the letter.

    The moment she recognized her mother¡¯s handwriting, a cold shiver ran down her spine. Jirni used letters solely to deliver orders. Whenever there was room for negotiation, she would always meet her children in person

    Quy imprinted the enchanted wax seal and it crumbled along with the envelopes¡¯ protective spell. The letter was surprisingly long and its tone mild.

    "Dear Quy,

    During the past years, you¡¯ve rejected all the suitors I introduced to you regardless of their talent, looks, or personality. At this point, I have no idea what you¡¯re looking for in apanion and I came to believe that you ignore it as well.

    "I¡¯m growing afraid that if you keep up like this, you¡¯ll let life pass by you and miss a lot of experiences. I¡¯m not as worried about your sisters because they both have the strength of character to pursue what they want when they find it.

    "No matter how wonderful magic is, it¡¯s a job like any other and once you grow older and live on your own, it will not give you a birthday present, it will not take care of you when you are sick, nor will it bring you a smile when you¡¯re sad. That¡¯s what people are for.

    "Baron Eari is the perfect opportunity to face your trauma head-on and understand at least everything you don¡¯t want in apanion. I¡¯ve spent very little time with him and I can assure you he¡¯s a livingpendium of ws.

    "After a single date with him, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to see the good in any other man. Remember that I gave him my word you would go out with him and to wait at least one hour before dumping him.

    "With love, Mom."

    "Is he still here?" After reading the letter, Quy had to admit that most of Jirni¡¯s observations were on point.

    Sure, it was likely to be just a ruse to manipte her feelings, but it didn¡¯t make Jirni¡¯s words any less true. Quy didn¡¯t have Friya¡¯s endless line of suitors, nor Phloria¡¯s guts to make the first move when she met someone interesting.

    "Yeah. He is a piece of work, so I had him detained to keep me from either ripping my ears or his tongue off." Faluel¡¯s angry voice surprised Lith.

    He knew the Hydra the best and he had never seen her that livid before, not even when dealing with the Council¡¯s underhanded ploys.

    ¡¯I wonder who could possibly be obnoxious enough to make Faluel angry yet manage to not get themselves killed.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The Hydra Warped Quy to the prison and then she took Lith aside to share with him her n about using Morok as a sparring partner for Domination.

    "You two could work together and learn from each other¡¯s mistakes. Even though he is older than you, Morok managed to open four eyes whereas even my son is still stuck at two heads despite being the same age.

    "Domination isn¡¯t something that you can share with your friends, nor can they learn about it. That¡¯s why I used only elemental mastery during our spar. Solus can help you to understand how Domination works, but she might not be able to control more than one element." Faluel said.

    "I agree with you. Who knows, maybe he could even help me to open the rest of my eyes or at least to understand what keeps them closed. Yet Morok can¡¯t be allowed to stay here. He¡¯s not an Awakened, a Healer, and not even a Forgemaster.

    "More importantly, he doesn¡¯t know about Solus and I have no reason to trust him. I won¡¯t sacrifice what little life of her own she¡¯s finally achieved for that jackass." Lith said while caressing Solus¡¯s ring.

    Those words and the moments shared together the previous night moved her heart.

    "Thank heavens! After five minutes with him, the idea of having Morok around was enough to give me the creeps." Faluel sighed in relief. "The moment Quy is done with him, I¡¯ll Warp him as far away as I can."

    Meanwhile, Quy cleared her throat several times before realizing that Morok wasn¡¯t just asleep, but out cold, ck, and blue.

    "Wow, I knew you were dumb, but pissing off a Hydra gives a new meaning the word." Quy healed him while inwardly griping at the idea of spending time with such a moron.

    "Good morning to you as well, Quy. How¡¯s your sister?" Morok asked after recognizing her from her voice since his eyes were still too swelled to see a thing.

    "What?" She said in surprise.

    "I mean the tall one, not the hot one. She was still dying before you left and I¡¯ve been quite worried about the three of you." He replied, misunderstanding her question.

    "She¡¯s fine, thanks. Are you here for the date my mother promised you?" Quy blushed in embarrassment. Not only had he heard her rude remarks, but Morok had also asked her about Phloria, showing more good manners than her.

    "Yes and no. I mean, I¡¯m here to ask you out, but I don¡¯t want you to feel forced because of my deal with Archon Ernas. I did that just to have the opportunity to speak alone with you. If you¡¯re not interested, I¡¯ll get out of your hair." Morok half spoke and half groaned.

    Faluel had broken many of his bones, making even breathing painful.

    "You stalked Phloria for months just for that?" That was the creepiest and most ttering thing anyone had ever done for her.

    "Not stalked, protected her from the shadows. I did it as my job, not for some weird fetish. And yes, just for that. Both the academy and your house staff refused to take my messages, what choice did I have?" He shrugged and gave himself a pang.

    "Do you realize that¡¯s too much effort for someone you know for barely more than two weeks?"

    "No, it isn¡¯t. When we first met, I thought you were just a pretty face with a body to match, but during our stay in Kh, I got to know you better." His words made her turn to a shade of purple.

    "Even though you¡¯re as fit as my grandma, you proved to be smarter than all those old fossils put together. Your ingenuity saved us more times than my concussion allows me to count and you even took down more golems than anyone else."

 Chapter 1075 Core Principles Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1075 Core Principles Part 1</h4>

    "It¡¯s easy being brave when you¡¯re stronger than any human will ever be and you can cast spells with your mind, taking everyone by surprise. You are just a human, yet when the Odi were on the rampage and everyone, me included, only wanted to save their own skin, you kept a level head.

    "You found a way to shut down the Reactor and kicked me in the nuts to risk your life alongside your friends.

    "That¡¯s the moment I stopped being envious of Verhen for having such a cool girl in his life and decided I wanted to at least try to be worthy of the affection of a person like you.

    "I may have gone overboard epting your mother¡¯s assignment, but when I heard that you didn¡¯t cut Lith off even after seeing him go all out, I thought that maybe you would have epted me as well." Morok shapeshifted into his Tyrant form, looking at her reaction and pleasantly noticing that Quy didn¡¯t flinch.

    "As Baba Yaga told you, I was born a human-Emperor Beast hybrid but I relinquished my human nature just because it made my life easier. That said, here are a few things you should know about me.

    "I spent so much time alone that I have forgotten the basics of social interaction, I¡¯m rude, and my mouth moves faster than my brain. If after hearing all this you are still willing to go out with me, I promise you that I¡¯ll do my best to make the experience as less unpleasant as I can."

    Quy finished healing him in silence, pondering Morok words. On the one hand, the way he had described her was beyond charming, pointing out qualities that Quy herself had never thought of having.

    On the other hand, Morok was really rude, he clearly found Friya hotter than Quy, and he wasn¡¯t even human. Just a faceless white thing full of eyes that looked way less cool than a Wyrmling and more out of a small child¡¯s nightmare.

    "Thanks for your kind words. I¡¯m really ttered by your attentions-"

    "I¡¯m feeling a "but" iing." Morok sighed.

    "-But I¡¯m really busy right now, I¡¯ve barely got the time to sleep." Quy said.

    "Sure, no problem." Morok got back on his feet with a kip-up and started to weave a Warp Steps. Prolonging his stay would only make things more awkward than they already were.

    "If you give me your contact rune, we can set up a date as soon as soon as Master Faluel gives me a day off." Quy took hermunication amulet out of her dimensional item.

    ¡¯Mom is right and so is Friya. If I don¡¯t date, I can¡¯t find anyone. Maybe getting out of myfort zone is exactly what I need right now. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ve only wasted a few hours of my life.¡¯ She thought.

    "Gods, yes! I did it! She said yes!" Morok clenched his fists in triumph and made strange gestures before remembering Quy was still there. "I mean, sure thing. Call me whenever you want, I¡¯m unemployed so I¡¯ve got lots of free time."

    He mistook her stupefied gaze for scorn, so he rushed to say:

    "I mean, I¡¯m between jobs. I don¡¯t n of sitting on my ass for long..." While he rambled an excuse after the other, Quy sighed and exchanged their contact runes.

    "Now you¡¯d better go. Master Faluel is about to start her lesson." She said.

    "No goodnight kiss?" He asked with a disappointed look on his face.

    "It¡¯s early morning and this wasn¡¯t a date. Master Faluel!" Quy yelled.

    "Yeah, but back at Baba Yaga¡¯s hut it was still night..." A Warping Array cut Morok short and moved him thousands of miles away, in the middle of nothing.

    "...and I must have pissed off the Hydra big time. I really need to learn when to shut up." There was nothing around him as far as the eye could see. For all Morok knew, it could be the Blood Desert or even the Empire.

    "Today, I¡¯ll teach you about the art of Forgemastering and about the many simrities it shares with Healing." Faluel had a radiant smile, hoping that Morok would never reach civilization in time for his date.

    "At some point in their life, all mages learn a bit of both. Healing magic allows you to treat conditions that even Invigoration can¡¯t fix while Forgemastering provides us not only withbat tools, but also withmodities likemunication amulets or dimensional items.

    "Both disciplines require a subject to be practiced, but while Healing affects physical matter, Forgemastering deals with energy, leaving the physical aspect to cksmiths or craftsmen in general.

    "Another way of seeing it, is to consider Healing the discipline that studies life forces while Forgemastering studies the mana cores. Even though it led to terrible consequences, Lith managed to fix Protector¡¯s core by merging his knowledge as both a healer and Forgemaster." Faluel said, making everyone shudder at the memory.

    "Before starting, let¡¯s answer the question: what is a mana core? Except for Awakened who can actually see it thanks to their breathing technique, to anyone else those two words have no significance. Quy, Friya. Come here, please." The two did as Faluel asked and reached her in front of the ss.

    The Hydra ced her hands above their shoulders and channeled her breathing technique, Lifestream, through their bodies. Suddenly Faluel¡¯sir disappeared and the two women found themselves looking inside themselves as if they had used Invigoration.

    At the same time, to the rest of the ss, their bodies glowed with a golden light filled with ck spots, and midway between their sr plexus and their navel, there was a sphere of energy the size of an apple.

    "All living bodies produce mana, that¡¯s why the seventh element is also called the element of life. Mana is stored and umted in your cores, ready to be used when necessary. As you can see, Quy¡¯s core is bright blue with tinges of violet.

    "She¡¯s still 18 and cores develop up to the 20th years of age, so she could achieve a deep violet or even a bright violet core. Unfortunately, that ces her beyond the level where even I can Awaken her." Faluel sighed.

    "Friya, instead, has a bright cyan core. The color of a core determines not only the strength of the spells conjured but also the quantity of mana stored inside the mage¡¯s body. Both of them are not Awakened, in fact, their cores produce just enough mana to fill their bodies and their mana flow is so slow that it¡¯s nigh-unnoticeable."

    "What about the golden glow and the ck dots?" Nalrond asked.

    "Respectively me covering their organs to not make you puke your breakfast and the impurities. Lith, Tista, it¡¯s your turn." After the pairs of siblings exchanged positions, Faluel used her Lifestream again.

    "As you can see, an Awakened core is akin to a heart. It constantly beats, absorbing the world energy with every breath they take and then releasing pulses of mana that course through their bodies.

    "The phenomenon is what we call mana flow. Each cycle tempers the body, making it able to offer less resistance when casting spells and slowly removing the impurities as the next breakthrough approaches.

    "Even though Lith and Tista are both Awakened, a blue core is different from all the others."

 Chapter 1076 Core Principles Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1076 Core Principles Part 2</h4>

    Faluel pointed at how Tista¡¯s body was just enveloped by a cyan aura that pulsed rhythmically, whereas Lith¡¯s mana flow was a maelstrom full of vortexes that never shed with each other.

    "Fake mages can have cores of all colors, whereas blue is the cap for most Awakened. The breakthrough to violet doesn¡¯t happen naturally and must be induced by the mage.

    "The vortexes are the sign that Lith is no longer limited to absorb world energy through his core, but also through the rest of his body.

    "An Awakened violet core is formed when each of those vortexes merges with the blue core, creating a power on apletely different scale." Faluel said.

    ¡¯The vortexes must be rted to my organs almost achieving a core of their own during the breakthrough.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed at Invigoration¡¯s inability to reveal them.

    ¡¯Right now, they are just like Adamant that only draws the world energy while the violet core probably requires my organs to be like Davross, capable of also storing it.¡¯

    "Wait, so are non-Awakened more powerful since they don¡¯t have such a cap, or is an Awakened violet core superior since it¡¯s more difficult to achieve?" Quy asked.

    "It¡¯s more urate to say that non-Awakened violet cored individuals are moremon, since they just need to be blessed by talent, but the power is actually the same. A violet core is always violet, no matter how you got it.

    "The difference is that an Awakened with a violet core has a bodyparable to your legendary heroes. They can recover both their physical and magical strength at a rate non-Awakened can only dream of, making them virtually unstoppable." Faluel replied.

    "How do you achieve a violet core?" Tista asked.

    "It¡¯s only possible when mind, body, and mana are in perfect synch. Up to the blue core, you only need to refine your body and lower the resistance it offers to the mana flow by removing impurities.

    "A purple core, however, requires that even the mind must not be a hindrance. Using magic must be akin to breathing to you. Moving a finger or casting a spell should require you the same focus.

    "You need to deepen your understanding about the nature of magic until you make it flow instead of letting it flow. To give you a clear example, an Awakened achieves a violet core when be akin to a Mage yer.

    "Fake mages, like Quy, need chants and hand signs to weave magic, true mages, like Nalrond or Tista, can do it with just their minds, while a violet cored Awakened can perform magic just by moving their bodies.

    "Those like me can form the runes and weave them while they walk, gesture, and even when they fight. That¡¯s what makes the violet core so powerful. Even in close quartersbat, I can still cast all the spells I need."

    Faluel¡¯s words shocked everyone. Being able to cast tier five spells in the middle of a battle would allow anyone to easily turn the tables in an instant.

    "How can we reach the violet core exactly?" Lith asked. He had tried to whole time to cast a first magic spell by moving his arms to no avail.

    "That¡¯s a secret each bloodline protects with their life. I¡¯ve used my ancestor¡¯s method and I will only share it with my heir. Sorry."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I fail to understand how any of this will help me to be a better Forgemaster." Lith said. "What you said is justmon sense for an Awakened."

    "Believe me, you¡¯ll soon thank me." Faluel smiled and brought a simple dagger in front of the ss before activating her breathing technique again.

    Lifestream made both the pseudo core and its mana pathways visible to the naked eye.

    "As you can see, an enchanted item has a core, just like you. The lines you see surrounding it are called mana pathways and have the task to keep the energies of the pseudo core from dispersing since inanimate matter can¡¯t store huge amounts of mana.

    "Now, how many Forgemasters do we have here?" At Faluel¡¯s words, Quy, Phloria, Tista, Solus, and Lith raised their hands.

    "Tell me, how do you shape a pseudo core?"

    "You draw a magic circle with the runes, fill the circle with mana, and-"

    "Wrong. Anyone else?" Faluel cut Quy short.

    "You must simply use your mana to form a core ording to the magical properties you want to reproduce-" Lith couldn¡¯t see the point in all that.

    "Wrong again." Faluel cut him short as well. "Allow me to borrow a page from your academy¡¯s book. Tier four spell, dimensional ring."

    It was the very first Forgemastery spell that Lith had ever learned and he still used it up to now.

    "At the academy, you did it like this." Faluel took out the special ink, drew both the circle and the runes on the ground, and filled thetter with mana.

    "If you paid attention in my previous sses, you should have noticed that even though fake mages are unable to use Spirit Magic, they have developed from Silverwing¡¯s teachings the tools to use pure mana.

    "This ink and the Royal Forgemaster¡¯s wands are just an example. Lith, your Forgemastering technique is great, but up to this date, you only managed to improve other¡¯s people works. You have no original creation of your own, correct?" Faluel said.

    "Correct, but that¡¯s only because I have ess to a limited number of enchanted items. Shaping a pseudo core requires deep knowledge of each enchantment you want to imbue." He replied.

    "Wrong." Despite her warm smile and silveryughter, Faluel was starting to pissing him off. "It¡¯s because you are blinded by the academy¡¯s teachings. You keep thinking like a fake mage, not like an Awakened.

    "Non-Awakened can¡¯t use Spirit Magic, so they split everything into smaller, more controble steps. That¡¯s why they need the runes and the circle. What if you inject the mana directly into the runes?"

    Faluel flooded the circle with her mana, making the runes lift from the ground and spin in a circle above her hand.

    "At the academy, the mana would bepressed by the runes into a sphere and then injected inside the vessel. That¡¯s the illusion that you¡¯ve been trapped inside until now. There is nopression nor a pseudo core, just runes."

    Faluel made the set of floating runes flow into each other, just like an Awakened would do inside their mind for a normal spell. The result was that the mana stored inside the runes brought them together, fusing them into the pseudo core.

    "Are you telling me that..." Lith and Solus were bbergasted.

    "Yes. Instead of studying the pseudo cores, you should have studied the runes in the circles. Let¡¯s say I want a dimensional item that¡¯s also capable of producing light." Faluel waved her hand, creating the set of runes of the dimensional storage spell and another for a simple lighting spell.

    Once again, when brought close enough, the runes formed another pseudo core, moreplex than the previous.

    "As you can see, the more enchantments you add, the moreplex a core bes and the more energy it requires until it¡¯s more efficient to shape another one as it happens for elemental weapons." Faluel said while generating a third set of runes that assembled into a second pseudo core engulfed by mes.

 Chapter 1077 Bytraâ€™s Legacy Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1077 Bytra¡¯s Legacy Part 1</h4>

    "Forgemastering requires not to shape the core, but to build it with the proper set of runes ording to your needs. To ovee the limits of fake mages, you must imbue the runes made out of Spirit Magic with your willpower, or the mana will fall apart."

    "Fuck me sideways! I can¡¯t believe I did it wrong the entire time." Lith¡¯s yell drew the attention of the ss to himself.

    He knew the runes of the regr Skinwalker armor like the back of his hand, having crafted dozens of them between practice and prototypes. Several strings of runes floated in front of him, almost resembling a musical score.

    Lith removed a few runes, reced some, and rearranged others, forming the four pseudo cores thatprised the enchantments of the Skinwalker armor. They weren¡¯t just perfect in shape and size, but also their mana flow was stronger and smoother.

    "Exactly like that." Faluel pped her hands. "That would be the Verhen¡¯s Skinwalker armor, but if I were you, I¡¯d add a fifth core to give it my personal touch. Something to really make it my own."

    ¡¯By my maker! The good news is that thanks to the thorough study of runes we did until now, we can easily step up our game. The bad news is that we wasted a lot of time.

    ¡¯Manipting andbining the runes in our books to achieve new effects would have been much easier than studying the pseudo cores since we had to reverse engineer even the small stuff.¡¯ Solus had never felt so dumb before.

    "Why did Protector never tell me about this?" Lith was on the verge of tears with frustration.

    "Because he didn¡¯t know. I¡¯m breaking this to you only because otherwise you¡¯ll be stuck with your crappy Runesmithing. Are you done whining or do you need a moment to collect yourself?" Faluel hated to be interrupted.

    Lith repressed all the rage and the self-loathing he felt, hoping that Faluel¡¯s teachings would allow him to make up for the lost time.

    "Where was I? Oh, yes. Runes are thenguage of magic. It doesn¡¯t matter if you form them with your mouth and hands like fake mages or with your mind like true mages.

    "It doesn¡¯t even matter if you arrange them in a temporary form like a Warden does or in a permanent item like a Forgemaster. What you have to understand is that, by arranging them in the correct order and infusing them with willpower, you can achieve infinite effects.

    "During your fifth year at the White Griffon, you learned about the Bonding spell. It allows you to fuse magic crystals to an item to boost their powers." Faluel ced amunication amulet in front of the ss and activated her breathing technique.

    "Magic Crystals grant a mana flow to inanimate objects, by creating what we call a mana circtory system. Always remember that only living beings offer little resistance to mana, whereas objectscking a core are damaged by a strong flow of mana."

    The mana circtory system was akin to awork of veins, that spread the manaing from both the pseudo core and the gemstone throughout the amulet.

    "This is the only part where true and fake magic are identical. We all add gemstones because otherwise even metals like Orichalcum wouldn¡¯t stand too many pseudo cores without crumbling and because powerful spells need a power source."

    ¡¯At least I did that part right.¡¯ At those words, Lith sighed in relief.

    "At this point, you might ask, what¡¯s the purpose of Runesmithing and why such discipline bestowed to both Menadion and Bytra the titles of Magus and Rulers of the mes?" Faluel said.

    Magus was a title that humans bestowed upon mages who shared their knowledge with everyone, whereas Awakened made Ruler of the mes those that allowed true magic to greatly surpass its fake counterpart.

    "The answer is incrediblyplex yet simple at the same time. If you remember what I said a while ago, the more runes you use to form a core, the moreplex it bes.

    "Menadion¡¯s Runesmithing allowed the mage to apply a new effect to a pseudo core without making it moreplex. Each set of old runes allowed her creations to ovee the boundaries or Forgemastering.

    "This way, she could craft items impossible to make even for someone with her talent, because she would inscribe the mostplex properties outside the pseudo core, avoiding the need of a new pseudo core to just add a single enchantment.

    "Enchanted metals can hold many pseudo cores and an enormous amount of energy, but with the old methods, no mage could tap into their full potential because even Awakened have only so much mana.

    "Runesmithing allows you to add the mostplex enchantments in the preparatory phase and to craft the mostplex pseudo cores without worrying about exceeding your limits.

    "New runes are even more amazing. Menadion needed a set of runes for each pseudo core she wanted to affect, whereas Bytra¡¯s technique allows each set of runes to influence all the pseudo cores at the same time.

    "As long as the enchantments you apply synergize between them, theplexity their pseudo cores can reach and the power they hold can go through the roof. Let me give you an example."

    Faluel took three daggers out of her dimensional amulet and channeled her breathing technique, Lifestream, through one of them at a time.

    "This is what you call tier five Forgemastering. It¡¯sprised of pseudo cores, mana pathways, and circtory system. Without runes, there¡¯s a limit to how powerful each enchantment can be, and to make matters worse, it¡¯s easily replicable.

    "An Awakened doesn¡¯t even need spells to understand how it¡¯s done and steal your work, since the only thing you have to study is the pseudo core." The first dagger had three pseudo cores that Faluel showed one by one.

    "This, instead, is the same artifact, bur realized using Menadion¡¯s runes." The entirety of the surface of the weapon was covered in a fitwork of runes only revealed by Faluel¡¯s breathing technique.

    "Each one of them is linked to a single pseudo core, making it more powerful and altering its structure so that reproducing the dagger with just Invigoration is almost impossible.

    "Without a proper spell, there¡¯s no way to distinguish which set of runes is linked to which pseudo core since only the maker knows the exact number of runes each set isprised of."

    She activated the various enchantments, revealing that each core was moreplex than it seemed and their shape and size varied ordingly to the mana channeled. It made it impossible to distinguish what properties belonged to the core and what to the runes.

    "This, instead, is what you get with Bytra¡¯s runes." Even though it had been engraved with the least number of runes, thest dagger had the biggest and mostplex pseudo cores Lith had ever seen.

    Unlike those realized with Menadion¡¯s runes, their size didn¡¯t vary with the activation and the pseudo cores were so close that they would often ovep.

    "Studying this even with spells is nigh-impossible. All craftsmen use the extra space to add a personal set of runes whose only purpose is to prevent the artifact from being examined by a rival Forgemaster."

 Chapter 1078 Bytraâ€™s Legacy Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1078 Bytra¡¯s Legacy Part 2</h4>

    Those words made Lith whine as he finally understood why he hade close to understand how the Gatekeeper worked, had just a grasp of Ruin, and had no clue about how War had been crafted.

    "Our lessons will be mostly theoretical. First, I¡¯ll teach you the basic alphabet of the runes so that you can learn how to design different pseudo cores on your own. Then, I¡¯ll teach you the Forgemastering diagnostic spells that will help you to both understand what went wrong with your prototypes and to steal the secrets of yourpetitors.

    "Last, but not least, I¡¯ll teach you how to craft basic artifacts with runes. Bytra¡¯s method requires careful nning because you must be careful that the set of runes you apply have no side effect on the pseudo cores. Any question?" Faluel said.

    "Just one. Do you think I can obtain the same effects with my Royal Forgemaster wand? I¡¯m no Awakened, but most of the things you exined I had already learned from my father." Quy said.

    "Well, I guess we¡¯ll find out. Remember that just like I don¡¯t ask you to share with me your father¡¯s knowledge, you can¡¯t share mine with him. Also, whatever you make is mine to study." Faluel replied.

    "I¡¯m not a Forgemaster. Should I skip those lessons?" Friya asked.

    "No. If you really want to be my Harbinger, you¡¯ll start from scratch as a true mage and learn Forgemastering on your own. Learning the runes will help you to improve your Warden magic while Forgemastering spells will allow you to separate the wheat from the chaff when you buy enchanted items.

    "Even if you¡¯re just a beginner, my teachings will have several practical applications." Faluel said.

    "What about me? I¡¯m not an Awakened and I don¡¯t have one of those goddamned wands." Nalrond had a hard time keeping the edge off his voice.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but unless you manage to be the first Awakened among the Werepeople, after we¡¯re done with the runes, you should practice something else. Forgemastering spells require Spirit Magic." Faluel shook her head.

    "That said, it¡¯s lunchtime. This afternoon Nalrond will teach me, Lith, and Solus Light Mastery. Phloria, Tista, and Quy, you three wille back here so that I can train your bodies.

    "I¡¯ll teach all three of you how to fight against an Awakened. While I¡¯ll focus on making sure that Tista and Phloria don¡¯t need help to survive their future breakthroughs anymore, Quy requires some basic training first. Even the best strategy is pointless if your body can¡¯t keep up with your mind.

    "Friya, here¡¯s a book about tier four Forgemastering. Study it until your eyes bleed or reading one more line makes you want to puke." This time it was the Ernas sisters having a hard time keeping their envy at bay.

    "Why does everyone getbat training but me? I¡¯m not interested in Forgemastering!" Friya said.

    "If you were my Harbinger, you wouldn¡¯t be able to refuse my order, even if asked you to give me your wand. Unless you want to break our deal and be banned from myir, do as you¡¯re told." Faluel handed Friya the book and then kicked everyone out.

    "What do you want to do? Do you want to have lunch together or to go back home?" Lith asked, eager to get back to the tower and discuss with Solus what they had just learned.

    "I¡¯ll stick with you." Nalrond replied. "I would love to help Selia with the cooking, but our lunch break is usually short and Protector¡¯s kids are great at making trouble. You can¡¯t drop the kids whenever you want, those little monsters demand a lot of attention."

    "I¡¯ll eat with you guys and then go back home." Friya sighed. "Gods, I didn¡¯t practice Forgemastering exactly to notpete with you all and here we go again."

    "Going back and forth from home takes too much time." Phloria shook her head. "We¡¯ll eat here and use the little free time we have to arrange our notes."

    "Agreed. I was so happy to have a theoretical lesson for once. No muscle aches nor getting covered in sweat like a miner, yet it turned out much more difficult than all the other subjects so far. I need to rework my Forgemastery from scratch!" Quy said.

    "The same can be said for all of us." Lith opened a Warp to the mana geyser and Solus assumed her tower form.

    While Lith and Nalrond prepared the meal, the women merrily talked among them whileparing their notes. Phloria had yet to make her mind about Lith and spending so much time together didn¡¯t help.

    ¡¯I¡¯m grateful to him for saving my life and giving me the opportunity to learn true magic, but this doesn¡¯t mean I can forgive years of lies so easily. Solus seems a wonderful woman, but this only makes things worse.

    ¡¯Their bond is so deep that it¡¯s scary and I really don¡¯t understand how can Lith share his whole being with a woman and yet date another. I would¡¯ve gone mad with jealousy if I knew about Solus while we were still together.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    ¡¯My life is a mess and on top of that, we have to spend 100 years together? How the heck are we going to make it work?¡¯

    "Girls, I was wondering about one thing. Sooner orter, Faluel is going to send us on a mission to put us to the test. What will you do if she splits us into groups?" Solus asked.

    "I don¡¯t think she will assign us something above our level so I don¡¯t see the point of your question." Friya shrugged.

    She and Quy didn¡¯t share their sister¡¯s issues with Solus. They loved to spend time with her and admire the wonders that the mage tower had to offer.

    "I¡¯m not worried about the mission, but about the food. I noticed that none of us cooks and in my experience, missions can take a while." Solus said.

    "I¡¯ve never got the time nor the will to learn. Being born in a noble family makes you focus more on your achievements than y home." Friya said.

    "Same here." Phloria said.

    "When I was an orphan, no one trusted me near food because they starved us." Quy shivered at the memory. "Once I started to work as a healer, I devoted my full focus to magic to earn my meals and then I enrolled in the academy.

    "I spent years developing my eating skills, so I can only cook very simple foods."

    "I guess you¡¯ll need a few dimensional amulets filled with meals." Lith said with a sneer.

    "That¡¯s the idea." Friya nodded. "By the way, Dad wanted us to give you this."

    She took a bag out of her dimensional amulet and emptied it over the table. It was filled with unrefined violet crystals, each one bigger than a coconut.

    "He wanted to thank you for saving our lives, but both of you have busy schedules and Dad didn¡¯t know when he would get the opportunity to meet you. He asked us if there was something you needed and after seeing your personal mine, I told him you could use some crystals.

    "It took me a while to convince him that you had developed a ¡¯personal cutting technique¡¯ that makes unrefined crystals a better gift than those already treated by a Crystalsmith."

 Chapter 1079 Light Mastery Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1079 Light Mastery Part 1</h4>

    "Thank you very much, Friya." Lith left the cooking to Nalrond and proceed to examine his prize.

    None of the crystals was as big or pure as that he had taken from the orc shaman, but they were all the best crystals that money could buy and each one of them was worth hundreds of gold coins.

    "Those babies are just perfect. Solus, put them to grow in the mines. As soon as we are done with the Forgemastering lessons, we¡¯ll use them to craft a new and improved armor.

    "I can¡¯t wait to put to use the Adamant Forge Zolgrish gave me and all those precious ingredients we received from the Dryad years ago. That plus all the practice with Origin mes should allow us to craft a masterpiece." Lith said.

    "Do you really have an Adamant Forge?" Phloria said. That day, shocking news kepting one after another.

    "What are Origin mes and what do they have to do with Forgemastering?" Quy asked.

    Solus Warped the Ernas sisters with her in the mines, located on the second underground floor of the tower, to nt the crystals while exining the situation to them.

    The moment the gemstones touched the walls, their lower half was swallowed by the stone while the still visible part grew small roots along the lines of the nearby bricks. The world energy flowing through the tower started to refine the crystals, and their luminescence increased by several folds as if they had never been dug out Mogar.

    "This thing is huge!" Friya said while looking at the Adamant Forge, a solid metal block one meter (33¡¯) long and half a meter (16,4¡¯) high and wide.

    "Not only that. Zolgrish made it so that it can shapeshift at will. This way, we can know exactly how much metal we have and if it¡¯s enough for the piece we are working on." Solus had it shapeshift into two suits of armor with a de and a shield, leaving even some spare metal.

    "If Lith¡¯s mes can further refine the Adamant and his Forgemastering seeds, calling the final product a masterpiece will be an understatement." For the first time since she had learned about Solus¡¯s existence, Phloria let go of her conflicting feelings for Lith and focused only at the marvels at hand.

    "Gods, I wish I was born a hybrid as well." Phloria¡¯s love for magic surpassed everything but that for her family. "Do you think I could watch while you perform the enchantment?"

    "Maybe. You have to ask Lith. You know how he likes his secrets." Solus said a split second before her eyes turned pitch-ck. "Lunch is ready. You can ask him now if you want."

    The sight of Solus¡¯s golden eyes changing colors made Phloriae back down out of the clouds and ruined her mood. She liked Solus, but Phloria had trouble discerning the nature of their own rtionship.

    ¡¯Is she going to be my friend, my rival, or just the member of a love triangle I was never aware of? Gods, and here I thought my life was messed up before.¡¯ She thought.

    Meanwhile, on the upper levels, Lith and Nalrond were exchanging tips about cooking and magic.

    "During thest few days, I understood a few things." Nalrond said. "Unlike my tribe who becamecent over the centuries, fake mages have never stopped improving.

    "They can¡¯t use Spirit Magic, yet they¡¯ve found countless ways to work around their limitations and produce the same effects."

    "Indeed. Even I used their teachings as a crutch until now. Without the Forgemastering ink, I would¡¯ve never managed to craft my rings." Lith inwardly griped at the idea of having consumed for them all the purified Orichalcum he had bought from Xedros.

    ¡¯On the one hand, if I waited to make them, now I would be able to craft a much better version. On the other hand, I would be dead. I guess I¡¯ll take it as experience.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "My point exactly. I don¡¯t have the time to attend an academy, so I wanted to ask you if you can teach me fake magic." Nalrond said. "I realized howcking I am in the elements other than light and fire.

    "Learning fake magic can help me to find a way to train my cores and maybe a way to ess to Spirit Magic, if not even Awaken."

    "Sure, but why the sudden interest in Awakening?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯ve given a lot of thought about why even though Werepeople don¡¯t belong to the Fallen races they have never made any progress in fixing their dual nature. I believe the reason is that as long as our cores slumber, they¡¯ll never be able to be one.

    "Think about what Faluel showed us today. Friya¡¯s core is static, unable to change or evolve past its natural boundaries whereas yours not only is alive, but it¡¯s also affecting your body development." Nalrond said.

    "Yes, but remember that Awakened or not, all hybrids have to get rid of one of their natures. What if by Awakening your cores you have to choose between your bodies, or even worse, the conflict kills you?" Lith said.

    "Yours are good points, but I can¡¯t let fear stop me. I can¡¯t live with Protector forever. When the timees and I decide to settle down, I don¡¯t want my children to feel like I do every single day. Like there¡¯s no ce on Mogar where I belong." Nalrond said.

    The girls¡¯ arrival stopped their discussion. The Rezar didn¡¯t know nor trusted them enough to share with them his worries for the future. He didn¡¯t actually trust Lith that much, but between theirmon hybrid nature and all the time they spent together, Lith was the closest thing to a cousin Nalrond had.

    They spent lunch talking about how to reach a violet core and the time after that sharing all the runes they respectively knew. In theory, Lith could already achieve the violet level, he simply had no idea how.

    As for the runes, now that he knew that a pseudo core was nothing but runes shaped with Spirit Magic that determined its properties andplexity, there were countless things that Lith wanted to experiment with.

    During the years, he had always wanted to craft original pieces, but he had alwayscked the means to do it. At least until that day.

    "Man, I¡¯m so envious of the Awakened." Quy said while looking at Lith shaping pseudo cores between his hands, checking their properties and stability.

    "Just to find the properbination of runes I need to craft a piece first and then study it with Forgemastering spells whereas you can create a pseudo core on the fly. This way, you don¡¯t waste precious metal and save a lot of time."

    "True, but that stands only for pseudo cores that don¡¯t require ingredients. Also, not even I can check how different pseudo cores react with magical metals unless I Forgemaster something.

    "By the way, none of you but Friya seemed surprised when Faluel showed us the differences between the crafting methods." Lith said.

    "I can¡¯t share with you Dad¡¯s secrets but there¡¯s no point lying about our knowledge." Phloria said. "With our wands, we can see pseudo cores and we can even study them."

 Chapter 1080 Light Mastery Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1080 Light Mastery Part 2</h4>

    "I think that most of the things Faluel is going to teach us are simr to the Royal Forgemaster spells you¡¯ve seen me use in Kh and Laruel. If not for my full-time job with the army, I bet that Dad would¡¯ve also taught me how to forge cores from runes." Phloria said.

    Lith nodded and thought back at his quarantine when Vastor and Marth had shown him how the Royal Forgemaster wands could reveal the traces of his enchanted equipment and even the spells with which Huryole had tried to enve him.

    ¡¯I wonder if Faluel can teach me something simr. It would be a great help to distinguish between the effects of an unknown illness and a spell, like during the mess that happened in Zantia.¡¯ He thought.

    "Nalrond, is there any chance that you might change your mind and teach us Light Mastery?" Friya asked.

    "Depends. Is there any chance that you might change your mind and provide me with one of those silver wands?" He replied.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but no. My Dad makes those and they are considered a state secret."

    "My answer is the same. Light Mastery is not a candy that I can share lightly, but thest legacy of my tribe. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Faluel and Lith whereas I barely remember your names, sorry." Nalrond said.

    "Wow. Are you this rude with everyone or do you have a bone to pick with me? I can understand your refusal, but not the totalck of tact." Friya said.

    "I¡¯m sorry." Nalrond gave her a small bow. "I¡¯ve still trouble adapting to your customs. In my vige, your request would have been considered inappropriate and that led me to reply in kind."

    "Don¡¯t worry. My request is considered inappropriate in the Kingdome as well. No one gives away their secrets for free. I just hoped that you could make an exception for us since we¡¯re all Faluel¡¯s disciples." Friya scratched her head in embarrassment.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but no exceptions. Otherwise I would¡¯ve taught Tista as well since I spend a lot of time in her home."

    "No wonder I dumped you after your trial week. Worst boyfriend ever." Tista grumbled.

    Before the Rezar could regret his choice of words, Faluel summoned them back to herir. To everyone¡¯s surprise, she wasn¡¯t in her human form anymore. She had taken the hybrid appearance that she had shown them during the Shapeshifting lesson.

    Her body was that of a humanoid covered in scales and had seven long serpentine necks with as many heads.

    "No one can beat Hydras when ites to multitasking." The seven heads chuckled in unison. "This way, I can use one head to train each one of the girls individually while the rest of them focus on your lesson, Nalrond."

    A wave of her hand conjured three desks and chairs along with three humanoid golems that bore Faluel¡¯s human appearance. Then, she cast a Hush zone around the desks so that no sound would spread past its boundaries.

    "We¡¯re ready when you are." Three of Faluel¡¯s head had their eyes turn blue as she took control of the golems with Spirit Magic, moving them as if they were an extension of her body.

    "Thanks." Nalrond cleared his throat a few times.

    He had already taught Light Mastery to the youths of his vige so he knew exactly what to say, but this time his ss was full of strangers. He hesitated to break one of the greatest taboos of his tribe.

    "Let¡¯s start with first magic. Faluel, I¡¯ve already seen Lith create holograms. Can you do the same?" He asked.

    "Sorry, no." She shook one head.

    "The ability to give the light a shape it¡¯s half the job. The other half is to give it substance. Faluel, have you ever tried to do either of those things?" Nalrond said.

    "Several times. I even tried to apply the same principles that allow me to give shape to Spirit Magic, but to no avail." She sighed.

    "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s perfectly normal. Anyone can learn Healing magic, yet even though Light Mastery is based on the same principles, very few realize it. The light element is that of order which means that it can be used to restore the original shape of things.

    "When you use it on a living being, you achieve Healing magic. Unlike the other elements, however, light has no shape of its own and you can¡¯t give it one just by exercising your willpower.

    "Light seeks order and the only way to shape it is to artificially create order. Let me give you an example. If I emit light magic and use my willpower to make it look like Lith, what do I obtain?" Both Nalrond and Faluel conjured what looked like a humanoid light bulb.

    "This happens because our willpower is constantly battling the light element¡¯s natural inclination to seek order which in our case means to light the cave evenly. What if, instead of just using willpower we try to picture Lith in our heads?

    "I don¡¯t mean to just remember what he looks like, but each one of his features, the details of his face, how his eyes move when he talks, and then we feed everything to the light element." Nalrond¡¯s lightbulb turned into a perfect replica of Lith and his Archmage robe.

    Faluel tried to do the same, making her lightbulb brighter.

    "I don¡¯t see any difference. What I¡¯m doing wrong?" Faluel said. Nalrond had expected the ancient Hydra to be angry or frustrated, but she looked puzzled at best.

    "You¡¯re just using your willpower. That¡¯s the trap that prevents most mages from even conjuring holograms, let alone give them colors." The hologram above Nalrond¡¯s hand became identical to Lith, turning his skin pink and his robe deep blue.

    "Do not force your memories nor your will onto the light. Just think about Lith as if he was something you¡¯re trying to repair and the light will do the rest."

    Faluel tried and failed again, making her Lith-bulb bloated.

    "Has there ever been someone incapable of learning Light Mastery? Because being the first would greatly piss me off." Faluel said.

    "No way. I¡¯ve learned and taught Tista all I know about it, so I can assure you it¡¯s just that hard." Lith said. "What Nalrond means, is that when you conjure the light you mustn¡¯t do it as you would to shape a pseudo core, but as if you¡¯re healing a small bruise.

    "Only that instead of letting the patient¡¯s body channel the light element, your mental image must be so clear to fool the light element to believe that the air is supposed to have a different shape. Like this." Lith conjured a doll-sized hologram of Faluel.

    "So, the air is my patient, huh?" Faluel tried and failed again.

    "Do not mix light with the air element or air¡¯s chaotic nature will mess things up even more. I meant that you must reason as if the air is the patient, but the only element you actually use is light." Lith said.

    "You really are a good teacher, Lith." Nalrond said while Faluel kept putting their advice into practice. "You¡¯ve understood so much about Light Mastery that I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t figure it out the other half."

    "Thanks, Professor Manohar said the same thing to me a year ago, yet I made no progress. Teaching Tista and Solus helped me to better control-"

    "I¡¯m trying to learn here. Can you please shut your trap and let me concentrate?" Faluel cut Lith short.

 Chapter 1081 Light Mastery Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1081 Light Mastery Part 3</h4>

    Each one of Faluel¡¯s four heads experimented on its respective lightbulb and all of them looked very focused. Every time one of the heads made a discovery, the others would apply it as well and search for a way to further improve their technique.

    "Good gods, that¡¯s cheating if I¡¯ve ever seen it." Nalrond said. Just a few minutes had passed, but Faluel¡¯s hologram improved with each passing second.

    "She works four times faster than a normal person and her heads can share any breakthrough and brainstorm any issue they encounter. How the heck is a Hydra ¡¯just a lesser dragon¡¯?"

    "Yeah, and yet she forbids me to discuss any subject with Lith!" Solus said.

    "You are two different individuals, whereas all my heads belong to the same person and follow my thinking pattern." Faluel had justpleted her task and after creating a hologram of Lith, she did the same for each one of her students.

    "Let me put it this way. Hydras rule." She chuckled.

    "They sure do. To add colors to a hologram, you need to use the other elements. Do not mix them to the light, just add a few wisps so that they bnce each other while they paint your creations the way you want them." Lith said.

    It took Faluel just a few tries to understand how to seed. Adding colors was akin to giving shape to elements and making them ovep with the hologram. For someone with centuries of experience, it was a simple task.

    "Perfect. Now that you¡¯ve grasped the easy part of Light Mastery, let¡¯s move to the real challenge." Nalrond said, resuming his exnation while one of the snake heads took notes and the other three gave him their full attention.

    "The technique you¡¯ve just learned is fairly demanding in both mana and focus, yet it can only produce ethereal constructs. Lith, what did you do in the attempt to turn holograms into constructs?"

    "At first, I tried using more focus, thinking that the issuey in my inability to properly visualize what I attempted to replicate, yet it only made my holograms more detailed and lifelike.

    "Then, I tried to use more mana, thinking that the problem might beck of density, but it only made them brighter. Doing both at the same time just stacked their effects. I even tried adding more elements, but it only messed things up." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s because Light Mastery only requires the light element. To take it to the next level, you need to use light magic on light magic itself." Nalrond created a hologram of a small knife that suddenly turned real, cutting into Lith¡¯s desk.

    The construct then replicated itself and moved to Faluel¡¯s and Solus¡¯s desks, to let them examine it as well.

    "Wait, what?" The three said in unison.

    Even when using their respective breathing techniques, the golden knife appeared solely as a mass of mana, with no particr features or characteristics.

    "As I told you earlier, light is the element of order. To obtain a solid construct, you need to instruct your spell so that part of the light element gives the hologram shape while the rest gives it substance.

    "It requires at least double-casting and the amount of mana necessary for making a construct solid varies with the mastery of the caster. For a beginner, even a small construct requires lots of mana while an expert can use the bare minimum ording to circumstances.

    "Even though we¡¯re starting with first magic, your first construct might require the same mana of a tier five spell. Keep things small and simple or you¡¯ll never seed." He said.

    After finishing his exnation, Nalrond let them tinker with their respective holograms for a few minutes while enjoying the sight of the golems beating the crap out of the girls.

    Lith and Solus had much more experience with Light Mastery whereas Faluel had fourfold their brainpower, but none of them managed to give substance to their creations.

    "Please, stop what you¡¯re doing. I¡¯ll now exin to you how to make a hologram and then we¡¯ll move to tier one spells. The trick to hard-light-"

    "Please, stop." Faluel cut him short. "You¡¯ve already told us more than enough for my tastes and I¡¯d like to work out the rest on my own. I¡¯ll ask for tips or for more exnations only when I get to my wit¡¯s end.

    "This way, even if I fail to create a construct on my own, all the time and effort spent will allow me to look at Light Mastery through my perspective instead of being limited by your teachings.

    "Not only it will help me to give to Light Mastery my own personal spin, but it might even allow me to discover something new. This is how my ancestors taught my bloodline everything and how I¡¯m going to teach you guys.

    "Lith, Solus, feel free to proceed as you want. I¡¯m not going to force you to follow my footsteps since for this subject we are peers."

    Lith and Solus pondered her words for a while, beforeing to the Hydra¡¯s same conclusion.

    ¡¯She¡¯s right. We failed to understand Forgemastery¡¯s true meaning because we let ourselves get blinded by Wanemyre¡¯s teachings. A fake mage will see things as a fake mage, just as Nalrond can¡¯t think outside the box his ancestors set up for him.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "I have a question." Solus said. "Who¡¯s the ancestor you¡¯re talking about?"

    "Leegaain learned this teaching method from Tyris and passed it down to all of his firstborns, Hydras included." Faluel said.

    "Okay, that settles it." Lith said. "If two Guardians worked on a method that allowed the Hydra¡¯s bloodline to rise to such heights, who am I to disagree? Sorry, Nalrond, but your services are no longer required for this afternoon." Lith said.

    "Seriously? I can¡¯t leave and go home in the case you hit a wall so what I¡¯m going to do the rest of the time?" The Rezar didn¡¯t like the sudden turn of events.

    "You can join the rest of the ss in their physical training." Faluel¡¯s fourth head stopped to work on its constructs and summoned another training golem.

    "I noticed you had quite some fun watching at the girls¡¯ hardships for someone whose human body is weaker than Quy¡¯s. Your Rezar form is a tough cookie, but your other half it¡¯s not even worth mentioning."

    Nalrond looked at his thin arms first and then at thebat training. Everyone but Quy moved so fast that his eyes could barely perceive Friya as a blur.

    "Fine. Just go easy on me." He said.

    "Looks like we¡¯re almost even now. Speed versus experience, one of the oldest battles in the book." Faluel could now only use two heads to make holograms.

    She needed four to control one golem each and the fifth to use Invigoration. Even though the seven heads could perform seven different tasks, they belonged to a single body with only one mana core.

    Doing so many things at the same time put a great strain on her, forcing the Hydra to eat and use Invigoration to keep her strength up.

    While Nalrond taught Faluel the basics of holograms, the girls had already started their lesson after a brief introduction.

    "The golems have the same physical abilities of a regr bright cyan-cored human Awakened." The Hydra said.

 Chapter 1082 Light Mastery Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1082 Light Mastery Part 4</h4>

    "This way, you can get used to fighting people of your same weight ss, without the gap in mass and core level affecting the development of your techniques.

    "Quy, your body is fit for a homebody thanks to your training, but it¡¯s inadequate even for a street fight. Before teaching you how to fight, you need better foundations so we¡¯ll focus on developing your muscles and endurance.

    "Phloria, Tista, you two are two sides of the same coin. Phloria¡¯s body has evolved too fastpared to her core and needs further refining. Tista, instead, has a perfect body and too few impurities.

    "Luckily for you, the solution is the same. I just need to push you to your utmost limits. Get ready, I¡¯ll show you how an Awakened fights." One of the golems with Faluel¡¯s appearance said while the others nodded.

    Quy had to runps of their to work on her endurance while Tista and Phloria got pummelled by their respective golem. Faluel would always hit to produce little damage but great pain, to not let them underestimate their exercise and prolong it as much as she could.

    The moment they became incapable of moving further, she would use light magic to speed up their recovery. It allowed them to strengthen their bodies and produced more impurities.

    Then, Faluel would take out Phloria¡¯s impurities with Invigoration and leave Tista¡¯s intact. As soon as the healing magic fixed them, the training would resume. Phloria had much more battle experiencepared to Tista yet she fared no better because neither of them had ever faced an Awakened.

    The moment they tried to set some distance, the golem would be shrouded by a light that indicated the use of Invigoration. Each time it happened, the match would end abruptly.

    The golems left them no time to use their breathing technique and exploited the sudden gap in energy to finish them off quickly. Tista was used to Fusion Magic whereas Phloria had trouble adjusting her footing to her faster and stronger movements, turning what was supposed to be an advantage into a hindrance.

    "I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m out of breath in barely over a minute." Tista said amid pants during one of the short breaks Faluel gave them to reflect on their many mistakes.

    "Do you have any idea how mentally and physically exhausting it is to go all out while focusing on your opponent¡¯s every movement?" Faluel¡¯s golem said. "Tista, you never fought a real opponent and got used to easy wins.

    "Phloria, you¡¯re an excellent fighter, but until you don¡¯t get used to Fusion Magic and to not leave the opponent the time to breathe freely, you¡¯ll never win."

    As for Quy, she soon understood the depth of the nightmare she was in. The moment she was exhausted and too tired to continue, Faluel would give her a tonic. Then, healing magic would enhance her muscles and share part of Faluel¡¯s stamina with her.

    "Please, enough with the running. I¡¯m sick of it." Quy never stopped long enough to stop sweating and even if her body was always at its peak, she was frustrated beyond reason.

    "Muscle training it is." The golem shapeshifted into a mud form that covered Quy¡¯s body.

    It didn¡¯t weigh much, but it opposed every of her movement, tripling the effort needed to take even a single step.

    Nalrond joined them just in time to hear them beg Faluel to stop. The Hydra could use Invigoration as much as she wanted, providing her students with plenty of healing and vitality. None of them had an excuse to ck off, condensing days of training in a single afternoon.

    While the others cursed the Hydra¡¯s bloodline with growing intensity and creativity, Lith, Solus, and Faluel¡¯s main body kept practicing Light Mastery.

    ¡¯This is as interesting as it is frustrating.¡¯ Thanks to the Hush dome, Lith had no idea what was happening on the other side of their. ¡¯Double casting light magic isn¡¯t the hard part, so much as not making the two different spells mix freely.

    ¡¯One spell must work solely as Builder while the other as Matter. Each one of them needs to be imbued with a different type of willpower and the slightest mistake makes everything fall apart.¡¯

    Following Nalrond¡¯s advice, the three of them were trying to create a spherical construct the size of a marble. It was the smallest and simplest thing they could study with all their senses.

    ¡¯To make matters worse, the Builder mana must coat the Matter inside out. The former serves as both the skeleton and exoskeleton of the construct at the same time, while thetter gives it mass and durability.

    ¡¯Not enough Matter mana and the construct it¡¯s too brittle, too much and it copses under its own weight. The Builder, instead, suffers from a different issue. If I don¡¯t set its boundaries with enough focus, the construct dissipates.

    ¡¯Yet if I focus too much or make the structure tooplex, I don¡¯t have enough mana left for the Matter and the constructes out frailer than a sand castle. Each spell requires a fine bnce that must also fit that of the other.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯While shaping the other elements is like pouring water into a ss, Light Mastery is akin to preparing a potion while juggling with its ingredients. One single mistake means wasting everything and being forced to start over.¡¯ Faluel thought.

    Minutes turned into hours yet none of them managed to make their respective hard-light marble withstand the slightest impact. Nalrond and the others had already consumed two meals and several liters of water just to not die of starvation or dehydration due to their non-stop training.

    Lith had found several methods to shape his constructs, yet they had all turned out to have fatal ws that made them useless.

    ¡¯Maybe I¡¯m just overthinking this. I shouldn¡¯t try to arrange properly every single millimeter of the marble. I¡¯ve seen both Manohar and Nalrond use Light Mastery several times and none of their constructs was very detailed.

    ¡¯On the contrary, they were fairly simple.¡¯ Lith thought back at his fight with Nalrond and that with Dawn.

    He focused on how their constructs felt when he hit them and on the way they shattered. With each failed attempt, Lith deepened his understanding of the light element beyond that of Healers, who only tapped into half of its true potential.

    After a while, his mastery over the light element grew enough to open the fourth eye of his hybrid form, making both of his human eyes turn white. Faluel and Solus congratted him briefly under the cover of the Hush zone before returning to their own task with renewed vigor.

    ¡¯I must follow the advice that Lith gave Nalrond after they first met.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Heat rays and constructs work the same, but while raysst a split second, constructs can be used until they run out of mana.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯The question is, how can two phenomenons apparently so different derive from the same principle? Think, Solus. The secret must be in the name. This discipline is called Light Mastery, not Light Constructs.¡¯

    Solus and Lith had twopletely different approaches to magic. Usually, by pooling their minds and resources they would alwayse up with a solution. That was the reason why Faluel had ordered them to work alone.

    Each one of their two minds acted as a crutch for the other. Constantly receiving suggestions limited their potential and kept them from learning from their own mistakes. Only by realizing what each of themcked they could truly improve.

 Chapter 1083 Royal Summon Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1083 Royal Summon Part 1</h4>

    Lith¡¯s second attempt was to use the Builder only as an exoskeleton so that by pouring more mana into the Matter, it would increase its density.

    Keeping the Matter formless, akin to water filling the vessel shaped by the Builder mana, relieved the stress the previous method inflicted upon his mind and allowed him to focus on making the exoskeleton as hard as he could.

    Lith then threw his marble against the nearest wall, watching it bounce and roll on the floor instead of shattering.

    "I did it! Nalrond, I did it!" All his joy and enthusiasm couldn¡¯t get past the Hush dome, no matter how the Rezar wished for a break.

    "Shut up. I¡¯m still working." Faluel¡¯s voice had an edge from the first time since they met her.

    The Hydra was a good friend of Scarlett the Scorpicore, one of the three known Light Masters in the entirety of the Kingdom. Yet the two beasts didn¡¯t exchange their secrets and Faluel had never seen a Light Master in action.

    Nheless, being beaten to the punch by a youth and one of her apprentices at that, irked her beyond belief.

    Solus ignored Lith¡¯s words and focused solely on the problem at hand.

    ¡¯When we deflected Nalrond¡¯s heat ray, we conjured ice to neutralize the fire element and used the Skinwalker armor to take the hit. The ray packed both heat and kic energy, but only thetter came from the light element.

    ¡¯A construct is akin to a tool. It can be used over and over. A ray is akin to a bullet, instead, and can only be used once. Probably because it shatters on impact.

    ¡¯The question is if heat rays are the equivalent of tiers from one to three, then doesn¡¯t that mean we¡¯re actually trying to reproduce with first magic a tier four if not a tier five spell? If the bulled isparable to gue Arrow, how do I turn it into Death Call?¡¯ She thought.

    gue Arrow was one of the simplest and most useful darkness spells Lith had created as a child that consisted of a mass of highly condensed darkness element. Death Call, instead, created four shadow limbs that Lith could shape and move at will.

    ¡¯Light is but the other side of darkness so the same principles should apply.¡¯ Instead of creating a skeleton inside her construct, Solus used the Builder mana to form awork of channels inside the Matter, akin to a bloodstream.

    Something that wasn¡¯t fixed nor hard, just dense enough to not shatter and evenly spread through the hard-light construct. That way, it would convey her will over time and allow her to reshape her creations as she saw fit ording to the circumstances.

    "I think I did it as well." Solus¡¯s construct not only didn¡¯t shatter once thrown, but it also returned to her hand and then shapeshifted into a small coin.

    "How did you do that?" Lith tried and failed to do the same.

    "Answer his question and I¡¯ll kick both your asses." Faluel said the moment Solus opened her mouth. "Nalrond,e here! Girls, take five." Her voice roared through their and made most of her disciples fall to the ground.

    "Please, stop. My life force is about to break." Quy¡¯s mouth tasted like dirt and the mud covering her body was drenched in sweat.

    Nalrond tried to speak, but his lungs burned too much. He sat down to catch his breath and fainted on Faluel¡¯s desk with a thud.

    "Weaklings. They cked off for years and thenin for barely six hours of exercise." The Hydra took a deep breath of Invigoration, keeping the mana for herself and giving the vitality to Nalrond instead.

    "Please, no! Let me go home or you¡¯ll live with the shame of forcing a grown man to cry." Nalrond said the moment he woke up, afraid that the nightmare was about to resume.

    "Rx, we¡¯re done for today. I can¡¯t use Invigoration anymore and your life forces are really about to break. Just tell us which one of us did it right and why." Faluel returned to her human form as all the golems left their victims free before turning themselves off.

    Nalrond nodded and took Lith¡¯s marble between his forefinger and his thumb.

    "Close, but no cigar. This is no construct, just the base for an elemental ray. I¡¯m too tired to exin, so I¡¯ll show it to you." The Rezar clenched it between his fingers until the hard exterior cracked.

    Without a skeleton, the Matter faded in the air so fast that Lith didn¡¯t manage to save a speck of energy.

    "You need to put something on the inside, or once given shape, the construct can¡¯t shapeshift nor conserve its mana."

    Then, he did the same to Solus¡¯s marble, shattering it. Solus managed to reform it a couple of times before losing her grip on the umted mana.

    "Excellent result for a first try. The internal controlyer wasn¡¯t evenly distributed, so each time I destroyed your construct, it leaked mana. Work on that. Faluel?" He said.

    "Yes?" She wore a warm smile.

    "Where¡¯s your construct?"

    "Do you mean this?" She created a golden pearl that quickly shapeshifted into a small lotus flower.

    "It¡¯s just perfect!" Nalrond was bbergasted. He had never seen someone seed so fast. The flower and its petals would bend under the pressure instead of being crushed. "How did you do it?"

    "I cheated, more or less. I focused this whole time on controlling the spells but failed to make one. After putting my seven heads to work together on what I discovered and make sense of your earlierments about Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s constructs, figuring the rest was easy." She said.

    "Easy my ass!" Lith and Nalrond said in unison.

    Lith had still no idea what he had done wrong and Nalrond had needed more than one lesson to get to Faluel¡¯s same point even after seeing Light Mastery practiced on a daily basis back in his vige.

    "Told you guys. Experience tramples all, even talent." Despite her bright attitude, Faluel looked very tired.

    Learning an unknown branch of magic while fighting two opponents of Phloria¡¯s caliber and constantly using Invigoration to refill four people with vitality for six hours had taken a great toll even on someone that powerful.

    When the girls finally joined them, their pitiful state moved even Lith. Tista and Phloria were still ck and blue from theirst sparring sessions. They had dirt all over their hair filled, they wheezed like bellows rather than breathing, and the light in their eyes was dim as if they could faint at any moment.

    Quy¡¯s clothes were drenched in so much sweat that not even the Skinwalker armor¡¯s self-cleaning properties couldn¡¯t keep up, making it stuck to her body along with her hair.

    Her eyes filled with desperation and homesickness made her look like a puppy abandoned under heavy rain.

    "I have good news, guys. No lessons tomorrow." Faluel said.

    The physical training group would have danced with joy if only their bodies allowed them to. They expressed their approval by closing their eyes and clenching their fists.

    "As I already exined Nalrond, my teaching method doesn¡¯t rely on detailed instructions. I¡¯ll give you the basics for each discipline and then it¡¯s up to you to develop it on your own.

 Chapter 1084 Royal Summon Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1084 Royal Summon Part 2</h4>

    "Only when you feel like you¡¯re at your wits¡¯ end and can¡¯t progress anymore can youe here to ask for another lesson. That means that each one of you will progress at their own pace and receive individual lessons.

    "The only exceptions to the rule are Shapeshifting, that you can only practice here because no supervision can easily spell death, and Forgemastering. That kind of runes isn¡¯t something you can learn on your own, they can only be passed on.

    "I¡¯ll also show you the basic Awakened Forgemastering methods, from which I expect you to develop your own or to incorporate them to those you already possess." Faluel looked at Lith during thest part of her speech.

    "All those that require physical training muste here at least three times a week. Quy, please tell Friya that she has toe here as well. I¡¯ll use that same time to instruct her in her duties of Harbinger and teach her the ropes of Forgemastering.

    "Onest thing. I¡¯m dead tired so unless it¡¯s an emergency, I want to be left alone at least for a full day. Go home and rest." Faluel put away the training equipment and took hermunication amulet out of her dimensional item.

    Taking care of children felt as rewarding as it was exhausting.

    ¡¯I deserve some quality time with my friends.¡¯ She thought.

    After Faluel started to happily talk with several Emperor Beasts, most of which he had never met before, Lith gave part of his vitality to the rest of the group. Except for Nalrond, who had been recharged by Faluel, the others were unable to stand.

    He checked them with Invigoration, discovering that the melody of their life force had be discordant and that they were on the verge of starvation.

    "Do you want a ride back home or do you want to sleep in the tower?" He asked after fixing cracked bones and more bruises than he could count.

    "Sleep?" Tista had a crazed look, ring at Lith with a hatred he had rarely seen.

    "While you sat on your ass for over six hours, I¡¯ve faced death so many times that now we¡¯re best friends. I don¡¯t want to sleep. I want to take a bath and eat until I feel like I¡¯m going to burst."

    "Bring us to the tower and prepare a lot of food, please." Quy said. "I¡¯d dly go back home, but I don¡¯t have the strength to take a single step nor the patience to wait for a meal. I¡¯d rather kill someone with a fireball and eat their meat."

    The way she said it didn¡¯t sound like a joke and the fact that the others just nodded, drooling at the thought, made only things creepier.

    ***

    During the following days, Lith and the others only met at Faluel¡¯sir. He focused mostly on Spirit Magic and Light Mastery since Shapeshifting had niche applicationspared with the other disciplines.

    As for the Forgemastery lessons, thanks to Soluspedia, memorizing runes took Lith and Solus just the time necessary to organize their notes before storing them in the dimensional library.

    A couple of weeks after the incident in the mines of Feymar, Lith received a call from the Royal Secretary.

    "Good day, Archmage Verhen. You have been summoned to the Royal Court to provide your testimony about the events that led to the rescue of the Mages Ernas." The hologram from Lith¡¯s amulet showed a man about fifty years old, with grey hair and a well-groomed beard.

    His voice was polite, but each one of his words sounded like an order, not a request.

    "I¡¯m in the middle of an important research, but my duty to the Kingdomes first." Lith used the expression that meant "I¡¯m a busy man, not someone at your back and call. Yet I respect your authority as long as you respect mine."

    "The Royals will be pleased to hear those words. Your audience is scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Royal Castle in Valeron. May the Great Mother grant you safe travel." The Secretary ended the call without giving Lith the opportunity to argue about rescheduling.

    "Solus, what do you think?" Lith said.

    "That it¡¯s better if we bring Tista along. She can back our version of the story and the Royals have probably guessed her involvement. She¡¯s not the type that can go unnoticed, even during a war." Solus said.

    The two of them called their friends and Faluel. Giving an exnation to a low-clearance clerk was one thing, giving your official testimony to the Royals was another. All their versions of the story had to match and be believable.

    ¡¯I¡¯m actually surprised it took the Court so long to arrange for an audience. I wonder if this is even bigger than I thought.¡¯ Lith called Kam to confirm his suspicions.

    "Did you get summoned as well?" She looked worried and nervous.

    "Gods, I¡¯ve never spoken with the Royals except during gs and your ascension to Archmage. Why do they want to hear from me as well? The only thing I can testify about is the time you left and that you returned."

    Suddenly, Lith was happy for his otherwise untimely breakthrough right after rescuing Phloria, because it had dyed his return from the Belin mines long enough to give him a usible exnation for everything.

    ¡¯Kam is right. The only reason to summon her is to figure out if the beasts¡¯ Gatework is more advanced than the Kingdom¡¯s. They don¡¯t know about my tower Warp and are probably trying to make sense of how quickly I traveled.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Can you please pick me up tomorrow? If we go together, maybe I¡¯ll feel less awkward." Kam snapped him out of it.

    "Sure thing, Kami. Don¡¯t worry, you just need to tell the truth." He winked to both cheer Kam up and remind her that she couldn¡¯t lie about what she didn¡¯t know.

    The following day, except for Nalrond being reced by Kam, the entire group met in the Royal antechamber. The Ernas sisters were nervous because exining their survival without mentioning Baba Yaga¡¯s help was the most farfetched part of their story.

    Revealing the presence of the Red Mother would exin everything and make the Ernas look like they were raving mad. Baba Yaga was a legendary figure and even if the Royals believed in her intervention, it would raise questions that Phloria wasn¡¯t willing to answer.

    ¡¯If they find out I¡¯m an Awakened, my life will be over. I¡¯ll be part of some ck ops squad or a test subject. How the heck does Lith manage to live with this burden?¡¯ She thought while walking the first real mile in his shoes.

    Her sisters tried to reassure Phloria while everyone kept checking their own clothes. Kam wore her Royal Constable uniform while the rest of the group their respective mage robes. Lith¡¯s deep blue stood out amid the deep red of normal mages.

    Several courtdies pointed at him while checking him out, giggling, and gossiping. Many even gave him their contact rune.

    "Someone is really popr with thedies." Tistaughed, nudging at Lith from time to time.

    Her ample robe hid her curves and theck of make-up made her look inpared to the dolled-up women who walked around the Royal Pce.

 Chapter 1085 Internal Strife Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1085 Internal Strife Part 1</h4>

    "Yeah. You could make a deck of cards with all those contact runes." Kam¡¯s smile didn¡¯t extend to her eyes and the edge of her voice could easily cut through Davross like a hot knife through butter.

    "Friya, help me out here. You¡¯re the one who¡¯s usually in this kind of situation. Tell Kam it¡¯s not my fault before my sister makes things even worse." Lith said.

    "He¡¯s right." Friya sighed. "Those are just gold diggers lured by the color of his robe. There¡¯s no need to be angry, except for the smug grin Lith does every time one of those prettydies-in-waiting hit on him."

    "I knew I wasn¡¯t imagining things! Once we get back home, we have to talk." Kam pouted.

    "Good gods, Kami, this is the Royal Court. I have to be polite and y along. I can¡¯t shoo them away like pigeons. Each one of them is at least a Marchioness and I can¡¯t afford to make an enemy of half the Kingdom." Lith said, trying to defend himself.

    "Kami? What a cute moniker! Does Lith have one as well?" Tista nudged him again, making Kam blush.

    "Yes, I usually call him ¡¯idiot¡¯."

    The doors of the Throne Room opened, saving Lith from further embarrassment. Tista¡¯s shenanigans had helped everyone to rx, keeping their mind off the audience.

    The room was more than forty meters (133 feet) long and over thirty meters (100 feet) wide, with a single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the raised one for the royal family.

    The Royal couple was sitting on their golden thrones, looking down on those who were already inside. Lith recognized only a few of them and judging by the sound of their voices, only the presence of the Royals kept them from jumping at each other¡¯s neck.

    The whole room was lit by crystal chandeliers fueled by magic, leaving no space for shadows. Both the floor and the pirs of the room were realized from gold veined marble.

    It was naturally resistant to magic in general and to earth magic in particr, making it one of the most precious and robust materials avable in the Griffon Kingdom.

    On the left side of the room, Lith recognized Jirni, Marchioness Distar, Orion, and General Berion. On the right side, instead, there were Archmage Deirus, Archmage Kwart, the Chairman of the Mage Association, and Archmage Onia, Headmistress of the ck Griffon.

    Both factions kept their hands at their sides and their voices low, yet Lith was certain that if res could cast spells, the Throne Room would be in shambles despite the gold veined marble.

    The Secretary near the door hit the ground two times with a thick golden staff, producing a dull sound that got everyone¡¯s attention.

    "Archmage Lith Verhen, Royal Constable Kam Yehval, Mage Tista Verhen, Mage Quy Ernas, Mage Friya Teleta Aelia Ernas, and Mage Phloria Rose Terra Ernas have arrived." The Secretary said.

    Lith had a hard time repressing a chuckle at their long, pompous names. Hearing them for the first time made them sound even moreical, especially Phloria¡¯s. Kam and Tista were in his same boat, but they could only look at their noble friends without even turning their heads.

    Friya and Phloria hated their middle names, but they could only inwardly curse the Court etiquette and suck it up.

    The group walked in front of the thrones before kneeling.

    "Thanks foring here on such short notice." The Royals gave them permission to stand up. "Before calling you here, we searched for evidence that could corroborate the story of the survivors from the Belin expedition.

    "s, even after weeks of using the best tools at our disposal, the events you all took part in are still as unbelievable as they were the first time that we heard about them. We summoned you in the hope you can shed some light on the most controversial parts of this terrible story." King Meron said.

    Archmage Kwart, the precarious Chairman of the Association looked at Lith¡¯s group with contempt. He considered them all to be traitors who conspired with the army, the beasts, or both to destroy his life¡¯s work.

    Yet he could only shut up and re while Queen Sylpha asked questions.

    "What happened after you entered the mines alone, Mages Ernas?"

    Phloria had been themanding officer of the expedition, so she stepped forward and told them everything up to the Ghouls¡¯ ambush. She followed Jirni¡¯s instructions, describing how they had been cornered and quoting word by word the Ghoul leader admitting they were on Deirus¡¯s payroll.

    Unlike Wyra, Friya¡¯s ex-second inmand, Phloria was already his target and the name Ernas meant a great deal in the Court.

    "Despite Archmage Verhen¡¯s best efforts, we wouldn¡¯t be here today if not for the bodyguard that my mother, Archon Ernas, secretly assigned me and for the intervention of a mysterious creature who called himself Nandi." Phloria looked around the room, searching for Morok.

    "Do you have any proof to support your ims?" The King asked.

    "Only my word, that of my sisters, and of Mage Eari. My sister Quy can show you a hologram of the creature. On top of that, his presence, just like that of the Abomination in the Laroxya mines, exins why the undead abandoned the mines and why they didn¡¯t detonate them when all was lost."

    The Royals pondered Phloria¡¯s words, finding no fault in her logic. The mysterious Abomination hybrids had already proven to be able tomunicate and they always chose ces abundant with world energy as their dwelling.

    Also, the Belin mines were a priceless asset and only the presence of a truly powerful opponent could have forced the undead to leave the most precious crystals for the Kingdom to take.

    Yet the Royals focused their attention to another detail that Phloria had "casually" mentioned.

    "Mage Quy, can you really produce holograms as well?" The Queen asked.

    "Yes, Your Majesty." Quy gave her a bow and created a life-sized projection of Nandi¡¯s appearance.

    "Fascinating creature." Sylpha nodded. "Did Archmage Verhen teach you?"

    "No, I learned it on my own. My hope is to one day surpass Professor Manohar." Quy¡¯s words made the heart of the Royals flutter just like that of Deirus¡¯s allies turn sour.

    Each one of them resented Quy for different reasons, but their spite united them against the Ernas family.

    "Your Majesty, with all due respect, the events Mage Ernas described are way too convenient." Archmage Deirus said. "If what she says is true, where is this Eari fellow and why did this fabled creature disappear before the rescue team explored the mines?

    "Not to mention how nderous it is to associate my name with the ramblings of a Ghoul just to follow her family¡¯s agenda."

    "I agree with Deirus only on one thing. Where is Eari?" Jirni asked.

    "For some reason that we fail to understand, he reached the far end of the Blood Desert." King Meron pinched his nose in frustration.

    "We sent a rescue team as soon as we pinpointed his location, but his presence past the borders created a small diplomatic ident that we have yet to clear."

 Chapter 1086 Internal Strife Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1086 Internal Strife Part 2</h4>

    "As for the creature, I agree that its behavior is odd, but no more than that of the other members of its kin. Like Mage Ernas reminded us, the same happened at the Laroxya mines.

    "After being discovered, the creature fled without harming any of the workers. Whether you consider Mage Ernas¡¯s testimony convincing or not, Archmage Deirus, she is innocent until proven otherwise." Queen Sylpha red at Vn until he took a step back.

    "I find her report as believable as it¡¯s suspicious the fact that the traitorous Great Mage Nuragor was your pupil, Vn. There¡¯s no doubt his loyaltyy with the undead.

    "We¡¯ve traced all the conversations and movements prior to Kallion¡¯s death. Several persons confirmed to have witnessed him disying abilities only a thrall could have and after searching his apartments, we¡¯ve discovered enchanted items belonging to the Dusk Court.

    "On top of that, several survivors witnessed Great Mage Nuragor fighting alongside the undead during the coup. Tell me, Vn. Did Kallion change overnight, are you so ipetent that you failed to notice you were raising a snake in the grass or were you part of his schemes?"

    The Queen had privately interrogated Wyra and Rotha, the two surviving members of the Crystal Shield guild who had heard Kallion speak on behalf of both Deirus and the Undead Courts.

    Unluckily, their testimony was even more useless than Phloria¡¯s in a court of justice, but that didn¡¯t mean the Royals would let things slide easily.

    "When I met Kallion Nuragor, he was just a brilliant youth eager to serve his country." Archmage Deirus kneeled in a sign of contrition. "Maybe I trusted him too much because he reminded me of my lost son, but I would have never taken him in if not for the many letters of reference the Association wrote him."

    His attempt to use Yurial¡¯s death to solicit sympathy made every parent in the room want to puke and put Kwart in a bad spot.

    "The Association has indeed many responsibilities, Vn, but it was you who took him as an apprentice just like it was you pushing for him to be a Great Mage. Do you deny it?" King Meron said.

    "No, your Majesty. I failed to see Kallion for what he truly was and there¡¯s no excuse for it. I¡¯ll ept any punishment you see fit." Deirus said.

    ¡¯I failed to see that he was an ipetent fool. How could he possibly be so stupid as to gloat beforepleting the deed? More importantly, what the heck happened to the two armies I sent there?¡¯ He actually thought.

    The Undead Courts had conducted their own investigation as well, finding no usible exnation for the ughter of a battalion strong of 500 elder undead.

    ¡¯I had invested a lot of resources into Kallion and his Nuragor household. Yet after falling for Jirni¡¯s trap and losing the Blood judgment, the Nuragor household was already crippled.

    ¡¯Now that they have lost the only Mage in their family and are branded as traitors, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Nuragor disappear faster than the Deirus. Kallion destroyed my reputation and my rtionship with the Undead Courts in one fell swoop.

    ¡¯I can onlyy low until things settle down and use that time to n for my next move. Taking on the Ernas now that my entire faction is under scrutiny would be suicidal. I must cut my losses and pin the me to useless idiots like Kwart.¡¯

    "Archmage Deirus, because of all the services you rendered to the Kingdom in the past, you¡¯ll not be arrested nor will your assets be frozen. However, until a thorough investigation haspletely cleared you of all suspicions, you are hereby forbidden to leave the country.

    "On top of that, your privileges within the Royal Court are temporarily restricted and you can¡¯t have any contact with your fellow suspects in the attack. Kwart and Onia are among them. You¡¯ll receive a more detailed list before leaving this room.

    "Any transgression will be considered an act of treason and punished ordingly." King Meron¡¯s words made the three Archmages turn pale for the first time in years.

    Not even Jirni¡¯s n to stage Balkor¡¯s return had dealt such a huge blow to their ns. Deirus had no children anymore, so he couldn¡¯t care less about Balkor. Yet losing Court privileges and having some of his most powerful allies cut off his contact list was almost a death blow.

    Almost.

    Jirni inwardly curled her lips in disgust, angry with Deirus for not leaving any trace she could follow and with herself for having yet to find a weakness she could exploit. Deirus loved no one and was already dismissing hisnds bit by bit over time.

    She had even considered spreading a gue, but it would have caused Deirus no pain. On the contrary, it would have garnered himpassion and support, if not even further boosting his status in the case he managed to find a cure.

    ¡¯Vn only has two things left: his magic and his reputation. I could take away the magic with Balkor¡¯s venom, but the bastard never moves alone, and giving Dyta enough manpower to ovee his detail couldn¡¯t possibly go unnoticed.

    ¡¯This incident has dealt a huge blow to his reputation, but depending on how he deals with the issue, Vn might even rise to new heights. If my enemy has no weakness, then it¡¯s up to me to create one.¡¯ Jirni exchanged a grim look with Orion.

    She usually didn¡¯t involve her husband in her ns because he was too a good man and his conscience wouldn¡¯t let him sleep at night. This time, however, his blood ran almost as cold as Jirni¡¯s.

    Touching their children had been thest drop that had awakened the sleeping dragon. He cared no longer for something as trivial as morality and having Orion¡¯s talent at her service opened Jirni countless new possibilities.

    As for Onia and Kwart, they had no direct involvement in the attempt on Phloria¡¯s life nor with the Undead Courts. Unlike Deirus, their bloodline was safe and they had too much to live for to gamble everything on blind revenge.

    Onia wanted solely to have justice for the friends she had lost in Kh. The Headmistress had helped Deirus because she considered him a means to an end, not an ally. Yet all she had achieved was losing the trust of the White Griffon and a Royal Restrict Order.

    She could feel her seat as Headmistress of the ck Griffon slipping from under her ass, just like it had happened to Headmistress Linnea years before. ording to some rumors, after running away from the Kingdom, she had literally drowned herself in alcohol.

    She had be a cautionary tale among Headmasters, birthing the idiom: "Those who do not swallow their pride choke on their own puke."

    Kwart was in the same boat. He had provided Deirus with political support to keep the army from overtaking the Association. Lith¡¯s achievements belonged to the army, just like Jirni¡¯s, Orion¡¯s, and those of most of the Ernas Household.

    To him, they were all enemies. He had no personal grudge against them, it was strictly business. Deirus, instead, had be an Archmage by giving the Association his full support over the years so he was Kwart¡¯s best bet against the army.

    Or so he had thought.

    Kwart¡¯s life revolved around his work, hence to investigate him meant to investigate the entire Association. Any dirt that woulde out, no matter ifpletely unrted to the Undead Courts, would hasten its fall.

 Chapter 1087 Darkness versus Chaos Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1087 Darkness versus Chaos Part 1</h4>

    The three Archmages felt their knees so weak that to hide their inability to stand up, they pretended to kneel in a sign of submission.

    "Archmage Verhen, thanks to the Mages Ernas we know what happened in the mines. It¡¯s up to you to reveal the fate of the two armies." Queen Sylpha said.

    Lith told them how he had received Orion¡¯s call and then left for the nearest Emperor Beast¡¯sir located near Ynca. To hide Solus¡¯s existence and justify his quick travel, he had to use the Beast Warpwork as a cover.

    "I contacted my master who arranged for my transportation, her own, and that of some helpers." Lith said to justify the presence of the mysterious mages that the survivors had reported.

    "I met Kallion Nuragor on the battlefield and after disposing of him, I took care of the dimensional sealing array¡¯s core." He used his new mastery over light magic to project a hologram of the entirety of the camp as he remembered it, reying both his fight with Kallion and Raging Nova.

    In his version of the story, only a part of the human battalion had turned traitor while the rest had fought by his side.

    Quy became inwardly green with envy. Her level of Light Mastery was nowhere near Lith¡¯s now.

    "The spell left me helpless, but without the arrays, my master could Warp away as many people as she could. After that, we left as soon as another of Faluel¡¯s disciples rescued the Ernas.

    "At that point, the Hydra took us to safety and we spent the following hours to recover from our injuries. I¡¯ve no idea what happened to the undead or to the rest of the army."

    "Outstanding." The Royals nodded in amazement.

    "Have you made progress with your Light Mastery and would you be interested in sharing Raging Nova with the Kingdom?" King Meron considered the death of so many valiant soldiers a tragic loss, but an Archmage capable of such feats gave him more reasons to celebrate than to grieve.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. While Professor Manohar refused to teach me Light Mastery, Master Faluel found me a tutor." Denying Nalrond¡¯s existence was pointless since he had saved most of the people.

    Lith chose his words carefully, to make the Royals understand how once again humans had let him down whereas the Beasts supported him unconditionally. It was a big fat lie, but the Kingdom had no way to discover the truth.

    Xedros and Scarlett were known Light Masters, making the appearance of a third one hardly a surprise.

    "As for my spell, I¡¯m sorry but I have to decline. It¡¯s ast resort weapon that cost me countless hours to develop. If I share it, my enemies will know how to counter it." Lith said it while looking straight at Deirus.

    The lie would make people believe that Lith could cast Raging Nova anytime he wanted instead that only in the presence of his tower, turning misinformation into a powerful deterrent.

    "No need to apologize, Archmage Verhen. We are d to hear about your sess and we regret not being able to help you as well." King Meron inwardly cursed at Manohar for making him lose facepared to the Beasts.

    "Mage Verhen, thanks for apanying your brother. What have you seen on the battlefield?" Queen Sylpha asked.

    Tista confirmed Lith¡¯s version of the story, iming that Faluel had brought her and a couple of her disciples to help Lith rescue his friends. The Royals didn¡¯t ask to interrogate Protector nor Nalrond because having disguised themselves as Emperor Beasts, they weren¡¯t under the Kingdom¡¯s jurisdiction.

    "Archmage Verhen, Mage Verhen, the Kingdom owes you a debt of gratitude. You will both be rewarded for your deeds and so will be your master. Is there anything in particr you want?" King Meron said.

    "At the moment, I¡¯m too busy with my studies to learn new spells. I¡¯m focusing on Runesmithing and to practice it I require several ingredients. I¡¯d like to receive enchanted metals and raw mana crystals.

    "I¡¯m developing a new cutting technique that I hope will allow me to bring out more power from the crystals than the one taught at the academy." Lith said.

    Thest part made no sense to both the Royals and Orion. The crystal cutting technique had been perfected centuries ago and not even geniuses like Manohar had ever found anything wrong with it.

    "We can provide you with violet crystals and Orichalcum, but white crystals and Adamant are too precious. Once you havepleted your studies, bring us a catalog with the workings you¡¯re willing to share.

    "If you can give the Kingdom powerful equipment, we¡¯ll be d to trade all kinds of magical resources with you." Queen Sylpha handed Lith the newest catalog that Professor Wanemyre gave to her clients as reference material.

    Most of her workings had a price that could be paid in both money or ingredients, while the most powerful could only be paid in magical resources.

    "Thanks for Your generosity, Your Majesty." Lith gave her a bow, understanding what she meant.

    ¡¯Before handing me priceless resources, the Royals just want to make sure that I can tap into the ingredients¡¯ full potential and craft unique artifacts. Anyone can im to be a Master Forgemaster whereas results can¡¯t be argued with.¡¯ He thought.

    "I second my brother¡¯s request. I¡¯m following his footsteps as Forgemaster as well, but unlike Healing magic, I can¡¯t practice without powerful metals." Tista said.

    Tista¡¯s request bbergasted the Royals who cleared their throats in embarrassment while looking at Lith for help. As far as they knew, Tista was nothing much. She had managed to join the Mage Association only thanks to Kwart¡¯s attempt to exploit Lith in Othre.

    "I can vouch for Mage Verhen." Lith avoided referring to her just as ¡¯his sister¡¯, wanting her to escape from his shadow. "She learned Forgemastering from me and has reached a level of mastery above that of any academy student I know."

    Lith nudged Tista who projected holograms of her creations while exining their properties.

    The Royals could barely hold the enthusiasm of seeing the third human mage in a single day to perform Light Mastery and having confirmation that Lith¡¯s magical legacy would belong to his bloodline.

    ¡¯Teaching me my ass.¡¯ Tista inwardly sighed. ¡¯I learned only the basics from him, everything else I learned from Solus. I hoped to avoid revealing my Light Mastery, but it seems that keeping my talents for myself has both protected and limited me.

    ¡¯I need to make a name of my own, otherwise I¡¯ll always be seen as nothing but Lith¡¯s sister. The crystals will empower the tower¡¯s mines, but I need Orichalcum to devise my personal Forgemastering technique.¡¯

    After Tista, the Royals interrogated Kam, the staff of the Flying Griffon, and even the personnel of Ynca¡¯s military base to determine how quickly the Beasts¡¯ Warpwork could work.

    They assessed that it worked no better than their own, it simply had different ess points. Being able to use both the human and the beastwork made Lith an even more precious asset.

    The Royals decided that it was time to follow the Empire¡¯s lead in building a better diplomatic rtionship with the Emperor Beasts living in their territory instead of treating them as wild cards.

 Chapter 1088 Darkness versus Chaos Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1088 Darkness versus Chaos Part 2</h4>

    Dusk Court, the same day.

    The Hushed King wasn¡¯t pleased with the results of the investigation about the events in the Belin mines. The Royals believed that the undead had killed or captured all the members of the battalion sent to protect the expedition, but the reality was much worse.

    The Kingdom had lost no battalion whereas the Dusk Court had lost two of them along with countless priceless artifacts. On paper, the Undead Courts had dealt a blow to the Griffon Kingdom, proving their superiority.

    The truth, however, was that the undead had never been so weak before. ording to his spies, a handful of Emperor Beasts had been enough to wipe out both his armies. Beasts and humans seemed to be on the best of terms for centuries and they had allied against his Court.

    To make matters even worse, the Awakened Council couldn¡¯t care less about the undead¡¯s predicament while the Master¡¯s Organization was eating them alive. The number of Eldritch Abominations on the entirety of Mogar barely reached a few dozens, but each one of them could tten mountains.

    The hybrid Eldritchs were even fewer, eight in total, yet the rumors said that every single one of them could go toe to toe with a Guardian and live to tell the tale.

    Humans, Beasts, and Abomination had unknowinglybined their efforts, putting the undead up against a wall. In less than two years, the undead invasion from Jiera had turned from the Courts¡¯ opportunity to conquer the Garlen continent into a struggle for their survival.

    "Why the long face, little brother?" Dawn asked.

    The beauty of her meat suit and the radiance she emitted made Dusk¡¯s servants cry blood tears. To them, being in her presence was akin to basking into the sunlight again, arousing feelings they believed to have lost centuries ago.

    "Why the smile, big sister?" Dusk replied. "The peace talks between the Abominations and the Council are progressing smoothly. Xenagrosh being one of Leegaain¡¯s firstborns is only making things worse.

    "Soon the Abominations will be recognized as the fifth race and we¡¯ll lose the war for good. All Abominations were once fucking Awakened so the Council might side with them and help the hybrids to wipe out all the non-Awakened undead."

    He mmed his fist on the Davross¡¯s throne with such strength that the resulting shockwave sent everyone but Dawn flying.

    "I think you¡¯re overreacting." The Bright Day shook her head, making her raven ck hair dance under the mystical lights.

    "How could a handful of individuals be considered a race? On top of that, why should the Council side with them for such trifle matter?"

    "Exactly because there are few of them. If the Council recognizes them as a race, then the situation would be akin to the Undead Courts waging war against all Awakened humans or Emperor Beasts.

    "We need to act before it¡¯s toote-" Dusk¡¯smunication amulet cut him short.

    Another one of the Dusk Court¡¯s branches in the Gorgon Empire was under attack and its Lord had forwarded a distress call.

    "We need help! A Dragon is making short work of our arrays with its mes. The moment our barriers crumble we¡¯ll die. It¡¯s still noon and most of our members can¡¯t even move." Lyra, the Blood Witch said.

    "That does it!" Dusk mmed his fist against his throne again, but this time it produced no sound.

    The Davross turned liquid and wrapped around his Lich host¡¯s body, shapeshifting into both a full blood-red armor and a double-headed ax. Dusk locked the arrays of his throne room onto those of the Tarmen branch of the Undead Court and Warped to the rescue.

    "By the Red Mother." He said, witnessing the majestic Shadow Dragon standing over 30 meters (100 feet) tall while she ripped through tons of earth and enchanted stone blocks with her bare ws.

    Xenagrosh¡¯s four yellow eyes studied the barrier, using Origin mes to probe its resistance and look for weak spots.

    Dusk had no time to waste with banter and unleashed his tier four Gravity Magic spell, Copsed Star. It raised the gravity surrounding Xenagrosh of one hundredfold, making her bones and organs copse under their own weight.

    Even the outstanding might of a Dragon was helpless against thews of physics and Xenagrosh would have pooped her own spine if not for her innate abilities.

    Shadow Dragons could alter their density at will, allowing her to lessen the gravitational pull long enough to dispel Copsed Star by shrouding her body with a burst of Origin mes that she released from her skin instead than from her mouth.

    "Nice to meet you again, Dusk. I thought you were dead. You should¡¯ve stayed that way." Xenagrosh roared as she unleashed a perfect replica of Copsed Star upon the underground building.

    ¡¯Damn! I hadpletely forgotten that she¡¯s Leegaain¡¯s blood. Xenagrosh was already able to imitate most spells after seeing them a few times back when she was still an Abomination.

    ¡¯Bing an Eldritch must have resurrected her draconic nature and enhanced her learning ability.¡¯ Dusk only had a handful of seconds before the building imploded, killing all those he hade to save.

    Instead of feeding new spells to Xenagrosh, he wielded his ax with both hands and charged at her faster than a bullet. His host body belonged to a Lich and an Awakened at that.

    The undead¡¯s physical prowess was already superior to that of all other races with the same body mass, but Liches took things up another notch. Not only were Liches able to manipte their own body with their mind just like Baba Yaga¡¯s children, but they could also use turn mana into life force to temporarily increase their mass.

    Dusk¡¯s sh struck at Xenagrosh as if he weighed several tons, easily ripping through her thick scales and opening a deep wound that went from her stomach to the left shoulder.

    The raw strength of the attack produced a shockwave akin to an air de that cut through the exposed flesh and ripped the tip of her left wing to shreds.

    Xenagrosh didn¡¯t even flinch, letting her troll half heal the cut so quickly that by the time her fist struck at Dusk who was still in mid-air, the wound had almost disappeared.

    ¡¯That¡¯s new.¡¯ Dusk thought while he crashed through the barrier protecting the underground base. ¡¯Thest time we faced, one swing of my ax, Firebrand, sent her running. Back then I failed to kill her only because of those damned Chaos spells.

    ¡¯Not only bing an Eldritch restored her draconic abilities, but somehow Xenagrosh has also obtained regenerative abilities on par with a Ghoul.¡¯

    Dusk¡¯s rage burned so fiercely that it boosted the red light of undeath in his eyes, turning them into two small stars. All of Baba Yaga¡¯s children hated Abominations because they often fought for the territory or the food, but Dusk was an exception.

    He hated them more than anyone else.

    Not only Abominations were capable of using all six elements, but they also had ess to Chaos magic, something that the undeadcked. The Red Sun would often drawparisons between the two races and found his own wanting.

    ¡¯Baba Yaga created us from the necromantic energy of darkness magic, making it an integral part of our lives. Then why are those pretenders that even Mogar itself abandoned the only ones that can use Chaos magic? It should be us undead, instead!¡¯ Dusk thought.

 Chapter 1089 Darkness versus Chaos Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1089 Darkness versus Chaos Part 3</h4>

    Dusk couldn¡¯t ept that an inferior creature like Xenagrosh who just a few centuries before was nothing but a puppy in front of his might now dared to stand her ground and fight him on equal footing.

    ¡¯Mom was right.¡¯ Dawn looked at the fight from Dusk¡¯s throne room.

    ¡¯Whoever the Master is, they are not to be underestimated. My little brother still has the upper hand, but there are just three of us and we Horsemen are the closest ones to perfection among Mom¡¯s creations.

    ¡¯Abominations are few in numbers, but if they all reach this level of power, then the bnce will be upset.¡¯

    "Let¡¯s see how dumb you are." The fist of an adult Dragon packed enough punch that even a Davross armor couldn¡¯t fully protect its wearer from the shockwaves the blunt impact produced.

    A normal person would have his internal organs shaking so much that they wouldn¡¯t be able to stand up for a while, but Xenagrosh knew that Dusk inhabited a Lich. Undead had no use for internal organs, so he would stand up the moment he stopped bouncing on the walls of the underground building.

    She used that time to cast her tier five dimensional spell, Sealed Space. It was Leegaain¡¯s trademark anti-Lich weapon that sealed the surrounding area and cut off the undead from his phctery, halving theirbat strength.

    Yet afterpleting the spell, Xenagrosh perceived that Dusk¡¯s power didn¡¯t change.

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re this stupid!" Herugh made the ground tremble and more rocks fell onto the barrier, creating ripples upon impact. "You brought your phctery along, good to know."

    Xenagrosh took a deep breath and hurled a raging stream of violet Origin mes that pierced through the barriers. The pir of fire was so dense that it hit the Red Sun with the force of a speeding train.

    "Enough!" Dusk roared as the red energy from the crystal embedded in the Lich¡¯s chest enveloped his surroundings. "I can¡¯t believe an inferior being such as you has forced me to use my true strength!"

    Shame and outrage fought for dominance, ravaging what was left of Dusk¡¯s pride. Between his equipment and the powerful Lich who was his host, only an army of Awakened or a Guardian could force him to employ his innate abilities.

    Yet if he didn¡¯t, the Undead Court¡¯s base and all those inside it would have died.

    While his sisters were bound to the elements of order and destruction, representing the beginning and the end of all life cycles, Dusk was the Red Sun. He embodied which was in between birth and death, life.

    His nature gave Dusk absolute mastery over the seventh element of magic and over all the powers that came from it. It took him a considerable amount of strength and willpower, but the Horseman managed to tame the Origin mes and sent them back against the shocked Xenagrosh.

    ¡¯Did Dusk just take control of my Origin mes or was that Domination?¡¯ She thought while searing pain ravaged her body as it burned even faster than her troll regeneration could fix.

    Unlike normal spells, Origin mes could hurt even their own maker and Dusk had further boosted their power by adding his own life force to the mix after using his innate ability that imitated Domination¡¯s effects.

    "Don¡¯t be surprised, yet. I¡¯m far from finished." The world energy around Dusk started to crackle.

    Silver lighting bolts typical of a Griffon¡¯s Life Maelstrom struck at Xenagrosh, making her fall to her knees to resist the spasms. Dusk could not only control pure mana and life force, but also mix his own with the world energy to reproduce all the innate attacks of the Guardians¡¯ bloodlines.

    "Guess what? So am I!" Xenagrosh knew that one day the Organization would be forced to face the Horsemen.

    It had never been a matter of if, only of when. The good thing of pooling together the strongest and oldest Eldritch Abominations on Mogar was that there was little they didn¡¯t know and even less they couldn¡¯t create.

    They had created the tier five Chaos Spell, World Severance, exactly for an asion like that. The mes and the lightning bolts disappeared as Dusk could feel there was something wrong with Mogar.

    He tried to conjure his tier five spell, Firefly, but the moment the fire and air elements started to form the spell, the space around Dusk froze, encasing him into a block of ice, while the ground wrapped him in a deadly vise.

    "Eat this!" A tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void, struck at Dusk¡¯s helpless figure.

    The ck spear made his ax, Firebrand, fly off his hands and left an ugly mark on the Davross armor. Xenagrosh wasn¡¯t an undead. Her living body needed nutrients after healing such heavy wounds and using too many powerful spells in a row would put a strain on her body.

    Dusk, instead, only needed living beings in his vicinity to have ess to their life forces and had the Lich¡¯s phctery with him. It granted him endless vigor and a steady source of mana that wouldst much longer than her own.

    A mere thought brought Firebrand back to him, yet the moment Dusk tried to conjure his legendary spell, Night End, a blinding light enveloped him. Severed from its darkness counterpart, the light element ate at both the Horseman and his equipment, bringing him to his knees.

    "Stop using magic, you moron!" Dawn came to his rescue before it was toote.

    "It¡¯s not her, it¡¯s you. Her spell severed the world energy in its sixponents, so whenever you call upon an element, you create an imbnce that strikes at you with a force equal to the spell you conjured but of the opposite element.

    "Chaos magic is not affected because it¡¯s just pure darkness."

    "Oh my! Two Horsemen? Such a pity." Xenagrosh¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm, sending a shiver down the siblings¡¯ back.

    The sight of one Horseman was enough to make any sane creature run away, but two at the same time were akin to a natural disaster. Yet Xenagrosh seemed to have no intention of running away.

    A zing hammer struck Dawn¡¯s lovely face, ripping off her jaw. A second hit her chest, making cracks spread along her crystal armor. A third disarmed her, and more followed like a pouring hail of enchanted Davross.

    Menadion¡¯s Fury¡¯s ability, Hammerfall, had yet to disappoint Bytra. Any other opponent would have been pummelled into meat paste before the weapon returned to her hand whereas both Horsemen were just severely injured.

    "It¡¯s not nice messing with someone else¡¯s fight nor revealing their secrets. Why do you think I just stood there without doing anything?" Sunlight reflected on Bytra¡¯s silver hair, making her look like a fairy out of the legends.

    ¡¯I guess the Master¡¯s buddy system just saved my ass.¡¯ Xenagrosh thought.

    ¡¯I asked Bytra to step aside to put my new power to the test against someone who humiliated me in the past, but I never expected Dawn to arrive. Otherwise, I would have not yed this long.¡¯

    "It¡¯s not nice attacking someone¡¯s back either." Dawn unleashed a pir of light that destroyed the copies of Menadion¡¯s Fury before splitting in two and chasing her enemies.

 Chapter 1090 Darkness versus Chaos Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1090 Darkness versus Chaos Part 4</h4>

    "One sibling controls life and the other is a Light Master. I guess your reputation is well-earned." Bytra could use neither and even in her long life, she had rarely met a master of such rare disciplines.

    Even after Dawn had split the beam into two, each one of them was still big enough to vaporize Bytra¡¯s human body and so fast that even with her mastery of the air element she could barely dodge the spell in the nick of time.

    "Don¡¯t fool around and watch out for the second beam!" Xenagrosh warned Bytra while raising two hills from the ground to block both the zing light and the freezing darkness rays.

    Xenagrosh¡¯s spell, World Severance, had produced a second energy beamprised of the opposite elements. Unlike Dusk, Dawn didn¡¯t let the split energies run wild and turned them into a weapon, doubling the power of her attack.

    "Oh fuck!" Bytra found herself between a rock and a hard ce, with no way out.

    She conjured the tier five Chaos spell, Hungry Void, that created a ck sphere around her. The barrier fed upon both pirs, leaving Bytra unscathed.

    ¡¯We need to take them out one at a time. As long as Menadion¡¯s bitch stays behind her barrier, she can¡¯t attack us.¡¯ Dawn said to Night through their mind link.

    ¡¯Agreed. The problem is that I don¡¯t have the ability to control the other elements with such precision. I have to improvise.¡¯ Dusk inwardly cursed at World Severance for negating most of his host¡¯s abilities.

    Luckily for him, the Red Sun was the master of the seventh element and pure mana had no counterpart that World Severance could mess up with. He activated the tier five Spirit Magic spell, Manastorm.

    He traced in the air an arc of emerald green light with his right forefinger. The crescent moon-shaped energy mass released a barrage of emerald bullets made of pure mana, each one with the power of a cannonball.

    The attack was so quick and powerful that it pushed Xenagrosh against the wall while also hammering at Hungry Void to keep Bytra from stepping out of it. Yet the Raiju didn¡¯t choose to stay behind her barrier out of fear.

    As soon as her spell had taken form, Bytra had started chanting. Abominations were true mages hence she didn¡¯t need her voice to conjure a spell. Her song was different from that of a Guardian, yet it could still affect the world energy around her.

    The Song of Undoing spread through the air and resonated through Xenagrosh¡¯s body. It made her stronger and she made it stronger as the two Abominations¡¯ energy signatures became more in synch by the second.

    A ck pir erupted from their bodies and Mogar responded by producing an even bigger ck pir from both the heavens and the ground that enveloped the two women just like the day they had be Eldritch.

    ¡¯What the heck is going on?¡¯ Dusk conjured another spell while his sister did the same.

    They were almost done when a third ck pir appeared, soon followed by a fourth.

    ¡¯There¡¯s no time for questions, just kill her!¡¯ The Bright Day unleashed her tier five spell, Daybreak, the same moment that the Red Sun unleashed his tier five Spirt spell, World Crusher.

    Daybreak, its darkness counterpart, and World Crusher were aimed at Xenagrosh and strong enough to kill her. Yet Dawn¡¯s spells were suddenly swallowed by a ck fissure in space, hitting Dusk at point-nk range while the Dusk¡¯s Spirt spell struck at her from behind.

    The Horsemen doubled over in pain as Bytra, Xenagrosh, and a third unknown opponent rained down Chaos spells upon them.

    "Thanks for calling me. I¡¯ve been itching to put my new Endless Night to the test." Tezka, the Abomination-Warg hybrid, was a powerful dimensional mage.

    His right hand released the tier five Chaos array, Chaos Dimension. Grey specks of light filled the underground cave, making it impossible to use dimensional magic unless it used Chaos instead of darkness and tipping the bnce in favor of the Abominations even more.

    The Song of Undoing had triggered the Eldritch Tune, making each one of the Abominations a dimensional focal point that allowed the other members of the Organization to locate and reach them as if they used a Warp Gate.

    "You dare call for reinforcements? This was a one-on-one fight, you have no honor!" Dusk conjured a pir of Origin mes to protect both himself and Dawn from the onught.

    "First, it¡¯s your sister who messed with Xenagrosh¡¯s fight. Second, who cares about honor? We¡¯re not here to win a medal but to kill you all." Bytra giggled as a fifth and a sixth ck pir appeared.

    ¡¯We have to run! Those things are not there for ambiance, they are creating an array. The moment it¡¯spleted, we¡¯re dead!¡¯ Dusk said through the mind link.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, that little wench and I had the same idea.¡¯ Dawn focused all of her energy into a burst of light element that, together with its dark twin spawned by World Severance, weakened Chaos Dimension¡¯s effect.

    The st attacked the array from the inside while a wave of ck mist attacked it from the outside, unlocking dimensional magic again.

    The ck Night had received Dawn¡¯s distress call and had thought to be in for a treat. Yet when she noticed the caliber and the number of enemies they were against, she just grabbed her siblings and Warped away.

    ¡¯Sorry, guys. My new host is still a barely Awakened weakling and I have yet to reforge my equipment after it got destroyed. I wouldn¡¯tst a second against one of those hybrids in a fair fight, let alone when they outnumber us.¡¯

    Night¡¯s feeling of shame disappeared when a seventh ck pir appeared,pleting a magic formation shaped like the Big Dipper that suppressed all forms of energy but Chaos.

    ¡¯You did well, sister.¡¯ The Bright Day was still healing from her wounds.

    The thought of what might have happened if they had remained there for a second longer sent shivers down her spine.

    ¡¯Today the three Horsemen were defeated, and it wasn¡¯t a Guardian who sent us with our tail between our legs.¡¯ Dusk still couldn¡¯t believe that despite the help of his sisters he had been so easily defeated.

    ¡¯First Dawn got her ass handed to her by that Verhen guy, then it was my turn with that heartless bastard of Balkor, and now this. Dusk is right, we must do something about those hybrids.¡¯ Night didn¡¯t feel threatened so much as thrilled at the idea.

    An eternal life and nigh unlimited powers made her easily bored. Having found so many ymates that could survive a few good hits made her smile from ear to ear.

    ***

    A couple of monthster, Faluel¡¯sir.

    Each member of Lith¡¯s group studied on their own and since they each progressed at their own pace, they would rarely take lessons together. The only exceptions were the Shapeshifting, Forgemastering, and the history of Mogar lessons.

    To survive outside human civilization, where Emperor Beasts, Fae, and Awakened ruled, the knowledge about the customs that all members of the Council followed were vital.

    "As thest part of today¡¯s lesson, we¡¯ll cover a few topics I mentioned during our first lesson but that I didn¡¯t waste time to exin because they are more lore than facts." Faluel said.

 Chapter 1091 Facts and Legends Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1091 Facts and Legends Part 1</h4>

    During that lesson, Faluel taught them how to recognize the signs indicating the residence of a local Awakened Lord and how to ask for their assistance. On top of that, she also instructed them about all the rules of the Council to which strictly abide while interacting with an Awakened before moving to a more interesting subject.

    "ording to lore, a violet core is not the most powerful that an Awakened can refine. Some people im that it¡¯s possible to achieve a white core and that it can bestow upon its owner not just a long life like it happens for normal Awakened, but eternal youth.

    "ording to those rumors, Baba Yaga is one of the few known Awakened who has mastered the secrets of the white core. Sadly, there is no way to verify such ims because Baba Yaga never lets anyone use Invigoration on her and she is quite elusive."

    "Then why do people think she has a white core?" Lith asked.

    "Because even an Awakened Dragon doesn¡¯t live as long as she did, nor can afford to fight seriously against a Guardian and live to tell the tale. Baba Yaga is so ancient that she met all the six original Guardians and she gave birth to all the greater undead that live on Mogar.

    "They are so many and they lived among us for so long that even though they are an artificial race created by her necromantic powers, the undead are now recognized as one of the four races."

    The Ernas sisters had met Baba Yaga in person, making everything Faluel said about her feel more like a fact rather than a legend.

    "Before moving back to the white core, what can you tell us about her? Is the legend about her true or just a myth?" Phloria asked.

    "Do you mean the story about her going into seclusion anding out centuriester just to find Mogar changed beyond recognition? Because that¡¯s just a cautionary tale that Baba Yaga spread herself to teach mages the value of their time.

    "The problem with beings so ancient is that most of the information we have about them is only what they want us to know. All I can tell you is that she was already there when the Guardians were worshipped as gods and that she learned from them, bing one of their priestesses.

    "Even though her race of origin is unknown, it seems that at a time she underwent several world tribtions. nts, humans, and even undead hope this story to be true because it would mean that even them can be Guardians." Faluel said.

    "What about Lith?" Quy asked.

    "Lith is part Emperor Beast so he doesn¡¯t count." Faluel shook her head. "As I was saying, Mogar had chosen her as a potential Guardian candidate and it¡¯s because of this that Baba Yaga allegedly entered into seclusion.

    "Tribtions only happen when you face events that shake your very soul, so a quiet life means no chances of tribtions. This way, she managed to reach the white core that made Baba Yaga not only eternally young, but also powerful enough to escape Mogar¡¯s will and fight on par with the Guardians."

    Seeing her ss gasp in amazement and a dangerous light appear in Lith¡¯s eyes, the Hydra rushed to say:

    "Please, take my words with a load of salt. They are legends that might likely be spread by Baba Yaga herself to be left alone. The only people that know the truth are Baba Yaga and the Guardians who allegedly fought against her."

    "Speaking of facts, instead, Baba Yaga is one of the few living mages who knows how to craft a mage tower and how to dismantle an enchanted item to upgrade it without having to redo it from scratch by using something called Creation Magic.

    "ording to lore, she enhanced both her tower and her Horsemen so many times that they gained the ability to upgrade themselves. It¡¯s the reason why the Horsemen are so powerful and have been tasked with finding a solution to the undead¡¯s weak points.

    "Unlike other cursed objects whose abilities are fixed at the moment they were crafted, the Horseman can alter themselves just like they alter their hosts or their chosen.

    "As for the white core, I can only tell you what I know for sure. A white core is more powerful than a violet. Through the ages, Awakened belonging to all races and even Eldritch Abominations have tried to capture Baba Yaga several times.

    "They were all considered experts with bright violet cores, yet they always failed. Even the Awakened offspring of the Guardians never managed to subdue her, not even after luring Baba Yaga away from her tower.

    "Just to be clear, like us lesser Dragons are better than normal Emperor Beasts so the pure bloodline is better than us. An Awakened Dragon that reaches a bright violet core can be considered as powerful as a natural disaster, yet they fared no better than anyone else.

    "On top of that, only in rare asions did Baba Yaga kill one of her pursuers. Why she shows mercy or not is something no one knows. Based on those facts, the Council thinks that she has a white core that grants her power far greater than violet but inferior to that of a Guardian.

    "It might actually be simr, especially if Baba Yaga fights nearby her mage tower, but again, it¡¯s just spection. Whenever Baba Yaga and a Guardian fought, she always ran away after a few exchanges.

    "If you ask me, I think that it¡¯s only thanks to the tower that she didn¡¯t get obliterated. Guardians have too great of a power to be challenged by a single person. Moreover, if she really was that strong, she would have built a country for her children." Faluel said.

    "Is a mage tower that good?" Phloria tried and failed to not sneak a nce at Solus.

    "No. It¡¯s much better." Faluel¡¯s words made everyone clench their teeth and hands to not look at Lith in awe.

    "A mage tower is like an extension of its master, boosting their abilities past their limits with no side effects. In close proximity of their tower, a mage can outmatch several of their peers at the same time with ease and even defeat someone stronger, better equipped, or both.

    "A mage with a tower is feared by everyone, even by violet cored Phoenixes or Dragons. At the same time, however, a mage with a tower is also constantly the victim of ploys to get them away from their tower and kill them.

    "Mage towers are like any other artifact, once their owner is dead, they are up for the taking."

    "Is that the reason why we never heard about mage towers except in legends?" Tista asked.

    "Indeed. Ripha Menadion was thest mage to sessfully craft her tower. She never hid it or shied away from any challenge, and look how she ended. We don¡¯t know how she died, but it didn¡¯t happen of old age, that¡¯s for sure." Faluel sighed.

    "What do you mean? If a mage tower is that powerful, how could Menadion possibly be defeated?" Lith had waited years to ask this question without it arousing suspicions.

    "The same way most violet cored individuals die, be them Awakened or not. Killed by those they trusted the most.

 Chapter 1092 Facts and Legends Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1092 Facts and Legends Part 2</h4>

    "Why do you think Spirit Magic spells and advanced Runesmithing aren¡¯t taught to the student until the master is about to pass away?

    "Because they are the two disciplines that allow to cast the strongest spells and craft the most powerful weapons. Once the student-master gap bes too small, the only thing that a disgruntled apprentice needs to kill their more skilled mentor is a moment of distraction.

    "No matter how powerful a tower is, if it doesn¡¯t recognize your aggressor as an enemy, it¡¯s no better than the armor that you left in your closet.

    "Powerful mages don¡¯t die dramatically on the battlefield at the hand of their century-long nemeses. They die pitifully while taking a dump, at the hand of their own children or of those who they considered as such.

    "Why do you think the children of the Guardians only trust their Harbingers?" Faluel said while looking at Friya.

    "How many known mage towers and white cored individuals are there on Mogar?" Friya rushed to change the topic. With her life more on the line with each passing day, the word Harbinger sounded awfully like "death" to her.

    "Unknown. As I said before, unless you use Invigoration on someone, you can¡¯t see their core. The closest person to a white core might be Thrud Griffon. Arthan¡¯s Madness refined her body in a way even the Council doesn¡¯t understand.

    "She possesses the only rainbow core in Mogar¡¯s history. As for the towers, those who have them don¡¯t share the information easily, and unfortunately, there is no known crafting method.

    "Even ancient bloodlines like mine are still looking for an answer. Now, enough with legends and let¡¯s get back to facts. One thing that non-Awakened ignore is the existence of the Fringes.

    "Fringes are natural spatial distortions that are inessible with conventional means. We could have one right here in the Trawn woods and never notice it. Fringes can be considered akin to a storage space, but they ept living beings and time flows normally.

    "No matter how many ess points a Fringe has, inside it can be as big as a vige, a city, or even as the entire Distar Marquisate." Faluel looked at her students one by one, lingering on Nalrond only for a split second longer than for the others.

    ¡¯Damn, she knows for sure that my vige was located inside a Fringe.¡¯ He thought. ¡¯I wonder if I made a mistake by asking her to be my mentor. There¡¯s no telling if the Hydra is really that kind or if she just has a hidden agenda like everyone else.¡¯

    "It¡¯s fascinating, but I fail to see their point." Lith said. "I mean, what is their purpose and why they can¡¯t be found?"

    "Mogar doesn¡¯t y favorites, but it¡¯s most certainly alive. Like all living beings, it suffers from loneliness and sometimes it likes to tinker with its creations. Fringes are ces where Mogar¡¯s will takes physical form, allowing it tomunicate.

    "I¡¯ve never been inside a Fringe, but my grandmother did. ording to her, only those who are in tune with Mogar can ess a Fringe, no matter if they¡¯re good or bad.

    "Also, it uses them as protected habitats for species that might not survive in the outside world but that Mogar thinks they have yet to fulfill their role." Faluel said, looking at Lith first and then Nalrond.

    ¡¯Interesting. Maybe Mogar has taken an interest in hybrids way before my arrival since Werepeople have been created centuries ago. It would also exin why some species like elves are considered a myth but Zolgrish used one of their children to create Ratpack.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The Lich¡¯s small assistant was capable of seeing Solus¡¯s human appearance even when she was in her ring form. If elves live inside a Fringe, then he must have also inherited their affinity toward the.

    ¡¯That moron of a Lich had the key to the Fringes all along yet he considers Ratpack¡¯s vision nothing more than childish daydreams!¡¯

    "Fringes are ces where the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual world are paper-thin. You can scry Mogar¡¯s mind to study the past, observe the present, and even catch a glimpse of future events.

    "On top of that, ording to my grandmother, you can call upon Mogar and ask the questions to which it answers." Faluel said.

    "On the other hand, tomunicate with Mogar¡¯s will implies to draw its attention on you and receive its judgment. If Mogar sees something or someone it doesn¡¯t like, it destroys it.

    "My grandmother didn¡¯t seek an audience with the because most of those who seed don¡¯t live to tell the tale. She felt already lucky for having learned many things just by breathing in world energy containing Mogar¡¯s memories."

    By the end of the lesson, Friya couldn¡¯t stop daydreaming about creating her own Fringe. A mix between a dimensional pce and a mage tower where she would be akin to a god.

    Everyone wanted to get back at Lith¡¯s mage tower, wishing to learn about it as much as they could.

    "Be my guests." Lith said with a sneer. "It¡¯s not like I had years and the means to study it at the best of my abilities."

    "Yeah, we both tried to understand how the tower works and how to hasten my recovery, but to no avail." Solus sighed.

    "Well, you have Invigoration, but you surelyck Forgemastery spells." Quy took her silvery wand out of her dimensional item. "Can you imagine how cool would it be if all of us had our own tower?"

    "Since we¡¯re dreaming, I want mine equipped with a hot stud instead of Solus." Friya¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "Wait, do you already know spells that allow you to study artifacts?" Lith suddenly felt like hiding all of his creations.

    "Well, duh! It was the first thing Dad taught us after gifting us our wands. This way we can both recognize powerful items at flea markets and not get conned when we shop from a Forgemaster." Phloria said.

    "We do?" Friya cursed at herself for never listening to a word about Forgemastering in the past.

    "There¡¯s no need to hide your creations, Lith." Quy recognized his paranoid look. "We never studied your stuff and we¡¯re not going to try our spells on Solus unless both of you give us your permission."

    Lith and Solus exchanged a quick nce before nodding in unison.

    Phloria and Quy started to chant while Friya took out her wand as well and tried to memorize their actions. The Royal Forgemaster wands emitted silvery strands that seeped through the stone of the tower¡¯s walls.

    Solus could feel several safety measures trying tosh out at the invaders, but she kept them from triggering.

    ¡¯It seems that Lith and I are the only ones who can safely study the tower¡¯s power core-¡¯

    Suddenly Solus could see in front of her eyes some kind of administrator control panel. Their friends were marked as guests, with free ess to open rooms but forbidden from altering anything inside the tower.

    ¡¯After hearing Faluel¡¯s words, I don¡¯t feel like disabling the safety measures for anyone. This way even if our enemies slip a ve ring on our friends, no one could harm us in here.¡¯ She thought.

    "Gods, I can¡¯t see anything. It¡¯s all blurred out." Quy said.

 Chapter 1093 Trust Issues Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1093 Trust Issues Part 1</h4>

    "I can¡¯t see the tower core either. It must be one of those cloaking spells that Forgemasters use to hide their secrets. Can you turn them off, Solus?" Phloria asked.

    Solus shared the control panel with Lith and both browsed it for a while, trying to make sense of the various options.

    ¡¯I thought you were supposed to know by instinct what each floor does.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯And so did I. Maybe as my core recovers, I get part of my memories back. If I was Menadion¡¯s apprentice, this tower was both my academy and my home. Yet only the master of the tower could ess this kind of features, that¡¯s why I have no recollection of them.

    ¡¯On top of that, they might be avable now only because the tower¡¯s pseudo core has finally recovered a bit of its power.¡¯ She replied.

    Before Solus obtained her energy body, using Invigoration on the tower would only reveal her weakened human core. Now, however, the breathing technique would also reveal the power core that fueled the tower and kept her damaged life essence in check.

    "Sorry, I can¡¯t. I didn¡¯t even know such a thing was possible. I¡¯ll give it a tryter." Solus said.

    "If you want to stay here, be my guests." Lith said while checking his pocket watch. "Kam is waiting for me. I¡¯m bringing her out on a date tonight."

    He was so tired that had to use Invigoration while yawning to not fall asleep on the spot.

    "Wow, did you really managed to make time for her despite our crazy schedule?" Friya envied Kam¡¯s guts, wishing to have a decent boyfriend.

    "Yeah. Between my cracked life force, the tribtions, and the fact that if I fail Faluel¡¯s test I might die, I don¡¯t feel like having so many regrets. Back when I was younger and my life shed in front of my eyes during a near death experience, the good moments were drowned by bad stuff and work.

    "I love magic and I love power, but those alone don¡¯t make you happy."

    ¡¯Agreed. You¡¯ve spent so much time working that if someone were to recap your life, you would be a catchy music short of it resembling a training montage or an AMV.¡¯ Solus chuckled.

    Lith¡¯s words reminded everyone that Faluel¡¯s test was imminent. The Hydra wouldn¡¯t trust them with any more knowledge unless they proved worthy of it. Phoria¡¯s destiny was bound to Lith, but everyone else was in his same boat.

    "Lith is right." Nalrond said. "Whatever Faluel asks us to do, it won¡¯t be a walk in the park. I don¡¯t want to spend myst moments buried under a pile of books or changing diapers. I want to make some good memories."

    The girls felt embarrassed, expecting Nalrond to ask one of them out.

    "I¡¯m going to ask Brina out. She seems a nice girl and she doesn¡¯t look at me in a funny way because of the color of my skin. Lith, is there somece nice where I could bring her?" Nalrond said.

    Brina was the baker¡¯s daughter and part of Tista¡¯s shut-in club, a group of youths who for some reason had spent most of their early life in istion, just like her. For Tista it had been her congenital disease while Brina had lost a few fingers and burned her right arm while helping her parents with the oven.

    Lith had restored her body after learning tier four magic and now she worked in Rena¡¯s house as herdy¡¯s maid.

    "You¡¯re lucky that Lutia has grown a lot ever since I became a Great Mage. Before then, there was just the local tavern, and bringing her to Derios with dimensional magic would have been a huge show-off on your side.

    "I rmend you the Heavenly Wolf restaurant. The owner invited me and Kam for the opening and it was a bit rustic but cozy ce. The food is also pretty good. Tell them that I sent you and they¡¯ll give you their best table." Lith said.

    "Thanks, man. Any advice? I¡¯ve been out of the game for a long time and I don¡¯t want toe in too strong." Nalrond felt embarrassed, but he was afraid of making blunders due to the different customs of the Kingdom.

    "Just keep calm and avoid showing off magic or speaking about the future. Mentioning kids or future ns that don¡¯t involve just yourself on a first date is a deal-breaker." Lith replied.

    "Are you really going to ask Brina out? You barely know her." Tista asked the moment she managed to pick up her jaw from the floor.

    "Yeah. You feel a bit out of my league and your brother scares me. Quy already has a suitor and her baggage seems as heavy as mine. Friya is pretty, but she¡¯s way too self-conscious of that while Phloria would clearly spend the evening talking to me but thinking about someone else. Bye!" Nalrond Warped back home to change his clothes and get some money.

    ¡¯I¡¯m so d that Lith¡¯s silver mines are starting to pay off. It would have been very awkward to ask Selia for money, being forced to exin how much and why I needed it.¡¯ He thought.

    Before his apprenticeship with Faluel started, Nalrond had worked as a full-time babysitter for Selia. Even though she had often offered to pay him, Nalrond had always refused because he considered Protector¡¯s family as his own and because after renovating Selia¡¯s old house they were short on money.

    Luckily, Zolgrish the Lich had been true to his word. His armies of lesser undead had worked to open the silver mines near Jambel as soon as Lith had been granted its ownership by the Griffon Kingdom.

    Thanks to their relentlessbor and expertise, it had taken the legion of skeletons just a few months to dig their way to the silver veins and even recover some of the old tunnels. Lith had no idea how lesser undead could be such skilled miners and engineers, nor did he care.

    ¡¯Either Zolgrish studied the subject and has passed them part of his knowledge like I would have done, or he must have linked some poor soul to his minions. Whatever it is, as long as I get my 50% share of silver, I¡¯m okay.¡¯ That was Lith¡¯s opinion on the matter.

    Solus warped the tower near Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate, and from there Lith went to Valeron. For security reasons, those days Jirni and Kam spent most of their time there while investigating Archmage Deirus, Balkor¡¯s mysterious return, and the incident of the Feymar mines.

    Oddly enough, Balkor¡¯s case was the weakest of the three, no matter how much time and effort they poured into it.

    "Archon Ernas, Royal Constable Yehval, I hope you¡¯re done with your job because I¡¯m about to lose my reservation." Lith walked inside the room under the steady gaze of the Royal Guards ced at the four corners of the room.

    Each one of them was a veteran mage wearing a Royal Fortress armor. A Griffon-shaped artifact that bestowed upon its wearer might simr to Tyris¡¯s bloodline.

    "I call bullshit." Jirni grunted while checking some papers and interrogating one of her sources on her army amulet. "Your reservation is not up for another hour. By the way, nice to meet you Lith."

 Chapter 1094 Trust Issues Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1094 Trust Issues Part 2</h4>

    "No, I mean, yes, I mean, how the heck do you know that?" Lith replied.

    "Security reasons. What do you need all that time for?" Jirni said.

    "Well, after working all day I like to-" Kam attempted to say.

    "I¡¯m just messing with you, child." Jirniughed for the first time in days and that made it even creepier than usual. "Go out and have fun. The paperwork can wait until tomorrow. Deirus has left no breadcrumbs that we might follow anyway."

    Jirni Ernas was Phloria¡¯s mother and the most relentless, cunning predator Lith had ever met. Hearing Jirni praising her opponent made Lith regret that saving Phloria from her Awakening didn¡¯t leave him enough time to interrogate Kallion before killing him.

    "Is it that bad?" He asked.

    "Worse, it¡¯s exactly as he promised me. Deirus never made a misstep, never vited thew, nor did he associate with shady characters. So far, my hands are tied." She sighed.

    Lith and Kam left the room while Jirni stared at the documents over and over in the hope to notice a detail that she had missed up to that point.

    "What¡¯s with the tight security? I thought you two worked alone unless there was a concrete threat to your lives." Lith asked while they crossed the Warp Gate to Belius.

    "We did, but after the attempt on Phloria¡¯s life, Orion has asked Royal Guards to follow Jirni everywhere. She¡¯s no mage, and even with the quickest response time, reinforcements would take too long to reach our position." Kam said.

    Jirni could take on many humans on her own, even mages. Undead and their thralls, however, were a different story. Without a potion, not even Jirni could keep up with their speed and physical prowess. It would take them seconds to kill her.

    Back to their home, Kam needed half an hour to shower and prepare for their dinner. They spent the rest of the time before their reservation taking a walk and watching the sundown together.

    It was almost summer and the days grew longer and warmer.

    "Gods, after sitting all day I needed to stretch my legs. If it keeps up like this, my butt will be t." Kam wore a light jacket over a short-sleeved sky-blue shirt and grey pants.

    "I hear you. Between lessons and self-study, I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯m getting soft." Lith sighed.

    "Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re doing great." Kam said after a quick grope of his arms, chest, and ass.

    "I was joking. Did you really need to do that?"

    "No, but after such a boring day it sure got my blood pumping." She said with augh.

    They reached a restaurant that Jirni had rmended to them, the Phoenix¡¯s Nest. Lith¡¯s deep blue Archmage robe and Jirni¡¯s name had guaranteed them the best table. It was located in front of a panoramic window with a view into the inner garden of the establishment.

    It allowed the customer to dine while enjoying the songs of the many birds that inhabited the ce and the smell of the freshly watered flowers. Their table was also more spaced from the others, giving them privacy.

    The Phoenix¡¯s Nest didn¡¯t use magic lights, only candles. The dim light both created a romantic ambiance and made it hard for customers to see what was happening at a nearby table.

    "Do you like it here?" Lith asked while estimating how expensive the silverware and the gold-veined porcin tes were.

    "Very. Living in Belius and moving from city to city to investigate people doesn¡¯t leave me much time to smell the roses. Thanks for remembering how much I like flowers." Kam held his hand while looking Lith in the eyes and giving him the sweetest smile.

    The Phoenix¡¯s Nest was way more romantic and expensive than the ces they usually dined at. All those attentions ttered her, especially knowing Lith¡¯s stinginess. Yet they also worried her.

    ¡¯Lith brings me to a nice ce every time he gives me bad news or reveals one of his secrets to me. Please, gods, let this just be a good night.¡¯ She thought.

    "You are wee. I felt the need to get away from work and stay away from all those damn leeches. This is the first opportunity I got to celebrate the ie from the silver mines and I don¡¯t want to ¡¯casually¡¯ meet pests." Lith replied.

    "Is it that bad?" Kam asked.

    "Yes. Climbing the ranks of the Mage Association caused me no trouble because my ie was kept secret and everyone knows I¡¯m not a kind man. The silver mines, however, aren¡¯t something that can be hidden.

    "Ever since the mining operations started, I discovered how numerous and scattered my family was. Flocks of rtives I¡¯ve never met or even heard about came to Lutia begging for money, hoping to exploit my parents¡¯ good heart during my absence.

    "Unluckily for them, poverty made all of us quite unforgiving. My father remembers well all those he asked for help in the past to cover for Tista¡¯s treatments and gives them as much as they did. Zero.

    "As for my mother, she¡¯se to appreciate the many magical beasts who usually sleep on ourwn and she often unleashes them to chase away those who don¡¯t take a no for an answer."

    "Did your parents say anything about me?" Kam tried to act cool, but swallowed out of nervousness.

    The silver mines made Lith even richer and set them further apart. She feared that his family might question her feelings and consider her just another leech.

    "Of course they did. They told me to stop hoarding money and buy you something nice." Lith replied.

    "Please, don¡¯t. I¡¯ve got my job and I like to pay for my own stuff."

    "Kami, stop worrying like that. My parents would have proposed in my stead months ago if they could. They love you." Lith cursed his own insensitivity.

    Every time they spoke about money, Kam¡¯s smile disappeared and she acted awkwardly.

    "Do you mind if we change the subject?" She said while hiding behind the wine menu.

    "Fine. I¡¯m curious, what can you tell me about your ex-boyfriends?" Lith¡¯s words made her drop the menu and the tes tter when she tried to catch it.

    "Why the sudden interest? You never asked me about them before."

    "Kami, I consider your body like a temple and I have no interest in knowing the men who shared with me the mystical experiences it has to offer. Yet since I started spending time with Phloria again, you wanted to know all about us.

    "It¡¯s only fair for you to share a bit of your past and help me understand why sometimes you feel so insecure about our rtionship." Lith said.

    Kamughed heartily at the joke, but turned serious again the moment he mentioned her trust issues.

    "Okay." She took a few deep breaths, using the time while the waiter served them the wild mushroom risotto and red wine they had ordered to calm down.

    "I don¡¯t feelfortable talking about them and once you take the drama away, there isn¡¯t much to tell, but you have the right to know." She sighed.

    "My parents enforced a strict discipline on me and Zin, to keep us ¡¯pure¡¯ and more valuable for our arranged marriages. Men can fool around freely, but if a young girl doesn¡¯t take precautions, she¡¯s the one paying the price both their stupidity."

 Chapter 1095 Double Date Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1095 Double Date Part 1</h4>

    "Long story short, after joining the army I met this wonderful boy, Kron. He belonged to a rich merchant family and aimed to climb the army ranks to help his family develop their business.

    "He was handsome, kind, gentle, and was willing to pay the birth control potion. I was young, horny, and stupid. I felt ttered by his attention and I wanted to get back at my parents by ruining their ns about my chastity.

    "I fell for him like a dunce and barely survived the crash. Once he got what he wanted, Cron dumped me and made his move on my bunk mate right in front of me. I cried so much and performed so badly that I almost got kicked out the boot camp.

    "What he did was already bad, but the worst part was everyone mocking me for my foolishness and reminding me that a wealthy man would never take a woman who got disowned by her own family seriously.

    "After I failed the boot camp and started working as a clerk, things got better. I had friends, money, and a small apartment. My colleagues and I shared a deep camaraderie because we all had no ce toe back to.

    "The army was our only home and we were each other¡¯s family. I met Rufo, my second boyfriend, after being transferred to Ynca due to the base¡¯sck of personnel. I had just lost all of my friends, the new ce scared me, and I felt alone.

    "He wasn¡¯t wealthy nor handsome, but he helped me get settled and introduced me to all of his friends, making me feel like I belonged there. He was really sweet and never pressured me so after a while we ended up together.

    "Our rtionshipsted for over two years and we even started to n our marriage. Everything went fine until we both applied to the Official academy schrship and only I achieved it. From that point, everything went downhill.

    "At first, Rufo pretended to be happy for me and imed that he would do his best to support my career. The moment I got my promotion and he failed at the schrship again, however, he turned sour.

    "Rufo alwaysined about how little he earned and wanted me to pay the full rent. He started to spend all of his ie on stupid stuff, ask me for money, and thensh out at me if I refused.

    "I tried to help him study, I did all I could to show him that I didn¡¯t care about rank or ie, that I just wanted him to be the man I had fallen in love with again. After a drink too many, Rufo told me that he had never loved me.

    "It turned out that he had asked me out because I was the only one in our group to have been disowned. Knowing that I had even less than him made Rufo feel better about himself. He could ept neither my promotion nor his repeated failures.

    "It was then that I understood that Rufo had never cherished our rtionship. He just used it as a crutch for his ego, feeling happy just because I was more miserable than him. The next day, I broke up with Rufo and asked for another transfer.

    "There wasn¡¯t a single ce in Ynca that didn¡¯t remind me of him and Rufo had an easy time convincing my ex-colleagues that I had dumped him because I considered myself too good for him.

    "He had talked behind my back ever since I moved to a different office due to the promotion so no one believed me." Kam sniffled while clenching her napkin hard. "The same people who until the day before helped me nning our wedding now med me for everything."

    "I¡¯d say that¡¯s enough sad memories for one night." Lith held her hand until she managed to calm down. "I¡¯m sorry for ruining our date."

    "No, you did the right thing." Kam used a handkerchief to dry her tears and blow her nose. "I¡¯m the only one who can fight my inner demons, but keeping them a secret creates a gap between us.

    "Talking about them with you sets my heart at ease. Thanks for listening to my problems instead of trying to fix them for me."

    Kam¡¯s radiant smile made Lith happy to have waited before offering to find and kill her exes.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, at the same time.

    Nalrond didn¡¯t have a Skinwalker armor so after leaving the tower, he needed to go back home to shower and change into clean clothes. His wardrobe was already limited and Faluel¡¯s training had forced him to renew it often.

    His slender limbs had be muscr and he had gained several kilograms of pure muscles, making his old clothes so tight that Nalrond couldn¡¯t wear them anymore. It would only take him a deep breath to rip them to shreds.

    ¡¯Thank the gods Selia is better than most tailors. All that sewing because of the kids made her a professional.¡¯ Nalrond thought. ¡¯Yet her creations are too simple for my first date in five years.

    ¡¯Luckily, Lith epted a payment n for my debt so not all my share from the mines goes into his pockets and I could afford a few clothes.¡¯ He wore a simple white cotton shirt and brown cotton pants.

    Neither he nor Brina was wealthy and, for a date in Lutia, even a jacket would be overdressing. During thest two years, the vige had tripled its surface area, but it was still far from bing even a small city.

    Yet now it bustled with people even after sundown and several establishments had either expanded or opened their business.

    Nalrond Warped to the vige¡¯s outskirts to not reveal his magical talents and walked the rest of the way to Rena¡¯s house to pick Brina up.

    Zekell¡¯s home had been recently renovated. The cksmith had bought his neighbor¡¯s house, turning it into a new and better equipped workshop after converting the old smithy into living quarters.

    Lith brought most of his unsold silver to Lutia, handing it to Zekell who crafted all the items that Lith would enchant in his tower. The business went so well that Zekell had split the workshop into a cksmith and a goldsmith.

    The former would take care of the Orichalcum orders while thetter would craft the fine silver tools and charms that Lith needed for his experiments. Senton, Rena¡¯s husband, was young and strong, making him perfect to handle the magic metal.

    Zekell was getting old and the business too fric. After working all his life, he just wanted to take a break and enjoy his grandchildren. Zekell still helped his son dealing with the mostplex Orichalcum rted procedures and personally crafted Lith¡¯s orders, but delegated everything else to his apprentices.

    Zekell wasn¡¯t the richest man in Lutia but he was surely the happiest. Back when the King had bestowed upon Lith a family name, Zekell had made sure that Rena and his granddaughter kept the Verhen name.

    Their family crest was painted over all doors and windows of Zekell¡¯s house so no one dared to mess with him, not even the local nobles. He could leave the shop¡¯s doors open at night and find everything where he had left it.

 Chapter 1096 Double Date Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1096 Double Date Part 2</h4>

    The only sour note was that Rena and the children liked to spend a lot of time back at the Verhen household due to the various magical appliances that made a mother¡¯s life much easier, like tap water or a bathroom instead of an outhouse.

    "Come in, Nalrond. Brina will get down in a minute." Rena sighed with relief while checking out his new outfit. "Thank the gods you¡¯re not like my brother. I was afraid you would show up with your usual clothes after just cleaning them with a spell."

    "Lith can afford it because of the Skinwalker armor. Faluel doesn¡¯t mind patches and w marks from the kids, but if Brina sees them, she would ask questions I don¡¯t want to answer." Nalrond envied Lith for many reasons and his self-repairing clothes were among them.

    "How is Selia doing?"

    "I have never seen her so happy. She has gone back hunting and is catching up with all her old friends. My guess is that she was sick and tired of being a housewife in the middle of nowhere." Nalrond said.

    "What about the kids? With Prot- Ryman being often away and you all caught up by your apprenticeship, who takes care of the kids while she¡¯s out?" Rena asked.

    "She does the same thing you do. Selia leaves Lilia and Leran with Zinya and the little Fenrir to Elina. Your mother is great with kids and she says that she¡¯s d to have the opportunity to learn how to take care of hybrid children."

    "Lith is getting himself into trouble." Rena shook her head. "Zinya is bing a part of our family. If it keeps up like this, he will have to face Selia¡¯s wrath as well if he messes his rtionship with Kam."

    "Indeed. While we¡¯re at it, how the heck did Lith manage to date while hiding everything about himself? Maybe this is a mistake. If Brina starts to ask the wrong questions, I might ruin a lot of lives." Nalrond was getting cold feet.

    "Rx. Brina has already epted to go out with you so the hard part is over." Rena straightened his shirt and dusted his shoulders like a mother sending her son to the prom.

    "Lith didn¡¯t hide much, just the Awakening and the hybrid stuff. Just be yourself and talk freely, but remember to make no mention about those two things..."

    "I¡¯m sorry for beingte. Have you been waiting long?" Brina came down the stairs.

    She was 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") tall with waist-long gold hair and clear blue eyes. Brina wore a white linen blouse and a beige skirt that emphasized her tanned skin. She was quite cute, especially since her diminutive stature emphasized her curves.

    "No, I have just arrived." Nalrond took a deep breath and offered her his arm that she promptly took.

    "Oh my. Have you been exercising?" Brina asked while feeling his muscles.

    "It¡¯s a long story." Just the thought of his training made him shudder.

    "Then it¡¯s a good thing we have all night in front of us. I¡¯m really curious to hear everything about the Blood Desert and why you came to Lutia just to be a nanny. Are you really as good with children as everyone says?"

    Brina¡¯s questions, her pressing his arm against her chest, and Rena¡¯s wink in response to his silent plea for help let Nalrond understand how screwed up he was.

    ***

    Ernas Arch Duchy, a few hourster.

    Lith and Kam had left the Phoenix¡¯s Nest for a while and were taking a stroll through the city of Assar before going back home.

    Aside from the talk about Kam¡¯s past, they had spent a pleasant evening and she was happy to do a little window shopping.

    "Big cities in the south are like another world." Kam said. "I can¡¯t believe there are still so many people around and so many shops open. In the north, only restaurants don¡¯t close at sundown and only because people need to eat."

    "It¡¯s because people here feel safe. The magicalmps light the streets and the Gates allow the guards to intervene promptly. Small viges like Lutia are no different from the north, even in the fear for strangers."

    Lith wanted to offer to buy her something, but after hearing how money had been the root of all her trouble, he decided otherwise.

    "Always a killjoy." Kam sighed. "Would have killed you to be less pragmatic and more romantic? We¡¯re walking along one of the main streets of a beautiful city, under a beautiful moonlight, and all you can think about-"

    An arrow covered in runes and coated in a pungent-smelling substance aimed at her back cut Kam short.

    Lith had pushed her away and intercepted the arrow in mid-air with his bare hand. He had actually used Spirit Magic to stop it and water magic to freeze the venom, keeping it from leaving the arrowhead, just to be safe.

    His enhanced hearing had sensed the bowstring snapping and allowed him to react in time. Physical projectiles were usually slower and noisier than mystical ones. It was one of the many reasons why firearms had never been developed on Mogar.

    Yet a few professionals would still prefer arrows to wands because arrows could be enchanted with armor-piercing spells and coated with deadly poison. This way, even if the sniper missed a vital organ, by the time the target realized they had been poisoned it would have been toote.

    "Undead!" Lith said, making all the bystanders run away in panic.

    Not only was the strength of the arm pulling the bowstring inhuman, but Life Vision recognized several blood cores in some of the people disguised as passers-by. Lith attempted to Blink, only to discover that dimensional magic had been sealed.

    ¡¯Solus, where...¡¯ Only then did he remember that he was alone.

    Cursing the assants¡¯ perfect timing, Lith took War out of his pocket dimension in a burst of emerald mes and struck at everyone who had yet to run away with Spirit Magic.

    Most of them were just regr people paralyzed by fear and the hit knocked them out. Some of them, however, got back on their feet like nothing had happened, revealing their nature of thralls.

    "I can¡¯t call for reinforcements!" Kam had learned to always keep hermunication amulet at hand, but the array surrounding them sealed it as well.

    Lith looked around, searching for the quickest way out of the magical formation and discovering they were at its center.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t just bad luck, someone is targeting us. The problem is that I don¡¯t know which one of us is the assassins¡¯ mark. If it¡¯s me, then this will be easy. Yet if it¡¯s rted to Kam¡¯s job, then the attack might just be a diversion to lure me away.¡¯ He thought.

    Lith heard a second snap and he knew that another arrow had been shot. He conjured a shield of wind and activated his barrier ring, creating an emerald dome that surrounded both him and Kam.

    The enchanted projectile passed through the first defensiveyer as if it didn¡¯t exist, but it crashed against the Spirit Magic barrier and shattered into countless splinters as its spells died out.

    Another of the reasons why firearms had never been developed was that the smaller the item was, the harder engraving it with runes. On top of that, powerful spells put a lot of strain on the materials they were applied to.

 Chapter 1097 Well-Laid Plans Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1097 Well-Laid ns Part 1</h4>

    Due to their small size, arrows and bullets couldn¡¯t bear mana crystals. Enchanting them cost dozens of gold coins and they wouldst only a few hours before they imploded under the pressure generated by the spells they were imbued with.

    To make matters worse, making a bullet out of Davross or Adamant was not only incredibly expensive, but also pointless.

    Even the simplest set of runes scaled down to the smallest size that would still allow them to work required an extensive surface to be drawn. The arrow Lith had intercepted was covered in runes from the tip to its feathers just to achieve the armor piercing spell.

    Lith put Kam over his left shoulder as if she was just a sack of potatoes and started to run while his mind spun at top gear.

    ¡¯There are only two ways out of here. Either I throw Kam outside the array so that she can call for help and I can fight freely, or I fight while protecting her. Both strategies are very risky.

    ¡¯If I¡¯m not the target, getting Kam away from me means to fall into my opponents¡¯ trap while keeping her with me is a huge handicap. I have no choice but to fuse the two ns into one.¡¯

    Striking first had given Lith the opportunity to cast Full Guard and ran away before his enemies could realize how badly their strategy had failed. The blue aura filling the space for 10 meters (33 feet) around Lith gave him perfect awareness of the battlefield and made up for Solus¡¯s absence.

    He chose the direction with fewer blood cores to more quickly escape the dimensional sealing array before the enemies could surround thempletely. Only true undead could worry Lith, he had no fear of facing even a small army of thralls.

    He moved like the wind, each one of his steps quick and powerful, sending his shoulder against Kam¡¯s stomach that was full of delicacies they had just eaten. She needed sheer willpower to not puke her guts outs.

    Two thralls disguised as a couple stepped in front of Lith, brandishing short swords that emitted a now familiar pungent smell. He noticed that the woman¡¯s nails had an odd color that she had tried to hide with nail polish, but the subtle stench gave it away.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! The undead know that I¡¯m an Awakened so using poison against me doesn¡¯t make sense nor does a woman trying to "casually" scratch me. My skin is so hard that it¡¯s more likely that she would break her nails and poison herself.

    ¡¯These guys are out for Kam.¡¯ He thought while swinging War in a wide arc.

    The Thralls sneered and attempted to dodge, just to see the bastard sword suddenly speed up beyond what their eyes could follow. Lith¡¯s perfect body refining and Fusion Magic made the swing so fast that the Thralls couldn¡¯t react in time and so powerful that it cut them in half along with their weapons.

    Their sacrifice, however, had given a handsome man enough time to get close to Lith. He kept his tier five magic holding ring at eye level, ready to fire a Final Sunset the moment the enemy made his move.

    Yet the man was a Banshee. He didn¡¯t need to get close nor his attack could be blocked by the ck mes. The undead screamed with all the anguish typical of its race, creating a powerful shockwave that cracked the pavement and uprooted the streetmps.

    Those who had been cheated on by their alleged one true love could be a Banshee. They needed to kill the person who turned their love into hatred with their own hands and thenmit suicide.

    Only then could their sire turn the thrall into one of them.

    ¡¯Oh, shit, a Banshee! Couldn¡¯t they work like in Dungeons \u0026 Looting? That way, a simple earplug would make them powerless.¡¯ Lith had no good defense at hand so he jumped back while curling up to protect Kam.

    Between the jump and the full force of the shockwave, Lith managed to almost fly outside the air sealing array that blocked his best spells. Seeing their prey get further away, the undead cursed the Banshee and converged on Lith, surrounding him from every side.

    The boosted Skinwalker armor had protected Lith from harm and even filled his ears to block the noise, but the shockwave had made him lose focus. Lith felt dizzy and activated light fusion to negate the vibrations that still dulled his body.

    "Stay close to me and get ready to retreat. If we don¡¯t escape the array, we¡¯re done for." Lith said with a slurred voice.

    He needed a couple of seconds to cast Full Guard again and weave a few spells.

    Unfortunately, Kamcked an enhanced body and light fusion so even with the protection of her own boosted Skinwalker armor, she couldn¡¯t hear a word he said. Her ears still rang and her bones rattled from the Banshee¡¯s scream, making her unable to even stand.

    Yet she didn¡¯t give up. Kam pressed a sequence of runes on her army amulet while taking a small purple mana crystal from one of her pockets. She inserted the crystal inside a slot of the amulet and then threw it away with all the strength she could muster.

    By the time the undead reached Lith, light fusion and half a breath worth of energy of Invigoration had cleared his mind. A dome of ck mes intercepted the first wave of enemies, turning them into ashes.

    The Banshee screamed again, but this time, Lith was ready. The barrier ring almost overloaded to resist thebined pressure of the shockwave and of the darkness spells that rained upon Lith, but it held.

    The still active Final Sunset turned into a jet stream of ck fire that entered the still opened mouth of the Banshee and gave him an excruciating death. Then, a hail of enchanted arrows shattered the barrier, forcing Lith to activate thest Final Sunset stored inside his magic holding ring.

    The spell created a dome of ck mes that incinerated the Orichalcum arrowheads, but the second wave of enemies unleashed a volley of icicles that neutralized the new barrier as soon as it formed.

    ¡¯Dammit, these guys are professionals.¡¯ Lith inwardly cursed while studying their formation via Full Guard. ¡¯Not only don¡¯t they take unnecessary risks, but they also seem to be aware of my usual tactics.¡¯

    Two men and one woman turned into the Vampire¡¯s Chiropteran form, resembling giant demonic bats and amplifying their already outstanding physical prowess. Their bodies were big enough to cover Lith¡¯s field of view, but thanks to Full Guard he didn¡¯t need his eyes.

    The Chiropterans looked at War with fear and surprise, having no idea how Lith could have pulled the sword out despite the sealing array. Yet they knew about the de and had taken it into ount for their contingency n.

    One of their allies was a Ghoul and thanks to her regenerative abilities, she feared no sword, not even the angry de. Lith infused War with darkness magic while the Ghoul did the same to her body so that when she trapped Lith¡¯s weapon inside her chest the two energies simply canceled each other.

 Chapter 1098 Well-Laid Plans Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1098 Well-Laid ns Part 2</h4>

    Two of the Chiropterans joined her and pushed Lith down, blocking one of his arms each. Their darkness infused ws pierced the Skinwalker armor and spread their enchanted venom inside his bloodstream while the third Chiropteran had a clean shot at Kam.

    Or so the Vampire thought until he crashed against the golden dome filled with emerald veins that appeared around her out of thin air.

    Lith was still far from the skill level necessary to be considered a Light Master, but between Faluel¡¯s and Nalrond¡¯s lessons, stopping a single Chiropteran was child¡¯s y.

    Lith had mixed Spirit with Light Magic, making his construct sturdier than a rock wall. The impact had broken the Vampire¡¯s ws and shattered his hands, but it was the surprise that hurt him the most.

    "Surprise, motherfucker." Kam activated several darkness wands at the same time from a point-nk distance.

    The Chiropteran turned into ashes, but the volley of bullets didn¡¯t stop. Kam kept firing darkness magic, aiming a few meters above Lith¡¯s head. He saw theming with Full Guard and stopped holding back.

    He effortlessly lifted the two Chiropterans and the Ghoul, putting them in the line of fire while flexing his muscles to trap the undead¡¯s ws inside his body. The barrage of spells killed them on the spot while War¡¯s World Mirror ability took control of the excess magic and redirected it against the nearest enemies.

    Believing Kam already dead, all the remaining assassins had converged onto Lith to kill him as well. They had no idea that Lith had left Kam alone exactly to lure them out.

    The undead tried to dodge Kam¡¯s spells, but War turned them into homing projectiles that relentlessly followed their respective target while Lith used Spirit Magic to make them faster and Domination to add a bit of mana of his own.

    The swarm of ck spheres resembled an army of angry specters that circled around Lith¡¯s raised sword and attacked whoever came too close. The thralls fell first while the undead had to push their enhanced bodies to the limit just to survive.

    Then, everything ended.

    Just a few seconds had passed since Kam had set up her amulet, allowing the army headquarters to receive the distress call and use the signal as a dimensional waypoint. A golden gate opened in the night sky outside the air sealing array, letting several humanoid griffonse out of it.

    "The Royal Guards!" A Ghoul said before a beam of golden light killed him.

    Each one of the Guards wielded halberds that shot unknown spells capable of killing the undead as if they were normal humans. They would point, shoot, and an undead would fade away like mist under the morning sunlight.

    Lith didn¡¯t stop attacking until all enemies were dead and the Royal Guards erected a barrier around him and Kam.

    ¡¯Are you alright? Your crazy n didn¡¯t mention how you would deal with the venom.¡¯ Kam asked.

    With the air sealing array blockingmunication spells like Whisper, Lith couldn¡¯t afford to speak out loud, nor did he have the time for that. The undead had keen senses on par if not even better than his own, but they didn¡¯t know about Spirit Magic.

    Everything Lith had said from the beginning was meant to fool the undead while he used a mind link tomunicate with Kam, allowing them to coordinate their action.

    They had lured the enemies in the open and into a trap from which there was no escape.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry. I had a detoxifying spell at the ready, but I didn¡¯t need it. My body purified the enchanted venom on its own. I knew that my resistance to toxic substances has increased, but even I didn¡¯t expect it to be this good.¡¯ He replied via the mind link.

    Lith¡¯s body had isted the venom on its own with light magic, preventing it from entering the bloodstream. Then, a few pulses of darkness magic had destroyed the unknown threat.

    "Do you need a ride home?" A feminine voiceing from the Griffon armor bearing the captain stripes on its sleeve said.

    "Thanks, but first I need to get out of this damn array. I have no idea if they attacked Kam because she¡¯s a Constable or because of me." Lith replied while taking out hismunication amulet.

    "Fuck me sideways!" All the contact runes were still in their ce, but all of those belonging to the people he knew in Lutia but Nalrond were unavable.

    "Mom never puts her amulet away and neither does Rena. The only possible exnation is that they are under a sealing array as well." Lith opened a conference call, adding Nalrond, Faluel, and Solus, but no one answered.

    "Take Constable Yehval with you and don¡¯t leave her side for any reason." He ordered while preparing a Warp to the nearest city Gate.

    ¡¯Please, take care of Zinya. Her amulet is unavable as well.¡¯ Kam managed to think before Lith disappeared in a burst of light.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, a few minutes before the attempt on Kam¡¯s life.

    The Heavenly Wolf restaurant was just as cozy as Lith had described it and the staff had served only their best food the moment they recognized the Verhen insignia that Rena had earlier attached on Nalrond¡¯s shoulder while pretending to straighten his shirt.

    Brina had turned out to be a pleasantpany. She had asked him only about how the life in the Blood Desert was and why he had moved to Lutia. Brina didn¡¯t pry too much into his past, carefully choosing subjects that wouldn¡¯t make him ufortable.

    The only problem the Rezar had the whole evening was that he hadpletely forgotten about the customs of the Griffon Kingdom. Brina was 21 years old while Nalrond was 25, both at what was considered ate marrying age.

    Unlike the Blood Desert, where the tribe would take care of its members and guarantee them healthcare and food, life in the Griffon Kingdom was harsher and the life expectancy shorter.

    In the Desert, a man could marry even past 30, as long as he had a good position in the tribe and the means to support his family. Nalrond had neither in the Kingdom, so he had assumed it was just a date.

    Brina, however, had epted the date with apletely different mindset.

    Nalrond was known to be gentle, hardworking, great with kids, and had Rena¡¯s blessing. In Lutia, the Verhens were considered akin to the Royal Family which in turn was enough to make him an exotic Prince Charming.

    Now that it was gettingte, Nalrond had no idea how to end the evening without being rude. He didn¡¯t want to drop Brina like a bad habit but he couldn¡¯t find the right words to express his unease.

    ¡¯Dammit! I¡¯m sure that no one knows I have a share of the silver mines so she¡¯s no gold digger, but she¡¯s clearly looking for more than casual hanging out. Lith warned me about how everyone in his family likes to y matchmaker, but I never thought that Rena would include me in her ns!¡¯ He thought.

    Nalrond¡¯s eyes looked at hismunication amulet with hope, wishing that Selia called him for help with the kids. It would give him an excellent way out without the risk of goodnight kisses or worse.

 Chapter 1099 Mourning the Dead Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1099 Mourning the Dead Part 1</h4>

    "Do you really need to show off so much?" Brina giggled while sweeping her golden hair behind the ear and exposing her slender neck. "Everyone knows that you¡¯re with the Verhens, that¡¯s just overkill."

    She tapped on the insignia on his shoulder, making Nalrond inwardly curse at Rena again and at himself for his naivety. Communication amulets weremon tools in any tribe of Werepeople, but in the rest of Mogar, they were the mark of big money.

    "It¡¯s not about showing off." Even though his skin was bronze, Nalrond managed to blush.

    "I left the Blood Desert after the death of my whole vige. I¡¯ll never forget seeing their runes disappear one after the other until my amulet was back to be a clean te. Ever since I got a new family, I¡¯ve never put it away because it allows me to check on them."

    He pointed at the variousmunication rune engraved on the silver.

    "Oh, gods, I¡¯m so sorry. I had no idea." Brina turned pale while realizing her blunder. "Was it because of Overlord Sark? I¡¯ve heard she¡¯s a heartless tyrant."

    "No, she would never do such a thing. It was-" Nalrond¡¯s mouth became dry when almost all the runes on his amulet turned dim at the same time.

    Only those belonging to Tista, Solus, Protector, and Faluel were still avable, but he knew that all of them were out of Lutia. Protector was away on a mission, Faluel was gone with some of her friends, and the girls were having a night out.

    He contacted them in a conference call while disabling the holograms to not draw any more attention.

    "Oh, gods. It¡¯s my first day off in months and one of my kids calls me right when I was about to rx." Faluel groaned despite her masseuse¡¯s best efforts to alleviate the tension in her shoulders.

    The Dragon Bath was one of the finest establishments in the Gorgon Empire and it epted all races as long as the guests behaved. It had hot springs, thermal mud baths, and the best cooks of the Garlen continent.

    "That¡¯s why I don¡¯t take apprentices nor do I want cubs for a while." Scarlett the Scorpicoreughed at the Hydra¡¯s misfortune. "Too much hassle. I prefer keeping things simple. Either I trust someone, or I eat them."

    "Whatever. If she leaves, I call dibs on her snacks." Fe the Behemoth couldn¡¯t understand why human servings were so small. Every time she went to a spa, the leader of the Beast Council spent a small fortune on food.

    "Then I¡¯ll take her drinks." Scarlett replied.

    "Thanks for your concern, girls." Faluel snarled while answering. "Nalrond, what part of ¡¯I don¡¯t want to be disturbed you didn¡¯t understand?"

    "Master, can you please check what¡¯s wrong with Lutia?" Nalrond ignored her question and went straight to the point.

    "What the fuck?" Faluel jumped up the massage table, making her friends¡¯ expression turn serious.

    "I can¡¯t feel any of the protections Iid." She took a control crystal out of her dimensional amulet and discovered that its light was gone.

    "Someone has not only disabled them all, but they also managed to not trigger any of the rms. I¡¯ll be there in a- Oh, dammit! I can barely feel myir as well. Someone has ced an air sealing array all around it to keep me from Warping straight home."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I can-" Fe failed to contact herir as well and so did Scarlett.

    "Someone nned this carefully. They know where you are and with whom you are. I bet-" Scarlett attempted to say.

    "Are you telling me that my children are in danger?" Protector cut her short. His tone felt even less respectful than Nalrond¡¯s. "Fuck the mission, I¡¯m going back."

    "Tista, I¡¯d go check on Rena if I were you." Nalrond said while trying and failing to open a dimensional door near Selia¡¯s house. "Lith¡¯s house is protected by more arrays than I can count and by the Queen¡¯s corps whereas Selia has nothing but her hunting tools!"

    In that moment, Nalrond couldn¡¯t care less about the customers of the Heavenly Wolf seeing him use magic. A Warp Steps leading to the Trawn woods opened right beside his table and it closed the moment he stepped through it.

    He ended the call while shapeshifting into his Rezar form and flying at breakneck speed. The images of his burning vige kept reying in front of his eyes, making him unable to put away themunication amulet.

    The contact runes were the only way Nalrond had to make sure that the few people who really knew who he was and who cared for him were still alive.

    "Undead." Fepleted the phrase for Scarlett, ignoring the disrespect of a disciple toward their master for the first time in centuries. "They can¡¯t use dimensional magic much and they like to seal air magic to even the field."

    "Can you help me to get back home?" Faluel asked while conjuring her clothes.

    "I¡¯ll do more than that. Those leeches didn¡¯t just mess with one of your disciples, they dared to tamper with your home and even mine! I don¡¯t give a damn about humans, but if it¡¯s a war that the undead want, I¡¯ll dly bring it to their doorstep."

    Fe¡¯s amulet was covered with so many runes that their light made it impossible to see the Davross underneath. Yet it took but a wave of her hand to activate them all at the same time.

    ***

    The only thing Lith hated about Lutia was that aside from the mana geyser located deep inside the Trawn woods, there wasn¡¯t another for almost a thousand kilometers.

    It meant that, even if Solus was with him, he would have been forced to use a Gate to Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate, and then to go home. With his movements tracked by the Kingdom¡¯s system, going to Ynca¡¯s mana geyser with his family in mortal danger would raise too many questions.

    Yet before giving his destination to the Gate¡¯s clerk, Lith tried to contact Faluel, finally noticing all the missed calls. Tista, Solus, and the Hydra quickly brought him up to speed.

    "Derios, quickly!" He said the moment he learned that the mysterious aggressor had disabled even the Beasts¡¯ Gatework.

    "Master Faluel, how long will it take you to get back to Lutia?"

    "I¡¯m in the Empire so my answer is: too long. I can use ourwork to get back to the Kingdom, but from there I¡¯ll have to reach Derios just like you." Faluel understood how dire the situation was when Lith called her ¡¯master¡¯ instead of ¡¯professor¡¯.

    He unconsciously buttered her up only when he was desperate.

    "I¡¯m going to Rena¡¯s home while Solus will wait for you at the usual spot." Tista said before closing the call.

    Solus felt helpless for one time too many. Without a mana geyser to empower the tower, without Lith to fuel her broken core, she was no different from an average fake mage.

    To make matters even worse, the Trawn Wood¡¯s geyser was too distant from Lith¡¯s home to even allow them to fight as they had done at the Feymar mines.

    Lith inwardly cursed his own bad luck and the enemy¡¯s careful nning. They had waited for the precise moment when Faluel and all the most powerful beings of the Lustria county were away to strike.

 Chapter 1100 Mourning the Dead Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1100 Mourning the Dead Part 2</h4>

    On top of that, such an operation surely involved enough manpower and firepower to take down Lith along with known associates in the case something went wrong.

    ¡¯I bet that the n was to make Kam die in my arms and then exploit my grief to lure me into a trap by mentioning that my family was next. That way, I would have let the culprits run away and been so shaken to not think properly.

    ¡¯At that point, killing me would have been a joke. The ambush in Assar would have worked like clockwork if not for my recent breakthrough and for Faluel¡¯s lessons.

    ¡¯Whoever is behind the attack, they know everything about me until the moment I quit the army. Which means they ignore what happened in the mines and in the Council. I hate to strike deals with unknown devils, but desperate times require desperate measure.¡¯ Lith thought while taking a small card out of his dimensional pocket.

    He passed it over themunication amulet akin to a contactless credit card, allowing runes to be exchanged.

    "You picked a bad moment to call, little brother. I¡¯m busy and also pissed off at you for ignoring me for so- " Xenagrosh¡¯s voice sounded clear despite the sounds of death and destructioning from the background and so did Lith¡¯s when he cut her short.

    It took him precious moments to bring her up to speed and request her help, but judging from her face and eyes wide open, it was worth it. Lith had never seen a Dragon turn pale until that day.

    "I¡¯ll be there at Dragonspeed. Move that ass, you moron." Xenagrosh said while looking elsewhere as if she wasn¡¯t even talking to Lith.

    ¡¯It seems that Dragons value their family even more than Beasts do. I didn¡¯t expect her to agree to help without strings attached. Fuck, why did I let Jakra go? I could use a gigantic emerald Dragon!¡¯ Lith opened one Warp Steps after the other, hoping to reach Lutia in time.

    ***

    Rena¡¯s house, at the same time when Lith had been attacked.

    After the house¡¯s renovation, Zekell Proudhammer could afford a small inner garden to give his granddaughter Leria a ce where to y with her friends or with the swing that his uncle Lith had built for her.

    He would have never expected that a Ghoul would use it as an ess point to lead a small strike team inside the house without anyone from the outside noticing.

    The ground rippled akin to the surface of ake disturbed by a falling leave and a beautiful woman came out of it with her white dress still pristine. White Ladies were the best to deal with children and magical protections alike.

    Born from the corpse of a woman who had killed her own children beforemitting suicide, White Ladies were capable of using only two elements, water and darkness. They needed to feed on the life force of children and they extracted it by drowning them.

    To do that, White Ladies could lure and charm their victims so that they would be the ones opening the way for them. Children were easily swayed by nature and a White Lady¡¯s ability to speak and look like any child¡¯s mother made their Mesmerize ability unstoppable.

    "Come to me, my baby. Mommy is so cold tonight and needs your help, Leria." Even though the two women had never met, Jolia¡¯s voice sounded identical to Rena¡¯s.

    The White Lady¡¯s whisper was infused with both life force and willpower, making it capable of being heard only by its intended target as long as they were in the ability¡¯s range.

    Unless, of course, someone was paranoid enough to put an air shield around the house. It prevented people from flying around the house and blocked the external noise along with any kind of air magic.

    Lith had set it up because no one in Rena¡¯s house was a mage and he always called before Warping inside. On top of that, the bigger Lutia became, the noisier the vige got.

    His sister had asked him to soundproof the house so that the triplets could sleep and he had gone an extra mile by adding the air sealing array that allowed only her contact amulet to work.

    That way, she could still answer and disable the array when Lith needed to Warp. He couldn¡¯t add more arrays because they required maintenance and mana crystals.

    His sister could afford neither in his absence and she was too prideful to ask Lith for even more help than she already did.

    Jolia tried a few more times before letting Brago the Ghoul pick the lock.

    "We don¡¯t have much time. The others bought us this opportunity by attacking the Verhen household and luring away the Queen¡¯s corps unit that usually protects the house.

    "There is no telling if they called for reinforcements and how quickly they will get here. Kill everyone and move out before someone notices. We¡¯re here to send a message, not to be martyrs." Quaro the Vampire said.

    She hated that n, but orders were orders. After the Horsemen¡¯s defeat by the hands of the Abominations, the Undead Courts had decided to nip hybrids in the bud. Lith¡¯s nature was known, making his family a target.

    The undead¡¯s night vision revealed to them that the house was empty. All lights were off and the only noise they could hear was the snoringing from Zekell¡¯s bedroom and the triplets¡¯ wailing to be fed.

    Quaro sent Jolia to Leria¡¯s room while they took care of the parents. They had to act quickly and without making any ruckus. Lutia was known as "the Graveyard" for a reason.

    Between the Queen¡¯s corps and the magical beasts, a single mistake might spell death.

    Undeath bestowed upon them such a grace that even the old wood didn¡¯t creak at their passage. Leria¡¯s room was next door to Rena¡¯s, allowing her parents to keep an eye on her and the undead to coordinate their attack.

    "You go first. We¡¯ll wait for them to go back to bed." Brago touched the door while sniffing the airing out from the keyhole.

    He could sense five life forces and no magical signature. The area was clear from magical devices of all sorts.

    Jolia opened Leria¡¯s door by extending a fingernail and making the lock open without even turning the handle. The room was a mess, with piles of toys on its four corners and dirty clothes still on the floor.

    Seeing the childish drawings that covered the bright yellow paint of the walls made the undead¡¯s heart ache at the memory of her lost children. Jolia stared for a second at the small library near the bed. It was the only tidy thing in the room, filled with children¡¯s books and bright pink diaries.

    "Don¡¯t worry, my baby. Mommy is here. This is just a bad dream and it will end soon." Jolia whispered, locking Leria¡¯s eyes into her own.

    Except for the beautiful wedding gown, she was identical to Rena, making the child not question why her mother wore such an odd dress or why water was flooding the little room.

    White Ladies carried within their bodies the water from the ce they had drowned themselves and needed it as a medium to feed upon the life essence of their prey.

 Chapter 1101 Dumb Genius Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1101 Dumb Genius Part 1</h4>

    "Isn¡¯t the water cold, mommy? Have you be a mage like uncle Lith?" Leria asked, incapable of speaking louder than a whisper.

    "Hush, my child. Go back to sleep." Jolia caressed Leria¡¯s small head and her Mesmerize made the child lose consciousness.

    "My baby." Jolia literally cried a river that entered Leria¡¯s nose and mouth, emitting a gurgling sound. "I won¡¯t let anyone hurt you. I¡¯m doing this because I love you and I can¡¯t bear the thought of living without you."

    In her mind, the image of her long dead daughter ovepped with Leria as Jolia repeated the same words she had said before taking both their lives.

    The water flooding the small lungs also sucked the child¡¯s life force and reced Jolia¡¯s suffering with the ecstasy of the feed, giving her a pleasure that made the entirety of Mogar fade away for a few precious moments.

    It was then that Abominus, Leria¡¯s steed whenever she yed in the fields of Lutia and her bodyguard the rest of the time, came out of the pile of toys next to the door.

    His cloaking ring hid both his life force and smell, while the Orichalcum mouthpiece that covered his fangs was imbued with enough darkness magic to kill an elephant.

    The Ry exploited the undead¡¯s feeding frenzy to bite at her neck, decapitating Jolia with a twist of his powerful jaws while the magic of the mouthpiece destroyed her body.

    The water disappeared along with the White Lady as the stolen life force returned to its rightful owner. Leria gasped for air, crying for her mother at the top of her lungs while Abominus emitted a long, guttural howl that reached the Trawn Woods, alerting his pack.

    "Oh, fuck!" With no more time to lose, Quaro opened Rena¡¯s door just a split second before a few hundred kilograms of red fur and unbridled fury jumped on her back, ripping her spine out.

    The Vampire emitted a pulse of darkness magic that sent Abominus flying and turned his fur into a sickly shade of green.

    "Don¡¯t worry about me and kill them!" Quaro¡¯s spine was already fixing itself, but the injury needed a few seconds before healing enough to allow her to move again.

    Brago rushed inside while Rena still stared dumbly at the two intruders without stopping to breastfed her child. The room started to spin and suddenly there was blood everywhere.

    ***

    Nalrond¡¯s flight stopped abruptly a few hundreds of meters from Selia¡¯s home, but he didn¡¯t slow down. He just curled up in a ball, using air fusion to roll faster and earth magic to remove all obstacles from his path.

    He didn¡¯t need his eyes to perceive magical formations or the presence of undead. He could feel that the house was surrounded through the scales covering his anteater-like body.

    The only reason why the undead had yet to finish their job was the several arrays that Protector had left to guard his family. He wasn¡¯t a Warden as good as Lith, but Faluel¡¯s help in setting them up had made the formation a tough nut to crack.

    Yet without someone to protect them, the arrays could be easily dismantled and Protector had built them only to give Faluel the time to arrive. They were meant to stall, not to kill.

    One of the undead noticed the car-sized iing cannonball and tried to stop it. The moment the Rezar felt his momentum decreasing, he raised his scales to expose their razor-sharp edge and infused them with air and darkness magic.

    The enemy could stop his advance, but his rotation speed was unaffected by the living obstacle.

    The Vampire realized that the cannonball had turned into a blender when the scales started to slice at his forearms after making short work of his fingers and palms.

    The creature kicked the curled up Rezar with all his strength, sending him flying in the middle of a group of armed undead who would quickly put the unknown enemy down.

    No one expected a golden chute to appear in mid-air, allowing the Emperor Beast to keep rolling toward Selia¡¯s house while all they could do was to dumbfoundedly stare at the hard-light construct.

    Their surprise grew when, instead of crashing against the defensive arrays and making the undead¡¯s job easier, Nalrond passed through them. The magical formation recognized his energy signature and offered him no resistance.

    "Selia, is everyone all right?" Nalrond had a hard time talking instead of taking down the closed door.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here! Tell me that you¡¯ve brought reinforcements." Selia let him in, closing the door quickly to not let the children see what was waiting for them outside.

    "Yes, of course. I called Faluel, Protector-"

    "Who cares about them? I¡¯m talking about the Kings of the woods." Selia cut him short, pointing at the very direction he had juste from.

    "Are you telling me that you managed to forget about the three Emperor Beasts and four small armies of magical beasts who you could¡¯ve asked for help?" Selia clenched her own head with frustration so hard that she would have cut her skin if not for her very short nails.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but after Faluel said that it will take her a while to get here, I rushed here to protect you. It was the only thing I could think about." No matter how true those words were, Nalrond still felt like an idiot.

    "Excellent, now you can die with us. Crash and sh have been howling until now, but those bastards have Hushed the area around the house." Selia slumped on a chair, wishing that Werepeople were as smart as magical beasts instead of humans.

    Neither the Ry nor the Shyf liked how Selia had named them, but after making lots of damage to the house while ying with the children, they were too afraid of the alpha female to emit so much as a whimper ofint.

    "Are we really going to die, Mom?" Lilia, the oldest sibling said while tugging at Selia¡¯s leg.

    "No way. Mom is just a bit stressed because your uncle made a huge mistake." She took Lilia in her arms, inwardly thanking the Hush spell which also prevented the kids from hearing the sound of the copsing arrays.

    "Can¡¯t you project a symbol in the sky with light magic? Something to call for help?"

    "Like what? I never spent time with the Kings nor did we agree on a distress signal." The more he spoke, the dumber Nalrond felt.

    ¡¯All that grieving and those inner monologues about not letting history repeat itself didn¡¯t teach me anything. I relied so much on Protector and Faluel that I never bothered arranging a single safety measure for my new family.¡¯ He thought.

    "Do it anyway. It¡¯s still better than nothing." Selia snapped her fingers in front of his eyes to force him to focus more on reality and less on hindsight.

    Nalrond did as instructed, emitting a pir of golden light that reached over 100 meters (328 feet) of height.

    "Good job." Selia put Lilia down and then made sure that Fenrir, her youngest daughter who was less than one year old, was firmly strapped to a sash on sh¡¯s back. Then, she checked all the weapons she had and nocked an arrow in her bow.

    "Now you¡¯d better weave your spells before-" The door exploded, signaling that "before" had just expired.

 Chapter 1102 Dumb Genius Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1102 Dumb Genius Part 2</h4>

    "You two bring the children to the woods! We¡¯ll cover for you." Selia released the arrow just to watch it being deflected by the nearest undead¡¯s enchanted protection while more of Night¡¯s soldiers ripped out the windows from the outside.

    Selia cursed her useless bow, regretting for the first time in her life to have never learned magic. Her hunting knife was enchanted, but with her speed, she had no chance to beat even a skeleton in close-quartersbat.

    "You¡¯ve heard her, run!" Nalrond¡¯s eyes zed with ck and white mana as the enemies swarmed the house.

    sh and Crash would have dly obeyed if only they could find an opening in the undead¡¯s formation. They had even put Lilia and Leran on their backs, but unless something happened, running away would only put the children in pointless danger.

    Nalrond pushed Selia on top of Crash while he helplessly watched their house being torn apart.

    As the walls crumbled and the first wave of enemies hit him, Nalrond released the very spell that he had learned from Dawn during her fight against Lith, Daybreak.

    It was a mix of light, fire, and darkness magic that generated a wave of dark energy followed by a volley of fiery constructs shaped like snakes. The darkness engulfed the room, sealing even the undead¡¯s mystical senses while the hard-light constructs attacked from every side.

    The spell turned the Rezar into a one-man army while the light blooming from the shadows made him look like a rising sun. Each tendril of light moved akin to a new limb, coiling around his enemies and paralyzing them.

    The heat coursing through the constructs was so intense that the undead¡¯s regenerative abilities couldn¡¯t keep up with the damage fire magic caused, making it impossible for them to escape the constructs¡¯ grip.

    The darkness spreading from the Rezar destroyed their protections first and then seeped inside their blood cores. One after another, the undead disappeared in a puff of smoke and the tendrils of light started to chase a new target.

    The magical beast decided that the chaos following the tier five spell was "something" enough and ran towards the Trawn woods, hoping that the rampaging Rezar behind them would keep anyone from noticing their escape.

    ***

    A few hundreds of meters above the ground, Night looked at the mess unfolding in front of her eyes, wondering how could her n have gone so wrong.

    ¡¯I spent weeks nning this attack, waiting for the moment when only small fries are around and studying the Queen¡¯s Corps routine. Heck, I even disobeyed Mom and messed up with the Council, yet this is all I got?¡¯ She thought.

    The team she had sent to kill Rena had yet to report, her sister Dawn seemed to have infiltrated her ranks to sabotage the mission, and theplexity of the arrays protecting Lith¡¯s home was beyond her wildest expectation.

    ¡¯What kind of madman puts so much effort into protecting a frigging cottage and what the heck is that array?¡¯ Yurial¡¯s Hexagram spread its blue light above the house, thwarting Night¡¯s ns over and over again.

    Right afterpleting the several arrays necessary to seal air magic in the area surrounding the Verhen household and to keep the noise from the attack to draw unwanted attention, Night had cast one of her personal tier five darkness spells.

    Shadow Maelstrom was supposed to put the house¡¯s barriers to the test, if not even bring them down in one fell swoop, yet it had been absorbed by Yurial¡¯s Hexagram before it could deal so much as a scratch.

    Then, she had unleashed another powerful spell, Seismic st. It was a mix of fire and earth magic that should have damaged the defensive array¡¯s focus point and breach through the barrier, but the Hexagram had absorbed it as well.

    ¡¯I have no clue how that thing can eat my best spells as if they are candies, but I don¡¯t like it. After every spell, not only did the array¡¯s light grow stronger instead of weakening, but also the points of the star lit up one after another.

    ¡¯Now only two of them are off and I really don¡¯t want to know what happens when all six points are charged. Dammit, the attack was supposed to be the undead version of the Feymar mines, with me killing everyone without leaving a trace nor witness, but it¡¯s taking forever!¡¯

    Her fight with Balkor and Deirus¡¯s attempt on Phloria¡¯s life had given her an idea. The humans¡¯ stupidity had already given birth to a monster like the god of death. All she had to do was to rey those events, pin the me on Deirus, and then lure Lith in her fold before he could get over the grief on his own.

    She had made sure that, if interrogated, the people she had sent after Kam would lead Lith back to Yurial¡¯s father. With his known deals with the Dusk Court, the Archmage was the perfect scapegoat.

    As for Lith¡¯s family, her n had been to kill them all swiftly, before anyone noticed, recreating the scenario that had given birth to the Blood Magus and destroying Lith¡¯s faith in those who he considered his trusted allies.

    Her n would allow Night to humiliate the Council, weaken the Kingdom, and erase the humiliation of the Horsemen¡¯s defeat at the hands of the Abominations at the same time.

    Her sources in the Council had reported Night how Xenagrosh cared for her ¡¯little brother¡¯, making the Horseman eager to kill the Dragon Abomination while wearing Lith¡¯s face.

    On top of that, Night wanted to put to the test Baba Yaga¡¯s theory about hybrids and Lith was the perfect specimen.

    "By the Red Mother!" Night cursed as a sting from Lith¡¯s house sent her crashing onto the ground.

    "I get that taking down the array surrounding the Verhen¡¯s house is hard since the Queen¡¯s corps is barricaded inside. I can sort of understand that the huntress is still alive thanks to arrays left by her husband.

    "What really doesn¡¯t make any sense is how the heck the third house is still standing!" With each passing second, the risk of Night¡¯s n failing increased dramatically.

    She had underestimated the time and effort that both Lith and the Royals had invested in defending the Verhen household, making its defenses so sturdy to resist even thebined efforts of her army.

    She couldn¡¯t afford to help the teams attacking Zinya¡¯s and Selia¡¯s house because the three units of the Queen¡¯s corps who had taken refuge inside not only sted anything that came too close to the house, but they were also waiting for an opening to call for reinforcements.

    "We don¡¯t know." A hapless undead she was lifting by the neck said. "The Yehval household has no arrays nor mages, yet everyone we sent there died."

    "Then send more! I can¡¯t waste any more time on- Fuck!" Night cursed at the light piring from Selia¡¯s house. Just a secondter, her swearing reached new heights.

    After hearing Abominus¡¯s howl, the other magical beasts patrolling the area had relied the message and spread the rm. What started as a single voice spread like wildfire until it reached the woods and turned into a chorus.

 Chapter 1103 Mistakes and Failures Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1103 Mistakes and Failures Part 1</h4>

    Night had warned her agents that Lutia was called "the Graveyard" for a reason. A single mistake could spell death and the light pir marked the fifth mistake the undead had made in just a few minutes.

    Each still standing house was a mistake and things were about to get worse. Until that moment, the red eyes of the undead had been the only light visible for kilometers after Night had darkened the skies with her magic.

    Yet now the woods hade to life and countless yellow eyes shone from the darkness of the tree, reflecting the light from the golden pir.

    ***

    Zinya¡¯s house, a few minutes earlier.

    Night had patiently waited for the first opportunity when all the households were defenseless, leading the attack herself to make sure that everything went without a hitch.

    Yet no n survived contact with the enemy. Dawn had followed Baba Yaga¡¯s instructions, never sharing with Night that Lith was already bonded to a cursed object.

    The Bright Day had also avoided mentioning the Rezar¡¯s existence, assuming that either Lith had killed him or that Nalrond had resumed chasing her in his foolish quest for revenge.

    On top of that, Night couldn¡¯t have predicted that night Professor Zogar Vastor would be visiting the Yehval household.

    The recent series of events had destroyed the old Professor¡¯s self-confidence, making Vastor think that the White Griffon didn¡¯t need him anymore and that it was time to retire.

    Lith bing an Archmage was the only silver lining in a streak of unlucky years.

    First Balkor had killed dozens of his precious students, then Nalear had almost destroyed the White Griffon, causing Yurial¡¯s death and almost leading Quy on the path of self-destruction.

    Every time one of his pupils needed him, Vastor failed them. Such thought had eaten at him from the inside until even his marriage fell apart.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for bothering you so often. It¡¯ste so maybe I¡¯d better go." Vastor said, yet his short legs refused to stand up from the chair.

    "You never bother me, Professor Vastor. Lutia is a wonderful ce, but it¡¯s quite lonely after sundown. Unless my neighbors visit, I spend my evenings alone while the kids y with their pets." Zinya pointed at the huge magical beast curled up in front of the firece.

    "Please, call me Zogar, or at least just Vastor." Her constant use of honorifics embarrassed him

    "I¡¯ll do it only if you stop calling me miss Yehval." Zinya chuckled while covering her children with a nket.

    They had fallen asleep while hugging their fuzzy friends who in turn refused to leave the room until the stranger left.

    "That would be inappropriate. I¡¯m old enough to be your father." Vastor looked into the magical beasts¡¯ big, round eyes and saw in them a reproach that actually came only from himself.

    "And I¡¯m old enough to hang out with whoever I want, Professor Vastor. Now, would you mind telling me what¡¯s weighing on your heart so muchtely or do you prefer more empty chatter?" She said.

    "It¡¯s about my students." Vastor sighed. "It all started with those idiots following Deirus destroying Phloria¡¯s career, then the undead invaded ournd, and now Quy has quit the White Griffon.

    "I¡¯m tired of seeing fools destroying the lives of promising mages out of petty grudges. Tired of power-hungry buffoons waging a war after another just to fill their pockets. Tired of seeing good mages drift apart from the Kingdom because we fail them in their hour of need!"

    Vastor mmed his fist on the table, yet it didn¡¯t produce a single vibration nor a sound. The Professor had managed to cancel the impact with first magic in the nick of time.

    "People hurting people is how Mogar spins, you have no fault in that. As for your students, did you y any part in their misfortunes or did you do everything you could to help them?" She asked.

    "I did everything in my power, but in the end, it amounted to nothing. I might as well sit on my thumbs all day and nothing would have changed." Vastor said with a deep sigh.

    "You¡¯re dead wrong about that. If you feel so bad after doing your best, imagine how would you feel if you didn¡¯t even try. Failure is an integral part of life. It¡¯s painful sometimes, but in the long run it helps us to improve." Zinya said.

    "Please, if that was true, with all my failures I should have be so powerful that Manohar would be nothingpared to me, yet it¡¯s the opposite." Vastor¡¯s rage gave him the strength to get up.

    "I meant to improve as a person, not as a mage. Otherwise I should be a Magus at this point." Zinya never stopped giving him a warm smile and making him feel like a jerk.

    Vastor was born a noble and a powerful mage. After doing whatever he wanted for all his life and even reaching the peak of his profession, he foundining about the unfairness of life with someone like Zinya beyond ridiculous.

    She had been blind from birth and her parents had treated Zinya as a tool, forcing her to marry an awful man to ensure their own happiness. Vastor just felt powerless whereas Zinya had been powerless all her life and a prisoner in her own home.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for my tantrum. I¡¯ll take my leave now." Vastor attempted to cast a Warp Steps, but nothing happened.

    "What the heck?" Themunication amulet in his breast pocket was silent, all the runes on its surface inactive.

    After failing to retrieve his equipment from his dimensional item, Vastor felt a cold shiver running down his spine.

    "How many entrances does the house have?" He asked while looking out the nearest window.

    "Just the front door." Zinya had never heard him with such a cold voice. For the first time since they had met, Vastor scared her.

    "What about windows? Is there a wall thinner than the others?" He couldn¡¯t see anything due to the clouds, which in his experience never bode well.

    "This is a house, not a fortress. It has plenty of windows to let the sunlight in and I¡¯ve no idea about the walls. What¡¯s happening?" Zinya moved near her children while Vastor chanted one spell after another.

    His hands moved so nimbly that he even managed to ce potions on the table without disrupting his fingers tracing hand signs. The small Professor started to hum with power as his body glowed from the energy burning within.

    He took a golden wand out of his pocket, moving it from the door to the windows non-stop. The energy inside him had be so powerful that it crackled, emitting from time to time small bursts that resembled bolts of lighting.

    Seconds stretched into minutes until a thick mist seeped from under the door, slithering on the floor like a living being. Vastor flicked his wand and the mist turned into ashes.

    Then, the door was burst open and so were the windows as unknown assants entered the living room. Each one of them was taller than Lith and emitted such a powerful killing intent that Zinya had to bite her cheek to not faint.

    She sweated bullets, feeling her knees buckling from the pressure those things exerted. Yet she was determined to not abandon her children and Vastor¡¯s calm gave her hope.

 Chapter 1104 Mistakes and Failures Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1104 Mistakes and Failures Part 2</h4>

    Another flick of the wand unleashed his tier five spell, Dark Dimension. Vastor¡¯s eyes turned ck and every speck of light disappeared from the room, making Zinya think that she had gone blind again.

    The darkness spread throughout the room and when the undead tried to move forward, they discovered that the energy surrounding them was so thick that it was akin to moving through mud.

    A mud that seeped inside all of their orifices, flooding their bodies with darkness magic until nothing was left. To those staring at the scene from the outside, the lights inside the house had just flickered.

    Yet five elder undead had disappeared, whereas the humans still stood there as if nothing had happened. Vastor drank the potions he had left on the table while looking in the eyes of the bbergasted undead who were staring at him from the broken windows.

    "Who are-" A beam of golden light cut the female undead short and her head off.

    A split secondter, all those who had met Vastor¡¯s gaze joined her in death, their bodies burning under the effects of the golden wand he wielded. Zogar Vastor was more than a short, overweight mage.

    He was a Royal Forgemaster, a Spellbreaker, and after the undead invasion had started, he had even joined the Queen¡¯s corps again. The golden wand was thetest weapon developed by the joint efforts of the Balkor department, the Royal Forgemasters, and Manohar.

    The enchanted tool was capable of turning tier four and five spells into the next best thing to sunlight. Each beam consumed a lot of mana andsted for a split-second, but the amount of light it produced could kill any undead if the beam hit a vital spot.

    Aside from the Royal Guards who aided Lith at hundreds of kilometers away, only a few selected individuals had one.

    The second wave of undead avoided Vastor¡¯s line of sight and broke through the walls. Thanks to their enhanced senses, they didn¡¯t need to see the human to pinpoint his position and by moving in a straight line they were certain of taking him by surprise.

    Vastor didn¡¯t even flinch while he activated his tier five spell, Night Parasite. The dust and debris that covered the undead came to life as darkness magic filled them to the brim. ck sand filled their eyes and mouths while the rocks turned into small worms that dug through the flesh of their victim.

    The small worms didn¡¯t even try to pierce through the heavily enchanted armor the undead wore. The magical constructs simply became thinner until they could slip through the mesh.

    Zinya¡¯s house rumbled due to the attack damaging some of the bearing-walls, but it held. Ten elder undead had entered and died so the leader sent twenty for the third wave and watched them die the moment they stepped inside the living room.

    "Fuck discretion, bring down the house!" He yelled.

    ming stones the size of a car crashed inside the Yehval household before exploding. Streams of darkness magic made the walls crumble under their own weight while earth magic produced a quake that turned the cozy cottage into a pile of rubble.

    "Someone reports Lady Night that we¡¯re done with our task." The leader of the third squad said just a moment before his body turned into cinders.

    The debris fell to the ground, revealing a silvery sphere underneath. It shapeshifted back into a Professor uniform from the White Griffon academy and Vastor wore it with pride despite the many injuries he had sustained.

    Behind him, Zinya, the children, and the beasts were unscathed thanks to Vastor taking the brunt of the damage while focusing his armor to protect them. To keep his focus and endure the pain, he had bitten his lower lip so hard to almost cut it off.

    Yet despite the dangling flesh and the cracked bones he made no mistakes while weaving his next series of spells.

    "Ignore the old fool and focus on the others! They are his weak point." The second inmand said with a smug grin before Vastor blew his head off.

    "He¡¯s right." Zinya said whileforting her children during what she assumed were herst moments. "I¡¯m dead anyway, Zogar, whereas you are a powerful mage with powerful tools. Please, take my children and run away."

    "Shut up! How could I call myself a mage if I can¡¯t even protect the happiness of a single person?" Vastor¡¯s voice was firm, but his knees buckled up.

    At his age, mana abuse would quickly weaken his body.

    "I never begged in my life so excuse me if I suck at this." He said while looking the magical beasts in the eyes. "Keep this stupid woman behind me and run away at the first opportunity you get. Are we clear?"

    The beasts nodded, looking at him not with suspicion anymore, but with the respect and deference, they would use for their alpha. That sight made Vastor regret to have always considered beasts as his inferiors.

    Even though his left eye was burst open, even though his lower lip was hanging by a thread, none of the undead dared toe close or speak.

    Vastor took off the cork of another body enhancing tonic and gulped it down, uncaring for the poisoning that stacking the effects of so many potions caused.

    He had never been tall nor handsome, but his talent for magic was the real deal and he had worked hard since a tender age while the rest of his peers fooled around. So, when he had be an Archimage at 25 and everyone considered him the greatest healer of his century, it felt natural to him.

    It was simply the proper reward for all of his effort. Yet shortly after he had reached the peak, life had thrown him down. Marth first and Manoharter made every one of his achievements look like child¡¯s y.

    Vastor, who had once been considered a candidate to the title of god of healing had be a joke before he could even notice. The same people who before begged to have just a minute of his time would ignore him in favor of his rivals.

    After years and countless failures at regaining his lost status, Vastor had resigned to his destiny as third best healer. To be judged for his physical appearance and to every single one of his feats to be dwarfed by those of his more talented colleagues.

    All of that had changed after meeting Zinya.

    He was used to people being nice to him until they got what they wanted, yet even after regaining her sight, Zinya would always speak to him with the same kindness she had when she was blind.

    Even after meeting Lith, Marth, and several other healers, she still looked at him with the admiration she had when he was still the second-best looking man she had ever seen. When Zinya had asked Vastor to follow her recovery, he had dly epted.

    From that moment onward, she would often call him. Not to ask for favors or talk about her rehabilitation, but to chat with him and make sure of his well-being.

    Helping Zinya to deal with thewsuit against her inws for custody and then to manage her money made him happy like it didn¡¯t happen in years.

 Chapter 1105 Nightâ€™s Offer Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1105 Night¡¯s Offer Part 1</h4>

    After having failed to achieve the title of best healer of the Kingdom, to be the Headmaster of the White Griffon, after having failed as a father and a husband, Zogar Vastor had finally found his first ce.

    Someone he could make a difference for, someone who didn¡¯t treat him like a bag of fat and gold. By threatening Zinya, the undead threatened the only sess he had left and the only person who didn¡¯t call him because they needed something or because Manohar and Marth weren¡¯t avable.

    The undead unleashed one tier five spell after another, exploiting Vastor¡¯s inability to use movement spells due to the arrays and to dodge because of the innocents that he was trying to protect.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, not only did he survive, but he also returned each one of the spells in kind. The other assault teams had to send reinforcements due to Vastor¡¯s death count quicklying close to the three digits.

    Vastor¡¯s only remaining eye scoured the battlefield while he kept chanting with the aid of his armor to move his broken arms.

    ¡¯Please, don¡¯t turn away, Zinya. My life might be nothing but a streak of unremarkable failures, but I want someone to at least witness how I died. After all the terrible things I¡¯ve done in my life, for both my country and for myself, give me the opportunity to be remembered for the one thing I did right.¡¯

    Vastor thought, regretting that the use of magic kept him from entrusting hisst message to her.

    "What the heck is that guy? He¡¯s taken enough spells to level a mountain, yet he¡¯s still standing and our marks are still alive." The fourth inmand said to the new leader.

    "You idiot, that¡¯s no man. That¡¯s a mageying his life on the line. Keep underestimating him and you¡¯ll die like the others. Don¡¯t assume that just because he¡¯s on hisst leg a mage is easy prey. Give it your all!" The leader said.

    She shapeshifted into her Grendel form, wielding a de bigger than a man and raising its hilt at her eye level in a sign of salute from a warrior to another.

    Vastor trembling hand raised his own short sword, returning the salute right before sucker-punching the Grendel with his golden wand and turning her into dust.

    ¡¯How dares she think about honor after they used an army to attack a family of civilians?¡¯ Vastor gritted his teeth and prepared for a new assault.

    A Raging Sun exploded right under his feet, turning the rubble into molten stone and charred wood. The pungent smell and the heat hindered the undead¡¯s heightened senses, forcing them to check for survivors in person.

    "Good gods, what is this thing?" An undead said while witnessing a silvery nket shrink back into a suit of armor and revealing that most of the people it had protected were still alive.

    "Whatever it is, it¡¯s mine." The new leader couldn¡¯t hear Vastor breathe and there was blooding out of his ears, mouth, and his empty eye socket. "The guy is dead and his armor is ready to be imprinted."

    The undead leader ignored the sobbing of the woman and her children, focusing on the priceless artifact at hand.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry, pal, I will not repeat your same mistakes. If you didn¡¯t waste your armor to protect that sow, you would still be-¡¯ Vastor¡¯s hand moved like a snake, grabbing the undead¡¯s leg and unleashing a tier three darkness spell.

    Something so weak and slow would have never killed an elder undead if not for being released on contact and manipted with surgical precision. A diagnostic spell allowed Vastor to find the Ghoul¡¯s heart and focus the spell¡¯s full force on it.

    "He¡¯s still alive!" The warning of the surviving undead made his allies unleash the spells they had at the ready on the fallen Professor until they had no more left.

    Everyone was so focused on the apparently immortal man that the encirclement broke, allowing the magical beasts to run away towards the woods. Not having to protect others anymore, the armor wrapped around Vastor¡¯s body, repelling the spells as if they were just spring rain.

    Its full form didn¡¯t resemble a Griffon like a Royal Armor, nor a Dragon like Lith¡¯s. The silvery armor looked exactly like Zogar Vastor did during his heyday, like a man full of confidence and pride.

    It was the most terrifying thing the undead had ever seen.

    "I..." It was all he managed to say as he reached the nearest undead in a single step.

    ¡¯I won¡¯t let you touch them.¡¯ Between the armor and the potions, Vastor moved as fast as a bullet and shattered his own leg in the process.

    His body couldn¡¯t endure such high-speed powerful movements anymore, but his spirit refused to die.

    "not..."

    ¡¯I¡¯m not done yet.¡¯ His short sword pierced the undead and unleashed the spells it held, killing him on the spot.

    Vastor¡¯s arm was nothing more than splinters puncturing his flesh, but the armor kept following his orders, chasing down the undead who were now running for their lives and killing one of them with each swing of his de.

    ***

    Lith opened a Warp Steps after another while looking at hismunication amulet and hoping for good news.

    ¡¯Come on, light at least one rune! I can¡¯t be in several ces at the same time. I can¡¯t abandon Rena, but even though my house is much more protected, it¡¯s also much more isted. What the heck is Nalrond doing?¡¯ He thought, unaware that the Rezar was still fighting for his life.

    ¡¯Tista said she would take care of Rena and without Solus, I¡¯m not at my full strength. I¡¯ll have to trust my sister and go home to pick up Solus before assessing the situation. After preparing all my life for a moment like this, I can only hope it was enough.¡¯

    Ever since Lith had joined the academy, every time the Royals or Marchioness Distar had offered him rewards, Lith had always asked for two things: materials for his research and strengthening the protection of his house.

    Over the years, thebined efforts of Lith, the Queen, and her corps, had made the Verhen household the next best thing to a small fortress. It was the reason why even Night had failed to break in and ughter everyone.

    Yet Lithcked the means to do the same for the others, forcing him to improvise.

    ***

    Rena¡¯s house.

    The room started to spin and suddenly there was blood everywhere. Brago the Ghoul had no idea what was happening until Mogar became dark.

    "Who the heck are you?" Senton asked while watching the undead¡¯s head spin in mid-air before it turned into ashes.

    A blonde man wielding a ive had rushed inside the room, holding their daughter Leria in his free arm. The blonde man was 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with yellow eyes and thick sideburns that reached his chin.

    He wore a green hunter suit apparently made of leather that stuck to his skin revealing the bulging muscles underneath.

    "My name¡¯s Reaper and this is the Harvester." Another swing of the ive cut Quaro the Vampire asunder while his movements were still impeded by his healing spine. "Sorry for the dy, but I had to deal with the air sealing array first."

 Chapter 1106 Nightâ€™s Offer Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1106 Night¡¯s Offer Part 2</h4>

    The darkness imbued within the Harvester hurt the undead, but wasn¡¯t enough to kill him before he could call for reinforcements.

    "Are you insane?" Senton retrieved Leria while Rena covered herself and picked the triplets between her arms. "Why did you let him do that? My mother and my father live here as well whereas there¡¯s only one of you!

    "How do you n to protect all of us?"

    "All part of the n." Reaper guffawed as he retrieved Abominus with Spirit Magic and healed his wounds. "What¡¯s a King without his court?"

    He tapped the ground with the Harvester, opening several Warp Steps that let the Shyfs of his pack enter the house and hide in strategical spots.

    "This is no longer their trap, but our own. Yet there is no safe ce on the battlefield so we¡¯ll move your family to the woods." Another dimensional corridor opened, bringing the humans to the safety of Lifebringer¡¯s tribe that was waiting for them.

    Reaper silently looked at the undead bursting from the windows and the doors of the house, uncaring to hide their presence anymore. The mission was all that mattered to them.

    The king of the woods couldn¡¯t agree more with them. As long as he kept the undead unaware of Rena¡¯s escape, the enemy would split their forces and waste manpower in a fool¡¯s errand.

    Only once everyone was in their ce did the ughter begin.

    ***

    Lith sighed in relief seeing Rena¡¯s rune be avable again, yet his good mood didn¡¯tst long. Hisst Warp Steps had failed and so did that he had attempted to open a bit farther from his home, forcing Lith to fly to his destination to not waste more mana.

    ¡¯Those bastards sure did a thorough job. Even Dad¡¯s fields are covered by an array.¡¯ The realization made him turn into his hybrid form so that when air magic failed him, his wings kept him from crashing on the ground.

    ¡¯Thank the gods you¡¯re here. I need you to pick me up!¡¯ Solus said through their mind link from the ground.

    Lith swooped down and collected the inconspicuous stone that was Solus¡¯s disguise. Without air magic, she couldn¡¯t either use the amulet tomunicate or fly to reach him.

    The moment she slipped on his finger, Solus used their mind fusion to share with him all that she had learned from the tower¡¯s Mirror Hall while waiting for his arrival. The scenario she showed him went beyond his worst expectations.

    He had thought that the assault had been Deirus¡¯s way to get even with Lith for ruining his ns in the Feymar mines, but a human Archmage had no way to recruit so many undead troops.

    In the images Solus had collected before perceiving Lith¡¯s arrival, Zinya¡¯s home had crumbled and Selia¡¯s was seconds away from being razed. Only Lith¡¯s house was still standing, yet Yurial¡¯s Hexagram had already absorbed four powerful tier five spells, so its protection was as good as gone.

    ¡¯Your family is safe thanks to the men of the Queen¡¯s corps taking refuge inside your house and keeping the undead from messing with its defensive arrays, but until we don¡¯t get rid of the air sealing formation, they can¡¯t call for reinforcements.¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith nodded and took the ck eye of Trouble the Balor out of his pocket dimension in a ze of emerald mes. Unlike normal dimensional items, an omni pocket could ignore the effects of a dimensional sealing array, if its master knew how.

    Lith started to weave a spell that he had hoped to never use while using Invigoration to recover the strength that he had lost after opening so many Warp Steps.

    When he reached Lutia¡¯s outskirts, an appalling scene appeared in front of his eyes. Only a crater was left where once Zinya¡¯s house was and no life force could be perceived.

    Selia¡¯s house was standing only thanks to Nalrond¡¯s Light Mastery, but judging from the enemies swarming around the ce and the Rezar¡¯s dwindling strength, he didn¡¯t have much time left.

    To make matters worse, a figure donned in ck prevented him to move any further.

    "This isn¡¯t how I pictured our first meeting, but it will have to do." Night said while flying thanks to the wings of her ck crystal armor resembling her lost adamant equipment.

    She had taken the body of a young girl barely past fifteen, about 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes. There was nothing remarkable in Night¡¯s host except the madness in her eyes and her feverish voice.

    Lith ignored her ramblings and unleashed one of the Final Sunsets stored inside his tier five magic holding ring against the unknown madwoman. Night didn¡¯t even attempt to dodge the ck mes that hit her with their full force and yet didn¡¯t left so much as a scratch on her body.

    ¡¯Was that Domination?¡¯ Lith asked, realizing that he couldn¡¯t afford to underestimate his enemy, no matter how dire his family¡¯s situation was.

    ¡¯No. She simply used her darkness magic to stop yours and resisted the mes. Beware, though, she used no spell, just Fusion Magic.¡¯ Solus had a hard time believing her own words and estimating the enemy¡¯s strength.

    ¡¯Are you kidding me? This woman is weak ass!¡¯ Lith could see with Life Vision that his opponent had barely a yellow core and the prowess of a woman who had barely started training for a few months.

    ¡¯Mana sense agrees with your estimates, but that¡¯s what happened nheless.¡¯ Solus said.

    Lith tried to kill the woman with War, but she dodged his attacks with the minimum necessary movement. Night had the highest host turnover rate among her siblings, so she was used to fight using a weakling.

    "I wanted you to see a bloodbath, maybe even a few heads on a pike. Yet this should work as well." Night giggled like a little girl talking to her first crush while she danced around the angry de.

    "After all, you can¡¯t get past me, and even if you somehow managed to do it, you would have me at your back and my army in front of you. Many have already died and more will fall if you keep struggling.

    "Surrender and ept to be my host. If you do, I promise that your family will be saved and that I¡¯ll not hurt you during our first night. Much." Night¡¯s words and her ck crystal armor allowed Lith to figure her identity.

    "Are you the ck Night?" Lith stopped fighting only to give Solus the time to verify his suspicions.

    "Nailed it in one, my dear husband." Night shapeshifted into her real body, discarding her host¡¯s appearance.

    She now looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.70 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with ebony skin that seemed to devour all light and full lips that highlighted her sensual smile.

    She had silver waist-long hair and round eyes without pupils that shone like moons. Her body was covered by a skin-tight ck suit of crystal armor that left only her head exposed, yet she was no less charming than if she was wearing a cocktail dress.

    ¡¯I have bad news and I have worse news.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯The bad news is that you were right. We¡¯re against Dawn¡¯s little sister and we both failed to sense her real powers because her host hid her.

    ¡¯The worse news is that despite her host is way weaker than Ac, for some reason Night is even stronger than Dawn.¡¯

 Chapter 1107 Demons of the Fallen Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1107 Demons of the Fallen Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯My guess is that Night¡¯s strength depends on theck of sunlight. Just like Dawn feeds upon the light element, Night is likely to feed upon darkness.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯And just like Dawn¡¯s undead were immune to sunlight, Night seems to be immune to darkness magic.¡¯ Lithpleted the phrase for her.

    "I¡¯m much better than any woman you¡¯ll ever meet, my knowledge surpasses that of any creature you met, and with me, you¡¯ll experience intimacy as no one else can offer you.

    "We¡¯ll be one in mind and body, as the lovers you heard about in legends. We-" Night once again attempted her pitch.

    "Been there, done that." Lith cut her short and pointed his finger at the woods. "Now get out of my hair because once my armies get rid of yours, once the air sealing arrays are gone, I¡¯ll kick your ass with all the might of the Kingdom at my side."

    "What army?" Night turned around, noticing the four tribes of magical beastsing out of the Trawn woods and exposing her back to Lith who didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to backstab her.

    War pierced through armor and flesh until its hilt struck the ck crystals, yet the Horseman seemed to barely notice the inconvenience.

    "Do you really call that bunch of fleabags an army? Magical beasts can barely put up a fight against the undead. You-" Night chocked on her words as War¡¯s enchantments attacked her from the inside, ravaging both her flesh and mana core.

    Orion didn¡¯t lie when he said that those struck by his masterpiece wouldn¡¯t live long. Unlike a normal weapon, War had the ability to twist energy on contact, making it possible to turn the very body of its victims against themselves.

    The Counterflow ability allowed the de to infect with its own energy signature any means that a powerful creature might employ to mend their wounds and use them as a weapon.

    The ck Night¡¯s tried to fly back and escape the angry de¡¯s bite but Lith charged forward, making it impossible for her to pull War out.

    "I said armies. Plural." Lith threw Solus¡¯s stone gauntlet onto the ground while it held both the ck eye of Trouble the Balor and the only tier five Necromancy spell Lith had ever created, Demons of the Fallen.

    Neither the undead nor the beasts cared for the small crater the impact created, at least until the ground below their feet started to shake.

    Just like she had failed to take into ount Lith¡¯s meticulous defenses of his home, Night had also overlooked that while Lutia was known as "the Graveyard", Lith¡¯s home was known as "the Death¡¯s Door".

    Over the years, many people had tried to harm his family and all of them had failed. Most of the time, the Verhens didn¡¯t even notice the members of the Queen¡¯s corps or the magical beasts killing the intruders from the shadows.

    Lith¡¯s rtives were also unaware that he had left precise instruction to turn the flesh of the assants into first-ss fertilizer and to bury their bones nearby the house with earth magic, leaving no trace of the deed.

    The ground split and only the Hush arrays surrounding the area kept the inhuman screams of a few hundreds of skeletons that rose from their grave from breaking the silence of the night.

    The Horseman scoffed at the sight of the lowest species of lesser undead and so did her soldiers. At least until ck streaks spread over the dirty ivory of the skeletons and an emerald glow reced the red light of undeath in their eyes.

    The ck eye of a Balor had the ability to draw and focus the darkness element to the point of turning a lesser undead into a greater if applied to a single corpse. Lith had no use for someone with free will who might refuse his orders, whereas lesser undead were blindly loyal.

    Demons of the Fallen used the ck eye as a focus to conjure an endless stream of darkness element while splitting the energy between all the skeletons to keep them from achieving sentience.

    The eye amplified the effect of the Necromantic spell, allowing the ck mana not only to form blood cores, but also to flood the bones with darkness element and turn them into deadly weapons.

    The skeletons attacked recklessly, strong of the innate resistance to most elements that they shared with their enemies. Their touch was akin to a tier three darkness spell, making physical contact torture for Night¡¯s soldiers.

    Spells did little to no harm to the Demons of the Fallen, while physical damage was quickly repaired by the constant flow of necromantic energy. The elder undead had already their hands full facing the beasts and the arrival of reinforcements only made things worse.

    Unfortunately for them, the worst had yet toe.

    Once the skeletons¡¯ bones turned pitch-ck, their shadows rose from the ground, acquiring a third dimension. They had white holes where the mouth and the eyes were supposed to be while their faces were twisted in a grimace of wrath.

    Instead of attacking their owners like Demons of the Darkness would, the shadows wrapped around the ck skeletons, recing their lost flesh and clothes. The Demons didn¡¯t look like the skeletons¡¯ original owners so much as people from all the Garlen continent.

    Some looked like farmers, others had their appearance resemble a full armor, a few were barbarians wearing nothing but clothes made from animal fur. All of them stared at the enemy with undying rage.

    The white of the shadows¡¯ eyes mixed with the green light of the undead, giving the Demons emerald irises and white pupils. Both burned so brightly that the newborn army painted the fields nearby the Verhen household an eerie green.

    Night had no idea what was going on and no time to analyze the situation with her mystical senses. War¡¯s bite kept ravaging her body and Lith gave her no quarter, leaving the control over Demons of the Fallen to Solus while he focused solely on the Horseman.

    The undead on the ground didn¡¯t fare any better. With the beast armed with darkness infused weapons attacking from the front and the shadow army attacking their back, Night¡¯s servants had been caught in a pincer maneuver.

    "Don¡¯t falter! The shadows¡¯ range is just their arm length and the beasts can only use elements that do us little damage. Take the shadows down with your weapons and the beasts with long range spells!" Voia the Banshee said.

    She was supposed to be one of Night¡¯s Chosen once the battle ended. The Horseman had yet to rece those killed by Balkor and Manohar because sharing her strength with new Chosen would weaken her.

    Night¡¯s host was barely more than human so she had preferred to keep as much power as she could to herself.

    Voia¡¯smand was simple, but there were no rookies among those who had taken part in the assault. Her words allowed them to recover from the surprise and the centuries of battle experience did the rest.

    They split into two fronts, fighting back-to-back to leave no weak spot in the formation. Both sides of Night¡¯s troops cast a volley of spells against their respective enemy to slow their advance and thin their numbers.

 Chapter 1108 Demons of the Fallen Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1108 Demons of the Fallen Part 2</h4>

    The beasts dodged or blocked them with earth magic while the Demons didn¡¯t budge and took the spells head-on. The shadow thatprised their body neutralized the darkness element whereas everything else simply went through them as if they were just illusions.

    The moment the Demons charged at the undead¡¯s front lines, the green of their eyes moved to their hands, shapeshifting them into the weapons that the souls possessing the skeletons were more familiar with.

    Be them a great ax or a kitchen knife, the emerald weapons took the undead by surprise, allowing the Demons to push the enemy¡¯s des away long enough to break through their ranks and made their formation crumble.

    Demons of the Fallen wasn¡¯t just a tier five darkness spell, it also mixed Spirit Magic to call upon the shadows that always followed Lith and to bestow upon them weapons.

    The conjured des were weak and brittle,sting one single exchange before shattering. Yet together with the element of surprise, they gave the Demons the opportunity they needed.

    Demons of the Fallen not only required to umte a huge amount of darkness magic and to feed it to the ck eye of the Balor to be amplified, but it also required the caster to focus solely on its creations.

    Solus couldn¡¯t conjure the necessary energy due to her inability to use Invigoration on her own and Lith couldn¡¯t afford to control so many creatures at once to keep them from consuming in a few bursts the Spirit Magic thatprised their bodies.

    Together, however, they had no such problem. Lith took care of the main enemy while Solus focused on their army and protected the eye. Without it, Demons of the Fallen would crumble.

    Only the might behind the ck eye could provide the steady flow of darkness magic necessary for the skeletons to be more than a pile of bones and to protect them from darkness magic.

    "Enough!" Night shed at her own midriff with a knife-hand, cutting her body asunder.

    With her other hand, she took a ck prism out of her core, shaping it like her prized spear, Thorn, and lunged at Lith¡¯s heart. The twobined moves allowed her to escape from War¡¯s assault and forced Lith away.

    "Now I understand how you beat my sister, but I¡¯m different from her." Night said while crystal tendrils rescued and reattached her lower body. "I have almost no Chosen left and without the sun, the entirety of Mogar is my yground!"

    Unluckily for Lith, her analysis was spot on. Even though Night¡¯s host was weaker than Ac, even though she had lost the ck Rose armor and the Thorn spear to Balkor¡¯s Chaos magic, her strength still outmatched Dawn.

    Now that the Horseman had stopped goofing around, Lith found himself forced on the defense. Without Solus, he had to strategize alone. He couldn¡¯t follow the mana flow in Night¡¯s body to predict what spells she would use and the skill gap between them only made things worse.

    Faluel outmatched Lith, yet even from their brief exchange, he could see that Night would probably give the Hydra a run for her money.

    The spear had the range advantage and each lunge would produce a pir of darkness bigger than Lith¡¯s body, forcing him to perform ample movements to dodge each strike and miss all the openings that Night left open to taunt him.

    On top of that, the ck pirs wouldn¡¯t just fade away. After missing their target, the energy mass stopped in mid-air, forming a massive sphere that just waited for Night¡¯s nextmand.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! She can use Spirit Magic as well and way better than I do. Night¡¯s darkness magic is as fast as a bullet and she¡¯s leaving her spells around to strike at me from behind. If not for Full Guard, I would¡¯ve already lost.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Cease this pointless struggle and surrender. Otherwise..." With a flick of Night¡¯s wrist, several of the ck spheres darted toward Lith, attacking him from every side.

    He stopped pping his wings and used Spirit Magic to speed up his fall, escaping from the encirclement in the nick of time. His four eyes burned with the mana of four different elements as he unleashed the tier five version of Checkmate Spears.

    Icences as thick as trees with emerald streaks all over appeared around Night, each one striking at her with the strength of a speeding car. She recalled the ck spheres to herself, but the solid matter mixed with Spirit Magic resisted darkness magic¡¯s effects.

    The kic energy the spears carried made them move fast and hit hard enough to crack the Horseman¡¯s crystal armor, taking away big chunks of her flesh with each hit.

    At the same time, Lith charged at Night while using War¡¯s World Mirror ability to channel all the stray energy from the Horseman¡¯s spells and his own in a vertical sh that split her asunder.

    "Smart and resourceful. I think I¡¯m in love." Her two haves spoke as nothing had happened and her left arm lunged with Thorn from point-nk range, giving Lith no time to dodge.

    The ck pir that originated from the spear had the destructive power of a tier four darkness spell, the kic energy of a meteor, and the piercing power of Thorn. It turned Lith into a ck shooting star that crashed onto the ground, opening a crater several meters deep.

    "No matter how much you damage my meat suit, dear husband, fixing it takes me little effort. I don¡¯t care for my host¡¯s pain and her life is meaningless to me. The only way you have to beat me is to make me run out of mana faster than you do.

    "s, the night is my element and I¡¯m not going to give you a single breath for free." The Horseman kept her word and resumed her attack while Lith had yet to get up.

    Small bursts of red mes that were the equivalent of blood for his hybrid form came out of his eyes, mouth, and ears. He had managed to remain conscious only thanks to thebined protection of War¡¯s World Mirror ability, his boosted Skinwalker armor, and ast-ditch hard-light construct.

    Together, they had taken the brunt of the damage and kept Lith¡¯s heart from being punctured. His knees wobbled, but Lith still managed to dodge Thorn and to get as much distance as he could from Night.

    ¡¯Hang on. I already gave the Demons the order to take down the air sealing array first, but the undead are protecting the focal points of the formation with all their might.¡¯ Solus knew that between theck of air and dimensional magic, the Horseman had a tremendous advantage over Lith.

    He had barely a decade of battle experience whereas Night had spent centuries, if not millennia, wreaking havoc and fighting the most powerful creatures on Mogar.

    Without dimensional magic, Lith couldn¡¯t use most of his tricks and he had no way to win a contest of strength against one of the most powerful relics in existence. Also, flying using only his wings wasn¡¯t easy since he had them for barely less than two years and he spent most of his time in human form.

    ¡¯I¡¯m trying everything I can, but I don¡¯t think I can stall Night for long.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯Even with a bright blue core, I¡¯m no match for her in a one-on-one fight. I¡¯ve only got two aces up my sleeve left so wish me luck.¡¯

 Chapter 1109 Yurialâ€™s Legacy Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1109 Yurial¡¯s Legacy Part 1</h4>

    Lith darted in the air, thanking histest breakthrough for the second set of wings. Despite the fact that they were nigh-atrophied, they still gave him a bit more speed and enhanced his flight stability.

    "I love when they y hard to get." Night chuckled as she lunged with her spear and emitted another ck burst of energy.

    Herughter died when a light pir struck her from above, making her plunge several meters underground. The light element carried so much heat that her ck crystal armor turned red and enough kic energy to give her the impression of having been swatted by a giant.

    Lith had yet to be a Light Master, but he had learned how to cast up to tier three offensive light magic spells and how to mix them with fire and Spirit magic.

    "Are you a one-trick pony or what? Because unless your ramblings count as an attack, you¡¯re boring me." Lith¡¯s banter would have been much more effective if he didn¡¯t run away.

    Nightughed while regrowing her hair and repairing her skin.

    "Do you want me to stop going easy on you? I¡¯m fine with it." The Horseman unleashed her tier five spell, Ice Coffin.

    Suddenly, a swarm of ck crystal daggers filled the air, each one of them enveloped in a frost aura so cold that it started to snow. It wasn¡¯t their razor-sharp edge nor the darkness energy they carried to make them lethal so much as their ability to stick to their target.

    Dodging them all was impossible and once one of the daggers hit, the frost aura would fuse the ice crystal to its victim¡¯s flesh. The cold would suck away the heat just like the darkness imbued within ate at the life force, leaving the target of the spell no way out.

    Not even Lith¡¯s bright blue Origin mes could fully defend him from the swarm. For each dagger he vaporized, two more would form from both the steam and the water condensed due to the spell¡¯s frost aura.

    Ice Coffin needed but a few seconds to paint the Skinwalker armor ck, turning Lith¡¯s flight into freefall as life abandoned his frozen limbs.

    "Thanks for the lesson, sucker. I¡¯ll do my best to learn this spell." Lith said, leaving Night with her mouth agape.

    She could see with Life Vision that, for no apparent reason, the ice daggers had left his body, allowing Lith to recover with Invigoration the strength he had lost. The Horseman focused on her spell, discovering that somehow the water element had been drained from Ice Coffin.

    Without its keyponent, the spell had faded away.

    ¡¯After Balkor, now even Lith can use Domination?¡¯ Night couldn¡¯t believe that both the husband she had chosen could be so alike.

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t make sense. He has no streaks in his hair and even if he has a ck colored eye, he failed to Dominate any of my attacks so far. Why should the blue eye be any different?¡¯ She thought while unleashing her tier five spell, Stardust.

    A wave of light magic infused with darkness flooded the sky, moving toward Lith¡¯s house like a tsunami. That way, even if he dodged, the spell would still hit the defensive formations of the house and weaken them further.

    Only when the light element disappeared and Stardust fell apart did Night remember why she had avoided using big spells until that moment.

    "Oh, shit!" She said when she noticed that now five out of six points of Yurial¡¯s Hexagram now burned with power, leaving only one missing.

    "Thank you so much." Lith flew above his house, outside the range of the air sealing array.

    He called upon his best tier five air spell, Mjolnir. A bolt of lightning as strong as a natural one descended from the skies and hit Lith¡¯s house for no apparent reason.

    Yet this time the Horseman didn¡¯t let Lith¡¯s nonsense fool her. Mjolnir had disappeared just like Starlight, lighting the missing point of the blue Hexagram that surrounded the Verhen Household and activating its full effect.

    ¡¯This doesn¡¯t bode well.¡¯ Night thought. ¡¯Now I understand why Lith taunted me to use powerful spells and why did he run away. He was trying to use my own mana to fuel that knock-off Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram.

    ¡¯The only question is what the heck does that thing do?¡¯

    "What the heck does that thing do?" Captain Locrias, the man in charge of one of the five-man units of the Queen¡¯s Corps tasked with protecting the Verhens asked.

    After the undead¡¯s initial assault, all three teams had sought the protection of the array system after rescuing their respective marks. Between the arrays and the arsenal that each member of the Queen¡¯s Corps carried with themselves, Locrias had managed to keep the house safe until Lith¡¯s arrival.

    After the arrival of the magical beasts and the Demons of the Fallen, the Captain had focused on helping his allies to stall as long as he could until Marchioness Distar sent reinforcements.

    "It¡¯s a very powerful weapon." Elina tried and failed to remember how Yurial¡¯s Hexagram worked.

    Lith had exined it to her many times yet Elina had never needed to employ any of the house¡¯s defense systems. She knew how to activate the array but she had forgotten what it did.

    She knew that the Hexagram could stop up to six different elemental spells and that was the reason why she had used it to block Night¡¯s most powerful attacks, leaving the rest to the array system and the soldiers of the Queen¡¯s Corps.

    "I get that." He grunted. "I¡¯m just asking why you don¡¯t unleash it and why Faluel¡¯s apprentice attacked it. So far, that thing helped us against Night and your son is supposed to be under the Hydra¡¯s protection.

    "We won¡¯t resist long if you hold your punches or if that Wyrmling turns traitor."

    "How dare you?" Raaz¡¯s anger almost scared the Captain. "That¡¯s not a thing, that¡¯s a person. A person who¡¯s risking his life to protect us!"

    Hearing such disrespectful words towards his son while watching Lith engaged in a deadly battle was more than Raaz could handle.

    "I didn¡¯t mean to offend anyone. It¡¯s just that beasts look and sound all the same to me. I had no idea it¡¯s- I mean, that he¡¯s a male." Captain Locrias¡¯s words only added fuel to Raaz¡¯s rage fire, forcing Elina to intervene.

    "Hold tight, this might hurt." She said while wielding the seeminglymon wooden spoon that actually hid an Orichalcum core and enough mana crystals to control all the arrays around the house.

    "What do you mean, it might hurt?" The soldiers asked in unison.

    Elina couldn¡¯t remember for her life if the Hexagram would attack a single target or an area of effect. Yet she had seen Lithpleting the formation after luring Night near the house.

    She focused on the Horseman and ordered Yurial¡¯s Hexagram to attack her. The array followed Elina¡¯s will and shapeshifted into the tier five Warden Spell, Immortal Fetters.

    A swarm of chains of blue energy struck at Night who countered them by creating a thick barrier of darkness magic. The power behind the chains, however, belonged to six tier five spells that the array had woven in the form of high-density energy.

 Chapter 1110 Yurialâ€™s Legacy Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1110 Yurial¡¯s Legacy Part 2</h4>

    Darkness needed time to corrode such a construct whereas Immortal Fetters needed only a second to unleash its effects. The chains seeped inside the Horseman¡¯s body, ignoring the crystal armor and weighing her down with the power of a tier five gravity spell.

    At the same time, the six elements stored inside the chains flooded Night¡¯s body, creating a mana flow opposite to her own and making it impossible for her to use magic.

    "What the heck is this?" The Horseman plunged to the ground as her wings were no longer capable of sustaining her weight.

    Her armor now felt as heavy as a mountain and moving her spear required her full strength. Her superior battle experience had be useless since even performing a feint required a swiftness of movement she no longer had.

    Instead of answering, Lith took a full breath and unleashed a jet stream of bright blue Origin mes at Night. He couldn¡¯t use them before since Origin mes required close range and they didn¡¯t move faster than he could hurl them.

    On top of that, every failed attack with Origin mes would leave Lith breathless and create a perfect opening for a long-range weapon like Thorn. Now, however, Night couldn¡¯t dodge and her spear moved so slowly that Lith could follow its movements.

    The Horseman channeled the darkness magic that flowed through her real body, the ck crystal embedded in her host¡¯s chest, to conjure another thick barrier. Immortal Fetters slowed and lessened the energy flow, but it was still enough to block most of the mes.

    "Remarkable, truly remarkable. Achieving a bright blue core at such a young age is a rare feat." Night felt no pain and focused solely on conjuring as much power as she could to get rid of the pesky chains.

    Immortal Fetters had the power of six tier five offensive spells and one true magic array, but a Horseman¡¯s mana core could do much more. On top of that, Yurial¡¯s Hexagram couldn¡¯t absorb any more spells to recharge the chains whereas new darkness element fueled Night¡¯s abilities by the second.

    It was only a matter of time before the Fetters lost the tug of war against the living corruption that the ck Night was.

    Lith hurled one stream of Origin mes after the other, but between the crystal armor and the ck aura, they inflicted little damage. Then, he used War to decapitate the Horseman, just to see a crystal tendril reattach the still-mocking head.

    "Has anyone ever told you that to destroy a cursed object it takes the power of a Guardian and that the Horsemen are above any living legacy that any race can make?" Nightughed at his efforts and lunged her Thorn in a cross counter.

    She had no need to defend. No matter the damage, as long as her crystal remained intact, Night would always return whole.

    Lith cursed his bad luck as Thorn pierced through his left shoulder and wing, turning them both into shreds. With finesse off the table, the Horseman had no problem turning the battle into a slugfest.

    She didn¡¯t even try to dodge, preferring to collect her strength for the moment when Lith put his weight into the strike and then hitting him back while Was pierced her flesh.

    Such a suicidal tactic would have been impossible for someone without an almost immortal body, something that Lith had never faced whereas Night had spent centuries exploiting.

    "What¡¯s the matter, dragon boy? Are we not feeling so hot anymore?" The Horseman said with a cruel grin on her face.

    While Lith used Invigoration to recuperate, she managed to stand up. Thorn remained at her side while Night focused on amplifying the effect of the darkness magic coursing through her body to get rid of Immortal Fetters.

    ¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯ Lith hated to admit it, but Faluel was right.

    That fight had made it clear how co-dependent they were from each other. Against opponents beyond their level, Solus needed his power and shrewdness as much as Lith needed her ingenuity and tactical expertise.

    ¡¯Things aren¡¯t going well on my side either. Our enemies are elder undead, not small fries. They know the importance of the array to stop our reinforcements and are giving their lives to protect the seal.

    ¡¯As for Night, there is no mana geyser we can draw power from nor does she have a weak point that we can exploit. Yet there is a way. Stop aiming for her host and focus on her crystal core.

    ¡¯She can endlessly regenerate her host, but her power core can be overloaded or damaged. Dawn had to run away when ourbined Origin mes cracked her crystal.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯What do you think I¡¯ve been trying to do until now? She moves the damn crystal and because she has the same energy signature of her host, I can¡¯t pinpoint it.¡¯ Lith replied.

    ¡¯Well, here¡¯s my n...¡¯ Solus exined.

    She needed to say just a few words before Lith could follow her reasoning and connect the dots. He took a deep breath of Invigoration, using the energy to supercharge thest Final Sunset stored inside his magic holding ring.

    "Darkness magic again? Has the damage to your brain made you forget who you¡¯re fighting against or are you just clutching at straws?" Night said as she used a powerful stream of darkness element to counter the raging river of ck mes that was burning the grass and charring the ground around her.

    Once again, the Horseman¡¯s ability to conjure massive amounts of darkness element made her immune to one of the undead¡¯s innate weaknesses and protected her from the tier five spell as if it was just a spring breeze.

    To do that despite Immortal Fetters, however, the ck Night had to stop eroding the chains and focus solely on her barrier. She saw Lith taking another deep breath and strengthened the darkness shroud even more in anticipation of the second wave.

    "Do what you want. I can do this all night-" War pierced the barrier¡¯s core, using its World Mirror ability to scatter the darkness and cutting her short.

    Night cursed as the ck mes melted the nearby stones and finally reached her armor, damaging more than just her host. Yet she needed a single swing of Thorn to push the angry de away and renew her protection.

    Just like Lith wanted.

    Even someone as skilled as Nigh would create an opening while carrying out a serious attack so Lith exploited her move to counter with War, piercing Night¡¯s chest exactly where her crystal core was hidden.

    As Solus had said, the crystal core had the ability to conjure and harness the protective darkness magic, not the host. That meant that Lith just had to force Night to use so much energy that he would be able to follow its flow back to the source.

    Night shivered in pain due to War¡¯s bite and struck back, but Lith had already stepped back. She failed to understand his strategy until Lith used the deep breath not for Invigoration, but to hurl a jet-stream of Origin mes along the path opened by War.

    A path clear from flesh and crystal armor, leading straight to the exposed living legacy that was Night¡¯s real body. The shiver turned into an agonizing scream as the Origin mes attacked the enchantments that gave her life.

 Chapter 1111 Blood for Blood Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1111 Blood for Blood Part 1</h4>

    Any damage Night¡¯s crystal sustained couldn¡¯t be healed just by spawning prisms nor by absorbing darkness element. Only time could fix the Horseman. On top of that, every small injury on Night¡¯s real body weakened both her physical and magical abilities.

    "Nice trick, but I won¡¯t fall for it a second time. Let¡¯s see which onests longer, if your crippled life force or the daughter of Baba Yaga." Night said with a crazedughter.

    "Has anyone ever told you that your puny mesck the kick of the real deal?" Night tried to move her crystal core behind the protection of her flesh and armor while Lith hurled another stream of bright blue fire.

    It hurt her a lot, but it was far from killing her.

    ¡¯Dammit, she¡¯s right. I might win in the long run, but I don¡¯t know if my life force can endure using Origin mes so many times. My breath is that of a Wyrmling, not of a Dragon.¡¯ He thought.

    The pir of violet Origin mes the size of a skyscraper that struck Night, instead, was the real deal. The stream of fire the Horseman with the strength of a copsing mountain and threw her in the air as if she was just a ragdoll.

    "How dare you attacking our family?" Xenagrosh¡¯s roar made Lith¡¯s house tremble despite all the arrays protecting it.

    The Shadow Dragonnded with the grace of a ballerina and the fury of a storm. She stood over 30 meters (100 feet) tall, with her mouth brimming with fire and her four eyes lit by Chaos magic.

    "Thanks for freeing me, you moron!" Nightughed at Xenagrosh blunder. Unlike Lith, her mes had enveloped her whole body and destroyed Immortal Fetters.

    "I don¡¯t fear a single Dragon. I¡¯ve got a set of carpets and curtains made from skinning you oversized lizards. Your presence does nothing but give me the ingredients I need to reforge my weapons."

    "How dare you inflicting us pain?" Kigan, the Blood Wind of the desert, dismounted from the Dragon¡¯s back and turned into a ck Phoenix so big that his wingspan covered the starry sky.

    He unleashed a stream of violet Origin mes that intercepted Xenagrosh¡¯s and hit the Horseman who was still trapped inside the first pir of fire. The moment the two streams of Origin mes met, they turned white and lit the night like a small sun.

    The two beasts had mastered Origin mes to the point that they could make the conflicting energies merge rather than collide, creating abined attack that the Abominations called Primordial mes.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve fought a Guardian in the past. A couple of hybrids are not- Oh, shit!¡¯ Night cursed her big mouth as several people jumped off the Dragon¡¯s back, each one shapeshifting to a size simr to Xenagrosh¡¯s.

    "How dare you make us bleed?" A male figure turned into a 28 meters (92 feet) long Leviathan who conjured a tidal wave of Chaos and water magic that destroyed Night¡¯s host and decimated her army at the same time.

    Lith, Solus, and every single sane person who witnessed the fury of the Abominations felt a mix of awe and fear running through their bodies.

    The powerful mana flow coursing through Lith¡¯s body protected him just like the arrays shielded his family, but the aura the hybrids emitted was so powerful that many in Lutia fainted for no apparent reason while others experienced life-scarring nightmares.

    "How dare you taking what¡¯s ours?" A female figure turned into a Griffon, who unleashed all the Life Maelstrom stored inside her body at once, making the skies scream with thunder and the ground tremble with a quake.

    "Death is not enough to pay for your crimes, but it¡¯ll have to do!" A man turned into a Garuda, a gigantic feathered humanoid with two sets of wings on its back, the head of a ck eagle and talons instead of feet.

    A second burst of Life Maelstrom met the first as a female Fenrir appeared as well, joining the attack. Bytra wasn¡¯t with them simply because she was busy erecting a barrier around the entirety of Lutia, to protect it from the effects of the fury of herpanions.

    ¡¯What the heck?¡¯ Lith and Solus couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes.

    Under any other circumstance, they would have wondered why so many creatures had assembled just to help him or what reason could drive them to such fury. Xenagrosh had already shown them how much she cared for her rtives, but the other Abominations were no Dragons.

    Yet their anger matched Xenagrosh¡¯s and so did their power.

    Theirbined might was more than enough to kill Night. Lith could see the ck crystal cracking as Life Maelstrom turned the spells empowering the living legacy against herself.

    The silver lightning struck from the inside while Origin mes and spells damaged the Horseman from the outside, covering her surface with cracks. The shockwaves of the attacks had killed every single undead and destroyed the sealing arrays.

    The beasts and the houses survived only thanks to the silver barriers enveloping them.

    "Enough!" A voice more ancient than the night itself resounded as a white barrier shielded the copsing crystal and warped it to safety.

    The fury of the six colossal beasts had been so stunning that no one had noticed the small hut running across the battlefield on what looked like 10 meters (33 feet) long chicken legs.

    "You¡¯ve really outdone yourself this time, child." Baba Yaga¡¯s voice was cold, but the kindness with which she rocked the dying Horseman between her arms was akin to that of a mother with her sick newborn.

    "Unhand our prey, Blood Mother, or we¡¯ll make sure that your name on a gravestone will be the only thing left of you." Xenagrosh said as seven ck pirs appeared from the sky, setting up for the Chaos array theirbined presence conjured.

    "Are you really sure this is what you want? I¡¯m aware of the Master¡¯s n. Of how they focused on restoring the powers of the direct bloodline of the Guardians to match their respective parents if needed.

    "On reviving the Fourth Ruler of the mes to provide you with weapons and armor that dwarf those of most Guardians in the case they try to interfere with your ascension. A clever n indeed.

    "Yet I see that many of you still wield outdated crap and your power is far from that of a real Guardian." Baba Yaga said.

    "So what? There are seven of us and one of you. We prepared to fight our parents and you are nothingpared to my old man." Cyare the Fenrir said.

    "I¡¯m Baba Yaga, child, and I¡¯m standing inside my mage tower." Solus could see that unlike her, Baba Yaga¡¯s hut was capable of moving and absorbing the surrounding world energy even in absence of a mana geyser.

    It provided her with much less strength than the crystal mine but it was better than nothing. Moreover, the phenomenon made it harder to conjure the world energy, weakening all breathing techniques, Origin mes, and slowing down the recharge of the Life Maelstrom.

    "I admit that I can¡¯t take you all by myself, but if I go all out and put my life on the line, I¡¯m confident I can kill two, if not three of you before attempting to escape. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll die after halving your numbers."

 Chapter 1112 Blood for Blood Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1112 Blood for Blood Part 2</h4>

    "Best case scenario, I¡¯ll survive after crippling your strength. Can your n survive such losses? Can you give up on yourpanions¡¯ lives just for this? After all, no one died, I made sure of it.

    "No harm, no foul. Before answering, remember that you have gained your new bodies for a little more than a year whereas I mastered my skills before most of you were even born." Baba Yaga said,

    Xenagrosh and the others pondered her words, yet never stopped weaving their best spells nor building their power.

    ¡¯She¡¯s right. We grow stronger by the day, learning ways tobine our respective innate skills that probably the Guardians themselves ignore due to their past grievances. Each one of us is a member of our family and an unreceable asset.¡¯ She thought.

    "Apologies are not enough." Kigan the Phoenix said. "Your daughter messed with our family and we can¡¯t just sit idly until she does it again. This isn¡¯t just about insignificant things like turf or money, this is about blood!"

    His body turned into a living mass of ck and violet mes as the Abomination put his life on the line with the next attack.

    "What if I promise you that she¡¯ll never do it again?" Baba Yaga said.

    "What good is your word when Night defied your orders countless times in the past?" Eycos the Garuda said. "We can trust you, not her."

    "Well said." Baba Yaga activated Creation Magic, dismantling Night¡¯s crystal core while keeping her alive and fixing her at the same time. "This spell that you all can read will prevent her from attacking the Verhen household again."

    "Mom, please no!" Night had no tears, but she cried nheless.

    She could feel the spell removing part of her free will, making her less than a person and more like a thing.

    "You brought this upon yourself, child. Back when I fought Sark for you, I exploited the fact that, despite her great power, she is just one person and has many things to attend.

    "There was only so much time she could waste on me. This time not only did you go against my will, but you also angered seven beings who have surrounded us and are willing to die.

    "This is a small price for survival." Baba Yaga said.

    "It¡¯s not enough." Xenagrosh said. "She could ask her siblings to attack in her stead or find a loophole in your spell by striking at the people nearby. No matter how strict amand is, there¡¯s always a catch."

    Baba Yaga looked around, noticing that the Abominations protected more than Lith¡¯s house. Selia¡¯s house had been restored, the beasts healed, and even the vige of Lutia had been enveloped in a silvery barrier.

    "I fail to understand the reason for your generosity, but what about I change the spell so that Night will be unable to harm directly or indirectly anyone who resides in Lutia? I can also promise you to order my other Horsemen to do the same.

    "They are not like Night. They never went against my will and always respect my orders. On top of that, know that in the case any of them breaks my oath and attacks this ce, I will not intervene again. You have my word." Baba Yaga said.

    "It¡¯s not enough. We demand blood for blood. Nothing less is eptable." Hushar the Leviathan said.

    "What more do you want then?" Baba Yaga had weaved her best spells, but she could feel the Chaos array empowering the Abominations and weakening her.

    She wasn¡¯t afraid of death so much as of abandoning all the children that still needed her. Yet she couldn¡¯t let Night die without at least trying everything she could. If the Abomination dared to take her daughter away from her, she would make them pay.

    "She never learned because you never punished her." Hushar was among the oldest among the seven hybrids and knew Night very well.

    "Kill the Horseman¡¯s host while they are still bonded and make her experience our pain. That and the restricting spell will be enough to sate our anger. This time we¡¯ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

    "The next time you mess with our family, witch, there will be no talking, only fighting."

    "I couldn¡¯t agree more." Baba Yaga changed the ve spell on Night¡¯s core, turning Lutia and all of its inhabitants into something beyond the Horseman¡¯s reach even in her dreams.

    The ck Night screamed and cried as part of her was forever changed. The pain of her maimed free will, however, was nothingpared to the physical agony that the death of Night¡¯s host caused to her.

    She could feel the agony of every single cell and for the first time in her life, Night experienced the suffering of the living without the protection of darkness fusion.

    By the time Baba Yaga was done, the physical damage the crystal had sustained dwarfed inparison with the mental scar that the punishment left on the Horseman¡¯s mind.

    Baba Yaga returned inside her hut to repair the crystal and then Warped away, soon followed by the Abominations.

    ¡¯Solus, what the heck did just happen? What¡¯s this n Baba Yaga talked about and how can the Fourth Ruler of the mes be still alive?¡¯ Lith dispelled Demons of the Fallen and retrieved the stone gauntlet.

    He couldn¡¯t shapeshift back into human form in front of the members of the Queen¡¯s Corps.

    ¡¯I have no clue. We are missing a lot of pieces of the puzzle, like the identity of the Fourth Ruler or what the Master can do with the Abomination-Guardians hybrids. Before answering any of that, we must check on the others.¡¯ She pointed at the crater where once Zinya¡¯s house was.

    Lith stared at the still-smoking rubble while fearing the worst. The death of his neighbors would be more than coteral damage. It would be the proof of how little he cared about protecting Kam¡¯s family and mark the end of their rtionship.

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire, in the Headquarters of the Master. A few minutester.

    "I have good news and better news." Tezka the Warg-Abomination hybrid said. "The good news is that I¡¯m finally getting ustomed to my body enough to be once again a Dimensional Mage worthy of his title.

    "The better news is that we have a new member of our family Do you remember Nandi, the Eldritch Minotaur I told you about? Not only has he decided to join our ranks, but thanks to his orc half, he can also solve all our mana crystal rted problems.

    "We don¡¯t have to look around for an orc shaman nor care about how they manipte crystals anymore. Nandi is a living mana geyser that can provide us with all the answers we need."

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about crystals! Today you all failed me with your foolish actions. You¡¯ve jeopardized decades of hard work, and for what? Pride? Justice? Honor?" The Master said while squeezing what looked like a ck tennis ball.

    "I know that you¡¯re angry, but-"

    "I¡¯m not angry, I¡¯m livid! How could you be so stupid to go against Baba Yaga when none of you still has their equipment? When aside from Xenagrosh everyone else has yet to fully integrate their monster side with their Abomination half?" The Master roared.

 Chapter 1113 A Mage Among Gods Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1113 A Mage Among Gods Part 1</h4>

    The Master couldn¡¯t believe that beings millennia old could also be so stupid that they would face Baba Yaga with outdated artifacts. Unfortunately, Adamant was rare and to equip a single creature the size of any of the Guardians¡¯ bloodlines required tons of enchanted metal.

    After Xenagrosh purified Adamant to its utmost limit with Origin mes, its quality increased tenfold, yet its mass decreased by the same amount. The Master couldn¡¯t afford to go into battle with the Guardians without giving the Abominations the best money could offer.

    Davross was so rare that even Eldritch Abominations older than the Guardians had just umted a few ingots. Enough for a man, but barely enough to cover one of Xenagrosh¡¯s talons after she shapeshifted.

    The Master had given up on finding enough Davross to make equipment and relied on the ck market for a regr supply of Adamant of. The Gorgons living in Leegaain¡¯sir produced the priceless metal simply by breathing on grass, making it inexhaustible.

    The Guardian would put batches of Adamant on the market from time to time, to allow powerful Forgemasters to put their abilities to the test and improve their skills, but this is a story for another day.

    "You¡¯re being unfair!" Xenagrosh stepped forward to protect Tezka from the Master¡¯s fury. "We did it only for you. Lith is not only my little brother, he¡¯s also precious for your ns. On top of that, his family was under attack and-"

    "Nice try, but I don¡¯t believe you." The Master had the hologram of Lith¡¯s hybrid form fighting Night appear in the middle of the room. The Organization had the resources to get their hands on Captain Locrias¡¯s report the moment he submitted it.

    "An unknown necromancy spell, an army of magical beasts, Origin mes, and even an array powerful enough to make a Horseman bend the knee. Verhen didn¡¯t need your help. He would have found the path to victory on his own, he always does."

    The Master reyed the images in a loop, sighing with admiration and envy.

    Nandi did his best to read the room, but both his instincts and sharp mind failed to make sense of the events unfolding in front of his eyes. No matter what appearance the monster-Abomination hybrids took, they were titans whereas the Master was just a human.

    No matter how powerful the Master¡¯s mana core was or how tall they were. In front of immortal beings that descended from the Guardians, anyone else looked like an ant. Something that should stay quiet and pray to not get stomped.

    The Master, instead, acted like a disgruntled father reprimanding his unruly children and the Abominations couldn¡¯t even look them in the eyes.

    ¡¯Maybe spending too much time alone drove me mad and Baba Yaga suppressed it while I lived with her because this doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ Nandi thought. ¡¯I¡¯ll y along for a bit longer before taking my leave.¡¯

    "Nandi." The Master¡¯s voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Are you sure of your decision? From what I understand, you bear the mark of Baba Yaga¡¯s Firstborns and my Organization doesn¡¯t get along with her.

    "I can¡¯t afford to waste time and resources on an unreliable ally. I need to know where your allegiance truly lies before admitting you among our ranks. Answer me and answer me honestly.

    "Would you be able to treat the witch as an enemy if you were to meet her on the battlefield or does your past rtionship cloud your judgment?"

    "I don¡¯t know how you know about the mark, but my personal business is my own. Whatever I decide to do is only up to-" Nandi attempted to say.

    "Kneel." A single word from the Master was enough to bring the powerful Minotaur to his knees, needing sheer willpower just to keep his head from hitting the ground.

    "How stupid do you think I am?" A wave of the Master¡¯s hand made Nandi feel like his body was on fire.

    "I created the process that gave birth to you monster-Abomination hybrids. I knew your body better than anyone else the moment Iid my eyes on you. Baba Yaga may have given you her blessing after merging your two halves, but she did a poor job."

    ¡¯How does the Master know what happened and how can Baba Yaga¡¯s work be considered sloppy?¡¯ Nandi could feel both his ck and monster cores going into disarray, causing him unspeakable pain, yet his curiosity burned stronger.

    "You are not the first Returner we got here. A clone who bested his Original and took their identity. I¡¯ve devised arrays to defend this ce from the likes of you and spells that allow me to identify those who knock at my door." The Master said.

    "I give you my word that I won¡¯t kill you, no matter your answer, but I need to know. Where does your allegiance truly lie?"

    "What do you expect me to say? I barely know you and your ns whereas I lived with Baba Yaga for months, sharing her bread and teachings. Of course I won¡¯t fight her without a good reason." Nandi said amid grunts as he tried to break free of the Master¡¯s control.

    "However, if what Tezka told me about you and if what even Baba Yaga told me is true, I¡¯ll dly join your side. If the two of you sh, the best I can promise you is to assist neither, but only if you n on helping me and not just exploiting me."

    "Sounds fair." A snap of the Master¡¯s finger deactivated the arrays, allowing Nandi to stand up.

    "That¡¯s it? Do you really believe me?" The Minotaur blurted out, unable to repress his surprise.

    "A creature as powerful as you has no need to lie. If you really wanted to harm me or escape, all you had to do was to manipte the world energy in the room and stop my arrays." The Master said, surprising Nandi even more with his urate understanding of the Minotaur¡¯s abilities despite the fact that they had just met.

    "Of course if you did that, the second set of arrays would have put you down for good. Wee to the family, Nandi. Your role will be to make us a crystal mine and use your abilities to feed your siblings with world energy.

    "You have no idea how much power it takes to fully develop your bodies. What you have is just the beginning." The Master activated two tier five spells, Life Master and Master Scalpel.

    They were respectively the upgraded versions of the Scanner and Chisel spells. Together, they allowed the Master to stimte Nandi¡¯s life force so that his two natures harmonized even more and his power rose to new heights.

    "See? The witch¡¯s treatment wasn¡¯t bad for a newbie, but she failed to take into ount that hurting your body mixed your life forces in a chaotic way. They don¡¯t have to just flow together, they must be one or you¡¯ll never reach perfection.

    "I won¡¯t alter your life forces, but by studying them, I can devise methods that will allow you to tap into the best abilities of orcs and Abominations without being hindered by their respective limits." The Master said.

    "Thanks, I¡¯ll get to work immediately." Nandi instinctively gave the Master a small bow. He didn¡¯t respect people for their race, only for their knowledge and the Master had proved to have plenty.

 Chapter 1114 A Mage Among Gods Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1114 A Mage Among Gods Part 2</h4>

    "No. Before that, I have another task for you. Do you know what this is?" The Master showed the ck tennis ball to Nandi.

    "No, but I can feel powerful Chaos energying from it." The Minotaur said.

    "Correct. This is a mass of Abomination tissues that I have collected from all of your siblings. Thanks to their knowledge and the mystical instruments Bytra made for me, I¡¯ve altered its life force so that not it¡¯s identical to mine."

    The Master snapped his fingers, revealing three of his gene-tanks derived from the blueprints of Arthan¡¯s Madness hidden behind the wall on their back. Each one of them was big enough tofortably amodate an Emperor Beast and filled with a purple translucent liquid.

    The gene-tank on the left was packed with rough-looking young humans, the one on the right was upied by Abominations, while the middle one was empty.

    "This sphere is the best next thing to what would happen to my tissues if I turned into an Abomination. I¡¯m going to absorb it and then enter inside the gene-tank. The nutrients bath will provide me with everything I need to survive the metamorphosis.

    "The human scum will supply extra life force in the case something goes wrong while my failed artificial Abominations will sustain my other half. If things go as nned, I¡¯ll be the first human-Abomination hybrid." The Master said.

    "You can¡¯t be serious!" Xenagrosh stepped forward. "There¡¯s a reason why we always dyed the procedure. Even with all of our precautions, the sess rate is barely around 60% and you have a single attempt.

    "What if your body can¡¯t withstand the Chaos energy? What if the living matter of the sphere takes over your mind and body? You would die and our decades-long n would fail!"

    "First, with Nandi providing me with endless world energy, the Abomination tissue should always be sated. Without the drive of its hunger, the tissue is nothing but a mindless being. Second, you should know better than anyone how skilled I am.

    "I believe that if you and Nandi work together to keep me stable, the sess rate will be 100%. Last but not least, I¡¯m tired of waiting. Tired of seeing my human body unable to follow my mind¡¯s prowess.

    "Even if I die, the creature that will emerge the tank will still retain my memory and knowledge. If you take your time to nurture it, you¡¯ll lose a father but you¡¯ll gain a sibling." The Master always resorted to Xenagrosh¡¯s troll core to recover from the ghastliest of wounds.

    The limitless light energy it produced only needed her body to ingest food to produce endless vitality, making her healing spells almost as good as Invigoration.

    "But, Dad..." Bytra tried and failed to speak, her eyes watery.

    "No buts! How could I call myself a mage if I can¡¯t even protect the happiness of a single person? I know that you did what you did to protect me. You endangered your lives because of my weakness and for that, you have my eternal gratitude."

    Zogar Vastor, the third greatest Healer of the Griffon Kingdom also known as the Master, brought the ck sphere to his chest, letting it seep inside his body.

    "Thanks, Bytra. If not for your Dominator armor, I would be already dead. Thanks, Xenagrosh, if not for your healing magic, it would have taken me days to recover instead of seconds. Kigan, Cyare, Hushar, Eycos, Nelia.

    "Thanks for your teachings that made me into a better man and mage than I¡¯d have ever been on my own. You may be all older than me, but you¡¯ve lost sight of what living really is for so long that I had to teach you how to walk, eat, and even use a bathroom.

    "It might sound silly of me, but I¡¯ve always considered you as my children. Whatever happens to this body, take good care of yourself." Professor Vastor entered the gene-tank only when he could no longer stand the agony of the Chaos energy eating at his body.

    He had never nned on growing fond of Zinya, nor to put his life on the line along with decades of hard work just to save her life and her children¡¯s. Yet in front of the undead, Vastor had found himself incapable of running away.

    After losing his seat as the best healer of the Kingdom, after losing the love of his wife and children due to his attempts to best hispetition that kept him away from home, Vastor had given up on life for the ideal of helping mankind to reach the next evolutionary step.

    However, he couldn¡¯t love an ideal. An ideal couldn¡¯t smile at him and make him feel appreciated. While facing death, Vastor had discovered what really mattered to him. He was still ready to die, but only because he couldn¡¯t stand his empty life anymore.

    Zogar Vastor felt the purple fluid flooding his body yet allowing him to breathe as the fight to determine whether the man or the Abomination would prevail ravaged his body.

    ***

    Ernas Household, a few hours before the undead attack.

    After hearing Lith speak about making good memories with Kam and after Nalrond had dumped all girls in the group to ask Brina out, Quy Ernas decided that it was time to get back into the game.

    As the Rezar had so impolitely reminded her, she had a suitor who had been waiting thest few months for her call.

    On the one hand, it ttered her. On the other hand, she was afraid of making the date happen.

    Before taking a decision that she might regret, Quy had summoned her closest friends to the War Room. Which just meant bringing her sisters inside her private quarters after activating all the necessary arrays to keep parents and house staff from overhearing her ns.

    "I never dated anyone outside the academy so I¡¯m at loss for ideas. Phloria, you dated in the army. I could use your advice about what I can talk about with an ex-Ranger and first-ss weirdo.

    "Friya, your life-long streak of one-night stands should provide me with plenty of material about how to end the date without Morok making a scene. Let¡¯s start with something simple, where can I bring him for dinner?" Quy said.

    "Wow. Do you really think that¡¯s what our love life amounts to?" Phloria said. "Am I just an encyclopedia of how to handle weirdoes and is Friya the empress of shallow rtionships to you?"

    "Well, you dated a human-beast-Abomination hybrid who¡¯s also an Awakened and who shares his body with a pretty woman. I don¡¯t see anyone getting weirder than that." Quy shrugged.

    "Also, between Kallion and your exes, you can point me exactly at what not look for in a man. As for Friya, I¡¯ve seen loaves of breadst longer than her rtionships."

    Phloria and Friya gritted their teeth but they didn¡¯t attempt to deny anything. No matter how heavy Quy¡¯s words were, they were also true.

    "If he spent too much time as a Ranger, then a fancy restaurant is off the table. Morok has probably little manners and no taste for gourmet food. You can¡¯t go to a tavern either. It would make you more like drinking buddies than two people dating." Phloria said.

 Chapter 1115 The Healer and the Beast Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1115 The Healer and the Beast Part 1</h4>

    "My suggestion is a cozy family restaurant. A ce with a nice ambiance and good food where Morok¡¯s weirdness will still stick out like a sore thumb but will not get you kicked out." Phloria said.

    "Excellent idea. Which establishment do you rmend me?" Quy asked.

    "In case you forgot, I¡¯ve only recently got dismissed from the army. I only know several canteens and the fancy restaurants where my past dates brought me to. I never dated people outside our social status, except for Lith. Too manyplications." Phloria shrugged.

    "Friya, tell me you¡¯ve got good news for me." Quy said.

    "The weather is nice and the temperature warm. Together with the full moon, it should make the evening perfect for a date." Friya pointed at the clear sky.

    "Not that! I want you to rmend me a ce or at least how to get out of it with ss if things go badly." Quy pped her forehead in frustration.

    "Sorry, but except during my time as assistant Professor at the academy, I always picked up men in taverns. Easy to find, easy to dump. It¡¯s amazing what loneliness can make you do after you drink enough liquid courage." Friya said.

    "From my experience in break-ups, just be straightforward. Tell him that he¡¯s not the person you¡¯re looking for as a partner and that it¡¯s better to remain friends. Most men don¡¯t understand subtler signals and sometimes, to ept rejection they need to get their asses kicked so wear a nice dress and bring a weapon along."

    Out of desperation, Quy called Tista, who suggested to her a few restaurants in the Distar Marquisate.

    "They are all nice establishments where I dined with my colleagues after I graduated from the academy. Lith was far away enough that men would muster enough courage to ask me out but his name still instilled enough fear to ward off idiots." Tista said.

    "By the way, I¡¯m honestly surprised by your bravery. My brother told me awful things about Morok and he¡¯s actually an Emperor Beast. Are you sure to have considered all the possible implications?"

    "Good gods, I just want a date, not babies! Besides, he was a human just until a few years ago and if you spend a bit of time with him, you¡¯ll notice that Morok isn¡¯t much more insufferable than most guys who asked me out." Quy said.

    "Are you sure? I mean, the Griffon Kingdom is full of nice guys with no beast blood in their veins. You could have anyone." Tista said.

    "My money could have anyone." Quy scoffed. "But maybe you are right and finding a nice guy is easy. Why don¡¯t you ask your boyfriend to introduce me to some of his friends?"

    "You know that I don¡¯t have a boyfriend!" Tista blushed in embarrassment.

    "My point exactly. Thank you for your priceless advice about how to stay single." Quy hung up the call and arranged her date with Morok at the Gluttonous Scorpicore, named after the ex-Lord of the forest of the White Griffon.

    Scarlett the Scorpicore enjoyed its cuisine so much that thanks to her repeated visits and the amount of food she consumed each time, the owners had earned enough money to turn a small diner into a proper restaurant.

    Even after her departure, the establishment was still famous for its jovial ambiance andrge portions. They had no problems serving Emperor Beasts in their original form, so a shapeshifted creature like Morok was bound to go unnoticed.

    Hopefully.

    Quy decided to wear a red blouse to emphasize her light pink skin, a silver ne to draw attention to her slender neck,fortable pants for a quick escape, and Bloodbind, the twin Adamant chains Orion had crafted for her, just to be safe.

    Morok was pleasantly surprised by her lovely attire just like she was from seeing him dressed like a normal person for the first time since they had met. His long ck hair with four streaks of different colors was clean and held in a ponytail.

    His beard was kept short and well-groomed, giving him a mature look. He wore a light overcoat over a white shirt and brown linen pants. The only odd thing in his looks was his eyes, one red and the other blue.

    "Looking good." Quy said, trying to break the ice.

    Morok was afraid to speak and say something inappropriate while Quy felt more awkward by the second.

    "Thanks, but it¡¯s all thanks to Ajatar the Drake, my new mentor. He beats the crap out of me on a regr basis, often for reasons I suspect arepletely unrted with my apprenticeship, but at least he knows how to dress." Morok said.

    "By the way, you look..." He took a brief pause to look at his own right hand where he had written all the words to avoid, while the left contained a list of things that they could talk about.

    "...stunning. Thebination of red and silver sure draws attention to your... neck."

    "Thanks, now let¡¯s get inside before we lose our reservation." Quy walked through the door first, bracing for impact.

    The Gluttonous Scorpicore looked much better than she expected, making Quy inwardly thank Tista for her suggestion. The inner walls, the furniture, and the floor were all made of solid wood.

    The interior wasprised of two rooms, both with square small tables with two chairs each, distanced enough to allow the clients to have enough space to guarantee their privacy.

    Only natural fires lit the ce, giving it a feeling that tomoners would remind them of home whereas to Quy reminded solely of her missions on the field. Since she had be 12 years old and had enrolled in the White Griffon academy, the fire had be something she used only in her spells.

    In a way, theck of magical lights helped her to rx. The date felt akin to an exploration mission of uncharted territory to her so the fire set the mood right. Everything from the restaurant to the man in front of her felt alien.

    "I didn¡¯t expect it would take you months to set our date. Did Faluel really gave you so little free time or are you here only because you lost a bet?" Morok noticed how tense Quy was and tried to crack a stupid joke that unfortunately wasn¡¯t too far from the truth.

    "No free time and no bets involved." Quy blushed a little, mistaking the joke for Morok¡¯s usual bluntness. "It just-"

    "What can I offer you tonight?" A nice-looking waiter in his middle thirties saved her from the embarrassment. He wore a simple white shirt, ck pants, and a brown waistcoat.

    "I don¡¯t know, man. I¡¯m new here, so I¡¯d start with a menu." Morok didn¡¯t like being interrupted, even less having to trust a stranger¡¯s taste about his food.

    "I can suggest you-"

    "Menu, dude. One of those pieces of paper with stuff written all over that are usually on the house. Do you want me to draw you a picture?" The waiter raised his hands in apology and handed them two menus before walking away.

    "That was rude." Quy said.

    "Yeah, I know. The guy is free to give me the food he wants as long as he¡¯s the one paying for it." Morok nodded, d they were on the same page.

 Chapter 1116 The Healer and the Beast Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1116 The Healer and the Beast Part 2</h4>

    "I was talking about you. That poor guy was just trying to do his job." Quy sighed.

    "Oh." That was all Morok managed to say.

    An Awkward silence ensued until they ordered and received their food. It took Morok a few bites to collect himself and say:

    "I¡¯m curious about what led you to leave the academy and search the guidance of an Emperor Beast. I mean, your family is loaded, your father is a hotshot in the Knight¡¯s Guard, and the few times we spoke in Kh, you always talked about your ns of bing a Professor."

    "It wasn¡¯t an easy choice to take." Quy felt ttered by the fact that he still remembered those bits of conversation after so many months and together with the good food, it helped to break the cier between them.

    "I never wanted to be a soldier, a fighter, or to deal with danger on a daily basis. My only dream was to be an academic and to spend my days between teaching and magical research. The only problem with that is that bad things keep happening.

    "First Balkor and then Nalear scared me so much that it took me a long time just to muster the strength to get out of bed." She shuddered at the memory of Yurial¡¯s blood spattering everywhere after she had cut his throat.

    "I hear you. I was no longer a student, but I had to face Balkor¡¯s army three years in a row and I always came out alive by the skin of my teeth." Morok shuddered as well, inwardly thanking the Great Mother for Balkor¡¯s disappearance.

    "Three times?" Quy almost choked on her food from the surprise.

    "Yeah. I joined the army at sixteen and as a Ranger, I was dispatched twice to protect the members of the Royal Family and once to protect the students of the ck Griffon.

    "I always fought on the frontlines and seeing so many people die changes you forever. No offense, butpared to Balkor¡¯s army, Kh was nothing." Morok said.

    "None taken, but I wouldn¡¯t call it nothing." Quy replied. "Sure, all the members of the expedition choose to go to Kh whereas Balkor¡¯s anniversary was akin to an inescapable divine punishment, but it was still terrible. Kh has been my wake-up call.

    "It helped me to understand that even though I had managed to get out of my bed, I never stopped running. The academy wasn¡¯t my new home so much as my fortress that kept danger away.

    "I didn¡¯t stop training because Icked time, but because Icked the will to fight. Kh and meeting Baba Yaga taught me that the only way to avoid danger is to live under a rock." Quy said.

    "That¡¯s not true. Just mind your own business and take a quiet job. Lots of people enjoyed peace for years, even when Balkor was still active. It¡¯s just a matter of the choices you make." Morok said.

    "Yeah, the problem is that I¡¯m not like those people. I was born an orphan and my adoptive family means the world to me. Mom is an Archon, Dad is an official in the army, and no matter how much they deny it, my sisters are natural born fighters.

    "I tried to do what you say, but it only made me feel isted from their lives and incapable of helping them in time of need. Whenever their line of work put them in danger, I was more a burden than an asset.

    "I gave up of my career in the academy because I¡¯m tired of running away and always seeking the protection of others. The undead invasion is not going to disappear because I wish it so.

    "Sooner orter, our enemies will knock at the door of my family and this time, I¡¯ll be ready for them." Quy stabbed the dumpling in her te as if she had a vendetta against it.

    "What about you? Weren¡¯t you supposed to retire from the army and start your own noble household?"

    "It¡¯splicated." Morok sighed, taking a pause so long that Quy was about to change the subject.

    "When my mother discovered I was a hybrid and my old man an Emperor Beast, she kicked us both out of the house. I spent my youth traveling the Kingdom with my father, a six-eyed asshole named Glemos who never taught me anything but magic.

    "During that time, I wondered what I had done wrong for making Mom hate me. I couldn¡¯t understand why all the other kids had parents and a home while I only had the road.

    "When I became twelve, my father brought me to the Crystal Griffon academy and after I got admitted, he disappeared. Long story short, hearing all the marvelous stories of my ssmates about their families, made me want to be like them.

    "Everything I did after graduating brought me closer to my goal. I joined the army, the Association, I took the Ranger job that no one else wanted and seeded where no one else could.

    "I thought that with enough merits, I could achieve everything I ever wanted. Money, respect, a ce to call home, and in due time, a family. All I got with the title of Baron, instead, were a bunch of responsibilities, people who only wanted my money, and enough paperwork to bury a Dragon.

    "It took me months to set my pride aside and admit that I had wasted years of my life to chase the dream of a twice abandoned child."

    "That being a noble wasn¡¯t what I really wanted." Morok took a bite of his steak, adding a bit more green pepper sauce.

    Quy could rte with him, even feel lucky inparison. Even with all the bad things that had happened to her, after she had enrolled in the White Griffon academy, she had never been alone.

    Yet just like him, she had only recently discovered that the path she had chosen to walk would never bring her any happiness. Quy had asked Faluel¡¯s guidance for the same reason she had epted that date.

    Instead of taking the safe but unhappy route, she wanted to take some risks and understand what she truly wanted.

    "What about Ajatar, your mentor? How did the two of you meet?" Quy decided to move to a less depressing topic.

    Morok told her all about his three days bender with his usual honesty, making herugh when he quoted his first conversation with the Drake after he had sobered Morok up with Invigoration.

    "Good gods, you really are crazy." She said after listening to the part where Faluel had kicked his ass. Hrity made her eyes water.

    "Too often people mistake being nice with being good." Morok shrugged. "I¡¯ve been alone for too long to care about being nice, but I¡¯m a pretty decent guy."

    "Yeah, right. Say that to the waiter. I thought that Emperor Beasts were pretty picky with their apprentices. Between your rough start and the fact that you don¡¯t even want to be an Awakened, I¡¯m surprised Ajatar took you in." Quy said.

    "He was surprised as well when, after returning from the deste corner of the Blood Desert Faluel Warped me to, I asked for his help. I¡¯m still not interested in bing an Awakened, but just like you, I can¡¯t stand idle while the undead attack the only home I have ever had." Morok replied.

 Chapter 1117 Dos and Donâ€™ts Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1117 Dos and Don¡¯ts Part 1</h4>

    "I may not be part of the army anymore, but the Kingdom is my birthce and the magical beasts¡¯munity is the closest thing to a family I have. Ajatar agreed to take me in after I offered to help him protect his turf.

    "Between undead beasts preying on their kin and the undead who fail to infiltrate human cities to feed, Awakened Lords have their workload increased because humans do not care for what happens in the wilds as long as it doesn¡¯t threaten their lifestyle.

    "Besides, I needed something to do while waiting for your call." Morok said, making her chuckle.

    At the second course, they started to chat about their respective apprenticeships, sharing stories about their hardships and sesses. After years spent hiding her activities from mostly everyone she knew, Quy had a good time speaking freely.

    Even at the academy, she rarely opened up to someone about her research. Laymen wouldn¡¯t understand a word of what she said, whereaspetent mages would dly steal her ideas.

    The field of magical research was verypetitive and even inside her own team, everyone only looked after themselves. To make matters worse, her talent often made others jealous.

    Male Mages in her same field avoided Quy like a gue while nobles only sought her to be magical bloodlines and for the power that being close with the Ernas household would provide them.

    Morok was rude and often foul-mouthed, but he didn¡¯t seem to care about her being a better mage or even having a better mana core. His only reaction to learning she would probably achieve a violet core was to propose a toast.

    "Are you really okay with not being Awakened? This way you¡¯ll be stuck with a blue core your whole life whereas Awakened can achieve a violet core and use Spirit Magic. It¡¯s pretty awesome if you ask me." Quy felt tipsy for having drunk a bit too much.

    Morok was a heavyweight and she had got carried away following his lead.

    "If there¡¯s one thing I learned in my brief time as a feudal lord, is that with more powere a lot more responsibilities. I don¡¯t want to be forced to join the Council and being just a true mage is an excellent excuse to skip the Spirit Magic ss." He said, making herugh hard.

    "That wasn¡¯t even funny. You should really stop drinking."

    "I guess you¡¯re right." Quy said after noticing that people were staring at her and she couldn¡¯t care less. "I need a detoxify spell but I¡¯m having trouble focusing. Do you mind giving me a hand?"

    Getting rid of alcohol from the bloodstream required but a tier one spell that Morok promptly administered. Its only side effect was the dire need for a bathroom to literally flush the wine out.

    While the sobered up Quy rushed to thevatory, Morok used her absence to pay the bill in advance, giving the waiter both a generous tip and an apology.

    ¡¯Like Master Ajatar always says, even beasts act like humans when they live among them whereas I act like neither a human nor a beast, just like a prick.¡¯ He thought.

    Before leaving the Gluttonous Scorpicore, Quy had to drink an entire water jug to make up for the lost fluids, but aside from that, her mind was as sharp as ever.

    Once outside, Morok put his hands in his pockets so as to "casually" offer his arm to her which she "casually" failed to notice while they walked towards the city¡¯s Warp Gate.

    "You know, if you didn¡¯t tell me, I wouldn¡¯t have ever thought that you were adopted." Morok said after checking the notes on his left hand.

    "Why? Do I act as stuck up as purebred noble?" Quy felt slightly annoyed at the idea of having be like those she hated the most.

    "Not at all. I briefly met your parents in the past and you remind me of them a lot. I always thought you had gotten your mother¡¯s looks and your father¡¯s talent." Morok said.

    "Thanks, it means the world for me." The idea that she could pass for her beloved parents¡¯ child was the bestpliment that Quy could ever hope for and made her puff her chest out with pride.

    In the past, to express how fitting she was to her bloodline, Morok would have said that he found Quy almost as beautiful as Friya and as muscr as Phloria. After Faluel¡¯s training, Quy had gained a few kilos of pure muscles and be a couple of centimeters thicker in every direction, but not in a sexy way.

    "How many times do I have to tell you?" The Drake¡¯s voice still echoed inside Morok¡¯s head. "If you use the mother as a benchmark, it sounds like apliment. If you use the sister, instead, it sounds like you wish you could bang the other woman."

    "I¡¯m not worthy of your teachings, Master Ajatar." Morok had even kneeled to the Drake after realizing how wise his mentor was in all truly important aspects of life.

    Ajatar had epted to teach his pupil about the dos and don¡¯ts of dating only because he was sick of Morok treating him like a wretched creature who knew nothing about women.

    The realization that such lessons had garnered him the Tyrant¡¯s undying gratitude whereas teaching Morok the secrets of true magic had left little to no impression, made the Drake wish someone would beat his disciple in the head until it started to work properly.

    "By the way, what happens when you give back a fief? Did you lose your merits as it happens to those who failed to be Lords?" Quy asked.

    In the Griffon Kingdom, when a mage asked for a noble title and itsnds, they would be granted full authority over their chosen fief for a trial period while the previous lord of the region taught them the ropes.

    Being a genius in magic didn¡¯t mean to be also capable of ruling a piece of the country. The mage needed to study the Kingdom¡¯sws and to prove their ability as both politicians and administrators.

    To be the permanent ruler of their fief, the mage had to be at least as capable as the person they were going to rece. In case of failure, the mage would keep their title and be assigned a smaller territory to see if they could manage it on their own.

    "I didn¡¯t fail, young miss, I backed out." Morok snorted. "I got my merits back and exchanged them for the title of Great Mage. This way, I get all of the money and none of the hassle."

    "Wait, are you really a Great Mage?" Quy¡¯s voice held so much incredulity and so little admiration that it managed to dent even Morok¡¯s thick skin.

    "Yeah. This might sound odd to you, but risking your life for the Kingdom on a daily basis for years is valued a lot more than sitting on your ass all day and wait for enlightenment like academics do." He took his deep green robe out of his dimensional amulet and shoved it in her face.

    "I didn¡¯t mean to belittle your achievements. I can only imagine what you went through while you worked as a Ranger in the wilds. It¡¯s just..." Quy didn¡¯t know how to express her feelings without sounding like a female Morok.

 Chapter 1118 Dos and Donâ€™ts Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1118 Dos and Don¡¯ts Part 2</h4>

    "It¡¯s just that it stings at your Ladyship¡¯s pride that despite your unparalleled genius you are still a Mage while Lith is already an Archmage and even I am a Great Mage." He said taking those rude words out of her mind.

    "Yes. I mean, no. I mean- Oh, gods, am I so easy to read?" She asked while looking at the deep green fabric with envy.

    "Usually, no. But the fact that you ignored my arm and yet you are sticking to my robe like a tick is a big tell." Morok had been trying for a while to retrieve his high uniform from Quy¡¯s hands but she refused to let it go.

    "I¡¯m so sorry." She said while he stored the clothes back. "Sometimes I let mypetitiveness get the better of me."

    "No need to apologize. Since you find my robe so charming, next time I¡¯ll make sure to wear it. I like clingy women." He said.

    "Next time? Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself, hotshot. I-" Hermunication amulet drew her attention, cutting Quy short.

    Recognizing Orion¡¯s rune, she feared the worst had happened. Her father never called sote without a good reason.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re alright." Orion said the moment he saw her face. "Now listen to me because I¡¯m in a rush. The undead attacked your mother¡¯s assistant and Lith¡¯s house is likely to be under siege. We¡¯ve lost all contacts with their detail."

    "What? We need to-"

    "You need to return home as soon as you can. It¡¯s not safe out there." Orion cut her short. "If this is Deirus¡¯s revenge against Lith for messing with the attempt on Phloria¡¯s life, then you might be his next target.

    "Remember that Vn hates you the most. There¡¯s no telling what he might do. I¡¯m going to Lutia with the Royal Guards. If I didn¡¯t drag him in our mess, Lith¡¯s family would¡¯ve been safe. Get home, now!"

    Orion hung up the call while Morok opened a Warp Steps to the nearest Gate. Awakened or not, all Emperor Beasts could use true magic and they didn¡¯t need chants nor hand signs to cast spells whereas as long as she held her amulet, Quy was a sitting duck.

    For the first time in her life, she realized how big was the gap between true and fake mages, making her wish someone could Awaken her.

    "Your father is right. With our fancy clothes instead of armor, we¡¯re an easy target." Morok shoved her to the safety of the local branch of the Association, unaware that Quy wore one of Orion¡¯s Skinwalker armor.

    "I¡¯m going to see if my master can provide some help. Call me the moment you know something and I¡¯ll do the same." He Warped away before she could answer.

    ¡¯That was a good move. Now I have an excuse to call her again and ask for a second date. Sure, the abrupt ending killed all my chances of a goodnight kiss, but I doubt I would¡¯ve got it anyway. Man, going back to school is definitely making me smarter.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡¯That was a dick move.¡¯ Quy thought. ¡¯Exploiting a crisis just to have an excuse to call me again. The only silver lining is that it kept him from asking for a goodnight kiss again. That would¡¯ve been awkward.¡¯

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Verhen household, now.

    Despite his exhausted state, despite the many still open wounds on his body and the almost tangible strain that the repeated use of Origin mes had put on his cracked life force, Lith¡¯s mind was nk.

    Discovering the truth about Night¡¯s assassination attempt on everyone he loved, Xenagrosh¡¯s arrival and the consequences of the truce between Baba Yaga and the Abomination hybrids were all big news.

    On top of that, each one of those events had so many possible implications to be mind-numbing. Yet Solus was right, there was no time to stop and think. They first had to make sure that everyone in the family was safe and sound.

    Lith retrieved the stone gauntlet and deactivated the ck eye of the Balor. Demon of the Fallen ceased as abruptly as it had manifested, making the spirits of the dead warriors fade away and the skeletons they had inhabited crumble.

    Even though Demons of the Fallen¡¯s power was undeniable, there was a reason why Lith had saved it only for times of emergency. Not only did it require an amount of darkness and Spirit Magic so great that it forced Lith to use Invigoration while casting it, but the spell would also destroy the corpses it used as foci.

    Lith had followed Balkor¡¯s example, sacrificing his creations¡¯ lifespan in exchange for explosive power. To cast Demon of the Fallen again, he needed another batch of well-preserved skeletons.

    Lith took flight and used Solus¡¯s mana sense to perform a quick headcount. His parents and little brother, Aran, were safe inside the house along with three units of the Queen¡¯s Corps, one of which he had never seen before.

    ¡¯I thought there were just two units. I guess the Royals assigned me a third squad after I left the army.¡¯ He thought.

    A quick flight allowed him to find Rena, Selia, Zinya, and their respective families deep in the Trawn woods. Lifebringer the Kirin, one of the Kings of the woods, had remained behind to protect them while the other Kings joined the fight.

    Tista was there as well, giving her all to treat Nalrond¡¯s injuries. Lith had barely the time to make sure that everyone was present and ounted for when several golden Warp Gates opened along with even more violet Gates right outside the area where until a few seconds ago the air sealing array was.

    Royal Guards swarmed out the golden light while Emperor Beast whose size rivaled with that of the Abomination hybrids came out the purple light, each one wearing enough Adamant to build a house.

    ¡¯Great. Too much and toote. I can¡¯t face the Royal Guards in my Wyrmling form. I need to get out of here.¡¯ Lith Warped away, using healing magic to mend his wounds before returning to the scene with his human appearance.

    His exhaustion and the damages left on the Skinwalker armor matched that of someone who had fought several undead to save his girlfriend and had warped his way there.

    "Why the heck did it take you so long?" Lith said with a snarl. He had no need to pretend to be angry and surprised because that was exactly how he felt.

    "We¡¯re sorry, Lith." The man who wore the insignia of a Captain of the Royal Guards on his sleeves said. His helmet opened and disappeared, letting Orion Ernas talk with his voice without the armor¡¯s distortion effect.

    "Royal Guards are always on stand-by and we mobilized the second we received Kam¡¯s distress call, but without coordinates for the exit point, it took a few trial-and-errors to find an unprotected location.

    "We couldn¡¯t use Steps because they are too mana expensive and too small. Using such means of transportation would have just offered the enemy an easy target." Orion said.

    "s, we¡¯rete for the same reason and more." The creature in front of Lith said.

    It looked like an enormous red feline with a long maneing out of its spine along with several long jagged bone spikes.

 Chapter 1119 The Calm after the Storm Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1119 The Calm after the Storm Part 1</h4>

    Two long horns came out from the crimson Emperor Beast¡¯s shoulders, protecting the sides of its head.

    The long tail allowed it to bnce its weight while the creature stood on its hind legs, while the violet feathered wings on its back looked too pretty for such a feral creature.

    Lith recognized Fe the Behemot¡¯s voice, the beasts¡¯ representative in the Council and leader of their faction.

    "The Kings of the woods signaled us the presence of the Horseman of the ck Night so we needed to assemble a force that could take on her and her siblings. Baba Yaga¡¯s children help each other in times of crisis and we couldn¡¯t afford them to escape." Fe said.

    "Otherwise we would only achieve an empty victory and be forced to wait for their return. If we want to put an end to their threat, they must be destroyed or at least captured."

    Despite his anger, Lith couldn¡¯t refute the logic of both humans and beasts. Royal Guards needed to swarm a ce before the enemy could dispel their Gates, whereas beasts could protect their arrays but they needed first to assemble a force capable of matching that of the Horseman.

    ¡¯Without Yurial¡¯s Hexagram and my countless tricks, Night would have made a short work of me thanks to the dimensional sealing array. Even if the beasts charged blindly, Baba Yaga would have appeared anyway and I doubt that anyone but the Abominations could strike such a good deal from her.¡¯ He thought.

    "What in the gods¡¯ name happened here?" Orion asked while looking at the crater where once Zinya¡¯s house was, at the ruins of Selia¡¯s home, and at the ground surrounding the Verhen household that had been upturned by the Demons rising from their graves.

    "Indeed. We received the call but a few minutes ago." Fe said. "A Horseman¡¯s power is great, but not even them can bring this kind of destruction in so little time."

    At the wave of the hand of their respectivemanders, Emperor Beasts and Royal Guards spread out in search of enemies or survivors. Feeling reassured by the presence of such a mighty force, Captain Locrias of the Queen corps came out of Lith¡¯s house and started to tell everyone about the events he had witnessed.

    The description of the mysterious Wyrmling¡¯s and its army¡¯s battle prowess left Orion bbergasted and made a smug expression appear on Fe¡¯s snout. When the Captain reached the part where Elina had unleashed Yurial¡¯s Hexagram her surprise matched Orion¡¯s.

    When he told them about the six odd-looking Emperor Beast that had beaten Night to a pulp and even forced Baba Yaga to bargain for her life, both Orion and Fe thought that Locrias had gone mad from the shock.

    Meeting a single member of a Guardian¡¯s bloodline was a rare event but six of them at the same time was something unheard of even in legends. Only the urate description of Baba Yaga in her Mother form and of her tower, along with Lith¡¯s family testimony saved Locrias from a thorough medical examination.

    ¡¯I still can¡¯t understand why those monster-Abomination hybrids helped me without asking nothing in return.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯I get that Xenagrosh considers me a member of her bloodline, but I doubt that herpanions feel the same way about me.

    ¡¯Yet their rage was as genuine as it was groundless. The hybrids kept talking about their pain, their blood, their family. No matter how tight the ties between them are, I refuse to believe that Xenagrosh considers me part of her family after briefly meeting me once.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Maybe they consider your family members to be Abomination hybrids as well since you all share the same blood.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯You could be right, but I¡¯m pretty sure everyone is safe and sound. Their words made no sense.¡¯ Lith checked hismunication amulet, sighing in relief as he noticed that nomunication rune had disappeared.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, Scourge." Sentinel the Garmr, who had reced Protector as leader of the Ry pack said. Her fur was covered in blood despite both her Skinwalker armor and the use of Invigoration.

    She stillcked a front leg and several fangs that even the breathing technique needed time to rece.

    "We thought about opening a Warping Array to transport you here or summon reinforcements, but to open such a long-distance Gate open would have required all the Kings and kept them away from the battle.

    "Even with the weapons you provided us with, we couldn¡¯t let our magical beasts brethren go to battle alone. The undead are too powerful for them and the chances to rescue Rena¡¯s family would have been near zero."

    "No need to apologize, Sentinel." Lith took lots of food out of his pocket dimension that the Emperor Beast wolfed down to elerate her healing process. "You did the right thing. Arriving here faster would have been pointless if my pack died for it."

    While the Royal Guards fixed the fields and the Beasts took care of their injured, Lith reached Tista and the others in the woods to bring them home.

    "Your little army came just in the nick of time." Nalrond said while still in his Rezar form. He had lost his left arm and most of the scales on his back were either broken or missing.

    Despite Tista¡¯s best efforts, he had so many open wounds that his body looked like a bloody railroad map.

    "There were too many undead and every time they touched me, I could feel my life force abandoning me."

    "Why is he still like that?" Lith asked in surprise.

    An Awakened¡¯s breathing technique was supposed to heal even such ghastly wounds in a matter of seconds.

    "Because he¡¯s on the verge of dying. Healing his life-threatening wounds drained Nalrond of nutrients. After I made sure that Rena was alright, keeping him stable and feeding him potions was the best I could do." Tista replied.

    "His life force ispromised from the injuries he sustained, the darkness magic that the undead used, and the mana abuse for using too many spells. It¡¯s taking me everything I have just to keep his cores from breaking due to the built-up strain.

    "I can¡¯t even allow Nalrond to lose consciousness or he might not wake up."

    Lith examined the Rezar with Invigoration, noticing that Tista was right. Using light magic to elerate the absorption of nutrients would furtherpromise Nalrond¡¯s body.

    Without an external source, Invigoration would break down his flesh and bones to heal him, resulting in death. To make matters worse, both Nalrond¡¯s mana cores and life force were in critical conditions.

    "I¡¯m sorry to bother you, little brother, but have you seen Professor Vastor?" Rena pulled his shoulder to get Lith¡¯s attention.

    "Why the heck should I care about him? The Professor is probably in the safety of the academy drinking wine whereas Nalrond here is dying!" Lith snarled at his sister¡¯s tactlessness.

    "You don¡¯t understand. The Professor was here. How do you think Zinya managed to survive?" Rena¡¯s words struck Lith like a punch, giving him one more piece of the puzzle but raising more questions than they answered.

    "Zinya is heartbroken and has never stopped crying. She thinks that he died to protect her or that the undead took him prisoner."

 Chapter 1120 The Calm after the Storm Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1120 The Calm after the Storm Part 2</h4>

    Lith called Faluel to deal with Nalrond while he contacted the missing Professor and the academy. Headmaster Marth didn¡¯t like being bothered sote at night, but the moment he heard Lith¡¯s report he moved as fast as he could.

    "You must thank Quy the next time you see her, child." Faluel was back in her human form, using the spell Quy had traded with her to inject potions and tonics straight into Nalrond¡¯s bloodstream.

    "Not even Awakened can heal so many wounds at the same time. We¡¯re healers, not miracle workers." The Hydra used her breathing technique, Lifestream, to scan the Rezar¡¯s life force and remove the darkness magic poisoning it before stabilizing his condition.

    Just like a pseudo core needed mana pathways, a mana core required life force to remain stable. Too many severe wounds would destabilize the life force of an individual, putting their mana core at risk.

    On top of that, massive doses of darkness magic did more than just inflicting physical wounds.

    If untreated, darkness magic would infect its victim¡¯s body and core alike. It was how Lith had unwillingly created a greater undead back at the academy and how Protector¡¯s core had cracked during Balkor¡¯s attack.

    Faluel focused on cleansing the darkness guing her apprentice and on closing all of his open wounds thanks to the constant stream of nutrients the potions provided him with.

    Stabilizing Nalrond¡¯s life force allowed his two mana cores to recover as well, but only once he could safely fall asleep did Faluel sigh in relief. She kept injecting potions in his bloodstreams non-stop while inwardly thanking both the wonders of alchemy and Quy¡¯s ingenuity.

    "Don¡¯t heal him any further until he gets some rest. Between thebat and the healing spells, his body can¡¯t endure any more mana." Faluel said before going back to take care of the other injured.

    She couldn¡¯t afford the Council to discover that a member of the fabled Werepeople lived next door to her. All races were still looking for a way to get ess to the Fringes and very few would respect Nalrond¡¯s privacy. Even the other elders of the Beast Council would spare no efforts to squeeze Nalrond¡¯s secrets out of him.

    "You bring me terrible news, Lith." Marth said while checking his missing colleague¡¯s whereabouts andst known position. "Vastor is too old to face a threat the caliber of a Horseman. Not even Manohar could, and he¡¯s much younger and madder."

    Lith informed the Royal Guards about the Professor being MIA right after bringing Rena¡¯s and Zinya¡¯s families to his own home. Everyone was so pale that they seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    The only silver lining was that, thanks to the presence of the magical beasts, the children were calmer than their parents.

    "Please, you have to save Zogar." Zinya needed sheer willpower to not cry and keep her children calm. "He was on hisst leg when we ran away. You have no idea the monsters he faced alone only to protect us. If anything happens to him, it would all be my fault."

    Elina was still scared to death, but seeing her daughter and granddaughter safe allowed her to be the rock the others needed to survive that night.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Zinya. If Professor Vastor is still alive, Lith will find him." Elina pretended to pat her son¡¯s shoulder while she actually checked that the injury Night had inflicted him earlier had properly healed. "Are you and Kam alright, son?"

    "Yes, we¡¯re both perfectly fine. I left Kam with the Royal Guards and I had plenty of time to recover." Lith replied.

    "Thank to the gods." Raaz hugged every member of his family, making sure they were okay before letting them go. "The only thing that kept me from having a stroke when those gigantic creatures appeared, was that they were on our side."

    Then, he turned towards the small pack of magical beasts that served as both steeds and bodyguards for the children.

    "I¡¯ve never been so happy to have you annoying, drooling, fur-shedding beasts around the house. Thank you very much, guys. You saved my little girls."

    Abominus and the others didn¡¯t like Raaz¡¯s words much, but his heartfelt gratitude touched their hearts and the big steaks that came with it won their stomachs.

    "You can stay in Trion¡¯s room as long as you want, Zinya. Consider this as your home." Elina tried to send at least the kids to bed, but Zinya refused to let them out of her sight.

    "Are you still there, Lith?" Marth¡¯s voiceing from themunication amulet drew everyone¡¯s attention. "I¡¯ve got good news and better news. The good news is that Vastor¡¯sst known position is right outside Lutia so he must have managed to escape.

    "The better news is that I¡¯m certain he¡¯s alive and well. I¡¯ve just received a message he sent a few minutes ago. Vastor says that he¡¯ll take some time off to recover from the wounds he sustained and that he¡¯ll be back to work in a week tops.

    "May the gods bless that man. Unlike Manohar, he always leaves a message and his contact information before taking a leave of absence."

    "Can I please see the message?" Zinya jumped up, taking the amulet out of Lith¡¯s hands.

    "I¡¯m sorry, miss, but I¡¯ve no idea who you are and that¡¯s ssified information." Marth¡¯s surprise only got worse as more and more calls popped on his amulet to inform him about Night¡¯s attack.

    Only at Lith¡¯s and Orion¡¯s request did the Headmaster share the recording with them. In the hologram, Vastor had taken care of reproducing most of his injuries. A patch covered his allegedly missing eye, a splint kept his right arm still, and thick bandages covered most of his body.

    "Hey, Marth. I hate leaving you in hot waters out of the blue, but I¡¯ve just fought several undead and I got out of there alive just by the skin of my teeth. My apprentices have already treated my wounds, but it¡¯ll take me some time to recover and some more to fully rejuvenate my body.

    "I¡¯ve sent you all the paperwork for the next week and arranged the material for my lessons so that my substitute should have no problem following the program. Just one thing before I doze off.

    "Please, tell Zinya Yehval that I¡¯m alright and that I¡¯m sorry for letting her down. Vastor out."

    "How dare you say that, Zogar? You almost died for me and yet you apologize? Why did you call your boss instead of me?" Zinya said, yet the recorded message remained frozen.

    "Please, calm down, miss Yehval." Marth said, realizing his earlier blunder. "Professor Vastor is a battle-hardened veteran, a Royal Forgemaster, and one of the best Spellbreakers I¡¯ve had the pleasure to work with.

    "Whatever are the reasons for his disappearance, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll contact you as soon as he can."

    Even though Headmaster Marth could face a Dragon with a still heart, he had no idea how to deal with a woman¡¯s tears. Having no wish to be dragged in Vastor¡¯s personal business, he pretended to have an important call he couldn¡¯t miss and hung up.

    ¡¯This makes no sense.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Vastor couldn¡¯t escape with the air sealing arrays and based on how Zinya describe his conditions, it would have taken Faluel to save his life. How could the Professor get away and heal enough to leave a message that fast?¡¯

 Chapter 1121 Scalewalker Armor Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1121 Scalewalker Armor Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯As Marth has just said, Professor Vastor is a man of many talents. Maybe he Forgemastered something capable of bringing him to safety in the case he lost consciousness.¡¯ Solus pondered.

    ¡¯After all, Zinya is no Healer and we both know that injuries can look way worse than they actually are. A mage doesn¡¯t survive as long as Vastor did without picking up a few tricks along the way.

    ¡¯I mean, we are far from having the knowledge that Royal Forgemasters share, and yet our equipment allowed us to hold our ground against Night. Vastor could easily have an armor as powerful as War.¡¯

    By the time Protector returned home, Selia, the children, and the beasts were fast asleep in Lith¡¯s room.

    "By the Great Mother, Scourge, I would¡¯ve never thought that the day woulde when I envied your paranoia." Ryman had spent almost an hour just looking at his asleep children and checking their bodies with Invigoration before leaving the room.

    "If not for the magical books and the equipment you provided to the other Kings over the years, Nalrond would have died and with him my family."

    "Paranoia or not, this doesn¡¯t answer an important question. Why didn¡¯t you call us for help, Lith?" Quy asked.

    Once dimensional magic had been restored, the Royal Guards had escorted Kam and the Ernas sister to the Verhen Household.

    "Because I had no idea what I was about to face and I didn¡¯t want to endanger even more people." He replied. "Let¡¯s be honest, Quy, even after training with Faluel yourbat experience is limited.

    "I knew that without dimensional magic or very powerful equipment, defeating an undead is hard. It¡¯s the same reason why I didn¡¯t contact Friya. No dimensional magic means no quick way out of a fight and no tricks.

    "Physical strength bes crucial and as regr humans, your bodies would crumble after a few hits. You wouldn¡¯t even be able to cast a single spell."

    The two women had to admit that chanting in the middle of the battlefield was suicidal. To use their true power, mages required time and space to prepare their spells.

    "Then what about me?" Phloria said. "What point did it have turning me into an Awakened if you didn¡¯t even trust me enough to stand by your side in moments of crisis?"

    "I didn¡¯t call you simply because I didn¡¯t want to break our cover. You¡¯re now very powerful, almost as much as me, but do you really think that your family would have opened the Ernas Gate for you knowing about the attack?

    "Even if they did, how would you have exined your abilities afterward? I can shapeshift into a Wyrmling, but you only have your face. I knew about the Queen¡¯s Corps units protecting my family and acted ordingly." Lith said.

    "You¡¯re right." Phloria sighed. "The moment Kam called for help, Dad called all of us back home and put the mansion on lockdown. Friya and I were already there so even if you called us, reaching Lutia would have taken us too much time."

    "I still can¡¯t believe Archmage Deirus did all this just because of what happened at the Belin mines." Kam said. "He put an entire vige in danger and attacked innocent civilians! I hope that Archon Ernas finds the proof she needs to bust his ass into jail forever."

    "For once Yurial¡¯s dad is innocent." Lith said, drawing the attention on himself.

    He then exined the details about his meeting with Night, how the entire attack had been an attempt to turn him into a madman like Balkor and induce him to be her host.

    "After meeting Dawn, I checked the royal archives about the Horsemen. While Dawn ispletely focused on following the mission that Baba Yaga gave her and Dusk likes to pull strings behind the Undead Court¡¯s scenes, Night is batshit crazy.

    "She doesn¡¯t care about being seen or about the number of casualties. The ck Night considers everything like some kind of sick game of which she makes the rules and then forces you to y at.

    "In her case, immortality didn¡¯t give her wisdom, but rather made her indifferent to the consequences of her actions. Night has no rush toplete her assignment and everything she does is just her way to relieve the boredom that her long life causes her." Lith said.

    Then, he told the others about Xenagrosh¡¯s arrival and the deal the Abominations had cut with Baba Yaga.

    "Are you telling me that if not for Vastor¡¯s visit my sister and her children would be dead? Just because they happen to be your neighbors?" Just saying those words made Kam shudder in fear.

    "Yes. Night carefully nned everything and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. The only thing she failed to predict was Vastor¡¯s frequent visits, and that only because he considers all humans beneath her. I think-"

    "Do you mind leaving us alone for a while?" Kam cut him short.

    The Verhen household was filled to the brim with guests, leaving Tista¡¯s room the only ce avable to hold their meeting. Tista, Protector, Faluel, and the Ernas could feel the tension in the room.

    They left without saying a word, just making sure to Hush the walls to give the couple privacy.

    "Please, tell me that you weren¡¯t about to question our rtionship." Kam said the moment the door closed and Lith conjured a Hush spell of his own.

    "I wasn¡¯t, but I expected you to do it. Tonight, your family went through a lot, and all because of me. I failed to predict Night¡¯s attack and I didn¡¯t even bother putting the slightest protection around Zinya¡¯s house despite I knew that something like this would have happened, sooner orter.

    "In your shoes, I would be furious at me and I can¡¯t me you if you are. At this point, I¡¯m a liability to you and to all those you love." Lith could read the anger in Kam¡¯s eyes yet he didn¡¯t shy away from her gaze.

    Lith was well aware of having failed her trust beyond reason.

    "Gods, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re such an idiot!" Sheshed out, but not how he had predicted. "You and Vastor are cut from the same cloth. Always whining about failing someone or about not being strong enough to bend Mogar to your whims.

    "Bad things happen and expecting to always be ten steps ahead of life is just moronic. I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯m not scared by Night¡¯s threat or at the idea of another attack, but surely I¡¯m not going to me you if that happens.

    "You and Vastor gave my sister sight, then you helped Zinya to get her children back, and even got her a house. Vastor took care of her finances while your rtives showed her what a real family is.

    "You two have given her a life and the opportunity to enjoy it to its fullest, yet you keep thinking that nothing is ever enough because you set your bar so high that you¡¯re never happy."

    "Do you have any idea how many attempts on her life my job caused? How many times she would have risked her life if she didn¡¯t live right next to you, making every mercenary in their right mind turn down the job?"

 Chapter 1122 Scalewalker Armor Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1122 Scalewalker Armor Part 2</h4>

    "Because I do and believe me, being Jirni¡¯s assistant garnered me a lot of enemies. My role as a Royal Constable gives both me and Zinya the right to have a detail, but not to be protected by the Queen¡¯s Corps, let alone an army of magical beasts." Kam said.

    "I still failed to-"

    "Say that again and I swear to the gods that I¡¯ll p you!" She put her hand on his mouth, shutting him up. "This very night, I opened up to you about my exes and told you how hard it is for me to trust people. Do you think I take any of this lightly?

    "No, I don¡¯t, but I never epted to date you because I expected you to be a god. I dated you because you seemed to like me despite my ws and because you cared for me. Has any of it changed after Night¡¯s attack?" She opened her hand enough to let him reply.

    "No, but-"

    "Then answer me this. Did you provoke Night in any way? Did you bring the undead army here? Did you ask the beasts to give Zinya¡¯s family a lower prioritypared to yours?" Kam asked, receiving a streak of no in reply.

    "Then how could I possibly me you? You¡¯re a victim as much as Zinya. I me that living legacy bitch for ying with the lives of so many innocent people. I me that senile fart of Baba Yaga for not turning her ¡¯precious daughter¡¯ into a chamber pot at the first signs of madness!

    "I me the Kingdom for not investing more resources to protect its civil servants¡¯ families with a few decent arrays. Bottom line, I me a lot of people, but not you. Now that we have made a few things clear, what do you have to say to me?" She said.

    "I¡¯m sorry for doubting you?" Lith said with an awkward smile.

    "Wrong. Tell me that you¡¯re alright and that the next time you meet Night, you¡¯ll beat her crazy ass until she¡¯s dead." Kam hugged him, making sure for the umpteenth time that Lith wasn¡¯t hurt.

    "I¡¯m alright and that the next time I meet Night, I¡¯ll beat her crazy ass until she¡¯s dead." He said.

    "Good boy." She ruffled his hair yfully before pushing Lith down on the bed and giving him a long, deep kiss to forget for a moment about that frightful night.

    "Wait." He pushed her away, trying to get up.

    "Too soon?" She asked without even hiding her disappointment.

    "No, but this is Tista¡¯s room. She¡¯ll kill me if something happens in here."

    ***

    Solus¡¯s tower, a few dayster.

    The Kingdom had gracefully taken care of the reconstruction works of both Selia¡¯s and Zinya¡¯s houses. Between construction workers and mages, it had taken barely a couple of days to return everything as it was before the attack.

    Under Kam¡¯s and Jirni¡¯s insistence, Zinya¡¯s house received a few magical home appliances and basic defensive arrays, while Faluel took care of reinforcing the defensive system of Selia¡¯s house. The Hydra felt guilty for letting down so many of her disciples and even her godchildren.

    Faluel connected Lith¡¯s, Selia¡¯s, and even Zinya¡¯s house with an underground tunnel so that if anything cut dimensional magic off, they could all find shelter in the most protected building.

    "Are you really going to do it?" Phloria asked.

    "Yes. I¡¯m aware that this is the only block of Adamant I got and that it hasn¡¯t been long since Faluel¡¯s lessons about Forgemastering ended, but my new Skinwalker armor is long overdue." Lith replied.

    "Until a few months ago, I had no clue how to tap into Runesmithing¡¯s true potential nor did I have the blueprints to craft a decent armor, but now I can finally put Zolgrish¡¯s Forge to good use.

    "The silver lining in Night¡¯s attack is that once Faluel gives me my mission, it will not be just her protecting my home, but the entire Beast Council. On the other hand, however, it means that failure is even less of an option than it already was.

    "If I don¡¯t prove my wisdom, Faluel will stop teaching us magic and I¡¯ll be back being a rogue Awakened. Sure, Fe and Raagu might offer me an apprenticeship, but I don¡¯t trust any of them near Solus.

    "If they find out about Menadion¡¯s legacy, the undead will be the least of my problems." Lith ced his hand on the Adamant Forge, making it shapeshift into the form of a suit of armor resembling that he was looking on a Royal Forgemaster catalog.

    During thest few months, he and Solus had spent most of their free time experimenting with the runes the Skinwalker armor¡¯s pseudo cores wereprised of. Only two out of four pseudo cores were made of pure mana while the rest required ingredients.

    Thanks to their ability in shaping cores, however, they had been able to imitate the effects of the ingredient-generated cores with their mana and to test how altering their rune strings would affect the final result.

    Putting their theories into practice always required them to spend part of the resources they had stockpiled because simple manacked the properties of the real deal, like the ability of the Thunderbird¡¯s plume to amplify energy-based effects.

    Useless to say, by the time they were done with their experiments, their Orichalcum reserves ran dangerously low, and lots of people had received a brand new Skinwalker armor.

    "Thanks for letting us spectate, Lith." Quy said. "As a fellow Forgemaster, you¡¯ve no idea what it means to me seeing what a mage with a tower can achieve. On top of that, I never witnessed an Awakened Forgemastery and I¡¯m curious to see how different it is from my own."

    "You¡¯re wee, Quy. It¡¯s not like you can learn anything from this demonstration. Solus and I have already determined which runes we¡¯ll use for the enchantments, which will be engraved on the armor, and how to split different abilities among the cores.

    "Without such information, all you¡¯re in for is a light show." Lith said with a chuckle.

    "Unless you are his lovely, gorgeous big sister. Not only do I have ess to their notes, I also got one of their best prototypes of Lithwalker armor." Tista grinned from ear to ear as her clothes turned into a suit of silvery armor embedded with several magic crystals.

    It resembled Lith¡¯s hybrid form so closely that it gave everyone the impression Tista could shapeshift as well.

    "Scalewalker armor! It doesn¡¯t allow people to turn into me. That would be creepy as heck. Now stand back, please." Lith signaled them to move away as the Forgemasteringb became enveloped with a blue light that isted both him and the armor from the rest of the room.

    Thanks to Zolgrish¡¯s Forge, Lith didn¡¯t need Zekell¡¯s help to shape the armor, only his own willpower and imagination. After checking that every single detail, from the elm resembling his hybrid form to the joints being properly reinforced, the preparation phase began.

    The Adamant Forge was a block of solid metal so big that Lith could have made at least three armor and a couple of weapons out of it. Unfortunately, to do that he would have to use the Adamant in its natural state.

 Chapter 1123 Scalewalker Armor Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1123 Scalewalker Armor Part 3</h4>

    Lith shapeshifted into his hybrid form, taking a deep breath while Solus erected several barriers to protect every part of the tower from the Origin mes. The mystical fire didn¡¯t discriminate between enemies and allies, burning everything on its path, be it physical in nature or not.

    Without a proper set of protections, the amount of Origin mes necessary to purify the Adamant would damage the tower and cause a great deal of pain to Solus. Lith slowly exhaled a soft stream of Origin mes that engulfed the armor inside out.

    Ever since Lith had quit the army, he had devoted himself to learning how to control Origin mes and how to enhance their purifying ability while suppressing their destructive effect at the same time.

    Due to theck of time between all his other magical research and taking care of his personal life, he had still a long way to go before mastering them, yet Lith had already learned more than enough to tap into the full potential of Zolgrish¡¯s Forge.

    With each breath, the suit of armor that at the beginning was big enough to amodate a giant became smaller and thinner. Along with the impurities, the Forge would lose mass and shrink ordingly.

    Instead of spewing mes non-stop, Lith would stop from time to time to check the quality of his work. This way, he wouldn¡¯t miss when the Origin mes had not spread evenly or had affected the exterior part of the armor more than the internal.

    Such mistakes would havepromised the quality of the final product if not for Zolgrish¡¯s mastery over metalsmithing. All Lith had to do to fix the ws in his job was to shapeshift the armor again so that it would restore its original proportions.

    ¡¯It¡¯s as boring as watching paint dry, but Lith has no other way to purify the armor and study Origin mes at the same time.¡¯ Tista said to the others via a mind, to not disturb his focus.

    Nalrond and the Ernas found the process far from boring. Under Lith¡¯s control, the mystical mes danced around the Adamant and seeped into it, moving akin to a living being, sometimes even giving the spectators the impression to see visions of primordial times, back when Mogar was still ava.

    Lith used his willpower to adjust the density of the Origin mes, changing their temperature when necessary and with it their color. Tista found the purification process boring because she had seen it countless times whereas to anyone else it looked like a ck Dragon dancing with fire fairies.

    ¡¯Either I find a way to get Zolgrish to spill the beans about how he can make metal shapeshift, or I¡¯ll have to practice a lot to avoid making so many mistakes.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯We can do both things. Yet I¡¯d like to point out how this is the first time we¡¯re working on Adamant so I¡¯d say that you¡¯re doing a wonderful job. As I would say, progress, not perfection. As Kam would say, you¡¯re an idiot.¡¯ Solus giggled.

    Lith hated when both the most important women in his life agreed on something because it usually meant he was dead wrong.

    ¡¯I¡¯m never wrong. Being wrong is for idiots- May Marie Curie forgive me, I¡¯m starting to sound like Manohar!¡¯ The terror the thought inspired made Lith stop whining and return focusing on the task at hand.

    By the time Lith had finished purifying the suit of armor to perfection, the mass of metal had been reduced to the point of having the proper density and size to cover Lith¡¯s hybrid form while having a bit of metal to spare.

    Lith used it to reinforce the joints and made sure that they properly distributed the weight of the armor. The final result left even Solus in awe.

    "By my maker, Lith, check the armor with Invigoration." The metal looked like the purest and most polished silver yet some part of it perfectly reflected the light, while otherspletely absorbed it.

    "Fuck me sideways! Guys, you must see this." Lith said, causing Nalrond to swear.

    "I¡¯ve got no Invigoration nor a wand. Care to borate for me?" Despite the Rezar had worked hard to be less edgy, he still resented Mogar for not giving him a shred of Spirit Magic.

    Nalrond was the only one in the group incapable of using Forgemastering spells and it made him feel like an outcast.

    "This is how a purified Orichalcum armor looks through Invigoration." Solus used the tower¡¯s abilities to project a hologram where the world energy seeped and spread evenly inside the metal.

    "This, instead, is how the purified Adamant looks like." The hologram changed, showing several vortexes where the world energy umted inside the armor, but failed to condense enough to form a proper energy core.

    "After being treated with Origin mes, the metal almost behaves like Davross. s, almost is not enough." Solus sighed.

    "Indeed." Lith pondered on the discovery. "We can say that Orichalcum is akin to a cyan core and Adamant to a blue core. After refining the core to bright blue with Origin mes, I brought it close to the violet level of the Davross, but that¡¯s it."

    "That¡¯s it my shiny ass!" Solus said. "This means the armor will be much more powerful than we expected but also that crafting it will be much more difficult. Luckily, we have valiant helpers."

    Solus made chairs and tonics appear for everyone.

    "You can count on me. Just tell me what I need to do." Phloria said.

    "I¡¯ll need you to fuel a few things with your mana, leaving Solus free to help me in the most crucial moments." Lith said, handing to everyone a copy of the academy spell necessary to conjure world energy inside a magic circle.

    The spell was simple enough that even Nalrond who had studied fake magic from Lith¡¯s academy book, managed to learn it at a first nce. The others had no need for it since their experience with Forgemastering made the spell second nature to them.

    After making sure that the purified Adamant couldn¡¯t be further improved withoutpromising its stability, Lith took seven violet mana crystals out of his pocket dimension and cast the Bonding spell.

    Each gemstone was as big as his fist and cut to resemble a diamond. After spending thest few months in the tower mines, the purity of the mana crystals that Orion had gifted Lith for saving his daughters had further increased, but they still didn¡¯t have a tinge of white in them.

    Lith had chosen to use Orion¡¯s crystals rather than the orc shaman¡¯s because not only had it reached a shade of violet so bright that it made him hope for the best, but also because its size allowed it to spawn new violet crystals more easilypared to smaller gemstones.

    ¡¯Another w in my original design of the Skinwalker armor is that I kept using a single crystal. Normal Skinwalker armor are made of cloth, while mine is made of metal. To tap into the Adamant¡¯s ability to boost its own defensive properties when imbued with mana, the armor needs a proper energy source.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The armor started to float in mid-air while the seven gemstones followed its every movement, orbiting around the armor likes with their sun.

 Chapter 1124 Scalewalker Armor Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1124 Scalewalker Armor Part 4</h4>

    The Bonding spell produced several blue threads made of pure mana that passed through the crystals and the armor over and over again.

    With each passage, the crystals closed in the armor until they touched its surface. The metal seemed to turn liquid, offering no resistance to the gemstones that sunk in until only their top remained visible.

    Bonding was one of the many Forgemastering spells created by fake mages that employed the best next thing to Spirit Magic. Each blue strand worked as both a mana IV that allowed the energy from the crystal to seep into the metal, preventing its rejection, and as stitches, keeping the two together until the end of the process.

    Lith took such effects for granted, whereas Nalrond had focused his studies on such branches of Forgemastering in the hope of unlocking Spirit Magic.

    Lith ced the seven gemstones in pairs, on the shoulders, arms, and hips of the armor, leaving the seventh for the neck area. Being Bonded at the same time, the crystals created a collective mana circtory system that spread evenly throughout the whole armor.

    "Isn¡¯t it too much? I get that you are strong, little brother, but seven violet crystals are a tough cookie to infuse anything with even a single spell." Tista asked.

    As long as Lith didn¡¯t need her help, Solus kept projecting the hologram of how the Scalewalker armor appeared on mana sense to allow the others to better follow the enchanting procedure.

    "In any other circumstances, you would be right. With my old skill, it would have been impossible, but that¡¯s what Runesmithing is for." Lith replied while drawing several strings of mystical runes in the air.

    The first set of his choosing seeped inside the armor, bringing with it Lith¡¯s energy signature. The mana from the runes and the world energy released by the crystals slowly merged together until they couldn¡¯t be distinguished anymore.

    To reduce the rejection of his mana, Lith had poured in the set of runes so much energy that he needed to use Invigoration before moving on to the second set.

    "At this point, a Forgemaster would need to take a break and, without Runesmithing, it would be too long a time for the incantation to seed." Quy exined to Nalrond.

    "The good thing of the preparatory phase is that there is no rush, allowing even us fake mages who are unable to quickly restore our energy to split the process into smaller steps."

    The following six sets of runes required much less focus and energy, yet Lith had to use Invigoration two more times to engrave them.

    The second set amplified the strength of the pseudo cores while the third set would disperse the excess energy during an all-out fight. Together, they would allow the Adamant to better channel the energy that the enchantments would release and reduce the stress that the boosted pseudo cores would experience.

    Even with the mana circtory system, holding too many powerful spells would otherwise weaken the metal over time and cause the imbued cores a mana overload.

    The fourth set of runes would allow the armor to replenish its energy reserves faster than normal. The runes absorbed the surrounding world energy and would aid the mana crystals to empower the pseudo cores once put in their ce.

    The fifth and the sixth set would respectively absorb part of the kic and magical energy that would hit the armor during a fight, turning them into a protective energy field.

    The seventh andst set would cloak both the pseudo cores and the rune formations, making it impossible for any regr Forgemaster to study them.

    From hisst trade with Orion, Lith had learned how to protect his secrets. Phloria¡¯s father had given him a true masterpiece like War, but had made sure that no one, not even Lith could reproduce it whereas the workings behind Lith¡¯s Skinwalker had been easily unraveled.

    Once he was done with the runes, Lith took a tonic and a short break to save as much Invigoration as he could before the enchantment process started. He took all the ingredients he needed out of his pocket dimension, studying them carefully.

    A normal Skinwalker armor needed four pseudo cores, but his Scalewalker armor had to do better than that. Lith prepared the pelt of a polymorphic monster species known as a Skinwalker that would give the armor its morphing abilities.

    Then, a few Hydra¡¯s scales gently offered by Faluel that would improve the hardness of the metal while keeping it flexible.

    Also, he set a bowl of slime goop to use it as a stabilizer during the various Forgemastering steps, a petal of the Golden Phoenix flower that the dryads had gifted him years ago, and a Thunderbird¡¯s plume to boost the base material¡¯s defensive properties.

    Thunderbirds had sturdy feathers as hard as iron, and their affinity to lightning granted them a natural electromaic field capable of weakening most attacks.

    Thest ingredients to Forgemaster a Scalewalker Armor were the pseudo core of a dimensional item to store the clothes that the armor would reproduce and a pseudo core holding the matrix of the Full Guard spell.

    ¡¯Solus¡¯s help usually makes such spell useless to me, but now that she¡¯s regaining her body, I can¡¯t force her to sacrifice her personal life just to act as my bodyguard in the case I¡¯m attacked.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯By imbuing Full Guard into the armor, I will remove its cast time and the need to focus to keep the spell active during a fight. My only regret is that the aura will be visible, but adding gold to cloak it would weaken the Adamant and make the process even harder.

    ¡¯If I had more than one Forge, I could make a recon armor and a battle armor, but since I¡¯m no spy, the battle version takes priority.¡¯

    After a light meal and some rest brought Lith back to his peak condition, he refined the ingredients. The process required to channel his mana inside each one of them, enhancing their magical properties while destroying their physical forms.

    In the past, Lith would use the released energy to form pseudo cores but now he knew better. He let the energy from the Skinwalker pelt and the Hydra¡¯s scales to merge with his mana, forming the runes of his choice before assembling them into pseudo cores.

    "By the Great Mother!" The spectators looked with awe at the two rainbow-colored spheres in front of their eyes that were so simr yet so different.

    The Skinwalker¡¯s ability to shapeshift made it capable of changing colors as well, giving its pseudo core a dull light. The power of all seven elements filled Faluel¡¯s scales, instead, making the resulting pseudo core emit a vibrant light as it absorbed world energy and split into itsponents.

    Lith sighed while looking at the Golden Phoenix petal before burning it with his mana. Each flower was a priceless treasure and he had only a few left. The petal produced a string of fiery runes that assembled to form what would be the Scalewalker armor power core.

    Powerful enchantments and runes needed Lith¡¯s mana to work whereas crystals could provide the armor solely with world energy.

    The power core would not only fuel all enchantments, but also hold the other pseudo cores together, keep them from shing with each other, and turn the world energy into mana bearing Lith¡¯s energy signature.

 Chapter 1125 A Forgemasterâ€™s Pride Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1125 A Forgemaster¡¯s Pride Part 1</h4>

    The plume of the Thunderbird produced a yellow pseudo core that wasprised of pure air element. The static discharges that the golden orb emitted became less and less frequent as Lith rewrote part of its natural runes, to make it more stable.

    ¡¯All the runes rted to the emission of electricity are a waste of mana. I only need those that create the protective maic field to boost the Scalewalker armor¡¯s defense.¡¯ Lith thought.

    As for the pseudo core of the dimensional item and the spell matrix of Full Guard, Lith knew them so well that he needed but a thought to form them.

    Then, he merged the five cores together, using the slime good from time to time to reduce the rejection effect that the different energies caused. Slimes were incredible creatures with amazing vitality and capable of adapting to any environment.

    Once dispersed inside the Forgemastering spell, the goop produced a fine mist that saturated the five pseudo cores and harmonized their magical wavelength, allowing Lith to make them ovep with minimal effort.

    "Solus!" Lith said.

    "On it!" Solus redirected part of the world energy coursing through the tower to form a blue circle of light that engulfed the Adamant armor and the pseudo core that started to orbit around each other.

    Violent arcs sparked between them as the world energy from the Adamant flowed into the pseudo core¡¯s mana and vice versa. The arcs soon stabilized, forming a cycle that made matter and energy resonate with each other.

    Lith took out his Orichalcum hammer, now reforged with runes and a violet crystal while Solus wielded her own and charged both hammers with world energy.

    "Guys, the moment Solus starts helping me, I need you to take over the circle. She already did most of the work, you only have to keep it stable and fueled. Tista, Phloria, be ready to use Invigoration on yourself or the others as soon as they need it.

    "I have only one shot at this so let¡¯s make it count!" Lith didn¡¯t wait for an answer and struck at the pseudo core with his hammer, using thebined effect of the mana in his body and that stored inside the hammer to force the armor to ept the foreign energy.

    The strike released a pulse of blue light so violent that it almost knocked everyone but Tista off their feet. She knew how Lith worked and had braced for impact while the others had never witnessed anything like that.

    ¡¯It will be like that every time one of the hammers hits. Keep channeling world energy or the following sts will destabilize the circle.¡¯ Tista said via the mind link.

    ¡¯Thanks for warning us in time!¡¯ The others would have liked to give Tista a piece of their mind, but the moment they saw Solus move her hand they focused solely on their duty.

    Ever since Solus had gained a deep cyan mana core, her strength had improved by leaps and bounds. Yet even with the help of Runesmithing, she stillcked the mana necessary to ovee the resistance that the Adamant offered.

    While Lith took care of merging the armor and the core with his superior might, she fixed all the imperfections that the process caused in the pseudo core with her finer mana control.

    The technique allowed them to both improve their chance of sess and to greatly reduce the time that each Forgemastering process required. Wielding such powerful energy took a great toll on both of them and needed a constant use of Invigoration.

    Time was of the essence because the more Lith used Invigoration, the less effective it became. The hammer blows flowed into each other in a symphony of silvery ngs, producing a raging storm of blue light.

    With each hit of Lith¡¯s hammer, the pseudo core would go deeper inside the armor, but the world energy that coursed through the Adamant opposed to the process with such strength that it caused deformations in the core,promising the integrity of the spells it held.

    With each hit of Solus¡¯s hammer, the bumps and indenture from the previous sh would disappear, shaping the pseudo core into a perfect sphere again. She had to make sure to preserve and fix all five cores at the same time so that they could withstand Lith¡¯s working.

    During that time, Lith replenished his body with mana and injected part of it through the runes. That way, the energying from the armor couldn¡¯t mess with Solus¡¯s work due to being temporarily synched with their energy signature.

    Lith and Solusplemented each other, allowing them to focus solely on their respective task without the fear of any external variable. Theirbined Forgemastering technique not only required the power that only a mage tower could provide, but also two mages to work as one.

    By the time the Scalewalker armor wasplete, Lith was running on fumes and Solus had to give up on her energy form to keep the tower from copsing.

    "I think that congrattions are in order, little brother." Tista said amid pants. "Your work looks like a masterpiece."

    "Yeah, but I expect to be properlypensated." Nalrondid on the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Without us, you would¡¯ve never seeded."

    "Do you really think I allowed you guys to spectate just out of the goodness of my heart?" Lith replied with a sneer. "We never worked on Adamant before and I assumed that we might encounter several unexpectedplications.

    "Based on my experience, however, it should have been nothing that a squad of powerful mages, most of whom practice Forgemastery at that, couldn¡¯t solve. Worst case scenario, Solus would have focused on keeping the process on hold while we brainstormed the issue."

    "You sure know how to make your friends feel appreciated." Friya said. "Does your brilliant contingency n involve a good meal? Because I¡¯m starving."

    "My n involves all the food and drinks you can eat plus the time for a hot shower. Every time I push myself to my limits, I sweat bullets and I can¡¯t appreciate a good meal while smelling like a wet dog." Lith said.

    Everyone went to their respective room, reying the Forgemastering procedure in their heads while pondering if they might be able to do the same. Soon, they all came to the same conclusion.

    ¡¯No matter what I do, it¡¯s impossible. I would need to have several powerful mages to rece the mage tower in the process of conjuring and fine-tuning such a huge amount of world energy.

    ¡¯On top of that, with Solus¡¯s help, Lith can exceed the limits of his mana core, crafting items that go beyond what a bright blue core can do. I wonder if Orion/Dad has a violet core.¡¯ They thought almost in unison.

    The more they thought about it, the more everything seemed unfair, tainting admiration with a fair share of envy. Being friends, however, instead of ruminating such thoughts behind Lith¡¯s back, they told him to his face.

    "Sure it must be nice having both a mage tower and Origin mes. That¡¯s the same as cheating since not even Dad can purify metals with such ease." Quy said, expressing the grievance of every single Forgemaster on Mogar.

    "Indeed. Meeting Solus saved my life in more than one way and provided me with the best partner I could ask for." Lith had no problems admitting they were right.

 Chapter 1126 A Forgemasterâ€™s Pride Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1126 A Forgemaster¡¯s Pride Part 2</h4>

    His heartfelt words made Solus so happy that she didn¡¯t mind skipping the meal due to the inability to assume her human form. The light wisp snuggled against his head like a small bird.

    "As for my hybrid form, it messes with my love life and makes me a monster, but at least ites with some perks. Right, Phloria?" Lith looked her in the eyes, making most of her envy and that of their sisters melt like snow under the summer sun.

    During happy circumstances, it was easy to forget that such blessings were actually a double-edged sword. Over the past few months, Phloria hade to terms with Solus¡¯s existence and didn¡¯t resent Lith anymore for keeping his other half a secret.

    Yet she stillcked the courage to ask some important questions like what part Solus had yed in their past rtionship and how much of it she had shared. The uncertainty still made it awkward for Phloria to remain alone with Lith.

    ¡¯There is no way to ask them if we ever had some kind of threesome. Just thinking about how they shared their mind and Lith¡¯s body is embarrassing enough, let alone asking details of their arrangements about intimacy.¡¯ She thought.

    Later, while the others rested inside the tower, Lith went to Faluel¡¯sir to ask her opinion about his work and understand how safe his secrets were.

    "By the Great Mother, it must be nice having free ess to Origin mes. Can you do the same thing for me?" Faluel didn¡¯t know about the tower, but she could recognize perfectly purified Adamant when she saw it.

    The ck and white shades of the metal that made it simr to Davross were hard to miss.

    "Yes and no. Yes, I can but no, I can¡¯t assure you the same quality in the final product." Lith then exined to her the peculiar Forge he had employed and his current limits.

    "Goddam Liches." The Hydra had yet to meet Zolgrish, yet she couldn¡¯t stand him already. "They already have the best stuff and usually it¡¯s because they have more meat on their bones than morals in their head."

    "That said, don¡¯t worry about it. My forges don¡¯t shapeshift, but I know how to handle Adamant. We¡¯ll just have to alternate melting and purifying to keep the metal¡¯sposition bnced."

    "What do you think of my Scalewalker armor and how is the cloaking of my workings?" Lith asked.

    "I think that technically, producing such a powerful piece with a blue core is impossible. The crafting is a bit rough and the enchantments could have been bnced better, but it¡¯s still an impressive work for someone without a legacy.

    "As for the cloaking, you gave the standard runes a good spin of your own. If you weren¡¯t my apprentice and I had no idea of how you work, I would¡¯ve had a hard time studying your armor.

    "I like how you used my scales to enhance the armor¡¯s ability to deflect impacts rather than just hardening it. Professor Wanemyre is right, you¡¯re truly talented for Forgemastery." Faluel said after thoroughly studying the armor.

    "Thanks. Did we make the right choice in crafting an armor rather than a weapon?" Lith asked.

    "Most certainly. I don¡¯t know how you made the Scalewalker armor just like I don¡¯t know how this Orion made War. Yet while I¡¯m certain that I can make something much better than your piece if I give it my all, crafting a better de would be a challenge.

    "On top of that, even if I managed to match War¡¯s power, my piece would stillck the pseudo conscience that Orion¡¯s feelings imbued the sword with and the abilities thate with it.

    "Unless you have lots of money and materials tomission a masterpiece to someone even better than I am, crafting an armor was the perfect choice. It allowed you to experience working with Adamant and to put your technique to the test against the second most powerful metal on Mogar.

    "To be honest, I¡¯m surprised you seeded at your first attempt and a bit disappointed that you didn¡¯te to me for help. Right now, your Forgemastering technique has few secrets to me, and sharing them would have been a small price to pay to not waste the only Adamant Forge in your possession." Faluel said.

    ¡¯Which means that either those secrets are truly valuable and likely to be rted with Solus¡¯s powers or that Lith¡¯s pride is so big that it clouded his judgment. He doesn¡¯t seem the arrogant type.

    ¡¯Lith has never hesitated to ask for my help in the past so I bet that his Forgemastering prowess is somehow rted to Solus. Gods, I wish he trusted me a little more. No matter what she is, Solus is my apprentice as well. I would never hurt either of them.¡¯ She thought.

    Lith had pondered a lot about asking Faluel¡¯s help for the Forge, but doing it would have meant to give up on the tower¡¯s world energy and the dual hammering technique.

    He had decided to try on his own not because of blind pride, but to gain precious experience. No one could teach Lith how to master the tower¡¯s abilities, it was something he had to do on his own.

    No matter if the experiment seeded or failed, understanding the limits that he and Solus had while in the tower came first. It would influence the way they developed their Forgemastering techniques and determine the heights they could reach.

    Lith didn¡¯t ask Faluel¡¯s help because he had gambled on their skills and on the help of those he already had entrusted with the secret of the tower. Despite all Faluel¡¯s nice words, she was still a Dragon and a Forgemaster at that.

    Lith believed that, after reaching the limits of their talents, any sane mage would kill to get their hands on Menadion¡¯s legacy.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor Faluel, but few or not, those secrets are still important to me and I don¡¯t share them lightly. On top of that, I¡¯ve often learned more from my failures than from my sesses. I don¡¯t want to be as good as you, I want to surpass you.

    "If I start relying on you to forge my most powerful pieces, I¡¯ll never grow out of your shadow." Lith said.

    "Don¡¯t set the bar so low." Faluel felt ttered by those words and gave him a warm smile. "I¡¯m just a good Forgemaster. You should aim for someone like Menadion or Bytra, like I do. Surpassing my father was nothing but a stepping stone.

    "We must aim to be Rulers of the mes. They were Forgemasters so powerful that even the crumbs of knowledge they decided to share with the rest of Mogar allowed the Forgemastering art to reach new heights."

    "My bar is not low." Lith shook his head.

    "If you are just a good Forgemaster, then so is Orion and I¡¯m less than mediocre. I know Menadion and Bytra just by name. There are none of their creations that I can study whereas you show me marvels on a daily basis.

    "Your skills are the real deal and your teachings have allowed me to master Adamant on the first try. I will always be grateful to you for all that."

 Chapter 1127 Plots and Schemes Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1127 Plots and Schemes Part 1</h4>

    Lith stood up and gave Faluel a deep bow that she epted with a graceful nod of her head.

    "Then I hope that my next request doesn¡¯te out as rude as it sounds to my own ears." She said with a sigh.

    "What do you need?" Lith asked.

    "Information. I have heard a lot about you from Scarlett and Protector, but you¡¯ve never told me about yourself. As you know, I¡¯m soon going to ask you to prove your wisdom. Wisdom is not intelligence, there is no clear-cut test for it.

    "What¡¯s wise for some, others might consider it foolish. To give you a mission on which we think alike, I need to know you better. I want you to tell me about your life, your goals, your ideals, everything you think I should know about you." Faluel said.

    "This might take a while." Lith sighed.

    Faluel conjured twofortable armchairs, hot tea, and plenty of pastries. The Hydra did all she could to put him at ease yet Lith needed two cups of tea before opening up to her.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Xedros the Wyvern¡¯sir.

    The First Wyvern lived on the top of the Golden Crown mountain, near the south border of the Ker region. It was a peak so high that it was always surrounded by clouds that, whenever there was a storm, thunders would paint its ciers a golden color, giving the mountain its name.

    Xedros¡¯s cave was hidden by a thick cloudyer generated by one of the many protective arrays that the Beast Lord of the Region had set around his home, yet such trick couldn¡¯t hinder the foresight of the Eyes of Menadion.

    Usually, the mana imbued within the mystical clouds would keep techniques like Life Vision from finding the entrance to their, but to Scarlett the Scorpicore¡¯s pince-nez the entirety of the underground cave system appeared as clear as the day even while she still looked at it from outside.

    Xedros was much older than her and allegedly the best Light Master in the Griffon Kingdom. The Scorpicore hade to him looking for answers, yet what she saw raised even more questions.

    ¡¯Even though Xedros is known to be more a trickster than a deceiver, I can¡¯t trust him. I¡¯m not even a lesser Dragon so his greed might get the better of his sympathy.¡¯ Scarlett thought.

    She took her Council amulet out of her dimensional item and informed several of her friends about her position. That way, if anything happened to Scarlett, her disappearance wouldn¡¯t go unnoticed.

    She grinned at the sight of Xedros snarling in contempt while looking at her via his surveince system, unaware that the Eyes of Menadion allowed her to do the same. Scarlett kept her Emperor Beast form that rivaled that of the Hydra in both physical might and aerial maneuverability.

    "What do you want?" Xedros¡¯s voice held no warmth as he replied to the unexpected visitor knocking on his array.

    "Nice to meet you too, Xedros. We need to talk about Council business." After a few seconds with no answer, she added:

    "Are you going to open the door, or do you want me to call Fe?" Mentioning the name of the Behemoth leader of the beast Council struck more than one nerve.

    Xedros considered himself a Dragon and as such, he held in contempt all other species of Emperor Beasts. Yet the ones he hated the most were those who came from a Guardian¡¯s bloodline as well.

    The idea that a lesser Griffon had beaten him, taking the throne that was rightfully his, still haunted Xedros¡¯s dreams. The defeat had been both political and physical since after losing the election, Xedros had challenged her to a duel.

    The Behemoth had pummelled him so long and so hard that only Tyris¡¯s punch dwarfed the memory of that pain. Just like Drakescked Origin mes, Behemoths didn¡¯t inherit Tyris¡¯s Life Maelstrom, but they shared the full physical might of their parent.

    The idea that both mother and daughter had easily bested him, had deeply hurt Xedros¡¯s pride, making him even doubt for an entire day that lesser Griffons were inferior to lesser Dragons.

    After that, he had recovered from the sad hungover and swore to never drink again.

    The array disappeared and the rocks blocking her way became ethereal as the Wyvern emitted a low growl in reply.

    "What do you want, cat?" Xedros said while looking down on her from his golden throne ced on top of a mountain of gold coins.

    Now that he had fully recovered from the wound that Tyris had inflicted him almost two years ago, the Wyvern didn¡¯t hesitate to showcase his riches and artifacts to belittle the unwanted guests.

    If the creature stood on hind legs, Xedros would have been over five (16¡¯5") meters tall, with his long neck taking a quarter of his height and ending into a long reptile snout as big as a barrel.

    His tail was about 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") long, ending with a thick bone spike that resembled the sting of a giant wasp. Two golden membranous wings extended from his forelegs, connecting his little fingers to his hips.

    The wings were a few shades palerpared to the scales that covered Xedros¡¯s upper body and made the Wyvern shine like a masterfully cut gemstone under the mystical lights illuminating the cave.

    The raw splendor of the Emperor Beast was further emphasized by the shining mass of wealth beneath him, making most of his visitor cower I fear at the sight of their host.

    Unfortunately for Xedros, the Scorpicore wasn¡¯t one of them.

    Scarlett was unfazed by his theatrics. Her eyes wandered along the room, allowing Menadion¡¯s Eyes to count the coins and appraise the artifacts.

    ¡¯I really hope I¡¯m the one nearest to hisir when this guy loses it and gets himself killed. I could renovate mybs with all the gold and tinum that he pointlessly hoards.¡¯ She thought.

    "You are still as tacky as always, lizard." His insult rolled off Scarlett who wasn¡¯t ashamed of her upbringing as amon house cat whereas her words struck at the Wyvern¡¯s ego like a meteor.

    "I¡¯m not a lizard, I¡¯m a Wyvern!" Xedros¡¯s roar made the cave tremble and several coins fell from the top of their piles, producing a jingle.

    "Leegaain was a lizard and you are Leegaain¡¯s offspring, hence you¡¯re a lizard as much as I¡¯m a cat." She replied.

    "What do you want, cat?" Xedros couldn¡¯t argue her logic, only curse at the Father of All Dragons for being obnoxiously open about his origins.

    "In case you haven¡¯t noticed, the beasts are now at war with the undead. I¡¯m here because you never answered the Council¡¯s call and because since we¡¯re fellow Light Masters, I could use your advice." Scarlett said.

    "I didn¡¯t answer because I¡¯m not interested. There¡¯s nothing to gain from this war. On top of that, I¡¯ve already my hands full with my beloved apprentice." Xedros¡¯s lips curled up in a cruel grin, making Scarlett shudder.

    "What do you mean, you¡¯re not interested? They attacked one of your precious Wyrmlings and you gave Lith your word to help him." Scarlett said.

    "I upheld my end of our bargain by supporting his plea to be part of our Council. It is him who betrayed me!" Xedros hissed with fury.

 Chapter 1128 Plots and Schemes Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1128 Plots and Schemes Part 2</h4>

    "That traitorous fake Dragon promised to call me in the case he faced a Horseman, yet he kept Night for himself. He called Faluel instead of me because shecks the guts to merge with a powerful relic. Isn¡¯t one omni pocket enough for that bastard?"

    Actually, Lith had promised to call the Wyvern if he met Dawn again. With his family at stake, Lith had called only those he knew that would focus on killing the Horseman rather than worrying about taking her alive.

    "An omni pocket?" Scarlett was bbergasted.

    Back when she had met Solus, she had a yellow core, making the Scorpicore assume that a cursed object that weak had to be some kind of failure. Yet only the most powerful artifacts, like Baba Yaga¡¯s Horsemen, possessed an omni pocket.

    Suddenly, Lith defeating Dawn didn¡¯t seem impossible anymore.

    "Hi, aunt Scarlett. Long time no see." Sedra, Faluel¡¯s youngest son and Xedros¡¯s apprentice, said.

    The young Hydra was now over six meters (20¡¯) tall, with three fully developed heads and judging from the space between the necks, a fourth was about to grow.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t the sudden development that Sedra had undergone during the past year that turned Scarlett¡¯s shock into outrage so much as the sight of his blue core now Awakened.

    "By the Great Mother, Sedra, I always knew you weren¡¯t as smart as you thought, but I would¡¯ve never guessed you could be this stupid!" Scarlett roared at the Wyvern while spreading her wings in an act of defiance.

    Xedros inwardly gloated, hoping that the Scorpicore would be so stupid as to attack him inside his own home while surrounded by enough arrays to take down a small battalion of Awakened.

    "What do you mean, stupid? Unlike you and my mother, Master Xedros recognized my talent at first sight. He Awakened me right after taking me in as his disciple and since then I¡¯ve grown stronger than you can possibly imagine."

    The eyes of Sedra¡¯s three heads glowed each with a different color, showing the early signs of Dominance.

    "No, you idiot, he turned you into a ve! For the next one hundred years you belong to him and even your mother can¡¯t oppose his judgment. The reason why no one offers their apprentice to be Awakened right off the bat is that anyone with half a brain would refuse." Scarlett said.

    "That¡¯s not true, that Lith-" Sedra attempted to say.

    "Lith was already Awakened, you moron. Your mother only judges him as a member of the Council, but she has no power over his right to live. If she kicks Lith out, he can ask another Emperor Beast to take him in whereas if Xedros kicks you out, you¡¯re dead." Scarlett cut him short.

    "M-Master Xedros would never do such a thing! He even offered me to be his Harbinger and teach me the secrets of Light Mastery." Sedra tried to sound confident, but he stuttered the entire phrase.

    "Why shouldn¡¯t he? That way, Xedros gets a permanent ve who cannot disobey any order nor hide anything from him, including all the powers of your bloodline, you moron!" Sedra¡¯s stupidity kept shocking Scarlett to the bone.

    "Why do you think your mother never taught you anything? Because secrets can be stolen and entire legacies can be squandered by a single idiot who unts their techniques just to look good."

    Sedra¡¯s three mouths opened and closed several times as he tried to find a single fault in her logic, yet no word came out. For once, his tongues remained as still as his brain. The young Hydra turned to the Wyvern who didn¡¯t even bother denying Scarlett¡¯s allegations.

    "Rx, child. One hundred years goes by pretty fast. Either you decide to be my Harbinger or not, you have my word that as long as you behave, I¡¯ll let you get out of here alive." Xedros said.

    Sedra shuddered at those words, d for the first time in his life to be as ignorant as he was foolish. Xedros was going to squeeze everything he knew and that meant that Hydras would likely mark Sedra as a traitor and kill him the moment his apprenticeship ended.

    The Wyvern had forced him into a corner, leaving him no choice but submission. All other roads led the young Hydra to awful death either at the hand of his master for attempting to escape or at the hand of his kin for his stupidity.

    "As for you, cat, if you want my help I expect to be properlypensated. I would love to ask you for Menadion¡¯s Eyes, but only death can remove your imprint." Xedros sounded truly sad as he expressed his inability to kill Scarlett and get away with it.

    "Yet we can stille to a deal. Tell me where to find another piece of Menadion¡¯s set or find me an ownerless working omni pocket. Either of them will buy you all lessons about Light Mastery you might ever need and even the release of this moron from my service."

    Council¡¯sw allowed to pass a disciple to another master, but only if all parties agreed.

    "Are you really that ignorant?" Scarlett scoffed. "There is no such thing as Menadion¡¯s set. She crafted each one of those pieces to help her best disciples to ovee their limits and kept only the Fury for herself.

    "After her death, her apprentices scattered throughout Mogar to hide from the monster who had stolen the Fury, fearing that the creature woulde for them as well. No one knows where they went. Even I found the Eyes by chance." Scarlett said.

    "I don¡¯t care how hard it is to find them, those are my conditions. Of course, feel free to tell Faluel that in the case her disciple has an ident, I¡¯m willing to trade her son for his omni pocket.

    "As for our esteemed leader, tell Fe that I¡¯m not going to participate in your battle against the undead until she gives me her reassurance that the beast Council will oppose the motion that would allow the Abominations to join us as peers.

    "Those bastards have always treated us as food, killing most of my most promising heirs! If not for them, I would have already found a way to evolve into a Dragon with my children¡¯s help."

    Xedros couldn¡¯t forgive Xenagrosh for restoring her Dragon form after willingly abandoning it nor the Master for having led his son Gadorf on the path of forbidden magic.

    Xedros firmly believed that the end justified the means, but to him, feeding upon the mana of inferior races was an unforgivable act. The First Wyvern had been d to hear about Gadorf¡¯s death. He considered it a fitting punishment for tainting his bloodline.

    The idea to agree with Xedros on any subject caused Scarlett such a disgust that, for a moment, she reconsidered her position. Yet he was right, letting the Abominations join the Council was too dangerous.

    No one had listened to Scarlett back when she had petitioned to take action against the Master, considering him like nothing but another madman. Now that his Abomination hybrids had proved to be capable of taking Baba Yaga head-on, the elders of the Council were torn between fear and hope.

    Fear that by trading knowledge and resources with the Awakened, the Abominations would be unstoppable. Hope that between Bytra¡¯s crafts and the might of the hybrids, fake mages could no longer threaten the Awakened¡¯s supremacy.

 Chapter 1129 Thinking Ahead Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1129 Thinking Ahead Part 1</h4>

    "I¡¯ll let Fe know." Scarlett turned around to leave, but Sedra stopped her.

    "Aunt Scarlett, please, don¡¯t abandon me here."

    "You dug your own grave, child, I can only hope you find itfortable." She said with a stone face and a t voice.

    Scarlett¡¯s heart actually ached at the idea of his death. Sedra was indeed stupid, but all she could see while looking at him was the hatchling that followed her everywhere and believed to go unnoticed while hiding under her own mane.

    Yet showing any concern for him would only make Xedros raise his price. Sedra tried to speak again, but Scarlett shoved a handbook in his mouth.

    "Those are thews that regte the rtionship between a master and their apprentice. Study them as if your life depends on it, because it surely does." Scarlett said before leaving for good.

    ***

    Lustria county, Faluel¡¯sir.

    After the meeting with Lith was over, the Hydra summoned Friya to discuss her future. There was only so much that Faluel could teach her before the bond between them became too deep.

    Friya wasn¡¯t like Lith, who the Hydra helped out of friendship and curiosity, nor like Quy whose unparallel talent for light magic had helped Faluel to deepen her understanding of the elements.

    ¡¯I wish one of my children had her talent and honest passion for magic.¡¯ The more Faluel got to know her, the more she regretted Quy being a human. ¡¯Instead of just teaching her small stuff, I would make her my assistant and heir, securing the Hydra bloodline for the next generation.¡¯

    "Master Faluel, I¡¯m here as you requested." Friya entered through a dimensional array and gave the Hydra a deep bow, interrupting her train of thought.

    "Please, sit down. We have much to discuss." Faluel pointed at her thefortable armchair where Lith had been until a few minutes before.

    Friya looked at the chairs, the tea table, and the pastries before swallowing a lump of saliva. She had been expecting another long and boring lesson about Forgemastering, not the perfect setup to get the boot.

    "Did I do anything wrong?" Friya¡¯s legs refused to move, fearing that once she sat down her apprenticeship would be over.

    "Nothing of the sort." Faluel gave Friya a warm smile that failed to reassure her.

    Friya went to her chair, feeling as if the ground under her feet shook more with each step.

    "The reason I asked you toe over is that I taught you all I could withoutpromising the secrets behind my core techniques.

    "Nalrond is still teaching me Light Mastery, Lith is about to step into the next phase of his apprenticeship, and Quy has proven her usefulness by helping me improve many of my spells.

    "I still need all of them and I n to help them develop their talents whereas I don¡¯t know what to do about you." Faluel said.

    "I did everything you asked!" Friya jumped up, unable to stay seated. "During thest few months, I¡¯ve learned more about Forgemastery than most students of the academy in one year.

    "I¡¯ve shown you my ability with both pure Spirit Magic and mixing it with the other elements. I even helped you to improve the dimensional arrays of yourir! What more could I have possibly done?"

    A wave of Faluel¡¯s hand made the chair move forward, hitting Friya¡¯s knees from behind and forcing her to sit down again.

    "You are just forgetting the part where you don¡¯t like Forgemastering much and you have reached your limit with the Spirit Magic you can use with just your wand. You have my thanks for the arrays, but as the recent attack has demonstrated, dimensional magic is easily disabled." Faluel replied.

    "I really admire your talents and that¡¯s why I brought you here. I don¡¯t see you progressing much further without bing an Awakened nor do I feel right about making you my Harbinger.

    "You are a young, capable woman who should spend her time discovering what she likes and what she wants to do about her life. Bing a Harbinger is a lifelongmitment that I don¡¯t think you are ready to take.

    "You should return to your home and take your time to n your future. Do not rush things. Ask your father to find you a master who can teach you offensive spells that wouldplement your dimensional abilities, travel Mogar on your own, take part in the Court¡¯s life, your possibilities are endless."

    "Are you kicking me out?" Friya managed to say without making her voice quiver.

    "No, I¡¯m telling you that we¡¯ve reached a crossroad. One way leads you to freedom, to a long and maybe not happy life where you can do whatever you want. The other, instead, lead you to either be my Harbinger or to lose your life the moment you realize you made the wrong choice and you want to back out." Faluel replied.

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean that I¡¯m not making you my Harbinger anytime soon. You are free to stay here and receive my teachings, but your development is limited by your non Awakened state.

    "On top of that, due to the nature of our contract, you would be stuck with all the responsibilities that the position implies without any of the power. Tier four true Forgemastering is identical to that used by fake mages, but my tier five belongs to the Hydra bloodline.

    "The moment I teach you any of that, your fate is sealed." Faluel said.

    "I understand and I thank you for your concern, Master Faluel, but I¡¯ve decided to stay. My father is a busy man and the only way to be his apprentice would be to either join the Knight¡¯s Guard or be a Royal Forgemaster." Friya said.

    "Both are lifelongmitments toward a Kingdom that has failed its most loyal subjects too many times to be trusted. Life in the Royal Court is not for me. Just the idea of lying and scheming every day of my life makes me want to puke.

    "As for finding another master, after seeing what Awakened can do, the higher I would get the more I would regret not having taken the chance to tap into my full potential.

    "I¡¯m tired of feeling useless. When my mother and Yurial were dying between my arms, I would have given everything to be as good as Lith and be capable of saving them both. Down in Belin mines, I could save my life only at the price of abandoning my sisters.

    "When the undead attacked Lith¡¯s house, he didn¡¯t even consider calling me for help because I¡¯m weak. I didn¡¯t tell him, but those words hurt me more than any wound ever did.

    "I know that being weak is not a crime, but it¡¯s more than I can take. If Deirus attacks my family again, I want to be able to make the difference. I could never live with myself if I were to lose someone I love again just because I don¡¯t have the strength or skill to save them.

    "That moron, Morok, told my sister Quy some of the wisest words I ever heard. A long life is pointless if you don¡¯t have something to live for. I prefer a short life where I do what I think is right rather than spending what time I have left filled with regrets."

 Chapter 1130 Thinking Ahead Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1130 Thinking Ahead Part 2</h4>

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to take some time to mull over my words before making your final decision?" Faluel asked.

    "I¡¯ve had years to mull over my life. I don¡¯t seek the power of a Harbinger because I find any pleasure in serving you, but because it¡¯s the only path that will allow me to give my life a meaning." Friya said.

    "Excellent answer." Faluel nodded, giving Friya a wooden chest the size of a shoebox.

    "Why are you giving me a gift?" Friya opened the chest and found a heavy hammer made of Adamant wrapped inside a silk cloth.

    "That¡¯s not a gift, it¡¯s your Forgemastering hammer. I told you that my tier five magic is nothing like the academy. To learn Hydra techniques, you need a better tool than that flimsy wand." Faluel stood up and lead Friya to her personal Forge.

    ***

    Lith¡¯s tower, at the same time.

    Lith had left Faluel¡¯sir through another Warping array because the Hydra didn¡¯t want to force any of her apprentices to share with the others information about their personal life unless they wanted to.

    "How did it go?" Solus asked.

    Faluel had summoned only Lith to keep his recollection of the events of his life from being altered by Solus¡¯s perception. Like most people in his life, the Hydra had a hard time understanding where Lith finished and Solus started.

    Lith looked around, making sure that everyone was still asleep before activating their mind link and sharing with her everything that had transpired during thest few hours.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sick and tired of hearing how creepy I am.¡¯ Lith thought as his eyes turned golden and Solus¡¯s turned dark.

    "Well, that was interesting." Solus pondered what she had just learned, trying to guess what kind of mission the Hydra could assign to them.

    "How are the others?" Lith said.

    "Still dead tired. Faluel¡¯s ban on Invigoration whenever sleeping is an option sure slows things down." Solus replied.

    They spent the time until everyone woke up by practicing Light Mastery. Lith had perfected its first three tiers but he still found it difficult to shape and controlplex constructs.

    Solus, instead, was close to perfect the internal controlyer of the high tiered spells, but her constructs kept being frail.

    Nalrond had offered to exin things in detail to them and even to teach them powerful spells, but they had refused.

    Solus and Lith didn¡¯t even share their progress with each other because just by looking at their constructs, they could see that their way of using Light Mastery was different from each other just like it differed from Manohar¡¯s, Dawn¡¯s, and Nalrond¡¯s.

    They feared that byparing notes, their technique might lose its unique edge. Like all high-level disciplines, Light Mastery could develop in different ways based on its user.

    Nalrond woke up first and prepared breakfast for everyone.

    "I still don¡¯t think there is such thing as a test of wisdom." He said after hearing Lith¡¯s story.

    "I mean, whatever task she assigns to you, it would just demonstrate your ability to follow orders whereas Faluel would need a way to determine if you are capable of wielding the power that she is passing onto you without bing its ve."

    "That¡¯s what I believe as well." Lith nodded. "I¡¯m pretty sure it will be something apparently simple but actually convoluted. Like it happened when the Council had me fighting that monster, the Meneos, who is invincible as long as it touches the ground."

    "Worrying about it now it¡¯s pointless." Tista said. "You can¡¯t solve a riddle you don¡¯t know. I¡¯m more interested in hearing about Nalrond¡¯s and Quy¡¯s respective dates. What was your partner like? Do you think there will be a second date?"

    Both of them choked on their tea, burning their tongue and needing a healing spell before being able to answer.

    "My date went well, but I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll see Brina again." Nalrond said.

    "Why is that? She is a sweet girl and Rena thinks the world of her." Tista said.

    "Several reasons. First, Brina made it clear that she¡¯s looking for someone to settle down with and I¡¯m the wrong person for her. Unless I tell her about my hybrid nature, I would be ying with her feelings, but doing that wouldpromise the safety of Selia¡¯s family.

    "Everyone knows that I live with them and if Brina lets anything slip, my life with them would be over. Also, she didn¡¯t take well to discovering that I¡¯m a mage. Between the undead attack and seeing me use dimensional magic, Brina told me that my life is too exciting for her." Nalrond said.

    "I¡¯m sorry to hear she dumped you." Tista patted his shoulder.

    "She didn¡¯t dump me! Brina is just looking for someone with a lessplicated background who enjoys the quiet life of Lutia." Nalrond replied.

    "Which means that she dumped you." Friya said. "Wee to the club. Being a mage is a curse upon your social life. If you decide to be a noble, leeches will swarm you whereas if you live dangerously, everyone will treat you as a monster."

    "What about you Quy? How did Morok take you giving him the boot?" Nalrond said, eager to make people stop spreading salt on his wounds.

    "My date was a bit odd, but I didn¡¯t give Morok the boot. Yet." The room went into an uproar bigger than after Lith had revealed Solus¡¯s existence to them which irked Quy to no end.

    "What? Why?" Lith looked at her as if she was insane.

    "Maybe she got her brain hurt while practicing Shapeshifting." Friya checked Quy¡¯s life force for any sign of alteration.

    "Let me get this straight." Quy pushed her sister¡¯s hand away the moment she recognized the chant.

    "Selia is free to marry an Emperor Beast, Kam can date whatever Lith is whereas I¡¯m the crazy one just because I hang out with the only person outside my family who doesn¡¯t treat me as a freak."

    "Morok¡¯s not a person. He¡¯s an insufferable prick." Phloria said.

    "Maybe he is, but at least he¡¯s a prick who says everything to my face rather than my back and doesn¡¯t care nor for the Ernas¡¯s riches nor the difference in our magical talent. Do you know how hard it is to find someone like that?" Quy asked.

    "Almost impossible." Lith said.

    "Rarer than a golden fly." Tista sighed.

    "I¡¯ve yet to find a single one like that." Friya said, leaving Phloria in the role of the bad guy.

    "Fine, I give up. Tell us about your date." Phloria said.

    Quy didn¡¯t leave out a single detail, yet she blushed a lot while admitting her envy for Morok¡¯s achievement of the Great Mage status.

    "I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll see him again but if I do, next time spare me the theatrics."

    ***

    A few dayster, life in Lutia had gone back to normal. All the traces of the undead attack had been cleared up and Rena finally found the courage to go back to her own home.

    Selia and her children had returned to their household as soon as the reconstruction had beenpleted while Zinya needed more time to recover from the shock and so did her kids.

 Chapter 1131 Council Duty Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1131 Council Duty Part 1</h4>

    Zinya remained in the Verhen Household until Professor Vastor contacted her to apologize for his sudden disappearance. She could tell that there was something different about him even by just looking at his hologram, but she was too happy seeing him safe and sound to care for small details.

    "Mom, Dad, Kami, I¡¯m leaving in a while. Faluel has just contacted me about the details of my apprenticeship and she says that until I¡¯m done with this task, she won¡¯t teach me anything else." Lith said while ying with Aran and Leria.

    "Where are you going and how long will you stay there?" Elina asked.

    "I don¡¯t know, Mom. This isn¡¯t your usual fetch quest, but a trial of wisdom. It could take hours, days, if not even weeks." Lith shrugged.

    "What if something happens again while you¡¯re gone?" Raaz asked.

    "Well, the Beasts Council has assured me your protection and I¡¯ve got that huge Dragon¡¯s contact rune on my amulet. I¡¯m going to call her the moment I see any of your amulets be unavable so keep them always at hand." Lith said.

    "Are you going alone or does Faluel allow you to havepanions? I could ask for a leave if you need my help." Kam didn¡¯t like the idea of hearing from him only through the amulet like it happened when Lith served as a Ranger.

    She had gotten used to dine together, to listen to his snoring while falling asleep, and to him being thest thing she saw at night and the first in the morning. With her work as a Royal Constable, Kam found the routine reassuring.

    On top of that, she liked the fact that Nalrond was the only other man in the group even less. The idea of Lith spending so much time with Phloria or Friya made her stomach turn into a knot.

    "I don¡¯t know that either. Faluel only told me to pack my stuff and to be ready to leave as soon as she¡¯s done with the preparations. Which is quite odd since there is no ce in the Kingdom and beyond that I can¡¯t reach with a simple Warp Gate." Lith said.

    "I don¡¯t care about your wisdom. If something bad happens or if the test is unreasonable, get back home in one piece. It¡¯s the only thing I ask of you." Kam hugged him tight, feeling as if Lith was going in a ce where she couldn¡¯t follow him.

    "I couldn¡¯t have said it better." Elina joined them in the embrace, quickly followed by Raaz.

    "Not to be that guy, son, but have you recharged all of the house¡¯s defenses? You know, just to be safe." He said.

    "Yes, Dad. I even reced the mana crystals fueling the arrays with others bigger and of better quality. Also, I¡¯ve notified my absence to the Royals who promised to increase your detail until my return." Lith replied.

    ¡¯If pushes to shove, I can always get back here with the tower warp. Let¡¯s hope that wherever I¡¯m going there is a mana geyser nearby, otherwise I¡¯m really screwed.¡¯ He thought.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, it took Faluel hours to summon Lith to herir, calling him in the middle of the night along with only a few members of his group.

    Lith, Tista, Solus, and Phloria had received the call as well while the others had followed them only out of curiosity.

    "I know this is an odd time to hit the road, but soon everything will be clear." Faluel took three yellow-cored potions out of her dimensional item and injected their content into their bodies with Quy¡¯s spell.

    "Solus, you¡¯d better hide because this is an official mission for the Council and soon a few people will get here to help you moving."

    "What¡¯s in the potion?" Tista asked, feeling a little unwell after the administration.

    "The cure to Jiera¡¯s gue. Even though you¡¯re all Awakened, it¡¯s better not to take any chances." Faluel said while Solus quickly slipped at Lith¡¯s finger.

    "Are you really sending me to Jiera?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "No, the Council is sending all of you to Jiera. I don¡¯t know anyone on the other side of the ocean and I needed their help to arrange your journey." Faluel replied.

    "I don¡¯t speak a word of whatever Jiera¡¯snguage is called. How am I supposed tomunicate with the locals?" Lith asked.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I got that covered. Jiera became a shithole because those assholes of the Guardians on the other continent hate Tyris¡¯s guts and never introduced her universalnguage with the excuse of preserving traditions."

    Faluel couldn¡¯t believe how someone could be so ancient and yet so petty at the same time.

    "Are you saying we all speak Tyris¡¯snguage?" Phloria said.

    "Well, yeah. How do you think we achieved such a longsting peace? People have much better chances of going along when they are able to understand each other without the need of learning dozens ofnguages." Faluel nodded.

    "Who cares about thenguage? I want to know why they are allowed to go there and we¡¯re not!" Quy¡¯s thirst for knowledge knew no bounds.

    The idea of meeting a society where most people had magical powers and to have the possibility ofparing notes with countless experts made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

    "Again, this is Council business. You are no Awakened and I wouldn¡¯t even send Tista or Phloria if they didn¡¯t belong to Lith." Faluel said.

    "What do you mean, belong?" Phloria and Tista asked in unison.

    "He Awakened you, hence you¡¯re his responsibility for the next one hundred years. On top of that, you also followed Lith in his apprenticeship so he has the duty to make sure that you don¡¯t abuse advanced powers like Shapeshifting and Spirit Magic.

    "The Kings of the woods not only have a duty toward their packs and turfs, but they are also helping the Council to keep Lith¡¯s family safe whereas you have no bonds that can keep you from running away." Faluel said.

    "Is it safe for me to spectate?" Nalrond words made little sense to the others but Lith and Faluel.

    "Yes, as long as you don¡¯t do or say anything that can betray your identity. Now be quiet. We¡¯ve got guests." Faluel pointed at some blinking runes of her Warping array that had suddenly be visible to the naked eye.

    The Beasts¡¯ Gatework worked on a voluntary basis because it gave direct ess to an Emperor Beast¡¯s home. Each Warping array worked akin to amunication amulet and could be easily updated to add new contact runes.

    Such runes identified the caller and its spatial coordinates, working as a doubleyered security system. Only the Beast who owned one of such arrays could contact another and they could open a Gate only after receiving the authorization on the other end of the dimensional tunnel.

    Both parties could cut themunication off the moment they detected foul y and activate theirir¡¯s defenses against the intruders who had eventually managed to sneak in.

    This way, killing a Lord of a region also caused the destruction of their Warping terminal and even forcing them to open one would lead to a sure demise.

 Chapter 1132 Council Duty Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1132 Council Duty Part 2</h4>

    The contact rune on the Warping array belonged to Fe the Behemoth, the leader of the Beasts Council and one of Lith¡¯s biggest fans.

    As a member of the lesser Griffons, the idea of a Wyrmling sharing so many aspects inmon with true Dragons made her hope that a way to tap into their progenitors¡¯ true powers actually existed.

    She had no idea that Lith had no blood rtionship with Leegaain nor that all the amazing feats he had aplished that she attributed to a Dragon¡¯s innate abilities were actually due to his bond with Solus.

    "Looking good, kid. How is the old snake treating you?" Fe hugged Lith with so much strength that she squeezed the air out of his lungs.

    The Behemoth¡¯s original nature was that of an Emperor Beast, so her human form was just a projection of how Fe imagined she would look like if humans had decent taste in women.

    Fe looked like a woman in herte thirties, but she was actually 453 years old. She was 1.91 meters (6¡¯3") tall and had a muscr yet curvy figure that seasoned warriors and women alike envied her.

    Fe¡¯s waist-long chestnut hair had streaks of silver, ck, and orange all over, forming a multi-colored tress that reached the small of her back. She had had an oval face with delicate features, yet her bearing was usually that of a battle-hardened general.

    That day, however, by looking at how tightly she hugged Lith while ruffling his hair and kissing the top of his head, one would think she was an aunt meeting her favorite nephew after a long separation.

    Between the warm wee and the height difference, Lith really looked like a kid. To her, anyone below one hundred years of age could barely be considered a cub and she was very protective of all those she recognized as members of her kin.

    "Remember that in case you change your mind, aunt Fe has always a spot open for you among her apprentices and a few batches of Adamant that could really use purifying." She let Lith go, who was uncertain if toin about the harassment or ask some of the Adamant aspensation.

    "Elder Fe, it¡¯s nice to meet you again. Thanks for everything you are doing for my family." Lith did neither of those things and gave her a deep bow instead. In his experience, it was easier to catch Adamant by using honey rather than vinegar.

    "It¡¯s nothing, kid. You..." Only then did Fe notice that besides Faluel there were other people who were staring at her with eyes wide open and not out of respect.

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell me we would have guests?" Fe¡¯s voice became cold and her demeanor turned into that her position in the Council required, but toote for it to matter.

    "There¡¯s no we. I have guests, elder Fe, and you are among them." Faluelughed her ass off. "Besides, I wanted to introduce my other apprentices to you."

    "So, are these the members of your makeshift academy?" Fe ignored her friend¡¯sughter and sniffed the pups one by one.

    "Too many humans. I only have hopes for these two." She pointed at both Tista and Nalrond.

    "You should do like your brother and turn into a Wyrmling. He has already Awakened you so once when you transform, there should be no problem teaching you how to master Origin mes as well.

    "The gods know how hard it is to find someone capable of purifying metals for a reasonable price."

    "I¡¯ll do my best." Tista said.

    "As for you, young man, being the only true Beast in the bunch it¡¯s your duty to uphold our race¡¯s honor. Work hard and get yourself Awakened soon. Each year you stay like this means reducing your Awakened lifespan of ten years or worse."

    "Yes, ma¡¯am." Nalrond could feel her gaze piercing him and hoped the Behemoth wouldn¡¯t somehow notice that he was a hybrid as well.

    "Now be quiet, kids. Your life depends on it." Fe said, making all the remnants of her good aunt vibes disappear.

    Another rune of the array lit up and this time even Faluel lost all of her usual warmth, making everyone understand how important their next guest was.

    Or better, guests.

    The two figures who walked out of the array were the Guardian of the Griffon Kingdom and the Guardian in charge of the Council¡¯s activities. Due to their territorial nature, Leegaain couldn¡¯t step inside Tyris¡¯s turf without being invited and apanied by her.

    "How many times do I have to tell you that he¡¯s not my son?" Leegaain said in response to Fe looking at his human appearance and then at Lith in search of any resemnce.

    Leegaain had taken the appearance of a lean albino man in his mid-thirties, 1,75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with snow-white hair and skin. His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil. He was wearing ab coat over a set of pitch-ck clothes.

    "Do you realize that the more you deny it, the more you give credit to those rumors?" Tyris giggled.

    She wore the uniform of the Royal Constables and looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall. Tyris had shining gold hair braided into a tress long enough to be twisted and knotted above her head, resembling a crown and her silver eyes sparkled like stars under the magical lights in the cave.

    After meeting both Dawn and Night, Lith couldn¡¯t help but think that somehow they were rted to the Griffon Guardian. Yet while they incarnated a different aspect of the day, Tyris¡¯s hair shone like the sun and her eyes looked like twin small moons.

    ¡¯Is there a reason why Baba Yaga is called the Red Mother and Tyris is the Great Mother? Maybe the lore is wrong and Baba Yaga actually descends from Tyris or at least was her apprentice.¡¯ Lith thought.

    The two Guardians emitted such a powerful aura that all the arrays inside Faluel¡¯sir became visible and small flowers sprouted from the rocky ground.

    "I¡¯m really sorry to have failed you Captain Ernas." Tyris took Phloria¡¯s hands in her own, giving her a small bow and the Emperor Beasts a stroke.

    A Guardian bowing to a human was an unprecedented act.

    "If there¡¯s anything I can do as a Constable to help you, let me know. I also hope that once your trial is over, you¡¯ll reconsider your decision to quit the army. The Kingdom is always short of good people." Tyris said.

    "I don¡¯t me you for what happened to me, Your Majesty." Phloria¡¯s body kneeled on its own in the presence of the First Queen and founder of the Kingdom.

    "I was aware that the enemies of my family would try to destroy my career at my slightest mistake. Deirus is just one of them and even if you take him out, someone else would take his ce.

    "I¡¯m grateful to you for letting me live in a country where people determine their own destiny rather than being puppets in your hands. On top of that, even without the trial and without Deirus, it was only a matter of time before my Awakening forced me to quit the army.

    "At least this way I have no regrets nor do I have to abandon a promising career in order to face this new challenge."

    "Wise words for someone so young." Leegaain nodded.

 Chapter 1133 A Change of Scenery Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1133 A Change of Scenery Part 1</h4>

    "I¡¯m d you¡¯ll take part in this journey, young Ernas. For too long the burden of responsibility has forced you to grow while worrying about others. To achieve true power, however, one must learn to be egotistical when needed."

    Leegaain took a small wooden box out of his pocket dimension that contained four pins the size of a button.

    "I am just lending them to you so I expect to get them back upon your return." He put one pin each on Tista¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s cor of their shirt, giving the remaining two to Lith.

    "You should always remember that a hybrid counts double." Leegaain looked at Fe, but winked at Lith.

    "What the?" All three of them suddenly had a splitting headache that brought them to their knees.

    Countless words and idioms they had never heard before shed into their minds, making them speak what sounded like gibberish but actually was a mix of dozens of differentnguages.

    "A dimensional library of that size can be unpleasant at first, but you¡¯ll get used to it." Leegaain said.

    "Dimensional libraries? Do they even exist?" Friya asked.

    "Yes, child. Asking your friends to waste months to learn and practice multiplenguages that they are going to use just for a few days would be beyond cruel. Each one of those pins holds the necessary knowledge to fluently speak all thenguages on the Jiera continent." Leegaain loved seeing the thirst for knowledge burn in the eyes of youths.

    "How is that even possible? I am a dimensional mage myself and so is my teacher, but I¡¯ve never heard or even thought of such spell." Friya hogging his attention made Faluel, Fe, and Tyris scowl.

    The Emperor Beasts because they found it improper for a youngling to address a Guardian in such a casual way, and Tyris because she knew that, with the right audience, Leegaain would talk non-stop for days.

    "That¡¯s because you¡¯re a fake mage. Dimensional magic needs to be mixed with Spirit Magic to create a mind link with the storage space through aplex system like that the libraries use to index their books." Leegaain said.

    "Are you saying that you can create mind links with things as well?" Friya knew what he was talking about because the Ernas¡¯s library used a simr device.

    The thought that Spirit Magic, Forgemastery, and dimensional magic could work together in such wonderful ways reassured Friya to have made the right choice by not giving up on her apprenticeship with Faluel.

    "Now step back and stay quiet. This might be rough." A wave of Leegaain¡¯s hand made everyone get away from him, leaving him enough space to turn into his true form.

    His Dragon body now stood over thirty meters (100¡¯) tall, covered in ck scalesrger and thicker than a tower shield. Each one of his fingers looked like a pir and ended in a w bigger than an adult man.

    His colossal size made it impossible to look at him as a whole from so up close, so they could only look at one limb at a time. Leegaain had burning yellow eyes with a vertical pupil, giving him a feral look only tempered by his calm.

    He had dark bony protuberances on his head that resembled a crown, and a set of enormous membranous wings came out from his back.

    The beat of his heart sounded like war drums and each breath he took produced gales so strong that Tyris had to conjure a barrier to protect her subjects from the unrestrained might of the Father of All Dragons.

    A split secondter, the air in front of Leegaain tore apart and a dimensional tunnel as big as the entire cave appeared. On the other end of the rift, a being of simr power and appearance scoffed his contempt.

    "Took you long enough. Are you getting old or did you waste time with another of your ramblings?" Fenagar the Leviathan said.

    His serpentine bodycked humanoid limbs and was covered in pristine white scales. Fenagar¡¯s size rivaled with Leegaain¡¯s and his ocean blue eyes were filled with fury and malice.

    The resemnce went so far that he even had horns on his head that formed a crown, but made of golden curved bones that resembled fish hooks. On top of that, two massive horns came out from Fenagar¡¯s temples, giving the Leviathan a demonic look.

    Gusts of ocean salty breeze blew from the portal, carrying the fury of a storm that only Leegaain¡¯s presence kept from sweeping all those present away. The heartbeat of the Dragon blocked the noise of the thunder just like his breath negated the wind, making their silent and safe.

    "You¡¯re wrong as always, Fenagar. I just had to make sure that those poor souls wouldn¡¯t die out of the gue that your ipetence unleashed nor lose their minds trying to understand the gibberish that your people dares to call anguage." Leegaain replied.

    While the Guardians exchanged colorful insults, Lith noticed a couple of figures standing right behind the Leviathan on the other side of the dimensional rift.

    "How long will they argue and who are those people?" Lith asked Fe, who in turn looked at Tyris.

    "They¡¯ll go at it until they get bored. As for those people, they¡¯ll be your handlers on the other side of the ocean. Only Guardians can open such long-distance Warps and only the Council has the means to contact them." She said.

    "There is more than one Council?" Tista¡¯s voice trembled at the idea.

    "Each continent has its own Council just like it has its own Guardians." Tyris replied.

    "Awakened like to keep things simple and care only about the ces they can actually interact with. Each continent has different customs andnguages, making travels impractical at best."

    "Then why am I being sent there?" Lith asked and this time it was Faluel to reply.

    "Because even though we don¡¯t know what you are exactly, you¡¯re still a hybrid. It stands to reason to assume that once you reach twenty years of age, you might be forced to choose between one of your three natures.

    "Soon you¡¯ll be neen and I want you to experience first-hand how the Beasts¡¯ society works. Here on Garlen, it would take you too long to meet enough members of our race to understand how different our lifestyle is from the humans¡¯.

    "On Jiera, instead, the gue only affected the humans, giving the Beasts the opportunity to thrive and even establish their own country. I want you to go there and live like one of their own."

    Faluel¡¯s kindness moved Lith. Even in his paranoia, he had always assumed that either his life forces would have merged or that he would remain human. The Hydra, instead, had taken failure into ount and wanted him to experience both worlds in case he needed to make a choice.

    "Except how to fight them, I know very little about Abominations, but I¡¯m pretty sure that if you ask Xenagrosh she¡¯ll dly give you a tour." Faluel said.

    At those words, the Hydra¡¯sir fell silent.

    "I¡¯ve heard about your lost daughter, Leegaain." Fenagar wore a cruel grin, enjoying the difort that name inflicted on the Dragon¡¯s face.

    "After you failed her, I¡¯m not surprised you¡¯re sending one of your hatchlings here. I¡¯ll take good care of him, better than you could ever do."

 Chapter 1134 A Change of Scenery Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1134 A Change of Scenery Part 2</h4>

    "He¡¯s not mine and you know it. Now let them pass. We had enough of your yapping." Leegaain didn¡¯t lose hisposure and stepped away from the Gate first.

    The Leviathan didn¡¯t like how the Dragon had easily brushed off his words, yet he cleared the way as well.

    "Domunication amulets work from a continent away?" Lith said.

    "Regr amulets don¡¯t cover such distances unless you boost them with enough mana. On the other hand, your Council¡¯s amulet has a white crystal that makes it powerful enough to work in every corner of Mogar." Tyris said.

    "The people you leave here will keep seeing your rune unavable for all the duration of your stay in Jiera."

    The group felt disheartened at the thought of being unable to talk with their respective families until they remembered about Solus¡¯s tower warp. They had no idea if it had limits, but they were eager to find out.

    "How long do I have to stay there?" Lith asked.

    "Until you feel there¡¯s nothing more you can learn. This is a matter of wisdom, Lith. You can¡¯t schedule things, you just have to let them happen. Remember what I told you about the violet core and stay on your guard.

    "There are plenty of Xedros going around." Faluel said while thinking about her stupid son and the news that Scarlett had brought her.

    The Hydra feared that Sedra¡¯s poor judgment had sealed his fate and she wanted to keep Lith from making the same mistakes.

    The group stepped through the dimensional tunnel, feeling as if they had entered a different world. Everything from the smell of the air to the ground below their feet felt alien.

    ¡¯This is akin to when I went back to Lutia from the extreme north of the Kingdom, just one hundred times worse.¡¯ Lith thought.

    On the other side of Mogar, there were a handsome man and a frail, old-looking woman waiting for them.

    "Which one of you is Lith?" The man asked while moving his gaze from Tista to Lith. Recognizing someone Awakened from an early age was easy, yet the gap in beauty and power between them made it hard to understand which one of them was the master.

    "I¡¯m Lith Verhen, hybrid and member of Garlen¡¯s Beast Council. Nice to meet you." Lith used only titles that would make sense in every corner of Mogar and gave the stranger a small bow to keep Solus from being discovered by a breathing technique.

    "I¡¯m Aren Dolm the J?rmungrandr, lesser Leviathan, and leader of Jiera¡¯s Beasts Council." He looked like a man in his early thirties, about 1.88 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with light-blonde hair streaked of green, yellow, and blue all over.

    He had clear green eyes and a cleft chin that emphasized his gentle features. Together with his muscr body and charming smile, there was enough to make most women turn their heads at his passage.

    He wore a in white shirt and a pair of brown linen pants over leather shoes that made him look like a farmer rather than one of the strongest beings of Jiera. Aren returned the bow while looking at Lith¡¯spanions.

    Luckily, Faluel¡¯s lessons included Council¡¯s etiquette and it didn¡¯t change ording to the continent. Awakened lived long enough and had enough resources to travel across the ocean if they wanted.

    They had establishedmon rules ages ago and a protocol to help those who wanted to move to or just visit a foreignnd.

    "These are my Woken. Tista Verhen, my sister, and Phloria Erna, a good friend of mine." Lith said, referring to them with the term that the Council used to define people whose life belonged to their master for one hundred years.

    "Nice to meet you, sir." The girls said in turn while giving him a deep bow.

    After a brief exchange of greetings, Lith turned toward the human woman, discovering that she had fallen asleep while leaning against the wall.

    "Oh, gods. I¡¯m so sorry." She said with a big yawn after Aren woke her up gently.

    "It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t take a break in months and the Leviathan¡¯s squabble with the Dragon was soothingpared with the constant yelling of hundreds of voices that haunts my office every single day.

    "I¡¯m Gyrwin Isaar, human representative of the Council." She gave them a small smile, revealing to be much younger than she looked like.

    Gyrwin wasn¡¯t old so much as exhausted and too thin. She had bags under her eyes and lots of wrinkles were due to exhaustion making her fall asleep over her paper-filled desk more often than on her bed.

    Lith estimated that in better times Gyrwin would look like a woman in herte forties, but in that moment, she seemed to be at least twenty years older. She was about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with dirty white hair streaked blue, yellow, and orange all over.

    Gyrwin wore a blue robe with an borate design that after stress had made her lose too much weight was now sorge that it made her look like a beggar wearing second-hand clothes rather than a powerful mage.

    "Is the situation in human cities that bad?" Lith asked, unable to contain his curiosity after noticing how differently the two Council leaders seemed to fare.

    "It¡¯s worse." Gyrwin sighed. "People are never satisfied by nature and I never nned of bing a feudal lord. Giving orders to powerful mages is easy, instructing grown-ups that behave like small children, it¡¯s not.

    "Do you know why my hair looks like this?" She pointed at the grey mop on her head.

    "This is what happens when you suffer from mana abuse for too long. The same happened to my body. I just need a few days of rest to recover but it¡¯s nigh impossible.

    "Those bastards want to be treated like adults, but they expect others to take care of their problems, just like my teenage children!"

    "I¡¯m sorry, but why didn¡¯t you just ignore them?" Phloria asked.

    "We tried that at the beginning and the result was the death of one-tenth of the survivors. Half died in riots for food, the other halfmitted suicide thinking that we abandoned them." Gyrwin wed her hand in her hair, resisting the urge to pull them out.

    "We didn¡¯t get to choose who would survive, child. Most of the remaining humans are those who were naturally immune to the disease. Only a few survived because an Awakened saved them.

    "Humans of Jiera have lost everything. They are prone to violence and depression. There are countless things that we could try if we were dealing with rational people yet our subjects are all but.

    "There are not enough Awakened to repopte the Jiera continent and with each person we lose, humans get closer to extinction."

    "Why do you say it as if it¡¯s a bad thing?" Arenughed. "Worst case scenario, you are going to migrate to Garlen."

    "And leave everything to you beasts and nt folk?" Fury lit Gyrwin¡¯s eyes, restoring part of her youth. "I would lose my home, my finely tunedbs, and worst of all, I would need to start from scratch in the other Council."

    "Again, it sounds good to me." Aren¡¯s feral grin told Lith that the Jiera¡¯s Council wasn¡¯t any better than Garlen¡¯s.

 Chapter 1135 Reghia Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1135 Reghia Part 1</h4>

    "If you¡¯re supposed to live like a beast, you should also look like one. Come on, show us your other face." Aren said to Lith, who shapeshifted into his hybrid form.

    "Interesting." Fenagar¡¯s voice resounded for the first time since Leegaain had closed the Gate. "You really are an unknown hybrid and I¡¯m the Lord of Discovery."

    "Didn¡¯t you call me one of Leegaain¡¯s hatchling?" Lith didn¡¯t like the Leviathan nor his mood swings. Based on Faluel¡¯s lessons, priceless knowledge had gotten lost just because Fenagar didn¡¯t bother keeping records of his work.

    "I¡¯m sorry about that. I said it only to piss off that old coot. Leegaain¡¯s lecturing tone brings out the worst in me.

    "He always talks as if he¡¯s the smartest guy in the room." Fenagar snorted.

    Everyone else exchanged awkward looks but said nothing. Reminding the Leviathan that Leegaain was the Lord of Wisdom would have only made things worse.

    "Yet I didn¡¯t lie about what I said earlier. I can treat you really well. If you allow me, together we can discover the secrets behind your existence."

    "Thanks, but no thanks. I don¡¯t n on staying in Jiera long." Lith said while giving him a deep bow.

    ¡¯I¡¯m no idiot.¡¯ He actually thought. ¡¯If Fenagar gets obsessed with me, he will not allow me to leave until he is satisfied just to discard me the moment he gets bored. On top of that, there¡¯s no telling what he would do with such knowledge.¡¯

    "Suit yourself." The Leviathan¡¯s eyes became two fiery slits as he Warped everyone away.

    "There would be nothing wrong with sending us to my domain if that wasn¡¯t actually my home!" Aren stomped his foot in anger. "Pissing off a Guardian right off the bat is never a good move, kid, but for that, you have my respect."

    "Thanks, I guess. Where are we?" Lith asked.

    "Wee to Reghia, one of the main cities of the Beasts Empire." Aren waved his hand at the woods surrounding them, bbergasting his guests.

    "You call this a city?" Phloria couldn¡¯t see a single building as far as the eye could see.

    There were several paths cutting through the green grass that had been carved with earth magic, but aside from that, there was no sign of civilization.

    "Yes." Aren nodded. "This is a city that beasts made, not humans. We have no need for gardens because the world is our garden. We have no need for houses, we haveirs. Follow me."

    The J?rmungrandr led them on a stone path, along which they encountered several road signs filled with so many words that one might think they contained a poem. The truth, however, was that each sign provided simple indications but repeated in several differentnguages.

    The group was able to read them all thanks to Leegaain¡¯s pin. They worked exactly like Soluspedia, allowing the knowledge they needed to flow in their minds with but a simple thought.

    The road sign they were currently following led to the housings. Tista looked around with Life Vision, discovering that the woods around them brimmed with mana. There was nothing special with the vegetation whereas the ground shone bright.

    Aren brought them to a small hill that their mystical senses revealed to be heavily enchanted and protected by several arrays. Despite the fact that it looked like the perfect ce to hunt rabbits, the ground was sturdier than most city walls they had ever seen.

    "In case you are wondering, everything is protected with a special earth sealing array. It doesn¡¯t block dimensional magic but it keeps our enemies from making the ground copse on our heads." Aren said while opening a small hole in the hill with a wave of his hand.

    "Enemies?" Tista was bbergasted. "The humans are barely alive and the undead have migrated. Do beasts wage war on each other?"

    "No. But the fall of humans caused the monsters¡¯ poption to increase dramatically and their foolish attempts to Awaken people created more Abominations in thest few months than how many are usually born in decades.

    "On the one hand, Abominations helps us to keep the monsters in check. Both species suffer from endless hunger and destroy the environment so the moment they meet, only one survives.

    "On the other hand, however, cities are nothing but a grocery shop to both of them. Sometimes an Abomination bes the ruler of a monster army and that¡¯s when things get ugly.

    "Chaos magic cuts through any defense easily and the monsters¡¯ innate abilities make them too strong for humans while their numbers allow them to overpower magical beasts."

    "So you live underground because it¡¯s safer and easier to repair." Lith agreed with that logic.

    "No, we do that because we¡¯re not trying to rebuild the human civilization nor to imitate it. This is our civilization, child." Aren shook his head, making Lith even more confused than he already was.

    Yet the moment they entered the undergroundir, everything became clear to them.

    The ceiling had been enchanted so to let the sunlight pass freely. It spread its warmth to both the ground and the air which didn¡¯t smell of humidity nor moss. Thanks to earth magic, there was no need for pirs, giving the ce a wide and spacious look that didn¡¯t feel like being underground at all.

    When they looked up, they could still see the sky. Around them, there were several small buildings and roads that went deeper in the ground. Except for a few magical beasts, the entry hall was empty.

    "I admit this is nothing like I expected a city to be. Where is everyone?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯s early morning, the busiest moment of the day. Aside from children and craftsmen, everyone else is outside doing their job. Which leads us to a very important question.

    "How do you n on contributing to ourmunity? These are dangerous times and we have no food or houses to spare for those who aren¡¯t willing to pull their own weight, no matter their race." Aren said.

    "Shouldn¡¯t you first exin to us thews of your city and then maybe show us our house?" Phloria asked.

    "Thews are simple. Don¡¯t steal, don¡¯t kill, don¡¯t do harm." Aren gave each one of them a small stone bead. "In case you are the victim of a crime, put a bit of your mana in the stone and it will emit a sound all beasts can hear.

    "Help will arrive in a matter of seconds. I know you¡¯re all Awakened, but I prefer to y things safely. You¡¯re not allowed to kill humans without our permission, even if you think they deserve it.

    "As for your housing, it depends on your role in society. Guards live here." He pointed at the small buildings nearby the entrance.

    "Mages are free to live wherever they want as long as they build and take care of their homes. You can exchange your service to themunity with furniture and other luxury items.

    "If you want to mingle with humans, they live in their own district." Aren said.

    "Why did you relegate them in a single district?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe that beasts would do such a thing and he was right.

    "We didn¡¯t. Most humans had no idea we could speak theirnguage, let alone shapeshift. Between the gue¡¯s aftermath and so many sudden revtions at once, the shock led them to iste themselves.

 Chapter 1136 Reghia Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1136 Reghia Part 2</h4>

    "Some of them dared to answer our hospitality with demands and contempt as if we¡¯re pets supposed to obey to a master. We kicked those people out in the wilds, which made things worse for those who remained.

    "Even after all this time, only a few of them have realized that the world as they know it is over. They are scared of us and have a hard time understanding our way of doing things.

    "At first, I let them grieve, then, I forced them toe out of their shell and earn their living. If you want to work with humans, you can teach them yournguage, work in the nursery, as police officers or healers. It¡¯s up to you." Aren said.

    "What about working as Forgemaster? If you give me the right materials, I could craft a few tools that would make everyone¡¯s life easier." Lith described to Aren home appliances like stoves, central heating, self-cleaning toilets, and tap water he could provide.

    "Interesting ideas." Aren nodded.

    "For an Emperor Beast all those things require but a snap of their fingers, but to magical beasts or humans they could be really useful. You would be a Magus here, if humans could still bestow such title and if I allowed you to make such tools."

    "What do you mean? You just said that they could work." Lith asked.

    "Yes, but they would work against everything we¡¯re trying to do here." Aren shook his head.

    "This isn¡¯t the Garlen continent and those people are not at peace. They belong to different countries that warred against each other for centuries. Those humans have different beliefs and speak differentnguages.

    "The people we host here are survivors who are trying to ovee the shock of losing everything they had while resisting the urge to pin the me for the gue on their neighbor and jump to their throats.

    "I didn¡¯t give them water because that way they have to rely on us or on those with enough magical power to conjure it. It leads them to open up and seek help instead of drowning in self-pity.

    "I didn¡¯t give them heating because they must learn to appreciate what they have now instead of obsessing with what they lost. Also, every time they ask one of us to sleep in their home to provide them heat with magic or simply by snuggling on our fur, their fear of the stranger fades a bit.

    "Trust is something that can only be built slowly and sharing hardships is the best way to do it. Your inventions would be great for amunity, but right now we only have a crucible of different individuals that will drift apart the moment they won¡¯t need each other anymore."

    Lith pondered Aren¡¯s words, finding them true.

    "Thanks to this pin, I can speak most of Jiera¡¯snguages. Do you need an interpreter?" He asked.

    "What a wonderful invention." For a split second, the J?rmungrandr¡¯s eyes shone with envy while looking at Leegaain¡¯s gift. "Sometimes I really think that we draw the short end of the stick with our Guardians."

    "As for the interpreter, there¡¯s no need for it, but we could use someone capable of teaching the Great Mother¡¯s universalnguage to the differentmunities."

    Aren called a Tyr (bull-type magical beast) who gave them a tour of Reghia on the way to the human district.

    The Tyr spoke a different idiom from Aren, allowing Lith¡¯s group to notice that each time they needed to ess to a newnguage, the sudden flood of information caused them a brief headache.

    The city was quiet, with no carriages moving along the roads nor the bustling activity of the merchants. Money had no meaning to beasts. In their society, only food and resources mattered.

    "Don¡¯t you have things like bakeries or restaurants here?" Phloria asked.

    She could see plenty of arrays, mana crystals, and short-distance city Gates spread throughout Reghia. Despite the presence of several magical marvels, she had yet to see a single shop.

    "Those who like bread are free to make it and to eat you must first capture your prey. Why would someone bother to cook and serve you instead of eating themselves the fruits of theirbor?" Meno the Tyr replied.

    Tista couldn¡¯t argue with his logic, but at the same time, she found the city of Reghia to be glum and cold. At least until they moved out of the fortified zone and entered the workshops¡¯ district.

    Huge magicalbs of all disciplines reced the small buildings assigned to those on guard duty. From their opened doors, Tista and the others could see groups of people too beautiful to be humans who discussed different magical topics and exchanged their workings with each other.

    Arrays, alchemical tools, artifacts, and even spells were shared in broad daylight, making the group stop more than once to listen to those conversations. Beasts had no problem divulging spells up to tier four except for those belonging to Gravity and Spirit Magic.

    Dryads and other nt folks had turned their homes into open gardens that, along with their ability to freely move through the ground, provided Reghia with fresh air, flowers, and fruits free for the taking.

    Children of all races ran and yed in the middle of the road, stopping only from time to time to drink from the fountains ced at every city block. Each one had three taps, providing a different potion instead of water.

    A pink one for healing those who got hurt, a purple one for providing body enhancing to allow everyone to y on equal footing, and a white one of nutrients that tasted like honeyed milk for those who got hungry.

    ¡¯We should ask for the recipe.¡¯ Lith thought after tasting the nutrients potion. ¡¯No offense, Solus, but yours tastes like raw eggs blended with minced meat.¡¯

    ¡¯Much taken. Sorry if I¡¯m no cook and if when I devised it, I was more worried about keeping you alive rather than to offend your sophisticated pte.¡¯ Solus replied while pouting.

    "If you need silver, the mines are located in the south district while if you need mana crystals, you have to go to in the deep end of the north district." Meno showed them how to operate the Warp Gates.

    Unlike those that Lith used in Belius, there was no security system. Even reaching the crystal mines required but a simple touch on the holographic disy. The only problem was navigating sessfully thenguage menu.

    "Do you really give both crystals and silver for free?" Lith tried to sound polite, but the disbelief in his voice made it clear that he considered such a policy stupid beyond belief.

    "Of course not. You go there, exin why you need them and how much you¡¯re going to take. Then, only if your request is approved do you get to take exactly the amount requested under supervision." Meno said.

    "Isn¡¯t it dangerous to build a city so close to a crystal mine?" After her experience in Feymar that had led to her Awakening, Phloria didn¡¯t feelfortable being so close to such a powerful mana geyser.

    "I mean, raw crystals and spells don¡¯t get along well. A single undercover enemy could blow them up. On top of that-" A sudden pressure on her shoulder cut Phloria short.

 Chapter 1137 Secrets and Plots Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1137 Secrets and Plots Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Crystal mines are not bound to Awaken people, otherwise the secret of Awakening would have been discovered centuries ago by miners and Crystalsmiths.¡¯ Lith increased the grip on Phloria¡¯s shoulder while using a mind link.

    ¡¯I know you must be scared, but don¡¯t forget that this kind of blunder can get us killed.¡¯

    "Our mines are no way a liability to the city, miss." The Tyr had waited for Phloria toplete her sentence, but after a while, he had gotten bored. "Reghia has been built here exactly because of the presence of both metal and gemstones.

    "This way, the city ispletely self-sufficient and can withstand both the rigors of winter and sieges. On top of that, mines only form in presence of exceptionally powerful mana geysers.

    "Lord Aren harnessed the world energy it produces to fuel not only all the defensive arrays of Reghia, but also all kinds of magic cast within the city. Try casting a spell. Anyone will do."

    Lith performed a small Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram and much to his surprise, it didn¡¯t fade the moment he stopped fueling it with magic. The mana flowing through the ground seeped into the formation, epting it as part of the city and keeping it stable.

    "This is amazing!" All three said in unison while Solus could only think it.

    "It is." Meno nodded. "That¡¯s why houses are easy to build yet as safe as a Royal Pce. You¡¯re free to set your own home arrays without the need for crystals to fuel them. It reduces the maintenance magical formations need to a minimum.

    "Also, don¡¯t worry about the mines, miss. They are protected 24/7 by our best arrays and ancient Emperor Beasts. By the way, we¡¯ve arrived at our destination. This is the district you¡¯re going to live in." The Tyr nodded with its snout at their surroundings.

    Unlike the city blocks they had seen until that point, there were a lot of empty spaces. Aside from a few houses of odd design, the rest of the buildings were made of wood and surrounded by lush gardens.

    "Is this the human district or just that of the Awakened?" Tista could understand the beasts being wary of strangers, but she still considered such treatment rude.

    "No, this is just the closest unupied space we got. You can go deeper in the city if you like your privacy, but then you¡¯d bepletely isted." The Tyr said.

    Before Meno left, they exchanged theirmunication runes and then the three started to pick the spot for their temporary home.

    ¡¯This is the first time that you keep your hybrid form for so long. How does it feel?¡¯ Solus asked while Tista and Phloria discussed whether to build one house each or just live all together.

    ¡¯It feels weird.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯Walking on my talons instead of using shoes is ufortable while seeing everything through four eyes is making me dizzy. I can look at different things at the same time, but the split vision makes me sick.¡¯

    "Hey, lil bro, is it fine for you and Solus if we live all together?" Tista asked.

    "Sure." Lith nodded after asking her.

    "Excellent. Then we need a tall building like those in Belius." Phoria said while making the rocks from the ground rise until they touched the ceiling.

    "This big?" Lith was bbergasted. "There¡¯s only three of us. What need do we have for a ten-story building?"

    "Don¡¯t worry and follow our instructions." Phloria winked.

    Thanks to her upbringing, she had seen lots of pces in the past. It allowed her to shape one wall after another, giving the overall structure a dignified look rather than the magical-caveman vibe the homes of their neighbors had.

    While Phloria took care of the structure, Tista weaved several arrays that enveloped their new building. A Hush array to not be overheard, an earth blocking array to keep the rock from being tampered by others, and the array she had developed to not be spied in her room by someone with Life Vision.

    It generated constant waves of heat, mana, and vibrations that blocked all kinds of mystical senses that she was aware of.

    Looking at it from the outside, Lith had to admit that such a building would have not been out of ce even on Earth and that after cing a few defensive barriers, it would meet even his paranoia standards.

    "Great job, Phloria. We just need to ask one of the nt folks to put a bit of green in ourwn and maybe on the roof to make it perfect. By the way, why there are no windows on lower floors?" It reminded Lith of one of those office buildings with their own parking garage.

    "First, no vegetations. There¡¯s no telling if nt folks canmunicate with it or use them as surveince devices. Second, get in and you¡¯ll understand." Phloria winked again, giving him a warm smile like during the old times.

    ¡¯Well, Phloria seems to have forgiven me. Let¡¯s hope our cohabitation doesn¡¯t make things-¡¯

    "What the heck is this?" Lith¡¯s train of thought derailed when he saw a huge hole right in the middle of the building.

    "Officially, this is our firstyer of defense. We¡¯ll pretend to live on the upper floors and shape them ordingly. The truth, however, is that we¡¯ll live in Solus¡¯s tower." Tista said.

    ¡¯They are right.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯The rock blocks regr sight while the other arrays block mystical senses. I can use the world energying from below to assume my tower form.¡¯

    The process took longer than normal because even though the girls had chosen the nearest spot to the mana geyser, Solus absorbed the energy bit by bit to not arouse suspicions.

    "Solus, can we tower warp home?" Lith asked.

    "I think so." She popped into her humanoid form, happy to be able to talk again.

    "But gathering the energy for the jump might take a while. Aren¡¯s array replenishes the world energy in the ground the moment it gets consumed, but it¡¯s likely that if I drain it too much or too fast, he will notice. That¡¯s why I formed the tower slowly."

    "On top of that, if I have to keep a low power output, our mines will barely get any energy and so will our defensive systems."

    "I don¡¯t care about that stuff. Prioritize restoring the tower core and your own. After that, just keep enough energy for an emergency warp, just to be safe." Lith said. "Excellent idea, girls. Now it really feels like at home."

    "No duh, little brother." Tista hugged Solus, checking if she had enough energy to form her body properly. "I never liked cleaning, cooking, or decorating. This way I¡¯ve got my personal chef, myfortable bed, and my best friend. The full package."

    Lith snorted at those words. He appreciated his sister¡¯s ingenuity but not her agenda.

    "About that, I have something to ask you two." Solus said to Phloria and Tista. "Usually, outside of the tower, the only person I can talk with is Lith. Now, however, we know how to create a mind link with Spirit Magic.

    "I would like to keep it open with you as well at all times so that I can talk to you and feel like a part of the group rather than just an extra."

 Chapter 1138 Secrets and Plots Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1138 Secrets and Plots Part 2</h4>

    "Fine by me." Phloria yawned as the familiar ce allowed her to rx. "Gods, with all that sunlight, I almost forgot that we departed past midnight. I feel so sleepy."

    "Of course, you can, Solus." Tista said. "Just remember that we are not Lith. A too intense mind link could give us mana poisoning."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be very careful." Solus felt on cloud nine. For the first time in her life, she could share her thoughts and feelings freely. She wouldn¡¯t be just a voice in Lith¡¯s head anymore.

    "I don¡¯t know you but all this traveling made me hungry. Who¡¯s in for our first breakfast in Jiera? My treat. And when I say my treat, I mean Lith¡¯s." Solus giggled.

    The motion was unanimously approved because cooks didn¡¯t have voting rights.

    ***

    Faluel¡¯sir, at the same time.

    Tyris and Leegaain left the moment the Gate closed to return to their respective duties. The members of the Queen Corps protecting Lith¡¯s house had reported the full conversation between Baba Yaga and the Abominations hybrids.

    Tyris had been d to discover that one of her lost sons was alive, but on the other hand, it made the situation with the Master even direr.

    ¡¯Whoever it is, they know everything about Guardians thanks to our own children. The Master knows our powers, where we live, and even our habits. His hybrids are weakpared to us, but seven of them are too dangerous.¡¯ She said to Leegaain via their mind link.

    ¡¯I agree. As it is, we only need Sark to take care of all of them by ourselves, but as Baba Yaga said, their power grows by the day. I doubt we can summon the other Guardians from Jiera here without triggering another war with them.¡¯ Leegaain replied.

    ¡¯You keep collecting all the data their spells left on Lutia and I¡¯ll examine them right away. Between my research with Balkor and seeing them in action, I think I¡¯m getting closer to finding a cure for Zoreth, my daughter.¡¯

    Faluel had no idea that the Guardians had agreed with her n of sending Lith to Jiera because they were aware of her ulterior motive and because they had more of their own.

    Leegaain needed an excuse toe to Lutia and collect the residual energy traces of all the Abomination hybrids.

    "That¡¯s it? They¡¯re gone on Council business, but what about us? I thought you were supposed to test us as well." Friya said.

    "I mean to, but you¡¯re all too different and I don¡¯t know you very well." Faluel sighed. "The problem with wisdom is that unless a crisis arises, arranging a scenario for a single person is already hard. Let alone three of them."

    "What if I give you one?" Nalrond asked.

    "What do you mean?"

    "There¡¯s no need to feign ignorance. You know that Werepeople live inside Fringes and I¡¯m no exception. I could go back to my vige and bring the others along with me." Nalrond said.

    "Why would you do that and what would that prove?" Faluel said.

    "Before I can start living again and nning my future, I need some closure. A Fringe exists only as long as Mogar needs a secluded space to pursue its agenda. If I¡¯m the only survivor, then it should have disappeared the moment I left.

    "Yet if the Fringe is still there, it means that either my tribe it¡¯s not extinct or that Mogar is not done with me and be more willing tomunicate. By telling you this, I¡¯m showing you my trust to you and the others.

    "Maybe it¡¯s not wisdom, but it¡¯s still something.

    "On top of that, if we find the Fringe, I¡¯ll show mypanions how to ess one of them. Meeting Mogar¡¯s will might allow them to grow as persons and if you take Friya as your Harbinger, you can ask her to share such knowledge."

    Faluel pondered both Nalrond¡¯s words and intentions.

    ¡¯I would love to go with them. Only a handful of Awakened ever stepped inside a Fringe and the few that returned to tell the tale always changed for the better. Yet I can¡¯t leave Lutia without breaking my promise with Lith to take care of his family.

    ¡¯Nalrond knows it so it¡¯s obvious that he doesn¡¯t want me toe. It¡¯s too soon to say if he¡¯s wise, but he sure is cunning.¡¯ She thought.

    "I agree with your proposal, but before taking my final decision we also need to hear Friya¡¯s and Quy¡¯s opinion. Fringes are dangerous ces for those who are not born there and they have the right to refuse." Faluel said.

    "Are you sure you want me toe?" Friya asked. "As a potential Harbinger, you can¡¯t trust me more than you do Faluel. I bet there¡¯s a reason why your people didn¡¯t take guests easily and once I learn about it, I will not be able to defend your secrets."

    "That¡¯s exactly the point." Nalrond gave her one of his rare, little smiles.

    "Faluel has respected my privacy so far, just like she respected Lith¡¯s, Solus¡¯s, and yours. She could have extorted the Forgemaster wand from you or Solus¡¯s abilities from any of us, yet she didn¡¯t."

    "I think it¡¯s time for me to return the favor and for you to realize how much you¡¯ll lose by bing a Harbinger. Only fools never doubt."

    His care for her ttered Friya, just like his words struck at her like a hammer.

    ¡¯Dammit! I know nothing about Royal Forgemastery so I always assumed that aside from my silver wand, Faluel couldn¡¯t hurt Dad much. But if she gets ess to my memories, then Faluel will learn everything I know about Solus and about Menadion¡¯s legacy.

    ¡¯Bing a Harbinger might give me the ability to follow my friends, but will I still have friends once I be a liability for both Lith and the Ernas Household? How could I possibly be this stupid?¡¯ She thought.

    "What about me?" Quy had never thought that Nalrond would show so much consideration for any of them.

    Even though the Rezar spent most of his time in his human form, he seemed to trust only other hybrids. Nalrond had spent much time with the Ernas sisters, yet he didn¡¯t share with them much about his past nor did he teach them Light Mastery, no matter how many times Quy asked him.

    "Howe you suddenly trust me so much? If I ever started growing on you, you sure made a heck of a job to hide it."

    "I don¡¯t really trust you or your sisters because I never needed your help in time of need. So far, you¡¯re just colleagues to me, if not fair-weather friends at most." After months of living in Lutia, Nalrond¡¯s habit to never mince words didn¡¯t change.

    ¡¯Good gods, he¡¯s almost as rude as Morok. The only difference is that Nalrond is much more reasonable.¡¯ Quy thought.

    "Yet I¡¯vee to at least respect you as mages and as people. I¡¯ve never seen anyone with so much genuine passion for the study of magic like you, Quy. People usually consider magic either as a means to an end or as a weapon, whereas you love experimenting even on the most insignificant spells.

    "I didn¡¯t miss how you stare at me every time I use Light Mastery, trying to understand its secrets, nor how hard you worked to match our Awakened¡¯spanions results in the study of Spirit Magic despite the limits of your wand."

 Chapter 1139 Odd Neighbors Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1139 Odd Neighbors Part 1</h4>

    "I think that it¡¯s a shame you can¡¯t be an Awakened because you¡¯re born for magical research. I¡¯m thrilled at the idea of what you could achieve if you had the long life and the ess to the seventh element that only Awakened have. I hope that the Fringe can give you this chance." Nalrond said.

    "Also, I respect you and your sister for keeping all of Lith¡¯s secrets even though you¡¯d have a lot to gain from doing otherwise. I¡¯m taking a leap of faith in the hope you two will do the same for me."

    "Well, our Nalrond sure is full of surprises." Faluel pped her hands, drawing their attention on her.

    "I approve of your idea. Friya, I understand that your life has not been easy, but you¡¯ve been too lucky to be as lost as you are and have so little faith in yourself. Maybe you¡¯ll be as lucky as my grandmother and you¡¯ll find what you need in the Fringe.

    "Quy, I agree with Nalrond. You deserve a chance at Awakening. Yet I hope that even if it turns out to be impossible, you¡¯ll not consider bing an undead. I can¡¯t argue with the power of Liches, but I think they are those who lose most of themselves in the process.

    "Splitting your soul doesn¡¯t just give you immortality, it also means to put away a part of yourself in a ce where no one, not even you, can ever find it again. If you decide to make this trip, let me know and I¡¯ll arrange your departure for tomorrow morning.

    "I advise you to get a good night¡¯s sleep and then to put your business in order before you leave. I¡¯m sure that having a guide helps, but Fringes are dangerous ces and unlike Nalrond, you¡¯ll be unwanted guests."

    "Faluel is right." Nalrond nodded. "I can get you in, but Mogar might treat you as intruders."

    "Just one question. Did Ac reach the Fringe on his own?" Friya asked.

    "Yes. It¡¯s one of the reasons why we trusted him. We thought that Mogar had recognized him as our kindred spirit as it had always happened in the past."

    "Well, that means that either Mogar fucked up big time with him or that maybe your people and Dawn are not so different." Friya said.

    "What?" Nalrond clenched his jaw and fists, feeling as if those words tainted the memories he had of his vige.

    "Think about it." Friya¡¯s voice held no malice, just cold reasoning. "You belong to a hybrid race who wants to be whole by harmonizing your human and beast essence, correct?"

    "Correct."

    "The same can be said for Dawn. She wants to erase the undead¡¯s weakness to sunlight and to do it, she needed a partner. By merging with Ac, they became a hybrid as well. Not like Lith, but like you and Solus." Friya said.

    "You¡¯re right. Solus told me that with her mana sense she could perceive two cores in their body. Ac¡¯s mana core and Dawn¡¯s power core." The edge in his voice disappeared as Nalrond understood her reasoning.

    "Exactly. My point is that they merged into a human-artifact hybrid whose goal is to reach perfection. If I¡¯m right, then the key to a Horseman¡¯s task mayy in harmonizing the host¡¯s essence with Dawn¡¯s. Maybe Baba Yaga is right.

    "Maybe the reason why Mogar didn¡¯t do anything against Dawn when she attacked your vige is the same reason why the did nothing against those Abominations and is interested in Lith. Maybe Mogar really is experimenting on hybrids." Friya said.

    "If you are right, then it means that all the people who reached our vige were kindred spirits to Dawn and that she has Mogar¡¯s attention as well." Nalrond¡¯s words disturbed everyone, yet they sounded too usible to ignore them.

    "That¡¯s a creepy thought if I ever heard one, but even mulling it all night long will bring us nowhere." Faluel said. "If the Fringe is still there and you get to speak with Mogar, however, that¡¯s a question worth asking. Nalrond, I¡¯ll see you here tomorrow at sunrise.

    "As for you girls, please, remember that this is a dangerous task that might aplish nothing but endanger your lives. Nalrond is the only one that can get in and out of the Fringe safely so don¡¯t follow him unless you¡¯re sure it¡¯s the right choice."

    ***

    City of Reghia, Jiera Continent.

    After breakfast, Phloria went out on her own to clear her mind. On the one hand, she was excited at the idea of visiting another continent. On the other hand, however, being forced to leave her home to follow Lith spread salt over her wounds.

    ¡¯Gods, I can¡¯t believe after all that jackass Deirus did I¡¯m the one gone on exile.¡¯ Phloria thought. ¡¯I¡¯ve thought long and hard as to how even the score, but even with Mom¡¯s help, I failed to find a way that didn¡¯t involve getting my family into trouble.

    ¡¯A direct attack would be idiotic and without any proof of his involvement in the Belin mines¡¯ coup, thew is by his side. I hate the idea of Deirus getting away with it as much as I wanted to kill him when he used Yurial¡¯s name to cover his sorry ass.

    ¡¯Unfortunately, the only thing I can do right now is to bide my time and wait for an opportunity to put Faluel¡¯s teachings into action. Anything else would be just ying into his hand and ruining Mom¡¯s hard work.¡¯

    During her stroll through Reghia¡¯s streets, Phloria noticed that distinguishing between the home of a magical beast, an Emperor Beast, and a nt folk was easy.

    Magical beasts still retained most of their feral nature and had no use for things like windows or doors. They lived in small artificial caves with just one room and one entrance the size of which depended on them having a family or not.

    Emperor Beasts, instead, due to their ability to shapeshift and use all the elements, liked to build for themselves moreplex structures. They had no use as well for most human¡¯s rooms like a dining room or a living room.

    Emperor Beasts needed solely a ce to sleep and used the rest of the space to arrange their magicalbs. Their housings rarely extended upwards on multiple floors. Beasts preferred to dig underground to keep the nature of their research hidden.

    nt folks, instead, made their homes entirely out of vegetation grown and shaped ording to their will. They had no walls nor rooms since nt folks had no concept or need for privacy.

    The mostplex buildings resembled stilt houses that were mostly used to host the nt folk¡¯s guests.

    Phloria¡¯s neighbor, however, had created a building almost as big as her own with ample windows, several floors, and a solid structure that could easily amodate dozens of magical beasts at once.

    On top of that, even during their brief stay, she had noticed a constant flow of people belonging to all races, some of which she had never seen before, that came and went from the building.

    ¡¯Maybe the rest of the city looks so dead because it¡¯s early morning but at least there is someone who seems to be sociable. I wonder if I can join the party or whatever they are doing there instead of brooding alone.¡¯

 Chapter 1140 Odd Neighbors Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1140 Odd Neighbors Part 2</h4>

    Phloria walked to the entrance, finding that it had no door.

    She knocked on the wall, drawing the curious looks of those still on the ground floor. A humanoid figure appeared out of the vines thatprised the door¡¯s frame, taking the appearance of what looked like a bush shaped like a man by an expert gardener.

    He was a Thorn, the nt folk born from bushes, that she had met back in Kh and Laruel. They had no definite form and could shape their bodies at will as long as they didn¡¯t exceed their mass.

    "Are you lost? The human district is quite far from here." He tried to sound as calm and reassuring as he could, even taking a form that the stranger could better rte to.

    "Thanks for your concern, but I¡¯m not lost. I¡¯m your new neighbor, Phloria, and I¡¯vee to say hi." She offered her hand, yet her polite gesture received a contemptuous sneer from all those present.

    "My name is Klodran. Wee to my Garden of Knowledge, Phloria, but don¡¯t do that anymore. No one likes to be examined with Invigoration at the first meeting and many are not as forgiving as I am." He replied while inviting her toe in.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, I wasn¡¯t trying to examine you. I¡¯m new here, like real new. Just a few hours. How did you know I¡¯m an Awakened?" Phloria turned to a shade of purple while trying to exin her blunder.

    "You are not afraid of us and you are far from the human district, so you¡¯re bound to be Awakened. Your ignorance about our customs would exin why you keep looking around trying to make sense of this ce." Klodran said for his guests to hear.

    Once they were reassured that the human harbored no ill intentions, they resumed what they were doing. Some read books while others had vinesing out of the walls connected to their ears.

    "What¡¯s a Garden of Knowledge?" Phloria asked.

    "The fall of the human race on Jiera brought disorder in the bnce between the races. Without them, monsters encounter no resistance when piging thends to increase their numbers, beasts have no way to learn magic if not by studying, and us nts have lost our only source of entertainment." He sighed.

    "Beasts are good at many things, but arts aren¡¯t among them. Without the humans, nt folksck the social interaction we need to not devolve into mindless predators. Your society helped those like me to find purpose in their lives.

    "To stop monsters from reaching a number we can no longer contain we need more Emperor Beasts, but only a few magical beasts manage to evolve each year. With the sudden increase of our enemies and so muchnd to cover, the survival rate of young Emperor Beasts dwindles.

    "Gardens are ces where beasts and nt folke to study magic up to tier four freely, in the hope to increase their chances of Awakening or at least theirbat prowess.

    "We also have a great collection of music and art pieces we¡¯ve managed to salvage from the ruins of most big cities."

    "Is that what those vines are for?" Phloria pointed at the several beasts with their ears plugged.

    "I wish. Each book is written in a differentnguage and there are so manynguages that tranting and printing each book in allnguages is impractical. It¡¯s much easier to have the trantion read out loud and stored inside a magic crystal." Klodran said.

    Phloria walked along the isles filled with books for a while until the headaches forced her to stop. Each time she read a differentnguage, Leegaain¡¯s pin filled her mind with the knowledge she needed to understand it, but there were so many that the process never stopped, causing her great pain.

    ¡¯Gods, I would¡¯ve never thought that just the fact that everyone speaks the samenguage would make so much difference in the quality of life. Tyris is probably the most unappreciated Guardian on our continent.¡¯ She thought.

    After a while, she found out that the two continents had most spells inmon and even managed to find a few useful techniques she had never heard about.

    "Can I copy them?" Phloria asked Klodran.

    "The knowledge here is free. Even humans cane here and try to learn magic. We have prepared the fake magic section for them, but they are so scared that they rarelye out of their homes if not to work."

    "Where is the tier five section?" She asked.

    "Gardens are for beginners while workshops are for masters. Neither nt folk nor magical beasts can use all elements, so there is no point in having such spells here. On top of that, tier five spell are forbidden for those who aren¡¯t recognized by the Council. They are too dangerous." The Thorn said.

    Phloria took note of all the relevant spells she found and noticed how stressed everyone was. Magical beasts had a limited lifespan and weren¡¯t used to spend it fighting monsters every single day.

    They were supposed to hunt, practice magic, and sleep while now they had be soldiers. The nt folks had nothing of the flirty and carefree attitude of those living in the Kingdom.

    With their regenerative abilities, they had no fear of death, but theck of social interaction made them cold and cruel.

    Meanwhile, Lith had left Solus with Tista in the tower to take a stroll on his own. Keeping his hybrid form for so long had proved to be mentally tiring. Lith had to be always careful when he touched anything or anyone to not harm them with his ws.

    He had no problem fighting as a Wyrmling, but living as one felt awkward if not alien. Lith wasn¡¯t used to the weight of his two sets of wings nor to the sound of his voice in that form.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t like my sexy role ys with Kami. ws and talons are a hassle, not to mention howplicated it is to eat without lips. No matter how well suited to fight this form is, it¡¯s damn ufortable to live in.¡¯

    For the first time in his life, Lith appreciated what being human meant. Reghia was truly a masterpiece of magic, with natural sunlighting from the ceiling and a fresh breeze keeping the air clean, but it still felt like a prison.

    Not even the smell of flowers from the nt folk¡¯s houses and that of spring water from the several smallkes made him feel better.

    ¡¯Wait a minute, what the heck do they need ponds for? Water is usually condensed with magic and creating underground rivers is a security nightmare.¡¯ After noticing a small group of odd-looking creaturesing out of theke, Lith greeted them before asking for an exnation.

    "Our channels are safe, you¡¯re just being paranoid." A female humanoid near the pond said, giggling at his worries.

    She was about 1.78 (5¡¯ 10") meters tall, with shoulder-length emerald hair and eyes. Sky blue scales covered her from head to toe, turning of a pale white in the abdomen area and the palms, making it impossible to guess her age.

    All the humanoids had faces with no nose nor ears. They breathed through gills on their necks and heard from two small holes on either side of their head. They had no lips either, leaving the row of pearly teeth in their mouth partially exposed at all times.

 Chapter 1141 Merfolk Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1141 Merfolk Part 1</h4>

    Lith assumed the odd creature was a female due to breast-like bumps on her chest and because her build was slender than those who looked like males. Her voice sounded as if she spoke while gurgling water, giving it a funny sound.

    All of them had webbed fingers ending in small ws that, due to their bright colors, were clearly venomous and finsing out of their spines and hips.

    "You can¡¯t conjure water if the air is too dry and not all creatures feed on red meat or vegetables. Fish are necessary to add variety to our food stockpiles and to help humans to grow properly." At those words, Lith opened his eyes wide open in shock.

    He would have never expected an evolved fish to feed their kin to other races with a smile on their faces. Protector snarled every time he saw a wolf fur and even after he had evolved from a deer into a Kirin, offering venison to Lifebringer meant looking for a beating.

    "By the Great Mother, why are you looking at me so funny?" She giggled again, but now the gurgling had almost disappeared, allowing him to hear a pleasant, feminine voiceing from her mouth.

    "What kind of Emperor Beast are you people?" Lith tilted his head in confusion.

    At those words, the blue-scaled individuals looked at Lith as if was dumb, blind, or both. Some evenughed, calling him names.

    "We¡¯re not Emperor Beasts." She shook her hair, making Lith wonder if its seaweed-green color was due to the life in the deep or to her affinity towards mana.

    ¡¯I probably sound like an idiot to them already. In for a penny, in for a pound.¡¯ He thought.

    "Werepeople, then? Also, do your green hair have a meaning?" He asked.

    The crowd erupted intoughter, but this time there was no contempt in it, just hrity.

    "Man, I thought you were some kind of a rude prick, but you¡¯re just as ignorant as a baby. From what hole have you crawled out from?" A lean man with ming red hair offered Lith a big fish in what he assumed was a peace offering after the earlier rude treatment.

    "I wouldn¡¯t call the Garlen continent a hole, but I must admit I¡¯ve never seen your kin earlier." Lith gave him a small bow as a thank you and stored the fish inside his pocket dimension.

    Whatever his guests were, they stared in awe at the phenomenon, looking at Lith with newfound respect and admiration.

    "Are you really one of the children of the Great Mother? I mean, your merspeak is wless." A man over 2 meters (7¡¯) with shoulder-length purple hair named Zhen asked.

    "No, I¡¯m not blood-rted to Tyris, but I live in the Griffon Kingdom." Lith replied, making them burst intoughter again.

    "That¡¯s what he meant, silly. I¡¯m Khalia and I¡¯m d to be your first merfolk." She ced her hand on his shoulder while sweeping her hair in a way that spelled trouble.

    Lith had no idea that thebined effect of Leegaain¡¯s pin that made him able to speak like a native of the ocean, his seemingly draconic appearance, and the casual unting of magical items made him quite attractive to most species.

    "I know it sounds like a stupid question, but what¡¯s a merfolk?" Lith smiled with his eyes since his mouth was still covered in scales and gently took her hand off his back.

    "Fish people? Sea dwellers? Mermaids? I¡¯m sure that even in the Kingdom they have plenty of tales about us." Khalia stepped forward, entering Lith¡¯s personal space.

    "I always thought they were just legends. On top of that, in those stories, you are depicted as creatures with the upper body of a human and the lower half of a fish." Lith said.

    "Well, humans always like to tinker with the truth and we usually prefer to stay away from them." Said another woman with a friendly voice, sky-blue hair, and a plump appearance.

    "We are a proud race, but our magic sucks. It¡¯s the reason why we aren¡¯t considered one of the main races nor do we have a seat in the Awakened Council.

    "Aside from water and light, we cannot use any other element while underwater. Air would either create bubbles or zap our friends, fire and earth don¡¯t work, and darkness attacks even water so it disappears after a couple of centimeters."

    "Nice to meet you. My name is Lith and I¡¯m a hybrid. What is exactly your role in themunity and where do you live?" He said.

    "A long time ago, the elves ruled the earth, the beasts the skies, and the merfolk the waters. Over time, however, the elves¡¯ inability to Awaken and their low fertility made them lose their supremacy to humans." A short man named Mal said.

    "Awakened mages can multiply their numbers both by breeding and by taking disciples whereas each dead elf is an unreceable loss. By the time the two species shed for resources, the humans won the war by attrition.

    "Because of that, we lost our spot on the surface. We¡¯re not like magical beasts whose bodies are so strong that normal weapons inflict them no harm. Unlike elves, humans were afraid of our appearance and were unwilling to trade with us.

    "Underwater it¡¯s impossible to mine crystals or extract metals, so our only source of such materials became sinking cargo ships. That until dimensional amulets and gates were created.

    "After that, our need toe to the surface to train and theck of resources forced us to hide underwater and emerge only in safe zones protected by the few beast allies we managed to make." Mal scratched his purple hair in embarrassment.

    "The problem is that we don¡¯t have much to offer to the beasts so until the humans disappeared from Jiera, the only ones who helped us did it out of the goodness of their hearts.

    "Now, however, there¡¯s plenty of space above. We act as scouts for Reghia, following the migration movements of the monsters, and provide our allies with plenty of food and natural treasures from the deep.

    "In exchange, they are trading magic and minerals with us, giving our people a ce to stay. We are the first to move into this district, but soon others wille."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but aren¡¯t there plenty of uninhabited inds? Why not just live there?" Lith asked, noticing that something odd was happening.

    As his hosts dried, their scales disappeared, turning into the whitest soft skin he had ever seen. Soon all the merfolk turned in a bunch of stark-naked albinos with red eyes and hair of bright colors.

    ¡¯Well, at least the little mermaid¡¯s lower body is good for more than just fried fish. One thing¡¯s for sure. Even if after they dry up they look like humans, the merfolk have no way to blend among humans without shapeshifting.¡¯

    He thought as two of his eyes stared at Khalia¡¯s face while the other two explored the rest of her lithe body for academic purposes.

    "That¡¯s what we usually do to practice magic, but high tier spells like dimensional magic requirebs to be safely experimented. On top of that, even to perform the simplest crafts with Forgemastering or teaching our youths, we needed tons of materials." Khalia said.

 Chapter 1142 Merfolk Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1142 Merfolk Part 2</h4>

    "Yet without resources, we couldn¡¯t craft the proper tools and without tools, we couldn¡¯t learn powerful magic and acquire resources. We¡¯ve been stuck in this vicious cycle until the gue." Khalia said.

    Lith pondered their words, finding them to be as ugly as they were true. Everyb needed to be shielded by external influences and each failed experiment usually exploded.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t have most of such problems because of Solus, yet I can¡¯t even count the number of times one of my experiments would have killed me if not for the tower¡¯s protection.¡¯ He thought.

    "We are masters at using water and earth magic to create artificial underground flows. We use them to make Reghiapletely self-sufficient and to travel safely from our city to here.

    "We even created a thermal bath to keep the humans clean." Mal said.

    "I would love to visit your underwater city one of these days. Reghia is way too boring for my taste." Lith wasn¡¯t thrilled at the idea of teaching the Kingdom¡¯snguage to a bunch of strangers nor did he care to fight and protect Reghia from the monsters.

    "I thought that Dragons didn¡¯t like water because it dampens the heat of your bodies and it temporarily weakens you." Rem, the plump woman said.

    "I¡¯m not a Dragon, but that¡¯s a theory I¡¯m willing to test. As I said to you earlier, I¡¯m a hybrid. The real issue will be breathing underwater." Lith put his scaled arm inside the cold water, feeling slight difort.

    The moment he pulled it out, he felt it heavier than usual due to the water trapped in-between his scales that were now of a duller color than their usual pitch-ck. It took them a few seconds to evaporate the water and a few more for the dulling sensation to disappear.

    "I stand corrected. Maybe I¡¯m a Dragon." Lith shapeshifted into his human form and immerged his right arm again. This time, his enhanced physique didn¡¯t even feel a tinge of cold.

    "I¡¯m sorry for the rude question, but are you a human or a beast?" Suddenly Khalia seemed to have lost most of her interest and now looked at Lith with suspicion.

    "Both. I told you, I¡¯m a hybrid." Lith could tell by their gazes that the merfolk had a deep-seated grudge against humans and he could easily understand why.

    ¡¯I bet that beautiful people like Khalia or Zhen would be captured and sold as ves, no matter if it¡¯s illegal. The others would be either treated as pets by nobles or turned into ingredients by mages. My money on their blood having a high affinity with water magic.¡¯

    "It was nice to meet you." Zhen said, but his tone didn¡¯t match his words. "Now we¡¯re sorry but we got to go."

    The merfolk disappeared in the pond without even saying goodbye, almost expecting Lith to try and capture them.

    ¡¯That went well. The good thing is that they said that the deep is full of natural treasures. If I can trade some dimensional amulets for them, I could a huge profit. The bad news is that if Kami hears about another woman who finds my scales hot, she¡¯ll never let me hear the end of it.¡¯

    Lith was surprised that despite Khalia¡¯s stunning beauty had made him thoroughly check her out, the moment she had touched him, the only thing Lith could think about was Kam.

    Just like when he had met Faluel, whenever Lith saw someone beautiful, he wouldpare them to his girlfriend and find themcking. Not because Kam was that gorgeous or graceful, but because she filled the void in his heart.

    ¡¯If I really feel this way about her, then I can¡¯t hide Solus for much longer. The more I wait, the more it will hurt her.¡¯ Lith thought while returning home.

    The severalyers of array cast by three different persons were a hassle to get through, but the reassuring kind of hassle. Lith could bypass those made by himself with a thought, but for the others, he needed to input a password with Spirit Magic.

    By mixing Spirit Magic with arrays, not only was it possible to cast them faster, but also to add further levels ofplexity and protections.

    Faluel¡¯s lessons had provided all the members of the group with a knowledge exclusive to those born in Awakened bloodlines. Learning about the seventh element had expanded their horizons and helped to strengthen their foundations.

    By understanding the importance of Spirit Magic and the role it yed in all spells, even fake mages could better understand the limits of their magic and find ways around it.

    Back inside the tower, Lith found Solus and Tista fast asleep in Solus¡¯s room.

    ¡¯So much for staying awake and get used to the new time zone. I would love to give them a scare to teach them a lesson, but dreams are the only way Solus has to get glimpses of her past. If I were to interrupt something important, I would never forgive myself.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Yardra, at the same time.

    Trion Proudstar, once known as Trion Verhen, sat in the lounge of his favorite bar, the Golden Unicorn, drinking his alcohol slowly enough to not get drunk but fast enough to dull the constant pain that haunted his heart for months.

    Phloria had kept her word and she didn¡¯t mess with his career, which made things even worse for him. Trion had now been promoted to Second Lieutenant, but he felt no joy in it, considering it too little and toote.

    ¡¯My little brother started his military career with a superior rank and ended it as a Major after barely two years. A position that I might be able to reach only before retirement.¡¯ Trion sighed, yet there was no bitterness in his thoughts, just regret.

    ¡¯Battling the Undead Courts for so long has shown me how stupid I have been all my life. Sure, magic gives people a great advantage, but it¡¯s also a great burden. So many mages died in front of my eyes in the front lines to protect us regr soldiers.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve been a fool thinking that I was the only one working hard to achieve my goals. Each one of those mages came from a pampered life, yet by hearing their stories and watching their sacrifice, I realized how hard the path of magic is.

    ¡¯Lith worked that hard ever since he was able to walk, doing everything they did and everything I had to do at the same time, yet he didn¡¯t whine all the time as Orpal did.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t easy for Trion to admit his mistakes, but time and good friends had lifted from his eyes the veil of hatred that he had inherited from his older brother.

    "Families areplicated so I won¡¯t argue with you about getting along with your brother. Yet I don¡¯t see why you cut all ties with your parents. Even you admitted that they never mistreated you nor did they think any less of you because you weren¡¯t born a mage.

    "If your brother is an ass, you have every right to be mad at him, but he¡¯s an Archmage ass nheless. By giving up your family name, you¡¯ve cut ties with loving parents and given up on countless advantages."

 Chapter 1143 Burden of the Past Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1143 Burden of the Past Part 1</h4>

    "Do you have any idea how far you might have gotten in the army if your name was Verhen?" Almost everyone he knew had said such a thing to Trion more than once.

    Trion would have liked to object that he wanted to rely solely on his talent, but that would make him a hypocrite. He and his colleagues whined on a daily basis about how easier it was for noble kids to be officials and wished they came from better families.

    Thanks to Lith¡¯s achievements, Trion¡¯s family was now one of the most respected and influential among the new magical bloodlines, yet he had renounced all the power that the Verhen name bore just because of blind pride.

    ¡¯I should change my name into Moron Dumbstar.¡¯ Trion thought. ¡¯Only when I heard about Mom and Dad being besieged by the undead, after waiting hours to know if they were alright, did I realize how stupid I have been.

    ¡¯The army refused to disclose any information to me because I¡¯m not part of the family. I had to wait until the news came out on the army¡¯s interlink to know what had happened.

    ¡¯I never picked Mom¡¯s contact rune, so even now that I¡¯ve got my ownmunication amulet, I can¡¯t talk to her. What could I tell her anyway? Saying sorry now that Lith has be an Archmage and his family is under Royal protection would seem opportunistic at best.

    ¡¯My new brother and my niece don¡¯t know me because I never bothered being part of their life. Heck, I don¡¯t even know if after two years I¡¯ve got a new sibling or-¡¯

    "Do you mind if I sit here?" A nice-looking woman said.

    There were plenty of empty seats thatte in the bar so picking the spot right next to him had to be a pick-up line. Trion nodded as an adrenaline rush cleared his head and allowed him to take a good look at the stranger.

    She was about 1.61 meters (5¡¯3") tall, with shoulder-length light brown hair and eyes. Judging by her long pencil skirt and white shirt with a few small ink stains on its cuffs, she had to work in an office.

    "Long day at work?" He asked while casually touching his breast pocket and activating a device that would buzz in the presence of undead.

    The woman was very cute, but a bit too pale and with huge bags under her eyes. Trion suspected her of being a thrall fishing for information so he took care of not letting her touch him.

    "You have no idea." She yawned, stretching her slender limbs and making her breasts push against the soft fabric of the shirt in a way that dried Trion¡¯s throat despite his paranoia.

    "I¡¯m just done with overtime and it¡¯s the third time this week that I have to stay upte. I¡¯m sorry if I bothered you, but I need a drink and I¡¯m afraid of being alone. Gods, reading reports about undead all the day ys tricks on your mind." She emptied her ss in one gulp, ordering a refill and something to eat.

    Hearing her story put Trion at ease. Those days, many people sat beside him because the uniform he wore made them feel safe and after looking around the bar, he had to admit that in the woman¡¯s shoes he would have done the same.

    Only drunkards and thug-looking men were left at that hour, making even a respectable bar like the Golden Unicorn a dangerous ce for a woman.

    "Proudstar?" The woman giggled so hard reading the tag on his breast pocket that she spilled part of her drink. "Let me guess, you picked it up yourself after one drink too many."

    "Guilty as charged. My name is Trion, nice to meet you." He gave her a small bow, regretting how easy it was to guess the shameful origin of his family name.

    "It takes a drinker to recognize another. Ge Silvermoon, at your service." She blushed while saying her family name whose cringiness rivaled Trion¡¯s.

    "And you dared tough at mine? This is a textbook case of the pot calling the kettle ck." Trion smiled while pretending to check his amulet¡¯s notifications and requesting a background check on her.

    "Guilty as charged." She giggled echoing his words. "The worst spent money ever. I promised myself countless times to have it changed, but it costs too much and money is always short."

    "Same here." The simrities between them were too many to just be a coincidence, but the background check came back negative.

    ording to the army intel, Ge worked as a clerk in a mid-sized merchant guild. She earned more than him and even had ess to better intel thanks to her position in the administrative department.

    Whatever she wanted, it wasn¡¯t money nor information.

    They started talking about their daily life between a drink and a steak sandwich because Ge was starving. She never asked him anything about his work, they only did small talk about their respective birthces and where they lived.

    "Did you hear that, Master? He¡¯s not a Verhen he and doesn¡¯t live in Lutia." Ge said once they were alone to one of her pockets, triggering a Blink that brought them on top of a tall nearby building.

    "Which means that he¡¯s not protected by my mother¡¯s oath." The ck Night came out of the pocket in her crystal form, using all of her mystical senses on Trion to determine if his blood shared the same power as Lith¡¯s.

    Trion tried to call for help, but an air sealing array blocked themunications.

    "Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯ve no intentions of hurting you." The Horseman said. "Otherwise, before learning that you cut all ties with your family, I couldn¡¯t have evene close to you. Do you know who I am?"

    "Baba Yaga¡¯s mad dog. The Horseman of chaos." Trion said while leaping down the building.

    The enchanted uniform would save his life and with the air sealing array, Night couldn¡¯t Warp nor fly. Unfortunately for him, she could still use Spirit Magic, rescuing him with but a thought.

    "I wish the second nickname was true." Night sighed, now regretting as much as Dusk did their inability to use Chaos magic. "I need a host and a powerful one at that. I can make you into one of the most powerful mages the Griffon Kingdom has ever seen.

    "I can give you all the power, the money, and the respect you¡¯ve always wanted. The only thing I need from you is to know what do you think about your family."

    "They are wonderful people and I¡¯ve let them down too many times to buy your pitch." Trion pressed the rm button non-stop, yet nothing happened.

    "One final question. If I told you that your brother is actually a hybrid and that I can unlock the power lying dormant in your blood, what would you say?" Night asked.

    "That Baba Yaga made you out of shit rather than a mana crystal because you¡¯re full of it. My mother would never cheat on my father. Never!" ndering Elina had been the final straw.

    Trion pulled a wand out of his belt and several Fire Seeds, alchemical tools each one of which could produce a fireball with the same power of a tier three spell cast by a Great Mage.

 Chapter 1144 Burden of the Past Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1144 Burden of the Past Part 2</h4>

    The darkness darts killed Ge on the spot, leaving Trion bbergasted.

    ¡¯I thought that Night would protect her, giving me the time to escape, yet she abandoned Ge like trash. No matter, someone is bound to notice the bursts of fire!¡¯ Trion threw a handful of fire seeds at the Horseman and jumped down the roof again.

    Unfortunately for him, Night grabbed the seeds in mid-air with Spirit Magic the moment Trion tossed them, keeping them from exploding.

    "Pity. I pegged you for an ambitiousd who would jump at the opportunity of getting even with his family, not a for a mommy¡¯s boy." Night said as a tendril of Spirit Magic touched his uniform and activated the nk te spell.

    Trion¡¯s uniform temporarily lost his imprint, making the fall lethal. Night destroyed Ge¡¯s body and put the fire seeds back into his pocket along with the darkness wand in his hand before leaving, staging what looked like a drunken suicide.

    Necromancy fixed Trion¡¯s body so that the only damage left on it was that the used charges of his wand would have caused. Night had made her homework. Trion¡¯s envy for Lith was well-known for years and so was his guilt for abandoning his parents in their hour of need.

    ¡¯The only way I¡¯ve left to get revenge on Lith is to get a host who will ughter his family of their own will. That way, I¡¯ll be akin to a de in their hands and not responsible for their actions.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s hope it goes better with the other brother. I would love to see the terrified expression of the Verhens while they get ripped apart at the hand of their own son. On top of that, if every one of them has the potential to evolve into a Wyrmling, I could help Mom with her research. So many birds with one pathetic human.¡¯

    ***

    Solus¡¯s dream, now.

    Sometimes, during her sleep, Solus would remember bits of her past so deeply etched into her brain that they had left a permanent mark even after being destroyed. Before Lith found her, she had been forced to give up on everything that made her human just to prolong her existence.

    Just like Lith, she had been born thrice. The first time as a human, the second after Menadion had turned her into a hybrid, and the third when her bond with Lith had allowed her to awake from the slumber she had put herself into to make her damaged corest as long as she could.

    Yet even if Solus managed to repair both her bodies as her mana core regained its full strength, her memory remained broken. There was no trace of the person she once was and she had no recollection of her life as a human or a tower.

    To make matters worse, most of the memories she regained through sleep were about insignificant aspects of her past. Like hammering a piece of Davross to give it the proper shape but without having any idea where it came from or how the technique worked.

    ¡¯Is it really possible that I was exactly like Lith? Why there is no memory of a boyfriend, a girlfriend, or even a single damn friend?¡¯ Solus thought while watching herself refine crystals, smelting metals, or casting spells.

    Sometimes she used fake magic, others she used true magic, leaving Solus bbergasted.

    ¡¯I guess I was everything now I criticize Lith for. My life was all work and magic. That¡¯s why I died alone. I had no friend that knew about the tower or me. No one cared about my disappearance.¡¯ Solus started to sob.

    Her sadness was so deep that honey-hued tears streamed from her energy body¡¯s eyes. The mana thatprised the tears quickly dissolved into specks of golden dust that made Solus look as if she cried pure light.

    In response to her emotional distress, the vision changed into that of a sunny morning where she was looking into her closets to pick up a dress. Some looked funny like roman togas, others were g dresses in use centuries ago, and she even had a few casual clothes. All of them were tailor-made and heavily enchanted.

    For a moment, Solus hoped that her past self would look in the mirror. In all her dreams, she saw the world in a first-person perspective so the only part of her body she could clearly see was her hands.

    Much to her disappointment, her past self not only didn¡¯t look in the mirror, but it also turned out that she hadn¡¯t picked the sleeveless dress with a knee-long skirt for a date, but just to take a walk around the tower. Alone.

    ¡¯By my maker, how could I be so self-centered? There was nothing in my life but fancy clothes and work! Compared to me, Lith is a people person. At least he loves his parents whereas I didn¡¯t give a damn about them!¡¯ She started to hup in her sleep so hard that it almost awoke Tista.

    Almost.

    Once again, the vision changed but Solus didn¡¯t even bother looking at it. Only when she heard someone else crying as well did she dry her tears and looked up. In the new dream, Solus was walking along an unknown corridor in what she assumed was their of an Emperor Beast.

    Everything was too big for human standards and aside from the necessary for magical experiments, the ce was empty. It reminded her of both Faluel¡¯sir and Scarlett¡¯sb because it was filled with wonders yet devoid of warmth.

    "Mommy, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?" Those words froze her in terror.

    ¡¯Did I have a daughter? What kind of monster I was for forgetting something like that?¡¯ Solus¡¯s fear turned into shock when she realized that the small high-pitched voice she heard was her own.

    "It¡¯s nothing dear. One of Mommy¡¯s friends just passed away and it makes me sad." Menadion wiped her tears with a sleeve and tied her long hair that had covered her face until that moment in a ponytail, to keep it from being drenched in more snot.

    Her long hair streaked with the seven colors of the elements all over.

    ¡¯Menadion was my Mom?¡¯ The ancient Magus looked like a woman in her early twenties as she bent down to pick Solus up and made the baby sit on herp.

    ¡¯This isn¡¯t a beast¡¯sir but our home. My home before the tower. It looks so big only because I¡¯m a small child.¡¯ She thought.

    "Aunt Loka?" Baby Solus asked.

    "Lochra, sweetie, not Loka. And no, thank the gods she¡¯s fine." Menadion chuckled, blowing her nose before kissing the baby¡¯s head while holding her tight.

    "Uncle Valeron is gone, sweetheart. You will not see him ever again." Menadion said.

    "What happened to uncle Val? Why did he have to go?" The affection in her own voice surprised Solus.

    ¡¯Did I just call the First King ¡¯uncle¡¯? When did this happen and how old I am?¡¯ She thought.

    Menadion opened her mouth but no words came out.

    Not even a master of deception like Jirni would have found the words to exin to such a young child that after Arthan¡¯s death, Valeron had stopped using the breathing techniques Tyris had taught him.

    Without them, his white core had stopped burning world energy instead of life force and it had taken death just a few decades to collect a prize that was never meant to be hers.

 Chapter 1145 White Cores and Crystals Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1145 White Cores and Crystals Part 1</h4>

    "He was just tired and really, really sad. Now he can finally rest easy." Menadion sniffed again while thinking about all the pain and anguish Valeron had gone through because of a single mistake.

    Back then, it wasn¡¯t Tyris to choose the new ruler of the Kingdom, but Valeron himself. The First King had faked his death after ruling for over a century because he firmly believed that his long life and Tyris¡¯s help had made him unfit to understand the needs of his people.

    Mages wanted more power,moners wanted more freedom, and nobles wanted everything to stay as it was. The moment Valeron realized that he was against the change as well, he abdicated.

    ording to his heart, the Kingdom was perfect, but his reason knew better. There was no such thing as a perfect state, just the fairestpromise under the circumstances of a given time in history.

    The Kingdom had grown by leaps and bounds under Valeron¡¯s rule and it had be a utopian countrypared to before its unification. Fairws, no very, and a justice system that held even nobles ountable for their actions.

    The problem was that "fair" was a rtive term and that, over time, nobles had found countless ways to bend the new rules. Even though Valeron recognized most of those issues, he hesitated to enact the necessary changes because his attachment to the past kept him from worrying about the present.

    Some of thosews had been written with the help of his best friends. To him, changing them meant to destroy their legacy, to admit to himself that the people he had trusted the most had been wrong.

    He found it difficult to punish nobles as well because they were all descendants of the men and women he had handpicked to rule the Kingdom beside him as its pirs. Killing them or stripping them of their titles would erase the bloodlines of those who had shed their tears and blood with him on the battlefield for years.

    As the Kingdom thrived and its people grew in number, Valeron recognized fewer and fewer faces, making him feel like a relic of a forgotten era. His memories and Tyris were thest things he had left from his human life.

    His direct descendants were still alive, but unlike him, they became older and died if an ident befell them. Valeroncked the strength to alter his own legacy so he made one of his children the ruler and helped them from the sidelines.

    His heart bled with every neww and every time the borders moved, because the Kingdom changed faster than he could ept it, yet Valeron still rejoiced in seeing his people happy.

    It gave him the strength to ept the burden and istion of power.

    Arthan¡¯s Madness, however, had destroyed all the confidence Valeron had in his ability to judge people. He felt responsible for putting Arthan on the throne and for forcing Tyris to publicly execute their great-great-grandson after exposing his crimes.

    She knew that Valeron would suffer, but the Guardian also wanted to show the people of the Kingdom that no one was above thew, not even the Royals. After Arthan¡¯s death, Valeron had stopped using Mother Earth, Tyris¡¯s breathing technique.

    Unable to recognize the Kingdom he had built anymore, with all his direct descendants dead, and the burden of having failed to stop Arthan before thousands of innocents died, he had lost the will to live.

    "Are you really sad too, Mommy? Please, don¡¯t go away. I¡¯ll be good." Baby Solus had no concept of death, yet the thought of not seeing her mother terrified her.

    "Don¡¯t worry, baby girl. Mom is not going anywhere. I¡¯ll always be there for you. Always." Menadion held her child tight, d to not have been born a noble.

    In the Awakenedmunity, having children was one of the ways to keep ties with a world that became more alien to them by the decade. Valeron had stopped having children after abdicating to not cause problems with the line of session.

    "Why is mommy¡¯s hair of different colors while I only got silver and orange? I want green too!" Baby Solus said.

    "I¡¯m sorry sweetie, but such things are decided at birth. You already have two streaks and it means you¡¯re really talented." Menadion chuckled while looking at the little girl who yed with her hair under the light, admiring its reflexes as if it was a multi-colored gem.

    "Talented in what?"

    "Light and earth. The elements of creation. You¡¯ll make a great Forgemaster when you grow up, just like your mom." Menadion replied.

    "What about green? Can I get it?"

    "Green is very, very rare. Only those with six affinities can reach it. Green is the color of mana and mana is nothing more than the six elements mixed with our life force." Menadion said.

    "It¡¯s not rare. You and Aunt Loka have it. Even Dad!" Baby Solus pouted, putting her long hair beside her mother¡¯s and allowing Solus to notice that her human hair was of a shade of brown so light that it looked golden under the magical lights in the house.

    "Dad doesn¡¯t have it. It¡¯s just paint that dirties his hair because of his habit of scratching his head with the brush whenever he gets stumped with one of his pieces. Gods, that man should shower more often." Menadionughed.

    ¡¯My Mom was Menadion and my father was a painter. I wonder if he ever became famous and what kind of man he was.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Normal people have no elemental streak at all. Just like Dad and even uncle Valeron. Those like you who have high affinity for both the elements of creation are said to be blessed by the light, sweetie."

    Menadion conjured a hard-light construct of Valeron wearing the Royal Armor and wielding the Royal de. Since he had been "dead" for decades, Tyris would hold no funeral.

    Making sure that at least his memory would live on with her child was Menadion¡¯s way to pay her respects to the First King.

    In the hologram, Valeron looked youthful and happy, wearing a warm smile on his face.

    "Did you make those things for him, Mommy? They look silly." Baby Solus said.

    "No, dear. Those are the Sword and Armor of Saefel." Menadion replied.

    "Who¡¯s Saefel and why did she do such a bad job?"

    "Mommy is going to share a big secret with you, so you have to promise me to never tell it to anyone." With his death, the promise that Menadion had made to Valeron became irrelevant.

    "Saefel is just another of Tyris¡¯s names. After they got married, uncle Valeron didn¡¯t like being forced to share her with the rest of Mogar. Awakened called her Tyris, people prayed to her with the name of Great Mother, and with her duties as a Guardian, she would often be away.

    "So, uncle Valeron gave her a new name, Saefel, that only he would use whenever they were alone."

    "I don¡¯t get it." Baby Solus said.

    "It¡¯s a human custom, my child. When we have a baby or a pet, the first thing we do is giving them a name. It distinguishes them from all the others and allows us to im them as ours. How would you feel if someone else called me mom?" Menadion said.

 Chapter 1146 White Cores and Crystals Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1146 White Cores and Crystals Part 2</h4>

    "They can¡¯t. You¡¯re my Mom! Mine!" Baby Solus treasured the few moments of the day she spent with her mother so much that she found outrageous even the idea of sharing them with someone else.

    "Exactly. By giving her a name, he sealed their union and Tyris gave him those artifacts to make sure that Valeron would always return to her, no matter the enemy he faced." Menadion said.

    "She doesn¡¯t love him much. She did a bad job. Maybe that¡¯s why uncle Valeron was sad." Solus pointed at the sword with a confused face.

    "It¡¯s the second time you say that. What do you mean?" Menadion and her husband, Threin, argued a lot because she would often bring Solus with her in the Forge.

    Threin often scolded the first Royal Forgemaster for not spending enough time with their daughter and for teaching her too much about Forgemastering and too little about everything else.

    While her husband wanted Solus to have a normal life, Menadion was proud of her daughter¡¯s magical talent and nurtured it daily. Solus already knew the basics of Forgemastery, which made Threin furious and Menadion wonder why she criticized a Guardian¡¯s work so harshly.

    "Red crystals are crap, orange are farts, and yellow are piss. A real Forgemaster doesn¡¯t work with them, they just throw them away." Baby Solus repeated the words she had heard Menadion say many times to her apprentices while teaching them Crystalsmithing.

    Menadion turned to a bright shade of purple, thinking that Threin had got a point.

    "Yes. I mean, no. I mean, please never say that again, especially in front of Dad." Menadion held Baby Solus¡¯s face in her hands, forcing the child to look her in the eyes to understand how serious she was.

    ¡¯Mom¡¯s hands are so soft and warm.¡¯ The sleeping Solus kept crying, but this time it was out of joy.

    Menadion¡¯s love filled the void that she feared her first life had been. She finally knew her origins and why in all of her memories she was so obsessed with Forgemastery.

    ¡¯I just didn¡¯t want to let Mom down.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯I¡¯m proud andpetitive even now so it¡¯s no surprise that back then I did my best to shine above her many disciples.

    ¡¯In one of my earliest memories, Mom said that she wanted me to be the next Ruler of the mes. Probably I worked so hard because I didn¡¯t want to lose to my rivals and I did my best to be the heir of her legacy.¡¯ Yet those joyful thoughts raised unsettling questions.

    ¡¯What happened to my Dad and why do I have no memory of siblings?¡¯

    "I promise." Baby Solus¡¯s voice snapped her out of it. "But it¡¯s still a piss poor job."

    "Don¡¯t say that either!" Menadion cursed her big mouth and promised herself to listen to Threin more. "Also, it¡¯s not a bad job. It¡¯s a masterpiece that even Mommy is trying to replicate to make her tower finally work."

    "Then are red crystals good? Did you lie to your apprentices?" The more Baby Solus heard, the more confused she was.

    "No, they are cr- weak." Menadion bit her tongue to stop herself in time. "Tyris would never use weak crystals for her husband, just like Mom does for your clothes."

    Menadion tapped on the child¡¯s chest who lowered her head, allowing Solus to notice that all the buttons of her dress were actually violet crystals.

    "Those on the Royal Sword are actually white crystals. The most powerful gemstones a Forgemaster can use and capable of replenishing their energy reserves almost instantly, no matter how many times you use them."

    "Then why are they colored?" Both Solus asked in confusion.

    "As I told you before, mana isprised of the six elements plus your life force. That¡¯s why it¡¯s emerald green. When you mix all the elements without life force, you get the white color." Menadion mixed with Spirit Magic some of the paint that Threin had left around to give Solus a practical demonstration.

    "This happens because the elements are perfectly bnced, but that doesn¡¯t mean that they are not there any longer. A truly powerful Forgemaster can imbue white crystals with their own willpower and enhance a single element.

    "The more the element is enhanced, the more it stands out." Menadion added brushstrokes of red, making the white be pink first and then bright red.

    "It¡¯s stupid because red crystals are c-" Baby Solus attempted to say, but Menadion¡¯s re stopped her. "I¡¯m sorry, Mom."

    "It¡¯s not your fault, baby girl, it¡¯s mine. Anyway, changing a crystal¡¯s color doesn¡¯t weaken it in the least. Quite the contrary, it gives them incredible powers. Do you know that Mommy can barely make pink crystals?"

    "Mom is the best! Pink is better than red because red-"

    "Good gods! How many times did I say those words in front of you? Please, don¡¯t answer." Menadion couldn¡¯t believe to have led her only daughter to repeat such a vulgar catchphrase as if it was a nursery rhyme.

    "Lady Tyris is incredible because she managed to make a white crystal turn bright red. It allows the sword to conjure even tier five fire spells without its wielder to spend a shred of mana nor time to weave them.

    "On top of that, even though uncle Valeron had no mana streaks in his hair, as long as he held the de, he was capable of using Domination. The six colored gems bestowed upon him control over all the elements while the white crystals on the hilt empower the enchantments the sword is imbued with."

    "Why didn¡¯t Tyris add a green crystal as well? Uncle Valeron is helpless against Spirit Magic." Baby Solus asked.

    "She could have created a green gemstone by adding her own life force, but that would have made the sword unusable to anyone but her. Adding life force to a crystal is not only incredibly difficult due to its inanimated nature, but it also creates a permanent imprint." Menadion replied.

    ¡¯By my Mom, I mean maker, that¡¯s how Thrud could cast so many powerful spells even though she is a fake mage and how she defended against everything we threw at her.

    ¡¯Lith and I have no white crystals, but if we learn how to infuse them with the elements, we could even add a gemstone for Spirit Magic. On top of that, since our energy signatures match, we wouldn¡¯t have the problem that Tyris had with Valeron.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Is Domination that important?" Baby Solus asked.

    "Very. It¡¯s a secret technique that very few creatures know and that can¡¯t be used without a natural affinity to the elements. Thanks to my seven streaks, I could use Domination, if someone teaches me how to.

    "Uncle Valeron, instead, had no streaks, so even after reaching a white core, he couldn¡¯t Dominate a single element without the sword." Menadion words confirmed Solus the existence of white cores, leaving her bbergasted.

    "I don¡¯t get it. How can a sword do what even you can¡¯t? You have colored hair!" The child sounded already bored, more interested in ying than listening, but she craved her mother¡¯s attention more than anything else.

    "That¡¯s the beauty of Forgemastery, the art that I hope one day you will inherit from me. Normal magic requires mana, discipline, and great willpower. Even creating one of my holograms is impossible to most mages, yet all amulets can do it.

    "Do you know why, pumpkin?" Menadion asked.

 Chapter 1147 Preparations Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1147 Preparations Part 1</h4>

    Baby Solus shook her head. She didn¡¯t understand a word Menadion said, but she pretended otherwise because she didn¡¯t want to disappoint her mother.

    "Because once a Forgemaster find the proper sequence of runes, any mage capable of executing the spells in the correct order can create an artificial mage that¡¯s programmed to do just a few things, but it does them to perfection.

    "Runes have no stray thought, no distraction, nor do they make mistakes. This way, the Forgemaster that follows the blueprint only has to seed once to create something that can exceed even their own limits."

    "The pseudo core provides the mana that the runes channel exactly in the way necessary to fulfill their purpose. Tyris programmed the gemstones to use Domination just like I programmed the amulets to generate holograms."

    At that point, Solus hoped that the workaholic Menadion would give her a demonstration of such crafting technique.

    Much to her surprise, the First Ruler of the mes prepared dinner for both of them and then tucked the young Solus in her bed before reading her a story. The fairy tale Solus had to listen to was cheesy, childish, and had to do with white crystals as much as any of Elina¡¯s recipes.

    Yet to her it was the crown jewel of that dream.

    ***

    Ernas Household, the day after.

    With Jirni and Orion busy doing overtime in an attempt to find an opening in Deirus¡¯s n, Friya and Quy didn¡¯t even need to find an excuse to get away from home for a few days.

    Before departing, however, they had to make sure not to leave any loose ends.

    "Mom, is there anything we can do to help you with your investigation? Anything at all?" Friya asked during dinner.

    "No, dear. The Royal Guards offer me plenty of protection and since the King suspended him from the Royal Court Deirus, had yet to make a single move, let alone a mistake. Thanks for the offer anyway."

    Jirni was d that her daughters had never given up on getting even with Yurial¡¯s father, but she was even more d that they hadn¡¯t lost their temper and ruined her hard work.

    Putting down an opponent of such caliber required patience. As long as Deirus followed thew, the Ernas had to do the same or risk to y into his hand.

    "Do you have any piece of news about my ex-guildmates?" Friya said. Shutting the Crystal Shield had been painful, but it was the only possible move she had left.

    Wyra, Friya¡¯s ex-second inmand was now in witness protection while the others had been relieved from their duty. Without any link with Friya, they would be at least free from Deirus¡¯s grasp.

    "All of them have left the Kingdom. They didn¡¯t trust the nobles nor the army anymore and losing their leader has been thest straw." The pain in Friya¡¯s eyes saddened Jirni, but she was actually happy of having got rid of them.

    Not only were they a liability to her daughter¡¯s safety, but Jirni also suspected that, for the right price, Deirus might have turned against her, nting an assassin in their midst.

    Jirni told Friya about everything the ex-members of the Crystal Shield had done before leaving the Kingdom. ording to their information, they had moved to the Gorgon Empire, hoping that their status of mages would help them find a master and learn at least one specialization.

    "Thanks, Mom. Is it a problem if I go to the Blood Desert for a couple of days?"

    "It depends. Are you using the Kingdom¡¯s Gatework or the beasts¡¯?"

    "The beasts¡¯. Master Faluel is sending us on a mission." Quy replied.

    "Then it¡¯s just perfect. Faluel will deal with Sark and Deirus will lose your traces for a while. He¡¯s obsessed with you, Quy. Phloria¡¯s disappearance already made him falter. If you follow suit, he could panic enough to make a fatal mistake." Jirni said.

    "Deirus is not the only one concerned about Phloria, you know?" Orion grunted.

    Those days, between the cold war with Deirus and his daughters spending so much time with the Hydra, Orion relieved his stress by ying with Lucky, the family dog who had evolved into a Ry.

    The unlikely magical beast now sat beside the Lord of the house, begging Orion with his round puppy eyes for cuddles and food.

    "Indeed. Where is Mom?" Lucky whined while looking at his already empty bowl.

    Orion treated the Ry as one of his children, which meant regr exercise and a healthy diet. Ever since the dog had learned how to talk, people had the absurd demand for him to do more than sleep and eat all day.

    "He¡¯s right, where is M- my little flower?" Orion asked.

    "She¡¯s on another mission with Lith and Tista. If you want to know more, just ask her the next time she calls." Friya said.

    "At least they are not alone." Orion grunted. "What about you?"

    "We are apanying our fellow disciple, Nalrond-"

    "When are you going to introduce him to us?" Orion cut her short.

    "Your father is right." Jirni nipped theirints in the bud.

    "In thest few months, you¡¯ve spent a lot of time with that guy. We have the right to know your suitors and dispose of them if needed, as you did with that Morok guy."

    Realizing that even her mother expected her to have already dumped him made Quy blush and Friya almost choke on her food to avoid saying "I told you so".

    "Don¡¯t worry, Mom. Nalrond¡¯s not interested in us more than Quy is interested in that oddball." Friya spread more salt on her soup and on Quy¡¯s wounds.

    "Well, I want to know him nheless. I heard he can use dimensional magic and if Faluel has taken him in as an apprentice and Lith has yet to kill him, there must be a good reason." Jirni said.

    Voices about the Light Mastery spells Nalrond had employed against the undead had reached her ears and Jirni could use a sane version of Manohar for her ns. The original had just disappeared once again, leaving her without one of her most precious assets.

    Orion gave them the most detailed map of the Blood Desert in his possession, the contact rune of the Kingdom¡¯s ambassador in case they needed help, and a copy of the Code of Sark, also known as the Desert¡¯s Survival Guide.

    It didn¡¯t teach its readers how to find water or what signs to follow in order to reach a tribe. It only contained thews people had to abide by unless they wanted an angry Phoenix chasing them down.

    The following morning, after packing enough food tost for a few days, they reached Faluel¡¯sir, where a surprise was expecting them.

    "How could you tell him about the Fringe?" Nalrond asked Quy while pointing at Morok who refused to leave.

    "I didn¡¯t. I just told Morok that I would go away for a while and that he didn¡¯t have to worry if my amulet goes offline. Thest time it happened after the attack on Lith¡¯s house, he came to my house to make sure I was alright and my Mom unleashed the Royal Guards at him." Quy said.

 Chapter 1148 Preparations Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1148 Preparations Part 2</h4>

    "Heck, I bet that Morok doesn¡¯t even know what a Fringe is." Quy replied.

    "I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care." Morok said with an indignant look. "What I know is that one Lith is enough. I¡¯m not letting this pervert alone with Quy for that long. Everyone knows how this kind of thing goes.

    "One man goes on a mission with multiple girls, shit that leads to several life and death situations happens, and before you know it a harem is born."

    "How dare you calling me a pervert? We¡¯ve never met before. Besides, the stuff you¡¯re rambling about only happens in cheap bard tales!" Nalrond said.

    "Can you look me in the eyes and tell me you never developed feelings for Lith after everything you got through together at the academy?" Morok asked Quy, ignoring his alleged rival.

    "I sort of had a crush on him, but it had nothing to do with danger." Quy blushed up to her ears.

    "Maybe Lith was too much of a gentleman or too young to take advantage of them, but I don¡¯t know nor I trust you. Hence I¡¯ming along." Morok said.

    "Wait, why did you ask Quy about her feelings while taking for granted that I had a crush on Lith?" Friya managed to not blush yet she almost failed to keep her right foot from hitting Morok¡¯s head.

    Almost.

    "You two are so edgy that either you¡¯ve been separated at birth or you ¡¯rubbed off¡¯ your attitude on each other. Since you look nothing alike, I¡¯ll go for option number two." Morok said, making Friya wish murder wasn¡¯t against thew.

    Tired of hearing such nonsense, Nalrond shapeshifted into his Rezar form.

    "Answer my questions. Are you really not aware of Fringes and are youing just to protect Quy from me?" Like all Werepeople, Nalrond¡¯s senses were so sharp that they allowed him to perceive even the aura of things like arrays and crystals even while he was in his human form.

    Once he turned into his other half, his perceptions could literally smell fear.

    "Respectively no and yes." Morok said while looking Nalrond in the eyes and shapeshifting as well, matching his height.

    "Leave me here and I¡¯ll ask my master to warp me to your same destination and then I¡¯ll use all the powers of my species to track you down."

    ¡¯His heartbeat is steady, no drops in the tone of his voice nor hesitation. He¡¯s telling the truth.¡¯ Nalrond thought.

    "From a man who¡¯s got nothing left to another, I respect your dedication, but I don¡¯t know nor trust you as well. I¡¯m not bringing with me my own master, why should I let aplete stranger follow me?" He said.

    "Because there¡¯s two of them and one of you. If the Undead Courts attack again, a single true mage can¡¯t ward off many undead whereas two got a chance. Or maybe you were nning of running away on your own in the case something bad happens?" Morok said.

    Those words made Nalrond join the blushing, but his scales kept it from being noticed. He had actually nned on looking out for number one. The girls, instead, felt powerless, remembering Lith¡¯s words about them being a liability in battle.

    Fake mages needed to chant their spells, which meant they couldn¡¯t talk nor use weapons because they also needed to use hand signs, whereas a true mage could do everything with their mind.

    On top of that, none of them could use a mind link without their Royal Forgemaster wand, making any kind of silentmunication impossible as well.

    "Fine. You cane with us and make camp, but I¡¯m not bringing you inside the Fringe. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s still there, but if that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m not taking any chances.

    "You could achieve enlightenment inside a Fringe and I don¡¯t trust you with more power than you already have." Nalrond said.

    "Fine by me, but I have one condition." Morok said to Quy. "If this Fringe thingy is not there anymore, it would be a waste of time to go there and back in a single day. During my stay in the Desert, I met these nice merchants that gave me this."

    He handed her a small booklet titled "Guide to the most romantic oases".

    "Did you really put up this farce just to ask her out?" Nalrond couldn¡¯t believe his own ears.

    "Of course! Thanks for helping me look cool, brother." Morok winked with two of his four eyes.

    "First, I¡¯m not your brother. Second, Quy is right here, hearing everything you say!"

    "Can you please forget thatst part? You weren¡¯t supposed to know that." Morok asked Quy while Friyaughed her ass off.

    "Let me know if you need a ride back." Faluel had enough of Morok for a week already, so she Warped them to their of Asphodus the Roc.

    The lesser Phoenix recognized Morok from hisst travel and warped them to the closestndmark without even letting the group say a word.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t give a damn about the warm hospitality between beasts in the Desert. After that Tyrant almost emptied my beer cer, if he touches another keg, I¡¯ll kill him!¡¯ He thought.

    Nalrond had no idea what had happened nor did he care. Thendmark gave him a starting point from which he could understand his position on the map. It took him just a few minutes before he could open the first of many Warp Steps that led them to their destination.

    After closing each dimensional corridor, the Rezar used a dimensional spell that his tribe had invented to restore space and clear any trace of their passage. Even though he used no chant nor hand sign, Friya recognized it.

    "Quy, that¡¯s Restoration. The spell you used to save our lives when Nalear sabotaged the training room for dimensional magic. I thought its only use was to fix dimensional rifts. Nalrond, what are you doing?" She said.

    "Dimensional mages can trace your Steps and follow you. This spell that we call Cover makes such eventuality impossible." Nalrond said, amazed by Friya¡¯s dimensional awareness.

    "Really? That¡¯s amazing." She started to think about the possibilities that Nalrond¡¯s revtion implied and how to turn it into a weapon.

    "More like terrifying when you¡¯re trying to run away." He said while opening the next dimensional corridor.

    Nalrond refused to take turns and did everything on his own so that no one else knew their path or destination. By the time they arrived, he had exhausted his mana. His body felt like he had run a marathon and his head pounded.

    "That¡¯s it?" The other asked in unison, giving him a splitting headache.

    All around them there was nothing but dunes. The dry wind of the desert carried a fine sand that made them cough until they used their Skinwalker armor to cover their mouths and noses.

    "I expected some big oasis overflowing with world energy or a choir of nymphs. This is underwhelming." Friya said.

    Morok was about to agree on everything, especially about the nymphs when he remembered that Quy was right beside him and shut up instead.

    "If that was the case, Fringes would be easy to find." Nalrond clenched his head trying to make the pain stop.

 Chapter 1149 Soul Projection Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1149 Soul Projection Part 1</h4>

    "A Fringe can be anywhere and those who live inside usually destroy any kind ofndmarks near its entrance to make it as inconspicuous as possible. Now please shut up and let me rest." Nalrond said.

    Morok Hushed the area around the Rezar and kept talking, instead.

    "The guy has a point. You wouldn¡¯t give this ce a second look if not for the weird wind that chills your bones despite the desert¡¯s heat."

    "The wind isn¡¯t cold at all. It¡¯s hot and dry. On top of that, it¡¯s not just here, there¡¯s wind as far as the eye can see." Quy pointed at the ever-shifting dunes around them.

    "Agreed. We¡¯d better keep ourselves hydrated or we¡¯ll faint from the heat." Friya used water magic to cool herself off and tried to conjure water, but thetter failed.

    "Damn, I hope you guys brought enough water because all I have is alcohol and I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to help us much, at least during the day. By the way, there¡¯s something off here. I can¡¯t feel the cold Morok is talking about but the space is weird. It feels like someone put a wool on the entire area."

    If Nalrond could hear anything, his respect for Friya would have grown again. The entrance to a Fringe had no distinguishing feature and since Mogar wanted to keep it hidden, only two kinds of people could find an ess point.

    Exceptionally talented dimensional mages could perceive the alterations in the space around them, but they would never manage to pry open a Fringe. Mogar¡¯s bacsh would make it thest mistake they ever made.

    Those with a high affinity with three or more elements, instead, would feel an imbnce in the world energy only in the proximity of the entrance. They wouldn¡¯t be capable of entering either, because the imbnce was just the consequence of the different density of world energy inside and outside the Fringe.

    Nalrond inwardly thanked hispanion for that sudden silence and started to use his meditation technique to recover his mana at a faster rate than any fake mage could. Despite the barrier dividing his life forces, the synergy between his two mana cores allowed them to hasten each other¡¯s recovery.

    "Let¡¯s see if I can find our way in." Friya had no idea of the danger that such an act implied and the Hush zone made Nalrond unable to hear or warn her.

    "Since we are going to wait for the sleeping beauty there, I might as well give it a try as well." Morok shapeshifted into his Tyrant form, using his four eyes to draw the elemental energy inside his body and study it.

    ¡¯Neat, now I¡¯m the less talented one.¡¯ Quy thought, angry at herself because she didn¡¯t feel anything but the sun¡¯s heat and the wind drying her throat by the second.

    She conjured an array that lowered the temperature and increased the humidity by drawing what little there was in their surroundings before taking out her Royal Forgemaster wand.

    ¡¯Based on what Faluel said, it¡¯s a matter of being attuned with Mogar. Spirit Magic is the closest thing to world energy a living being can produce. Maybe if I manage to feel the Fringe, I can synch with its energy signature and gain ess.¡¯

    Quy¡¯s n was good, just like those of the others and those of all the people who preceded her. What every one of them never took into ount was that Mogar had a will of its own.

    To enter a Fringe, one had to knock at its door and politely ask for hospitality, not to pick the lock. After about an hour of failures, they gave up and conjured a few chairs to sit downfortably.

    "It¡¯s better if we save our strength. Otherwise we¡¯ll need to rest as well before entering the Fringe." Friya had still most of her mana, but the mental fatigue from deciphering the dimensional barrier gave her a headache.

    She could sense the space twirling around her finger at her every attempt, but there were no runes to manipte, just a willpower so intense that Friya risked losing herself the moment they came in contact.

    "I guess this is as far as I go." Morok sighed. "It¡¯s too bad. I would have loved to-"

    His sudden disappearance bbergasted the girls who jumped up to call Nalrond for help.

    "Wow, it¡¯s much better on the inside." Morok reappeared, throwing them fruits that resembled Earth¡¯s peaches.

    They were sweet and juicy, quenching the girls¡¯ thirst for water but not that for answers.

    "Did you just enter the Fringe?" Quy said between bites. Stress eating always relieved her wounded ego.

    "No, it just let me in. I didn¡¯t do anything." He said.

    "How did you do it?" Friya put the seed inside her dimensional amulet, hoping that the Ernas gardener might grow a tree from it.

    "As I sucked elemental energy through my eyes, I started to hear voices." Morok replied. "The more energy I took in, the stronger they be. For a moment, I thought I was going mad."

    "Then why didn¡¯t you stop?" Quy asked.

    "Because they didn¡¯t ask me to murder you guys or cut my throat. The voices just wanted to talk." Morok said.

    "What did they say?"

    "They asked mostly dumb questions like who I am or what do I want. The rest was a long rambling about the meaning of life of which I didn¡¯t understand much so I just listened.

    "The voices disappeared a few minutes ago and I thought it was over, but when they heard me thinking I would have liked to follow you inside, they invited me in." Morok gave Quy a thumbs up as if she had helped him.

    "Come on, it¡¯s easy." Morok disappeared again, without leaving any trace of his passage nor a gateway.

    "How the heck are we supposed to get in?" Friya said, hoping that he could still hear them.

    ¡¯I still have a way to go before regaining my full strength, but I¡¯m surprised they managed to be quiet for so long, especially that Moron.¡¯ Nalrond took a few deep breaths before opening his eyes to prepare his nerves for the living nonsense that his unwanted guest was.

    Much to his surprise, Morok seemed to have gone and the girls to have be mute. Nalrond could see them move their mouths but no sound came out.

    "You idiots! What if someone attacked us? I would have been a sitting duck." He said, but the hush zone blocked every single word, forcing him to repeat himself once he dispelled it.

    "Please, stop being such a pessimist. Our line of sight is free for kilometers and there¡¯s so much silence that we would hear a mouse trying to sneak up on us. More importantly, Morok entered the Fringe a while ago and has yet to return." Friya said.

    "That¡¯s impossible." Nalrond looked at her as if she had gone mad.

    "You don¡¯t get inside a Fringe just because you want to. Even those born inside of it like me need to be taught how tomunicate with the dimensional barrier. Otherwise it¡¯s impossible to get in or out. The process is so long that I¡¯m not even going to teach you."

    "Believe it or not, that¡¯s exactly what happened." Quy said.

 Chapter 1150 Soul Projection Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1150 Soul Projection Part 2</h4>

    Nalrond refused to believe her and thought that Morok was just ying a prank on them. Blinking away was a cheap trick that anyone could do whereas only a few selected individuals couldmune with Mogar.

    He extended his hands in a simr way to that he had used back when Faluel had tried to teach him Spirit Magic. The Fringe was right in front of him and Mogar¡¯s essence was so strong that it took him a single attempt to establish a link.

    A thousand voices flooded his mind, some ancient and other new, yet he could understand them all. A normal person would have be mad or died of shock due to the flood of different personalities talking at the same time.

    The stronger one¡¯s ego was, the harder the impact would be. Resisting the stampede of foreign thoughts, experiences, and beliefs was impossible. Instead of fighting them, Nalrond let them flow while focusing on his own name.

    A single word that epassed his past as well as his future. Once most of the voices disappeared, only one remained. It asked him several personal questions, some simple, others moreplicated, but to each one of them, he had to answer sincerely, no matter how painful it was.

    ¡¯Why did you leave?¡¯ Mogar asked.

    ¡¯For revenge. There was nothing left for me here.¡¯ Nalrond replied.

    ¡¯Then why did you return?¡¯

    ¡¯To see my home onest time before moving forward and to help mypanions.¡¯ Nalrond¡¯sst answer gave him ess to the Fringe and to the surprise it held.

    ¡¯Are they really so important to you?¡¯

    ¡¯No, but I hope they will be. Hope is all I have left.¡¯

    After Nalrond thought those words, he could see Morok standing a few meters from him, gesturing to the air as if he was having an argument with an imaginary friend.

    "What the heck are you doing?" Nalrond asked.

    "Trying to convince this jackass of a of letting the girls in, or at least Quy. After I got back in, I understood that it doesn¡¯t make sense to get out again until- Great Mother almighty, what¡¯s that?" Morok pointed right above Nalrond¡¯s head.

    A giant figure resembling his Rezar half floated in mid-air, wing at the human half while weeping non-stop.

    "It¡¯s just my Soul Projection. Everyone gets one inside a Fringe, even you." Nalrond looked above Morok¡¯s head just to see empty air. "How did you do it?"

    "How did I do what?"

    "Never mind." Nalrond returned outside, too shocked to waste any more time.

    "I¡¯ve got bad news and I¡¯ve got good news. The bad news is that you were right, Morok somehow got in so we¡¯ll have to bring him along. The good news is that the Fringe is still here and looks exactly like I remembered it.

    "Which means that either some of my nsmen survived or that Mogar decided it still has a purpose. Whatever the reason, before crossing over to the other side, I must warn you. Inside a Fringe, you can¡¯t hide your true nature.

    "If you decide to get in, you¡¯ll be forced to confront with a part of yourselves you¡¯ve probably avoided your entire life. To make matters worse, it will be visible to others as well." Nalrond said.

    "What do you mean? Is it something like reading the mind of other people with a mind link?" Quy asked.

    "No. It¡¯s just that as long as you¡¯re inside a Fringe, you are also under Mogar¡¯s gaze. It causes a phenomenon that Werepeople call Soul Projection which¡¯s the manifestation of how your mind looks like.

    "It can¡¯t speak or interact with the physical world, but it can still reveal your true feelings and thoughts. If you still want to follow me inside the Fringe, just take my hand one at a time." Nalrond closed his eyes and half of his body disappeared as if an invisible de had cut him asunder.

    Yet there was no blood nor visible wound, only faint traces of world energy where his missing body was supposed to be. The girls stared at him in awe, waving their hands in the empty space to look for a dimensional door but finding only air.

    No matter how much she searched with her spells, Friya only sensed cold waves that became more intense the more she came close to Nalrond.

    The moment she touched his extended hand, Friya felt a sensation hundreds of times worse than that she had experienced while deciphering the barrier. Mogar shared with her countless lives, forcing Friya to relieve every moment of them.

    Joy, pain, love, and hatred for people that she had never seen before flooded her mind until she simply forgot who she was, bing just one mind in a crowd of many. With oblivion came peace, reliving Friya from the worries of the living.

    The sensationsted barely for a second, but when she entered the Fringe, her entire life shed in front of her eyes. As her self-awareness returned so did her memories, making Friya puke her guts out.

    Happiness faded quickly whereas all the mistakes and failures that had scarred her in ways that even light magic couldn¡¯t heal them assaulted her mind at the same time until life seemed too painful a burden to bear it anymore.

    "Careful with that de." Morok¡¯s voice snapped Friya out of it while his hand stopped hers before she could hurt herself with abat knife that was now millimeters away from her throat.

    "I¡¯m sorry Yurial. I tried to resist Nalear¡¯s orders, but I wasn¡¯t strong enough. It¡¯s all my fault you died. I don¡¯t deserve to live." Quy had Bloodbind wrap around her own neck, to break it with a single squeeze of the Adamant chains.

    "For the gods¡¯ sake, don¡¯t just stand there, Nalrond!" Morok shapeshifted into his Tyrant form, knowing that a flimsy human body had no chance to slow down the weapon, let alone stop it.

    He put the hand that wasn¡¯t grabbing Friya¡¯s knife between the chains and Quy¡¯s neck, as if he wanted to strangle her. Bloodbind¡¯s sudden grip managed to crack the Tyrant¡¯s hand, but thanks to his thick skin and dense muscles, Quy didn¡¯t suffer a scratch.

    "Oh gods, I¡¯m so sorry. You shouldn¡¯t have done it." She said, snapping out of it the moment she saw his pained expression and heard the sound of breaking bones.

    "It¡¯s nothing." Morok healed his injury with light fusion, yet refused to move his hand away until Bloodbind disappeared under her sleeves. "At least I got to feel your smooth skin. You¡¯ve got a pretty neck, you know?"

    "What?" Quy blushed. "No, I mean you really shouldn¡¯t. After what happened with Nalear, my Dad always enchants our weapons so that they cannot wound a member of the Ernas family. Bloodbind can¡¯t hurt me nor Friya."

    "What about Friya¡¯s knife?" Morok asked.

    "Dad didn¡¯t make it. You saved her life." Quy gave him a small bow of gratitude before turning to the Rezar in anger. "Why the heck didn¡¯t you warn us? We could have died right off the bat!"

    "I did." Nalrond was pale as a ghost. Bringing two people inside had taken a toll on him. "I told you that you would be forced to face an ugly part of yourselves. I just didn¡¯t expect that your wounds run so deep that they would endanger your lives."

 Chapter 1151 State of Sorrow Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1151 State of Sorrow Part 1</h4>

    "What do you mean?" Morok asked while returning human.

    "The moment someone steps inside the barrier, their consciousness is assaulted by Mogar¡¯s. Without the proper training, the mind of feeble beings like us gets crushed and our personality disappears.

    "To let the girls inside the Fringe, I had to open a way while drawing on myself most of Mogar¡¯s attention. It allowed them to slip in unnoticed and to experience solely a split-second of pressure before the weight on their minds disappeared.

    "On the other hand, even brief exposure to Mogar¡¯s will is dangerous. To separate their personalities from those imbued in the barrier, they had to relive all the traumatic events of their lives.

    "Whatever made them the persons that they are today, they lived it all in one go, without a moment to grieve their dead or collect themselves. I knew it might be traumatic, but I never expected that two pampered nobledies could carry such a heavy burden.

    "The link that I used to protect the girls forced me to experience part of their grief along with my own, almost killing me." Nalrond said.

    "Who gave you the right to pry into our past like that? You should have asked for our permission." Friya freed her hand from Morok¡¯s grip and pointed the knife at the Rezar¡¯s throat.

    All the self-loathe she felt had turned into an unbridled rage that needed a way to vent. Nalrond¡¯s soft human skin made an excellent target.

    "I didn¡¯t see anything. I only experience your pain." He replied while looking her in the eyes. "I¡¯m sorry. I thought you and your sister were respectively a woman unhappy with her life and a magic enthusiast, not two walking sacks of grief."

    "At least you are honest." Friya snarled while putting the knife away. "Don¡¯t assume that you¡¯re the only one with a sad past just because we don¡¯t wear our hearts on our sleeve as you do."

    "Correction. Now you do." Morok pointed above Friya¡¯s and Quy¡¯s head where now floated two spectral figures.

    While Nalrond had an angry, weeping Rezaring out of his shoulders, Friya¡¯s Soul Projection represented a young woman burdened with heavy chains secured by a lock.

    The woman held the key in her hands, yet she just stared at it dumbly as blood tears streamed down her eyes. Quy, instead, had an image of herself dressed with the deep violet robe of a Magus.

    The Projection looked happy, yet as soon as it tried to cast a spell, her fingers turned into snakes that devoured her inside out. Then, the slithering mass of snakes turned into her body and the cycle started anew.

    "Wow, straight for the Magus. Confident much?" Morok said.

    "What the heck are those things and how do we make them disappear?" Friya asked while blushing up to her ears.

    Aside from the chains, her avatar didn¡¯t wear anything.

    "I told you, those are your Soul Projections." Nalrond¡¯s voice sounded cold, with no trace of his earlier guilt.

    "You can¡¯t make them disappear until you resolve the issue they represent. I hoped that seeing them might help you both, but now I realize that bringing you are was a mistake. Feel free to leave."

    "Why do you say that?" Quy asked.

    "Because that¡¯s exactly as Ac¡¯s Projection looked like." Nalrond pointed at the chained maiden above Friya¡¯s head.

    "The image of a person burdened by the expectations of others. Someone who is so afraid of discovering they are the real source of their own misery that they prefer to keep wearing the chains."

    Those words took Friya aback, making her rage turn into shame.

    ¡¯Am I really the kind of person that would sacrifice dozens of innocent people just to feel good with themselves? I mean, sure, bing Faluel¡¯s Harbinger isn¡¯t much different from bonding with Dawn, but at least I¡¯m endangering only myself.

    ¡¯At least until Faluel doesn¡¯t order me to kill people.¡¯ She thought, discovering that the parallel between her condition and that of the traitorous Ranger ran deep.

    Both of them were so disappointed with themselves that they were willing to give up on their freedom just to fill the void in their souls rather than trying to fix their problems.

    "What about Quy¡¯s?" Morok asked.

    "I don¡¯t know. The elders interpreted our Projections to help us ovee our limits, but even they failed to get rid of their own inner demons. The real question is how can you not have one?" Nalrond ced his index and middle finger on Morok¡¯s forehead.

    The Rezar had lived most of his life inside the Fringe, making him an expert in manipting the dense world energy filled with Mogar¡¯s will that surrounded them. With a deep breath, he conjured the¡¯s attention on Morok for a split second, making his Projection appear.

    It looked like a perfect copy of Morok that moved and spoke in unison with him when he said:

    "It¡¯s easy. Unlike you lot, I¡¯m happy with myself." The two Moroks shrugged while bing one again. "Now if you¡¯re done arguing, we might as well enjoy the scenery. This ce is much better than that crappy desert."

    With all that had happened, none of them had the time to notice the beauty of the Fringe. Tall grass with orange streaks grew under their feet, rustled by a gentle spring breeze carrying the smell of rain.

    The luxurious green meadows extended as far as the eye could see, but they were far from empty. The group had appeared near several fruit trees with blue streaks covering their brown bark.

    Their branches were filled with ripe fruits whose delicious smell made them hungry.

    Small animals resembling silver furred chinchis came out of their burrows while bright feathered birds came to look at the neers. The noise made them curious rather than scared because they had never met humans before.

    "By the Great Mother, this is bigger than Lutia." Friya said while staring at their surroundings in awe. Discovering that Mogar itself was actually the first dimensional mage made her proud of her profession.

    "Yeah. And those woods make Trawn look like a garden inparison." Quy pointed at the thick mass of tall trees visible at the horizon.

    "What?" Those words made Nalrond snap out of his reverie. The contact with Morok had flooded him with peace, making the Rezar forget all about his newfound distrust for Friya and lose himself in past memories.

    The scents, the sounds, and the sight of his lost home had triggered so many memories that Nalrond had failed to notice the warm tears streaming down his own eyes.

    "There are no woods in this Fringe, just fruit trees. On top of that, I can assure you that it¡¯s not that big. Fringes never extend beyond what they need to host the creatures they are meant to protect." Yet he only had to follow Quy¡¯s finger to realize that she was right.

    The Fringe was as he remembered it, yet it was also different. Nalrond shapeshifted into his Rezar form, to use his animal senses to understand how deep the changes were. He could smell things both old and new.

    The wind carried the scent of trees he had never met even in the outside world, of flowers that didn¡¯t belong to his home, but also the faint smell of freshly baked bread and the noise of children ying in the open.

 Chapter 1152 State of Sorrow Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1152 State of Sorrow Part 2</h4>

    Nalrond refused to believe that Mogar could be ying such a cruel joke on him and took flight to reach the distant source of those painful signs of life. He didn¡¯t care about leaving the others behind nor about them yelling for an exnation.

    He crossed the few kilometers separating him from the ruins of his vige in a few minutes, but not even all the spells he had woven in the case Dawn had returned to take the Fringe as her own could prepare him for what he found.

    Houses instead of ruins and people instead of undead. The exhaustion from the long travel and one shock too many made him faint, plunging to the ground with the grace of a boulder.

    ***

    Jiera continent, Fenagar¡¯sir, outside the city of Reghia.

    Fenagar the Leviathan, Zagran the Garuda, and Roghar the Fenrir sat together at a round table for the first time in a long while. All pieces of furniture were made from a single dead branch of the World Tree.

    Veins of the seven colors of the elements streaked the wood, making it able to withstand the weight of the Guardians and, if necessary, their fury.

    Baba Yaga in her mother form attended that meeting as an honored guest, along with another woman of equal beauty. Her silver-colored hair bore streaks of all elements, marking her as one of the few humans blessed with talent in all forms of magic.

    Yet what made her worthy of the assembly was her eyes that carried the seven colors of the elements as well. Last, but not least, the holograms of the three Guardians of the Garlen continent appeared one after another.

    All of the Guardians had assumed their respective humanoid appearance to better contain their powers and keep natural disasters from happening. There was a reason why the six original Guardians rarely met.

    Words would easily turn into insults and if things got physical, many maps would need to be rewritten. That¡¯s why they had asked the two white-cored women to act as peacemakers.

    With their powers, they could contain the anger of a Guardian long enough to calm them down or at least to prevent the ensuing destruction from spreading.

    "Since I doubt that anyone here enjoys each otherpany, let¡¯s move straight to business." Fenagar said, obtaining only nods of approval in response.

    He looked like a humanoid reptile covered in white scales, about two meters (6¡¯7") tall, wearing ab coat and gold-rimmed round sses. Fenagar didn¡¯t like taking human form because people kept telling him how much he resembled Leegaain.

    ¡¯The six original Guardians agreeing on something is a rare event, child.¡¯ Baba Yaga chuckled through the mind link while being careful that no one else but herpanion could hear her thoughts.

    ¡¯It¡¯s my first time seeing all of them together, so I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡¯ The woman couldn¡¯t stop sweating bullets just by looking at the table.

    Even the holograms emitted so much mana that the air around them crackled with power, making it hard to even breathe.

    ¡¯Build yourself a mage tower, child. Those like us who can¡¯t draw endless power from Mogar need all the edges they can get.¡¯ Baba Yaga shook her ming red hair in disapproval while staring at her peer with her emerald eyes.

    "The reason why I requested this meeting is simple. I want to discuss both the situation of Jiera and the anomaly. I don¡¯t like to admit it, but I think that Jiera might need help to contain the current crisis." Fenagar red at Zagran who was already yawning.

    She looked like a bulky woman in her mid-twenties, over 1.8 meters (6¡¯) tall, with shoulder-length blue hair, deep purple skin and eyes. Zagran wore a sleeveless shirt that left exposed her muscr arms covered in battle scars that she refused to heal.

    "Contain what? The anomaly has yet to reach a power that might be considered threatening and he has never shown any sign of malevolence." Tyris asked.

    "The anomaly is just a curiosity. Fenagar is talking about the lost cities." Roghar the Fenrir replied.

    He looked like a handsome man in his early thirties about 1.65 meters (5¡¯5") tall, with ashen grey skin, short silver hair, and grey eyes. He had the lean built of a schr and wore an ample golden mage robe.

    "The beasts are doing their best to keep all the living legacies contained, but some arrays are more easily destroyed than opened without the correct password. The disappearance of the human race on Jiera brought much trouble upon us.

    "On the one hand, we don¡¯t want to fix the mess they made. Destroying a living legacy is never easy, especially after they had centuries to build their strength. On the other hand, however, the survivors have no way to stop them and no fault in their creations.

    "If we leave them as they are now, life on Jiera will disappear."

    "Then you would have failed your role as Guardians and everyone will migrate to our continent." Sark¡¯s voice oozed ill-concealed wrath. "I hope you¡¯re not going to ask our permission toe along because I don¡¯t like having guests.

    "I worked hard to destroy all the cursed objects in the Blood Desert and to make sure that the only fruits the research of forbidden magic would bear were those of the trees growing on the graves of those foolish enough to break myw."

    "I worked hard, you mean." Leegaain said with a grunt. "I¡¯m the one who had to research the proper way to dispose of them without turning entire regions into wastnds for centuries."

    Even though the most dangerous living legacies drew their power from mana geysers, Guardians could easily dispose of them with sheer might. s, the deadly offspring of Forbidden Magic would usually spread their gue even in death.

    The sudden release of wild energies after their destruction would taint thends, making them inhabitable for prolonged periods of time unless someone knew how to do it properly as Lith did with the ck Star.

    "No, I worked hard. You just keep your scaly ass glued to a chair all day long whereas I run an entire country and take care of dozens of millions of lives. Doing some research for me isn¡¯t that big of a deal." Sark replied.

    "Your judgment is as hasty and unfair as usual, Sark." Zagran the Garuda said.

    "We didn¡¯t fail as Guardians because our role is to keep the bnce, not to babysit a bunch of noisy brats that like to spend most of their brief lives devising new ways to kill each other. It¡¯s not our fault if they don¡¯t survive their own sess.

    "I kept my turf in check and I even know all the passwords to the arrays. Living legacies are among the few opponents that don¡¯t die as soon as I re at them. If someone else didn¡¯t do the same it¡¯s their fault. I don¡¯t see why I should bother with it."

    "Because once one of them goes on a rampage, no one on either side of the ocean will be safe." Fenagar said. "Destroying them is easy, but if too many of them escape their confinement at the same time, the consequences might be dire."

    The Guardians had no love for their respective counterparts, but refusing to help Fenagar would only endanger Garlen as well.

 Chapter 1153 Shadows of the Past Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1153 Shadows of the Past Part 1</h4>

    The six Guardians pooled up their resources to find a way to contain the lost cities they had ess to, to get rid of all those whose destruction would have minimal consequences, and to keep under control as many as the survivors in Jiera could handle.

    All Guardians on Mogar used the lost cities as constant reminders of the consequences that Forbidden Magic had and of how even when it seeded, its practice required a cost one hundred-fold greater than the result.

    People who grew in their shadows would rarely dare to dabble in the Forbidden Arts while those who lived away from the lost cities would thank the gods for their luck and do all they could to keep things that way.

    "What do you think of the anomaly? We agreed on sending him to your continent to allow you to study Lith and get your opinion." Tyris asked.

    "Since he refused my offer for help, I can say that he¡¯s a moron." Fenagar¡¯s voice spoke volumes about his still hurting pride.

    "Then he¡¯s as smart as I imagined. If he became your study subject, he would have died long before you let him go." Leegaain said.

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about the anomaly." Zagran the Garuda said. "He¡¯s weak and insignificant, just like everyone but Sark and I."

    The Lord of Might would rarely provide a useful contribution so the others ignored her.

    "I find him interesting." Roghar the Fenrir said. "This Lith is unlike Sark who rules over death and rebirth or like me who deals with finding new ways to give life. From what I could see, his trade is not just killing, he deals with souls."

    "What do you mean?" Sark asked, intrigued at the idea.

    "You use the darkness element to destroy something in order to create something else or make way for new life whereas he doesn¡¯t only kill someone, he also acts as a gateway for those who remained trapped between life and death."

    "I noticed that his cracked life force exudes a powerful death aura. Do you think the two things are rted?" Tyris asked.

    "Indeed. Usually, the spirits of those who fail to move forward are doomed to linger around their deathce, waiting for a Necromancer to create a suitable host for them. In Lith¡¯s case, however, the souls follow him and use him as a means to vent their anger.

    "It makes Lith¡¯s potential enormous since even though those souls so far inhabited just shadows, he managed to feed them his life force through Spirit Magic, giving back to those souls not only substance, but also part of their memories." Roghar said.

    "How is it different from my children?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "Your children never truly died, while amon Necromancer simply gives a wandering spirit the means to interact with the physical world in exchange for all their memories.

    "Based on my experiments, when the body and the soul aren¡¯t in synch, forming a bond between them erases the consciousness, making a greater undead akin to a newborn.

    "The anomaly, instead, creates only a temporary bond that allows the souls to both retain their minds and to vent their grievances through battle. I theory, if perfected, such technique would allow a true resurrection.

    "Yet since Mogar described him as the Lord of Destruction I doubt that is his intended purpose. What¡¯s truly interesting, however, is that amazing tower he brings along. It¡¯s an anomaly as unprecedented as he is." Roghar said.

    "That¡¯s another thing that I failed to understand. The runt is way too young to craft something like that by himself and I¡¯m sure that I know every single mage tower in existence. Does anyone know where ites from?" Baba Yaga asked.

    The Guardians from Garlen shook their heads even though they knew the truth, unwilling to put Menadion¡¯s Desperation at risk.

    "I don¡¯t know its origin, but I sure like it. It¡¯s exactly the kind of tower I¡¯d craft if I was so weak that I needed one." Zagran the Garuda said with a huge grin on her face.

    "Even while we are talking, it¡¯s growing stronger. It changes and adapts to the environment to better support its master. If it keeps like this, one day it might match Menadion¡¯s tower, if not even surpass it."

    Those words left Baba Yaga dumbstruck. Back when she had been Zagran¡¯s priestess and apprentice, the Blood Mother had soon learned that the Guardian would rarely make apliment even to her peers, let alone to those who she considered inferiors.

    "Why do you use Menadion¡¯s craft as a benchmark instead of mine? Ripha built her tower with outdated runes and Forgemastering techniques whereas I upgraded mine over the centuries with cutting edge magic." Baba Yaga could ignore the remarks of the ignorant, but not those of the Guardians.

    "And yet yours is still inferior." Fenagar shook his head, while thinking back at all the amazing features of the lost artifact. "Not because your towercks power so much because you keep spreading your resources too thin.

    "Menadion crafted her tower as the perfectb and invested all of her resources on making it impregnable. You, instead, have created your tower as a means to offer your children a safe environment, with entire biomes inside to not make them feel like prisoners."

    "All the energy that it wastes onmodities, Menadion¡¯s tower used it to grow her own crystals, to collect veins of rare metals, and even to farm her own natural treasures. She didn¡¯t waste world energy in ygrounds and sunsets."

    "Taking care of your children is amendable endeavor, Yaga." Zagran said, shocking all those present with the secondpliment of that century so close to the first. "With your talent, skill, and heart, you should have be a Guardian."

    "To what end?" The Blood Mother said with a scoff. "To be stuck in a continent far away from my own, without the possibility to get in touch with those I care for because my ego wouldn¡¯t allow me to coexist with any of you?

    "To be forced to spectate you ughter my people without being able to do anything? We¡¯ve never fought seriously against each other so I¡¯ve got no idea how powerful my white core makes mepared to a Guardian, but I know that it makes me free.

    "Free to go wherever I want whenever I want. Free to save whoever I want, even those that the rest of Mogar knew as the ursed Odi, my people. There¡¯s a good reason why no race but beasts ever epted to be Guardians.

    "Mogar has no qualms killing her so-called chosen ones the moment they fail her and then burdens them with cruel tasks for the rest of eternity. Only a few of us managed to acquire a white core and escape her grasp, while only death awaited those who didn¡¯t bend the knee.

    "That¡¯s why I created the undead. To give everyone the possibility to live forever, free from all constrictions, be they made by men, beasts, or even Mogar itself." Baba Yaga still remembered when Mogar had appeared to her under the guise of a female ve like those that her people were so quick to kill and rece like toys.

    She had left the Odi because she couldn¡¯t tolerate a society that imposed impossible standards of beauty, power, and intelligence on its members.

 Chapter 1154 Shadows of the Past Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1154 Shadows of the Past Part 2</h4>

    Yet when Mogar had made her its offer, she had refused it, finding it no different from what the Odi wanted from her.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I agree with Baba Yaga. I refused to be a Guardian as well because after all I did and all the horrible things I witnessed during my travels, I couldn¡¯t stand the idea of living an eternity of duty." The silver-haired woman said while looking at Tyris in the eyes.

    "You¡¯re both wrong." Leegaain shook his head.

    "We are not ves and Mogar never forced us to do anything. I started hoarding knowledge back when I was still a Smander and saving species on the verge of extinction back when I was still a Drake.

    "To this day, I¡¯ve yet to do as a Guardian something that I wouldn¡¯t have done if I remained an Emperor Beast. Bing a Guardian doesn¡¯t mean to embrace shackles, far from it.

    "It simply means to share with the rest of the world what you love the most not to indulge your ego or receive praises, but just because it makes everyone around you better for it.

    "Like you did with undeath, or like Lochra Silverwing did by inventing the specializations and giving birth to the title of Magus. Magi are the closest thing to a Guardian that humans manage to be because they are too obsessed with themselves."

    At that point, Baba Yaga felt that any more words wouldn¡¯t be a discussion anymore, just bickering. She Warped away, quickly followed by the Guardians, until only the silver-haired woman and Leegaain remained.

    "It¡¯s not every day that the Lord of Wisdom seeks an audience with a humble mortal. How can I serve you, Master Leegaain?" She said without trying to conceal her chuckle.

    "How many times do I have to tell you, Lochra? It isn¡¯t funny now just like it wasn¡¯t funny the first time we met. Why the heck are you on Jiera? Do you have any idea how difficult has it been to find you?" Leegaain didn¡¯t trustmunication amulets and even he couldn¡¯t establish a mind link across an entire ocean.

    Yet there was little that thebined might of the Guardians couldn¡¯t achieve. He had asked for peacemakers not because he thought they would need them, but to have the opportunity to establish a mind link with Lochra despite the distance separating them.

    "Garlen has too many painful memories. I came here hoping to make some good, but so far, I failed. Despite my best efforts, the humans unleashed the gue before I could find a cure. It made me regret to have ever invented specializations." She sighed.

    "It happens to the best of us. ve cors still give me nightmares, but that¡¯s not the reason why I looked for you. I just wanted to tell you that a few years ago, I found Menadion¡¯s Desperation.

    "She¡¯s on Jiera as well so if you want to meet her, this is the perfect asion."

    ***

    City of Reghia, Jiera continent.

    Seeing Solus crying in her sleep made Lith worry for her, yet he couldn¡¯t afford to wake her up. He stood guard the entire time and when Tista woke up first, he stopped her before she could interrupt what she considered just a nightmare.

    ¡¯Even if it¡¯s really a nightmare, it might reveal the circumstances that led Menadion to turn her apprentice into a hybrid.¡¯ Lith said via their mind link.

    ¡¯Can¡¯t you fuse your minds and check up on her? It has been hours since Solus fell asleep and she keeps crying non-stop.¡¯ Tista said, worried sick about her friend.

    ¡¯Dreams are a frail thing. A noise or a touch is enough to alter them, let alone the arrival of a foreign entity. A mind link would be akin to talking while mind fusion would share my memories with her.

    ¡¯Both would cause Solus enough distress to interrupt her dream.¡¯ Lith replied.

    He didn¡¯t even dare to hold Solus¡¯s hand, afraid that the physical contact might mess up with her memories. The moment she woke up, Solus started to cry even harder and was unable to speak for a while as Lith lulled her in his arms like a baby.

    She shared her dream with him via their mind link andter she described it to Tista and Phloria. She considered some details to be too intimate to show them even her friends.

    "So you¡¯re not just Menadion¡¯s apprentice but her daughter? That¡¯s even worse. How could your Mom do such a thing to you?" The revtion shocked Tista.

    "Someone must have killed Solus." Lith said.

    "When Protector was dying in front of me, I would have done anything to save him, just like I would have done anything, even use Forbidden Magic to save you or any member of our family.

    "Back then I was just a student, whereas Menadion was already an Archmage and a Magus. She seeded where I failed. Fusing Solus with the tower must have been ast-ditch attempt to save her life withoutpromising either of their life forces."

    "Then why did Menadion abandon Solus? How could she leave her own daughter in such a predicament without saying a word?" Phloria said in outrage. For being a mage of proverbial wisdom, Menadion seemed to have acted like a jerk to her.

    "That¡¯s not necessarily true. Menadion might have left Solus a message or maybe they even spent some time together after she fused Solus with the tower, but we¡¯ll never know because of Solus¡¯s amnesia.

    "If it was me, I would have hunted down whoever was responsible and I would have done all I could to kill them." Lith said with his eyes brimming with mana and fury.

    "If my Mom was anything like any of yours, I bet that she didn¡¯t wait to recover before going on the prowl." Solus sighed. "Especially if Dad died at the hands of my assant or if we had already lost him to age or to an ident."

    "I think you¡¯re right. My Mom didn¡¯t ughter the entire Deirus household only because I¡¯m still alive and because she has other children to take care of. But if something happened to Dad and she had nothing to lose anymore..." Phloria couldn¡¯t finish the sentence and shivered at the thought.

    The day that Jirni Ernas lost what kept her human would probably make Balkor¡¯s anniversary look like a holiday. Unlike the Blood Magus, she had spent decades preparing for the worst, she had a vivid imagination and enough money to build an arsenal.

    "Yeah." Tista nodded. "I bet that Mom would be willing to do anything, even to be an undead if it meant getting her revenge."

    Once they managed to set aside such gloomy scenarios, they discussed the knowledge that Solus had acquired through her dream. The group moved to the tower¡¯s mines, hoping that at least one of the violet crystals had started to turn white.

    Unfortunately, even the orc shaman¡¯s crystal had yet to show any signs of further refinement. It had grown in size and spawned several branches, giving birth to more violet crystals, but nothing more.

    "On the one hand, I¡¯m bummed we don¡¯t have a white crystal to experiment. On the other hand, however, after using my only Adamant Forge on the Scalewalker armor, if we did have them, you would have seen me crying." Lith said.

 Chapter 1155 Two Worlds Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1155 Two Worlds Part 1</h4>

    "You¡¯re always as greedy as a Dragon, lil bro." Tista said. "If I didn¡¯t know you better, I¡¯d worry that keeping your hybrid form for so long is influencing your judgment. Stop thinking with your wallet and use your head.

    "In the memory, Menadion taught Solus that a Forgemastered artifact is nothing but a perfectbination of spells. It means that by studying a pseudo core, it¡¯s possible to learn all the abilities that the Forgemaster imbued it with.

    "This piece of information might help us to understand secret disciplines like Runesmithing, Light Mastery, and even Spirit Magic."

    "Yeah, maybe that was true centuries ago. Nowadays Runesmithing applies cloaking runes that make it impossible to study a pseudo core. On top of that, Nalrond is teaching me Light Mastery and Faluel will teach us Spirit Magic when the momentes." Lith replied.

    "Well, you might be okay with things as they are because of Nalrond, but Solus¡¯s dream still gives me and Tista a shot at Light Mastery. On top of that, there are no cloaking runes on ancient relics like your gravity ring or those written in Huryole¡¯s Forgemastering book." Phloria said.

    "Think about it. Gravity magic is as powerful as it¡¯s elusive and maybe from your double magic holding ring, we might learn how to cast two copies of the same spell at the same time.

    "All we have to do is to find a way to craft their pseudo cores, break them down into the runes they areprised of, and then convert them into spells that don¡¯t require an artifact to work."

    Phloria¡¯s words opened countless possibilities to them. Now that they knew about runes and about how they could be woven to reproduceplex skills, even teaching props became relevant.

    The effects they produced were worthless for an artifact but they could still teach them ways of manipting the elements that only ancient bloodlines had mastered.

    They spent so much time discussing where it was better to start from that theypletely forgot about their duty as teachers until a magical beast knocked on their door.

    Lith had Solus quickly go back to her ring form while the upper floors of the building slid down to give the impression that they had yet to finish working on their apartments.

    "Seriously? A whole building for three people?" A yellow-furred Xogh (fox-type magical beast) said with disbelief.

    "We quarrel a lot and we need our personal space." Lith¡¯s ability to make up bullshit at a moment¡¯s notice never failed to impress hispanions, making also them wonder how often he did the same with them.

    "Then maybe you shouldn¡¯t keep two females. One is more than enough and once the cubs starting, things will only get worse." The Xogh said with a tone that implied he spoke from experience.

    "I¡¯m just their mentor and that¡¯s my sister!" Lith said in outrage while pointing at Tista.

    "Right, sure. I wonder how I failed to notice the resemnce. Maybe you are my Dad as well." The Xogh poked at Lith¡¯s scales with enough sarcasm to fill the building.

    "Listen, kid, I¡¯m not interested in your personal life. Aren sent me here to remind you that humans aren¡¯t going to learn Tyris¡¯snguage on their own. If you want to get a share of our resources, you have to contribute to the daily activities.

    "Otherwise you are on your own, even for small stuff like food. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal." Lith replied.

    "Good. Then I suggest you send your girlfriends to do the job while you do something else. Most of those humans hate us and if they see you, things are going to get ugly. For them, of course."

    "Just one question." Lith stopped the Xogh who was already turning around after delivering the message.

    "As far as I know, the humans who reside here are those saved by Awakened Beasts and you don¡¯t hold them prisoners. Why in Mogar¡¯s name do they hate you?"

    "Because they think that their saviors didn¡¯t do enough. All those who are here had befriended an Emperor Beast or an Awakened, but that doesn¡¯t mean that the fairy godparent cared for the human¡¯s entire family." The Xogh replied.

    "Some had bad parents, siblings, or children that their Beast friend choose to not heal from the gue, considering them a liability that would only be put downter. Humans don¡¯t understand our logic and resent us for that.

    "On top of that, we put together people from different countries and they don¡¯t like that either. They are still trying to find someone to me for the gue and hate each other¡¯s guts almost as much as they hate us."

    "Thanks for the advice." Lith shapeshifted into his human form, making the Xogh raise his tail in curiosity.

    "Hey, now I see the resemnce. Sorry for doubting you earlier. These days there is more trouble in this ce than fur on my back. Remember to use the rm and count up to five before starting to pummel a human."

    The magical beast then went to the Garden of Knowledge next door, to study thenguage of the Garlen continent on his own.

    The group locked the building and the arrays before leaving. They had left nothing valuable inside, but the makeshift furniture wouldn¡¯t fool more than a casual look and they had no intention to exin where they really nned to sleep.

    ¡¯I guess we¡¯ll need to split up.¡¯ Solus had linked them all with Spirit Magic, to take part in the conversation. ¡¯Even though Leegaain¡¯s pins trante allnguages for us, I doubt that they also work the other way around.¡¯

    ¡¯Meaning?¡¯ Phloria asked.

    ¡¯That whenever you talk to each other you probably speak thenguage of Garlen whereas the pin activates only when you listen to another idiom.¡¯

    ¡¯It makes sense and also our job easier. A smaller ss means a faster learning rate.¡¯ Tista said.

    ¡¯I doubt that.¡¯ Lith said. ¡¯Months have passed since the gue outbreak, yet those guys have still to get over their losses or even learn the basics of each other¡¯snguage. In my book, it means that they not only are grief-stricken, but also unwilling to cooperate.¡¯

    ¡¯It¡¯s understandable. They lost everything and probably have issues adjusting to a new lifestyle. Beasts don¡¯t seem big on empathy.¡¯ Phloria said.

    The city of Reghia reminded her of a military camp, tidy and filled solely with everything that was necessary to survive but devoid of what made life worth living. As a soldier, she appreciated such an environment because it was practical and helped her to remember what she fought for.

    Yet it would remind a refugee of everything they had lost and slow the healing process.

    Or so she thought until they reached the human district. Except for the streets, it looked like a meadow. The ceiling provided plenty of sunlight and a springing out of a wall formed a smallke where small furry rodents lived.

    The animals nuzzled against the visitors¡¯ legs, staring at them with their big round eyes in the hope to receive cuddles, food, or both.

    Thebined effect of light and water generated a perennial rainbow above theke, giving it a fairy tale look.

 Chapter 1156 Two Worlds Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1156 Two Worlds Part 2</h4>

    Each house was bigger than Lith¡¯s and surrounded by a small garden filled with seasonal and fruit trees that spread a sweet scent.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right. Beasts are heartless monsters. How could they force people to live in such a dump?¡¯ Lith thought while the others had a hard time believing they were still in Reghia.

    ¡¯Okay, fine. I stand corrected. This ce is wonderful and those people are likely to be ungrateful assholes.¡¯ Phloria said.

    The group decided to follow Solus¡¯s advice and split up. Each one of them went to a different house, yet they all received the same treatment.

    "What do you want, filthy Grenian? I¡¯ve got no food to share with a savage." A woman in her mid-thirties with bronze skin said to Tista.

    The woman looked at Tista¡¯s light olive-colored skin with spite, mistaking her for a citizen of the Gren Democracy with which her people had a centuries-long enmity.

    "I¡¯m not a Grenian and I don¡¯t need food. Aren, the leader of Reghia, sent me here to teach you thenguage of my continent, Garlen. Can you please bring here-" Not even Tista¡¯s best smile kept her host from cutting her short.

    "I should have known you¡¯re not from around here. Too much meat on those bones and too many smiles. There¡¯s nothing to be happy about in Reghia. Not only those beasts let my husband die like a dog, but they also force me to work like a ve and my children to live surrounded by enemies.

    "Tell that overgrown snake that I refuse to give up on the traditions that my forefathers gave their lives to protect and uphold and learn a foreignnguage. If he wants people to start acting civilized, then he should make everyone learn the Paclean instead of your gibberish."

    The woman mmed the door in Tista¡¯s face, hurting her nose a bit.

    Neither Lith nor Phloria had better luck with their respective marks.

    "Where were you Garlen scum while our Gren Democracy died because of the gue spread by those Paclean murderers? You¡¯ve got guts toe to my home and order me around. Maybe you¡¯re used to blindly follow your tyrant¡¯s order like a good soldier, but my people have rights!" A man in his mid-twenties yelled in Lith¡¯s face.

    "And where were you pompous idiots when the Griffon Kingdom almost got destroyed by a gue?" Lith scoffed, holding the door open with his superior strength.

    "Here, spouting bullshit as always I presume. I, instead, worked my ass off to save my country. Can you say the same or do you only know how to me others for your uselessness?

    "As for my so-called tyrant, the Royals kept us at peace for centuries and we¡¯re in civil rtions with our neighbors, whereas only the gue stopped the wars on your continent. As for your rights, you have none.

    "This isn¡¯t Gren anymore, Toto. This is Reghia. I¡¯ll make sure to report your behavior and have your food rations halved. We¡¯ll see if your nationalism can withstand hunger or if you¡¯re being arrogant only because you¡¯re sated."

    Then Lith mmed the door with enough strength that the man who was still clenching the handle smashed his face against the wood and thennded ass-first on the floor, trying to stop the nosebleed.

    "First, they mistook me for something called a Vargharian and med my alleged people for the gue. Then, when I exined Ie from Garlen, they asked me to fuck myself." Phloria said. "How did it go for you?"

    "Same." Lith snarled while shapeshifting into his hybrid form again. "I¡¯m done with those jackasses. I¡¯ll go ask for another assignment. After all, I have to experience how it feels living like a beast and taking care of humans is not part of the job description."

    "I¡¯m sorry, Phloria, but I¡¯m with Lith on this." Tista looked back at the house of the Paclean woman with anger.

    "You can¡¯t be serious." Phloria said. "They are just traumatized from seeing their entire viges die and then be uprooted from their homes. Those people need our help and understanding, not our judgment."

    "You would be right if the gue happened yesterday and not months ago." Tista shook her head.

    "These people have everything they need, yet they just waste their time pointing fingers and bantering about their superiority over the others, calling them ¡¯barbarians¡¯.

    "That¡¯s not grief but blind pride. Lith and I had much less when we were kids so I can¡¯t empathize with their foolish behavior."

    She pointed at the kids ying outside with their magical beast friends. Unlike their parents, the children had no problem hanging out together and even tried to learn how tomunicate with each other.

    "Aren is right. If just having food and a roof makes them so arrogant, then it¡¯s better not to give them any magicalmodity. Until the humans of Reghia set aside their pride and realize that they have to start from scratch, we¡¯d be just wasting our time."

    Lith and Tista went back to Reghia¡¯smand center to receive new assignments while Phloria visited one house at a time. Aside from the people whose entire family had been saved by an Emperor Beast, the others didn¡¯t even bother talking to her.

    Even those who acted friendly and were willing to learn thenguage of the Garlen continent refused to leave the human district. They were too afraid of the beasts and of their own neighbors, trusting no one but the members of their own country.

    Learning anguage would have been a fool¡¯s errand if her students had no one to practice it with and kept talking their native idiom.

    By the time she had run out of doors that could be mmed in her face, Phloria understood that the situation of humans on Jiera wasn¡¯t as bad as how Aren had described it.

    It was much worse.

    ***

    Blood Desert, inside the Rezar¡¯s Fringe.

    Meanwhile, Nalrond crashnded after the shock from discovering that his people might still be alive, the rest of the group ignored his outburst and kept staring at their surroundings in awe.

    In front of them, there were grasnds as far as the eye could see and at the horizon woods so big that they dwarfed the Trawn woods. Yet behind them there was nothing but the silvery fog that separated the Fringe from the rest of Mogar.

    It formed a dome that became visible only when up close. Even from a few meters of distance, the fog reflected its surroundings like a mirror, giving the Fringe the impression to be boundless.

    The thick mist wasprised of pure world energy that allowed the distorted space to remain stable, no matter what happened both inside and outside the dome.

    "This ce is amazing. The amount of world energy is so great that the hair on my neck is standing up." Friya used first magic to conjure a small me on her right forefinger, yet her entire hand turned into a scorching me.

    "What the heck? I just used first magic, yet the spell has a power simr to a tier one."

    Quy and Morok tried as well, confirming her findings. Every spell they cast had its effect raised by one tier thanks to the abundant world energy boosting all kinds of elemental magic.

 Chapter 1157 Double-Edged Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1157 Double-Edged Power Part 1</h4>

    Inside the Fringe, tier five spells were not only easy to execute, but it was also possible to weave them with up to four elements with almost no burden for the mage whereas normally using two elements at the same time was the limit.

    "This is both incredible and nonsensical." Quy said. "With this much world energy, I would expect to find a lot of magical beasts and nt folk. I mean, I can feel it so well that it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if Friya or Morok Awakened."

    "What about you?" Friya asked.

    "Violet core, remember? In my case, we are not talking about Awakening, so much as of a close casket funeral." Quy shuddered at the thought. Mages as powerful as her would explode like gruesome fireworks.

    "I think that it¡¯s just a temporary effect." Morok smiled to reassure her, but his face was pale and he was holding his chest as if he was about to have a stroke.

    "Wee from outside, so the world energy overwhelms us, but for people born inside the Fringe this amount of elemental energy is considered normal. We should just sit back and wait to get used to it."

    "Are you alright?" Quy asked while casting a diagnostic spell that came out negative.

    "I¡¯m just a bit dizzy from taking so much world energy in and conversing with Mogar. There are so many voices in my head right now that it feels like being in the middle of a market." He replied.

    "What do you mean, taking the world energy in?" Friya asked.

    "Even though a Tyrant¡¯s powers are simr to a Balor¡¯s, they work onpletely different principles. Balors use their eyes to drain their surroundings of the natural elemental energy whereas a Tyrant splits the world energy into itsponents.

    "My eyes absorb the elements while I use the remaining energy for my spells, keeping the bnce neutral. Then, I can use the stored elemental energy for attack or defense without the need to weave a spell." Morok said.

    "Interesting. If not for the part where the world energy is split and stored inside your body instead of being refined by your mana core, I¡¯d say you¡¯ve just described an Awakened¡¯s breathing technique." Quy said.

    ¡¯By the Great Mother, she¡¯s right! That¡¯s why my body hurts so much.¡¯ Morok thought while barely holding his panic. ¡¯On top of that, it exins what that asshole of my father meant when he said that I would Awaken only if I deserved it.

    ¡¯My core can¡¯t process the energying from just four eyes, so it gets stored instead. It¡¯s the first time in my life that I¡¯m happy to have yet to open my fifth eye, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the Awakening process.

    ¡¯I already have no idea what I will do during the 300 years I¡¯m supposed to live, let alone 3,000! Best case scenario, I¡¯ll live a sad and long life like Master Ajatar or Dad. Worst case scenario, I go crazy and get myself killed by the Council.¡¯

    "I think Morok is right." Friya said while opening several small dimensional passages as big as a keyhole to study their surroundings.

    "I can¡¯t find any trace of creatures bigger than a regr animal nor the lush vegetation typical of the presence of nt folks. The evolution rate might be the same as outside the Fringe, if not even worse. Think about it.

    "It¡¯s like being in the crystal mines. The pressure from the world energy around us exerts such a pressure that it probably makes it very hard to develop a mana flow to those who are born here whereas it invigorates foreigners like us. At least until we get used to it as well."

    The sky inside the Fringe was clear blue and all the vegetation was bigger than one would expect from a nt of the same age, yet aside from the abundant world energy, everything else looked ordinary.

    The three of them sat down cross legged on the ground. The girls tried to get in touch with Mogar to obtain some of the answers they were looking for whereas Morok did his best to cut themunication off.

    As he slowly released the umted elemental energy, the Tyrant could feel the voices in his head disappearing one after the other, until only one remained. Unfortunately for Morok, it wasn¡¯t his own.

    ¡¯Are we Awakening or not?¡¯ A voice that sounded awfully simr to Quy¡¯s asked.

    ¡¯Thanks, but no thanks. What about you tell me the secret of the Davross instead?¡¯ Morok¡¯s question made the final voice disappear, leaving his head as empty as usual.

    After a few minutes of meditation, their bodies and cores got used to the new environment. Friya could no longer feel a slight burn in her guts so she had to give up on her hopes of Awakening on her own.

    For the same reason, Quy could finally sigh in relief at the idea that she wouldn¡¯t blow up while Morok learned how to use his eyes without drawing unwanted guests. All of them got worried when they noticed that even hours had passed, Nalrond had yet to get back.

    "His rune is still online, but he isn¡¯t picking up hismunication amulet." Friya was amazed noticing that despite the distance separating her from her family and friends, even the runes belonging to Lith¡¯s group were avable thanks to the Fringe¡¯s power.

    "I doubt that Dawn has left some of her spawns in here, but that doesn¡¯t mean this ce is safe. Nalrond might have been captured or worse. Is any of you capable of following his tracks?" Quy asked, relying on their expertise.

    "It would be child¡¯s y if he walked, but he flew away and smells don¡¯tst long in the air." Morok shook his head.

    "I can try something." Friya said. "I created this spell to find my guildmates in the case they went missing in action, but it turned out to be impractical due to the crystals empowering the amulets being too weak. Here, however, the Fringe supercharges them so my spell might work."

    Friya cast a short spell and then she tried to call Nalrond again. This time, a thin golden tendril came out of his contact rune, pointing toward the direction he had disappeared and fading away after just a few meters.

    "That¡¯s incredible! How did you do it?" Quy asked.

    "Amulets rely on dimensional magic to establish their connection. My spell simply amplifies the energy signature of the small Warp, making it visible. We can use it as apass that always points at Nalrond¡¯s amulet." Friya puffed her chest out with pride.

    The group took flight, following Friya¡¯s lead who cast the Compass spell from time to time and adjusted their course. It took them just a few minutes to find the vige yet they didn¡¯t like what they saw.

    "Those aren¡¯t Nalrond¡¯s people. He turns into a Rezar whereas both the children ying around and the adults working in the cultivated fields are Dewan (AN: rhinoceros Emperor Beasts). What if they are keeping him prisoner?" Friya couldn¡¯t find another exnation for Nalrond failing to answer their repeated calls.

    "She has a point." Morok said. "If Nalrond flew here in human form, they might have shot him down."

 Chapter 1158 Double-Edged Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1158 Double-Edged Power Part 2</h4>

    "Werepeople hate humans for using Forbidden Magic on them and for turning them into hybrids. You stay here while I go take a look." Morok said.

    He didn¡¯t like shapeshifting back into his Tyrant form because just like a Balor, his eyes would naturally absorb part of the respective elemental energy they were attuned with. Morok feared that the voices might return or that he might Awaken.

    ¡¯ording to Master Ajatar, my mana core is blue. Awakening without external help could make me blow up just like it would happen to Quy if Mogar doesn¡¯t give me a hand.¡¯ He thought.

    Luckily for him, without the eye technique that his father had taught him, Morok didn¡¯t experience any difort. He leisurely strolled toward the vige with the best next thing to a smile that his mouth filled with the razor-sharp teeth could make.

    "Hi guys, I¡¯m new here. I¡¯m looking for my friend. He¡¯s an annoying man that can be this tall unless he looks like a Rezar and then he¡¯s this tall. Have you seen him around?" Morok used his milky-white hand to gesture both Nalrond¡¯s heights.

    "Maybe." The man in front of him shapeshifted into a grey-skinned giant and emitted a low guttural sound that drew the attention of the entire vige.

    The man was now almost 2.5 (8¡¯) tall, with small ck eyes barely visible behind the three horns on his muzzle and the two upward tusksing from his mouth. His hands and feet only had four fingers and he was so bulky that, from a distance, the girls believed that he had turned into a rock.

    His Soul Projection as a man resembled an angry Dewan, but after he had shapeshifted, it now looked like an even angrier man.

    "I¡¯ve never seen you or even heard about you, stranger. On top of that, Emperor Beasts usually don¡¯t wear fancy clothes like yours. How can I be sure that you aren¡¯t just a shapeshifted human looking for his runaway prisoner?"

    "No duh you¡¯ve never seen me before. I told you I¡¯m new." Morok¡¯s four eyes looked at the Dewan with ill-concealed contempt.

    "As for me being human what about this? Or this?" First, the Tyrant conjured a ming fireball the size of a hot-air balloon and then he fired elemental beams from his eyes that opened four small craters in the ground.

    "Awakened can use true magic, but the trick with the eyes is the real deal. I could feel the elemental energying from him rather than just being manipted with a spell." A man in histe seventies said.

    If not for the white of his hair and the deep wrinkles on his face, Morok would have a hard time guessing his age. The man had clear blue eyes and deep bronze skin due to the constant exposure to the sun.

    Despite his slightly slouched back, the elder still had wide shoulders and arms thicker than the branch of an old tree.

    Hybrids didn¡¯t live as briefly as humans nor as long as Emperor Beasts. Their average lifespan amounted to 150 years, but they aged well and due to their beast half, Werepeople would retain most of their muscle mass.

    The vige elder had such a keen mana perception that he managed to gauge Morok¡¯s prowess simply by looking at his spell. Among the many vigers, he was the only onecking a Soul Projection.

    "Yet there¡¯s no way to know if our Rezar brother brought you inside the Fringe willingly or if you forced him. Even Beasts covet our secrets so we cannot afford to trust a stranger. You¡¯ll be our prisoner until our brother recovers." The elder said.

    "What do you mean, until he recovers? Nalrond was fine until a few minutes ago. What did you do to him?" Morok brought his hands to the hilts of his weapons, weaving his best spells while the Dewan slowly surrounded him and prepared their own.

    "He arrived here flying and then he copsed for no reason. We¡¯ve tried to heal him, but the fever that gues his mind resists the skill of our best healers. Are you saying that the Rezar¡¯s condition is not your fault? That you didn¡¯t work him like a ve?"

    The elder looked Morok in the eyes, allowing the Tyrant to notice the mana glowing behind his pupils.

    ¡¯The bastard is preparing something big. Nalrond chose the worst possible time for a power nap. There¡¯s no way I let them take me prisoner.¡¯ Morok thought.

    "It¡¯s not my fault, but yours." He pointed at the still visible scorched ruins of the houses that the Dewan had failed to rebuild.

    "We came here to see Nalrond¡¯s vige after the Horseman of Dawn burned it to the ground. My friend must have mistaken you for his kin and is probably having a stroke at the idea that all his quest for revenge was for nothing."

    His words made the Dewan open their eyes wide in surprise while they finally understood what had happened and why the Rezar had copsed as soon as he had reached the vige outskirts.

    "Elder Bahn, is it really possible that we have upied the vige of the fabled Rezar people? The Lightkeepers?" The Dewan who had "weed" Morok asked.

    "It¡¯s possible." The elder nodded.

    "It would exin why our Fringe suddenly expanded and why there were only ruins but no corpses. The ashes of our brothers fertilize our fields, filling our harvest with death. It seems we have founded our vige on cursed grounds."

    "Also, I don¡¯t need anyone¡¯s help to get inside a Fringe. I can do it on my own." No one believed Morok¡¯s im.

    At least until Bahn asked him several questions about how he hade into contact with Mogar¡¯s will. The Tyrant replied in such detail that everyone failed toplete their spells as their jaws hit the ground in amazement.

    "It seems we misjudged you, Tyrant brother. Someone who doesn¡¯t even emit a Soul Projection must be as powerful as he is wise. You¡¯ll be our honored guest until our Rezar brother doesn¡¯t wake up.

    "Tell me, how many Werepeople Tyrants there are in your vige?" The elder asked.

    Morok understood that the Dewan had rxed not because they trusted him so much as because they had mistaken him for one of their own.

    "Thanks for the offer, but I can¡¯t trust your mood swings. Tell Nalrond to call me as soon as he wakes up." The Tyrant suddenly opened a Warp Steps and disappeared before any of the Dewan could move a single muscle.

    Morok exined the situation to the girls who didn¡¯t like it one bit.

    "Dammit, we¡¯re in trouble." Quy said. "This tribe of Werepeople seems to hate Emperor Beasts as much as they hate humans. There are too many of them and just three of us.

    "Our best line of action is to wait for Nalrond to wake up and vouch for us. If they treated even an Emperor Beast with such contempt, there¡¯s no telling what they might do to humans."

    ***

    City of Reghia, Jiera continent.

    Between thete start due to Solus¡¯s dream about her past and sightseeing the city while going to the human district, Lith¡¯s group didn¡¯t have much time left before dinner.

 Chapter 1159 Cleansing the Land Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1159 Cleansing the Land Part 1</h4>

    Lith spent the evening looking for food stalls and restaurants just to discover that there were none. Tista, instead, had no idea what to do after giving up on her assignment as a teacher.

    She went to the neighboring Garden of Knowledge and studied Jiera¡¯s version of the Battle Mage specialization.

    "This ce sucks." Lith said after setting up the table with mostly food from Garlen that he had stored inside his pocket dimension.

    "They have no bread, no sweets, no processed food at all. The only things you can acquire are the basic ingredients. Everything else is up to you."

    "Well, making bread is easy. We just need a bit of flour." Tista shrugged.

    "Great. I¡¯ll leave it to you, then." Lith gave her a handful of fresh wheat.

    "Are you saying they don¡¯t even grind it?" Tista was bbergasted.

    "Worse. Aside from meat, fish, and fruit, we don¡¯t even get spices or salt unless we get them ourselves." He replied.

    "How much food have you brought?" Phloria started munching her spicy fried chicken slower. She feared it might be herst decent meal and she wanted to enjoy it at its fullest.

    "Enough tost for a month. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll stay in Reghia that long, but it still sucks. Eating local food is the same as taking a camping trip in the wilds back home unless we go to a human city. Yet I doubt they fare much better." Lith said.

    "This sure exins why everyone in the human district is in a bad mood." Phloria said. "They have lost their homes, their family members, and even the small things that they took for granted."

    "It still doesn¡¯t justify their attitude." Tista shook her head. "When I was little and still ill, even meat was a luxury. We would mostly eat broths and stews. I didn¡¯t have bread regrly until Lith went to the academy."

    Phloria stopped eating and looked at them as if it was the first time. They were both so tall and good-looking that it was hard to imagine them having such a hard past.

    "Tomorrow I¡¯m going to the barracks and look for some work in the field. I¡¯m sure there must be something that needs to be killed. What about you?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯ll try to beat some sense in those guys. Literally, if I have to." It wasn¡¯t the first tough nut that Phloria had to crack.

    Most of the recruits in the army weremoners who didn¡¯t like nobles in general, let alone those who managed to start their career as officers.

    "I¡¯m not big on killing, but I¡¯m sure that if I look around, I¡¯ll find something to do." Tista said.

    "I¡¯m going with Lith." Solus said. "With a bit of luck, we could find a mana geyser and check if it can allow us to go back home. On top of that, I¡¯m curious to see how a Mogar without humans looks like. As for the bread..."

    Solus let the wheat that Lith had brought home fall toward the ground, where a small hole opened. It allowing the others to see that they were right above the Alchemyb, where a grind turned the wheat into a fine dust that was thoroughly filtered.

    "I¡¯ve done my part. I like my bread with a pinch of salt, otherwise it tastes too sweet with the jam." Solus handed Tista a sk filled with the whitest and purest flour she had ever seen.

    "Did you really use an alchemyb just to grind wheat? That¡¯s both overkill and cheating! The tower did the job, not you." Tista already regretted her offer.

    "The tower is part of her body and so is theb. You can¡¯t argue with the results, dear Tista. I like my bread without salt." Phloria said.

    After taking their orders and cursing her own big mouth, Tista had to spend the rest of the evening trying to remember Elina¡¯s recipe to make bread dough. The others, instead chatted and yed cards, enjoying the first true free time they had in months.

    The following morning Lith returned to the city gates. They were the closest thing to a local branch of the army so he expected to find Aren the J?rmungrandr there or at least whoever was in charge of Reghia¡¯s defenses.

    "Aren Dolm isn¡¯t the mayor of Reghia, son. I am." A huge Nue said with a tired voice.

    Nues were chimeras specialized in the light and air elements. His height at the withers reached 2 meters (6¡¯7") so his office was bigger than Lith¡¯s house in Lutia. There was no desk nor chairs, just bookshelves lined against the walls and round mana crystals embedded in the floor, each with a different purpose.

    They allowed the mayor of Reghia of taking care ofmunications, real time external and internal surveince, and inventory with but a touch of his giant paws.

    The Nue had the head of a monkey, the body of a tiger, the wings of an eagle, and the front half of a snake for a tail.

    "Being the Council representatives, Lord Aren and his Fae counterpart, Annis, are the sovereigns of the entire Jiera continent. You must be someone important if Lord Aren weed you in person. I¡¯m Xoth, nice to meet you." The Nue said.

    Those words made Lith ponder why both the Guardians and the Councils of two continents had gone such lengths just for the sake of his apprenticeship, making his paranoia sense tingle.

    ¡¯Less thinking, more talking.¡¯ Solus snapped him out of his reverie after Xoth cleared his throat twice.

    "Thanks, sir. I¡¯m looking for something to do that could benefit the city and grant me ess to its basic resources." Lith avoided mentioning Adamant and mana crystals right off the bat to avoid sounding too human.

    "Judging from your smell, you can use Origin mes. Are you interested in purifying a few batches of Orichalcum? There¡¯s only so much our Forgemasters can do with silver and most mining operations have stopped due to monster outbreaks."

    The Nue could recognize the smell of sulfur and world energy that came out of Lith¡¯s mouth with every breath.

    "I could give it a try, but I must warn you that I¡¯m not that skilled. I¡¯m still learning how to control Origin mes and I still burn too much silver along with the impurities. Did you say monster outbreaks?" Those two words reminded Lith of Tezka, the Warg-Abomination hybrid, making him wonder if the Master¡¯s clutches reached even Jiera.

    "That¡¯s too bad." The Nue sighed. "Usually, I would assign you a master, but our stockpiles are limited and I can¡¯t afford to waste precious metal. As for the monster outbreaks, they are a big issue that could use your help.

    "Ever since the gue wiped out the humans, monsters are free to breed unchecked simply because there are not enough beasts and nt folk to patrol the entire continent.

    "Monsters had plenty to eat thanks to all the human corpses lying around and to all the cattle that suddenly had no owner nor defense. We have gathered in ces like Reghia because staying in the open is not safe even for Emperor Beasts.

    "Waves of monsters wiped out entire forests and even though we always managed to kill them all, we suffered too many losses among our ranks."

 Chapter 1160 Cleansing the Land Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1160 Cleansing the Land Part 2</h4>

    "Packs of magical beasts are incapable of handling a horde and there aren¡¯t enough Emperor Beasts to keep the situation in check.

    "That¡¯s why we are systematically scouting the region and exterminating any monster we find. Missing even one means having an army of those bastards grow right under our noses." The Nue snarled.

    "I¡¯ve dealt with plenty of monsters in Garlen and they never amounted to much. How can you have so many problems with them despite the Council¡¯s help?" Lith asked.

    "Son, Awakened are a minority whereas all monsters have powers and they spawn faster than you can sneeze. What you faced in the past were nothing but small tribes constantly kept on the run. Here we are talking about hundreds, if not thousands of them.

    "With leaders, strategies, and when they found them, even weapons. Don¡¯t forget that not all monsters are brainless creatures. Balors and Orcs are the main threat because they can tame other Fallen like Goblins or Trolls.

    "To make matters worse, Abominations are on their side. They protect the monsters from us Emperor Beasts and in exchange their leaders feed them with the dregs of their society." Xoth said.

    "Is there any cleansing operation I can take part in?" Lith asked.

    "Son, the only reason why Reghia isn¡¯t swarming with Emperor Beasts is that we¡¯re conducting cleansing operations non-stop just to keep this region safe. You¡¯re spoilt for choice."

    Xoth pressed a small crystal ced in the middle of the floor that generated a hologram of the area surrounding Reghia. Several red blinking dots of different sizes covered the blue light of the hologram, each marked with a threat level and a rough estimate of the enemy¡¯s numbers.

    "These are just today¡¯s threats that have yet to be dealt with. Teams have been dispatched on site already to recon before nning their attack. Take your pick."

    "I¡¯ll take this one." Lith pointed at an invading army strong of a thousand units, with even cavalry and an Abomination. His choice made Solus shiver and Xoth scoff.

    "Do you realize that they are trained, well equipped, and that a single Chaos spell can kill even one of us?" The Nue asked.

    "Yes, that¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t nning on going alone so much as on joining the team taking care of the issue." Lith replied.

    "Thank the gods. For a moment I feared the Council had sent us another brainless idiot." Xoth exchangedmunication runes with Lith and then informed the leader of the assault team of hising.

    The crystals on the office¡¯s floor lit up in sequence, forming a Warping array leading Lith to his destination.

    "Wait, what? Are we going to attack already?" Lith stuttered in surprise.

    "No time like the present. Olua will debrief you in person. She was just missing one person for the assault. That old fart will be d to skip all the finesse guerri warfare requires and fight the enemy head on." The Nue said.

    "She will also kick Xoth¡¯s ass for calling her an old fart and yours as well, rookie, if you keep me waiting." A huge talon came through the dimensional tunnel along with the voice, dragging Lith to the other side, where hispanions were waiting for him.

    Olua was a Roc, a lesser Phoenix over 20 meters (66¡¯) tall that resembled a giant eagle covered in golden feathers streaked ck all over. With each one of her breaths, world energy amassed inside her body, causing electrical sparks between her feathers.

    ¡¯Bright blue core, just like you. She¡¯s physically much stronger and she¡¯s somehow umting world energy as I do in my tower form. How and why she does that are beyond me.¡¯ Solus said.

    "A lesser Dragon? Too bad you¡¯re not a lesser Griffon, Bodya, otherwise we might have yed Garlen¡¯s Guardians." She said to a huge snake over 22 meters (72 feet long). The entirety of his body was covered in bright blue scales streaked orange and blue all over.

    Bone spikes came out of his spine and sides, making him resemble a living chain saw.

    "You¡¯d rather be thankful that we Nidhoggs have nothing inmon with our forefather, or I¡¯ll waste the whole day bickering with the shortie about semantics." Bodya belonged to Fenagar the Leviathan¡¯s offspring, yet he had nothing against Dragons.

    Lith was over 2 meters (7¡¯) tall in his hybrid form, yet he felt insignificantpared with the two Emperor Beasts.

    ¡¯Deep violet core and with more strength in one of his coils than you have in your whole body.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Dammit, I got used to your perfect body refinement to give you an edge over thepetition, but I guess that only applies to humans.¡¯

    "Don¡¯t look so glum, kid. I was just joking. At least you¡¯re still a Wyrmling and have room to develop whereas adult Wyverns are bite sized." The lesser Leviathan¡¯s smile was one of the creepiest things Lith had ever seen his whole life.

    It revealed a perfect row of fangs, each one bigger than War, from which dripped a dense brown liquid that Lith assumed it had to be saliva. At least until a drop as big as a potion sk fell to the ground, opening a hole the size of a bowling ball.

    "Thanks, I guess. Where is the rest of the group?" Lith¡¯s question made themugh.

    "It¡¯s just the three of us, rookie." Olua said.

    "First, my name is Scourge. Second, Xoth told me that your squad missed one member to beplete. What the heck of a difference does just one person make?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯s very simple. This is the enemy army." Olua drew a circle in the soil with one of her talons.

    "While this is Bodya and I." She drew two smaller circles, one in front and one behind the enemy. "With just the two of us, the monsters can run to the sides and then spread, making it impossible for us to kill them all."

    "With one more member, however..." A wave of her wing moved one of the two smaller circles to the sides and made appear a third, forming a triangle formation.

    "... all we have to do is surround them and kill them faster than they can escape."

    "That¡¯s it? That¡¯s your big n?" Lith didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "What about the Abomination? Does your borate scheme take that into ount as well?"

    "Gods, Olua, the kid is right. We never discussed who¡¯s going to face that poor excuse of an Awakened." Bodya said.

    "We can¡¯t just draw lots like thest time. When the Abomination ran away, the mission almost failed because I had to abandon my position. I¡¯d say to make the Abomination decide." The Roc said and the Nidhogg approved.

    "Meaning?" Lith regretted not having picked a simpler mission that he could handle on his own. Yet for the Scalewalker armor test run, he needed more than just a few dumb creatures that he could shot down from a distance.

    "The stronger an Abomination is, the less they like taking risks. The moment they understand their little army is going to lose, the Abomination will sound the retreat and cut their losses by having their main army take head-on the one they deem to be the weakest of our group." Olua said.

 Chapter 1161 Size Matters Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1161 Size Matters Part 1</h4>

    "Once the main army starts to move, the other two of us have to focus on killing the monsters as fast as they can so that the Abomination is forced to fight their alleged prey one on one." Olua said.

    "I think you¡¯re overestimating yourselves, underestimating Abominations, or both. I¡¯ve seen those creatures in action and they are nothing to scoff at." Lith said while his mind reyed thebined attack of the Abominations hybrids against Night.

    Even one of the Master¡¯s chosen was enough to take down the entire cleansing team with ease.

    "We are not underestimating Abominations, Scourge, but from my aerial recon I didn¡¯t spot an Eldritch, just a Puppeteer. They are rarely old and powerful enough to be a threat to someone of our caliber." The Roc included Lith in her estimates.

    A lesser Dragon capable of using Origin mes and already with a bright blue core at such a young age was bound to have more than one ace up his sleeve.

    "What¡¯s a Puppeteer?" Lith asked.

    "A newborn Abomination looks like a shadow. Itcks substance and has constant need to absorb all kinds of energy just to keep itself alive." Bodya¡¯s words reminded Lith of the Wither, the first Abomination Lith had faced.

    "After a while, they stabilize and can turn into two different types of Abominations. Empowered, who still look like shadows, have no physical body, but can talk, reason, and use magic properly." The description matched the Master¡¯s envoy that had tried to retrieve the Orc shaman¡¯s crystal from Lith.

    "The second and rarer oue is for an Abomination to find a proper host. Possessing a body, be them alive or dead, allows the creature to permanently stabilize its form and to get full control over the hunger.

    "They are called Puppeteer Abominations because they pull the strings of their host from the inside. They are hard to identify because they don¡¯t leak Chaos energy like the Empowered and canst longer without nourishment."

    Lith recognized the creature that had taken over the dryad¡¯s body at the academy as a Puppeteer, finally understanding why he had never met something like it until that moment.

    "Puppeteer Abominations are stronger than Empowered and can use some tricks from the body they inhabit, but that¡¯s it. Both Empowered and Puppeteer can evolve into Eldritch, creatures so strong that we wouldn¡¯t dare face one without the help of the Council.

    "Our foe, however, is so weak that he has to rely on monsters to survive. As long as we avoid getting hit by Chaos spells, it shouldn¡¯t be our match, neither magically nor physically." Bodya said.

    "If it doesn¡¯t emit Chaos energy, how can you be so sure it¡¯s an Abomination and not just some kind of undead?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯s not an undead because it moves freely under the sunlight and feeds upon monsters. Don¡¯t ask me why, but the undead find a monster¡¯s life force to be so revolting that they¡¯d rather feed on grass whereas Abominations are omnivorous.

    "On top of that, the creature tried to drag me down to the ground with gravity magic at first and then used dimensional magic to attack me from a distance before realizing that I¡¯m an Awakened." Olua said.

    "I see. Undead can¡¯t use light magic freely." Lith nodded.

    "If you¡¯re done asking questions, Scourge, start weaving your spells. We¡¯llmence our attack the moment we are all ready." Bodya said.

    "I¡¯m not a irvoyant and you dragged me here barely a minute ago. Before I can prepare my attack n, I need to know against who I¡¯m going to fight and how many enemies I must expect." Lith said.

    "Can¡¯t you see from afar?" Olua looked genuinely shocked. "What the heck do you need all those eyes for then?"

    "It¡¯s a long story." Lith instinctively touched his forehead, between his two extra opened eyes. Three were still closed and almost invisible amid the scales while the others were all of their natural yellow color.

    "The situation is a bit odd, but it¡¯s what you have to expect when Abominations are involved. We¡¯re facing a mixed group whose main force isprised of Orcs. They also have a heavy infantry of Ogres, goblin scouts, and even a shaman." Bodya said.

    "What about the cavalry mentioned in the report?" Lith asked.

    "That¡¯s the nasty part." Olua tapped the ground with one of her talons, turning the mud into a diorama.

    It represented a man, sitting on a throne carried by several beautiful creatures with four arms each. A whole tribe of trolls followed the throne closely by walking on all four, each one of them mounted by one or more goblins.

    "How did they manage to tame trolls?" Lith asked.

    ¡¯And here I thought that we¡¯d see goblin riders only in Dungeons \u0026 Looting.¡¯ Solus thought.

    "Usually, different monster tribes never coborate. Let alone trolls, who even resort to eating each other when too hungry. Yet a Puppeteer Abominations makes a perfect leader. It can hide among their ranks and uses its powers to pretend to be an envoy of the gods." Olua said.

    "It used its constant need for light element to create a symbiotic rtionship with the trolls, who instead have ack of darkness element. The closer they get to the throne, the more they revert to their unfallen state.

    "It keeps both the Abomination¡¯s and the trolls¡¯ hunger at bay, making also the rest of the army believe that as long as they follow their leader, he will undo whatever damage makes them monsters."

    "Does the shaman have a crystal?" Lith asked.

    "Only a few small ones that they found while piging the abandoned human cities. The shaman can still use them, but their effects are limited to a small range." Bodya said.

    Before weaving his spells, Lith took flight to study the enemy formation from afar. His aim was to understand what elements would deal the maximum damage and would be the most difficult to defend against.

    "Oh, crap."

    A multi-colored mass of bodies upied a in the size of Lutia. It wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal if ording to the Nue¡¯s map they were supposed to be in the middle of a luscious forest.

    The monster army uprooted trees just to look for small animals and ate everything even vaguely edible they met on their path.

    They set woods aze with magic, keeping the fire under control and making it disappear only when they smelled burned flesh. There was no method nor skill in their hunting technique, only desperate hunger.

    Orcs were humanoid creatures, with an average height of 1.8 meters (5¡¯11"). They were gifted from birth with a physique that closely resembled that of an Awakened after several breakthroughs.

    They were stronger, faster, and sturdier than humans. Their skin was naturally resistant to most elements and they would hardly get sick. Rarely an orc would disy a talent for magic, but when it happened, the creature would disy incredible abilities.

    Unlike humans, they were all bald, even the females. Their skin was brown as tree bark and almost as hard. Orcs also had enhanced senses that made it difficult to take them by surprise and were able to disy short bursts of explosive strength or speed thanks to Fusion Magic.

    Lith had faced them both in their natural state during his boot camp and in their reversed state in Zolgrish¡¯sb.

 Chapter 1162 Size Matters Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1162 Size Matters Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Except for the shaman, the only danger they pose it¡¯s their number. Unless the Abomination gifted them with some trick, of course.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Ogres, instead, were all very tall, above 2 meters (6¡¯ 7") tall with muscr bodies that could have passed for humans if not for the deep green skin, the spiky red hair, and the long, pointy fangs protruding out of their lower lip.

    They wore clothes, made out of the skin of other ogres, goblins, and whatever they usually had for lunch. Their natural strength surpassed that of a magical beast whichbined with their ability to use a crude form of Forgemastery made them dangerous.

    As for the trolls, they were those who worried Lith the most. They were over two meters (6¡¯7") tall, with four arms and skin of a sickly white color. They had no eyelids nor nose, breathing from two holes right in the middle of their face.

    They had no lips either, revealing their huge maw going from ear to ear filled with fangs. They were skeletal with a swollen belly as if they hadn¡¯t eaten for days. Their hands had long fingers ending in razor-sharp ws and their bodies were covered by odd-looking scars that were actually extra mouths.

    Trolls would absorb darkness magic and be even stronger, neutralizing one of Lith¡¯s best weapons. They had incredible regenerative properties that allowed them to rebuild their whole body just from a chunk of flesh.

    To make matters worse, ording to the Kings of the woods who had fought them, a troll in its reversed state was capable of using Light Mastery and the Abomination¡¯s throne was surrounded by such creatures.

    They resembled tall men with grey skin, perfect bodies, and gold-colored eyes that glowed with mana, reminding Lith of Life Vision. A reverted troll would lose their maws and unending appetite, but would regain their magic.

    ¡¯As long as they are near the Abomination, each one of them might be as strong as an Awakened. If we kill the Abomination, the entire army will crumble, but the bastard is right in the middle of it. Solus, I¡¯ll prepare spells, you focus solely on arrays.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯On it. Don¡¯t forget about the shaman, though. Even if they have just small crystals, they can still negate spells in their surroundings by affecting the world energy. They are the bane of all kinds of powerful spells.¡¯ She said.

    "I¡¯m ready." Lith waited enough time for Solus toplete two arrays and for studying the enemy¡¯s prowess.

    Even with their powerful cores, none of the Emperor Beasts would survive if the monsters swarmed them, not even Bodya the Nidhogg. They had to strike fast and move even faster, to keep the Abomination from aiming its Chaos spells.

    "Go all-out from the start and if you¡¯re in trouble, shoot a fireball upwards. We¡¯ll do the same." Olua nodded and Warped the three of them to their respective position.

    Rocs didn¡¯t have ess to Sark¡¯s Origin mes, but they could draw world energy nheless, using it to turn their bodies into Living Thunder. Each feather on Olua¡¯s body became a lightning bolt, emitting so much light that for a moment the in was lit by a second sun.

    The Roc swooped down and effortlessly pierced through the monsters¡¯ ranks, leaving only a trail of charred bodies in her wake. During the brief sh, she took enough hits and spells to kill her, but in her Living Thunder form they all phased through, dealing Olua no damage.

    Unfortunately, such a powerful state couldn¡¯t be kept for more than a few breaths. She quickly got back up in the air as her body turned back into its material form and unleashed the spells she had prepared while keeping an eye on the Abomination.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t have the time to umte world energy for a second Living Thunder, but the monsters have no way to know it. My first assault should have crippled their morale and lowered their blind loyalty to their leader. Acting god is a game two can y, pal.¡¯ She thought.

    Bodya didn¡¯t have shy abilities, but he knew how to make an entrance as well. The moment he came out of the Warp Steps, he extended his long body toward the sky while roaring with all of his might.

    A simple earth spell made the ground around him quake, keeping the enemy at a distance as his figure blotted out the sun. The superstitious monsters quivered in fear for a second, but the calm and imposing figure of their god gave them strength.

    "Kill them!" The Puppeteer inhabited an Orc¡¯s body, which allowed him to use the same powers of a shaman.

    A flick of his wrist made the quaking stop and another produced a bolt of Chaos magic so fast that the Nidhogg managed to dodge it only thanks to the distance separating them.

    Seeing the huge Wyrm drop down to the ground like a humble servant at a mere gesture of their god gave the monster the guts to ignore Bodya¡¯s massive size. A single Ogre was strong enough to uproot a tree and thanks to their nt nature, they could shapeshift them into massive stakes.

    ¡¯Couldn¡¯t that moron take it on Olua while she was invulnerable?¡¯ Bodya cursed his bad luck as the wooden hail broke his scales and pierced his flesh.

    He had no time to look and notice that, after her initial assault, the Roc kept her distance, using her superior aerial maneuverability to not offer an easy target while she unleashed one tier five spell after another.

    The Ogres could feel fury burning through their bodies as they bathed in enemy blood. Or so they thought until they realized they were simply burning alive.

    Bodya¡¯s roar had been more than a simple scare tactic. He had used the high ground to mix his venom with a water magic spell that had turned his saliva into a drizzle. The powerful acid dissolved all those who darede too close to the Nidhogg along with the morale of those who witnessed the mass of Ogres melting like wax.

    To make matters worse, Bodya unleashed a tier five spell, Mud Tide, that turned the battlefield into a swamp. His gigantic body boosted by air and fire fusion moved like a bullet train, unhindered by the now soft ground whereas the monsters were now knee-deep in mud.

    It made it hard for them to even move a step, let alone dodge. With each passage, the Nidhogg swallowed dozen of enemies at the same time while spreading more and more of his venom.

    ¡¯They are both insanely strong. Olua rules the skies, closing in to the battlefield only when she needs to strike while Bodya reshapes the ground into a deadly trap that he is immune to. Keeping up with their pace will be hard.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Compared to the others, his body was too small to make an impression and most of his spells could match the power of those hispanions used but not surpass them.

    Most of his spells.

    Lith walked slowly toward the enemy lines, spreading his four wings that unleashed a hail of gue Arrows. A few Orcs and Ogres fell, but looking at the titans on the opposite sides of the battlefield, the others barely noticed him and thanked the gods for giving them such an easy opponent.

 Chapter 1163 Puppeteer Abominations Part 1

    1163 Puppeteer Abominations (Part 1)

    Lith raised his right forefinger at the monsters, like a silent usation they failed to understand. At least until a pir of light came out of the ck w, mowing down several lines of monsters at the same time as the Wyrmling moved his arm back and forth.

    The tier three Light Mastery spell emitted such heat that even those near its area of effect would get burns and their clothes took fire. Lith kept advancing, cutting deeper into the enemy army with each step he took.

    The monsters stopped staring at him and charged forward, attacking the Wyrmling from every side with weapons and spells. Thanks to their Forgemastery skills, all Ogres wielded des capable of piercing metal as if it was wood and of unleashing low tiered spells at will.

    Lith only needed but one thought to boost the Scalewalker armor to make it form an invisible dome around him that blocked all the iing attacks and another to unleash a Raging Sun on himself.

    The tier five spell generated a st of purple mes that opened a crater in the ground and gave Lith enough space to cast a Necromancy spell. All the fallen monsters rose from the ground and used the very weapons that their shamans had bestowed upon them against their own tribe.

    Fear and superstition spread like wildfire, making some creatures attempt to escape just to be struck in the back by a well-ced spell. Lith wasn''t as untouchable as O nor as powerful as Bodya, but he appeared to be inevitable.

    While the other two Emperor Beasts wreaked havoc on the battlefield, not giving the monsters one second to think or strategize, Lith advanced slowly, aiming straight for the Puppeteer Abomination.

    Yet the pause in-between his attacks only made him more terrifying. Lith let theme close only to wipe them out in droves and then have the corpses join his ever-growing army.

    Some monsters threw away their weapons and groveled at his feet, just to be killed by the undead. Others tried to run away, but theirpanions killed them as punishment for their cowardice.

    Then, it was their turn to face the walking death and to choose the way they wanted to die. If at his hand or at the hands of those who had yet to see Lith.

    ''Origin mes are pointless and so is War. Our enemies are strong only if they coordinate their attacks but are otherwise irrelevant.'' Body refining, mana core, equipment. Lith outmatched the monsters in every way.

    His allies used only their bodies as weapons, yet they managed to pressure the army as much as he did. No matter the direction the monsters would run to, they would meet others as scared as they were who would run in the opposite direction.

    Fear turned into panic and then into chaos. Members of neighboring battalions would murder each other, mistaking them for loyal soldiers trying to stop the deserters while the truth was that different units had chosen different escape routes.

    ''What about my arrays, then?'' Solus asked. ''Keeping them at the ready while also keeping an eye on the battlefield is no easy task.''

    ''That''s why I imbued the Scalewalker armor with Full Guard. Amid this kind of chaos, you must only worry about powerful enemies while I deal with the small fries. We need the arrays in the case we met the shaman or the Abomination.

    ''Once the real fight starts, there would be no time to prepare them.'' Lith replied.

    In the middle of the three-pronged attack, Westhar the Puppeteer Abomination regretted not being the god that everyone assumed him to be.

    ''The Roc keeps herself at such a distance that she can easily dodge even my fastest spell. The Nidhogg moves so fast while going below and above the ground that any attempt to hit him would only kill my ves.

    ''The third guy should be an easy mark, yet I can almost feel Chaos energying from him. No matter which one of them I choose to face first, the moment I focus on them, the other two will ughter my army.'' He thought.

    "Se''Haan! Stop wasting time and bless our soldiers. I''ll take on the Demon while you keep the other two at bay. It shouldn''t take me long." He actually said.

    "But my liege, without a proper crystal, I''m no match for them. The gods-"

    "My siblings will help us from above." Westhar pointed at the clear sky, where no one watched anything. "Receive the blessing of heaven!"

    The Abomination clenched the purple crystal the size of a basketball that rested on hisp to extend the area of effect of his Scanner spell to all his most expendable minions.

    Then, by using the power that his Orc body bestowed upon him and the knowledge acquired through the centuries, he used Body Sculpting to alter their life forces and reverted his minions to their state before the Fall.

    On top of that, Westhar used the mana crystal to force the world energy umted inside of it to flood the mana cores of his minions, turning red cores into yellow, yellow into cyan, and so on.

    The Orc ability known as Holy Blessing would further enhance their bodies and magic at the expense of their life span.

    ''They will die in a matter of minutes due to the side effects of my Chisel spell anyway so I might as well give them a little boost. Even if they survive the battle, I can always me the "curse of the demons" for their demise.'' He thought.

    The monsters howled in joy seeing all their dreams to regain their former glory and power apparentlye true. They rushed against the Emperor Beasts, certain that the heavens were on their side.

    Westhar even gave the violet crystal to Se''Haan to give her more confidence.

    He had chosen Lith because he was the smallest of the three and his Orc half only needed a small crystal to negate all kinds of magic from someone the size of a human.

    The shaman rejoiced at the gift and used it to conjure tier three spells as powerful as tier five while also dispelling Olua''s attacks. Attacking from such a long distance allowed the Roc to dodge any riposte but, on the other hand, it also gave Se''Haan the time she needed to counter everything Olua threw at the monster army.

    "Shit!" The Roc and the Nidhogg said in unison.

    Now that the rhythm of the Emperor Beasts'' attack had been destroyed, the enemy regained their calm and started to push them back. Rocs weren''t meant for melee fighting. Aside from their talons, they had no natural offensive weapon.

    Nidhoggs thrived on the battlefield, but their huge bodies were also a huge target. If the shaman canceled Mud Tide as well, Bodya would be easily surrounded. Olua didn''t want to pointlessly waste mana, but she knew that if she stopped her attack, the shaman would ignore her and focus solely on herpanions.

    She tried to Blink near Se''Haan and kill her, but the Orc noticed the exit point with Life Vision and hit the Roc with a st of darkness element the moment she came out the dimensional door.

    ''Where the heck did that crystal came from? I''m certain that the shaman didn''t have it when I scouted the area from the skies.'' Olua attempted to Blink back to safety, just to discover that air magic had been sealed.

 Chapter 1164 Puppeteer Abominations Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1164 Puppeteer Abominations Part 2</h4>

    The Roc couldn¡¯t know that the crystal belonged to Westhar, who had researched the powers of the Orcs ever since he had taken the body of one of their naturally Awakened members.

    Luckily for Olua, even without air magic flying was second nature to her.

    Her sudden attack didn¡¯t give Se¡¯Haan enough time to conjure a big spell so the darkness st had mostly hurt her pride.

    "A hybrid!" Spite filled Westhar¡¯s voice when he recognized what Lith was. "How many times do I have to tell your Master that I¡¯m not interested in their schemes? Maybe after seeing your corpse, they¡¯ll get the message."

    Lith only saw the Abomination pointing at him a wand made of violet mana crystal before his tier four Light Mastery spell, Blightburn, disappeared into thin air. The same happened to his gue Arrows and even to the Scalewalker armor¡¯s protective field.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! The Puppeteer can use crystals even better than all the shamans I have ever faced. He can not only block spells, but also all externals energy manifestations.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯The silver lining is that I have yet to employ a powerful spell and that if I get rid of that wand, he¡¯ll be nothing more than a regr Abomination in an Orc¡¯s body.¡¯

    Then, Westhar emitted from his free hand a tier four Chaos magic Howling Void so fast that Lith failed to dodge itpletely. By sealing light magic the Puppeteer had also blocked dimensional magic.

    The mana Lith had stored for a Blink dissipated along with his right wing as the Howling Void pierced through it.

    "I can¡¯t have you flying around, boy." Westhar said with a smirk while distorting the world energy with his wand again.

    ¡¯My money on him blocking air magic next.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯My money on me not caring.¡¯ Lith replied as he took War out of his pocket dimension amid a burst of emerald fire and hurled a jet stream of Origin mes at the Abomination.

    Westhar had no idea that Lith¡¯s omni pocked allowed him to ignore the dimensional seal so seeing the mystical sword appear out of thin air left him stunned. His surprise turned into shock when even after he drained the fire element, the bright blue mes didn¡¯t dissipate, hitting him with their full force.

    Normal wounds couldn¡¯t harm a Puppeteer.

    Their body was just a meat sack they used to hide their nature and keep the Chaos energy under control. Even losing a limb was just an inconvenience to them, something that could be mended with minimal effort and no consequences.

    Origin mes, however, attacked the Chaos energy that flowed through the meat sack as well as its flesh, causing Westhar great pain. An Abomination¡¯s true nature was that of an energy creature which made dealing with them hard.

    Normal and enchanted weapons could hurt them, but that also meant exposing the metal to the powerful Chaos magic that would corrode them. That was the reason why when Westhar saw the de aiming at his crystal wand, he didn¡¯t hesitate to use his free hand to block it.

    War cut deep into his flesh, from the palm to the elbow, but that allowed the Abomination¡¯s corrosive blood to cover the metal. The angry de sizzled as the living Chaos flowing inside Westhar¡¯s veins attacked at its Adamant body.

    War¡¯s Counterflow ability, however, had been designed to keep the events that had led to the Gatekeeper¡¯s destruction from repeating themselves. The ck blood turned against itself, evaporating before it could deal War any damage, and against its owner.

    Westhar experienced agony as never before while the Chaos energy gone haywire ate at him from the inside.

    "Charge!" His order made the battlefield tremble and turned the tides of the battle.

    Even though the Puppeteer had never expected to be hurt so badly, his n had still worked. The wand, the bravado, even the Howling Void, all of it had been a ruse to force the mysterious hybrid to focus on him while his reverted minions reached their position.

    The trolls used their crude Light Mastery to block Lith¡¯s limbs inside ovepping constructs while the orcs used small mana crystals to make up for their weak cores and cast powerful tier three spells.

    At the same time, the ogres who had regained their nt abilities conjured wooden vines that restricted Lith even more, slipping under his Scalewalker armor and draining his vitality.

    ¡¯This is amazing. No wonder monsters are so powerful even though they have lost most of their original powers.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯Trolls are probably the first Light Masters of Mogar, Orcs can use any crystal as if it was their mana core and Ogres can conjure wooden constructs that only need contact to harm a life force.¡¯

    ¡¯A little help here?¡¯ Lith used his own Light Mastery to break free of the constructs while activating the barrier ring to intercept the iing spells and a Final Sunset from his magic holding ring to get rid of the vines.

    ¡¯I¡¯m working on it. I¡¯ve never seen this kind of Body Sculpting before and the sheer number of data is giving me a headache.¡¯ She replied while unleashing a darkness blocking array around Westhar and neutralizing the tier five Chaos spell he was about to unleash.

    Solus had timed her array so that it not only dispelled Soul Rend, wasting all the mana the Puppeteer had imbued it with, but the darkness blocking array also affected the still open wound, dissipating Westhar¡¯s true essence.

    The Abomination cursed his bad luck as he sucked dry his nearest minions to close the wound and prevent the loss of even more Chaos energy. ck tendrils erupted from his open flesh, sewing the arm back into its correct shape.

    Lith and Solus had never seen a Puppeteer before but they had seen that ability multiple times. It happened to Lith every time one of his limbs was severed, ever since the ident in the Dimensional Magic training hall.

    Meanwhile, the other two Emperor Beasts weren¡¯t faring much better. They had never expected to fight an army with powerful mages capable of using rare disciplines like Light Mastery.

    The shaman managed to nullify all of Olua¡¯s spells, leaving the rest of the army free to focus on the Nidhogg. Hard-light constructs and vines couldn¡¯t stop him, but they slowed his movements enough to allow battalions surrounding him to seed in their attacks more and more often.

    Neither reverted trolls nor ogres feared Bodya¡¯s acid spit because their regenerative abilities healed them faster than it could damage them. The ogres fed upon the Nidhogg¡¯s life force while the trolls ate their own allies.

    Lith¡¯s initial assumption was wrong. Goblins didn¡¯t ride trolls, they were just emergency rations in case the voracious monsters got hungry.

    ¡¯Dammit, this is quite a pinch.¡¯ Olua thought.

    ¡¯If I keep my distance, Bodya has to deal more monsters than he can handle and once they are done with him it will be Lith¡¯s turn. Yet if Ie close, that damn shaman can shot me down with her crystal.

    ¡¯All my previous attempts to kill her with dive attacks failed because she always keeps an earth barrier at ready. Arrays take too long to prepare and a shaman can dispel them in the blink of an eye. I need to get creative.¡¯

 Chapter 1165 Chaos Force Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1165 Chaos Force Part 1</h4>

    Olua realized that she had been checkmated, but that didn¡¯t mean she had also been defeated. Unlike in games, the rules of a real battlefield could be changed. The Roc ignored the shaman and abandoned her position, opening a clear path of retreat for the monster army.

    The creatures had yet to raise the first yell of victory that Olua unleashed her next barrage of spells against the reverted monsters who were restricting Bodya. A hail of fire and thunder bought the Nidhogg the time he needed to dive underground.

    The bbergasted shaman did her best to rush toward her enemy, but the Roc didn¡¯t wait for her and moved even farther away without ever ceasing the dive bombings. The only way Se¡¯Haan had to keep up with Olua¡¯s speed was to fly, but fighting a Roc in the skies was beyond madness.

    Without the sacrifice of her soldiers and the protection of earth magic, the shaman knew that she would barelyst a second.

    ¡¯A creature that big needs just an opening to swallow me whole.¡¯ She thought while chasing the Roc.

    With the Nidhoog gone to heal his many wounds with Invigoration, Olua darted back and forth, hitting wherever the monsters gathered to keep them from coordinating their efforts.

    Unfortunately for Se¡¯Haan, she focused so much on Olua¡¯s movements that she failed to notice where the Roc led her.

    The ground opened under the shaman¡¯s feet, letting her see the opened maw of the Nidhogg and the ck abyss filled with venom that was his throat. Se¡¯Haan conjured the earth dome that had protected her from the Roc, but it barely slowed down Bodya¡¯s charge.

    Even rocks empowered by her crystal were frailpared to the lesser Leviathan¡¯s body infused with all the elements. The dome crumbled on impact and Bodya swallowed her whole, drowning the shaman in so much acid that she didn¡¯t feel any pain as she died.

    Westhar felt his connection with the violet gemstone disappear and knew that everything was lost. A Nidhoog¡¯s acid could destroy inanimated matter easily, allowing them to feed on anything.

    The shaman¡¯s death had not only deprived the Puppeteer of his second inmand but it also caused him the loss of his most powerful mana crystal. Without it, his orc body was nothing but a sorry excuse for an Awakened.

    Westhar focused his fury on the hybrid in front of him, using his wand to neutralize all of Lith¡¯s spells while his soldiers struck at him in weaves. Each one of their attacks was weak, barely able to put a dent in the Scalewalker armor but he took dozens of them at the same time.

    The Abomination had dispelled Lith¡¯s Necromantic spell as well, turning the undead into food for his warriors. With each sh, Lith killed several opponents, but more stepped forward to take their ce, without giving him a single moment of rest.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways! I had prepared to fight an Abomination, the shaman, or the army, not all three of them at the same time plus a bunch of reverted monsters. Where are the others?¡¯ He thought while attempting and failing to cast a fireball in the air for the eleventh time.

    It was the convened signal for help in the case any of the Emperor Beasts was in trouble.

    ¡¯They are winning their battle but it would take them a while to notice your situation.¡¯ Solus said. She had tried as well to cast any kind of spell that could help Lith but Westhar had negated them as well.

    The Puppeteer was so focused on Lith that he didn¡¯t even bother getting out of the darkness sealing array, thinking that it would protect him from Chaos spells. He was unaware that even though Lith smelled like an Abomination, he had no such skill.

    ¡¯Dammit, I really didn¡¯t want to do this. Solus, keep an eye on my life force.¡¯ Lith took a deep breath and unleashed a stream of Origin mes all around himself.

    It burned the troll¡¯s constructs and the ogre¡¯s vines alike, but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop the iing wave of enemies. They smothered the mes with their own bodies and pinned Lith to the ground, leaving him open to a death blow.

    Lith¡¯s scales lifted, allowing him to release the Origin mes he had left not from his throat but from his whole body, burning all those who touched him to a crisp.

    ¡¯That was bad. Emitting Origin mes while keeping them from burning yourself took a huge toll on your body. You need a break to recuperate.¡¯ Solus could see Lith¡¯s getting weaker by the second.

    Her only hope was that the enemies wouldn¡¯t notice.

    "Keep attacking. He¡¯s almost done." Westhar said while conjuring the world energy through his wand and making it take the form of an energy deprised of all six elements.

    Despite its form, it wasn¡¯t a means of offense so much as of defense. By keeping the elements at his leash, the Puppeteer needed but a thought to counter any spell from a distance, no matter how powerful it was.

    The other orcs used their crystals to bury Lith under a hail of ice and thunder that the trolls ignored, covering themselves with hard light armor to not give the enemy a moment of rest.

    Each one of their fists had the strength of a charging bull but Lith gritted his teeth and activated World Mirror, one of War¡¯s abilities. He snatched the control of the spells from the orcs and used them as his own, killing all the nearest enemies before Westhar could dispel them.

    "Simply amazing. Your weapon will make a fine addition to my collection." The Puppeteer said without lowering his guard. "I admit that I had underestimated you. If not for my minions I would have already lost."

    The hybrid had killed over a hundred of his reverted minions, but Westhar only needed to sacrifice a handful of crystals to make more of them. Without wings, Lith couldn¡¯t fly and without magic, he could only use Origin mes, getting weaker with every breath.

    Solus did all she could, but the Puppeteer didn¡¯t take any risk nor created any opening she could exploit. He focused solely on dispelling their magic thanks to the ability of his crystal de to detect and counter any alteration in the surrounding world energy.

    Lith¡¯s life forces went into disarray as his human side copsed under the strain of the fight and that of the cracks which gued it ever since Lith had saved Protector. Even his superior strength and his deadly de were no match for the relentless attack of the monsters who sacrificed their lives just to let theirpanions strike at him.

    Monsters filled with juicy life force and more light element than any Abomination could eat. Between his weakness and desperation, Lith allowed the abyss inside of him to take over.

    The beast and the human life force stopped suppressing their Abomination counterpart, allowing it to feed for the first time. Lith¡¯s scales disappeared, turning into a liquid mass of darkness that devoured even sunlight.

    Another wave of monsters hit him from every side, yet the damage they dealt was nothingpared to the nourishment they provided him with. Lith felt his strength returning as the pile of monsters turned into a pile of desated corpses.

 Chapter 1166 Chaos Force Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1166 Chaos Force Part 2</h4>

    Even a troll core couldn¡¯t keep up with the endless hunger of a rampaging Abomination because the hunger typical of Abominations didn¡¯te just from their ck cores.

    Their very life force was a bottomless pit that could only be kept at bay thanks to the bnce that having multiple cores bestowed upon the Master¡¯s hybrids or in Lith¡¯s case, the fine-tuning between his life forces.

    Back when he was a kid, before he achieved the blue core, his hybrid nature had been too weak to manifest. His growing body could barely handle the mana flow of his core so the Abomination side had remained dormant.

    It had altered his body odor and helped him to mend his wounds from time to time, unable to do more withoutpromising the human shell. Only when the teenage Lith used darkness magic did the Chaos manage to seep out, draining the strength of his opponents.

    After Lith reached the blue core, the Beast-Abomination hybrid life force had be as powerful as the human.

    Due to the fact that the human life force suppressed the Abomination from the outside and the Emperor Beast did the same from the inside, however, its hunger was always in check.

    The Abomination side could only manifest its powers through Lith¡¯s scales, painting them ck and granting him nigh-immunity to the draining touch of undead and fellow Abominations that originated from their innate abilities.

    It was only now, after the bright blue core had allowed the three different life forces to merge, that the Chaos energy manifested itself in response to a direct threat. The many wounds and repeated uses of Origin mes had weakened the other two life forces enough topromise the bnce.

    The energy Lith took from his victims empowered both his human and hybrid essence, but only the Abomination side could feed without limit. The Emperor Beast side was limited by Lith¡¯s mass while the human side was limited by the cracks guing it.

    Just like too little energy made them fade away, too much made the life forces bloat. It was only a matter of time before only the Abomination side remained after swallowing the other two.

    Lith¡¯s survival instinct was too strong to care for such details but Solus did.

    She could see that while Lith ripped apart a wave of monsters after the other, his whole body became less and less that of a Wyrmling and more like that of one of his Demons of the Darkness.

    ¡¯By my maker, those creatures aren¡¯t shadow soldiers so much as undead Abominations. Could be Lith really be some kind of Puppeteer as well? After all, he took over the corpse of the real Lith just like our enemy possesses that of an orc.¡¯

    Solus snapped out of her worries when an even bigger problem appeared.

    ¡¯Dammit, Lith¡¯s body and his life forces can¡¯t take much more. The rampant Chaos energy is causing him almost the same damage it deals to our enemies, yet if I stop him now, he¡¯ll die anyway.¡¯

    Solus had to choose whether to have him die as a human or live as an Abomination and lose everything he had fought so long to protect.

    ¡¯Lith, if there¡¯s something of you left in there listen to me. Cast as many gue Arrows as you can, now!¡¯ She said.

    Lith did as instructed and Solus dispelled her darkness sealing array.

    The gue Arrows lost their light element due to the ck life force sucking even its own magic dry and became a volley of Chaos Arrows. Westhar managed to dispel a few but Lith¡¯s three remaining wings had a huge span and the wand could cover only a small area.

    To make matters worse, each Chaos Arrow was as fast as a lightning bolt and dozens of times more destructive. They turned everything in their path into nothingness, destroying the crystal wand and riddling the Puppeteer with holes so big that one could see through them.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t enough to kill him. Between the many gemstones in his hand and the huge amount of energy he had hoarded, Westhar wouldn¡¯t die as long as he had a speck of Chaos energy in him.

    He sucked the crystals dry to mend his wounds and returned the volley with his tier three Chaos spell, Doom Hail. Lith tried to Blink, but Chaos reced darkness and he had no idea how to use it.

    The spell failed, leaving him stuck in ce. He dodged some darts, others he used enemies to block, but took most of them in full. The Scalewalker armor cracked in multiple ces and so did War in the attempt to divert the onught from its master¡¯s vitals.

    "You fought well, but well it¡¯s not enough. Farewell." Westhar said while casting his tier five Chaos spell, Shattered Star.

    He had lost most of his army in the conflict but it had been worth it. Monsters would take little time to breed whereas by killing the hybrid, he would teach the Master a lesson and get his hands on priceless equipment.

    Two birds with one stone.

    He never expected a third and much bigger bird made of Living Thunder to sweep the area. It turned everyone in an area of 100 meters (330 feet) into a charred corpse and interrupted the Shattered Star spell.

    The only exceptions were Lith, who had been intentionally spared, and Westhar, who had survived again. His body had been turned into shreds by the attack, yet ck tendrils had sewn it back into ce at a speed visible to the naked eye, only strengthening Solus¡¯s fears.

    "Good gods, Scourge, are you alright?" The Roc had gone to the rescue the moment she had perceived the alteration in the world energy.

    "No, he¡¯s not." The Puppeteer had no time for another Shattered Star so he conjured Doom Hail again.

    Olua Blinked both herself and Lith to safety in the nick of time while Bodya emerged from the ground and unleashed a tier five spell, Copsing Volcano. Fire and earth mixed together, turning the ground under the Abomination into magma.

    ¡¯I have to help them. I just need a bit more of life force. Just a bit more.¡¯ Despite all of his wounds, Lith didn¡¯t feel pain, only hunger.

    ¡¯No, you don¡¯t. You need to get to safety and let them do their jobs.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯What are you talking about? I feel fine, I¡¯m just hungry-¡¯

    ¡¯You¡¯re dying!¡¯ She cut Lith short and showed him the condition of his life forces through their mind link. ¡¯If you really don¡¯t care for yourself, at least do it for your family and for me.¡¯

    Only then did Lith notice that War and Solus¡¯s ring were sizzling, but not because of the Puppeteer¡¯s spells or because of the Nidhogg acid. His touch was deadly to them as well, to the point that he was sucking Solus¡¯s life instead of nourishing her as usual.

    Yet neither the angry de nor her did leave Lith¡¯s hand, suffering in silence just to fight by his side. Lith went into a panic, but he had no idea how to get rid of the excess life force he had consumed.

    His human and Beast side couldn¡¯t keep up with the Abomination and were slowly fading away.

 Chapter 1167 Chaos Force Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1167 Chaos Force Part 3</h4>

    As Lith felt Solus¡¯s pain like his own, he remembered about his fight against the Odi and found the answer he needed. Lith conjured as much life force as he could in his mouth, emitting a st of Origin mes.

    In their normal state, Lith¡¯s life forces bnced each other to the point of ovepping to perfection. Now, however, after restoring the human and beast side, the Abomination counterpart had fed on so much life force that it bloated akin to a boil ready to burst.

    Lith couldn¡¯t decide how much each of his life forces would contribute to the Origin mes, he could only hope that like all natural things, his body would seek to restore its internal bnce.

    The excess life force came out of his mouth, setting aze the world energy that the Puppeteer Abomination had gathered during their fight. Usually, a spark of life force was enough to turn his breath into a deadly weapon, but this time Lith used the equivalent of a forest fire.

    With each iota of Origin mes he emitted, Lith could feel his body hurting from his many wounds and he epted it with a smile. The more pain he experienced, the more the hunger that had drowned every other feeling faded.

    The living shadow that his skin had turned into reverted being pitch ck scales.

    ¡¯How is it going?¡¯ Lith asked while doing his best to keep the flow of life force under control. If he cut it off too soon, he might not have another opportunity whereas if he cut it off toote, his life span might shorten even more.

    ¡¯Not as well as you think. Thank heavens we took shapeshifting lessons from Faluel. Without them, I wouldn¡¯t know how to alter your life forces so to protect the human ad beast side while making sure that only the Abomination part suffers from the strain of producing so much Origin mes.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t care about that. I want to know how you feel.¡¯ Lith said.

    ¡¯You¡¯ve stopped hurting me.¡¯

    Solus used their tier five Healing magic spell, Scalpel, so that Lith¡¯s life forces only focused on recovering and suppressing their Abomination counterpart while thetter be weaker and weaker to fuel an attack akin to a volcanic eruption.

    World energy was everywhere, but to produce Origin mes Lith had to gather andpress it in his lungs before igniting it with his life force. The amount of power he was releasing set the in aze, turning the air into a fire mist reaching several thousand degrees.

    Instead that bright blue, the mesing out of his mouth were deep violet and they turned brighter as Lith¡¯s life force mixed with that of the trolls, the orcs, the goblins, and everything else he had consumed in his frenzy, even the grass.

    The battlefield turned into a white wildfire that spread as fast as the wind and consumed every living being on its path. Lith breathed and breathed until he felt too tired to continue.

    ¡¯It¡¯s okay, you can stop now.¡¯ Solus said while interrupting the treatment and focusing on her own recovery. Lith¡¯s equipment was ckened inside out due to the Chaos energy Westhar had used to attack him and that he had emitted himself.

    ¡¯Thanks.¡¯ Lith closed his mouth and the stream of mes ended.

    His life forces readjusted themselves, making Lith feel as if someone had put him inside a blender. Great was the price that any living being had to pay to use the Chaos and only the oblivion that swallowed him relieved Lith from his agony.

    Yet even after Lith had lost consciousness, the white fire spread, following every ounce of world energy that even the simplest spell conjured like a shark on a blood trail.

    "I guess that¡¯s my cue. So long, sucker." Bodya had no means nor need to face the Origin mes head on. He dived underground, closing the passage behind him and leaving Westhar no way out.

    The Puppeteer cursed his bad luck and Blinked away enough to buy himself the time to open a dimensional passage. Fighting a Nidhogg underground was as foolish as fighting a Roc in the skies.

    Yet dimensional magic required to conjure world energy. The spell worked akin to backdraft, drawing the hungry Origin mes on both its entry and exit point. Westhar had no choice but to Blink non-stop to escape the encirclement but the mes kept getting closer until they caught up with him.

    While the Abomination drowned in a sea of Origin mes, screaming on the top of his lungs, Bodya reached Olua who was using her best diagnostic spells to understand how severe Lith¡¯s condition was.

    "We need to get out of here and we can¡¯t use spells to do it." She said to answer his silent question. "The kid has bad cracks on his life force and needs immediate help."

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire, in the Headquarters of the Master. A few days before Lith left for Jiera.

    Xenagrosh the Troll-Abomination hybrid looked at the gene tank where the body of Zogar Vastor floated for days in the nutrient liquid that provided his body with all the nutrients he needed to survive the change.

    The Abomination tissues had spread all over his body and now only a few pink streaks were still visible under the ckness of the Chaos energy. Much of Vastor¡¯s belly had disappeared and he had grown several centimeters taller, making it hard to recognize him.

    An Abomination¡¯s body wasprised of pure Chaos energy that they could reshape at will. Shapeshifting was second nature to them, which helped Eldritchs to hide their nature but at the same time made them lose their sense of self first and their sanityter.

    "Damn, he¡¯s changing too much." Xenagrosh said. "The Master could have altered his appearance anytime he wanted, yet he never did. A slender body means he¡¯s losing the battle for dominance with his Abomination clone."

    "Why do you call him Master even now? It¡¯s not like he can hear you." Nandi the Minotaur-Abomination said while keeping the flow of world energy that coursed through the gene tank in check.

    "Because that¡¯s the name he chooses for himself, just like I choose Xenagrosh." She replied.

    "I don¡¯t get it. My name is Nandi and I¡¯m proud of it." The Minotaur shrugged.

    "That¡¯s because you¡¯re a clone, like Bytra. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m not saying you are inferior, just na?ve. Your original self discarded his name because it reminded him of too many bad memories. The very same that cause you fits of Blood Madness."

    "I-" Nandi attempted to say but shes of his past cut him short.

    He remembered when he had just turned into an Abomination, feeding on his own very nsmen who had tried to help him before moving on the others. He could still hear the familiar voices screaming and pleading him for mercy.

    Back then, he only felt the hunger but now the remorse grew as he managed to give each voice a name, remembering how dear to him were his victims. Nandi cried in agony, wishing for the voices to stop and leave him alone.

 Chapter 1168 Chaos Force Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1168 Chaos Force Part 4</h4>

    A powerful p almost twisted his neck and snapped out of it.

    "Are you insane? You almost broke the tank!" Xenagrosh¡¯s voice made the memories fade, returning him to reality.

    Nandi found himself sitting on the ground of a room that looked out of a warzone. Everything that wasn¡¯t protected by the powerful arrays surrounding Vastor¡¯s version of Arthan¡¯s Madness had been destroyed.

    Broken pieces of equipment were scattered throughout the room along with the wooden splinters that once had been furniture and the walls had more holes than swiss cheese.

    "I¡¯m so sorry. I-"

    "Just got a glimpse of the burden that your name carries. Now get back here and fuel the machine. Our little scuffle almost drained the energy reserves." Xenagrosh cut him short.

    Nandi focused on the living mana crystals decorating his skin to conjure the necessary world energy. He used it to restore the arrays, empower the gene tank, and fuel the base¡¯s self-repair abilities.

    "Can I ask you something?" During thest few days, Nandi had learned the hard way why Baba Yaga never left him alone with the children and why she had sent him to the Master.

    There were parts of his past so painful that he could speak about them only with those who had gone through simr experiences.

    "As long as you¡¯re not asking me out, sure." She replied while fueling the tank with a constant stream of vitality from her troll core.

    "Why do you blindly follow the Master? He¡¯s but a simple man whereas even before turning into a hybrid, each one of us had enough power to ughter an army."

    "It¡¯splicated." Xenagrosh said.

    "Try me."

    "I met him about a decade ago, right after one of his dearest students, someone called Nalear, almost died because of what the academy considered but a practical joke." Venom filled her voice, making Xenagrosh want to spit in disgust.

    "The Master had already researched Arthan¡¯s Madness for decades on his own, but until that point, he had always followed the Kingdom¡¯sw. He meant to use the knowledge gained from the Mad King to find a way to cure all diseases without the risks that Body Sculpting involves.

    "After that incident, however, the Master had taken a more radical approach and considered humanity itself as the disease that needed to be treated. He needed people for his experiments with Forbidden Magic and I needed food.

    "Our interests aligned and so we started working together. The pact was simple. He would use his resources to provide me with a safe house and a semnce of life while I would use my abilities to supply him with all the subjects and knowledge that his research needed." She said.

    "That doesn¡¯t sound much like an Organization, more like a partnership." Nandi said.

    "Neither of us was interested in the other except for how we could exploit our respective talents." Xenagrosh shook her head. "There was no trust nor bond between us, just business."

    "Over time, however, the Master became intrigued by my ability to cast silent spells of all tiers, of never aging nor suffering any illness just like I got engrossed by the juicy amounts of energy his experiments generated.

    "Each one of his failed attempts released so much life force and world energy to keep my hunger at bay for almost a day. Soon we started topare notes and once I understood his potential, I offered myself as a test subject.

    "The Master managed to create arrays that helped me control the Chaos energy coursing through my body and altered the machine in the attempt to sate my hunger for good. He failed, yet with each one of his experiments, I could feel my strength grow.

    "It was the most amazing thing that might have happened. As you know, after reaching the state of Eldritch, Mogar turns its back to us and once we master our new state, there is no room for improvement.

    "We be no different from fake mages, capable of learning new spells but limited in their execution by the power of the mana core. It was then that I offered him to find more of our kind.

    "We Eldritchs umte countless resources through the ages, but we have no way to spend them because of the Chaos energy that courses through our bodies slowly corrupts everything we touch.

    "We can¡¯t eat, drink, or even have intimacy without killing our partner." Her words triggered more of Nandi¡¯s memories that only a well-timed p kept from having another episode of Blood Madness.

    "With each Abomination that joined our cause, the Organization took shape.

    "At first, we all considered the Master just to be our servant, but he was the one capable of creating arrays that we had never even thought about, he was the one crafting Forgemastering marvels that gave us new power while the best we could do was be his hunting dogs.

    "Over time, he gained our respect and his kindness garnered him our loyalty. Thanks to his devices, we could attend social events from time to time, giving us hope and a purpose. The Master taught us how to speak and walk, even helping some of us to remember who they were.

    "We taught him everything we could because we knew that if anything happened to him, the Organization would crumble and we would be back to be nothing but lumps of Chaos energy.

    "At that point, none of us was content with surviving anymore, we wanted to live again. Every form of disrespect towards him was met with extreme prejudice and the most powerful of our kind would protect him 24/7, to make sure that no arrogant brat could ruin everything.

    "It led the new members to assume that the Master was our leader and we let them believe that. We were his teachers, but he was our friend, our confidant, our only hope. With time, the lie became the truth.

    "Yet we never respected the Master just for his power so much as for his undying will and determination." Xenagrosh said.

    "If he¡¯s so kind, then where does that peoplee from? I doubt that they volunteered for the role." Nandi pointed at the gene tank on the left.

    It was filled with humans whose life force was transferred to Vastor to increase his odds of survival and rejuvenate his aging body.

    "Dregs of society. Filth that had no role but to make the life of others harder." The idea of such scum bing part of Vastor made her sick, but Xenagrosh respected his will.

    "Convict criminals?" Nandi said.

    "No. Handpicking them would take too long. I¡¯m talking about addicts, drunkards, thugs, gamblers, homeless bums. All people who have nothing to offer to society but more misery.

    "Every city in the Kingdom, every slum, has so many of them that even when they disappear in dozens, no one reports it. By taking them out, the Master allows the three Great Countries to focus their welfare on people whose life is worth saving.

    "It¡¯s what the Master taught Gadorf the Wyvern about choosing his prey and it would have allowed him to go unnoticed for decades if he didn¡¯t start dealing with the ve trade." Xenagrosh said while looking at her blinkingmunication amulet with worry.

    She worried about her little brother, but with the life of her adoptive father at stake, she couldn¡¯t afford a single moment of distraction.

 Chapter 1169 Shattered Dreams Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1169 Shattered Dreams Part 1</h4>

    During thest few days, Lith had attempted to call Xenagrosh multiple times to thank her for helping him to save his family, yet she had never answered. Xenagrosh devoted her full focus on the gene tank and on making sure that Nandi kept his sanity until the Master came out.

    She had learned from Bytra that talking helped. The deeper the connection a Returner Abomination had with their allies, the easier it became to suppress their violent urges. Every time Lith called, she would just press Tezka¡¯s rune for a status report.

    "Everything is fine." The dimensional mage Abomination had stayed in Lutia, to keep an eye on Zinya in the case Night found a loophole in Baba Yaga¡¯s ve contract.

    "Then keep things that way. I don¡¯t know if the Master loves that woman or if he just cares for her. Zinya Yehval makes him happy and those feelings will help the Master to adapt to his new condition or will help us to control his clone in the case he fails."

    Meanwhile, inside the tank, Zogar Vastor was fighting for his life against the Abomination who carried his genes but none of his burden. He was old and tired whereas his opponent was young and single-minded, caring only about survival.

    Their life essences engaged a constant tug of war, one mind attempting to erase the other from the moment they had merged.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll give you that you¡¯re relentless, kid, but if you knew what¡¯s waiting for you in the outside world, would you still be so eager to fight me?¡¯ Vastor said to his Abomination double inside the space they shared in their mind.

    The creature¡¯s appearance was akin to the human form of an Emperor Beast, a projection of how Vastor perceived himself rather than how he actually looked like. The Abomination double was tall, young, handsome, and with thick hair like Vastor didn¡¯t have even at his prime.

    The creature hade to life just a few days ago so he had no idea how to answer. His reply came in the form of draining a bit more of the Master¡¯s essence, tipping the scale even more in his favor.

    Vastor had studied the merging process of a clone with his original, determining that the longer a double lived, the closer their prowess would get to that of their source material.

    Yet despite all of his studies and preparations, the Master was the one on his back foot.

    ¡¯Fine. Do you want to be Zogar Vastor, kid? Be my guest and take it. Take all that makes me who I am!¡¯ Instead of resisting the pull, the Master let his life force go.

    The move took the Abomination clone by surprise, especially because Vastor made sure to add a big chunk of his mind to it. Being so young made the creature focused and unwavering, but it also made it susceptible to intense emotions.

    He had never experienced pain or hardships. The clone¡¯s mind was a nk te that could only mirror Vastor¡¯s feelings.

    The creature saw the memories about Vastor being a short but promising youth as a student of the White Griffon academy. Regr mages took sses about one specialization, good mages like Lith took two, while three specializations were universally considered the mark of the true genius.

    The young Zogar Vastor attended four specializations at the same time and graduated as the first of his year in each one of them. He became a Healer, a Warden, a Forgemaster, and even a Battle Mage.

    His rise had sent all academies into an uproar. After graduating, he had be a member of the Mage Association, then a Royal Forgemaster, and even a Spellbreaker.

    To learn any spell, he only needed to practice it twice and then he would create an improved version of the same spell that went beyond the expectations of its own maker.

    He had never been good-looking, but after he managed to y an Emperor Beast at the age of eighteen, all the noble families of the Kingdom threw their daughters at his feet.

    Vastor dated for a while Keal Griffon, one of the Royal Princesses and Meron¡¯s older sister, and Tryssa Ernas, Jirni¡¯s aunt, but dismissed both of them thinking that such an early marriage would only hinder his magical research.

    His talents made him an excellent candidate to be the god of healing and everyone expected him to be a Magus, but s, Vastor hit a wall that he was unable to ovee.

    His bright blue core made him a versatile mage, but without a violet core, he was incapable of crafting the most powerful pieces of equipment or of casting the strongest arrays recorded in the Kingdom¡¯s archives.

    To make matters worse, even though Vastor had unparalleled learning abilities, hecked creativity. His genius allowed him to improve the spells of others, but all his original creations turned out mediocre at best.

    The passing of time only made his limits more evident and lowered the expectations that the Kingdom had for him. Soon the Royals considered him a potential god of healing only for theck of better candidates and discarded him as a potential Magus.

    Vastor¡¯s family forced him into marriage before his value in the eyes of the magicalmunity decreased even further and when he achieved the title of Archmage at twenty-five, it garnered him more pity than admiration.

    Everyone considered Vastor as a mage who had already peaked, as a magical wondend that once explored, had no new marvels to offer and that had be no more interesting than your average botanical garden.

    Marriage didn¡¯t make him better, only more bitter. His wife didn¡¯t love him and the feeling was mutual. To Vastor, she was the embodiment of all the filthy social climbers with no magical talent nor use who clung to him out of need, not out of respect.

    When his children were born, he ignored them, considering them to be just more shackles that the ungrateful society of the Kingdom had bound him with.

    The Abomination inside Vastor¡¯s mind experienced the emotional rollercoaster of his early life. First the undying determination as a student, then the boundless enthusiasm of the youth, andstly the crippling desperation of the discovery that his magical career was already over before he turned twenty.

    Vastor could feel the creature getting weaker, its grip loosening with the memory of each failure shing in front of their shared consciousness. Yet it onlysted a second.

    The creature¡¯s naivety also made its outrage genuine and gave it the strength to ovee the shock, eager to prove to the entirety of Mogar that Zogar Vastor was far from over.

    ¡¯Not bad. I reacted the same way, but do you really think that rage is enough, kid? Maybe on the battlefield, but in ab, it only makes you sloppy.¡¯ Vastor said while giving more of his essence and memories to the Abomination.

    In the new visions, a now chubby Vastor had started to study Arthan¡¯s Madness. After drowning himself infort food and self-pity, a now thirty years old Vastor had epted his limits.

    It had led him to the realization that with his ability to learn and improve other¡¯s creations he might be able the crack the lost legacy of the Mad King.

 Chapter 1170 Shattered Dreams Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1170 Shattered Dreams Part 2</h4>

    Arthan Griffon had been a monster, but also a genius who had reached an understanding of the healing arts that still baffled even modern mages.

    Vastor believed that once he mastered the Madness, he would be able to set the foundations for new branches of Light magic and be a Magus just like Menadion did after improving Silverwing¡¯s work.

    s, there was only so much that he could understand with the few fragments and blueprints of the Madness still avable. On top of that, his ignorance about the Forbidden Arts made everything even harder.

    To devote all the time that he could to Arthan¡¯s Madness, Vastor became a Professor at the White Griffon academy. Improving the teaching textbooks was child¡¯s y to him and gave him the perfect cover to look for people who might make up for his shorings.

    Then, Vastor knew Duke Marth. Even as a youth, the future Headmaster of the White Griffon showed a talent and ingenuity like Vastor didn¡¯t have even during his heyday.

    On paper, with just the Healer specialization, Marth was an average student. The truth, however, was that he not only aced every single ss, but he also created and shared groundbreaking spells even during his fourth year.

    Since their magical strength was simr, Vastor thought to have found a kindred spirit and waited for history to repeat itself. Yet even though Marth¡¯s bright blue core limited him, his brain made up for it by never running dry of new ideas.

    He invented the Blood Resonance discipline that allowed to identify corpses on the battlefield and to recognize someone¡¯s bloodline. He perfected the regenerating arts and created new spells that made newly formed limbs able of adapting to their body.

    Unlike Vastor, Marth¡¯s rise never stopped, allowing him to be an Archmage at twenty and a Professor soon after. To make matters worse, in the short time after his graduation, Marth had also learned Forgemastery and be a Royal Forgemaster with an ease that left everyone bbergasted.

    A few yearster, when Manohar arrived at the White Griffon, Vastor knew he was facing a monster in human guise. Unlike everyone else before him, Manohar started the fourth year of the academy while barely twelve years old and gave lessons to his Professors more often than he received them.

    He took the Battle Mage specialization only because it sounded cool and even though he soon got bored of it, Manohar still aced every one of his sses by barely skimming the books and with no practice.

    After his graduation, he revealed to have also learned Forgemastery on his own. As a hobby, he said, because the academy¡¯s tools were too primitive for his taste and he couldn¡¯t trust idiots to do things properly.

    Manohar¡¯s endless talent was only matched by his rudeness, yet despite the countless humiliations Vastor had to endure as Manohar dwarfed him on a daily basis, the two became friends.

    Being a true genius, Manohar be engrossed by the mystery of the Madness and managed to fill many of the gaps in the blueprints. Unbeknownst to Vastor, Manohar discovered Light Mastery thanks to their work together.

    Unbeknownst to Manohar, even though Vastor¡¯s understanding of the light element wasn¡¯t as deep, he still managed to improve each of Manohar¡¯s discoveries beyond what the easily bored genius could think, bing the leading figure of the Body Sculpting field and even learning how to Shapeshift.

    The Abomination¡¯s enthusiasm onlysted until the memory reached the part where it discovered that Manohar didn¡¯t mention such techniques solely because he had learned them on his own as a student by reading Vastor¡¯s books.

    Then, the creature fell into desperation at the memories of how Vastor had been forced to be a Highmaster.

    They were the secret weapons of each of the three Great Countries. Mages so powerful that they could start or end a war on their own. There was no honor in being chosen as the only Highmaster of his generation for Vastor.

    The Royals didn¡¯t ask Manohar only because he was pathologically unable to follow the chain ofmand, let alone orders. Marth, instead, was in the middle of an important experiment that couldn¡¯t be dyed.

    Vastor knew that those words were all polite excuses. That the truth was much crueler. They had picked him for the role only because they considered Vastor expendable.

    Manohar and Marth were too precious to risk their lives in squabbles along the borders of the Kingdom. As a Highmaster, Vastor prevented countless wars by showing the prowess of the Griffon Kingdom to their neighbors.

    He ughtered entire viges overnight and thanks to Shapeshifting, he took down fortresses before their soldiers could even understand what was happening. All those feats reinforced the Kingdom¡¯s borders and damaged Vastor¡¯s mind.

    His superiors in the army and the Association justified those murders with the greater good, but it was Vastor who had to raise his hand against helpless children, he who had to live with the images of the carnages burned into his eyes.

    It was then that Vastor understood that the "greater good" was nothing but a lie invented by mediocre men just to keep their privileged positions of power. Life in the academy reinforced his convictions every day.

    Those from magical bloodlines and evenmoners would give their all to achieve greatness, whereas nobles would take everything for granted and put minimal effort into their studies.

    ¡¯Nobles suck the blood of their subjects without giving them anything in return. They are useless parasites whereas, with those same sacrifices, a mage fueled by the Madness would live long enough to achieve great things.¡¯ Vastor said to his double who was wailing in pain.

    The Master had spent years oveing the traumas that the creatures now experienced one after the other. The Abomination relived all of Vastor¡¯s failures, his guilt for all the people he had sacrificed for years to no avail.

    At least until he had met Xenagrosh. She taught him about the existence of Awakening and of whatid beyond: Abominations and Guardians. Abominations were simr to undead, but their potential was unlimited.

    While undead would rarely achieve Awakening and be bound by Baba Yaga¡¯s faulty design, Abominations were the natural evolution of those who had reached the peak of existence through hard work.

    Abominations were beings of pure mana, eternally young, and capable of essing to Chaos Magic, something that no one else was able to do, whereas undeath was just a perversion of life.

    Vastor despised the Guardians for not sharing their knowledge, considering them akin to the nobles who forced their subjects to live abject lives just to feel better about themselves.

    Guardians protected an unjust bnce and he knew that sooner orter his Organization would sh with them. To learn more about Guardians, he gathered their offspring and worked to restore their ancestral powers.

    Together, Vastor and the Eldritchs progressed in restoring the Madness by leaps and bounds often with the unwitting help of Manohar, then of Balkor, and then even of Thrud.

    The Blood Magus was a gue to the Kingdom but a source of inspiration for Vastor, who learned from him how to connect Abomination tissues to living beings and how to safely establish a hive mind.

    His initial project involved the merging of several Abominations to form a creature with their collective wisdom and powers, but without a hive mind, there was only madness.

 Chapter 1171 New Horizons Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1171 New Horizons Part 1</h4>

    Meeting Thrud had been a blessing in disguise. It had given Vastor the opportunity to study a modern version of Arthan¡¯s Madness while Manohar¡¯s studies on her meat puppets had provided Vastor with the means to perfect his procedure for mixing different life forces.

    The Master had never meant to use the Madness on himself. He nned to leave it as a gift for the future generations, like Lith who he had warned about the horrors of war or Quy to whom he had shown the limits of fake magic.

    Vastor had hoped that at least one of them would follow in his footsteps andplete his work. Yet after seeing what Lith had managed to achieve as a hybrid, after failing to protect Zinya, the Master had changed his mind.

    ¡¯Unlike me, Lith nevercked conviction. He must have be a hybrid by experimenting on himself to fix the cracks in his life force. I¡¯ve treated him as a student and I¡¯m certain that he was just a human back then.

    ¡¯If I want to be remembered as more than just a mass murderer, I must show the same resolve!¡¯ He thought.

    The flow of consciousness and the streak of defeats it carried caused the Abomination double one fit of Blood Madness after the other. Its young mind was incapable of shouldering so many horrors and so much pain at the same time.

    Vastor kept pouring his life essence and memories into the creature until his external body turned into a handsome shadow with but a speck of pink on its abdomen. Then, the darkness started to crack, forming a vortex that merged with Vastor¡¯s flesh, turning it into a shade of ashen grey.

    The gene tank emitted a short buzz the moment the human-Abomination hybrid was born. It flushed out the nutrient liquid before opening the lid made of magic crystals to let the creature walk out.

    Xenagrosh observed the newborn hybrid¡¯s movements with her heart full of fears. The wobbling of Vastor¡¯s knees could be due to the shock of the merging, but also due to the Abomination knowing the concept of walking but having no idea how to.

    Its well-fed appearance was that of the Professor she knew and loved, yet there was a light in its eyes that didn¡¯t seem right.

    "Master, is that you?" She asked.

    "For once, I didn¡¯t fail." Vastor said while clenching and opening his hand several times to get ustomed to his new body.

    "Nowe with me to my apartments. Before I go back to the White Griffon, I need you to teach me the basics of true magic. We have much to do and little time to do it."

    ***

    Rezar¡¯s Fringe in the Blood Desert.

    Nalrond woke up, finding himself covered in sweat.

    At first, while looking at the familiar environment of the stone buildings and smelling the familiar scents of his vige, he thought everything that had happened during the past year had been a nightmare.

    The longest, most terrifying nightmare of all his life.

    ¡¯The vige is safe and so am I. Dawn-¡¯ That name crushed his hopes, bringing him back to reality.

    None of his beast form¡¯s enhanced senses could perceive either the arrays that were supposed to contain the Horseman or her magnificent aura. Instead, Nalrond could feel the presence of several unknown magical formations and failed to recognize even one of the voices he heard.

    ¡¯Dawn killed them all.¡¯ Warm tears streamed down his eyes while he grieved his vige again. ¡¯I should have known it. Even if a few Rezars survived her attack, there¡¯s no way they could have rebuilt the entire vige.

    ¡¯On top of that, the only possible exnation for the presence of the woods and of so many people, is that two Fringes must have merged. A handful of survivors can¡¯t have children this fast unless they are monsters.¡¯

    After checking that he had no missing limb and that his hosts had put no restraints on him, Nalrond was sure that monsters weren¡¯t involved. He shapeshifted back into his human form and looked around his room.

    It was a part of a cozy house made of square stones, about 5 meters (16.5 feet) long, 4 meters (13 feet) wide, and over 3 meters (10 feet) high. The room¡¯s furniture consisted of a bed, a closet, and a small chest for personal possessions.

    Arge fur rug upied the center of the room and kept his feet warm while he walked to the windows to look at the vige.

    ¡¯Judging by the size of the bed and the room, this ce has been built for someone bigger than a Rezar, but I remember to have seen only humans during my recon flight. Either this vige is inhabited by Emperor Beasts or by another tribe of Werepeople.¡¯ He thought.

    Nalrond closed his eyes for a second, silently praying all the gods whose names he could remember for at least part of the vigers to be members of his tribe. Yet all the children he saw ying in the fields had the form of a Dewan and none of the clothes hanging to the clotheslines had a familiar design.

    Dewans were humanoid Emperor Beasts who looked like rhinoceroses. They were taller and heavier than Rezars, yet incredibly nimble thanks to their affinity for air and water magic.

    Their thick skin and powerful muscles made them akin to heavy infantry units that moved as fast as cavalry. While hybrid Rezars had been developed for mining operations, Dewans were living weapons.

    Some of the people noticed Nalrond and returned his gaze while pointing at his window. Soon he heard knocking on his door.

    "Come in." He said with a sigh as his hopes shattered one after the other.

    Everything from the furniture to the ent of his guests sounded alien to him, yet Nalrond didn¡¯t cry again. He hade for closure and had finally found it. The only thing left for him to do before looking for the rest of his group was to thank his hosts.

    "I¡¯m d to see that you¡¯re feeling better. Are you hungry?" A man in histe sixties asked.

    He was about 1.70 meters (5¡¯ 7") tall, with greyed hair streaked ck and brown eyes. His bronze skin was mostly tan and from the cut eye, Nalrond could guess that the unknown tribe wasn¡¯t native of the Blood Desert.

    He wore a simple white linen shirt and brown pants over poorly made leather shoes. Nalrond understood from both his guest¡¯s attire and smell that the man was a fellow hybrid.

    Emperor Beasts would craft for themselves shapeshifting clothes whereas hybrids usuallycked the necessary ingredients to practice Forgemastery. Despite the fact that Fringes were rich in world energy, they didn¡¯t necessarily have crystal mines.

    Quite the contrary, they usuallycked any sort of metal veins as well due to their artificial nature. Both gemstones and minerals required centuries, if not millennia to form whereas a Fringe would be created only under specific circumstances.

    On top of that, it would onlyst as long as Mogar saw fit, making it pointless for the the add more than what was strictly needed.

    The simple design of the clothes allowed Werepeople to shapeshift at will without worrying about the consequences. The stitches were loose on purpose so that they would rip easily without damaging the fabric, making it easy to mend.

 Chapter 1172 New Horizons Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1172 New Horizons Part 2</h4>

    "Thanks for your hospitality and concern. My name is Nalrond of the Rezar tribe and I¡¯m starving." He gave the man a small bow while looking at his Soul Projection.

    It looked like a curled-up Dewan holding his head between his huge hands while sighing often, something that usually manifested in teenagers experiencing their first crush.

    If not for his age, Nalrond would have thought that his guest had romantic problems.

    "There¡¯s no need to thank us. All Werepeople are family and you¡¯ll be our honorable guest for as long as you need. My name is Kimo of the Dewan tribe. Please, follow me." The elder said.

    Nalrond didn¡¯t like how Kimo kept looking at him and his clothes nor did he appreciate the excessive kindness they had shown him.

    ¡¯If a fully dressed Emperor Beas had crashnded inside our cultivated fields, we would have chained and interrogated them before letting them roam the vige. Sure, they don¡¯t seem to be protecting a relic as powerful as Dawn, but they should know that just because someone manages to enter a Fringe doesn¡¯t make them good people.

    ¡¯Kimo¡¯s Projection is usually rted to a deep yearning for something or someone. I have a few ideas why they are being so friendly towards me and none is good.¡¯ He thought.

    The elder introduced Nalrond to his wife, Sephe. She was a kind-looking woman in herte sixties, about 1.6 meters (5¡¯ 3") tall with greying blond hair streaked blue and hazel eyes. Her Souls Projection resembled a Dewan who looked around like a scared animal.

    Sephe offered him a fruit tter and oatmeal which Nalrond¡¯s stomach weed with enthusiasm. Between all the emotions and the long sleep, he didn¡¯t eat for over a day.

    "I¡¯m sorry for prying in your personal business, but someone looking like a Tyrant came to the vige earlier. He imed to be your friend. Was he telling the truth or is the vige in danger?" Kimo had a worried look on his face.

    "Don¡¯t worry about him. Morok is really an Emperor Beast and no one forced me to open the way into the Fringe. He apanied me here to check if any more survivors from the Bright Day¡¯s escape still lived in my old vige."

    Nalrond saw his hosts sighing in relief while their Projections now looked at him as if he was their long-lost son, making him feel bad for doubting their honesty.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for your loss, child. When our Fringe suddenly expanded, we thought that Mogar had finally answered our prayers, giving us thend that we needed for our growing tribe.

    "Yet when we found all those charred ruins, we knew that something terrible must had happened so we looked far and wide for survivors, but we found none." Sephe said.

    ¡¯Dammit, between my sour mood and Lith¡¯s paranoia I¡¯ve be a prick. If they met Morok, I can consider myself lucky he didn¡¯t trigger a manhunt. Werepeople are naturally suspicious of strangers and they must have been afraid that my condition was due to captivity.

    ¡¯Soul Projections cannot lie. The shadows above their heads mean honest relief for Morok¡¯s presence andpassion for my tribe.¡¯

    "Then I¡¯m not going to trouble you for much longer. I¡¯ll make camp in the ins far from the vige and once mypanions are done with the Fringe, you have my word that we¡¯ll never return nor disclose your position to anyone."

    "There¡¯s no need to leave the vige. You and your friends can stay here if you want. We have heard many great things about the Rezar tribe and we¡¯d love to hear from you about the outside world. None of us has left the vige since we escaped the humans." Kimo said.

    "Thanks for your offer, but I don¡¯t think you understood my words. I¡¯m thest survivor of my tribe and I met mypanions while hunting for the Horseman of Dawn. They are an Emperor Beast and two human mages." Nalrond words made his hosts flinch in surprise and their Projections snarl, but itsted only for a second.

    "Do you trust them so much that you¡¯ve brought them inside a Fringe?" Sephe asked.

    "Yes. I¡¯ve formed deep bonds with them anding here wasn¡¯t their idea but mine. They are at a dangerous crossroad in their lives that needs enlightenment and I needed to make sure that our Fringe still existed. Two birds with one stone.

    "As for the Emperor Beast, he managed to get inside by himself so you can rest assured that even Mogar trusts him." Nalrond didn¡¯t like to lie, but he had no other choice.

    He didn¡¯t actually trust any of hispanions that much. Nalrond had brought them along because he expected to either find an empty Fringe or no Fringe at all. The presence of another tribe of Werepeople changed everything.

    ¡¯It¡¯s a leap of faith that I must take. The girls never tried to exploit me, but that Morok is a wildcard. He didn¡¯t know about Fringes or Werepeople, but once he gets outside and learns about the value of this ce, the Dewans might be in danger.

    ¡¯On the other hand, if I tell Sephe the truth, they won¡¯t let any of use out of here alive.¡¯ He thought.

    "Even if we¡¯ve taken thesends after your departure, this is still your home, Nalrond. All Werepeople are family so if you trust them then we trust them as well. You and yourpanions will be our honored guests.

    "You have my word as a vige elder." Kimo extended his right hand while conjuring a broken rune of water on his palm which Nalrond shook after conjuring a broken rune of fire on his own hand.

    Those runes had no real magical property, they were just the experimental serial number that the humans had used to identify the different tribes of Werepeople. The rune symbolized their shared past and its broken state was a memento of the day when they had freed themselves.

    Even though tribes of Werepeople would rarely contact each other, the use of the broken rune allowed them to recognize one of them and guaranteed their sincerity. To all tribes, the act of breaking an oath taken upon their ancestral symbol was akin to stoop as low as humans.

    "I¡¯ll go get my friends. You¡¯d better prepare your people for their arrival." Nalrond said while opening a Warp Steps leading to one of the few spots outside the vige he still remembered.

    Once he made sure of being alone and that no one had followed him, he used themunication amulet to contact the girls and exin the situation to them.

    "What do you mean, two Fringes have merged?" Quy asked.

    "It¡¯s exactly as it sounds. I never heard about it before, but even my tribe considered it a possibility. If a species grows its number past what the Fringe can sustain, Mogar has two choices.

    "Either to erge the Fringe or merge it with another that has lost its purpose." He said.

    "But your people lived in the middle of the Blood Desert whereas the Dewans look more like people of the Kingdom. Doesn¡¯t merging two Fringes so far away cost much more energy than just expanding their own?" Quy asked.

 Chapter 1173 Fear and Suspicion Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1173 Fear and Suspicion Part 1</h4>

    "Merging two Fringes is quite simple if you assume that all of them are actually neighboring subspaces." Friya pondered.

    "You can imagine them as a bunch ofnds, each one with different entry points that Mogar keeps isted from the outside world, but Fringes are actually close to each other and under Mogar¡¯s magnifying lens."

    "I agree with Friya. Merging them required minimal effort while also leaving me a ce to return to." Nalrond nodded. "The question now is if we want to stay or leave."

    "Those guys are pretty edgy and this ce is a pain in the ass." Morok could feel the dense world energy of the Fringe try to seep inside his body and trigger his Awakening. "I think we should leave."

    "I would like to stay, but Morok is right. The Dewan have all reasons to hate humans and before leaving our camp, you clearly expressed your doubts about Friya. I¡¯m grateful for this opportunity, but I don¡¯t want to take unnecessary risks." Quy said.

    Ever since her body had gotten ustomed to the Fringe¡¯s environment, she could almost hear a voice in her head every time she used magic. At first, Quy had thought that she was going insane, but after sharing her fears with the others, she had learned that the same thing was happening to Friya and Morok.

    While waiting for Nalrond¡¯s return, she believed to have found an exnation.

    ¡¯After all, elemental magic runes can be considered like some sort ofnguage with which a magemunicates with Mogar and borrows a fraction of the world energy. Spirit Magic runes and Royal Forgemastering wands, instead, allow the mage tomunicate with their own mana core.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡¯The mana core is just a part of myself while Mogar is so big and with so many mages casting magic at all times that it¡¯s normal the doesn¡¯t even bother answering so many calls. Yet inside the Fringe there¡¯s more than just elemental energy.

    ¡¯Faluel said that by using Lifestream, the breathing technique of the Hydra¡¯s bloodline, her grandmother managed to learn bits of Mogar¡¯s wisdom. If I¡¯m right, that happened because by assimting the world energy, she also established gained ess to part of the information stored inside the Fringe.

    ¡¯I would love to stay here to see if with time and practice I can learn how to listen to Mogar. Sadly, between Nalrond¡¯s trust issues and the hatred that the Dewans have for humans, it would be too risky.¡¯ Quy thought.

    "I agree with Quy, we should leave." Friya said.

    "I think I¡¯m nothing like Ac, but I understand you have no reason to trust me or my judgment. Just leave us outside. We¡¯ll Warp as far as we can before asking Faluel for help so the Fringe¡¯s position will remain hidden.

    "You stay here and say your goodbyes or try to contact Mogar about your double core issue. After all, this is your journey, not ours."

    ¡¯I can understand why even Awakened are desperate to find Fringes. I can feel a sting in the area where my mana core is supposed to be every time that I take a breath or I cast a spell.

    ¡¯On top of that, I¡¯ve never felt this strong before. It¡¯s like being under the effects of a body-enhancing potion that also boosts my magic. My mind has never been so clear before.¡¯ Friya thought.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for speaking so harshly, earlier." Nalrond sighed. "I didn¡¯t expect that the Fringe would be still here. It got my hopes up and seeing your Projection being almost identical to Ac¡¯s only made things worse.

    "I admit that I don¡¯t trust you much, but I was aware of the consequences that bringing you here implied. On top of that, ever since we got in here, I can feel my cores being flooded by world energy.

    "After staying outside for so long, I can feel Mogar¡¯s thoughts much more clearly than ever before. I want to stay and attempt the ritual to draw the¡¯s attention, but to do it, I need your help."

    "Can¡¯t you just ask your rude friends and let us go?" Morok said.

    "I was talking to them, not you! Feel free to leave anytime you want. You don¡¯t even need my help to get out since for some reason Mogar likes you." Nalrond snarled.

    "And leave Quy with mister tall, dark, and handsome? Thanks, but no thanks." Morok replied.

    "Wait, Morok is right. Why do you need our help when you can just ask the Dewans?" Friya asked.

    "Because each tribe of Werepeople has its own ritual. We may be friendly to each other, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m willing to share with them the secrets of my people." Nalrond said.

    "I can teach you just the bits you need to y your part whereas if I show the Dewans my ritual, they¡¯ll be able to learn it and use it toplement their own. This might be hard for you to understand, but to me, the Rezar¡¯s traditions are thest trace of my people¡¯s legacy.

    "I don¡¯t resent the Dewans for taking thend of a dead and buried tribe, but I don¡¯t like it either. I know it¡¯s irrational, but I feel like if I give up thatst shred of my identity, thisnd will truly be theirs and every trace of my old home will disappear."

    "How long will it take to prepare for the ritual?" Quy asked.

    "Just a couple of days. One to draw the ancestral runes Mogar weed my people with the first time we entered our Fringe and another to conjure the world energy. It works in a way simr to your Forgemastering circles."

    After witnessing War in action and seeing how simr true and fake magic had be over time, Nalrond often wondered if great artifacts were born when the core of the Forgemaster reached Mogar through their work and obtained its blessing.

    "Not to be the Lith of the situation, but before going there, we should prepare our spells and rings as if we¡¯re going into battle." Friya said.

    "No offense to Werepeople, but with everything humans did to them, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if our smell triggered them and they attacked us in a frenzy."

    "I think you¡¯re being paranoid." Nalrond shook his head. "They don¡¯t smell a human from centuries. Judging from how their vige looks outdated evenpared to Lutia, they are no different from my people.

    "We never left the Fringe so the only improvements we made over time were due to the knowledge that the travelers who managed to enter the Fringe on their own shared with us."

    "That¡¯s exactly my point." Friya nodded. "People never stopped looking for Fringes and based on what they told Morok, the Dewans are aware that both human Awakened and Emperor Beasts can shapeshift.

    "Yet you say that their vige is old fashioned hence no one has ever shared with them modern customs. Have you wondered what had happened to those who entered here before us?

    "Did the Dewans just chase them away or did they kill the unwanted guests to not leave witnesses?" Friya really did sound like Lith, yet her reasoning made Nalrond feel like an idiot for having failed to consider such a possibility on his own.

 Chapter 1174 Fear and Suspicion Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1174 Fear and Suspicion Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Maybe the Dewans didn¡¯t attack Morok on sight because they knew that he would have Blinked away and they had no idea how many people he might have brought with him.

    ¡¯Now that I think about it, the first thing they asked me wasn¡¯t how many Rezars survived Dawn¡¯s ughter or how I escaped death.

    ¡¯They only cared about Morok¡¯s identity and make sure that I didn¡¯t lead an invasion force inside the Fringe.¡¯ Nalrond cast a diagnostic spell on himself, discovering that he was still feverish from the shock of seeing his vige rebuilt and inhabited.

    "Oh, gods, you are right! There might actually have been other Rezars alive after the Fringes merged or at least some of our books. The Dewans might have kept them prisoners to learn Light Mastery from them and killed them when they refused." He said.

    "Slow down. That¡¯s not even something that Lith would think. That¡¯s a straight-out conspiracy theory." Friya tried to calm him down, casting a few spells that would ease his nerves and the fever¡¯s symptoms.

    "I get that Light Mastery is a powerful discipline and that your people treasure it dearly, but would it really be worth killing for? I mean, humans would surely do it, but Werepeople as well?" She asked while dabbing his sweat and cooling his skin with water magic.

    First magic and physical contact caused an odd interaction between them. Friya felt his fear and anguish as if it was her own while he could finally understand why despite all the things she had Friya felt so inadequate.

    He caught glimpses of the events during Nalear¡¯s attack that had changed her forever. The repeated rape attempts at the hands of her enved peers had destroyed her trust in strangers.

    Her failure in saving Yurial had crushed her self-confidence and brought her to abandon the career of Healer not because she didn¡¯t love light magic, but because its practice reminded her of the horrors of those days.

    Friya had been willing to ept an arranged marriage for the sake of the Solivar Household, but only because she had never understood what being loved felt.

    After being adopted by the Ernas, after seeing how deep the bond between Lith and Kam had grown, she had found herself yearning for the same affection that her parents and friends felt for each other, yet her trauma kept her frozen in ce.

    Friya¡¯s magic had improved tremendously from the days at the academy, but she had remained stuck as the scared little girl who couldn¡¯t approach anyone without keeping her hand on the hilt of her de.

    In a way, Nalrond could rte to her. After Ac¡¯s betrayal and the death of his entire vige, he had sabotaged his rtionships due to the fear of finding happiness again.

    As long as he was alone, no one could hurt him whereas letting someone get close to him also implied the risk of getting hurt again. It was the reason why Nalrond had refused to be friends even with Lith¡¯s family and the Ernas girls.

    Even after all Faluel had done for him and the respect she had shown for his secrets, Nalrond still refused to open up to her. He had managed to trust those who were hybrids as well, like Lith or Selia¡¯s children, only because they reminded him of his loved ones.

    Now, however, the simple idea that the Dewans might be involved in the destruction of his vige was enough to make him doubt another tribe of Werepeople that had shown only concern for him.

    ¡¯Dammit, is this the effect of the Fringe or wasn¡¯t I ready to see my vige again?¡¯ Nalrond thought. ¡¯Whatever it is, if I keep letting my grief blind me, even if I manage to find a way to merge my two natures, I¡¯ll live a miserable life.¡¯

    "You don¡¯t understand. Light Mastery is more than rare." He sat down, letting Friya¡¯s spell cleanse his mind and body. "It¡¯s a discipline that very few creatures learn and even less manage to pass it down to their own bloodline.

    "It requires a deep understanding of the light element to the point that even those who discover it on their own are incapable of exining how it works."

    "Then howe all people in your vige knew it and you were even able to teach it to Faluel?" Quy asked while pondering his words.

    They exined why she had failed to teach both of her sisters how to make holograms. Whenever Quy gave them a lesson, they kept saying that her words made no sense.

    "Because we learned it from Dawn who is a receptacle of Baba Yaga¡¯s teachings. To relieve herself from the boredom of istion, Dawn invented a method that allowed anyone to be a Light Master, even to a child.

    "What I¡¯m trying to say is that if the Dewans have heard of my tribe¡¯s unique ability, there¡¯s no telling what they are willing to do to get their hands on Light Mastery. Please, we need to go to their vige and find out how much they know."

    Much to Morok¡¯s dismay, the girls epted to help Nalrond in his crazy quest and in setting up the array necessary for the ritual tomunicate with Mogar. Once they reached the vige with a smile on their faces and a spell on each of their fingertips, they discovered that all their precautions had been useless.

    The Dewans treated Nalrond like a brother, Morok like an honorable guest, and the girls like their pet cockroaches. The Werepeople shapeshifted whenever Quy or Friya approached one of them, to make it clear how they felt about their presence, but they never did more than re at them.

    Nalrond chose an isted home as their residence and after telling Kimo about his intention to perform themunication ritual, he used it as a pretext to cast long-range Life Sensing arrays.

    Nalrond had half hoped and half feared to find more Rezars held captive somewhere inside the vige. On the one hand, it would have meant that he wasn¡¯t truly alone, but on the other hand, it would mean that he had put everyone¡¯s life at risk just to follow his obsession.

    Luckily, the arrays came back negative and the Royal Forgemaster spells of the girls didn¡¯t detect the presence of a cloaked chamber within the vige premises.

    Such spells could block the arrays, but they would still be revealed by their wands simply because just as Nalrond had noticed during his first visit, the Dewans¡¯ knowledge of magic was quite outdated.

    Having the same abilities as Emperor Beasts, they could practice all elements and specializations, but without ingredients their ability as Forgemasters, Wardens, and Alchemists were limited.

    On top of that, just like Nalrond before meeting Lith, having spent centuries in peace and istion had slowed down their magical research. Theck of any form of interaction with the outside world meant no threats but also no free exchange of information.

    A few viges with a couple of thousands of members total couldn¡¯tpare with the development of three countries eachprised of dozen millions individuals who constantlypeted with each other.

    It needed Quy a few walks around the vige to notice that the Dewans had no concept of Runesmithing or Forgemastering spells, making it easy for her to study the level of their magical equipment.

 Chapter 1175 Painful Past Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1175 Painful Past Part 1</h4>

    Only after the girls¡¯ wands, Morok¡¯s eyes, and Nalrond¡¯s own arrays and senses failed to detect any trace of deception did the fever leave him, allowing the Rezar to rx.

    "Back when I arrived here, you told me that at first, you believed your Fringe had expanded and that onlyter your tribe understood it had merged with that of my people." Nalrond said.

    "Exactly." Kimo nodded.

    "Yet I don¡¯t understand what need you have of a second Fringe. I get that over time your tribe grew in numbers to the point of needing morend, but even taking into ount the other viges, there is few of you and a lot of woods.

    "Why didn¡¯t you move there?" Nalrond asked?

    "Because that¡¯s the territory of the elves, brother. It¡¯s not wise to mess with them unless strictly necessary. They are a wise and powerful people, but after everything they went through, they would rather die than give up on a single centimeter of theirnd." Kimo replied.

    "Elves?" That word shocked Nalrond.

    Even though he had lived inside a Fringe, he still considered them a myth, just like everyone else considered Fringes.

    "Yes. They were already here when we entered. After hearing our story, they overcame our differences and allowed us to upy the ins in exchange for the promise of never getting inside their woods.

    "Over time, however, both our and their people have grown in number to the point that the Fringe couldn¡¯t sustain us all. We were even thinking of starting a colony in the outside world when your Fringe got added to ours." Kimo turned pale at the thought.

    Without Dawn¡¯s massacre, he and everyone else in the new vige would have been forced to leave.

    "What differences? ording to what little is known about elves, humans defeated them in a war millennia ago and forced them into exile just like they experimented on us, turning us into hybris just to better kill their neighbors.

    "Elves may belong to a different race, but our history is so simr that they should treat us as cousins." Nalrond was surprised by how easy it was for him to use the word "us" even though he barely knew his new hosts.

    He had never done that with Lith¡¯s family, not even after spending months with them.

    "s, when the Elves see us, they can hardly go past our human half." Kimo sighed while thinking about how many things the two races could have learned from each other if only the elves managed to let go of the past.

    ***

    City of Reghia.

    After Lith had left for the extermination mission, Phloria and Tista had to find their own way to contribute to the beasts¡¯ society in order to get ess to precious resources like enchanted metals and mana crystals.

    Even though Phloria came from one of the most powerful families of the Kingdom, Adamant and Davross were outside her reach. The Royals had a monopoly of the Davross and Adamant was so expensive that Orion had forbidden her to use it for her crafts until he made sure that she wouldn¡¯t just waste it in failed experiments.

    Tista was in an even worse boat than her. She had no ess even to Orichalcum because it was too expensive for her and the Royals didn¡¯t trust her skills enough to provide her with the precious metal.

    "You know, this is the first time that being Lith¡¯s sister bothers me." Tista sighed. "During my travels alone, I¡¯ve fought a lot of creatures and earned a lot of merits, yet everyone treats me as if I¡¯ve just graduated from the Academy.

    "Do you remember the face that the Royals made when I asked for crafting materials?"

    "Sure. Their faces looked like my father¡¯s when as a child I asked him for a pet Dragon." Phloria chuckled. "Don¡¯t worry, Tista. It¡¯s not because you¡¯re Lith¡¯s sister, but because you don¡¯t have any official recognition."

    "What do you mean? I¡¯ve done plenty of work for the Kingdom."

    "No. You¡¯ve done a lot of work for yourself, picking the missions that suited you the best from the Association. Sure, the Kingdom benefitted from your actions, but it was just a side effect.

    "Lith and I, on the contrary, performed missions that benefitted only the Kingdom. We didn¡¯t get anything from them except for what ourmanding officers decided to reward us with. In Lith¡¯s case, crafting materials and in mine, the Royal Forgemastering lessons from my father." Phloria said.

    "I thought that Orion did it on his own authority." Tista said in surprise.

    "He did, but if Quy and I didn¡¯t have enough merits on our own, it would have been an act of treason. That¡¯s why he gifted the wand to Friya but didn¡¯t teach her anything about runes or Forgemastering spells."

    Tista pondered her words for a while, wishing they could go to a bar, a tavern, or any ce where to eat and drink. Reghia had no establishments and with Solus gone, they had no housing as well.

    The two women could only stay in their makeshift home, using their earth magic spells while they talked to make it less makeshift.

    "How are you doing after quitting the army?" Tista asked.

    "Better than I ever thought I would be. Between Faluel¡¯s lessons and all the catch up I have to do with true magic, I don¡¯t have the time to indulge in what-ifs about my life or murderous thought about Deirus." Phloria said.

    "By the way, can I ask you something?"

    "Shoot." Phloria said.

    "I noticed that for a long time you almost seemed angrier with Lith than with Deirus. It took you more to get used to Solus¡¯s existence than to get over the unfairness of your trial. Why?" Tista asked.

    "Gods, Tista, sometimes your naivety is baffling to the point of being cute." Phloria altered the density of an armchair until it wasfortable before answering.

    "Ie from a rich and powerful family, having enemies has always been normal to me. People spread awful rumors about me at the academy and during my boot camp someone revealed my identity and turned my life into a nightmare.

    "Yet I never took it personal, becausepared with all the good thates with my name it was small stuff. I didn¡¯t get even with Trion because he was just a pawn. I deeply resent Deirus for what he did and what he is doing, but you know what?

    "He¡¯s an enemy, so I¡¯m angrier at the thought of how he still abuses Yurial¡¯s name to cover his sorry ass than of his actions. You must understand that even if Deirus wasn¡¯t out for my blood, someone else would.

    "Alone he couldn¡¯t have messed up with my career as he did. Let¡¯s be honest, Kh was a disaster and it gave all those who resented me or my family the perfect opportunity to attack.

    "You see me calm about it not because I don¡¯t care or because I forgave him, but only because I already did all I could. First as an army officer and then as an Ernas. Now, however, the fight has moved to a political sphere where there¡¯s no ce for a fighter like me." Phloria said.

 Chapter 1176 Painful Past Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1176 Painful Past Part 2</h4>

    "It requires a finesse and a knowledge of the Court¡¯s power ys that it would take me years to learn. I know that my parents are working on the trial and I trust them with my life.

    "Screaming andshing out in revenge is something that only dumb children would do. My mother has fought and buried more people like Deirus than I can count.

    "The best move I can do is to wait for an opportunity to arise and use that time to hone my skills so that if Mom needs help with dirty work, I will be able to perform magic as not even an Archmage can.

    "Lith, on the other hand, is my best friend and my ex-boyfriend." Phloria said.

    "So what? Deirus hurt you intentionally, whereas my brother only hid Solus¡¯s existence to protect a huge secret that could cost his life. I mean, a mage tower? People died for much less." Tista said.

    "Tista, have you ever loved someone? That kind of love that makes you willing to risk your life for them, to ept that special someone even if he¡¯s a monster, to wait years for him to open up and yet meet only silence and lies in return?" Phloria asked.

    "No. I¡¯ve had a few boyfriends in the past, but I don¡¯t think I truly loved one of them." Tista sighed in envy. She could only imagine how painful it was for Phloria, yet she dreamed to experience such feelings at least once in her life.

    "I know that back at the academy I had juste of age, but that didn¡¯t make my rtionship with Lith less meaningful. On the contrary, it set the bar for all my other rtionships.

    "I broke up with him not because my feeling had changed, but because I was tired of waiting for him to open up. I spoke with him about it countless times, but he always avoided the subject.

    "I thought that if our feelings were real, distance might help us both to figure out what we wanted. Even when he didn¡¯t contact me for two years straight, I didn¡¯t resent him because I thought that Lith had just moved on with his life and I was happy for him.

    "Yet in my mind, he was always my precious first boyfriend, who didn¡¯t care ifpared to me he was just a shortie with a killer re, didn¡¯t resent me for being richer or stronger than him. Lith only cared for who I was, not for my family name.

    "That¡¯s why when I dated other men, I refused to settle for someone who treated me like an object or that let his own feelings of inadequacy poison our rtionship. Despite all of his shorings, I put Lith on a pedestal because at least he had been honest with me.

    "Or so I thought until I learned about Solus. It destroyed everything I thought about him and tainted all the good memories made together with doubts. Suddenly he turned from the perfect first boyfriend into aplete stranger.

    "How could I not resent him for sharing all the most intimate details of my life with another woman? How could I not feel betrayed at the thought that maybe the things I loved the most about him actually came from Solus?" Phloria asked.

    "It¡¯s harsh." Tista nodded.

    "It¡¯s more than harsh. When one of your enemies pulls a fast one on you, it hurts but you always know that in their shoes you would have done the same. I wouldn¡¯t ever expect such a thing from Lith.

    "Not after the wonderful things he said and did for me over the years, like when we met at my Mom¡¯s birthday after so long or back in Kh. Lith shared so much with me, even after we broke up, and yet he didn¡¯t tell me the most important thing.

    "That his life is not his own and that any woman who gives him her heart is actually sharing him with Solus. I believe them when they say that he never cheated on me with her physically, but that¡¯s not the point.

    "The point is that they ruined some of my most precious memories, turning what I thought to know about rtionships into a lie." Phloria managed to hold back her tears but she clenched the armrests so hard that the stone cracked.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Phloria. I shouldn¡¯t have asked." Tista loved her little brother with all her heart, but she knew that Phloria was right.

    If Lith had been his first love instead of just her brother, in Phloria¡¯s shoes she would still be putting the pieces of her heart together.

    "Don¡¯t be sorry. Every time we talk about Lith and Solus, my sisters walk on eggshells to not hurt my feelings. I really needed to vent with someone, especially because there¡¯s only a handful of people I can talk about Lith¡¯s secrets." Phloria said.

    Tista prepared a strong mint tea for them and took some pastries out of her dimensional item, letting her friend calm down before changing the subject to something less painful.

    "You know, Tista, you may not be a good cook but your tea is truly delicious. You should teach me sometimes. Mine is nothing but hot leaves juice." Phloria said after the warmth of the beverage spread through her body and the sweetness of the cream eased her nerves.

    "Isn¡¯t that what tea is?" Tista asked.

    Phloria prepared another pot and gave Tista a cup.

    "Oh gods!" Tista spat the liquid back into the cup after one sip. "I stand corrected, tea is so much more than that."

    "Told you so." Phloria chuckled. "Are you still determined not to teach Tyris¡¯s universalnguage?"

    "Yes, it would just be a waste of time. It¡¯s not like they can¡¯t, it¡¯s just that they refuse to learn it. We must find a better way to use our time here." Tista said.

    They started discussing if it was better to join a workshop and share part of their magical knowledge with the people of Reghia or if to be part of the defense force of the city.

    "You could use morebat experience, but I didn¡¯t quit the army just to join another." Phloria said.

    "What do you mean, morebat experience? I¡¯m a pretty good fighter and after sparring together for months, you should know it well." Tista said.

    "I mean real practical experience, not sparring. Even before Awakening, I fought monsters, undead, and even Awakened." Nalear¡¯s image appeared in Phloria¡¯s mind for a split-second, but it was enough to make her shudder.

    "During your missions for the Association, you always had solid intel, whereas when working for the army you have to respond to a crisis even when all you know are groundless rumors."

    "What are you trying to say?" Tista asked.

    "That you have yet to get used to facing a truly unknown enemy. As far as I know, it only happened in Othre with Thrud¡¯s meat puppets. How did you fare against them?"

    "Badly. Their powers made no sense and back then I had no training with weapons." Tista sighed.

    "Why? Do you think yourself an expert now? Do you have any idea how long your brother and I trained before he got a solid understanding of the basics?" Phloria¡¯s voice held no contempt, yet it managed to irk Tista to no end.

 Chapter 1177 Battle Against Time Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1177 Battle Against Time Part 1</h4>

    "I get thatpared to you I¡¯m green, but I never suffered any crushing defeat against you while we trained." Tista said.

    "That¡¯s because I was still getting used to my new body and because my purpose was to teach you swordsmanship while Faluel taught you how an Awakened fights." Phloria replied.

    "Only in a bard¡¯s tale do you learn by getting your ass whooped. For a defeat to be meaningful, you must havested long enough to make mistakes. That¡¯s why in the army we say that training teaches you how to lose, whereasbat experience teaches you how to win."

    Phloria stood up and beckoned Tista to step forward while making the furniture disappear into the ground. She also took her rapier out of her dimensional item, assuming a defensive stance.

    "Why did you take out your weapons but you¡¯re not using Fusion Magic?" Tista asked while wielding a short sword in each hand.

    "Humans have no chance of defeating Emperor Beasts or monsters bare-handed, at least at our level. Bare hands are good in a tavern or if you want to capture your target alive, but on the battlefield, survival requires killing.

    "As for Fusion Magic, you¡¯re shorter and lighter than me and your mana core is weaker than mine. If we use it, you won¡¯t even see my attacks." Phloria said.

    "We¡¯ll see." Tista circled around Phloria, who only needed to pivot on her front foot to follow her every movement.

    After failing to find an opening, Tista lunged to probe her opponent¡¯s defense. The moment she put her weight in the strike, Phloria stepped forward, using the tip of her sword to push Tista¡¯s away.

    The movement was so quick and strong that to not lose grip on her weapon, Tista lost her bnce for a split second. Long enough for Phloria to kick Tita¡¯s shin ad send her flying.

    "Now tell me, what did you learn from such a quick defeat?" Phloria asked while moving around the fallen enemy like a vulture circling its prey.

    "Nothing. I did everything right and yet..."

    "And yet you lost. That¡¯s what training is for. Here you can afford to lose, while out there, defeat means death." Phloria said.

    "You may have left the army, but you sure sound like a drill sergeant." Tista got up, resuming her stance. "Again, but this time go easy on me enough so that Ist longer than a sneeze."

    "That¡¯s up to you. Never put so much weight in a feint, otherwise it¡¯s no better than a lousy attack." Phloria said.

    The two women sparred until they were both drenched in sweat, with Phloria raising the bar as soon as Tista got better, leaving neither of them a single second of rest unless it was requested.

    "What is that?" Tista pointed at a dimensional fissure opening in the middle of the room. A split secondter, a small figure covered in cracks and burnt marks came out of the Warp.

    "Do you really think I¡¯m going to fall for the oldest trick in the book?" Phloria scoffed at Tista¡¯s childish attempt to distract her.

    "Quick, Lith needs help!" Solus¡¯s voice was as pained as it was worried.

    "Good gods, Solus, what happened to you?" Tista dropped her weapons and caught the small stone ring in mid-air, instinctively casting a diagnostic spell that failed to provide her with any information.

    Solus¡¯s stone body was still charred by the Chaos energy and it missed several small shards. Most of the damage was due to Lith¡¯s Abomination life force, only a few of her injuries had been caused by the Puppeteer.

    "It¡¯s a long story and bringing you up to speed with a mind link would give you mana poisoning. I need you to Warp at the city entrance, where Lith¡¯s teammates will bring him for treatment." Solus said.

    "Why did you leave him if he was in such a dire condition?" Tista asked.

    "Because we worked with Awakened Emperor Beasts. They are bound to use Invigoration to assess his wounds and I couldn¡¯t afford to be discovered." Solus replied.

    "How bad is he?" Looking at the stone ring¡¯s battered state, Phloria was once again shocked by how deep the bond between Lith and Solus was.

    Even when she seemed to be at death¡¯s door, she didn¡¯t seem to care much about her own condition. Just like Phloria would.

    "Very. His life force took a huge hit and I¡¯m the only one that knows how to fix it. I need one of you to wear me and keep me as close as you can to him. That way, I¡¯ll mend his wounds and Lith will mend mine." Solus said.

    ¡¯Thank the gods Faluel had me practicing Shapeshifting on Lith¡¯s life force for months. Not only do I know it like the back of my hand, but since Shapeshifting is just an enhanced version of Body Sculpting, I can use it to stabilize his two life forces until their natural bnce is restored.¡¯ She thought.

    "It¡¯s up to you, Tista. You¡¯re a much better healer than me. Let¡¯s use Invigoration to get our strength back and don¡¯t hesitate to use my vitality." Phloria put the ring at Tista¡¯s finger and opened a Warp Steps at the same time.

    Tista nodded, realizing that Solus would need all the help she could get to not get her own life force damaged. On the one hand, thanks to her tower half, any damage she might take wouldn¡¯t threaten her life, only dissipate part of her mana core.

    On the other hand, it would destroy years of patient wait and hard work to restore her physical body. Between her reforming tower core and Lith¡¯s bright blue core, Solus¡¯s features could almost be seen under her luminous skin.

    Tista believed that getting back a fully human appearance was thest step before gaining a body made of flesh and blood. Aside from Lith, she was the one who knew Solus better, having spent with her most of the little free time she had.

    Solus had shared with her all of her doubts, her dreams about the future, and the hope to one day be able to take even a single step on Mogar without the need of the tower.

    ¡¯She¡¯s so damn close to achieving the dream of a lifetime. I can¡¯t let her lose everything once again. I know there¡¯s nothing that Solus wouldn¡¯t do to save Lith, but if she regresses back to a wisp, I don¡¯t know if her sanity will hold.¡¯ Tista thought while her mind spun at full gear trying to find a way to ovee the crisis.

    Solus was still too weakened from both the fight and the Chaos energy that had ravaged her stone form to think clearly. Even though she was now separated from Lith, the still lingering darkness tainted the stone and made Tista¡¯s finger burn.

    There was a good reason why Sark the Phoenix had forbidden Balkor to even study Chaos magic.

    While normal darkness magic affected matter and mana, Chaos could affect even the mind. To cure the effects of the former, it was necessary to cleanse the darkness and then heal the body through light magic. Treating thetter, however, required much more than that.

 Chapter 1178 Battle Against Time Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1178 Battle Against Time Part 2</h4>

    What made surviving to Chaos magic so hard, even for its caster, was the fact that it would strike at its target and drain it of all of its light element until the Chaos turned into darkness, making the spell hit three times.

    The first damage would take ce when Chaos struck, the second once theck of light element would cause a toxic imbnce in the body, and thest when the darkness element produced from the Chaos would spread without encountering any resistance.

    Casting a Chaos spell was not only so demanding in terms of mana that even Eldritchs took care of not using them indiscriminately, but also extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake controlling it would induce madness.

    It was the reason why not even Guardians used it and why usually very few Abominations lived long enough to be Eldritchs. The effects of Chaos magicbined with their relentless hunger and istion would turn them into mindless creatures, easy to find and even easier to put down.

    Only those with outstanding mental fortitude and discipline could resist the effects of Chaos magic long enough to master it. Sark believed that Balkor didn¡¯t fit the bill due to his cracked psyche, just like Lith.

    Tista thought back at all the lessons about Body Sculpting she had followed at the academy, at home under Lith¡¯s guidance, and during Faluel¡¯s apprenticeship.

    ¡¯Solus, connect with the city¡¯s mana geyser again and use it to recover as much as you can.¡¯ Tista said via their mind link while the three of them waited for the Emperor Beasts to return.

    ¡¯By my maker, my condition must be even worse than I thought if I failed to remember about the geyser. Thanks, Tista.¡¯ Solus was so shocked at Lith¡¯s most recent transformation that she had a hard time thinking clearly.

    She hade close to losing him many times, but even death couldn¡¯tpare to the horror of Lith being turned into an Abomination. Not just because of the agony she had physically experienced, but also because of what would happen if the transformation became permanent.

    It would mean to be forced to follow the Master and to never be able to feel his touch again until a cure was found.

    While they waited, Solus started to share with the mind link everything that had happened, using mostly words to avoid mana poisoning and resorting to images only when strictly necessary.

    ¡¯Good gods.¡¯ Phloria used her best healing spells on the stone ring the moment she recognized the ck energy typical of the Abominations.

    During the monster outbreak caused by the Master¡¯s hybrids, the army had collected plenty of data about Chaos from the lucky soldiers who had managed to survive. It had taught them how to cure Chaos at the cost of several lives.

    Light couldn¡¯t heal such injuries, but it kept them from spreading before it was toote. The light element flooded Solus, having no effect on her stone body just like Phloria expected.

    Yet it turned the still lingering Chaos into darkness element that Phloria proceeded to destroy with surgical precision by using focused darkness pulses. Only then did all the aftereffects of Lith¡¯s Abomination form disappeared from Solus.

    Her mind suddenly became clear and pain left her body, allowing her to absorb energy from the underground mana geyser more efficiently.

    ¡¯How did you know it would work?¡¯ Both Tista and Solus thought in unison.

    ¡¯Not everyone manages to dodge all spells like Lith usually does. The more the army fights against the Abominations, the more we learn. The reason you didn¡¯t hear about this kind of treatment is that it has only been recently discovered by the Balkor department.¡¯ Phloria replied.

    Solus¡¯s stone body has just started to regenerate when a Warp Steps opened right in front of Xoth the Nue, the Mayor of Reghia.

    "Dammit, we need help. I¡¯ve never seen this kind of injuries or of life force. No matter what I do, the kid keeps losing blood, mana, and life essence!" Olua the Roc said while carrying Lith in her arms.

    His body was limp and puffs of ck mes came out from the many open wounds that refused to heal. The left wing had yet to regenerate, losing so much energy from its torn extremity that it looked like a torch.

    Olua now looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, with wheat-blond hair and eyes, who was now drenched in blood, guts, and dirt from the fight. She had assumed human form solely to better take care of her woundedpanion so she wore no clothes.

    The few humans working at the defense outpost were so enthralled by her glossy golden skin and beauty that they barely noticed the Wyrmling. Everyone else just didn¡¯t care.

    "Someone calls hispanions! They must know something." Bodya the Nidhogg said.

    He now looked like a handsome man in his early thirties, with ashen skin, raven-ck hair and eyes. He had the body of an athlete at his peak, a living symphony of flesh and muscles that would have usually given the girls a lot to talk about, but time was of the essence.

    "Leave him on the ground and I¡¯ll do the rest." Tista said while using Invigoration on both Lith and Solus.

    ¡¯The good news is that ever since their arrival, your recovery rate is simply out of this world, Solus. The bad news is that I¡¯ve no clue what I¡¯m looking at.¡¯ She thought while examining Lith¡¯s twisted life forces.

    The hybrid side was still in disarray and the damage was evident. Even though itcked cracks or signs of permanent damage, the life force that usually looked like a burning star surrounded by a ck sphere was deformed into a gurgling pot.

    The sphere resembled a liquid egg whose surface boiled, oozing a ck liquid that sizzled just before reaching the me of the bright blue star.

    Thest time Tista had seen Lith¡¯s life forces, its threeponents had started to blend into each other, taking a new shape that her brother assumed it was a sign of him bing a whole new species.

    Now, however, there was no bnce between them. The ck of the Abomination covered everything like a thick shroud, threatening to smother the blue of the Beast. On top of that, checking on Lith¡¯s human life force was made even harder by the bloated sphere thatpletely overshadowed it.

    ¡¯Being close to Lith is akin to Invigoration to me, just slower. Once I get also linked to a mana geyser, my strength bes nigh-endless.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯The problem here is that I can¡¯t take too much world energy without blowing my cover and that I need most of it to heal my own wounds. I only need a few minutes to fix my body, but Lith doesn¡¯t have that long.

    ¡¯Tista, Phloria, I¡¯ll use your vitality first so make sure you time your Invigoration right. Wait until you¡¯ve lost three-fourths of your energy or you¡¯ll notst long enough.

    ¡¯I would use mine, but until my body recovers, I can¡¯t risk painpromising my focus. Darkness fusion is ineffective on my stone body because in my case, pain means I¡¯m in critical condition.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Don¡¯t worry about us. Just tell us what you are doing so that we can help you in case something goes wrong.¡¯ Phloria said.

 Chapter 1179 Conflicting Forces Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1179 Conflicting Forces Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯Okay. First, we need to stabilize Lith¡¯s human life force. I know that the Abomination side looks ugly, but the Beast side keeps it under control whereas if the cracks on the human life force spread any further due to the ongoing conflict, Lith might die.¡¯ Solus said.

    She showed them how to listen to the melody of the different life forces and how to use it to find their real patient. Solus¡¯s Scalpel spell produced golden tendrils that bypassed the hybrid life force and found the human side that was getting weaker by the second.

    The blue me evaporated the ck ooze, but the human life force had no defense against the noxious gas produced by their battle. Lith¡¯s original life force was supposed to look like a mix of red lego bricks and structures formed by an erector set, but now the dark mist dulled the red.

    It seeped through the small gaps that allowed the single pieces to move and coated the surface of the red blocks with an ooze that poisoned Lith¡¯s body from the outside. Solus used the golden tendrils to form a nket that stopped the fog from reaching the bricks.

    She needed to constantly spend mana and vitality to fight the erosion caused by the Abomination side to Lith¡¯s life force. As soon as the golden barrier stopped the onught, the human side started to purge the ck ooze and regained its vitality with a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ¡¯Okay, this is the most important part. We need to keep Lith¡¯s human side stable and protected.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Remember that we can¡¯t consider his life forces as separated as it happens with Nalrond. Here any action on one of them affects the others.

    ¡¯On the one hand, it makes Lith incredibly resistant to effects like Huryole¡¯s ve spell. On the other hand, however, it means that the moment I start the procedure on the Abomination side, the other two might mistake me for an enemy and attack my spell. If that happens, I¡¯ll need your help to keep them at bay.¡¯ Solus said.

    ¡¯Good gods! Do you really have already found a cure for his condition?¡¯ Phloria asked.

    ¡¯That¡¯s what I hope. Even though I could do nothing to stop it, I watched the whole process of Lith going Abomination and back. While you¡¯re trapped in a stone body, incapable of doing anything, seconds seem tost hours.

    ¡¯Despite the pain I endured, I never stopped thinking about how to help him. On top of that, I¡¯m pretty good with the healing arts. My Mom even said that I¡¯m blessed by the light.¡¯ Solus chuckled, thinking back at Menadion¡¯s words.

    ¡¯By my Mom! That¡¯s it.¡¯ Solus suddenly realized how to further improve her technique. ¡¯Earth and light are the elements of creation that bnce darkness and fire, the elements of destruction. Chaos is still darkness, after all.¡¯

    She used earth fusion, but instead of making it circte through her body, Solus used the earth element to coat the light thatprised her barrier. The orange energy of earth formed an externalyer, greatly reducing the strain on Solus¡¯s mana consumption.

    ¡¯Can someone relieve me from keeping the human side stable?¡¯ She asked after sharing her discovery with the others. ¡¯That way I could fully focus on the hybrid life force and greatly increase my odds of sess.¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ Tista already had a splitting headache that only Invigoration and light fusion managed to relieve, but she didn¡¯t hesitate to further increase her burden.

    Feeding Solus with the vitality she needed while also sustaining the information exchange necessary for the treatment via the mind link weakened her body and poisoned her core.

    To make matters worse, Tista was a talented mage but keeping up with a genius required a lot of her focus already. Solus was so used to work with Lith that she shared every single observation she made and every idea that crossed her mind, bombarding her twopanions with information that kept piling up.

    Tista produced golden tendrils of her own and reced Solus¡¯s. High tiered light spells were designed so to allow the imprint to be easily changed in the case the starting healer needed rest.

    She only had until the orangeyer crumbled to learn on her own how to channel pure earth elemental energy along with her spell. Otherwise the protectiveyer would crumble and the ck fog would drain her energy faster than she could recover it.

    Phloria noticed her distress and shared with Tista part of her own vitality without saying a word. Solus already talked for five people, oblivious of the mana poisoning she caused.

    ¡¯Okay, now it¡¯s time to fix this mess. My first idea was to use light magic on the Abomination side, to make the still lingering Chaos turn into darkness and restore the bnce.

    ¡¯Then I remembered that Chaos feeds on light and that the Abomination side is alive. Light might just feed it and make things worse. We must consider it akin to a parasite or cancerous tissue and treat it with darkness.¡¯

    Solus coated her Scalpel spells with darkness magic and cut with them at the swollen areas of the Abomination side of Lith¡¯s life force. The burst of Origin mes had failed topletely remove the excess of light element that had been absorbed during the fight and now caused the imbnce.

    Solus had to make one small incision at the time because she had no idea how much energy the Abomination side still stored and she wanted to avoid inflicting an injury on Lith¡¯s life force.

    No matter how careful she was, with each cut she made, Lith¡¯s body would experience a small seizure that forced Olua and Bodya to help Tista to keep Lith still.

    ¡¯Can¡¯t you anesthetize him or something?¡¯ Tista asked while on the verge of tears. For a Healer, treating their own family from such severe injuries was a taboo because using Body Sculpting required a clear mind and a cold heart.

    ¡¯Sorry, I can¡¯t. I¡¯ve never worked on an Abomination and its life force is akin to a ck ball of goo. Without studying Lith¡¯s reaction, I have no idea if I¡¯m cutting too deep or too shallow.

    ¡¯Too deep and I could give him new cracks, too shallow and we¡¯ll run out of energy before the end of the procedure. Either way, Lith would die.¡¯ Solus would have cried as well in Tista¡¯s shoes, but her concentration while using Scalpel left no space for emotions.

    After each incision, it would take barely a second for the damage sustained by the Abomination side to heal, but Solus could see that it would also reduce the amount of ck ooze it produced.

    After a while, the hybrid life force started to return to its original shape. The more Solus forced the Abomination side to consume the excess energy to heal itself, the more ground the Beast side regained.

    She would have rejoiced if not for the fact that her mana reserve ran dangerously low despite the mana geyser. Destroying the darkness element required to employ the same amount that gued the patient, but Solus was dealing with Chaos.

    The treatment was the same, but every time she didn¡¯t coat her Scalpels with enough darkness, the Chaos would feed on the light element and gaining more energy than what she had removed.

 Chapter 1180 Conflicting Forces Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1180 Conflicting Forces Part 2</h4>

    On top of that, the Chaos would also devour the mana she had used, forcing her to cast the tier five spell again. If she used too much darkness, instead, the other life forces would react to the threat by sharing part of their energy with the Abomination to protect it.

    The slightest mistake would just make the situation worse, requiring Solus to spend more mana than what she absorbed from the geyser.

    ¡¯You did enough. Now get some rest while I continue the procedure.¡¯ Phloria said.

    She could see thanks to Invigoration that Solus was on the verge of copsing due to mana abuse. Solus had yet to recover from the damage that Lith¡¯s Abomination form had inflicted upon her.

    Using so much mana while in a debilitated state had caused the ck scars on her stone body to spread dangerously close to her life force.

    ¡¯I can still go on and you never performed Body Sculpting on Lith.¡¯ Solus said, yet she was so weak that Phloria needed but a gentle push to force Solus¡¯s spells to back away.

    ¡¯You¡¯re right, I didn¡¯t, but I¡¯ve watched you long enough to understand what you are doing and why. I know I¡¯m no genius healer, but I¡¯m more than capable to buy you a few precious minutes of rest.¡¯ Phloria said.

    ¡¯Let¡¯s see. It¡¯s all a matter of bnce so what if instead of treating the Abomination side like a parasite I consider Lith¡¯s life forces akin to three warring states? They are at battle with each other, but they always reacted in unison when perceiving amon threat.¡¯

    Following that reasoning, Phloria performed cuts even smaller than Solus¡¯s, but each time she provided the other two life forces with part of her vitality. The approach allowed her to weaken the Abominatio side from three fronts at the same time.

    Every time her Scalpel struck, it created an opening that the human and the Beast sides exploited to suppress the Chaos energy with minimal side effects on Lith. Phloria¡¯s technique allowed her to keep stabilizing him at the same pace as Solus despite the gap in their healing skills, but it also drained huge amounts of energy.

    Unlike Solus, however, she could regain it by using Invigoration and she could perform the procedure without burdening neither of herpanions. Solus appreciated both Phloria¡¯s help and ingenuity, using every second she got to reconsider her treatment.

    At the same time, thanks to Lith¡¯s situation improving by the second and the rest, her stone body had almost fixed itself, allowing her to channel most of the world energy into her spells rather than to keep herself together.

    ¡¯Phloria¡¯s treatment is foolproof but it consumes too much energy to be effective whereas mine is more efficient but it¡¯s also more dangerous. At least whenever she makes a mistake, Lith¡¯s condition doesn¡¯t improve but it doesn¡¯t get worse either.

    ¡¯Maybe I can fuse the two methods into one.¡¯ Solus thought.

    She reduced the number of cuts she performed at the same time and used the remaining mana to fuel the other two life forces as soon as she made sure to have destabilized the Abomination side.

    This way, not only did she decreased the risk of mistakes by using less darkness energy, but she also made each cutst longer. The constant pressure exerted by the other two life forces kept the Abomination from healing, making it gradually lose ground until it was a perfect sphere again.

    ¡¯Okay, Tista, it should be safe to let go of the human side now. With the Abomination under control, we can finally treat his injuries without our healing spells being absorbed.¡¯ Solus said via their mind link.

    The moment Tista dispelled the barrier of light and earth magic that insted Lith¡¯s life force, his external wounds started to close at a speed visible at the naked eye. All cuts disappeared and even his maimed wing regenerated until he returned whole.

    "Did you do that?" Tista asked Phloria, too tired to sustain the small damage that the mind link inflicted them with each thought they shared.

    "No, I thought it was you." Between their earlier spar and the healing, Phloria had used Invigoration so many times that the breathing technique had almost no effect.

    They both looked at Solus for an answer, but now that Lith was out of danger she finally looked at them with mana sense. Their bodies were on the verge of copse due to mana abuse and their cores ran on fumes.

    To make matters worse, both girls had too much of Solus¡¯s mana coursing through their bodies because of the prolonged use of the mind link during the procedure.

    ¡¯Damn, I talk too much.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Thank heavens I wasn¡¯t alone. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to handle that kind of wounds on my own, not even at the cost of my life force. I wonder what the heck has just happened.¡¯

    The answer was actually simple, yet exhaustion kept the three girls from thinking straight. Lith¡¯s wounds had remained opened despite Olua¡¯s and Bodya¡¯s best efforts because his Abomination side had hogged all the light energy that entered his body.

    Now, however, with the bnce almost restored, the human and beast side had squeezed part of the excess energy the Abomination still had, forcing it to heal Lith. This way they had fixed their body and further depowered the Abomination.

    Two birds with one stone.

    "I¡¯m impressed, kid. Despite your young age, you managed to solve a problem that I couldn¡¯t even understand." Olua offered Tista her hand, who only shook it after making sure that Solus had slipped back at Lith¡¯s finger.

    "It was all teamwork." She half said and half panted.

    The Roc had seen the mind link with Life Vision, just like she could see that Tista could barely stand. Olua gave her as much vitality as she could spare while Bodya did the same with Phloria.

    "Do you need a ride home?" The Nidhogg asked.

    The reply came in the form of Solus opening a Warp Steps leading to their building.

    "No, thanks. I would like to chat a bit, but my big brother needs rest and so do we." Phloria carried Lith in a princess carry, being careful that his wings didn¡¯t touch the edges of the dimensional corridor.

    Bodya would have loved to exchange hismunication rune with Tista, but unfortunately, no dimensional item was so big that it could fit his beast form and not impede his movements.

    Belonging to the bloodline of a Guardian meant to inherit their power along with all the troubles of finding the massive amount of resources that their huge bodies required to make proper equipment.

    "I¡¯ll drop byter to see how Scourge is recovering, if it¡¯s not too much of a bother." He said with a charming smile.

    "Sure, see you tomorrow." Tista was too tired to realize the implications of his words or even to notice that Bodya was still stark naked. She replied out of habit, only wishing to reach her bed and not to get up for a few days.

    "I¡¯m not an expert on Emperor Beast, but that one sure looks nice. I never thought you would flirt on a patient¡¯s bedside, let alone your brothers." Phloria said with a chuckle as soon as the Steps closed behind them.

 Chapter 1181 Inner Demons Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1181 Inner Demons Part 1</h4>

    Unluckily for Tista, herpanions had enough energy to not miss what had just happened.

    "First, I don¡¯t even know who or what he is. Second, I¡¯m too tired to even care about him. Gods, this day has barely started and I can¡¯t wait for it to end." She replied, feeling the energy Olua had given her being drained by the second.

    Once inside, Solus assumed her tower form to boost everyone¡¯s recovery ability, but to not get noticed by the arrays protecting Reghia, the transformation required much longer than usual.

    Tista fell asleep on the ground as soon as onest diagnostic spell confirmed to her that her brother was fine while Phloria went to the nearest fountain to fill a few sks with the nutrients potion from one of its taps.

    ¡¯I¡¯m too tired to eat anything, but we need to recuperate, especially Lith. It will be easier making him swallow something that tastes like honeyed milk rather than like crap.¡¯ She thought, wishing that Faluel had allowed Quy to teach her the IV spell.

    Once she returned home, the tower was finally ready.

    "Thank you for your help, Phloria." Solus carried both their unconscious friends with Spirit Magic in their respective rooms while dripping the first potion in their mouths.

    "Are you sure you can afford shapeshifting? You¡¯ve gone through a lot as well. Maybe you should remain a ring until you haven¡¯t fully recovered." Phloria said with a worried look on her face.

    The tower looked as big and strong as usual, but Solus appearing only in her wisp form made Phloria aware of how tired she was.

    "Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ve seen worse." Phloria could have sworn that despite being just a wisp, Solus had just made one of the sweetest smiles she had ever seen.

    Phloria gulped down a couple of potions and went to bed, too tired for arguing even a second longer. The moment she disappeared behind her door, Solus entered Lith¡¯s room to check on him onest time before going to her bed.

    She rolled over his chest, feeling reassured by its rhythmical breathing and falling asleep without even noticing.

    ***

    Blood Desert Fringe.

    The Dewan tribe did its best to make Nalrond feel as one of their own so they didn¡¯t take it well when he refused to share with them any detail about the Rezar¡¯s ritual tomune with the and preferred to ask for the help of the humans instead.

    They would even use Warp Steps to reach a location away from the vige so that no one might "casually" stumble upon the ritual.

    "I get that you must still be grieving your tribe, young man. I also understand that seeing a bunch of strangers living in your vige mustn¡¯t be easy for you, yet I want you to remember that all Werepeople are part of the same tribe." Kimo, the vige elder said.

    "Thanks for your kindness, but I beg to differ." Nalrond shook his head. "Our ancestors share their origins, but that¡¯s not enough to make us family. Besides, I¡¯m not nning to stay. There¡¯s nothing for me here."

    "How can you say that?" Kimo could barely hide how upset he was.

    "We may not be Rezars but we are still your people, just like this is still your vige. As thest survivor of the Lightkeepers, you have a duty to uphold. Are you really going to let your legacy die with you?"

    "That¡¯s exactly the reason why I want to speak with Mogar. Our people have got too used to live in peace and have forgotten the reason why we searched for the Fringes in the first ce." Nalrond said.

    "It wasn¡¯t just to hide and cower from the rest of the world like cowards. We came here to find a safe ce where to research a way to undo what has been inflicted upon our people or to at least merge our life forces into one.

    "We don¡¯t have the long life of Emperor Beasts, we can¡¯t Awaken, and we have to fight at all times with our other half. Rather than dooming someone else to this existence, I prefer to gamble on contacting Mogar.

    "If I seed, I¡¯ll dedicate my life to make sure that Werepeople be a proper race. If I fail and survive the meeting, I don¡¯t n to stay here either. I¡¯ve learned more in the year I spent outside than in my whole life inside the Fringe.

    "If I decide to have children, I want them to grow free to experience everything that Mogar has to offer, to see the marvels of Forgemastering instead of spending their lives like frogs in a dignified well."

    "What about Light Mastery? It¡¯s a great power that could give Werepeople the strength to fight our enemies. Can¡¯t you at least share its basics with us before attempting this madness?

    "If Mogar kills you, centuries of your people¡¯s hard work will be lost forever!" Kimo tried to make Nalrond reason, but his words fell on deaf ears.

    "My people did very little. All I knowes from Dawn." Saying that name made Nalrond spit on the ground in disgust. "The most important thing my new master, Faluel, taught me is that knowledge cannot be granted, it must be earned.

    "I won¡¯t teach you anything because it would only make you conceited as it happened to my tribe. Besides, what enemies are you talking about? We have no enemies. The rest of Mogar has forgotten about us."

    "I can see the damage that the outside world has done to you. You speak of Werepeople as ¡¯us¡¯, yet you treat Dewans as strangers as soon as the power of Light Mastery is involved." Kimo said.

    "That¡¯s because we are strangers." Nalrond Warped away, tired of hearing that nonsense.

    He reached an ample clearing and from there he Warped again to an undergroundplex of caves. It dated back to the early days when the Rezars had entered the Fringe and had mined it in search of minerals or metals.

    "Is everything alright?" He asked while checking the runes carved along the ground, the walls and the ceiling.

    The group had covered the caves with magic circlesprised of six runes, each infused with a different element. By merging them together, once a circle waspleted, it would generate an artificial flow of world energy.

    "We¡¯re just bored out of our heads." Friya said with a sigh.

    The circles were all the same so after a while, the initial enthusiasm had been reced by the annoyance of doing the same thing over and over again. On top of that, they had also to regrly recharge the finished formations to keep them from fading away.

    "Why are you sote? Did someone give you the speech again?"

    "Kimo. The old man doesn¡¯t know when to give up." Nalrond stared in awe at the nigh-finished work.

    Summoning Mogar¡¯s consciousness required so much talent and raw power that he had feared four people wouldn¡¯t be enough for the task. The runes they had employed were merely containers for the mana necessary to boost the energy signature of its user to the point that it would appear as powerful as that of a Guardian.

 Chapter 1182 Inner Demons Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1182 Inner Demons Part 2</h4>

    "I don¡¯t like that guy." Quy said. "Actually, I don¡¯t like anyone here. They all treat us like garbage and I don¡¯t think you should trust them. Their Souls Projections are weird."

    Souls Projections were no mind-reading, yet thanks to them it was impossible to not notice how everyone in the Dewan vige cared for the Rezar way much than it was appropriate.

    The way the Soul Projections of the Dewans reached out for Nalrond whenever they saw him could either mean a great affection or a deep greed.

    "I noticed it as well." Nalrond nodded. "They despise all of you, even Morok, just because you are outsiders, yet they treated me like a savior ever since we met. Today Kimo brought forward the Light Mastery topic.

    "I think that they hoped I would stay here and entrust them my legacy."

    "Speaking of legacies, before continuing with our job, there are a few things we would like you to ask Mogar in our stead." Quy said.

    "I know what you are about to say. How to survive Awakening with your violet core and what should Friya do with her life. Is there anything for you, Morok?" Nalrond asked.

    "Yes. Ask how to act less of a jerk, because you need it. Do I speak like that as well?" Both men didn¡¯t mince words and meeting his equal had shown Morok how annoying he was.

    "You are worse." The girls said in unison without a shred of hesitation, making the Tyrant slouch.

    "Actually, there¡¯s something else that I¡¯d like you to ask as soon as you are done with your personal matters. You are the one putting your life on the line for this so you have the right to question Mogar to your heart content, but in case it epts only a few questions, my Awakening is not a priority." Quy said.

    "Same here. I¡¯ve already got a lot to think about." Friya looked at her own Soul Projection pondering its significance.

    After spending enough time with the members of the Dewan tribe, she had noticed that Projections were supposed to show their owner¡¯s most intense emotion ording to their situation.

    A hungry child would manifest a Dewan eating sweets, a tired farmer would show themselves resting, whereas what Friya did or how she felt didn¡¯t seem to affect her Projection.

    The only thing that changed was the size and the number of the chains it wore.

    ¡¯If what Nalrond said the day of our arrival is true, then rather than bothering the I should work on myself and ept my limits. After all, even Professors Vastor and Marth are nothingpared to Manohar, yet they have good lives.¡¯ Friya thought.

    ¡¯My only problem with this decision is that it feels more like giving up than reaching inner peace. With my current strength, I¡¯m no match for an elder undead and after all, I went through, I don¡¯t have the thick skin politics require anymore.

    ¡¯Even if Faluel agrees on letting me go without fulfilling my oath, I still can¡¯t find a single thing I can do that wouldn¡¯t make me feel like a waste of space. Maybe I should go back to the White Griffon academy and be a Professor.¡¯

    Then, her eyes fell on Quy¡¯s Projection, depicting her wearing the deep purple robe of a Magus. It would have been great, if not for the Projection casting spells that turned into snakes that ate her alive amid agonizing silent screams.

    ¡¯Or not.¡¯ Friya sighed.

    "Then what do you want me to ask?" Nalrond looked puzzled. He had noticed how everyone but him seemed to space out every now and then, as if they were trying to listen to a distant voice.

    Quy snapped out of her reverie and told him all about Lith¡¯s condition and about how anything but Forbidden Magic had proven to be useless in fixing his life force.

    "I don¡¯t get what are you worrying about. Lith is an Awakened. He will still live a long life for human standards." Nalrond shrugged.

    "I stand corrected, you¡¯re worse than Morok. He¡¯s unable to read the room whereas you just don¡¯t care!" Quy blurted out.

    "Thanks, sweetie." Morok winked.

    "Don¡¯t call me sweetie!" She snapped. "As for you, Nalrond, you should take your head out of your ass or I doubt you¡¯ll survive your meeting with Mogar. Do you realize that if Lith didn¡¯t save Protector, you would have no ce to stay?

    "That despite your wise act, you are prone to judge others even when you don¡¯t know anything about them and that the only pain you really care about is your own? Sure, Lith might outlive me if I don¡¯t Awaken, but this isn¡¯t a matter of how long he lives so much as how well he lives.

    "During my darkest hour, Lith has always remained by my side, doing everything he could to make me feel better. Right now he feels fine, but what if after a fight the cracks in his life force spread? What if they get worse just with the passing of time?

    "I don¡¯t care how tough Lith acts, I can¡¯t just sit around and hope for the best while knowing that my best friend is ill and that I could have made something to help him." Quy then told him about Death Vision and how the fight against the Odi had almost cost Lith his life.

    Hearing how heavy was the burden of others shook Nalrond to the core.

    ¡¯Quy is right. I keep acting as if I know everything yet I am just a frog in the well. What happened to me is tragic, but it¡¯s still nothingpared to what Solus had to endure.

    ¡¯Back when we entered inside the Fringe, I underestimated the girls¡¯ burden and the three of us almost died for it.¡¯ He thought while looking at his own Soul Projection, representing an angry Rezar who always wept blood.

    ¡¯I¡¯m so blinded by my pain that I quickly judged Friya only because her Projection resembles Ac¡¯s.

    ¡¯I¡¯m so angry at myself for having failed my people, for having survived while the others died fighting that I vent my frustration on others the moment they fail to reach my expectations. Every time I me others, I¡¯m actually ming myself.¡¯

    "I¡¯m sorry for being so rude. I¡¯ll ask your question first." Nalrond took a deep breath while mulling over those thoughts.

    Much to his surprise, his Soul Projection calmed down and its tears turned from blood into water. It was a small improvement, but Nalrond felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest.

    "Dude, that was weak. A real man doesn¡¯t even know the word sorry." Morok said.

    "Guess that a real man can also start looking for a girlfriend somewhere else." Quy said with a sneer.

    "Yet he quickly learns it when the necessity arises." Morok rushed to say.

    "How or why he¡¯s the only one without a Projection is beyond me." Friya said.

    "Is there anything else I should ask Mogar?" Nalrond asked.

    ¡¯Can you please ask for a way to heal Solus?¡¯ Friya said via a mind link to not let Morok overhear them.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t want to even think what might happen to her if she falls into the hands of someone who treats her like a ve. Especially once she regains her human body.¡¯

 Chapter 1183 Magic and Superstition Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1183 Magic and Superstition Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯My problems will die with me, but hers willst forever if we don¡¯t find a solution. On top of that, even if she decides to not bond anymore after Lith is gone, her death would be slow and excruciating. No one deserves that once, let alone a second time.¡¯ Friya said via the mind link.

    Nalrond¡¯s body shivered as ancestral visions of what had happened to his forefathers during captivity shed before his eyes. He didn¡¯t actually witness them, but those stories were passed down from parent to child from a young age and imagination could easily fill the gaps.

    "I¡¯ll ask about this first and about Lith second, if that¡¯s okay with you." He said.

    "Thank you very much." The girls gave him a deep bow of gratitude before looking at their respective Projections, hoping to have ovee part of their own issues.

    s, Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day.

    While Nalrond had changed his mind after a deep self-introspection thanks to all he had experienced since he had started living at Protector¡¯s house, Friya and Quy were just driven by the affection they felt towards their best friend.

    Their decision wasn¡¯t based on what they hade to realize their issues were so much as something they would have done the day after Lith had damaged his life force anyway.

    It didn¡¯t make their sacrifice any less important, but it didn¡¯t help them either.

    "By the way, have you understood the meaning behind Quy¡¯s Projection?" Morok asked.

    "The only thing I can think of, is that she wearing the Magus robe and being devoured by her own spells means that Quy is afraid of her own potential. That she believes that no matter how powerful she gets, she¡¯ll always be her worst enemy."

    "That¡¯s actually pretty close." Nalrond opened his eyes wide in surprise.

    Morok grinned at the shocked expression everyone else in the cave wore, refusing to believe their own ears.

    ¡¯How can someone so stupid also be so wise from time to time? I swear, it¡¯s as if Morok just refuses to think about anything he doesn¡¯t consider important.¡¯ Nalrond thought.

    "After exining to the vige¡¯s elders the meaning of the deep purple robe, they told me that such Soul Projection means that Quy is a very ambitious person and that she knows it. Her ambition, however, is not backed by confidence so much as by self-doubt.

    "They also said that Quy¡¯s Projection is born from the fear that her powers will betray her when she needs them the most. Someone who holds back because she¡¯s scared of the consequences that tapping into her true potential might hold." Nalrond said.

    While the otherspleted thest preparations for the ritual, Quy thought long and hard about those words.

    ¡¯The things Nalrond and Morok said hurt too much to be wrong. I am my worst enemy. Ever since Nalear forced me to kill Yurial, I refused to study offensive magic because I was afraid of what might have happened if someone controlled me after I became a proper warrior instead of a pipsqueak.

    ¡¯Then, even after Kh, I focused more on improving my physique than my magic because seeing what the Odi had managed to aplish made me wary of Body Sculpting.

    ¡¯Just like I didn¡¯t give my best to learn Light Mastery because I don¡¯t want to be like Manohar. A powerful mage whose ability only chained him and put him on more battlefields than most soldiers experience their whole life.

    ¡¯People calls him crazy and undependable, but maybe he¡¯s just tired of being used. That would exin why he runs away so often. If I be anything more than a Mage, then I might receive the order to hurt someone I love.¡¯ She thought.

    The robe of a Magus wasn¡¯t just a decoration, it was proof of how highly the Kingdom considered the mage and a reward for services rendered. Quy knew that the moment someone wore such a robe, not only their power, but also their burden would surpass that of everyone else.

    ¡¯I¡¯m not really afraid of my powers so much as of how they can be used against me.¡¯ Only then did Quy notice that the snakes her Projection¡¯s flesh turned into didn¡¯t have animal eyes but rather those of Nalear, of the Royals, of Deirus, and even of Jirni.

    All people who she thought that wouldn¡¯t hesitate to exploit whatever ability she acquired in pursue of their own interests. At that realization, Quy¡¯s Soul Projection changed. It looked the same as before, but now it hesitated before casting the spell as if it knew what would happen.

    Yet the Projection cast it anyway and the cycle repeated itself endlessly.

    Meanwhile, Nalrond made a small cut on his palm, and then he used earth magic to mix his blood with the ground inside each of the magic circles.

    "The elders of my vige taught me that while the six elements forming world energy serve to open a channel, this part of the ritual symbolizes how lifees from Mogar and to Mogar it has to return. A way to pay our respects to the Great Mother." Nalrond waved his hand at the circles.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but that sounds more like superstition than magic." Quy pondered, noticing how a faint emerald green mist formed inside each circle where Nalrond had spilled his blood.

    Yet no one else managed to see it until she pointed it out to them because of theirck of mana perception.

    "Thinking back at Faluel¡¯s lessons about Spirit Magic, I believe that your elders were wrong. The blood is a powerful vessel for life force so it would make more sense if the whole ritual is nothing but a huge mind link."

    "Think about it. Even by using six elements at the same time, no one can create world energy, because the real deal possesses the will of Mogar. By mixing life force to them, however, we can obtain the next best thing to Spirit Magic."

    "Following this theory, you might amplify the effects of the ritual by adding your life force to the light and darkness runes after cing them at the opposite sides of the circle. This way, they can ry and spread the life force evenly."

    Quy showed him a hologram where the runes had been rearranged so that light and darkness were respectively at 6 and 12.

    "You can¡¯t imbue life force into a rune, only willpower." Nalrond said.

    "That¡¯s true for the other elements, but not for light and darkness. It¡¯s the same principle behind the spell we use to share our vitality with patients. Draw the other runes first and leave light and darknessst.

    "Then, draw them at the same time, using light to hold your life force and darkness as a conduit." Quy exined.

    "Quy, this ritual is hundreds of years old. The greatest minds of my tribe worked on it for generations to improve it and failed. Do you really think-" Nalrond drew a new circle just to humor her, yet the result made his jaw drop.

    Even after adding his blood, normal circles were stillprised of six runes, each one of a different color, and only had a faint mist within.

    The one obtained following Quy¡¯s instructions, instead, not only did all of its runes turn into a bright emerald green the moment it waspleted, but it also resonated with the nearest circles, dyeing them green as well.

 Chapter 1184 Magic and Superstition Part 2

    1184 Magic and Superstition (Part 2)

    "By the gods!" That was all almost everyone managed to say.

    Until that moment, Nalrond had always believed that the ritual allowed people to seek an audience with Mogar like a believer does with their god. That the blood spilled and world energy from the circle were an offering from the weak to the strong.

    Yet Quy''s circle had proved centuries of history wrong. A mind link meant to meet Mogar as an equal and the great number of circles served as a shield to protect the caster''s sanity.

    "See? What are a few centuries of research in front of a true genius?" Everyone but Morok, of course.

    He exploited the moment of amazement to praise Quy and gave her a congrattory hug that was returned instead of being rejected as usual.

    ''All ording to n.'' Morok thought while sniffing her hair but being careful not to be noticed.

    "Pervert!" Friya broke the moment and pushed him away.

    "What do you mean?" Quy looked at her sister as if she had gone mad.

    Morok had been a true gentleman ever since the trip had started.

    "Look at that!" Friya pointed above his head, where his Soul Projection gave him the thumbs up and gestured Morok suggestions to grope her.

    "Dude, too soon!" Morok snarled to the Projection before turning to Nalrond. "When we got here you said those things are no mind-reading. Then how do you exin that?"

    "My only guess is that since you''re usually true to yourself, your soul has no message to express but the urges you''re currently repressing." He replied

    "Couldn''t you tell me that earlier?" Morok''s Projection gave Nalrond the fingers and disappeared again.

    "Don''t worry, I''m not angry. You can''t control your thoughts more than I can control mine." Quy said while pointing at her own Projection.

    "Thank the gods! I-"

    "The important is that you don''t put them into action. Besides, there''s no time to waste. Shut up and let Nalrond concentrate. The earliest circles are starting to fade again." Quy cut him short.

    Nalrond looked at the emerald green circle and regretted not having the time or opportunity to redraw them all.

    ''To do that, I would have not only to waste another two days, but it would also mean to use so much life force that I might not have the strength left to perform the finishing step.'' He thought while sitting cross-legged inside Quy''s improved circle.

    The rest was easy. Nalrond only had to practice the same meditation technique he used to draw upon the world energy and hasten the recovery of his twin cores. With each breath, he could feel the Spirit Magic of the circle and the world energy mixing inside his body.

    With his mind now clear from stray thoughts, Nalrond could see a blinding light shining above him through his closed eyes. He extended his consciousness toward the light just like he had done to cross over the Fringe''s barrier.

    Once again, countless voices, sufferings, and experiences thatprised Mogar''s mind assaulted his consciousness, but thanks to the circles Nalrond only needed a thought to push the mental pressure aside while waiting for his host.

    At first, the light was distant, like the sun on a winter day, but soon Mogar noticed him. Suddenly, Nalrond found himself surrounded by a white space that extended as far as the eye could see.

    He was standing up with his eyes opened, yet he realized immediately that none of that took ce in the real world. There was no trace of hispanions, he now wore the same clothes he had before Dawn''s escape, and what he saw could only be exined with Mogar ying tricks on his mind.

    The person in front of him looked exactly like Nalrond. The only difference between them was that the hair of the doppelganger was of the six colors of the elements.

    "What do you want?" Mogar asked with a voice that sounded as if a man and a woman had spoken in unison.

    "Greetings, Great Mother." Nalrond gave them a bow, unable to stand even the weight of such powerful gaze. "My name is-"

    "I know exactly who you are. A human who came looking for answers. Don''t waste my time with formalities because they hold no meaning to me. All the good manners in the world wouldn''t have kept me from destroying you if you didn''t pique my curiosity." Mogar cut him short.

    "I''m no human. I''m a hybrid!" Nalrond found the strength to look up to the doppelganger thanks to the rage such words stirred up.

    "Are you really trying to correct me?" Mogarughed. "Do you know that the few who manage to meet me, always give me the semnce of the person or the thing they care the most about?

    "Now tell me, who else but a human can be so arrogant to perceive me as themselves? Tyris saw me like the mother she never met. Baba Yaga as the ve she failed to save. The Horseman of Dawn as her mother.

    "Only humans can''t think further than their own skin." The spite in Mogar''s words and the horror that assailed his mind made Nalrond fall to his knees.

    "Did you give an audience to Dawn as well? Did you help her to escape?" He asked.

    "Are those your questions?" Seeing such a cruel smirk on his own face almost broke Nalrond''s focus.

    Cracks appeared in the space around them and the air became too heavy to breathe. The fissures let in more of Mogar''s essence than he could bear, slowly pushing him toward madness.

    "No. They are not." Nalrond gritted his teeth and put his rage aside.

    As his mind became more stable so did the space around them until all the cracks and the mental pressure that they caused disappeared.

    ''I''ve already wasted too much time and I don''t know how much longer I can hold. Right now, my revenge is not a priority. It would onlypromise my focus.''

    "Why shouldn''t I receive the Bright Day?" Mogar said as if she had just read his mind.

    "Do you remember what did your smart friend say? Ourmunion has nothing to do with superstition. Dawn opened a mind link with me just like you did and since she didn''t give me any reason to dispose of her, I listened to her ramblings. Just like I''m doing now."

    "As for Dawn''s escape, she didn''t need my help for that. She knew that it was only a matter of time before someone stupid enough would break her out. She was more interested in things like oveing the undead''s weakness to sunlight."

    "What did you tell her?" Nalrond tried to shapeshift out of rage, fighting the temptation of ripping the head of his double. Yet nothing happened.

    "Is that your question?" Mogar repeated.

    "Why do you keep asking me that if you''re going to answer me anyway?" The stress of that conversation made the space crack again until he managed to calm down.

    ''Mogar is doing it on purpose. They want me to either end the link or die and so far, I took the bait like a moron.'' Nalrond noticed that the pressure on his mind grew with each passing second.

    The longer Mogar focused on him, the less the magic circles hispanions had prepared managed to ward off the flood of world energy and with it the full brunt of the''s consciousness.

 Chapter 1185 Mindscape Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1185 Mindscape Part 1</h4>

    "I want to know how to free Solus from her tower. How to fix Lith¡¯s life force. How I can turn from a hybrid into aplete being. How-"

    "That¡¯s enough." His Mogar double cut Nalrond short. "Each question requires aplex answer and I doubt that your human mind can even grasp one of them."

    With a wave of Mogar¡¯s hand, three small spheres of light appeared behind its back. Nalrond moved to take them, but the doppelganger stood in front of him.

    "That knowledge is mine and you didn¡¯t do anything to deserve it. Do you understand as much?" Mogar said.

    "Are you going to stop me?" Nalrond asked.

    "Of course not. It was just a friendly warning." Mogar stepped away, leaving the path clear.

    Nalrond had no idea what sphere answered what question so he started from the rightmost. The moment the Rezar extended his hand, the sphere shapeshifted into a man with sharp features, a well-groomed beard, and cruel silver eyes.

    The unknown figure had both his hand and feet chained to his waist. He wore dirty rags that bore the insignia of a broken Griffon, the mark of traitors sentenced to death.

    His body was dirtier than his clothes and it bore the marks of prolonged torture, yet the man stood as straight as an arrow. The authority the man emitted and his steel gaze intimidated Nalrond, making it hard for him even to meet the man¡¯s gaze.

    "How dare a peasant attempt to touch the King?" Arthan said while pping Nalrond so hard that the hit sent him sprawling on the floor.

    Even though the Mad King had been dead for centuries and none of the events in the white space was real, Nalrond felt pain. In the real world, his lip split and his cheek turned purple as if someone had hit him.

    With his sight still blurry from the shock, the Rezar approached the middle sphere. The moment it started to transform, he jumped back before what looked like a precious Forgemastering hammer bashed his skull open.

    "You¡¯ve got guts to try stealing my secrets, kid. Do it again and they will be all over the ce." The woman wielding the hammer was quite short, barely 1.56 meters (5¡¯1") tall, with hair of the seven colors of the elements that reminded him of Faluel.

    Menadion was covered in wounds and blood, most of which belonged to her. Her disheveled head and ripped clothes made her look like she had just finished a fight to the death, yet the light in her eyes told Nalrond she was ready to start over.

    "Let me guess..." He extended his hand toward thest sphere and dodged just in the nick of time before a wed hand ripped his throat.

    A Rezar had taken its ce, but unlike the other apparitions, it didn¡¯t speak. A snarl conveyed everything it had to say.

    "What does this mean? You agreed to answer my questions?" Nalrond said without taking his eyes off the spirits.

    "When did I do that, exactly?" Mogar tilted its head. "I came here because you called me and I asked you what were your questions because that¡¯s the only reason humans seek me. To take what doesn¡¯t belong to them."

    "For thest time, I¡¯m not human. I¡¯m a hybrid!"

    "So says the man who literally thinks the world of himself and who can¡¯t even shapeshift inside his own mind." Mogar shook their head, annoyed.

    "I¡¯m not a library. This is how I process information. By recording the entire existence of all those who walked my surface. If you want your answers, all you have to do it¡¯s to touch them. One single touch will be enough."

    "If they are just memories, how can they be so strong?" He asked.

    "Death doesn¡¯t make a mind weaker. Those shades represent all they were and all they knew. To get what you want you must ovee them." The doppelganger said.

    Nalrond tried to activated Fusion Magic, but nothing happened. Then, he tried to weave a spell to restrict the shades just to realize that there was no elemental energy to call upon.

    ¡¯Dammit, I keep forgetting this is my mind. I don¡¯t get why Mogar even bothers receiving non-Awakened if anyone without Spirit Magic has no way to fight. Dawn has...¡¯ The thought struck at him like a hammer.

    ¡¯Dawn has been inside the Fringe for centuries and yet when Lith and I faced her, she resorted to Odi technology to research a way to solve her problem. Why would she do that if she had already gotten her answer from Mogar?

    ¡¯The good news is that if she failed, then there must be a way to seed that isn¡¯t rted to Spirit Magic. The bad news is that I don¡¯t know what it is.¡¯

    Nalrond rushed against the Rezar, the enemy that he knew best. The creature sidestepped the extended hand and shed at his head with its 30 centimeters (1 foot) long ws.

    Nalrond dodged the attack while following the enemy¡¯s movements. The other two shades didn¡¯t interfere in their fight, even returning to their pure energy form.

    Nalrond felt reassured and pressed forward. In the white space, speed wasn¡¯t a matter of muscles, only of will. He almost grabbed one of the arms of the creature multiple times as he realized the truth about his condition.

    With each failed attempt he made, Nalrond could feel ideas popping in his mind, reaching a rity and understanding about hybrids like never before. The problem was that as soon as the Rezar got even one step away, all the knowledge Nalrond had gained would fade away, like memories from a dream.

    After Nalrond¡¯s hand grazed one of its ws, the creature snarled and unleashed a spell that closely resembled Dawn¡¯s Daybreak. Scorching spears of light pierced Nalrond¡¯s limbs and chest while the cloud of darkness that surrounded them ate at his whole being.

    Nalrond tried to conjure his own hard-light construct to defend himself, but failed. Life fusion didn¡¯t trigger as well, leaving himpletely open to the attack. As his being started to fade, the white space cracked from every direction, letting Mogar¡¯s flow of consciousness in.

    "You bit more than you could chew, human. Nowe to me." Nalrond-Mogar said.

    Nalrond could feel his mind going adrift as a choir of voices invaded his head. In the real world, his body had sustained the same injuries as his mind, bleeding profusely from wounds so big that hispanions could look through them.

    "What the heck is happening?" Friya started to heal his injuries the moment they formed, just like she had healed the damage from Arthan¡¯s p.

    Yet without the protection that only Quy¡¯s circle had provided him, Nalrond would have already died on the spot like all those who had failed tomune with the.

    "I guess he¡¯s failed and Mogar is iming its prize." Morok said while doing his best to support her. Despite their best efforts, the Rezar¡¯s body was slowly dissolving due to darkness magic.

    "Less chatting more healing. Go all-out." Quy said while using her tier one healing spell, Injection, to spread nutrients potions and tonics directly into Nalrond¡¯s bloodstream.

 Chapter 1186 Mindscape Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1186 Mindscape Part 2</h4>

    "This is new." Mogar said while watching her prey returning to his original state.

    With thest bits of willpower that he had left, the rejuvenated Nalrond managed to cut the mind link with the and returned to his body before the creature could resume its attack.

    His eyes opened as his mouth coughed out the blood that drowned his lungs in the attempt to speak.

    "Don¡¯t talk, use light fusion if you can instead. We need all the help we can get." Quy said while using tier four healing magic on him.

    Nalrond missed almost half of his body, but with three healers focusing on him and without taking more damage from Mogar¡¯s mindscape, he managed to survive long enough for light fusion to make a difference.

    It evenly spread among the wounds the spells that hispanions used, focusing them where they were needed the most, and sped up his metabolism, allowing the damaged areas to receive a constant flow of nutrients from the potions.

    It took the three healers several minutes and all of their mana to keep Nalrond alive despite his several failing organs until his body was capable of working again without external help.

    "Something went wrong, but I don¡¯t know what." Nalrond said amid pants. He had not moved a finger, yet he was close to fainting due to exhaustion.

    "Don¡¯t talk. You need to rest." Friya said while checking him with a diagnostic spell. Between the wounds and the mana abuse from the healing, Nalrond¡¯s body was on the verge of breaking down.

    He nodded, falling asleep as soon as he lost his focus.

    While Quy used Injection again, the others dispelled the magic circles to make sure that the Dewan couldn¡¯t find the Rezar¡¯s secret spot thanks to their heightened senses. They would need it in case Nalrond wanted to contact Mogar again.

    "Can¡¯t you teach us Injection?" Friya asked. "You¡¯re the best healer among us. If one of us takes care of the potions, you could fully focus on the healing."

    "I wish I could. Faluel forbid me to. I¡¯m sorry." Quy sighed while using a floating spell to lift their friend off the ground and move him without any bumps.

    They Warped out of the cave and to the spot they had entered the Fringe before opening a Steps that would lead them to the Dewan vige. Nalrond might need more healing and they were in no condition to help.

    Unfortunately for them, the moment the Dewans saw the unconscious Rezar covered in blood, their prejudices against humans kicked in.

    "I knew there is no way people like you could befriend one of us. What did you do to him?" Elder Bahn said while shapeshifting and calling for reinforcements.

    "We didn¡¯t do anything!" Friya inwardly cursed at fake magic for the umpteenth time as the Dewans quickly surrounded them from every side, wielding enchanted weapons.

    ¡¯Lith would be able to exin to them what happened while weaving his spells in the case these guys lose it due to the bloodlust of their beast half, whereas I can¡¯t cast a spell without risking to escte things.¡¯ She thought.

    "Nalrond attempted tomune with Mogar and almost died for it. He¡¯s alive only because we helped him." Friya said.

    "What need does Mogar have to spill blood?" Yunma, one of the women said. "I think you just tortured him to get what you want, just like you did to get inside the Fringe. That¡¯s what humans do. Forcing others to pay the price for their dreams."

    "Then why would we bring him back here instead of getting out of the Fringe?" Quy said.

    "Easy. Because you have no way to get out without him." The elder replied. "Kill them all and rescue or brother!"

    The Dewan Blinked behind the girls¡¯ back to finish them off with one hit, only to get blocked by a wall of light hard enough to stop their attack and stic enough to bounce the weapons back against their user, wounding the Werepeople.

    "Are you dumb or what?" Nalrond¡¯s voice was a whisper, needing air magic to amplify it to an audible level. "If they ever forced me to do anything, I would have told you the moment I remained alone with you. They just saved my life."

    "We have no way to be sure that they didn¡¯t put you under a ve item and they have yet to prove their innocence." Elder Bahn shook his head, pointing at the Rezar¡¯s battered body.

    "Yes you do." Nalrond took off all the enchanted items he had and even his shirt. "If any of it was a ve item, I wouldn¡¯t be able to remove them. On top of that, how can someone prove that they didn¡¯t do something?

    "Believe it or not, it was Mogar wounding me when I failed their test. I swear it on my ancestors."

    Those words took the Dewans aback. The Werepeople considered it their most sacred oath. Refusing to believe Nalrond would mean making him their mortal enemy. Yet their hatred for humans almost blinded them to the evidence the Rezar had provided.

    Almost.

    "You¡¯re right. I apologize for our rudeness." Elder Bahn gave Nalrond a deep bow, disregarding the others.

    No one missed it nor the fact that the Dewans didn¡¯t put away their weapons. Only once they got back inside their home and Friya activated the protective arrays did everyone manage to rx.

    "Since all that yelling woke me up, I might as well tell you what happened. It will not take long." Nalrond said while fighting the exhaustion that made his eyelids droopy.

    He quoted Mogar word by word, describing to them the appearance of his enemies as well as the fact that he had failed to use any form of magic during the battle whereas the shades had used both spells and equipment.

    "Any question?" He asked, falling back asleep the moment he received a no for an answer.

    Actually, they had many but they didn¡¯t want him to stay awake one second longer than necessary.

    "I don¡¯t know anything about Rezars or a woman with a hammer, but the man that Nalrond described reminded me awfully of the Mad King." Quy said.

    "It makes sense. Arthan¡¯s Madness would probably be able to heal Lith¡¯s cracked life force but at what price?" Friya shook her head, considering the implications of Nalrond¡¯s visions.

    "If that was the answer, then why didn¡¯t Mogar show him Thrud? ording to both Professor Vastor and Manohar, she made tremendous improvements to her father¡¯s work." Quy said.

    "Maybe because she¡¯s alive while Mogar can ess only to the memory of the deceased." Friya replied.

    "It can¡¯t be that simple. Mogar is with every one of us every single day. It is bound to know everything about the living as well. I think that it depends on Arthan¡¯s research about life force. Remember that he was the first god of healing." Quy said.

    "How do you know so much about that madman?" Morok asked.

    "Despite all the atrocities hemitted, Arthanid the foundations of Body Sculpting as we know it. During my time as Assistant Professor at the White Griffon, Professor Vastor showed me the records about the Mad King.

    "The Kingdom keeps them a secret, but without them, making any progress with Body Sculpting would be impossible." Quy said.

 Chapter 1187 Long Waited Reunion Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1187 Long Waited Reunion Part 1</h4>

    "Vastor had to give me ess to Arthan¡¯s diaries to keep me from wasting time just to reinvent the wheel." Quy said.

    "There¡¯s one thing that doesn¡¯t add up." Morok said. "Nalrond saw a Rezar, but we have no way to know if the shade was an Emperor Beast or one of his ancestors.

    "Either way, if a Rezar knew how to merge the two life forces of a hybrid, why didn¡¯t he share such knowledge?"

    "We¡¯d have to wait for Nalrond to wake up to answer to that." Friya said. "In the meantime, we¡¯d better call Lith. None of us knows anything about Awakened or mind links.

    "Maybe the woman with Faluel¡¯s hair was the Awakened equivalent of Arthan and maybe he could exin to us how to fight against the shades on equal footing." She took hermunication amulet out of her dimensional item, noticing that all runes were lit.

    Unbeknownst to them, the Fringe was akin to a giant mana geyser, allowing them to reach the others on the Jiera continent even when they were outside Solus¡¯s tower.

    Friya turned the holograms off before calling Phloria. She didn¡¯t want to show her sister in a nightgown to Morok nor wanted to risk exposing Solus¡¯s existence before being sure that the Tyrant could be fully trusted.

    "I hope this is important. Do you have any idea what time is it here?" Phloria had gone to bed for a few hours now, but she still felt like crap.

    "No, I don¡¯t. Yet I wouldn¡¯t call you if this was anything but vital. We¡¯re on the clock here. The Fringe is far from uninhabited and we¡¯re this close to getting burned at the stake." Friya replied, exining Phloria about the Dewans and about the failed attempt atmuning with Mogar.

    "Slow down. I¡¯m still half asleep so I¡¯m not understanding even half your words. On top of that, I can¡¯t ask Lith for help. Nalrond has been damaged in the body, but Lith had it worse. His life force ispromised and he needs rest. I can ask S-"

    "Morok says hi to you." Friya cut her short.

    "Hi, Quy¡¯s tomboy sister." Morok had no clue why formalities mattered during such a moment but he didn¡¯t care enough to ask for an exnation.

    "Do you really have yet to remember my name?" Phloria said. "Never mind, I¡¯ll call the others."

    She went to Tista first, but Invigoration¡¯s effects had yet to reset and she was so tired that no amount of knocking on her door could wake her up. Phloria then went to Solus¡¯s room, finding it open and empty.

    ¡¯I should have known that she wouldn¡¯t leave Lith¡¯s side no matter how tired she is. I bet that Solus has taken care of him ever since we went to sleep.¡¯ Phloria thought.

    When she opened the door and found the Wisp resting on the Wyrmling¡¯s chest like a puppy, the scene moved her.

    ¡¯It¡¯s really hard to even guess how deep their bond is. If I was in Kam¡¯s shoes and saw this, I would be mad with jealousy, though.¡¯ Phloria shook Solus gently, trying to not wake up Lith as well.

    The Wisp wobbled as she regained consciousness, turning beet red when Solus realized to have been caught red-handed. She didn¡¯t sleep with Lith ever since she had regained a humanoid body for obvious reasons.

    "I¡¯m sorry to wake you up, but Friya might have found something about your mother and I thought you needed to hear it first." Phloria whispered while casting a Hush Zone around Lith.

    She thought to have recognized Menadion from the description, but she wasn¡¯t sure of it. Only Solus and Nalrond had actually seen the First Ruler of the mes, the others had only heard about her.

    At those words, Solus became wide awake. Between the mana geyser under Reghia and being so close to Lith, she had recuperated most of her strength.

    "Can you endure a mind link?" Phloria asked.

    "I can, but you¡¯re still too weak. We need to use words." Solus could see with her mystical senses that only sheer willpower allowed Phloria to stand.

    "I¡¯ll let you speak with Friya, then. Be careful of what you say, though. The others went to a Fringe and there¡¯s Morok with them." Phloria said.

    ¡¯Why didn¡¯t they wait for us? I could have learned a lot from a Fringe, maybe even get another talk with Mogar.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯Unless Faluel sent them there as part of their trial of wisdom, I¡¯m going to give Nalrond a piece of my mind when I see him again.¡¯

    "Hi, mysterious Lith¡¯s third girlfriend. Nice to hear you again." Morok said as soon as he recognized her voice.

    "Friya, can you exin to me what¡¯s happening?" Not having the patience to put up with the Tyrant¡¯s nonsense, Solus ignored him.

    After listening to everything that had happened since they had entered the Fringe, Solus tried to answer their questions to the best of her abilities.

    "Quy is right. The man was definitely Arthan. From your description, he wore the clothes and chains of the day of his execution. As for the woman, she was Magus Ripha Menadion, wielding her fabled hammer, the Fury." Solus remembered it from Orion¡¯s book.

    The artifact had a too peculiar shape to forget about it.

    "Did she say anything?" Based on Menadion¡¯s tattered clothes and her battle frenzy, Solus realized that just like Arthan, the shade was likely the depiction of the final moments of Menadion¡¯s life.

    Any clue, no matter how insignificant, could help Solus uncover the mystery behind her condition and Menadion¡¯s disappearance.

    "No, she didn¡¯t. Do you have any idea why the shades could use both magic and equipment whereas Nalrond only had his human body?" Friya said.

    "I have never fought with Lith during our mind links, but I know how the mindscape works." Solus replied. "Everything that happens there depends upon your perception of yourself.

    "The form you take in the mindscape isn¡¯t rted to your physical appearance so much as to how you picture yourself. It¡¯s simr to how an Emperor Beast chooses their human form."

    Even during their mind fusion, Solus wasn¡¯t able to see herself as a human because she had no idea of how she looked like before bing a hybrid. On the other hand, Lith could take the appearance of Derek McCoy, of the Wyrmling, or that of his actual body.

    "Let me get this straight. You think that the reason why Nalrond couldn¡¯t shapeshift nor use magic is that he sees himself as a normal man, correct?" Friya asked.

    "Yes. If he considers such abilities as something that belongs to his beast half, then he can¡¯t rely on them during a mind link. On top of that, what the other Rezar used wasn¡¯t magic.

    "It was a manifestation of its willpower, just like Arthan¡¯s strength or Menadion¡¯s hammer. Arthan pictured himself like a god while Menadion lived and died wielding her Forgemastering tool." Solus replied.

    ¡¯Good gods, no wonder Lith managed to get this far in the academy and the army. We are all tired, yet Solus managed to put together the pieces of the puzzle like it was nothing.¡¯ Friya thought.

 Chapter 1188 Long Waited Reunion Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1188 Long Waited Reunion Part 2</h4>

    "Why do you think the Rezar that Nalrond saw never shared his knowledge with his nsmen? Werepeople are a tight-knitmunity, it doesn¡¯t make any sense." She asked.

    "I have a couple of ideas about it." Solus¡¯s words made everyone open their eyes wide.

    "First, Mogar has the habit to change its appearance based on the guest. Remember that Arthan and Menadion represented the answers respectively about me and Lith, whereas the Rezar was the only question Nalrond asked for himself.

    "It¡¯s possible that just like Mogar took his human appearance, the answer took the form of the part of himself that he rejects."

    "What about the second hypothesis?" Friya said.

    "If the shade wasn¡¯t Nalrond himself, then maybe the Rezar was an Emperor Beast." Solus replied. "Maybe they tried to help the Werepeople but failed to find the Fringe to pass them the answer. If I¡¯m right, then maybe the answer is out there, somewhere.

    "Even if Nalrond failed, we have still learned a lot from his attempt. Lith¡¯s answer lies in Arthan¡¯s research, mine in Menadion¡¯s past, and Nalrond¡¯s just has to reach out to his Emperor Beast cousins."

    "What if you are wrong?" Friya asked.

    "Then it¡¯s even better. It means that all Werepeople have the potential to be one, just like all Awakened have the potential to reach a violet core. It¡¯s only a matter of understanding how." Solus said.

    "I have an idea." Coming from Morok¡¯s mouth, those words sounded out of this world.

    "What if I attempt a mind link with Mogar while mister crybaby recovers? If Lith¡¯s girlfriend is right, then by asking two questions for others and one for me, we can check if the answers change their appearance based on who asks the questions.

    "On top of that, I¡¯m the only one who has no self-esteem issues so I might be able to kick some solid ass." He pointed at the Soul Projections of the others that expressed how heavy they felt their respective burden.

    "What does Morok mean, he has no issues?" Solus asked.

    Friya exined to her the phenomenon of the Soul Projections, making Solus so curious that she activated the hologram function after hiding behind Phloria¡¯s back. Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t shown by the amulet.

    Quy solved the issue by using Light Mastery to project holograms of their respective Soul Projections.

    "Dammit. I wish I was there with you. We could have finally solved a lot of mysteries." Solus wondered if her own would have shown how she looked like and if Lith¡¯s would clear the secret behind his life forces.

    "What do you think of my idea, invisible woman?" Morok asked while looking around the projection of the tower¡¯s room without being able to find the source of the voice.

    "I believe you are right. Based on your Projections and how the vige elder interpreted them, you are the only one who might tap into his full potential in the mindscape. Remember that your real strength is not the limit.

    "If you believe yourself invincible, you can make it true." Solus replied.

    "Thanks. We¡¯ll make a second attempt as soon as we recover our strength. If Mogar is the asshole you described to me, then I think I can cheat my way to victory. Especially if we use Quy¡¯s circles instead of the regr ones." Morok said.

    Solus had no idea what he meant, but she was too tired to talk any longer. After wishing her friends a good night, she ended the call.

    "I¡¯m going back to sleep. Are you staying here?" Phloria asked.

    "Yes. The closer I am to Lith the faster I recover. Also, his life force has yet to stabilize. If his condition gets worse, I¡¯m the only one who can take care of him." Solus said while resting on his chest to use Invigoration on Lith.

    She could see the doubt in Phloria¡¯s eyes, but Solus couldn¡¯t me Phloria for questioning her true motivations since her own words didn¡¯t convince Solus as well. The tower was her body, staying in the same room wouldn¡¯t make her mystical senses more urate nor her response faster in the case something went wrong.

    "Try to get some rest. There¡¯s no telling when you¡¯ll need your full strength." Phloria closed the door and returned to her own room with her mind in disarray.

    ¡¯After Balkor¡¯s attack, I stood by his side all the time together with Solus, yet back then I wasn¡¯t aware of her existence. Now, however, the same situation would be awkward.

    "Not only because he already has a girlfriend, but also because the more time I spend with them, the more I realize how much of our rtionship we shared with Solus. I can¡¯t believe howplicated things have be in just a few years.¡¯ She inwardly sighed.

    Inside Lith¡¯s room, Solus thought the same things, buting to a different conclusion.

    ¡¯I hoped that the closer I got to obtain a human body, the clearer my feelings would be, yet they are only getting messier. The only silver lining is that my rtionship with Lith can¡¯t be moreplicated than this, can¡¯t it?¡¯ Solus thought.

    Meanwhile, in the streets of Reghia, a lonely humanoid figure walked the streets while looking at what looked like apass the needle of which was made out a pure white crystal.

    ¡¯Dammit, I can¡¯t believe that Ripha screwed up this badly. The Pathfinder is supposed to point me at her tower the moment Ie in a radius of 1000 kilometers from it, no matter if the tower has been imprinted or not.

    ¡¯Yet the needle keeps spinning as if it can¡¯t recognize the tower core¡¯s signal.¡¯ Just like Menadion, Lochra Silverwing had no idea that fusing a living person to an artifact would alter its energy signature to the point of making the Pathfinder useless.

    After several attempts, Silverwing stopped cursing her bad luck and started asking for directions. After all, the number of Wyrmlings who came from the Garlen continent and temporarily resided in Reghia amounted to one.

    Once she found the building, Lochra remained impressed by theyers of arrays that made her Life Vision pointless and nullified all of her detection spells.

    ¡¯Whoever did this sure has talent and cunning, but they must also be very young. Their formations have power butck stability.¡¯ She thought while using Spirit Magic to alter the flow of world energy in the runes and stretch them just enough to slip through the arrays without triggering any of the rms.

    ¡¯If the tower could draw the full power of the mana geyser and the kid who stole it mastered its defenses, this would have been much harder. Luck is by-¡¯ Once she opened the door of the building, Lochra froze seeing how run-down Menadion¡¯s tower was.

    Memories and reality ovepped for a second, making her shed warm tears.

    ¡¯Good gods. The tower has never been so small, not even when Ripha had just finished the crafting process and it had yet to absorb the energy needed to tap into its full potential.

    ¡¯This is all my fault. If I didn¡¯t go into seclusion for one hundred years just to finish one of my experiments, I would have answered that damn call. My disciple and her daughter would still be alive.¡¯ Lochra thought.

 Chapter 1189 Long Waited Reunion Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1189 Long Waited Reunion Part 3</h4>

    ¡¯Forgive me, Ripha. I can¡¯t change the past, but I can promise you that I will not let you down again.¡¯ Silvering wiped her tears and studied the tower with Life Vision.

    None of its defenses had been activated and most of the energy that the tower absorbed from the ground was focused in a single room.

    "Emergency override. Password: Loka, white, legacy, death, Menadion." Lochra sighed in relief when the tower recognized the ancient code and opened its door to her.

    Once inside, she made herself both invisible and inaudible, checking the rooms one by one to estimate the threat level of her potential enemies.

    ¡¯What the heck? How could Menadion¡¯s tower be an Awakened sorority?¡¯ After finding Tista and Phloria, even the other rooms clearly belonged to women.

    ¡¯Well, the good news is that they are just weak kids. It shouldn¡¯t take much to talk some sense into them. The better news is that being all girls, they shouldn¡¯t have abused of- Oh, crap!¡¯

    All of Silverwing¡¯s hopes crumbled into dust when she opened the door to Lith¡¯s room and found Solus sleeping in the same bed as the Wyrmling while hugging him. The steady flow of energy from both Lith and the mana geyser had made Solus assume her humanoid form after she had lost consciousness.

    Lochra¡¯s body red with mana and fury, lighting the room akin to a white sun as the mana waves she released along with her aura made her robe p as if she was amid a storm.

    The sudden light and noise woke up Solus who immediately activated the emergency protocols, ready to smite the intruder before they could take another step. That until the tower core reported to her that Silverwing¡¯s override code had been activated, allowing Solus to recognize her foe.

    "Aunt Loka? Is that really you?" She said while Hushing the room and covering Lith¡¯s eyes with a shroud of darkness to not disturb his rest.

    Those words stayed Silverwing¡¯s hand and the spell she was about to unleash to kill the sick bastard who had enved her sweet, innocent goddaughter.

    "Elphyn? Do you still recognize me?" The room plunged back into darkness as she rushed forward, lifting Solus in the air like she was a small child before hugging her and kissing her head over and over.

    "Not really. I just read the tower¡¯s log. I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ve lost most of my memories. I¡¯ve got no recollection of you or Dad. I barely remember Mom and I¡¯ve no idea who Elphyn is. My name is Solus." She said while escaping from the awkward embrace of the stranger.

    "What do you mean, you¡¯ve lost your memories? What did that sicko do to you?" Lochra pointed at the Wyrmling with enough mana in her forefinger to turn the tower into a crater.

    "Lith saved my life, that¡¯s what he did." Solus put herself between them. "I¡¯ve waited centuries for someone to find me after Mom¡¯s death. Over time, the tower got so weak that in order to survive, I had to make sacrifices.

    "What¡¯s your excuse for forgetting about me until now?" Solus¡¯s eyes brimmed, with rage and with as much mana as she could muster.

    Her words hit Silverwing like a fist in the guts, making her realize how crazy she had to appear in Elphyn¡¯s eyes.

    "I¡¯m so sorry, Epphy." Lochra lowered her arm, doing her best to hold back the centuries of regrets that were seconds away from making her burst into tears.

    "The moment I tried to get in touch with Ripha, her contact rune was already gone. I tried to find the tower, but this damned thing failed me." She showed Solus the Pathfinder and its needle that still spun like a fan.

    "Your mother gave it to me in the case something happened to her. It was supposed to guide me to the tower, but only now did I realize it¡¯s broken. I visited all the mana geysers I was aware of, but I never found any trace of you.

    "I thought that the same person who had killed Ripha, had also killed you and taken the tower. I never stopped searching for you. Why do you think I came to Jiera?" Everything from her tone to her heartbeat sounded sincere, making Solus lower her guard.

    "Are you saying that not even you know who killed Mom?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "No one does. Otherwise every single Awakened on Mogar would have hunted them down to get their hands on Ripha¡¯s legacy. Either your mother died along with her enemy, or she hid the tower so well that neither her killer nor me managed to find it.

    "Gods, you must have so many questions. Especially about your father." Silverwing said.

    "What was his name and was he a mage as well or just a painter?" Solus asked.

    "By the Great Mother, how can you know that your father was a painter but not remember his name?" Silverwing finally understood that Solus¡¯s memory was as damaged as the tower.

    She had spoken out of sincere worry, but Solus¡¯s pained expression at those words made Lochra feel as if her heart was being squeezed in a vise.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Epphy, I didn¡¯t mean to be so insensitive. First, I¡¯ll answer to all your questions and then you¡¯ll exin to me what has happened to you. Deal?"

    "Deal." Solus offered her hand, receiving another smothering embrace instead.

    "Your father¡¯s name was Threin. He was just a painter who didn¡¯t practice magic except what he needed for his work and for taking care of you. He learned water magic to be able to draw exactly as he imagined, light magic to treat your baby colics, and darkness magic to keep you clean." Silverwing chuckled at the memory.

    "How did Mom and Dad meet?" Solus asked.

    "Your father was an oddball and your mother was even worse. Neither of them cared much for social status or etiquette. They met by chance at painting sses. I forced Ripha to get a hobby and toe out of herb.

    "Since she liked working with her hands and always considered herself an artist, they became immediately rivals."

    "Was Mom that good?" Solus¡¯s eyes shined with pride at the idea.

    "Gods, no. At three years you drew better than she did after several sses. It was just Ripha being overlypetitive, like always. She could barely hold a brush properly her whole life.

    "Your father never got angry with Ripha for her boasting and tried to teach her, but to no avail. The only thing he got from all those private lessons was to spend a lot of time with her until your Mom fell in love and asked him out." Lochra replied.

    "How old were they?" Solus asked.

    "Your mother was over 200 years old and your father was 22 when they started dating and they married three yearster. You arrived after their 10th anniversary because your Mom always had a new project in the works and she was terrified at the idea of how much time taking care of a baby would require.

    "Heck, to get Ripha out of herb, your father requested my help more than once to kidnap her. Literally."

 Chapter 1190 Long Waited Reunion Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1190 Long Waited Reunion Part 4</h4>

    "I had devised this special set of chains to keep Ripha at a table long enough to have a proper date." Thinking back at those times when Mogar still made sense, Silverwingughed with joy.

    Her words conjured some of Solus¡¯s lost memories where she sat with her parents for their anniversary or birthdays and the chains kept Menadion from rushing back into herb the moment she had a sudden inspiration until she finally gave up.

    Those visions showed Solus how happy her family had been, making herugh as well for a few seconds before stopping abruptly. Hearing so many details about her past brought Solus happiness, but also worry.

    ¡¯My parents got married after three years. Lith¡¯s third anniversary with Kam is drawing nearer by the day. Will it happen for them as well?¡¯ She thought.

    "I have only a few memories left, but none of Dad. What happened to him? Did he die of old age?" Solus said.

    "No. Against my better judgment, your mother Awakened Threin so that they could get old and watch you grow into a powerful mage together." At those words, sadness veiled Silverwing¡¯s eyes.

    "He only used the breathing techniques to extend his life, but he never practiced magic seriously nor did he train his body."

    "What do you mean, against your better judgment? What¡¯s wrong with Awakening the person you love?" Solus would have been outraged if not for the sincere sorrow Silverwing showed.

    "For an Awakened, magic must be second nature because once the mana core goes past orange, each breakthrough bes exponentially more dangerous. Your father needed help to survive reaching the green core and I warned them over and over that from then, things would only get worse.

    "Yet your father had undying faith in your mother¡¯s skill just like Ripha believed she could control everything simply by keeping his condition in check. Threin started practicing magic only after Ripha Awakened you at the age of six and only to be able to fly with both you and your mother.

    "You¡¯ve always been a gifted child and with Ripha¡¯s teachings, it took you barely a month to learn the first three tiers of magic. You spent so much time in the sky and your mother was such an airhead that without Threin, you would¡¯ve lost your way countless times.

    "At some point, we all suspected that you did it on purpose, to get the attention of at least one of your parents." Lochra sighed. "It happened too fast for anyone to intervene. One moment you were ying tag with Threin, the next he was gone."

    "Gone how?" Solus started to sob, feeling a forgotten sense of guilt resurface through the sands of time.

    "The constant use of magic hastened his core development and he had already reached the bright green core. When the breakthrough to cyan started, it only took one pulse of mana to make his body burst."

    "We arrived at the scene the moment you pressed the emergency call on your clothes, but it was already toote. You begged us to save him, yet all that remained of Threin was a newborn Abomination.

    "His desire to not leave you was so strong that he refused death, at least until he saw me and Ripha shielding your small figure still covered in his blood with our bodies. Only then did Threin understand what had happened and let himself fade away."

    "I thank the gods every single day for the strength he showed by not forcing me to kill him and you to see him die again." Silverwing¡¯s eyes shed warm tears but her voice remained firm and her face betrayed no emotion.

    "Did I kill my Dad? Would he be still alive if I didn¡¯t fly around so much?" Solus asked.

    "No, you didn¡¯t. It was just a matter of time and the reason why I didn¡¯t want Ripha to Awaken Threin. Yet you were too small to understand it. You med yourself for forcing him to y with you so often and your mother for being absent, like always, when your father needed her the most.

    "Ripha med herself as well and never remarried. Since she couldn¡¯t give you any sibling, she took in many apprentices, hoping that they would fill the void in your lives and help you to ovee your grief." Lochra replied.

    "What happened after that?"

    "You smiled much less and studied much more. Even though you always resented your mother, you became just like her, spending all of your time practicing magic and training your body.

    "You faced every breakthrough like a battle as if you wanted to get revenge for what had happened to Threin. You grew considering your fellow apprentices as rivals rather than friends and never let anyone into your life." Lochra said.

    "Did I date?"

    "Yes, but you refused anyone who had yet to reach the blue core, afraid that they would suffer the same fate as your father. It limited your suitors quite a bit since only powerful Awakened fit the bill.

    "Most of them you dumped because they were just using you to get to your mother." Silverwing said.

    "What about the others? The ones I loved and who loved me back?"

    "You dumped them nheless. The more you liked someone, the more the scene of your father¡¯s death would sh before your eyes whenever you were...

    "How do you kids say it these days? Getting intimate? Going for the fifth year? Letting them inside your chamber of secrets?"

    "I get it, please stop!" Solus turned to a shade of purple and so did all the lights in the tower. "How do you know all this stuff about my personal life?"

    "Because you told me, Epphy. Being your rtionship with your motherplicated at best, who do you think you asked for advice about crushes, love, and sex?" Lochra said.

    "How old I was when I... disappeared?"

    "Twenty-eight and believe me when I say that you were a prodigy. You reached the violet core by yourself at twenty and your genius rivaled that of your mother. You were so ahead of your peers that I still don¡¯t get who or what could have bested both you and Ripha.

    "Now it¡¯s your turn to tell me your side of the story." Lochra said.

    Solus told her everything she remembered about the time before meeting Lith, which didn¡¯t amount to much. Silverwing shuddered every time Solus described the fear and istion from her core getting weaker by the day to her.

    Then, she met Protector and Lith. Silverwing expected her to express even more pain while recounting the time when she had no body and no freedom, forced to live in the shadows like an Abomination.

    Yet Solus smiled a lot while talking about Lith¡¯s family and spoke about the years they had spent together with such tenderness that it sent cold shivers down Lochra¡¯s spine.

    Solus made no mention of Lith¡¯s reincarnations, but shared with her godmother her worries about his life force and her ns to find a way to fix it. While they talked, Solus unconsciously searched for his hand more than once and she caressed his scaly head from time to time.

    "Kid, I¡¯m going to be honest with you. Are you insane or what?" Silverwing stood up so abruptly and her voice held such contempt that Solus instinctively started to weave her best spells.

 Chapter 1191 A Worried Parent Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1191 A Worried Parent Part 1</h4>

    Until that moment, Solus¡¯s long-lost aunt had spoken with nothing but affection whereas now she sounded like an angry parent.

    "You¡¯ve let this guy control your life for almost twenty years. While you lived like a pariah, he exploited your genius to pursue his agenda and rack merits that he didn¡¯t deserve.

    "Yet even now that you¡¯re on the verge of getting your body back you want to make him immortal? Do you realize that once it happens, you¡¯ll be forever bound to him and with no chance of regaining your freedom?

    "Your tower half makes you strong, but it also forces you to a condition simr to someone who wears a ve cor. If tomorrow he asks you to bark, you will bark, and don¡¯t get me started about much more disgusting stuff.

    "This is not what your mother wanted for you. Ripha would never let you waste your life following Mister Murder here." Silverwing said.

    "You don¡¯t know him! Your judgment is unfair. Lith spent countless hours trying to fix my condition or at least to offer me a real body!" Solus replied with anger.

    "Really? And what did he achieve? Nothing! How much time did he spend caring for himselfpared to what he did for you? We both know that the answer is: a lot. Do you think he would be as kind as you if your positions were reversed?" Silverwing asked.

    "Maybe and maybe not. What I know for sure is that Lith did everything in his power to help me regain my strength, it¡¯s just that we have no idea what to do except for waiting. He offered to provide me with an undead body or a golem, but I refused of my own will."

    "That¡¯s exactly my point!" Silvering couldn¡¯t understand how someone so brilliant could have turned out so blind. "He¡¯s a brat who has no idea what he¡¯s doing. Sure, not even I have a clue about what the heck Ripha did to you, but the difference between our prowess is the same between heaven and earth.

    "My white core would make you recover much faster and bybining my centuries of knowledge with the power of the tower, it¡¯s only a matter of time before Ie to a solution. Worst case scenario, you¡¯d still be free.

    "I¡¯m already powerful as I am, I would never mess with your life, and I would never stop searching for a cure. You would still need toe to me to recharge from time to time, but once the tower goes back to full power, there¡¯s no telling how much autonomy you¡¯ll obtain.

    "Your human body couldst weeks, if not months. If you stay with him, instead, he¡¯d always put himself first. Not only your recovery will be slow, but also there is no telling how much suffering you¡¯d have to endure.

    "You¡¯d be forced to see him building his life while all you can do is watch from the shadows, holding back your feelings because no one can reciprocate them as long as you are stuck in this condition.

    "To make matters worse, even if Lith managed to split you from the tower, would you really leave your mother¡¯s legacy, her masterpiece and final gift for you in the hands of a stranger?

    "The best thing to do is to get rid of him now. If he ever achieves Guardianhood or even a white core, you might be bound to him forever. I¡¯m not going to let my beloved goddaughter rot as the ve of this Abomination." Silverwing raised her hand while curling her upper lip in disgust.

    "He¡¯s only one-third Abomination." Solus stood defiant in front of Lochra, shielding the unconscious Lith with her body. "I don¡¯t care what you think. He¡¯s my only family, my other half, and I love him more than words can express. I¡¯m not going to let you kill him."

    "Love?" Lochra echoed with contempt. "You¡¯ve lost your memories, your personality, and got stuck to the first moron that picked you up. It¡¯s obvious that you convinced yourself you loved him. The mind does the strangest things to survive.

    "I¡¯ve seen it happen countless times with ves before they got freed. They all ¡¯loved¡¯ their master because it was the only way to make their misery bearable."

    "I¡¯m not a ve and my feelings are true!" Solus¡¯s voice seethed with rage.

    "Really? How many people have you dated since you two have bonded? How many men or women have you let into your life that didn¡¯t receive Lith¡¯s approval just because you felt a connection with them?" Silverwing asked.

    "None, but only because I didn¡¯t have a body. I-"

    "You have no idea what love is, my child. You only know your cage and mistook the relief from loneliness and hunger for affection. Now get out of my way and I promise you that I¡¯ll give him a painless death." Silverwing cut her short and prepared one of her best spells.

    She had no animosity toward Lith. Based on what she had heard, he didn¡¯t taint Elphyn¡¯s soul with inhuman acts nor did he force her to be his toy. Yetpared to the well-being of her beloved goddaughter, the life of morally questionable Awakened was irrelevant.

    "You¡¯re not going to do anything like that!" Solus grabbed Silverwing¡¯s wrist, twisting it away from Lith while she channeled all the world energy from the tower into her body.

    "Elphyn Althena Menadion, unhand me immediately." Silverwing found herself unable to move, let alone to break free from Solus¡¯s vise-like grip.

    ¡¯It doesn¡¯t make any sense. She¡¯s shorter and lighter than me. On top of that, her beautiful bright violet core has been reduced to deep cyan whereas I have a white core. How can she be this powerful?¡¯ She thought while using her breathing technique, Ascension.

    "I told you countless times, my name is Solus!" The small golden figure threw the silver-haired woman like a rag doll, sending Lochra to crash against the wall and squeezing the air out of her lungs.

    ¡¯Good gods. Ripha, what did you do to your daughter?¡¯ Silverwing thought while Ascension provided her with information that didn¡¯t make sense.

    Even though the tower had yet to fully recover, Solus¡¯s mass far exceeded that of a normal Emperor Beast, resembling that of the offspring of a Guardian. Moreover, she had both a mana core and a power core that worked in synch making it hard to understand the depth of her power.

    "Who the heck do you think you are to barge here, inside my house, and tell me how to live my life?" Solus unleashed several pirs of golden hard-light constructs streaked with emerald energy all over.

    They attacked Silverwing from every side, yet all she needed was a wave of her hand to shatter them and counter with a twin-headed spear construct of her own, aimed at both Lith¡¯s heart and head.

    "This is how you mix spirit magic with Light Mastery, child."

    Solus made the fragments of light reassemble into a thick shieldprised of severalyers while attacking Lochra with the next best thing to a Raging Nova. Fire, air, and earth magic struck at the First Magus making the tower walls tremble, yet not a single ripple spread to the outside world.

 Chapter 1192 A Worried Parent Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1192 A Worried Parent Part 2</h4>

    Lochra¡¯s tier five Spirit Magic spell, Silver Spire, created a thick, tall barrier that not only dispersed the impact by spinning at high speed, but it also absorbed the shockwave, sending it right back to its caster.

    The spear slowly pierced through the shields like a drill through a wall while the sudden blow from her own spell threw Solus off bnce. She quickly recovered, unleashing a tier five spell against the spear.

    ¡¯That barrier offers her great protection, but as long as she keeps it up, she can¡¯t attack either.¡¯ Solus thought as Stormnado created a whirlwind filled with darkness magic that engulfed the construct.

    The spell both altered the trajectory of the spear and corroded it, reducing its power.

    "Thanks for your help, child." Silverwing twirled his hand, making the spear spin so fast that it altered Stormnado¡¯s momentum, sending it through the shields and against Lith.

    "You should have known that your own magic can¡¯t harm neither you nor your spells, but the same isn¡¯t true for hi-" She choked on her words when the spell passed through Lith as well, without doing him any harm.

    "You should have listened to me earlier. I told you that we are as one." Solus said. "If you really care for me, then stop this madness. You could be our mentor, teach us what we need and work with us to find a cure to my condition."

    "And give away my knowledge to someone I don¡¯t know, don¡¯t trust, and who could potentially hold you hostage forever? No thanks." Silverwing acted cool, but her mind was in disarray.

    ¡¯This makes no sense. When Epphy told me about their fusion, I thought she referred to the tower¡¯s battle form. Artifacts can hurt their owners. I¡¯ve killed lots of mages on their own de, why is the tower so different now?¡¯ She thought.

    Solus noticed her confusion and exploited it to switch to close quarterbat. Each one of her fists hit the barrier with the strength of a copsing building, filling the Silver Spire with cracks.

    ¡¯Even if I had ess to a real mana geyser, mybat experience is insignificantpared to that of the First Magus.¡¯ Solus thought. ¡¯My only option is to beat her with raw strength, ying as dirty as I can.¡¯

    "You¡¯ll never crack my barrier before- Oh, crap." For a moment, Silverwing had forgotten they were still inside the tower.

    Solus could do more than just draw power from it. The room was shrinking so that the wall pressed against the Spirit Magic barrier from all sides but the front, where Solus kept hammering at it with the speed of a gatling gun and the strength of a titan.

    Lochra had to use her full focus to keep the barrier intact while not letting the spear fade away.

    ¡¯If I get caught by that flurry of fists, I can kiss my internal organs goodbye. I don¡¯t want to hurt Epphy nor reveal her existence to the rest of Mogar, otherwise she won¡¯t have a moment of peace. Luckily, I only need to hold out until my spear hits the target.¡¯ She thought.

    s, she was right. Despite Solus¡¯s best effort, the hard-light construct had slowed down, but never stopped its movements. She could sense through her mystical senses the construct getting closer and closer to Lith.

    Her eyes burned with golden mana as she turned her distress into a fury that gave more strength and speed to her onught. The whole tower started to hum with power as Solus¡¯s feelings flooded every part of her being.

    Silverwing praised her efforts as her apparently bottomless energy made the First Magus wonder if Baba Yaga had been right to suggest she make her own tower.

    ¡¯First, I need to give back Epphy her life. Then, I must find a way to let her have Ripha¡¯s legacy. I don¡¯t want to take the tower away from her, she¡¯s already lost too much.¡¯ She thought. ¡¯What the heck is that?¡¯

    Lith¡¯s body stood up, his eyes burning with the same golden energy exuded from Solus¡¯s body. He lifted his right hand, unleashing a bolt of darkness that phased through the shields and shattered the spear before moving towards Silverwing with the speed of a bullet.

    "Leave... Solus... alone." Even in his unconscious state, Lith shared her fear as well as her determination.

    The still precarious state of his life forces turned the gue Arrow into a quasi-Chaos Arrow that shattered what remained of the Silver Spire spell, allowing Solus to mercilessly pummel at her enemy before Lochra could realize what had happened.

    Solus shattered Lochra¡¯s ribs, broke her corbone, punctured her liver, and bashed her skull. Yet she was forced to leave the job halfway because Lith¡¯s condition started to get worse again.

    "No. No. No! What have you done?" Solus yelled trying her best to keep the Abomination side from taking over the rest of the body. If that happened, even Lith¡¯s touch would be poison.

    She would never feel his hand, lose herself into the warmth of his embrace, or even suffer the pungent smell of his sweat after a long day of work ever again.

    "What I came here to do." Silverwing didn¡¯t need either healing magic or Ascension to take care of her wounds. Her body healed at a speed visible at the naked eye until no trace of her defeat remained.

    "You have all rights of hating me now, Epphy. I can only hope that with time, you¡¯ll understand that I only did it for you." She ced her hand on the wall, ready to imprint the tower the moment Lith lost his life.

    Lochra knew that bing a full Abomination would cause a change in his energy signature that would break the imprint on all of his artifacts for a split second. She had seen it happen in the past when a hybrid chose between their two life forces.

    The only thing she needed to snatch her goddaughter away was to be faster than her opponent.

    "Stop calling me like that! You have no idea who I am and what I want. If you really cared for me, you would try to make my life better instead of robbing me of the little happiness I have." Solusshed out, realizing that she couldn¡¯t do it alone.

    Yet calling Tista and Phloria was pointless. They were still too tired and the effect of Invigoration had yet to reset. Even if that wasn¡¯t the case, messing with aplex Body Sculpting procedure would take Silverwing but a sneeze.

    Solus couldn¡¯t fight and heal at the same time, not against an opponent of unfathomable power. Seeing the scales turning into shadows despite her best efforts, made Solus lose hope yet she never stopped fighting.

    "Damn you, Silverwing. Why didn¡¯t you leave me alone?" Solus¡¯s voice created a shockwave that nailed the First Magus to the wall, incapable of moving a finger.

    Lith¡¯s eyes were still golden while Solus¡¯s turned ck. A blinding sh of light spread from them leaving the stunned Silverwing in awe.

    Lith¡¯s body had disappeared and, in its stead, Solus stood over 3 meters tall. Her energy body had be that of a creature covered in golden and ck scales, both with their edges blood-red from the heat sealed within.

 Chapter 1193 Split Up Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1193 Split Up Part 1</h4>

    Two sets of membranous wings came out of Solus¡¯s back, one golden while the other was ck and upside-down like Lith¡¯s. She also had two sets of arms with the same color pattern as the wings and all fingers ended with razor-sharp ws.

    A golden tail as thick as a leg and almost twice as long came out from the small of her back, furiously whipping the air in outrage. Long horns that resembled thick tree branches rested on the sides of her head.

    The creature also had seven eyes, six of which formed a perfect circle centered around the seventh that was right above the bridge of her nose and each one of them burned with a different element.

    "What in Mogar¡¯s name did you do, Epphy?" Silverwing had a hard time believing what Life Vision showed to her eyes.

    The creature had one life force, two mana cores, respectively deep purple and bright cyan, and one power core. They all worked in synch, generating a mana flow much greater than the sum of its parts.

    "We told you that our name is Solus and we are one!" Unlike Lith, the creature was lipless and had no scales covering the fangs-filled mouth that gave them a savage appearance.

    The simple act of speaking generated shockwaves that pushed the First Magus against the wall while white mes seeped among their fangs with each word.

    "I¡¯m not going to fight you anymore, Solus. I yield." Silverwing let her white aura fade away and raised her hands in the universal gesture of peace.

    ¡¯As long as they are fused, any damage I inflict upon Lith would affect Elphyn as well. Killing him means killing her and I¡¯m not going to lose my goddaughter again. I severely underestimated Ripha¡¯s grief after losing Threin.

    ¡¯She must have researched a way to not just bind someone to an artifact so much as to create a nigh-immortal being.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know if she nned to use it on herself or just kept it as a contingency n in the case the worst happened, but if not for Elphyn¡¯s cracked core, Ripha would have created the perfect life form.

    ¡¯The cunning of a human, the mass of a titan among Emperor Beasts, and the ability to tap into Mogar¡¯s world energy at will of a mage tower. Yet due to the heavy damage sustained by her core at the moment of the fusion, when Lith imprinted the tower, he imprinted Elphyn as well!

    ¡¯It¡¯s the only possible exnation to them having the same energy signature and their ability to merge into a single being. I can¡¯t free her from her shackles until I find a way to break their bond.¡¯ Lochra thought.

    "Then get the fuck out!" Solus roared and punched the First Magus in the face, sending her flying through a Warp Steps.

    It brought Silverwing dozens of kilometers away and from there the strength of the hit kept her in the air until she reached the ocean. The First Magus bounced off the ocean¡¯s waves like a smooth pebble thrown on the surface of ake, crossing a couple of nautical miles before managing to stop.

    ¡¯This could have gone much better.¡¯ Lochra spat out a mouthful of blood as her jaw regenerated and her teeth regrew. ¡¯I underestimated both the severity of her memory loss and the power she gets from the tower, but it¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t handle.

    ¡¯The problem is breaking their bond without Elphyn hating my guts. Otherwise even if I manage to kill him and bond with her, Epphy might choose tomit suicide just to bring me down with her.¡¯

    Meanwhile, after getting rid of the impending menace, Solus was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She had to deal with her past, with her present, and with all the feelings that Lith had for Kam that the fusion forced Solus to be aware of.

    "Fuck us sideways! Let¡¯s hope that this thing didn¡¯t make Lith¡¯s life force worse." It was the first time that they used Solus¡¯s body as a base for their fusion since she never had one before.

    They cast Scanner and used Invigoration at the same time to not leave any stone unturned. Yet both showed them how theirbined life forces looked like, providing them with more questions than answers.

    The ck sphere had turned into an elliptical void, at the center of which burned a bright violet star. Countless smaller stars of different colors surrounded it, and each one of the stars shared some kind of link with the others and with the dark space around them as well.

    The violet star received the energy from the smaller ones, amplifying it before sending it back, and they all pulsed in unison with the void. The darkness didn¡¯t just feed upon the stars, it also kept them apart so that each one of them could grow without colliding with the others.

    ¡¯Is this a gxy?¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t think so. There are only stars with nos or asteroids of any sort.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡¯For what it¡¯s worth, I feel much better. How are you, Solus?¡¯

    ¡¯I¡¯m a frigging mess. On the one hand, I¡¯m happy that at least one member of my family is still alive and that she¡¯s willing to go to such lengths to help me. On the other hand, I want to kill aunt Loka for what she said about us and what she tried to do.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯I can¡¯t really me her for that. If you were my daughter, I would¡¯ve done the same thing. Most of what Silverwing said is right and she had no way to be sure that I treated you as a partner instead that as a ve.¡¯ Lith didn¡¯t need to project a single image in her mind to make Solus shudder.

    She had lived long enough to know what happened to those robbed of their free will. Quy, the Odi¡¯s living golems, and the prisoners of all living legacies were an unforgettable memory of the madness that very caused.

    ¡¯I guess you¡¯re right. I can¡¯t me her for assuming the worst because it¡¯s the most logical scenario. Aunt Loka would need a long time to be sure that I¡¯m really happy and not just broken by years of abuse.¡¯ Solus sighed.

    ¡¯It¡¯s worse than that. She would have no way to distinguish between your will and the thoughts that I might nt into your mind through our mind link. Our rtionship is so odd that it¡¯s really hard to believe.¡¯ Lith said.

    ¡¯Yeah. My family thinks that I¡¯m your ve while yours would assume that you are my puppet, like everyone but Tista did when they found out about me.¡¯

    ¡¯Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m royally pissed off that Silverwing tried to kill me, just like I hate when people assume you¡¯re a monster because of your stone body. Yet I can understand their point of view.¡¯ Lith said.

    ¡¯My family now knows all about cursed objects like Dawn, the ck Star, and the Golden Griffon. Every single living legacy I met tried to put me under their spell and my family wouldn¡¯t trust my word about you being different.

    ¡¯On top of that, we are both humans, so everyone who loves one of us will always assume the worst about the other since we could be subjected to mind control.¡¯

 Chapter 1194 Split Up Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1194 Split Up Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯Enough with this please.¡¯ Solus felt on the verge of tears. ¡¯I¡¯ve dreamed about meeting your family for years and if they were to treat me as aunt Loka did to you, I don¡¯t know if I could take it.

    ¡¯Right now, the only thing I want is to split up and get some personal space. This situation is too awkward.¡¯ Solus studied her image in the mirror, wondering why she looked so simr to Lith¡¯s hybrid form yet so different.

    ¡¯Awkward how? If that was true, our fusion would¡¯ve already broken.¡¯ Lith said.

    ¡¯Our emotions are tangled up in what I can only describe as a warm embrace. I can¡¯t get angry because you calm me down. I can¡¯t cry for what just happened because you make me happy. Yet it also feels akin to standingpletely bare in front of you in both mind and body.¡¯ Solus replied.

    ¡¯Same here.¡¯ Lith replied. He didn¡¯t feel like plotting contingency ns against Silverwing while being outraged from the umpteenth undeserved bump in his path because all he felt was peace. ¡¯Do you want me to take out the big guns?¡¯

    ¡¯Yes, please.¡¯

    Lith took out hismunication amulet and stared at Kam¡¯s rune. Their vision blurred for a second and then they found themselves back into their respective body.

    "Wait. First I want to check your life force and I want you to tell me how I look." Solus grabbed his hand to dy the call.

    "I¡¯m sorry. Maybe it¡¯s because we¡¯ve got ess only to a fraction of the mana geyser, but you¡¯re no different than usual." Lith shared his vision with her and all Solus could see was a face made of light.

    "Well, at least I¡¯ve got good news." Invigoration showed them that Lith¡¯s life forces had returned to their peak condition.

    The cracks in the human side were exactly as they remembered them while the Abomination and Beast side seemed to have further merged, bing more stable.

    "It seems that just like it happens for our cores, bing one enhances our life forces as well." Solus said.

    "I may not look different, but I feel different. I think that the excess light energy that still bloated your Abomination side has been absorbed by the tower, enhancing my recovery."

    Lith nodded and pressed the rune, anxious to understand how much of what he was still feeling was Solus and how much depended on himself. It was the middle of the night in Jiera and almost noon for Kam.

    She was swamped in reports that she had to read while cross-referencing suspicious activities with Archmage Deirus¡¯s known associates, in the hope of bringing him down once and for all.

    s, Jirni seemed to have finally found a match for her skill. Deiruscked her cunning and ingenuity, but he made up for it with long preparations and obsession. Jirni worked as an Archon, making Deirus just one of her cases whereas the Archmage poured his full focus on her.

    "That bastard wasn¡¯t just bragging when he told me I wouldn¡¯t find anything against him. I¡¯ve looked into his affairs back to when Yurial was still alive and I¡¯ve yet to find anything incriminating." Jirni said to Kam, treating the Royal Guards standing in the room with them as if they were statues.

    "He¡¯s even obeying the Royal decree that orders him to cut ties with his associates until further notice, but this might actually work against him. Remember, when you can¡¯t touch a tree¡¯s bark nor its roots, you can still scorch the earth around it."

    She referred to a Royal Constable¡¯s tactic to ignore their real target and investigate their business partners instead. People like Deirus were thorough and meticulous, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for his retainers.

    Best case scenario, Jirni would find proof of their wrongdoings and force them to give her whatever evidence they held against Deirus to keep him from using them as scapegoats in the case things went south.

    Worst case scenario, she would erode the foundations of his political power and deprive Deirus of his most loyal allies. Despite all of his magic, even an Archmage was just one man.

    Her n was to drive him into a corner and force him to do something stupid.

    Jirni¡¯s eyes carefully studied the footnotes of thetest batch of documents she had confiscated while her hands marked any inconsistency that she found yet her mind pictured only the moment she would get her hands on Deirus.

    She could almost smell and taste his blood gushing out of a broken body.

    Almost.

    Kam¡¯s amulet broke both Jirni¡¯s daydream and focus, yet she didn¡¯t mind because she recognized the rune blinking on its surface.

    "It¡¯s about time. I want to talk with him once you¡¯re done." Jirni had no idea Phloria was on the other side of the ocean so not hearing from her in thest few days had made her fear the worse.

    "Is it a problem if I take a break? This might take a while." Kam knew all about their trip and she was worried sick.

    "Take all the time you need because I¡¯ll do the same." Jirni replied

    ¡¯I don¡¯t really believe the "out of sight, out of mind" saying, but the fact that Lith is living with his ex while surrounded by gorgeous looking Emperor Beasts is driving me crazy. Also, I need to tell him about what happened during his absence.¡¯

    Kam thought while a Royal Guard apanied her to a secure room where she could have some privacy.

    Meanwhile, Jirni called Professor Vastor, hoping to finally manage to get in touch with him. She didn¡¯t know about him being the Master nor the reason behind his prolonged absence.

    ¡¯Manohar is a fickle ally at best whereas ever since Deirus started to mess with Phloria¡¯s life, Zogar has been her staunch defender. Without him, the White Griffon would have never picked our side in the Court.¡¯ She thought.

    "Archon Ernas, it¡¯s nice to see you again." Vastor replied, putting Jirni¡¯s poker face to the test.

    His hologram was exactly as she remembered it, that of a short man in his mid-sixties barely over 1.55 meters (5¡¯1") tall. The top of his head waspletely bald while the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar mustaches.

    After bing interim Headmaster, he had slimmed down enough to not look like an egg anymore, but his physique together with his pure white robe, made him still resemble a real-life Humpty Dumpty.

    If Humpty Dumpty had suddenly turned from the character of a nursery rhyme to that of a horror story.

    Jirni knew that behind Vastor¡¯s well-fed appearance hid one of the most well-kept secrets of the Kingdom and the only Highmaster of their generation, yet she had a hard time recognizing her ally.

    Even through the hologram, his figure exuded a power that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. On top of that, everything from his posture to the light behind his eyes didn¡¯t match how she remembered him.

    There was no trace of his smoldering rage nor of his inferiorityplex towards his colleagues. Vastor was dejected no more, brimming with self-confidence and moving with a vitality that not even Rejuvenation magic could grant.

 Chapter 1195 The Devil You Know Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1195 The Devil You Know Part 1</h4>

    "You got us worried, Vastor." Neither her voice nor smile betrayed Jirni¡¯s surprise. "Did you got your old ass kicked so hard by the undead that you needed a vacation to restore your wounded pride or what?"

    "Or what." He replied. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

    Jirni brought him up to speed before asking for his help against Deirus. She had no idea if she was really talking with Zogar Vastor or just with someone wearing his husk, but there was only one way to find out.

    ¡¯If he really has fallen in love with Kam¡¯s sister like the Court gossip says, maybe saving her life and the undead bringing him to the brink of death helped Zogar to ovee his weakness.

    ¡¯That or the experiencepletely broke him and drove him insane. Whatever happened to him, I need to understand if itpromised his usefulness or if it just made him into an even better asset.¡¯ She thought.

    "That damn fool. When will he understand that nothing can bring Yurial back, no matter what he does?" Vastor snarled, returning to his old self. He hated those who stood in the path of greatness of others out of petty reasons.

    He was tired of seeing the mediocre thriving only because the Kingdom seemed to abandon talented mages the moment that they didn¡¯t serve their purpose any longer, just like it had happened to him.

    "I might be able to help you with Deirus for good, but it requires patience and discretion. We should discuss such matters privately, away from prying ears." He said while looking at the Royal Guards.

    "Fine by me. Just tell me when and where." Jirni doubted that Vastor could provide her with anything that Balkor and Manohar couldn¡¯t, but she had nothing to lose by trying.

    "I¡¯ll call you as soon as I¡¯m able to move again. My wounds run deep and have reached my life force." Vastor knew that not even Body Sculpting could fool someone like Jirni or Manohar.

    Yet a damaged life force would exin any anomaly they might notice in his behavior which coupled with Rejuvenation was the perfect cover for his newfound physical prowess.

    "There is no rush. Time is by my side. Take care of yourself, Vastor." Jirni ended the call and started examining every detail of Vastor¡¯s recent life.

    Time was indeed by her side. The more Deirus waited to make his move, the weaker his social and political standing would be due to Jirni weeding out his foundations.

    The more Vastor made her wait, the longer Jirni had to understand if she was still dealing with a devil that she knew or a new one that she had to subdue.

    ***

    "Sorry if I didn¡¯t call you earlier. Things on Jiera are much worse than I assumed and I ran into oneplication after another." Lith said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, the important thing is that you are alright." Kam sighed in relief hearing his voice calm and strong as she remembered it.

    "Uhm, about that..." Lith had no idea how to break the news to her but he didn¡¯t want to lie either.

    "I should have known it the moment I saw your scaly mug! You got in trouble and risked your life again."

    "Yes, but-"

    "No buts. Show me your other face so that I can understand when you¡¯re not telling me the truth." She cut him short.

    Even though they spent a lot of time together, the scales made Lith¡¯s expressions non-existent and his hybrid form¡¯s voice sounded the same, no matter if he spoke sweet words or death threats.

    Lith shapeshifted into his human form and told her all that had happened since their arrival, letting out only the parts about Solus and their sh with Lochra Silverwing. Keeping such a big secret from her pained him deeply and made him want toe clear with her atst.

    She deserved it and so did Solus. Yet it would have to wait for their return.

    "Good gods. How is your life force now?" Kam asked.

    "Much better than I could possibly hope. If not for the presence of so many Awakened who helped Tista and Phloria taking care of me, I doubt I would have recovered so quickly." Lith said.

    "I must send a Hydra-sizedsagna to Faluel as a thank-you gift for her lessons about Shapeshifting." Kam said with a chuckle.

    "She gave your sister the opportunity to practice on your life force. Being unique is great only until the moment you need help. You should give her a nice gift as well since she¡¯s the only reason you¡¯re still human."

    "I definitely should." Lith shuddered at the idea of turning into an Abomination and being forced to join the Master¡¯s ranks. "I¡¯ll craft something for her first thing in the morning-"

    "Like heck you will." Kam cut him short. "This is just like after Kh so you¡¯ll follow Quy¡¯s old prescription and take at least three full days of rest from magic. I forbid you to even light a candle."

    "How am I supposed to pass my trial of wisdom without magic?" Lith replied in horror.

    "Knowing when to take a break and avoiding unnecessary risks sounds pretty wise to me." Kam¡¯s reply received a huge thumbs up from Solus, making Lith inwardly curse.

    When the two of them agreed on something, it usually meant that he was dead wrong.

    "I¡¯ll die of boredom. What am I supposed to do for three days?" He desperately tried to escape from his impending fate.

    "First, death by boredom is not really terminal. Second, you could go out and know new people, learn a few recipes that we could try together, andst but not least, you could call me more often. I could use somepany."

    The pain in her voice made Lith understand that something had happened.

    "What¡¯s wrong, Kami? What is that you¡¯re not telling me?" He asked.

    "Compared to your condition, it¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t worry and rest." She sighed.

    The problem with having a boyfriend who risked his life every other day was that not only did Kam worried a lot, but she also felt like her personal issues became irrelevant due to Lith¡¯s unique existence.

    "Kami, I¡¯m not going to be able to rx until you tell me what¡¯s wrong. I¡¯m kind of paranoid, remember?" He said.

    "Fine. It¡¯s my parents. They must have heard about your silver mines and now are trying to creep back into our lives." Kam felt a huge burden being lifted from her chest.

    "Our lives as in me and you or you and Zinya?" He asked.

    "Both. You know Zinya. She has a soft spot for family and she feels guilty for not letting her children see their grandparents. I don¡¯t want to have anything to do with them, but she doesn¡¯t know them as I do.

    "My parents always treated her like a princess because of her beauty and when they arranged her marriage with Fallmug, they convinced her it was in her best interest. Zinya¡¯s blindness made it impossible for her to have a normal life and my family couldn¡¯t afford the care she needed.

    "I never told her that our parents only pretended to not know that Fallmug beat her, nor that they are the reason why I joined the army." Kam covered her eyes while sadness made her shoulders slouch.

 Chapter 1196 The Devil You Know Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1196 The Devil You Know Part 2</h4>

    "Why did you keep it a secret?" Lith asked.

    "How could I tell Zinya that her beloved parents had sold her like cattle just like they tried to do with me? She already had a hard life and I didn¡¯t want to shatter her illusion of having more than just her sister by her side." Kam replied.

    "After she became able to see and took myst name, I didn¡¯t tell her either because I thought it was the end of it. I would have never imagined that my parents would have the gall toe to Lutia and introduce themselves."

    "They did what?" Lith had a hard time not making another call to put Kam¡¯s parents on his hit-list. Many people in both the Kingdom and the Council would be d to take out two shady merchants just to curry his favor.

    "Those bastards used our iing third anniversary toe and ask your parents if we were already nning something. Elina was so happy to have someone who would join her plea for a grandchild or two that I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell her the truth.

    "Elina and Zinya were so happy and I was too ashamed of my family to do more than damage control. I¡¯m sorry, this is all my fault. If I had been more honest from the start, none of this would have happened.

    "You were right on our first date. Starting a rtionship on a lie never works." Her voice broke, but she managed to not cry.

    Lith had walked a marathon in her shoes back on Earth so he understood how Kam felt. He had never talked about his first parents with anyone because he considered the matter closed after being emancipated, just like Kam did.

    "You didn¡¯t lie to me nor to my parents. I know all your story since our first date while Mom and Dad simply respected your privacy. They didn¡¯t talk to you about Orpal and Trion either, but not because they have any ill will, it¡¯s just that those names still bring them a lot of pain.

    "Just tell them the truth and they¡¯ll understand. Our families have more inmon than we would like." Lith smiled, trying to reassure her, before saying: "Do you want me to ask Faluel to eat your parents? Who knows, maybe they taste likesagna."

    "Thanks, but I think they taste like shit and I don¡¯t want to give her stomachache." Kam said with a small smile. "I¡¯ll go fix this mess as soon as I¡¯m done with work, it can¡¯t wait any longer."

    They kept chatting, drawing strength from each other until the Jirni knocked on the door, tired of waiting.

    ***

    Jiera Continent, ex-city of Hervor, inside Thrud¡¯s mansion.

    After Jakra, the Emerald Dragon had joined her, the Mad Queen at first had thought about rebuilding her city and made it a safe haven for humans. To use Hervor as a field test about how to restore order after destroying the Royal Court.

    Thrud didn¡¯t expect people to just sit tight and obey her everymand just because she had killed the usurpers to her throne. She was aware that, without the Royals, the Griffon Kingdom was likely to split into three factions.

    The Mage Association would likely push toward a ruling system simr to the Gorgon Empire, if not even being annexed to it. The Army, instead, would fight to seize the power for itself while the noble families that would try to restore the Kingdom by putting themselves on the throne.

    "If I let the civil war happen, I can count myself lucky if I keep one third of the Griffon Kingdom. The Army would rather join an outstanding general like Sark than submit to me and the Association would go to the Empire, leaving me with the crumbs.

    "With no military strength nor magical knowledge, my newborn Kingdom wouldn¡¯tst more than a few weeks. To avoid that, I need overwhelming strength so to force the key members of all three factions to submit before the situation spirals out of control.

    "Moreover, whoever emerges victorious will have to face the threat of the Undead Courts and the Master¡¯s Organization. If they have half a brain, they will not miss the chance to strike while the Kingdom is at its weakest." Thrud said.

    "That¡¯s not true, my Queen. You already have overwhelming strength. The Golden Griffon academy will stand by your side and so will I. It will provide you with not only faithful servants, but it will also allow you to convert your enemies into allies.

    "I already exined to you how the ve array of the academy makes all of its students submit to your will. The Golden Griffon has its own army,prised only of powerful mages with centuries of battle experience and study of magic.

    "On top of that, it only takes your most powerful enemies a brief stay inside Huryole to end up swelling the ranks of your army." Jakra said.

    The Emerald Dragon stood by her side in front of a huge map of the Garlen continent and traced with his finger a path that would lead the lost academy to pass through the biggest army camps before reaching Valeron, the capital of the Kingdom.

    "I considered that already, but it¡¯s not enough." Thrud shook her head, making her long hair hit his nose and making his mind go nk for a second with its sweet scent.

    The Mad Queen was 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with hip-length ash blonde hair that framed the delicate features of her oval face. Her rosy skin was wless, emphasizing the contrast between her silver eyes and her full red lips.

    Not even the thick training suit she wore to spar with her general could hide her soft curves or the sensual grace of every one of her moves. Thrud had inherited a big part of Tyris¡¯s beauty, which made her a gorgeous woman even before she underwent Arthan¡¯s Madness time and time again.

    Not only did the machine refine her body simrly to what happened to an Awakened during a breakthrough, but it also filtered out the human portion of her blood while enhancing Tyris¡¯s with each cycle.

    "No matter how powerful the Golden Griffon is, it¡¯s still an artifact as old as the knowledge it holds. Magic has progressed so much from its creation that to truly exploit the power of my soldiers, I first need to teach them modern magic.

    "On top of that, I expect my opponents to go all-out. Which means facing Royal Guards and all the powerful magical items that the various factions have developed over time.

    "I doubt I¡¯ll put even a dent on Valeron¡¯s walls if I don¡¯t provide my warriors with the proper tools. To do that, I need to hoard huge amounts of magical metals and powerful mana crystals so that as soon as I teach Royal Forgemastery to my subjects, they can start mass produce them." Thrud said.

    Jakra would have liked to exploit Thrud¡¯s ego and make her underestimate the Kingdom, but the same spell that forced him to be loyal also made him appreciate her tactical mind.

 Chapter 1197 A Powerful Master Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1197 A Powerful Master Part 1</h4>

    "You are right. Huryole has plenty of books, but its vault is limited and before I made my escape there wasn¡¯t much left. The Headmaster granted Orichalcum and crystals only to the best students and our magic is outdated since we never shared our discoveries among ourselves. We treated each other as food." Jakra said.

    "That¡¯s why I decided to not rebuild Hervor." Thrud said. "Jiera is a dead continent and to take care of my subjects, I wouldn¡¯t have the time I need to prepare for the final battle.

    "We¡¯ll use my city to train ourselves and stockpile the resources we need. During my time as the local Lord, I discovered plenty of hidden mines of Adamant and mana crystal. They will give us everything we need."

    "You did?" Jakra was bbergasted.

    "Okay, fine. I actually just bought the information about their location from the ck-market smugglers and the clerks of the various countries." She admitted with a chuckle.

    "I couldn¡¯t make use of this information before because there was no way to mine much by myself without getting caught. I couldn¡¯t afford to blow my cover nor could I face entire armies alone.

    "Now, however, I¡¯m the only one who knows where the mines are and the members of Jiera¡¯s Councilck the manpower to check the whole territory. I¡¯ve already singled out the mines they aren¡¯t aware of and dug out enough to make your equipment."

    Thrud shook a ne made of dimensional rings, making a mountain of Adamant appear out of thin air, right next to another of violet crystals.

    "Making a suit of armor for a Dragon is a waste of metal. It takes a powerful artifact to hurt me." Jakra would have bit his own tongue, but the ve spell forced him to be honest.

    "Then my creation will make you invincible." Thrud said.

    "I¡¯m not up to date with thetest Royal Forgemastery breakthroughs, but between what my mother took away before our escape, what I learned by injecting my puppies inside the bodies of Forgemasters, and what I learned on my own I doubt that there are many on my level." Thrud said.

    Jakra nodded, realizing that her n could actually seed. It had taken him just a few weeks to teach Thrud everything that he had learned in his centuries of unrelenting study of magic while he was captive inside the Golden Griffon.

    After a few months of practice, Thrud had managed to master her newfound abilities, and then she had taught him modern magic. Not only did she help Jakra to realize how outdated his knowledge was, but she also improved all of his techniques beyond his wildest imagination.

    The process had allowed Thrud to find the best way to write the books that would convey all the information about the modern world and magic that her subjects would need once freed from the array trapping them inside Huryole.

    Once she brought her immortal army up to speed with thetest magical breakthroughs and provided them with cutting-edge equipment, stopping Thrud would take the strength of a Guardian. On top of that, the worst had yet toe.

    Between the knowledge that Arthan had entrusted her about fake Awakening and that passed down the Emerald Dragon bloodline, Jakra was close to understanding the secret of Awakening.

    "Why don¡¯t you wait for me toplete my research? Once you Awaken, your powers will be iparable to now." He said.

    "That would be too risky. You might survive Awakening if Mogar helps you, but I¡¯d die for sure. I forbid you to Awaken until we unlock the Golden Griffon. Once we get there, we¡¯ll share the secret with the others and we¡¯ll use the arrays of the academy to make sure that everyone Awakens safely." She replied.

    "My Queen, I¡¯m not worthy of your attention. Why do you care so much for me?" Jakra¡¯s logical mind found it absurd her care for his survival. An Awakened Dragon would serve the cause much better than his current state.

    He knew the risks that Awakening implied for someone with a bright blue core and Jakra actually wanted to live, but the ve spell made him willing to throw his life away for her.

    "Because you¡¯re my first true friend, my loyal general, and the father of our child." She gave him a deep kiss before bringing his hand to her womb.

    "It will be my final battle, but I can¡¯t let my lineage disappear in case of failure. Someone must carry the torch and learn from my mistakes. Besides, aren¡¯t you curious to see how our baby will look like?

    "How powerful a being who carries both the blood of the Griffons and the Dragons can be?" She asked while making a spark of Life Maelstrom appear above their heads.

    After her body had stabilized from thest cycle of Arthan¡¯s Madness, Thrud had discovered that her body had gone beyond the limits of humans. Tyris¡¯s blood coursed so thick in Thrud¡¯s veins now that she had the mass of a magical beast.

    Jakra feared that she only needed a few more cycles to be able to use true magic if not even to shapeshift into a Griffon. To make matters worse, pregnancy didn¡¯t make a mage any weaker.

    Quite the contrary, it temporarily gave them power beyond belief.

    ***

    Blood Desert¡¯s Fringe.

    After Nalrond¡¯s failed attempt to get some answers from Mogar, the group needed to rest for a few days. Nalrond to ovee the trauma of having his personality almost overwritten and the others to recover their strength before making another attempt.

    None of them was an Awakened so they needed to get plenty of food and sleep to return to their peak condition. Quy used that time to keep Nalrond¡¯s life force in check, to practice her cooking skills, and to research Light Mastery.

    "You don¡¯t have any cracks, but if you don¡¯t take it easy for a while, you¡¯ll end up worse than Lith. The shattering of your mind went this close to spread to your body. If not for us treating your life force, it would have already been permanently damaged." She said.

    "Thanks. Please, whatever you do, don¡¯t leave me alone." Nalrond half grunted and half said.

    "Wow. First Morok and now you. I never thought that smart women could be this hot."

    "Don¡¯t tter yourself. I just don¡¯t want to eat anything cooked by Morok again or to have any more visitors." Nalrond had tasted better poison and he was starting to hate the Dewans.

    It hadn¡¯t taken him long to understand that they weren¡¯t really worried about his health so much as of losing the knowledge of Light Mastery stored in his head.

    "Would it have killed you saying that you enjoy my cooking andpany? We don¡¯t need to be friends to be polite with each other." Quy said.

    "You are right, sorry. I¡¯m an ungrateful jackass. I promise that as soon as the voices in my head disappear, I¡¯ll make it up to you." Being inside the Fringe didn¡¯t make the healing process faster.

    The constant pressure that Mogar¡¯s will appliedbined with the strain caused on his cores by the high-density world energy made Nalrond hear and see things that he hoped had never existed.

 Chapter 1198 A Powerful Master Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1198 A Powerful Master Part 2</h4>

    "How¡¯s our patient?" Friya asked while dabbing her sweat.

    "Cranky, rude, and whiny." Quy replied.

    "Back to normal, then. His kind attitude during thest few days creeped me out. Do you minding outside for a while? I might use your help." Friya sniffed the soup¡¯s delicious smell, causing her stomach to grumble.

    Yet her time for training was almost over and soon it would be her turn taking care of Nalrond. Lunch could wait a few minutes longer. Quy nodded, walking outside the house and into the Warp Steps leading them to their secret training area.

    After using the Restoration spell to keep the dimensional corridor from being opened again and a Life Sensing array to make sure that no one was around, they could finally rx.

    "What¡¯s the matter?" Quy asked.

    "I¡¯m trying a new dimensional spell, but Mogar keeps correcting me. I tried countless runes that make it work like a charm, but for some reason, she keeps grumbling every time I cast it." Friya replied.

    "She?"

    "It sounds like a woman to me." Friya shrugged.

    "That makes the two of us. Does it sound like your own voice or someone else¡¯s?" Quy asked.

    "Sadly, it sounds like Mom¡¯s annoying, lecturing voice when she scolds us. Friya sighed. "I hoped so bad that it would sound like a man, instead. Maybe like someone I know."

    "Why is that?" Quy knit her eyebrows in confusion.

    "Well, based on what Nalrond said, since Mogar takes the form of the person that literally means the world to you, I hoped to hear the voice of my true love or something like that. It would have helped my love life a lot."

    "Who knows, maybe Mom¡¯s your type." Quy chuckled as Friya produced retching sounds in reply.

    "Gross! By the way, whose voice do you hear in your head?"

    "Faluel. It must be because she¡¯s my mentor and the best mage I know." Quy lied through her teeth.

    She actually heard her own voice when Mogar talked to her, but she was too ashamed to admit it.

    "Okay, here¡¯s how my spell works and what I tried so far..."

    After they had finished treating Nalrond, the only thing they could do while waiting for him to wake up was to practice their magic in turns. Someone had to always remain by his side to make sure that his condition didn¡¯t get worse.

    During that time, they had discovered one of the properties of the Fringe that Werepeople believed to be lost to time.

    Whenever they created new spells, the moment they employed a rune that Mogar deemed to be subpar, she would mess with their thoughts in various ways. If the rune was close enough to the right one, Mogar would straight suggest it.

    Otherwise, she would just scoff, click her tongue, or clear her throat with an intensity proportional to how wrong the considered the rune. At first, Quy and Friya had thought to have gone mad.

    They had never heard Mogar speak nor could they exin their condition without madness.

    The voice existed only inside their heads, it spoke without their consent, and never replied to any of their questions. The phenomenon had scared them so much that they had tried to keep it a secret until they couldn¡¯t take it any longer.

    As it had already happened several times since they had reached the Fringe, wisdom came from the most unexpected source.

    "It¡¯s not a big deal. I hear it as well." Morok shrugged. "Mogar must be really bored to create a Fringe in the first ce so it goes without saying that she answers to you whenever you talk to her."

    "You are not making any sense." Friya replied. "If one could just talk with Mogar, what point would the whole ritual that almost cost Nalrond his life have? Besides, I already tried to have a conversation. It never answers after interrupting my focus."

    "The ritual is to askplex questions that can¡¯t be answered with magic whereas your spells are nothing but a way to conjure elemental energy. Guess who produces it?" Morok pointed at the ground, the sky, and then to the woods surrounding them.

    "He¡¯s right! Runes are just the way mages have found to imitate Mogar and make use of the elements. In a way, runes are Mogar¡¯snguage that we use to shape world energy ording to our will." Quy said.

    "Then why we didn¡¯t hear its voice before? I mean, I¡¯ve used a lot of spells inside the Fringe but nothing ever happened." Friya asked.

    "Beats me. Maybe Mogar doesn¡¯t like you much but you¡¯re growing on her. I hear her voice a lot and she¡¯s very annoying." Morok shrugged, not wanting to share with them how he refused to open his fifth eye until they got out of the Fringe.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know why Mogar wants me to Awaken nor do I care. The good news is that it means that I will get her help and that the process should go smoothly even though my core is already blue. The bad news is that if I Awaken, there¡¯s no turning back.¡¯

    "I don¡¯t think that Mogar ys favorites." Quy pondered for a while. "I¡¯m pretty sure that the reason why Morok hears the¡¯s thoughts is the same that allows him to not have a Soul Projection.

    "He¡¯s at peace with himself and his mind is like an empty room that makes even a small noise echo."

    "That¡¯s a nice way to say that he¡¯s an idiot, but it still doesn¡¯t answer my question. Why does Mogar mess only with some spells?" Friya asked, receiving a finger as an answer from Morok.

    "Isn¡¯t it obvious? It¡¯s because until now we¡¯ve only practiced perfect spells." Quy said.

    "Meaning?" The others asked in unison.

    "Gods, Friya, didn¡¯t you listen to Morok? He¡¯s been very clear. We cast a spell, we speak with Mogar. What do you usually do when someone close to you messes up with words when asking you a question?" Quy said.

    "Either I ask them to say that again or I try to clear it up by rephrasing the question." Friya answered.

    "That¡¯s what Mogar does in a very rude way. When it understands the meaning of our spell, it produces the intended effect whereas when we cast it wrong, Mogar can¡¯t help but scold us.

    "Which means that a Fringe is the perfect ce to practice new spells because we can use Mogar itself as a teacher!" Quy said.

    "What she said. That¡¯s¡¯ exactly what I meant." Morok rushed to say while still in awe at the revtion. Until that moment, he had just tried to make Mogar shut up rather than listening to its voice.

    From that moment, the three of them spent all of their free time practicing the mostplex and difficult spells in their respective grimoire, exploiting Mogar¡¯s voice to solve problems to which even their Awakened mentors had no answer.

    Friya and Quy shared their findings with each other because of their bond of trust, whereas Morok did it as an excuse to talk to her and because he had no problem admitting that she was way smarter than him.

    Even though Quy wasn¡¯t able to use true magic and its runes, she could still offer him several different solutions that it was up to him to adapt to his spells.

 Chapter 1199 Peace of Mind Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1199 Peace of Mind Part 1</h4>

    "What do you think about my idea?" Friya asked after exining to Quy hertest creation.

    "That you are too obsessed with dimensional magic. You should try something lessplicated like Battle Mage spells."

    "Those are easy to master. They require two elements at most and there¡¯s plenty of literature about them already whereas I make more progress here in an hour than after a month of practice in the outside world.

    "I can¡¯t waste this opportunity to reinvent the wheel when I can create something never seen before instead." Friya replied.

    "Hey, Quy, nice to see you." Morok was drenched in sweat as well.

    He had a grimoire filled with his unfinished homework and the projects that he was supposed to help his master, Ajatar the Drake, with. Morok intended to exploit the Fringe to cheat his way to the correct answers and then rub his "genius" in Ajatar¡¯s face.

    "I¡¯m almost done preparing the new set of mana circles. Just a few more, some rest and I¡¯ll be ready to have a chat with our grumpy. By the way, if both of you are here, who¡¯s keeping an eye on Nalrond?"

    "I thought you called me here because Morok had started his shift!" Quy said.

    "I called you here because I¡¯ve seen Morok Warp away several minutes ago. I assumed he had returned home." Friya said.

    "I need privacy while taking a dump." He exined.

    "It¡¯s nice to see that you¡¯re doing better." Kimo, the Dewan elder, said while stepping inside the house once his Emperor Beast assured him that no one would bother them.

    ¡¯So much for not leaving me alone.¡¯ Nalrond inwardly groaned.

    "Thank you for your kindness, elder. I underestimated the dangers of Mogar¡¯s mind and paid the price. The silver lining is that I learned a lot from my failure and the next time I¡¯ll do much better." Nalrond actually said.

    He tried to stand up to properly greet his unwanted guest, but Kimo pushed him down to make him rest.

    Even though he didn¡¯t like them, Nalrond needed to keep up with the appearances because he couldn¡¯t afford to anger the Dewan tribe.

    They were his hosts and just by epting humans among their fold, the Dewans showed him great kindness. Without the girls, Nalrond knew that he would be already dead and if the Dewan kicked the others out, he might as well leave the Fringe.

    "The next time? I¡¯m d to hear that you are not going to let a single failure stop you and that you recognize your mistakes because I came here to offer you my help." Kimo said.

    "How, exactly?" Nalrond asked.

    "I¡¯m not going to lie to you. I don¡¯t know how it was for your people, but we have long given up on asking Mogar¡¯s advice. Too many talented youths like you and old coots like me have died in the futile attempt to make this indifferent world see reason." Kimo sighed deeply while slouching his usually straight back.

    Nalrond nodded for him to continue, partly understanding the elder¡¯s point of view. The Rezars had given up on Mogar as well, putting all their hopes in Dawn¡¯s teaching and in her ever-increasing mastery of light magic.

    Even though Dawn was a monster, they could rte to her. Also, unlike how it happened with Mogar, thanks to theplex array system that Sinmara the Phoenix had taught them, the Rezars had been able to subdue Dawn at any time, forcing her to do their bidding.

    On the other hand, after seeing the outside world, Nalrond had realized how foolish the Rezars¡¯ mindset had been. Trying to subdue a powerful entity was akin to ying with fire.

    No matter how many precautions one would take, it was only a matter of time before getting burned. Mogar was dangerous but fair and it would only speak the truth whereas Dawn had led the Rezars by the nose, making them waste decades of research at a time until they realized her treachery.

    It was the reason why Nalrond had decided to riskmuning with the. Mogar yed by its rules without cheating, he only had to understand them. Both the Rezars and the Dewans, instead, treated the like a mindless tool.

    As if their needs surpassed those of all other races and Mogar had to help them.

    "Yet all of our failures have taught us a lot." Kimo continued. "We can teach you the safest ritual that we have devised after centuries of research and hundreds of casualties. If youbine it with the Rezars¡¯, it should increase your odds of sess.

    "All I¡¯m asking you in return is to be one of us and share whatever knowledge you might gain."

    Nalrond wanted to scoff at such a ridiculous offer. Not only did he doubt that the Dewans¡¯ ritual might differ much from that of his tribe, but he had already seen centuries of tradition surpassed in a single moment by a brilliant mind not clouded by superstition.

    Quy improving the ritual¡¯s mana circle after just a nce, her understanding of how the whole ritual was nothing but a mind link had shattered his pride and opened his eyes to the truth.

    The Werepeople had been so blinded by their grief that they had turned the safe haven that the Fringe was into a prison of their own making. By cutting all ties with the outside world and by relying on Mogar for everything, the Werepeople had clipped their own wings.

    They kept not finding answers simply because they failed to understand that they were asking the wrong questions.

    "Thanks, but no thanks. Mypanions already have helped me to improve the ritual and my failure is only due to my own shorings." Nalrond said.

    "Do you really trust a couple of humans more than your own people? What would your ancestors think if they knew how low you have stooped? We¡¯ve offered you a new home, a new family, yet you still treat us like strangers." Kimo said in outrage.

    "Live is for the living, elder, while my ancestors are long dead." Nalrond replied with a stone-cold voice. "By locking themselves in here, my people wasted centuries, just like you Dewans.

    "I¡¯ve learned more in the couple of years I spent outside than in the 23 years I lived in my vige. I¡¯ve not stooped so much as I¡¯ve made progress. As for your so-called offers, the only reason you want me to settle down here is to learn Light Mastery.

    "You want to use me just like my people used Dawn. I treat you like strangers because that¡¯s who you are to me. Our forefathers shared amon past, but there¡¯s no bond between us."

    "If that¡¯s what you think, then I won¡¯t waste any more of your time." Kimo stood up and left the house.

    After a few minutes, Morok returned.

    He ate all the soup that Quy had prepared, took a long shower while singing a tavern¡¯s tune so loud that it made the walls tremble, and after dabbing his body with a set of Nalrond¡¯s clean clothes he finally sat at the bedside.

    "Good gods, you look like crap. Your recovery might take longer than we feared." Morok used a diagnostic spell, trying to understand why Nalrond had bloodshot eyes and clenched his teeth so hard that his face was pale as a ghost.

 Chapter 1200 Peace of Mind Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1200 Peace of Mind Part 2</h4>

    Oddly, the spell found nothing wrong with Narlond¡¯s health. Aside from being hungry and tired, the Rezar appeared to bepletely fine.

    "Maybe it¡¯s because you ate my lunch, you made me wish to blow my own eardrums, and then you used my clothes as a towel. Again!" Nalrond¡¯s voice was a low snarl.

    "What a crybaby. Unlike you, I didn¡¯t spend the whole morning sitting on my ass. I was hungry and that soup hit the spot just nicely. I¡¯ll cook you up something delicious in a jiffy." Morok replied.

    "Gods, no! I¡¯d rather drink a nutrients potion." Nalrond whined.

    "As for theck of towels, it¡¯s not my fault if we have to say here for so long and I didn¡¯t pack enough. Besides, after a shower, I¡¯m as clean as a baby so no harm no foul. You can still wear your clothes after drying them a bit."

    Morok showed Nalrond a crumpled shirt with several water stains and several hairs. Some long and straight while others suspiciously short and curly.

    "See? It¡¯s as good as new."

    Nalrond groaned, wondering if darkness magic would suffice or if only by cleansing the shirt with fire could such evil be destroyed.

    Later, that afternoon, Quy and Morok went back to the cave and double-checked everything before starting the second attempt atmuning with Mogar. This time, all the magic circles had been drawn with Quy¡¯s method and glowed with an emerald light.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want Friya to be here as well? If you end up like Nalrond, I might not be able to save you on my own." Quy asked.

    On the one hand, she wanted to try the ritual just to see Mogar with her own eyes and learn what the thought about her. On the other hand, just looking at her own Soul Projection made Quy doubt she would survive the experience.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to take unnecessary risks. The moment I understand I¡¯m not up to the task, I¡¯m going to get out of there. I just want to understand how much of the ritual depends on Mogar and how much on the mage."

    Morok sat cross-legged in the middle of the formation, to shield his mind from external influences.

    "Why are you doing this? You¡¯ve got nothing to gain from asking questions for others." Quy said.

    "Because if I¡¯m right about the nature of the ritual, I¡¯ll learn a lot about myself anyway." Morok said, leaving her bbergasted.

    She had expected some cheesy pick-up line or a heroic speech intended to be a pick-up line, not an answer that actually made sense.

    Morok then went over his strategy with her for thest time before closing his eyes and opening his mind.

    The mindscape was exactly as Nalrond had described it. A white empty space with only two people: Morok and Mogar.

    The former was dressed in his old Ranger uniform and even had the Baby Fangs hung to his hips instead of the weapons that Ajatar had crafted for him. Morok had his human appearance, which surprised Mogar quite a bit.

    "Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re trying a bit too hard for someone you know so little?" She said while waving at her body that looked exactly like Quy.

    The only difference with the original was the hair streaked with all the six colors of the elements rather than just silver.

    "Not really. You¡¯ve got no idea how hard it is to find someone who¡¯s even more messed up than I am, but in a good way. Besides, I wanted to look you in the eyes and tell you to mind your own business!" Morok snarled, losing his carefree attitude for a second.

    "Oh my. Did I strike a nerve?" Mogar giggled in a cruel way that Morok found both scary and charming.

    "A lot of them, actually." He honestly replied. "Enough chit-chat. You know why I¡¯m here."

    "What are your questions?" Mogar sighed.

    "So much for being omniscient. I want to know how to heal the girl called Solus, how to heal Lith, and how to make Quy Awaken without losing her life." He said.

    "Not a single question for yourself. Are you that generous or just that stupid? You don¡¯t know anything about them. Why do you put your life on the line for them?" Mogar¡¯s eyes shone with interest.

    "I¡¯m just that stupid. As for your second question, I¡¯m not doing it for them so much as for myself. I want to understand who I am and what I want, or I¡¯ll end up wasting my life like my father. No pain no gain." Morok said.

    "You could¡¯ve just asked me. Didn¡¯t you think of that?" Mogar asked.

    "I did, but that kind of answers only makes sense if you find them by yourself otherwise they sound just like the ramblings of a fortune teller."

    "Wise words for someone so simple-minded." Mogar snapped her fingers, making three spheres of light appear.

    Remembering what Nalrond had told him, Morok closed in to each one of them, to make sure that the nature of their trial was the same. The first sphere summoned the battered figure of Menadion, the second the chained Mad King, but the third took him by surprise and almost snapped his neck with a single flick of the wrist.

    Another Quy stood in front of him, wearing the deep violet robe of a Magus and with Bloodbind slithering out of her sleeves like twin angry snakes made of Adamant.

    "Does the answer look like Quy because it¡¯s about her or because I like her?" Morok asked, wondering if three Quys were more than he could handle.

    "Are those your questions?" Judging by her grimace, Mogar didn¡¯t seem to have liked his attentions.

    ¡¯Now that I think about it, if this is taking ce inside my mind, talking or thinking is the same thing.¡¯ He thought.

    "It is, you creep." Mogar replied. "Now answer my question."

    "I¡¯m not going to waste my time on such a trivial matter. I¡¯m more intrigued at the idea of how much control I have in here." Morok squinted his eyes as he focused and the white space around him suddenly turned into the garden surrounding a small cottage.

    A square fence of wooden stakes held together by wooden nks separated the house from the rest of the world that was still white and empty. The cottage was a one-story building made of wood with a sloping roof and a door painted a deep green.

    He could smell the eggs and bacon that his mother prepared him for breakfast on his birthday, but there was no trace of his mother or the food. The smell of the soap she used made the memory even more painful.

    "How can you still long for the same woman who kicked you out of her life even though you were just an innocent child?" Mogar asked.

    "She¡¯s still my Mom and I hoped to see if she¡¯s alright. Now that I¡¯ve understood the ground rules, there only one question left." Morok delicately massaged his temples while focusing more than ever while staring at his opponents.

    "You¡¯re a remarkable man, Morok Eari." Mogar said. "You epted your past and the scars that it inflicted upon you without letting it ruin your life. It¡¯s no wonder that your soul is at peace."

 Chapter 1201 Drawing Conclusions Past 1

    <h4>Chapter 1201 Drawing Conclusions Past 1</h4>

    "On top of that, you are the first person ever who tried to undress me and my shades." Mogar said.

    "Too bad. I thought that maybe I could defeat your puppets with just my mind, but if I can¡¯t affect even their clothes, then I doubt that I can restrict them or inflict them damage." Despite his words, he had yet to stop his endeavor.

    "I might consider your im as a noble pursuit of knowledge if not for the fact that you¡¯re not even trying to affect Arthan or Menadion." Mogar scoffed at the tant lie.

    "You can¡¯t me a man for trying. I just need to touch them, correct?" He asked.

    "Correct."

    Morok dashed forward against the Quy-shaped answer who looked at him in disgust as if he was a worm she had found in her meal. He unsheathed the Baby Fangs, making them take the form of twin one-handed battle hammers.

    He threw them one after the other so that the first eclipsed the second. Quy had Bloodbind, the Adamant chains forged by Orion, form a defensive barrier around her, blocking the first hammer as well as her field of vision.

    The second hammer flew under the makeshift barrier, hitting her right in the stomach and making her cough out blood. Yet instead of exploiting the opening, Morok just had the first hammer return to his hand and thew it again.

    Quy snarled as she stopped it with a hard-light construct shaped like a massive fist that came out of her robe.

    "Nalrond was right. Your puppets cannot move and hits don¡¯t count as touching." Morok pondered.

    "If they moved, you¡¯d be already dead. If hitting and touching were the same, then any idiot who gets pummelled would get their answer, making this whole trial pointless." Mogar said. "I apud you for mercilessly attacking the woman you im to like."

    "Please. Your two-bit imitation is nothing like the real deal. Itcks Quy¡¯s kind eyes, the grace of her movements, and thevender scent of her soap. I have no problems hitting a mannequin dressed like her." Morok said.

    "That and the real Quy is holding your shoulder even now, making it easy for you to separate reality from illusion." Mogar pointed out.

    "Guilty as charged." Morok circled around shade-Quy, trying to make his magic work while looking for an opening.

    "How did you know about the trap?" Mogar asked with an amused expression.

    "The Magus robe gave it away. I¡¯m not fighting the real Quy but either how she perceives herself or how I do. Either way, she¡¯s bound to be a tough nut to crack."

    Morok threw his hammers again, but this time Quy used her construct to stop them while conjuring the tier five Battle Mage spell, God of Water.

    A full armor made of ice covered her body while four spheres of water the size of a disco ball orbited around her. They would allow Quy to replicate the effects of all tier three and four water magic spells she could imagine without the need to cast them.

    Yet the hammers dodged the construct and aimed for Arthan. Morok had lined them up so that he could attack them both and further check the rules of the game. Quy froze in ce and ignored the Tyrant while the Mad King snarled in outrage.

    Despite the thick chains that restricted his movements, Arthan managed to catch the hammers in mid-air and throw them back at their owner.

    "That¡¯s it? This is going to be a walk in the park!" Morok unleashed a tier Five War Mage spell, Copsing Volcano, turning the ground under the three shades into magma.

    Then, he shapeshifted into his idealized Tyrant form, with his body covered in mystical eyes instead of having just four eyes. Each one of them emitted a pir of energy, striking at all the answers at the same time.

    As a finishing touch, he also activated the tier five Battle Mage spell, God of Air. The stream of lightning bolts used the very armor Quy wore to slip under her protections and hit her with their full strength before she could react.

    The hammers thrown by Arthan hit Morok right in the chest, but they went through him as if they were just an illusion.

    "I wield no hammers hence they can¡¯t harm me. Those are a part of me just like the clothes I wear." Morok said as the Baby Fangs emerged from his hands, already shapeshifted into longswords.

    "Yet mine surely can. Get your filthy hands off my daughter, you ungrateful bastard!" Menadion said while charging at him with the speed of a missile.

    Morok managed to block her hammer by turning the swords into shields, but the Fury shattered them, inflicting him a huge blow. As Morok had said, there were no shields, just parts of him.

    Quy exploited the opening to catch him by the legs with Bloodbind and unleashed constructs the size of a mountain.

    "Even if you kill me, my legacy will live forever!" Arthan conjured both the Sword of Saefel and the Royal armor, activating all the six gemstones at the same time.

    A rainbow of raging Griffons filled the air and continued their attack even after Morok dispelled the Copsing Volcano. He had hoped that by changing the target, the shades would stop their attack and allow him to pile up damage.

    Their reaction, however, proved that each attack triggered a counter that couldn¡¯t be interrupted, making his strategy pointless.

    "That¡¯s my cue!" Morok waved Mogar goodbye and broke the mind link before the shades turned his psyche into dust. His relief, however, was short-lived. Somehow, one of the shades had managed to follow him to the real world and was clutching at his throat.

    Too surprised to even curse at his enemy, Morok jumped back, crashing against the wall. Unlike the mindscape, the cave didn¡¯t extend endlessly.

    "What¡¯s wrong with you? I was just checking your vitals." Quy said, snapping him out of hisbat frenzy.

    "Dammit, I was so focused fighting against you that I forgot you are also my ally." Those words didn¡¯t make sense even to Morok himself, but he didn¡¯t know how to exin the situation in any other way.

    He refused to answer any of Quy¡¯s questions until they got back to their house inside the Dewan vige. Even though he had taken little damage from the shades, the mind link with Mogar had taken a toll on his body.

    On top of that, Morok needed some time to sort out his thoughts before sharing his experience. The fight had been brief, but there had been many things that he had noticed but couldn¡¯t figure out while pushing his mind to its limits.

    "I think that either the game is rigged or we yed it without knowing its rules." Morok said after quite some pondering. "Asking questions to Mogar only leads to a painful death.

    "Not only in the Mindscape one has to focus to perform the simplest of spells or conjure their weapons, but also Mogar keeps bothering you with her ramblings."

    "While resting I had a lot of time to think about my own conversation with the and I think you are right." Nalrond said. "Tell me everything that happened to you without leaving out any detail."

 Chapter 1202 Drawing Conclusions Past 2

    <h4>Chapter 1202 Drawing Conclusions Past 2</h4>

    After Morok finished his story, Nalrond was quite pissed off with himself at the idea that his allegedly dim-wittedpanion had been able to conjure weapons, spells, and even to shapeshift whereas he had been nothing but a punching bag for the shades.

    Yet he was d to have brought the Tyrant and the girls along. Without them, he would have died at Mogar¡¯s hands while without Morok, it would have been impossible for him to gather so much information.

    The Tyrant¡¯s carefree attitude and self-eptance gave him an amazing strength in the Mindscape that would take anyone else years of training to achieve.

    "Just like Solus said, those shades provide hints about the answer based on their appearance, but I doubt anyone can actually defeat them." Morok said. "They start weak, but they be stronger with each blow that yound.

    "To make matters worse, I hoped to exploit their inability to move or attack you while you deal with another shade, but my prediction was wrong. Each time you attack them, they strike back and if you focus on another shade, they don¡¯t stop and strike you in the back.

    "Fighting them one on one is impossible just like attacking them in turns. Shades regenerate the moment you change your target."

    "I didn¡¯t get so far since every shade pummelled me with ease, but byparing my experience with yours there are a few things that I¡¯d like to point out." Nalrond said.

    "First, the shade corresponding to a question about a thing doesn¡¯t change whereas asking about a person materializes their shade in the form that such a person would take once they have found their answer.

    "Second, Mogar seems eager to talk, yet it oftenments about your personality and asks you several times if you¡¯re sure about the answers you¡¯re seeking. Third, the insane strength of the shades makes it impossible to win."

    "Are you saying that the legends about the Fringes are just a death trap? Thating here has been just a waste of time?" Friya asked.

    "No. I think they are quite urate. As soon as I get back on my feet, I¡¯m going to have another chat with Mogar. If my hypothesis is right, I¡¯ll have all the answers we need." Nalrond shook his head.

    "And if you¡¯re wrong?"

    "Then I¡¯ll need all my strength to survive long enough to cut the mind link. That¡¯s why I need to rest." Nalrond said.

    ***

    City of Reghia, Jiera continent.

    Bing one with Solus had stabilized Lith¡¯s life force, yet everyone agreed on him taking it easy for a few days. Even contacting Quy for a second opinion ended up adding fuel to the fire.

    "I can¡¯t diagnose anything from a hologram, but if the damage you took is even remotely simr to that you suffered in Kh, three days might not be enough. My advice is to not use magic nor exert yourself until your life forces perfectly ovep again." She said.

    "Quy is right." Tista said. "Besides, you are not the only one who needs time to recover. Solus, the Scalewalker armor, and War all sustained a lot of damage while you turned into an Abomination.

    "Adamant is tough and Solus is even tougher, but right now they are in a critical state. Even if you were already back to your peak condition, any more strain could prove to be fatal.

    "While your equipment can always be reced, the same can¡¯t be said for Solus. You forced her to fight Lochra frigging Silverwing while she was still licking the wounds that you inflicted upon her. What if Silverwinges back?"

    "Then I¡¯m dead. Based on what we saw even if the tower could draw upon a full mana geyser, I don¡¯t know if we could be her opponent." Lith replied, yet seeing the cracks on both War and the Scalewalker made his wallet bleed.

    He had kept them out of his pocket dimension all the time, to allow them to absorb part of his mana and mend their wounds, yet due to his exhausted state, there was only so much energy that his equipment could absorb without endangering his life.

    On top of that, Tista was right about Solus as well. Fighting with Lochra had put so much strain on her already debilitated condition that if not for their fusion, she might have lost months¡¯ worth of energy.

    "You and Solus stay here while we take care of the contributions to themunity." Phloria said. "You need each other and the geyser to recover. I¡¯ll try to knock some sense into Reghia¡¯s humans while Tista could search for an open mana geyser while extermination monsters.

    "That way, we can check if the tower warp can bring us back home and, if needed, ask Faluel¡¯s help."

    "Yeah, one small problem, though. Crossing the ocean and getting here from Lutia required two Guardians. How do I exin to her that I¡¯m capable of doing the same on my own?" Lith asked.

    "That¡¯s a line I hope we¡¯ll never cross. Yet having a contingency n never hurts and worst case scenario, we¡¯d still provide you with all the energy you need to recover from your wounds." She replied.

    Lith didn¡¯t like the idea much. Even if they did find the geyser, it would be hard to exin to Aren, the beasts¡¯ Council representative, why they had left the city. On top of that, Awakened were bound to know about mana geysers and were able to spot them.

    Lith wasn¡¯t eager to put Solus¡¯s cloaking abilities to the test against such powerful creatures. If even one of them noticed the tower, it would be the beginning of the end for him.

    "Fine. I¡¯ll y househusband until I fully recover while you two find a way to get our hands on the city¡¯s resources." He said.

    After checking onest time Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s condition, the two women left the tower, both headed for the Mayor¡¯s office. Tista needed to join a unit of Awakened while Phloria wanted to ask free reins about the humans.

    "Don¡¯t you think It would¡¯ve been better if we brought Solus along? Meeting her godmother like that and learning so many painful details about her past must have left a scar. Solus could use a bit of distraction." Tista asked.

    "No." Phloria shook her head.

    "She really needs to recover her strength and the more Solus gets close to regain her body, the moreplicated their rtionship will be. Rather than being apart, they must stay together and set their respective boundaries before someone gets hurt."

    "Are you talking about Solus, Kam, or yourself?" Tista asked.

    "About all of us. I¡¯m starting to wrap my head around their crazy rtionship and around the fact that Lith and I will never be anything more than friends again. Yet it¡¯s Lith and Solus I¡¯m worried about.

    "None of his past rtionshipssted this long he has never opened so much with someone as he did with Kam. I¡¯m afraid that if they break up, he might close his heart forever. As for Solus, it doesn¡¯t take a genius to understand that she has feelings for him.

    "Yet in her istion, she¡¯s never got to learn that loving someone means letting them go, no matter how painful it might be. Like Lith and I did for each other. If two people are meant to be together, they¡¯ll find each other again." Phloria sighed.

 Chapter 1203 Mana Geysers Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1203 Mana Geysers Part 1</h4>

    Tista pondered her words in silence until they got to the Mayor¡¯s office. Xoth the Nue helped Tista to pick a mission suitable for her skills and gave Phloria free rein over the human district.

    Meanwhile, inside the tower, after checking his equipment, Lith started to organize what he needed to prepare lunch and dinner.

    "It¡¯s been a couple of lifetimes since I cooked without magic or Fire Vision. If don¡¯t want to eat charred food, you¡¯d better give me a hand." He said to Solus, who seemed to be spacing out.

    "Sorry, I was making sure that the tower doesn¡¯t have any backdoor that Silverwing can use to get inside without me noticing or to track us down." She replied. "By the way, don¡¯t worry about War.

    "I checked it with Invigoration and the cracks are superficial. It should return to mint condition in a couple of days."

    "What about the Scalewalker armor?" Lith asked while pointing at his clothes that looked like a patchwork between pajamas and a suit of armor.

    "Between the Puppeteer¡¯s Chaos magic and your Abomination side going awry, it went close to annihtion as much as you did. The damage got this close to reaching the mana crystals so it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t shapeshift it until it recovers."

    "By the way, during ourst fusion, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that you¡¯ve associated one of your favorite songs to all people you like the most. Why did you pick Like a Rainbow of the Tumbling Stones for me?" She said while sitting on the kitchen counter and nervously swinging her legs, careful to not make eye contact.

    "If you read my mind deep enough to know that you should also know the answer to that." Lith shrugged while arranging the ingredients for a soup and a meat dish.

    "I want to hear it from you."

    "I picked that song after the first time you assumed your tower form because your emotions alter the color of the lights, like described in the lyrics. Yet it was only after we fought because you came clean to me about your lie about Protector¡¯s death that it became our song.

    "While our minds were apart, I realized that without you, my world turned into a cold ce. I could still feel the sun, but not appreciate its warmth. The same thing happened in Othre when I had to leave you behind to meet the Dawn Court.

    "You are my rainbow, Solus. Like the girl in the song, you make my world colorful and magical." Lith said with a warm smile.

    "Thanks." She replied while finally meeting his gaze. "Does Kam have one as well?"

    "Yes, but hers isn¡¯t very upbeat." Lith used their mind link to share the tune.

    Solus found it fitting since it was a song about Demons written by Dragons, yet also very sad. It talked about a man who had decided toe clean with the person he loved to not taint them with his darkness, even though it meant losing them forever.

    "I know you are a pessimist by nature and that my existence is a big secret, but Kam chose to stay by your side after you told her about being a hybrid nor did she change her mind after learning about Awakening.

    "Why should it be different this time?" Solus said.

    "Because it¡¯s indeed different. All the secrets I shared with her so far were all about me whereas now she would have to ept the idea that there¡¯s basically a third person in our rtionship.

    "If she cares for me as much as Silverwing does for you, I don¡¯t expect her to react any better. Kam will ask me to leave you and when I¡¯ll refuse, she¡¯ll break up with me." Lith said.

    "I think you are underestimating her. Kam already proved to be a kind and understanding woman. I¡¯m sure that after the initial shock, everything will be fine." Solus wasn¡¯t a big fan of Kam, yet the idea of destroying Lith¡¯s happiness made her stomach turn into a knot.

    ***

    After warning the security of the human district about what was about to happen, Phloria went there, hoping that something had changed from herst visit. Unfortunately for her, everyone was still as stubborn as she remembered.

    Unfortunately for them, this time she didn¡¯t care. Phloria hogtied and dragged out all those who tried to m the door into her face with Spirit Magic, assembling them in the district square.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. My name is Phloria Ernas and I¡¯ll teach you themonnguage of the Garlen continent, whether you like it or not." She said while giving them a small bow.

    "I¡¯m not going to let a foreigner-" A man from thete Gren Democracy attempted to say, before a strong push of Spirit Magic shoved his face in the ground and literally made him eat dirt.

    Many others Grenians tried to verbally and physically assault her. The former got their mouth filled with dirt as well while thetter was beaten an inch from fainting. Even before being Awakened, Phloria would have needed but one hit to subdue an adult man.

    Their numbers were pointless against an opponent that needed but a flick of her wrist to send them flying like paper dolls.

    "It seems there is a misunderstanding here. The choice is no longer in your hands. I have changed your arrangements with the magical beasts¡¯munity. From now on, to receive food, water, and medical care, you can only use themonnguage.

    "Those who are unable to speak it will receive every day the same meal, the minimum amount of water, and the bare necessary healing to let you keep doing your work."

    "To eat a different dish, you¡¯ll have to say what you want and how you want it. If you want to be healed, you¡¯ll need to learn to describe your symptoms and to exin how you injured yourselves." Phloria said.

    "After all we went through at the hands of our enemies, after all we do every day for those beasts, how dare you try and strip us of what little dignity we have left?" A young woman from the Paclean Kingdom said in outrage.

    She pointed her finger at her neighbors who didn¡¯t understand a word she said, yet they reacted to her tone with hostility, trying to thew stones at her. Yet all the pebbles fell down onto the ground along with those who had cast them.

    "First, you have no idea who spread the gue, otherwise you would have joined your forces against amon enemy instead of attacking each other like rabid dogs. Second, you aren¡¯t doing anything for the beasts because they have no need for your help.

    "What you are doing, you do for yourselves, to not forget your trade or to learn one if you didn¡¯t have a job in your previous life. Yet all of it will be pointless if you are unable tomunicate and help each other.

    "There¡¯s not enough of you to rebuild the human civilization on Jiera if you remain divided." Phloria said.

    "I¡¯d rather die as a free woman rather than live as a ve among those who caused the death of my whole city." Said a young proud man of the Torin Kingdom, unaware that it had been his own people to unleash the gue on Jiera.

 Chapter 1204 - Mana Geysers (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1204 - Mana Geysers (Part 2)</h4>

    "Then leave Reghia, but know that the moment you step outside the city, its doors will remain closed even if you change your mind. Here you have a house, food, and protection whereas outside you¡¯ll have only the clothes you wear.

    "I bet that even if you don¡¯t meet any monster, you¡¯ll die in less than a week." Phloria said.

    The man stepped forward, looking around to see who was willing to share his destiny, finding himself alone. All those in their right mind knew that without the proper tools or training, life in the wilds was akin to a death sentence.

    "Until this moment, you have wasted so much time crying over what you have lost that you have be reliant on another race for everything. Food, shelter, protection, and even the education of your children.

    "I can¡¯t force you to get along, but if you keep acting like pets rather than humans, I¡¯ll make sure you are treated as such." Phloria said.

    ***

    Being Awakened for only four years andcking any formal military training, Tista was aware of being the weakest in the group, even below Quy who despite her almost as poor physical prowess at least had a violet core.

    All Tista had learned about fencing and self-defense as a self-taught had allowed her to survive during her travels throughout the Griffon Kingdom, but only because she had faced non-Awakened opponents.

    Only after joining Lith in his apprenticeship under Faluel, did Tista receive all the lessons that she needed. Even though she was shorter and lighter than her little brother, hand-to-handbat was the discipline Tista was the most proficient with.

    Just like Quy, she didn¡¯t train long enough to find a weapon that suited her talent and build whereas even non-Awakened mages had to be proficient in martial arts. Otherwise all the magic and all the artifact on Mogar wouldn¡¯t save them from any thug with a decent weapon that managed to get close to them.

    Between Professor Ironhelm¡¯s lessons during her two years at the White Griffon academy and Lith¡¯s self-defense lessons, Tista¡¯s skill in closebat surpassed that of most soldiers in the Kingdom.

    s, such training gave her an edge only against non-Awakened human opponents without powerful enchanted weapons. Beasts had fusion magic as well and a physical prowess greater than most humans while a skilled opponent with a weapon capable of piercing her armor would have an easy time keeping Tista at bay.

    It was the reason why both Faluel and Lith had given her a vast assortment of weapons, hoping that among them she would find something that suited her. The only problem with that was finding a realbat situation where she could employ them.

    No matter how seriously she took it, sparring always felt fake and every weapon gave her more or less the same feeling. Hence Tista had chosen to perform several missions, each one of them with a limited number of enemies.

    Olua the Roc and Bodya the Nidhogg fought with her, being careful to leave enough opponents to make the fight dangerous but not so many that the chaos of the battle would keep them from noticing if she needed help.

    During each mission, Tista used a different weapon, yet even after ughtering several tribes of monsters, she didn¡¯t feel like she had made any progress.

    "Don¡¯t worry too much about it. You are still very young and you have already achieved a cyan core." Bodya said while coiling his snake-like body around hispanions to protect them from sneak attacks while they rested.

    "It took me decades to reach the bright blue core and even longer to learn how to shapeshift into a hybrid form after being humbled one time too many only because my opponent had an opposable thumb.

    "Don¡¯t get me started about how difficult it was for me getting used to arms."

    "Same here." Olua turned into her human form, looking like a woman in her early thirties, around 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") tall with wheat-blond hair and eyes. Her skin was of a tinge of bronze so light that it looked golden under the sunlight.

    "At first, Emperor Beasts rely on their powerful bodies for both protection and attack, but that only works with dumb enemies who remain in open spaces. Our size is nothing but a hassle when the fight moves inside a city or underground.

    "Not to mention how our forms are unsuited to practice any kind of craftmanship or Forgemastering. For all of us, ites a moment when we have to practice shapeshifting first and then get used to a puny body.

    "Thirty years from now you¡¯ll be an amazing fighter, I¡¯m sure of it."

    Those words half ttered and half scared Tista.

    "Thanks, I guess. You know, I still have trouble epting the fact that I¡¯m an Awakened. For humans, being 21 years old means being of marriage age, starting searching for a spouse, and maybe having kids. For Awakened, instead, I¡¯m barely a child.

    "You speak of thirty years as if they are a couple of months whereas I don¡¯t even know if my parents will still be alive by then." Tista sighed at the idea that her family might die before she could have the time to prove her worth to them.

    "I know it¡¯s hard for humans. One of my friends once told me that the members of your race understand what being an Awakened means only after you lose everyone who knows you as a human rather than an Awakened. Until that moment, you are shackled by the illusion of having a normal life."

    Tista pondered those words and understood their truth. She also got her stomach twisted into a knot.

    "Is it me, or there aren¡¯t many mana geysers around here?" Tista had searched far and wide the areas of their missions, but she had yet to find one.

    She was pleasantly surprised to discover that the words for mana geyser existed in othernguages as well, wondering if they had the same meaning and what Awakened thought of them.

    "They are rare by nature. Why do you need one?" Bodya and Olua didn¡¯t fail to notice Tista¡¯s desperate attempt to change the subject, but they decided to not push it.

    "My little brother has already reached a bright blue core. By practicing .u.mtion on a mana geyser, I can hasten my development and be stronger." She lied through her teeth.

    "That¡¯s the dumbest idea I¡¯ve ever heard." Olua said. "Nothing goodes from rushing things and I¡¯m pretty sure you know it as well. What is your true goal?"

    "What do you mean?" Tista looked honestly confused, not because she didn¡¯t have a hidden agenda so much as because she was certain that no one would suspect that she had a mage tower from such a simple question.

    "Don¡¯t y coy with us, child." Bodya snorted and his huge nostrils emitted a fine mist that quickly dissipated under the sun¡¯s heat. "All Awakened know the value of mana geysers. Do you think we are so stupid that we didn¡¯t map them?"

    "Why would you do that? It¡¯s a waste of time. I mean, sure if a mana geyser it¡¯s really strong it might produce mana crystals, but most of them are useless except that as training tools." Tista¡¯s honest surprise left the Emperor Beasts bbergasted.

 Chapter 1205 - Loose Ends (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1205 - Loose Ends (Part 1)</h4>

    "She really doesn¡¯t know!" Bodya blurted out.

    "Well, she¡¯s just a child, after all." Olua caressed Tista¡¯s head as if she was a small child, irking her to no end.

    "Excuse me, I¡¯m right here. What is that I¡¯m not aware of?"

    "Mana geysers are the reason why the Council awards its most outstanding members with a territory. Other creatures can only find them by chance, whereas Awakened can see them." Olua exined.

    "Mana geysers are great ces to build yourb or home, providing you with an endless supply of world energy for your arrays. On top of that, mana geysers can be used to identify the location of both crystal mines and enchanted metal¡¯s veins."

    "Enchanted metals?" Tista echoed.

    "Yes. Why do you think Reghia was built there?" Bodya nodded. "Over time, a powerful stream of world energy can turn any lesser metal into silver, silver into Orichalc.u.m, Orichalc.u.m into Adamant, and even Adamant into Davross.

    "Silver forms close to the surface whereas the deeper you go, the stronger the geyser bes, making it possible to find Adamant veins. Davross takes so much time to form that it¡¯s not worth the wait, not even for Awakened.

    "Adamant is always mined as it is unless it has already started to gain both ck and white shades that mark the turning point into Davross."

    "Can all mana geysers do that?" Tista thought about the mana geyser where Solus usually took her tower form near Lutia and wondered why Faluel didn¡¯t pick such a spot to build herir.

    "I wish." Olua sighed. "You can¡¯t just dump silver or crystals inside a mana geyser and wait for them to grow. Either the process is natural or it doesn¡¯t happen."

    Tista inwardly grinned at those words, thinking about Solus¡¯s ability to grow her own crystals and wondering if she could do the same for metals.

    "Yet by mining the area around a mana geyser, Awakened can check the presence of magical resources and take them away before anyone else notices. The Council scouts each area before assigning them and divides the mining operations between the Lords of each region.

    "After the Council takes its share, the rest is equally divided among the Lords who can choose if to hoard the resources for themselves or sell them to found their research."

    "Then how can you exin that my Awakened mentor, a Hydra, lives near a mana geyser yet she didn¡¯t use it to build herir?" Tista asked to make sense of Faluel¡¯s odd choice.

    "There can be two possible exnations." Bodya said.

    "If the Council has located a potential crystal mine or Adamant vein, if not both like it happens in Reghia, then no one would build anything over the geyser. Mining operations require countless people working together and no one likes to have strangersing and going from your house at all hours.

    "On top of that, it would force the Lord of the region to give the passwords for their arrays to all those involved, putting their treasures at risk. The second possibility is that your master uses herir not only as ab but also as a house.

    "Raising children over a mana geyser is dangerous. The reason why Awakened at birth are just a myth, is that even if the geyser helps the baby to Awaken, their body can¡¯t resist such a massive flow of world energy, killing them the moment they develop a mana flow."

    "The mana geyser is small and Faluel had many children so it should be option number two." Tista pondered. "Well, enough chit-chat. Time to get back to work. Who¡¯s our next target?" She took a longsword out of her dimensional item.

    "A small tribe of Balors. Before attacking them, we¡¯re going to try reasoning with them. They are not mindless brutes and their strength might actually help us secure the area." Olua said.

    ***

    Blood Desert Fringe.

    After Nalrondpletely recovered his strength, he performed the ritual tomune with Mogar for what he hoped was thest time. Thanks to Quy¡¯s magic circles, forming the mind link put a much lesser strain on his mindpared with his previous attempt.

    He could still hear countless voices echoing through his head, but it wasn¡¯t much different from the noise of Lutia¡¯s bustling market during the Spring festival. Mogar¡¯s flow of consciousness didn¡¯t feel like a raging river that would sweep him away at the slightest mistake anymore.

    It felt akin to a gentle stream of water coursing around his body.

    "Well, well, well. It looks like someone didn¡¯t learn anything from hisst visit." Mogar still looked identical to Nalrond and its voice oozed contempt for it. "Why are you here?"

    "For the same reason that brought me to the Fringe in the first ce. To receive your wisdom." Nalrond replied.

    "Are your questions the same as thest time?" A snap of Mogar¡¯s fingers materialized the three shades. Menadion, Arthan, and the Rezar that Nalrond suspected was his own beast side all stared at him in hatred.

    "No. I have no questions. I have realized that I can¡¯t demand anything from you. I¡¯m here to listen to whatever you are willing to share with me, no matter how insignificant." He said.

    Based on both Morok¡¯s experience inside the Mindscape and his own, Nalrond hade to the conclusion that his people had never truly understood whatmuning with Mogar really meant.

    During his first visit, the had shared with him many details about Dawn¡¯s attempts to learn from Mogar how to conquer the weakness typical of the undead. Despite her almost limitless power and nigh-indestructible body, even the Bright Day hade out of the Mindscape empty-handed.

    <i>¡¯Dawn must have survived thanks to her nature of Living Legacy while I would have died like my nsmen before me if not for Quy¡¯s magic circle protecting my mind and thebined efforts of mypanions to heal my body.</i>

    <i>¡¯Dawn¡¯s failure means that raw power is pointless in here. Mogar¡¯s strength is too big to challenge even a shred of its consciousness. Morok¡¯s failure means that the trial isn¡¯t about epting yourself or having a strong will.</i>

    <i>¡¯Despite all of our differences, the only thing all three of us have inmon is that we came here making demands and yet we didn¡¯t listen to what Mogar attempted to say.¡¯</i> Nalrond thought.

    "Then let me ask you a few questions." Mogar nodded, confirming his suspicions.

    "Do you really think that your friend Lith is the first person to have their life force cracked? That no one else before you, be they Awakened or not didn¡¯t attempt everything they could to find a solution?" Mogar pointed at Arthan who even in death had a smug grin on his face.

    "Just because you don¡¯t like an answer it doesn¡¯t mean that there is a better one. You can¡¯t bring back the dead just like you can¡¯t turn rotten food into delicacies because life doesn¡¯te from nothing."

    The Mad King¡¯s face twisted into a grimace of wrath as his body slowly faded away and Mogar absorbed him.

    "A parent surviving their child brings terrible grief that sometimes turns into madness. The same grief and madness that brought Menadion to take away her own daughter¡¯s humanity to create an artificial unliving being.

 Chapter 1206 - Loose Ends (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1206 - Loose Ends (Part 2)</h4>

    "The real question you should ask yourself is: what was Menadion trying to aplish by fusing a dying person with a tower? Is her work really wed or did she actually achieve exactly what she wanted?" Mogar said while absorbing the shade of the First Forgemaster who cried in shame and regret.

    "Last but not least, the matter about your other half. Tell me, what does he want? Where does all of his ragee from? How much of your life and your actions have been influenced by his presence?

    "How can two so different beings be one if they are incapable of sharing even the most insignificant aspect of tier lives?" The Rezar disappeared as well and so did Mogar.

    The Mindscape suddenly turned so dark that Nalrond couldn¡¯t even see his own hands. At least until he understood that the mind link had been broken from the other side and that he was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

    "How did it go?" Friya asked while performing a diagnostic spell to make sure that he was alright.

    "Very oddly. Mogar asked me many questions, but I don¡¯t think you would like them." Nalrond said before sharing with them his conversation with the. He glossed over the part about Solus due to Morok¡¯s presence.

    He already knew about Menadion and if they mentioned the tower as well, even someone as simple-minded as the Tyrant would discover her secret.

    "Based on what it said, Forbidden Magic is the only way to fix Lith¡¯s life force." Quy shuddered at the thought.

    There were few things that she wouldn¡¯t do for her friend, but sacrificing human lives was among them. She had researched Arthan¡¯s Madness under Professor Vastor¡¯s supervision and she knew how reckless the procedure was.

    Forbidden Magic would require dozens of victims and the slightest mistake would erge the cracks instead of fixing them if not even destroy Lith¡¯s mind, recing it with an amalgam born out of all the fused consciousnesses.

    "What do you think Mogar meant with those questions about your other half?" Friya asked.

    "Yeah, more like, do you even have one?" Morok shrugged. "I¡¯ve been a hybrid until I became twenty, but I never heard voices inside my head nor did I have arguments with myself. More than any other teenager, I mean."

    "Honestly, I don¡¯t know." Nalrond shapeshifted several times, trying to feel if another presence inhabited his body, but to no avail.

    Ever since he was a kid, his elders had taught him about the history of the Werepeople, of how being fused with Emperor Beasts had made them different from any other race. Yet he couldn¡¯t remember a single time when he had felt anything but himself.

    On top of that, after seeing Lith and Solus merge while fighting against Dawn, after spending so much time with them, he had witnessed what one living being split into two different halves looked like.

    Not only did they have each their respective mana core and life force, but they also had different dreams and goals. Yet it didn¡¯t keep them from helping each other. Quite the contrary, they were so close that it was hard to tell where one finished and the other started.

    "Wait a minute." He said after pondering the issue for a while. "The first time that I fought Dawn¡¯s undead, fear paralyzed me. The only reason I survived is that my body acted on its own, attacking with a fury that surprised me.

    "The same thing happened when I had to cut through Night¡¯s army to reach Selia¡¯s house. I didn¡¯t need to think or n my moves in advance. Every time an enemy stood in my path, instinct and fury guided me to the deadliest solution."

    "Could I possibly be like Lith and-" A friendly nudge in the ribs from Friya cut him short.

    "Nah, dude. You¡¯re nothing like Lith." Morok waved his hand to firmly deny the possibility. "I mean, sure, you are both grumpy, but I¡¯ve seen him cut through two armies at the same time whereas you needed help to beat a couple of undead."

    "Never mind." Nalrond said, ignoring the Tyrant¡¯s remark. "I meant that maybe, all this time my people worried about what the human mages did to us without considering that our beast half might be in an even worse condition.

    "To have loyal soldiers capable of following orders, our makers couldn¡¯t have two conflicting personalities inside one body. The constant struggle for dominance would have driven us insane and made us useless.

    "It¡¯s possible that they sealed the beast¡¯s mind, leaving the human side in control. If I¡¯m right, then the reason why Werepeople never became a true race and are incapable of Awakening is that the barrier separating our two life forces also traps our beast half in some sort of ve contract.

    "Because of that, not only our bodies, but also our minds can never be in synch." Nalrond said.

    "It¡¯s a terrifying hypothesis." Quy said.

    The more she learned about the consequences Forbidden Magic had on its victims, the less she felt like considering it as a solution for Lith¡¯s problem.

    "If you are right, then you should give up on the idea of bing whole. There¡¯s no telling if your beast half has enough sanity left to reason once freed, nor what might happen if it doesn¡¯t recognize you as an ally.

    "Best case scenario, it will be as na?ve and ignorant as a baby and you¡¯ll have to take care for him for a long while. Worst case scenario, it¡¯s been awake all this time and it resents you for it." She said.

    "I think you are right." Nalrond sighed.

    "Before making any decision, I¡¯ll talk to Faluel. Maybe together we cane up with a solution, or at least with a way for me tomunicate with my other half without tearing down the wall that has kept us apart until now.

    "That said, I¡¯ve got nothing more to do here and this ce is filled with too many memories to be pleasant. Unless you want tomunicate with Mogar as well, I¡¯m ready to leave at any time."

    "Thanks, but I¡¯ve had enough of this ce." Friya said. "Between my Soul Projection and the things that I learned by practicing magic here, I¡¯ve got plenty of things to think about when we get home."

    Quy and Morok nodded at her words. They both could feel that after Nalrond¡¯s sessfulmunion, Mogar had shifted its attention to something else. Morok didn¡¯t even hear the voice in his head prompting him to Awaken anymore.

    "Then if we all agree, I¡¯d say that it¡¯s better to leave without saying goodbye." Nalrond said. "Kimo and I didn¡¯t part on good terms and the way they acted towards you guys felt like just a charade to get on my good side.

    "Once they hear that I¡¯m going to leave the Fringe for good, they¡¯d have no reason to hold back. If their real motive has been learning Light Mastery all along, things might get messy."

    Having already stored their possessions inside dimensional amulets, they had no need to go back to the Dewan vige. They had everything they needed safely literally at their fingertips so once the group left the cave, they went directly to the Fringe¡¯s border.

 Chapter 1207 - Loose Ends (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1207 - Loose Ends (Part 3)</h4>

    Nalrond extended his hand toward the silvery barrier that separated the dimensional space from the rest of Mogar, feeling the familiar stream of consciousness inside the barrier flooding inside of him.

    Countless voices, experiences, and feelings that didn¡¯t belong to him coursed through his mind. The Rezar used his own name as an anchor against the stream and as a fortress against the psychic onught but this time it wasn¡¯t enough.

    Not because learning about the possible existence of his other half had made his sense of self falter. On the contrary, the idea of having finally found the missing piece of his life that his forefathers had searched for generations, had given Nalrond a purpose.

    Yet he had underestimated the burden that meeting a being as powerful as Mogar inside the Mindscape had put on both his body and focus. Even with the protection from the magic circles, the mind link had made so much world energy course through his body that he experienced the effects of mana abuse.

    Nalrond felt as if his human form was about to break, forcing him to cut off the contact with the barrier.

    "Dammit, I¡¯ll need to rest a bit before making another attempt." Nalrond said a second before so many short arrows pierced his back that he seemed to have turned into a porcupine.

    "Leaving without even saying goodbye? After everything we did for you, it¡¯s time you return our kindness, dear Nalrond." Kimo¡¯s voice emerged from a Warp Steps along with several Dewans armed to the teeth.

    "We offered you a home. We offered you to marry one of our women. We offered you even the sacred knowledge that our ancestors left us about the Fringe, yet every single time you threw our generosity back into our face."

    Friya thanked her paranoia for having allowed her to keep many spells at the ready. Yet the reason why she didn¡¯t shut Kimo¡¯s mouth with a well-ced fireball was that she knew something was off.

    Only when more and more people started toe out from both Warp Steps and the barrier did she understand why Kimo had wasted time talking. The arrows weren¡¯t meant to kill, so much as to incapacitate Nalrond and make it impossible for him to survive a trip through the barrier.

    To make matters worse, only a small number of those who came from the Steps belonged to the Dewans tribe. The others all had slender bodies and long pointy ears like she had never seen before.

    ***

    Jiera Continent, City of Reghia.

    Lith spent the time his body needed to heal by studying the Odi books that he had collected in Kh and in Dawn¡¯sb, trying to rece the old technology with Runesmithing.

    It was a tedious work that he could only perform when alone since the use of Forbidden Magic was frowned upon by every single mage Lith knew, Solus included. Luckily, Tista and Phloria spent most of the day outside, performing their respective tasks and leaving him all the time he needed.

    On the other hand, not being able to even use chore magic made himpletely dependent on Solus. He tried writing down his findings, but his penmanship was so horrible that when hepared his notes with books, he had an easier time deciphering the Odinguage than his own.

    "I guess I got too spoiled using water magic all the time." He sighed while Solus manipted the ink to turn what looked like the scribbles of a madman into humannguage.

    "Look, I¡¯m not saying that we shouldn¡¯t look into body-swapping. Not after all it happened to you while fighting that Puppeteer." Solus touched his cheek to use Invigoration for the tenth time in as many minutes and make sure there was nothing wrong with him.

    "There¡¯s plenty of awful people in this world that I wouldn¡¯t feel bad experimenting upon, but after now that we learned about Guardianhood and white cores, wouldn¡¯t it be better to focus on safer methods to prolong your life?

    "I mean, making sure that the machine works will need both a lot of trial-and-error experimentation and getting to know our victims enough to determine if the body-swapping seeded. We can check the status of mana cores and life forces, but we have no way to make sure that the mind is intact as well."

    Solus sighed in relief seeing that the Abomination side of Lith¡¯s life force was almost back to normal. "Gods, I can¡¯t wait for you to be able to shapeshift again. I miss your face and voice."

    "Wee to the club." Lith said with his hybrid voice which always sounded as if a gust of wind howling through an abyss somehow uttered human words. "Mom almost cries every time she sees me and Rena is worried sick.

    "As for the machine, I know it¡¯s a longshot, but I¡¯d rather have a solid contingency n than blindly rely on what-ifs. Guardianhood is more a death sentence than a path to immortality, otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be so few Guardians."

    "White cores are more promising since after meeting them in person, we know thanks to your mana sense that both Baba Yaga and Silverwing achieved it. Yet the fact that even the Council considers it a myth speaks volumes about how hard it is to evolve past the violet core.

    "I wouldn¡¯t care about body-swapping only if Silverwing offered me her help instead of trying to kill me. She is a genius mage blessed by all the elements whereas I¡¯m no genius and I¡¯m not going to live as long as a normal Awakened." Lith said.

    It wasn¡¯t the answer Solus had hoped for but there was nothing she could say to refute his words so she got back to work.

    "Thanks for your help and understanding." Lith looked at the sea of pages they had written, wondering if any of his ideas would work once put into practice.

    "Heisenberg¡¯s beard, I wish I could use this time to practice Forgemastery or Light Mastery instead of sleeping, studying, and cooking all day. This is driving me crazy."

    After employing the stick of depriving of their citizens¡¯ rights the humans who refused to learn the universalnguage, Phloria had used a tasty carrot to make it worth their while.

    All those who actively participated in the lessons would receive a full course meal prepared by a certain Wyrmling chef. At first, only those who had been moved by Phloria¡¯s speech had joined the sses, but that all changed after the first lunch break.

    Living in Reghia had made the humans used to simple food prepared only with basic ingredients and even those who had the magical skills to cook had no ess to salt, sugar, or spices.

    Eating properly seasoned hot food, tasty bread, and sweets for the first time in over a year brought most of Phloria¡¯s students to tears. Between the delicious smell and the happy faces of their neighbors, more people joined the lessons by the day.

    Lith had been forced to turn the entire Alchemicalb into a huge kitchen to prepare enough food for everyone and even that wouldn¡¯t have been possible without Solus¡¯s help.

    Alchemical tools were designed to mass-produce potions and tools, not food so repurposing them required quite a bit of work on her side.

 Chapter 1208 - Loose Ends (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1208 - Loose Ends (Part 4)</h4>

    "Well, the silver lining is that I¡¯m learning how to cook and that by spending so much time together, we¡¯re both recovering much faster than usual." Solus used her holograms to project both Lith¡¯s life forces and the power core of the tower.

    The former almost perfectly ovepped while thetter had be less hazy, allowing them to take a good look at it.

    Theplexity of the tower¡¯s power core still baffled them, but Lith and Solus hoped that by studying it, they would understand the method that Menadion had used to fuse Solus with the artifact and learn how to reverse the process.

    A couple of dayster, Lith was so bored that he called Friya to learn if they had learned anything about Solus¡¯s condition from the Fringe. During his recovery, he had already informed she and Quy about both Solus¡¯s dream and the meeting with Silverwing.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Lith, but Nalrond is in worse shape than you are." She said while dabbing the sweat from her training. "Now that Morok isn¡¯t around, however, I can tell you we all think that Menadion¡¯s shade protecting the answer means that she had found a solution before dying."

    "It makes sense." Lith nodded. "Judging by what we learned about Menadion, it¡¯s likely that she had developed the procedure to keep what had happened to her husband Threin from repeating itself.

    "Since the core of a dying person always cracks, she must have taken that into ount. We need to find out everything we can about Menadion. Maybe she left some of her notes to one of her apprentices or at least some clues.

    "Silverwing said that Menadion had lots of disciples and they all lived inside the tower. It¡¯s likely that one or more of them even helped her with the project."

    "Easier said than done. Menadion is a legendary figure. Almost all ancient households who practice Forgemastering, even the Ernas, im that one of their ancestors learned from her.

    "It¡¯s all bogus, by the way. At least for us. I can ask Dad to check the rumors, but with all that¡¯s going on, he¡¯s not going to put much effort in such a wild goose chase unless I give him a good reason to." Friya said.

    "It¡¯s better than nothing, thank you." Lith ended the call and used Invigoration for the first time after almost a week.

    ording to Solus, his life force had perfectly recovered for a couple of days already, but with his life on the line, Lith didn¡¯t feel like taking unnecessary risks. First, he checked the cracks in his human side, finding no change in their condition.

    He even looked through a window while letting go of Death Vision to make sure that it didn¡¯t get any worse. After seeing nts wither, rocks crumble, and his magical beast neighbor die several times in the span of a few minutes, he sighed in relief.

    Death Vision was, for theck of a better term, a curse that he had suffered ever since he had sacrificed his life span to save Protector¡¯s life after Balkor¡¯s attack. Ever since that day, unless Lith focused to keep it at bay, Death Vision turned the world around him into a gruesome nightmare.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s still as awful as the first time I experienced it, but at least I can deal with this level of mental pressure.¡¯</i> Or so he thought until his eyes fell on the meal he was preparing.

    Vegetables turned into a mold while the meat rot and maggot spawned at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Lith closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening them again. Everything was fine, but his appetite was ruined.

    Then he conjured one chore magic spell for each element, keeping darkness magic forst. Only after making sure that it didn¡¯t turn into Chaos did he shapeshift back into his human form.

    "How do you feel?" Solus asked.

    "Much better. I can¡¯t wait to practice magic again." Lith said.

    "That or we could go back to the Griffon Kingdom. Putting an ocean between us and Silverwing would allow me to rest much easier."

    "I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t do much after getting here and ording to Xoth the Nue, between the three of us we¡¯ve racked enough merits to get our hands on some good stuff." Lith didn¡¯t care much for crystals, but he had a dire need for enchanted metals.

    Lith and Solus spent the rest of the evening practicing Light Mastery until theirpanions returned from their respective duties.

    Fighting on the front lines hardened Tista by the day, and having valuablepanions that watched her back allowed her to learn from every mistake she made. She still sucked with every single weapon man had ever created, but her mastery over the Battle Mage specialization improved with each fight.

    "I¡¯m happy we came to Jiera." She said while wolfing down her food. "Here there are only Awakened and Emperor Beasts. For the first time in my life, I¡¯m just a regr person since all Awakened are handsome and shapeshifted beasts are just gorgeous.

    "Once we get back home, I want to hang out more with people from the Council. At least there no one will bother me for my powers or my physical appearance."

    "I¡¯m d to hear that at least one of us is having fun." Lith said. "Tomorrow I¡¯m going to visit the mayor and ask him about our rewards. Do you want me to request for something in particr?"

    "I¡¯ve already got all the mana crystals and Orichalc.u.m I need back home. Adamant would be wasted on me so feel free to take my share." Phloria said with a smile on her face.

    Even though she had been forced to resort to the oldest trick in the drill sergeants¡¯ book, turning herself into the heartless monster that the recruits hated, she was happy with the results.

    She had given the people who lived in the human district amon enemy that inflicted upon them the same hardsh.i.p.s. It allowed them to empathize with each other.

    That along with sharing their hard-earned meals and thenguage barrier crumbling with each lesson they took, was slowly turning a bunch of refugees into amunity.

    "If you give me the Orichalc.u.m and the crystals I need for my experiments, you can take my share as well, lil bro. Until I get at least a blue core and much more experience with crafting, Adamant is wasted on me as well." Tista said.

    After the meal, everyone went to sleep and the following day Lith went straight to Xoth¡¯s office to ce his order.

    "Adamant?" The Nue¡¯s monkey head managed to look as bbergasted as any sane ruler would be after hearing such a request. "Look, son, not to be ungrateful, but it¡¯s not like you did much aside from sleeping."

    "I was injured in the line of duty! You can ask Olua or Bodya if you don¡¯t believe me." Lith replied in outrage.

    "It¡¯s not a matter of mistrust so much as that the reward for a single mission depends on how hard it is. You faced a Puppeteer Abomination, not an Eldritch." The Nue gave Lith a couple of ingots of Adamant, each one weighed about two kilograms (2.2 lbs).

 Chapter 1209 - Faluelâ€™s Ploy (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1209 - Faluel¡¯s Ploy (Part 1)</h4>

    Even smelting Adamant was an expensive and difficult job. After being mined, the metal would be simply molten with regr mes and turned into ingots without any purification of sorts just to make them easier to sell and move.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, if this works like Orichalc.u.m, the smelting will reduce the weight by at least one-fourth. That before using Origin mes.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "As for your two apprentices, Tista performed only minor missions so her contributions don¡¯t amount to much. On top of that, Olua and Bodya feel guilty for what happened to you and never leave her side.

    "Sending three Awakened for a mission that a veteran could perform alone is a waste of manpower." Xoth gave Lith a single ingot for all her trouble.

    "Phloria, on the other hand, is making an excellent job with the humans. Her merits are outstanding. I look forward to thanking her in person." Eight ingots appeared in front of Lith and his hands almost reached the Nue¡¯s throat.

    Almost.

    "Are you telling me that teaching a few words to a bunch of morons is worth four times my life and eight times my sister¡¯s?"

    "Phloria did more than that." Xoth shook his head.

    "Some of her students now perform their civil duty not because they are forced to, but of their own free will. They are leading the others by example and once the others see the benefits that being an active member of themunity provides, many more will follow.

    "Son, you¡¯ve been sent here to learn how to act like a beast, yet you keep reasoning like a human. Killing is cheap whereas keeping the bnce is priceless and the human race is an integral part of it. We need them just as they need us."

    "Are you telling me that if Tista and I joined Phloria¡¯s efforts we would have gotten three times as much?" Lith pointed at the ingots.

    Once properly purified with Origin mes, the Adamant ingots would provide him with just enough metal to craft a sword and some rings. And that only if he got lucky. Lith had to take into ount his average of failures and prototypes.

    Assuming that every craft would go well, especially while trying his own original blueprints, would be more than optimistic, it would be straight-out foolish.

    "No. You wouldn¡¯t have received any. Teaching Tyris¡¯s universalnguage is something that anyone can do. Yourpanion is being rewarded because she seeded where we all failed.

    "Phloria managed to make the humans of Jierae out of their mourning and start their schooling. It will take some time to see if her method will yield results, but she has already achieved more than we did in months." Xogh said, making Lith sigh in relief.

    All of his sufferings were only worth two Adamant ingots, but it was still two ingots more than what he would have obtained wasting his time babysitting the refugees.

    "If you want to get some more resources, I¡¯ve got just the mission that¡¯s tailor-made for you." Xoth took out eight more ingots, hoping to arouse Lith¡¯s greed, yet all he obtained was a suspicious re.

    "Look, as much as I¡¯d like to double my rewards, you¡¯ve already proven not being big on generosity. What¡¯s the catch? Do I have to fight an Eldritch? An Elder Dragon?" Lith asked.

    "Nothing of the sorts. It¡¯s just a recon mission." Xoth said, trying to sound reassuring.

    "How can "just a recon mission" be worth that much?" The more Lith heard, the fishier the situation seemed.

    "It wouldn¡¯t, if not for your special circ.u.mstances that make you so valuable." Since the baiting had failed, the Nue decided to get it all out on the table.

    "ording to your mentor, you are familiar with Lost Cities, you are an excellent fighter, and you are capable of improvising. That together with your cracked life force and the pin that Leegaain borrowed you, makes you our first real shot at taking this thing down."

    "Sorry. You lost me." Lith shook his head.

    "Are you acquainted with the merfolk?" Xoth pressed a few mana crystals embedded in the ground of his office, generating the hologram of a magnificent city surrounded by a golden dome of light.

    "I met them briefly. They didn¡¯t like my human half and never visited me after discovering what kind of hybrid I am." Lith replied.

    "Well, they¡¯ll have to learn how to behave since it¡¯s their problem that requires your help."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith pointed at the people in the hologram walking on the street and at its cultivated fields. "Such a city can¡¯t be located underwater."

    "And yet it is. I wouldn¡¯t care much if not for Kolga growing like cancer over time. Ever since its foundation, the cursed city has more than tripled its surface, and sooner orter it¡¯s going to pose a threat to Jiera." Xoth said.

    "It grows? Then what good is the barrier and why didn¡¯t the Council take care of it? I mean, sure, destroying a living legacy can have terrible consequences but the fact that thing is on the bottom of the ocean should make things easier." Lith said.

    "You would be right if it was the product of a cursed object. The Council has raided Kolga several times, but failed to achieve any real progress or valuable intel. That¡¯s why even a simple recon mission is worth this much."

    "I¡¯m still not following. Why do you need me?" Lith wondered if it was better to raise the price even further or to just fold.

    "The barrier, like it happens for most lost cities, serves to keep its inhabitants confined. The root of our problem is that the ruler of the city didn¡¯t make use of a living legacy. The city is fueled entirely by Forbidden Magic." Xoth said.

    "What?" Lith said.

    "Kolga was founded centuries ago above a very powerful mana geyser. The mage who did it possessed the ability to harness the power of the geyser, and she used it to keep the water out of it while she mined for mystical resources.

    "Her name is lost to time. All we know is that she sought istion to conduct her research in peace. Over time, the merfolk discovered the city and sought the mage¡¯s help to have a ce where they could practice magic just like the races on the surface.

    "It¡¯s unclear if the prolonged istion had driven the mage insane or if she just sought somepany, the only thing we know is that she agreed to help them. For a while, Kolga was one of the ocean¡¯s jewels.

    "A ce where humans and merfolk peacefully coexisted devoted solely to the magical research. After the mage¡¯s death, however, a merfolk named Myrano achieved full control of the geyser and decided to settle the past grudges with humans.

    "Instead of killing them, he used anyone who dared to oppose his rule as test subjects for his experiments. After countless victims, he found a way to provide all citizens of Kolga an extended life span, perfect health, and amazing magical powers." A touch of Xoth¡¯s paw made a small sun appear inside the golden dome.

    "Why didn¡¯t people rebel and why didn¡¯t the Council intervene? Dealing with Forbidden Magic is their responsibility." Lith asked.

 Chapter 1210 - Faluelâ€™s Ploy (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1210 - Faluel¡¯s Ploy (Part 2)</h4>

    "Fighting someone who holds the full power of a mana geyser is a tremendous task, but it would have been feasible if Kolga¡¯s istion didn¡¯t dy the discovery of its horrors long enough for Myrano toplete his ritual." Xoth replied.

    "You see, that thing that floats about the city it¡¯s both the source of Kolga¡¯s inhabitants¡¯ powers and an effective means of defense. Somehow, Myrano¡¯s ritualpletely splits the light from the darkness element and .u.mtes the light in the form of a sun.

    "The ritual also cracked both the mana cores and the life forces of all the people inside Kolga, making them both Myrano¡¯s prisoners and ves. As long as they remain close to the Forbidden Sun, the cracks allow them to absorb its energy.

    "Those people can live for two hundred years, keeping a youthful appearance until the moment of their death. They don¡¯t get ill and any wound is almost instantly healed.

    "On top of that, the crack in their cores allows the ritual to boost their magical abilities beyond their limits, giving everyone at least a green core. On the other hand, not only does such monstrosity require constant sacrifices, but it also makes it impossible for the people of Kolga to escape.

    "Outside the area of effect of the sun, they die in a matter of minutes. That¡¯s why people don¡¯t rebel. Stopping the ritual is the same asmitting suicide. As for the Council, we did intervene.

    "The problem is that just like the sun feeds Kolga¡¯s inhabitants, it poisons everyone else. It induces mana poisoning and elerated aging to those who have regr bodies.

    "Every time we attack the city, we have to fight against the power of the mana geyser that Myrano¡¯s descendants still control and against time. The longer we expose ourselves to the sun, the weaker we be.

    "To make matters worse, all inhabitants of Kolga protect the city with their lives. Fighting an army of mages, a mana geyser, and endure the effects of the Forbidden Sun at the same time always caused our failure." Xoth said.

    "We sent many scouts to gather the intelligence needed to assassinate the ruler of the city, but because of the sun, they don¡¯t have enough time to do their job before being forced to escape. To make matters worse, Kolga¡¯snguage has been lost to time.

    "We can shapeshift ourselves to pass as natives, but thenguage barrier makes it impossible for us to learn something relevant.

    "We need you because thanks to your cracked life force and your Awakened core, you might be able to absorb the light element without taking damage while using Invigoration to slow down the mana poisoning.

    "Moreover, thanks to your pin, you¡¯ve proven to be able to talk even thenguage of Puppeteer Abominations. Kolga¡¯snguage shouldn¡¯t be an issue. As I said in the beginning, this mission is tailor-made for you." Xoth took a pause, waiting for Lith¡¯s reply.

    "What do you want me to do exactly?" He asked.

    "We don¡¯t need a fighter, we need a spy. There are a few questions that need an answer before we can devise a way to get rid of Kolga once and for all. First, we never understood how the ruler of the city has such fine control over the mana geyser.

    "It makes it impossible for us to use the world energy to build our arrays. The golden dome you see is fueled by mana crystals and every time it fails, the city gets bigger. We know that it¡¯s not a Forbidden Spell nor an array thanks to our surveince.

    "Second, we need to learn the details of the ritual. We just need to disrupt it once to make the Forbidden Sun crumble. Without it, the ruler of the city will die along with all of their subjects.

    "Third, there is the matter of all the darkness energy generated by the ritual that is not used to keep the unliving stable. We have no idea if it¡¯s used to generate artifacts or stored to be used as ast-ditch means of offense.

    "Such an energy mass couldn¡¯t disappear into thin air and if it gets released all in one go, it might have terrible consequences." Xoth said.

    "I understand." Lith nodded. "Do you want me to take mypanions along or do you want me to go alone?"

    "I¡¯ll be honest. I¡¯d like for you to go together. They are all Awakened, they all have pins, and by moving in a group you¡¯ll cover much more ground at the same time. Kolga is so big that a single person would take weeks to gather even scraps of information.

    "If the pins of yourpanions can be passed onto others, however, I¡¯d rather send more powerful Awakened. The stronger their core, the more time a person can resist the effects of the Forbidden Sun before being forced to leave Kolga or suffering permanent damage."

    Lith gave his pin to the Nue, but when either of them talked, they could only hear gibberish.

    "Just as I feared. They are imprinted." Xoth said after returning the pin.

    "It¡¯s up to you to decide whether to ept or refuse my offer. Before answering, consider this. Kolga¡¯s Forbidden Sun might repair the cracks in your life force or at least give you back a part of the life span you lost.

    "After all, your cracks are not caused by the ritual so the healing effects of the Forbidden Magic might affect you in a different way from the inhabitants of Kolga. What I¡¯m offering to you is not only the Adamant, but also the opportunity to experience a treatment based on Forbidden Magic sanctioned by the Council."

    "What if the sun makes my cracks bigger or if the pin doesn¡¯t work?" Lith asked.

    "Then you are free to abandon the mission the moment you feel that something is wrong and you¡¯d still keep your advance payment." Xogh replied while splitting the Adamant ingots into groups of two.

    "Two up front and two more for each mystery your group manages to solve."

    "I¡¯ll think about it." Lith left the mayor¡¯s office with his mind in such a turmoil that he almost forgot about the Adamant ingots he hade to collect.

    Almost.

    After putting them inside his pocket dimension, he Warped back home, making Solus assume her tower form andying an extra set of arrays just to be safe.

    "Tailor-made my pale ass! This is the real reason why Faluel sent me here." Lith said after sharing with the girls all the details of the mission. "Now I understand why she wanted to know so many things about me and my tribtions before deciding the nature of my test of wisdom."

    "Yeah, it all makes sense." Phloria nodded. "She knows about the cracks in your life force and in Solus¡¯s mana core. Together you are no different from Kolga¡¯s inhabitants. You might be even able to live there if you wanted."

    "I bet my ingot on Leegaain knowing about the real purpose of this visit all along. Otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have prepared a pin for Solus nor would he make them this powerful." Tista said.

    "This is no different from one of the missions the Kingdom gave me. I can¡¯t back out without failing my test and getting kicked out by Faluel. Did she really think that I wouldn¡¯t see through such a simple set-up?" Lith snarled.

 Chapter 1211 - Under the Sea (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1211 - Under the Sea (Part 1)</h4>

    "You are seeing the ss as half empty, as usual." Solus said. "There is no risk in trying. As Xoth said, we can leave at the first sign of trouble. Also, if this is really an attempt to trigger a tribtion, then it already failed.

    "World tribtions don¡¯t happen if you want them to. Last, but not least, I want to believe in Faluel¡¯s kindness. If she sent us here, it¡¯s because she hopes that by helping Jiera we can also help ourselves.

    "The Forbidden Sun will affect both of us and even if it doesn¡¯t cure our respective condition, it will provide us with invaluable knowledge about Forbidden Magic that we wouldn¡¯t be able to acquire withoutmitting unspeakable crimes."

    "And you are seeing the ss as half full, as usual." Lith replied. "You are right about the tribtion, but the problem is that I don¡¯t want it to trigger because I don¡¯t want to die, so the risk still stands.

    "Whatever her reason for sending us here is, I hate being manipted. She should havee to me and said everything straight to my face. The only thing we agree on, is that passing the opportunity to check on the effects of Forbidden Magic would be beyond idiotic.

    "The Odi, Arthan¡¯s Madness, they all require a healthy individual to work with whereas my life force is already cracked. I can¡¯t overlook the possibility that all our nning might be useless if my condition causes side effects with those kinds of procedures."

    "Yeah, right." Solus scoffed. "Faluel should have been upfront, just like you did your whole life."

    Her words made the girls chuckle and made Lith even more gloomy.

    "Faluel may have set you up, but she also left you a way out. If you don¡¯t want to do it, we can just get in, stay a few minutes, and then get out. If you im to have experienced side effects, no one can question your words, not even Faluel.

    "You can pass the test without even trying." Solus said. "This is how wisdom works. It¡¯s not about being always ten steps ahead or having an ace in the hole. Those things help, but what really matters is what you do with the opportunities you are given."

    "Do you want toe along?" Lith asked to Tista and Phloria.

    "I¡¯d rather not." Tista shook her head. "During thest few days, I¡¯ve seen so many horrors born from Jiera¡¯s gue that the only thing I want is to go back home and enjoy the peace of the Griffon Kingdom until I die of boredom.

    "Yet I¡¯m not going to leave you alone, little brother." She hugged him, trembling at the idea that what shocked her to the core was just a minimal part of what her brother had faced to be an Archmage at such a young age.

    "We need to think about a contingency n." Phloria didn¡¯t even consider the idea of letting Lith kick a ho nest the size of a lost city without her watching his back. "Solus might lessen the burden on you, but she might also make it worse.

    "We don¡¯t know if the Forbidden Magic ritual will treat you as a single individual or as two different persons. In the first case, you should be able to endure the ritual as long as you need, otherwise you might actually be forced to get out even faster than a regr person."

    "You¡¯re right, Phloria." Solus sighed. "Not only is my core cracked, but also my life force has always been my weak point due to its link with the tower. Without a mana geyser to sustain my other half, I rely on Lith to survive.

    "Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll double the strain on his life force instead of relieving it."

    They spent the next couple of days over a mana geyser that Tista had found during her missions, preparing for every scenario they could predict and crafting the tools they might need.

    Lith also used that time to put his body to the test and make sure that his life forces could endure even his most powerful spells. Only then did they return to Reghia and epted the mission.

    "I¡¯m d to have you among our ranks." Xoth the Nue gave them a nod and contacted the merfolk to pick the group up. "You need to swim to your destination because opening Warp Steps underwater would flood the city.

    "Always remember that we¡¯re not sending you there to fight, only to collect information. If my assumption about Leegaain¡¯s pins turns out to be wrong, thenguage barrier would make your presence pointless." He said to Tista and Phloria.

    "Lith, if you can endure Kolga¡¯s sun, use Life Vision to search for its power source. Otherwise leave the city as soon as you can. We have no need for heroes or martyrs." The Nue gave him two Adamant ingots as down payment and waited with them.

    Their guides turned out to be part of the group of merfolk that Lith had met during their first day in Reghia.

    Merfolk were a race of humanoids that lived underwater. They had faces with no nose nor ears and finsing out of their spines and h.i.p.s. Sky blue scales covered merfolk from head to toe, turning of a pale white in the abdomen area and the palms, making them all look like the same age.

    They were capable of breathing underwater and on drynd through gills on their necks and heard from two small holes on either side of their head. They had no lips either, leaving the row of pearly teeth in their mouth partially exposed at all times.

    Their hands had webbed fingers that ended in small ws that, due to their bright colors, were clearly venomous. Female merfolk had b.r.e.a.s.t-like bumps on their chest and slenderer buildspared to males.

    The moment they got dry, however, they would turn into a form that closely resembled humans, and only their oddly colored hair would give out their real nature.

    "How much do they know, Xoth?" Rem, the leader of the group, said.

    She was a plump woman with sky-blue hair and a voice that sounded friendly even though she spoke while gurgling the water still coursing through her gills.

    "The minimum necessary. I leave them in your care. Answer all of their questions honestly. I take full responsibility for this mission." The Nue replied.

    "Very well." She clicked her tongue at the sight of the humans, but her face remained neutral.

    "Please, take our hands and don¡¯t leave them for any reason. Flying spells don¡¯t work underwater, but that¡¯s not really an issue. Just use water magic in the same way you would use air and everything will be fine." Rem said.

    "We¡¯d better move now so that you have the time you need to adapt your spells and we can gain speed."

    "Why holding hands?" Tista asked.

    "To breathe. All the stories about merfolk allowing humans to stay underwater by kissing them and passing them air are as romantic as they are ridiculous. It¡¯s not that we couldn¡¯t, but merfolk don¡¯t make out with strangers and even if we did, moving at high speed would be impossible". Rem said.

 Chapter 1212 - Under the Sea (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1212 - Under the Sea (Part 2)</h4>

    "How is holding hands supposed to help us breathe underwater?" Lith had considered several options to solve that problem, but had been forced to discard them after careful thinking.

    Creating an air bubble around their heads would be idiotic. The mana required to hold it together under high pressure and high-speed conditions would be enormous and the bubble wouldn¡¯tst long.

    Store air inside a dimensional item would have been dumb as well. Taking out the air and bringing it to the nose or mouth required fine tuning. With such a method, every time they had to take a breath they would also need to stop, making it a hassle.

    Shapeshifting would give them gills, but they wouldn¡¯t work. Lith had no idea how to extract oxygen from water and then move it to his lungs without giving himself an embolus.

    On top of that, his body had never learned how to breathe from gills so he would just die the moment he instinctively used his nose by mistake.

    "It¡¯s easier if you see it with Invigoration while we move." Rem offered Lith her hand who promptly took it.

    The merfolk shivered at the contact and the sides of her mouth curled up in an expression of pure disgust for a split second.

    Mal, a short but fit merfolk with purple hair would take care of Phloria while Khalia, a female merfolk with emerald green hair and eyes of Tista.

    The three pairs dived inside one of the water pools near the Mayor¡¯s office, but they didn¡¯t move for a while. The merfolk wanted to make their human guests get ustomed to both moving and breathing underwater.

    Awakened were capable of holding their breath for a long time, but the merfolk couldn¡¯t afford them to panic the moment they needed air. Trust was the first step of their journey.

    Lith never stopped breathing, discovering that somehow, the physical contact allowed Rem to share the oxygen that her gills filtered from the water. It wasn¡¯t an innate skill but a spell that channeled a stream of minuscule air bubbles.

    The bubbles moved along their skin, filling Lith¡¯s nostrils with every breath Rem took.

    "I¡¯ll do my best to match your breathing rhythm, but you need to give me a hand and stay calm. If your respiration gets messy, I¡¯ll bring you to the surface as fast as I can." Rem¡¯s voice came from her skin as well.

    The words reverberated through her whole body as if it was a sounding board and physical contact allowed the vibrations to reach Lith¡¯s ears. He tried to reply, but he only emitted a gurgle.

    "Yes, this is how merfolkmunicate between them and no, you can¡¯t do it." Rem said with a chuckle.

    Once everyone became able to breathe naturally, they started moving. Slowly at first because they needed to get out of thework of tunnels and faster once they reached open waters.

    Moving at high speed required using magic to "kick" the water behind them while creating a stream in front of them to keep their eyes from being squashed by pressure, sand particles, or a random fish.

    The deeper they got, the less light there was, making it almost impossible for them to see. Both Fire and Life Vision were pointless. The cold water surrounding them was much thicker than air and made everything look the same.

    Lith finally discovered what the tenth of Solus¡¯s fourteen senses was for. It allowed him to see underwater as if he was in a pool and to make head or tails of where they were going, but the girls couldn¡¯t help but be nervous.

    Theirpanion was their lifeline, their guide, and the only human contact in the cold ckness of the ocean surrounding them.

    "Don¡¯t rely on your eyes." Mal squeezed Phloria¡¯s hand to reassure her. "An Emperor Beast friend of mine uses air magic to sense her surroundings. She says that sound spreads faster underwater."

    Phloria knew about echolocation and despite the stress from her condition, she managed to improvise a spell. It allowed her to vaguely detect the shape of everything in almost 30 meters (100 feet around her) but it was better than nothing.

    Solus had no such problems and by sharing her senses with Lith they could see underwater as well as on the surface. The ocean was filled with life and dangers in the form of animals and magical beasts.

    The merfolk guided them along cold-water streams that most creatures avoided, needing only a well-ced spell to get rid of an annoying predator and a few words to sate the curiosity of the magical beasts they met.

    Some had evolved from fish, others from water mammals but they all could breathe underwater and moved with the grace of a ballerina and the speed of a cheetah. Powerful sea creatures on Mogar were so big that inparison sharks looked like pugs

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, this is nothing like it was depicted in the movies back on Earth. Most of my spells either don¡¯t work or work differently from the surface. Life underwater needs not only you topletely rethink magic, but it also makes human senses unreliable.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    Even though all the creatures they met were way weaker than him, Lith doubted to be able to kill a single one of them. He had gotten used only to move in a straight line whereas predators could move nimbly in every direction and would easily escape.

    The journeysted for a few hours, allowing the humans to develop spells that improved their mobility and reced their regr senses. Once they reached the merfolk city, Lith¡¯s childish dreams about Antis were utterly disappointed.

    There were no lights nor monuments. The buildings were all made of stone from the seabed, giving them a in appearance. The city had been built so deep in the ocean that there was no light, making everything look cold, silent, and grey.

    If not for the bustling activity of the merfolk throughout the city, he would have thought of being in an underwater graveyard.

    <i>¡¯What did you expect?¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯Light would only make them an easy target, they have no need for colors since salt water would destroy them, and sound spreads differently.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I wasn¡¯t hoping for musician crabs, pet fish, orntern jellyfish, but this is just sad. I wonder why they don¡¯t move to the surface.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯Maybe because just like this ce seems cold and silent to you, the surface world is blinding and deafening to them.¡¯</i> Solus shrugged.

    The merfolk guided them to the top of a spire shaped building and made them enter from what Lith assumed was a window. Only once they got inside, did he realize that Merfolk had no need for stairs or doors.

    Each person would build their house vertically, one room per floor, and just move through the openings in the walls, ceiling, and floor.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m still thinking like a human. Here there is no need for a kitchen or a bedroom.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    Ren sealed the opening in the walls with earth magic while also emptying the room from the water and filling it with air from a dimensional amulet at the same time. Then, she used light magic to allow everyone to see.

 Chapter 1213 - Under the Sea (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1213 - Under the Sea (Part 3)</h4>

    "Wee to our city of Zhen. Even though you might think this room is just an artificial cave, it¡¯s actually a ce to host people from different races." Rem said while taking bathrobes out of the amulet and giving them to the other two merfolk before drying them with water magic.

    ording to Xoth, humans had issues with nudity, and speaking while her gills were still filled with water was a hassle.

    "Is this your home? It seems a nice ce to live." Tista said to be polite. All she had managed to perceive before Rem sealed the room with earth magic were a bunch of rocks and several moving forms that might as well be fish.

    "Thanks for your kindness, but I doubt you can appreciate the beauty of our city with your human senses." Mal said, noticing her embarrassment.

    "Since there¡¯s only so much air, it¡¯s better to not waste time with niceties." Rem scolded him. "The reason why we brought you here is to give you the final details about your mission.

    "To infiltrate Kolga, you can¡¯t move around while looking like merfolk nor humans. The inhabitants of the cursed city have a different appearance and you need to shapeshift yourself to look like them before entering."

    "Why didn¡¯t you take a few corpses to Reghia, then?" Phloria asked. "Studying their physiology and modifying our bodies will take time."

    "For good reasons. Kolga has lots of inhabitants, but if a few of them go missing, they are bound to be reported. By kidnapping them at thest minute we are buying you time, not wasting it." Rem replied.

    "Also, because of the link with the Forbidden Sun, the corpses would have disappeared the moment I took them out the dimensional amulet. Bringing them here is the best possiblepromise."

    She had just finished speaking when three corpses slowly came out of the ceiling which had temporarily been turned into a softer material with earth magic.

    They looked like merfolk who had gotten stuck between their underwater and surface form. They had blue skin instead of scales, both noses and gills, and they had finsing out from where ears were supposed to be.

    More fins came out of their calves, elbows, and wrist. All of them had odd-colored hair that looked out of an anime. While examining the corpses with Life Visions, Lith noticed that they all had enchanted weapons and rings.

    <i>¡¯This mission is much more important than I expected. Judging from the equipment, the merfolk captured nobles to give us more freedom of movement. I wonder how many people sacrificed their lives to give us this opportunity.¡¯</i> He thought.

    The group quickly undressed the dead Kolgans, storing the clothes inside their respective Scalewalker armor to replicate them. Also, their diagnostic spells were useless on corpses.

    The only way they had to study their physiology was by taking a good look on them before the corpses disappeared.

    "If they got here so fast, I guess that we¡¯re near Kolga." Lith said without interrupting his work.

    "Correct. Zhen is one of the closest outposts. We need to constantly check the status of the mana crystals fueling the arrays and rece them." Khalia said.

    "How and why does Kolga manage to expand despite all of your efforts?"

    "All the crystals in the world can¡¯tpete with a mana geyser." Rem sighed. "Kolga is surrounded by cities like Zhen, but the best we can do is to slow down its advance. As for the why it¡¯s simple.

    "Their Forbidden Sun allows them to grow crops and bestows upon them a long life, but they need more food than what they have. They have to feed themselves, their cattle, and the people they keep as sacrifices.

    "Every time Kolga expands, its inhabitants get more soil to cultivate." Rem said.

    "Right, they cannot fish because even if there wasn¡¯t your barrier, they can¡¯t get far from their sun without dying." Tista nodded. "The only thing I don¡¯t understand is how did you manage to hold out for so long against a mana geyser."

    "It¡¯s because Kolga needs most of its energy to keep the water out of the city, filter the air they need and fuel their defensive systems. It leaves them little world energy to spare, yet it¡¯s enough to make them gain ground after .u.mting it for long enough." Rem said.

    "Kolga is one of the reasons why merfolk have so little resources for their magical research. We use all we get from the sea and our allies to keep it from spreading. The bastard who turned Kolga from a safe haven into a nightmare was one of our own, and we took responsibility for his actions."

    "If the advance is so slow and there is a shortage of food, then how can they feed such a powerful ritual?" Lith asked.

    "I don¡¯t know. Sometimes one of our soldiers gets captured, but we are very careful never going too close to the barrier." Rem shook her head.

    "Onest question." Phloria had now pink hair, light blue skin, and moved awkwardly due to the ample bosom of her new form to which she wasn¡¯t used. "How do you know the password for the array on the other side?"

    "There is no array on the other side. Only a few sentinels who look for cracks in our barrier in the hope to get some extra food. They wee any outsider with the same joy of a shark that finds a dead fish." Rem replied.

    "They are really arrogant." Lith now had ming red hair. The creature he was mimicking was shorter and fatter than his human body, making him look like Vastor¡¯s lost twin. "Good gods, how does Vastor walk with his stumpy legs?"

    "You can ask him the next time you see him." Tistaughed at him waddling with every step he took. She now had blue hair, violet eyes, and a much thinner body than her own.

    She joined the others who were already walking around the room to get ustomed to their new body to not arouse suspicions once inside Kolga.

    "It¡¯s not arrogance so much as confidence. Killing even one of them is really hard and each second spent inside the barrier feels like having hot poison running through your veins." Mal said.

    "Then how did you kill those three guys?" Lith pointed at the three corpses that had already started to rot at a speed visible at the n.a.k.e.d eye. A quick darkness spell managed to get rid of the stench before everyone started puking their gust out.

    "We didn¡¯t. We created a crack in the barrier on purpose to lure some of the sentinels out. One step outside Kolga is enough to turn those monsters into easy prey." Ren said.

    After a while, Khalia started to feel dizzy and soon the same happened to the others.

    "Ready or not, you got to go. We almost ran out of air." Mal said, taking Tista¡¯s hand again while Ren let fresh water flow inside the room.

    They left the city and in just a matter of minutes, even the girls could see a light point on the horizon that became bigger and brighter as they closed in.

    Thanks to one of Solus¡¯s fourteen senses that allowed him to see underwater, Lith was the only one able to understand the nature of the source of light before almost reaching Kolga.

 Chapter 1214 - Under the Sea (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1214 - Under the Sea (Part 4)</h4>

    Lith had seen plenty of powerful arrays surrounding lost cities and he knew that they couldn¡¯t emit such brilliance. The merfolk and Xoth had mentioned to the group the existence of a Forbidden Sun, but it would have been idiotic to waste its power to produce a light powerful enough to illuminate the seabed even from that distance.

    A good mage would have focused its power so to guarantee the city protection and nurture the fields. Doing more would be pointless, wasting precious energy that could have been better employed to attack the barrier and further expand the city.

    The source of light was Kolga itself. Tall buildings the size of a skyscr.a.p.er had been erected right behind the barrier and from most of their ss windows came multi-colored lights that were spread and refracted by the array, producing the dazzling glow that Lith¡¯s group had seen from a distance.

    "We can¡¯t have you moving awkwardly inside Kolga or asking for directions." Each one of the Merfolk said to their respective passenger. "There is no such thing as tourists. One second of amazement would make you stick out like a sore thumb.

    "We¡¯ll give you a full tour of the city from the outside to let you study Kolga¡¯syout, to be familiar with what is supposed to be ordinary for the people you are impersonating and to point out to you the little that our previous scouts have learned during the past missions.

    "If the sentinels spot you swimming with merfolk, your disguise will be pointless and the mission will fail before it even starts. We¡¯ll keep ourselves at the fringes of the light ring so that we can see inside while they can¡¯t see us, yet you should conceal yourself, just to be safe."

    All the members of Lith¡¯s group wore a Scalewalker armor so it took them but a thought to have their clothes turn back into ayer of dull metal that covered them from head to toe, making them look like small golems.

    Lith didn¡¯t need Solus¡¯s 360-degree vision to know that the girls were probably so shocked that they had forgotten how to breathe. He was sure of it because he felt the same way.

    Kolga didn¡¯t look like a medieval city, quite the contrary. Even Belius, the most modern city that Lith had ever visited in the Kingdom, looked primitive inparison.

    The buildings weren¡¯t just as tall as skyscr.a.p.ers, they were skyscr.a.p.ers made of ss, rock, and metal. Each building was like a giant mirror, reflecting all light to the outside, making the city visible from far away.

    Lith could see paved roads where people walked and what looked like neon signs and huge screens ced at the street level to inform the citizens about thetest events or advertise new establishment.

    Lith counted a total of five concentric rings of buildings where people lived. Each ring was arranged so that it would spread rather than block the lighting from the sun in the middle of the city, illuminating the next line of buildings in a cascade effect.

    People moved on foot to reach the nearby blocks and flying cars when they needed to reach the opposite side of the city.

    <i>¡¯By my maker!¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s was so shocked that she forgot about Menadion being her Mom rather than her master. Ever since the dream about Valeron¡¯s death, she had finally started to consider herself as a real person.

    <i>¡¯Those are not carriages, wagons, or stagecoach. Those are really cars! Whoever made them, imbued them with a simple float spell to make them weightless and then used a system that generates small bursts of air magic to propel them in every direction.¡¯</i>

    Lith looked at the swarms of cars flying around the city. The simplicity of their design amazed him, making him feel as if he was suddenly back on Earth and watching a sci-fi movie.

    The darkness surrounding Kolga was no different from that of space, giving the lost city the look of an orbital colony.

    Cultivated fields and cattle pens took all the space inside the buildings¡¯ rings that had clearly been designed as the first line of defense. As Xoth had told them, long life was nothing but torture without food, making it the most precious resource.

    Buildings could be quickly repaired with magic and so injured bodies whereas it would take months to grow a single carrot.

    Right in the middle of the city, there was a tall tower that sent shivers down everyone¡¯s spine. It was taller, better looking, and perfectly preserved yet the design of its first two floors was almost identical to Solus¡¯s.

    On top of the tower, there was a white mana crystal the size of an a.d.u.l.t man and above that, there was the Forbidden Sun. It was much smaller than anyone had imagined it, barely bigger than Lith¡¯s house.

    Solus could see thanks to her mana sense that while the sun was linked to all the living beings inside Kolga, the tower was linked to the buildings thatprised the five rings surrounding the fields.

    Each building had been ced so that it would form the focal point of a series of protective arrays that enveloped the inner rim. An invisible beam of energy departed from the mana crystal above the tower and reached the power core hidden inside each building, forming aplexwork of spells that ovepped to perfection.

    The tower was right above the mana geyser, absorbing every ounce of its power, making it almost invisible to Life Vision.

    Not only did the tower use the world energy to generate all arrays that kept the city protected from both water and invaders, but it also provided the buildings with enough power to fuel elevators, lights, and home appliances.

    The world energy from the mana geyser was amplified by the white crystal and then ryed to the buildings¡¯ power cores that further amplified it before spreading the energy evenly, not letting a single spark go to waste.

    After the tour ended, the merfolk moved back to the seabed level, using low currents and muddy waters to hide their approaching to the city.

    "Once inside, never let your guard down. Every inhabitant of Kolga is a skilled fighter. They may not be as strong as an Awakened, but their wounds heal so fast that decapitating them is the only way to kill them." The merfolk said.

    "The first thing you need to do is to signal us if you can understand Kolga¡¯snguage. If not, only Lith has to remain and check if his condition allows him to resist longer than regr creatures while Phloria and Tista have to leave immediately.

    "If that¡¯s the case, call us on ourmunication amulet for one second and we¡¯lle to pick you up immediately. If Leegaain¡¯s pins work, then you must all stay as long as you can. A callsting three seconds will inform us of the urring of the best-case scenario."

    The merfolk huddled up, allowing the group to exchangemunication runes with Rem.

    "Remember that you can¡¯t leave the city nor Warp away on your own. We¡¯ll remain nearby for all the time it takes. Whenever you need to be rescued, just perform a one-second call and we¡¯lle to the exact spot where we have dropped you." She said.

 Chapter 1215 - Kolga (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1215 - Kolga (Part 1)</h4>

    "It should take at least 24 hours before the friends and family of your aliases notice their disappearance. Use that time wisely." Thanks to the huddle, Rem could speak with everyone at the same time.

    "Tista, Phloria, usually Awakened canst for about four hours before they are no longer able to hide the distress. Diseases do not exist in Kolga due to Forbidden Magic so a sneeze, cough, or even a small wince of pain will alert everyone around you.

    "The moment you feel like you can¡¯t take it any longer, don¡¯t be a hero and get out. It takes about one hour to cleanse the body from intense levels of mana poisoning. Only then can you get inside again."

    She told them the password of the array blocking the city and then the merfolk led Lith¡¯s group past the barrier one at the time.

    The merfolk would pretend to rece an exhausted crystal, drawing the attention of the sentinels while their partner would find an isted spot thanks to Life Vision and get inside the array without being seen.

    Tista entered first, using an array detection spell to check for potential trapsid close to the barrier and a life detecting array to make sure that no one was rushing to her position.

    The skyscr.a.p.er behind her provided the group with a perfect cover, but it also hampered Life Vision due to the intense flow of mana coursing through it. On top of that, the moment she stepped past the barrier, she discovered how poisonous of a flower Kolga was.

    The relief from breathing air and seeing again didn¡¯tst long. The light of the Forbidden Sun prickled at her skin like hot needles that slowly pierced her flesh. She could see with Invigoration how the foreign life force seeped throughout her body, making even her hair ache.

    It was still just an annoyance, but knowing that the pain would only get worse made her worry. On top of that, even casting two simple arrays had never been so hard. Just like it happened for her life force, foreign mana poisoned her more with each passing second.

    Her Awakened core generated a mana flow that would slow down the process, but the poisoning would not only slowly weaken her core, it would also make it progressively harder for her to use magic.

    Each time Tista cast a spell, she needed to spend enough mana to conjure the desired effects and to counter the external flow. If she remained inside Kolga for too long, the poisonous mana would .u.mte inside her body to the point that even chore magic would be as mana expensive as a tier five spell.

    As soon as Lith and Phloria joined her, Tista shared her discoveries with them.

    "Four hours may be the limit for violet cored Awakened, but I don¡¯t think I canst that long." Tista said.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s not our only problem.¡¯</i> Phloria activated a mind link to connect the four of them while gesturing Tista to shut up.

    <i>¡¯Even if the pins work, we need to be careful. As long as we speak among ourselves, we use Garlen¡¯snguage. If the inhabitants of Kolga hear us speaking gibberish they might be wary of us.</i>

    <i>¡¯Only use mind links and pretend that we don¡¯t know each other. A group of people walking in silence would be suspicious as well.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯But that way we willst even less!¡¯</i> Tista replied.<i> ¡¯We¡¯ll poison each other¡¯s core with every thought we share, adding oil to the fire.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Then it¡¯s better if we shut up.¡¯</i> Phloria said.

    <i>¡¯Thanks for your concern. I¡¯m moved.¡¯</i> Lith¡¯s reply reminded them of his condition.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m so sorry, lil bro! how do you feel?¡¯</i> Tista had a hard time keeping herself from using the Scanner spell to check up on him, but casting a tier five spell in those conditions would cripple her strength.

    <i>¡¯I feel great. Believe it or not, Death Vision is gone.¡¯ Lith could feel the foreign energy being absorbed by the cracks in his life force, nurturing it instead of poisoning it. ¡¯On top of that, I¡¯m not experiencing mana poisoning either.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s because I¡¯m taking care of it.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯It seems that the Forbidden Sun generates a strand for each energy signature it perceives. We possess the same energy signature so we can perfectly split the poisonous life force from the mana and neutralize their effects.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Good for you. At least the mission is starting on the right foot. Now we need to check if the pins work. Without them, we¡¯d be only a liability for you.¡¯</i> Phloria looked into Lith¡¯s eyes, d to see that the ck veins of Death Vision had disappeared.

    No matter what form he took or what he said, Phloria could always tell from his eyes how he felt.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s not necessarily true.¡¯</i> Lith grabbed Tista¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s hand.<i> ¡¯After all, both Solus and I are missing a lot of energy. Before moving forward, there¡¯s one thing I want to check.¡¯</i>

    The blue skin covering her hand was thick and rough, but her palm turned out to be quite sensitive. The moment Lith touched Phloria, she felt blood rushing to her face while a pleasant sensation spread through her whole body.

    <i>¡¯Lith, whatever you are doing, please stop. Think about what Kam would think if-¡¯ </i>The words died in her brain when she saw that Tista had a delighted expression as well<i>. ¡¯For the gods¡¯ sake, he¡¯s your brother!¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I swear, it¡¯s not what you think</i>!¡¯ Tista said, and it was true.

    From his battle against the Puppeteer, Lith had learned how to use his Abomination side to drain energy on contact. He was now using that skill to rid both Tista and Phloria of Kolga¡¯s infection.

    Lith had shapeshifted his human body to resemble a Kolgan so the cracks near the surface of his life force absorbed the energy before it could reach his underlying Abomination side, leaving Solus to feed off the mana guing the mana cores.

    The pleasure both women were experiencing simply came from the sudden relief from pain as Solus healed their bodies of the little damage they had already sustained.

    <i>¡¯My advice is to circte both light and earth fusion to protect your life force from the Forbidden Sun, just like we did against Lith¡¯s Abomination side. It should also slow down the mana poisoning process.¡¯</i> Solus rushed to say after clearing the misunderstanding she had caused.

    <i>¡¯Also, this kind of treatment doesn¡¯t seem to affect either of my life forces negatively</i>.¡¯ Lith said. <i>¡¯Whenever you feel like you have .u.mted too much poisonous energy, we will cleanse it for you. This way you should be able tost as long as me.¡¯</i>

    The three nodded and split a bit too fast for their own liking, still embarrassed for what had happened. They moved in different directions while being careful of not leaving the range of their respective mind link.

    It took them but a quick stroll to one of the main roads to check how thorough Leegaain had been.

    "I really don¡¯t understand why our merfolk cousins keep us trapped inside this stupid barrier." A female said. (AN: It¡¯s actually tranted from Kolgan, courtesy of Leegaain.)

 Chapter 1216 - Kolga (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1216 - Kolga (Part 2)</h4>

    "Not only is their struggle pointless, but also if they joined us, they would be able to enjoy the same blessings that our King bestowed upon us. We would march from one geyser to another, conquering the seas first and then the maind."

    "I agree." The male walking by her side said. "Why be forced to choose between thend and the sea when we can have both? Beasts and humans have monopolized Mogar for too long. They are no different from the elves. Their time is over but they need a kick in the butt to realize it."

    <i>¡¯Son of a gun!¡¯</i> Lith thought.<i> ¡¯I was right, Leegaain and Faluel conspired to get me here. The only question is if the Father of all jackasses and his granddaughter nned my trip to Jiera together or if they exploited each other¡¯s n.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I wouldn¡¯t worry about that.¡¯</i> Solus activated themunication amulet in their pocket, sending the all-clear signal to Rem.<i> ¡¯Take a look at this.¡¯</i>

    Solus shared with him what mana sense showed her. Every single one of Kolga¡¯s inhabitants wore enchanted clothes, a dimensional amulet, and had one magic holding ring on each of their fingers.

    When Lith¡¯s group had noticed how well-equipped their aliases were, they had thought that it depended on their role as sentinels. Discovering that it was just standard equipmentplicated things quite a bit.

    <i>¡¯Devil¡¯s Souls almighty! This is not a mission, this is a living nightmare.¡¯</i> The situation suddenly reminded Lith about the forefather of self-punishing videogames that focused on the yer experiencing grief rather than fun.

    ¡¯<i>Git gud, noob.</i>¡¯ Solus took out of his mind the caring words with which its onlinemunity replied to any criticism about their favorite game.<i> ¡¯Jokes aside, now I understand why even powerful Awakened failed to put down whoever this King is.</i>

    <i>¡¯Everyone here is armed to the teeth, the tower is impregnable, and the fields are more protected than the Royal Pce. Otherwise poisoning thend is all that would take to bring the entire city down.</i>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, the constant mana and life force poisoning make it impossible for anyone but us to exert their true strength.¡¯ </i>Solus said.

    <i>¡¯Indeed. Fighting is not an option. The moment something goes wrong, we¡¯d be swarmed. Stealth is our best ally here.¡¯</i> Lith thought while opening the mind link with the girls and sharing the information with them.

    They had no mana sense and couldn¡¯t use Life Vision without drawing attention. They both cursed their bad luck for a while before regaining their cool.

    <i>¡¯Okay, so we need to find out how the King controls the geyser, anything we can about the ritual, and what happens to the darkness element it releases.¡¯</i> Phloria said.

    <i>¡¯If that tower is a mage tower, we¡¯re in a world of trouble. Solus is the only one who can check it so she should go there with Lith. Tista and I will look for a library or something like that.</i>

    <i>¡¯What we need is basic information. If Kolga works like the Kingdom, then it might be even taught in the schools. Our only problem is that we can¡¯t ask for directions.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯You¡¯ll figure out something. If anything happens, call me on my amulet. Otherwise let¡¯s meet here again in a couple of hours.¡¯</i> Lith had crafted a pocket watch for each one of them after learning that the Forbidden Sun didn¡¯t rise nor set.

    He would have liked to take off and reach the tower by flight, but everyone else moved only on foot or on the flying cars. He had no idea how to get a ride or drive one, so his only choice was to walk and hope to learn something useful along the way.

    Meanwhile, the girls moved to the opposite side of the street to cover more ground, nning to explore one city rim at the time. They were amazed hearing people talk about their jobs, their children, or their ns for the future.

    The same little things that humans worried about in the Kingdom. The girls had expected the citizens of Kolga to be bloodthirsty monsters and yet aside from their appearance, they were just regr people.

    Thanks to their swim above the city and to Solus¡¯s memory, Lith knew Kolga¡¯syout like the back of his hand. He walked briskly enough to keep people who might know his face from recognizing him but slow enough for Solus to listen to any bit of interesting conversation.

    <i>¡¯Why do we never get to conveniently find the bad guy of the week while they thoroughly exin their n so that we can learn its weaknesses straight from their mouth?¡¯</i> Lith inwardly griped after hearing peoplein about boring aspects of their lives one time too many.

    <i>¡¯Because in real life no one is so dumb. I¡¯ve listened to a curry recipe that I¡¯d like you to prepare for me, though.¡¯</i> She replied.

    Reaching the tower from the building rings required to move in a straight line and the roads connecting the various districts of the city were perfectly paved, making the trip even easier.

    Yet it took Lith quite some time to reach his destination on foot because he had no idea how to ask for a ride without writing the words "intruder" on his forehead.

    The cultivated fields took the majority of thend upied by Kolga and spread across kilometers. During their walk, Lith and Solus noticed that plenty of people worked in the fields, using magic to take care of cattle and nts alike.

    They would use earth magic to till the fields, sending the external soil deep in the ground to keep it from exhausting, water magic to conjure fresh water, light and darkness magic to treat respectively diseases and parasites.

    <i>¡¯This is interesting.¡¯</i> Lith thought. <i>¡¯Despite their vastly superior cores, those people use their abilities exactly like Dad¡¯s farmhands while they could achieve much better results with forgemastered tools.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I guess that after food, the second thing theyck the most is resources.¡¯</i> Solus pondered.<i> ¡¯Ever since we got here, I didn¡¯t see anyplex device. The cars are just metal with simple enchantments and the same stands for the standard equipment everyone wears.</i>

    <i>¡¯Their magic holding rings don¡¯t exceed the third tier of magic and none of the weapons we saw have mana crystals. Probably they keep enchanted metals for elite units, while everyone else has to settle for ck iron and enchanted clothes.¡¯</i>

    During the walk, very few farmers stood up to look at Lith, and even those who did paid him no attention. They¡¯d rather focus on their jobs to get done with it and go home as soon as they could.

    Along the way, Solus noticed several small groups of people.

    "Please, tell me there is no risk of another famine." A woman with a terrified face asked one of the farmhands. Judging from her swollen belly and two life forces, she had to be pregnant.

    "Don¡¯t worry, miss. This season we should have a bountiful harvest. I got a small devil on the way as well and this time, if the gods smile upon me, we¡¯ll be able to raise them properly." A man said.

    The woman cried with joy at those words, yet they raised a few questions for Lith.

 Chapter 1217 - Mages and Towers (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1217 - Mages and Towers (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯What does he mean, this time? If the harvest is good and there are no diseases in Kolga, then why does he worry about losing his child?¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Maybe it¡¯s due to the ritual.¡¯</i> Solus thought. <i>¡¯There¡¯s only one strand connecting the Forbidden Sun to the woman so she must be like us, taking the poisonous energy on herself and protecting the baby.</i>

    <i>¡¯Yet once it¡¯s born, cracking both its life force and mana core might prove lethal.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I find it hard to believe that after all this time they have yet to perfect the ritual.¡¯</i> Lith replied while looking around the fields and finding another inconsistency.

    He could see barns, stockyards, but no building big enough to host the ves necessary to fuel the Forbidden Magic ritual.

    <i>¡¯The fields are big and we are on foot. Maybe it¡¯s somewhere else.¡¯</i> Solus had no better answer, focusing all of her attention on the tower that was getting closer with each step they took.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, the energy from the mana geyser is blinding as if I¡¯m staring at the sun, we need to get much closer if we want me to make heads or tails of the enemy¡¯s power.¡¯</i> She thought while Lith used his regr vision to check their surroundings.

    The tower did resemble Solus, but the moment he got close enough to notice its details he could tell that something was off. Sure, the energy from the mana geyser was so intense that it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, but the tower had no presence.

    Even in its ruined form, Solus¡¯s tower had an aura of magnificence typical of Forgemastering masterpieces whereas the one in front of him felt like nothing more than a tall bunch of stones.

    Even though the tower had been enchanted with self-repair spells, the energy from the geyser caused it to crack and reform non-stop. The damage was small, but big enough for Lith¡¯s heightened senses to notice it.

    <i>¡¯I can confirm that this is no mage tower at all.¡¯</i> Solus said after studying the mana flow around them.<i> ¡¯Whatever controls the mana geyser it¡¯s inside the tower but it¡¯s not a part of the building. On top of that, the Forbidden Sun is different from what I expected.</i>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s indeed powerful, but it¡¯s nothingpared with the ck Star. Not only is the Forbidden Sun weaker, but it alsocks any consciousness. It¡¯s just a mass of world energy, life force, and light element.</i>

    <i>¡¯Yet itcks the infinite power of the Odi¡¯s Mana Reactor. Unlike the lost cities we¡¯ve met, Kolga is a giant with weak legs. We¡¯re here for just an hour and we¡¯ve already found two weak points.</i>

    <i>¡¯If we find a way to mess up with the geyser, the water dome will fall and destroy the fields. Even if the Kolgans are still able to breathe underwater, they¡¯ll die without food. Also, theck of consciousness means that we can tamper with the sun as well.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯The second is not really a weak point. cing the sun over a huge ass white crystal and the tower gives it all the protection it needs. How easy is to break inside the tower?¡¯</i> Lith asked, incapable of seeing arrays due to the geyser¡¯s blinding light.

    He couldn¡¯t use an array detecting spell because it would make the arrays visible and blow his cover.

    <i>¡¯Nigh-impossible.¡¯</i> She sighed.<i> ¡¯Too many defensive systems ovepping so that one wrong step triggers them all. Besides, we¡¯re here for recon, not fighting.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t n on fighting, it¡¯s just that the geyser controlling device is inside. If we don¡¯t get so much as a peek at it, we¡¯re just wasting our time.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    "Do you need a ride back to the city?" A polite male voice asked.

    "Yes, please." Lith turned around, noticing a male who wore such a colorful dress that reminded him of Harlequin. He had green eyes and bright orange hair, which coupled with his dress made him a crime against every dress code Lith knew.

    The Harlequin emitted what looked like a firework and one of the flying cars reached their position.

    "Thank the gods you called. I was sick and tired of driving around but I couldn¡¯t find a free parking spot near the tower." A woman said whileing out of the car.

    From a brief exchange between the woman and the Harlequin, it turned out that even though anyone could use a car, it couldn¡¯t leave the highway unless the driver received the firework signal or parked it in a proper space.

    To make matters worse for the Harlequin, a new designated driver had to apany all passengers to their destination before leaving the vehicle.

    <i>¡¯I guess this doesn¡¯t work like a taxi.¡¯</i> Lith thought, d of not having attempted to call one of the cars before.

    "Where do you need to go?" Harlequin took the wheel, swearing like a sailor as more and more people sat down and made their request.

    Lith politely let them talk first, learning what directions he was supposed to give.

    "Harstrom, on the second ring." He said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, did any of you manage to see the King?" A male passenger asked. "I waited hours to meet him, but he never came out of the tower."

    <i>¡¯If the King lives inside the tower, then he¡¯s likely to be the one who possesses the artifact that controls the geyse</i>r.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Sorry, no." Lith actually said, quickly followed by the others.

    "Problems with your job?" Harlequin asked.

    "I¡¯d never bother his Majesty for something so trivial." The man sneered. "I wanted to ask him to put me on sentinel duty. My wife is pregnant to term."

    Instead of congratting him, everyone turned somber and wished him good luck. Lith couldn¡¯t see how being a sentinel and bing a father could be rted, but he just followed suit to not arise suspicions.

    Once he got out of the car, Lith had Solus check the clock in his pocket. More than two hours had passed since the group had split. If they didn¡¯te back soon to be relieved of the poisoning, they might start showing its symptoms and be discovered.

    ***

    Kolga, two hours earlier.

    Tista and Phloria had a hard time moving around the building rings. They had no idea where they were going and they couldn¡¯t ask for directions. At the same time, they were afraid of meeting someone who knew the faces they wore and that might expose them as spies.

    To make matters worse, even though Solus¡¯s suggestions worked like a charm to slow down the poisoning, they felt sicker with each passing second. A nagging pain followed their every move, spell, and even thought.

    Darkness fusion couldn¡¯t negate it because the source of their illness affected more than just their flesh. The poison coursed through their mind, core, and body, making them feel as if white-hot worms moved under their skin.

    Tista felt like she was back to being a sick child with lung issues. Pain was an old friend and masking it was second nature to her. Phloria had been healthy her whole life and had received the best medical treatment the moment she needed it.

    Yet she was also a soldier. She had fought and survived while enduring terrible wounds. Compared to what her own core had done to her during her Awakening, the Forbidden Sun barely pricked her skin. Yet.

 Chapter 1218 - Mages and Towers (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1218 - Mages and Towers (Part 2)</h4>

    Luckily for them, each building had a huge board listing the stores and establishments it held. Finding a library just took them a bit of time. Much to their dismay, the only books they found were about magic.

    Paper was much more precious in Kolga than on the outside, forcing the underwater people to use it only when it really mattered. The only thing they could figure out by studying them was that despite their istion, Kolga¡¯s inhabitants had researched the first four tiers of magic in a simr way to the Kingdom.

    There was no trace of tier five spells, of light magic, of the ritual, nor of Forbidden Magic.

    <i>¡¯This makes no sense. The whole city lives off Forbidden Magic, why they don¡¯t use it for anything else and why hide the existence of light magic?¡¯</i> Phloria thought.

    <i>¡¯Maybe they don¡¯t need it thanks to the Forbidden Sun.¡¯</i> Tista said. ¡¯<i>Coming to the library didn¡¯t get us any leads on the city¡¯s history. We should try going to a school next.</i>

    <i>¡¯Children must be taught about the world they live in and we might learn what we need from those lessons as well.¡¯</i>

    Yet no matter how hard they looked, there wasn¡¯t a single school in the first two rings they explored. The two hours at their disposal were almost up and the built-up pain put their willpower to the test, especially Tista¡¯s.

    With her bright cyan core, she was the weakest in the group and despite her best efforts, she could sense that its color was about to get duller due to the poison.

    <i>¡¯Let¡¯s find some ce to sit down and use Invigoration without drawing attention.¡¯</i> Phloria knew that using the mind link would hasten the poisoning, but she had no other choice.

    Talking with Tista would not only reveal that they were moving together, but there was also the risk that Leegaain¡¯s pin wouldn¡¯t activate and that they would talk thenguage of Garlen instead that of Kolga, blowing their cover.

    They followed the signs inside the building to reach the theatre located on the 27th floor. There were no elevators, just two shafts that ran through the whole building. One for those who needed to go up and the other for those who wanted to go down.

    To move quickly from one floor to another, people just needed to use a flight spell to reach their destination.

    <i>¡¯Why can we use flight indoor but not outside?¡¯</i> Tista asked.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know. My guess is that it makes it impossible for spies to move quickly within the city. Being unable to fly and speak means that regr people doesn¡¯t have enough time to gather any intelligence before the Forbidden Sun cripples their strength.</i>

    <i>¡¯Also, it keeps people from getting near the sun without being noticed. It¡¯s a simple but effective protection.¡¯</i> Phloria guessed right.

    It was the same reason why the use of flying cars had so many restrictions. That way, they couldn¡¯t be used for recon either.

    The girls reached the theatre which didn¡¯t differ much from what they expected. It was a wide circr room with a raised stage in the middle, pitched floor, and several rows of seats arranged in a semi-circr shape.

    Several people were already inside and only a few isted spots remained, forcing the girls to seat in the back rows. They sat down, pretending to be interested while using Invigoration to revert the effects of the poisoning.

    Due to the world energy inside Kolga being thin, the breathing techniquecked its usual potency yet it still managed to alleviate their pain and made Tista¡¯s core back to bright cyan.

    Suddenly the lights went out, leaving only the stage lit. Contrary to the girl¡¯s expectations, no actor came out. The wall came to life as the image of human-merfolk hybrid appeared.

    <i>¡¯What kind of theatre is this?¡¯</i> Phloria was bbergasted.

    The projection of the merfolk wasn¡¯t a hologram so much as a projection. If Lith were there and could share with them about his first life, he would tell them that ce was a movie theatre.

    "Greetings, citizens of Reghia. I¡¯m Jyanu and I¡¯m going to inform you about thetest events." The merfolk said before reading the news like an anchor-man.

    Aside from the fact that Kolga¡¯s society was no less wed than their own and a list of crimes, Tista and Phloria didn¡¯t learn anything. They exploited the darkness to check on their clocks and amulets without being noticed.

    <i>¡¯Damn. There¡¯s not enough time to keep searching. Better stay here and rest while we wait for Lith¡¯s arrival.¡¯</i> Tista said via their mind link.

    After the news came the propaganda. The anchorman spoke about the horrors of the surface and how the enemies of Kolga kept them locked inside the barrier because afraid of their power.

    When the news ended, the lights were turned on again. Phloria and Tista were about to leave along with the others when they noticed a countdown on the screen along with the words "The foundation of Kolga".

    They returned to their seats just in time to see a ss of small children, each apanied by one of their parents. While the children looked enthusiastic, the a.d.u.l.ts seemed to be bored out of their skulls.

    Luckily for the girls, there were enough seats for everyone, but they still received several res from the parents that didn¡¯t take their eyes off them until the lights went out.

    The countdown disappeared, reced by what looked like a cartoon.

    "A long time ago, the powerful mage Ripha Menadion lived in the Garlen continent." The narrating voice said while the screen projected the image of a woman with her hair of the seven colors of the elements who wielded a hammer almost as big as her.

    "Despite being a human, she was wise and kind, taking under her several disciples. Ripha imparted them her knowledge, but no matter how talented they were, her disciples couldn¡¯t match their master because her tower made her powerful beyond belief."

    The screen showed Menadion in front of a colossal tower. Each hit of her hammer turned an ingot of metal into a weapon, an armor, or an artifact that after being basked in the light of the tower, gained the power to split the see and raze mountains.

    <i>¡¯Yeah, right. I wish Forgemastering was that easy.¡¯</i> Tista had a hard time not clicking her tongue.

    Her disciples stared at her in awe while begging Menadion for help.

    "Menadion then bestowed upon each of her four most loyal disciples an artifact that would allow them to ovee their limits. Our ancestor, Asfell Kolga, received the Hands of Menadion that gave her the very power over mana geysers that still ensures our safety."

    Even though the picture focused on a pair of gloves, the girls could still recognize the other three items. A pince-nez, a mask, and a helm.

    The kids and the girls stared at the artifacts in awe.

    "Kolga¡¯s skill reached new heights, but even with the Hands, her talent wasn¡¯t enough to craft a tower of her own yet she shaped her home to resemble Menadion¡¯s as a sign of her eternal gratitude.

    "One day, however, tragedy struck. One of Menadion¡¯s disciples resented their master for not gifting them any artifact. In their rage, the traitorous disciple attacked and killed Menadion, obtaining both her tower and her hammer, Fury."

 Chapter 1219 - Sacrifices (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1219 - Sacrifices (Part 1)</h4>

    The image in the show depicted the murderer as a generic monster made of shadows that was so big and terrifying that no one in their sane mind would let it near their home, let alone epting it as their disciple.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s bullshit! Solus didn¡¯t meet anyone before Lith.¡¯</i> The girls thought in unison, having now even more trouble to sort facts from propaganda.

    "Dead set on iming Menadion¡¯s remaining four artifacts as their own, the traitorous disciple hunted down the same people that once had been family to them. Kolga knew she had no chance to prevail so she escaped Garlen, hoping that the monster wouldn¡¯t find her at the bottom of the sea.

    "She befriended our merfolk ancestors and after learning about the hardsh.i.p.s that humans put them through, Kolga used her powers to provide them with the perfect environment to practice magic without being forced to leave the protection of the sea."

    The screen showed pictures of a small vige built underwater that grew over time while Kolga used her powers to keep it dry and lit.

    "She promoted peace between our races, taking a merman as herpanion and inviting humans to our city. She shared her knowledge in exchange for their resources and for a short while, we flourished together.

    "Yet just like for the traitorous disciple, a monster hid inside the hearts of both humans and merfolk, craving what didn¡¯t belong to them. They joined their forces and attacked Kolga in a foolish race to take the Hands from her.

    "They managed to kill Kolga but Lyma, her oldest daughter, foiled their ns by taking the Hands and using their powers to protect our city. Yet she knew that the geyser alone wasn¡¯t enough.

    "Thebined forces of our enemies were too powerful and with most of the world energy from the geyser needed to keep our city alive, Lyma faced an impossible choice.

    "Keeping the dome active meant suffering her mother¡¯s fate and dooming our city to be destroyed the moment the enemy stole the Hands for good. Deactivating the dome would allow Lyma to harness the full power of the geyser, but along with the invaders she would also destroy Kolga¡¯s legacy.

    "Yet thanks to her genius, she managed to find a way out and saved our city. She devised a powerful ritual that allowed her to convert the light energy from the captured enemies into our Forbidden Sun, saving countless lives."

    The screen showed Lyma that fought alone against an entire army. With each strike of her staff, the enemy soldiers were split into two. The light half rejuvenated her injured soldiers while ck vengeful spirits helped Lyma defending the city.

    The girls didn¡¯t miss how humans and merfolk were depicted as frenzied, bloodthirsty monsters, to the point that inparison even the soldiers born out of darkness magic looked cute.

    The children, instead, cheered for Lyma as if the battle was real instead of just a convenient depiction of past events.

    "At the same time, she used the darkness released from the ritual as a weapon that mowed down the enemy forces, giving to our soldiers their second wind in the war. After our victory, Kolga started to expand thanks to the power of our sun and our future seemed bright.

    "Yet the treachery of our enemies knows no bounds.

    "They couldn¡¯t beat us in a fair fight so they trapped us inside the barrier, hoping that we would starve to death like mice. That the sun that gives us life would take it away.

    "Despite all the odds, we still thrive. Ours is a life of sacrifice, but one day we shall be free. Each year, our city expands. Each year, our forces on the maind work relentlessly to wee our triumphant return with a country of our own and invincible guardians."

    The image of a beautiful sunset over a city built with white stones whose walls and streets were protected by ck soldiers appeared on the screen, making the kids gasp in awe at the luscious green surrounding it.

    The projection ended and the girls left the theatre to meet Lith at the convened point. The poisoning had reached a point where even Invigoration could only slow down the process.

    <i>¡¯Did you find something interesting?¡¯</i> Lith asked while using his and Solus¡¯s abilities to siphon the foreign energy from the girls¡¯ bodies, making their pain bearable.

    <i>¡¯What a load of bullshit!¡¯</i> Lith thought with a scoff after hearing about the "history lesson". <i>¡¯If really an assassin killed Kolga, then they would have taken the Hands for themselves.</i>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, no one can create a regr spell on top of their head, let alone aplex ritual like those required to practice Forbidden Magic. My money on Lyma killing Kolga and triggering the war after she finished her preparations.</i>

    <i>¡¯The ritual is tailor-made to be a tyrant¡¯s best friend. It makes your army unstoppable and makes it impossible for your subjects to betray you since their lives are bound to the Forbidden Sun.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Yeah. Also, what forces on the maind can they possibly have? If they really had allies, they would use them to attack the barrier from the outside. It¡¯s all propaganda to keep people under the King¡¯s thumb.¡¯</i> Phloria nodded.

    <i>¡¯Am I the only one that finds the part about the sacrifices mentioned in the movie odd? I mean, sure, not having enough food is a bitch, but I didn¡¯t see anyone starving. Also, look at Lith!¡¯</i> Tista pointed at the short and fat figure of his alter ego who resembled Vastor¡¯s merfolk twin.

    <i>¡¯You make an excellent point, Tista. If this guy is so fat, he must be someone important. I could use his authority to find out more, but to do that I¡¯d be forced to interact with the people of Kolga.</i>

    <i>¡¯I need a contingency n in the case I blow up my cover.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    After they shared their respective discoveries, they had many things to think about. Yet before deciding their next move, they had to make an important decision.

    <i>¡¯Are we going to tell the Council about the Hands of Menadion?¡¯</i> Phloria asked.

    <i>¡¯Absolutely not.¡¯</i> Lith replied in Solus¡¯s stead.

    She was so shocked by the news that she was incapable of thinking straight.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s Menadion¡¯s legacy we¡¯re talking about. The moment we mention it, no one will care about the merfolk anymore. Even worse, the moment the King is defeated, I wouldn¡¯t get a chance of retrieving the Hands. </i>

    <i>¡¯Even if I did, the situation wouldn¡¯t be much different from blowing Solus¡¯s cover. No one knows what happened to the tower so it¡¯s likely that the most powerful members of the Council would think that the Hands can lead them to Menadion¡¯s legacy and kill me for it.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I was going to say that you have some twisted values, lil bro, putting an artifact above countless lives. Yet you have more than one point.¡¯</i> Tista said. <i>¡¯I don¡¯t trust anyone with the power of the Hands.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Agreed.¡¯</i> Phloria shivered at the idea of what anypetent Forgemaster could do with the power of a mana geyser supporting their creations.

    They would either provide one of the three great countries with the means to start a war that would kill millions, or use the Hands for themselves and be like Balkor, but driven by greed rather than revenge.

 Chapter 1220 - Sacrifices (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1220 - Sacrifices (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, what if the Hands can really lead to Solus? After all, Menadion gifted the four artifacts thatprise the set to her most loyal students.¡¯</i> Phloria said.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s possible, but unlikely.¡¯</i> Solus replied once she noticed the prolonged silence following Phloria¡¯s words and that all eyes were on her.

    <i>¡¯Menadion wouldn¡¯t give away her location so easily and even if she did, my energy signature is different from the original tower. Even the artifact she had entrusted Silverwing to find the tower in the case something happened to us didn¡¯t work.</i>

    <i>¡¯Last, but not least, I didn¡¯t feel any pull to my consciousness ever since we got here. Even if once the Hands had a link with the tower, it¡¯s likely to be broken now.¡¯</i> Yet she essed the tower¡¯s logs to make sure that no one had attempted to make contact with it, just to be safe.

    Even though the mind link allowed them to speak quickly, it still took time and three people spacing out in the middle of the road were just a tad bit less suspicious than three people doing the same in the middle of nowhere.

    There were too many sentinels near the barrier and without a distraction from the merfolk, there was no safe zone.

    <i>¡¯We need to get out of here and tell Rem everything we¡¯ve learned. Maybe she can point us in the right direction. At first, it was a blind mission, but now that we know that we can hold on for much longer than four hours, the situation is different.</i>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, I¡¯m eager to check if the effects of the Forbidden Sun on Solus and I are temporary or longsting</i>.¡¯ Lith said.

    He didn¡¯t experience Death Vision anymore and Solus¡¯s mana core had quickly evolved to bright cyan. The both of them had never felt that good. After sending the convened signal to the merfolk, the group returned to the city of Zhen.

    "Whatever this is, it better be good. I don¡¯t¡¯ have many air pockets with me and you got out after only two hours. Too long for your pins to not work but too short to find something relevant. Did you mess up and need a change of ¡¯clothes¡¯?" Rem asked.

    Before making them start their report, she opened a channel with Aren Dolm, the leader of Jiera¡¯s beast Council. Once Lith¡¯s group was done, all traces of nervousness were gone from the room, reced by a mild optimism.

    Yet the same couldn¡¯t be said for Lith. He could see Rem drown in her blood, rot as a corpse, and die out of deep stab wounds. As for Solus, her mana core couldn¡¯t hold the stored energy and was quickly going back to deep cyan.

    "d to hear that the pins work and that Lith can prolong your stay for over four hours. This is a one of a kind opportunity." Aren said. "As for the information you provided, I¡¯m sorry but it¡¯s nothing new.

    "We already know that the tower isn¡¯t a mage tower from our past failed attacks, just like we learned that the current ruler has the power to control the geyser. What we need to know is if it depends on their bloodline or if it relies on an artifact.

    "In the past, we sent squads of violet cored Awakened who in exchange of their lives managed to kill the ruler, yet Kolga didn¡¯t fall."

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s no surprise. The owner of the arrays and the sun can be switched and as long as another person gets the Hands, everything goes back to square one.¡¯</i> Everyone thought.

    "Do you have any idea why there are no schools and why everyone seems so protective toward the children?" Tista asked.

    "No. Thenguage barrier prevented us from reading the signs, let alone ask questions." Aren replied.

    "If my sister is right and this body belonged to someone important, I could use his authority to find out more. I need to know where you captured him and an escape route in the case someone exposes me." Lith said.

    "It¡¯s a great idea, but now we can do much better than that." Aren said. "No matter who you are, there are some questions that you can¡¯t ask because of thew and others that you¡¯re supposed to already know the answers.

    "To ovee this problem, a sacrifice is needed. Your alias was on sentinel duty so if he manages to capture a merfolk, we¡¯d finally get to learn what happens to our people after every failed raid and maybe even give you the opportunity to witness to the ritual."

    At a snap of his fingers, Khalia, the merfolk who had courted Lith on the day of their arrival, stepped forward. Her human form was paler than a ghost, yet her body stood steady. Her hands didn¡¯t tremble, her lips didn¡¯t quiver, nor did her eyes betray any fear.

    Then, Aren exined how sentinels sounded the rm and focused the power of the arrays on a specific point of the barrier to capture an intruder.

    "I ordered Ren to capture people living in the most external ring because they can perform sentinel duty from the windows of their own homes. Each one of you will go to their alias¡¯ respective home and find out as much as you can about their lives.

    "Once you are done, Lith will capture Khalia with your help. Don¡¯t let anyone else get close to her, or her sacrifice will be pointless."

    "Why didn¡¯t you tell us all those things earlier and how can you send one of our own to die or worse?" Phloria said in outrage.

    "Because we didn¡¯t know if the pins worked and interacting with the merfolk hybrids was a pointless risk. Only the pins and Lith¡¯s unexpected ability to relieve the effects of poisoning make this desperate n worth trying.

    "Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t bet both Lith¡¯s and Khalia¡¯s lives on a maybe. Once they take her, her life is forfeit. If Lith is discovered while under the effects of a single elemental sealing array, the same will happen to him.

    "Without dimensional magic, there would be no way out. Be careful and don¡¯t enter inside any array even if you think that your cover is intact. Khalia is receable whereas you are one of a kind." Aren said.

    The group spent the remaining time before the air in the enclosed room ran out in silence. The girls needed time to heal their bodies without wasting any more uses of Invigoration and even Lith didn¡¯t feel like ruining Khalia final moments.

    Rem and Mal quickly hugged her, shedding a few tears before leaving the room to make space for her parents and friends. People entered in groups of two, never saying a word.

    At least, not in a way that humans could hear. Merfolkmunicated with vibrations and each embracested long enough for everyone to say goodbye to her. Khalia¡¯s parents had to be forcefully dragged out of the room while they screamed unintelligible words of pain.

    Once the air became thin and everyone started to feel dizzy, Khalia took Tista¡¯s hand to help her breathe underwater. Yet once outside the room, instead of going toward Kolga, Rem led the group toward Zhen¡¯s central za, where a monument that looked like a huge seashell rested.

 Chapter 1221 - Sacrifices (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1221 - Sacrifices (Part 3)</h4>

    Lith could see everything clearly thanks to Solus¡¯s tenth sense, while the girls could only perceive through their spells that either there was a crowd around them or they were in an enclosed space.

    Once they stopped, Lith shared Solus¡¯s senses via a mind link, letting them realize that the entire poption of Zhen had assembled for some kind of ceremony.

    The merfolk held hands, forming an upward spiral formation whose extremities lied at the monument on the seabed and at a heightparable to that of one of the tallest buildings.

    The person at the top of the spiral started humming and the vibration spread down along the living spire, growing in intensity with each person it passed through. When it reached the seashell statue, the humming propagated to the rest of the city.

    The phenomenon reminded Lith of whale songs, but being able to feel rather than just hear those sounds, he understood what was happening. The people of Zhen were celebrating Khalia¡¯s short life while also mourning her loss.

    The formation allowed those who knew her to share their feelings beyond what words could express, giving them a substance that even a human could understand. The sounds reverberated throughout the city, echoing inside the buildings and giving the impression that they were crying as well.

    <i>¡¯Gods, this is incredible.¡¯</i> Tista wept silently. <i>¡¯When I first arrived here, I considered this ce no different from an underwater graveyard filled with cold and darkness. Yet it¡¯s exactly because of it that the merfolk have learned to give color to their life by sharing their emotions.</i>

    <i>¡¯Mal was right. Until this moment, I wasn¡¯t capable of appreciating its beauty.¡¯</i> The humming allowed her to see the city even without Solus¡¯s senses. Every ce relevant in Khalia¡¯s life emitted a different tune, almost painting her whole past.

    The group could feel Khalia¡¯s joy while she yed as a child, her efforts to practice magic as a teen, and the enthusiasms with which she had daydreamed about her future on the maind once she became of age.

    "May the Leviathan, the great god of the seas and of discovery apany our sister¡¯s final travel toward the greatest of mysteries, death." Ren said before breaking the spiral and guiding the group toward Kolga again.

    "You know, back when I first met your brother in Reghia, I thought to have finally found my Dragon Charming. A tall, handsome, powerful Wyrmling with his pockets full of magical wonders who would have taken me away and shared Mogar with me.

    "Then, when I saw him turning into a human, I thought that I¡¯d rather die than spend one more second with him. Now, however, I¡¯m not so sure anymore." Khalia said to Tista.

    <i>¡¯Why a Dragon and not a Leviathan? Isn¡¯t Fenagar the god of the seas?¡¯</i> Tista asked via the mind link. It would cost her mana and weaken her core before the mission even started, but she couldn¡¯t let Khalia spend thosest minutes alone.

    During most of her youth, every time Tista went to bed, she feared that her weak lungs would betray her and that she would die in her sleep, without anyone noticing until it was toote.

    Back then, she thanked the gods every single morning for allowing her to live another day. Tista still remembered how the fear woulde back every night, getting worse whenever the cough and fever sapped the little strength that she had.

    Khalia stopped swimming for a second in surprise before answering.

    <i>¡¯You Awakened are really amazing. Maybe I should have really given your brother a chance.¡¯</i> She inwardly sighed.

    <i>¡¯As for your question, ording to lore, Dragons are greedy creatures yet they are also wise and treat their beloved like the most precious treasure.</i>

    <i>¡¯Leviathans, instead, are self-centered jerks who love people like they love a tool, appreciating them more for their usefulness than for who they are.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Doesn¡¯t that go for most males, no matter their race?¡¯</i> Tista chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know. I never left Zhen except that for visiting Reghia a few times.¡¯</i> Khalia regretted not having abandoned her city long enough to make some memories in a distantnd.

    Good or bad didn¡¯t matter. Everything was better than the endless what-ifs running through her mind.

    Tista didn¡¯t tell her that Lith already had a girlfriend, nor that he wouldn¡¯t take seriously someone he didn¡¯t know nor trust. Dreams were all Khalia had left, there was no point taking them away from her.

    Tista shared with the merfolk the memories of her favoritendscapes, the sensation of running through the snow, the sight of sunrise and twilight. They shed their tears in silence, invisible as they became drops in the ocean.

    <i>¡¯Thank you.¡¯</i> That was all Khalia said before leaving Tista in front of Kolga¡¯s barrier and pointing to her the apartment that belonged to her alias.

    After drying herself from the seawater to not arouse suspicions, Tista realized that her eyes were still wet and it took her a while topose herself. Lith held her shoulder without saying a word, just making sure to shield her from the poisoning as long as he could.

    Finding the right apartments was easy. Not only did they know the floor where their respective housing was located, but Life Vision also allowed them to spot the only door that had lost its imprint due to the death of the owner.

    <i>¡¯I could imprint it myself, but I don¡¯t know if doing that might trigger some kind of rm. Solus?¡¯</i> Lith asked, yet she was still in a daze.

    He used the tier four Forgemastering spell, Phantom Echo, to study the door¡¯s pseudo core from a distance with a mix of earth and spirit magic. The lock was simple and so was the enchantment protecting it from burrs.

    With no magical metals nor mana crystals, there was only so much a Forgemaster could do. Any more and the door would crumble under the strain exerted from the spells that were supposed to reinforce it.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s good news, but arrays have rms as well and they don¡¯t burden their host.¡¯</i> Lith thought while activating an array detection spell focused solely on the door in front of him.

    s, there were so manyyers perfectly ovepping each other that they gave him a headache.

    <i>¡¯Solus, I really need your help. Can I cross this door or not?¡¯</i> He asked.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯What do you mean, I don¡¯t know? You crack things harder than this for breakfast.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know if I can live with the answer. If I say yes, that girl will die. If I say no, she will live, but this horror founded on my mother¡¯s masterpiece and on the lives of Mogar knows how many people will keep expanding until someone finds a solution.</i>

    <i>¡¯Whatever I do, someone is going to die.¡¯</i> Solus replied.

    <i>¡¯None of this is your fault or Menadion¡¯s. This is just what happens when a madman gets their hand on a powerful artifact. Do you think that Tyris feels responsible for what Thrud does with Arthan¡¯s Sword or Silverwing for how her specializations are used?¡¯</i> Despite his words, Lith could understand her feelings.

    Solus had yearned for so long to learn about her past, yet everything she learned about her family¡¯s legacy only led to more corpses.

    <i>¡¯Every single day.¡¯</i> Solus didn¡¯t know Tyris or Silverwing well, but after meeting the two women, she had realized that the reason why they both had given up on helping people was because of regret.

 Chapter 1222 - Sacrifices (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1222 - Sacrifices (Part 4)</h4>

    Tyris¡¯s kindness had generated countless monsters like Balkor and Arthan. Silverwing¡¯s teachings had allowed forbidden magic to improve by leaps and bounds, culminating in the mass production of ve cors.

    No matter how good the intentions of its maker, magic was just a tool and people would always find a way to abuse it.

    Feeling Solus¡¯s emotional turmoil, Lith gave up on making her reason and focused on the arrays, studying them one at a time. Luckily, Kolga¡¯s magic had been developed from Menadion¡¯s teachings and the istion limited their progress.

    Once he made sure that there was no rm based on the race of the imprinter, Lith made the house his own. Once inside, he searched the ce for anything that might give him clues about his alias¡¯ name or personality.

    <i>¡¯Based on his well-fed appearance and the many rooms of the house, my meat suit must have been as wealthy as he was alone. This is a bachelor house if I ever saw one.¡¯</i> Lith thought while studying his surroundings with Life Vision.

    The city arrays fueled everything from the lights to the kitchen¡¯s stove. The living room and its many sofas took almost half the house. Lots of family paintings decorated the walls, leaving only one wide empty space that Lith assumed was destined to the future family of his alias.

    Two hard-covered books were encased in ss and hung to the wall of the living room in front of the door as proof of the man¡¯s wealth. ording to the girls¡¯ investigation, books were more precious than gold.

    Judging from their titles they were history books, while from the dust on the back of the frame they hadn¡¯t been consulted in years.

    The wet bar in the corner between the sofas was well-stocked, but all bottles were half empty. Lith found more bottlesying around the house, even in the bathroom. After searching the bedroom, Lith found a small booklet well hidden under the mattress.

    It was hard covered as well, but this one showed clear signs of being regrly used and abused. The bent corners and extensive damage on the exterior could only be exined with the owner throwing it around in a fit of rage.

    Lith put it inside Soluspedia, reading it in a few seconds. It was a diary, awarded from some kind of academy to one of their most promising staff members. Most pages were filled with the boring life of an enthusiast schr, but the most recent pages had turned to a different mood.

    "I¡¯m goddamn Professor Jogu Thross, first chair of the Fire Pit so why I¡¯m still single? I¡¯m past 100 years old now and I have no heir. I can¡¯t believe that the Thross bloodline will die with me just because no woman can see past my physical appearance.

    "My only hope is to capture one of the merfolk and gain so much prestige that no one will be able to ignore me anymore. I spent a lot of money to move into the outer ring, but once all those bitches that treated me like a fool grovel at my feet, it will be money well spent."

    His ramblings went on and on for pages, alternating from curses towards the beautiful women who rejected him and long-winded self-glorification.

    <i>¡¯This guy doesn¡¯t seem to realize that a nasty personality is a deal-breaker, especially if you chase women much younger and better looking than you.¡¯</i> Lith thought. ¡¯Yet he should have found at least one gold digger.

    <i>¡¯How is it possible that not one woman was interested in his money and what does have to capture a merfolk has to do with marriage?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Maybe there¡¯s poption control due to the Forbidden Sun.¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯Capturing a merfolk allows for a sacrifice, fueling one more life.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Good thinking. I wonder if Tista¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s aliases were wealthy as well.¡¯</i> d to see that his partner was back in the game, Lith tried to act as nothing had happened.

    <i>¡¯Let¡¯s ask them.¡¯</i> Solus used hermunication amulet to call both the girls.

    "I¡¯m supposed to be a self-centered asshole." Tista said. "She had no diary, but I know her name because she signed all the self-portraits in the house."

    "Mine wasn¡¯t a painter but she was loaded." Phloria said. "All of her clothes are tailor-made and she had her name embroidered on everything, even those that clearly don¡¯t fit her body type."

    Phloria¡¯s alias was actually a fashion designer. Her name was her brand.

    "Did you imprint the door of your respective home?" Lith asked.

    "I had to. A neighbor walked out and I couldn¡¯t pick the lock nor risk making conversation. Luckily nothing happened." Tista said.

    "I had the time to study the arrays and they are all meant to defend the building as a whole, not the owner or the single apartment." Phloria said.

    "Are you ready for phase two?" Lith asked, receiving a hesitant yes for an answer.

    The merfolk from Zhen had helplessly spectated to the capture of many of their kin and had exined Lith how things usually went. After Ren received Lith¡¯s call, she sent Khalia to pretend to rece an exhausted crystal.

    Removing a mana gemstone was the crucial step because it caused a crack in the barrier. The moment it appeared, Lith used two magical fireworks. One to signal the appearance of the crack and the other to request the intervention of the city guards.

    Khalia pretended to fumble with the crystal, giving the sentinels in the nearby buildings the time to turn the crack into a hole with their spells. Then, she put the crystal back into ce so that the hole wouldn¡¯tst long and swam away.

    <i>¡¯If Lith misses the timing, I¡¯m not going to let them get me. If the n fails, my people will have to send someone else. Maybe I¡¯ve still got a life-¡¯</i> Her hopes died when she saw Lith swimming in the lead of a small but fierce group of Kolgans.

    They all used water magic against her to keep their prey from escaping. Khalia attempted to run, but she was trapped. Lith and the girls sucker-punched thepetition the moment Life Vision told them that they were about to be backstabbed.

    Only one of them would be rewarded, making teamworkst only so long. While the girls kept the Kolgans at bay, Lith grabbed Khalia and dragged her towards the hole in the barrier.

    She fought so fiercely that Lith would have never thought it was just an act.

    "Please, don¡¯t let go of me because if you do, I¡¯ll run away even if it meanspromising the mission. I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t want to die." Her words revealed that she wasn¡¯t acting at all.

    Despite the order she had received, Khalia struggled with all of her strength and magic, but she was no match for him. Lith used an electric discharge to stun her, dragging Khalia with ease.

    Lith didn¡¯t feel guilty for what he was doing. Khalia had volunteered for the mission and there was no way to discover anything more about Kolga without a sacrificialmb.

    Yet he could feel a small piece of himself, one of those warm spots inside his heart that he had managed to create after years of struggle with his past, fade into nothingness, making the void stronger for it.

 Chapter 1223 - Light and Decay (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1223 - Light and Decay (Part 1)</h4>

    The coldness of Lith¡¯s heart turned into zing fury when some merfolk hybrids tried to snatch his prey. His water spells turned them into swiss cheese, yet such ghastly wounds barely slowed them down.

    <i>¡¯What the heck? Blood Cutter was supposed to shred them, but they healed so fast that the spell barely showed half of its prowess. Rem was right, the only way to kill Kolgans is to behead them.¡¯</i> Lith thought while rushing back past the barrier.

    "Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Even slugs have their moment of glory." A male voice full of contempt said while Lith still struggled to get back to his feet. Lith had seen enough uniforms to recognize one when he saw it.

    The man was about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with the lean and muscr build of a soldier. His bright pink hair was cut very short and barely visible under the army beret that identified him as a Captain.

    He stood in front of five soldiers, each one of them had a full set of equipment made of magic metals and mana crystals.

    The Captain of the guards misunderstood his ragged breath forck of exercise. He was unaware that Lith couldn¡¯t breathe underwater and that the effort of fighting underwater with such a short body had drained him.

    One of the soldiers took the still paralyzed and weeping merfolk, studying Khalia without bothering to conceal his l.u.s.t.

    "What luck. This one is a female, Captain."

    "Well done, Thross. Here¡¯s your permit to have one offspring." The Captain¡¯s voice and words didn¡¯t match.

    Lith could only hear envy and spiteing from the Captain as he handed him a golden ticket.

    "That¡¯s it?" Lith was honestly bbergasted. They had bet everything on the reward being glory and ess to the innermostyers of Kolga, not some family nning.

    "Fine. Since you caught her, I¡¯ll let you be the first one to i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.e her." The Captain said withughter, soon joined by the rest of his soldiers.

    "You should thank me for my generosity. All you have to do is to settle for a half-blood and your precious bloodline will live on." He threw a silver ticket at Lith¡¯s feet like spare change to a homeless man.

    "How dare you? I¡¯m Professor Jogu Thross of the Fire Pit! I¡¯d never-" Lith attempted to jump at the neck of the Captain like his alias would have likely done if he was still alive, but the gap in height and build was overwhelming.

    The Captain shook him off like an insect, kicking Lith while he was down.

    "You¡¯ll just thank me and shut up. You failed to join the army because your body is trash, just like you failed to be epted into the Light Torch because your mind is trash. A half-blood is too good for someone like you." The Captain turned around and left.

    Unlike citizens, soldiers were allowed to fly freely through the city without the arrays shooting them down.

    <i>¡¯What do we do now?¡¯</i> Phloria asked via the mind link as the other sentinels went back to their homes, hoping to spot another crack in the barrier.

    <i>¡¯We need a flying car.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯I didn¡¯t throw a fit because the mission failed. I did it to get the opportunity to put Solus inside the pockets of that gentleman. Khalia can¡¯t live long without the ritual hence they have to bring her to a magical facility as soon as they can.</i>

    <i>¡¯Solus can study and observe the process better than anyone else, but we need to rescue her once she¡¯s done. Our mind link has a limited range and the further she gets, the harder finding her will be.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯It sickens me calling it good news, but they are moving in a straight line. Unless they move Khalia to an undergroundb, everything should be fine.¡¯</i> Tista said.

    ***

    The soldiers brought Khalia to the innermost of the five rings, where the magical academy of Kolga was located.

    Even though the merfolk was still stunned by Lith¡¯s spell, she writhed in agony as the Forbidden Sun poisoned her body.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t do anything for her without blowing my cover. I can only hope that the procedure is quick and painless.¡¯</i> Solus thought while noticing the words Light Torch written on a huge banner hung over the entrance of one of the buildings.

    The Captain stepped inside the department in a hurry, showing his identification and prisoner.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Captain N¡¯Morr. The operating room has been prepared the moment you sounded the rm. It¡¯s just a routine procedure, but I¡¯m going to be extra careful to not ruin your catch of the day." A woman wearing a mage robe said while Khalia was moved onto a stretcher.

    Everyone was so busy yelling orders and staring at the merfolk that Solus had no problems moving to the mage¡¯s pockets unseen. The woman took flight, reaching a room filled with beds and arrays that reminded Solus of the White Griffon¡¯s light department.

    <i>¡¯She didn¡¯t Warp, yet there is no elemental blocking array. Maybe they never developed dimensional magic.¡¯</i> Solus thought while studying her surroundings.

    The operating room had one table ced in the middle of both the room and the arrays, while four stretchers were lined up against the right side of the room on four more on the left.

    Each stretcher was ced exactly above one of the array¡¯s focal points, increasing the magical formation¡¯s efficiency to absorb the essence of its victims that would be infused in the operating table with minimal losses.

    The female mage chanted one incantation after another, revealing that not only the floor, but also the ceiling and the walls of the operating theatre were covered in arrays.

    Solus didn¡¯t recognize any of them, she could only assess that aside from the formation on the floor, the others had been kept inactive to save energy. A powerful stream of energy from the mana geyser coursed through the room, creating an almost perfect magical instion.

    <i>¡¯It can¡¯t take nine victims to perform the ritual, otherwise it would be too expensive.¡¯</i> Solus thought. <i>¡¯What are those other stretchers for?¡¯</i>

    The team showed perfect coordination, moving Khalia on the operating table a second after the female mage was done with her preparations. Contrary to Solus¡¯s expectations, they left the room in a hurry right after constraining the merfolk¡¯s arms, legs, and neck.

    The moment they closed the double doors behind them, another array appeared on their surface. The power of the sixbined arrays sealed the room from all external influences to the point that Solus couldn¡¯t feel her bond with Lith anymore.

    Fear of being stranded behind enemy lines made Solus freeze as the memories of Nalear breaking their bond opened an old wound that she believed closed for good.

    Unaware of her feelings as well as of the presence of a guest, the female mage started chanting again. A stream of world energy struck at Khalia¡¯s life force and mana core until they couldn¡¯t resist the pressure any longer.

    In a way, the procedure reminded Solus of what Lith had done to himself to save Protector. Yet while Lith had worked with surgical precision, burning only enough of his own life force to restore the broken core, what the female mage did could barely pass for butchering.

 Chapter 1224 - Light and Decay (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1224 - Light and Decay (Part 2)</h4>

    The mage didn¡¯t just crack Khalia¡¯s life force and mana core, she tore them apart without a care as the merfolk screamed at the top of her lungs, writhing with so much strength that the operating table trembled despite being bolted to the ground.

    The Kolgan mage kept going until everything that made Khalia a person almost disappeared. Only then did she stop, letting the energy flow from the Forbidden Sun mend the wounds that the restraints had inflicted upon the writhing merfolk during the procedure.

    For the first time since she had met Lith, Solus was happy of not having a body. Or rather, she would have been if she still had the presence of mind to notice that she was screaming as hard as Khalia.

    What Solus had just witnessed wasn¡¯t a surgical procedure so much as a magical lobotomy. Khalia¡¯s eyes were now empty like those of a doll while her mouth remained open as she mindlessly drooled.

    Solus wept for the living corpse in front of her. She had hoped until thest moment that, after retrieving the Hands of Menadion, by taking control of the Forbidden Sun it would have been possible to undo the damage.

    Yet whaty in front of her wasn¡¯t a person anymore. Just a lump of flesh and mana kept together by the Forbidden Sun.

    "Is it done?" A male mage asked after the arrays had been depowered and the female Kolgan had opened the doors.

    "Of course. Bring her to the breeding center and bring here one of the oldest subjects for the extraction procedure. The specimen is young and healthy. She should provide Kolga with a bountiful harvest." She said.

    Solus was so shocked that she barely registered her bond with Lith being intact. She wanted to scream but she had no mouth. Her stomach hurt even though she had none. Her stone body burned with an unknown pain, yet she didn¡¯t care.

    Under any other circ.u.mstances, Solus would worry about Lith not being there to shield her life force and about the consequences that they both might suffer from the effects of the Forbidden Sun while they were apart.

    Now, however, all she could think of was how the people of Kolga had abused her mother¡¯s legacy for centuries. None of what had happened to Khalia and to many others before her would have been possible if not for Menadion¡¯s Hands.

    Solus used her shapeshifting abilities to blend in with her surroundings while she explored what happened inside the Light Torch. Being already in the surgical wing, all she had to do was to follow the screams.

    A few corridors away, she found two female Kolgans sharing the same delivery room. The Forbidden Sun boosted the mothers¡¯ metabolism, making theborst barely a few minutes.

    The two mothers stared at each other with fear andpassion until their babies came out. They begged the healers to let them hold their child at least once after the umbilical cord was cut, but the mages didn¡¯t even bother replying.

    They cleaned the babies with a water spell and enveloped them with a cloth that temporarily shielded them from the effects of the Forbidden Sun.

    "There¡¯s no time for that. If we dy even for one second, both your children will die." The nurses said while pushing the beds out of the delivery room and bringing the mothers into two different rooms.

    Just like Khalia, their limbs had been strapped to the metal frame to keep them from messing with the procedure.

    Solus followed the healers as they brought the babies to another operating room filled with arrays. At the center of the chamber there was a perfectly normal cradle and what looked like a ss coffin the size of an a.d.u.l.t filled with a translucent violet liquid.

    "Odd or even?" One of the healers said after pulling a dice out of his pockets.

    "Odd."

    The healer rolled a three and put the baby he was carrying in the ss coffin, where the infant started to breathe from its gills while the other healer put the remaining baby in the cradle.

    Once again, the doors closed and several arrays lit up while the healers chanted their respective spell. The mage near the cradle first made the thread connecting the baby to the Forbidden Sun visible and then he manipted it so that it would gently seep into the baby without dealing it any permanent damage.

    The mage near the coffin, instead, called upon the power of the arrays and the mana geyser to safely split the darkness element from its light counterpart.

    <i>¡¯Good gods! Mom, what the heck were you thinking when you created something capable of conjuring Chaos magic?¡¯</i> Solus thought.

    Yet the healer shot the Chaos in the ground and kept the unnatural light. Solus stared in horror as the Chaos flowed through the array back inside Mogar before being pulled away with an energy signature that she knew all too well.

    <i>¡¯Gods, what is that thing?¡¯</i> Solus had no idea that the other side of Chaos was Decay.

    While Chaos magic broke all bonds, turning matter into atoms and exhausting all forms of energy, Decay magic pushed forward the clock. Used against a stone, it would turn it into sad.

    Used against a muddy pond, in the presence of enough nutrients, it would boost life to the point that in a few minutes, life forms would evolve from unicellr organisms to tadpoles.

    Yet there was no way to provide such an amount of nutrients so the only result would be death. Even if it was possible, Decay could generate only corrupted life forms with a metabolism so fast that their life span wouldst only for a few seconds.

    Anything born from such magic would fade before anyone could register that it had ever existed.

    Without their counterpart, all elements could solely destroy. Just like Chaos, Decay couldn¡¯t be controlled, only unleashed after being created.

    The healer dropped the spark of Decay in the ss coffin where the babyy submerged in nutrients, making it grow and age at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. It took the baby a second to go from infant to a.d.u.l.t.

    An a.d.u.l.t with a skeletal build for not having the time to properly absorb the food, with saggy muscles for never having moved a finger, with the mind of a child that had only know pain for her whole short life.

    Yet none of that mattered to Forbidden Magic since her life force was perfect and ripe for the taking. The healer timed his spell to perfection, striking the moment his specimen reached its apex.

    By conjuring the power of the mana geyser, he broke down the wretched woman into her light and darkness counterparts, killing her on the spot. The life force moved into the cradle, granting the other child a doubled life span, while the light element and the mana core became part of the Forbidden Sun, renewing its power.

    The darkness, instead, plunged into Mogar and followed the underground path that the Chaos had earlier taken. Darkness moved much slower than Chaos, allowing Solus to confirm the presence of the familiar energy signature.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s the same kind of darkness energy that we sawing out of the rift in Kogaluga during Lith¡¯s tour as a Ranger. This is where the energy that fuels the undeades from.¡¯</i> Solus thought.

 Chapter 1225 - Soul Vision (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1225 - Soul Vision (Part 1)</h4>

    The lost city of Kogaluga was gued by a dimensional rift from which darkness magic seeped endlessly for no apparent reason. Any living being who died within the city would immediately turn into an undead.

    Those reanimated by the rift would all start as lesser undead, like skeletons and ghouls, but they would get stronger over time. The sons of Kogaluga would evolve into greater undead if not destroyed, yet even that would only force them to restart from scratch.

    Suddenly, the images from the propaganda video that Phloria and Tista had seen at the theatre made sense. Kolga was Kogaluga¡¯s twin city and provided it with the power needed to build a stronghold on Garlen where the merfolk hybrids would live once they conquered the sea.

    While Solus put together the final pieces of the puzzle, the two healers finished their job. They deactivated the arrays, bringing the healthy child to its mother, who wept with joy, and their condolences to the other woman, who wept with anguish.

    Images from what Solus had just spectated made her feel sick to the core. Her stone body burned with rage, grief, and shame. Shame that came at the idea of using Forbidden Magic to treat Lith¡¯s condition.

    Solus had studied both the Odi and Arthan¡¯s workings enough to know that no matter the method they would choose, their victims wouldn¡¯t die a painless death. She had just witnessed the consequences of her projects, of her theories put into practice.

    Her stone body twisted in self-loathing and disgust as the pain for her condition got worse by the second.

    <i>¡¯Is this how people from Project Manhattan felt after witnessing Hiroshima?¡¯</i> Solus thought. <i>¡¯Or is this just the effect of the sun¡¯s life force flowing into me without Lith¡¯s protection? I need him. I don¡¯t want to stay alone a second longer.¡¯</i>

    Yet tears blurred her eyes and her knees were so weak that she didn¡¯t manage to stand up even by leaning against the wall.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> She thought, sniffling as slimy snot dripped on her arm.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" A male mage said after stumbling into Solus.

    On the floor in front of him, there was a petite, pretty woman in her early twenties, about 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") tall. She wore nothing but a stone pin in her long hair that was streaked silver, orange, ck, red, blue, and yellow all over.

    Under the colored streaksy a brow so light that her hair shone like gold under the magical lights of the hospital.

    The member of any other race in any other city would have been enthralled by the vision, but the merfolk hybrid had no time to spare appreciating her beauty. The only thing he could think about was how the heck had a female human infiltrated Kolga.

    ***

    Blood Desert Fringe.

    Kimo, the elder of the Dewan tribe had hoped until thest second that Nalrond would see the light and be a full member of the tribe. Nalrond would gain a new home, a wife, and in time he would be the forefather of the new Rezar tribe.

    In exchange, the Dewans would learn all the secrets of Light Mastery, bing the new Lightkeepers. It would grant them the power they needed to leave the Fringe and build a country of their own.

    Kimo and his people had long given up on merging their life forces but after almost being kicked out of the Fringe, they had realized the limits of their haven. The peace that a Fringe offered was a sweet poison, but a poison nheless.

    With no enemies nor predators, the poption grew endlessly while the space inside a Fringe was finite. Its abundant world energy was useless without the enchanted metals and mana crystals necessary to exploit its full potential.

    Sooner orter, someone would be exiled from the Fringe, forced to walk Mogar again without the means to protect themselves. Before that happened again, the Dewans wanted to be so powerful that no one would enve them again.

    Nalrond had turned his back on them, forcing their hand. Dealing with the elves meant to allow a potential future enemy to grow stronger as well, but it was the only choice Kimo had left.

    "Remember our deal." The Dewan elder said to his elven counterpart.

    With Nalrond down, the two humans had no way out of the Fringe. As for the Emperor Beast called Morok, no one cared if he died or escaped.

    The Tyrantcked both the magical knowledge and the artifacts that both ancient tribes living inside the Fringe so desperately needed.

    "I¡¯m not a human, human. I don¡¯t go back on my word." M¡¯Rael said.

    The elf lord looked like a man in his mid-twenties, about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with shoulder-length chestnut hair and green eyes. He had a lithe build and delicate features that made him look effeminatepared to the burly man standing at his side.

    M¡¯Rael wore a green silk shirt and brown leather pants, both with small mana crystals for buttons and embroidered in Orichalc.u.m that further boosted their enchantments. The suit fit like a glove, emphasizing the grace of every one of his movements.

    Only the long, pointed earsing out of his hair and his light golden skin betrayed M¡¯Rael¡¯s inhuman nature.

    "In exchange for the prisoners and their goods, we¡¯ll teach your people Light Mastery and provide you with enchanted items."

    Kimo didn¡¯t like the elf¡¯s high and mighty attitude nor being called "human", but he could only suck it up. Elves lived inside the Fringe for long before the Dewans¡¯ arrival and had the monopoly of the mystical resources that had formed over time.

    The Dewan elder nodded, making the elf lord inwardly sneer at the human¡¯s stupidity. All Werepeople looked the same under his Soul Vision. A human and a beast fighting against each other while tumbling down a cliff.

    No matter which one would win, the result would be the same. In their bloodl.u.s.t, both fighters failed to realize that the longer they struggled, the more likely was for the fall to kill them both.

    On top of that, the beast and the man were partly fused together. If one of them died, the other would quickly follow.

    The humans, instead, even with their corrupted morals and weak minds were far more interesting. The woman with plenty of fat on her bosom and bottom that for some reason humans found attractive looked like an embodiment of Mogar itself.

    Soul Vision showed how the elements flowed in harmony inside her body and orbited around her in the form of a star beltprised of six small suns of different colors.

    The shorter, slenderer woman appeared as a being of pure light that was tainted at her core by a darkness that fought to consume her. M¡¯Rael could see in it Yurial¡¯s agonizing face and recognize the deep sense of guilt that had tainted her life, smothering her potential.

    The moment hey eyes upon the Emperor Beast, however, the elf lord had to close and open them multiple times to make sure that they weren¡¯t ying a trick on him.

    Soul Vision showed him the tall figure of a Tyrant whose six eyes were returning M¡¯Rael¡¯s gaze as if it could see him, even flipping him the bird and moving to other more explicit obscene gestures once the Tyrant understood that the elf didn¡¯t know the meaning of the first.

 Chapter 1226 - Soul Vision (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1226 - Soul Vision (Part 2)</h4>

    <strong><"Take them all alive and don¡¯t let the Tyrant escape. He will make a fine diator in our arena and an interesting specimen in ourbs."></strong> The elf lord said (AN: in elvish, ofc).

    "What do we do?" Morok had no idea what those words meant, but he didn¡¯t like the sound of them nheless.

    Suddenly, all those ballerinas that were slowly surrounding them from every side seemed to have be aware of his existence.

    Quy cursed their bad luck and not being Awakened as she took her Forgemastering Wand out of her dimensional item and established a mind link with everyone to not waste time talking.

    ¡¯We fight or we die, no third option. If they capture us, escape would be impossible. Every one of those guys is at least as strong as an academy professor and judging from their equipment, they have nock of resources.

    <i>¡¯Our only hope is to take them down while they still underestimate us. Nalrond, you focus on recovering and pull us out of the Fringe as soon as you can. Friya, you and I must buy some time.¡¯</i> Quy thought.

    <i>¡¯What about me?</i>¡¯ Morok asked.

    <i>¡¯You should leave. One date isn¡¯t worth such a risk. Please, if we don¡¯t make it, tell Faluel what¡¯s happened. She¡¯s the only one with the kind of power necessary to break us out from any prison.¡¯</i>

    Nalrond used a healing spell from one of his magic holding rings to force the short arrows out of his back, even though enhancing his metabolism also meant to hasten the spreading of the poison they were imbued with.

    He couldn¡¯t fully heal himself nor cleanse the poison without bing so weak that he would need to rest. There was no time nor need for that. He shapeshifted into his Rezar¡¯s body that not only was unscathed, but also had such a huge mass that neutralizing the effects of the now diluted poison barely affected his vitality.

    The elves reacted to his metamorphosis by pointing their short swords at the group and encasing them inside hard-light walls.

    Elves had no Awakened among their ranks, but all of them were capable of using true magic. Actually, they were incapable of Awakening without exploding like an overinted balloon.

    Their mana cores weren¡¯t faulty like those of monsters, undead, or Abominations, nor did theyck the ability to perceive the world energy. Elves couldn¡¯t Awaken because they were blessed by a very high affinity toward all the elements that didn¡¯t match the strength of their bodies.

    There was a reason why magical beasts were limited to two elements and they needed to evolve into much more powerful forms to wield them all. Otherwise their bodies wouldn¡¯t be able to endure the surge of world energy that Awakening caused.

    The two elements limit of the beasts was akin to what impurities were for humans, a protection rather than a harmful restraint. Elves, however, were born with perfect bodies that wouldn¡¯t produce any impurity, allowing them to freely channel mana and to live up to one thousand years.

    On top of that, their mana cores would naturally evolve up to bright blue over time, making it impossible for them to survive the Awakening process without the intervention of an entity whose power rivaled with the Guardians.

    That and their low fertility were the main reasons why they had lost the war against the humans millennia ago. The elvescked the power of the violet core, of Spirit Magic, and the time humans needed to nurture a powerful mage was the same they needed to conceive a single child.

    <i>¡¯I could Blink outside the cage, but those elves and their glowing eyes remind me of Lith¡¯s Life Vision.¡¯</i> Friya thought. <i>¡¯As Quy said, we only have one shot at this.¡¯</i>

    She stepped forward, breaking the mind link to not have foreign mana mess with her spell. Going all-out right of the bat meant making a great impact on the enemy¡¯s morale, but it also meant that she wouldn¡¯tst long.

    Her newest creation required such a focus that even the faint mana poisoning caused by the mind link might make it fail. Friya spread her arms, releasing a volley of energy bullets that phased through the constructs and hit the waves of iing elves.

    Soul Vision had the same effects as Life Vision and so much more, yet Friya¡¯s spell moved so fast that not even activating air fusion had allowed the elves to dodge the bullets.

    <i>¡¯She¡¯s no Awakened and she had no spell at the ready.¡¯</i> M¡¯Rael studied Friya from a distance, to coordinate his units akin to what Solus did for Lith.<i> ¡¯The spell she used against my soldier belonged to dimensional magic, but what can she hope to achieve with chore magic?¡¯</i>

    Friya replied to his question by activating the tier four magic holding ring that Lith had gifted her. It unleashed the tier two Gravity Magic spell, Hard Fall. All those who had been hit by the projectiles copsed onto the ground in a creaking symphony of broken bones and constructs.

    Not even earth and fire fusion could enhance the joints of the elves enough to support their bodies that now weighed twenty times more than usual. They felt like a giant sat on them, making it hard for them even to breathe.

    Yet the reality was much worse. Their chests were now so heavy that their lungscked the strength necessary to expand and draw air in. On top of that, the pressure made their faces slowly dig through the soft soil, filling their mouths and nostrils with dirt.

    With their broken noses already bleeding profusely from the sudden impact on the ground, their death was a matter of seconds.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s impossible!¡¯</i> Enemies and allies thought in unison. <i>¡¯Not only is gravity magic too hard to practice with fake magic, but it also affects a huge area. Such spells are dangerous even for its caster since gravity magic doesn¡¯t deal direct damage but only passive effects.¡¯</i>

    They were right. Even powerful Awakened considered Gravity Magic akin to a riskier version of War Mage spells, something that could only be employed in an open field, away from both the caster and their allies.

    Friya had thought for a long time how to tap into her true potential as a Dimensional Mage until she had realized that Gravity Magic worked ording to simr principles.

    Both disciplines required hexacasting and the ability to manipte all the elements at the same time. Yet while Dimensional Magic required to focus into two spots to bend space, Gravity Magic consumed a lot of mana because its effects applied to a muchrger area.

    Friya had been forced to give up on the idea because she had no wish to be involved inrge-scale wars and because in closebat Gravity Magic was more a liability than an asset.

    Entering the Fringe, however, had given her project a second wind.

    Mogar¡¯s help had allowed her not only to simplify Gravity Magic enough to use it with fake magic, but also to find a way tobine Gravity with Dimensional magic. Her earlier chore magic spell had allowed Friya to lock on the dimensional coordinates of the elves and unleash Hard Fall solely on the marked targets.

 Chapter 1227 - Betrayals (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1227 - Betrayals (Part 1)</h4>

    Instead of unleashing a single powerful spell in a wide area, Friya¡¯s personal take on Gravity Magic allowed her to split it into several smaller spells that would affect only a specific target.

    The coordinates set by the chore dimensional magic would constantly restrict Hard Fall without affecting Friya¡¯s focus who had already started chanting her personal tier five spell, Dimensional Ruler.

    The downside of the technique was that Gravity Magic still required a lot of mana and time to be prepared. On top of that, even a tier two spell was actually thebination of six different elemental spells and needed a magic holding ring of two tiers higher to be stored.

    Friya¡¯s ring had been crafted with Menadion¡¯s technique, allowing it to hold two spells at the same time so she only had one more left.

    Now that the cage trapping them had crumbled, Morok shapeshifted into his Tyrant form and activated air fusion. The elves had received the order to capture him alive, whereas he had no reason to hold back.

    He took his twin one-handed battle hammers out of his dimensional amulet and bludgeoned his way out of the Fringe. Elves had powerful bodies for someone with their build but they were no match for an Emperor Beast.

    Most of them dodged his attacks by reflex while those who didn¡¯t were sent flying like rag dolls. Both the elves and the Tyrant had bright blue mana cores and were capable of using Fusion Magic, but it only widened the gap in physical prowess between them.

    Morok¡¯s eyes allowed him to see in every direction and he moved so fast that constructs couldn¡¯t keep up with him.

    M¡¯Rael cursed out loud when the Tyrant escaped through the silvery barrier that separated the Fringe from the rest of Mogar.

    ¡¯The silver lining is that I didn¡¯t mention him to the Parliament and that the initial n was to kill him. No one will me me for the loss of his equipment and with one less person to capture, my soldiers can focus on the real prize.¡¯ He thought.

    The people in the Fringe were no different from those in the outside world. The l.u.s.t for power had led the Dewans to betray the bonds they imed to hold sacred while politics had led the elves to get involved in such matters.

    The safety of their haven had allowed the Elven race to repopte to the point that their numbers exceeded that they had before the war. On top of that, they had never stopped working to improve their magical and military skills.

    Yet the elves had never found a way to achieve Awakening nor to obtain a violet core. They were well aware that, despite all their efforts, history might repeat itself. The fact that the prolonged istion and theck of worthy opponents had kept them from putting their new abilities to the test didn¡¯t help either.

    Their governing organ, the Parliament of Leaves, after much debating had been split into three political currents, and each one of them had more or less the same number of supporters among the poption.

    The members of the first current had given up on both achieving Awakening and returning to the outside world. The safety of the Fringe had allowed the elves to do more than just repopte their cities.

    It had given them a ce where there was no war and no struggle for survival. A ce where they could freely focus on arts and literature, making whatever they wanted with their lives with no worry for the future.

    The members of the second current, instead, considered the Fringe akin to the perfect fortress. They proposed to gradually invade the outside world and seize the resources they needed for the final phase of their n: the rebuilding of the elven kingdom.

    Their supporters craved vengeance for the injustice their ancestors had suffered at the hands of the humans. Also, the fact that worst case scenario they could always retreat inside the Fringe where no enemy could follow, gave them confidence.

    Elves were trained from a young age to get in tune with Mogar and learned how to get in and out from the silvery barrier separating them from the outside world whereas none of their enemies would be able to cross the border.

    Even if a few of them might be enlightened beings like Morok, alone they posed no threat against a well-trained army. The only problem with this n was revealing the location of the Fringe and that even if it guaranteed their safety, it didn¡¯t change their odds of victory.

    The third andst faction didn¡¯t like the idea of staying in the Fringe until Leegaain said otherwise, but they also found it idiotic to put everything they had at stake. A full-scale invasion couldn¡¯t be based on wishful thinking and what-ifs.

    It was the reason why the third faction insisted that before taking any action, it was best topare the magical progress of the elven society with those of the outside world.

    Going to war against an enemy that would always outnumber them was one thing, going against an enemy that might both outnumber and outmatch them was quite another.

    The members of the third faction insisted on sending small scout parties into the outside world to capture human mages. Only afterparing the fake mages¡¯ magical prowess and equipment with their own could the elves make sure that they stood a chance.

    The arrival of Nalrond¡¯s group had been a blessing for them. The human women were the perfect means to determine if the Fringe had sharpened the elves¡¯ skills or if it had dulled them.

    Nalrond, instead, would teach them Light Mastery the way Baba Yaga had devised it, making it essible to anyone. Elves had learned it on their own, but between the fact that only a few of them managed to practice Light Mastery and how mana expensive its practice was, they had failed to truly master it.

    M¡¯Rael belonged to the third faction and he had epted Kimo¡¯s request for help because elves had actually more to gain from the intruders than the Dewans.

    Best case scenario, after making sure that human magic was inferior to their own, the elves would learn from the women how to disguise themselves and how to go unnoticed while scouting their marks before an attack.

    Worst case scenario, the women would be their teachers as well, allowing their magic to improve by leaps and bounds. That together with Nalrond¡¯s Light Mastery would give the elves the upper hand even against Awakened.

    <strong><"Release the!"></strong> M¡¯Rael said.

    Morok¡¯s escape had reminded the elf lord that taking the prisoners alive didn¡¯t require keeping them in one piece. Thanks to the elven master healers, as long as the humans drew breath, they could be saved.

    The second wave of soldiers stepped forward while nocking their arrows and aiming above the enemy. Once they let go of the bowstrings, each projectile generated a trail of electricity that didn¡¯t disappear after their passage.

    Quy¡¯s group was surrounded from four sides so that by crossing their flying paths, the arrows generated what looked like a fishing made of lightning that fell on them, leaving them no way out.

 Chapter 1228 - Betrayals (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1228 - Betrayals (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡¯<i>We can¡¯t just Blink away.¡¯</i> Quy said via the mind link. <i>¡¯Friya is too far to coordinate with us and if we leave her alone, she will get easily captured. On top of that, she must have a good reason for not Blinking behind the enemy leader and ending the fight before it started.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Agreed.¡¯</i> Nalrond replied. <i>¡¯I¡¯ve spent enough time around Awakened to know that glowing eyes are always bad news.¡¯</i>

    He extended his arms, generating a dome of light that stopped the lightning.

    <i>¡¯This should buy us a few seconds, but we need at least a minute. I can¡¯t bring the two of you out of here at the same time. We would all die. Either we kill them all or we need some move crazy enough to stun them.¡¯</i> He thought.

    s, the same barrier that protected Nalrond and the girls also kept them from striking back. Suddenly, another volley of arrows struck at the construct, piercing halfway through it.

    <i>¡¯Since when is Light Mastery this brittle?¡¯</i> Quy asked in shock.

    Before Nalrond could answer, a second and a third volley came, filling the dome with cracks that spread along its structure andpromised its stability. Elves had the ability to infuse their equipment with the power of the elements without the need for any enchantment.

    In the past, humans mistook them for demi-gods because even a tree branch would be as sharp as a razor if infused with air magic, just like a simple wooden shield could withstand a charging bull after being infused with earth and fire.

    Nalrond realized that one more volley of arrows would be enough to destroy the barrier and then the lightning would do the rest.

    Instead of trying to repair the dome, he had it explode outwards.

    The resulting shockwave deflected the iing arrows and pushed the away at the same time. On top of that, the razor-sharp fragments of hard-light caught the elves by surprise, wounding the first row of archers and damaging their bowstrings.

    Nalrond¡¯s trick gave Friya the time toplete her Dimensional Ruler spell and the opening she needed to start the counter-attack. With a golden aura now surrounding her, Friya started to chant Full Guard while Blinking non-stop throughout the battlefield.

    Once again, the elves could see thanks to Soul Vision where she would appear and even what kind of spell she was preparing, yet they were unable to understand her tactic until it was toote.

    Friya didn¡¯t Blink to their backs nor tried to attack the enemy leaders Kimo and M¡¯Rael. Her exit points appeared right in the middle of the enemy formations so that any attempt to stab or hit her with a spell would affect the elves as well.

    They reacted almost instantly, surrounding the exit point from every side while aiming their attacks to avoid her vitals. Yet all they hit was each other before a powerful explosion sent them flying in pieces.

    Friya had Blinked away a split second after her arrival, but not before using the perfect spatial awareness that Full Guard granted her to position the sparkles of golden light so that they would Warp the iing attacks through her as if she was a ghost.

    After she had left, the exit point and the new entry point she had just created copsed on each other in a burst of mes with the destructive power of a tier four spell.

    Dimensional Ruler was a tier five dimensional magic spell that used Friya¡¯s great mana perception and her talent for space maniption to open countless small Warp Steps all around her.

    Those small Warp Steps allowed her to redirect both energy and matter against her enemies.

    Dimensional Ruler also granted Friya the ability to perceive anyone Warping near her and to make the space unstable at will. Friya could also use it as a means of attack or defense, but only within a short range.

    It was the reason why she Warped among rather than behind the enemy lines. Each time she Blinked she also generated an unstable dimensional fissure that turned the elves¡¯ ability to predict her movement and surround them into a deadly trap.

    Quy exploited the ensuing chaos to unleash all the spells she kept stored in her rings. Yet aside from those who gave her the back, the elves came out unscathed. Soul Vision allowed them to recognize the elemental energy and react ordingly.

    They would dodge darkness and earth, Blink to avoid lightning and fire, and intercept ice darts with their shields. Quy moved her fingers from the index to the pinkie as if she was ying the piano and with each spell that she unleashed, the light of one of her rings disappeared.

    The closest elves charged forward, aiming to take her and the Rezar down first. Quy never stopped moving her fingers and the spells never stopped raining. The elves expected to be hit by chore magic so they just activated the defensive abilities of their equipment and didn¡¯t stop their advance.

    Only when the barrage of tier two true spells knocked them off their feet did they realize their mistake. M¡¯Rael couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes and so did Nalrond. Yet while Quy¡¯s surprise had ruined the ns of the former, it created the opening that thetter needed.

    Quy was now chanting a fake magic spell, but the relentless waves of her attacks had broken the elves¡¯ focus, making them lose the spells they had at the ready and keeping them from casting new ones.

    Quy had devised such a strategy after watching Solus mix fake and true magic to assist Lith from the tower while he battled the undead army outside the Feymar mines.

    Until that moment, she had always believed that beast and human magic didn¡¯t mix, like water and oil.

    Yet after learning from Faluel about the differences between fake, true, and Awakened magic, Quy had realized that even a normal human like her could learn true magic.

    After all, magical beasts, Emperor Beasts, nt folk, and Werepeople all could use true magic without being Awakened. The practice of such discipline only required learning the proper runes and to have a powerful body capable to withstand its effects.

    Quy had started researching how to project mana from her core at will after Faluel¡¯s lessons about Spirit Magic, to try and use her wand to mix her mana with the other elements like the Awakened did.

    Faluel¡¯s physical training had allowed her to reinforce her body enough to wield much more energy than before, but she had always failed to solve the main issue of her revolutionary n.

    She knew first magic, she knew fake magic, but she had no idea how to convert fake into true magic.

    Asking Lith, Nalrond, and even Morok for guidance had been pointless. They were all born with such skills and couldn¡¯t exin to her how they did it more than a sighted person could exin colors to a blind man.

    Asking Tista and Phloria had proved to be useless as well. After Awakening, they had naturally learned how to weave true magic as if it had always been second nature to them.

    There was a reason why no fake mage had ever learned true magic. It wasn¡¯t a matter of talent, hard work, or even of how many colored streaks one had in their hair.

 Chapter 1229 - Tyrannical Eye (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1229 - Tyrannical Eye (Part 1)</h4>

    True magic all came down to the deep connection with Mogar that those whose core had Awakened and those who bore the blood of magical creatures shared.

    Quy had to learn from experience and countless failures before giving up on learning it. Until she had entered the Fringe and discovered that every spell that she cast would receive an answer that actually made sense.

    While Friya had used the time during Nalrond¡¯s recovery to improve her skills and to find a workaround to control Gravity Magic, Quy had learned magic back from scratch.

    She had to start from first magic and work her way up to the second tier of spells for every element.

    While Quy chanted, Nalrond gently grabbed her, making sure to not disturb her focus and Blinking them out of the encirclement. The elves recognized his energy signature and aimed their spells at his exit point, turning it into a crater.

    The detonation was powerful enough to stop their escape but not strong enough to shatter the defensive hard-light construct that they had seen him prepare via Soul Vision.

    <strong><"Time to take the kid¡¯s gloves off! Maim them as much as you want. I want this over, now!"></strong> M¡¯Rael entered the fray right after throwing a disgusted look at Kimo.

    The elder and his people just stood there without moving a finger in the attempt to preserve thest shred of their precious honor, putting the entire mission at stake.

    <i>¡¯I knew that I couldn¡¯t trust the Dewans. During the conflict between my people and the humans, Emperor Beasts refused to help us, iming that we were no different from our enemies. Both of the Werepeople¡¯s halves are rotten to the core.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Thanks to Nalrond¡¯s protection, Quy managed toplete the tier five War Mage spell, Crimson Hail, without ever stopping to release low-tiered spells to keep the enemies at bay.

    Crimson Hail was a mix of water and air magic that turned all the humidity in the surroundings of the caster into a storm of razor-sharp ice crystals. Air magic would further enhance their edge by covering it in air des and their piercing ability by making them spin like a drill.

    The spell owed its name to the fact that the blood spilled on the battlefield contained quite a lot of water and it would bestow the ice crystals their characteristic color. On top of that, with each enemy hurt or in by the spell, the projectiles would increase in size and number, like a swarm of deadly mosquitoes.

    Quy had Crimson Hail spin around them, getting rid of the nearby enemies and using the mass of the spell to hide from the elves¡¯ Soul Vision.

    "I don¡¯t know why they are holding back, but if they start to use tier four spells and above, we¡¯re done for." Quy said amid pants.

    Casting a tier five spell while keeping active so many cantrips with true magic had drained her mana and put a heavy burden on her body. She didn¡¯t use tier three true magic not because she had no idea how to, but because every time she attempted it, her body writhed in pain.

    "They want us alive, but if you and your sister keep ughtering them like that, I don¡¯t think that-" M¡¯Rael¡¯s arrival cut Nalrond short and cleaved Crimson Hail in two.

    Both his longsword and his armor emitted such intense heat that the ice crystals evaporated faster than the spell could freeze them, yet the elf lord didn¡¯t seem to be affected by the mes that engulfed him and that charred the ground below him.

    With enough training and skill, elves could do more than infuse raw elemental power in their equipment. They could even infuse magical metals with spells, giving them longsting effects based on the enemy that they were facing.

    This way, elves had no longer need to consume mana to keep high tiered spells active because the mana crystals would fuel them. This ability also relieved the elves from the mental strain needed to control such spells thanks to the pseudo core controlling them akin to their own enchantments.

    On top of that, mana couldn¡¯t affect their caster which allowed elves to fight without worrying about the effects of their equipment being turned against them.

    M¡¯Rael was enveloped by a Raging Sun that instead of exploding made every one of his movements produce a zing shockwave. A single swing of his de had been enough to melt all the crystals on its path and st the others away.

    "Enough with this foolishness! Surrender now or die. I¡¯ve lost too many of my brethren to care about your secrets any longer." He didn¡¯t wait for an answer and took a lunge at the space between his prey instead.

    Quy managed to brace herself by boosting Orion¡¯s Skinwalker armor with mana and covering herself with Orichalc.u.m from head to toe, but Nalrond had no such protection.

    The scorching air burned his lungs while the violent pressure made his eyes, nose, and ears bleed. The elf lord then punched Nalrond in the guts while activating a light spell from one of his rings.

    Thebination of damage and healing almost made Nalrond faint from exhaustion. Quy tried to use her twin chains, Bloodbind, to block the enemy¡¯s de, but fusion magic made M¡¯Rael so strong that he only needed to flick his arm to drag her close and swat her to the ground like a bug.

    Meanwhile, Friya wasn¡¯t faring much better. Now that she had lost the element of surprise and the enemies understood the limits of Dimensional Ruler, she was running out of tricks.

    Whenever she Blinked, her targets would move away from the exit point while the others would unleash upon her volleys of elements-infused arrows so thick that she couldn¡¯t deflect them all.

    Both using dimensional magic and boosting the Skinwalker armor to avoid being turned into a pin cushion drained her mana whereas using fusion magic barely affected the energy reserves of her enemies.

    To make matters worse, the elves were slowly adjusting their position ording to the range of her Blink. It was only a matter of time before she ended up in a trap, no matter where she moved.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, I knew that winning was impossible from the beginning, but our aim has never been to kill all the elves, we only need to buy enough time to escape. Between my gravity magic and Quy¡¯s tricks, we hoped that they would fall back for the surprise, yet they didn¡¯t flinch.</i>

    <i>¡¯We have overestimated our skills and underestimated the amount of training these guys underwent. I¡¯ve got only one gravity spell left and the others are about to get captured. I must make it count!¡¯</i> Friya thought.

    She unleashed her tier two Gravity Magic spell, Whirlpull, amid the enemy lines behind her and flew rather than Blink toward herpanions. Her move made the elves smirk, thinking that she had run out of mana since she moved in a straight line and focused only on speed.

    Yet to their enhanced vision further boosted by air fusion, she moved no faster than a bird. The elves aimed where she was going to be rather than where she was and unleashed a new volley of air-enhanced arrows so quickly that they had nocked a second before the first arrow hit.

 Chapter 1230 - Tyrannical Eye (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1230 - Tyrannical Eye (Part 2)</h4>

    Yet none of the projectiles reached their target because an unknown force pulled them up, making the arrows miss the human by a wide margin. The smirk of the archers turned into a surprised expression when they felt their feet leaving the ground and heard the screams of theirpanions.

    Thanks to Soul Vision, the elves knew that Friya¡¯s spell would create a gravity pir, but such a move posed no threat to them. They could see the limits of its area of effect before it even formed and step out of it before the human¡¯s spell took effect.

    The most paranoid among the elves had even prepared a tier zero gravity spell, in the case that there was some trick behind the Friya¡¯s move and they got dragged inside. It would have allowed them to lessen the effect of an increased gravity or to fly away in the case gravity was reversed.

    They would have never expected that by adding chore dimensional magic Friya would create a hurricane. The gravitationalponent inverted the gravity after amplifying it tenfold while dimensional magic twisted its pull, creating a twister rather than a simple updraft.

    Usually, to create a real-life tornado would require abination of powerful tier five spells, but bybining gravity magic¡¯s raw power and dimensional magic¡¯s fine-tune control to focus her spell into a small area, Friya had almost obtained the same effect.

    The loosed arrows were getting sucked up by the hurricane along with those still in the quivers, the quivers themselves, and the elves bearing them.

    Those who still had their feet on the ground had to let Friya go and weave a flight spell to escape death while those who had one at the ready had to focus on rescuing theirpanions before the tornado turned them into shreds.

    The elves¡¯ formation went inplete disarray, making it possible for Friya to safely Blink to her destination.

    <i>¡¯I hate exploiting their care for each other. It makes me feel like I¡¯m the bad guy here. Yet getting captured and bing their toy or whatever they want from us would be much worse.¡¯</i> She thought.

    Quy sighed in relief at her arrival, hoping that Friya would turn the tables or at least buy them enough time to escape.

    <i>¡¯Focusing on defensive spells kept Nalrond from counter-attacking and I¡¯m at the end of my rope. We need to get out of here, fast!¡¯</i> She said to herpanions via a quick mind link created from her Royal Forgemastering wand.

    M¡¯Rael stared at the silver thread connecting the humans to the hybrid with Soul Vision, trying to understand if it was a threat. The moment he recognized the energy signature of Spirit Magic, greed filled his eyes.

    <i>¡¯By the Great Mother! The human isn¡¯t an Awakened, I can see it from her static mana flow. Yet that thing allows her to use the seventh element, the only one that is forbidden to the elven race.</i>

    <i>¡¯Screw Light Mastery. If I capture her and force her to teach us how to use Spirit Magic, we¡¯ll be more powerful than most Awakened. An entire race capable of using the seventh element can wipe out armies with minimal losses.</i>

    <i>¡¯Spirit Magic has no weakness and can be used for both offense and defense. We already know Light Mastery. Even though the Rezar¡¯s technique is more powerful, improving Light Mastery is much easier than learning Spirit Magic from scratch.¡¯</i> The elf lord thought.

    M¡¯Rael ignored Nalrond and moved towards Quy, eager to fetch his prize. The Rezar finally managed to breathe again while he cursed his weakness.

    <i>¡¯I should have asked for an armor a long time ago, even if it meant to owe Lith or Faluel big time. Me and my stupid pride. It¡¯s only because of me that the Dewans-¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Less self-loathing, more crossing over. Get me out of here.¡¯</i> Friya cut him short.

    <i>¡¯What about Quy?¡¯</i> He could see her Skinwalker armor turning red from the heat emanating from the elf. Chore water magic couldn¡¯t keep up even with the side effects of a tier five spell.

    <i>¡¯I trust her and so should you. Now get a move.¡¯</i> Friya took his hand while Nalrond extended his consciousness toward the silvery barrier that separated the Fringe from the outside world.

    He let Mogar¡¯s voice flow inside his head, focusing on his own name to resist the onught of the myriad of memories and personalities that threatened to smother his mind.

    Friya and Nalrond shared again the worst moments of their lives, but this time they were ready. A split second after, she was on the other side. Her mind was so focused on the grave danger that awaited her that she even managed to keep her Dimensional Ruler spell active despite the ordeal.

    Friya didn¡¯t abandon her sister, she had moved forward to protect her. She knew that the elves had likely left another squadron outside, to capture them the moment they emerged from the Fringe.

    It was what she would have done in their shoes, anticipating the worst case scenario and exploiting the confusion that a Fringe inflicted the prey to win without a fight. Yet what she saw left her speechless, filling her heart with dread.

    The squadron wasprised of over thirty elves armed to the teeth. Or better, that was what she estimated from their remains.

    A snow-white skinned humanoid figure over two meters (6¡¯ 7") tall was chasing thest five men unit, using its twin one-handed battle hammers to squash the enemies and block their arrows.

    Morok¡¯s nose had disappeared, reced by two slits on his face while his lipless mouth was twisted in a savage grin that revealed several rows of shark-like teeth. The scene made no sense to Friya.

    She knew that the Tyrant was powerful, but no more than any other non Awakened Emperor Beast. He was supposed to be on the same level as Nalrond, maybe a bit stronger thanks to the army training, but not by much.

    It took her a split second to snap out of it and even less toe to Morok¡¯s side to help him finish them off quickly.

    "By the Great Mother!" Friya said after noticing that there was no trace of his four eyes on his face and shoulders.

    "Yeah, I know. Those suckers too never bothered thinking why Tyrants are known as the Tyrannical Eye, singr." Morok replied.

    His Skinwalker armor was open, revealing a single eye so big that it covered most of his wide chest. It had a vertical pupil and a five-colored iris that onlycked the silver of the light element.

    The elves cursed their bad luck, shooting a volley of spells at the human and hoping to distract the monster long enough to Blink near the Fringe and get back inside.

    "Have you really not understood how it works yes? And then people call me stupid." Morok said as the giant eye sucked the spells in before projecting them out in the form of a multi-colored pir that blew the nearest elf to pieces.

    Tyrants and Balors had many things inmon. Among them, there was the ability to absorb the elemental energy of an enemy spell as long as they had the right eye for the job.

 Chapter 1231 - Mana Poisoning (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1231 - Mana Poisoning (Part 1)</h4>

    By fusing all of their eyes into one, the Tyrants made their ability to absorb the elements almost as strong as that of a Balor and lessened the strain on their mana core.

    Sucking a spell meant to cleanse it from the enemy¡¯s energy signature and rece it with their own.

    It cost mana and poisoned the Tyrant¡¯s core, but the surprise effect of the instant counter made up for it. On top of that, Morok didn¡¯t have to waste time or focus to prepare his spells because he could just use those of his enemies.

    It was how he had butchered so many elves so quickly on his own. They had expected him to be stunned from crossing the Fringe¡¯s border, whereas he hade out clear-headed, unleashing a couple of tier five spells as a wee gift.

    After that, he had finally let his fifth eye open without the risk of Awakening. His superior physical prowessbined with the ability to turn spells against their caster had done the rest.

    Friya didn¡¯t let the Morok¡¯s elemental pir go to waste. She rearranged the golden light from Dimensional Ruler so that it Warped the attack throughout the battlefield like a pinball. Dodging the pir only meant to have it Warp again and appear from a blind spot.

    The elves tried to Blink away, but their entry points became unstable and exploded in their faces, leaving them open to the multi-colored pir that tore them apart before their sensitive ears could stop ringing.

    "Remind me to never piss you off." Morok said.

    "Same." Friya said amid pants. "Quy is messing with the head of an elf, but she could use a hand."

    "What? If she¡¯s in danger, why did you leave her alone?" He said in outrage.

    "For the same reason you did. To clear the path ahead and not go back to square one right after managing to escape!"

    "That was my job! Did you really think I would abandon you? I¡¯m not my father!" Morok said.

    "Yes, I did and I¡¯m sorry for it. Now, do you want to go help her or stay here and argue with me?"

    Meanwhile, inside the Fringe, M¡¯Rael didn¡¯t know that the moment he had turned toward Quy, she had detached the silvery tendril from Friya and used it against the elf to affect his judgment.

    The thoughts and the greed were his own, but Quy used the mind link to fan their mes, turning them into obsession. Even her screams of pain were exaggerated to lull M¡¯Rael into believing to have already won.

    The pain caused by the Raging Sun that the elf had infused his equipment with kept her from weaving spells, but not from using her brain. Quy slowly crawled back, trying to appear helpless and buy as much time as she could.

    Nalrond needed a few seconds to get Friya out of the Fringe and a few more to clear his head before he could help her.

    <i>¡¯I need that wand. Once we understand its workings, the elves will be able to take back their rightful ce on Mogar. On top of that, I will shove it up my ass.</i>¡¯ Thest thought didn¡¯t belong to M¡¯Rael.

    He quickly realized that something was wrong with him and quickly turned around. Only then did he notice that Friya¡¯s hurricane was still butchering his men and that the silver tendril that once connected the two women was now stuck to his heel.

    He froze in horror noticing that Friya was gone, the Rezar was casting a spell, and that for some reason, he was deaf.

    "I Hushed your ears earlier, jackass. That¡¯s why you can¡¯t hear a thing." M¡¯Rael could see Quy¡¯s lips moving but nothing seemed toe out of them.

    "If you¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m not speaking via the mind link, it¡¯s because I want you to waste time thinking I¡¯m casting a spell or something." She said while moving her hands in random gestures.

    "Treachery!" M¡¯Rael said.

    Both the Rezar and the human were using light magic and he was right in the middle. The elf lord lunged at Quy, piercing her chest and her right lung until the tip of the de came out of her back.

    He used the strength of the air pressure to m her on the ground and the heat of his de to instantly cauterize the wound, keeping her alive. Soul Vision reassured him that the pain had broken her focus, but it couldn¡¯t reveal that she had prepared solely healing spells to remain conscious.

    Once his hearing returned, M¡¯Rael infused his equipment with the tier Five War Mage spell, Devouring Nightmare. It was a mix of Darkness and Earth magic that after fully coating his armor, it would make him nigh-invulnerable to both magical and physical attacks.

    Nalrond unleashed a flood of constructs that fell apart the moment they reached their target. Earth made the elf immovable while darkness ate at everything that came within one meter from him.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s it? It¡¯s too weak to be an attack, unless...¡¯</i> M¡¯Rael turned around, noticing that part of the stream of hard-light had circled around him to pick up Quy and move her close to the border.

    He unleashed a tier five Light Mastery spell, Sunspot, from one of his magic holding rings. It created two sets of hands, each one as big as a car, enveloped by a shroud of darkness that dimmed the hard-lightprising them.

    The first set of hands went to retrieve the human while the second stopped Nalrond¡¯s spell with their open palms and moved forward to capture him as well. The Rezar recalled all the constructs he had generated, breaking them down to reassemble them into a form more suitable for battle.

    Ropes of light wrapped around both sets of hands, tightening their grip the more Nalrond clenched his hands. Using a tier four single elemental spell against a tier five that employed two elements required finesse.

    The Rezar didn¡¯t have the time to weave something more powerful nor a single piece of magical equipment, forcing him to clutch at straws. Nalrond went as close as he could to the silvery barrier to buy one more second.

    "It¡¯s useless." M¡¯Rael said while his construct reached Nalrond¡¯s and grabbed Quy by the legs, making her scream in agony. "The moment you get out, my forces stationed on the other side will capture you. Just like it happened to your friends."

    The Rezar grunted with effort, without bothering to reply. Darkness needed time to damage the hard-light ropes, time that he used to gauge the skill of his opponent.

    Elves had spent centuries honing their Light Mastery, but between theirck of realbat experience and the fact that their teaching method allowed only the most talented members of their race to learn it, Nalrond managed to spot ws in the construct.

    The ropes regrouped near the joints of the hands and attacked the area around them. Even an amateur would realize that flexible parts would be weaker than the rest and train until they found a solution.

    Only a master, however, would know that doing that caused an imbnce in the structure. Just reinforcing the joints wasn¡¯t enough because it made the amount of light element in their vicinity thinner and more brittle.

    Nalrond only needed to open a single crack to make the structure leak mana and get weaker, allowing him to open more cracks in a vicious cycle that turned Sunspot into a bunch of sparks of light.

 Chapter 1232 - Mana Poisoning (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1232 - Mana Poisoning (Part 2)</h4>

    "I have to admit that Kimo was right. You¡¯ll make an excellent asset." M¡¯Rael nodded while unleashing two more Sunspots, one from his rings and the other weaved during their sh.

    A one-handed battle hammer struck his head, barely making the elf flinch. The second one, however, hit the first hammer as if it was a nail, doubling its momentum thanks to the air magic that made them oppositely charged.

    "Run, you fools!" Morok tried to recall his weapons, only to discover that M¡¯Rael had trapped them inside a husk of earth and darkness originating from his armor.

    "Insignificant fly!" One of the hands from Sunspot swatted Morok like a bug, two more grabbed Nalrond, squeezing the air and almost the life out of him, while thest one went for Quy.

    A silvery sh came from her sleeves as the Adamant chains of Bloodbind wrapped the hard-light construct long enough to allow Quy to focus what was left of mana into a tier two Light Mastery spell.

    The elf was already splitting his focus between his four constructs and three opponents so he couldn¡¯t react in time to a bolt of light faster than any bullet. The spell struck M¡¯Rael right in the middle of his eyes, yet it dealt no damage.

    Just like it had happened with Morok¡¯s hammers, the Devouring Nightmare spell infused within the armor protected the elf lord from any damage. Earth would block anything physical while darkness would devour even mana.

    "What the-?" M¡¯Rael attempted to say when he noticed with Soul Vision that the light beam actually carried something that was now engulfed in his own spell.

    A silvery explosion cut him short and made him double over in pain.

    Royal Forgemaster¡¯s wands were a state secret and as such, they were heavily guarded. To keep them from falling into the wrong hands, their owner could make a wand self-destruct after overloading its pseudo core with pure mana.

    The resulting explosion would cause the mana poisoning of whoever was nearby and trigger a Clean te spell within the same area. M¡¯Rael¡¯s equipment became nothing but a lump of metal while his focus crumbled and so did his constructs.

    The Devouring Nightmare lessened the effects of the poisoning, but the elf had to stop his attacks until the pain subsided. His rings were temporarily dead and weaving spells while his core was tainted might have killed him.

    "Get out of here, now!" Morok retrieved his hammers and kept at bay the soldiers that hade to help their captain.

    Nalrond grabbed Quy and extended his consciousness toward the barrier, leaving the Fringe.

    "That¡¯s all, folks!" Morok had his back against the barrier, outnumbered and outmatched, yet he needed but a thought to go to the other side.

    Some elves tried to follow him, just to meet Friya¡¯s de while they were still dazed from the passage. Only people at peace with themselves like Morok didn¡¯t suffer from side effects after crossing a Fringe¡¯s borders.

    Training made themst little, but killing someone who stood still with a rapier through the eyes took even less.

    "We need to get away. Quy¡¯s legs are rotting, Nalrond is not waking up, and I can¡¯tst for long." She said while more and more elves came out of the barrier.

    "On it!" Morok opened a Warp Steps that led as far away as he could see.

    Then, he threw his allies inside the dimensional corridor while picking their next destination. Friya pushed him inside and used thest bits of Dimensional Ruler to rx the space and delete every trace of their passage.

    A couple of Warp Steps in a random directionter, Morok started to puke his guts out. Between mana abuse and the poisoning from the repeated uses of Tyrannical Eye, his body was on the verge of copsing.

    "F.u.c.k secrecy. I¡¯m not letting my sister die here for those assholes." Friya took hermunication amulet and called Faluel.

    <i>¡¯Nalrond will be pissed off if you do that. It¡¯s still his home.¡¯</i> Morok wanted to say, but his mouth was filled with bile and emitted solely retching sounds.

    "Better pissed off than dead. His flesh is rotting and with so many broken bones, without Invigoration it would take him days to recover, whereas we have minutes at best. If that elf finds us, we¡¯re doomed!" Somehow, Friya understood him anyway.

    After receiving the distress call, Faluel needed a handful of seconds to reach them. The amulet provided her with their coordinates and she needed a single Steps to get there from their of Asphodus the Roc, her contact in the Desert.

    "I knew that bringing Morok along was a bad idea, but I¡¯d have never expected that he would piss off Mogar so bad that it would attempt to kill you. Once I report this to your master, Ajatar, you¡¯ll end up in big trouble, young man." Faluel said.

    <i>¡¯Why does she assume that it¡¯s my fault?¡¯</i> Morok kept puking.

    "Because usually it is." Faluel had to turn into her Hydra form to Warp around and heal them at the same time thanks to her seven heads.

    Only after making sure that no one could retrace her path did she Warp back to Asphodus¡¯sir and went back to Lutia.

    ***

    City of Kolga, near the barrier.

    After the soldiers had left with Khalia and Solus, Lith felt that something was wrong with his body. The cracks in his life force absorbed only part of the energy that the Forbidden Sun pumped into his body, while his mana core had now no protection.

    Mana poisoning felt akin to having poison flow through your veins while small bugs slowly dug their way to your abdomen. Lith had a bright blue core which coupled with light and earth fusion made him the more resistant among the three disguised humans.

    At least in theory.

    Only a few minutes had passed since he had slipped Solus in the Captain¡¯s pocket, yet he could feel his whole body freeze while his brain burned. The n was to infiltrate Solus inside the facility where the Forbidden Magic happened and so far, it had worked like a charm.

    Tista and Phloria were looking for one of the flying cars while Lith focused on the bond he shared with Solus to never lose track of her. The good news was that until the very moment their link had broken due to distance, the guards had always moved in a straight line.

    The bad news was that Lith felt worse by the second. He needed sheer willpower to not show his distress to the citizens of Kolga around him and blow his cover.

    <i>¡¯This doesn¡¯t make sense. The girls withstood the Forbidden Sun affecting both their life forces and mana cores for hours whereas I got only half the poisoning for just a few minutes. Why do I feel so bad?¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯Are you okay, lil bro?¡¯</i> Tista asked via the mind link after noticing that he was already using Invigoration.

    She felt like crap for handing over Khalia and for using so much mana during the battle, but she could still go a long way before needing to use the breathing technique. Lith¡¯s condition made no sense to her as well.

 Chapter 1233 - Weakness of the Flesh (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1233 - Weakness of the Flesh (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯No, I¡¯m not okay. The odd thing is that using a mind link is supposed to make me feel worse, but I feel better instead. Where¡¯s Phloria?¡¯</i> Lith said via the mind link.

    The answer came in the form of what looked like a vintage convertible thatnded right next to them. The controls were so easy that it had taken her just a minute to learn how to drive it.

    One button marked with an arrow pointing up made it take off, another with an arrow pointing down made itnd, and a control yoke allowed it to steer and change altitude. A vertical lever regted the speed, making the car go faster the lower it was pulled.

    <i>¡¯What¡¯s wrong with you?¡¯</i> Phloria asked, giving him more relief.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know. It feels like a stream of cold electricity is coursing through my body, giving me the shivers.¡¯</i> He replied.

    <i>¡¯Could this be a sign of the tribtion you feared?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯No. Whatever it is, I never experienced something like this, not even in Kh.¡¯</i> He said.

    Normally, Lith would have cursed at every second that traffic and finding a parking spot made them lose while Phloria drove following his directions, but flying made his conditions even worse.

    His body seemed to have turned into a block of ice and his eyes burned so bad that he was forced to blink often to see through the blur clouding them.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways.¡¯</i> Lith thought after keeping his eyes open for as long as he could. He was now able to understand why he felt so bad and why going up only made things worse.

    With Solus gone, Death Vision had returned stronger and stranger than ever.

    In front of his eyes, Phloria and Tista died several times in the span of a few seconds due to mana poisoning or because their bodies couldn¡¯t hold the life forceing from the Forbidden Sun any longer.

    The former manifested by making them seemingly fall asleep and then shapeshift back into their human form, with their skin tainted by the pallor of death. Thetter, instead, filled them with blisters that made their flesh rot at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.

    And that was the only normal thing he saw.

    The city of Kolga was filled with so many dead souls that they blotted the Forbidden Sun to Lith. Many of them wed, punched, and bit at the energy mass trying to get back what they had lost, but to no avail.

    Others followed the tendrils that went from the sun to all those inside Kolga, Lith and the girls included. The cold sensation he experienced was due to the constant stream of shades passing through him and somehow feeding on his mana.

    Using Spirit Magic was akin to throwing chum into shark-infested waters. The shades would temporarily ignore him and swarm the unprotected mana tendril. The blurred vision Lith experienced was simply caused by the number of shadows moving in front of his eyes.

    Despite the city lights and the l.u.s.ter of its modern buildings, Kolga was filled with more death than Lith had ever seen before. The dead whose life force was being consumed, haunted the living who fed upon it like parasites, while the others flew aimlessly, trying to escape the city borders.

    <i>¡¯As long as Solus was with me, she drained the foreign mana while the energy flooding the cracks in my human life force suppressed Death Vision. Without her, however, I¡¯m being injected with more than just mana, I¡¯m also receiving the thoughts and feeling that it carries.</i>

    <i>¡¯Faluel taught me that only mana can channel willpower and the shades use the poisoning akin to a mind link. The problem is that I have no idea what they want from me.¡¯</i> He thought.

    The shadows following the citizens of Kolga stared at them in hatred, plunging their ethereal limbs inside the bodies of the Kolgans to retrieve what had been stolen from them, but they always came up empty-handed.

    Those near Phloria and Tista, instead, looked at them with pity, trying to protect them with their bodies from the tendrilsing out of the Forbidden Sun, but to no avail. As for Lith, there were so many shades surrounding him that he had a hard time seeing his own hands, let alone read their expressions.

    The trip to the Light Torch department didn¡¯tst long. The merfolk had shown them the main flight path connections during their tour of the city from outside the barrier and the closer Lith got to Solus, the stronger their connection became.

    The Light Torch wasprised of a tall, rectangr main building where the administrative offices were located, and of two long, rectangr wings where the city mages conducted the experiments rted to light magic.

    It would have resembled an Earth hospital if not for the fact that no one in Kolga could get ill. Childbirth was the only medical procedure necessary since no one would be born with their life force and mana core cracked.

    Lith noticed the anguish in the faces of every woman passing by the building, but he had no idea that half of them would actually have a baby while the rest of them would just get a condolence notice before being dismissed.

    <i>¡¯Solus is here. She¡¯s almost within the range of our mind link. I can¡¯t hear her thoughts unless I focus very hard, but I can feel that she¡¯s scared.¡¯</i> Lith said via the mind link while he massaged his temples trying tomunicate with her.

    He felt her fear turning into terror and then into horror. Whatever was happening to her, it kept Solus from thinking clearly, replying to his thoughts with raw emotions.

    <i>¡¯I need to Warp to her, now!¡¯</i> The three of them split up, searching for a corner where Lith could use dimensional magic without being seen from the people walking down the street or from those flying above.

    They drew a lot of unwanted attention, especially Lith. His stumpy body belonged to a Professor of the Fire Pit, another department of the academy, and he had no reason to be there.

    Fearing that he hade to mess with their research, the people of the Light Torch kept their eyes on Lith, making him wish he could just blow everything apart.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the Kolgan mage who had found the stark-n.a.k.e.d Solus sprawled on the ground kept moving his eyes from her to the rm button on the wall.

    <i>¡¯Is it an enemy or just a lost specimen? I don¡¯t want to put a colleague into trouble for a stupid mistake. The gods know how easily these mindless things from the breeding factory manage to escape the moment you turn your back to them.</i>

    <i>¡¯They run away out of instinct, but the moment the fear is gone, they be meek again</i>.¡¯ He thought.

    Solus looked at the hybrid with dread and tried to stand up, but too long had passed since thest time she had real legs instead of constructs. Will wasn¡¯t enough to move, she needed motor coordination and shecked it.

    <i>¡¯Why did this stupid body return now of all times?¡¯</i> She thought, struggling even to walk on all four. <i>¡¯Even if I escape from here, there¡¯s no way I can go unnoticed. If this keeps up, I mightpromise everyone¡¯s life.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1234 - Weakness of the Flesh (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1234 - Weakness of the Flesh (Part 2)</h4>

    After watching Solus struggle to crawl on the floor and hearing her whimpers, the mage sighed in relief. He took his hand off the rm and called a colleague for help.

    "Xannon, I need a hand here. Some rookie must have gone overboard on their first procedure and made the specimen unable to walk." He whispered to not let the supervisor overhear.

    "Again? How can they always f.u.c.k up? Do you need a mop or just a stretcher?"

    "The stretcher will do. She has yet to relieve her bowels on the floor. Let¡¯s find the idiot who treated her and let them deal with their mess." The mage said.

    "She? As in cute?" Xannon¡¯s interest was piqued.

    "Sort of. She¡¯s really short and a bit overweight." At those words, Solus¡¯s fear was reced by rage, but it onlysted for an instant.

    "Good gods, Grem, what¡¯s wrong with her hair?" Xannon asked while pointing at the many elemental streaks.

    Merfolk had bright colored hair by nature, making the mage think that Solus was a merfolk in hernd form that had been experimented upon with Body Sculpting.

    "Beats me. My guess is that some young rich idiot must have sent her here to make her suit his kinks but the procedure messed up with her head in more than one way." Grem said with a shrug.

    The two mages lifted Solus without any kindness, one from the legs and the other from the shoulders, leaving her bbergasted.

    <i>¡¯What the heck? I¡¯m supposed to weigh a lot due to my tower half, or at least that¡¯s how it worked for my energy body. Am I really that weak?¡¯</i> Solus whipped her arm at the man behind her.

    Usually, even such a clumsy attack would have been so strong that it would turn him into a pulp, but now he barely noticed it.

    "Shit, she is having spasms. Better check what kind of damage that moron did to her before it bes permanent. If we lose a healthy female again, the entire department will get in trouble." Grem strapped her hands, feet, and neck, paralyzing Solus.

    She tried to shapeshift as she did in her stone form, but nothing happened. Then, she struggled to get free, but the restraints were too strong. For the first time in her life, Solus feltpletely helpless.

    Even after being captured by Nalear, she had still retained all of her abilities. Now, instead, even if she used Spirit Magic to escape, her own body was her true enemy.

    What point Warping away had if she could barely look around with her head? Be it flight or dimensional magic, all she would achieve by using them was to alert the entire city of the presence of enemies.

    <i>¡¯At least thanks to Leegaain¡¯s pin I understand what they are saying. I must y along.¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s fear and confusion were sincere, giving the two mages no reason to doubt her acting.

    "Poor things. She has no idea where she is or what is going to happen to her. Do you think she has feelings?" Xennon asked.

    "Don¡¯t mistake base instinct for sentience. Merfolk are just animalspared to us." Grem said. "They are a relic of the past doomed to extinction. We¡¯re doing them a favor by easing the process and putting their worthless lives to use."

    Solus tried to gain control of her limbs, looking at her hands while she flexed them to understand how mind and body were linked. It was then that she realized to be n.a.k.e.d. Between the shock of having her body back and of being as helpless as a child, she had forgotten that outside the tower she needed more than will to cover herself.

    Fear and shame turned into terror when she understood to have beenpletely exposed the entire time and that any attempt to resist one of the men that considered her nothing more than livestock would blow her cover.

    <i>¡¯Keep calm. If they really wanted to hurt you, they would have already done it. Focus on your arms and weave a few spells just to stay on the safe side. At least magic doesn¡¯t need me to-¡¯</i> Terror turned into horror as the mages pushed the stretcher inside the same room where Khalia had been lobotomized.

    Gren positioned her in the middle of the room while Xennon started to activate the arrays.

    <i>¡¯Gods, no! If they use a diagnostic spell on me, just by looking at my life force they¡¯ll find out that I¡¯m not a merfolk. On top of that, I¡¯ve no idea how those goddamn arrays might interact with me and no intention to find out.¡¯ </i>

    A small burst of Spirit Magic freed Solus while two air des cut at the two mages¡¯ necks. She remembered Rem saying that beheading them was the only way to kill the inhabitants of Kolga.

    The spell worked and blood sprayed everywhere, but the cuts were too clean, allowing the wounds to heal in the blink of an eye.

    <i>¡¯Focus, Solus. You should have remembered about how their regenerating ability and how it weakened Lith¡¯s spells. I need to get mean!¡¯</i> Solus cursed herself while Hushing the room.

    The two mages tried to scream, but not a sound escaped. Then, she unleashed several gue Arrows, but the light energy coursing through the two men neutralized the Arrows before they could deal any damage.

    She tried to use Spirit Magic to tear them apart and fire magic to cauterize the wounds, keeping them from healing properly, yet no matter how ghastly the damage, the two mages always recovered.

    Solus was at her wits¡¯ end, trying to find a spell powerful enough to kill that would also not expose her presence. No matter how much she racked her brain, only tier four and five spells came to her mind.

    If not for Spirit Magic holding them against the wall, Grem and Xennon would have managed to sound the rm.

    Suddenly, a Warp Steps opened inside the room and the merfolk version of Vastor needed just a nce to understand what was happening. Or better, the main source of Solus¡¯s distress.

    Lith had no idea what purpose the room had nor how she had gotten her body back, but there wasn¡¯t enough time even for a mind link. Someone might be already looking for the two mages and Lith needed to clear every trace of their passage.

    <i>¡¯Judging by Solus¡¯s desperation, she already tried and failed to get rid of them with magic. Rem said to behead them and my strength is more than enough to rip their heads off.¡¯</i> The short legs of Lith¡¯s disguise forced him to float to grab at the mages¡¯ necks.

    He had filled his hands with the darkness from several gue Arrows, to turn the heads into ashes as soon as decapitation neutralized the effects of the Forbidden Sun. Yet his wless n failed him.

    Lith had assumed that the Forbidden Magic granting the citizens of Kolga worked akin to Odi technology rather than to trolls. Only Solus was aware of how the Forbidden Sun kept people young by turning them into unliving.

    Creatures that fed of the light element and that had been stripped of most of their darkness, keeping just enough to preserve their natural bnce. The moment Lith touched their necks, the sudden flow of darkness magic created a link between the three of them.

 Chapter 1235 - The Eye and the Hands (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1235 - The Eye and the Hands (Part 1)</h4>

    Instead of destroying them, the gue Arrows turned the mages back into living beings by bncing the scales. At the same time, physical contact allowed the souls that haunted Grem and Xennon to unleash their fury.

    The bodies of the two mages constantly rejuvenated themselves thanks to the mass that had been bestowed upon them at birth by the ritual. The life force and light element that coursed through them had been stolen as well and kept in check by the Forbidden Magic empowering Kolga¡¯s sun.

    The souls used the death energy flowing from the cracks in Lith¡¯s life force to get ahold of what belonged to them now that the gue Arrows had temporarily disrupted the effects of the ritual.

    Lith could feel the shades begging him to grant them substance and he did. By infusing them with Spirit Magic, the souls turned into Demons of the Darkness who used their powers to retrieve all that Forbidden Magic had taken from them.

    It was the stolen life force that granted the Kolgans their long life and the ability to feed upon foreign mana and light element, absorbing them as if they were their own. Without it, the two mages withered.

    The very ritual that until a moment ago had empowered them, now filled them with poison.

    Death made the corpses of the Kolgans disappear, but the Demons had yet to finish their job. They grabbed at the tendril that had connected Grem and Xennon to the Forbidden Sun, sucking it dry of any trace of their life essence that it still held.

    For a moment, Lith saw his Demons turn respectively into a young merfolk and a Shyf (puma type magical beast). They gave him a deep bow before darting upwards in the form of two small spheres of light.

    Despite the many questions he had about what had just happened, a single thought eclipsed them all.

    <i>¡¯Good gods, Solus, are you alright? What did they do to you?¡¯</i> Lith helped her to sit up on the stretcher and cupped her face, trying to calm her down.

    <i>¡¯I think I¡¯m fine. I didn¡¯t let them do anything to me, but this stupid body doesn¡¯t listen to my orders. Without your timely arrival, I don¡¯t know if I would¡¯ve managed to kill those guys without rming the whole city.¡¯</i>

    Once Invigoration confirmed Lith that nothing had happened to Solus¡¯s life force and mana core, he sighed in relief, touching her forehead with his own. The moment they made contact, Lith felt the pain leaving his body while Solus¡¯s mind found relief from the horrors she had witnessed.

    <i>¡¯About that, how did you get your human form?¡¯</i> He asked.

    <i>¡¯Beats me. How did you open your fifth eye?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯My what?¡¯</i> Lith let her go and quickly conjured an ice mirror.

    The reflection showed three more eyes shining on the face of his disguise. His regr eyes had turned red and ck, those on his forehead were blue and white, while the new eye on his cheek was bright orange.

    He could feel a pull at his conscience, simr to that he had experienced in Kh, but hundreds of times stronger.

    The more Lith looked at his face, the less he liked that situation. Thanks to Faluel¡¯s teachings about the basics of Domination, it took him but a deep breath and some focus to close all the extra eyes.

    Along with their light, Mogar¡¯s call faded as well.

    <i>¡¯We don¡¯t have time for this. We need to get away before someone stumbles in here.</i>¡¯ He turned around, finally noticing her condition.<i> ¡¯By the way, you look pretty... n.a.k.e.d. Wear something.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, this isn¡¯t how I pictured showing you my real body. Years of dreams and preparation just went down the gutter.¡¯</i> Solus turned to a shade of purple and took her Scalewalker armor out of her pocket dimension.

    <i>¡¯If it¡¯s of any constion, it¡¯s close to how I pictured this moment when I was still a horny, single teenager. I expected it to happen sometime when we were alone in the tower, not in a death trap.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Gods, stop it.¡¯</i> Solus knew about such fantasies through their past mind fusions, but hearing him say it made her turn even more purple.

    Lith needed a few tries to take her in a princess carry with a Vastor-like body, embarrassing her even more.

    <i>¡¯I guess my dumb act worked. I need to take her mind off whatever had happened in here. I don¡¯t need a mind link to notice how scared and shaken she is. Solus is on the verge of a breakdown and before it happens, I need to bring her somewhere safe.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Lith opened a dimensional opening the size of a keyhole to look at the ce where the girls waited for him and to establish a mind link.

    <i>¡¯Is the coast clear?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Yes. What took you so long?¡¯</i> Tista replied.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s a long story. Keep a Warp Steps leading to your apartment at the ready, we¡¯re going to need it.¡¯</i> Lith waited for his sister to give him the all clear before going back outside.

    One of the perks of being short was that in his Vastor form Lith could easily hide behind two a.d.u.l.ts. When they had failed to find an isted space to open the dimensional passage, the girls had just stood in front of a section of the wall, hiding him from view.

    Then, Lith had used his mind link with Solus to look through her eyes and know where to go. The moment Lith stepped outside the wall, he fell down the Warp Steps that Tista had ced below his feet.

    Phloria walked behind her, using the cover to disappear from sight and space, quickly followed by Tista. She only needed one step and a single moment when no one was around to vanish like a ghost.

    "What the heck happened to you?" Phloria asked while looking at Solus¡¯s petite build and gentle features. Lithing out of theb with a woman instead of a ring had almost knocked her off her feet, but only now could she express her shock.

    "Before that, give me your hands, please. I can see that using so much magic has put a toll on every one of you." Solus was getting the hang of her new form, but she still moved clumsily and her fingers trembled out of shock.

    Tista held Solus¡¯s left hand while Phloria took the right. The contact drained the poison that tainted their bodies and cores, allowing them to recover their strength.

    "I thought it was thebined effect of the crack in Lith¡¯s life force and in your core that cleansed the Forbidden Magic. Was it just you all along?" Phloria asked.

    "Nailed in one." Solus nodded. "My centuries of istion didn¡¯t cost me just my memories, but also my body. Luckily, the tower has my "blueprints" and it¡¯s rebuilding it from scratch.

    "Ever since we got here, staying with Lith protected him but actually dampened the effects that the Forbidden Sun has on me. What is poison for you, is nourishment for me and it provides the tower with all it needs to give me back my human form."

 Chapter 1236 - The Eye and the Hands (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1236 - The Eye and the Hands (Part 2)</h4>

    "Is it permanent?" Tista asked brimming with joy. She couldn¡¯t wait to introduce Solus to her family and finally be able to show her around Mogar.

    "I doubt that." Solus sighed. "The tower it¡¯s still too weak to preserve my body. If not for the Forbidden Sun constantly plugging the damages in my essence while also nurturing me, the energy would leak and I¡¯d return to my usual state."

    "Do you feel like telling us what happened inside the Light Torch of do you want me to do it?" Lith said after reverting to his human form in the hope to give her strength.

    Solus took a deep breath and opened her mouth to answer, but only a hup came out. Warm tears streaked down her eyes as the memory of what had befallen Khalia and of the fate of half of Kolga¡¯s children flooded her mind.

    She had long dreamed to learn about her past, about Menadion, and her legacy. The First Ruler of the mes had turned out to be more than her maker yet the revtion had alsoe with more pain than Solus could handle.

    The Hands that Menadion had gifted to her apprentice had been twisted into an instrument of misery that fed upon the lives of others. No matter how irrational the thought was, Solus felt responsible for each death that had taken ce in Kolga.

    She started to sob and quiver, clenching at her friends with all the strength that she could muster. For the first time in her life, Solus wished to be just a magical ring, devoid of any feeling aside from that of serving its master.

    Lith had their mind fuse, allowing her knowledge to flow into him just like his calm soothed her shaken nerves. On top of that, even though he couldn¡¯t pass onto her his muscle memory, the mind fusion allowed Solus to familiarize with her human body.

    Lith moved her limbs along with his own, using the mirror effect to teach her the ropes and instill in Solus¡¯s mind how controlling the joints was supposed to feel. Then, he used Light Mastery to project a hologram of what had happened since the moment Solus had left with the city guards.

    A mind link would have been faster and more detailed, but it would have also caused the girls mana poisoning and further dyed their recovery. That way, instead, as long as they touched Solus, they could recover from the effects of the Forbidden Sun.

    "With this, we have cleared all of this mission objectives." Lith broke the silence that followed the grisly images. "The mana geyser is controlled by Menadion¡¯s Hands. The ritual is held inside the Light Torch, but unlike what the Council believes, it takes ce every day.

    "It¡¯s not something big and shy like the ck Star that can be disrupted easily. It¡¯s way more subtle and it would require an army to take care of it."

    "What do you mean?" Tista caressed Solus¡¯s hand, d to notice that sharing her burden with Lith had allowed Solus to calm and rx.

    All those emotions had exhausted Solus and her eyes drooped slowly until she fell asleep.

    "The Hands of Menadion are of secondary importance while the Light Torch is the heart of the ritual. You have seen from Solus¡¯s memories how many rooms and arrays are needed to safely wield the energy released by the Forbidden Magic.

    "Without it, every newborn of Kolga would die. Even better, if we mess with one of the procedures, we might corrupt the Forbidden Sun and make it crumble." Lith said.

    "Last but not least, now we know what fuels Kogaluga. The lost city of the Griffon Kingdom must have belonged to aplices of Kolga who unwittingly epted to turn theirnds into a toxic waste deposit."

    "Do you think she did it on purpose?" Phloria was bbergasted.

    "It¡¯s the only exnation. You heard the movie. Kolga came from the Garlen continent and she was the only one with the necessary skill to craft a device capable of harnessing the darkness element that the ritual produces.

    "Even worse, to have left the device in Kogaluga beforeing here, it means that Kolga is also the creator of the ritual. Her descendants must have killed her once they realized that if mommy dearest activated the Forbidden Magic, she would have be nigh-immortal." Lith said.

    "Yeah. With an Awakened¡¯s longevity, there¡¯s no telling how long Kolga would have lived thanks to the ritual." Phloria nodded. "We can only hope that she didn¡¯t share with her descendants the secret of Awakening, or things might get ugly for us."

    "What do you mean, us? This is just a recon mission. We¡¯re done here. We can leave as soon as Solus wakes up." Tista said.

    "Even if we don¡¯t share the information about Menadion¡¯s Hands, the moment the battle starts and the King joins the fray, the whole Mogar will learn about them. How many people do you trust with that kind of power? Even more importantly, do you think that Solus would agree to it?" Phloria shook her head.

    "Exactly." Lith nodded. "Yet that¡¯s not the point. For what I care, we can even say that this mission has been aplete failure and leave without sharing any of what with learned with the Council."

    "What?" The girls said in unison.

    "You heard me. I don¡¯t feel like taking Solus¡¯s body away after all she went through to get it back. Despite all of its dirty secrets, you¡¯ve seen how beautiful Kolga is. She could live here, disguise herself as one of the merfolk hybrids, and maybe even make a life for herself.

    "In Kolga, she has no need for me. She can spend all the time she needs for aplete recovery here and only once she is ready to leave on her own terms would we share with the Council what we have learned today.

    "Once Solus contact us, we volunteer for a second attempt that will be conveniently sessful and that will provide us with the opportunity we need to recover Solus."

    "Would you really leave her here?" Tista asked.

    "If that¡¯s what she wants, yes. It¡¯s a sacrifice I¡¯m willing to make. Some of the things that Silverwing said about me are right. Solus needs to have her space and her life instead of being an essory to mine.

    "You have no idea how long has she wished to be normal. Here Solus can sleep,ugh, and cry as much as she wants. Once she permanently regains her body, we¡¯ll meet as equals and maybe by then, she¡¯ll have sorted her feelings.

    "Right now, her condition does to her what your congenital disease did to you, Tista. It¡¯s a cage that keeps her from spreading her wings and I don¡¯t want to be any part of that unless it¡¯s strictly necessary.

    "Good or bad, Kolga is the first real chance Solus has for a full life. What we do next is her decision to make." Lith said.

    Tista couldn¡¯t stand the idea of such a horror being allowed to continue, but both Lith and Phloria made good points. The Hands of Menadion couldn¡¯t be given to someone out of political gain.

    All Awakened Lords of the Council had ess to several mana geysers and with the Hands, any of them would be unstoppable.

 Chapter 1237 - Dollhouse (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1237 - Dollhouse (Part 1)</h4>

    Destroying Kolga would lead to a war that would tear apart the two continents, then the races of the winning Council, andstly the members of the faction that came on top of thepetition.

    At that point, the other factions of the Council would attack their weakened enemy and start the fight anew. A single artifact would trigger an endless war.

    <i>¡¯Good gods, how could Menadion be so stupid as to not put some kind of restriction on it? On top of that, Lith is right as well. So far, Solus lived on the crumbs of his free time. This ce would be a start for her. Horrible, but a start nheless.¡¯</i>

    Phloria instead, was old and mature enough to be unfazed by Kolga¡¯s dark side and immediately agreed with Lith.

    <i>¡¯These kinds of things happen every day. Kolga is but a drop in the ocean of what people do to each other since the dawn of time. The Odi did much worse for much longer. The Gorgon Empire enved its own people.</i>

    <i>¡¯Arthan sacrificed countless lives in the name of his research. Even Balkor and Nalear are just symptoms of the horrors that still happen to this day in the Kingdom. Compared to what would happen if Menadion¡¯s legacy fell into the wrong hands, Kolga is the lesser evil.¡¯</i> She thought.

    Thanks to thebined effect of the mana geyser and of the three streams of energy that she received from the Forbidden Sun through herpanions, Solus woke up before the sun set on the Jiera continent.

    She felt perfectly rested in the mind and body as if the events that had shocked her had taken ce weeks rather than a few hours back.

    <i>¡¯I know that I¡¯ve seen a lot of bad stuff while traveling with Lith, but I feel way too good. Am I going crazy or what?¡¯</i> She thought while stretching her limbs and experiencing for the first time the pleasant sensation of wiggling her toes.

    <i>¡¯Or what. What you have seen in there didn¡¯t shock me in the least so now that we¡¯re close, I¡¯m your psychic fortress. Also punching me in the face it¡¯s not a nice way to say good evening.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    Only then did Solus realize that the ufortable bed that had given her back pain was Lith¡¯s arms. He had lulled her the whole time like a child after making her sit on hisp.

    "Not only do you snore, but you also almost kicked me in the groin." Tista had barely dodged the surprise attack.

    To avoid getting poisoned again and to get back to their peak condition without Invigoration, no one had left Solus¡¯s side. To make matters worse, they looked at her with that odd mix of worry and affection that parents show while looking at a newborn.

    "You¡¯re going to have a problem with Kam. Even if Solus died at twenty-eight, she barely looks twenty. Not to mention all her pretty streaks. I thought you had just silver and orange." Phloria referred to thebination of elements that wasmonly known as the blessing of the light.

    "It might be due to my tower having all kinds of elemental affinity or because of Lith. He has no streaks but he got seven eyes nheless. Maybe he passed them onto me thanks to our bond."

    Solus tried to get up in a hurry to avoid further embarrassment, only to fall face-first on the floor.

    "Aww, she¡¯s so cute! She reminds me of Aran when he tried to stand up for the first time." Tista said.

    Instead of crying like a baby, however, Solus cursed like a sailor.

    "Take it easy. One step at a time." Lith helped her to stand up, holding Solus by the h.i.p.s until she gained a stable footing.

    "You really look like a doll. You are really short and your hair almost touches the ground." Phloria moved behind Solus and fixed her hair in a tress with Spirit Magic to keep her from tripping on them.

    "I¡¯m not short, you beanpoles! I¡¯m taller than Jirni." Solus inwardly thanked Phloria for not making her pigtails.

    Between the height gap and the need for help to even stand, she already felt like a child among a.d.u.l.ts. After a few attempts, she managed to stand up on her own and then quickly learned how to walk.

    Solus had moved Lith¡¯s body in the past, she just needed a peaceful environment to put her experience to use. On top of that, the more her body stabilized, the easier it became to trigger her dormant muscle memory.

    Lith let the girls take care of her so thatter they wouldn¡¯t suffer much from the Forbidden Sun.

    "Girls, Solus and I need to talk about our next move. Some things require a bit of privacy." He said.

    Solus had no idea what he was talking about and seeing the others leave without a word only made her feel more confused.

    Lith knew there was no easy way to tell her what he had to so instead of using words, he fused their minds for the second time in just a few hours.

    <i>¡¯How can you even think of abandoning me here?¡¯</i> She said in outrage via their mind link.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m not abandoning anyone. I¡¯m just offering you a choice.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯Are you doing this for me or just to get me out of your hair? It would make things much easier for you with both Kam and the Madness.¡¯</i> Her thoughts were devoid of malice, expressing solely how betrayed she felt.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s why I fused our mind instead of talking. Thoughts cannot lie. I don¡¯t deny that after looking at your memories, I copied the schematics of Kolga¡¯s arrays. What she has done with just a mana geyser is outstanding.</i>

    <i>¡¯Her workings are the missing link I needed to rid the Odi¡¯s body swapping machine from most of that outdated technology and to mix what I know of the Madness with it.</i>

    <i>¡¯If I seed, when I swap bodies, I¡¯ll have double the lifespan of a regr Awakened and regenerative abilities simr to what Silverwing demonstrated.¡¯</i> He said.

    <i>¡¯After everything you¡¯ve seen here, after witnessing what they did to Khalia, are you still willing to use Forbidden Magic?¡¯</i> Hisck of empathy bbergasted Solus.

    <i>¡¯Solus, this isn¡¯t a bard¡¯s tale. There are no heroes nor viins in real life. Everyone only cares about survival, me included. Does it make any difference if I kill someone who attempted on my life with War or with the ritual?</i>

    <i>¡¯Do you really think that I would go easy on anyone who dares mess with my family? Look into my memories. What I did to Count Lark¡¯s brother-inw, what I did to those knights who tried to stop me from getting my apprenticeship with Nana was much worse.</i>

    <i>¡¯If Deirus even tries to get close to Lutia, I¡¯d make sure that once I¡¯m done with him, hell would look like heaven to him. He would still die a horrible death, the ritual only makes it less of a waste.</i>

    <i>¡¯If that happened, would you try and stop me just because of what you¡¯ve seen today?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    Solus didn¡¯t reply for a few seconds. Not even back when she had just regained her consciousness, had she been so na?ve that she would consider all lives sacred, even those of their enemies.

 Chapter 1238 - Dollhouse (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1238 - Dollhouse (Part 2)</h4>

    Logic dictated that any threat to their existence had to be permanently removed and that was what she had helped Lith to do many times over the years. Solus had never objected whenever he experimented on his prisoners or tortured them to get the answers he needed.

    Her sudden change of heart sounded hypocritical even to herself, especially after helping him to design several blueprints of a modern body-swapping machine.

    <i>¡¯No. I wouldn¡¯t. Deirus has iting for all the lives he has destroyed in pursue of his mindless revenge.¡¯</i> She said.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s my point. I¡¯m not a wanton murderer but I¡¯m no pushover either. I wouldn¡¯t use the ritual for fun nor would I pick my specimens randomly. I would use only those who I would have killed anyway.</i>

    <i>¡¯That, however, it¡¯s not important right now. What we have to decide is how much of what we discovered we want to share with the Council, what to do about the Hands, and if you want to spend some time here alone.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    <i>¡¯What? Why in the gods¡¯ name would I want to stay here?¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s eyes were wide open in surprise.

    <i>¡¯Because if you pretend not to know what lies behind its l.u.s.ter, Kolga is a nice ce filled with regr people. Because here you wouldn¡¯t need toe to me every time you use magic. Because the Forbidden Sun might hasten your recovery more than I can.</i>

    <i>¡¯Most importantly, because it would give you the freedom you deserve.¡¯</i> Lith bent the knee to look Solus in the eyes.

    Even without the mind fusion, he could feel that between the height gap and her sitting on an armchair due to her still wobbly legs, Solus was getting a stiff neck from looking up to him.

    It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to her. On top of that, she knew from the mind fusion how painful it was to him even the thought of their separation, yet Lith kept putting her happiness first.

    Even if it meant losing the tower¡¯s prowess for an indefinite time. Once again, Solus took her time before answering, to not let her emotions sway her.

    <i>¡¯Thank you, but I don¡¯t want to stay here one second longer than needed. I understand that from your point of view Kolga might look like an improvement for me, but it isn¡¯t.</i>

    <i>¡¯My tower is a small cage, but it¡¯s filled with people I love and it allows me to travel wherever I want. Kolga may be bigger, but it¡¯s still a cage, and one filled with people I don¡¯t care about and fueled by nightmares that I can¡¯t stand.</i>

    <i>¡¯This ce isn¡¯t freedom for me. It¡¯s a dollhouse built by a twisted mage that constantly reminds me of my mother¡¯s foolishness.¡¯</i> She said.

    <i>¡¯What do you want to do about it?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯Tista is right. Kolga must be destroyed and the sooner the better. Both the merfolk and the people of the Ker region don¡¯t deserve to live under the constant threat of the monsters that the breaking of either barrier would unleash.</i>

    <i>¡¯However, Phloria is right as well. We can¡¯t let anyone learn about the Hands of Menadion. If what we heard from the inhabitants of Kolga when we first got here is true and the Hands can control more than one mana geyser at the time, there¡¯s no telling what might happen if they fall into the wrong hands.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯Do you realize that if we bring down Kolga thousands of people will die and that among them there are many innocents? They epted the ritual to save their city at first and then simply because they had no other choice. </i>

    <i>¡¯Life is not ck and white. No matter what you do, people will die anyway. Are you ready to shoulder such a burden?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯I am.¡¯</i> She nodded.<i> ¡¯And I have a n. It¡¯s risky and it requires that I face the King alone. It¡¯s the only way I have to make sure that in case of victory I¡¯ll be the one to retrieve the Hands and keep my mother¡¯s legacy from being abused again.</i>

    <i>¡¯Yet I can¡¯t do it without your help. Even if the Awakened target mainly the Light Torch, the moment the Kinges out of his tower, they¡¯lle to confront him if I fail to restrict him.</i>

    <i>¡¯At the same time, if I seed, he¡¯s bound to call for reinforcements and turn the tide of the battle. The moment he slips away from me, the Awakened will intervene and all will be lost. </i>

    <i>¡¯If anyonees close enough to recognize the Hands with Life Vision, we¡¯ll fail no matter if at the end of the day Kolga stands or falls.¡¯</i> She sighed.

    <i>¡¯You know, after seeing what you did to those two crazy mages, I understood why even though Mogar haspletely turned its back to Abominations it doesn¡¯t destroy them.</i>

    <i>¡¯They are not parasites so much as scavengers. They are the natural counter to all kinds of Forbidden Magic and unlike the undead, they can¡¯t reproduce so the threat they pose it¡¯s always limited.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Do you think that my ability to disrupt the rituales from my Abomination side?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯Yes. If I¡¯m right, Death Vision and the ability to conjure the Demons of Darknesse down to that. By mixing with the natural darkness element the bits of Chaos that you produce, you bestow upon wandering souls the form of a lesser Abomination rather than an undead.</i>

    <i>¡¯I know that I always asked you to keep that part of your nature sealed, but this time even Wyrmling Lith Verhen might not be enough. Would you be my Abomination, just this one time?¡¯</i> Solus cupped Lith¡¯s face, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs.

    The feeling of his skin under her fingers waspletely different from what she had experienced while under her energy form.

    Just like savoring foods by sharing Lith¡¯s senses was second ratepared to tasting them herself, touching someone with her human hands felt akin to having finally taken off a pair of surgical gloves.

    Solus cherished that moment, knowing that no matter if her n failed or seeded, she wouldn¡¯t have another opportunity to do it for a long time.

    <i>¡¯Always.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯Thanks. You have no idea what this means for me. Now I need everyone¡¯s help to get used to this stupid body, otherwise my n will fail before even starting.¡¯</i> Solus stood up on her own and stretched her limbs to check how clumsy she still was.

    <i>¡¯Before that...¡¯</i> Lith conjured a mirror made of ice, allowing Solus to look at her real face.

    She had already seen it through Lith¡¯s memories during their mind fusion, but the vision shocked her nheless. She had taken her gentle features and bright eyes from her mother, making Solus think to be looking at another memory of Menadion.

    Solus undid the tress to caress her hair and its softness overwhelmed her.

    It reminded her of the dream where as a child she had yed with Menadion¡¯s hair and the feeling that she was now experiencing was identical. While she caressed the six colored streaks, Solus felt like a part of her mother still lived within her.

 Chapter 1239 - Mother of Wrath (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1239 - Mother of Wrath (Part 1)</h4>

    The idea of losing her body again the moment the battle was over tore Solus¡¯s heart apart. Yet instead of crying, she used Light Mastery to create a hologram of her real self down to thest detail that would preserve that memory forever.

    ***

    It took Solus several hours of practice and the help of the others to improve her hand to eye coordination. Over time, her body gained a mass superior to that of any human and the muscle memory from her previous life returned.

    It meant that the tower had preserved everything she needed to regain all she had lost, but it didn¡¯t have enough juice to restore so much in the little time they had left. A little before the twenty-four hours that Aren had given them ran out, Lith called the beasts representative with the Council amulet.

    "Are you saying that you¡¯ve found a way to disrupt the Forbidden Sun?" The J?rmungrandr could barely contain his surprise and excitement.

    "Yes. The key lies in the Light Torch department." Lith used the amulet to share with Aren the schematics of both the building and its arrays. "Ifpletely destroyed, recharging the Forbidden Sun will be impossible long enough to make the city die on its own.

    "Kolga isn¡¯t a cursed object. The mana geyser fuels the water dome and its defenses, but that¡¯s it. Without the sacrifices keeping the light and darkness amount stored inside the Forbidden Sun in check, the magic that empowers the city is likely to backfire.

    "If darkness runs out first, the excess of light element might turn the inhabitants of Kolga into mindless trolls while if the Forbidden Suncks light, the crops will die and the regenerative abilities will disappear. Either way, the city will be an easy prey." Lith said.

    Aren and the other members of Jiera¡¯s Council discussed for a while before nodding in approval.

    "Thanks for your help. All of you have been an invaluable asset to our people. If only we had someone of Lord Leegaain¡¯s caliber on this side of the ocean, maybe we would have solved this issue centuries ago." Aren said with a sigh while looking at Fenagar, who snorted in reply.

    The J?rmungrandr had many things to say about his ancestor and none of them was kind. Yet arguing with a Guardian would have brought him nothing but trouble so he let it slide.

    "I¡¯ll immediately arrange for your retrieval. You¡¯ve done more than enough and you deserve some rest in Reghia. I¡¯ll make sure that you are properlypensated for your efforts."

    "Thanks for your offer, but I disagree." Lith shook his head, putting Solus¡¯s n into action. "We are the only ones who have been inside the Light Torch. Bybining our powers, we can create a Warp Steps that can lead you inside the building.

    "This way, the attack force will avoid the external and internal defense mechanisms, dealing the biggest damage in the shortest possible time before the Forbidden Sun cripples their powers."

    The greed in the eyes of the Council Members told him that he had almost got them where he wanted. Inside the city but away from the tower where Solus would face the King. After all, only an idiot would have passed up the opportunity of an inside job.

    A surprise attack at the heart of the enemy base was something almost too good to be true.

    "I appreciate your offer, but this kind of nning requires time. First, we need to study the arrays and find the best way to make the damage we inflict to them spread to the Forbidden Sun, and then we need to assemble our elite forces.

    "I understand that once you leave the city the Warp Steps strategy will be off the table and the attack will be more difficult, but I believe that proper preparation will more than make up for it." Maeve the Morrigan, the nt representative of the Council said.

    Lith inwardly cursed at their indecisiveness, but it was still within his expectations. Kolga had resisted many assaults in the past and the intel that he had provided was more than the Council had hoped for.

    On the one hand, attacking from the inside would make the initial assault easier, but then the troops would have to face the entire poption of Kolga while they were still under the full effects of the Forbidden Sun.

    The number of casualties would likely be high, especially during the retreat since the Awakened couldn¡¯t leave the city with the same Warp Steps with which they had arrived.

    On the other hand, attacking from the outside would force the army to fight every meter that separated them from the target. Yet thanks to the schematics Lith had shown them, after a bit of study the Council would be able to mess with the Forbidden Sun from a safe distance and weaken the enemy.

    "I don¡¯t think that waiting is an option." Lith said. "Khalia¡¯s sacrifice allowed me to get inside the Light Torch, but to collect so much information, I had to overstay my wee and I ended up exposing my real nature in self-defense."

    "What?" Jiera¡¯s Council said in unison while each one of its members cursed their bad luck.

    "It was that oring out empty handed." Lith shrugged. Lying was second nature to him and even Fenagar couldn¡¯t detect his deception from a hologram.

    "This way, at least we know how the ritual works and we have a shot at bringing it down.

    "Yet if you don¡¯t act now, they could reinforce the Light Torch or create a back-up site for the ritual that would be impossible to discover with the same stratagem I employed even if you manage to get another pin from Leegaain."

    "Why did you take such risk? Finding about the Light Torch was more than enough. In the end, the information you brought us about the arrays is pointless if we don¡¯t have the time to exploit it." Aren said.

    "For several reasons." Lith used Light Mastery to produce a hologram of Khalia¡¯s fate followed by another showing what happened whenever a child was born. He made it so that instead of using another child, the mages of Kolga used a Shyf cub.

    Light Mastery didn¡¯t project memories, but everything he wanted so doctoring the events was child¡¯s y for him. The images made even the most ancient and cynic among the Awakened want to puke.

    "I¡¯ve seen myself the internment camp where our kin is brought after being turned into meat dolls whose only purpose is to produce sacrifices for the rituals." Lith stared in the eyes of both the human and the beast representative to ensure that half the Council would be by his side.

    "I couldn¡¯t let Khalia¡¯s sacrifice go to waste. Not after witnessing how the ritual affects my continent as well." Lith used the amulet to contact the Garlen¡¯s Council as well while he showed how the ritual disposed of both the Chaos and the darkness it produced.

    "A constant flow of necromantic energies like that is bound to have pretty obvious effects. Does such a phenomenon ring any bell?" Lith asked.

    "Oh, dear." Leegaain shivered while creating a mind link with Tyris.

 Chapter 1240 - Mother of Wrath (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1240 - Mother of Wrath (Part 2)</h4>

    "Is it true?" The rage in the voice of the Great Mother made the chamber of both Garlen¡¯s and Jiera¡¯s Council quake despite being just a psychic projection.

    "I swear it on my family. I can even offer to share my memories once I get back to Garlen. The source of Kolga¡¯s and Kogaluga¡¯s misery is the same. I have purged the lost city enough times to know the energy signature of the fissure like the back of my hand.

    "On top of that, based on the information collected by my associates during our recon, Kogaluga is meant to be Kolga¡¯s outpost on the maind as soon as they get rid of the barrier blocking the city." Lith said.

    The cold fury that twisted Tyris¡¯s face also made her long golden hair whip around like snakes, giving her a savage and cruel appearance.

    "Did you know about this, Fenagar?" It was spoken like a question, but it sounded like an order.

    The edge in her voice was fueled with so much mana that even Inxialot, the Lich King, and Breganoth, his Jiera counterpart, held their ears in pain while their dead eyes bleed.

    "Do you have any idea how vast the ocean is?" The Leviathan snorted in annoyance. "Water covers over 60% of the, I¡¯m not responsible for everything that-"

    "I¡¯m not asking about the whole Mogar, only about your turf. Did you know about this or not?" Tyris cut him short.

    "I didn¡¯t know because after making sure that no Awakened was involved, I didn¡¯t bother investigating the matter." Fenagar tried and failed to be as intimidating as her. His totalck of care made him sound more bored than furious.

    "That¡¯s your excuse for your ipetence? That since no Awakened was involved you let your people mess with mynd and kill my precious children?" With every word she spoke, Tyris became less human.

    By the end of the sentence, her voice caused hurricanes while the stomp of her foot triggered an earthquake that turned mountains into rubble and sent several tidal waves towards Jiera.

    "Precious my scaly ass. Don¡¯t get your feathers in a bunch for such small stuff. Kolga has done to both our turfs negligible damagepared to your dear Arthan. You didn¡¯t check on him because he wasn¡¯t an Awakened and we all know how that turned out.

    "On top of that, if I recall it correctly, the founder of the city even came from your continent so if you want to me someone, me yourself." Fenagar said with a smug grin, just a few seconds before the image of the Father of all Dragons abandoning the Council in a rush wiped it off the Leviathan¡¯s face.

    "You shouldn¡¯t have pushed the Arthan button. Leegaain out!"

    "That does it!" Tyris¡¯s roar sent everyone on their knees.

    Lith and the others weren¡¯t affected like the two Councils only because Tyris didn¡¯t want to endanger their lives, yet Lith found himself swallowing multiple times, wishing that Tyris wouldn¡¯t look too deep in his memories if she ever decided to.

    "If by the time I get there the attack hasn¡¯t already started, Jiera will need another Council along with a new Guardian!"

    "You can¡¯te here without my permission! I-" Fenagar¡¯s outrage disappeared when Tyris¡¯s psychic projection disappeared and her energy signature left Garlen.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, things just got out of hand and into the fire.¡¯</i> Lith thought.<i> ¡¯I think I can handle a normal Tyris since she¡¯s very kind, but not her royally pissed off version. On top of that, I never nned on making two Guardians fight.</i>

    <i>¡¯If things go as I predict and Fenagar finds out about my deception, the Jiera continent will be off-limits for me.¡¯</i>

    "How much time do you need to prepare your strike force?" Lith asked the Jiera Council.

    "How much time do we have until Tyris gets here?" Aren asked a Garuda with a knack for numbers.

    "Judging from her speed, about ten minutes. Unless she Warps, of course." The Garuda replied while pushing her sses up the bridge of her nose.

    "Eight minutes." Aren said to Lith before gesturing the Garuda to take care of the rest of the conversation. He had already started shouting orders in his amulet, contacting the strongest members of the Beast Council.

    The human, the nts, and even the undead representative took out their amulets with panic, calling to arms the greatest champions their respective race had to offer.

    "How dare you refuse my call? There¡¯s my undeath on the line you ungrateful bastards!" Breganoth, the Lich Sovereign of Jiera, seriously considered ripping the traitorous heart of dion the Vampire, the Awakened ruler of his species.

    "We left for Garlen almost a year ago, you dimwit!" dion replied with a fury that made his eyes shine like rubies. "We have no way to get back to Jiera so quickly and even if we could, our answer would be the same you gave to us when the gue brought us to our knees. Deal with it."

    Only after dion hung up did Breganoth remember that Liches were the only undead species left on Jiera, be they Awakened or not.

    "As you heard Lord Aren say, there are seven minutes left before the raid." The Garuda said with a professional smile that along with her sses and blonde hair fixed in a small bun made her look like a secretary.

    "In six, I mean five minutes we¡¯ll send a pulse to your amulet. It will be the signal to take your position. About a minuteter, we¡¯ll send a second pulse to get both your coordinates and start the Warp Gate.

    "All you need to do is to get in position in time and fuel the amulet with just enough mana to speed up the formation of the dimensional tunnel."

    "We¡¯ll be there." Lith ended the call.

    "What do we do during these five minutes?" Tista asked.

    "We rest." Solus came out of hiding spot, touching herpanions to siphon the little poison that already coursed through their veins.

    "Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Phloria asked.

    "It¡¯s not a matter of want so much as I must." She sighed. "In the case that someone spots me, you can¡¯t afford being seen giving me a hand. This way, I¡¯ll remain a mysterious outsider and even if someone witnesses as I take the Hands, they¡¯ll have no way to find me."

    "Just one question." Tista said. "Let¡¯s say everything goes right. How do you leave Kolga? You can¡¯t use the Council gate with us, correct?"

    "Wrong. That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ll do if I can¡¯t use the tower warp in this form." Solus replied.

    "If I manage to beat the King and retrieve the Hands, all I have to do is to fetch the white crystal atop of the tower. Without it, both the Forbidden Sun and the dome that istes Kolga from the ocean will crumble faster.

    "This will force the Council to open multiple emergency Gates to evacuate the strike force. Amid the ensuing chaos, it will be easy for me to slip through unnoticed. Once I get to the other side, the effects of Forbidden Magic on me will take but a few seconds to fade.

    "Once I¡¯m back in my stone form, it will be easy to slip at the finger of any of you and pass as a simple yet charming essory." Solus showed Tista the two cloaking rings on her hand.

 Chapter 1241 - Clash of Artifacts (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1241 - sh of Artifacts (Part 1)</h4>

    Thanks to the cloaking rings, not only was Solus¡¯s mana core and life force invisible, but also her energy signature was so messed up that even from up close Life Vision failed to perceive it.

    "When are you going to leave?" Lith asked while giving her his pocket watch.

    "About one minute before you do. I need that time to lure the guards away from the Light Torch and get used to fighting for real before facing the King." Solus started weaving her best spells while she talked.

    Her heart pounded faster by the second as the adrenaline rush made her hands tremble. It was the first time that she fought on her own and to make matters even worse, the thought of all the lives that would be lost in the case she failed weighed on her mind.

    Suddenly the room felt small and damp. Solus didn¡¯t realize that it was just her being drenched in nervous sweat until she massaged her temples to calm down.

    "Don¡¯t worry. It always feels like that." Phloria said while using water magic to clean Solus up.

    "Do you mean the first time you go to battle?"

    "No, I mean every time. People like me have simply learned how to manage their stress." Phloria said.

    When the clock marked one minute before the first pulse from the Council, Solus opened a Warp Steps leading right in front of the King¡¯s tower.

    The appearance of a human threw those who hade to plea the ruler of Kolga into a panic. Solus ignored their screams and their calls for the guards, focusing solely on the mana geyser below her feet.

    The Hands of Menadion collected most of its power, making it impossible for her to wrestle for the control of the geyser from a distance. Now that Solus was so close to King Ykrah, however, she could finally put her mother¡¯s ingenuity to the test.

    <i>¡¯Even if I¡¯m unable to manifest it, the tower is still a part of me. I refuse to believe that my mother was so stupid that she would create something capable of messing with her own home.</i>

    <i>¡¯No matter if the tower and the Hands have simr effects on mana geysers, the tower must be stronger.¡¯</i> She thought as her consciousness spread through the ground with every breath he took.

    Menadion had indeed made sure that none of her creations could threaten her, yet the situation was far from simple. The King¡¯s tower had been built exactly in the middle of the geyser to tap into its core.

    On top of that, the Hands had perfect control over the flow of world energy. While in her human form, Solus could nibble at the geyser and slowly took over, but it would take her too long.

    Also, she doubted that Ykrah would fail to notice her attack.

    "Freeze! Hands in the air, now!" Solus turned around, hoping that she would face the same Captain that had taken away Khalia.

    It would have been poetic justice and give her the opportunity to kill her first person without feeling any guilt. s, Kolga was big and plenty of people joined the army ranks for the power it granted them.

    When Solus turned around, she didn¡¯t recognize the man in front of her.

    "Your wish is mymand." Solus raised her hands, unleashing the Ice Age spell.

    All those around her became trapped inside thick ice crystals imbued with darkness. The cold slowed their metabolism, weakening the effects of light magic, while darkness ate at them from every side.

    Theirbined effect hindered the regenerative abilities that the Forbidden Sun bestowed upon the Kolgans so that when Solus snapped her fingers, not even being so close to the source of their power could save them.

    A sonic boom shattered the crystals into hundreds of fragments and the ice surrounding them kept the small pieces of flesh from reforming. Guards and bystanders died on the spot, allowing Solus to observe how the Forbidden Sun retrieved their energy.

    Mana sense showed her that now that the sun had fewer people to feed, the power of the remaining inhabitants of Kolga had increased.

    ¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways! That¡¯s why even violet cored Awakened always failed to destroy the city. The more people we kill, the stronger our remaining opponents will get. I need to get rid of the Forbidden Sun first.¡¯

    Meanwhile, the others received the first pulse from the Council. Lith opened the Warp Steps and the girls entered first to take care of the witnesses. Neither of them was used to wielding a butcher¡¯s cleaver but the strength of an Awakened made them as light as feathers.

    The thick des produced a wide and rough cut on the necks of their victims, making it difficult for the injury to mend. The ice and darkness the cleavers had been infused with left the wounds open long enough to be fatal.

    The two women Blinked non-stop, severing one head with each blow. Lith stepped through the Steps just a secondter, yet ten Kolgan mages alreadyy on the ground. None of them had made a sound except for the thud of their bodies hitting the floor.

    Lith Hushed the area and used Life Vision to check their surroundings. Once he made sure that no one would disturb them, he cast an array detection spell that confirmed his suspicions.

    <i>¡¯The Light Torch has several underground floors. This should buy us enough time to retrieve the Hands, but I can¡¯t risk leaving Solus behind.¡¯</i> He thought.

    When the second pulse came, the three of them had to pump their mana into the Council¡¯s amulet to turn it into a dimensional beacon for the Awakened on the other side of the spell.

    Several Warp Gates opened in quick session, letting Awakened of all races step through in their human form.

    "Damn if I hate feeling puny. Status report, kid." Said a Treant that for the asion had shrunk to just 2.5 meters (8¡¯2").

    Lith projected a hologram with all the information that he had collected thanks to his previous visit with Solus and his spells.

    "I don¡¯t know how deep this ce goes, nor how to get to the lower floors." He said. "You need time to level the Light Torch, but luckily the cracks in my life force allow me to exploit the effects of the Forbidden Sun.

    "It should give me an edge against the guy who controls the geyser. I¡¯ll keep him busy as long as I can, but you need to send someone for me once you¡¯re done here." Lith didn¡¯t wait for a reply and Warped to Ykrah¡¯s tower as well.

    "You heard the kid. Let¡¯s get a move." The Treant unleashed a tier three earth spell that barely dented the floor.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" All the Awakened said in unison as they tried their own spells just to obtain the same result.

    "The bad news is that the whole building is protected by some kind of Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram." A Lich said, making a single one of the many arrays around them be visible with a wave of her hand.

    "Any non approved spell that hits the walls gets countered and loses most of its power. The good news is that the Hexagram can¡¯t do anything against this!" The Lich stomped the floor, opening a crater.

 Chapter 1242 - Clash of Artifacts (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1242 - sh of Artifacts (Part 2)</h4>

    She also triggered several safety measures that exploded in her face and a very loud rm, but no one cared about it. Undead could take a lot of punishment before being hurt and the invasion force had never nned to be stealthy.

    "We do this the old fashioned way." The Treant said with a nod. "We reach the lowest level and then we wipe out the entire structure by shooting up our best spells. Don¡¯t shapeshift into your true form unless it¡¯s strictly necessary.

    "Destroying the upper levels is pointless and it might trigger too many traps at the same time, endangering the mission. Open only one passage per group." At his signal, the ground became swiss cheese.

    <i>¡¯What do we do?¡¯</i> Tista asked via the mind link.

    <i>¡¯We follow the n and stay here to make sure that they don¡¯t forget about Lith.¡¯</i> Phloria replied before jumping down one of the craters.

    ***

    Ykrah¡¯s tower, the same time.

    The King of Kolga hated receiving visits, especially while he was busy hoarding the power that he needed to further expand the city borders. He didn¡¯t even notice Solus attacking the guards thanks to the soundproof spell surrounding hisb, yet he could feel that something was wrong.

    The energy from the geyser that usually obeyed his everymand as a well-trained dog had suddenly be unstable. At first, Ykrah thought it was due to the .u.mted world energy nearing the critical mass, but ording to his instruments, it was way too soon.

    Then, the Light Torch¡¯s rm resounded, making him lose his focus. Ykrah activated the city¡¯s surveince devices to solve the conundrum at hand.

    <i>¡¯How is it possible that the rm started at the Light Torch instead of the outer rings? There¡¯s no way an outsider can reach thebs without being noticed.¡¯</i> Yet except for the magical academy, the rest of Kolga was at peace.

    Ykrah opened the channels with the Headmaster of the Light Torch and with the Director of the Defence Force to have a status report, but only thetter responded.

    "Don¡¯t worry, my Liege. The madwoman attacking your tower is already being dealt with." Said a middle-aged merfolk hybrid with thin crimson hair and a belly that made Vastor look like a fitness enthusiast inparison.

    "What madwoman? I want to know what the heck is happening at the light department, I-" Ykrah choked on his words when he felt the tower tremble and the power that he had painstakingly amassed slipping out of his control.

    "It¡¯s nothing. One of those demented specimens must have activated one of the wards by mistake. I¡¯m more worried about the human woman. Our efforts to keep her away from the Eye of Kolga have barely slowed her down." The Director mistook the pause for his cue to continue.

    "A human?" Ykrah¡¯s eyes went wide in surprise as he lost control over another sliver of the geyser¡¯s power and another rm triggered right above his head.

    "I¡¯ll deal with the human, you send your forces to the Light Torch. If it was just a runaway specimen, the Headmaster wouldn¡¯t have been involved." The King hung up, feeling a cold shiver run down his spine.

    A female human reaching Kolga could only mean that the greatest fear of his foremother had finallye true. The Usurper hade to reim the Hands of Menadion.

    Ykrah would have liked to have some time to weave a few spells, but the rm grew in intensity and so did the disturbance in the mana geyser.

    After getting rid of the Guards, Solus had realized that taking over the geyser would have taken her too long.

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s another way to win this battle without fighting. If I take away the white crystal that focuses the energy of the mana geyser and keeps the Forbidden Sun stable, the inhabitants of Kolga will die, including their King.¡¯</i> She thought.

    After flying on top of the tower, she had tried and failed to store the crystal in her pocket dimension. Thebined effect of the constant flow of world energy and of theplex spell from the Sun generated a rudimentary but effective force field that blocked dimensional magic.

    Solus swung her Forgemastery hammer at the gem, but the barrier made it bounce without a scratch.

    <i>¡¯n B it is.¡¯</i> She sighed and kept hammering at the tower in the spots where mana sense showed her the energy flow was at its weakest. Even though her hammer wasn¡¯t intended as a weapon, it was still made of pure Orichalc.u.m and capable of channeling her Forgemastering spells like an extension of her body.

    To keep the water dome and the Forbidden Sun stable while fueling the hundreds of arrays that made everyday life in Kolga possible, the white crystal needed to be perfectly aligned with the flow of world energying from the geyser.

    Even a slight tilt would make the Chaos energy released by the ritual damage Kolga instead of being sent to Garlen, causing a domino effect that would bring the city down.

    Normally, getting near the Eye of Kolga was impossible. The closer one got to the Forbidden Sun, the greater its effects. From so up close even a violet cored Awakened would have died of mana poisoning in a matter of minutes without being able to exert even one-hundredth of their real power.

    On top of that, even if a Kolgan went mad and tried to attack the crystal, the amount of energy iing from the Sun was supposed to make them burst akin to a failed Awakening.

    Unfortunately for Ykrah, the cracks in Solus¡¯s life force and mana core allowed her to feed upon the Sun¡¯s energy. Also, thanks to her damaged tower half, what was lethal for a living being was just a diet snack to her.

    Ykrah came out of a Warp Steps with his eyes aze with mana and one tier four spell in each of his hands, yet Solus barely threw a nce at him without stopping.

    <i>¡¯I wish I had Friya¡¯s Dimensional Ruler.¡¯</i> She sighed. <i>¡¯It¡¯s the only spell that would make a difference here. Between the Sun and the amount of energy he has stored in the Hands, even a tier five War Mage spell would barely tickle.¡¯</i>

    Menadion¡¯s artifact looked like a pair of thick silver working gloves with one mana crystal of a different color on each fingertip and a sixth in the middle of their backhand. The crystals went from red on the little finger to blue on the thumb.

    The green was reced by a bright silver while the gemstone on the backhand was ck.

    "Elphyn Althena Menadion!" Ykrah said, recognizing her from the painting that his family handed down from generations. "I knew that the voices about your death were just a lie! No one but you could have killed master Menadion!

    "I won¡¯t allow you to destroy the legacy of Kolga. We¡¯ve spent centuries preparing for the moment when you came to take the Hands and- Good gods, will you stop hammering?"

    "No need. I¡¯m great at multi-tasking." Solus¡¯s arm had never stopped moving, chipping away the tower¡¯s protectiveyers. "Feel free to continue with your speech."

    Ykrah roared in outrage and unleashed the two spells that he kept at the ready.

 Chapter 1243 - Legacies (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1243 - Legacies (Part 1)</h4>

    The first spell conjured a beam of pure heat capable of evaporating stone while the second generated an intense cold wave.

    One of them was enough to severely injure an Emperor Beast, but theirbined effect generated a thermal shock that could kill even a greater undead.

    Solus flexed her shoulders, using the metal wings of the Scalewalker armor to intercept both spells. Thanks to the pseudo core made of Hydra¡¯s scales, the wings absorbed the energy from the iing attacks and redirected it so that instead of stacking, their effects would cancel each other.

    "Not bad, but tier four can do only that much. Why didn¡¯t you use something more powerful?" Solus hade seconds away frompromising the structural integrity of the energy flow protecting the Eye of Kolga.

    "Because I can¡¯t risk further damaging the tower and you know it!" Ykrah tackled Solus, using the gap in height and weight between them to overpower her.

    He was over 1.9 meters (6¡¯4") tall and weighed almost 290 kilograms (634 lbs) due to having the mass of three a.d.u.l.ts. When the heir of Kolga was born, they would be infused with two lives instead of one.

    It made them capable of harnessing the power of the geyser and of absorbing so much power from the Forbidden Sun that they would be nigh-invincible in its vicinity.

    Solus, instead, barely reached 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") and had a slim build that could reach the 50 (110 lbs) kilograms soaking wet. The impact would surely kill her and even if her bizarre armor allowed her to survive, the fall would finish the job.

    <i>¡¯I wonder what Lith would do now.¡¯</i> Solus thought while watching Ykrah move in slow motion to her enhanced senses.<i> ¡¯He would probably ask me to analyze our opponent, but between the Forbidden Sun, the white crystal, and the geyser, my mystical senses are blinded.¡¯</i>

    She used a tier four spell War Mage spell, st Swarm, to probe the enemy defenses. The space surrounding the tower became filled with bright blue crystals the size of a finger.

    The ice would pierce regr or low quality enchanted armor and stuck to everything it failed to pierce by generating a frostyer on the point of impact. Then, they would cause a small but focused explosion thanks to the blue mes hidden within the ice.

    On the battlefield, a single st Swarm had the same effectiveness of a squadron of archers but a much greater versatility. The caster could spread or focus the crystals at will, allowing the mage to choose between taking down many small targets or a single dangerous enemy.

    st Swarm wasn¡¯t powerful enough to damage the tower so Solus had the crystals cover Ykrah from head to toe before detonating them. The King of Kolga didn¡¯t slow down while he unleashed a fraction of the power stored inside the Hands.

    A stream of energy protected his body, detaching the crystals before they could explode and then dispersing the shockwaves in every direction.

    <i>¡¯Fascinating! Even though it¡¯s quite rough, the effect that guy created by circting the world energy is the same of the energy field that we have been researching with Faluel ever since Inxialot understood the potential of our gravity ring.</i>

    <i>¡¯While a construct is nothing but a physical object made of mana, an energy field is a moving flow of mana simr to aunt Loka¡¯s Silver Spire spell that-¡¯</i> Her train of thought derailed when Ykrah suddenly elerated beyond human limits, hitting her with the strength of a car.

    The King of Kolga¡¯s smirk disappeared when the shoulder charge pushed the puny woman off the roof¡¯s edge and broke all the bones of his right arm and cracked his ribs. Hitting the girl had been akin to crashing against a rock.

    Ykrah had no idea that with each chip of power Solus overtake, she regained part of her tower half¡¯s weight and power. The sudden wave of pain forced him to stop, leaving him incapable of following up with a spell.

    As for Solus, she had thought about Blinking to evade the attack at thest second, but her suggestion had fallen on deaf ears. Her own.

    She was used to Lith taking care of the physical aspect of a fight while shefortably analyzed the situation and prepared spells for every contingency. She had followed such a routine for almost two decades and had regained her body for less than ten hours.

    Habits die hard, but the same couldn¡¯t be said about Solus. If not for the extra mass that her still-recovering tower half bestowed upon her and the Scalewalker armor, the damage would have been enough to squash her body and force her back into a stone ring.

    Solus cursed at herself as she fell from the tower. She flexed her shoulders to use her wings to break the fall since there was no time to conjure a flight spell.

    s, her body was that of a human and she had no wings.

    Those of the armor only served to protect Lith¡¯s hybrid form during a fight and not leave his wings exposed as the old Skinwalker armor did.

    Solus had just the time for one more curse and a tier one air spell to take off the brunt of the impact before reaching the ground.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, two idiotic mistakes in as many seconds. Well, not really idiotic, I never fought on my own before, correct?¡¯</i> The silence in her head reminded Solus that Lith wasn¡¯t with her.

    <i>¡¯Why do I keep bbering instead of weaving spells?¡¯</i> Solus thought as Ykrah dived feet first upon her like a bird of prey hunting an airheaded mouse.

    This time she managed to Blink, but only to be struck by a tier five fire and darkness spell the moment she emerged from the exit point. Solus boosted the Scalewalker armor with her mana, but the Adamant enriched Orichalc.u.m wasn¡¯t enough to save her.

    Not with her body already damaged from both the charge and the fall. Even though both her mana core and life force were cracked, the Forbidden Sun fueling them couldn¡¯t bestow her great regenerative abilities as it did for Kolga¡¯s people.

    Solus¡¯s body had yet to stabilize, making her physical prowess barely superior to that of an Awakened of her same core despite the Sun¡¯s constant flow of energy. She needed to activate her barrier ring to resist the spell.

    "What are you and how can you possibly be still alive?" Ykrah¡¯s broken shoulder and arm had long regenerated, instead.

    He had even activated darkness fusion to keep pain from breaking his focus again and to retain all the spells that he was weaving as they spoke. Now that the two were away from the Forbidden Sun and the white crystal, mystical senses worked again.

    What Ykrah saw with Life Vision made no sense to him. The woman seemed to have a core less powerful than his own, but despite her injuries, its strength increased with every passing second.

    On top of that, her life force looked brittle yet majestic at the same time. Her vitality not only surpassed that of all the magical beasts Ykrah kept in the breeding pens, but Solus also gobbled the energy of the Forbidden Sun, making it her own.

 Chapter 1244 - Legacies (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1244 - Legacies (Part 2)</h4>

    "So much for no Awakened in Kolga. I guess that Fenagar¡¯s beating is well deserved." Solus¡¯s reply made no sense to Ykrah, just like she hoped.

    His confusion bought her the time she needed to fix her body with healing magic and unleash the tier Five War Mage spell, Burial Ground, that she had stored inside her magic holding ring.

    Burial Ground was a versatile spell that conjured several stone pirs from the ground that could be used for both offense and defense. Earth magic was used as a conduit for the dark energies so that even standing close to them was enough to sap the life force of an enemy.

    Each one of them kept growing in height, while countless stone spikes emerged from the pirs and extended in every direction. Some attempted to stab Ykrah, while others connected with other spikes, forming new pirs that generated even more spikes.

    Solus hoped that the darkness magic imbued within the rock would mess up with the delicate bnce that kept the Kolgan¡¯s condition as an unliving stable and cripple his strength.

    Ykrah scoffed at the unknown spell, infusing himself with all elements to break out of the stone cage with nothing but raw strength. Yet when the spikes pierced his skin and the bleeding didn¡¯t stop, he put his pride aside and expended another fraction of the power stored inside the Hands to escape from the trap before it was toote.

    Much to his surprise, instead of keeping her distance and conjuring one spell after the other, the woman was charging at him with her hands filled to the brim with light magic.

    "Was one beating not enough for you, Usurper? I shall teach you-" Ykrah chocked on his words as Solus unleashed a flurry of fists.

    Thanks to the gap in mass and the energy field surrounding him, Solus received more damage than she dealt. Yet Ykrah could see that with each hit, she robbed the Hands of a fraction of their control over the mana geyser.

    To make matters worse, Solus¡¯s fists injected him with huge amounts of light element that the Forbidden Sun failed topensate fast enough. If Burial Ground¡¯s darkness had temporarily reverted him into a living being, the excess light aggravated Ykrah¡¯s unliving condition.

    He could feel his consciousness slipping and his core degenerating into that of the troll¡¯s race.

    "Stay away from me!" Ykrah converted the energy field into a burst of energy, sending Solus flying to save his life. "People of Kolga, protect me!"

    <i>¡¯Oh, shit!¡¯</i> Solus thought as the entire city answered the call and swarmed her from every side.

    The power she had absorbed from the Hands was enough to ward off the waves of enemies with just her physical might, but in that situation, she couldn¡¯t cast new spells.

    She saw Ykrah¡¯s body returning to normal, wasting the opening that she had worked so hard to create. On top of that, even though the Kolgans weren¡¯t Awakened, they still managed to corner her with sheer numbers.

    Solus was faster, stronger, and the Scalewalker armor¡¯s Full Guard gave her perfect awareness of her surroundings, but the enemies had no care for their lives or that of others.

    The Kolgans exploited their regenerative abilities to "safely" perform suicidal attacks that weakened Solus, using their own bodies to slow her down while others unleashed upon her tier five and four spells.

    Most of the Kolgans survived thanks to the Forbidden Sun and for each one of them that fell to Solus¡¯s fists bashing their skulls or to friendly fire, the others would grow stronger.

    The fewer people the Forbidden Sun had to take care of, the more energy it could deploy per individual. Ykrah didn¡¯t hesitate to join the attack as well and soon Solus was brought to her knees.

    Her barrier ring was now exhausted and her Scalewalker armor full of cracks.

    "You shouldn¡¯t havee here." Ykrah said in-between tier five spells. "My foremother, Kolga, knew that there was no such a thing as a monster capable of defeating Master Menadion inside her own tower.

    "It was you killing your own mother to get your hands on her legacy, just like it was because of you that Kolga refused to Awaken her descendants. She was afraid to end up like Menadion, betrayed by her own blood."

    What he couldn¡¯t say in presence of so many witnesses, was that all of Kolga¡¯s paranoia didn¡¯t help her much. It only managed to dy the inevitable. She didn¡¯t leave Garlen because of Menadion¡¯s death, only to pursue her research away from prying eyes.

    Since not even with the Hands could she forge her own tower, Kolga had decided to exploit the istion that the depth of the sea would provide her to craft a living legacy.

    She believed that with the power of Forbidden Magic she would manage to ovee the skill gap between her and Menadion. The problem with her n was that a cursed tower would also make her an enemy of the Council hence her research needed secrecy.

    Kolga¡¯s descendants had been d to help her collect materials and find specimens. At least until they understood that Kolga would never Awaken them nor would they ever receive her legacy simply because she would outlive them all.

    At that point, they changed the rules of the game, researching for a way to twist Kolga¡¯s ritual so that even if they couldn¡¯t Awaken, they would obtain the next best thing.

    That was how the Forbidden Sun had been born and Kolga had died the same day. It had poisoned her magical and physical prowess, making all of her artifacts useless against nigh-immortal enemies.

    The ambush had kept Kolga from casting spells and being so close to the Forbidden Sun, she had died before even realizing what had happened. After her demise, by pooling their intellects and using the Hands to learn how to perceive the world energy, her descendants had discovered the secret of Awakening.

    Unfortunately for them, their perfect n revealed to have an unexpected w. The same cracks in their mana cores that allowed the Forbidden Magic to empower them also made the world energy leak.

    Their broken state caused not only the body and core refining process to be wed, but also negated the life-prolonging effect of Awakening. It was the reason why even Fenagar had never noticed that Kolga¡¯s descendants were more than just fake mages.

    "How dare you mention my mother¡¯s name?" Solus said in outrage. "You twisted her legacy and abused the Hands to create this monstrosity. The moment I get rid of your pawns, I¡¯ll make sure that Kolga¡¯s bloodline ends with you!"

    Ykrah didn¡¯t even bother to reply to such an idiotic im. With her outburst, Solus had confirmed the Kolgans¡¯ worst fears, pushing them to double their efforts to protect their beloved ones.

    "Then you¡¯d better get a move on." A pir of ck mes apanied those words. It engulfed Solus and her captors, releasing such an intense heat that the gravel boiled.

    Ykrah looked at the Wyrmling, pondering if the creature was a friend or foe. His doubts cleared along with the mes, when Elphyn Menadion came out of them unscathed.

 Chapter 1245 - Bets and Arsenals (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1245 - Bets and Arsenals (Part 1)</h4>

    "I don¡¯t care what¡¯s happening to the Light Torch, send the elite squads to the tower, now!" Ykrah said in hismunication amulet as soon as he noticed that Solus was back to her peak condition.

    Thanks to the cover that Final Sunset had provided her, Solus had managed to use Invigoration without Ykrah¡¯s Life Vision noticing. Thanks to the Forbidden Sun, she could use the breathing technique to its fullest and even exploit her tower half to repair and enhance her equipment.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t get it. A spell of that caliber should have finished her off along with my subjects. Yet no one died.¡¯</i> Ykrah thought while Solus charged at him.

    Lith descended among the injured Kolgans that were still regenerating, grabbing one of them with each of his hands and wings. His touch was delicate, yet they all started to scream as their shadows came to life and devoured them.

    Ykrah couldn¡¯t believe his eyes when the energy released from the dead bodies bolted to the skies instead of being reabsorbed by the Forbidden Sun. Those deaths had escaped the cycle of the ritual, making everyone weaker instead of strengthening them.

    The people around Lith froze in awe and terror as well, something that in battle could only be ssified as a terrible mistake.

    While Ykrah was still trying to make heads or tails of the Wyrmling¡¯s abilities, Solus was already upon him. He tried to unleash a spell, but her kick was faster. She struck at his torso with all of her strength, sending him to crash against the tower.

    Solus had gained enough dominance over the mana geyser that not even the energy field enveloping Ykrah could fully protect him anymore. He managed to remain conscious thanks to darkness fusion, but he needed to wait until his punctured lungs healed before being able to ask:

    "Who the heck is that?"

    "My Abomination." Solus released her tier four Light Mastery spell, Diamond Cutter.

    It generated a hard-light construct shaped like a drill that incorporated the hardest minerals in the ground tobine the speed of a light beam with the destructive power of the earth element.

    Ykrah managed to dodge it in the nick of time, just like Solus wanted. Diamond Cutter struck at the tower behind him and even though it failed to deal any apparent damage, itpromised the flow of energy that went from the geyser to the white crystal on top of the tower.

    Thanks to the stability of the earth element, the construct cost little mana to be kept active and was easily repaired.

    "Stalling for time is a game that two can y now, jackass." Solus said.

    Ykrah swallowed a lump of saliva as he could feel the power bnce escape from his grasp. Somehow, Elphyn was not only unaffected by the Forbidden Sun, but she also slowly wrestled the power of the mana geyser away from the Hands.

    In the past, armies of Awakened had tried and failed to bring the tower down because the Forbidden Sun, the Eye of Kolga, and the Hands of Menadion synergized with each other.

    From that close, even a Lich¡¯s phctery holding a violet core would be unable to exert half of its true strength and the Hands always surrounded the entire tower with an energy field capable of deflecting Nova tier spells.

    On top of that, the white crystal between them worked as a stabilizer, keeping the Forbidden Magic in check while also spreading the world energy through the tower with minimal effort from its master.

    Now, however, the Sun had no effect, the Hands lost power by the minute, and the moment the tower cracked under the effects of Diamond Cutter, the Eye of Kolga would lose its effects, making the Forbidden Magic go awry.

    Meanwhile, Tyris had reached the Jiera continent. Even though her Griffon form could fly at a speed above Mach 10, crossing 2 continents and one ocean would still take her almost an hour.

    Not even a Guardian could open a Warp Steps at such distance, not without the help of another of their kind. Both Roghar the Fenrir and Zagran the Garuda had no interest in assisting her invasion of Fenagar¡¯s turf but no reason to stop her either.

    Together with Leegaain and Sark, they just watched the golden feathered Griffon move toward the sky at such a speed that friction turned the air around Tyris into a sea of mes.

    She moved higher and higher until she escaped Mogar¡¯s gravitational pull and became able to use the¡¯s rotational speed to her advantage. Tyris stared upon the blue for a split second before diving down and exploit gravity to gain even more speed.

    Oceans and continents were supposed to be fixed, yet she could swear to have seen the waters between Jiera and Garlen curl up into a smile for a split second. Tyris ignored the phenomenon as Fenagar¡¯s words echoed in her mind, rekindling her fury.

    The livinget found the Leviathan waiting for her several miles off the coast, in the middle of nowhere. Fenagary in-between two colossal tidal waves that parted the ocean in two halves, leaving the seabed exposed.

    He didn¡¯t have the time to prepare a decent n, but choosing the location of the fight gave him the advantage to move to a ce where he could use his best elements, water and earth to their fullest.

    "When two Guardians fight, maps get rewritten." The Leviathan¡¯s body was covered in pearly white scales that lit the night as if a second moon had appeared. "I¡¯m not going to let you ruin my turf nor to give my people and harder time than they already have."

    "Don¡¯t y hero with me, Fenagar. You don¡¯t give a damn about your people. You chose this ce only to put me on the back foot from the start." Tyris descended amid the tidal waves, her eyes shing like lightning and her voice echoing like thunder.

    "This is yourst chance to go away. Messing with my turf is a serious vition of the treaties between Guardians." Fenagar said. Their presence in the same ce was enough to cause shockwaves that made the ocean and the ground tremble.

    "A vition that youmitted for centuries at MY expenses! Enough talk, I¡¯ve let you buy enough time for your tricks already." Tyris charged forward as her body turned its mass into pure energy.

    The Living Lighting form wasn¡¯t something that only Rocs could do, just one of their foremother¡¯s abilities that even the Griffon Bloodline didn¡¯t inherit.

    "Oh, shit!" Fenagar said as her charge disrupted the flow of world energy, ruining the arrays he was setting up and damaging those he hadid while waiting for Tyris¡¯s arrival.

    Bolts of lightning moved from the Griffon¡¯s body to the nearby water walls and back, creating a corona effect that messed up the magical formations and left Fenagar no way out but back.

    The other Guardians looked at the fight with awe, admiration, and a good supply of their favorite salty snacks to go with the cold beer already in their paws. A good show was a rare treat and a pleasant break from their duty.

    "I bet on Tyris." Leegaain said. "Fenagar didn¡¯t have enough time to prepare and he leaves hisb less often than I do."

 Chapter 1246 - Bets and Arsenals (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1246 - Bets and Arsenals (Part 2)</h4>

    "Same. The size and territorial advantage can only do so much if you don¡¯t know how to exploit them properly." Sark nodded.

    "I bet on Tyris as well. Tyris may be smaller, but I don¡¯t see Fenagar¡¯s slow ass put up with so much enthusiasm." Zagran the Garuda pointed at the difference in killing intent.

    Her fury made Tyris shine like a sun whereas the Leviathan had nothing but his wounded pride to fuel his aura.

    "I¡¯ll join the bandwagon. Even though I don¡¯t like her one bit, I¡¯m the first to admit that her fists hurt beyond imagination." Roghar the Fenrir touched his chest, almost expecting the old wound to ache again.

    "There¡¯s no point betting if no one backs Fenagar. Unless we bet on the duration of the fight." Leegaain said. "All considered, I predict Tyris winning in about an hour."

    "An hour is too much. With all that water and earth, she can¡¯t use air properly, halving her fighting prowess. Either she wins in half an hour or she doesn¡¯t win at all." Zagran said

    "As someone who has fought and lost to her in the past, I can tell you¡¯re underestimating Tyris too much. She needs but one hit to send Fenagar flying and change the location of the fight. Once on the maind, he¡¯s done. Fifteen minutes tops." Roghar said.

    "My money on her winning before the three minutes count." Sark¡¯s words bbergasted the others. "Ever since Valeron died, the only way I had to drag her out of herir was a friendly spar. She never managed to beat me, but she still got more battle experience than anyone else here. Zagran and I excluded, of course."

    ***

    City of Kolga, now.

    <i>¡¯Tista finding that mana geyser has been a stroke of luck. I couldn¡¯t have prepared so many alchemic tools so fast with the low output of world energy that Reghia provides the tower with.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    His intervention had allowed Solus to fight Ykrah one on one, but it had also put Lith at great disadvantage. War was useless against enemies that regenerated so fast that any cut he inflicted them healed as soon as the de¡¯s edge moved away.

    Its Counter Flow ability prevented the healing and inflicted a huge deal of pain, but it also required War to be stuck inside a single opponent. Lith had no idea how long it would take a Kolgan to die that way and even if they did, it would make him little good.

    Only his touch would instantly kill the people fueled by the Forbidden Sun and deplete its energies. Any other method would just return the energy that the ritual imbued their bodies with at birth and strengthen the remaining opponents.

    Rem had mentioned the regenerating abilities of the inhabitants of Kolga and Lith had prepared ordingly. What he couldn¡¯t have predicted, not even in his most paranoid fits, was that Solus would regain her body and leave his side.

    Just like shecked hisbat prowess, Lithcked Solus¡¯s tactical mind to face so many enemies while his clock ticked much faster than usual. Without Solus, his Abomination side protected him from the poisonous life force of Kolga, but it left his mana core exposed.

    Being so close to the Forbidden Sun put a huge burden even to his bright blue core and with each spell he cast, the mana poisoning would only get worse. Luckily for him, alchemical tools required no mana.

    The Kolgans sneered at the green pine cones that the Wyrmling threw at them as if they were candies. Some even grabbed them in mid-air and attempted to store them inside their dimensional amulets.

    Kolgans knew about pine nuts solely from the books and hoped that they would taste as good as the legends said.

    Except they weren¡¯t pine cones. Anyone from Earth would have recognized the grenades and tried to get to safety, yet it would have been an equally foolish move. The weapons Lith had prepared had no timer and triggered on contact, exploding at the slightest vibration.

    He kept a wind barrier around himself to deflect the small stones that the fire magic stored within the grenades projected in every direction. The explosion gave the earth magic projectiles the speed they needed to pierce through the enchanted armor of the Kolgans.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways!¡¯</i> Lith thought while watching the injuries his weapons inflicted heal at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye and the shrapnel getting expelled from the bodies of his victims.

    <i>¡¯Step 1 failed. Time to see if step 2 was worth the effort.¡¯</i> He thought.

    The stone projectiles were just a carrier to bring their filling past the gravity sheath of the magical protections. The explosion weakened the shell and the impact did the rest, releasing the white phosphorus inside the Kolgans¡¯ bodies.

    The chemicalpound dehydrated their fluids to produce phosphoric acid and burn them alive from the inside. Despite their regenerative abilities, the white phosphorus would continue to melt their flesh, leaving them crippled by pain and removing them from the battlefield.

    Thanks to the Forbidden Sun it wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill them, but Lith hoped it would buy the time they needed to retrieve the Hands of Menadion.

    The second wave of Kolgans followed by several Warp Steps letting through several soldiers better equipped than the citizens nipped his hopes in the bud.

    <i>¡¯Not only producing white phosphorus is hard since I had to find and process everything from scratch, but it¡¯s also a natural fire that bes pointless against armor powerful enough to resist the shrapnel.</i>

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s why I nned to use them as a means to cover our retreat, not as one of offense against a frigging army!¡¯</i> Lith opened his pocket dimension again, causing what looked like slightly curved ck tiles to fall on the ground in front of him.

    The Kolgans stopped their advance, conjuring shields of earth to protect themselves from whatever trickery the Wyrmling had in mind, yet nothing happened. The ck tiles kept piling onto each other, forming a makeshift small tower around Lith.

    The moment the soldiers took down their shields to unleash a barrage of spells against their self-trapped enemy, Lith snapped his fingers, sending the signals that triggered the ymores mines.

    The explosions sent countless stone projectiles infused with darkness magic in every direction. Their momentum was so great that even the few that had the presence of mind to conjure a protection didn¡¯t escape the onught.

    The rocks simply bounced around like pinballs, following unpredictable trajectories that allowed them to hit their victims even from behind and turn them into unliving swiss cheese. Darkness magic temporarily negated their regenerative abilities, turning their immortality into a curse.

    Amid the ck storm, only the Wyrmling stood unscathed.

    Usually, Alchemical tools would damage even their user because fueled by foreign mana, but Lith was both their user and their maker. They had all been infused with his own mana, making him immune to their effect.

    He exploited the chaos and the fear that the darkness bullets caused to kill as many soldiers as he could in the shortest time possible. Yet it wasn¡¯t enough.

    Each volley of alchemical tools would only buy him a few seconds and after their first use they lost the element of surprise and most of their usefulness.

 Chapter 1247 - Against the Odds (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1247 - Against the Odds (Part 1)</h4>

    There was only so much Alchemical tools could do.

    Any Awakened would counter white phosphorus with darkness and light fusion, using the former to destroy the foreign substance while not experiencing pain and thetter to recover from its damage.

    As for fake mages, any of them capable of posing a threat to Lith was bound to have enough protections to be immune to his grenades. Just like the mines, Lith had employed them only to stall for time and save as much mana as he could.

    The barrier ring and the mana boosted Scalewalker armor blocked the first volleys of spells, but there was just no end to them. As the rm resounded throughout Kolga, more and more people rushed to the King¡¯s tower and to the Light Torch academy.

    Kolgans had no care for their allies and cast their deadliest spells at the Wyrmling knowing that he would be the only one suffering from permanent harm. The Forbidden Magic coursing through their veins would restore a punctured heart or a mushy brain in a matter of seconds.

    On top of that, the Forbidden Sun empowered their cores to the point that the weakest of them had a bright green mana core, making their spells as powerful as those of the graduates from one of the six great academies.

    Lith unleashed all the tier five spells that he had at the ready, but none of them could turn the tide of the battle. Raging Sun gave him the time for one breath worth of Invigoration, but it killed only the Kolgans so close to the point of the explosion that their shreds were scattered too far from each other to regenerate.

    Mjolnir stun those around him long enough to allow his deadly touch to destroy over twenty Kolgans and sever their link with the Forbidden Sun, but hundreds of enemies remained and even more arrived with each passing second.

    Lith cast a Burial Grounds, using its ever-growing pirs to protect himself while he used Invigoration and checked on Solus¡¯s fight.

    <i>¡¯I could use our mind link to tell her to get a move on, but I can¡¯t afford to rush nor distract her. With her cracked core and life force, Solus is the only one who has a real shot at getting the Hands-¡¯</i> His train of thought crumbled along with his protection.

    The new arrivals werete for a good reason. While theirrades weakened the enemy, they had prepared enough tier five War Mage spells to level a mountain.

    Lith¡¯s mana core hurt from the effort of using so much mana while countering the poisoning, yet he had to Blink to escape from the jaws of death. On top of that, due to Ykrah¡¯s and Solus¡¯s battle for the control of the mana geyser, Invigoration was far less effective than usual.

    The world energy inside Kolga was already thinpared to the outside world to start with, but with the Tower and the Hands so close to Lith, there was just enough to fuel the spells.

    A couple of soldiers unleashed upon Lith the tier five War Mage spell Firefly, conjuring several wisps of light that were actually highlypressed mes. The moment the air magic keeping them sealed vanished, a backdraft effect amplified the explosion and engulfed the area of 100 meters (330 feet) around him in mes.

    To make matters worse, the airponent of Firefly not only did provide the mystical mes with a constant flow of oxygen, but it also sealed the mes so as to boost their temperature and keep the heat from dispersing.

    Lith used his barrier ring to resist the shockwaves that threatened to tear him apart while the air quickly became so hot that breathing became both difficult and painful. Unlike charged rings, Lith could keep the barrier active as long as he poured mana into it, but that didn¡¯t make him invincible.

    The ring¡¯s pseudo core started to overload and his vision became blurry from theck of oxygen. Firefly brought air to itself, not its victim. Lith couldn¡¯t Blink due to the spell¡¯s vast area of effect, but the ring still managed to buy him the time that he needed for a Warp Steps.

    Fresh air filled his lungs, making him feel alive. Yet as his vision cleared, he realized how fast the situation had snowballed during his brief captivity. The field around the tower was filled with so many people that he couldn¡¯t see Solus anymore.

    On top of that, fake mages couldn¡¯t see the exit point of a Blink but a Steps was much slower. Even though Lith had moved to an area he remembered as devoid of enemies, they had rushed there the second the dimensional door opened.

    Only thanks to the Scalewalker armor¡¯s Full Guard did Lith perceive and react to a lunge to his heart. He grabbed the sword with his right hand and the female soldier wielding it with the left, using Demons of the Darkness to give to the soul that haunted her the power to reim its long-lost life.

    The female soldier died, but that didn¡¯t stop herrades from unleashing more Fireflies while the citizens of Kolga released volleys of tier four spells against the Wyrmling. To survive the onught, Lith needed to use the barrier ring again while Blinking non-stop to escape Firefly¡¯s area of effect.

    The barrier shattered under thebined shockwaves of the various spells and so did its ring after Lith put Huryole¡¯s relic under a prolonged strain too big for its inefficient design.

    Lith managed to kill a few Kolgans with each Blink, yet he received many hits.

    The energy that his Abomination half received from the Forbidden Sun allowed him to heal quickly, but his mana core had already turned to a deep shade of blue. Soon it would be cyan and after that, hisbat prowess would plummet.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, this wasn¡¯t the n at all. We¡¯ve let the assault at the Light Torch happen at the same time as that at the tower so that the main forces of Kolga would be too busy to mess with us until it was toote.</i>

    <i>¡¯I came here just to make sure that Solus had someone who covered her back, not to fight half the f.u.c.k.i.n.g poption of this city. How could things go this wrong?¡¯</i> Lith was unaware that Ykrah had recognized Solus from his family painting.

    Knowing who she was and what she was allegedly able to do, he had never underestimated her. They had nned their whole strategy on a quick assault based on misdirection, but Ykrah had been careful to equally split his resources among the two threats at hand.

    Several spells flew at Lith and the pain from his core wasn¡¯t something that darkness fusion could block. The effort of keeping the armor¡¯s Full Guard active barely required a strand of mana, yet it was enough to almost made him faint.

    The spells hit their target, throwing Lith off bnce and making him easy prey for the des of the soldiers. The cuts piled up too fast for the Scalewalker to repair its cracks or the Abomination side to heal the wounds and soon Lith¡¯s body bled as much as his core.

    Solus felt his pain through their mind link and only then did she realize the price that her other half was paying to let her fight with Ykrah go undisturbed.

 Chapter 1248 - Against the Odds (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1248 - Against the Odds (Part 2)</h4>

    Solus tried to disengage from the King of Kolga and go help Lith, but Ykrah exploited the moment when she turned around to check on her partner to strike at her heart.

    An Adamant knife from his dimensional amulet appeared in his palm and pierced through the armor until its hilt struck at her ribcage. Solus froze as her mouth became filled with her own blood, yet her eyes burned with anger.

    She grabbed Ykrah¡¯s wrist with one hand, crushing it with a strength that surpassed that of an Emperor Beast before moving it away from her chest. At the same time, Solus punched him in the face, pulverizing his nose.

    A second punch shattered his jaw, yet amid the tears that not even darkness fusion could stop, Ykrah noticed that the wound he had inflicted on her was already healed.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s what makes the Usurper so confident. The Forbidden Sun empowers her just like it does with me.¡¯</i> He thought while Blinking away, only to be hit by a powerful kick that broke his kneecaps and slowed him down.

    Now that Solus couldn¡¯t see Lith amid the fighting crowd anymore, she had no reason to let Ykrah off the hook. The only thing she could do was to not let the advantage slip and finish her enemy off as fast as she could.

    Even together they had no chance against a full army. Not until Solus could im the full power of the geyser as her own.

    As Lith¡¯s consciousness started to fade due to the many wounds that kept piling up on his battered body, Mogar seemed to slow down as his three lives shed in front of his eyes.

    Even in such a state, Lith didn¡¯t stop using the power gushing from the cracks in his life force to release more souls. Yet every time he did it, he could feel like an itch on the back of his skull.

    As if he was making the same mistake over and over but without realizing it.

    A mace hit Lith¡¯s back, forcing him to grit his teeth in the effort of not being sent in the middle of a group of enemies. Exhaustion clouded his vision and Lith blinked to regain his focus.

    In the split second his vision went dark, the world around him changed.

    Lith found himself in a white space that extended as far as the eye could see, without any up or down, left or right. His feet didn¡¯t touch any ground of sorts, making him feel like he floated in the emptiness of space.

    He could still hear the nging of metal and the battle cries, yet everything sounded muffled and overly stretched. Lith had no idea what kind of ce was that, but at least his mana core had stopped hurting and he could finally think clearly.

    "This looks like the ce I went when I died but the feeling is all wrong. Before I get back to Kolga, I need a damn good n." Lith thoughts echoed throughout the white space as if he had talked out loud, making him flinch.

    "You surely do, my child." An all too familiar voice said from his back, forcing him to turn around.

    "Mom? What are you doing on Jiera?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe either his eyes or ears.

    Despite being in her early forties, thanks to Lith¡¯s treatments and a good gic pool Elina was a good-looking woman that seemed to be in herte twenties. Even back when the family didn¡¯t have much to eat, she had always been well-endowed in all the right ces.

    Plenty of food and a much more rxed life had made her even more beautiful, especially thanks to her fit body that she honed through hard work.

    Elina usually had shoulder-length hair of beautiful light-brown color, with shades of red highlighted throughout. Yet the odd light of the white space distorted the brown into a multi colored mess.

    "I came to check up on you since you keep refusing my calls." Elina replied with her usual warm, motherly smile.

    "What did you do with your hair?" The moment those words came out of his mouth, Lith realized what was happening.

    "You are not my mother and this is the Mindscape. I thought that it was possible to reach it only from inside a Fringe." Seeing Mogar as Elina made Lith sigh with relief big time.

    Had she taken the appearance of someone like Phloria, Solus, or Kam, his life would have gotten even messier than it already was.

    "I am your mother. I watched you being born and you took nourishment from me right after you drew your mother¡¯s milk for the first time." For an ancient being like Mogar, there was no difference between seconds and hours.

    "As for this ce, you should already know that I make an exception during a tribtion." The Elina-Mogar said.

    "I¡¯m pretty sure I didn¡¯t let it start. There was no pir of light from the sky nor metamorphosis. Until a second ago, I was fighting alone. Like always."

    "That¡¯s exactly the reason why we¡¯re here. At this rate, you¡¯re not going tost for long." Mogar said with a sigh.

    "So what? Are you going to offer me your help if I allow the tribtion to start? Thanks, but I don¡¯t remember it ever doing one shred of a difference. Whatever it¡¯s going to happen, I can face it without being your puppet." Lith replied.

    "You¡¯ve never been my puppet and I have no issue admitting that I never helped you. I only came here to offer rity and give you a choice." Mogar-Elina stepped aside, making space for someone else.

    "Hi, grandpa D-Rick." A man in his early twenties said. He was about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with light brown eyes and hair.

    He wore a t-shirt depicting an old man in ab coat and a kid passing through a portal while being chased by a bunch of giant ants, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

    "Carl?" Lith¡¯s eyes went wide in shock. No one else had ever called Derek McCoy/Lith Verhen like that ever since his first life.

    No one else could possibly know about it, since they would never use their respective moniker in the presence of others.

    "Yes and no. I mean, yes, I¡¯m your brother but you were supposed to call me M-"

    "I remember our routine." Lith cut him short. "What the heck are you doing here on Mogar? Have you been reborn as well or are you dead again?"

    "I¡¯m here because of you. I don¡¯t n on being reborn and dying once was more than enough, thanks." Carl ced his hand on Lith¡¯s chest and thick metal chain binding the two of them appeared.

    "What does this mean?" Lith asked.

    "Do you really think that the afterlife is either an eternity of boring walks on clouds or fire pits?" Carl replied. "Death is no judge, only the end of all struggling. When people die, they reunite with everyone they loved and cared for. That¡¯s why I am here."

    "What about Katherine, your fianc¨¦e?"

    "She¡¯s still alive and kicking. With two kids and a husband, she has no need for me, unlike you." Carl shrugged.

 Chapter 1249 - Natural Undead (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1249 - Natural Undead (Part 1)</h4>

    "If death is so simple, then what am I doing here?" Lith snarled at the absurdity of such an exnation, even starting to doubt that the thing in front of him wasn¡¯t his long-lost brother so much as a hallucination.

    "Even on Earth, where there¡¯s almost no mana, when someone died in special circ.u.mstances, their grudge kept them bound to the ce of their death, unable to move on. You are the exact opposite." Carl said.

    "You had no unfinished business that kept you tied on our, no ce you belonged to, nor someone to reunite with. You spent your life loving no one and after killing Ezio and Chris, your desire to protect me from everything, including yourself, made it impossible for us to reunite.

    "You are the cause of your reincarnation problem. With no one and nowhere to go, you wandered aimlessly. I came to put an end to your death and rebirth cycle. I¡¯m here to take you home, big brother."

    ***

    Baba Yaga¡¯s hut, now.

    As the first living creature to have achieved a white core, Baba Yaga had lived a life long enough to have forgotten about the name that her parents had bestowed upon her at birth.

    She had abandoned it, considering everything about the Odi legacy like a useless relic of the past. Baba Yaga had always preferred focusing on the present and working hard to build a better future for her children rather than waste time with memories.

    "Why are we looking at this, exactly?" The Bright Day asked and her siblings nodded in agreement.

    "Because an Awakened being able to reject a world tribtion before the white core is a rare event. The world energy in Kolga is thin, but not so much to hinder Mogar¡¯s vision or its influence.

    "If the wanted, it should be able to start the tribtion yet nothing happens. It¡¯s something worth studying." Baba Yaga replied.

    "I don¡¯t get why you are so fixated with hybrids in general and with this one in particr." The voice of the ck Night came out of Orpal¡¯s body.

    After sealing the deal with Lith¡¯s disowned older brother, she had been forced to use Body Sculpting on him to make their body fit his ego. He looked nothing like during his youth, to the point that even Elina might not recognize him anymore.

    Not after Night had also Awakened him and spent thest few months refining both his body and core. Orpal¡¯s physique was in a constant state of pain and the ck crystal armor was the only thing keeping it from exploding like an overinted balloon.

    "I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s due to your new idiotic host affecting your mind or if I made some mistake while giving you birth, my child." Baba Yaga loved Night from the depth of her heart, yet she couldn¡¯t forgive her for endangering her life like that.

    Choosing Orpal bordered on viting the restrictions that Baba Yaga had imposed on Night. On top of that, it was a clear sign that the Horseman of Night had no intention of letting go of Lutia, causing consequences not even Baba Yaga could predict.

    "Why do you think neither the Guardians nor the Council have ever attempted to wipe out the Abominations? Why do you think they are even considering admitting them amid their ranks?" She asked.

    Even the Horseman of Dusk, the wisest of the three had no answer to offer. As much as he hated Abominations, he respected their power and was eager to steal from them the secrets of Chaos magic.

    "The answer is simpler than you think." Baba Yaga said. "Abominations are, for theck of a better term, the natural undead of Mogar that I imitated and improved with my work.

    "Just like my white core represents my absolute mastery over life, granting me eternal youth and boosting all of my abilities, a ck core is the total absence of life. Abominations don¡¯t have any vital because they are already dead and the only way to kill them is dispersing the energy stored in their cores."

    "They are souls so powerful that they can reject death and keep living even without a body. In exchange, however, they lose the ability to procreate and every means to appreciate the physical world.

    "I fixed both those problems for you, but I failed to get rid of the hunger. To make matters worse, my undead are incapable of using Chaos magic and gain several limitations that Abominations do not have.

    "This kid, Lith, represents harmony between life and death whereas the Master¡¯s hybrids are the first cases of a perfect resurrection. They are immortal, they can breed, and they have no weaknesses." Baba Yaga took a pause to look them in the eyes and made them realize the importance of the matter at hand.

    "Even though Lith is inferior to the Master¡¯s hybrids, he has yet to reach his full potential while once they get used to their new bodies, there will be no more room for growth, just like it happens for my children.

    "We are looking at this because the only way to survive the tides of changes is to ride them, not to stand in their path." She said.

    ***

    "For how long did you know about Ezio?" Even after so many years, both brothers refused to refer to him as Dad. He had done nothing to earn the title or their respect.

    "Back when I was a kid, I thought it had been a miracle. It took me years to understand that even if you didn¡¯t cause the ident, the photos, thewsuit, ourwyer, everything went too smoothly to be just a coincidence." Carl replied.

    "Then why didn¡¯t you ever tell me about your suspicions?" Lith said.

    "Because I didn¡¯t want to force you to open up with me. Yet that¡¯s irrelevant now. The reason I¡¯m here is that I want you to find the peace that you deserve."

    "Are you saying that I¡¯m some kind of ghost? An undead?" Even in the Mindscape Lith¡¯s voice quivered in shock.

    "An Abomination, to be precise." Mogar-Elina waved his hand, splitting Lith¡¯s life forces in theirponents.

    The took the form of a humanoid red fog and of a snarling shadow that only heavy blue chains kept from attacking those present.

    "That¡¯s impossible! I have a human life force!"

    "Just like the Puppeteer you fought had an orc¡¯s life force and consumed it to hold the Chaos in." Mogar shook her head. "It¡¯s not really yours, it belongs to the body you possessed and helps you to mask your presence."

    "What about my beast life force, then?" Lith refused to believe that one of the most dreadful thoughts that had haunted him for so long was actually true, yet it all made sense.

    "That¡¯s my point exactly." Carl nodded. "If you were truly human, then where does thate from?"

    Lith didn¡¯t know what to say since no matter how much he and Solus thought about it, they had never found a usible exnation.

    "Ites from me." Mogar chimed in.

    "I pride myself on being fair. All of my children who turn into Abominations, do it by choice. The choice to l.u.s.t for power more than for life. Even then, they still have a way out, they just fail to realize it.

 Chapter 1250 - Natural Undead (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1250 - Natural Undead (Part 2)</h4>

    "It¡¯s only when they give up on themselvespletely and let the hunger consume them that they turn into Eldritchs. Only then do I turn my back on them forever. My adoptive children like you, instead, had no choice.

    "The beast life force is my first and only gift to those like you. I give you all a chance, yet everyone just throws it away." Mogar showed Lith the images of his fight with the Abomination that had taken over the body of the Dryad back at the academy.

    "That thing was like me?" Lith asked.

    "No, it was nothing like you. He came from another ce as well but after destroying his first body, he found himself a more powerful husk. You wielded your powers like a shield rather than a sword and created life instead of taking it."

    Mogar showed Lith images of how his household and vige had thrived with the passing of the years since his arrival.

    "I¡¯m no hero. Everything I did, I did it for myself." Lith said.

    "Just like every one of my children. There are no heroes nor viins in real life. Everyone only cares about survival, remember? Your words, not mine." Mogar-Elina said.

    Lith pondered the revtion until a question came to his mind.

    "Is this the reason why during breakthroughs and tribtions I emit two pirs of light instead of one like Emperor Beasts?" He asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "Let me guess, the ck light is due to my Abomination side trying to turn me into an Eldritch while the silver it¡¯s you trying to pull me in the path you have chosen for me, correct?"

    "Wrong. I told you, there is no destiny, only possible choices." Mogar said. "During all of your tribtions, I¡¯m called as a witness, not to decide in your stead. Whether you¡¯ll be just another Eldritch or something entirely new depends only on you."

    "Or you could juste with me." Carl said. "This new life has given you much power, but it¡¯s nothingpared to the suffering that it has inflicted upon you."

    He patted Lith¡¯s shoulder, reverting him to his original form as Derek McCoy.

    "Life on Earth was harsh, yet this is the pain that you experienced in over 26 years."

    Lith relived his first life in less than a second as the scars that his father, the years of bullying, and the relentless training had left on him resurfaced one after the other.

    "I¡¯ll skip the gunshot to the head because you did it to yourself." Carl patted him on the shoulder again, turning Lith into his short-lived alien form. He experienced only the pangs of huger until a gaping wound opened on his chest.

    "It was brutal, but at least itsted less than 2 days. This is what Mogar did to you in barely 19 years." Carl patted Lith for thest time, turning him into his current self.

    Lith experienced the years of hunger, the beating from Orpal¡¯s friends, and the fear of facing the beasts of the Trawn woods. When he reached the part where he had joined the academy, Lith was already covered in cuts, bruises, and wounds.

    "Just because light magic makes the scars disappear, it doesn¡¯t mean that they never happened." Between the fight with the Talons, the nt Puppeteer, and Balkor¡¯s Valor, Lith¡¯s body turned into a bloody pulp.

    "I¡¯m tired to see you suffer." Carl wept as the wounds from Gadorf the Wyvern and then from Nalear appeared as well. "Tired of seeing to see you go through such harm and so many sacrifices just because you are afraid of what will happen once you die again.

    "I¡¯m here to ask you to stop this pointless struggle. You¡¯ve done enough." After Lith¡¯s years as Ranger passed, there wasn¡¯t a single bone intact in his body. "Come with me now and you¡¯ll be free."

    Carl couldn¡¯t take it anymore and hugged Lith, stopping the process. Lith returned the embrace as all of his senses told him that the person in front of him was really his brother.

    "What if I choose to stay?" The joy from the reunion didn¡¯t make Lith forget what was at stake in the real world. The sh of metal and the death throes were a constant reminder that the Mindscape existed only inside his head.

    "I¡¯ll stay with you, like always. I¡¯m your brother, after all. Yet when you die, we¡¯ll both either be sent somewhere else or remain on Mogar if one of your crazy ns seeds." Carl said.

    "We?" Lith asked, looking at the chain connecting them as if he saw it for the first time.

    "Yes. I¡¯m not giving up on you, just like you never gave up on me. Not even death can keep us apart. Whatever you choose, I¡¯ll be right by your side." Carl said.

    The choice tore Lith apart. On the one hand, being reunited with his little brother was all he had prayed for since the day Carl had died, the reason why he had unwittingly started the journey that had led him to Mogar.

    On the other hand, Lith could feel through the mind link Solus¡¯s desperate fight and her worry about his condition. Being so close to Mogar, allowed him to hear the voice of Kam, who had noticed his contact rune on her contact amulet fading away.

    He could hear her begging him to fight.

    "Whatever you decide, be quick. There¡¯s a limit to how much I can elerate your brain to alter your perception of time." Mogar waved her hand, showing the battlefield to Lith.

    Everything had happened in the split second when his eyes had blinked, yet they were starting to open up. Lith watched at the sea of enemies in front of him moving in slow motion, each with one or more wailing souls desperately clinging to their bodies.

    Looking at himself from the outside with Death Vision, Lith saw for the first time the army of wandering spirits that followed him everywhere he went. He didn¡¯t need to ask any questions to understand their purpose because now he knew the truth.

    He was one of them, yet he had seeded in having another shot at life.

    The spirits clung to him because one way or another, Lith was their only hope to either return to life or at least get revenge. Just like it had happened against Night¡¯s army or every time he conjured the Demons of the Darkness.

    "You are right. Mogar is indeed a cruel ce. If I were to stay here, there¡¯s no telling how much pain and suffering I¡¯m going to endure. On Earth, I was just a civilian like any other while here I¡¯m an Archmage.

    "Even if I leave the Griffon Kingdom, I would be forced to deal with problems like Thrud, the Master, and the Undead Courts." Lith hugged his brother, weeping warm tears of joy.

    "You have no idea how much it means to me to see you again. Knowing that you don¡¯t hate me for what I did to that poor excuse of a father."

    "I could never hate you." Carl returned the embrace and wept as well. "Everything you did, you did it for us. My whole life you have been my only family. You have been my father, my mother, and my irreceable brother.

 Chapter 1251 - Demonsâ€™ Horde (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1251 - Demons¡¯ Horde (Part 1)</h4>

    "I¡¯m sorry for never finding the courage to let you know the truth and relieve you from the burden of your secret. If it wasn¡¯t for me, you wouldn¡¯t be here. You¡¯ve always been there for me and yet I never told you how much you meant for me.

    "I don¡¯t care about what you did or what you have be. I will always love you." Carl said.

    "Then I hope you¡¯ll understand why I have to do this." Lith stepped back from the embrace, taking the chain connecting them and breaking it with a violent twist.

    "Now that I know that you¡¯re safe and that you don¡¯t resent me, I can let you go. I don¡¯t want to drag you into the mess that my life is. You deserve peace, but I¡¯m not done fighting."

    Carl was so shocked that by the time he managed to open his mouth, his body had alreadypletely faded away, leaving hisst words unspoken.

    "Thanks for the rity." Lith gave Mogar a small bow and closed his eyes, making the Mindscape copse under the weight of his will.

    "What about your choice?" Mogar-Elina said while fading away.

    The moment Lith¡¯s eyes opened again, he stopped resisting and let the tribtion happen.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the space between the two tidal waves he had created, Fenagar unleashed his Guardian tier spell, Mud Storm, at the gigantic Griffon-shaped sma mass that was charging at him.

    The water from the tidal waves formed a third one in front of the Leviathan, mixing it with ferromaic stones from the seabed and charging the water with a lightning storm.

    Water magic would cool the sma while the hypercharged maic field imbued within the earth magic would trap even Tyris¡¯s energy body. The Leviathan had made sure that Mud Storm matched Tyris in both electrical charge and power.

    The repulsive effect made it impossible for the Griffon to phase through his spell. Tyris roared as the unstoppable force of her attack hit an unmovable object. Both her Lightning Body form and the Mud Storm crumbled, incapable of withstanding each other¡¯s power.

    The sh caused shockwaves that in turn generated quakes and tidal waves despite the control that Fenagar exerted over the body of water around them. Garlen was too far to even notice them while Jiera took the worst of it.

    "Shit!" The four remaining members of the Awakened Council said in unison. "We have sent our strongest members to Kolga. How are we supposed to keep Jiera from being split into two with the people we have left?"

    The coasts of the continent trembled with growing intensity while tidal waves tall enough to devastate the maind for kilometers approached at uncanny speed. The Council alerted all of their cities and attempted to ask the other Guardians for help, but to no avail.

    They were too focused on the show to bother themselves with such insignificant details.

    Fenagar had exploited the moment Tyris had been forced back into her physical form to coil his huge body around her. It allowed him to restraint her movements and cripple her physical strength while he was free to attack from every side.

    Fenagar¡¯s spells couldn¡¯t harm him and he had Tyris exactly where he wanted her. He let go of the tidal waves, making the ocean fell upon them and taking away her precious air element while he squeezed the life out of her by tightening his grip with every move she made.

    Tyris¡¯s height at the withers was over 50 meters (164 feet) tall and 87.5 meters (287 feet) long, but the Leviathan¡¯s body extended for over 122 meters (400 feet), managing to easily squeeze her limbs and her neck at the same time.

    "Coming here was stupid of you." Fenagar unleashed more and more spells at point-nk range at his trapped opponent. "Giving me the time to prepare for your arrival was all I needed to win.

    "You had a n to get rid of my arrays, but they were just a disposable diversion only meant to waste your energy. Theirplexity hid the brilliant simplicity of my real goal.

    "No matter how strong a Guardian is, we still have to follow thews of physics and magic. You are a flying creature while I¡¯m a sea serpent. Guess who¡¯s going to win now that we¡¯re under hundreds of tons of water?"

    Tyris attempted to Blink, but Fenagar disrupted her dimensional magic and started to freeze the water around them. The cold did nothing to him while it would weaken his opponent even faster and rob the Griffon of her precious lightning.

    Ice was a bad conductor and in a fight between equals, it was more than enough to tip the scales in his favor.

    "Provoking me was stupid of you." Tyris grinned as her body came out unscathed from all of Fenagar¡¯s attacks. "You used well the time I needed to get here, but so did I. Did you really think that I wouldn¡¯t spend those eight minutes preparing my best spells?"

    Tyris¡¯s body started to glow like a sun as it increased in size beyond what the Leviathan could constrict. Only then did Fenagar notice that every single feather of her eagle side, every single hair of her feline side was covered by a hard-light construct as thin as paper yet as hard as a diamond.

    Even Soul Vision couldn¡¯t distinguish between the energy of something so small and the living energy that a Guardian going all-out was. On top of that, Tyris had infused both herself and the construct with Life Maelstrom.

    That way, not only did her innate ability enhanced her already outstanding physical prowess, but it also hid the presence of the construct while making it durable enough to withstand Guardian tier spells.

    The Griffon-shaped construct, Castle of Light, kept growing in size, trapping both Guardians inside. Fenagar cursed Mogar when he realized what had happened. Tyris had now lost her unbreakable protection, but it had been a worthy exchange.

    He was now in a dry space full of air where his long body was just a huge target. Facing a Griffon in the air was moronic and to make matters worse, the entire construct obeyed to Tyris¡¯s will, leaving him no safe ce where to retreat.

    "F.u.c.k!" Fenagar saw Tyris charge at him from above while the colossal construct took flight as well, aiming for the surface.

    ¡¯The moment this thing reaches the sky, our situation will be fully reversed. With no water nor earth to manipte, there¡¯s little difference between a Leviathan and an oversized fish bait.¡¯ He thought.

    Unfortunately for him, even though the spells he had at the ready could pierce through the construct while they were still underwater, it would require his full focus to find and exploit the weak points in the Life Maelstrom enhanced structure.

    Focus that the Leviathan had to devote to his opponent unless he wanted to be turned into shreds.

    Tyris unleashed her Guardian tier Light Mastery spell, Fire Titan. A scorching sphere of fire came out of her beak and started to grow in size, filling the Griffon-shaped construct.

    Now Fenagar¡¯s space to move would constantly reduce, forcing him to face three threats at the same time. The Fire Titan, the enraged Tyris, and the hard-light that attacked him from every side.

 Chapter 1252 - Demonsâ€™ Horde (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1252 - Demons¡¯ Horde (Part 2)</h4>

    Tyris wasn¡¯t affected by either spell and could move freely whereas it was only a matter of time before he would be squashed like a bug between Fire Titan and Castle of Light.

    Fenagar released all the spells he had at the ready, attacking the construct from the inside and from the outside at the same time. Castle of Light started to crack, letting precious water in, when Tyris¡¯s ws dug deep into his scales, ravaging the Leviathan¡¯s flesh with thunder and darkness.

    "Do you want water? Let¡¯s see how much of it I can squeeze out of your blood!" Tyris pinned him down while her beak worked its way through his neck. Fenagar writhed and struggled with all of his might, never losing control of his spells.

    Even with all of her fury and skill, Tyris failed to deal a lethal blow and with each passing second, more water entered the sealed space, restoring the Leviathan¡¯s strength.

    Only when the construct emerged from the ocean and all the precious liquid that he had fought so hard to .u.mte fell through the very cracks he had opened did Fenagar ept his fate.

    "I yield." That was all he said after ceasing his pointless struggle.

    "Yet I¡¯m far from done!" Tyris couldn¡¯t care less if Mogar had to find a new Guardian, her rage demanded satisfaction.

    As she ripped through bone and muscles, a silver pir descended from the skies and pierced through the ocean until Kolga could see the moon for the first time since it had been founded.

    The consciousness of all Guardians and even of those who bore a white core was forcefully dragged to the battlefield where the unliving and the undead fought for their right to exist.

    ***

    Lith knew that a world tribtion wouldn¡¯t do him any good by itself, but its activation gave him all the means he needed to turn the tide of the battle.

    He had experienced enough tribtions to know that even if for a brief second, the sudden surge of world energy around him would be so dense that it would push all the enemies surrounding him away.

    As the silver and ck pirs sent the Kolgans flying, all of Lith¡¯s seven eyes opened, yet thest two stillcked the power of the elements. At the same time, his body grew its wings, tail, and horns until they were fully developed.

    Lith exploited that moment to use Invigoration and restore his strength. He took just one short breath, but one imbued with world energy so dense that it carried Mogar¡¯s consciousness.

    The Guardians didn¡¯t like their show being interrupted during its climax, but what reced the fight between the Griffon and the Leviathan seemed to be equally interesting. They munched their salty snacks, eager to discover what the anomaly had in store for them.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> Silverwing didn¡¯t know whether to be angry or happy for it.<i> ¡¯That thing can undergo world tribtions as I did? If he fails, Epphy can¡¯t me me for his death and maybe she¡¯ll follow me of her own will.</i>

    <i>¡¯Yet if he seeds, he might reach heights where not even I can follow him.¡¯</i> She crossed her fingers and wished for the best. Her own, of course.

    The members of the Council were so shocked by the appearance of the silver pir that they almost forgot about the streak of natural disasters that closed in by the second.

    Almost.

    No matter how much they wanted to investigate the phenomenon, one moment of hesitation would mean losing everything that they had fought so hard to preserve, turning Jiera¡¯s west coast into a graveyard.

    "What does that mean? When I¡¯ll be able to do the same?" Between Night¡¯s shock and Orpal¡¯s envy, he had managed to break free from her control.

    "It means everything and nothing at the same time." Baba Yaga replied. "As for your second question, only in your dreams, if you¡¯re lucky."

    Lith knew that his proto-Guardian form was just for show and that a single breath of Invigoration wouldn¡¯tst long under the effects of the Forbidden Sun, yet all he needed were a few seconds.

    Now that both sets of wings and his tail were fully developed, he had seven limbs capable of grabbing the Kolgans around him at the same time. Instead of releasing the Demons of the Darkness on the outside as he had done until a moment ago, Lith made them part of his own body.

    The Demons spawned solely from his Abomination side, but it was his own Spirit Magic that gave them substance, providing him the means to control them. Each Demon sucked their respective Kolgan dry, taking back the mass and life force that was rightfully theirs.

    Being part of Lith, they couldn¡¯t dart toward the sky and were forced to add their essence to that of their master. Each one of them had now a mana core and mass that fueled Lith making him grow in size and power.

    It allowed him to reach almost 4.3 meters (14 feet) without his body getting any weaker.

    <i>¡¯To double my size, I need eight times my volume. My only issue is that soon War will be smaller than a kitchen knife for me.¡¯</i> Lith exploited the fear of his enemies to collect more victims.

    Seven Demons of Darkness meant that he had now one mana core in each of his limbs and two in his abdomen. Not only did they shield him from the negative effects of the Forbidden Sun, but they also used it to empower Lith¡¯s spells.

    <i>¡¯Don¡¯t worry about me, Master.¡¯</i> The sudden surge of world energy and mana from Lith allowed War to speak its first words. <i>¡¯I know what I have to do to serve you.¡¯</i>

    Lith didn¡¯t have the time to be surprised by the change in the angry de when another volley of high tiered spells came his way. The silver pir only made him an easier target now that its density had decreased, and growing in size didn¡¯t help him either.

    His Scalewalker armor didn¡¯t have enough metal to cover his body anymore, forcing Lith to split it between his heart, neck, and brain to keep his vitals protected. Everything else he could fix with Invigoration or healing magic.

    Lith Blinked farther than he ever did before, crossing hundreds of meters at once thanks to his eight mana cores. He trusted War¡¯s words and struck at his enemies with the de that looked like a short sword while held by a giant.

    Even though the silver pir betrayed his presence, knowing the Wyrmling¡¯s position was pointless to those who couldn¡¯t react to his speed. Lith¡¯s limbs gobbled six more victims while War reaped three, bringing Lith up to 17 times his original mass and tripling his height.

    Now that he was 6,5 meters (21 feet) tall and empowered by 17 mana cores, his ck scales became unaffected by all spells below tier four, allowing him to focus on the offense.

    His ws tore through his enemies¡¯ enchanted armor as if they were made of paper, and by giving substance to the spirits of the dead that haunted every single Kolgan, Lith only needed a graze to kill them.

    ck tendrils would erupt from his body on contact, wrapping around his victims and sucking them dry.

 Chapter 1253 - Demons of the Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1253 - Demons of the mes (Part 1)</h4>

    The Kolgans¡¯ reckless fighting style originated from the near immortality that the Forbidden Sun bestowed upon them, yet now they discovered to be mortals again.

    Blood, flesh, and organs sttered everywhere without putting themselves together like usual. The Kolgans had long forgotten what the fear of death was yet they promptly remembered it when their fallenrades failed to arise again.

    War cries turned into screams of terror as those closer to the scaled titan attempted to escape from his deadly touch. The silver pir grew in size with Lith and reached the size of a small tower.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, I¡¯m not used to such a big body nor to have so many cores. I can barely tap into a fraction of this form¡¯s real power because of the partial destructive interference between the different energy signatures.</i>

    <i>¡¯I must keep my enemies scared since I can¡¯t ask them for a break to give me the time to master my new powers.¡¯</i> Lith thought as he drew in a deep breath.

    The air enriched in world energy mixed with his 18 life forces and came out of his mouth as a jet stream of blue, violet, and white Origin mes.

    Each one of the Demons of Darkness thatprised his body contributed to the mes, but just like their mana, their life forcescked harmony. That was the reason why despite the increased size only a part of the scorching wave was stronger than usual.

    Wherever the different life forces shed the fire would be bright blue, while the parts where they partially ovepped would turn violet. Only the small fraction that Lith had already managed to fully control came out of brilliant white.

    War was now barely the size of a carving knife in Lith¡¯s huge hand, too small to affect the battlefield anymore. Yet the de didn¡¯t remain idle and kept studying its master¡¯s new skill through their blood bond.

    War could see the tendrils of Lith¡¯s Abomination side generating the Demons of the Darkness while the Spirit Magic gave them substance and used them as a buffer to keep the extra energy from being swallowed by the Abomination¡¯s bottomless pit.

    Despite the appearances, Lith¡¯s body was actuallyprised of several different beings that acted as his own flesh and blood thanks to the tendrils of Spirit Magic that connected them to Lith.

    War observed the phenomenon like only an emotionless machine could until the de managed to understand it. At Lith¡¯s following strike, War took for itself the energy the dead Kolgans released andbined the powers from its pseudo cores to imitate what Lith was doing.

    Devour allowed War to convert foreign energy into its own, World Mirror to take control of the Demons of the Darkness, and Counterflow to alter their wavelength. Lith had no idea what the angry de was doing, but he trusted its loyalty.

    Their bond was nothing like that with Solus. War wasn¡¯t sentient and the only feeling it had inherited from Orion was an unquenchable thirst for destruction. Also, Lith knew that due to its unique imprint, War would die along with him.

    It had been meant for one master and one purpose, not to be passed down. Their rage was their bond and it made War an extension of Lith¡¯s being the moment he unsheathed the de from its bloody scabbard.

    The Demons of Darkness wrapped themselves around War, making it grow in size until it matched the hand wielding it.

    <i>¡¯What was that?¡¯</i> Lith asked as one swing of his de now cut through dozens of enemies at the same time.

    <i>¡¯Soul Weaver.</i>¡¯ Two words were all War could reply.

    Lith noticed that the de had several mana cores supporting its pseudo cores, yet unlike him, War was capable of using them to perfection. World Mirror now not only took over the iing enemy spells, but thanks to Counterflow it also made them capable of harming their own caster.

    War even covered its surface with the eyes from the Demons, to not rely solely on Lith¡¯s perceptions that had declined since they had lost the Full Guard from the Skinwalker armor.

    Lith could see from the eyes on the hilt, pommel, and fuller of the de like they were his own, achieving a 360¡ã vision just slightly inferior to Full Guard.

    Just like Faluel had predicted months before, the de learned from its master and the master from his de. Lith observed how War used his own Spirit Magic not only to control the Demons, but also like an artificial nervous system.

    The magical neuralwork worked like a huge mind link that didn¡¯t just ry orders from War to the Demons, it also allowed the parts away from each other tomunicate between them and move as one.

    It took Lith but a thought to achieve the same and one breath to hurl a powerful st of bright white Origin mes. The Kolgans hit by the cleansing fire burned and regenerated non-stop as their immortality kept them from dying but not from suffering.

    After engulfing their victims, the white mes found the tendril connecting them to the Forbidden Sun and burned their way to it. The two fires started to battle with each other, one born from world energy while the other from its perversion.

    Like matter and anti-matter, they couldn¡¯t coexist and the simple contact produced huge sts of energy that made the barrier around Kolga tremble.

    "No, no, no!" Ykrah, the King of Kolga and bearer of the Hands, knew that he couldn¡¯t afford one moment of distraction against an opponent as dangerous as Elphyn Menadion, but he had no other choice.

    Every time the Wyrmling fed on the Kolgans, the Forbidden Sun became weaker. He couldn¡¯t afford the Origin mes to bring it past the point of no return. The lives of all Kolgans depended on it, his own included.

    Ykrah focused his will on the burning tendrils, cutting them off and freeing the sun from the white fire. Yet he also created an opening that Solus didn¡¯t miss. She closed the distance between them in an instant and struck him with a series of surgical attacks.

    There was no time to wave spells, but her body was back to being a terrifying weapon. Her mass surpassed that of an Emperor Beast and her fusion magic fueled by the portion of the mana geyser she now controlled gave her power beyond what even a violet cored Awakened could conjure.

    On top of that, she had already gotten her violet core back. Without Lith taking the life force for himself and her being so close to the Forbidden Sun had allowed Solus to regain most of her lost might.

    One punch shattered Ykrah¡¯s ribs, filling his lungs with blood and sealing his breathing. A second hit right on the nose broke it, filling his eyes with tears that clouded his sight.

    A twin open palm strike on his ears took away his bnce, leaving him helpless.

    Solus knew that nothing would work. Just like Silverwing, Ykrah didn¡¯t even need to use Invigoration to heal. All she could do was stall for time, yet it was also all she needed.

    Her Diamond Cutter spell had never stopped ramming against the tower, opening cracks that spread deeper and farther by the second.

 Chapter 1254 - Demons of the Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1254 - Demons of the mes (Part 2)</h4>

    One slight tilt of the tower and the white crystal would lose its alignment with Kolga. Without it, the entire city would crumble like a house of cards.

    "Smile and wait for the sh!" While Ykrah healed, Solus stopped her attacks and weaved Raging Nova.

    The Tower tier spell mixed fire, earth, and air magic to generate an explosion that produced a mushroom cloud along with mes so hot that they could vaporize stone.

    White mes engulfed an area of over one hundred meters (330 feet) around Solus, destroying everything else in their path but dealing Diamond Cutter no harm since the two spells wereprised of the same mana.

    Standing now over 20 meters (70 feet) tall, Lith had no problem seeing above the sea of enemies in front of him and recognizing Solus¡¯s handiwork.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ve never attempted this on my own, but it¡¯s worth a shot.¡¯</i> He pped his wings and generated a sudden burst of wind that sent those around him flying like leaves amid a storm.

    At the same time, the 72 mana cores empowering his body worked in unison to weave a spell that none of them could perform on its own. Lith dived to the ground with the tip of War pointing down as he unleashed Nova Mjolnir.

    A thundercloud appeared suddenly and generated a bolt of lightning that struck War a split second before Lith plunged it into the ground. The spell created maite paths that preserved the electricity, allowing it to strike at its marks without meeting any resistance.

    Rock spikes impaled the Kolgans around him and acted like lightning rods, drawing the storm upon them so that not a single thunderbolt missed its target. The maite circuit allowed each natural lightning to strike at all the victims of Nova Mjolnir at the same time.

    Yet between not having the time to conjure a proper thundercloud and the fact that even so many cores couldn¡¯tpare with a mage tower, the spell¡¯s destructive power was greatly reduced.

    The enemies were impaled but alive, just like Lith wanted. War turned the Demons that extended its de into tendrils of darkness that traveled along the maite and wrapped around the still stunned Kolgans.

    Lith and his de kept growing with each person they consumed, reaching over 30 meters (100 feet of height) as he took the skies again.

    "Not bad." Leegaain said while munching his snacks. "He has temporarily reached the size of our children and even surpassed their powers."

    "True, but unlike them, he has no idea how to use all that power and hecks the special abilities of our bloodline." Zagran the Garuda said, making Sark snarl in approval.

    "Besides, there¡¯s a reason why all the past raids against Kolga have failed, even when our children helped." Zagran pointed at the backline of Kolgans that shone like a sun under the Guardians¡¯ Soul Vision.

    The lost city had survived through the centuries not only because the Forbidden Sun made its inhabitants unstoppable war machines, but also because being used to sacrifice their own children made them cold-blooded even while facing the direst circ.u.mstance.

    While the Wyrmling mowed down the frontlines, the Kolgans had used that time to cast their most powerful spells and weave them into one. A wave of mana infused with all six elements attacked Lith from every side.

    He attempted to Blink, but the iing attack distorted the natural bnce and he had no time to adjust his spell ordingly. Cruel air des infused with lightning cut through his thick scales and ripped his wings, making him fall.

    Stone spikes that spun like drills waited for him, piercing his feet, legs, and hands as he tried to break the fall. The air became so cold that frost painted him white, quenching the fire that burned within him and sapping his strength.

    Light, darkness, and fire that would otherwise mess with the other elements simply mixed with them, generating a powerful gravity field that made the enemy fall to his knees and locked him into ce.

    From almighty titan into a fish in a barrel, easy prey for the waves of tier five spellsing at him from every side.

    "That¡¯s what I meant." Zagran stuffed her mouth with a pretzel before emptying her ss of brown ale in one gulp. "Being so big also means being a big target. Otherwise those bastards would have never used gravity magic."

    The cold air hurt Lith¡¯s lungs who could only stare at the bits of ck scalesying around while huge drops of what passed for blood in his hybrid form created pools of fire and darkness on the ground.

    <i>¡¯Maybe Carl was right. I never considered the price I paid for my strength during thest 19 years nor the scars I¡¯ve been collecting my whole life. Yet, I¡¯m not done fighting!¡¯</i> The fallen titan roared his challenge and stood up again.

    His five colored eyes focused on as many iing spells, using their power to disrupt the elements and make the tier five spells copse before they could deal him any damage. Lith could have used the power that he stole from the Forbidden Sun to heal his wounds, but he decided against it.

    More drops of ck fire fell onto the ground, forming pools that kept his enemies froming close. Being able to fly and cast spells from a distance, the Kolgans ignored them and kept rearranging their formation to keep the monster away.

    His touch was the only thing they feared because any other form of death would empower the Forbidden Sun with their energy and make the remaining soldiers stronger.

    A hail of steel and magic crashed against Lith, who only needed a sweep of his de or a gaze from his eyes to block them as he stepped forward. The Kolgans responded by retreating and they failed to understand the enemy strategy until it was toote.

    The ck fire was still a part of Lith¡¯s body and a vessel for the Demons he conjured. The moment the Kolgans stepped near them to follow the Wyrmling, the pools spawned creatures of pure energy that looked identical to the main body.

    The only difference was the presence of two eyes instead of seven. The Demons of the mes dragged the enemies into the pools of ck fire, turning them into more Demons.

    The souls that haunted the Kolgans used Lith¡¯s blood to take back their lives and joined his ranks.

    "Don¡¯t falter! You just need to stay away from them." One of the elite soldiers said, reacting to the new threat the moment it manifested itself.

    s, he had no idea that each Demon of the mes had its own core and a body made of energy with the power of the tier five spell Final Sunset. The Demons darted amid the enemy lines, sacrificing themselves in a burst of fire that generated new pools of ck fire.

    For each Demon of the mes that fell, ten rose from the corpses of its victims.

    "That¡¯s a nice power for a bloodline!" Sark erupted into cheers and congratted Leegaain, quickly followed by the other three Guardians.

    "For thest time, I¡¯m not the father! Aside from the scales, Lith doesn¡¯t look one bit like a Dragon." Leegaain tried and defended himself, but no one listened to him.

 Chapter 1255 - Spoils of War (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1255 - Spoils of War (Part 1)</h4>

    "What is that?" Dawn asked while pointing at Lith¡¯s colossal figure and his army that cleansed Kolga with each step they took.

    Orpal had long fallen to his knees, ripping his hair out in envy until Night managed to regain control of their body and send him back to sleep.

    "A shadow of what mighte to pass." Baba Yaga sighed while thinking back at her own long-lost proto-Guardian form. For the first time in centuries, she second guessed her choice.

    <i>¡¯If that¡¯s the power Lith wields on his own, what will be of him once he gets Mogar¡¯s true blessing and shares it with his tower?¡¯</i>

    Meanwhile, the tides of the battle in Kolga neared the tipping point. The Awakened army had found and destroyed both the arrays needed to perform the daily rituals and the breeding camps hidden under the Light Torch department.

    Tista wept as she ripped Khalia¡¯s head off to put the merfolk out of her misery. The prisoners belonged to all races and were mostly females, kept for their ability to create new lives.

    There wasn¡¯t enough of their minds left to experience any pain during their final moments nor to protect their growing bellies. Without the arrays and the flesh factory, Kolga was already dead.

    On top of that, with every Kolgan that Lith fell, the Forbidden Sun became weaker and Ykrah grew more desperate. The tower was seconds away from crumbling and the Hands of Menadion kept losing dominance over the geyser to Solus with each passing second.

    Ykrah cursed himself for having never prepared for the scenario where he would find someone unaffected by the Forbidden Sun. Solus was stronger, faster, and her casting speed dwarfed his own.

    Bybining true and fake magic, she had two spells ready in the same time he needed to prepare one. Be them tier five or tier Nova, Solus always met them with double the power, turning Ykrah¡¯s efforts into a waste of time.

    With no other choice left, the King of Kolga resorted to his final weapon. The Hands of Menadion were a tool that the First Forgemaster had bestowed upon her disciple to give Kolga the same degree of control over a mana geyser that she had thanks to her tower.

    It allowed Ykrah to Forgemaster powerful artifacts, to fuel his arrays, and also to help anyone he wanted to Awaken. The Hands gave him such a fine mastery over the world energy that he was capable of making it seep inside a body and create a mana flow.

    Such power had never been meant as an attack, but Ykrah hoped it would work nheless.

    <i>¡¯In theory, by flooding an Awakened with too much world energy, I can force their core to burst. There¡¯s only so much power even a violet core can wield. Worst case scenario, it should still cause her so much pain that her construct will crumble.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Ykrah focused all the power he had .u.mted over time to expand Kolga¡¯s borders and made it burst inside Solus¡¯s body, flooding it with more energy than even a white cored person could withstand.

    Solus gritted her teeth in pain since darkness fusion was useless against that kind of damage. Her body started to glow as her core failed to handle so much power at once. Ykrah grinned in joy as Elphin¡¯s skin burned and her blood vessels popped.

    Then, the sudden influx of world energy allowed her power core to manifest itself and turn the attack into nourishment.

    "Bad move." Solus said as she felt that she had be more than human. The power flowing in her veins gave her the confidence to face Lochra Silverwing, let alone defeat a filthy parasite.

    Ykrah tried to stop the world energy, but found himself unable to. Hisst-ditch effort had opened a channel between the Hands and the tower that had allowed Solus to take over not only the geyser, but even the artifact.

    Without the energy field generated by the Hands, the tower crumbled like a sand castle. The Eye of Kolga fell onto the ground and Solus immediately moved it in her pocket dimension.

    Her move didn¡¯te from Lith¡¯s greed rubbing off on her, or at least notpletely since it had been her n from the beginning. Without the white crystal, the Forbidden Magic ritual lost its stability and put an end to the battle.

    The arrays protecting and fueling the city disappeared, the flying cars crashed to the ground, and the Forbidden Sun slowly fell apart. The delicate bnce between light and darkness it needed to work couldn¡¯t be sustained without the Eye of Kolga.

    The flow of healing energy turned into Decay magic, shortening the Kolgans¡¯ life span instead of extending it.

    "As much as I¡¯d love to see you suffer, I¡¯ve got no time to waste and I¡¯m not leaving until I¡¯m sure you¡¯re dead." Solus double-tapped Ykrah¡¯s head and heart with icicles, killing him on the spot.

    Only after the imprint on the Hands disappeared did she store them inside her pocket dimension.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m using a tower warp to leave Kolga.¡¯</i> She said to Lith via their mind link. <i>¡¯I can¡¯t wait for my body to fade away and you can¡¯t possibly exin my presence. See you back home.¡¯</i>

    Solus conjured an ice mirror, to look at her real face onest time before moving back to Reghia.

    As for Lith, with the Forbidden Sun gone haywire, the Demons of the Darkness thatprised his body suffered as much as any other Kolgan. Their pain was his own, yet he still refused to let them go.

    One final burst of white Origin mes twice the size of the Forbidden construct engulfed the artificial sun, making it explode. For one split second, the depths of the sea became as bright as the day to the point that Kolga became visible even from Zhen, the merfolk city.

    Then, darkness reimed its territory, and even the silver pir that had parted the waters during Lith¡¯s tribtion disappeared. Without the Forbidden Sun fueling them, the Demons relied only on Lith¡¯s core to be fed, forcing him to let them go.

    The Demons of the Darkness and of the mes turned into wisps of light that lit Reghia for a second before disappearing as well.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ll miss their power, but not their suffering.¡¯</i> Lith thought as he Warped to the Light Torch to reunite with the strike team.

    Merging the Demons with his body had made Lith not only capable of using their power as his own, but it had also forced him to share their burden. The experience had been far from pleasant, but it had given him more clues about what being a living Abomination meant and why he couldn¡¯t get rid of Death Vision.

    "I think we are done here." Lith said

    The pitch-ck of Kolga didn¡¯t hinder the Awakened¡¯s Life Vision. A sea of glowing eyes made it easy to understand who was an enemy and who was a foe.

    "Agreed." Said the female Lich while looking at the cracks spreading throughout the barrier surrounding Kolga.

    It was meant to keep the people in, not the water out. Without the tower and its mana geyser, the pressure from the hundreds of thousands of tons of water above the city would destroy the barrier in a matter of seconds.

 Chapter 1256 - Spoils of War (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1256 - Spoils of War (Part 2)</h4>

    The squad leader fueled the Council amulet with mana and several Warp Steps lighted the darkness.

    <i>¡¯Where¡¯s Solus?¡¯</i> Tista and Phloria asked in unison with a mind link.

    <i>¡¯Home.¡¯</i> Lith projected into their minds what he supposed had happened. Solus¡¯s tower warping to the geyser outside Reghia and then reaching the city from there. <i>¡¯Do you want to go back to Zhen and tell Khalia¡¯s parents what happened to her?¡¯</i>

    The girls broke the mind link to not draw attention and simply shook their heads. Tista already felt the burden of the life she had taken; she didn¡¯t have the strength to tell the merfolk that Khalia had died twice.

    Once at the hands of the Kolgan and the second at her own.

    Lith felt the life force that empowered his body slipping away again, making him worry that as long as he had cracks, not even Forbidden Magic could cure his condition.

    The Council and the entirety of Jiera rejoiced at Kolga¡¯s destruction, but Lith¡¯s group had no desire to stay there a second longer. They refused the invitation to the celebratory banquet and went back to their building, finding the tower waiting for them.

    Inside, Solus was back to having a deep cyan core and an energy body. Just like Lith, her cracked life force couldn¡¯t keep anything she had gained from her stay in Kolga, and without a proper body, even her mana core was crippled.

    The Hands of Menadiony on the center of the table in the dining room, still free of imprint and waiting for a new master.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for your loss." Phloria said to the other three.

    She could tell from the ck light in Lith¡¯s eyes that Death Vision was back. Tista was on the verge of bursting into tears at the trauma of putting down an ally with her own hands.

    Solus, instead, had lost all of her usual joy. Even though she had been a human being just for a few hours, it had been enough to get used to all the sensations that only a human body could give her.

    She couldn¡¯t help but feel as if a curse had turned her back into a puppet after she had finally be a real girl.

    "Thanks." They all said in unison.

    "Where¡¯s the crystal and why didn¡¯t you imprint the Hands?" Lith had no wish to share histest discovery about himself, even with Solus.

    They both had their respective burden and by sharing it, they would only double their suffering.

    Solus had a hard time epting how much blood had been spilled because of her legacy and yet it was nothingpared to what would happen if the existence of the Hands was revealed, let alone that of the tower.

    The two artifacts together were enough to trigger all the World Wars that Mogar had luckily avoided until that moment. As for Lith, meeting and losing Carl again had hurt him deeply. The discovery of being some kind of interdimensional Drac only made his burden heavier.

    "The crystal is safely stored in the tower¡¯s mines." Solus replied. "I¡¯m curious to see if it can further evolve and if not, what are its effects upon the weaker crystals."

    She showed them a projection of the bas.e.m.e.nt, where the Eye of Kolga encrusted in the wall spread white veins. Having been already cut, in theory the white crystal couldn¡¯t grow, but they had no idea what the limits of the tower were or how white gemstones behaved.

    "Also, I didn¡¯t imprint the Hands of Menadion because it would have been pointless. Based on what Tista and Phloria have heard in Kolga, the Hands are a crutch for a towerless mage and all of my analysis seems to confirm it.

    "Its power core is just a simplified version of my own. There¡¯s nothing that the Hands can do that the tower isn¡¯t likely to be capable of doing better." Solus said.

    "Are you sure?" Tista asked. "The Kolgan said that they nned to expand their empire from geyser to geyser."

    "Pretty sure." Solus nodded. "It must have been propaganda to keep their morale high. I mean, Lith and I have traveled a lot and mana geysers aren¡¯t thatmon. They are usually dozens if not hundreds of kilometers apart.

    "The Hands cannot control world energy from such a distance. On top of that, my sh with Kolga¡¯s King proved that the tower is superior to all of Mom¡¯s other works by design.

    "It proves that even in her naivety, my mother would have never crafted something that could be used against her or me. I might be wrong, but the only way to make sure would be to imprint the Hands and I¡¯m not going to do it.

    "I don¡¯t want to add any more burden to my own and if I¡¯m right, then not only would they be of no use to Lith and I, but the Hands would also be sealed forever since the only way to pass them unto someone would require me to die."

    Solus stored the Hands inside her pocket dimension, unwilling to see them any longer.

    Tista walked to the door of her room, clinging to its handle as if it was a lifeline before asking:

    "When do you think we can leave? I don¡¯t care about seeing Jiera or learning how to fight anymore. I just want to go home." For a moment, the smooth cold metal reminded her of Khalia¡¯s skin the moment before Tista had beheaded her, making her shudder.

    "Soon. I don¡¯t care if I¡¯ve learned my lesson, proven my wisdom, or aplished whatever I was supposed to bying here or not. I¡¯m done with this ce." Lith went to his room and mmed the door behind him.

    The others followed his lead, but with more grace.

    <i>¡¯He didn¡¯t even take a nce at the white crystal nor did he share anything with Solus. Whatever has happened there, it must have been huge.¡¯</i> Phloria stood still in the dining room alone, pondering what to do.

    Three people needed help, yet there was only one of her.

    "Do you mind if Ie in?" Phloria asked while lightly knocking on the door that opened on its own.

    "Do you need something?" Lith sat on his bed with a nk stare on his face and War in his hands.

    The sheath of the de had rarely been so thick and Phloria could swear that she could hear War humming with joy like a child after their own birthday party. Even though it was one of her father¡¯s works, the angry de always creeped her out.

    "No. I just wanted to know if you need someone to talk to or if you¡¯d just like somepany." Despite all that had happened between them after her Awakening, Phloria still felt that no bond that she shared with herpanions was as deep as that she had with Lith.

    Solus was a mystery to others as much as she was to herself while Tista had to learn how to walk on her own feet. Lith, on the other hand, had been unfazed by Kolga¡¯s horrors and Khalia¡¯s fate. Yet there he was now, as shaken as Tista.

 Chapter 1257 - Heroes and Masterminds (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1257 - Heroes and Masterminds (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith took a deep breath, looking Phloria straight in the eyes as his inner turmoil tore him apart. He wanted to tell her everything, yet he couldn¡¯t. Lith didn¡¯t have the strength to handle the rejection in the case Phloria pushed him away after learning about his Abomination origin.

    If she epted him anyway, just like she had done four years back at the academy and two yearster at Jirni¡¯s birthday party, it would have been more than he could take. Dealing with Kam and Solus was already hard, adding Phloria to the mix would have been just cruel.

    Even worse, it would mean putting her before his girlfriend and prove that Phloria had been right when she had used him to use her as a guinea pig. To observe her reaction to his ugliest secrets and use the collected data to decide whether or not to share them with Kam as well.

    That Phloria had been right when she had used him to keep her as a recement in the case his current rtionship ended.

    "I¡¯d really like somepany." Lith sent War to the Mirror Hall. The de needed to remain outside the pocket dimension to recover its strength, but he couldn¡¯t endanger Phloria¡¯s life by keeping it around.

    She sat beside him, pulling Lith into an embrace he offered no resistance to until his cheek rested on her shoulder. Phloria could feel that something about him had changed. His body, his aura, even the spark in Lith¡¯s eyes was different.

    Yet she just kept him tight until his heart calmed down.

    "You know that you can tell me everything, right?" Phloria said.

    "I know." Lith said, grateful for the long silence that followed. Her blind trust and eptance were the first yet also thest thing he needed in that moment, causing him a bittersweet emotion.

    ***

    The skies of Jiera, right after Lith¡¯s tribtion had ended.

    Now that Mogar had released the consciousness of the Guardians from their grip, Tyris found her mouth full of Leviathan¡¯s neck. Fenagar had juste to his senses as well and didn¡¯t dare to move a muscle.

    Even though all of his injuries had perfectly healed, in such a precarious position all it took Tyris to rip his neck off was but a twist of her beak. The construct trapping him was still there and the pause had even allowed her to recharge her Life Maelstrom.

    "You disgust me." Tyris let the Leviathan go, staring at him with spite.

    "Even that jackass of Roghar is better than you. How could you stand the destruction of not one, but two civilizations and not lift a finger?"

    Fenagar would have liked to reply that he didn¡¯t care one bit of a bunch of flies that would die before he had the time to blink one of his serpentine eyes and that his love for research wasn¡¯t limited to his own.

    Kolga had taught him a great deal about how to create unliving beings and even about how to handle Decay magic. Kogaluga, instead, had taught him how to dispose of the Chaos magic in a productive way.

    The Father of all Leviathans had long been interested in the secrets of life and death and the two lost cities had allowed him to study both at the same time. Yet his interest didn¡¯t go so far that he was willing to experience firsthand what happened to a Guardian after their death so he remained silent.

    "There has been too much death today to add one more corpse. Moreover, if Jiera lost one of his Guardians, the Master would surely im yournd as his own and be an even bigger threat than he already is.

    "I have a lost city to destroy andnd to cleanse. Farewell. Pray that we shall not meet ever again." Tyris dispelled the construct and turned her back to Fenagar without waiting for an answer.

    Going back to Garlen took her an instant since Leegaain and Sark were already there. The mind link they shared made conjuring a Warp Gate even at such a distance child¡¯s y.

    Tyris appeared right in front of Kogaluga, the undead city. Without the Hands of Menadion and the Forbidden Sun fueling it, the rift had started to close. She crossed the barrier that sealed the city and walked towards the source of the Necromantic energy, destroying everything on her path.

    <i>¡¯The good news is that this batch of undead will be thest. The bad news is that if I don¡¯t clear it myself, the next time the Ranger in charge of the Ker regiones here, he will think that Kogaluga¡¯s cleansing is his doing.</i>

    <i>¡¯He would im the glory that belongs to others and there would be no way to deny it without exining things that are best left forgotten.¡¯</i> She thought while looking at the rift in the sky that shrunk as the darkness fueling it ran dry.

    <i>¡¯This way, I can give the credit for the cleansing to Lith and mess with Deirus¡¯s ns without directly interfering in the Kingdom¡¯s matters.¡¯</i>

    ***

    Lith clung to Phloria until it was clear that any longer and they would have both fallen asleep due to exhaustion and to thefort that they took from each other. It would make things beyond awkward and add one secret too many they would have to keep.

    Phloria left his room and went to check on Tista before going to bed.

    Lith retrieved War who seemed to still be on cloud nine. He could feel its emotions via their blood bond that allowed them tomunicate without a mind link.

    <i>¡¯Thanks for your help today.¡¯</i> War had no concept of gratitude and ignored those words. The de had a purpose and it was happy to follow it to the bitter end of others.

    <i>¡¯Again.¡¯</i> It said.

    <i>¡¯What do you mean, again? Don¡¯t you remember what happened to me? How many died at your Adamant today?¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯Again.¡¯</i> War¡¯s pleading voice reminded Lith of a dog offering its master a ball for it to catch.

    <i>¡¯I guess that¡¯s what you feel when your pet brings you the carcass of a small animal as a present. No matter how disgusting it is, you have to ept it.¡¯</i> Lith inwardly sighed.

    <i>¡¯I would dly leave today with the tower warp, but I¡¯m an a.d.u.l.t and I¡¯ve got a duty to fulfill.¡¯</i>

    A duty to his wallet, of course. Lith had yet to get paid for his services and no amount of trauma was enough to make him work for free.

    After a long evening and night of sleep, Lith went to the mayor¡¯s office to collect his due. Xoth the Nue was so happy with the results of the mission that he gave Lith all six Adamant ingots instead of the four he had earned.

    Lith had bargained for two ingots for each mystery he solved and even though he didn¡¯t provide any exnation for how Kolga controlled the mana geyser, Xoth didn¡¯t care.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay for a bit longer? You and yourpanions are Reghia¡¯s heroes and there¡¯s still much you can do for our city." The Nue said.

    "Damn sure. I want to go home as soon as possible. Don¡¯t contact me until everything is ready for our departure."

 Chapter 1258 - Heroes and Masterminds (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1258 - Heroes and Masterminds (Part 2)</h4>

    Xoth didn¡¯t understand the rush nor why Lith had suddenly be so rude, but it wasn¡¯t in the Emperor Beasts¡¯ nature to pry into others¡¯ personal business. The mayor of Reghia arranged their return home with the Council for that very afternoon.

    Fenagar didn¡¯t like the idea of seeing Tyris again so soon, but he was too afraid that dying would fuel her anger even more to deny Xoth¡¯s request.

    The long-distance Gate opened between the same two spots of Lith¡¯s group arrival. The entry point at Aren Dolm¡¯s house and the exit at Faluel¡¯sir.

    "You cost me a lot of money." Leegaain said with a snigger while looking at the Leviathan. "My money was on one hour and you lost after barely one minute. Maybe you should work out a bit and get in shape."

    Sark had made huge profits out of the bet since Guardians used only the finest magical resources as wagers for their games.

    Fenagar knew that no Guardian would ever let him hear the end of it. Being defeated was one thing, being crushed to the point of relying on mercy another. He took Leegaain¡¯s words to heart and didn¡¯t reply.

    This time there was no quarreling nor jokes. Tyris looked calm, but her eyes still burned with fury as they moved from the Leviathan to her precious children. In another time, he would have mocked her for it.

    Now, however, he knew better.

    "I hope to never see you again." Fenagar said once Lith had crossed over. "You bring nothing but trouble and you can¡¯t get rid of the death that follows you more than you can sever the link with your shadow."

    The Gate closed and finally, everyone felt home again. The familiar smell of the air and the density of the world energy around them were different from those they had got used to in Reghia.

    They all took deep breaths, feeling their body and spirit rejuvenated from the contact with their mothend.

    "Wee back." Faluel greeted them the moment Leegaain reverted to his humanoid appearance, leaving her line of sight free.

    Her warm smiled died when she noticed how glum everyone was. She expected that their status of heroes would fill her apprentices with confidence, yet if she didn¡¯t know any better, Faluel would have thought they had suffered a huge loss.

    "Not so fast, Fanny." Leegaain stepped in as soon as Tyris¡¯s eyes went back to normal. Unlike Fenagar, he didn¡¯t like to push his luck. "The pins, please. I want them back."

    "Did you know?" Lith asked while handing him both Solus¡¯s and his own pin.

    "I may live in another country or even in a different continent, child, but there¡¯s little anyone can keep from me, once I have a mind to know it." Leegaain replied with a cold smile.

    <i>¡¯He knows both about Solus and my world tribtions.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Either Faluel helped him or we both danced on the palm of his hand. Judging from the tension in the room, we might not be Leegaain¡¯s only pawns.¡¯</i> Lith thought while looking at Tyris¡¯s warm gaze turning back into cold steel at those words.

    If res could kill, Mogar would have lost not one but two Guardians on the same day.

    "What are you talking about, Grampa?" Faluel said with a puzzled look on her face.

    There were actually several Great- between the Hydra and the Father of all Dragons, so many that they had to be omitted for brevity¡¯s sake.

    "Indeed. What are you talking about, old lizard?" Tyris¡¯s body surged with so much power that her bones popped and her flesh creaked in the attempt to amodate it into such a delicate frame.

    "You and your disciples have a lot to talk about and I¡¯ve already overstayed my wee." Leegaain said while collecting the two remaining pins in a hurry.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me and my huge mouth. Tyris¡¯s anger kept her from making two and two together and I had to y evil overlord right in her face. I¡¯m the dumbest genius alive.¡¯</i> He thought while warping back to the safety of one of his secret hideouts and activating all of its defense measures, just to be safe.

    "I know that you are tired and that you have a lot to catch up to do with your loved ones, but we need to talk." With Leegaain gone, Tyris turned back to her usual self.

    She wore the ancient clothes belonging to her time as the Queen and looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, 1.76 (5¡¯9") meters tall. Tyris¡¯s golden hair was down and so long that it reached her heels, emphasizing the silver crown resting on her head.

    Her silver eyes sparkled like stars at the faintest of lights, filled with so much warmth and love that most of those who met her would lose themselves into them.

    Yet no one in the room was in the mood to ask her out or to propose to Tyris. At the same time, however, the cloud in their hearts didn¡¯t veil their eyes as well so they didn¡¯t miss her peculiar attire.

    "I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but I¡¯m really cranky right now." Lith tried to sidestep her but she moved along with him.

    "I¡¯ll keep this short, then." Tyris nodded.

    "Kogaluga is no more. The rift has closed and life will slowly return. Such an event can¡¯t and will not go unnoticed for long. I n to give you all credit for it so don¡¯t be surprised when you receive an invitation from the Royal Pce."

    She gave them a small bow before turning around and opening a Warp Steps to respect their wish for privacy.

    "Wait, that¡¯s too short even for my grumpy standards." Lith was bbergasted. "Are you really going to tell everyone how we traveled to another continent, met a lost race, and destroyed an underwater city?"

    "Gods, no." Tyris chuckled at the madness of such an idea.

    "My n is to make up something about you not giving up on the Ker region even after your honorable discharge and disposing of the living legacy that generated the rift with the help of yourpanions."

    "Don¡¯t worry about the details, you¡¯ll read about it on the interlink, like everyone else. I promise to make you all look good in it." Tyris referred to the informationwork avable to anyone with amunication amulet and a high enough clearance level.

    "Why are you going to such lengths for us?" Phloria asked. "Wouldn¡¯t it be better for the Crown to give credit to the Ranger in charge or to one of the Royal Departments in charge of the lost cities?"

    "Indeed, it would. I expect Meron and Sylpha nagging at me quite a bit, but I trust them to understand the bigger picture." Tyris nodded. "Doing as you propose would strengthen the position of the Crown and show how well spent the tax money are.

    "Yet what would it change?" She took a long pause, to give everyone the time to think.

    "Nothing. The Crown already has all the power it needs and if the Royal Departments hog such an underserved glory, they will drain even more money and produce even fewer results than they already do.

    "To bring change, what the Kingdom needs are heroes. People to look up to that can inspire others."

 Chapter 1259 - Faluelâ€™s Plan (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1259 - Faluel¡¯s n (Part 1)</h4>

    "People like him?" All those present pointed at Lith with a tone filled with so much disbelief that it irked him to no end.

    "People like you." Tyris giggled while waving her hand to epass from Faluel to Solus.

    "Lith Verhen, the destroyer of the ck Star, the youngest Spellbreaker and Archmage of his generation. You are a beacon of hope for all mages of humble origins and the drive that forced the ancient noble bloodlines to work hard instead of boasting their past glories.

    "Yourtest feat will stop the infighting between ancient and modern magical bloodlines, making them focus on achieving results that benefit the Country to not let their name be overshadowed by yours."

    "Phloria Ernas, a valiant Captain that even after bing a political scapegoat and falling from grace with the army, kept pursuing the good of the Kingdom. You will set an example for all those who have been wronged and show them that revenge is not the only path."

    "Tista Verhen, a mage who aside from a glorious family name has little of her own. Your involvement will prove to everyone that what a really talented mage needs to shine is an opportunity and not a fancy title."

    "Faluel the Hydra, an Emperor Beast who has taken as her disciples members of the human race to whom everyone else had turned their back..." Tyris pointed at both Phloria and Tista.

    "...and with their help, she managed to destroy one of the horrors that gued the Kingdom from ancient times. Your example will bridge between humans and beasts, making both factions realize how much they need each other, especially with the Undead Courts knocking on our doors."

    "When you put it this way, it sure has a nice ring to it." Phloria nodded. Tyris¡¯s version of the story, although fictionalized, would have brought fresh water in the stagnant swamp of Court politics.

    "I¡¯m very sorry to leave you as an unsung hero, Solus." Tyris said while looking at the stone ring on Lith¡¯s finger.

    "But there¡¯s still no ce for you in this world. Between the Lost Cities and Baba Yaga¡¯s Hors.e.m.e.n, the existence of another powerful living relic like you would strike fear in the hearts of people rather than inspire hope."

    "Did you know about me?" Solus asked with surprise.

    "I knew about you ever since I first met Lith and I¡¯ve seen everything that has happened inside Kolga." Tyris implied that she knew about the Hands as well.

    <i>¡¯Yet I didn¡¯t recognize you, Elphyn, and for that, I¡¯m sorry. For what is worth, Valeron loved you like a niece. Be careful of what you do with your legacy and to whom you share your identity.¡¯</i> She said to Solus via a mind link.

    <i>¡¯Menadion survived as long as she did after revealing to possess a tower only because of her unmatched power and her influence as Commander of the Royal Forgemasters. Right now, youck both the personal and the political prowess to resist the storm that Menadion¡¯s name would cause.¡¯</i>

    "Farewell." Tyris stepped through the Gate and disappeared before anyone could ask her another question.

    "If Tyris knows about Solus, then it¡¯s likely that the other Guardians know as well." Tista said after a while. "At least there is one trustworthy faction."

    Then she remembered about Leegaain¡¯s maniption and Fenagar¡¯s disregard for the suffering that Kolga had inflicted for centuries on two continents.

    "I stand corrected, they are not trustworthy, just not as power hungry as the others."

    "Indeed." Faluel nodded. "The only Guardian I fully trust is Tyris because she never intervenes in worldly affairs whereas Sark takes what she wants and Grandfather ys puppeteer from the shadows."

    "I can see how tired you still are and I¡¯ve arranged transportation to your respective houses. I warned your rtives of your arrival so don¡¯t be surprised if you find them waiting for you." Faluel opened two Warp Steps.

    One led outside the Ernas Mansion and the other outside the Verhen household. They both closed the moment after Tista and Phloria stepped through.

    "I suppose you have matters you want to discuss with me in private." The Hydra had noticed that Lith didn¡¯t move a muscle, letting the others go first.

    "Indeed. I need to know what is your role in what happened to the both of us." Lith let Solus slip out of his finger and assume her stone doll form.

    It had slightly grown since their departure yet the deep sadness in her eyes left no space for celebrations. Even though Lith and Solus had be stronger during their short stay in Reghia, they had also returned with a broken spirit.

    "I¡¯m afraid you need to be more specific. Whatever you and Solus did is not mentioned in the mission records and I¡¯m sure you two worked an angle of your own." Faluel conjured three padded armchairs.

    Lith told her about his tribtion and Solus regaining her body. He glossed over his meeting with Carl and Menadion¡¯s legacy because they were both private matters that would have deep consequences if revealed to anyone.

    "I¡¯m not going to lie. I sent you to Jiera in the hope you would be sent to Kolga, but that was it. I never nned on hurting either of you." Faluel said.

    "What did you think that we could achieve by visiting that horrible ce?" Solus asked.

    "Wisdom. I¡¯m aware of your condition and of how deep your bond is. With Lith¡¯s crippled life force, only an idiot wouldn¡¯t know that you are nning to use Forbidden Magic to prolong his existence." Faluel¡¯s reply shocked them.

    "Reghia is full of Awakened, so it was only a matter of time before someone noticed your cracks and sent you to the lost city as a scout. My hope was that entering Kolga would have cured both of you for good.

    "My wish was for you to get what you wanted without having to soak your hands in blood and risking to get on the Council¡¯s hit list. Worst case scenario, the experience would have shown you the terrible price that Forbidden Magic requires and make you think twice before employing it.

    "I never wanted you to suffer, you¡¯ve already gotten more than enough of that in your short life. F.u.c.k you, Grampa." Faluel snarled.

    "The silver lining is that my next world tribtion should also be myst." Lith sighed deeply.

    "When I merged with all those shadows, I rose to a size and a power that I never experienced before. Something almost clicked inside of me as I reached for the skies. Either I die or seed, I¡¯ll be done with this crap."

    "Don¡¯t say that." Solus¡¯s small hand grabbed his. Despite being made of stone, it was soft and warm. "What we have is far from crap. I refuse to let you go down without a fight."

    "Also, I think you might be misunderstanding your condition. Do you realize that you¡¯re now half-step to a violet core?" Faluel asked.

    "What does it mean? I¡¯ve undergone no breakthrough and my strength is unchanged." Lith didn¡¯t use Invigoration as a diagnostic tool on himself for a while, but he knew his body too well to have missed any of its changes.

    "Yes and no." Faluel conjured a mirror in front of them as she used her breathing technique, Lifestream, to make Lith¡¯s mana flow and his life forces visible.

 Chapter 1260 - Faluelâ€™s Plan (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1260 - Faluel¡¯s n (Part 2)</h4>

    Lith was shocked to see a violet spot in the blue mana zing from his eyes. Even the edges of his bright blue aura now burned with violet bursts of light. On top of that, his two life forces had further mixed together.

    The red and blue, respectively from the human and the beast side, slowly seeped in the hollow sphere of the Abomination which in turn fed them with a ck energy that nurtured them instead of poisoning them.

    The three different energy signatures flowed into each other, offering and encountering no resistance as if their different color was just for show.

    "Tell me everything you have experienced while fusing with those souls. I think the experience of being part of a whole might have brought you near the enlightenment you need for your final step.

    "If I¡¯m right, that¡¯s what you felt almost clicking and I might be able to instruct you about how to take the next steps. If it doesn¡¯t involve my family technique, of course." Faluel said with a gentle smile.

    Lith told her all he could remember about histest proto-Guardian form. How he had been unable to tap into the true power of the many mana cores and life forces that had be part of him until War had shown him how.

    "The good news is that your sword is a damn masterpiece and that I was right about your state. You went this close to reaching a violet core." Faluel brought her right thumb and index finger less than a centimeter apart.

    "The bad news is that I can¡¯t help you. Your method and mine are too simr. If I say any more, I¡¯d have to either kill you or force you into marriage with me to preserve my secrets and you are a bit too young for my taste." She chuckled.

    "Go home now. We¡¯ll resume your apprenticeship after you¡¯ve unwound a bit. You deserve some real rest."

    The Warp Steps to Lith¡¯s house opened again, yet after crossing over he didn¡¯t take a single step forward.

    <i>¡¯Do you want toe with me or would you rather stay on the geyser?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯Thank you so much.¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s voice sniffled. <i>¡¯You have no idea how much it means to me that even now you worry about getting my body back as fast as possible. Staying over the geyser would help me recover, but I don¡¯t want to be alone.</i>

    <i>¡¯I need our family more than I need power.¡¯</i>

    Lith nodded and deactivated the protective arrays. Only then could he see through the cloaking of the house and notice that light came from its windows despite thete hour.

    <i>¡¯It makes sense. Faluel said that she warned my family and Tista¡¯s return must have woken them up.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Yet after walking through the door, Lith discovered that aside from the children asleep on the couches, everyone was wide awake and dressed as if it was the middle of the day instead of that of the night.

    Tista was sobbing in Elina¡¯s embrace as she told her mother how she had been forced to kill Khalia and many of the Kolgans¡¯ prisoners to relieve them from their misery.

    A Hush spell covered the ears of the kids while the others listened to her story with such dread that they almost didn¡¯t notice Lith¡¯s arrival.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here. I was worried sick about you the entire time." Kam was unexpectedly there as well, still wearing her light blue constable uniform.

    "When I saw your contact rune flickering, I feared the worst." She whispered in his ear, confirming to him that everything that had happened in the Mindscape was more than a dream.

    Kam hugged Lith, feeling that there was something different about him and that his burden had to be as bad as Tista¡¯s if not even worse. For the first time since they had been together, there was no warmth nor passion in his eyes, only fear.

    "A lot has happened." Lith almost cracked in her embrace, as if his deadly touch might go haywire any second and kill her. "What are you doing here thiste, Kami?"

    ¡¯Calling it my Abomination side is a joke. I¡¯m no human, nor beast, just another undead.¡¯ He had considered the possibility ever since he had met Scarlett the Scorpicore, but specting and knowing were twopletely different matters.

    "Faluel warned me of your return and in turn I informed Jirni. She was so happy to have all of her daughters back home that she took a day¡¯s leave for the both of us without me even asking." She was d to hear Lith using her moniker.

    It meant that not everything was lost.

    "I¡¯m d to hear that Friya and Quy are back as well. We have a lot of catching up to do." Lith nodded while gently freeing himself from her embrace. "Come here, Dad. I really need a hug."

    Kam didn¡¯t miss his lukewarm reaction nor that he barely touched even the members of his family. Yet instead of reassuring her, it made her worry even more. The person that had returned from Jiera only looked like her boyfriend.

    Rena and Raaz noticed the change as well, yet with Tista already crying, they assumed that Kolga had been bad enough to put a dent even in Lith¡¯s armor. They let Tista finish her story before asking him what was wrong.

    "It¡¯s a long story and it¡¯s alreadyte. It can wait until tomorrow morning." Lith sighed.

    "Are you sure?" Now that Tista had taken her burden off her chest, she had gone to the bathroom to wash her face, leaving Elina free to perform her usual check-up on Lith.

    "You seem more than just tired. If you let some wounds fester, they might leave a scar that not even time can heal." She took his face between her hands, checking for signs of malnutrition before patting his shoulders and arms for injuries.

    "I was thinking about giving those assholes of the Council a piece of my mind for putting the life of my children at risk, but first I need your permission. Would it embarrass you if I told them to shove their trials up their asses and leave you alone?"

    Judging from her gaze, Elina was dead serious and it made Lith smile. The thought of that small, weak woman ready to argue with some of the most ancient and powerful beings on Garlen that could kill her with a mean look was beyond absurd.

    At the same time, it moved Lith beyond what words could express. No matter how many changes he went through or how powerful he became. In Elina¡¯s eyes, he was still the little boy that she would protect at any cost.

    "Thanks, Mom, but it¡¯s not necessary." He said while hugging her longer and tighter than the others. "I promise that tomorrow I¡¯ll tell you everything, but now I really need some sleep."

    Lith opened the door to his room, waiting for Kam to join him.

    <i>¡¯On the one hand, I¡¯m happy he¡¯s not sending me off to Zinya¡¯s house. On the other hand, the way he keeps the door open smells like a "we need to talk" speech.¡¯</i> She thought while walking inside and wishing the others a good night.

 Chapter 1261 - Undead Tell Tales (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1261 - Undead Tell Tales (Part 1)</h4>

    "We need to talk." Lith said as soon as the door¡¯s lock activated a Hush array that would ensure their privacy.

    <i>¡¯Nailed it in one.¡¯</i> Kam inwardly sighed.

    "The others can wait until tomorrow, but you deserve to know the truth and to make your choice without feeling the pressure of my entire family weighing on you." Lith spoke slowly, trying to find the best way to share his real nature with her without giving her a stroke.

    "When did it happen?" Kam asked with a pained expression.

    "Yesterday. I didn¡¯t call you because I couldn¡¯t lie to your face and tell you that everything was alright. I wanted to speak to you in person and give you the opportunity to kick my ass if you think I¡¯m worth your time." Lith said.

    ¡¯Wait a minute. How can she possibly know? Did Tyris warn her or is this some kind of uncanny woman intuition?¡¯ He actually thought, ming his brain for moving slower than his mouth.

    "Well, with all that happened in Kolga, I can sort of understand your circ.u.mstances. You were deep undercover and surrounded by enemies, yet it doesn¡¯t make it less painful. How far did you get?" Kam¡¯s face was calm, but she needed to dig her nails into her flesh to keep her emotions in check.

    "Almost to the Guardian level, but that¡¯s not the problem. Scarlett was right, I-"

    "Wait a minute, who is Scarlett, and what does it mean, almost to the Guardian level? Did you cheat on me with Tyris? I could understand if something happened between you and Phloria since she¡¯s your ex, but Tyris? Did she force herself on you?"

    Kam suddenly had no idea what they were talking about and so did Lith.

    "I never cheated on you with anyone. How can you even think I would do something like that?" Lith didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry.

    "Well, you came back with a guilty look on your face, you gave me the cold shoulder, and then you said all those things about kicking your ass. What was I supposed to think?" She sighed in relief as her worries faded away.

    <i>¡¯I told you countless times that you suck with opening lines.¡¯ Solus had a hard time notughing her ass off. ¡¯I hope you are not going to tell her about me because I¡¯m not ready for that. I can leave if you two have couple issues to iron out.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m not ready either, but it will probably not be necessary. Please stay, Solus. I want you to hear my story as well.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    He made Kam sit down on a chair while he projected with Light Mastery the scene of his fight outside the tower and then of his meeting with Mogar, keeping both Solus and Carl out of the story.

    At first, Kam stared in awe at the image of the¡¯s manifestation. Even though it was just a hologram, Lith¡¯s feelings and his mastery over magic gave the Elina-Mogar the imposing presence of a Queen.

    The more she listened the more shocked Kam was. By the end of the projection, after seeing Lith¡¯s proto-Guardian form and his Demons of the mes, she had to pick up her jaw from the floor.

    "Good gods. That¡¯s why you have Death Vision and why you can conjure those creepy things. You are a living nexus with the afterlife, a psychopomp." She looked around the room, almost expecting to see ghosts lurking in the room.

    "Yes, but that¡¯s not the point. Did you miss the part where Mogar said that I¡¯m an Abomination? Some sort of undead spirit?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe her reaction.

    "No, but I don¡¯t find it that much shockingpared with the rest." Kam said, receiving a nod of approval from Solus.

    "Are you listening to yourself? How can you dismiss it that easily?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯s not easy at all, but I had one year to think about it so I have taken my decision for a long while." She replied.

    "What do you mean, one year? I learned about it yesterday!" Lith was bbergasted.

    "You told me about your hybrid nature and your Abomination side on our first anniversary. After discovering that you are an Awakened and learning how Abominations are born on our second anniversary, it was kind of obvious.

    "Especially since Elina repeated me the story about the miracle of your birth until my ears bled." Kam shrugged.

    <i>¡¯Well, yeah. It¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t have this conversation a lot in the past. I¡¯m more surprised by the fact that you felt the need to hide it from me.¡¯</i> Solus said, making Lith feel like a moron.

    "Are you saying that it doesn¡¯t change anything? That you¡¯re okay with this?" Lith shapeshifted into his hybrid form, discovering that he could now make his scales disappear and rece them with the smooth ck te of the Abomination.

    "Not really." Kam shook her head. "The hybrid form is hot, double entendre intended, whereas this thing is creepy, cold, and it doesn¡¯t have a mouth." She said while taking his face between her hands and exploring it with her fingers.

    There was no fear in her eyes and the kind warmth of Kam¡¯s touch broke down the darkness into scales again.

    "Seriously? I¡¯ve been worrying about your reaction ever since I learned being more Abomination than human and you don¡¯t even care." Lith¡¯s shock didn¡¯t stop him from instinctively rub his cheek against her palm before kissing it.

    "Why would I? Are you going to treat me any different because of it? Do you n of keeping me as an emergency stash of food rather than as your girlfriend?" She asked with a serious tone.

    "Of course not, but-"

    "Then no. I don¡¯t care." Kam cut Lith short before he could start another of what she considered self-despise trips.

    "I¡¯ll be honest. After you date a pervert-beast-Abomination hybrid capable of spewing fire for a while, it takes more than a small change in the recipe of his life forces to impress you." She pulled him down by the cor of his shirt, giving him a kiss that somehow forced him back into his human form.

    "How crazy are you on a scale from one to ten?" Lith looked at his body as if it had betrayed him. He had no idea how it had turned into a living shadow nor how did Kam pull him back.

    "Not enough to not be upset about you seeing Mogar with your mother¡¯s appearance instead of mine." She poked at his chest with fake anger.

    "I¡¯m d that you¡¯re not an egomaniac like Nalrond who sees the as himself, but even Morok saw it as Quy and they are not even dating. Did I pick the wrong Ranger?"

    "He did what? That¡¯s not romantic, it¡¯s creepy as f.u.c.k!" Lith blurted out in surprise.

    "Agreed." Kam stopped pulling his leg and gave Lith one of her dazzling smiles that could light a whole city. "Is there anything else you have to tell me?"

    <i>¡¯Solus?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯Not now. After all the shit we lived in Kolga, we both deserve some happiness. Yet this doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to y the third wheel. I¡¯m going to Tista¡¯s room. Goodnight.¡¯</i> She stealthily slipped off his finger and Warped away.

 Chapter 1262 - Undead Tell Tales (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1262 - Undead Tell Tales (Part 2)</h4>

    "No, I¡¯m done for tonight. Yet I n on telling the others as well, sooner orter. I could use your help, just like when I told everyone that I¡¯m a hybrid."

    "Do you mean your family?" Kam asked.

    "No, I mean everyone. You are the first person I talked about the Abomination issue and I still can¡¯t believe it went so well. You must really be my lucky charm." Lith held her tight, losing himself in her warmth as Kam returned the embrace.

    "The first person? Are you telling me that even Tista, Faluel, and Phloria still don¡¯t know about it?" She said with such happiness that it made it sound as if Lith had proposed to her.

    "No one but you." He gave Kam a soft kiss and didn¡¯t release her until she was out of breath.

    "You are full of energy for someone that looked so down until a moment ago." She panted.

    "I¡¯m a hybrid between a beast, an Abomination, and a pervert, remember? It gives me superpowers." Hey on his bed, pulling Kam down with him.

    "Good thing that I don¡¯t have to work tomorrow."

    ***

    Between having already rested during the previous day and the jetg, Lith didn¡¯t sleep a wink even after a few hours of recreational activities. Kamy sound asleep beside him, with a huge smile on her face that made Lith chuckle.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m more hungry than tired, but I feel bad at the idea of making Kami wake up and find the bed empty.¡¯</i> He thought while watching the sun rise from a small opening in the window in front of the bed.

    No matter how many magical marvels Reghia had, or howfortable the tower was. Nothing could beat sleeping in his own home beside his girlfriend. Kam had even brought along the Camellia, the magical flower that Lith had gifted her for their second date.

    Due to the cheap assponents that Lith had employed to Forgemaster it, the flower would wither and die in a week if not regrly imprinted, yet Kam prided herself of doing it daily.

    "Good gods, did I oversleep?" Kam stood up abruptly, making him flinch. "Why didn¡¯t you wake me up? I¡¯ll gette to work!"

    She jumped off the bed, searching for her underwear that had been thrown around the room while making the Scalewalker armor slide over her bare skin and take the form of her Constable uniform.

    "In order: no, you didn¡¯t, and because you¡¯re on leave." Lithughed his ass off while Kam swore on her way back to bed like a trucker stuck in a miles-long traffic jam on a summer day.

    "Damn army training. I¡¯m so used to waking up early that by the time my body learns how to sleep in, my vacations are already over."

    "Since you are already awake, do you mind if I get up and eat breakfast? I¡¯m starving." Lith said and his stomach grumbled.

    "That makes the two of us." She sighed. "I don¡¯t want to get back to bed if it means sleeping alone. I¡¯lle with you."

    Kam had the armor take the appearance of t shoes, ck pants, and a white shirt while she imprinted the Camellia. It was the first she did every day when she woke up and thest thing before going to bed.

    Once would have sufficed, but she liked to stay on the safe side.

    After a hearty breakfast and retrieving Solus, Lith and Kam went to Protector¡¯s home. Thanks to their shared life force, the Ry was the only person besides Solus to know about Lith¡¯s reincarnations.

    Lith felt the need of sharing with both of them his burden about the final meeting with Carl.

    "d to have you back! You are right on time for breakfast." Selia Fastarrow opened the door weing her guests with a warm smile.

    She was a woman in herte thirties, yet thanks to Protector¡¯s treatments she looked barely past her mid-twenties. She was about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with skin tanned from the years of long exposure to the sun.

    Her shoulder-length ck hair gave her sharp hazel eyes a gentler look. She wore a set offortable house clothesprised of loose brown pants and a ck blouse.

    "Thank you, Selia, but we have already eaten." Kam hugged the older woman who had be one of her closest friends over time. The Verhen and Fastarrow families shared a lot of secrets that couldn¡¯t be leaked, making them only grow closer.

    "And I¡¯m not offering you food, I¡¯m asking your help. Ever since he returned from the Fringe, Nalrond spends more time at Faluel¡¯s than at home and I could use a hand with the kids."

    Selia exploited the hug to drag Kam inside and hand her the youngest member of the family, Fenrir Fastarrow. The baby was now one year old and quite heavy.

    "Thanks a lot." Selia said before Kam could even think about a proper answer to such an abuse of the rules of hospitality. "You have no idea how much it means to me eating in peace without worrying about that little imp regurgitating her food on my clothes."

    Selia had three children, all of them were human-Emperor Beast hybrids with the energy typical of small kids and the destructive power of an improvised explosive device.

    In her attempts to escape, Fenrir shapeshifted her small hands and feet into ws that would have ripped Kam¡¯s clothes to shreds if not for her actually wearing an enchanted armor.

    "This is not really my idea of a courtesy visit." Kam snarled at Selia while trying to submit the insanely strong child and make her eat a creamy soup.

    "You¡¯ll thank me when you have a few of your own." Selia¡¯s words made her blush, ending the argument.

    "What the heck are you looking at me that way?" Selia scolded Protector. "If you made me clothes like the Skinwalker armor or if at least you helped me more with the children, I wouldn¡¯t have to resort to such petty tricks."

    "Orichalc.u.m and magic crystals don¡¯t grow on trees." Ryman said with an apologetic tone. "On top of that, I¡¯m doing everything I can, but between making the money necessary for our two houses and practicing magic, I don¡¯t have much time left even though I sleep just once a week."

    "See what I mean?" Selia turned to Kam again before resuming the quarrel thatsted for the whole breakfast.

    <i>¡¯Do you mind keeping Selia busy for a while? I would like to talk alone with Protector and tell him about my situation.¡¯</i> Lith asked via the mind link while entertaining Lilia and Leran with his stories until they finished eating.

    <i>¡¯No problem.¡¯</i> Kam replied, d of the armor¡¯s self-cleaning properties. Half of the cream soup had ended up on her clothes, but the stains disappeared as fast as they formed thanks to small bursts of darkness magic.

    Once the kids bolted outside to y with their magical pets, sh and Crash, silence finally befell the house.

    "That was intense." Lith said the moment after Selia and Kam went out hunting. "Does it happen often?"

    "Almost every day, but I wouldn¡¯t change it for the world." Ryman said while stopping Fenrir from wing her way up to the ceiling. He had repaired the walls so often that he had be a professional carpenter.

 Chapter 1263 - Family Business (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1263 - Family Business (Part 1)</h4>

    "Besides, Selia is right. Hybrid children are too much to handle for a human without the proper tools and I¡¯m often absent. Don¡¯t make my same mistakes and don¡¯t lose so much. Children only have one first time at everything and I¡¯ve missed most of it." He sighed.

    Lith didn¡¯t like talking about such things. After an awkward pause, he told both Solus and Protector the full story about his meeting with Mogar.

    "The f.u.c.k?" Solus was bbergasted. "This is way more important than you being an Abomination. Why didn¡¯t you tell me sooner?"

    "I strongly disagree." Lith replied. "As for your question, I knew how you felt after discovering how much death your legacy had caused and I can¡¯t even imagine the pain you experienced from losing your body a few hours after getting it.

    "Adding my burden to your own would have just been cruel. I already felt bad for what I did to Khalia and for making you witness her fate. I couldn¡¯t risk giving you more scars."

    "You should have told me." Solus sighed, but as the memories of the magical lobotomy shed in front of her eyes, she was d he didn¡¯t.

    "Do you feel guilty about that merfolk?" Protector¡¯s voice sounded genuinely worried. No matter what Lith told him, the Skoll wouldn¡¯t judge him for it.

    "No, but I¡¯m not proud of my actions either and that¡¯s a first. I¡¯m used to coteral damage. I¡¯m aware that after Aren¡¯s n failed, making Solus follow Khalia was our only shot at uncovering the secrets of Kolga, but it doesn¡¯t make me feel any better.

    "Because of me, Khalia will be remembered as a hero, yet I know she died a dog¡¯s death. I honestly don¡¯t know how Carl managed to forgive me so easily nor why did he still care so much about me." Lith said.

    "Because he loves you and because as long as you realize the weight of your actions, you¡¯ll never truly be an Abomination. Having no feelings doesn¡¯t make you strong, it makes you empty.

    "You should have learned at this point that protecting is much more difficult than killing, but the perks are also way better." Ryman smiled while lifting Fenrir in the air with his huge hands.

    "Dada." The baby girl said while giggling.

    "What do you mean? Either you are an Abomination or you aren¡¯t. There is no middle ground." Lith replied.

    "Indeed, yet you seem to have failed to grasp the definition of Abomination. Do you remember what I told him before we faced the Wither?" He asked.

    "Yes. You call them Abominations not because of what they do, but because of what they are."

    "Exactly." Protector nodded. "What do you think that means?"

    "That Abominations are ruthless predators enved to their hunger." Lith replied.

    "Wrong. Humans kill all kinds of living beings for sport or need, yet they didn¡¯t earn such a title. Despite the fact that they consider all other races as prey, not even monsters and undead are called that way." Protector pointed out.

    "Okay, you lost me. What¡¯s the big difference then? As I see it, Abominations and undead are almost the same thing." Lith sighed.

    "Wrong again. There¡¯s a reason why Mogar gave up on a single species and that¡¯s because Abominations subvert the natural order of things. They can¡¯t reproduce, they destroy rather than enrich their environment, and more importantly, their very first act is to prey on their own kin.

    "Just like the Wither we faced years ago ughtered most of the Byk n, every Abomination sacrifices those who they held dearest first before guing the rest of Mogar.

    "Even monsters and undead aren¡¯t so destructive. They value their existence and strive to live it to their fullest. Abominations, instead, have no life at all. You can consider them as points fixed in time, incapable of moving either forward or backward.

    "You are not an Abomination because you built rather than destroy. Because you protected your pack when you could have easily sacrificed them in exchange for greater power. You are still grief-stricken from your past, but you¡¯re not fixed in time.

    "You¡¯vee a long way since we first met in the woods, when you were still a murderous kid incapable of trusting anyone. You even renounced to part of your life so that I could have one." Protector handed Fenrir to him, which Lith promptly took in his arms with the gentlest touch he was capable of.

    "I may have fathered my children, but in a way, they are also yours. Your life force flows through my veins as well as in my kids¡¯. I believe that there¡¯s a reason why Mogar bestowed upon you a bloodline so strong that it can keep the abyss inside of you at bay."

    Protector weaved together two chore magic spells, making them take the form of a shadow demon and a fire beast coiling around each other in an eternal struggle for dominance.

    "If what Mogar has said is true and your human life force is nothing but an echo of the flesh your soul wears, then which one of the two sides your real life force is made of will win?"

    "The one I feed." Lith replied.

    "Indeed. You should stop letting others define what you are. Is it my human appearance that makes me a father or the fact that I care about my family with all of my heart? Actions speak louder than any pretentious word.

    "If anyone dares to doubt my love for my wife just because I¡¯m an Emperor Beast, it¡¯s their problem, not mine." Protector stood up, gesturing Lith to follow him.

    "If there¡¯s something you should be ashamed of, is not how you came to this world but what you did with that time. Do you realize that I achieved the blue core when you still went to the academy yet you surpassed me in a few years?"

    "Even now that I¡¯ve finally refined my core to bright blue, you¡¯re already half-step into violet. Stop running and take your time to appreciate what you have. We both know that there¡¯s no telling when the things we take for granted will be taken away from us."

    ***

    Lith spent the rest of the morning ying with the children of the Verhen, Fastarrow, and Yehval households while mulling over Protector¡¯s words. He had missed both his little brother Aran and his niece Leria who were now over five years old.

    <i>¡¯It seems like the day before yesterday when I held them between my arms and yesterday when they had trouble using the bathroom. I really missed a lot.¡¯</i> Lith sighed.

    Aran had developed a pitch-ck streak amid his light brown hair while Leria had her blonde hair streaked silver and red all over. They were both smart enough to have already learned to read, write, and count.

    <i>¡¯The males in our family never got any elemental streak. Did my birth someway affect my entire bloodline? Could it be that to give me my beast side Mogar had to change my rtives as well?¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Keep it up like that and I¡¯ll make you a tinfoil hat.¡¯</i> Solusughed. After talking with Protector, her mood had slightly improved. She also considered the Skoll as her true friend and confidant.

 Chapter 1264 - Family Business (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1264 - Family Business (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Laugh all you want, but I don¡¯t remember children their age having a bright yellow mana core. I¡¯d better teach them some magic before someone gets hurt.¡¯</i>

    The only sour note was Zinya acting distant and awkward with him as if she was depressed about something.

    Kam had spent the morning in the Trawn woods with Selia, hunting. Even though she had no previous experience, all the magical training with Jirni allowed her to move even more stealthily than the huntress, who promised herself for the umpteenth time to learn magic.

    "Thanks a lot. I¡¯m a bit disappointed we didn¡¯t get to talk much, but hunting helped me vent a lot of stress."

    "Don¡¯t be silly, I should be the one to thank you. I finally got some me time, greatpany, and all the prey we got. On the other hand, I¡¯m going to kill Ryman for not crafting me any of your trinkets."

    The fact that aplete beginner had caught more game than her thanks to the gap in their equipment mildly pissed Selia off. The silver lining was that Kam already had a day job and had gifted Selia everything she had shot down with her wands.

    Before lunch, while the kids were taking a bath to get rid of the mud and sweat .u.mted during their games, Lith showed the rest of the family the images of histest world tribtion, glossing over the conversation with Mogar entirely.

    He needed to tell them something to exin why he had been so dejected the previous day, but he decided to follow Protector¡¯s advice and take his time instead of ruining their happiness and his own.

    "I understand that sharing the pain of those wretched souls must have been hard on you, but this is actually good news." Raaz said. "If you are right, then you¡¯re just one tribtion away from bing a Guardian.

    "Cracked life force or not, you won¡¯t have to die unless you decide otherwise."

    "First, there¡¯s no telling when or if a tribtion will take ce. I didn¡¯t have one in years and wouldn¡¯t have undergone this tribtion either if not for Leegaain¡¯s setting me up." Lith said.

    "Farming lizard. Should¡¯ve minded his own farming business." Elina swore in a family-friendlynguage because of the kids.

    "Second, the idea of outliving everyone, Tista included, is depressing." Lith said.

    "Nonsense. Bing a Guardian seems like a job like any other. When you get tired of it, you can always quit, but I forbid you to die before I do." Elina sniffled.

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough." Lith said at his family¡¯s odd reaction to the retelling of the tribtion.

    ¡¯Without the part about Solus, Carl, and Mogar, my story is more epic than sad. On top of that, neither Mom nor Dad ever wanted me to be a Guardian. They should be worried as always, not relieved.¡¯ He thought.

    "First, Zinya gave me the cold shoulder this morning, and now Mom cries for a mission that¡¯sical ifpared to Kh or Balkor. What¡¯s going on here?" Lith looked around the room, noticing embarrassed gazes.

    Tista and Solus didn¡¯t miss how no one dared meet the eyes of the just returned siblings.

    "Either you tell him or I will." Kam¡¯s voice, while she talked to Elina, sounded livid like Lith had never heard her before. "You wanted time and I gave you time, but I¡¯m not going to keep this any longer."

    "You heard how much they¡¯ve gone through during thosest few days. You have seen how badly hurt they returned from those horrors. We agreed on taking things slowly." Elina became pale now that Lith and Tista stared at her with suspicion.

    "No, we didn¡¯t agree on anything. You decided and I went along with it only because I didn¡¯t want them to rush home and ruin their mission. Now they are here and deserve to know." Kam didn¡¯t like meddling with the family business, but she liked keeping secrets from Lith even less.

    Especially after all the lengths he had gone to be honest with her, like during the previous night. To add insult to injury, it was partly her business as well.

    "Is this about your parents?" Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯It would exin why Kam is so angry and why Zinya is so embarrassed, but not why Mom acts so weird.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "No." Elina said.

    "Yes!" Kam stood up in outrage at the tant lie. "Your parents didn¡¯t kick mine out of Lutia even after knowing the truth. Even worse, Elina invited them here to meet you!"

    "What?" Lith almost choked on his food. "How could you do that? They are farming gold diggers that are clearly after our money!"

    "How could you say that in front of Kam? They are her family!" Elina stood up as well, incapable to believe that her son could be so rude to his girlfriend.

    "He can say it anytime he wants because it¡¯s the truth. They are f- farming gold diggers that are clearly after your money!" Kam had still some trouble adapting her speech in front of children.

    <i>¡¯What the heck are they talking about?¡¯</i> Tista had never heard anything about Kam¡¯s parents so the matter confused her quite a bit.

    <i>¡¯Based on lil bro¡¯s and Kam¡¯s reaction, those guys must be bad news. Yet I don¡¯t know enough about them to take my stand without hurting Mom¡¯s feelings too much. She and Zinya have be very close so I can understand them taking the same side.¡¯</i>

    "They have apologized so many times to both you and Zinya, what could you ask more of them?" Elina spoke with so much fervor and seemed to be willing to put on the line for a pair of strangers so much that it made Lith doubt her sanity.

    "I could ask them to keep ignoring me and Zinya, as they did during thest ten years, instead of barging in the moment money is involved!" Kam replied.

    "Mom, Kami is right. They are no different from our own rtives that remembered about our existence only after the news of my silver mines came out. What makes Kam¡¯s parents deserve a different treatment from them?" Lith asked.

    "A lot of things." Elina sniffled again and Raaz rushed to her side, holding her tight in the attempt to calm her down. "They are just concerned parents trying to make up for the mistakes of the past before it¡¯s toote. Everyone deserves a second chance."

    "No, they don¡¯t and your argument doesn¡¯t make sense." The strain from remaining calm to not further upset his mother gave Lith a headache, but not one strong enough to make him fail to notice that there was more to it.

    "What are you still hiding from me?" His eyes moved around the room, finally able to notice the grief in everyone¡¯s face that the pain from his own problems had clouded until that moment.

    Raaz, Elina, and even Rena had the same sad light in their eyes they had back when Tista was very ill.

    "Trion is dead." Elina said after a long moment of silence.

    Kam looked down with sadness while Tista became pale and Lith had a hard time not saying "Trion who?" with a shrug.

 Chapter 1265 - Black Sheep (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1265 - ck Sheep (Part 1)</h4>

    "Trion took his own life months ago, yet we learned it only recently because after disowning us, he had no family. In his farewell letter, he wrote that he regretted not being brave enough to admit his mistakes and ask our forgiveness.

    "Trion was my baby, yet he spent his life alone because he thought that we didn¡¯t love him enough to give him a second chance. He preferred to die rather than being rejected again by his family." Elina burst into tears.

    ¡¯He lived as he died. As an annoying pain in the a.s.s.¡¯ Lith remained unfazed by the news.

    Yet he kept those thoughts to himself. Raaz¡¯s eyes were watery and Rena seemed to have lots of regrets as well. Spitting his venom on their feelings would have been both pointless and cruel.

    "If Trion disowned us, how did you learn about his death?" Lith asked.

    ¡¯The army would have informed me first and so would have done Jirni if she had been called to investigate the case.

    <i>¡¯My family has no contacts with either the Mage Association or the military and they would rather keep it a secret to curry my favor than get on my bad side by hurting my mother for nothing.¡¯</i> He actually thought.

    "Trion never stopped keeping in touch with Orpal, using him as an emergency contact in case something happened. It took the army a while to find Orpal and notify him of Trion¡¯s death. Then-"

    "Orpal is back?" Tista jumped on her feet, yelling at the top of her lungs. Her reaction had been so fast that she had cut Elina short and beat Lith to the punch.

    She immediately activated Life Vision, scouting the vicinity of the house for her long-lost yet never missed sibling.

    "Calm down, he¡¯s not here anymore." Raaz said. "He left right after sharing Trion¡¯s fate with us and asking our forgiveness."

    "Are you insane?" Lith¡¯s voice was calm and low, yet it held the fury of a storm.

    He stood up slowly to not flip the table in his wrath and kept his eyes closed to not unleash upon his family the killing intent that now flooded his body.

    "Orpal, or Meln, as he should call himself right now after losing his name,es back here and instead of releasing the magical beasts you let him inside my house?"

    "Our house and he is still my baby." Elina held Raaz¡¯s hand while her brain and her bleeding mother¡¯s heart battled fiercely. "I have already lost a son, how can you ask me to give up on another? He¡¯s turned over a new leaf. The old Orpal would¡¯ve never apologized."

    "It doesn¡¯t answer my question." Lith¡¯s voice turned coarse in anger. "Don¡¯t you find it oddly convenient that Trion left such a note and that Meln came here during my absence?

    "I¡¯m officially unemployed, very few people know about my apprenticeship and almost no one about my trip to Jiera."

    "You are just paranoid. Orpal-" Elina attempted to say.

    "Meln. His name is Meln and he is not a Verhen. I¡¯d rather give up on my family name than share it with him." Lith released a violet pulse that shone through his closed eyes, filling the house with dread.

    Rena¡¯s triplets started to cry, while Aran and Leria looked at their uncle as if they saw him for the first time. To their childish eyes, he looked terrible but cool, like a character from the fairy tales he told them.

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s only so much mana I can keep down.¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯Is it Meln worth scaring your family?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Solus, I¡¯m not paranoid. Not this time. I arranged things for this contingency years ago with Lark, remember? Orpal can¡¯t have such a fine timing and the necessary luck to escape the Count¡¯swork of informants.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, you¡¯re right. You put an APB on him before leaving for the academy. Now that you¡¯re an Archmage, no guard would turn a blind eye to it, not when they can make you such a favor.¡¯</i>

    The shock allowed her to shrug off the lingering sadness from losing her humanity that still clouded her mind.

    "I know that your grudge runs deep." Raaz said.

    "That¡¯s why we didn¡¯t give him any reply and waited for your return. This is a matter that requires a unanimous decision from the family. I can understand your anger, especially after all you¡¯ve gone through. That¡¯s why we didn¡¯t mention it to you."

    He looked at Kam, giving her a nod as a silent thank you. She had done what he couldn¡¯t due to his conflicting responsibilities as Lith¡¯s father and Elina¡¯s husband.

    "Orpal, I mean, Meln seems to have truly changed, Lith." Rena said, trying to hold back her tears.

    "I¡¯ll never forget all the bad things that he did and said, but maybe it¡¯s time to forgive him. He¡¯s still my twin brother and I can¡¯t bear the thought of him ending up dead in an alley like Trion."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t care." Lith cursed his brain for itsck of tact, before realizing that it was Tista speaking. "Trion abandoned us long before he had the gall to disown this family because having magically talented siblings hurt his ego.

    "He never bothered keeping in touch with any of us, not even with Mom who worried for him every day and yet he dared to put whatshisname as his emergency contact? Do I need to remind you that whatshisname didn¡¯t get disowned for stealing bread but because he tried to kill Lith in cold blood?"

    Those words opened old wounds that not even the passing of a decade had healed. Elina clenched her c.h.e.s.t, knowing they were true and yet wishing they were just a lie.

    "Trion did everything on his own, without caring for us once in his whole life. If he did, he wouldn¡¯t havemitted suicide, let alone leaving a note that was bound to make you feel guilty.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I stopped considering him my brother when he missed Rena¡¯s wedding, when he didn¡¯te for my graduation, when he didn¡¯t bother replying to a single letter of the many that Mom wrote him.

    "As for whatshisname..." Tista was too angry to remember the new name and refused to use the old one.

    ing back like that proves that he hasn¡¯t changed one bit. He¡¯s still an opportunistic jerk that uses his own brother¡¯s death to crawl his way back into a now rich family and get the share of money that he surely thinks he¡¯s entitled to."

    Tista¡¯s face was red while her hands were white from clenching them hard. Her whole body trembled in outrage as her mana almost went wild, releasing cyan pulses with every breath she took.

    "What she said." Lith said while pointing at Tista.

    By taking most of his words out of his mind, she had allowed him to calm down enough to finally manage to open his eyes without destroying the house.

    "Trion¡¯s death upsets me only because it hurts you guys. Death doesn¡¯t change the past nor does it make him into a better person. My only question is if Meln has nned or not his return with the help of Kam¡¯s parents."

 Chapter 1266 - Black Sheep (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1266 - ck Sheep (Part 2)</h4>

    "How can you say that? Is everything a conspiracy to you?" Raaz said, moving his eyes from Lith to Elina.

    His wife was so pale and looked so weak that she could faint at any moment. Elina had never hoped that such deep wounds would get patched up easily, but she didn¡¯t expect from her children such a firm rejection either.

    "Good gods, you¡¯re right!" Kam felt her knees getting weak and searched for Lith¡¯s hand. "They could have researched your family history and kept tabs on your lost brothers.

    "I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯re pulling Meln¡¯s strings and riding his sob story to get what they want. It makes much more sense now."

    "Kam, how can you say that? They are your parents!" Elina said amid tears.

    "I can say that exactly because they are my parents. They used me for sixteen years and threw me away the moment they didn¡¯t need me anymore. I¡¯m not going to let them ruin my life again.

    "They never looked for me except when they needed something and I don¡¯t see why this time it should be any different!" Kam¡¯s rage and Lith¡¯s hand had given her the strength to stand up again.

    What followed was as ugly as only a family argument can be, ruining the lunch and everyone¡¯s mood. Neither side needed to throw mean words because their respective positions were so irreconcble that anything they said stung at the other like a de.

    Raaz and Elina mourned their lost child. Their pain made them incapable of understanding how Lith and Tista could shrug off not one, but two members of their family.

    The two siblings, in turn, couldn¡¯t forgive their parents for being so inconsiderate. They had not only let someone Lith and Tista deeply despised inside their house, but even wanted to bring him back into their lives.

    Rena was caught in the middle of the two factions. The rtionship between the twins ran deep. She and Orpal had lots of memories together, be they about taking care of their siblings or of the farm.

    Also, Rena had never truly given up on Trion, always hoping that one day he woulde to his senses. She knew him as prideful and hard-headed, but he had never been a bad person.

    Trion¡¯s loss left a hole in her heart that Rena wished that her twin would fill, yet she knew him best and didn¡¯t trust Orpal near any of her children.

    <i>¡¯Lith and Tista are right, but they must also realize that Mom is not an Awakened. Their longevity makes them n in the long term but for the rest of us, death wille before they get a single grey hair.</i>

    <i>¡¯As a mother, I understand that she wants to see her children settle down and enjoy her grandchildren while she has still the strength to do it. Orpal represents Mom¡¯s opportunity to make up for the mistakes that she thinks she made with Trion and to bring the family back together.</i>¡¯ Rena thought.

    Once both sides gave up on changing the mind of the other, Lith dragged Kam and Tista inside his room. He briefly exined to them his agreements with Count Lark in the case Orpal/Meln returned to Lutia while calling the Lord of the L.u.s.tria County.

    "Did you really n to get him captured and killed?" Tista hated Orpal, but that was too much, even for her.

    "Only if he came back with a revenge in mind. I expected Orpal to try something stupid, like he always did. Yet after I enrolled in the White Griffon and he finished his military service, Orpal just disappeared.

    "I thought that the gap between us had be too big for his ego to bear or that maybe he knew about the Queen¡¯s Corps protecting our house. Either way, it seems I was wrong." Lith replied.

    "Lith, it¡¯s so good to hear from you." Count Lark¡¯s hologram said. "Please, just tell me that for once you are giving me a courtesy call. I¡¯m a bit tired of hearing from you only when you need something from me."

    Despite the seriousness of the situation, the nobleman¡¯s words struck a nerve. Seeing Lith flinch in embarrassment made both women chuckle.

    Count Trequill Lark hadn¡¯t changed much since thest time Lith had seen him in person. He was a man in histe fifties, around 1.83 meters (6¡¯) tall with a thin build that made him appear even taller.

    The Count had thick ck hair and a short-trimmed goatee with streaks of grey. His inseparable ck-rimmed monocle was attached to his b.r.e.a.s.t pocket with a blue silk string.

    He held a ss of whiskey in one hand while he used the other to set the amulet so that he could see all of his surprise guests.

    "Tista, you grow more beautiful with each passing year. You are a sight from sore eyes and a scourge to the County¡¯s postal service. I have filled a barn with the letters addressed to you since thest time you bothered to pick them up."

    "I¡¯m very sorry, dear Count." Tista gave him a curtsy. "Unlike mymunication rune, my address is public and I can¡¯t deal with the craziness of people who propose to me after having seen me once during some public ceremony."

    "Constable Yehval, your charming smile never ceases to amaze me. I hope you¡¯ll forgive the curiosity of an old coot. How can an officer as skilled as you have so much trouble turning a single scoundrel Archmage into an honest man?" Lark asked, making Lith blush.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but this is no courtesy call." Lith cut him short, having no d.e.s.i.r.e to hear what his old friend had to say about him. "Meln is back and he¡¯s not alone."

    The Count spat out his drink, making his hologram disappear for a second, as his monocle jumped out of his eye orbit from surprise. Lith reported everything he had learned from his parents just a few minutes ago.

    Both the news of Trion¡¯s death and the possible involvement of Kam¡¯s parents made Lark spat out more of the whiskey that he tried to drink to calm down and made his monocle jump around like a cricket.

    "I¡¯d better put this down or my butler, Poltus, will re at me for days." Lark said while finally putting his ss down after wasting a good half a bottle of liquor. He had taken just a few sips, but there was so much alcohol in the air that it made him tipsy.

    "Here¡¯s what I know. I never revoked the order I gave before you got admitted to the White Griffon and with all the security due to the undead threat, I find it unlikely he managed to reach Lutia unnoticed without someone helping him." He looked at Kam with an apologetic expression on his face.

    "Do you know anything about what he did after leaving the army?" Lith asked.

    "No, my influence ends at L.u.s.tria¡¯s borders. I asked my neighbors to keep an eye for him as well, but they either deceived me or Meln stayed away from the Distar Marquisate.

    "I can ask Lady Distar, if you want, but I¡¯d say that the answer to your problems is closer than you think. Unlike nobles, the power of Constables is not limited by their territory." Lark gave Kam a respectful bow.

 Chapter 1267 - Copycat (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1267 - Copycat (Part 1)</h4>

    "Let the Marchioness know of my situation." Lith had never forgotten about Lady Distar¡¯s barrette that shielded her magical talent from detection.

    ording to Orion, cloaking devices were a state secret that couldn¡¯t be given out without the permission of the Royals. Marchioness Distar was supposed to be just a medium rank noble, yet she had one and even pretended to not have magical powers.

    Lith didn¡¯t know that she actually was the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps and a personal friend of the Queen, but during his time at the academy, he had understood that her role in the Kingdom wasn¡¯t as simple as it appeared.

    "Kami, the Count is right. Can you dig up information about Meln, Orpal, or whatever name he uses now?" Lith asked.

    "I can, but not from here and not now. I¡¯m on leave and to ess the Constablework while not being part of any investigation would raise a g in the system." She replied.

    "There¡¯s no rush." Lark dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand. "Now that Lith is here I doubt Meln will dare show his face. Even if he does, I¡¯m certain that digging for information or for a grave will be equally easy."

    The nobleman steel gaze and Lith¡¯s nod in reply told the two women that they weren¡¯t joking.

    "How are you faring, dear Lark?" Lith tried to lighten the mood after noticing the shocked expression of hispanions.

    "Retirement is good, you should give it a try. My children have grown into fine administrators and their Counties are thriving while I¡¯m free to spoil my grandkids." Lark moved themunication amulet, to show them a series of family paintings depicting five happy-looking children of different ages.

    Among his many hobbies, Lark had a knack for painting.

    "I¡¯m d to see that the Lark bloodline is safe." Lith said with a smile while remembering about his short stay at the Count¡¯s manor as a child.

    "Maybe and maybe not." Lark chuckled and showed Lith a small piece of paper that he used as a bookmark.

    It had a single word written on it: Past.

    "What the heck? This isn¡¯t a joking matter, that¡¯s Balkor¡¯s warning!" Its sight sent a cold shiver down Tista¡¯s spine.

    Ilyum Balkor, the god of death, was the bogeyman who had terrorized the Griffon Kingdom for eleven years. He had single-handedly put the whole country on its knees by ughtering the upper echelons of the most important institutions every year on the anniversary of the death of his family.

    "No, it¡¯s not." Lark shook his head. "A lot of maniacs use Balkor¡¯s signature card to y stupid pranks or send death threats. I sent it to the Balkor Department, just to be sure, and they confirmed my suspicions.

    "The paper is wrong, the ink is wrong, the handwriting is wrong. I mean, why would Balkor resent me? I¡¯m no one and he didn¡¯t live in L.u.s.tria. This is just the sick joke of some psycho."

    "Let¡¯s hope you are right." Lith didn¡¯t feel as calm as the Count. The only time he had faced Balkor¡¯s undead army, he had almost lost Protector and his life force had been crippled as result.

    "Soon there will be a Royal g for reasons that I cannot disclose as of yet, but I would like to bring both you and the Marchioness as my guests."

    "It will be my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." Lark nodded. "My heart hopes it¡¯s about your engagement announcement but cold logic dictates it must be about another one of your insane achievements."

    Lark had noticed how the others didn¡¯t find the fake Balkor note as funny as he did so he rushed to a more embarrassing topic to lighten the mood. The Count asked the three of them a lot of personal questions until Balkor was thest thing on their mind.

    Meanwhile, a simr conversation on apletely different tone took ce on one of the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s safest channels.

    "Who else did get one?" Marchioness Mirim Distar held a piece of paper identical to the one Lark had received between her index and medium finger.

    "In the White Griffon, we got four. Me, Vastor, Manohar, and Wanemyre." Headmaster Duke Marth said while showing four cards on his desk.

    "My husband and I got one each as well. Whoever this is, they got guts. They didn¡¯te through the regr mail, I found them in my bedroom." Archon Jirni Ernas said.

    "What¡¯s your conclusion?" Queen Sylpha asked Pazeol Vyntar, one of the leading figures in the Balkor department.

    He was a man in his mid-twenties with ck hair and brown eyes. Three long and thin scars ran from his jaw to his neck. They were the marks left by Balkor¡¯s Valors during his attack on the six great academies seven years back.

    Like many students who had survived, Pazeol had decided to keep his scars to never forget and never forgive the Blood Magus.

    "This is not Balkor, but a crafty copycat." His face was cold, but a burning rage lit his eyes.

    "The MO, the delivery mode, and even the timing of the notice doesn¡¯t match. Whoever it is, they have the resources to get to the fake info we use as bait to find corrupt high-level clerks but no actual knowledge of how Balkor moved.

    "There¡¯s no way to know if it¡¯s another necromancer, a terrorist, or just an idiot until the day of the anniversary. I¡¯d like to take charge of the investigation and of punishing the culprit."

    "Denied." Archon Ernas replied. "I didn¡¯t find anything and I doubt you can do any better. One wrong move and we risk alerting our enemy of how seriously we¡¯re taking their threat.

    "The ego of someone who tries to steal Balkor¡¯s spotlight can¡¯t afford to be ignored. We¡¯ll make our preparations in silence and let theme to us."

    "But-"

    "I agree with Archon Ernas." The Queen cut Pazeol short and ended the debate. "Any idea what the endgame of our enemy might be, Spellbreaker Pazeol?"

    "Aside from the obvious answer, none. Those who have received the threats have only one thing inmon, they all helped Archmage Verhen in the past." He said.

    ***

    After the meeting ended, Jirni took a magically sealed box out of her dimensional amulet. Theplex cloaking spells engraved on its surface made it invisible to both mystical and physical means of detection.

    Not even a Royal Forgemaster could find it, only the one who had imprinted it could perceive the box. Once opened, it revealed to contain an odd-lookingmunication amulet made of Orichalc.u.m instead that of silver and with a violet mana crystal fueling it.

    "Do you know anything about this story?" Jirni asked after repeating everything she had just learned.

    "Only that it wasn¡¯t me and that I don¡¯t care for copycats. Yet if they dare to desecrate the death of my family to try and turn my legacy for their gains, I¡¯ll make sure that¡¯s thest mistake they ever make."

    Ilyum Balkor had no love left for the Griffon Kingdom, yet he couldn¡¯t stand idly while everything he had worked hard for, to the point of sacrificing most of his life force, was twisted beyond recognition.

 Chapter 1268 - Copycat (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1268 - Copycat (Part 2)</h4>

    Jirni let the god of death rant while she checked on Manohar¡¯s position. She already had two gods dancing on the palm of her hand and Jirni was eager to discover if she could get a third.

    ***

    Lith¡¯s house, Vige of Lutia, a few hourster.

    "We are about to have some tea, dear. Would you mind joining us?" Elina asked after knocking on Lith¡¯s door.

    "Thanks, Mom. We¡¯ll be there in a minute." Tista replied while hugging her mother.

    No matter how angry they got at each other, it wouldn¡¯tst long. Elina loved her children too much to hold a grudge for more than a few minutes.

    "I¡¯m sorry for earlier." Elina said while returning the embrace. "Between Orpal¡¯s death, your brother almost dying again, and hearing how much you suffered, I wasn¡¯t thinking clearly. Gods, why did all of this have to happen at the same time?"

    Tista would have liked to say that Orpal was bad news in more than one way, but it would have achieved nothing but hurt her mother more.

    "I¡¯m sorry too, Mom. I shouldn¡¯t have said all those things." She actually said.

    "Don¡¯t think for a moment that I¡¯ve forgotten about all the bad things that your brother has ever said and done to you." Elina let go of Tista and took Lith¡¯s face between her hands.

    "I haven¡¯t forgiven him either. Pretty words are cheap. Yet if he really has changed, then he deserves to be at least part of my life if you don¡¯t want him in yours. Are you willing to help your stupid Mom to make sure it¡¯s not all an act?"

    "First, you¡¯re not stupid, Mom, you¡¯re just too kind for your own good." Lith didn¡¯t have a shred of resentment toward her. There was a reason why Mogar took her semnce in front of him.

    If not for Elina, Lith would have never cared about anyone but himself. Her unconditional love had quelled the abyss inside of him back when he was trapped inside his infant body and kept his fury at bay until he had met Solus.

    Even after learning that Lith was a hybrid and maybe not even her son, Elina had been the first member of the family to ept him.

    "Second, you don¡¯t even have to ask. I¡¯ll help you to the best of my abilities, but you have to promise me that you¡¯ll keep an open and clear mind. The truth is pointless to those who refuse to see it."

    "I promise." Elina hugged him, making sure once again that he wasn¡¯t hurt in any way.

    The rest of the day passed uneventfully. After an awkward start, the mood of the Verhen family returned to normal. Later, that evening, Lith informed Vastor of the threat that Zinya¡¯s parents posed to her and asked Kam to thoroughly investigate Orpal.

    He also contacted his friends and arranged a meeting for the following day at Solus¡¯s tower.

    They met at dawn since both parties had many things to say and knowledge to share. Quy went first, sharing the events inside the Fringe, what they had learned about how tomunicate with Mogar, and the new magic they had learned.

    Friya had be a Gravity Mage while Quy had be the first human true mage and even dabbled in Light Mastery now.

    "Seriously? Elves?" Solus couldn¡¯t believe her own ears. "Aside from the golden skin and the shitty attitude, they look like those in Dun-"

    She pointed at Quy¡¯s hologram until Lith¡¯s re cut her short.

    "I mean, what a bunch of assholes!"

    Before anyone could wonder what she meant, Lith told them everything that had happened in Reghia first and then in Kolga, leaving out only the part about Carl.

    Listening to the fate of the humans in Jiera, to the fight against the Puppeteer Abomination, and to Khalia¡¯s fate was an emotional roller coaster that peaked when Solus used the tower¡¯s abilities to make a hologram of her real appearance ovep with her energy body.

    "This is how I¡¯m supposed to look like." She said while dispelling the illusion. There was no joy in her voice, only sadness.

    Yet their ride derailed when Lith told them the truth about himself and an awkward silence fell in the tower¡¯s main hall.

    "That¡¯s what you couldn¡¯t tell me in Reghia?" Phloria was bbergasted.

    It all made sense to her now. She had actually guessed it from the moment she had learned about how Awakened turned into Abominations, but she had always denied the possibility that Lith wasn¡¯t really human.

    "Yes. I didn¡¯t tell Solus either. She already had too much on her te and Kam deserved to be the first to know about mytest crazy shit for once. I owed her that much." Lith said.

    "Are you two still together?" Quy asked in reflex while trying to calm the storm that raged inside her head.

    "Even though I have a hard time believing it myself, we are. She said that between my Abomination side and my brief death at birth, she had already guessed, yet she doesn¡¯t care about it." Lith¡¯s words made everyone¡¯s eyes but Phloria¡¯s go wide in surprise.

    After the initial shock, it was the same thing that she would have told him if he decided to share that news with her first. Except he didn¡¯t and it really hurt.

    "After talking with Solus and Protector, I don¡¯t care about it either. He is right. What I am doesn¡¯t change who I am or the way I love my family. Later I¡¯m going to inform Faluel as well but I wanted to tell you guys first.

    "I¡¯ll understand if you want to have nothing to do with me anymore, but I have to ask you to keep it for yourself. My life is already messy as it is and I don¡¯t need more trouble." Lith left the room to not be the proverbial elephant in the room while they decided what to do.

    "You didn¡¯t have to tell them right now, you know?" Solus¡¯s wisp rested on his shoulder.

    After experiencing her human body, she could barely stand her energy form. Everything she saw, felt, and heard was now a pale imitation of the real thing as if a thin veil of cotton was spread over her body and dulled her senses.

    "Yeah, but I don¡¯t want to keep lying. I have no need for fair-weather friends and they need to know the risks in the case I lose it. As Protector said, the first thing a real Abomination do is killing all those closest to them." Lith c.a.r.e.s.sed her gently, feeling her sadness as his own.

    The door opened barely a second after he had left, letting out Nalrond and Phloria.

    "You have yet to tell me what you did with the Hands of Menadion and with the white crystal. I¡¯m no Forgemaster but they are both priceless treasures that could help fix the problem with my two sides." The Rezar said, leaving Lith bbergasted.

    "Don¡¯t be so surprised. Ever since we met, I¡¯ve never considered you a human. Humans don¡¯t shapeshift nor do they turn into frigging giants. I always knew you were a monster so giving it a tag changes little.

    "Protector trusts you and Mogar considers you as one of her children. That¡¯s more than enough for me." Nalrond shrugged.

 Chapter 1269 - Solusâ€™s True Power (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1269 - Solus¡¯s True Power (Part 1)</h4>

    "I¡¯d like to see the white crystal as well. Even though my household is rich, Dad isn¡¯t allowed to bring them home or to use them for anything outside his Royal Forgemasteringb." Phloria said, not adding a single word about epting so easily Lith being an Abomination, no matter how long he stared at her.

    He brought them to the second underground floor where the crystal mines were located. The Eye of Kolga had taken deep roots that spread throughout the tower walls, connecting it to all the other crystals.

    "What the heck is it doing?" Nalrond asked after noticing that wherever the white veins touched, the color of the lesser crystals turned brighter.

    "My guess is that since there¡¯s nothing past white and that, due to the crystal being already cut, it cannot grow further, the Eye of Kolga uses the energy from the tower to ovee its natural limits." Solus replied.

    "Can you please dumb it down for me?" Nalrond said.

    "It¡¯s rearranging the crystalttice of lesser gemstones to match its own." Solus replied.

    "Okay, now pretend I¡¯m ten years old and exin it again." Nalrond scratched his head in embarrassment.

    "It¡¯s giving a special embrace to the other crystals that elerates their growth and helps them to absorb the world energy more easily." Solus chuckled.

    "It¡¯s beautiful." Phloria ced her hand on the crystal and used Invigoration to study it. "Did you try adding the Adamant we received from Xoth? Based on what Tista learned, the process that makes crystal grow applies to enchanted metals as well."

    The Eye of Kolga didn¡¯t look to Invigoration like a piece of stone with a mana core, but as an Awakened mana core the size of an a.d.u.l.t man. It rhythmically drew in the world energy as if it breathed, splitting it into the six elements before reassembling it again and sending it through the white veins.

    Phloria could almost feel the crystal wailing as it searched for a suitable body.

    "I did, but if the tower has a metal mine as well, it¡¯s on another floor." Lith sighed.

    "Is it alive?" Phloria pulled her hand away with surprise.

    "No. It doesn¡¯t have any life force or consciousness. What you felt are just the echoes of the souls trapped in Kolga, but they are fading away." Lith replied.

    "Then why does it look like a mana core?"

    "It doesn¡¯t, you¡¯re just blinded by its brilliance. Ignore the wails and look deeper."

    Phloria followed his instructions and made another attempt. The white crystal was just filled to the brim with world energy that the cutting process hadpressed to its utmost limit.

    She had mistaken it for a mana core because Phloria had never seen such dense energy in an inanimated object and because the nature of the white crystal focused the world energy, giving it a spherical form.

    Meanwhile, in the living room, Friya and Quy didn¡¯t know what to do.

    "An Abomination. I¡¯m already having trouble dating an Emperor Beast and Kam didn¡¯t even flinch in front of an Abomination!" Quy said.

    "Yeah, she must have gone through a lot before meeting Lith to be so decisive. I would¡¯ve needed at least two sses of Blue Phoenix before making my mind." Friya nodded.

    "Are you serious?"

    "Dead serious. If I found someone that loved me despite my ws and that I loved back despite theirs, after going through thick and thin together for three years, I wouldn¡¯t break up with them over a minor detail." She shrugged.

    "If you¡¯ve already made your decision, why are you still here?"

    "Because if I left, you¡¯d probably act out of peer pressure. Without a gorgeous friendly ear, you wouldn¡¯t be able to voice your doubts." Friya said.

    "Thest time Phloria had to talk me into staying friends with Lith after learning that he¡¯s a hybrid and now you want me to set aside the fact that he¡¯s an Abomination like dust under a rug. Is there something wrong with me or with you two?" Quy asked.

    "Neither. We just have different points of view. To me, the breaking point was learning that Ryman was an Emperor Beast married to a human woman who had given him children.

    "After a huge bender and fighting side by side with him, I realized that Ryman is a good person and he deserves to be happy. After that, the rest came easy. Why do you think I had no trouble epting that Lith was a hybrid or swearing alliance to a huge Hydra?

    "Do you think less of Faluel because she¡¯s an Emperor Beast? Of Nalrond because a he¡¯s a hybrid or of Marth if he decided to date that crazy Dryad?"

    "No, they are all wonderful people. I don¡¯t like that Ryssa, but I¡¯ve never seen Marth smile that often ever since we left Laruel. He¡¯s the one who has to put up with her tomfoolery, so as long as he¡¯s happy, I¡¯m happy as well." Quy replied.

    "Then how is this any different? I¡¯m not telling you to trust a random Abomination, but to trust Lith who also happens to be part Abomination." Quy tried to reply, but Friya gestured for her to wait.

    "As I see it, Elina gave him his human side just like Mogar gave him his beast side. He told us that he wasn¡¯t normal ever since the fourth year of the academy and until a couple of days ago, neither we nor he knew what he really was.

    "Now that we got our answer, how does it change our rtionship?"

    Quy froze for a few seconds as she thought back to all the things they had gone through together. To how much Lith had suffered when he believed to have lost Protector for good despite having sacrificed so much of his life force in the attempt to save him.

    To how that sacrifice would sooner orter kill Lith. Then, she remembered all the times that he had stood by her side in her hour of need just because he cared about her.

    A tear streamed down her eye at the memory of how he didn¡¯t hesitate to reveal his hybrid nature to save her in Kh or to give out Solus¡¯s secret to save Phloria in Feymar.

    "I think you¡¯re right." Quy said after a while. "No matter if his base is human, beast, or Abomination, Lith is still the same person I¡¯ve known for years. Thanks for helping me to realize it before I did something I would¡¯ve regretted my whole life."

    "That¡¯s what big sisters are for, little one." Friya ruffled her hair while standing on the tiptoes, to recreate the height gap that separated them back at the academy.

    "Stop calling me little one, you know how much I hate that moniker." Quy left the room and the tower warped her in the mines where the rest of the group discussed how the white crystal affected the other gemstones.

    Friya came inst a few secondster, noticing that Lith sighed in relief at her sight.

    <i>¡¯He must have been afraid that I would leave the tower without even saying goodbye.¡¯</i> She thought while walking in front of him with an embarrassed look on her face.

 Chapter 1270 - Solusâ€™s True Power (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1270 - Solus¡¯s True Power (Part 2)</h4>

    "I¡¯m sorry that it took me so long toe here. I want you to know that I never doubted our friendship. I was just scared. All the undead I met until now were bad people and hearing that you are some kind of undead and an Abomination at that overwhelmed me." Friya said.

    Quy opened her eyes wide, realizing that Friya had decided to take the fall for theirteing to not make things more awkward between her and Lith.

    "Don¡¯t apologize, being scared is natural. Even I am afraid of myself ever since I almost killed Solus while fighting the Puppeteer." Lith hugged her, thankful to Friya just for being still there and for not quivering at his touch.

    "Watch your hands, big guy, or I¡¯ll tell Kam." She chuckled while returning the embrace. "By the way, have you decided what you want to do with the Hands?"

    "Mine or Menadion¡¯s?" Lith asked, moving one hand on her hip and changing his stance as if he was about to kiss her.

    "The Hands of Menadion, smartass." Friya said with a chuckle.

    "Then no. The problem is that an imprint cannot be taken back so unless I give them to someone disposable, it¡¯s not like I can kill them the moment I change my mind. It¡¯s a big decision." He let Friya go and took the Hands of Menadion out of his pocket dimension.

    They looked like thick silver working gloves with one mana crystal of a different color on each fingertip and a sixth in the middle of their backhand. The crystals went from red on the little finger to blue on the thumb.

    The green gem was reced by a bright silver while the gemstone on the backhand was ck.

    "They are beautiful." Friya wasn¡¯t an Awakened, yet she could feel the hair on the back of her head stand up in front of the raw power the Hands emitted.

    "Is it me, or the six gems represent one element each? Doesn¡¯t that mean that they are all white crystals of which Menadion has amplified the affinity toward a single element to their utmost limit?" Phloria asked.

    "Indeed." Lith said. "It¡¯s a work simr to the sword of Saefel, but meant for crafting rather than fighting."

    "It¡¯s actually better." Solus said while assuming her humanoid form and letting her own gloves cover her hands. They all could notice how the relic rted to the tower and the Hands were almost identical.

    The only differences were Solus¡¯s gloves being white, the gems being positioned on the knuckles, and their number. With just a deep cyan core, Solus could manifest only four mana crystals.

    She drew in the world energy from the geyser below them and split it into its six elementalponents by channeling it through the gloves. The missing gems made the flow of the light, darkness, and fire element thinner, but Solus had no trouble lowering the output of the other elements to make them match.

    Then, she breathed a spark of her vitality in the six streams and they suddenly merged into a single one of emerald green color.

    "Is that Spirit Magic?" Quy was bbergasted.

    "Yes. I¡¯ve scanned the Hands ever since we retrieved them and even though I didn¡¯t imprint them, studying their power core has made me regain this memory about the tower¡¯s abilities.

    "I¡¯m now certain that I possess all the abilities of the four relics of Menadion¡¯s set, I just have to wait until my body fully recovers to master them." Solus said.

    "That¡¯s great for you and Lith, but why does the ability to produce Spirit Magic make the Hands better than the Sword of Saefel?" Phloria asked without bothering to hide the greed in her eyes, just like everyone else in the room.

    "Unless Tyris¡¯s sword has some secret I¡¯m not aware of, only the Hands can be used to both craft powerful relics that employ Spirit Magic and to fuel their master¡¯s spells.

    "The only weakness of Spirit Magic is how mana expensive it is since it relies entirely on the mana core, but with the Hands, one just needs to use a bit of life force to turn the elements into their own mana." Solus said.

    At those words, all those who weren¡¯t Awakened tried to put Solus¡¯s theory into practice. Sess would mean the ability to use Spirit Magic, at least for crafting.

    Conjuring six streams of elemental energy wasn¡¯t hard at their level of mastery. Yet only Friya managed to keep them exactly at the same level due to her being equally attuned with all elements.

    "How the heck do you add life force?" She asked after trying and failing several times.

    "I don¡¯t know." Solus shrugged. "I just do what we do every time Lith breathes his Origin mes. Whatever it is, it must be hard to grasp since not even Kolga¡¯s King used Spirit Magic this way."

    Her words caused a lot of swearing that only ceased once Lith Warped everyone back into the dining room, where hot tea and pastries waited for them.

    "Now that you know what happened in Kolga, I have to tell you what happened here during my absence." He said.

    Aside from Phloria, no one remembered who Trion was. No condolences were asked or given since no one cared about his death if not for the pain it caused Elina. The part about Orpal¡¯s return and Kam¡¯s parents, however, sent the room into an uproar.

    "Here I thought we had it hard in the Fringe!" Quy clenched her cup so hard that if not for its magical nature, she would have crushed it many times already.

    "Do you really think the three events are linked?" After being betrayed by the Dewans, Nalrond¡¯s mistrustful nature had be even worse, but even to him that hypothesis seemed a bit farfetched.

    "I really hope that Orpal didn¡¯t kill Trion just to get back into the family." Tista sighed. "As for Kam¡¯s parents, I don¡¯t know them well enough to answer your question. Orpal¡¯s arrival helps their cause, but not by much.

    "Involving themselves with him is a double-edged sword. It allows them to ride his second chance bullshit, but if their ¡¯business rtionship¡¯ gets exposed, they¡¯ll lose even Zinya¡¯s trust."

    "Call me crazy, but I don¡¯t believe that Trion killed himself." Phloria said.

    "Even after what he did to me, I kept an eye on him because he was your brother. Sure, he was green with envy and would w.h.i.n.e about his family with whoever was willing to lend him an ear, but he loved his job.

    "The army was his new family and he had lots of friends. Before my discharge, I heard that he was about to get promoted. That coupled with the fact that he died months after you became an Archmage instead that immediately after, sounds suspicious to me."

    "Kam is already looking into it, but at this point, maybe it¡¯s better if I ask Jirni for help as well." Lith pondered Phloria¡¯s words, feeling his paranoia sense tingling more and more.

    "Please, you know how my mother works. She probably already has a folder thicker than my arm about everyone involved. I bet that if she found anything suspicious, she would already be at your doorstep." Phloria said with a sneer.

    "You are probably right, but I¡¯ll ask her anyway, just to stay on the safe side." Lith nodded.

 Chapter 1271 - Family and Gifts (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1271 - Family and Gifts (Part 1)</h4>

    "Moreover, until these matters aren¡¯t resolved, I don¡¯t n on leaving Lutia unless it¡¯s strictly necessary.

    "In the meantime, feel free to get back to your respective homes. We all deserve some time to recover from our respective missions. I just need Friya¡¯s help to prepare a present for my parents."

    "What? They almost brought your childhood nemesis back into your home and you want to give them a present?" Phloria asked.

    "Staying angry with them wouldn¡¯t achieve anything but break my family apart. If I¡¯m right about Orpal, that¡¯s exactly what he wants. I¡¯m not going to y by his rules. I¡¯ll just act like always, as if he doesn¡¯t exist." Lith replied.

    "Okay, but why Friya?" Tista felt a bit offended by his choice. "She¡¯s not an Awakened and she¡¯s even the less skilled Forgemaster among us."

    "Thank you, Tista. I love you too." Friya¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "Because among its many horrors, Kolga had a couple of decent ideas I would like to try out. I don¡¯t like the fact that whenever one of us isn¡¯t home our parents are stranded in the middle of nowhere.

    "Regr people cannot fly or Warp, which makes them easy to capture. The moment Mom and Dad get out of the arrays surrounding our house, they are sitting ducks. Even the Queen¡¯s Corps can do only so much since dimensional magic can be easily blocked."

    "All the more reason why you shouldn¡¯t pick Friya." Quy pointed out.

    "One more word and I¡¯ll kick all of your asses!" Friya snorted.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Quy, but I need the Master of Space if I want to craft a DoLorean."

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, Zogar Vastor¡¯s home.

    After sessfully assimting the Abomination core, the Master had plenty of reasons to rejoice. He was stronger than ever, he was now capable of using Chaos magic, and with each passing day he converted more of his spells into true magic.

    His ck core had given him the same abilities of a non-Awakened Emperor Beast and some more. Yet not even Xenagrosh reassuring him that aside from Invigoration nothing could discover his hybrid nature could quench Vastor¡¯s worry and rage.

    Worry because no matter what Xenagrosh said, Manohar couldn¡¯t be underestimated. The god of healing had aplished the impossible with ease so many times that the Master had lost count.

    He couldn¡¯t bear the thought that a casual brush with Manohar would expose his use of the Forbidden Arts and force him to set his n into motion before all of his pieces on the board were in position.

    Unfortunately for him, Vastor couldn¡¯t avoid his esteemed colleague forever. The idea of Tyris piecing together the facts and ruining decades of hard work made his stomach twist into a knot, but even that was nothingpared to the fury that almost clouded his vision.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t believe that those parasites of the Befras dare to mess with both Lith and I. They may be Zinya¡¯s parents, but if they think that I¡¯ll let them ruin the happiness of the only person on this mudball that gives an honest shit about me, they are sorely mistaken.¡¯</i> Vastor thought as ck spots appeared on his skin whenever his emotions let the Chaos energy run rampant.

    <i>¡¯I stayed out of Zinya¡¯s life to keep her from being dragged down with me in the case something goes wrong with my n, but I¡¯ll be damned before I let the same vermin that almost got her killed in the past poison her life again.</i>

    <i>¡¯I wish I could just send Xenagrosh to set them up for an ident, but Lith would take the me for it. Poor kid, he has to deal with both them and his insignificant brother. That one I can kill.</i>

    <i>¡¯I just need to give Lith usible deniability and make sure to make Meln¡¯s entire corpse disappear. The f.u.c.ker has no one and had already gone missing for years. I can either send Meln on a nice one-way trip or make him write a note beforemitting suicide.</i>

    <i>¡¯Scratch that. Lady Verhen has already suffered enough because of Trion. She deserves some peace.¡¯</i> Vastor had a file on Meln of Cyrmu and it was too thin for his liking.

    ording to the intel that Xenagrosh had collected, after the voluntary military service, Meln had left the army because after two years he had failed to be even a Private First ss.

    Meln had proven to be talented, strong-willed, and resourceful, but his thirst for power often interfered with discipline. He had several demerits for arguing with hismanding officers and for starting fights with the other soldiers.

    ording to the notes, they were all rted to his squadmates being promoted faster than him. Meln liked to use his fists more than his brains during an argument, something that the army couldn¡¯t tolerate.

    Following his barely honorable discharge, Meln had fallen into a spiral of crimes that had led him to get in and out of jail. Even as a criminal he was considered a small fry, barely more than a thug.

    Yet the trail went cold right after Lith had graduated from the Academy and earned his family name. Meln seemed to have disappeared for years, leaving no trace of his passage until just a few weeks ago, when he had conveniently learned about his brother¡¯s death.

    A perfect excuse to knock at the Verhen household.

    <i>¡¯Something smells fishy here. Even my contacts in the underworld of the Gorgon Empire and the Blood Desert have failed to find anything about him. If this guy has turned over a new leaf, then I¡¯m a Guardian.¡¯</i> Vastor thought while looking at his own reflection.

    A human body was weakpared to that of monsters and the more he lost control of his ck core, the more flesh the Chaos devoured. The moment the ck dots covered his whole skin, Vastor would die.

    He needed to take several deep breaths to calm down. The Master used the breathing techniques that his adopted children had learned through the millennia to make the Chaos subside.

    Only then could he use healing magic to cover his now exposed muscles with new skin and regrow his lost bits. The ck core gave him strength, but it also fed upon anything containing light element, Vastor¡¯s body included.

    "No offense, kid, but you¡¯re one hundred years too early to return to the human scene. One mistake and you¡¯ll doom us all." A rough, familiar voice that sounded like a barking dog made Vastor turn around.

    The creatureing out of a dimensional gate in vition of all the defensive arrays of his house looked like a humanoid wolf almost 2.5 meters (8¡¯) tall covered by a pitch-ck thick fur and with rainbow colored eyes.

    "What are you doing here? You¡¯re supposed to stand guard to Lith¡¯s house in the case Night returns." The Master had a hard time keeping his anger from maiming his body again.

    "Wargs are great at multi-tasking. One tail is more than enough now that the Wyrmling has returned." Before turning into an Abomination, Tezka had been a Fylgja, a fox-type Emperor Beast that could grow up to seven tails ording to their elemental masteries.

    Their powers worked differently from Hydras and couldn¡¯t use Domination, but it didn¡¯t make them any less dangerous.

 Chapter 1272 - Family and Gifts (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1272 - Family and Gifts (Part 2)</h4>

    After fusing with his Warg half, Tezka had not only broken the natural limit of the Fylgja and reached ten tails.

    He had also gained the ability to split in up to ten bodies, one for each tail. All of them would share the same mind, allowing him to be in multiple ces at the same time or work ten times faster than normal.

    The problem was that his strength would decrease for each clone he created. On top of that, if one of them was killed, Tezka would experience their death and lose the tails that he had bestowed upon them along with the elemental mastery they held.

    Healing magic wouldn¡¯t bring them back, Tezka needed to practice from scratch, wasting time and resources to condense the lost element into his flesh and blood.

    "Which tail did you leave behind?" Vastor was bbergasted seeing how battered the Fylgja was and the item he held in his left hand.

    "The Chaos one. I would never endanger Xenagrosh¡¯s brother or your girlfriend by leaving the Spirit Magic tail." Tezka used the wooden staff to point at the atrophied tail that couldn¡¯t develop due to the Abomination¡¯s inability to use the seventh element.

    "I¡¯m too old for her." Vastor sighed. "What happened to you and what is that thing?"

    "You are now immortal. What are thirty yearspared to eternity?" The Fylgja replied with a literal wolfish smile. "As for your second question, I went to get you a present and I paid the price for it."

    Tezka threw the wooden staff to Vastor who caught it in mid-air, feeling the strain from his ck core subside. Not because an oversized walking cane could tame the Chaos, so much as because all the notions about how to control it that he had crammed since his rebirth finally made sense.

    Vastor could now piece together the best parts from each Abomination¡¯s technique and adapt them to his unique condition.

    "This rity can only mean one thing." Vastor let go of the staff and the knowledge that had been so simple until a moment before went back to being hot air.

    "This is a piece of the World Tree. Where did you get it?"

    "From the original source, where else?" Tezka said with a huge grin while his body mended at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.

    "We Fylgjas may not belong to the Guardians¡¯ bloodlines, but we¡¯re no pushovers. It cost me a lot of pain taking it from the old fossil. The least you could do is say thank you."

    "I¡¯ll thank you after you answer one question. How the heck can I justify having such a treasure without creating a fuss?" Any decent mage knew that even though the wood of the World Tree wasn¡¯t as sturdy as Davross, it was the next best thing.

    Even after being removed from its main body, it would retain the mana capacity of a living being and part of the wisdom of the Tree. It wouldn¡¯t grant its bearer knowledge so much as increase their ability toprehend thews of magic.

    On top of that, if enchanted with spell holding magic, the wood from the World Tree would be capable of storing several spells of all tiers and even of mixing them to produce effects that went beyond normal tier five magic.

    As far as Vastor knew, the Griffon Kingdom possessed only a few of such staves and considered them as state treasures. Brigadier General Vorgh, the Master Warden had one while another had once been entrusted to one of the Professors who had died in Kh.

    "You are the big brain, that¡¯s your part of the job." Tezka shrugged. "Until you don¡¯t get a hang of how to control your ck core, you need a crutch. Also, thanks to the staff you can now use true magic in public and no one will suspect a thing."

    "Thanks, Tezka. Did you carve it yourself?" The Master ran his open palm over the staff, appreciating both its solidity and mana flow.

    The apparently smooth surface of the wood was covered in thin runes of power that ran from the top of the bottom of the staff, forming a spiral pattern that channeled the world energying from the ground and increased the grip.

    Its top had been shaped like a tower with two prancing lions at its sides, the insignia of the Vastor Household. On top of the tower rested a single white crystal the size of an apple that the lions kept in ce with their forelegs and opened mouths.

    "I gave it shape, Xenagrosh carved it a bit, and Bytra enchanted it. It was a team effort, father."

    At those words, Vastor clenched the staff with all of his strength. He couldn¡¯t believe how a failure like him kept receiving so much and yet could give so little in return.

    "I¡¯ll find a way to make use of this thing and to make Mogar a better ce for all of you. You have my word."

    ***

    Trawn woods, Lith¡¯s tower.

    "Making a power core is much different from a simple enchantment. Are you sure we don¡¯t need help?" Friya liked the challenge. Working non-stop for hours until she couldn¡¯t stand anymore just to be Invigorated and start again, not so much.

    "I¡¯m sure." Lith nodded. "Solus and I have the same energy signature so we can¡¯t ruin each other work. Helpers, on the other hand, need to be properly insted. Solus needs practice before managing two people while she also takes care of her part of the job."

    "I¡¯m d everyone thinks so highly of me, but I¡¯m still human." Solus sighed. "The tower provides me with lots of power but it¡¯s up to me to split it between the several procedures at hand. One mistake and all of our work will go down the gutter."

    "I wonder how your mother managed to handle so many apprentices at the same time." Friya looked at the blueprint for the piece that would work as both engine and dimensional focus for the Warp Drive.

    Thanks to her apprenticeship under Professor Khavos Rudd after finishing the academy, she was the only person in the group who knew how dimensional runes operated. At least in theory.

    Back then she had never nned to be a Forgemaster so she didn¡¯t study anything that she couldn¡¯t use for her Guild. A Warp Drive was aplex focus that would allow an enchanted item to handle both dimensional and gravity magic.

    Unlike normal runes which shone of a blue light, dimensional runes were red due to the abundance of fire element needed to boost at the same time all the other elements thatprised gravity magic.

    Friya had to be careful bncing the Warp Drive by engraving on its casing specialized water runes that would suppress the excess fire until it was needed.

    "My guess is that I only recovered her personalb." Solus shrugged while taking care of the silver chassis.

    She still was the best Light Master between them so Lith had tasked her with working on a golden core that would conjure and hold several different kinds of hard-light constructs ording to the circ.u.mstances.

    Both girls and Lith were each working on a differentplex pseudo core that would usually be enough to craft a powerful enchanted item. Yet it was just the first step before assembling them into a power core.

 Chapter 1273 - Power Core (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1273 - Power Core (Part 1)</h4>

    Unlike a pseudo core, a power core could be realized one step at a time and even from different mages. Imbuing huge artifacts like a mage tower or an academy with several enchantments of different nature would have been impossible otherwise, even for someone who already owned a tower.

    The different pieces had to be crafted so that the pseudo cores would merge after assembling their physical vessels. To do that, it was necessary to alter the usual order of Forgemastering procedures and leave the creation of the mana circtory system forst.

    On the one hand, it made the crafting of the single pieces simple since each one of them would only hold a small part of the final enchantment. On the other hand, the pseudo cores had to be positioned so that they wouldn¡¯t disrupt the formation of the mana circtory system.

    That way, the sudden flow of power from the crystal would carry the different pseudo cores to the heart of the artifact and exert a pressure that would allow them to merge into one power core capable of managing all the different enchantment.

    Finding the right position for each core required a lot of nning and even more trial and error. Friya had crafted so many failed Warp Drives that she now almost hated dimensional magic.

    "I can¡¯t believe that someone as stingy as you is wasting so much silver. Do your mines really earn you that much or does thise out of Faluel¡¯s pocket as an apology for the mess in Kolga?" Friya asked.

    "Ites from the mines. I saved every single bit of metal from my shares. There¡¯s a reason why I still live in a two-story cottage and in Kam¡¯s apartment." Lith said with pride.

    "Yeah, the reason is that you are a cheap a.s.s." Friya said with a scoff.

    "Besides, I¡¯m not wasting any silver. Our failures cannot be enchanted anymore, but they can still be melted and sold as jewelry." He ignored her remark and kept working on the propulsion system.

    Each one of them took care of the aspect of the DeLorean that better suited their respective talents. Lith had appreciated the design of Kolga¡¯s flying cars, but they were unsuitable to be used by regr humans.

    Thanks to the Forbidden Sun, Kolgans couldn¡¯t die so their cars had no safety measure nor an emergency system. On top of that, Kolgans could use magic so in the worst-case scenario they would float back on the ground whereas Lith¡¯s parents couldn¡¯t even use tier one spells.

    To make a proper means of transportation instead of a metal death trap, it required a much moreplex design. Lith crafted all the contingency measure pseudo cores necessary in the case his parents ran into an elemental blocking array.

    Friya, instead, used her notions of gravity magic to make the device capable of floating on its own rather than require a constant flow of air magic to lift it. It would make the flight path more stable and allow the vehicle to go faster since only a small part of the energy would be needed to keep it in the air.

    Solus had to take care of the Light Mastery necessary to make the DoLorean safe. Even after being enchanted, silver wasn¡¯t very sturdy, and to cover all the possible scenarios where a flying beast or mage attacked, it would take dozens of spells.

    Light Mastery was the perfect solution since no one used light sealing arrays and the versatility of the constructs allowed the same spell to shape them ording to the situation at hand.

    It could form an external armor to protect the upants from attacks while also fill the interior with a protective foam in case of impacts or crashndings. Lith had devised it as a means of transportation or of escape, not as a weapon.

    Each one of them worked with their respective hammer and even though Friya only had a bright cyan core, her works held the same power that Lith would expect from someone with a blue core.

    "How does that thing work, exactly?" He asked during the lunch break.

    "Not everyone has a tower that conveniently boosts their power. Hydras can use their extra heads to keep the Forgemastering circles stable indefinitely, but their total amount of mana is fixed." Friya replied.

    "I have no idea how this thing has been crafted. All I know is that after being imprinted, my hammer¡¯s enchantment allows it to turn the world energy from the crystals into mana with the same energy signature of its wielder.

    "It works akin to a second mana core that gets refilled over time and allows me to exceed my own limits long enough to craft several pieces before needing to take a break."

    "Can¡¯t you use it forbat spells as well?" Solus tried to put her hands of it, but Friya pped them away.

    "Hands off the merchandise, sister. I don¡¯t try and steal your secrets. The least you could do is return the favor." She snarled.

    "Sorry. Bad habits die hard. I¡¯m too used to liberate all the knowledge I encounter. My Invigoration moves faster than my brain." Solus lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

    "As for your question, I could do that if I was an Awakened or at least a true mage." Friya sighed.

    "I need my hands free to cast spells, remember? Only during a Forgemastering procedure can I finish the hand signs first and then wield the hammer to channel its mana into my spell.

    "In abat situation, it would leave mepletely exposed and keep me from using my estoc."

    After every failure, they needed to revise the blueprints and adjust the position of the pseudo cores, giving Friya¡¯s hammer the time to recharge. Yet changing the rune patterns without altering the spell¡¯s structure needed all her focus and drained her energy.

    After a few days of sleepless work while following Lith¡¯s rhythm, Friya was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    "Is this really your idea of vacation?" She snarled. "If I were Solus, I would have already kicked your a.s.s several times while in Kam¡¯s shoes, I would have dumped you a long time ago. Compared to this, the Fringe was a pleasant experience!"

    "This isn¡¯t a vacation, it¡¯s how Awakened work." Lith shrugged. "You should thank me for giving you the opportunity to live like one of us for a while and put your Forgemastering skills to the test.

    "You¡¯ve tempered your body with mana and even lost some weight. What more could you possibly want?"

    Friya swore like a sailor and left the Forgemasteringb, adding a long streak of death threats that she promised to put into action if he dared to wake her up before eight hours.

    "Don¡¯t you think that you¡¯re being too hard on her? She¡¯s not an Awakened and she went through a lot." Solus said while making a steaming hot full course meal appear on the table in Friya¡¯s room.

    "I know, but I want this to be ready for Kam¡¯s next leave. This way I can bring my family along without the need to constantly babysit them. Also, by returning home for the meals I give them some space after our big argument without making things awkward and I get the opportunity to spend time with you.

    "Two birds with one stone." He said with a warm smile.

 Chapter 1274 - Power Core (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1274 - Power Core (Part 2)</h4>

    "Are you sure you¡¯re not doing it just to avoid facing Elina? Besides, as Friya said, this is not my kind of vacation either. I don¡¯t feel very coddled having to work my a.s.s in ab for over twenty hours a day." Solus sighed.

    "I know from experience how hard it is to live with a big burden on your mind. If I thought that letting you roam through the Kingdom or even past its borders would help, I¡¯d do it without a moment of hesitation." Lith replied.

    "Yet I think that after walking on your legs, no matter thendscape you look at while stuck inside the tower, your mind would be reying those few hours when we taught you how to stand, run, and dance.

    "By working, you can keep your mind and hands busy instead of torturing yourself with the memory of what you have lost. We have the next eight hourspletely free so you have all the time to prove me wrong. What do you want to do?"

    Solus thought for a few seconds about her options. She couldn¡¯t get far from the tower without fading away which forced her to walk in circles like a hamster. To make matters worse, it was broad daylight outside.

    A tower popping out of nowhere and a spirit of light would hardly go unnoticed, forcing her to choose as a destination one of the geysers nearby barrennds. Solus could go back to Jiera where it was already night, but the thought was enough to make her want to cry.

    "I want to sleep, but I don¡¯t want to be alone." She said, turning into her wisp form.

    Lith kept herpany, c.a.r.e.s.sing the wisp until she fell asleep.

    <i>¡¯This was the easy part. The hard one will be when she wakes up and she is forced to face the limits of her condition again.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    Unfortunately, he was right. A few hourster, after the tower had restored her strength, Solus opened her eyes and almost burst into tears when she tried to stretch the limbs that shecked.

    Even turning into her humanoid form didn¡¯t help. She had no toes to wriggle and no bones that would pop. No matter how urate her energy body became, it was still just an imitation of life.

    "Let¡¯s get back to work." Solus covered her face with her hands for a few seconds before getting on her feet.

    Lith said nothing but checked her mana core with Invigoration, hoping that all that time spent together would bring her closer to freedom. Solus¡¯s core had indeed be of a shade brighter, yet it was far from enough.

    Friya joined them a whileter, in a much better mood than at the moment of their separation. Lith and Solus had already arranged the different pieces of the flying car each inside a different magic circle for the final step of the Forgemastering process.

    "Let¡¯s do this. I can¡¯t wait to see if all our efforts will finally pay off. No Forgemaster of my age has ever crafted a power core." She said.

    Lith cleared his throat in reply while pointing at himself.

    "You¡¯re right, sorry. No Forgemaster of my age has ever crafted a power core after only six months of practice like I¡¯m about to do. As for you, I¡¯m sorry but Manohar already beat you to it." She chuckled.

    "Thanks for belittling my work. He did it only after bing a Royal Forgemaster and receiving plenty of training from his masters. Unlike you two, I¡¯m almost self-taught." Lith said with a grunt.

    "And also a sore loser."

    He decided to ignore her and raised his arms. It was the convened signal for everyone to start their respective spell. Assembling a power core required an enormous amount of mana and focus, but splitting the task would also lessen the strain.

    Having a bright blue core and a mage tower, Lith was one of the few people on Mogar that might have pulled it off just with Solus¡¯s help, but in case of failure, he would have wasted their hard work again.

    Lith was a workaholic so starting from scratch wouldn¡¯t bother him much, but Solus and Friya were likely to kill him for it. On top of that, working as a team had several perks.

    Friya¡¯s presence in the final step relieved enough of Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s burden to allow them to greatly increase their precision and make every attemptst much longer than when they worked on their own.

    That way, Lith and Solus had enough time to study how the mana circtory system affected the different pseudo cores and to practice handling the different parts of the power core.

    Lith looked at the different pieces thatprised the skeleton of the vehicle that resembled a minivan and sighed deeply. He had been forced to abandon the idea of reproducing the iconic time-traveling means of transportation in the early stages of the project.

    The original DoLorean looked much cooler, but it was also much less practical. There wasn¡¯t enough space for the kids and both the trunk and the hood had no purpose. Baggage would be stored inside dimensional items and the power source took less space than an orange.

    <i>¡¯If only I knew how to permanently distort space, I could have kept the initial design.¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯Yeah, right. Way to waste an absurdly powerful spell in the name of nerdiness. At that point, why not a blue police box?¡¯</i> Solus was bbergasted when she realized that Lith was actually considering the idea.

    Her sarcasm was wasted on someone that crafted his wands to make them resemble a buzzing screwdriver.

    They started to weave the Bonding spell in unison, to make sure that their respective violet crystal would make contact with the silver at the same time. Under any other circ.u.mstance, such a spell would be part of the preparatory phase along with Runesmithing.

    Yet crafting a power core required a different approach. As the three gemstones started to fuse with the metal structure, they also generated aplexwork of channels that allowed the world energy to flow throughout the silver as if it was a living being.

    In normal enchanted items, the mana circtory system was necessary to imbue a powerful pseudo core into the chosen vessel without making it crumble due to the strain that high volumes of mana exerted on inanimated objects.

    Now, however, its purpose was different.

    The Forgemasters had to harness the violent flow world energy and use it to move the single pseudo cores from their starting position towards the heart of enchantment, right in the middle of the three crystals ced respectively on the hood, the roof, and below the driver¡¯s seat.

    Lith decided to use Friya¡¯s Warp Drive, the mostplex incantation, as the base of the power core, cing it first on the dashboard. The red core wasprised of dimensional runes whoseplexity was on another levelpared even with the golden Light Mastery core that Solus had crafted.

    Normally, Lith would have shaped all the pseudo cores before imbuing them and made them ovep so that they would be able to upy the heart of the enchantment at the same time.

    This time, however, he was crafting something intended for non-mages and as such, it required a high level of automation that could only be achieved by embedding all of the required protocols into a single string of runes.

 Chapter 1275 - Craftsmanâ€™s Pride (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1275 - Craftsman¡¯s Pride (Part 1)</h4>

    Multiple pseudo cores required their user to know how and when to activate one or more of them at the same time whereas a single one once activated would follow its program until it was turned off.

    It was the reason why Lith had decided to craft his first power core. To make sure that even someone with a bright red mana core like his parents could use several powerful types of magic with no effort and little training.

    To assemble a power core, the Forgemaster had to merge several pseudo cores into one, making sure that their runes harmonized so that the resulting core would be greater than the sum of its parts.

    Once Bonded with the metal, mana crystals generated a flow of world energy but during the Bonding process, before the mana circtory system fully formed, the flow was actually a flood.

    The time window between the start of the Bonding and its end was the only moment when the pseudo cores could be moved from their original position, like boats amid a storm on the surface of the sea.

    Friya and Solus harnessed the power from the crystals to move all the pseudo cores near to each other so that Lith could merge them quickly. Yet they also had to keep them far enough from the Warp core to keep them from messing with the formation process of the power core.

    Lith brought both the Warp core and the Construct core to the heart of the enchantment, splitting them both into the runes thatprised their energy body before they touched.

    The mana pathways surrounding the different cores didn¡¯t interfere in the process because they were meant to keep the energy of the pseudo cores they protected from dispersing, not to stop new energy from getting in.

    Otherwise imprinting an enchanted item would have been impossible due to the mana pathways blocking the mana of the mage that was supposed to grant them ownership and to the item the energy source it needed tost forever.

    After several attempts, Lith knew both sequences of runes by heart and had already figured out where theirpatibility was high.

    The process involved not to just attach the runes of the Construct core to the Warp, but to alternate them as if cutting a strand of DNA in multiple ces and fill the gaps between the various extremities with short strings of base pairs from a different strand withoutpromising the stability of the resulting DNA.

    The red and golden runes rearranged themselves ording to Lith¡¯s will, forming a Warp core capable of using Light Mastery. Its size and power surpassed what the mana pathways from the two single cores could contain but that wasn¡¯t a problem.

    Yet.

    Lith then moved the remaining pseudo cores that would grant the final enchantment mastery over the other elements as well. They were smaller and simpler than the previous two and Lith had kept themst for a good reason.

    Even though merging them with either the Warp or the Construct core would have been quick and easy, with each step taken theplexity of the power core would increase.

    This way, instead, he had performed the critical step of the process while the two most powerful cores were in their simplest form, reducing the chances of failure to the minimum.

    The air core would grant the car speed, maneuverability, and stability. The fire and water cores served both in contingency situations and to create air conditioning. The earth core would soften a crashnding while the darkness core would keep the car clean.

    With each pseudo core that Lith merged, Friya and Solus increased the number of mana pathways surrounding the heart of the enchantment. The pressure they generated kept the power core stable and helped Lith in the assembling process.

    Once they finished, the power core resembled a white dwarf whose heat spread evenly throughout the car, exerting a mana pressure that made the hair on the back of the group¡¯s neck stand up.

    Mana pathways weren¡¯t meant to contain something that powerful, they merely aided its creation. Lith, Friya, and Solus chanted the tier five Forgemastering spell, Seal, in unison.

    Each one of them generated a string of Forgemastering runes with Spirit Magic that surrounded the power core like orbital rings a until all of its mana was sealed in the space between the core and the rings.

    Friya¡¯s work was easily identifiable being of the silvery color of her Royal Forgemaster wand instead of emerald green like that of an Awakened.

    A long tense silence followed as the trio waited to see if they had actually seeded or if something would go wrong again, turning hours of sweat and hard work into scrap metal.

    Then, a rainbow of different colored runes covered the surface of the silver as the magic from the power core spread throughout every nook and cranny of the structure, allowing the different spells to recognize the car as their own body.

    After each enchantment thatprised the power core bonded with the section of the car it was intended to control and oversee, the runes disappeared forever from sight. Thanks to its cloaking system, even Invigoration would only show the magical equivalent of a Pollock painting.

    "We did it!" Solus jumped with joy for the first time in days, hugging her partners to share with them her bliss for a job well done.

    "We made a real power core in less than a week!" Lith was the first to not believe his own ears.

    "I can finally go home and have a real vacation!" Friya was so happy that she almost kissed them both.

    Faluel was a strict but fair teacher, but Lith was brutal. Failure with him meant to figure out what had gone wrong and start over the moment they had regained their mental focus.

    Unfortunately for her, between the abundant world energy in the tower and Invigoration, such a break wouldst just long enough for her to eat an army¡¯s protein bar.

    "What do you mean, go home?" Lith froze at her words. "We still have to fix the interior and then give it a test ride. Do you really want to miss-"

    "Let me know how it goes, but don¡¯t you dare to contact me before two days unless it¡¯s a life-or-death situation." Friya cut him short while using the tower¡¯s Warping Mirror to reach Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate.

    From there a City Gate would lead her home, away from the forcedbor that in Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s mind passed as fun. She even turned off hermunication amulet, just to stay safe.

    "That was rude." Lith felt slightly offended. "I even prepared her meals to let her eat here while she rested."

    "Yeah, you only had to grant Friya yard time to be a real jailer." Solusughed her a.s.s off while she used her dimensional pocket to move the custom-made sofas inside the sealed chassis of the car.

    Exining to the artisan why the sofas¡¯ frame had to be made out of metal rather than of wood and why they needed to have something ufortable as a seat belt had been a hassle that only paying an extra in silver had avoided.

    The metal frame allowed Lith to fuse them with the rest of the car, while the belts would keep both the children and the a.d.u.l.ts safe.

 Chapter 1276 - Craftsmanâ€™s Pride (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1276 - Craftsman¡¯s Pride (Part 2)</h4>

    Aside from the minivan shape of the vehicle, Lith¡¯s biggest gripe with its design was Mogar¡¯sck of tires. If gum trees existed, no one had yet figured out their potential or even reported their existence and the chemical process to obtain synthetic rubber wasn¡¯t worth its trouble.

    It forced him to use four wooden wheels to keep the car lifted from the ground.

    "Do you think my parents will like it?" Lith asked.

    "They will either love it or be scared shitless. Only one way to find out." Solus said.

    "Do you want to follow your master jailer or would you rather have a well-deserved vacation as well?"

    "Are you kidding me? What kind of craftsman would miss the unveiling of their original creation? Of course I want to check how it performs and how it¡¯s received, but if I have to use one more spell for non-recreational purposes, I¡¯ll fry your a.s.s." Solus said.

    Lith gave the car the finishing touches before storing it inside his dimensional amulet and going back home just in time for lunch.

    <i>¡¯Told you so.¡¯</i> Solus chuckled noticing Friya fast asleep on one of the couches in the living room. <i>¡¯How cute. She even speaks your name in her sleep.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Yeah, too bad it¡¯s associated with swear words.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    Between the fatigue from the crafting and Warping her way back from Derios after changing her mind, Friya was dead tired.

    "You didn¡¯t tell me we would have guests for lunch today." Elina scolded Lith while she checked him for injuries.

    Her son seemed to be a ma for disasters to the point that she feared for his well-being even when Lith went for groceries.

    "I didn¡¯t tell you because I didn¡¯t know either. Besides, with the amount of food you prepare every day, we could feed a small toon." Lith tried to take her hands off of him, receiving a big hug in return.

    "That¡¯s because you need to eat properly to grow into a fine man."

    "Mom, I¡¯m almost neen. My growth spurt is over and I can mostly grow horizontally now." Lith surrendered and returned the embrace.

    "Nonsense. I¡¯m sure that with two life forces you can get even taller." From her worried tone, one would think that Lith was short for his age instead of being already 20 centimeters (8¡¯) taller than her.

    "Did you spend thest few days with Friya? Is that the reason why you were never home?" She asked while sighing in relief.

    "Yes, Mom. I wasn¡¯t trying to avoid you. I was just working on a new project, just like I told you a hundred times."

    "It was just work, right? Kam has no reason to be jealous." Between Friya¡¯s youth and beauty, Elina worried a lot at the idea of the two of them spending so much time together.

    "Mom!" Lith raised his voice so much that Friya woke up.

    "I¡¯ll take my steak medium-rare, thanks." She said before using a Hush spell on herself and falling asleep again.

    When the meal was ready Lith had to use Invigoration on Friya to allow her to enjoy her food without cking out from time to time.

    "What was the big project about? Did you finally seed or did you give up?" Tista had no idea what Lith had nned and was a bit angry for having been left out of it.

    "The craziest, but not the ugliest thing I have ever seen." Friya replied as her appetite came with eating, consuming even more food than Lith.

    "I wasn¡¯t with you guys in Kolga so I don¡¯t know how much he copied and how much of its design is original, but I think that overall, it¡¯s a masterpiece of ingenuity."

    "What does it do?" Tista¡¯s question expressed the curiosity of all those at the table.

    "Beats me." Friya shrugged, making them groan in disappointment. "With my skill level, I consider myself lucky to have seeded crafting a Warp Core."

    "It¡¯s a present for Mom and Dad." Lith would have liked to surprise them, but between the begging eyes of the a.d.u.l.ts and the kids pulling his clothes for an answer, his patience ran thin.

    "Thank you, son, but you didn¡¯t have to do this. I¡¯m sorry for having a big argument right after your return. I would have liked to tell you everything after you rested a little and not have yelled so much. I shouldn¡¯t have lost my cool like that.

    "If there¡¯s someone who has to make amends that¡¯s me. Your understanding is the only gift I want." Raaz said.

    "I didn¡¯t do it because I felt guilty." Lith said. "Well, not just because of that. I have looked for a long time for a solution to your problems, and I think I finally got it."

    "What problems?" Raaz scratched his head with confusion.

    "Ever since Tista left the house as well, the moment bad weather arrives you are stranded here. You can¡¯t visit Rena, you can¡¯t get fresh bread, and reaching the vige healer if anyone gets ill or injured bes dangerous.

    "On top of that, now that you have expanded your business, Dad, you need to travel a lot between the neighboring viges, and doing it by horse takes a lot of time." Lith said.

    "Well, that¡¯s true, but thanks to Nalrond we could still move around a bit and the Queen¡¯s Corps helps us whenever something serious happens." Elina said.

    "Between his own apprenticeship and goals, Nalrond isn¡¯t a full-time nanny for a while now. Also, it¡¯s not like you can call the Queen¡¯s Corps for something as trivial as bread or social visits." Lith shook his head.

    "I know." Elina sighed. "That¡¯s why we have been considering moving to Lutia for a while or at least buy a second home there."

    "What?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "It would make everything easier, especially for the children now that they have to start school. Don¡¯t worry dear, we know how long it took you to make this ce safe and how much you have invested in this house." She patted his hand to reassure him.

    "Besides, we have too many memories linked to this house. We would never leave it."

    "There¡¯s no need for a second home. My present will solve all of your issues in one fell swoop." Lith said with a certainty that made the children p their little hands.

    "What about me?" Rena asked.

    "What about you?" Lith echoed.

    "Because of the fact that my house in Lutia has no heating nor cooling devices, I live here half the year. On top of that, having tap water makes wonders to keep the children healthy, especially during winter."

    "Can¡¯t you make something for me for a change?" Rena said.

    "First, I made working bathrooms for you so that no one in your family would ever need an outhouse. Second, I prepared it for Mom and Dad, but you can use it as well. If the three of you use it wisely, it should make your lives easier."

    Soon curiosity made everyone gobble their food to get out and take a look at the wonder Lith described. The moment he took the DoLorean out of the pocket dimension, they all sighed in disappointment.

    The worst part was that Lith couldn¡¯t even me them. With its big wooden wheels and stumpy appearance, the DoLoreancked any l.u.s.ter aside from that of the metal it was made of.

 Chapter 1277 - Test Drive (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1277 - Test Drive (Part 1)</h4>

    "A silver stagecoach?" Raaz was dumbfounded. "We already have a wooden one. Why did you waste your money on something like that?"

    "Where are horses going to be attached and where the coachman is supposed to sit?" Elina asked, doing her best to feign interest in the strange contraption.

    "Get in. It¡¯s easier to show than to tell." Lith took the driver seat, opening all the doors at the same time with the pressure of a button.

    Due to the absence of the engine and of the trunk, the DoLorean couldfortably amodate eleven people by adding two more backseats. Raaz rode shotgun at Lith¡¯s insistence while, Tista, Rena, Elina, Aran, Leria, Friya, and Senton sat behind.

    "Fasten your seatbelts." Lith said.

    "Our what?"

    A snap of Lith¡¯s fingers and a spark of Spirit Magic secured everyone to their respective position.

    "Okay, since I want you and Mom to share it, I couldn¡¯t make the imprint permanent. You just have to put your hand had here..." Lith pointed at a handprint on the dashboard, right between the driver and the passenger seat.

    "...and imprint it with your mana. If you do it a second time, the imprint is lost and someone else can use it."

    "Where did you learn to do such a thing?" Tista¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise.

    "I learned the basics while studying the Ballots back at the academy. If you remember, the Headmaster can remove their imprint. Then, I practiced it with the Camellia. I simply had to use less chea- I mean to perfect the method." Lith replied.

    "I still can¡¯t believe your rtionship is built on avarice." Raaz sighed in disappointment again. "The spell is beautiful, but did you have to use scrap metal painted green as a vessel? Please, at least tell me that you didn¡¯t pick it from Zekell¡¯s trash."

    "Once you imprint the vehicle, you just need to press this button." Lith rushed to say, not willing to let Raaz know how close to home he had gotten.

    A low hum apanied the wheels moving below the DoLorean as the Warp Drive reduced its weight and that of its upants so that a simple tier one Float spell could keep the vehicle in mid-air.

    The spell conjured not just a single strong updraft, but hundreds of them at the same time, each one pushing upwards with the same force to keep the bnce in check.

    Bringing the DoLorean to zero gravity would have meant that even a sneeze would topple it and that the slightest wing would make its flying path highly unstable. The reduced weight coupled with Float, instead, made the interior of the car as if it was gyrostabilized, preventing any kind of motion sickness.

    The spell was so silent that Raaz noticed they were moving only because the vehicle slowly turned towards the Trawn woods.

    <i>¡¯Well, at least this thing doesn¡¯t require horses. Just by avoiding to feed, water, and make them rest, I can save a bit of time.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Hey, son. You¡¯d better turn around, the road to Lutia is that way." Raaz pointed over his own shoulder.

    "Roads? Where we¡¯re going, we don¡¯t need roads." Lith said with the smirk of a man who had waited three lives to say that line.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, you really tricked him into giving you the cue!¡¯</i> Solusughed her a.s.s off.

    "Hold tight!" As the only one who had been to Kolga, Tista knew what was about to happen.

    "This sets the speed..." Lith lowered what looked like a gear lever by one notch, bringing it from zero to one and making the DoLorean move forward. "...and then you pull the steering wheel towards you to set the altitude."

    Panic ensued among the a.d.u.l.ts the moment they realized that they were leaving the ground. The kids, instead, couldn¡¯t take their eyes off the windows, screaming with joy as they reached for the sky.

    The DoLorean flew above the treetops without making a noise and moving with the grace of a ballerina. s, what happened on the outside couldn¡¯t differ more from what took ce inside.

    Only the seatbelts and the locked doors kept Lith¡¯s passengers from harming themselves. The moment they realized to be trapped, they froze in ce like a deer in headlights.

    Rena and Elina prayed to the gods to have mercy on their children while Friya weaved one spell after another. Neither a single Float nor Flight could lift the weight of the DoLorean and of so many people at the same time.

    Even Blinking was off the table since the dimensional spell would cut along a lot of the vehicle to take her away, potentiallypromising the power core that kept it afloat.

    She trusted Lith, yet she was scared. On Mogar, people weren¡¯t used to sitting inside a sealed metal box and even though the DoLorean was quite spacious, the feeling of helplessness struck fear even in the heart of a seasoned warrior like Friya.

    "Would you please calm down?" Lith had stopped the car in mid-air to reassure them that nothing bad was going to happen. "This thing has more safety measures than transportation spells. I would never put your lives in danger."

    "Can¡¯t we go faster this time please?" Unlike his parents, Aran was getting bored.

    Lith would often take him out for a flight and,pared to the feeling of the wind flowing through his hair, sitting in the DoLorean with a bunch of screaming a.d.u.l.ts felt more like being stuck in the henhouse than like an adventure.

    "Can I open the window, Uncle? I want to see the birds." Leria too searched the car for something interesting to do. Her parents screaming and making a fuss over silly things like Leria using fire magic inside the house were hardly a novelty.

    "No, they are closed for safety reasons and because once we start moving, the wind would be troublesome." He replied.

    "But I¡¯m hot! Mom and Dad are sweating like crazy." Leria w.h.i.n.ed about the pungent smell of fear surrounding her that made her parents blush in embarrassment.

    "Dad, turn on the air conditioning. It works like that of our home." Lith pointed at a knob whose left side was painted blue and the right red. Right beside it there was a small lever with knots numbered from zero to five.

    Raaz was so nervous that he turned the knob to the extreme left before moving the lever to five. A slightly chill breeze came at the passengers from every direction with the violence of a storm.

    Gowns flew up as Elina and Rena had to fight to keep their privates from showing while all those sitting next to someone with long hair had their faces beaten like a drum by hair strands that seemed to havee to life.

    "Dad!" Lith turned it down to one and everything went back to normal. "I said that it works like that at home. What did I tell you about the five?"

    "To never use it. I¡¯m sorry but that thing is so little and I¡¯m still shaken." Raaz couldn¡¯t wait for that nightmare to end.

    And he wasn¡¯t the only one.

    From his vantage point atop one of the trees, Locrias, the Captain of the Queen¡¯s Corps in charge of the security detail of Lith¡¯s family, stared in horror at the DoLorean.

 Chapter 1278 - Test Drive (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1278 - Test Drive (Part 2)</h4>

    "No one is going to believe me unless they see it with their own eyes." After facing an undead army and witnessing Lith¡¯s armies of beasts and shadows, the flying stagecoach was just icing on the cake.

    "I should request to be transferred to a simpler job, like hunting Balkor." He said while using his contact amulet to scan the scene unfolding in front of his eyes and calling both of his supervisors.

    "What the heck is that?" The Royals and Marchioness Distar said while looking at the DoLorean darting above the Trawn woods.

    "A security nightmare." Locrias couldn¡¯t think of a better definition.

    "That¡¯s a really interesting concept." Queen Sylpha sounded more intrigued than worried. "It could rece those boring, obnoxious stagecoaches, allowing us to give a breath-taking experience to our guests and a scare to our enemies."

    "Indeed. Flight is the dream and the nightmare of normal people." King Meron nodded. "Unlike Warp Gates, only mages can experience it. At least until now. Yet I¡¯m more interested to know if that thing can be weaponized."

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea." Marchioness Distar shook her head. "It makes long-distance travel easier for the smugglers and roadblocks useless. Our soldiers already have a hard time patrolling the many roads of the Kingdom.

    "Not even if we tripled their numbers could they also check the infinite skies!"

    "Do you think we should ouw its production?" Queen Sylpha nodded. Mages were rare enough to make smuggling by flight a minor issue and those who could use dimensional magic were even rarer.

    ¡¯I¡¯m proud of her. Mirim needed but a nce to see the dangers lying past the flying machine¡¯s l.u.s.ter that blinded us.¡¯ She thought.

    "For the public, sure. I call dibs on the firstmission, though. My daughter deserves to get a bit of freedom after being trapped home for most of her life." Just like the magicless Royal heirs, Brinja Distar couldn¡¯t move without a heavy detail.

    Flight was impossible and Warp Steps could only lead to coordinates that a mage had personally memorized. Whenever Brinja wanted to visit a new ce, it took the elite troops protecting her weeks of nning to not make her an easy mark.

    "Then we¡¯ll get the one after that." King Meron sighed.

    Meanwhile, Lith gave his family a tour of the Trawn woods, increasing the speed as soon as he felt the tension in the car fading and amazement reced fear.

    "I¡¯ll show you how quick it is to go to Lutia." He said after a full circle back home.

    "This is nice, son." Raaz said while still clinging to his armrest, but not with so much strength to turn his hands white anymore. "Yet I¡¯m not used to see the world from above. How I¡¯m supposed to find my way around from the sky?"

    "You can just follow the road at first. I did the same when I learned how to fly." Lith replied, following the same path they would use with their carriage but from several meters above the ground.

    "Okay, fine. But how do I bring this thing down? I¡¯m no mage and I don¡¯t want to waste your time and money with constant repairs." Even though his brain spun at full gear to find a way to never drive the DoLorean, Raaz couldn¡¯t argue with its results.

    Reaching Lutia required half an hour by foot and twenty minutes by carriage, yet they had gotten there in less than five minutes even though Lith had kept the speed lever at the two the entire time.

    "I thought about that too." Lith said with a confident smile that Raaz usually loved but that he now feared from the deep of his heart. "We are right in front of Rena¡¯s house. Now push that button, Dad."

    Raaz did as instructed, pressing a button as big as an apricot with the word "Land" written in bright letters. The wooden wheels returned to their original position and the car descended slowly until they touched the ground.

    Then, gravity gradually returned to normal as the system made sure that the DoLorean had a stable footing. It all happened in just a few seconds, but both Lith and the children found it boring nheless.

    He could have sped up the process, but he knew that normal people would have found the process reassuring.

    "What in the gods¡¯ name did you make me craft?" Zekell¡¯s tone didn¡¯t match his words.

    The old cksmith was jumping with joy around the silver chassis that he had worked so hard to make, c.a.r.e.s.sing its surface like the face of a long-lost child. His body moved in such a frenzy that he seemed to be almost dancing.

    "Did we really made this thing and can I get one? I hate when my granddaughter moves to your home in winter and I can¡¯t get to see my little fairy for months." Warm tears streaked down his face as Zekell cried on cue, like he had learned to do ever since he was an apprentice.

    His father had taught him that even the cruelest merchant had a hard time haggling with a crying man, and Zekell had passed that creed down to Senton as well.

    "No to both. I made it and you have no idea how much time and magic it cost me." Honest tears didn¡¯t faze Lith, let alone those of an old scoundrel. "I can lend it to Rena and you can use it, though."

    The whole vige of Lutia had been staring at the sky for a while, pointing at the unidentified flying object.

    "Is it a bird?"

    "Too small. It must be a mage."

    "Nah, it¡¯s too big for a single mage. It must be one of Lith¡¯s wizardries." After unanimously agreeing on it, the citizens of Lutia took a break from their respective jobs to follow the car¡¯s movements from a safe distance.

    Between the pure silver of its chassis and the smooth elegance of its movements, many foreigners believed it to be a chariot of the gods and fell to their knees, praying for mercy.

    Once itnded and the Verhens came out of it, the Lutians and foreigners alike stared at the DoLorean in awe. Their amazement grew with each person that came down, realizing how many passengers it could carry.

    It took people a few minutes of waiting and hearing the children begging for another ride before they dared to close in enough to see the DoLorean.

    "Are you still with that Lieutenant? My daughter is single and she always asks me of you." Vexal the baker and Brina¡¯s father shamelessly asked, beating thepetition to the punch.

    "Kam is a Captain and a Royal Constable now." Lith snarled in reply. "And yes, everything is fine between us. Thank you for asking."

    Despite Vexal¡¯s valiant sacrifice, Lith had to endure several not-so-veiled marriage proposals, suggestions for one or more mistresses, maids, or any work a parent could think of that would offer their daughter the chance to get in his bed.

    "Good gods, don¡¯t you guys have no shame? What kind of a man do you think my son is?" Elina¡¯s words snapped them out of their frenzy, making people realize how they were humiliating themselves in front of their neighbors.

    "Get me out of here. Lutia¡¯s air stinks today." Elina took the passenger seat, wishing to study the dashboard from up close. The family quickly followed her back inside the DoLorean, Zekell included.

 Chapter 1279 - Test Drive (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1279 - Test Drive (Part 3)</h4>

    "Dad?" Senton asked.

    "Yes, I¡¯m your father. Look inside you, you know it¡¯s the truth." The cksmith¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "I wasn¡¯t questioning that. What I meant to say is, what are you doing here?"

    "Didn¡¯t you hear your mother-inw? The air stinks today and we should get away from those ruffians." Zekell said with a scoff.

    "I know but-"

    "I can¡¯t believe that my own son doesn¡¯t consider me a member of this family and wants to leave me behind." Zekell started to cry again, earning Senton several res.

    "Uncle, can we bring Grampa along? Pretty please." Leria begged Lith with her big puppy c.h.e.s.tnut eyes that she had inherited from Tista.

    "Everything for my little fairy." Lith and Senton both inwardly griped at Zekell calling the pot ck right before shamelessly exploiting his own niece to get what he wanted.

    "Mom, do you want to give it a go?" Lith asked before take-off.

    "Maybeter. Now I want just to observe." Elina had been angered by the Lutians¡¯ words, yet they had also made her see past her fears and take pride in her son¡¯s work.

    No matter how scary the thought of flight was, the fact that Lith had created for her something as amazing as the DoLorean was enough to make Elina ovee her worries.

    She wanted to learn how to use it to make her son proud of her as well.

    "By the way, thanks for your vote of confidence, Friya." Lith said with a sneer. "Your desperate screams for help touched my heart. I¡¯ll use them the next time I have to stage a damsel in distress for the kids."

    "You never told me what to expect!" She tried to defend herself while turning to a bright shade of purple.

    "That¡¯s because I hoped that you trusted me enough to appreciate the surprise. Even Aran is braver than you." Lith turned around to ruffle his little brother¡¯s hair while the DoLorean slowly gained altitude to not scare anyone.

    "Don¡¯t worry, auntie. I¡¯ll protect you." Aran puffed his c.h.e.s.t out with pride, holding Friya¡¯s hand to reassure her and making things even more humiliating for her.

    "Tista, do you mind calling Lark? We have plenty of time for a visit." Lith moved towards the Count¡¯s residence before someone could raise an objection.

    "We¡¯re not properly dressed!" Raaz said.

    "I¡¯m pretty sure I told you to keep at least one set of fancy clothes inside your armor." Aran and Leria shapeshifted their Scalewalker armor into silk evening clothes, confirming Lith¡¯s words as he set the speed from one to two.

    "Dad doesn¡¯t have one!" Senton said.

    "I¡¯ll be your valet, then, Your Majesty." Zekellughed hard, giving a bow to the kids while Lith moved the speed lever up a notch.

    "I¡¯m d beyond what words can express that for once Lith decided to visit me without a hidden agenda." Lark¡¯s voice sounded jovial as usual. "How long will it take for you to arrive?"

    "Five minutes tops." Lith replied.

    Reaching the Lark Household would require over thirty minutes of horse gallop from Lutia so everyone remained bbergasted doing the simple math that calcting their speed required.

    "Are we really moving that fast?" Raaz didn¡¯t dare to look down and they were flying so high that aside from birds there was nothing he could use as a benchmark.

    On top of that, between the Float spell supporting the DoLorean and the wedge-shaped wind de in front of the car that worked as a windshield, he could barely feel a vibration as they moved.

    The wind de protected them from insects and dust since, at that speed, even a fly would hit them with the energy of a bullet. It also created a slipstream effect, allowing the propulsion spell to achieve great speed while meeting minimum resistance.

    "Then I¡¯d better go alert my guards and staff. Otherwise, at your arrival, you¡¯ll receive a quite rude wee." Lark hung up the call and yelled orders as he walked briskly toward the main entrance of his mansion.

    Despite his age, the Count kept himself in great shape and with his long legs, the butlers had to run to keep up with his pace.

    "Tell the guards to stand down. I¡¯m expecting honored guests to knock at my door at any moment." He said to the poor old Pontus, the head butler, who refused to both pant and sweat to uphold the decorum that his job required.

    "Anything else?"

    "Yes, thanks for reminding me. Alert Hilya first and the guards second." Lark pointed at the kitchen where the head chef spent most of her time.

    "Do you want something special to be prepared?" Pontus asked.

    "No, I just don¡¯t want her to embarrass me for the umpteenth time. If Hilya calls Lith young master again, I swear to the gods that I¡¯ll fire her!" Lark had exined to the chef that Raaz wasn¡¯t his bastard son until her ears bled, yet she had never changed her mind.

    Only after delivering the messages as fast as his physique allowed him to did Pontus sit down and politely ask to send the resident healer for him. The butler was quite certain that all that running would soon give him a heart attack and he didn¡¯t want to ruin his master¡¯s reunion with something distasteful like sudden death.

    The DoLoreannded as softly as a feather in the space reserved for the stagecoaches of visiting guests while the house staff set a red carpet and the guards formed an honor guard all the way to the entrance.

    Too bad that Lark disregarded protocol entirely, surpassing the butlers and dribbling the guards instead of waiting in front of the hallway.

    "Dear Lark, it¡¯s good to see you." No matter if he went out for groceries or to the Royal Court, the deep blue Archmage robe was the only attire Lith needed.

    "The p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e it¡¯s all mine, dear Lith. Did youe here to show off yourtest creation or your beautiful family?" The two men shook hands under the curious look of the guards.

    Due to them having simr height, build, and even hair color, it was hard to dismiss the rumors about Archmage Verhen being blood-rted with their master. Sure, the Count was leaner and less muscr, but having a sedentary lifestyle it would have been odd otherwise.

    "Grandpa Lark!" The children came out of the car, wearing such fine clothes that they would look good for a g.

    "Look how much you guys have grown! I¡¯m afraid you are now too heavy for your old-" After failing to lift Aran, the Count choked on his words when he noticed Hilya walking on the red carpet while pushing a cart full of delicacies.

    She had a smug grin on her face, clearly assuming that those weren¡¯t just the words that kids would say to any man past a certain age that their parents were in an amicable rtionship with.

    "Hi, I¡¯m Zekell, the other Grampa and Lith¡¯s right-hand man. You sure jumped through a lot of hoops for the kid." The cksmith¡¯s poor choice of words and the confidence with which he moved around like he owned the ce only made the Count¡¯s situation worse.

    Lark couldn¡¯t lecture Rena¡¯s father-inw for his rudeness without embarrassing the whole family. The Count was torn between giving face to his guests and not adding oil to the fire of the rumors.

 Chapter 1280 - Test Drive (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1280 - Test Drive (Part 4)</h4>

    "Wee home, young master. It¡¯s always a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e having you here." Hilya said.

    Lark was about to burst into outrage when he noticed that the head chef had actually obeyed his orders. She was talking with Aran, not Lith, offering to both him and Leria sweets from her cart.

    The stress almost gave him a stroke, especially when he noticed how the guards looked at him, expecting the Count to scold Hilya and ruin the happiness of the children.

    Stuck between a rock and a hard head, Lark could only suck it up and endure.

    "Lady Ernas, to what do I owe this unexpected p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e?" He knew Friya from the Court and he hoped that her presence along with Tista¡¯s would keep the male staff from remembering anything about those events.

    Judging from their sudden nk stares, the n seemed to work.

    "I helped Lith in making this wonder of magic and decided to join them for this joy ride. I must say that it goes beyond my wildest expectations. I¡¯m even considering to gift one to my mother." She replied to the Count¡¯s bow with a small curtsy.

    The more Lark learned about the DoLorean, the less he cared for his alleged parenthood. His love for anything even remotely magical was the reason why he and Lith had crossed paths in the first ce.

    Standing in front of a piece that even the famous Royal Forgemaster Orion Ernas considered worthy of his wife, made Lark¡¯s monocle pop out of his eye socket in surprise.

    He had no idea that Friya spoke only on her own behalf nor that her request would probably go against thew in the matter of a few hours.

    "What does it do, exactly?" He asked without taking a single step away from the car as he studied it inside and out.

    Hilya inwardly griped at her master¡¯sck of etiquette, forcing his guests to stand outside despite the chilly wind of the uing winter and without offering them any refreshment.

    She had filled her cart to the brim with still-warm pastries and hot tea expecting to serve it in the Tea Room, not in the middle of the honor guard. Little did she know that after flying that way, everyone enjoyed the feeling of solid ground under their feet.

    "I¡¯m sorry to interrupt Your Grace, but Your tea is getting cold. Maybe you should continue the conversation inside the house." Hilya had positioned herself so that when she tilted her head pointing at the house, it would also point at the kids.

    She hoped that the Count would put two and two together and cease his shenanigans.

    "I think you are right, Hilya." Lark said with the pained voice of a man forced to say goodbye to his true love.

    Then, he looked at the sun and calcted how much time was left before sunset.

    "I know that it¡¯s really rude of me, but I would love to have a ride until there¡¯s still some light to enjoy the scenery. Care to join us?" He asked.

    The a.d.u.l.ts shuddered, the kids were too busy stuffing their faces with sweets, and Zekell preferred to enjoy a hospitality worthy of the Royals. He never followed the Verhens to official events and, for a mere country cksmith, it was a unique opportunity to receive undeserved attentions.

    "In this case, I¡¯d better leave this here." Lith took out from his pocket dimension a ck sphere the size of an orange covered in red runes.

    "What is that?" Lark asked.

    "It¡¯s a Home Stone." Friya said. "It works in couples, allowing to extend the range of dimensional magic and to reduce its requirements by creating a beacon that contains a specific set of coordinates."

    Lark nodded, pretending to have understood her words and so did the others.

    "It¡¯s another of the reasons why I needed Friya¡¯s help." Lith said. "My understanding of dimensional magic allows me to craft one with fixed coordinates, while this baby can lead to a different destination ording to the circ.u.mstances."

    The Stone in Lith¡¯s hands pulsed with a red light as the runes on its surface changed. The process was akin to that of Lith¡¯s army amulet when he shared his position, but in this case, the Stone would just store the information.

    Once the light disappeared, Lith used earth magic to bury the Home Stone without ruining Lark¡¯s perfectwn.

    "It mustn¡¯t be removed until our return." Lith said to the Count who ordered the guards to leave the ce and Hilya to take care of his guests until his return.

    "Where is Pontus? This is supposed to be his job." Lark said.

    "Thest time I saw him, he was having a meeting with your healer, Your Grace." Hilya replied.

    "I don¡¯t care about gossip, Hilya. He can date whoever he wants as long he doesn¡¯t do it during working hours." The Count was both bbergasted and mistaken about his butler¡¯s uncharacteristk of ethics.

    "I believe their rtionship is strictly professional, Your Grace." She said.

    "Does he need help?" Friya asked.

    "ording to mage Ophyn, Pontus is just a bit tired and ill-suited for running, Your Ladyship, but I¡¯m certain he could use a second opinion." The head chef gave her a deep bow.

    Lark, instead, didn¡¯t hear a word of it and jumped straight on the driver¡¯s seat.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to experience it as a passenger first?" Lith asked.

    "Isn¡¯t it safe?"

    "Of course. I made it for non-mages so safety was my first priority." Lith replied.

    "Then I can just trust your work and enjoy myself. What do I have to do?" Lark asked while pulling and turning the steering wheel to no avail.

    After a brief exnation about themands, the Count imprinted the car and had it bolt off thewn, pulling the speed lever straight from zero to three.

    "Don¡¯t you need your monocle to see?" Lith¡¯s guts went up and down along with the DoLorean when Lark made it jump above the metal gate of his mansion without even giving the guards the time to open it for them.

    "Nonsense. Sight is for the weak. Either a vehicle it¡¯s safe or it isn¡¯t." The Count brought the car back on the roadughing heartily like a child. Given his age, he sounded more like a madman, but Lith had no time to notice such trivial things.

    He was too focused on being ready to take the wheel the moment something went wrong. The Count never decelerated and took turns so sharp that he almost hit road signs more than once.

    ¡¯I¡¯m d we made the controls so responsive, yet Lark is really pushing them to their limits.¡¯ Solus thought as she watched the DoLorean jump or dodge other vehicles ording to the nobleman¡¯s whims.

    Lark never slowed down so each one of his maneuvers brought them centimeters away from a crash.

    "Look, that¡¯s Viscount Drath!" The Count pointed at a gold-painted luxurious stagecoach that floated in mid-air and pulled by six magnificent white stallions.

    "You have no idea how much he likes to unt that useless thing. Sure, its enchantments prevent any bumps even when the horses gallop at their full speed, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth spending one-tenth of your annuities."

 Chapter 1281 - Safe Travels (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1281 - Safe Travels (Part 1)</h4>

    Lark slowed down the moment he nked the stagecoach, rolling down the window before politely knocking on that of the Viscount.

    "Lark, where did you get that thing?" Envy and surprise made Drath forget the basics of etiquette, but the Count didn¡¯t mind.

    Seeing one of his most annoying political foes turn green was more than enoughpensation. The stagecoach was just painted in gold whereas to DoLorean was made of silver, something that no dissipated noble would miss.

    "Just a present from one of my old prot¨¦g¨¦s. Do you remember Archmage Verhen?" Lark casually nodded at the passenger seat. He was keeping the two vehicles at the same height so that the Viscount could see inside.

    Seeing the deep blue robe was already a huge blow to Drath¡¯s ego, butparing his cramped stagecoach with the spacious interns of the car almost gave him a stroke.

    "It seems that I have the high ground now, dear Viscount!" Lark raised the DoLorean more, forcing his rival to look up to him. Then he took the skies, scaring the horses so much that the stagecoach almost crashed against a patch of trees.

    Away from the ground, Lark pulled the speed lever down to five and had his fun performing sudden u-turns, nosediving, and harassing all the flying magical beasts he met by literally running circles around them.

    Despite his age, the Count performed more high-speedplicated maneuvers in a few minutes than most Grand Prix drivers in their entire careers.

    "Thank you very much, Lith. I never had so much fun in my life, now I can really die happy." Lark said after stopping the DoLorean just below the clouds.

    "I¡¯ve always wanted to watch the sunset from the top of a mountain, but I could never afford the time. You made another of my dreamse true. First one of my proteges enrolled in the White Griffon, then you brought me at the graduation ceremony, and now this."

    "I should be the one thanking you." Lith replied.

    "Without your help, I¡¯d have been stuck in Lutia until I turned sixteen instead of receiving my family name from the King himself. On top of that, you really put my creation to the test, allowing me to collect priceless data. It performs even better than I predicted."

    "I¡¯m always d to be of assistance." Lark blushed in embarrassment for all thosepliments and because now that the speed high was gone, he realized how reckless he had been.

    "Not to ruin this moment, but I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re lost. I was so engrossed in going as fast as I could that I have no idea where we are." The Count said after a while.

    "That makes the two of us." Lith had been too busy keeping his lunch in to mind their flight path. "Luckily, we can just take a shortcut. Do you remember the red button I told you to never press?"

    Lark nodded enthusiastically as Lith exined to him what to do.

    The Count took a random direction, pushing the DoLorean to its utmost speed until the red button lit up and he could finally push it.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯d say our resident nerd miscalcted something. We¡¯re way past the 88 miles per hour.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s no point in setting a fixed threshold. The required speed just varies with distance.¡¯</i> Lith replied, wondering how far they had gone from the Lark estate.

    The DoLorean transformed the world energy from the violet crystals and the .u.mted kic energy into a Warp Gate that brought them exactly above the Home Stone.

    "That was amazing!" Lark said.

    "Yeah, it¡¯s another safety measure." Lith said while retrieving the Home Stone and reassuring the guards that he had brought the Lord of the house back and not an invading force.

    "This way my parents can return to the safety of the arrays surrounding our home in the blink of an eye, no matter if they are afar and if they can¡¯t use dimensional magic. The only issue is that now the crystals need time to recharge."

    Lith switched Lark¡¯s imprint with his own, to hasten the DoLorean¡¯s recovery.

    "It¡¯s my fault that you are stranded here so you¡¯ll be my honored guests for dinner. We have so much catching up to do." Lark patted Lith¡¯s shoulder, wishing the young man really was his grandson.

    The meal was delicious and the conversation pleasant. Lark knew about Orpal and Trion, yet he never mentioned them to no ruin the mood. He preferred pointing at the colored streaks among Leria¡¯s and Aran¡¯s hair.

    "I don¡¯t mean to pry, but at their age, our Lith was already an aplished magico and a healer. If you dy their magical education further, they will be forced to join the academy from the first year."

    Elina and Rena both felt as if those words were a cruel vise that squeezed the blood out of their hearts. The idea of Aran leaving the house brought Elina all kinds of terrible memories.

    Whenever one of her boys left, something bad happened.

    As for Rena, she had the triplets keeping her busy, but she still had a hard time believing how quickly her little girl was growing, let alone epting the idea that one day she would have to let her go.

    "Lith was really m.a.t.u.r.e for his age whereas Leria almost burned the curtains of her room several times and finds it funny to freeze our neighbors¡¯ doorstep to watch them slip and fall." Rena shook her head.

    "Because it is funny!" Leria blushed in embarrassment seeing everyone¡¯s reproachful gaze. Being scolded by her rules-obsessed parents was one thing, her misdeeds being exposed to the entire family was another.

    "It¡¯s funny for you, but for those who fall on their butts it¡¯s just painful, youngdy." Senton said.

    "At least she gets to do something. Mom scolds me the moment I try to help her with the house chores." Aran grumbled.

    "That¡¯s because you flood the floors when you try to wash them and instead of collecting the dust, your air magic cuts the furniture into bits." Elina reminded him solely of the minor idents since they were in the presence of the Count, yet it was enough to bring Aran on the verge of tears.

    "Why did I never hear anything about this?" Lith asked.

    "Because you¡¯re often away and whenever you are home the kids always behave." Rena replied. "You already do more than enough for the family. Taking care of the children is our job. You have too much on your te to take care of this as well."

    <i>¡¯Solus?¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Based on my limited experience with kids, the bright yellow mana core is a bottleneck for someone of that age who hasn¡¯t undergone body refining like an Awakened.¡¯</i> She replied.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s not what I¡¯m worried about. I want to know what the status of their impurities is and what will happen once they get a deep green core.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s no reason to worry about their Awakening. You have kept them away from mana geysers and you never used Invigoration on them for prolonged periods of time to keep what happened to Tista from repeating itself.</i>

    <i>¡¯As for the green core, I¡¯m afraid that without proper training they might be a danger for their families. You heard their mothers. The kids already have enough mana to make chore magic dangerous and no control over it.¡¯</i> Solus said.

 Chapter 1282 - Safe Travels (Part 2)

    1282 Safe Travels (Part 2)

    "Thanks, Rena, but I think Lark is right. Leria and Aran will only get stronger with time which makes teaching them how to control their abilities a priority. What do you say I take them on a short camping trip along with Ryman''s children?

    "They could use learning something about responsibility and maybe when they return, they''ll have learned to appreciate the many things that their families do for them instead of taking them for granted." Lith''s said.

    The children politely expressed their enthusiasm, having heard nothing but their favorite rtive offering to bring them on one of his fabled adventures.

    Thetest demonstration that Leria and Aran had perfect manners, yet they refused to use them when their parents asked them to, irked Rena and Elina to no end. Seeing them acting all nice and proper for Lark was a bitter pill to swallow.

    ***

    The forest surrounding the White Griffon, a few days back, after Lith''s return on Garlen.

    Scarlett the Scorpicore had finally returned home after five long years of traveling. She had left herir and relinquished her role of Lord of the Forest after Linjos''s death, to get her revenge on Balkor, the god of death.

    His attack had killed many of her loyal friends and servants, including her second inmand, M''Rook. Yet after Sark had taken Balkor under her wing, both metaphorically and physically, Scarlet had been forced to change her ns.

    Having failed to achieve a violet core after over 300 years of life and without the means to face a Guardian, she had traveled to the Gorgon Empire to ask Leegaain for advice.

    The Father of all Dragons had given her insight about both how to reach the final step of core refining and about her potential rise to Guardianhood. Despite all of her knowledge, despite her traveling throughout the Garlen and Verendi continent, her return tasted like defeat.

    She brought with her rich spoils but little progress. She had achieved the violet core and quickly brought it to the bright level, yet in those five years since she had faced Sark in the Desert, Scarlett had triggered a single world tribtion.

    Facing the Lord of War again just because of that would have been suicidal. Aside from white, the color of your mana core mattered like the color of your shirt when fighting a Guardian.

    It only affected how fashionable you would look for your own funeral, not the final result.

    ''I can''t believe Mogar is so picky with me and yet that runt undergoes world tribtions like I eat cows.'' She thought with anger while opening the several arrays that locked her door.

    ''Lith had one per year ever since he joined the army whereas I only got two since the day I left. He even had the galls to trigger thetest tribtion while he was on Council duty and kick a ho nest.

    ''Not only was the silver pir visible from the merfolk cities surrounding Kolga, but also the whirlpool parting the ocean above the lost city was hard to miss. Lith was the only one who had left the strike team to keep the King busy so it didn''t take the Council long to figure out what had happened.

    ''Maybe I should attend the next time they summon him and ask him for advice.'' Scarlett inwardly sighed.

    ''Fuck the Council and fuck Sark. I''m home now and that''s all that matters. I wonder how Ka will great my return.'' The thought of the Wight brought a smile to her feline snout.

    "Don''t bother me. I''m on the verge of a breakthrough. Bring something to eat for my children on your way back." Those were the words Ka had wished Scarlett godspeed with, probably not having listened to a word she had said.

    ''She may be a bit airheaded, but Ka is one of the best people I know. I hope she never changes.''

    The moment the heavy enchanted Adamant door opened, Scarlett pushed all the sad thoughts aside. She took a deep breath, eager to sniff the familiar symphony of delicate scents she had spent decades decorating her home with.

    Her fine selection of aromas was the thing that she had missed the most during her travels.

    What she smelled instead were a thick smell of dust that filled her nose, a putrid stench of decay that ruined her considerable appetite, and the sour reek of stale air that reminded Scarlett of the time when she had almost died to the mycotoxins of a fungal creature.

    Light magic was useless against the sudden assault and using her breathing technique, Aura, would have just brought more poison into her system. Long story short, she fainted on the spot.

    "Death¡­ Star." Said a muffled voice as she stirred from her forced slumber.

    Her senses were still clouded by the stupor so when she believed to see a figure donned in ck, wearing a strange helmet that gave him a ridiculous heavy breathing, Scarlett thought that whatever poison coursed through her body also gave her hallucinations.

    "I''ve been waiting¡­ for you¡­We meet again, atst." She had gotten enough of her hearing back to recognize a male voice.

    "Come again?" Her voice came out muffled as well, allowing her to realize that the heavy breathing she heard was her own.

    "I said, you scared me to death, aunt Scar." A majestic ck bear at least 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) tall said. "I''ve been waiting five years for you. We meet again, atst."

    "Nok, is that you?" She said as the creature that she still remembered as a young cub did his best to clean her body from the dust and cobwebs that covered her with some kind of mop.

    The sight of her usually ming red fur being now ashen grey and of the thick webs that bound her wing together like a rope bbergasted her.

    "Nailed in one. Be careful not letting your mask fall or you''ll faint again." He replied.

    "What the heck happened here?" Except for the areas protected by the arrays, her beloved house looked like the perfect scenario for one of the horror stories that the students of the White Griffon told each other during the Mock Exam.

    Dark, damp, and with pieces of corpses lying around. Some even moved or emitted wailing noises.

    "Nothing much. Just Mom being Mom. She likes bringing her work home and cleaning isn''t her strong suit." Nok said.

    "I can''t believe you lived with that thing of your face for five years. You must have gone out hunting or you''d have starved." Scarlett noticed the clean trail in the dust where Nok had dragged her unconscious body.

    "I only use the back door. Even before spiders imed the main entrance, the stench of death was too much. I wear the mask only when I go checking on Mom. You''re lucky that the house is so quiet that I heard your thud."

    "Please, tell me that only a small part of my house is in such a pitiful condition." Scarlett conjured several small twisters the size of a garbage bin that sucked dust and cobwebs until they be grey from the mass of dirtpressed in their eye.

    She threw them out the front door and conjured more anew.

 Chapter 1283 - The Mark of the Lich (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1283 - The Mark of the Lich (Part 1)</h4>

    "All the rooms that aren''t protected by arrays and our living space are this dirty if not worse." Nok tried to take off the mask, but even without the dust, the stench of death still made him nauseous.

    "Which means most of the house! I only protected mybs and libraries since it takes just a few minutes a week and chore magic to keep everything crystal clear. How could you let this happen?" Scarlett snarled.

    "I''m just a Byk, Auntie. I used earth and darkness magic to keep the dirt out, but once I turn stuff into dust it stays there." Nok showed his huge wed paws to her. They were great at killing and ripping flesh, but useless to hold a broom.

    "What about your sister? Thest time I checked, she had hands!" Scarlett sighed while using magic to conjure a wind that spread fresh air throughout the house and drove away most of the disgusting smell guing the ce.

    "Nyka? You know her, she thinks that Mom is always right. On top of that, she''s getting cranky with age and says that she''s not going to waste the few hours a day that she can actually live cleaning something that would sooner orter get dirty again."

    Nok used his darkness magic to give the finishing touch and make the room inhabitable.

    "Order and Chaos, are you telling me she has reached puberty?" Scarlett shivered at the thought. The worst moment for every parent wasn''t when their cubs left their den, but when they hit their rebellious phase.

    "No, Nyka has always been fully grown. Yet now sheins about everything, she says that I don''t understand her because I have fur instead of brains, and she thinks to know best about everything." Nok shook his head.

    "That''s puberty, you moron. Growth is just a side effect of pups turning from adorable furballs into conceited assholes. Only one thing doesn''t add up. Howe she supports your mother instead of nagging at her?"

    "It''s hard to nag at someone that you never see." Nok sighed with sadness. "Whenever Momes out of theb, we''re so happy to see her that we even stop bickering."

    "Which makes me the responsible parent. Worst homing ever." Scarlett facepawed herself and went to Nyka''s room to check how bad the situation was.

    <i>''I got back from less than five minutes and I already want to run away. I don''t dare imagine the mess she''s made if she has taken after her m-''</i> Scarlett choked on her thoughts the moment she touched the handle and a powerful electric discharge hit her.

    "Sorry, I forgot to warn you." Nok said amidughs. "Gods, your hair standing up makes you look like a Scorpupine rather than a Scorpicore."

    "How hard can it be so hard for someone named Nok to learn to actually knock?" An angry female voice came from inside. "You''re a rude dimwit and- Aunt Scar!"

    She had been away from home for years and the wee she had received so far consisted of filth, stench, and now of a bolt of lightning that ruined her mane. The fury that coursed through her body lit her eyes of a violet light that demanded blood.

    Yet her rage faded away when the young vampire hugged her with a face brimming with joy.

    "I missed you so much. Mom said you had gone out fetching dinner, but you never returned. I have been so worried about you." Small bloody tears streamed from her eyes, breaking Scarlett''s heart.

    "I swear that I would kill your mother if not for the fact that it would actually help her research." She said, making the vampire chuckle and bringing a smile to her face. "Let me take a look at you, youngdy."

    Nyka looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, around 1.7 meters (5''7") tall with raven ck hair and emerald green eyes, both emphasized by her rosy skin. A vampire was pale only when unable to properly feed and that wasn''t her case.

    In life, she would have been considered far less beautiful than Friya, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body lithe. Every one of her movements was graceful and sensual, even when she wasn''t attempting to flirt.

    Nyka wore a white shirt and brown pants over leather boots, an outfit that noblewomen used to go hunting. Together with her long hair held up in a ponytail, it gave her a tomboyish look.

    "You look stunning. What were you doing in there alone?" Scarlett asked, surprised to not see Nyka walking around stark n.a.k.e.d like usual.

    "There''s not much I can do around these parts. Everyone is scared of me, beasts included. Neither of us can use dimensional magic so I have no way to reach an inhabited ce and get back before dawn. All I can do is practice magic."

    "Is this your mother''s work? It''s really ingenious of her." Scarlett said. Vampires could use all elements with fake magic like humans, but they could also use air and darkness as true magic like a magical beast.

    "No, this is something Solus invented for me. This way I can practice true magic with minimal energy consumption and maybe learn how to perceive the flow of world energy to Awaken."

    "Who is Solus? Also, why do you worry about spending mana? As a vampire, you can get it back just by eating." Scarlett said.

    "Lith''spanion. We are good friends. As for the blood, with the amount of practice I have every day, I would need to kill so many beasts that the new Lord of the Forest would hunt me down." Nyka replied.

    "A vampire being friends with a Royal Constable is really dangerous these days. Also, I''m pretty sure she''s not a mage." Scarlett scratched her head with confusion.

    "That''s his girlfriend, Kam. I''m talking about Solus!"

    "Who?"

    "The stone ring!"

    "The ring has a name now?" Scarlett was bbergasted.

    "¡­she taught me about magic, and she takes etiquette lessons from Tista with me."

    The amount of sudden information gave Scarlett a headache that put that caused by the earlier stench to shame.

    "Great Mother almighty! How could Ka leave the education of her only daughter in the hands of that thing?" Scarlett blurted out in frustration.

    "Solus is not a thing, she''s a wonderful person and-"

    "I''m talking about Lith! He''s the dangerous one between the two. Nowe with me, I''m going to give your mother a piece of my mind. And when I say mind, I mean spells. And when I say piece, I mean the beating of a lifetime."

 Chapter 1284 - The Mark of the Lich (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1284 - The Mark of the Lich (Part 2)</h4>

    "What do you need us for?" Nok trotted right behind his sister who was being dragged by her arm.

    "To stop me when I beat Ka to an inch from death! It''s supposed to be a punishment, not a reward!" Scarlett snarled.

    She flung the Necromancyb''s door open while projecting a wave of darkness magic to protect herself from the stench and kill the flies that she was certain that gued the ce.

    Yet it didn''t help her to prepare for what appeared in front of her eyes. Theb was spotless, with not a speck of dirt or blood thanks to several undead rats with a wet rug stuck between their half-open ribcage.

    They used it to clean the floor and the stone b that Ka was using as an operating table. The moment the rag was too dirty, they would jump inside a bucket of water and squeeze the rag with their small ribs until it was clean before resuming their work.

    The undead even picked up the papers that she dropped on the floor after filling them with her notes, arranging them in neat stacks ording to their subject.

    "Interesting. Fascinating. Wonderful." Ka spoke to herself as usual while cutting open the body of a still-living man with a scalpel and tearing his life force apart with her personal tier five Body Sculpting magic spell, Life Cutter.

    Her victim screamed at the top of his lungs, but she didn''t seem to mind. Quite the contrary, she considered it a form of feedback to her experiments as she probed his innards.

    Ka had never been fond of shapeshifting into a human since she considered two hands insufficient for her line of work. Spirit Magic required too much focus and mana, making it unsuited for her relentless research.

    Even though Ka''s Wight form looked simr to an undead, she was still alive. She needed to eat from time to time and to sleep when Invigoration stopped working. Her body was halfprised of living shadows that reced her flesh while bones made up the rest.

    She had modified her own ribs as well, turning them into long tendrils that she used as limbs to wield instruments or interact with her specimens.

    "Is this what happens when you destroy the life force of healthy organs? The flow of blood stops and- Who''s there?" Ka turned around abruptly to face the source of the retching sounds that disturbed her focus.

    "I''m d to see you again, too." Scarlett''s voice oozed sarcasm. "What are you doing here and why you didn''t take proper care of neither my home nor of your children?"

    "Are you back already?" Ka was bbergasted. "It''s a bit early for dinner and I''m on the verge of a breakthrough. Please don''t bother me and I''ll join you in a while."

    "What do you mean, back already? It''s been five years, not a few hours!"

    "That long?" Ka''s astonishment grew with each revtion. "By the way, I don''t like what you did with your hair. No matter what the modern fashion sense dictates, you look ridiculous."

    "I got electrocuted, what''s your excuse?" Scarlett conjured hard-lightbs that returned her fur back to its original state while she pointed at Ka''s bone tendrils that still held the living organs of the wretched man.

    The Wight retracted the flexible ribs into the shadows of her body just in time before Nok started to puke.

    Nyka just focused on her meal, puncturing the man''s jugr with her fangs and s.u.c.k.i.n.g him dry in a matter of seconds.

    Ka''s experiments made the blood taste funny, but the life force of the once-powerful mage tasted like the sweetest honey to her as she added it to her Blood Core. The red nectar carried not only life, but also mana that she made her own.

    "Where that guyes from? I hope you didn''t kidnap one of the runts from the White Griffon." Scarlett asked.

    "I don''t have time to wastemitting crimes." Ka replied. "After losing Phird, Headmaster Linjos needed a scavenger for the castle dungeon. Humans like some ir for their executions, I need specimens, and Nyka needs food.

    "I simply found one solution that fixed all of our problems at the same time."

    "The Headmaster now is Marth, Mom. Linjos is dead." Nok said.

    What seemed like just a slip of the mind worried Scarlet to no end. Theck of care for her environment but theb, the loss of track of time, and most of all, the indifference towards her offspring were all typical signs of the Lich race.

    Body modification was creepy but not unusual for mages who didn''t trust anyone to be their assistant, just like theck ofpassion for all those who messed with their research.

    "That''s it. Give me back the ownership of my house." Scarlett extended her right paw, hoping there was enough of her friend left in that skeletal husk to honor the pact they made before her departure.

    No mage could walk away from theirb for too long because all the spells and even the arrays they were imbued with needed a sliver of mana and maintenance from their owner to keep working properly.

    Also, without someone operating the defensive system, anyonepetent enough could disable them oneyer at a time and pige the abandonedb. Scarlett needed someone to take care of her home and Ka a safe ce to stay, so she had reced her own imprint with the Wight''s.

    Now, however, the Scorpicore wasn''t so sure that Ka would renounce such power without a fight. Especially since as long as the arrays obeyed the Wight, she would have the upper hand despite the gap in both mana core and battle experience.

    The red light of undeath in Ka''s eyes flickered for a moment as an awkward silence descended between them. Her gaze remained steady as she pondered her next words.

    "Nyka, where did you get those clothes?" Ka said while putting her paw above Scarlett''s and returning the house to its rightful owner. "It puzzled me for a while, just like Nok''s astonishing growth rate."

    "My growth is normal, it''s you who didn''t give me a proper look during thest three years." Nok said.

    "And I showed you these clothes dozens of times." Nyka furiously tapped her foot on the ground, pouting.

    "How long since shest got out of theb?" Scarlett asked.

    "I''m not asking you, but them." Scarlett cut Ka short. "You''d just answer some nonsense like, yesterday."

    Hearing the Scorpicore taking the words out of her mind made the Wight wonder if maybe her old friend had a good reason for being so angry with her.

    "A couple of years ago, during the crisis in Laruel." Nyka said. "Marth needed her help against some undead nts and Mom rushed at the opportunity to collect more samples."

    "It was a great learning experience that showed me the importance of light magic to craft powerful undead. Between that and my own experiments, I only need a white mana crystal to start the transformation into a Lich."

 Chapter 1285 - Keeping Busy (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1285 - Keeping Busy (Part 1)</h4>

    "Shut it! Can¡¯t you see you are scaring the kids?" Scarlett scolded Ka. "Tonight I¡¯m going out with some of my friends and you areing along. You need to live a little before you do something that you might regret forever."

    "Are you leaving already, Auntie? We¡¯ve missed you for so long." Both Nok and Nyka looked at Scarlett with sad eyes that shattered her ns.

    "You are right. Tonight, we¡¯ll celebrate with a family dinner, and tomorrow I¡¯ll bring you all to a nice ce." The Scorpicore¡¯s words were met with hugs, enthusiasm, and Ka¡¯s attempt to get back into theb.

    "I¡¯ll go fetch something tasty. You kids set the table while your mother gets to work." Ka¡¯s smile disappeared when Scarlett handed her lots of cleaning tools instead of fresh specimens.

    "If by my return the stench of decay and everything that causes it isn¡¯t gone, I¡¯m going to lock you out of theb for a week. You are not allowed to use magic. I want you to realize the consequences of your actions."

    Much to Ka¡¯s dismay, the door to the Necromancy workshop refused to open now that she was back being a guest.

    "Is this really necessary? I¡¯m sure that-"

    "One more word and I¡¯ll make it a month." Scarlett took off in search of a prey big enough for all of them.

    As for Ka, she needed all of her extra limbs to collect her failed experiments lying around, wondering what could a piece of paper addressed to her that said "Present" mean.

    ***

    Lith¡¯s house, a few days after the dinner with Lark.

    Just like Scarlett had predicted, Lith received a summon from the Council a few hours after Marchioness Distar notified him of his invitation to the Royal G to celebrate the fall of Kogaluga.

    Being called directly from the Lord of the Distar region, whose authorityy just below the Royals, was the greatest honor one could receive. Regr nobles and mages would just speak with Royal messengers.

    Lords like Jirni and Deirus would be notified by the Chambein. Speaking directly with the Royals was something that only people like Mirim Distar could do and only because of her role of Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps.

    "I¡¯m amazed how you¡¯re keeping busy during your alleged time off." The Marchioness said. "Silver mines, a retail chain, and now even a... What is it called again?"

    "A car." Lith replied

    He still had a hard time believing that aside from women, u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r had achieved minimal sess whereas chess and strollers flew off the shelves. To fulfill the ever-increasing orders, Zekell¡¯s workshop had been forced to expand again and even open branches in the nearby cities.

    Chess had known a slow but steady increase of poprity among mages and nobles until the Queen herself had promoted the game by participating to a tourney hosted by the Marchioness.

    Solus had defeated Lady Distar in the semi-finals and found her equal in Sylpha during the finals. Lith had begged Solus to lose on purpose, but once the game started, he had no idea if a move was good or bad, he just moved the pieces.

    "By defeating its very own inventor, I crown Sylpha Griffon as Queen of the Games as well as of our glorious Kingdom!" The Marchioness said while proiming the winner.

    Lith still considered it a victory since he had seeded in not falling asleep, but Solus didn¡¯t share his ability to lose with grace.

    <i>¡¯I would have won if you didn¡¯t keep distracting me with your thoughts about what drink is the best to go with different cuts of meat!¡¯</i> She still scolded him.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s called "What¡¯s the beer?" and it¡¯s the only thing that keeps my eyes open while I¡¯m forced to stare at pieces of wood for hours.¡¯</i> He thought.

    As for the strollers, they didn¡¯t need any kind of advertis.e.m.e.nt. Any parent that saw one found themselves craving for it.

    "Have you considered opening a retail store in Derios as well? Many people can¡¯t afford the shipping charges from L.u.s.tria. They are more expensive than your products themselves." The Marchioness said.

    "I¡¯ll discuss it with my administrator. I don¡¯t have the time to deal with those kinds of things." Lith replied.

    "I know. You are too busy taking down Lost Cities. Can you tell me how you found Kolga¡¯s core from Lutia? I know it¡¯s supposed to be a secret until the city is officially dered cleansed, but I hate mysteries."

    ¡¯When I¡¯m not the one keeping them.¡¯ She actually thought.

    "I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t. I received a direct order from the Queen." Lith would have liked to tell her the official version of the events, but Tyris had yet to make up one.

    "Then I¡¯ll ask no more. I¡¯ll see you at the g and until then, try to have some proper rest. Distar out." The Marchioness closed the call, leaving Lith to his preparations.

    He wasn¡¯t worried by either the Council or the Royal Court. Even if they had connected the dots and understood that the silver pir belonged to him, no one had a good reason to antagonize him.

    Humans, beasts, and probably even the Guardians would cover his back, leaving the remaining two factions holding the short end of the stick. Abominations had yet to be part of the Council but they already held some influence.

    With the ongoing negotiations, they could tip the scales of most decisions simply by raising or lowering their demands ording to the oue. Lith considered Xenagrosh among his backers after all she had done for Lutia.

    The Royal Court was definitely trickier. Phloria¡¯s trial had shown him the limits of the power that Tyris was willing to exert on political affairs, but with the help of the Royals and thanks to the fact that he had nonds, he had no weak point either.

    <i>¡¯Surely the current Ranger of the Ker region will be pissed off and some of the militaries, like General Morn, will want my head for interfering with state secrets as a civilian. They can¡¯t kill me, but they can sure mess with my life.</i>

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s no point worrying about them until I have an idea of what kind of reward I¡¯m going to get. If the Royals bestow upon me a Royal pardon, then all my past and present breakings of thew will be forgotten and my enemies will have no excuse to attack me. I just have to wait and see.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Aren¡¯t you excited at the thought of having your first real vacation here on Mogar?¡¯</i> Solus asked.

    <i>¡¯What do you mean? I had plenty of vacations. Like during the winter break for the academy or when I brought Kam to the Flying Griffon Resort.¡¯</i> Lith felt offended at the allegation.

    <i>¡¯Please, we did nothing but work during the break or any other leave you got from the army. As for Kam, those weren¡¯t vacations so much as extended dates. Thanks to ourtest mind fusions, I know how you didn¡¯t care about excursions or sceneries, you stayed in bed as long as you could.</i>

    <i>¡¯Even when you took some time off for me, you considered it therapy and gave your all to make me feel good instead of enjoying yourself.¡¯</i> Solus said.

 Chapter 1286 - Keeping Busy (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1286 - Keeping Busy (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>The only times you¡¯ve really rested is when you were recovering from ghastly injuries and only because you couldn¡¯t move.¡¯</i> Solus pouted.

    She didn¡¯t like being considered among the things on the to-do list.

    <i>¡¯Then this is no vacation either. I¡¯m going to have to exin magic and responsibilities to a couple of kids. Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯You¡¯re going to spend a few days in thepany of your little ones in a beautiful location, rxing in contact with nature with nothing to worry about but theck of a real bathroom. It sounds fun to me.¡¯</i> Solus could hear him inwardly w.h.i.n.e before she could even finish the thought.

    <i>¡¯I could argue with many things you¡¯ve just said, starting from theck of a bathroom, but I¡¯ll just point out that you probably jinxed it.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    They quarreled all the way back home from the tower where they had prepared thetest batch of merchandise. Solus¡¯s alchemicalb was the perfect ce to mass produce items while also imbuing them with minor spells that would prevent counterfeiting.

    Chess was easily replicable and required cheap materials so Lith simply added a multi-colored magical brand shaped like his family crest on every chessboard that marked it as an original piece.

    The most expensive pieces, those made of high-quality wood and marble figurines, he would simply autograph them. Any noble or magician found ying with a knock-off would be theughing stock of the chessmunity so aside from those who couldn¡¯t afford to get one, counterfeits had no real market.

    As for the strollers, Lith sold and prepared two kinds of them. One with wheels for the low-middle ss and one with a floating spell for the middle-high ss. They both bore a small enchantment that would make them crumble the moment they were disassembled, making them impossible to study.

    Their design wasplicated on purpose, with several movable parts that seemed to be important but were actually just for show.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want toe?" On his way, Lith had stopped by Selia¡¯s house to invite Protector and his kids to the adventure.

    "Thanks, but no." The Skoll was in his human form, 2.1 meters (7¡¯) tall, wearing a deep green hunter suit over brown leather boots with a soft outer sole.

    Ryman¡¯s face was still rough and savage, with a square jaw and a cleft chin. Despite his huge size and bulging muscles, Ryman¡¯s emerald eyes were calm and his smile warm.

    He kept his long ming red hair in a tress and there were wood ch.i.p.s in his well-trimmed beard from the constant repairing the holes in the house that his kids opened with their ws.

    "It¡¯s the first time I have hybrid children and before they make their choice, I need to show them the best from both worlds. Which means teaching them how to hunt, showing them the limits of their strength, and showing them life in the wilds.

    "They will have to shapeshift often and hunt their food. I don¡¯t know if their Skoll nature will help them with the killing or if they¡¯ll be shocked by their first blood. Either way, I can¡¯t have your kids looking at them as if they are monsters.

    "Before being epted by others, they need to ept themselves, just like you did. On top of that, I doubt that Leria and Aran would manage to keep our secret since you haven¡¯t entrusted to them even your own." Protector said.

    All of his family but the kids knew about Lith being a hybrid.

    "That said, Selia sends you her thanks." Ryman sighed while handing Lith a basket filled with some of the best cuts of meat the Trawn woods had to offer. "She can¡¯t wait to send me away with the kids and have some quality time for herself."

    "Are you saying that..."

    "Yes, I¡¯ll be having the same experience as you but in a different location. Selia loves the idea of teaching magic and discipline to the kids so that they might help her instead of working her to the bone." Protector said.

    "I¡¯ll see you on my return, then. Will you take part in the ckest Day?" Lith referred to Mogar¡¯s Fall Equinox.

    It was simr to Earth¡¯s Halloween but its meaning was different. The ckest Day was considered both thest day of summer and the first of fall. It marked the arrival of the cold season and daylight wouldst as long as the night.

    It was thest day before light bowed to darkness and ording to lore, it was also the moment when all the barriers between the world of the living and the dead would disappear.

    For the a.d.u.l.ts, it was the reminder to put their business in order before winter and snowstorms forced them to.

    For the kids, instead, it was the asion to beg their parents to let them eat all the things that they wouldn¡¯t get anymore once the cold season started and to buy them toys that would keep them entertained while holed up home.

    It was the first time Lith took part in it. Back when he was a kid, there wasn¡¯t money to spend in sweets or toys. All they had were the figurines Raaz carved for them and the food Elina cooked.

    Until that moment, Lith had been the youngest of the family and most of the money they had came from him. Back when he still worked for Nana, his parents didn¡¯t feel like spending his hard-earned money on things he clearly didn¡¯t care about.

    By the time they had fixed their house and expanded their fields, all of their kids were too old for the ckest Night. As for Aran and Leria, they were training hard to stay up after dinner instead of falling asleep until the next day like it had always happened until that moment.

    "If I don¡¯t, even if my children don¡¯t kill me, Selia certainly would. Pregnancy gave her a sweet tooth and the prolonged istion until we moved to Lutia only made her cravings worse." Protector managed to whimper despite his human form.

    "At least we don¡¯t have to worry about stupid costumes here." Lith said. "If everyone here dressed up like on Earth, I would be forced to stay on guard against agents of the Undead Courts the whole time."

    "You and everyone else. It would be a massacre and trigger mass hysteria. Any dumb joke would easily lead to murder." Ryman shivered at the thought of his children butchering someone in assumed self-defense.

    After Night¡¯s attack, they had a beef against the undead and would attack anyone who just looked like a potential threat. It was one of the reasons why he needed to make that trip and teach them how to use their senses to differentiate between an enemy and a rude jerk.

    Lith returned home, happy to notice how his parents were in a great mood for the first time since the day they had learned about Trion¡¯s death. Once they got over their initial fears, the DoLorean had be their new best friend.

    It allowed them to take joy rides when they were stressed, to revisit the ces of their youth, and to go visit Jirni without the need to bother their children. Lith had even installed a tracking device in the car that allowed the Queen¡¯s Corps to always know their position and to follow them from a distance.

 Chapter 1287 - Away from Home (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1287 - Away from Home (Part 1)</h4>

    "It¡¯s too bad that you can¡¯t bring Zinya¡¯s children along as well. Those poor kids don¡¯t have a father figure and with all of their friends gone, they are bound to feel lonely." Raaz said.

    He had hoped that sharing such an experience would bring the two families even closer.

    "Don¡¯t worry about them. After I told Vastor that Zinya¡¯s kids would remain alone, his nieces took the matter out of his hands. While I¡¯ll spend my days in the wilds, Zinya and her children will be guests in Vastor¡¯s home.

    "Besides, they have little talent for magic. Seeing what I would teach Aran and Leria yet not be able to participate would be torture to them." With their red cores, there was little that Zinya¡¯s children could do, even with chore magic.

    "What about Kam?" Elina chimed in. "You would get to spend a bit of time together and experience what it means to raise children instead of just pampering them."

    "Mom, I¡¯m still young!" Lith became beet red at the thought. "I¡¯ll be neen in a few months and-"

    "And by that age, I already had Rena, Trion, and by twenty I had Tista as well. Don¡¯t forget that twenty years of age also marks the point when a hybrid has to choose their nature and I¡¯d like my grandkids to have a bit of the Verhen blood along with that of the Dragon, Demon, or whatever you¡¯re turning into." Elina cut him short.

    "For your information, Kam couldn¡¯t take a leave from her job and even if she could, she told me that sleeping on rocks and living with no bathroom it¡¯s not her idea of vacation." Being unable to beat the enemy in a direct confrontation, Lith could only get around it.

    "And whose fault is that if that poor girl sees it as a waste of time instead of as an opportunity?" Like a purebred hound, Elina wouldn¡¯t let go of the prey once she sank her teeth into it.

    "I¡¯m not getting any younger and neither is she. Is it a crime to want a few grandkids until I have the strength to enjoy them?"

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t believe Mogar is such a cruel ce where a woman as young as Kam is already considered a spinster.¡¯</i> Solus felt much morepassion toward her after discovering that her first life had ended at 28.

    If Kam at 27 was to be considered old, then Solus who had lived 15 more years after meeting Lith would be akin to an old bat.

    "Speaking of opportunities, I¡¯ve reserved two suites at the Flying Griffon resort. One for you two and another for Rena." If fight and flight were both impossible, Lith could only beg for mercy.

    <i>¡¯Now I understand how Manohar feels. Magic, swords, and even logic are powerless against my mother.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Young man, are you trying to bribe your way out of this conversation?" Elina tapped her foot while Raaz pretended to have heard one of his farmhands calling him.

    Helping one of them meant ending up on the ck book of the other, but staying neutral meant angering them both.

    "Dad, help me out..." Lith said a few seconds toote to a now-empty chair.

    "Nonsense! Dear, tell him..." Elina clicked her tongue at her missing husband.

    "Is it hot in there?" Bromann, one of his oldest friends, asked Raaz.

    "Scorching. Always remember that the only way to profit from a war is by not taking part in it." He said while getting far enough from the home to pretend he couldn¡¯t hear them calling him.

    "It¡¯s not a bribe, just a way to make sure that no one can bother you during my absence. Besides, without the kids and with Zinya gone, you¡¯re bound to feel lonely. Consider it an opportunity to rx a bit before the royal g." Lith said, making his mother¡¯s stomach churn.

    Elina had never gotten used to high society and even less to meeting the Royal Family. They seemed to be nice people and the fact that they held her son in high regard was a plus, but the fear that one wrong word of hers could ruin years of Lith¡¯s hard work covered Elina in a cold sweat.

    "Fine, I yield this time." Elina suddenly had no more strength to argue. "What happens if Orpal or Kam¡¯s parents arrive after you leave or before your return?"

    "Don¡¯t open the door. If it happens again, then it¡¯s no coincidence but something carefully nned. You just call me and I¡¯ll do the rest." Lith said.

    He spent the rest of the day helping the kids packing and reassuring their respective parents. By carrying a Home Stone with him, they could reach the camp with the DoLorean at any time and thanks to themunication amulets, they could keep in touch.

    Aside from their own Scalewalker armor, the kids had no enchanted item and Lith decided to keep things that way. They would use backpacks and needed to bring food like any normal person.

    Or better, like any normal person with a magical beast for a ride since Onyx and Abominus would take part in the trip. They would lead the kids by example with magic and carry them once they got too tired to walk.

    The best way to truly appreciate magic and discover its limits was to experience the need for it rather than being spoon-fed.

    The following day, after an abundant breakfast and putting the saddlebags on the beasts, Lith Warped them to Derios from where they would take the Gate to the Teraka mountain range.

    L.u.s.tria was mostly ins and its woods didn¡¯t differ much from Trawn to which the kids were used. Reaching the nearest mountain by Warp Steps would leave Lith exhausted to the point that even Invigoration wouldn¡¯t work anymore while using the tower warp would require to expose Solus¡¯s existence.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t trust them with my secret, let alone yours.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Besides, I chose to travel in casual clothes because I want the kids to be treated like regr people, not like the rtives of an Archmage.¡¯</i>

    s, everyone in Derios knew him. The guards didn¡¯t bat an eye at the magical beasts and the clerk of the Mage Association made them skip the line, drawing the disgruntled looks of many people.

    "How can a peddler take precedence? I demand an exnation!" A finely dressed man with more grease in his greyed hair than brains in his head said.

    "Arrest Bar Greph for insubordination, please. Next." The clerk said with a calm, monotone voice and the guards promptly obeyed.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, my disguise doesn¡¯t work as intended. I¡¯m receiving an apparently unfair treatment that is drawing all the wrong kinds of attention from those who failed to recognize me.¡¯</i> Lith inwardly griped.

    "Thanks for your service, Hero of the North. Are these beautiful kids your apprentices?" A middle-aged clerk said.

    He was all smiles and despite the many lines around his eyes, his voice was youthful and vibrant.

    "My rtives. I trust the magical beasts didn¡¯t give you any problem." Lith knew that magical or not, animals moved through a different Gate after being searched.

    "We just pointed them the way and they did the rest. I hope you won¡¯t mind if we gave them something to eat while they wait for your arrival." The clerk gave him a deep bow as if he was apologizing.

 Chapter 1288 - Away from Home (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1288 - Away from Home (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯What the heck? They didn¡¯t even search the magical beasts? I better get out of here fast or someone will chase us to ask me for some frigging favor.¡¯</i> Lith left in a hurry, dodging several quests that arrived a few seconds after his departure only thanks to the sharp instinct he had inherited from Raaz.

    ***

    After the events in Kolga, Leegaain couldn¡¯t take it anymore. He was sick and tired of Councils and Guardians considering him Lith¡¯s father. The Father of all Dragons knew to be innocent and such ims wouldn¡¯t bother him in the least if not for Lith seeding in histest world tribtion.

    Guardians bothered him to know which partner had allowed him to spawn a lesser Dragon whose powers could potentially rival that of the Guardians while the Councils tried to cajole him into helping them with promises to help his alleged heir.

    No matter how strongly Leegaain denied those allegations, the only thing he had achieved was the Guardians searching for all thepanions he had in the past and several members of the Council bothering him so much that he had been forced to mute hismunication amulet.

    <i>¡¯I must admit that between the scales and the Origin mes, Dragons are the first thing thates to mind when seeing Lith¡¯s proto-Guardian form. Also, his growth speed is simply outstanding.</i>

    <i>¡¯He is this close to reaching the violet core by the age when most hybrids have to worry about choosing their life force and he has already opened five of his seven eyes in the same time that usually takes a Hydra to grow their second head.¡¯</i> Leegaain thought.

    <i>¡¯Last but not least, his bloodline carries an outstanding power that it¡¯s only limited by hisck of experience and resources. As much as I wouldn¡¯t mind being blood-rted with him, I know for a fact that I¡¯m not.</i>

    <i>¡¯If one of my enemies targets him because of me, I¡¯d feel obligated to help him whereas my allies are going to give him gifts for no reason. On top of that, my children now resent me for abandoning their "brother".</i>

    <i>¡¯Zoreth means well, but by calling him little brother in public is causing me a lot of trouble. My only way out is to prove once and for all that the anomaly belongs to a different species.¡¯</i> He inwardly sighed.

    Never in his life had Leegaain been grateful to fake mages like he was now towards Marth. Blood Resonance would allow him to finally clear that misunderstanding. To do that, he needed a sample of blood from Lith¡¯s parents and a trustworthy witness.

    Without the former, he couldn¡¯t perform the test and without thetter, nobody would believe him, iming that the blood belonged to two random humans.

    Reaching Lutia by flight had taken him but a few hours, most of which he had spent trying to go unnoticed. Tyris would haveughed at Leegaain¡¯s attempt and demanded to apany him during his stay on her turf, making his mission impossible.

    He wanted something covert whereas two Guardians moving together for a petty reason like a paternity test would be an unprecedented event. Everyone would believe that the rumors were true and that Tyris was helping him for her own gain if not to hide the fact that she was the mother.

    <i>¡¯If only that stupid Griffon had more than one human form.¡¯</i> The Father of All Dragons inwardly griped while knocking on a stone door. <i>¡¯The appearance she uses always draws attention because she¡¯s too beautiful.</i>

    <i>¡¯With all the trouble that the war against Undead Courts is causing, using a disguise is off the table as well. Not to mention that Tyris is still quite angry about my little maniption and might even try to stop me.¡¯</i>

    "Grampa! What are you doing here and why didn¡¯t you just Warp?" Faluel the Hydra wasn¡¯t expecting visitors that day.

    "It¡¯s nice to see you too." Leegaain grunted.

    He looked like a man in histe thirties, about 1.75 (5¡¯9") tall, with ck hair and dark eyes. He wore leather pants, a brown jacket, a light mantle to protect him from the wind, and a hood to shield him from the sun.

    Nothing from the color of his skin to his ent made him any different from one of the traveling merchants that passed through Lutia on their way to Derios.

    "I¡¯m sorry. Nice to see you, Grampa. What are you doing here and why didn¡¯t you just Warp?" Even though Hydras had a good rtionship with their forefather, usually hising only meant troubles.

    "Warping to such distance would require a Guardian tier spell that Tyris would perceive, while using the Beasts¡¯ Warpingwork would mean leaving a trail. I can¡¯t afford either. As for why I¡¯m here, it¡¯s quite simple." Leegaain said before exining his reasons to her.

    "Let me get this straight, you need me to get close to Lith¡¯s parents unnoticed and testify the authenticity of the Blood Resonance?" Faluel asked.

    "I can¡¯t go to twoplete strangers, draw their blood, and expect that no one will make a fuss. Not with all the crazyyers of protections around the Verhen household and the armor they wear.

    "On top of that, I can¡¯t perform the spell myself or everyone will doubt its results and I can¡¯t entrust the samples to any member of the Council either." Leegaain said.

    "Yeah. Even one drop of your blood would allow creating artifacts and fuel golems the like Mogar has never seen before." Faluel nodded.

    "I came to you because I trust you enough to destroy my blood after the test and because our rtionship it¡¯s not so deep that you would lie for me. Quite the contrary, if your disciple turns out to not belong to my bloodline, your status in both the Council and the Dragon family would decrease.

    "You have all to lose and nothing to gain from this." Leegaain said.

    ***

    City of Xaanx, the local branch of the Mage Association.

    "Why aren¡¯t we flying or something?" Aran asked while holding Onyx¡¯s fur tight to take courage. He had never been to a city before so his first impression was terrifying.

    Between its tall buildings and its bustling activity, Xaanx made Lutia look like a quiet graveyard inparison. Unlike Derios, where people knew Lith and made way for them and treated them with courtesy, here no one would give them a second look.

    People were too busy minding their own business to care about three country bumpkins and the moment the kids stepped away from Lith, they had been almost swept away by the crowd.

    Luckily, the Shyf had caught her little friend by the shirt and put him on her back before it was toote. Only the space near the magical beasts was safe because of their intimidating look

    Their height at the withers reached 1.6 meters (5¡¯6") and they weighed a few hundreds of kilos of pure muscles. The deadly look of their fangs and their growls the moment someone came too close garnered them lots of personal space.

    "I can¡¯t fly while carrying people and I can¡¯t Warp where I¡¯ve never been." Lith replied while showing for the third time in less than five minutes his ID to the city guards.

 Chapter 1289 - Road Trip (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1289 - Road Trip (Part 1)</h4>

    Whenever people saw the beasts, they would call the city guards who in turn asked Lith the reason why he traveled with such dangerous creatures. Thews of the Kingdom protected magical beasts due to their role in keeping the monster poption in check, but they were also expected to stay in the wilds.

    "Take a good look around, kids. Magic is rare and most people can only use regr means of transportation. For them, even a steed is a luxury." Lith jumped on Onyx¡¯s back with Aran and lead Abominus by the bridle along the street.

    The Shyf could easily carry them both and once they got down the sidewalk, it took them but a few minutes to reach Xaanx¡¯s outer rim. Thanks to the Warp Gate, the city was an important trading hub that allowed the nearby cities to buy products from all around the Kingdom and to sell their own on the global market.

    The constant flow of merchandise to and from the Gate provided the city with lots of money and its hotels were booked all year round. Xaanx¡¯s roads were paved with perfectly squared grey stone blocks and wide enough to let three carriages pass side by side.

    The sidewalks were filled with people of all social sses, each minding their own business. Bordering with the wilds, Xaanx hadn¡¯t been built to be beautiful, but to be practical.

    Except for the houses that belonged to Nobles and rich merchants, there was no green, only buildings one or two stories high that filled each city block, taking as much space as their owner could afford.

    Right below the sidewalk, deep gutters allowed people to empty their chamber pots so that their content would flow into the sewers without making the air reek.

    Aran and Leria looked at the noble houses painted with bright colors, finding them in stark contrast with the depressing uniform grey of the rest of the buildings.

    "Uncle Lith, why is everyone so sad and why does this ce smell so bad?" Leria was used to live in open spaces where people were friendly to each other or at least so it appeared to her na?ve eyes.

    "This is just what a city looks like. People are too busy making a living to smile. As for the smell, it¡¯s just a mix of sweat and body odors. They don¡¯t have a bathroom, so they can¡¯t wash often." Lith replied.

    The kids were shocked seeing theck of magic of the inhabitants of Xaanx just like Lith opening a Warp Steps from time to time to skip traffic idents and roadblocks shocked the passers-by.

    Riding a magical beast was already unheard of, doing it while also using dimensional magic was something that happened only in the legends.

    "What¡¯s your destination, Ranger Verhen?" A desk Sergeant with greyed mustache and a weathered face said after giving him the salute, quickly followed by the rest of the military guarding the city entrance.

    Even though Lith had been discharged, the army would always consider him one of their own until he gave them a reason to think otherwise.

    "We are going to the Teraka mountain range. The little ones need a ce where they can practice magic safely while also learning a bit of discipline." Lith kept as vague as he could so that once out of the city wouldn¡¯t know where to find him.

    He didn¡¯t want to waste time being involved with the problems of the city or of one of its nobles.

    "Chore magic or real magic?" The Sergeant looked at the two small kids with admiration and a tinge of envy. No one in his family had ever demonstrated any talent for the mystical arts.

    "All magic is real magic." Lith weaved his hand, giving a perfect shave to the soldiers that surrounded the magical beasts at the same time. "It¡¯s akin to a de that cannot harm its user but that can deal great harm to those around them if not properly mastered."

    A cold shiver ran down the spine of the soldiers as they realized how the only difference between the smooth skin of their necks and a slit throat was Lith¡¯s will. Most of them could barely light a fire so they had never considered how dangerous even a magico was.

    "Can I borrow a bit ofnd?" Lith asked, snapping them out of their reverie.

    "I beg your pardon?" The Sergeant asked with confusion.

    Lith traced a circle in the air with his finger, making a circr trench about three meters wide appear in the ground ten meters away from the guard post.

    "Oh, that! As long as you don¡¯t dig a tunnel that goes under the city walls, feel free to take whatever you need." He said, sighing with relief. For a moment, the Sergeant had feared that Lith would abuse his authority.

    "Thanks, I¡¯ll try to bring it back." Lith had the beasts step on the circle as he used earth magic to make it rock solid and air magic to make it float a couple of meters above the ground.

    After a few hand signs and a bit of gibberish, the stone tform darted forward, disappearing on the horizon in just a few seconds. The soldiers stared in awe at the now empty space, uncaring for the long line of people waiting to enter or exit Xaanx.

    Yet no oneined. They were all lost in daydreams where they could fly as well.

    Lith couldn¡¯t move as fast as usual due to the weight the spell had to support and to not endanger the kids¡¯ lives. He needed to keep the tform steady while surrounding it with an air barrier that kept the dust out and the children in.

    "Why didn¡¯t you do this earlier, big brother?" Aran dismounted from Onyx and closed in to the protective dome, but got gently pushed back by the air current every time he got too close to the edge.

    "Because I would have been forced topensate for the damage and you can¡¯t move this fast inside a city. What if I crashed into something or someone?" Lith replied.

    "You repair the things and heal the people with magic." Aran puffed his c.h.e.s.t out with pride while giving what he considered the perfect answer.

    "Magic can¡¯t fix everything and even though I can heal a wound, does that mean that people would forget about the pain they had to endure because of me? Are you less scared of fire just because even if you get burned magic can take away the scars?"

    "No. If someone were to run over Dad¡¯s stuff and hurt him, I¡¯d consider them a bad guy." Lith¡¯s words made the childish logic crumble and a sudden jolt made Aran lose his footing and fly back.

    Only thanks to Onyx catching him on the fly did he not need to experience what would happen if he crashed into the barrier.

    <i>¡¯You really are a d.i.c.k.¡¯</i> Solus and Onyx told him in unison via the mind link.

    The jolt had been intentional, to teach the kids caution. Lith knew that he couldn¡¯t always be there for them and even though his spells were seamless, he didn¡¯t like Aran¡¯s reckless attitude.

 Chapter 1290 - Road Trip (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1290 - Road Trip (Part 2)</h4>

    Leria had remained safely between Abominus¡¯s huge paws the whole time whereas his little brother¡¯s repeated attempts to y with the barrier as if it was a toy had required Lith¡¯s attention to keep him from falling off.

    ¡¯The burned hand teaches the best.¡¯ Lith replied with a telepathic shrug. ¡¯Besides I warned you before it happened.¡¯

    Aran hugged the huge feline and when the Shyf sat on the ground to hold him between her forelegs, the child didn¡¯t utter a single word ofint. He let the warm embrace wash away his fears and fell asleep in a few minutes.

    The travel went smoothly, allowing them to cross the distance between Xaanx and Mount Sartak, their destination, in a matter of a few hours. Lith kept the tform high and far enough from the main road to avoid any ident.

    A couple of times, Leria pointed her little hand at a caravan that had stopped to the side of the road, but Lith¡¯s spell made them move so fast that the unlucky fellow would be a small point in the distance before she could speak.

    "Uncle Lith, shouldn¡¯t you help those in need?" She asked him after they ignored one caravan too many.

    <i>¡¯If you dare to say "why should I?" to a little girl that considers you her hero, I¡¯ll kick your a.s.s to Lutia and back!¡¯</i> Solus said the moment she felt those words forming in his mind.

    <i>¡¯Solus, put yourself in my shoes. I¡¯m trying to teach them that magic is not a miracle and that even if they be mages, they need to choose their battles wisely.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯I get that they must learn to control and understand their powers, but they are just kids! You don¡¯t need to tell them that the world is a cruel ce or that sooner orter their parents will die. We can teach them responsibility without destroying their innocence.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Nonsense. Carl and I-¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Had a horrible family and no childhood. Do you want them to grow up as fast and as painfully as you did?¡¯</i> Solus cut him short.

    <i>¡¯No.¡¯</i> Lith replied after a while.<i> ¡¯If it was for me, I would like for them to never grow up, but it wille the moment when they¡¯ll have to stand up on their own.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I agree, but they are just five years old. It¡¯s an a.d.u.l.t¡¯s duty to give children the opportunity to dream and nurture their hopes instead of crushing them.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    "Sure thing, Leria." Lith replied with a smile.

    "Then why didn¡¯t we stop earlier?" She asked.

    "Because there was no need to. They were just repairing a broken wheel or letting their horses rest. I didn¡¯t see any bandit nor wounded people, otherwise I would have given them a hand." Lith lied through his teeth, sure that between the air dome and the high-speed, Leria couldn¡¯t see clearly.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, how I hate when you spew the first bullshit thates to your mind with a straight face.¡¯</i> Solus grumbled.

    <i>¡¯You told me to let them dream and now you want me to be honest? Make up your mind, woman.¡¯</i>

    "Wow!" Leria said with a radiant smile. "You are incredible, Uncle Lith. You noticed so many things in the blink of an eye. You are my hero."

    No matter how many swear words Solus threw at Lith, nothing could hurt him more than those innocent eyes that looked at him with blind and undeserved admiration.

    "I¡¯m hungry." Aran said with a yawn, interrupting Lith¡¯s guilt trip.

    "So am I, but we are almost there. I choose Mount Sartak because there is a cozy inn near its foot. We can eat and rest there whenever you get tired of practicing." Lith said.

    "How can someone get tired of magic?" Leria said with a confident smile. "Besides, you are a great cook and hunter, Uncle. There¡¯s no need for an inn."

    <i>¡¯I would believe your words if you ever watched an animal getting butchered, little one. I don¡¯t n on giving you a trauma only on teaching you about magic. The Hot Pot it¡¯s the perfect ce to eat to your heart content without worrying about how the food in your te looked like when it was still alive.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    "Someone already feels like a powerful Archmage before even getting her first lesson." He actually said while ruffling her blonde hair.

    "It looks like your uncles will have to teach you a lesson in humility, little girl." Aran said with a serious voice, trying to imitate Lith.

    "Little girl?" Leriaughed at his attempt to sound m.a.t.u.r.e. "I¡¯m older than you. An uncle is someone cool and strong while you could barely pass for my little cousin."

    "Onyx, bite her!"

    "Abominus, teach them a lesson!"

    The two magical beasts looked at each other for a moment and then at their respective riders while the kids kept bickering. The beasts turned their heads from one child to the other as they spewed nonsense, akin to two spectators of a tennis match.

    "Onyx, use your World Ending Thunder!" Aran said.

    "Abominus, dodge it and use Seismic Toss!" Leria replied.

    ["What the heck are they talking about? Do you really have such a spell?"] Abominus asked in Beast speak to not scare the kids with human talk.

    ["Only in Aran¡¯s head. He believes me to be some kind of war goddess who uses spells whose names are as long as they are pretentious."] Onyx replied.

    Only when they reached the Hot Pot and the smell of good food filled their nostrils did the kids stop yelling at each other. Establishing the pecking order could wait after lunch.

    The inn was arge three stories rectangr building made of solid oak wood and with a sloping roof of tight-knit tiles glued together with tar to inste and waterproof the building during the mountain¡¯s harsh winter.

    The nearby stables were almost asrge but on a single floor, to amodate both carriages and the animals that drafted them. A stable boy that looked barely 16, with callous hands and shoulders too broad for his thin build walked toward Lith.

    Despite the chilly air of fall, the young man was covered in sweat due to the heat from the work and the animals that filled the stables. He reeked of hardbor and horseshit so much that a simple draft of wind carrying his smell almost ruined the kids¡¯ appetite.

    "Are they tame?" The stable boy asked while nervously l.i.c.k.i.n.g his dry lips. He was used to dealing with horses and mules, fanged beasts weren¡¯t part of his job description.

    "No, but if you treat them well, they will return the favor. Onest thing, don¡¯t try to feed them hay unless you have a death wish. Mypanions take their meat medium rare and not seasoned. They are on a diet." Lith said, ignoring the whining of the magical beasts.

    Lith threw a couple of copper coins to the stable boy to calm him down before cleansing him from both the sweat and the stench with a wave of the hand. The young man felt as if he had just taken a bath and looked at Lith with a mix of wonder and fear.

 Chapter 1291 - The Three Branches of Magic (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1291 - The Three Branches of Magic (Part 1)</h4>

    "Are you a mage?" The stable boy had never seen one before. Just like nobles, mages didn¡¯t use trade routes.

    "Sort of. I¡¯ll pay for whatever damage and heal any injury my beasts might cause. Yet try to con me and it will be thest mistake you make. I have eyes and ears everywhere." Lith said while Onyx and Abominus went on their own to two empty stalls.

    The stable boy gulped and followed their movements with his eyes, fearing that the horses might get scared and injure themselves in the attempt to escape, yet nothing happened.

    When he turned around, Lith and the children were gone.

    The inside of the Hot Pot was as warm as the stables but it smelled much better. The walls were lined with long tables and benches while the center of the ground floor was filled with tables for four.

    The former would host the caravans¡¯ crew members and their bodyguards while their masters used thetter to enjoy better food and privacy. The tables would be removed for the night, turning the restaurant into a cheap hostel for travelers who couldn¡¯t afford a room.

    The wood pavement was dull and full of scratches from the moving of chairs but it was clean. A huge firece took the center part of the west wall, where several animal heads and pelts were hung.

    <i>¡¯Either the owner of this ce is a hunter or they have an odd way to disy their selection of meat.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    Seeing three inly dressed people sitting at one of the center tables, a blonde waitress with a face full of freckles was about to ask them to move to one of the side benches when she noticed several things that didn¡¯t add up.

    They didn¡¯t smell, their clothes didn¡¯t have a speck of dust on them, and the tall guy was way too young to be the father of the kids who in turn were too tanned to be from around those parts.

    "Wee to the Hot Pot. What can I serve you today?" She asked with her best smile while offering them the menus from the pouch of her apron.

    She didn¡¯t miss the too many non-precious rings on Lith¡¯s hands nor that the callouses on his hands didn¡¯t fit a worker so much as a warrior. Toymen, magic crystals looked like well-cut pieces of colored ss.

    "One Rainbow soup each, one roasted duck, two sides of roasted potatoes, and water for drink. Thanks." Lith said.

    "I don¡¯t want the soup!" Aranined.

    "I don¡¯t want to share my potatoes with him! He always tries to hog them all." Leria said.

    "And I don¡¯t want to hear another word. You are making us look bad in front of this nicedy" Lith replied. "We¡¯re here for a light meal, otherwise you¡¯ll fall asleep and we¡¯ll lose most of the remaining daylight."

    She wasn¡¯t used to seeing kids around those parts, let alone such odd fellows. By that age, a merchant¡¯s child would have had the spunk beaten out of them already whereas a noble wouldn¡¯t care about what she might think.

    "I¡¯m sorry for my rudeness." The kids gave the waitress a small bow, making her eyes go wide with surprise.

    After that, the service was quick and the servings generous. The soup owed his name to the different kinds of colored vegetables cut into pieces that floated on its surface, but this time they had been cut with a flower shape.

    The duck was big and greasy while the tes of potatoes were filled to the brim. Useless to say, the tes returned clean to the kitchens and the kids fell asleep before Lith could ask for the bill.

    "Is there any discount if I leave the room in a couple of hours?" He asked.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not the one setting the prices." The waitress said while counting the money and appreciating the tip.

    Lith ended up paying for a full night even though he left in a few hours. He tried to make up for the lost time by climbing the mountain walls instead of taking the paths, but all that jumping almost made the kids puke their lunch.

    "Why do we have to walk? Can¡¯t we fly again or at least mount on Abominus?" Leria asked the moment fatigue beat her wonder for all the foreign smells and colors of the Sartak mountain.

    At first, she had liked the idea of climbing because it gave her a sense of purpose, but now she discovered that ins were much easier to walk.

    "Only a strong body can withstand powerful magic. Don¡¯t you remember how strong even aunt Quy is?" Lith replied.

    Even before starting her apprenticeship with Faluel, the practice of Forgemastering and tier five spells had made her even stronger than Raaz.

    "Then this is part of our training, correct?" Aran said with a pant, remembering how all the heroes of his favorite stories had to work hard to be strong and wishing he could have a training montage as well to skip all the sweating.

    "Correct. The one who resists longer is probably the most talented for magic." Lith replied to spice things up.

    The kids exchanged looks for a moment and after that they saved their breath for the walk, unwilling to give up first. Thanks to Life Vision, Lith could see when their vitality weakened and took a well-timed break with a chocte snack.

    "I can still walk." Aran said after Lith had him sit on Onyx¡¯s back, strapping him tightly to the saddle.

    "I know, but you need to save your strength for your first lesson." Lith replied while doing the same for Leria.

    Thanks to his enhanced physique and the magical beasts trotting, they reached an altitude of over two kilometers (3,300 feet) and found arge clearing suitable for their purpose when there were still a couple of hours of light left.

    The tall grass would soften the ground for their rest and a stream connected to ake would provide them with all they needed.

    "Before setting the camp, I¡¯m going to teach you the basics of magic as I learned it through my years of experience." Lith looked them in the eyes, noticing that the kids were tired, hungry, but unwilling to turn down the challenge.

    "We can split the elements into three branches. Light and earth are the elements of creation. Their purpose is to create and nurture life. You can use them to harm others, but that requires your ill-will."

    Lith used both elements to enrich with nutrients the soil around a withering flower and made it metabolize them quickly.

    The tilting stem straightened up and the color of the still remaining petals became vibrant as if the flower had just bloomed.

    "Then, there are the elements of bnce, air and water. They can nurture or destroy ording to how you use them, just like an open hand can be used to c.a.r.e.s.s or to p someone. The difference lies in the strength behind the motion."

    Lith conjured a gust of wind that brought the scent of the revived flower to the kids¡¯ noses and then turned it into a wind de, cutting the stem asunder.

 Chapter 1292 - The Three Branches of Magic (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1292 - The Three Branches of Magic (Part 2)</h4>

    "Last, but not least, the elements of destruction, fire and darkness. They have no other purpose than consuming everything they touch. Know that whenever you use them, someone or something is bound to get hurt."

    Lith took half of the flower in each hand. The left started to burn while the right withered and crumbled.

    "Fire keeps us warm and darkness keeps us clean, but they are like an angry beast. Lose control for a second and..."

    Suddenly the fire spread to the tall grass that surrounded the clearing, lighting its tip into a sea of mes that danced in the wind. The kids clung to Lith with fear, unaware that the fire was magical.

    It burned only his mana, leaving the vegetation unaffected.

    "...bad stuff happens." The mes disappeared without leaving a trace of their passage.

    "We¡¯ll start with water and air, then light and earth, keeping the elements of destructions forst. Any questions?" Lith asked.

    "Wouldn¡¯t it be better to go in the same order you exined them? Creation, bnce, and destruction?" Aran asked without letting his brother go. Suddenly fire had lost most of its charm.

    "Excellent question." Lith ruffled his air, making Aran feel proud and Leria envious.

    "The problem with your idea is that at low levels, light does almost everything by itself, like when you treat a skinned knee or a small cut. Earth magic, instead, it¡¯s equally safe but it requires a lot of juice to do more than move dirt and pebbles.

    "They are hard elements that require a lot of skill to shape." Lith conjured a stone doll resembling Aran and a hologram of Leria.

    "Air and water are shapeless. Even a novice can have them move ording to their wishes. They are the best tools to learn how to control your powers with minimal risks for others."

    "What about fire and darkness?" Leria asked.

    "They have no shape at all and they don¡¯t require control to be unleashed so much as to be stopped. That¡¯s why they are the worst elements for a beginner." Lith said.

    "Now, if you want to have dinner, you better start practicing. I¡¯ve brought no food aside from vegetables, but luckily for us, theke is full of fish."

    "How are we supposed to catch them?" Aran¡¯s stomach was grumbling at the sight of his meal swimming in the clear waters, yet he had no idea how to move it into his te.

    "In any way you like. Jorun!" Lith moved his index and medium finger tracing a short wave in the air, the rune of water.

    It generated a small geyser as if a whale had puffed through its blowhole, throwing several fish in mid-air. While the kids followed the trajectory of the prey, Onyx jumped from one shore of theke to another, gobbling them before they could start falling down.

    "Bad Onyx! Bad! That was my dinner." Aran said.

    "No, it was theirs. After all, they carried both you and your luggage until now. We¡¯ll eat only what you can catch." Lith replied.

    The grumbling stomachs of the magical beasts put an end to the argument.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Abominus. I¡¯ll try to get enough for you too. Jorun!" Leria said while mimicking Lith and obtaining just a few bubbles.

    The Ry had no expression but the worry in his eyes was tangible.

    The great love he had for the small girl wouldn¡¯t fill his belly nor give him the strength to defend them if something happened.

    "Take a walk ande back only after sundown." Lith winked and removed the saddlebags from their backs. Without the extra weight, they could move as quickly and silently as the wind.

    Rys and Shyfs could manipte the air element like true mages and they used it to catch their prey before they could even hear theming.

    <i>¡¯Just remember to wash away the blood. The kids still see you two as living plushies, not as predators.¡¯</i> Lith said via the mind link.

    The magical beasts trotted away in search of their dinner. They had never been on a mountain, but their hunger and instinct allowed them to cope quickly with the new environment.

    "You don¡¯t have to brute force it." Lith said after noticing how much the children struggled to move the surface of theke. "You can also do it like this. Jorun!"

    "Or like this." The water froze, trapping another fish in an ice cube that floated for a split second before melting and releasing its prisoner. "As I told you, water is shapeless. Use your imagination."

    While Aran and Leria suddenly discovered the urge to learn swear words with each failure they made, Lith prepared their shelter for the night.

    He used earth magic to soften the ground where they would sleep and conjure a small house made of stone that would protect them from the wind, while a darkness array took care of all insects that might have disturbed their rest.

    "Uncle, are we doing something wrong, or is this water cursed?" Leria was tired, hungry, and covered in sweat, yet she refused to back down. The sun had started to disappear behind the treetops, leaving them half an hour of light at most.

    "Back home, I practice water magic when Mom isn¡¯t watching and I¡¯m pretty good at it."

    "Since the Shyf is out of the bag, I too practice the magic words I know even though Mom has forbidden me to." Aran scratched his head in embarrassment. "I don¡¯t have much control, but I¡¯m usually very powerful."

    "I believe you." Lith looked at their radiant yellow cores, knowing they could do much more than the parlor tricks he had shown earlier.

    "Then why nothing works here? Is Lutia special?" Aran was so frustrated that his words caused a ripple through the surface of theke that scared the fish

    "The water is not cursed. No matter where you are, it¡¯s always the same. The problem is that while at home you manipte a small volume of water at a time, here you have a mass beyond what even a full-fledged mage can control.

    "The method you use spreads your mana evenly whereas you need to focus on a specific area. If you don¡¯t manage to do it, you will keep wasting your mana like you did until now." Lith replied.

    He watched them improve with each attempt they made. Leria tried to trap the fish in ice cages, but they formed too slowly and the prey escaped. Aran practiced the bubble technique, but he was unable to make it dense enough to keep the fish from bursting out with a jump.

    The area nearby the camp would have long been devoid of fish if Lith didn¡¯t trap them near the shore with a mix of water and spirit magic.

    "Truce?" Aran offered Leria his hand.

    "Truce." She shook it, too tired to care about their rivalry.

    Aran trapped a fish inside a bubble, but this time, whenever it was about to jump, Leria would freeze the surface of the water and make it spin. The impact stunned the fish and the current disoriented it, buying precious seconds before it could make another attempt.

    When the creature finally escaped, it found itself on the ground, too far from theke to get there with a jump.

 Chapter 1293 - Circle of Life (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1293 - Circle of Life (Part 1)</h4>

    "We did it!" The two kids rejoiced, hugging each other in triumph.

    "Congrattions, young mages. To the victor go the spoils." Lith gave them a round of apuse.

    "What do you mean?" Leria said.

    "Why is it doing that?" Aran looked at the fish writhing on the ground.

    "Out of the water, a fish can¡¯t breathe. It¡¯s fighting for its life." Lit conjured another bubble that gave the creature respite from its suffering.

    "I don¡¯t want to kill it. Can we throw it back into the water?" Leria asked and Aran nodded. They had never questioned how the food that arrived on their table looked like before being cooked.

    Leria lived in a cksmith¡¯s house while Aran, now that the family had money, had never seen the livestock aside from when he helped Elina to feed the chickens.

    "Your dinner, your choice." Lith did as they asked. They had already learned a lot for a single day, thew of the jungle could wait a bit longer.

    "What are we going to eat?" Now that the sun was gone, Aran suddenly felt his body aching from mana abuse.

    A snap of Lith¡¯s fingers dug a hole in the ground while a wave of his hand made a warm crackling fire appear. Several vegetables and mushroom skewers came out of his pocket dimension and slowly spun above the fire to get grilled.

    "While we wait, we can eat the leftovers of the roasted potatoes from lunch. They are vegetables, after all." The pocket dimension had kept them warm and crispy, but hunger was the seasoning that made them taste like heaven.

    Onyx and Abominus checked each other¡¯s muzzle for blood before drinking enough water from theke to erase the smell of blood from their breath.

    ["I want to go home."] The Ry dearly missed many things. His pack, the woods, the long afternoon naps, and the many hot meals a day without the need to work for them.

    ["Me too. This ce sucks. It never took me so long to catch a single deer and the locals are assholes."] Onyx said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Abominus, I let you down. I failed to catch fish for you." Leria hugged the Ry, enjoying the contrast between the warmth of his fur and the chill of the night.

    The magical wolf was actually full and had given little thought to Leria¡¯s promise to provide him food. Yet the honesty in her apology made him forget about the hardsh.i.p.s of that day and focus solely on her happiness.

    Abominus licked her face, tickling Leria with his fur and making herugh for the first time during that day.

    "Onyx, was the fish good?" Aran was regretting letting go of their only catch of the day. Just like it happened for Lith, vegetables and fruit would fill his stomach only for so long.

    The Shyf nodded while l.i.c.k.i.n.g her lips at the tasty memory.

    "At least someone had something to eat. Maybe tomorrow we could follow her example." Aran said.

    "Yeah, but only if you kill it." Leria shuddered at the thought. Their dinner was light, but at least she would get to sleep at night.

    "I can do it for you." Lith said while offering more skewers of roasted mushrooms to the kids to make them regain their strength.

    "Isn¡¯t it bad to kill, big bro?" Aran asked.

    "You listened to plenty of my stories. I had to kill a lot of bad guys when I was a Ranger. Does that make me a bad guy as well?"

    "No. You did it to protect others and to survive. Bad guys don¡¯t stop just because you say please, that¡¯s why they are bad." Leria said.

    "The same is true for hunting and fishing. We aren¡¯t doing it for cruelty or sport, only for survival. The wolf eats the deer just like fish eats smaller fish, but that doesn¡¯t make them bad, just hungry.

    "Even that mushroom killed other nts to survive." Lith pointed at a tasty brown-capped mushroom that Aran was munching.

    "Even nts kill each other?" Leria was bbergasted.

    "Mushrooms aren¡¯t really nts, but yes." Lith nodded. He didn¡¯t feel like given them the whole "circle of life" speech, just enough to understand the difference between violence and survival.

    <i>¡¯Without such knowledge, they might abuse their powers in ways that will scar them forever the moment theye to understand the pain they inflicted to others in what they considered games.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "We eat a lot of meat at home, after all. All people do, otherwise the butcher and aunt Selia would lose their jobs." Aran¡¯s quick-witted reasoning took Lith by surprise.

    "What are you trying to say?" Leria was sharing her measly meal with Abominus to make up for breaking her word.

    "Onyx ate the fish and she¡¯s one of the good guys. People hunt to make a living. Why shouldn¡¯t we do the same?"

    "But it¡¯s creepy!" Leria said.

    "I know, but I¡¯m hungry. I don¡¯t want to be hungry tomorrow and the day after that until... How long are we going to stay here?" Aran swallowed a lump of saliva. Suddenly his big brother¡¯s adventures didn¡¯t seem so great anymore.

    All he wanted was to stay between his mother¡¯s arms, to be pampered by his family as usual, and to spend his days doing boring things that didn¡¯t force him to think so much.

    "A few days." Lith replied. The plural hit the kids like a punch in the gut.

    "Can you please cut off the head and tail before cooking the fish?" Leria asked, hoping that she wouldn¡¯t feel bad if her food didn¡¯t look like a living being.

    "I can do that. Now let¡¯s get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day." Lith had brought sleeping bags and plenty of nkets.

    Between the walls insting the makeshift house, his magic, and the beasts acting as both heating pads and pillows, the children had a good night¡¯s sleep. They dreamed about their respective mothers serving them their favorite foods, but no matter how much they ate, they woke up hungry.

    A hearty breakfast with bread, sausages, and sunny-side-up eggs greatly improved their mood. They stared at their tes for a moment, aware of the noble sacrifice of such tasty animals, before digging in.

    "Why didn¡¯t we have this for dinner yesterday?" Aran asked.

    <i>¡¯Because you wouldn¡¯t have learned your lesson.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    "Because you wouldn¡¯t have anything to eat for breakfast today." He actually said.

    They barely needed to think about it or coordinate their movements. They just exchanged looks for a second and waved their hands down, letting the fresh air of the morning in.

    "Wait, we couldn¡¯t do that yesterday." Leria was about to try that again on her own but Lith stopped her.

    "That¡¯s because you¡¯ve learned how to focus your mana in a single point and to cooperate." Lith said while keeping her hands still. "Manipting earth takes a lot of mana. Do you want to start the day tired already?"

 Chapter 1294 - Circle of Life (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1294 - Circle of Life (Part 2)</h4>

    Conjuring a building needed tier three magic whereas the kids could only use chore magic. Leria shook her head and followed Lith near theke again.

    "Today your training will be all about control. I want you to practice both air and water magic so that once we go back home, you can start helping your mothers with the house chores." His words made the children groan but Lith ignored them.

    "No matter how boring a task seems, as long as you perform it with magic, it will give you precious experience. How can I trust you with spells that can part the sea if you can¡¯t even wash the floor properly?" Lith said while looking at Aran.

    He made a few random gestures while counting from one to three in English and the waters of theke opened forming a path a few meters long. A wave of his hand made the soil solid, allowing him to walk without sinking in the mud.

    "Without control, the water would turn into a de and cut all the poor fish or be unstable and drown us." The kids had followed him and were now below the ground level, surrounded by water walls from three sides.

    They understood his words, yet they felt no fear as they trusted Lith too much and were engrossed by the sight of the underwater wildlife. As Lith moved forward, the water opened in front of him, offering the kids the next best thing to visiting an aquarium on Earth.

    The phenomenon caused sparkles of light that lured the fish, allowing the kids to see them from up close. They all had in and dull colors, but they moved with grace. The bravest and the dumbest among the fish even dared to jump past the gap to reach the other side.

    "Can we really learn to do something like this just by washing floors?" Leria asked while putting her hand in the water wall and yet finding it dry once she took it out.

    "Wax on, wax off, Daniel-san." Lith replied.

    "What?" The kids said in unison.

    "It means that you must have a solid grasp of the basics before being able to perform aplex craft." Lith sighed as he walked them back to the shore of theke.

    "Water and air both follow the same principle. They are only as hard as you make them. They can be soft." A wave of Lith¡¯s left hand generated a thin mist while that from the right conjured a gentle breeze that ruffled the hair of his apprentices.

    "They can be bnced." The mist turned into a water whip that struck the ground, leaving a deep mark, while the breeze turned into a storm that made it hard for the kids to stands.

    "And they can be hard." The whip broke out into several ice shards that pinned to the ground a different de of grass each while the storm turned into an air de that mowed down the vegetation near the camp.

    "If you don¡¯t learn how to handle their hardness, you won¡¯t be able to use light and earth, while if you don¡¯t master their softness, you¡¯ll have no control over darkness and fire." Lith said.

    "How long does it take to learn all of this stuff?" Leria suddenly felt dispirited. She had always believed that love for magic and good intentions would suffice whereas being a mage seemed to require a lot of hard work.

    "It doesn¡¯t take long to learn it, but you need time and practice to master it." Lith replied, giving them the time to ponder his words.

    "I don¡¯t n on teaching you everything in one go." Leria and Aran sighed in relief. "I just want to give you the tools you need to practice on your own without harming yourselves or others.

    "Leria, yesterday you worried so much about the fish, yet based on what Rena told me, you find it funny to make people slip on your ice and fall. What if they hit their head or break a bone? Are people less important than fish in your eyes?"

    "I never thought about it, but we live nearby the healer. He can help them." Leria turned beet red in embarrassment.

    "Aran, what about you cutting things to shreds with air magic inside our home?"

    "I didn¡¯t mean to. I was just trying to help Mom dusting the floor quickly so that we could y together." Aran stared at his own feet in shame. Every time he tried to help Elina, he ended up giving her more work.

    "What if you cut Mom in your rush? Or Onyx? Would you care for such excuses? The same stands for you, Leria. What if the next time you light the curtains of your room your whole house goes on fire?" Lith asked, stopping only when the kids started hupping.

    "I want to think about my words the next time you decide to use magic ¡¯just to have some fun.¡¯ Do you know who has fun watching others suffering and doesn¡¯t care for the consequences of their actions?" Lith hugged them and patted their backs.

    "The bad guys." The kids said in unison.

    "My point exactly. Magic isn¡¯t good or bad, it alles down to how you use it. Now wash your faces, clean your noses, and get to work, or we¡¯ll never get back home." Lith ruffled their hair, d to see they had learned their lesson.

    A few minutester, the kids proved to be able to conjure water and wind with ease. Yet while Leria had troubles cutting anything with air, Aran failed to make either mist or ice. He just conjured lots of water with every attempt he made.

    "Leria what do you think is your problem?" He asked.

    "I¡¯m doing as you taught us yesterday. I¡¯m focusing my mana in a short line to turn the air current into a de, yet my spellcks power. Brezza!" She waved her hand, making several tall nts bend without breaking them.

    Lith could see from a distance the mark left by her spell as if she had struck them with a dull de.

    "You don¡¯tck power. You just went from one extreme to another and now you¡¯re scared of what you can do. You don¡¯ need to be afraid, just to be smart about how you use your magic,like I do." Lith said.

    Leria took a deep breath and cast the spell again, cutting only the nearest line of grass.

    "Perfect. Now just train in sending your de exactly as deep as you want it to go. What about you, Aran?"

    "I don¡¯t get that soft and hard part you talked about, big bro. Air magic is easy. You just need to use a little of mana, a lot of mana, or a lot ofpressed mana." Aran emitted a breeze, a gust of wind, and an air de in quick session.

    Thetter ripped more than cut the top part of the tall grass in the area Lith had assigned his little brother as his training spot.

    "Water magic, instead makes no sense. I have one word and one hand sign. How am I supposed to obtain three different effects?" Aran asked.

    <strong>06/20 Important Announcement: Read it in the Author¡¯s thoughts below. If you can¡¯t find them, you¡¯re reading from a pirate site.</strong>

 Chapter 1295 - Condensing a Violet Core (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1295 - Condensing a Violet Core (Part 1)</h4>

    "Air magic is not as simple as you make it. You are just using power where finesse would work much better. Look carefully. Brezza!" Lith twirled his index and medium finger into a short spiral, the rune of air.

    He created a gentle breeze that turned into a strong wind and then into a series of air des that progressively cut a bush shorter until it was shaved off the ground. Aran was still watching with his mouth agape when a small bolt of lightning turned the now exposed roots into a charred mass.

    "One rune, one word, and yet four different effects." Lith showed Aran his right arm where a snake-shaped lightning kept slithering from his fingertips to his elbow.

    Leria stopped her training to admire the conjured creature. The snake was so life-like that it hissed at Aran, baring its radiant fangs when he tried to touch it.

    "How do you do that, Uncle?" She asked.

    "Air magic is more than putting mana into the wind. Air magic is about manipting the natural forces that generate wind and lightning. What your mana does is just charge both your body and the air element so to generate a push. That¡¯s how you obtain wind.

    "If you overcharge only the wind so that the air results densely packed, not justpressed by brute force, a wind de is born." Lith flicked his fingers, producing a several centimeters deep cut into the ground.

    "If you overcharge both your body and the air, therees the lightning."

    <i>¡¯I wish I could exin maism and prity, but even Earth children would have trouble understanding it at their age, let alone those born on Mogar, where science is still backward.</i>

    <i>¡¯Luckily for them, the runes allow Mogarians to understand and control the phenomenon by instinct if they practice enough.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Water magic is different, but it still works in a simr way. Water is present in the humidity of the air, inside the nts, inside of us, everywhere. To generate mist, you must spread your mana thin in a wide area so that the water remains suspended in the air.

    "Too much and it will condense, too little and it will remain invisible." Lith raised his hands generating a thin mist that slowly became denser until it turned into a fog that made it difficult for the children to see farther than their nose.

    "Water is shapeless, but ice is not." The fog suddenly moved into Lith¡¯s hands where the manapressed it into water and then stripped the water of its warmth until it froze.

    "To obtain ice, you must infuse the same water you conjured with more of your mana to alter its properties, otherwise you¡¯ll just conjure more water. Once you do that, the mana and the ice be one and you can move it as if the ice is one of your limbs."

    The two spheres of ice opened like eggs, turning into a Phoenix and into a Dragon, each one as big as an eagle. They climbed up Lith¡¯s arms until they rested on his shoulders.

    "Does water magic make sense now?" Lith asked, receiving nods in reply due to the children being incapable to move their mouths. "Very good. Get back to work, then."

    Lith sent the ice constructs above the children¡¯s training spots and made them burst into a fine ice mist. Above their heads now they had one rainbow each. Not only it had the most brilliant colors they had ever seen, but it was also so low that they felt like they could touch it if they had just been a bit taller.

    "Magic is amazing! Scary, but amazing." Leria couldn¡¯t look away from her rainbow and stumbled a few times on her way back.

    "Do you think I¡¯ll ever be like you?" Aran asked.

    "Of course you will." Lith c.a.r.e.s.sed his head, reassuring him to not create another Trion. "But only if you always work hard, never give up nor rush things. Remember that in life and magic there are no shortcuts."

    At those words, Aran turned his frown upside down and started practicing air magic back from scratch before working on water spells. Before lunchtime, he could already produce proper air des and emit sparks of lightning from his fingertips.

    Leria, instead, had learned how to throw a few air des in a row with different piercing power, but had yet to understand how to conjure lightning.

    "The food is ready." While the kids practiced, Lith had fished, cut off the head and tail to not make them look like living beings, destroyed all the nonedible parts with darkness magic, and grilled the tender white meat with some seasoning.

    "In a minute. I think I¡¯m close to freezing the water while conjuring it instead of in two separate steps." Leria replied. Freezing a water pool was way easier than straight conjuring ice.

    "I need some time, too!" Aran was still working on his lightning. Aside from sparks and making his hair stand up, he had yet to achieve any result.

    <i>¡¯He is just a blonde dye away from a Super Soyan.¡¯</i> Lith thought while conjuring a slow breeze that carried the smell of grilled fish to the children, crushing their focus like an elephant stepping on an ant farm.

    "Too bad. I can¡¯t let good food go to waste. I¡¯ll give it to Abominus and Onyx and prepare more once you are done."

    The sight of big chunks of fish ending up in the opened mouths of the magical beasts that immediately begged for more made the kids rethink their priorities. The practice of magic consumed a lot of energy so that the moment they stopped, they realized how tired they were in both the mind and the body.

    "Don¡¯t tell Mom I said it, but I think you are the best cook in the family. I never like vegetables when she¡¯s the one preparing them." Leria gnawed her food so fast that Lith had to slow her down more than once to keep her from choking on too big mouthfuls.

    "That¡¯s because I don¡¯t like them either so I had to find a way to make them tasty." Lith epted thepliment with a small bow.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t care how disgusted you still are from Ezio¡¯s shadow, I think you would make a great Dad.¡¯</i> Solus was moved to see all the attention he gave to the children.<i> ¡¯Mogar is right and Fenagar is wrong. You do more than just killing.¡¯</i>

    "Onyx, stop ruining my lunch!" Aran said.

    The Shyf had emitted low growling for a while, begging for food. After getting tired of seeing the others eat, she had tried to take some fish from the te with a sleigh of the paw.

    Unfortunately for Onyx, her paw was bigger than the te and quite hard to miss.

    The rejection made the beast lower her ears and emit a sad meowing that broke the little boy¡¯s heart until he shared part of his meal. Lith had prepared plenty for the three of them, so feeding a bit the two magical beasts wasn¡¯t an issue.

    "Thanks for the meal." Aran and Leria thanked Lith before cleaning their dishes, eager to put their skills to the test.

    "Not so fast." Lith stopped on their way back to theke.

 Chapter 1296 - Condensing a Violet Core (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1296 - Condensing a Violet Core (Part 2)</h4>

    "Resting is part of training. Working too hard at your age might cripple your growth. Go inside, clean yourself from the sweat, and take a nap. I¡¯ll wake you when it¡¯s the time to practice again."

    He had prepared two different rooms, each with a spacious stone tub with a rough surface to not make them slip, and had filled it with steaming water.

    Leria was about to object, but after sniffing under the cor of her shirt, she just said:

    "Thanks, Uncle."

    "Keep thempany, make sure that nothing happens, and call me the moment they fall asleep." Lith sent the magical beasts inside while he could finally practice a bit for his violet core.

    <i>¡¯I think I know why fusing with the Demons of the Darkness allowed me to get close to reach the next breakthrough. A violet-cored individual can cast spells simply by moving, using their bones, muscles, and even their blood flow to trace energy runes.</i>

    <i>¡¯While in my proto-Guardian form, each part of my body had one or more mana core. By controlling them with Spirit Magic, I could make the Demons cast in my stead even though I was too busy fighting to focus on spells.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯During that time, I¡¯ve been able to fight like someone with a violet core thanks to minds of the Demons working as a crutch. Also, the fact that I used energy that wasn¡¯t my own significantly lessened the burden.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯In this form, instead, my organs generate vortexes that increase my mana flow and store mana. They support my mana core and improve all of my abilities, yet I have no conscious control over them.</i>

    <i>¡¯To achieve a violet core, I must be able to control the vortexes and condense them into pseudo if not even auxiliary mana cores. The first step is to learn how to feel them, just like the first step of Awakening is the ability to sense the world energy.¡¯</i>

    Lith sat cross-legged on the floor and focused solely on his breathing. He didn¡¯t use any technique to not let the external energy affect his perceptions. Then, he started to actively circte his mana from one part of his body to another while Solus used her mana sense to show him where the vortexes were.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m sorry, but nothing happens. Even when the mana flow oveps with a vortex, there is no interaction between them.¡¯</i> Solus said after several failed attempts. <i>¡¯We should-¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Hold that thought.¡¯</i> Lith cut her short, feeling one of the magical beastsing to him.

    As he had predicted, the kids had fallen asleep in the tubs. There was no risk they could drown, but once the water cooled, they were bound to catch a cold. Lith used water magic to dry their body and hair before putting the kids to bed under several nkets already warmed by fire magic.

    <i>¡¯What were you saying?¡¯</i> Lith asked once setting up protections that wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to disturb either the kids¡¯ sleep or his training.

    <i>¡¯That I can¡¯t wait to see you with children of your own.¡¯</i> Solus replied.

    <i>¡¯Not that! About the mana flow.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Fine.¡¯</i> She sighed. <i>¡¯Try using Invigoration, but .u.mte the energy where the vortexes are instead of spreading it evenly.¡¯</i>

    Lith did as she said, but even with the boost from Invigoration, Lith failed to both perceive the vortexes and having them interact with his mana flow.

    <i>¡¯Okay, this might be tricky if not even dangerous.¡¯</i> Solus thought. <i>¡¯Now try to use .u.mtion, but instead of bringing the energy to your mana core, move it to your vortexes.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯What?¡¯</i> Lith blurted out in surprise.<i> ¡¯That¡¯s a huge risk. Normal tissues can¡¯t even stand small spasms from the mana core. Remember how it hurt when I used .u.mtion during bottlenecks and the core forcefully dispersed the energy?</i>

    <i>¡¯And that after it had already released the brunt of the world energy. If a mana core can explode, I don¡¯t see why a much less stable vortex can¡¯t do the same.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯You¡¯re right, sorry. It was a stupid idea.¡¯</i> Solus tried to think of some alternative but found none.

    <i>¡¯No, it¡¯s a great idea, but I can¡¯t risk suffering more damage than even Invigoration can heal. We¡¯ll do like the kids and start with small steps. I¡¯ll take a very short breath and lead the energy to the vortex in my right lung, away from vitals.</i>

    <i>¡¯This way, we can collect data about how a vortex behavespared to the core, and even if something goes wrong, between the healing spells stored in my rings and your help, I won¡¯t suffer a fatal wound.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    With his next breath, the experiment began. Lith barely drew some air, yet it caused him significant pain as the world energy traveled through his flesh instead that through his lungs.

    Lith couldn¡¯t use darkness fusion because there was no such thing as bad data when one had no clue about what they were doing.

    Pain was the feedback of something he was doing wrong and only by observing how different methods altered its intensity could Lith get closer to a proper control technique.

    When the world energy reached the right shoulder, the pang of pain forced Lith to grit his teeth andpress the area with his mana flow to keep the vortex from exploding.

    The agony decreased as the vortex slowly processed the dense world energy from .u.mtion along with that from its surroundings, turning it into mana. Lith grinned the whole time because the pain allowed him to perceive the process.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways. This is going to be though.¡¯</i> Lith sighed in relief after noticing that healing his body repaired his vortex as well, leaving no permanent damage.

    <i>¡¯I know that time flies when one has fun or risks their life, but I think you should wake up the children.¡¯</i> Solus said while taking extensive notes of her findings and showing him a rey of the failure in slow-motion.

    Lith had been too busy limiting the damage and withstanding the pain to take a proper look in real-time.

    <i>¡¯Thanks, Solus. I don¡¯t know what I would do without your memory. I really wish there was a mana geyser here. It would be the perfect asion for the kids to "casually" meet a fairy of light.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Me too.¡¯</i> She said.

    It took Leria and Aran a while to find their enthusiasm for magic again. They were still tired and after sleeping in a warm bed with their belly full, they felt like a bear ready to go into hibernation.

    Sluggish and with a craving for honey.

    Yet they didn¡¯tin and resumed their training from where they had left it, without stopping until the trees hid the lower half of the sun. They were still a bit rough around the edges, but they both could now conjure ice and lighting with a moment¡¯s notice.

    "Isn¡¯t it too soon? There¡¯s still light." Leria pointed at the sunset.

    "No. You have worked enough for today and I want to avoid the rush hour."

    "No dinner again?" After Lith signaled them to stop, Aran had turned around just to discover that there was no fire no dinner waiting for them.

 Chapter 1297 - Great Minds and Fools (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1297 - Great Minds and Fools (Part 1)</h4>

    "Are we getting punished?" Leria traced a circle in the ground with her foot, trying to remember if she had done something wrong.

    "No, you are getting rewarded." Lith put his hands on their shoulders, using water magic to remove their sweat while darkness magic canceled bad smells and killed head lice.

    "This isn¡¯t funny, big bro. How is fasting a reward?" Aranined.

    "Remember what I said just yesterday? That I can¡¯t reach a ce I¡¯ve never been before?" Lith waved his hand and opened a Warp Steps leading straight to the Hot Pot.

    "Food?" Aran asked.

    "A real bath with some soap?" Leria was tired of smelling.

    "All the food you can eat, real baths and beds. I know I¡¯ve been a bit strict with you, but this is a vacation, not a boot camp. You deserve some fun"

    "Thanks, you are the best!" Aran and Leran said in unison while hugging him.

    A split second after, they darted through the dimensional gate, quickly followed by their magical beasts who also demanded their due.

    A sudden crash told Lith that an ident had happened yet no one yelled or cursed. Two carriages had bumped into each other while their owners were arguing about who had the right to enter the stables first.

    The Steps¡¯ appearance had scared the horses, making them attempt to run away with predictable consequences.

    "Sorry, my bad." Lith said in reply to the stupefied gazes of the merchants. They couldn¡¯t stop staring at the hole in the space nor at theke that seemed to be in the middle of the road.

    Or at least they tried to.

    "I¡¯m on vacation. I offer my apologies but nopensation. The next time, watch where you go." Lith¡¯s tone was kind but only because the kids could hear him.

    His stone-cold face and his eyes zing with mana left the merchants frozen in ce, incapable to even draw breath until he walked through the inn¡¯s door.

    Winter was drawing near and all cities needed to stock food and supplies before the first cold wave arrived, isting them until spring. The road at the base of Mount Sartak led directly to Xaanx, the nearest city with a Warp Gate, making it one of the busiest trading routes during fall.

    The Hot Pot didn¡¯t ept reservation and worked on a firste, first served basis because after sundown there would never be an empty table or room. When the kids stepped inside, most of the benches lined up against the walls were already taken by the merchants¡¯ staff and the mercenaries protecting their goods.

    Only a few tables in the middle of the restaurant were still open.

    "A table for three, please. We¡¯re with my big brother. He¡¯s an Ant Mage." Aran puffed out his c.h.e.s.t with pride, as if the title was his own, or at least it made any sense.

    A waiter with his c.h.e.s.tnut hair greased with sweat was about to send them off rudely when the blonde waitress that had served them thest time recognized them.

    "This is no ce for kids, go back-"

    "Is your brother really a mage?" She cut her colleague short while making way to a still empty table for four people.

    "Yes, but don¡¯t listen to him." Leria¡¯s reproachful look was identical to Elina¡¯s when she scolded Aran for his poor vocabry. "My uncle doesn¡¯t work with ants."

    "What does he do exactly?" The waitress handed them the menus while also taking an order from a nearby table.

    The rush of blood from the work and her curiosity reddened her face, making her freckles almost invisible.

    "It¡¯s a secret." Leria did her best Jirni impression while trying to act like ady to not repeat the poor figure of theirst visit. She sat as straight as an arrow and checked that all the cutlery was clean.

    She had no idea why it was an important thing to do, but she still remembered Jirni¡¯s words.

    "It¡¯s the perfect cover to have your steak knife at the ready so that you can stab-"

    "For the gods¡¯ sake! She¡¯s five years old!" Uncle Orion had never let Leria hear the end of it.

    "Is everything right with your steak knife?" Lith asked noticing Leria¡¯s odd grip that allowed her to switch from a dining to abat stance at a moment¡¯s notice.

    "Indeed." Leria nodded with a soft smile that gave him the creeps.

    "Is there a room still avable?" Lith asked without losing sight of the knife.

    "Only a few, but once the kitchen closes and we put away the tables, there¡¯s always plenty of space in themon lounge." The waitress nodded.

    "I¡¯ll take a suite or whatever you have as your best room." He made a silver coin appear out of nowhere, confirming Aran¡¯s words and making the waitress¡¯ tip pouch flutter.

    "Of course, sir. Is there anything else you need?"

    "I just need it to have three beds and at least one bathtub. As for the food, we¡¯ll take a vegetable broth with dumplings, a stuffed blinker, and three servings of roasted potatoes. What do you have for dessert?"

    "The apple pie of the house, a chocte cake, and several kinds of pies with fruit jam." She replied.

    "Chocte." The kids said in unison. It was the only thing that could make them even happier than having a serving of potatoes each.

    "Does this cover for everything?" Lith handed the silver coin to the waitress.

    "With plenty to spare. This is just a road inn, not a fancy hotel." She said it with an apologetic tone, as if it was somehow her fault.

    "Then just make sure that our rides get plenty to eat as well and keep the change."

    A silver coin was worth 100 copper coins. The meal cost 10 and the "suite" 50, but it was overpriced due to the season, leaving her a generous tip even if Onyx and Abominus decided it was a good day to die from overfeeding.

    After dinner, they went to their room. It was located on the second floor, away from the noise of the restaurant, and even though it wasn¡¯t very big it had everything Lith had asked.

    The room consisted of a small hallway leading to three different bedrooms with a king-sized bed each and one smaller room containing only a solid wood bathtub and severalrge towels.

    Everything was clean and the soft carpets that covered the floor muffled all sounds.

    "Chamber pots again? I don¡¯t want my room to stink." Leria said.

    "That¡¯s why there¡¯s a window right in front of your bed." Lith shrugged. "Only noble houses have toilets."

    "But-"

    "I made your mom¡¯s home, Grandma¡¯s, and even Aunt Selia¡¯s. They don¡¯t count. As for aunt Jirni, she isn¡¯t a noble, she¡¯s the noble." Exining to her that Protector had taken several blueprints from his memories was tooplicated.

    They took turns bathing and Lith had to use darkness magic to get rid of the by-products of their digestive system before ventting the rooms and use fire magic to heat them again quickly.

    Leria¡¯s pout disappeared the moment she discovered how soft her bed was.

 Chapter 1298 - Great Minds and Fools (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1298 - Great Minds and Fools (Part 2)</h4>

    "Can Onyx sleep with me? There¡¯s plenty of space in my bed." Aran asked.

    "I don¡¯t think that either the floor or the bed can withstand her weight, sorry. Besides, where is she supposed to do her business here?" Those words made Aran turn pale.

    He loved Onyx, but the stench of her droppings was much deadlier than her bite. At least for him.

    "Good night, Uncle." Leria yawned as her eyes became droopy from the warmth of the woolen nkets.

    "Good night, Lith." Aran fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

    "Good night, kids." Lith tucked them in and kissed their forehead before closing their door.

    A sudden noise from below woke up the kids and swept off his face the kind expression that he had until a moment back.

    "What was that?" Both children came down from their beds, running to the safety of Lith¡¯s legs.

    "It¡¯s nothing, someone must-" A violent thump followed by a man screaming cut him short.

    "Must have had an ident. Remember to never trust a.d.u.l.ts that drink too much anything that¡¯s not water." Lith¡¯s serene smile didn¡¯t extend to his eyes, but along with a Hush spell, it was enough to calm the children.

    "See? It¡¯s already over. Now get back to bed, otherwise instead of letting you sleep in, I¡¯ll make you practice at dawn." His words and the silence made the kids return to their respective rooms, fearing nothing but the extra workload.

    "Do you think we are safe here?" Being in a foreign ce while surrounded by strangers made strong noises scary for Leria.

    "I don¡¯t think, I know we are safe." Lith tucked her in and weaved a protective array while waiting for her to fall asleep.

    <i>¡¯I didn¡¯t pay good money to stay up all night and silence this ce. Even arrays wouldn¡¯tst long enough, requiring my focus.¡¯</i> The moment the kids¡¯ breath became slow and steady, Lith walked out of the room, discovering that the noise had only gotten worse.

    He went down the flights of stairs until he could see the events unfolding in the restaurant. Most of the tables had been thrown to the side and the people who couldn¡¯t escape were lined up against the wall, waiting for their chance.

    Two armed groups fought in the middle of the room, mostly by yelling and throwing spells at each other. The great hall of the restaurant was reduced to a mess. Ice crystals stuck out of the walls, ceiling, and even of the big beer kegs behind the restaurant counter, spilling their precious liquid on the floor.

    Throughout the room, burnt marks showed were fire and lightning had struck, spreading the pungent smell of charred paint. Some of the curtains were on fire, with the mes slowly climbing to the first floor despite the best efforts of the waiters.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k has happened here?¡¯</i> Lith had no idea to be partly at fault.

    The merchants whose carriage had crashed earlier after witnessing the Warp Steps didn¡¯t dare to argue with a mage, but that didn¡¯t make their mood any less sour. They had kept bickering between them for so long that when they finally had reached an agreement, both the restaurant and the hotel were fully booked.

    They had been forced to sit on the side tables along with their respective mercenary crews, knowing that they wouldn¡¯t get a decent meal or ce to sleep. Things had only escted when some members of bothpanies disappeared.

    Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ.

    Each merchant thought the other owed them rightfulpensation and had sent some of their men waiting outside for a table to steal some merch from the parked carriages.

    Thefts weremonce in road inns so they only had to be careful not to be seen. Little did they know that the stable boy had been so busy that he had dyed dinner for the animals.

    Whoever put themselves between a magical beast and their meal, was bound to take its ce. The men had disappeared without leaving a trace and it would take about eight hours for their undigested remains to see the light again.

    The merchants med each other for the missing people, trading uses of theft and murder until the alcohol in their bodies did the rest. Two middle-aged men exchanging punches were more pathetic than scary, at least until the mercenaries got involved.

    From that point, things had escted quickly, leading to the events unfolding in front of Lith¡¯s eyes.

    "Silence!" Lith¡¯s magically enhanced voice carried enough killing intent to make the customers cower and the fighters stop. All heads turned to look at him and he exploited that moment to exert his dominance.

    The beer from the kegs flew into his hands and froze into golden des streaked with green runes from Spirit Magic while his hunter outfit turned into a deep blue robe.

    "I¡¯m Archmage Lith Verhen and you are ruining my sleep. I don¡¯t care what¡¯s the beef between you, go settle it somewhere else or pay the consequences." A flick of his wrist extinguished the mes on the curtains.

    "Anyone can wear a blue robe." Said one of the mercenaries, showing his hood.

    "What¡¯s an Archmage doing in a ce like this?" Another one said, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

    "You¡¯re no Archmage, just a thug!" A merchant yelled, high on wine and adrenaline. "Otherwise you would have offered to pay for the damage you caused. Let¡¯s see if you can still act c.o.c.ky now that my men are here. You¡¯re going to p-"

    "Silence." Lith didn¡¯t waste mana to amplify his voice this time. He used it to reinforce the violent feelings his words carried and forced those present to obey.

    "Kneel." A sudden wave of killing intent and Spirit Magic forced all those below the bright green core to get down to their knees.

    There were too many people and the restaurant was big, spreading Lith¡¯s mana thin and allowing those with powerful cores to resist his orders.

    With each step down the stair that Lith took, one piece of the robe turned back into the Scalewalker armor¡¯s true appearance that resembled Lith¡¯s hybrid form.

    <i>¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯All mercenaries have medium-grade enchanted weapons and many of them are fake mages. Some even have a blue core.¡¯</i> She replied.

    "Nice trick, but you missed a spot." A burly woman with her red hair woven in a shoulder-length tress said with a cruel grin. "Right about everywhere."

    She waved her longsword at the many still-standing mercenaries before pointing it at Lith. The mercenary held the heavy de with one hand, tensing her muscles so hard that her heavy armor seemed to barely contain her.

    "Why don¡¯t youe here so that we can t-" It wasn¡¯t the fact that Lith had jumped off the stairs to make her choke on her words so much that he had spread the wings of his armor and moved in the air as light as a feather.

    Instead of crashing on the ground, Lith floated in a long arc until hended on the tip of the still raised de with the grace of a butterfly. For a split second, the woman didn¡¯t feel any pressure weighing down on her sword, making her doubt her own senses.

    <strong>06/20 Important Announcement: Read it in the Author¡¯s thoughts below. If you can¡¯t find them, you¡¯re reading from a pirate site.</strong>

 Chapter 1299 - Fear and Dead Men (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1299 - Fear and Dead Men (Part 1)</h4>

    Then, the gravity field of Lith¡¯s ring spread through his foot to the de and to the mercenary wielding it, making her fall to the ground in a symphony of broken bones as if a giant had just squashed her like a bug.

    The de was now stuck deeply in the wooden floor, yet Lith still rested on its edge with perfectposure until his wings folded into his back and he shapeshifted into his hybrid form.

    "You misunderstand me. I didn¡¯te down to talk, but to give you a chance of getting out of here alive." Another mercenary who resisted his killing intent lunged at Lith¡¯s heart, but failed to slow his advance or even to interrupt his words.

    The ice de in Lith¡¯s left hand struck the side of the iing enchanted broadsword, cutting it in half while the one in his right hand opened a deep cut in the mercenary¡¯s armor from the left shoulder to the right hip.

    Not a drop of blood was spilled due to ice instantly freezing the wound and spreading throughout the body. The mercenary fell to the ground, holding his c.h.e.s.t in agony. The cold numbed the pain, but it also widened the wound and sapped the heat.

    Every single one of the man¡¯s movements made the cut grow deeper.

    "Nice show. I¡¯m almost convinced that you are who you im to be." A bald man with a cold expression said. "Too bad that in such a confined space, high tiered spells and even dimensional magic are useless."

    He needed but a nod of the head to instruct his men.

    "On top of that, by taking down two of us you dispelled your little trick." All mercenaries now stood up and looked at Lith with a grudge.

    "I really hope that you are an Archmage, because beating one makes wonders for a Guild¡¯s reputation and more than doubles its fares. Sometimes, even good mages go mad and it¡¯s up to good citizens to put them down. For the right price, of course."

    All that talk had no purpose but to give the mercenaries the time to surround Lith from every side. The rivalry between the mercenary guilds had been reced by camaraderie at the idea of a huge bounty.

    The madman¡¯s equipment alone was big-time loot and the Kingdom would reward them in gold for their trouble. All they had to do was to give the same version of the story and im to have acted solely to defend their clients. Two birds with one stone.

    "Since my kids are here, I¡¯ll say this onest time. Get out of here now and you¡¯ll have to deal just with the Mage Association. If you stay, however, the only thing the Constables will find at their arrival will be fear and dead men."

    A long moment of silence befell the restaurant room. Lith didn¡¯t emit killing intent nor aura, but the certainty in his words sent a shiver down the spine of those presents, making even those lined up against the wall be covered in a cold sweat.

    ¡¯Do you need help?¡¯ Solus asked.

    <i>¡¯Yes. Go and guard the children so that I can give these guys my undivided attention.¡¯</i> Lith raised his beer-sword and a stone hawk appeared out of his hand and flew up the stairs.

    Most mercenaries thought it was some spell and put their guard up, some charged forward and others ran to the upper floor to take hostages.

    "Kneel." All of them fell to the ground or tumbled down the stairs. The lucky ones broke their bones, the unlucky their necks.

    A burst of Lith¡¯s violet-blue aura hidden under the armor¡¯s Full Guard carried his voice and spread his killing intent evenly. He wasn¡¯t far nor did he need to strike at those who weren¡¯t a threat anymore.

    Lith was right in the middle of the mercenaries, exactly where he wanted to be.

    The bald mercenary leader gritted his teeth and shrugged off the pressure blocking him with sheer willpower.

    <i>¡¯This is no different from before. I just need to break his focus and then our numbers will do more than even the field.¡¯</i> He thought while performing a side sh with his battle ax.

    He wanted Lith to move so that their strategy could actually matter.

    Yet the madman stood still, crossing his ridiculous des made of beer and chore magic while waiting for the impact. The bald mercenary¡¯s triumphant smirk disappeared when the swords met the ax in a cross-shaped sh that cut it into four pieces along with the man who wielded it.

    Once again ice sealed the wounds, not letting a single drop of blood be spilled. Deep cleaning took time and Lith didn¡¯t want the children to notice odd spots during breakfast.

    "I don¡¯t have all night. Stand up and fight." Lith took War out of his dimensional pocket and released the mercenaries from his grip.

    The angry de was still sheathed, standing vertically on its tip as if Lith¡¯s hands were on the hilt instead that raised against the nearest opponents. A few mercenaries stood up and attacked Lith at the same time, forcing him to create blind spots to defend himself.

    Except there were none. Full Guard gave him perfect awareness of everything that happened around him and with two des, their numbers gave them no advantages. Lith¡¯s enhanced physique made him so fast and strong that only a de master could face his awkward left-handed swordsmanship.

    To make matters worse, the moment anyone came too close to him, the magic imbued in their equipment would die out. Weapons and armor would suddenly turn into heavy scrap metal, slowing down the mercenaries and making their attacks harmless against the Scalewalker armor.

    Free to focus solely on the offense, Lith cut off their heads while the ngs from their hits still broke the silence of the night.

    "Next." Lith had infused the des with darkness magic, making the corpses disappear in a puff of bone dust.

    The mercenaries looked at each other and then at their useless weapons.

    They knew that the moment they raised their heads they would be cut off. Kneeling of their own will to a single opponent in front of so many witnesses was humiliating, but it still beat dying a dog¡¯s death.

    War emitted a slow hum of challenge despite all the blood seals. They blocked only its de, not its will. Standard quality weapons couldn¡¯t resist thebined assault of War¡¯s World Mirror and Counterflow skills that sealed their pseudo cores.

    Yet the mercenaries knew nothing of it and believed their weapons to be submitting to a superior opponent just like they were doing. In their mind, whoever Lith was, he made even des afraid.

    "I yield." A woman said while throwing her halberd in front of Lith¡¯s feet.

    Soon a pile of enchanted metal formed in front of him as the mercenaries followed her lead, surrendering without making a single move that could be mistaken for a sign of aggression.

    <i>¡¯This is troublesome.¡¯</i> Lith thought. <i>¡¯On the one hand, I should kill them all since they disregarded my ultimatum. On the other hand, however, killing someone who has already surrendered would make my stay here unpleasant.</i>

    <i>¡¯The kids might hear rumors or notice how much the inn¡¯s staff is terrified of me.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1300 - Fear and Dead Men (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1300 - Fear and Dead Men (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Not to mention it would make a huge mess that I would have to clean before breakfast even though this is supposed to be my vacation as well.¡¯</i>

    Lith used his five eyes to look at the bystanders and assess the damage to the inn while never losing sight of his prisoners. The regr guests of the hotel were so scared that they kept their hands in front of their mouths to not scream.

    No one cried, but not out of bravery. They were simply afraid that even a whimper could draw his attention. The ngor of the earlier battle between mercenaries looked like a pleasant dreampared to the silence that had befallen the room since Lith¡¯s arrival.

    He shapeshifted his body back into the human form and the Scalewalker armor into the deep blue robe of an Archmage while taking out hismunication amulet.

    "War." No one knew the name of the de so they assumed it had to be some kind of challenge.

    Mercenaries and civilian alike put their hands behind their heads while touching the ground with their forehead as a sign of submission.

    "Yes?" Thetches of the weapon opened and closed like nimble fingers, forming an intelligible word with their cking. The inhuman soundcked a tone, yet it managed to convey War¡¯s eagerness for a fight.

    The blood thatprised the sheath slithered and writhed in a hypnotic way, making it impossible for those who witnessed the phenomenon to avert their gaze.

    "Kill anyone who tries to leave the room without my permission." Lith said.

    "Yes." The seals on the de clicked with the enthusiasm of a kid ying with the wrap of a long-awaited gift they couldn¡¯t wait to open.

    "I¡¯m Archmage Verhen. I need to report a crime and I require a clean-up team."

    While Lith gave the night clerk his position and a brief report of the events, some of the mercenaries closer to the exit made a run for it. Once the Association was involved and if Lith really was who he imed to be, death was the easy way out.

    War darted after them, returning every time in the blink of an eye.

    No scream nor thud betrayed the fate of the runaways, everything happened in silence. The sheath, however, became thicker and its color more vibrant with each life it took.

    While waiting for backup, Lith helped the bystanders to stand up, healed those that had been injured during the fight between mercenaries, and broke all of the merchants¡¯ limbs after Hushing them so that no one could hear a thing.

    Even though they were civilians, it was their fault if his vacation had almost gotten ruined. They had made it personal and Lith hated to leave loose ends.

    Between his apparent mercy and the free treatments that he offered, by the time the Constable arrived, both the staff of the inn and its guests were back in high spirits. The drinks were on the house and with enough liquid courage flowing through their veins, the recent events didn¡¯t look so bad anymore.

    The storm had passed safely, at least for them, and theck of bloodshed had made the whole thing like something out of a bard¡¯s tale. Lith had even carved a que for the inn¡¯s owner that said: "My beer is mightier than the sword".

    Everyoneughed at the joke and couldn¡¯t wait to tell the story behind it to whoever was willing to listen to them. Lith made sure that no one heard him when he asked the Constable for the maximum penalty, death by torture, to not spoil their mood.

    The mercenaries disappeared through Warp Gates while carpenters fixed the damage without leaving a trace of the fight. The recollection of the battle became more epic and less dreadful the more the room was repaired in a perfect example of out of sight out of mind.

    Lith quickly examined his spoils of war, selling the useless enchanted weapons to the Association for their market price. As the victim, he alsoy im on a part of the now ownerless merchandise and sold it as well.

    Half of it would be confiscated by the Kingdom to pay for the damages the merchants had caused and topensate the inn for the lost business.

    The following morning, the kids noticed the que, the fact that the inn was less crowded, and that it smelled of new wood, but since everyone was all smiles with them, they paid it no heed.

    "What do you mean, I don¡¯t have to pay for my beasts¡¯ dinner? This wasn¡¯t part of our deal." Lith said when the freckled blonde waitress asked him if it was alright for her to keep the 40 copper coins tip.

    He had already spoken with the tavern¡¯s owner and exined to her that no matter how grateful she was, Lith was no freeloader. He didn¡¯t want to let the kids know about what had happened nor to make them think that being a mage allowed someone to demand an undeserved special treatment.

    "I know, but this is no discount. They simply didn¡¯t eat." At those words, the children almost choked on their breakfast.

    "That¡¯s impossible! Abominus eats like a Dragon. He must be sick." Leria said.

    "And Onyx always asks for seconds, thirds, and fourths. Can you please give them a full check-up?" Aran asked.

    Invigoration revealed that the magical beasts were as fit as a fiddle and that their stomachs were still full. Only after reassuring the kids and sending them back to the table could Lith ask the beasts why there were clothes among their shit.

    ***

    Blood Desert, City of Quyntan, temporary headquarters of the Undead Courts¡¯ War Room.

    The three Hors.e.m.e.n of Baba Yaga rarely met. Each one of them had their respective mission, personal agenda, and dealings with their Court orck of thereof. They were legendary figures that would inspire rather than lead the undeadmunity.

    The aces in the holes, the weapons of mass destruction that the Undead Courts used as a deterrent against the living. After Night had pissed off in one go the Council, the Griffon Kingdom, and the Master¡¯s Organization, however, Baba Yaga¡¯s triplets had been forced to take an active role in the war effort.

    Without them, the Courts would have already lost every single battle in the Griffon Kingdom and been wiped out from Tyris¡¯s turf. The Organization in particr seemed to have a vendetta against them.

    The Hors.e.m.e.n couldn¡¯t understand why the Organization was willing to suffer economic and even turf losses as long as they got closer to Night. They had no idea that attacking those who the Abominations considered as Vastor¡¯s family, they had kicked a ho¡¯s nest.

    Except that every single ho was an ancient rancorous monster that could level a mountain faster than a vampire could suck their meal dry.

    The Hors.e.m.e.n had summoned a War Meeting in Quyntan because the Gorgon Empire and the Blood Desert were still rtively safe. The city was near their borders on the Desert¡¯s side, making it thest ce where even a Guardian would look.

 Chapter 1301 - The Thickness of Blood (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1301 - The Thickness of Blood (Part 1)</h4>

    That night, the rulers of the three Undead Courts, Baba Yaga¡¯s triplets, and even the Firstborns that currently lived on Garlen had been assembled to discuss the matters at hand.

    "This is all your fault." Dawn threw the pristine white helm of her Orichalc.u.m armor on the huge round table while looking at her sister Night.

    "Thanks to our brethren from Jiera, we had excellent chances to win this war or at least to permanently change the bnce of power in our favor. Now that the Council got involved, the first real opportunity that our race had to be an integral part of society has gone down the gutter!"

    The Bright Day looked like a woman of untold age, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall with golden eyes without pupils. Her skin was whiter than an albino¡¯s while her waist-long hair was pitch-ck.

    Dawn¡¯s body was covered by a full suit of armor with more facets than a precious gem. Each one of them absorbed instead of reflecting the light from her surroundings, boosting Dawn¡¯s powers and shrouding her in darkness.

    Yet the armor was bright, acting as a conduit for the radiance that came from Dawn¡¯s real body, the gemstone resting between her bosom. The contrast between light and darkness, between ck and white, made her look as if a real dawn was taking ce in the War Room.

    "As if you ever cared about our race more than I did!" Night mirrored her movements, sending a pitch-ck dented helmet shing against Dawn¡¯s.

    "The only thing you ever cared about was your precious mission, just like I only worry about having some fun. After getting your a.s.s imprisoned inside a Fringe for centuries due to your stupidity, you are thest one who can patronize me."

    Night looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.70 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with ebony skin that seemed to devour all light and full lips that not even her anger managed to make less seductive.

    She had silver waist-long hair and round eyes without pupils that shone like moons. Her body was covered by a skin-tight ck full suit of armor that left only her head exposed, yet she was no less charming than if she was wearing a c.o.c.ktail dress.

    "Enough of this." The Red Sun, also known as the Horseman of Dusk and the Hushed King of the Dusk Court, threw his blood-red Davross helm as well, hitting those of his two sisters from the sides and making them stop right in the middle of the table with a ng.

    Even though the Red Mother despised Liches, Dusk had chosen one of them as his host due to their immunity to all weaknesses that the children of Baba Yaga usually had. They didn¡¯t fear sunlight nor darkness magic and they could use all six elements freely.

    In a sign of respect to the Firstborns, Dusk shapeshifted the skeletal body into his real form for the first time in centuries. He looked like a handsome man in his mid-twenties, about 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with blonde hair, bright red skin, and orange eyes that seemed to flicker like mes every time he moved his gaze.

    "There¡¯s already enough fighting outside, there is no reason to waste our forces fighting between us. I¡¯ve assembled you here to find a path to victory together, not to point fingers. Besides, Night is right, Dawn.

    "Neither of you has helped their respective Court to grow, you only made trouble for all the members of our kind. First, you exposed yourself while fighting against Verhen, making the three Great Countries aware that we are still alive.

    "Then, Night angered the Council, adding them to the many enemies we already have. Both of you are at fault for sacrificing precious elders of ourmunity for your own agenda. The reason you did it doesn¡¯t matter, only the result does."

    The Bright Day gritted her teeth and kept silent. Her many failures in keeping the Blood Desert under control didn¡¯te solely from Sark¡¯s iron fist and her battle-hardened Feathers.

    After Lith had defeated Ac, he had also spread the word about Dawn¡¯s experiments on the members of her own race and her plot to sacrifice a part of the Dawn Court to raise her host¡¯s status.

    Now not even her Court trusted her and theck of discipline among her ranks had caused countless failures. The undead worried more about bing hertest test subjects than about the enemies in front of them and didn¡¯t hesitate to run away.

    Even Night performed better than her in the Griffon Kingdom despite the Organization¡¯s meddling.

    "Now, if you¡¯re done bickering, I¡¯m ready to give my report." The Red Sun said the moment the quiet was restored. "The situation in the Gorgon Empire is stable thanks to theck of Awakened at the service of the Empress and to Leegaain¡¯s not interfering policy.

    "s, the same can¡¯t be said about his daughter, Xenagrosh. She considers the Magic Empress akin to a sister and is helping her to eradicate our Courts. The Empress, in turn, turns a blind eye to the Organization¡¯s business as long as they don¡¯t deal in the ve trade and Forbidden Arts.

    "Even though they are still considered criminals, the human members of the Organization keep the underworld at peace and allow the Empress to focus on us. I firmly believe that if we don¡¯t get rid of the Master first, we have no way to win."

    "What about your precious Liches?" The ck Night chimed in. "You just unted your sess in leading the Dusk Court, why aren¡¯t the most powerful members of your kin helping us?"

    "Liches only care about magical research and Awakening. They only joined my Court for its mutual aid use and to effortlessly build awork of simr-minded people that could help them with their agenda." Dusk replied.

    "Mutual aid? Their entire Court is involved in a war, how can they stay out of it without contradicting such use?" Dawn mmed her fist on the table while Night supported her stand.

    Once again, the Red Sun admired the small miracles that the Lich species effortlessly performed, like making his sisters agree on something.

    "Mutual aid only intended as protecting each other¡¯sb and research from invaders. A war, instead, would force them to interrupt their studies and possibly lead to their death, as it happened for Veeza. She was the first elder Lich to die in centuries.

    "To help you understand their mindset, allow me to read you one of the replies to my call to arms. This one is from a Lich named Zolgrish." Then, Dusk proceeded to read out loud the following text.

    "Dear Dust, I don¡¯t give a damn about your conflict so the next time you bother me, I¡¯ll just kill the messenger and pretend to have never seen him until I forget about him and turn my lie into truth.

    "Right now, thanks to my business rtionship with Scourge, I get all the silver I need and maybe a shot at getting myself Awakened simply by minding my own business. If you want me on your side, you have to offer me more to do even less.

    "I doubt you¡¯re stupid enough to ept such terms, but hope diesst."

 Chapter 1302 - The Thickness of Blood (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1302 - The Thickness of Blood (Part 2)</h4>

    "PS: tell your sisters Dove and Nice to stay away from myb. I have Sark on the speed dial and a favor to call in."

    Then, Zolgrish had forgotten about the purpose of the letter and had written a long rant about Ratpack bothering him for being forgetful. Dusk skipped that part because it was irrelevant and full of vulgar words.

    "Are all the replies like that one?" Night was bbergasted.

    "No, I picked it because it¡¯s one of the politest. Long story short, any attempt to conscript even one Lich would end in a mass defection to the enemy side and give them amon goal: our extinction." Dusk replied.

    "I¡¯m deeply honored by your invitation, Master Dusk, but I share this Zolgrish¡¯s opinion." dion Zegroff, the Vampire Firstborn, said despite the sour aftertaste such words left on his tongue.

    Humans called Vampires the undead nobles and thought of Liches as undead royalty. He hated seeing the Courts sharing such a view and he hated even more having to agree with a filthy Lich.

    "I came here from Jiera looking for peace and a new home, not for more pointless struggle. On top of that, as an Awakened, I¡¯ve nothing to gain and everything to lose from making an enemy out of the Council.

    "They gave me and my children food and shelter whereas all you have to offer me is a battlefield. If I join your cause, I¡¯m afraid that, with the excuse of the war, sooner orter someone will try to extort the secret of Awakening from my youngest once they are away from the protection of the Council."

    "Are you telling me that the first Vampire of Mogar, the man that Baba Yaga herself turned into an undead, is incapable of protecting his own?" Night¡¯s voice oozed contempt for what she perceived as betrayal.

    If the other Hors.e.m.e.n were her siblings, then Firstborns were her little cousins and nieces. She considered them as a part of her family since, unlike their descendants, the Firstborns carried a spark of Baba Yaga¡¯s life force.

    "That¡¯s easy for you to say." dion stood up and many Firstborns followed his lead. "You care for nothing but yourself and treat even your host like a disposable tool. You may call those who receive your prisms Chosen, but I call them ves.

    "Even though I¡¯ll never thank the Red Mother enough for giving me a second chance at life, I question her choice of giving birth to three beings that can¡¯t have an offspring, don¡¯t care for anything but themselves, and who can¡¯t live without robbing someone else of their body."

    "Your words are as cruel as they are unfair." Dusk said. "We can and we will have an offspring once we find the perfect host. Until that moment, anything else would be a waste of time and effort. It¡¯s the same reason why my sisters have yet to forge their Davross equipment.

    "What weck is the means to establish our own bloodline, not the will."

    "Really? I could believe it if it came from Dawn or Night, but what about you? You have forged your equipment and you inhabit that body for centuries. What stopped you for so long?" dion¡¯s mantle wrapped around his master as he prepared to leave.

    "I¡¯ve yet to fulfill my purpose and find a way to allow all the undead species to use the light element." The Red Sun replied.

    "Let me guess, once you fulfill your purpose, you¡¯ll postpone again to help your siblings with their own. You speak a lot, but all I hear are excuses to not live the life you were given. Farewell. We shall not meet again."

    dion fused with the shadows and reappeared in a dark alley. The sun was still high but it ceased to bother him the moment his fully red blood core turned into a mana core, restoring his mortality.

    His physical prowess was gone and his mana core was blood red, but now he could appreciate the scent of the pretty women of the desert as a man instead of a predator and there were plenty of different things that could sate his hunger.

    dion looked exactly like when he was still alive. A handsome man in his early thirties about 1.87 meters (6¡¯2") tall, with short ck hair and icy blue eyes that were filled with the warm passion of youth.

    He had the bearing of a general but the build of a soldier. One look was enough to understand that he had earned his stripes in battle, not by pushing papers and l.i.c.k.i.n.g boots.

    His charms would make it easy for him to find ady willing to overlook his light olive skin, too pale for the standards of the people of the desert, and keep himpany, just like his gold would allow him to try the local delicacies to his heart content.

    Yet he remained there, waiting for his siblings to discuss their next course of action.

    "Are you sure this is the right choice?" Dusk asked Ilthin Demere, the Firstborn Banshee.

    "Time will tell if it¡¯s right, the only thing I know is that it¡¯s the best choice for my people." The elf Lady had hair of gold, eyes of silver, and a heart still scarred by the man who had ripped it out of her c.h.e.s.t in the search for immortality after swearing his eternal love to her.

    "We are your people." Dawn said.

    "Your deeds don¡¯t match your words. In the past, you never hesitated to sacrifice my children in the name of your research and you gave me no reason to think that this time it will be any different." Ilthin disappeared, and in the blink of an eye, only the Hors.e.m.e.n and theirpdogs from the Undead Courts remained.

    "That went well." Dusk sighed.

    "I never thought the day woulde that I would even consider that my host is right." Night g.r.o.a.n.e.d under the burden of her responsibilities that now she had no hope to delegate to someone else.

    "What do you mean?" Dawn asked, open to any suggestion that might turn the tide of the battle.

    "He says that we should grow a spine and ask Mom to give us our steeds. Hors.e.m.e.n are meant to ride." Night said, making an awkward silence befall the room.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Faluel¡¯sir.

    "What do you mean, they went on vacation?" Leegaain was bbergasted.

    "Lith took the children somece to teach them magic and his parents went to enjoy the first true vacation of their lives. As simple as that." Faluel shrugged.

    "I know that he left, it¡¯s exactly the reason why I¡¯m here. Otherwise who knows what ungodly price would he ask me for some blood, especially after the Kolga incident."

    "You mean when you sent Lith to Jiera to force him to have a world tribtion, endangering both his life and Solus¡¯s?" Faluel said with a sneer.

    "That¡¯s one cynical way to put it. I like to think about it like giving a gentle push to a promising youth and observing how the tribtions affect his other half." Leegaain said with an indignant look on his face.

 Chapter 1303 - Bloodlines and Powers (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1303 - Bloodlines and Powers (Part 1)</h4>

    "What do you mean, Lith¡¯s tribtions affect Solus as well?" Faluel asked.

    "It¡¯s still a baseless theory so I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up. Besides, to share it with you, I would be forced to vite his privacy and reveal some of the secrets Lith keeps for himself." Leegaain said.

    "Then I don¡¯t want to know." Faluel¡¯s curiosity was strong, but not enough to betray her disciples¡¯ trust. "Are you going straight back home or will you stay for tea?"

    "Neither. We¡¯re going to the Flying Griffon resort and get my blood samples. I swear that if I receive another damn cigar or a blue ribbon, I¡¯ll wage a war so bloody that the undead will be forced to migrate again!"

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t leave Lutia." Faluel shook her head. "I promised Lith to protect the vige and I¡¯m not letting him down again."

    "Nonsense! No one of his family is here at the moment so there¡¯s no one to protect. On the contrary, if you follow me to the Flying Griffon, you will be able to keep an eye on Elina, Raaz, and Rena while also enjoying a nice vacation. My treat."

    Leegaain needed Faluel to introduce him, or he would never be able to approach Lith¡¯s parents without the Queen¡¯s Corps busting his scaly a.s.s into jail, let alone ask them a sample of their blood.

    He could easily fend the security detail off and take what he wanted by force, but that would mean angering Lith again and possibly triggering Tyris even more. She was already pissed off with Leegaain and attacking her people on her own turf would have made Fenagar¡¯s transgression look like a joke between friends.

    "I¡¯m sorry but no. Selia is still here with my goddaughter Fenrir and I won¡¯t risk their lives nor the safety of Lutia for your sake. Everything Lith¡¯s parents have is here. If the vige is reduced to a crater, all of my disciples and their families will suffer."

    "Very well, I¡¯ll provide you with an excellent stand-in to ease your worries." Leegaain sighed while activating his mind link. "I never took you for such a mother hen. You Hydras have taken too much from my side of the family."

    "I¡¯ll take that as apliment." Faluel said with a thankful nod of the head.

    "What are you doing on Tyris¡¯s turf, old lizard? I hope you two are not having fun without me." Sark looked away from the mountain of paperwork in front of her and turned towards the Kingdom, where the link pinpointed Leegaain.

    It was still dawn in the Desert and she usually spent the time until noon dealing with her duties of Overlord, yet Sark would dly postpone them for a Guardian party.

    "We wouldn¡¯t dare. I¡¯m just working to get rid of those rumors about Lith being a Dragon. I need someone to keep an eye on Lutia while my granddaughter is away or she won¡¯t leave herir. Without her help, I¡¯ve got no chance of sess." He replied.

    "You have hundreds of powerful children and most of them love you. Why do you need mine?"

    "Because I¡¯m trying to clear the rumors, not to confirm them. If a few Dragons start to keep Lith¡¯s family safe, not even Blood Resonance will ever convince the Council that we are not rted." Leegaain said.

    "True, but what¡¯s in it for me?" She said, hoping to get something juicy in return.

    "I don¡¯t know, maybe I could give you the information about that lost temple you asked me about instead of it casually getting lost in the mail. Or maybe, if you don¡¯t help me, the next time you ask me to create a spell for you, I might put your request on the bottom of my to-do list by mistake." Leegaain snarled.

    Even for a Guardian, a day would still have only 24 hours. Sark spent his mornings nurturing her people, the afternoons researching Forgemastering techniques and practicing martial arts, and the nights by hanging out with her friends, her offspring, or her lovers.

    Seeing her empire thrive, providing talented people with the knowledge and equipment they needed while also never losing touch with those she loved, were all priceless things for Sark.

    For everything else, there was Leegaain.

    The Father of all Dragons only needed to be pointed in the direction of an interesting line of research to disappear for days in hisb until he got the answer. He had be the Lord of Wisdom thanks to his shut-in nature, just like Sark was the Lord of War because of the amount of time she had spent in actual fights.

    Guardians had a symbiotic rtionship that allowed them to take care of everything in the time they had. Leegaain was the to-go guy when you needed knowledge just like Sark was in charge of major ass-kicking.

    "Fine, I¡¯ll send one of the members of my nest, but if this starts new rumors that im I¡¯m the mother, then you¡¯ll have to exin to Tyris why I snatched Lith for my Desert." Sark said with an opportunistic smirk on her face that sent shivers down Leegaain¡¯s spine.

    Yet she already knew she had no blood rtionship with Lith. No one of her children had ever given up on their Phoenix nature and his parents were normal humans.

    A few minutes after the call ended, someone knocked on Faluel¡¯s door.

    "Sorry I¡¯mte but moving without a Warp makes everything slow." The man in front of Faluel looked to be in his early thirties, about 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with ck hair and a short beard.

    He had emerald green eyes and the light bronze skin typical of the Blood Desert. He wore an ample white robe, a red mantle, and a small white turban with a Phoenix-shaped ruby in the middle.

    On top of that, ever since his arrival, the sun seemed to have gotten hotter while the shadows of the woods seemed to have grown colder.

    "Who are you supposed to be?" She asked.

    "It seems I¡¯ve left my manners home in a rush. My name is Crevan Gershal, at your service." He gave her a deep bow, putting her status of Lord of the region and host above seniority.

    "Sorry, Grampa. I can¡¯t leave like this. He¡¯s good, but not good enough." Faluel shook her head.

    "I beg your pardon?" Crevan felt insulted by those words. "I¡¯m a full-fledged member of the nest. It means that I¡¯ve got a bright violet core, more than one thousand years of battle experience, and equipment forged by my mother. How can I not be good enough?"

    "Can you take a Horseman on your own?"

    "Of course I can. I-"

    "While protecting an entire vige, its people, and my apprentices¡¯ families? If Nightes back with another army, how do you stop them all at the same time?" Faluel cut him short.

 Chapter 1304 - Bloodlines and Powers (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1304 - Bloodlines and Powers (Part 2)</h4>

    "I may be weaker and less well-equipped than you, but in myir, I need but a snap of my fingers to summon the entire Council. Can you do the same?"

    Crevan opened and closed his mouth, having no way to retort. He was damn good at his job, but being in three ces at the same time wasn¡¯t part of his skillset. On top of that, he had never joined the Council, considering them nothing but a bunch of weaklings.

    Yet Crevan¡¯s pridey in not having ever failed his mother, not in boasting about his strength like a tavern thug.

    "No, I can¡¯t." He closed his eyes for a second, letting his bright violet aura seep out of his body.

    His shadow gained a third dimension that quickly turned into a simrly dressed woman that bore a striking resemnce to Crevan. The phenomenon happened again, but this time another man came out.

    With the arrival of each new guest, Faluel felt the annoying chill of fall turning into the pleasant warmth of spring as if their presence alone made the Trawn woods a brighter ce.

    "What was that?" Leegaain asked in surprise. Only Guardians could cross such a long distance without a Warp Array, yet the dimensional perturbance he had felt was akin to that of a simple Blink spell.

    "One of the powers of our bloodline." Crevan said. "It allows us to share a mind link even from afar and to be each other¡¯s dimensional beacon. We call it Call of the Blood."

    "I¡¯ll protect your disciples, Lenanna will take care of the vige, and Jhet of the vigers. Are three of us enough?" Each Phoenix gave Faluel a deep bow the moment Crevan introduced them.

    "Plenty enough. Let¡¯s go, Gramps. I¡¯m all yours now." Faluel gave them the thumbs up and dragged Leegaain back inside herir, where she set up the Warp Array closest to the Flying Griffon.

    The moment they left, the three Phoenixes Blinked in unison, surrounding the dimensional crevice from where Tezka the Fylgja hid to protect Zinya¡¯s home unnoticed.

    While a dimensional amulet created a sub-space where time stood almost still, a dimensional crevice was a small pocket of space stretched by magic, simr to a very small Fringe, that allowed the Warg-Eldritch Hybrid to hide in in sight.

    The dimensional rift connecting the pocket with the outside world was the size of a pinhole and in the case a dimensional sealing array was cast, it would allow him to choose between sealing himself in oring out to fight.

    It was one of the peaks that dimensional magic could achieve, something the existence of which very few people were aware. Hence seeing his pocket space forcefully ripped open left the Fylgja unpleasantly surprised.

    "Don¡¯t think that your tricks can fool us, little fox. Are you friend or foe?" Lenanna, the only woman in the group asked.

    "Don¡¯t think that I¡¯m scared of a bunch of hatchlings, young sparrow." Tezka said as all of his ten tails brimmed with power. "If I meant harm, this ce would have been reduced to a wastnd way before your arrival."

    The members of the nest were bbergasted by the Abomination knowing their mother¡¯s secret origin, yet nothing transpired from their faces. On top of that, every single tail but one held enough power to harm them.

    Unfortunately for Tezka, the atrophied incarnation of his mastery over Spirit Magic wouldn¡¯t have killed a fly.

    "I can¡¯t deal with you withoutpromising our mission so I¡¯ll take your word at face value, for now." Crevan said. "Don¡¯t get in our way and we¡¯ll return the favor."

    Tezka replied by Warping the entire dimensional crevice to a safer location while also cloaking it to the best of his abilities. He had no idea if they could still perceive him or not since they didn¡¯t bother searching for him.

    To make matters worse, he didn¡¯t know if they had managed to find him because of their skills or thanks to their overpowered equipment.

    Either way, a subtle feeling of defeat crept inn his mind and ruined his day.

    <i>¡¯I must tell Bytra to move her a.s.s and craft like there¡¯s no tomorrow.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Meanwhile, after changing her clothes into a lovely light blue day dress and giving her hair a uniform c.h.e.s.tnut color, Faluel opened a Warp connected to the Flying Griffon¡¯s Gate.

    The resort was built on a mountain and it needed its own Gate to have ess to the important cities of the Kingdom. It allowed the Flying Griffon to always have the best foods and to provide its guests with anything they might need at a moment¡¯s notice.

    The concierge had worked there long enough to have seen it all. From members of the Royal family too drunk to remember their own name to a certain Archmage so enraged that his sight had been enough to make the staff faint.

    The sight of a lovelydy walking arm in arm with someone he could only hope to be a mage too brilliant to care about appearances didn¡¯t make him even raise an eyebrow.

    "Good morning. We would like to dine here." Leegaain said with perfect manners that made the concierge inwardly sigh with relief.

    "I would be d to have your patronage, sir, but our restaurant is reserved to the guests for safety reasons. We can¡¯t have people freely going in and out of here." He was a man in histe fifties with a gentle face whose kindness didn¡¯t extend to his eyes.

    The concierge had his greying red hair and mustache so finely trimmed that they seemed to have been painted rather than cut. Even though he used no gel it would have taken a storm to move a single one of his hair out of ce.

    "Fine, I¡¯ll take a room."

    "I¡¯m sorry, but all our rooms are booked. I can suggest you another est-"

    "I¡¯ll take whatever you have avable." Leegaain unceremoniously mmed on the reception counter a ck card with a golden Griffon drawn in the middle.

    Only a few of them existed and they all belonged to the ancient magical bloodlines that had helped Valeron to build the Griffon Kingdom. They granted their owner a high level of clearance and unlimited credit from the Royal treasury.

    "The Royal Suite is all yours as soon as I check your IDs." A small light of greed shone behind the concierge¡¯s eyes.

    Usually, every time a ck card appeared, the staff¡¯s year-end bonus doubled.

    Leegaain and Faluel gave their papers and only when the magical scanner on the counter matched the ID with the card did the concierge open the door leading to the restaurant.

    The parquet floor wasprised of wood pieces of different shades of brown that formed borate mosaics that reproduced the most famous paintings in the three Great Countries and canceled the noise of the guests¡¯ steps.

    Seeing some of his best pieces among them moved Leegaain while they waited for the arrival of Lith¡¯s parents. Among his hobbies, the Father of all Dragons liked the dabble in arts, and over the millennia he had identally started several painting movements.

    Seeing people still admiring his works after centuries made him happy, spotting several thralls among the people in the dining area, not so much.

 Chapter 1305 - The Price of Truth (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1305: The Price of Truth (Part 1)</h4>

    No matter how good the Kingdom''s anti-undead security measures were, they couldn''t distinguish the regr living from those in the process of being turned into undead.

    Not even Life Vision could do it. Even Awakened would need to examine everyone present with Invigoration to recognize them and even if they did, many thralls didn''t even have a blood core since their master belonged to an undead species that couldn''t bestow upon them any power until they were turned.

    Only Soul Vision allowed a Guardian to identify from a distance the presence of a pseudo blood core or the deep-seated despise for the living typical of those who choose to be an undead.

    Most of them were power-hungry people willing to pay undeath''s heavy price, but some of them were just people suffering so much that they would do anything to make the pain stop.

    They were the two kinds of people for which Baba Yaga had created the gift of immortality. Those willing to sacrifice part of their freedom in exchange for the strength to break the shackles of destiny and those who suffered from invisible wounds that not even a genius of light magic like Manohar could heal.

    Undeath would make them strong in both the mind and the body, allowing them to shrug off any form of weakness.

    ''It seems you owe me, dear granddaughter.'' Leegaain said via a mind link as he shared his Soul Vision with Faluel.

    ''What the heck are those?'' She now saw through his eyes, and the dining hall looked like a scene from a haunted painting.

    The elegant cherry wood tables and thefortable chairs around them were among the few things that didn''t appear distorted. Soul Vision revealed people''s true nature and what Faluel saw wasn''t pretty at all.

    The smiling faces of the resort''s staff had be filled with envy as they served at the tables or twisted with their daily worries. The guests, however, had now a monstrous appearance.

    The thralls with a blood core looked like conjoined twins, with their undead side growing stronger as their human side got weaker.

    The undead twin always bore the mark of their sire, allowing Faluel to recognize a Ghoul from the still dripping flesh in his mouth and a Blood Witch from the arcane runes that made her veins bulge.

    Yet even more disgusting were the regr nobles sittingfortably at their tables. Their deathly pale skin reflected the loss of humanity as anything but status and wealth lost meaning to them, while their bloody clothes represented how low they had stooped to get what they wanted.

    Their faces were twisted in a perpetual smile filled with fangs that hissed against anyone who they envied or who had wronged them, no matter if the injustice was real or just perceived.

    The shadows of the nobles were equally expressive. Instead of being ck tes, they had faces distorted by greed and unnaturally long fingers that wed at their neighbours in the futile attempt to steal from them the objects of their desire.

    Unlike a Soul Projection that showed solely the dominant thought of its owner, Soul Vision revealed the true nature and even the history of its subjects, if one knew where to look.

    ''That''s the reason why I don''t like to go out often.'' Leegaain replied while sitting at an edge table and asking for a menu. ''What do you want me to do with the thralls? I can easily dispose of them, but that will cost you.''

    ''I don''t think that all of them are here for Lith''s parents and not all undead are bad people. I''m not willing to ughter them just because of their race.'' Faluel replied.

    Even though she felt as if they were surrounded by enemies, she had a hard time not chuckling when the waiter refused toply with Leegaain''s request until he checked the key of their suite.

    ''Since he''s paying, I might as well use the suite and the members of the nest to finally have a night out with the girls.'' She thought.

    A few minutester, when Lith''s parents arrived, their walk among the tables made many heads rise and murmurs filled the room.

    Elina looked lovely in her cream-colored day dress and her choice to not wear jewellery to go as unnoticed as possible only emphasized her delicate features. The red streaks in her hair shone more than any gem could whenever the daylight from the ss walls brushed them.

    "With this, I''ve seen them all." A man said with a voice full of envy and scorn. "That guy is either loaded or he''s taking advantage of a blind woman."

    Those at his table nodded in approval while simrly mean words were spoken at the nearby tables at the passage of the Verhen couple. Such thoughts could only be whispered since showing open envy was the same as admitting their inferiority, but little could escape the ears of a Dragon, be they Lesser or not.

    "What a bunch of losers." Leegaain whispered loud enough to be heard. "Raaz may not be the most handsome of men, but he''s a good person and they make a nice couple."

    Even though Raaz was in his early forties, thanks to Lith''s treatments he looked barely in histe twenties. He was about.63 meters (5''3") tall, with dark brown hair and deep-seated eyes.

    The years of working in the fields had given him a lean muscr build but also deprived his movements of every grace. Only thanks to Jirni''s etiquette boot camps he managed to not walk on the hardwood pavement as if it was muddy ground.

    Both he and his wife were a breath of fresh air to Soul Vision. They both looked perfectly human and were surrounded by a golden aura that attested to their clear conscience and the love they had for each other.

    ''They look perfectly human. I knew it! They don''t have a single drop of Dragon blood.'' Leegaain thought.

    "I think you''re misunderstanding something." Faluel''s silvery giggle drew a lot of envious gazes from the noble dames who despite their make-up and jewellery looked homely inparison.

    "Those men aren''t talking about Raaz who wears a stylish ck suit and is disying perfect manners. They are about you."

    "What do you- Oh, crap!" Leegaain still had the appearance and clothes of a travelling merchant, the form with which he had gone to Faluel''sir.

    Compared to him, Raaz looked like a dandy and the timing of thements was only due to no one noticing Leegaain until Elina''s arrival had made people turn their heads toward the entry where the Guardian was sitting.

    "It''s toote to change now." Leegaain said with a sigh. "Let''s get this over with. I''ve already made a fool out of myself."

    The two of them walked to the table of Lith''s parents and Faluel tapped on Elina''s shoulder to have her attention.

    "Raaz, Elina, sorry to drop by unannounced. Do you mind if we join you?"

    "Faluel, what a pleasant surprise!" Elina recognized her immediately and hugged her with joy while Raaz had two more chairs added to their table. "Who is this handsome fellow? One of your brothers?"

    "He''s actually my lots-of-greats grandfather. Have you ever heard about Leegaain? Grandfather, they are Elina and Raaz."

 Chapter 1306 - The Price of Truth (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1306 - The Price of Truth (Part 2)</h4>

    "I¡¯m honored to meet you." Leegaain bowed as Faluel introduced them, slightly embarrassed by Elina¡¯s kind words.

    She was the first person treating him courteously despite his appearance and yet he would trick her nheless to further his agenda. It was one of those moments where he didn¡¯t feel proud of himself, but the end justified the means.

    Raaz looked at Elina in confusion as he tried to remember why such a name rang a bell while she looked at their guest with eyes wide open. She remembered all too well Leegaain.

    Lith had told her that he was one of the original six Guardians, the Father of all Dragons, and maybe even the god of knowledge, but all she could see was the bastard who had endangered the life of her babies.

    By giving Lith¡¯s group the tranting pin, Leegaain knew that the moment they stepped inside Kolga, they would learn and experience all of its horrors. Even worse, he knew that going there would have triggered Lith¡¯s world tribtion.

    The images of Tista crying while telling Elina how she had been forced to kill Khalia in cold blood to put her out of her misery and of Lith taking in all the suffering of dead souls haunting Kolga to survive, still pierced Elina¡¯s heart.

    The moment Leegaain bowed, his chin went exactly where she wanted it to be. A mean right hook to the side of his head made it almost turn of a full 90 degrees and threw Leegaain off bnce.

    Then, before Raaz could stop her, Elina yanked up her gown enough to kick the Father of all Dragons in the gonads with all the strength she could muster. Life in the countryside was harsh for women, but especially for the pretty ones.

    They all had to learn how to defend themselves from a young age, but Elina always favored attacking rather than reacting. She had taught her children that he who strikes first strikes twice.

    Leegaain fell on the floor, writhing in alleged pain. With his mass and abilities, Elina¡¯s hits were barely a joke. Yet dodging would only enrage her more while taking the hits would break her limbs.

    If either thing happened, he would have had more chances to bring world peace than to get even a drop of her blood. Leegaain let Elina hit him to vent her anger but moved so that each strike barely grazed him to keep her from getting hurt.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know what¡¯s worse. Being decked by someone who barely weighs 58 kilograms (127 pounds) or the fact that everyone thinks I deserved it without even knowing the facts.¡¯</i> Leegaain could see with Soul Vision the dining hall giving her a standing ovation, even the staff.

    On top of that, Faluel had yet to move a muscle to help him. Yet he could resent neither woman since, in their shoes, Leegaain would have done the same.

    "Calm down, dear. Think of our kids." Raaz said while holding her by the shoulders to stop Elina from attempting a finishing stomp with her heels.

    "That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m thinking about." She half said and half snarled, barely containing her fury to not turn Raaz into coteral damage.

    "No, I mean remember everyone knows who we are. What would people think if the mother of an Archmage beats someone in front of so many witnesses? What if Lith gets banned from the establishment because of what you did?"

    Raaz had yet no idea who Leegaain was, but he was certain that the stranger deserved the beating. He knew Elina enough to know she wouldn¡¯t see red for petty reasons and what to say to calm her down.

    Elina froze in ce as those words made her maternal instinct fight against itself and forced her to weigh her priorities.

    "Why did you bring him here? Don¡¯t you know what he did?" Elina looked at Faluel as if she had betrayed her.

    "I know and I¡¯m sorry, but you should listen to him. Grampa acts like a jerk from time to time but he always means well. I wouldn¡¯t have apanied him here just to ruin your vacation, I did it because it should benefit Lith." Faluel replied.

    He s.u.c.k.e.d it up and waited for the opportunity to give the Father of all Assholes a piece of his mind.

    Leegaain stood straight while dusting his clothes, showing the spectators that he was alright. Then, he apologized for the inconvenience with the director of the resort who had run to the dining hall the moment the fuss had started.

    The nobles stared at them a bit longer, hoping for some more juicy gossip. Yet once the poorly dressed man took the full me for the ident and everything seemed to be resolved, they lost interest.

    The noble guests started to criticize their peers for being so cowardly that they had done nothing to help a woman in need as if any of them had done otherwise.

    "What do you mean, he can benefit Lith?" Elina asked.

    After they sat at their table and ordered their lunch, Leegaain exined to Raaz and Elina that being a Guardian¡¯s offspring was a dangerous business. How his enemies might target Lith while those who sought Leegaain¡¯s help would cajole his alleged descendant.

    "If everything is so nice and simple, why didn¡¯t you go straight to Lith for his blood?" Elina didn¡¯t trust one word he said and tried to refute his reasoning.

    "Because Lith would never give it to me. He has too much to lose." Leegaain shook his head.

    "Then why should I do otherwise?" Elina said with a snarl. Her inability to follow the Guardian¡¯s reasoning only made her angrier.

    "Because I hope that, as his parents, you know what¡¯s best for him. If I were to speak with him, Lith would reply that a few more enemies are irrelevantpared to the gifts he might gain by pretending to be my offspring.

    "On top of that, I¡¯m quite sure he would try and guilt me into helping him in the case something happened to him since it would be my fault." Leegaain replied.

    "It does sound like something Lith would do." Raaz nodded.

    "If you give me your blood, instead, I can prove that he and Tista are not part of my bloodline. Lith would not get a few magical trinkets for free but my enemies would leave him alone, making his life easier." Leegaain said.

    "Is he telling the truth?" Elina asked Faluel.

    "Well, yes." The Hydra nodded. "Now everyone knows about Lith¡¯s world tribtions and the idea that someone from a Guardian¡¯s bloodline might be one as well is bound to stir up a lot of troubles.

    "Guardians are solitary creatures which limits their area of influence but if two of them were to be allies, they would be unstoppable. I don¡¯t know how sincere Grandpa¡¯s worries are, but I can vouch for his reasoning."

    "And so do I." Tyris said.

    "What are you doing here?" Leegaain asked while the rest of the room stood up and gave the First Queen a deep bow.

    She was wearing a simple lc day dress, but the Royal Family¡¯s insignia wasn¡¯t something that could be ignored.

 Chapter 1307 - Parents and Donors (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1307 - Parents and Donors (Part 1)</h4>

    "I own this ce and even if I didn¡¯t, the moment you used the ID I gave you, it raised a g in the security." Tyris replied. "Do you mind if I join you?"

    Elina had just straightened herself and was about to nod when a waiter brought another chair in a hurry.

    "I knew that, but I hoped you wouldn¡¯t bother toe here." Leegaain said.

    "Normally, I wouldn¡¯t. Yet after Kolga I can¡¯t afford to underestimate your machinations, old lizard. You have to work hard if you want to regain my trust." Tyris sat down and looked straight in Elina¡¯s eyes.

    "Don¡¯t worry too much. As long as it¡¯s not something that Lith brings on himself, I¡¯ll protect him against any foreign threat. He already has plenty of enemies in the Kingdom and I have great expectations for him."

    "Like you protected Phloria?" Raaz said with a sneer. Aside from a brief stupor, his feelings for his wife made him immune to the First Queen¡¯s charm.

    "That was different." Tyris replied with an apologetic tone. "I was ready to stop any reprimand from the army, but I couldn¡¯t stand in the way of almost half the nobility and the magicalmunity without turning the Kingdom into a tyranny.

    "On top of that, I firmly believe that if I keep my children from making important decisions, even when I know they are wrong, my people will never learn from their mistakes."

    Even though he didn¡¯t like it, Raaz nodded in agreement.

    As a father, he knew that sometimes the only way to make a kid understand the dangers of ying with fire was to let them burn their finger. As a citizen, he knew that stopping Deirus, his allies, and five out of six academies by force would have caused a civil war.

    "Thank you both for taking so good care of my son." Raaz said. He knew about Tyris making sure that Lith would take credit for Kogaluga to repay his sufferings and appreciated her offer for protection.

    As for Faluel, she had helped the entire Verhen family so often that they had no way to repay her with their limited means.

    "I hope that you will keep an eye on him in the future as well. No matter your race, a father couldn¡¯t ask for a better wife for his son." At those words, everyone choked on their food.

    "Dear, what are you saying? They are much older than him." Elina said in surprise.

    "Age is rtive when both partners are hundreds of years old." He shook his head.

    "Lith has Kam now and if she decides to be an Awakened-"

    "She would die after less than one thousand years due to ate Awakening." Raaz cut Elina short. "Lith might live three times as much if he bes like Faluel or ten times as much if he really is a Dragon.

    "If he really bes a Guardian, then he might live forever and I don¡¯t want him to remain alone. Especially after all of us die and he bes heartbroken. So forgive me if I exploit my only chance to speak alone with such good women to give them my blessing while I still can."

    Elina looked at her husband with new eyes, admiring him for seeing so far in the future.

    <i>¡¯If I¡¯m so grief-stricken after losing Trion, I can¡¯t even imagine how Lith will feel when everyone he knows is dead. Still, Raaz should have been more tactful.¡¯</i> Elina thought and changed the topic to lift the awkward silence.

    "Speaking about Dragons, why do people think Lith is one of yours? My husband and I are normal humans and as far as I know, once a hybrid picks their life force, there is no way back."

    "That¡¯s correct, but even after our children be fully human, they still carry or blood." Leegaain had no way to exin gics to farmers so he had to dumb it down for them.

    "All the members of the Royal Family share Tyris¡¯s silver eyes because of it. A Guardian¡¯s heritage can¡¯t be erased by something as trivial as time. It¡¯s a very rare urrence, but when one of our descendants mates-"

    Hearing Leegaain speaking like that made Elina¡¯s hands itch and her re cut him short.

    "I mean when they have a child with another descendant of a powerful bloodline, it¡¯s possible for them to be born hybrids even though both parents have human bodies. That¡¯s the reason why I need your blood.

    "It¡¯s the only way I have to prove that I¡¯m not rted to either of you." He said.

    "Do you promise that if weply with your request, you¡¯ll leave our family alone and that your enemies will not be a threat to us?" Elina couldn¡¯t wait for all of them to leave.

    Between Leegaain¡¯s smug face whenever he talked and all that talking about death, her mood had gone sour.

    "You have my word." Leegaain offered his hand which Lith¡¯s parents promptly shook.

    "Then do it quickly and ruin our vacation no more." Elina said.

    She didn¡¯t even feel a sting when the Father of all Dragons touched her right arm with his thumb and her blood started to drip from his little finger. Faluel collected it in a small vial that she switched with an empty one once it was Raaz¡¯s turn.

    "Thank you very much!" The moment he had what he wanted, Leegaain stood up and dragged Tyris and Faluel away with him. "Sorry for bothering you and have a nice meal. My treat."

    "This better be important. I was restructuring the oases irrigation system while amending a few outdatedws and writing a new textbook to teach magic more easily to the children." Sark said without looking away from the dozens of pieces of papers she was writing at the same time with water magic.

    A Guardian could make the work of an entire government on their own, but it still took time and focus.

    "It¡¯s very important. I can finally prove that I¡¯m not Lith¡¯s father!" His triumphant shout was weed by endless groans and sighs of relief when those present realized there was no world-ending threat at hand except for the possibility of Leegaain¡¯s pride blotting out the sun forever.

    "I have Faluel, the Lord of the Distar region and even Tyris as my witnesses. The blood was collected in their presence and they kept it the whole time." The Father of all Dragons gave his bbergasted granddaughter a third vial full of a red liquid.

    "This is Lith¡¯s blood! How did you get it?" She asked.

    "It¡¯s not that hard. The guy fights to the death more often than I eat. I had Milea collect it in Laruel to study the anomaly he represents, but I never expected to use it for any other purpose." Leegaain shrugged.

    A hybrid¡¯s blood was lesser than the sum of its part due to the unstable nature of a body with more than one life force. Both the Master¡¯s hybrids and Lith needed a perfect bnce to exist whereas pure blooded creatures had an inferior evolutionary potential but they possessed greater powers.

 Chapter 1308 - Parents and Donors (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1308 - Parents and Donors (Part 2)</h4>

    The three samples had been stored so that the life force in the blood couldn¡¯t dissipate and allowed Faluel to perform Blood Resonance magic. The discipline invented by Duke Marth, the current Headmaster of the White Griffon, required the whole subject to be employed, but the Awakened had improved it.

    Faluel used the tier five spell to stir Lith¡¯s life force, separate it in all of itsponents, and amplify each one of the energy signatures to their utmost limit.

    The red energy of Lith¡¯s human side burned as bright as a star and emitted a fine mist that spread throughout the hall of the Council. It touched all of those present, Guardians included, giving no reaction.

    The vials belonging to his parents, instead, resonated with the red light and further amplified it as they shone of their own radiance.

    "Suck it! I told you it¡¯s an anomaly." Leegaain¡¯s words caused more groans as huge sums of Adamant, white crystals, and even Davross moved from one person to another.

    "How dare you cing bets on my bloodline?" He didn¡¯t know whether to be more outraged by the bets or by the fact that no one seemed to listen to him anymore.

    The ck light of the Abomination spread as well, but it reacted to no one. Then, it was the turn of the blue-violet Emperor Beast life force. It spread slowly, overpowering the others that were already fading away.

    The moment it touched Elina¡¯s and Raaz¡¯s blood, they emitted a very faint yet still discernible light, confirming once again that they were his parents. Strengthened by the resonance effect, the blue-violet light moved forward until it enveloped the entire room.

    Leegaain and Sark emitted a bright pir of light while the bookmakers handed the magical goods to their rightful owners.

    "What? This can¡¯t be right!" Leegaain refused to believe such a result and cast the spell on his own, yet nothing changed.

    Sark was equally bbergasted, but she couldn¡¯t care less.

    "We¡¯ve had more than one fling over the years." She pondered out loud, adding more fuel to the mes.

    "Hahaha! I knew it! Fire and darkness could onlye from one possiblebination." Inxialot the Lich King said, checking his ledger to make sure that nothing was amiss.

    "Indeed. The Origin mes made it even more obvious." Fe the Behemoth said while splitting their pay-outs. The two of them were the only ones that had bet to such abination, earning massive profits.

    "Remember your promise, or I will hold you responsible." Tyris congratted Sark before leaving.

    "This cannot be! No!" Leegaain shapeshifted back into a Dragon in despair, yelling at the tops of his lungs until the mass of cigars, flowers, and blue ribbons muffled his scream.

    ***

    Teraka mountain range, a few dayster.

    Completely unaware of who had been the unwilling donors for his Emperor Beast side, Lith had kept teaching chore magic to the children. After they had thoroughly mastered the basics of air and water, they had learned about light and earth.

    Lith had kept darkness and fire forst because of the danger they posed even in their chore magic form. Aran and Leria might easily hurt each other if they lost control of their respective spells since they had to remain close to Lith so that he could follow their progress.

    "I¡¯d say to wrap this up for the morning." He said as Leria tried and failed to make a hologram while Aran was amid tall grass, using darkness magic to affect solely the mosquitos that tried to bite him.

    Every time a de of grass withered, he was forced to stop and start over from scratch.

    "Always remember to practice light and earth akin to how you handle the hard forms of water magic. Darkness and fire, instead, have to be treated akin to air magic¡¯s soft forms. Compress them only if you mean to hurt someone."

    Lith felt a slight pull at his consciousnessing from hismunication amulet and sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Kam¡¯s rune. Between Orpal¡¯s return, Zinya¡¯s parents, and whoever thought that mimicking Balkor was funny, Lith was on edge for bad news.

    "Hey, handsome. Do you mind giving me a lift? I¡¯m waiting for you in front of the Hot Pot." Kam said while showing the road inn at her back.

    "How the heck did you get here?"

    "I¡¯m thrilled at the idea of spending some time with you as well." Kam¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits of deep orange mana. That wasn¡¯t the wee she had hoped for.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Kami, I was just surprised." Lith weaved a Warp Steps as fast as he could and kept his apologies simple. In his experiences, the more he stirred the shit he had caused, the worse its stink.

    "That¡¯s the point of a surprise visit. As for your question, I¡¯ve asked the colleague who dealt with your ident at the Hot Pot for a ride." She walked out the dimensional door, d to see that Lith right in front of her with his open arms.

    "First Jiera, then that flying car of yours, and now camping. I missed you a lot, blockhead." Kam hugged him, uncaring for the smell of sweat and musk.

    "I missed you too, but work isn¡¯t leaving you a lot of free time." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s why it¡¯s so important to me that we at least dine together. The house feels empty without you. I miss our small talk and even the stupid bickering. It makes me fear that we are drifting apart."

    "You are right, I¡¯m sorry." Lith sighed.

    He could have argued that building the DoLorean for his grieving parents took priority, or that without practice the kids¡¯ magical talent would have soon turned from a blessing into a curse, but Lith knew that those words would only sound like excuses.

    Kam already knew all those things, she wasn¡¯t stupid. She had given him her full support after learning about Trion¡¯s death and Orpal¡¯s return, helping him to smooth things over with his parents.

    She had even helped him n the trip with the children and found for him one of the few uninhabited mountains close enough to civilization that would allow him to quickly return home in the case something happened.

    Kam¡¯s reason and sentiment were at odds for a while and her heart simply had run out of patience.

    "Aunt Kami!" The children ran to her, turning the tender moment into a group hug.

    "How are my favorites Archmages?" She let Lith go and ruffled the kids¡¯ hair, kissing their sweaty foreheads.

    "Can you please bring us home? Magic is fun, but I miss Mom so much that it hurts." The warmth of her embrace made Aran¡¯s determination crumble, turning him back into a five years old kid away from home.

    "It¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m here. Your moms sent me to check on you. This is supposed to be a vacation, not a boot camp. How is Lith treating you guys?"

    A long awkward silence filled the clearing while the kids searched their brains for a way to tell the truth without hurting Lith¡¯s feelings.

    "Uncle Lith is a great teacher and he¡¯s also a great cook. We never go hungry." That was all Leria could think about that didn¡¯t involve the relentless practice of magic.

 Chapter 1309 - Hands and Muscles (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1309 - Hands and Muscles (Part 1)</h4>

    "That''s a given. I was asking if you''re having fun." Kam said.

    "Oh, yes. When we do good, he brings us to the Hot Pot for the night. It''s a wonderful ce to spend some time before bed." Aran said with a joy that stung at her heart.

    "Wait, aren''t you staying there all the time? I choose this ce exactly because it has a nice inn nearby. Are you telling me that eating something other than bushmeat and sleeping in a bed is your brother''s idea of fun?" Kam''s shocked question received even more shocking nods as an answer.

    "It saves some money and lets the kids immerse themselves in nature. They learned a lot of valuable life lessons here." Lith said, hoping to mitigate the iing storm yet only managing to make it worse.

    "Don''t worry, kids, training is over. Your parents will only return in a few days and until then, I''ll keep youpany and make sure your vacation finally begins. We''ll go to the Hot Pot to let you clean yourselves before lunch and then we''ll go straight to Xaanx."

    Seeing the children put everything back in their backpacks and cleaning the ce from any trace of their passage instead of jumping with joy or asking for sweets made her heart bleed.

    "Are you trying to turn them into soldiers or what?" Kam kept her voice low so that the kids wouldn''t overhear them arguing.

    "I''m turning them into responsible mages." Lith crossed his arms and didn''t flinch at her usation.

    "For the gods'' sake, they''re five years old!" Suddenly she knew how Orion felt whenever Jirni tried to implement her "educational" methods. "Responsibility is for the grown-ups, kids should just have fun. You-"

    Suddenly, Kam remembered that Lith had never been a kid. Be it on Mogar or Earth, fun was a luxury he had never been able to afford. Even her sh*tty parents had given her a carefree life until she hade of age whereas Lith''s had been one of duty.

    ''I can''t believe that no one ever worried about how much he has missed nor that it took me so long to realize why he''s so weird sometimes.'' She thought.

    "Gods, I''m so sorry you had to go through so much." Neither Kam''s words nor the sudden tender embrace she gave him made any sense to Lith, yet he was d seeing that she wasn''t angry at him anymore. "I promise that I''ll teach you how to have fun."

    "I know how to have fun."

    "I mean outside the bedroom." She clicked her tongue in reply to his lustful gaze.

    "Then I know nothing of it." Lith shrugged.

    After returning to the Hot Pot, Kam booked their best room, nning to use it just to make the children take a bath before lunch and then leave, yet they had other ns. Without the worry of the afternoon training session, they ate to their heart content and soon became too drowsy to even stand.

    "You worked them to the bone, didn''t you?" Kam said while tucking them into their beds.

    "Study and repetition are the only way to learn magic." Lith replied while slipping into something morefortable.

    "No way." She said the moment she stepped inside the room, crushing his hopes. "I''m not doing anything more improper than a hug with two children sleeping next door."

    "I can Hush us."

    "So that they can sneak up on us? Thanks, but no thanks. Besides, after being away for so long, I''d like to talk a bit. I missed more than your body, you know?" Kam shapeshifted her uniform into a loose pajamas that usually killed Lith''s libido.

    "You look hot in that thing. Is it new?"

    "No, it''s an old ugly rag that makes me look like I wear a sackcloth. Now tell me how you''ve been." She snuggled on his c.h.e.s.t, making her intentions clear.

    "Fine. Whenever the kids didn''t need me, I''ve worked on my violet core-"

    The door suddenly opened, making Lith inwardly thank Kam for keeping his hands away from the danger zone.

    "Can I sleep with you? I feel lonely." Leria said while clenching her stuffed rabbit and looking at them with her big hazel eyes. She missed her parents dearly and they were the next best thing.

    "Leria, you''re old enough to sleep-"

    "Of course you can." Kam cut Lith short and pulled the nkets beside her.

    Leria rushed to the bed, quickly followed by Aran who was just a step behind. The kids snuggled on them and fell asleep almost immediately.

    "Goodnight, Mom." Leria was so drowsy and happy that she mistook Kam''s hand that was c.a.r.e.s.sing her head for Rena''s.

    "Poor children." Kam Hushed their ears while she watched Aran''s small body clinging to Lith in search of reassurance. "That''s what makes you a monster, not your Abomination side. Don''t you remember how good it felt sleeping with your parents?"

    "Except that as a newborn, I never did." Lith replied while c.a.r.e.s.sing his little brother''s hair, who only clung tighter to his c.h.e.s.t in the sleep.

    "Never?" Suddenly, the vice squeezing her heart had doubled its violence.

    "Never. Orpal was already jealous enough as things were and whenever Tista''s illness worsened, my parents had her sleeping with them to check her condition. I couldn''t take away the little privacy they had." Lith''s words were a half-lie and the truth was much worse.

    Back then, on Mogar, he didn''t trust Raaz enough to want hispany. He was still too scarred by the memories of his first beating as Derek McCoy when as a small kid he had disturbed his parents'' sleep.

    "Stop crushing my heart, you monster." Kam''s quivering voice didn''t match her words. Her eyes were veiled with tears as she gently pushed Lith''s head on her bosom, hoping it would make up for even a shred of what he had lost.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to make you cry."

    "Don''t you dare to apologize. You didn''t do anything wrong." Kam sniffled and so did Solus.

    She knew all of Lith''s lives like the back of his hand, yet she also considered him akin to a monolithic giant of indomitable will. Solus had always tried to treat his damaged soul as a whole, missing the importance of details like those Kam had just discovered.

    "What were you saying about your violet core?" Over the years together, Kam had learned that the only way to break through the seemingly indestructible armor surrounding Lith''s heart was to let him speak freely.

    Only then would he chink the armor from the inside and slowly open up.

    "That I''ve got no clue how to breakthrough." He sighed in relief as her c.a.r.e.s.ses soothed his frustration. "Based on what I know, to go from blue to violet, I need to learn how to cast spells with my body.

    "I''m pretty sure that the vortexes that appeared in my mana flow after I reached the bright blue level are a key element, but I''ve yet to understand how."

    "How can you be dumb enough to consider self-harming as part of your training?" It sounded like a scolding, but her voice was worried and she kissed the top of his head.

 Chapter 1310 - Hands and Muscles (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1310 - Hands and Muscles (Part 2)</h4>

    "Vortexes are akin to muscles I never used. The pain has at least allowed me to learn how to feel their position even when I don''t use any breathing technique. The next step is exercising them." Lith had a hard time staying awake while being cuddled, but he wanted to keep hearing Kam''s voice a bit longer.

    "No offense, but theparison doesn''t hold. All Awakened with a bright blue core can see the vortexes with their breathing technique. If it was so easy, then why are so many mages stuck at your same level even after centuries?" She asked.

    "Quite a bit taken, Constable Smartass. What do you suggest me to do, then?"

    "I''m not an Awakened and I don''t even qualify as a magica." Kam kissed his head again. "What does a mana core do and what are the vortexes supposed to do?"

    Lith had already had that conversation with Solus countless times ever since Faluel had shown him the violet dots in his eyes and told him that, somehow, merging with his Demon of Darkness was akin to the Hydra bloodline''s secret technique.

    Yet he didn''t mind repeating it again. As a teacher, he had learned that it was by exining his knowledge toymen, by answering to all of their whys and hows about things that he considered too simple to give them a second thought that he could reach enlightenment.

    Managing to dumb downplex concepts so that anyone could understand them meant to have truly mastered their underlying principles. Teaching others allowed him to understand how deep his understanding of a discipline truly was.

    "Awakened or not, a mana core produces the mana that allows us to use magic. The main difference between us is that I can stimte mine at will and fuel powerful spells whereas you can''t without resorting to magical words and hand signs."

    "I''m sorry, you already lost me." Kam sighed.

    "Imagine that we both have a crackling firece. To make it hotter, I need but a thought to make my hand pick up more wood and throw it into the fire whereas you have to tell your hand how to move and where to throw the wood to achieve the same result.

    "It''s akin to having a dumb dog for a hand that needs precise instructions every time you want it to do something right."

    "Okay, thanks. What about the vortexes?" She asked.

    "That''s an excellent question. My hypothesis is that to achieve a violet core, I must turn them into auxiliary cores like it happened when I was one with my Demons." Lith projected two holograms for her.

    One depicting his hybrid body with all the extra cores from Kolga''s vengeful souls and the other depicting his human body with its vortexes.

    "Which means?"

    "Which means having many more hands that don''t just pick and throw the wood, but even restock the woodshed." Lith said.

    "No wonder so few people achieve the violet core. It sounds like a pain in the ass." Kam nodded.

    "Wait. What do you mean and how is this any different from the analogy with the muscles?" Lith said, genuinely surprised by her words.

    "Flexing a muscle is easy." She said while giving him a warm smile to emphasize the concept. "A hand, instead, is made of several bones, muscles, and ligaments that need to perfectly coordinate between them to perform their duty.

    "On top of that, even the nimblest of humans is born with just two hands or one core, if you prefer, which means that the new ones have to be trained from scratch and that you must also learn how to coordinate them with your starting two hands.

    "Imagine how hard would it be if you suddenly had a third leg and you had to relearn how to walk without it being a drag. No sexual innuendos!"

    "I won''t make jokes, but how do you know so much about anatomy?" Lith asked while pondering her words.

    "Jirni. Please, don''t ask and I won''t tell you anything that will make you puke your lunch."

    ''She may actually be on to something.'' Solus said. ''After all, what you do with your core is to form runes with your mana and to weave them into a proper sequence that must make sense to manifest a spell just like your hands do with letters when you write.

    ''We can even push the analogy further since, in the case of high tiered spells, the core is the hand, the spell is the puppet, and the mana works like the strings connecting the two.''

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Lith inwardly blurted out as he realized what kind of mammoth task getting control over even one vortex would be. ''If you two are right, then a vortex isn''t a core thatcks power so much as one that has no coordination.

    ''A spherical core is akin to a hand that can form a perfect fist whereas a vortex is like a limb with no muscle memory that the brain doesn''t even recognize as its own.''

    ''Does this knowledge help you in any way?'' Solus asked.

    ''I don''t know but it''s worth a shot. I''ll follow Quy''s example and train one vortex at a time, starting with first magic. Writing a single word is the best exercise I can think of.'' Lith replied before falling into a sleep as deep and happy as that of the children.

    ***

    Everyone was so tired that they woke up only when the inn staff called them for dinner. They ended up spending the night there and once again, the kids joined Lith and Kam in their bed.

    She was a bit annoyed by thepleteck of privacy since the children would barge in at any moment even when she was taking a bath. Yet spending so much time together with those adorable rascals and being often mistaken for a real family made her soon wish to have one of her own.

    ''Is this my maternal instinct kicking in or what?'' Kam thought while looking at the snoring pack around her. She wasn''t that tired to start with and after sleeping all afternoon she was wide awake.

    ''I''m still a Constable rookie with no stable career, I''ve got no family worth speaking of that might help me if I quit my job, and either of us has yet to say the Love word. Instead of wasting time with daydreams, I''d better try and get some rest.'' She sighed.

    Yet every time that Leria responded to her c.a.r.e.s.s by calling her Mom in her sleep, Kam''s heart skipped a beat.

    The following day, Lith Warped them back to Xaanx, where they spent the rest of their vacation. Kam forced Lith to bring the children to clothes and toy shops, trying his stinginess more than once.

    Aran and Leria hated clothing stores as much as Lith did, which in turn pushed Kam''s patience to its utmost limits. Dealing with three kids turned out to be way harder than with two.

    As for the toy shops, the kids'' enthusiasmsted less than a matchstick in a storm.

    "I''m sorry, miss. What does this do?" Aran politely asked a round-faced clerk while handing her a scale model of a Royal Fortress armor.

    It appeared to be entirely made of small gilded feathers. The helmet was shaped like an eagle''s head, its gloves ended with ws, and a couple of wings made of glittery substance were draped like a mantle around its shoulders.

    The suit made the toy soldier resemble a humanoid Griffon covered in metal.

 Chapter 1311 - Role Models (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1311 - Role Models (Part 1)</h4>

    "Excellent choice, young man. It¡¯s one of our best-selling products. It has lots of movable joints andes with several essories." The clerk said while showing Aran how even the fingers could be moved ording to the weapon of choice.

    "I can see that. I asked what it does." He said.

    "Everything you want." She shrugged, having no idea what the kid meant.

    "That¡¯s a lie. It doesn¡¯t fly, it doesn¡¯t cast spells, nor does it make any sound." Aran pressed the head, the emblem on the c.h.e.s.t, and the arms, but to no avail.

    "You are joking, right?" The clerk was bbergasted by such absurd demands from a mere toy.

    "If that¡¯s the best you have, I pity the other children." Aran pouted, making the woman seriously consider a career change.

    "Big bro, can you enchant this?" The kid ignored her and ran to a tall man that looked like he was there only to honor a lost bet.

    He read the price tag before answering.

    "Good f-" Kam¡¯s elbow hit his ribs, making him reconsider his choice of words.

    "Farming gods almighty! This thing costs-"

    "Barely twenty copper coins." Kam finished the phrase for him with a re as she picked one for Leria as well.

    "Thedy has a keen eye." The clerk was d to find at least one reasonable person. "Every single piece is hand-carved by a magico artisan while the armor and the weapons are forged from a dull but resistant metal."

    <i>¡¯Quit whining!¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯It¡¯s really well made. Even better than most action figures from Earth.¡¯</i>

    Between the kids¡¯ puppy eyes and Solus¡¯s and Kam¡¯s res, Lith had no way out.

    He made ninja hand seals with his hands while chanting English swear words to justify the tier five Forgemastering spell, Worthy Vessel. It would test its target¡¯s mana resistance, allowing the mage to identify what kind of enchantments an object could withstand before crumbling.

    Gold wouldn¡¯t light up, crappy materials like those of the Camellia would barely light one rune, and so on while silver would bepletely covered in words of power.

    "Damn, I mean, yes, I can enchant it." Lith said as three runes appeared over the toy, proving the high quality of its materials.

    "Then it¡¯s true. You really are a mage!" It was one of those rare times when such words were spoken without admiration nor fear, just disbelief.

    "If that amazes you, you should see the face he makes when he brings me to a new restaurant." Kam said with a sigh, making Lith turn red in embarrassment.

    "We¡¯ll take them." Lith tried to act smooth, but the pain twisting his face made the clerk think that he was going to pay for the toys with his flesh and blood.

    They spent the following days visiting Xaanx until there was nothing interesting for the kids to see and then moved to another city with the Warp Gate.

    Unlike Lith, Kam had nned it like a real vacation, bringing the children to ces where they could y with their magical beasts or with their peers at amus.e.m.e.nt parks filled with magic-fueled rides.

    Warp Gates allowed them to instantly move through the Kingdom, so they could be in the East for breakfast, have lunch in the North, and then dine on an ind in the West.

    Aran and Leria would y in the morning, y in the afternoon, and then usually fell asleep from exhaustion after dinner. Kam allowed them to train their magical abilities with Lith for two hours tops a day before giving them a tour of a new city.

    "This is what a vacation should look like." She said while pointing at Aran and Leria ying with other kids on the beach.

    They unted their magical beasts and magic like a business card, bing the leaders of any group even though they were foreigners. Abominus and Onyx weren¡¯t happy being forced to carry so many children and to endure their grabby hands, but they s.u.c.k.e.d it up as usual.

    "Are you having fun?" Kam asked.

    "Yes." Lith lied through his teeth.

    With her nning their days and the magical beasts watching the kids, Lith was free to practice first magic with his vortexes for most of the day, unless someone required his attention.

    His failed attempts produced no effect so he could try to cast spells every time he took a step or moved his arms for any reason.

    He liked hanging out with Kam, just like with the children, but to him, going around and wasting money to do what he considered a waste of time couldn¡¯t bebeled as fun.

    "Liar." She sighed. "At least try to enjoy these moments. If you live only for your work, when in a few years you¡¯ll look back at your life, you¡¯ll see only spells and blueprints, without a single happy memory."

    <i>¡¯She¡¯s right, you know? If I had to summarize your past, it would still look like a training montage.¡¯</i> Solus said, cornering him.

    "I¡¯m trying, but where¡¯s the fun in this? I¡¯m just sitting on a bench while watching a sunset after walking all day through ces I don¡¯t care about. I could have done the same things back home without spending a dime." If lying wasn¡¯t an option, he might as well be honest about it.

    "I guess that you must be in withdrawal, after almost a week without anyone attempting to kill you. It would justify the bad mood." Kam chuckled.

    Lith was surprised to hear that she considered the scuffle at the inn as a potential threat to his life, but he said nothing. It didn¡¯t mean that she underestimated him, just how much she worried for him, and that made him happy.

    "The fun is supposed to be in sitting on a bench with me while enjoying a moment of quiet together after making the kids enjoy themselves the whole day. Fun is not necessarily doing something, it can also be theck of something.

    "For example, appreciating the silence with my boyfriend, without having to worry about work, responsibilities, and death threats is fun to me. The sunset is just for ambiance, what really matters is thepany." She rested her head on his shoulder while ying with the sand with her b.a.r.e feet.

    Kam had never been on a beach before and found the experience pleasant even though fall was approaching and the air near the ocean was a bit chilly.

    "You know, maybe next summer we could go on a beach vacation as you wanted."

    "Just you and me or..." Lith pointed at the kids showing off their earth magic to build sandcastles bigger and better looking than anyone else¡¯s.

    "Just you and me. I would like to bring another couple forpany, but I don¡¯t think I could wear that..."

    "Bikini." Lith said.

    "Bikini in front of others without dying of embarrassment. We could still meet our friends for dinner, though."

    "It would be nice." Lith nodded while looking at his surroundings with Life Vision before allowing himself to rx.

 Chapter 1312 - Role Models (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1312 - Role Models (Part 2)</h4>

    He watched Aran and Leria turn the sand into makeshift fortresses and use the water from the ocean to attack each other and make the opponent¡¯s walls crumble.

    <i>¡¯I wish Carl and I could have done the same.¡¯</i> Lith kicked the sand which turned into a mosaic of his long-lost brother back when he was still a kid.

    "Who is that? His smile kind of resembles yours." Kam asked.

    Lith didn¡¯t answer, kicking the sand a second time. He could feel the magic coursing through his leg like never before, but it didn¡¯t have any direction so nothing happened.

    He tried a third and a fourth time, yet the more he focused the more the magic faded.

    "Why did you do that?" She pointed at the ruined mosaic.

    "I¡¯m sorry, he was someone I knew a long time ago, and seeing him brings back painful memories." Lith said while leaning his head until it touched hers.

    He let go of everything but the feeling of her warmth and the sound of the surf. Then, he kicked the sand again and instead of flying away, it took the form of a beautiful squared sandcastle with a spiral-shaped tower at each of its four corners and a keep at its center.

    A small figurine dressed like a princess whose face resembled Kam stood on the drawbridge, while a seven-eyed and four-winged dragon was coiled around the castle keep where another figurine depicting Solus was hidden.

    "Is that us?" Kam chuckled. "It¡¯s cute and creepy at the same time, just like you."

    "You know what? You are right, this is fun." Lith said.

    ***

    A few dayster, Lith was taking a walk with Aran while Kam bought some clothes for herself with Leria. She had discovered that the small girl would enjoy shopping if she considered it as a dress-up game with Kam as her doll.

    Lith had given the magical beasts the day off since between sleeping inside stables and having to endure hordes of adoring kids stressed them to no end. Lith noticed that Aran was quieter than usual and stared at the ground more than at the toys in the shop windows in front of him.

    "What¡¯s wrong, little brother?" Aran was too young to have a crush on someone and he was as fit as a fiddle. Lith checked on the kids with Invigoration every day.

    "Do you think I can be as good as Leria at magic?" Aran asked while clenching his little hand around Lith¡¯s in embarrassment.

    "I beg your pardon?" The question didn¡¯t make sense. The kids were like twins and so were their cores. Lith had yet to notice any significant gap in talent between them.

    "Leria has two streaks in her hair, like Abominus, while I only have one. Also, she told me that girls are more talented than boys.

    "I mean, a lot of our aunts have magical powers whereas aside from you and uncle Nalrond, there are no male mages in Lutia."

    "She was just making fun of you. Youin because you have one streak, but I have none. Does it make me a bad mage?" Lith asked.

    "Of course not. You¡¯re an Archmage!" Aran was outraged as if someone had just badmouthed his brother.

    "Aunt Friya has no streaks either, yet she has mastered all the elements and is one of the few dimensional mages of the Kingdom. Don¡¯t mind the streaks, they mark an affinity toward a specific element, but they are not rted to talent."

    "But Friya is a girl. Just like Tista and aunt Faluel." Aran replied.

    "There are plenty of male mages around. Uncle Ryman, Professor Marth, Vastor, and Manohar, to name a few." Lith said.

    "Uncle Ryman is a bad person." Aran shook his head. "He¡¯s away almost as often as you. Lilia and Leran cry a lot because of that. Vastor is old, fat, and bitter on the inside even more than he is on the outside. You must promise me to never be like either of them."

    His response bbergasted Lith. He had expected that Ryman¡¯s powerful body would look cool to a kid¡¯s eyes just like Vastor¡¯s gifts and his inexhaustible reserve of spectacr magical tricks would buy him a special ce in Aran¡¯s heart.

    "I promise." Lith looked at his little brother as if he saw him for the first time.

    "I don¡¯t even remember this Marth guy. The only time Dad mentions him, he says that Marth will die as he lived. Buried in paperwork" Aran said. "As for Manohar, after he tried to turn me and several other kids into toasts subtle during a party..."

    "You mean test subjects?" Lith facepalmed as he suddenly understood why the Mad Professor had been banned from most social events involving youths during Lith¡¯s absence.

    "Yes. He gave us odd-looking candies and fruit juice, but aunt Jirni kicked him in the wee-wee before we could touch any of them. After that, Mom told me to never ept candies from strangers and to scream the moment I saw Manohar again.

    "She called him many names that she forbade me to ever repeat. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a good guy either."

    "You have no idea." Lith sighed while searching his memory for another male role model but to no avail.

    "Uncle Lith! Bad guys are harming people. You have to help them!" Aran tugged at his arm before pointing at a group of men outside a jewelry store.

    They held heavy bags on their shoulders and an old man in a ck suit, probably the store owner, hostage. When Aran had noticed them, the shop¡¯s silent rm had already called the city guards, but the robbers needed but a wave of their hands to get rid of them with magic.

    <i>¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯</i> Lith said while checking the situation with Life Vision.

    <i>¡¯The thugs have yellow mana cores of different levels, making them powerful magicos. Their leader, however, has a bright green core. They have yet to use a spell aside from first magic, so I¡¯ve got no idea about their level.</i>

    <i>¡¯What I can tell you, is that theyck decent magical equipment. If their leader attended a magical academy, it must have been one of the minor schools.¡¯</i> She replied.

    <i>¡¯Then they are excellent sparring partners for my vortexes.¡¯</i> Lith thought while putting Aran over his shoulders like Raaz did to let him watch at parades.

    "Shouldn¡¯t I stay behind or something?" Aran asked. In the fairy tales that Lith told him, there was never blood nor people screamed like that.

    His childish mind couldn¡¯t understand why the good guys were losing so badly despite they outnumbered the bad guys.

    "Nonsense. If I leave you behind, you might get hit by a stray spell or someone might kidnap you. There¡¯s no ce safer than where I stand." Lith said while Blinking close to the robbers.

    "One more step and the old man is dead." A man with greasy red hair and a white left eye said. He was holding a razor-sharp ice de against the shopkeeper¡¯s wrinkly throat strong enough to make it bleed.

    "Surrender now and your pride will be the only thing getting hurt." Lith ignored those threats while pressing with his thumb over the tip of his middle finger, in an odd okay gesture.

 Chapter 1313 - Hidden Threat (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1313 - Hidden Threat (Part 1)</h4>

    The stalematested until a new group of guards arrived and the one-eyed thug moved the de away from the hostage¡¯s throat and pushed the old man forward before plunging the knife in his back.

    A corpse would only put them on the high-priority wanted list whereas injuring him would force the guards to waste time with first aid and dy the pursuit.

    "I¡¯ll take that as a no." Lith Blinked the hostage to safety the moment the thug was far enough to not be affected by the spell as well and make it pointless.

    Then, Lith released his middle finger in a flick that generated an air bullet so dense and so fast that it struck at the one-eyed man¡¯s sternum with the violence of a roundhouse kick.

    The thug flew back against his aplices, sending them sprawling on the ground as all of his ribs either cracked or broke, turning every breath he took into agony.

    A thin man with dirty blonde hair dodged the living bullet and threw a hail of icicles at Lith, who only needed a wave of his left hand to send them against another thug.

    His mastery over water magic allowed Lith to manipte the frozen spikes so that the ice immediately spread inside the wound without spilling a single drop of blood.

    <i>¡¯This is no different from the fight at the Hot Pot. Defeating them is the easy part whereas not letting Aran be traumatized is the hard part.¡¯</i> Lith thought while taking another step forward and encasing the stabbed thug in a prison of ice that only left his mouth exposed.

    Lith had yet to cast a conventional spell, using solely the vortexes inside the different parts of his body to cast tier zero spells. First, he had used the vortex in his right hand, then the one in the left, and that in his left foot forst.

    "Don¡¯t look away, Aran." Lith took another step, making the man who had thrown the icicles sink neck-deep into the now suddenly muddy ground. Then, Lith turned the mud back into stone, leaving his prey trapped.

    "I¡¯m going to show you that magic isn¡¯t about streaks, race, or gender. Magic is only about power and how you wield it." Lith kept his left hand on Aran¡¯s leg to both hold and reassure him while he activated the Full Guard spell imbued in the Scalewalker armor.

    A blue aura surrounded him, allowing Lith to perceive everything in the space around him without leaving blind spots.

    With the enemy too close forfort, thest man standing unsheathed a longsword and lunged at Lith¡¯s head in one fluid movement that he had practiced countless times over the years.

    Lith grabbed its tip with three fingers as if it was a fly, twisting and pulling the de out of its master¡¯s hand. In the attempt to not lose his weapon, the thug instinctively jumped forward,nding on Lith¡¯s right cross.

    The fist crushed his nose while the healing spell it was imbued with healed the thug so quickly that he realized what had happened only when he found himself with his back on the ground, looking at the blue sky.

    His nose now looked like a red button with nostrils too thin to breathe, forcing him to use the mouth to survive. Panic and pain sent the thug into hyperventtion, making him faint.

    The leader of the group, Iskha, a man even taller than Lith with long ck hair and savage blue eyes, finally managed to get up after throwing away his agonizingrade as if it was just a rag doll.

    Lith looked at the bandit leader¡¯s eyes bing bloodshot with fury as Iskha charged forward like a mad bull.

    "Never lose yourposure. Unlike fury, frenzy will always lose your battles." Lith¡¯s sidestep covered the ground in thick ice that made Iskha slip while a simple tap of his heel made a huge rock dart out of the sidewalk, breaking both Iskha¡¯s fall and his face.

    Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, the savage man managed to grab the rock with his hands before it was toote, using the momentum of his fall to flip forward and get back to his feet without ever losing sight of Lith.

    "I needed that gold!" Iskha roared, not knowing whether to be more outraged by the mage still carrying a child on his shoulders or by Aran¡¯s cheering as if their life-or-death battle was just a puppet show. "Prepare for the beating of a lifetime."

    "Don¡¯t mind if I do." Lith moved so fast that his figure blurred.

    Iskha spotted him again only when Lith executed the variation of Elina¡¯s attack on Leegaain that Raaz had taught to all of his sons.

    A right hook to the side of the chin blurred Iskha¡¯s vision and his head suddenly twisted as the darkness magic conjured by the motion struck him at point-ck, sapping his strength.

    Lith exploited the momentum to follow up with a roundhouse kick that hit the same spot as the fist, making Iskha¡¯s brain bounce against his skull like a pinball and encasing him ice.

    The moment Lith¡¯s right foot touched the ground, the left darted up and struck Iskha¡¯s gonads along with a hail of conjured gravel. The hit almost lifted the giant from the ground and made all the men present instinctively shield their privates with their hands, Aran included.

    It was an inconsequential gesture for the spectators, but in Iskha¡¯s case, doubling over left him defenseless. Lith grabbed the bandit by the head and sent it crashing against his knee that generated a wave of darkness magic that made Iskha ckout.

    "Thank you very much, mage...?" A middle-aged man with a light brown mustache asked while extending his right hand to Lith. He wore a light armor bearing the colors of the city guards of Freshya and the stripes of a captain decorated his shoulders.

    "Archmage Lith Verhen!" Aran said while his older brother put him down on the ground before shaking the captain¡¯s hand.

    "Archmage?" The soldiers echoed with disbelief.

    Iskha was still unconscious and trapped in the ice so they could allow themselves to give the stranger a second nce. Only then did they notice the many seemingly non-precious rings on his fingers that were the mark of a powerful mage.

    "Yes." Lith said with a reproachful tone. "An Archmage on vacation who didn¡¯t want to be recognized."

    "Sorry." Aran said to Lith. "It was supposed to be a secret. Can you pretend I didn¡¯t say anything?" He then asked the Captain.

    "Don¡¯t worry, young man, this will remain between us." He said while apologetically shrugging at Lith, who knew that aside from protecting Aran¡¯s feeling, there was nothing the Captain could do without angering his Lord.

    "Freshya is a boring ce this time of the year. I suggest you move to somewhere more interesting." He said.

    <i>¡¯Somewhere where the city Lord doesn¡¯t know about me.¡¯</i> Lith thought, catching the drift.

    <i>¡¯An Archmage, huh? That exins a lot. He should have lots of interesting stuff in his dimensional amulet. This might actually be a blessing in disguise.¡¯</i> Iskha thought while the guards put metal cuffs on his hands and gagged him to keep him from using magic.

 Chapter 1314 - Hidden Threat (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1314 - Hidden Threat (Part 2)</h4>

    Iskha had just the time to slip the inconspicuous golden ring off of his finger and hide it in his palm before the guards started to search him. Then, his body shapeshifted into something much bigger and deadlier.

    The metal chains binding Iskha¡¯s limbs shattered from the sheer pressure that his growing limbs exerted as if they were made of stic. His legs became covered in thick grey scales as they grew to the size of a stone pir.

    His c.h.e.s.t erged, bursting out of the linen shirt while golden fur grew on his arms and face. In the blink of an eye, the savage man was gone, reced by an Emperor Beast with a height at the withers of 5 meters (16.4 feet) tall and 8.8 meters (29 feet) long.

    It had the front body of a golden lion while its back belonged to something with hooves that seemed to be made of stone. It had feathered wings on its back and a long tail covered in jagged scales that furiously whipped around, leaving deep marks in the ground.

    <i>¡¯Watch out! The big guy has actually a blue core and a vitality even greater than yours. On top of that, he¡¯s an Awakened.¡¯</i> The moment Iskha had removed the cloaking ring and started to shapeshift, Solus warned Lith.

    <i>¡¯What the heck is that?¡¯</i> He asked while weaving his best spells. There was no trace of such a creature in the bestiaries stored inside Soluspedia.

    It was a Vagrash, a Chimera like Scorpicores and Nues. Their innate elements were light and water, giving them ess to shapeshifting from birth. They disguised themselves as humans most of the time and used their real appearance only to interact with other Beasts.

    A human discovering their true nature and surviving to tell the tale was an event so rare that Vagrash were considered to be just a myth.

    <i>¡¯It should be this guy.¡¯</i> Solus shared her memory with Lith, showing him a picture from one of the storybooks they read to the children.

    <i>¡¯A character from a fairy tale? None of that bullshit can be trusted, we are on our own.¡¯</i> Lith was bbergasted.

    Iskha only needed to shake his massive body to send the guards surrounding him to crash against the nearby buildings as he swallowed the cloaking ring to not lose it.

    "Give me everything you have or the child dies!" The Vagrash extended his left foreleg, releasing several invisible tendrils of spirit magic against Aran.

    <i>¡¯First, I take the hostage, then the Archmage¡¯s life. Once he¡¯s dead, his imprint will disappear and all of his equipment will be mine for the taking. I won¡¯t need to steal anymore to buy the crafting resources I need!¡¯</i>

    Spirit Magic was invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eye and Life Vision revealed to Iskha that while Lith¡¯s equipment had a monstrous aura, its wielder was pathetically weak. As often happens with weapons, their greatest weakness was their user.

    Or so he thought, until tendrils of Spirit Magicing from Lith¡¯s body intercepted Iskha¡¯s, making them crumble as they made their way to the Vagrash¡¯s neck. Lith slipped both Solus¡¯s and the barrier ring off his fingers as he Blinked Aran to safety.

    <i>¡¯Take Aran away and keep him safe.¡¯</i> That was all he managed to say before Iskha was upon him. Lith knew that the Emperor Beast wouldn¡¯t hesitate to attack the child to distract his opponent.

    Even worse, the Vagrash might resort to area of effect attacks that would reach Aran to keep Lith from dodging and to force him to suffer heavy damage just to protect his brother.

    Iskha shed with his ws, hitting the Archmage from above while he was still focused on protecting the child. The Vagrash¡¯s enhanced body weighed a few tons and was now infused with all elements, bringing its already outstanding physical prowess to the next level.

    The impact was so strong that the ground under Lith¡¯s feet turned into a crater and the ws moved so fast that they generated air des with their movement, opening meters long deep cuts in the nearby buildings.

    Lith¡¯s mental health had improved by leaps and bounds since his arrival on Mogar, but he was far from healed. Seeing any kind of massive body running against any young man still triggered his original trauma.

    If that young man happened to be his real brother and not just a stranger, it made matters even worse.

    On the entirety of Mogar, Aran was one of Lith¡¯s greatest weak points and the only one thatpromised his focus. Images of the morgue where the broken body of Carly shed in front of his eyes, making him falter.

    Iskha attacked non-stop with his wed forelegs, making the crater grow deeper and generating a storm of wind des that cut the buildings open and forced the city guards to run away.

    The only reason why no one died was that Iskha wasn¡¯t aiming for them. Many soldiers got injured, but even though the low-grade enchanted armor had been damaged beyond repair, it had at least saved their life.

    Solus moved Aran upwind so that Iskha couldn¡¯t find him, but she didn¡¯t have the heart to abandon Lith. She chose a ce too far for the kid¡¯s eye to see anything but close enough for her mystical senses to follow the battle.

    The Vagrash continued the onught until his right paw remained stuck into something, quickly followed by the left. A sudden pang of pain forced Iskha to jump back as blood spurted out of his now free limbs.

    Five shining eyes stared at him in hatred while what looked like a Wyrmling made of metal stood unscathed while holding one of the Vagrash¡¯s ws in each hand.

    "You blocked my attacks and even managed to rip off my ws?" Iskha couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes, not because he believed himself invincible so much as because what he saw didn¡¯t make sense.

    ording to Life Vision, Lith was supposed to have a core between green and cyan while his life force was that of a fit human. Yet the blue aura from Full Guard was now mixed with his own and violet bursts of light appeared from time to time.

    <i>¡¯How can someone who has a deep cyan core at best have a violet aura?¡¯</i> That was all the Vagrash managed to think before Lith pulverized the captured ws with sheer strength and charged at the enemy.

    Cloaking rings weren¡¯t something one could buy or that such a young runt could craft. Iskha had gotten his own as a reward for helping a powerful Awakened, he couldn¡¯t believe that Lith might wear a cloaking ring as well.

    Thanks to fusion magic, the Vagrash managed to follow Lith¡¯s movements and intercepted the metal Wyrmling with the tier five spell he had prepared while the guards cuffed him, Cruel Winter.

    It was a mix of water and air magic that would drain the heat from everything around its caster with water magic while air s.u.c.k.e.d away the humidity. It would cause a dehydration process that enhanced the cold, turning the area in a frozen wastnd.

    Lith opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, but a raging river of blue-violet mes came out instead of words. The Origin mes ate at the spell so quickly that it didn¡¯t have the time to fully form, destroying Cruel Winter easily before moving on to Iskha.

 Chapter 1315 - Weak Points (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1315 - Weak Points (Part 1)</h4>

    Unfortunately for the Vagrash, Aran wasn¡¯t just Lith¡¯s weak point, but his own as well.

    Normally, Lith wouldn¡¯t go all out right off the bat. He would n several moves ahead and take his time to prepare contingency ns while he studied the most efficient path to victory.

    Triggering him, however, meant to not put a single dent in his analytical mind so much as to turn him into a sadistic monster seeking to inflict the maximum pain possible before giving his opponent an excruciating death.

    Iskha had just wasted the only spell he had at the ready while Lith had none, bringing them on equal footing. Lith took a deep breath to refill his empty lungs with air as War appeared in his hands amid a burst of emerald mes.

    The fury of the angry de matched that of its master, making War emit an ear-piercing screech as it got rid of the blood sheath. The Vagrash had just the time to make Orichalc.u.m bracers cover his forelegs before Lith was upon him.

    Iskha blocked a rightward sh that covered his left foreleg in ice but the impact numbed his limb. Darkness fusion kept him from feeling pain, but it couldn¡¯t stop either the vibration coursing through his bones or the cold stiffening his muscles.

    Another shing from the opposite direction forced him to use his other paw. This time, Iskha managed only to deflect the de¡¯s course so that Lith could exploit the remaining momentum to lunge War in the ground and use the hilt as a pivot to kick the Vagrash in the snout with his feet.

    The force of the hit made Iskha step back while the first magic produced by Lith¡¯s movement flooded his eyes with darkness, clouding his vision.

    <i>¡¯Something is wrong. Even if there really is a Wyrmling under that armor, he can¡¯t be as strong as I am with such a puny body. Yet each blow is heavier than the previous as if he¡¯s gaining mass the more the fight goes on.</i>

    <i>¡¯If he had been this strong before I shapeshifted, I wouldn¡¯t havested a single punch.¡¯</i> Iskha thought, unaware that what he considered a farfetched exnation was nothing but the truth.

    Lith had given the Scalewalker armor that shape so that he could shapeshift freely without anyone noticing and ensuring that it would cover the entirety of his hybrid form. He had abandoned his human form before the first attacknded, bing a Wyrmling.

    With each spell Lith cast, his body drew both energy and matter from his surroundings, increasing his mass. With each spell he cast, his three life forces harmonized with each other, making him stronger.

    Lith used the recoil from the vertical dropkick to perform a backflip that freed War from the ground and turn toward the enemy before the Vagrash could recover, creating an opening. Lith darted forward while keeping War in front of himself in a two-handed grip.

    It allowed him to defend from any sudden attack or to sever the Vagrash¡¯s head from his neck if nothing stood in his way. Iskha couldn¡¯t see Lith, but his other senses allowed him to pinpoint the enemy position.

    He didn¡¯t dare to bite at the enemy, too afraid that the metal Wyrmling would cut his head after sidestepping the attack. As for his forelegs, he could barely use them to stand, let alone to attack.

    Yet Iskha was far from defenseless.

    His jagged tail whipped at Lith from above, its steel-hard tip aimed at the Wyrmlig¡¯s head. Lith sped up even further by pushing his enhanced body to its utmost limit, making the tail miss its target.

    Or so he thought until Full Guard warned him of a threating from behind. Rather than hitting the ground and losing momentum, the scaled tail had bounced on it without slowing down.

    Lith spun around, shing at the flexible limb to cut it off, but the moment the Adamant touched the jagged scales Iskha felt it. The Vagrash flexed his tail, using the muscles that connected the various segments to disperse the impact and extend the tail even further.

    Each scale was actually kept close to the others by a flexible tissue that could be expanded or contracted at will. On the one hand, it allowed the Vagrash a high maneuverability of their tail and to double its length when needed.

    The tail dodged Lith¡¯s attack and coiled around War before its tip resumed its rush toward his head.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, that thing is akin to a snake de from videogames.¡¯</i> Solus thought while keeping her glove form on Aran¡¯s right hand, ready to activate the barrier ring at a moment¡¯s notice.

    Lith switched to a one-handed grip, pulling War free while he intercepted the living projectile with his free hand. The gravity ring enveloped Iskha into a magical sheath that lowered his weight, allowing Lith to pull the tail with both hands.

    He swung the Vagrash back and forth above his head, sending the Emperor Beast to m against the ground as if it was a dirty rag.

    He reverted the gravity the moment after Iskha reached the apex so that the Vagrash would hit the ground with the energy of an avnche before making him light again. At the same time, the angry de flew around, attacking the enemy on its own and opening shallow cuts whenever Iskha failed to deflect it with his paws.

    Without its master, War could only put so much strength behind each attack, but it still made the Vagrash¡¯s situation more desperate. Being forced to split his focus, by the time Iskha found a way out, he had already taken a lot of damage.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m such an idiot sometimes.¡¯</i> He thought while activating gravity fusion to counter Lith¡¯s ring.

    All Emperor Beasts sooner orter learned how to shapeshift, but it only changed their appearance, not their mass. To not destroy the ground at their passage nor kill a romantic partner, theybined the six elements with fusion magic to obtain gravity fusion.

    It allowed them to be no different from regr humans unless they d.e.s.i.r.ed otherwise and it couldn¡¯t be blocked by the arrays that protected many human cities since they had no effect on the elements that naturallyprised a body.

    "Prepare for round two, sucker!" He said while retracting his tail.

    Without the gravity sheath, Lith didn¡¯t have the strength to lift such a heavy creature, and the powerful wings of the Vagrashbined with the sudden contraction of the tail¡¯s muscles almost pulled Lith off the ground.

    Almost.

 Chapter 1316 - Weak Points (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1316 - Weak Points (Part 2)</h4>

    The talons on Lith¡¯s feet pierced through the rock, anchoring him to the ground. Then, Lith focused the gravity sheath on himself as he yanked the tail down with all of the strength that he could muster.

    Iskha suddenly felt much lighter and soared in the sky, yet he screamed in horror the moment he understood that the reason why he couldn¡¯t find his bnce was that he had been mutted.

    Darkness fusion allowed him to not feel pain, but the blood gushing from the severed limb and the damage on his spine were still there. The former made him weaker by the second while thetter had turned his hind legs into dead weight.

    All the while War stung at him non-stop, keeping him from using Invigoration.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k my pride, I must escape before-¡¯</i> War suddenly ceasing its attack turned Iskha¡¯s fear into joy, but seeing it dart back into Lith¡¯s hands made his joy turn into horror.

    The Wyrmling moved as fast as a bullet as he plunged the de into the Vagrash¡¯s ribcage. The hit didn¡¯t kill him on the spot only because War was too small to reach Iskha¡¯s heart. Yet it was long enough to break his ribs and pierce his lung.

    An agony that no magic could keep at bay coursed through his body as the enchantments of the angry de ate at the Vagrash from the inside.

    "I yield. We¡¯re both beasts, there¡¯s no reason to fight to the death." Iskha coughed out blood with each word he spoke. The suffering that twisted his snout made his plea even more convincing.

    Lith stopped for a split second and a smile formed on his face. Iskha sighed in relief, without noticing the smile growing wider until it was toote. A sudden burst of Origin mes went straight down the Vagrash¡¯s throat, but they didn¡¯t kill him.

    They just made it impossible for him to use Invigoration or even to breathe. The fall to the ground didn¡¯t kill him either. Iskha slowly drowned in his own blood, weeping tears of pain until the moment his heart stopped.

    Only then did Lith recall War and stored the corpse in his dimensional pocket. It would make an excellent vessel for one or more of his Demons if the necessity ever arose.

    "That was so cool, Lith!" Aran said.

    From such a distance, he had only caught glimpse of the fight and his childish imagination had done the rest. The injured soldiers had already healed their wounds with potions and Solus had gotten rid of the blood spatters with a pulse of darkness magic.

    Damaged estates weren¡¯t scary unless you were the one who had to pay for the repairs. Lith shapeshifted back into his human form under the cover of the Scalewalker armor before turning it back into the deep blue robe of an Archmage.

    The death of his enemy and the sight of his little brother jumping with joy put the leash back on Lith¡¯s trauma, allowing him to wear a sincere smile on his face.

    "I hope all that noise didn¡¯t scare you too much." He said while holding Aran tight and checking him with Invigoration, just to stay on the safe side.

    "I¡¯m not scared, just disappointed. I wanted to see you kick that bad guy¡¯s ass! Why did you send me away?" Aran pouted.

    "Because bad guys love hostages. I didn¡¯t want you to end up like that poor old man." Lith pointed at the store owner whose neck was covered in a thin bloody bandage.

    The old man was pale as a ghost and unconscious. Regr people had either fainted or ran away in fear during the battle. Only some of the city guards had enough of their wits left to speak.

    Aran gulped at the memory of the fearsome Vagrash.

    "You are right. I¡¯m sorry for doubting you." His pout disappeared when he realized that staying away from deadly fangs and ws was worth losing a good show.

    "Wha- What-?" The Captain attempted to ask.

    "That was an Emperor Beast." Lith replied.

    "Ho- How?"

    "Top grade body enhancing potions before joining the fight, gravity, and fire magic, in this order." Lith said.

    Aran didn¡¯t remember his brother drinking anything since breakfast, but he had been instructed multiple times to not disturb while the grown-ups talked.

    "Thank the gods you are both fine." Kam ran to them as fast as she could.

    She held Leria between her arms and in one hand she held the army amulet to keep the link with the nearest army base open while in the other she held the violet crystal that would summon reinforcements.

    "How long have you been there?" Lith asked, forming a mind link as well to speak freely with her.

    "I ran here as soon as I heard themotion and we arrived less than a minute ago." Kam said.

    <i>¡¯I kept myself at a safe distance so you don¡¯t have to worry about Leria. She hasn¡¯t seen much. I didn¡¯t call for the Royal Guards either because you were going all-out and you seemed to have everything under control.¡¯</i> She telepathically added.

    <i>¡¯You did the right thing. If apetent mage arrived, my lies would have been exposed and I couldn¡¯t hold back against such a powerful opponent.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    "I can¡¯t believe you put yourself into danger even while on vacation." Kam sighed. "We need to talk and redefine together your concept of fun."

    "Don¡¯t scold uncle Lith, Auntie. It¡¯s my fault. I told him that a mage¡¯s duty is to help those in danger." Leria pointed her little hand at the wounded people still waiting for a healer.

    "I¡¯m not scolding him for that, sweetie. I just don¡¯t like how often he ends up in trouble." Kam used trouble instead of "risks his life" to not scare the kids.

    "You don¡¯t have to worry. My big brother is invincible." Aran said.

    <i>¡¯I wish.¡¯</i> Kam inwardly sighed while smiling and nodding.<i> ¡¯The only silver lining is that you looked really hot and the Scalewalker armor emphasized your sweet a.s.s.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Pervert.¡¯</i> Lith replied while treating those in critical condition. <i>¡¯Let¡¯s get out of here as soon as the army arrives. I don¡¯t want to waste my time with reports and exnations.¡¯</i>

    Even though they left in a hurry, the news of an Archmage who had mastered gravity magic to the point of going toe to toe with an Emperor Beast spread like wildfire throughout the Kingdom before sundown.

    ***

    Thest part of the vacation passed uneventfully. After the fight with the Vagrash, Lith noticed that the vortexes had returned to their original state and that the extra mass was gone as well.

    <i>¡¯It seems that the method we and Kam devised is only a part of the solution. If the vortexes do not fully stabilize, the progress I achieve by practicing first magic is only temporary.</i>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, I can now somehow use tier one spells without my mana core as well, but it causes great pain and instead of curling into spheres, the vortexes be distorted when I cast tier one spells.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯I think the method is correct, instead. You haven¡¯t practiced it for long and between tier zero and tier one magic there¡¯s a huge gap.¡¯</i> Solus said.

 Chapter 1317 - Call Me Grandma (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1317 - Call Me Grandma (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Maybe your new hands are still too weak to wield such a weight.¡¯</i> Solus said, using the core-hand analogy. <i>¡¯Anyway, it¡¯s simr to what happens to Quy when she tries to use tier three true magic. Maybe we shouldpare notes with her.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Maybe.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    He didn¡¯t like the idea of sharing such knowledge, but not because he didn¡¯t trust Quy so much as because he feared for her life. No human before her had be a true mage and if the process caused the formation of a mana flow, she would die.

    Once Lith returned to Lutia, everyone seemed to be in a great mood and smiled a lot. The storm that Orpal had caused seemed to have disappeared on the horizon. For some reason, Kam¡¯s parents were gone as well.

    The farmhands of the Verhens reported that no one hade during their absence, yet they had received quite a lot of mail.

    "It¡¯s all addressed to you, dear." Elina handed Lith several thick envelopes, each one covered in magical seals.

    "I didn¡¯t know you had friends in the Blood Desert." Kam pointed at a red letter with golden seals.

    "Me neither. I¡¯m going to read them in my room." Lith said, hoping to not receive any more bad news.

    Kam followed him, winking to Elina and having the care to lock the door behind her.

    "That¡¯s overkill. The Hush spell of the room is more than enough to contain my fits of swearing." Lith started from the letters from the Kingdom.

    The first letter with the Royal Seal was a gentle reminder for the iing g, while the one from the Council notified him that their meeting had been brought forward, but it offered no exnation.

    "I¡¯m not afraid of someone hearing you swearing at the tops of your lungs, I just want some privacy." She embraced him from behind, reading the letters as well from over his shoulder and pressing her b.r.e.a.s.ts against his back on purpose.

    "Spending so much time with the kids was a wonderful experience, but we never had a moment alone. They slept in our bed the whole vacation." Kam sensually c.a.r.e.s.sed Lith¡¯s cheek, meeting an enhanced stubble that stung at her like an angry porcupine.

    "That¡¯s why I wanted to keep them out of our bedroom in the first ce. Once you open the dam, you must deal with the flood as well. It¡¯s part of the deal." He sighed.

    "I guess you¡¯re right, but it was worth it. You seem to have lost another bit of your edginess. Hold still for a second." Kam c.a.r.e.s.sed his face while conjuring thin air razors that shaved Lith, leaving his skin smooth and kissable.

    Magic couldn¡¯t hurt its own master and letting her hold a de so close to his neck was proof of how much he trusted her.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Lith jumped out of his chair, foiling her attempt to make up for theck of intimacy of thest few days and sending her butt-first on the ground. "Is this even legal?"

    He helped Kam to get up and shoved a piece of paper in front of her face, hoping that her legal expertise could make sense of it.

    "Yes, it is. It¡¯s a cease-and-desist act regarding the production of the DoLorean until it has been tested. Congrattions. Something that doesn¡¯t involve harming others getting categorized as Forbidden Magic is a very rare event in the history of the Kingdom."

    "I never nned on mass producing them. I like my monopoly as it is. Just a DoLorean for Lark and one for you." Lith said.

    "Thanks, but I don¡¯t need it." Kam didn¡¯t want to feel any more indebted to him than she already was, but his thoughtfulness made her heart flutter, sending butterflies throughout her stomach.

    "Nonsense. It was love at first sight for Lark while you can use it toe and go freely from here or to show Zinya around." Lith opened thest envelope, the one from the Desert.

    "What the actual f.u.c.k?" They said in unison while reading the following content.

    <strong>"Dear Lith, as your foremother, I would love to meet one of my long-lost children. We are fellow mages, Forgemasters, and maybe we are also going to be fellow Guardians in the near future.</strong>

    <strong>"We have many things to say to each other and there¡¯s a lot that the Blood Desert has to offer to a talented individual such as yourself. Feel free toe to visit me at your earliest convenience.</strong>

    <strong>"This letter allows you to freely cross the borders between our countries and to find my pce. Feel free to bring along whoever you want. They will all be my honored guests.</strong>

    <strong>"With love, Overlord Sark, Lord of War, God of Forgemasters, and Ruler of the Blood Desert, but you can call me Grandma.</strong>

    <strong>"PS: I¡¯ve already informed Tyris and made sure that you don¡¯t need to ask for anyone¡¯s permission toe here.</strong>

    <strong>"PPS: I really love the concept of the DoLorean. Its power core is majestic and refined, but its shape is obnoxious and you guys cut a bit too many corners in the crafting process.</strong>

    <strong>"Allow me to suggest a few changes in the case you want to offer one to me as a wee gift." </strong>Then, it followed the sketches of what closely resembled a muscle car and several notes about how to improve the various spells of the power core.

    "You have Phoenix blood? I thought you were a Wyrmling." Kam was bbergasted.

    "So did I. How does she know about the DoLorean? These notes are..." Lith put them inside Soluspedia to study the many papers at the same time.

    <i>¡¯Better than our own design!¡¯</i> Solus said after applying Sark¡¯s suggestions to the blueprints of the DoLorean.

    She pointed out to Lith how, even at a first nce, they simplified the crafting process and enhanced the output of all the spells imbued within the power core.

    "Better than our own design!" Lith echoed.

    "If you ever decide to move to the Desert, please take into ount that I don¡¯t deal well with hot climates." Kam sat on the bed, stunned at the idea that Lith was blood-rted to Sark and at the changes that such revtion might bring to their lives.

    "Visit? Sure. Moving there? Unlikely." Lith sat beside her and stored all the letters inside his pocket dimension. "Do you still feel ready for action or would you rather rest a bit before lunch?"

    "I¡¯m part of the military, baby. I¡¯m always ready." Shey down, dragging him above her. Kam pushed aside all of her worries about the future, preferring to focus on the here and now.

    ***

    A few dayster, after Faluel notified him that it was time to resume his apprenticeship, Lith was surprised by the fact that even though they talked often via themunication amulet, no one of the Ernas hade to visit him.

    Jirni summoning him to the Ernas Mansion surprised him even more. She had called him on the army amulet and seeing all of its mana crystals lit up for such a close source could only mean trouble.

    "This line is secure. Let us meet tomorrow at noon. Don¡¯t use Warp Gates and get here with your own means." She said.

 Chapter 1318 - Call Me Grandma (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1318 - Call Me Grandma (Part 2)</h4>

    "I will leave an unprotected opening near the third turret of the west wall. Once you get in, use the secondary entrance." Jirni closed the call the moment she was done talking, making it too quick to trace.

    Lith had no problem following the instructions and sneaking past the otherwise insurmountable crystal walls that surrounded the Ernas household. Somehow, Jirni had set up a small hole that was invisible unless one knew where to look that disappeared the moment after Lith passed through it.

    "If I knew what waited for me at home, I would have never gotten back." Friya said with a sigh while greeting him. "I would havee with you, even if it meant to be the third wheel for the whole time."

    "What do you mean?" Lith said while looking at the entire Ernas family that waited for him in one of the innermost and most secure tea rooms of the house.

    All of them looked tired and worried, except Jirni who weed Lith with a youthful smile.

    "She means that ever since they came back from their respective trip, my daughters have never left the house for security reasons." Jirni exined to him about the Balkor-like cards that many people in the Kingdom had received and how seriously the Royals took such a threat.

    "Are you telling me that Lark isn¡¯t just the victim of a sick joke?"

    "This is no joke. Balkor may not be involved, but that doesn¡¯t mean that we can afford to underestimate the problem. I¡¯ve called you here to share with you what we know and how we n to respond." Jirni said and Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "As you know, the fall of Kogaluga, the invention of the DoLorean, and even your scuffle with the Vagrash, have increased your already considerable fame."

    "How do you-" Aside from his parents and Lark, no one was supposed to know the car¡¯s name. Yet Sark first and now Jirni treated it like yesterday¡¯s news.

    "What you probably don¡¯t know, is what will happen during the G. ording to my sources, between my political ys and Phloria¡¯s contribution in bringing down the lost city, her trial is almost over." Jirni cut him short.

    "During the award ceremony, the Royals should dere the full refutation of the charges against her, putting an end to the fight between old and new magical bloodlines."

    "That¡¯s good news, correct?" Lith said.

    "You wish. The timing of your brother¡¯s return, of the arrival of Kam¡¯s parents, and the delivery of those cards it¡¯s too convenient to be just a coincidence." Jirni ced in the middle of the table her exclusive Verhen¡¯s chessboard limited edition where silver and gold reced the white and ck.

    "At a first nce, it looks like the work of an idiot that resents you, but let¡¯s take a closer look. Using you as a pretext, whoever is behind this managed to involve in their scheme the Ernas..." Jirni put a card that said "Present" under the silver queen.

    "Marchioness Distar..." She slipped a card that said "Past" under the silver mage/bishop.

    "And the three best healers of the Kingdom." Three more Past cards slipped under the other mage and the knights. "All people who stood in the way of Deirus¡¯s revenge. The fake Balkor offers him a scapegoat and several decoy targets like Lark."

    "Why should he do something so borate?" Lith couldn¡¯t find any fault in Jirni¡¯s reasoning. Even on Earth, killing innocent people was one of the best ways to hide the true target of the assassination and the motive of the killer.

    "Because if my sources are right, his window of opportunity to act against us will close after the G. The moment Phloria is acquitted, Deirus will turn from the leader of a powerful faction to a lone father stricken by grief.

    "He has to make his move before that happens. Otherwise, once he loses his aplices, every deal he makes with the Undead Courts and every underhanded scheme against us will lead directly to him.

    "It¡¯s the reason why I forbid my children to stay in the open and to move to any ce that doesn¡¯t have a Warp Gate. No matter how good my daughters are, an ambush would kill them.

    "This way, instead, by moving from one ce protected by arrays to another through Warp Gates, not even a small army can harm a single hair on their heads." A snap of Jirni¡¯s fingers revealed so many magical formations in the tea room that even a Dragon would have been reduced to meat on a b.

    "Doesn¡¯t that mean that the girls will be forced to quit their apprenticeship?" Lith asked.

    "Not at all. I already contacted Faluel about that. Once the Warp Gate to your household ispleted, the only thing she has to do is to pick them up and bring them back at every lesson." Jirni shook her head.

    "The what to my what now?" Lith said after picking his jaw from the floor. "A ce like Lutia has no good reason to have a Gate, not to mention that just the maintenance of such an artifact is incredibly expensive."

    Lith had spent his years as a Ranger in the north, hearing the Lords of medium-sized citiesin countless times about their fief being isted during winter due to theck of a Gate. It happened even to a few cities that yed a vital role inmercial routes.

    Lutia had barely been promoted from a little to a medium-sized vige after Lith¡¯s fame and fortune had expanded its business, bringing the number of its inhabitants to less than one thousand.

    "So what? All it takes to build one is money and influence. I happen to have plenty of both and no reason to hold back. If Deirus thinks that I will let his pathetic schemes hinder the path of the Ernas family, he¡¯s sorely mistaken." Jirni said with a sneer.

    "Yet this doesn¡¯t mean that any of you can lower their guard. All the preparation on Mogar is pointless without caution and there are a few things that don¡¯t add up." She said.

    "Like what?" Phloria asked.

    "The tags on the cards don¡¯t fit Balkor¡¯s MO nor Deirus¡¯s revenge." Jirni tapped on the chessboard, drawing all eyes on it.

    "If I were Deirus and I had even just the information avable to the general public, I would have sent the Future card to the Ernas and the Present to the Verhens."

    Aside from Orion, everyone else was too young to follow her reasoning so they stared dumbly at Jirni, waiting for an exnation.

    "Past means the total extermination of a bloodline, like Balkor did to those involved in the death of his family." Orion exined

    "Present, instead, is only aimed to the upper echelons of the Kingdom, those that Balkor considered responsible for not preventing the tragedy that befell him. Which meant the heads of the army, the Mage Association, and the Royals.

    "You¡¯ve lived the Future card and it involved the murder of the heirs of the magical bloodlines. Each card marks a precise target, everyone else is just coteral damage."

    "Exactly." Jirni nodded. "If Lith really was the King of this y, then exterminating the Lark and Distar bloodlines makes sense, but we should have received Future to let us know that our daughters were the target, not us."

 Chapter 1319 - Second Awakening (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1319 - Second Awakening (Part 1)</h4>

    "Deirus wants us to experience the loss of a child just like he did with Yurial. On top of that, I find it strange that your family received no card just like it makes no sense that no Future card has been sent." Jirni said.

    "If Deirus is not involved, then who¡¯s behind this?" Lith asked.

    "Assuming that you really are at the center of this conspiracy, then I can¡¯t rule out Night¡¯s involvement since she already yed the Balkor charade." Jirni said.

    "That doesn¡¯t make sense. She didn¡¯t attack my allies, she focused on my family and on Kam. Neither of them has received any card." Lith said.

    "I know, but they call her the Horseman of Chaos for a good reason. That said, I can¡¯t rule out the Undead Courts nor Thrud either. You¡¯ve made too many enemies in your short life and all those I¡¯ve mentioned could use taking out the people who received the cards.

    "Without them, the Royals would lose the pirs that keep the Kingdom stable. Such a sudden power vacuum would plunge the country into chaos, allowing the Undead Courts to win the war or to Thrud to seize the power and being acimed as a savior."

    Jirni¡¯s words made the room fell into silence for about five seconds. Then, the door opened and closed apparently on its own.

    "I said that I didn¡¯t want to be disturbed." She stood up to check who dared to defy her orders, just to see a ming red mass of fur sneak behind the sofas.

    "Since when do you know how to open doors?"

    "It¡¯s not that hard to do with air magic, especially when I¡¯m hungry." Lucky, the family dog now evolved into a Ry, said.

    Thest time Lith had seen him, Lucky was the size of a pony but he seemed to have gained in height what he had lost in weight. His bby belly that once wobbled at each step of the canine was gone, reced by solid muscles.

    "You¡¯re always hungry." Phloria said with a sigh, taking a mental note that soon he would grow big enough for her to ride on him as she did back when she was still a small girl and Lucky a mastiff.

    "Help me, brother. They are starving me for months here!" Lucky rolled on his belly at Lith¡¯s feet in the hope to garner sympathy and more importantly, tasty snacks.

    Too bad that with his size and wolfish appearance, that attitude made him look more creepy than cute.

    "You¡¯re not starving. You are simply on a diet!" Orion rebuked Lucky for the umpteenth time. "Your family is under attack and you¡¯re not a pet dog anymore. You are a magical beast, a warrior."

    "I¡¯d liked being a pet better." Lucky w.h.i.n.ed. "No training, no diet. Just eat and y."

    "If you practice magic enough, you might get a shot at evolving further. You would live longer and get more powerful." Lith tried his best pitch.

    "Curse evolution!" The Ry sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "Once I was a happy creature who spent his days in joy with his friends. It¡¯s been years since thest time I mated. Do you know how hard it is to drag a Ry here?

    "On top of that, even when Dad manages to find some, the females treat me with disdain. They call me a wimp."

    Lith couldn¡¯t me them for that. Lucky was a big puppy trapped inside the body of a war machine. Female Rys looked solely for partners that could give birth to a strong offspring, they didn¡¯t care for cuteness.

    "Quy, do you mind if we talk for a bit?" At those words, the Ernas sisters stood up, but Lith stopped them.

    "Sorry, I just need Quy. It¡¯s a private matter." He wanted to share his theory about the violet core with her and check if their respective issues matched.

    Since such knowledge might put her life at risk, it was better if no one else listened so that she could make her mind without being pressured by her sisters.

    "First, you dragged Phloria very far from here. Then you holed up with Friya for a week and now Quy? You¡¯re taking the Ernas name lightly, young man." Jirni clicked her tongue in disapproval.

    "Mom!" The three girls said in unison with various degrees of embarrassment.

    "It was just work, Jirni. A mage¡¯s work progresses much slower if they don¡¯t interact with other talented mages." Lith had no time to waste with allegations and walked straight towards Quy¡¯s private chambers.

    Much to everyone surprise, especially Orion, Jirni smiled instead of getting angry. Lying was second nature for people like her and Lith, but the same couldn¡¯t be said about her daughters.

    All she needed to know the truth was to ask the right question at the right moment.

    "I¡¯ve got private matters to attend as well. Remember what we said today and never ever lower your guard." Jirni said before walking out of the room.

    "What is this DoLorean like?" Orion asked while taking note of her daughters¡¯ request for their new equipment. The more they fought the more they learned about themselves and their respective weak points that only artifacts could cover.

    "Why do you ask?" Friya said, cing several orders at the same time.

    "Because I¡¯m the one who is going to decide whether to ban it or not."

    Meanwhile, in her private chambers, Jirni used the special amulet that Orion had made for her to check with the members of her personal squad.

    "How is our project going, Vastor?" She asked the moment the Professor¡¯s hologram appeared.

    "So far so good. Everything should be ready ording to schedule. I don¡¯t get why you asked for my help when you can have Manohar." Despite his newfound talents and powers, the Master¡¯s voice still held more than a tinge of envy.

    "He can¡¯t be trusted to keep a secret that doesn¡¯t involve him and you know how bad he is with deadlines. If Manohar runs away, no one would be able to continue his project whereas you are reliable." Jirni replied.

    "Thanks, I guess. Did you really fail to find more about Meln?" Vastor tapped his finger on the thin folder she had given him back when he was still recovering from his wounds.

    Archon Ernas making a poor job was unprecedented, his Abominations faring no better was beyond unsettling.

    "My guess is that he has changed his name every time he moved to a different city to start anew. Do you have any idea how many screwups the Kingdom has and how hard is to track them all?" Jirni said.

    "I¡¯ve tried the criminal database and his face popped up several times with different aliases. Aside from the crimes he had been charged with and how long he served his sentences, they don¡¯t tell me much.

    "Why are you so interested in a non-magical runt?" Jirni wouldn¡¯t give Orpal so much time of her day if not for her deal with Vastor.

    Once her contacts in thew enforcement, the underworld, and even the beasts¡¯munity had confirmed him being a nobody, Jirni had lost interest in his past and focused more on finding out who was pulling his strings.

 Chapter 1320 - Second Awakening (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1320 - Second Awakening (Part 2)</h4>

    "Let¡¯s just say that I have a bad feeling about him." Vastor clenched his fist hard, where a small card that said Future was.

    He had found it under Zinya¡¯s door, addressed to the entire Yehval household.

    ***

    Quy¡¯s room.

    "Before we start, I want you to know that I¡¯m against you practicing first magic. If you develop a mana flow, you¡¯ll die." Lith said.

    "I thank you for your concern but it¡¯s none of your business. Since I cannot Awaken, I must find my own way to ovee the limits of fake magic and be able to hold my ground. Any less would be a failure I can¡¯t live with." Quy replied.

    Lith sighed and told her all about his issue with the vortexes, about the pain he experienced every time he practiced magic above tier zero with his body, and about how the progress he made by training disappeared soon after he stopped.

    "It¡¯s indeed simr to my own problem with true magic." Quy nodded. "But I¡¯ve got no ess to Invigoration nor can I check on the status of your vortexes. I can¡¯t offer you much insight."

    "You¡¯re wrong." Lith shook his head. "You are stepping into a realm no one else has ever been whereas I¡¯m just reinventing a wheel that countless Awakened bloodlines have discovered ages ago.

    "On top of that, I think our issue is nearly identical. We both need to train a mana organ inside our body to make it capable of casting runes. The only difference is that you are dealing with a non-Awakened core and I with a mass of dispersed energy."

    "It¡¯s much more than that." Quy replied. "My problem lies in the fact that my body is too weak to hold powerful magic whereas based on what Faluel said, you could achieve the violet core anytime.

    "Your body is strong and your mana flow is off the charts. You have all the ingredients at hand, you just need to mix them properly."

    "If it was that easy, Awakened wouldn¡¯t be stuck at bright blue for centuries if not forever." Lith said.

    "Okay. Tell me this hand-core analogy you came up with again and show me the changes in your body when you train the vortexes." Quy said as he projected a hologram of his mana flow down to the smallest detail,paring it with her own.

    "This is interesting and it might even hold the key to the white core." She said after looking at Lith¡¯s hologram evolving and devolving several times.

    "What do you mean?" Solus joined the conversation after making sure there was no surveince device and locking the door.

    "As you can see from my hologram, my deep violet core spreads its energy outwards, creating my aura. The violet in your aura, instead, originates from the vortexes and spreads inwards." Quy said.

    "That¡¯s hardly a novelty." Solus sighed. "We knew from the beginning that, unlike for fake mages, core refining stops at bright blue."

    "Sure, but maybe you¡¯ve been considering the problem from the wrong angle the entire time. What if there¡¯s only so much mana an Awakened body with a single core can hold?" Quy said.

    "What if the fake mages¡¯ violet core is actually a wrong turn, something that isn¡¯t supposed to happen? It would exin why even someone with bottomless mana like Manohar didn¡¯t get a white core and why people like me can¡¯t Awaken."

    "Let me get this straight. Your idea is that your violet core is overloaded with mana and that you would have already died if not for the impurities. By following this reasoning, I can¡¯t directly refine mine because I don¡¯t have impurities anymore and even if I did, it would cripple my progression." Lith pondered.

    "Exactly. If I¡¯m right, the key to a true violet core is to turn the vortexes into auxiliary cores that would further refine your body and lessen the strain on your main core." Quy said.

    "I can see cores with my mana sense, but I¡¯ve never seen multiple cores in a violet cored Awakened, let alone in a white cored one." Solus said.

    "I have a couple of exnations for that. One is that once the auxiliary cores are perfectly formed, they channel their mana into the main core. They would act barely as amplifiers and their light would be hidden like it happens with the stars when the sun is up.

    "The second exnation is that the final step of achieving the violet core is merging them all into one, just like pseudo cores can be power cores." Quy said.

    "It¡¯s an interesting theory, but I don¡¯t see how it can help me train my vortexes." Lith said.

    "Sadly, that makes the two of us." Quy paced the room while racking her brain. "In theory, you should have already reached the violet level. I mean, you¡¯ve learned how to make mana flow through your muscles and your body is strong.

    "What are we missing here? Why do the vortexes not keep their spherical form?"

    A long silence ensued as no one could think of a proper exnation.

    "By the way, Quy, I was wondering if you have managed to master fusion magic as well." Solus said.

    "What¡¯s that?" Quy raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    "I¡¯m going to kill both Nalrond and Morok! If they told me about this while in the Fringe, I would have learned fusion magic easily. How am I supposed to learn a f.u.c.k.i.n.g set ofpletely different runes on my own?"

    A kick sent an expensive cherry wood chair against the wall, chipping them both until the magic of the house repaired them.

    "There are no runes involved. Fusion magic is about using the elements inside your body to acquire their properties." Lith tried to console her.

    "Of course there are runes involved. Spirit magic is about runes, first magic is about runes, everything is about runes! You just don¡¯t feel them because you¡¯re an Awakened." Quy cursed a bit longer.

    "That¡¯s it!" Lith said while jumping up. "I¡¯m an Awakened, but my fusion magic is static, not dynamic. That¡¯s what holds my vortexes back!"

    "Wait, what?" Solus and Quy said in unison.

    "It¡¯s easier to show than to tell." Lith created a mind link to share with them both his ideas and Invigoration¡¯s readings.

    Whenever Lith used first magic with his body instead of with his core, a mana flow through the corresponding vortex would form. Yet as soon as the spell was over, the flow would disappear as well.

    By continuously casting spells and holding the flow long enough, the vortex would assume a spherical shape, yet it would crumble the moment the flow disappeared.

    "So what?" Solus had appreciated the recap, but she still failed to understand.

    "Now look at my fusion magic." By activating one different elemental fusion per limb, Lith showed them how the energy would spread outward from the vortex, like that of a non-Awakened core, without generating any flow.

    "Wait, are you telling us that your vortexes are all non-Awakened?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "It exins everything. The pain, the reason why I can use only first magic with the vortexes, and why so few reach the violet core." Lith said.

 Chapter 1321 - Joint Interests (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1321 - Joint Interests (Part 1)</h4>

    "Everyone tries to strengthen the vortexes with .u.mtion whereas they need to be Awakened with fusion magic. Yet no one even trains it because fusion magic grows stronger the more you get used to it and its output depends solely on your core.

    "Or so everyone thinks." Lith started to try and make the elemental energy circte while showing the process via the hologram, but the pain brought him to his knees.

    "Can I say that for someone so smart you really are an idiot?" Quy said. "Starting with all six elements at the same time is beyond idiotic. First you learn how to crawl, then how to walk, and finally how to run."

    "Agreed." Solus said, slipping back on his finger.

    "Let me know how this goes and if you manage to identify the runes for fusion magic. I could use a hand." Quy said while opening the door to them.

    "Thanks for your help. See you at Faluel¡¯s for the next lesson." Lith was too focused trying to make the air element circte through his body to notice the huge smile on her face.

    "No, thank you. By the way, I¡¯m locked up in here, but you can alwayse to visit me, jerk." Quy said with a giggle.

    <i>¡¯If I¡¯m right, then I still have a chance at Awakening. First, I must train my body as much as I can to withstand the transformation. Second, I need to master fusion magic to start tempering my body.</i>

    <i>¡¯Thest step will be using mana poisoning to forcefully weaken my core. If violet is overloaded, then all I have to do is to bring it down to a point where I can survive. That way, once my body is enhanced, it will keep out the excess mana.</i>

    <i>¡¯My only issue is to learn how to feel the world energy without dying and get Lith to help me with his tower. Without it, my odds of sess are nigh-zero. Luckily, I¡¯ve still got a long way to go before ites to that.¡¯</i> She thought.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Ker Region, Xedros the Wyvern¡¯sir.

    The Father of all Wyverns had chosen the top of the Golden Crown Mountain as his residence for several good reasons. The first and foremost was that it guaranteed him the istion he needed to conduct his experiments.

    The peak was so high that its cier never melted. Thebination of low temperatures and the frequent thunderstorms that painted the mountain a golden color was a deterrent against unwanted visitors.

    The older Xedros became, the greater his desperation to evolve into a Dragon and to increase his longevity from about 3,000 to 10,000 years. His dream was to get rid of the lesser title that gued his species and to bask in the glory of his father.

    The first Wyvern also hoped that, in such a long time, he would find his way to the white core since he had no interest in Guardianhood. Besides, during his life, he didn¡¯t experience a single world tribtion and it was unlikely things would change.

    To achieve his goal, he kept researching questionable spells that bordered on Forbidden Magic which made privacy of paramount importance.

    Xedros¡¯s cave was hidden by a thick vapor generated by one of the many protective arrays that the Beast Lord of the Region had set around his home.

    Usually, the mana imbued within the mystical clouds would keep techniques like Life Vision from locating the entrance to their so he was beyond surprised when someone knocked on his door.

    Not the external door, but the one right outside his personal quarters.

    ¡¯This can¡¯t be Sedra. I¡¯ve sent him to fetch a few ingredients for my arrays and-¡¯ His train of thought derailed as the door opened before he could answer, letting two visitors in.

    "You must be pretty paranoid to set so many defensive arrays around this dump. If I didn¡¯t have help, it would have taken me a lot of time to get in." A woman wearing a heavy armor said while she strode in as if she owned the ce.

    She was 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall, with hip-length ash blonde hair that framed the delicate features of her oval face. Her rosy skin was wless, emphasizing the contrast between her silver eyes and her full red lips.

    A one-handed sword with seven different colored crystals on each side of the de was hung to her heap, making her identity as clear as the day.

    "What does the Mad Queen want from me?" Xedros snarled while taking a deep breath. Between his mastery over Origin mes and the protections of hisir, he was certain to win.

    Once Xedros stood on hind legs, he was over five (16¡¯5") meters tall, with his long neck taking a quarter of his height and ending into a long reptile snout as big as a barrel.

    Compared to him, the woman was smaller than a child.

    On top of that, his tail was about 1.67 meters (5¡¯6") long, ending with a thick bone spike that resembled the sting of a giant wasp. Two golden membranous wings extended from his forelegs, connecting his little fingers to his h.i.p.s.

    The wings were a few shades palerpared to the scales that covered Xedros¡¯s upper body and that offered the Wyvern¡¯s skin a protection on par with a heavy Orichalc.u.m armor.

    "Say that name again or hurl those mes and I assure you that breath will also be yourst." Jakra, the emerald dragon, said while putting himself between the two and charging his own Origin mes.

    He had taken the appearance of a handsome man with emerald shoulder-length hair and purple eyes, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall. He wore a set of armor made of perfectly purified Adamant that looked more impressive than hers even though it was actually inferior.

    Between the ve spell that controlled Jakra¡¯s will and the innate paternal instinct toward the child that was growing inside Thrud¡¯s w.o.m.b, the Dragon would die before letting any harm befall her.

    The stench of sulfuring from his mouth and the vigor Jakra exuded revealed his real nature to Xedros, making him more curious than worried about the reason behind that visit.

    "You have my apologies, my dear brother. I meant no offense to your lovelypanion. What can I do for you?" Xedros¡¯s kind smile didn¡¯t extend to his eyes that wandered on their equipment with greed.

    Words were cheap and he could always kill them the moment he learned what he wanted. Jakra¡¯s worth went beyond the enchanted metal he wore. By studying him, Xedros might have learned what made Wyverns different from their half-siblings.

    "Please, I¡¯m no idiot. I can feel your arrays humming with power as you charge them." Thrud¡¯s right hand never left the hilt of the Sword of Arthan. Among its many abilities, the de gave her a keen mana perception.

    "Shut them down or I will make you. Believe me when I say that I¡¯ve got nothing to gain from killing you. We need each other more than you imagine." Thrud plunged the sword into the ground, making its power core sh with that of the arrays in the cave.

    "Fine." Xedros powered the defensive systems down only to trigger several silent rms that would summon help from the Council at a moment¡¯s notice.

 Chapter 1322 - Joint Interests (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1322 - Joint Interests (Part 2)</h4>

    Thrud didn¡¯t miss histest deception but she pretended to, breaking the stalemate.

    "I like a power-hungry imbecile like you even less than you like me, but even imbeciles have their purpose. You have something I want, the secret of Awakening, and I have something you want, the secret to bing a Dragon.

    "Would you be interested in the trade?" She said with a charming smile.

    "Tell me another." Xedrosughed heartily at those words like he hadn¡¯t done in centuries. "I traveled to a Fringe on my own just to be rejected by Mogar. I¡¯ve spoken with countless Dragons and none of them had a shred of wisdom to offer.

    "Your whelp is still wet behind the ears and you¡¯re not even an Emperor Beast. How could either of you know anything about the secret of evolution?"

    "You¡¯re right. I¡¯m no Emperor Beast, yet Tyris¡¯s blood runs through my veins." Thrud said, never stopping to smile. "Among the many horrible rumors you heard about me, did any of them mention how with each cycle, Arthan¡¯s Madness makes my Griffon blood thicker?"

    A spark of Life Maelstrom enveloped her body, overcharging the Sword of Arthan and allowing it to forcefully switch the ownership of their from Xedros to Thrud.

    Yet instead of being scared, Xedros felt happier than ever as the solution to all of his problems had just been offered to him on a silver tter.

    "Just tell me what you want to know." He said.

    ***

    Distar Region, Faluel¡¯sir.

    The apprenticeship resumed as soon as the men from the Ernas householdpleted the Warp Gate inside the barn of Lith¡¯s house, which took barely a couple of days. Like all the Gates belonging to a magical household, it could only be used by those with a special pass.

    "I¡¯m the one paying for it, after all, and this is the only way I can cover more contingency situations than most can even conceive. Besides, we won¡¯t barge into your house without a very good reason and you know it." Jirni said, ending the argument before it even started.

    Lith didn¡¯t like much the idea of not having full control over his turf, but the advantages of having a personal Warp Gate far exceed the inconvenience of anyone possessing a Royal Override to ess the barn.

    Now Kam coulde and go freely from Belius and bring Zinya wherever she wanted. His family, instead, could evacuate the house at a moment¡¯s notice or just use it to visit the Kingdom at will.

    On top of that, dimensional sealing arrays didn¡¯t work on Warp Gates, allowing reinforcements toe instantly no matter the situation.

    "d to have you back, guys. We¡¯ve got a lot to talk about." Faluel said while Warping them straight to herir.

    In her human form, the Hydra looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5¡¯7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with rainbow-colored eyes and long hair of seven different colors that framed her fine features.

    The simple grace of her slender body seemed to be perfectly attuned with her demeanor, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.

    Despite the barely chilly weather she already wore a woolen sweater, fur pants, boots, and overcoat, as if it was already winter.

    At their arrival, Lith noticed that the ssroom in the middle of the stone cave that was the Hydra¡¯s home had one more desk and a few unexpected guests.

    Scarlett the Scorpicore was working on several arrays at once thanks to a swarm of hard-light tools that allowed her to carve the toughest rock with ease. Nyka the vampire, Ka¡¯s adoptive daughter rode on the Scorpicore, studying her work while slurping what looked like a dense red smoothie.

    Nok the Byk was stuffing his face with venison. He had grown to a size beyond that of a magical beast, making Lith wonder if Nok was about to evolve or if he was just that majestic.

    As for Ka, she stood there with an incredibly sad look on her face for someone whose features were made of shadows, and that usually made her less expressive than a corpse.

    She wore a cone-shaped party hat and a little trumpet in her mouth. She had received precise orders to use it as her only means ofmunication.

    "Congrattions for passing your test of wisdom and wee to the family!" Everyone said in unison while a p of Faluel¡¯s hands made colorful gands of flowers and banners depicting Dragons and Phoenixes appear out of thin air.

    "Toooooo." Ka snorted more than blew into the trumpet, managing to make it sound depressing and receiving a p on the back of the head from Scarlett.

    Nyka and Nok threw colored rice at him since paper was too expensive on Mogar and no Mage in their sane mind would waste it to make confetti.

    "I¡¯m so happy that you actually belong to the Dragon bloodline." Faluel said giving Lith a hug and kissing him on both cheeks. "It makes our bond even deeper than that between master and apprentice."

    "What the heck are you talking about?" Lith was beyond bbergasted. "I¡¯m no Dragon and how the heck can Nyka be awake in the middle of the day?"

    "Interesting question. First-"

    "I made an array that absorbs the light element in the cave so that her body feels like it¡¯s still night." Scarlett cut Ka short, almost shoving the trumpet down her throat. "I told you that you can¡¯t talk or you¡¯ll ruin everyone¡¯s mood with your creepy stuff."

    "Too!" Ka blew in the trumpet, protesting at the best of her abilities.

    "I can understand your surprise since I asked the Council to let me be the one to break the news to you. We¡¯ve finally got the results of Blood Resonance on you." Faluel then told him all that had happened after Leegaain had procured a blood sample from Lith¡¯s parents.

    "That¡¯s why Sark sent me this letter, inviting me to the Desert and allowing me to call her grandma." Lith blurted out in surprise while showing them the envelope he had received from the Blood Desert.

    "Well, yes. You are now considered a potential Guardian who belongs to two Guardians¡¯ bloodlines. Nothing like this has ever happened before, little cousin." Faluel put a party hat on his head as well.

    "You are going to have lunch here to celebrate the good news. Now it¡¯s better if we start the lesson." She shapeshifted her clothes into a frilly buttonless white blouse and ck pants since thanks to the heating system Lith had installed for her, the cave was spring warm.

    "Nice to meet you guys, I¡¯m Nyka." The vampire shook their hands one at the time, stopping abruptly when she touched Quy. "Hello, gorgeous. Why haven¡¯t we ever been introduced before?"

    Quy felt ttered, but behind Nyka¡¯s flirty attitude she could feel the Vampire¡¯s gaze wandering on all of her wrong parts, making her feel like cattle in front of the expert eye of a butcher taking mental note of the best cuts of meat.

    The smell of young blood filled with violet mana was intoxicating and unlike Lith, Quy seemedpletely defenseless.

 Chapter 1323 - The Secrets of Undeath (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1323 - The Secrets of Undeath (Part 1)</h4>

    "Thanks, I guess." Quy said to Nyka.

    "Don¡¯t thank her. My daughter is in that phase of a vampire¡¯s life when they can¡¯t decide if to eat you, mate with you, or do both." Ka said and this time Scarlett didn¡¯t stop her.

    "Mom!" Nyka said while everyone suddenly took a step back from her.

    "Why do I always get all the nutjobs?" Quy w.h.i.n.ed.

    "It must be part of your charms." Friya chuckled, but she never took her eyes off Nyka.

    "Today we have a special lecturer." Faluel pointed at Ka, while everyone took their seats.

    "From the day of Night¡¯s attack on Lutia, the Council is at war with the Undead Courts. Hence since aside from Necromancers people only know the basics about undead, people like Ka have been tasked with teaching others about ourmon enemy to improve our odds of victory."

    After assuming her stone doll form and weing her friend, Solus didn¡¯t miss how everyone stared at Nyka as if she was a monster. It was the kind of gaze that people who didn¡¯t know Lith well would throw at him just because he was an Abomination.

    Solus had the vampire sit between her and Lith to show the others that there was nothing to be afraid of.

    "My core may not be as powerful as Quy¡¯s yet, but I¡¯m getting closer every day." He handed Nyka a ss jar filled with a crimson liquid whose delicious smell made her pupils go wide in excitement.

    "Are you really giving her your blood? She¡¯s a vampire, just like those you in by the hundreds in Feymar." Friya said.

    "Emphasis on ¡¯my blood¡¯ so I can do whatever I want with it. Besides, I¡¯ve in even more humans that day, yet I don¡¯t see you guys as a threat either. Nyka is a friend who happens to be a Vampire just like I happen to be an Abomination.

    "As simple as that." Lith¡¯s analogy shook the certainty of their prejudice.

    After all, the only difference between them was that Lith was a natural undead while Nyka was artificial. They both were lost souls inhabiting someone else¡¯s body.

    "Thank you so much for the beautiful gift, but are you sure that I can take it?" Nyka looked at Solus as if he was cheating on her.

    "It¡¯s just blood." Solus shrugged, d that her stone form couldn¡¯t blush.

    "First of all, let me tell you that the only reason I¡¯m here is that Scarlett banned me from the Necromancyb." Ka received two more ps on her head, one from Scarlett and one from Nok.

    "I mean, I¡¯m here to teach you a valuable lesson and to let my youngest child socialize. My wish is for you all to be good friends and to thank both Lith and Solus for all they did for my daughter.

    "That or at least to put Nyka under enough stress to send her in a feeding frenzy that will make her maim you, putting an end to this nonsense and letting me get back to my work."

    "One more word and I¡¯ll burn your notes!" Scarlett roared as more ps ensued until Ka¡¯s party hat fell off her head.

    The poor Nyka covered her face with her hands in embarrassment, drawing everyone¡¯spassion. On top of that, listening to Ka¡¯s words made them wonder if Manohar and the Wight were actually rtives.

    "The first thing you need to know is that Lith is right when he said that he and Nyka are alike." The thought of losing months of hard work made Ka instantly change her attitude toward the lesson.

    She not only had no sense of time, but no memory either. It was the reason why she wrote down everything she discovered so as to not stuff her brain with notions that were useless for her current project. Without those notes, she would have to start again from scratch.

    "After studying the undead for personal reasons and the Abominations because of Balkor, I can tell you that there¡¯s a paper-thin difference between them. It¡¯s amon belief in the Necromancermunity that the foremother of our discipline, Baba Yaga, based her work on Abominations."

    "Both undead and Abominations are born with a ck core. The fact that undead always retain at least part of their physical body and are infused with a powerful life force allows them to stabilize quickly, whereas Abominations are solely made of Chaos energy that has no counterpart.

    "It¡¯s the reason why their hunger far surpasses that of the undead, keeping Abominations from having even a semnce of life, and why they are unable to keep their bodies. Yet it also allows them to use Chaos magic freely.

    "To let you understand the greatness of Baba Yaga¡¯s work, I would like to point out that while all Abominations were at some point Awakened and hence their cores retain the ability to use true magic, undead are quasi-Awakened even if in life they were just regr people.

    "All those who get turned into undead be so attuned with some elements that they can use them as true magic, while their talent for the mystical arts grows with age even though they had none before being sired.

    "By feeding, Abominations simply recover the strength they have lost along with their body and use the light element they rob from others to master Chaos magic. Undead, instead, feed on life force, using it to enhance their cores akin to how Awakened do with world energy.

    "Both Abominations and undead can¡¯t feel the world energy easily due to their faulty cores. That¡¯s why Baba Yaga made up for that by allowing her children to feed upon more than just the light element.

    "They absorb the life and even the essence of their prey, adding it to their own. As you should already know, the only difference between mana and world energy is the presence of the seventh element, Spirit Magic.

    "The Spirit Magic gets absorbed so that an undead can prolong their existence while the other elements after being reduced to world energy can be assimted by the blood core." Ka said.

    "Wait a second. As far as I know, Abominations can¡¯t feel the world energy at all." Lith said.

    "That¡¯s one of the main differences between Abominations and Eldritchs. Only thetter arepletely cut off by Mogar.

    "A newborn Abomination can find a mana geyser to stabilize themselves, just like the Puppeteer you faced in Jiera could use his Orc body to feel and manipte world energy through the crystals." Ka shook her head.

    "Which means that, in theory, an Abomination can Awaken just like an undead. Their faulty cores make it difficult and even in the case of sess, the progression of their cores is greatly slower than normal.

    "Most Awakened who decide to be turned into undead, first wait until they have reached the bright violet core or at least the bright blue. That way, once the transformation is over, they can easily bring their blood core back to their previous level by just feeding instead of wasting time with .u.mtion." Ka said.

    "Does the same stand for fake mages as well?" Quy asked. "Since I have a deep violet core, would I keep it after being turned? Also, what happens if I die first and then a Necromancer makes an undead out of my body?"

 Chapter 1324 - The Secrets of Undeath (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1324 - The Secrets of Undeath (Part 2)</h4>

    Everyone stared at Nyka who happened to inhabit the body of a deranged killer. Ka had raised her from the dead to torture the cruel woman again, only to discover that the mind of the newborn vampire was a nk te.

    Despite her weirdness, the Wight couldn¡¯t stand giving Nyka life just to let her die of hunger or daylight so she had taken Nyka in as her own.

    "I¡¯m so envious of you." Ka inhaled deeply and sighed. "I¡¯m still at the blue level because I forgot .u.mtion was a thing until a few days ago when Scarlett, that tyrant of myndlord-"

    Scarlett ced a thick pile of papers over a strong me, forcing Ka to focus.

    "I mean, those are all excellent questions. If you were to be turned into an undead while still alive, your deep purple core wouldn¡¯t lose its strength. It would simply be passed upon your blood core during the transformation.

    "Once you die, however, your core dissipates. Using your body as a vessel creates a new being with its own blood core that starts from the undead equivalent of deep red.

    "Keep in mind that powerful cores are rare and even if the new soul had a violet core as well, it would take them a very long time to recover their strength since feeding allows an undead to obtain solely the mana flowing through the prey, not their core." The Wight said.

    "What if they were to Awaken? Would they be able to recover instantly with Invigoration?" Friya asked.

    "No. They wouldn¡¯t. Judging from your questions, it seems that I failed to exin properly one of the most basic concepts of undeath. Unlike living beings who need to refine their bodies to exert strength, the dead don¡¯t train their vessels.

    "An Abomination¡¯s strength doesn¡¯te from their muscles so much from Chaos energy so densely packed that it can interact with physical matter. Yet it also requires a great degree of control and willpower to not destroy everything they touch.

    "Undead, instead, use life force, the red part of their blood cores, to inste the darkness that animates them. Their strength doesn¡¯te either from muscles or mana, but from their life force.

    "When an undead is born, they have twice the amount of a regr creature. The life force from their body plus that from their sire. By feeding, they not only assimte the victim¡¯s mana but also part of their life force.

    "It¡¯s the only way they have to keep their body and blood core bnced, otherwise they would explode like anyone who fails at evolving or Awakening their core. It¡¯s the reason why the blood of a powerful Awakened like Lith is so precious for my daughter.

    "The loss of the spark of life force it contains deals Lith no damage yet it grants Nyka the possibility to assimte all the mana infused in his blood. Were she to get her hands on Manohar¡¯s blood, Nyka would be able to absorb only a fraction of the mana it holds because his body is that of a human.

    "Manohar¡¯s blood is richer in mana than Lith¡¯s but the weak life force limits the energy absorption rate so that everything that goes beyond a certain threshold is lost to keep the bnce between body and core.

    "At the same time, however, their ability to amass life force makes undead physically stronger than humans and even of beasts. They can convert the life force into speed, strength, and even mass at will.

    "That¡¯s how a Vampire¡¯s Chiropteran Form or a Draugr¡¯s ability to get bigger works." Ka said.

    "So undead are a bnced mix of mana and life force whereas Abominations are living energy. What about Liches, then?" Phloria asked.

    "Liches aren¡¯t really undead because they never die in the first ce. By splitting their life force and mana core in half and by sealing them into a phctery, they are forever suspended between life and death.

    "It¡¯s the reason why many consider Liches as an aberration and why they don¡¯t share any of the weaknesses typical of Baba Yaga¡¯s children, not even the hunger. They have a set of rules of their own, some of them really annoying.

    "For example, turning into a Lich is much easier for a fake mage than for an Awakened since their mana flow is static whereas an Awakened¡¯s phctery needs to be able to preserve the mana flow indefinitely and even allow it to grow with .u.mtion.

    "If a non-Awakened Lich manages to Awaken, they need anotherplex spell to transfer their essence into a suitable phctery or they die. Some non-Awakened tried to go straight for a phctery suitable for Awakened, but it never ended well.

    "The few that survived had their essence unfocused due to the vessel being unable to keep their core and life forcepressed, leading to terrible consequences.

    "Best case scenario, they became much weaker than what they were in life and will stay that way until they find a way to Awaken. Worst case scenario, they fell into a vegetative state from which there¡¯s no return.

    "Last, but not least, they don¡¯t share the greatest gift that undeath bestows on the other species. ording to my sources, Baba Yaga achieved her original goal of giving her children a second chance at life.

    "Once an undead¡¯s blood core turnspletely red, they be hybrids just like Nalrond. They can switch from their undead form to that of a living being with a regr body and a deep red core at will.

    "On top of that, by sacrificing all the mana and life force an undead .u.mtes to reach a full blood red core, they can return fully alive and start from scratch. If they are Awakened, they can work their way up to the violet core again.

    "Liches can never do that. Once the path it¡¯s taken, they have no way back" Ka said.

    "That sounds like a bunch of nonsense. How can you be so sure?" Scarlett asked with a scoff.

    "I know because I saw it with my own eyes. Back when I traveled Mogar in search of the secrets of Lichhood, I met one creature capable of turning into a living being. The most intriguing thing about Awakened like him, is that as long as they keep their blood core, once they assume their living form .u.mtion has no effect.

    "His human core remained deep red and it was unable to improve." Ka said.

    Everyone was bbergasted at those words. Even Scarlett, who had in princesses and rescued kidnapped monsters more than once, found them hard to believe. Yet Ka had no sense of humor and no reason to lie so they took them at face value.

    During the lunch break, for which Faluel had prepared a small buffet, Lith took her and Ka aside to share with them the missing piece of the events in Kolga away from the Scorpicore¡¯s ears.

    <i>¡¯That overgrown cat didn¡¯t hesitate to spill my secrets the moment she found it convenient. Sure, thanks to that Faluel took me in, but it still pisses me off.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    He needed to share the contents of his conversation with Mogar with Faluel because she was his main liaison with the Council and with Ka because she had proven once again to be the greatest expert about the undead that Lith knew.

 Chapter 1325 - Royal Summon (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1325 - Royal Summon (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t risk someone in the Council discovering the truth about me with a breathing technique or spell and then ckmail me or use me as ab rat. Only Faluel can help me to prepare in the case something goes wrong.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯As for Ka, she might be able to understand my condition if not even help me to control the Chaos energy.¡¯</i>

    The Hydra opened her eyes wide when Lith told them the events that had taken ce in the Mindscape while he was in Kolga and that his Abomination side was actually his real self.

    Yet she said nothing while pondering the implications that news might have.

    "Oh, no!" Ka sounded genuinely surprised for almost one full second.

    "Anyway, I heard that you might have gotten yourself a big white crystal. Can you give me a piece the size of an apple? I would make a perfect phctery."

    The Wight was the only person besides Solus and Protector who knew about Lith¡¯s being from Earth and even about his reincarnation problem. He didn¡¯t expect her to be shocked, but not herpleteck of care either.

    "I do have one, but it has been already cut. I can¡¯t riskpromising its integrity until I¡¯m done with my own experiments." Lith replied.

    "Fair enough. I¡¯ll have to keep looking, then." If Ka was disappointed, it didn¡¯t show.

    "Based on what you taught us today, shouldn¡¯t you get at least a bright blue core before turning yourself into a Lich?" Lith didn¡¯t want Ka to be an undead. He could already feel her drifting apart.

    "Actually, I should. You¡¯ve got no idea how thrilled I am at the idea of spending weeks just breathing and exercising." Ka sighed.

    "Your kids sure could use their mother for a while. Also, you could help me to ept my condition. We might even study Chaos magic together." Lith said.

    "Did you take a hit to the head too many in Kolga or what?" Her red eyes lit up as the shadows thatprised her face turned back into her old fluffy features for a split second.

    "There¡¯s nothing to ept. You¡¯re a beautiful being as it is and you shouldn¡¯t be ashamed of it, just like me and my Nyka. As for Chaos magic, did you even bother listening to me? It has no counterpart, it¡¯s dangerous, and it will rip your body apart at the slightest mistake.

    "Learning and mistakes go hand in hand, but with Chaos, your first will be thest."

    "What¡¯s so different with Lichhood?" Lith replied.

    "Lichhood you do it once and you¡¯re done with it whereas you¡¯d risk dying every single time you research a Chaos spell. Are we clear?" Ka said.

    "Crystal." Lith patted her head, d to see a part of her caring self back.

    "I agree with Ka. There¡¯s nothing to ept and you should stay away from Chaos magic. Many have tried and even those who seeded died the moment they ran out of luck." Faluel said.

    "Meaning?" Lith asked.

    "The Council doesn¡¯t care about how you came to life or why you possess a specific life force unless you gained it through Forbidden Magic, which isn¡¯t your case. We ept all kinds of hybrids and undead from all races, even those that are now fallen."

    "Then why do Nalrond and his people have to hide?" Lith said.

    "For what they know, not for what they are. Knowledge of the Fringes is precious. If he was an Awakened hybrid, no one would care even for his Light Mastery and he could choose if to join the human or the beast Council." Faluel replied.

    "Last, but not least, Chaos magic is too dangerous. Only Abominations don¡¯t get destroyed at the slightest fluctuation of their spells. That¡¯s why I said that practicing it requires too much luck."

    Meanwhile, Nyka familiarized herself with the others and Nok acted as her wingman. Being a magical beast, he had plenty of friends in the forest surrounding the White Griffon academy.

    "How does being a vampire feels like?" Quy tried her best to act natural.

    "Just like being human, I guess. I sleep, I eat, I feel lonely and unappreciated. The main difference is that I need a bathroom only to get clean." Nyka said with a smile, killing the conversation.

    She had said it to underline how they were not so different, yet the others could only think about what she needed to wash away. Nyka holding Lith¡¯s blood as if it was a treasure didn¡¯t help either.

    "You¡¯re really cute, you know? Do you have a girlfriend?" Nyka said to Nalrond, trying the lines she had read so many times in her books and hoping they also worked in real life.

    "Thanks. I mean, yes, I have more than one. I¡¯m a two-timing sc.u.mbag." He said while moving behind Tista and Friya. The Rezar had misunderstood her social awkwardness for an attempt to hit on him that he wanted to nip in the bud.

    "Then you better stay away from my sister, you creep. She¡¯s just five!" Nok snarled, standing protectively between them even though he was the weakest of the three.

    "Age doesn¡¯t matter for vampires." Nyka appreciated his effort, but not his methods, making her feel like a child among grownups. "I was born as an a.d.u.l.t and my mind developed quickly to match my body."

    "It would be believable if you didn¡¯t spend most of your life in a cave with no one to talk but me." Nok snorted. "You need to get out more."

    "It¡¯s not my fault if we live in the middle of nowhere and I can¡¯t get out until sundown!" Nyka couldn¡¯t mention her nights out with Solus because they were rare and because it would give out her nature as a tower.

    "Don¡¯t worry. Now that we get a Warp Gate in the barn, you can get from the White Griffon to Lutia in the blink of an eye." Solus said, empathizing with the Vampire. Just like Nyka, she lived as a prisoner in a golden cage.

    "As long as Tista or a member of Lith¡¯s family is with you, no one will bother you in the entire L.u.s.tria county."

    "That¡¯s great news! We can finally meet more often." Nyka, Tista, and Solus started to n their new life with a Gate and soon the Ernas sisters joined them.

    Their rtionship with Lith helped them to consider undead like people rather than just bloodthirsty monsters and seeing Tista trusting Nyka to the point of promising to introduce the vampire to her family sealed the deal.

    "You must thank Jirni for that." Lith pointed at the group of women. "It was very kind of her providing us with a Warp Gate."

    "Kind? I¡¯d rather describe her as careful." Faluel showed Lith a piece of paper that said "Present", quickly followed by Ka.

    "You got one as well? When and how did you get those?" Lith asked.

    "I found it a few days ago, nailed to a tree in front of my house, right outside the range of my arrays." Faluel said.

    "Someone left it under Scarlett¡¯s door more than one week ago, but less than two years ago." Ka said, making the others sigh deeply.

 Chapter 1326 - Royal Summon (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1326 - Royal Summon (Part 2)</h4>

    "Do you think this could be Deirus?" Lith said.

    "Who¡¯s Deirus?" Ka said.

    "It could be." Faluel ignored her. "You and the girlse here regrly. If he ever decides to take you out in one go, this would be the perfect ce. Only time will tell."

    ***

    The lesson continued in the afternoon when Ka described to the ss the rarest and the most powerful undead she knew in the Courts. Among them, Lith considered Blood Witches to be the most vicious.

    Despite their name, they had no rtion with Vampires. ording to Ka, Blood Witches could manipte the stolen life force of their prey to not only conjure the next best thing to Spirit Magic, but also to replicate the abilities that mixed life force and world energy like Origin mes.

    "They are one of Baba Yaga¡¯s closest attempts to mimic a full Awakening. Based on what the only member of their species I met told me, they are a lesser version of the Red Sun, the Horseman of Dusk." Ka said.

    "They seem dangerous. What are their weak points?" Lith asked.

    "I have no idea since not even I was so rude to ask and she didn¡¯t have any blinking sign of her body that said ¡¯don¡¯t hit me here¡¯." Ka said, making the first joke in years and letting the others hope for the best.

    "My hypothesis is that using such powers depletes their energy faster than what Spirit Magic does to an Awakened, but that¡¯s not a big issue for them. Always remember that undead are universal eptors of all kinds of energy but darkness, and only because it destabilizes their blood cores.

    "Baba Yaga made them immune to mana poisoning and their life forces can recover even from damages that are lethal to any other race. All they need to rejuvenate from any kind of injury is to feed."

    Once the lesson was over, Lith returned home and kept experimenting with Fusion Magic while waiting for dinner. He had done it the whole day while Ka talked since taking notes required but a sliver of his attention.

    He used one element at a time to avoid hurting his body, but aside from pain and difort, he didn¡¯t learn much.

    <i>¡¯I wish that Spirit Fusion was a thing.¡¯</i> He inwardly griped.<i> ¡¯Back when I was a baby, I discovered that everything I learned about Spirit Magic applied to all the other elements as well. Fusion Magic, instead, requires me to learn how to circte every element in a different way.¡¯</i>

    Lith had yet to seed in creating a flow of a single element, but he had already discovered that each element worked ording to its own principles.

    <i>¡¯I know. I wish we could find the "How to get a violet core for dummies" book you misced.¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s thoughts oozed sarcasm. <i>¡¯You¡¯ve been training for just three days and do you already expect results?</i>

    <i>¡¯What we devised with Quy is just another theory that we have to put to the test. If you rush things, there¡¯s no telling what might go wrong.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s not just a theory. I know it¡¯s right, just like I knew that Kam was right when shepared my vortexes to clumsy hands. I can feel it that we are on the right track.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯Well, unless your feelings can also point us the way, you¡¯d better take it easy. Otherwise when the next attackes, you might be so tired that even Invigoration will fail you. You need to rest.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯Yes, Mom.¡¯</i> Lith scoffed as his army amulet drew his attention. <i>¡¯Who the heck is this and why are the mana crystals blinking instead of a rune?¡¯</i>

    "Good evening, Archmage Verhen. Why are you in a hotel at this hour?" The answer to his question came in the form of the hologram of Queen Sylpha herself.

    She had never called him in person before and she didn¡¯t look pleased from either hismoner clothes or from his room. It was as big as a one-room apartment but for noble¡¯s standards it was too small and poorly furnished.

    "This is actually my home." Lith rushed to kneel down, mostly because he didn¡¯t know what to do. There was no etiquette book that told what was the proper reaction to a Queen ambushing you.

    "Really?" Sylpha furrowed her brows in disbelief as she turned towards someone off-screen. "Are we paying him so little? No wonder Overlord Sark is trying to snatch him from us. Find those responsible for this madness and have them all executed!"

    "Your Majesty, Archmage Verhen received every single coin of his annuities and of his rewards. Everything is recorded and ounted for." A male voice squealed.

    He was one of those guys whose head was about to roll.

    "Let me get this straight. Archmage Verhen, do you confirm to me that you received all this?" Sylpha had the hologram of a long list ounting for several deposits in his name that amounted to thousands of gold coins.

    "That is correct." Lith said after checking his own ledger.

    "And that¡¯s the ce where you live?" Sylpha was so shocked that she forgot even the basics of etiquette.

    "Correct again. I don¡¯t need a fancy pce full of rooms I wouldn¡¯t use or lots of servants to keep them clean. I only need a safe ce where to live in between my experiments.

    "I spent most of what I earned over the years in highlypressed defensive arrays and the rest to equip my secretbs. That¡¯s the reason why not even Night and her army of undead could get to me." Lith replied.

    "But... But you¡¯re a Baron, an Archmage, and now you even have a personal Warp Gate. It makes your home a waypoint for all the nobility of the Kingdom, including the Royal Family.

    "Where would you receive the Court when the King needs to confer with you privately? In a cozy dining room or would you have them sit on your bed?" Sylpha was getting a headache just at the thought of it.

    "The Gate is in the barn so I¡¯d rather go to the Court myself." Lith said with a shrug.

    "What about your wife? I¡¯m certain she would like more space and privacy."

    "I¡¯m still unmarried and my entire life is here." Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯Gods how I hate bachelors and their man-holes.¡¯</i> Sylpha inwardly griped.

    "Are you telling me that even if I built a proper mansion at my own expense, you wouldn¡¯t move there?" She actually asked.

    "And what should I do with a ce big enough to host Manohar¡¯s ego? I spend so much time in mybs that I¡¯m barely home."

    "Do you realize that the Royalsing to your home, as we did for Archon Ernas¡¯ investiture is the greatest honor the Kingdom can bestow upon its subjects and not some kind of twisted punishment?" The Queen said.

    "I know, but my parents would never move with me and I doubt that a new home would be as safe as the one I built. It takes generations for a Household to be as secure as the Ernas¡¯s and I won¡¯t put my life¡¯s work at risk out of pride." Lith said.

    "Wise words for someone so young." Sylpha nodded as she calcted in her head how much would it cost to prepare a mansion capable to withstand the enemies currently standing at the doors of the Kingdom.

    All they had to do was to knock and safety would be the only thing that mattered for Royals andmoners alike.

 Chapter 1327 - Royal Summon (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1327 - Royal Summon (Part 3)</h4>

    "I¡¯ll have a manor more fitting for an Archmage built nearby. We¡¯ll start with something simple that can be expanded over time so that new rooms can be built as soon as the core building is secure." The Queen said.

    "But, Your Majesty-"

    "No buts." Sylpha cut him short. "Once you have a family of your own, I expect you to move there. Until that moment, we¡¯ve got nothing more to talk about except for your summon to the Royal Court tomorrow morning before dawn."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith asked.

    "We have to check if that... How is the flying device called?"

    "DoLorean."

    "We have to check if the Dolores poses a threat to the safety of the Kingdom or not. You¡¯re due to Valeron¡¯s Gate at 6 AM sharp. I¡¯m d we had this conversation. Queen Sylpha out."

    "F.u.c.k me sideways! The Queen didn¡¯t even let me point out that she got the name wrong." Lith said, but only after putting the army amulet in his pocket dimension, just to be safe.

    <i>¡¯Look at the bright side. You¡¯re going to get a nice ce without even having to pay a dime for it.¡¯</i> Solus chuckled. <i>¡¯In your shoes, I would check for mana geysers the avable locations the Queen is going to make you choose from.¡¯</i>

    ***

    The following morning, Lith reached the Royal Pce early via his personal Gate. The Guards checked his ID and scanned him multiple times before allowing him to sit.

    The moment the Royals appeared, the Guards kneeled and Lith followed suit.

    "You can stand, Archmage Verhen. Since you already know all of those present, there¡¯s no need for introductions." King Meron said, waving at his wife, the Ernas couple, Marchioness Mirim Distar, and Constable Tyris Griffon.

    "With all due respect, why so many people?" Lith asked.

    "Archon Ernas has offered her considerable skills at handling magical devices while Royal Forgemaster Ernas is here to evaluate the quality of your work. Marchioness Distar and my Niece are here for personal interest." Meron said.

    Valeron¡¯s Gate brought them to Othre. Once outside the city walls and its dimensional sealing arrays, Lith took the DoLorean out of his pocket dimension.

    "It sure is ugly. It looked better from the holograms." Marchioness Distar said.

    "If you can suggest me any shape that can amodate so many people withoutpromising aerodynamics or making it look like a metal suppository, I¡¯m all ears." Lith said.

    The Marchioness thought about many possible shapes, yet they were either tacky, like that of a Griffon, or impractical, like a sports car.

    "My thoughts exactly." Lith said after the silence prolonged for several seconds.

    "Okay, this will be our route." Jirni tapped one of the gemstones on her amulet, making a 3D holographic map that led from Othre to Belius and then past the border.

    Along the flight path, there were several red zones circled in ck.

    "What¡¯s there?" Lith asked.

    "Those are the areas where I set up roadblocks to stop us. We¡¯re giving them all the possible advantages so that we can safely assess how much manpower takes to stop one DoLorean. Now exin to me how this works." Jirni sat on the driver¡¯s seat and pointed at the dashboard.

    After Lith finished showing her around, she clicked her tongue.

    "Just as I suspected. No tactical awareness. The extras, if you please, dear." Orion handed Jirni what looked like rear-view and side-view mirrors that she adjusted so that she could see around without moving her head.

    "While we are at it, we¡¯ll also see if it¡¯s possible to use your car to smuggle goods." He said to answer Lith¡¯s silent question. "Most of what we are about to attempt can be done even by a magico able to fly, but they couldn¡¯t carry more than one of these.

    "With the DoLorean, instead, even if dimensional magic is sealed, regr people can smuggle a significative load at a time."

    "I never thought about stuff like that." Lith replied. "I just wanted to make something for my parents that would be safe and allow them to move around freely."

    "The most terrible things are born out of good intentions." Tyris¡¯s eyes became veiled with sadness. "Forbidden Magic started from mages who didn¡¯t want to outlive their loved ones and were willing to shorten their own life span to achieve such a goal.

    "Arthan took that idea, perfected it, reversed the process, and you know the rest."

    Jirni flew a bit around with the car, to get ustomed to the controls before starting the real mission.

    "Okay, I¡¯m done and the change of guard is about the happen. Daybreak is when sleepy guards are reced by even more sleepy guards." She said while bringing the DoLorean high enough to not be affected by the dimensional sealing arrays of Othre.

    The guards looked at the sky in front of the walls so they entirely missed the small dot among the clouds. The DoLorean¡¯s air core kept it pressurized so that they had no trouble breathing.

    Jirni used the view from above to make the city¡¯s outline match with the map and find the drop spot quickly. Once the dimensional sealing array shut down the Warp Drive, the air core reced it with a mix of Float ad Flight spells.

    The soldier on the other side took the crate and started a timer, to see if in the time to unload a full cargo they would be discovered. After the timer run out, Jirni left the way she had got in.

    "Be proud of yourself, Lith. We have just simted a delivery of enough alchemical weapons to take Othre." She said while moving the speed lever from 1 to 5 one notch at a time.

    Tyris was there for two reasons. One of them was to allow her fellow Guardians to follow the events through her eyes.

    "I would never move on something like that, but my people could really use DoLoreans instead of carriages. Moving from one oasis to another would take hours instead of weeks and it would be much safer." Sark pondered.

    "They wouldn¡¯t be afraid of sandstorms or marauders because they would just fly over or outspeed them." Using Warp Steps to move a tribe was impossible.

    Oases were distant from one another and keeping a Steps open long enough for an entire tribe to pass through would take a toll on the mages. On top of that, many oases remained empty for most of the year so they couldn¡¯t have a permanent Gate.

    "Agreed. With proper restrictions to its power core, the DoLorean could usher in a new era of safe transport for goods and people. Winter wouldn¡¯t iste cities anymore and in the case of an emergency, the troops could mobilize without being forced to wait for the mages." Milea red at Leegaain.

    <i>¡¯If you really can¡¯t keep it in your pants, couldn¡¯t you at least keep your offspring within the Empire? Why did you make gifts to our enemies?¡¯</i> She said via the mind link.

 Chapter 1328 - Royal Summon (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1328 - Royal Summon (Part 4)</h4>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s just a toy and I¡¯m not the father!¡¯</i> Leegaain said, but Milea knew the result of the Blood Resonance test and ignored him.

    Jirni followed the arranged flight path, passing through the first roadblock without the guards even noticing their passage. At its max speed, the DoLorean moved so fast that it was a blur, escaping the air blocking arrays before they could make the flight experience of the car¡¯s passengers any lessfortable.

    "I¡¯ll slow down to 4 and keep the tracker open. I can¡¯t do more than this for you." Jirni said to the guards of the remaining checkpoints as her amulet now gave them the position of the car in real-time.

    Thanks to the mirrors and the fast response of the DoLorean¡¯s wheel, dodging tier four spell was easy. Only tier five spells with a huge area of effect managed to hit them from time to time.

    Yet hitting the DoLorean and dealing it damage were two very different things. When a Raging Sun exploded in the car¡¯s vicinities, a sphereprised of revolving panels of hard-light infused with the air and water elements surrounded it.

    The sphere moved so fast that the air barrier dissipated the brunt of the shockwave, the water that of the heat, and the panels stopped whatever went past the first twoyers of protection while also leaving the driver¡¯s line of sight clear often enough to allow Jirni to know where she was going.

    Even crashnding barely slowed them down. When it happened, the panels would be reced by a multiyered barrier of hard-light while a porous foam-like construct would fill the inside of the car, surrounding its passengers from head to toe.

    The former deformed to nullify the impact before it reached the DoLorean¡¯s silver chassis while thetter dispersed the ensuing shockwaves to the point that all Jirni experienced was just a series of weak jolts akin to moving over a bumpy road.

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough ying around. Time for the second delivery." Jirni moved the speed lever back to five and kept the tracker on, yet no mage managed to hit them anymore.

    When they reached Belius, one of the most fortified cities of the Kingdom that was surrounded by both air and dimensional sealing arrays, the fire core of the DoLorean activated, using controlled bursts of fire to keep the car in the air.

    The ride became bumpier, but the smuggle went without a hitch anyway. The rooftops of Belius¡¯s tall buildings offered Jirni a perfectnding spot where no one looked.

    "This thing is a nightmare." Orion said while they waited for the time of the simted delivery to end.

    "It can go anywhere and not even I can craft something like this because I¡¯m not a Light Master. We could ask Manohar, but I¡¯m afraid he would make a single DoLorean and use it to escape even more often than he already does."

    "Indeed." Meron nodded. "We should also add guards on the rooftops or at least add a surveince array to the city¡¯swork. I never thought about it, but a flying magical beast could easily get in unnoticed as well."

    "It¡¯s never been an issue before because magical beasts don¡¯t allow people to ride them and they can¡¯t shapeshift. Emperor Beasts could, but their size is much bigger than the DoLorean and they are impossible to miss." Sylpha said.

    "Time to see if we can cross the border." Jirni said after stopping the clock and sealing the doors.

    Lith was lost in thought, wondering in what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into, yet those words snapped him out of his reverie.

    "Are we going to vite the Gorgon Empire¡¯s security measures?" His voice was filled with disbelief.

    "That¡¯s the second part. First, we need to get past our own." Jirni said, making Lith¡¯s heart skip a beat.

    She left Belius¡¯s boundaries so that the DoLorean¡¯s power core went back to its full power before darting at full speed towards the border.

    The moment the unknown flying objected got detected, the automatic defense system of the towers built along the tall mountain range that separated the two countries generated several magical tornadoes that started to chase the car.

    They would hunt it down with inhuman speed and precision, guided by Belius¡¯splex array system, shutting down on contact all elements but light and darkness.

    Jirni needed to execute sharp cuts without ever slowing down, like a dragonfly, but she passed through the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s array maelstrom, flew over the mountain range, and dodged the onught that the magical cannons of the Empire unleashed against them.

    Magical bullets were as fast as a missile, but their targeting system wasn¡¯t devised to follow something moving at the DoLorean¡¯s speed. The moment they took aim, the car was already out of their range.

    "Not bad for a toy, huh? It just made a fool of all our defenses!" Milea red at Leegaain, cursing at him like a truck driver.

    "It is a toy and an ugly one at that." Leegaain replied.

    "No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it doesn¡¯t make it any truer. What would stop them from building a dimensional device in an isted area and get free ess to the Empire?" Milea said, preparing the Warp Gate.

    "Stop here, please. We shouldn¡¯t go any further." Tyris stopped Jirni above the Red g ins, the ce that marked the border between her turf and Leegaain¡¯s.

    The quietnding only emphasized the silent wonder that had befallen the group.

    "I can¡¯t believe we¡¯ve just seeded invading the Empire for the first time since the War of the des." Orion¡¯s knees trembled when his feet touched the foreign ground that had once belonged to the Kingdom.

    "The what?" Lith asked, nonchntly mming his door and making everyone else wince. For someone as used to travel as him, only people made a ce special. Being in the Desert or the Empire made no difference to him.

    "The War of the des." Tyris echoed as the memories of the time when Valeron and she had been there veiled her eyes with tears.

    "King Valeron with the Sword of Saefel fought against King Elm and his White Sword, each one leading their respective army to this very valley. Here Valeron stopped his advance and set the original borders of his Kigdom."

    She glossed over the part where Valeron had decided to stop there not because doing that would stretch his forces too thin, but because by conquering exactly Tyris¡¯s turf, he felt like he could meet her as an equal.

    They would both control and care for the samends, each one of them taking care of their people in a different way. On top of that, it had been Valeron¡¯s way to say that he wouldn¡¯t work along with any Guardian but her.

    It had been a silly and pretentious gesture, yet the most romantic gift that any man could offer Tyris.

    "Thank you so much, Archmage Verhen. If not for your wonderful creation, I would¡¯ve never found the courage to get back here and have my closure." Warm tears streamed down her eyes as she finally realized that the man she had loved so deeply was gone forever.

    <strong>Support the Author:</strong>

    /legion20

    <strong>paypal.me/Legion20 </strong>

 Chapter 1329 - Domination (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1329 - Domination (Part 1)</h4>

    "A wonderful and yet Forbidden creation." Sylpha said while handing several handkerchiefs to Tyris. "Based on Royal Forgemaster Ernas¡¯s assessment, the DoLorean can¡¯t be owned by regr people. From now onward it has to be considered tier one Forbidden Magic."

    Orion had tried all of his Forgemastering Spells on the car during the flight, but he had failed to unlock its secrets. He didn¡¯t like doing that, but Orion was a soldier and when the King ordered, he could only obey.

    "Forbidden Magic has tiers?" Lith asked with amazement.

    "Just two of them." Marchioness Distar said while taking sketches of the car. "Tier one means that it doesn¡¯t harm the people of the Kingdom, only itsws. Tier one can be performed as long as the mage has the Royal Authorization.

    "Tier two, instead, can never be employed. Even if the King himself were to be caught in the act, he would be immediately executed, as it happened for Arthan."

    "I definitely want the DoLorean." Sark said to Tyris from thousands of kilometers away. "When Lithes to visit, I must ask him for the blueprints."

    "Ask? Why don¡¯t you just take it?" Balkor asked, wishing that his family had a DoLorean as well. It would make him feel much safer.

    "Who do you take me for? A petty thief?" Sark snarled. "I made thews of the Desert and I follow them. I never stole from my own subjects, let alone from someone that could be a valuable asset."

    Back in the Red g valley, Lith tried to bargain his way out of that pinch.

    "I never meant to mass-produce the DoLorean and it requires the coboration of my associates." He avoided mentioning Friya to not drag her into that mess and saying that the constructs were actually Solus¡¯s work to keep her existence a secret.

    "There¡¯s no need to g my workings as Forbidden Magic, it would just cause me more trouble."

    "Don¡¯t worry, young man." The Marchioness said.

    "Tier two gets you killed whereas tier one Forbidden Magic is one of the greatest achievements a craftsman can receive. It means that you outmatched the known restrictions about magic and that thew needs to be changed to keep up with a single person.

    "It¡¯s something that usually happens only when a Magus shares their knowledge. You must be proud of yourself, Lith, just like everyone here is proud of witnessing history being written."

    "Indeed." Milea walked through a Gate, followed by her trusted but not-so-respected-anymore mentor who was under the guise of a ck-haired mage wearing ab coat. "Any country would be d to have such an innovator among their ranks, especially the Empire.

    "We are the most advanced magicalmunity on Garlen, and I would spread your creation instead of keeping it hidden like something you must be ashamed of."

    "Nonsense." King Meron said. "Spreading something like that would only bring chaos and create more problems than it would solve. In the wrong hands, it might be weaponized and unleash a war none of us is ready to face."

    "Meron is right." Leegaain said, making sure that both he and Milea remained on his side of thend. "I know that you are eager to give a better life to your people, but remember that knowledge is a double-edged sword.

    "Think of what Silverwing¡¯s legacy did to our country."

    "Please, a flying vehicle is nothing like Silverwing¡¯s legacy. No offense, Archmage Verhen." Milea said.

    "None taken." Lith shrugged.

    "No? What about the sudden need for aerial warfare? What about smuggling inside your floating fortresses, human trafficking, and all those crimes that so far you managed to prevent by keeping the mages loyal?

    "Giving the ability to fly at high speed to everyone would ruin generations of hard work in all countries in a matter of weeks." Leegaain shook his head.

    "You are right, but it¡¯s also your fault that such technology belongs to our enemy." Milea snarled. "Archmage Verhen, you¡¯ll always have a ce here. As for you lot, get out of mynd, or I¡¯ll consider this an act of war."

    The Royals gave the Empress a small bow that she quickly returned before disappearing through another Gate. They owed her that much for overlooking their transgression and allowing them safe return on the way back.

    "Do I get to at least keep the DoLorean?" Lith asked, now worried about the possible consequences of his invention.

    "Of course you can." Marchioness Distar said. "Destroying it would be a crime against magic. Quite the contrary, we need you to manufacture some more with the same specifics."

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "In the right hands, it¡¯s a magnificent tool. I¡¯m in desperate need of a DoLorean so that my family can finally have a normal life." The Marchioness said.

    "The same stand for the Royal Family." Queen Sylpha handed Lith a Royal order to suspend all his current activities until he delivered two cars. One for the Marchioness and the other for the Royals."

    "Your Majesty, I was thinking about gifting one to Count Lark as a thank you for all he did for me and another to my girlfriend. Do I have your permission?" Lith asked.

    "Lark is a loyal subject of the Kingdom and having received many death threats he is eligible for such a gift, if you truly wish so. Constable Yehval, however, is not unless you¡¯ve decided to marry her." King Meron said while trying to keep his voice neutral.

    Aside from her job and her sister, Kam had no ties with the Kingdom, just like Lith whereas a high ranked noble, like the Ernas, would have been an unbreakable chain.

    "I¡¯m still young. Why should I marry someone for one car?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Young? At your age, I already wore the Crown and my wife was waiting for our firstborn. Also, such an artifact can¡¯t be anything less than a betrothal gift. This is how much the Kingdom values your work." Meron handed him a piece of paper with the word gold followed by more zeroes than Lith had ever seen in his life.

    "Being a limited edition doesn¡¯t make it cheap, quite the contrary, it makes it priceless. That amount shouldpensate you for the costs of research, your craftsmanship, and the necessary crystals.

    "The rest of your reward wille in the form of the Mansion that my wife is building for you. In the case you haven¡¯t noticed, we want you to consider the Griffon Kingdom as your one and only home."

    ***

    Faluel¡¯s Lair, just in time for the lesson.

    "It¡¯s the first time you don¡¯te early and you didn¡¯t answer to either amulet. Is everything alright?" The Hydra asked seeing Lith¡¯s half-shocked and half-confused expression.

    He barely noticed that Morok was there as well and that the others had already started training their bodies while golems with Faluel¡¯s appearance taught them how to fight an Awakened who possessed a core of their same color and their skills.

 Chapter 1330 - Domination (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1330 - Domination (Part 2)</h4>

    "I¡¯m in quite a pinch. Call Friya, please. She needs to hear this as well." Lith said.

    After Lith finished telling them about thetest events, Friya was on cloud nine.

    "In your face!" She pointed at Tista, Quy, and Phloria in this order. "Serves you well for calling me the less skilled in the group. My baby is worthy of the Magus¡¯ title! I can¡¯t wait to tell Mom and Dad."

    "To get yourself a nice cor and a leash of matching color?" Lith said with a sneer. "I left you out of it not to hog all the glory so much as to not force you to choose between your family and your apprenticeship.

    "Helping a fellow disciple with his project is one thing, disclosing to someone else the Forgemastering techniques and the hammer that Faluel bestowed upon you is another."

    "Oh, shit!" Friya suddenly remembered about her blood pact with the Hydra. Betraying her master¡¯s trust would cost Friya her life.

    "Oh, shit indeed." Faluel red at her. "You are not allowed to share with anyone what I teach you. You need my consent even to share anything that you learn by yourself during the apprenticeship. I made myself pretty clear back when you epted my deal, remember?"

    "Yes, master, but the dimensional runes I used for the DoLorean I learned them at the academy and I didn¡¯t show Lith how Ibined that knowledge with your Forgemastering techniques." Friya said.

    "Well done, but remember that your family is one of the great pirs of the Griffon Kingdom. If your parents pressure you, will you be able to deny their request? That Royal Forgemaster wand you hold is both a gift and a chain." Faluel said.

    Friya clenched her fists, torn between her filial duty and her own ambitions.

    "Thank you, Lith. If not for your thoughtfulness, I might have been forced to give up on the only means that I have to practice Spirit Magic and Forgemastering spells." Friya said while looking at the silver wand as if it was a venomous snake that might bite her at any moment.

    "No problem. I just needed to warn you about the dangers that being one of the makers of the DoLorean poses." Lith said.

    "No time for brooding, Friya. Your body may be strong for a human, butpared to an Awakened you¡¯re as weak as an infant. You need quality to make up for what youck in quantity.

    "The same applies to everyone else. Tempering your body is the only way to increase your chances of survival, be them in battle or during a breakthrough." Faluel said, shooing everyone back to the training grounds in the middle of the cave.

    "Not you, Moron." She grabbed Morok by the cor of the shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

    He had been in a deep meditative state, wondering about the marvels of magic as he followed Quy and stared at her tight a.s.s.

    "That¡¯s not my name!" He said while he lost sight of the prize.

    "That¡¯s up to me to decide, whelp. I didn¡¯t bring you in here to enjoy yourself, but because your master asked me to help you. Is it true that you unlocked your fifth eye and yet you still refuse to Awaken?" Faluel asked.

    "Yes to both. Opening the eye was a child¡¯s y thanks to the Fringe and Awakening still looks more like a curse than a blessing." Morok replied.

    "For someone of our species, achieving the third eye by twenty-five is the mark of a genius, yet you got five of them. On top of that, countless people risk their lives to achieve what you so easily dismiss as an annoyance. Life truly is unfair." She sighed.

    "Anyway, there¡¯s a reason why I sent everyone away but you three. Today I¡¯m going to teach you the secrets of Domination."

    "Wait, our species?" Morok scratched his beard. "I¡¯m a Tyrant, you¡¯re a Hydra, but what is he? Also, are you telling me that this isn¡¯t just one of your toy golems?"

    He pointed at Solus¡¯s stone doll form, who pped away his hand.

    "I¡¯m not a toy and you are still the jackass I remember." She said.

    "This voice! You¡¯re Lith¡¯s secret girlfriend. I¡¯m no one to judge, dude, but you¡¯ve got odd kinks to make out with a doll. Is she at least anatomically correct?" He tried to touch her, receiving a p on his hand so strong that it almost broke a few fingers.

    "She¡¯s not a doll." Faluel pushed Morok away before a fight broke out. "She belongs to an unknown hybrid species, just like Lith. Before we start, each one of you will share with the ss your respective elemental mastery techniques."

    She conjured an air dome that blocked the sounds and blurred the vision, isting the four of them from the rest of the cave.

    "I¡¯m sorry, miss, but I can¡¯t do that. My father is an asshole, but I¡¯m not going to tell you my family¡¯s secrets just because you ask." Morok shook his head.

    "Really, Moron? Maybe this will change your mind." Faluel sneered as she ced her index and medium fingers on his forehead and activated her breathing technique, Lifestream.

    "I told you that¡¯s not- By the Great Mother!" Lifestream made his life force and mana core visible to the others, but to Morok it bestowed upon him the same information it gave Faluel, as if he had used it himself.

    Raw elemental energies tainted the entirety of his body in the form of colored streaks that flowed through his veins along with the blood and the mana. On top of that, a small sphere of light resided near his core, sapping its strength.

    "What are those things? Get them off me!" If the colored streaks felt akin to poison, the sphere of light gave him the feeling of a foreign hand stirring his insides.

    "Those things are the reason Ajatar sent you to me. The streaks are simply the consequence of your using the Tyrannical Eye technique without Domination, whereas that tracking spell is a gift from your father.

    "Before abandoning you, he marked your core so that the moment you achieved Awakening, he would know it and would be able to find you." Faluel said.

    "Are you telling me that every time I use the technique that asshole of a father taught me, Ipromise both my life force and mana core?" Morok was bbergasted.

    "Indeed. I noticed the .u.mted damage when I rescued you outside the Fringe. As for your father, I¡¯m not going to try defending his choice, but he probably never thought that you¡¯d gain so many eyes so quickly and yet choose not to Awaken.

    "My guess is that he would have taught you Domination and fixed his mess the moment your core¡¯s evolution broke the light sphere." Faluel said.

    "The Tyrannical Eye technique requires to use elemental mastery through the eyes on my body to suck in the enemy¡¯s spells after storing enough mana of my own to cleanse them from the original energy signature and rece it with my own.

    "After that, I can choose if to project it outside or add more mana of my own to further strengthen the absorbed spells. I can even change their elemental attribute based on the eye I use to attack." Since his father had no qualms risking his life, Morok had no reason to keep Glemos¡¯s secrets from Faluel.

 Chapter 1331 - Domination (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1331 - Domination (Part 3)</h4>

    "I see. That¡¯s a great technique that only a Tyrant can use, but it¡¯s iplete and dangerous. Without Domination, every time you use Tyrannical Eye, only a part of the energy signature infused within an absorbed spell gets cleansed while the rest builds up in your body, causing mana poisoning." Faluel said.

    "It¡¯s like dirtying your clothes and then wash them under a waterfall without using soap. No matter how strong the flow is, stains will always remain. Lith?"

    "I wasn¡¯t able to develop a technique of my own so I simplybined my elemental mastery with your meditation techniques to achieve the best next thing to Domination. Yet I can only use it on my own spells or on a weak enemy¡¯s spells." He said.

    "That¡¯s because just like Glemos, I taught you an ineffective technique. It was only meant to help you control your abilities and perceive the elements so that opening the rest of your eyes woulde naturally to you.

    "Unlike Glemos, however, my technique didn¡¯t endanger your life nor did it make you dependent on me for your long-term survival." The Hydra said.

    ¡¯The next time I meet Glemos at the Council, I¡¯m going to kick his a.s.s.¡¯ She actually thought.

    "First, Lith and I developed our technique together so I¡¯m in the same situation as him. Second, why did both of you teach an ineffectual method to control the elements?" Solus asked.

    "Because Domination is the secret behind the survival of all of our species. If it leaks out, it wouldn¡¯tpromise just our lives but those of every single Hydra and Tyrant out there.

    "It makes up for my inability to fly and myck of Origin mes while for Tyrants it makes them unstoppable war machines even though their body is barely bigger than that of a human." Faluel said.

    "Once Domination is used, we can¡¯t afford to leave a living witness unless we can disguise it as elemental mastery. That¡¯s why the elders of all species capable of using Domination teach their youths faulty techniques.

    "Our purpose is to keep our whelps from using Domination by instinct during a stressful situation and throw its secrets into the gutter. Yet now I¡¯m forced to teach you the real deal because those techniques only work at the early stages of development of our species.

    "Otherwise, you will not be able to control your abilities when you reach the sixth eye. If that happens during a fight, the consequences might be disastrous." Faluel invited them to follow her lead and to sit down on the stone floor.

    "Domination is akin to controlling your mana flow. It requires finesse, not strength. So far, all of you have just overpowered foreign spells with your mana whereas true Domination requires barely more mana than elemental mastery but much greater focus."

    "The first exercise-"

    "Wait, aren¡¯t you going to cleanse me from all that elemental crap first? I wouldn¡¯t mind you getting rid of the tracking spell either." Morok cut her short.

    "That will be your homework. It will serve as practice and as an incentive to not interrupt me anymore. I¡¯m not Ajatar, one more word and I¡¯ll beat you so hard that you¡¯ll ck out until our second lesson." Faluel snarled.

    Controlling the golems to train the others required six of her heads, leaving Faluel only one to both teach a demanding discipline like Domination without hurting them and use Lifestream from time to time to recover her strength.

    The effort put a huge strain on her mind and made her cranky.

    "As for the tracking spell, the only way to get rid of it safely is triggering it. Do you want your father toe here?"

    "No." Morok sighed.

    "Neither do I so shut up and listen. The first exercise is to Dominate chore magic. The only difference between the tiers from zero to three is the amount of mana they use. By learning how to control chore magic the rest wille naturally."

    Faluel conjured a small bolt of lightning that grew in size as she spoke, going from the spark of tier zero magic to a Hydra-shaped arc of electricity of tier three.

    "Tier four will require learning how to Dominate more than one element at a time which is not much different from multicasting. With practice and effort, you might learn to do that by yourself without further lessons, but since we¡¯re already here, I¡¯ll give you a hand."

    The Hydra made of lightning grew more heads while fire and darkness filled its body and painted it a dull crimson.

    "Tier five magic, however, is much moreplicated. Such spells are controlled by the willpower of their caster and can be freely provided with new mana hence Dominating a single tier five spell is harder than Dominating three tier four spells at the same time."

    Now the Hydra had seven heads, each one of a different element. Its eyes moved around the air dome and its movements were so life-like that Lith needed to use Life Vision to make sure it wasn¡¯t a living being.

    "That said, let¡¯s take our time and start from the basics. What are the elements you¡¯re naturally attuned with?" Faluel said as the hepta-elemental Hydra faded away in a rainbow.

    "Light and earth." Solus said.

    "Darkness and fire." Lith said.

    "I¡¯ve no idea what you¡¯re talking about." Morok said.

    "Which eyes did you open first?" Faluel inhaled sharply to keep herself from beating the annoying Tyrant into a pulp.

    "Water and darkness. Why?"

    The Hydra ignored him and conjured respectively a razor-sharp ring of earth, a long string of darkness, and a bubble of water around Morok¡¯s head that turned his following words into a gurgle.

    "I¡¯ll keep the spells active while making sure that they don¡¯t harm you. Your task is not to take control of them nor to focus on them. You must learn to feel the flow of elemental energy and to counter the sudden surges of mana that I¡¯ll use to poke at you.

    "The use of any kind of mystical sense will make the exercise useless and mark your failure. Same if you use too much mana and destroy my spell. The exercise can be consideredpleted only when you manage to counter my spell without disrupting it ten times out of ten. Begin."

    Morok¡¯s eyes turned blue, Lith¡¯s became ck, while Solus¡¯s glowed orange as they tried to suppress their instinct at the best that they could. Using their respective mystical sense was second nature to them, especially when facing a threat.

    Back at the academy, all of them had a hard time learning dimensional magic because they were more used to see mana rather than to sense it, and even after years of hard work, mana perception was still one of their weakest subjects.

    Lith and Solus had to endure several stings on their neck and face while they racked their brain to make sense of the exercise.

    <i>¡¯I wish I could use the mind link to speak with Lith/Solus. He/she would know what to do.¡¯</i> They thought in unison.

    Morok, instead, had to hold his breath every time the water bubble closed in or experience drowning.

    "Glub glub glub." He said after one failure too many.

    "Come again?" Faluel opened the bubble enough to allow him to talk.

 Chapter 1332 - Domination (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1332 - Domination (Part 4)</h4>

    "It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t appreciate the tough love, but aside from a clean head, I don¡¯t feel this is getting me anywhere. I learned to control the elements before my dder, yet no matter how hard I try, all I see is water." Morok said.

    "Would you like an exnation as well?" Faluel asked Lith and Solus. They knew that her favorite teaching method consisted of throwing them in deep waters until they learned how to d.o.g.g.y paddle rather than spoon-feed them knowledge.

    "No, but I could use a few hints." Lith replied. "I can feel the flow of mana but not the surges. Even filling my eyes to the brim with the darkness element is pointless. It only darkens my vision.

    "On top of that, every time I get stung, the pain makes it hard to keep my survival instinct under control."

    "Very good." Faluel pped her hands. "You¡¯ve already given yourself all the hints you need. Just remember what I said during my exnation and piece it together with your own words."

    Solus and Lith exchanged a quick look before staring at the Hydra as if she was insane.

    "Can we at least use our link? I remember your words and he seems to be onto something. Together we could make it." Solus asked.

    "Absolutely not." Faluel said with a firm voice. "You two are more than partners, you are co-dependent. Think with your own head and walk with your own legs or you won¡¯t get far in life."

    "Onest question. Are you sure that the colored streaks in a human¡¯s hair work the same as a Hydra¡¯s head? Because I don¡¯t feel like I have Domination." Solus said.

    "Damn sure. Now get back to work. As for you, Moron, do you still want an exnation?" Faluel asked.

    Maybe it was because of the constant stream of insults or maybe because, having the same number of opened eyes as Lith, Morok felt some sort of rivalry with him. Whatever the reason, he answered "Glub" even though the open bubble allowed him to speak.

    "I¡¯ll take that as a no." Faluel sealed it shut again and used Lifestream to recover her dwindling strength.

    ¡¯Okay, what would Solus say if she was in my head?¡¯ Lith thought while trying to remember Faluel¡¯s words along with what he had just blurted out in frustration.

    ¡¯She would tell me to calm down and remind me that this is just an exercise, not a matter of life or death. Then, she would probably repeat both speeches word by word and we would solve this mystery together.¡¯

    He took a deep breath, letting the mana .u.mted in his eyes fade as he focused on the riddle. Lith was so lost in his thoughts that when the spell stung him again, he snapped.

    Instinct and annoyance turned his eyes ck again, releasing a pulse of darkness magic that took control of Faluel¡¯s wisp and made it crumble.

    "Again." The Hydra conjured another ck dot that started to circle around Lith like a shark following its prey.

    <i>¡¯Wait a minute. I really am a moron as well. Faluel told us that the faulty techniques are taught to not identally reveal Domination when in danger. Which means that we¡¯re naturally able to use it at tier zero.</i>

    <i>¡¯My ck eye is a symptom, not the cause of Domination. I got it the other way around the entire time!¡¯</i> Lith let go of the mana in his eyes and waited for the next attack.

    <i>¡¯We are supposed to fail a lot before seeding!¡¯</i> Solus thought. <i>¡¯The attacks are supposed to trigger our instinct just like we are supposed to control them rather than blindly repress them.</i>

    <i>¡¯Domination must be second nature to us, otherwise it will be pointless in battle. The meditation technique she taught us is too slow to be useful because our enemies are bound to use fast spells that we can¡¯t analyze safely.¡¯</i>

    She let go of the orange mana in her eyes as well, fighting the pain rather than ignoring it. Solus let herself feel fear, bing tenser each time the rock cut her stone form.

    <i>¡¯Domination isn¡¯t about keeping about thinking, it¡¯s about reacting the moment you perceive a threat.¡¯</i> They thought in unison as if their mind link was active.<i> ¡¯We must leash out until we manage to recognize the feeling of Domination biting its leash and then learn how to control the amount of mana the ability uses.¡¯</i>

    They had gained a solid grasp of the theory but unfortunately for them, putting it into practice required a lot of time and pain. They needed to empty their mind to feel the fleeting moment when fear sparked Domination into action.

    Then, they had to learn how to control their impulses in a split second. Too rxed and the threat would be annihted by spending twice the mana necessary to cast Faluel¡¯s cantrip.

    Too tense and they would snuff out Domination before it could do anything, receiving another sting as punishment.

    The lesson ended sooner than usual because Faluel had ran out of mana and Lifestream had be useless to her. By the time that happened, Lith and Solus had managed to counter up to three attacks in a row before having to start over.

    Morok, instead, sometimes arrived up to six.

    "Thank you, master." He gave the exhausted, stinky, and covered in sweat Hydra a deep bow. "You were right. I didn¡¯t need an exnation, only to trust myself. You might not be hot, but you sure are an incredible teacher."

    Something like grace and elegance was lost on the Tyrant¡¯s eyes who byparing Faluel with Friya, saw the former as an ugly duckling. To make the Hydra¡¯s mood even worse, she had meant Dominance as a lesson of humility yet it had ended up nurturing Morok¡¯s already overgrown attitude.

    Luckily for the Tyrant, she was too tired and too old to care about such small details.

    "Seriously, how did you do that?" Lith asked without bothering to hide either his surprise or envy.

    "Dude, I¡¯m ashamed of myself for failing toplete the exercise already. Keeping my mind empty and following my gut is something I¡¯ve done my whole life. Thinking is for the weak." Morok said.

    "And yet it¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ve been doing my whole life." Lith nodded.

    Due to his paranoia, he would always overthink things and his mind was rarely empty. Even while talking with the Tyrant, he was circting Fusion Magic and training his vortexes by casting tier one spells.

    "Seriously, you should rest a bit." Solus said, yet she didn¡¯t fare much better.

    Between their mind link and her tower half, Solus¡¯s mind was always filled with countless ns. Lith¡¯s worries were her own and she constantly searched for a way to relieve his endless to-do list

    On top of that, her tower side flooded her brain with information about how to improve each of its floors and abilities that she had to constantly update.

 Chapter 1333 - Poke and Pillow (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1333 - Poke and Pillow (Part 1)</h4>

    "Master Faluel, please, take the girls home. I¡¯m going to take a walk." Lith said.

    "What about-" Faluel Warped Morok back to Ajatar¡¯sir while the Tyrant was still talking to Quy.

    "-a date?"

    "I¡¯m ttered by your feelings, but I¡¯m your master. We¡¯ll talk about this once your apprenticeship is over." Ajatarughed his a.s.s off while saving that moment on a recording device.

    "As if I¡¯d ask a scaly a.s.s like you out. What¡¯s that device for?"

    "ckmail material." The Drake keptughing for a few minutes.

    "Solus is right. Training non-stop can leave you exposed to an attack." Faluel¡¯s panting slowly returned to a normal breathing as her violet core drew world energy from her surroundings.

    "Once I get home, I¡¯m not going to have enough peace of mind to train. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll get plenty of rest." Lith replied.

    "You better do. Tomorrow I¡¯m going to teach you guys real Spirit Magic and you¡¯ll need all the Invigoration you can get." Faluel said.

    "Seriously, why walking? Isn¡¯t it boring?" Quy asked.

    "Watch me, little one." Lith waved the rest of the group goodbye as he and Solus left their.

    "What the heck?" Nalrond had a hard time believing his own eyes.

    Each one of Lith¡¯s footsteps left behind a glowing rune that slowly faded as Faluel¡¯s protective arrays countered them.

    "Interesting. He¡¯s casting while walking and judging from the runes, he¡¯s attempting a minor array at that." Faluel replied to everyone¡¯s silent question.

    "Can it work?" Phloria asked.

    "No. Arrays need to be circr to contain the mana in a stable form. The way Lith is doing it, instead, makes the runes fade before they canbine to form a proper string ofmand, but it¡¯s still good training."

    "Why Solus isn¡¯t doing it then and can Phloria and I do it as well?" Tista asked.

    "None of you can. Below the bright blue level, the core hogs most of the mana, leaving the body not enough energy to attempt even first magic." Faluel shook her head. "Now let me get you home. Tomorrow will be a big day for you as well."

    While the Ernas walked through the Gate in Lith¡¯s barn, Tista and Nalrond went back to their respective households.

    <i>¡¯The more I train my human half, the more my beast side feels respect rather than contempt towards me. Even better, since we left the Fringe, I¡¯ve been trying to use my tribe¡¯s meditation techniques tomunicate rather than to suppress my other half.</i>

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m pretty sure that once the two sides match, my beast half will consider me as an equal and we¡¯ll finally be able tomune our intents.¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯What do you want to do tonight?¡¯</i> Lith asked while circting one element at a time, casting one rune of an impossible array with each stride he took and using Invigoration to replenish his energy. <i>¡¯Kam is surely waiting for me at home.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯She¡¯s always waiting for you at home.¡¯</i> Solus half-sighed in annoyance ad half-smiled, happy for him.

    Ever since Kam had learned that Lith had no childhood memories aside from work and duty, she was doing everything she could to shower him with the attention and tenderness that he had lost until that moment.

    Lith was used to be the one who always took care of problems, be they his own, his family¡¯s, or Solus¡¯s. Being for once on the receiving end and Kam caring for his happiness with no strings attached slowly melted even his frozen heart.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t have much of a choice. The tower can keep my strength but not replenish it so I have toe with you. Remember what Faluel said and take eight full hours of sleep.¡¯</i> Solus had to walk briskly to keep his pace and the height gap made her feel even more like a child.

    Yet walking hand in hand through the Trawn woods made her happy nheless.

    <i>¡¯Yes, Mom.¡¯</i> Lith sighed.

    The moment they reached the house and opened the door, Solus slipped back to his finger, enjoying the warm wee of their family.

    "Wee back." Elina hugged him with joy, as if he had been gone for days instead of hours. "How did the lesson go?"

    "It went well. It¡¯s one of those disciplines hard to learn and even harder to master so it will take a while take some time to make some real progress. How is Aran behaving?" Lith could feel his vortexes rxing the moment he stopped casting.

    Solus confirmed to him that the moment they lost their quasi-spherical shape, the violet that had spread throughout his aura had turned back into blue.

    "Splendidly! Ever since you got back from camping, he always takes care of the house chores as you did as a child. Sadly, he can¡¯t cook for his life. He tries to be like you, but not even Onyx can stomach the meals Aran makes for her.

    "That said, I¡¯m more worried about Tista." Elina said.

    "Why is that?" Lith raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

    "She¡¯s already very strong and now she¡¯s getting muscr as well. I¡¯m afraid she¡¯ll end up like Phloria, with only suitors that care about her status. On top of that, she¡¯s already 21 and-"

    "Mom!" Tista cut her short, starting an old argument that would end only when she found apanion.

    "Wee home." Kam kissed him softly after Lith reassured Aran that they would go to the ckest Day together.

    "Why do you and my mother always say that? I didn¡¯t go to another country." Lith asked.

    "Because during your life you¡¯ve been into too many bad ces and even if your body came back, I don¡¯t want your mind to linger there one second longer." Kam replied. "I¡¯ll wee you until I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ve truly returned here."

    The tenderness of the moment was ruined by Lith¡¯s pungent smell of hard work.

    "You definitely need a hot bath and a good massage. Luckily for you, there¡¯s still time before dinner and I¡¯ve taken care of preparing everything for you." She dragged him in the bathroom by the arm.

    "What do you mean, massage? I-"

    "Shush!" She cut him short with a soft kiss as she let the Scalewalker armor slip off her body. "You need to sleep for tomorrow¡¯s lesson so we must do the best we can in the time we¡¯ve gotten."

    ***

    The following day, Lith was fully rested and had a big smile on his face. Solus was slightly annoyed, but she had to admire Kam¡¯s skill and determination in finding new ways to pamper Lith.

    "I¡¯m d to see that you have all recovered and I¡¯m even happier at the idea that today will be much less demanding for me." Faluel said.

    "We are going to start practicing Spirit Magic from tier one since every one of you already got plenty of experience with tier zero and mixing Spirit Magic with the other elements to change their attributes."

    "Not everyone." Nalrond grunted. "If this is going to be like the other lessons, I might as well leave. I tried all I can, but I failed to create even a spark of the seventh element."

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got a pleasant surprise for you that will allow you to put to use that theory lessons that you diligently followed."

 Chapter 1334 - Poke and Pillow (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1334 - Poke and Pillow (Part 2)</h4>

    Faluel handed to Nalrond a silver wand that unlike those belonging to Royal Forgemasters, had a violet crystal on its grip.

    "What? How?" Friya was too afraid to formte a proper question or even worse, allegation.

    "Fake mages aren¡¯t the only ones that can learn by imitation." The Hydra shrugged. "The moment I discovered the existence of the Royal Forgemastering wands, I started working on this project.

    "Seeing you use them during my lessons was enough to understand their workings since I can use Spirit Magic and I¡¯m an experienced Forgemaster. Finding a way to replicate their effects was just a matter of time."

    "Can I take a look at it?" Lith asked.

    "Sure. I¡¯m nning to share it with the Council anyway. It will allow us to put our disciples to the test in all disciplines without Awakening them so I didn¡¯t shield it from detection." Faluel gestured Nalrond to pass the wand, which he reluctantly did.

    Losing his new toy right after getting it felt bad, but beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers.

    Faluel¡¯s wand was an improved version of the Royal Forgemasters¡¯ tool. Once imprinted, it would turn the world energy of the crystal into mana with the same signature of its owner, just like Friya¡¯s hammer.

    Thanks to that, the wand could support its master¡¯s spells and reduce the mana expenditure for low tiered spells.

    "This is amazing! It¡¯s much better than yours." Lith told the girls, making them curse.

    "Thank you." Faluel gave him a small bow. "I made it as a learning device specifically for fake mages who can¡¯t use Invigoration. This way, people like Nalrond should be able to keep up with you during basic practice."

    "Can¡¯t we have one as well?" Friya asked.

    "Of course." Faluel handed a wand to each one of them.

    "Yet none of you is allowed to bring it out of here. If a soldier of the Kingdom sees my wand, you¡¯d be forced to either exin their origin and be killed by me, or be charged with treason and be killed by the Association."

    "Now that you¡¯re properly equipped, let¡¯s make a quick recap about Spirit Magic before starting the real deal. How many of you have tried to develop Spirit spells on your own?" Aside from Nalrond, they all raised their hand.

    "How many of you seeded?" Every hand came down.

    "I tried weaving Spirit Magic like I do with Light Mastery..." Lith said as Nalrond loudly cleared his throat, sending him a clear "shut up" message. "...but it didn¡¯t work. Spirit Magic can¡¯t sustain itself without an elemental scaffold.

    "On top of that, conjuring enough mana for a spell takes a lot of time whereas the slightest interference disrupts it." Lith said.

    "All correct. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have needed several lessons to learn Light Mastery and all Awakened who can use Spirit spells would also be Light Masters. What about you girls?" Faluel asked the rest of the ss.

    "I tried weaving Spirit Magic akin to Forgemastering Spells, but it always failed." Phloria said.

    "That¡¯s because Forgemastering spells use as a scaffold the item they are cast upon. You actually seeded in creating new spells, they just faded away before they could have any effect." Faluel patted her head.

    "We managed to discover several Spirit Magic runes while inside the Fringe." Friya pointed at herself and Quy. "Yet even with Mogar¡¯s help, we couldn¡¯t find a way to cast even tier one spells."

    "Bravo!" Faluel gave them a round of apuse. "Congrattions for your ingenuity but you could never seed because learning a rune is like learning a single word whereas to make a spell the grammar is important as well."

    "Yet don¡¯t be discouraged. Thanks to your efforts, each one of you has learned valuable lessons that strengthened your foundations of magic. What today you call a failure, tomorrow it will lead you to your greatest sess.

    "That said, here is the tier one Spirit Magic spells you¡¯ll learn today." Faluel pointed her right index finger against her left palm, making an emerald green bullet strike a thin emerald wall the size of a handkerchief that produced a silvery sound.

    "That¡¯s it?" Nalrond blurted out in surprise.

    He had expected that the fabled and elusive Spirit Magic would have great effects even at tier one, like it happened for Chaos or Decay magic.

    "Those are brave words for someone who has no idea what he has just witnessed, smartass." Faluel said with a scoff. "The offensive spell is called Poke."

    The impact made Nalrond double over in pain. Despite his muscr body and his training, it felt as if someone had kicked him in the guts.

    "The defensive spell is called Pillow. Lith, you are the strongest of the ss. Do you mind throwing a punch with all of your might?" Faluel pointed at her emerald-shrouded left hand.

    <i>¡¯No matter how underwhelming its name is, that spell can¡¯t be simple.¡¯</i> Lith thought while using the maximum strength he could muster without using elemental fusion.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" The moment his fist reached Faluel¡¯s hand, the silvery sound was the only thing that marked the hit.

    Lith didn¡¯t feel any impact nor Faluel did move by a millimeter. Not even the mass gap between them could exin how her hand had resisted so easily to Lith¡¯s best-charged punch.

    He felt akin to someone had pulled the hand brake of his arm while it passed through a foam as fluid as water and yet as soft as silk.

    Lith attacked again and again, but each time his fist stopped in front of the thin barrier as if he was pulling his attack at thest second.

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough. You can go back to your desk. Thanks for your help." Lith gave her a stunned small bow that Faluel returned.

    "This, my disciples, is Spirit Magic. The Poke spell borrows air magic¡¯s speed, earth¡¯s hardness, and darkness¡¯ destructive power. Pillow, instead, borrows light magic¡¯s ability to rearrange and repair, uses fire magic to convert kic energy into heat, and water magic to instantly neutralize it."

    "Wait, what? Are they tri-elemental spells?" The ss said in unison.

    "Not at all. Fire and water would neutralize each other while darkness would slowly erode earth." Faluel shook her head. "Spirit Magic is nothing but the power of all six elements kept in bnce by your life force hence it has all of their properties and more.

    "Poke and Pillow use three elements each, so by mastering them you can master all the aspects hidden in Spirit Magic. To cast them, you must learn how to amplify the characteristics of a specific element without destroying Spirit Magic¡¯s bnce."

    Faluel¡¯s words made something click in the heads of Lith and Solus.

    "Isn¡¯t this just like enhancing an element in a white crystal?" They asked in unison as if their mind link had never been broken.

    "I have no idea how you know about such a high-grade Forgemastering technique, but yes." Faluel nodded. "It works the same way. Spirit Magic is akin to a white crystal."

 Chapter 1335 - Artificial Mana Flow (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1335 - Artificial Mana Flow (Part 1)</h4>

    "Both Spirit Magic and white crystals use all the elements as their own, making the mage or the gem akin to Mogar itself. They possess all the elemental properties and it¡¯s up to the mage to enhance what they want to create the same effects of hexaelemental spells."

    The ssroom jumped up, unable to stay still while countless questions ran through their minds.

    "Hexaelemental spells are impossible." Quy said. "The closest thing to them is Silverwing¡¯s Hexagram and it requires a monstrous amount of effort and mana to hold the elements in synch."

    "Indeed." Faluel nodded. "Even mages known to have a tower never cast a spell with more than four elements. That¡¯s why Spirit Magic is so strong."

    "Wait. If Spirit Magic and white crystals are the same, why is enhancing a single element considered a high-grade Forgemastering technique?" Solus asked.

    "Because Spirit Magices from you. It¡¯s your own mana and it naturally obeys to you. Doing the same to a white crystal is akin to force a powerful mana core to shape its own Spirit Magic ording to your will.

    "First you need to learn how to gain absolute control over the crystal¡¯s mana flow and then you have to be so skilled as to manipte the world energy as if it¡¯s Spirit Magic, which it¡¯s not.

    "It¡¯s a technique difficult beyond what words can express and no one without a violet core can even attempt it so don¡¯t waste your time in a fool¡¯s errand." Faluel replied.

    "How can you use light magic to give Spirit Spells shape if you don¡¯t know Light Mastery?" Nalrond knew that the answer might give away the secrets of his n, but he was curious beyond the point of caring about it anymore.

    "To exin it so as to not reveal your teaching to the rest of the ss, just consider that I can use the other elements as a scaffold for the lightponent. Pillow reshapes the fire and water elements into a napkin, a shield, whatever I want."

    "When you put it like that, Spirit Magic seems too good to be true. It has the properties of all elements, even of Light Mastery, and none of their weaknesses. What¡¯s the catch?" Lith asked.

    "Easy. Unlike the other kinds of magic, Spirit depends solely on your core. You are the limit. A single tier one spell requires the same mana you would need to cast dozens of elemental spells of the same tier.

    "The same applies to all the tiers of Spirit Magic. On top of that, if applied to an artifact, Spirit Magic loses all of its versatility. If you program it as a barrier, you will only have a barrier.

    "Enchanting an item to produce your Spirit Magic is impossible without applying a white crystal turned green. You can only craft artifacts capable of storing your Spirit Magic in a specific form with specific properties and they can never be changed." Faluel said.

    "Can you create gravity and dimensional spells as well?" Friya could see endless potential in Spirit Magic.

    "Yes, you can, and to make things even juicier, there is no such a thing as a Spirit Sealing Array. Spirit magic cannot be stopped. It¡¯s akin to a mage using fusion magic.

    "The elements are inside and they cannot be affected by arrays, no matter how powerful they are." Faluel traced a circle of emerald energy in the air that turned into a small dimensional fissure.

    "Are you interested now or do you still consider Poke ¡¯that¡¯s it?¡¯ material?"

    Everyone quickly went back to their desks, eager to stop gawking at Spirit Magic and start learning it.

    "Now that you know the secret behind Spirit Magic, learning and mastering it are within your grasp. It¡¯s not going to be an easy feat and manifesting all six elements at the same time marks the end of this subject.

    "The first step is to learn how to enhance a single element so that Spirit Magic is nothing but an absurdly mana expensive elemental spell. Once you do that, I¡¯ll consider you beginners.

    "The second step is to learn how to enhance all of them but manifest just one at a time. The third step is to manifest two of them at a time, obtaining all kinds of tier four and five spells that can¡¯t be stopped by an array.

    "It¡¯s only when you manage to manifest three elements at the same time that you graduate from beginners and be real Spirit Mages. After that point, no one cares until you can manifest all of them and you can call yourself a Spirit Master." Faluel said.

    "How do we do that?" Phloria asked.

    "You should know me at this point." The Hydra chuckled. "Start emitting your mana and work on your own to amplify one of its elemental aspects. I¡¯m not going to give you any help until you¡¯ve thoroughly racked your brain.

    "If you want, however, I can tell you your elemental affinities and you can work on them. It¡¯s always easier to start from an element you¡¯re attuned with."

    Phloria had blue streaks in her hair so she chose water while Quy practiced light while Tista and Nalrond picked fire. Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, Friya got to choose freely any of the elements.

    <i>¡¯I could use either fire or darkness, but I should have a much easier way to master Spirit Magic thanks to my Emperor Beast¡¯s bloodline.¡¯</i> Lith thought as he conjured six identical streams of elemental energy and breathed a spark of life force in them.

    The energy flow turned emerald green and Lith started to amplify one of its elements at a time. It was simplepared to real Spirit Magic since he was actually producing six streams so by enhancing one, the corresponding element manifested itself.

    "That¡¯s cheating if I¡¯ve ever seen one!" Tista blurted out as Solus followed Lith¡¯s lead and he had no issue manifesting all six elemental aspects even though just one at a time.

    "That¡¯s not cheating." Faluel shook her head. "Just like Quy is undoubtedly a genius and Friya has the same level of affinity with all elements, Lith can breathe his file force. It¡¯s a natural talent."

    "And what about the rest of us?" Phloria grumbled.

    "Work hard and ovee your limits because whining will get you nowhere. Besides, I¡¯m curious to see if it will make them more good than harm." Faluel said.

    "What do you mean?" The slightest distraction broke the flow back into its originalponents and adding too much of a single element destroyed the bnce as well.

    Despite the appearances, Lith wasn¡¯t having an easy time. Sure, he had already manifested all six elements while the others had yet to get their first, but he always found something toin about.

    "I mean that on a first nce your method speeds up mastering Spirit Magic, but on a second nce it looks like a waste of time to me." Faluel replied. "You can¡¯t use such a technique in battle and I¡¯ve got no idea if what you learn by using it can be applied to mana as well."

    "Do you think I should stop?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m no Dragon so I¡¯ve got no opinion. Worst case scenario, we all will learn something new and you¡¯ll have to start from scratch. It¡¯s no big deal." Faluel shrugged.

 Chapter 1336 - Artificial Mana Flow (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1336 - Artificial Mana Flow (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s a big deal to me!¡¯</i> Lith and Solus thought as one as their mind was suddenly filled with doubts.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways. I knew it was too good to be true. Before throwing the towel, I¡¯m going to master a single element and try to apply what I learn in the process to regr Spirit Magic. If my discoveries don¡¯t work on natural mana, then I¡¯ll stop wasting my time.¡¯</i> They thought in unison.

    He now focused on the darkness element because it was one of his affinities while Solus focused on earth.

    "I¡¯ve got a question. How do I know that I¡¯m doing it right?" Friya asked.

    "You¡¯ll know because your first magic will have the same elemental properties of the aspect you enhanced." Faluel replied. "Heat for fire, cold for water, and so on."

    "Fire it is." Friya put a bit of dry grass near the tip of her wand so that she could notice the slightest hint of heat.

    Tista and Nalrond whistled in approval and followed her example.

    Soon it was clear that Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s method presented different issues from that of the others. The former had to keep the elemental bnce whereas thetter had to break it.

    On top of that, while Lith and Solus had the issue of keeping a single element from going haywire, the others had to find them first. The perfect bnce of mana made it so uniform that without Faluel¡¯s earlier demonstration they would have never realized its true nature.

    They spent the whole time before lunch emitting pure mana and trying to identify the element of their choosing. Lith, instead, after grasping how to keep the elements bnced, discovered that real mana was too stable for his technique to work.

    "Dammit! I¡¯ve just wasted a lot of time." He grumbled with all of his might.

    "I¡¯m not so sure about that." Faluel said to him and Solus.

    "One of the most difficult things that you¡¯ll have to learn once you can manifest more than one element is to keep the mana bnced. You are taking a different route from others. Your start might be slower, but you might be able to pick up the paceter."

    She suddenly Hushed them before saying:

    "On top of that, I think it might help you to master Domination. That kind of bnce is akin to that you have to reach in order to take control of a spell without bursting it."

    Lith looked at Solus for answers since she was the one who hade up with that technique after retrieving the Hands of Menadion.

    "Beats me. The only way to know is to keep practicing. It¡¯s worth a shot." She shrugged.

    Using pure mana consumed a lot of energy. Even with the aid of Faluel¡¯s wands, the non-Awakened needed Invigoration as much as the Awakened, and all of them ate like famished trolls.

    "If you get tired of magic, you could always open up a restaurant. I would dly fund the project and take food as my share of the profits." Phloria said.

    It was the first time they ate with Faluel and every single one of them regretted having been denied such a blessing until that moment.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." The Hydra took thepliment at face value since her apprentices wolfed down her food as if they hadn¡¯t eaten for a week. "What¡¯s your status?"

    "I think I¡¯ll get seconds of this delicious stew once more before moving on to the dessert." Nalrond said.

    "I meant with Spirit Magic, not your stomach." She giggled.

    "I think I¡¯m getting the hang of it." Tista said. "It¡¯s hard to exin, but I feel like the worst part is finding the right element. Once you start to dig it out, the closer you get it to the surface, the easier it gets to manifest the element."

    The others nodded at her words,cking better terms to describe their experience with Spirit Magic. Lith took note of it and used such information to try a new approach once they started the afternoon session.

    After he created the emerald green flow, Lith focused on making the six different elements match until he couldn¡¯t tell them apart any longer. It took him time, focus, and effort, but he managed to do it before the end of the lesson.

    <i>¡¯At a first nce, it might seem a fool¡¯s errand, but it¡¯s far from it.¡¯</i> He thought. <i>¡¯Just like the others, I can¡¯t make heads or tails of the natural mana flow. Yet unlike them, I need but a thought to enhance a single elemental aspect of the artificial flow.</i>

    <i>¡¯My ability to twist the bnce of the artificial flow at will allows me to learn how mana reacts when you do things right.</i>

    <i>¡¯This way, once I move on normal Spirit Magic, I can easily find the best method to enhance all elemental aspects and know on the first try if I¡¯m actually making progress or not.¡¯</i>

    By the end of the lesson, the others started to manifest their first element. Lith, instead, had studied how fire and darkness reacted when they were stimted in the artificial mana flow but had failed to manifest them in Spirit Magic.

    "I hope you had fun today because this is what you¡¯ll do from now on aside from physical training." Faluel said to the panting stinky mass of sweat that once had been a group of fine-looking people.

    "The good news is that whatever you learn about Spirit Magic also applies to the other elements so it¡¯s like you are studying all specializations at the same time. The bad news is that the effort it takes it¡¯s not much different from the real deal.

    "Eat and sleep a lot. Without Invigoration, none of you would havested this long, and to use it again tomorrow you need to reset its effects with a good night¡¯s sleep. Overwork yourself and your next lesson willst minutes instead of hours." Faluel said while Warping them at Lith¡¯s house.

    He was so tired that he gave up on walking and focused solely on keeping his eyes open.

    s, such a demanding day was destined to have a fitting epilogue.

    "I¡¯m so d you gave our armor self-cleaning properties, otherwise my clothes would have be see-through with the amount of sweat I-" Tista chocked on her words the moment she walked through the door and discovered that the privacy of her home had been vited.

    She didn¡¯t mind Kam¡¯s presence since Tista considered her a part of the family, but the same couldn¡¯t be said about Zinya, the parents of the two women, Professor Vastor, and more importantly, Orpal.

    Elina wasn¡¯t expecting guests so after finding her long-lost son on her doorstep along with her potential inws, she and Zinya had sent their children to Selia¡¯s home.

    Both women had high hopes for reconciliation but knew there was no limit to how ugly things might get and they didn¡¯t want to involve the children in their own mess.

    "You!" Tista took a deep breath, letting Invigoration fill her up with energy as she needed sheer willpower to not emit a bright cyan aura in front of witnesses.

 Chapter 1337 - The Prodigalsâ€™ Return (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1337 - The Prodigals¡¯ Return (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith used Invigoration as well, but unlike Tista, his face remained expressionless as he studied his enemies.

    Orpal had be surprisingly tall, almost as Lith. He stood 1.82 (6¡¯) tall, with the muscr build of an athlete, ck hair, and brown eyes. Despite all the hardsh.i.p.s he was supposed to have gone through, Orpal didn¡¯t look a day past his 25 years of age.

    <i>¡¯This is bullshit. He wasn¡¯t this tall when he was kicked out. Sure, he had yet to hit his growth spurt, but no one in my family developed such a physique without my treatments. Solus?¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Bright orange core and regr life force, but we know it doesn¡¯t mean much. We wear cloaking device ourselves.¡¯</i> The idea that Orpal might have ess to state secrets was simply absurd but even though Solus had just met Lith¡¯s older brother, the intensity of her hatred for him matched Tista¡¯s.

    She wouldn¡¯t lower her guard as long as he drew breath.

    As for the Rettas, Kam¡¯s and Zinya¡¯s parents, they looked like a nice couple, reminding Lith that looks are often deceiving.

    Crefas Retta was a man in his mid-fifties, about 1.71 meters (5¡¯7") tall, with greying raven-ck hair and mustache. He had the slender built of someone who had a sedentary job, but he exuded an aura of confidence and charisma that intimidated the Verhens.

    Kima Retta, instead, was a lovely woman in herte forties that barely looked one day past forty. She was about 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall, with light brown hair and sky-blue eyes.

    Her visage had delicate proportions, full lips, and the sickly pale color of the northerners masterfully hidden by a light makeup. It made it quite obvious from whom the Yehval sisters had gotten their beauty.

    "Professor Vastor, it¡¯s so nice to see you." Lith gave him a small bow to which the Professor replied with a nod of the head. "I¡¯m dead tired from work. Would you mind keeping an eye on the situation in my stead while I clean up?"

    "dly." Vastor¡¯s stone-cold voice matched his gaze as he clenched the Yggdrasil Staff so hard that his knuckles turned white.

    The Dominator armor shielded his ck core from mystical senses, whereas his weapon shone like a sun to Solus¡¯s mana sense.

    "Thanks. Please, follow me, darling." Lith gave Kam a quick kiss before dragging her in the bathroom with him and making Orpal turn green with envy.

    Even after Night had modified his body to match that of his hated brother, to receive the attention of a woman as pretty as Kam Orpal still needed Night¡¯s help.

    "Are you insane? There is no time for s.e.x now." She said the moment the door closed behind them.

    "I just needed privacy." Lith could see her panic and tried to calm her down. He was well aware of the power that even the worst parents had on their children, no matter their age.

    Breaking the shackles of blood took more than strong words and good resolutions. It took determination, a cold heart, and lots of pain.

    "Don¡¯t ask me why, but Meln smells fishier than I do right now. I¡¯ll take a quick shower and use this time to regain as much strength as I can. Stay close to Vastor and keep your sister and my parents with you.

    "He¡¯s your safe haven until my return. Okay?" Lith said.

    "Okay." Kam hugged him tightly, uncaring for his stench while the warmth of Lith¡¯s body shook off the coldness in her heart.

    "Tista, it¡¯s been so long since west met. You¡¯ve grown into a gorgeous woman. Why don¡¯t you give your older brother a hug?" Orpal opened his arms as he walked toward her, obtaining in return a push so strong that it sent him back sitting on the couch.

    "Keep your dirty hands off me, whatever name you now go by." Tista¡¯s eyes zed with cyan mana. "I¡¯ve got only two brothers and their names are Lith and Aran. Professor, if he makes a wrong move while I¡¯m away, react with extreme prejudice."

    Orpal¡¯s voice was warm and nice, yet it gave the creeps to every woman in the room, even Kima. They all had enough experience with their respective suitors to recognize the tone of a brother speaking to his sister from that of a man addressing a woman he would like to sleep with.

    "Don¡¯t mind if do." Vastor looked like an overweight and short middle-aged man, yet he gave Night the creeps as much as Orpal did to the women.

    There was something about his demeanor that gave Vastor both the calm of a sage and the savagery of a predator that could snuff her life at the slightest provocation. Baba Yaga¡¯s ve spell kept Night from helping Orpal in any way against the residents of Lutia but luckily for them, Vastor wasn¡¯t among them.

    <i>¡¯Calm down, you moron. Your n will never work if you get your a.s.s kicked.¡¯</i> Night said via their mind link.

    <i>¡¯First Lith ignored me, then Tista disrespected me, and now you want me to cower in front of an old fart? What good is our bond if I can¡¯t teach any of them a lesson?¡¯</i> Orpal snarled.

    <i>¡¯The "old fart" has a staff that alone can hurt us and if you attack him, there¡¯s no telling what might happen.¡¯</i> Due to the ve spell, Night couldn¡¯t mention the arrays surrounding them nor the fact that outside the house there were more powerful creatures staring at them than trees in the woods.

    The only thing she could do was to warn Orpal about the dangers that Vastor posed to the n. Like most of those who gained power without effort, Orpal felt entitled to everything, letting his pride and l.u.s.t cloud his vision.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t believe that cripple became such a hottie. Tista spends so much time with Leech every day and she has to obey him due to the rules of the Council, yet she treated me like trash.¡¯</i> Orpal¡¯s thought, wondering if he should take an apprentice as well.

    Keeping his cool during the first visit had been much simpler. He had enjoyed ying with the feelings of guilt that still gued his parents. Orpal had managed not tough when Elina had cried hearing about Trion¡¯s death only because he had rehearsed his speech many times with the members of the Night Court.

    Yet no amount of rehearsing could help contain the fury that ravaged Orpal¡¯s mind as things didn¡¯t y as he had predicted. He had expected Lith tosh out in outrage, to which he would have responded with calm, proving his superiority.

    He had predicted that Tista would have been as gullible as Rena and that his appearance would have been enough to undermine Lith¡¯s authority.

    "Professor Vastor, how long have you known my daughter?" Crefas said, assuming that the old man would be easy prey.

    <i>¡¯When I heard the songs about Lith, I thought that the bards were just buttering him up to encourage him and other young mages into serving the Kingdom. I expected to find a mage as talented as na?ve with a crush on my rebellious daughter, not a butcher.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1338 - The Prodigalsâ€™ Return (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1338 - The Prodigals¡¯ Return (Part 2)</h4>

    Just looking into Lith¡¯s eyes had covered Crefas in a cold sweat. He had met enough criminals to recognize someone who had no qualms to hogtie him with weights, throw him into a well, and make a wish.

    <i>¡¯Vastor, instead, looks like a man desperate enough to chase someone who could be his daughter and stupid enough to do anything to keep her by his side.¡¯</i> Crefas thought.

    "Not much, just a couple of years." Vastor said with a warm smile. "Yet it took me less than one hour to notice the abuses she was subjected to. I always wondered how could you miss it or why you didn¡¯t stand in court by her side when Zinya fought for her children¡¯s custody."

    Vastor¡¯s act was so perfect that Clefas stuttered in embarrassment the excuses he had repeated from the day Zinya had be a widow. Otherwise he would have noticed much sooner that the Professor neither listened nor believed a word Clefas said.

    Vastor¡¯s gaze held a list of promises of pain that got longer the more bullshit he had to listen to.

    "Is everything fine?" Kam¡¯s quick return relieved Orpal¡¯s wounded ego and saved her father from a "sudden" heart attack.

    "Peachy. Your mother and I were just telling Zinya how lucky she is to have found an outstanding man like Professor Vastor. Taking care of two children born from another man speaks volumes about your noble character." Clefas said.

    The carrot and the stick was one of his favorite negotiation tactics. S.u.c.k.i.n.g up to Vastor would curry his favor while reminding Zinya of her failed marriage and of her baggage would make her submissive.

    "Dad, Zogar and I are not in that kind of rtionship." She blushed up to her ears, too embarrassed to even met Vastor¡¯s eyes.

    Clefas knew that Zinya had never been with a man besides Fallmug. She knew nothing about love except for what her parents had told her, making her easy to manipte.

    "Just like ignoring your daughter and your two grandchildren for ten years speaks volumes about yours, mister Retta." Vastor¡¯s reply made it clear that one out of two was the best result that Clefas could hope for.

    "That¡¯s not true, Zogar. My mother came to visit every time she could and she did try to help me. Sadly, between the gap in status between the conflicting households and my father¡¯s economic issues, Fallmug always had his way." Zinya said.

    She was too happy for being finally able to see her parents after being blind from birth to question their words or their honesty.

    "I hope you are right." Vastor had tried and failed to find any evidence that the Retta had reported Fallmug¡¯s abuse or of their attempts to take their daughter back so he assumed that didn¡¯t even try to.

    "By the way, how did you meet with Meln?" With no evidence, however, the only thing he could achieve by expressing his suspicions was to hurt Zinya¡¯s feelings so he moved to another unclear aspect of that situation.

    "It happened by chance at Lutia¡¯s only inn. Mister Narchat was about to leave when we arrived." Clefas didn¡¯t miss the allegations hidden in Vastor¡¯s question and rushed to clear his position.

    "We heard the innkeeper talking to him after recognizing mister Narchat as a member of the Verhen family and we naturally became friends." Clefas said with a huge smile on his face.

    Not only it was the truth, making it impossible for Vastor to dig more dirt on them, but it also helped Orpal, making him feel indebted.

    Clefas had left out the part where, after calling Orpal several unpleasant names, the innkeeper had refused to give him a room, iming that he could only stay in the stables if the beasts stooped so low that they would ept hispany.

    "Indeed." Orpal nodded, grateful for that moment of respite. "We both had issues with our respective rtives so we decided that for our next visit we would visit together."

    The Retta couple were victims of Orpal¡¯s maniption as well. He had timed his return so that he would meet his parents alone and that when Kam¡¯s parents arrived, they would strike the iron while it was still hot.

    He didn¡¯t trust the Retta couple farther than he could throw them and Orpal couldn¡¯t risk exposing to them his real goal or nature. He considered them as a disposable means to his end.

    The destruction of everything that Lith had built.

    Tearing down Kam¡¯s life as well was just a lucky coincidence.

    "It makes sense." Lith came out of the bathroom while dabbing his still wet hair with a towel. His white shirt was partly unbuttoned and he wore the elegant clothes that he had liberated from the Night Court during the mission in Othre.

    He was tantly overdressed and together with his studied entrance that came straight out of e.r.o.t.i.ca, it made all the women with no blood rtion with him blush in arousal.

    Orpal clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles popped. He was well dressed, but havinge to y the part of the prodigal son he had to appear modest and remorseful, not like a dandy.

    Lith had no such problem and he knew that with Orpal everything was apetition. Night wasn¡¯t the only one who had nned that meeting for a long time and Lith had no qualms poking his brother in every conceivable way.

    He wanted Orpal to lose it and reveal his real nature to their parents. No matter how much Lith wished to use violence and kick Orpal¡¯s sorry a.s.s into oblivion. Without a good reason to do it, he would be the bad guy.

    <i>¡¯I didn¡¯t make him a martyr back when we were children and I¡¯m not going to make that mistake now. His pride will be his downfall.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    "Cover yourself. We have guests." Kam tried to button up his shirt but the Adamant obeyed only to its master and her hands trembled in excitement too much to seed anyway.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ve still got this effect on you after all this time?¡¯</i> He asked her via a mind link as he allowed her to fix his shirt.

    <i>¡¯I told you many times that I¡¯m a pervert for you.¡¯</i> She replied.<i> ¡¯Don¡¯t you dare to show yourself in such a way in front of another woman again, let alone my sister!¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s all part of the n, babe.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I¡¯d tear your stupid n off along with your cloth-¡¯</i> Kam blushed wildly at the thought and ran into the bathroom to cool off.

    "What business do you have here, mister Retta." Lith ignored his brother again, pretending to not care about what Orpal had been doing during all those years nor about how did he get a noblest name.

    <i>¡¯I see what you are doing, but it¡¯s not going to work!¡¯</i> Orpal thought, yet he kept clenching his fists and twisting his face into a grimace of rage that scared Elina.

    "No business, just family." Clefas shook his head, in his best impression of a concerned father. "I know that I¡¯m not a perfect man and that I¡¯ve made so many mistakes in the past that my daughters are now estranged from me, but I always cared for them."

 Chapter 1339 - The Prodigalsâ€™ Return (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1339 - The Prodigals¡¯ Return (Part 3)</h4>

    "When I heard that my girls were involved with two of the most powerful men in the Kingdom, I had to make sure that they treated my daughters right." Once again, Clefas attempted the carrot and the stick.

    "Archmage Verhen, I heard that you¡¯ve been dating my Kami for almost three years. Are your intentions honest or are you just ying with her feelings?" He was seconds away from shitting himself in fear, but he knew that the greater the risks, the greater the reward.

    Anything that Lith said could be used against him in the noble circles and by acting as a good parent, Clefas had the opportunity to get on Kam¡¯s good side again.

    If they ended up not marrying, Lith¡¯s political opponents would pay a hefty sum to stain his reputation whereas if they did, the Retta household would be entitled to a share of Lith¡¯s ie from both the silver mines and as Forgemaster.

    Or so he thought until the bathroom¡¯s door burst open, letting Kam out.

    "Don¡¯t you dare to call me Kami again. That¡¯s family only and I¡¯ve disowned you!" She took out the legal papers and shoved them under Clefas¡¯ nose. "As for what we do with our rtionship, it¡¯s none of your business."

    "Dear, do you have to be so rude? Your father and your fianc¨¦ are trying to have a civilized conversation. Maybe if you wore something different from your Constable uniform, you wouldn¡¯t be so judgemental." Kima managed to make her feel like an unruly child by criticizing Kam for her clothing and demeanor at the same time.

    "Don¡¯t be so harsh on her, dear. Kam has a point. Our family did drift apart over the years and that¡¯s because we worried more about our money issues than about our own blood." Warm tears streamed down Clefas¡¯ cheeks, yet Lith was unimpressed.

    Compared to Zekell, the man had much to learn about crying on cue.

    "Tell me about it." Lith held Kam¡¯s hand, making her sit next to him on the sofa. "Maybe I can help you. If we ever have kids, they should have the opportunity to enjoy thepany of all their grandparents."

    His words filled every one of those present with joy for a different reason, especially Kima who had yet to regain her cool from Lith¡¯s entrance.

    "My husband is too humble. We have plenty of promising business opportunities, the only thing weck is the necessary funds. Without dimensional storage items and due to the tight security measures that the Kingdom enforced after the war with the undead began, making a profit has be difficult."

    Lith nodded for her to continue and Kima was happy to oblige. As Lith casually yed with the buttons of his shirt or took an incredibly expensive item out of his dimensional pocket, Kima¡¯s togue became looser.

    He couldn¡¯t stop her without raising suspicions and Kima was actually doing an excellent pitch that the shortest pause would ruin.

    "Interesting. I¡¯ll talk about it with the administrator of my finances." Lith said, making the Retta Couple inwardly jump with joy.

    "What about you, Meln? What are you doing here?" Lith¡¯s soft smile stung at Orpal¡¯s pride for the umpteenth time that night, almost making his mask crumble.

    Almost.

    <i>¡¯First you ignored me, then you cut me out of the conversation as if I¡¯m just a piece of furniture, and now you use my new name to remember everyone that I¡¯m not part of this family any longer. Well yed, Leech.¡¯</i> Orpal kept his cool solely thanks to Night¡¯s training.

    Between his memories and her previous fight with Lith, Night knew how sly he could be. She had predicted most of his moves and had Orpal get used to such taunting by having an undead shapeshift into Lith before rehearsing the present conversation.

    The wet shirt move, however, was outside of her expectations.

    <i>¡¯Man, if he¡¯s hot.¡¯</i> Night hid that thought from Orpal to keep him from ruining all of their hard work out of blind envy.

    "I¡¯m here to reconnect with my family in the hope that they can forgive me. I may have not had an exciting career like yours, but I still got far in life. I¡¯m here because Mom and Dad deserve someone who can take care of them.

    "Someone who can spend more than the crumbs of their free time with them. You have been away the whole day to practice your magic, little brother, whereas thanks to mymunication amulet, I can do business even from home." Orpal said.

    "Really? What kind of business could you possibly have? Is beating widows and children a thing now?" Tista returned as well, wearing the baggiest clothes she had.

    Her attire oozed the disgust she felt for her long-lost brother while her words challenged him to prove to be more than the horrible person everyone remembered.

    Just what Orpal wanted.

    "The good thing about hitting rock-bottom, dear sister, is that you¡¯ve got no way to go but up." He inwardly smiled seeing Tista turn to a shade of purple when he called sister.

    Her fury kept Tista from formting words that weren¡¯t insults, forcing her to shut up to not make Elina suffer and to not embarrass her family in front of strangers. Now she was the one clenching her fists and unable to speak, making Orpal feel reborn.

    Then, he told them his story. Not the one about him losing a leg in a prison shortly after moving to the Gorgon Empire and being forced to live as a beggar on the streets until Night had found him.

    It was the story that his partner had created for Orpal, turning his streak of failures and his wallowing in self-pity into the chronicles of a self-made man.

    It was finally Orpal¡¯s moment to shine and he enjoyed it to its fullest.

    Like all good lies, it was based on truth. He didn¡¯t hide his failure as a soldier nor his petty crimes and multiple incarcerations while he was still in the Kingdom. Orpal¡¯s fiction started only when he had allegedly turned over a new leaf in the Empire, starting from scratch as a shop apprentice in a smithy.

    From there, he had allegedly made the business thrive, opening new shops and expanding into jewelry by bing a skilled goldsmith as well. Every part of his story was devised to make him stand on par with Lith.

    Night had made him into a skilled craftsman as well, as he proved by gifting Elina and Rena his "own" creations. She had given him a wife prettier and younger than Kam that Orpal said was pregnant with their firstborn.

    The news of a grandson made everyone¡¯s heart but Lith¡¯s flutter. Even if Orpal hadn¡¯t truly changed, the child wasn¡¯t responsible for the crimes of their father.

 Chapter 1340 - The Prodigalsâ€™ Return (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1340 - The Prodigals¡¯ Return (Part 4)</h4>

    "Bing a father was thest nail in the coffin of the old me." Orpal sighed deeply. "It allowed me to walk a mile in your shoes, Mom. I now understand that no parent would allow anyone to do on their children what I did to Tista and Lith.

    "I¡¯ve no excuses for what I did, Dad. I can only admit my faults and pray for your forgiveness."

    "Start praying, then." Tista tapped her foot in annoyance at those cheesy words.

    "I beg your pardon?" Orpal¡¯s voice was meek, but a spark of fury lit his eyes at such tant disrespect.

    "I pity your child, not you." Tista replied. "I heard a lot of pretty words, but saw no sincerity behind them."

    "Tista! How can you say that?" Rena said as the idea of reconnecting with her twin and meeting her sister-inw filled her heart with hope.

    "By using my lips as well as my brain. How can you believe him when every time he apologized, he did it to Mom and Dad? Meln kept as vague about his faults as he did with his sess.

    "Zekell is a great craftsman and a shameless merchant, yet he doesn¡¯t have amunication amulet nor a dimensional item." Tista pointed at the luxury goods that Orpal so casually unted.

    Rena had to admit that even with all the business that Zekell made with Lith, he had gone nowhere close to afford amunication amulet since he invested most of the money he earned in his own shop.

    "Zekell is a small-time cksmith who lived his whole life in a small-time vige like Lutia. I instead started my career in Homwer, one of the Empire¡¯s most important trading hubs." Orpal replied.

    "We exploited the various crises from the monster outbreak to the current war against the undead to expand our business and follow the market. Our turnover grew with each new shop we opened and crafting jewelry did more than allow us to venture into a small risks high reward market.

    "It also allowed me to get in touch with people with the money and the will to finance my projects. It¡¯s thanks to them that, once I started riding on top of the wave of conflicts in the Empire, my business never lost momentum and kept growing."

    Neither Orpal nor Night were stupid. Before making theireback, they had prepared an adequate cover story and made sure that even the paperwork was in order.

    Orpal owned several smiths thatundered the money from the Undead Courts and even his wife was real. She wasn¡¯t actually pregnant, but she would be, for the right price.

    "Bravo, Meln." Lith gave him a round of apuse without breaking eye contact, smiling at him with a joy that didn¡¯t extend to his eyes. "There¡¯s just one little tiny hole in your story."

    "And what¡¯s that?" Orpal asked.

    "The same that gues the story of Kam¡¯s parents. Too many details. A good lie has to be kept simple because once a single piece falls apart, the rest quickly follows." Lith stood up as both Orpal and the Retta couple feigned indignation.

    Yet they stopped the moment Lith opened the door of his house and let Jirni Ernas in.

    "Did you hear everything?" He asked.

    "Down to thest word." The Archon waved a quick greeting to the Verhens while never stopping pushing the buttons of the holographic pad of her amulet. "You¡¯ve got a talent for making people talk."

    "Thanks, but I can¡¯t take credit for Meln. He just loves the sound of his voice." Lith said.

    "Who¡¯s that woman?" Clefas had never seen an Archon, but her uniform was simr enough to Kam¡¯s to send a cold shiver down his spine.

    Night shared his impression and warned Orpal about Jirni. While Lith exuded an even greater power than that of thest time they had met and Vastor looked like a crouching tiger, Jirni was akin to a ghost.

    She had no presence, showed no emotions, and her pulse was clockwork. Her frail appearance was bnced by an aura of confidence that made the Horseman fear to be in the presence of a creature more ancient and vicious than her mother.

    "The administrator of my finances." Lith said with a cold smile. "I never get in business with anyone until they get cleared of suspicions. I can¡¯t have my name tainted by shady entrepreneurs."

    "While bbermouth here talked and my colleague from the Empire verified his story, I ran a thorough analysis of your parents¡¯ business based on the information they provided, Zinya. Take a look." Jirni handed her the amulet.

    The results of the Archon¡¯s work were disturbing at best.

    Zinya recognized the names of the people and of the merchant guilds that Kima had mentioned earlier. The cleanest among them were figureheads of notorious criminal organizations while the others had a rap sheet longer than her arm.

    "Ever since the actions of your ex-husband ruined the Sarta household, your parents¡¯ merchantpany have been in dire straits. If before they just needed to take part in smuggling to make ends meet, now they¡¯ve taken a more active role in the underworld." Jirni said.

    "They have gotten themselves involved and indebted with really bad people and the only way they have to get out of it in one piece is by paying all of their debts in spades.

    "That¡¯s why they were so desperate to reconnect with you and Kam. Best case scenario, Lith¡¯s and Zogar¡¯s names would be enough to cancel their debt. Very few are dumb enough to mess with an Archmage.

    "Worst case scenario, once they got you to sign even a single piece of paper, in the eyes of thew you¡¯d be their aplice. Kam¡¯s career would be ruined unless Lith pays and without Zogar¡¯s help you would lose your children to your ex-inws."

    Zinya was already choking on her tears when Jirni handed Kam several doc.u.ments. They were credit forms written in Kima¡¯s elegant calligraphy that involved Zinya in their operations as an investor.

    All they needed to be legally valid was her signature.

    "I¡¯m sorry, kid. Our colleagues found it while searching your parents¡¯ home just a few minutes ago." Jirni said.

    "Zinya, did Kima ever ask you for a loan?" Kam was bbergasted.

    The credit forms would have fooled even her since their contents were legit. The danger of the doc.u.mentsy solely in the people whose signature would be ced beside Zinya¡¯s.

    "She did, but it was for a small sum and I never signed anything." Zinya hadn¡¯t gained sight for long, but she had received enough letters from her mother to recognize Kima¡¯s handwriting.

    "Small or big it doesn¡¯t matter. Any sum would have made you an essory the moment your parents had gotten caught for their crimes." Jirni said.

    "This is an abuse of authority! You had no right to search my home or listen to private conversations!" Clefas tried to leave, but a couple of burly guards had him cuffed and kneeling before he could take a single step.

    "She had the right to listen to our conversation because this is my home and I gave Archon Ernas permission. Your wife¡¯s words are more than enough to justify a search warrant." Lith shrugged as he turned toward Orpal.

 Chapter 1341 - Monsters Among Us (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1341 - Monsters Among Us (Part 1)</h4>

    "I¡¯ve got nothing to do with them. This is just the second time I meet them." Orpal said, feeling more cornered by the second.

    He was certain to be capable of taking on both Lith and the old fart, maybe even the petite creepy woman. Yet Night kept screaming at him that those weren¡¯t guards. They were Royal Guards wearing the Royal Fortress armor.

    One wrong move and defying Baba Yaga¡¯s will would be the least of their problems.

    "I believe you, but that changes nothing." Lith showed Orpal his army amulet, where he was receiving updates in real-time from the Constables in the Empire with whom Jirni had been coordinating her efforts.

    The legal system there was different, they even answered to different rulers, but they all served justice. One of the perks of the war against the undead was that sharing information had be of paramount importance for the three great Countries.

    The Undead Courts moved through the borders and efficiently coordinated their actions disregarding their old rivalries. To have a chance of survival, the officials of the Garlen continent needed to beat the undead at their own game.

    "Mom, Dad, please look at this." There were too many files filled with legal jargon and numbers that only an expert could decipher so the Empire¡¯s Constable had added a summary table at the end of each doc.u.ment that even a child would understand.

    "As you can see, Orpal started his business around the same time I went to the White Griffon. Also, during the past seven years, he has earned more or less the same amount of money I did." Lith said, amazed that Orpal had gone to such lengths just to not feel inferior to him.

    "So?" Raaz¡¯s heart was torn between pride towards his sons and fear of the unknown.

    "Dad, I know that I usually downy my achievements, but back when I was just a fourth year student, I received 2,000 gold coins as a reward for my help with the gue. Then I fought Balkor, Nalear, and every time the Royals paid my services in gold.

    "How likely do you think it is that a cksmith, no matter how talented, can earn as much as the youngest Archmage and Spellbreaker of this generation? Don¡¯t you find it odd that Orpal followed a career path so simr to mine?" Lith said.

    He had hoped that Orpal¡¯s need to be always on top would be his downfall and so far, it had worked. All of Lith¡¯s provocations had riled his brother so much that while telling his story, Orpal had listed his most important backers like a collector would with his most valuable pieces.

    It had allowed Jirni and the other Constables to know where and when to look.

    Lith could have beaten Orpal an inch from death or six feet under in a snap, but that would have solved nothing. It would have only made him look like a violent thug and hurt his parents.

    His goal for both the Retta couple and Orpal had been to kill them in the hearts of their respective victims. Only then could Lith kill them physically as well without putting at risk everything he held dear.

    "There¡¯s more to it." Jirni chimed in. "All of Orpal¡¯s clients are clean and his story checks out, but that¡¯s actually odd. Howe no one of his business rivals ever yed dirty and how could he avoid making business with sc.u.m?

    "It¡¯s not like a merchant can choose their clients, some dirt has to be expected. On top of that, I find it suspicious that so many important figures bought goods from him in person instead of just sending their servants."

    "That¡¯s because they wanted to admire my work!" Orpal couldn¡¯t ept that even the highest of nobles might treat him as an inferior.

    "Son, when I like an artisan¡¯s work, I empty their shop, but I never went to visit one. They all give their merchandise to my staff that then bring it to my home. Lith is the only craftsman I receive in person and that¡¯s solely because of our rtionship.

    "I never met a single goldsmith aside from him nor do I let strangers into my home, because I¡¯m just that important." Jirni managed to look down on Orpal despite the considerable height gap between them.

    "Son, be honest with me and I¡¯ll forgive you, no matter what you did. How did you make so much money in so little time?" Elina asked.

    "Mom, I swear that I can exin. I just need some time for-"

    "Time?" Raaz cut him short while sitting on a chair before his knees gave out. "I don¡¯t need time to remember how I made my money. Either I know it or I don¡¯t. The only reason you¡¯re stalling is that you¡¯re making it up."

    ¡¯<i>Night, help me. This wasn¡¯t part of the n.¡¯</i> Orpal thought.

    <i>¡¯You idiot. I told you not to chase after your brother so hard. No one has such a clean career, not even Lith. He has failures on his resume and made lots of enemies on his way whereas you made your story too perfect.¡¯</i> That was all she could say.

    Baba Yaga¡¯s ve spell kept her from harming the people of Lutia directly or indirectly and making up lies was covered by thetter. Night could help Orpal if the one questioning him was Jirni or someone from the Empire, but not Elina.

    <i>¡¯And admit that I¡¯m inferior to him? Never! Everything he can do, I can do it better.¡¯</i> He replied while Elina cleared her throat and snapped him out of his reverie.

    "Before you get out of my house, Meln Narchat, apologize to my children for what you did to them in the past. If you don¡¯t remember some of your wrongdoings, I¡¯ll be d to jog your memory." All of her words marked Orpal as someone who didn¡¯t belong to the family.

    Orpal¡¯s pride bled as he felt as if his mother was disowning him a second time.

    "I didn¡¯t do anything wrong, I just tried to open your eyes! She was nothing but a parasite that s.u.c.k.e.d the life out of us." Orpal pointed at Tista who grinned in reply, making his anger rise.

    "And Leech is a monster! From the moment he came into my home, he took away from me everything that made it home and you let him! How can you disown your own blood and keep a monster under your roof?"

    Jirni¡¯s fist answered his question by striking his sr plexus and making him double over in pain.

    Awakened or not, his nerves were still in the same ce as regr humans and it took little strength to harm them.

    "I¡¯m a monster as well and you¡¯ve made my friend shed a tear too many." She said while twisting his arm and dragging him out of the house like a dog on a leash.

    "That was as brief as it was unpleasant." Vastor stood up and looked at the misery in the room.

    Zinya was crying in Kam¡¯s arms, barely able to stand. Elina and Raaz, instead, had dead eyes as if they had been notified of Trion¡¯s death again. They didn¡¯t cry nor speak, their minds were still buried under the rubble of their broken dreams.

 Chapter 1342 - Monsters Among Us (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1342 - Monsters Among Us (Part 2)</h4>

    "Yet it was a small price to pay and avoid much worse damage in the future." Lith shrugged after Hushing himself and Vastor.

    There was nothing he could say to his parents that would make them feel better. Quite the contrary, in their grief even the sweetest word from him would sound like a "Told you so".

    "You¡¯re harsh, Lith." The Professor said.

    "Life is harsh. I just make sure to keep it to a minimum but I¡¯m no miracle worker. They should have kicked him out the moment Meln appeared on their doorstep." Lith replied.

    "Being a parent it¡¯s the worst scale of grey you¡¯ll ever find." Vastor shook his head. "You always wonder how much of your children¡¯s mistakes is due to their stupidity and how much is just a ripple of your own faults."

    "If you say so." Lith scoffed.

    "Let¡¯s have this talk again once you get a little monster of your own. I bet you won¡¯t be so confident then." Vastor said.

    "First my parents, then my friends, and now you too? Why is everyone so fixated on children?" Lith said with a sigh.

    "Because these are turbulent times and you are a mage, Lith. Thrud, the undead, Deirus, whoever is sending those cards, you¡¯re going to be on the frontlines against all of them, and your life force is already crippled.

    "Don¡¯t delude yourself into thinking of being immortal. Why do you think that Orion, Jirni, and even I married so soon? Because once you step on the battlefield, you don¡¯t know if you¡¯lle back." Vastor said.

    "You didn¡¯t marry early, Professor." Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "It was early ording to my ns. An academic like Marth can take his time but I..." Vastor couldn¡¯t tell Lith about his work as a Highmaster.

    "Let¡¯s just say that I remained a bachelor for so long because those were peaceful times and that I married as soon as things changed. You¡¯re like those who lived under Balkor¡¯s shadow. There¡¯s no telling which year will be yourst."

    Aside from Lith and Tista, no one replied to Vastor¡¯s goodbye as he left the house, but he didn¡¯t care. The Yggdrasil staff kept him calm, but there was only so much rage it could repress.

    "Can I kill them?" He asked Jirni while pointing at Zinya¡¯s parents.

    "No. We need to squeeze everything we can out of them. Besides, if I let you, Zinya wouldn¡¯t be able to see past the blood on your hands." Jirni replied.

    "I can live with that."

    "Then you are a moron. Are these dirt piles worth your effort? Why stain your clothes with trash when the system will do it in your stead?" Jirni had the Retta sent away through the Gate in the barn.

    "This one, however, you can y with." She kicked Orpal¡¯s b.u.t.t, sending him face-first in the dirt. "Don¡¯t kill him. Not now. It would make me look bad with my colleagues in the Empire and I would have to fill a lot of paperwork."

    Hearing someone talking about him like an official stamp, something irrelevant but that it would be bothersome to rece, outraged Orpal.

    "You have no idea who I am-" He said while throwing a punch, but Vastor intercepted his arm and twisted it at an unnatural angle.

    "I don¡¯t care." Vastor shoved the staff down Orpal¡¯s throat the moment he opened his mouth, cutting Orpal short and keeping him from screaming.

    Vastor healed the limb and broke it again. And again. And again, pushing the staff deeper down each time Orpal tried to escape the Professor¡¯s grip. The resistance that an Awakened body of that level offered to Vastor¡¯s Abomination strength was barely noticeable.

    "I don¡¯t like you one bit." Vastor took the staff out abruptly, ripping off a chunk of meat from the throat. The injury filled Orpal¡¯s mouth with blood and muffled his screams into gurgling sounds.

    "You hurt those people. My people." A swing of the staff broke both Night¡¯s hidden armor and Orpal¡¯s left kneecap, making him gurgle harder.

    "The only reason I¡¯m not going to kill you now is to not make Lady Verhen suffer more." Another swing shattered the remaining kneecap, making Orpal thank the gods for not giving him a third.

    "One day, when Lith is home and has usible deniability, I¡¯lle for you in the Empire." A third swing broke his left arm along with the ribs, turning breathing into an agony.

    Orpal activated fusion magic, ready to rip apart the two ants in front of him.

    <i>¡¯Are you insane?¡¯</i> Night forcefully sealed his abilities. <i>¡¯There are about a hundred magical beasts, six Royal Guards, three Phoenixes, two Emperor Beasts, and one Dragon Eye looking at us.</i>

    <i>¡¯And that¡¯s just those who don¡¯t bother hiding their presence. We came here alone and unprepared. I don¡¯t even know if we can take down the "old fart" let alone the others.¡¯</i>

    "Kill... you." Orpal gurgled with a hatred that burned like a sun and left his torturers unfazed.

    "Speak up, son. I can¡¯t hear you over the clich¨¦ d.i.c.k in your mouth." Vastor healed him so fast that Orpal almost fainted with exhaustion.

    "You won¡¯t need toe for me. One day I¡¯lle back and I¡¯ll kill you two first!" He said.

    "Let me add "death threats to an Archon and to an Archmage" to the many charges already on your file." Jirni sounded annoyed from the workload he was giving to her, not scared.

    "I¡¯m Archon Jirni Ernas and this is my business card. Come visit anytime and you¡¯ll find me ready." She put the piece of paper in his mouth before shutting it close with a fist.

    Orpal passed out cold while Night tried to understand how could a regr human punch an Awakened so hard ande out unscathed.

    ***

    About a monthter, the veil of grief had been lifted from Lutia and the ckest Day had arrived. Lith was now able to react with Domination to all the elements of his five eyes, but only up to tier three spells.

    Spirit Magic lessons, instead, had taken an interesting turn. After a slow start where he and Solus had been left to square one while the others learned to manifest two elements at once, they had managed to quickly catch up with the rest of the ss.

    <i>¡¯In the end, our artificial mana flow paid off.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯It was a gamble worth trying.¡¯</i> Solus replied via their mind link as they practiced.

    <i>¡¯After all, just like world energy isprised of the six elemental energies plus the will of Mogar, the pure mana produced by our cores isprised of the six elemental energies as well but with the addition of our life force.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s the reason why Spirit Magic that uses pure mana for its spells is known as the seventh element of life.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Indeed.¡¯</i> Lith nodded. <i>¡¯While normal spells require us to mix our mana with the world elemental energy to weave a spell, Spirit Magic spells only need mana, making them nigh-omnipotent but also incredibly energy expensive.</i>

    <i>¡¯Spirit Magic requires the mage to learn how to sense the six different elemental energies mana isprised of, then how to iste each one of them, andstly how to amplify them one by one.</i>

    <i>¡¯Once we learn to do that, we¡¯ll be able to create spells that can use all elemental properties at once without them interfering with each other and that will be also much easier to control.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1343 - From Blackest Day (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1343 - From ckest Day (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Can you imagine finally being able to use Gravity magic without Friya¡¯s uncanny dimensional awareness thanks to Spirit Magic?¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯Using Gravity spells by borrowing Mogar¡¯s elemental energies is too hard, whereas Spirit Magic is more docile, once you learn how to conjure it.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s because Spirit Magic is entirely made up of our mana and uses no external elemental energy. Mana is a part of us and naturally responds to our will. On top of that, since Spirit Magic spells don¡¯t rely on world energy, they can¡¯t be countered by arrays, making them unstoppable.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    <i>¡¯Yeah, they are akin to projecting fusion magic on the outside. You use solely the elements thatprise your own mana instead of the elements of the environment.</i>

    <i>¡¯Yet such power alsoes with problems.¡¯</i> Solus said.<i> ¡¯It means that only Awakened can use Spirit Magic because they are the only ones who can freely produce mana at will by stimting their core.</i>

    <i>¡¯Also, it exins why all mage towers are built to be capable of moving. If dimensional sealing magic can¡¯t stop a Spirit dimensional spell, then once you let someone into your home, they can get in or out at any time.</i>

    <i>¡¯You can have arrays perceive their arrival or attack them, but there¡¯s nothing to stop them from running away. Even powerful households like Jirni¡¯s are vulnerable to Spirit Magic.¡¯</i> Solus sighed.

    "I hate you guys so much." Friya said while trying to conjure the Poke spell and snapping Lith and Solus out of their reverie.

    Even at tier zero, isting and enhancing three elemental properties of the mana was hard. None of the group had yet managed to manifest four elements at the same time, let alone using them for a tier one spell.

    "Why is that, miss talented, rich, and gorgeous?" Nalrond grunted as his makeshift Pillow spell shattered under her attack.

    Thetest exercise required them to use Poke and Pillow at the same time to practice all the elements. They had to re-learn how to multi-cast while splitting their focus into opposite tasks.

    "Because you can go out for the ckest Day whereas I¡¯ll be stuck home. Again!" Friya didn¡¯t know whether he was trying to make her lose concentration with ttery or if the Rezar was just too tired to mince words.

    "Aren¡¯t you too old for a children¡¯s holiday?"

    "First, I¡¯m not old. Second, I just want to get out!" Her next Poke blew Nalrond¡¯s Pillow into pieces and almost did the same to his hand.

    "Too much enthusiasm. Remember that he wears no armor." Faluel blocked the attack before it was toote and healed the injury at the same time.

    "About that, when do I get one?" Nalrond asked.

    "When you bring me the materials. You¡¯re not really my apprentice, we¡¯re just exchanging the Light Mastery legacy of your tribe for my knowledge. If anything, you owe me, not the other way around."

    "It¡¯s true. I made the Scalewalker for me and Solus while Orion crafted those of the girls. The only one who received something from Professor Faluel is Friya, but that¡¯s because of the Harbinger pact." Lith said.

    "Fine." Nalrond grumbled.

    Protector didn¡¯t have the Orichalc.u.m to craft something for Selia, let alone for him. The Skoll still wore the Skinwalker armor prototype that Lith had gifted him years back.

    "Is your mother really that paranoid? Two months have passed since those Balkor cards arrived yet nothing happened. Do you really have to keep staying holed up home?" Nalrond said.

    "Paranoid is my mother¡¯s legal middle name." Quy w.h.i.n.ed. "She¡¯s so worried about that stuff that she doesn¡¯t even nag me about my suitors anymore. The closer the Royal G gets, the tightest the security bes."

    "Lucky you." Lith said while he caught Solus¡¯s Poke with a baseball glove-shaped Pillow spell and vice versa. "At least you get to stay home and practice magic whereas I¡¯ve got to take the kids to the fair."

    "I¡¯m sick and tired of practicing magic." Quy replied. "Between physical training and Spirit Magic, I¡¯ve got to eat a lot and then use light magic just to make sure that I don¡¯t slim down in the wrong ces.

    "I¡¯m not Friya who¡¯s got plenty to spare. One moment of distraction it¡¯s all that it takes to turn myself into Phloria¡¯s short version."

    "I hate you so much, dear sister." Phloria shot an angry Poke that required Quy¡¯s full focus to stop it.

    "I would offer you my protection, but I¡¯m taking the night off." Faluel said while helping Tista practicing.

    "You what?" Suddenly Lith didn¡¯t feel so safe anymore. "It¡¯s the ckest Day, the perfect opportunity for the Undead Courts or the Balkor wannabe to rear their ugly head."

    "Don¡¯t be a scaredy-cat. I¡¯m not leaving you alone. Ever since the "truth" about you came out, there are three members of Sark¡¯s nest keeping an eye on your home." Faluel said.

    "What?" The revtion shocked Lith so much that Solus¡¯s Poke hit his face and only the Scalewalker armor kept the hit from knocking him out cold. "Why didn¡¯t you tell me that earlier?"

    "Because they could have left at any time and I¡¯ve got no way to order them around. After so long, however, I¡¯m sure that they are going to stick around until they decide if you¡¯re part of the nest or not. Sark is quite possessive and her children leave no one behind." Faluelughed at his expenses.

    Lith was tempted to make War talk and return the scare, but without a warning, even the others would get hurt while Nalrond might risk his life.

    The Spirit Magic session ended early like usual because of how mana expensive its practice was. Using two spells at the same time helped them to improve quickly but it also drained their strength even faster.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, I¡¯ve used Invigoration so much that now it restores barely half of my full strength. Let¡¯s hope that the vortexes help me recover a bit before we have to go trick-or-treating.¡¯</i> Lith thought

    <i>¡¯Your constantining would sound more believable if you had actually stopped training.¡¯</i> Solus replied with a scoff.

    Even while walking back home, Lith was practicing spellcasting by using his body instead of his mind. He was already able to conjure spells up to tier three and weak arrays.

    Each one of his steps left on the ground a rune that created a different effect based on its element. Lith used them one at a time in a cycle, hoping that it would make him able to use Spirit Magic as well.

    Earth made his footprints disappear, water covered the nearby grass in dew, fire conjured wisps of mes, light made flowers bloom, darkness killed the insects that bothered him, and air created sparks of electricity.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m going to keep training even while we shop. Otherwise I¡¯d waste a whole evening doing nothing.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    <i>¡¯You promised the kids more than your time, you also promised them your attention. Remember what Kam taught you about having fun and don¡¯t be a sourpuss just because she¡¯s not here tonight.¡¯</i> Solus scolded him

 Chapter 1344 - From Blackest Day (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1344 - From ckest Day (Part 2)</h4>

    The ckest Day was a treat for kids and criminals alike. Each city and vige of the Kingdom held its own fair, bringing a lot of money to local business and lots of thieves in the streets.

    It was one of the busiest nights for the members of thew enforcement so Kam had to leave right after dinner.

    The members of the Yehval and of the Fastarrow families dined together at the Verhen¡¯s because putting the children together was the only way for the grown-ups to have some quiet.

    The fair was a big event for someone so young and they all had saved as much as they could from their allowances for that day. Also, being kids, they believed to superstitions and were excited at the idea of seeing spirits wandering among the living.

    As long as the ghosts kept at a distance and their parents protected them, of course.

    "Man, you really look like crap." Kam said while looking at Lith¡¯s further debilitated state after practicing for the violet core on his way back.

    They only had a bit of time before and after dinner for themselves so mincing words was out of the question.

    "Thanks. You too look horrible after a double shift and not even taking the time for a shower or a cup of tea." Lith wanted to sound mean, but it came out apologetic since he was the reason for that.

    "If I did that, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to wee you back when you arrived home." She heavily sat on their toofortable bed, making her eyes droop the moment she started to rx.

    "You could have done thatter." Lith sat behind her and massaged her stiff shoulders.

    "It¡¯s not the same thing. You do so many things at once that sometimes you forget the reason why you started them in the first ce. I want to be there to remind you of your goals and that power is just a means, not an end in itself." She turned around and looked him in the eyes before kissing his right hand.

    Kam could feel that part of him was still lost somewhere far away, but she didn¡¯t give up on bringing it back.

    "You know, before meeting you, people would worry for me, but in the end, it was always up to me taking care of them, not the other way around." Lith held her tight, thankful for the attention she showered him with, even at personal cost.

    "And before meeting you, I had no idea how home-cooked food tasted like. I¡¯d say it¡¯s a sweet deal for both of us." Kam chuckled. "Jokes aside, remember the rules. No more training for today or the kids will think that you¡¯re haunted by a malevolent spirit.

    "Remember what I told you about having fun. Whenever you think back to this day, the first thing thates to your mind must be the small things that you shared with others, not some magical breakthrough. Are we clear?"

    "Yes, Mom." Lith replied to both her and Elina that had just called them over for dinner.

    Kam left after the meal, before things got hectic. The kids couldn¡¯t wait to leave while the women couldn¡¯t wait to kick them out and have some peace. Being ghosts and scary stuff involved, the ckest Day was a dad thing.

    It was up to the men of the family to "protect" the children while Elina and the others took their time to enjoy Lutia¡¯s fair, hunt for juicy gossip, and maybe do some shopping.

    "What did I do to deserve this?" Nalrond said with a sigh.

    He hated crowds and Lutia was packed with peopleing from the neighboring viges. There were so many merchants¡¯ stands that they had formed a makeshift outer rim since all the space inside Lutia was already taken.

    "Nothing." Protector said. "Raaz has to keep an eye on Aran and Leria since Senton stayed home with the triplets. Vastor couldn¡¯t make it, so Lith has to take care of Frey and Filia.

    "Without you, we¡¯dck the manpower to keep the kids under control in case one of them gets lost and we need to look for them. You can switch ce with Senton, if you prefer."

    "No, thanks." Nalrond shuddered at the thought. Having to deal with one small kid and their diapers was already bad. Three at the same time was the stuff nightmares were made of.

    Lutia was lit bynterns that were magical in name only. They were just regrnterns with a rotating base hung on the decorations between houses. A gust of wind was enough to make their carved walls move so that the light would project borate shadows.

    Most of them depicted ghosts, small fairies, and the less scary creatures that ording to folklore came out during the ckest Day. Thenterns near the shops, instead, projected shadows that advertised their merchandise.

    "Do you think we have the time for a beer?" Raaz asked as the smell of aromatic brews and of the freshly baked salty snacks to go along with them reached his nose.

    "Depends. Can you drink it so fast that your kids wouldn¡¯t disappear in the crowd?" Despite his bulky size, Protector had a hard time moving around. At some point, he had been forced to put the kids over his shoulders to not let them be swept away.

    "No."

    "Then it¡¯s a hard pass." Protector envied the men that could just sit around and rx, instead of having two little monsters yelling in his ears to reach their destination faster.

    Lith had no such problem. His deep blue Archmage robe parted the crowd better than any spell. People made way for him, giving Lith deep bows and many thanks.

    "Without you, Lutia would still be a vigeprised of just a few dozens of homes." A man said.

    The vige had never stopped expanding since Lith had be a Great Mage and now that news of his personal Gate was spreading out, even more people woulde.

    "If not for the awful reputation you gave to this ce, I would¡¯ve had to work hard tonight." A guard and his colleagues raised their beers in a toast to Lith.

    Lutia was known as the Graveyard and had the all-time record for the lowest crime rate in L.u.s.tria County. Aside from petty thieves and pickpockets, the moment a criminal set their sight on Lutia, they would soon change their address to a coffin.

    "You should also thank Count Lark. He has poured a lot of resources in this vige and he¡¯s also the one paying your sry" Lith said while keeping an eye on Zinya¡¯s children.

    On the one hand, he was d that they behaved so well that aside from holding their hands he didn¡¯t have to do much. They would politely tug at his arms to draw his attention and ask for sweets or toys with such a small voice that it was hard to hear them.

    On the other hand, however, Lith could see the shadow of fear in their eyes whenever they talked, afraid that he might get angry and beat them up. Fallmug was gone, but his shadow still haunted their lives.

 Chapter 1345 - Into Blackest Night (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1345 - Into ckest Night (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯That f.u.c.ker. How could Fallmug be so cruel toward his own children after naming them after himself? I wish that the ckest Day really made the boundaries of the spirit world thinner so that I could send my Demons to torture his soul.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Are we talking about Fallmug or Ezio?¡¯</i> Solus asked.

    <i>¡¯Both.¡¯</i> The memory of Lith¡¯s Earth father ovepped with that of Zinya¡¯ste husband, hitting close to home.

    <i>¡¯They are gone now and their ghosts can hurt you only if you allow them to. Don¡¯t let them ruin this night for any of us.¡¯</i> She said.

    After pondering her words, Lith bought Frey and Filia anything they stared at for more than five seconds until they found the courage to tell him what they really liked or disliked.

    Then, he took them with him in the air, flying slowly through the starry sky above Lutia to show them that dreams coulde true and that not all a.d.u.l.ts extended their hands out of violence.

    At first, the kids held to Lith¡¯s arms with all of their strength, but soon wonder reced fear and they loosened their grip, trusting that he would never let them go. He brought them down only when the fireworks were about to start.

    "Lark sure made it big for the fair this year." Raaz said while staring at the Emperor Beast-shaped lights in the sky. "I hope he makes his appearance soon so that I can get a bit of rest."

    The Ruler of the County always took part in Lutia¡¯s ckest Day. Lark usually arrived when the celebrations reached the zenith and he had a special table set up for him by the vige elders.

    It was the only not crowded ce so that Lark could get in and out quickly, leaving him enough time to chit-chat before moving to the next vige. The Count would always wee Raaz as an honorable guest and after bouncing around like a pinball, he could use a chair.

    Lark Household, that very moment.

    During all of his life, Trequill Lark had always considered magic as the source of the amazing marvels and of the awe-inspiring miracles that happened in every corner of Mogar, even in his small, irrelevant fief.

    Until that night, he had never understood how truly terrifying the other side of that coin was.

    His beautiful garden was on fire and the statue of the first Count Lark that for centuries had stood sentry over the very home he had built was now in shambles. An earth de had cut Pontus, the old butler, in half, filling the air with the stench of guts, piss, and shit.

    Hilya, the head chef, had been burned alive by some kind of heat ray and her corpse smelled like overcooked pork. She had annoyed Lark for years with her obsession for Raaz being his son and now the Count would never hear her petnt voice again.

    The left and the right wings of the mansion had been destroyed by the same rain of spells that had killed the members of the Queen¡¯s Corps that, unbeknownst to Lark, had been assigned to his protection.

    They had fought valiantly, but the air sealing array surrounding the Lark household had kept them from Blinking, flying, and even from calling reinforcements before it was toote.

    The Count couldn¡¯t stop crying at the thought that the greatest demonstration of magic he had ever seen would also be thest. All because of one man, dr.a.p.ed in the deep blue robe of an Archmage that now pped in the chilly wind of the night.

    "How could you do that? Killing so many innocent people?" Lark looked at the ruins of his house, wondering how many were buried under the rubble. Maybe they were still alive, but not for long.

    "After all this Country has done for you, how could you betray it? How could you betray your oath to protect it?" Lark stood tall, unwilling to die on his knees in front of a filthy traitor.

    "I¡¯ve given all my life to this shithole and what have I gotten in return? Nothing." His voice was coarse, filled with the poison of deep-seated hatred and grudge. "The Kingdom has taken everything from me, it¡¯s only right that I take it back."

    The man pointed a slender finger, conjuring an ice shard that pierced Lark¡¯s head and another that blew a hole where his heart was. The Lord of L.u.s.tria County died painlessly, his eyes closed only after the light had already disappeared from them.

    "I did warn you, Lark. You should have listened." The man dispelled the array and took flight.

    It took him only a few words and gestures of his hands to make so that the corpses and the rubble formed one word: Past.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, that very moment.

    "Thanks for allowing me to spend some time with the kids before going to the Flying Griffon." Ka said while mowing down the crowd with the grace of an elephant.

    She looked like a woman in her thirties, about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with cold blue eyes, shoulder-length raven ck hair, and a lithe frame. Yet she still had the mass of her Wight form and no hesitation to use it to force people to move away from her path.

    Many turned around, ready to curse at her and her ancestors, but her stern expression and the odd way the shadows of themps seemed to avoid her made the odd woman look like something straight out of a ghost story.

    "Don¡¯t mention it." Scarlett had her human appearance as well.

    She looked like a viger in her thirties, about 1.67 meters (5¡¯7") tall. Her shoulder-length ashen gold hair had red streaks all over and she wore a gold-rimmed pince-nez on her nose.

    The body Scarlett had shapeshifted into was pretty enough to get hefty discounts for the huge amounts of food that she bought from the stalls that caught her nose¡¯s attention, but not gorgeous enough to cause her problems.

    The Scorpicore had even shapeshifted Nok into a burly and hairy young man, over 2 meters (7¡¯) tall. Most citizens of Lutia had wardrobes smaller than him which coupled with his raven-ck long hair and beard made people think twice before approaching the odd group.

    Nok didn¡¯t like standing on two legs and even less wearing clothes. To make matters worse, Scarlett used him as a porter, forcing him to keep several huge tes filled with local delicacies on his head, shoulders, arms, and even on his forearms.

    He looked like something in between a professional waiter and a juggler. The Scorpicore asionally throwing food in his mouth to keep him from running away made the scene even more absurd.

    "Don¡¯t you think that your children are a bit old to enjoy the ckest Day?" Faluel asked.

    "I never brought them to any fair, so no. Besides, Nyka should learn to appreciate the traditions established by the Red Mother." Ka said.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "Today is actually the ck Dawn, the moment when the undead can spend more time outside than the living. Ghosts have nothing to do with the celebration, it¡¯s just the way the humans teach their children to be afraid of strangers they might meet in the dark." Ka replied.

 Chapter 1346 - Into Blackest Night (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1346 - Into ckest Night (Part 2)</h4>

    "A little louder, Mom. I don¡¯t think that all the guards heard you. You have to put in a bit more effort if you want people to chase us with pitchforks." Nyka said with a sneer while chewing food from the tes.

    Everything tasted like rotten garbage to her, which made the young vampire envious of her little brother who seemed to be enjoying himself a lot despite his awkward condition.

    She couldn¡¯t swallow solid food without puking in a matter of minutes so Nyka munched for a bit before sending it inside her dimensional ring and washing her mouth with a ssh of her "strawberry juice".

    "Your brother is right. You did develop an attitude in my absence." Ka chuckled. "I missed you a lot, dear. I¡¯ll try to be more present for you."

    "I missed you more." Nyka smiled as she fluttered her eyshes and used Mesmerize to reassure a member of the army.

    "There¡¯s nothing to worry about, officer." She said.

    "There¡¯s nothing to worry about." He repeated with a nk stare, incapable of focusing on anything but her eyes and her hand c.a.r.e.s.sing his arm.

    "No one was talking about the undead. The people who called you for help are just paranoid." Nyka said.

    "No one was talking about the undead. The people who called me for help were just paranoid." The soldier told to his colleagues after returning to the beer stand where they were waiting for him.

    "You must learn to take your time, Ka." Scarlett said. "Our abilities make us more than the members of our respective species and yet less. More than one Awakened disappeared inside theirb until everyone they knew was gone.

    "It¡¯s why our houses should have windows. Not for the light, so much as to notice the passing of time." Her words received unanimous approval. "Speaking of time, Faluel, did you adopt the little runt or what?"

    "You need to be more specific." The Hydra said since in her eyes Friya was a runt as well and she was still pondering their bargain.

    "I mean Lith. He¡¯s already got a bright blue core and he¡¯s steadily working to achieve the violet." Scarlett used the Eyes of Menadion to zoom on his figure sitting at a table while the kids ate biscuits and hot chocte.

    "No, I didn¡¯t and I don¡¯t n on sharing with him any secret of my bloodline. Don¡¯t tell me that asshole is training even now?" Faluel asked.

    To his defence, Lith had kept his word and used magic solely to entertain the children with a light show. Otherwise, Solus would have killed him. He got the opportunity to practice and to give his fellow babysitters a moment of respite. Two birds with one stone.

    "Yes, he is." Scarlett looked at his vortexes flexing and rxing rhythmically as Lith used spells of increasing difficulty.

    ¡¯Damn, his technique is too rough and amateurish to belong to any legacy, but he¡¯s got it right nheless. Maybe I should really ask him for advice about Guardianhood.¡¯ She thought.

    "I¡¯m going to make him pay for that, but not tonight." Faluel said while iming an open table before someone else could.

    Nyka asked Nok to described to her the difference in taste between the delicacies but his replies amounted just to different gradations of "delicious", giving her a headache.

    Their quarrel stopped the moment they realized that they could suddenly hear each other without yelling. Then, the silence that had reced the sounds of the festivity turned into the noise of panic.

    People started to scream, dropping their tes and sses onto the ground in their hurry to run away.

    "What the heck is going on here?" Scarlett¡¯s pince-nez released an invisible pulse of energy that allowed her to scan the space around her for several hundreds of meters with the equivalent of mana sense.

    It would leave the Eyes of Menadion exhausted for a while, but in the face of an unknown threat, a bird in hand was worth two in the bush. Yet aside from Lith¡¯s group and her own there was no powerful creature worth mentioning.

    "I¡¯m sorry,dies, but the fair is canceled." One of the soldiers approached them while trying to make people leave in an orderly fashion. "Someone has killed the Lord of the County and no one is safe."

    ***

    Lith arrived at the Lark household as soon as he brought the kids back home and left Faluel standing guard.

    Even Jirni¡¯s early report about the crime scene couldn¡¯t prepare him for the vision that appeared in front of his eyes on his arrival.

    The ce he had known since his childhood was no more. The luscious garden was now a ck scar in the ground and the main building had been razed to the ground along with its two wings.

    "Who did this?" Lith clenched his fists while looking at the Count¡¯s corpse hanging from an x-shaped ice structure, in a twisted version of a scarecrow.

    Someone had ced it right in front of the main entrance, in the spot where Lark weed his guests. They had even stuck his monocle in the eye socket andbed his hair, making everything look like a sick joke.

    "Not Balkor. It¡¯s the only thing we know for sure." Jirni said. "He would have turned his victims into undead and made them kill the survivors. This, instead, is the work of a single individual."

    "How could this happen? The Lark household was hundreds of years old!" Lithshed out in outrage, making the ground rumble.

    "The Lark household is hundreds of years old and counting." Kam cupped his face, forcing him to look at her instead of counting the bodies of the people he had known his all life. "Lark¡¯s heirs are alive and well."

    "This doesn¡¯t answer my question, it just makes your failure a little less utter! How could this happen? Those f.u.c.k.i.n.g Balkor cards were delivered months ago. How could you leave Lark with no protection?" He asked.

    "I can answer that." Marchioness Distar stepped forward, standing tall as her role required.

    She had known Lark since she was a child and his death caused her great pain as well, yet as the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps she couldn¡¯t afford to show any of it.

    Grief had to wait. Her duty was to take control of the situation and understand the nature of their enemy. It was the only way to keep that night from happening to someone else.

    "We didn¡¯t underestimate the situation and put an entire unit of the Queen¡¯s Corps on Lark alone. On top of that, ever since he received the Past card, I had the best temporary arrays set up around his house. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t enough."

    "One unit and temporary arrays? Are you kidding me?" Lith¡¯s face was millimeters away from hers, looking at Mirim¡¯s eyes with the fury of a wounded beast.

    "One elite unit for one person is something done only for the highest nobles. As for the arrays, it¡¯s impossible to set up a permanent formation in so little time. Isn¡¯t it the reason why you¡¯ve refused to move to the mansion the Queen will build for you?"

 Chapter 1347 - Home and Grief (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1347 - Home and Grief (Part 1)</h4>

    The Marchioness kept her cool despite Lith¡¯s threats and made him see reason.

    <i>¡¯How does she know about our conversation with the Queen? Isn¡¯t she just a Marchioness?¡¯</i> While Lith fell into fury, Solus sought sce in cold logic.

    Yet she didn¡¯t fare any better as her brain refused to find answers. She hated her own inability to close her eyes to the horror around them and her senses that picked up the slightest detail of the wounds on Lark¡¯s body.

    Solus would have liked to weep, but she had no tears. Solus would have liked to scream, but she had no mouth. The only way she had to express her feelings was through Lith, but he was already burdened with more than he could take.

    "I¡¯m very sorry, Lith, but there¡¯s only a limited number of Royal Fortress armor and you have no idea how many of those cards we have received." Mirim showed him her own along with a list containing several names.

    "The detail was perfect, reinforcements arrived barely a minute after the arrays were breached, yet it wasn¡¯t enough. If you want to me someone, me me but know that I did all I could to keep Lark safe as I always did for your family."

    Lith couldn¡¯t refute her words. For a long time, he had a single unit of the Queen¡¯s corps assigned to his entire family and it had taken him years to fortify his home with proper arrays.

    Yet logic didn¡¯t relieve one bit of his grief.

    "If there¡¯s anything I can do for you, just tell me." The Marchioness tried to touch his shoulder but Lith pushed her hand away.

    "I want Lark back or at least know who I have to kill! Give me a name!" Lith clenched his fists as his eyes turned into blue-violet pyres of mana whose bursts of energy rose of several meters in the air before fading away.

    Solus was doing her best to keep his aura from manifesting, but there was only so much she could do, even with the help of the two cloaking rings. Sparks of lightning surrounded him and clouds started to gather.

    A low rumble spread throughout the ground, rising in intensity by the second and making the guards think that a second attack was iing.

    <i>¡¯Calm down, Lith! If you release your aura, everyone will know you¡¯re an Awakened.¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯We need to go back home before the cloaking rings break. You¡¯re pushing them too far!¡¯</i>

    "I request an urgent leave." Kam said after her efforts to soothe him failed as well. "Archmage Verhen needs to get back home and can¡¯t be left alone in such a state. He would be a threat to himself and others."

    "Agreed." Jirni said while arranging for an emergency Gate. "Where to?"

    "Belius." Kam said.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> Solus thought. <i>¡¯I meant Lutia! Lith needs his family.¡¯</i>

    Two Royal Guards raised their hands, looking like prancing Griffons and the Gate appeared between them. Kam quickly dragged Lith through it, ordering the clerk on the other side to open another Warp that would lead near her apartment.

    Solus was still cursing Kam¡¯s alleged stupidity when suddenly the pressure she and the rings were under plummeted, allowing their self-repair ability to mend the cracks before it was toote.

    <i>¡¯Thank the gods.¡¯</i> Kam thought while looking at the mes in his eyes disappear. <i>¡¯Lith always says that being under so many elemental sealing arrays feels like being under a wet nket to him. A wet nket powered by an entire city.</i>

    <i>¡¯It should be enough to suppress his powers before he loses control of them or of his life forces as it happened in Jiera.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I hate to admit it, but it was a damn smart move.¡¯</i> Solus thought once she calmed down enough to understand what had happened.

    Kam dragged Lith to their apartment, locked the door triple-dead bolting it, and activated all of its security systems so that nothing could get in and they could get emergency Gated anywhere at a moment¡¯s notice.

    It was enough to quell even Lith¡¯s paranoia and the familiar space dispelled the images of the ruins of the Lark Household from his eyes, allowing him to finally start to breathe again.

    Kam forced Lith to sit down on his favorite sofa and then she remained beside him, holding his hand for several minutes before the calm and the arrays allowed him to speak again.

    "Thanks, Kami. If I stayed there one minute longer, I would¡¯ve gone insane." He said while still wrestling with his feelings, to keep them under control.

    "Don¡¯t mention it. Can I leave you alone here for one second and make some tea or do you want me to stay?" She asked.

    "I¡¯m not going to fall apart. Not anymore." Lith said, letting go of her hand.

    "I can¡¯t stay the night either, though. I need to go back to Lutia and make sure that my family is alright." He said on Solus¡¯s cue, fearing that something might happen to them as well.

    "It¡¯s not necessary." Kam shook her head. "Jirni sent Royal Guards to your home and I¡¯ve already received their report. Everything is fine."

    She handed him her army amulet where a new status update from the Guards popped up every five minutes and they were all green.

    "That said, I¡¯m not letting you out of that door unless there is an emergency. Tonight, this is your home." Kam said.

    "What do you mean?" Lith was still in shock but he knew that it wasn¡¯t like her being so ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e.

    "If you go to Lutia now, you¡¯d be forced to suppress your feelings and to act strong to reassure your family, worrying about them instead of yourself. I want you to stay here, where you can openly grieve Lark¡¯s death without any worry.

    "If you keep your emotions bottled up for too long, they will leave a scar that will never heal and you already have too many of them." Kam ced a steaming cup of tea in front of him along with some biscuits before sitting beside Lith again.

    "Everything is fine and we¡¯re safe in here." She said while putting her amulet where he could see thetest green notification. "It¡¯s just you and me now. You can scream and cry all you want."

    Kam never let go of his hand nor did she touch her cup as new notifications kept piling up. They just sat in silence, without even moving while the tea got colder.

    Her tenderness moved Solus, who started to weep as she could finally let go of her feelings without the worry that they would negatively impact Lith. She sobbed, mourning both her loss and the realization that she was too close to Lith to offer him the help he needed in times like that.

    When Lith suddenly embraced Kam and started to weep as well, it bbergasted her. It usually took him days to manifest the slightest emotion to others.

    Away from the scene of the massacre, away from the burden that caring for the grief of others was, all the good memories Lith had with Lark flooded his mind, making him realize that the Count was gone and that they would never speak again.

 Chapter 1348 - Home and Grief (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1348 - Home and Grief (Part 2)</h4>

    Lith thought back at their first meeting during the Spring Festival in Lutia, when the Count had brought histest protege, Ricker Trahan. It had been the youth¡¯s arrogance that had led Nana to humiliate Ricker by showing off her future apprentice.

    Lith had just used magic on lettuce to entertain the noble, yet that small insignificant event had intertwined their lives to the bitter end. Lith clung to Kam as he remembered about his absurd ploy to fake the presence of ghosts to smoke out the traitors that Koya, the Count¡¯s wife had nted among the staff.

    He remembered Lark¡¯s silly face while covered in flour,ughing like a child while Lith made him fly with magic. It was all so cartoonish that he could almost hear the Countess say:

    "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren¡¯t for that meddling kid" while the Mage Association destroyed her household for attempting on Nana¡¯s life.

    That thought made Lithugh and then sob again when he remembered how Lark had put his life and his household on the line for him against Linnea, the Headmistress of the Lightning Griffon who had refused Lith¡¯s admittance for political reasons.

    <i>¡¯If it wasn¡¯t for him, I wouldn¡¯t have ever met the Marchioness or gone to the Academy. Everything I have, everyone I know, I owe it to Lark yet he never asked anything of me and I called him only when I needed something.¡¯</i>

    Slowly, the tears stopped as they turned into self-loathing and rage. The former for his inability to ever pay back the Count and because he had died because of Lith. Thetter because Lith started to n what he would do once he found who was responsible.

    His hands shapeshifted and his fingers turned into ws, trying to vent his violent thoughts. Then, he felt his consciousness being tugged by hismunication amulet, but Kam took it out of his fingers and threw it away.

    Her amulet started to light up as well as Elina¡¯s, Phloria¡¯s, Jirni¡¯s rune and many others blinked.

    Kam snarled and answered to all of them at once, not wanting to waste one second longer than necessary.

    "Is there any problem or did you call me just because you couldn¡¯t contact Lith and you¡¯re worried for him?" She said after making sure that she was the only one they would see.

    After confirming that everyone was safe, she cut them all short.

    "Thanks for your concern. Lith is fine as well and if you really care for him, then you should just leave him alone!" She hung up the call with a decisiveness that made Solus feel inadequate.

    <i>¡¯I cared for Lark too much to get hold of my own feelings and take care of Lith properly. I love the same people he loves and my first thought was to go back to Lutia, where he would have spent the night consoling others rather than being consoled.</i>

    <i>¡¯To make matters worse, even if I managed to make the right decision and brought him to the tower, where I can hold him, I would have let him take that call. I care a lot for Elina, as if she¡¯s my own mother, whereas Kam cares much more for Lith.¡¯</i> Solus thought.

    Yet the call had still managed to break the moment and to remind Lith of his duties. After venting his grief and rage, he felt much calmer.

    <i>¡¯Whoever is behind Lark¡¯s death, they are far from done with me. The Marchioness was right. There are too many cards and too few Royal Guards to protect everyone. They targeted Lark because he was the easiest prey.</i>

    <i>¡¯I need to assess the situation and check who¡¯s likely to be the next target.¡¯</i> He thought as his mind cleared up, allowing him to even device traps and countermeasures with Solus.

    Lith let Kam go and stood up from the sofa.

    "Where do you think you¡¯re going?" She said.

    "Thanks for everything, Kami, but there¡¯s no time to lose. I need to get back to Lutia and help the Marchioness with the security details. We-"

    "You¡¯re doing nothing of the sorts. You need to calm down, get your head in order, and get some sleep. Have you already forgotten how tired you are and that Invigoration has yet to reset its effectiveness?" Kam cut him short and stood firm in front of the door.

    "It¡¯s not a big deal. Between my bright blue core and the vortexes, I¡¯ve regained most of my strength already. I don¡¯t have the time to sleep with an enemy at our door." He replied.

    "No one with half a brain would make a move with the entire army and Association mobilized. The only enemy you have tonight is the one in your head. We both know that if you don¡¯t sleep now, you won¡¯ty down for days." She resisted all of his attempts to move her away.

    "Look, I appreciate your concerns but-" Lith choked on his words when Kam let her Scalewalker armor slip away, revealing her n.a.k.e.d body.

    <i>¡¯How can she even think to bribe me with s.e.x in a moment like-¡¯</i> His mind went nk and his face turned pale when he noticed the red bruises all over her body where he had clung to her.

    Small puncture wounds still bled where his ws had dug into her flesh, filling him with dread and horror.

    "I didn¡¯t want you to know about this but you left me no choice." Kam c.a.r.e.s.sed his face to let Lith know that she was alright and that she wasn¡¯t scared of him. "I boosted my Scalewalker armor with mana, yet it wasn¡¯t enough.

    "You think to have calmed down but you¡¯re far from being okay. I can¡¯t let you go knowing that if you have a rpse and hurt any of your family members, you would never forgive yourself."

    "I did this to you. I hurt someone close to me just to feel better about myself. I¡¯m no different from my father!" Lith¡¯s stomach twisted and churned at the idea of bing like Ezio McCoy, his Earth father.

    He was so disgusted by himself that his life forces went into disarray. His Abomination side rejected the others, breaking the fine bnce that kept him together and turning his face into a ck te.

    "Raaz is a wonderful man and a great father. There¡¯s no shame in being his son just like I know you would never hurt me on purpose. I wanted you to grieve freely and you did. The next time, just remember that not everyone is strong as you are." Kam said, resisting his efforts to take her hands off his face.

    On the one hand, Lith was too afraid to use force and bruise her, on the other hand, he was terrified at the thought of what his Abomination side might do to her.

    "If you don¡¯t let go of me, the next time will be sooner than you think." Lith said as the ckness spread to the rest of his body.

    "That¡¯s not going to happen. Look." Kam showed him her perfectly pink hands, before cupping his face again.

    The Abomination side avoided her touch as if the two of them were water and oil.

    "I told you. I know that you would never hurt me on purpose and this isn¡¯t just ck stuff, it¡¯s a part of you. There¡¯s no reason to be afraid." She embraced him, soothing his inner turmoil and restoring the bnce.

 Chapter 1349 - White Streaks (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1349 - White Streaks (Part 1)</h4>

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Lith looked at his Abomination features fading away and ad then at Kam as if he saw her for the first time.

    "Don¡¯t worry, babe, it¡¯s all right. You just need to rest and to give your poor brain a break. Otherwise you¡¯re not going to perform well at Faluel¡¯s." She said.

    "What do you mean?" He asked.

    "We both know that tomorrow you have a lesson you cannot afford to miss. Whoever did this, they wanted to destroy you by attacking where it hurts the most and they went this close to seeding." She pointed at his cracked rings, her wounds, and at the lingering ckness on his hands.

    "If you change your life because of what happened tonight, if you drop everything just to prepare for their next attack, then you¡¯d be just dancing in the hand of the culprit.

    "When you find this bastard, I want you to y by your own rules, not to follow theirs. This way, no matter what sick game they have in mind. They can¡¯t beat you if you refuse to y it." Kam said.

    "I really don¡¯t deserve you." Lith used all the Invigoration he had left on Kam, to heal her wounds without leaving a single scar.

    "Finally something we can agree on." She smiled as the Scalewalker covered her again and they moved to the bedroom.

    Lith fell asleep in her arms like a child, both his mind and his body were too tired to hold out a second longer after touching the mattress.

    Only then did Kam allow herself to weep for what had happened to Lark and to shiver in fear at the idea of what might have happened if Lith really lost control over his Abomination side.

    <i>¡¯Not telling Lith that I love him to calm him down was the right thing to do. He would have been too vulnerable to give me an honest answer and it would have added even more weight on his shoulders.¡¯ </i>

    <i>¡¯I want to be someone he can rely upon, not another person he has to worry about.¡¯</i> She thought, knowing that even though the sun would keep rising, Mogar had now turned into a darker ce.

    ***

    The ruins of the Lark Household, after that all the evidence had been collected and the area cleared of the corpses.

    Archon Jirni Ernas didn¡¯t know Count Lark much, but she knew that he was a good and honest man. It was more than she could say about most people she knew, even herself.

    Yet his death was worse than a cruel murder. It was the proof that, even though it wasn¡¯t the real deal, the card that she had received represented a threat to her family. Jirni couldn¡¯t just wait for the culprit¡¯s next move, she needed to prepare her own.

    The moment she returned to the safety and the secrecy of her home, she used her secure amulet to contact Professor Vastor outside the known Kingdom lines ofmunication.

    "I need to know if our project is ready." Jirni said the moment Vastor picked up the call.

    "At a great personal cost but yes, it is." He already knew about what had happened to Lark, making the "Future" card he had found in front of Zinya¡¯s home burn in his pocket.

    He wasn¡¯t afraid for himself. Killing a country noble was one thing, putting a scratch on the Master and live to tell the tale was another.

    "How the heck did you do it?" She blurted out in surprise.

    "Do you really want to know?" Vastor replied.

    "Depends. Does it work?"

    "Like a charm." He replied.

    "Then, even though as an Archon I¡¯m deeply worried by yourck of morals and by your workings bordering on Forbidden Magic, as a person involved in this mess and as a mother, I don¡¯t give a f.u.c.k about how you did it.

    "Bring everything to my household as soon as you can. There¡¯s still a lot of work to do." Jirni said.

    ***

    The following day Lith woke up perfectly rested and back to his peak condition.

    At first, he felt happy and rxed at the sound of Kam cooking breakfast for him. The bright light of the suning from the window, the warm nkets, and the vivid red of the recently imprinted Camellia made him feel at home.

    Then, he suddenly remembered what had happened to Lark and all those feelings turned into guilt as if being happy so soon after the death of his friend was an unforgivable crime.

    The pain and anguish came back, but not as strongly as Lith expected them to. He was still grieving, but having vented his feelings the night back instead of bottling them up, Lith was able to move forward.

    "I¡¯ve made lots of pancakes. You need something sweet to help your mood and a full belly to face your lesson." Kam was already wearing her light blue Constable uniform and was ready for work.

    She had just the time to have breakfast together before rushing away.

    "Thanks again forst night." Lith didn¡¯t feel hungry so much as tired and sad, but he still ate everything to please her.

    "Don¡¯t mention it. By the way, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll make it for lunch but I¡¯ll do my best to at least have dinner together." She tried and failed to smile.

    Jirni had already sent her the full list of people who had received a Balkor card. Neither Lith¡¯s family nor her own had gotten one, but she was afraid of what would happen if they failed to save the next victim as well.

    Kam had no idea that a Future card had been left at Zinya¡¯s because Vastor had taken it before anyone else could notice.

    Lith and Kam made small talk while eating, trying to make that day look normal even though it was anything but. They left the apartment together, holding hands until the Gate brought them to their respective destinations.

    Kam at the Archon Headquarters in Valeron and Lith back to his barn in Lutia. He had arrived in time, yet everyone was already waiting for him. Faluel didn¡¯t smile nor said a word until she moved them to the safety of herir.

    "I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I have to ask anyway. Are you okay?" Faluel said, taking the words out of everyone¡¯s mind.

    "As much as anyone in my shoes can be." Lith sighed deeply.

    "I¡¯m so sorry for your loss, Lith. Lark was a good man." Phloria hugged him first, d to see from his eyes that he was faring much better than after Protector¡¯s faked death.

    After everyone gave him their condolences, Faluel had a few words to say.

    "Before starting this lesson, there¡¯s something that cannot be dyed any longer. As you all should know, I¡¯ve received a card as well and so did the Ernas family. Which means, Friya, that you are twice the target.

    "Yet I can¡¯t protect you and Lith¡¯s family at the same time. He came to me first, so his deal with me supersedes yours. Archon Ernas sent me the images from the Lark estate and I¡¯ve studied them with my friends.

    "We¡¯vee to the conclusion that it¡¯s the work of a single person that is either a powerful Awakened or a fake mage with ess to powerful artifacts."

 Chapter 1350 - White Streaks (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1350 - White Streaks (Part 2)</h4>

    "Either way, it¡¯s someone who can pose a threat even to me, if they lure me in an ambush alone." Faluel said.

    "What does that mean?" Friya swallowed a lump of saliva as Faluel¡¯s voice became colder by the word.

    "It means that you¡¯re a liability that I can no longer tolerate." The Hydra replied.

    "Wait. What¡¯s the difference between her, me, and Phloria?" Quy stood between them, in the attempt to stop whatever Faluel had in mind.

    "She made a blood oath to me, whereas I¡¯m trading knowledge with you, just like I¡¯m doing with Nalrond. As for Phloria, she is Lith¡¯s responsibility, not mine. Friya is the only one besides Lith I have an obligation to." Faluel said.

    "Are you going to kill me or to make me into your Harbinger?" Friya needed sheer willpower to not make her voice quiver. Death was far from alluring while bing a Harbinger meant losing all of her privacy and part of her free will.

    "Neither. You¡¯ve passed all of my tests, but you¡¯ve yet to gain my full trust. Luckily for the both of us, there is a third way. Come." Faluel beckoned at Friya as she shed her human form and turned into a 20 meters (66 feet) seven-headed Hydra.

    Friya gulped again, but this time in wonder. The creature had a stumpy body covered in dull greens scales the size of Lith¡¯s house. Her necks, instead, moved with an almost hypnotic grace and each one of them was covered by scales of different colors as big as a tower shield.

    Without much of a choice if not to trust her master, Friya moved past Quy and walked right in front of the Hydra.

    "Just rx and remember to breathe." The seven heads spoke in unison while triggering the arrays of their.

    "I¡¯m not going to give birth, right?" Friya winced at her own joke as a sudden pir of world energy engulfed her.

    She felt as if the air had be as heavy as lead, making it hard for her even to remain conscious. Friya¡¯s whole body burned like fire while the flow of world energy became so strong that it lifted her in the air.

    The seven heads wrapped around her and used Lifestream, Faluel¡¯s breathing technique in unison. As the pain grew until it became unbearable, Friya¡¯s life shed in front of her eyes until she was reminded of everything she had learned inside the Fringe.

    Suddenly all the voices and whispers she had heard there made sense, Awakening her core.

    Yet the Hydra bloodline¡¯s Awakening technique was very different from the natural process. It was the reason why Faluel hid Friya from the sight of the others. The Hydra used an borate mix of breathing techniques and Body Sculpting to smoothen the process.

    Faluel used Lifestream to follow the impurities¡¯ movements, giving them small nudges to hasten or slow them down ording to the circ.u.mstances. Thanks to Faluel¡¯s influence, the impurities flowed to Friya¡¯s core and then out of her body in a slow but regr stream instead of painful sudden bursts.

    Body Sculpting, instead, nudged Friya¡¯s body in the right direction, allowing it to always pick the most efficient development path that also led to the best possible result.

    Together, the two techniques made the Awakening process faster, less painful, and capable of tempering Friya¡¯s whole being to its utmost limit. When the seven heads released the young woman, Solus was in for a surprise.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom!¡¯</i> She thought while sharing the readings of mana sense through their mind link. Not only did Friya now have a deep blue core and a body already at its peak, ready to evolve again at any time, but she was also brimming with energy.

    Be it Awakening or a breakthrough, it was supposed to be a traumatic event that left the subject weakened and in dire need of rest.

    <i>¡¯No shit, Sherlock.¡¯</i> Lith replied while sharing with her what he saw with his regr eyes.

    Friya¡¯s hair now had the six colored streaks of the elements, making her resemble Mogar¡¯s incarnation that they had met in the Mindscape.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Friya and her group said in unison. "What¡¯s wrong with my/her hair?"

    "There¡¯s nothing wrong with it." Faluel reverted to her human form and drank a keg full of tonic to quickly regain her strength without wasting more uses of Lifestream. Friya was fine whereas the Hydra was exhausted.

    "I thought you didn¡¯t want me to be your Harbinger yet." Friya listened to the silence in her head, waiting to hear the Hydra¡¯s first telepathic order.

    "You¡¯re not a Harbinger." Faluel conjured afortable bed since she needed to rest and the exnations might take a while.

    "Then what does this mean?" Each one of those present grabbed Friya¡¯s hair making her feel very ufortable. "Wasn¡¯t she without any elemental affinity?"

    "Yeah, right." Faluel said with a sneer. "Friya, did your Professor Rudd have any streak?"

    "Aside from grey hair from old age, no." She replied.

    "Did any of you ever wonder why even genius magicians have no streaks? Or how is it possible for them to be Dimensional Mages, something that not even all Awakened can?"

    An awkward silence befell the room as the ss racked their brains for an answer.

    "I¡¯m tired so I¡¯ll keep this short. The hair of a human works exactly like a white mana crystal." Faluel said.

    "What?" Their reaction made Faluel wonder if it was her being too old and tired or them being a bunch of morons.

    "You heard me. A colored streak is nothing but an imbnce in the mana flow due to an elemental affinity that overpowers the others. It works just like enhancing a specific element in a crystal. Do you follow me?" After they nodded, she continued.

    "If all elements are bnced, they are colored white, but unlike a crystal, hair has a natural dye that covers it."

    "Wait. Does that mean that all people with no streaks, like Lith, have all elemental affinities? If yes then why didn¡¯t he get any even after Awakening and why has nothing changed for Phloria and Tista?" Quy asked.

    "Heck no! Have you been listening to a word I said?" Faluel snarled in annoyance.

    "It¡¯s like the damn crystals. Normal people have no elemental affinity, like Lith. He has two because of his beast and Abomination side, hence even Awakening did nothing because it¡¯s not rted to his human body.

    "Awakening worked for both Phloria and Tista, making their streaks more vibrant. Friya, instead, is a natural with all six elements, which is very rare and makes her look like a regr human.

    "Did you really never wonder how could she practice dimensional and even gravity magic so well without affinities?"

    Everyone felt dumb at those words, even those like Solus who considered themselves brilliant.

    "Long story short, Awakening gave her affinities a push as well, splitting them like a prism does with light. Friya, if you work hard enough, you might even get the seventh, so don¡¯t let me down." Faluel said.

    "Wait, what? Isn¡¯t it supposed to be visible from the start?" Lith asked.

    "Have you ever seen someone with just emerald green streaks?" Faluel said with a sigh.

    "No. Only people who also had the other six streaks had them." He replied.

    "My point exactly. Spirit Magic is not an element, it¡¯s the sum of all elements once they are imbued with life force."

 Chapter 1351 - Pecking Order (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1351 - Pecking Order (Part 1)</h4>

    "Now stop wasting my time and start practicing Spirit Magic." Faluel said.

    "Am- Am I really this good?" Tears veiled Friya¡¯s eyes as she couldn¡¯t decide whether to cry or jump in joy.

    "First, being so happy right after someone died is bad manners, child. Show some respect to your colleagues." The Hydra stared at her coldly. "Second, I own your a.s.s for the next 100 years. If by then I don¡¯t trust you, I will not hesitate to put you down.

    "Third, you¡¯d better get to work. You¡¯re still a liability, I just gave you the means to defend yourself. Whoever killed Lark, might target you the next since it would mean striking at the Ernas and me at the same time."

    ***

    One monthter.

    The death of Count Lark caused a dy in the Royal G. Security had to be strengthened and the investigation required the help of many important figures in the Kingdom, leaving them no time for parties.

    Yet the Council of Awakened had no such problem. Lark was a speck of dust to them and they didn¡¯t care for anyone but their own kin. Securing Ka and Faluel took them little effort, especially since everyone did their part in order to meet Lith as soon as possible.

    "This is unfair!" Quy w.h.i.n.ed. "Now I¡¯m the only one who can¡¯te to the Council."

    "That¡¯s not true, babe. There¡¯s always me and mister mopey face here." Morok tried to embrace her at the end of the Domination lesson in which Friya had taken part, but Quy angrily dodged.

    "Don¡¯t call me babe! We only had one date."

    "Not forck of trying on my part! It¡¯s not my fault if you¡¯re locked in your home and your father sends the Royal Guards after me every time I tried visiting." Morok replied.

    "Maybe if you didn¡¯t hit on my mother before asking to see my room, he would have tolerated your presence. On top of that, suggesting Mom to get divorced was really rude!"

    "I never said that. I only told your mother that she¡¯s really hot for her age and that she could aim for much better than a hairy brute with mean eyes. Then, I just pointed out that Lith is much better looking and that he appreciates older women, I wasn¡¯t suggesting anything." Morok clenched his heart as if she had stabbed him.

    "It sure sounded like a not-so-veiled advice. My father is already strict about dates, threatening his marriage did more than put you on his ck list, it put you on his hit list!" Quy snarled.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but the Council¡¯s rules are stricter than your father." Faluel chimed in to put an end to that bickering. "I can¡¯t bring non-Awakened, no matter who they are. As for you, Friya, always stick with me and talk as little as you can.

    "We¡¯re going to kick more than one ho nest today since I doubt that the humans are going to like that after a mixed Guardian bloodline, I also got a hexa-streaked woman as my apprentice. Those like you are very rare."

    Friya gulped at the thought of being in the same ss as Silverwing, Menadion, and Queen Sylpha. If before herpetition was tough, now making a name for herself would be nigh-impossible.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Quy. I¡¯ll try to bring back home a hot stud for you as well." She said in an attempt to calm her nerves.

    "Don¡¯t you dare!" Morok said.

    "Fingers crossed!" Quy replied, almost making him cry.

    "What the heck are you doing?" Faluel said after noticing that her disciples were following her in random order.

    She was wearing an elegant suit of armor made of Adamant that was as light as silk but sturdier than a mountain. It had mana crystals of different colors on its gloves, shoulder pads, c.h.e.s.t, and tights that powered up its power core.

    The armor could grow in size with her, covering even her Hydra body, and changed color ording to the element that Faluel needed to boost. Whenever a ray of light touched it, a small rainbow would appear.

    "Walking toward the Warp Gate." Lith shrugged.

    "Kid, this isn¡¯t a mere formality like thest time, this is a formal introduction visit. You walk behind me on the right. Friya, you do the same on my left. Tista, Phloria, same as them but with Lith at the center."

    "What why?" Friya didn¡¯t like her sister being treated as a servant.

    "You two belong to me while they belong to him. The pecking order is a big deal during official visits. It determines who can speak with who and the degree people can mess you with." Faluel replied while forcing everyone to shapeshift their armor from clothes into its original form.

    Friya wore an Adamant armor identical to Faluel¡¯s but with violet crystals.

    "You can¡¯t go in there looking like that." She said to Lith. "No one is interested in your human form, only in your bloodline."

    "Do you mind telling me what¡¯s so different from thest time?" Lith said while shapeshifting, which turned out to not be enough.

    "During your first visit, you were just an oddity. Lith Verhen, the talented anomaly, was just one of the many reasons the Council had assembled that day." Faluel forced him to take out his four wings.

    She made him fold the first set around his shoulders like a cape and the second set around his h.i.p.s like a kilt.

    "This time, everyone ising to witness a sessful hybrid between the Phoenix and the Dragon bloodline that might not turn to be a lesser species. It never happened before, but there¡¯s always a first.

    "My advice is to stick with me, smile a lot, and talk only if questioned."

    Lith nodded while inhaling sharply with nervousness.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ve barely got over Lark¡¯s death and now this. I can¡¯t shake off the feeling that picking the ckest Day to kill one of my people had a significance. The start of my very own dark age.</i>

    <i>¡¯If I¡¯m right, the next attack will happen during the winter solstice, after my birthday, or as soon as the culprit thinks it would hurt the most. Killing many people at once would not only be difficult, it would also have a much lesser emotional impact.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "By the way, you¡¯re young so it doesn¡¯t matter, but for future reference, remember that giving good stuff to your apprentices is a sign of wealth and authority." Faluel said, snapping him out of his reverie.

    "Phloria is okay thanks to Orion¡¯s equipment, but Tista looks like your neglected daughter. Why do you think I gave Friya one of my armor?"

    "I did the best I could with what I had at my disposal. I don¡¯t have enough Adamant to gift people." Lith said.

    "Orichalc.u.m is still good, but those puny crystals scream ¡¯I¡¯m just a prototype¡¯. Being a cheapskate is fine, unting it to the rest of the world, not so much. Now shut up and follow me." Faluel said while Tista made rude gestures at Lith and they all walked through the Gate.

    "Great Mother almighty." The Hydra had just failed to follow her own orders but she had also expressed everyone¡¯s feelings at the sight of what waited for them on the other side.

 Chapter 1352 - Pecking Order (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1352 - Pecking Order (Part 2)</h4>

    On their right, there was a long line of honor guards from the Dragon bloodline who wore a ceremonial ck suit of armor. Each one of them held a long pole flying Leegaain¡¯s gold and red banner.

    On their left, there was an equally long line of honor guards from the Phoenix bloodline who wore a ceremonial red suit of armor. Each one of them held a long pole flying Sark¡¯s silver and ck banner.

    Under Faluel¡¯s group feet there was a long red carpet that led to the Council Hall and to make matters worse, their Gate closed the moment they crossed it, meaning that the Gate had been set up exclusively for them.

    <i>¡¯Is it me or are they making a big deal out of this?¡¯</i> Lith asked via the mind link.

    <i>¡¯No shit, Constable. Now turn this off. Everyone here can see a mind link, making it a very rude gesture.¡¯</i> Faluel replied while walking through the hallway with the bearing of someone who wasn¡¯t just used to such a treatment, but who felt entitled to it.

    The Hydra was actually worried sick, yet she couldn¡¯t afford to show any weakness until she understood what was going on.

    The members of the honor guard were so surprised at the sight of Friya¡¯s hair that some of them even widened their eyes a bit. It was barely noticeable, but still considered an unforgivable act of rudeness for someone of their upbringing.

    Faluel and her apprentices followed the red carpet, unaware of being watched by the Council through a surveince spell. It was usually meant to gauge an ambassador¡¯s strength and prepare contingency measures in the case a mediation with the guest¡¯s faction was impossible.

    During her first visit, Xenagrosh had received the same attention, allowing the Council to estimate her strength and that of her equipment. In Lith¡¯s case, however, it had been used simply to allow everyone to take a good look at him.

    There were too many Awakened and if he had to meet them one by one, it would have taken days. Also, it was a form of respect towards his alleged ancestors who were both attending the meeting.

    Tyris was there as well to congratte Sark in person and make sure that no one attempted funny business. Having the three Guardians of Garlen assembled in the Council was a rare event, made even more extraordinary by the appearance of a hexa-streaked human.

    People moved their disy from Lith to Friya non-stop, not knowing where to look.

    "This Awakened Academy of Faluel proves to have one more merit." Lotho the Treant and nt representative said. "Not only did she find and nurtured a new hybrid species, but she also discovered a white crystal in the rough."

    "Well, yes." Fe the Behemoth said with a nod. "But it¡¯s too soon to talk about academies of our own. The others are just unremarkable Awakened and Faluel might have just been lucky."

    "They are still young." Lotho shrugged his massive shoulders. "I consider the fact that they have yet to jump at each other¡¯s throat a sess."

    Lith was already the topic of many conversations, but Friya¡¯s appearance had triggered a heated argument about Faluel¡¯s proposal of following the fake mages¡¯ example and open academies for Awakened.

    Raagu, the human representative, had a lot to say about it but she was too busy not drowning in her own bile to speak. Keeping a calm appearance required her sheer willpower and she was seconds away from snapping in outrage.

    "What a story. First, you missed the opportunity to get the offspring of two Guardians on your side and now the beasts also rub a hexa-streaked human in your face. Isn¡¯t it tiring being always wrong?" Inxialot, the Lich King and alleged undead representative said while patting her shoulder.

    Many incredibly rude words shed in Raagu¡¯s mind. Words that would have crushed the Lich where he stood and that would have made hundreds of years old creatures blush in embarrassment.

    Words that might have even triggered a war. Yet she kept her lips sealed and threw Inxialot a re with enough killing intent that even his phctery hidden dozens of kilometers away shuddered.

    <i>¡¯This is odd. My pick-up line was supposed to make her understand that I empathize with her failures and that I offered her my shoulder to cry on, yet she seems to have taken it like some sort of insult.¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯Have social rules changed so much while I was locked in myb for my research or am I doing something wrong? I was quite a yer back when Valeron was establishing the Kingdom. Can I have lost my edge during thesest few days of istion?¡¯</i>

    "Dad, you managed to screw up in more than one way this time. Why did you deny that Lith was our brother just to shoot yourself in the foot?" Gentor the Golden Dragon said.

    "F.u.c.k you, that¡¯s how!" Leegaain replied from under the pile of cigars and blue ribbons he was buried under.

    Also, hosting so many people of different species required much more space than the Council Hall could offer, forcing everyone to shapeshift into a human-sized appearance and making the Father of all Dragons look like a mole.

    The Phoenixes, instead, didn¡¯t like Lith¡¯s totalck of feathers and of any bird-rted feature. They grumbled a lot about their blood being drowned in Dragon¡¯s, but before voicing their doubts they would wait for the Blood Imprint.

    <i>¡¯Little f.u.c.k.i.n.g bastard.¡¯</i> Xedros the Wyvern belonged to the Dragon species, yet he was more pissed off than any Phoenix. <i>¡¯Lith failed to hide his omni pocket from me but he managed to fool me nevertheless.</i>

    <i>¡¯I thought him to be a lesser Dragon as well, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have ever let him go. By killing him while he was still just a Ranger, I would have gotten his omni pocket and learned the gods know how many secrets from his body.¡¯</i>

    The envy at the idea that Lith might not belong to a lesser species but be part of a new powerful bloodline burned Xedros¡¯s mind with the heat of a hundred suns. On top of that, the fact that the Wyvern had lost a lot of precious materials with the bet about Lith¡¯s origin added insult to the injury.

    Faluel¡¯s group had reached the antechamber of the Council Hall when they were forced to stop by an equally numerous group walking in the opposite direction. They all wore formal robes typical of the Blood Desert except for the woman leading them.

    Sark had the appearance of a stunning woman in her mid-twenties about 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") tall. She had silky ck waist-long hair, emerald eyes, and a bronze tinge of skin so clear that it seemed to emit a gentle radiance.

    She wore an emerald green robe, the Blood Desert equivalent of a c.o.c.ktail dress, that left exposed her fair shoulders. Whenever she stepped forward, her slender legs appeared from the dress¡¯ side slits.

    "Overlord Sark, this is against the Council¡¯s protocol." Yet Faluel kneeled anyway, dragging her apprentices down with her and making sure they kept their eyes on the ground.

 Chapter 1353 - Blood Imprint (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1353 - Blood Imprint (Part 1)</h4>

    "Protocol is boring and I don¡¯t want to waste my time tussling with the others to get five minutes of my grandson¡¯s time. You can all stand." Sark said, forcing them to look her in the eyes as she examined them one at a time.

    "I¡¯m disappointed that you never visited nor did you even bother replying to my letter, Lith."

    "There was no address to reply to and I don¡¯t have your contact rune." He replied while giving her a deep bow. "I am grateful for your advice about mytest creation, but I think there¡¯s a misunderstanding.

    "I¡¯m not from the Blood Desert and neither is anyone from my family. You shouldn¡¯t waste your blessings on a stranger."

    "Are you afraid that I¡¯ll make you pay for them with interest once I learn that you¡¯re not one of mine?" Sark chuckled, guessing Lith¡¯s worry on the first try.

    He had spent his life staying away from powerful beings for an excellent reason. Once they got you in their pocket, there was no way out.

    "I would never do something that distasteful. I simply gave advice to a fellow Forgemaster I respect. Besides, I¡¯m here to clear this mess once and for all." Sark stepped forward and took Lith¡¯s hands in her own.

    He inwardly thanked his paranoia for entrusting Solus¡¯s ring to Faluel. He had no idea who he would have met that night and he couldn¡¯t afford Solus being discovered by a touch of Invigoration.

    "Human magic may fail, but Blood never lies."

    "What do you m-"

    Sark¡¯s eyes suddenly lit with an emerald light that spread to Lith¡¯s, cutting him short. His body and mind resonated with hers, sharing Lith¡¯s dominant feelings. The worry for his family, his love for magic, the love for Kam¡¯s tenderness, and the grief for Lark¡¯s death.

    "What the actual f.u.c.k?" Lith blurted out in surprise, with no care for etiquette.

    His scales had turned into red-veined ck feathers that now covered his wings as well. Yet it wasn¡¯t that the reason for his surprise. For some reason, Sark was crying and so were all the Phoenixes present, even those of the honor guard.

    He felt as if he had shared his burden with many, making it lighter and yet heavier at the same time. Phoenixes were social creatures beyond what any other race could think.

    "It¡¯s called Blood Imprint and it proves that you are one of mine." Sark replied while wiping her tears. "I renew my invitation to move to the Desert. As long as you ept to follow myws and traditions, you¡¯ll be always wee there."

    "Thank you very much, Grandma." Lith said while his feathers went back to scales.

    Faluel shuddered at hisck of respect, but since Sark herself had given him permission in the letter, no one else cared. No one except the rest of the Council, of course.

    "Nowe with me. We have much to discuss. Did you perchance prepare that cute flying car I requested of you in my letter?" Sark took Lith¡¯s arm, walking beside him as if they knew each other their whole life.

    Now that the pecking order had changed, Faluel stepped back and moved to Sark¡¯s right side, letting them take the lead while the rest of the Guardian¡¯s attendants rearranged their formation as well.

    "Actually no." Lith shook his head. "I was making one for my dead friend, but he doesn¡¯t need it anymore. It is yours to take if you want it."

    He had already given a DoLorean each to the Royals and Marchioness Distar before the ckest Day. He had done it to get them off his back and cash in the shitload of money they were willing to pay for them.

    Before Lark¡¯s death, he had nned to use them to fund more experiments with the tower¡¯s mines but now he was investing them in security measures.

    "Thanks. I¡¯ll arrange things with Tyris so that you don¡¯t get in trouble for your gift. If you evere visit me, bring along your Forgemastering crew. I would be d to exchange pointers with them." Sark turned toward Friya and Faluel, winking to both of them.

    <i>¡¯Guess she knows that the DoLorean is a team effort and even about Solus¡¯s existence.¡¯</i> Lith sighed.

    Once they reached the Council Hall the group was swept away by a living storm of bodies. Dragons wanted to shake Lith¡¯s hand while Phoenixes hugged him with enough strength to squeeze the air out of his lungs and kissed his cheeks like a long-lost brother.

    Fe and the other elders wanted to know from Faluel everything about how she had discovered Friya¡¯s talent. Friya, instead, found herself surrounded by humans who were so eager to check her abilities with Invigoration that they almost started a fight to get to her first.

    "Now you know how it feels to have a famous sibling." Tista said to Phloria once it was clear that no one gave a damn about them.

    "Well, the food is delicious and no one is s.u.c.k.i.n.g up to me for my money or to you for your beauty so I consider this as a win." Phloria shrugged while filling her te with the delicacies from the buffet.

    "Hey, gorgeous. Long time no see." Someone said while tapping on Tista¡¯s shoulder.

    "You and your big mouth, Phloria. Listen, pal- What are you doing here?" She immediately recognized Bodya¡¯s human form.

    He was one of the Emperor Beasts they had met on the Jiera continent. He looked like a handsome man in his early thirties about 1.8 (5¡¯11") tall, with ashen skin, raven-ck hair and eyes.

    He had the body of an athlete at his peak, a living symphony of flesh and muscles that not even the full suit of armor he wore could hide.

    "I heard the news about Lith and I decided to take a first-row seat to the show." Bodya replied.

    "Is Jiera really boring or is this new bloodline stuff that important?" Tista asked.

    "Both. It also gave me an excellent excuse to meet you again."

    "Are you hitting on me? I thought you considered me a kid or something." Tista started to massage her temples.

    "Yes, I am. You are indeed young, but we¡¯re both Awakened so it won¡¯t matter for long. Besides, if once you reach the blue core you turn into a Wyrmling as well, it would be the perfect opportunity to try andbine our bloodlines." Bodya said.

    Tista blinked several times, needing also to inhale sharply to recover enough from the shock to reply with words that weren¡¯t vulgar.

    "Did you just ask me to have your babies to check if we can add the Leviathan bloodline in the mix?" She asked.

    "Yes. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re going to have a long line of suitors for that very reason and I wanted you to know that I¡¯m avable." Bodya said.

    "Look, pal, your honesty is refreshing, but that¡¯s the only good thing about this conversation. I¡¯m just 21 years old and babies are a serious matter to me, not some kind of science fair experiment." Tista said.

 Chapter 1354 - Blood Imprint (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1354 - Blood Imprint (Part 2)</h4>

    "I respect that, but others might not be so kind. You better take my arm and pretend that you¡¯re enjoying mypany since it seems that Faluel has just let it slip that you¡¯re Lith¡¯s sister and not his lover. Otherwise you are going to have a very unpleasant evening."

    Bodya¡¯s fine hearing had caught both the Hydra¡¯s slip of the tongue and the ensuing enthusiasm. Since Lith and Tista shared the same blood, there was no reason for her not having simr abilities.

    It was only a matter of time before she achieved a blue core, making her body strong enough to withstand the power of the Guardians¡¯ dormant bloodlines and allow them to manifest.

    Tista cursed Faluel¡¯s big mouths and smiled as if she had found the love of her life while Phloriaughed her a.s.s off.

    "Lith, allow me to introduce you to Crevan, Lenanna, and Jhet. They had been tasked with the protection of your family during Faluel¡¯s absence, but after they learned about the results of the Blood Resonance test, they volunteered to stay after her return." Sark said.

    "Nice to meet you. I¡¯m grateful for your assistance." Lith said while shaking their hands in turns and letting them use their breathing technique on him. Feeling so many energy signatures coursing through his body in such a short time was an unpleasant experience, but he had to suck it up.

    "Not to sound rude, but if Faluel is here and you three are here as well, who is guarding my house?"

    "Fe put another elder in Faluel¡¯s ce and we had three other Phoenixes took over while we¡¯re here." Crevan said with a tinge of annoyance for the tantck of trust.

    "You¡¯re wee, little brother." Lenanna chimed in to lighten the mood. "Yet know that we won¡¯t stay in Lutia for long."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "At first, we stayed behind because our mother¡¯s debt to Leegaain couldn¡¯t be repaid in a single day of service. Then, we choose to keep our guard to celebrate the reunion with a long-lost brother.

    "Our allegiance, however,es at a price. Every member of the family can choose to stay in the nest or to leave. If you pick thetter, you¡¯ll have no obligation towards us but neither will we. Loyalty is a road that goes both ways." Lenanna said.

    "Don¡¯t listen to her, little brother." Gentor the Golden Dragon said. "Dragons always lived on their own and we¡¯re doing fine. Stay too close to someone and they¡¯ll smother your creativity.

    "Our kin help each other in time of need without too many strings attached." Until the "too many" part, Gentor had piqued Lith¡¯s interest.

    "Don¡¯t listen to either of them." A charming blonde man with ice blue eyes, about 2.2 (7¡¯3") tall said while shaking Lith¡¯s hand. "Phoenixes and Dragons are the same. Always talking about family when picking the right friends is much more important for survival.

    "Family is something you¡¯re born with, like the color of your scales, whereas the people you surround yourself with are the result of your choices and say a lot about your personality."

    "Thanks for the advice, but who are you?" Lith felt well-hidden hostilitying from the stranger. That and his brood siblings cl.i.c.k.i.n.g their tongues in unison gave out that something was wrong.

    "I¡¯m Qisal the Wyvern. You should have already met my father, Xedros, and my little brother, Gadorf. I hope that you murdering a member of the Dragon bloodline in cold blood doesn¡¯t make this family meeting unpleasant."

    "Why should any of us care about that?" Gentor said with a low growl. "Your brother disgraced the Dragons¡¯ name by using the Forbidden Arts. He was nothing but a filthy criminal that got what he deserved."

    Lith was grateful to Gentor for stepping in. Without Solus, he needed more time than usual to think, and from the Wyvern¡¯s conversation starter, he had understood where things would go if he let Qisal have his way.

    "Indeed. It was not different from what happened to Xedros when he didn¡¯t help against the Awakened humans who used Forbidden Magic as well. Tyris had to step in to cover for his ipetence and punished him big time." Lith nodded.

    "What are you talking about? I saw the recordings. Tyris arrived when it was all over and my father had nothing to do with that incident." Qisal kept smiling, but from his expression, Lith saw an opening that he could exploit.

    "I know what happened because I¡¯m the one who treated Xedros from his injury. If you don¡¯t believe me, we can always ask him, or maybe even Tyris since she¡¯s already here." Lith sipped a bit of his drink, steeling himself for the retaliation he knew wasing.

    Not having Solus with him also meant there was no one to help him keep his emotions under control and Lith didn¡¯t trust himself much.

    Qisal threw a quick nce at Xedros, cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue in disgust.

    When he had sent his son to teach the Wyrmling a lesson of humility, the Father of all Wyverns had conveniently left out the part about him needing the help of a healer to preserve his pride.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s why after hundreds of years that moron finally learned the healing arts and Body Sculpting. Father had always been too prideful to learn how to shapeshift yet now is second nature to him. How pathetic.¡¯</i> Qisal quickly changed his ns ording to the new information.

    "There¡¯s no need to bother Lady Tyris for this, brother. I believe you. My father has always been an arrogant fool and it¡¯s nice to know that some things never change." The Wyvern gave Lith a small bow of apology, lightening the mood.

    "Indeed." Lith nodded but didn¡¯t lower his guard. Not one of his past encounters with a Wyvern had turned out to be pleasant. "Besides, I agree with you. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the w.o.m.b.

    "I have several rtives whose death would only make me happy whereas I choose my associates very carefully." Lith pointed at Friya and Faluel who were surrounded by as many people as him, receiving praises respectively from the human and the beast faction.

    "Really?" Qisal said in amus.e.m.e.nt. "Then why do you mingle so often with humans? They are short-lived and so very fragile things. Didn¡¯t you learn anything from that Lark guy? He was a weakling who died a dog¡¯s death."

    "Strength it¡¯s not everything. Without those who you call weaklings, you wouldn¡¯t have the clothes you wear or the wine you drink." Lith¡¯s eyes softly zed with mana. "Lark was a good man and when I find the one who killed him, I¡¯m going to make them pay."

    "Isn¡¯t it too much effort for someone who had outlived his usefulness?" Qisal dropped the subject, making it clear that he didn¡¯t care for Lith¡¯s answer.

    "If I were you, I would focus on something more productive, like hitting on one of our gorgeous peers. You need someone to continue your bloodline once you get tired of your pet wife or when the poor thing dies."

    Not only did the Wyvern¡¯s words sound like a threat, but he also seemed amused at the idea of Kam¡¯s death.

 Chapter 1355 - Parents and Gifts (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1355 - Parents and Gifts (Part 1)</h4>

    "A pet?" Lith¡¯s voice was a barely intelligible growl of fury.

    The memory of Kam¡¯s tenderness on the night of Lark¡¯s death, of the injuries she had sustained just to stay close to him, made Qisal¡¯s words unforgivable.

    "Yes, a pet." The Wyvern nodded and sipped his wine as if they were having a pleasant conversation. "Something you¡¯re fond of but that you¡¯re bound to outlive so once they die you grieve them for a couple of days and then move on to the next one.

    "Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re actually nning to use it for more than fun?" Qisal chuckled at Lith¡¯s furious expression and at his five eyes brimming with five different colors, wondering what their secret was.

    Lith tried to remain calm, but fire gurgled from his throat with every word he spoke and the energy within his eyes made them shine like precious gems as it begged to be released.

    "That I¡¯m not sure of. What I know, however, is that all of my pets are worthier than a lizzie." Lith said in a small burst of mes that evaporated his drink and ss alike.

    "What did you say?" Now it was Qisal¡¯s turn to lose his cool. That word was a taboo for the Wyvern¡¯s species.

    "You heard me, lizzie. Your brother Gadorf had the gall to call himself a Dragon and filled his ve house with gold, but he was nothing more than an overgrown lizard with an inferiorityplex." Lith reveled in the fury twisting Qisal¡¯s and Xedros¡¯s faces.

    <i>¡¯Dealing low blows is a game two can y</i>.¡¯ He thought.

    "How dare you!" Qisal tried to assault Lith, but the members of both the Dragon and the Phoenix bloodline easily restrained him, forcing him on his knees.

    "You think you can insult others and then you can¡¯t take a taste of your own medicine? How pathetic." Lith clicked his tongue, looking down on his opponent.

    Qisal had envisioned exactly for that scenario, but their roles had been reversed. He was supposed to be the one looking down to a humiliated opponent.

    "You arrogant whelp. You didn¡¯t just offend me with your words, but the entire Wyvern species. You spat on your own family." Qisal chuckled as another n took form in his mind.

    He regained his calm and ceased struggling until the other Emperor Beasts released him. Now that he was back on his feet, the Wyvern towered over the puny Wyrmling.

    "Cry me a river." Lith shrugged. "As I already said, I have plenty of rtives whose death would make me happy. I¡¯ll just add Wyverns to the list."

    "That¡¯s not so easy, you fool. I demand satisfaction and invoke my right to a Spirit Duel!" Qisal said as his body suddenly brimmed with emerald green energy.

    "Bring it on, sucker." War appeared between Lith¡¯s hands in a burst of emerald mes, twisting and pulling its blood sheath like a man trying to get rid of a straightjacket.

    There was no point hiding the existence of his omni pocket since Xedros knew about it and he was likely to spread the word now that their rtionship had gone sour.

    "Make me feel it. Make me feel alive again!" War¡¯s seals andtches clicked furiously, forming intelligible words that made silence befall the entire Council Hall.

    Even the old monsters who had beenmenting on the children¡¯s squabble and making bets on it were now too surprised to keep talking.

    "Here we go again." Leegaain sighed. He was the only one knowing the whole story and he was certain that one way or another, people would find a way to pin the me on him.

    An omni pocket was the only kind of dimensional storage that could bypass sealing arrays and everyone knew that there were very few people still alive capable of making them on Garlen. Sark and Leegaain were among them.

    During herst visit, Xenagrosh had revealed to have one and Leegaain had told everyone that she didn¡¯t steal it. Omni pockets were usually hising-of-age gift for his most promising children.

    Everyone assumed that Lith¡¯s omni pocket came from Leegaain as well and he couldn¡¯t exin the truth without revealing Solus¡¯s existence. Many Dragons who didn¡¯t have an omni pocket red at the innocent Leegaain, but no fury couldpare with that of the Wyverns.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k you, Father.¡¯</i> They all thought in unison. <i>¡¯You never bestowed one even on the Father of all Wyverns yet you gave it to a half-blood?¡¯</i>

    The talking de, instead, made several sses slip from the hands of their owners in surprise, Faluel included. A symphony of shattering ss spread throughout the Hall as the eyes moved from War to Sark.

    ording to logic, if the omni pocket was a gift from the father, the de had toe from the mother. It wasn¡¯t a cursed object yet it was semi-sentient, something that only the god of Forgemasters was supposed to be able to do.

    Sark¡¯s eyes lingered on War for a while, smiling in reply to all those who stared at her, without confirming nor denying their silent allegations.

    <i>¡¯Find everything about Orion Ernas, Sinmara. I want it yesterday.¡¯</i> Sark said to her right-hand woman, a stunning redhead in a scarlet dress.

    Sinmara nodded and used the Call of the Blood to go back to the Desert despite the dimensional sealing arrays.

    "Put that away before someone gets hurt." Sark stood between the Wyrmling and the Wyvern, holding Lith¡¯s arm while being careful to not touch the hilt of the de.

    <i>¡¯Interesting. This thing only has pseudo cores, yet it has learned how to handle them as a power core would, exceeding the abilities its maker has infused the artifact with. This Orion guy is someone I definitely want on my side.¡¯</i> She thought.

    Despite all the cloaking seals Orion had covered the de with and the use of an original Forgemastering technique exclusive to him, Sark needed but a nce to recognize his handiwork.

    "Why should I if that lizzie wants a duel?" Lith asked with fury.

    "First, stop saying that. It¡¯s a racial slur and it¡¯s very rude of you to say that in front of your family. Second, no weapons are allowed in a Spirit Duel." Sark said.

    "Let me get this straight. He can talk shit on my people and piss on the grave of my friend while I can¡¯t return the favor?"

    "No matter how much you cared for him, Lark was a non-Awakened human and you are a beast who¡¯s insulting his own bloodline. There¡¯s a big difference. As for Captain Yehval, unless you bring her into your nest and she gives you children, she¡¯s irrelevant as well." Sark shook her head.

    "If she ever bears one of my grandchildren, however, and something were to happen to her, I will exterminate the entire Wyvern bloodline for your words. Are we clear?" She looked at Qisal now, her voice unchanged yet terrifying nheless.

    Contrary to everyone¡¯s expectations, Lith seemed even more scared than Qisal.

    "Wait. Are you telling me that if I get my girlfriend pregnant, you would protect her?" Lith asked, fearing the consequences that either answer would have.

    "How could I possibly ignore the bearer of my blood? Of the first member of a new bloodline at that?"

 Chapter 1356 - Parents and Gifts (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1356 - Parents and Gifts (Part 2)</h4>

    "You may turn down my offer, but your offspring might show better judgment. If anyone messes with my Blood, with a child at that, there would be no ce on Mogar where they could hide from me." Sark looked at Lith as if he was insane for asking such a dumb question.

    "And I would help you." Tyris put a hand on Sark¡¯s shoulder to calm her down.

    "And so would I." Leegaain rushed to say before his children beat him to a pulp.

    <i>¡¯This is great.¡¯</i> Lith¡¯s thoughts oozed sarcasm. <i>¡¯The best way I have to keep any woman I care about safe is to have a baby with her. F.u.c.k me sideways.¡¯</i>

    "Are you certain about the Spirit Duel?" Leegaain asked Qisal. "Lith is young and not even a full member of the Council whereas you provoked him on purpose."

    "How despicable of you!" The Wyvern pointed his finger at Leegaain with a fury that made Orpal¡¯s look like a firefly inparison. "You hid him from us for years, you showered him with gifts along with your-"

    No matter how angry he was, Qisal wasn¡¯t suicidal so he bit his own tongue before it was toote. Offending Sark wouldn¡¯t lead to a Spirit Duel so much as to close casket funeral.

    "Your spouse and now that he has ndered an entire bloodline you stand by his side instead of with the victim? If I had any doubts before, now I¡¯m certain of it. I demand a Spirit Duel!"

    Sark giggled and Leegaain shuddered at the word "spouse". They had several flings in the past yet they all had ended due to Sark being bossy and Leegaain being a couch potato.

    There were many embarrassing anecdotes about their rtionship that the Father of all Dragons wanted to stay forgotten.

    "When are you going to take me to a nice ce, darling?" Sark whispered in his ear while she hugged him from behind and pressed his full b.r.e.a.s.ts against his back.

    "You heard the man! Let¡¯s get this duel started." Leegaain broke free from her embrace, feigning to be too busy to answer her question.

    Yet everyone had already made their mind. Between Qisal¡¯s words, the intimacy between the two, and the existence of a possible sessful mixed breed, the whole Council could easily see through their fa?ade.

    There was clearly something going on between the two Guardians.

    "What did I tell you about not speaking unless questioned?" Faluel rushed to Lith¡¯s side who avoided saying "he started it" only because it sounded childish even to him.

    "What the heck is a Spirit Duel?" He asked instead.

    "The way the Council handles all kinds of disputes among its members that don¡¯t require someone to die. When there are fewer free turfs avable than applicants, they get assigned to the winner of a Spirit Duel." The Hydra said.

    "I meant what are the rules?"

    "For humans, they are pretty simple, but for us beasts, not so much." She sighed. "No equipment is allowed, otherwise those that inherited a powerful magical legacy or who practice Forgemastering would have an unfair advantage.

    "No spells are allowed either, except for those born out or infused with Spirit Magic, hence the name of the ritual. It¡¯s the only way to ensure that the fight wouldn¡¯tst days due to Spirit Magic¡¯s cost.

    "Since both parties have ess to Invigoration, a single misstep is enough to heal all wounds and recover their mana. Using normal spells would mean to drag things over and cause meaningless destruction whereas this way it¡¯s a battle of wits."

    "Does that mean I can¡¯t use Fusion Magic or Origin mes?" Lith asked.

    "You can use them both because they are considered to be a part of your body, like your ws. Beastspete physically as well, making size relevant to the challenge." Faluel replied. "Think carefully about your next moves.

    "Your opponent is a natural at flying, is much bigger than you, has thicker scales, and his tail is not useless like yours. You are going to start on your back foot and you¡¯ll be forced to focus on defense until you find an edge."

    "Do you have any useful advice?" Lith noticed that Xedros seemed to be coaching Qisal just like Faluel was doing for him.

    "Only one. Don¡¯t use even a spark of Domination. Otherwise some of the old monsters here will understand what happened and I will have to kill you." The Hydra replied.

    "I meant to win!" Lith snarled.

    "Sorry but no. One of my children would have the same problems facing a Wyvern but you belong to an unknown bloodline so I¡¯ve got no idea what your abilities are."

    "Neither do I." Lith sighed.

    "Don¡¯t worry too much. This isn¡¯t a fight to the death. Worst case scenario, you¡¯ll get your a.s.s whooped. Live and learn to kick a.s.s another day, I say."

    Lith had to give her all of his items, remaining stark n.a.k.e.d. The more he thought about Faluel¡¯s words, the more he realized how screwed up he was.

    "The time hase. Please, follow us." Leegaain opened several Warp Gates at once, allowing all those present to reach what looked like an underground arena.

    Lith remembered that ce. It was where he had fought the Meneos and it reminded him of the Roman Colosseum. The arena had an elliptical shape that was several hundreds of meters long and about half as wide.

    The Father of all Dragons looked at Lith and nodded whereas when he looked at Qisal, he flicked his middle finger at the Wyvern¡¯s forehead.

    "You have one minute to cast your spells. Starting from now. No cheating." Leegaain said before hitting the unruly youth and making all the spells he had weaved until that moment disappear.

    Qisal inwardly cursed as he had to start everything from scratch.

    Lith took several deep breaths but not to use Invigoration so much as to calm down and ponder his course of action with a clear head.

    <i>¡¯No Solus, no Full Guard, no equipment. For the first time in a long while, I¡¯m against a stronger opponent. Instead of matching his fury, I must force Qisal to y by my rules or I¡¯m f.u.c.k.e.d.¡¯</i> He thought while looking at the Wyvern¡¯s mighty build.

    While standing on his hind legs, Qisal was over four (13¡¯2") meters tall, with his long neck taking a quarter of his height and ending into a long reptile snout as big as a barrel.

    His tail was about 1.34 meters (4.4 feet) long, ending with a thick bone spike that resembled the sting of a giant wasp. Two golden membranous wings extended from his forelegs, connecting his little fingers to his h.i.p.s.

    The wings were a few shades palerpared to the scales that covered Qisal¡¯s upper body and that offered the Wyvern¡¯s skin protection on par with a heavy steel armor.

    Compared to him, Lith was smaller than a child and as much as helpless. With his small thin scales and barely over 2 meters (7¡¯) tall hybrid form, he didn¡¯t pose much of a threat.

    To make matters worse, his second set of wings was still atrophied, his horns were small, and his tail didn¡¯t even reach a full meter (3.2 feet) of length.

 Chapter 1357 - Superior Opponent (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1357 - Superior Opponent (Part 1)</h4>

    "Begin!" Leegaain¡¯s voice roared throughout the entire colosseum without the need for any amplification spell.

    The start signal activated a golden translucent dome that enclosed the arena, warping both Lith and his opponent on the opposite sides of the battlefield.

    This time, the dome¡¯s ceiling was over one hundred meters (330 feet) high, to allow the fighters to fly freely and guarantee them the same maneuverability of an open space.

    Not a single seat was empty. The Awakenedmunity was equally eager to witness the true power of the mixed bloodline of Dragons and Phoenixes or to see the arrogant brat publicly humiliated.

    Yet what they actually hoped for was an oue that involved both.

    Lith revealing his best cards and getting defeated would have been the best-case scenario for them, teaching the arrogant Guardians¡¯ bloodlines who treated the Council with contempt a lesson.

    Qisal took off immediately, infusing himself with all elements and using a mix of Spirit and air magic to propel his wings like a jet turbine.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways. How do I do that?¡¯</i> Lith thought while Qisal charged at him with the speed of a rocket whereas he pped his wings like a mere bird.

    The Wyvern reached the Wyrmling in a split second,bining the twisting strength of his long neck with the eleration from the Second Wind spell to bite off a huge chunk of Lith¡¯s shoulder right off the bat.

    Despite having drawn the first blood, Qisal snarled in annoyance.

    Not only did the Wyrmling¡¯s meat taste like crap, but the Wyvern had actually aimed at the right wing. Without it, Lith would be grounded and doomed to defeat, but the runt had managed to twist his upper body at thest second, foiling Qisal¡¯s attack.

    Lith didn¡¯t even have the time to curse that the Wyvern had already returned after performing a U-turn, striking at Lith with the long talons of his hind legs without ever slowing down.

    The scene reminded Lith of his fight with Gadorf, but this time it was much worse. Without help nor equipment, the Wyvern might cut him in half the moment Qisalnded a clean hit.

    Five darts of emerald green energy, each one as big as a dagger, came out of the fingers of his right hand. They moved too fast for Qisal to dodge and continue his attack, forcing him to steer to the right to avoid them.

    Yet the darts steered as well, following the Wyvern¡¯s back like hounds after a wounded prey.

    ¡¯<i>What the heck are those?¡¯</i> Qisal thought as, despite his best efforts, the bullets kept gaining ground.

    <i>¡¯Magic Missiles, baby.¡¯</i> Lith inwardly grinned while he exploited the brief respite to mimic the Wyvern¡¯s movement spell.

    Even though Magic Missiles was just a tier two spell, Spirit Magic was akin to Gravity Magic. Dangerous at tier zero and deadly from tier one even for Awakened. The projectiles were the manifestation of air, light, and darkness magic.

    Air magic gave it speed, light magic fast shapeshifting abilities, and darkness destructive power. It was a modified version of Poke that added willpower to the mix, making it a homing spell that could adapt to any enemy.

    Thanks to the perfect synergy of the three elements that only Spirit Magic could achieve, Magic Missiles was the weaker version of a Tower spell. Its only downside was that being made of pure mana, it required a lot of magical energy.

    Lith couldn¡¯t afford to use something too powerful right off the bat and need Invigoration so soon. Magic Missiles was the perfectpromise, allowing him to both keep the enemy at bay and test their wits.

    Qisal used his long neck and Life Vision to study the threat at hand during his escape. The results were far from encouraging.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t believe that runt has already received lessons about Spirit Magic Spells from Faluel. Father has only taught me how to infuse the elements with it since my mana core is still bright blue.</i>

    <i>¡¯Sure, he could have imparted me both the secret of the violet core and of Spirit Magic, but we both know that if he did that, the Wyvern¡¯s n would have a new patriarch.¡¯</i> Qisal grinned at the idea.

    He didn¡¯t ept to taunt Lith just to humor Xedros so much as to earn the recognition of the Dragon bloodline and take Xedros¡¯s ce. Many of his kind considered the Father of all Wyverns to be a relic of the past.

    His obsession for evolving into a "true Dragon", as if Wyverns were just a sick joke, brought shame on the bloodline and had caused their power to grow stale. Until recently, Xedros had refused to learn healing magic, forcing his children to ask other Emperor Beasts to teach them how to shapeshift.

    By defeating the golden boy of two Guardians, Qisal would prove that Wyverns were the strongest of the lesser Dragons and gain the political momentum he needed to overthrow his father.

    Many of his siblings had gained a violet core and learned Spirit Magic. With their support and teachings, taking Fe¡¯s seat in the Council would only be a matter of time.

    Qisal cursed Xedros¡¯s ipetence and conjured a hard-light shield infused with Spirit Magic that appeared out of thin air, intercepting four out of five projectiles. The construct shattered while thest Missile struck at the Wyvern¡¯s back with such energy that it bent the scales that protected his spine.

    Qisal coughed out a mouthful of blood but he didn¡¯t slow down. Lith wasn¡¯t the only one testing the waters before conjuring his best spells. The Wyvern had let the Missile hit him on purpose to understand how dangerous it was.

    <i>¡¯One is painful but bearable. Light fusion is already healing the damage. Five, however, would have made a bowl out of my back. I need to be careful.¡¯</i> He thought.

    By the time the Wyvern was upon Lith again, the Wyrmling had yet to figure out how to move quickly. Lith¡¯s eyes could follow Qisal¡¯s movements, butpared to the opponent, he moved through the air with the agility of a slug.

    The Wyvern¡¯s teeth sank into Lith¡¯s flesh, biting his whole right wing off his shoulder de and making him fall onto the ground like a brick. Qisal swallowed it whole, to not leave behind anything that the Wyrmling might reattachter.

    Bursts of ck mes erupted from Lith¡¯s back as the agony forced him to use darkness fusion to not lose his focus and with it all the spells that he had at the ready. Darkness fusion, however, was a double-edged sword.

    It made him ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to pain, but it also kept Lith from noticing when one of his limbs had taken too much damage to still be useful. Usually, it was up to Solus to check on that and manage his injuries, but this time he was alone.

 Chapter 1358 - Superior Opponent (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1358 - Superior Opponent (Part 2)</h4>

    Lith had barely touched the ground that the Wyvern was back, diving on him like a bird of prey on a dumb rabbit.

    Qisal had his wings spread open as he aimed his talons at Lith¡¯s c.h.e.s.t to impale him. At the same time, his tail whipped the air left and right with its thick bone spike, making it impossible for Lith to sidestep the talons and a raging river of bright blue Origin mes erupted from Qisal¡¯s mouth.

    The Wyvern exploited his powerful body to its fullest, executing a three-pronged attack that left Lith no way out.

    Dodging meant to be impaled by the tail, blocking to take the talons in full, and the Origin mes would shatter any defense that he might conjure at thest second. Moving up or back would have been a fool¡¯s errand since he had no way to beat the Wyvern in raw speed.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways!¡¯</i> Lith thought as he hurled a stream of blue-violet Origin mes that met the opponent¡¯s in mid-air.

    His n was to make Qisal bathe in both mes, hoping that he would suffer enough damage to make him falter and allow Lith to tank the impact.

    What happened, instead, was that the two Origin mes ate at each other with the fury of natural enemies fighting for dominance. The conflicting energies generated a powerful congration that blew the two contestants in opposite directions.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" They said in unison once they managed to stop tumbling on the ground by digging into the rock with their talons.

    Qisal was annoyed and enraged. The violet-blue mes had overpowered his own, dealing little damage to his body but a huge blow to his ego.

    "What. The actual. F.u.c.k?" He roared in outrage while looking at the violet bursts of light at the fringes of Lith¡¯s aura.

    Lith used that short respite to stop the bleeding of his shoulder de that kept sapping his vitality. It was too big a wound for light fusion to heal it and there was no time for Invigoration either.

    The Wyvern was already darting forward whereas Lith had yet toe to a halt. He didn¡¯t have the focus to harmonize with the world energy while doing so many things at the same time.

    Stopping his fall, healing, keeping an eye on the enemy, and weaving spells.

    Qisal knew that if someone had taught Lith the secret of the violet core, he would have already achieved it. The colored bursts happened solely in the aura of those who managed to reach enlightenment on their own, without any guidance.

    Lith waited for the enemy toe into the range of his spells, hoping that his mind would follow Qisal where his body couldn¡¯t.

    s, great minds think alike.

    Lith unleashed his tier three Spirit Spell, Razor Net, at the same time when Qisal unleashed the tier five Light Mastery spell, Purge. It was infused with enough Spirit Magic to turn it into something new, to turn it into Emerald Purge.

    Gadorf had been stopped before the spell could fully manifest, but this time Lith wasn¡¯t so lucky. Purge would fill the air around the caster with a hail of huge nail-like constructs that struck at the enemy like a hammer and pierced like a rapier.

    They were so densely packed that, to form them, the mage needed to drain the light element in their surroundings and distort it into an aurora borealis. Emerald Purge, however, was much worse.

    Spirit magic would make the nails faster, increase the strength behind each blow, and more importantly, it would turn them into des. The two spells shed and Lith did all he could to increase the density of the Net but the difference in mana was too big.

    He had nned on using the Spirit spell to block whatever Qisal had in mind and cut him to pieces. Razor Net had the toughness of earth magic, the sharpness and speed of air magic, and the destructive power of darkness, yet it was ripped to shreds.

    The sheer number of des from Emerald Purge overpowered the Spirit Spell, turning Lith into a pincushion.

    <i>¡¯Son of a gun!¡¯</i> Solus thought while studying the situation with mana sense.<i> ¡¯Qisal went all-out, depleting his mana with that single attack, and exploited Lith¡¯s paranoia that forces him to always keep more than one spell at the ready.</i>

    <i>¡¯Razor Net was actually stronger, but by using the light element as a crutch and by pouring an insane amount of energy into his spell, Qisal turned the tide of the sh. To make matters worse, he isn¡¯t stopping to use Invigoration.</i>

    <i>¡¯His n was foolproof. Had Lith exhausted his mana as well, Qisal would have suffered minor damage due to the tier difference in spells and then defeated Lith thanks to his vastly superior physical prowess.</i>

    <i>¡¯Qisal never meant to make this a battle of wits. His goal has been to win by using his superior aerial maneuverability and by exploiting the mass gap all along.¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s analysis was on point.

    Without equipment and having both a bright blue core, the Wyvern knew that all he had to do to win was to exploit his natural advantages and his superior experience. He didn¡¯t spend the past 300 years ying the lute, but fighting against worthy opponents.

    Only a few swords from Emerald Purge had reached their target, but they were more than enough.

    One pierced Lith¡¯s c.h.e.s.t in the middle, another his left shoulder, making his arm limp, while a third one nailed both his right hamstrings and calf to the ground, forcing him to kneel.

    His three remaining wings had been shredded by the light des¡¯ fragments and emitted bursts of ck mes non-stop.

    "I can¡¯t kill you, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I can¡¯t teach you a lesson." Qisal said as another stream of Origin mes burst out of his mouth.

    He couldn¡¯t afford to give Lith the time to use Invigoration or cast spells. Life Vision showed the Wyvern how despite his battered body, powerful mystical energies still coursed through the Wyrmling.

    Now that Qisal had no mana left, getting too close would have been suicidal. Origin mes, instead, were the perfect solution against an opponent too weak to dodge.

    "Idiot." Lith coughed out a mouthful of the ck mes that passed for blood in his hybrid body along with a burst of Origin mes.

    <i>¡¯Shit! How could I forget about this?¡¯</i> Qisal inwardly cursed at himself while the explosion caused by the conflicting mes separated them once more.

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s just you and me in here, pal. The difference between us is that I¡¯m not alone. I¡¯m never alone.¡¯</i> Lith thought while using the tier three Spirit Spell, Mother¡¯s Embrace.

    Emerald tendrils burst out of his wounds, shattering the hard-light constructs that pierced his body and healing his wounds at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Mother¡¯s Embrace used all the elements of creation, light, earth, and soft water, to conjure the best healing spell Lith had in his arsenal.

 Chapter 1359 - The Power of Blood (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1359 - The Power of Blood (Part 1)</h4>

    The tendrils picked up the bits of Lith¡¯s flesh and blood thaty around while light magic pieced them together like a puzzle before reattaching them to their ce with minimal consumption of his vitality.

    At the same time, the tendrils also extracted the nutrients from the ground and the water from the air to reduce the burden on Lith¡¯s body to the minimum. He would still be very hungry, but that was a familiar feeling that didn¡¯t make him weaker, only angrier.

    "No, you don¡¯t!" Qisal managed to stop his fall while Lith was still tumbling andpressed the muscles of his legs like a spring before leaping in the air. Second Wind was still active, allowing him to reach Lith before he could draw a single breath.

    Or so the Wyvern thought until strong hands grabbed his feet, calves, t.h.i.g.hs, and tail, turning his jump into a face-first dive onto the ground.

    Qisal hated to waste precious time, but he needed to understand what was happening. He thought that the Guardians had stepped in to stop the fight, yet what he witnessed was the result of his second mistake.

    Spreading Lith¡¯s blood around wasn¡¯t a good idea. Not after Kolga.

    The spurts of ck mes had aimlessly seeped into the ground until Lith had fed them with his earth, fire, and Spirit Magic, turning them into Demons of the Lava.

    The spirits of the dead that always followed him now inhabited the molten rock, giving it the appearance of Wyrmlings whose eyes brimmed with emerald light.

    The Wyvern roared his fury, unleashing a storm of Origin mes to get rid of those pests. No matter how scary they looked, all Demons fed upon Lith and couldn¡¯t exceed his strength.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Qisal could gauge the amount of energy they wereprised of. The creatures would pose a threat to him only if he allowed them to swarm him.

    s, Lith knew it as well.

    The Wyvern tanked the damage from the Demons and his own mes, relentlessly resuming Lith¡¯s chase, but it was toote.

    Mother¡¯s Embrace, the healing spell named after Elina, had already finished regenerating Lith¡¯s four wings in a ze of emerald mes. The new limbs were still upside-down, yet covered in red-veined ck feathers.

    Qisal expected Lith to run away and stall for time, but he charged forward instead, carried by his new wings.

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s no point in running away.¡¯</i> Lith thought. <i>¡¯If I create an opportunity to use Invigoration, Qisal will use it as well and we would just go back to square one. I am the only one with spells at the ready and the mana to use them whereas he is injured.</i>

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s a small advantage but it¡¯s all I have!¡¯</i>

    The emerald mes that had regenerated his wings had also spread to his eyes and outside the dome, painting the eyes of the Phoenixes green as well. They wouldn¡¯t p their hands until the match was over, but they stomped their feet on the ground to cheer for their brother.

    The Dragons did the same, chanting with the Phoenixes one word.

    "Rise."

    "This is cheating!" Xedros snarled while looking at the multitude of glowing eyes. "The Phoenixes are not allowed to help him and the Dragons should remain neutral. Aren¡¯t Wyverns Dragons too?"

    "That¡¯s not cheating." Sark threw a mean look at him that squashed Xedros to the ground like a bug under an invisible heel. "Lith is still under the effects of the Blood Imprint which enhanced his Phoenix blood, that¡¯s why his wings regenerated with feathers.

    "As for the eyes, they are nothing but a sign of ourmunion. The power of a Phoenixes from their blood." She pointed at the remains of the Demons of the Lava. "It gives us more than strength, it also allows us to share our fury."

    While Dragons were creatures of cold intellect, Phoenixes were beings of fiery passion. It gave them the ability to share mind links and abilities that defied distance.

    "She¡¯s right." Raagu said and Inxialot quickly nodded. "There is no flow of energy going in or out of the barrier. What are you seeing is Lith¡¯s strength, the Phoenixes are just rooting for him in their own way."

    "We are cheering for Lith and not for Qisal because we¡¯re tired of your rants, Xedros." Gentor the Golden Dragon said. "Our race respects wisdom, not power. Without wisdom, there¡¯s no achievement, just folly. You are the living proof of that."

    "Our race, instead, respects growth over seniority." Sinmara the Phoenix said. "Age is meaningless if you learn nothing despite the passing of time. Power without change leads to staleness, like it happened to your bloodline.

    "Life is meant to break us down. It¡¯s up to us to rise again and be better for it."

    "My son, you are the only one who gives any importance to the "lesser" word." Leegaain said. "The reason why neither race respects you is that you have done nothing to deserve it.

    "Age and power are meaningless if they bear no fruit. Your obsession to be a Dragon has made you lose your way and waste your talents. It¡¯s not toote to wake up from this nightmare of your own making."

    Meanwhile, in the middle of the arena, Lith and Qisal were seconds away from shing. The Wyrmling had charged forward in a straight line to add his momentum to that of the spells and strike so quickly that the Wyvern wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge.

    Qisal had done the same, but he kept Second Wind active and enough air in his lungs to counter any sudden spell with Origin mes. The former allowed him to easily dodge Lith¡¯s tier three Spirit Spell, Void Spear, by circling around him without the need to decelerate.

    The focused beam of air, darkness, and earth couldn¡¯t pierce what it couldn¡¯t hit. Even its tracking ability was pointless in the face of raw speed. Before Void Spear could turn around, the Origin mes would¡¯ve put an end to the fight.

    Qisal kept Life Vision active to make sure that Lith wouldn¡¯t Blink and hurled a stream of mes at his back while the spell was still taking form. The Origin mes burst forward, yet they hit nothing but air.

    Lith kicked the air, dodging them with a sudden movement as if he was still on the ground.

    <i>¡¯I may not be an experienced flyer like him, but I remember what Rem taught me in Jiera. Moving underwater and moving in the air works the same. I can use magic to give them substance and use my footwork.¡¯</i> Lith inwardly thanked the merfolk for teaching him how to swim like one of her kin.

    He sidestepped the mes, moving behind Qisal and striking at his spine with all the strength Lith could muster before the Wyvern had the time to react. At the same time, Lith circted fusion magic and mana through his body to cast the tier one Spirit Spell, Hammer Time.

    The emerald energy of Spirit Magic coated his fist like a glove, manifesting the aspects of earth, light, and air. The first two made the spell harder than any non-magical metal while thetter spread the damage throughout the Wyvern¡¯s body like ripples on the surface of ake.

 Chapter 1360 - The Power of Blood (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1360 - The Power of Blood (Part 2)</h4>

    Focusing on closebat and casting spells with his vortexes meant to waste the mana he had used to conjure Void Spear since Lith didn¡¯t have enough focus to control it as well, but he didn¡¯t care.

    The tier three spell had served his purpose, luring Qisal into a trap. The right cross hit Qisal spine and released shockwaves that made his bones tremble, making it hard for the Wyvern to control his movements even though darkness fusion kept him from feeling pain.

    The fist failed to break Qisal¡¯s bones but it cracked several scales and dealt another blow to his ego. It was the first real damage that Lith inflicted him despite the enormous gap in their physical abilities.

    The Wyvern darted up thanks to Second Wind, but Lith kicked the air again, using his footwork to keep up and stay glued to the enemy¡¯s back.

    <i>¡¯Nice trick, but there are two huge ws in your n.¡¯</i> Qisal thought.<i> ¡¯The first is that without a proper flying technique, you can follow me only for a short distance. The second is fighting me as you would a human.¡¯</i>

    Unfortunately for Lith, the Wyvern was right. No matter how quick he was, there was a small pause between his kicks to establish his foothold with magic again whereas Qisal moved non-stop.

    It allowed him to dodge the tier one Spirit Spell, Frozen Void, that Lith had conjured from his vortexes. Qisal just turned his body 90 degrees, making the left palm strike aimed at his spine that manifested the ice, air, and darkness aspects of magic miss its target.

    The Wyvern used Second Wind to spin on himself like a revolving door and turn around to face Lith again. At the same time, he used his one-meter (3¡¯3") long neck to bite Lith¡¯s head off from above while his tail struck at him from below.

    There was a reason why Wyverns, just like Dragons, had such long tails and necks. They worked as extra limbs in battle and, in the case of Wyverns, it made up for theirck of arms.

    Qisal¡¯s maw struck something very hard and sharp that made his head snap back, opening a deep cut in his neck. At the same time, something pointy whipped his tail away from the sides, foiling his two-pronged attack from Lith¡¯s blind spots.

    "Surprise, lizzie." Lith said to the bbergasted Wyvern as his double palm strike hit Qisal dead on his c.h.e.s.t, unleashing the effects of both Hammer Time and Frozen Void.

    The former spread vibrations through the ribcage to the rest of the body, hindering its coordination, while thetter used air and ice to spread a cold wave that stiffened the muscles, slowing down Qisal¡¯s reflexes.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> The Wyvern was so surprised that even Lith using a slur escaped his attention.

    Just like everyone else in the arena, Qisal was focused on the changes the Wyrmling¡¯s body had undergone in thest few seconds and didn¡¯t care for either his words or the blue aura of the Spirit-infused Full Guard surrounding him.

    Ever since Kam first and Quyter had helped Lith to understand the secret of the violet core, Lith had constantly practiced it except that during Faluel¡¯s lesson or during his sleep.

    Bybining the body spellcasting with the cirction of fusion magic, his vortexes stabilized much faster than before. Also, the closer they got to an auxiliary core, the greater the changes in Lith¡¯s hybrid body.

    He was now over three meters (9¡¯10") tall, with long curved hornsing out of his forehead that had stopped the bite and a long, jagged tail that had deflected the Wyvern¡¯s.

    The vortexes didn¡¯t just avidly suck the world energy, making the violet bursts flood Lith¡¯s aura, but they also absorbed matter from the outside, increasing his mass. Even the second set of wings didn¡¯t look atrophied anymore.

    "Rise!" Sark stood up, joining the other Phoenixes in their chant. "The skies are ours. Make them yours and show me your true appearance."

    She could feel Lith¡¯s mass increasing by the second as his life forces merged more with every spell he weaved. Sark crossed her fingers and hoped that the Wyvern would be the spark to light the me from which her lost son would be reborn.

    Theing of age of every Phoenix would reveal to her once and for all the scope of Mogar¡¯s ns.

    Lith unleashed a flurry of fists at Qisal while casting cantrips non-stop to keep increasing his size. He didn¡¯t use that method right off the bat because, unlike the Wyvern, he wasn¡¯t used to his extra limbs nor to the extra mass.

    They made his movements clumsier than usual so he could only use them after setting up the field to cover for their shorings. Hammer Time and Frozen Void served that purpose, bringing the Wyvern¡¯s prowess down to his level.

    Lith was now four meters (13¡¯) tall, with a mass on par with that of Qisal. He clenched both his right hand and the upper right wing that now closely resembled a thumb-down fist.

    They struck respectively at the Wyvern¡¯s c.h.e.s.t and head, throwing Qisal off bnce.

    "What the f.u.c.k are you?" He said while hurling a jet stream of Origin mes.

    He didn¡¯t care if they hit or if Lith countered them with his own. All that mattered was to get some distance, get rid of the spells that disrupted his body, and find a moment to use Invigoration.

    A battle-hardened veteran like Qisal had needed but a nce to notice the many openings that the sudden growth had created in the fighting style of the Wyrmling. The problem was that his body couldn¡¯t keep up with his eyes, making such knowledge pointless.

    <i>¡¯One breath. I need only one breath of Invigoration to restore my body and regain enough mana to kick Lith¡¯s a.s.s into oblivion.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Lith hurled a jet stream of Origin me as well to protect himself, just like Qisal had predicted. What he had failed to take into ount, however, was that Lith¡¯s upper wings would wrap themselves around the Wyvern¡¯s, keeping him from getting away.

    When the explosion caused by the conflicting mes took ce, Lith tightened the grip of his wings on Qisal¡¯s and stretched them out to their limit. Then, he struck at the shoulder des of the Wyvern with a double knife-hand, cutting them off.

    "Dammit!" Sark roared, mming her fist on her throne with so much strength that the armrest shattered. "Couldn¡¯t that moronst a bit longer?"

    "Who¡¯s the pet now?" Lith said while mming Qisal¡¯s head against the ground before starting to run at his full speed.

    No word could bring Lark back, but Kam was still by his side and Lith hated the Wyvern the most for the things he had said about her.

    Lith made a full round of the arena, ying Qisal until his skull became visible. Then, he held the neck of the Wyvern with one hand right below the head and the other right above the body, keeping the neck stretched.

    Lith opened his maw, revealing a row of fangs lit by the mes that still burned down his throat.

 Chapter 1361 - The Verhen Mansion (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1361 - The Verhen Mansion (Part 1)</h4>

    "Stop! Have mercy!" Qisal was so scared seeing Lith¡¯s fangs closing in to his exposed jugr that he forgot about the rivers of blood that were spurting out of his amputated limbs, painting the floor red.

    "Enough. This has never been a fight to the death." Leegaain followed Sark¡¯s lead and stood up as well, but instead of just cursing the defeated Wyvern he sent a wave of mana that reattached Qisal¡¯s wings and mended his wounds.

    It also Warped Lith in front of the two Guardians.

    "You proved your point already. Any more would just be wanton violence." He said.

    "What point?" Lith snarled as his body rapidly shrunk and the feathers on his wings disappeared. Once again, the moment his auxiliary cores rxed back into vortexes, all the extra mass was lost.

    "That Qisal is a rude asshole." Leegaain said as all the Dragons and Phoenixes in the arena stood up, giving their brother a standing ovation with the worst possible timing.

    To the rest of the Council, their reaction appeared as not only a response to Lith¡¯s victory, but also to Leegaain¡¯s words. In their mind, the Father of all Dragons had just stated that Wyverns were sc.u.m and the members of his extended family had unanimously approved.

    "I couldn¡¯t agree more." Sark pped her hands as well, adding napalm to the fire already burning on the wounds of the Wyvern bloodline.

    Xedros stared at her in hatred, but he wisely swallowed his anger along with his wounded pride.

    <i>¡¯We¡¯ll see if you will still be this arrogant once I be a true Dragon.¡¯</i> He thought.<i> ¡¯Thrud was right and I was wrong. I only have to care about myself. The Council is nothing but a tyrant and its rules are only meant to keep our heads down, not to help its members.¡¯</i>

    "Let¡¯s go, Sedra. We¡¯re done here." Xedros said to Faluel¡¯s son that was now his apprentice.

    "But master, I have yet to even greet my mother." After spending a long time in the real world, the young Hydra deeply regretted his past behavior and wished to reconcile with Faluel.

    Xedros gave him plenty of knowledge and power, but no warmth nor affection. The idea of spending one hundred years doing nothing but working for such an ungrateful, uncaring person made even getting Awakened look like a bad deal.

    "Then go. We have much to do and little time to do it." Xedros¡¯s generosity surprised Sedra, but looking the gift horse in the mouth might make the Wyvern change his mind so after giving him a deep bow, Sedra ran to Faluel.

    "Mom!" He said while hugging her with the same relief he felt after a nightmare back when he was still a young hatchling.

    "My baby!" Faluel ignored the scene happening between Lith and the Guardians, focusing solely on her son. Lifestream revealed that Sedra had suffered no harm, wore no ve item nor spell, and that he was already developing his fourth head.

    "Is Xedros treating you right? For someone who got stuck for years at two heads, you seem to be developing a bit too fast." She said.

    "Sadly, yes." Sedra sighed. "I know the book that aunt Scar gave me like the back of my hand and I use the Council rules to fend off his most unreasonable requests, but he never did or asked something that would allow me to break free from my apprenticeship."

    "You idiot! I always told you that poweres at a price. Who on Mogar would be so stupid as to give it away for free?" Faluel said.

    "You are right. I¡¯ve been a moron for years, always taking your teachings from granted and demanding instead of earning my share of knowledge." Sedra stared at the ground with shame before finding the strength to look her in the eyes.

    "Gods, Mom, you look even more beautiful than thest time we met. What¡¯s your secret? Are you close to the white core or what?"

    "ttery will not get you anywhere, young man." She chuckled. "I just wore a bit of make-up andbed my hair for the asion. Speaking of ttery, can you believe that his father tried to set us up for the future?" Faluel pointed at Lith.

    Sedra needed to bite his tongue to not ruin their reunion with a streak of swear words, finding the piece of news more annoying than funny.

    <i>¡¯Laugh all you want.¡¯</i> Xedros thought while following their conversation from a distance. <i>¡¯This is thest time you see your son, Faluel, and the more happiness I allow him to bring you, the greater will be your pain.¡¯</i>

    Meanwhile, Lith talked with Leegaain and Sark, yet none of his requests for all the gifts they didn¡¯t give him over the years got fulfilled. Leegaain just warned him about the dangers of power without control while Sark renewed her offer to visit the Desert.

    A few days after the Council Meeting.

    No matter how much Lith tried, as soon as he stopped spellcasting with his body and circting fusion magic, his vortexes would revert from spheres into their original state. The silver lining was that he made progress anyway.

    Now the vortexes would retain a spherical shape for a while and reverted slowly instead of instantly. On top of that, he was now able to circte four elements at the same time with fusion magic and was getting close to five.

    <i>¡¯Once I get to six elements, I must ask if Spirit Fusion is a thing. I¡¯ve tried multiple times to infuse my body with Spirit Magic, but to no avail. Maybe once I can create a flow with all elements and mix them with my life force, things will be different.¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯Right. A new discipline is exactly what we need right now.¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm as she followed his movements with her energy body and circted her own energy.

    She hoped that such practice would help her to get her human body back faster.

    <i>¡¯Spirit Magic, Domination, Forgemastering, the violet core, we already have so much on our te that we barely have the time to breathe. Either you disown your family or you break up with Kam.</i>

    <i>¡¯Otherwise even if it really exists, you¡¯d never have the time to practice Spirit Fusion.¡¯</i> She said.

    <i>¡¯I hate it when you¡¯re always right.¡¯</i> Lith sighed.

    With his neenth birthday iing and after he had shared with his family Sark¡¯s words about his future offspring, everyone had decided to help him pick the right betrothal gift for his third adversary with Kam.

    The fact that he never intended to give her one in the first ce had turned out to be an irrelevant detail to them. They bugged him so much that Lith now trained in the tower to not be bothered about the preparations of his own wedding.

    <i>¡¯Speaking of Domination, Friya went on cloud nine when Faluel let her join our lessons.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    <i>¡¯You bet. Now she doesn¡¯t feel like the weakest of the group anymore. It adds a lot of skills to her toolbox even in the case Dimensional Magic gets sealed, also-¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Hold that thought.¡¯</i> Lith said as his army amulet pulled at his conscience.

 Chapter 1362 - The Verhen Mansion (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1362 - The Verhen Mansion (Part 2)</h4>

    The blinking rune belonged to Marchioness Distar, the ruler of the Distar region and the person in charge of the security of Lith¡¯s family. Lith immediately picked up the call, fearing that something bad might have happened again.

    "Nice to see you, Lith. How are you doing?" The hologram of the Marchioness asked.

    She was a woman in her early forties, but even with the little makeup she wore, it was hard to imagine her a day older than thirty. Mirim Distar had a beautiful face with great proportions and eyes that brimmed with intelligence and curiosity.

    She had waist-long dark brown hair streaked blue all over and only a hairpin to adorn it. It was almost hypnotic to look at her whenever she shook her head. She wore a simple pale blue day dress with no neckline that despite its simplicity emphasized her lovely features.

    "Is everything okay?" Lith said.

    "Always skipping pleasantries and getting straight to the point, huh? It¡¯s nice to see that some things never change." She sighed. "Of course everything is okay, otherwise instead of wasting my time with chit-chat I would have simply sent you a threat report."

    "Then I¡¯m d to see you again, Your Ladyship. I¡¯m doing fine, thanks for your kindness. How are you?" Lith replied while giving her a deep bow.

    "Please, let¡¯s drop the formalities. We know each other for a long time and you¡¯re an Archmage now. You have the right to call me Mirim." She said while giving him a curtsy.

    "Okay." Lith felt a bit embarrassed by the sudden mood change of the conversation, but being from Earth, noble titles never struck fear into him. He followed the etiquette solely because it suited his agenda.

    "To what do I owe this p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, Mirim?" He asked.

    "You are still too formal, but we¡¯ll get there. I¡¯m calling you because I need your approval before starting the construction works of the Verhen Mansion. There are several avable locations and since you¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to live there, I¡¯m letting you take your pick." She said.

    After witnessing with horror how small Lith¡¯s house was, the Queen had ordered to build him a residence worthy of an Archmage and of a hero to the Kingdom. Lith wouldn¡¯t be paying for any of it, but he still considered it a hassle.

    Just the thought of having to pay for the house staff necessary to keep it clean, made his wallet shiver in horror.

    "I received no map nor blueprint." He said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

    "That¡¯s because I choose the blueprint and you can¡¯t pick the location based on a map. I know how paranoid you are. I bet one month of my annuities that you want to check the surroundings in person." Mirim said.

    "I don¡¯t take bets, especially losing ones. When do you want me toe?" Lith asked.

    "Now would be perfect. Just take the Gate from your house to the branch of the Mage Association in front of mine. I¡¯ll meet you there." She replied.

    "Let¡¯s meet there in ten. I¡¯m in dire need of a shower."

    "Let¡¯s make it twenty, then. It will give me time to deal with some paperwork. Mirim out."

    Twenty minutester, the two met in front of the very same Gate that seven years back had led Lith to Linjos¡¯s office. The death of the Headmaster of the White Griffon had never stung at Lith¡¯s heart, but that was before Lark¡¯s murder.

    Lith remembered all too well how much the Count loved harassing the poor Linjos with an endless stream of questions about the most trivial aspects of magic. The Headmaster had been too kind of a man and respected the elderly too much to disappoint even such an annoying guest.

    "I know. I miss them too." Mirim said, snapping Lith out of his reverie.

    "At least Lark had a long happy life, but Linjos died too young. As far as I know, he left no heir to his legacy nor did he even fall in love once. F.u.c.k Nalear." Mirim said with a snarl.

    "F.u.c.k Nalear indeed." Lith snarled as well.

    The first location the Marchioness led him to was well connected to one of the main roads of the region, but Lith didn¡¯t like it exactly for that reason. Anyone could just pretend to be a traveler and scout his house unnoticed.

    The second was atop a hill, but Lith discarded it because he wanted the children to have an inner garden where they could either y with their friends or practice magic safely.

    "Great Mother almighty!" Lith said after several hard passes.

    There was a huge clearing on the east side of the Trawn woods, where once stood the Rath Household. Lith had a long history with them. Years back, their firstborn had tried to rob him of his snow-white bunnies and had ended up bing Lith¡¯s learning tool about human anatomy on Mogar.

    The Royals didn¡¯t like someone attacking the rtives of a promising mage, not with Balkor as the living proof of the consequence that such an act might cause. They had made an example of the Rath, razing even their home.

    Lith didn¡¯t care about the past massacre that had taken ce there. Worst case scenario, it would give him plenty of Demons to conjure. Being so close to the woods meant keeping his army of magical beasts, having plenty of space for a garden, and staying rtively close to Lutia.

    Even more important, under the rubbles of the main building, there was a magnificent mana geyser. It would allow Lith to fuel the tower and leave plenty of world energy to spare for fueling the permanent arrays of the house.

    Even though their spells had the same effects, there was a significant difference between temporary magical formations like those that had been used to protect Lark¡¯s house and permanent ones like those surrounding Lith¡¯s house.

    Both needed a lot of time to be cast and a proper energy source but while the former once damaged needed to be redone from scratch, a permanent array would self-repair just by recing its energy source.

    Magical formations like the one that had surrounded Kolga would need maintenance only if it had taken damage beyond repair or if it endured an attack for too long. Both events could be prevented by simply switching the near-exhausted mana crystal with a new one.

    The presence of a mana geyser, however, would cut off the mana crystals¡¯ expenses and provide the arrays with a steady supply of world energy. They would need maintenance only in the case a powerful attack crippled their runes¡¯ integrity.

    On top of that, thanks to her tower form, Solus would be able to integrate herself with the formations and activate them at will without the need of keeping the control device on her and so would Lith as the tower¡¯s master.

    <i>¡¯This is frigging perfect. It has everything I need in a home.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Not really.¡¯</i> Solus replied.<i> ¡¯Don¡¯t you remember what Tista learned in Jiera?¡¯ </i>

 Chapter 1363 - Corpse, Feather, and Nest (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1363 - Corpse, Feather, and Nest (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Having children near a geyser is really dangerous. What will you do if one of your rtives moves into our house while pregnant or if Kam does?¡¯</i> Solus¡¯s words reminded Lith of Sark¡¯s promise to protect whoever carried his heir, making him choke on his enthusiasm.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t want to think about that. Besides, between the tower and the Hands of Menadion, we can achieve fine control over the geyser, just like they did in Kolga.¡¯</i> Lith replied before turning to the Marchioness.

    "This is the perfect spot. I¡¯ll take it."

    "Just as I expected." Mirim said with a kind smile. "I must warn you that there is no crystal or enchanted metal mine under the mana geyser. We already checked. That¡¯s why we needed to raze the Rath¡¯s mansion.

    "Do you have something in mind for the geyser or do you just want a free energy source for your defensive arrays?"

    "How do you know about the mana geyser?" Lith asked.

    "The same way you do, Lith." The Marchioness activated Life Vision, flooding her eyes with silver mana.

    Suddenly, every piece of the enigma the Marchioness was fell into ce. Lith had always wondered why she wore the cloaking barrette and why she pretended not to have magical powers to the point that even the Professors of the White Griffon kept her past as a student a secret.

    "Are you an Awakened too, Marchioness?" Lith said while taking a step back and checking their surroundings.

    "More or less. Yourck of trust is disheartening. After all, we know each other for a long time. Call me Mirim." She sighed, making twofortable armchairs appear out of her dimensional amulet.

    Only after both Life Vision and mana sense confirmed to him that there wasn¡¯t anyone around did Lith rx.

    <i>¡¯Damn my paranoia. If she wanted to ambush me, she would have already done it without announcing herself. She¡¯s not the bad guy of an action flick.¡¯</i> He thought while sitting down.

    "This should make things clearer to you." Mirim took off her barrette, revealing to have a bright violet core and a physical prowess that put Lith¡¯s to shame. "Please, remove your cloaking device as well. If you have a cyan core, then I¡¯m a Guardian."

    "You indeed have a powerful mana flow, but there¡¯s something off about it. Also, what did you mean, more or less?" Lith asked while giving Solus his cloaking ring.

    "It¡¯s a long story, but you deserve to know the truth now." She took a cherry wood tea table out of her dimensional amulet. It had a steaming teapot and several tes full of sweets.

    By the time the Marchioness was done telling him about the existence of the fake Awakened, the teapot was empty and the tes were clean. She had not only disclosed to Lith the existence of the Queen¡¯s Corpse, but also of Sark¡¯s Feathers.

    "After proving my loyalty as the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps, Lady Tyris shared with me the gifts of Awakening, making me a member of the Corpse. In time, I became its Lord Commander as well." She said.

    "It makes it easier to coordinate the two organizations without them interfering with each other."

    "That¡¯s why the security around my house has always been irond." Lith blurted out. "Why are you telling me this now?"

    "Because of this." Marchioness Distar handed him her Past card. "With all the threats at hand, we need all the help we can get. Thrud has been sighted in the Kingdom and this Balkor copycat has proved to be a formidable foe."

    "Despite Lady Tyris¡¯s attempts at misdirection, the Royals are certain that you¡¯re an Awakened. They even considered asking you to join the Corpse, but I decided against it.

    "It¡¯s better to keep you as a free agent and maintain your contacts with the Council whereas if you joined us, you would be shunned by the Awakenedmunity." Mirim said.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "The main difference between true and fake Awakened is that weck your breathing techniques. Even though we can use Spirit, Fusion, and true magic, we are cut off the world energy just like any other mage.

    "It means that we cannot improve our cores without a Guardian¡¯s help and that we cannot recover our strength at will like you do. Also, the Council considers us nothing more than the puppets of our Guardian and refuses to acknowledge our existence."

    "If you were to join the Corpse, you¡¯d likely suffer our same fate." She said.

    "Can you really use Spirit Magic?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Yes." Mirim replied by emitting a tendril of mana that shook his hand and a Poke spell that Lith intercepted with a Pillow out of habit.

    Both his head and Solus¡¯s were spinning so fast that they needed a moment to collect themselves.

    "I recently meet Grandma, I mean Sark. She had plenty of Phoenixes working for her in an organization called ¡¯the nest¡¯. What does she need fake Awakened for?" He said, hoping to squeeze as much knowledge as he could and clear his head.

    "The Corpse and the Feathers both consist of fake Awakened, but that¡¯s the only thing they have inmon. The Corpse takes care of all the threats too dangerous for the army or the Association to handle. We can even break thew if necessary.

    "The Corpse¡¯s secrecy allows us to do what needs to be done withoutpromising the political bnce and gives the Royals usible deniability. The Feathers, instead, are a publicly know group of people whose duty is to take care of their respective tribes.

    "The Blood Desert is even bigger than the Kingdom, but its poption density is nigh-zero except that near the oases. Each tribe is so big and needs to defend against so many threats that no human leader could possibly shoulder the role alone.

    "The Phoenixes of the nest only take care of the Desert and its natural resources, making sure that they don¡¯t get plundered. It is them that cull the monster tribes and keep oases from going dry." Mirim said.

    "What do you need my help with?" Lith asked now that he had a clearer understanding of what bing part of Sark¡¯s nest would imply.

    "Right now, we don¡¯t need your help, but things might change at any moment." Mirim shook her head. "You must understand that if the Kingdom¡¯s forces weren¡¯t stretched so thin, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation.

    "So many people received those damned cards that the members of the Corpse had to give up on their Royal Fortress Armor to give the Royals the power to protect everyone. Killing Lark like that was supposed to be impossible, yet it happened.

    "Many people are scared because if the Royals prove to be incapable of protecting their most loyal subjects, the Country will plunge into chaos."

    "Wait. Aren¡¯t Royal Fortress Armor just standard equipment for Royal Guards?" Lith asked.

    "I wish. They are powerful artifacts crafted by Lady Tyris herself back when King Valeron was still alive, just like the Sword and the Armor of Saefel. There¡¯s only a few Royal Fortress Armor and they were supposed to be worn solely by the members of the Corpse and the by the bodyguards of the Royal family." Mirim said.

 Chapter 1364 - Corpse, Feather, and Nest (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1364 - Corpse, Feather, and Nest (Part 2)</h4>

    "Valeron?" Lith opened his eyes wide at that name, remembering Solus¡¯s dream about the white crystals and the sword. "If they date back to almost one thousand years ago, how can they be that powerful?

    "Back then, Menadion had yet to invent decent runes, let alone modern ones. Magic has improved by leaps and bounds since then. No matter how powerful their enchantments are, now they should be crap, like the Odi equipment."

    "You are indeed right, they should." Mirim nodded. "Yet they are not. Every time there is a breakthrough in the mystical and the Forgemastering arts, Lady Tyris upgrades her spells ordingly.

    "Then, she makes a trip to the Desert to update all of her creations."

    "Does Sark has an endless mine of Davross and white crystals or what?" The more he heard, the harder Lith found it to believe.

    "No, but she has the next best thing. She¡¯s capable of something called Creation Magic that allows her to take apart an artifact without damaging any of itsponents." Mirim replied.

    "Are you telling me that-"

    "Yes. Sark allows Tyris to endlessly recycling the same materials and keep all of the Kingdom¡¯s artifacts up to date. If you ever decide to move to the Desert, you could ask her to teach you." Mirim cut him short.

    "Shouldn¡¯t you doing your best to keep me here instead of praising thepetition?" Lith asked.

    "That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m doing." Mirim chuckled at his naivety. "I¡¯m proving to you how open the Kingdom is with you and how much freedom you have as one of its subjects.

    "Sark has a lot to offer to you, but with ites at a great price. She has no use for mercenaries or free agents. Either you submit or you get the heck out of her hair. No matter if she makes you a Feather or, since you¡¯re a true Awakened, a member of the nest.

    "Your obligations would be the same of a full-time job, if not more. The Empress too will try to recruit you, but remember that she has no fake Awakened to help her. If you move to the Empire, you would have to dirt your hands in politics."

    Mirim gave Lith the time to ponder her words while she prepared more tea. He remained in deep thought for a long while. Now Lith knew what being a member of the nest meant, but the Empire looked even worse.

    He had no idea what the Dragons would ask of him to be an integral part of the family and he couldn¡¯t ask Mirim without revealing the secret of his hybrid nature.

    A Warp Gate opened, letting Am Farg through and derailing his thoughts.

    "I¡¯m done with Cynti¡¯s Dusk Court branch. It was a- What¡¯s he doing here?" She said while activating Life Vision to take a good look at Lith.

    Farg was a woman in her early thirties with chin-length red hair streaked orange all over. Farg was very tall, almost 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") high with the muscr build of a front-line soldier.

    There was something noble about the grace of her movements. Each one of them seemed to be full of strength yet incredibly delicate. She exuded an aura of power that Lith had rarely met during his travels and that usually marked a natural-born leader.

    Am Farg had been his Professor at the academy after Balkor¡¯s attack and had helped him defeating Nalear. She now had a deep violet core and a physical prowess simr to Lith¡¯s.

    "We¡¯re having a conversation about the future of the Kingdom, Am." Mirim replied while conjuring a seat for her as well. "Lith, I suppose you remember about Professor Farg. She¡¯s a member of the Corpse as well.

    "Am, this is Archmage Verhen, a true Awakened. Please sit."

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Farg couldn¡¯t believe her own eyes. Between her rich experience with Life Vision and Tyris¡¯s teachings, her readings were almost as good as mana sense.

    She could see the violet bursts in Lith¡¯s aura and they made even less sense than his physical prowess. Farg was less than four centimeters (1.58 inches) shorter than him and had been bestowed her enhanced physique by Tyris, yet despite her violet core, there was almost no difference between them.

    As if, for some reason, he had a superior mass, something in between a human and a magical beast.

    "How can Verhen have almost reached the violet core before twenty? Normal Awakened need decades for that and us members of the Corpse only obtain it after proving our loyalty by putting our lives on the line countless times." Farg said.

    "Quit being rude and sit down. Remember thews of the Kingdom. Not even the Royals have the right to extort someone of their secrets, let alone us." The Marchioness scolded her.

    "But, my liege, when I was recruited, I already had a blue core, yet even after years of service, I¡¯ve only recently been promoted. How can you stand such an injustice?" Farg asked.

    "I can understand your feelings, but I can¡¯t condone your behavior." Marchioness Distar forced Farg to sit down with a push of Spirit Magic.

    "Yourints sound like questioning Lady Tyris¡¯s wisdom. She bestowed the power of Awakened upon you, always remember that. Archmage Verhen, instead, achieved it on his own.

    "He owes us no exnation, just like Manohar. They are the two sides of the same coin." Mirim referred to the fact that despite the god of healing was a fake mage, his achievements outssed even those of the members of the Corpse.

    Lith, instead, wasn¡¯t a genius on Manohar¡¯s level, but his growth speed was extraordinary as well and so were his achievements. Farg clenched her teeth and her fists, but she did nothing aside from nodding.

    "The reason why I summoned you both here is because Am will be your liaison with the Corpse in the case something happens. As the Lord Commander of the corps and a potential victim, I don¡¯t have the time to update you in person as I did in the past, Lith."

    The Marchioness had Farg and Lith exchange theirmunication runes before teaching him how to use the hidden functions of the amulet. Among them, there was the ability to create a secure line that no one could tamper with and to override Warp Gates.

    Once they were done with the exnations, the Marchioness sent Farg away before resuming the conversation.

    "There¡¯s something that I still don¡¯t understand, Mirim. If you are so busy that you had to delegate some of your duties to Farg, then why are you taking care of my mansion and why did you personally invite me here instead of giving these tasks to someone else?" Lith asked.

    "Because knowing your nature, I feared that you would have doubted such words if they came from a stranger and because I owe you that much. I regret how I treated you during our first meeting, but now that you know my burden, I hope you can understand why I acted like that." She said with a sigh.

    "I moved from one battlefield to another for most of my life. Once you lose as many people as I did, you do your best to be detached and desensitize yourself. My first fianc¨¦ died in the field."

    AN: feel free to join the novel¡¯s official discord at discord.gg/Z5T7CBD

 Chapter 1365 - Travelling Tavern (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1365 - Travelling Tavern (Part 1)</h4>

    "That¡¯s why I then married a man without any magical power. It made it possible for me to protect him and guarantee him a long happy life. My family is the only people that I can afford to love and with my daughter¡¯s life in danger, I didn¡¯t have the patience to deal with an arrogant little runt."

    "I know. In your shoes, I would have done the same." Lith said. "How is Brinja faring?"

    "Splendidly. Thank you for asking. She¡¯s betrothed to my right-hand man, Ainz, and we¡¯re making the final preparations for their marriage." The Marchioness replied.

    "Right-hand man? Is he-"

    "A member of the Corpse? No, he only helps me with the Queen¡¯s corps business. He has his own ambitions and he¡¯s nning to use this marriage to achieve them. Brinja epted his courtship only after she got tired of waiting for your calls." Mirim said.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for ignoring your daughter, but I was with Phloria at the time, andter I had too much on my te to consider a rtionship with anyone." Lith said in embarrassment.

    "Don¡¯t be. My daughter never cared for you, only for your magical powers. Brinja lives herck of talent for magic as if it¡¯s somehow her fault and she¡¯s desperate to make up for it with the family by marrying a powerful mage, no matter who he is. No offense." Mirim said.

    "None taken."

    "Nevertheless, she waited for you for years. Yet Brinja got over it as soon as you started to date Captain Yehval. My daughter could ept the fact that you were looking for a spouse gifted for magic whereas she found unforgivable that you preferred amoner non-mage to her." The Marchioness chuckled.

    Hearing how quickly Brinja¡¯s rtionship with Ainz had developed and how much she cared more about a magically talented offspring than anything else, Lith felt like he had dodged a hail of bullets.

    "I also want to apologize for being so distant after Lark¡¯s death, but that damn card doesn¡¯t endanger only my life, but that of my entire family. I had to make sure that what happened to Trequill doesn¡¯t happen to me as well." She said.

    "Ipletely understand." Lith replied. "You owe me no exnation. You just did what you thought best for yourself, just like I do every single day."

    "Here¡¯s where you are wrong." Mirim shook her head. "Ever since our first meeting, I closely followed your achievements. Over the years, Lark and I brought you to all the Royal Gs as if we were your parents, and you always made us proud.

    "The gods gave me no children after Brinja and I never got the opportunity to walk her to the award ceremony of the six great Academies, but they made it up for it by making us meet."

    "Between taking care of you as your political backer and of your rtives as the Commander of the Queen¡¯s corps, I¡¯m not ashamed to say that I almost consider you as a member of my own family.

    "I always kept myself at a distance because I was afraid to admit that you had cracked through my armor. It¡¯s only once you let someone get close to you that they can hurt you. Yet after Lark¡¯s death, it¡¯s up to me to step up and take his ce."

    "No matter where your future brings you, you¡¯ll always have a home here. A home that I¡¯m building for you. Never forget that. I know that I¡¯ve failed you with Lark, but as a soldier, you have learned that no one can always win.

    "Sometimes a defeat ends with just a retreat, sometimes we lose good people. What matters is to stand up again, without letting pride or grief blind you. Always be careful, and never give up on your heart.

    "Every time we lose someone that we hold dear, a part of us dies with them. Yet it¡¯s that pain that teaches us how precious life is and how to appreciate those who we love, no matter how annoying they are." Mirim leaned forward, kissing Lith¡¯s forehead before bringing them back to Derios.

    ***

    A couple of weekster, the city of Catreesh, West of the Kingdom.

    "By the gods! This country is like a dimensional amulet full of secrets, each one holding another dimensional amulet." Kam said after Lith had finished telling her about his meeting with the Marchioness.

    "I guess every country is like that." Lith shrugged while looking around with curiosity.

    Catreesh was south and west enough from Lutia to have a much warmer climate despite the season. Some flowerbeds were still blooming and thanks to the artificial lights, the roads were lively and crowded with people even after sundown.

    Being one of the border cities between the Kingdom and the Desert, the city was a hybrid of both cultures whose beauty came from harmonizing them over the years. The people of the Desert treasured greenery above all while those of the Kingdom loved order.

    The mix of vibrant colors of the buildings and the scent of foreign spicy food from the various establishments that surrounded the young couple made Lith¡¯s gaze wander around like a kid visiting a park for the first time.

    Ever since Lark¡¯s death, Kam had gone an extra mile to make sure that Lith wouldn¡¯t fall prey to his paranoia and disappear into hisb in search of power for days at a time.

    He would always attend Faluel¡¯s lessons and dine with his family, but he had be more distant the more he became more powerful. In his mind, mastering Spirit Magic, Dominance, and acquiring a violet core were utmost priorities.

    He dedicated to them all of his energies to make sure that when his enemy revealed themselves, he would be ready. Yet, his quest took a lot of time that he couldn¡¯t devote to his family anymore.

    In a way, he was slowly turning into Ka, postponing everything after just one more experiment only to rinse and repeat after a new promising discovery. Kam was Lith¡¯s anchor to reality, forcing him to realize the passing of time by threatening him to break up more often than she liked.

    It was a card that only her could y, breaking him free from his obsession like not even his parents or Solus could.

    "It was very kind of Marchioness Distar to search for a ce with a mana geyser for you." Kam said.

    She wore a light blue shirt over a knee-length ck pencil skirt. Her long ck hair was down. That together with her ck eyeliner and light red lipstick emphasized her pale skin.

    Those were the same clothes of their first date that she considered as her lucky charm. She hoped that they would jog Lith¡¯s memory and keep his mind from getting lost in thought during the date.

    "What do you mean?" Lith had yet to tell her about Solus. He had only shared with Kam the fact that he had asked Mirim to build above the geyser an empty keep big enough to hide the tower entirely.

 Chapter 1366 - Travelling Tavern (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1366 - Travelling Tavern (Part 2)</h4>

    "Marchioness Distar knows that you¡¯re a cheapskate and she found a way to let you save money on mana crystals." Kam chuckled.

    "Yeah, I really appreciate that." "She has done a lot for me over the years both in front and behind the scenes. I owe Mirim a lot, maybe even more than I owed Trequill." Lith said, sighing at the painful memory of his dead friend.

    "Then be a good boy and prepare a great gift for her. Like a full optional DoLorean built ording to Grandma¡¯s suggestions." Kam chuckled while walking arm in arm.

    It still felt weird calling such a powerful being with a familiar nickname. The idea that Sark might pop up unannounced for Lith¡¯s birthday only made things more amazing.

    "Thanks for the suggestion, but I had already thought of that." Lith said while looking her in the eyes. "More importantly, I¡¯m struggling to find a special gift for a very special person. Constables get a lot of magical trinkets and I hate gifting clothes.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want a DoLorean as well?"

    "Thanks, but no thanks. It¡¯s too big of a gift and I didn¡¯t do anything to deserve it." Kam replied while looking away.

    She appreciated the thought but she hated it when Lith failed to realize that he was offering her a betrothal gift. Especially since there was no intention of proposing to her behind it.

    "We¡¯ll have to agree to disagree." Lith shrugged.

    He had never forgotten the kindness and selflessness that she had showered him with the night of Lark¡¯s death. It was only thanks to her that grief had left no permanent scar and Lith was eager to find a way to return the favor.

    Yet without Solus, he was oblivious to the implications of his own words. She would never follow them during their dates, hating the role of the third wheel.

    Solus had remained in the tower with her friends to make the best she could of her own life.

    "Where are you taking me tonight?" Lith asked after the silencested long enough to be awkward.

    "It¡¯s a new establishment that one of my colleagues found by chance. He told me that they have a great selection of beers, all kinds of spicy foods, and reasonable prices so it should be your dream ce." She giggled.

    "He?" Lith stopped abruptly while holding her hand tight. "Should I be jealous?"

    "Always. Never take me for granted." She looked him into the eyes before giving him a quick, soft kiss that was barely a peck.

    "I never do." Lith returned it in a longer and more passionate fashion that garnered them a number of reproachful looks.

    Public disys of affection were considered rude in the Desert as well.

    "Stop it, silly. You¡¯ll get us arrested." She pushed him away with a giggle

    "It would just give us a room for the night that I don¡¯t have to pay for. Are you threatening me with a good time?" He said with a chuckle.

    "Pervert!" Sheughed and dragged him away. "Thank the gods we¡¯ve arrived. It will save me from further embarrassment."

    From the outside, the establishment didn¡¯t look like much. A rectangr one-storey building made of stone with several squared windows and a door that sealed all the noise inside except for the brief moment when it was opened.

    The most peculiar thing about it was a huge neon-like insignia that said: Haug¡¯s Travelling Tavern.

    Once they stepped inside, Lith¡¯s expectations turned upside down. The floor and the walls wereprised of small hard wooden boards, giving the ce a warm and cozy ambiance.

    Most of the tables were taken and the ce was full of people, but everything had been spaced so that it didn¡¯t feel crowded, leaving to each group of customers their privacy.

    Equallyfortable padded chairs and barstools allowed people to choose between sitting in groups at a table or at the bar counter at the top right corner with the bartender as their onlypany.

    In the top left corner, instead, there was a bandstand from which musicians were ying, reminding the couple of their second date. The song was good, but it made Lith cringe because it was about him.

    It told about the exploits of Archmage Verhen that made him a source of both hope and fear for all the people of the Kingdom.

    "Wee to Haug¡¯s Travelling Tavern." The bartender said before Kam managed to introduce herself and ask for their reservation.

    "Miss Yehval, your reputation doesn¡¯t do your charms justice. It¡¯s always an honor to have such a lovelydy in my humble abode. Your presence makes him Lith Verhen. Feel free to sit down while my staff sets up your table.

    "The first round of drinks is on the house to apologize for the wait. I always like to give first-time patrons a good reason toe back. Over the years, I discovered that hospitality is the best policy."

    The two barstools right in front of him moved back on their own at a wave of the bartender¡¯s hand, making Lith give a second look at everything. The front of the tavern was as big as the whole building seen from outside, yet half of it was supposed to be taken by the kitchen.

    The ce was spotless, too much for a crowded restaurant during a busy night. Lith¡¯s enhanced sense of smell further boosted by his beast half picked up several odd scents the moment he managed to filter the smell of food and spices.

    Much to Solus¡¯s dismay, he had even taken the time to train his nose.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways. Undead, beasts, and even nts. This ce is the full package. Yet no one bothered hiding their smell, this doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯</i> Lith thought while staring at the bartender.

    He was a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall with brown hair, eyes, and a well-groomed beard. The orange and yellow streaks in his hair were hard to notice in the soft lights of the bar.

    He had broad shoulders but due to the loose white shirt that along with the ck pants, waistcoat, and bowtie thatprised his uniform it was hard to tell if he was thin or muscr.

    "How do you know our names?" Lith said while making his eyes ze with mana to hide the effects of Life Vision.

    "You really are as paranoid as the rumors say. If I were your enemy, I wouldn¡¯t have gone to such lengths to bring you here just to reveal myself like that. On top of that, I thought that the song would set the mood right." The bartender replied.

    "Only two things are infinite in this life, arrogance and stupidity. I don¡¯t even know your name, let alone if you¡¯re half as smart as you think you are." Lith said while slowly stepping back to the door, making sure that Kam stayed behind him.

    "Gods, what a party pooper. Fine, my name is Parmegianno Haug, elder of the human Awakened Council and owner of this fine establishment. Are you happy now or do you want to see my family tree as well?"

    <strong>AN: Feel free to join our official discord.gg/Z5T7CBD and remember to read Supreme Magus on its official site W.N. the only one that supports me, where you can vote the novel with power stones.</strong>

 Chapter 1367 - Travelling Tavern (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1367 - Travelling Tavern (Part 3)</h4>

    Haug rolled his eyes, cleaning a ss mug in frustration with so much strength that it cracked for a second before the mug repaired itself.

    Only after Faluel confirmed Haug¡¯s identity to Lith and reassured him that the Travelling Tavern was a neutral zone did his aura stop making the walls tremble.

    "The guy is a bundle of nerves and a piece of work. You could easily find a better boyfriend, miss Yehval. I can even introduce you to some fine gentlemen myself." Haug clearly didn¡¯t like his hospitality being pissed upon before being thrown back in his face.

    "I¡¯m sorry. I swear that I had no idea this ce belonged to an Awakened." Kam said to Lith. "As for you, mister Haug, you¡¯ve got a lot of gall ying the victim. You¡¯re a terrible host and a horrible person."

    "Me?" Her words made him turn pale. The beer mug slipped off Haug¡¯s hand, shattering on the floor just to reassemble and jump back in ce on its own.

    "Yes, you! You tricked us intoing here, ruining our date just to further your agenda." Kam snarled.

    "That¡¯s not true. I-"

    "Did you "go to such lengths to bring us here" just to offer us dinner or because you need something from Lith?" Kam quoting Haug¡¯s words only made him feel more guilty.

    "I-"

    "Yes or no." She cut him short, killing the long-winded exnation Haug had ready before he could even start it.

    "Yes, I did it because I have a business proposal for Archmage Verhen." He admitted.

    "So you¡¯ve just ruined our date, my night, and possibly several weeks of my life by putting my boyfriend into danger. How does that make you a good person?" Kam snarled, receiving nods of approval from both customers and staff.

    "Sick burn, sister." The female lead singer of the band said, revealing to be a ck-haired Dryad wearing a c.o.c.ktail dress made of orange autumn leaves.

    "She¡¯s right. You¡¯re a f.u.c.k.i.n.g jerk, Haug. Deal with it." A man with long hair said, raising his blood mug in a toast to Kam, quickly followed by his livingpanions.

    "Despicable bastard. This ce is supposed to be a safe haven, not a job center." A woman whose face was covered in glistening scales said while she flexed her membranous wings.

    "If the guy wanted a job instead of a good time, he would be checking the message board, not making a reservation."

    "Not cool, bruh. I want a raise." A waitress said, cl.i.c.k.i.n.g her tongue in disapproval.

    "Would you please sit down and ept your damned drinks before I lose thest shreds of my dignity? Everything is on the house, just make them stop." Haug w.h.i.n.ed as he was suddenly everyone¡¯s hot topic and not in a good way.

    The customers had started exchanging embarrassing anecdotes of his past, making him regret to have chosen such a shy introduction during the rush hour.

    Lith could feel that the only hostility in the room was addressed toward the bartender and could see with Life Vision that none of the enchantments in the room was meant to attacking or restraining their targets.

    That together with Faluel¡¯s reassurance of being a frequent customer sealed the deal.

    "I¡¯ll take your most expensive beer for starters. Then I want you to cut to the chase and tell me what¡¯s your angle." Lith sat on the barstool while Kam stared at Haug with such a fiery gaze that no one would have been surprised if he suddenly caught fire.

    "Fine." Haug put a one liter (2.1 pints) beer mug in front of Lith and filled it with Crimson Garuda, a double malt red ale of which Maekosh produced only a few barrels per year. "I need your help to deal with something that¡¯s killing the children."

    "That was a bit too concise even by my standards. Say that again, but add a few more details." Lith sipped his beer, smacking his lips in appreciation and prompting Kam to sit on the barstool next to him.

    She was still royally pissed off and was considering to have her knee meet Haug¡¯s gonads, but the moment Kam heard about the threat at hand she regained her cool. She took a deep breath and sat down while she inwardly kissed their romantic evening goodbye.

    "I¡¯d do it if I knew anything about it. It¡¯s still a mystery and I¡¯m asking for your help because strength is pointless if you have nothing to hit. What I need is a hunter and your reputation precedes you." The bartender said.

    "Leave the keg here. I¡¯ll keep it forter. Everything is on the house, remember?" Lith said.

    "Later as in to consume it over dinner?" Haug asked.

    "No,ter as in to bring it back home." Lith shamelessly said, putting the keg inside his dimensional pocket and making the bartender inhale sharply in annoyance.

    "Beer aside, I call bullshit." Kam had taken a sip from Lith¡¯s mug and she had to admit that it was delicious. "I haven¡¯t heard about any missing children report, let alone a mass murder."

    She ordered a pint for herself, to have a smaller mug suitable for her limited strength. Haug took out another keg, filled her ss, and Lith made it disappear as well with a wave of his hand.

    "For the gods¡¯ sake! Seriously? I¡¯ve only got ten of those, give that back now!" Haug snarled.

    "Make me." Lith didn¡¯t even bother raising his eyes from his now half-empty ss while he spoke.

    "You¡¯re embarrassing me. Please, take that keg out." Kam said while ordering some appetizers to go with her beer. "As for you, Haug, what children are you talking about?"

    Lith emitted a low puppy w.h.i.n.e but did as requested.

    "Thank the gods you¡¯re here, Lady Yehval. He¡¯s not only as paranoid, but also as cheap and petty as the rumors say." Haug said while giving them salty snacks along with small skewers of steaming hot meat and vegetables that he cooked over a small grill on the counter.

    "Don¡¯t misunderstand me. We¡¯ll consume part of it during dinner and bring the rest back home as a souvenir. Everything is on the house, remember?" Kam said, making Haug turn pale and the rest of the restaurant toast for the couple.

    "Make me ask for it again and we¡¯ll leave. What children?"

    "They are not human children, otherwise as you have pointed out, every Constable on Garlen would be working on the case. I¡¯m talking about the offspring of the undead." The bartender said with a spell that made his words impossible to overhear.

    "What? Why should I care and most importantly, why do you care about them?" Lith almost choked on his beer, putting his ss down until the conversation was over to not waste more precious nectar.

    "I¡¯m sorry but it¡¯s confidential information. I can¡¯t tell you more unless you ept my request." Haug shook his head.

    "And I¡¯m not epting your request unless you tell me more. I¡¯d say we have a problem here." Lith replied and Kam nodded in approval.

    She had much to say, but she also had her mouth full of appetizers.

    <i>¡¯This food is amazing. This Haug is as good as a cook as much as he¡¯s a jerk.¡¯</i> She thought.

 Chapter 1368 - Travelling Tavern (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1368 - Travelling Tavern (Part 4)</h4>

    "I had prepared a long speech to exin the situation to you, but since there¡¯s no trust between us, I¡¯ll try to keep it short." Haug said with a sigh. "Do you see Tartania there, at table three?"

    He pointed at a young woman with red hair streaked blue all over that dined alone at a table for four. She only drank water, and there were more sses in front of each one of the three other chairs.

    Tartania seemed to be saving them for her friends who had left each a piece of clothing on the chairs.

    "She was the first of her group to Awaken. They were just a bunch of kids with no mentor who had stumbled upon our secret on their own. They threw a party here, getting so drunk that those morons decided to follow her lead immediately.

    "Awakening while in a drunken stupor is already a dangerous business, but doing it while your body isn¡¯t strong enough is just suicide. After that, I had to enchant the ceiling with a self-cleaning spell like the rest of the restaurant.

    "Tartania, instead, took a vow to never drink again and after decades she¡¯s still upholding it." Haug said.

    "So what?" Lith asked.

    "So, we Awakened are a society that doesn¡¯t give a f.u.c.k for their youths and only cares about their precious legacies. Those kids were good people and yet died on their first bender only because they had no one caring for them." Haug snarled.

    "Heck, even I am not meless. If only I kept an eye on their ever-growing tab, I might have saved them. Yet I failed them, just like I failed my own apprentice. He died fighting a losing battle because he was too afraid to ask for my help.

    "Because even though I loved him like a son, I never treated him as such. Patting his back was the greatest praise I ever gave him because men don¡¯t hug nor cry. We barely nod in approval." The te he was cleaning shattered under his grip, and then the pieces reassembled themselves like nothing had happened.

    "Not to be ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e, but even I ampletely missing your point." Kam said.

    "My point is that the children are our future and that the Council is just a bunch of old greedy bastards. They are ignoring the problem under the pretense that we are at war against the Undead Courts, but the victims don¡¯t belong to any of them.

    "They are free people who only want to live in peace." Haug said. "Let me sweeten the pot by talking about your pay. If you ept my request, I¡¯ll share with you the secret of my violet core and I¡¯ll tell you the identity of the person who murdered Count Lark."

    "What?" At those words, all the pain and grief that Lith believed to have ovee during thest few months squeezes his heart like a vise. Yet instead of tears, they triggered an unbridled rage.

    "Tell me who killed my friend now, or I¡¯ll raze this ce to the ground. Even if it costs me pledging my alliance to my Grand- I mean Sark!" Every time that Lith thought about the Count, the images of his corpse disyed like a scarecrow ovepped with his smiling face or with his monocle jumping around.

    By messing with Lark¡¯s body, the culprit had done more than just kill him, they had poisoned all the good memories that Lith had about him. Only by avenging the Count might Lith hope to rid his mind of those images and remember Lark for how he lived instead of for how he died.

    Lith¡¯s blue-violet aura burst out with great violence as the mana from fusion magic circted through his body, weaving spells. A low rumble coursed throughout the Travelling Tavern as Lith¡¯s wings popped out of his back on their own.

    "Me and my big mouth!" Haug raised his hands in a sign of peace and in an attempt to calm him down.

    "I¡¯m not that big of a jerk to intentionally hide such huge information. I was just being dramatic to regain a bit of dignity and get your attention. I don¡¯t know who did it, but I know someone who knows the truth.

    "It slipped off their mouth after one drink too many, but they never mentioned the details. They just told me that Lark¡¯s hit was part of a deal with the Undead Courts and that telling me more would endanger both of our lives.

    "I¡¯ve never seen someone sober up so fast out of fear after drinking that much so they must have been telling the truth. If you ept the job, we can try together to make them spill the beans." Haug said.

    "That¡¯s not being dramatic, that¡¯s being misleading!" Kam said. "First your wee/ambush and now this? You¡¯re the worst talker ever, how did you manage to survive this long?"

    Many customers dropped the disguise they wore in the case humans entered the establishment and threw reproving looks at Haug for hisck of tact.

    "So what you¡¯re actually saying is that <strong>if</strong> I ept your terms and <strong>if</strong> I seed, then someone <strong>might</strong> tell me the truth about what happened to Lark?" The revtion didn¡¯t ease Lith¡¯s anger, it only fueled it further, making three more of his eyes open.

    "I apologize for my boss." A thin male waiter in his mid-twenties said while giving them a deep bow. "He has a penchant for theatrics and affectation, thinking himself to be mboyant while he¡¯s actually annoying.

    "Yet he means well and is a good person so we usually go along with it to not hurt his feelings. You have no idea how many first-time customers punched him in the nose."

    Haug didn¡¯t know whether it was worse the fact that his whole n had been an utter failure or the fact that everyone seemed to consider him a guy who kept sticking his foot in his mouth.

    "Yes, that¡¯s the best I can promise you." Haug said to Lith after shooing the waiter back into the kitchen.

    "What do you think I should do, Kami?" Lith was too busy keeping his rage in check to think clearly and without Solus, Kam was the only one he could trust.

    "As a Constable, I¡¯d say that it¡¯s still a lead to find who killed Lark. We have yet to find anything, and dealing with sc.u.mbags it¡¯s part of my job¡¯s description." Kam said.

    <i>¡¯That does it! Tomorrow I¡¯ll hire someone to write my speeches.¡¯</i> Haug thought, not liking being considered as the bad guy.

    "As a girlfriend, however, I¡¯m against it. Haug hasn¡¯t given you any detail, has done nothing to earn your trust, and he might as well lead you into a trap. Even if he really means well, you have a feud with the undead.

    "If Haug deals with them with the same skill he showed us tonight, you¡¯ll be dead the moment you enter their city." Kam said.

    "She¡¯s right." Lith nodded as his mind calmed down, allowing him to consider the best course of action. "If you really want my help, drop the act and tell me what you¡¯re really after. Our table is ready and you have already spoiled my mood."

 Chapter 1369 - Undeathâ€™s Purpose (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1369 - Undeath¡¯s Purpose (Part 1)</h4>

    "I didn¡¯t lie earlier. I¡¯m really doing this for the kids." Haug Hushed them again, saying something that he would have rather kept for himself. "I don¡¯t like how the Council treats their disciples and the rogue Awakened whereas I admire the fake mages¡¯ schooling system.

    "That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to share my legacy with the entiremunity so that no one will ever end like Tartania¡¯s friends. So that instead of growing apart like egotistical jerks, the Awakened will grow closer like amunity."

    "All of your legacy?" Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Yes. It doesn¡¯t amount to much since I¡¯m the first and thest of my Awakened bloodline, but I¡¯m willing to share everything except for the secret of the violet core." Haug nodded.

    "Why not the violet?" Lith asked.

    "Because, just like the secret of Awakening, I consider it a cap that Mogar ced upon us to avoid that great power could fall in the hands of those who don¡¯t deserve it. Yet I¡¯m willing to share it with you if it can make you ept my job offer." Haug replied.

    "Why are you so fixated with me? You could have asked countless other persons." Lith said.

    "Not at all. You¡¯re the golden boy, the offspring of two Guardians, and the most renowned disciple of Faluel, who opened the first Awakened academy. You¡¯re the only one among the Awakened youths that has the skills to aplish this task without having to fear a bacsh from the Council.

    "If I just give my legacy away, the only thing that I¡¯d achieve is to pass for a senile old fool that went mad after losing his only apprentice. To make my gesture a significant statement, I need to show the old coots that I was right about the threat at hand and give the young Awakened a role model." Haug said.

    "Send me the details and once I¡¯m back home, I¡¯ll discuss the matter with Faluel. It¡¯s the best thing I can promise you. Take it or leave it." Lith ced his Council amulet on the counter and the two exchanged runes.

    "I¡¯ll take it." Haug nodded. "I wish you a pleasant stay." At a snap of his fingers, the Open sign turned around to show Closed on the outside and the door of the Travelling Tavern disappeared.

    After that, the customers dropped their disguise for good as Lith and Kam walked to their table. The woman with the scaly face wasn¡¯t a shapeshifted Emperor Beast. She belonged to a new humanoid race born from mixing human and beast blood over the decades.

    The Vampire who had made a toast to Kam earlier was sitting with a mixed group of all races and yet none of them seemed to consider the undead like a threat. They took turns filling his ss with their blood, making him c.o.c.ktails by mixing together more than one kind of blood.

    Tartania, the lone Awakened woman, ate her lost friends¡¯ favorite foods, sobbing from time to time when the vor made the memories of the good times they had spent together resurface

    The ambiance was pleasant, the food great, and no one bothered Lith and Kam anymore. On the one hand, Lith wanted to find out Lark¡¯s killer, and seeing so many different kinds of people go along made him feel less of a monster.

    On the other hand, the idea of going away from home and sticking his nose in someone else¡¯s mess gave everything a sour taste. Kam tried and failed to make small talk, too worried to hide her feelings.

    They ate quickly and left, wondering what to do next.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" They said in unison after walking through the door and turning back to throw Haug onest mean look.

    When they tried asking the passersby about the Tavern, no one had any recollection of it and looked at them as if they were crazy.

    "I guess now we know that Haug didn¡¯t name his establishment just for alliteration¡¯s sake. His legacy sounds like something that Friya would love." Lith said.

    ***

    The following morning, Lith went to Faluel¡¯sir where he practiced Spirit Magic with the others until he received a message from Haug. Much to his surprise, it contained all the information pertaining to the mission except the location of the undead city where he was supposed to go.

    Thanks to the mind link, it didn¡¯t take Lith much to share with everyone the events of the previous night.

    "I don¡¯t know much about undead except how to kill them." Faluel said. "I agree with Haug¡¯s intentions, yet he couldn¡¯t have executed them any worse. The disappearance of newborn undead might be the first step of a greater scheme.

    "On top of that, it has serious political implications. As Haug said, the Council and the Undead Courts are at war, but only the undead who live in the human society take part in the Courts.

    "There is a huge neutral faction that never meddled with us Sunwalkers and it¡¯s their children that have been going missing. If they think that the Council or the three great Countries are behind the kidnappings, they might side with the Courts and give them a second wind."

    "Wait." Phloria stopped her. "When you say newborn, do you mean hybrid children like those we saw living in Baba Yaga¡¯s hut or just recently turned undead?"

    "That¡¯s an excellent question to which I have no answer. I¡¯m going to call in an expert to figure this out." Faluel said while making a call and activating the Warp Array of herir.

    "Thank you for calling me. Another breath of .u.mtion and I would¡¯ve gone insane." Ka the Wight trotted in the middle of the cave, followed by her son Nok and by Scarlett the Scorpicore who carried on her back Nyka¡¯s stiff figure.

    "Can I have something to eat? All that magical practice made me hungry." Nok asked.

    "You¡¯ll eat once you¡¯re done with your exercises,rdass!" Scarlett snarled as she set up the arrays that would protect Nyka from the abundant light element of daylight and allow her to move as if it was night.

    "Your sister at least trained hard during my absence whereas you didn¡¯t strengthen anything but your maw."

    Lith looked at Ka with Life Vision, discovering that her core had turned to a lighter shade of blue, but it was still of a deep color.

    "Don¡¯t be so mean with him in front of his friends." The Wight scolded the Scorpicore. "It¡¯s not Nok¡¯s fault if hecked guidance and became morbidly obese. It only happened because I¡¯ve been an absent mother."

    "Mom!" If Byks could blush, Nok would have turned so red that people might have mistaken him for a giant bear-shaped tomato. "I¡¯m not obese, I¡¯m majestic!"

    "I¡¯m pretty sure that majestic still has a positive meaning, dear." Ka shook her head,pletely missing his drift. "Also, if your weight issue wasn¡¯t bad enough, I¡¯m ashamed of you having so many cubs already and not providing for them."

 Chapter 1370 - Undeathâ€™s Purpose (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1370 - Undeath¡¯s Purpose (Part 2)</h4>

    "I must have been a horrible role model for you if you ended up abandoning your offspring without a shred of remorse." Ka started sobbing ck tears, making Nok froze in ce as everyone threw reproachful res at him.

    "Don¡¯t listen to her. Byks are still bears and male bears don¡¯t help in raising the cubs. Heck, I never met my own father." Nok said while Scarlett had finished the array, allowing Nyka to stir from her slumber.

    "That¡¯s true, but I believed to have taught you better than just stuff your belly all day long and mate like a rabbit. You¡¯re a magical beast. You¡¯re supposed to be better than your ancestors, not just their empowered version." Ka kept sobbing, destroying with her tears all the handkerchiefs that Faluel handed to her.

    "You¡¯re a hypocrite, big brother." Nyka pointed an usatory finger at him. "You kept me away from potential mates while you bred like there¡¯s no tomorrow!"

    "A seven years old Byk is not the same as a six years old Vampire. We grow faster!" Nok said.

    "And Vampires don¡¯t grow at all. In theory, once I learned how to read, write and talk, I was already an a.d.u.l.t." Nyka rebuked.

    "As much as this conversation amuses me, I¡¯d like to know why the heck we came here." Scarlett stopped their bickering and helped Ka to blow her nose with a hard-light handkerchief, the only thing that could withstand the darkness magic thatprised her body.

    Lith exined everything again before passing to them his Council amulet where Haug¡¯s message was still disyed.

    "Those that went missing are people who have recently been turned into undead." Ka said. "Hybrid children are a rarity due to undead¡¯s low fertility and they are treasured dearly by themunity. Only a madman would miss the chance to truly extend their bloodline."

    "Then what about those in Baba Yaga¡¯s tower?" Friya asked.

    "As I said, madmen." Ka snorted in disgust. "I know this city where you are supposed to go, Lightkeep. It¡¯s part of the Eclipsed Lands, the undergroundwork of metropolises that the undead built over the centuries to thrive away from Sunwalkers."

    "Eclipsed Lands?" Tista asked while handing Nyka a cup filled with her blood. It wasn¡¯t as tasty as Lith¡¯s but the Vampire epted it with gratitude.

    "As you can easily imagine, the surface world is just a fraction of Mogar. Below, there are hundreds of kilometers of rock that extend in every direction. Baba Yaga never meant for her children to mingle with humans nor to rule over them." Ka said.

    "Undead were supposed to live in the Eclipsed Lands, safe from the threat of the sun and far away from the prejudice of the living. It¡¯s up to Baba Yaga and her three Hors.e.m.e.n to find a way to fix the undead¡¯s ws.

    "Only once they are done with their task will the undead join the other three races as equals. Until then, they will always be dependent on the living for any major breakthrough."

    "If Dawn is supposed to make feeding pass over knowledge along with life force, Night to remove the weakness to darkness magic, and Dusk to make them capable of using Spirit and Light Magic, doesn¡¯t that mean that the undead¡¯s weakness to the sun is intentional?" Quy said.

    "Precisely." Ka nodded. "Baba Yaga never wanted to create a master race nor to threaten the other species. Undead are predatory by nature and without a weakness to bnce their extraordinary powers, they would extinguish all forms of life.

    "Being turned into an undead is supposed to be a growing step, while the individual bes stronger in both mind and body. A chance to amass knowledge and power to keep the misfortunes of their first life from happening again.

    "All of Baba Yaga¡¯s children are supposed to achieve the full red blood core and be alive again. Undeath has never been intended to be a permanent state so much as a means of salvation." The Wight said.

    "What do you think that Lith should do? Is it safe for him to go to Lightkeep?" Nalrond asked.

    "I think he should ept. This Haug fellow is way beyond his depth, but the bounty at hand can¡¯t be underestimated, and the same stands for the implications of the events he described to Lith." Ka became a living mass of shadows as she pondered her next move.

    "What do you mean?" Lith said.

    "I mean that Haug¡¯s legacy can help a lot of people, me included, hence it¡¯s quite convenient to me if you take the job. On top of that, don¡¯t forget we¡¯re helping a powerful and rich undeadmunity. If we solve their problem, they¡¯ll reward us handsomely.

    "I could get my white crystal, if not even a way to safely achieve Lichhood or at least Awaken Nyka." Greed lit Ka¡¯s eyes, making her muzzle resemble Lith.

    "I meant the implications you mentioned!" Lith said with a scoff. "And what do you mean, we?"

    "Oh, that. First let me answer Nalrond¡¯s second question, Scourge. Going alone is suicide. Even the inhabitants of the Eclipsed Lands know about your exploit as a mass murderer of undead. You need my help and Nyka¡¯s if you don¡¯t want to be attacked on sight." Ka replied.

    "I¡¯ve already been to Lightkeep and they know me. Having a Vampire that cares and vouches for you makes an enormous difference. As for your question about the hidden implications of this mission, after all the lessons I gave you guys about the undead, the answer should be pretty obvious."

    "What¡¯s supposed to be obvious, Mom?" Nyka tilted her head in confusion. Not even she had any idea what the Wight was talking about.

    "That we¡¯re probably dealing with some kind of Forbidden Magic." Ka rolled her eyes in annoyance while Nyka choked on her drink and everyone else flinched.

    "Did you listen to a word I said? Undead are naturally immune to mana poisoning and are capable of converting any kind of life force into their own with varying degrees of efficiency. Compatibility is a road that goes both ways.

    "It makes them not only universal eptors of mana and life force, but also universal donors. Newborns are easy to capture and have the highest conversion rate since their blood cores take some time to be picky about food."

    "Are you serious?" Faluel asked.

    "Of course I am. I told you, they start with a ck core like Abominations. During her first days, Nyka could draw nourishment from beasts, nts, and humans alike without wasting a single drop of energy. She was so cute when-"

    "Not that!" Faluel wed her own head in frustration while Ka stood on her hind legs and mimicked the gesture of cradling Nyka with the forelegs as if she was an infant instead of an a.d.u.l.t. "I meant the Forbidden Magic part."

    "Again, yes, I am. I¡¯ve long pondered if doing something simr to increase my chances at Lichhood but I decided against it after having my baby girl. I-"

    "One more word and I¡¯ll have to report you to the Council. Please, shut up and let me think." Faluel cut Ka short, again.

    "There¡¯s nothing to think about. Lith, Nyka, Solus, Scarlett, and I will depart as soon as we¡¯re done with the preparations." The Wight shook her head.

 Chapter 1371 - Quality Over Quantity (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1371 - Quality Over Quantity (Part 1)</h4>

    "Wait, what?" The Scorpicore who had snored through Ka¡¯s rant suddenly woke up at the mention of her name. "Why should Ie along?"

    "Because you¡¯re a tracker even better than Lith. Also, I¡¯m too weak to ensure my own safety let alone that of my daughter. You¡¯ll serve as both our bodyguard and Lith¡¯s aid in the case something goes wrong." The Wight said.

    "No way! I¡¯m d if you spend some quality time with Nyka, but don¡¯t drag me into this mess. Whenever I asked the Council for help, they always turned me down. I¡¯ve got no obligation toward anyone here." Scarlett stood tall with a stone-cold gaze.

    She didn¡¯t like the Council nor Lith and she liked the undead even less. Either the Forbidden Magic went awry and bit the undead¡¯s a.s.s or it seeded, forcing the Council to move theirs, the Scorpicore would win just by doing nothing.

    "Please, you¡¯re extremely gullible and easy to manipte." Ka gave a nudge to Nyka who caught her drift and hugged Scarlett¡¯s huge snout.

    "Please, aunt Scar, we need your help. You know that Mom can¡¯t be trusted when books are involved and once Lith is out hunting, I would be all alone surrounded by strangers." She said.

    "I said no." Scarlett¡¯s ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e heart took Nyka¡¯s big puppy eyes head-on without flinching for almost five seconds before starting to beat with motherly love. "Okay, fine."

    "Slow down. We need to contact the Council and share with them your analysis of the situation. Forbidden Magic is considered a crime even by Awakened, there must be something they can do." Faluel said.

    "Can? Sure. But do you think they want to?" Ka shook her head. "I¡¯m pretty sure this Haug fellow addressed the problem to the Council before trying to get Lith involved. They have much better experts than me, yet they didn¡¯t care.

    "Awakened only care for crimesmitted by other Awakened. That¡¯s why back in the day the Council did nothing against the ve cors in the Empire or against Hatorne. They were fake makes, hence none of the Council¡¯s business.

    "Guardians follow a simr policy. Leegaain washed his hands of the Empire just like Tyris considered Nalear¡¯s ploy a price that her people had to pay to learn their lesson.

    "On top of that, Lightkeep isn¡¯t in the Kingdom, but in the Empire. My money on Leegaain not caring one bit, Inxialot making excuses to not leave hisb, and the rest of the Council bickering for so long that before they are done, we¡¯ll be gone and back." The Wight said.

    Faluel contacted the Council nheless, and when Ka¡¯s prediction came true down to thest detail, she had to admit that the Wight may be an airhead, but she had done her homework about politics.

    "I can¡¯t believe our gang is hitting the road from the first time." Tista hugged Solus and Nyka, eager to share an adventure with them and to visit an undead city.

    "You¡¯re noting." Lith, Ka, and Faluel said in unison.

    "What? Why?" She asked with eyes wide open in surprise.

    "Because you¡¯re too weak." Lith said. "Someone at the bright cyan would be a liability. I¡¯m close to reaching the violet core while Scarlett is going to have her hands full with Ka and Nyka."

    "Not by my choice!" Tista angrily pointed at Faluel. "I worked my a.s.s off day and night, but she forbade me to use .u.mtion. How can I have a breakthrough without it?"

    "I understand your anger, child, but your body isn¡¯t ready yet." Faluel used Lifestream, her breathing technique, to show Tista her condition along with a hologram depicting a perfect cyan-cored body.

    "I know thatpared to Lith I Awakenedter, but I survived the process. Compared to that-"

    "Wrong." Faluel cut her short. "Don¡¯t you remember Mogar¡¯s words? To alter Lith¡¯s bloodline, they messed with your parents¡¯. If it affected yours as well, then the blue level means the awakening of your beast¡¯s life force.

    "You¡¯d be a hybrid and your body would undergo deep changes that would make the breakthrough way more dangerous than usual. You are already 21, past the age when normal hybrids have to choose their final nature.

    "I have no idea if you are going to turn into a Wyrmling nor if you have to choose your life force right off the bat. That¡¯s why I won¡¯t allow you to use .u.mtion until we¡¯ve done everything we can to ensure your survival." The Hydra said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Tista. We¡¯ll take good care of your brother." Phloria said while she and Friya patted her back.

    "Right. I have to stay home because I¡¯m the only non-Awakened in the group." Quy sighed deeply, knowing they were right.

    <i>¡¯I wish I could swear that I¡¯ll work even harder to be an Awakened, but that would be idiotic. I¡¯m already doing my best and without caution, I¡¯m more likely to be either a corpse or an Abomination.¡¯</i> She thought.

    "Don¡¯t worry, Quy. They¡¯re noting either." Lith and Faluel seemed to share a mind link, finishing each other¡¯s sentences.

    "This isn¡¯t fair! I¡¯ve finally Awakened, I¡¯m incredibly strong and I even have Silverwing¡¯s hair!" Friya said unting her six elemental streaks.

    "You still have to get ustomed to your new body and powers, let alone converting all of your spells into true magic." Lith shook her head. "You are an Awakened who still fights like a fake mage. In a way, you¡¯re weaker than when you were human."

    "Agreed." Faluel nodded.

    "What about me? I¡¯ve Awakened for a while and Dad even gave me new equipment!" Phloria said.

    "I noticed and I know they are all masterpieces, but you have Tista¡¯s same problem. Without .u.mtion, your body is even weaker than Friya¡¯s who Awakened with the Hydra¡¯s bloodline technique." Lith said.

    "This isn¡¯t Jiera. I¡¯m not going to explore my beast side or making new experiences. This is a mission in hostile territory and all of you would be liabilities."

    "That¡¯s not all." Faluel said. "Your mother has forbidden you to leave home and your disappearance would make noise throughout the Kingdom. There would be no way to stop Jirni from searching for you and her absence wouldpromise everyone¡¯s security."

    "It seems it will just be you and I, sister." Nyka said while hugging Solus¡¯s stone doll.

    No one asked Nalrond toe and he was happier that way. He hated the undead and the thought of helping them made his stomach churn.

    <i>¡¯Instead of wasting my time with those vermin, I¡¯d rather practice Spirit Magic. Now that I have a wand as well, I can use the mind link to try andmunicate with my sealed beast half. Without his help, I¡¯ll always remain a hybrid.¡¯</i> He thought.

    The lesson went particrly well because everyone was eager to show Faluel and Ka that they wouldn¡¯t be a dead weight, but the Hydra didn¡¯t change her mind.

    Lith informed his parents, Jirni, and Mirim of his mission, to give them the time to adjust the security detail before his departure, leaving Kam forst.

 Chapter 1372 - Quality Over Quantity (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1372 - Quality Over Quantity (Part 2)</h4>

    "I¡¯m not fond of the idea of sending you behind the enemy lines, but any clue regarding Lark¡¯s death would be a great help to prevent any more deaths." The Marchioness said over the amulet.

    "I know. Even discovering which Court took the hit job would point Jirni in the right direction. So far we got nothing." Lith said as images of Lark¡¯s defiled corpse shed in front of his eyes.

    "Please, be careful. I¡¯ll reinforce the security of your home while you¡¯re away. In the case that something goes wrong, drop the mission. No information is worth your life." She said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be careful. Lith out."

    "Mom, who were you talking to? Wasn¡¯t that the voice of Archole Verhen?" Brinja opened the door after knocking several times without receiving an answer.

    She was 22 years old, about 1.63 meters (5¡¯3") tall with silky blonde hair that looked like a golden waterfall and almost reached the floor. She wore a sapphire day dress that left her arms exposed and emphasized her sky-blue eyes.

    She had a lively face and a bright smile even when insulting a friend of the family.

    "Yes, but I¡¯d really appreciate if you called him either Lith or Archmage Verhen." Mirim said with a sigh.

    "Please, he¡¯s an asshole and an Archmage so Archole it is." Brinja pouted. "First he preferred t-board Ernas to me and then he had the gall to ask a mere Lieutenant out. On top of that, he never called me once! Was it too much to go on one date with me?"

    "Gods, you have a good word for everyone. I wonder why he avoided you all this time." The Marchioness rolled her eyes, wishing that Brinja had taken more from her father and less from her mother¡¯s side.

    "What do you mean?" Brinja crossed her arms while tapping her foot in annoyance.

    "That asking Constable Yehval out was just a date. Asking you out would have been amitment. You came in too strong! He already had a girlfriend and was barely thirteen, yet you went this close to give him a betrothal gift on your first meeting."

    "You should have waited for when they broke up, then offer to console him as a friend, and then see how things would go. You should have been more patient." Mirim said.

    "That¡¯s riching from you." Brinja said with a scoff. "There are still rumors going around that say you didn¡¯t elope with Dad so much as kidnapped him. Once you did the deed, his parents had to let you two marry. Compared to you, I went slow and steady."

    "That was apletely different situation!" The Marchioness blushed up to her years at the mention of that embarrassing part of her past. "Your father had already epted my feelings, but your grandparents were against him marrying a mere Marchioness.

    "I simply liberated him from his golden cage and found a way for him to marry into my family. I didn¡¯t force myself on him!" Her very stupid inws had no idea who she was nor why even the Royals endorsed the marriage.

    "Right." It was now Brinja¡¯s turn to roll her eyes in disbelief. "Have fun with your paperwork, Mom. Ainz is taking me out for dinner. Don¡¯t wait up."

    She closed the door behind, making Mirim wish she could go out on a date with her husband as well.

    "Heavy is the hand that wields the pen." She grumbled activating both water magic and air fusion to finish her work as fast as she could.

    ***

    Verhen household, at the end of the call.

    Kam walked through Lith¡¯s door, looking like someone who had eaten needles for lunch.

    "I know that you¡¯ve made your decision, but I want you to know that I don¡¯t want you to go." She said.

    "I kind of understood that the first one hundred times you said that." Lith chuckled. "Come on, Kami. What¡¯s so different from all the missions I did as a Ranger?"

    "Those were missions for the Kingdom. About people and things that you didn¡¯t care about whereas this is personal." She replied while looking him in the eyes. "I¡¯m afraid that you might try too hard, do something stupid, and lose your life.

    "I¡¯m afraid that even if you seed, you might get blinded by revenge and end up into a dark corner of your mind where no one can reach you." She tenderly c.a.r.e.s.sed his face, too worried to care about stupid jokes.

    "The difference is that this doesn¡¯t feel like you going to a mission so much as to war. I¡¯m afraid of never seeing you again and that even if youe back, you might lose a part of you forever."

    Lith had no answer nor quip to ease her worries. She was right about his obsession for revenge.

    Back on Earth, he had already sacrificed everything to avenge Carl. Once Lith learned the name of Lark¡¯s murder, he would know if all those years had truly changed him or not.

    They spent the night before his departure by holding and cuddling each other, hoping it wouldn¡¯t be theirst.

    ***

    "Where are we going, exactly?" Lith asked Ka after calling Haug to seal their deal and announce hising to Lightkeep.

    "As you know, undead cannot use dimensional magic easily so theypletely seal it within the premises of their cities. It allows them to exploit their superior physical prowess and to rob their enemies of a priceless advantage.

    "It also means that there¡¯s no Gate leading to the Eclipsed Lands. We can only Warp close the nearest ess and then walk until our destination." Ka said.

    "I¡¯m so sorry that I¡¯m too weak toe." Nok waved a handkerchief in his pawn as a goodbye. "Take your time and have a nice trip. Slow and steady wins the race."

    The Byk was eager to have some quality time alone with his bed and the pantry. Having his mother back had been a pleasant surprise, at least until Ka had forced him on a diet, magical training, and to take care of his numerous offspring.

    "I beg to differ." The Wight said while handing Faluel a piece of paper listing his daily routine. "Make sure he doesn¡¯t ck off. I don¡¯t care if Nok evolves, but I don¡¯t want him to act like a child anymore."

    "Mom!" He said in horror while noticing that the white of the paper was almost invisible under the ck of the ink.

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take good care of him." The Hydra had one of her golems cover Nok like a glove, tripling the effort necessary to even take a step forward. "I¡¯m going to turn you into a real Byk or make you die trying."

    The Warping array led them to their of Weyss the Naga, the Lord of the Tremen region. It bordered with the Ker region from the Empire¡¯s side and was the closest ce to Lightkeep even though it was hundreds of kilometers away from it.

    "Wee to the Gorgon Empire, Lith." Weyss said. "I hope that once you¡¯re done with your business, we¡¯d have time for a talk."

    The Naga was a monster with the lower part of its body resembling a huge snake¡¯s tail, while the upper part could have been mistaken for a human man, if it wasn¡¯t for his sky-blue skin, snow-white hair, and six arms instead of two.

 Chapter 1373 - Lightkeep (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1373 - Lightkeep (Part 1)</h4>

    The Naga wore an enchanted suit of armor that covered his upper body and six different enchanted weapons ready at hand, two on his back, four where the h.i.p.s were supposed to be.

    "Thanks for your offer. I would be d to enjoy your hospitality." Lith lied through his teeth.

    <i>¡¯I bet that he wants to suck up on me hoping to gain some advantage from Leegaain.¡¯</i> He thought. <i>¡¯Ever since he and Grandma greeted me in front of the Council, everyone wants a piece of me but no one has given me gifts, dammit.¡¯</i>

    Scarlett had a hard time not mocking the Naga for his pandering and Warped them away after locking on the farthest coordinates that her pince-nez, the Eyes of Menadion, could reach.

    Winter had already reached the Empire, covering thend with a thickyer of immacte snow that reminded Lith of a postcard.

    "Damn, it¡¯s cold even for Awakened." He said while activating the heating system of the Scalewalker armor.

    "Well, yes. We¡¯re further north than the Kingdom and the climate is harsher here." Scarlett covered herself and Ka in thick coats of fur. The problem of having a big body was that each armor required a lot of materials, making fur more convenient.

    The Scorpicore carried Nyka in a body bag over her back, to protect her from sunlight while they Warped toward their destination. The three Awakened took turns in opening dimensional doors to save their strength in the case something went wrong.

    It took them a few minutes and one full use of Invigoration each to reach a dense woods halfway through the Tremen region, deep in the Empire¡¯s territory. The temperature was several degrees below zero and there was no sign of life for kilometers.

    "Undead?" Lith asked while pointing around.

    "No, winter." Ka replied. "Only starving animals woulde out of their den with this wind and cold. We need to wait for sundown before asking for a ride."

    "I thought we had to walk." Lith said.

    "We did. Sort of. You can¡¯t expect an undead on the run to reach an underground city by foot. They have their own means of transportation." The Wight replied.

    They conjured a small underground cave, covering it with snow to make it invisible from above. They used that time to rest and n ahead. Lith even prepared a bit of his blood for Nyka, to have the time to recover and give her an edge in case of danger.

    When the sun came down, she stirred in her body bag and epted the meal with gratitude.

    "Now stay calm and-" A low rumble cut Ka short and forced everyone out of the cave.

    On the outside, everything looked the same, except for the presence of two strangers. One of them was Parmegianno Haug and the other was clearly a vampire. He wore light clothes despite the cold and his breath didn¡¯t steam.

    He looked like a handsome man in his early thirties about 1.87 meters (6¡¯2") tall, with short ck hair and icy blue eyes that looked at the group as if they were the scouts of an invading army.

    The Vampire had the bearing of someone used to give orders and to see them promptly executed, but his build was that of a soldier. He gave off the aura of someone who had earned his stripes in battle, not by pushing papers and l.i.c.k.i.n.g boots.

    "Thanks foring, everyone." Haug said while shaking hands, yet hispanion refused to move a muscle. "Lith has already told you about me and vice versa so introductions are unnecessary except that for our host.

    "Allow me to introduce to you dion Dragonborn, Vampire Firstborn, Elder of the Council, and Lord of Lightkeep. Lord dion, these are Lith Verhen, Scarlett the Scorpicore, Ka the Wight, and Nyka the Vamp-"

    "Uncle ddie!" Nyka threw her arms around the Firstborn, cutting Haug short and making everyone choke in surprise.

    "My little robin! I¡¯m d to see you¡¯ve grown out of your growling phase and have started to behave like a fine youngdy." He replied.

    "I was just one week old back then!" Nyka blushed in embarrassment.

    "Nice to see you again, V-man. How are you doing?" Ka raised one of her forelegs, exchanging a greeting simr to a fist bump.

    "I¡¯m doing fine, thanks. You, instead, have continued with your crazy experiments about Lichhood. How can you do that to your children?" dion sensed several alterations in her life force that would ease the process of splitting her core in half.

    "They are old enough to live on their own." Ka snorted. "No cub is meant to stay with their mother forever."

    "I came here to smooth things over and you guys already know each other?" Haug said after noticing that everyone else was as surprised as he was.

    "Of course. Back when I gave birth to Nyka, I knew nothing about raising a Vampire. She would do nothing but snarl, bite, and cry like a cub, breaking my heart. Just like when I need a Forgemaster or a Healer, I go to the best professional I know..."

    "...when I needed help with my daughter, I asked the First Vampire of Mogar for help. dion taught Nyka how to hunt, how to ess her abilities, and how to deal with her hunger. All things that I couldn¡¯t do."

    <i>¡¯Dammit, I¡¯m a much better Healer than the runt, but being away for five years made Ka reliant on him.¡¯</i> Scarlett was unaware that it had been Solus to teach Ka all she knew about Body Sculpting and to help her fix the damage her experiments caused on the Wight¡¯s body.

    <i>¡¯Scarlett as her aunt, Ka for mother, and the frigging Vampire Firstborn as her uncle? Nyka¡¯s family is damn overpowered.¡¯</i> Lith and Solus thought, wishing he had someone to guide him like that back when he was a kid.

    "This is great. Let¡¯s get back to Lightkeep so we can bring them up to speed." Haug said.

    "Not so fast." dion shook his head. "Ka and my little robin cane, but I don¡¯t trust the other two, especially Verhen. He is a butcher who has killed so many of my kind that I can still smell their ashes on him."

    "I-" Lith was about to give dion a piece of his mind, reminding the Firstborn that he had killed mostly in self-defense, when Nyka chimed in, cutting him short.

    "Lith has every right to follow me to Lightkeep, Uncle. He¡¯s part of my herd."

    dion opened his mouth to object, but he smelled Lith¡¯s fresh blood from her mouth. The scent of the nectar from a quasi-violet cored Awakened whose life force¡¯s strength was between that of a human and an Emperor Beast was intoxicating.

    Suspecting a ruse, dion used his breathing technique, Bloodborne, on her and discovered that Nyka¡¯s blood core was too powerful for a Vampire of her age. On top of that, Lith¡¯s mana and life forceprised a huge chunk of it.

    "What about the Scorpicore?" He asked.

    "Aunt Scarlett is Mom¡¯s teacher and her boss for the next 95 years. She can stop Mom from bing a Lich, if she wants to." Nyka replied.

 Chapter 1374 - Lightkeep (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1374 - Lightkeep (Part 2)</h4>

    dion looked at the Butcher and at the Council¡¯spdog with mixed feelings for a while until Haug tipped the scale for good.

    "I vouch for them both on my life. They are Nyka¡¯s family and the best manhunters of the Kingdom. Scarlett even tracked Balkor down to the middle of the Blood Desert with no clues but one of his thralls.

    "They are our best shot to get to the bottom of this. If not for us, do it for the children."

    "Fine, but I doubt that they will seed where everyone else failed and you two will be held responsible for their actions." dion said to Ka and Haug.

    "Seed where everyone else failed is my legal middle name, pal." Scarlett said with a snort.

    dion raised his arms and a sphere of earth enveloped them as they started to move through the ground like a bathysphere plunging underwater.

    "Don¡¯t waste your time trying to track our movements. It¡¯s impossible." He said whilepensating the increasing pressure on their eardrums with air magic.

    "Fascinating." Scarlett said as both the Eyes of Menadion and Solus¡¯s mana sense proved to be incapable of seeing through the conjured sphere. It wasprised of so much mana that it blinded the mystical sense of both artifacts.

    Lith took hismunication amulets out of his pocket dimension along with everything he thought that he might need during their stay among the undead.

    <i>¡¯If Ka is right and they block all kinds of dimensional magic, I¡¯d better not give out the existence of my omni pocket.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Wee to Lightkeep." dion said, making Lith¡¯s mouth fall to the ground. They had left the forest less than one minute ago yet they had already reached their destination.

    Lith had been expecting something like an old castle filled with dust and cobwebs, something straight out of Earth¡¯s horror movies, not a metropolis that rivaled in beauty with the forbidden city of Kolga.

    The cold, dark, and damp cave from his imagination crumbled in front of a city as bright as day that smelled like flowers. The ceiling was several hundreds of meters high, allowing the inhabitants of Lightkeep to decide whether to build their homes on the ground or on the ceiling.

    All the undead were capable of flight and of walking on walls like a spider, making it possible for them to expand the city from both above and below. Unlike Kolga, Lightkeep looked less like a modern city and more like an open-air museum.

    Every building had its own garden with perennial nts pruned with such mastery that the topiary creatures looked more like statues than nts.

    Every building had its windowless sides painted so that by looking at them from afar, one would see andscape rather than the dull grey typical of stone cities. The buildings on the ceiling, instead, were painted to resemble a blue sky with a few fluffy clouds.

    "Isn¡¯t it cruel towards undead to constantly remind them of what they have lost forever?" Scarlett asked.

    The Scorpicore was amazed by the beauty of the undead city, mostly because the Eyes of Menadion revealed to her that the living far surpassed the undead, yet none of them looked afraid.

    She could see humans, beasts, and even nts walking freely along the streets on their own with no supervision. Scarlett had a hard time believing how pacific Lightkeep was.

    "You misunderstand our city, Scorpicore." dion said while shaking his head. "The frescos don¡¯t remind them of what¡¯s lost so much as of what all of them have to strive for. The final prize for achieving the full red blood core.

    "Nothing is really lost to us, but to get it back again we need patience, effort, and sacrifice. The sight of the sky and the light allow the younger of us to not lose hope."

    "About that, howe you have so much green and works of art?" Lith pointed at the numerous fountains and statues that decorated the city blocks.

    They were so life-like that Lith needed to use Life Vision to make sure they were chiseled pieces of rock instead of petrified living beings.

    "The green thrives thanks to one of my greatest achievements, the Sunstones." dion took a small mana crystal out of his pocket dimension, making it appear in a ze of emerald mes.

    It shone of yellow light that also spread warmth in its surroundings.

    "It gives us light and heat, allowing nts to thrive as if under the regr sun but without harming us undead. We need both green and art to retain our humanity and not forget about our past life."

    "Baba Yaga made her children simr to nts not only in longevity, but also in mentality. We are predators that get easily detached from our feelings and care for no one but ourselves.

    "Keeping the city beautiful makes it easier for our herds living here happily and for us to not turn into mindless bloodthirsty monsters." dion said while they walked toward Lightkeep.

    "This is the second time you guys use the term, herd. What does it mean?" Lith said.

    "Killing for feeding is considered a barbaric act, something that only beasts and dumb children do. No offense." dion replied.

    "None taken." Scarlett snarled.

    "Killing not only makes our presence known in your cities, it also hinders the use of magic. Whenever one of us casts a powerful light magic spell, an array, or crafts a powerful artifact, we need to replenish our strength.

    "To do that, we have a herd. A group of individuals from our race of origin that we take care of, that we feed, protect, and even teach magic to. In exchange they willingly provide us with their life essence, relieving us from the need of hunting." dion said.

    "Basically a harem." Lith¡¯s words made the Firstbornugh.

    "Gods, no. My herd is so big that if I had to sleep with all of them, I wouldn¡¯t have the time to eat. Sometimes I sleep with them, but I¡¯m not romantically bound to them nor they to me.

    "They can sleep with whoever they want as long as they preserve their life force and blood solely for me. Besides, harems never work. Someone is always your favorite, the others get jealous, and before you know it, they start seeing you just like a wallet.

    "They stay with you for your power and resources, but they have no qualms cheating on you since you basically always cheated on them. I speak from experience."

    After that, they walked in silence until they reached dion¡¯s home. It was a magnificent three-story manor built with a style that resembled a European abbey from the 1600s.

    The ce was spotless with no bats hanging from the ceilings nor cobwebs as big as bedsheetsying around. The more Lith looked around Lightkeep, the sillier the horror movies from Earth looked to him.

    dion¡¯s home was richly decorated with frescoes, paintings, and its furniture would look good even in the Ernas household.

    A hologram would stand near the trainee, showing them the correct hand signs and speaking the magic words with the right entuation.

 Chapter 1375 - Living and Undead (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1375 - Living and Undead (Part 1)</h4>

    dion brought them to a living room with golden-painted decorations covering its white walls. In the middle of the room, there was a long oval table surrounded by padded cherrywood chairs.

    A single chandelier enchanted with light magic illuminated the ce due to the walls spreading the light evenly.

    "Please, have a seat." The Firstborn had the chairs move back with a wave of his hand while the Emperor Beasts shapeshifted into a humanoid form. "What did Haug tell you of our problem?"

    Lith handed dion themunication amulet with all the information and shared with him Ka¡¯s hypothesis about the kidnappings being linked to the practice of Forbidden Magic.

    "You know everything, then." He sighed. "I asked the Council for help back when the disappearances started, but they refused unless I revealed them the position of all the branches of the Undead Courts I know."

    "Why did you refuse?" Scarlett said with a scoff.

    "Because some of the members of the Courts are my friends and others are my own children! Maybe a war between living and undead is perfectly ck and white to you, but it¡¯s not to me. As I see it, both sides are in the wrong."

    "How exactly?" Lith said with a snarl. "It was the undead starting the war. It was them attacking Laruel and the Empire first before moving to the other countries. It was the undead attacking my home and friends, not the other way around!"

    "The undead from Jiera were just desperate and hungry. If struggling for survival is a crime, then everyone on Mogar is a damn criminal!" dion mmed his fist on the table, producing a powerful shockwave that was neutralized by the room before it could deal any damage.

    "I me Veeza the Lich for exploiting their desperation just like Erlik did with their greed, but the Courts have a good reason to exist. Do you have any idea how many of us have been killed, tortured, and experimented upon out of prejudice?

    "Why do you think even people like Ka have more friends among the dead than the living? Did you see anyone pointing fingers and screaming murder at your sight the moment you entered Lightkeep?

    "Try doing that in your hybrid form in any human city and see how it goes."

    Lith was about to reply, yet no word came out of his mouth.

    <i>¡¯He¡¯s notpletely wrong.¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯From the point of view of such an ancient creature, the Courts may be wrong this time, but they have been wronged so many times in the past that it seems irrelevant to him.</i>

    <i>¡¯Arguing with him is pointless. You can¡¯t ask him to forgive centuries of hatred and persecution when you can¡¯t even forgive Trion after his death.¡¯</i>

    Seeing that the hybrid infant was done with his nonsense, dion went back to business.

    "We have tightened the security of Lightkeep and the disappearances have stopped for a while so that¡¯s not an issue anymore. Yet we would love to understand how it happened and punish the culprit so I will allow your investigation.

    "Know that the best of our kind, myself included, have already done all they could and failed. I doubt that you can do any better, but in the unlikely case it happens I¡¯d like to reward you properly.

    "I¡¯m willing to offer a white crystal to Ka for her experiments, the secret of Vampire Awakening to Nyka, and the name of the one who sent the Balkor-cards to Lith." He said.

    "What about me?" Scarlett asked.

    "Are you telling me that it¡¯s you who know the identity of Count Lark¡¯s murderer?" Lith ignored her as his eyes red up with mana and fury.

    "I am." The Firstborn nodded.

    "I said, what about my reward?" Being ignored pissed off Scarlett big time.

    "How dare you ask so much from me and offer but a measly name in exchange?" Lith said.

    "First, you¡¯d receive Haug¡¯s reward as well so I think it¡¯s fair. Second, I¡¯m not giving you just their name, child. The person you¡¯re looking for is powerful and influential among you Sunwalkers.

    "Someone even the Courts can¡¯t touch due to the power and knowledge they amassed. Do you think that "a measly name" would allow you to do better? That you could exact your revenge without ruining everything you¡¯ve built so far?

    "If you seed, I will give you their name and all the proof you need to justify your attack in the eyes of the Sunwalkers. If that¡¯s not enough for you, feel free to leave." dion said.

    Lith¡¯s eyes were reduced to fiery slits as he pondered the Vampire¡¯s words.

    <i>¡¯I already learned a lot froming here. Now I know that neither Thrud nor Night is involved which is actually good news. I couldn¡¯t take them on with my current power. Yet this is not enough. I have to y along.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "If you jerks are done, do you mind telling me about my reward?" Scarlett waved a hand in front of dion¡¯s eyes to get his attention.

    "I¡¯m sorry, mdy, I let anger get the best of me." He gave her a deep bow. "Your presence was unexpected and I know little about you. If you seed, feel free to ask me anything you wish and I¡¯ll give it to you. Within reason, of course."

    Scarlett started to jot down all the high-end equipment she needed to upgrade all of herbs after five years of absence. Compared to Faluel¡¯s, they had be obsolete and to make matters worse, the Scorpicore had earned nothing during her travels.

    Between the money that she would have to spend and the resources she would have to trade to get what she needed, Scarlett would either go bankrupt or need months to earn them with her work as a Forgemaster.

    "Do we have an agreement?" dion asked while extending his hand.

    "I have just one question. What¡¯s the point of kidnapping newborn undead if they can just be created from corpses with Necromancy?" Lith asked.

    "Raising a greater undead is much more difficult andplicated than making a mindless lesser undead." Ka replied.

    "If my theory about Forbidden Magic is correct, making enough greater undead for an experiment would take hundreds of mages working in unison to not miss the short time window when their core is still ck."

    The moment everyone agreed to dion¡¯s terms, the soundproof double doors of the rooms opened, letting a small child toddle toward the Firstborn.

    "Daddy!" A young boy about four years old, with the white hair and skin of an albino, entered the room closely followed by an old woman with a walking cane.

    "Radusk, did you force Grandma to chase after you again?" dion said while lifting the child off the ground and taking him into his arms.

    "She didn¡¯t let mee in." The boy pouted.

    "I was dealing with our guests, you rascal."

    "There¡¯s no need to scold him. Radusk was just worried for you after finding your bed empty and I¡¯m always happy to take care of my grandkids." The olddy said.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom! That¡¯s Baba Yaga.¡¯</i> Solus said, making Lith freeze in worry.

    Not only was her Crone form identical to Quy¡¯s hologram of her, but mana sense showed Solus a radiant white core that filled Baba Yaga from head to toe.

 Chapter 1376 - Living and Undead (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1376 - Living and Undead (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways! I¡¯ve kicked the asses of two of her Hors.e.m.e.n and killed countless of her children. If the forefather of all Vampires calls me Butcher, there¡¯s no telling what she thinks of me.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    He and Solus started weaving their best spells, not stopping even when Baba Yaga¡¯s eyes met Lith¡¯s.

    "What a pleasant surprise. I¡¯ve heard a lot about all of you and I was eager to meet you in person." Baba Yaga shapeshifted from the Crone into the Mother.

    She now looked like a beautiful woman in her forties, with ming red hair and emerald green eyes, wearing a farmer¡¯s day dress. Her voice was calm and wise, her body had the reassuring aura typical of good mothers.

    "There¡¯s no need to conjure power, child. I¡¯m not Silverwing and our meeting will be peaceful as long as you don¡¯t force my hand." Baba Yaga said to Lith, who still didn¡¯t trust her and kept weaving new spells.

    "Radusk is just like you, a hybrid. He¡¯s not someone raised by dion¡¯s core but a child born from love. Do you really think I would put the blood of my blood into danger?"

    "Hybrid?" Lith echoed as all the spells he had prepared faded away. The kid was defenseless and his life force so weak that the pressure of conflicting high-tiered spells would be enough to kill him.

    "Yes." dion nodded while reassuring the child that had started crying in fear, making Lith feel like a bad guy.

    "His skin and hair are white because his two life forces have yet to stabilize. I¡¯m only giving Radusk human food and theck of nutrients makes his undead half drain the color out of him."

    "Is everything okay, Mother?" A deep rumbling voice said as a pitch-ck Minotaur walked in.

    The creature was 2.74 meters (9¡¯) tall, with the head of a bull, the upper body of a bulky man, and the lower body resembled that of a bull, but capable of moving on two legs.

    He wore a suit of armor made of Adamant and engraved with several white crystals that covered him from head to toe. Its enchantments and the runes that covered it made it a masterpiece that only the Royal Fortress Armor outshone.

    "Nandi, what did I tell you about scaring the children?" The Mother facepalmed as the entrance of the armored beast made the ground quake and Radusk cry harder.

    "I¡¯m sorry." The armor turned into a soft fleece while the Minotaur shapeshifted into a small calf with several small violet crystals on his forehead, c.h.e.s.t, and hands.

    Nandipped the child¡¯s tears, inviting him to y.

    Raduskughed as the raspy tongue tickled him and quickly forgot about the scare. dion helped him to ride his mount that started trotting around the room the moment Radusk safely sat on its back.

    "You must be Nandi. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you." Lith stood up.

    All the undead in Lightkeep were nothingpared to Baba Yaga or to the Abomination hybrid. They exuded no aura, yet their simple presence gave him the creeps. His paranoiamanded him to act, but hismon sense stayed his hand.

    "I heard a lot about you as well." Nandi said. "Xenagrosh and the Master always talk about you, Lith."

    Nandi usually referred to Vastor as "Father", but having called Baba Yaga "Mother" it would cause a big misunderstanding.

    At those words, Lith inwardly cursed himself. After trying and failing multiple times to thank Xenagrosh for helping him to deal with Night and her army, he hadpletely forgotten about her after Lark¡¯s death.

    "What are you two doing here?" Lith asked. "Is the Master involved in the disappearances?"

    "Someone is kidnapping my children from one of the few ces where those like Radusk who carry my bloodline live and is murdering them. I can feel their death like an astronomer can follow the lifespan of stars.

    "Their light suddenly disappears, leaving behind an empty space in the night sky and making the world darker. Not even my tower allowed me to track the culprit, but I can at least make sure that this will not happen again.

    "Nandi is here to help me. The Master was against himing here." Baba Yaga said.

    "You¡¯re being paranoid, Mother." dion shook his head. "The arrays weid are the life¡¯s work of more than one Firstborn and we have further reinforced them after the kidnappings started. There¡¯s no way-"

    Suddenly, the room started to quake. Yet it was nothing like when Nandi had spread his aura. The entire city of Lightkeep was trembling with such violence that even the arrays surrounding the Dragonborn household couldn¡¯t stop them.

    "What¡¯s happening?" Ka said while screams filled the air and people started running amok through the streets.

    "The children!" dion didn¡¯t trust Nandi farther than he could throw him. The Firstborn took Radusk off his back and entrusted him to Baba Yaga before leaving the house so fast that he left behind a ck and white blur.

    "Where?" Ka asked Scarlett who tapped her pince-nez, pinpointing their host no matter how fast or far away he was.

    "Order and Chaos!" The Scorpicore blurted out in surprise as the Eyes of Menadion informed her about how powerful the people in the room were and even picked up her future opponents.

    "Baba Yaga, leave the child to Ka and follow me. She¡¯s too weak to be of help whereas you can make a difference."

    "Trusting a wannabe Lich is thest thing I would do." The Mother curled up her upper lip in disgust.

    "I¡¯ll stay here and protect the hybrid children. They are beyond unique and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if this is nothing but a rouse to get to them. Nandi, I¡¯ll need your help to fuel my tower. The city drains the geyser too much for it to sustain my hut as well."

    "Nyka." Ka inwardly cursed her own weakness.

    "Yes, Mom?"

    "Please be careful." The Wight nodded to Lith and Scarlett in a silent plea to keep her safe.

    The young Vampire had spent her years of loneliness doing nothing but drinking Awakened blood and practicing magic. Nyka already surpassed her mother, at least on the battlefield.

    "Running is for morons." Scarlett dropped the young Vampire on her back,pressing her legs like springs before taking off with a single p of her wings enhanced by fire and air magic.

    "And so is being slow." Lith shapeshifted into his hybrid form and disappeared in a silvery blur as he used air magic to fill his wings andplemented the effects of fusion magic.

    "What the heck is going on? The arrays surrounding the city are supposed to negate air and dimensional magic." Despite her amazement, Scarlett followed his lead, increasing her speed by tenfold.

    <i>¡¯She¡¯s right. You shouldn¡¯t be able to move this fast.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯Someone has breached the arrays, then.¡¯</i> Lith replied. <i>¡¯It seems that dion isn¡¯t as strong as he thinks. This has never happened to Belius or any city of the Kingdom.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Wrong. He¡¯s very strong and the arrays are still in ce. It¡¯s just that their owner has turned them off.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯The bad news is that there¡¯s a traitor in their midst. The good news is that they just gave out their identity.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Wrong again. dion is the City Lord and the arrays bear his imprint.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1377 - Ancestral Powers (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1377 - Ancestral Powers (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> Lith and the Firstborn Vampire thought in unison but for entirely different reasons.

    The former because Solus¡¯s words made no sense and thetter because his own magical formations refused to obey hismands.

    Arrays were just permanent spells with no personality or will of their own, yet dion could feel their spite being thrown in his face as they defied him over and over.

    <i>¡¯Did someone use Forbidden Magic to turn my own city into a cursed object?¡¯</i> He thought as a cold shiver ran down his spine. If the field of arrays had reallye to life, there was no telling the damage they might cause.

    The group only had to follow the echo of the desperate screams to discover that the Second Life Academy had been attacked. It was the ce where recently turned undead learned how to feed on their victims without killing them.

    Even White Ladies could spare a child¡¯s life after learning how to control both their hunger and the flow of life force.

    <i>¡¯This doesn¡¯t make any sense. I reinforced the protections of the Academy so much that they are on par with those of the city borders.¡¯</i> Yet nothing had stopped the intruders from sting a hole through its thick walls and arrays.

    The elders in charge of teaching were heavily wounded and most of them would have been already dead if not for their powerful blood cores that granted them uncanny regenerating abilities.

    dion didn¡¯t have the time to stop and inspect the battlefield, but between his enhanced senses and rich battle experience, the Firstborn gained a rough understanding of the threat at hand.

    Without the arrays blocking them, by the time dion reached the rear guard of the invaders, they had already crossed the city borders and they were throwing the newborn undead through huge dimensional corridors.

    <i>¡¯More nonsense! If the dimensional sealing array surrounding the city is down as well, why didn¡¯t they open the Warp Gates in front of the Academy and wasted timeing here? Also, how can mere humans have inflicted such grisly wounds to my elders?¡¯</i> He thought.

    Even from a great distance, dion could clearly see the humanoid figures manhandling the hostages as if they were ragdolls even though some of the undead weighed over 100 kilos.

    The answer to all of his questions struck at the Firstborn like a fist to the gut and physically hit him much harder than that. The moment the kidnappers saw him, they cast the tier four dimensional spell, Copsed Space.

    Along with the big dimensional tunnels for the escape, the group had set up several dimensional fissures the size of a pinhole that created a path from the Gates to the city.

    They were so smallpared to the energy that radiated from the mass of bodies and spells in front of dion that his Life Vision had failed to notice the minuscule tears through the space around the city.

    Copsed Space was true to its name, causing the dimensional spells to implode on themselves and then explode outwards with energyparable to several tier five spells unleashed at the same time.

    Using dimensional magic in the middle of a Copsed Space was akin to add more tier five spells to the iing volley, hence suicidal. On top of that, Copsed Space made it impossible even for the best dimensional mage to track the kidnappers¡¯ escape point.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, that¡¯s why!¡¯</i> dion screamed in pain as the dimensional magic ripped his flesh apart along with the space it upied, requiring the full strength of his full red blood core to keep the wounds from bing fatal.

    <i>¡¯They took their timeing here in order to set up a trap and cover their tracks. They couldn¡¯t do it inside the city because they failed to deactivate the Dimensional Stability array.¡¯</i>

    The explosion that ravaged his body disappeared into thin air the moment it reached the city borders, where a magical formation kept the space stable to prevent cave-ins.

    "That was a good move, but not good enough!" dion snarled. Unless his head was chopped off or his heart destroyed, any other wound would take but a second to heal, making dion just hungry and angry.

    He punched one of the men wearing heavily enchanted gear that had stayed behind to trigger the trap. dion¡¯s fist carried the speed and energy of a freight train, yet the man with blonde greasy hair stopped it with ease.

    "A beast?" dion was bbergasted. Now that he was close enough, his nose picked up the scent of an Emperor Beast, just like his hand could feel that the body in front of him actually weighed more than a ton.

    "And not of the cute and cuddly kind, motherf.u.c.ker!" The blonde man had a coarse voice that grew deeper as his hands turned into twin snake heads at the end of long serpentine necks.

    They swallowed dion¡¯s arms up to the shoulders and then bit with all of their strength. If not for his Adamant armor, the fangs the size of a longsword would have plunged into his flesh and released their powerful acid.

    The blonde man had disappeared, his slender body reced by that of a massive three-headed Hydra that stood over 20 meters (65¡¯7") tall. The other members of the group shapeshifted as well and prepared to fight.

    A woman turned into a Roc, a lesser Phoenix, while another man took the shape of a Sphinx, a lesser Griffon, and thest member of the group, turned herself into a Harpy, a lesser Garuda.

    They couldn¡¯t escape because the Spatial Copse blocked dimensional magic and unless they took care of the witnesses, running away would only mean leading the enemy back to their hideout.

    Lith, Nyka, and Scarlett had escaped the trap thanks to their outstanding mystical senses. Solus had noticed the dimensional fissures with mana sense and had Lith take a roundabout route, making him arrive second.

    The Eyes of Menadion, instead, not only had warned the Scorpicore of the fissures, but it had also provided her with a list of potential threats while it analyzed both the enemies and their equipment.

    s, unlike what happened between Lith and Solus, there was no mind link between the Eyes and their master, forcing Scarlett to take her time to read the information that the artifact brought to her attention.

    <i>¡¯They are all non-Awakened Emperor Beasts from a lesser bloodline.¡¯</i> Scarlett and Solus thought in unison. ¡¯<i>Their mana cores are bright blue with tinges of violet and their physical strength is off the charts.</i>

    <i>¡¯They are not on the level of an Awakened but way stronger than they should be. Their equipment is troublesome as well.¡¯</i>

    While Solus continued her analysis, Scarlet was forced to put the Eyes away to keep them from being damaged.

    "An old fart, a cat, a hatchling, and a leech? This should be easy." The Hydra knew who dion was, yet the bliss that coursed through his veins made him fearless.

 Chapter 1378 - Ancestral Powers (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1378 - Ancestral Powers (Part 2)</h4>

    When the Hydra opened his third mouth to talk, using the other two to keep the opponent in ce, he also hurled a burst of blue-violet fire that hit the Firstborn from almost point-nk range.

    <i>¡¯Since when can Hydras use Origin mes?¡¯</i> dion and the others thought in unison.

    Lith unsheathed War to go all-out right off the bat. ording to Solus, between their equipment and their unusual powers, those Beasts might be able to match his strength.

    The Harpy, who had the c.h.e.s.t and face of a woman and the rest of the body of a humanoid bird, wielded twin scimitars with both her hands and feet. The suit of Orichalc.u.m armor she wore didn¡¯t hinder her movements nor that of the feathered wings on her back, allowing her to fly with the grace of a butterfly.

    <i>¡¯A Harpy is a lesser Garuda. If the Hydra can use Origin mes like a Dragon, then what can the Harpy do like a Garuda?¡¯</i> Lith asked while their swords shed, but Solus had no answer to offer him.

    The creature was over four meters (13¡¯2") tall but thanks to his hybrid form and the momentum from the charge, Lith managed to push her back with the sheer might of the impact.

    "You¡¯re truly unlucky, child. Your Dragon scent is drowned in human weakness, making you just a filthy hybrid. You¡¯re useless to us, otherwise you might have lived a bit longer." She said with a smug grin.

    She had blocked War by holding the curved des in her hands into a X shape, using them as a hook to trap Lith while the scimitars in her feet shed at his defenseless lower body.

    The Wyrmling didn¡¯t waste time with quips, letting his magic do the talking. A tier five Final Sunset erupted from his body, engulfing the fighters in a searing sphere of ck mes that hurt only the Harpy.

    At the same time, he unleashed the tier two Spirit Magic spell, Magic Missiles. Five darts of emerald energy erupted from Lith¡¯s open eyes and went straight for the Harpy¡¯s vitals.

    Her eyes, throat, and ears were exposed. Final Sunset offered the Missiles the perfect cover and even in the case the armor protected her head as well, it wouldn¡¯t do much against the Spirit Spell¡¯s blunt-force attack.

    Much to Lith¡¯s surprise, the Harpyughed at her impending death as if it was the best joke ever. Then, she repelled both the mes and the Missiles with a single p of her armored wings.

    Her whole body was brimming with an energy that made Fusion Magic look like a parlor trick. To make matters worse, that same energy coursed through her equipment as well, making the Orichalc.u.m as good as Adamant and her scimitars capable of chipping War.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k is that?¡¯</i> Lith asked after freeing the de from the cruel vise that had opened small cracks along War¡¯s surface.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s the same power that the Abomination Griffon and Garuda hybrids used against Night.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯Okay, and what does it do?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Beats me.¡¯</i> Solus shrugged.

    <i>¡¯Gods, I love the Scalewalker armor so much that I could kiss it.¡¯</i> Solus shapeshifted into her glove form, covering Lith¡¯s arms up to their elbow.

    Another of the features of the Scalewalker armor was the ability to fully cover not only Lith¡¯s hybrid body, but also to hide Solus¡¯s battle forms from sight, disguising her as a part of the armor.

    The right glove had now five gems while the left had now two of them, making them still pale inparison with the Hands of Menadion. Yet from her fight with the King of Kolga, Solus had learned a nifty trick.

    The gloves started to suck the surrounding world energy in, weakening the Life Maelstrom and strengthening Lith at the same time.

    <i>¡¯Let¡¯s give her a nasty surprise of our own!¡¯</i> She said as Lith opened his maw and released a violet pir of Origin mes.

    "The f.u.c.k?" The smile disappeared from the Harpy¡¯s face as her strength flickered and she took the mes square on her c.h.e.s.t, incapable of dodging them in time.

    Meanwhile, Nyka and Scarlett had joined the fray as well. The Scorpicore took point, using a mind link to share with her goddaughter all the information that she had acquired thanks to the Eyes.

    <i>¡¯Life Maelstrom is way more problematic than Origin mes in battle because it can both hurt the enemy and enhance its user on multiple levels. I¡¯ll take the Sphinx, you deal with the Roc. Try not to spill her blood.</i>

    <i>¡¯If she¡¯s like a Phoenix, the more wounded she gets, the more troublesome she¡¯ll be.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯How can you ask a Vampire to not shed blood?¡¯</i> Nyka w.h.i.n.ed as she changed her strategy ording to Scarlett¡¯s pointers.

    As if the Roc had been part of the telepathic conversation as well, she turned the brown feathers that covered her eagle-like body into a mass of fiery Origin mes. They were the perfect means of attack and defense at the same time.

    The Vampire would suffer damage whenever she struck whereas the Roc¡¯s physical attacks would now damage not only Nyka¡¯s body, but also her mana and her life force.

    "Hello, cat." Said Pretion the Sphinx with a smug grin on his face. Sphinxes looked like Griffons, but instead of the body of a lion they had that of a tiger and their face and c.h.e.s.t had humanoid features.

    Also, they had a long golden mane that resembled ck striped hair, rainbow-colored feathered wings, and several poisoned quills at the end of their tail.

    "Hello, lunch." Scarlett replied.

    Despite their feral appearance, Sphinxes were both smaller and weaker than Griffons. Their size matched that of an Awakened Scorpicore and the only thing they had inherited from Tyris was the ability to Dominate all of the elements.

    Without a teacher, however, such ability was impossible to discover and non-Awakened Sphinxes still believed that their bloodline had no special power.

    Pretion roared in outrage as silver bolts of lightning coursed through his body, enhancing the tier five spell, Copsing Moon, to a tower tier level.

    <i>¡¯Me and my big mouth! Never taunt unknown enemies, dumbass.¡¯</i> Scarlett thought while activating the defensive Spirit Spell stored inside her ne.

    Copsing Moon was a mix of air and earth magic, creating the next best thing to gravity magic by generating powerful electromaic fields. They weren¡¯t as destructive as distorted gravity fields, but they were much more manageable.

    Life Maelstrom allowed Pretion to add a third element, water, that lowered the temperature of the maite and turned it into a superconductor. It also tripled the mana efficiency of the spell, lowering its requirements and bringing it to the level of a real gravity spell.

    On the other side of the battlefield, the Hydra kept breathing Origin mes non-stop from his three mouths by using the lungs that the heads shared to draw enough air for all of them.

    "Seriously? Grabbing a Vampire might be a good move in a bard¡¯s tale, but in real life, it¡¯s the worst n ever." dion took the full brunt of the damage without even bothering to defend himself.

    Sure, the Hydra had an outstanding physical strength but he was the Firstborn Vampire.

 Chapter 1379 - Ancestral Powers (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1379 - Ancestral Powers (Part 3)</h4>

    dion was one of the oldest undead on Mogar and his full red blood core made him even stronger than a violet-cored Elder Dragon.

    His body wasprised of both darkness and life force, each one ying a different role. The former was constantly draining the Hydra¡¯s strength through their physical contact thanks to Vampiric Touch, a skill that Lith had recreated years back as a student.

    Thetter, instead, was so dense that it turned the Firstborn¡¯s body into an unmovable object. If not for the Adamant armor dion wore, Pretion¡¯s fangs would have shattered against his skin.

    The Vampire snarled as he grabbed the Hydra¡¯s heads from inside their throats and ripped them off their necks with a single fluid movement. The strength gap coupled with the prolonged exposure to Vampiric Touch had made the Hydra easy prey.

    Severed from the main body, the serpentine necks withered into dust in a split second while blood gushed from the neck stumps, painting the cave red. The Hydra blinked in pain and missed the moment when dion flickered his fingers, releasing the Crescent Moon spell.

    A wind de filled to the brim with darkness cut the remaining head and the sturdy body that supported it asunder, not giving the Emperor Beast the time to move a muscle. The entropic energies made the flesh rot and the organs fail, killing the Hydra on the spot.

    In the meantime, the Harpy had stabilized Life Maelstrom again and had pushed Lith back on the defense. Unlike Origin mes, Maelstrom was stored inside the body and needed world energy only to recharge.

    Solus¡¯s Hands form only hindered the Harpy¡¯s ability to refill with world energy the mana organ that produced the Maelstrom and had no effect on the silver lightning that she had already stored in her body.

    Unlike the Sphinx who had just consumed more than half his reserve on a single spell, the Harpy preferred to use Life Maelstrom akin to fusion magic. It consumed little energy and boosted her equipment as well, turning her into an unstoppable force.

    Lith¡¯s violet Origin mes ate at her body, her equipment, and even at the silver energy that empowered her. Yet the Harpy only needed a burst of Life Maelstrom equivalent to the energy that the mes carried to nullify them in an instant.

    After that, with nothing hindering the Harpy anymore, she started her counterattack. Having four armed prehensile limbs allowed her to alternate shes and lunges from every direction.

    She could freely attack from above and below at the same time whereas Lith only had one de. On top of that, War was now chipped, and blocking the endless onught of attacks covered the angry de with cracks, making it wail in agony.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways! I¡¯m not going to let War end up like the Gatekeeper!¡¯</i> Lith put the de on his back while unleashing from his right hand a pir of ck mes.

    His tier five holding ring condensed the Final Sunset into a powerful st that deflected the iing sword and burned the hand wielding it. The Harpy pulled the limb back while exploiting the momentum of Lith¡¯s spell for a crescent sh from below.

    Yet Lith¡¯s ring had two charges so he only had to consume the remaining Final Sunset to shot a second pir from his left hand to deflect the de wielded by the hind leg while the first pir kept chasing the enemy.

    The Harpy consumed a bit more Life Maelstrom to enhance her armor and withstand the attack while her remaining limbs cut the Wyrmling down.

    <i>¡¯She clearly has no training with this power. Her movements are too wide, leaving a lot of openings.¡¯</i> Lith thought as he intercepted the other attacks by emitting two more spells from his feet.

    He had more than one tier five holding ring and the second stored two tier five Battle Mage spells, Frost Gale. Water magic made the temperature plummet while air magic focused the cold wave and drained the heat from the victim.

    The Harpy screamed in pain as half of her body burned and the other half froze. She gritted her teeth, using Life Maelstrom to be even faster than Lith¡¯s Awakened body.

    She turned into a blur as she dodged four spells at once and closed the distance between them in a split second. The upper des formed a cross aimed at Lith¡¯s neck while the lower scimitars lunged at his femoral arteries.

    The Harpy moved quickly, but she was still no match for the speed of light. A wall-shaped hard-light construct appeared out of thin air in front of her, interrupting her attack while her face mmed against it.

    Then, a tier four Light Mastery spell created a pir of light and heat that struck her at point-nk range, sending the Harpy crashing against the ground. The impact squeezed the air out of her lungs and made her lose the grip on her weapons.

    <i>¡¯Nice, n. Too bad you¡¯re fighting two against one.¡¯</i> Lith hurled another jet-stream of Origin mes the moment Solus¡¯s spells faded.

    The Harpy bounced on the ground, using more Life Maelstrom to shield herself from the mes and using her four limbs to intercept War before it pierced through her heart.

    Solus needed time to weave new spells and keeping the world energy under control drained her focus. Both opponents had ran out of spells, so it was now a stalemate where the sheer might that Life Maelstrom bestowed upon the Harpy faced the abilities of Lith¡¯s quasi-violet core.

    Nyka was having a hard time facing the Roc. Even though her blood core was empowered by Awakened blood, even that of Scarlett, and her equipment outmatched that of her opponent, she sorelycked real battle experience.

    Her body was on par with the Roc¡¯s and she had no problem moving nimbly in the air, yet her attacks were too straightforward, making them easy to read. That said, the Roc didn¡¯t fare much better.

    Her only weapons were her talons and beak, but any attempt to get close enough to the vampire to use them was met by Nyka¡¯s mace, Thunder. It was one of the artifacts that Scarlett had liberated during her travels.

    Its head was bigger than Nyka¡¯s and it weighed over 20 kilograms (44 pounds), yet the vampire held it with one hand. Enchanted armor could do very little against blunt objects, making each sessful hit almost lethal.

    <i>¡¯If not for the regenerative abilities of my Phoenix¡¯s blood I would have died already!¡¯</i> The Roc thought while she unleashed a wave of Origin mes with a p of her wings.

    Nyka called upon the mana and life force stored inside her blood core, consuming part of her essence to conjure Life Aura. It was a skill that allowed a vampire to turn their physical strength into a defensive wall.

    Life Aura intercepted the Origin mes, leaving Nyka weakened but unscathed. The Roc was so bbergasted that she reacted too slowly to the iing mace, taking a huge blow to her pride and to her ribs at the same time.

    "Wow, you really are a moron." Scarlett said from the safety of her Spirit Barrier as the Eyes of Menadion analyzed her opponent.

 Chapter 1380 - Ancestral Powers (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1380 - Ancestral Powers (Part 4)</h4>

    "Your newfound abilities may make you a threat to someone with a blue core, but to me, you¡¯re nothing but a chump. You should have done like your Harpy friend and saved your energy.

    "You wasted half of your Life Maelstrom for nothing and what¡¯s left can¡¯t bring you to my level. Surrender now and I¡¯ll give you a clean death."

    The Sphinx roared at her arrogance and charged forward, using the silver energy he had left to boost his body and increase the effects of elemental fusion by tenfold. Unfortunately for him, Scarlett didn¡¯t boast her strength so much as state hard facts.

    She had a bright violet core, a perfectly refined body, and over three hundred years of battle experience whereas her opponent was a non-Awakened bright blue cored individual greener than grass.

    She flew back, dodging all of his attacks as she gauged the enemy¡¯s timing. Just like the Harpy, the Sphinx had only recently acquired the ability to produce Life Maelstrom. He wasn¡¯t used to moving at such speed nor did he know how to exploit his newfound strength at its fullest.

    Each attack was met with a perfectly timed counter. Scarlett¡¯s ws deflected the opponent¡¯s and left a huge gash into his armor. Also, her tail struck every time the Sphinx left himself open.

    Which happened often. The scorpion tail released acid with each hit, corroding the armor and covering the Sphinx in chemical burns that sapped his strength.

    <i>¡¯Moron.¡¯</i> She thought.<i> ¡¯Life Maelstrom is powerful but not omnipotent. The energy he has left isn¡¯t enough to fill the gap between a non-Awakened bright blue and an Awakened bright violet.</i>

    <i>¡¯Had he used it all for boosting his physique and aimed only for close-quartersbat, he might have stood half a chance.¡¯</i>

    The Sphinx charged again, focusing the strength he had left for a deadly bite to the throat that would have pierced through the Scorpicore¡¯s Adamant armor. Too bad that going head-first against a Light Master was akin to beg for a wall.

    The Emperor Beast crashed against a golden barrier, finding himself sealed inside a perfect cube with each side one meter (3.3 feet) thick.

    "Come on, pal. Your Copsed Space spell makes it impossible to use Dimensional Magic so you¡¯ve got no way out of there. Surrender now and stop wasting my time." Scarlett said.

    "Where there¡¯s a will, there¡¯s a way!" Life Maelstrom made the Sphinx so strong that each sh of his paws cracked the construct faster than the Scorpicore could repair it.

    By focusing on one side of the cube, hepromised its integrity and then charged at it with the full weight of his massive body.

    A snap of Scarlett¡¯s fingers made the cube of light turn into a mass of darkness that offered no resistance to the Sphinx who ended up hitting the nearby wall with such strength that both the cave and his brain quaked.

    The concussion left him in a daze and allowed the dark energy to seep inside his body, eating at it from the inside. At the same time, Scarlett attacked him from the outside with her tier five Light Mastery spell, Spirit Pir.

    A golden pir of light streaked emerald all over came out of her opened mouth, hitting the Sphinx¡¯s c.h.e.s.t with the energy of a copsing mountain.

    She had opted for a mix of elemental and Spirit magic to save up her mana in case the pups needed help with their respective opponents.

    The Sphinx coughed out a fountain of blood as Spirit Pir made him plunge through stone with its sheer impact. Then, it suddenly disappeared.

    "I could have killed you, but unluckily for you, I need you alive." Scarlet said, snapping her fingers again and turning the darkness magic inside the Sphinx into light energy again.

    The healing spell mended all the wounds she had opened so fast that the Sphinx fainted out of exhaustion before he could utter a single word of surprise.

    Light magic wasn¡¯t darkness¡¯ counter so much as its best friend. Darkness eroded its victim¡¯s body and strength, making a well-timed healing spell an amazing tool to capture even the strongest prey alive.

    <i>¡¯Okay, now let¡¯s see how the kids are faring- Oh, shit!¡¯</i>

    After foiling the Origin mes, Nyka had pressed her advantage, falling into the enemy¡¯s trap.

    Undead had amazing powers but, unlike living beings whose magical abilities consumed mana and whose physical abilities took a toll on their bodies, all of an undead¡¯s abilities consumed the energy stored within their blood cores.

    No matter if they cast spells or boosted their physique, they needed to draw power from the same source, weakening them at twice the speed of a living being. Nyka had fallen into a battle frenzy that her enemy was encouraging.

    Thunder was true to its name, producing a boom every time it hit due to the air magic boosting its speed and the fire magic converting the kic energy of the impact against the armor into shockwaves that spread throughout the Emperor Beast¡¯s body, damaging her internal organs.

    At the same time, however, the Roc attacked Nyka from below with her talons infused with Origin mes. They ripped through the Vampire¡¯s armor and flesh, letting the mes move toward her heart and forcing Nyka on the defense.

    <i>¡¯Shit. If my heart gets destroyed, I¡¯m dead for good!¡¯</i> Her inexperience had made her arrogant, and arrogance led to fear, making Nyka act without thinking.

    She focused on healing the ghastly injuries and consumed too much energy of her blood core. She became so slow that the Roc had an easy time ripping her limbs off one by one with her beak.

    First the legs, then the arms, and once the Vampire was defenseless, the head.

    The Roc opened her beak onest time while Nyka opened her mouth to scream for help. Yet instead of an attack, it came a gush of blood that filled the Vampire¡¯s mouth with new strength.

    dion had attacked the Roc from behind, piercing through her armor and lungs until his hand came out of her c.h.e.s.t. The Emperor Beast was still alive, but unable to move a muscle as she drowned in her how blood.

    "The nectar of these creatures flows sweeter than most things I¡¯ve ever tasted. Drink it while it¡¯s still fresh and full of strength." He said.

    Usually, an undead preferred to feed on the members of their own race because their life force and mana were simr to the undead¡¯s, making them easier to assimte. The blood of another species was supposed to taste bad and provide Nyka with limited strength.

    The moment she gulped down the blood that the Roc had coughed up, however, Nyka felt her blood core crave for more as it had never happened before, not even with Lith¡¯s life essence.

 Chapter 1381 - Eyes of Menadion (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1381 - Eyes of Menadion (Part 1)</h4>

    The Roc¡¯s life essence was so powerful that it made up for the bad taste and allowed Nyka to instantly reattach her limbs. The young Vampire grabbed the Roc in a feeding frenzy and s.u.c.k.e.d her dry before Scarlett could even react.

    Meanwhile, Lith pushed and pulled War to free it from the Harpy¡¯s four-handed grip, mming her against the walls and the ceiling as if she was a dirty rug. The angry de cut deeper into her talons with each impact, making its Counterflow ability ravage her body.

    On top of that, Lith breathed a new burst of Origin mes every time it was safe for War, weakening the Harpy even faster.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ve still got a chance. Flimsy, but still a chance.¡¯</i> The Harpy thought. <i>¡¯I¡¯ve still got enough Life Maelstrom to counter his abilities and the moment he stops, I can use all the Maelstrom I¡¯ve left to produce a silver lightning that-¡¯</i>

    Her hopes crumbled as the Scorpicore¡¯s Adamant-coated tail pierced through her armor and filled her lung with acid, making it copse.

    "Hands off my prey!" Lith snarled as Scarlett rescued the Harpy before he could double-tap her.

    "I¡¯ll give you her equipment, but we need them alive. Otherwise how can we make progress with the investigation?" Scarlett said while her healing spell made the Harpy faint.

    "There¡¯s no use interrogating them." dion said while helping Nyka to stand up after she had finished her meal. "Why do you think I let that creature bite me and blow mes on me for that long?

    "I exploited his conceit to usebine the effect of mind link and Mesmerize to probe the Hydra¡¯s mind. They are small fish that know nothing relevant, hired muscles whose services have been paid with their unnatural strength."

    dion exined how, based on Pretion¡¯s memories, he had been recruited by the Sphinx and led to ab where both of them had been experimented upon while being kept in an unconscious state.

    A face meant nothing to creatures who could freely shapeshift and dion had seen theb being dismantled after the experiment was done. The man who had hired them had given them only a location where to drop the undead.

    "Vampires can read people¡¯s minds?" Lith stared at dion in suspicion.

    "Not all of them. Only those Awakened who also know how to use mind links. They can only mind-read people who are unconscious or not Awakened. Those like us can counter such power with their own Spirit Magic." Scarlett exined.

    "As for my prisoners, keep your hands off them. I have my ways to track people, but I¡¯ll exin it once we¡¯re back to the privacy or your home, not in the middle of nowhere."

    dion checked the status of Lightkeep¡¯s arrays before leaving and discovered that they were back to normal.

    "How is this possible? Until a few moments ago, there was a malevolent will that defied my orders and turned the arrays off. I thought it was some kind of Forbidden Spell, but now there¡¯s no trace of it. Any idea?" He asked.

    Scarlett shook her head in confusion. Not even the craziest of Liches that she had met in the past had ever mentioned something like that. Nyka had no clue as well, leaving Lith and Solus with their doubts.

    <i>¡¯A malevolent will coursing through an array? Could it be some kind of Domination?¡¯</i> Solus asked.

    <i>¡¯In theory, yes, but I doubt that even Faluel could control something so big and powerful as a frigging city. There must be another exnation.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    Returning to dion¡¯s mansion took them but a minute. The Firstborn took the time to assess the damage to the city and make sure that no one had died from injuries. The attack had produced no casualties, but the group could smell the fear of the citizens.

    "How can people who live with the undead be scared so easily?" Lith asked.

    "There¡¯s no crime in Lightkeep. All they knew until now was peace. It¡¯s only natural for my fellow citizens to be afraid since never before had the sanctity of our home been vited." dion said.

    "No crime? At all?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Crime brews from ignorance and misery. Stay here long enough and you¡¯ll discover that in my city they have been eradicated long ago." dion replied.

    At their arrival, they found two women waiting for them.

    One was a human woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.6 (5¡¯3") tall with long blonde hair held in a tress over her shoulder and clear blue eyes. She wore a ck day dress with silver embroidery that emphasized her slender body as she held Radusk in her arms.

    The other didn¡¯t look like anyone the group had ever seen before. She had hair of gold, eyes of silver, and ten centimeters (4 inches) long pointy ears that came out of her waist-long hair.

    She was about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, wearing a skin-tight hunter outfit that outlined her lithe body and delicate curves. She stared at Lith in a daze as much as he did with her. There was a longing in her eyes that worried Solus quite a bit.

    <i>¡¯Is that an elf?¡¯</i> Lith thought. <i>¡¯It sure resembles those that Friya met in the Fringe. The face is on par with Tista, her a.s.s is tight, but she barely has a full B cup-¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Seriously?¡¯ Solus snarled in annoyance, cutting him short. ¡¯Kidnapped undead, lesser species with powers they¡¯re not supposed to have, marvels of magic all around us, and youin because a pair of b.r.e.a.s.ts is too small for your liking?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I have a girlfriend, but I¡¯m not dead.¡¯</i> He shrugged.<i> ¡¯Besides, I must have gotten too used to Awakened standards. I mean even you have-¡¯</i>

    Lith realized his mistake only when it was toote. Pointing out that with Solus¡¯s petite body her full C cup was a sight to behold would have meant to cross the boundaries of their rtionship.

    <i>¡¯Even I what? I double dare you toplete that thought!¡¯</i>

    "Lysa, what are you doing here? It¡¯s not safe." dion said, saving Lith in the nick of time.

    "If I¡¯m not safe in my own home with your mother and sister, then there¡¯s no safe ce on Mogar." She replied.

    "Sister?" Everyone echoed in unison. The Firstborn and the elf couldn¡¯t have been more different.

    "I apologize for myck of manners. Everyone, this is Ilthin Demere, the Firstborn Banshee. Ilthin, these are my honored guests Lith Verhen, Nyka, and Scarlett."

    "Nice to meet you." Ilthin gave them a small bow that they promptly returned. "I¡¯ve already met Lady Ka. As you have probably guessed, despite our differences dion and I share the Red Mother¡¯s blood. It makes us family to each other."

    "Yeah, sure. Save the pleasantries forter." Baba Yaga appeared in her Mother form, dragging Nandi along until they reached the middle of the garden in front of the entrance to the mansion.

    "Now that everything has settled and your certainties have crumbled..." She threw a mean look at dion while she took a wooden hut out of her omni pocket.

    "...let me show you kids how a proper protection is done. Nandi, my tower is useless without world energy to fuel it. Do your thing."

 Chapter 1382 - Eyes of Menadion (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1382 - Eyes of Menadion (Part 2)</h4>

    The Minotaur Abomination nodded, conjuring every bit of world energy that wasn¡¯t drained from the city¡¯s defensive systems until magic stopped working inside Lightkeep.

    His body started to glow due to the power that he .u.mted inside the organic gemstones growing out of his forehead, c.h.e.s.t, and hands. Then, Nandi drew in even the world energy from outside the city, generating a steady flow that he channeled into the wooden hut.

    The tower added its power to Baba Yaga¡¯s, allowing her to weave a Creation Magic spell.

    Suddenly, thework of arrays that surrounded Lightkeep became visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye, filling the air with countless runes perfectly spaced between them so that each one of them would perform its duty without interfering with the others.

    "Nice job, but a little sloppy. You packed a few intersections too much, creating several weak points here, here, and here." As the Red Mother spoke, several strings of runes lit up.

    "Apetent mage with enough power and mastery over arrays can use controlled surges of energy to overload those strings, temporarily turning your defensive systems off.

    "To keep that from happening again, you need to redistribute the energy load and create release points." Even though the arrays were still active and under dion¡¯s control, Baba Yaga erased the faulty runes and reced them with new ones.

    Even Lith and Solus with their limited understandings of arrays were capable of appreciating the mastery and ingenuity of her work.

    "It¡¯s amazing." The Firstborn Vampire said. "You have not only further stabilized the overall structure, but also every attempt to overload or sabotage the arrays will actually fuel them and trigger an rm."

    "Exactly." Baba Yaga nodded, gesturing Nandi that he could stop and putting her hut away. "The release points divert the foreign mana and channel it into the energy reserves before it can reach the arrays¡¯ focus points.

    "What was that? I¡¯ve never seen any spell like it." Lith asked as Solus made sure to record the footage down to thest detail and reyed it several times.

    "Creation Magic, the apex a Forgemaster can reach." Baba Yaga replied. "Now that the city is really safe and there¡¯s no risk for more kidnappings, I want to know what you have discovered and what is Ilthin doing here."

    dion led everyone back to the living room before giving his mother a full report of the situation.

    "Do you know someone or something capable to achieve such feats?" He asked.

    "I¡¯m sorry, no." The Red Mother shook her head. "In my long life, I¡¯ve met only a few people that possess the necessary knowledge to alter a life force to such an extent.

    "Menadion is dead, Silverwing would die rather than do such a thing, and the Master would have never allowed Nandi toe here if it meantpromising one of his schemes. Ilthin?"

    "I came here to seek your advice, Mother. My city has been the victim of several disappearances as well and I hoped that you could shed some light on the matter or at least offer us some protection." The Firstborn Banshee said.

    "First Lightkeep and now also Nightingale? I¡¯m starting to see a pattern here." Baba Yaga called the Lords of the Eclipsed Lands below the Tremen region and received disturbing news.

    All of them had cases of sudden disappearances of newborns, but they were much fewer than those of Lightkeep, so the Lords thought it was just the usual runaway syndrome.

    No matter how much someone begged to be turned into an undead, most of them had troubles adjusting to their new nature and often needed some time alone before reuniting with their sire.

    "I¡¯lle with you to Nightingale to fix your arrays as well. If you have upgraded your defenses, then your Academy is probably going to be attacked before the security bes too tight." Baba Yaga said.

    "By the way, are these the altered Emperor Beasts you¡¯ve been talking about?" She pointed at Scarlett¡¯s still unconscious prisoners. "Let me see what I can do."

    Baba Yaga used every spell she knew to study the amazing changes that the two members of the lesser species had undergone, but to no avail. Body Sculpting found no trace of tampering and even probing their minds didn¡¯t pan out.

    "They are just a couple of power-hungry morons. Their only worthy in their nutritional value." She said.

    "Maybe, and maybe not. Did any of you wonder how I managed to find Balkor in the middle of the Blood Desert?" Scarlett said while she shapeshifted in her human form to more easily move through the room.

    "Each one of his thralls held both Abomination tissues and a spark of Balkor¡¯s life force. This little fellow here can pick up the faintest energy signature and follow it from half a world away." The now humanoid Scorpicore tapped her prized pince-nez.

    "I suspect that whoever empowered those guys injected them with a special mixture. If I¡¯m right, then by isting its traces in their system, I can analyze the unknown substance that gave them their powers and track it to its source."

    "Why are you telling us all of this instead of doing it?" dion scratched his head in confusion.

    "Because everyone here is a talented healer that can help me. Faluel taught me a long time ago that many heads are better than one. On top of that, unlike normal artifacts, my pince-nez can be used by anyone who has my approval. I suspect it¡¯s-"

    "The Eyes of Menadion!" Baba Yaga said in surprise.

    "I was going to say, a teaching tool, but at this point, I think I¡¯ll go for: what?" Scarlett said.

    Everyone looked at her with greed, especially Lith and Solus. The Scorpicore cursed her own big mouth for the second time in less than an hour and calcted her odds of escape if Baba Yaga, one of the Firstborns, or Nandi hunted her down.

    <i>¡¯0%.¡¯</i> She thought.

    <i>¡¯0%.¡¯</i> The Eyes confirmed after running several battle simtions.

    <i>¡¯Thanks for nothing and f.u.c.k you, you useless thing. Of all the information you¡¯ve given me over the years, how could you forget to mention your own name?¡¯</i> Scarlett asked in outrage.

    <i>¡¯Define "name" variable.¡¯</i> The Eyes replied.

    <i>¡¯I wish you were at least semi-sentient instead of aplete tool.¡¯</i> She inwardly w.h.i.n.ed.

    "I¡¯m so d that the Eyes haven¡¯t been lost to time nor did they fall in the wrong hands as it happened for some of the other relics of Menadion." She said. "Don¡¯t worry, Scorpicore. I won¡¯t stoop so low as to steal from a child.

    "You¡¯ve put the Eyes to good use until now and you exposed their existence to help us. On top of that, if not for my slip of the tongue, I doubt anyone would have recognized them.

    "You have nothing to fear from me and I hope that my children will respect my wish." She looked at both the Firstborns and Nandi.

    They didn¡¯t look very happy about it, but they didn¡¯tin either. They loved Baba Yaga too much to break their bond of trust for a single artifact, no matter how powerful.

 Chapter 1383 - Eyes and Charms (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1383 - Eyes and Charms (Part 1)</h4>

    "The others here are your own friends so I can¡¯t speak for them." Baba Yaga said, noticing that Scarlett was still wary of Lith and Ka.

    <i>¡¯The runt is no friend of mine. A colleague at best. As for Ka, it¡¯s her mouth I don¡¯t trust.¡¯</i> The Scorpicore thought.

    <i>¡¯Solus?¡¯</i> Lith asked via the mind link.

    <i>¡¯Sorry, I don¡¯t recognize them nor do I have any idea how they work. Mana sense perceives them and their power core, but that¡¯s it. We need to get closer.¡¯</i> She replied.

    "Would you mind showing me your mastery over the Eyes?" Baba Yaga snapped everyone out of it. "I¡¯m really curious if the genius of thete Menadion manages to outshine me yet again despite the passing of centuries."

    "Did you know Ripha Menadion? And I mean in person." Lith asked, too curious to hold back.

    Baba Yaga had been nothing but a friend to the Ernas girls and now even to Scarlett despite having met them just once.

    <i>¡¯If she knew Ripha and Solus/Elphyn, then she might be able to help us. She doesn¡¯t seem as biased against me as Silverwing and with already a tower, Baba Yaga is likely unable to control another.</i>

    <i>¡¯One can bond with only one living artifact at a time and a tower is the greatest artifact of all so the same principle should apply.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Yes, I did. She was a great person and a wonderful colleague. Now hush, child. There are too many lives at stake to waste our time with memories of the past." Baba Yaga replied.

    Scarlett first used her breathing technique, Aura, to establish a connection between the Eyes and the altered Emperor Beasts. Then, she tapped the right lens, triggering the deep scan mode.

    "Whatever it is, it didn¡¯t reach their skin. Before opening them up, there¡¯s something I want to try." Scarlett took blood and fur samples, cutting the hair and feathers into small pieces to expose their insides as well.

    "I think we are unto something. Take a look at this and tell me what you see." She handed the Eyes to the others who took turns using them to study the fluids.

    Each one of them used their breathing technique, hoping to grasp the secrets of Menadion as well as that of the invaders, but to no avail. The cloaking runes coupled with theplexity of the power core made a mess of their readings.

    The Eyes, however, allowed them to perceive deeper than even Invigoration could. It revealed traces of a mysterious liquid amid the blood that had uncanny properties and an unknownposition.

    When Lith¡¯s turn came, the moment he touched the Eyes with Invigoration, a spark triggered between the relic and Solus¡¯s tower half.

    As if the tower had met its long-lost twin and realized how simr they were, mana sense unraveled in front of Solus, showing her its true nature. Until that moment, the tower¡¯s weak power core had kept mana sense from revealing its full capabilities.

    Just like her glove form was the tower version of the Hands, mana sense turned out to be the equivalent of the Eyes. Yet it was tooplicated for a human mind to handle and without the power core, it had been reduced to its simplest form.

    <i>¡¯I feel I can assume a sses form now to mimic the Eyes, but it would reveal my presence.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯What if you don¡¯t?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s like with the gloves. Unless I divert all of my power to a specific function, I¡¯m can use only the simplest abilities of Menadion¡¯s relics.¡¯</i>

    While they were pondering if to put their new ability to the test, Baba Yaga¡¯s turn had arrived. She looked at the bodily fluids, using her breathing technique, Sun and Moon, to better study the liquid.

    "There¡¯s no need to y coy with me, child. I¡¯ve seen Menadion use the Eyes countless times. Feel free to unlock their full power. My word still stands." Baba Yaga said.

    "This is their full power, Lady Yaga." Scarlett shook her head. "I didn¡¯t recognize the Eyes because I found them in the possession of a Lich and because there¡¯s no picture of them anywhere. Yet I¡¯m a skilled Forgemaster, so after one hundred years I would have noticed if-"

    Baba Yaga tapped the lower, the upper, and then the left side of the Eyes before putting them back on Scarlett¡¯s nose. The results were amazing, yet terrible.

    Amazing because the Eyes now picked up everything and everyone in the room. They provided the Scorpicore with something that, had Scarlett been familiar with Earth¡¯s video games, would have looked to her like an in-depth character sheet.

    Terrible because she was amid a bunch of powerful people wearing powerful artifacts, in the middle of an ancient city filled with marvels of magic and arrays. The Eyes didn¡¯t discriminate, shoving all the information in her face at once.

    "Please, stop them! Have mercy. Make them stop!" Scarlett double over in pain and puked her guts out as the sensory overload threatened to fry her brain.

    "Did you really use only the tutorial mode until now?" Baba Yaga rushed to the rescue with eyes wide open in astonishment. "One hundred years and you never activated the advanced functions?"

    "Lady Yaga, those things didn¡¯te with a manual. I studied them thoroughly and discovered a shitload of enchantments. When further research didn¡¯t pan out, I assumed to have discovered everything there was to find." Scarlett said after the Red Mother had taken the Eyes off her and she had finally stopped puking.

    "d to have been of assistance then." Baba Yaga chuckled. "Let me teach you how to use them."

    Lith and Solus listened carefully, without missing a single word. She even turned from a ring into sses while everyone was too busy envying the Scorpicore so that Lith could follow Baba Yaga¡¯s instructions as well.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways. Your power core is so weakened that your sses form disys even less information than the Eyes in the tutorial mode.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    <i>¡¯Thank the gods and my mother for that. I¡¯m not an operating system, what you call "even less information" is forcing its way through my brain and it hurts like hell. Without the power core, I can¡¯t handle so much data.</i>

    <i>¡¯I might lose my mind if this continues any longer.¡¯</i> Solus shapeshifted back into a ring, shutting down even their mind link to give her wounded mind a moment of peace.

    The group worked together, taking turns with the Eyes that allowed the convened mages to use their respective expertise to its fullest. Lith and Ka were the first to run out of things they could help with.

    Then, dion left the group and a bitter Ilthin followed suit. Scarlett, Baba Yaga, and Ka kept talking non-stop among them. Scarlett and Baba Yaga knew the Eyes the best and could obtain countless information from them.

    Ka, instead, stayed behind to just listen to their brainstorming and learn as much as she could. Her mind absorbed their knowledge like a sponge benefitting even from the things that were beyond her understanding.

    Lith kept a close ear to them, but with Solus still dizzy, it sounded gibberish to him.

 Chapter 1384 - Eyes and Charms (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1384 - Eyes and Charms (Part 2)</h4>

    "Can you spare a moment for me, please?" The Firstborn Banshee touched Lith¡¯s arm to get his attention, giving him a bittersweet feeling and making Solus worry even through her drowsiness.

    She had seen the longing in Ilthin¡¯s eyes too many times to not recognize it. At first, she had mistaken it for that she usually saw in Kam¡¯s eyes, Phloria¡¯s, and sometimes even her own, but now she knew better.

    That was how Lith looked at a juicy fillet steak after a long session of training.

    "Sure thing." Lith said, wondering what the sparks he felt running under his skin were. Baba Yaga and Scarlett had stopped talking about the Eyes and moved on to theories about the Emperor Beasts that he failed to understand.

    <i>¡¯I have no need to stay here anymore. They will dumb their discoveries down for meter.</i>¡¯ He thought while following the elf to the privacy of another room.

    "First of all, allow me to thank you. You¡¯re everything Sy told me about and more." Ilthin gave him a bow that made her look even lovelier, making Lith doubt his senses and circte fusion magic to purge the sparks from his body.

    "Thank me for what?" Now she looked to him like any other pretty woman but Kam would. Easy on the eyes, but indifferent on his heart.

    "I¡¯m not hard-headed like dion nor do I consider you guilty for ughtering our kind. On the contrary, I¡¯m grateful for that." Ilthin sat on a gold-painted cherry wood sofa padded with red silk, patting on the cushion next to her in ae-hither sign.

    "Okay, now you lost me." Lith said while sitting on an armchair instead.

    "You and this war are showing to many members of the Undead Courts the errors of their ways. On top of that, you¡¯ve exposed how Dawn doesn¡¯t hesitate to use her alleged subjects asb rats for her sick experiments." If the elf was disappointed, it didn¡¯t show.

    "Thanks to that, many of my brethren and even more of my children have abandoned the Courts. Dozens of them reach the Eclipsed Lands in search of asylum. Sy Ekna is among them and she sends you her regards."

    <i>¡¯Who?¡¯</i> Lith racked his brain, trying to associate a face to the name.

    <i>¡¯The first Banshee we met.¡¯</i> Solus chimed in.<i> ¡¯The woman who ruler Othre¡¯s Dawn Court branch, remember?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Not a clue.¡¯</i> Lith thought, failing to recognize her until Solus projected a quick recap of their meeting in his brain.

    "Wait a second. Are you telling me that the Undead Courts and the Eclipsed Lands aren¡¯t just two sides of the same coin?" Lith now could understand what had happened earlier and steeled his mind with Spirit Magic.

    "They couldn¡¯t be more different." The Firstborn said with a smile that would have made flowers bloom during a new ice age. "The members of the Undead Courts are Baba Yaga¡¯s unruly children.

    "She never meant for us to seek and dominate the outside world, only to live happily. In a way, they are an aberration not inferior to Liches.

    "I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed how undead beasts and nts are a minority in the Courts, but that¡¯s not because they are few so much as because most of them live in the Eclipsed Lands.

    "After you ughtered the army assembled in front of the Feymar mines and defeated Night, many of my children came to their senses. I couldn¡¯t tell you any of this in front of dion without angering him, that¡¯s why I brought you here." Ilthin said.

    "If you¡¯re so grateful to me, then why did you attempt to manipte me earlier?" Lith¡¯s voice was stone-cold.

    "I did?" She sounded genuinely surprised.

    "I¡¯m not an idiot and I know a Banshee¡¯s favorite food. You tried to Mesmerize me so that I would cheat on my girlfriend with you. Or were those sparks in my arms just due to us being soulmates?" Every single one of his words oozed sarcasm.

    "I¡¯m truly sorry. I didn¡¯t mean any of that." She blushed in embarrassment.

    "Why should I believe you? I bet that if I sat beside you as you wanted, you¡¯d have doubled the load and s.u.c.k.e.d the life out of me." Realizing how flirty she had been, Ilthin turned to a bright shade of purple up to her long ears.

    "Because Mesmerize if for Vampires while a Banshee Charms. If I used it intentionally, you wouldn¡¯t have felt just sparks." She said. "I know that apologizing any further is pointless so allow me to warn you instead.

    "Always be on your guard against both me and my children. Someone like you, who have reached the a.d.u.l.t life without ever breaking a vow is the rarest and tastiest delicacy to those of my kin."

    "I¡¯m pretty sure I defied my oath as a Ranger and as a member of the Mage Association several times. What the heck are you talking about?" Lith asked.

    "A vow taken because mandatory for your job or that¡¯s forced on you doesn¡¯t count. A real vow, what defines a cheater from a faithful person to those like me, is something thates from the heart.

    "Words in which you believed the moment you spoke them but that temptation, boredom, or time turn into hot air the moment you stop upholding them. I can tell you that you¡¯ve never been unfaithful." Ilthin said, looking at him with admiration.

    "Never?" Lith echoed, wondering how his bond with Solus affected his rtionship with Kam.

    "Never."

    "Well, so far I¡¯ve kept a big secret from my girlfriend. I might call you to vouch for me once I break it to her." Lith sighed in relief. The certainty of not being any kind of two-timing sc.u.m lifted a burden from his heart.

    "I¡¯m certain that it won¡¯t be necessary." The Firstborn chuckled, d to not have ruined everything off the bat. "In the case I¡¯m wrong and you need my help or you two break up, this is my contact rune."

    She left a runed business card in Lith¡¯s hand before walking out the room, swaying her h.i.p.s in a way that Solus believed should have been listed among tier two Forbidden Magic.

    ¡¯I hope you realize that thing isn¡¯t a rune card so much as a meal ticket.¡¯ Solus said with an edge in her voice that might have cut down mountains.

    ¡¯I know. Yet I don¡¯t remember you being so grumpy when Xenagrosh gave me one of those.¡¯ Lith chuckled.

    <i>¡¯Because she considered you like her cute little brother, while Ilthin would like to have you for dinner with a side of roasted potatoes and apanied by a good red wine!¡¯</i>

    Lith teased Solus, pissing her off big time until Baba Yaga walked through the door.

    "I hope I¡¯m not interrupting anything." Her Mother form wore a warm smile that reminded him of Elina.

    "Just the quarreling of the two sides of my brain. A Banshee¡¯s Charm is quite persistent." Lith said, pretending that he had yet to get rid of Ilthin¡¯s influence.

    "My daughter can have that effect on men. And on women. And on anything in between." Baba Yaga sat down on an armchair right in front of Lith, taking a few deep breaths while she searched for the best possible opening line.

 Chapter 1385 - Rebellious Phase (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1385 - Rebellious Phase (Part 1)</h4>

    "Don¡¯t worry about the others." Baba Yaga said. "dion is even more paranoid than you are. These walls keep anyone from overhearing us, even him. Whatever happens in here will stay between the two of us."

    "When you put it this way, it sounds like a threat." Lith said while using Life Vision to check his opponent, yet she wasn¡¯t weaving any spell nor using fusion magic.

    "I¡¯ll get straight to the point. I¡¯m not interested in you so much as in Elphyn. I¡¯d like to speak with her. Now." She said, making Lith jump on his feet.

    "How do you know that name?" He asked as War appeared in his hands. The cracks had yet to disappear and the Adamant fragments stuck to each other as if they had been badly glued together.

    "Please, don¡¯t insult my intelligence. Dawn told me about your partner and how the three of you shed until you merged with Elphyn. Back then I had no idea who such a cursed object might be, just like I failed to recognize Menadion¡¯s tower during the battle of the Feymar mines.

    "Yet during yourst tribtion, when I saw that young woman fighting against the King of Kolga, everything be as clear as day. She was Elphyn Althena Menadion and she looked exactly like thest time I saw her." Baba Yaga said.

    Lith stared at her while weaving his spells yet he said nothing.

    "If I wanted to attack you, I would have already done it." Baba Yaga sighed. "I¡¯m not Lochra and I¡¯ll not try to take her away from you. I just want to make sure that she¡¯s alright."

    "How do I know you¡¯re telling the truth?" Lith said, following his basic rule to trust no one unless strictly necessary.

    "Use your brain, dammit. Do you really think Ripha epted Threin¡¯s death with a shrug and a smile? As soon as Elphyn passed out crying, Ripha came to me with all the pieces of her husband she could find, begging me to bring him back."

    The Red Mother spoke with an annoyance that reminded Lith of Elina back when he was little and one of his siblings threw a tantrum.

    "She even offered me victims to fuel Forbidden Spells and it took me hours to talk sense into her. Only once she epted that her husband was gone forever did Ripha cry herself to sleep.

    "Once she woke up, we pooled together our resources to devise a way to save Elphyn from death if necessity arose. I¡¯m the mother of all the undead and she was the greatest Forgemaster of her generation so of course we found a way." Baba Yaga said.

    "Think about it. I know about the tower, about the artifacts that she left to her apprentices and I even know how to use them. Menadion was many things, but a genius healer wasn¡¯t among them.

    "How could she create on her own a way to put Elphyn in a suspended animation state without my help? For crying out loud, I even helped her to n that damn tower!"

    "Really?" Solus slipped off Lith¡¯s finger and turned into her stone doll form. "Did you really know me and my parents?"

    "Epphy? Is that you?" Warm tears streaked down the Mother¡¯s cheeks. She had long lost any hope to hear that voice again.

    "Why are you crying? Were we that close?" Solus had no memories of Baba Yaga and seeing an a.d.u.l.t moved so much for aplete stranger felt really awkward.

    "What? Did you lose your memory along with your body? Of course we were close. After your father¡¯s death, I became one of your best friends and we spent a lot of time together. Back then I looked like this."

    Baba Yaga turned into a young maiden barely sixteen years old, about 1.6 (5¡¯3") meters tall. She had waist-long golden hair and clear blue eyes. Her voice was silvery and her body had the never-ending energy of youth.

    "By my Mom! Malyshka is that you?" The appearance of Baba Yaga¡¯s Maiden form made several forgotten memories resurface in Solus¡¯s mind.

    Most of them were beautiful images about them studying magic together or visiting the most beautiful city of Mogar by traveling with either tower. Some of them, however, were very embarrassing and turned Solus¡¯s usually golden eyes into a bright shade of purple.

    They belonged to her rebellious phase, followed by a different phase where she had experimented with all kinds of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.es that a young a.d.u.l.t without supervision could d.e.s.i.r.e.

    <i>¡¯The next time Lith and I perform a mind fusion, I¡¯ll die of embarrassment. Aunt Loka¡¯s words now make much more sense. Gods,pared to me, Lith is a cloistered monk. He¡¯ll never let me hear the end of it.¡¯</i>

    Solus wished to lose her memory again with all of her might, but Mogar kept spinning with its usual indifference.

    "Epphy!" The Maiden hugged Solus, happy that not everything was lost.

    "Don¡¯t let her touch you, Solus. She might use Invigoration to steal the tower¡¯s secrets!" Lith said in a hurry.

    "My breathing technique is called Sun and Moon, you runt, and if I wanted to examine her body, no force on Mogar could stop me." Baba Yaga replied with anger.

    "Actually, someone can stop you. Me. Lith, I appreciate your concern but Malyshka is just hugging me. Malyshka, neither of you can order me around. This is my body, my life. I¡¯m the only one that has the right to decide whether to be examined or not." Solus replied.

    "Do you really think you can help me, Malyshka?"

    "Maybe, but to do it, you have to drop the cloaking spells of the power core first. Do you know how to do it?" The Maiden took a step back to look Solus in the eyes and show her how serious she was.

    "I know how to do it, but I won¡¯t." Solus took a step back as well, delicately pushing Baba Yaga¡¯s arms away.

    "What? Why?"

    "When I opened to aunt Loka, she tried to kill Lith. She said that it was the only way to free me, that my affection for him is nothing but the result of years of abuse and of the orders that he forced on me due to the master-servant bond we share." Solus said.

    "Silverwing actually has a point." The Maiden looked at Solus and then at Lith, wondering if her memory loss had been really caused by Menadion¡¯s disappearance or if it was the consequence of Lith¡¯s orders.

    Baba Yaga knew how a ve had only two choices. Empathize with their master and survive, or resist until the ve spell and the abuse broke them. Either way, they would lose their mind.

    "No, she doesn¡¯t! This is all me. Lith has never given me an order. We always discuss everything together. Otherwise a few seconds ago I would¡¯ve punched you in the face to escape from your embrace." Solus said.

    <i>¡¯They have no mind link active now so Lith can¡¯t control Epphy. He might have ordered her things like "protect and love me" but in that case, she would act much more passionately towards him.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1386 - Rebellious Phase (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1386 - Rebellious Phase (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, she would never question his authority like that, with respect. It takes an incredibly convoluted order to fix a single conversation and there¡¯s always a loophole that Epphy might exploit.¡¯</i> Baba Yaga thought.

    "That¡¯s why I don¡¯t want you to examine me. I had only good memories of aunt Loka and look how our reunion turned out. If you¡¯re half as reckless as I remember, then this can only end badly." Solus said.

    "No need to be embarrassed. It¡¯s fine doing stupid things when you¡¯re young and angry with your mother. I was there to protect you from the wrong crowds and yourself, not to enable you." The Maiden shook her head.

    "Embarrassed?" Lith echoed, making Solus¡¯s eyes turn purple again.

    "Fine." Baba Yaga sighed. "I won¡¯t examine you, but at least let me tell you what I think happened. Someone killed you or at least went very close. Your mother and I were still ironing a few things back when she disappeared so I assume that shepleted the project in a rush to save you.

    "Then, the person who killed you came back and Ripha was too weak to stop them. She probably sent you to a secret location where she nned to reunite with you after escaping, but she failed."

    "Do you know who might have done it?" Solus asked.

    "Sorry, there were too many people that wanted the both of you dead. The fact that Ripha opened her house to anyone in need doesn¡¯t help either. One of her apprentices might have actually been a mole who lured you into a trap." Malyshka said.

    "What about you, young man. Will you allow me to examine your condition or do you want to refuse my help as well?"

    "What good would it make?" Lith asked.

    "I¡¯m the greatest expert about hybrids alive and your condition is unique. There¡¯s nothing to fix with you, but I might be able to offer you some insight. Back in my days, reaching the violet core wasn¡¯t a big deal, but I am the oldest person alive to have achieved the white core.

    "On top of that, I experienced world tribtions as well so the two of us have a lot inmon." Baba Yaga said.

    Lith and Solus exchanged a quick nce that cleared up any doubt that Baba Yaga still had.

    <i>¡¯Their bond is based on trust, not authority. After breaking a ve¡¯s mind, the master can¡¯t ask their opinion simply because all the orders he has to impose to ensure absolute loyalty turn the victim into a waddling dog.</i>

    <i>¡¯Without free will, there is no imagination, creativity, nor cunning since they could all be used against the ve¡¯s master.¡¯</i> She thought.

    "Okay fine. Don¡¯t me me if I take the liberty to study your breathing technique while you use it on me." Lith said.

    "I¡¯d like to see you try." The Maiden giggled as she took Lith¡¯s hands in her own and activated Sun and Moon.

    He let it flow, trying to grasp how it worked and how it was different from Invigoration. Baba Yaga didn¡¯t rush things, taking her time to study the three parts of his life force and the cracks in it.

    "Hold my hands any longer and I¡¯ll ask you to buy me a drink." Lith said after a few minutes.

    "How cheeky." She chuckled. "Don¡¯t you have any respect for beings older than the Griffon Kingdom?"

    "Not since I got to call Sark Grandma and Leegaain Grandpa." Lith said with a grin.

    "You should have seen his face during the Blood Resonance results. It was hrious." Baba Yagaughed so hard that it broke both the breathing technique and the physical contact.

    Once she managed to regain her cool, Baba Yaga turned into her Mother form to look into Lith¡¯s eyes without getting neck pain.

    "Did you learn anything useful from my breathing technique?" She asked.

    "Maybe. Only time will tell." He shrugged. He needed Solus¡¯s memory to rey the effects of Sun and Moon to study it properly and her mind to crack its secrets.

    "Well, I sure did." Baba Yaga said, making Lith and Solus give her their undivided attention. "I felt it the first time when I saw you on the Feymar mines and now I¡¯m sure of it. There¡¯s a great power within you.

    "Something old like life itself yet new. Something that never existed before and still doesn¡¯t. Yet this power is corrupt and dangerous. You wear heavy chains, young man. They made you strong in the past but they also keep you from moving forward.

    "You¡¯ll never bloom unless you get rid of them." She took a brief pause, letting them ponder her words before resuming to share her discoveries.

    "Right now, you¡¯re akin to a nine-month baby in his mother¡¯s w.o.m.b, a chrysalis which is about to be broken from the inside. When the timees and you¡¯ll gain the power necessary to break free, don¡¯t try to resist nor to control its flow.

    "You must be one with that power but without letting it take over your mind, just like you did with Epphy until now."

    "What does this even mean?" Lith liked his exnations clear and possibly broken down in detailed steps, not in the form of riddles.

    "Every person is unique and so is the wall they face when they are about to undergo great changes. Be it the violet, the white core, or even Guardianhood, no one but you can see that wall and find a way to ovee it.

    "If you find yourself stumped in your path, instead of staring at the wall, remember my words. I can only hope that they¡¯ll make sense to you in your time of need." The Mother said.

    "I get that you like Solus, but why are you helping me? Silverwing wants me dead to free her beloved goddaughter from an eternity of very whereas you¡¯ve just given me clues that might bind Solus to me forever." Lith said.

    "Lochra is young and ignorant." Baba Yaga replied. "No matter how powerful you are, the unknown will always scare you. Lochra doesn¡¯t know you, she doesn¡¯t even understand you so of course she¡¯s afraid of what you might do to someone she loves.

    "I, on the other hand, I¡¯m old and as ignorant as her, but I¡¯ve given up on the foolish obsession of knowing everything. I¡¯m giving you the benefit of the doubt rather than judge you out of prejudice."

    "Why?" Lith couldn¡¯t believe listening to someone like Baba Yaga calling herself ignorant.

    "I may have learned about magic from the other five original Guardians, but I knew nothing about life until I met Tyris. The Great Mother taught me many things, the most important of which was to let those I love go.

    "Love and control are two very different things, yet most people, even the Guardians, fail to understand it. That¡¯s why they either rule theirnd with an iron fist like Sark or give up on it like Leegaain.

    "I named myself the Red Mother after Tyris and even shaped my daughters after her as a token of my admiration, hoping they would grow up resembling her in their hearts as well." The Mother said.

    "That sure went well." Lith said with a sneer.

 Chapter 1387 - Awakened Chaos (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1387 - Awakened Chaos (Part 1)</h4>

    "Love, not control, you moron." Baba Yaga¡¯s eyes turned into steel. "I did the best that I could with the Hors.e.m.e.n, teaching my children everything they needed in order to be good people. I have no regrets and that¡¯s the only important thing.

    "What they made with their life is their fault, not mine. If you have to remember anything of that I told you today, remember this. The role of a parent is to teach their kid how to walk, not to choose their path.

    "When you have a child, you don¡¯t have the right to force them to move forward, only to be there for them and help them get up when they fall."

    Lith was stunned by her words, wondering if he might be capable of bing as wise as the Red Mother was.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t me Baba Yaga for the Hors.e.m.e.n more than I can me Mom for Trion and Orpal being assholes. She gave them everything she had, yet all they did in return was to keep asking for more.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Let¡¯s get back to the others, or my children will get jealous of you." Baba Yaga said while walking to the door.

    "Jealous? You are centuries old and so are they!" Lith blurted out in surprise.

    "Millennia old, actually, but some things never change. If you had no father and your mother started spending much time with a man, what would you do?" She asked.

    Lith opened his mouth to answer, but his mind projected a series of images involving the hypothetical man that went from sher movies to sordid prison camps so he shut up.

    "My point exactly." The Mother chuckled as Solus slipped back at his finger.

    "Wait, since you¡¯re so friendly, wouldn¡¯t you be willing to teach me Creation Magic or at least help me upgrade my gear?" Lith shamelessly asked.

    "Let me get this straight. You and Epphy didn¡¯t even trust me enough with her body while I should teach you something that only two people on Mogar can do? Do you think I run a charity or what?" Baba Yaga replied with a scoff.

    "Well, you have a whole orphanage in your tower so I¡¯ll go with charity."

    "And those children will learn the basics of magic from me, not share my greatest discoveries. You sure are a piece of work. I said that I¡¯m giving you the benefit of the doubt, not that I¡¯m making you my sole heir!" The Mother said.

    "It was worth a shot." Lith opened the door and made way for her with a bow.

    "There you are. After I finished scolding Nyka for her recklessness and noticed you had yet to return, I started to get worried." Ka said.

    "Mom, it was my first big fight. We all make mistakes." Nyka said in embarrassment.

    "Not when I, or better, Scarlett warned you one hundred times to not get carried away by your blood frenzy!" The shadows covering Ka¡¯s skeleton moved akin to a swarm of angry wasps.

    "If not for uncle dion, you would have died out there! Even I told you to be wary whenever a skilled opponent seems to make a stupid mistake that creates an opening because it¡¯s usually a trap." Ka replied.

    "You say a lot of things, and most of them don¡¯t make sense, Mom!" Nyka said with anger.

    "Damn teenagers! They are so ignorant yet not only do they always assume to know it all, but they also think that everyone past twenty suffers from brain damage!" Before Ka could start an angry parent rant, Scarlett calmed her down.

    "You can scold Nykater whereas the matter at hand is a bit more urgent so bear with me." The Scorpicore said, making the Wight even angrier. "No pun intended, sorry."

    "Fine!" Ka sat down on the floor while inflicting Nyka the cruelest punishment a parent could involuntarily conceive.

    "Mom, I beg you! Please stop!" Nyka felt like she was going to die of embarrassment and wished for Mogar to swallow her whole, but for the umpteenth time that evening, the turned a deaf ear.

    "Okay, here is what we¡¯ve discovered so far thanks to the Eyes of Menadion and our resident blood expert." Scarlett said while pointing at dion and Hushing Nyka¡¯s mouth.

    "Whoever is behind the missing undead is also the same person that gave those Emperor Beasts the powers typical of the Guardian Bloodline that lesser species are not supposed to have.

    "We have no clue how they did it but, ording to the Eyes, their old and new physique is kept together by an unknown liquid of tremendous power. We call it Ambrosia and I think it might be derived from the undead.

    "To make things even creepier, after using the Eyes, dion noticed that the reason why their blood is, for theck of a better term, so delicious is that it holds the properties of several lesser species at the same time and they are all boosted by the Ambrosia." Scarlett said.

    While the others started to rack their brains to understand how the two phenomenons could be rted, Nandi knew exactly how. Or better, he knew someone that would have no problem cracking that case.

    <i>¡¯Mixing together different life forces, making several beings merge into one, and recover the powers of a bloodline are all things that I witnessed the Master do in the past.¡¯</i> The Minotaur thought.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s what makes us Abomination hybrids so powerful. Thanks to his experiments we are constantly recovering and harmonizing all of the powers that we had in life, those we had as Eldritchs, and those that our monster side possessed in its unfallen state.¡¯</i>

    Nandi pondered a lot, weighing his loyalties toward the man he considered as a father and the woman he considered as a mother. Both of them had yed a crucial role in giving him a second life, yet they had never met.

    "Where does all of this leave us?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "I don¡¯t know, but we can contact the Council and find out if non-Awakened members of the lesser species disappeared at the same time as the undead." Scarlett said. "I don¡¯t think many of them took part in this experiment by their own will and their disappearance can¡¯t have gone unnoticed."

    "I think you¡¯re too na?ve." Ka stoppedpping Nyka for a while. "Four Emperor Beast cannot kidnap people from all over the Eclipsed Lands in such a short period of time. Not even one hundred of them would be enough.

    "This is something carefully nned and meticulously executed without leaving any loose ends. The fact that our prisoners know nothing at all means that they were expendable from the beginning. Failures that couldn¡¯t bear better fruits."

    "How do you know?" dion asked.

    "Because that¡¯s what I would have done if it was my experiment." Ka said, making Baba Yaga remember the reason why she hated Liches.

    "I agree with her." Lith nodded. "I¡¯ve met enough children of Awakened to know how much they hate their parents for not sharing the secret of the mana core with them."

 Chapter 1388 - Awakened Chaos (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1388 - Awakened Chaos (Part 2)</h4>

    "People like Gadorf or Erlik would have done anything to get their hands on the legacy that they considered rightfully theirs. Members of the lesser species are even worse.

    "They worship their Guardian ancestor like a god and have an inferiorityplex toward the so-called pure blood. On top of that, most Emperor Beasts who deemed their children unworthy of Awakening tossed them away like trash." Lith said.

    "What are you trying to say?" dion asked.

    "That I bet they are all involved of their own will, chasing after the dream of getting rid of the ¡¯lesser¡¯ title." Lith replied. "Otherwise the Council would know by now. It¡¯s impossible that not even one of such powerful creatures managed to send a distress signal.

    "The only way that the disappearance of so many Emperor Beasts could go unnoticed is that they didn¡¯t disappear in the first ce. After all, even if their actions are exposed, they can use the war against the undead as the perfect cover story."

    Lith¡¯s paranoid brain shared via a mind link the scenario as he envisioned it. He pictured how the non-Awakened Emperor Beast would im to have wiped out the new recruits of the undead army, gaining merits with the Council and their own parents.

    It would give them the opportunity to be Awakened. After that, thanks to their newfound powers, nothing could have stopped them from overthrowing their now weaker elders and take their ce in the Council.

    So many birds with one little undead stone the origin of which no one would ever question.

    The night was almost over and together with sunrise, countless notifications appeared on Baba Yaga¡¯s amulet along with desperate telepathic calls for help from her Firstborns.

    "The news of the reinforced defenses must have spread! All the cities of the Eclipsednds are being raided now that the rising sun weakens my children by the second." Baba Yaga wept uncontrobly.

    No matter how powerful she was, not even a white cored Awakened could be in several ces at the same time.

    "Can¡¯t you do the Nyka array thingy here?" Ka asked Scarlett. "That way Baba Yaga can leave Lightkeep while we hold the fort."

    "Are you insane?" Scarlett was bbergasted. "I can¡¯t possibly cover a whole city with it in such a short time and even if I could, it would mean to share my secrets!"

    "This is not the time to worry about proprietary magic. We must put aside our differences if we want to survive!" dion and Ilthin said in unison.

    "It¡¯s easy to say when I¡¯m the one who¡¯s giving up on priceless knowledge." The Scorpicore said. "Why should I help those who tried to kill me countless times in the past?"

    The quarrel only grew worse as Baba Yaga cried, yet Lith washed his hands of it. He had been hired to do one job and he had performed it at the best of his abilities. He didn¡¯t feel responsible if others were so dumb as to not have a proper contingency n.

    "Enough!" Nandi¡¯s roar silenced the room. "Our Mother is crying so stop acting like morons and offer the damn Scorpicore something equally valuable! On top of that, I know someone who might help us, but before making hime here I need your permission, Mother."

    "Dimensional Magic is sealed within the city." dion said. "I¡¯m not going to lower the arrays and expose my city to an invasion for an Abomination."

    Nandi ignored him, having eyes only for Baba Yaga who he picked up from the floor and made her sit on an armchair.

    "Do it." She said.

    Nandi knelt down, joining his hands as if he was praying while a pitch-ck aura exuded from his body.

    "By the power of the blood ties that bind us, in the name of the oath of loyalty I pledged to you I call you here, Master." With each word the Minotaur spoke, a melody filled the air, its volume increasing.

    It was something loud, filled with rage and aggression that reminded Lith of some kind of heavy metal.

    The space in the room ckened and deformed as if it was being punctured rather than bent, opening a dimensional door leading further away than it would have been possible with regr spells.

    "This is impossible!" dion said. "The entire city is surrounded by dimensional sealing arrays and my house is surrounded by several more. Reaching this depth with Spirit Magic is impossible even for a Dragon."

    "It¡¯s not impossible, it¡¯s just you being ignorant about Chaos. You have no idea what dimensional magic can do once you rece darkness with Chaos, do you?" Nandi said.

    It took the portal a few seconds to fully form and let the small figure of Zogar Vastor step through it. He was a short man in his mid-sixties barely over 1.55 meters (5¡¯1") tall.

    ck hair has started to grow again on the top of his bald head while the snow-white hair he had left on the sides had started to regain color and so did his waxed handlebar mustaches.

    After bing interim Headmaster, he had slimmed down enough to not look like an egg anymore. He didn¡¯t wear his usual white robe, but a heavy ck armor that Lith had never seen before.

    The Yggdrasill staff rested in Vastor¡¯s left hand and an Adamant short sword covered in mana crystals hung on his hip, ready to be drawn at any time.

    "Father!" Nandi weed him with a bow.

    "Nandi. Baba Yaga." He gave a polite nod to them.

    "Master." Baba Yaga looked back in her prime, no trace of her previous tears remained on her face.

    "Professor?" Lith said in astonishment.

    This time Vastor didn¡¯t bother wearing a cloaking device. Solus¡¯s mana sense could finally see the twin cores in his body. One was pitch-ck while the other was deep violet and Awakened.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom! The human core works as the counterpart to the ck one, keeping it under control and allowing the Professor to safely use the Chaos energy. To do that, Vastor cannot use more mana from the ck core than what he uses from the violet.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Otherwise his body would copse. Even with this cap to his strength, he has more than double the power of a deep violet-cored individual. On top of that, if he finds a way to make them harmonize instead of shing, the power output will be much bigger than the sum of its parts.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    She had just described to Lith the secret of the power of the Abomination-monster hybrids. As Mogar first and Kater had exined to Lith, the problem with Chaos was that it had no counterpart hence bnce was impossible.

    Or so everyone, even Mogar, had thought until Vastor had found a way to couple the faulty ck core with another core, equally faulty but capable of working as its counterpart and of keeping it in check.

    While Mogar had given Lith an Emperor Beast life force to keep his mana core from corrupting, Vastor had given the Abomination-monster hybrids who didn¡¯t have a body a second core, achieving the impossible.

    The Eldritchs now had gotten their bodies back and were no longerpletely cut off from Mogar.

 Chapter 1389 - High-Master (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1389 - High-Master (Part 1)</h4>

    "Nice to see you, Lith. This meeting is long overdue, I know, but I never found the right moment to tell you the truth. To answer your questions, yes, I know you¡¯re an Awakened. Yes, I¡¯m the Master of whom you might¡¯ve heard about.

    "Yes, I suspect that you stole the violet crystal during the military training, and yes, Xenagrosh works for me. She¡¯s the niece I told you about so many times. Anything else?" Vastor said.

    "How did you Awaken?" Lith asked.

    "Nandi, my staff, and the breathing techniques from my children. Next question." He said with a chuckle.

    "How did you get here so fast? Usually, it takes you some time to make up an excuse and get away from your work." Nandi asked and Vastor replied with a snap of his fingers.

    The air above the Minotaur¡¯s shoulder distorted, letting out a small ck fox.

    "Surprise! My Spirit Magic body is no fighter, but I can still use it to tail someone. Get it? Tail, because it¡¯s a tail." Tezka said with the high-pitched voice of a small child.

    "Have you been following me the entire time?" Nandi said in outrage.

    "Of course he did. Under my request." Vastor said. "As long as you have conflicting loyalties, I have to keep an eye on you because even though you trust these undead, I don¡¯t. Show your powers to the wrong person and they will happily cut you apart to understand our secrets."

    "Be honest with me. Have you sent Tezka after me for my own good or yours?"

    "Both. The two things aren¡¯t mutually exclusive. Quite the contrary." Vastor replied. "Now if we¡¯re done with the questions, tell me why I¡¯m here."

    Lith and Solus were still too shocked to speak, just like everyone else in the room but Nandi and Baba Yaga. She exined the situation to Vastor, using hard-light constructs to reproduce her findings without exposing the existence of the Eyes.

    "Nandi is right, this is very simr to my own work." The Master looked at Light Mastery with envy and studied it thoroughly thanks to the staff. "I¡¯ve got bad news and horrible news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

    "The bad news." The Mother replied with a firm voice.

    "Whoever is behind this, it¡¯s an expert of light magic, just like me. Also, they derived this Ambrosia by condensing the life force of several undead through Arthan¡¯s Madness." Vastor said after studying the two Emperor Beasts with Beyonder¡¯s Eye, his breathing technique.

    "Are you sure of it?" Baba Yaga clenched her fists in outrage.

    "Yes. The news about the use of Forbidden Magic might force the Council to move its a.s.s, but it will probably be toote. Judging from these failed prototypes, the project is already in its final phase, I¡¯m sorry." Vastor gave her a polite bow of condolences.

    "What about the horrible news?" Lith asked.

    "Ka is only partially right about the Emperor Beasts. Sure, many must have taken part to the project of their free will, but the blood of these creatures is too varied and rich to not have demanded several sacrifices.

    "My bet is that they lured their most useless or despised siblings into a trap and used them as research material. A hero needs victims to avenge, after all. The altered Emperor Beasts can me the undead for the death of their siblings and make their return to the fold even more glorious." Vastor proved to be shrewder than Lith.

    Horror froze the Emperor Beasts in the room, especially Scarlett. For some reason, the image of Sedra the Hydra, her godson, kept appearing in her mind.

    "If we¡¯re done, I really got to go. War waits for no one." Vastor turned around, tracing a circle in the air with his hand and forming another ck hole.

    "War? What war?" Lith stopped him. He still had lots of questions for Vastor, but they would have to wait.

    A war meant a threat beyond his control and maybe even beyond that of the creatures guarding his home.

    "For a few days now, the cold war with the undead has escted into a full-scale war, Lith. The Kingdom needs its Highmasters more than ever. If even Manohar mobilized, I can¡¯t leave our people alone." Vastor said.

    "Why didn¡¯t I hear anything about this?"

    "Kid, you choose to be an outsider. You¡¯re just reaping what you sow. The undead attack only a few cities at a time so we still managed to keep it a secret to the general p-"

    "Enough!" Baba Yaga roared, cutting the Master short. "Lith is but a child and he needs to be protected. Don¡¯t involve him into a mess bigger than he is."

    "He may be a child, but as an undead Abomination, Lith belongs to my little family much more than he does to yours. Don¡¯t you dare mess with our business when you did nothing for either of us until now!" Vastor unleashed a ck-violet aura while Baba Yaga released the power of her white core.

    "Impudent child! You¡¯ve yet to live a single life and you dare to lecture me?" The ck and white auras shed, swirling around and pushing everyone against the walls with the strength of a hurricane.

    And they had yet to weave a single spell.

    "Of course I dare. I took care of him to the best of my abilities until now. If Lith doesn¡¯t know the truth, he cannot protect his family nor can he prepare for what is about toe!" Vastor snarled.

    "Enough!" Lith yelled, shutting both of them up and making the room quiet again. "I already have two human parents and two Emperor Beast parents. Thest thing I need is two undead parents who try to control my life!

    "I don¡¯t belong to any of you, only to myself. Please, Professor, continue."

    "As I was saying, the war is still a secret. You are an outsider so no one will tell you anything unless we need your help but so far everything was fine. We always repelled the undead with minimal casualties thanks to my Organization and the Council."

    "Then what¡¯s the rush? Why call both you and Manohar?" Lith asked.

    "Because the Hors.e.m.e.n have joined the fray. They are attacking three of the greatest cities of the Kingdom as we speak in an attempt to cripple our strength. Belius, Prode, and Vesta are under attack respectively by Dawn, Dusk, and Night." He replied.

    The destruction of Belius would have left the border of the Kingdom open, allowing the undead to freely share resources with their brethren in the Empire. Prode was the granary of the Kingdom, the city where the food was stockpiled for the winter and ready to be sent where needed.

    The cold season had already started and without Prode, one-third of the Kingdom was likely to starve to death before spring arrived. Vesta, instead, was the main hub of the Dimensional Gate system, holding the database of the coordinates and passwords for every city Gate.

    Without it, transportation between the cities would be much slower because mages would have to input them by hand each time.

    "What about my family? Are they still safe? This would be the perfect moment to strike!" Lith said.

 Chapter 1390 - High-Master (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1390 - High-Master (Part 2)</h4>

    "Don¡¯t worry, Lutia is safe. Mirim is taking good care of your family. Before I go, take this since I don¡¯t need it anymore." Vastor handed a piece of paper to Lith that he put inside Soluspedia.

    It contained the instructions to use the Master¡¯s device embedded inside the violet crystal and study the orc shaman¡¯s technique.

    "Consider it a gesture of my good faith. Xenagrosh really likes you and spending some time together would make her happy. Don¡¯t be a jerk like you¡¯ve always been with me and don¡¯t call her only when you need something." Vastor said with a chuckle, turning around to leave.

    "Wait, this doesn¡¯t make sense." This time it was Baba Yaga stopping him. "My children would never do such a foolish thing. All of those cities are more than strong enough to kick their collective asses, let alone one of them at a time."

    "Do you want to hear the screams of the soldiers in real-time? I¡¯ve no reason to lie to you, Red Mother." The Master said with a scoff.

    "I believe you. I was just warning you that my Hors.e.m.e.n would never be so stupid as to attempt a raid without their steeds." Baba Yaga took her miniaturized Hut out of one of her pockets, growing its size enough to look inside of it.

    "I was right. Those damn fools dared to take them without my permission. I need to leave, now!" Over the centuries, the Firstborns had rarely seen their mother panic so her distress covered them in a cold sweat.

    "What do you mean, warn me? There are no records of steeds. On top of that, why should I care for a couple of horses?" Despite his bold words, Vastor¡¯s face was stone cold.

    "I didn¡¯t call them my Hors.e.m.e.n just because that word has a nice ring to it. Of course they have steeds. While my Firstborns are free to spread my children over Mogar, the Hors.e.m.e.n have a higher purpose.

    "They are my right hands, myb assistants, or as you Emperor Beasts call them, my Harbingers." Baba Yaga said.

    "Nonsense!" Scarlett roared. "Only the offspring of a Guardian can produce a Harbinger and no one ever had three at the same time."

    "It was just a metaphor." Baba Yaga shook her head. "I gave them more knowledge than I did to anyone else. I shared with them more than just my blood, I also gave them my expertise and resources."

    "Please, enough with the riddles and get straight to the point." Having to deal with both Night and Dawn, Lith¡¯s worry grew worse than anyone else¡¯s.

    "Their steeds are not mere animals. They are made out of the purest white crystals and shaped like a horse. They are the Hors.e.m.e.n¡¯s own mage towers." With those twost words, everything changed forever.

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, Distar Household, that very moment.

    Marchioness Distar was having the worst night of her life. Sunrise would either put an end to it or just make her transition into the worst day of her life as well. As the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps and the Corpse, she had never been so busy.

    Mirim had to mobilize the troops from both corps whenever it was necessary, splitting the workforce and the Royal Fortress armor to maximize the odds of sess of each group.

    She couldn¡¯t give one even to Manohar. The Royal Fortress armor was best suited for less powerful and talented mages that needed all the help they could get. Yet since failure wasn¡¯t an option, she had given him the next best thing.

    "Farg, how is it going there?" The Marchioness asked through the amulet.

    "Awful. Night is stronger than ever and the city arrays put us barely on par with her army. I need reinforcements ASAP!" Farg replied from Vesta.

    "And I want Tyris to make more than seven Awakened. We don¡¯t always get what we want. Vastor should be there any minute now." Mirim said.

    "That fatass? What good could he possibly make?"

    "You¡¯ve never seen him taking his gloves off. Pray you never have to see him do it again." The Marchioness closed the call and pressed Faluel¡¯s rune.

    "Is everything alright there?" She had been true to her word and was treating Lith¡¯s family as if they were her own. The Marchioness had vited protocol and informed the Hydra the moment the rm had resounded.

    "Peachy. I have informed the Council and got my reinforcements. They should send a few of us to help you with your cities as a thank you."

    "Good. I don¡¯t like this at all. With our forces stretched so thin, this is the perfect moment for our enemy who gave out Balkor cards to strike again." Mirim said.

    "Do you think they belong to the undead faction?" Faluel was bbergasted.

    "I can¡¯t rule that out. Yet like my good friend Jirni likes to say, coincidences usually take a lot of nning." The Marchioness replied.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Think about it. The ckest Day wasn¡¯t just an undead holiday, it was also the moment when our surveince was at its weakest. Between human and Beast criminals, plus the undead threat, the attack on Lark¡¯s household encountered minimal resistance.

    "Even if the members of the Corps managed to call for reinforcements, with our slower than usual response time they would have still arrived on the scene toote. If I was the culprit, I would strike today" Mirim said.

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, Zogar Vastor¡¯s home.

    The Master had left Lightkeep at the same moment when Baba Yaga Warped to the city of the Eclipsed Lands that needed her help the most and Ilthin went back to Nightingale to protect her people from the ongoing attack.

    He looked himself in the mirror, staring at the Highmaster armor that he had hoped to never have to wear again. The ck suit of armor had performances inferior to a Royal Fortress armor, but it had a perk that not even Tyris¡¯s masterpieces had.

    On top of that, he wasn¡¯t really wearing it. It was just Bytra¡¯s Dominator armor that replicated the Highmaster armor¡¯s appearance and mimicked its properties after storing it inside the Dominator armor¡¯s dimensional space.

    Yet the reflection in the mirror made Vastor want to puke as the memories of all the ughter he had perpetrated in the name of the "greater good" shed in front of his eyes.

    The moment he received a message on his army amulet, he used the personal Gate of the Vastor Household to reach Vesta with a single step. On the other side of the dimensional tunnel, Am Farg and five elite squads of the Queen¡¯s corps waited for him.

    Their bodies were covered in wounds and their armor cracked or broken. Judging from how much they bled and their wheezing, they had just taken cover inside the local branch of the Mage Association.

    "Is the city still standing?" Vastor asked while making the ck helmet cover his face.

    "Yes." Farg panted more than talked.

    "Then it¡¯s time for our counterattack." The Master stepped forward, using the Yggdrasill staff as a walking cane.

    "No, it¡¯s not." She held his arm to stop him. "We need some time to let the tonics take effect. Then, we need to wait for the reinforcements and strategize-"

    "You don¡¯t get it, girl." Vastor freed himself from her grip with a tug. "I¡¯m the reinforcements."

    He typed the one-time code he had received from the Royals, making the Highmaster armor and its wearer immune from the city arrays and thews of the Kingdom.

 Chapter 1391 - The Third God (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1391 - The Third God (Part 1)</h4>

    Vastor walked through the reinforced door leading to Vesta¡¯s fortified walls.

    The city was fighting valiantly, but many fortified towers had been destroyed. The protective walls and arrays surrounding Vesta were filled with small cracks that spread faster than their self-repair spell could fix.

    "What madness is this?" The Master walked along the elevated perimeter of the city walls, trying to understand what made the attack so dangerous that it required his presence.

    Then, while he looked at the swarm of undead that surrounded the city like ants at a pic table, Vastor found his answer.

    Coated in a full suit of ck crystal armor, Night led her troops on the battlefield and every one of the undead was engulfed in a thin ck aura.

    The power of her steed not only increased a Horseman¡¯s physical and magical prowess, but it also allowed them to share their innate gift with undead that weren¡¯t their Chosen.

    In Night¡¯s case, she was immune to darkness magic and so were now her troops. Be they wands, cannons, or spells of any tier, the ck aura surrounding the undead would be thicker on impact, neutralizing darkness with darkness.

    Baba Yaga¡¯s children were naturally resistant to all elements but weak to darkness, otherwise there would have been no need for war since the undead would have long conquered the whole Mogar.

    "Hello, dwarf pig!" Night floated in the sky,ughing as the night breeze made her long silver hair whip around as if she was the goddess of the storm. "Thest time we met, you¡¯ve killed a lot of my elders just to save a single sow and her piglets.

    "You humiliated me in front of my Court and for that, I¡¯m going to make sausages out of you and feed them to that whore!"

    At those words, Vastor¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t burn with mana nor did they turn into a death re. They became as cold as perennial ice, the eyes of a Highmaster on the job. Once he wore that armor, love and hate became irrelevant.

    Only the mission mattered.

    With a wave of the Yggdrasil staff, Vastor conjured several tier five Death Fog Arrays in critical junctures of the battlefield. War Mages used spells, whereas Highmasters mostly used arrays.

    Spells were noisy and shy, whereas an array was silent and their effects unnoticeable unless one stepped inside of them. Highmasters were invisible mass murderers, lone vagrants who few noticed and even fewer remembered.

    "A darkness-based array?" Nightughed her a.s.s off while unleashing several lounges of her crystal spear, Thorn. "Are you stupid or what? Darkness doesn¡¯t work on me. I am the god of darkness!

    "Relinquish your hopes to stall for time until dawn, because I have another dreadful surprise for you fleshlings."

    Vastor looked at the first lights of the daying from the horizon, noticing that no undead seemed afraid of it or weaker for it. Yet he didn¡¯t care.

    "I¡¯ll end this in a minute so save your surprise for birthday parties, clown." Vastor deflected all of her attacks with his staff, using just enough power to take off the brunt of the impact and let the city barriers do the rest.

    Back when he was young and fully human, the Highmaster armor would have allowed him to barely aplish such a feat against someone as powerful as Night. Now, however, it was a child¡¯s y to him.

    "Fifty years." The Highmaster said. "I¡¯ve spent fifty years of my life studying darkness and light magic. I sacrificed my youth, my family, and my happiness for it, yet it was worth it.

    "You know nothing about your own powers, Night. You wasted centuries ying god instead of working hard, and now that¡¯s going to be your downfall."

    Vastor walked over the edge of the walls, using a Float spell tond with the grace of a feather. The Horseman relentlessly attacked him with her weapon and her spells, yet the Master spun the Yggdrasill staff to deflect the spells and used it as a spear to block Thorn.

    The moment Vastor¡¯s feet touched the ground, death cries and ash filled the air around Vesta. Night¡¯s troops inside of the arrays were all dead and even those in their vicinity were being mowed down by the Kingdom¡¯s soldiers.

    "What? How?" The Horseman said,nding in front of Vastor.

    "There¡¯s only so much darkness element in the air." The Master spun his forefinger to epass the entire battlefield. "You and the city already hog most of it, leaving little for the rest of us.

    "My arrays aren¡¯t meant for killing, only to conjure as much darkness element as they can, leaving not enough to protect your men. A storm is much less scary after setting a lightning rod because no lightninges after the thunder."

    Vastor lunged forward with his staff, but Night dodged it with ease. Unfortunately for her, she had never been his target. Vastor¡¯s tier five War Mage spell, Chasing Death, released a pir of darkness energy that killed everyone on its path.

    Its movements were slow, but the frontline was a chaotic ce. To dodge it, the undead had to either shove theirrades away, causing their deaths, or ignore other less obvious threats and die for a different reason but die nheless.

    To make matters worse, Vastor¡¯s spell was true to its name. It would keep scouring the enemy lines until thest shred of its energy had been consumed.

    The Highmaster¡¯s and the Horseman¡¯s weapons shed against each other with near-sonic speed dozens of times per second. Each time Vastor blocked or dodged, Thorn emitted a pir of darkness that the city arrays neutralized.

    When Night blocked or dodged, instead, a new Chasing Death was released, killing dozens of undead before it faded away. On top of that, the shockwaves of their shes turned into dust everyone and everything that got too close to them.

    The Kingdom¡¯s soldiers knew that they had to stay away from the Highmaster, whereas the undead felt invincible thanks to their leader and attempted to help her more than once.

    "What the f.u.c.k are you?" Night and Farg said in unison, staring at the small figure d in ck who alone fought against an unstoppable army.

    "I¡¯m just one man." Vastor replied.

    "But you know how humans are. Kill one person and they call you a murderer. Kill a million and they call you a conqueror. Kill everyone on your path and they call you god." Thus spoke Highmaster Zogar Vastor, god of the battlefield.

    A title very few knew, only whispered in the most secret rooms of the Royals court, that made him the third god at the service of Jirni Ernas.

    As more and more undead fell, the tide of battle turned quickly. Vesta¡¯s walls and its arrays mended themselves, now offering increased protection to the soldiers whose spells had be capable of killing again.

    "No!" Night yelled in frustration, barely containing Orpal¡¯s fury at the thought of being humiliated by Vastor for the third time. Once in Lutia, another on the battlefield, and thest one because the Highmaster had kept his promise.

    The battle wouldn¡¯tst until dawn because her army was already retreating to cut their losses to a minimum.

    <i>¡¯Let me out! I¡¯ll show this f.u.c.ker how a real man fights!¡¯</i> Orpal said.

 Chapter 1392 - The Third God (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1392 - The Third God (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Please, we have bonded for barely a year and you never practiced magic or spearsmanship before that moment. Vastor would defeat you in the blink of an eye. Instead of whining, take the opportunity to gain invaluable battle experience.</i>

    <i>¡¯We are now one in the mind and the body, which means that you can ess to my techniques, my spells, and even to my muscle memory. Remember how I shift my weight, how I move, and how I alternate feints and attacks.</i>

    <i>¡¯Otherwise, when you fight Lith without my help, this fight would look like a crushing victory inparison.¡¯</i> Night replied.

    The fight went on for half a minute before Vastor grew tired of it. With no more undead to fight, his spells turned around and struck at the Horseman¡¯s back. The first Chasing Death made her just flinch, yet it was an opening big enough for the Master to take her left leg.

    Then, he took her right leg, the left arm, and the right arm, leaving her head and c.h.e.s.t forst.

    "I know I can¡¯t kill you, but this doesn¡¯t mean that I can¡¯t make you suffer." Vastor performed the final lunge with his staff, shattering Night¡¯s crystal body into countless pieces.

    Her power core escaped via a Spirit Magic Gate that Warped her to a safe ce, where she could lick her wounded body and pride.

    ***

    City of Prode, at the same time as Vastor¡¯s arrival.

    The situation grew more desperate by the second, forcing Mirim Distar, Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corpse to join the battle.

    With Mirim¡¯s arrival, there were now five members of the Corpse in Prode. Farg was in Vesta to support Vastor and Qwor was in Belius for Manohar. All the others hade to stop the Red Sun from taking Prode and trigger a winter famine that would kill millions.

    "First of all, f.u.c.k Tyris." Mirim said.

    "F.u.c.k Tyris!" The others echoed in unison.

    It was the custom greeting among the members of the Corpse when in a pinch. Over the generations, the Corpse had grown angry with the Guardian for limiting their longevity, their powers, and for making just seven of them instead of hundreds.

    They actually understood Tyris¡¯s reasons and wholly agreed with her choice. They had plenty of traitors and of people who had be drunk with power among their ranks in the past.

    If any of them knew the secret of the breathing technique, they would have raised an entire army of Awakened. They would have been nigh-unstoppable and have destroyed everything that the members of the Corpse sacrificed their lives for ever since the foundation of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Yet all the empathy and logic on Mogar didn¡¯t help when the members of the Corpse had to face someone like Dusk. They would have given an arm and a leg to have one more trick in their arsenal or one more member in their group.

    Also, most of them didn¡¯t use those words as a curse, but as a way to state the reward that the fake Awakened hoped to receive in the case that they survived the mission.

    Saying "F.u.c.k Tyris" wasn¡¯t an act of defiance so much as an order to go all-out right off the bat and fight until theirst breath. The Guardian knew about it and didn¡¯t like the motto much, but she allowed it.

    <i>¡¯ording to the data the First Queen sent us, Dusk is specialized in techniques that mix world energy and life force so expect shit like Origin mes or Life Maelstrom. Also, his host is a Lich.</i>

    <i>¡¯This is good news because if he doesn¡¯t have his phctery, we can halve his strength with just a single spell. If he does have it, then we can kill the motherf.u.c.ker for good.¡¯</i> Mirim said via a mind link, to share the information at the speed of thought.

    <i>¡¯He usually wears an armor made of Davross, so cantrips won¡¯t work on him. Only use tier four and five Spirit Spells, everything else is a waste of mana. Remember to use Prode as your shield.</i>

    <i>¡¯Don¡¯t get reckless and stick to its walls. The arrays will protect us and leave us free to focus on attacking. Is everything clear?¡¯</i> She asked.

    <i>¡¯Does anyone of us have a Royal Fortress armor?¡¯</i> Lepto asked. He was a blonde man in his thirties, with a face full of freckles.

    <i>¡¯You wish! Royal Guards needs them more than we do. Anyone can wear them and gain the power necessary to protect strategic assets, whereas we¡¯re powerful even without them.¡¯</i>

    Mirim handed each one of them a Featherwalker armor, Orion¡¯stest breakthrough and improvement of Lith¡¯s Orichalc.u.m Skinwalker armor. It was made of purified Adamant, had a power core capable of coordinating and mixing several enchantments at the same time, and the wings on their back actually allowed the user to fly.

    It was the result of the collective work of hundreds of Royal Forgemasters, but Orion had led the most sessful research team, earning him the title of god of forge and bringing Jirni¡¯s god count up to four.

    The members of the Corpse imprinted their respective armor before wearing it, putting the rest of their clothes inside the Featherwalker armor¡¯s dimensional space.

    Once they were done, they hid their face under the helmets and walked to the city¡¯smanding officer.

    "What¡¯s our status?" Mirim asked.

    "We¡¯re losing badly." A weathered Major of the army said. He was barely fifty, yet his hair was dirty white and his face was full of deep wrinkles. "The undead attacked an hour before sunrise and so far, they are unstoppable.

    "Some are using an odd fire than no water can douse to eat at the arrays and jam their functions while the foot soldiers are f.u.c.k.i.n.g monsters. Even our allied Emperor Beasts are being tossed around as if they are ragdolls."

    Just like it happened for his sisters, the steed allowed the Red Sun to share his gifts with all of Baba Yaga¡¯s children in his vicinity, even though they wore no prism and weren¡¯t his Chosen.

    In Dusk¡¯s case, he could grant each one of them one life force-rted power at a time and change it ording to the circ.u.mstances. He possessed all the powers belonging to the Guardians¡¯ bloodlines and he was a master at using them.

    "We¡¯ll take care of Dusk. You just make sure that none of his undead gets past the walls or interferes with our fight. One small ripple can turn victory into defeat and vice versa." Lord Commander Distar said.

    The moment the one-time code arrived, the members of the Corpse activated the Highmaster ability of their armor, bing immune to the city arrays and boosting all of their physical attributes.

    Then, they drank the Mother Earth potion that Tyris had given them for the emergencies and went to face their enemy.

    The potion had the same name as Tyris¡¯s breathing technique because it also had the same properties.

 Chapter 1393 - One Mind, Five Bodies (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1393 - One Mind, Five Bodies (Part 1)</h4>

    The Mother Earth potion stimted the mana and the auxiliary cores of the members of the Corpse so that they would absorb the surrounding world energy much faster than usual.

    For the next few minutes, every time one of the fake Awakened had a moment of respite, their vitality and mana would constantly replenish as if they used a breathing technique. In theory, by taking turns to attack and defend, they were nigh-invincible.

    In theory.

    The members of the Corpse had those two words tattooed on some part of their bodies, as a constant reminder that when reality begged to differ, bad things happened. On top of that, the tattoo also worked as a multi-function potion.

    Tyris had found samples of Hatorne¡¯s ink from the rubbles of Kandria and had reverse-engineered her methods. The tattoo had the same properties of a nutrients, of a body enhancing potion, and of a tonic at the same time.

    Tyris didn¡¯t interfere directly with the affairs of the Kingdom, but she shared with her subjects all of her knowledge that they could employ.

    While the Corpse stepped on the battlefield, the Red Sun couldn¡¯t wait for the battle to end. He was currently performing the worst among the three Hors.e.m.e.n and had the greatest number of casualties.

    The worst thing about it was that most of the losses that his army had suffered were due to literal friendly fire. While Dawn¡¯s and Night¡¯s gifts were passive abilities, those that Dusk bestowed upon the undead required finesse and wisdom.

    He was renown as the wisest of the Hors.e.m.e.n because his powers couldn¡¯t be just pointed and then shot at something. They were a double-edged sword that had to be carefully handled.

    The undead using Origin mes often forgot that, unlike normal spells, the dragon fire could hurt even their user. A timely shield or spell shoved down their mouth would make the undead burn from the inside, killing them on the spot.

    Life Maelstrom was no better since the only difference between its offensive silver lightning bolts and its empowering effectsy in the dose one employed. Most undead had be so high on Maelstrom after its first use that they would unleash it all at once and burst up like overinted balloons.

    <i>¡¯Giving these morons the power of the Leviathan bloodline is out of the question. They would decimate my army before its effects even reach Prode.¡¯</i> Dusk thought with anger. <i>¡¯To make matters worse, throwing pearls to swine is weakening me.</i>

    <i>¡¯All of my powers require world energy and everything that my steed channels into my soldiers can¡¯t be sent to me! I wish Mom had bestowed unto me a weaker but easier to use power, as she did with my sisters.¡¯</i>

    He looked at the horizon, waiting for the sunrise and the huge blow that it would deal to the enemy morale, sealing their victory. With a wave of his hand, the Red Sun conjured a veil of silver energy that floated in mid-air in front of the battalions of undead mages.

    They cast their spells through the Life Maelstrom and their power increased tenfold. The barrage of tier five spells turned into lesser versions of tier tower spells, hammering at the arrays until they cracked and so did the city walls.

    Dusk¡¯s mastery over Life Maelstrom was so great that he was able to inject it even into the spells of others without making them go awry. Unlike the other Hors.e.m.e.n, he preferred to y a supporting role and counter the enemy strategy rather than match them in raw power.

    The northern front needed just another push to copse. Dusk used the mind link that he had established with his generals before starting the siege to ry his orders.

    Suddenly, the space around him froze, making both him and Sunset crash onto the ground with the grace of a brick.

    "Who dares?" He roared the moment he recognized the effects of Leegaain¡¯s trademark anti-Lich weapon, the tier five dimensional spell, Sealed Space.

    It cut off all forms of energy flow from its area of effect and, in the case of Liches, it would also break the link with their phctery, halving theirbat strength. Tyris had spared no effort in preparing the Corpse to face even the toughest opponent.

    Unfortunately for them, Life Vision showed the Corpse that despite the effects of Sealed Space Dusk¡¯s power didn¡¯t falter. It was the clear sign that the Lich had brought the phctery with him.

    Unfortunately for the Red Sun, the same couldn¡¯t be said about his army. The spell cut off all kinds of energy flow, included that of the powers Dusk shared with them.

    The Corpse had no bbermouth in its ranks so the only answer Dusk received was a volley of tier five Spirit Spells.

    Two sets of Griffon Fetters created a hexa-elemental bundle of emerald chains that wrapped themselves around horse and rider, pulling them apart. Two sets of Phoenix Smash conjured sts of emerald mes that eroded both matter and energy.

    Last, but not least, Mirim¡¯s Dragon Maw split Sealed Space in half.

    Now that Dusk couldn¡¯t feed upon Sunset anymore she sealed them both inside a hexa-elemental emerald cage, keeping them from dodging or blocking the iing attacks.

    Dusk cursed as the mind link with his generals broke, leaving them clueless about his current predicament, and so did the link with his steed. Sunset wasn¡¯t a sentient relic, just a tool meant to enhance his powers.

    As long as it didn¡¯t receive orders from him, it would be a sitting duck capable only of using the pre-set strategies to defend against the enemies. Which against someone with half a brain capable of understanding its patterns wouldn¡¯t amount to much.

    <i>¡¯First, I need to retrieve Sunset. Second, I must escape Sealed Space. Any other move wouldn¡¯t justpromise this battle, it wouldpromise my life!¡¯</i> Dusk¡¯s analysis was right, yet it was identical to the Corpse¡¯s.

    Each set of Griffon Fetters pulled their respective victim in opposite directions while Dragon Maw made the battlefield invisible to those inside and strengthened the effects of the other Spirit Spells.

    Among its many effects, Dragon Maw allowed its caster to interact with friendly spells as if they were their own. Unlike Domination, control couldn¡¯t be forcefully taken, only allowed by the original caster.

    Thanks to Dragon Maw, Mirim could freely manipte all of the active spells because the other members of the Corpse offered no resistance to her will. The four fake Awakened were akin to her limbs, casting the spells she required, while Mirim was the brain of the operation, controlling every aspect of the battlefield.

    <i>¡¯Siska, Shad, you get rid of the steed. Lepto, Jhoa, with me. We¡¯re going to take care of the rider.¡¯</i> Mirim said via the mind link.

 Chapter 1394 - One Mind, Five Bodies (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1394 - One Mind, Five Bodies (Part 2)</h4>

    The first group used thebined effect of Griffon Fetters and Dragon Maw to drag Sunset further away while raining spells upon it.

    Griffon Fetters used light to shapeshift quickly, earth for sturdiness, water for flexibility, fire to generate heat, air to make the chains diamond-sharp, and darkness to deal damage over time.

    The longer rider and steed got restrained by the spell, the more damage piled up. On top of that, the cage created by Dragon Maw kept the offensive spells from leaving the area, making them bounce on the walls and hit their target without wasting one iota of mana.

    "Impudent brats!" Dusk said with a roar as his ming red aura spread outward and his body bulged, pushing the chains¡¯ resistance to its utmost limit.

    All undead could convert the life force stored in their blood cores into mass, but only Liches were capable of converting their mana into life essence, making their potential mass limited only by their magical prowess.

    It gave Dusk the strength to move despite the restraints and to shatter all of them with a single swing of Firebrand. He wielded the ax in a two-handed grip to exploit every bit of the power he had just consumed.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> The squad in charge of Dusk thought in unison. <i>¡¯We knew that Firebrand is powerful but that¡¯s too much. How did he escape to threebined tier five Spirit spells?¡¯</i>

    The ming red aura had also extinguished the emerald mes of Phoenix Smash, neutralizing the advantage that the surprise attack had given to the Corpse. On top of that, it opened a crack in the second Sealed Space, allowing the Horseman tomunicate with his steed.

    "Sunset, to me!" Dusk said while charging at the Marchioness.

    The brief exchange and how the thoughts moved through the mind link mostly from her to the others identified Mirim as the leader. Taking her out would make the rest of the battle much easier.

    He was as fast and strong as a Dragon, too much for Mirim to react in time. Dusk had moved in a straight line, the quickest path to reach his target. Yet it was also the easiest to predict.

    Lepto struck at Firebrand¡¯s tip with his mace while Jhoa pulled the ax away thanks to the hooks at the end of her curved des. The weapons of the members of the Corpse had barbs that allowed them to take hold of enemy weapons and move them in every direction.

    Dusk was fast, but not faster than thought, giving Mirim the time to issue orders through the mind link. Her soldiers deviated Firebrand from its intended path and she struck the ax with a downward sh of her polearm.

    The hit dealt no damage to the Davross but it added so much momentum that the Horseman found himself spinning uncontrobly in mid-air like a top.

    The Corpse used that moment of confusion to get back to a safe distance and resume their attack. At the same time, Siska and Shad unleashed one st of Phoenix Smash after the other upon Sunset.

    Thanks to Dragon Maw, the shockwaves bounced on the walls so that Sunset always took the full brunt of each explosion, and thanks to Dusk¡¯s order, the movements of the steed became even more predictable.

    Even though it was covered in Davross, even though it was made of the purest white crystal, there was only so much damage the steed could take. Its surface started to crack and each crack grew bigger by the second.

    The Red Sun realized his mistake and ordered his steed to focus on the defense while he used Life Maelstrom to enhance every aspect of his being to the utmost limit. A Spirit Blink allowed him to appear in front of Mirim despite the city arrays.

    Watching at the fear in her eyes was just icing on the cake, his real purpose was to strike where she was at her weakest. Everyone expected people to move behind them, leaving them exposed.

    The exit point was too close for her polearm to be effective and Dusk moved too fast for anyone to react properly. Dusk swung his ax in a downward sh, cutting off Mirim¡¯s right arm and her leg at the knee.

    His goal had been to cut her asunder, but the Marchioness had managed to move away just enough to save her life. Only darkness fusion kept her from fainting from the pain while light fusion kept her from dying of physical shock.

    Lepto and Jhoa moved to stop him before the Horseman could finish the job, but they moved in slow motion to his eyes. He breathed a violet burst of Origin mes that engulfed Mirim and seeped inside her armor through the open wounds.

    <i>¡¯She¡¯s dead.¡¯</i> Dusk thought while looking at her dwindling life force. <i>¡¯I know the Corpse well and their members don¡¯t have any breathing technique.¡¯</i>

    The Red Sun ignored the other opponents and went to rescue Sunset. Baba Yaga would surely reprimand him for following Orpal¡¯s advice and taking his steed without permission.

    If he broke it, however, the Red Mother¡¯s rage would know no bounds. Dusk had no idea to what lengths Baba Yaga would go to punish her unruly children and had no intention to find out.

    He activated one of Firebrand¡¯s spells, Sr re, releasing a burst of red mes that broke Sunset free of the spells that restrained it and engulfed the two members of the Corpse in living fire.

    Not only did the spell have uncanny destructive power, but it also released such heat that Sr re made it impossible for its victims to breathe. Not even the Featherwalker armor could take so much punishment and the metal started to melt.

    The enchanted protection saved the people wearing it from harm, but they felt akin to being cooked alive. The two members of the Corpse used water magic to cool down the air inside the armor and activated Life Shield.

    It was one of the spells imbued within the Featherwalker armor which allowed its user to project outward the energy sheath that usually coated the Adamant. It consumed a lot of energy but it also gave them a safe space and the time they needed to recover.

    Using so many tier five Sprit Spells had drained their bodies and minds, making them easy prey for the unrelenting Horseman. Undead didn¡¯t suffer from fatigue, only from hunger. Liches, however, didn¡¯t suffer from anything.

    Their mana could run low, but their mind would always be at its peak.

    Dusk jumped on Sunset¡¯s back, using its abilities to drain the world energy and recover his dwindling strength.

    Empowering an entire army of undead, taking so many powerful spells at point-nk range, and using so many Guardian bloodlines¡¯ abilities had taken a toll on him. Dusk couldn¡¯t afford to waste time and use Invigoration, but Sunset¡¯s enchantments made it akin to a breathing technique yet without any drawback.

    His bottom had barely touched the crystal horse¡¯s back when an emerald beam of light hit him square in the middle of the head.

 Chapter 1395 - Downfall of the Conceited (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1395 - Downfall of the Conceited (Part 1)</h4>

    The spell had been so fast that the Red Sun had failed to see it and so powerful that it sent Dusk flying off his horse and onto the ground with his Davross helmet cracked.

    Lepto and Jhoa kept their hands respectively on Mirim¡¯s left and right shoulder, channeling their energy into her and tripling her offensive capabilities.

    The Lord Commander had fallen like a brick to let the Mother Earth potion take effect and mend all of her wounds. At the same time, she had used spirit tendrils to reattach the severed limbs and reduce the toll that the healing process would take on her stamina.

    The nutrients potion of her tattoo did the rest, bringing her back to her feet by the time that Dusk had freed his horse.

    <i>¡¯Either we finish this quickly or we lose. Come to me, now!¡¯</i> She said via the mind link.

    Dusk stood up and watched the members of the Corpse assume an odd formation. What worried him the most, however, was that they were somehow recovering their strength while his own neared rock bottom.

    He cast the tier five Gravity Spirit Spell, World Crusher, to finish them off before the energy gap became unsurmountable. It was a hexa-elemental spell born from his centuries of experiencebined with those of his Lich host.

    An emerald sphere that resembled Mogar seen from space now trapped the members of the Corpse at its core. The six elements produced a gravity one hundred times stronger than normal that affected only the space inside the sphere.

    To make matters worse, fire burned the air to one thousand degrees that alternated with cold waves of -200¡ãC (-328¡ãF), air pressure reached 100 atmospheres. Light and earth made the sphere diamond-hard and darkness filled it with poison.

    After a few seconds, before the Horseman exhausted his mana and World Crusher faded away, he had the spell implode on itself. Duskbined gravity magic with the other six elements to produce an explosion that made the entire city of Prode quake.

    "Victory is- Oh shit!" Dusk raised his fist in the air in a triumphant gesture only to turn it into the retreatmand.

    Four of the members of the Corpse upied the four corners of a six-pointed star while Mirim was at its center. Silverwing¡¯s Bastion was meant for seven people, but five were enough to block World Crusher.

    The First Magus had conceived Bastion to withstand a Guardian¡¯s spell. Compared to that, Dusk¡¯s creation was nothing much. The five fake Awakened had used the formation to neutralize the elements while also conjuring a small sphere that had taken all the damage in their stead.

    Once cast, Bastion required little concentration, allowing the Mother Earth potion to work so that the longer Dusk used World Crusher, the weaker he would get while they would grow stronger.

    The moment the final shockwave from World Crusher disappeared, the Corpse rearranged their formation into five of the seven stars of the Big Dipper, activating Silverwing¡¯s Annihtion.

    Itcked two Awakened to manifest its true power, but again, it didn¡¯t matter. Not anymore. They didn¡¯t use it right off the bat because its energy signature was impossible to miss.

    While still at his full strength, Dusk would have had an easy time disrupting their formation and killing them in one fell swoop. Casting such a spell required focus that they couldn¡¯t use to defend themselves, and assembling together would have just offered him a bigger target.

    Now, however, they had moved far away enough and the Red Sun was too weak to exploit the opening that using Annihtion created.

    A rainbow-colored hail of beams erupted from each one of the members of the Corpse, destroying everything they touched. A few undead tried to shield their leader, but their sacrifice didn¡¯t buy him any time, it just filled the air with ashes.

    Dusk¡¯s armor cracked and so did the body underneath it. The pressure from the hepta-elemental attack was too much even for his equipment that started to shatter from its extremities.

    Roaring in outrage, Dusk s.u.c.k.e.d the life out of all the undead in his proximity and used it to conjure a blood-red wall of pure energy. Itsted less than one second, but enough for him to Spirit Blink away from the city arrays and then Warp himself to safety.

    Sunrise came, killing all the enemies that still stood in front of Prode waiting for the miracle that had been promised to them. Daybreak turned the undead into ashes as it moved forward like a tidal wave of light, sparing none.

    It would have been impossible if not for the Mother Earth potion, but even that had its limits. Just like Invigoration, every time it replenished their strength, Mother Earth lost part of its effectiveness until it had none.

    "We won." Mirim said once she washed her mouth of the bile filling it. "Go back home. No celebrating, drinking, nor s.e.x, go to sleep immediately. We¡¯re in no condition to fight ad we don¡¯t know what will happen next."

    ***

    City of Valeron, right now.

    Theck of Royal Fortress armor forced the Royals and their War Council to sit together in the War Room under the protection of the only two Guards they had left. The Royal couple was thest line of defense, a secret weapon that had to be kept as such.

    King Meron wore the Saefel¡¯s Armor while Queen Sylpha held the Sword of Saefel. One would protect while the other would attack, leaving them free to adapt their strategy ording to the circ.u.mstances.

    Together with the Royals, there were their most trusted advisors, their Archons, and Kam. Jirni had brought her along to keep her safe during the Kingdom¡¯s darkest hour since Balkor.

    Sylpha kept receiving updates about the situation, making the sound of the notifications that popped on her amulet the only noise in the room. No one was in the mood to talk or joke. They only wanted to know whether the Kingdom would live or burn.

    Vastor¡¯s quick victory over Night brought many smiles upon their faces and when the Corpse repelled Dusk as well, the people in the War Room stopped holding their breath. Yet no one talked.

    News of Manohar¡¯s battle kepting and they weren¡¯t good. If Belius fell, the Griffon Kingdom and the Empire would suffer a two-pronged attack that would weaken both countries at the same time.

    "Does any of you mind some music?" Kam asked.

    She knew that Lith was far away ying detective, yet she couldn¡¯t stop staring at his contact rune on her amulet, afraid that it might disappear at any moment.

    "Quite the contrary. We could use a distraction." Sylpha said, making everyone against it shut up.

    Kam took what looked like a big egg with a t bottom out of the inner pocket of her uniform. She pressed a small button making the top of the egg open and y what clearly was a love song.

 Chapter 1396 - Downfall of the Conceited (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1396 - Downfall of the Conceited (Part 2)</h4>

    It was a slightly modified version of "Hey, Soulmate" by Lotive. A sweet melody filled the air, making those present stare at the enchanted object with wonder.

    They had expected Kam to sing or y an instrument, not to pull off the enhanced version of a Rememberer. They were precious and expensive magical devices capable of storing precious memories in the form of holograms.

    They were well known throughout Garlen and even though theye with sounds as well, it was just a matter of adding a narrating voice or the chirping of birds. A full song and all of the instruments necessary to perform it was simply unheard of.

    "What is that thing?" Queen Sylpha asked in amazement.

    "Just a trinket that Lith, I mean, Archmage Verhen gifted me for my birthday." Kam lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

    Aside from the magical objects that she used for work and those she saw at Lith¡¯s house, Kam knew nothing about artifacts. She didn¡¯t expect to raise such a fuss or she wouldn¡¯t have taken the Tuner out in the first ce.

    Most of those people present inwardly griped at her words.

    Judging from the lyrics and from how expensive it was supposed to be, the Tuner had to be a betrothal gift. Which meant that neither the Royals nor any of the noble families had any chance left to arrange a marriage between Archmage Verhen and one of their daughters.

    "It¡¯s a wonderful betrothal gift." Sylpha said, asking the question on everyone¡¯s mind in an indirect way.

    "No, it¡¯s not. Also, Lith didn¡¯t pick this song, I did." Kam blushed.

    She couldn¡¯t tell them that he usually listened to either very sad songs or something that seemed out of epic poems. She had long insisted before he yed for her romantic or cheesy songs and Lith had gifted her the Tuner because she loved that melody whereas he couldn¡¯t stand it.

    "It¡¯s amazing anyway." Sylpha said and the others nodded in agreement. "Every time I want to listen to a song I like, I have to call the whole damn orc.h.e.s.tra. Lith could make a lot of money with it."

    Only in theory. The Tuner had never been realized before because the Forgemaster would need to be able to y every single instrument and to sing. Producing a melody required more than humming a tune, it needed to make everything flow in harmony.

    Lith couldn¡¯t tell a C from a C sharp and neither could Solus, but she could extract the memory from his mind down to the smallest detail, making the impossible possible.

    "You¡¯re a lucky woman. My husband never wrote something this romantic for me." Sylpha red at the poor Meron who had already too much work as a mage and a King to y music.

    "Lith didn¡¯t write it either. He collected several songs during his travels as a Ranger." Kam said, regretting her actions more by the second.

    "Weird. I¡¯m a music enthusiast and I¡¯ve never heard it before." Sylpha shrugged. "Don¡¯t worry, child. Such a gift requires a lot of thought. I¡¯m certain that you two have-"

    Another report from the amulet cut her short, bringing terrible news that made the song sound like a requiem.

    ***

    City of Belius, right now.

    Outside the tall grey walls of the city, Krishna Manohary on his right knee as if he was in front of his mother. He kneeled for the Royals only if they really insisted, otherwise he preferred to arrive fashionablyte to avoid the hassle of formalities.

    The Mad Professor was covered in his own blood, with the special Featherwalker armor that Orion had gifted him damaged almost beyond repair. Lord Ernas had been true to his wife¡¯s word andpensated Manohar for his services with great artifacts.

    Yet none of them mattered in front of the Bright Day riding Sunrise, her steed.

    The Never Magus had insisted to be the one to face Dawn because they shared the same element whereas the Royals meant to send Vastor against her and Manohar against Night.

    <i>¡¯Me and my beautiful, s.e.xy, big mouth.¡¯</i> Manohar thought after all the light runes that covered his armor had been consumed to form his best spells.

    <i>¡¯I figured that by fighting one of the most ancient known Light Masters, I could learn something while kicking her a.s.s. What happened, instead, is that I¡¯m no match for that woman. I never expected her to be so much stronger than Night.¡¯</i>

    The Mad Professor¡¯s pride had been his downfall. The Bright Day was a genius as well and she had lived long enough to devise spells that Manohar still failed to even imagine. The element was the same, but with a simr level of genius, the gap in experience was unsurmountable.

    To make matters worse, after her defeat at Solus¡¯s hands, Dawn had decided to follow her lead and to be one with her host instead of just using Ac as a ve. His bright blue core and her power core beat in unison, generating a power greater than the sums of its parts.

    Also, Sunrise acted simrly to Baba Yaga¡¯s hut, absorbing the world energy from its surroundings even in the absence of a mana geyser. The steed used that energy to fuel its own abilities and those of Dawn, working akin to a breathing technique with no side effects.

    Manohar¡¯s mana was limited and being non-Awakened, he had no way to replenish it whereas Dawn¡¯s was nigh-infinite. He had managed topensate theck of quality with quantity, but fake magic required to chant and use hand signs, something that her army of undead tended to mess up with.

    "For being the god of healing, you¡¯re truly disappointing." Dawn¡¯sugh sounded like she and Ac, the traitorous ranger, spoke at the same time. "It¡¯s a mystery how you survived meeting my sister. By the way, is the sword on your hip merely decorative or what?"

    "Or what." He replied amid pants.

    Manohar was too prideful to admit that even though Orion¡¯s Brightborne was an amazing weapon, he had no idea how to use it aside from its enchantments.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m not Vastor. I never needed more than my constructs to best all of my opponents. My experiments left me no time for something worthless like learning swordsmanship.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Dawn, on the other hand, owned a masterpiece as well, Twilight, but her mastery of the sword arts had reached the point that even Lith who practiced it relentlessly since the academy days was nothingpared to her.

    On top of that, Belius¡¯s moving arrays bypassed the Kingdom¡¯s champions and enveloped solely the enemies, nullifying their most powerful spells the moment they conjured them.

    Yet none of that had been enough to change what looked like an inevitable oue. Dawn was more skilled with Light Mastery, too smart to fall for any of Manohar¡¯s tricks, her equipment matched his own, but unlike him, she knew how to use it.

    Her fusion with Ac and the presence of her steed would have been enough to allow her to easily dispose of Balkor and Manohar at the same time.

    Alone, the Mad Professor had no chance.

 Chapter 1397 - Blade Tier Spells (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1397 - de Tier Spells (Part 1)</h4>

    "There¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t understand." Manohar said amid pants, in the hope to buy time and cast spells solely with his nimble fingers. "Why attack at daybreak? Aren¡¯t undead afraid of sunlight?"

    The Bright Dayughed at both his words and his futile attempt. Life Vision showed her the spells he was preparing and the elements he would employ, yet she humored him.

    "Because that¡¯s when your defenses are at their weakest. Your trust in the ball of fire in the sky makes you humans conceited, leaving for the day shift the worst soldiers that go to relieve the now exhausted cream of the crop.

    "Didn¡¯t you read Verhen¡¯s report about my abilities?" A snap of Dawn¡¯s fingers made the white aura that shrouded her soldiers visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.

    "Oh, shit." Manohar did read Lith¡¯s report and now he knew that the sun would bring the Kingdom¡¯s army no sce.

    "Oh, shit, indeed!" Dawn pointed her finger, unleashing her tier four spell, Sunshine. A barrage ofser-like rays, each one as thick as an arm and as hot as a furnace, rained upon the battlefield.

    The Mad Professor snarled, conjuring his own tier four spell Hot Shot. A simr barrage of mixed light and fire intercepted most of the Bright Day¡¯s rays so that very few soldiers died from it.

    The rest remained injured because his spell was too weak to stop hers, it had only managed to weaken Sunshine.

    Now that Manohar had no spells at the ready, Dawn conjured a series of tier four spells based on air, earth, and water to finish him off. He ignored them and chanted his next attack.

    The living vortex generated by Belius¡¯ magical formations enveloped the Horseman once again, nullifying her spells and making her fall onto the ground along with her steed.

    Light and darkness were the only elements that no city blocked, but only because without them the healers would be reduced to regr people.

    "Enough of this crap!" She said, tired of being interrupted.

    Powered up by her steed, a huge spear-shaped construct the size of a train car appeared in her left hand. It moved at the speed of light and struck with surgical precision where the arrays¡¯ control center was.

    For a moment, Belius¡¯ protections flickered and so did the border towers. Yet thanks to the barriers protecting the building the damage failed to destroy the control center. That until a second and a third spear appeared in each of her hands.

    "How do you know where to strike?" Manohar was bbergasted.

    "I¡¯m not ying anymore. Read the damn report." Dawn threw the two spears while the god of healing was still casting, making the arrays crumble.

    Ac had worked as Ranger of the Ker region for years. He didn¡¯t have the passcodes anymore but he remembered well where every secret of the Kingdom was kept and he dly shared them with his partner.

    <i>¡¯Everyone will now suffer as you did for being unfairly treated.¡¯</i> Dawn thought.

    <i>¡¯Thanks, darling.¡¯</i> He replied with mad fury.

    "Now, let¡¯s end this charade. Die!" While her army was no longer restrained by either the sun or the arrays, the Bright Day lunged at Manohar¡¯s head with her Twilight de.

    The Mad Professor clenched his teeth, knowing that everything was lost and that it was only his fault.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k my pride. I lost against Night because I didn¡¯t practice darkness magic and I lost against Dawn as well because I don¡¯t know how to use the stuff Orion gave me.¡¯</i> He thought. <i>¡¯At this point, my reputation is lost.¡¯</i>

    The de hit precisely the space between his eyes, but instead of piercing through his skull, it was chipped and deflected.

    "What the heck is that?" Dawn said while looking at the edge of her Adamant de that was already repairing itself from the damage.

    "Something I really didn¡¯t want to use." Manohar sighed. "Only idiots need help and I¡¯m no idiot. In theory."

    He held in his right hand one of Valeron¡¯s relics, the Spell Hoarding Cube. It shone so brightly under Life Vision that Dawn had to turn it off to not get blinded.

    The Spell Hoarding Cube looked like a giant Davross six-sided die assembled around a white crystal the size of a coconut. The crystal spikes came out from each of the sides, constantly changing their color.

    The artifact was capable of storing an unlimited number of spells of all tiers for an indefinite time and allowed its user to conjure them at will, no matter if they weren¡¯t the one who had stored the spells in the first ce.

    Not even sealing arrays worked on the Spell Hoarding Cube because it was a livingplex of arrays that superseded all others. ording to rumors, once it stored a spell, the Cube would remember it and be capable of casting it indefinitely as long as the cube¡¯s power core had enough energy.

    "Eat this!" The god of healing activated the artifact and suddenly both factions at war wanted to puke blood.

    There were now five Manohars, something that even a Guardian would consider a crime against humankind. One was universally considered too much, two were an abomination, three or more a gue that had to be eradicated.

    The four extra Mad Professors unleashed each a different tier five spell: Supernovas, Double Standards, Can¡¯t Touch This, and Avatar of Light.

    Supernovas conjured meteors made of light and fire with a radius of 1.5 meters (5¡¯), each one powerful enough to blow up a castle while Double Standards created a sealed space around Dawn that kept anything from getting out but let everything in.

    The Horseman and her army took the full brunt of Supernovas while Can¡¯t Touch This sealed the undead¡¯s path of retreat and Avatar of Light provided Manohar with a 10 meters (33 feet) tall giant replica of his body that surrounded him like an armor.

    All the four spells shattered in unison as another spear of light pierced through them, sending the Mad Professor sprawling on the ground while coughing out blood. To add insult to injury, none of the undead had fallen.

    "This is bullshit. You must be cheating!" Manohar said between mouthfuls of blood.

    "Indeed I am." With sunrise, it also came the Hors.e.m.e.nbined attack.

    Even though Night and Dusk had been defeated, they were still alive and so were their steeds. Being away from the battlefield allowed them to channel their full power into Dawn and her army.

    Now Dawn and every single undead were immune to sunlight, to darkness magic, empowered by Life Maelstrom and capable of spewing Origin mes. Just like the Hors.e.m.e.n had predicted, the humans lost all hope in front of the nigh-invincible undead army.

    By attacking when the humans felt at their strongest, by striking down their champions, humans were bound to lose their fighting spirit and copse before the effect of the Hors.e.m.e.nbined power disappeared.

    The undead now climbed Belius¡¯ wall so fast that they were just a blur, shrugged off all spells as if they were a soft rain, and fought in the daylight like the living.

    "Thank the gods! If you call for help, then it¡¯s only fair if I do the same."

 Chapter 1398 - Blade Tier Spells (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1398 - de Tier Spells (Part 2)</h4>

    Manohar released once again the power of the cube, summoning the images of himself, Vastor, Marth, and Balkor.

    Each shadow unleashed its best spell, but even the power of the four gods didn¡¯t slow down the Bright Day. Much to Manohar¡¯s dismay, Vastor¡¯s Tetrastrophe spell turned out to be the most effective.

    While before Tetrastrophe was a tier five spell that produced four different tier four elemental spells, now that Vastor had be a hybrid each spell thatprised Tetrastrophe had been upgraded to tier five.

    "The power of humans is irrelevantpared to the power of the Hors.e.m.e.n!" Life Maelstrom made Dawn ten times stronger than she previously was.

    Even though each one of the gods¡¯ spells was powerful enough to blow a mountain open, she only needed a flick of her wrist to deflect them all.

    "When men aren¡¯t enough, then it¡¯s a hero¡¯s job." Manohar had to suck his pride up for the second time in a single day and recognize that maybe, just maybe, learning other elements and specializations wasn¡¯t such a waste of time after all.

    He tapped into the Cube, calling upon the first spell that it had stored back after being created. A spell that it was forbidden to cast unless the people of the Kingdom were in danger.

    The people, not the Kingdom.

    Because ording to Valeron, they were what made the Griffon Kingdom worth fighting for, not a bunch ofnds and riches.

    "I knew you were a pompous jackass, but calling yourself a hero is beyond pathetic!" Dawn lunged again with Twilight, knowing that even her equipment and her steed had their power increased tenfold by Life Maelstrom.

    "I wasn¡¯t talking about myself. I was just saying that it¡¯s a hero¡¯s job to do the impossible. For everything else, there are people like me." Manohar said as Dawn¡¯s de stopped a millimeter away from his forehead and the momentum of her charge disappeared.

    The shadow of Valeron, the First King, had appeared in front of Manohar and held the Twilight de between his thumb, his index, and medium finger.

    Those conjured by the Cube were supposed to cast their spell and disappear, whereas the King stopped looking at the bloodied ins with eyes veiled with tears.

    Manohar couldn¡¯t believe how much Valeron resembled Lith back at the academy. The First King had the same ck hair, the deep-set eyes, the high forehead, and even the perpetual frown.

    The shadow depicted his true appearance, without the body refining.

    Valeron looked more like the guy next door than as a swimsuit model, but he exuded such nobility and power that both Manohar and Dawn blushed in arousal. There was something in him that made Valeron the father, the lover, and the friend they had craved their whole life.

    "How dare you to attack my children?" The First King¡¯s roar threw the undead behind him away from the city and back on the other side of the battlefield. At the same time, it healed the injured soldiers, bringing them back to their peak condition.

    "Wait, how did you do that?" Manohar asked, seeing his body healed and his mana replenished.

    Valeron ignored him, putting the Griffon head-shaped helmet of the Royal Amor on and holding the Sword of Saefel with both hands. The artifacts were nothing but residual images, lost memories of the past.

    Yet the power the First King had left behind made them almost as good as the real deal, allowing everyone to see even the finest detail and the smallest rune that decorated his equipment.

    "Glory..." The tip of the de rose from the ground, in a delicate rightward arc.

    "...to..." The seven-colored white crystals on both sides of the Sword lit up in unison, resonating with those on the armor and the King¡¯s white core.

    "...the Kingdom!" Valeron executed one of his personal de spells, True Griffon.

    Unlike normal spells that only relied on the mage¡¯s mana and willpower, the de spell used the Royal equipment to its fullest, as if every single one of their runes and crystals was a part of Valeron¡¯s body.

    The sh was so slow that regr humans and undead alike could appreciate its perfection, but also so masterful that it was impossible to dodge.

    A rainbow-colored line as thick as a hair shed throughout the battlefield, putting an end to the war.

    Dawn¡¯s undead army disappeared in a giant ashen cloud as the Horseman fell to the ground, cut asunder. The King¡¯s sh had pierced through her masterpiece Adamant armor, through the Life Maelstrom empowering it, and cutting even her crystal body in half.

    The Horseman screamed in pain, feeling her life fading away while she did everything she could to mend the damage, but to no avail. Valeron turned toward Manohar as his body started to fade.

    "You are a horrible man, but since you¡¯re also the only one here, I¡¯ll entrust my message to you. Tell Saefel that I will always love her and that letting me go was the best gift she could ever give to me." Warm tears streaked the First King¡¯s cheeks but his voice was firm.

    "Saefel who?" Manohar asked in confusion.

    "You should know her as Tyris she is-"

    "Tyris who? I need ast name, pal. The only one I know with that name is a bothersome prick." Manohar cut him short.

    With no mouth left to speak, Valeron did the only thing a reasonable man could and gave the Mad Professor the finger.

    "By the Great Mother, what did you do, you foolish child?" Sunrise was fine but Dawn¡¯s crystal core was shattering as she spoke, forcing Baba Yaga to employ creation magic to save her.

    Manohar mistook the shy spell for an attack and the chicken-legged hut betrayed the Red Mother¡¯s identity more than any spell could.

    "I¡¯m not holding back anymore. I want to go home,dy, so stay the heck away from me!" The Mad Professor conjured another sealed spell in the Cube, Valha.

    "Mogar almighty have mercy." Baba Yaga shuddered in fear as the shadows of the entirety of the First King¡¯s guard appeared for the first time in almost a millennium.

    Valeron was back, but this time he had brought along the four people that back in the day had helped him to unify the scatterednds and give birth to the Griffon Kingdom.

    Juria, had been an army sergeant before joining him. After the end of the war, Valeron had bestowed upon her the name Ernas and she had founded the Knight¡¯s Guard corps.

    She was a brown-haired woman, 1.8 meters (5¡¯11") tall with a muscr build that vaguely resembled Phloria. After Lochra Silverwing had spread her legacy, Juria Ernas¡¯s personal spells had be the foundation of the Mage Knight specialization.

    She had invented the Full Guard spell to always be where her liege needed her to be. The version taught at the academies was nothing but a pale imitation since only a bright violet-cored individual like her could cast the real deal.

    Oghrom Gernoff, a battle-hardened assassin who after hearing the wannabe King make a recruitment speech had gotten tired of his life of crime and solitude.

 Chapter 1399 - When All Are One (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1399 - When All Are One (Part 1)</h4>

    Gernoff had ughtered everyone in the underworld that knew his face before following Valeron.

    He was a short blonde man, barely over 1.5 meters (5¡¯) tall with a babyface. Even after the King had Awakened him, Oghrom had refused to learn magic for a long time, favoring the abilities he had trained his whole life over some improvised skills.

    Even though Valeron had bestowed upon him the Myrok name along with a Royal Pardon to cleanse his rap sheet, the Gernoff household still had its ce in the Council.

    The hidden Assassin specialization that Nana once took, had been derived by recreating his personal spells with Silverwing¡¯s legacy. Among the many things Jirni had inherited from him, there was the ability to take down men twice her size with one hand, the same Oghrom had even before Awakening.

    Fyrwal the Hydra, master of all elements. She was renowned for her beauty, her rainbow-colored hair, and for havingid the foundations of both the Battle Mage and War Mage specializations.

    She had never cared for humans nor did she change her mind after the end of the war. Fyrwal considered them as filthy and greedy mongrels, but she called Valeron a friend.

    She followed him to make sure that his good heart wouldn¡¯t be his downfall since Tyris would protect Valeron the man, but she left the future King to bear the burden of his own decisions.

    Tessa the Dryad, who would evolve into a Titania during the war. She taught herpanions how to respect Mogar and was the first Master Warden of the Kingdom. Both the Warden and the Highmaster specializations came from her.

    At night, before a battle, she would walk as silent as a leaf carried by the wind and as deadly as nightshade. Tessa would poison thend and the water, cleansing them only after her army upied them.

    She considered the living and the dead to be the same. It took only so much to turn them both into an excellent fertilizer, putting useless trash to good use. Tessa followed Valeron because he didn¡¯t promise her a utopia, only to do the best he could to protect the forests from the greed of man.

    He never l.u.s.ted her body nor did he lie to her and that earned him more than her loyalty, it earned Valeron her respect.

    Seeing their faces almost moved Baba Yaga to tears, but her survival instinct kicked in, leaving no ce for nostalgia. She instantly recognized the When All Are One formation that had almost killed her and destroyed her tower during their first meeting.

    It was Tessa¡¯s original Spirit Array that allowed them to share their minds, their skills, and even their powers. The Red Mother back then didn¡¯t lose because she faced the five founding heroes of the Kingdom.

    She lost because the When All Are One formation made them into a group of five seven-headed Hydras with a white core and a body so powerful that it would put a Dragon to shame.

    Baba Yaga hade out alive only because Valeron had stayed his hand and took his time to talk to her. Once he had discovered that the reason why she was there was to protect her children from the humans, the King had let her go with his apologies.

    The humans med the undead for the famine and were trying to exterminate them, yet Tessa was the one behind the gue that made crops rot. She had done it on Valeron¡¯s order to turn the tide of a battle that would havested months otherwise.

    He knew that waging a war was a dirty job, but Valeron hated to cause the suffering of innocents, no matter their race.

    Before the Spirit Array fully formed, Baba Yaga Warped away, bringing her daughter with her and doing everything she could to save her. Dawn was still alive only because True Griffon had cut a corner of the crystal core and thanks to Ac.

    As long as a cursed object had a host, they could sacrifice them to heal any kind of wounds since their energy signatures would be identical. A host was akin to an extra life to a Horseman, a disposable tool that yet Dawn refused to let go of.

    It was the reason why she had survived Sinmara¡¯s attack and yet now she was in so much pain. Sacrificing her old host had given her the power to resist even the elder Phoenix¡¯s best attacks, forcing her to seal Dawn instead of destroying it.

    "Please, Mom, save him. I¡¯m finally changing. I¡¯m finally learning. Ac makes me more than I¡¯ve ever been." The Bright Day said amid gasps of pain.

    "Shush, child. First, I¡¯m going to bring you back to health, but after you¡¯ve recovered, I¡¯m going to kick your a.s.s big time." From the top of the strongest mana geyser she knew, Baba Yaga used her considerable skill to fulfill her daughter¡¯s wish.

    Meanwhile, on top of Valeron¡¯s castle, Tyris wept tears of joy at the sight of her long-lost love and friends. Sark was there as well, offering to her fellow Guardian her embrace and support.

    Sark noticed that there wasn¡¯t grief in Tyris¡¯s heart anymore and rejoiced for it. Ilyum Balkor, instead, felt incredibly awkward looking at the two women¡¯s intimacy, yet he was also amazed by the events he had just witnessed by sharing Sark¡¯s eyes.

    He had no idea why the Overlord of the Blood Desert had brought him along, but he was certain that there had to be a hidden meaning to it.

    "My Liege, I don¡¯t mean to ruin this moment for you two, but why am I here?" He asked.

    "I brought you with me for the same reason Leegaain always has Milea apanying him. To teach you something and because human history needs a human witness to be properly passed on." Sark replied.

    "A Guardian¡¯s perception of events is so different from mortals that our chronicles are shallow at best."

    "What do you mean?"

    "How do you feel after watching Valeron¡¯s fight?" The Overlord knew that answering a question with another question was rude, but it was the only way to make Balkor understand.

    "I¡¯m shocked out of my brain. He was simply amazing, a true god of the battlefield. What he did with his equipment waspletely unheard of! Also, I¡¯m a little disappointed because I remembered him to be much more handsome in portraits. No offense." He replied.

    "None taken." Tyris shook her head.

    "Do you know what I felt, instead? Nothing but nostalgia for my old friend." Sark said. "What you call amazing is trivial to me and with my knowledge, what Valeron did with his equipment is just a parlor trick.

    "As for his appearance, I still find him one of the most attractive men I¡¯ve ever seen."

    "What? How? I mean, even I am much better looking than that." Balkor was bbergasted.

    "Do you really think that after centuries of life, after gaining the power to alter my appearance and that of others at will, I might be attracted by a mere empty shell?" In the span of a few seconds, Sark shapeshifted into countless men and women.

    Some were beautiful, others hideous, yet all of them retained her charisma.

 Chapter 1400 - When All Are One (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1400 - When All Are One (Part 2)</h4>

    "When someone lives as long as we do, the only thing that matters is the content of someone¡¯s character. Valeron was nothing but a poor farmer turned soldier who spent the first part of his life struggling to have three hot meals a day.

    "Do you really expect someoneing from a hard life to be handsome and well built? What you saw in paintings was the result of body refinement and not what brought Tyris to him. The only thing that mattered was his heart."

    Seeing that something ethereal like character didn¡¯t get through Balkor¡¯s thick human skull, Sark sighed. Then she gave him a practical reason to believe her words.

    "Do you know why Tyris and I have taken such an appearance before leading our countries? Because it makes it easier for us to obtain their obedience and respect. People love their rulers with their hearts, but first humans need to l.u.s.t them with their eyes."

    "On top of that, if not for Tyris¡¯s love for Valeron, we wouldn¡¯t have power cores today."

    "What?" Balkor said in amazement.

    "Tyris wanted him to be capable of using his equipment to its fullest, but there¡¯s only so much time to think on the battlefield. A powerful artifact has many enchantments and managing them all requires a focus that realbat rarely allows you to have.

    "That¡¯s why she found a way to give Valeron¡¯s artifacts the ability to be almost self-sufficient so that he would only need a thought to express his needs and his equipment would deliver.

    "She is the inventor of the miracle called power core." Sark said.

    "If you¡¯re the god of Forgemasters, then how could Tyris be the one to invent power cores? On top of that, what does love have to do with their invention?" Balkor asked.

    "Being the best Forgemaster doesn¡¯t mean also being the best inventor. I¡¯m capable of crafting anything better than anyone else, but creativity isn¡¯t my forte nor is it Leegaain¡¯s. Fenagar is the god of discovery just like Tyris is creativity incarnate." Sark said.

    "What¡¯s the difference?"

    "Discovery is finding something that already exists, creativity is using current knowledge to create something new. There¡¯s a reason why Lochra, Baba, and all of the Rulers of the mese from Garlen." She replied.

    "As for your question about love, it¡¯s actually simple. You often hear about a man bing one with their sword, but that¡¯s just a myth that only Tyris¡¯s invention made true.

    "des are just sharp tools with no feelings nor loyalty, like a dog that would wee the assassin who broke into your home in the hope for a tasty treat. A sword doesn¡¯t feel nor does it care for who wields it.

    "Countless warriors died on the edge of their own weapon. No person can ever be one with a de simply because with each swing the warrior changes while the de stays the same.

    "The invention of power cores changed that. The artifact learns from its user and vice versa, bing an extension of their body. If not for Tyris¡¯s love and determination to have Valeron return to her alive, power cores wouldn¡¯t exist and neither would de spells." The Guardian said.

    "I see. You mean that because of her feelings that she had the drive to achieve such a feat and it was because of Valeron¡¯s that he mastered the Saefel artifacts to the point of creating de tier spells." Balkor said while pondering the revtions.

    "Exactly." Sark nodded.

    "Many people think that humans are just creatures of cold intellect and that to achieve true greatness one has to discard their feelings, considering them a burden. Yet I took you with me because you showed me through your family that you are more than your revenge.

    "Intellect and raw emotions are the true recipe for greatness because no matter what humans tell themselves, in the end, they are just a particrly smart animal. Denying your beast nature doesn¡¯t make you better, it makes you weaker."

    "Why didn¡¯t they use the Cube against me and are you capable of doing what Valeron, what Tyris did?" Balkor asked thest two questions that gued his mind, wishing to go back to the Forge and learn how to Forgemaster such powerful equipment for himself.

    "The Cube, just like the Saefel relics, still belong to Valeron and bear his will. To use them, you need his permission. The First King found the Kingdom guilty for what happened to you and so did the First Queen. Those undead, however, called upon his wrath.

    "About yourst question, once I understand how an artifact had been made, I can do it better than its inventor. So yes, I can, but I still owe Tyris for giving birth to runes, power cores, and all the tools that make Forgemastery the discipline I love." Sark said.

    Meanwhile, Belius¡¯s backup arrays had been activated and a full crew of Wardens and Forgemasters worked on repairing the damage that Dawn had dealt to the control center.

    At the same time, Manohar tried and failed to probe the Cube to learn its secrets. Not only did all of his Royal Forgemastering spells fail to examine the artifact, but the Cube also refused to answer his thoughts anymore.

    "Heroes my sweet ass! Come back here and tell me how to cast a spell of that magnitude. My escape odds, I mean, the fate of the Kingdom depends on it!" The Mad Professor said, but the Cube ignored him and Warped back to the Royal Treasury.

    ***

    The city of Lightkeep, Haug¡¯s Travelling Tavern, now.

    After Baba Yaga and Ilthin had left, there wasn¡¯t much Lith could do. dion had gone to sleep and so did Nyka. The Firstborn was capable of moving freely during the day, but he could exert only a fraction of his power, making him weaker than Lith.

    During the day, the sunstones that illuminated the cities of the Eclipsed Lands were turned off, simting a day cycle reversed to that of the surface. While Scarlett kept an eye on Nyka and Ka, Lith had decided to go back to his contractor.

    Much to his surprise, Parmegianno Haug had brought his entire establishment and staff along with him. Inside, the tavern was identical to how Lith remembered it from his first visit with Kam.

    The floor and the walls wereprised of small hard wooden boards, giving the ce a warm and cozy ambiance.

    Most of the tables were taken and the ce was full of people, but everything had been spaced so that it didn¡¯t feel crowded, leaving to each group of customers their privacy.

    Equallyfortable padded chairs and barstools allowed people to choose between sitting in groups at a table or at the bar counter at the top right corner with the bartender as their onlypany.

    In the top left corner, instead, there was a bandstand from which musicians were ying, but this time the band wasprised of undead and the lead singer was a male Banshee while the Dryad served at the tables.

    Inside Lightkeep, no one cared about hiding their real appearance or the nature of their food. Sentient nts ate their meal raw while most undead had a source of sustenance so gruesome that Lith had to turn around to keep his stomach from churning.

    Yet aside from him, no one seemed to care. No matter their race, people at the same table passed spices and napkins to each other while having a good time.

 Chapter 1401 - Pain and Sorrow (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1401 - Pain and Sorrow (Part 1)</h4>

    "Rough night, huh?" Haug asked.

    "You can say that." Lith sighed, looking at his Council amulet and the many notifications that Faluel sent him about his family and the Kingdom.

    Even the usually cheerful bartender gasped at the news that Belius had almost fallen and was eager to read the chronicles of the three battles on the Kingdom¡¯s interlink.

    "Do you still have some of that Crimson Garuda?"

    "Depends. Are you going to steal another keg?" Haug replied.

    "No."

    "Then I do have some more." The bartender offered Lith a beer mug filled with the red ale, being careful to never show him the source, just to be safe.

    "Thanks. You won¡¯t believe what happened to me tonight." Lith gave him a report about thetest events and the progress they had made in tracking the missing children.

    Haug was his contractor so Lith felt obligated to keep him posted. Between a snack and a drink, Lith managed to rx. He also told Haug about the quarrel between Baba Yaga and the Master without revealing thetter¡¯s identity.

    Lith had no idea of the Professor¡¯s ns nor of how much Vastor¡¯s role as the Master had affected his life so he preferred to keep the secret for himself.

    The only things Lith knew about Vastor¡¯s alias was that the Abomination hybrids worked for him, and so did the Rock Worm and the Empowered Abomination who hade to retrieve the Orc¡¯s violet crystal.

    The first point was irrelevant to Lith, and the other two he could understand. Gremus, the Rock Worm, had only done his job while trying to protect the crystal while the Abomination had attacked Lith without the Master¡¯s permission.

    <i>¡¯If Vastor wanted me dead, he would have sent Xenagrosh, Tezka, or any of the hybrids since I¡¯m no match for them yet.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Great Mother almighty!" Haug whistled in surprise. "And here I thought my life was f.u.c.k.e.d up. I heard about the children of divorced parents having four parents, but you basically have six.

    "Each one of the sides of your life force has a lovely couple worried for you." He chuckled.

    Elina and Raaz for the human side, Sark and Leegaain for the beast side, and now the Master and Baba Yaga for the Abomination side.

    "Yeah, except that those kids receive lots of gifts from their parents in the attempt to buy their affection whereas I just have a bunch of meddling assholes who im to know what¡¯s best for me." Lith said with a scoff.

    "Aside from my human parents and Sark, I¡¯ve got only troubles from the others."

    "That¡¯s what parents normally do to their children. You must consider yourself lucky just because they didn¡¯t inflict permanent emotional scars on you, unlike it happened to Dryna." Haugh pointed with the ss he was cleaning at one of his barmaids.

    She looked like a pretty young woman in her early twenties, about 1.78 meters (5¡¯10") tall with blonde hair and red eyes. She had a small set of golden wings on her back, horns on her head, and a knee-length golden tailing out of her spine.

    <i>¡¯Either she is a god-tier cosyer or some kind of hybrid.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    "Is she-"

    "A Wyvern? Yes." Haug misunderstood his question and cut him short. "She¡¯s still got trouble with shapeshifting, but customers find her cuter for that. That asshole of Xedros kicked her out without Awakening her after Dryna befriended a human.

    "Not knowing how to shapeshift and Xedros being Xedros, bad things happened."

    "Let me guess, Xedros killed the human and you picked her up like a stray, giving her a safe ce from her father." Lith said.

    "No. They ran inside my bar in search of shelter and I Warped the Tavern away. Her human girlfriend works in the kitchen and Dryna serves at the tables in exchange for lessons about magic." Haug shrugged.

    "Does everyone here have a story?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. Pick that guy in the corner for example. He-"

    "Save it for someone who actually cares." Lith snarled at the chatterbox bartender.

    "I just came here to tell you that as soon as the sun sets, Scarlett, dion, and I are going to find out what happened to the kidnapped undead. Don¡¯t get your hopes up. If the Master is right, they are already dead or soon to be."

    "That¡¯s not the reason I hired you. I wanted you to save them. Why are you still here instead of looking for them?" Haug clenched the ss that he was cleaning so hard that it cracked, forcing the spells imbued in the tavern to fix it.

    "No, you hired me to find out the truth and that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing. dion can¡¯t leave his city exposed and Scarlett would never leave Nyka unprotected." Lith said while asking for seconds.

    "If we find someone still alive when we get there, you have my word that I¡¯ll try to bring them back alive. If they don¡¯tpromise my safety, of course."

    "Lith Verhen, you¡¯re such a piece of work that I would love you had a middle name. I wonder how you managed to get a single woman to love you with such a shitty attitude." Haug snarled, but served him anyway out of habit.

    "I¡¯ve never imed to be nothing but a bad person, but I¡¯m really good at it." Lith said with a grin.

    Then, another update appeared on his amulet, making his face turn pale and his ss be consumed by Chaos beyond what any spell could repair.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Distar Marquisate, Distar Household, an hour back.

    After the few minutes she needed to stop puking and let the tonic and nutrients potions stored in her tattoo take effect, Mirim Distar, Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corpse had returned home.

    After stepping through the Gate of her Household, she shapeshifted her Featherwalker armor into a sky-blue day dress and sat heavily on her favorite armchair.

    "Good gods. The sun has barely risen and I¡¯m already dead tired." She mumbled to herself while browsing the good, the bad, and the horrible news on her army amulet.

    The Mother Earth potion had ceased its effect after returning Mirim to her peak condition, but due to the overuse of Tyris¡¯s breathing technique, it had barely had any effect left.

    "What the heck?" She was so shocked that if not for the exhaustion guing her body she would have jumped up. "Has Mogar turned upside down? Vastor finished first, then the Corpse, and Manohar ended upst?

    "This order is exactly what I predicted, but in a reversed order."

    "It¡¯s a crazy world, huh?" A male voice said while a dart of pure energy struck Mirim in the c.h.e.s.t with enough force to crack her Featherwalker armor and make her cough out a mouthful of blood.

    She had been so tired that she had failed to notice either the figure hiding in the dark corner of the room and the fact that the array in the room had been turned off.

    "You!" She got back to her feet with a kip-up while infusing herself with all elements.

    Seeing the deep blue Archmage robe he wore and whaty under it answered all the questions that she had ever since Lark¡¯s death.

    "Me." Five rays of different colors came out from the fingers of his right hand, each one infused with a different element.

 Chapter 1402 - Pain and Sorrow (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1402 - Pain and Sorrow (Part 2)</h4>

    Mirim rolled on the floor, dodging the fire and the freeze ray, but she was forced to use the little mana she had left to boost the Featherwalker armor and conjure a barrier to stop the remaining three.

    She pressed the emergency rune on her amulet, yet nothing happened.

    "I¡¯ve made sure that no one will interrupt us, dear Marchioness." The blue-robed figure kept pouring one spell after another, forcing Mirim to sacrifice her favorite furniture to save her own life.

    The good thing aboutmon items enchanted tost was that they offered a brief but decent protection.

    "How did you manage to do this?" She asked in the hope to buy some time.

    She had no spell at the ready, little mana, and a battered body whereas her opponent had ambushed her while at his peak condition. Unlike Mirim, he had spent the night in thefort of his home, waiting for the opportunity to strike at any of those who had received one of his cards.

    "The problem of hosting so many parties, of having so many guests in your home, is that studying its defenses is easy. One needs just to scan them one bit at a time in order to understand their workings." He replied while casting non-stop.

    "How does it feel to be trapped inside the ce that was supposed to keep you safe? To have your personal fortress turned into a prison?" The enchantments protecting the house made it impossible for Mirim to burst through a window while the air blocking array he hady kept her from flying, Blinking, and even from using her amulet.

    "You may have vited this ce, but I still have the home advantage." The Marchioness inserted the small violet crystal in the fissure of her amulet, so as to trigger the Emergency Gate as soon as it gained a shred of a signal.

    Then, she threw the amulet with all of her might against a corner of the room. She hadn¡¯t survived that long without nning even for the most unlikely scenario. The corner hid a very small trapdoor that could only be opened from the inside.

    When the amulet hit it, the trapdoor offered only minimal resistance before letting it fly out of the house and in the middle of the street, outside the area of effect of the air sealing array.

    "No ytime, then. What a pity." He said with a sight.

    "Bring it on." Mirim said while holding her polearm in a defensive stance.

    The moment the army amulet connected with the Kingdom¡¯s emergency line, the distress signal went through and Royal Guards came out of the Gate that the Marchioness had opened.

    All they found was a hole in the wall of the living room and her butchered body left in in view. The culprit had left the word "Past" written on the wall with her entrails.

    He had also hung her intestines to the ceiling after wrapping them around her limbs, making Mirim look like a puppet held by an invisible hand through bloodied strings.

    ***

    City of Lightkeep, Haug¡¯s Travelling Tavern, now.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, Lith, but Balkor¡¯s copycat just killed the Marchioness. We arrived a few seconds after the Gate opened, just like with Lark, but it was already toote." Jirni showed him the images of the crime scene through the army amulet.

    It had taken Orion quite some effort to boost the signal enough to reach Lightkeep. Jirni wanted to give him the news in person and answer any questions he might have.

    "How? Just how? She was no pushover!" Lith remembered well their conversation about the Corpse and Spirit Magic.

    He and Solus had used their respective mystical senses to study her. Mirim had a bright violet core and a perfectly refined body that made her a nut almost impossible to crack.

    Solus wanted to weep as much as Lith, but there was no time for that. Lith was doing his best to keep his Abomination side from going haywire, but with limited sess. His right hand had turned ck and it took both of them effort just to not make it spread.

    "I know that as well. After the murder, I was informed about her side job so that I wouldn¡¯t waste my time investigating dead ends." Jirni still knew nothing about Awakened and the Corpse, she only knew that Mirim was a decorated officer of a ck ops squad.

    "Whoever did this, they are much more cunning, patient, and powerful than I predicted. They timed the attack in the worst possible moment not only for the Marchioness, but for the Kingdom itself, just like during the ckest Day.

    "On top of that, to kill Mirim and arrange her corpse like that in such a short time, they must have overwhelming power. Mirim may have been exhausted, but managing to kill her so quickly speaks volumes about our opponent." Jirni said.

    "Agreed." Lith said with a snarl.

    The rtionship he had with Mirim was more about business than feelings yet her death hit him as badly as Lark¡¯s. The Marchioness hadn¡¯t just been the ruler of his region, she was also the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s Corps and his most reliable political ally.

    It was only thanks to Marchioness Distar that not one, but three units of the Corps had been assigned to his family. All the arrays, the rewards, and the security measures he had built over time were also partly her doing.

    Whenever people like Deirus, Archmage Kwart, the head of the Mage Association, Headmaster Onia of the ck Griffon, or any disgruntled Lord of the Ker region had tried to harm Lith¡¯s career, Mirim had been his most stalwart defender.

    Unlike Jirni, she had no hidden agenda, she only did it because she considered it the right thing to do. Now, for the first time ever since he had enrolled in the White Griffon, both his family and his public reputation were left unguarded.

    For all those years, Mirim Distar had been the safety behind his family¡¯s protection and Lith¡¯s neutral political stand.

    A safety that now had been taken away from him, leaving the evaluation of every action he would take from that moment in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians who had never spent a single day in the field.

    People who cared more about protocol and official procedure than efficiency. People who could be bribed or swayed for their own gains. Lith had always taken Mirim¡¯s absolute loyalty for granted and now Mogar crumbled below his feet.

    "How long will it take to have a new Lord Commander?" Lith asked as his aura wed to escape and his eyes burned akin to small suns.

    "It¡¯s a very important political charge. Days. Maybe weeks, if not months." Jirni said, worried by the lights in her house flickering as more of the shadows in the room came to life with each passing second.

    The small dimensional door the amulets created was enough to carry a sliver of Lith¡¯s fury over to the Ernas household that, unlike the Tavern, had never been shielded against Awakened.

    "I¡¯ll call you back as soon as I discover something. Jirni out." She hung up the call and the room returned to normal.

 Chapter 1403 - Shared Misery (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1403 - Shared Misery (Part 1)</h4>

    "Well, well, well. One little mystery exined, one hundred big mysteries unanswered. My daughters know all about Lith and yet they never mentioned his abilities to me for all these years.

    "Kids these days." Jirni said with a deep sigh while she changed her ns ording to hertest discovery.

    Meanwhile, in Haug¡¯s tavern, Lith didn¡¯t take the abrupt ending of the conversation well. He roared in fury and released his blue-violet aura since there was no point in hiding it anymore.

    The arrays of Lightkeep were even stronger than Belius¡¯s, but this time there wasn¡¯t Kam with him. Lith had no reason to hold back.

    "That bastard! They are following their n, killing the people close to me one after another. I¡¯ve got no time to waste. I need to find who¡¯s taking the undead children and have dion move his f.u.c.k.i.n.g undead ass!"

    The Travelling Tavern started to rumble and Lith¡¯s body to turn ck.

    <i>¡¯Calm down, Lith.¡¯</i> Solus said, trying to find the right words in the middle of her own grief.<i> ¡¯Don¡¯t you remember what happened in Jiera? Surrendering to your Abomination side takes much more than it gives.</i>

    <i>¡¯No matter how much power you gain, there¡¯s no one here deserving your fury. You would just be a monster that feeds on anyone just to survive. Have you already forgotten what you did to me thest time it happened?¡¯</i>

    Those words froze Lith in ce, allowing him to realize the madness possessing him. He wouldn¡¯t hurt Solus again, no matter the reason.

    <i>¡¯We have to keep a cool head and predict their next target. If the culprit follows Balkor¡¯s methods, then they must first clear all the Past cards before moving to the Present.</i>

    <i>¡¯We must warn your Professors. They are the only ones left with the Past card.¡¯</i> Solus said as his Abomination side subsided.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯d like to see them try! As long as Marth is inside the White Griffon, he¡¯s a god. Manohar is Manohar and Vastor is a monster. If Xenagrosh and the other Abomination hybrids live with him, attacking Vastor is suicide.¡¯</i> He replied.

    "Dammit, I need help." Lith said the moment he noticed that, despite his and Solus¡¯s best efforts, the Abomination side still run rampant, exploiting his emotional distress to escape from its bounds.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways! The more often my Abomination side breaks free, the harder it gets to regain control and keep the Chaos from destroying my body. I can¡¯t afford another slip up when I¡¯m alone.¡¯</i>

    "I¡¯m on it." Haugh cast the tier three Spirit Spell, Chill Area, something he had created to deal with powerful patrons too drunk to control their own actions.

    The spell used darkness to sap their strength, light and earth to conjure a straightjacket harder than diamond, and water to make it flexible. Lith¡¯s Abomination side didn¡¯t like darkness and tried to hide under his skin to evade contact.

    "Guys, we need a team effort." Haug said once he noticed the damages that Chaos inflicted upon his spell every time they shed.

    Chill Area wasn¡¯t meant to harm its mark, just to restrain them whereas Chaos had only one purpose, annihtion.

    The waiters and kitchen staff joined the effort, feeding Haug¡¯s spell their own Spirit Magic tendrils to boost its power. After permanently hiring someone, the bartender usually Awakened the strays he picked up and made them his apprentices.

    It was the only way to exploit the Council to protect them from whatever past they were running away from and to get a reasonably waged workforce. Two birds with one stone.

    Their effortsbined with that of Lith and Solus soon beat the Abomination side into submission. Once the bnce between his life forces was restored, Lith made sure to be calm in both body and mind before leaving the Tavern.

    "You forgot to tip dude!" Dryna said. "This asshole doesn¡¯t pay me enough and because of you, now I need to take the rest of the day off."

    "How dare you? I gave you a home, delicious meals, I Awakened you and-"

    "And you work my a.s.s off every day for a measly pay!" The Wyvern snarled. "Once I¡¯m done with my apprenticeship, I¡¯d like to be able to afford more than a rat¡¯s nest."

    Lith gave everyone a tip equal to the entire bill and left. His life was worth more than a couple of silver coins and, as a healer, he too liked to be paid for his services.

    Once he returned to dion¡¯s house, he discovered that the Scorpicore had a face as long as his own.

    "Mirim is dead." The Scorpicore¡¯s voice was firm, but her eyes wept.

    Nyka was now able to move thanks to Scarlett¡¯s array and hugged her aunt without saying a word, just to let the Scorpicore know that she wasn¡¯t alone and that Nyka was there for her.

    "Did you know Marchioness Distar as well?" Lith asked.

    "Since her first year of Academy." Scarlett replied. "She was the future Lord of the Distar region and the person responsible for the White Griffon academy so her mother sent Mirim to me.

    "We got along quite well. I helped her study as a student, as a mage, and I even trained her once she joined the Corpse. She was my friend and a good one at that."

    "Then you know what I¡¯m about to ask you." Lith said.

    "I know and I understand your reasons, yet my answer is no." The Scorpicore shook her huge head, l.i.c.k.i.n.g Nyka¡¯s face and enjoying her kind embrace.

    "Why?" Lith clenched his hands so hard that his knuckles popped.

    "Because that would mean ying into our enemy¡¯s hand. I can¡¯t rule out that the person who kidnapped the undead and killed Mirim is the same person. The timing is too damn perfect to not be suspicious.

    "Mirim¡¯s death happened while the both of us were away and the Hors.e.m.e.n attacked. They knew that her death would make our blood boil and probably expect us to charge forward like morons because of our grief." Scarlett replied.

    "Your enemy is doing more than just killing. They are taking away everyone you hold dear, the people that make your life worth living. Your enemy wants you to be a blood-frenzied beast and to destroy with your own hands everything you have built.

    "Don¡¯t you ever forget that humans are nothing more than particrly cunning animals and that the reason why normal beasts lose to humans before evolving into magical beasts is that weck intelligence.

    "After the evolution, instead, humans lose to us because they get so obsessed with what they are that they forget who they are. Don¡¯t let your enemy turn you into a mindless beast but never discard your feelings either." The Scorpicore said.

    "I strongly believe that evolution doesn¡¯t make our races more different so much as it brings us closer. Evolution gives intelligence to beasts, conscience to nts, and, if I¡¯m right, it tries to force humans to look beyond their own nose.

    "To remind them that they¡¯re not the only sentient species on this. The key to our strength is bnce, the same that keeps your life forces together."

 Chapter 1404 - Shared Misery (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1404 - Shared Misery (Part 2)</h4>

    "The hunger of an Abomination, the fury of a beast, and the cruelty of a man make you who you are. Be their rider, not their steed. Don¡¯t let them rule you but don¡¯t discard any of them either. Just keep them in check, make them work for you, and unleash them against whoever killed Mirim.

    "Just like I¡¯m going to do with our current enemy first, Mirim¡¯s killer second, and Balkor once I have enough power." Scarlet said.

    The Scorpicore had never forgiven the Blood Magus for killing her friends nor did she ever forget about her revenge. Scarlett would let her violent emotions simmer, but never grow cold.

    "You are right. I need time to calm down and we need dion¡¯s help." Lith said.

    "Exactly. We had an easy time against the altered Emperor Beasts because our opponents were failed prototypes. We can¡¯t afford to face the final product with an unstable mind, we need to calm down first." Scarlett gave Lith a strong tea that he epted before going to rest.

    "What about me, Auntie? Can Ie as well?" Nyka asked.

    "No, child. You are sorelycking in battle experience. If even a deranged prototype bested you, there¡¯s no way you can beat an even stronger and cunning opponent."

    Nyka opened her mouth to say that she was stronger than everyone thought and that she had learned from her mistakes. The young Vampire wanted to dere herself a strong, independent woman, capable of protecting herself.

    Then, Nyka remembered Ka¡¯s words about teenagers believing to be the only ones with half a brain and realized that, aside from bravado, there would be no substance behind her words.

    "You¡¯re right, Auntie. I¡¯m powerful, but I¡¯m too green to be of help. I¡¯d just be a liability." Nyka said.

    "That¡¯s my girl!" Ka said, hugging her daughter and cleaning her from head to toe again.

    "Mom! Have mercy!" There was no one besides Scarlett there, but being licked like a puppy was still embarrassing beyond belief.

    "Good girl." Scarlett joined the l.i.c.k.i.n.g. "Once we get back home, I¡¯ll make a warrior out of you."

    Meanwhile, in the nearby room, Lith used his Council amulet to contact Faluel and have her safely put him in contact with Kam. The army and themunication amulet didn¡¯t work in Lightkeep and he was in dire need to hear her voice.

    "I¡¯m sorry for not being there earlier, but Jirni left in a hurry to warn you and make sure that her daughters were alright, leaving me to secure the crime scene." Kam¡¯s eyes were bloodshot, but her voice was calm and the only expression on her face was of worry for him.

    "Please, don¡¯t apologize. You were just doing your job. Thanks for being always here for me." Lith said.

    "I know it¡¯s the dumbest question in the world, but how are you holding up?"

    "Barely." Lith told her about his Abomination side going out of control and Scarlett¡¯s theory about the culprit¡¯s perfect timing.

    "Good gods!" Kam inwardly forgave Haug for his past rudeness and typed everything on her army amulet, sharing the Scorpicore¡¯s thoughts with Jirni.

    All the while never averting her eyes from Lith¡¯s.

    "Don¡¯t worry about us. Everyone is safe and there are Royal Guards visiting those who received the cards." She said to calm him down.

    "You have no idea how much I miss you right now." Lith said, longing for her warm embrace.

    "I miss you more." Kam extended her hand for him to touch.

    She knew that holograms were intangible, but Kam still wanted Lith to know that she was there with him.

    "Gods, you two are so cute." Faluel sniffled, feeling the sudden need for a boyfriend to exchange cuddles with. "Better than any romance y I have ever seen."

    They hadpletely forgotten that the Council amulet required its owner to work and that the Hydra had been there the entire time.

    ***

    After the sun set on the surface, the sunstones lit Lightkeep as clear as day while its inhabitants awoke from their forced slumber.

    dion ate one of the remaining captured Emperor Beasts while Nyka consumed the other. She used the meditation technique that the Firstborn had passed onto her topletely absorb both their life force and mana.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for your loss. I¡¯m ready to move whenever you are." dion said after making sure that the city arrays held still and mobilizing the city army.

    "One question." Lith said. "I know that we are not rted or even friends but don¡¯t you think it would be better for you to share with me the secret of the violet core? I¡¯m almost there anyway and we could use all the power we can get."

    "Absolutely not." They both said in unison.

    "It has nothing to do with our rtionship, it¡¯s a matter of protecting your future." Scarlett said. "Being taught is akin to use a Gate. Sure, you reach your destination in a single step, but you miss the whole journey.

    "You don¡¯t fight, don¡¯t experience different foods and cultures, you never have the opportunities to question yourself or your motivations. Getting there by yourself until thest step means discovering what only you are capable of. What makes you unique."

    The Scorpicore showed him her ability to turn darkness into light and vice versa at will. Constructs turned into spheres of destruction and then into healing spells. It wasn¡¯t a matter of just changing the element, but even the nature of the spell.

    Lith looked at her in awe as Scarlett turned the original hard-light construct into all kinds of darkness and light spells without the need to spend more mana.

    "I agree with the Lord." dion nodded. "What you lose in the process greatly exceeds your gains. Baba Yaga didn¡¯t Awaken even her Firstborns because she wanted us to be independent from her.

    "Teaching you our ways would keep you from discovering your own and it would be a short-sighted move exactly because you¡¯re so close to finding your unique answer. On top of that, you wouldn¡¯t have the time to get ustomed to your new body and powers.

    "Please, try to calm down and clear your head while I make the final arrangements to keep my family safe during my absence." The Firstborn left to say goodbye to his wife and son while Lith pondered their words.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, they are right. I¡¯ve still got my head up my a.s.s. We need to rx, Solus.¡¯</i> He thought.

    Lith sat on one of the doorsteps and closed his eyes, focusing solely on his breathing. Not to use a breathing technique so much as to clear his mind from the turmoil that made it hard for him to focus like usual.

    It was the perfect method to calm down, but only for someone capable of actually emptying their mind. Lith¡¯s brain abhorred void even more than nature does so it formed random thoughts to fill the empty space.

    <i>¡¯Okay, this isn¡¯t going to work unless we learn how to zen. Let¡¯s use Faluel¡¯s meditation techniques instead.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    The Hydra¡¯s iplete Domination technique required Lith to focus on the elemental flow inside and outside his body, merging them into one. As soon as the task allowed Lith to stop worrying, he moved to circte fusion magic throughout his body.

 Chapter 1405 - Altered Beasts (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1405 - Altered Beasts (Part 1)</h4>

    Then, after all six elements moved freely through Lith¡¯s body like currents in the ocean, he weaved spells with his vortexes without moving. The focus that the various exercises needed brought the grief to a halt.

    It wasn¡¯t much and it wouldn¡¯tst long, but at least Lith managed to put aside Mirim¡¯s death for the time being and focus on the task at hand. The thought that whoever had killed Lark had just doubled the score that Lith had to settle enraged him beyond what words could describe.

    Yet he followed Scarlett¡¯s advice, leaving those feelings to simmer without bottling them up. They were there, ready for use, safely stored in a corner of his mind.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t know what you think, but to me, our technique seems iplete. As if we¡¯re missing thest piece of the puzzle.¡¯</i> Lith said, referring to his method to refine the vortexes into auxiliary cores.

    <i>¡¯Agreed. It¡¯s the right method, but itcks something.¡¯</i> Solus nodded. <i>¡¯Even against Qisal, you failed to stabilize them. There must be something else you have to do, but I can¡¯t figure out what.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Same.¡¯</i> Lith inwardly sighed.<i> ¡¯Do you mind reying everything that Faluel taught us about Domination and Spirit Magic? Also include Baba Yaga¡¯s speech.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯The good Dominance, the iplete Dominance, or both?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Both.¡¯</i> He replied as Solus brought to the surface of his mind all the recollections they shared of those past events.

    Lith kept ying them over and over in his head, adding the memories of his fights against the Vagrash and Qisal. He studied how his body changed ording to the refining of his vortexes and tried to make sense of it.

    Then, dion returned and snapped him out of it.

    "I¡¯m d to see you managed to take a short nap. Are you feeling better now?" He asked.

    "Yes." Lith honesty replied.

    "Good. While you rested, I scanned the area. The Eyes have picked up a trace, but I can¡¯t be sure until we leave Lightkeep¡¯s borders. Between powerful cored people, artifacts, and arrays, there are too many inputs even in tutorial mode." Scarlett said.

    They took out their respective wings and flew out of the city without using spells, never turning off the air sealing array. Once they reached the spot where the kidnappers had blown their Warp Gates, Scarlett activated the Eyes¡¯ advanced mode.

    "The tracks are still fresh and with what Baba Yaga has taught me, tracking them down will be much easier than following Balkor." She said while taking flight again, but this time using air magic to boost her speed.

    The group flew at great speed, but slow enough for the Eyes to pick up an ambush and for them to react ordingly. Scarlett kept a mind link active with her allies, sharing solely what they needed to know in the case the enemy managed to split them up.

    "Don¡¯t ask me how, but they noticed our arrival and have prepared a weing party." Scarlett stopped abruptly after half an hour of high-speed flight. "Since they are kindlying to us, let¡¯s prepare a few gifts for them while we wait."

    The Scorpicore shared with the others thetest coordinates of their destination and started to weave her best set of spells. dion did the same and Lith went beyond that. He had Solus assume her gloves form and took War out of its sheath.

    Contrary to his usual strategy, he went all-out from the beginning of the fight.

    <i>¡¯One use of Invigoration is worth pummelling someone to death and vent part of the rage that gues me since I learned about Mirim¡¯s death.¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯All of the meditation techniques in the world can¡¯t keep me calm, especially if the one behind the kidnappings is the same person who murdered my people. Yet I can¡¯t face such a mastermind without a cool head. I need to take it out on one of their aplices.¡¯</i>

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Lith and Scarlett blurted out in surprise when the enemies entered the scope of their mystical senses, allowing the two to scan them properly.

    One of them was a Lindwurm, a lesser Dragon that was supposed to have a long snake-like body with only two arms. Yet the creature had also a set of stumpy hind legs and two small atrophied wingsing out of its back.

    Another was a Behemoth, a lesser Griffon. It looked like an enormous red feline with a long maneing out of its spine along with several long jagged bone spikes. Two long horns came out from the crimson Emperor Beast¡¯s shoulders, protecting the sides of its head.

    Behemoths were supposed to have taken mostly the lion part from the Griffon body and not to have any bloodline power except for Tyris¡¯s uncanny physical strength. Yet the creature had half of its body covered in feathers and silver bolts of lightning crackled around its body.

    The other two creatures, a Drake and a female Sphinx, were respectively a lesser Dragon and Griffon as well. They both showed enhanced features of their Guardian ancestor and powers they weren¡¯t supposed to have.

    To make matters even worse, each one of them was an Awakened.

    <i>¡¯Be careful, they all smell of Ambrosia.¡¯</i> dion warned Lith and Scarlett via the mind link before losing himself in his fury.

    Seeing the bloodline of the Guardians resurfacing to such an extent on four creatures each about 20 meters (66 feet) tall meant that hundreds of undead had been sacrificed.

    dion knew how Arthan¡¯s Madness worked and how much energy went wasted in the process.

    "How dare you filthy mongrels feed on my children? On my brethren?" He roared while charging ahead of his allies.

    "Who the f.u.c.k do you think you are to judge us? Just because we do not belong directly to the Guardians¡¯ bloodline we¡¯re no mongrels! It¡¯s because of people like you that we have been forced to do this." Menia the Behemoth said in outrage.

    She activated the Life Maelstrom that now coursed through her body and struck the Firstborn with a bolt of silver lightning. The simple act made her weep with joy, feeling the Griffon side fill the void she had felt her whole life.

    Life Maelstrom had no destructive power by itself, it would simply overcharge someone¡¯s core, body, and enchanted items beyond the point they could be controlled, making them go haywire.

    <i>¡¯By the Red Mother, I¡¯m such an idiot.¡¯</i> He thought. <i>¡¯I warned Lith about keeping his fury in check just to do the opposite myself and fall into a stupid trap like a rookie.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1406 - Altered Beasts (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1406 - Altered Beasts (Part 2)</h4>

    While Menia¡¯s attack ate at him from the inside, Tark the Lindwurm hurled a st of Origin mes mixed with the corrosive breath typical of his species that eroded both dion¡¯s blood core and equipment.

    <i>¡¯Once I get out of here, I¡¯ll find all those who called me "worm" in the past and melt them with my acid mes. Not even "true Dragons" have such power. I¡¯m not just one of Leegaain¡¯s failures anymore, I¡¯m the first of a new species that¡¯s better than the original!¡¯</i> He thought as he hurled mes non-stop.

    <i>¡¯Solus, analysis.¡¯</i> Lith said.

    <i>¡¯Something is off as f.u.c.k.¡¯</i> She said, trying to make sense of the scene in front of them. <i>¡¯Yes, they are Awakened. Yes, they are simr to a Guardian¡¯s bloodline, but everything else is f.u.c.k.e.d up.</i>

    <i>¡¯No one has a core above deep blue and their body refining has been forcefully brought on par with their cores in a sloppy but efficient way. My guess is that those who already had a blue core died of Awakening, leaving those with a bright cyan as the only survivors.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Is that good news or bad news?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯Bad. Due to their mass, they are still stronger than you, and even though they are magically weaker, it¡¯s not by much. On top of that, they might have a breakthrough at any moment now.¡¯</i> Solus replied.

    <i>¡¯Lith, I¡¯ll take care of the Altered Sphinx. Life Maelstrom is a hassle to face if you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing so I¡¯ll leave the Drake to you.¡¯</i> Scarlett said via their mind link after the Eyes gave her a status report identical to Solus¡¯s.

    Like hispanions, the Sphinx was overeager to get rid of the "lesser" part of his species. Kunia breathed a jet-stream of deep blue Origin mes at Lith just because he could.

    There was no strategy behind it, he just wanted to lose himself in the power of the Dragon bloodline and in the ecstasy that Ambrosia gave him.

    <i>¡¯Seriously? What kind of a moron is he?¡¯</i> Lith replied in kind and his violet-blue Origin mes made short work of the opponent¡¯s, carrying with them the power of the explosion that conflicting mes caused.

    Kunia screamed in pain as he snapped out of his delusion of invincibility. The Origin mes ate at his body and mana at the same time while the explosion ripped several of his scales off.

    Lith didn¡¯t leave the Drake any time to recover and unleashed both of the Final Sunsets from his spell-holding ring, drowning him in a sea of ck mes. Kunia¡¯s Orichalc.u.m armor had already been weakened by the Origin mes so he didn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice it to save his life.

    He overcharged the pseudo core of the armor to cause a powerful explosion that spread outward from his skin, dealing him no damage and sting all of Lith¡¯s attack away.

    "Cool spell, bro. Do you do it like this?" His Dragon eyes allowed him to understand tier five spells after seeing them once. Drunk on his newfound powers, Kunia unleashed five Final Sunsets, one for each one of his left hand¡¯s fingers.

    "Indeed. Can you copy this as well?" Lith didn¡¯t falter and activated the penta-elemental tier four Spirit Spell, Piercing Explosion.

    An emerald ray as thick as an arm pushed the Final Sunsets that Lith failed to dodge away thanks to its light and earth aspects while using water to cool down the mes that came too close forfort.

    Piercing Explosion¡¯s tip spun on itself at high speed like a power drill thanks to the air aspect, having no problem getting through the Drake¡¯s thick scales, bones, and muscles. Then, once it reached the middle of his body, it exploded while releasing the darkness aspect.

    The Drake died on the spot, with no lungs left to use Invigoration nor a heart to pump blood through his veiled eyes.

    Lith panted heavily but refused to use Invigoration. He looked at the others with Life Vision, to assess if they needed his help and if the energy that he had left would have been enough.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways. Some Dragons are really capable of learning spells on the fly. Luckily, even if the Altered Drake survived, he had no way to copy Piercing Explosion unless someone had taught him how to weave Spirit Magic spells.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    Meanwhile, Scarlett was toying with her opponent on purpose. The more time she stalled, the more information the advanced mode of the Eyes would collect. She had no time to read it during the battle, but the Scorpicore could always do itter.

    <i>¡¯dion can fend for himself. We need all the knowledge we can get to understand the nature of our real enemy.¡¯</i> She thought, eager to avenge Mirim in the cruelest and most painful way.

    "Stop running, you coward!" Zogh the Sphinx said in outrage as the Scorpicore easily dodged all of her attacks and refused to fight back. No matter how much Life Maelstrom the lesser Griffon used, it wasn¡¯t enough.

    The physical gap between bright blue and deep violet was big, but that between deep blue and bright violet was simply enormous. Scarlett was smarter, more experienced, and careful whereas her opponent was high on Ambrosia.

    To make matters worse for Zogh, she had no idea how to use properly the powers that she had gained from Awakening. A few days weren¡¯t enough to even scratch the surface of the many skills that only Awakened had.

    "I hate you!" The Sphinx yelled as she used Life Maelstrom directly on her body and core, making them both evolve to the mid-blue level.

    "Are you insane? Stop it!" Scarlett blurted out in surprise as the Eyes of Menadion warned her that they had yet a long way to go with the scan.

    "Then you stop dodging!" The Sphinx said, diving on her like a bird of prey, with the ws of her four limbs aimed at Scarlett¡¯s head and c.h.e.s.t.

    "Your wish is mymand." A wave of the Scorpicore¡¯s paw activated the tier five Spirit Spell, Amber Prison.

    An emerald construct intercepted Zogh in mid-air, encasing her inside what looked like a giant precious gemstone made of Spirit Magic. Zogh¡¯s ws were powerless against it and so were her enchanted knives and even Life Maelstrom.

    Scarlett had faced enough Griffons to devise a spell capable of circting the silver energy so that instead of harming her spell, Life Maelstrom actually enhanced Amber Prison to a hardness between Adamant and Davross.

    "You tricked me!" The Sphinx yelled.

    "No, you did this all by yourself. Now either tell me who sent you or shut up. I¡¯m done with your madness." The Scorpicore said.

    "But I¡¯m not done with you!" Zogh consumed all the Life Maelstrom she had left, triggering a second breakthrough and reaching the bright blue core.

    Unfortunately for the Sphinx, the only thing that had kept her body together after the previous forced breakthrough was the silver energy coursing through her being that amplified Zogh¡¯s physical prowess.

    Now that the pressure of the core had be even greater and she had no Life Maelstrom left, the Sphinx exploded like a gruesome firecracker, painting Amber Prison red.

    <i>¡¯Analysis at 20%.¡¯</i> The Eyes mercilessly said.

 Chapter 1407 - Two as One (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1407 - Two as One (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k! My only hope is that dion is still messing around with-¡¯</i> Scarlett¡¯s hopes died the moment she saw Lith sitting on a stone, eating some jerky and drinking a tonic.

    Right after shrugging off Life Maelstrom¡¯s effects with Life Aura that turned the Firstborn¡¯s physical strength into a defensive wall, dion had unsheathed his sword, Primordial Thirst, and decapitated his opponents.

    If the gap between a deep blue and a bright violet mana core was big, that with a full red blood core was even bigger. The moment dion had taken the gloves off, the creatures were already dead, they just didn¡¯t know it yet.

    "This is odd." He said. "Thest time we fought against more than two Guardian¡¯s bloodlines whereas this time they were either lesser Griffons or Dragons."

    "My thoughts exactly." Lith and Scarlett said in unison. "Probably being able to use Origin mes or Life Maelstrom was the prerequisite to be a prototype, but what the real project is after are Griffons and Dragons."

    "Xedros?" Lith remembered all too well the Father of all Wyvern¡¯s obsession with bing a Dragon.

    "Impossible." Scarlett shook her head. "He knows nothing of healing magic and you can¡¯t improvise yourself an expert. Besides, if he really was capable of something like that, Xedros wouldn¡¯t have spent thest 1,500 years whining. Although..."

    The Scorpicore adjusted the Eyes to have an approximate idea of their location. They had flown for too long and she had focused on the energy signature too much for caring about the direction they moved.

    "You¡¯re too paranoid, kid." Scarlett said while sighing in relief. Xedros was one of the few elders of the Council that would give her a run for her money. "We haven¡¯t moved back to the Kingdom, we¡¯re even deeper in the Empire."

    "Can you show me?" dion asked after drinking the blood he needed to return to his peak condition and fix his equipment, storing the rest in his dimensional object to give it to his childrenter.

    Scarlett tapped the Eyes, making a 3-D holographic map appear. It showed both the surface and the undergroundwork of tunnels they had traveled through.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t wait for you to be able to do the same.¡¯</i> Lith said, brimming with greed and envy.

    <i>¡¯Same here, but never forget that I¡¯m more than a piece of your equipment, I¡¯m your partner.¡¯</i> She said.

    <i>¡¯I never thought of you otherwise.¡¯</i> He replied, giving her the equivalent of a telepathic embrace. <i>¡¯By the way, do you want me to try and retrieve the Eyes of Mom?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Thanks, but no thanks.¡¯</i> Solus chuckled at the joke, grateful for his thoughtfulness. <i>¡¯There¡¯s no point for us in collecting all the pieces of Mom¡¯s set since I¡¯ll probably have all of their abilities once I fully recover.</i>

    <i>¡¯I took the Hands only because the Kolgans abused them whereas Scarlett is a good person. She uses the Eyes like you would, so I¡¯m fine with her keeping them.¡¯</i>

    "Great Mother almighty." dion said. "We¡¯re exactly in the middle of the Eclipsed Lands. At this point, I don¡¯t need the Eyes of Menadion to know our destination. We need to go here."

    The Firstborn pointed with his finger at an underground location a couple of dozen kilometers away from them. The ce was in the middle of nowhere, with no settlements either above or below the ground.

    "What¡¯s so special about it?" Lith asked, taking the words out of Scarlett¡¯s mind.

    "It¡¯s located on the borders between three Awakened Lords so each one of them assumes that the others will guard it and does nothing. Also, it¡¯s the perfect ce to set Arthan¡¯s Madness.

    "Here there¡¯s Lightkeep, here Nightingale..." dion tapped in several points of the map where the undead cities were hidden, yet revealing no pattern.

    "Okay, you lost me." The Scorpicore said. "All the cities are distant as f.u.c.k from each other and from your so-called "perfect ce." I can¡¯t see them forming an array even if I squint my eyes and tilt my head. What are you talking about?"

    "I¡¯m talking about a powerful mana geyser left in a no-man¡¯snd, so close to the Eclipsed Lands that someone capable of using Warp Arrays can reach them all in one step from there. Is it clear now?" The Firstborn said.

    "How can three regional Lords not care for a mana geyser?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Because there will be nothing useful there for at least 500 years and each region has more than one." Scarlett replied. "Once metals or crystal form, they¡¯ll settle it with a Spirit Duel, but until then, no one gives a damn."

    "Do I have the time to recover naturally or do I have to use Invigoration?" Lith asked.

    "Let¡¯s rest a bit." Scarlett consumed a tonic and food as well, giving her violet core and the several auxiliary cores in her body the nourishment they needed to replenish her mana.

    "Tier five Spirit Spells are all-powerful but also ungodly mana expensive. If our enemy has weaponized a geyser, we need to make every use of Invigoration count."

    "Mortals." dion scoffed.

    As an undead, he only needed to feed in order to instantly recover his strength without wasting precious uses of a breathing technique. As an Awakened, however, Invigoration would only give him mana, so he still needed a source of life force to keep his blood core bnced.

    The silver lining was that any kind of life force worked, even one poor in mana since that would be obtained from the world energy.

    Scarlett used that time to read the information that the Eyes had collected by analyzing the Altered Sphinx and shared it with the others.

    "It¡¯s just a hypothesis, but the only way to Awaken someone and refine their body at the same time requires either a bloodline legacy or Forbidden Magic. We might be dealing with an Awakened." She said.

    "Can¡¯t we call the Council, then?" Lith asked.

    "First, they would never make it in time, second, we¡¯ve got no proof. Those Altered Beasts would have died in a few hours anyway. Plenty of people found faulty ways to Awaken in the past. As long as they die, the Council doesn¡¯t care, just like for Lichhood."

    It took Lith¡¯s group half an hour to recover their mana since their bodies had suffered no damage and they had each used just one Spirit spell. Once they resumed the chase, Scarlett soon noticed that dion¡¯s prediction was correct.

    The energy signature they were chasing was exactly located over the mana geyser. On top of that, the close they got, the stronger the signal became.

    <i>¡¯Order and Chaos, there must be hundreds of liters of Ambrosia there. How many people died for this Madness?¡¯</i> She thought.

    It took them a few minutes toe close to their destination. They stopped a couple of kilometers away from it so to study the arrays protecting the area and the number of guards they had to face.

    Contrary to their expectations, there were neither guards nor arrays.

 Chapter 1408 - Two as One (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1408 - Two as One (Part 2)</h4>

    The three Awakened even used array detecting spells to spot inactive magical formations that even mystical senses wouldn¡¯t pick up, but to no avail.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> Lith voiced everyone¡¯s thoughts via the mind link. <i>¡¯What point did it have sending those four guys against us just to leave us a clean path?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯They did it to make us overthink!¡¯</i> dion was amazed by the brilliant ingenuity of their enemy. <i>¡¯We saw guards so we expect guards. We know there is a geyser so we expect arrays. Our paranoia is our own enemy, making us waste precious time for nothing.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯That or to make us think that the road is clean and lure us into a trap.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯What trap? I can¡¯t smell anyone but us. What do your Eyes see?¡¯</i> dion said with a scoff.

    <i>¡¯Several energy signatures, but none is moving and only three of them are powerful. The rest are either newborn undead or living beings close to death. Both of them haven¡¯t much time left.¡¯</i> Scarlett replied.

    dion activated Life Vision and darted forward, ignoring his centuries of experiences screaming at him to be cautious.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ve yed this trick in the past too. The more cunning the opponent, the more they will n and think ahead. No defense is the best defense since they will not stop looking around until they realize there¡¯s nothing!¡¯</i> He said while the others followed him from a safe distance.

    dion was the strongest of the group and he could instantly heal without affecting his strength, whereas Lith and Scarlett couldn¡¯t afford to be injured before the fight even started.

    Lith cursed at dion¡¯s stupidity for half a kilometer before realizing that the Firstborn was right. Life Vision, mana sense, array detecting spells, they kepting negative and the group covered in seconds the space that his paranoia would have made him waste hours searching for traps.

    <i>¡¯Maybe the traps are in the second half.¡¯</i> He thought, slowing down further to let dion take the full brunt of whatevery ahead.

    Yet nothing happened. The Firstborn arrived at their destination unscathed, yet the vision that appeared in front of his eyes surpassed most of the horrors he had seen during his long life.

    A huge ss tank, over thirty meters (100 feet) high and 20 meters (66 feet) wide had been built right in the middle of the mana geyser. Around the tank, members of different species of lesser Dragons had been arranged into three concentric circles.

    Countless tubes drained their blood, extracting and purifying Leegaain¡¯s residual essence before feeding it to the person whose gigantic body floated in the tank. Two smaller tanks, one at each side of the geyser, had been filled with newborn undead and their nourishment.

    They were constantly fed yet their ck cores couldn¡¯t stabilize into blood cores because the life force they assumed was instantly drained from them and fed to the main tank.

    Just like Ka had exined Lith during their lessons, newborn undead and Abominations were both born with a ck core that allowed them to feed on anything, making them universal donors of life force.

    The only difference between them was that Baba Yaga¡¯s children would stabilize and turn their ck core into a blood one thanks to the absorbed life force bing a counterpart to Chaos, whereas Abomination wouldn¡¯t.

    "You came here faster than I expected." A silvery feminine voice said. "It¡¯s amazing how you managed to arrive early and yet it¡¯s already toote. My dear friend Xedros has already turned into a mighty Dragon, all that¡¯s left to do is stabilize his condition."

    Thrud Griffon stood in front of them, wearing Arthan¡¯s armor and with the Sword of Arthan hung to her hip. The enchanted protection had changed its shape to easily amodate and support her swollen belly from the mid-term pregnancy.

    Jakra the Emerald Dragon stood by her side, wearing a full suit of Adamant armor, as the Mad Queen pointed at the giant tank behind her. The purple liquid that filled it was losing its color by the second, bing as clear and transparent as water.

    "The moment his body bes ustomed to its new condition, Xedros¡¯lle out and take care of you. Until then, I can¡¯t let you ruin my precious experiment." Thrud said.

    "Sedra!" Scarlett lost her cool as soon as the Eyes of Menadion recognized the energy signature of her godson.

    The four-headed Hydra was wired to the tank as well, in the innermost circle of lesser Dragons, and was barely alive, to the point that even calling it living was a stretch. Sedra¡¯s blood had been drained, leaving behind a mummified body.

    His life force and mana flow were still there yet, giving the Scorpicore hope that he could still be saved.

    Scarlett ignored Thrud¡¯s rants and charged forward with all the speed that her perfect body enhancement and her bright violet core allowed to her. Yet Thrud moved so fast that inparison the Scorpicore looked frozen in time.

    She gave the Emperor Beast a backhand p that sent Scarlett crashing right between Lith and dion. The Scorpicore was literally back at square one and injured at that. Only then did she look at the Eyes¡¯ readings about the Mad Queen.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways!¡¯</i> Lith, Scarlett, and Solus thought in unison.

    Thrud¡¯s core was still rainbow-colored, but every single of the colored beams was brighter than ever. Her physical prowess now put even dion¡¯s to shame. ording to both the Eyes and mana sense, only Baba Yaga was stronger than her.

    Maybe.

    <i>¡¯I feel like crap just saying it, but there¡¯s still hope if we aim our attacks to her belly. Even that crazy woman must have feelings for her child, making her pregnancy a weak point that we can exploit.¡¯</i> Lith said the others via the mind link.

    He had never kept War out of its sheath for so long and controlling the fury of the angry de became more difficult with each passing second.

    <i>¡¯Are you insane?¡¯</i> The Scorpicore and the Firstborn replied in unison. <i>¡¯Are you even from this? Don¡¯t you know what pregnancy does to a powerful mage?¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯No, I don¡¯t.¡¯</i> Lith felt awkward admitting it.

    ¡¯<i>It makes them more powerful, sometimes even doubling their abilities.¡¯</i> Scarlett said.

    <i>¡¯What? How?¡¯</i> Lith remembered the words from Lochra Silverwing¡¯s book stating that women were naturally more powerful mages than men.

    If the Scorpicore was telling the truth, then pregnancy had to be one of the reasons why the most powerful mages in Mogar¡¯s history were female, be they Awakened or not.

    <i>¡¯Where do you think the theory behind cursed objectses from?¡¯</i> dion said. <i>¡¯Mother and child are one. Two mana cores and two life forces in one body. Even if a newborn is weak and their core red, it still amplifies the mother¡¯s abilities.</i>

    <i>¡¯Normally, a mana core can¡¯t exert its full force without injuring the body. It¡¯s the phenomenon we call "mana abuse". The child¡¯s core, however, drains the excess energy and uses it to nurture their body.</i>

    <i>¡¯At the same time, the child¡¯s life force is mixed with the mother¡¯s, making it grow much more powerful and violent to protect the new life inside of her. On top of that, if the baby belongs to a powerful bloodline, the effects are much greater.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1409 - Awakened Blood (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1409 - Awakened Blood (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>¡¯Long story short, if that Dragon is the father, we¡¯re f.u.c.k.e.d!¡¯</i> Scarlett summarized the situation for Lith.

    <i>¡¯I don¡¯t get it. I¡¯ve already met Thrud. I understand how pregnancy works now, but how could she being pregnant affect her equipment as well? Thest time that I fought Thrud, it wasn¡¯t this powerful.¡¯</i> Lith asked, yet everyone was at loss for words.

    They had no way to know that thanks to her experiments, Thrud had altered her bloodline for good. She had used the Madness to amplify not only Tyris¡¯s blood, but Valeron¡¯s as well.

    Now she was akin to a direct descendant of the First Royals that had chosen to embrace their Griffon nature instead of turning into a human. The Arthan¡¯s equipment was a perfect replica of Saefel¡¯s and now it recognized Thrud as Valeron.

    The Arthan¡¯s set had now fully unlocked its true potential, forever recing the will of the First King with that of Thrud thanks to half of her blood belonging to Valeron.

    <i> ¡¯We can still aim our attacks at her belly, correct?¡¯</i> Lith said, receiving only insults in reply.

    <i>¡¯Hey, the kid may be innocent but I¡¯m not going to die just to be a gentleman. Most of those people were innocent as well but Thrud didn¡¯t give a f.u.c.k about it. I say we return her the favor.¡¯</i> He said.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k my life, he¡¯s right.¡¯</i> Scarlett bit her tongue to keep her rage in check. <i>¡¯We must save Sedra. I¡¯m not letting another child die at the hands of a madman or cruel fate!¡¯</i>

    The trio charged forward, but only the Scorpicore and the Firstborn met Thrud in battle. Jakra stepped in, intercepting War with his own bastard de, Dragonw.

    "Are you insane my Queen? Three against one? Let me help!" He said.

    "Three against two, actually." Thrud c.a.r.e.s.sed her belly as she needed but one hand to stop with Arthan¡¯s Sword the Adamant des that extended out of Scarlett¡¯s forepaws and dion¡¯s Primordial Thirst.

    "The runt makes no difference, but I¡¯ll leave it to you if that¡¯s what you want, honey." Her words made Jakra blush in embarrassment, but they didn¡¯t make him any less fierce of a fighter.

    "Walk away, little brother, this is no ce for you." The Emerald Dragon said while pushing Lith back thanks to the massive gap in mass between them.

    Lith had a perfectly refined body, but Jakra¡¯s real form was that of a Dragon weighing several tons with a physical prowess that not even most Awakened Beasts couldpare to.

    "Leave now and you have my word that no harm wille to you. My Queen is done with her project and there is no point in further bloodshed."

    "Depends. Are you the ones who killed my friend Lark and Marchioness Distar?" Lith never stopped his attacks, quite the contrary. He used his words as a diversion while he circted fusion magic and cast spells with his body.

    No matter what Jakra said, the timing of the events was too suspicious. Fighting Thrud was dangerous, but if she was the one threatening everyone he loved, letting her go was even worse.

    "Who?" The Emerald Dragon¡¯s honest surprise made Lith¡¯s hope to have found the sender of the Balkor cards crumble. "I¡¯d never hurt a fellow Dragon."

    "Really, then who are those guys linked to the tank?" Lith snarled as a barrage of cantrips rained on the Emerald Dragon from every side, yet Jakra didn¡¯t even bother defending.

    His Adamant armor had crystals of seven different colors grafted on its surface, making it immune to such puny spells. They were white, red, blue, orange, ck, silver, and yellow.

    "Those are imperfect beings, lesser Dragons." Jakra said with a spite that had nothing to do with the ve spell that the Golden Griffon had imposed on him. "Yet I wouldn¡¯t have harmed them either. We did nothing to them. It was their masters sacrificing them for the greater good."

    "What?" Lith said in surprise.

    He had Solus assume her Hands form and add the mass of her stone doll form to that of his armor while never stopping his attacks and .u.mting world energy.

    "Do you really think that Xedros is the only one who wanted to ascend? Who do you think were those guys you fought beforeing here?" Jakra replied, noticing something odd.

    "The Council and the Guardians left behind so many abandoned children that all I had to do was to offer them a hand and give them hope." Thrud snarled as dion managed to shrug off his paternal instincts and took the kid gloves off.

    "As for Lark and Distar, they were loyal servants of the Kingdom. When I find the filthy traitor who dared to kill them, I¡¯ll make them an example that will be still sung centuries from now!"

    "Our interests align, little brother." Jakra nodded at her words.

    "Walk away and we¡¯ll take care of the problem for you. My Queen even ns to take revenge on Balkor for betraying her beloved country."

    On the one hand, a bloody, possibly deadly fight and getting the help of two powerful beings on the other. Lith didn¡¯t care for the undead nor for Sedra. They were already dead and avenging them would bring him no advantage.

    Thrud was a problem of the Kingdom, not his own. Yet the thought of Xedros bing a Dragon, of what might happen if the Mad Queen ever sat on the throne was hard to set aside.

    "Onest question. Do you know who killed my people?" Lith lunged at Jakra¡¯s head who deflected War, only for the Wyrmling to flick his wrist and exploit theirbined strength to strike with doubled speed.

    "No. We were too busy with this project to meddle with the Kingdom¡¯s internal affairs." Jakra grunted, needing all of his strength to deflect the de.

    <i>¡¯This makes no sense.¡¯</i> He thought. <i>¡¯Lith is just a humanoid Wyrmling, how can he be so strong? How can he be heavier and stronger by the second?¡¯</i>

    "dion?" Two fully developed horns came out of Lith¡¯s forehead, a long tail from his back, and the second set of wings was atrophied no more.

    "I swear on Radusk¡¯s life that I can find out who they are!" The Firstborn couldn¡¯t afford the Wyrmling walking away.

    The two of them were slowly overpowering Thrud. If the Emerald Dragon joined the fray, however, the tide of the battle would turn.

    "Sorry, big brother. As long as I¡¯m paid, I always follow my job through." Lith hurled a jet-stream of Origin mes that met Jakra¡¯s halfway, causing a big explosion that pushed them away and threw Thrud off bnce.

    The Scorpicore and the Firstborn didn¡¯t miss the opening, unleashing their respective best spells.

    Scarlett conjured the tier five Spirit Magic-Light Mastery spell, Spirit Mastery. The hexa-elemental spell used her hard-light constructs to further enhance its speed and durability, doubling the amount of light element.

    The final result was a tidal wave of emerald-golden energy as hard as Orichalc.u.m yet as fluid as water that flooded Thrud without harming dion.

 Chapter 1410 - Awakened Blood (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1410 - Awakened Blood (Part 2)</h4>

    The emerald-gold construct avoided the Firstborn and attacked the Mad Queen from every side with the power of all elements at the same time.

    Spirit Mastery also dodged Thrud¡¯s spells and sword unless they would hit its master, working as a defensive wall that took no free hits. It doubled Scarlett¡¯s attack prowess and guaranteed her survival in the case she failed to defend.

    Dozens of birds with one spell.

    dion, instead, unleashed his tier five Blood Magic spell, Immortal Ruler. Blood Magic was the Awakened undead equivalent of Spirit Magic and packed as much as a punch.

    The Vampire converted part of the mana and life force stored in his full red blood core to manifest a rain of blood-des as big as a drop and as sharp as Adamant. They would follow their target until they had pierced through its flesh and turned it into shreds.

    <i>¡¯Would have you really abandoned them if Jakra knew the identity of the one behind the Balkor cards?¡¯</i> Solus asked, almost afraid of the answer.

    <i>¡¯Please, Scarlett is no friend of us. Back when we first met, she tried to kill us both and then she spilled our secrets without a care. Had not Faluel been Faluel, we¡¯d be f.u.c.k.e.d as f.u.c.k.</i>

    <i>¡¯As for dion, he didn¡¯t even want us in Lightkeep. He only let us in because Nyka asked him to and because he needed us. If it was up to me, I¡¯d dly walk away from this mess.¡¯</i> Lith replied with thoughts as cold as his de.

    <i>¡¯Yet the answer to your question is no. I wouldn¡¯t. Scarlett is precious to Nyka and Ka, hence she¡¯s precious to me as well. As for dion, his death would pain Baba Yaga, and you care for her.</i>

    <i>¡¯She¡¯s the only person left from your old life you can still freely talk to and I¡¯d never let you down, Solus. Never.¡¯</i> His honest sincerity and worry for her moved Solus to tears.

    There was little good left in Lith, but it still could make him raze mountains and split oceans for the sake of the people he loved.

    <i>¡¯Last but not least, I¡¯ve got my professional pride on the line. As long as I¡¯m paid, I always follow my job through. You know that.¡¯</i> Thatst part bummed her big time.

    Meanwhile, to dodge the emerald-gold and blood-red avnche Thrud had been forced to step back until she reached the first outer rim of lesser Dragons. She had discovered at her expense that Immortal Ruler defended its caster as well.

    Every time one of her spells or her de was about to reach dion, the blood droplets would merge and turn into a flexible shield that stopped her attacks. She had nothing at the ready that could stop such powerful spells and she wasn¡¯t an Awakened.

    Yet.

    "You guys are amazing!" She said with a huge smile on her face that sent a shiver down her enemies¡¯ spines.

    Thrud lit four of the seven gems on Arthan¡¯s Sword, unleashing a quadra-elemental spell that was supposed to be impossible for someone without a tower.

    Staunch Griffon conjured a rock wall as big as the tunnel and infused with darkness, air, and fire. The ck mes evaporated the blood and eroded the emerald tide while the solid rock wall stopped their advance.

    On top of that, the air element repelled the enemy¡¯s spells by creating an air barrier and by mixing itself with the ck mes to generate timed explosions akin to small Raging Novas.

    In a confined space, the shockwaves bounced off the walls, doubling their intensity and forcing the other spells to exhaust their mana even faster to protect their respective owners.

    Scarlett cursed Thrud¡¯s insane equipment and used that time to use Aura, her breathing technique to recover the lost strength while dion did the same. The Firstborn Vampire was certain to be stronger than the Mad Queen, but Arthan¡¯s equipment made it akin to fighting two Awakened at the same time.

    "I really needed worthy opponents to get ustomed to the most recent changes I did to the Madness. The Kingdom praises you for your sacrifice to make it grow even stronger!" Thrud said.

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s only so much that the sword can do. She¡¯s no Awakened so as long as we keep her from casting more spells, we¡¯ll get the upper hand the moment she runs out of those she has at the ready.¡¯</i> dion said via the mind link and Scarlett nodded.

    A time that they had no d.e.s.i.r.e to give her.

    <i>¡¯Can you override control of the geyser?¡¯</i> Lith asked while parrying Jakra¡¯s flurry of feints and thrusts.

    <i>¡¯No. Xedros did a great job with his arrays. What I can do is to take control of the still free energy, but it might take a while.¡¯</i> Solus replied.

    <i>¡¯It¡¯s better than nothing. Do it, please.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Way ahead of you.¡¯</i> She said with a smirk to which he smirked back.

    After the fight with Qisal, Lith hade up with a strategy that he could use any time that Solus was with him. He would use everything he had learned about his vortexes to turn them into auxiliary cores and she wouldpress his body.

    Usually, the more the vortexes turned into quasi-spheres, the more mass Lith gained and the more he increased in size, bringing him to proportions he wasn¡¯t used to. A single step moving him for meters, being forced to mind the ceiling, and his extra limbs, made him a worst fighter than he was in his human form.

    To make matters worse, it also made the Scalewalker armor and War pointless. The armor was too small for a giant over 4 meters (14 feet) tall and the angry de was reduced to a mere kitchen knife in his hands.

    Solus, however, had practiced her Body Sculpting technique countless times on him and now she knew Lith¡¯s life force like the back of her hand. As the vortexes turned into spheres and Lith¡¯s body grew in size, shepressed it, keeping Lith¡¯s proportions to those he was most familiar with.

    Jakra had more and more difficulties restraining Lith¡¯s movements because the gap between their mass shrunk as their fight went on. Sure, the Wyrmling had a long way to go before weighing a single ton, but the more mass Lith gained, the more effective his body refinement became.

    To put it simply, if the mass determined the raw physical prowess of the fighters, body refinement was akin to a multiplier that made every single gram/ounce of Lith¡¯s muscles produce a more explosive power.

    "Are you really just a Wyrmling?" Jakra said as the mere sh between Dragonw and War produced now a shockwave that propagated through their armor and into their bodies.

    "You have no idea." Lith used his tier four Spirit Spell, Piercing Explosion, that produced a tetra-elemental ray of energy aimed at the Dragon¡¯s head.

    ording to Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s estimates, it should have dealt a huge damage and created an opening for more.

 Chapter 1411 - Golden Dragon (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1411 - Golden Dragon (Part 1)</h4>

    Yet Jakra simply took a deep breath and hurled what looked like a cone of bright blue Origin mes.

    Lith was prepared to counter them with his own, but it was pointless. The mes moved akin to a living being, wrapping themselves around Piercing Explosion without letting a single tongue of fire move past their target.

    Jakra hurled the mes non-stop so that once the Spirit Spell hit his armor, it had be so weak that Piercing Explosion posed no threat to his Kingyer armor anymore.

    <i>¡¯What the f.u.c.k?¡¯</i> Lith and Solus thought in unison, before remembering that Jakra had remained a prisoner of the Golden Griffon for almost five hundred years.

    The cursed academy granted upon its students an immortal body that would heal even when ground to dust, keeping them prisoners and driving them insane. During that time, Jakra had endlessly fought for everything, from food to the right to sleep.

    His mastery over the Origin mes had reached a peak that could be equaled, but hardly surpassed.

    Lith then cast three volleys of the tier two Spirit Spell, Magic Missiles, to strike at the Emerald Dragon from every side. Even if a single Missile was unable to deal damage, the violence of the impact would create an opening that Lith would exploit.

    Jakra shrugged at the fifteen emerald projectiles the size of a dagger and emitted a violent burst of Origin mes from his body without letting them deal any damage to his armor.

    Once again, the mes eroded Lith¡¯s spells to the point of making them harmless.

    "I¡¯m sorry, little brother. You should have epted my offer." Jakra took the kid gloves off and charged at Lith, aiming to end the fight before his status of Awakened could matter.

    Meanwhile, dion and Scarlett attacked Thrud from opposite sides, forcing her to suffer the attacks of either of them. Arthan¡¯s armor took off the brunt of the damage, but fatigue and wounds kept piling up.

    With no time to cast spells nor to cure her wounds Thrud was already panting heavily. Then, a gurgling sound and the tter of moving ss made the contestants stop.

    "I have risen!" Xedros¡¯s voice roared throughout the cave.

    Heughed maniacally at the sight of his brand-new set of arms and of his gigantic body covered in golden scales. Now his appearance closely resembled that of Gentor, the Golden Dragon, one of Leegaain¡¯s most talented sons.

    "Thanks, brother. You and your wife have yed your part. Feel free to sit and leave everything to me. I want to put my new body to the test and those ants will make a fine meal." He said to Jakra.

    "Don¡¯t listen to that idiot and keep fighting. He needs help just like you need to experience what an Awakened can do." Thrud said while ignoring the two-pronged attack from the Scorpicore and the Firstborn.

    She activated the purple gem on Arthan¡¯s Sword to Blink away while also making the space unstable at the same time. The two Awakened could see both her entry and exit point, but not follow her.

    The use of dimensional magic would have backfired, wounding them deeply due to the copsed space. They could only curse the mastery behind the de and conjure a quick wind barrier.

    Xedros the Dragon sneered at Thrud¡¯s words and charged forward. He had the speed and the mass of a freight train while running with his maw opened, ready to swallow both the Scorpicore and the Firstborn in a single bite.

    dion needed but a wave of his hand to stabilize the space while his left cross timed with Scarlett¡¯s headbutt to perfection. They hit Xedros¡¯s chin together, sending him to crash against the right wall with the same ease as if he was still a Wyvern.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Xedros felt his body full of energy and his mass was dozens of times greater now so he needed half a breath of Invigoration to understand what was happening to him.

    dion had always been stronger than a violet-cored elder Dragon and even though Scarlett couldn¡¯t say the same, her body had reached perfect body refinement, just like Xedros¡¯s body after training it for decades.

    Xedros¡¯s Dragon body, however, was mostlyprised of new flesh that had yet to undergo any refinement. Only the base from his old self still had the power that Awakening had granted it, the rest was no different from a non-Awakened Dragon.

    "Oh, shit!" Xedros had barely the time to process his mistake when dion¡¯s right uppercut sent his head mming against the ceiling and Scarlett¡¯s Shattering Winter spell froze his skin while sending shockwaves throughout his body.

    "I stand corrected! I beg of you, help!" The Dragon released a burst of Origin mes from his body to get rid of Shattering Winter and keep the Vampire at bay, but his opponents simply adjusted their strategy.

    "Told you so." Thrud giggled as she Blinked behind dion and then Blinked again, taking the Firstborn away with her.

    Thanks to the baby in her belly and to the activation of the vortex of her rainbow core, the short respite had been more than enough to bring her back to her peak condition.

    "Oh, shit!" Scarlett echoed as she realized to be on her back foot.

    Without dion, the Dragon had superior physical prowess, mass, and a battle experience that her flimsy 300 years couldn¡¯tpare to. Watching Xedros¡¯s moving, she had noticed how he was already ustomed to his new body.

    The Father of all Wyverns had often been arrogant, but never conceited. During the various steps of Arthan¡¯s Madness, he had shapeshifted into a Dragon form to get used to the extra limbs and mass.

    He had yet to fully master the Dragon form, but the practice allowed him to avoid making rookie mistakes and to adapt his strategies as a Wyvern to his new body. To make matters worse, she knew that her Light Mastery couldn¡¯tpare with Xedros¡¯s.

    Lith and Scarlett were now in the same situation, facing alone a superior opponent.

    Lith¡¯s body had already reached the maximum mass that it could achieve without the violet core and his aura had turned almost entirely violet, yet no breakthrough had taken ce.

    Jakra had still the mass and Origin mes mastery advantage couple with the outstanding equipment that the pregnant Thrud had crafted for him.

    <i>¡¯What¡¯s your status with the geyser?¡¯</i> Lith asked while racking his brain for a way to turn the tables.

    With his over 900 years of life 500 of which spent fighting day and night in the Golden Griffon, Jakra¡¯s battle experience was simply overwhelming. On top of that, his swordsmanship had reached such mastery that often Lith stared at it in amazement.

    <i>¡¯Bad. Even now that Xedros has gotten out, the Madness still sucks its energy. You need to destroy it. On my mark. Mark!¡¯</i> Solus replied.

    Lith stopped stepping back and blocked the Dragonw with a strength that surprised Jakra. At the same time, he hurled a raging river of violet Origin mes at point-nk range, engulfing the Emerald Dragon before he could react.

 Chapter 1412 - Golden Dragon (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1412 - Golden Dragon (Part 2)</h4>

    Jakra tried to emit a burst of blue Origin mes from his body, but they came out barely bright cyan and Lith¡¯s mes devoured them before moving onto his armor.

    "I don¡¯t know which one of your creations performed this miracle, but you are not the only skilled Forgemaster in this room." Jakra had no idea that it was Solus draining the surrounding world energy to have weakened his mes and enhanced Lith¡¯s.

    He just assumed that it was the effect of one of his artifacts and activated the Kingyer armor¡¯s barrier. Thrud was well aware of the powers of all Guardians¡¯ bloodlines and had made sure that her spouse had the tools to counter them.

    In the case of Origin mes, they didn¡¯t discriminate between caster or foe, they would eat at everything they met. Hence a powerful barrier that sprung out with enough speed would produce a shockwave that would send them back against their master.

    Lith cursed his bad luck, took a mental note of the trick, and then stepped back to not get burned by his own mes.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t enough. The wave of fire forced him to jump to the sides, leaving himself open from head to waist.

    Or so Jakra thought until his watchful eyes notice a rune where Lith feet had been until a second ago.

    "Oh, shit." Only then did the Emerald Dragon notice that while stepping back to defend from his attacks, Lith¡¯s steps had traced a perfect circle and that by blocking thest lunge, Lith had thrown Jakra right in its middle.

    The Earthbound array was just tier three, but tier three Gravity Magic. The Emerald Dragon felt his joints crack and had to let himself fall onto the ground to relieve part of the pressure and keep his body from folding onto itself like origami.

    <i>¡¯I would have much preferred keeping him still while the Origin mes burned his physical and magical strength, but this will have to do.¡¯</i> Lith thought while using Invigoration to recover part of his strength.

    The gravity array and the use of multiple Spirit Magic spells had drained him. Jakra, instead, had yet to use a single spell. He had relied mostly on his bloodline¡¯s and equipment¡¯s powers to preserve his strength.

    <i>¡¯Origin mes are much more versatile than we thought.¡¯</i> Solus pondered while preparing her next strategy.

    <i>¡¯Also, I don¡¯t know if this n would have worked against an Awakened. If Life Vision revealed them the runes while you stepped back, I doubt they would have remained inside the magic circle.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s a worry for another-¡¯</i> A pir of Origin mes destroyed the array and cut Lith short.

    Jakra had just used one of the abilities of his Emerald Dragon bloodline, Emerald Boost which allowed him to enhance all skills based on life force or Spirit Magic.

    "That was a brilliant move, little brother. When I teach that trick to my child, I¡¯ll make sure they remember your name." He said while standing up as his de¡¯s enchantments healed his body.

    Meanwhile, even though Scarlett was in an even worse situation, she fought with a fury and determination that put Lith¡¯s to shame. Xedros was a much better fighter and had greater mastery over Origin mes than Jakra, yet he had to tread with caution.

    The Golden Dragon had no equipment at the ready big enough for his new body whereas the Scorpicore was covered from head to paw in Adamant. On top of that, her tail injected a powerful acid whenever it stung and her rage seemed to know no bounds.

    "You worthless old piece of crap!" Scarlett roared seeing Sedra¡¯s body slumped over the floor after the Madness had stopped working.

    She could still see the small hatchling that yed with her fur, the kid that she had helped learning how to read, write, and cast first magic. The Scorpicore could almost feel Sedra¡¯s agony and hear his pleas for help.

    She could even hear those of all the young lesser Dragons that surrounded the Madness, screaming for their mothers or at least for a merciful death. Scarlett could hear the pleas for help of the undead children that had no idea what they had done to deserve such a cruel death by starvation.

    "Sedra is your apprentice! A fellow lesser Dragon! How could you do that to him? To all of them? Aren¡¯t you Dragons supposed to treasure your family?" The Scorpicore unleashed her tier five Spirit Magic spell, Tyrannical Roar.

    It manifested the aspects of all elements, using air to create a powerful shockwave whose strength was boosted by fire while water froze the target, earth locked the enemy¡¯s movements, light needles pierced their body, and darkness coated everything else.

    "Lesser is the keyword here!" Xedros hurled a powerful stream of bright violet Origin mes while activating his own tier five Spirit Magic spell, Dragon Wall.

    "Dragons never treated me like family. They considered us as servants at best, mocking the Wyverns for their need to borrow the Council¡¯s strength to survive. As for Sedra, he got what he deserved.

    "Back in my days, we didn¡¯t coddle our apprentices. They were disposable tools for their masters. The Council changed its policy only after the second Young Blood Revolution. I endured much worse than that!

    "If he dies, it¡¯s only his fault for being a weakling." The mes coupled with the emerald wallpletely suppressed Scarlett¡¯s spell and then turned into an avnche that threatened to sweep her away.

    "His fault? He¡¯s just a baby!" Scarlett yelled at the top of her lungs as a golden pir engulfed her, starting her final world tribtion.

    She had waited for a long time for it to trigger, not knowing that it wasn¡¯t up to Mogar to do it. Only the Guardian candidate could activate thest tribtion by calling upon her with all of their might until they became one.

    Scarlett¡¯s body started to swell and change, doubling its size. Her fur morphed into red scales as thick as a shield and a pair of feathered wings appeared on the Scorpicore¡¯s back.

    The muzzle became a fiery te, only her eyes remained visible along with a second set of eyes that appeared on her forehead. Scarlett¡¯s mane turned into raging violet mes, hot enough to cken the ground below her.

    "I¡¯m d you achieved your dream, Xedros. Your triumph will make your death even more pathetic, you f.u.c.k.i.n.g lizzie!" Despite her strong words, a tribtion never influenced its own oue.

    The Scorpicore may have looked terrifying, but her strength was no different from before the golden pir forced Scarlett to assume her proto-Guardian form.

    The only change was that all Guardians and all white-cored beings on Mogar had their consciousness forced to bear witness of the events, no matter what they had been doing.

    "The cat finally made it!" Leegaain said, yet there was no happiness in his voice.

    The thought that his old friend might still die and the sight of the atrocities that his rebellious son hadmitted to be a Dragon filled his heart with dread.

    "A tribtion means nothing. Only the oue matters." Sark¡¯s voice was stone cold as she stared at the Father of all Dragons with anger.

 Chapter 1413 - Evolutions and Demons (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1413 - Evolutions and Demons (Part 1)</h4>

    "Two of yours against one of ours. It¡¯s no wonder I always broke up with you, Leegaain." Sark said. "You¡¯re an ipetent idiot that can¡¯t even keep his own house in order."

    "First, I¡¯m the one who always breaks up with you..."

    "Debatable." She replied with a sneer.

    "...and second, I¡¯m not going to apologize because I don¡¯t rule over my children like a tyrant. I let them search for their own happiness whereas you turned yours into your private army!" Leegaain snarled.

    "How dare-"

    "Stop bickering like a married couple!" Tyris shut them up. "We¡¯ve been summoned to bear witness and prepare for the changes in the bnce that these events will have, no matter their oue. Not to point fingers."

    Baba Yaga inwardly thanked both Mogar and Scarlett for bringing her there. She burned Xedros¡¯s and Jakra¡¯s faces in her mind, swearing to take revenge upon them in the case her allies failed.

    <i>¡¯How dare did they do that to my children? If any of those vermin put their filthy hands on Epphy, their agony will be the matter of legends!¡¯</i> The Red Mother thought.

    <i>¡¯Damn, this is really bad. Another Guardian might be born and Epphy is in a danger much worse than death.¡¯</i> Silverwing was worried sick, cursing Mogar for forcing her to watch without letting her interfere.

    <i>¡¯I want to save her from Lith, not make her fall into even worse hands. Heck, to save her from the Dragon and Xedros, I¡¯d rather let her live with him forever. F.u.c.k.i.n.g monsters, stay away from my niece!¡¯</i>

    Mogar sat in the middle of the ovepping circles that the spectators formed. The white cored people, being much smaller in form, were positioned below the Guardians who watched at the events from above.

    The consciousness of the had a different appearance for each one of them, yet all of its forms had a slight smile. Mogar wanted them to understand that good or evil were irrelevant, only positive change mattered.

    She had stopped the Guardians from pursuing the Master because his hybrids were the key to save her long-lost children and from pursuing Thrud because she had done more to push evolution forward in a few days than most races in millennia.

    Thrud and the Master used disturbing and despicable methods, yet they had shown to the rest of her children that nothing was impossible. That there was a wrong way and a right way to do things, but there was always a way.

    Abominations had always given up on finding a way back among the living, just like all species had growncent, epting the limits of their current state instead of challenging them.

    In a cruel, twisted way, both Vastor and Thrud were pioneers to unexplored fields that had always been considered just a myth by those who had failed to achieve them. Now, however, no one could deny their existence anymore.

    Not when the living embodiment of those fields threatened everything that all of the races had always taken for granted.

    In the meantime, Xedros looked at Scarlett¡¯s proto-Guardian form and a smug expression reced the fear that had twisted his face until a second back. Her mana core was still bright violet and her extra mass didn¡¯t affect her physical prowess.

    "What a day! I get to be the Father of a new race of Dragons and to kill a Guardian in her crib. Run, cat. Run!" Heughed maniacally at the top of his lungs as he unleashed another tier five Spirit Spell, Manastorm.

    <i>¡¯The tribtion is the least of my worries.¡¯</i> She thought.<i> ¡¯If Xedros gained the powers of a Dragon bloodline along with its appearance, things are only going to get worse. On top of that, in this situation, I can¡¯t use Gravity Magic.</i>

    <i>¡¯Without an array to contain its effects, any spell would affect Lith as well. I might use Spirit Gravity magic, but each spell consumes too much mana and unlike Xedros, I¡¯m quite tired already.¡¯</i>

    Xedros traced an arc of emerald green light in the air with his right forefinger. The crescent moon-shaped energy mass released a barrage of emerald bullets made of pure mana, each one with the power of a cannonball.

    The volley generated by Manastorm was so quick and powerful that being struck by just one projectile meant that countless others would quickly follow, pummelling a target as small as the Scorpicore to death.

    Scarlettpressed her form with Body Sculpting, bing the size of a house cat. It allowed her to move nimbly enough to charge forward and dodge every single bullet, sometimes even using them as stepping stones to gain more momentum.

    Only once she came out of the emerald blizzard did she turn back to her original size and activated a second Primordial Roar. Her personal spell not only dealt Xedros heavy damage, but the mix of cold and vibrations slowed down his movements.

    The Scorpicore knew where the vitals of a Dragon were and stung at them with her scorpion tail with surgical precision.

    The acid it released burned holes through both scales and flesh, making Xedros scream in pain.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t enough. Compared with the huge size of an over 2,000 years old Dragon, those wounds were painful but not life-threatening. Xedros used a healing spell to fix himself and struck at the Scorpicore with his right fist.

    She wasn¡¯t faring well, but Lith was doing no better. He had failed to buy enough time for one full use of Invigoration and Jakra was seconds away from nailing him to a wall.

    Origin mes, battle experience, swordsmanship, the Emerald Dragon outmatched Lith under every aspect. The only reason why he was still alive was thanks to his ability to cast spells during the fight.

    "I pity you, little brother. So young and yet so strong. I wonder what heights you might have reached if only you had chosen your allies more wisely and lived long enough to reach your full potential." Jakra said with honest regret, making Lith feel even worse.

    <i>¡¯Solus, n E!¡¯</i> He said while conjuring the Demons of Darkness.

    The spirits of the dead that still lingered near the Madness drank avidly from his spirit magic, fusing themselves with the shadows of the cave until they obtained a new body.

    <i>¡¯n E is a go.¡¯</i> Solus replied, using her own mana to keep the constant onught of spells that hammered at Jakra up.

    The Demons of Darkness came from Lith and from him they drew their strength. Even though they shared the same energy signature, Solus¡¯s mana was pointless because they had a different bloodline, something that she couldn¡¯t reproduce even through their bond.

 Chapter 1414 - Evolutions and Demons (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1414 - Evolutions and Demons (Part 2)</h4>

    While Solus filled his body with fusion magic, treated his wounds, and shared with him a part of her vitality, Lith was free to fully focus on the Demons.

    Jakra stopped for a moment, staring in awe at the gigantic shadows that towered over him and so did Lith. It was the first time that, instead of looking like humanoids made of darkness, the Demons resembled how they looked in life.

    A four-headed Hydra that looked like Sedra wrapped its long necks around Jakra while a Wyvern spat a ck mass that closely resembled mes on the Emerald Dragon.

    A Lindwurm charged in outrage, quickly followed by several species of lesser Dragons that Lith had never seen before. Yet all their fury and power couldn¡¯t exceed Lith¡¯s and they only managed to stop Jakra for a few seconds.

    Seconds that Lith exploited to use Invigoration and rack his brain in search for the missing piece of the puzzle.

    <i>¡¯What the heck am I doing wrong? Why no matter how many spells I cast and how much elemental energies I circte does my core remain bright blue?¡¯</i> He thought as his memories shed in front of his eyes.

    "Dominance isn¡¯t something you can perform as a conscious action. It¡¯s a reflex you merely guide along the right path." Faluel¡¯s voice echoed in his mind.

    "True magic isn¡¯t about hand signs and words. It¡¯s about imagination and willpower." Lith¡¯s own voice as a child said.

    "When the timees and you¡¯ll gain the power necessary to break free, don¡¯t try to resist nor to control its flow. You must be one with that power but without letting it take over your mind, just like you did with Epphy until now." Baba Yaga¡¯s voice said.

    Then, everything made sense as the images of his date on the beach with Kam resurfaced. He remembered her words about having fun and how the sand had formed a mosaic of Carl without Lith putting any effort or focus behind the act.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, Kami was right. I¡¯m so focused on my work, on my paranoia, that I never learned to just enjoy what I do. Magic is more than a tool, it¡¯s more than a sequence of runes. Magic is everything I am.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯Just because I don¡¯t think about it, it doesn¡¯t mean that my core stops beating nor does my mana flow stops. Everything I do, everything I feel is an act of magic. I don¡¯t control the power, I am the power. How could I have been so blind?¡¯</i>

    What gave them meaning was the experience he had piled up, the moments he had spent doing nothing but stupid tricks to entertain the kids or to make Kamugh after a bad day.

    Training and studying had given him power, but only stopping to contemte his achievements and to enjoy the marvel that magic was had allowed Lith to truly understand its meaning.

    Very few reached the violet core simply because they failed to see it as something more than a power source. Those stuck at the blue core considered magic as they did with their clothes and their equipment.

    Something they owned instead of something they were.

    <i>¡¯Solus, I need you to stop helping me. Don¡¯t cast spells against Jakra and stop using fusion magic on me.¡¯</i> Lith said via their mind link.

    <i>¡¯Have you gone insane? It¡¯s only thanks to our joined efforts that you are barely holding out.¡¯</i> She replied.

    <i>¡¯I know that, but Faluel was right all along. Being together makes us stronger but at the same time, it hinders our personal growth. I finally understood why I went this close to the violet core against Qisal and failed ever since.</i>

    <i>¡¯Because back then I didn¡¯t think, I acted. And the only reason I managed to do that is that you weren¡¯t there to help me.¡¯</i> Lith shared with her his revtion, making Solus curse.

    <i>¡¯Do you trust me?¡¯</i> He asked.

    <i>¡¯Always.¡¯</i> She stopped doing anything but draining the world energy to weaken Jakra¡¯s Origin mes and using all the energy she got from the mana geyser to enhance Lith¡¯s equipment.

    Solus had merged her stone form with his sword and armor for a while, but her active role in the battle had kept her from changing their properties much. Now that she had gone to a passive stance, she focused on their pseudo cores, controlling them as a power core would.

    At the same time, Lith stopped casting spells consciously with his body. He just visualized what and where he wanted to conjure his spells and willed for it. s, knowing and doing are usually worlds apart.

    Now that the barrage of weak but annoying Spirit Spells was gone, the Emerald Dragon¡¯s sword reached its target with increasing frequency. Without Lith¡¯s body casting advantage, Jakra could focus on readings his movements and patterns.

    Dragonw pierced Lith¡¯s left shoulder first and then opened a long cut from below the armpit to the hip. Whenever Lith focused too much on the de, Jakra would switch to a one-handed grip and punch him with the now free hand.

    The hit would make Lith falter and focus on the fist long enough for the de to strike. It was a simple but effective strategy that made use of the Emerald Dragon¡¯s superior skills.

    Neither their battle experience nor their mass could bepared. The 500 years spent inside the Golden Griffon had been a nightmare, yet they had also forced Jakra to fight some of the best warriors of the Kingdom non-stop.

    Compared to that, Lith¡¯s 19 turbulent years were barely a speck of dust.

    The fight turned for the worse with each exchange despite the help from the Demons of Darkness. They were too weak and made of darkness, not Chaos so the Kingyer armor was enough to deal with them.

    Its barriers kept them at bay while its automatic counter spells destroyed their ethereal form. Lith, however, didn¡¯t give up and neither did the Demons.

    "You truly are an anomaly, little brother. I had never seen a faulty bloodline power before. This will make our fightst even less." The Emerald Dragon said.

    "I only agree with yourst statement, big brother." Lith said while resuming his attack with renewed fury. He daydreamed about a hail of spells manifesting around Jakra and attacking him from every side, yet nothing happened.

    The strike, however, came faster and stronger than the Emerald Dragon had expected, forcing him to block it instead of his usual dodge-and-counter routine. The sh between War and Dragonw sent shockwaves solely throughout his body, leaving Lith unaffected.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Jakra said whilepletely unaware of the wave of Demons of the Fallen that charged at him from behind.

 Chapter 1415 - The Final Step (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1415 - The Final Step (Part 1)</h4>

    The souls that Lith had summoned didn¡¯t belong to long-dead people like usual. They were the spirits of those that Xedros had sacrificed to turn himself into a Dragon. They didn¡¯t get to possess any corpse but their own.

    It boosted their strength and fury beyond what Lith had ever aplished before. As the darkness that animated the souls eroded the bodies, it also empowered them, restoring a part of their original powers.

    At that moment, despite being covered in wounds, Scarlett found the strength to curse at Lith via their mind link that she had never broken.

    <i>¡¯What have you done? You don¡¯t produce undead, but lesser Abominations. Without a body, no healing can bring Sedra back!¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I didn¡¯t do anything. The souls acted of their own will. Besides, do you really think I could conjure the Demons of Darkness from someone alive? You¡¯ve seen the Hydra shade. The body may still be here, but Sedra was already dead before our arrival.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    Scarlett averted her eyes from Xedros for a second, recognizing in the Sedra Demon the techniques and spells that she had taught him. The Golden Dragon didn¡¯t miss the opening and pped his hands while she was in mid-air, squashing her like a bug.

    The Adamant armor and the Scorpicore¡¯s physical prowess allowed her to survive so Xedros hurled a jet-stream of bright violet Origin mes that hit her full on.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m so sorry.¡¯</i> Scarlett wept as her fury and will to fight abandoned her.

    <i>¡¯I¡¯ve failed you, Sedra. I¡¯ve failed all of you.¡¯</i> She looked at the Demons of the Fallen, grieving their death even though she didn¡¯t know them. <i>¡¯You were just lost children no one cared about. Innocents who epted help from the wrong people out of despair.</i>

    <i>¡¯Your pleas for help always fell on deaf ears because people like me were always too busy to listen. Coming here was pointless. Even if we win, the only lives we can save are our own.¡¯</i>

    Scarlett suddenly felt calm. Her eyes stopped crying and revenge became nothing but a childish tantrum to her.

    <i>¡¯Please, forgive me, lesser Dragons. I can¡¯t bring you back, but at least I can make sure that what happened to you will never happen to someone else.¡¯</i> Scarlett stared at Xedros as determination reced rage and Mogar heed her call.

    The golden pir that surrounded the Scorpicore turned white as Scarlett evolved once more. Her appearance became that of her proto-Guardian form, but her height at the wither was now 30 meters (100 feet) and her mass was the real deal.

    Mogar gave Scarlett everything she needed, from the flesh and blood to the mana necessary to sustain her new majestic body.

    <i>¡¯Come forth, my child. Come forth, Sekhmet, the Guardian of Children.¡¯</i> Mogar said while looking Baba Yaga in the eyes and reminding her of the role that she had refused millennia ago.

    The Red Mother wept, moved by Scarlett¡¯s personal sacrifice and by the regret for not being brave enough to take the mantle of Guardian.

    In her new form, Scarlett felt rage no more, just pity for the dead children and for Xedros, who had stooped so low as to kill his own offspring just to achieve such a measly power.

    "I feel sorry for you, Xedros. You were Leegaain¡¯s direct offspring, one of the most powerful Light Masters that Mogar has ever seen, and the progenitor of a powerful bloodline, yet nothing was ever enough for you." She said.

    "Instead of entrusting your dreams and knowledge to your children so that they might rise where you couldn¡¯t, you clipped their wings. You hoarded everything you could because you couldn¡¯t stand the thought of being surpassed.

    "You are one of the most pathetic beings I have ever met, but this doesn¡¯t mean that I will give you a merciful death. My first act as a Guardian will be to make an example out of you." Scarlett roared, sending the Dragon crashing against the back wall with just the air pressure that her voice produced.

    <i>¡¯She acts all high and mighty, but the reality is different.¡¯</i> Xedros thought. <i>¡¯She has yet to get used to that body and power. I barely felt a hitch. It was all bark and no bite.¡¯</i>

    His analysis was spot on. Scarlett was full of raw power she had no idea how to use.

    Unfortunately for him, their situation had now been reversed. Xedros had picked the cave for its privacy and because his massive size would give him a huge advantage in the case someone found them.

    Now, however, between his gigantic body and Scarlett¡¯s even bigger form, there was no space to dodge or y it smart. It would be a slugfest where strength would matter above all and the Sekhmet had the power of a Guardian.

    "It seems that the tide has turned, little brother." Jakra needed but a few swings of Dragonw and its enchantments to turn the Demons of the Fallen into shreds, stopping their onught while their bodies regenerated.

    "I have to kill you quickly before-"

    s, "before" had alreadye to pass.

    A sudden hail of tier one spells of all seven elements cut the Emerald Dragon short, giving the Demons of the Fallen the second wind they needed. Attacked from every side, Jakra faltered and War bit deep into his flesh.

    "My thought exactly." Lith said as his mass started increasing again and his vortexes spun faster than ever before, making their edges finally ovep.

    The vortexes formed perfect bright blue spheres, bing auxiliary cores that allowed Lith¡¯s mana core to reach the deep violet level.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, a silver pir came from above while a ck pir came from below, both engulfing Lith. Yet this time they didn¡¯t sh but merged into a single silvery ck pir.

    The room that was already filled with world energy from Scarlett¡¯s tribtion now brimmed with it and the Demons of the Fallen changed once again, bing Demons of the mes.

    Each one of them had now ck mes surging out of their bodies that held the same magical power of a Final Sunset.

    <i>¡¯Rise, my child. Rise, Tiamat, the Father of all Demons.¡¯</i> Mogar said while Lith¡¯s three life forces merged into one.

    There were no impurities to expel, only the need for new mass and for strengthening his flesh, bones, and scales beyond their former limits. Emerald mes engulfed Lith¡¯s body as it started to grow and change.

    The light pir nurtured Lith¡¯s iplete form, protecting him during the entire evolution process. His height reached now 20 meters (66 feet), his horns, tails, and wings reached full maturity.

    The left wing of the second set was covered in red-veined ck feathers and the sixth eye, the yellow eye of air magic opened.

 Chapter 1416 - The Final Step (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1416 - The Final Step (Part 2)</h4>

    The elements started to flow clockwise from one eye into another. From the yellow eye on the left side of his forehead to the red one, from the red eye to the silver one on his cheek. Then from silver to orange, from orange to ck, and from ck to blue.

    Once the circle wasplete, all of the elements flowed as one into the seventh eye in the middle of Lith¡¯s forehead. The vertical eyelid opened slowly, giving Jakra the impression of watching at an emerald moon rising.

    "That changes nothing." The Emerald Dragon reverted to his original size and form, matching Lith¡¯s height once again while his equipment grew in size ordingly, fitting his Dragon body like a glove.

    Even though now their mass was on par, Lith had lost his armor and weapon in the process. Both the Scalewalker armor and War were smaller than toys for the Tiamat¡¯s body.

    <i>¡¯He has no experience with this size nor control over his powers. Evolving to the violet core just widened the gap between us in my favor.¡¯</i>

    Or so Jakra¡¯s thought until Lith struck at him with a front kick that also packed his tier four Spirit spell, Piercing Explosion. Unlike the Tiamat, the Emerald Dragon had no protection while shapeshifting, leaving his bodypletely open.

    The kick and the emerald pir sent Jakra flying back. He crashed against Arthan¡¯s Madness, turning it into a pile of scraps.

    Now that the mana geyser was free for the taking, Solus drained every drop of world energy from it. She regained her tower mass and used the merging with War and the Scalewalker to reshape her form into equipment that Lith could use.

    The sword he wielded and the armor he wore were of ackl.u.s.ter dull grey, yet they brimmed with the power of a mage tower.

    <i>¡¯Thanks for believing in me even when everything was lost, Solus.¡¯</i> Lith thought as he let his mana flow freely from his core through his shoulder, arm, hand, and into Solus¡¯s sword.

    <i>¡¯Save the thanks forter. First, we have to take care of this jackass. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s under Huryole¡¯s ve spell, but we don¡¯t have the luxury to care for it.¡¯</i> She said while letting Lith¡¯s mana merge with her own and flood War.

    <i>¡¯Agreed. Now that I¡¯ve gotten the violet core, I can¡¯t defeat Jakra without your help.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯We can only do it together.¡¯</i> They thought in unison.

    Sark was right when she said that no person could be one with a sword because weapons are nothing but tools. Yet Solus wasn¡¯t a tool. She was a person and the master of the tower that now was not only part of her body, but also a part of War.

    Lith and Solus were as one, making them unwittingly weave their first de tier spell.

    The air crackled as an ominous emerald glow shrouded Tower War. The de produced a sh that cut through Dragonw¡¯s Adamant and the Kingyer armor, opening a deep gash in the c.h.e.s.t of the Emerald Dragon.

    "What?" Jakra and Thrud said in unison as she Warped herpanion to safety and copsed the space behind them to cover their escape.

    In the meantime, in the other half of the cave, Xedros couldn¡¯t dodge to save his life, literally. Lith and Jakra were now so big that they took the rest of the avable space, locking him into ce.

    Scarlett¡¯s ws gouged one of his eyes out as they crossed his face and c.h.e.s.t, ripping away all the scales that they met. A Dragon was strong, but a Guardian was stronger. The Sekhmet¡¯s cantrips had now the power of tier four spells and her Spirit Spells reached new heights.

    Scarlett severed Xedros¡¯ right arm and then the left, returning him to a Wyvern-like appearance.

    "Was it worth it?" She asked with a thunderous voice. "Was it worth taking all those lives just to feed your ego? Nothing will remain of you, not even the memory. I¡¯ll make sure of it!"

    Scarlett used her tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, that struck at the Golden Dragon like a Guardian tier spell. Xedros¡¯s scales turned into ice while the light and earth spikes pierced through his body, covering it in cracks.

    The vibrations from air shattered Xedros into bits and the darkness turned the bits into dust.

    Less than one minute had passed since Scarlett had evolved into a Guardian yet the battle had already ended. dion reappeared soon after, coughing out a mouthful of blood due to a deep wound that went from his c.h.e.s.t to his back, missing his heart by a hair¡¯s breadth.

    "I¡¯m d to see you fared much better than me." He said while using Invigoration to heal, now that he didn¡¯t have to worry about hispanions anymore. "Thrud may not be an Awakened, but she¡¯s stronger than anyone I ever faced.

    "She can use Life Maelstrom, she has unparalleled physical prowess, and her equipment is out of this world. She let me live on purpose, to not anger Baba Yaga."

    "Tell that to someone who cares." Scarlett said while wincing in pain.

    Bing a Guardian had given her more than just power. It has also created a bond between the Sekhmet and Mogar through which now flowed countless information. During the fight with Xedros, the white pir had protected Scarlett¡¯s mind, but now that it was gone, she felt her sanity slipping away.

    She couldn¡¯t care less about Thrud or dion¡¯s grievances with her. All she wanted was for that crippling pain to stop.

    <i>¡¯Come to my house, sister.¡¯</i> Leegaain said via a mind link. <i>¡¯Its dimensional space is isted from Mogar and it will give you the opportunity to get adjusted to your new form. Even Sark¡¯s Desert is deserted in name only.</i>

    <i>¡¯Its life forms would call upon you as well, drawing you crazy unless you know how to block them.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Thanks, old lizard, but there are a few things that I have to do first.¡¯</i> She replied while turning towards the Tiamat.

    "I have to go now and I don¡¯t know when or if I¡¯ll return to the Griffon Kingdom. I entrust Ka and Nyka to you. Take care of them as I would and bring them home safely. I have no use for this anymore, so I want you to give it to Ka."

    Scarlett handed the Eyes of Menadion to Lith after removing her imprint from them.

    "You and I are both going to have a hard time. We¡¯ve lost much today, and only time will tell if our gains are worth the price we paid. Farewell." The Sekhmet took a step forward and disappeared through a Gate that moved her inside Leegaain¡¯s biomes.

    Lith had to squint his eyes to see the minuscule gold-rimmed pince-nez that nowy in his hand.

    "F.u.c.k me sideways." Those were the first words the newborn Tiamat spoke.

    He tried to shapeshift by calling upon his human side, but it wasn¡¯t there anymore.

    The ck sphere of his Abomination side had turned into an elliptical void, at the center of which burned a big, deep violet star. Countless smaller blue stars surrounded it, and each one of them was connected to the other stars and with the dark space around them by what looked like a thick red thread.

 Chapter 1417 - Paying Your Dues (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1417 - Paying Your Dues (Part 1)</h4>

    The violet star at the center of Lith¡¯s life force received the energy from the smaller ones through the thread, amplifying it before sending it back to them. The red energy allowed the stars to resonate with the void and to beat with it in unison.

    The darkness didn¡¯t just feed upon the stars, it also kept them apart so that each one of them could grow without colliding with the others.

    <i>¡¯It seems I¡¯ll need Faluel¡¯s shapeshifting lessons sooner than I expected.¡¯</i> Lith inwardly sighed after failing multiple times to change his form without magic.

    <i>¡¯Maybe, and maybe not.¡¯</i> Solus pondered. <i>¡¯My guess is that the red thread is the remnant of your human side. You didn¡¯t lose it, it just changed. Try to focus on that.¡¯</i>

    Lith followed her advice, following and amplifying the part of the melody of his new life force that reminded him of the human melody the most. His body slowly shrunk,pressing his mass back into a human form while his life force folded to resemble one.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t the same as before. The Tiamat was Lith¡¯s new nature and turning into a human felt akin to wearing an old set of clothes that didn¡¯t fit well anymore.

    <i>¡¯Maybe you just need to get adjusted to your new condition as well.¡¯</i> Solus said in an attempt to ease his mind that was already running to the worst-case scenario.

    <i>¡¯Maybe.¡¯</i> He replied.

    Even back on Earth after Ezio¡¯s death, Derek/Lith had always felt like a monster. Like something that just wore a human skin and that couldn¡¯t be one, no matter how hard he tried.

    Now, he feared that what had once been just a mental scar had suddenly turned into reality.

    "Lith, are you alright?" dion asked after waiting for him to move for a few minutes.

    The many wounds on Lith¡¯s body and the damage to his armor made the Firstborn Vampire worry for him.

    "I¡¯m not." Lith replied after fixing everything with Invigoration.

    "Usually, I¡¯d try to convince you to give me the Eyes, but I owe you and Scarlett too much to let my greed for a powerful artifact blind me. You have my deepest gratitude." dion gave him a deep bow.

    "Gratitude? And for what? Everyone is dead, Thrud has escaped, and I bet one month of my annuities that she has gotten everything she came for." Lith replied. "The only question here is how much did we lose and how much did we gain."

    "I disagree. Xedros is dead, we have avenged our fallen, and now that we know how Thrud¡¯s new Madness operates, we can find her the moment she makes another attempt." dion said.

    "Good for you, because I, instead, have just lost a big chunk of myself, one of my most powerful allies, and I have to give my teacher the worst news a parent can receive. On top of that, I don¡¯t give a shit about Haug¡¯s reward anymore!"

    "I¡¯ve reached the violet core on my own and turned into a monster for it." Lith said with a snarl. "Let¡¯s go back to Lightkeep. I want to go home, give the bad news to everyone, and hope that Kam will not break up with me for this."

    ***

    While contemting the gains of hertest sess, Thrud Ef Daron Griffon wore one of the kindest and warmest smiles that Jakra the Emerald Dragon had ever seen.

    In front of her stood hundreds of Emperor Beasts that she had "rescued" from the clutches of their power-hungry masters and that were now willing to follow her to the Golden Griffon.

    "Thank you very much, Lady Griffon." A young Roc gave her a deep bow of gratitude. "If it wasn¡¯t for you and Lord Jakra, the very same Thunderbird that the Council had assigned me as a master would have sacrificed me to turn herself into a Griffon!"

    "Don¡¯t thank me, Orsat." Thrud made the Roc stood tall while her voice sounded genuinely sad. "I apologize for being unable to find something better than just destabilizing their bodies after Xedros shared the Ambrosia with them.

    "If only I was more capable, many more might have been saved."

    "That¡¯s not true, Lady Griffon." A Scorpicore said. "You took care of us the whole time and did your best to ensure our survival. You¡¯re not even an Awakened, yet you managed to put a leash to all those monsters. What you¡¯ve done is a miracle."

    Thrud inwardlyughed, but her face showed nothing but the kindest motherly expression.

    After Othre and having defeated Manohar along with an entire squadron of Spellbreakers, Thrud knew that humans couldn¡¯t hinder her ns anymore. She had only two enemies left: the Awakened Council and the Undead Courts.

    Now, however, neither of them would be a threat to her any longer.

    She couldn¡¯t care less about the Father of all Wyverns¡¯ ambitions. Yet by experimenting on him, she had the opportunity to study the bloodline purifying process and focus on that specific ability of Arthan¡¯s Madness.

    That way, she had found a way to turn herself into a Griffon and her unborn baby into a Dragon-Griffon hybrid safely, increasing her powers by several folds.

    Also, in exchange for her "help", Xedros had taught her the Awakening method that belonged to the Wyvern bloodline.

    Thrud had involved in the project other members of the Council not only to have enough Guardian blood for her purposes, but also to have Xedros Awaken their most loyal followers and make sure that the Wyvern wasn¡¯t tricking her.

    After her body modifications had killed the rest of Xedros¡¯s aplices and Scarlett had killed the newborn Golden Dragon, Thrud had gained a small army of young Emperor Beasts angry with the Council.

    They would follow her to the Golden Griffon, where she would safely Awaken them all and, ording to Jakra, their loyalty would somehow be set in stone.

    On top of that, there was a reason why she had chosen to kidnap young undead instead of creating them from scratch. Making a greater undead required time and focus, but her real goal had been to split forever the Eclipsed Lands from the Undead Courts.

    The Neutral faction had asked both the Council and the Courts for help, yet they had either ignored its pleas or attempted to ckmail the Firstborns. The Council had offered them a deaf ear, suspecting the Eclipsed Lands to provide support andfort to the enemies they were at war with.

    The Undead Courts, instead, had demanded to the Awakened undead to join the war effort along with their armies and to provide them with food and artifacts.

    The war would keep weakening the Kingdom, the Courts, and the Council so that when her army of Awakened came, they wouldn¡¯t have the strength to stop her. Their short-sightedness and petty grudges had made those old monsters dance at her tune like puppets.

    "We are so close to victory, my love." Thrud said after making sure for the tenth time that Jakra¡¯s wounds were healed and that his equipment was self-repairing itself.

 Chapter 1418 - Paying Your Dues (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1418 - Paying Your Dues (Part 2)</h4>

    "Once we reach the Golden Griffon, you, I, and everyone inside will Awaken, creating the strongest army that Mogar has ever seen. No one will be able to stop us and the throne will finally be mine."

    "Are you sure you want to Awaken now? What about the child?" Not even the ve spell could keep Jakra from expressing his worries for his unborn baby.

    "Silly man." She giggled, kissing his forehead and putting his hands on her belly. "Of course I¡¯m going to wait, but it¡¯s not going to be long anyway. I can feel that the moment is nigh. Our child can¡¯t wait to meet their parents."

    Jakra could feel the stirring and kicking reverberating from inside her soft skin. The thought of bing a father made him incredibly worried and happy at the same time.

    On the one hand, he considered the baby as the only good thing that hade out of his envement. On the other hand, the moment it was born, one of the bloodiest wars the Garlen continent had ever seen would start.

    The Emerald Dragon didn¡¯t want for his child to be enved as well, nor to make them grow during such horrible times.

    ***

    The city of Lightkeep, now.

    After telling Ka and Nyka the events that had unfolded that night and giving the Wight Scarlett¡¯s legacy, all that was left to do was to deal with the consequences of the mission¡¯s failure.

    "I can¡¯t believe that aunt Scar is gone." Nyka sobbed, weeping blood tears.

    "Hush, child. She¡¯s not dead. Our friend has just be something that goes beyond our wildest imagination and probably needs some time to get the hang of it." Ka replied.

    "She¡¯s just be an immortal being! Centuries might look like a second to her and by the time she returns, all of us might be all dead." Nyka cried even harder. "Sooner orter, you¡¯re going to be a Lich and you¡¯ll abandon us as well.

    "I hoped that at least I would have been able to rely on aunt Scarlett, but now, once you¡¯re gone, I¡¯ll be all alone forever. Nok is not going to live long anyway and you¡¯ll forget about me the moment you step inside that damnedb of yours!"

    Ka wanted to console her daughter, but she recognized the truth behind her reasoning and remained silent.

    "Don¡¯t worry, my little robin." dion said. "I¡¯m not going anywhere and you¡¯ll be always wee in my home. You are my goddaughter and this will always be your family."

    Lith sat on a sofa with a nk stare on his face, hoping that Baba Yaga would pop up at any moment to ask her for guidance, yet nothing happened. His human form felt alien to him whereas his newborn instincts as a Tiamat poked at his brain that didn¡¯t know how to make sense of them.

    "This isn¡¯t the oue I had hoped for, but you upheld your part of the bargain and I¡¯ll do the same." The Firstborn said.

    "Ka, this white crystal is what you need for your experiments, yet I pray you¡¯ll never use it." He gave the Wight a gemstone the size of an apple, making Lith wonder how much the Eye of Kolga was actually worth.

    "Nyka, I¡¯m willing to impart you the secret Awakening technique of my bloodline and to make you into one of my children. Even in the case that you lose your mother, you¡¯d always have a father." dion wiped her tears, hugging her tenderly.

    During thest few days, he had seen so much death and madness that even one of the original children of Baba Yaga felt the weight of his mortality.

    "Lith, I promise you that I¡¯ll spare no effort to find out the identity of the killer of your friends. Even if I have to tear the Undead Courts apart, I will give you the answer you seek." He said.

    "Wait, you don¡¯t know? Based on Haug¡¯s words, I assumed everything was ready to be delivered." Lith snapped out of his reverie, yet his words held no fury.

    For some reason, everything felt distant and insignificant to him. Even talking to dion seemed just a waste of his time.

    "I never trusted you nor your group. As Haug must have told you, I heard about this while I was visiting the Undead Courts. Someone had paid them an ungodly price in exchange for some of their most secret knowledge and artifacts.

    "I didn¡¯t want to get involved in an open war with the Courts but at this point, I don¡¯t care anymore. I know where to start my research and who question for answers. Even if I have to face the Hors.e.m.e.n themselves, I¡¯ll find out the truth."

    dion and Lith exchanged their Council runes so as to be able tomunicate. After that, Lith stood up and prepared to leave.

    "Any chance I can have a talk with Baba Yaga?" He asked.

    "I tried to contact her, but to no avail. I¡¯ve left her several messages so that the moment she answers to me I¡¯ll send her your way." dion was unaware that the Red Mother was still busy saving Dawn¡¯s life.

    "Thanks. Are you two ready?" Lith said to Ka and Nyka.

    "I¡¯m noting back. I want uncle dion to Awaken me and gain the power I need to protect Mom from whoever sent her that card." Nyka¡¯s eyes burned with a deep red me that turned the light of undeath in her eyes into zing torches.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Scourge, but I¡¯m going to stay as well." The Wight shook her head.

    "I¡¯m not going to leave until I¡¯m sure that Nyka Awakens safely. Also, as long as I¡¯m here, whoever is targeting me will be forced to alter their ns and the Council can redistribute their escorts.

    "On top of that, I need time to learn how to use the Eyes and the libraries of Lightkeep will help me find a way to achieve Lichhood, lessening the risk of leaving my children orphans. Whenever you need me, I¡¯ll just be one call away."

    "I¡¯ll go back on my own, then." Lith said while moving toward the door.

    "I can¡¯t allow you to go home empty-handed like this." Haug wore a grieving expression, feeling guilty for having dragged him into that mess. "The Travelling Tavern will bring you straight back to Derios without the need to face those ruffians of the Council."

    "He can do that?" Lith asked dion in surprise.

    "Yes. I¡¯ve made an exception for his tavern in the city arrays. It¡¯s not as fast as a proper city Gate for security reasons, but it sure beats the alternative." The Firstborn nodded.

    Moving the Travelling Tavern required both dion¡¯s authorization and Haug¡¯s mastery of dimensional magic. The staff had to leave the building so that the barkeep could shrink it in size and bring it out of the sealing arrays¡¯ borders.

    Once outside Lightkeep, the Tavern Warped on its own several times, until it reached the outskirts of the Capital of the Distar region. The whole journey took them barely an hour, most of which they spent over mana geysers to recharge the Tavern¡¯s Warp Drive.

    "Here, take them. I¡¯ve been saving them for my disciple, but neither of us needs them anymore." While they waited, Haug handed Lith two Davross ingots.

 Chapter 1419 - Gains and Losses (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1419 - Gains and Losses (Part 1)</h4>

    The metal was solid, yet one second its surface was white with ck veins all over it, and the next the two colors reversed their positions. Davross absorbed the light instead of reflecting it, changing its appearance as if there were two colliding forces inside of it, battling for dominion.

    Two ingots weren¡¯t enough to make anything out of them, but more than enough to start studying its properties and practice Lith¡¯s Origin mes.??

    "I guess you don¡¯t neem my technique to reach the violet core, correct?" Haug asked with a sad smile.

    "Correct." Lith nodded, putting the ingots inside his pocket dimension.

    "Do you want me to keep the events of Lightkeep a secret from the Council?"

    "Let them know." Lith said with a scoff. "Scarlett bing a Guardian will make them realize their foolishness, while my bing a new species will make them value me even more.

    "I can give up to a little privacy if it means more protections for my beloved ones. If even Baba Yaga can¡¯t protect her children alone, what does that say about people like you and me?"

    Haug nodded and opened the door of the Travelling Tavern.

    "I¡¯m sorry if I can¡¯t bring you all the way in, but Derios has dimensional sealing arrays. We have to walk a bit." Once everyone got out of the building, Haug stored it inside his dimensional item.

    The arrays of most cities of the Kingdom stopped solely Warps, not dimensional items.

    Lith didn¡¯t wait for them and flew straight at the city gates and from there to the Distar Household. The hole in the wall had yet to be repaired while several Constables and members of the Knight¡¯s Guard looked for the slightest clue.

    Brinja sat on the doorsteps of the house, bawling her eyes out and not caring one bit for openly showing her grief. She wanted the whole Kingdom to feel guilty for letting her mother die a dog¡¯s death and do the impossible to find the culprit.

    The moment she saw Lith, she ran into his arms, hugging him tightly for an entire second before taking a step back and pping him with all the strength she could muster.

    "Where the f.u.c.k have you been? I¡¯ve been calling you all night and day! Mom might have called you and you wouldn¡¯t even know. What kind of hero lets the woman who took care of him for so long die?

    "Where were you when my mother needed you the most?" Her voice was filled with rage and grief as she desperately searched for someone to me for what had happened.

    "Mirim didn¡¯t call me. It¡¯s the first thing I checked when I got the news of her death." The sadness in his voice made her fury disappear.

    Without it, there was nothing holding Brinja together and she started to cry again. Lith embraced her, sharing her pain and grief as if they were siblings.

    "I¡¯m sorry for not arriving sooner, but I was hunting down the one who killed Lark. If I dropped everything toe here, it would only have made Mirim¡¯s death pointless." He said.

    "Did you find them?" She looked at him with a crazed frenzy in her eyes.

    "Not yet. But I will." Lith said with a stone-cold voice that held promises of infinite pain.

    "Soon?"

    "Soon." He nodded.

    "When it happens, I want to be there to watch." Brinja hid her face in his c.h.e.s.t while wing at his back as if to squeeze the life out of the object of her hate.

    "You have my word." Lith said.

    ***

    Lith and Solus investigated the crime scene to the best of their abilities, but to no avail. The culprit had once again left no trace of their passage aside from the defiled corpse of their victim and the damage to the Household.

    Even the members of the Knight¡¯s Guard with their amazing forensic devices failed to find a single strand of hair or a drop of blood. Solus turned into her Eyes form, but aside from a massive headache, she gained nothing from it.

    The raw amount of information from the Distar Household and the Guard forced her back into her ring form after barely a few seconds.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, now I understand how Scarlett felt when Baba Yaga unlocked the advanced mode. I wish I had some kind of filter as well that gave me ess to more information than mana sense but not so many either.¡¯</i> She sighed.

    <i>¡¯Maybe, once you go back being a tower, you can check if that interface you discovered after Silverwing broke in now has some other functions rted to the Eyes. I doubt that Menadion ever nned on the tower having a portable form.</i>

    <i>¡¯ording to Baba Yaga¡¯s words, fusing your dying body with the tower must have been ast-ditch effort.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯I hope you are right, otherwise until my power core stabilizes, this form will be utterly useless.¡¯</i> She said.

    Once they were done, Lith took the Gate from the local branch of the Mage Association and stepped through the Gate in the barn of the Verhen household.

    The sun was about to rise, but its light gave him no joy.

    Ever since Lark¡¯s death, Mogar had be a darker ce to him.

    Mirim¡¯s murder made sunlight even duller and the thought that by the end of that day Kam might break up with him made Lith feel as if Mogar had split open under his feet, ready to swallow him whole.

    After losing thest semnce of his humanity, Lith¡¯s world was filled with so much darkness that losing the light that her unconditional affection bestowed upon him was too much to bear.

    Less than 24 hours had passed since the death of Marchioness Distar, yet Lith found all the members of his family assembled together in the living room, waiting for his return.

    Aran and Leria tried to run to his legs, but their respective magical beast stopped them. Onyx and Abominus growled at Lith, baring their fangs as the mana from their best spells filled the air.

    "Stand down. It¡¯s really me." Lith¡¯s tone held no threat nor outrage. It was t as if he was reciting the alphabet.

    "Bad Onyx! Bad! How can you be so mean with my big brother?" Aran struggled, but the Shyf held his clothes between her teeth without letting him go.

    "Abominus, how can you not recognize uncle Lith?" Leria asked.

    "It¡¯s not their fault, it¡¯s mine." He said while looking at his rtives in the eyes one at a time. "Many things happened during my short absence. One of them made me reach the violet core."

    Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, with his seven eyes now fully opened and each one shining with the light of its corresponding element. He used his tail to drag a chair while folding his wings around his shoulders and h.i.p.s.

    "Cool!" The kids said in unison, admiring his glistening scales that now had be thicker and bigger.

    "Why is that a bad thing?" Elina threw a worried look at her son.

    There was something different with Lith and it wasn¡¯t just grief. She had seen him after Protector had faked his death and after Lark¡¯s murder.

 Chapter 1420 - Gains and Losses (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1420 - Gains and Losses (Part 2)</h4>

    Both times Lith had been shaken in different ways, but always riddled with emotions.

    This time, instead, he looked depressed, sad, and resigned to some kind of impending doom Elina wasn¡¯t aware of.??

    Yet.

    "I¡¯m sorry, Mom. If I ever have children, this is how they will look once they get out of their mother¡¯s w.o.m.b." He said while unfolding his wings and turning around to let everyone see his demonic appearance.

    "They might carry a shred of the Verhen blood, but I need to perform Blood Resonance on myself to make sure of it."

    "Did you discard your humanity, son?" There was no spite nor disgust in Raaz¡¯s voice, only honest worry.

    "No, Dad. Unlike other hybrids, I had no choice to make. Once my core reached the violet, my two life forces merged into one. They transformed into something I¡¯ve never seen before and turned me into this thing." Lith replied.

    "How is it called?" Elina asked, forcing herself to smile and ept that the only way she had left to see her son¡¯s human face was him wearing a mask.

    "Tiamat. When I transformed, I heard Mogar call me Tiamat, the Father of all Demons."

    "Super cool!" Unlike the a.d.u.l.ts, the kids considered Lith bing a four-winged war machine solely as a reason to celebrate. Something to brag about with their friends.

    "Was the form that you had until a few seconds ago just Body Sculpting?" Rena said, asking the question on everyone¡¯s mind.

    "It¡¯s not Body Sculpting, but it¡¯s not my true form either. It¡¯s just one of my faces." Lith shapeshifted back into his human form, not knowing how to better exin the feeling he had without his scales.

    The a.d.u.l.t side of the family sighed in relief, considering his worries only the consequence of Mirim¡¯s death and of his pessimistic nature.

    "I¡¯d stop nning my marriage if I were you. Before the end of this day, I¡¯m going to tell Kam everything and she is likely to break up with me." Lith said with a snarl, considering their sighs as an attempt to belittle his condition.

    "Please, you said that before telling her about your hybrid nature and again before telling her that you were an Awakened." Tista said, remembering what Solus had told her about how worried Lith was every time he had to open up to Kam.

    "I¡¯m certain that she is going to be fine and ept it just like we do. It might take some time, but she isn¡¯t the type of woman to turn her back on you just because of this."

    "You don¡¯t understand, Tista. I¡¯m going to tell her everything." Lith emphasized thest word while showing his right hand to her.

    The others had no idea what the gesture meant and failed to notice the stone ring for the umpteenth time, considering it the perfect essory for someone as miser as Lith.

    Only Tista realized the full implications of those words by recognizing Solus¡¯s ring.

    <i>¡¯Good gods! If Kam reacts like anyone but me did when discovering the deep bond between them, they are bound to either break up or at least take a break from their rtionship.</i>

    <i>¡¯Both events would have a severe effect on our entire family. The children have gotten close like cousins and Zinya is now one of Mom¡¯s best friends. If Lith and Kam break up, everything wille to an end, or at least things will be awkward for a while.¡¯</i> She thought while looking at Elina.

    Then, Tista¡¯s eyes fell on her own hands and for a moment she saw them covered in ck scales. She shuddered at the thought that once she reached the blue core, she might fully be whatever her brother was and lose her humanity as well.

    Best case scenario, the next time Tista promoted her core she would just turn into a hybrid, and only once she reached the violet core would she be forcefully turned into a Tiamat.

    No matter whether her body would react like that of a normal hybrid or of Lith, her core had now a cap that required a heavy price to be unlocked.

    Suddenly, .u.mtion and breakthroughs had lost most of their l.u.s.ter to her eyes.

    "Since I don¡¯t want to drag Kam in this mess any further until we clear our situation up, I¡¯m going to do something important now. Don¡¯t be scared." Lith stood up and opened the door of the house.

    "My siblings keeping watch of this house, please,e in." His voice was barely a whisper, but he knew that thanks to their heightened senses, the Phoenixes would manage to hear it in the silence of the night.

    Suddenly, three shadows that surrounded the Verhen Household in a triangle formation gained a third dimension and assumed human form. The appearance of Crevan, Lenanna, and Jhet made the temperature drop a few degrees.

    Phoenixes were creatures of light and darkness, making their presence enhance both the splendor of the sun and the void of its absence.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, the space between the Verhen and the Yehval household distorted as well, taking the form of a majestic pitch-ck wolf with ten tails.

    The members of the Queen¡¯s corps quaked in their boots recognizing some of the members of Sark¡¯s nest yet it was the appearance of the Fylgja that covered them in a cold sweat.

    There was something in the aura surrounding him that made even the moonlight grow duller.

    "What are you looking at, kids?" Tezka snarled at the Phoenixes. "I¡¯m his sibling as much as you are. Lith and I are both Abomination hybrids, something truly rare whereas Phoenixes are a dime a dozen."

    Lith didn¡¯t actually call upon the Fylgja but he pretended to have been intentionally vague to summon them all.

    The Phoenixes didn¡¯t like Tezka¡¯s attitude nor his disrespect, yet they recognized him as one of the oldest Abominations still alive on Mogar. Even Sark respected his knowledge and power so they s.u.c.k.e.d it up.

    The massive amount of magical power that the four creatures released even while in a rxed state shook the nerves of the members of the Queen¡¯s corps to the point of bringing their minds to the edge of madness.

    Yet the mental fortitude they had developed on the battlefield allowed the soldiers to ovee their fear and perform their duty. The members of the corps drew their weapons and started to chant their spells until their Captain stopped them.

    "Wait. Archmage Verhen isn¡¯t moving from the door and isn¡¯t reacting to the sudden appearance of those strangers either. They might be his guest and we cannot afford a diplomatic incident between the Kingdom, the Desert, and the Verhens."

    Locrias¡¯s calm voice reassured his soldiers, but his hand had already activated the army amulet, making reinforcements stand at the ready. Between the Warping Array and the Gate in the barn, it would take them but a split second to get there.

    The Captain was covered in nervous sweat but when he saw Lith greeting the four monsters inside his house like old friends, he knew everything was alright.

    "Everyone, they are Crevan, Lenanna, and Jhet from Grandma¡¯s side of the family." Lith introduced the Phoenixes one at a time. "This is Tezka. He¡¯s in charge of our security from the Abomination side of the family."

 Chapter 1421 - Kamila and Solus (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1421 - Kam and Solus (Part 1)</h4>

    "Howdy, kids?" Tezka said with the bearing of someone too old to care about etiquette.

    "Guys, this is my family. I assume that you already know every one of them so I won¡¯t bother you with long introductions." Lith said.??

    "Are you really a Phoenix?" Aran looked at Crevan and under his mantle, finding him underwhelming. "You got no plumes nor fire."

    "Yeah." Leria nodded while c.a.r.e.s.sing the soft and pleasantly cold fur on Tezka¡¯s long tails. "Uncle Lith and uncle doggie here are much cooler. You guys are in."

    The Fylgja chuckled at the Phoenixes¡¯ expense while Lith massaged his temples in annoyance and the parents apologized on behalf of their respective kids.

    Tezka was too ancient and wise to be angered by children¡¯s quips. His response to being called a "doggie" was to lift the kids on his tails that he rolled up in makeshift but fluffy seats.

    Aran and Leria screamed in excitement while looking at the room from a height that allowed them to look down on everyone in the room. They were akin to mice riding atop of a Dragon and they acted just as c.o.c.ky.

    "Lighten up, brother. We¡¯ve all been hatchlings at some point in time." Lenanna chuckled as well and unfolded a pair of emerald wings engulfed by green mes.

    "Awesome!" The children screamed in unison as they grabbed at her feathers and discovered that the mes didn¡¯t burn, they just tickled their skin.

    "Why did you call us here, brother?" Crevan could hear both his siblings and his mother telling him to take the stick out of his a.s.s via their mind link, yet he kept his usual stern look.

    "I want you to tell Grandma that I¡¯ve reached the deep violet." Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, noticing how the Phoenixes¡¯ attention was entirely focused on his only feathered wing.

    "I remember her being interested in my final form and this is it."

    "How tall?" Crevan said while touching both a membranous and the feathered wings while examining them with Bloodburn, his breathing technique.

    "About 20 meters (66¡¯), I think." Lith replied. "Also, please tell her that I n on visiting her as soon as I can. My family and I need to get away from here for a while and live without an ax constantly hanging over our heads."

    "That¡¯s a regr height for someone your age." Crevan nodded. "As for your visit, Mother says that you are wee whenever you want. Just send her the word and she will link the Gate in your barn to that in her tent."

    "How do I do that?" Lith asked.

    "You tell us and we¡¯ll ry the message to her." Lenanna said, taking Leria off Tezka¡¯s tail and putting the child on her shoulders.

    "Can I be as beautiful as you are when I grow up, Auntie?" At Leria¡¯s age, beauty and power were almost the same. Lenanna had chosen a in appearance, but in the eyes of the young girl, she was more stunning than Tista.

    "Sure. As long as you work hard and don¡¯t ck off, everything is possible."

    "What about me?" Tezka asked.

    "I¡¯ve been trying and failing to contact Xenagrosh for a long while now. Could you please thank her on my behalf and tell her that I¡¯d like to meet her in person again?" Lith said.

    "I will be my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." Tezka ruffled Aran¡¯s hair and handed him to Lith before taking his leave.

    "Wait, before you go, there¡¯s something you all need to know." Lith had Rena take the kids away before calling Orion.

    With Mirim dead, he was the highest-ranked official Lith knew that could ry his report to the Royals. Once everyone was assembled, Lith projected a hologram that showed the events in Lightkeep.

    He depicted himself solely as a human, to not give away either his Tiamat nature or his abilities as an Awakened. He gave dion most of the credit of the fight against Jakra, keeping the rest as it had happened.

    At the mention of Thrud¡¯s name, the Royals joined the call despite thete hour.

    "Interesting." Tezka said once the story was over.

    "This sure exins a lot." Crevan spoke with Sark¡¯s voice as he acted as her herald.

    "Archmage Verhen, are you telling me that the Mad Queen has now ess to the powers of the Guardians¡¯ bloodlines?" King Meron asked while pondering what move he would do next in Thrud¡¯s shoes.

    He couldn¡¯t hear or see the others in the room thanks to the amulet¡¯s settings, thinking he was alone with Lith.

    "Xedros turned into a Dragon, that¡¯s all I know for sure. Yet judging from her silver eyes, Thrud shares the blood of the First Queen just like Your Majesty. It would be foolish of her not to attempt to gain such power." Lith replied.

    "I agree." Meron nodded. "This will postpone the g even further than Mirim¡¯s death did. Not that anyone cares at this point, but I¡¯d suggest you to stay in a safe ce and take some rest. We all need it. Meron out."

    "Why did you show it to us?" Tezka asked while also pointing at the Phoenixes.

    "Nandi was there as well and I¡¯m sure that you¡¯d have learned about it anyway from dion." Unbeknownst to Lith, the Minotaur had already sent a full report to the Organization.

    Yet seeing the battle with his own eyes allowed the ancient Abomination to grasp more than what words could express.

    "As for you..." Lith nodded at his siblings from the Desert. "...it¡¯s only a matter of time before Thrud pulls something in Grandma¡¯s turf. At this point, sending Feathers against her would be in suicide."

    "You have my thanks." Sark replied. "Yet now I have to tell the old lizard that another of his descendants went rogue. This will surely ruin our date."

    "Your what?" The room exploded in unison, Crevan included.

    "I¡¯m ancient, not dead. Sark out." She said with a sneer, uncaring for their opinion.

    After the guest left, Lith went to his room. His tired body didn¡¯t worry as much as his mind that bordered on a nervous breakdown.

    Too many things had happened too fast.

    Mirim¡¯s death, Scarlett¡¯s disappearance, and the loss of his humanity. Those events overloaded his brain respectively with grief, worry, and uneasiness. Luckily for him, he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

    The gravity array Lith had set up protected the furniture and no one disturbed his sleep, letting him rest as long as he needed. Only once Kam arrived for dinner did they wake Lith up.

    They found him back in his Tiamat form. Lith had shapeshifted in his sleep to be morefortable, retaining only his reduced height.

    "Seven eyes open and one feathered wing? Congrattions, babe. You finally did it!" Kam did her best to smile despite all of her worries and kissed him on the mouth before he could fully turn back into a human.

    No matter how much Lith changed on the outside, he was always the same person to her.

    "Thanks." He replied with a sadness that worried yet didn¡¯t surprise her.

    Kam knew that, due to the mission, Lith didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to grieve the loss of his friend and that the metamorphosis was bound to have taken away another bit of his humanity.

    In the past, they had talked several times about how worried he was about what would happen in the case his life forces merged into one.

 Chapter 1422 - Kamila and Solus (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1422 - Kam and Solus (Part 2)</h4>

    "You look awful. When was thest time you had a proper meal?" Kam took his hand and dragged Lith to the tableden with food.

    "I think I had a beer and a few meat skewers at the same time Mirim died." He said with a guilty voice.??

    "Your dinner and her demise are in no way rted, silly." She hugged him, doing her best to put aside how tired she was after a sleepless night due to being forced to work a triple shift.

    Despite all that, she had still found the time to go back home and change into her "lucky clothes", those she had worn during their first date, hoping to cheer him up.

    "You¡¯re home now and that¡¯s all that matters. Wee back." Kam said while kissing him again.

    "Thanks." Lith knew that he sounded like a broken record, but his brain refused to work properly.

    The thought that those might be thest moments they spent together made him feel as if someone was tearing his heart to shreds. Yet he managed to conquer his fears enough to use Invigoration on her, bringing Kam back to her peak condition.

    "Gods, thank you. We Constables could use a pot of Invigoration instead of that strong bitter tea we have to drink to stay up all night." She said with a chuckle.

    Kam had no idea that Lith had done it not only because he worried for her, but also so that once he told her about Solus, fatigue, and stress wouldn¡¯t impair her judgment.

    In a way, he was just covering his a.s.s.

    After setting up another gravity array, the pleasant meal raised everyone¡¯s spirits but aside from the kids, the mood was still heavy. Aran and Leria told Kam all about their new Aunt and Uncles and how cool they looked, even conjuring some sketchy holograms of them.

    "I¡¯ll tell you everything after dinner." Lith answered the silent question in her eyes. "Now just rx and enjoy our meal."

    After dinner, all that Kam wanted to do was going to their room, listening to Lith¡¯s story, and then cuddling themselves to sleep. She needed his warmth to dispel the horrors she had been forced to face in thest 24 hours.

    Yet Lith insisted on taking a stroll in the Trawn woods and she respected his wish.

    <i>¡¯Maybe he needs some privacy away from his parents or maybe he needs to show me something that doesn¡¯t fit in the house.¡¯</i> Kam thought, not knowing that both of her guesses were right.

    Lith showed her the same hologram of the events in Lightkeep he had projected earlier. Yet this time he showed the whole truth. Also, when the story arrived at the part where he had reached his violet core, he shapeshifted into his full Tiamat form and lifted her on the palm of his hand.

    "This is how I really look like now. This is who I am." He said.

    Kam recognized the pain Lith¡¯s voice had every time he revealed one of his secrets to her and he feared that she might turn her back to him because of that.

    "Wow. You¡¯re taller than most trees now. Aren¡¯t you afraid that the Queen¡¯s corps will spot you?" She tried to sound more excited than scared while she noticed not only the changes in his appearance, but also those in his personality.

    There was some kind of cold detachment in his voice that she had never heard before, as if he didn¡¯t just grow taller but also more distant. Lith had often told her that the alterations to his life forces made him feel more and less than human at the same time, yet she had never noticed it.

    Kam could see him and hear him, recognizing in the Tiamat in front of her the man she loved, yet there was also something alien about him that scared her.

    "Don¡¯t worry about that. I made sure that we aren¡¯t followed and that we¡¯re alone for as long as we need." Lith replied, moving through the woods with the graceful and silent movements of a predator.

    "There¡¯s more?" She asked in confusion.

    "Yes, there is. Now that I¡¯ve changed, I want you to realize that I¡¯m not the man you knew anymore and to think carefully before answering the question you knew I¡¯ll ask you when I¡¯m done." Lith said.

    "Tiamat, human, who cares?" Kam said. "You don¡¯t even need to use magic to shapeshift, which makes you still a human. Even if you weren¡¯t, you would still be the person I know and date for almost three years."

    She took a long pause, pondering her next words. Kam was tired of lying to herself and to Lith so she clenched her fists tightly before speaking again.

    "Scratch that. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re human or not and you know it. What you don¡¯t know because I¡¯ve always been too much of a coward toe forward first is that I l-"

    "Don¡¯t." Lith cut her short. "I¡¯m the biggest coward here because I let us move forward while always dragging a huge part of my past behind, hidden in my shadow. Before you finish that phrase, I want you to know who I really am.

    "Until then, you know only half the truth."

    Kam felt her head spinning as she tried to make sense of Lith¡¯s words.

    "Half?" She echoed in astonishment. "You already told me you¡¯re a hybrid, an Awakened, and even a potential Guardian. What more could be the other half?"

    "Not what. Who." Lith replied while putting her down in front of the mana geyser.

    "Are we waiting for someone? Do you have to introduce me to Mogar, to your brother from a past life, or something?" She nervously asked.

    "Or something. Did you ever wonder why I never brought you to mybs or where I disappeared with my friends for days at a time? There¡¯s a reason I can move through the Kingdom faster than anyone else, and you¡¯re about to find out."

    Lith shrunk into his human form, showing Kam his stone ring before throwing it onto the ground. Before she could ask him anything, a broken tower erupted from below.

    The building was over 12 meters (40 feet) high, with the floors from ground to second intact while the third had its roof covered in debris, but close to beingpletely fixed.

    Even a non-mage like Kam who had been in contact with enough powerful mages and artifacts could feel the tremendous power coursing throughout the tower. The mana in the area was so thick that it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

    "Is this what I think it is?" She asked.

    "Yes, it¡¯s a mage tower and yet it¡¯s far more than you can possibly imagine." Lith opened the door for her, letting Kam inside the lobby.

    In the first slot, Lith was still a four years old kid picking up a rock. In thest one, there was the scene of him and Kam walking through the door.

 Chapter 1423 - The Weight of Truth (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1423 - The Weight of Truth (Part 1)</h4>

    "How is this possible? You can¡¯t have updated the tapestry before my arrival. Even my attire is identical to that depicted and you had no idea I would shapeshift my uniform into my lucky clothes." Kam asked.

    "Kam Yehval, this is Solus. She¡¯s both my partner and the mind behind this tower. Solus, this is Kam Yehval." Lith waved at the door of Solus¡¯s room that slowly opened, letting a being made of light out.??

    Solus looked like a short woman, about 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") tall, made of golden energy, and with long golden hair that floated in the air as if she floated underwater. She wore a simple day dress that covered her from the neck to the ankles.

    Solus had chosen loose clothes of a dark blue color that didn¡¯t emphasize anything of her proportions to not appear as a threat to their rtionship in the slightest.

    "What do you mean, your partner?" Kam¡¯s brain felt like someone had dropped it into tar and then frozen it.

    "It¡¯s just as you see in the carpet. I found Solus back when I was a kid and she was just a rock. We grew together, helping each other through thick and thin. She never left my side nor I did hers.

    "If not for her, I would have died hundreds of times. She¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m so sessful, why I could save Zinya from Fallmug, and why I can craft artifacts like no other mage can." Lith said.

    "Okay, now you¡¯re scaring me. Tell me what the heck is going on and do it in a way that actually makes sense, please." What scared Kam the most wasn¡¯t just the surprise so much as the mutual affection she could feel between them.

    On top of that, if half of what Lith had just said was true, then her rtionship with him was bound to be shallow and short-livedpared to that they shared.

    "Exining this with words would take a long time and it would be impossible for you to not misunderstand everything. It¡¯s easier if I show it to you." Lith extended his hand to her while Solus mirrored his movements.

    Kam usually would trust him with her life, but the more she remembered how many times she had seen the stone ring, the more she could feel her certainties falter.

    Kam hesitated for a second before taking Lith¡¯s right hand and Solus¡¯s left while they held their free hand together, forming a full circle.

    Kam knew his life by heart so Lith only projected into her mind the parts about Solus that she wasn¡¯t aware of. It allowed him to give her a perfect understanding of his rtionship with Solus without the risk of ambiguities or of poisoning Kam¡¯s mana core.

    Kam watched at Lith saving the cracked stone from the Ry¡¯s maw, Solus helping Lith to just hide his game at first and soon bing his moralpass.

    Seeing how they had supported each other, going through things that would have broken most people, Kam considered their bond to be marvelous, sweet, and utterly unbearable.

    "Really? She was there during our first dates and even when we spent our first night together?" Kam said in outrage.

    "Yes, but I¡¯ve shown you that Solus knows how to give us privacy. Also, after a while, she stoppeding with me when-"

    "Oh, yeah! Great! She magically covers her eyes and ears and I¡¯m supposed to feel better? Were at least you the one who decided to leave her behind while dating me or was even that her idea?"

    Kam cut him short, unable to distinguish what part in their rtionship had been Lith and what was just Solus¡¯s influence.

    "We decided it together." Lith said, stabbing Kam¡¯s heart once more. "I wanted to understand how deep my feelings for you were and Solus didn¡¯t want to y third wheel."

    "That¡¯s rich! She felt like a third wheel?" Kam said while clenching her hands so hard that she made them bleed. "I was the third wheel in this sick y of yours all along. Tell me one thing. Was I some kind of recement for the body she doesn¡¯t have?

    "Who were you thinking about while we slept together?"

    "You¡¯ve never been anyone else but Kam to me and you were my first andst thought every time we spent the night together, not Solus." Lith held her by the shoulders while looking at Kam straight in the eyes.

    The good thing about having spent three years together was that she was now able to tell at a first nce when Lith spewed a tant lie. Kam inwardly sighed in relief at his honesty.

    The bad thing, however, was that in the end, it didn¡¯t make her feel any better. Kam had given Lith three years of her life and all the love she was capable of, only to discover that there had always been another woman in his life.

    A woman closer to him than she could ever hope to be.

    Betrayal, rage, and envy ravaged her heart making every possible answer that Lith could give to her hurt just the same.

    "Three years. Why did you wait for so long before telling me something so important? Were you ying with me or were you just waiting for Solus to have her body back before breaking up with me?" Kam asked.

    "I didn¡¯t tell you for obvious reasons. Solus is a mage tower. I own a mage tower. Something that¡¯s supposed to exist only in the legends. How could I share such a dangerous secret with a woman I barely knew?

    "We met in the army and you knew everything about cursed objects. If I told you that I had bonded with a woman that lived in my head, not only would you have never dated me, you would also report me to the military.

    "I would have be a test subject in some secretpound and everything I worked so hard for would have been ruined." Lith replied.

    "You are right." She nodded, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down.

    <i>¡¯If our position were reversed, I wouldn¡¯t have told him anything either. A mage tower is something big enough to trigger a war between the three Great Countries.</i>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, after seeing how the military treats the lost cities, after seeing what Dawn did to Ac, it¡¯s only normal that Lith didn¡¯t trust me with the truth.</i>

    <i>¡¯Being together for less than one year and with all the bumps we had in our rtionship, it would have scared the crap out of me. I would have begged him to ask the Royals for help and probably even exposed him if he refused to be split from his artifact.</i>

    <i>¡¯Without knowing what I know now, without all the incredible things that I¡¯ve witnessed and learned during these three years, my prejudices would have gotten the better of me.¡¯</i> Kam thought.

    <i>¡¯Then why, gods? Why even though I know that he¡¯s right doesn¡¯t my heart hurt one bit less?¡¯</i> She started to cry, unable to hold herself together any longer.

    "You¡¯ve kept this secret for so long. Why are you telling me now?" She asked amid tears.

    "Because the more time we spent together, the more keeping Solus a secret from you weighed on my conscience until it became unbearable. Yet I didn¡¯t tell you because I was a coward and I was afraid of losing you."

 Chapter 1424 - The Weight of Truth (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1424 - The Weight of Truth (Part 2)</h4>

    "Now, however, after losing part of my humanity, I decided that instead of giving you bits of truth it was time to let you know everything so that you could make up your mind onest time.

    "This is it, Kam. There are no more secrets between us. This is how I look and how my children will if I ever decide to have any. As for Solus, she¡¯s more than an artifact. She¡¯s my partner and my best true friend.??

    "If we want to keep moving forward together, you must be ready to honestly ept Solus because I will never give up on her." Lith said.

    "So you¡¯re ready to give up on me but not on her?" Kam asked.

    "It¡¯s different. You are not a part of me but someone I want to be part of my life. I can¡¯t and I won¡¯t force you to do anything, I¡¯m just giving you a choice." Lith replied.

    "What point does my choice have when you¡¯ve already made yours?" Kam said with a snarl, unwilling to hear one more word of that sick joke any longer.

    She opened the door of the tower and then turned toward Lith onest time.

    "How could you do this to me? How could you lie like that and keep a straight face for three whole years? I loved you, Lith Verhen." She mmed the door behind and ran toward the Verhen Household under Tista¡¯s watchful eye.

    She had followed them only to make sure that, if the worst happened, Kam would get home safe without anyone bothering her.

    "I love you too, Kam Yehval." Lith whispered to the closed door without moving for several minutes while he checked on Kam via the tower¡¯s Sentries.

    Yet he didn¡¯t say it out loud to her because it would have been nothing but a cheap low blow.

    <i>¡¯The word love isn¡¯t enough to justify my actions. Kam has every reason to be shocked and indignant. Maybe this is what Baba Yaga meant when she exined to me about love. If I really care for her, I must let Kam go.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    <i>¡¯This is different from when Phloria broke up with me. This time I¡¯m not giving up on her so much as giving Kam the time and space that she needs to make her decision.</i>

    <i>¡¯If I tell Kam that I love her and propose to her now, she might give me an emotional answer that wouldst only until she calms down. Then, she might regret her decision and change her mind, bringing us back to square one.¡¯</i>

    The moment Kam crossed the Warp Gate in the barn, Lith¡¯s knees buckled up.

    <i>¡¯Then why, gods? Why even though I know that I¡¯m doing the right thing doesn¡¯t my heart hurt one bit less?¡¯</i> He started to cry, unable to hold himself together any longer.

    ***

    Kam arrived at Belius in such a state that she was stopped by the Desk Sergeant. It took her some effort to convince the soldier that she hadn¡¯t been the victim of any crime and that she just wanted to go home.

    Once Kam finally reassured the woman enough to let her go, she reached her apartment and mmed the door behind

    "Lucky clothes my ass!" She said while taking them out of the Scalewalker¡¯s dimensional space and throwing them in the trash bin.

    Then, her eyes fell on the mystical glow of the Camellia that she always carried on her.

    Kam stared at the magical flower in hatred, seeing it as the embodiment of the pain and deception that Lith had put her through during thest three years.

    "It will be a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e watching you wither, little f.u.c.ker!" She took it out of her b.r.e.a.s.t pocket and clenched it with all of her strength, before realizing that she had imprinted it out of habit.

    Kam wanted to throw the Camellia in the bin as well, but her hand refused to open. The magical flower held many precious memories, some of which belonged to the happiest moments of her life.

    Kam thought back at Lith making her fly through the sky, giving Zinya sight, life, and helping her to get divorced. Kam remembered all the hours that she and Lith had spent together in their home.

    Kam realized that she wouldn¡¯t hear his voice ever again, that his steps wouldn¡¯t echo through the house anymore, that they would never make breakfast to each other again.

    Suddenly, it wasn¡¯t just the lights being still off that made the house dark so much as the thought that, from that moment onward, all of those things that had lighted up her heart during thest three years were lost forever.

    Kam kept clenching and imprinting the Camellia, crying her eyes out as she felt as if she was a stranger in her own home.

    ***

    Neither Lith nor Kam made a secret of their break up so Tista¡¯s worst-case scenario came to be in all of its unpleasantness.

    Both the Yehval and the Verhen family couldn¡¯t understand what might have ruined their rtionship so abruptly, yet they couldn¡¯t ask their respective rtive for an exnation to not make them feel even worse

    After confirming that neither of them knew what the heck had happened, Elina and Zinya had to avoid each other for a while, being forced to assume that their respective loved one was the real victim.

    Only the children went on with their lives like usual since their parents found it stupid to involve them in their problems.

    They had to cancel all the ns for the marriage and wait for the moment when one of the two former lovers felt like opening up to them.

    While the two families tried to make head or tails of the situation, the news that Lith was single again spread like wildfire throughout the Kingdom and beyond its borders.

    Noble dames invited him to their houses and the Royals found the most imusible excuses to arrange a date for Lith with the princesses, hoping that at least one of them could make love spark.

    Emperor Beasts were much more straightforward. Many women of powerful species from the Council contacted him to know if he was interested in mixing his bloodline with their own.

    If Lith really was a new species born from Leegaain¡¯s and Sark¡¯s blood, then it should¡¯ve been possible to add another Guardian to the mix.

    To have some privacy, Lith moved from his house to the tower. His parents believed that he was actually living with Faluel, and Raaz secretly hoped that by living together the Hydra would catch him on the rebound.

    Lith, however, would leave the tower only for the meals, spending the rest of the time experimenting with his new body to bury himself in work and don¡¯t think about Kam.

    Too much.

    <i>¡¯I know that I owe my parents an exnation and that they have the right to know about Solus as well but I don¡¯t have the strength to go through another emotional roller coaster.</i>

    <i>¡¯At least this way I can avoid all those stupid suitors and allow Solus to feed on the full power of my deep violet core. Two birds with one stone.¡¯</i> He thought.

    As for the Hydra, she didn¡¯t take Sedra¡¯s death well.

 Chapter 1425 - Filling the Void (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1425 - Filling the Void (Part 1)</h4>

    After learning what had happened to her youngest son, Faluel had closed herself inside herir for a few days to grieve him.

    The Council felt guilty for what had happened and offered her reparation. After all, had they intervened when dion had requested their help, maybe they would have exposed Xedros¡¯s mad n and many of their youths would still be alive.??

    Sedra wasn¡¯t the first child Faluel outlived yet she didn¡¯t resent them any less. She med the Council in general and all the Guardians¡¯ bloodlines in particr for their carelessness.

    From Lith¡¯s report, it was clear that the Father of all Wyverns would have never seeded if not for so many like-minded Emperor Beasts treating their apprentices like the sc.u.m of Mogar.

    After the events in the Eclipsed Lands, the Council had decided to rediscuss the rules and the protections regarding their youths, hoping to find a way for such a tragedy to never happen again.

    Qisal the Wyvern ended up taking his father¡¯s ce as he had always wanted. The Wyvern¡¯s bloodline needed a new elder in the Council and his older siblings had no d.e.s.i.r.e to get mixed with politics.

    Yet they wanted to stand tall among their peers and to get rid of the mark of infamy that Xedros had cast upon them all so they taught Qisal both the secret of the violet core and the basics of Spirit Magic.

    During that time, Faluel epted only the visits of her friends, like Fe the Behemoth, and of Lith.

    Even in her grief, she knew that between the traumatic events that he had lived, the metamorphosis of the violet core, and the break up with Kam, the young Tiamat needed all the guidance he could get.

    With Scarlett and Ka gone, there was no one that she trusted enough to care for him more than they did for political ys. Fe was a great woman, but her seat in the Council affected all of her actions and, in his weakened status, Lith was easy prey.

    "I know this is the stupidest question in Mogar, but I have to ask it anyway. How are you feeling today?" Lith had gone to visit her two days after his break up yet Faluel had learned about Sedra¡¯s fate from Ka three days back, the same night he had left Lightkeep.

    "Like crap. You?" Faluel slouched on her favorite couch, surrounded by bottles of alcohol and tes of sweets.

    "Same. Hope this helps. Be careful because it¡¯s cold." Lith offered her a huge bowl filled with some kind of thick cream.

    Half of it was deep brown while the other half was milky white and both were covered in chocte ch.i.p.s.

    "What¡¯s that thing?" She could smell a sweet scent filling her nose.

    "I call it ice cream. It works miracles after a break up so I thought it might also help you with grief." Lith replied while taking one of Faluel¡¯s bottles.

    He took a bowl for himself out of his pocket dimension, sprinkling abundant Red Dragon over the ice cream, mixing them together before using round chocte cookies to scoop the ice cream.

    "Isn¡¯t it early for drinking?" Faluel asked.

    "The sun has set for a couple of hours already. It¡¯ste enough for me."

    She had lost track of time, but being close to the winter solstice, darkness would fall early. Faluel followed his lead nheless, tasting the weird dessert with and without the alcohol.

    "Good gods, it¡¯s delicious. Have you ever thought about selling ice cream?"

    "I did, but the recipe is too simple. Any magico could make it and I would lose the exclusive faster than you can say seconds, please." Lith replied.

    "Well, it would make a lot of people happy. Ice cream would be a great gift for all living creatures on Mogar." Faluel said.

    "I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m not sorry. I¡¯ve got no intention of bing the DoLorean Magus nor the Wonka Magus. I¡¯m not going to share anything unless I receive properpensation." Lith said.

    "The who Magus?" Faluel had never heard about Earth¡¯s fictional pastry chefs.

    "Nothing. Do you want some cookies?" Lith said, eager to change the topic.

    "Yes, please. What about the Miser Magus, then?" Alcohol and biscuits gave the ice scream the extra kick it needed to lighten even Faluel¡¯s mood.

    "Sounds much more appropriate." He nodded.

    They ate in silence, grieving alone together. Lith drowned the loss of Mirim, Kam, and of his humanity while Faluel tried not to think of Sedra¡¯s final days.

    One big bowl was enough for Lith, but just a snack for a Hydra. Luckily for her, Lith had brought seven bowls, one for each head. Once they were both done eating and quite tipsy, Faluel asked:

    "Did youe just for bringing me some ice cream or is there something you need?"

    "I know that I¡¯m a jerk for bothering you so soon, but one of the reasons I had to leave my home is that the floor can barely hold my weight now. How do you Emperor Beasts keep yourself from being discovered if you weigh so much?" Lith asked.

    "Gravity fusion. Once you know how to circte six elements at the same time, you can mix them to behave akin to a human." Faluel replied.

    "Does it mean that things like Spirit Fusion or Dimensional Fusion also exist?" Lith suddenly felt happy, but also very sleepy.

    "And what they would do?" She chuckled. "Fusion magic already ignores arrays and Dimensional Fusion would kill you. Unless you can survive your organs and blood warping around, of course."

    "All right, point taken." Lith nodded. "When can you teach me Gravity Fusion?"

    "Not today, that¡¯s for sure. The Red Dragon is a liquor for those of our size, created with the purpose of making us pleasantly intoxicated. I¡¯m not going to mess with Gravity magic until I sober up and neither should you."

    "How is Solus doing?" She asked.

    "She¡¯s in the same shit as us plus she feels guilty for me and Kam breaking up." Lith replied.

    An awkward silence ensued while they tried to find something to talk about that wouldn¡¯t make their mood turn sour again. Yet both of them could only think about their respective issues, making the Red Dragon bottles sing an alluring tune that only they could hear.

    "You should better leave. If we drink more, we might end up doing something that we¡¯d regret tomorrow." Faluel said, pouring herself another drink.

    "Agreed. Before I go, I want you to have these." Lith sealed her ss with ayer of ice and handed Faluel a pair of enchanted ck gloves.

    "Are these what I think they are?" The moment her breathing technique, Lifestream, gave her a grasp of the artifact¡¯s nature, excitement instantly sobered the Hydra up.

    "Yes, they are the Hands of Menadion. The King of Kolga used them to keep the water out of the city and fuel the arrays. I have no use for the Hands so I want you to have them." Lith said.

    "Are you drunk or are you proposing to me? This is a priceless treasure. How can you say that you have no use for them? The Hands can turn even a crappy Forgemaster into a capable artisan and that¡¯s the least they can do." Faluel pushed them toward Lith, but he pushed them back.

 Chapter 1426 - Filling the Void (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1426 - Filling the Void (Part 2)</h4>

    "I have my own means, don¡¯t worry about me. Also, I¡¯m not drunk nor has pain turned me into an idiot. I¡¯ve already lost Lark and Mirim. Jirni can¡¯t use them and my Professors have their own means to defend themselves.

    "You¡¯re the only Awakened I know that has received the Present card and I trust you enough to know that you won¡¯t abuse the Hands nor ask me questions I¡¯m not ready to answer." Lith said.??

    "I¡¯m giving them to you because if the bastard who killed my friends decides to stick close to Lutia, you¡¯re their next mark. I couldn¡¯t live with myself if something happened to you even though I could have prevented it."

    "I¡¯m speechless." Faluel said while imprinting the Hands and testing their powers.

    The Hydra now only needed a flick of her fingers to conjure all kinds of Forgemastering circles and keep them stable for a long time like only a mage tower could.

    "I need a mana geyser to tap into their full power but they are an amazing tool as they are already." Faluel put them away before taking Lith¡¯s hands into her own.

    "Thanks for the beautiful gift. I can see what Kam sees in you and why she stuck with you for so long."

    "Saw." Lith corrected her.

    "Sees." Faluel insisted. "As someone older than you who has gone through a lot of breakups and failed rtionsh.i.p.s, let me give you an unsolicited piece of advice. No matter your race, death is part of the cruel game that life is.

    "Lark, Mirim, and Sedra are dead but Kam is not. I¡¯m not telling you to wait for her nor to forget about her. Only time will tell whether your goodbye willst for a while or forever.

    "Just don¡¯t give up on your feelings solely because they bring you pain. Otherwise, all that will be left of you is a Lich who remembers nothing but the nature of his work." Faluel took a pause to let Lith ponder her words.

    "One more thing." She said once his deep meditative state brought Lith to snoring. "Now that you¡¯ve reached the violet core, it¡¯s the perfect time to develop a moreplex breathing technique.

    "There¡¯s nothing wrong in those you used until now, but once you start practicing .u.mtion again to further promote your mana core, you¡¯ll discover it incapable of tapping into the auxiliary cores¡¯ full potential.

    "Invigoration will suffer from the same problem, turning out to be subpar especially during battle. The Mother of all Hydras invented Lifestream after achieving the violet core as well, and all of us work to improve it once we reach your current level.

    "Our breathing technique is so powerful thanks to the collective work that Awakened Hydras share among them for centuries, keeping us from being forced to rediscover the same principles over and over again." Faluel said.

    "Wait a second. I remember that Scarlett had a unique breathing technique even when she was still bright blue. Was she a genius or what?" Lith asked, fighting against his drowsiness.

    "Neither, she was just way older than you. Scarlett remained stuck at bright blue for centuries and even though vortexes don¡¯t work as well as auxiliary cores, with enough time, talent, and effort, one can research a powerful breathing technique like her Aura even at the bright blue core." Faluel replied.

    "Now, before you go back to your secret hideout to sleep, can I have some more, please?"

    She held an empty bowl of ice cream like a beggar asking for spare change.

    "I thought you hated the cold and it¡¯s almost winter. My birthday is around the corner." Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "I do, but your heating system brings spring every day into my cave, so a bit of chill in my mouth doesn¡¯t bother me." Faluel shoved the bowl in his face over and over.

    "I don¡¯t bring a cartload of ice cream on me duringte fall. This is the recipe." Lith handed her a very small piece of paper.

    "And you make it like this." Lith mixed the milk, sugar, eggs, cream, powdered chocte and vani together with magic.

    Spirit kept the ingredients apart when necessary while water magic cooled them down. After less than five minutes, Faluel¡¯s bowl was now half-filled with vani and the other half with chocte ice cream.

    "Thank you for your generosity, oh Miser Magus." Faluel chuckled while giving him a small bow.

    "Bye!" She kicked him out, to enjoy a bit of privacy while she ate like nody would in presence of a witness that wasn¡¯t herpanion.

    <i>¡¯F.u.c.k me sideways, that Red Dragon is really something. I must buy some for myself and keep it away from humans or they¡¯ll die of alcohol poisoning.¡¯</i> Lith barely managed to go back to the tower and ask Solus to wake him up for dinner before falling asleep.

    "How did it go with Faluel?" She asked him, obtaining snoring in reply.

    Solus sighed deeply, worried about both Lith and their rtionship.

    <i>¡¯My nourishment has improved greatly since he got the violet core and by spending almost all of our time together in the tower, my power core grows stronger by the day. Yet everything else is at an impasse.</i>

    <i>¡¯We both have yet to recover from Mirim¡¯s death but Lith is still devastated by losing part of his humanity and Kam in less than one day. I waited for so long for him to be single, but making my move now would be really a cheap blow.</i>

    <i>¡¯On top of that, trying to build anything on top of this emotional swamp would have paper-thin foundations. All I can do is bide my time and stay close to him like I always did</i>.¡¯ She sighed again,ying on the bed beside Lith, holding him in a hug.

    The third floor of the tower was nearlyplete. Solus hoped that with it, her human body would return as well.

    ***

    The mood was as heavy as always and everyone walked on eggshells around him. They had no idea how to ask for what reason Kam and him had so abruptly ended their rtionship.

    "What are your ns for the future, dear?" Elina kept vague so that Lith could open up to her or dodge the question with the same ease.

    "First I need to learn Gravity Fusion. Setting up an array every time I have to sit somewhere is getting really annoying. Then, I have to work on a new breathing technique." Lith replied, eating his serving of stew with a grave face as if the fate of the world depended on it.

    "I think your mother was talking about your birthday, son." Raaz said. "The social event can be easily avoided using the same reasons that made the g get postponed again-"

    "Do you mean the death of my friends? Agreed." Lith cut his father short. He hated when people believed that just not mentioning death would make him feel better.

    Actually, he hated a lot of things ofte.

 Chapter 1427 - Solus and the Family (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1427 - Solus and the Family (Part 1)</h4>

    "Yes, but we would still like to celebrate your birthday." Raaz said.

    "What¡¯s to celebrate? The day when you lost a son and gained a monster?" Lith shapeshifted for a split second, making the a.d.u.l.ts shudder and the kids ask for an encore.??

    "I understand your pain, Lith, but it¡¯s not a good reason to behave as if you¡¯re the only one grieving." Elina stood up from her chair and moved near to him.

    She cupped his face, forcing Lith to look her in the eyes, in the hope to snap him out of that edgy self-loathing demeanor.

    "I knew Trequill Lark before you were born and I spent more time with Mirim than you ever did. Every time there was a g that I couldn¡¯t attend due to myck of manners, I entrusted you to her.

    "After your return, Mirim would spend hours telling me every single word of praise you received and how well you handled those who provoked you. They were good people and my friends. I miss them more than you can possibly imagine.

    "Yet you are my son and you need me more than I need to cry. So please, don¡¯t you dare to call yourself a monster again because that¡¯s the only thing that I can¡¯t bear right now.

    "No one in this house cares about how you look or how your children will. All that matters to us is that you know that this is your family and that everyone here loves you." She embraced him, soon joined by Raaz.

    "Also, telling us why Kam broke up with you would surely help us to understand your feelings." Rena said.

    "Rena!" Her parents said in unison, bursting Lith¡¯s eardrums.

    "What?"

    "Too soon!"

    "Not really." Rena shook her head. "I don¡¯t want him to relive everything, just to tell us what happened and maybe stop acting as if it¡¯s the end of the world. We can¡¯t help Lith if he doesn¡¯t open up to us."

    "Rena is right." Lith sighed. "Let¡¯s finish our meal, put the kids to bed, and then I¡¯ll tell you everything."

    Aside from the kidsining about having to go to sleep early and their ims about being able to keep a secret, the room remained silent until the end of the dinner.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark¡¯s tent, inside one of the few bedrooms on Mogar capable of withstanding the passion of two Guardians, right now.

    The Desert¡¯s Overlord had gone on her date after receiving Lith¡¯s report about the events of Lightkeep. Leegaain and Sark had rekindled more than one kind of spark between them straight after dinner and they had just finished their business.

    "Why did you want us to keep our human form? Wasn¡¯t it kind of awkward for you?" Leegaain said amid pants while dabbing a bit of sweat with the bedsheets.

    "Are you kidding me? That felt amazing! It¡¯s true what they say. Practice really makes perfect and you clearly practiced a lot." She chuckled while hogging the sheets to make herself a makeshift dress while she took something out of a c.h.e.s.t on the other side of the tent.

    "Order and Chaos, you¡¯re the least romantic woman I¡¯ve ever dated. You make even apliment sound like a dirty joke." Leegaain said.

    "Wait, was this a date? I thought you hated being associated with me." Sark feigned ignorance.

    "Not as much I hate booty calls or being considered the one-night stand guy of the god of Forgemastering." He replied with a scoff.

    "We¡¯re not kids. If you want us to be together again just grow a spine and say it out loud." Sark brought a couple of sses of Red Dragon and offered one to Leegaain who blushed in embarrassment.

    Not only because of her words, but because they both knew that he had created that liquor ages ago with the purpose of getting her drunk. She was the Red and he was the Dragon, making it an intimate inside joke between them.

    "No, I¡¯m not!" He replied too fast to be believable.

    "Too bad, because I¡¯d like to." Sark lied down on the bed on her side in a sensual way while sipping her drink. "Maybe it¡¯s because seeing our baby Lith all grow up is stirring my maternal instincts, but I¡¯m willing to give another try at mixing our bloodlines."

    "Please, he is not our "baby". It must be one of Mogar¡¯s tricks, but only they know why they did it." Leegaain snarled.

    "Well, if Mogar did it, then why can¡¯t we do it as well the old-fashioned way? Doesn¡¯t the idea pique your scientific curiosity?" She replied.

    "Wait. Did you really call me here for old times¡¯ sake or did you n on using me from the beginning?" He stood up, throwing a reproachful look at her.

    "I don¡¯t see why I can¡¯tbine business and p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." She giggled. "If it works, we can make Mogar a better ce. Also, if I do get pregnant, I could use the baby¡¯s help to craft a new masterpiece above the Guardian level."

    Suddenly Leegaain understood why she had chosen the human form for their romantic encounter. He stared at her t sensual w.o.m.b like a pro gamer would at a cheater.

    Even Guardians would receive a temporary and significant boost in power while pregnant. If the father was ofparable might with the mother, she would end up doubling both her physical and magical prowess.

    "Talking about mixing bloodlines, I think I know what Thrud is nning and how she managed to craft the Kingyer armor. Being pregnant of a Dragon must have boosted her Griffon abilities to the point that there¡¯s no telling what level her Forgemastery has reached." He said.

    "What do you mean? What Griffon powers. She¡¯s just a human." Sark asked.

    "Think about it. The prototypes belonged to the lesser Dragons, Phoenixes, Garudas, and Griffons. Don¡¯t you find it suspicious that no Leviathan nor Fenrir was involved?"

    Sark was about to object that one ocean of distance was a considerable obstacle, but the presence of Garudas made her reasoning crumble.

    "Yes, very." She nodded while racking her brain for an answer.

    "We know that she found a way to turn a Wyvern into a Dragon by refining the remains of my blood. Hence, it¡¯s safe to assume that rather than help Xedros out of the goodness of her heart, she did it to use him as a test subject without endangering her baby." Leegaain said.

    "Phoenixes and Garudas were only meant to study respectively Origin mes and Life Maelstrom. Thrud needed as many subjects as she could in the first phase of her research to find a way to safely trigger those powers.

    "Then, she focused solely on Dragons and Griffons because that¡¯s what she really needed. Dragons for Xedros, Griffons for herself, and both for the baby!"

    "Great Mother almighty!" All Guardians knew that Tyris was far from being omnipotent, but being the first of their kind she was the object of their admiration.

    "Are you telling me that she might be carrying the Griffon version of Lith?"

    "Maybe. Or maybe she just wants her child to get the best of both worlds no matter what life force they choose once the child bes of age." Leegaain replied.

 Chapter 1428 - Solus and the Family (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1428 - Solus and the Family (Part 2)</h4>

    Leegaain had actually failed to consider the Griffon-Dragon Lith hypothesis and it made him shudder.

    A being capable of using both Origin mes and Life Maelstrom would have been a potential threat to the bnce.??

    "We must call Tyris and inform her immediately!" Sark activated the mind link between them before Leegaain could stop her.

    "Don¡¯t! I- We-"

    "Sark, to what I owe the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of- Mogar almighty! I can never unsee that!" Tyris didn¡¯t like the image of her best friends stark n.a.k.e.d and covered in sweat that popped in front of her eyes.

    "Stop being such a prude. We¡¯ve seen each other n.a.k.e.d plenty of times." Sarkughed her a.s.s off.

    "While bathing in thermal springs, not while exchanging fluids! What¡¯s Leegaain doing there and n.a.k.e.d at that?" Tyris asked.

    "Well, you see, when a man and a woman like each other-" Sark made a circle with the index and thumb of her left hand while bringing the index of the right inside of it, but Tyris cut off the conversation before the Overlord could finish her sentence.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Lith¡¯s house, after the end of the dinner.

    Despite their boastful ims, the kids fell asleep before the grown-ups were done clearing up the table. Between the pleasant warmth of the firece and the softness of the fur of their magical beast friends, tiredness closed their eyes without them even noticing.

    "Is it safe to leave the kids alone?" Rena bit her lower lip out of stress.

    "Since when are they alone? One magical beast in each bedroom, three Phoenixes, one Abomination wolf-thingy, and three squads of the Queen¡¯s corps stand guard outside 24/7." Lith said with a scoff.

    "Even Balkor would rather kill himself than try to attack us here."

    Everyone felt reassured by those words, remembering how much those godlike creatures seemed to care for the children.

    Thest dimensional door led them in front of the clearing in the Trawn woods where the mana geyser waited for its master.

    "Guys, this is where I fought the Wither alongside Protector and the other Kings of the woods." He said to exin why the vegetation was so thin and only young trees grew there.

    Even after years from the fight, there wasn¡¯t enough food to sustain wildlife, making the area as empty and silent as a natural graveyard.

    "This is terrifying, but how is it rted to Kam?" Rena asked.

    Lith took off his stone ring, showing it for a second to his family before throwing it on the ground. The ruined Tower of Menadion rose up slowly, taking the appearance of the four-story building that Kam had seen just a few days back.

    Everyone stared at it in awe and amazement, almost too stunned to notice that someone among them didn¡¯t share their feelings.

    Almost.

    "Let me guess." Raaz said to Tista. "You already knew about it, correct?"

    "Correct." She nodded. "And so does Nalrond, Protector, Selia, and the Ernas sisters."

    Lith¡¯s rtives inhaled sharply, each one of them had a hard time not feeling hurt for hisck of trust and not expressing their outrage for knowing about itst.

    "Seriously? You told Nalrond but not your own mother?" Elina had tried her best being understanding, but that was too much even for her.

    "What Tista has failed to mention is that I told her only because otherwise she would have died of Awakening. The same happened for Phloria after I rescued her from the Feymar mines. I couldn¡¯t let them die so I had to tell them.

    "Nalrond knows about it because we hid in the tower while running away from Dawn. As for Protector, after my attempt at saving his life, he shares all of my memories, remember?" Lith said with a sigh.

    "It sort of makes sense, but only sort of. It still doesn¡¯t exin why Kam broke up with you nor why you didn¡¯t tell us sooner." Raaz said. "To be honest, learning about important stuff after your girlfriend pains my father¡¯s heart."

    "I told Kam first because, if you knew, you would¡¯ve given me such a hard time that she couldn¡¯t possibly miss it. Now please get in. The answer to all your questions is waiting for you and this is no metaphor." Lith said while opening the door for them.

    Inside, the circr carpet had been updated once again, showing in itsst panel theing of the Verhen family.

    "It¡¯s bigger on the inside!" They said in unison, gasping at the wide space around them.

    Even the tower¡¯s lobby was bigger than the first floor of their house.

    "Guys, this is Elphyn Althena Menadion, but she will always be Solus to me. She¡¯s my life-long partner, my other half, and my best friend." Lith waved at the stairs that lead to the first floor of the tower.

    What everyone saw walking down the stairs was a golden fairy that looked like a creature out of one of the stories that Lith projected for the kids.

    Solus looked like a short woman, about 1.54 meters (5¡¯1") tall, made of golden energy, and with long golden hair that floated in the air as if she floated underwater. She wore a simple deep blue mage robe over a shirt and pants.

    She had chosen clothes that resembled Lith¡¯s Archmage robe to both emphasize their bond and stress out that their rtionship was more about business than romance.

    At least so far.

    Solus didn¡¯t want them to think that Lith had cheated on any of his girlfriends nor to be med for his unsessful love life.

    "Solus, you already know everyone. She¡¯s been with me ever since I caught that huge boar in the woods years ago. Solus has walked by my side all the way through the academy, the army, and everything life threw at me." Lith said.

    "Are you telling me she¡¯s your magical mistress?" Elina said, ring at Lith with a fiery gaze that would¡¯ve burned Mogar to cinders.

    "Did Phloria break up with you because of her as well? Because you were already married?" The "My other half" part exined Raaz why despite his many talents and even more outstanding achievements, his son was still reluctant to settle down.

    Lith already had a family that he kept hidden from his other family.

    "I¡¯m deeply ashamed of you three!" Rena said while pointing at Tista, Lith, and Solus. "Lith, how could you y with the hearts of so many good women without feeling an ounce of remorse?

    "Tista, how could you enable such toxic behavior? No matter how much you admire Lith, you should have told us. As for you..." Rena stared at Solus, realizing that she knew nothing of the fairy¡¯s past or motivations.

    "...I demand an exnation! How did you seduce my little brother into this mess?"

 Chapter 1429 - Ins and Outs (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1429 - Ins and Outs (Part 1)</h4>

    Solus fell onto her knees, crying in humiliation. The people that she had dreamed to meet her whole life barely knew her name and yet they had already judged her, deeming her unworthy.

    Solus turned to a shade of purple and so did all the lights in the tower.??

    Tista ran to her side, hugging Solus who clung to her and hid her face on Tista¡¯s shoulder. Seeing the light of that small creature flicker with each one of her sobs, made the Verhen family feel deeply ashamed of their mindless outburst.

    <i>¡¯If she¡¯s not a homewrecker, I¡¯ve just stepped all over that poor girl out of prejudice.¡¯</i> Elina thought.<i> ¡¯If she is a homewrecker, instead, I¡¯m ying into her hand and making her the victim. I must hold my tongue and trust my son.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯I¡¯m such an idiot.¡¯</i> Raaz¡¯s eyes moved from Lith to Solus, not knowing what to do. <i>¡¯It¡¯s no wonder Lith didn¡¯t tell us earlier. He made everything he could to let us know how important this woman is to him and yet we¡¯re treating her like crap.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Judging from her tears, the pain in Lith¡¯s eyes, and Tista¡¯s worry, I get the feeling that I¡¯m going to kick my own a.s.ster.¡¯</i> Rena thought.<i> ¡¯If Lith and Tista shut me out of their lives because of my big mouth, I¡¯ll never forgive myself.¡¯</i>

    The three of them could see that their reckless words and mistrust had added more suffering to the sadness that Lith already carried.

    "I¡¯m really sorry that you¡¯ve got to endure all this, Solus, but I did warn you about what would happen once others discovered about you. Our rtionship is baffling at best." He said while hugging and patting Solus in an attempt to console her.

    "Yeah. The only silver lining is that at least everything is going ording to your n." She half sobbed and half cried in the arms of her friends.

    The family felt now more than embarrassed by their behavior. Lith seemed to have predicted their reaction down to the smallest detail, making his choice of not introducing Solus to them before seem more than reasonable.

    Both Lith and Solus had gone through many hardsh.i.p.s so if he expected her to receive a rough treatment all along, Lith was likely to have waited for the moment when the blow would hurt as little as possible.

    Now that he was single, they couldn¡¯t see Solus as a threat for Kam, and due to her almost human appearance, they had treated Solus as a person instead of as a cursed relic attempting to manipte their beloved Lith.

    "Mom, Dad, Rena, the existence of a mage tower is already a world-breaking news but this is not only the tower of Menadion, it is also the home and body of my best friend.

    "I didn¡¯t introduce her to you earlier for more reasons than I can count. On top of that, words cannot express or exin the depth of our bond nor the uniqueness of our rtionship." Lith said while helping Solus to stand up.

    "Now, however, I know how to use mind links with anyone. I can show instead of telling and let you witness with your own eyes our shared past before casting any more rushed judgments."

    Lith extended his right hand to Raaz and the left to Senton, while Solus held Tista with her left and offered her right hand to Elina.

    They all exchanged looks for a few seconds before holding hands and forming a circle where Lith and Solus stood at the opposite sides to perfectly bnce the mana flow.

    Once again, they had to avoid both the sensory overload and the mana poisoning that a prolonged mind link might cause.

    Luckily, his family already knew by heart the most crucial events in Lith¡¯s life, even Senton. Rena had told him about Lith being a prodigy ever since he was a child, describing to Senton the feats that her brother had aplished before their marriage.

    Lith and Solus had to show them only the extra parts of their stories, those that the two of them had performed in secret. They showed the Verhen family how Solus had helped Lith hunting, mastering his abilities as an Awakened, and bing the man he was.

    From the boar hunt and through Lark¡¯s mission until their fight against Jakra, the Verhens witnessed how theirmunion brought them closer than words could describe and how it was the only reason why Lith had been able to ovee impossible odds his whole life.

    After the part about Lith was over, they also showed the Verhens everything they knew about Solus¡¯s past. This time it wasn¡¯t about Kam epting Solus, but about Lith¡¯s family understanding that they had one more hidden member for years.

    They saw the memory of baby Solus, her father¡¯s death, and then her own, followed by the never-ending loneliness that Solus had experienced after Menadion¡¯s death until Lith had found her.

    Some parts weren¡¯t real memories, just reconstructions of the events, yet they hurt nheless.

    Once the projection was over, the members of Lith¡¯s family found themselves crying, even Tista. She already knew Solus¡¯s story, but she had never lived it before.

    They cried out of joy, sadness, grief, andpassion at the same time, moved to tears by the emotional roller coaster they had just lived. The previous anger fought hard against those revtions, giving them mixed feelings about Solus.

    After the mind link was broken, it took everyone a few minutes of silence to sort their respective feelings and make up their minds. As often happened, Elina¡¯s motherly heart found its way while the others were still lost in thought.

    "Thank you so much, Solus." Elina said while hugging the small figure made of light. "Thank you for dedicating your whole life to protect my son from this world and even from himself. Without you, he would have probably lost his way and we him.

    "I apologize for what I said earlier. I believed that you were a threat to Lith¡¯s happiness whereas you¡¯re the only reason why he can strive for it and so can we. My entire family owes you a debt of gratitude that can never be paid back."

    Elina kissed Solus¡¯s forehead and then her eyes, wiping off her tears before turning towards Lith.

    "As for you, young man, how could you let this poor girl live in your shadow for so long? You should have told us, or at least me, much sooner. Solus is a broken soul just like you.

    "She has lost her family and she could have used a mother just as much as you did."

    "I thought about it countless times." Lith replied. "But a talking stone arouses more fear thanpassion and without the mind link, my words would have sounded emptier than a bard¡¯s tale."

    "Your words pain me, but you are right." Elina gave a deep bow to Solus as an apology.

    "Without the mind link, after those horrible things like the ck Star, Tezka, and Dawn, I would have probably called Mirim for help the second after you turned your back to me, believing that you needed to be saved."

    "Don¡¯t worry, Elina, I understand why-"

    "The fact that you empathize with such tantck of trust doesn¡¯t make it any better. Quite the contrary." Elina cut Solus short and hugged her tightly.

 Chapter 1430 - Ins and Outs (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1430 - Ins and Outs (Part 2)</h4>

    "You have been with Lith every moment of his life, bing closer to him than any member of this family could. You are the closest thing to a twin he has and the daughter that I was never allowed to know."

    Elina cupped Solus¡¯s face, c.a.r.e.s.sing it with so much love and tenderness that Solus cried again, but this time out of joy.??

    "I¡¯m so sorry for never being a part of your life and I know there¡¯s no way I can make up for the lost time, but I would like to try anyway, if you¡¯ll allow me to. Would you give me the privilege of calling you my daughter?"

    "Yes." Solus said amid tears.

    "Then you can call me Mom if you want to." Elina hugged Solus, keeping her as close as she could.

    Solus¡¯s knees buckled as the emotion from her life-long dreaming true overwhelmed her. Elina didn¡¯t let her go, helping her to sit on the tower¡¯s floor while one after the other the members of their family joined them in the embrace.

    Words had be meaningless, just noise that would have tainted that moment.

    Lith joined themst, happy that one of the most important people of his life didn¡¯t have to hide anymore. From that night onward, Solus would be able to share with him every single important moment of his life.

    ***

    A few dayster, Faluel called her apprentices to resume their lessons. The Hydra had enough of grieving and stress eating. She needed a distraction, a connection with the world of the living that would keep her mind off the death of her son.

    Morok and Nalrond were there as well. They noticed that Faluel was now a few centimeters thicker in every direction. She had enjoyed too much alcohol and too much ice cream for too long.

    In thest few days, the Ernas girls had called Lith and Solus often, but they didn¡¯t visit them because they knew all too well that Lith didn¡¯t take huge breakups well. He and Solus needed some time on their own.

    Contact amulets allowed the Ernas sisters to keep in touch with them and also to leave them alone the moment they had overstayed their wee due to the mood swings of their hosts.

    "What did I miss, exactly?" Morok asked at the sight of the raggedy group. "You have gained some weight, you look like a hobo, and the rest of you looks like you just returned from the front lines."

    He said to Faluel, Lith, and the girls in this order, obtaining a right cross from the Hydra as a sign of appreciation.

    "Rude. I don¡¯t look like a hobo." Lith¡¯s clothes were clean due to their spells, but he had a thick beard and looked like someone who drank too much and didn¡¯t bathe often.

    Staying in the tower to avoid suitors and bores also meant too much time alone to think while Solus let her new family know her as well as she knew them. Lith had be quite addicted to the Red Dragon and he didn¡¯t give a damn about appearances anymore.

    "I took several huge blows recently, but I¡¯m soldiering up like usual." He said.

    "Yeah, right." Solus said with a sneer. "If by soldiering up you mean listening in a loop to two depressing songs and then punch the walls until you bleed, then you¡¯re doing one heck of a job."

    Lith listened to Cerin Drion¡¯s Ashen whenever he thought about how Kam must have felt after the break-up and to Johnny Payload¡¯s Wounded whenever he wallowed in self-pity, drinking himself to sleep.

    "Why didn¡¯t you stop him?" Phloria asked. She had never seen Lith look so shabby because, after Protector¡¯s alleged death, she had taken care of him and because back then the scarce facial hair he had could hardly be called a beard.

    "Believe me, I tried, Elina tried, everyone tried. We only ended up arguing and making him Warp away. Lith is just too strong, no one can help him unless he lets them." Solus replied.

    "I can see that most of you didn¡¯t ck off during this forced break." Faluel said while kicking Morok to the ground to burn a few extra calories and examining the girls.

    They had all done their best to ovee the gap between them and Lith, training until exhaustion just to bathe, sleep, and start over again. Only Faluel¡¯s ban on breathing techniques did keep them from working non-stop.

    "Can you please check my body now?" Tista asked.

    After learning about the risks of losing her humanity once her mana core reached the blue, Tista¡¯s determination had faltered, but seeing Solus¡¯s and Lith¡¯s past had strengthened it once again.

    ¡¯Compared to what the two of them have gone through, my life is a fairy tale. I¡¯m tired of attending to the funerals of our friends while doing nothing but sitting on the sidelines.¡¯ She thought.

    "You¡¯ve made some significant progress, but that¡¯s not enough." After checking Tista with Lifestream, Faluel shook her head. "Yet if you intend to keep up like this, I allow you to start using Invigoration again.

    "Your core is starting to fall behind your body, and to achieve your true potential they must be kept bnced."

    Then she examined Phloria, Quy, and Friya in this order.

    Phloria had Tista¡¯s opposite problem and some of her impurities had to be removed before they clogged her mana flow. Phloria wasn¡¯t the type to shy away from hard work and even though her Awakening was recent, her body had almost reached the peak of the deep blue.

    "Start using .u.mtion as well and use it to forcefully remove the following impurities." Faluel showed Phloria her body and how she had to alter it.

    Quy had an amazing body for a fake mage, but between her overloaded core and theck of fusion magic, she was on the brink of copsing.

    "You need to rest more. You¡¯re only human, never forget that." Faluel said.

    As for Friya, being already at the peak of deep blue due to the Hydra¡¯s Awakening technique, Faluel needed a short spar to assess her apprentice¡¯s progress in getting ustomed to her Awakened body.

    "Very good but you¡¯re stillcking and so am I. I need to get back in shape and you¡¯vee here to help me with that." Faluel said while looking at them one at a time.

    "I thought you called me here to learn Gravity Fusion." Lith scratched his beard in confusion.

    "Please do! He uses his inhuman mass as an excuse to avoid his family. If the kids were allowed to see him, Lith would never stoop so low!" Solus said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s exactly why you all are here." Faluel nodded.

    "Wait, what?" Quy said. "We all have a normal weight and I can¡¯t even use Fusion Magic. What¡¯s the point of us being here?"

    "Gravity Fusion is useful to non-Emperor Beasts as well because it can be used as a movement technique." Faluel said.

    "As for you, Quy, I¡¯m aware of your efforts to learn Fusion Magic so you can listen to both learn how to defend against it and deepen your understanding of the differences between fake and true mages."

 Chapter 1431 - Gravity Fusion (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1431 - Gravity Fusion (Part 1)</h4>

    Quy was the closest thing to a true mage mankind had ever reached so she shut up and listened, hoping to find a clue that could help her to Awaken safely.

    "What do you mean, movement technique? Now that we know Spirit Magic, we can Warp and Fly even in the presence of elemental sealing arrays." Friya asked.??

    "Indeed, but they would also expose you as Awakened. Unless you leave no witnesses, the Kingdom would consider you a threat to national security and the Council would kill you all." Faluel replied.

    "Gravity Fusion, instead, can allow you to reach amazing results that can be exined thanks to human lore and superstition. Many of you have certainly heard nonsense about bing one with your weapon or about martial masters standing on top of a twig floating on the surface of ake, correct?"

    Everyone nodded. All the heroes of the legends were known for feats that every apprentice strived to achieve until they realized it was a fool¡¯s errand.

    "Now please look at this." Faluel threw a handful of leaves in the air, using them as stepping stones to jump so high that she reached the ceiling of herir. Then, she conjured a knee-deep pond of water that she crossed by wetting solely the soles of her feet.

    "What the f.u.c.k?" Lith asked, taking the words off everyone¡¯s mind.

    "That, my apprentices, is another application of Gravity Fusion." She said while sucker-shaving Lith¡¯s beard while he was still off guard, reducing it to a stubble.

    "They are impressing and you can gibberish your way out by iming to have reached enlightenment or any of that crap since they produce no visible effect. The arrays seemingly work on you and it looks like the result of physical rather than magical training.

    "Still, my advice is to use Gravity Fusion in a detectable way as little as possible to avoid unwanted attention. Unless, of course, you are mister hero here who could pull a Dragon out of his a.s.s without anyone batting an eye." Faluel chuckled while pointing at Lith.

    "How does it work, exactly?" Nalrond asked. "I am capable of using hexa-fusion ever since I was a kid, yet it never triggered any kind of effect rted to Gravity Magic, otherwise my vige would have gone extinct way before Ac freed Dawn."

    "It¡¯s easy to understand but hard to perform. At least for those like you who have yet to be Spirit Masters." Faluel replied. "Fusion Magic consists of activating the elements thatprise your bodies in order to gain their properties.

    "Even once you can use all of them at the same time, all you get are six different energies that run parallel to each other. To get Gravity Fusion, they must converge into a single bnced energy that epasses your whole body from the innermost nerve to the shortest hair.

    "Once you do that, you¡¯ll be able to affect yourself with Gravity Magic, but beware. Too much or too little energy will harm you. On top of that, you can¡¯t affect anyone else with it just like you can¡¯t use Fusion Magic on others.

    "Which means that thedder of leaves trick wouldn¡¯t work while carrying even a bag." The Hydra said. "Start with small amounts of energy and try to mix them together. Anyone capable of using tier zero Gravity Magic understands when they are doing it right."

    While everyone else tried to create six small elemental flows of equal power and make them harmonize with each other, Quy used her best diagnostic spells on her friends to identify the effects of Fusion magic and try to understand how to replicate them.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, I know how to use Gravity Magic, but only by affecting a specific area around me and by using the external elements. If only I had a clue about what kind of runes Fusion magic uses.¡¯</i> She thought while using her outstanding mana perception to sense any alteration in her sisters¡¯ bodies.

    After a few minutes, both Lith and Solus stood up, managing to reach halfway through the pond that Faluel had conjured before plunging down.

    "Excellent! How did you manage to aplish it that fast?" The Hydra asked.

    "It¡¯s not a big deal." Solus shrugged. "It¡¯s the same thing we did to learn Spirit Magic. We are already used to create six different elemental flows and make them merge. The only issue was adapting the method to Fusion Magic."

    "Do you feel like trying with the leavesdder?"

    "No, thanks." Lith said. "It still requires too much focus. Either I make Gravity Fusion work or I look at the damn leaves. If I try doing both, I would fall on my a.s.s."

    While Solus challenged the pond again, Lith emitted a spark of life force in the Gravity Fusion flow, turning it into Spirit Fusion.

    "I did it, Solus!" He yelled. "Spirit Fusion does exist!"

    "No duh. So what?" Faluel said with a scoff.

    "What do you mean? Isn¡¯t it amazing?"

    "Amazing how? Spirit Fusion can¡¯t hurt you and you can¡¯t project it outside your body, otherwise it¡¯s just Spirit Magic." She replied.

    "I can use it to cast Dimensional Magic-"

    "And do what? Warp your blood and organs away? Can you even survive without them?" Faluel cut him short, destroying with few words all his dreams for power.

    "I¡¯ll say this again, you can¡¯t project them on the outside and you¡¯re not the only creature on Mogar capable of using Origin mes. Besides, all Awakened know Spirit Magic and can circte it without your convoluted method."

    "And no one has ever found a way to use it?" Lith asked.

    "No, because Fusion Magic is just the opposite of Spirit Magic. While mana contains the six elements plus your life force, Fusion Magic is the ability to split mana into the single elements so that it is energy cheap and easy to use." She replied.

    "That¡¯s why all the progress I did as a child applied to all elements." Lith blurted out in surprise. "It was because Spirit Magic holds all of their runes so practicing it is akin to practice all of them."

    At those words, something clicked in Quy¡¯s brain. While Lith and Solus tried to cross the pond and the others tried to obtain Gravity Fusion, Quy used her wand to draw a single strand of mana from her core.

    She moved it through her body until it reached her hand, cutting the link with the wand before it reached the outside. At the same time, she used what she had learned about Spirit Magic to enhance the fire aspect in the mana strand.

    <i>¡¯Worst case scenario, I¡¯m just wasting time and mana since my own magic can¡¯t hurt me. Best case scenario, I can finally get a grip on fusion magic.¡¯</i> She thought.

    The time before the mana strand reached the wand was shorter than the blink of an eye, yet she had to both cut the link and enhance an elemental aspect before it happened. On top of that, Spirit Magic consumed a lot of mana, forcing Quy to ask Faluel for Invigoration before the one-hour mark.

    Soon, Lith and Solus had already managed to cross the pond ten times out of ten and were trying the leavesdder trick while the others had started to grasp the correct technique to conjure Gravity Fusion.

 Chapter 1432 - Gravity Fusion (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1432 - Gravity Fusion (Part 2)</h4>

    By the end of the lesson, Lith and Solus had yet to jump on the second leaf sessfully. The others had tried and failed several times to cross the pond, but it was only a matter of time before they seeded.

    As for Quy, Invigoration didn¡¯t work on her anymore. Sweat drenched her body faster than the self-cleaning properties of her Featherwalker armor could cleanse it, leaving her in a sorry state.??

    Faluel had to forcefully stop Quy¡¯s senseless training before her core ran dry. Only then did the Hydra notice that the floor near Quy¡¯s right hand was covered in more dust than the self-cleaning spells of their allowed.

    "What the heck have you been doing until now?" Faluel asked.

    "I learned how to manifest the fire element of Spirit Fusion." Quy said while cing a pebble as big as a pea in her palm and pulverizing it with the sheer strength of her grip.

    ***

    "Excellent work guys." Faluel said while wrapping up the lesson. "Tomorrow there will be a special lesson for Friya, Solus, Lith, and Morok. Everyone else will perform physical training."

    "Can¡¯t we practice Fusion Magic again?" Quy had no use for more body training, not now that she had finally found a way to learn the runes of all kinds of elemental fusion.

    <i>¡¯Step one is using the wand to exploit Spirit Fusion to learn the runes. Step two will be learning how to use them individually to conjure Fusion Magic instead of wasting so much precious mana.¡¯</i> She thought.

    "Not a chance. Everyone here needs to strengthen their mana core through their breathing technique and that¡¯s possible only when their body will be strong enough to withstand a breaktrough." Faluel replied.

    "On top of that, as Morok so kindly pointed out, I need to lose some weight so we¡¯llbine business with p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and I¡¯ll join you in your workout. Now go home and sleep. There¡¯s only so much time in a day."

    "Before we leave, I¡¯ve got a question." Tista said. "After seeing what happened to my brother, what do you think will happen to me once I reach the blue core?"

    "That¡¯s a very interesting question, Tista, but I¡¯m not certain about how to answer. A dormant bloodline resurfacing is a very rare phenomenon and so far, yours has followed the rules you already know.

    "My hypothesis is that either you¡¯ll be forced to choose between one of the two life forces or you¡¯ll follow Lith¡¯s path because that¡¯s what happens when a sessful hybrid turns into a new species." Faluel said.

    "What do you mean?" Tista asked.

    "Think about it." Faluel replied. "Regr hybrids are born in a situation simr to Nalrond¡¯s. They have two life forces that don¡¯t mix and the more a hybrid grows, the stronger the life forces sh until one of them has to go.

    "Nalrond is different because by having a second body and a second core, each life force has its respective space, keeping the conflict between them from reaching a critical point.

    "In Lith¡¯s case, instead, the two life forces worked in synergy from the beginning to keep in check his Abomination side. His second life force didn¡¯t manifest until he reached the blue core, when his body was strong enough to withstand it.

    "Then, the life forces started to mix as the core refinement progressed, merging at violet instead of at a specific age. Which means that if the same applies to you, you¡¯ll gain a second life force at blue, and then they¡¯ll merge at violet, no matter your age.

    "The good news is that you¡¯d be able to retain your human side indefinitely as long as you don¡¯t refine a violet core. The bad news is that the moment you go beyond the bright blue core, you will not be human anymore." Faluel said.

    "Thanks." Tista gave the Hydra a deep bow.

    "Thanks for what? I just told you that you¡¯ll either have to make a tough choice right when you reach the blue or that you have no choice at all."

    "I can deal with tough choices whereas not knowing what to expect was eating at me from the inside." Tista had already decided to refine the blue core as soon as possible, Faluel¡¯s insight had given her the information she needed to n ahead.

    <i>¡¯If my life forces work like those of a regr hybrid and I have to choose between human and Wyrmling, I¡¯ll take the human side. I have no time to learn how to shapeshift and to adapt to a new body. Whoever killed Lark and Distar will not give us the time.¡¯</i> She thought.

    "Nalrond, do you minding to my ce after dinner?" Lith asked while Faluel Warped Morok to his master¡¯sir and the rest of the ss to the Gate in the barn.

    "Depends. Will you bathe before my arrival?" The Rezar pinched his nose.

    "Happy now?" A wave of Lith¡¯s hand and a pulse of darkness magic removed the smell and most of the dirt.

    "Not even close. If you want mypany, you¡¯ll follow my rules. While I was on the run, I had enough of musk for a lifetime. Now the only smell I enjoy is that of soap." Nalrond said.

    "Fine. See you at 9 sharp." Lith checked on his clock, giving them two full hours for dinner and personal hygiene.

    "Are you trying to piss me off? I don¡¯t have a damn armor, let alone a frigging clock!" The Rezar didn¡¯t like being the Cindere of the group.

    Even Morok had ess to all the enchanted metal and mana crystals he needed thanks to the services he provided to Ajatar the Drake.

    "Fine. I¡¯ll pick you up, then. Since you¡¯re ying hard to get, at least wear something pretty." Lith chuckled, obtaining a finger in return.

    ***

    Lith spent dinner between the ng of silverware and awkward silences. His birthday was behind the corner and he could almost hear the questions that the members of his family wanted to ask but they kept to themselves instead to not hurt his feelings.

    It was one of the many reasons why Lith had searched for Nalrond¡¯spany for the first time since they had met. After dinner, Lith took a long hot bath like he hadn¡¯t done for too long, washing away both dirt and worries.

    "Well, what are we doing here exactly?" Nalrond asked while in thefort of the tower, sitting in what looked like a club lounge filled with sofas and alcohol bottles.

    "I usually don¡¯t need personal advice from anyone, but after my break up with Kam I feel the need to have a second opinion about what I did and about what to do next." Lith replied.

    "And you¡¯re asking me? Why not Morok? Or even better Protector? You two know each other for a long while and he¡¯s the happiest among us." Nalrond said.

    "Please! Morok is Morok. I wouldn¡¯t ask him anything about rtionsh.i.p.s even if we were thest two men on Mogar. As for Protector, he has no experience with breakups and his rtionship with Selia is unusual at best.

    "You, instead, told me that you had a regr life in your vige. You were even about to marry, which makes our situation pretty simr." Lith said.

    "Except that my fianc¨¦e is dead while yours just dumped you." Nalrond said with a snarl.

    Lith ignored his remark and showed the Rezar hisst meeting with Kam and her parting words via a hologram.

 Chapter 1433 - Domination And Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1433 - Domination And mes (Part 1)</h4>

    "Well, the good news is that Kam hasn''t actually broken up with you. She didn''t throw stuff at you, didn''t say mean words, or even use the words "break up". You offered her a choice and she simply refused to make one." Nalrond said while sipping a strong whiskey.

    "The bad news, however, is that Kam''s feelings for you definitely changed. She said that she "loved you", considering it a thing of the past. Long story short, you''re screwed, my friend."

    ??

    "She hasn''t sent me back the Camellia, the Tuner, nor any of the other gifts I gave her during our rtionship so I was thinking to invite her for my birthday-"

    "You what?" Nalrond almost choked on his drink.

    "Well, my mother and her sister are still friends. Also, usually I''m the one that gives gifts for the asion and Zinya''s children would surely want to attend. That''s why I was thinking about testing the waters." Lith said.

    "Don''t! For the love of the gods, don''t. That''s the dumbest thing I''ve ever heard and we both hang out with Morok." Nalrond said.

    "You just told me that Kami didn''t really break up with me. What''s so wrong with my idea?" Lith asked with a scoff.

    "Everything. Look, if you''re looking for validation, then I''ll take my leave and let you do whatever stupid thing you''re nning. If you''re looking for advice instead, listen carefully.

    "So far, you''ve done the right thing. You let Kam go, giving her the time and space that she needs to think. If you barge into her life uninvited, you''ll ruin everything. She might get angry at you and say things that she''d regret forever.

    "Just like she might forgive you and then leave you the day after. Is that what you want?" Nalrond asked.

    "No. I just want to make things better." Lith put away his ss of water, suddenly feeling very dumb.

    "Then just let it go. It was her decision to walk out of your life, hence if she decides to be a part of it again, it must be her decision as well. Speaking of your life, where''s Solus?" The Rezar said.

    "In her room with Tista." Lith replied.

    The room fell into silence, with Lith brooding and Nalrond not knowing what to talk about. They spent a lot of time together between the kids and Faluel but their rtionship was closer to that of colleagues rather than friends.

    It was based on mutual needs, not trust.

    "Before I leave you with your thoughts, I need some advice as well." He said.

    "Friya gives one date to anyone who asks her out as long as they''re not a creep so you don''t have to worry about being rejected." Lith said. "She likes strong liquor and hates small talk because it''s dull.

    "You have to wait until the g to make your move, though. Jirni doesn''t let any of her daughters out until this thing with Deirus is settled."

    "I meant about my beast half!" Nalrond said a little too upset for Lith not having touched a nerve.

    "You sure did. What about it?" Lith sighed deeply, his mind wondering about the present that Kam had surely prepared for him beforehand and that now would get dusty in a damp corner of their home.

    "I''ve tried everything I could. Meditation, mind links, shamanic rituals, yet nothing works. I can''t get in touch with my beast half, no matter how much I try. How did you control not two, but three different natures at the same time?" Nalrond asked.

    "I didn''t." Lith replied, making the Rezar''s jaw hit the floor.

    "What do you mean?"

    "I didn''t control them because I had no need to. I''m not the fusion between an Abomination, a human, and an Emperor Beast. I am, or better, I was all of those things at the same time. They were akin to different aspects of my personality, not different personalities." Lith said.

    "Dammit! This means that not even you can help me." Nalrond angrily gulped down what was left of his drink and moved toward the door.

    "Not necessarily." Lith''s voice had found its old edge back, making the Rezar stop in his tracks.

    It wasn''t dreamy or depressed anymore, only filled with the coldness of a doctor dissecting a corpse in search of answers.

    "I think you''ve been addressing the problem wrong the whole time. If you and your beast half are really two separate entities, then how can you freely control both bodies? How can the beast''s instinct take over whenever your lives are at stake?" Lith asked, mostly to himself.

    "I told you. In the past, human mages used Forbidden Magic to fuse prisoners with Emperor and Magical beast to-"

    "Fused, just like me." Lith cut him short.

    "You know, recently someone told me that humans are nothing more than particrly cunning animals and that the reason why normal beasts lose to humans before evolving into magical beasts is that theyck intelligence.

    "After the evolution, instead, humans lose to beasts because we get so obsessed with what we are that we forget who we are." Lith quoted Scarlett''s words before exining his theory.

    "What if they fused your minds just like they fused your bodies? What if all the urges and the rage you feel are actually your own? An Emperor Beast''s mind is on par with that of a human, that''s why it''s so hard to recognize a shapeshifted beast from a human.

    "What if what you call Nalrond has never been a human to start with? What if you''re just like I was, an imperfect fusion waiting to fully merge?" He said.

    Nalrond suddenly felt his knees buckling and needed to sit down before his legs betrayed him. The Rezar had lived his whole life considering himself a human trapped in a monstrous body, yet now all that was left was the monster.

    "Are you sure of it?" He said in a whisper.

    "No, it''s just a theory that is up to you putting to the test. Yet it would surely exin a lot. Like the reason why you can use true magic even in your human form and why you don''t suffer from any shock whenever you switch body." Lith said.

    Another longer and more awkward silence ensued while Nalrond suddenly understood Lith''s recent passion for alcohol. Losing everything you held dear hurt a lot and the whiskey dulled the mind enough to make it stop.

    "Is it really that easy to get a date with Friya?" He asked, desperate to think about something else, even at the cost of making a fool out of himself.

    "If you''re not a creep, yes." Lith poured Nalrond another drink.

    They talked about everything that came to their mind until it becamete enough for Nalrond to leave without being rude.

    ***

    The following day, at Faluel''sir, the Rezar found sce in the fact that both Friya and Lith were surrounded by a dome that kept them apart from the rest of the ss. He didn''t feel like he could look either of them in the eyes.

    "Oh gods! Lith, you really make me want to kick your ass out of envy." Faluel said pointing at his seven opened eyes, each one of them shining with the power of a different element.

 Chapter 1434 - Domination And Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1434 - Domination And mes (Part 2)</h4>

    "Do you have any idea how long does it take a Hydra to get the seventh head? I got mine once I became a fully developed Emperor Beast, around my sixties, yet here you are, barely neen and with a full Domination set at the ready!"

    "About that, why didn''t I get my seventh streak once he reached the violet core?" Solus asked.

    ??

    Although duller, the hair of her stone doll form bore the same streaks that her human body had in Kolga and it stillcked the emerald green color.

    "Same. When do I get the seventh?" Friya asked while checking Lith''s body.

    It was her first time seeing his Tiamat form in person and she found it truly majestic. Friya took her time touching his horns, the ck feathers on his wing, and even the long tail that came out of his back.

    s, Lith was still akin to a cat that doesn''t consider the tail as a part of its body yet hates it when someone touched it. The moment Friya grabbed his tail, Lith instinctively whipped at her with it, hitting her square in the face.

    "That hurt you jerk!"

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t do it on purpose." He replied. "Yet I bet that if it was me groping any part of your body, your reaction would have been much worse."

    Friya blushed in embarrassment, but Morok missed the opportunity for one of his usual inappropriate remarks due to his blind envy.

    "Me too!" With "just" five eyes, he felt left behind from the rest of the ss, which pissed him off big time."

    ''Until a year ago, everyone treated me like a genius because I had four eyes at barely 25. Now, however, even though I got another in less than one year, everyone else already has six elemental properties minimum!'' The Tyrant inwardly griped, wondering if it hadn''t been a mistake to not Awaken inside the Fringe.

    "I''m sorry, guys. It doesn''t work that way." Faluel said. "Elemental affinities work the same for all races. You either are born with them or you don''t. Some bloodlines, however, like Hydras, Tyrants, and¡­"

    She pointed at Lith, not knowing the name of his species.

    "Tiamats." He said.

    "¡­and whatever that is, have the ability to turn the mastery over an element into affinity through the practice of magic. We develop a new head or eye when our understanding of the corresponding element reaches a threshold that varies from person to person.

    "The emerald streak of Spirit Magic, however, is different. It manifests only in individuals that have mastered all of the other six elements and have grasped the true essence of mana." The Hydra said.

    "Meaning?" Morok asked.

    "It means that Lith had already mastered the elements as a Wyrmling and what kept his sixth eye from opening was just his hybrid body that couldn''t withstand theirbined power.

    "Hence the moment his six eyes could manifest at the same time, he gained the seventh as well." Faluel replied.

    "Interesting." Solus pondered. "Yet something is off. We both learned Spirit Magic at the same time and we used the same method to create an artificial flow of mana by injecting life force into six elemental streams.

    "I know about Domination as much as Lith does and I learned Gravity Fusion as quickly as he did. Then why did he get the emerald eye and yet Ick my emerald streak?" She asked.

    "I''m sorry, but I have no clue about that." Faluel shook her head. "All I can tell you is that the moment you''ve mastered all six elements and Spirit Magic, you''re supposed to develop the seventh streak, eye, head, or whatever.

    "That''s how I n to train Friya. By making her discover what elements she iscking in and then make her cram until she gets her emerald streak."

    ''By my Mom, there''s only one possible exnation for the gap between Lith and me.'' Solus thought. ''It must be because of my Hands form. I always used that to train while Lith used his own skills.

    ''I always considered the abilities of the tower as my own, but they acted as a crutch that limited my understanding of magic instead. Fuck me sideways!''

    "What about me?" Morok asked, even more pissed off by Faluel cutting him out from the conversation.

    "You are much easier to manage. Youck a single eye and we are going to train that. After that, you''ll be done with our Domination sses since a Tyrant with the seventh eye is simply unheard of.

    "No Balor nor Tyrant did ever achieve it. Lith''s species is the first with seven eyes that I have ever seen." The Hydra said.

    "Is Tiamat such a hard word to remember?" Lith said with a snarl.

    "There are no Tiamats, only you. One person doesn''t make a species, let alone a race. We''ll discuss this again once you give me a godchild or two." Faluel giggled. "Now, follow me. The others will practice regr Domination, whereas I''ve got something special in store for you."

    The Hydra left a golem with her appearance behind and led Lith to a part of herir that he had never seen before.

    "Is this your Forgemasteryb?" He said while his eyes wandered in awe over the heavy Adamant tools and what looked like a forge entirely made in Davross.

    "Yes, it is. You''re finally going to pay me back for my lessons like we agreed at the beginning of your apprenticeship." Faluel wore a heavy set of cksmith clothes,prised of an overall, ab coat, and a pair of gloves.

    All of them had been crafted from the red scales of one of her heads.

    "Don''t worry, I''m no masochist. I don''t rip them off nor any of the Dragon kind does. I simply collect the old ones when I shed and then I either sell them or use them myself.

    "The red scales are imbued with my 300 years of fire mana and offer great protection from heat." Faluel said. Then, she took several crates of metal out of her dimensional amulet.

    "This is your assignment for today''s ss." She pointed at the raw metal. "You are going to purify my batches of Adamant. Then, once you''ve mastered your Origin mes, we will work on my Orichalcum as well."

    "Wait, shouldn''t we work the other way around and start from the less precious metal? Also, until now you never let me purify anything because you know that I use my Origin mes mostly to fight." Lith replied.

    "Wrong, it''s better to start from Adamant because even if you mess up, it takes no damage and I can fuse it again to make itsposition even whereas one wrong move and you''d evaporate my precious Orichalcum." Faluel said.

    "As for the Origin mes, you would be right if it wasn''t for this." She pointed at the emerald eye in the middle of Lith''s forehead.

    "Origin mes are based on life force and now you can Dominate them. Bybining Domination with Origin mes you can greatly improve your purifying skills while training them both at the same time. Three birds with one stone.

    "As for me, now that I have the Hands of Menadion, I need materials to experiment with them and step up my game."

 Chapter 1435 - Davross And Darwen (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1435 - Davross And Darwen (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith pondered Faluel''s words, realizing that between being capable of producing Origin mes and of Domination, he was basically sitting on a gold mine.

    "Stop gloating over your gold mine and start breathing fire, kid. I''m already envious, you''d better stop asking for a beating." The Hydra poked his head to snap him out of it.

    ??

    "How did you know what I was thinking about?" He blurted out in surprise.

    "We Dragons all make the same face while counting our treasures." Faluel wore a set of heavy protective sses while preparing the furnace.

    The smithy of the Hydra was nothing like Zekell''s. Aplex system of arrays would keep all kinds of heat contained, no matter if natural, magical, or Origin mes based.

    A huge hole in the middle of theb channeled moltenva from the depths of Mogar inside the furnace, where it was used in the ce of charcoal to keep the temperature steady.

    "What is theva for?" Lith asked.

    "Even under normal circumstances, keeping the temperature high enough to liquefy Adamant takes a lot of focus. While using my seven heads on seven different tasks, however, it''s nigh-impossible without a source of fire element." Faluel replied.

    "It''s only thanks to theva that I need barely a sliver of focus and mana to control the temperature of the furnace. There''s no Forgemaster that works without one of those." The Hydra pointed at the hole, adding one more thing to Lith''s already arm-long list of to-do things.

    "Today''s lesson will be special. Since there''s only a limited amount of Origin mes you can produce before hurting your life force and we''ve got a lot of metal to purify, I''ll show you my Domination technique. I expect you to learn it by imitation."

    Faluel put in front of him a rectangr block of smelted Adamant that was 2 meters (6.6 feet) long and one meter (1 foot) wide and high.

    Lith ced his hand on it and activated Invigoration, using the flow of mana to detect the size and position of the impurities based on the resistance that they offered to his breathing technique.

    Then, he took a deep breath, focusing his will on his life force so that the Origin mes would pass through the metal and affect solely the impurities.

    At least in theory.

    What actually happened was that the mass of deep violet mes had many random hot spots that would deform the metal, moving the impurities away from their position and greatly reducing the purification''s effectiveness.

    Lith took control of the Origin mes with his emerald eye and did his best to focus them on the impurities while also removing the unwanted hot spots. He disyed technique, willpower, and determination, giving birth to a glorious yet utter failure.

    The Adamant block sagged like a badly cooked souffl¨¦ and the mes missed most of the impurities, removing a minimal fraction of them.

    "Wow, that sucked hard." Faluel said after checking the metal with Lifestream, her breathing technique. "I should make you pay me for purifying this stuff."

    She put the Adamant in the furnace, melting it inside a mold to give it a regr shape again. Making sure that every part of the metal meltedpletely and mixing it evenly required time, patience, and technique so almost five minutes passed before they could take another shot.

    "Gods, this was so much easier with Zolgrish''s forge! All I had to do was wish for it and the forge would do in a split second what it took you minutes." Lith whined.

    "Agreed. When you manage to make a Lich spill their secrets without triggering a war, let me know." Faluel replied with a scoff. "Again, but this time leave Domination to me."

    Lith checked the new position of the impurities and breathed another stream of Origin mes. There were fewer hot spots, but by focusing on that Lith had reduced the fire''s piercing ability.

    ''Fuck me sideways! This way I''ll melt the surface and we''ll waste more time.'' He thought as Faluel''s eyes turned emerald green.

    The Origin mes came to a halt as the Hydra got rid of the hot spots and of the sections with low piercing power. Only a few handfuls of tongues of fire remained, but they seeped inside the Adamant andpletely destroyed the impurities that Faluel had targeted.

    "Can Domination really do that?" Lith looked at the Hydra in awe.

    Maybe it was for the loneliness, or maybe it was because he brimmed with gratitude for all the marvels that she kept teaching him, but Lith had a hard time not kissing Faluel.

    "Yes, of course. This method is really wasteful since we used less than one-tenth of your mes but at least it''s guaranteed to give results. Check the block now."

    Lith used Invigoration again, discovering that while the smaller impurities were gone, the bigger ones had shrunk in size.

    "Now it''s your turn. Remember to never overthink. Domination and the violet core work in a simr fashion. If you need more focus than that required to wave your own hand then you''re doing something wrong." Faluel said.

    "Easier said than done." Lith sighed. "I''m one of the greatest overthinkers on Mogar."

    He breathed once more, with feeling. Trying not to think only made things worse as he thought about what to do in the case something went wrong at every step of the process.

    "Fuck, no!" Faluel burst the mes before they could reach the Adamant.

    "Stop worrying! Here you don''t need contingency ns but to live the moment. You can''t seed if you keep picturing in your mind all the possible ways that you can fail. Five minutes break."

    "Do I need to meditate to clear my mind?" Lith asked.

    "Not for you, dummy. For me." Faluel was in dire need of using her breathing technique to regain her strength and relieve the mental pressure from practicing seven different disciplines at the same time.

    She sat cross-legged on the ground, bringing order to the mess that the shared mind of her multiple bodies was.

    ''Fuck! Faluel takes care of a whole ss and I can''t even make one thing right.'' Lith thought.

    "That''s because I have 300 years of practice, you 19 years old runt. Stop trying to imitate me and just be yourself." She replied.

    "How do you-"

    "I''m no mind-reader, but if you grit your teeth harder, I''m pretty sure they''ll crack." Faluel conjured an ice mirror in front of Lith.

    The Tiamat returning his gaze was stressed, angry, and needed to take out the stick up his ass.

    Lith took a series of deep breaths trying to rx. Manipting the Origin mes was hard because not only was it his first time, but also because he had to perform several tasks in a split second.

    The temperature, the hot spots, the piercing ability, and Domination all needed him to exert surgical precision and to make fast decisions.

    By the time Lith was forced to stop to notpromise his life force, they had purified just two Adamant blocks.

    "Great work. It took us a long time to get the job donepared to a decent fire breather but it still saved me a couple hundred thousand of gold or a few artifacts." Faluel patted his back.

 Chapter 1436 - Davross And Darwen (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1436 - Davross And Darwen (Part 2)</h4>

    "I''ll go back practicing Domination with the others. Invigoration has no effect on my life force but it can still replenish the mana I spent on Domination." Lith''s voice was coarse and deep as if the mes had burned his throat.

    "No, you''re going home. You''re done for today." The Hydra took off her working clothes while shaking her head.

    ??

    Sweat made her clothes stick to her like a second skin and her face reddened from the heat looked even lovelier than usual.

    "I''m still full of energy. I-"

    Faluel poked Lith''s forehead, cutting him short and making his vision go blurry.

    "Rest is an integral part of training. You have no idea how exhausted you are. The physical, mental, and emotional stress will kill you if you don''t take care of yourself."

    Lith tried to use Invigoration, but he didn''t feel any better for it.

    "Your life force is severely shaken. I let you overexert yourself to show you the consequences of abusing Origin mes while in a controlled environment." Faluel helped Lith to get up as his head cleared little by little.

    "How do I get better quickly?" He asked.

    "There''s no shortcut. Food, sleep, and rxation are the only cure I know. Bye!" She Warped Lith in his barn while it was still noon.

    He would have dly gone back at the tower, but without Solus there was none. Elina and Raaz rejoiced at the idea of spending some time with him after so long.

    "Gods! Look at that, dear." Raaz said. "The stubble, the hair, the ck circles around the eyes. Lith looks like crap!"

    "Raaz! Our son- Great Mother almighty!" Elina didn''t like how Raaz had expressed his diagnosis but she found it urate. "Go take a bath while I prepare you something nutritious."

    Raaz had failed to notice the bloodshot eyes and the loss of a few kilograms but Elina''s routine check-up didn''t. After the bath, Elina forced him to get rid of the stubble and to eat enough for four Quys.

    "Mom, Dad, I''ve made up my mind. I''m going to celebrate my birthday only once and only with my family this year. I can''t stand nobles sucking up to me and I don''t have the strength to smile as if nothing happened. Not now." Lith said after cleaning his tes.

    "Of course, dear." She nodded.

    Lith gave her a brief guest list that included solely his family, the Ernas sisters, and Protector''s family. Not seeing Kam among those names or at least Zinya pained her, but Elina said nothing.

    They made small talk about the farm and the animals until the end of the meal. Lith offered to heal for free cattle and farmhands before going back to his room.

    ''Faluel can say what she wants, but I''ve got no time to waste. I can develop a new breathing technique without putting any extra burden on my body even by myself. The first thing I need to do is-''

    He fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

    Lith woke up a few hourster when it was toote for practicing but too soon for dinner. Also, Solus and Tista had yet to return. Lith Warped to the Hydra''sir, drawing a lot of hateful gazes on himself.

    He looked well-fed and rested whereas they looked like miners at the end of a double-shift.

    "I told you to rest." Faluel said while focusing on her breathing technique.

    Having one less person to take care of made her work easier.

    "I am not going to train. I just want some information." Lith took the Darwen out of his pocket dimension and showed it to Faluel.

    "Where did you get this?" Her eyes shone with the same greed that Lith saw too often while looking in the mirror.

    ''Maybe she''s right. Maybe all Dragons make the same face while looking at the objects of their desire.'' He thought.

    Lith told her how he had found the magic-resistant metal while fighting a Rock Worm. He had searched for information about Darwen while in the army, but it was ssified as Royal Forgemaster-only.

    "Now that I''m learning how to use both Domination and the Origin mes, I might be able to turn the Darwen into something good, if someone just tells me what it is." Lith said.

    "Darwen is a metal as rare as Davross and the reason why you never heard about it is that they are two sides of the same coin." Faluel checked at the lumpy ck mass with her breathing technique.

    ''How could someone be so stupid as to use this Darwen as it is and not even bother trying to get it back.'' She had no idea that back then the Master''s Organization had no Bytra and that even Vastor''s knowledge as a Royal Forgemaster didn''t help.

    Refining Darwen was something only Awakened could do and the Master had so much of it that he didn''t even care retrieving what he had given to one of his most worthless minions.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Believe it or not, while amon metal gets refined by the world energy until it bes Davross, the same happens to its impurities. During the natural tempering process, impurities lump together until only those more resistant to magic remain.

    "You can obtain Darwen only by smelting Davross. It''s an amazing metal that can be used for cloaking devices far superior to those that use gold and to craft protections that offer you little physical protection but absolute magical defense." Faluel said.

    "You can use it for crafting? But how? I tried everything I could and failed. It''s too hard, making it brittle. Also, I can''t use Invigoration to spot impurities, and all of my attempts to melt it and then give it a shape failed." Lith said.

    "That''s not something a beginner can do. To craft something out of Darwen it first needs to be purified of the Davross impurities. Once you''re done, you have to treat it with regr cksmith techniques.

    "To make matters worse, due to its magical resistance, it can only be treated with natural fire, but Darwen requires temperatures that no furnace can produce without magic." Faluel pointed at herva pit.

    "What? That''s why I failed to melt it. How do I purify Darwen?" Lith asked.

    "You''re not going to like the answer. You do it by brute force." Faluel put her hand on top of Lith''s and both over the metal before activating Lifestream.

    Darwen was resistant to both mana and world energy, requiring the power of a violet-cored individual just to examine it. Unlike what happened for normal magical metals, impurities could be found wherever the energy flow became easier.

    "Can you feel those points? When you work with Darwen, you must treat Davross, Adamant, and even silver as impurities. In order to craft something out of it, you first have topletely remove them." She said.

    "How do I do that? Origin mes?" Lith asked.

    "You wish. Darwen is resistant even to those." Faluel chuckled.

    "Then how?"

    "Lava for melting the Darwen and Origin mes to melt the impurities at the same time. Do you understand now why Royal Forgemasters have yet to crack the secrets of Darwen?" Faluel gave him back the metal and wrapped up the lesson.

    The Hydra had used Lifestream so many times that it had lost most of its efficacy.

 Chapter 1437 - Family Time (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1437 - Family Time (Part 1)</h4>

    "Excellent work, everyone. See you all tomorrow." Faluel said.

    "Wait, how do I-" Lith said.

    ??

    "Bye!" The Hydra Warped them to the barn before checking herself with Lifestream.

    "That was an excellent workout. A few more lessons and I''ll be back in shape thanks to my Awakened metabolism."

    Meanwhile, in the barn, Morok swore like a trucker during a Sunday morning jam.

    "Why did she send me here? I was supposed to go back to master Ajatar''sir! It will take me time and effort to get there by the city Gateswork, unless¡­"

    He looked at Quy''s lovely features. Fatigue reddened her lips and cheeks like no make-up could, also making her skin sparkle at the faintest light.

    "Can I stay at your ce for the night?" He asked while appreciating how her sweat and training clothes left little to his imagination.

    "No!" Quy jumped through the gate the moment she realized that Morok had been talking to her breasts and ass the whole time, turning to a bright shade of purple.

    "Creep." Friya and Phloria said as goodbye while crossing over.

    "It was worth a shot." Morok sighed deeply. "Bye, guys."

    Once the Tyrant disappeared through the Gate, Lith looked down on Nalrond.

    "And you wanted me to ask him for advice about women." Lith said with a sneer.

    "Look at the time. I really need to go. Bye!" The Rezar pretended to have something urgent to do and ran away to avoid further mockery.

    "Mom, we''re back." Lith opened a Steps to the kitchen where Elina greeted him and Solus with a hug.

    "Finally, I have both of you for dinner. I''m sorry I couldn''t prepare anything special for you, Solus, but Lith gave me no notice and I thought you two would be staying in the tower again. Did you grow bigger again, dear?" Elina said.

    "Don''t worry, Elina. This is a pleasant surprise for me as well. I can finally dine together with the family." Solus returned the embrace, noticing that Elina was right.

    After staying cooped up in the tower with Lith for days, her stone doll form had grown of a few centimeters.

    "Please, stop making a fuss about this." Lith said. "We dined together for lunch and-"

    "And it didn''t happen ever since you returned from Lightkeep." Raaz rebuked him.

    "First, we left you alone to grieve Mirim and recover from your breakup with Kam. Then, you buried yourself in work so much that whenever we came to visit at the tower, we only met Solus.

    "Do you realize that we''ve spent more time with her than with you?"

    "Yeah." Solus nodded. "I hoped that after you introduced me to your family, we''d spend more time all together, not less."

    "This is your family as well, Solus. You don''t need that grumpy ass'' permission toe here whenever you want." Raaz caressed her head, making memories of Threin, her father, resurface.

    She only remembered the feeling of her father''s touch while his face was just from the image that Lochra had shown her. Had Solus tears she would have cried, but her stone form allowed her to hide her feelings.

    "Thanks, Raaz."

    "Lith! Solus!" Aran and Leria brimmed with joy at their appearance, eager to spend time with their brother/uncle and impress their newfound friend.

    Their respective parents had put time and effort to exin to them how important Solus was to Lith and why they couldn''t speak about her with anyone else, yet they had just preached to the choir.

    After having magical beasts for steeds, learning magic, discovering Lith''s Tiamat form, meeting Phoenixes and Tezka, the kids had no problem adding Solus to the list of secret oddities of their life.

    They had be so used to having strange guests that even if an elder Dragon appeared out of the blue iming to be their long-lost uncle, they would take their word at face value.

    The kids knew both about Solus and the tower, failing to grasp the magnitude of her existence but d to have a new ymate nheless. Solus''s stone doll was now barely 1 meter (3''3) tall, way shorter than them so they considered their duty to protect her.

    Solus didn''t like much being treated like a child while Lith was treated as a hero, but it still beat fear and mistrust.

    "I''m sorry if I made you angry, big brother. Please, don''t be like uncle Ryman ande back home." Aran said, making Lith feel like a monster and gaining him several reproachful looks.

    "I''m sorry too, uncle. I''ll be a good girl, I swear." Leria hugged him, sobbing a little.

    The kids didn''t know what kind of mess Lith''s life was. Their parents had kept them in the dark to protect them, yet their ignorance made the children me themselves for Lith''s disappearance.

    "It wasn''t your fault. I was just very busy." Lith hugged them both, making them sit on hisp.

    "Really?"

    "Really. An Archmage has a lot of duties to attend. I''m sorry for making you worry." He said.

    "Then why did aunt Kam never visit as well? Was she busy helping you?" Leria asked, unwittingly stabbing Lith''s heart.

    It took everyone a bit of effort to reassure the children and make them drop the subject with the excuse that dinner was getting cold.

    Solus''s stone body could taste the food but not digest it. Elina''s dishes would be stored inside her belly until she turned into her humanoid form and started doing whatever that body did to get rid of the things she ate.

    Having her own seat at the table, eating with others, and taking an active part in the conversation with her own mouth instead of Lith''s made Solus''s voice crack several times with joy.

    Everyone was moved seeing how things that they took for granted brought such happiness to the newest member of their family and made them scold Lith many times for having kept Solus isted for so long.

    During dinner, Lith listened to the most recent events in the Distar Region. The new Count Lark had moved back into his ancestral home after the Royals had rebuilt it to its former glory down to the smallest detail.

    As for Brinja, she was the new Marchioness, and much like Lith, she had drowned herself into work to not let grief get the better of her.

    Lith then told his family about what he had learned from Faluel, even offering the kids a small demonstration about his skills with gravity fusion.

    "I was thinking that after dinner we should research a new breathing technique." He said once everyone was sated and rxed.

    "What?" Solus''s happiness faded at those words. "I just practiced the whole day and you want me to do more?"

    "Well, I already had plenty of rest today and you don''t need to sleep to reset Invigoration, only to stand above a mana geyser." Lith shrugged. "There''s only so much time in a day and now that I''ve reached the violet core, Invigoration is outdated."

    "Not a chance!" Raaz put himself between them as if Solus needed his protection. "I didn''t see you for almost a week and now you want to run away from your family right after a meal?"

    "I''m not running away I-" Elina pointed at the kids and their eyes veiled with tears, cutting Lith short.

    "Fine. What about apromise? We''ll stay until bedtime and then we are going to practice. You guys need to sleep."

    Elina and Raaz exchanged a sad look before rolling their eyes.

    "Deal." They said in unison.

 Chapter 1438 - Family Time (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1438 - Family Time (Part 2)</h4>

    "Excellent!" Lith snapped his fingers, Warping everyone in the woods.

    Winter had yet to arrive, but thete fall''s weather was way too chilly and windy for the light clothes that the Verhens wore in thefort of their home.

    ??

    "Lith Verhen!" Elina said. "Do you realize that not everyone here is an Awakened and that if it weren''t for the armor we wear we''d be freezing out here?"

    "First, I made those armor. Second, we''re not going to stay." Lith shrugged while Solus dived in the ground as if it was water, making the tower appear.

    "By my Mom, Elina, you made me eat too much. I feel like I''m going to burst at any moment." Her energy body opened the door to them, holding her belly.

    "I''m sorry, dear, but every time I see that small stone body of yours, I can''t help but treat you like a growing child." She chuckled.

    "You''re much prettier this way. Why don''t you always look like this, aunt Solus?" Leria asked.

    "I''d love to, but I can''t." She said while the young girl yed at catching Solus''s floating hair one lock at a time.

    Lith made his family get in and then gave them a full tour of the tower. It didn''t take much since none of them really understood magic and Tista was at home already, but they really liked Solus making a room for each one of them and decorating them to their heart''s content.

    The children made an ugly, tacky room for themselves. It was filled with heavy armor, weapons, and magical books before realizing that the conjured metal was dull and conveniently too heavy for them to use.

    As for the books, once one flipped the shy cover, they were actually full solely of fairy tales.

    After everyone was done with their respective room, Lith used the Tower Warp to show them all the ces where he had been in the past. The north of the Kingdom was already covered in snow, giving everyone the opportunity to build a snowman.

    Making the ssic three big balls of snow and piling them took the Verhens effort and helped them digest. Once the snowman was done, the kids used water magic to turn the snow into ice, making it look like a crystal sculpture that loosely resembled Raaz.

    "Isn''t it magnificent? We look like twins." Raaz said while hugging the creature with buttons for eyes and a big round pebble for a nose.

    "It''s cute." Lith replied. He had been forbidden to participate in the team effort along with Tista and Solus.

    With their strength, they would have ruined the game, and Lith''s habit of cheating with magic would have only made things worse.

    "Seriously? Did you really have to?" Elina wiped off the sweat from her forehead while the children stared in awe at the ice dragon the size of a house that Lith had made with magic.

    His reply came in the form of a blue me that came out of the Dragon''s maw, tickling those it touched instead of burning them. Light Mastery''s constructs could take any shape and color, even resemble fire.

    "Cool! Can we ride it?" The kids asked.

    "Of course." Lith put them on the back of the statue while Solus fused with it to make the Dragon move and gave them a ride around the tower.

    "What are you doing?" Rena asked while Lith pointed his Council amulet at the screaming children atop the trotting Dragon.

    "Saving this moment." Lith replied while showing her a hologram of what he had just filmed, including the Verhens building the snowman. "I''ll make a Remember from this and give one copy of the hologram to each one of you."

    "Thanks, son." His parents hugged him, thanking the gods for blessing their lives with such happiness even during their darkest hour.

    After that, Lith brought them back to Lustria County, but not in Lutia.

    "What is this ce?" Tista asked, staring at the main building of a mansion that was in no way inferior to the Lark household.

    Itcked furniture, but the walls had been already painted with white and gold. The floor and the ceiling had been made of precious marble that made her magical lights shine like gemstones on their surface.

    There were so many rooms and corridors that it was easy to get lost, forcing the group to never stray too far. When Lith brought them to the living room, their jaws hit the floor.

    The room had been already perfectly furnished with padded cherrywood chairs and tables. It had also been decorated with vases, paintings, and small statues of famous magicians of the past like Lochra Silverwing.

    On top of that, the room alone was bigger than the first floor of their house in Lutia.

    "Wee to the Verhen Mansion." Lith said, using a light spell to make the room as clear as day. "It''s far from beingpleted, but if you agree with it, I was thinking about hosting my birthday here.

    "We''d have all the space we need and, thanks to the geyser, Solus can stay in her humanoid form the whole time."

    "She''s prettier this way, but not much taller." Aran used a hard-light measuring tape to show how she was closer to the kids than to Lith and Tista.

    "I''m not short, it''s the two of them who are beanpoles!"

    "Sure, dear." Elina caressed her head with love, but due to the over 10 centimeters (4.5 inches) of height gap between them, Solus really felt like a child.

    To make matters worse, Elina was the shortest in the family.

    "You''re so soft, just like Dad. In your doll form, you are as hard as uncle Lith." Leria shamefully poked at Solus''s soft belly, making both she and Senton blush in embarrassment.

    "I must put you on a diet." Rena mumbled.

    "I''m working out already, I swear."

    "Well, what do you think?" Lith ignored the love handles issue and waved at the room.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Raaz dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

    "No way." Solus shook her head.

    "Can I at least know why?" Lith asked after his family unanimously turned down his offer.

    "Because no matter how beautiful this ce is, it''s not our home. I have no fond memories here, making it cold and distant. Our home, instead, is where I lived my whole life and raised my beloved children." Elina said.

    "I wouldn''t give up on it for the world."

    "Same here." Solus nodded. "I don''t care what form I take as long as we are together and I can be an active part of your life."

    Lith had held her hand the whole time to help Solus retain her humanoid form despite the distance from the tower, making his family a bit confused about their rtionship and Solus as happy as a m.

    ***

    Later, that night, after putting the rest of the family to bed Lith and Solus went back to the tower to finally experiment on a new breathing technique.

    "Kowalski, analysis." He said.

    "You are still acting like a pompous jackass, but at least you''ve stopped pitying yourself and moping around." Solus replied.

    "I was asking you for a recap of the advanced breathing techniques we know, smartass!" Lith said with a snarl.

    "I know. It''s just that I love being able to mess with you without making you really angry. I missed you a lot." Solus hugged him while sniffling a bit, making Lith feel like a monster for the second time in just a few hours.

 Chapter 1439 - Birthday Party (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1439 - Birthday Party (Part 1)</h4>

    "I missed you more, Solus. I''m sorry, but I needed and I still need to be alone. You can''t ask me to forget about the loss of Lark and Mirim in a few days. Let alone a three years long rtionship with a woman I might have married." Lith caressed and kissed the top of her head while sighing deeply.

    "But, you never cut me out of your life like this before." She replied, hugging him more tightly.

    ??

    "That''s because you never had a body before. I need to sort out my feelings, not to make them even messier. We are both lonely and our emotional feedback is akin to my drinking alcohol with Faluel.

    "I don''t want to do something that we would both regretter." Lith said.

    Solus had actually a lot to say, but she understood his feelings and respected his wishes.

    "Okay. We have experienced only three breathing techniques for long enough to allow me to study them." She conjured three different body holograms to aid her exnation, but she didn''t release him from her embrace, sitting on hisp instead.

    "The first is Scarlett''s Aura. From what I could perceive while she interrogated us, Scarlett is able to mix Spirit Magic with the world energy so that when she floods her target''s body with it, she can do the next best thing to mind reading.

    "The world energy allows her to get so deep in your head that when you answer a question she knows when you''re lying. Also, by seeping deep inside the brain, Aura allows her to obtain an effect simr to the Soul Projection."

    "Fascinating. What more?" Lith nodded.

    "The second is Faluel''s Lifestream which also is the technique we have experienced so many times that I know it best. Unlike Aura, Lifestream is more focused on the body than the mind, allowing Faluel to almost hijack the mana flow of others.

    "She has demonstrated to be capable of not only manipting someone''s body akin to Body Sculpting, but also of making mana cores, flows, and even impurities visible to the naked eye." She said.

    "If I managed to do the same, I could pass my breathing technique off as a spell and be the best healer in the Kingdom. Not even Manohar couldpete with me then." Lith said.

    "Yeah, and as the new god of healing, you would have to take his ce. I''m sure Manohar would love it." Solus chuckled.

    "The third one is Malyshka''s Sun and Moon. Even though she used it on you for several minutes, I didn''t get much. Based on her words, however, I''m betting that it''s better than Aura and Lifestreambined."

    "Well, Scarlett and even the Hydra bloodline are newbornspared to Baba Yaga. Her breathing technique must be capable of doing everything that any other technique can. What about our Invigoration?" Lith asked.

    "It''s the basic of the basics. If breathing techniques were houses, Invigoration would be a natural cave. If they were paintings, it would be a stick man. If-"

    "I get it, Invigoration sucks! Now get to the point." He angrily cut Solus short, yet she chuckled as if he had made a funny joke.

    "Faluel didn''t exaggerate when she said that the deep violet is the best moment to start working on a better breathing technique." She replied. "At bright blue one has topensate for the faulty vortexes and at violet, it would be toote.

    "Invigoration just allows you to draw in the world energy, moving it throughout your body and into your core, but it doesn''t make use of the auxiliary cores nor does it nurture them.

    "First, we need to devise a way to make mana and auxiliary cores work together. That way, we''d draw in much more world energy with each breath and it would nurture all of them at the same time." Solus said.

    "Agreed. If my hypothesis is correct, then obtaining the violet core is possible solely when the auxiliary cores divert the excess energy, creating awork that distributes the mana flow evenly without overloading the core like it happened to Quy.

    "To grow past the deep violet, not only the mana core, but also the auxiliary cores must grow in power and increase their mana capacity. Only after we find a way to refine all of my cores at the same time can we worry about developing breathing skills." Lith said.

    "One more thing." Solus really enjoyed the physical contact now that she didn''t feel guilty about it anymore. Lith was still heartbroken from the end of his rtionship, but he was single nheless.

    "Don''t forget that we can practice the first step on our own, but to develop any breathing skill we need a test subject since you can already read my mind, and achieving Lifestream''s effects on yourself is something that even Invigoration can do."

    "We''ll worry about thatter. First things first." Lith pushed Solus gently away and sat cross-legged on the floor.

    Then, he started to use the rhythm of Invigoration as he breathed, modifying it in the attempt to involve the auxiliary cores in the process.

    Solus sighed and followed his lead. She had reached the cyan core for a while and thanks to their bond, she was capable of using her own breathing technique to affect Lith''s body.

    It allowed both of them to search for a way to make umtion also affect the auxiliary cores without interfering with each other''s experiments.

    ***

    Days of training turned into weeks and finally Lith''s birthday arrived along with the start of winter. A thinyer of snow covered the fields outside the Verhen household when Elina burst Lith''s door open.

    "Happy 19th birthday, dear!" Elina threw her arms at his neck while he was already conjuring several spells and activating the house''s arrays.

    "Mom! What if I was naked? What if I wasn''t alone? Knock before entering dammit!" Lith could hear his heart pounding so hard that he feared it would jump out of his chest.

    "First, I''ve seen you naked countless of times¡­"

    "As a baby!"

    "Second, I wish!" Elina sighed, seeing only one side of the bed unmade as if it was still waiting for Kam. "Sorry, dear, I just wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday before that annoying amulet beats me to the punch."

    "Thanks, Mom." Lith hugged her, enjoying the warmth and the affection of her embrace before all hell broke loose.

    "Happy birthday, Lith!" The rest of the family quickly followed and Solus was with them.

    Now that her existence wasn''t a mystery anymore, she had moved to Tista''s room to avoid unpleasant misunderstandings. When her turn to congratte him arrived, she slipped on his finger to regain the energy she had lost during their separation before their guests arrived.

    Lith had been forced to spend the whole day at home with no hope of escape. Solus wouldn''t move from there and Faluel was the guest of honor, leaving him no ce where he could practice magic.

    Lith had barely the time for a quick shower and breakfast before his contact amulet started to blink non-stop. The Royals asked him about his well-being and if he liked how the building of the Verhen Mansion progressed.

 Chapter 1440 - Birthday Party (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1440 - Birthday Party (Part 2)</h4>

    After wishing him a happy birthday, many members of the Council wanted to know how he had reached the violet core so quickly, the secret behind his silver pir, and what powers his Tiamat bloodline possessed.

    Unfortunately for them, Lith considered such topics as his cue to hung up the call.

    ??

    Between his apprenticeship under Faluel and how casually he called Sark Grandma, no one dared to question him twice.

    The Fastarrow family was the first to arrive. Ever since Lith had revealed his Tiamat form to the kids, Protector''s children had done the same. Lilia and Leran showed off their Skoll skills, making Aran and Leria green with envy.

    The Ernas sisters and Faluel arrived together since Jirni was busy, leaving the Hydra to take care of her daughters.

    "Happy birthday, Lith." They said while taking turns hugging him and giving him their respective gifts.

    The Ernas had bought plenty of raw mana crystals and magical metals respectively for the mine the tower had and the one they hoped it would develop. Solus was close topleting the third floor and with it was likely toe another underground level.

    "This is to celebrate both of your birthdays." Faluel handed two Davross ingots to him. "Neen years ago you''ve been born a human, but not long ago you''ve been reborn. Your new body is a gift, not a curse. Never forget that."

    "Don''t worry, Professor, I won''t. Just like I won''t forget that a couple of ingots aren''t muchpared to the over 1,000,000 gold coins you saved thanks to my Origin mes." Lith said with a sneer.

    His "Domination" lessons now consisted in purifying as many batches of enchanted metals as he could withoutpromising his already crippled life force.

    After mastering the Hands of Menadion, Faluel would need a lot of materials to craft a superior version of her best equipment. Thanks to Lith, she could invest her resources into buying raw metal that they purified together.

    "It''s not a trade, ingrateful runt, it''s a gift. My lessons saved your life countless times and I consider your services a small pricepared to what you learned under my guidance." Faluel said.

    At that point, Lith had to admit that she was right and gave her a deep bow of gratitude as he stored the ingots inside his pocket dimension and doubled the amount of Davross in his possession.

    The house wasn''t built to host so many people so Elina had to bring more tables and chairs for the asion. The dining room was a bit cramped but everyone was happy. The kids yed in the snow together with their magical beasts and Zinya''s children until lunch.

    "I can''t believe I finally get to catch my breath for a full day." Friya closed her eyes as she enjoyed the softfort of the sofa in front of the firece.

    "No one is forcing you. You can take a few days off whenever you want." Quy said while juggling one silver coin with each one of her hands.

    "And fall behind you workaholics? No thanks."

    "How do you do that?" Lith could make a coin move back and forth in-between his fingers with ease whereas Quy had never been so nimble.

    "Water fusion. I finally learned the necessary rune and I''m getting used to employing it without my wand."

    "Training during Lith''s birthday? You''re asking for a spanking, youngdy." Elina took both coins away faster than Quy could say:

    "But, Elina, I don''t have an Awakened body. Using water fusion is the only way I have to stretch my body and keep it as flexible as Tista''s."

    "Either you rest or I''ll make you." Elina put a cup of hot chocte and a te of biscuits in her hands, ending the discussion.

    "Wow. At this rate, soon you''ll be the first human true mage in the history of Mogar." Solus said while taking a cup for herself.

    "Yeah, but Quy is also courting disaster. The more she gets close to true magic, the more danger her own violet core poses to her life." Lith said.

    "Since we''re already talking about depressing stuff, I can''t believe that Kam will not be here today." Selia''s words made an awkward silence fill the room, ending the argument before it could even start.

    "Today you''re allowed to have only happy thoughts, Lith. Otherwise I''ll kick your ass. I''m nowhere as gentle as Elina." Selia went to help Rena and Nalrond with the triplets.

    Like most kids, the trouble they caused grow bigger along with their healthy bodies, requiring all hands on deck to handle them.

    When lunchtime arrived, Lith was already bored out of his skull. The others, instead, loved having so many Light Masters at their service to provide them with an experience that not even movie theatres couldpare with.

    ''Fuck me sideways. I always thought that dying of boredom was just an expression yet unless something happens soon, I''m going to go to sleep early to make this day end as soon as I can!'' He thought after putting the kids to sleep for their afternoon nap, jinxing the day.

    A couple of hourster, when the sun had started to set and the kids woke up for their afternoon snack, someone burst open the door of the Verhen household.

    "Has the party started yet? Because from the outside this looks like a graveyard." Sark, Overlord of the Blood Desert and Lord of War waltzed in like she owned the ce.

    She had the appearance of a stunning woman in her mid-twenties about 1.76 meters (5''9") tall. Sark had silky ck waist-long hair, emerald eyes, and a bronze tinge of skin so clear that it seemed to emit a gentle radiance.

    She wore a blood-red robe, the Blood Desert equivalent of a g dress, that left exposed her fair shoulders and arms. The robe was loose enough to give her freedom of movement but also tight enough to emphasize her figure.

    "Happy birthday, my grandchild!" She lifted Lith from his chair with the same ease as if he was a baby, kissing him on the forehead and cheeks before anyone could snap out of their respective shock.

    "Congrattions, my son!" She dropped Lith and lifted Raaz, delivering a new set of kisses that turned him to a bright shade of purple as abundant blood rushed to his head above as well as to that below.

    "Get your hands off my husband,dy!" Elina jumped up in outrage.

    A stunner acting all familiar with her son was hardly a novelty, but seeing her husband receiving the same treatment was beyond outrageous.

    "Elina!" Sark spoke with confidence as if the two women had known each other their whole life. "Don''t tell me that after being married for so long you trust the poor Raaz only so much."

    "Oh, I do trust my husband. Grabby unknown women that barge into my house, not so much." She crossed her arms while furiously tapping her left foot on the ground, waiting for an exnation why anyone had yet to blow the intruder''s ass.

    "You really are your father''s daughter, Elina. You should think less and feel more." Sark said, cing a hand above her heart. "As for you, Lith, I''m so disappointed in you for never mentioning me to your family that I''m considering not gifting you anything anymore."

 Chapter 1441 - Birthday Party (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1441 - Birthday Party (Part 3)</h4>

    The word "Gifts"ing out of Sark¡¯s mouth snapped Lith out of his stupor and knocked his greed to the sixth gear.

    "I did mention you a lot, Grandma. I just never showed them your hologram because I never had a reason to. I nned to do it before visiting you in the Desert."??

    Elina finally managed to piece everything together, figuring out the identity of the annoying transgressor.

    <i>¡¯Thank the gods I didn¡¯t try to kick her a.s.s, otherwise things might have gotten ugly for me.¡¯</i> She inwardly sighed in relief.

    "What about Grampa? Don¡¯t tell me that you included him in the family picture." Sark¡¯s eyes were reduced to two fiery slits of white mana.

    "Who?" Raaz asked in confusion.

    "Then everything is forgiven." Sark said with a warm smile of triumph.

    "There¡¯s no need to be jealous, Elina." Sark said, taking her hands into her own. "At least of me. I was only congratting the man who carries my blood for giving me such a wonderful grandchild."

    "Wait." Elina was so shocked that her fear faded away, making her forget everything about honorifics and etiquette. She now treated the Desert¡¯s Overlord with the same familiarity she had with Selia.

    "Are you telling me that he¡¯s the Phoenix and I¡¯m the Dragon?"

    "Well, of course. Just look at our baby." A snap of Sark¡¯s fingers forced Lith to shapeshift into his Tiamat form. "Everyone knows that boys always resemble the mother. Otherwise he would have many more feathers."

    While everyone was still shocked out of their skull, Sark moved around the house as if she had lived there all of her life, greeting people in a way that made them feel as if it was her party they were attending.

    The Overlord used her breathing technique, Mother Sun, on all the members of the Verhen family, sniffing them to understand who carried who¡¯s bloodline more.

    "Not to be rude, Grandma, but to what gifts were you referring earlier?" Lith said while offering her a cup of hot chocte after she was done with the introductions.

    "Always straight to the point, huh?" Sark raised an eyebrow in annoyance at his greed.

    It was a Dragon thing, hence she didn¡¯t like it much.

    "I brought you three gifts. The first is peace. You have my word that for today and the next few days, nothing bad will happen. I¡¯ve sent my agents to protect all of those who have received a Balkor card.

    "If the culprit nned to ruin your birthday, they¡¯d better think twice about it." Sark had a cruel smile that reminded everyone of Lith¡¯s, making them wonder if it was really all Mogar¡¯s doing of if the two were actually distant rtives.

    "The second gift ispanionship. Of course I don¡¯t mean just mine, but also that of those you love and of those you should love."

    At the same time, several Phoenixes in human form walked through the door, bringing food and drinks for everyone.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Captain Locrias had just had two brushes with death. Seeing the Monarch of the Blood Desert waltz inside the Verhen household had made him choke on the birthday chocte and biscuits that Elina had offered to his team.

    After that, witnessing a flock of legendary birds appear from the shadows around the farm and then shapeshift into human form before walking inside had given him a stroke.

    "No need for reinforcements. Overlord Sark is there on an authorized diplomatic mission." Sylpha lied through her teeth, wondering why Tyris had forbidden her from interfering with the attempt to cajole one of the most promising Archmages of the Kingdom.

    The three units of the Queen¡¯s corps that patrolled the house thanked the gods for their mercy. The sight of Sark¡¯s Court was enough to make their lives sh in front of their eyes.

    Meanwhile, Sark ced her left thumb on the forehead of Solus¡¯s stone doll, turning her into her humanoid energy body.

    "By my Mom, how did you do that? Could you make me human again?" Solus asked while looking at her hands that now had nails and veins.

    "Your form is currently limited by two things. Your damaged cores and the world energy. I can¡¯t fix the former but I can provide you with plenty of thetter. As for your human form, I could, but only as long as I¡¯m here.

    "Believe me, you don¡¯t want that trauma again." Sark c.a.r.e.s.sed Solus¡¯s head, making her feel like a small child.

    ¡¯Dammit, why is everyone so tall in here? Even now that I have my humanoid form, I still need to float to look people in the eyes without getting neck pain.¡¯ She thought.

    "Grandma, who are those people?" Lith asked, not liking the arrival of even more uninvited guests.

    "The people you should love I just mentioned. Your brethren, silly."

    "Okay, but my house is too small. Maybe-"

    "My third gift is a lesson of Creation Magic. Watch and learn." Sark¡¯s words plunged the room into silence as everyone capable of casting magic stared at her as if they had found their soulmate.

    "While practicing magic, always remember that many things that people think as opposites are actually two sides of the same coin. The line between sealing and strengthening magic is paper-thin." Sark widened the arrays, creating enough space to insert several dimensional runes.

    She did it nice and easy, without exining anything but giving everyone the time to understand what she was doing and why. Just like the lessons Sark gave Balkor, it was up to the student to be capable of Creation Magic.

    When she was done, the living room had be four times longer and wider yet neither people nor furniture had been deformed by the dimensional stretch.

    "Is this dimensional magic?" Friya asked as she was once more proud of her rare Dimensional Mage specialization.

    "Indeed, child. I have affected solely this room and only for the duration of my stay. Yet it¡¯s not omnipotent, we still need more pieces of furniture." New tables and chairs appeared in a ze of emerald mes, giving everyone a ce to sit.

    "No, you can¡¯t keep them." Sark replied to Lith¡¯s silent question as he stared at the high-end furnishings. "Now let¡¯s get this party started!"

    A p of her hands made an upbeat music fill the room.

    The Desert¡¯s Overlord proved to be an unparallel singer, dancer, and to have forced her children to learn her favorite choreographies. She even helped the kids making a family portrait with their crayons, creating what looked like an original Van Gogh.

    "How? Why?" Lith asked in amazement while she hung it to the wall.

    "Your Grandfather likes to dabble in arts and I¡¯m verypetitive." Sark said with pride.

    "More like obsessed with winning." Crevan said with a sneer.

    "Crevan! You don¡¯t badmouth family on your first meeting. Some things require t-"

    "Are you really my Grandmommy?" Aran stared at her with his big puppy eyes while tugging at her dress.

    "Of course I am." Sark lifted him in her arms, too moved by his words to care about the stains that Aran¡¯s dirty hands left everywhere.

    "Why did you nevere to visit before, then? Is Grandad dead?" Leria asked, raising her arms in the air to be lifted as well.

 Chapter 1442 - Birthday Party (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1442 - Birthday Party (Part 4)</h4>

    "I¡¯ve lost contact with your family for a long time, but now I¡¯m here." She had each kid sit on one of her arms as if they weighed nothing. "Grandad is fine, he¡¯s just grumpy, like Lith."

    "Can we meet him? Pretty please?" The kids used the double puppy stare which turned out to be super effective on the Mother of all Phoenixes.??

    "How could I say no to these pretty faces? I¡¯ll be right back." Sark put them down before opening a long-distance Warp Gate that shrunk to the size of a pinhole after her passage, to not let anyone see anything.

    "Move your a.s.s, old lizard. There are people waiting for you." Her voice sounded sweet, but her words had no warmth in them.

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about birthday parties! I¡¯m in the middle of an important exp-" Leegaain¡¯s voice was cut short and reced by the sounds of a ferocious tussling.

    The noise of shattered ss and cracked stone alternated with furious roars for a few seconds until the Gate opened again. The two Guardians walked through it arm in arm like a real couple.

    Sark looked the same as when she had arrived first. There was no trace of stains on her dress anymore. Leegaain, instead, looked like a true gentleman.

    He had the appearance of a lean albino man in his mid-thirties, 1,75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with snow-white hair and skin. His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil. The Father of all Dragons wore a ck g suit and gold-rimmed round sses.

    Multiple spots of his skin were halfway turned into scales, making Leegaain look like he had tattoos.

    "Cool!" All the kids said in unison, intrigued rather than intimidated by the inhuman features of their guest.

    They tried to touch his scales and examine his sses, things that Leegaain allowed them to do. He even knelt down to let them observe him closely.

    After Sark introduced him to Lith¡¯s family, Leegaain stared at Elina with annoyance.

    "Nice to see you again, violent woman who took my bl-" Sark nudged him with enough strength to crack his ribs and cut him short. "I mean, who inherited my blood."

    "Yes, but luckily she got her mother¡¯s looks." Sark chuckled.

    After a while, Lith managed to have some alone time with his "Grandfather".

    "What about my gifts?" He asked.

    "Don¡¯t push it, boy. I didn¡¯t even want to be here. Besides, Sark has already given you more than enough." Leegaain replied.

    "Do you know the full story of what happened to Solus?"

    "I know everything about Menadion and her daughter." Leegaain picked another serving of ice cream. It was the only good thing that hade out from his forced visit so far.

    "But are you going to share it with me?" Lith asked.

    "No. You¡¯re broken. Your partner is broken. What both of you need now is some relief from your pain, not to be burdened by a cruel past."

    "Is it me or when Awakened get older they either turn into ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e jerks or into suckers for everything they consider cute?" Lith pointed respectively at Leegaain and Sark who was ying with the kids.

    "It¡¯s the natural order of things. To survive endless losses and solitude you can only close your heart or open it up as much as you can." Leegaain replied. "I chose to love things over people because they never disappoint me.

    "Sark, instead, chose to put people over things because they fill her life with feelings. She doesn¡¯t care if they are good or bad. As long as her heart isn¡¯t empty, she¡¯s happy."

    Leegaain took a long pause, thinking back to all the disciples he had high hopes for before they betrayed his trust and turned into power-hungry warmongers.

    "I bet that the bird dared to show off her singing skills. Let me show you how a real pro works." He went up the stage, showing off the several talents that Sark had mentioned earlier.

    ¡¯<i>What the heck? Is it sundown already?¡¯</i> Lith thought while looking at the darkness outside the window. <i>¡¯Time sure flies during a home invasion. I wonder if this is Tyris or-¡¯</i>

    "Happy birthday, little brother. Sorry for not answering your calls for so long, but I¡¯ve been busy. I hope you don¡¯t mind us crashing your party." Xenagrosh hugged Lith, giving him a kiss on either cheek.

    In her human form, she looked like a woman in her early thirties, about 1.6 meters (5¡¯3") tall, with ck-shaded brown hair and youthful c.h.e.s.tnut eyes that contrasted with the ancient wisdom of her gaze.

    Her skin was naturally so pale that it almost looked sickly, and was full of freckles. She had sharp features, a squared jaw, and a nose a tad too long. She wore a light blue evening dress that was just stylish enough for a family party without being ostentatious.

    "Well, I¡¯m d to see you here and I¡¯ve got no problems with your surprise visit, but I don¡¯t know how the other guests will react." Lith pointed at the two singing Guardians who stared at the neers for a second longer than it was polite.

    <i>¡¯Don¡¯t worry. Tonight this home is a neutral zone. As long as no one looks for trouble, we can graciously coexist.</i>¡¯ Sark¡¯s voice resounded in the minds of the concerned parties, making Leegaain sigh in relief.

    He didn¡¯t want to turn his first reunion in centuries with his daughter Zoreth into a battle to the death. Quite the contrary, now that Mogar had banned the Guardians from hunting down the Master he was eager to study her condition and find a cure.

    "Lith, this is Bytra, my best friend and my girlfriend. Bytra, this is my little brother, Lith." Xenagrosh introduced him to her plus one.

    Bytra looked like a lovely woman in her mid-twenties about 1.75 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with golden eyes and silver hair. She had a pixie cut that emphasized her oval-shaped face and delicate features. She wore a light red evening dress thatplemented that of her date.

    Lith shook her hand, having no idea he was in front of Menadion¡¯s killer.

    "Mom, Dad, this is Xenagrosh. She¡¯s the Shadow Dragon that saved us when Night and her army attacked our home. This is Bytra, her date."

    "Thank you so much for helping Lith so many times." Elina hugged both women. "I wish I discovered being a Dragon years ago. It would have made things so much easier. By the way, is Leegaain your grandfather as well or..."

    "He is my Dad." Xenagrosh chuckled.

    Elina proceeded to introduce them to the rest of the family which led to more gifts and more entertainment for the kids.

    "I could really use a few lessons about Origin mes. I suck hard." Lith sighed while offering Xenagrosh some ice cream.

    "Wow, so subtle. You¡¯re lucky this is delicious or I would kick your a.s.s for being so blunt. Birthday or not. Bytra, you have to try this!" She said to herpanion who was exchanging pointers with the Forgemasters among the Phoenixes, Sark and Solus included.

    Menadion¡¯s heir had introduced herself as part of the Overlord¡¯s Court and both of them were eager to learn about thetest breakthroughs of the legendary Fourth Ruler of the mes.

 Chapter 1443 - Master Plans (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1443 - Master ns (Part 1)</h4>

    Seeing the short woman made of light and hearing Solus¡¯s voice gave Bytra a headache that usually led to a fit of Blood Madness and to recover unpleasant memories.

    Yet she had long learned how to repress those urges along with her memory.

    "In a minute!" Bytra replied in frustration.

    She hade to the party hoping to meet Xenagrosh¡¯s little brother and take work off her mind, yet it was all she had been talking about ever since her arrival.

    As for Solus, she had never seen her own killer due to the original Bytra backstabbing her heart before Elphyn could even realize what had happened. On top of that, during her first life, Solus had only deep spite for Bytra.

    Elphyn Menadion had considered the Raiju as a phony Ruler of the mes since Bytra had not only given just a derivative contribution to the Forgemastering arts, but she had also been incapable of making a tower of her own.

    For those reasons, the two women had very few shared memories, making Bytra¡¯s human appearance as relevant as a wallflower in Solus¡¯s mind.

    "What about my lessons?" Like a hound on a bone, Lith refused to let go.

    "Hey, big sis, how have you been?" Xenagrosh mimicked his voice between spoonfuls of ice cream. "I¡¯m fine, Lith. I was worried for you as well."

    "Okay, fine. I¡¯m sorry for being a jerk." Lith sighed. "Why didn¡¯t you reply to the message I left Tezka? I started to think you had dropped me like a bad habit."

    "I was busy. I always am due to this damn war with the undead." She sighed. "I couldn¡¯t evene here earlier because Da- I mean, the Master was busy. We came here together once we were done with our respective jobs."

    "The Professor is here? I was starting to think he had been dragged away again to do the Kingdom¡¯s dirty job." Lith said.

    "Don¡¯t worry, he is going to keep his word. The Master is at Zinya¡¯s." Xenagrosh replied. "He will keep thempany and make up for everything they are missing tonight due to... You know."

    "I¡¯ll call him tomorrow first thing in the morning, yet I¡¯d appreciate it if you thanked him on my behalf tonight." Lith didn¡¯t even look at Xenagrosh¡¯s nod while he stared through one of the windows.

    The sounds of the party be a dull noise to his ears while he sighed deeply, thinking back at everything he had lost from the day Kam had left the tower without looking back.

    Meanwhile, far away enough from Lith¡¯s house to escape being detected by the ancient monsters assembled there, a blue-robed man stared at both households in hatred.

    The state-of-the-art cloaking devices he wore were the only reason why he was still alive.

    <i>¡¯I wanted so badly to inflict more pain to Verhen during his very birthday, but at this point, writing a sob story and sending the manuscript to him is the only chance I have to make him cry.</i>

    <i>¡¯There¡¯s so much mana in the air tonight that just being near Lutia is akin to staring into death¡¯s face. His break up with Kam was supposed to make it easier for me to kill those whores, but even the Yehval household is a fortress!¡¯</i> He thought.

    Aside from the lowest tier of standard protective arrays, Zinya¡¯s house actually had few defenses. What the man perceived as a threat was the presence of the Abomination hybrids that had followed the Master.

    "I know that I shouldn¡¯t drag you into the mess that my personal life is, Professor Vastor, but do you think I could go to Lith¡¯s just to give him my present? I bought it in advance and I can¡¯t return it anymore." Kam asked.

    She held a carefully wrapped gift box the size of a book while moving her eyes from the window to Vastor non-stop.

    "Absolutely not!" He and Zinya said in unison.

    "I don¡¯t know why you broke up with him but I can see that you¡¯re still a mess. Until you sort out your feelings, seeing him again is a terrible idea." The Master said.

    "It¡¯s the same thing I told her countless times during thest few days, Zogar." Zinya nodded. "I hoped that Kami had at least opened up with you, but it seems you know even less than I do."

    A few days after learning about Solus¡¯s existence, Kam had moved to Zinya¡¯s house because everything inside her apartment reminded her of Lith. On top of that, whenever she was alone, Kam couldn¡¯t stop wondering how much of thosest three years had been a lie.

    The silence of her home in Belius drove her crazy and the take-away food only cut deeper into her wounds because she always ended up buying food for two out of habit.

    "I¡¯m so sorry for troubling you so much, Zin. Yet I¡¯m barely holding myself together and I¡¯m afraid that if I stay alone for too long, I¡¯d fall apart for good." Kam sniffled while clenching the gift box.

    The break-up made her suffer much more than Lith. While he could talk about the issue with his family, friends, and his mentor, Kam waspletely alone. The only people who knew about Lith¡¯s secret were part of his life, not of her own.

    She couldn¡¯t vent her feelings to anyone, not even her sister.

    Telling the truth had set Lith free, yet it had also trapped her in a lonely dark ce. It made it hard for Kam to think about anything with a calm mind whenever she wasn¡¯t busy with work.

    "Don¡¯t you dare to thank me for so little, Kami. Not after everything you¡¯ve done for me over the years." Zinya stopped cooking to hug her from behind. "This is your home too and you¡¯re free to stay here for as long as you need.

    "You can tell me what happened when you¡¯re ready. We have all the time in the world. I can use a hand with the kids and you can use some homemade food. It¡¯s a fair trade." Zinya was worried by how much weight Kam had lost before moving to Lutia.

    "Speaking of kids, I know that I¡¯m not exactly a toymaker, but I hope you¡¯ll like them anyway." Vastor took several presents out of his dimensional amulet.

    Some he had enchanted himself, most were Lith¡¯s handiwork that he had asked Vastor to deliver in his ce.

    It took Kam a nce to recognize who had crafted what. Vastor¡¯s toys were more expensive while Lith¡¯s enchantments had the ir that Frey and Filia loved.

    Vastor had yet to spend with them enough time to know their taste and even though Kam wasn¡¯t an Awakened, she could almost feel Lith¡¯s energy signature.

    The familiar feeling made her weep a silent tear that she wiped before anyone could notice.

    "Why can we y with the others but uncle Lith never visits anymore?" The kids asked after thanking and hugging Vastor for the beautiful gifts.

    "It¡¯splicated. Go wash your hands, dinner is almost ready." Zinya tried to change the subject to not pour salt on Kam¡¯s wounds.

    "Why is Auntie hurt? Is Lith a bad guy like Dad?" Frey and Filia held each other in fear.

 Chapter 1444 - Master Plans (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1444 - Master ns (Part 2)</h4>

    Just like the kids of the Verhen household, the sudden distance between their respective families confused the children, making them think that they had done something wrong at first.

    Once their mother had reassured them multiple times, however, the trauma that Fallmug had inflicted upon them made Filia and Frey fear that Lith had turned out to be like theirte father.

    "Gods, no!" The three a.d.u.l.ts said in unison.

    "Don¡¯t worry, kids." Kam said while c.a.r.e.s.sing them. "Lith never hurt me and he would never do you any harm. It¡¯s just that he had many secrets and some of them are too much for me. I¡¯m just sad, you have my word."

    Zinya thanked the gods for making children so blunt and yet capable of cracking the toughest armor. Now that she had an idea of what had happened, there was just one question left in her mind.

    "Did he cheat on you?" She asked, making Kam threw such a mean look at her to understand that it wasn¡¯t that the case.

    "Uncle Lith doesn¡¯t cheat, Auntie. He always ys fair." The kids believed they were talking about games since it was the only kind of cheating that they knew.

    <i>¡¯Either Kami suspected him of having an affair or she had a rival. There must be another woman involved.¡¯</i> Zinya thought.

    Yet while her sister knew Kam enough to also see the pain in her eyes and to know to have struck a nerve, Vastor failed to notice it, misunderstanding the issue.

    <i>¡¯Dammit, they must have broken up because Lith lost his humanity after turning into a Tiamat. Poor girl.¡¯</i> Vastor inwardly sighed, pitying Kam, but mostly himself.

    <i>¡¯If Kam couldn¡¯t ept Lith¡¯s real nature after being together for three years, what chances do I have with Zinya? We barely shake hands and unlike Lith, I¡¯m more of a monster on the inside than I¡¯ll ever be on the outside.</i>

    <i>¡¯There is so much blood on my hands that it¡¯s impossible to wash off. The things I¡¯ve done as a Highmaster first and as the Masterter, make even Tezka look cute inparison.</i>

    <i>¡¯I can offer my Abominations a second chance, I might even be able to give the Kingdom a more rightful and just system, but no matter the oue of the battle, there are no spoils of war waiting for me except more f.u.c.k.i.n.g blood!¡¯</i>

    Vastor looked at the tenderness with which Zinya hugged her children and took care of Kam, wishing with all his heart to be worthy of such affection as well. Yet he was painfully aware of being too old, too dirty, and too dangerous for her.

    If the Master¡¯s n failed, being close to him would made Zinya a target for all of his enemies. If it seeded, instead, the Griffon Kingdom, if not the whole Mogar, would enter a new Golden Age, yet everyone would learn about his misdeeds anyway.

    Having Zinya so close and yet being unable to reach her drove Vastor mad with fury. His wrath spread through the bond they shared to the Abomination-hybrids that protected the area, making his grief their own.

    They immediately searched the area for someone so stupid as to threaten their family. Someone that would give them a way to vent their wrath in unspeakable ways that they had perfected over the course of the millennia.

    Suddenly, a shiver ran down the spine of the blue-robed man and he found himself covered in a cold sweat. As the Abomination-Hybrids¡¯ mystical senses scanned the area, he felt as if now he wasn¡¯t just looking death in the eyes.

    Death was looking back at him, spreading its arms to engulf him in a deadly embrace. The blue-robed man swallowed his pride and ran for his life, too scared to remember to use magic.

    ***

    Golden Griffon Academy, Ker region, at the same time.

    It had taken Thrud quite a while to reach her destination. Moving with an army of Emperor Beasts wasn¡¯t an issue so much as her growing cravings, fatigue, and appetite.

    Her pregnancy gave her great powers, but the more the day of the delivery approached, the greater the problems she had to deal with. On top of that, traveling through the whole Garlen continent to pick up the legacies of herte aplices wasn¡¯t an easy task either.

    Right after Xedros¡¯s death, she had emptied hisir first since the Wyvern was the most notable member of her crew. His arrays had weakened after his defeat, making it a child¡¯s y for Thrud to use the Sword of Arthan to take control of them.

    After that, she had asked the apprentices that she had "saved" to lead her to the secretirs of their respective masters, taking everything that they had and leaving only dust behind.

    Traps, arrays, and even Golems could only submit to the Sword¡¯s Domination once boosted by Life Maelstrom.

    "You told me that the Golden Griffon is running dry on resources, my love, but with such a treasure, I¡¯ll be able to teach and craft everyone anything they need." Thrud said with a warm smile while Jakra c.a.r.e.s.sed her swollen belly.

    "Indeed. I would have never thought that such ancient creatures could hoard so many riches without using them." The Emerald Dragon was still bbergasted at the amount of mana crystals and unused Adamant that they had found.

    "Magic suffers from obsolesce, darling. Once forged, an artifact is set in stone. They were probably waiting for something powerful enough to not waste the metal. Too bad that such a thing will never happen. There¡¯s no time like the present to craft something good.

    "On top of that, most of themcked Origin mes, and casting something out of impurified Adamant is twice the waste. Luckily, we have no such problem." She yfully scratched his throat.

    Thrud used the Sword and the Armor of Arthan to scan the arrays surrounding the lost Academy and find a way to override theplex system of magical formations without triggering any rm.

    The Mad Queen spent days outside, checking the arrays over and over until she was certain to not have missed any detail. Jakra helped her thanks to the Arthan set¡¯s ability to bear two imprints at the same time.

    Just like the original, it had been crafted as a set for a Royal couple.

    Then, she used a powerful burst of Life Maelstrom to push the Sword of Arthan to its utmost limits and forcefully take control of the barrier system that sealed the Golden Griffon.

    Once inside, Thrud was greatly disappointed by everything sheid her eyes on.

    "Good gods, this ce is a cesspool. Bedpans? Common rooms? Who¡¯s the caveman who nned this ce?" She said ughtering her way forward.

    It took the power core of the academy a while to recognize the energy signature of Arthan¡¯s offspring. Thrud¡¯s experiments had altered her body to the point that most of the enchantments left by the Mad King failed to identify her.

    "I¡¯m really sorry for the inconvenience, Your Majesty." Sevenus Hystar appeared in front of her, kneeling and with his forehead touching the ground.

    He wore an ample golden mage robe and was about 1.60 meters (5¡¯3") tall. Hystar looked to be in his mid-fifties and had long brown hair and a beard streaked red all over.

 Chapter 1445 - Freedom and Prisoners (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1445 - Freedom and Prisoners (Part 1)</h4>

    Hystar was both the Headmaster of the Golden Griffon academy and the cursed object that controlled the lost city down to its slightest detail. He turned thebyrinth into a straight path that allowed Thrud to quickly reach Huryole¡¯s power core.

    "It seems that you¡¯ve done wonders with Arthan¡¯s Madness. The power exuding from your body exceeds the King¡¯s wildest dreams, yet if not for the Sword of Arthan, I would have never recognized you." He said.

    "That would have been your problem, not mine." She sat on the Headmaster¡¯s seat, to give her swollen feet some relief. "When I¡¯m in a good mood, I Dominate stuff. When I¡¯m in a bad mood, I beat them into submission."

    A simple burst of her mana made the entire office quake.

    Along with growing pains, the child in Thrud¡¯s belly also gave her more power as its body and mana core developed. Between the Griffon-Dragon hybrid and Arthan¡¯s set, a living legacy or a toy castle were the same to her.

    "Of course, my liege. How can I serve you?" Hystar asked.

    "First, update this shithole to morefortable standards." Thrud gave him the blueprint of modern bathrooms and everything she thought that a happy army might need.

    "It can be done, but the academy¡¯s resources-"

    Thrud emptied one of the dimensional amulets she had brought along, cutting Sevenus short and giving him more than he hoped for.

    "s, the arrays keep me from draining enough energy from the mana geyser to-"

    A snap of Thrud¡¯s fingers made the magical formations outside lose much of their power, giving the Golden Griffon all of the world energy that it needed and making Sevenus Hystar revert to the appearance of a twenty years old.

    "Yes. Yes! You really are the fated heir I¡¯ve been waiting for all this time. I knew that sending Jakra to find you was the right choice. What are your orders, My Queen?" Hystar asked.

    "I have brought with me plenty of resources and the secret of Awakening. I need you to share them both with those who are already immortal while my army receives the academy¡¯s blessing.

    "I want all of them to survive the process." Thrud replied.

    "It might take a while to make my students regain their sanity, but consider it done." Hystar nodded. "As for your army, in a few hours the Unwavering Loyalty array will make them incapable of both die and refuse your orders."

    Thrud was puzzled by his words, but ording to Jakra, Sevenus was her greatest ally so she just nodded.

    "Just one warning, my Liege. Dragons have such a strong vitality that even my ve spell doesn¡¯tst long on them. You should havee here sooner. Jakra is close to regaining his freedom, but it¡¯s nothing that I can¡¯t-"

    "What did you do to him?" Thrud jumped up, staring at Sevenus with a hatred that made that she felt for Tyris look like a candle.

    "What was necessary, my Queen. I knew of your existence so I sent him to you to inform you of the legacies that your father has left behind. To give you what you needed the most. A family." Hystar had the warm smile of a puppy waiting for its master¡¯s praise.

    "Are you telling me that my husband has been enved all along? That everything between us was a lie? That my father didn¡¯t leave behind loyal servants but only the unwilling victims of his experiments?"

    "Why are you angry, my Queen? You needed apanion capable of giving Arthan¡¯s bloodline an heir and I-"

    "How dare you trick me?" Thrud yelled at the top of her lungs. "How dare you make me believe to have finally found someone who loves me for who I am, that shares my same dream, just to take him away from me?"

    With each word, her control over the Golden Griffon¡¯s power core grew, causing Hystar a pain like he had never felt before. Thrud was his master and she only needed a thought to have his whole body, mind, and core torn apart.

    "I apologize! My Queen, have mercy. I just wanted to hasten your return." Immortality was indeed a curse, allowing Thrud to kill him over and over without ever making his pain stop.

    "He¡¯s still by your side. There¡¯s no reason to be angry. Just like your father wanted, betrayal is impossible for the students of this academy as well. There cannot be Lost Magi." His voice cracked along with his body, yet death gave him no relief, only more agony.

    "Do you think I couldn¡¯t force myself on a man if I wanted? That I couldn¡¯t just pretend to be some noble maiden if all I wanted was a child?" His words didn¡¯t quell Thrud¡¯s anger, they only made her grow more furious.

    "What you gave me was a lie! What you did was to make me unwittingly stoop lower than I¡¯ve ever done! I have no qualms killing people, but I always do it for a reason. I do it to restore the Arthan¡¯s bloodline on the throne and make the Griffon Kingdom a better ce!

    "What I did to Jakra because of you is monstrous. You made my child be born out of an act of unforgivable violence! They will grow without a father because there¡¯s no way Jakra can look at either of us without remembering what I did to him."

    "But, Your Majesty, he cannot leave your side-"

    "He can and he will." Thrud stopped the torture and looked at the Emerald Dragon. "Jakra, this is my finalmand. Awaken."

    The Emerald Dragon did as instructed, following the Wyvern¡¯s bloodline Awakening technique. Violent waves of mana originated from his bright blue core with each breath he took, turning his body into shreds over and over.

    Safely awakening a bright blue-cored individual was something that only a few could do because the damage that such a powerful core caused exceeded the regenerative abilities that Invigoration had.

    Yet just like Sevenus, Jakra couldn¡¯t die. The Academy kept putting him back together over and over, fixing his body in a way thatplemented the body refining and making him stronger for it.

    After a few minutes of agony, Jakra had still a bright blue core, but now his body was full of vortexes and he was Awakened.

    "You¡¯re free now." Thrud removed the ve spell from him, also taking away his immortality.

    Jakra felt the shackles that restrained his mind disappearing. After almost six months, he wasn¡¯t a prisoner of his own body any longer.

    Yet he didn¡¯t move nor did he cry because he didn¡¯t know what to do with his life.

    After being enved for so long, after spending so much time with Thrud, the feelings that the ve spell had forced upon him had almost be reality.

    Almost.

    He now felt a strong affection for both Thrud and the baby, yet his body also experienced a strong revulsion every time that he looked at the Mad Queen. He was torn between the need to hold her and to run away screaming from her.

 Chapter 1446 - Freedom and Prisoners (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1446 - Freedom and Prisoners (Part 2)</h4>

    "Why are you letting me go?" The Emerald Dragon managed to say after Thrud erected a wall between them to hide from his view and opened a way out for him.

    "You need my Origin mes for your army. You need me as your general. You¡¯ve spent months training me, sharing your ns of conquest with me. How can you free me knowing that I might betray you the moment I get out of here and ruin everything?"

    "I don¡¯t need a ve. I already have plenty of them thanks to my crazy father." She said amid sobs. "I can always find another Xedros for the Origin mes. Mogar is full of idiots like him.

    "The only reason I needed you was because I thought that, after hundreds of years of solitude, of being treated as nothing but the offspring of the Mad King, I had finally found someone to share my life with.

    "As for my ns, you don¡¯t have to worry about me. Soon everyone will know about my return and I can use the knowledge you¡¯ll share with them to my favor. I can¡¯t and I won¡¯t stay hidden for long because I have no need to anymore.

    "I know that I have no right to ask anything from you, which is why I¡¯m begging you. Please, whatever you decide to do, wait at least three more months." The wall disappeared, revealing Thrud on her knees and with her forehead stuck to the ground.

    "I can¡¯t Awaken until the baby is born. It would be too risky. On top of that, I can¡¯t enact my n before that term without putting their life at risk. Please, I beg you. Don¡¯t do it for me, but for the baby.

    "They have no fault. If you have to hate someone, hate me." She kept crying, but her voice remained steady.

    Jakra felt his heart as if a vise squeezed it, but his body refused to move and he shivered in disgust even at the thought ofing one step closer to her.

    "I promise that I will not endanger our child¡¯s life." He said.

    "Thanks." Thrud mmed her head against the ground until she started to bleed in a sign of contrition. "Onest thing. If my n fails, if I die on the battlefield, please, take care of the baby in my stead.

    "Victory or defeat, I want this to end with me. Don¡¯t let them grow in my shadow nor people mistreat our baby because of me. Promise me that if something goes wrong, If I can¡¯t give them the throne, you will at least give our child a normal life."

    "I promise." Jakra said before turning his back to her and escaping from the Golden Griffon for thest time.

    He soared through the skies towards his home, the Gorgon Empire, feeling the need for the support of his family. Yet the tears that came from his eyes non-stop weren¡¯t of joy or relief so much as of sadness.

    With each p of his wings, Jakra got further away from his tormentor, yet he also grew more miserable.

    ***

    Jiera Continent, ruins of the city of Yankar, Baba Yaga¡¯s hut, a few dayster.

    Right after saving Dawn from the effects of Valeron¡¯s True Griffon spell, the Red Mother had been called upon by the Red Sun as well.

    Silverwing¡¯s Annihtion, the anti-Guardian spell that the First Magus had left as a part of her legacy to the Kingdom, had damaged Dusk¡¯s steed beyond what Sunset¡¯s self-repair capabilities could mend.

    Baba Yaga had spent the previous weeks working hard to keep Dawn from being forced to sacrifice Ac to save her own life and to punish Dusk to the best of her abilities.

    The Bright Day was already in such critical condition that she couldn¡¯t withstand any more harm without dying. The Red Sun, instead, had been stripped of his powers and Baba Yaga had passed onto him half of Sunset¡¯s injuries to ease her work.

    Dusk had also been forced to take his human form. He looked like a handsome man in his mid-twenties, about 1.9 meters (6¡¯3") tall, with blonde hair, bright red skin, and orange eyes that seemed to flicker like mes every time he moved his gaze.

    His body was covered in bloody bandages since his wounds didn¡¯t heal any faster than those of a regr human. The pain and the bleeding, however, were nothingpared to the helplessness he felt.

    He stood up from his bed with a grunt, holding his right shoulder and left side to not let the wounds open again, and walked to Dawn¡¯s room where the fallen rangery.

    "Why are you doing this to us? To me?" Dusk asked in a rough voice as the weakness of his knees forced him to sit on the nearest chair.

    He had barely made a few steps, yet his breathing was already ragged from fatigue.

    "I know that you can instantly heal us both if you want, mother."

    "I can, but I won¡¯t." Baba Yaga shook her head while changing Ac¡¯s bandages and applying barely enough healing magic to not make his wound fester and keep the recovery process steady.

    "I¡¯m tired of your antics. Tired of seeing my Hors.e.m.e.n focus on something as irrelevant as conquest and forget about the mission I gave them back when you three reached a.d.u.l.thood. It¡¯s time for you to learn that actions have consequences.

    "You are supposed to be a.d.u.l.ts, not a bunch of cry-babies that call for their mom the moment something doesn¡¯t go as they expected. I¡¯m not going to heal your wounds because you¡¯ve brought them upon yourselves." She said.

    "How can you say that?" Dusk snarled. "We did what we did for our brethren! After Jiera¡¯s fall, too many undead moved to Garlen. We sent to the Eclipsed Lands all those that they could amodate, but after they reached full capacity, war was the only possible answer.

    "How could the Courts possibly feed so many mouths otherwise? Or maybe you would have preferred that we culled our own just to spare a few animals whose lifespan runs out in the time it takes me to blink my eyes?

    "Tell me one time that I asked for your help. One time that I meddled with human affairs. Among the Hors.e.m.e.n, I¡¯m the one who has dedicated his entire life to the mission you entrusted to us, Mother.

    "I even took the body of a Lich and used his resources to find a way to ovee the weaknesses of your faulty children." He said.

    "Every creature has the right to live or at least to fight for their survival. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t interfere with your stupid war. Also, I can¡¯t deny that, unlike your sisters, you never needed to be rescued before." Baba Yaga gave to the Ranger a broth of herbs that would naturally speed up his recovery.

    "Then why are you punishing me like this? Is it because we took the steeds?" Dusk asked.

    "No, you idiot. I couldn¡¯t care less for the steeds." She replied with anger, yet not before having Hushed Ac¡¯s ears to not disturb his sleep.

 Chapter 1447 - True Path (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1447 - True Path (Part 1)</h4>

    "The steeds are just things and as such, they can be crafted again, if needed. The lives that you three have destroyed, instead, are something that not even I can bring back." Baba Yaga said.

    "What do you mean?" The Red Sun said.

    "What good could war do? What if you won? Were you nning to force the other races to breed like cattle and make them live solely for your entertainment? You say that you¡¯ve followed your mission, but you couldn¡¯t have done it any worse.

    "When will you and your damned Undead Courts understand that I¡¯ve not created the undead as the new master race?" Baba Yaga said.

    "Your words make no sense, Mother. If war is the wrong answer, then what were we supposed to do?" Dusk asked.

    "You should have let the bnce take its course. When there isn¡¯t enough prey, the number of predators has to drop or they have to adapt. Otherwise the predators start a vicious cycle that leads to their own extinction." Baba Yaga replied.

    "Are you telling me that we should have just sat on our hands and do nothing?" Dusk¡¯s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "No, you idiot. You should have taught those morons from the Courts to feed without killing. Ordered them to give up on their riches to pay people willing to be fed upon. Anything but triggering a full-scale war with the living.

    "You have made an enemy out of the three Great Countries, of the Master¡¯s Organization, and even of the Awakened Council." She replied.

    "Big deal! We already were criminals to the countries, rivals to the Organization, and vermin to the Council. The war didn¡¯t make things worse, quite the contrary, it forced them to recognize our power!" The Red Sun said.

    "It made everything worse, you na?ve fool! Criminals are no enemy of the state and are allowed to live in the grey area betweenw and corruption that every system has. Yes, you were already at war with the Organization, but at least you were beneath the Council¡¯s notice.

    "They left you alone and didn¡¯t care for any of your activities. Now, instead, they are united against amon enemy, you." Baba Yaga turned into her Mother form and pointed her forefinger at his forehead with such fervor that Dusk feared she would pierce him.

    "I see." He replied.

    "No, you don¡¯t. And that¡¯s why among my three Hors.e.m.e.n you¡¯re the one who disappointed me the most." The Red Mother shook her head, tending Ac¡¯s wounds onest time before leaving the room.

    "How can you say that?" The Red Sun followed her despite his wounds.

    Those words inflicted Dusk more pain than he had suffered through his millennia-long life, making the physical difortpletely irrelevantpared to his need for an exnation.

    "I have amassed countless knowledge and riches, I have found a host that¡¯s almost perfect, I¡¯m the only one who has forged his own Davross equipment in a sign ofmitment to both my host and my mission.

    "You said it yourself, I never required your aid before. Then how can I be the one who disappointed you the most? Hasn¡¯t Dawn spent centuries trapped just to end up defeated and bedridden in a state much worse than mine?

    "Hasn¡¯t Night killed thousands of undead with her shenanigans and even involved the Council in the first ce?" He asked.

    "You fool." Baba Yaga inhaled sharply while sitting heavily on a chair and forcing Dusk to lie down.

    He had been so caught up in his speech that he had failed to notice that the Mother had brought him back to his room. She then turned into the Maiden, the form of Dawn.

    "The Bright Day has indeed been trapped, but after surviving a confrontation with Sinmara, the Phoenix of Darkness. Holding her ground against a white cored Awakened and escaping destruction without my help or her steed is quite an achievement.

    "Also, while trapped inside the Fringe, Dawn didn¡¯t stand idle. She used Mogar itself to make countless breakthroughs in all the disciplines she knew and even some that she invented herself.

    "Those stupid arrogant Rezars believed to be in control, that they were forcing her to do their bidding, but it was theplete opposite. Through them, Dawn put to the test her theories and discoveries, using them as test subjects.

    "What they mistook for attempts to escape and deception were actually failed experiments. Dawn used her time wisely, finding ways to use Light Mastery to perform almost everything, even affecting the arrays that kept her prisoner.

    "Of course, once she was ready and the right host presented himself, she escaped and killed the Rezars. They deserved it for trying and enving her for centuries, for believing that such a powerful being could be restricted forever.

    "To me, what Dawn did is no different from an Awakened master killing their unworthy disciples. The Rezars couldn¡¯t be entrusted with her legacy and knowledge. Their death was the consequence of their arrogance, never forget that.

    "As for Ac, look at Dawn and tell me if she looks anything like you remember her."

    The Maiden had a hologram of Dawn¡¯s room appear, showing the Bright Day at the Ranger¡¯s bedside. She used a hard light construct to keep himpany and hold his hand, sharing his pain.

    "Ever since I brought her here, she let Ac keep his body to make his wounds heal faster. She¡¯s nursed him in my absence. She treats him as a peer, not as a steed."

    For a moment, the hard-light construct became flesh, but the wounds both Dawn and the Ranger had sustained made such form fade.

    "How is that possible?" Dusk pointed his finger at the scene in disbelief, ignoring most of what Baba Yaga had just said.

    "I told you. She treats him as a peer. Thanks to that they are now capable of merging into a single being or having each their own body, as long as they are close. Dawn¡¯s power core is second only to a white core and once fused with Ac¡¯s mana core, everything bes possible."

    Baba Yaga shapeshifted into the Crone, the form of Night.

    "As for the ck Night, I know of all the damage and the deaths she has caused. She is whimsical, impulsive, and cruel, yet she always served her purpose. Night caused the extinction of several undead species that were too smart or dumb for their own good.

    "She struck fear in the heart of the humans, making my children appear mightier than they really are into our enemies¡¯ eyes. I consider her a catalyst of natural selection, weeding out those too stupid among both the undead and the other races.

    "What limited her so far was her inability to take any matter seriously. While Dawn buried herself in her work and you worked hard to make some space in the three Great Countries for the Undead Courts, Night went insane at some point.

    "Her eternal life and her powerbined with countless failures led her to believe that everything is pointless. That victory or defeat don¡¯t matter, only having a goodugh does.

    "Orpal is an arrogant, petnt child, but he managed to make her take the matter with Lith as more than just a hobby, he made it personal."

 Chapter 1448 - True Path (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1448 - True Path (Part 2)</h4>

    "Orpal¡¯s ipetence caused Night so much suffering and humiliations that she finally returned to her senses.

    "His obsession with the Destroyer is now hers. Night finally puts efforts in what she does, she ns ahead and schemes instead of just charging forward. She even convinced you all to steal your steeds and is the only one missing along with her own, Moonlight.

    "Orpal is an illness, but the fever he causes is doing some good. Night now understands how hard-earned a true victory is and has finally started to study her powers.

    "My imm.a.t.u.r.e youngest daughter reys every single one of her defeats in her mind, learning from them and working hard to make Orpal her equal rather than her ve. I have no idea where they are now, but I can feel their determination."

    Baba Yaga shapeshifted again, this time in the Mother, the form of Dusk, making the Horseman shiver even though his body was supposed to be incapable of feeling cold.

    "Dawn is the one who has gotten closer to understand her role and the reason why I have given my Hors.e.m.e.n the need to have a host. Even back when Night changed her host like a soldier changes his socks, she was still better than you.

    "Fusing with so many people allowed her to learn more than you ever will and to rid Mogar of a lot of power-hungry morons. It also allowed her to never stop searching for the right host instead of settling for someone powerful like you did."

    Baba Yaga sighed, looking at Dusk and wondering if he wasn¡¯t the one who had actually gone insane. Wondering if being a Lich was not only a perversion of undeath, but also a curse of madness that had spread to her beloved son.

    "When the undead from Jiera arrived, you should have known that a war would have only culled our numbers. Valeron¡¯s True Griffon spell ended the war just because with all the undead who fell during the simultaneous attacks to the three cities, the bnce is restored.

    "When Night angered the Council, you should have contacted them and exined that it was just Night being Night. You should have made peace offers and apologized, not ride her insanity. When she proposed to steal your steeds, you should have simply refused.

    "You may have be the Hushed King of the Dusk Court, but you¡¯re no leader. Your fellow Liches ignore you and all of your ns have only brought ruin upon your kind.

    "Yet your most unforgivable act isn¡¯t fusing with a filthy Lich, but havingpletely obliterated his mind. What¡¯s left of the powerful Wynwald the Lich, one of the greatest minds of many generations, is nothing but an empty shell that adds nothing to your union.

    "Dusk, your power has grown stale not because you didn¡¯t work hard but because the answers that you obtained from studying a Lich¡¯s body are unfit for all of my children.

    "Also, by erasing Wynwald¡¯s personality, you have gotten full control of his body at the price of losing the brilliance that once brought that damn Lich to such heights that even I was interested in his work.

    "By getting your hands on the legacy of Wynwald¡¯s past, you have deprived Mogar of his future discoveries."

    The Mother took a long pause, to let Dusk ponder her words and finally realize the error of his ways.

    "What you have done is much worse than Night ever did. You have dragged our entire race in a war against the other three that we cannot possibly win. The longer it goes on, the more our numbers will dwindle until we be extinct.

    "You have smothered your own potential and be so foolish that Night actually makes sense inparison." She said.

    "What can I do to fix this?" Dusk asked.

    "It¡¯s not up to me to tell you what to do. You¡¯ve created this mess and you will clean it. The only thing I can do to help you is to give you a clean te. A fresh start."

    "What do you m-" Dusk was cut short when Baba Yaga plunged her hand inside the Lich¡¯s c.h.e.s.t and took Dusk¡¯s red crystal out, breaking their bond.

    "I¡¯ve healed your wounds, but your powers will remain sealed until you find a way to unlock them. Anyst words before I kick you out of here?"

    "How can I survive if I¡¯m powerless? What can I possibly offer to a host to make them ept me?" He said in panic.

    "Let me see." Baba Yaga pretended to think before answering. "Awakening, Spirit Magic, your millennia of wisdom and knowledge. I¡¯d say you¡¯re still quite a catch. Don¡¯t worry, I left you the ability to use the basics of Spirit Magic.

    "You¡¯llmunicate with mind links and use telekinesis to move around or defend yourself. Good luck."

    A snap of her fingers Warped Dusk to a random location, leaving him at the mercy of both fate and his own wits.

    "I wonder if he understood from my words that only his host can unlock his powers, Wynwald." She said while using all of her best healing spells to find the scattered remnants of the Lich¡¯s mind and put them back together.

    "If you want to take revenge on my son, I will not stop you. He deserves your rage."

    After a while, however, Baba Yaga managed to gather up enough of the Lich¡¯s consciousness to form a single thought.

    <i>¡¯Kill me.¡¯</i>

    Centuries of abuse had left nothing behind and the only thing that Baba Yaga¡¯s healing attempts had managed to do was to make Wynwald feel pain. After a few more attempts, she took the phctery out of his c.h.e.s.t and broke it.

    The blood and the mana core merged into one after being split millennia ago, giving the Lich¡¯s soul the time to utter a few words before leaving.

    "Thank you. I choose to bond with your son to escape the boredom of loneliness and because I craved his powers. I don¡¯t resent Dusk because he did to me what I wanted to do to him. Had our positions been reversed, would have you saved him?"

    "No. Bonding with a Lich was madness in the first ce. I am very patient and sooner orter, even those like you die." Baba Yaga shook her head as Wynwaldughed his a.s.s off and his spirit disappeared.

    <i>¡¯Dusk is out ofmission and Dawn is too wounded to take any more punishment. I can only hope she keeps learning from Epphy and make herself a good life.</i>

    <i>¡¯Who would have thought that Menadion would have managed to use my Hors.e.m.e.n technology to bond her tower to Epphy and let her in turn bond with someone else just like one of my children? I wonder if it was intentional of her or just luck.¡¯</i>

    She inwardly sighed while looking at her oldest daughter kissing Ac¡¯s hand in a moment of tenderness that forced Baba Yaga to avert her gaze.

    <i>¡¯Now, I only have to find Night and kick her a.s.s into oblivion. I should be enough to put an end to this war.¡¯</i>

    Meanwhile, thousands of miles away on Garlen, Night and Orpal switched from one body to another as she trained her magic and he spearsmanship.

 Chapter 1449 - Too Much Of A Good Thing (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1449 - Too Much Of A Good Thing (Part 1)</h4>

    Night''s steed, Moonlight, stood atop a mana geyser, giving the Horseman and her host the energy that they needed to train non-stop.

    They had been at it ever since their defeat at Vastor''s hands, without taking a break except that for resetting Invigoration, eat, and fuck some lives up.

    ??

    ''Are you sure that your mother can''t find us?'' Orpal asked.

    ''Damn sure. Unless both she and I open our link, Mom can''t track me. Now shut up and practice. Your body needs some serious training if you want to get past your deep cyan core. I can''t wait to discover if your brother is unique or not.

    ''Imagine everyone''s face when we give birth to a second Tiamat, even better than the original. We only need to give you a proper undead side to rece the Abomination.'' She said.

    ''I''m the firstborn hence I''m the original!'' Orpal replied with a snarl and doubled his efforts to put Night''s memories into practice. ''He cheated to get there first, just adding another line to the long list of things he has stolen from me.''

    ***

    Lith''s birthday passed and soon the new year started.

    Unbeknownst to everyone, the blue-robed man had followed those who had received his cards, aiming to kill one of them on the winter solstice, but he failed to find a proper opportunity to attack.

    Marth was the easiest next target after Zinya, but he never left the academy for an unsafe location. Manohar now lived at the Ernas to learn both swordsmanships from Orion and how to properly use his new equipment.

    Vastor traveled so quickly and so often that tracking him was impossible. Wanemyre had a Royal Guard always with her and to make matters worse, she was undertaking the exams to be a Royal Forgemaster.

    She spent her time either at the White Griffon academy or at Valeron and both ces were beyond the reach of the blue-robed man.

    The Yehval sisters were supposed to be easy prey, but whenever he got close to Lith''s home, death kept looking at him. The blue-robed man was no fool and followed his instincts, running away the second after he arrived.

    As for Lith, now that Aran and Leria were close to turning six, he had decided to teach them magic like Nana had done with him. They already knew how to read, write, and count so the vige school was obsolete for them.

    The kids had proven to be responsible with their own powers and Lith decided to prepare them in the case they wanted to join the academy at 12 or if they needed to defend themselves.

    During the morning, before going to Faluel, Lith taught tier one magic to Aran, Leria, and Protector''s kids. Thanks to their Skoll half, Lilia and Leran had amazing magical potential and they were in dire need of magical training.

    Protector couldn''t teach them fake magic and he took part in the lessons as a student as well. He would always stay home during winter, but this time Ryman had decided to work less and enjoy his family more.

    He had taken a break from the missions that Faluel assigned him to take care of her turf, allowing him to stay home until summer.

    Protector appreciated Lith''s teaching methods that he had derived from his experience as an Assistant Professor at the White Griffon and as Faluel''s apprentice. Like a Professor, he had prepared books for his students that they would use during the lessons and to study on their own.

    Lith had written down the spells he considered the most useful along with the tips and the insight he had gained over the years. Like Faluel, Lith was always strict in his teaching ways, but also kind.

    He never scolded the kids, letting them make their mistakes and patting their heads when they learned without further exnations. He also wouldn''t help them unless they proved to him to have tried and failed on their own until they had run out of possible solutions.

    Lith wanted them to learn how to face their own problems rather than spoon-feed them and make them reliant on him.

    "Good gods, I can''t believe you put so much thought behind tier one magic lessons, and yet you still have no kids of your own." Ryman said.

    "One more word and I''ll double your homework." Lith replied with a snarl. "You and your kids are already behind. If you have the time for stupid remarks, then focus more on your ents."

    Beasts with their nimble fingers had an easy time tracing the correct hand signs, yet they found it incredibly hard to remember their correct sequence along with the pronunciation of magic words.

    Aran and Leria, instead, had no true magic to use as a crutch so their fighting spirit to match their friends'' spells made them progress much faster than the rest of the ss.

    "This is boring!" Lilia said. "I already know how to make these spells with true magic. Why must I learn all this stuff?"

    "Because home is the only ce where you can use it without arousing suspicions." Protector repeated for the umpteenth time. "Use too many or too few words and any mage that sees you will notice that something is wrong.

    "On top of that, themon spells are well known. If kids like you start having too many personal spells, they will take you for geniuses."

    "And why is that a bad thing?" Leran asked.

    "Because once they put you to the test and discover that not only you don''t know a single fake spell, but also that you have no idea how to use it, our family will be in a lot of trouble." Ryman replied.

    He already had almost been found out several times while interacting with human society. Beasts asked no questions and dead men told no tales, but to be part of a mercenary guild, Ryman needed to pass a magical exam.

    Without a guild, he couldn''t get ess to the high bounties that would allow him to work less, but his ignorance about the simplest spells and theck of free time had forced him topensate the low payout of his bounties with quantity until that moment.

    After teaching the kids, Lith would go with the others to Faluel''sir.

    Bing a Tiamat and having gained the body of a creature over 20 meters (66 feet) tall had forced Lith to stop taking his Dominance lessons. Now he took part in the physical training along with the others, but in his Tiamat form.

    Of course, Faluel had no qualms giving him "private lessons".

    "Why the heck do I have toe here even when the others got their day off?" Lith said amid pants, trying to catch his breath.

    "Don''t be such a sourpuss. You''re single and I''m single. How can you say no to a hot woman who invites you to some steamy hot action?" Faluel replied while sweat made her rosy skin sparkle in the dim lights of her cave.

    "First, I''m not over my rtionship with Kam, yet. Second, all the double entendre on Mogar don''t make purifying hundreds of kilograms of magical metals during my free time any sexier." Lith said.

    "At least tell me that by using my emerald eye to make up for my poor control over the Origin mes I''m training all kinds of Domination."

 Chapter 1450 - Too Much Of A Good Thing (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1450 - Too Much Of A Good Thing (Part 2)</h4>

    "You sure are, kid." Faluel nodded while using her own Domination to help him and preparing a new batch of metal.

    "So I was right. Spirit Domination, just like Spirit Magic, contains the runes of all elements." Lith said.

    ??

    "No. It''s just that Dominating Origin mes is much harder than the elements because theyst for a very short time. Now shut up and focus. If you ruin this batch of Orichalcum, you''re going topensate me for it."

    Very few things could make Lith go over the top like a threat to his wallet, so both he and Faluel greatly benefitted from the time spent together.

    As for training his Tiamat form, having now a bigger body with several extra prehensile limbs, Lith had to learn how to move and fight like an Emperor Beast.

    Faluel was usually his sparring partner, either using her Hydra form or that as a seven-headed Dragon to make him practice footwork.

    When she was too busy or tired, Faluel would call Fe or one of her friends from the Council so that Lith could practice fighting against both two and four-legged opponents.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Lith said after Fe had headbutted him into a wall. "Why do you seem to have eyes even on your tail whereas I always trip on mine?"

    Behemoths were as physically strong as a Griffon and had a tail as long as a Dragon''s. With her rich battle experience, Fe forced the Tiamat to not rely solely on raw strength since she was much stronger than him while also showing Lith how to use his horns and extra limbs.

    "Because back when your ancestors had yet to settle down in Lutia, I was already a skilled fighter." She replied with a huge grin on her feline snout. "You must learn how to think less and to rely on your instinct more.

    "Horns are great to turn a block into an attack and your tail is akin to a third hand, if you know how to use it."

    "What about my wings?" He asked.

    "Keep them folded in your back unless strictly necessary. If there''s something that your fight with Qisal should have taught you is that they are too thin and exposed. They are a great asset when you have the space to fly around, but in an enclosed space like this cave, they are just a liability." Fe replied.

    Unfortunately for Lith, there was no Emperor Beast with prehensile wings so no one could teach him how to use them to fight. The only thing Faluel could do was to provide him with training equipment of his own size.

    Along with a gigantic body, Lith had also gained the need to acquire enormous amounts of magical materials to craft equipment that he could employ in both forms. Sure, Solus could merge with War and the armor to make up for that, but only in the presence of a mana geyser.

    Without the ability to manifest the tower, shecked the necessary mass and power to support them. Unfortunately, mana geysers were rare and Lith couldn''t just rely on dumb luck for all of his fights to happen near a source of world energy.

    On top of that, he also had to get used to wielding them ording to the environment around him. Fe had no issues standing on her hind legs and wielding weapons, which together with her incredible strength made her the perfect sparring partner.

    The Behemoth had lived long enough to be skilled with all kinds of weapons, providing Lith with plenty of battle experience and ass-whooping.

    "Damn, I can''t believe that something like too much bounty really exists." He said while they took a break so that Lith could heal from the bruises and catch his breath without wasting one use of Invigoration.

    "I worried so much to achieve the violet core and now I wish I didn''t get it. I have to train my body to get used to the extra mass from scratch, to train my wings and tail, to develop a new breathing technique, and find new equipment.

    "That in addition to what I was already doing, living my life, and so much more!" Lith couldn''t tell his mentors that he was also studying the orc crystal thanks to Vastor''s exnation nor about Solus training her Eyes form.

    Even by working the whole night whenever he could afford not to reset Invigoration, Lith kept falling behind in his schedule simply because there were only 24 hours in a day and only one of him.

    "Gods, usually I''d joke that being single at least gives me a lot of free time, but I miss Kam more than ever. Whenever I''m really tired or after an utter failure, I always expect her to call me and force me out of myb." He sighed.

    The two Emperor Beasts knew that there wasn''t anything they could do to make him feel better so they quickly changed the topic.

    "By the way, Faluel, between your invention and Haug''s legacy gone public, the Council is undergoing some big changes. I''m proud to say that I''m pushing for a more active policy that should prevent Xedros''s horrors from happening again." Fe said, pretending to not have heard Lith.

    "What do you mean?" The Hydra asked.

    "Thanks to your wand, we can teach Spirit Magic to our assistants without Awakening them. It gives us the possibility to reject an apprentice candidate without having to kill them in the case they don''t meet our expectations.

    "Now that their lives are not on the line anymore, the youths have no need for bullcrap like the Fool''s Gold or to resort to conspiracies to keep their seat.

    "As for those who get Awakened, the knowledge contained in Haug''s legacy gives them so many things to learn that it will take them decades to master everything. This way, the future heirs aren''t in a rush to inherit from their masters while those who are not chosen don''t go back home empty ended." Fe said.

    "Wait, so you made his legacy semi-public or what?" Faluel asked.

    "Or what. The Council deemed that even a "shallow" legacy like Haug''s was too dangerous to spread it freely. Yet it''s avable to anyone who gets themselves a master or simply gains the Council''s recognition.

    "Even rogue Awakened, like Lith was, can have it as long as they abide by the Council rules and ept to be subjected to regr inspections. It sounds bad, I know, but using Haug''s legacy for Forbidden Magic to make up for theirck of a master would be much worse." Fe replied

    "d to be of help." Lith said with a sneer. "I''m sure that all those guys who died in Xedros''s cave would be ecstatic to know that their sacrifice led the Council to move its ass."

    "I''ll let it slide because you''re too tired to think clearly, kid." Fe offered him a special tonic of her making that made him instantly stop panting.

    "Change is a good thing only if it happens in a slow, controlled, but constant way. Too much and too fast leads only to anarchy. Even what might look like apletely harmless tool is just waiting for a jackass creative enough to find a way to turn it into a weapon."

 Chapter 1451 - Endless Training (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1451 - Endless Training (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith took another sip of the tonic and nodded.

    <i>¡¯Fe is right. Back on Earth, even something dumb like social media became a great tool for stalkers, psychos, and thieves of all kinds. There¡¯s no telling what the wrong person might aplish with a magical legacy.</i>¡¯ He thought.

    Once the Behemoth left Faluel¡¯sir, Lith could finally speak freely with the Hydra. After studying with Solus his fight against Jakra to deepen their understanding of Origin mes, Lith had noticed how hisst attack had dealt much more damage than it was supposed to.

    "How the heck did I do that?" He showed Faluel the fight from start to finish so that the Hydra could study both opponents.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I know nothing about Origin mes. That¡¯s why we keep using Domination. I need results and you need to train your eyes. Spewing mes with a trial-and-error approach would just waste our time.

    "You need to ept Xenagrosh¡¯s offer and get some training with her or wait to finish your apprenticeship to have the time you need to master them." The Hydra said while pointing out the mistakes Lith had done during that fight.

    Jakra was such an expert fighter that made her stare at him in awe more than once, wondering how could have Lith possibly survived facing such a monster.

    "I meant thest sh! The one that cracked his armor and put the Emerald Dragon out ofmission." He replied.

    "You¡¯ve justined that you don¡¯t have the time to even breathe normally. Do you really want to add another thing to your to-do list?" Faluel asked.

    "F_u_c_k me sideways! Solus?" He was too tired to think, leaving the decision to her.

    "Tell me via a mind link and I¡¯ll share it with him the moment our schedule has a spot open. Lith can¡¯t be trusted with such knowledge. He would just torture himself the whole time until he finds a way to practice it." Solus said.

    Lith nodded, knowing that she was right. If power was involved, he would easily be obsessed with anything that could increase his battle prowess. He would have no peace until he found the person behind the Balkor cards and made them pay.

    <i>¡¯That kind of attack is known as a tier de spell.¡¯</i> Faluel said via a mind link.

    <i>¡¯What¡¯s that?¡¯</i> Solus asked.

    <i>¡¯The reason why almost all Awakened sooner orter be Forgemasters and why Rulers of the mes are so prized by the Council. To give you an example, if Spirit Magic can be considered tier six magic, de Magic is considered tier seven.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯What?¡¯</i> Solus was bbergasted not only because she had failed to understand how powerful Spirit Magic was, but also because Faluel¡¯s words made her wonder how Tower Magic had to be ranked.

    <i>¡¯Think about it. Spirit Magic can do everything that the other kinds of magic can, but in an easier and more powerful way. On top of that, it¡¯s not hindered by arrays, hence tier six. Okay?¡¯</i> Faluel asked.

    <i>¡¯Okay.¡¯</i> Solus nodded.

    <i>¡¯The same stands for de Magic. It can do everything that Spirit Magic does, but better, hence tier seven.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯How does it work, exactly?¡¯</i> Solus pondered those words, reaching the conclusion that based on such definition, Tower Magic added one tier to any kind of magic it was applied to.

    <i>¡¯de Tier spells require at least one piece of equipment with a power core. At that point, the wielder has to synchronize with their equipment until it bes akin to a part of their body.</i>

    <i>¡¯Only then can the mage add the power of the pseudo cores and of the runes to that of their own mana core, allowing them to exceed the limits that even a bright purple core has.</i>

    <i>¡¯To oversimplify things, let¡¯s say that de Tier spells require the mage to fuse with their equipment as if it was a living legacy. Hence my hypothesis is that, since you are alive and back then you were fused with Lith¡¯s equipment, you two triggered a de Spell.¡¯</i> Faluel said.

    <i>¡¯Good gods! If Lith knew about this he would never let me hear the end of it.¡¯</i> A cold shiver ran down Solus¡¯s back at the thought of how much Lith would have w_h_i_n_ed until he got the opportunity to train de Tier spells.

    It was enough to make her ears bleed.

    <i>¡¯Wait a minute. What does de Magic have to do with Forgemastering and Rulers or the mes?¡¯</i> She asked.

    <i>¡¯This is easier to understand. To became one with your equipment, you need to be attuned to it. It¡¯s not a matter of power orplexity of the enchantments so much as of choosing those that are natural for you to use.</i>

    <i>¡¯Those spells that, even though they might not be the most powerful, suit yourbat style best. Bing a Forgemaster allows you to craft all kinds of gear and to experiment in the hope to find the right one.</i>

    <i>¡¯I know Awakened who wasted their entire fortunes without ever achieving de Magic. As for the Rulers of the mes, they were all famous for being able to know what kind of equipment their clients would be attuned with.¡¯</i> Faluel said.

    <i>¡¯Can you use de Magic?¡¯</i> Solus asked.

    <i>¡¯I have my Hydra legacy and I¡¯m a skilled Forgemaster but it¡¯s not that easy. Otherwise all bloodlines who practice Forgemastering would learn it. de Magic it¡¯s both a matter of equipment and of the user, that¡¯s why many people just give up on it.</i>

    <i>¡¯You may know the entire procedure and yet never manage to use them for reasons you can¡¯t really understand until you get there.¡¯</i> Faluel said. "By the way, have you two seen this?"

    The Hydra showed them the images of the fight between the Hors_e_m_e_n and the Kingdom¡¯s champions, making Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s jaw drop to the floor.

    "How did you get those footages? They aren¡¯t anywhere on the Kingdom¡¯s interlink." Lith said.

    "From the Emperor Beast¡¯swork. The survivors of those battles passed their memories to our Forgemasters with a mind link and in turn, they converted them into data that could be shared. It would have been easier if we had more Light Masters." Faluel sighed, yet she had no d_e_s_i_r_e to share such power with others.

    "What did the Corpse do? What did Valeron do? Who the f_u_c_k are those people?" Lith pointed at the various moves that had turned the tides of what looked like impossible battles.

    "Respectively, I don¡¯t know, Solus knows, and those are King Valeron¡¯s teammates." Faluel chuckled.

    "That woman with the rainbow hair resembles you a lot. Are you two rted?" Solus asked after noticing too many simrities between the unknown mage¡¯s visage and her mentor¡¯s.

    "Correct. That¡¯s Fyrwal, my mother." She nodded.

    "Your Mom helped to found the Kingdom?" Lith and Solus blurted out in surprise.

    "Yes. She also gave a great contribution to the Hydra legacy thanks to what she learned from Valeron." Faluel said.

    "Is she still alive?" Lith asked.

    "Of course she is! I¡¯m barely over 300 years and an Awakened Hydra¡¯s lifespan is around 3,000 years."

 Chapter 1452 - Endless Training (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1452 - Endless Training (Part 2)</h4>

    By the way, that Manohar is probably running for his life now. He has put the Kingdom in great danger." The Hydra said after recognizing both the True Griffon de spell and the When All Are One Spirit Array.

    "Why is that?" Solus asked.

    ***

    The City of Valeron, Capitol of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Right after the lost spell of the First King had defeated Dawn and the collective power of the Hors_e_m_e_n, Sylpha had personally chained the god of healing before bringing him back to the Royal castle.

    Manohar¡¯s disy of strength had been far from shameful, but fighting the whole time solely with Light Mastery and leaving his sword in its sheath had demonstrated howcking he was in too many disciplines.

    While the chains kept Manohar from running away, Sylpha had summoned to Valeron Orion Ernas to train him and Sitri, Manohar¡¯s mother, to achieveplete dominion over the god of healing¡¯s mind.

    "You have much to do topensate the Kingdom for its losses." The Queen said while Orion forced Manohar to learn swordsmanship from its most basic and boring sets of movements.

    "What losses? The undead army got destroyed and Belius is safe, everybody wins!" The god of healing said while practicing bare-c_h_e_s_ted due to an amount of sweating that no cleansing spell could get rid of quickly enough to not drench him.

    Manohar had a slender and flimsy build that would make most shut-ins look like professional athletes. Now that Marth was too busy to force him to train and thanks to his wanton absence from the Forge, Manohar had just enough strength to withstand the use of his personal spells.

    "You moron!" Sylpha had to stop herself from strangling him with her own hands. If Manohar could achieve so much with so little, there was no telling how powerful he would get once properly trained.

    "That was thest True Griffon stored in the Spell Hoarding Cube and to make matters worse, youpletely wasted the When All Are One array! Baba Yaga never messes up with our Kingdom¡¯s affairs. She posed no threat to you.

    "Didn¡¯t you receive the memo?" She asked.

    "Yes, I did. I received all of them." Manohar took what looked like a big toilet paper roll out of his dimensional item.

    "The royal doc_u_ments are perfect to clean my a_s_s after a big dump. Soft, small, and utterly useless."

    "Sitri?" Sylpha said while staring at him in hatred.

    "Yes, my Queen?" Manohar¡¯s mother looked up from the sweater she was knitting, but her hands never stopped.

    Sitri Manohar was a woman in herte fifties, barely 1.52 meters (5¡¯) tall, with ck hair streaked silver all over and brown eyes. She was even leaner than Manohar, giving her a frail look.

    She wasn¡¯t a mage nor a fighter, yet her resume was filled with amazing achievements. All rted to her son, of course.

    Her second greatest sess was to have given birth to the god of healing but the first was being the only person capable of making him behave. More or less.

    "Don¡¯t let him get a single moment of respite until he has cleared the tasks on this list." Sylpha handed Sitri a piece of paper written with so many words that it looked ck from a distance.

    "It shall be done, my Queen. With all due respect, though, you are underestimating my son. He should definitely work more on his midriff." Sitri clicked her tongue in disapproval whileparing Manohar¡¯s wimpy body to Orion¡¯s build.

    Despite his age, between a strict routine schedule and Lith¡¯s rejuvenation, Orion had a physique that few Awakened could unt.

    "Mom, he¡¯s way taller and bigger than me! You can¡¯t use him as a benchmark." The god of healing said.

    "Lord Orion is also older, yet he probably didn¡¯t waste his youth ying with sks and dead animals." She replied.

    "I don¡¯t y, I make experiments!"

    "Krishna Varaja Manohar, don¡¯t use that tone with me!"

    "Yes, Mo¡¯om. I mean, ma¡¯am. Mom." The Mad Professor had conducted countless experiments and made the impossible possible many times, yet he still had to find a way to beat that small woman.

    "Sylpha, why are you doing this to me? The pact was that you called, I answered, and you wouldn¡¯t involve my mother. Why are you breaking your word?"

    "First, I¡¯m Queen Sylpha for you. Second, that¡¯s not a pact, it¡¯s the b_a_r_e minimum to overlook your tant disregard for the Kingdom¡¯s rules. Third, I¡¯m not breaking my word, I¡¯m just making sure that you pay back your debt for wasting so many powerful spells." The Queen replied.

    "What the heck are you talking about? Everyone knows that the Spell Hoarding Cube can replicate a stored spell as long as it has enough power." Manohar said.

    "Just like everyone knows that Valeron never actually died, that the Sword of Saefel grants the Royals omnipotence, and that I am a Griffon in disguise!" Sylpha roared.

    "Are you? That would exin a lot!" The Mad Professor couldn¡¯t believe to have failed to understand the truth for so long.

    "No, you idiot! Those are rumors. Rumors that we spread to confuse our enemies and reassure our allies. You wasted thest remnants of Valeron¡¯s era without even killing Dawn and now someone needs to refuel the Cube!

    "We can¡¯t count on When All Are One anymore because of you. The Beasts informed us that Thrud is back, we still have to deal with the undead, and the person behind the Balkor cards is still atrge.

    "Since you deprived the Kingdom of one of its strongest weapons, it¡¯s only fair that you¡¯ll train until you give us something of equal value!"

    Manohar opened his mouth to reply but no word came out. Afterparing his personal spells with Valeron¡¯s, he had to admit that the First King had probably been a bit stronger than him.

    "I¡¯ll take full responsibility for my actions." His words gave the Queen a stroke while Orion dropped his sword and Sitri raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You gave me something to think about.

    "I¡¯ll be back in a minute, I just need to go out and buy some milk-"

    ording to the rumors, Lord Ernas beat the god of healing until he became a decent man. Then, the concussion healed and Manohar returned to normal.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, outside Lith¡¯s house.

    In the evening, after Faluel¡¯s lessons, Phloria would teach the basics of swordsmanship to the children.

    The fields were already covered by snow and the frozen ground was slippery, but nothing that an array couldn¡¯t fix. Lith prepared one big enough for everyone, himself and Protector included.

    The children just learned about the importance of footwork and of using the wrist before practicing the basic movements whereas the grown-ups underwent much stricter lessons.

    Protector had never received formal training, still relying on raw speed and power rather than technique. He needed to make up for that as well if he wanted to join the mercenary guild and to fight on par with older beasts more skilled than he was.

    As for Lith, he did it to strengthen the basics that Phloria had taught him in the first ce. Despite all of his efforts and strict training routine, Lith¡¯s time was stretched thin due to him practicing too many branches of magic.

 Chapter 1453 - Past and Present (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1453 - Past and Present (Part 1)</h4>

    Compared to the time and effort that Phloria had put in swordsmanship her whole life, Lith was still a beginner. During the years they had spent apart after the academy, the gap between them had only grownrger.

    "Wow, for someone who has to train Light Mastery, bloodline powers, and everything you still keep a secret from me, your skill is impressive." She said after whooping his a_s_s and moving onto Protector¡¯s.

    They could speak freely because the array also Hushed them, keeping the members of the Queen¡¯s Corps and everyone else out there from overhearing them

    "Thanks, I guess." Lith watched at every one of Phloria¡¯s movements as her estoc barely touched Ryman¡¯s mace and yet managed to alter its path so that it became harmless.

    Three movester, she moved back to the children while Protector spat a mouthful of snow.

    "Why do we have to do this boring stuff?" Lilia asked, tired of doing what looked like a silly dance to her. "Why can¡¯t we practice as you do?"

    "Swordsmanship is about three simple things. Wrists, footwork, and moving your sword, no matter if to block or attack. Yet bybining them, you can achieve endless possibilities."

    Phloria performed the "silly dance" over and over again, adding one more movement with each repetition until the kids¡¯ mouths hit the floor.

    "Practicing the sword is identical to the study of magic. If you don¡¯t master the basics, you can¡¯t move forward. Also, if you ever decide to enroll in the academy, you need to learn how to defend yourself.

    "Remember your uncle¡¯s stories. There are a lot of bad guys on Mogar." Phloria said as the kids nodded, eager to start practicing again and reach the level of their respective role models.

    While Lith and Protector fought against her or each other until exhaustion, for the children it was just a light training thatsted around one hour before dinner. At that age and without Invigoration, anything more intense would have crippled their growth.

    Lith gave everyone homework, but he wouldn¡¯t check it unless requested nor would he force anyone but Ryman to study. Magic had to be a passion before that a profession, and he wanted the kids to take their time discovering what they wanted to do.

    <i>¡¯They are too young to make any important decision. Whatever path they take in life, it must bring them happiness, not just make them live up to someone else¡¯s expectations.¡¯</i> He thought.

    <i>¡¯Strong words for someone who worked his a_s_s off ever since I got memory.¡¯</i> Solus chuckled.

    <i>¡¯I wasn¡¯t a kid back then. I¡¯ve never been one.¡¯</i> He replied.

    Solus couldn¡¯t practice outside with the others without revealing her existence so she did it in the living room by following their every move through a window and her bond with Lith.

    "My son has truly ruined you." Elina sighed, watching at the young woman in her stone doll form that spent her free time doing more training and studying.

    "No, he didn¡¯t." Solus shook her head. "This is much better than wasting my time doing n-"

    Elina¡¯spassionate gaze cut her short, making her realize how much she sounded like Lith.

    "I stand corrected. He ruined me." Despite her words, Solus didn¡¯t stop. Her fight in Kolga had shown to her howcking her body coordination was and she wanted to be able to stand by Lith¡¯s side once she regained her human body.

    The door suddenly opened up and the ss walked in. The a_d_u_l_ts had worked up quite some sweat and the kids quite an appetite. They devoured the biscuits and gulped the chocte as if they didn¡¯t eat for days instead of hours.

    "I must say, for someone without much free time you made a lot of progress." Protector and his children had gone back to their home, leaving Phloria as the only guest in the Verhen household.

    She felt like time had turned back to when they attended the academy together and she came to visit him during the fifth year. She smiled a lot more than during the lessons, feeling at home again.

    "As most of my achievements, I couldn¡¯t have made it without Solus. She has a perfect memory that together with the ability to shape the tower at will allowed us to rey your lessons.

    "On top of that, she can conjure as my sparring partners small golems that move exactly like you." Lith replied.

    "Really? Then you must be as good as I am already." Phloria admired Solus¡¯s mind and was a bit envious of her ability to learn so quickly.

    "I wish." Solus sighed. "The tower golems move like you because they reproduce my memories whereas my stone body is nowhere that skilled. To make matters worse, the only time I had my human body, it didn¡¯t have any muscle memory, remember?"

    "You¡¯re right." Phloria¡¯s smile became even more radiant now that Solus looked more human and less like some kind of perfect being.

    "I¡¯ll use the bath in my room. Phloria, you can use that in Tista¡¯s room. See youter." Lith disappeared behind the door of his quarters, leaving them alone since Elina had already brought the kids to the big bathtub.

    "How are you holding out, Solus?" Phloria asked after Hushing them.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Being forced to hide like a criminal can¡¯t be pleasant for you. I guess that the more freedom you gain, the heavier the limitations that you have left be." Phloria replied.

    "Well, yeah, but at least now I can always share the meals with the others and I¡¯m not limited to speaking only with Lith or Tista anymore." Solus replied, dodging the actual question.

    "Yeah, look, I know that we had a really rough start and that even now we aren¡¯t exactly best friends. Yet let me give you a piece of unsolicited advice anyway. Don¡¯t do that." Phloria said.

    "Don¡¯t do what?" Solus¡¯s eyes turned to a shade of purple.

    "I know that Lith is now single and I can¡¯t even start to imagine how messed up your feelings must be, but don¡¯t try to catch him on the rebound. Leave him some space." Phloria said.

    "I know that you are right, but I¡¯ve waited for so long, and with all of our dead friends we¡¯re closer than ever. It¡¯s hard to do the right thing instead of what I want." Solus replied.

    "It took Lith years to start trusting even the members of his family and it was all thanks to you, Solus." Phloria knocked on Tista¡¯s door, entering only after she made sure that there was no one inside. "First he trusted you, then the rest of us."

    "If you make your move while he¡¯s at his weakest, if you betray that trust, sooner orter it will backfire and there will be nothing left to salvage. Friya told me how badly Lith reacted to girls hitting on him while he was down after I broke up with him.

    "Even after all this time, he still despises them. In your case, it would be much worse since at your next fusion, he would discover the truth and there¡¯s nothing you could say to change his mind."

 Chapter 1454 - Past and Present (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1454 - Past and Present (Part 2)</h4>

    Once Phloria finished undressing, it took Solus a couple of seconds to recover from the sight of her n_a_k_e_d body. Phloria was stillcking in the c_h_e_s_t area, but between her long legs, her sweet a_s_s, and her chiseled body, Solus felt like azy smurf inparison.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom, my human body is nowhere that fit. Yet in my memories with Malyshka I looked more like an Awakened and less like a cheese enthusiast. Guess that after the end of my rebellious phase I must have turned into Senton.¡¯</i> She thought.

    "Are youing onto me?" Phloria asked, not liking being stared at like that for so long and in awkward silence at that.

    "No. I was just pondering your a_s_s, I mean, your words." Solus¡¯s eyes became more purple. "What do you think I should do? When will my moment finally arrive?"

    "The Great Mother knows. I¡¯m in your same boat, sister, yet I know that the best thing to do is to be there for him and help Lith getting back on his feet. It¡¯s the only thing I seem to be good for since the academy." Phloria sighed deeply.

    "I¡¯m so pathetic."

    "No, you¡¯re not." Solus said in outrage. "You are the only person Lith has willingly opened up to for years and he still treasures you leagues above others. You¡¯ve done wonders in turning a little monster into a human being. Sort of. Kind of. -ish."

    "Thanks, Solus." Phloria chuckled. "Your words mean the world to me, but I¡¯ve got to ask you to wait for me outside. You are still staring at me in a creepy way."

    "Oh, you should see how I look at Lith." Solus replied in embarrassment.

    "What?"

    "Nothing." She ran outside Tista¡¯s room, her mind finally set on a new goal. <i>¡¯I need to find a way to work out.¡¯</i>

    ***

    After every training session, Phloria would stay for dinner like during the old times. Raaz and Elina were really happy about having her back with them and the children even more, yet it still confused his parents big time.

    Lith spent now a lot of time with her and even more with Solus, making them wonder if they could hope for something to happen or if that kind of thing was considered normal in the Awakenedmunity.

    "I¡¯m sorry for not being able to bring you to a nice ce to thank you for your help, but when I mentioned the idea to Jirni, she almost ate my face. She said that I¡¯m not qualified enough to protect you and that it¡¯d ruin months of her hard work.

    "We¡¯ll have to wait until after the g." Lith said.

    <i>¡¯Between the three Phoenixes, the Eldritch hybrid, and the Corps, this ce is as safe as Valeron.¡¯ </i>Lith thought. <i>¡¯I hate to admit it, but Jirni is right. If Deirus is still connected with the Courts and the two of us moved alone, they could keep me busy long enough to kill Phloria.</i>

    <i>¡¯I wonder when dion wille up with a damn answer. I need to know who the person behind the Balkor cards is.¡¯</i>

    "Don¡¯t worry. Homemade food always tastes the best and the fact that you¡¯re asking me out is more than enough." Phloria chuckled.

    "We missed you a lot, aunt Phloria and we didn¡¯t even know how cool you are." Aran said. "Are you going to disappear again?"

    "I never disappeared. I was just busy." Phloria couldn¡¯t exin to the children howplicated the rtionship with her ex-boyfriend was.

    "I don¡¯t believe you. Aunt Kami works a lot and she is always exhausted, but she always finds the time to visit us." Leria pouted, still considering Kam her best aunt. "It¡¯s too bad that she alwayses when uncle Lith is away. I liked seeing them together."

    Lith froze at those words, looking at Elina for answers, but she could only gesture him to wait.

    "Well, that¡¯s because now there¡¯s a Warp Gate in the barn. It makes things easier for her." Phloria didn¡¯t know whether to feel more embarrassed by her lie being exposed by a six years old girl or by theparison.

    "That¡¯s true." Leria pondered. "But you¡¯re a mage and she¡¯s not. Why didn¡¯t you visit for over two years?"

    "It¡¯splicated." Phloria said.

    "I¡¯ll exin it to you when you¡¯re older." Rena stepped in to save her.

    "But, Mom, I want to know now!"

    "No ice cream if you don¡¯t behave."

    Leria suddenly dropped the subject like a bad habit and focused on her broth.

    After dinner, Lith finally could ask his mother about Kam¡¯s visits.

    "That poor girl ispletely alone now." Elina said. "She is in desperate need of answers, but the only people that can give them to her are all rted to you. Can you imagine how awkward it is for her toe here and ask for help after breaking up with you?"

    "I can." Lith nodded. "What did she say?"

    "Not much. Kam just wanted to know how you are doing and what kind of rtionship you have with Solus now that she¡¯s out of your hair. The same things that I would ask if I were in her shoes." Elina replied.

    "She didn¡¯t use those exact words, of course."

    "What did you tell her?" Lith asked.

    "The truth. That you feel like crap and that you¡¯re not seeing anyone. She looked really relieved when she heard that what you told us about Solus was the same thing you told her."

    "I didn¡¯t just tell, I showed you all." Lith said with a snarl.

    "Well, you lied to everyone on a regr basis for years. I can¡¯t me her for suspecting you had fabricated part of those memories. After all, we aren¡¯t Awakened. Your mind link, your rules." Elina crossed her arms while giving him a reproachful look.

    "Don¡¯t you believe me, Mom?" Lith felt more hurt than he thought possible.

    "Of course I do, silly, but I¡¯m your mother." She said while c_a_r_e_s_sing his cheek. "Kam is not, though, and you can¡¯t keep a woman hidden from another woman and act like you just owned a secret pet.

    "She feels betrayed, she is deeply hurt, and she has no one to talk to. You got out of your little cage of secrets, but she¡¯s still locked there. She can¡¯t open up to anyone without giving away your secrets.

    "On top of that, she still cares for the kids and didn¡¯t want them to think she had abandoned them."

    "F_u_c_k me sideways." Lith inhaled sharply, realizing how terrible Kam¡¯s situation was. "Mom, I can¡¯t get close to her without making everything worse. Can you please do it in my stead? Dad, Selia, and Protector can help you."

    "We are already doing that. Kam went to Selia first and onlyter to me. Despite her pain, she¡¯s a smart woman. Now go back to your friends. This is not the kind of problem that you can solve with a spark of magic and a snap of your fingers.

    "These things take time." Elina said.

    "Thanks, Mom. If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, please let me know." Lith went back to the living room, where a tussle was taking ce.

 Chapter 1455 - All Work And No Play (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1455 - All Work And No y (Part 1)</h4>

    Usually, winter was the worst time of the year for any beast, be them magical or not. Cold, hunger, and long battles to get their fangs on scraps of food had been the rule for years.

    For pets, however, it was the best season. Due to the snow and the storms, the kids would spend most of their time indoors studying, leaving Abominus and Onyx nothing to do but long naps.

    They would eat to their heart content and the food would be delivered to them on a silver tter. At nightfall, when the wind howled and the temperature plummeted, they would hog all the space in front of the firece, exposing their full bellies to the warmth of the mes.

    "Move it,rdass!" Tista tried and failed to make Onyx leave her some space.

    The Shyf just meowed with a pained voice, making Aran cry.

    "Stop bullying her, you meanie. She got here first."

    The magical beasts had be capable of emitting sad puppy noises that made anyone who tried to move them away from the fire look like the bad guy, summoning the children to their defense.

    ''I would like to say that Onyx did nothing all day while I worked my ass off, but arguing with Aran like that would be childish of me.'' She thought.

    At least until Tista noticed the smug expression on the Shyf''s snout as Onyx waved the tail in what Tista was certain had to be the feline equivalent of giving her the finger.

    "You son of a-"

    "How is your research on the orc crystal going, Solus?" Phloria cut Tista short and forced her to sit down before she made a fool out of herself.

    "Slowly, but at least it''s helping us to deepen our understanding of both Menadion''s Eyes and Hands." Solus replied while taking Lith''s hand the moment he sat down beside her.

    Being away from a geyser and having spent so much time apart, physical contact was the quickest way to replenish her energy reserves without being forced to turn into a creepy talking ring.

    The steady flow of energy from Lith''s deep violet core also nurtured her damaged life force and holding hands felt nice,bining business with pleasure.

    "Both?" Phloria echoed without failing to notice how casually Solus had made her gesture.

    "Yes. While I''m in my tower form, I can freely ess all of my forms at the same time. On top of that, the mana geyser allows my power core to manifest, relieving me from most of the toll that controlling such powerful artifacts requires." Solus said.

    "We can use the Eyes to study both the orc crystal and the energy tracking system that the Master nted into it. The instructions that he gave Lith back in Lightkeep help, but thanks to the Eyes, we have further perfected the Master''s method."

    "Yeah." Lith sighed. "I wish we acquired the Eyes form back when I touched them for the first time during the academy''s mock exam. That way, we would have gotten the opportunity to study Zolgrish''s enchanted Adamant forge, and maybe we''d have learned how to do it ourselves."

    "Back then I was lucky to still have my mana core." Solus sneered at his unquenchable desire for more despite barely having the time left to breathe. "I was able to pick up and mimic the Eyes'' energy signature only thanks to my power core.

    "Without it, taking that form would have fried my brain and you would have spent years nursing me back to health."

    "What about the Hands? How are they rted to the orc crystal?" Phloria asked.

    "That''s the odd part." Lith said. "The more we learn about the orcs'' technique to manipte the crystals, the more I''m convinced that Menadion either had an unfallen orc helping her to craft the Hands or that she procured herself one of their crystals after treating it the same way the Master did."

    "Why do you say that?"

    "Because as our study progresses, we are discovering new abilities that the Hands possess. They closely resemble both what we have experienced from orc shamans and what Nandi did to you back in Baba Yaga''s hut." Lith said while Solus turned into a pair of silver gloves that slipped on his hands.

    The colored gems on his knuckles lit up, allowing Lith to mess with the fire element in the air and making the enchanted firece dim.

    Phloria and the others tried to cast fire magic, but they discovered that something messed up with their spells.

    "This is amazing!" Phloria said.

    "This is unfair!" Tista said. "You two already have too many abilities. Leave some for the rest of us."

    "This is neither." Lith replied while Solus went back to her seat. "You have no idea how boring it is to stare into the crystal for hours while hoping that our mana flow triggers one of the pathways that the Master managed to mark.

    "Also, with our current mastery of the Hands, we can mess with the elements, but it just takes you some effort to override our control and cast spells. On top of that, we can''t affect equipment as Nandi did and I''m quite sure that power cores are shielded from us anyway.

    "Last, but not least, without a proper power source, using any of Solus''s forms takes so much of her focus that it''s really not worth the effort."

    "What mister positive thinking fails to mention is that, while inside our tower, between the Eyes and the Hands we''ve enhanced all of our capabilities beyond our wildest imagination." Solus said.

    "Thanks to the Hands, both Lith and I have achieved control over the energy thates from the geyser. We can use it to boost the tower''s defenses, the arrays, Nova Spells, or to makeplex Forgemastering processes like that of the DoLorean easier."

    "What? How?" Phloria was bbergasted.

    "Before it was only Solus who could control the world energy and only that that flowed through the tower. Now, instead, we can control even the surplus energy and use it as we see best." Lith said.

    "This way, I can relieve Solus of part of the burden of keeping the Forgemastering circle active, allowing her to participate more in the process, or I can further boost the circle and our hammers to craft artifacts of superior quality."

    "But Solus had her glove form for years, much earlier than our visit to Kolga, and yet you never had this ability. Did you learn it from the Hands?" Tista said.

    "Not at all." Solus shook her head. "We learned it thanks to the Eyes. As long as we are inside the tower and the power core protects my mind from sensory overload, the Eyes enhance our ability toprehend thews of magic.

    "They have no mind nor intelligence so it''s up to us toe up with theories and interpret the data, but the amount of information they provide us with is priceless nheless.

    "That''s why I scolded Grumpy here. Without the Eyes, it would have taken us years to understand the Hands'' true potential and even more to decipher the crystal. The Master gave us his method, but he has no way to interpret the data since he never got his hands on the treated crystal in the first ce.

 Chapter 1456 - All Work And No Play (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1456 - All Work And No y (Part 2)</h4>

    "Thanks to the Eyes, I''m certain that Lith and I have performed more discoveries than the Master and his Organization would in the same amount of time. And they are a bunch of old-ass monsters without a life."

    The more Phloria learned about the capabilities of Menadion''s tower, the more she understood why Lith had kept Solus a secret from her for that long.

    ''An artifact of this power would trigger wars between countries, humans, and even continents that mightst forever. A mage tower is truly a mage''s greatest dream. At first, I got really angry with Lith, but now I''m certain that he did the right thing.

    ''Sure, their rtionship is creepy as heck, but he can''t reveal Solus''s existence to anyone without also revealing the tower. My only question is, how could he realize all of this by himself while he was still a kid?'' Phloria thought.

    "Just one question." She actually said. "Does the tower have a mind or sentience of sorts? Because I don''t understand how a thing like my ss or this tea table can help you think, Solus."

    "No, the tower has no sentience. It''s just a bunch of magic and stones. You must think of it as of a-" Solus was about to say supeputer, but then she realized that on Mogar no one knew what even a microchip was.

    Exining Phloria aboutputer programs that ran up simtions to predict phenomenons and sped up the resolution of the algorithms she came with would have just been a massive waste of time.

    "Of an extra brain that I can metaphorically attach to mine to be temporarily smarter."

    "That''s just great. Solus is right, you got plenty of spoils from your little trip to Lightkeep. Stop being a sourpuss, Lith." Phloria whistled in approval.

    "What Happy here fails to mention here is how little we actually learned and how boring the process is. We had to stare for days at both the crystal and the gloves, then read lots of stuff to make sense of them, and then trying to put what we learned into practice.

    "The Eyes can tell us what something can do, but not how they do it or how can we make them do it. Not to mention that due to Solus''s weak power core, we both get a massive headache every time we use the Eyes for too long!" Lith felt a phantom pain just talking about it.

    "What did you learn about the orc crystal?" Elina asked.

    She wasn''t a mage, but learning about magic was the only way to have a meaningful conversation with her children so she had sucked her boredom up and understood at least the basics of it.

    On top of that, theoretical magic worked wonders for the kids, making them fall asleep faster than any fairy tale could. Aran and Leria had dozed off before they even started to talk about the Eyes.

    They were hugged to their respective magical beast, using their soft fur as mattress, pillow, and nkets.

    "Disturbing things." Lith''s words made even Elina curious and scared.

    Her son would rarely be upset by anything but the death of someone close to him, let alone some brainless piece of crystal.

    "During our fight with the orc shaman, she used spells that no member of their race is supposed to know. Orcs can''t use magic above tier three unless they are some kind of Manohar and that shaman definitely wasn''t so smart.

    "Yet she managed to cast a tier four spell because it''s memorized in the crystal. Once we made this discovery, we checked the Eye of Kolga and the other mana crystals in our possession. What we found is that all of them have some kind of memory function." Lith said.

    "How is that possible?" Elina asked, wondering if crystals could learn from their user to the point of achieving sentience.

    "Beats me. I can''t see a practical use for this nor can I devote so much time to this theory. Orc''s spells may be powerful for orcs, but they are crap for humans. I''m much more interested in using crystals to control world energy." Lith said.

    He had no idea of the hidden potential that memory crystals had.

    They allowed a mage''s thralls to act as one, to learn from each other''s experiences, and to pass that knowledge onto others. By linking their lesser undead or golems with a memory crystal, a mage became capable of keeping themselves away from the fight while collecting and sharing the data.

    Memory crystals allowed to give a brain and learning abilities even to inanimated creatures, turning them from mindless monsters into a well-trained army simply by umting enough experience.

    Very few people on Mogar knew about this and most of them were Guardians. The only human who had sessfully employed them in recent years was Balkor.

    Without the memory crystals, he would have never managed to give his undead thralls and Valors a hive mind, nor be so sessful in his endeavor and bring the Griffon Kingdom to its knees.

    Also, the secret of powerful artifacts like the Spell Hoarding Cubey in memory crystals. It was thanks to them that not only the mana, but also the will of the mage could be stored inside of it along with their spells and kept them indefinitely.

    The rumor about the Cube memorizing the spells was actually true, only the part about it being able to cast them at will was made up. The Royals and countless people before them had failed to learn Valeron''s True Griffon or Tessa the Titania''s When All Are One.

    s, knowing and doing are always two entirely different things.

    Lith knew nothing about those things and saw in the small seed of knowledge in front of him just a waste of time instead of a mighty tree that might one day bear even mightier fruits.

    "What did you learn about the Davross?" Phloria asked.

    "Do you want me to die?" Just the thought of the massive workload that waited for Lith on his desk every single day gave him a massive headache. "Just talking about this stuff made me so tired that I''m not going to pull another all-nighter.

    "Today I''ll sleep in my f-" Lith remembered about the kids. "Farming bed!"

    ***

    The city of Valeron, Royal Castle, two monthster.

    During that time, dion had kept Lith regrly posted about his investigation. The Eclipsed Lands owed the Firstborn Vampire a huge debt of gratitude and having their rtionship with the Undead Courts turned sour, they had no qualms dealing with the Courts members with a heavy hand.

    dion was slowly but steadily moving to bigger and bigger fish. The Firstborn had assured Lith that soon he would keep his part of their bargain. Lith, however, wasn''t very pleased by the news.

    He had never considered that for an undead and a Firstborn at that, the word "soon" had an entirely different meaning. While Lith meant hours or days with it, whening out of dion''s mouth "soon" might mean months, if not years.

    "Turn that frown upside down, darling, or you''ll ruin the G for everyone." Faluel said while holding Lith''s arm as if she was deeply in love while they walked the red-carpet side to side.

 Chapter 1457 - Royal Gala (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1457 - Royal G (Part 1)</h4>

    "Can you please not call me darling? It creeps me out." Lith replied.

    The only times the Hydra acted flirty with him was when she needed Origin mes to refine a new batch of materials. Faluel''s experiments with the Hands of Menadion required a constant supply of resources that was up to him to purify.

    The process had already made Lith interrupt his research several times and wasted precious time to recover from the fatigue that the extensive use of Origin mes inflicted upon his body.

    Sure, it counted as Spirit Domination training, but Lith hated both being interrupted and his work schedule being scrapped.

    "No can do, darling. You asked me to be your plus one for the night and I''m just ying my part. Am I such a bother that you''d rather be swarmed by noble dames and gold diggers?" Faluel said.

    "The jury is still out on that."

    "You son of a-"

    "Spellbreaker Archmage Lith Verhen and Lady Faluel Metina Riseta Nyxdra." The Royal valet announced them and cut her short.

    As a recognized descendant of one of the founding members of the Griffon Kingdom, the Royals had given the Hydra plenty of names to befit her status. Yet very few in the room knew that she actually was an Emperor Beast.

    To the others, she was just an incredibly pretty woman wearing a gorgeous dress.

    Faluel looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5''7") tall, with waist-long light brown hair and hazel eyes. Her face had a delicate oval shape and the light makeup she wore along with her voluminous soft hair framed her fine features.

    She wore an emerald green g dress embroidered in gold and decorated with several mana crystals shaped to look like precious gems. It left exposed her fair shoulders and arms, sticking to her body like a second skin until the hips.

    Her gown was loose and fluffy, giving the impression that she walked on a cloud that danced around her with each step she took.

    The simple grace of her slender body seemed to be perfectly attuned with her demeanor, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.

    As for Lith, under his deep blue Archmage robe, he wore the high uniform of the Kingdom. It wasprised of a deep blue jacket with golden epaulets, deep blue mid-waisted ck trousers with galon, a trim one with two silk stripes to conceal the outer seams, and ck shoes.

    He wore a silver brooch shaped like a Phoenix with rubies for eyes on the cor of his white shirt and the gold embroideries on thepels of his jacket were shaped like feathers.

    It had taken quite a while to organize the Royal G, but since the investigation hade to a halt and the mysterious sender of the Balkor cards had yet to strike again, the ceremony couldn''t be dyed any longer.

    Lith had given a lot of thought to his choice of a dance partner. He couldn''t ask Phloria without giving her hopes, couldn''t ask Kam for obvious reasons, and he couldn''t even ask Quy or Friya without Jirni beating his ass into oblivion.

    "First my daughter and now my apprentice. Do you have something against me in particr or it''s just that you are impossible to please?" Lady Ernas had never resented Lith before since it had been Phloria who had broken up with him.

    Kam, however, was another story entirely. Between the tears and her being adamant in not sharing a single detail about the events, Jirni was certain that whatever had happened was Lith''s fault.

    ''I can''t me Jirni. If I went to an award ceremony with Friya or Quy, rumors would spread that I cheated on Kam with either of them. On top of that, I don''t like the idea that people might think that I''m sleeping around with the entire Ernas Household.'' Lith thought as the magically amplified voice of the valet spread through the throne room.

    It was over forty meters (133 feet) long and thirty meters (100 feet) wide, with a single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the raised tform for the Royal family.

    That way, even while sitting on their golden thrones, the Royal couple would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming their status and authority.

    The whole room was lighted by crystal chandeliers, fueled by magic, leaving no space for shadows or need for maintenance.

    On the walls, magically enchanted tapestries would recount over and over the great feats that the current King had aplished to be deemed worthy of his power. Both the floor and the pirs of the room were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material avable in the Griffon Kingdom.

    The room was filled with nobles and mages of all ages and relevance. Some Lith knew personally like General Vorgh, Baron Eiros Wyalon from Jambel, General Berion, and the Ernas family.

    Others were his sworn enemies like Archmage Deirus, Archmage Kwart, and the Headmistress of the ck Griffon, Archmage Onia Gotharn. The rest of them wereplete strangers to him.

    Lith wore Solus on his finger, hidden under the white gloves that covered his hands.

    ''Faluel is really pretty in that dress. She is definitely the right pick for the g.'' She said via their mind link.

    ''Unless Kam thinks that I''ve slept with my teacher and adds it to the list of her grievances against me.'' Lith sighed. ''Keep your eyes peeled, Solus. I know that Valeron is the safest ce in the Kingdom, but this is also the perfect opportunity for the sender of the Balkor cards to strike.''

    ''Right, sure.'' Solus pointed at the Royals wearing the Saefel suit, at Manohar whose core burned brighter than ever and was in perfect shape, at Vastor''s now violet core, and at the dozen of soldiers wearing the Royal Fortress armor in the room.

    ''I stand corrected.'' Lith said. ''A meteor is the only thing that might put a dent in this room. Any chance you can turn into the Eyes and give a few artifacts a look?''

    ''No way. There''s enough magic in this room to blind my mana sense. If I activate the Eyes of Menadion, I''d be lucky if I became just a babbling idiot.'' Solus replied.

    Lith''s entrance was apanied by the most quiet and polite uproar he had ever seen. Etiquette required people to be silent until the neer bowed to the Royal Couple, but there was too much juicy gossip to talk about and everyone started whispering about their favorite topic.

    Some wondered about the identity of hispanion, envying her beauty while others discussed Lith''s feat of crafting the DoLorean that had him being recorded in history as one of the tier one forbidden mages.

    Yet the noisiest and most frequent topics were all rted to his personal achievements.

    "How did Verhen manage to destroy not one, but two Lost Cities?" Duke Phalmar said. "The first time he was lucky enough to find the blueprints of the ck Star, but the second time he seeded with a group of three where entire armies failed."

 Chapter 1458 - Royal Gala (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1458 - Royal G (Part 2)</h4>

    "Who cares about a bunch of ruins?" Grand Duchess Kolmy replied. "Didn''t you hear how the great Manohar got his ass handed to him by Dawn? The same Horseman who Verhen defeated after foiling her ns?

    "I''m telling you, the stories about him running away are bogus. I was in Belius during the fight, you can''t escape from someone that powerful. I can''t wait to see if Manohar throws a tantrum and attacks Verhen out of envy."

    "Your story makes no sense. Why would the Royals hide such a feat?" Phalmar asked.

    "Because they are keeping him as a secret weapon, you na?ve fool." Marquis Xenth chimed in.

    "I''ve got friends in the army who told me that back when the other Horseman, Night, attacked the Verhen Household to avenge her sister, a swarm of monsters appeared from nowhere and kicked her sorry ass to the moon and back.

    "ording to the official report, the first to arrive on the scene was the seven-eyed demon who helped Verhen back in Othre. Then, even bigger and more powerful creatures arrived to back him up, forcing even Baba Yaga to retreat."

    "Exactly." Kolmy nodded. "Verhen is not just an Archmage, but a living army. Even having one of those things at his beck and call is more than most can even dream of. The Royals are probably trying to keep the other Countries from snatching Verhen away."

    "Someone is really popr here." Faluel giggled at those baseless outrageous rumors. "By the way, why didn''t you bring Tista as your date? You could have watched each other''s back."

    "First, she and Phloria have been summoned to Court as part of the team that caused Kogaluga''s destruction. We decided toe on our own to avoid more pointless rumors about my rtionship with Phloria and to avoid getting swarmed.

    "Thest time I brought Tista to a g, they surrounded us leaving no way out. Everyone knows that we are siblings so we can''t y Tista''s usual boyfriend routing without passing for perverts." Lith replied.

    The couple arrived in front of the Royals, bending their knee until they received permission to stand up and join the other nobles to the sides of the red carpet.

    "God of Healing Krishna Varaja Manohar and his mother, Sitri Manohar." The valet said.

    The Mad Professor wore a suit of clothes identical to Lith''s butpletely white to emphasize his status as the current god of the healing arts.

    He was a man in his early thirties, around 1.74 meters (5''9") meters tall with ck hair streaked silver all over.

    The white of the uniform coupled with his slender build made him look taller while his pained expression made him look like a man who had forfeited his life. His eyes were glued to the small woman walking by his side as if it was a ticking bomb.

    Sitri Manohar was a woman in herte fifties, barely 1.52 meters (5'') tall, with ck hair streaked silver all over and brown eyes. She was even leaner than her son, giving her a frail look.

    She wore an elegant yet somber light blue dress that covered even her neck while evening glover hid her arms. Sitri red at their audience, making the room be appropriately silent.

    She was the only person known to be capable of controlling the god of healing and she wasn''t afraid of unleashing him if provoked. Many noble dames had found out the hard way what happened when someone badmouthed Sitri or her son.

    Some of them had yet to be cured of the "mysterious illness" that gued them.

    "Headmaster Duke Marth and his wife, Ryssa Marth." The Valet said, making Lith''s jaw almost hit the floor.

    "Have I gone insane or did he say, wife?" His question was answered the moment the couple stepped on the red carpet.

    The Headmaster of the White Griffon was a man in his mid-forties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with thick blonde hair. Aside from his goatee, his face was perfectly shaven, giving him a calm and youthful appearance.

    The grey hair from thest time Lith had seen Marth had disappeared. The Headmaster stepped forward with the face of a man who had achieved everything he wanted in life. His uniform was identical to Lith''s but his brooch was shaped like a White Griffon.

    Ryssa the Dryad looked like a gorgeous woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall with the heels of her dress. She had wheat-blond straight hair that fell like a waterfall down to the small of her back.

    Ryssa had big yellow eyes, that sparkled under the magical lights like masterfully cut pieces of amber. Her visage was simply stunning, from the delicate features to her full lips.

    The only thing that betrayed her non-human nature was the light green skin, but neither that nor her belly swollen from thete pregnancy diminished her beauty, making her the most stunning woman in the room.

    "Wife it is." Lith said while admiring Ryssa''s scarlet dress that emphasized both her skin and hair.

    After Marth and the Dryad, Vastor, Tista, and the Ernas also arrived. Except for Jirni who walked the red carpet arm in arm with Orion, everyone else had no partner. They all wore their best clothes and each one of them raised a different kind of whispers.

    For a Royal G, the order of introduction was irrelevant since everyone had to arrive on time to undergo the necessary ID check and body search. Each guest would hear the other''s being announced either from inside the throne room or from the waiting room where they were lined up in order of arrival.

    Once all the guests had aligned to either side of the throne room, the Royals stood up whereas their subjects kneeled.

    "Today is a joyous day." King Meron spoke first. "There are many things that need to be celebrated and to be recorded into the Kingdom annals. In the past year, the lost city of Kogaluga has been destroyed, freeing the Ker region from a threat that was considered to be eternal.

    "Easier and faster trading routes have been opened, allowing the region to prosper. All the resources that until that point were invested in the arrays that sealed Kogaluga are now used to build more granaries and to cultivate the once barrennds around the lost city.

    "Without the constant stream of dark energy from the lost city, life is returning. Thanks to the recovered fields, the threat of a winter famine has be less likely. The mana crystals and the magic that once isted the city are now being employed to rebuild it.

    "In time, Kogaluga will thrive as a trading hub and life will once again conquer death." Meron''s gaze wandered through the room, studying the reaction of his guests.

    "During that same year, the same person that gave us Kogaluga back also created a wonderful device that will one day change the lives of all the citizens of the Kingdom for the better." Queen Sylpha said.

    "The DoLorean is a marvel of magic that crosses the known boundaries of bothw and magic, forcing us to put a halt to its production to keep the wrong people from turning an instrument of progress into one of anarchy."

 Chapter 1459 - Royal Gala (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1459 - Royal G (Part 3)</h4>

    "Thanks to Archmage Verhen and to the work of our valiant Royal Forgemasters, one day everyone who can afford a DoLorean will have one while those who can''t will still be able to travel faster and more safely than ever on something we call ''train''."

    At Sylpha''s cue, Lith materialized the 3D hologram of a scaled-down maglev train asrge as the red carpet. The lotive appeared from the double doors and arrived right at the feet of the Royals, carrying cars filled with people and goods.

    Then, once it reached the raised stand, the hologram shattered into a rain of golden sparkles.

    "And that is not all." Meron resumed. "The war against the Undead Courts has been long and bloody. Many times, our Kingdom has gone close to being defeated and our people enved.

    "Yet we are still here. Our cities still stand and our citizens walk free whereas the ashes of our enemies fertilize our fields. All of this has only been made possible thanks to valiant heroes, some of which have decided to remain anonymous."

    At a wave of the King''s hand, the light in the room dimmed and Manohar found himself under a spotlight. The Mad Professor whined loudly enough to be heard, knowing that with more honors, he would also receive more unwanted work.

    Vastor the Highmaster and the members of the Corpse officially didn''t exist, leaving the god of healing as the only person that could take credit for defeating the Horsemen.

    In days past the Master would have gritted his teeth in envy, cursing Manohar and regretting his fate. He was one of the few gods of the Kingdom whose feats didn''t receive any praise nor recognition.

    Now, however, all he could think about was to get it over with the g and go back to Zinya''s house.

    "Yet many sad things also happened during thest year." Sylpha said. "Some of the most loyal retainers of the Kingdom have been killed. The three Horsemen have returned and focused their war effort on us, killing thousands between soldiers and civilians.

    "Last, but not least, we have received news of the return of the Mad Queen. We have endured a lot and we''ll have to endure even more if we want to protect our home, but don''t despair.

    "With each hurdle we ovee, we grow closer and stronger. With each enemy we defeat, the Kingdom bes a better ce. Tomorrow, we might have to fight tooth and nail to protect our life work but tonight we are assembled here to celebrate our victories!"

    The guest stood up and exploded into an uproar, giving the Royals a standing ovation that made the walls tremble. After a few seconds, Meron raised his hand and themotion instantly died out.

    "Later, we''ll award our heroes, but now it''s time for you to know each other and set aside your differences. Only by working together and using our respective unique skills can the Kingdom keep growing in strength and secure its future. Dismissed."

    A p of Sylpha''s hands Warped the guests and the Royals from the Throne room to the Dance Hall. The room was of rectangr shape, five meters (16''5") high, with the long side 200 meters (656 feet) long and the short side 100 meters (328 feet) long.

    Tables filled with delicacies and drinks from all over the Kingdom were lined up against the walls where valets stood on the attention, ready to serve anyone who required their assistance.

    At the end of the Dance Hall, there was another raised tform with two thrones where the Royals sat. Four orchestras were ying the same soft tune from the circr alcoves ced at the four corners of the room leaving the full dance floor to the guests.

    Crystal chandeliers enchanted with light magic lit the room, producing colorful rainbows over the walls and on the ceiling as they refracted each other''s light.

    Groups started to form immediately since everyone preferred to face their enemies only after assembling their respective allies. Politics was a kind of war that never shed blood in the open, but that didn''t make it any less unpleasant or dangerous.

    "I must say that I''m kind of disappointed in you, Marth." Manohar said while staring at Ryssa with contempt.

    "Because I married a non-human?" Marth clenched his fists, ready to vent over a decade of frustration at once the moment the Mad Professor dared to speak out of line.

    "No, because you married." Manohar sighed, wondering how could such a brilliant man also be such an idiot. "What happened to our single forever oath? Look at Vastor, he even divorced to keep his word."

    "I don''t remember ever taking such an oath." Marth looked at the god of healing, wondering if one experiment too many had driven him crazy for good.

    "My divorce has nothing to do with you two." Vastor said with a snarl.

    "Sure thing, Zoggy." Manohar winked as if there was some kind ofplicity between the two. "Well, what''s done is done. Cursing the past is pointless, we can only work together to build a better future. When is the child due?

    "Manohar junior will need all the help they can get to not be drowned by the idiocy of this world."

    "I''m not going to name my child after you!" Marth became purple in outrage while Ryssaughed her ass off at his expense.

    "You should visit more often, Krishna." She said with a chuckle. "Until a second ago, Duke was so tired that I was afraid he might fall asleep at any moment yet now he''s brimming with energy."

    "That''s because he''s old and sad. Sure, not as old as Zoggy here, but he''s working on it one day at a time." Manohar replied, making the other two Archmages wish that Dawn had killed him.

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you again, Ryssa." Lith said in the hope to keep things from escting. Manohar''s mother was talking with the Royals, leaving the beast unleashed.

    "It''s nice to see you too, Lith. My sister still asks me of you sometimes. Maybe now that you''re single, the two of you could take another shot." Ryssa hugged him and talked as if they were life-long friends instead of strangers who had met twice.

    "Headmaster Marth, howe I didn''t hear anything about your marriage?" Lith asked to quickly change the subject.

    "That''s actually my question." Marth replied with a snarl that made Vastor sound like a tame puppy. "You never call and never visit unless you need something. I didn''t invite you to the wedding to teach you a lesson.

    "How could you not bother asking anyone about me ever since Laruel?"

    "Don''t take it personally, Lith. Marth wanted something private. He didn''t invite me either." Manohar said.

    "That''s because I wanted one nice dinner without having food and drinks checked every other minute! It took us weeks to fix all the changes to my guests that your crazy potions caused at the engagement ceremony." Marth raised his voice to the point of almost yelling.

    "Science stops for no one and the banquet was boring. You should thank me for spicing up your life and turning your engagement ceremony into an unforgettable event." Manohar said, forcing Ryssa to put the Headmaster''s hands on her belly to keep them away from Manohar''s neck.

 Chapter 1460 - Royal Gala (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1460 - Royal G (Part 4)</h4>

    "I''m really sorry, Headmaster." Lith gave him a small bow. "It''s been a crazy year for me. So many things have happened that I could barely focus on my survival."

    Marth was about to give him a snarky reply when Ryssa clutched his hand, sharing with him some of her Dryad mystical senses. Suddenly, the Headmaster of the White Griffon could feel the gloom that Lith hid behind his poker face.

    There was no attraction between him and his date, only friendship. On top of that, Marth could sense that Lith''s existence had be more majestic and yet more detached.

    He was there yet he wasn''t.

    "Don''t worry, kid. I''ll forgive you as long as you help me to keep Manohar away from my child." Marth chuckled.

    "Don''t listen to him, junior. You and I will make a great team." The mad professor patted Ryssa''s belly as if it was the shoulder of a friend.

    "Say that again and I''ll kill you." She said in anger. "People are starting to think that I''ve been unfaithful and that I bear your child!"

    "Nonsense. Junior is not mine. We''ll name them like that only to avoid confusion when we are both in the same room." While Vastor needed all of his considerable strength to hold Marth, Lith walked away with Faluel to check the room for potential allies.

    Now that Mirim was dead, he needed to make sure that his rtionship with the Mage Association and the Army wouldn''t change.

    "Oh, gods! White, is that really you?" Someone grabbed Lith''s shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

    The man in front of him was 22 years old, about 1.73 meters (5''8") tall with blond hair and deep green eyes. He had the build of a soldier rather than that of a noble and wore a uniform identical to Lith''s but deep green, identifying him as a Great Mage.

    He was apanied by a stunning redhead that made Faluel pale inparison and who looked at him with loving eyes.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith asked.

    "It''s me, Red! I can''t believe we are meeting again like this."

    "Who?" Lith racked his brain, but the only image that the word red conjured in his head was that of wine.

    ''For my Mom''s sake! He''s the student of the Fire Griffon who participated in the mission against Gadorf the Wyvern.'' Solus said. Then after noticing that Lith still had no idea who she was talking about, she added:

    ''The guy who taught us about the importance of array detecting spells.'' She also projected a shback in his mind, just to stay on the safe side.

    "Gods, you inspired me to the point that I worked my ass off to match your achievements whereas I was so insignificant to your eyes that you don''t even remember me." Red sighed.

    "Red, of course. You were the second saddle of Captain Yerna''s team. Do I have to keep calling you Red or do you have an actual name?" Lith tried to make it sound like a joke, but not knowing a Great Mage''s name was actually quite rude of him.

    "Great Mage Linden Gorth, at your service." Red said while giving him a small bow. "This is Phrenna Gorth, my wife."

    She gave Lith a curtsy to which he replied with a bow.

    "Spellbreaker Archmage Lith Verhen, at your family''s service and yours." Lith replied. "This is Faluel Metina Riseta Nyxdra, my date."

    After exchanging greetings, Linden bored Lith to death with his many achievements that had led him to be a Great Mage at a young age.

    "Seeing you fight with that Wyvern was an eye-opener for me. Until that day, I always thought that a mage''s ce was the backline, supporting the others from a safe position." Red said.

    "Gods, please, you tell this story every time you meet someone new. Can you please spare me the speech so that we can have some fun instead?" Phrenna rolled her eyes as she could almost feel her ears bleeding.

    "Yet after seeing someone younger than me fearlessly fight an adult Emperor Beast-" Linden threw a reproachful look at his wife for her words and another for cutting him short.

    "He enrolled in the army as soon as he finished the academy, learned the Battle Mage specialization, and fought his way to his current position in the Association in the attempt to match his hero, the great Lith Verhen. You." Phrenna abridged the chronicles of her husband''s life, hoping to put an end to that torture.

    "Yes." Red stayed true to his name and turned to a bright shade of purple. "Yet you always remained several steps ahead of me. Look at you. Archmage and Spellbreaker before even bing twenty."

    The honest admiration with which Linden looked at him made Lith feel like crap.

    ''I have influenced so many lives and yet I barely remember what I had for breakfast. Is my mind turning into that of a Lich?'' He thought.

    ''Depends. What''s Red''s wife''s name?'' Solus asked with a sneer.

    ''Finna.''

    ''40% Lich confirmed.'' Solusughed her ass off.

    "I''m sorry for your break up with Captain Yehval. I was looking forward to meeting her." Linden''s words just threw Lith from the pan into the fire and earned him a heavy nudge from his wife.

    "I mean, Lady Nyxdra looks like a wonderful woman. You two make a great couple and your kids will be-"

    "I apologize on his behalf." Phrenna covered Linden''s mouth with her hand. "My husband means well, but the excitement for meeting you got the better of him. I''ll make sure that he calms down before he says things that he would regret forever."

    Red looked at her in anger until his brain caught up with his mouth, turning him pale as a ghost.

    "He has a point." Faluel had a hard time notughing at Lith''s expense and embarrass Linden even more. "Our children would look great. Can you imagine creatures with four wings like a Tiamat and with seven heads like a Hydra?"

    "Are you serious?" Lith suddenly regretted not having brought a regr woman as his date.

    "No, but I can tease you more if you''d like." She said with a giggle, dragging him to one of the banquet tables for a drink.

    "Gods, now I remember why Mom didn''t want to have anything to do with the Royal Court after founding the Griffon Kingdom." Faluel referred to her mother, Fyrwal the Hydra, one of the members of the first King''s Guard.

    "This ce smells so much of rage, hatred, envy, and lust that it''s making me nauseous."

    "Those things have a smell?" To Lith''s young nose, the scents of the many perfumes that men and women alike wore filled the air like a blinding mist.

    "They do, and it''s most unpleasant." The Hydra sighed.

    Lith took a ss of strong whiskey for himself and another for Faluel. They both needed help to stand a second round with Manohar or anyone as annoying as him. While he offered the drink to his mentor, Lith''s eyes fell on a familiar-looking woman.

    She was a beautiful woman in herte thirties, about 1.67 meters (5''6") tall. She had bronze skin, light brown shoulder-length wavy hair, and hazel eyes.

 Chapter 1461 - Old and New Friends (Part 1)

    Chapter 1461 - Old and New Friends (Part 1)

    Her long legs and soft curves had made the noble dame attractive even during their first meeting, when she wore a grey prison jumpsuit, let alone now that she wore makeup and a gorgeous evening dress.

    "Nindra Luce? Is that you?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, I am. Do I know you?" She replied with a voice as surprised as Lith''s, trying to remember how could have she forgotten about meeting an Archmage.

    ''Right. You forgot about Red but you still remember about her.'' Solus said with a sneer. ''Does it have anything to do with having seen her naked?''

    ''No, I just remember my patients and students that I met multiple times, whereas I always feel free to forget about random guys who stand in the background while I fight.'' Lith replied.

    ''Prove it.'' The jealousy in her voice surprised them both.

    ''I remember the nice overweightdy as well, Niha Zeir, and that asshole of Garith Senti.'' He said.

    "Yes, you do. We met in peculiar circumstances back when I was this tall and I wore a gue doctor mask." Lith''s exploits had long be public, making the revtion of his active role during Kandria''s gue old news.

    "Back then, you called me doctor and invited me to visit you in Kandria. Unfortunately, my travels never brought me there again."

    "Wait. Aren''t you Archmage Lith Verhen?" Nindra had noticed him when the valet had announced hising.

    "Correct."

    "The same Archmage Verhen who turned neen just a while ago?" She said while turning as red as her dress, to the point that it was hard to guess where the fabric finished and the skin started.

    "Correct again." Lith nodded.

    "Doesn''t that mean that I- you know, when you were still-"

    "A fourth-year student at the White Griffon." Lith finished the phrase for Nindra to avoid her any further embarrassment.

    Nindra suddenly became as pale as a ghost as she realized that seven years back, she had made her move on a twelve years old instead of on a short, charming, talented Healer.

    She saw the grounding closer as if Mogar was swallowing her but it was actually her knees buckling up since the had no care for her embarrassment nor for that of anyone else.

    Lith grabbed Nindra by the waist, helping her to stand and drawing a lot of curious looks since they were basically holding each other to keep Nindra from falling.

    "Faluel, this is Nindra Luce, the overseer of Kandria''s branch of the Mage Association. Great Mage Luce, this is Faluel Metina Riseta Nyxdra, my date for tonight." Lith said, hoping to relieve enough of her stress that she could stand up on her own.

    "Nice to meet you." Faluel gave her a small curtsy before offering Nindra her hand.

    The Great Mage shook it, but she remained glued to Lith as all the raw emotions for seven years back resurfaced.

    "The pleasure is all mine." She replied while trying to fix the mess that her brain was.

    ''Okay, Nindra, be cool.'' She thought to herself. ''The good thing about having hit rock bottom is that it can''t get any worse. Things are already awkward as heck. You must choose your next words carefully to salvage the situation.''

    "You two aren''t together, then?" Nindra said, making her wonder if her brain and mouth had been disconnected from the shock.

    "Actually, no. But I''d like you to keep the information for yourself." Lith replied cursing his slip of the tongue. "I don''t want to spend the night being bothered by suitors. I recently broke up with my girlfriend and I''m not looking for another, yet."

    "Most reasonable." Nindra managed to get her hands off him and patted her dress as if there was something to fix or some dirt to dust. "If you need someone to talk to or you just want somepany, this is my contact rune."

    Only after she gave Lith her card did Nindra realize what she had said and done, running away in embarrassment before he could give her an answer.

    "What did I say? Lust all around us." Faluel clicked her tongue. "Are you really keeping that?"

    "Why not?" Lith put the card in his breast pocket, forter. "I''m not interested in her as a date, but I could use someone inside the Association."

    "I don''t think that woman is interested in giving you political support so much as ying doctor again." Faluel said with a sneer.

    "I don''t see why I shouldn''tbine business with pleasure if I feel like it. I''m fucking single." The coldness and the pain in his voice made the Hydra drop the subject.

    Losing Lark had been hard, but losing Mirim, his humanity, and Kam in the space of a few days had scarred Lith. He nowcked both political and emotional support, leaving him in a psychologically unstable status.

    "Do you think that woman wants to give you her card as well?" Faluel nodded at a noble dame with a beautiful face but a furious expression that was stomping her way to them.

    Brinja Distar, daughter of thete Mirim, was 22 years old, about 1.63 meters (5''3") tall, with silky blonde hair that almost reached the floor looked like a golden waterfall and sky-blue eyes.

    She wore a golden g dress embroidered with several precious gemstones and that left her arms, neck, and shoulders exposed.

    "Good evening, Archmage Verhen. Lady Nyxdra." Brinja said while giving them a deep curtsy to make up for her breach of etiquette.

    She could barely contain her emotions and wanted to go straight to business. There was no trace of her usual bright smile and her face was a mask of cold determination.

    "Allow me to introduce you to Ainz Flemstar Distar, my husband and soon to be Headmaster of the ck Griffon." She said as the man that followed her gave them a small bow.

    Ainz was a man in his early thirties, about 1.8 meters (5''11") tall, and wore an Archmage high uniform identical to Lith''s. He had long fingers, pitch-ck hair and eyes, with some odd ck shades that seemed to devour sunlight on contact.

    He had sharp, and intelligent features, with a blood-red gemstone embroidered on the white scarf around his chest.

    "Husband?" Lith echoed in surprise.

    Because of his personal pursuit of Mirim''s killer, he and Brinja called each other often to exchange their respective list of suspects and leads, yet he had heard nothing about their marriage.

    "I''m sorry for not inviting you. I decided to go for something simple and private. I didn''t feel like celebrating after burying my mother." Brinja clenched her fists hard, but aside from that, she still looked like a lovelydy having a conversation with an old friend.

    "I needed to marry Ainz because once he gets the seat of Headmaster, between the two academies in my Marquisate and the ck Griffon, half of the six Great Academies will be under my control."

    "What she means to say is that with the Marchioness'' seat empty and her father crushed by grief, my Brinja needed to step up to the asion, but she couldn''t make it alone. That''s why we have decided to marry." The Marquis looked embarrassed by Brinja straightforwardness.

    "As for me bing a Headmaster, I''m still young and Ick qualifications. There''s no way to be sure-"

 Chapter 1462 - Old And New Friends (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1462 - Old And New Friends (Part 2)</h4>

    "Oh, please. Lith''s no enemy. There''s no need to y politics with him." Brinja cut him short.

    "Ainz will get that seat because between the support of my faction and the fact that Onia''stest achievement dates back to her academy days, no one will cover her ass once I expose her ipetence!"

    "You may be right, kid, and maybe your n is foolproof. Yet you have no idea who might be listening, and even the most brilliant scheme is bound to fail once exposed." Jirni seemed to appear out of nowhere, making everyone flinch in surprise.

    Lady Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5'') tall, with long hair that extended mid-way down her back and sapphire blue eyes. The silver parure and circlet she wore were both embedded with ck diamonds, emphasizing her golden hair while the diamonds her rosy skin.

    She wore a beautiful light green evening dress with gold embroideries and her hair was perfectly curled, framing her face as if she had been taken out of a painting. Her dress left exposed her neck, shoulders, and the upper part of her bosom.

    She was in her early forties, but thanks to proper care and frequent rejuvenation sessions, she looked like she was in her early thirties, giving her the allure of a mature yet youthful woman.

    Many had mistaken her frilly appearance with her real self and most of them died for it.

    "Lady Ernas, why are you here?" Brinja asked.

    "To answer your question and to warn you. No, neither Lith nor I have yet any clue about the murderer of your mother." Jirni said, making Lith nod.

    "My sources are digging everywhere, even in the Undead Courts. The good news is that my man found someone who can give us the name, the bad news-"

    "Is that you two have to shut up and clench your teeth. As I said before, I came here to warn you that Deirus ising in your direction and I doubt that he has good intentions." Jirni cut him short.

    "Remember that this is a Royal G. I know that you two are grieving and have gone through a lot, but the slightest mistake can snowball into terrible political consequences."

    "Please, Lady Ernas, you are offending me." Brinja said with a sneer. "I was raised and prepared for this moment all my life by Mirim Qintar Distar. I know the rules of this game like the back of my hand."

    Jirni opened her mouth to rebuke her overconfidence, but Deirus was already there, forcing Lady Ernas to smile and hope for the best.

    ''Based on what the girls told me, Lith is barely holding together and Brinja has been nothing but a spoiled brat her whole life. She may think herself a yer, but politics are no ce for someone who wears their heart on their sleeve.''

    Much to Jirni''s surprise, the expression of all herpanions softened. Theyughed as if Brinja had just told a wonderful joke, feigning to not have noticed Archmage Deirus'' arrival.

    He was apanied by Archmage Kwart, the current leader of the Mage Association, and by Archmage Onia, the Headmistress of the ck Griffon. They all wore an Archmage high uniform, but Onia''s was pitch ck instead of blue.

    "Marchioness Distar, it''s a pleasure to see that you''ve managed to recover from the misfortune that recently befell your household." He said with the sweetest voice and yet each word was coated in poison.

    Vn Deirus was a man in his early fifties, about 1.68 (5''6") tall, with red hair streaked yellow, blue, and grey all over. His face smiled, but his eyes didn''t bother to hide the hatred and resentment that he felt towards the people in front of him.

    If Deirus could, he would have killed them all where they stood, each one of them for a different reason.

    Lith for having betrayed the cause of the young magical bloodlines, for having refused to be his heir no matter how many times Deirus had asked him after Yurial''s death, and for being a constant pain in Vn''s ass.

    Jirni for protecting Quy from the consequences that murdering the heir of the Deirus Household was meant to have, for refusing to give him one of her daughters aspensation, and simply because he couldn''t stand the thought of seeing the Ernas thrive while the Deirus withered more with each passing day.

    Brinja because he reminded him too much of her mother, the annoying, puny Marchioness that somehow had managed to always foil Vn''s political ploys despite the fact that he was both an Archmage and a Grand Duke.

    ''I''ve given up on hoping that Jirni might slip up. The little monster is too smart and cunning to fall for my provocations, but the young Brinja is just perfect.'' Deirus inwardly grinned. ''Full of grief, rage, and with no real experience at Court.''

    "Your mother was a great woman. She managed to bring a Marquisate to the heights that even most Arch Duchies can only dream about." He said while throwing a spiteful look at Jirni along with a not-so-veiled insult.

    The Ernas Arch Duchy had no Great Academy under their influence whereas both the Deirus and the Distar had two of them each.

    "We were fierce opponents in Court, but I always deeply respected Mirim. I believe that her only w was to listen to her heart more than she did to her head. If only she had chosen her allies more wisely, maybe she would still be with us.

    "Now that you have taken her ce, you must reconsider her choices, otherwise history might repeat itself. You mother was-"

    A sudden p cut him short, echoing through the entire ballroom like thunder. Brinja didn''t just hit him. She had pivoted her foot, transmitting her strength through the ankle, knee, waist, shoulder, arm, and wrist by twisting them in a single fluid motion.

    Archmage Deirus'' head spun and his vision blurred under a hit that would have knocked him down if not for the magical protections he wore.

    "Insolent woman!" Vn roared the moment he had managed to regain his bnce. "This is the Royal Court, who do you think-"

    A second, even stronger p brought him to his knees under the astonished gazes of the entirety of the Court.

    "How dare you spit on my mother''s grave while her corpse has yet to grow cold? How dare you threaten me in front of my husband and friends?" Brinja spoke through her diaphragm, making it impossible to not overhear her.

    Then, her voice suddenly turned into a whisper barely audible as she mumbled a few words.

    "This is indeed the Royal Court and it''s full of secrets you don''t know, you idiot."

    "Grief must have driven you insane, Marchioness, I''ll have your head for-"

    "What''s happening here?" Sylpha Griffon appeared in a blur, staring at Deirus with eyes brimming with bright violet mana and full of such hatred that the two Archmages that followed him discovered to have suddenly forgotten how to breathe.

    "Your Majesty, Archmage Deirus med my mother for her death, saying that she deserved it for associating herself with Archmage Verhen and Archon Ernas. He also said that I''ll end up dead like her if I don''t cut my ties with them and called Mom an insolent woman!"

 Chapter 1463 Feints and Traps Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1463 Feints and Traps Part 1</h4>

    Brinja had just repeated Deirus¡¯ words in a much less subtle way and used the p to alter the meaning of his words at her own convenience.

    ¡¯Silly girl.¡¯ Jirni inwardly cursed while Deirus gloated. ¡¯There¡¯s no way such a simple ruse can work.¡¯

    And yet there was.

    Neither of them knew that Mirim had been Sylpha¡¯s closest friend for over thirty years, her beloved academy mate, her closest aide, her confidant, and shoulder to cry on during her hardest times.

    Sylpha loved thete Marchioness like a sister and Brinja like a daughter. The Queen had spent her whole life hiding her feelings, but that didn¡¯t make them any less intense. She had hidden her grief and rage all along because her role demanded it.

    Now, however, Deirus had spat on Mirim¡¯s corpse and threatened her daughter right in front of the grieving Queen.

    ¡¯Oh, shit!¡¯ King Meron thought. while activating the Armor of Saefel and hoping that either it would be enough to stop his wife or that he wouldn¡¯t need it.

    "Did he?" Sylpha¡¯s voice became stone-cold as her mana flow going wild caused a small storm that not even the arrays that sealed the world energy in the room could stop.

    Deirus opened his mouth to talk, but no word came out. Air abandoned his lungs and yet his vocal cords were frozen in fear. The Queen had never been known for her beauty, but no one disagreed on how terrible she could be.

    Just looking Sylpha in the eyes was enough to bring Vn onto his knees along with his cohorts, whimpering like a pack of beaten dogs.

    "What did you say exactly?" Sylpha helped Vn to stand up by grabbing his neck and lifting him a few centimeters off the ground with just one hand.

    "Archmage Deirus said that my mother died because she ill-choose her allies." Brinja said, making Vn sigh in relief at her naivety and nod like a parrot to reassure the Queen of his good intentions.

    "Either he is ming two of the most valiant subjects of the Kingdom for her death, or he is using my mother to have dealt with shady figures, if not with the Undead Courts." Brinja added, making Sylpha¡¯s eyes turn into torches and Vn¡¯s face into a pale sheet.

    "Are you using my honored guests or Distar¡¯s alleged allies of her death?" Sylpha calmed down, loosening her grip enough to let Deirus talk.

    "Thetter." He replied having to follow the Court¡¯s etiquette. "There¡¯s no other exnation to how Mirim managed to make her Marquisate flourish so much and to how the killer got inside her-"

    The Queen clenched her fist, squeezing the air and almost the life out of him as his neck popped.

    Archmage Deirus had fallen for Brinja¡¯s second trap. Only she and the Royals knew that the reason why the Distar Marquisate was so rich was that Mirim invested into it all of her rewards as both the Lord Commander of the Queen¡¯s corps and of the Corpse.

    What would have been a legitimate doubt in any other moment had turned into a stab to Sylpha¡¯s heart. Not only had Deirus attempted to dirty Mirim¡¯s reputation, he had also unwittingly med the Queen for her death.

    ¡¯Mirim died because she was too weak to defend herself. She died to defend the entire Kingdom. Without her, Prode would have fallen and yet this ungrateful vermin is trying to exploit her death to drag my friend in the mud!

    ¡¯He has no idea of the sacrifices Mirim made for this country. She¡¯s a hero that will forever remain unsung for national security reasons, but I¡¯ll be damned before I let anyone sully her memory.¡¯

    "How dare you?" Sylpha said as Vn¡¯s vertebras popped one by one and her hairdo came undone. Mana and fury made her hair whip around like a bunch of angry snakes.

    "He also called my mother an insolent woman. Everyone here heard him." Brinja dealt the final blow.

    "Is that true?" Sylpha asked.

    Lith, Ainz, Jirni, and everyone nearby nodded in unison. Even though the p had interrupted Deirus, the entire hall had heard him saying "your mother was an- insolent woman".

    Exining the truth would have been hard for Kwart and Onia. They would have to call a liar two Archmages, an Archon, and several other leading figures of the Kingdom.

    On top of that, they were afraid to be the next in Sylpha¡¯s line of fire, so even Deirus¡¯ allies didn¡¯t hesitate to turn their back on him to save their skin.

    "Good to know." Sylpha let Deirus¡¯s neck go and then punched him while he was still in mid-air.

    The hit shattered his sternum and all of his ribs, sending him to crash against the wall like a human projectile. The body of Deirus almost folded and his bones produced a sound awfully close to crunching cereals as they broke.

    "I had lifted your ban from social events to celebrate our victories and give us all a fresh start. Yet you dare toe into my house, to use my guests, and to sully the memory of a loyal servant of the Kingdom." Sylpha said.

    If not for the healing spell imbued in her fist, for the magical protections Deirus wore, and for the Castle safeguards, he would have been turned into a bloody pulp.

    "I hereby renew your ban. Heal Archmage Deirus enough to keep him stable and then send him away." While the valets followed the Queen¡¯s orders, the members of the young magical bloodlines came forward toin about the unfair treatment their leader had received.

    Then, they looked Sylpha in the eyes, gave her a deep bow, and ran to the closest restroom to clean their pants.

    "Did they say anything about Mirim?" Sylpha stared at the two remaining Archmages like a blood-hound at its prey.

    "No, Your Majesty. They didn¡¯t." Brinja had to be honest.

    There were too many witnesses and even though Sylpha would believe to her lie, it was bound to backfireter. Besides, she didn¡¯t need to add a single word to ruin their reputation in front of the Queen.

    The spite and hatred in Sylpha¡¯s eyes said it all. She considered them guilty as well by association.

    "If you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to fix my hair." Sylpha disappeared as she had arrived, in a blur.

    "Nice move, kid." Jirni whistled in approval. "You got Deirus out of our hair, renewed his ban, and helped your husband by crushing the reputation of his rival."

    "Thanks, Lady Ernas." Brinja said, smiling again. "Now I hope you understand why I¡¯ve been wearing my heart on the sleeve like a tantrumming kid until a while ago."

    "It was a trap all along!" Lith said.

    "I know that I¡¯m the weak link of our group, but that makes me weak onlypared to you two. Also, if I y it smart, I can turn my weakness into strength just like my mother taught me." Marchioness Distar said.

    "How long have you been preparing this ruse?" He asked.

    "Ever since you left my house. After calming down, I noticed the pity of my allies and the contempt of my enemies while they looked at me. At that point, I decided to act all broken until this very day in the hope that someone would take the bait." Brinja replied.

 Chapter 1464 Feints and Traps Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1464 Feints and Traps Part 2</h4>

    Jirni nodded, d to discover that the daughter of a Dragon was still a Dragon.

    Brinja had lived a sheltered life, but she had never stood idly. Ever since she had discovered her utterck of magical powers, Brinja had worked hard to help Mirim in every way she could.

    She had learned how to administer the Distar Marquisate to lessen the burden on her mother¡¯s shoulders, she had looked for a talented spouse that would bring new magical blood in the household, and she had dirtied her hands in the political arena.

    "Lith, thank the gods you¡¯re still here." Manohar rushed to them, stopping for a split second in horror at the sight of Jirni. "You have to help us."

    "Help you to do what?" Lith asked noticing that the Mad Professor had dragged along Ryssa who couldn¡¯t stopughing as tears of hrity streaked on her cheeks.

    "Ryssa and I want to convince Marth that as soon as Junior is born, he must work hard to make Manohar the third. If his kids are close in age, it will be easier to train them at the same time and the gods know how hard it is to find capable assistants." He said.

    "Yeah." Ryssa said while desperately trying to catch her breath. "But Duke is already scared at the idea of having one child and he says that he¡¯d rather go to war again than make another too soon."

    "On top of that, I¡¯m not going to name one of my children after you, let alone two!" Marth rushed to them wearing an angry face that was the opposite of Ryssa¡¯s warm smile. "You know nothing about children.

    "A man doesn¡¯t be a father just to getb assistants and I¡¯ll be damned before I let you anywhere near them!"

    "I know everything about children. I just don¡¯t want to make any of my own." Manohar projected a hologram about the ancient discipline of conceiving, making many people blush and forcing a Royal Guard to ask him to stop or be arrested for indecent acts.

    ¡¯I must say, everything I heard about Manohar doesn¡¯t do justice to his madness. The day he decides to be a Lich, the whole Mogar is bound to tremble.¡¯ Faluel said to Lith via a mind link whileughing her ass off.

    "I needed a goodugh." Lith said to Jirni while updating her about dion¡¯stest discoveries thanks to the perfect cover that Manohar¡¯s fuss had created.

    "Don¡¯t rx too much. Brinja may have dealt with Deirus but half of the people in this room are our enemies." Jirni said, taking a brief pause while she stared Lith in the eyes.

    She had many questions to ask him. Jirni wanted to know why all of her daughters spent so much time with him, why he had powers that no human was supposed to have, and also what was the secret that he shared with Nalear.

    Yet Jirni knew of the storm brewing at the horizon just like she knew that even the best ns failed when an unforeseeable event threw a monkey wrench at them.

    She couldn¡¯t risk alienating one of her most valuable allies.

    "Why did you break up with Kam and why does she refuse to speak about it? That poor girl is still devastated to this day. When she received her invitation to this g, she burst into tears and refused toe to not embarrass you, even though her absence will hinder her career.

    "Saying no to the Royals is a dumb move, no matter the reason. What did you do to her and to my daughter to make them care so much for you even after you went separate ways?" Jirni asked the only question she had left.

    She had even checked both women for ve items, finding them clean on multiple asions.

    "It¡¯splicated." Lith could feel Solus¡¯s ring weighing his hand as if he was holding a whole instead of a small stone.

    "It¡¯s not. Either you care for them or you don¡¯t. Anyway, that¡¯s our cue." Jirni pointed at a Royal valet that wasing their way.

    The young woman had a perfectly ironed suit consisting of a white shirt and scarf, a red waistcoat, and deep blue pants. She wore such a neutral expression that to Lith she looked like any other valet whereas Jirni recognized her as a bearer of bad news from the nervous twitch of her left pinkie finger.

    "Archmage Verhen, Archon Ernas, King Meron has required your presence. Please, follow me." She spoke with a perfectly audible voice yet it was so low that somehow no one else overheard her.

    "Please, lead the way." Lith checked his clock.

    Between Manohar¡¯s shenanigans and Brinja¡¯s ruse, it wasn¡¯t long before the award ceremony. After that, there would be only the ball before the G came to an end. It was the perfect time for his enemies to make theirst move before it was toote.

    The valet led them to a side room, where King Meron and Headmistress Onia, Deirus¡¯ second inmand, waited for them.

    ¡¯No Queen nor guard.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯Either the King wants our testimony about what happened between Brinja and Deirus or Onia is targeting me to keep her seat as the Headmistress of the ck Griffon.¡¯

    "Your Majesty." Lith and Jirni said, giving him a deep bow. "How may I be of service?"

    Meron looked both disgruntled and worried. He stared at Onia like at the worst party pooper ever while at Lith with a spark of doubt that needed to be extinguished.

    "Archmage Verhen, you have been summoned here to answer an urgent questioning. I would have never arranged one in the middle of a G if Archmage Onia didn¡¯t raise some disturbing doubts that need to be rified before the awarding ceremony.

    "Giving prizes that might soon after be taken away would set a dangerous precedent, something that I can¡¯t afford. I hereby order you to answer all of our questions with the truth and only the truth.

    "Archon Ernas is both your friend and a loyal servant of the Kigdom. Her role will be that of witness of the questioning and of your legal aid, were you to need one. Is everything clear?" The King asked.

    "Yes, your majesty." Lith replied.

    He and Jirni had expected somest-ditch political blow from Deirus or his faction, knowing that the attempt of making Brinja lose control and humiliate her in front of the entire court didn¡¯t qualify.

    To the majority of the Griffon Kingdom, Mirim Distar had been just the Marchioness of an important region and so was now her daughter. Brinja wasn¡¯t the Lord Commander of anything, making her downfall a sideshow at best.

    What either Lith and Jirni had failed to anticipate was that instead of striking right before the g, Deirus would attack right in the middle of it. It allowed his faction to perform an unexpected move at the worst possible time.

    No matter the oue, a questioning regarding a loyal member of the Kingdom like Lith would remain private. During a g organized specifically to award him along with the heroes of the recent war against the undead, however, a crack in the bond of trust between Lith and the Royals would be immediately exposed.

 Chapter 1465 Cornered Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1465 Cornered Part 1</h4>

    If the King didn¡¯t award Lith and his group during the ceremony, he would send a clear message to everyone who had half a brain. It would let the upper echelons of the Kingdom know that Verhen had fallen from grace and that there was something fishy about his alleged achievements.

    It would destroy Lith¡¯s public image and make him lose all the political supporters that he had left after Mirim¡¯s death. Few of them cared about the opinion of the young magical bloodlines, but none of them would risk losing the Royals¡¯ favor for a nobody.

    ¡¯This would have never happened if Mirim was still alive.¡¯ Solus said via the mind link. ¡¯Thanks to her nature of fake Awakened and to her bond with Tyris, she would have found a way to disprove whatever usation Onia is about to throw at you.

    ¡¯Now that she¡¯s gone, however, Tyris has no direct connection to those factions of the Court and of the Awakenedmunity that like you. Mirim¡¯s sessor is probably too busy finding a new member of the Corpse and adapting to their new responsibilities to care about you.¡¯

    ¡¯I know. Without Mirim, I¡¯m politically exposed from every side. Let¡¯s see what Onia has prepared for us.¡¯ Lith replied.

    "Very well. Onia, proceed." Meron took a step back, letting the Headmistress face Lith.

    "Know that I draw no pleasure from what I¡¯m going to say, yet it¡¯s something that any loyal subject of the Kingdom would do." Onia was as genuine as a three-dor bill but her acting skills impressed even Jirni.

    "You see, after reviewing your amazing feats there¡¯s something that¡¯s really bothering not only me, but the entire Court. Every time you achieved something unprecedented, like fighting Dawn, you were alone.

    "Casually, whenever witnesses or treasures were involved, like the orc crystal, you failed.

    "The mission in Kh was a disaster, you barely provided assistance against Thrud in Othre, and in Jambel you cost the Kigdom precious silver mines thatter you conveniently took over with means considered impossible for humans." Onia¡¯s eyes and voice oozed sarcasm and spite.

    "We all have witnessed Dawn¡¯s prowess. She brought the legendary god of healing on his knees, a peerless genius, who needed one of the Royal artifacts to survive, yet somehow, you lived to tell the tale. Some even say you actually won.

    "You¡¯ve crafted the DoLorean, something that not even our best Royal Forgemaster can replicate, andst, but not least, you¡¯ve brought down another lost city. Countless geniuses tried and failed, yet you seeded despite being no genius at all.

    "I¡¯ve reviewed your academic scores, your patents, and albeit impressive for someone your age, they are nothing much ifpared with what Manohar achieved during his youth.

    "On top of that, not only did swarms of powerful beasts intervene when your home was attacked, but also you followed an Emperor Beast past the Kingdom¡¯s borders, uncaring of causing a diplomatic incident with the Empire, to solve their problems.

    "Finally, during yourst birthday, several Phoenixes visited your home and I can see they gave you a pretty gift." Onia pointed at Lith¡¯s Phoenix-shaped brooch.

    "As I and many like me see it, this poses the question where your loyalty orck thereof lies. For years there have been rumors of beasts disguising themselves as humans and infiltrating our society the same way the Undead Courts do."

    Onia took a holographic device out of her sleeve, depicting Lith¡¯s fight against the Vagrash while the Beast had shapeshifted from his human form.

    "What are you using me of, exactly?" Lith asked.

    "Everyone knows that for some reason you¡¯ve always been on the best of terms with Emperor Beasts, to the point that one of them even took you in as her apprentice. Something that¡¯s rarer than a double rainbow.

    "What I¡¯m saying is that I suspect you to be a double agent of the Beasts. That I suspect that you achieved nothing on your own and relied on their help to perform any of the alleged miracles listed in your resume.

    "It would exin everything, included why you¡¯ve taken care of bringing to the beasts¡¯ side some of the most promising youths of our Kingdom, like Mages Quy and Friya Ernas and even the ex-Ranger Eari." Onia stepped back, leaving the stage to the King again.

    "Sadly, I can¡¯t refute Headmistress Onia¡¯s allegations without a proper exnation." Meron believed that Lith was an Awakened, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to dispel the doubts that Deirus¡¯ faction had nted in his head.

    Not after Xedros had be Thrud¡¯s follower and with the ongoing war against the undead. The Royals couldn¡¯t afford a war against the Beasts as well. If they really were infiltrating the Kingdom for political reasons, they had to be weeded out before it was toote.

    "Your Majesty, how am I supposed to prove that I didn¡¯t do something? It¡¯s impossible. I can¡¯t make Dawne here and fight her in front of you again.

    "I can¡¯t craft another DoLorean in the presence of witnesses because it would mean giving away my secrets." Lith wasn¡¯t referring only to his spells, but also to Solus¡¯s existence and Friya¡¯s involvement in the project.

    "Also, I can¡¯t topple another lost city on demand. Both times I seeded thanks to luck and because I got help. In Kaduria, against the ck Star, I would¡¯ve never won if not for learning its ancientnguage and for the aid of the very Forgemasters who crafted the living legacy.

    "Kolga would have never fallen if I didn¡¯t find by chance the device that fueled the dark rift and without the help of my sister and Captain Ernas. You can ask them if you don¡¯t believe me." Lith said.

    "Questioning two people you¡¯ve brought to the beasts¡¯ side months after those events would prove nothing." Onia chimed in. "You had all the time you needed to make your versions of the story match."

    "Then what do you want me to do?" Lith ignored the Headmistress and looked only at the King. "Unless someone can conveniently turn back time and bring us on the sites of my missions, my words would be just as empty as Headmaster Onia¡¯s."

    "Correct. Words can¡¯t prove anything. Actions, however, would speak volumes about your character." Meron said.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "I can¡¯t ask you to disclose your secrets without setting an even worse precedent that taking back merits would, but I can ask you to prove your talent." The King curled his upper lip in disgust looking at Onia¡¯s smug expression.

    "Everyone knows that you are an incredible fighter. The army even marked you as an M tier soldier which makes your physical prowess out of question."

    At those words, Lith sighed in relief. For a moment, he had feared that someone would check his life force again, suspecting him to be an Emperor Beast in disguise. Yet Thanks to his many medical records and having been examined by the best healers of the Kingdom in the past, the loss of his humanity wouldn¡¯t be discovered.

    "The problem is that even during the Academy¡¯s ritual fight, you always settled things up with raw strength, never with spells. What Onia said is right. The only notable thing from your academic records is your skill as a diagnostician.

 Chapter 1466 Cornered Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1466 Cornered Part 2</h4>

    "I need you to showcase your skills as a mage, not as a brawler, against someone who is a universally recognized paragon of skill and in front of enough witness to dispel any doubt about your ability to perform such miracles." Meron said.

    "Do you want him to fight? Right here and now?" Jirni was bbergasted

    Not only was such a request unprecedented, but failure toply or win would also destroy the many years of Lith¡¯s hard work. It would potentially turn the youngest Archmage of his generation into another Nana.

    ¡¯Dammit! Between my projects with Vastor, protecting my family, and my job, theck ofmunication between the Ernas Arch Duchy and the Distar Marquisate allowed Deirus to beat me.

    ¡¯If only Mirim was still alive, she would¡¯ve taken care of this nonsense, or at least she would have warned me and I would have done the rest. Either mywork of spies has beenpromised or the chaos following Mirim¡¯s death crippled it.¡¯ Jirni thought.

    "Correct, Archon Ernas." The King nodded. "Archmage Verhen, if you ept my unreasonable and untimely request, you are going to fight one of your peers, another Archmage, and you can only use magic.

    "Anything that even resembles a physical attack will result in your immediate defeat. I¡¯m sorry and proud to say that just like people call Manohar the Never Magus, they also call you the Soldier Magus.

    "It¡¯s not your physical strength we¡¯re questioning, only your magical talents."

    "What if I refuse?" Lith asked.

    "I wouldn¡¯t be able to give you nor to any of your associates any award tonight and Archmage Kwart would receive the Royal authorization to review all of your past reports and actions while you were both a student and a Ranger." The King replied.

    Jirni draw Lith close, whispering to his ear all the possible consequences that his fall from grace would cause.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t give a shit about tonight¡¯s rewards, but I can¡¯tpromise everyone¡¯s career, the future Verhen Mansion, and the security of my family in one fell swoop. On top of that, it would also affect the kids¡¯ chances of joining an academy and even Kam!¡¯ Lith¡¯s fury rose to a point that he needed to close his eyes to conceal it.

    "I ept. Who do I have to fight and how?"

    "This is a Royal G, not a diator arena. We are going to introduce the event as a friendly spar meant to showcase your talents." Meron said. "Of course, no magic outside tier zero will be allowed. It¡¯s also prohibited to hurt, cripple, or kill the opponent.

    "The Kingdom can¡¯t afford to lose a single Archmage so we¡¯ll use a First Blood array and elemental blocking arrays of all elements, to avoid idents." The King threw a mean look at Onia, who pretended not to notice.

    "Archmage Verhen, know that I, Meron Griffon, have absolute faith in your talents and loyalty, yet as a King, I can¡¯t afford such a luxury. I¡¯m not a tyrant and I must abide by thews of the First King like everyone else in this room."

    "Thanks, Your Majesty." Lith gave him a deep bow while Jirni enjoyed the Headmistress¡¯ scowl.

    Meron¡¯s words meant that he still sided with Lith and that he had no intention to implement harsh punishments. On top of that, the King had also reminded Onia of the powers that thew bestowed upon him.

    "Your opponent will be Archmage Kwart. His achievements are undeniable and he is the youngest Chairman that the Association had in decades." Meron had been forced to pick the youngest Archmage among the Deirus¡¯s faction to clear any doubt.

    Archmages were rare to start with and anyone who was considered having a good impression of Lith might have been suspected of losing on purpose. The King had chosen Kwart for several reasons.

    He was closer to Lith¡¯s age than his peers, limiting the advantage that practice and experience would have given to any other Archmage over the youth. Also, due to the well-known animosity between them, the result of the fight would benefit Lith.

    Considering how much Kwart despised Archmage Verhen, in the case of defeat people would not take it to heart and would me the result on the age gap, limiting the damages to Lith¡¯s reputation.

    If Lith won, instead, the same reasons that would alleviate the consequences of his failure would make it a crushing defeat that would force Deirus¡¯s faction to shut up once and for all.

    Two birds with one stone.

    Everyone followed the King while he walked back to the Dance Hall, stopping the music and drawing the lights on himself with a snap of his fingers.

    "My dear subjects, I¡¯m pleased to tell you that two of the youngest and most powerful Archmages of our generation have decided to make this night even more memorable for us." Meron said with a magically amplified voice.

    "Yeah, right." Grand Duchess Kolmy whispered. "I told you so. Manohar must have thrown a tantrum and forced the King to set up the stage. He wants to beat Verhen to a pulp but I bet that he will get his ass handed to him."

    "Shhh!" Many said while nodding.

    Manohar¡¯s talent was loved like a savior whereas his person was valued akin to a rabid dog.

    A wave of Meron¡¯s hand activated both the First Blood array and the Life Preserving array while also lifting the restriction on first magic in a circle with a diameter of fifteen meters (45 feet).

    The first magical formation would stop the fight the moment a single drop of blood was spilled, the second would prevent the death of either contestant in the case something unpredictable happened, while the third limited their powers to tier zero only.

    "Our first contender doesn¡¯t need any introduction. Archmage Verhen performed so many amazing feats that to list them all it would take us the whole night." Meron said while making Lith step inside the circle of light and pinning a griffon brooch to his chest.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve got bad news.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯Somehow the brooch blocks my tower half and by doing that it¡¯s also affecting me. I can¡¯t cast spells anymore. You are on your own.¡¯

    ¡¯Dammit. It must be a safety measure to keep cheaters from using artifacts.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Meanwhile, the crowd exploded with cheers while Kolmy nudged to her left and right, wearing an "I told you so" smug grin.

    "The second, but neither for skill or reputation, is Archmage Kwart." Meron attached another brooch to him as Lith¡¯s opponent stepped forward.

    Archmage Pezkat Kwart was a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.76 meters (5¡¯9") tall, with grey eyes and brown hair streaked blue and yellow all over. He had reached the position of Chairman of the Association because his talent for magic was only matched by that he had for politics and by his ambition.

    He came from a powerful family that had made his rise to sess easier, but not because of their support so much as for the amount of training they had allowed him to undergo and for the resources they had invested in his studies.

    He waved at the crowd with the bearing and the confidence of a winner, only to be weed by a deafening silence that only the chirping of crickets might have made worse.

    Maybe.

    "In your face! Pay up." Duke Phalmar said, realizing that the room had gone silent only when it was toote.

    Kolmy, the King, and many others red at him, but the Grand Duchess paid him nheless.

 Chapter 1467 Violet Cores Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1467 Violet Cores Part 1</h4>

    ¡¯I¡¯ve got more bad news.¡¯ Solus said. ¡¯The fucker wore a cloaking device that kept me from noticing earlier that he has a blood core. Kwart is a thrall.¡¯

    Unbeknownst to her, Solus was dead wrong. Deirus had predicted how things would have gone and what kind of demonstration the King would have opted for down to the smallest detail.

    He had not only forced all the Archmages of his group to practice first magic like madmen and to pass unto each other the tips they had collected their whole lives, but he had also hired a Vampire from his contacts in the Courts to give them just enough juice for the task at hand.

    Vampires didn¡¯t take thralls easily since it drained from them the power that they bestowed upon their servants, but the price that Deirus paid would allow the undead to keep enjoying his luxurious life while also staying out of the war.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways.¡¯ Lith replied as whispers filled the room.

    No one wondered why Manohar had given up defending his honor. They were too busy making bets and discussing the most likely win rates.

    "I give Verhen 3-1 and Kwart 6-5." Marquis Xenth said.

    "Bullshit! I give Verhen 1-2 and Kwart 5-1." Orion said.

    "I bet 10,000 gold coins on Verhen." Manohar said to Xenth, obtaining a receipt. "If I win, I¡¯ll prepare a baby-sizedb for Junior in their crib."

    "Let me go. I¡¯m going to kill this fucker!" Marth roared while Vastor needed all of his Abomination strength to keep the Headmaster from putting his threats into practice.

    "10,000 on Verhen for me as well." Ryssa said, making her husband freeze in a stupor.

    "He is my student! How can you do that?"

    "I like human clothes and you keep saying that I need to get my own money instead of spending yours." The Dryad pouted.

    "I wanted you to get an honest job in the academy, not to be a gambler!"

    Meron inhaled sharply, not knowing whether to be more enraged by the bets or by the fact that they all knew what was at stake and yet no one but Marth seemed to care.

    "Dick move, dear." Jirni red at Orion who was swarmed by those who had inside knowledge of Kwart¡¯s skills and by Deirus¡¯s allies who wanted to ruin the Ernas by sucking their finances dry.

    "Not at all. We¡¯ve both seen the little monster fight. This way, I can make up for the money that your crazy experiments are draining and suck Deirus¡¯s cohorts dry at the same time." He shrugged.

    "Do you think that Lith can win?" Phloria asked while shaking Tista as if she was a tree whose ripe fruits would fall.

    Phloria looked lovely in her golden evening dress that emphasized her olive skin and the blue shades of her long hair.

    "I think that I will puke if you don¡¯t stop immediately." Tista replied. "As for your question, I don¡¯t know. Lith has gone through a lot, but chore magic can still cut his skin. On top of that, no one bes an Archmage for nothing."

    Kwart was almost double Lith¡¯s age and everyone assumed that it also gave him a simr head start in magical practice. Aside from Solus, no one knew that Lith had started his career as a magician from the crib.

    "Before Lightkeep, I would have said no." Quy replied. "I¡¯ve seen Manohar cast so quickly that you can barely see his fingers. Most Archmages don¡¯t even need to chant the hardest runes if they want to cast silently.

    "Yet now that he¡¯s got the you-know-what, it should be enough to make up for the gap in experience."

    s, Quy had no idea of the Vampire blood coursing through Kwart¡¯s veins that boosted his abilities.

    "Don¡¯t worry." Friya said, trying to keep people from looking down her V-neckline. "You¡¯re forgetting that beside you-know-what, Lith also has you-know-who by his side."

    Too bad that the mystical seal had turned Solus into just another spectator, leaving Lith alone.

    Lith was the only one to know all the truth about his own odds and started to cast his spells the moment Meron announced the fight. Too soon would drain his focus, toote and it would have been meaningless.

    Kwart did the same because no matter the title bestowed upon them, even an Archmage could keep only so many spells at the ready, and reaching his limit too soon would have wasted tons of precious mana.

    ¡¯I¡¯m almost sorry for you, Verhen. Almost.¡¯ Kwart thought. ¡¯You have an amazing talent and a seemingly limitless potential, yet you chose to squander it all.

    ¡¯You could have easily climbed the ranks of the Association. You could have helped me to save it from the pinch the Association has been in ever since Balkor started to attack the Kingdom.

    ¡¯You and I could have made Mogar a better ce for all of our fellow mages, no matter if of noble ormoner origin. Yet you chose to be the army¡¯spdog instead, helping our rivals just to feed your own petty ambitions.

    ¡¯And what did you get for your trouble? A rank you don¡¯t care about and a power you never used except that to get discounts when you shopped with your girlfriend!

    ¡¯Defeating isn¡¯t enough, I need to destroy you. I¡¯m not going to waste time with pointless banter or ying around. I¡¯m going to win so quickly that everyone will think that you are an ipetent mage who betrayed his own race to get the help of the beasts.

    ¡¯You and I know that it¡¯s not true, but with all the rumors that Deirus¡¯s has been spreading around, people will believe it. After all, people don¡¯t give a damn about the truth, the only thing they care about is having fun.

    ¡¯And there¡¯s nothing funnier than seeing a so-called hero fall from grace. Reading the records of what happened to Lady Nerea made my stomach churn, but it also inspired me.

    ¡¯I¡¯ll make sure you end up like your master so that once the Balkor copycat kills your whole family, the rest of the young mages will learn the consequences of not being on the good side of the Association.

    ¡¯In this world, truth and talent are pointless in the face of power and influence.¡¯ Kwart thought while gritting his teeth and remembering Lith¡¯s past feats that had made the army stronger and weakened the Association.

    "Begin!" Meron¡¯s voice allowed both mages to unleash their respective first volley of first magic spells.

    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise, Lith included, the result of the sh was a draw.

    Lith had a quicker cast thanks to his deep violet core that allowed him to weave spells with his body, but Kwart with his bright violet was capable of keeping a greater number of spells at the ready.

    Kwart snarled, activating air fusion to move beyond the limits of a human. The Vampire blood coursing through his veins gave him an unnatural affinity to air and darkness magic and Kwart had trained specifically for that event.

    Thebined effect of his bright violet core, the Vampire¡¯s blood, and his relentless practice allowed him to cast a second barrage of over 45 first magic spells while the first volleys were still shing against each other.

 Chapter 1468 Violet Cores Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1468 Violet Cores Part 2</h4>

    Kwart weaved 15 spells with his hands, another 15 with his voice, and everything else with his mind.

    The contenders had infused their spells with willpower so that they could use them as both attacks and shields. A single drop of blood was all that it took to lose thepetition, making defense of paramount importance.

    Lith, instead, had managed to cast barely over 35 spells of which 10 from his mind, hands, and voice each while the rest came from body casting. He had 19 years of magical training, whereas Kwart had over 25 of them.

    To make matters worse, Lith¡¯s time had always been spread thin between the many disciplines he practiced whereas during thest few months Kwart had devoted himself solely to this duel.

    Unlike him, Lith had no training in using so many different kinds of casting methods at the same time. It required him a focus that kept him frozen in ce like a scarecrow.

    The only reason why Lith managed tost after the second volley was that the hard light shields that he had conjured before the start of the fight as a part of the first volley of spells had tanked Kwart¡¯s attacks in his stead.

    ¡¯I can see why you like beasts more than humans. They taught you Light Mastery, something I¡¯ve been begging Manohar to share ever since we were still students at our respective academies. I hope your fall will make that jackass suffer.¡¯ Kwart thought.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways, the problem with casting while moving is that I need to actually move but the King warned me that if I perform something that even resembles a physical attack I¡¯ll be disqualified.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯On top of that, there¡¯s little space in here, and focusing to produce so many spells in so little time from four different sources is really hard!¡¯

    Lith gritted his teeth seeing the bright purple light burning inside Kwart¡¯s eyes as he unleashed a third volley of over 50 spells, making the jaws of the spectators fall onto the ground.

    "50 spells at the same time? Deca-casting is already hard, but five times that? Is that even possible?" Even the Awakened hidden among the Court members looked at the Chairman of the Association with respect, remembering why fake mages couldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    Yet glory and admiration were wasted on Kwart whose aim was to finish the match quickly, not to impress a bunch of sheep.

    ¡¯This should have been over from the first volley! The longer this goes on, the more people will see Lith as the amazing mage that he is. If it keeps up like this, even if I win, he will not be humiliated in the least!¡¯

    Lith pumped more mana into his shields, strengthening them as he took a small step forward that conjured 3 more spells. The backs of his hands touched, producing 5 more, all the while his fingers never stopped tracing runes from what was an awkward position.

    Then, Lith brought his hands apart while quickly sidestepping an air de that had gotten past his defenses, producing 10 more cantrips, for a total of 53 spells.

    Only thanks to his mental fortitude and strict training did Kwart manage to not blurt out a "What?" that would have interrupted his casting. The spectators stared with their mouths agape, realizing that even though the number of active spells cast from either side matched, Lith had moved to the offensive nheless.

    Unlike Kwart, he had carried over his shields from the first volley. Every spell that they intercepted allowed Lith to send one of his own against the Chairman who couldn¡¯t afford to ignore them.

    Kwart used air fusion to sidestep while using a part of the newly conjured spells to defend himself. Lith mirrored his movements to always remain at the opposite side of the field and also to weave five light bullets, bringing his spells to 58.

    With each step that Kwart took to dodge, he also allowed Lith to move around and cast more spells. Soon all the Chairman could do was to focus on defense whereas Lith had found his rhythm.

    ¡¯Thanks, jackass. I had almost forgotten that while you just use magic, I am magic!¡¯ He thought as he weaved runes through the beating of his heart and the blood flow in his veins.

    Once over 70 of Lith¡¯s spells filled the air, Kwart raised his hands in surrender.

    Lith, however, pretended to not notice and didn¡¯t stop. He made the cantrips strike at the Chairman all at the same time so that the First Blood array wouldn¡¯t stop them. The swarm of spells turned into a waveprised of blunt objects that drowned Kwart.

    Bruises didn¡¯t shed blood and neither did cracked bones. A crunching sound akin to snapped twigs filled the air as the magical tide lifted the helpless Chairman in the air due to the collective strength of their hits.

    "You must stop the fight!" Onia grabbed Meron¡¯s arm, obtaining only a re and two heavy hands on her shoulders for it.

    The Royal Guards brought Onia onto her knees for touching the King without his permission.

    "What did you say?" Meron¡¯s stone-cold voice echoed through the hall. "Did you really had the gall to give an order to the King?"

    "Your Majesty, please, I beg of you. Stop it. It¡¯s just a massacre now. Verhen is exploiting the rules. Don¡¯t let him taint these hallowed halls with blood." Onia kneeled while hitting the ground with her forehead in a plea for mercy.

    "Exploiting the rules. Why does this sound familiar?" Meron took his time thinking while Kwart suffered internal injuries from Lith¡¯s relentless onught that now filled the space inside the dome.

    "I hope this will teach you a lesson. Actions have consequences and even though I¡¯m no tyrant, I¡¯m the King. Bend myws and I¡¯ll bend you in more ways than you can conceive." Meron said, addressing the entire room, not just Onia.

    "But you are right. We¡¯ve seen enough death already and we are here to celebrate, not to hold a funeral. Archmage Verhen, stop!"

    An air de cut Kwart¡¯s cheek, activating the First Blood array and making Lith¡¯s victory undeniable.

    "The winner is Spellbreaker Archmage Verhen! It¡¯s no wonder you managed to achieve so many amazing feats with such a talent for magic." The King said while a group of healers took away the unconscious Chairman and cleaned the abundant blood that had started spilling from his mouth.

    "Many say that your height makes you quite attractive, but I think that your real charm is your eyes. Why don¡¯t you show my guests what I mean?" Meron said with a warm smile as he removed the magical seal from Lith¡¯s clothes.

    ¡¯Son of a gun! I had almost forgotten what Mirim told me. The King is a fake Awakened which means that even though he has no Invigoration, he still has Life Vision.¡¯ Lith thought while finally letting his mana reach his eyes that shone of a deep violet.

    The entire room gasped in amazement as they realized what Meron had known all along. Even though people had no concept of cores, after centuries of magical studies, the fact that the glow in someone¡¯s eyes matched their raw strength was well known.

 Chapter 1469 Award Ceremony Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1469 Award Ceremony Part 1</h4>

    The fact that magical talent could increase until the 20 years of age was public knowledge, which allowed Lith to showcase the progress of his core whereas Vastor had to hid his own.

    The magicalmunity valued people like Manohar, Kwart, and Ainz not only because of their genius, but also because of the violet light in their eyes. For the same reason, once Vastor had reached 20 and remained bright blue, he had been ssified as a second-rate genius.

    ¡¯This stupid game allowed me to kill two birds with one stone.¡¯ The King thought. ¡¯I foiled Deirus¡¯s n and I finally confirmed my suspicions. Lith is an Awakened. Amazing talent my royal ass, the only way he could beat Kwart was with body casting.

    ¡¯Still, reaching the violet core at neen is even more impressive, unless Lady Faluel the Hydra taught him, of course. Yet this will be a question for another day.¡¯

    "I won! I won!" Manohar and Ryssa hugged each other, each of them lost in their respective fantasy.

    "Pay up, pal." Orion said to those around him, collecting a small fortune.

    Only those who wanted to bet against Lith had gone to him, making Lord Ernas have only gains and no losses.

    "That was crazy. Why did you show off like that?" Faluel said after congratting Lith.

    "To send a message to Deirus, to the person who sends the Balkor cards, and to anyone who might be considering to mess with me." He replied. "To let them know that once I start attacking, I won¡¯t stop unless I¡¯m forced to."

    The banquet went on only until the Dance Hall was cleaned up and everyone calmed down. Then, the moment for the Award ceremony arrived.

    Princess Synti, Wynna, and Peonia, the only ones still unmarried and of a suitable age for Lith looked at him with annoyance. Faluel was glued to his arm like a m to a rock and he didn¡¯t give them of a single look.

    "Brinja is right, he is an Archole." Synti had gone to the Desert to reach Mage Hossa and undergo Cosmetic Magic for the asion, yet she couldn¡¯tpare with the Hydra.

    "Agreed." Wynna replied. "Marrying a princess is the dream of everymoner, and yet he never epted to go on a single date with any of us."

    "I¡¯m happier this way." Peonia shrugged. "He may be strong and talented, but he brings nothing but trouble. I don¡¯t care about what Mom and Dad say. I already live in a cage and Verhen is not worth receiving a Balkor card."

    The other princesses pondered her words for a while before deciding that the grape was sour and that they had actually dodged a bullet.

    "Please, Heroes of our Kingdom, step forward." The King said while magically amplifying his voice.

    A red carpet split the room in two halves where the guests lined up on either side, leaving both the red carpet and the space in front of the Royals¡¯ raised stand open. General Vorgh, Manohar, Lith, Tista, and Phloria were lined up in this order, bending their right knee in a sign of respect.

    "General Vorgh, you are a soldier and our loyal Master Warden. With this award, I¡¯m not only thanking you for your services but also all of the Wardens and the soldiers who fought bravely to keep Belius, Prode, and Vesta standing.

    "Without those courageous men and women, the Kingdom would have fallen. For your hard work and sacrifice, you have my gratitude." Meron gave Vorgh a golden staff that guaranteed honors to him and annuities to the families of the fallen soldiers.

    "Spellbreaker, Archduke, Archmage..." Here the King had a hard time not adding Archole to the god of healing¡¯s many titles.

    Brinja¡¯s buzzword had quickly be popr.

    "...Light Master, Krishna Varaja Manohar. Your talent and amazing feats are a beacon for every mage in our Kingdom. With this award, I¡¯m not only rewarding you for protecting Belius, but also all the mages out there that will remain unsung heroes yet will never be forgotten."

    Meron spoke only about his talents, not of Manohar as a person because he was still a nightmare for everyone who had the displeasure to meet him.

    "Couldn¡¯t you give it to one of them, then? I¡¯ve got stuff to do and-" The King¡¯s re triggered a powerful array that made the god of healing shut up as he received a golden robe that symbolized the wealth that the mages of the Kingdom but him would receive.

    Until Manohar cast a spell powerful enough to rece the When All Are One array that he had wasted, there would be only training in his future.

    "Spellbreaker Archmage Lith Verhen, ever since your days as a student of the White Griffon, you have shed countless tears, sweat, and blood for this Country. Your feats are too many to list them all in the space of a single night, yet two of them deserve a very special mention.

    "The first is the destruction at your hand of not one, but two lost cities.

    "The death of those eternal monsters allowed the Kingdom to create safer and faster trading routes that save people days of travel. To turn wastnds into cultivated fields that produce enough food to make the winter of the north less scary.

    "To invest the resources that are no more necessary for the surveince of the living legacies to make life better for the inhabitants of the Ker region. Just one of those things is worthy of praise, but all of them at the same time are the most precious gift that the Kingdom could have asked for.

    "The second, instead, is an act of creation. The DoLorean you crafted bent the boundaries of magic andw as we knew it, but that¡¯s not a bad thing. Even though you refused to share its secrets, you showed us that the impossible is actually possible.

    "You didn¡¯t show us the way, but now that we know where the destinationys, others will be inspired by your work and find their own way to reach it. It¡¯s for this reason that I have the pleasure to announce that the Verhen Household will soon have a mansion worthy of its name."

    At a snap of the King¡¯s fingers, one of the gemstones in the ceiling generated in the middle of the Dance Hall a 3D hologram of the blueprint for the Verhen Mansion that Mirim had designed.

    "The Crown will take care of building your new home and fund its array system, also bestowing upon you the title of Protector of the Lustria County that gives you full authority over thosends.

    "I will not offer younds or titles because I know that you¡¯d refuse them. What I can offer you, however, is this."

    Another snap made a solid block of Adamant appear in front of Lith.

    "Your de is a masterpiece that can hardly be equaled, let alone surpassed, whereas I know that your current armor is but your first piece as a Runesmith. I¡¯m certain that once you¡¯ve achieved enough mastery, you¡¯ll need Adamant to put your skills to the test."

    ¡¯It¡¯s still impure and much smaller than Zolgrish¡¯s, but together with the Adamant I got from Jiera, it should be enough for a new armor even after purifying it.¡¯ Lith thought while giving the Royals a deep bow of gratitude.

 Chapter 1470 Award Ceremony Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1470 Award Ceremony Part 2</h4>

    "Mage Tista Verhen, I¡¯ve heard of your contribution in taking down the lost city of Kogaluga and I¡¯m pleased to learn that you¡¯re following in your brother¡¯s footsteps as a guardian of this Kingdom."

    "Yet your achievements are too small to allow me to make you into a Great Mage. Would you be interested in bing a feudal lord and help Count Jadon Lark in administering the Lustria County?

    "You would have your personal fief and the authority to protect both your family and friends." The King said.

    "Thanks for your kind offer, Your Majesty, but I have to refuse. The practice of magic requires too much time for me to properly take care of even one single farm. Yet, I have a request, if you will allow me." Tista replied.

    "Speak freely." Meron nodded.

    "Before her death, Lady Nerea, Nana, asked my brother to promise her not to seek justice for her. Yet I don¡¯t share his oath and my mentor was precious to me. I can¡¯t live with the thought that even in death she¡¯s marked by infamy.

    "To make peace with it, I need to know what happened to her." Tista said.

    "That will not be a problem." Sylpha pped her hands, making a small booklet appear in front of Tista. "Those events happened almost sixty years ago, way before my time, and most of the people involved are dead.

    "Those are the official records hence I¡¯m granting you clearance to read its contents but not to divulge them. Are we clear?"

    "Thanks, your Majesty." Tista gave a bow in reply.

    "One more thing. My husband and your brother have one thing inmon. They are too stingy." Sylpha made a block of Adamant appear for Tista, almost giving Meron a stroke.

    "We can¡¯t expect someone to perform great deeds if theyck the proper resources. Get yourself a decent armor and consider that Adamant as an investment that the Royal Family is making in you."

    ¡¯She is also getting the damn mansion! You¡¯re going overboard.¡¯ The King said via their mind link.

    ¡¯Does Valeron¡¯s blood make you a cheapskate or is it just you?¡¯ Sylpha replied with a scoff. ¡¯You just said that we¡¯re saving millions of gold coins from not having to look after the lost cities anymore. What¡¯s the big deal with a bit of Adamant?¡¯

    ¡¯Not saving, reinvesting!¡¯ Meron said with a snarl. ¡¯It means we¡¯re not getting anything in our pockets. We are spending the same sum as before but for different reasons.¡¯

    ¡¯Reasons that in due time will make us a fortune. Now quit whining and let¡¯s get over with the ceremony.¡¯ Sylpha cut the mind link and looked at Phloria.

    "Captain Ernas, you ranked third at the Academy despite having a single specialization. After graduating, you immediately enrolled in the army, and from that moment onwards you dedicated your life to serve your country.

    "You sacrificed your personal life, you put your life on the line every single day, and achieved one of the most brilliant careers that the Kingdom had ever seen in centuries.

    "s, the mission in Kh, of which you weren¡¯t responsible in any way, didn¡¯t cost you just the life of your loyal soldiers and of the people you had been tasked to protect. It also cost you your career.

    "There¡¯s no telling what heights you might have reached if greed didn¡¯t blind us all to the point of underestimating the Odi¡¯s trickery. That¡¯s why I¡¯m d to tell you that your trial is finally over.

    "After revising the testimonies and the evidence collected, the Crown, the Mage Association, and the Army unanimously dere you not guilty on all charges." Queen Sylpha said.

    "Turning an archaeological expedition into a scouting mission was an ill-fated decision to which you opposed with all of your strength." She projected a record of Phloria asking to abort the mission and wait for reinforcements.

    "It was the Professors¡¯ choice that led them to their doom. No matter how valiant a defender is, they can¡¯t defend someone from themselves. Yet even though it was the Professors who demanded to continue the mission, they are not the only ones at fault.

    "General Berion and us Royals took the decision out of your hand. If there¡¯s someone guilty among the survivors of the Kh failure that¡¯s us. Yet ensuring the national security will always be worth a few lives and the horrors that the Odi were about to unleash on Garlen proved us right.

    "They had the technology and the means to be a threat even greater than the Undead Courts and if not for that ill-fated decision, we¡¯d have discovered their presence only when it was toote.

    "For that reason, Berion shall not be punished and the Crown is not going to apologize for doing what was best for the Kingdom.

    "Captain Ernas, the Crown appreciated your personal sacrifice during the mission. We also appreciated you willingly submitting to our judgment instead of trying to muddle the waters and dirtying state affairs with political ys."

    Sylpha¡¯s eyes red at Onia and Kwart for just a few seconds, but long enough for everyone to notice.

    "We can never thank you enough for your contribution in bringing down Kogaluga even when your country seemed to have turned its back to you. For all these reasons, I¡¯m ready to reinstate you in the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, if you still want to be a part of it.

    "I¡¯m promoting you of two ranks because destroying a lost city would have made you a major, and if not for this trial, I¡¯m sure that by now you would have collected enough merits to rise the ranks of your own." Sylpha said.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty." Warm tears streaked down Phloria¡¯s face, but her voice remained steady. "Your words mean the world to me and I¡¯ve been dreaming of hearing them ever since the day I have been suspended.

    "Yet my answer is no. I¡¯ve dedicated my entire life to join the army, considering it my second family. It has always been my dream to earn my stripes as a member of the Knight¡¯s Guard, but dreams always end at sunrise.

    "Now I¡¯ve got a new family that needs me and new dreams to pursue. I will always consider the Griffon Kingdom as my home, but if there¡¯s something that I¡¯ve learned during the past two years is that I don¡¯t need to be a part of the army to protect my country."

    Orion flinched at those words and his eyes turned watery. He had fond memories of his little flower ying Knight as a child, wearing the huge uniform of her father and pretending to be one of his soldiers.

    He had still a beef with the army, the Association, and even the Crown so what hurt him wasn¡¯t Phloria quitting the army so much as she changing her life in a direction where he couldn¡¯t protect her anymore.

    "Your words sadden me, but the choice is yours to make." Meron stepped forward, raising the Sword of Saefel so that everyone could see it. "I still grant you the army rank and clearance level of a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the army as a reward for your loyal services.

 Chapter 1471 Dance Partners Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1471 Dance Partners Part 1</h4>

    "Also, since no number of merits can expand an Archduchy and your noble title is second only to the Crown, the only way I have left to not waste your considerable merits is to bestow upon you the title of Great Mage of the Griffon Kingdom."

    The King said while tapping the t side of the de on Phloria¡¯s left shoulder, then on the right one, andstly on the top of her head.

    "Great Mage Phloria Ernas, if you ever change your mind and decide to actively join the Mage Association or the Army again, the Griffon Kingdom will always wee you with open arms. You may rise."

    The five assembled heroes stood up and the crowd weed them with a burst of apuse and cheers as they returned back to their positions.

    "Ainz Flemstar Distar, step forward." Sylpha¡¯s words made the crowd freeze in surprise.

    The award ceremony was supposed to be over and Archmage Distar had yed no major role in any recent event.

    Brinja¡¯s husband walked up to the Royals¡¯ raised stand, stopping exactly where Lith had been until a second ago before kneeling.

    "Cocky brat!" Jirni grunted.

    "Someone wants a measuring contest." Faluel giggled.

    "Yeah, too bad for him that I can change size at will." Lith said with a scoff.

    "Yeah. Your next girlfriend is a lucky woman." Faluel threw him a naughty look that made him blush.

    "What do you- Oh!" Friya nudged Quy, cutting her short as she turned to a bright shade of purple.

    "Archmage Distar, you¡¯ve always been considered the most talented student that has graduated from the ck Griffon academy in thest century. Headmistress Onia¡¯s age makes it hard for her to keep up with all the changes that these difficult times require and she applied for retirement." Sylpha said.

    Many turned to look at Onia, mistaking her staring at the ground as a sign of sadness for not being able anymore to perform a duty that was supposed to be life-long. What they didn¡¯t know was that the earlier fight between Lith and Kwart had been more political than magical.

    By showcasing his talent and clearing the doubts that Deirus¡¯s faction had nted in the Royal Court, Lith had also proved their trickery and their willingness to twist the truth to get what they wanted.

    Onia knew from the start that Kwart¡¯s defeat would have meant not only for her enemies to gain something, but also for her to lose something along with all of her cohorts.

    Even if the Royals didn¡¯t force her to step down from her position as a consequence of the fight, Phloria¡¯s acquittal would have forced Onia to resign as Headmaster anyway.

    She had called in too many favors and put too many assets on the line to stand up against Jirni and the Royals. After being defeated on all counts, she would be theughing stock of the magicalmunity if she kept her seat at the ck Griffon.

    "It¡¯s all over." Onia wept on Kwart¡¯s shoulder who had been brought back to his peak condition to fully "enjoy" the rest of the g.

    "Deirus is done, but you¡¯re not. I¡¯m still the Chairman of the Association and even in defeat, I proved my valor. The Royals cannot rece me without looking vengeful and unfair. I can offer you a position as my assistant." Kwart said.

    "I¡¯ll dly ept your offer." Onia nodded. "A mage¡¯s funeral doesn¡¯t take ce the day they die but when they stop working."

    Kwart didn¡¯t offer his help out of the goodness of his heart so much as because Onia knew too much, and once she fell from grace, there was no telling when she would be desperate enough to drag them all down with her just to havepany in her misery.

    ¡¯Keep your friends close, and your aplices even closer.¡¯ He thought.

    "The ck Griffon needs a new Headmaster. Someone young, talented, and powerful enough to face the many academical challenges ahead and to protect our students from any threat. Are you willing to ept such a burden?" Sylpha asked.

    "It would be my honor." Ainz lowered his head even lower.

    "Then you may stand, Headmaster Distar." The Queen tapped his head with two fingers, making his blue Archmage high uniform turn ck while that of Onia turned blue.

    "Let the dances begin!" Meron sheathed the Sword of Saefel and pped his hands to signal the orchestras to y.

    Lith danced with Faluel first, to make it clear that he was already taken and that any approach would have been pointless. Only after he was certain that the message had been received did he change dance partner.

    "Gods, this sure brings back a lot of memories." Phloria said while they danced the Mogar equivalent of a waltz.

    "Yeah. Do you think they cleaned our footsteps after I used Gravity Magic to make us dance on the ceiling or did they keep them as a memento?" He said with a chuckle. "By the way, congrattions for bing a big shot in the army."

    "Thanks, master." She giggled. "Does Solus want to cover my evening gloves so that she can experience dancing with you?"

    The stone ring seeped through Lith¡¯s gloves, covering Phloria¡¯s with grey for a split second before adjusting the color.

    ¡¯Thanks. You have no idea how much this means to me.¡¯ Solus said to her via a mind link.

    ¡¯Then you should have said it earlier and we would have arranged a small g inside your tower.¡¯ Phloria replied. ¡¯It¡¯s not a bunch of stuck-up people that make this a party, only the pretty clothes and the good music.¡¯

    ¡¯I guess you¡¯re right.¡¯ Solus chuckled. ¡¯By my Mom, some of these guys really abuse their cologne.¡¯

    ¡¯That¡¯s because it¡¯s still better than their smell.¡¯ Phloria said, making Solus happy about not having a nose.

    The couple danced in silence for a while until Phloria found the courage to speak up.

    "You know, in hindsight, I regret breaking up with you." Her words made Lith miss the step and stomp her foot. "Not because you¡¯re an Awakened, the Lord of Destruction, nor because you can change size at will." She chuckled.

    "That was just joke! Me and my big mouth." Lith blushed.

    "The reason I regret my choice is that you have been the only person who has never been intimidated by my name, by the gap in our status, or by my physique." Phloria had long since epted the consequences that her rigorous training had brought upon her body.

    s, during social events, most people seemed to be incapable of looking past theparison between her and Jirni. When Friya was involved as well, Phloria would be treated like a wallflower by anyone but gold diggers.

    "You always understood why the practice of the sword and of magic meant so much to me. You¡¯ve been more than my friend and boyfriend. You¡¯ve also been my colleague and sparring partner.

    "I¡¯ve never found someone with whom I could share so much of my life as I did with you. On top of that, the fact that you didn¡¯t stop caring for me the moment after we broke up and that you¡¯ve always been there for me makes it hard to forget about you."

 Chapter 1472 Dance Partners Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1472 Dance Partners Part 2</h4>

    "Look, I¡¯m ttered by your feelings and I¡¯m not afraid to say that I consider my vow to still stand." Lith said.

    "If you ever need my help, just call my name and I wille. I will discard my duty and my honor, I will pierce through the gates of heavens andherworld if they stand in my path.

    "Where everyone else saw either an asset or a monster, you saw me as a person back when even I didn¡¯t consider myself as such. You¡¯ve taught me to be human and for that, I¡¯ll always be grateful to you.

    "Yet I¡¯ve just broken up with Kami and I don¡¯t feel like-"

    "I¡¯m not asking you to get back together, you pompous ass." Phloria cut him short while chuckling. "What I was going to say is that it took me a while to understand that even though you¡¯re not a good person, you¡¯re a good friend and boyfriend.

    "After discovering about Solus¡¯s existence, I was deeply hurt. The fact that we had broken up for years softened the blow so I can¡¯t even imagine how Kam must have felt or the pain that she endured.

    "Yet after getting to know you and Solus as separate entities, I understood that even though she¡¯s a part of you, she¡¯s not you and that everything we had together was real.

    "You just called Kam with her moniker which means you still deeply care for her. She mighte to my same conclusion if you give her the time and the opportunity that she needs to sort facts from suspicions." Phloria said.

    "I¡¯m sorry but you lost me." Lith said.

    "Gods, Tiamat or not, you¡¯re still as dumb as any man. I¡¯m saying that if you want, I¡¯ll go and speak with Kam. I am probably the only person on Mogar who has walked many miles in her shoes and who can rte with her struggle." Phloria said.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Lith pushed her closer, turning the dance into a soft embrace. "As you¡¯ve pointed out earlier, I¡¯m your master. If you go to her, Kam might think that I sent you.

    "She has no reason to trust you or me, for that matter. If shees to you on her own, however, please be fully honest with her. More lies would fix things in the short term and ruin everything in the long term."

    The dance came to an end and the past went back to being the past.

    Quy took Phloria¡¯s ce after throwing her a reproachful look.

    "What was that?" Lith asked.

    "She just got promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Great Mage. You¡¯ve got your violet core, a huge ass mansion, and the gods know what bloodline powers. If you add the fact that even though Friya is still a Mage like me, she¡¯s basically the new Silverwing, I resent you all for leaving me behind in the dust." She pouted.

    "Wow. Did you take Friya¡¯s Awakening that badly?" He said.

    "No duh! Who would have ever thought that being a natural violet was actually a handicap? Fuck me sideways!" Quy replied, making himugh at her impersonation.

    "Well, you still got your family and awesome powers whereas I just lost my humanity-"

    "Don¡¯t you dare to ruin my attempt to make you feel better at my expense." She cut him short.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "I¡¯m not really angry, you dummy. I was just trying to cheer you up since you¡¯ve gone through a lottely." Quy sighed deeply. "Look, I didn¡¯t want to tell you to not ruin the mood, but I really think that there is something wrong with you that has nothing to do with your special talents.

    "You¡¯ve just won a big ass fight everyone thought you would¡¯ve lost. Your enemies have been humiliated and your friends got rewarded for their hard work. Yet here you are, frowning as if there¡¯s a killer on the prowl.

    "I thought that I knew your past, but I clearly don¡¯t. What the heck happened that not even Elina knows to make you so dark and gloomy even in your brightest hour?" Quy had no idea of Lith¡¯s life on Earth as Derek McCoy nor of how it still haunted him to that very day.

    "It¡¯splicated. I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t want to talk about it." He said.

    "Well, that¡¯s good, because I don¡¯t want to know about it." Quy replied. "I just want you to let that go or you¡¯ll be forever miserable and drag everyone you love down with you."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Maybe it¡¯s because you¡¯ve been my first crush, but ever since we met at the academy, I have always looked at you from a distance so I know that, just like me, you have a big burden on your shoulders." Quy said.

    "At first, I thought that the people of your vige treated you like crap, like it happened to me because I was an orphan, but then I met your family and I understood I wrong I was.

    "Then, I thought that you were ashamed of something, but you turned out to be a piece of work who doesn¡¯t give a shit of what other people think. Heck, after you shared with us and with your family all of your secrets, I thought you would finally lighten up, yet you¡¯re still like you were back at the academy."

    "What am I like?" Lith asked, finding her honesty to be refreshingpared to everyone else walking on eggshells to not hurt his feelings.

    "You are someone that, whenever something bad happens, he carries it with him forever. Like when you thought that Protector had died or after I killed Yurial." Quy managed to say without either her voice or hands quiver.

    "When something good happens, instead, you smile for a second and then ruin the moment, worrying about what could go wrong instead of enjoying your happiness. That¡¯s unhealthy of you, Lith."

    He pondered her words for a while before being forced to admit that Quy was right. Lith didn¡¯t think about Ezio, his father back on Earth, unless he witnessed child abuse, just like he didn¡¯t think much about his lost brother, Carl.

    Yet their shadows were always there with him. Ezio poisoned every concept he had of human rtionships, making it hard for Lith to trust even his own family unless he had no other choice.

    Losing Carl, instead, had led him to be so worried about protecting those who were close to him that he always ended up spending more time arranging their security instead of enjoying theirpany.

    "I don¡¯t know what big secret you still hide and honestly, I don¡¯t care about it because I know you long enough to fully trust you. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to share it because knowing won¡¯t change your problem." Quy said.

    "Whatever it is, you need to get rid of these chains that you brought upon yourself. I¡¯ve gone through a lot of bad stuff myself, like the death of my parents, hunger, abuse, and then everything that happened during the academy.

    "Yet I also got a loving family, amazing friends, and great powers. Just because I had it rough it doesn¡¯t¡¯ change the fact that if I just managed to find a damned boyfriend, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to call my life perfect."

 Chapter 1473 Lights Out Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1473 Lights Out Part 1</h4>

    "You, instead, have everything I have and so much more, yet you¡¯re still as miserable as when you were the son of a poor farmer. You are allowed to suffer and cry when bad things happen, but not to carry them over the years.

    "Leave the past in the past and don¡¯t let it poison your present. The same stands for the good things. You are allowed to be happy andugh without worrying that an enemy might pop out of the shadows and ruin everything.

    "Maybe you¡¯ve lost your Abomination side, but you don¡¯t need a ck core to corrupt everything good that you have built. Look at how worried your parents were for you, at how you let your own bias ruin your rtionship with Phloria first and Kam now.

    "Why don¡¯t you allow yourself to be happy? If you keep up like this, even once Solus will be back at her prime, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to make you feel safe. No title nor any amount of magic can defeat the monsters that prowl in here." Quy patted his chest.

    "Only you can."

    After that, she remained silent until the music stopped again, giving Lith the time he needed to think.

    ¡¯Was this what Baba Yaga referred to when she told me about my power being corrupted and about chains that made me strong in the past but that also keep me from moving forward?¡¯ He asked Solus via their mind link.

    ¡¯It would actually make sense. Abominations are souls strong enough to reject death itself and as Carl said, the reason why you keep reincarnating is that you don¡¯t really care about anyone.¡¯ She replied.

    ¡¯That¡¯s not true! I love my family and I care for them.¡¯ Lith said in outrage.

    ¡¯No, you care for their safety, that¡¯s different. You keep saying that you love them yet you always keep them away from your life and you never let them have a word about the important decisions you must make.¡¯ Solus shook her head.

    ¡¯That¡¯s because I don¡¯t want them to worry and because they have no idea what does it mean being a cursed thing forced to wander forever!¡¯ He said.

    ¡¯They are ignorant only because you didn¡¯t tell them. Or are you saying that leaving them in the dark is the right thing to do because they wouldn¡¯t understand your problems anyway? Do you really love them or do you consider them just as pets you feed?¡¯

    Solus¡¯s words struck a nerve, forcing Lith to calm down and reconsider his past life choices.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways, Quy is right. Ever since Carl died, I didn¡¯t treat anyone in my life as a person, just as a piece of a game where I set the board and make the rules ording to the circumstances.

    ¡¯I never gave them a voice in any matter. Everything happened either because it was convenient for me or because I had no other choice. Even with Kam, everything can be summarized with me dumping a bomb on her and praying that she would withstand the st.¡¯

    ¡¯Sure, there was no way to soften the blow when I introduced Solus to her, but I could have surely handled things better when I introduced Solus to my family, starting with asking her damn opinion instead of throwing everything on her in a fit.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Solus dreamed for years to meet my family, yet unlike that with Kam, I had prepared nothing nor did I give her the time to introduce herself properly. Everything must always happen how and when I decide so, without any care for others.

    ¡¯Even now, everyone is worried about me. Phloria offered to help me with Kami, Quy tried to remove the stick out of my ass, but what did I do for them? I didn¡¯t congratte Phloria for either her acquittal or bing a Great Mage.

    ¡¯I didn¡¯t bother asking Tista why she wanted the truth about Nana¡¯s past nor did I offer her my help in her endeavor. I didn¡¯t worry for Quy¡¯s attempts at Awakening or for the fact that she must be feeling left out, being the only non-Awakened of the old gang.

    ¡¯Now that I think about it, I should have also consoled Friya as well. Just like Quy, she has worked her ass off non-stop and has demonstrated a talent on par with Silverwing, yet she isn¡¯t allowed to reveal either to anyone and I didn¡¯t offer to teach her anything.¡¯

    Lith kept thinking about his past behavior, finally noticing that after saving Phloria¡¯s life from Awakening, he had washed his hands of her, leaving to Tista and Solus to teach her even the basics, just like now he had dropped Friya on Faluel.

    He also remembered that after Phloria¡¯s suspension from the army, he had been there for her as a teacher and fellow mage, but never as a friend.

    ¡¯I¡¯m always like that. The only thing that matters to me is my master n. I save the lives of the people I im to love but I don¡¯t give a fuck about the things they live for. It¡¯s no wonder that Carl warned me about my reincarnation problem.

    ¡¯My brother was the only one who could ground my soul somewhere because he¡¯s the only person I have ever treated as my peer, leaving him free to live his life, to make his decisions while still having my full support.

    ¡¯In this life, I¡¯m no better than Jirni. I just manipte everyone from the shadows for my ends and screw the consequences. I¡¯m doomed to reincarnate because as Solus said, I treat everyone as dumb pets.¡¯

    Lith cursed himself and went to make things right.

    "Congrattions for your acquittal and for bing a Great Mage." He said while hugging Phloria. "I want you to know that I never med you for anything that happened in Kh. Your leadership skills are out of the question and the only reason you had to endure all this crap is politics."

    Phloria silently returned the embrace. She had been long waiting to hear those words from one of the survivors of the mission and now her eyes were too veiled with tears and her voice too quivering to reply.

    "Tista, I hope that once we get back home, you¡¯ll let me read Nana¡¯s records with you. She was my mentor as well and promise or not, if you need my help, you only need to ask." He said.

    "What about my armor?" Tista replied.

    "I can purify the metal, but for the crafting process, I¡¯d wait until I step up my Forgemastering skills. I need to rethink my Scalewalker armor, but if you¡¯re fine with it, I can make you one tomorrow." Lith said.

    "No, thanks." Tista hugged him with joy. "Magic metal doesn¡¯t grow on trees and I¡¯d dly wait for something with a power core. What about the crystals?"

    "I¡¯ll use only violet mana gemstones and they¡¯ll be my treat."

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Her joy for something so trivial made Lith feel even worse and realize what kind of a cheapskate he had been.

    "Tista, Quy, I¡¯m really sorry that you two will remain unsung heroes. Both of you deserve to be Great Mages for your achievements. If there¡¯s anything you need help with, you can count on me." Lith said.

 Chapter 1474 Lights Out Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1474 Lights Out Part 2</h4>

    "How cute!" Quy giggled. "Look at how he tries to act all Faluel-ish."

    "Yeah. I¡¯m sorry, Lith, but you¡¯d look horrible in a dress." Friya said with augh. "What about your "leave me alone with my pain" routine?"

    "Okay, fine! I¡¯m sorry for having been so distanttely." He gave them a bow.

    "Distant and rude." Tista said.

    "And self-centered." Faluel added.

    "And a sourpuss." Phloria said.

    "And uncaring." Friya added.

    "And-"

    "And thank you very much for putting up with me for so long." Lith cut Quy short, not wanting to hear any more about the ws he was well aware to have.

    ¡¯Thank you so much, Solus. I never took you for granted, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I always appreciate enough how your presence in my life is often myst line of defense against myself.¡¯ He said via their mind link.

    ¡¯You are wee. Thanks for dancing with me tonight.¡¯ Solus replied, taking another involuntary stab at his heart.

    It had been Phloria to have the idea, not him.

    ¡¯I promise we¡¯ll have our scaled-down g so that you can do more than cover someone else¡¯s gloves, okay?¡¯

    ¡¯Okay, but not now.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡¯You¡¯re still too hurt to be happy and I want the g to be something we both enjoy, not a form of torture for you.¡¯

    Once again, Lith noticed how the most important people in his life, like Kam and Solus, put his feelings in front of their own, whereas he mostly cared for himself.

    ¡¯Deal.¡¯ He said, knowing that more apologies would have made things even more awkward.

    "Mom, now that the g is over, can we show Lith the Gardens of Saefel? Before leaving Valeron?" Phloria asked.

    "Absolutely not!" Jirni replied. "It¡¯s night and it¡¯s still too dangerous."

    "Come on, Mom." Quy said. "We¡¯ve been prisoners inside our own home for months. The Queen beat Deirus to a pulp, the Crown destroyed his political power, and Valeron is the safest city in the Kingdom."

    "That¡¯s exactly the reason why this is the perfect moment and ce for an ambush. Power doesn¡¯t fade in an instant. Deirus might have staged something with the resources he had before his downfall for the moment when we lower our guard." Jirni said.

    "Come on, dear. There¡¯s me, you, Lith, and the arrays. The girls have been begging me to go outside in the garden for months. Don¡¯t be the Lith of the situation and let them celebrate our victory." Orion said.

    "But-"

    "Please, Mom. Just for the time to give Lith a tour." Friya cut her short.

    "I¡¯ve been to Valeron countless times. What makes you so sure I never visited the Gardens?" Lith felt annoyed by their words.

    "Because they hold no power nor knowledge, only beauty." The Dolby Surround reply irked him to no end, especially because they were right.

    "Fine!" Both he and Jirni inhaled sharply, hating being outnumbered.

    "Let¡¯s wear something morefortable first. I want everyone to be ready in the case something happens." Jirni said, dragging the girls in a changing room while Orion waited for them outside. "We¡¯ll meet you at the Gardens."

    "Why don¡¯t they wear the armor as I always do?" Lith asked.

    "Probably because it¡¯s considered universally rude to wear protections during a party. It means that you don¡¯t trust your host. Also, no matter how good the shapeshifting spell is, the fabric is never as soft and smooth as the original." Faluel replied.

    "That¡¯s not true." Lith said. "I felt both the original and the armor. They are identical."

    "No, they¡¯re not. It¡¯s just you being a man." Tista sighed. "What color is that?"

    "Yellow." Yet she had pointed at him ochre tapestry.

    "What about that?" Faluel pointed at a peach-colored sofa.

    "Orange. Do you think I¡¯ve gone color blind or what?"

    "Just proving our point. Nowe, we don¡¯t want to gette. Jirni will let us stay in the gardens five minutes tops." Tista dragged her brother away and through the internal Gatework of the pce that led them to their destination.

    "Good gods!" Lith said in astonishment.

    The Gardens of Saefel were not only a ce filled with the smell of finely cut grass, with flower beds, and trimmed bushes that adorned the cobblestone paths that went across the whole park as far as the eye could see.

    It was also a ce of beauty, where every single tree, every single topiary figure had been ced so as to not hinder the sight of the visitors. It allowed them to admire with a single gaze severalpositions at the same time, allowing the beautifulndscape of the Gardens to always be greater than the sums of its parts.

    Statues and topiaries of the First Queen were everywhere. She was either depicted with the First King or with their children. It took Lith just a nce to understand that only a man deeply in love like Valeron could have made such a thing.

    ¡¯Fuck me sideways,pared to him, my heart is colder than winter in the north.¡¯ He deeply regretted Kam not being there with him and never having brought her to the Gardens.

    "Here you are!" Quy appeared from an entrance to the west from that Lith had arrived.

    "Don¡¯t stray from the group, dammit!" Jirni yelled as Quy ran towards Lith.

    "It¡¯s Valeron, Mom. What could-" A beam of the fire element as thick as an apple pierced her Featherwalker armor and chest, leaving a charred hole where her heart had been until a second back.

    "Assassin!" Orion yelled as he activated the war mode of the Royal Fortress armor he wore and used its wings to protect the others.

    Everyone tried to Blink to either escape the ambush or heal Quy, but the same arrays that were supposed to protect them kept them locked in ce instead.

    Lith activated the Full Guard spell imbued in his armor and rushed forward to heal Quy before her core started to fade. She was coughing out blood, but it meant that she was still alive.

    Three more beams shed at the horizon. The first, aimed at Phloria, was deflected by the Royal Fortress armor¡¯s wing. The second, aimed at Lith¡¯s head, was dodged solely thanks to Full Guard¡¯s 20 meters (66 feet) range and to his Awakened reflexes.

    The third beam of fire hit Quy square on the head, leaving solely a steaming pile of ashes above her neck.

    ¡¯She¡¯s dead.¡¯ Solus started to cry as both the life force and the mana core of one of her closest friends instantly disappeared.

    The memory of how full of life Quy had been until a few minutes back, of how until herst breath she had been worrying about him, drove Lith past the brink of fury.

    A primordial roar shook the treetops and sent petals flying as the seven eyes appeared on his face one after another. They all scoured the direction of the beams, searching for their source.

    Such was his fury that if not for the First King knowing everything about Awakened, the Gardens would have quaked and all of its shadows would havee to life in an unyielding quest for revenge.

    "Why does everyone I love get taken away from me?" Lith screamed as three more beams hit Orion and three more aimed at him.

 Chapter 1475 Lost Magus Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1475 Lost Magus Part 1</h4>

    Lith unfolded his wings and used air, fire, and water fusion to boost them while Spirit Magic conjured an air current that no array could stop.

    He moved so fast that only the glittering moonbeams that reflected on the Adamant of his Scalewalker armor betrayed his arrival.

    Even though Lith flew close to the speed of sound, light was still faster.

    "What the heck?" One of the Kingdom¡¯s Lost Magi managed to say before a being made of shadows, fire, and pure rage struck at him with a screaming de whose edges spun akin to a chainsaw.

    Quy¡¯s death affected War as much as Lith. Orion¡¯s feelings that still lingered inside the de grieved no less than its master and just like him, War knew only one way to express its fury.

    By making the death of Lith¡¯s enemies but the final step of a long journey made of agony and despair.

    "Deirus!" Lith repeated obsessively even though the man in front of him wasn¡¯t Yurial¡¯s father.

    Tiennon Zavra was a man in histe forties, about 1.80 meters (5¡¯11") tall, with blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. His face was covered in freckles and scars that he refused to heal, to never forget his hatred for the Griffon Kingdom.

    He belonged to Balkor¡¯s generation and was the second Lost Magus, also known as the god of murder. Losing both Zavra and Balkor due to their short-sighted policy regarding the academies had led the previous Royal couple to abdicate the throne.

    Unlike regr mages, Zavra had learned how tobine together different spells of different tiers, assembling them to alter their effects, power, and range. It was how he had managed to hit with such uracy a target over 600 meters (2,000 feet) away.

    Spells didn¡¯t go that far and even the few mages capable of doing it would have had their attack lose most of its power. In Zavra¡¯s case, instead, one kilometer or point-nk range was the same.

    He had developed that magic to kill his enemies from a safe distance while having plenty of time to escape in case someone noticed him.

    Or so Zavra thought until War bit deeply into the Adamant staff that he used to focus and amplify his magic.

    "Nice try, kid, but not nice enough!" Zavra pushed Lith back with inhuman strength before the angry de could cut Wail, his staff, asunder. "Closebat or distance makes no difference. You¡¯ll die like all the other dogs of the Kingdom!"

    Actually, the Lost Magus was no idiot and had no desire to fight.

    His strong suit was attacking helpless opponents, making them experience the despair that he had felt when the people who had scarred his face and murdered his family had suffered no consequence for their actions.

    His goal was to goad Lith into a frenzy and escape as soon as he could. Valeron was known for its tight security and every second spent fighting was a second too long.

    ¡¯How the fuck did he find me from that distance and how did he move so fast? The air sealing arrays are supposed to keep people from both flying and warping inside the city.¡¯ Zavra thought.

    He was unaware that Lith¡¯s seven eyes had nothing human and that to a Phoenix like to a Tiamat, the sight was how they found their prey.

    Lith hurled a jet-stream of Origin mes while also lunging at the Lost Magus¡¯s head. The emerald light of Domination engulfed War, protecting it from the destructive effects of his fiery breath.

    Zavra showed his middle finger, but not as a taunt. He simply needed to activate the power of his ring and conjure a sudden burst of fire all around himself. The explosion ate at the mes and produced a shockwave that sent Lith flying, leaving him open to the Magus¡¯ next attack.

    Wail emitted a highly focused beam of ice magic that moved faster than a bullet and split evenly into seven smaller streams aimed at Lith¡¯s eyes, turning his enhanced sight into a weakness.

    Zavra¡¯s unique magic allowed him to use a tier five spell as a framework for another, weaving the second spell on top of the first. The final result could go from a quadra elemental spell to a still two-elemental spell thatbined the properties of severalpletely different spells.

    It was how he could keep the long-distance efficacy and focused power of earth magic with the intense heat and explosive effects of fire magic that Zavra had used to kill Quy.

    Such effects were too different for a single spell to achieve them all at the same time, but bybining two or more of them, Zavra¡¯s arsenal was nigh-limitless.

    Lith¡¯s blue eye zed in the night, incapable of overriding the powerful will infused in the spells, yet Domination still managed to dispel them by consuming as much mana as Zavra did to weave them together.

    "What?" The Lost Magus had no idea what Domination or Spirit Magic was. Each one of Lith¡¯s impossible skills would have left a lesser mage paralyzed in shock.

    "Are you some kind of Demon out of a fairy tale?" Zavra said, almost guessing the truth.

    Lith roared again as War shed against Wail, producing a shockwave that would have made the ceiling of the building where the Magus has set up his ambush crumble if not for the powerful barriers protecting the city.

    The longer and heavier staff deflected the angry de even though Zavra wielded it with only one hand, using the other to punch at Lith¡¯s throat with the same strength that had allowed him to foil the Tiamat¡¯s attacks time and time again.

    Tiennon Zavra had given up on many things to pursue his revenge, including his humanity. Tired of fighting a lonely battle without allies nor a haven, the moment the war against the invading undead from Jiera had started, he had joined the Undead Courts.

    His bright violet core had quickly reached its blood core equivalent and undeath had given him many gifts. Gifts that had multiplied after the Lost Magus had epted to be one of Night¡¯s Chosen.

    The crystal prism that now beat in Zavra¡¯s chest allowed the Horseman to share his abilities as a Blood Warlock, while to him it gave immunity to darkness magic and the same abilities of his fellow Chosen.

    On top of his bloodline skills, Zavra now also had the strength of a Draugr, the regenerative abilities of a Ghoul, and the piercing shriek of a Banshee. None of them used mana, making them immune to the arrays that protected Valeron.

    Lith¡¯s left fist intercepted the Lost Magus¡¯s right, shattering the undead¡¯s bones and ripping through his flesh up to the elbow.

    "What?" Zavra sounded like a broken record, yet he had no other way to express how confused and surprised he felt.

    His dodge and counter routine would have worked on Lith, if he hadn¡¯t seen it used with much greater mastery by Jakra back in Lightkeep. Compared to the Emerald Dragon¡¯s surgical strikes and centuries of experience, the god of murder looked clumsy and amateurish.

    To make matters worse, the base body of the Blood Warlock was that of a human whereas Lith was a Tiamat. Under his human skiny a body mass of several tons that along with his inhuman speed gave to each of his fists the energy of a speeding train.

 Chapter 1476 Lost Magus Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1476 Lost Magus Part 2</h4>

    "Fuck!" Zavra used the power of the Draugr Chosen to grow in size and close the gap in mass between them while he conjured the undead equivalent of Life Maelstrom from his own blood core.

    Lith couldn¡¯t use his full size without losing his equipment, but he had no need for it. Usually, Full Guard¡¯s aura would be a problem since it betrayed its user and revealed the position of its caster from a distance.

    Yet for someone who had worked really hard to go unnoticed, it was the worst nightmare. The blue aura coupled with Lith¡¯s roars was a beacon in the darkness of the night that revealed their position to anyone who wasn¡¯t blind, deaf, and dumb.

    "My baby! You¡¯ve killed my baby!" Orion¡¯s voice came out akin to the snarl of a wounded beast from the Griffon-shaped armor as he put all of his weight behind the lunge of his longsword.

    ¡¯Please, both my armor and Wail have grown with me. The attack of a mere human can¡¯t-¡¯ Ignoring Orion was the first andst mistake that Zavra did that night.

    His assessment of the situation was, in theory, correct.

    The Royal Fortress armor was made of Davross, but due to its small size and to Blood Maelstrom empowering Zavra¡¯s Adamant armor, Orion¡¯s attack was nothing more than a mosquito bite.

    s, each Royal Fortress armor wasn¡¯t just made of Davross. It was made of tons of highlypressed Davross that gave its wearer the same mass of an Emperor Beast and the mobility of a dragonfly thanks to Gravity Magic imbued in the metal that worked akin to Fusion Magic.

    The Royal Fortress armor wasn¡¯t just an artifact, it was a Guardian¡¯s artifact.

    Orion¡¯s attack pierced through the boosted Adamant and flesh alike, turning Zavra¡¯s left lung into mincemeat. Had the Lost Magus not moved his heart away from its original position, the fight would have been over.

    Lith exploited the shockwave and the surprise that the massive wound created to throw War right inside the already regenerating hole in the Blood Warlock¡¯s chest. The angry de unleashed all of its skills at the same time, making the flesh rot in its wake.

    Zavra screamed in pain as the World Mirror ability highjacked his mana and Counterflow reversed the regeneration into decay. At the same time, War dug through the flesh like a mole, searching for the undead¡¯s heart.

    "Dogs of the Kingdom! Two against one and fighting only by using dirty tricks. You cowards don¡¯t deserve your powers!" The Blood Warlock said.

    "Cowards?" Orion roared with such a might that it overshadowed the voice of the giant. "You killed a little girl from the shadows. My little girl! If I¡¯m a dog, then you are a cockroach that fears the light."

    A violet aura erupted from Orion¡¯s body as he activated his tier five spell, Ernas Full Guard.

    It was based on the same spell that Juria Ernas had used to aid Valeron in battle, but it had also been enhanced by her descendants who had made it stronger with each generation during thest millennium.

    In the form that Juria Ernas had originally nned, Full Guard not only didn¡¯t have a fixed range, making its area of effect depend on the user¡¯s power and skill, but also it gave her perfect spatial awareness.

    Full Guard allowed its caster to know the exact position of their enemies, of their allies, of the ongoing spells, and to Blink without the need to look. Inside the boundaries of the spell, an Ernas had the same abilities of a rare dimensional mage and they could move wherever their presence was required.

    The version that Orion used, instead, covered the space around him for 20 meters (66 feet) and allowed him to imbue Orion¡¯s spells with the dimensional coordinates of everything that Full Guard perceived.

    Ernas Full Guard not only turned all kinds of magic into homing spells that could pinpoint even a speck of dust without any focus on Orion¡¯s side, but also stacked the willpower infused, making them much harder to Dominate.

    s, Orion didn¡¯t know Spirit Magic and couldn¡¯t bypass the arrays that protected the capital, but he had the next best thing.

    The Royal Fortress armor used holograms to project an interface to its user, listing all the spells imbued in the armor, the number of times they could be used, and even which ones were not avable due to the presence of arrays.

    Orion controlled the interface with his mind, fighting with the same ability of an Awakened violet-cored individual that could cast their spells while moving.

    The only things that the Royal Fortress armor couldn¡¯t provide him were Spirit Magic and breathing techniques.

    Orion and Lith attacked at the same time from opposite sides, forcing Zavra to focus on the much more dangerous grieving father. He blocked Orion¡¯s sword with his staff and used the Banshee¡¯s scream to get rid of Lith.

    The power of the undead bloodline generated a powerful shockwave that would have burst Lith¡¯s eardrums if not for the Adamant of the Scalewalker armor protecting him. The vibrations of the attack sent Lith flying and reverberated through his bones, making it hard for him to control his body.

    Yet it didn¡¯t affect his mind and unlike Orion, Lith was a true Awakened.

    He and Solus unleashed their tier five twin Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, that they had reverse-engineered after watching Scarlett the Scorpicore use it several times. An hexa-elemetal spell was still too much for either of them to use it on their own, but now they were together.

    Usually, Solus would have used most of her focus to study the opponent, their equipment, and their spells. She would have also studied their ally to grasp the secrets of Orion¡¯s strength.

    Now, however, her pain and grief matched Lith¡¯s, reinforcing each other in a constant loop that had turned them into bloodthirsty monsters. They barely cared for covering the Primordial Roar with mes to hide its Spirit Magic nature.

    The mix of cold and vibrations slowed down Zavra¡¯s movements while the ice and earth aspects of the spell conjured spikes that pierced through his body while darkness at it inside out.

    The Blood Warlock had to call upon the powers of Night¡¯s prism to survive, conjuring a thickyer of darkness magic to save his hide. Yet the sight of the magical relic only furthered Lith¡¯s rage, making him summon the Demons of the Darkness.

    He didn¡¯t call them himself, but used War to do it. His bond with the de allowed Lith to continuously flood it with power, making the Demons burst out of the angry de that was still digging through Zavra¡¯s flesh in search of his heart.

    The Demons spread like a disease, wing and biting at their enemy while War¡¯s skills kept the regenerative abilities that the Lost Magus borrowed from the Ghoul from working.

    Seeing Lith¡¯s spell filled Orion with awe and snapped him out of his frenzy.

    ¡¯How could he conjure such a powerful attack despite the arrays blocking most of the elements?¡¯ He thought. ¡¯How can he possibly fly without magic? Can Lith really have once again upgraded his armor?¡¯

    His scientific curiositysted for less than a second before grief took over his mind once again. Yet this time Orion¡¯s fury was cold.

 Chapter 1477 Lost Magus Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 1477 Lost Magus Part 3</h4>

    Instead of charging forward like a wounded beast, Orion imbued the Royal Fortress armor¡¯s spells that he couldn¡¯t use because of the arrays into his sword, which in turn converted them into golden beams of light.

    The weapon had been developed with thebined efforts of Royal Forgemasters, Alchemists, and even Manohar, allowing its user to convert any kind of spells into sunlight.

    It was the Kingdom¡¯s ultimate weapon for the war against the undead and even against Balkor, in the case that he ever made his return.

    "Hide from this, vermin!" Orion yelled as a hail of golden rays pierced Zavra¡¯s body, turning it into Swiss cheese. The beams punctured the undead¡¯s heart, but due to its humongous size, the wounds were far from lethal.

    "Prepare to die, you moron!" Zavra had no time to lose and activated the Blood Warlock¡¯s version of the Leviathan¡¯s bloodline power, Blood Tide.

    Thanks to Night¡¯s prism borrowing the powers of several undead and their respective elemental affinities, Zavra was capable of using all the elements in their true magic form akin to a true mage.

    Due to him having been recently turned, the Lost Magus had no idea how to use true magic, but he still needed the full elemental affinity to unleash the true power of Guardians¡¯ skills.

    That way, Blood Tide stripped the area around him of the world energy down to thest bit, releasing it a split secondter in the form of a hexa-elemental tidal wave instead of just the two elements that Blood Witches were attuned to.

    Suddenly, Lith¡¯s and Orion¡¯s spells stopped working due to theck of world energy. The Demons faded because there was no darkness to draw upon, the golden rayscked the light element, and the resulting shockwave from Blood Tide damaged the roof.

    If not for Lith¡¯s ability to fly on his own, he would have been sent far away as it had just happened to Orion, and Zavra would have had an easy time running away.

    ¡¯Dammit, I really didn¡¯t want to use Blood Tide.¡¯ The Lost Magus though. ¡¯On the one hand, I¡¯m finally healing and the arrays don¡¯t bother me anymore. On the other hand, until the world energy returns, my equipment is akin to scrap metal.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t have the time to cast a Blood Warp and Blood Blinks consume too much life force. Why did neither Deirus nor Orpal warn me about this monster?¡¯ The repeated use of the bloodline abilities of the Guardians had taken a heavy toll on the Lost Magus who was now running on fumes.

    Unfortunately for him, both Lith¡¯s wings and Spirit Magic didn¡¯t need Mogar¡¯s help to work. Now that all forms of magic had been denied, the fight depended solely on the physical prowess of the contestants.

    It was the reason why Fenagar didn¡¯t use his Doom Tide against Tyris and why Dusk didn¡¯t bestow the power of such ability upon his undead army. The Griffon¡¯s physical prowess outmatched that of the Leviathan while the resulting shockwave, if not properly used, would have ughtered the undead army.

    Lith charged the tier four Spirit spell, Piercing Explosion, inside of his own body and dived inside the still open hole in Zavra¡¯s chest before releasing it. Solus cast her own, doubling the damage and bringing the Lost Magus to his knees.

    Without world energy to fuel it, the prism couldn¡¯t defend him from the darkness generated by Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s mana cores.

    ¡¯How can he still move? Why does this wound hurt so much? I¡¯m an undead! I¡¯m not supposed to feel pain anymore. I¡¯m a fucking Magus! The moment Blood Tide sted him away, I was supposed to have my opening and run away!¡¯ Zavra thought in outrage.

    s, reality begged to differ.

    The rm had resounded the moment Zavra had killed Quy, alerting the Royal Guards. On top of that, having a blue and a violet beacon in the sky made it hard to not spot his position and the sounds of the battle only shortened the Guards¡¯ reaction time.

    A shower of sunlight beams erupted from the weapons of the Royal Guards that had surrounded the area, cutting off every possible escape route. They had taken their time to aim andunch an attack that wouldn¡¯t harm their allies.

    His final thoughts weren¡¯t of the nobles he hated or of those who had killed him. Zavra couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Orpal¡¯s crazyughter after reading Deirus¡¯s request. About how instead of turning it down, he had epted, iming that it would be his congrattions present for his little brother.

    The Lost Magus disappeared in a burst of light as his undead body quickly turned into ashes. War had quelled its hunger in the flesh and blood of its enemy and Quy was avenged.

    Yet aside from the weapon, everyone considered such a victory as hollow as their hearts were. Jirni¡¯s cries of grief as she bawled her eyes out was the only sound that broke the silence of that peaceful night.

    ***

    It took Jirni but a few minutes to regain her cool and two days to arrange the funeral for her lost daughter. During that time, Faluel held no lesson and grieved in the loneliness of herir, feeling as if she had failed Sedra first and now even her apprentice.

    Lith barely spoke, eating solely when Elina forced him to. Solus suffered in silence, refusing to take a humanoid form, even that of a stone doll.

    ¡¯I wanted a family and to have friends for so long, yet everyone I care about dies. Am I cursed? Did my mother did something so horrible that every one of her works is tainted by misfortune?¡¯ She thought over and over.

    ¡¯If only I practiced Spirit Magic more, I would have instinctively used Spirit Blink instead of Blink, bypassed the arrays, and saved Quy!¡¯ Lith ruminated his alleged mistakes, failing to consider the truth.

    Faluel had failed as well, but even if either of them didn¡¯t, the Council would have wanted their heads for showing Spirit Magic to humans. Even if the Council absolved them, they would have revealed to their enemies one of their best trump cards and Quy might have died anyway due to her injuries.

    Lith made Solus feel worse and vice versa, forcing them to stay away from each other as much as they could. Lith didn¡¯t have an Abomination side anymore so there was no risk of Chaos ravaging his body, yet grief crippled his mind anyway.

    Surrounded by people that suffered and grieved like him, he didn¡¯t feel any better. He couldn¡¯t speak or vent with anyone without aggravating their pain. Lith felt as if he was surrounded by wailing ghosts and he was one of them.

    Quy¡¯s funeral was held in Valeron¡¯s Royal Cemetery, in the presence of the Royals, the Distar couple, and of all Quy¡¯s friends. The blue sky was clear and small birds chirped, uncaring for the sad event taking ce below them.

    On Mogar, people didn¡¯t wear ck for funerals, they just had to avoid bright colors. They would wear their high uniform if they had one or their best clothes to give their loved ones thest farewell.

    Lith was d to see that Morok wasn¡¯t there. He didn¡¯t feel like putting up with any of the Tyrant¡¯s usual tomfooleries. Also, he was even more d to see that Kam was there.

    Despite the passing of time, Orion was still so broken that he burst into tears from time to time, needing Jirni¡¯s help just to not fall onto his knees. Jirni¡¯s face, instead, was back being a stone mask that betrayed no emotion.

 Chapter 1478 Lost Magus Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 1478 Lost Magus Part 4</h4>

    The only sign of weakness Jirni allowed herself was to clench Kam¡¯s hand in search of support, to gain the strength she needed to carry the burden of the entire Ernas family.

    Her children were too distraught to even stand and needed Jirni tofort them whenever their eyes fell on the closed casket.

    Lith envied Jirni, yet he didn¡¯t speak nor did he approach Kam because he was afraid of what might have happened if he lost control in front of so many witnesses.

    Headmaster Marth spoke first as the man who had been Quy¡¯s Professor, mentor, and the one who had given her first job as Assistant Professor at the Whit Griffon. Manohar and Vastor were beside him, forming an unusual picture.

    They had one hand each on either of Marth¡¯s shoulders, to help him keep hisposure. Vastor looked like someone who was inwardly praying for someone to attack him and give him a reason to unleash his full power, yet it was an unlikely event.

    The Royals had brought the Saefel set and there were so many protections in ce that Lith doubted that even one of his Nova spells could put a dent in the barrier surrounding the funeral.

    As for Manohar, he looked dead serious for the first time since he had fought Dawn. No one needed to punch or restrain the Mad Professor to keep him from running away or speaking out of ce.

    Seeing him shut up and be civil was beyond amazing, especially considering that he had left his mother home, to not put her into danger.

    Once Marth was done, Manohar said a few words.

    "Quy Ernas was born an orphan, with nothing to her but a name someone else had chosen and a few clothes that other people had tossed away. Yet she didn¡¯t let any of it affect her path in life.

    "Even though she was born amid trash, dressed with trash, and fed with trash to the point of almost dying of malnourishment, she turned what others threw away into a treasure.

    "She picked up the books that others were too stupid to understand and became a self-taught magico first, then a healer, and then she enrolled in the prestigious White Griffon academy, where even the children of noble and magical bloodlines can only dream to enter.

    "Quy¡¯s life can be summarized with two words. Magic and will. Will gave her the strength to rise above the dumb masses while magic gave her the means to fix her life one bit at a time.

    "At the academy, she found more than education. She found friends, a family, and colleagues that loved her. I want to remind all of them that our Quy didn¡¯t die, she has been taken away from us.

    "When I find the person who hired the Loser Magus, and I will because I never fail, I pray to the gods that none of you will try to stop me. I hate attending to funerals and I would hate even more causing another."

    While Vastor was giving his eulogy, Archmage Deirus and some of his most loyal retainers walked near the fringe of the barrier surrounding the funeral site. They all dressed in bright colors as if they were at a party, speaking loudly without a care in the world.

    They stopped walking for a moment while Deirus savored his final victory. Orion¡¯s tears, the people¡¯s wails, the fury twisting Lith¡¯s face, and even Jirni¡¯s stone expression were akin to a victory march to him.

    One of his bodyguards whispered gibberish into his ear, giving the Archmage the pretext tough heartily as if he had heard the best joke on Mogar while looking at his defeated opponents in the eyes.

    Orion¡¯s muscles tensed up, turning into steel as he prepared tounch at Deirus¡¯s throat, but Jirni clenched his hand and stopped him.

    "Don¡¯t. I can¡¯t afford to lose my husband so soon after losing my daughter." She pointed at the many weapons that Deirus and his men wore in the hope to use them for "self-defense".

    Lith was armed to the teeth as well and unlike Orion, he had no one capable of stopping him. Not with Solus enraged as much as he was, feeding him her fury along with images of War shutting Deirus up for good.

    "Don¡¯t." Kam held his right hand as hard as she could, ignoring the awkward feeling that the contact with the stone ring gave her, making her skin crawl.

    "Deirus¡¯s actions have been utterly rude and tactless, but they are not a crime. If you attack him in front of so many powerful witnesses, you are just going to give him even more spoils of war.

    "After Quy, he would also take your reputation and have you charged with treason for attempted murder on an Archmage of the Kingdom." Kam looked him straight in the eyes, d to see that there was no trace of the ckness of Lith¡¯s Abomination side.

    "He sent that fucker and you know it, Kami. Deirus has deep ties with the Night Court. He sent them after Phloria at the Feymar mines and Zavra had a fucking ck prism in his chest. The two things can¡¯t be just a coincidence."

    Lith wanted to snarl, but his voice came out soft and his grip was gentle rather than furious. That and using her moniker made Kam¡¯s heart skip a beat.

    "Knowing and proving are twopletely different things. The truth behind the events of the Feymar mines is just hearsay without proof and Tiennon Zavra was a notorious killer for hire.

    "Maybe Deirus paid him, maybe Night just sent him to screw up your life, or maybe one of Jirni¡¯s many enemies, if not all of them, requested his services. Now that the Lost Magus is dead, we will never know the truth." She replied.

    "I had no way to take him alive nor any will to do it." Lith replied at the words that sounded like an usation to his ears.

    "Please, don¡¯t let your grief twist my words." Kam said while having a hard time keeping her conflicting emotions in check and not bursting into tears.

    She knew and liked Quy a lot, but now Jirni and Lith needed her more than she needed to cry.

    "Stopping a Magus is something that usually requires an army. Stopping an undead Magus fueled by a Horseman is the stuff of legends. You survived the encounter, avenged our friend, and put an end to Zavra¡¯s threat.

    "It¡¯s more than I- I mean, than anyone could ask. I was just pointing out how good Deirus is at covering his tracks. He nned Quy¡¯s murder just like he nned hising here, right now, when everyone is at their weakest.

    "Best case scenario, some of us fall into a frenzy and he ruins them. Worst case scenario, he still gets the fun of unting his victory knowing that there¡¯s nothing we can do to him. Yet." Kam clenched her fist, wishing for a bolt of lightning to strike Deirus.

    What happened, instead, was a tall albino figure covered in eyes and Adamant that charged at Deirus¡¯s group from their blind side, unleashing a hail of ice, thunder, and darkness.

    Morok wasn¡¯t in the first rows because Quy¡¯s parents despised him and he didn¡¯t want to cause them any more trouble.

 Chapter 1479 Fathers and Son Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1479 Fathers and Son Part 1</h4>

    Morok had been grieving as much as Lith, ming himself for quitting the army and losing the right to attend the g.

    The young Tyrant also med himself for being too weak, for being non-Awakened, and for letting the second person on Mogar he truly cared about die a dog¡¯s death.

    So, once Deirus had appeared, spreading salt on his wounds with mockery on top, Morok had lost it.

    The good thing about being an Emperor Beast was that all Tyrants looked identical to humans. The good thing about having no tie anymore with the Kingdom was that even if someone recognized him, he had nothing to lose.

    s, his strength and fury were nothingpared to strategy and nning ahead. Deirus had prepared his defenses so that they could handle Lith and Orion at the same time, let alone an angry beast.

    The barriers stopped the onught of spells, making Morok lose the advantage that the ambush was supposed to give him, yet he still managed to get close enough to strike with his twin battle hammers.

    "Are you having fun yet, fucker?" The right hammer crushed both the shield and the arms of the first bodyguard, the left sent the face of the second mercenary flying on the grass, and the eyes sucked all the magic in, neutralizing the protections that Deirus had set up.

    "Is that..." Orion asked amid sniffles, without moving a muscle to help his fellow Archmage.

    "One of our friends." Friya stopped sobbing long enough to cheer for Morok and point out the weak spots of the enemy formation.

    "Goodd. I wish that Quy dated someone with a spine like him instead of that Morok." Orion nodded, hoping to see Deirus¡¯s head crushed under the battle hammers like a watermelon.

    Unfortunately, the third and fourth bodyguard blocked the Tyrant¡¯s arms while the Archmage unleashed the tier five Battle Mage spell, Needle Storm.

    One ray of ice and darkness came out from each of his fingers, apanied by countless small darts guided by Deirus¡¯s will that cut off every possible escape route. The rays hit Morok at point-nk range, without giving him the time to absorb them into his eyes and making him cough out a mouthful of blood.

    ¡¯Dammit, if not for Master Ajatar¡¯s Wyrmguard armor I would have died on the spot. I need to get away from here.¡¯ Morok thought.

    Death didn¡¯t scare him as much as the thought of dying before his hated enemy, as the thought of bing another notch on Deirus¡¯s winning record. Morok managed to use the mercenaries as shields against the rays, but the Archmage didn¡¯t pull his punches.

    They were hired muscle, not friends. Deirus could always hire more.

    To make matters worse, the Royals couldn¡¯t stand idly any longer and had sent the Royal Guards to help their "loyal subject".

    "Goodbye and good riddance, fucker!" The Tyrant sucked the hail of spells through his eyes at great personal cost and pain, but it gave him the opportunity to fire them back all at once, sting Deirus away.

    It also created a smokescreen that allowed him to Blink away to safety and then open a Warp back to his master¡¯sir with a device that Ajatar had prepared in the case Morok pulled one of his stunts.

    "Kid, I barely finished crafted that thing and it¡¯s already a broken mess. What am I supposed to do with you?" The Drake took off his giant gold-rimmed sses to look the Tyrant in the eyes.

    He resembled an oversized lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales with a huge white horning out of his snout. Ajatar wasn¡¯t short-sighted, it was just books being so damn small and paper too expensive to have tomes of a size suitable for a Drake.

    "You can help me to Awaken." Morok said after closing the Gate and making sure that no one could follow him.

    "Are you insane?" Ajatar was so used to say those words to the young Tyrant that now he considered them a proper conversation starter.

    "After I Awaken, I can use Spirit Magic to bypass Deirus¡¯s arrays." Morok ignored his mentor and kept daydreaming. "Then, thanks to my newfound strength, I¡¯ll kill his bodyguards before taking my time with him. I¡¯ll tear Deirus limb from limb, leaving his heads forst."

    The image made the Drake shudder, d that his gonads were protected by thick scales harder than Orichalcum.

    "I¡¯ll rip his fucking skull and turn it into a chamber pot so that even in death his head will be full of shit like when he was alive!" Morok said while panting.

    The healing spells and his furious rant had left him breathless.

    "Okay. First, what? Second, the fuck? No one Awakens because of a girl they dated once. Is your revenge really worth risking your life? You¡¯re a blue core, for Leegaain¡¯s sake. Awakening now would be very dangerous for several reasons.

    "Your core is too powerful, your body is a mess-"

    "Nothing that a breath of Invigoration can¡¯t fix." Morok cut him short.

    "It¡¯s called Foresight and it¡¯s my breathing technique, runt! As I was saying, you are a mess even in the mind. There is no way for you to survive Awakening as you are, even if Mogar decides to help you." Ajatar said.

    "That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking for your help! I know you have a bloodline legacy that would increase my survival chances. I¡¯m sure that Mogar will make the process easy because she pestered me all the time while I was inside the Fringe." Morok replied.

    "If this stupid wanted to kill me, there are easier ways than inducing me tomit suicide by Awakening."

    "You would be right if this was a Fringe." Ajatar sighed deeply while pinching his snout to fight back the massive headache that talking sense into his apprentice usually caused him.

    "Look, I¡¯m not saying that your idea is crazy, even if it is, just toy down and rest. I want you to have a clear mind before taking such a big decision. You can still kill Deirus without Awakening, if you keep training and wait for the right moment.

    "Besides, the moment you Awaken, your father will get here and that¡¯s not a meeting you¡¯re looking forward to. Correct?" The Drake reminded the Tyrant about the tracking spell embedded in his life force that Glemos had marked his son with.

    "Correct." Morok nodded. "He¡¯s the second person I hate the most after Deirus."

    "Then we are on the same page. Let¡¯s talk about this tomorrow. Besides, learning Spirit Magic is not easy and I never offered to-"

    "Thank you for everything, Master Ajatar." Morok cut the Drake short and gave him a deep bow.

    Then, he took a deep breath, followed by another. Morok had learned the secret of Awakening back inside the Fringe, he had simply refused to use it until that moment because he was too scared of dying or to be like Lith.

    Something so powerful that no human could rte to him anymore. Being at the academy, in the army, and bing a feudal lord had all been unpleasant experiences to Morok.

    Even back when he was still partially human, everyone had treated him as a monster.

    Students, fellow soldiers, even his suitors after he had be a Baron, they all looked at him as if he was either a rabid beast or something to put on a leash.

 Chapter 1480 Fathers and Son Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1480 Fathers and Son Part 2</h4>

    Quy had been the first person to treat him like the annoying prick he was even after witnessing his skills.

    The first person to stand up to him despite being puny ad weak. The first person that not only had treated him the same after discovering he was a Tyrant, but she had also epted to go on a date with him.

    Quy had been the first human to treat the Tyrant like a human, something that not even his own mother had been willing to. Sure, beasts always acted friendly to him, but they were too detached, incapable of giving Morok the warmth he so desperately yearned for.

    And now she was gone, leaving him alone again.

    "You stupid son of an asshole!" Ajatar said as a golden pir descended from the sky, engulfing the Tyrant to ease the burden that Awakening inflicted upon someone with a blue core.

    Morok had trained his whole life and his body was stronger than that of any human. Yet the impurities amassed inside of him over the years now clogged his mana flow, causing his limbs to bloat and then burst just to be reassembled again by his newfound breathing technique.

    The density of world energy inside the pir was so great that the Drake needed all of his might to slowly move against the flow and reach his disciple.

    Morok¡¯s sixth eye was already opened and, along with the other five, it shot beams of world energy non-stop to reduce the strain on his body. If not for such bloodline ability, he would have been already dead, yet it wasn¡¯t enough.

    The wounded body, twisted mind, and grieving soul didn¡¯t allow the Tyrant to have the necessary focus to handle the process properly. His body suddenly bloated from head to toe, ready to explode beyond recovery.

    Then, Ajatar took the small Tyrant into his hands and activated Foresight. It destroyed the biggest impurities, reducing them to a size that Morok could handle while also mending and strengthening his body.

    "Well, that¡¯s new." The Drake said once the Awakening was over and the pir had disappeared.

    Morok¡¯s body wasn¡¯t white anymore. Under the light of the cave, now it shone akin to a precious gem due to the glistening rainbow-colored scales that covered him.

    "Also, that¡¯s something you weren¡¯t supposed to see, kid." A voice said, forcing Ajatar to turn around.

    Glemos the Tyrant looked like a man in his mid-twenties, about 1.83 meters (6¡¯) tall, with thick golden hair and ice-blue eyes. He had a lean, almost effeminate build that made him look even taller, and handsome features.

    "Thanks for taking care of my son until now. I¡¯ll handle the rest from here."

    "Hold your Dragons!" Ajatar stood in front of the Tyrant, blocking his path. "You abandoned him back when he was just a child. You ignored Morok his whole life and now, in his darkest hour, I should entrust him to you?"

    "He was small, weak, and ugly." Glemos¡¯s upper lip curled up in disgust while pointing his slender finger at his son that had reverted into his human appearance. "He would have just been a burden to me."

    Ajatar choked on his answer as a fury that dwarfed Morok¡¯s built up in his gut.

    "I had no time to spoil a brat and he needed to be strong in order to be useful." Glemos said.

    "Useful?" Ajatar echoed with eyes wide open that brimmed with violet mana.

    "Now stand aside. You didn¡¯t Awaken him, hence you¡¯re not his rightful master. By thews of the Council, you have no authority over him. To you, my son is just a stray mutt you picked up out of pity whereas I¡¯m his father."

    "A mutt?" The Drake growled.

    "My blood flows inside his veins. I¡¯ve given Morok life and it¡¯s time I also give him a purpose. He can¡¯t waste his talents just to avenge some broad who-"

    A mighty roar and a double sledgehammer fist cut Glemos short, squashing him like a bug. The ground below his feet had turned into a three meters (10¡¯) deep crater despite the arrays protecting the cave.

    "I¡¯ll overlook your foolishness because you clearly care for the boy." Glemos shrugged off the fists with a flick of his hand, revealing that the attack had failed to even crumple his designer clothes.

    "Now step aside before I make you, Ajatar." A bright violet aura erupted from his body as two eyes appeared on his palms, two on his shoulders, and the remaining two took the ce of his human eyes.

    The Drake was bbergasted and stood on his hind legs in surprise.

    Then, he started to giggle like a little girl, before turning hisughter into a maniacal cackling.

    "Do you have any idea who I am, old man?" Ajatar¡¯s body turned from blue to white as the world energy flooded it, giving his horn an eerie glow. "How dare youing into my home, ordering me around, and talking like that about my apprentice?"

    "I know who you are. You are a lesser Dragon. A failure to your own species whereas I can bend thews of magic to my will." Glemos¡¯s eyes burned with the power of the elements, yet Ajatar¡¯sughter only grew louder.

    "I may be more of a schr than a fighter, but I¡¯ve also written more books than you¡¯ll ever read.

    "I know more ways to destroy you than you can imagine. Now clench your teeth and use darkness fusion, because I don¡¯t want you to faint from pain while I¡¯m halfway through with you." The Drake said.

    "What do you-" The appearance of all the arrays that had remained inactive until that point cut Glemos short.

    He was older and stronger than Ajatar. The Tyrant could use Domination to turn the Drake¡¯s own spells against him. Yet he was inside Ajatar¡¯s home, surrounded by his life¡¯s work.

    On top of that, Dragons were calm by nature and not prone to rage. Yet when it happened, when theypletely lost it, their fury made even Phoenixes think twice before fighting them.

    Ajatar Hushed Morok to not disturb his sleep before beating Glemos the Tyrant into a pulp for so long that the sun set and rose before he was done with his uninvited guest.

    ***

    The city of Valeron, Quy¡¯s funeral, right after Morok¡¯s escape.

    "That¡¯s what I meant." Kam said while nodding at the bleeding Tyrant on the run. "Vengeance is born out of the fire of rage, but it has to be served cold to be perfect. Otherwise it¡¯s just a child¡¯s tantrum."

    "You¡¯re right. Thanks for stopping me. Thanks for being here." Lith replied.

    "You don¡¯t have to thank me." She held his hand tighter in reply. "We may not be together anymore, but I know how much Quy meant for you and Jirni. She meant a lot to me too. We even went on vacation together, once."

    "Yeah, too bad that itsted just one day before we all got dragged to Laruel." Lith chuckled at the memory and so did Kam, surprising them both.

    They had been sniffling until a second back, yet now the pain in their hearts seemed to have be lighter.

    After the funeral ended, Kam realized that her hand was still glued to Lith¡¯s and she tried to let go of it.

 Chapter 1481 Motherly Duties Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1481 Motherly Duties Part 1</h4>

    "I¡¯m sorry, but I should really go now." Kam said.

    "Please, stay. I don¡¯t want to be alone. Not now." Lith opened his hand yet he opposed a tenuous resistance, leaving to her the choice to broke the contact or not.

    "Alone? How?" She looked at the stone ring with suspicion, her mind was now messier than ever.

    "Solus¡¯s not a thing. She has her own grief and, in moments like this, we have to sever our link to not let our negative feelings flow into each other until they drown us. Quy was the first person that approached us back at the academy without a hidden agenda.

    "Solus cared a lot about her and being unable to attend her funeral in person, to give Quy a eulogy like everyone else only makes her pain deeper. Thanks to you, I managed to console her, at least a bit." Lith replied.

    He had been sending Solus several happy memories that they shared with Quy, to remind Solus of the way their friend had lived rather than the image of her disfigured corpse.

    ¡¯Thanks, Lith.¡¯ She half-sobbed and halfughed while remembering the fiasco of Quy¡¯s first dungeon raid. ¡¯Thank Kam for me and bring me home. I don¡¯t want to stay in my ring form one second longer.¡¯

    "Look, I don¡¯t want to be rude, but if you want me to stay, we need to go somewhere that¡¯s not your house and you have to take her off." Kam said while never moving her hand.

    "I don¡¯t feel like facing your whole family and I want to make sure that I¡¯m talking only with you."

    "Belius?" Lith said.

    "I don¡¯t live there anymore. I go to the apartment only between shifts, barely once a week. The ce is a mess." Kam shook her head. "We can go to Zinya¡¯s. The kids are dying to see you again and it¡¯s close to your home in the case something else happens."

    Lith tried and failed to perceive the energy signature of the Camellia on her, making his heart tighten.

    ¡¯She doesn¡¯t have it on herself and she doesn¡¯t live in Belius anymore. I guess she must have let it wither. Maybe we are really done.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Jirni canceled the wake she had nned after the funeral, sending everyone back to their respective homes. Deirus¡¯s stunt had nauseated her and brought the rest of the Ernas family on the verge of madness.

    Her children and husband needed peace, not wasting the little focus they had left entertaining their guests and talking about things that would deepen their wounds.

    Once they arrived at the Gate in the barn, Lith entrusted Solus to Elina, who briefly hugged Kam before walking away.

    Elina went to the site of the mana geyser in the Trawn woods, allowing the tower to form so that Solus could finally cry all of her tears while enjoying the soft warmth of a mother¡¯s embrace.

    Her energy body quivered as Solus inwardly thanked Kam again for having taken Lith away. Solus didn¡¯t want him to see her so weak nor to worry about her.

    "Why am I so frail while you are so strong?" Solus sobbed, holding Elina tight while making sure not to hurt her.

    "Because you need me to be strong." Elina kissed her forehead while caressing Solus¡¯s long golden hair. "Poor child, you¡¯ve lost so much, yet you have always been so worried about Lith that you never allowed yourself to feel."

    "What do you mean?" Solus sniffled.

    "That maybe, as long as you considered yourself just a tower, you lived Lith¡¯s life instead of your own. You never had the opportunity to love someone he didn¡¯t, to hang out with someone he didn¡¯t like." Elina said

    "You didn¡¯t even try to find out what happened to your mother or what happened to her belongings and rtives. Quy¡¯s death is a terrible event, yet it can be your first opportunity to not worry about him and focus on yourself."

    "There¡¯s no Abomination side to contain here, no battle to fight, just you and me." She hugged Solus tighter while carrying her to the nearest sofa and covering her with a nket.

    ¡¯Thank the gods for Lith¡¯sck of imagination. The kitchen is identical to that back home.¡¯ Elina thought while preparing warm tea with milk.

    "You did the right thing by leaving Lith¡¯s side. Unless you learn how to take care of yourself and to separate your feelings from his, you¡¯ll never be your own person. Everyone has the right to be selfish sometimes.

    "It¡¯s what makes us human and happy. You can¡¯t learn how to share with others if you don¡¯t have anything of your own." Elina bit a cookie, almost chipping her teeth.

    "Did you make these?"

    "Yes. They are a bit too crunchy, but they are tasty, right?" Solus asked.

    "More like stone-hard dear. Not everyone has the maw of a Tiamat or of a tower." Elina threw the cookie, making it bounce on the floor and yeting out unscathed from the impact.

    "Oh, gods, I¡¯m so sorry Elina. Did you get-"

    "Hush, child. There¡¯s no need to apologize." Elina ruffled her hair. "Now drink your tea and bawl your eyes out. We can worry about your cooking skillster."

    "Can you teach me?" Solus rested her head on Elina¡¯s womb as exhaustion finally caught up with her, making her eyes droopy.

    "Of course. What¡¯s a mother for?" Elina said, obtaining a loud snore in reply.

    For the first time since the day Quy had died, Solus¡¯s mind was finally at peace.

    ***

    "I¡¯m back Zin. We have a guest." Kam said while walking through the door.

    "Wee back uncle Lith. We¡¯ve missed you a lot. Where have you been?" Frey and Filia said while hugging him with joy.

    "I¡¯m really sorry, kids." Lith swallowed his grief and did his best to put a smile on his face while he ruffled their hair. "Aunt Kami and I had a bit of an argument so I had to give her some space."

    Zinya turned around from the stove to re at him, her eyes reduced to slits filled with doubt and suspicion.

    "But she¡¯s at work for most of the day whereas you¡¯re still unemployed. Why didn¡¯t you visit during office hours?" Lilia, the oldest of the two siblings, asked.

    "Because I was scared of your mother." He honestly replied, making the two kids chuckle.

    ¡¯Visiting the kids meant visiting Zinya and she would have asked me questions that I can¡¯t answer.¡¯ He thought.

    "An Archmage is afraid of Mom?" Frey looked at his mother with renewed respect. "Don¡¯t worry, uncle Lith, she¡¯s harmless. The worse she can do is to fatten you as she did with Volgun and Brionac."

    He pointed at the two magical beasts thaty at Zinya feet with their exposed bellies, in the hope to either be pity-fed or at least catch any ingredient that slipped off her hands.

    "He has a point, though." Filia said with a pensive face that was adorable in a ten years old girl. "Even uncle Zogar is an Archmage and he¡¯s afraid of Mom. He often runs away for no reason. She must have some secret skill."

    Normally, Zinya would have blushed at her daughter mentioning how Vastor left the moment things got too romantic for his taste, but the chaos in her mind kept her from showing any emotion that wasn¡¯t silent reproach.

 Chapter 1482 Motherly Duties Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1482 Motherly Duties Part 2</h4>

    Zinya had imagined that moment countless times, preparing long-winded speeches to nail Lith to the wall and demand an exnation for making her little sister suffer.

    Yet the moment she stood in front of him and saw his extended hand all she could do was push it away and hug him like a long-lost brother. No matter how angry she was at him, Zinya couldn¡¯t forget that Lith was the first man she had ever seen.

    He was the one that had given sight to her, love to her sister, and to both of them more happiness during the past three years than they had for their whole life. Even if Lith and Kam ended up not marrying, Zinya would never stop considering him an irreceable member of her family.

    "We all missed you, dummy." She said putting emphasis on "all" and refusing to let go until he returned the embrace. "I¡¯m really sorry for your loss. I never knew Quy, but I heard a lot about her from Kami."

    "Thank you, Zinya. Your words mean the world to me." Lith said while checking her up with Invigoration just like he had done earlier with the kids.

    Thanks to Vastor, they were as fit as a fiddle. Their bodies now contained so few impurities that Zinya seemed to age backward and the kids would grow into beautiful youths.

    "You two look like you could use some spicy tea and some cookies." Zinya didn¡¯t wait for their opinion and put the kettle on the stove while taking the "adult spice" also known as whiskey from a cab too high for the kids to reach.

    "Thanks. I¡¯m sorry foring here empty-handed, but it was ast-minute decision." Lith said while taking a bowl and several ingredients out of his pocket dimension. "This should make up for my rudeness and be ready at the same time as the tea."

    The kids stared in awe at the spat mixing the milk, eggs, sugar, cream, powdered chocte, and vani by itself while water magic slowly turned them into ice cream. No one in the house qualified even as a magico, so they considered the simplest trick akin to a small miracle.

    When the tea was ready, Lith gave a hearty serving to everyone while Zinya poured the whisky in the cups. The magical beasts barked and meowled respectively, desperate to get their due, yet the lord of the house was adamant about their diet.

    The contrast between the cold of the ice cream and the hotness of the teaplemented each other, giving the reunion that sweet kick that it needed. Zinya felt as if it had been yesterday that the Verhens and the Yehvals had been one big family.

    After running out of small talk with the kids about histest adventures, Lith projected a movie for them while Hushing the space around the firece to allow the grownups to speak freely.

    "I¡¯m so sorry that you had to see Quy die." Zinya said after Lith had told them about the events that had transpired the night of the g. "The only silver lining in this horrible business is that with the death of the Lost Magus, you can stop worrying about those Balkor cards."

    "I wish." Lith and Kam said in unison, making Zinya wonder for the umpteenth time what could have possibly driven them apart.

    "Zavra wasn¡¯t the Balkor copycat. Whoever they are, they want to make me suffer whereas Jirni was the target of this attack. I was just an extra." Lith said.

    "The Balkor copycat has always attacked their mark while they were alone and their protections at their weakest whereas Zavra attacked right after the g, in the presence of all the Royal Guards of the Kingdom.

    "He had clearly nned for a hit and run attack, but my quick response ruined his escape and led to his doom. Zavra wouldn¡¯t have had the time to butcher Quy¡¯s corpse nor to write the word "present" anywhere.

    "On top of that, the Lost Magus was specialized in killing people from a distance, without even giving them an opportunity to retaliate. The Balkor copycat, instead, always took things up close and personal.

    "After the kill, they even take time preparing the scene so that the first response team sees the corpse first and the message immediately after. They don¡¯t want witnesses so much as an audience to impress."

    To Zinya, both Zavra and the Balkor copycat sounded like madmen who sent shivers down her spine. Hearing Lith speaking of them almost with respect, trying to understand why and how they performed their murders only made her feel worse.

    "The only real silver lining of this situation is that now Zavra is dead and that the Balkor copycat is not Balkor. He would always send his cards to his marks, set a date, and then face them head on all at the same time." Kam said.

    "He gave them the chance to prepare for the fight or run away, not fearing any amount of manpower or resources that the Kingdom would employ. The copycat, instead, attacks one mark at a time, starting from the weakest and working their way up. Who do you think will be the next target?"

    Lith pondered for a while, yet he found no usible answer. The Ernas Household was a fortress, the White Griffon was even stronger, and attacking those like Manohar or Vastor who kept moving freely would have been suicide.

    "Can we please move to something else?" Zinya asked. "I¡¯m regretting not staying with the kids and watching the movie. If I hear one more word about murderers, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have nightmares tonight."

    "Speaking of nightmares, it¡¯s prettyte. You should go back home." Kam said after noticing how much time had passed from their arrival and how awkward she felt in that situation.

    For a few hours, speaking of work with Lith in thefort of her home had made her feel as if nothing had changed between them. It had made her feel rxed and happy despite the recent tragedy.

    Yet everything had changed and pretending otherwise would sooner orter backfire.

    "Sure. Before I go, do you mind giving us a bit of privacy, Zin?" Lith asked.

    "Sure thing." She went to sit in the Hushed zone together with the kids.

    It was toote to understand the plot of the movie but the ugly guy who was bound to be the bad guy had been defeated and the two lovebirds on the screen were about to have their happily ever after.

    "Do you remember what I told you about Lightkeep?" Lith asked.

    "How could I forget? Do you mean about the undead, Thrud, Xedros, or the loss of your humanity?" Kam shuddered at the thought that, despite months had passed, it seemed yesterday to her.

    "The undead. Sort of. Do you remember what I told you about meeting Ilthin, the Firstborn Banshee?"

    "Yes." She nodded.

    Back then, Kam hadughed at the Banshee¡¯s shameless attempt to hit on him, but now something else clicked in her brain.

    ¡¯Creatures like her feed upon the unfaithful. Was Ilthin attracted to him because she wanted to corrupt Lith or because he was already ripe for the taking?¡¯ Being with two women at the same time was the very definition of unfaithfulness, making Kam feeling even more cheated on.

 Chapter 1483 Home Invasion Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1483 Home Invasion Part 1</h4>

    "Back then, Ilthin told me something that I treasured deeply, and then she gave me this." Lith handed to Kam themunication rune business card of the Banshee that he had never used, yet he didn¡¯t throw it away either.

    "Are you showing off your mad pick-up skills or what?" Kam regretted her choice of words and the poison they were coated in the moment she heard theming out of her own mouth, yet it was toote to take them back.

    Her wounded heart demanded payback but, in her case, cruelty was a tool pointy at both ends and it inflicted the same amount of pain to both of them.

    "No. I just want you to have it." Lith flinched at her allegations, but just for one second. "Maybe, if you speak with Ilthin, she¡¯d tell you what she told me."

    "Can¡¯t you just repeat her words without the need of a middleman?" Kam took the rune card and stored it away.

    "Let¡¯s be honest. You don¡¯t trust me much anymore so anything I say would sound fake, especially since you know how good a liar I am." Lith replied. "On top of that, if our wordings are too simr, you might think it¡¯s a rehearsed speech."

    "Gods, I had almost forgotten how paranoid you are." Kam couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. "These cards are single-use and I doubt you can force a Firstborn to do anything."

    "Anyway, I want to let this be your choice, not mine. Goodbye." Lith left the moment the movie ended.

    He had followed Nalrond¡¯s advice while also giving Kam a tool to dispel her doubts. Back in the tower, after revealing Solus to her, Kam had chosen to get out of his life.

    Yet if she still cared about their rtionship, she would call Ilthin and maybe choose to be part of it again.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, the city of Nestamaath, Capitol of the Empire, and current ess to Leegaain¡¯sir.

    Jormun Nidho, also known in the Griffon Kingdom as Jakra the Emerald Dragon had finally returned home after over two months of wandering and five hundred years of imprisonment.

    Right after leaving the Golden Griffon, he had thought about going straight to his siblings, but that would have meant breaking his word to Thrud and more importantly, endangering the baby¡¯s life.

    Now, however, the pregnancy had almoste to term and Jakra couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. Training alone to master his abilities as an Awakened and searching for a way to obtain the violet core kept his mind busy, but only until Invigoration lost its effectiveness.

    When exhaustion forced him to stop and rest, Jakra¡¯s sleep was haunted by the memories of the centuries he had spent inside the Golden Griffon and of the months he had been a prisoner of his own body at Thrud¡¯s service.

    He hade to fear sleep more than death because while thetter would give him peace, the former tortured his mind and body, making him regret having left Thrud¡¯s side.

    While under the ve spell, at least he would sleep like a baby. Not only because the forbidden magic forced him to, but also because there was some sort of relief in knowing that none of his actions were actually his responsibility.

    With freedom, instead, also came the burden of the consequences of his actions and the regret for the lives that he had been forced to take.

    After one restless night too many and havinge too close to taking his own life, Jakra had chosen to go to the only person who might understand his situation without judging him.

    Leegaain, the Father of all Dragons, the Lord of Wisdom, and more importantly, his father.

    "Dad?" He asked while knocking on one of the many backdoors of their that Leegaain always prepared in the case something happened. "Can Ie in?"

    The door opened and closed by itself the moment Jakra stepped through it.

    "Well, well, well. The prodigal son returns. Have you finallye back to your senses or is this some kind of borate form of suicide?" Leegaain asked.

    He was in his Dragon form, a creature covered in ck scales so big that the only way to see his full figure was to look at him from a few hundred meters of distance.

    "I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t bring your girlfriend or at least reinforcements. Aren¡¯t you going to introduce me to my nephew?" Leegaain¡¯s words oozed spite and sarcasm, yet they were meant solely to vent the pain that Jormun had inflicted upon his wounded fatherly heart.

    So, when the Emerald Dragon fell onto his knees, begging for Leegaain¡¯s help while sobbing like a hatchling, the Lord of Wisdom¡¯s rage disappeared. His heart only ached more as Soul Vision revealed the pitiful state his beloved son was in.

    To his mystical senses, Jormun looked like a Dragon whose scales had been ripped off with a rusty knife. His pink skin bled non-stop and it was almost invisible under the many scars that covered the entirety of his body.

    His eyes were lifeless and his spirit broken to the point of being almost beyond saving.

    Almost.

    "Who dared to do something like this to my son?" Leegaain took Jormun amid his huge hands, forcing him to revert into an Emerald Dragon.

    Jormun was still so smallpared to Lord of Wisdom that Leegaain could rock him like a baby while searching for external wounds with his breathing technique, Worldkeeper, finding none.

    "I did it to myself." Jormun said amid sobs. "I was so stupid as to-"

    "Hush child, you don¡¯t have to shoulder your burden alone. From now on, I will be with you." Leegaain used a mind link to share his son¡¯s memories, gaining a clear understanding of everything the Guardian had witnessed during Scarlett¡¯s tribtion.

    "A ve spell? An army of Awakened? Mogar almighty, what have you done?" Leegaain blurted out in surprise.

    Yet the Emerald Dragon didn¡¯t reply, lost in the first pleasant dream he had since reacquiring his freedom. Between the almighty protection of his father¡¯s embrace and having shared his anguish with someone who could understand him, Jakra¡¯s mind was finally at peace.

    ***

    Grand Duchy of Deirus, the capital city of Temshin, Deirus Household, at the same time when Lith left Zinya¡¯s home.

    With only two generations of wealth behind him, there was only so much that Vn Deirus could make to ensure the safety of his home. All households had to start from the most basic arrays and add more powerful formations on top of them as soon as they could afford them.

    Until the mid-tiers, the arrays were basically standard equipment, something that all households had inmon with minuscule variations. Only the higher-tiered magical formations could be custom-made based on their master¡¯s wishes.

    It was the reason why the small figure donned in ck had no trouble avoiding the guards, managed to not trigger any of the rms that she knew like the back of her hand, and even to pick the magical lock of a window without the arrays noticing her presence.

    ¡¯Today you crossed a line that you shouldn¡¯t have Deirus.¡¯ Assassin Jirni Ernas thought while she navigated through the mansion with ease thanks to the blueprints that she had spent weeks memorizing down to the smallest detail.

 Chapter 1484 Home Invasion Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1484 Home Invasion Part 2</h4>

    ¡¯I won¡¯t stand you making my whole family suffer nor will you force my daughters to spend the rest of their lives in hiding. You¡¯re about to discover that you¡¯re not the only one who made good use of thesest few months.

    ¡¯I¡¯ve spent countless hours nning how to take you out once and for all, preparing for every possible contingency. I would have liked to have a bit more time, but I can¡¯t dy it any longer.

    ¡¯I must act before Orion does something stupid. Your act of defiance at the cemetery forced my hand, Deirus, and now you¡¯ll pay the price for your foolishness.¡¯

    She had entered from the most recent and also the least protected wing of the house, moving towards the most secure areas only after scanning the arrays surrounding her with devices that Jirni was supposed to use solely as an Archon.

    Between her Featherwalker armor and the many weapons she wore, Lady Ernas was confident in taking down even an Archmage, but she needed to y it smart. She couldn¡¯t afford to be detected nor letting Deirus understand what was happening until it was toote.

    Killing someone as powerful and influential as Deirus was akin to setting up several domino tiles. She needed to make sure that they would fall in the correct sequence so that the ensuing investigation would clear her household and have no long-term consequences.

    Any other oue would have led the Ernas Household to fall soon after the Deirus and that Vn¡¯s death would have been a hollow victory.

    The Deirus Household was already on the decline, with his ties to the Royal Court severed, no heir to take its reigns, and itsnds ready to be redistributed the moment the current Lord died.

    Archmage Vn Deirus had nothing to live for, except for his revenge. He was a dead man walking, ready to drop his own corpse in the Ernas¡¯s well to poison their waters and bring them down with him.

    Jirni, instead, had a thriving Arch Duchy, several children with a bright future ahead, and a husband she loved that she wanted to die of old age. So, unless she perfectlypleted her task, it would have been Vn¡¯s victory.

    To make matters worse, Jirni had to act quickly, before grief drove Orion mad and he ruined everything she had prepared. It was one of the reasons why she had been forced to hasten her ns.

    It was only a matter of time before her husband killed Deirus and got executed for treason. Jirni Ernas had several Royal Pardons saved but they couldn¡¯t be used to clear crimes punishable with the death penalty.

    Thanks to the night goggles Orion had crafted for her, Jirni moved quickly through the empty corridors and servants¡¯ passages, stopping solely to avoid patrolling guards or to let her device scan her surroundings for traps and arrays.

    Yet it took her over one hour to cover the few hundred meters that separated the window from Vn¡¯s living quarters. Once she finallyy eyes on his familiar gold-painted double door, Jirni made the device perform a triple scan while she double-checked her equipment and prepared for the worst.

    ¡¯I wish I could have brought Dyta along, but I¡¯m the only person for whom Orion vites the Kingdom¡¯s rules about Royal Forgemastery. He crafted for me artifacts meant solely for special ops units that should require the Royal seal even to be used.¡¯ She thought.

    Once everything was ready and charged, she moved to the door and touched it with a small sphere that unleashed the tier four Forgemastering spell, Clean te. The mixed pulse of light and darkness opened the magical lock while also disabling all protections on the door.

    The spell caused any artifact to temporarily lose its imprint, making Jirni¡¯s hand akin to that of their master.

    She slowly turned the handle that opened with a soft click, stopping for a few seconds to make sure that no one moved, talked, or even breathed nearby the door. The devices Orion had prepared for her were beyond illegal, but neither spouse cared.

    Once Jirni made sure that no guard nor concubine was inside the room, she slipped in and closed the door before its enchantments started to work again and detected the intruder.

    Her ck suit covered her from head to toe, leaving exposed nothing but her eyes. To be safe, she had even shaved her hair and eyebrows to make sure that she would leave no trace of her passage.

    It wasn¡¯t just Jirni having no care for appearances, but she could also always ask Manohar to regrow themter. She had taken four gods of the Kingdom as allies and each one of them yed an invaluable role in her n.

    Jirni reached Deirus¡¯s bed, where he slept alone with an obnoxious smile on his face, probably dreaming about Quy¡¯s death and her funeral. Yet she bid her time, letting the device scan the arrays in the room, her target, and even the walls for hidden passages or reinforcements.

    Only once Jirni made sure that no one was around and that the person in the bed really was Vn Deirus, not just a body double, did she move to the bedside.

    Her left hand covered Deirus¡¯s mouth while the right held an enchanted poisoned knife that pierced both of his eyes and heart in quick session. A skull was hard whereas eyes were soft and led straight to the brain.

    She took no pleasure in such a quick and painless job but family came first.

    Her gloved hand muffled Vn¡¯s yelps of agony as the knife kept moving non-stop with ruthless efficiency.

    ¡¯What the fuck?¡¯ She thought as Vn¡¯s hands grabbed her own and a huge smile appeared on his face.

    "Jirni, it¡¯s a pleasure to see you." His pajamas shapeshifted into a deep blue Archmage robe as his eyes and chest regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye, making his words more than a pun.

    "You¡¯re a bitte, though." Vn only needed a small flick of his wrists to break both of her arms and make Jirni drop the knife. "I was starting to worry that you wouldn¡¯te anymore and that I had to poke that big dumb oaf of your husband again."

    She tried to activate some of Orion¡¯s emergency measures, but the arrays of the house obeyed their master and suppressed her artifacts with the sheer pressure of the world energying from the hundreds of violet crystals that fueled the magical formations.

    "How did you know I woulde and how can you still be alive?" Jirni replied while kicking him square in the chest with the strength of a mule.

    Deirus crashed against the wall yet he suffered no damage. He moved as lithe as a cat, returning in front of her so quickly that all Jirni managed to see while his punch cracked her sternum and ribs was a blur.

    "You mean, how could I not know? I paid the Night Court an insane amount of money to make sure that you witnessed the death of your beloved daughter just like you did for my Yurial!" Vn kicked her hard in the chest, turning the cracks into fractures and making Jirni cough out a mouthful of blood.

 Chapter 1485 A Monsterâ€™s Plan Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1485 A Monster¡¯s n Part 1</h4>

    "I staged that show during the funeral, mocking you to make your blood boil and even letting that dumb beast beat me around to give you a false sense of security!" Deirus ripped Jirni¡¯s hood and was disappointed discovering that she had no hair to pull.

    "Pity. I always loved your hair and I would have loved even more ripping it off your scalp." He sighed. "As for your other question, Zavra wasn¡¯t the only one who can strike a deal with a Horseman!"

    A ck prism appeared from Deirus¡¯s chest, its perfection framed like a work of art amid the blue of his robe.

    "I¡¯m alive because I¡¯m not human anymore. At least notpletely. I¡¯m what the undead call a thrall I believe." Vn punched Jirni hard in the face, breaking her nose and veiling her eyes with involuntary tears.

    "After losing her dumb siblings, that dumb broad of Night is desperate for resources and allies. I¡¯ve got nothing left in this fucking Kingdom so I¡¯m going to join her immortal army. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll die bringing a lot of people with me.

    "Best case scenario, we win and I¡¯ll piss on your grave every day from now until the sun stops rising." Archmage Deirus proceeded to break her fingers one by one, yet Jirni didn¡¯t beg nor did she shed a single tear.

    "Do you know what¡¯s the best part of all of this? After killing you, your corpse and your precious killing instruments are the proof I need to report the Ernas household for attempted murder on an Archmage of the Kingdom.

    "After hearing my testimony, the Royals will be forced to make an example out of the Ernas, stripping them of most their riches. Losing you so soon after his precious daughter, will drove that oaf of Orion insane and I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll do something stupid that will be thest straw that will break your household¡¯s back.

    "You thought that bying here you would take me by surprise, but this was my n all along. I¡¯m not content with Quy¡¯s death, she was just the appetizer. My real goal was to lure you here and make sure that the entire Ernas household disappears along with mine!"

    Deirus never stopped beating Jirni during his speech, yet aside from a few involuntary yelps, she neither lost her defiant attitude nor beg for mercy.

    "You¡¯re taking the fun out of this. Scream for me or I¡¯ll kill you." He said.

    "Then kill me, you loser." Jirni spat a lump of blood and saliva in his face. "I can¡¯t believe you stooped so low as to be a ve for a mad artifact. Giving up on your life and on your Duchy I can get, but on your humanity?

    "Don¡¯t you have any shame?"

    "Said the woman who snuck into my home like a thief and tried to kill me in my bed." Vn stomped her chest, making Jirni gurgle blood.

    "Was is it you?" She half-gasped and half-said. "Lark and Mirim, was it you?"

    "No, I just helped. I gave that nutjob everything I had on them and even delivered his warnings to Lark. Working both sides of the fence was hard, but it was worth it.

    "The only problem I have left is that killing your daughter, recruiting a Magus, and getting this thing in my chest cost me everything I had. Night took even the most insignificant things from me and the only way I have to get them back is by helping her win the war."

    "Nutjob? Who are you t-" Another kick in the chest crushed what was left of her bones, along with her heart and lungs.

    "I¡¯m done talking." Deirus looked at her body, pitying that in his fury he had forgotten to have his fun with her.

    He had dreamed about seeing her naked for decades and now not even undeath could bring her back.

    "Well, I¡¯m not." Jirni said, making Vn flinch in horror.

    He quickly destroyed her brain as well, to make sure that she couldn¡¯t survive even in the case she had turned herself in an undead as well for the sake of revenge.

    "Who is this guy you mentioned earlier? If you didn¡¯t kill Mirim and Lark, then Night was supposed to be my prime suspect." The corpse kept talking despite not having a brain, a heart, nor showing any sign of regeneration.

    "What the fuck is going on?" Vn called upon the arrays of his house to sound the rm, summon the guards, and vaporize that monstrosity.

    Yet this time they refused his call.

    "It should be pretty clear at this point. This has never been your trap, but mine." This time, Jirni¡¯s voice came from behind Deirus.

    The huge shadow that the curtains projected in the corner of the room lifted, revealing the Archon in her high uniform. She was wearing a crystal visor and holding a recording device usually used to collect the confessions of criminals.

    "You¡¯re alive? What is this thing then?" Deirus just smiled seeing Jirni¡¯s body intact and her luscious golden hair as beautiful as he remembered it. "It doesn¡¯t matter. I just have to start over, but this time I¡¯ll be careful while ying with you."

    Her curves stretching her uniform in the right ces, making his blood rush and his pants bulge.

    "What part of trap you don¡¯t understand? The t- or the -rap?" Jirni said while a sudden hail of heat rays forced Vn to retreat.

    "Judging from the recovery speed, the nimble movements, and the not dying from being stabbed, I¡¯d say you¡¯re about to turn into a Ghoul." Manohar, the god of healing, stepped out of the shadows as well, keeping himself right behind Jirni.

    He wasn¡¯t afraid of his fellow Archmage, only of the petite woman in front of him.

    "Manohar! That¡¯s how you tricked me and what makes you so confident about your odds ofing out of here alive. That thing was one of his constructs!" Vn was d to waste time speaking since he could use it to cast true magic.

    "No. A construct would have had the wrong warmth, softness, and more importantly, I would have never let Manohar study my body close enough to make a perfect replica. I¡¯m a marrieddy, after all." Jirni shook her head while blushing like a shy maiden in an act that no one bought.

    Archmage Deirus unleashed one of Night¡¯s personal spells and a part of their bargain, Slithering Thorn.

    The tier five Battle Mage spell exploited the surrounding darkness to generate countless razor-sharp spikes from the very shadows of its marks, hitting them at point-nk range and leaving them no way to dodge.

    Much to Vn¡¯s surprise, the spikes barely poked at the Archon and the Mad Professor before fading away.

    "What in the Great-" Slithering Thorn struck at Deirus from every side, nailing him to the wall and cutting him short.

    "Using darkness magic against me is unwise, Deirus." The shadows burst open, revealing the rest of the group that had been waiting the entire time.

    Ilyum Balkor, the Blood Magus of the Desert had used Dominance to turn Deirus¡¯s spell against its own master. Jirni had brought him because darkness was both the bane of the undead and their strongest weapon.

    Yet as long as Balkor was there, darkness magic would belong only to him, turning any number of powerful undead intombs to the ughter.

 Chapter 1486 A Monsterâ€™s Plan Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1486 A Monster¡¯s n Part 2</h4>

    The traitorous Archmage tried to activate every single one of the arrays that he had developed to defend himself in the case Jirni had one or more aces in the hole, but nothing happened.

    "Please, stop doing that. You¡¯re just being pathetic." Zogar Vastor, the god of the battlefield, said as he channeled his mana through his Yggdrasil staff and into the arrays¡¯work, hijacking them thanks to his Highmaster¡¯s skills.

    "As I said, this has never been your trap nor did I ever fell for your trickery. I simply used your n as a framework for mine so that the more it progressed, the more entangled you got in a web of your own making." Jirni said.

    "What? How?" Deirus said to buy himself some time while he weaved a new spell.

    He had already called reinforcements via the prism and until his enemies found his heart¡¯s location, he still had a chance. Night herself was rushing there to get even with the Mad Professor and the god of death for fooling her.

    "After countless failed attempts to eliminate you from the political scene, I realized that you were too patient and smart to make a stupid mistake that would incriminate yourself and allow me to bring you down by thew." Jirni said.

    "Once I understood that our battle could go on for years, forcing my family to live inside a cage of fear, I decided that if I couldn¡¯t beat you, then I had to let you win. As I predicted, after losing so many battles, the overwhelming victory went to your head.

    "You started to act sloppy, like during the funeral, where you risked your life on the gamble that the Royals wouldn¡¯t pardon a grieving father. At that point, you only needed onest push to throw yourself in the grave you dug for me.

    "That¡¯s why I broke into your house and let you y with my puppet. To either kill you or get a confession that will end this squabble once and for all." Jirni said.

    "What? Are you telling me that everything that happened until now, even Quy¡¯s death, was your doing?" Deirus asked.

    "Exactly. Right after the g, the moment when you thought that I would lower my guard, I created several openings for your hitmen to exploit. After all, it was just of matter of when, not of if." Jirni replied.

    "I may be an undead, but you are a monster. How could you sacrifice your daughter just to bait me into revealing my dealings with the Undead Courts? If you were willing to sacrifice her, why didn¡¯t you just give Quy to me in the first ce?" Vn¡¯s mind spun so fast that he almost lost focus of the spell he had just weaved.

    "Oh, please. Do you really think I had only one meat puppet prepared?" Jirni said with a soft chuckle while pointing at her own corpse thaty on the ground. "I knew that you wanted to make me suffer, so I had a puppet prepared for every one of my children.

    "Why do you think I didn¡¯t let them out for months? I needed to buy the time for my project to bepleted and to make sure that not even my husband could distinguish the copies from the original."

    "That¡¯s forbidden magic! By exposing me, you are exposing yourself. We¡¯ll die together." Deirus said while unleashing a tier five spell that generated a hail of ice spikes and air des.

    Yet none of them reached their target as the shield of Orion, the god of the forge, generated a pulse of light that protected the whole group.

    Vn stared at the grieving father in horror, not only because Orion¡¯s fury had only grown since the day of the murder, but also because he was wearing a Royal Fortress armor.

    "You can thank Zogar for the meat puppets." Jirni said while stopping the recording. "When Manohar told me about the light clone that he used to fool Night, he gave me an idea.

    "Of course, he¡¯s too unreliable to make a copy that anyone can use even in his absence. That¡¯s where Zogar came into y. He and Manohar are the greatest experts about Arthan¡¯s Madness in the Kingdom and they both saw Thrud¡¯s meat puppets in Othre.

    "All Vastor had to do, was to take a few death row inmates and use his Body Sculpting abilities to kill their minds while leaving their bodies ready for use. This is no forbidden magic because our test subjects were already dead for the Kingdom.

    "We executed them in an unusual butwful way with the permission of the Royals." Jirni said as her n quicklye to its fruition.

    "That¡¯s impossible! I saw Orion cry. I watched him at the funeral. He can¡¯t be that good of an actor!" Vn said.

    "I¡¯m not! She kept everything hidden even from me." Orion¡¯s eyes zed in the darkness like violet torches as he stepped forward.

    He hated his wife almost as much as he hated Deirus for manipting him like that.

    Yet seeing Quy, or what he thought to be Quy, die and Vn do such horrible things to Jirni, looking at her with a bulge in his pants, had made it easy for Orion to pick who he would use to vent his anger.

    A series of quick shes of his de cut off Deirus¡¯s limbs, revealing the position of his heart. His left leg recovered more quickly than the other parts, betraying the vital organ¡¯s presence.

    "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Jirni stopped Orion¡¯s hand before he killed his hated enemy. "Tell me who¡¯s the man behind the Balkor cards and where I can find Night. With her siblings gone, I need to take her down to end the war."

    "Fuck you." Vn¡¯s severed head spat toward Jirni, but Orion blocked the corrosive saliva with his shield and crushed the thrall¡¯s gonads, making him scream in agony.

    "I can y with you run out of juice for regenerating your wounds, fucker." The god of the forge said. "You have no idea what I have prepared for you."

    Usually, Jirni was the master inquisitor, but she wasn¡¯t familiar with the biology of Baba Yaga¡¯s children, let alone their thralls. Orion, instead, knew nothing about questioning but a lot about pain.

    He released a swarm of small golden spheres that crawled with little spider legs on Vn¡¯s body before digging through his flesh. Each one of themtched itself to the strongest mana source they detected, unleashing small bursts of darkness at the same time.

    Deirus had one body, but he suffered as much as if he had six, one for each severed body part, and darkness fusion couldn¡¯t help him against Orion¡¯s creations now that the limbs had been separated from the prism.

    Night realized what was going to happen and shattered her prism from a distance, killing Vn Deirus before he could reveal her location. Their bond was a double-edged sword that allowed her Chosen to find her just like Night could always find Baba Yaga.

    "I know that I can defeat Balkor and Manohar at the same time, but facing also Vastor, Orion, and whatever that madwoman has prepared for me would be in suicide." Night said before ordering her army to turn around.

    "Deirus¡¯s loss is more than eptable. I had already squeezed everything from him. He would have made an excellent general, but I can always find more like him. He¡¯s no Balkor, after all."

 Chapter 1487 Means and Ends Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1487 Means and Ends Part 1</h4>

    Meanwhile, in Deirus¡¯s bedroom, Jirni had just finished calling for backup and Balkor had left for the Desert.

    "Just one question. How are we going to exin your puppet stabbing Vn to death in his sleep and the god of death¡¯s presence?" Orion asked, his voice as stone-cold as his gaze while he spoke to his wife.

    "Your naivety never ceases to amuse me, dear." Jirni said with a chuckle. "After the events at the funeral, the Royals gave me the authorization to kill Vn. Deal with the undead or not, he was too deranged.

    "Now that he had lost his political power, the Royals could finally get rid of him without the risk of escting the conflict in a civil war. They only asked me to leave enough traces so that the investigation would shift the me on the undead.

    "Of course, with his confession recorded, I have no need to nt evidence anymore." Jirni showed Orion several documents with no names that had been acquired while searching the houses of traitorous nobles that dealt with the Undead Courts that the Royals had ordered her to hid in Vn¡¯s quarters after doing the deed.

    "As for Balkor, I edited that part. That¡¯s why I asked you for a "special" recording device. Someone might discover my tampering, but I¡¯m confident that no one will look too deep in the matter. It¡¯s a calcted risk." She replied.

    "Like lying to me? Like persuading our daughters to follow your crazy n?" He said.

    "Please, as if they could be trusted. They are as emotional as you and awful actresses at that. I kept them in a stasis pod ever since the g. Do you remember how youined about us taking a long time to get changed?" Jirni said.

    "Are you telling me that I¡¯ve lived thest few days with meat puppets? That Friya and Phloria have been your prisoners all along?" Orion¡¯s knees buckled up, forcing him to lean against a wall to keep standing.

    "Of course. The sealed stasis pods ensure that if anything happens to our children¡¯s puppets, their magical items will lose their imprint just like it happened with Quy¡¯s." Jirni nodded while making sure that no image of Balkor or of his mysterious powers remained.

    "I couldn¡¯t risk their lives in the case that Deirus attempted to kill them as well and I needed you guys to y your part at the funeral. He needed to see your sincere grief to believe that he had beaten me for good.

    "That¡¯s why I made them stay home the whole time, keeping them from meeting Lith and Faluel. I couldn¡¯t risk them discovering that there was something wrong with their bodies."

    "Well, honey, yours is an amazing n. Yet there¡¯s something that I¡¯m certain even you have failed to predict." Orion said while inhaling sharply in outrage.

    "What?"

    "I want a divorce and I want it yesterday. Don¡¯t bothering back. I¡¯ll send your stuff to the Myrok." The god of the forge warped away after saying to Archon Jirni Ernas things that were too painful even for her to withstand, making her faint on the spot.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, the city of Nestamaath, Capitol of the Empire, Leegaain¡¯sir.

    The sun rose soon after Deirus¡¯s death, waking Jormun up with its light. Dragons had a mental fortitude on par with that of their body, yet if not for Leegaain¡¯s soothing presence by his side, the Emerald Dragon wouldn¡¯t have recovered so much and so quickly.

    "Good morning, son." Leegaain said. "Breakfast?"

    "Thanks, Dad. I¡¯m starving." Jormun nodded.

    After a hearty meal, Jormun felt better and strong enough to ask for his father¡¯s help.

    "I know that I promised Thrud to not expose her presence until the baby is born, but I was out of my mind back then, and endangering countless lives just to keep my word is something that only a kid would do." He said.

    "What are you going to do, then?" Leegaain asked.

    "I thought thating to you made it pretty obvious. I¡¯ll stay here until I recover and I¡¯ll give you the information that Tyris needs to stop Thrud before it¡¯s toote." The Emerald Dragon said.

    "Son, I think you are still out of your mind and don¡¯t think clearly. Guardians don¡¯t work like that." The Father of all Dragons replied.

    "What do you mean?"

    "The mind link already gave me everything I need. You can just focus on your recovery. As for Tyris, I¡¯m going to inform her, but if she shares my opinion, she will not intervene in this matter as I wouldn¡¯t if it had taken ce in the Empire."

    "What? Why?" Jormun was bbergasted.

    Leegaain opened a mind link with his fellow Guardian in reply, letting his son take part in the conversation.

    "What is the hatchling doing there and why isn¡¯t he chained?" Tyris asked the moment she noticed that Jormun was not only free, but he also still wore the equipment that Thrud had crafted for him.

    Leegaain shared Jormun¡¯s memories with her, forcing him to face them without reliving them, before answering her question.

    "Chains are not needed because he¡¯s finally free, yet my son is still unwell. He¡¯ll need some time to recover from the consequences of the ve spell that the Golden Griffon put him under."

    "Poor kid." Tyris caressed the Emerald Dragon while giving him a warm motherly smile. "If there¡¯s anything I can do to help either of you, don¡¯t hesitate to ask."

    "Thanks for your understanding." Leegaain nodded.

    "Wait a minute. That¡¯s it?" Jormun was bbergasted. "Why aren¡¯t you sounding the rm and alerting the Royals about Thrud¡¯s n?"

    "Because it would be pointless." Tyris replied. "As she pointed out, your knowledge is actually a poisoned fruit. If she started preparing for battle right after you left, not only would it take me quite some time to assemble enough troops, but I would also lead them into a trap.

    "The Golden Griffon resisted centuries of attempts to destroy it even back when it was filled solely with mindless monsters and without a master. There¡¯s no telling what the lost academy is capable of now that it has a capable leader at the head of immortal seasoned warriors who have now been Awakened."

    Jakra opened his mouth only to realize how foolish he had been. Only the power of a Guardian might be able to take on such a powerful force.

    "Aren¡¯t you going to kill her yourself?" He asked.

    "No. Not now that I understand why Mogar asked us to let Thrud go." Tyris shook her head.

    "Are you sitting on your thumbs just because of an order? What are you, ves?" Jormun said in outrage.

    "Son, when someone smarter, wiser, and millions of years old gives you an advice, the best thing you can do is listen to them. Mogar doesn¡¯t give orders but they don¡¯t even share all of their knowledge with us, otherwise Fenagar and I would be useless." Leegaain replied.

    "Then why?"

    "Because her n is brilliant." Tyris said while sighing with sadness. "That girl is no genius, but she¡¯s the greatest hard worker that I ever met."

    The Guardian pointed at Jormun¡¯s equipment before conjuring a hologram that quickly recapped Thrud¡¯s scheme.

 Chapter 1488 Means and Ends Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1488 Means and Ends Part 2</h4>

    "She has used the war against the undead to split the Kingdom, the Council, the Undead Courts, and even the Eclipsednds from each other more than they have ever been.

    "At the same time, she crafted weapons that most Awakened can only dream of and developed a technology that allows her to recover bloodline abilities while also giving everyone the possibility to safely Awaken.

    "Thrud might be the first ruler of the Kingdom who bears with pride both the human and the beast bloodline.

    "She has built an army of loyal Emperor Beasts and humans like no one ever did before. If she raises to power, she might even spread the gift of Awakening, recing both the army and the Association with the Council.

    "It would bring to an unprecedented era of magical wonders, where anyone can be a powerful mage as long as they work hard. You have no idea how many people are born with an amazing talent for magic and yet without a powerful core to match." Tyris said.

    "But, she¡¯s a tyrant. Her soldiers are all enved and so would be every one that she Awakens!" Jormun said.

    "Not everyone." Tyris reyed how Thrud had freed Jakra before showing him things from his own memories that he had overlooked.

    Her shock at the discovery of the ve spell, how she had kept Sevenus from infecting the Beasts with the Unwavering Loyalty array, and how she had ordered him to make restoring the sanity of the Golden Griffon¡¯s students his priority.

    "Thrud is crazy and she has to go down." Tyris said. "Yet she might able to build the Kingdom Valeron has dreamed about for so long and that his heirs failed to aplish due to their greed, weakness, orck of ruthlessness.

    "In Thrud¡¯s vision there¡¯s no ce for squabbling nobles or for corruption. She aims to reform thews so that everyone will be granted enough magic and resources to make their life better. To make merit trample birthright.

    "If she lets the Emperor Beasts join her of their free will, if she strives to protect the people of the country and attacks solely its upper echelons like Balkor did, I have no reason to interfere.

    "Either she seeds or fails, the three Great Countries have a lot to learn from how she¡¯ll handle the first Awakened regr army that Mogar has ever seen and from what consequences making a society that treats all races as equals will have."

    Tyris took a long pause, staring at Thrud¡¯s growing belly with envy.

    "Her child might be the key to her sess because, unlike her father, she doesn¡¯t n on ruling forever but to leave the throne to your child after doing the dirty work for them.

    "It makes her willing to put her life at stake because she isn¡¯t fighting for herself. You know that better than anyone else."

    Jormun thought back at the countless hours he had spent together with his "spouse" nning the future of their child, no matter their race or gender. She only wanted the best for them, giving them the throne that had been denied to her.

    Thrud¡¯s n would cause thousands of deaths, but after all, Valeron didn¡¯t be King by saying please and thank you. He might have turned into a tyrant as well, yet people had followed him, hoping for the best.

    Only after witnessing the results of a war, one could say if the end justified the means or if had just been a pointless bloodshed for power.

    "Before intervening, I¡¯ll observe her methods and actions. If meeting Manohar taught me something is that even madmen have their usefulness." Tyris hung up the call, leaving the Emerald Dragon to ponder if leaving Thrud¡¯s side had been the right thing to do.

    ***

    Trawn Forest, Solus¡¯s tower, two dayster.

    "I can¡¯ believe that Mom sucker punched me at the g, stuffed me inside a stasis tank, and had me believe that Quy was dead for two days just because she thinks I¡¯m a poor actress." Phloria said in outrage.

    "Did you cry a lot for me?" Quy was the calmest of the three.

    "Are you kidding me, little one? I cried myself to sleep every few hours and couldn¡¯t bring myself to do anything." Friya hugged her little sister who overlooked the moniker that she hated.

    None of the girls was aware of the fact that Vastor¡¯s puppets had been engineered to make them more emotional so that they wouldn¡¯t attempt to train or take revenge while Jirni didn¡¯t watch over them.

    "I¡¯m so d to have you back, little one." Lith lifted both Friya and Quy in an embrace, being careful to not hurt them.

    "What happened to Jirni?" Tista asked after making sure with Invigoration that she was really talking with her friend and that she was alright.

    "Dad asked for a divorce and we told Mom that either she left home or we would. After that, she moved back to the Myrok household." Phloria said. "I love my mother, but what she did is unforgivable. I¡¯d rather live in a hotel than spend one minute under her same roof."

    "Did Jirni say anything before leaving?" Solus asked, brimming with joy as she checked Quy with Invigoration as well.

    "No, she didn¡¯t. Mostly because there was no one willing to listen to her." Friya replied. "By the way, little sister, how did being dead feel?"

    "I don¡¯t remember much of the past few days." Quy shrugged. "One moment I was running in the garden and the next there was a burning pain in my chest. After that, the only thing I remember before opening my eyes was this warm darkness surrounding me.

    "I wasn¡¯t scared or worried, quite the contrary, I was at peace with myself for the first time in a long while. I wonder if it¡¯s Vastor¡¯s doing or simply an effect of the stasis pod."

    Lith was about to say that death actually felt like that and that Vastor probably had nothing to do with that, but he preferred to shut up. Exining how he knew so much would have beenplicated at best.

    "To me, it felt like having a dreamless sleep and then waking up. The good news is that my body finally had some real rest and that I never felt better before." Quy said while flexing her fingers and letting elemental fusion circte throughout her body.

    "What about you?" Solus asked.

    "Same." Friya and Phloria replied in embarrassment.

    Vastor¡¯s stasis field was a variation of the Madness he had used for himself. After realizing that the girls were Awakened, he had used that time to study their condition. The Master had also used his skills to fully rejuvenate their bodies from the effects of the harsh training of the past years.

    "Well, all is well what it ends well." Lith shrugged. "Jirni had no malice-"

    "Don¡¯t try and justify her just because you would have done the same!" Phloria said with a snarl, actually reading his mind and cutting him short.

    "Tista, are you going to read the booklet that the Royals gave you?" Lith masterfully changed to the topic as soon as he noticed that the rest of the girls were about to scold him as well.

 Chapter 1489 Red Demon (Part 1)

    1489 Red Demon (Part 1)

    "Oh, gods! With all that happenedtely, I had almost forgotten about that." Tista took the records about Nana out of her dimensional amulet and started to read out loud.

    ording to the book, Nana had been born as Nerea, the daughter of Lutia''s shoemaker, 75 years back. From a tender age, she had shown a brilliant mind and an amazing talent for magic.

    She had learned how to write, count, and use all kinds of chore magic by the age of three. Even without a master nor proper training, by the age of six, she had started to take care of her own family thanks to the spells that she had learned simply by observing the vige''s healer.

    By the age of ten, she had started to develop several personal spells and rumors spread throughout the Lustria County that she had inherited from her ancestors the power of the Dragon''s Eyes.

    Even mages couldn''t exin how such a small kid could imitate their simplest spells just a few days after watching them in action despite not having received any exnation. The rumors had reached Count Cenar Lark, Trequill''s father, who had arranged for Nerea the exam at the nearby Lightning Griffon.

    There, she had shocked the examiners by showingplete mastery over the first three tiers of magic and even hexa-casting. It would have been all the more reasons for rejecting her application since the nobles could already see their heirs being humiliated by a dirty poormoner.

    It was then that, after noticing their scorn where admiration was supposed to be, Nerea had performed Silverwing''s Hexagram. It forced the Headmaster to let her enroll and hope that, once inside the academy, the students would have broken her.

    The records of the admission exams would be submitted to the Association and then to the Royals. If any of them discovered that the academy had rejected a twelve years old girl already more capable than most mages who graduated from lesser academies, the Headmaster''s head would have rolled.

    ording to the records, Nerea had it rough, especially during the first months. Hazing was the rule and few Professors did what they could to help her. Yet instead of breaking Nerea as her enemies hoped, that treatment made her stronger.

    After a while, Nerea started to ambush her oppressors while they were alone in the academy corridors, and then she beat them until the only feeling they had at her sight was fear.

    She would always heal them before leaving so that no proof remained. With her growing talent and outstanding grades in both her specialization as War Mage and Battle Mage, she had piqued the interest of the Royals themselves.

    The Queen asked Nerea if she was interested in bing one of the secret assets of the Kingdom in exchange for protection for her, her family, and more money than she could count.

    The young girl already hated the whole world and the idea of finally being respected was too good to turn the Queen''s offer down. Nana officially failed her Battle Mage specialization so that she had the time to attend the Assassin specialization lessons that took ce on the hidden seventh floor of the academy.

    The two disciplines followed the same principles, but while a Battle Mage was shy and fought on the battlefield, an Assassin was inconspicuous and their work mostly took ce inside opulent households.

    Even though Nerea was considered to be a student with only one specialization, no one dared to mock her anymore. At least not after the Queen exacted revenge on her behalf and wiped out two noble families that had been persistent in troubling her.

    Soon the corridors of the academy turned from a battlefield into red carpets for Nerea and her life had never been happier nor easier. Yet it also made her conceited, mistaking bootlickers and fair-weather friends for people she could rely upon.

    After graduating from the academy, Nerea started her work in the field. The more her body count grew, the more the burden of her actions made her reliant on her so-called friends, preparing the field for the iing disaster.

    A few yearster, when Nerea was 21, one mission went horribly wrong. An Linnea, future Headmistress of the Lightning Griffon and Nana''s handler, had sent her to kill Grand Duke Creghan.

    He was a known traitor to the Kingdom, but there was no solid proof of his traffics with the Empire and he was too powerful to kill him off with a flimsy excuse. Since he never remained alone, not even when meeting his lovers, the n was to kill Creghan in his sleep and to keep the body count to a minimum.

    s, thete Alric, who was tasked with collecting info, failed to learn about the Arch Duke''sst minute change of ns. Thete W, infiltrated among the house staff, failed to inform her aplices that in the absence of the master, thedy of the house would still be there.

    Linnea, in turn, failed to check on her assets, having becent with Nerea''s skills. ording to the records, when Nana realized what had happened, she had already killed Lady Creghan and her son, mistaking them for husband and wife.

    On top of that, Lord Creghan returned soon after,promising her escape route. In the end, she had managed to kill the Arch Duke and to Warp away, but she had left behind a massacre that yearster would inspire Balkor.

    Nerea''s team falsified the reports and pinned all the me on her, iming that even after receiving the news of Creghan''s change of ns she had decided to continue the mission.

    The Royals had no reason to doubt their loyal servants and they needed a scapegoat. Creghan''s death had already ruffled the noble household''s feathers so punishing noble heirs would have only made things worse.

    Making an example of a grassrootsmoner mage, instead, would have given everyone enough reason to celebrate and created a scandal that would have obfuscated Creghan''s death, especially after they found proof of his treason.

    Nerea found herself alone, stripped of her titles, riches, artifacts, and even forbidden to ever use dimensional magic again. It was another of the sses that she had allegedly failed and, if she exposed the truth, only death would await her.

    After that, Nana had returned to Lutia, indulging in alcohol and self-pity until age made her health so poor that her blue core degraded to bright cyan.

    "Poor Nana." Tista said. "Now I get why she was so bitter and why she wanted me to be more ruthless."

    "Everyone involved is dead, except for Linnea who has disappeared years ago." Lith said. "Are you really going to hunt her down? Even though this isn''t what Nana wanted?"

    "Honestly, I don''t know." Tista sighed. "Too much time has passed and Linnea got her due. Even if she''s still alive, she now knows what Nana went through because of her betrayal.

    "Linnea lived all of her life as noble, yet now she has lost everything as well and has to live as rat, hiding into some dark corner to not get stomped. I''d say that''s the best life sentence I can hope for. I wish Linnea has a long and unhappy life ahead of her."

 Chapter 1490 Blue Demon Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1490 Blue Demon Part 2</h4>

    "What I¡¯m going to do, instead, is to keep focusing on umtion to-"

    A golden pir descended from the sky, engulfing Tista and pushing everyone away from her as her bright cyan core released a powerful mana flow to get rid of the impurities that kept it from reaching the blue.

    "What the fuck?" The Ernas sisters said.

    "Quy¡¯s death hit Tista really hard." Solus said while activating the tower¡¯s Immortal Body array to ensure her friend¡¯s survival. "She spent thest four days either training or using umtion, taking breaks only to eat."

    Contrary to everyone¡¯s expectations, Tista didn¡¯t scream and her breakthrough didn¡¯tst long. Just like a human Awakened, she lost her hair, her nails fell, and her flesh and bones got turned inside out to let the impuritiese out.

    At the same time, like an Emperor Beast, the pir nurtured her body that instead of restructuring itself as that of a human, it turned into something else. Everything that Tista shed would immediately be recycled to form scales, ws, and wings.

    With every blue pulse that her core released, she grew in both height and mass until no trace of the beautiful young woman she had been until a minute back remained.

    Once the golden pir disappeared, Tista was d that her armor was designed for Lith, otherwise the transformation would have left her stark naked.

    "What the heck is that?" Lith took the words out of everyone¡¯s mind.

    Tista was now about 2 meters (6¡¯7") meters tall and her body was a deep blue te covered in thin scales that resembled those of a big fish. She had no horns, a small tail came out the small of her back, and she only had two eyes.

    The left eye had now a pupil of the same hue of blue of her hair streaks while the right had the silver pupil of light magic. Both of them shone with the power of the elements.

    Two majestic silver-veined blue feathered wings came out of her back, yet there was no trace on her hips of a second set.

    "Wof m I? Hod I tn bk?" Tista said in a panic.

    "You still have a mouth, Tista, but your voice is muffled by the scales. Opening them is akin to moving your lips. All you have to do is to imagine that you are baring your teeth to someone." Lith said.

    "What am I? How do I turn back?" The blue scales slid back, revealing two rows of fangs and a panicked throat filled with deep blue mes.

    "Definitely not a Tiamat." Lith shapeshifted and stood in front of his sister to show her the many differences between them. "A Demon, I¡¯d say. And since I suck at naming, I dub thee the Blue Demon."

    "I don¡¯t give a fuck about how you call me! How do I get back being a human?" Tista said in outrage as the blue mes seeped out, engulfing her body without harming either her or the Scalewalker.

    The phenomenon gave have her an intoxicating feeling as if she was high on pure mana.

    "How did I do that? I never saw you doing that before. Why do I feel like stretching my wings and flying away?" Tista forgot everything about her worries while the power of the mes burning inside of her made her feel as if she was taking the best hot bath ever.

    "You are a woman and ording to Sark, you took more from Raaz than Lith did. Everything you are feeling and doing is probably due to your Phoenix blood talking." Solus said.

    "It feels amazing!" Tista said, making the mes burn higher and higher.

    "Keep up like this and you¡¯ll cripple your life force!" Lith snapped her out of it. "Now use Invigoration to feel your life force. What do you see?"

    As long as Tista was engulfed in Origin mes, touching her or using a mind link was out of the question.

    "I see twin stars. A blue one and a silver one that move in synch like dance partners, getting closer and then farther as they spin around each other." She replied.

    "Those must be your Dragon and Phoenix sides that will merge as you further refine your core." Lith said. "Can you hear the melody of your human side in the background?"

    "Yes, I can."

    "Focus on it as hard as you can while ignoring everything else. Don¡¯t listen to that of your beast half." Lith exined to her how he had shapeshifted before evolving into a Tiamat to the best of his abilities, but it still took Tista a while to seed.

    By the time she turned back into a human, her life force waspromised by the abuse of the Origin mes, making Tista fall asleep until the next day.

    When she woke up, everyone was worried and happy for her at the same time.

    "My little baby!" Elina hugged Tista with enough strength to squeeze the air out of her lungs. "Lith told me that we went this close to lose you. How could you be so irresponsible?"

    "Mom, I¡¯ve never been a Wyrmling before. It wasn¡¯t intentional."

    "Thank the gods your brother was there to stop you before it was toote. Can you promise me just one thing?" Elina asked while cupping her face and looking Tista in the eyes.

    "Anything for you, Mom."

    "Can you please give me a grandchild or two before refining the violet core? I love your brother like the day I gave birth to him, but after bing a Tiamat, we have no idea if his loins work as before." Elina said.

    "Mom!" Lith turned purple in embarrassment while the rest of the room had a hard time notughing their ass off at his expense.

    "Anything but that!" Tista replied.

    "I¡¯m sorry dear. There¡¯s nothing wrong inying eggs or whatever Tiamats do, but I would prefer things going the old-fashioned way. Waiting for the hatch is more convenient, but nothingpares with feeling the baby kicking the mother¡¯s womb." Elina gently caressed Tista¡¯s belly as if she expected it to be swollen at any moment.

    "Hands off!" Tista jumped up and hid behind Lith for cover.

    "Dear, I know how you feel, but you are embarrassing our children. On top of that, the matters of the heart take time." Raaz stood between them, trying to calm his wife.

    It took him a while to make her drop the grandchild subject. Only after Elina left the room did Tista rx enough to share what she considered a real problem.

    "It took you three years to go from deep to bright blue so I have still time before deciding what to do with my love life. What really bothers me are my eyes. Why do I have only two of them?

    "I¡¯m pretty sure they are rted to the secret lessons that Faluel gives to you, Solus, and Friya." It didn¡¯t take her much noticing that only people with an increasing number of eyes or streaks had received special treatment from the seven-headed Hydra.

    "I have no idea." Lith pensively scratched his stubble. "Maybe it¡¯s because my Abomination side boosted the Beast¡¯s. After all, both Hydras and Tyrants are born respectively with only one or two heads and eyes.

 Chapter 1491 Changes and Moving Part 1

    Chapter 1491 Changes and Moving Part 1

    "Or maybe it''s because I''m the very first of my kind. After all, if I''m right and you are a Demon, you acquired this form because Mogar messed up our family for me. I''m the Father of all Demons which makes you kind of coteral damage." Lith said.

    "Thank you for your kind words." Tista said with a scoff while also using chore magic to shave Lith.

    Despite his mass and tougher than steel skin, she managed to give him more cuts than he had inflicted upon himself back on Earth while using his first razor.

    "Gods! Don''t do that ever again."

    "I''m sorry, but you really look like a hobo. I''m not used to see you so shabby." Tista replied. "By the way, do you think that we should inform Grandma?"

    "Excellent idea." Lith fixed the damage to his face and needed an enchanted knife to get rid of the facial hair that his sister had missed. "We should-"

    "Big sis, we need you!" Aran yelled through a window, cutting him short and making Lenanna ran as if it was a matter of life and death.

    ''How does the hatchling know that I''m the healer of the group?'' She thought while kicking down the front door.

    "Aran!" Lith and Tista scolded him at the same time while the Queen''s corps stationed outside wondered once again what point their presence might have and yet put the reinforcements on standby anyway.

    "What? Mom always says that girls should talk about their problems with other girls. Big bro Crevan is a boy." He exined with the wless logic of a six years old child.

    "What can I do for you, Tista." The poor Phoenix inhaled sharply to keep calm and not scold Aran for his naivety.

    Tista shapeshifted into her Red Demon form, making Lenanna jump with joy before establishing a mind link with Sark.

    "Congrattions, child!" The Overlord''s voice came out of her mouth as even her demeanor switched to that of the Mother of all Phoenixes. "So much red and so many feathers at deep blue. There''s no telling how you''ll be at violet."

    "Thanks, Grandma." Tista said. "Do you have any idea why I''ve got only two eyes?"

    "Not a clue." Lenanna shook her head. "But if it works like for Hydras or Tyrants, you should get more as your elemental mastery and your core develop. I''m sorry, but that''s all I can say for now."

    "So after finally getting here, you''re telling me that I need even more practice and umtion?" Tista slouched in disappointment.

    "Correct. Even your brother started with two. The rest were merely decorative."

    "Grandma, would you mind if we came to visit you in a while? We''ve gone through so much s-" Lith remembered about Aran before it was toote. "Stuff that we could use some peace and quiet in the Desert."

    "It''s a wonderful idea! I have a lot of things that I can''t wait to show and teach you. Besides, my dear friend Mimeria has a really lovely daughter who''s single as well and is looking for apanion." Sark said.

    "Grandma, I''m not interested in blind dates-"

    "Nonsense! How can the Father of all Demons have no offspring? It ruins your reputation and makes your title sound like a joke. Besides, adding a bit more of Phoenix blood can only strengthen the bloodline." She said.

    "Another Phoenix?" Elina chimed in. "Wouldn''t it be awkward?"

    "Don''t worry, I checked already. They are 145th cousins on my side. Lith has probably more blood inmon with the baker of Lutia than with her." Sark chuckled.

    "Would they have eggs or can I hope for-"

    "Not now, Mom!" Lith gently pushed his mother out of the room before continuing the conversation. "When can we start packing, Grandma?"

    "As soon as you''re done with your business, dear." Sark replied. "I''ll make sure to prepare a suitable wee for you, your family, and everyone else that you want to bring along.

    "Just let me know who''sing in advance so that I can make their stay special."

    "What business are you talking about, Grandma? I''m still free. Well, aside from the insane amount of workload on my desk." Lith sighed.

    ''I can''t believe that it took me almost three months just toe up with a decent breathing technique for the violet core. Not only am I still stuck at deep violet ever since I became a Tiamat, but I alsock any breathing technique rted skills.'' He thought.

    "Oh, believe me, you are quite busy." She said with a smug grin on her face.

    "Is there something you know that I don''t?"

    "Do you want me to list the things you don''t know in chronological or alphabetical order?" Sark chuckled. "Either way, you''d better getfortable because it will take a few years."

    "I meant about my business." Lith replied.

    "Well, the Council has recently discovered some ancient ruins and I heard that it''s going to be the best apprentices'' task to explore them. Which means you''re going to be dispatched as soon as Faluel informs you." She said.

    "Ruins? I had enough with the Odi and all the crazy things I saw as a Ranger. Hard pass." Lith dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand.

    "First, you can''t refuse your mentor''s orders." Sark''s eyes lost their cheerfulness at his tantck of discipline. "Even though you got used to doing whatever you like, you are still the Hydra''s apprentice.

    "Refusing means going back to being a rogue Awakened and having to find a new mentor. Not to mention that if you publicly humiliate her, your rtionship with Faluel would go sour. Is a single mission worth so much trouble?"

    "No." Lith had to admit that Sark was right.

    Aside from purifying magical metals, he had yet to perform a single task for the Hydra whereas Protector had worked so hard to keep her turf clean while Lith studied under her that his kids had almost forgotten his face.

    Faluel was more than just a mentor, she was a friend who had gone to great lengths to help him every time Lith had a problem and who also respected his privacy to the point of never asking him anything about Solus.

    "Also, I have yet to get to the good part." After the big stick, the Overlord offered him a juicy carrot. "Awakened like Faluel are not interested in the ruins because they are ancient. Everything you find will be millennia old. Useless crap at best.

    "People with a legacy or just old enough have no use for such things whereas apprentices do. That''s why the Council has established a finders keepers policy for the exploration team."

    "Ancient or not, breathing techniques are always effective. On top of that, you could find precious materials that we can use in my Forge once youe to visit."

    "We?" At those words, the mission became incredibly charming to Lith''s eyes.

    "Yes. I''m not going to teach you my techniques, but since we''re both Forgemasters, I don''t see why I shouldn''t give you a few pointers. Besides, you need a shitload of resources for your Tiamat body, correct?"

    "Correct. The thought of crafting something that can fit my 20 meters (66'') tall body-"

    "Better make something that fits a body 30 meters (100'') tall minimum." Sark cut him short.

 Chapter 1492 Changes and Moving Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1492 Changes and Moving Part 2</h4>

    "Why?" Lith asked with a pained whine.

    "Because you¡¯re still 19. You are young and small. An adult Phoenix always reaches at least 30 meters and so do Dragons." She replied.

    "Then I definitely must go to those ruins. Even a single ingot of Adamant can make the difference and I need hundreds of them!" Lith said in frustration.

    "Wish you luck. I¡¯ll be waiting for both the good news and your arrival. Bye." Sark hung up the call with a huge smile on her face.

    ¡¯Gods, I¡¯ve yet to find a single Dragon that I can¡¯t y like a fiddle. Their logic and calctions about risk and rewards make them so easily predictable whereas a Phoenix is more emotional but also less straightforward in their way of thinking.¡¯ She thought.

    "If it¡¯s of any constion, I did something simr back when I became fifty." Lenanna spoke with her own voice now that Sark was gone. "It¡¯s not that bad and there¡¯s no telling what you can find."

    "Thanks for cheering me up." Lith said. "By the way, why are you guys still here? I didn¡¯t join the nest. I doubt that powerful people like you and your brothers have nothing better to do than be watchmen."

    "You are correct. We should have left for a while but our mother gave us a new task. Now we are here to study Tezka the Fylgja and his techniques. Protecting your home and people is just a side job." She replied.

    "Tezka? Is he that powerful?"

    "Yes. Ages ago, when he was still an Eldritch and Mom was a young Guardian, they fought to a standstill. She has long surpassed him in terms of power but now that Tezka has be a hybrid, his abilities and experience make him a formidable foe again."

    Lenanna checked Tista¡¯s beautiful silver-veined red feathers onest time before leaving.

    "Congrattions, little sister. I can¡¯t wait to give you flight lessons in the Desert. As for you, little rascal..." She turned toward Aran. "Don¡¯t you ever give me a big scare like that again."

    "I¡¯m sorry." He gave her a deep bow.

    ***

    Blood Desert, the Fringe where the World Tree lived.

    The Yggdrasill was more than just the elder of the nt folk and the inheritor of the wisdom of the first Awakened on Mogar. It was also the most powerful violet-cored individual among their race and an important member of the Council.

    Along with the countless information stored within their bark, the World Tree possessed the secret of the white core, but refused to use it. Eternal life meant that the body couldn¡¯t age, but their mind would.

    On top of that, not only was their life span already very long, but also far from entertaining. Every member of the Yggdrasill species was a tree, hence incapable of moving around.

    Once they became old enough, being forced in the same ce for millennia became akin to torture and if not for the awareness that death would relieve them from their burden, they would use their knowledge about forbidden magic to change themselves.

    Yet by doing that, they wouldpromise everything their kind had worked for eons. To relieve part of the stress that arose from their condition, the World Tree housed several tribes of elves inside their bark, on their branches, and even under their roots.

    The elves¡¯ songs and their daily activities would keep the Tree¡¯s mind busy while their guards would protect them from any threat. The Yggdrasill was a mighty magician, but their inability to move made them physically helpless.

    The World Tree needed the elves as both their protectors and as their Chroniclers. The Chroniclers would travel Mogar, being the Tree¡¯s eyes and ears in those ces where the Yggdrasill¡¯s mystical senses couldn¡¯t reach, allowing the Tree to explore the world without the need to move.

    In exchange for their services, the World Tree Awakened their loyal retainers, making them a force to be reckoned with. Elves were incapable of Awakening without external help, making their rtionship with the Tree symbiotic.

    "The time hase for you to earn your stripes, Aalejah." The Yggdrasill said to a young maiden that was kneeling in front of them.

    A tree couldn¡¯t speak, but the Tree¡¯s mastery over wind was so great that they could form words simply by rearranging their leaves, without the need for magic.

    "Ruins have been found, yet there¡¯s no record of any civilization living in the Sazra region in my memory. The Council is organizing an expedition and you will take part in it."

    "I understand." She replied.

    "No, you don¡¯t." The Tree replied. "It¡¯s not just a matter of curiosity. An entire civilization escaping the notice of my ancestors is beyond unsettling. I feel that there¡¯s something wrong with it and you¡¯re going to find out what it is."

    "Anything else?"

    "Yes. The Tiamat, the new species will be there as well. Study him thoroughly and if the opportunity arises, convince him toe here so that I can examine him. The birth of the first sessful mix of two Guardians¡¯ bloodlines might be a threat to the bnce.

    "If my fears are correct, we need to snuff him out before it¡¯s toote." The Yggdrasill said.

    "Do I need to conceal my appearance or can I show those hairless monkeys what a real mage looks like?" She asked with a sneer.

    "Hide while you travel among mortals. The Council, however, has been informed of youring. I¡¯ll leave the rest in your hands. Fail me and you¡¯ll go back being a farmer. Seed and I¡¯ll give you a violet core and make you one of my Chroniclers."

    Aalejah silently clenched her fists in triumph at those words. After being stuck for centuries inside the Yggdrasil¡¯s Fringe, she yearned to see with her eyes all of the marvels that she had read about in the books and that she had studied through the Tree¡¯s mind.

    ¡¯Finally a real adventure instead of a simtion!¡¯ Aalejah thought. ¡¯I¡¯m dying at the idea of talking with a non-elf. I don¡¯t really care about bing a Chronicler so much as to get the opportunity to take a look at the outside world under the Yggdrasil¡¯s protection.

    ¡¯If I can find a ce for myself, I can move out of the Fringe even in the case I fail. Screw the violet core, I just want to have fun.¡¯

    ***

    Meanwhile, back at Lutia, after sharing the news of her breakthrough with her family and friends, Tista was surprised by Nalrond asking her to speak privately. For some reason, he seemed to be more excited about her Red Demon form than she was.

    "Can you please let me examine your body?" He asked.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "Come on, you know me long enough to know that I¡¯m no creep and that I¡¯m not interested in you one bit." Nalrond said.

    "You sure know how to make a woman feel special. Did you take rudeness lessons from Morok or what?" Tista replied with a scoff.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just very excited." The Rezar told her all about Lith¡¯s hypothesis that while Nalrond¡¯s bodies had been kept apart, the beast and the human minds were likely to already be fused.

    "That means that there must be a way to break the barrier between my life forces."

 Chapter 1493 Masters and Apprentices Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1493 Masters and Apprentices Part 1</h4>

    "I spent thest few months studying Lilia¡¯s and Leran¡¯s hybrid forms to see if I can at least reach their stage, but even if I did, I had no idea what to do next.

    "Lith is now a perfect being whereas you are still at the stage that a hybrid needs to undergo to make their essences merge instead of discarding one of them." Nalrond said.

    "What do you want me to do?" Tista asked.

    "Nothing much. Just shapeshift along with me after I cast the Body Sculpting diagnostic spell, Scanner, on the both of us. That way, I can study the difference between our hybrid life forces." He replied.

    Tista needed to get used to her new abilities and she had no reason to refuse. They shapeshifted in unison until the Rezar ran out of focus. Studying the process down to the finest detail took a huge toll on his mind.

    "Thanks a lot." He said while massaging his temples to fight a massive headache. "We might have to do this again in the future, but for now I have everything I need."

    "No, you don¡¯t." Only after switching from one form to another several times did Tista start to understand what Lith meant when he said that he felt more than human yet less.

    Somehow, all of her senses seemed to have gotten sharper, yet her mind had also grown more detached as if most of her usual worries were now beneath her.

    "If you don¡¯t want to screw things up halfway through, you better study Morok¡¯s life force as well." She said.

    "Why? Protector or Faluel are Emperor Beasts too and much less annoying at that." He asked.

    "Because they are Emperor Beasts from birth whereas Morok was a hybrid until a few years ago." Tista replied. "From what I understood, you want to be like Lith, correct?"

    "Correct." Nalrond nodded. "After living for so long with my two bodies, losing either of them would be akin to be maimed for life."

    "Then your n is to make your life forces be like those of Protector¡¯s children first, then like mine, andstly like Lith¡¯s." She said.

    "Correct again."

    "Yet if you are not careful, you might mess up and be like Morok instead. By studying his life force, you might be able to gain insight about what went wrong with him once he reached the twenty years of age." Tista said.

    "Excellent idea." Nalrond hugged her in one of his rare affectionate moments, creeping her out in surprise. "Having to deal with Morok will be a hassle, but still better than failing. How do I contact him?"

    "No need for that, he¡¯lle to Faluel¡¯sir today. The news that Quy is alive has spread and he¡¯s dying to meet her again. You can use the opportunity to get Quy¡¯s contact rune again." She got free from the embrace before gently but firmly sending him away.

    ***

    Later that same day, at Faluel¡¯sir, the Tyrant jumped with so much joy and held Quy while shedding so many tears that she couldn¡¯t bring herself to push him away to regain a shred of personal space.

    "I still can¡¯t believe you¡¯re alive. Please, kick me in the nuts so that I know it¡¯s not just a dream." He said while squeezing the air out of her lungs.

    "I beg your pardon?" The insane request bbergasted her.

    "It¡¯s how we first bonded so I find it kind of romantic." A powerful p by an Adamant-covered hand gave Morok plenty of assurance that he was wide awake.

    "I take that back. Thank you for sparing my baby-makers. Now can someone exin to me how are you still alive? I¡¯ve checked mymunication amulet, sneaked inside the morgue, and saw your body-"

    Quy¡¯s re cut him short, making him rephrase his statement while protecting his gonads with his hands.

    "I mean, I saw the body. The smell, the height, even the hair were identical to yours. Did you have a twin or what?"

    "Or what." She then exined Jirni¡¯s n to him.

    "Your mother is a bitch! I want a divorce!" The Tyrant said in outrage.

    "First, you can¡¯t divorce from someone you¡¯re not married to. Second, my father, embarrassing as it is, said those same words. None in the family can condone her maniptions. We told her that either she left the house or we would." Quy said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, I meant that I don¡¯t want to see her ever again." Morok raised his hands in an apologetic gesture. "Now that she¡¯s gone, we can finally marry. I don¡¯t want to risk losing you again."

    Morok bent the knee, but before he could open a small box he had taken out of his dimensional item, Quy stopped him.

    "Slow down. I¡¯m happy to be alive as well, but I¡¯m not going to marry someone I dated once." She said, turning his smile upside down. "But now that Deirus is gone and I¡¯m at house arrest no longer, we can have our second date."

    At those words, Morok jumped in joy, hugging Quy again before kissing her passionately and receiving the kick in the nuts he had requested a few minutes back. He curled up on the floor, cradling himself while life fusion healed the damage.

    "As much as I¡¯d love to keep listening to you lovebirds, we¡¯ve got important matters at hand." Faluel said while listening to the Tyrant¡¯s falsetto yelps of pain with a huge smile on her face.

    "I¡¯ve just received word from the Council about the discovery of some ancient ruins at the borders between the Griffon Kingdom and the Blood Desert."

    ¡¯That¡¯s how Grandma knew about it!¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯The Council couldn¡¯t arrange for the expedition without her consent.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, but I find it creepy how quickly you¡¯vee to call Sark grandma, and yet you still consider Leegaain as nothing more than a life force donor.¡¯ Solus pointed out via their mind link.

    ¡¯That¡¯s because she¡¯s done all she could to be part of my life, she protected my family, backed me in front of the Council, and-¡¯

    "Enough with the mind link!" A snap of Faluel¡¯s fingers broke their connection. "In the Awakenedmunity, what you so casually did is considered as one of the rudest and most disrespectful acts towards your peers.

    "Awakened can see mind links so using one in front of them is the same as telling them that you don¡¯t trust them or that you¡¯re talking behind their backs."

    "I¡¯m sorry, Professor." Solus said while giving everyone a bow. "We just didn¡¯t want to interrupt you and we¡¯re used tomenting things between us-"

    "And that¡¯s wrong as well." The Hydra said. "You are two different people yet if you keep acting like that, you are going to cut everyone else off your life since you mostly talk among yourselves."

    Lith apologized as well, yet Faluel scolded him for a while before talking about the expedition again.

    "As I was saying, the ruins have been dated to over three thousand years back thanks to Sark ncing at it and recognizing the inscriptions. They belonged to the Urgamakka, a civilizationprised solely of Awakened.

    "It was one of the first and most striking failures at making the four races coexist while also Awakening every one of its members."

 Chapter 1494 Masters and Apprentices Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1494 Masters and Apprentices Part 2</h4>

    "For that reason, each elder of the Council has to send their best disciple to take part in the exploration. We need to make sure that everything rted to the secret of Awakening is removed before someone else discovers the ruins." The Hydra said.

    "Okay, but why disciples? Couldn¡¯t a few of you guys go and clean everything? It seems kind of dangerous and pointless to send scrubs like me." Lith said as a shiver ran down his back at the memory of Kh.

    "We can, but we won¡¯t." Faluel shook her head. "We know that Thrud has raided at least a dozen bloodline legacies and has at least a few hundreds of disciples of all races that hate the Council¡¯s guts.

    "If we assume the worst, the Mad Queen is going to Awaken them all, give them equipment, training, and enve them. Once she makes her move, she¡¯ll have a blindly loyal army of Awakened who will fight with perfect teamwork.

    "They will not question her orders, they will not let petty grudges or past arguments get in their way to victory. If the Council wants to stand a chance, we need to be as well organized and efficient as Thrud.

    "That¡¯s why we are sending our disciples. The ruins will be filled with dangerous but outdated crap, giving those who never got out of theirbs some real field experience. Also, you get to know each other and work together.

    "It will serve as a test for your skills, judgment, and for how trustworthy you are. Once you¡¯re done, we elders will perform a second sweep and if you leave anything behind, I¡¯ll have your asses."

    "Why are you so serious, master?" Friya asked. "We have never let you down."

    "Because it¡¯s damn important." Faluel sighed. "The Council is testing their disciples, but mine are going to be tested twice since you are all part of my Awakened Academy project.

    "I¡¯m not only teaching Lith, but also to his apprentices so if you screw this up, I¡¯ll get it worse than any other elder." She looked them in the eyes for a while, to make them understand how serious she was.

    "What do you say? Are you ready to make me proud?"

    "Don¡¯t worry, Professor. It¡¯s the least I can do to pay you back for everything you¡¯ve done for me." Lith gave her thumbs up and a warm smile.

    "That¡¯s creepy. You never smile at voluntary work." Faluel raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You were supposed to whine a lot, nag at me because you¡¯ve barely started to use Abyssal Gaze, and then haggle for-"

    "Did someone tell you about the finders keepers policy of the mission?"

    "Yes." Lith sighed in embarrassment as Tista and Solusughed at his expense while telling the others about their earlier conversation with Grandma.

    "Good to know. I was afraid that you had gone insane from overwork." The Hydra said. "Sark didn¡¯t lie to you. The members of the expedition are allowed to take for themselves the materials they find, but they have to share the knowledge that they acquire from their findings with their mentors.

    "Lith, Solus, Phloria, I¡¯m counting on you."

    "Wait, what?" Friya was bbergasted. "I¡¯m your disciple and Harbinger candidate so why are you sending them?"

    "Because Lith is stronger and more experienced than you." Faluel said. "Each elder can only send one disciple so a self-Awakened with a deep violet core is the obvious choicepared to a blue.

    "Solus is one with Lith, making them a seasoned team that no one can discover. As for Phloria, she¡¯s going there as Lith¡¯s apprentice, not mine. Her performance will be used to judge if Lith can be a full-fledged member of the Council after he graduates from my academy."

    "Why Phloria and not me? I¡¯ve got Awakened seniority, a deep blue core, and this!" Tista shapeshifted into her Red Demon form, making Morok whistle in approval.

    "Now you are literally smoking hot!" He said while pointing at the Origin mesing out of her wings that Tista had still trouble controlling.

    "That¡¯s why not you, Tista. You broke through today, you have yet no control over your bloodline abilities, and you need time to get adjusted to your new powers. Phloria, instead, has a blue core for a month now and is capable of using it at its best.

    "On top of that, this is a mission for the cream of the crop disciples. No offense, but while you spent your early years of Awakening exploring the Garlen continent, Phloria dived straight into training.

    "Between her past battle experience and his mastery of the sword, she¡¯s leagues ahead of you who stillck even a weapon of choice." Faluel said.

    "But-"

    "Can you deny any of what I just said?" The Hydra cut her short.

    "No." Tista whimpered.

    ¡¯Dammit! Even if I asked for a fight to prove my worth, Phloria would whoop my ass in a jiffy. Her core is stronger, her body is stronger, and her swordy eclipses Lith¡¯s, let alone mine. I would just embarrass myself.¡¯ She thought.

    "Good. The expedition will start in a few days, right after the Council arranges the final details." Faluel said. "Lith, no lessons for you until then. Focus on your breathing technique and prepare your equipment.

    "Phloria, same for you but I expect you toe here to spar against me and get used to older and heavier opponents."

    "Isn¡¯t the mission supposed to be friendly?" Phloria asked.

    "No, it¡¯s supposed to teach you teamwork. That means that some of the participants might not y by the rules. Also, we have no idea what kind of enemies you might encounter and humans are the lightest among the races." Faluel shook her head.

    After Lith and Phloria left to start their preparations, it was Morok¡¯s turn to be Warped back home.

    "Wait a second." Nalrond asked while the others prepared for their physical training lessons. "We need to talk."

    "Sorry, mate. I¡¯m ttered by your feelings, but I don¡¯t swing both ways." Morok replied.

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about your preferences! I just wanted to ask for your help." The Rezar briefly exined his n to make his life forces merge.

    "Dude, you might be interested solely in my body, but you could at least offer me a drink first." The Tyrant said with a mocking grin on his face.

    "Gods, this will be the most tiresome partnership ever." Nalrond whined as the bad jokes kept pouring.

    ***

    A few dayster, at dawn, Phloria and Lith were summoned at Faluel¡¯sir to be Warped at the edges of the Kingdom and join the expedition.

    Lith had actually disobeyed his mentor¡¯s orders, spending half of his time practicing Abyssal Gaze or trying to develop breathing skills and the other half helping Solus to master her other forms.

    ¡¯While studying a lost civilization, the Eyes of Menadion could save us a lot of time and trouble while the Hands can deal with arrays.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡¯If the Urgamakkans built their city above a mana geyser like Awakened do, it might give us an edge.¡¯

    ¡¯Yeah, too bad that, even though the tower keeps growing, I still lose my control interface the moment I step away from a geyser.¡¯ Solus replied with a sigh.

 Chapter 1495 In the Deep Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1495 In the Deep Part 1</h4>

    After several hours spent studying the tower¡¯s control system, Lith and Solus had indeed found how to limit the flow of information to her brain so that she could use her Eyes form without frying her brain.

    The problem was that such an option was only avable when Solus assumed her tower form. Hence, she and Lith had worked hard to find a way that would make him shoulder half of her burden via their mind link.

    It allowed Solus to double her brainpower and halve the side effects of the Eyes of Menadion. On top of that, now that Lith had finally developed a breathing technique that made use of his auxiliary cores, the stronger his deep violet core became, the faster the tower¡¯s power core regained its form and functions.

    Soon after the events in Lightkeep, Lith had discovered that umtion provided to his mana core a negligible amount of world energypared to what he needed to refine it further.

    ¡¯Dammit. That¡¯s why Scarlett managed to reach the bright violet so quickly. She had an excellent technique at the ready the moment she achieved the violet whereas I¡¯m starting from scratch.¡¯ Lith thought.

    "Do you mind keeping me in the loop?" Phloria sighed. "Faluel is right. Now that I know when you speak with Solus, leaving me out of the conversation is both rude and creepy."

    "Sorry, bad habits die hard." Lith said.

    The Warp Array led them to a small teau surrounded by dunes. The air was cold and dry while a slight wind bent the thin vegetation that grew from the fertile ground hidden below a thinyer of sand.

    Phloria whistled in surprise, noticing that they had moved to the west so much that it was still night and that there were lots of people from every race there. nts, undead, humans, and beasts were waiting for instructions while looking around with a serious face as if the mission had already started.

    A few small groupsprised of people of the same race had already been formed, but most of the Awakened kept to themselves. Judging from the sea of glowing eyes, everyone was using Life Vision to gauge thepetition and pick their teammates.

    "Remind me to not shake hands to not get inspected with Invigoration." Phloria didn¡¯t bother whispering since everyone had enhanced senses and using the Hush spell would have been as rude as a mind link.

    "Yeah, damn Awakened traditions." Lith nodded.

    He could feel such a growing hostility in his surroundings that it made the Royal g look like a friendly reunion. The only time Lith had been the target of such ill-conceived rage had been during the academy, after Nalear had spread her ve items.

    "Maybe you should avoid using words that can be easily mistaken for mockery." A feminine voice said, forcing them to turn around and meet a familiar face.

    Athung Soranot was a woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.75 (5¡¯9") meters tall with raven-ck hair that reached the small of her back. She had reced her usual golden mage robe with afortable adventurer set madeprised of a jacket, a shirt, pants, and boots.

    The heavily enchanted clothes were loose enough to not impede her movements, but could do very little to hide her soft curves. Just like Lith, she was a self-Awakened yet she still had a bright blue core and had yet to learn how to ovee its boundaries.

    Lith had a barrage of questions for her but for once he remembered his manners.

    "Lord Athung, this is an unexpected surprise." He said while giving her a small bow. "I thought this event was for apprentices only. What do you mean mockery and what are you doing here?"

    "I was close enough to hear your partner talking about handshakes, but everyone else probably just ignored her and focused on you cussing our traditions." Athung said.

    "Such wordsing from a self-Awakened who isn¡¯t a full-fledged disciple and yet has reached the violet on his own are irritating even for me. Many of us are past one hundred years old and are still stuck at blue.

    "On top of that, you¡¯re not an elder but the Council granted you the privilege of bringing your own disciple along."

    "Oh." Lith said.

    "Oh, indeed. As for your other question, Raagu has temporarily reinstated me as her disciple so that I could participate in this mission. Just like anyone else with a blue core, I hope to find clues that will help me reach enlightenment.

    "No one cares if a legacy is old or new as long as it gets us past the bottleneck." Athung said. "Mind if I join you? We¡¯ll probably go separate ways inside, but right now, you need toy low."

    The presence of a regional Lord who was also the apprentice of the Council¡¯s human representative at that made many stop snarling at Lith.

    "Shit. I hang around the Council members so rarely that I almost forgot howpetitive you guys are." He said.

    "You can¡¯t really me them." Phloria shrugged. "You have been listed among the cream of the crop after training with Faluel for a couple of years while everyone else here worked their ass off for decades to be recognized by their respective mentors."

    Phloria would have joked about him having the privilege of bringing a lovelypanion with him, but in the Awakenedmunity where Tista would just be considered beautiful and Lith a no-looker, she felt like an ugly duckling even more than usual.

    Once everyone arrived, Lotho the Treant, the nt representative, appeared in the middle of the crowd.

    "Since our undead colleagues are on the clock because of the sunrise, I won¡¯t waste time with formalities. Follow me. I¡¯ll exin the situation to you while we move." The creature looked like a giant humanoid oak.

    He waved his hand, making a huge cave raise from the sand like some sort of stone snake charmed by the sound of a flute.

    "We¡¯re not going to fly to our destination because you need to take a mental note of your coordinates in the case you need to Warp away or you decide to abandon the mission."

    At a flick of his wrists, the ground turned into a conveyor belt that allowed the Awakened to move quickly while focusing solely on the path ahead.

    "The situation is simple. We¡¯ve already breached the external defenses of Urgamakka, leaving to you only the task to explore and search its buildings. The mission has no time limit and isn¡¯t mandatory.

    "Yet you are here on behalf of your respective masters and of the Council so your actions will be judged based on your results." Lotho stopped the belt from time to time, to allow people to memorize their surroundings and use them to Warp their way out.

    "The tunnel is straightforward so that even in the case something or someone is chasing you, it will quickly lead you outside. Any question?" The trip hadsted barely a few minutes, yet Lith could almost feel the pressure from the thousands of tons of stone above his head.

    "Yes. How do we know when we havepletely cleared Urgamakka?" A Sprite asked.

    The Fae looked like a thin birch three turned into a handsome man with butterfly wingsing from his back.

    "You don¡¯t and neither do I." Lotho replied in annoyance.

 Chapter 1496 In the Deep Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1496 In the Deep Part 2</h4>

    "If the Council had mapped this ce, we wouldn¡¯t need your presence. We don¡¯t expect you to seed, only to do your best. This ce is huge."

    Lotho pointed at Urgamakka¡¯s external walls that would have made even Lith¡¯s Tiamat¡¯s form look small inparison. The air and the ground were filled with runes of power still visible even to the naked eye but both the wall and the arrays had been breached.

    From the giant hole, a city the size of Valeron was visible. An underground river cut the city in half, forming several ponds and waterways that still retained part of their beauty despite theck of maintenance.

    Judging from the limited damages that the passing of the centuries had inflicted upon the tall stone buildings and from Urgamakka being as bright as day, it was clear that at least some of its arrays were still partly operational.

    "My advice is to ignore the cultivated fields and warehouses. Focus solely on the living quarters of those who can be considered as skilled Awakened for their time. I wish you all good luck." Lotho Warped away, leaving the dumbstruck group still in awe.

    The Awakened undead were the first to snap out of it. Unlike others, they had both the problem of the sun and of feeding. Their first priority was to secure a safe resting ce for daytime and arrange for a source of life force in the case of need.

    Beasts, instead, just walked through the hole and started exploring the underground city in small groups. After all, finders keepers was just another way to say firste first served. Waiting would have meant missing the best spoils.

    The nt folk followed the beasts¡¯ lead, but they used their bloodline skills to dive under the ground and the rock, in the hope to find secret storages or hidden passages that not even magical means of detection could reveal.

    "Well, this sure bodes poorly." Athung said. "If this is how the Awakened army will behave, we might as well give Thrud the keys to our homes. You know my contact rune. Call me if you guys need help."

    Before starting to search the ce, Athung shared her rune with as many people as she could while Lith was still pondering their situation.

    "Is everything okay?" He asked after noticing how pale Phloria had be.

    "Entering an underground city fueled by a mana geyser and filled with untold enemies brings back too many memories from Kh." She replied. "That ce cost me my career and almost my life."

    ¡¯Yes, but this time it¡¯s just the three of us, we are all Awakened and no array can stop our Spirit Magic.¡¯ Solus said via a mind link to cheer them up.

    ¡¯True, but I still don¡¯t like it.¡¯ Phloria replied.

    Everyone activated their mystical senses, noticing how old yet powerful the runes of the ancient arrays still were. Once they walked past the hole in the wall, Urgamakka shone to their eyes like a Christmas tree.

    The city had been built with an odd design. The houses at the edges of the city were one-story tall, but the closer they got to the center, the taller they became until they formed a huge spireprised of buildings leaning against each other for unknown reasons.

    Everything had been enchanted and the powering from the mana geyser below had preserved most of the arrays despite the city had been clearly been deserted for centuries.

    "Who the fuck would live in such a ce? It¡¯s no wonder the cohabitation of so many Awakened failed." Phloria said with a scoff. "What point there is in having so much space if you just pack everyone together?"

    She pointed at the huge spire, making Lith wonder if the mind behind the city was just deranged or if there was a hidden design that he failed to notice.

    Before starting their exploration, they followed Athung¡¯s lead and offered theirmunication rune to other Awakened. Phloria even offered the undead to share with them her life force if they needed, pleasantly surprising them.

    Lith would have dly done the same, but now that his life forces had merged, between the influence from the Abomination side and him belonging to a new species, it made his life essence undesirable for most undead and even toxic to some.

    He did it anyway because he was sure that among them there had to be people who actually were inspectors for the Council. As Athung had reminded him, the mission at hand wasn¡¯t just about piging the ruins but about bonding among Awakened.

    On top of that, he exploited the presence of the undead to assess what kind of threat level Urgamakka posed. They couldn¡¯t die of old age, poisoning, or regr weapons so once he observed them with Death Vision, he would gain two pieces of information.

    What their weak point was and in what ways they were likely to die in the immediate future.

    ¡¯What the fuck?¡¯ Lith thought while watching the undead group into a pile of ashes apparently for no reason.

    They were supposed to crumble starting from their respective weak point and show him what caused its destruction, yet they just became dust at once with an rming frequency.

    Only after looking around did Lith understand what the problem was. Not only the undead, but everyone hey his eyes on but Phloria would suddenly turn into cinders under Death Vision¡¯s gaze.

    "This doesn¡¯t bode well at all." Phloria said after Lith shared the information with her.

    "Don¡¯t jinx it. Maybe it¡¯s just the effect of a self-destruct mechanism or something." Lith replied. "Besides, we¡¯re not going to take part in this wild goose chase."

    He took a small pair of stone sses out of his breast pocket that actually was Solus in her Eyes form.

    "I¡¯m going to scan and ignore all the energy signatures belonging to harmless arrays or to the building¡¯s maintenance. Once we eliminate the interferences, the only energy signature left will be that of the security systems protecting the good stuff.

    "This way we can avoid searching the buildings one by one and aim straight for the motherlode." Lith sounded confident in his words but his grimace of pain ruined the overall effect.

    Solus¡¯s weak power core filtered very little and even by sharing the burden, the sensory load on their minds was enormous.

    "Lith, stop holding back Death Vision and revert to your Tiamat form. Being human is only an annoyance to you now." Phloria said after seeing his scales and his other eyes pop in and out of his skin out of strain.

    "Thanks." He sighed while shapeshifting. "I¡¯m still having a hard time epting that I¡¯m not really human anymore."

    "Don¡¯t mention it." Phloria shook her head. "Solus, your family, and even I have no problem with it so you shouldn¡¯t be ashamed of what you look like."

    Her words took a huge burden off his chest, speeding the scanning process.

    "Also, if I remember correctly, your sses are supposed to be a teaching tool. If they work like the original, as long as I have your permission, I can use them as well. When you feel like you can¡¯t take it anymore, I can keep scanning while you rest."

 Chapter 1497 Old but Gold Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1497 Old but Gold Part 1</h4>

    "Excellent thinking, Phloria. I had yet to think of that." Lith said with a warm smile. "Let¡¯s see if- The fuck?"

    The Eyes had just split into two stone monocles. Lith wore the first while Phloria the second.

    ¡¯Why didn¡¯t you tell me that you could do that?¡¯ Lith was bbergasted.

    ¡¯Because I had no clue! We never tried handing the Eyes to someone else.¡¯

    Solus¡¯s reply reached both him and Phloria thanks to the invisible mind link that the Eyes created on contact with their user.

    ¡¯By the gods, Solus. Not only is the burden now split among the three of us, but we can also safelymunicate with a mind link without being detected. Your mother was a frigging genius!¡¯ Phloria said while scanning their surroundings.

    ¡¯She sure was. Thanks to the Monocle form we¡¯ll finish exploring way sooner than I had calcted.¡¯ Solus replied with joy. She was both proud of her mother and happy to be a full member of the team without the need of cutting Phloria out.

    ¡¯You were right, Phloria. This will not be another Kh. We just need to find our prize and then we can leave. This mission will be as easy as pie.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡¯Why did you have to jinx it?¡¯ Both women whined in unison.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Aalejah the elf and wannabe Chronicler of the World Tree was exploring the spire at the center of Urgamakka together with a group of undead.

    "Thanks for having me." She said. "I¡¯m aware that after the War of the Races, we elves don¡¯t have a good reputation."

    Most Awakened resented her kind for hogging all the Fringes and for not sharing their treasures of knowledge. The most popr opinion was that a race so hell-bent on ying dead might as well walk an extra mile and disappear for real.

    "No, thank you for covering our backs." Trevan the Nightwalker said. "Between the war with the Undead Courts, the incident in Laruel, and the fact that we are the only race that has no need to reach the violet, the other Awakened either treat us as traitors or envies us.

    "We can use a disciple of the World Tree. Your knowledge will be a great asset and having someone that¡¯s not helpless during the day is a big relief. By the way, did you find any clue yet?"

    "Yes and no." Aalejah said while staring in amazement at the penthouse of the tallest building in the city.

    "What do you mean?" A female Ghoul asked.

    "I didn¡¯t find any trace of the most popr hiddenpartments of that time, but I can tell you that there¡¯s something deeply wrong with this ce. That fresco is typical of the Rennan democracy, the bed-carpet belongs to the Scammion nomad tribe, and that vase was popr during the Xhen dynasty."

    "Meaning?" Trevan¡¯s master was an art connoisseur who loved to share her passion with her disciples, yet he didn¡¯t understand a word the elf said.

    "I mean that they all date to over 3,000 years ago, but who in their right mind would decorate their apartment with pieces that belong topletely different cultures? It¡¯s as if the person who lived here suffered from brain damage." Aalejah said.

    ***

    Meanwhile, somewhere really close and yet very far from Urgamakka, a couple of corpses wereughing their asses off behind the young Awakened¡¯s back.

    They were sitting in a luxurious lounge filled with holographic screens that covered the entirety of Urgamakka, allowing them to follow the expedition team¡¯s every move.

    "Look at them go." Inxialot, the King of Liches, wasughing so much that he had a hard time catching up his breath. Mostly because his lungs had long withered into what looked like grey pears.

    He wore a long crimson mage robe covered in dust and holes that had been patched over time by the spiders that called the Lich home. Very little remained of his muscles and a good part of it dangled from his bones, ready to fall at any moment.

    He only kept enough flesh on his face to show his emotions and avoid being mistaken for a skeleton. Not only was it truly embarrassing, but it had also brought the Awakened Council to the brink of war several times.

    "At least there is onepetent person among those idiots. The girl seems to have noticed my ruse. I resent her calling me brain-damaged, though." He said while slowly caressing a ck cat sitting and purring on hisp.

    "Is she a reverted orc or a true elf?" Zolgrish the Lich asked.

    In life, he had been a tall man, about 1.83 meters (6¡¯) tall that now was reduced to a skeletal body that looked like a desated corpse. The Lich wore a golden magician robe and the cold red light of undeath shining inside his empty eye sockets gave him a cruel gaze.

    His trusted Adamant staff had several purple mana crystals embedded on it and rested on the floor, among the many things he had already forgotten having brought with him.

    "She¡¯s a true elf and an apprentice of the World Tree at that." Inxialot said.

    "The Word Trip?" Zolgrish was bbergasted. "I thought it was just a myth."

    "It¡¯s not. The old fart is part of the Council, just like me. Maybe we can squeeze a little bit of information from her. Chroniclers are said to have ess to the Tree¡¯s memory and-"

    "Status report, Inxialot." The image of Raagu, the human representative of the Council popped on one of the screens, cutting Inxialot short and making the two undead scream like little girls while showering the control room with spells in panic.

    "You almost gave me a heart attack, hot stuff." Inxialot winked in what was supposed to be a flirty attitude, but due to hisck of eyelids, nothing actually happened.

    "You don¡¯t have a heart. Now tell me how things are going and who the heck is that guy." Raagu was in a rush and she had no time for the Lich¡¯s centuries-old pick-up lines.

    "It¡¯s a disaster." He replied amidughter. "Everyone is moving on their own with no coordination nor teamwork. The Awakened chosen as legacy heirs are so confident in their violet cores that they are exploring the city alone.

    "The others at least formed small groups, but they refuse to work with the members of other races, especially with the undead. As for him, he¡¯s Zolgrish, one of my non-Awakened apprentices."

    "Hi there." The golden-robed corpse waved his hand at her.

    "Misery enjoyspany and so do I. Since you dragged me out of myb for this shenanigan, I forced him toe with me and share my suffering." Inxialot said.

    "It¡¯s not a shenanigan. It¡¯s a punishment for your failures and repeated oversights. You infiltrated the Dusk Court without ever making a report. You even allowed Night to seal Fe despite you knowing her n all along!" Raagu said in outrage.

    "No need to be passive-aggressive sweetie. I remember to have passed to the Council all the documents that Dusk tasked me to read as if it was yesterday." Inxialot shrugged.

    "Because it was yesterday, you moron!" Raagu could already feel the familiar pain from Lich-induced headache tormenting her so she went back to business.

 Chapter 1498 Old but Gold Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1498 Old but Gold Part 2</h4>

    "If everything is going south, why are youughing?" Raagu asked.

    "I¡¯m notughing." Inxialot looked at her as if she was insane.

    "I¡¯ve been sitting here the whole time and he neverughed." Zolgrish put his right hand where once his dder was in a sign of sincerity.

    "Never mind." She sighed. "Activate the Gargoyles, but make it look believable. We don¡¯t want the disciples to discover that this is just a test. They are here to learn a lesson and if they don¡¯t, I¡¯ll put you in charge of the next test as well. Raagu out."

    The idea of spending even one more minute out of hisb, of leaving so many ground-breaking experiments unattended, made Inxialot focus on the screens with unwavering determination.

    Then, after a few minutes, he got bored and pressed the button that activated the Gargoyles¡¯ energy core to speed things up.

    ***

    After searching the ceiling for hidden entrances, Estor the Treant had climbed atop one of the tallest buildings of Urgamakka. He wanted to study the city¡¯syout from above and guide his teammates where Life Vision revealed to him the position of huge sacks of mana.

    "Did you find anything?" He asked via themunication earpiece.

    "No. Just lots of crap and security systems." Pyra the Redcap replied. "You?"

    "Nothing as well. Be careful while flying near the roofs. This ce is filled to the brim with Gargoyles." Estor kept his distance from the creepy stone statues that were covered in engraved runes that shone in the dark.

    "They are the weakest and oldest kind of golems known to mage, but there¡¯s something odd about those things. They all share the same energy signature."

    "You mean they were all made by the same mage?" She asked.

    "I wish it was that simple. They are both fueled and controlled by the same source which means that if you activate one, you activate them all." He replied.

    "Well, thank the gods we sent our resident bookworm as a scout. I wouldn¡¯t have even recognized that old junk. Mistaking them for a surveince device might-" Pyra¡¯s scream interrupted themunication.

    "Pyra? What¡¯s going on?" Only a small cracking betrayed the nearby statuesing to life as they encircled the hapless Treant. "This is impossible! I¡¯m alone up here and I¡¯m damn sure I didn¡¯t touch them."

    ***

    Soon the air above Urgamakka¡¯s buildings was filled by a ck swarm of creatures that attacked anyone on sight. Gargoyles were small statues, barely one meter (3 feet) tall that resembled a demonic humanoid with short wings, horns, and a jagged tail.

    Unlike modern golems, their diminutive stature made it impossible for the mage to imbue many spells inside their bodies. Their main mean of offense were their ws and talons that were great against regr humans but pointless against a good enchanted armor.

    It was the reason why they had be obsolete and why none of the Awakened apprentices felt threatened by their appearance. Small bodies meant a limited resistance to direct hits and being fueled by old magic, the Gargoyles could only have a few pseudo cores aside from those necessary to move.

    A hail of darkness and earth based spells hit the swarm from all sides, breaking them into a bunch of rubble.

    "Those damn leaves for brains!" Quya the Naga said while butchering several Gargoyles at the same time with his six arms. "How could the Fae be so stupid? Those damned statues brimmed with mana since our arrival!"

    "This is not our fault!" Pyra pointed her polearm at Quya, ready to resume fighting. "It must have been one of your feathered friends. Who knows, maybe they took a dump while flying around, without any care for the rest of us."

    "I¡¯m not a pigeon! I-" A rumbling noise cut Sc the Roc short and forced everyone to turn around.

    The shattered Gargoyles had melted into a ck liquid that had put the pieces back together before turning into stone again.

    "What the fuck?" Pyra clenched her fist, making the ground turn into quicksand that trapped the small golems before crushing them to bits like a vise.

    Once again, it took the broken Gargoyles just a few seconds to reform.

    "Estor, I need options! These things refuse to stay down." Pyra yelled inside hermunication earpiece while flying towards her group.

    "Me too!" The Treant yelled as all of his knowledge proved to be incapable of getting rid of the ancient constructs.

    ***

    "What the heck is going on?" All that screaming made it hard for Lith to focus on the Eyes. The slightest distraction reduced the efficacy of the scan and dyed his work by several minutes.

    "I don¡¯t know, but we better take our weapons out, in the case-" Several small horned creatures jumped on them before the headache that blurred their vision faded.

    "Seriously? Imps?" The moment that adrenaline cleared his head, Lith crushed the Gargoyles with his bare hands and got back on his feet with a kip-up.

    "Imps don¡¯t exist. These things are not living beings and are we are far from done." Phloria pointed at the broken stones turning into liquid.

    She had gotten rid of her own with a tier four Mage Knight spell, st Guard. It produced a small explosion around her that had sent the Gargoyles crashing against the nearby walls.

    Constructs were immune to fire, but the shockwave and the following impact had shattered them.

    ¡¯This makes no sense. Liquids cannot be turned into golems. Solus?¡¯ Lith asked after Life Vision failed to locate the Gargoyles¡¯ pseudo cores.

    From his studies at the academy and under Faluel, he knew that the only way to destroy an artificial being was to shatter its power source. Yet the constructs hadpletely turned into liquid, without revealing the presence of enchanted mana crystals.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, but my head is exploding. I need a few minutes to recover.¡¯ She replied as the sudden loss of contact with Lith¡¯s and Phloria¡¯s minds had almost fried her own.

    ¡¯I don¡¯t know if we have that long!¡¯ Lith replied as his spells failed to destroy the constructs for good and more of them joined the attack.

    War had an easy time shattering them, but without a core to break, Lith could only keep a few of them impaled on the de at the same time. Their movements would be sealed by War¡¯s Counterflow skill, but that was it.

    Heating the Gargoyles enough to make stone boil required a time that they didn¡¯t have due to the relentless onught. Earth could shatter or block them but either way, the constructs would just turn liquid and start over.

    ¡¯Okay, let¡¯s try this!¡¯ Lith hurled a jet stream of Origin mes that hit a Gargoyle square on the chest.

    The mystical mes burned the stone as if it was hay and once the construct turned into a pool, it stayed that way.

    "Phloria, get down!" Lith yelled as he spun on himself, making his breath form a ring of Origin mes that burned his throat and their enemies alike.

    Phloria did as instructed, preparing a few spells at the same time in case Lith¡¯s n didn¡¯t work.

    "Can you do that another one hundred more times?" Phloria asked while pointing at the countless Gargoyles still flying around.

 Chapter 1499 Mistakes were Made Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1499 Mistakes were Made Part 1</h4>

    As more and more Golems swarmed near their position, it was only a matter of time before Lith and Phloria had to fight again.

    "I can¡¯t use Origin mes like that again. Also, I think it would be a waste of time anyway. Look!" Lith couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    The ck pools that looked like tar were bubbling and writhing in the attempt to regain their shape. The Origin mes seemed to have temporarily cut them off their power source, but they weren¡¯t enough to destroy the Gargoyles for good.

    "Stay behind me. I want to try something." Phloria said while activating her tier five Mage Knight spell, Frostmourne.

    The temperature in an area of twenty meters (66 feet) around her plummeted as snow fell from the sky and ice covered the ground. Only the eye of the storm, where she and Lith stood was safe.

    The ck pools stopped moving while the Gargoyles that dived on them from the sky froze in mid-air. The ice covering them made the constructs miss their targets and, once shattered, they couldn¡¯t reconstitute their bodies.

    "Nice trick. Is this the advanced version of Frozen Guard?" Lith asked while helping Solus to recover and searching for the golems¡¯ power source amid their fragments.

    "No, it¡¯s one of my original spells and it¡¯s much better than that. Look." Phloria released short bursts of darkness that the ice absorbed and focused into its victims without weakening the water magicponent of her spell.

    After a while, the frozen pools turned into dust as darkness destroyed the magic that had animated the constructs.

    "Can you keep this up for an hour or so?" Lith asked while his brain spun at full gear to solve that mystery.

    "I¡¯m sorry. I can hold it for a few minutes at best. And that¡¯s solely if I run out of Invigoration and no one disturbs my spell." She replied.

    ¡¯I think I know what¡¯s going on. We¡¯ll keep in contact via Solus¡¯s mind link. Watch my back.¡¯ He said while Blinking out of the area of effect of Frostmourne and forcing Solus to activate the Eyes again.

    ¡¯Please, no.¡¯ She whined as pain invaded her stone form again.

    ¡¯I¡¯m sorry, but we can¡¯t run away without humiliating Faluel and we have no chance to win on our own. The silver lining is that I want you to search solely for this energy signature and ignore everything else.¡¯ Lith shared with her the data about the Gargoyles, using the Eyes of Menadion to locate the real enemy.

    ¡¯That I can do.¡¯ Solus replied.

    The energy source that fueled the constructs managed to reach them throughout Urgamakka. To do that, however, it had to spawn tendrils of energy every time a Gargoyle was broken.

    The tendrils stretched out from the same point in the ground, making it easy to triangte the source¡¯s position.

    Lith ran through the city, Blinking whenever he was cornered rather than wasting his energy with pointless fights. As soon as he reached the ce directly above the power source, he used an earth spell to make the ground copse.

    He found himself in an underground tunnel filled with elemental blocking arrays that sealed his magic. To make matters worse, the Gargoyles swarmed from the hole in the ground and from every side as well, seeping through the cracks in the walls in their liquid form and leaving him no way out.

    ***

    "Cheeky little bastard. This will teach you a lesson." Inxialot said while making the Gargoyles converge on Lith¡¯s position.

    "What has that woman done to you?" Zolgrish pointed at Lith¡¯s human form while losing another hand of Mogar¡¯s equivalent of poker against Inxialot¡¯s cat.

    "He foiled my ns to take over a World Sapling." Inxialot sighed. "I had invested a lot of time and resources into one of my associates in Laruel, yet it was all for nothing."

    "I¡¯m sorry for your loss." Zolgrish¡¯s mourned the failure of any experiment more than he would the loss of any living being. "Listen, why don¡¯t you kill her along with everyone else so that we can go back home?"

    "Excellent idea! I wonder why I didn¡¯t think of it before." Inxialot pped his hands with enthusiasm, moving to the max the lever that controlled the energy flowing into the Gargoyles.

    "Master, that¡¯s no woman. That¡¯s Scourge." Ratpack said.

    He was a small humanoid, barely 1.3 meters (4¡¯3") tall, with pale grey skin and thick grizzled hair. He had small pointed ears, pitch-ck eyes, and wore a yellow mage¡¯s robe that Zolgrish used back when he was still a child.

    Ratpack was a chimera formed bybining parts of a dead elf child with that of a Balor that Zolgrish as raised as a Vampire with Necromancy in the hope to create the ultimate being.

    An immortal, natural shapeshifter Vampire in perfect tune with the world energy like an elf and with a Balor¡¯s Evil Eyes that would allow him to amplify all kinds of magic.

    What the Lich had obtained, instead, was an undead creature as weak as a child with the same inability to process the world energy of a Balor. Zolgrish had somehow ended upbining the ws of all the three species thatprised Ratpack¡¯s body without keeping any of their innate abilities.

    Ratpack had jagged teeth and ws at the end of his limbs, yet he used them mostly to cook or to perform house chores.

    "Who?" Zolgrish asked in confusion.

    "Scourge! Your associate. You have mine together, remember?" The small undead was also the Lich¡¯s secretary and was tasked with remembering the names that his master kept forgetting.

    "By the gods! Scant shapeshifting abilities know no bounds. Maybe you actually kept something from the Balor bloodline for recognizing him despite his disguise." Zolgrish said in amazement.

    "That¡¯s no disguise he always looks like that!" Ratpack left the magical stove where he had been cooking until a second back to point at Lith¡¯s human and definitely male features.

    "I¡¯m still not convinced, Ratpack. Kant was blonde, short, and cheerful. That guy instead looks like a buff mortician." The more Zolgrish stared at Lith, the more he was certain that he had never met the gentleman before.

    "What the heck are you doing?" The sudden appearance of Raagu¡¯s hologram interrupted the master-servant quarrel and made Inxialot fall from his chair.

    Somehow, the ck cat didn¡¯t fall, it simply moved on the Lich¡¯s back without ever changing its resting position.

    "I¡¯m just doing my job. You asked me to activate the Gargoyles and kill them all. Make up your mind, woman!" Inxialot replied.

    "What in the gods¡¯ name are you talking about? I only asked you to activate the Gargoyles the moment an apprentice made a mistake. This is supposed to be a teamwork lesson, not a culling!" Raagu stared at the Lich with such hatred and fury that it made her the fairest maiden to his eyes.

    "Are you sure? Then who suggested me such rubbish?" Inxialot asked in honest surprise.

    "Zolgrish." The cat said.

    "My master." Ratpack said.

    "Did the cat just talk?" Raagu felt the veins on her forehead bulge out of stress and outrage.

    "Meow." The cat replied, realizing his blunder.

    "Don¡¯t be silly, sweetheart. Cats don¡¯t talk, they just make odd noises from time to time." Inxialot sat in his chair again while holding the feline by his chest, to show her it was just a regr house cat.

 Chapter 1500 Mistakes were Made Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1500 Mistakes were Made Part 2</h4>

    "Are you sure?" Raagu asked.

    "I picked him up to celebrate Valeron¡¯s coronation. We lived together for just a few days, but I would have noticed if Nero talked." Inxialot said.

    Raagu would have liked to argue that no cat could live that long, but she had run out of patience and she just wanted that conversation to end.

    "Don¡¯t call me sweetheart and lower the Gargoyles¡¯ output. As for you, Zolgrish, y another trick on that dumbass and you and I are going to have a problem. Raagu out."

    "I never y tricks on Ratpack! I treat him with the utmost respect. Tell her." Zolgrish pointed at the screen that now showed the Awakened disciples fighting for their lives against the still overpowered Gargoyles.

    The small undead ignored the pointless order and cranked the lever down before someone lost their life.

    ***

    Aalejah¡¯s group was faring well against the Gargoyles only thanks to the knowledge that she had acquired while serving the World Tree and to the rough Yggdrasill staff that helped the young elf to keep a calm mind.

    "Use only spells based on darkness and water." She said. "These things aren¡¯t real golems, just lumps of enchanted stone. Unless youpletely destroy the enchantment that animates them, you would be just wasting your mana."

    Elves had many bloodline abilities and Soul Vision was among them. It allowed Aalejah to see the true nature of both things and people. She had used it to choose as herpanions only people who she could trust.

    Now, instead, the elf was using Soul Vision to save as many lives as she could.

    To her mystical senses, the Gargoyles appeared like puppets manipted by long strings that extended further than she could see. Every time one of them was destroyed, the energy flowing through the strings would revitalize them.

    "Luckily, we undead are all about darkness magic." Trevar the Nightwalker said.

    His bloodline had turned his skin of a ck color and allowed him to manipte shadows while also infusing them with the darkness elements. A simple wave of his hand had the Gargoyles bound by their own shadows, giving to the group the time they needed to destroy the constructs.

    Aalejah sealed the windows and the cracks in the penthouse with earth magic to keep more Gargoyles from entering, but suddenly the creatures became so strong that they just burst through the walls.

    Phloria and Lith fared no better. She was alone, relying on the ice to encase the enemies while her spell slowly killed them, but now the creatures were breaking free from their prison and slowly crawled toward her.

    The power boost allowed the flying Gargoyles that were swarming her to not be affected by the storm that Frostmourne generated, forcing Phloria to use her sword to defend herself and almost breaking her focus.

    "Oh, no you don¡¯t!" She said while noticing that more and more constructs ignored her and tried to reach the hole that Lith had opened in the ground.

    Phloria had positioned herself so that her spell would cover the ess and Lith¡¯s back at the same time, but now a single spell wasn¡¯t enough.

    She activated her tier five Mage Knight spell, Death Bastion, that conjured a stone wall infused with darkness magic that quickly reced the missing ground and sealed the entrance to the underground tunnel.

    Keeping two tier five spells active at the same time while also cutting down the Gargoyles that came too close forfort pushed Phloria to her limits, making her eyes and ears bleed.

    Yet she endured, opening small cracks in Death Bastion so that the constructs would mistake them for entry points just to be frozen by Frostmourne the moment they turned liquid and then be destroyed by the darkness magic flowing through both spells.

    As for Lith, after Inxialot had followed Zolgrish¡¯s advice, the constructs following him had merged into a ck wave. Thanks to the sudden boost in power, the Gargoyles were now capable of filling the whole corridor, dodging all of his attacks, and of moving so fast that Lith had to use Spirit Blink from time to time just to not be swallowed by the tide.

    ¡¯Please, Solus, tell me that we are close.¡¯ He turned around to breathe a jet-stream of deep violet Origin mes, but the ck mass wasprised by so many Gargoyles and infused with so much energy that it took it but a second to smother them.

    ¡¯We are very close. It¡¯s just past the wall in front of us.¡¯

    ¡¯Can I Blink inside?¡¯ Lith turned around while flying, unleashing his tier Four Spirit Spell, Experimental Roar.

    Scarlett¡¯s Primordial Roar was still beyond his capabilities and with Solus focused on their target, it was the best that he could do alone.

    Experimental Roar was a tetra elemental spell that used water magic to freeze the opponent, air to produce shockwaves, light to pierce the enemy, and darkness to eat at them from the inside.

    The iing ck tide froze, forming a plug that stopped the liquid constructs behind them. The light element engulfed the liquid mass, keeping it from escaping while the shockwaves reverberated throughout them.

    Thebined effect of the three elements split the living wave into countless small frozen shards that the darkness element weakened even further.

    ¡¯No. I have no information about spatial coordinates and the only magical thing I can see inside is the energy core. We need to force our way through.¡¯ She replied while studying their mark from a distance.

    It would save them precious time so that as soon as they reached their destination, Solus would know exactly how to do to deactivate the energy core.

    Then, before the constant flow of energy from the core could once again revitalize the Gargoyles, Lith reverted to his real form and size while hurling a full breath of Origin mes.

    Thebined effect of his break-neck speed and the sudden expansion of his body allowed the Tiamat to destroy the thick wall that separated him from the Golems¡¯ energy source as if it was made of paper.

    On top of that, the jet-stream of Origin mes that he released filled the entirety of the corridor and hit the fractured Gargoyles while they were at their weakest. Experimental Roar had already worn down the ck shards, allowing the Origin mes to finish the job, destroying the constructs for good.

    The ck tide evaporated as both the stone statues and the magic that animated them sumbed to Lith¡¯sbined attacks.

    ¡¯Okay, watch my back. I need a bit of time.¡¯ Solus held War in the hand of her stone doll form while she studied the energy core with their new breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze.

    ¡¯Be quick, there¡¯s more iing and I can¡¯t take them on again for long while standing still.¡¯ Lith said while cursing his bad luck.

    Bing bigger had made things better, but also worse. He had burst through the walls, but he had also destroyed theyers of rock that separated the tunnel from Urgamakka.

    His Tiamat form had created in the street a hole so big that Phloria failed to seal itpletely despite her best efforts. Hundreds of Gargoyles swarmed the two crevices, but thanks to her, only a few dozens managed to actually get inside.

    Lith reverted into a human, to not offer a huge target and not lose the protection of the Scalewalker armor.

 Chapter 1501 Divided They Fall Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1501 Divided They Fall Part 1</h4>

    ''I''m working as fast as I can.'' Solus replied, having a hard time not staring in amazement in front of the "ancient" relic.

    The energy core wasprised of several concentric Adamant spheres, each one imbued with a different enchantment. The final result looked like a silvery gym ball that allowed the different pseudo cores to cooperate as if they were part of a power core.

    ''By my Mom, the Awakened of Urgamakka were geniuses. I wish we thought of something simr back when we were at the academy.''

    ''Focus, Solus.'' Lith was now fighting a 3 meters (10 feet) tall Gargoyle that resulted from the merging of several smaller constructs.

    By pooling up their mass and power thanks to Inxialot''s blunder, the Gargoyles had taken a form capable of resisting Lith''s water spells and of overpowering him with sheer might.

    The cold kept the titan from shapeshifting, but it was still as strong as Fe the Behemoth.

    Luckily for Lith, it was also much dumber. He adjusted his size to match that of the creature and used each attack that hended or blocked to form a new frostyer that further slowed down his enemy.

    ''Okay, sorry. I needed to find the exact point topromise all of the pseudo cores at the same time, otherwise-''

    ''Act now, exinter!'' Lith was now one against three stone giants and without his armor, each hit he took made him cough out blood.

    ''Sorry!'' Solus lifted War and pierced through the energy core until the hilt of the de hit the most external Adamant sphere.

    Due to the big size of the core, War''s tip barely reached the innermostyers. On top of that, Solus had aimed the lunge so that none of the runes on any of the many pseudo cores would have been damaged in the process.

    Her n had been to rely on War''s Counterflow skill to stop the energy core while also leaving to Lith something to study to understand the threat at hand. The moment the angry de struck, the Gargoyles spread throughout Urgamakka froze in ce, turning back into harmless statues.

    Solus returned in her Monocle form while Lith retrieved the energy core and brought it outside to study it. The city was now covered in ck stones from the Gargoyles'' shattered bodies that the Awakened pulverized just to be safe.

    The only trace left of the struggle was the damage on their armor since all it took an Awakened to heal from any wound and recover from exhaustion was the time of a few breaths.

    "I told you that you jinxed it." Phloria said while cleaning herself from the ck goo.

    "I don''t think so. Something is really off here. The golems were nothing much, then they became almost unstoppable, and then weaker again." Lith said. "I think there''s a mastermind behind this attack and a crazy one at that."

    "No, it''s actually my fault." A pretty girl with honey-hued hair and blue eyes said while turning into a bright shade of purple. "I''m Emya the Hippogriff and during the attack, I used Life Maelstrom on a few golems to fry their pseudo core.

    "I didn''t know that they shared a hive body or I would have never done something so stupid. The Gargoyles were actually one single construct split into many parts so the Life Maelstrom ended up boosting their abilities instead of destroying them. I''m really sorry, guys."

    She gave bows left and right while inwardly cursing the Council for putting a Lich in charge of the mission. Emya was one of the Council''s envoys sent to sow discord or help the exploration team ording to the circumstances.

    It was their duty to make sure that everything went smoothly and to alert the Council representatives in the case anything that threatened the safety of the apprentices happened.

    Their presence ensured that the test would be a real challenge. Not too easy but not even so hard that someone had to die of friendly fire. With the war with Thrud nearing, every single Awakened was a priceless treasure.

    The Council had punished Inxialot by putting him in charge of the test solely because the envoys worked as a safeguard against his insanity. They were both his wardens and the apprentices'' guardians.

    "Don''t worry. Everyone can make mistakes." Trevan the Nightwalker said and most of the expedition nodded at those words.

    He was actually pissed off like everyone else, but his master had been crystal clear that the mission was not only to explore Urgamakka, but also to fraternize and learn teamwork.

    ''If not for the elf, we would have got wiped out less than an hour from our arrival. To make matters worse, no one thought about regrouping oring up with amon strategy. Heck, we didn''t even bother sharing ourmunication runes.

    ''We were isted from each other and forced to fight on our own against amon enemy. If this was a battlefield filled with smart enemies instead of a bunch of ruins defended by old junk, we would have all died.

    ''Emya made a mistake, but it only emphasized how stupid we have been. If this happens again, I can kiss my legacy goodbye.'' He and many others actually thought.

    "Do you mind if I take a look at that? Despite my looks, I''m quite the schr." Estor the Treant stepped forward while pointing at Lith''s prize.

    "Why? How do you look like?" Lith asked while holding War''s hilt in his hand so that no one could touch it.

    "Like a 5 meters (16''5") tall oak with fists bigger than a bull." He sighed. Just because of his size people usually assumed that he was more brawn than brains.

    "So what?" Lith shapeshifted into his full Tiamat form, standing over 20 meters (66 feet) tall, enjoying the shock on the faces of his colleagues at the sight of his seven eyes, his four wings, and his violet aura. "You look cute to me."

    Lith used the ruse to take everyone by surprise and force the Awakened to reveal their real nature. He discarded as potential allies all those whose faces turned into grimaces of envy or rage.

    Fear, awe, and surprise, instead, were eptable reactions. What he really looked out for, however, were respect and curiosity. Only a few matched those requirements and a young girl wielding an oddly familiar staff was among them.

    "Let''s set a few ground rules first." He said after reverting into a human. "You can study the energy core, but this thing is mine. Finders keepers. Also, whatever you do, don''t touch the hilt of my de unless you want to die."

    "I''m fine with those conditions, but you are going overboard." Athung stepped forward to act as the representative of the humans. "Examining someone else''s equipment is rude, but not enough to justify violence."

    "Debatable." War''s voice sounded like a metal screech that sent shivers down everyone''s spine.

    "It''s not me that you have to convince. I wasn''t threatening you, just warning you." Lith''s words made those closer to the angry de take a step back, fearing that it might attack them.

    The Awakened split into small groups and took turns studying the energy core. A few hourster, after everyone had taken a look at the ancient relic with their respective breathing technique, Lith experienced his first Spirit Array.

 Chapter 1502 Divided They Fall Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1502 Divided They Fall Part 2</h4>

    Those like Estor who had been already chosen as heirs had ess to their respective bloodline legacy, giving them an edge over their peers. They arranged themselves into a series of concentric circles andbined their Spirit Magic to form an array that epassed all the members of the expedition.

    The tier two Spirit Array Hive Mind allowed them not only to freely share their thoughts and discoveries about the energy core without the risk of mana poisoning, but also to keep examining the relic from a distance.

    It formed a telepathic structure akin to Soluspedia so that everyone could browse each other''s knowledge without the foreign mana flooding their brains.

    ''Solus, are you recording all this?'' Lith asked after making sure that none of his thoughts might be overheard.

    ''Yes. Being in my Eyes form helps and Phloria sharing our burden is doing wonders. Now shut up, I want to listen to what the others think of our discovery.'' She replied.

    ''As you can see, the materials are crude and the runes are outdated, but the energy core is still a marvel of magic.'' Trevan the Nightwalker said.

    ''Its pseudo cores can interact with each other, making it the next best thing to a power core. Only by working together could a group of gifted individuals craft something this powerful despite their primitive mastery of magic.

    ''There''s a lot that we might learn from their workings, but only if we work together like they did. I think we shouldpensate Lith properly and share the discovery with the entire Council.''

    ''Except that they ended up killing each other. That''s not an example that I''d like to follow.'' Emya said. ''I agree on the energy core being a powerful weapon that we don''t want to fall into the hands of the non-Awakened, but it''s still crap.

    ''I''m not going to give away modern artifacts in exchange for outdated junk.''

    The envoy nted the seed of greed and conceit, leaving up to the rest of the expedition if growing or weeding it.

    Soon the group split into two factions, just like the Council had nned. One wanted to organize the expedition into a proper group and share whatever they found so as to have a better understanding of Urgamakka''s value.

    The other, instead, considered the discovery of the energy core one more good reason to move on their own and keep the relics for themselves.

    ''Only powerful violet-cored individuals could craft something like this. I don''t care about the relics, but if I manage to find the records of the Urgamakkans breathing technique, bing an elder of the Council will no longer be just a dream.'' They all thought.

    Many young Awakened had been stuck at bright blue for over a century and they had yet to find a clue to break through to the next level.

    ''Before we dispel the array, there''s something I would like to point out.'' Estor the Treant said. ''There''s something off with this city. The buildings are arranged in a way that makes them hard to defend in the case of attack and the waterways make no sense.

    ''Awakened who can fly and Warp have no need for such huge canals. They have no artistic value nor practical purpose. Worst case scenario, they could flood the city and drown the people in their sleep.''

    ''Agreed.'' Aalejah said. ''On top of that, I recognized the design of the Golems. They belonged to Gestra the Maker, an ancient Awakened who dedicated his life to find a way to give constructs sentience.''

    ''Okay, what about it?'' Athung asked, not having any idea of what relevance such information could have.

    ''Gestra spent his existence inside hisb like a Lich, nevering out until one of his apprentices found him dead. He never left the Verendi continent so how can his creations be here?'' Aalejah said.

    ''Maybe one of his apprentices moved to Urgamakka after his death.'' Athung replied.

    ''That''s impossible because Gestra died when Urgamakka was already on the decline. To adapt his technology to this energy core it would have taken too much time, let alone to perfect it to such a degree. The timelines just don''t match.''

    "Oops!" Inxialot said while Emya and the other envoys shared with him the anachronism that the expedition found and did their best to find a sort of usible exnation for it.

    "What do you mean, oops? You said you had extensive books on the civilizations of 3,000 years ago." The other Council representatives said in unison.

    "I do and I made a good job making up an entire city from scratch." The King of Liches said while showing them his notes with pride.

    It was a jumbled mess of pages from different books glued to each other in a random order that formed Urgamakka''s blueprint. Each piece dated back to 3,000 years back as Inxialot had promised, but the problem was that some blueprints came from Verendi, others from Garlen, and some even from Jiera.

    Unfortunately for the Council, details like architectural styles and which piece of furniture belonged to which culture wasn''t just beyond the Lich but also beyond them.

    Mages didn''t care for small stuff like that, making Inxialot''s jigsaw city look like a good idea back when he had shown it to the Council.

    "It''s not my fault if you nt folks are so anal retentive that you have your apprentices learn useless stuff. Aside from those two, no one doubted my creation!" Inxialot pointed at Aalejah and Estor, who were getting shunned by their peers for that very reason.

    ''Seriously, are we going to spend all day discussing architecture andndscaping, or are we going to do our real job?'' A handsome youth said in the Hive Mind. ''I mean, Urgamakka was a melting pot of Awakened from all continents.

    ''Probably they reached some sort of culturalpromise that looked beautiful to them but that now looks like crap to us. It happens to any Awakened that lives too long.

    ''My master decorates his house with stuff that he collected during his life, thinking that they look good together whereas more than one of our guests asked me why how can he suffer from color blindness despite being Awakened.''

    At those words, the master of the youth who was among the elders of the Council blushed in embarrassment. Not only did no one of his friends refute such ims, but they also avoided his gaze while trying not tough.

    "Instead of worrying about the small wrinkles of my master n that can be easily ironed outter, let''s look at its many bright sides." Inxialot said while reverting to his living form.

    He now looked like a handsome man in his fifties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with greying brown hair streaked blue, red, and ck all over. The many holes in his tunic showed more of his physique than most would have liked, especially Raagu, to whom he kept staring.

    "No one died during the Gargoyle attack, which means that despite your many faults, you have at least taught your useless surrogate children to defend themselves." A plus sign appeared near the hologram of each apprentice in Urgamakka, serving as their score.

    "Also, fighting my creations gave them priceless experience about fighting an immortal enemy. They will need when facing Thrud''s army."

 Chapter 1503 Early Rankings Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1503 Early Rankings Part 1</h4>

    Even though many Elders wanted to beat him to death, they had to admit that the Lich King was right.

    The Gargoyles had maimed several people, but nothing that a few breaths of Invigoration couldn''t fix. The more mistakes their apprentices made now, the more their chances of survival would increase after learning from them.

    "On top of that, we already have a rough understanding of the quality of your education. Those who refused to coborate need to be disciplined." The plus sign disappeared from the holograms of a little less than half the expedition.

    "Those who instead are actively promoting teamwork will be leaders in our army." Another plus sign appeared on the remaining members, bringing them to two. "Yet, words are cheap.

    "We have yet to see how they will actually conduct themselves once they find the baits that I left all around Urgamakka. I''ll keep you posted. Inxialot out." The Lich hung up the call before turning around.

    There was a reason why he had taken human form after centuries, and unlike what his colleagues believed, it wasn''t another of his attempts to hit on the human representative of the Council.

    "Is lunch ready or not? I''m starving." Human bodies needed maintenance which usually led Liches to turn into rotting corpses to not be bothered with chores like feeding and personal hygiene.

    "Almost." Ratpack whined. "You can eat appetizers while waiting."

    He served the two Liches an excellent beer that they drank in one gulp and some salty snacks.

    "Something is wrong with my body. Why did the beer end on my robe instead of in my tummy?" Zolgrish asked.

    "You need meat, master." Ratpack started cleaning with a mop the beer that had gone through the Lich''s mouth and onto the floor through the space where his neck was supposed to be.

    "Then why did you serve the beer before the steak, you stupid creature?" He said.

    "On your bones, master, not in your te."

    "Damn, sometimes I''m really dumb." Zolgrish turned human and happily choked on his beer by sending it down his windpipe. It had passed so much time from hisst meal that he had forgotten how to drink.

    Being a Lich, however, death didn''t stick and he came back to life a few secondster with a gasp.

    "Drinking is way more painful than I remembered, but at least the beer tastes good."

    "Ratpack, something is wrong with me as well!" Inxialot said while pointing at the pool of urine under his seat. "My beer is leaking."

    "Your body fine. You just need bathroom." He replied.

    "What''s that?" Both Liches asked in unison with a puzzled look on their faces.

    Only then did the small undead realize that Inxialot''s control center had no restroom. Ratpack had prepared a huge meal that would be up to him cleaning once his guests had finished digesting it.

    ***

    Meanwhile, even though the Awakened disciples couldn''t agree on how to split their discoveries, organizing amon safe house was unanimously approved.

    After sharing their respective contact runes so as to be capable of sounding the rm in the case another defensive mechanism activated, they also established a ce where they would assemble to fight together and everyone contributed fortifying it.

    Once they were done turning one of the biggest mansions in Urgamakka into a makeshift fortress, most people went back to explore the city.

    "Thanks for your help, Lith." Trevan the Nightwalker said while giving him a small bow. "If not for your generosity and for your sword''s ability that allowed us to study the energy core while it still worked, we would have learned nothing."

    "Don''t mention it." Lith said.

    ''The more I think about this ce, the more it reminds me of the White Griffon academy''s mock exam.'' He actually thought.

    ''You are just being paranoid.'' Solus mocked him. ''No one in their sane mind would endanger their apprentices'' life just to teach them a lesson.''

    ''Maybe. But even if I''m wrong there''s no risk in sharing useless knowledge with others. Everyone knows how to make power cores and the energy core barely qualifies. If I''m right, instead, I might reap benefits from the Council.''

    "If you need a ce to rest, you cane to our ce." Trevan said while offering Lith his hand. "I want you to know that the Undead faction has cut their ties with the Courts the moment they triggered that stupid war.

    "Those like me have no interest in foolish conquest nor in being forced to follow the Horsemen. We''ve known for a long time how Dawn and Night treat their subjects. We have no intention of bing cannon fodder for their madness."

    Lith shook the hand, yet he found it hard to believe a single wording out of the mouth of a Nightwalker.

    Just like Blood Witches were prototypes for the Horseman of Dusk, Nightwalkers were Baba Yaga''s first attempt to fix her children''s weakness to the darkness element.

    Aside from Night herself, Trevan was the first person that Lith had ever seen with such pitch-ck skin.

    Nightwalkers had an affinity toward a single element which allowed them to store huge amounts of darkness inside their bodies and gave them a level of mastery over it so great that it almost resembled Domination.

    On top of that, the same darkness element that painted their skin ck also made them resistant to all kinds of spells. s, it wasn''t enough to ovee their natural weakness and their unusual appearance made it impossible for them to hide their nature.

    Trevan looked like a fine man in his early thirties, about 1.79 meters (5''10") tall, with gentle features and a warm smile, yet Lith shuddered at his sight due to the Nightwalker''s resemnce with Night.

    "And if you have any trouble deciphering some writings or understanding how to use an artifact, feel free to call me." Aalejah said while taking down her hood and revealing her pointy ears and delicate features.

    "I''m an apprentice of the World Tree and aside from the biggest secrets of magic, there isn''t much that I don''t know about old stuff like that we can find in Urgamakka."

    Aalejah looked like a young woman in her early twenties despite the fact that she actually was over 200 years old. She had long golden hair that reached the small of her back and part of it had been braided into tresses that kept her hair from moving too much while fighting.

    She was about 1.80 meters (5''11") tall with blue eyes and a lithe body for someone that tall. Her clothes resembled a hunter suit like those Lith had used during his youth, consisting of a shirt, pants, soft-soled shoes, and a utility jacket.

    Unlike normal suits, however, Aalejah''s kept changing its colors ording to her surroundings, making only her exposed hand and head be clearly visible while the rest blurred the moment that she was still.

    Luckily, it didn''t happen often since she kept jumping around and looking at everyone like a kid during their first visit to a zoo. She was polite yet cheerfully childish, making people feel at ease.

    "I don''t mean to be rude, but aren''t you an elf?" Lith asked while pointing at her ears.

 Chapter 1504 Early Rankings Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1504 Early Rankings Part 2</h4>

    "My friends met your kind inside a Fringe and they were violent assholes, to put it mildly. Also, I have dealt with a Sapling in the past and, again, it wasn''t a pleasant experience."

    Lith couldn''t bring himself to trust someone rted not to one, but to two species that seemed to only bring trouble to others.

    "I would have used much stronger words to define those elves, but I agree with you. The problem with my people is that not only did they never get over losing the War of the Races, but by isting themselves, they also lost contact with reality.

    "It made their understanding of the world stagnate whereas the tribes that sought refuge inside the World Tree have ess to their unlimited knowledge. Instead of ming others for our failures, we understood the errors of our ways and became better for it.

    "As for the Sapling, I''m sorry you had to deal with such a fool. The life cycle of the current World Tree ising to an end so I guess that the Sapling couldn''t ept the idea of dying first or not to be chosen due to its old age.

    "I bet that if the undead''s n seeded, the moment the World Tree scanned their descendants to find the most suitable heir, the Sapling would have forcefully assimted the Tree.

    "If it wasn''t for you and the other humans of the Griffon Kingdom, my people would have been enved by an immortal crazy monster. To me, you and your friend are heroes." Aalejah gave Lith and Phloria a deep bow, even bending her right knee.

    A gesture not only of respect, but also of submission that was reserved to the Royals.

    "Because of the debt I owe you, I will bepletely honest with you. I''m still an apprentice, which means that my mana core is bright blue and my ess to the Tree''s memory is limited.

    "To achieve the violet and be one of the Tree''s Chroniclers, they have tasked me to discover both the secrets of Urgamakka and yours. My master is deeply intrigued by the birth of a new species and they have ordered me to find a way to examine you.

    "Yet I''m not going to try and take scans of your species unless I have your permission." Aalejah said.

    "Doesn''t that mean that you''ll fail your mission?" Phloria asked, impressed by the girl''s honesty but standing in front of Lith nheless to keep her from using Life Vision or any other kind of mystical senses on him.

    "Correct, but from what I''ve seen so far, it''s not a huge loss." Aalejah shrugged. "I lived all my life within the boundaries of the Fringe where the Tree lives. No matter if my mission seeds or fails, I''m finally free to travel Mogar.

    "To me, it''s much more important than gaining a more powerful core or having ess to more knowledge. Chroniclers are not much different from Harbingers and I''m still not certain that I''m ready to settle for a life of servitude."

    ''She''s a smart girl.'' Lith thought. ''Bright blue means no impurities so even with an elf''s body she can always discover the secret of the violet core on her own. If the Tree is anything like the Sapling, I would run away as well.''

    Lith found Aalejah''s honesty refreshing and her Yggdrasill staff intriguing, but he still didn''t trust her. For all he knew, every word she said might be a lie and her behavior be an act to make him lower his guard.

    "Thanks to both of you for your offer but now, if you will excuse me, I have to update my mentor and I need a bit of privacy." Lith exploited the mission''s rule that apprentices could keep the materials but they had to share the knowledge they found with their masters to ask Faluel for help.

    Unbeknownst to him, as long as he was in Urgamakka, all the calls from a Council amulet would be intercepted so as to make sure that there weren''t traitors in their midst and to be able to properly assess their disciples.

    The Council representatives and its Elders spectated the conversation while Lith asked Faluel about the elves, the World Tree, and when he shared with her the hologram of the energy core.

    "Excellent work preserving the integrity of the artifact. I will start working on it while you are exploring the city, but I can already tell you that if we work together, we might find a way to apply this technology to your Forgemastering arts and simplify your crafting method for power cores."

    The Hydra was all smiles as she could almost feel the envious gazes of her colleagues.

    "Really?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "Of course. If this technique allowed such an ancient civilization to mimic power cores, then by applying the same principles to the real deal we can both improve its efficiency and use the energy core as a blueprint for arranging the pseudo cores in an artifact."

    What Faluel described was actually one of the Forgemastering techniques that all the Elders of the Council shared. It was part of the legacy of the fifth Ruler of the mes and one of the reasons why Tavar Sinak had received such a title.

    The artifacts that Inxialot had disseminated throughout the city were actually the key to one of the shared secrets of the past Rulers of the mes, and they contained hints to learn such techniques.

    Only if a disciple brought them to their master was the Elder allowed to pass such techniques upon their apprentice. If the youths kept the relics for themselves and vited the rules, instead, they would be marked as failures and have a much harder time working out the technique on their own.

    Another plus mark appeared near Lith''s hologram in the Control Room for sharing the energy core with the rest of the expedition and another one for trusting Faluel, making him the only one with four merits.

    "As for the World Tree, you don''t have to worry about them or the elf. The girl has told you nothing but the truth. The Yggdrasill is part of the Council and is one of its most trustworthy allies.

    "The Chroniclers have a symbiotic rtionship with the Tree so when you deal with one of them is like dealing with the Tree themselves. Even though the Yggdrasill can collect knowledge from other nts, they cannot move.

    "The Chroniclers are their eyes, ears, and legs around Mogar, collecting information where the Tree''s vegetationwork doesn''t reach. All those I met were trustworthy, so I don'' see why this Aalejah should be any different. Faluel out."

    "That sword''s ability to neutralize an artifact without damaging them seems almost custom made for this mission." Raagu said to the Hydra. "If I wasn''t the one who came up with the Gargoyles in the first ce, I wouldn''t hesitate to use you of cheating."

    "Yeah, too bad that I gave Lith that sword two years ago. If you humans can''t raise disciples trustworthy enough to gift them real artifacts, it''s none of my problems." Faluel replied, making the human representative almost choke on envy.

    Raagu deeply regretted not having fought more fiercely to get her hands on Lith back when he was still a hybrid and not having made him an offer so good that he wouldn''t have turned it down.

 Chapter 1505 Back in Black Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1505 Back in ck Part 1</h4>

    Meanwhile, in Urgamakka, Lith discussed the information he had just acquired with his team members.

    ''What do you think? Should we ept the undead''s and the elf''s offer for help or should we decline?'' He asked.

    ''I''m sorry, but I can''t bring myself to trust an undead. Not after everything they have done to me and to my family. My answer is no. Yet sooner orter you might have to work with them and this might be a good opportunity to study them.'' Phloria said

    ''I doubt that they would try to harm us while on a mission for the Council. Also, it''s your secrets that are on the line so I think the final decision should be yours.''

    ''I agree with Phloria''s reasoning but I vote for trusting them.'' Solus replied. ''We know nothing about your life force and letting Aalejah study it might prove very useful to us.''

    ''If she shares her findings with us, we have the opportunity to exploit the knowledge of the World Tree. On top of that, if we help her with her mission, maybe Aalejah can tell us what she knows about my mother and the person who caused our deaths.''

    On the one hand, Lith didn''t like the idea of sharing anything with a powerhouse he knew only by name. On the other hand, however, learning from the World Tree and having the opportunity to study the breathing technique of the Chroniclers was too good to turn it down.

    He entrusted Solus to Phloria, asking them to use the Eyes of Menadion to record what was about to happen. Then, Lith was forced to cut his own hand deeply and spill enough blood to sheathe War.

    Without a full cover, the raging flow of energy that coursed through the angry de made it impossible to store it in the pocket dimension.

    ''ording to Faluel, the Scalewalker armor is nothing much for Awakened standards whereas War is a masterpiece. I''m not letting anyone take a peek at it.'' He thought.

    "I''ll take your offer for help. I''m the first of my kind and with the war with Thrud nearing, I can''t afford to spend months just to understand what I''m capable of. If you promise to share whatever you find out about my Tiamat form, I''ll allow you to study it.

    "Youplete your task and I save myself a lot of time. Everybody wins." Lith said while shapeshifting into his real body.

    "One second." Aalejah closed her eyes and activated the mind link with the Tree before answering.

    ''The terms are eptable. Hispliance will make your work easier. Be thorough and do not disappoint me.''

    "We have a deal." The elf nodded while she put her hands on Lith''s shoulders, using her breathing technique, Rainfall.

    While experiencing Faluel''s Lifestream felt like being neck-deep inside a river, Rainfall acted akin to a gentle spring drizzle. Her mana reached Lith''s skin in small droplets that slowly seeped through his scales and skin as if he was a cracked wall.

    It took Aalejah a minute toplete her scan.

    "This is amazing! Even the Tree has never seen something like your life force. If there wasn''t just one of you, this might be the dawn of a new race." The feverish light in the elf''s eyes reminded Lith of Manohar, making him trust her even less.

    "Can you shapeshift into human form? I want to study the effects of Body Sculpting on your life force. Even a harmless technique like that can teach me a lot."

    "I don''t use Body Sculpting to shapeshift." Lith replied.

    "What do you- Great Mother almighty!" She said as Lith turned human again. "This is simply amazing! Gods I''m so happy to be here!"

    Aalejah danced with joy, kissing Trevan and the other undead the moment they came in too close despite their best efforts to stop her from making a fool out of herself. Phloria took a step back while Lith remained motionless, just to be safe.

    Only after a few minutes and several sneers from the onlookers about how elves deserved to go extinct did she regained her cool.

    "I''m sorry for my outburst, but this is the first time I discovered something myself instead of just reading about it. The feeling is intoxicating." Aalejah said while blushing up to her ears.

    "Now, do you mind shapeshifting into your other forms?"

    "I beg your pardon? That''s everything I can do." Lith replied in confusion.

    "Don''t be silly." She replied with a chuckle. "Your life force isprised of stars surrounded by a void and joined between them by a red thread, correct?"

    "Correct." He nodded.

    "By focusing on the red thread, you had your life force reshape into that of a human by making its melody dominant over the others. Why should it be any different for the remaining two?"

    Lith opened his mouth to reply but he choked on his words realizing that Aalejah was right. He had never thought of attempting something like that because he had spent his whole life considering himself a human.

    He already had a hard time epting to have turned into a Tiamat, making the idea of havingpletely inhuman forms far from alluring. Lith feared the answer to the elf''s question but he didn''t let it stop him in his pursuit of knowledge.

    ''Let''s see how much is left of my Abomination side.'' He focused on the void, making its anger-filled tune be louder and louder until it copsed on itself.

    The void turned into a shroud that engulfed everything else,pressing Lith''s life force until only a ck sphere remained. His body turned from flesh and blood into pure darkness, his skin was now a ck te, and his hair looked like a ck me moved by a strong wind.

    He had shrunk down to 1.78 meters, with the haircut of an IRS employee on a Monday morning and a re almost as friendly.

    ''By my Mom!'' Solus thought, making Phloria worry that something was wrong with Lith even though the Eyes kept saying that he was fine.

    Solus wanted to share the truth with her, but she couldn''t. She wanted to tell Lith, but any Awakened might see the mind link and discover her existence. On top of that, she couldn''t risk someone intercepting the link and discovering that Lith now resembled Derek McCoy.

    He had turned into an Empowered Abomination that bore the appearance of his old self, the same he had back on Earth. Solus was the only one that could recognize it thanks to Lith''s memories from his first life.

    To everyone else, he has just be smaller and his visage was distorted by the quivering of his shadow form.

    "Amazing! I''m the first person on Mogar that can see how an Abomination''s life force looks like and live to tell the tale." Aalejah wanted to kiss Lith out of joy, but her survival instinct beat her adrenaline rush into submission.

    She was unlikely to survive the experience since even touching him through the Scalewalker armor caused the elf unspeakable pain. The sphere now resembled a ck hole that was slowly sucking in the stars and the red thread thatprised Lith''s life force.

    "How do you feel?" She asked while using darkness fusion just enough to make the contact bearable.

    "I hunger!" Lith said while his now seven white eyes looked at the people around him like at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

 Chapter 1506 Back in Black Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1506 Back in ck Part 2</h4>

    ''This feeling. I didn''t experience it ever since I was a child.'' Lith remembered both the hunger that had gued his infancy on Mogar and the void that hadter tormented him during his teen years.

    Now they were both back and they were stronger than ever. His skin started to rob the light element from the surrounding air and to turn darkness into Chaos.

    "Quick, shapeshift again!" There was no trace of enthusiasm left in Aalejah''s voice, only worry. "Your Abomination form is unstable and it''s devouring the others. Fucus on the stars before the corruption reaches the point of no return!"

    Lith did as instructed, ignoring the pain, the hunger, and the sweet call of the void that whispered him to take just one bite off the plentiful meal that was the hand on his shoulder.

    ''The elf won''t even notice if I take a nibble whereas I''m so hungry.'' Those thoughts didn''t belong to Lith and they scared him.

    The moment that the Emperor Beast''s melody took over, he felt as if someone had exploded a bomb in the middle of the street. It had thrown him up in the sky and everyone else away.

    Only after a few seconds did Lith notice that he wasn''t falling down and that the red wall Aalejah was clinging to was actually his now scaly chest. The others stared in surprise at the Fire Dragon that had taken Lith''s ce and admired the determination of the young elf that refused to let go.

    Lith used his breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze, to take a look at his own life force while Aalejah was so excited that she kept screaming words that didn''t make sense.

    The stars had turned from a gxy into a single constetion that resembled a Dragon. The red thread and the void were used both as a framework that kept the stars in a fixed position.

    "How do I look?" Lith''s voice sounded like a roar that made his words barely understandable.

    "Like this!" Aalejah conjured a giant ice mirror in front of Lith while Phloria summoned a second mirror behind his back so that he could study his body thanks to theirbined reflections.

    "What the fuck?" Lith said, discovering that he was in a four-legged stance and that his neck was so long that he could look at his back without the back mirror.

    His hands still had opposable thumbs, but his arms had be longer than before while his legs had gotten shorter. He had taken the appearance of a Dragon whose chest and limbs were covered in red scales.

    ck feathers came out of his spine and covered most of his back where two feathered wings rested. The ck feathers run along his spine down to the tip of his long tail, leaving everything else covered in red scales as thick as a buckler shield.

    "A ck-feathered Fire Dragon! That''s how you would have looked like without either the human or the Abomination side!" Aalejah and Phloria said in unison while Solus could only think it.

    "Oh gods!" Lith roared in frustration as a burst of deep violet Origin mes erupted from his maw. "More work! This is thest thing I needed. Fuck me sideways!"

    He reverted into his human form, equally happy and annoyed at the same time.

    The elf let him go and started to quickly pace in circles while she discussed her findings with the World Tree. Together they searched for a way to dumb their theories down enough for everyone to understand them.

    "Why are you so angry?" Phloria asked. "You just heard from Faluel that there might be a way to improve your crafting technique for power cores and we just discovered how you would look if any of the single aspects of your life force became dominant.

    "You not only gained invaluable knowledge, but also two more disguises that cannot be detected even by magic. Only people that know how your Tiamat life force looks like can recognize you."

    "Because I already have barely enough time to breathe. Even though I''m single, I have so many things on my te that they are driving me crazy. Now I also have to get ustomed to two new forms and discover their powers." Lith replied.

    "I don''t see the reason to get upset. Take your time if you need to rest. Remember what Quy told you at the G? Stop considering everything as a matter of life and death. Enjoy the good things and get over the bad ones.

    "Otherwise Awakened or not, you are going to have a stroke before thirty." Phloria said.

    ''Word, sister.'' Solus said via the mind link, wishing to be reconnected with Lith to share all the data she had collected during their brief separation. ''Why waste time whining when we have so much to do? The elf''s breathing technique, the new forms, heck we have hit the motherl-''

    Phloria telepathic reproachful gaze cut Solus short.

    ''I mean, resting is an important part of training.''

    "You don''t understand. Ever since I reached the deep violet core, I feel ufortable in my human form and I spent all my life with that kind of body. The Abomination and the Emperor Beast forms feel as if I''m wearing a suit so starched that it seems made of stone.

    "Practicing while in those forms will not only be time-consuming, but also unpleasant. Not to mention how dangerous the Abomination side is." Lith said.

    "Well, I bring you bad news and good news. Which one do you want first?" Aalejah asked.

    "The bad news."

    "You are right. You indeed have quite a lot of training in front of you if you want to discover and master all of your bloodline abilities." The elf had a pensive look as she tried to guess what kind of skills each side could provide without messing with the other two.

    "What about the good news?" Lith asked.

    "That you don''t need to train you three different forms to do that. After all, they are all part of the Tiamat life force, hence everything they can do, the Tiamat can do it as well." She replied.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Let''s consider this from your Guardian bloodline''s standpoint. If the Tiamat was a Guardian, then I''d say that the human, the Empowered Abomination, and the ck-feathered Dragon are lesser Tiamats." Aalejah said.

    "They indeed have each their own abilities, but they alle from the same source. You.

    "Hence you must train while trying to understand your different sides, but you can do that while remaining in your Tiamat form since it''s the only one that shares them all and maybe it''s even capable of mixing them together."

    The elf moved her eyes from Lith to her staff, to make sure that she wasn''t forgetting anything.

    ''She''s right. After gaining my Tiamat form, I could train the Beast side''s Origin mes and the Abomination''s Draining Touch even before I discovered I had two more forms. My scales even absorb heat and sunlight to store them inside my body.

    ''Yet something is off.'' Lith thought.

    "Wait a second. I clearly remember my Abomination side conjuring Chaos magic and I''m pretty sure that I never managed to do that as a Tiamat. If I want to learn Chaos magic, I''ll need to-"

    "Are you insane?" Aalejah, Phloria, and even Trevan who had just been standing there with his mouth agape said in unison.

 Chapter 1507 Odd Companions Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1507 Odd Companions Part 1</h4>

    "Chaos magic is a dangerous side effect of the Abomination condition, not a reliable power. Very few learned it and survived. To make matters worse, they all went insane in the space of a few years." The elf put the tip of her staff under Lith''s nose as if she was about to hit him.

    "All of them?"

    "All of them." Aleejah sighed deeply. "The only way to safely learn Chaos magic would be to give up on your life, turning into a full Abomination and thening back to life. Sadly, no one ever managed to do that."

    ''I actually did, but I don''t know if I can pull it off a second time without a suitable body and Mogar''s help.'' Lith thought, realizing that Solus was going to beat the telepathic crap out of him the moment she read his memory.

    "Thank you for your help." Lith gave the elf a bow of gratitude. "Do you mind if I ask you a history question?"

    "Shoot."

    "What do you know about Menadion''s death? I am a Forgemaster and she is my role model, yet-"

    "Well yed, but I don''t buy it." Aalejah had lost her cheerfulness and angrily looked at Lith as if he had betrayed her trust. "You just want to know about her tower, do you?"

    "No, I don''t give a damn about that." He said, withstanding even the scrutiny of the elf''s Soul Vision. "I just want to know how Menadion died and who killed her. I have researched far and wide but, aside from rumors I found nothing."

    Aalejah stared at him for a while, wondering what the thing in front of her was. Even the World Tree had no answer to offer her.

    To Soul Vision, Lith now looked like a Fire Dragon shrouded by living darkness that had a human figure emerging from its forehead.

    Yet the man didn''t look like Lith and resembled the Abomination form instead.

    Unbeknownst to her, Aalejah was looking at Derek McCoy, the mind that truly animated the mass of life forces that Mogar had named Tiamat. What she knew, however, was that there was no greed nor deception in his eyes while talking about Menadion.

    "I''m sorry, but I don''t know." The elf said.

    "What? I thought that the World Tree knew almost anything and the death of the First Ruler of the mes is supposed to be no trivial matter!" Lith said in outrage, speaking the very words that Solus was thinking.

    ''I wonder how deep our bond has be if we think the same even without our mind link.'' She pondered in amazement.

    "They do and indeed it''s not, but I''m not a Chronicler, just an apprentice." Aalejah raised her hands in apology. "I share with the Tree everything about the distant past and about the old magical theories whereas recent history is sealed to me.

    "Otherwise I would already know the secret of the violet core, where to find abandoned artifacts, and how to craft almost anything. Only after I be a Chronicler, putting my life and free will in the Tree''s hands, will I have ess to such knowledge."

    She lowered her gaze, wondering once again if any amount of wisdom and power was worth bing the puppet of another person.

    "That''s terrible." Lith shuddered at the thought. He didn''t care one bit for the elf, but her situation was almost identical to Friya and he cared about her a lot.

    "Don''t worry, that''s a decision for another day. Will you join our camp or not?" Aalejah asked.

    "Phloria, I definitely need some rest. What about you?" Lith said.

    It was hard for him to ask others their opinion instead of just making the most convenient decision for him, but at least he tried.

    "Same. I used Invigoration a lot to keep the Gargoyles away from you and it''s better that I reset its effects before the next fight happens." She replied with a warm smile on her face, d to be considered a peer instead of just a minion.

    "Then you can count us in." He said.

    "Great, this will make my mission even more simple." Aalejah said.

    "I''m not letting you touch me any longer. Sorry." Lith shook his head.

    "Don''t apologize. I have already learned what I could from my breathing technique. What I need now is to witness the scope of your abilities." She replied while they walked together toward the undead''s fortified base.

    "Are you going to help me master them?" Lith said in surprise.

    "I can''t. What I can do is to offer you to use my staff, but ites at a price. Look at it with Life Vision, please." She showed him the Yggdrasill branch while keeping it at a distance.

    "What the fuck?" Lith couldn''t believe to his own eyes.

    The staff waspletely different from Vastor''s. It had a mana flow and a life force that didn''t belong to Aalejah, not even bearing her imprint. The branch onlycked a mana core to be a living being.

    "Yeah, I know." She sighed. "The staff isn''t just a weapon, it''s also the way the World Tree keeps an eye on me and enforces our mind link despite the distance between us."

    "I''ve seen three staves like that in the past, yet none of them was alive. What makes yours special?" Lith asked.

    "The people that had one have probably received it in exchange for their services or more likely have stolen the Tree''s wood." The elf tried and failed to keep the spite out of her voice. "To turn the Yggdrasill staff into a regr artifact, you have to kill it.

    "Only after removing the Tree''s life force can a mage carve the wood, cover it in runes, and rece the Yggdrasill''s mana with their own to create an imprint. As it is now, instead, the staff is an extension of the Tree''s body and will.

    "That''s why I can lend it to you. It will still allow you to sharpen your senses and deepen yourprehension of magic, but everything you learn, the Yggdrasill will know as well.

    "As you wield the staff, nothing you do will escape their gaze as long. It will be akin to be under their breathing technique the whole time." She said.

    "Fuck me sideways. That''s how you lived until now?" Lith asked.

    "Every single day." She nodded. "Think about it carefully and then let me know your-"

    "I ept." Lith cut her short.

    "Wow, that was quick." Phloria said with a worried look that expressed both her concern and Solus''s.

    "I have a lot to learn about myself and it''s not like I''m going to keep my abilities hidden." He replied. "After all, only the World Tree would know about them and the Yggdrasill don''t seem to be prone to sharing."

    "Correct." Aalejah nodded. "Unless the Yggdrasill decides to send one of their Chroniclers against you, they would rather die than giving away their knowledge."

    ''If the Council knew that the Tree stores the secret of the White Core and of Tower crafting, they would probably wage war against them.'' She inwardly added.

    "Perfect." Lith nodded.

    ''I wish I couldbine the effects of the staff with those of the Eyes, but beggars can''t be choosers.''

 Chapter 1508 Odd Companions Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1508 Odd Companions Part 2</h4>

    ''I must keep Solus a secret so I have to study everything with the Eyes and then borate the information with the staff. I don''t think that the World Tree can read my mind. If I''m careful, I can leave them in the dark about everything but the powers that I need to test.'' Lith thought.

    "By the way, howe you joined the undead group? No offense to you guys, but given your rtionship with the Tree, I would have expected an elf to look for the nt folk''spany." Phloria asked.

    "Quite the contrary." Aalejah shook her head.

    "nt folk and Fae resent the Tree for not sharing their knowledge just like the offspring of the Guardians resent their parents. Beasts and humans still resent my species for respectively trying to drag them in the War of the Races and to wipe them out."

    "Oh."

    "Oh indeed." The elf chuckled at Phloria''s embarrassment. "The undead, instead, have no grudge against us since the War took ce before Baba Yaga birthed them. On top of that, due to our deep bond with the world energy, elves are universal donors of life force.

    "I share bits of my essence with the pickiest eaters among the undead and they keep me safe. It''s a fair trade."

    "Speaking of which, would you please let me taste your life force? I heard that you have an undead friend so I hope that my request doesn''t make you feel awkward." Trevan the Nightwalker asked Lith.

    "I could, but ording to what yourpanions told me, I smell either toxic or disgusting to them." Lith replied.

    "My species is different from the others. To feed, Nightwalkers need not only someone that belongs to their original race, but also those talented in darkness magic. I noticed that your Abomination form is made of darkness instead of Chaos so we might bepatible." He said with a flirty smile.

    "Feel free to take a sip." Lith offered him his hand with a neutral tone, pretending to not have noticed.

    ''If he''s right, then I can assume that my affinity with darknesses from my Abomination side. Abominations and undead are very simr and Nightwalkers are even more so due to being filled with darkness to the brim.

    ''They control shadows and so do I. I might be able to learn a few things from him.'' Lith thought.

    Trevan touched the Tiamat''s hand, drawing in just enough life force to taste it.

    The Nightwalker felt as if his entire body was on fire as the power coursed throughout his body and reached his half-red blood core without the need of being refined.

    Lith''s human side made even the lingering traces of the Beast side eptable while the darkness mixed with them joined that already stored in Trevan''s body, making him stronger.

    "I was right! We have perfectpatibility. It''s the first time that I manage topletely assimte my food without wasting any of it. I''ve fed on countless humans with ck streaks, but you''re not merely attuned to darkness, you are living darkness just like me!"

    "Good to know." Lith pondered those words, ignoring Trevan''s rants about how easy it would be for him to reach the full blood red core with Lith''s help and the Nightwalker''s invite to be part of his herd.

    Once they reached the undead headquarters, Phloria could finally give his half of the Eyes back to Lith, allowing them tomunicate through the mind link they shared with Solus without the risk of being discovered or acting rude to their hosts.

    ''Are you really sure that it''s safe using the Yggdrasill staff?'' Solus asked.

    ''Let''s put it this way. Based on what we learned in Laruel, either the World Tree already knows about you or they don''t because they assume that, after remaining without a host for so long, you must be already dead.

    ''The former would mean that the Yggdrasill has no interest in you, otherwise they would have sent a Chronicler to retrieve the tower. Thetter, instead, would mean that unless we expose your presence, the Tree considers you dead and will not pry.'' Lith replied.

    ''I can''t pass up the opportunity to expand my understanding of magic. On top of that, based on what we learned after asking Faluel about Vastor''s staff, the Yggdrasill wood is the next best thing to a Fringe without the risk of dying.

    ''We can learn a lot with the Tree''s help. We just need to split up before I touch that damned staff so that even if the Yggdrasill scans me, they will find nothing of use.''

    ''I still don''t trust the undead much.'' Phloria chimed in. ''Why did you let that guy feed upon you?''

    ''Because just like I learned to fight as a beast from the Beasts, I need the help of an undead to master the abilities of my Abomination side. I can learn by imitation and, until I manage to meet Xenagrosh, this is my second-best chance.'' Lith replied.

    Phloria didn''t like their situation one bit, but between the cheerful elf and the Council''s rules, she felt at ease. They ate and drank plenty to restore the energy lost during the fight with the Gargoyles, falling asleep without even noticing.

    Much to their surprise, Solus followed them into their slumber. The strain from using the Eyes for that long and from processing the information she had gained sent her into the closest state to sleep that she could reach outside of her tower.

    Such strain had also been shared by Lith and Phloria whose brains were now in dire need of rest. While they slept, Solus''s power core slowly siphoned the data that had been forcefully stored in the feeble human minds of the three Awakened, relieving them from the burden it posed.

    The undead considered it a great sign of trust and they didn''t disturb their guests, leaving in silence after recovering their strength. Awakened undead could recover their mana from the world energy, leaving them solely the need for life force that they stored in special vials.

    "Do you want toe with us or do you need to rest as well?" Trevan needed neither mana nor life force. Lith''s essence had finally brought him past the half-red blood core, the undead equivalent of the bright blue.

    "I''m dead tired." Aalejah covered the staff with a special cloth that sealed the Yggdrasill''s influence and gave the elf the time she needed to make sure that her decisions were actually her own.

    "I''ll stay here to make sure that our friends are safe and that I''ll have the strength to keep fighting in the case that something else happens."

    "Suit yourself. We can''t afford to waste any more time. The sun will rise in a while and then we''ll be sitting ducks until sundown. If I don''t find anything good, my master will never let me hear the end of it." Trevan said and the others nodded in approval.

    The mission was meant to help the youth fraternize with their fellow Awakened, but it was also apetition between their respective masters. Aside from Lith, no one had found anything of value and the other factions didn''t want to leave the spotlight to the beasts again.

 Chapter 1509 Learning from the Past Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1509 Learning from the Past Part 1</h4>

    A few hundreds of kilometers from Urgamakka, a few hours after the Gargoyles incident.

    In the middle of the Blood Desert, a tall figure with slender limbs strolled in the night.

    Vareen, the ancient Eldritch Abomination known as the guespreader, moved slowly through the sand dunes, hoping to find andmark or even a small detail that would trigger his memory.

    ''I''m tired of waiting for the Master to find a monster suitable for my ck core. He can say what he wants about the need to choose a fallen core that can counter my unique abilities, but I know the truth.

    ''After getting his little family of morons, he got soft andcent. He''s in no rush to make a clone that I can assimte because he already has everything that he wants. On top of that, we never quite saw eye to eye so I doubt he''d allow me to be even more powerful without putting some restraint on me.

    ''Too bad for him that I''m older than most Guardians and I remember things that even the World Tree might have forgotten. I stood by his side only because our interests aligned, but now that thanks to the Council I have finally gotten some clues about Urgamakka, I don''t need the Master anymore.''

    Vastor still kept an open line with the Council. He wanted his creatures to have a ce where they belonged once he managed to turn them into fully living beings while the Awakened wanted the knowledge of the Eldritchs and Bytra''s secrets.

    A few days back, Vareen had overheard Xenagrosh mentioning Urgamakka, sparking a hope that until that moment he had considered lost to time.

    When the Lich King had built the fake city for the mission, he had not only derived part of its structure from ancient records that dated 3,000 years back, but also its name.

    Inxialot was too busy to waste time making up a city from scratch so he had just put together the pieces from various history books and picked the name of the lost civilization that suited his purpose the most.

    The real Urgamakka had been a city where several bright violet-cored Awakened at the end of their lifespan had assembled.

    They had tried to discover the secret of the white core by pooling up their resources and knowledge, in the hope to avoid their impending death.

    Vareen knew the city''s history well since he was one of its founders. He was already an Eldritch back then, but the Awakened had dly epted his help just as much as he had dly funded their research.

    ording to rumors, an Abomination who had managed to enter a Fringe had learned from Mogar that the same method that allowed the living to gain the white core would also turn an Abomination into a new life form.

    Instead of canceling each other, the ck and the white core were supposed to merge, granting the Eldritch a power on par with that of the Guardians and absolute mastery over both life and death.

    Vareen had invested a lot of resources in the project, even sharing his considerable knowledge with the Awakenedmunity of Urgamakka.

    Unfortunately, between the number of casualties caused by the failed experiments and the mages dying of old age, the poption of violet-cored of the city had steadily decreased.

    The Eldritch had progressively lost hope and searched for new ways to get rid of the curse of undeath. On top of that, the more an Abomination practiced magic, the greater their need to feed.

    For those reasons, Vareen had started to spend more and more time away from Urgamakka, until he hadpletely forgotten about it, deeming the city another of his many failures.

    He hadn''t given it a single thought in centuries until he had heard the name Urgamakkaing out of Xenagrosh''s Council amulet.

    ''I can''t let the Awakened puppies find my records. The artifacts I left there have either be obsolete or been destroyed due to the prolongedck of imprint so that''s not an issue.'' Vareen thought.

    ''My knowledge, however, is another matter entirely. I left the Urgamakkans a precise description of my breathing technique in the hope that it might help the research. I''ve shared with them the very secrets of magic that I discovered over the millennia.

    ''Thanks to the dry air of the Desert, a sealed container is enough to preserve my books forever and those old arrays will not keep the dogs of the Council at bay for long. Best case scenario, they have yet to discover the hidden safe in the city''s core.

    ''If I''m lucky, I just need to get there and get rid of the records without being noticed. Worst case scenario, I have to kill everyone. It would destroy my rtionship with the Master and put the Council on my tail again, but neither is a big loss.

    ''Especially if the Urgamakkans discovered something after I left them for dead. If the safe contains any lead to the secret of the white core, I can''t let anyone get their hands on it before I do.''

    The Eldritch grinned in the night, exposing a row of white fangs made of pure energy as his form flickered in excitement. Vareen used his mystical senses to scan his surroundings for arrays or for any trace of magic, finding himselfpletely lost.

    ***

    In the following few days, the expedition team got into a nice routine that kept any more idents like that of the first day from happening again. They had chosen the ground floor of the lump of buildings in the middle of Urgamakka as theirmon haven and everyone had done their best to fortify it.

    During the night, while their undeadpanions were at their peak condition, Lith, Phloria, and Solus explored the city while sharing the burden that the use of the Eyes of Menadion required.

    During the day, instead, while the undead were either forced to slumber or deprived of most of their powers, Aalejah would share with Lith her staff and knowledge, allowing them to find clues about the Tiamat bloodline''s powers.

    ''Dammit, I have overestimated the Eyes and underestimated the size of this damn city.'' Lith thought. ''Using the Eyes allows us to quickly explore the buildings and to find anything of interest without triggering any trap, butpared to the others, we are slow.

    ''To make matters worse, after a few hours the mental strain caused by the information overload knocks us out.''

    ''I don''t think that our situation is that bad.'' Phloria replied. ''There''s just three of us so it''s no surprise that we cannot keep up with groupsprised of dozens of members.

    ''In your shoes, rather than focusing on speed and on the number of useless junk that we find, I''d be happy. We are not only getting used to the Eyes in a rtively safe environment, but we are also receiving Aalejah''s help in understanding your powers.''

    ''Agreed.'' Solus telepathically nodded while the Eyes spotted an Adamant cylinder covered in runes hidden behind a wall. ''If you have so much energy toin, use it to check for traps, mister sourpuss.''

    Lith sighed as he turned the mind link off before inwardly admitting that they were right. Exploring Urgamakka wasn''t a race. There was nothing at stake, no enemy hidden in the shadows ready to attack them.

    For the first time in their life, Lith, Solus, and Phloria could focus on the journey instead of the destination.

 Chapter 1510 Learning from the Past Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1510 Learning from the Past Part 2</h4>

    ''The Eyes of Menadion are an amazing tool.'' Lith thought as Solus''s new form revealed to him a well-hidden dormant array.

    Usually, an inactive magical formation was impossible to detect without wasting the mana necessary to cast an array detecting spell and the time to study its findings.

    On top of that, the Eyes also showed him the focus points of the magical formation, making it a child''s y for Lith to destroy them and deactivate the array with minimal effort.

    The Adamant cylinder and its runes were no trap. Lith and many members of the expedition had found quite a lot of them already.

    Back when the city had been built, there was no such thing as dimensional amulets so that the Urgamakkans needed the cylinders to safely store important documents and preserve them from the passage of time.

    ''What''s in it?'' Solus asked.

    ''A tier five Spirit Magic spell.'' Lith replied after tranting the ancientnguage with the help of a book that every member of the expedition had received and that he had stored inside Soluspedia.

    ''It''s a bit rough around the edges and some parts are abstruse, but with Faluel''s help we might turn it into a fine addition to our grimoire.''

    Every time they discovered something new, they would take a break to contact the Hydra, ask her for guidance, and get some rest from the Eyes.

    Unbeknownst to them, they also gained merits in the form of plus signs that piled up beside Lith''s and Phloria''s holograms.

    Not everyone shared the same deep bond of trust with their mentor, however. Many young Awakened would keep anything they found for themselves, sharing it solely with theirpanions.

    "This is the best mission that the old fart has ever assigned to me." A Sprite said to his fellow Fae. "So far, we''ve found Spirit Spells that will allow us to crack the secret of true Spirit Magic and artifacts that despite their age are still quite good."

    "Shouldn''t we call our respective masters and show them our loot?" A Dream Lotus, a humanoid Fae that looked like a brown-skinned youth with petals for hair, asked.

    "Why should we do that?" A Titania replied and the others nodded with a sneer. "They didn''t teach us how to get a violet core nor true Spirit Magic. All of our masters have worked our assess off and yet they gave us artifacts so crappy that they are barely better than millennia-old junk."

    "Agreed." A Wisp of Will said.

    He was actually a firefly that after Awakening had gained a shiny humanoid body that closely resembled Solus''s energy form. Due to the fact that insects would rarely get along with Beasts, he had chosen to group up with the Fae.

    "I say that we keep this stuff for ourselves. None of us has been chosen as an heir so rather than gifting the fruits of our hard work to those ungrateful assholes of our masters, I say that we should take our time studying them until the end of the expedition.

    "This way, if we fail to decipher them, we lose nothing by sharing our findings. If we manage to crack their secrets, instead, we can pretend that we came up with such spells and artifacts on our own. It will raise our status in the Council!"

    The group agreed unanimously, gaining several minus marks each and greatly embarrassing their masters. The youths had covered themselves with a Hush spell, but even that couldn''t keep their words hidden from the surveince arrays.

    "These people were amazing!" A bright blue-cored Nue said while reading a scroll that described a breathing technique that was supposed to lead to the violet core.

    "Indeed." A Behemoth in her human form said. ws were terrible for handling delicate objects, let alone paper.

    "Some of the stuff we''ve found is actually superior to the techniques our masters taught us. Once we update them with modern runes, we will be unstoppable."

    While negative marks poured all over the fake city of Urgamakka, the two Lichesughed so hard that sometimes they died due to theck of oxygen, and then they came back to life a few secondster.

    "Great joke, Zolgrish. You really are a bag of fun." Time and death had made Inxialot forget the real cause of his hrity.

    "Me? Wasn''t it something your beloved Gravy said?"

    Before the Liches started quarreling again and endangered Ratpack''s life with their spells for the umpteenth time, he showed them a rey of thetest events on the disys of the control room.

    "Oh, yes. Those morons. How can they believe that past magic might be stronger than modern techniques? It would require everyone to sit on their thumbs for decades, letting the magical research go stale." Inxialot said with a sneer.

    "It''s as dumb as expecting to find the blueprints for a spaceship inside an ancient ruin." Zolgrish replied.

    "That''s not true. They would actually find one if they searched my home. Nero always says that myb resembles an ancient ruin."

    "Don''t be silly. A Lich''s workce doesn''t count. We keep working through the centuries and improve our skills. I''m talking about ruins filled with corpses." Zolgrish replied.

    "But we are corpses!" Inxialot pointed out.

    "Wait, Raagu right then? Cat talks?" Ratpack was bbergasted.

    "Of course not, silly undead." The Lich Kingughed. "Nero just leaves me notes to remind me of buying him food or to point out some mistakes I make in my calctions."

    "The cat writes?" Ratpack stared at the feline in amazement.

    "Well, duh! I taught him!" Inxialot, Zolgrish, and Neroughed at Ratpack''s stupid question.

    "Cats no write and they nough either!" The small undead pointed at the absurd creature sitting on thep of his equally absurd master.

    "Stop making a fool out of yourself! If cats didn''tugh, how could they express their joy? All the cats that I have ever metughed." Zolgrish said with the confidence of a man who couldn''t tell a feline from a Dryad.

    ***

    Later, at sunrise, after a short nap to unburden his brain from the effects of the Eyes of Menadion, Lith and Aalejah walked away from the camp to a private spot where no one would disturb their experiments.

    Due to the fact that the Council couldn''t use anything but automated defenses to protect an allegedly abandoned city, as long as Inxialot behaved there would be no sudden senseless attack.

    Thanks to the carefulness of the members of the expedition, Lith could afford to not reset Invigoration''s effects and use Abyssal Gaze to refine his deep violet core non-stop until sundown.

    Phloria would remain behind to keep guard while also using the link between the two pieces of the Eyes to record the training sessions and help Solus by sharing her burden.

    All Lith had to do was to ce his equipment in a convenient position from where Solus could take a good look at the experiments.

    "I think to know why none of our efforts panned out." The elf said. "Even though your Tiamat form is bound to share the powers of its threeponents, that doesn''t mean that they don''t get in each other''s way."

    "I think we should change your training method. From now on, shapeshift into an aspect of your choice and we''ll try to find the bloodline abilities it possesses."

 Chapter 1511 Unbalanced Power Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1511 Unbnced Power Part 1</h4>

    "If I''m right, by using a single aspect of your life forces, theck of interference from the others should make it easier for us to trigger your skills." Aalejah said.

    "What if you are wrong?" Lith asked.

    "Either you will not be able to use those skills in your Tiamat form until you find a way to adapt them to its life force or we are just wasting time." She shrugged. "If you have better ideas, I''m open to suggestions."

    "I have none." Lith sighed. "It''s better to start from the Dragon form. I still have the creeps remembering how being an Abomination felt."

    ''Also, I don''t want Aalejah or Phloria asking me why I look like Derek McCoy instead of Lith Verhen in that form.'' He actually thought.

    Lith focused on the stars thatprised his life force and turned into a red Voidfeather Dragon whose back, spine, and wings were covered in ck feathers. It was just as tall as the Tiamat form, reaching 20 meters (66 feet) of height from head to toes.

    The main differences were the long neck that took one-fourth of his height, the 7 meters (23 feet) long tailing out from his back, and the shorter hind legs.

    From the Control Room, Inxialot stared at the scaled titan, racking his brain for an answer that kept eluding him.

    "What was I supposed to do when Lith starts training? The Council yelled it at me several times, but I can''t remember for the phctery of me." He asked Nero but the cat was deep asleep and unable to answer.

    "You have to call Council." Ratpack rolled his eyes, feeling more like a senior caregiver with each passing day.

    "Correct. Thanks, Zolgrish."

    "You are wee." The Lich replied to not admit that he had no idea what they were talking about.

    The two undead were tasked with taking care of Urgamakka 24/7 since they had no need to rest nor apprentices that they could favor while the rest of the Awakened would just check the footage from time to time.

    After discovering Lith''s bloodline ability to shapeshift into four different species after the Gargoyle attack, the Council had ordered Inxialot to alert them the moment that the Tiamat transformed again.

    The surveince system allowed them to rewatch the events, but it was impossible for them to use their mystical senses on a recording. The ancient Awakened needed to spectate at the event live and to open small dimensional passages to be capable of studying the phenomenon with Life Vision.

    Having more fascinating matters at hand, like learning again how to control his dder again, Inxialot had forgotten about the order.

    The Council had reprimanded him at first, sanctioned him at the second oversight, and begged him to do his frigging job after the third.

    Only the direct intervention of the Guardians and their promise to make him suffer if it happened again had persuaded the King of the Liches to stop worrying about his experiments, about his dder, about his experiments on his dder, and to focus on the Tiamat at sunrise.

    "Finally!" The Council of the Awakened and that of the Guardians roared in unison at the sight of the red-scaled Voidfeather Dragon.

    "Gods, you have no idea how much I hate you right now." Raagu, the human representative said to Fe while wishing she had worked harder to ensure that the Tiamat became part of her faction back when he was just a nameless Wyrmling.

    "Gods, you have no idea how much I hate you right now." Fe the Behemoth, the Beast representative said to Faluel while wishing she had taken Lith as her own apprentice instead of leaving him in the care of the Hydra.

    "Gods, you have no idea how much I love you right now." Sark said to Leegaain while wishing that the child that was growing in her womb would resemble the one on the screen.

    "Okay, what is a Dragon supposed to do and what about Phoenixes?" Lith said while looking at the thick ruby scales that covered his body and feeling as ufortable as if he was wearing a mascot costume.

    He waspletely unaware that privacy in Urgamakka was just a word since the security measures were shielded even against the powerful detection of the Eyes of Menadion.

    "The only thing that Dragons and Phoenixes have inmon is the Origin mes." Aalejah said.

    "Dragons are creatures of cold logic and most of their bloodline abilitiese from their innate understanding of thews of magic. Phoenixes, instead, are creatures of raw emotions and their skills are just a physical manifestation of their passions.

    "Since you have already shown to be capable of using Origin mes, we should move to-"

    "Wait. After my sister reached the deep blue core, she gained a form simr to a Tiamat. Yet while she became instantly capable of emitting Origin mes from her body without harming herself or her equipment, I have yet to manage that." Lith cut her short.

    "I''m sorry, but I know nothing of Origin mes. My only guess is that her Phoenix blood runs thicker than yours. Phoenixes are known for their ability to turn into a living mass of mes so I assume that what you described is a basic skill for them." The elf said.

    "Agreed. What I meant to say is that first I want to check if this form has a greater affinity with Origin mes." Lith nodded while he took the small Yggdrasill staff into his huge hand.

    Suddenly, the feeling of difort disappeared and he became capable of moving in his Dragon form as if he was born with it. Lith felt the urge to fly out of there and reach for the skies, yet he couldn''t afford to waste so much time.

    "Scratch that. Cast a spell, please. Any of your original spells will do. Your boss just made this body feel asfortable as my own." Lith''s brain was working faster than ever and countless ideas popped into his mind every second.

    Yet he had no idea if it was just the consequence of holding the Yggdrasill staff while having a Dragon''s form or the staff triggering a bloodline ability by harmonizing his mind with his body.

    Aalejah performed a simple tier one spell, Clean Home. As much as the elf loved the idea of helping Lith, having a spell that she had worked hard to develop stolen with just a nce would have been beyond infuriating.

    Lith stared at her with Life Vision, discovering to be capable of following the flow of mana even inside the elf''s body with a rity he had never experienced before. Solus and the Councils held their breath, waiting for the answer to their silent question.

    "Dammit, I have no idea how to replicate your spell." Lith sighed and so did the others. "I guess I don''t have Dragon Eyes."

    "Are you sure?" Aalejah said, trying to cheer him up. "Maybe you just need to get used to that form. I could cast it again and-"

    "Of course I''m sure!" Lith stomped his foot in anger, cutting her short. "And no, don''t bother repeating your spell. It''s not like I didn''tpletely grasp it, I just didn''t understand anything! I- What the fuck?"

    Lith''s back was aze, covered in ck mes that radiated from every single feather on his back.

 Chapter 1512 Unbalanced Power Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1512 Unbnced Power Part 2</h4>

    "This is the same thing that happened to Tista! This is amazing." The mes went from ck to blue in excitement as Lith danced with joy.

    "I told you. Phoenixes are creatures of fiery passion." The elf tapped her feet in annoyance at his rudeness.

    Then, Lith tried to focus and make the mystical fire spread to his whole body. Great was his delight in noticing that the Origin mes didn''t harm the Yggdrasill staff nor anything else he touched unless he wished for it.

    Itsted for over one second until he calmed down and the fire went out.

    "Why was I so angry and then so happy for no reason?" Despite his best efforts, Lith failed to rekindle the mes. On top of that, he suddenly felt so tired that he needed to use Abyssal Gaze to recover.

    "I''ve got bad news. It seems that your natures as both a Dragon and a Phoenix don''t go along well. Without your human nature to tip the scale, you easily go from an extreme to another." Aalejah said.

    "Are you telling me that this form''s only bloodline ability is having mood swings?" Lith roared in fury, emitting a ck burst of Origin mes from both his back and mouth.

    "Yeah, I''m pretty sure about it." She nodded. "Yet I''ve never heard about ck mes. I wonder if they originate from the Abomination or from the mixed bloodline. Only one way to find out. Conjure your Demons."

    "It seems that your Dragon half has performance issues." Sark clicked her tongue as she threw a reproachful look at Leegaain.

    "Yeah, right." He replied with a scoff. "Because your Phoenix half works like a charm. I''ve seen pendulums more stable than your-"

    "Shut up and watch!" Tyris pointed at the shadows in the cave that had started to stretch as Lith poured both darkness and Spirit magic into them.

    A thickyer of frost covered the cave while the Fire Dragon''s body sapped the heat from the environment around him. The shadows quivered for a few seconds beforeing to a halt.

    "Another bad news. Your Demons definitely don''te from your Beast side." Aalejah said. "Let''s try this again in your Abomination form."

    "Are you sure?" Lith asked. "Thest time I tried that, I went this close to losing myself in the hunger. If something goes wrong and my darkness body turns into Chaos, I''ll die."

    "No pain, no gain. Hold the staff tightly while you conjure the Demons of Darkness. It should help you to stay in control. If anything goes wrong, don''t hesitate to turn back into your Tiamat form." She replied.

    Lith took a deep breath, focusing on the soothing effect of the staff before calling upon the melody of the void and turning into an Empowered Abomination made of darkness instead of Chaos.

    Thanks to the Yggdrasill, now he could feel his ck hole-like life force drifting away. It allowed Lith to counter it and keep his body stable. Even though his body was now a living mass of destruction, it couldn''t affect the wood from the World Tree nor its will.

    Once Lith became ustomed to both the new form and to keeping the Chaos at bay, he called upon the Demons of Darkness. The skill had be second nature to him and Spirit Magic was but an extension of his will, yet he could feel a phantom pain where his stomach was supposed to be.

    Even with the staff''s help, moving the mana outside his body and into the shadows proved to be a mammoth task that required so much focus that his vision blurred. Then, something went horribly wrong.

    The first Demons had barely formed when they jumped on Lith, bing one with his body. Lith screamed in pain as his features deformed from that of Derek McCoy into those of people that Solus had never seen before.

    ''By my Mom, what the heck is happening?'' She thought while even her Eyes form couldn''t make heads or tails of the situation nor provide her with the information that she needed to help Lith. ''How do I stop that without killing Lith or exposing my presence?''

    "Do you see that?" Roghar the Fenrir said. "Souls are passing through the cracks in the Tiamat''s life force, flooding not only his body, but also his mind."

    The gate that Lith created to conjure the spirits of the dead was much bigger than usual. To make matters worse, instead of leading to his surroundings, this time the gate had formed inside his own body.

    The forced fusion between his mind and that of the wandering spirits forced him to relive their pain, driving Lith to the brink of madness. He experienced the lives, the hardships, and the deaths of countless people at the same time.

    The fusion made the spirits akin to split personalities that now waged a war inside his head to control the only body at their disposal and be its owner. Lith screamed non-stop, his voice changing along with his body as he turned from male into female, from adult into child, and from human into other races.

    "This might be the proof I''ve been looking for millennia." The god of mana said. "My theory is that ck cores don''t simply absorb energy, they are also a two-way gate that allows weak souls to move forward and to the strong ones toe back to Mogar.

    "If I''m right, then they are the reason why Necromancy actually works. Without them, the number of wandering souls would be so little that such discipline would be impossible to practice.

    "That''s why Mogar never wanted us topletely get rid of Abominations. They are magical scavengers that serve the bnce." Roghar said.

    Everyone at the table shared his enthusiasm and curiosity whereas, inside the cave, Aalejah was starting to panic because the situation had just taken another turn for the worse.

    She could see via Soul Vision that between the conflicting personalities and the endless pain, Lith''s mind had started to fade, losing control over his body that was now turning into Chaos.

    The Yggdrasill staff couldn''t do anything against the will of its user and now it had dozens of them. The wandering souls had understood that there wasn''t enough space for all of them inside a single body and they had no interest in fighting forever for it.

    They had started to prey on Lith''s innate light element, making it their own in the attempt to collect enough to form a full body and escape from their prison. The more light they took away, the more darkness turned into Chaos which in turn opened the gate more, letting more souls through in a vicious cycle.

    "This is amazing!" Roghar said, uncaring for the life of the only Tiamat on Mogar and drawing only reproachful looks on himself. "I was right. This might really be the key to achieve perfect resurrection. Those souls only need enough light element to form their bodies!

    "I need to move to the Garlen continent and study the phenomenon from up close."

    "Fuck you." The Guardians of Garlen said in unison and created a dimensional seal that not even Spirit Magic could break. "This is our turf and you are not wee."

 Chapter 1513 Trees and Fallen Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1513 Trees and Fallen Part 1</h4>

    "If youe here, we''ll make sure you give resurrection a go yourself." The Guardians of Garlen said in unison.

    "How can you be so blind? This might be the key to summoning a soul and injecting it inside an artificial body rich with world energy, like a crystal. To generate new life forms. It''s a unique opportunity to learn both from and about death!" Roghar the Fenrir said.

    "Your words are just the proof that you can''t be allowed to step foot on Garlen again." Leegaain said. "Putting souls into artificial bodies would be akin to torture and destroy the bnce. What if they learn how to spawn?"

    "Agreed." Sark nodded. "People keep being born hence they also need to keep dying. If you bring them back, life will choke on itself. On top of that, I''ll be damned before I let you experiment on my blood!"

    "I see that time hasn''t changed you." Tyris said as her eyes brimmed with mana and fury. "It''s because of your experiments with the living that so many races fell and turned into monsters.

    "You still charge forward in your research about cores without thinking about the consequences. I banished you from Garlen once, but if youe back, this time I will kill you."

    That piece of knowledge made the Awakened Council shudder. Its members now looked at the Fenrir with much less respect and much more fear.

    "That''s twisting the truth! I never caused anyone''s fall. Those races came to me seeking answers and I simply helped them to the best of my abilities. I always warned them about the possible long-term consequences of putting untested theories into practice." Roghar snarled.

    "How can you me me for their foolishness? I just served my purpose, showing others the way to further their evolution. It''s not my fault if-"

    Tyris banished his hologram from the Council and stared at the young elf on the screen.

    ''How could I be this stupid?'' Aalejah thought. ''I should have predicted that this would happen. Just like the Voidfeather Dragon couldn''t connect to the shadows because it''s alive, the Abomination can''t project Spirit Magic outside because its darkness craves life.

    ''I''ve managed to screw up my mission and to endanger the life of a unique species with a single move. If anything happens to Lith, it will all be my fault.'' The elf racked her brain, thinking back at everything she knew about Abominations and how to fight them.

    "Lith, if you can still hear me, let them take over. It''s your only way out!" Aalejah said while unleashing the biggest mass of darkness magic that she could conjure in so little time.

    Lith couldn''t hear her nor follow her advice since he required sheer willpower just to not let his mind be torn into shreds.

    The darkness spell struck at the living mass of darkness and Chaos, weakening it along with all the souls closest to the surface.

    The spirits of the dead had to join their efforts against the threat at hand to not be obliterated, giving Lith the time he needed to literally pull himself together.

    ''If it''s life that you want, let me give you a taste of mine!'' Lith struck at the invaders, taking control of the fusion and forcing them to relieve his three lives.

    The souls experienced the abuse, the fear, the hardships, the loneliness, and the grieving he had endured during the past 45 years in a split second. It made life much less alluring, weakening both their will to fight and their desire to resurrect.

    At the same time, the memories reminded Lith of who he was, of what he had ovee, and of the people he fought for, making his mind and soul stronger.

    ''I''m the master of my body and no matter how shitty my life is, it''s all I have. Get out of my head!'' While Aalejah attacked them from the outside Lith attacked them from the inside, banishing the souls back to where they hade from.

    Thanks to Soul Vision, the elf saw Lith regain possession of his body. She reduced the intensity of her spell, targeting it solely against the areas still filled with foreign souls that he had yet to reim.

    Once the Empowered Abomination looked like Derek McCoy again, Lith didn''t waste a single second and turned back into his Tiamat form.

    "I hunger." He managed to say before copsing due to exhaustion.

    Chaos had devoured much of his body mass, the souls had robbed him of his vitality, and the struggle to survive had almost ripped his mind to shreds.

    ''Gods, I would have never thought that I''d be happy to hear his crappy Sinistar impersonation.'' Solus wished to establish a mind link, but between Aalejah and the staff still in Lith''s hand, she could only hope for the best.

    The elf rushed to his side, making him drink one tonic after another before using Invigoration on Lith. Only once she made sure that he had suffered no permanent damage and that his life wasn''t at risk did she take care of the staff as well.

    Even from a distance, Aalejah could feel the pain of the World Tree. The wood was charred by the touch of Chaos and its life almost drained. It took her time, effort, and a shred of her life force to restore the staff to its former power.

    Then, she covered it with the special cloth that sealed the World Tree''s senses and allowed herself to fall apart. She had no idea that her master was still watching her via Urgamakka''s surveince system along with the rest of the Council.

    "I''m so sorry, this is all my fault." Aalejah said with a broken voice and eyes veiled with tears.

    "I shouldn''t have followed the orders of the Yggdrasill. No mission is worth an innocent life. This is madness, like everything thates out of that ursed tree!" Her sadness turned into rage as she hit the ground with enough strength to open a small crater.

    "First, I''m far from innocent." Lith recovered Solus with Spirit Magic while eating non-stop to recover his strength. "Second, I knew the risks and I epted to perform the experiment. I''m an adult, not a child."

    "Are you joking? Compared to me, you know so little and are so young that you''re an infant."

    "Third, what do you mean, ursed tree?" Lith asked.

    "There''s a reason why despite the passing of the millennia and the knowledge umted by the First Awakened no World Tree ever tried to achieve a white core." She replied.

    "The Yggdrasill is capable of seeing most of Mogar, yet it''s unable to take a single step their whole life. On top of that, being forced to witness terrible events yet being too far to intervene slowly erodes their mind.

    "The longer a World Tree lives, the crazier they be. They see so many horrors that their mind bes numb to them until the temptation to put the forbidden knowledge they have hoarded into practice bes hard to resist.

    "That''s why they refuse immortality." Aalejah said.

    The Council looked at the projection of the Yggdrasill in disbelief, yet the creature simply pointed at Inxialot, reminding them of the madness that followed every Lich like a shadow.

 Chapter 1514 Trees and Fallen Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1514 Trees and Fallen Part 2</h4>

    Aalejah then exined to Lith that, before dying, a Tree had all of their knowledge that they considered irrelevant written down by the elves and stored into devices that worked akin to Soluspedia.

    After the old Tree''s death, the elves would deliver the records to the new Tree that would, in turn, ept them and be their new home.

    "No matter how big and powerful a creature is, their mind can store only so much information." Aalejah said. "This way, the past generation of the World Tree can pass onto the next one only what they can''t entrust to us.

    "Once the Chosen Sapling turns into the new Yggdrasill, the burden on their minds is minimum and this process keeps them untainted from the bias and traumas of their predecessor."

    "Along with the old Tree''s connection to the rest of Mogar''s vegetation, the new Tree inherits only knowledge, not memories, so that the cycle can start anew.

    "Chroniclers can continue their travels, acting as the eyes, ears, and arms of the Yggdrasill while normal elves preserve the irrelevant knowledge that the old Trees entrusted to them in the past ages.

    "The current Tree is very old and they have be nearly insane. That''s why I told you that I shouldn''t have followed those orders. At this point of their life cycle, a Yggdrasill barely cares for their own Chroniclers, everyone else is just a test subject."

    "Don''t worry, I had figured that much. The Tree exploited me just as much as I exploited them." Lith replied, quite ashamed to admit that, if he was in the Tree''s roots, he would do such things from day one since he considered such approach to yield the best results.

    Aalejah was about to ask him how he could be so aloof after a near-death experience when she noticed that no matter what form Lith took, Soul Vision always showed him like a grinning creature that avidly grasped at the things he wanted.

    "You acted no differently from the Tree in the past, didn''t you?" She said.

    "Guilty as charged." He shrugged. "Let me ask you one thing. If you don''t like your boss, why are you still following their orders?"

    "I know that this might sound crazy, but I''m doing it because working under a nigh-insane World Tree allows me to experience the best and the worst of a Chronicler''s life. To understand how scary it is to bind your life to that of another."

    Aalejah''s words made Lith think about his rtionship with Solus, but also about the destiny that awaited Friya if she ever became Faluel''s Harbinger.

    "On the one hand, my people consider being chosen as a Chronicler the highest honor that an elf can achieve. We not only be Awakened, achieving a power that otherwise would be unattainable, but we also be part of something much bigger.

    "It gives us back our role in the natural order of things and the purpose that we lost in the War of the Races.

    "I dreamed about bing a Chronicler ever since I was a child. It would allow me to travel Mogar unimpeded, to witness the most important events of my generation, and yet be able to return home in a heartbeat thanks to the Tree''s help.

    "On the other hand, however, even if I achieved the white core on my own, I would just be an immortal ve at the service of an immortal master. Even if I outlived the new Tree, I would just be passed unto the next along with their knowledge.

    "Once established, only death can break the bond between a Yggdrasill and their Chroniclers. To make matters worse, giving up at this point would mean turning my back on my family, my heritage, and on my people if not even getting banished."

    An awkward silence fell between them after Aalejah finished venting her frustration.

    "Gods, I don''t even know why I''m telling you all these things. I barely know you and I''ve just endangered your life." She said after a while.

    "I know very well how being a ve feels." Lith thought back at his infancy on Earth, where his wishes, dreams, and even his wellbeing mattered nothing to his parents.

    They had been his masters, abusing the authority that thew granted to them over him and making his life hell until he had broken his chains. At the same time, the Council wondered what his words meant and had an investigation started.

    "I don''t know either you or your family, Aalejah, but I have walked a mile in your shoes. My advice is to just do what''s best for you and screw the consequences. If your family considers something as worthless as honor above your freedom, then they don''t love you as much as you think.

    "My mother wouldn''t hesitate to kill the King if that allowed me or any of my siblings to live just a second longer. My father would die rather than be turned into a tool for my envement.

    "I can''t tell you how to live your life, but my advice is to think carefully about what really matters to you and how you want to spend the time you have left." Lith said while thinking about what Jirni would say if she knew about Friya''s decision.

    ''Scratch that. Jirni is a maniptive monster.'' Solus said. ''Have you already forgotten what she has done to Quy?''

    ''You are right. What would Orion say?''

    ''Aside from swearing and dering war on Faluel? I don''t know.'' She replied.

    "By the way, our failed experiment has helped me to better understand what a Tiamat is." Aalejah deeply regretted having opened up that much to aplete stranger so she tried to cover it up by talking business.

    "I was right when I said that your other forms are lesser Tiamats. What I failed to realize before is that they also belong to lesser races as well, making them useless on their own."

    "Wait, what?" Lith stopped thinking about Friya and worried about himself while the Council was d to have never cut off the link with Urgamakka.

    "Think about it. Your Dragon form has no Dragon Eyes. Your Abomination form isprised of darkness instead of Chaos. Your human form is, well, human. What I''m trying to say is that training them would be just a waste of time.

    "If I''m right, your bloodline abilities derive from abination of those that belong to the single parts, making their sum much greater and yet impossible to use without each other because of their unique bnce." Aalejah said.

    "Take your Demons of Darkness, for example. Your ability to link with the shadows and manipte your life essencees from your Phoenix side while that of conjuring the soulses from the Abomination.

    "Taken individually, they are nothing much. Yetbined together, they allow you to safely channel wandering spirits inside the shadows after you have turned them into a suitable vessel by sharing a spark of your life force.

    "If you think about it, it''s not much different from what you already do for Origin mes."

    "If my Beast side is both a lesser Dragon and Phoenix, how can I conjure Origin mes then? Isn''t that a major bloodline skill?" He asked, not liking much the idea of beingprised of faulty parts.

 Chapter 1515 Seeds of Knowledge Part 1

    Chapter 1515 Seeds of Knowledge Part 1

    "Not really. Think about Wyverns. They are lesser Dragons and can use them as well." Aalejah replied.

    "Point taken." Lith''s upper lip curled in disgust just at the thought of being even remotely simr to Xedros or Qisal.

    "No need to be disappointed. As I said, the single parts are lesser species, but the Tiamat might hold the same potential as your ancestors. The bad news is that you probably don''t share most of the abilities of the species thatprise your life force.

    "The good news is that they will all be unique to the Demon race and that the other species won''t be able to replicate them." The elf said.

    "I''ll consider it a good news once I discover them." Lith grunted, feeling more tired by the second.

    Too tired to continue practicing or even to assimte the knowledge stored inside the Eyes of Menadion.

    "Wait a second." He stopped the elf before she could remove the shielding cloth from the Yggdrasill staff. "Do you still feel guilty about endangering my life and embarrassed about your earlier outburst?"

    "Yes." She blushed violently, not knowing which event she regretted the most.

    "Then do me onest favor and we''ll call it even." Lith said with a soft smile that creepily reminded the elf of the World Tree.

    "Depends on the favor." She replied.

    "It''s nothing much. I just want you to identify a few things for me and your assurance that you won''t talk about this with anyone." Lith tried to ease her worries.

    "Is this about Forbidden Magic or stolen goods?" Aalejah was na?ve, but not stupid.

    Even though it was her first time outside the Fringe, she doubted that a favor could be that simple. Soul Vision showed her a predatory grin on Lith''s face that didn''t bode well.

    "No. You have my word." Both his faces nodded, reassuring the elf to some extent. "My problem is that I acquired them in a peculiar way and ate friend of mine warned me never to show them to others."

    "Then why do you want to show them to me?" She asked without never turning Soul Vision off despite the burden it took on her mana and focus.

    "Because I can''t find them in any book in any library that I had ess to until now." Lith said with a sigh, hating to admit how desperate he was for help. "Not even the books in my master''s home mention them so they must be very rare items."

    "That or she keeps some of her tomes out of the reach of her apprentices." Aalejah said.

    "I don''t see why Faluel should consider herbariums part of her bloodline legacy, but I guess anything is possible." Lith shrugged. "I told you everything you needed to know, just tell me if you are going to help me or not."

    "Sure." She replied while sighing in relief. There was no harm in identifying a few nts.

    Or so Aalejah thought until Lith took all the herbs he had left from the Dryad''s reward out of his pocket dimension.

    Her mouth fell to the ground, along with that of the Council members that were still looking at the scene, Faluel included.

    ''That little prick! Apprentice-mentor bond my ass. He trusts me so little that he never showed that stuff to me.'' She thought, yet a small smile was all that appeared on her face.

    "Where did you get this stuff? One of those things is incredibly rare and you see so many different kinds of natural treasures only in the betrothal gift of a nt folk. Did you marry a Fae or what?" Aalejah asked while picking and examining the mystical nts one at a time.

    "No. I got them when I was still 12 and I didn''t have to marry anyone." Lith replied.

    "Then how?" The elf knew that she would either receive no answer or regret asking the question, but her curiosity was too strong.

    "Long story short, I got them as a ransom for sparing a Dryad''s life after I saved her from a Puppeteer Abomination that possessed her body. I killed it, unwillingly saving her life and a forest.

    "Then things gotplicated and her sister gave me this stuff. Now if we are done with your questions, you can answer mine. How the heck do I use these nts?" Lith''s words didn''t make anything clearer, they just raised more questions and someughter.

    "That''s my blood indeed." Sark said while chuckling. "He came, he conquered, and he got paid for it."

    The rest of the Council, however, grumbled under their breath with the only exception of Leegaain. He had no need for such things because he grew them inside his biomes, having discovered for ages how to cultivate natural treasures.

    Everyone else, however, could only curse their bad luck and thews of the Council that kept them from stealing Lith''s treasures. If just one of them knew about the mystical nts, they might have nned an underhanded scheme to seize them.

    With the entire Council as a witness, however, the moment Lith got robbed and a Council member conveniently crafted an artifact that required one or more natural treasures, the others would discover the truth.

    The culprit would be punished harshly and the artifact seized, making an example out of them. Splitting the treasures was off the table as well. There were so few left that they could be used for a couple of artifacts tops.

    "This is a Thunderstone flower." Aalejah said while holding what looked like a bellflower whose petals were of mud-brown color while its stem was of bright yellow.

    "It has the ability to harmonize the earth and the air element, allowing to anything that it''s imbued with the Thunderstone''s essence to retain the hardness of earth while also still being capable of tapping into the air element''s full potential."

    ''I have to research the flower a bit to make sure of it, but judging from her words, this thing should basically turn anything into a superconductor. If I''m right, I already know how to use it.'' Lith thought.

    He had often thought of recreating or weaponizing Earth''s technology, but hecked too many tools and materials for it. At least until that moment. Mogar''s geology, for example, was primitive at best.

    Prospectors knew what rocks and sediment would be found nearby deposits of white marble, precious metal veins, magic crystal, and metal mines, but they had no idea what a semiconductor or any kind of rare element was.

    To be fair, even if they did, Lith was no engineer.

    He knew the principles that allowed modern technology to work, but he had no idea how to build an AC/DC generator. Until he found a way to reproduce technology bybining physics and magic, there was nothing he could do.

    "This, instead, is an Earth Root. It''s very precious for Forgemaster who specialize in crafting golems." Aalejah picked a bunch of ugly-looking small ck potatoes.

    They emanated such a terrible stench that if not for their intense magical aura, Lith would have thought they were just dung that Ryssa had mixed between the beautiful flowers as a mockery.

    "After being pulverized and refined, it allows the mage to create a mana circtory system in their creations before bonding them with the mana crystals." She said.

 Chapter 1516 Seeds of Knowledge Part 2

    Chapter 1516 Seeds of Knowledge Part 2

    "Are you serious?" Lith looked at the smelly mystical potato as if he had found his true love, pissing Solus off big time.

    "Yeah. I am. You are lucky that nts like these exist from the dawn of time, otherwise they would be part of the knowledge that the World Tree keeps sealed from me. That or they hoped I would find natural treasures and bring them back home." The elf sighed at the bounty, almost regretting to have offered her help.

    ''I never crafted a single golem, but this is indeed a game-changer.'' Lith thought. ''By creating the mana circtory system before the Bonding spell, I can achieve perfection without bending to the whims of fate or of magical crystals.''

    ''Yeah.'' Solus nodded. ''One of the biggest issues we had while crafting the DoLorean and the Scalewalker armor was to find the ce where to bond the crystals without them or the mana circtory system they created messing with the rune patterns.

    ''Thanks to the Earth Root, instead, we can simply create the system in advance. This way, not only will the mana flow evenly throughout the artifact, but we will also haveplete freedom in positioning the rune patterns.

    ''The Bonded crystals will adapt their flow to the artificial system, fueling all of our enchantments without creating any deviation in the metal.

    ''The perfectbination of structure, crystals, and rune cing will allow the finished product to have superior capabilities and to offer no resistance to the mana flow, no matter what materials the golem isprised of.

    ''The Earth Root basically gives to a construct the same mana conductivity they would have if they were made out of Davross. The question is, do we have any use for something like that or should we trade the Root for something else?'' She asked.

    Lith pondered those words in silence for a while. Solus was right saying that, at a first nce, the Earth Root was great, but using them on mystical metals would have been a waste.

    Lith racked his brain, searching for a way to put the natural treasure to good use until he remembered about his issues with his most powerful Demons, Kh''s golems, and what he had learned about colored white crystals from Solus''s dream.

    ''Either you are really brilliant or you are just insane.'' Solus said while what looked like a makeshift blueprint took form in Lith''s mind.

    ''I''m neither. Unless we find a way to confirm if my idea is feasible or not, my n is just wishful thinking.'' He replied. ''I can only hope that once we''re done here and we get to the Blood Desert, Grandma will give us a few tips.''

    After the youths went back to their camp to get some sleep and recover from their fatigue, the Council turned off the screen and moved on to the next pressing issue.

    "Are you really going insane?" Raagu, the human representative, asked the World Tree whose hologram looked like a bonsai.

    Its body was too gigantic to picture it whole otherwise.

    "I am. Luckily, I don''t have much time left." The creature spoke with a t tone, yet it sent shivers down the spines of the other Awakened and Guardians alike.

    The idea of the most knowledgeable creature on Mogar going mad and turning the inhabitants of the cities built inside the Tree into an army of Awakened elves was beyond unsettling.

    "Then why have you sent the elf outside despite your condition?" Lotho the Treant looked calm, but he had actually triggered a silent rm to warn his kind. "Is she really an apprentice or just a scout to gauge our power?"

    "She is no scout. Otherwise, I would have sent someone slyer and never allowed her to share my knowledge. I sent Aalejah outside because she earned it and because she was the only one na?ve enough to get close to the Tiamat." The Tree replied.

    "He wouldn''t have fallen for smiles and forced friendship. I sent someone honest and insecure because I knew that the moment the Tiamat would have spotted Aalejah''s weakness, he would have not hesitated to exploit it."

    "My ruse worked and now I can die knowing that anyone but me has barely grasped the surface of Lith''s new race." The Tree''s voice grew tired and their hologram started to fade.

    "You son of a weed! You used us as well." Fe the Behemoth said in outrage.

    The Tree left the Council without answering and so did the Guardians. Before breaking their mind link, Leegaain asked Sark a single question.

    "When did you say that Lith woulde to visit you?"

    "Soon." The Overlord replied.

    ***

    A few dayster, the Council''s test neared its end.

    The mission was just a ruse to evaluate their apprentices and see how they behaved in front of different kinds of temptations like knowledge, artifacts, and magical resources.

    Their mentors had no need for the city of Urgamakka to be really cleared of all the possible relics that might reveal the secret of Awakening. The Elders of the Council had nted the artifact so they already knew where to find anything that the young Awakened might have missed.

    The ancient city was nothing but a giant stage and the apprentices were the unwitting protagonists of a y whose oue might change their lives for the better or the worse.

    After the first disastrous experiment, Lith and Aalejah kept working together to find more about his bloodline abilities, opening up to each other a bit more each day. During the breaks in between experiments, Lith would show her the materials he had yet to find a use for while Aalejah would ask him about life in the Kingdom.

    Putting her knowledge into practice had proved to be much more interesting than just hoarding it like the Chroniclers were supposed to do. The young elf used those conversations to learn everything she could about the outside world and about her chances to live a normal life.

    "You will undoubtedly fare well on your own either in the Kingdom or the Empire. Going to the Desert would just mean exchanging one immortal ruler for another." Lith said, pissing Sark off big time.

    "Where do you suggest I go?" Aalejah asked.

    "The Empire. There you wouldn''t even have to hide your identity as an elf, whereas in the Kingdom you have to disguise yourself all the time or be treated as a monster." Lith sighed, thinking at his own condition.

    "Then why are you still in the Kingdom?" The elf said in confusion.

    "Because my family is there, my friends are there, and even my mentor is there. With all of its ws, the Kingdom is my homnd, and leaving it would cause me and my family a lot of pain." Lith''s words made Tyris very happy.

    "Only one piece of advice. If you really decide to relinquish your duty, get yourself another Awakened mentor or be the Empress'' apprentice as soon as you can. Without a powerful backer, between your nature as an elf and your knowledge from the Tree, you will spend your life as ab rat at best."

    "Are people really that bad?" She asked.

    "What do your history records say?" Lith replied.

 Chapter 1517 Final Test Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1517 Final Test Part 1</h4>

    Aalejah needed to read but a few lines of the Tree''s archives to understand the truth behind Lith''s words about the ruthlessness of the world.

    "Is that why you are still an apprentice?" The elf said.

    "Yes. Ever since I realized that I was an anomaly, I knew that people wouldn''t leave me alone out of the goodness of their hearts. I needed to borrow the power of the Kingdom and of an elder of the Council to avoid bing a puppet. So far so good." Lith replied.

    "Enough with the depressing talks. Let''s get to work then." Aalejah stood up and uncovered the Yggdrasill staff, having no idea how pointless her precautions were.

    A few dayster, the expedition ended after every disciple had been tested several times for teamwork, loyalty, and trustworthiness. After their behavior had been established, it was time for Inxialot to trigger the final trial.

    The apprentices had to prove to be able to fight like an army and to have learned from their defeat at the Gargoyles'' hands during the first day.

    Were they to fail again, the Council would have been forced to train them properly by preparing Awakened boot camps. Without discipline and teamwork, the Council would have stood no chance against Thrud''s army of Awakened ves.

    Rather than waste their time with a pointless struggle, they might as well surrender and leave the door open for her.

    The day started like any other, with the apprentices scouring the city''s every nook and cranny in the search of mystical legacies.

    Athung Soranot, Raagu''s apprentice, had scored several pieces and hints about breathing techniques that she hoped that once examined together with her mentor, they would give her the insight that she stillcked to understand the secret behind the violet core.

    Athung didn''t have the Eyes of Menadion, but her team was second solely to the nts for the number of relics found. She had learned from her mentor both Earth Vision and how to maximize the power of the arrays, but she couldn''tpare with the Fae''s unique bloodlines abilities.

    nt folk could move through the ground freely and evenmunicate with the local vegetation for clues, giving them an edge over thepetition that no spell couldpensate.

    "This is odd." Athung said while tapping on the ground with her polearm at each step she took so that Earth Vision would allow her to follow the vibrations and find hidden rooms or switches.

    "I''m pretty sure that I saw the Fae scout this ce yesterday, yet I have just found an underground corridor whose traps are still operational. The Fae should have easily found it, but if they did, the defensive arrays would have been already disabled."

    "Maybe they missed it." Temania, ady-killer-looking brown-haired man, shrugged. "Or maybe they didn''t know how to deactivate the protections and moved onto an easier target."

    "Maybe." Athung said after studying the intricate set of magical formations that intertwined together, forming the array equivalent of a sailor''s knot.

    "Fae are not creatures patient enough to solve something like this, but I find it strange that they didn''t at least try to force their way in. Their bodies are nigh-immortal and with darkness fusion, they would have felt no pain."

    The truth was that Inxialot had opened the tunnel at daybreak. Back when the Fae had explored that very city block, there was nothing that they could find.

    "Can you open it or do we need to ask for help?" Henya, a gorgeous redhead that had been stuck at the bright blue core for almost a century said. "Splitting the loot is better than losing it entirely, and with my apprenticeship nearing its end, I need all the resources that I can get."

    "Good gods!" Temania said in annoyance. "We''ve got that after you said it the first one hundred times. Give it a rest, will you?"

    "Easy for you to say! Your master is mommy dearest and even at the end of your apprenticeship you''ll have a nice ce to live and a bloodline lega-"

    "Just fuck already!" Athung put an end to their umpteenth quarrel while inwardly regretting to not have been able to join a better group than a couple of annoying kids.

    They were actually older than her, yet she felt as if she was stuck baby-sitting immature brats. Greed, fear, and ambition brought out the worst in most people, disrupting even the most basic form of teamwork in the hope of getting a single scrap more than the others.

    The two Liches watching at the scene devoured pop-corn while waiting for the two youths to follow the order and jog their memory about the lost discipline of sex. s, they remained utterly disappointed.

    The youths stood still while their leader unraveled the arrays one at a time in the correct order.

    "Do you need some rest before going down?" Temania said while offering Athung a tonic.

    "No time for that. If another group arrives from another corridor, they''ll get to the treasure first." She gulped down the tonic and used Invigoration to recover her strength.

    "Another corridor?" Henya echoed.

    She envied Athung for having a master that not only had developed unique techniques like Earth Vision, but that had also taught her more about arrays than most elders knew despite being centuries older than her.

    "Yes. The corridor leads to a central area filled with enchanted items that is connected to several other tunnels. We have struck the motherlode, but others might have done the same." Athung had no idea that the multiple esses were a trick.

    Inxialot wanted the final chamber to be found as soon as possible so that his cruel and unusual punishment would end. He couldn''t wait to get back to hisb and return to his beloved experiments.

    Athung took a deep breath and three magical formationspressed to the size of a frisbee appeared around both her wrists and behind her back. It was one of Raagu''s most prized techniques, Portable Arrays.

    It made the mana take physical form, relieving the mage''s mind from the burden of keeping the magical formations at the ready.

    Athung could carry them around, spending a minimum amount of energy to maintain the arrays active. She only needed to input the dimensional coordinates of their area of effect to activate their powers.

    A wave of her right hand threw the corresponding array in the middle of the city za, at blinking distance from the fortifiedmon hall. Then, she conjured a new array around her now free hand and had her teammates take the lead.

    Henyained so much that Lith looked like mister optimism inparison, but she was an excellent fighter. Her master had taught her both the Battle Mage and Mage Knight specializations, making Henya capable of switching from offense to defense ording to the circumstances.

    "Is it me or this is all too easy?" She asked while deactivating the traps that Life Vision revealed.

    "No, you are right. Yet both my array detecting spells and mystical senses fail to find any hidden trap." Athung nodded. "Temania?"

    "On it." The youth froze the corridor, covering it with a thickyer of ice that would trigger mechanical traps and keep pressure tiles from activating.

    "Nothing. It''s as if afterying those huge ass arrays the maker of this ce got tired of their job and quit halfway through!" He said in amazement.

 Chapter 1518 Final Test Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1518 Final Test Part 2</h4>

    "Guilty as charged!" Inxialot yelled at the screen while preparing the sensors and a new serving of popcorn. "Now move that ass and let me go home."

    Yet the group advanced with caution, taking their time to search their surroundings and finding some small tags marked "ceholder Trap".

    "Cut that part from the footage." Inxialot said to Zolgrish. "If the Council finds out I half-assed my job, I''ll be in big trouble."

    "On it, boss." The other Lich couldn''t remember which button was which and forwarded a copy of the footage to everyone involved instead.

    Much to Inxialot''s dismay, when the youths reached the end of the corridor, they became even more cautious. The room in front of them was a perfect cube with a side of over 30 meters (100 feet) that was empty except for a stone altar at its center.

    "I don''t like this one bit." Temania said while pointing at the huge pile of purified Adamant that rested on the altar. The flow of world energy through the metal was so powerful that it almost blinded Life Vision.

    "By the gods." Henya said in disbelief. "It''s true what they say. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."

    The billboard-sized tag marked "Huge Ass Trap" in ancientnguageing out of the Adamant made them advance even more slowly.

    "Zolgrish, I told you to remove the tag after we ced the Adamant!" Inxialot said.

    "Ratpack, I told you to remove the tag after we ced the Adamant!" Zolgrish said.

    "No, you didn''t." The small undead replied while showing them the recording of the Liches sending lesser undead to ce the Adamant and ignoring Ratpack''s pleas to remove the tag.

    That day, they had been so busy discussing a groundbreaking magical theory that several apprentices had almost died in a trap that the Liches had failed to deactivate in time. Ratpack had tried to enter the corridor to do it himself, but the protective arrays had almost destroyed him.

    Meanwhile, Athung''s group searched far and wide for the alleged "Huge ass Trap", but to no avail. Athung''s Earth vision, Henya''s Absolute Guard, an Awakened version of Full Guard, and Temania''s frost spells couldn''t find anything.

    "I''d like to think that, just like the ceholder traps, the guy who built this ce didn''t put the huge ass trap either, but that Adamant is purified. No one, not even a Lich, would be so stupid as to leave it unprotected." The two Liches deeply resented Temania''s words.

    "Agreed." Athung nodded. "Let''s go all out. Get ready to Warp to the city za. Once you are done preparing your spell, Temania will seal the entire room and Henya will seal the corridors with her shields."

    The two Awakened followed her orders, respectively by covering the entire room with a mix of ice and earth magic that would serve as a protective barrier and by conjuring six shields big enough to cover the tunnels'' entrances.

    Henya''s tier five spell, Spinning Death, created round constructs that spun at high speed. That together with their sharp edges and the spikes in front of the shields made them into omnidirectional buzzsaws.

    "Are you ready?" Athung asked, obtaining a nod in reply.

    She then released the array on her left hand, cing it on the Adamant. The Warping array was linked to the one she had previously left outside, moving the magic metal to a secure position without the risk of even getting close to the altar.

    For a few seconds, nothing happened. The missing Adamant didn''t seem to have triggered a pressure te nor any of the arrays in the corridors. Then, the entire room started to shake and the over one meter (3'') thick ice wall that Temania had created cracked.

    The gears behind the stone walls were trying and failing to change the room''s shape by rearranging the stone blocks they wereprised of, but the rest of the structure had no such problem.

    Both the corridor in front of them and that from which they hade from started to open, revealing the presence of what looked like air ducts in between the blocks. A thick multi-colored mist poured out of the gaps, flooding the corridors and leaving the Awakened no way out.

    "What the fuck is that thing? A spell?" Henya asked after unleashing a river of violet mes that the mist effortlessly smothered as if it was a candle in the wind.

    "Not a spell." Temania replied. "If you look carefully, amid all that mana flow there''s also life force. It''s a living thing."

    "Then why don''t my darkness-infused shields even slow them down?" She pointed at the rainbow mist that entered the room from all the side corridors, ignoring Spinning Death.

    Athung would have liked to keep following the changes in the room with Earth Vision, but the mist had forced them to enter the square room and she had no doubt that the moment they reached the altar, something bad would happen.

    "Warp?" The other two asked her with a begging tone.

    "Not yet. If we bring this thing outside, it will endanger the expedition. On my mark." She switched from Earth to Life Vision, studying the mist as they kept stepping back.

    "Shit, I was right." Athung released the arrays that she kept on her right hand and behind her back, linking them to each other and to the magical formations in the corridors.

    "Now!" The group Warped away a split second before reaching the altar, after the mist hadpletely filled the square room.

    Athung''s arrays triggered those that Inxialot had set in the side corridors, starting a chain reaction that made the underground structure copse. The first explosions sealed the underground chamber so that the following sts bounced off the walls, increasing their destructive power by several folds.

    The group of Awakened, instead, arrived in the city za safely and put the loot in their dimensional amulets while alerting the other members of the expedition of the threat at hand via theirmunication amulets.

    "Do you really believe that thing is still alive?" Henya asked.

    "Things, plural. And yes, I doubt we are done. With all the water that Temania left and the weeds in the soil, it will take them seconds to recover." Athung replied while using Invigoration and conjuring three new arrays at the same time.

    Yurial and all fake mages would have died of envy witnessing Raagu''s technique that bybining multiple casting methods allowed Athung to greatly reduce the time needed toplete an array.

    "What do you- Oh, shit!" Temania said as the ground throughout the city started to crack, letting out what looked like brightly colored vapors.

    Some people ignored Athung''s call because they were too busy collecting their own loot. Others, like Lith, started to weave their spells.

    "What is that thing?" He asked while the mist turned into a bursting geyser as the cracks in the pavement became wider.

    "A swarm. I believe we''re facing several swarms. Let''s assemble in our fortified base." Athung replied while cing her darkness conjuring arrays right on top of the fissures, making the mist wail in pain.

    ''Gods, I wish I could stay here and admire them all day.'' She thought as the detection array that she had hidden amid the other two allowed her to pry into the nature of their enemies.

 Chapter 1519 United They Stand Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1519 United They Stand Part 1</h4>

    What looked like mist was actuallyprised of minuscule living beings that, despite each having their own body and a bright violet mana core, all shared the same energy signature.

    The countless creature formed a single entity that had a hive mind and core.

    ''Those are the Fae equivalent of fungi, the Horde. I never believed that one day I would have met them. ording to Raagu, not only are they incredibly rare, but they also hold the secret of the white core!'' Athung thought.

    The Horde was the next evolutionary step of the fungal creature that Lith had fought back in Kh. They had ess to all elements, not just water and earth, and possessed much more powerful cores.

    The Horde''s rarity was due to their inability to give birth to offspring. Once Awakened, a mold could reproduce, but the newborn would be part of the hive mind and body of their progenitors, not a new being.

    On the one hand, the phenomenon made the fungi nigh-immortal since a single spore could rebuild the colony from scratch as long as they had enough nutrients. Age didn''t matter because new beings would rece the old ones the moment they died.

    On the other hand, it made their race incapable of growing in number over time. The chances for a fungal colony to manage to Awaken was night zero because the process was individual, and the mycetes had to find a way to share the technique before their demise.

    Fungi had a very short life span and even Awakening didn''t extend it by much. It made the Horde incredibly rare, to the point that only a handful of them existed on the entirety of Mogar.

    The Council had invited them under the pretext of helping with the test and creating an opportunity for the Hordes to spar with their fellow Awakened, but the Council''s real goal was to exploit the test to thoroughly study such a unique race.

    Even though the Fungicked the white core, their eternally youthful bodies and their ability to coordinate the countless small violet cores thatprised each colony to weave spells of untold power made them into the next best thing.

    "Did you see that?" Raagu pointed at the Hordes that were rebuilding themselves and casting a Spirit Magic spell to destroy Athung''s arrays.

    "If mastering the vortexes and turning them into auxiliary cores is the secret of the violet core, then maybe turning the auxiliary cores into violet and making them capable of independent thought is the secret of the white core.

    "It would exin why people like Baba Yaga survive even with their head and heart destroyed. It''s because they are akin to a Horde."

    "If your theory is correct, then why don''t the fungi have a white core?" Fe the Behemoth was skeptical, but she had shared with the Council her best scanning techniques in the hope to learn something new.

    "Because their greatest strength is also their weakness." Raagu replied. "To go beyond the bright violet, a Horde should merge into a single body and pool up their mana. Being split into countless small beings makes them hard to kill, but at the same time limits their mana flow."

    To prove her point, the human representative zoomed on the Horde that was casting Spirit Magic. The magical strength of a single mycetes was irrelevant, forcing them to assemble in order to conjure any form of magic.

    To do that, the mist had to converge into a single point, making themselves vulnerable to a lethal attack.

    The now packed minuscule violet cores amplified each other''s mana flow, increasing their individual magical prowess by several folds. On top of that, each spell they unleashed was actuallyprised of several small spells, making them hard to defend against.

    The Horde in front of Athung unleashed the tier five Spirit Magic spell, Starpath. An emerald stream of light caught her by surprise. It seeped through the defenses that herpanions had conjured as if they weren''t there, hitting her full on.

    Athung lost her focus and her arrays disappeared. The Horde preyed on every life form in sight to regain their mass without the need to stop their advance.

    "How do we fight those things?" Henya asked.

    "We don''t." Athung replied while Temania healed her with her breathing technique. "Alone we don''t stand a chance. To fight an army of creatures we need an army of our own. Let''s go back to the base."

    Unfortunately for her, they found it empty. Aside from those who were already there to rest or exchange goods, the other Awakened had maintained their positions and tried to fight on their own.

    Lith was among them. He didn''t trust anyone in the expedition and knew by experience that numbers mattered only if backed by teamwork. Arge group of people that fought like individuals wouldst much less than a small group that coordinated their efforts.

    ''Gods, this is Kh all over again.'' Phloria said via the mind link, recognizing the familiar form of the fungal creatures.

    ''I wish. That guy was alone and the fungi equivalent of a magical beast whereas here we are facing their Awakened equivalent of several Emperor Beasts.'' Lith replied while cursing their bad luck.

    The creatures seemed to possess both the perfect attack and defense. By spreading thin, they avoided most of his spells, taking little to no damage even from tier five spells.

    When they converged into a single point, instead, the Hordes unleashed powerful Spirit Spells that pierced through any defense he conjured. If not for his Origin mes and the sealed Adamant of the Scalewalker armor, Lith would have already fallen.

    ''We need to regroup!'' Phloria said while a blue-colored Horde charged forward in the form of a wave, trampling her tier five spell, Death Bastion, as if the solid rock wall infused with darkness magic was nothing more than a sandcastle.

    ''Aalejah or Athung?'' Solus asked.

    ''Aalejah.'' Lith and Phloria replied in unison.

    The elf''s knowledge and the undead''s mastery over darkness magic were their best shot at getting out of there alive.

    ''On it!'' Solus opened a Warp Gate to the undead''s camp, closing it down the moment Lith walked through it.

    "What the heck is going on and what is all that fuss outside?" Trevan the Nightwalker said the moment he saw them.

    There were too few Hordes to attack the entire Urgamakka so the fungi were taking out the Awakened one group at a time before moving onto the next one, leaving those further from the site of the altar temporarily safe.

    There was no time for exnations so Lith established a mind link with Trevan and Aalejah, sharing with them everything he knew.

    "You''ve made the right thinging here." The elf weaved a portal to themon camp. "Without us, the others have no chance of victory. Undead and Abominations are the natural banes of Hordes since fungi can''t feed upon them whereas the opposite isn''t true."

    "Then what do we need the Warp for?" Lith and Trevan asked in unison.

    "We can beat one Horde, but if they work together, then we need both the array field of the camp and the help of the others. Believe me, you have no idea how powerful those creatures are." She replied.

    They got there just in time. The fortress had been under siege for less than one minute and it was already about to fall.

 Chapter 1520 United They Stand Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1520 United They Stand Part 2</h4>

    Having a shared mind, the mycetes had no qualms sacrificing part of their bodies to take down their enemies.

    By infusing themselves with darkness magic, they turned each spore into a living weapon capable of eroding physical and magical barriers alike. Invigoration allowed them to recover the lost mana and by sacrificing their exhausted members, they even reset its effects.

    The newborns had fresh bodies that could use the breathing technique to its fullest.

    "Thank the gods you are here." Athung said while treating the members of the expedition that, after being hit once, had been turned into mushrooms fields and were now fighting for their lives.

    The Horde first had invaded their windpipe, making it impossible for them to use their breathing techniques and stopping the cirction of darkness magic that would otherwise destroy the invaders.

    "We''ll buy you some time." Trevan said to Aalejah. "Exin to them what to do, but be quick. I don''t know how long we can hold out."

    "I''ll take point and open the way." Lith said while fixing Solus''s Monocle in his eye socket with a gesture that reminded her of Lark.

    "How, exactly?" Trevan said. "No offense, but the spores form a wall so thick that we can''t see through it. Even though I''m mostlyprised of darkness element, I don''t have the mass to hold against such a powerful enemy for more than a few seconds."

    "Mass is the keyword." Lith said while shapeshifting into his Voidfeather Dragon form instead of the Abomination like everyone expected.

    Sure, that form gave him mood swings and had yet to reveal any extra powers, but that was what he needed. Fear and battle frenzy made his blood boil, covering his massive body with a thickyer of Origin mes.

    In theory, he could do the same in his Tiamat form, but he stillcked the control orck thereof to let his emotion flow unbridled and keep the Origin mes from hurting himself and Solus as well.

    The Voidfeather Dragon, instead, with its unstable psyche and without the interference of the other life forces, was easily riled up. Lith jumped out of a window so as to not damage the building as he used air and Spirit Magic to turn himself into a ming meteor.

    The impact against his body squashed the spores thatprised the Hordes like insects against the windshield of a speeding car, opening a hole in the living wave that sieged the Awakened fortress.

    Those stupid enough to try and infect Lith discovered the hard way that the mes that flowed in his veins instead of blood burned much hotter than those covering his scales, scorching the spores to death.

    His charge gave the defenders a few seconds of respite and created an opening that the undead exploited to jump amid the enemy lines. They unleashed their best darkness-based spells, killing thousands of spores in the blink of an eye.

    It would have been a great result if there weren''t millions of them.

    Lith never stopped moving and circled around the building while hurling a jet-stream of Origin mes from above, setting the Hordes aze. The fire not only weakened the fungi faster than their breathing technique could recover their strength, but it also kept them from casting spells.

    To amplify each other''s magical power, the Hordes needed to assemble their violet cores closely, but doing that also meant to spread and fan the mes.

    ''Shit, breathing Origin mes while covering myself in them is quickly draining my strength. How long can I keep up like this, Solus?'' In that form, Lithcked the mental focus necessary to estimate his condition.

    He needed sheer willpower just to not fall into a blood frenzy whenever he shed with the enemy.

    ''Less than a minute. Remember that not even Abyssal Gaze can stabilize your life force once it getspromised by the abuse of Origin mes and you can''t afford to copse in the middle of a fight.'' She replied.

    Inxialot''s management of the test had been so poor that Lith now believed that the mission was real. Too many people had risked dying too many times and no one had intervened to help them.

    Meanwhile, after using a mind link to teach Athung the spell that Quy had developed to treat the spores'' infections, Phloria activated the tier five Battle Mage spell, God of Darkness.

    A full armor made of shadows fused with her Featherwalker armor while the darkness element condensed into four spheres the size of a gym ball that orbited around her likes with their sun.

    The spheres would allow Phloria to replicate the effects of all the darkness magic spells she knew up to tier three without the need to cast them.

    Unlike Lith, after bing an Awakened, Phloria only needed to convert her old skills into true magic before having the time to learn some new ones. She had no Domination, Origin mes, or even Light Mastery to practice, leaving a single woman a lot of free time.

    She had spent it by learning from Faluel''s library the spells that would cover for her weak points and for the gaps in Lith''s magical specializations. She had also tried mastering arrays, but aside from the basics, they gave her a massive headache.

    The God of Darkness spell was meant to charge at the enemy lines without having blind spots, but she used it to cover the other Awakened instead. This way, they could focus solely on the offensive while Phloria got rid of the iing attacks.

    "We could really use one of those huge ass arrays of yours." She said to Athung.

    "On it. Just make sure that no one interrupts me." Athung replied after finishing to treat the injured enough so that they could do the rest by themselves. "This is a tricky one."

    She opened her arms, making appear between them a dimensional, a gravity, and a darkness array. Athung had to weave them while also making sure that their runes wouldn''t cancel or hinder each other.

    While the Council admired her mastery in weaving the three mystical circles into a single array, one of the Hordes understood what was about to happen and unleashed their personal tier five Spirit Magic spell, Choking Wind.

    The hexa-elemental spell wasprised of magic particles so thin that they bypassed the barriers surrounding the fortress by mixing themselves with the air currents that the arrays let in in order for the Awakened to breathe.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Phloria didn''t miss the otherwise hidden spell and stood in front of Athung to intercept it. She recalled the spheres and the armor conjured by the God of Darkness spell,pressing them both inside her Adamant shield.

    The mass of darkness magic weakened Choking Wind while the Adamant took the brunt of the damage, yet it wasn''t enough. Phloria clenched her teeth as the sheer pressure of the Spirit Spell pushed her back.

    Despite Fusion Magic boosting her body and the multipleyers of Adamant covering her, she felt the bones in her arm cracking. Before Choking Wind could sweep her away and hit Athung or just send Phloria crashing against herpanion, she Blinked them both out of harm''s way.

    Unfortunately for them, the Horde was an Awakened as well and they could see the Blinks'' exit points with Life Vision.

 Chapter 1521 Spreading the Plague Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1521 Spreading the gue Part 1</h4>

    The Horde had no trouble just adjusting the course of Choking Wind so that it would strike at the Warden the moment she reappeared.

    Much to their surprise, Phloria didn''t just Blink, but also Switched them to keep Athung safe. The Mage Knight conjured her personal tier four Spirit Magic spell, Stalwart Defender.

    The penta-elemental spell used the light and earth elemental aspects to form a thick barrier that only let the light in, the fire element to convert the kic energy of iing attacks into heat that the water element would neutralize, and the darkness aspect to eat at anything that stuck at the barrier for too long.

    Such a young Awakened foiling one of their best spells bbergasted the Horde and bought Athung the time she needed to finish her array. The three concentric magic circles started revolving as she projected them amid the enemy lines.

    The innermost circle used gravity magic to generate a powerful suction akin to a tornado, sweeping in everything that came too close. The second circle used dimensional magic to limit the area of effect of the first array, allowing Athung to adjust its power ording to the circumstances.

    Whenever one of her allies neared the array, she would reduce the output so as to not suck them in as well whereas the moment only enemies remained, she would unleash the full power of the gravity array.

    Thest and more external array conjured a thickyer of darkness magic within its area of effect. The three magical formationsbined together generated a gravity field of variable intensity where everything stuck inside would be devoured by the darkness.

    On top of that, such kind of array had a limited effect on the Awakened apprentices, but it was deadly for the Hordes. Even Awakened humans had their bodies refined and their mass increased enough to easily escape the gravitational pull with their flight spells.

    The Hordes, instead, were eachprised of countless small living spores that had a negligible mass, making it impossible for them to resist Athung''s spell. If they assembled into a physical body, they would also lose their greatest advantage and offer an easy target, but if they didn''t, the array alone would have cleared the field.

    ''I really hope you are recording that, Solus, because Friya is going to have a field day when we show this fight to her.'' Phloria thought.

    ''Yeah, sure. Attacks iing from your three and six.'' Solus replied, amazed by how much information she could now collect with three brains even while keeping the Eyes'' scanning abilities to a minimum.

    "Those three guys are amazing." Lotho the Treant said with a tinge of envy in his voice.

    "They have no training, yet they managed to assume on their own the most effective battle formation for Awakened units. The Spear, the Shield, and the Highmaster."

    He pointed respectively at Lith who led the undead by example, at Phloria who coordinated the humans in protecting the Wardens, and at Athung that aloney waste on the battlefield.

    "Maybe sending some of our recruits into the human army as a part of their apprenticeship wouldn''t be such a bad idea." Fe pondered. "Phloria has received her training there and she''s the only one who is coordinating her actions with the others instead of acting solo."

    She pointed at the totalck of coordination of the Awakened forces.

    "My apprentice is a great strategist, but with such few numbers and so many blockheads there''s not much she can do." The World Tree sighed, seeing Aalejah rushing through the battlefield to change the exhausted crystals that fueled the arrays with new ones while also shouting orders that fell on deaf ears.

    The elf pointed out every weak point she identified in the enemy formation, but no one listened to her.

    "Yeah, too many people didn''t follow the protocol and fought on their own outside the fortress. Most of the Beasts and of the Fae stuck with their groups and fell with them. The fight is almost over." Raagu said.

    The battle at the fortress was almost won, but only because most of the Hordes were still busy wiping out the apprentices outside the base to keep them from joining the rest of the Awakened forces.

    Once the enemies converged on the base, no matter how hard the apprentices fought, they would only dy the inevitable.

    ***

    At the same time, outside the city.

    After days of aimlessly strolling between the Kingdom and the Desert in the hope to find something that would jog his memory, Vareen had finally found Urgamakka. He would have never done it if not for the massive array field that covered the city and without the help of his new pets.

    To set up the fake city, Inxialot had employed so much magical power to control his various devices that Urgamakka shone like a beacon to an Abomination''s mystical senses.

    To make matters worse, there was a reason why the Eldritch Abomination had received the nickname of guespreader. After centuries of studying his condition of undead and how Chaos interacted with living beings, Vareen had discovered how to share the "gift" of the ck core.

    After feeding upon a prey, he returned the stolen energy and mixed it up with his own, turning them into living-Abomination hybrids. Unlike Baba Yaga''s children, however, his creatures had no free will nor much time to live.

    The growing Chaos inside of them made the hapless hybrids as hungry as Vareen, forcing them to feed non-stop to keep their Abomination side from devouring the living half.

    They had helped Vareen to scour thends, looking for anything that possessed enough light element to quell their hunger. Coyotes, insects, and vultures had searched the area for kilometers from both above and below until they had found the trail of the mana geyser that fueled Urgamakka.

    ''This is odd. I remember the city being built upon a geyser, but I have no memory of this ce.'' Vareen thought while studying the defensive arrays.

    He recognized both those ancient enough to belong to the city and those that the Council hadid as a security measure in the case something like that happened.

    "Dammit! This ce is almost as secure as the Royal Pce." He said after discovering countless barriers and the Warping arrays that would bring the Council there the moment the rm sounded.

    "Feast, my pets. We have to be quick. If Sark arrives, I''ll be lucky if even one of my pieces makes it out alive." The hybrids and the Eldritch attacked with perfect coordination.

    By feeding upon the power of the external arrays, they gained the power to cast Chaos spells that pierced the internal formations, turning weeks of hard work into ruins in a matter of seconds.

    ***

    Inside the city, at the same time.

    "Don''t miss a single second of footage." Inxialot said while he and Zolgrish fine-tuned devices that would record the energy fluctuations of the Hordes from the control center. "The runts managed to make the mushrooms go all out.

    "This is priceless data and the only reason why I submitted to the Council''s decision. If the mushrooms really hold the secret of the white core, I''m going to be the only one who finds it out."

 Chapter 1522 Spreading the Plague Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1522 Spreading the gue Part 2</h4>

    "I thought you dragged me here because they forced you to supervise the test and because you wanted to impress Sauce." Zolgrish said.

    "Master, why lights blink?" Ratpack asked.

    "What lights, you silly creature? We can perfectly see in the dark. There are no lights in the control room." Zolgrish hated it when his assistant disturbed him in the middle of an important experiment.

    "Those lights." Ratpack pointed at the holographic console where the integrity indicators of Urgamakka now looked like a Christmas tree.

    "Oh, that." Inxialot said. "It means that someone is breaching the city and that the lives of the apprentices are at risk."

    "rm?" Ratpack pointed at the emergency lever.

    "And lose precious data?" Both Liches said in horror. "People die every day, that''s why we all have phcteries. We''ll contact the Council as soon as the fight ends."

    "But apprentices have no phcteries!" Ratpack said in frustration but the Liches had already stopped listening to him.

    Tired of being treated worse than a ve, the small undead pulled the lever, discovering that the array it was linked to had already been destroyed.

    ***

    ''I can''t believe we''ve be so powerful in a little over a week.'' Lith thought while changing his form.

    Being covered in Origin mes put a toll on his life force, but he had a way to recover. By transforming into the lesser Abomination whenever the Hordes swarmed him, Lith sucked the spores dry with his Draining Touch and managed to escape.

    The Abomination form was much smaller and nimbler than the Fire Dragon, making it easy for him to escape from any encirclement. On top of that, while in that form, his darkness spells contained just enough Chaos to make them faster and more painful than normal.

    ''Well, duh.'' Solus replied. ''The Yggdrasill staff works akin to training wheels and by analyzing the data collected in my Monocle form, we managed to learn at an unprecedented rate.''

    ''Agreed. Too bad that this mission is almost o- Oh, shit!''

    The Hordes had just finished sweeping Urgamakka and now they had all converged around the Awakened fortress. The apprentices had managed to keep three of them in check, slowly gaining an advantage thanks to their teamwork, but now they had to fight nine Hordes at the same time.

    They were approaching the building while spreading their spores wide. Their advance looked like a multi-colored mist that hid the entire city from sight as they moved closer.

    The less space they had to cover, the stronger and morepact they became until the mist turned into a sandstorm.

    The darkness infused spores suddenly swarmed the fortress from every side, keeping anyone from escaping with dimensional magic. A hail of emerald spells destroyed the arrays while a few clouds turned into giants that engaged the Emperor Beasts and the Tiamat in physicalbat.

    Lith''s Voidfeather Dragon form had no problem blocking the attacks, but a Horde could grow as many limbs as they wanted.

    Two hands weren''t enough to defend against a flurry of dozens of fists and the Origin mes covering his body had been smothered by another Horde that now was wrapped around him like a nket.

    Lith turned into a lesser Abomination, but even his Draining Touch couldn''t keep up with the tons of darkness infused spores that dealt him more damage than he could heal.

    Aalejah did her best to protect and fuel the arrays but, the moment the magical formations copsed, it took a Horde but one punch to knock her out. Phloria fought until herst breath, managing to keep busy two Hordes at the same time before being overwhelmed by the gap in mass, core, and experience.

    She was just a blue core whereas they were all bright violet. Athung fell right after the elf and her arrays faded along with her consciousness. The Hordes she had trapped until that moment in the gravity field joined the battle again, razing the base to the ground.

    ''Why am I still alive?'' Lith thought after being forced back into his Tiamat form.

    A grey giant with a deep violet core stood between Lith and the two Hordes that had pummelled him until a few seconds back.

    "May the Great Mother bless you. We haven''t forgotten the debt we owe you." The creature said.

    Lith didn''t recognize the words, but he recognized the voice and the energy signature.

    "Are you the creature I fought- I mean, that I freed in Kh?" Lith asked while the young Horde helped him to stand up and treated his wounds, even sharing with the Tiamat a bit of their life force.

    "Yes. The test is over. Now run. We''ll take care of the rest." They said.

    "I was right, then! This was all a t-" The sudden copse of the ceiling above the city cut Lith short.

    ''I doubt this is part of the test as well. Take Phloria, Athung, the Yggdrasill staf-, I mean Aalejah, and run! Gods, Elina was right you really ruined me.'' Solus said while pointing at him the various ck cores that swarmed the city.

    ''I get that we owe the elf a debt of gratitude, but why do you care about Athung?'' Lith asked while darting below and waking hispanions up.

    ''Because she''s the human Lord of the Distar region. We don''t know her much, but Athung has always been friendly to us. If something happens to her, do you really want another Gaaron messing with Faluel''s turf?'' She replied.

    ''Point taken.'' Lith used a mind link to quickly exin the situation to hispanions.

    ''Thanks for your concern.'' Athung needed just a couple of breaths of Invigoration to go back to her peak condition. ''Does any of you remember the spatial coordinates of the tunnels? Because I don''t.''

    Meanwhile, Phloria had recovered as well and helped Aalejah after making sure that she wasn''t holding the Yggdrasill staff anymore. Phloria had no idea if the World Tree could use their breathing technique through the elf as well and she couldn''t afford to expose Solus''s existence.

    ''Me neither.'' Aalejh said. ''But I remember the way we came in. We can get out by flight.''

    ''I''m sorry.'' Solus replied in private to Lith''s silent question. ''I have your memories but neither of us is a dimensional mage. Remembering a ce and their spatial coordinates are twopletely different things.''

    ''This is awesome, we-'' A meteor shower of emerald energy derailed Lith''s train of sarcasm as he stared in awe at the battle in front of him.

    The Hordes emitted such a powerful aura that they illuminated the entire Urgamakka akin to a violet sun. Each one of their spells was as big as a building and had the power to break a mountain in half.

    Yet even such disy of mastery over the seven elements barely slowed down the advance of what looked like a ck hole the size of a man.

    ''How the heck did west so long against creatures that powerful?'' Phloria thought while realizing how big the gap in power between a blue-cored and a violet-cored was.

    ''The spore guy from Kh told me this was just a test so they were probably pulling their punches against us.'' Lith replied.

 Chapter 1523 Chaos Hybrids Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1523 Chaos Hybrids Part 1</h4>

    ''I would love to stay and watch them fight. We could learn a lot from the Hordes, but I almost died by fighting a much weaker Puppeteer. That thing must be an Eldritch and there''s no telling how powerful it is.'' Lith said via the mind link.

    ''That''s not just any Eldritch. He is Vareen the guespreader!'' Horror filled Aalejah''s mind as she recognized their enemy. ''We need to get out of here fast!''

    ''If this is a test, where the fuck is the Council?'' Athung asked.

    "What the fuck is happening in Urgamakka and why did we lose the cameras?" Raagu said while calling Inxialot''s Council amulet.

    "Not now, old hag. This data is much better than thatpiled by making the Hordes fight those greenhorns." An unknown voice replied before hanging up the call.

    "Who was that?" Lotho called Inxialot as well, but the contact rune had suddenly be unavable, a clear sign that the amulet had been stored inside a dimensional amulet.

    "I won''t stand for this bullshit!" Fe stood up, reading the Warping array that the Council had set up in the case the Lich pulled one of his shenanigans. "I told you it was a bad idea entrusting our kids to a madman."

    "Then why didn''t you volunteer to take his ce?" Raagu said with a sneer.

    "And waste days ying babysitter and rewarding that asshole for dumping his Council duties on us? No way!" Fe replied with a rage that turned into fear when the Warping Array failed to activate.

    "Oh, shit. I''m afraid we have to call the Guardians."

    "And tell them what? That we are unable to clean our own asses?" Raagu cursed non-stop at Inxialot''s offlinemunication rune for a few seconds before giving up on the idea of getting back in touch with Urgamakka.

    "How long would it take us to get there?" She asked.

    "The city is located in the middle of nowhere so even if webine our resources, it would take us a few minutes." Lotho said.

    "Please, whatever attacked our students needed seconds to cut us off. Even if we get there in two minutes, it would be toote. I say we swallow our pride and ask for help. Guardians are still a part of the Council." Fe said.

    "Is there nothing you can tell us from your link with the elf?" Raagu asked the World Tree.

    "I''m sorry, but when the Hordes attacked, she lost consciousness and let go of the staff so- Call the fucking Guardians!" The Yggdrasill said.

    Thousands of miles away from the Council, Aalejah had picked her staff up, allowing the representatives of the four races to discover that fear could even twist the bark of the First Awakened.

    While Vareen managed to single-handedly take care of the nine Hordes thatprised the entirety of the Awakened fungal race on Mogar, his minions were tearing down the city as if it was made of paper-mache instead of stone and magic.

    The Chaos they were imbued with allowed the Abomination hybrids to destroy any obstacle between them and their target while the defense mechanisms they met would just be fuel for their ck cores.

    "Help kids?" Ratpack pointed at a group of Chaos-infected creatures that were closing in to the apprentices.

    "Right when things are getting interesting? Are you insane?" Inxialot asked as one of the Horde was hit by a Chaos spell that left no spore left, reducing them to eight. "Or not. Maybe they left some spare parts somewhere. They can still regen-"

    A pack of corrupted animals took down another cloud of Awakened spores, reducing the number of Hordes to seven. Their destruction happened exactly as Lith''s Death Vision had predicted back at the start of the test.

    Anything and anyone caught by the Chaos just turned into cinders, leaving no trace of their bodies or even equipment.

    "Okay, fine! Zolgrish, you go buy me some time while I collect the data and call for help." Inxialot said.

    "Me? But I-" A snap of the Lich King''s fingers put an end to the conversation and Warped his alleged friend and disciple in the line of fire.

    Meanwhile, Lith and the others were flying at breakneck speed toward the exit.

    ''One of those non-Awakened mushroom things almost killed us all in Kh. How can nine bright violet-cored Awakened be incapable of even slowing that thing down?'' Phloria asked via the mind link.

    ''The "mushroom things" are called Hordes while "that thing" is an apex predator among the Eldritch Abominations.'' Aalejah replied. ''Abominations are the bane of all living things and Eldritchs are the pinnacle of their species.

    ''It takes the Council''s elite to stop even a single one of them and much more to kill them. Aside from white cored Awakened and Guardians, no one ever went toe to toe alone against an Eldritch and lived to tell the tale. Even the World Tree is afraid of them.''

    ''Why is he called guespreader?'' Athung asked, just to watch the answer block their path.

    A flock of infected vultures had flown so fast that they had managed to intercept the fugitives. Their feathers had been devoured by the Chaos and reced by a ck light that not only supported their flight, but also increased their speed.

    The vultures'' bodies had grown ten times in size to amodate the energy that they absorbed while consuming Urgamakka''s arrays. That together with the ck veins bulging out of their bodies gave them a monstrous look.

    ''Never mind!'' Athung cursed her own big mouth and unleashed a tier five spell, ck Storm, that filled the air with a mix of darkness and air magic.

    Darkness was supposed to be the bane of Abominations, yet despite the abundant mana she had poured in her spell, itsted just a split-second. The vultures were now bigger and there was no sign of damage on their bodies.

    ''I was about to say that any attack on the corrupted parts of their bodies is pointless.'' Aalejah said with a scoff. ''They feed on anything but Chaos, which means that all elements and weapons are but a snack to them.

    ''They absorbed the air element and used it to counter the darkness. Use only darkness-based spells and aim them at the healthy parts-''

    ''On it!'' Phloria replied while activating Full Guard.

    It gave her perfect awareness of her surroundings and when the first vulture attacked her in a feeding frenzy, she had no trouble countering it. Her estoc, Reaver, stabbed one of the eyes of the creature and released one of the spells she had imbued it with.

    The head of the vulture disappeared in a burst of darkness, only to be regenerated in a burst of Chaos.

    ''I just made it stronger!'' Phloria cursed at the elf while Life Vision showed her that the ck core of the creature had be bigger by absorbing the life force released by the wound.

    ''What do you guys have against me finishing a sentence?'' Aalejah cursed back. ''I was about to warn you about that. The healthy parts limit the strength of the hybrids because they are also their energy reserve.

    ''The more we destroy what''s left of their bodies, the stronger the hybrids will be. Yet it will also speed up the corruption process and the moment the Chaos absorbs thest bit of their life force, they''ll die.''

    ''What?'' Lith couldn''t help but draw a parallel between those hybrids and his lesser Abomination form, wondering if the same might happen to him.

 Chapter 1524 Chaos Hybrids Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1524 Chaos Hybrids Part 2</h4>

    ''Lith, you are the first Abomination hybrid to everpletely merge with their living part. Puppeteers and even the Master''s hybrids still have the same problem as these creatures.

    ''The moment they run out of light energy, the only oue is to either turn into an Empowered Abomination or disappear. These poor creatures are not Awakened and their mana cores are too weak to survive the process.

    ''They are nothing more than dogs on a leash that Vareen controls through the corrupted life force. Kill them, but do it quickly before we join their ranks!'' Aalejah said.

    Lith replied by hurling a stream of Origin mes against a vulture, making it scream in pain. The mystical fire was the only form of energy aside from darkness that they couldn''t feed upon.

    The Origin mes engulfed the agonizing bird, putting it out of its misery in an instant.

    ''It''s kind of ironic for an Abomination hybrid to be equipped with both the best weapons against his own kind. mes and darkness.'' Aalejah thought.

    ''I''ll make sure to tell big sis Xenagrosh if wee out of this alive!'' Lith spewed out more Origin mes while reminding the elf that as long as the mind link was on, they shared the same mind. ''Is there an easy way to get rid of them?''

    ''No. Otherwise everyone would have their copy of "How to kill an Eldritch". Just be quick because if Vareen focuses on us once he is done with the Hordes, we''re dead!'' She replied.

    Meanwhile, the fungal Awakened were barely keeping the Eldritch Abomination at bay despite their numbers and centuries of experience. The Chaos thatprised Vareen''s body turned any physical attack into a source of food and his spells countered theirs with ease.

    Not only was Vereen older than most of the Hordes, but thanks to the limitless destructive power of Chaos, even his minions had the means to kill the countless spores thatprised the Awakened''s bodies.

    If not for their precaution of leaving a part of their bodies hidden somewhere before a fight, half of their poption would have already been extinct. Unlike the other kinds of Abominations, only spells infused with willpower could damage an Eldritch.

    That was because their bodies were akin to a ck hole, absorbing the energy from everything that was in their vicinity, not from just what they touched. Without willpower, the mana and world energy thatprised a spell would be absorbed the moment it woulde too close to Vareen.

    The focus necessary to keep their own magic from replenishing the Eldritch''s energy reserves made the Hordes'' spells harder to control and limited their versatility.

    "Get out of my way and you''ll live. I''ve got no time to waste with failures!" The guespreader said, knowing that between the Council and Sark, he was on the clock.

    For someone like him who had already reached the peak of the power of his Eldritch form, any further feeding was pointless.

    "You must be stopped." The Hordes replied as the remaining five of them merged into a giant cloud of spores.

    Their racial affinity allowed the fungi to temporarily make their energy signatures match and be a single being.

    In their new form not only did the Hordes achieve a body with superior mass, but also the ability to make their countless mana cores work in unison and conjure spells beyond the limits of what any bright violet-cored creature could.

    As the spores piled up and be part of a single massive mana core, the aura of thebined Hordes turned into a bright white. Strong with five minds, the creature weaved a dozen of tier five Spirit Spells at once.

    "That''s the good stuff!" Inxialot said while moving the surveince devices so to not miss a single moment of the fight between the ck and the white light. "I knew that staying behind was the right thing to do."

    Unfortunately for the Hordes, the tidal wave of emerald energy that their collective spells generated crashed against the ck mountain conjured by Vareen''s defensive spell.

    "Overcharging your violet cores was a dumb move. You got a magical prowess akin to the white core for barely a few seconds whereas I got my ck core for millennia. You have no idea how to use your powers." Vareen said while unleashing his tier five Chaos spell, Contagion.

    He shot several small sts of Chaos magic that filled the merged creature with ck polka dots. Instead of killing the spores it hit, the Chaos infected them, making them attack the other spores nearby in the hope to quell their sudden hunger.

    The Hordes were slowly being turned into Abomination hybrids as the corrupted spores became ck, eating at them from the inside. To survive, the five creatures split up and sacrificed part of their bodies to run away.

    "There''s weakness in numbers boys. Now, where the heck was that safe?" The Eldritch ignored the Hordes and joined his minions in searching the city.

    Meanwhile, Lith and the others were in dire straits. Attacking the Abomination hybrids with their weapons dealt only damage to the weapons unless they managed to strike at the still vital parts with surgical precision, making shes pointless.

    War could afford missing its target a few times thanks to the Counterflow ability protecting it from the Chaos, but it still put a heavy strain on its pseudo cores and inflicted upon the de the closest thing to physical pain it had ever experienced.

    Origin mes weakened but not killed the hybrids unless the Chaos had spread to most of their bodies. There were only so many Origin mes that Lith could use before they destabilized his cracked life force so he had to use them sparely.

    ''Fighting them head-on is pointless. We need to Blink and hit!'' Phloria said while dodging thanks to her Full Guard the tier four Chaos spells, Howling Void, that the hybrid cast non-stop.

    Such spells were both incredibly dangerous and nigh-impossible to block, forcing everyone to dodge both the attacks directly aimed at them and those that theirpanions had avoided.

    The group of Awakened could only use darkness magic as a means of offense, yet it was slow whereas Chaos moved faster than a bullet.

    Thanks to the mind link, Phloria shared her n and assigned everyone their respective mark to avoid people striking at the same hybrid or offering an easy target to the other enemies.

    The group Blinked as one, appearing behind a different vulture each and sting them with a tier four darkness spell from point-nk range. The Chaos that ravaged the hybrids instinctively fed upon the light that stillprised the Awakened''s spells, turning them into Chaos as well.

    The four darkness sts turned into oversized Howling Voids that decimated the vultures and created an opening for escape.

    ''Good gods, that was way more effective than I thought!'' Phloria said while the others Blinked near her to follow the n and re-establish the mind link that dimensional magic had broken.

    They quickly reached the tunnel that connected the city with the entrance but they found Vareen waiting for them. He had already found the safe that Athung had emptied but instead of angering him, the sight of the thieves made him happy.

    Seeing a living Abomination working along with humans was all the proof Vareen needed to believe to have found what he looked for.

 Chapter 1525 Going All Out Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1525 Going All Out Part 1</h4>

    The sudden death of so many of his minions due to the powerful Chaos spells had drawn the guespreader''s attention.

    ''This is really Urgamakka and those old bastards found the secret of the white core after I left. I don''t need to read documents when I can just study the final product of our research.'' He thought.

    The Eldritch believed that Lith was a prisoner of the Awakened and that they had used him as a guinea pig for the breathing technique they had recovered before attempting it on themselves.

    He had then Blinked at his minions'' coordinates to retrieve the specimen.

    "Don''t worry, brother. You have nothing to fear from the humans anymore. I''m here to rescue you." Vareen said with a smile while offering Lith a hand that Life Vision revealed to be filled with tainted life force.

    "All I ask in return is to know how you got your body back and for you to share the breathing technique for the white core with me. Do we have a deal?"

    ''I''ll stall for as long as I can.'' Lith said via the mind link, grateful that Abominations couldn''t see them. ''Prepare your best spells. We''ve got only one shot at this. The moment this moron understands I have no idea what he''s talking about, he''ll kill us all.''

    "Not at all." He actually said. "How do I know that as soon as I tell you the secret of the white core you won''t just kill me along with the humans?"

    "You can''t." Fury twisted Vareen''s face as the little patience that he had left ran out. "Look, I''m just trying to be polite. Either you tell me or I''ll make you. I have no idea if my Contagion spell works on Abominations as well, but I''m willing to find out.

    "You have no idea the amount of pain I can inflict upon-"

    "Get out of here, Scrooge. I''ll deal with this old fart!" Zolgrish shoved his golden staff inside of the Eldritch''s mouth before unleashing a tier five darkness spell that made him explode like an overinted balloon.

    ''I don''t know whether to be more surprised by the fact that Zolgrish is here or that for once he remembered your name.'' Solus said.

    ''Very funny.'' Lith replied while the group darted away.

    "Seriously? A Lich?" Vareen reformed his body while unleashing a barrage of low-tiered Chaos spells and conjuring his minions to help him.

    The infected animals couldn''t catch up with the escaping Awakened but they could easily take care of the undead in his stead.

    "Not any Lich! My name is Inxialot." Zolgrish lied through his teeth.

    "That son of a shitting asshole!" The real Inxialot jumped up in outrage.

    While facing an immortal creature as powerful as Vareen, it was of paramount importance to hide one''s owns identity. Otherwise in the case that either of them escaped, the Eldritch might look for him in search of revenge.

    Zolgrish had revealed his mentor''s name to both get even with Inxialot for throwing him against Vareen and to make sure that he wouldn''t be the one who would have to watch his back even if the Council failed to kill the Eldritch.

    "Master is crazy, not stupid." Ratpack said, proud of his creator for the first time ever.

    "Inxialot? The King of the Liches?" Vareen asked.

    "That guy!" Zolgrish had infused his staff with several spells and had taken his time to prepare even more that he kept at the ready while rescuing the unconscious Awakened.

    A simple wave of his hand turned the ceiling of the cave into a waterfall of ck moltenva as the air around them became filled with ck bolts of lightning and a tornado filled with darkness magic slowly engulfed them.

    All those spells came from Zolgrish''s mana and were infused with his will. They could do him no harm but everyone else wasn''t so lucky. The still healthy parts of the infected creatures burned, decayed, and got electrocuted.

    Once their entire bodies turned into Chaos, with no more life force to keep it in check, they disappeared with wails of agony and joy, knowing that pain would also be thest.

    "Nice try, for a Lich." The Eldritch said while activating his tier five Chaos spell, Chaos Deconstruction.

    A thin ck mist burst from Vareen''s body and engulfed the area one hundred meters (330 feet) around him. The Chaos particles separated the mana from the world energy, turningva into rock, lightning into the air, and Zolgrish into a pile of bones that fell to the ground with a ng.

    "Too bad that unless you guys bring your oh-so-precious phctery with you, once I cut your link with it you are sitting ducks." He said while a Howling Void destroyed both the Lich''s remains and his equipment.

    "That fucker!" Zolgrish''s voice now came from the phctery that he had left in the Control Center, just to be safe.

    "Yeah, that''s cheating." Inxialot nodded.

    "I was referring to you!" Zolgrish replied. "I demandpensation for the stuff that the Eldritch destroyed and for the time I''ll be stuck inside my phctery. Do you have any idea how long it takes to reform my body from dust?"

    "I know." Inxialot said with a sigh while taking his own phctery to not end up like Zolgrish as he Warped to the rescue.

    After feeding on the Lich, Vareen was back to his full strength so he didn''t hesitate to use Chaos Blinks to catch up with his prey, appearing right in front of them along with a wall of ck energy that would kill anyone attempting to cross it.

    "Now that you had some time to think do you still want to make this the easy way or the hard way?" He asked.

    "The hard way." Lith replied as he Blinked Solus''s Eye to Phloria and Aalejah Blinked her Yggdrasill staff to him.

    "What the heck are you-" The Eldritch choked on his words seeing the Tiamat turning into a lesser Abomination. "Are you insane? Would you really give up on life and go back being an undead rather than sharing the secret of the white core with me?"

    ''I''m going to try some crazy stuff, but I don''t think I can do it alone. I need your help.'' Lith said to the elf via the mind link.

    ''If you can hold out for a minute without me, I''m almost ready with my preparations.'' Phloria had never stopped chanting from the moment they had gotten rid of the infected hybrids, even using Invigoration a few times to recover her strength.

    ''How the heck do you take hold of so many spells?'' Athung asked while sending a telepathic nod.

    Lith had no idea what her n was either, but he had no time to waste worrying about it. He focused on the Yggdrasill staff while activating the Demons of Darkness. Just like thest time, the souls flooded his body, yet the oue waspletely different.

    Aalejah helped him through the mind link, using the abilities of the staff and the knowledge from the World Tree to let only one soul at a time fuse with his mind. This way, Lith could overpower and kick out those who had no use to him while he searched for the right one.

 Chapter 1526 Going All Out Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1526 Going All Out Part 2</h4>

    Athung bought them precious seconds by enveloping Vareen with six different elemental sealing arrays, sending the Eldritch crashing against the ground below. Chaos was just corrupted darkness and it could be sealed the same way.

    "Nice trick, kid. Too bad that they already tried to destroy me with arrays the size of a city and failed nheless!" He said while shapeshifting his body so as to reach the runes thatprised the magical formations and destroy them.

    The sealing arrays kept him from using any kind of magic, but they also kept others from attacking him with spells. On top of that, an Eldritch''s body wasprised of pure Chaos and their shape depended solely on their will.

    Arrays could do nothing against the magic flowing inside of him, they could only block what he manifested on the outside.

    "We''ll see about that!" Athung and Aalejah unleashed the tier five Spirit Magic spell, Confined Space.

    It conjured two concentric cubes of pure mana around Vareen that sealed him while also stopping his tendrils in their tracks before they could take down the arrays. In theory, they were the perfect tool to restrict an opponent incapable of using Spirit Magic whose magical powers had been sealed.

    s, the power of theirbined bright blue cores was nothingpared to Vareen''s ck core. The Chaos that flowed inside his body destroyed the cubes in a matter of seconds before moving onto the arrays.

    Casting so many arrays at the same time along with such a powerful Spirit Magic spell hadpletely exhausted Athung''s strength. She would be a sitting duck until she replenished her strength with Invigoration.

    Aalejah fared even worse. She had poured all of her mana into the Confined Space and helping Lith required so much of her focus that she was incapable of using her breathing technique.

    "Goodbye and good riddance." Vareen pointed his index and medium fingers at the two women''s forehead, making them extend at breakneck speed.

    Yet the elongated fingers never reached their target due to a sh of Adamant cutting them asunder.

    "We meet again, old friend." The voice came out of the lesser Abomination, but it didn''t belong to Lith.

    The mass of shadows didn''t even look like Derek McCoy anymore but as someone much taller and older, with a luscious beard that almost reached his waist.

    "Renkar? This is impossible! I killed you myself. How can you still be alive?" Vareen blurted out in surprise.

    He was so shocked that he almost didn''t notice his severed fingers floating in circles over the old mage''s left hand while he held War with the right.

    Almost.

    "You died as well when you failed to achieve the violet core. If death didn''t stop you, why should I be any different?" Renkar had a huge smile while spouting the bullshit listed in Lith''s script.

    "This is bullshit!" Vareen said. "It doesn''t work like that. Either you be an Abomination at the moment of your death, while you are still full of energy or you don''t. This is just a trick!"

    Yet Lith''s bodynguage had bepletely different. His footwork and technique belonged to someone who had practiced the sword for centuries, not just a few years.

    Vareen made new limbs emerge from his humanoid body, attacking at Renkar from every side. Yet the old Awakened dodged most of them and cut down with War those that appeared out of the ground or from his allegedly blind spots.

    "Did you really think that I could forget the technique that you used to kill me?"

    "It''s really you! How?" Vareen feared very few things, but the unknown was among them.

    "Fuck you, that''s how!" Renkar threw the fingers back at their rightful owner who didn''t even bother dodging them.

    At least until they suddenly grew in size, bing as thick as a small tree and faster than a bullet. Each one of the two fingers had just turned into a tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void.

    "What the fuck?" For the first time in millennia, pain overwhelmed even Vareen''s hunger.

    "You should have listened. I''ve learned a lot from thest time we faced!" Renkar dashed forward with a straight face, hoping that the Eldritch would buy such nonsense.

    The Howling Voids were just Vareen''s Chaos energy that Lith had controlled and amplified with Domination. He had no idea how to safely generate Chaos, but using that of another Abomination as a base made things much easier.

    It was akin to using an already aze torch to spread the fire. Lith didn''t need to know how to make or lit a torch, only to touch something to set it aze.

    As for Renkar, he came from Lith''s bloodline ability, Possession. It had taken him a while to find among the souls around him one that didn''t actually follow Lith but the Eldritch.

    After that, they had fused akin to how he usually did with Solus, yet to make sure to be the dominant personality Lith needed both Aalejah''s help and the Yggdrasill staff. Without the former, he wouldn''t have had control over the wandering soul while without thetter his body would have already started to turn into Chaos.

    His lesser Abomination form was too unstable to even withstand a single living being, let alone two.

    It was a move that Lith had learned how to perform during his experiments with Aalejah but that he had discarded, deeming it too dangerous. Yet, now he had no other option left.

    The Tiamat''s unknown nature coupled with the presence of a lost mage would allow him to freely use abilities like Domination and pin them on the soul that had merged with his body.

    Renkar didn''t like being a puppet at first, but after learning from the mind fusion that he would get his revenge on his murderer and go down in history books as a mage of untold power instead of just be a footnote, he had dly epted.

    War, instead, was greatly annoyed by the presence of the intruder. The foreign energy signature that now controlled its enchantments angered the de, forcing Lith to spend focus and energy to reassure War.

    Vareen snarled in outrage as Renkar dodged his attacks and War cut deep wounds in the Chaos thatprised his body, taking small bits of Chaos away with every sh. The Eldritch wasn''t used to fight someone who knew his attack patterns and was capable of anticipating each of his tactics.

    Tired of that game of tag, the guespreader conjured his tier five Chaos Spell, Concussive st.

    Several small spheres of Chaos capable of chasing their target left Vareen''s hand and moved toward Lith. Yet the spheres ignored their mark who charged forward and crashed against a hard-light construct that Lith had left behind akin to a residual image.

    Concussing st destroyed conjured puppet before exploding with so much violence that the tunnel quaked all the way up to the surface.

    "What?" Vareen was bbergasted and so was everyone but Solus and the World Tree that was following the fight from the staff, studying Lith''s every move.

    ''How ingenious.'' They thought in unison.

    ''Lith''s current form has so little light element that Chaos has trouble identifying him. He managed to fool the homing spell simply by leaving behind enough light magic to lure those spheres with a much stronger energy signature.''

 Chapter 1527 Chaos Unleashed Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1527 Chaos Unleashed Part 1</h4>

    There was a reason why Lith had taken the Monocle off before the fight. He didn''t want the Tree to discover about Solus nor to put her at risk in the case his n failed and his body turned into Chaos again.

    Without Solus, Lith could exploit the full power of his Abomination form and discharge the Chaos resulting from any mistake he might make on the wood of the World Tree.

    Renkar swept the Yggdrasill staff over War, collecting the traces of Chaos and amplifying them with Domination. The angry de had already flooded the Eldritch''s remains with Lith''s energy signature thanks to its World Mirror skill, making the process easier.

    The small drops of dark matter turned into a hail of tier four Chaos Arrows that chased Vareen like sharks after a blood trail. This time, however, the Eldritch knew what would happen so he conjured the tier five spell, Devouring Wall.

    A ck sphere of Chaos enveloped him, making him immune to such a weak attack.

    Or so he thought until the sphere opened akin to an automated door in front of the Arrows, letting them through and hitting him square on the chest and head.

    ''Nice use of Domination, kid. If I didn''t know about such an ability, I would have fallen for your trickery and believed that your spells had overpowered Vareen''s.'' The World Tree said with a chuckle.

    ''Thank you for nothing, asshole. If you have the time to makements, why are you here instead of sending reinforcements?'' Lith asked.

    ''That''s exactly what I''ve done, you ungrateful runt.'' The Yggdrasill replied. ''Help is already underway. I contacted Sark the moment I saw Vareen. She should be there any minute now.''

    ''We''ll be dead one minute from now!'' Lith could see with Life Vision that his tricks had managed to destroy the Eldritch, but his body was already reforming. ''You know this guy so any advice on how to get out of here alive?''

    ''Don''t die.'' The Tree said. ''If you seed, I''ll dly have you as my guest to thoroughly analyze your body and skills.''

    ''My six years old brother could have told me the same thing, you useless piece of wood!'' Lith replied while dodging a barrage of Chaos spells.

    "Fine, I wanted to take you alive to make you talk, but there are a lot of things that I can learn from a corpse as well!" Vareen took the kid gloves off and his ck core emitted an aura so powerful that it blinded even the Awakened''s mystical senses.

    Eldritchs were the pinnacle of natural undead just like full-red blood-cored people were the pinnacle of Baba Yaga''s children, yet the difference in strength between them was enormous.

    ording to the rumors that Faluel had told Lith, ck cores were even more powerful than white-cored Awakened when it came down to destructive abilities.

    Vareen dashed forward, using the darkness as a cover to take out his enemies in one fell swoop. He moved so quickly that even Lith''s enhanced body couldn''t keep up with him.

    Luckily for Lith, the unnatural darkness didn''t affect the Scalewalker armor''s Full Guard, which allowed him to Blink away the moment he perceived the enemy. Yet Vareen still managed to extend his ws in a lunge at Lith''s heart while he Warped away.

    The Tiamat had no will to see what happened to his lesser Abomination form when the ces where his vitals were supposed to be were destroyed nor to endanger War. He used the Yggdrasill staff to block, not giving a damn about the chatty tree.

    The impact sent him flying away as soon as he came out of the Warp and left deep ck marks in the Tree''s wood. Lith could now hear the Yggdrasill scream in pain as they fought the infection and kept it from spreading to the rest of the staff.

    On the one hand, Lith had avoided a deadly strike and gotten further away from the enemy. On the other hand, however, he hadpromised the staff and its ability to keep his focus.

    Renkar felt the shift in the bnce and tried to take over Lith''s body.

    ''Why should I just y wingman when I can also get back to life in a body that possesses untold powers? Youth is wasted on the young.'' He thought as greed blinded him.

    The sudden conflict slowed Lith down, allowing Vareen to find him and tounch a second attack that pierced through the lesser Abomination''s heart. Or better, it would have if Lith still had one.

    Yet even his temporaryck of vital organs couldn''t stop the Eldritch''s corrupted life force from infecting him.

    ''Do you want to live so badly? Then live, fucker!'' Lith and Aalejah sealed Renkar in the infected darkness before giving him enough life force to make it a separate being from Lith.

    Renkar found himself out of Lith''s body as he wanted, but trapped in a deadly cage. He suffered so much pain as the Chaos devoured his new form that the soul gave up on life and moved on.

    Lith had avoided the infection, but he had now a gaping hole in his chest. To make matters worse, losing such a big chunk of his body was akin to self-muttion. The pain and the shock paralyzed him, forcing Lith to focus solely on keeping his body from fading away.

    ''Don''t worry, I''m still here. Your lesser Abomination form is already going haywire. Go back to Tiamat as soon as I patch you up.'' Aalejah ignored the agonizing voice of the Treeing from the staff and used what little mana she had left to treat his wounds.

    ''Are you insane? Why did youe here? Now he can kill us both at the same time!'' The answer to Lith''s question came in the form of a tornado filled with air des and ice spikes that sucked the darkness away while also trapping Vareen in its eye.

    "Do you really think that a simple Frostmaw can-" A tier four penta-elemental Spirit Spell cut the Eldritch short.

    Four emerald pirs struck at him from the front, back, above, and below, giving Phloria the exact coordinates to unleash a fifth pir that erupted from Vareen''s chest.

    ''No, I''m not insane. It''s just that your apprentice needed less than one minute.'' The elf replied as the tier five Battlemage spell, Bonegrinder, joined Frostmaw and Pinning Star before the Eldritch could even understand what was happening.

    The darkness infused ceiling and ground rushed against the still trapped Abomination, generating a thunderp every time they shed. Then, a fourth, and fifth, and a sixth tier five spell appeared one after the other.

    ''I was against four runts, not a trained army.'' Vareen thought as he was hit by the coordinated attack of the tier five spells and by a new tier four Spirit Spell. ''Where do those spellse from and how can their mana not disrupt the destructive power of the others?

    ''No matter how good their coordination is, such a perfect synchrony cannot be achieved even with a mind link.''

    Vareen was right, even a mind link wouldn''t allow for such quickmunication as to unleash so many spells without any pause nor creating a single opening for him to escape.

 Chapter 1528 Chaos Unleashed Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1528 Chaos Unleashed Part 2</h4>

    The answer to all of his questionsy in Reaver, the estoc that Orion had forged for Phloria back when he had crafted War for Lith.

    Lord Ernas had enchanted his daughter''s de with the ability to hold spells on its own. Reaver relieved Phloria from the mental burden that keeping several spells at the ready required and prevented them from dissipating in the case she lost her focus.

    Unlike a magic holding ring, the estoc didn''t have a limit to the number of spells it could store, but it couldn''t maintain them for more than two minutes. It was the perfect weapon for a fake mage, allowing its wielder to pack the same assault prowess of a small unit on short notice.

    To an Awakened who could cast spells with their mind and use Invigoration to replenish their mana at will, however, Reaver granted the same power of an army. Phloria had now at her fingertips two full minutes of casting, allowing her to relentlessly attack while she kept refueling the estoc.

    She didn''t need hand signs anymore so she could keep using her mind to cast new spells to store inside Reaver while unleashing those that were close to expiring. At the same time, she used Invigoration to never run out of mana.

    The only weakness of her weapon was its inability to hold Spirit Magic spells, but those she could keep on her own.

    "Fuck off, girl!" Vareen couldn''t move due to the hepta-elemental onught that bombarded him from every side, but he could still cast spells.

    A tier four Void Howling left his palm and moved towards Phloria too fast to be dodged. Coordinating so many spells at the same time while also weaving more required her full focus.

    That''s why when Full Guard read the iing attack she didn''t move and raised her Adamant shield, Breaker. The ck stone at its center came to life, turning into a ck liquid that covered the silver surface of Breaker until it became a ck te.

    When the Void Howling hit, the multiple Darwenyers that now covered the shield shattered the spell''s mana flow into countless smaller streams that the Adamant underneath deflected with minimum effort.

    ''Fuck me sideways, Orion spared no efforts for his daughters. Phloria is damn overgeared.'' Lith thought. ''Wait, what are those?''

    He regretted being separated from Solus who could have probably answered his question.

    ''What the fuck are those?'' Solus thought in amazement.

    A glowing rune appeared around the estoc with each spell that Reaver unleashed. Another function of the de was to collect any bit of mana that failed to strike at the enemy and use it to fuel another of its pseudo cores.

    There were so many runes around Reaver now that they formed a spiral that went from the hilt to the tip of the de. By absorbing them, Phloria was supposed to temporarily boost her physical prowess and be coated in a defensiveyer of solid mana thanks to Reaver''s Take and Give ability.

    ''How can that guy be still standing?'' Lith couldn''t believe his eyes when Life Vision revealed that the hail of spells that would have ttened a mountain had just weakened the Eldritch.

    ''Did you really expect a blue cored Awakened to be effective?'' Aalejah replied. ''It takes the Council dozens of Elders to face a single Abomination as strong as Vareen. Even the World Tree is wary of their powers.''

    The guespreader dashed forward the moment that the frequency of the spells decreased enough to create an opening and aimed at Lith again. Vareen was now not only annoyed for being hurt so much by a bunch of babies but also worried.

    ''If the Council called for help the moment that I cut off themunications, Sark might arrive here any second now. Between the revived Abomination''s Chaos spells and the one-woman army, I''ve taken too much damage.

    ''I need to get out of here before-'' A sudden sh of light barely below the speed of sound severed his arm, sent the Eldritch crashing against a wall, and derailed his train of thought.

    Unfortunately for him, Phloria was far from being done.

    The Take and Give skill would have been pointless against an opponent of Vareen''s caliber. She was well aware that only a bright violet cored Awakened might have been boosted by Reaver''s skill enough to go toe to toe against an Eldritch.

    Yet, unlike Lith, she had spent lots of time getting used to her equipment and find ways of using it that not even Orion had imagined.

    Instead of just absorbing the glowing runes that orbited around Reaver''s de, Phloria had learned how to make that energy flow from the estoc to her and back at will. The repeated exchange allowed her to control Reaver''s every enchantment as if it was her own.

    Unbeknownst to her, Phloria had found a way to forcibly raise thepatibility between her and her weapon, creating her first de Tier spell, Omnish.

    The energy stored by Take and Give to boost her body was now perfectly mixed with Fusion Magic, allowing her to make it explode all in a few seconds instead of slowly consuming it.

    Phloria moved now so quickly that even Vareen''s eyes saw only a blur. His Chaos spells were incapable of following her footwork and hit only air. On top of that, a bright blue sheath of energy covered both Phloria and Reaver, shielding them from the Eldritch''s corrosive touch.

    ''How the heck can this fucker be so strong as to still manage to follow my movements?'' She thought while dodging spells and ws that suddenly erupted from Vareen''s allegedly blind spots.

    ''If not for Full Guard, I would be already dead. I could move faster, but thest time I tried that, the sonic boom burst my eardrums and I spent half an hour puking until I managed to heal the damage.''

    Phloria had trained a lot to master Omnish, discovering its strengths, weaknesses, and limits. Orion was proud of her, having no clue how his daughter had achieved such an ability while Faluel had suggested her to keep it a secret.

    The best trump cards had to remain hidden. Also, the Hydra didn''t want Lith to die from overwork.

    Phloria kept circling around Vareen in an irregr pattern, cutting him asunder with each step she took. The Eldritch could only helplessly grit his teeth while he was reduced to smaller and smaller pieces.

    ''I have no vitals and she''s going to run out of steam at some point. Time is by my side.'' He thought.

    Yet when Phloria felt her body reach its limits, she consumed all the strength she had left in a vertical sh faster than sound. The sudden burst of mana, the shockwave that her movement produced, and the mastery of her swordy turned Vareen''s body from small pieces into dust.

    Phloria, Lith, Athung, and Aalejah erected a Hush zone to protect themselves, but it wasn''t enough. Thebined tier one spell took the brunt of the impact and disappeared, leaving behind enough noise to damage the Awakened''s eardrums and impair their sense of bnce.

    Only Lith who stillcked organs and ears managed to still stand.

    ''Oh, fuck me sideways!'' He thought in horror.

    Lith had yet to take the first breath of Abyssal Gaze and retrieve Solus with Spirit Magic that the dust was already reassembling into a humanoid body.

 Chapter 1529 Mirror Magic Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1529 Mirror Magic Part 1</h4>

    When facing an Eldritch, damage didn''t matter. The only way to kill them was to force the Abomination to consume all of the energy thatprised their bodies.

    Before Vareen could fully reform, Inxialot Warped from the shadows and unleashed all the spells that he had kept at the ready. The King of Liches didn''t care one bit for the apprentices and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack.

    ''He who strikes first strikes twice, but he who backstabs gets a lot of free strikes!'' He thought with a huge grin on his skeletal face.

    Inxialot emptied his magic holding rings and exhausted his artifacts'' power cores in a single attack that created an explosion so powerful that now Urgamakka became visible from the surface.

    The young Awakened had survived the st only thanks to Inxialot Blinking them at a safe distance.

    "Another Lich? What the heck is wrong with this ce?" Vareen said in frustration as the undead Blinked away as well. "Come back here, you coward!"

    "It''s not cowardice avoiding an opponent you can''t beat, Vareen. It''s wisdom." A feminine voice said as a white Warp appeared in front of him.

    "When Sark asked me to deal with an Eldritch asshole in exchange for a pardon, I didn''t know that it was you nor that you were attacking my disciple. Otherwise I would have done it for free. Lucky me."

    The woman in front of the Eldritch looked to be in her early forties, about 1.60 meters (5''3") tall with seven streaks of different colors almost entirely covering her light brown hair. Her dark brown eyes brimmed with white light as she stared at Vareen.

    Her features were human, yet Solus''s mana sense could see the full-red blood core burning inside her chest while a bright white mana core shone from the ne hanging from her neck.

    ''A Lich! That woman is a white cored Lich!'' Solus said to Lith as he returned to his human form after closing the hole in his chest.

    "Aylen! How can you still be alive?" Vareen said with greed and surprise.

    They had met millennia ago in the real Urgamakka, back when she was still a young apprentice and he was already a powerful Eldritch.

    "Master, what are you doing here?" Inxialot asked from a Gate, ready to close it the moment things turned for the worse.

    "I havee to clean your mess and settle things up with an old friend." She replied.

    "Answer to my question, woman. Did you achieve the white core thanks to my research? Is this how you are still alive?" The Eldritch didn''t like being ignored but he could use that time to conjure his pets and absorb them to recover part of his lost strength.

    "Yes and no." Aylen replied, d to have the time to weave a few more spells. "Urgamakka fell long before that. I had to turn myself into a Lich in order to survive long enough to achieve the white core."

    "Then I have found not one, but two sources that will allow me to return back to life!" Vareen retrieved the Chaos and the life force that the corrupted animals had stored and jumped at the Lich with renewed vigor.

    "About that¡­" Aylen unleashed Silverwing''s Annihtion, a Spirit formation that required seven violet-cored Awakened to reach its true power, but a white-cored could use it on their own.

    Seven differently colored rays of light showered the Eldritch, inflicting upon him pain as he had never felt before.

    The ck ray sealed the Chaos ability to absorb or at least weaken the other elements, allowing the other six to deal to his defenseless body so much damage that it turned Vareen into dust again.

    "What trickery is that?" He said while rebuilding his body for the fifth time in less than five minutes.

    "A spell devised to fight Guardians. I expected it to deal more damage." Aylen scratched her chin in confusion while studying the Eldritch with Life Vision.

    "If you ever fight a real Guardian, you should use something like this!" Vareen unleashed his tier five Chaos spell, Shredding Void.

    Countless wind des imbued with Chaos filled the air, making the Gate from which Inxialot spectated copse and cutting his head off.

    "This doesn''t bode well." The Lich King said after he failed to retrieve his head and it became food for the Abomination along with all the relics it wore.

    Shredding Void would not only destroy everything in its area of effect, but it would also feed the collected energy from the ground, the air, and from any life form present directly to its caster.

    Aylen activated Silverwing''s Bastion, another of the magical formations that the First Magus had shared to allow her fellow Awakened to withstand even a Guardian Tier spell.

    Thanks to the array, the Lich suffered no damage but, seeing how Vareen became stronger by the second, she understood to actually be in a pinch.

    ''Dammit, all this work for just one pardon? I should have never epted to fill in for Sinmara when she asked me to. I bet that she set me up to study my most powerful spells.'' Aylen had brought her phctery with her because it was the only way to not end up like Zolgrish.

    At the same time, however, it made it impossible for her to run away or ept defeat. If the Eldritch put his hands on the magical gemstone, Aylen would be his ve or die.

    "Nice barrier. I''ve never seen anything like that before." Vareen snapped his fingers, making more of his infected animals appear and attack the Bastion.

    Between the Shredding Void and the horde of Chaos beasts, the array started to crumble faster than the Lich could regenerate it.

    "Well yed, old hag!" Aylen yelled to the skies, where she was certain that Sinmara or another member of Sark''s nest was watching the fight. "You cornered me, forcing my hand. Here is what I can do when I get serious."

    The Lich started to move her right hand clockwise, making spheres of different elements appear at the six points of a star.

    "Silverwing''s Hexagram?" Vareen blurted out in surprise. "Is it the old age or the istion that made you go senile?"

    "No, moron. Mirror Magic." Aylen said, yet her words made no sense to anyone, from Lith to Sinmara who really was watching the fight from the sky.

    A ck sphere of Chaos had appeared above the Lich''s head, followed by a red sphere of Cinder at her right shoulder. A brown sphere of Corruption formed at her shin, quickly followed by a silver sphere of Decay right above her feet.

    Then also a blue sphere of Zero and a yellow sphere of Choke appeared. All the six elements had been stripped of their respective counterpart, destroying their bnce.

    "What? Did you really think that Chaos was the only cursed element?" The Lich unleashed a burst of Chaos the size and speed of a maglev train. "You can''t mix them together and they are highly vtile, but when ites to destruction, they are great."

    She acted cool, yet only thanks to both halves of her core being close and to the Bastion array did Aylen''s regenerative abilities manage to keep up with the damage that conjuring the cursed elements inflicted upon her body.

 Chapter 1530 Mirror Magic Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1530 Mirror Magic Part 2</h4>

    Vareen attempted to dodge the Chaos by imitating Lith''s earlier trick, but Aylen unleashed the Corruption element that turned the ground into a powerful acid and devoured the beasts that he nned to use as scapegoats.

    The Eldritch tried to Blink away, but the sudden imbnce in the earth element foiled his spell. Aylen''s spell hit him square on and Chaos fought Chaos in a vicious cycle that left Vareen heavily wounded.

    ''Damn, I need to get away from here.'' He tried and failed again to Blink, incapable ofpensating for the Corruption that now reced the earth element.

    With no chance to escape, Vareen focused most of his power into his personal Chaos Spell, Extinction Meteor.

    "That seems dangerous." Aylen released the Decay, sending it up in the sky.

    For an Eldritch, Decay was just a tasty meal, but it was also the perfect defense against Chaos Magic. The Meteor ignored its intended target and followed the pure light element akin to a hungry beast after a wounded prey.

    When the two spells shed, Decay canceled most of the Chaos and what remained was too far away to be a threat to Aylen.

    "This is impossible! You are way younger than me, how can you have reached this level of mastery over magic?" Vareen blurted out in surprise.

    Dodging a Chaos spell was something that he had seen happening countless times during his long life, but never before had someone managed topletely alter the trajectory of one of his spells despite it being infused with willpower.

    "You arepletely cut from the world energy whereas I''m at one with it. That''s how. Also, fighting weaklings teaches you nothing. Am I right, Sinmara?" Aylen unleashed Zero first, turning the desert into a frozen wastnd, and then Cinder.

    Even the Chaosprising the body of the Eldritch couldn''t absorb any of the mana or world energy thatprised the cursed elements due to their imbnced state. The first brought Vareen''s body to the absolute zero while the second instantly raised the temperature to thousands of degrees, making everything sublimate.

    The thermic shock coupled with the damage that each cursed element inflicted upon their area of effect shattered Vareen''s form for the sixth time in less than six minutes.

    ''Shit! If I was still at full strength, I might be on par with her, but those runts weakened me too much.

    ''On top of that, she''s right. I''ve stopped improving millennia ago I can''t remember thest time I fought an opponent that my pets couldn''t kill on their own.'' He thought while Blinking away with Chaos magic instead of darkness to extend the range of his spell.

    The Eldritchs were prideful creatures, but not stupid. They were too ancient and emotionless to consider retreat as something different from a strategic move.

    The silver lining was that he had not only learned about the existence of Mirror Magic but he had also gotten used to the elemental imbnce and was now capable of using dimensional magic under any circumstance.

    What Vareen hadcked for so long was a proper reason for improving his skills, not talent. He had always been a genius and he still was one.

    "Where do you think you are going?" Aylen had noticed both the entry and the exit point with Life Vision and had followed him with a Blink of her own. "I consider recurring enemies just like I consider jokes.

    "Once you hear them for the second time, they are not so funny anymore. That''s why I hate your guts, Sinmara!"

    Vareen didn''t know whether to be more shocked by seeing a regr Blink managing to follow a Chaos Blink or by the Lich talking to the Phoenix instead of to him.

    That was his final thought.

    Aylen unleashed Silverwing''s Annihtion, sealing his Chaos magic and destroying his body again. Then, before Vareen could reassemble his energy, he was struck by a second Annihtion. Then, by a third and a fourth until he died for good.

    Aylen had used the cover of Mirror Magic to buy the time to cast enough of Silverwing''s spells to ensure her victory.

    "This was truly exhausting." She panted heavily, unable to catch her breath.

    For almost two seconds. Then, her white core kicked in and restored her mana reserves at a speedparable to an Awakened breathing technique.

    "Are you kids alright?" The Lich found the Awakened''s hiding spot despite Athung''s best cloaking arrays and everyone helping her to sustain them.

    "Yes, ma''am." They replied in unison.

    "You don''t need to worry about me, Master." Inxialot stepped forward, his head already fully regenerated. "I have-"

    Aylen''s fist hit him from above like a sledgehammer, sending him to eat dirt.

    "I was talking to them." She said with her eyes brimming with white mana and fury. "You are an utter failure. You had one job: to keep the kids safe. Then why did I have to save those still in the city from the corrupted beasts and waste precious time?"

    "But-" Inxialot tried to say.

    "I''m not done, young man!" She cut him short. "We have much to discuss like the fact that the fake city looks exactly like my allegedly secretb!"

    "Mom, I''m the undead representative of the Council and you are embarrassing me in front of the apprentices!" He whined.

    "You don''t need my help with that. You''ve already made a fool out of yourself." Aylen replied with a snarl.

    While the white-cored Lich scolded her son, the young Awakened she had rescued from the Fake Urgamakka appeared on the surface in small groups. The Hordes were among them, but their power and mass had been greatly diminished.

    Some of them looked like a persistent puff of smoke.

    Now that the crisis was over, Aalejah started to tend to the damaged Yggdrasill staff that was still gued by the Chaos.

    ''Excellent work, my apprentice.'' The World Tree said amid gasps of pain. ''You are worthy of bing my Chronicler.''

    ''Thanks, master. Do you have any idea how Vareen found us? The border area between the Kingdome and the Desert it''s huge. Even with all those minions, it took him a stroke of considerable luck to reach Urgamakka while we were still there.''

    ''Luck yed no part in this story.'' The gasps turned into cackling and Aalejah stopped the treatment in surprise. ''I reminded him of Urgamakka so that stupid Eldritch would be close to the site of the test.

    ''I guided his steps so that he found you in time.''

    ''What test and why did you endanger everyone''s life?'' Shock and outrage froze the elf yet her curiosity prevailed.

    ''The entire city was a fake, you fool. Did you really think that an entire civilization could escape my notice? As for Vareen, I guided him because I knew that you couldn''t be trusted with the Tiamat.'' The Yggdrasill replied.

    ''I followed your experiments with him and noticed how soft you are. I did it to learn what I needed to know and to teach you a lesson. Only in a battle to the death will people be forced to reveal their true potential, not by sittingfortably in theirbs.

    ''By sending an Eldritch, I forced Lith to cross boundaries he would have avoided otherwise, to try dangerous techniques that gave us a glimpse of his true abilities.''

 Chapter 1531 Unveiling the Truth Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1531 Unveiling the Truth Part 1</h4>

    ''You risked our lives and killed several apprentices just for your experiments?'' The more Aalejah learned about the Tree''s n, the more she considered herself an idiot for having even considered bing a Chronicler.

    ''Those people had already failed their test, so the loss is insignificant. The Council will never know about it and even if they did, what could they possibly say? As you so kindly revealed to them during your pathetic heart to heart with the Tiamat, I''m as old as insane.''

    The maniacalughter made Aalejah snap and so did their mind link along with the staff.

    "You crazy fucker!" She yelled, drawing everyone''s attention to herself. "Let''s see how you like this!"

    The elf used healing magic on both extremities, making them grow. Yet she didn''t share any of her life force, consuming the essence of the Yggdrasill until it became just regr wood.

    "I need to report a crime." Aalejah said.

    "I''m all ears." Inxialot took the dust off his clothes to have a more official look.

    "I''d rather talk with someone sane." The elf took her Council amulet out while giving the Lich a polite bow.

    In her anger, she had forgotten that Inxialot was as dangerous and unreliable as the World Tree.

    "That crazy fucker!" The rest of the Council said in unison after Aalejah revealed to them the truth behind the ident.

    While they discussed the Tree''s punishment, the elf returned to her group and threw the second Yggdrasill staff at Lith.

    "Take it. The Tree nned to lure you to their Fringe with the promise of one of those. Consider that thepensation for unwittingly putting your life at risk. It''s my way to both say sorry and to piss the Yggdrasill off." She said.

    "With these staves, neither of us needs that damn Tree anymore."

    "Thanks. This certainly saves me a trip." Lith put the rough staff inside his pocket dimension, making sure that it was nothing but a crafting material for good.

    "One matter has still to be resolved." Athung said. "You are now a rogue Awakened and you need a new master. Do you at least know how to shapeshift to hide your ears?"

    "No, the mast- I mean, the fucker always did it for me." Aalejah shook her head.

    "Well, one of my apprentices just died and I could use another." An Awakened undead said, quickly followed by many others.

    "If you want, you cane with us." The fungal creature from Kh said. "We have no names, but you can call me Loma, if it makes things easier for you."

    The spores had taken the form of Aalejah in a sign of respect and because the other races found it awkward to talk with clouds of colored smoke.

    "Thanks, but I''m done with nts and with anything rted to them. If there''s something I learned during the past few days is that I enjoy thepany of humans over the other races." The elf replied.

    "Well, here''s my deal." Athung said. "I''m back being a regional Lord so I can take you in. We both have to find a way to reach the violet core and we could learn a lot from each other. Also, you''d live near your other friends."

    She pointed at Lith and Phloria to sweeten the pot.

    "I ept only if you take me in as your peer, keeping the disciple stuff only on paper. I don''t really know you and I''m done blindly trusting anyone." Aalejah offered her hand to Athung.

    A handshake sealed their deal and shortly after everyone was Warped back to their respective homes.

    "Jirni, Sark, and now even that Lich. Moms are terrifying." Lith could feel exhaustion making his head spin the moment the safety of Faluel''sir allowed him to rx.

    "Indeed." Phloria said amid pants. Omnish put such a heavy burden on her that even breathing techniques couldn''t alleviate her fatigue.

    Only food and sleep could restore her lost strength.

    "Well, the good news is that you two passed with flying colors!" The Hydra said. "You should have seen how envious the other Elders of the Council were while watching your lesser forms."

    "They what?" Lith was too tired to jump up. He barely managed to raise his voice.

    "We couldn''t allow for people to die or for legacy heirs to bully their peers, so you were under constant surveince." Faluel said. "We witnessed all of your experiments and skills."

    "Fuck. I can kiss my secrets goodbye." Phloria and Lith said in unison.

    "If it''s of any constion, the purpose of the test has never been to spy on any of you. I''ve sent you to Urgamakka solely to show the others how good of fighters my disciple are, to give you the opportunity to obtain Council knowledge, and to free you from your apprenticeship." Faluel said.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Every item you found is actually a clue to a secret of magic that all full-fledged members of the Council share. I couldn''t teach them to you unless you retrieved and showed them to me ording to the mission''s rules." She replied.

    "I get that. I mean the part about ending my apprenticeship." He said.

    "Just like Lenanna told you before your departure, the test is a rite of passage. One hundred years is the fixed term for apprentices that their master discards or doesn''t trust. In our case, since you are not my heir, I have already taught you almost everything I could.

    "Once you finish learning the magic that you have earned from the test, your apprenticeship will end. You will be a full member of the Council with the right to be a regional Lord or even an Elder, if you want.

    "You can still count on me and the Beast faction for everything but now no Awakened can ever pick up on you without making an enemy of the entire Council." Faluel said.

    "I have a lot of things to ask and a lot ofints to make, but I''m too tired for any of that. I''m going to sleep and eat to my heart content and then I''m going straight to the Desert. I need a real vacation for once." Lith said.

    "Don''t worry. I can tell Sark everything she can share with you from the spoils you collected in Urgamakka. We can deal with the rest upon your return." The Hydra said.

    "We''ll discuss my share of the loot in another moment. I think-" Phloria fell asleep on the couch, emitting a soft snoring.

    "Isn''t she precious, Lith?" Faluel turned to Lith, receiving more snoring in reply. They were so tired that even Solus had fallen asleep.

    ***

    While the young Awakened returned home and could finally recover from the tragic events of the final days of the fake city of Urgamakka, the Council representatives were far from done.

    The death and destruction caused by the World Tree in the attempt to force Lith to draw out the full potential of his Tiamat bloodline had only made more evident the limits of the current generation of Awakened.

    "From what I''ve seen from the footage, our problem is actually threefold. The apprentices, their masters, and their real-world experience have all been found wanting." Raagu, the human representative said.

 Chapter 1532 Unveiling the Truth Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1532 Unveiling the Truth Part 2</h4>

    She looked like a slender woman in herte fifties, but her real age neared the six hundred years. She was barely 1.6 meters (5''3") tall, with brown eyes and delicate features.

    Yet both her expression and her voice were cold, making her resemble a strict drill sergeant. She wore her long ck hair down, revealing them to be streaked with silver and brown all over.

    Age had turned some strands of hair into a silvery-white yet they didn''t make her look old so much as imposing. Raagu''s frame was so thin that a casual onlooker would have been worried that a sudden gust of wind might blow her away.

    Once they came close to her, however, they would perceive the vigor that her bright violet core bestowed upon her body, allowing her to fight on par with most Emperor Beasts.

    Even her emerald green robe was as deceptive as its wearer. Unlike normal enchanted items, Raagu''s clothes didn''t hold spells but arrays whose runes had been woven along with the fabric.

    "We had prepared this test like we always did. Simply to check who among our disciples was worthy of being freed from the shackles of their apprenticeship before the one hundred years term.

    "Yet if Thrud really aims to conquer the Griffon Kingdom with an army of Awakened, it would be a fight that we can''t sit out. To prepare for such an eventuality, we prepared threats that would test our disciples more as a group rather than as individuals.

    "Our purpose was to assess who among them would be a good soldier, who would be a good leader, and who instead would be a liability. The results of the test are undeniable. The problem doesn''ty solely in our youths, we are part of the problem as well." Raagu said.

    "Agreed." Lotho the Treant nodded.

    He looked like a giant oak tree that hade to life. Even while sitting, his treetop brushed the high ceiling of the Council Room and squirrels could be seen running up and down his massive body.

    If not for his huge amber eyes and the massive tree trunks that one would assume were Lotho''s limbs only because they came out of his body at the shoulder and hip level, the Awakened was no different from a regr tree.

    "Too many masters have proven to be incapable of properly raising their disciples. They may be great mages and excellent researchers, but their ability to judge people''s character is severelycking.

    "Faluel''s proposal for the Council to establish and fund an Awakened academy makes more and more sense. If we had it, we could now appoint those of us who have proven to be the best mentors as teachers and entrust those who have failed the test to their care."

    "Not only that." Fe the Behemoth said.

    In her human form, the lesser Griffon looked like a woman in herte thirties, but she was actually 453 years old. Fe was 1.9 meters (6''3") tall with blue eyes and a muscr yet curvy figure that seasoned warriors and women alike envied her.

    Her waist-long chestnut hair had streaks of silver, ck, and orange all over, forming a multi-colored tress that reached the small of her back. She had an oval face with delicate features, yet her bearing was that of a battle-hardened general.

    "Most of us focused too much on the magical talent of our apprentices, nurturing their mind and cores, yet we did nothing to prepare them for the challenges that await them once they leave our protection.

    "Their hubris originates from the fact that our youths never face a life-threatening situation without a safety until we make them official members of the Council. No matter what kind of stupid stunt they pull, they know that they can always call us for help.

    "People like Lith, Phloria, and Athung, instead,e from experiences either in the army, as mercenaries, or both. An Academy would not only allow the best teachers among us to make up for the masters'' shorings, but also to prepare more tests like Urgamakka.

    "Many hardheads have learned their lesson either by surviving Vareen or by witnessing the death of theirrades. Had they learned their limits before being humbled, many of them would still be alive." Fe sighed at the body count after the Eldritch''s attack.

    Among the dead of Urgamakka there was even one of the Hordes, reducing their number to eight until one more fungus managed to achieve sentience. The loss of a member of such a rare race along with their millennia of knowledge was a heavy blow for the Awakenedmunity.

    "That''s what we can say about the past. Now we should worry more about the future." Inxialot, the Lich King said.

    "We must prepare boot camps for all those who have failed the test so that they can pull their weight during the war or be assigned to logistics in the case theyck the talents necessary for the battlefield.

    "Also, I suggest a thorough psych evaluation for all the survivors. The worst enemy is always that within and many apprentices might have sustained scars they aren''t aware of yet. We can''t risk their trauma resurfacing while in action.

    "Last, but not least, I propose to start the arrangements for the academy right now. Let''s not fool ourselves. Even if we start now, it will take us decades to agree on every detail. All in favor?" Inxialot raised his hand.

    The other four representatives were so bbergasted that they remained still, with their mouths opening and closing like a school of fish.

    "Well, if that''s what you think, then I''ll take my leave. You don''t need my presence to keep bbering without doing anything." Inxialot stood up, but Leegaain stopped him.

    "I think to speak for everyone when I say that we all agree with you. What stunned us was a reasonable proposaling from you instead of another rant about wanting to go home quickly." The Father of all Dragons said.

    "I''m no Guardian, but I''m not dumb either." The Lich said with a snarl. "I had to sit there for days and then rewatch the footage with you. Using our brains is the only way to make sure that such events never happen again."

    The Council gave Inxialot a unanimous standing ovation.

    Too bad that their newfound respect for the King of the Liches was based on a misunderstanding. When Inxialot spoke about the recent tragic events, he actually referred to the test and its evaluation keeping him out of hisb, not about the death of the youths.

    ***

    "I can''t believe that I''m about to leave the Kingdom." Raaz wasn''t used to travel, let alone going to another country. "Do you think we can buy clothes on the other side? I don''t know how the climate in the Desert is and I don''t want to pack too much."

    "Don''t worry." Crevan replied, happy at the idea of going back home after months in Lutia. "Mother will give you everything you need."

    "Are you ready, little sister?" Lenanna asked Tista who had stored most of her possessions inside several dimensional items.

    "Yes. Ready when you are." She replied before stepping through the Warp Gate.

 Chapter 1533 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1533 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 1</h4>

    Before setting the date for his departure, Lith had needed a few days to rest, recover, and discuss his spoils of war with Faluel along with his ns for the natural treasures he had left.

    Since the Hydra already knew about them, there was no point in keeping the Dryad''s ransom and his ns hidden from her any longer. Also, since Aalejah had revealed to Lith the nature of the test, Faluel could exin to him what his loot was worth.

    "Your projects sound crazy, but all the new branches of Forgemastery do at first." Faluel nodded after pointing out everything hecked and the weak points of the devices in his blueprints. "I can''t believe you had a Dryad''s betrothal gift and you never told me about it."

    "It exins why Ryssa had them at the ready." Lith pondered. "I wonder if Marth got them as well or if he received nothing because of me."

    "I doubt that. She did it to save Lyta''s life so it''s only fair if she gave her own treasure to Ryssa aspensation. Besides, knowing the Dryads, Marth is likely to be the one who made the first move and give the betrothal gift." Solus said.

    "How not nice of you to keep me in the dark and to willy-nilly rob Dryads as well, Solus." Faluel threw a reproachful look at her for thepleteck of remorse.

    Solus''s eyes turned beet red in embarrassment, wondering how much Lith had been a bad influence on her.

    "By the way, what happened to the World Tree?" Lith asked, eager to change the subject.

    "Nice try to change the subject." Faluel said with a sneer.

    "After Aalejah exposed the Yggdrasill''s crimes, the Council had no choice but to sentence them to death. The World Tree had already admitted how dire their mental condition was and with Thrud at our doorstep, we couldn''t risk another scheme like that of Urgamakka."

    "When it''s going to happen?" Solus asked.

    "It''s already done." Faluel showed them the now missing rune of the old World Tree that had been reced by a new one. "The Yggdrasill had already chosen their sessor so the sentence was carried out immediately.

    "The elves have already left for the new World Tree and the Chroniclers have exchanged with us the newmunication rune. Aalejah is free to return to her people if she wishes so and you are officially allowed to keep the staff that she gifted to you.

    "Both the Council and the Yggdrasill consider it as a properpensation for your trouble."

    "I couldn''t agree more with them" Lith nodded. "By the way, are you going toe with us to the Desert?"

    "Heck no!" The Hydra even took a step back. "I finally have some free time for myself. I n to visit my family and enjoy thepany of my godchildren. I''m probably going to bring Protector along.

    "The poor Selia needs a vacation and her children need to spend some quality time with their father."

    "If you change your mind, this is the seal for the Desert." Lith gave her a small amulet that once brought near the Warp Gate in his barn would open a dimensional tunnel to his destination.

    He had given one to Zinya as well, just to stay safe. Once he was gone and the Phoenixes left, only the Queen''s Corps and Tezka would remain.

    Maybe.

    ''I know that Zin and Kami didn''t receive any Balkor card, but I can''t help but feel my guts turning into a knot at the thought of leaving them unprotected.'' To ease his worries, Lith went to talk with the Abomination hybrid before leaving.

    "Don''t worry, kid. I''m not going anywhere." The Fylgja was so tall that he patted Lith''s head as if he was just a child. "I''ll keep an eye on your home while you are gone. Did you really think that I would leave Zin unguarded?"

    Only Lith and Kam were supposed to use that moniker so hearing Tezka calling her like that meant that he had heard it from Vastor. It made Lith understand how deep Zinya''s rtionship with the Master was and how much he cared for her.

    "Thanks. I''m d that you are nothing like that asshole of your clone that I met in Maekosh." Lith told him all about their previous meeting, bbergasting the Fylgja.

    "Don''t thank me. I was that asshole back when I was a young Awakened. Not all of us started sane. Some, like me, needed a lot of time to pull their head out of their asses." Tezka replied

    "How long do you think you are going to stay in the Desert?"

    "As long as it takes." Lith said. "I''m tired of being involved in other people''s bullshit. Tired of being, used, manipted, or just be the target of a political organization. Under Grandma''s gaze, I dare anyone to try and mess with me."

    The Fylgja shuddered at the thought. A few years back, the Master had sent him to kill Balkor and avenge the dead students of the White Griffon, but during the time Tezka had spent there, the best that he had managed to do was to avoid getting caught.

    Lith said his goodbyes to the members of the Queen''s Corps, to the Kings of the woods, and to the magical beasts thatprised his personal army. Every single one of them whined at the Verhens'' departure for different reasons.

    He kept Zinya forst, hoping to meet Kam as well. s, fate had chosen otherwise.

    "If anything happens, call for Captain Locrias. He is still outside. If something really serious happens, just say this name, Tezka." Lith said.

    "Who is he?" Zinya asked.

    "Amon friend." Lith dodged the question and she didn''t pry further. "If even he can''t hold his ground, run to the barn with the kids and cross the Gate."

    "I will." She said while hugging him.

    "Say goodbye to Kam for me. I might be away for a month, maybe more."

    "Communication amulets are a thing, you know? I kind of remember you crafting mine. Why don''t you call Kami and tell her yourself?" She asked.

    "It would be awkward." He replied.

    "Yeah, because using a middleman is such a smooth move." Zinya said with a scoff.

    Having no way to win that argument, Lith just shrugged and walked away. He waved his hand to her onest time before walking through the Gate, joining his family in the Desert.

    ***

    Myrok household, that same morning.

    "I can''t believe that they have kicked you out of your own home nor that you are drinking this early." Kam said trying and failing to take a ss filled with single malt whiskey from Jirni''s hand.

    "Sue me." She pped Kam''s hand away and took a big sip.

    Jirni''s face was usually a mask, an empty space where she projected whatever she deemed more useful ording to the circumstances.

    Ever since she had received the official documents for the divorce that proved how serious Orion was, however, her expression was that of someone who only ate shit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

    Sadness, anger, and frustration twisted her face into different grimaces, but all of them were just the tip of the iceberg of self-loathing that she felt. For the first time in her life, Archon Jirni Ernas was having second thoughts.

 Chapter 1534 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1534 Two Sides of the Same Pain Part 2</h4>

    "I''m not just worried about your health, I''m also worried about your life." Kam said while pointing at the much inferior magical defenses that the Myrok Household hadpared to the Ernas.

    Unbeknownst to both women, the house was just as secure.

    The only reason why the Myrokcked magical blood to the point of having mostly mages that had married in the family was that the members of the Myrok''s bloodline with enough talent were passed to the Gernoff Household to be Awakened.

    It kept their magical legacy rich and away from political struggles, giving them the time to grow without anyone nipping them in the bud. In exchange, the Gernoff protected the Myrok''s household from the shadows.

    "You received one of the Balkor cards and if the culprit keeps following the same pattern, you are their next target." Kam said.

    "I know, yet here I am." Jirni nodded.

    "I don''t get it. How could you let them do this to you? Didn''t you tell the risks that sending you away implies?"

    "I beg your pardon?" Jirni tilted her head, clinking the ice in her ss.

    "I must admit that your actions deeply affected your family and caused them much suffering, but it''s nothingpared to what Deirus might have done if he was still alive. Not to mention that without you, sooner orter Quy would have really died." Kam said.

    "What''s your point?"

    "My point is that you did the wrong thing for the right reason. That albeit seemingly cruel and cold-hearted, you only did what was best for your family. You saved your daughter''s life and eliminated a traitor of the country.

    "It''s impossible to argue with your results so I find it unbelievable that you are going to sign those documents without even putting up a fight." Kam''s passionate speech only made Jirni chuckle.

    "What''s so funny?" She asked.

    "Are you kidding me?" Jirniughed heartily for the first time since she had staged Quy''s death in the Gardens of Saefel. "That''s riching from you. How is my situation with Orion any different from that between you and Lith?"

    Kam turned pale, fearing that somehow she had betrayed any if not all of Lith''s secrets while working along with the apparently omniscient Archon. She remained silent, praying to the gods to be wrong.

    "I know the guy for long enough to know that he didn''t cheat on you. Otherwise either your sister or my daughters would have skinned him alive. Hence the only possible exnation is that Lith kept a big secret from you.

    "Something that once revealed, it broke the bond of trust you had with him. Since you neither resent nor me him for that lie, he must have had some good reason. Yet here you are, after over three months from the revtion.

    "Speaking with me instead of saying your goodbyes on the day when we both know he''s going away to the Desert for the gods know how long. How does your concept of forgiveness work, exactly?

    "Because as far as I know, you have yet to forgive him. If you can''t do that after months, why should my husband do any different after less than two weeks?" Jirni asked, making Kam turn to a shade of purple.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to-"

    "Be a hypocrite? Don''t worry, it''s in the human nature being generous when it''s not your ass that got burned by the wrong thing done for the right reason." Jirni took a butterfly-shaped brooch out of her breast pocket.

    It had magical crystals of all colors for wings, a bodyprised of pure Adamant, and several enchantments. It was Orion''s betrothal gift and she never left it at home, no matter how dangerous or long a mission was.

    Back then, Orion''s father had called in lots of favors to allow his son to use such a precious metal despite the fact that back then Orion was a Forgemaster greener than grass.

    Yet her husband wanted something that not only could express his limited abilities to their fullest, but also that would represent their unbreakable bond.

    Looking at it, Jirni shed the first honest tear ever since she was a toddler, wishing for the Balkor copycat toe and put an end to her misery.

    ***

    Ernas Household, at the same time.

    "Dad, what''s the point in getting rid of Deirus and destroying his political faction if I''m still a prisoner in my own home?" Quy tried to put outrage in her voice, but Orion''s tender embrace softened it into the whine of a puppy trying to escape from its mother''s paws.

    "I''m so sorry, sweetie, but there are few Royal Fortress armor and right now they are all taken. As soon as one is avable and you can wear it, I''ll let you go everywhere you want." He kept checking her from time to time with diagnostic spells.

    Orion still couldn''t believe to have his baby back and feared that it was either an alcohol-induced hallucination or another of Jirni''s clones.

    "What? Since when can regr people borrow a Royal Fortress armor just to go on a stroll?" Quy said in surprise.

    "Regr people can''t, silly child. I just had to make a few calls. No one can say no to a grieving father." He tightened the embrace even more, snarling like a ferocious beast to anyone who dared to close in, even to the servants he knew from decades.

    "Except you''re not grieving and I''m alive." Quy tried and failed to escape. "I''m very sorry for what Mom put you through, Dad, and I can only imagine how much you must have suffered, but I want to live my life.

    "Phloria went on a trip with Lith first and now Friya is going to the desert. Why I am the only one that cannot step out of the house?"

    "You shouldn''t have strayed from the group!" Orion repeated the words that Jirni had spoken in the Gardens of Saefel the moment before Quy had been shot. "You shouldn''t have."

    He started sobbing again, making it impossible for Quy to point out how Jirni had manipted the clones so that their behavior would fit her ns. Her sisters had told Quy that after her alleged death, Orion had never been sober except that for the funeral.

    Despite the self-repair abilities that the Ernas mansion was imbued with, many rooms were still in shambles.

    During the two days before the break-in in Deirus'' house where he had learned the truth about Jirni''s n, Orion had wrecked his own home in a fit of rage whenever he sobered up.

    Quy didn''t want to reopen those wounds and preferred to be at house arrest again rather than causing more suffering to her father. They shared no blood, but ever since the day that Jirni had adopted her, Orion had treated her no differently from his other children.

    Being an orphan, Quy yearned for a family while with all of his babiesing close to leaving the house, Lord Ernas longed for someone to care for and protect.

    "Sir, there are guests requiring your presence. Can I let them in or should I send them off?" The family butler said from outside the door, having learned the hard way that the stealthy movements of a good servant were now a serious crime.

 Chapter 1535 On the Other Side Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1535 On the Other Side Part 1</h4>

    Ever since Quy had returned to house Ernas, whoever dared toe too close to Orion or to her unannounced would have a brush with death, if they were lucky.

    "Whoever those uninvited guests are, tell them to go fuck themselves." Lord Ernas replied.

    "They are three Archmages, sir. Do I have to be that explicit or am I allowed to ry your message with kinder words?" The butler asked.

    "Send them in." Orion sighed as he let go of Quy, giving her some personal space.

    A momentter, Vastor stepped through the door, followed by Marth and by Manohar who was hiding behind the Headmaster, pulling his clothes left and right so as to use him as a perfect human shield.

    "For what reason did Lady Myrok send you here?" His voice was calm, but he activated the arrays of the house with a bit more intensity than necessary.

    The magical formations paralyzed the three Archmages and only after Orion confirmed their identities did he let them go.

    "That was rude and unnecessary." Vastor said. "What kind of array was that?"

    "The kind I developed to make sure that you can''t pull on me what I saw you do on Deirus, dear Zogar." The violet me of Orion''s wrath started from his eyes and spread to his hand, where it took the form of a one-edged curved sword that emitted a ghastly wail.

    "Look, I''m sorry for what I did behind your back, but my actions don''t need an exnation. In simr circumstances, I''d do it again." Vastor said.

    "I wouldn''t expect any less from Lady Myrok''s favorite aplices." Orion clicked his tongue in disgust. "I''ll ask you only once more before kicking you out. Why are you here?"

    "Listen, as a future parent, I understand what you are going through-"

    "You have no idea, kid." Orion cut Marth short.

    "But what you are doing is wrong and excessive. We''ve been trying to get here for days. I just want to make sure Quy is alright while these two wanted to apologize to both of you for their actions." The Headmaster decided to ignore Lord Ernas'' rudeness for his colleagues'' sake.

    Marth couldn''t condone their actions but he couldn''t argue with their results either. Great things hade out from the partnership between the three gods and more magical marvels might be developed, if only they reconciled.

    "Speak for yourself." Manohar said. "I''m here to check if the alterations that I made on the meat puppet''s life force affected the original as well due to their telepathic bond. Do you mind if I examine you a bit, Quy?

    "I promise that this time I''m not going to put you in a tank against your will."

    "Are you insane? Why did you bring me here if you have no intention to fix the mess you''ve made?" Marth asked.

    "Because Orion has the hobby of beating Headmasters and you were supposed to be my diversion in the case something went wrong. Thanks for ruining my brilliant n!" The god of healing replied.

    "Look, I know a thing or two about divorce and I came here not only to apologize¡­" Vastor gave Orion a deep bow. "But also to tell you to think carefully about what you are doing. Some things cannot be taken back."

    The Professor pointed at the several paintings in the house where the image of Jirni had been reced by that of Lucky, the family Ry.

    "Apology epted." Orion rxed a bit but he still nailed Manohar to the ground with an array the moment he stepped toward Quy.

    Much to his surprise, it was actually Marth. The Mad Professor had switched their features with a hologram while Lord Ernas wasn''t watching.

    "Thanks, Duke. You are the best wingman." Manohar said while examining the young woman with his personal diagnostic tier five spell, God''s Eye.

    "If Orion doesn''t kill you, I will!" Marth said in outrage while the array faded away.

    "Tell me, Duke, how can I be sure that this isn''t just another maniption? That Jirni didn''t induce you toe here and try to change my mind?" Orion asked while never taking his eyes off Manohar.

    "I haven''t spoken with her since the day of the funeral." The Headmaster replied. "You are just being paranoid."

    "Paranoid?" Orion echoed. "My wife staged my daughter''s death and reced all of my children with meat puppets for days. She let me rot in my suffering, telling me that I had to get over it for the sake of our family.

    "It was my darkest hour and yet every single word that came out of her mouth was a lie! Even the funeral was a farce. She forced me to attend, saying that we couldn''t let Deirus win, but her real goal was to showcase my grief to our enemy like some sort of prize!"

    "All I needed was one word from her. One word and all that pain would have disappeared. Yet she chose to wait and tell the truth to Deirus first to both fuel my rage and destroy his morale. How can you call me paranoid after all that?"

    Marth opened his mouth to reply, but no word came out of it. If Ryssa ever did something like that to him for just an hour, let alone days, he didn''t know if he could ever forgive her.

    "Now if you''re done, get out of my house!" A wave of Orion''s hand Warped the three Archmages back to the Gate and Quy to her room.

    He couldn''t let her watch as her father conjured several paintings depicting his soon-to-be ex-wife and cut them asunder before sting them into pieces with fireballs.

    "I''ve been trained to not feel, to be the tool that the Kingdom needs!" Orion repeated word by word Jirni''s nuptial vow with a single scream. "I will lie even to our friends in order to deceive our enemies, but not to you.

    "You make my heart beat so even though I might hide the truth from you, I promise to never hurt you." He took a shield-shaped Adamant brooch out of his dimensional amulet.

    "I will protect you and the family we build together from any harm. Or so you said while handing me your gift, you lying bitch!" He threw the brooch against the wall before charging at it with his new sword.

    Its many enchantments made a short work of that of the brooch but the moment the de''s edge cut into the Adamant, Orion stopped his hand. He had tried to get rid of the brooch countless times, but to no avail.

    Whenever no one could see him, Lord Ernas would take the betrothal gift out, cursing Jirni to the top of his lungs while hitting the brooch with everything he had at hand. Yet he would always fix it before putting it away.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sparkwater Oasis, one step past the Gate in the Verhen''s barn.

    "What the farm?" Lith said due to the presence of the children.

    It wasn''t the sudden drop in temperature nor the foreignndscape in front of his eyes that had surprised him so much as the fact that it was still the dead of the night there.

    The moon was still rising, illuminating the white tents in front of him almost as clear as the day due to the clear sky filled with luminous stars.

 Chapter 1536 On the Other Side Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1536 On the Other Side Part 2</h4>

    "Indeed." Elina said, shivering from the cold until she activated the warming spell of her armor. "If early morning in Lutia is midnight in the Desert, why didn''t you make use hereter?"

    "Because the night here is more pleasant than the scorching heat of the day for those used to a milder climate." Sark replied. "Also, there are very few activities after sundown, which allows me to give you a tour of my city without the bustling of the day.

    "On top of that, by staying awake until the sun rises and falls again, tomorrow at this hour you will be so tired that you''ll have no problems falling asleep. Many birds with one stone." The Overlord of the Blood Desert had taken her human form to wee her guests.

    She had the appearance of a stunning woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.76 meters (5''9") tall. Sark had silky ck waist-long hair, emerald eyes, and a bronze tinge of skin so clear that it looked milky under the moonlight.

    She wore a white robe with long sleeves that covered her from neck to toe, leaving only her hands and head exposed. It was the Blood Desert equivalent of amoner dress, made of a special cotton that would preserve the precious body humidity during the day and keep them warm during the night.

    Seasons weren''t a thing in the desert. Only the moving from one oasis to another to give the soil time to recover and the trees to grow new fruits marked the passing of time for the nomadic tribes.

    "Wee to my pce." She pointed at a circus-sized tent in the middle of the camp that was surrounded by gs. Each one of them represented one of the tribes that had sworn their loyalty to her and had their leader been bestowed the power of a Feather in return.

    "Why outside?" Tista asked after noticing the long red carpet that went from the Gate to the pce.

    Huge braziers had been ced along the carpet, making their path as clear as the day for the members of the tribe that had assembled on either side in curiosity.

    "My dear Featherling, if you ever want to be part of my nest, the first thing you have to learn is the importance of the pecking order." Sark ced her right hand on Tista and the left on Lith, triggering the Blood Resonance.

    They found themselves turning respectively into their Red Demon and Tiamat form, yet all of their scales had been reced by thick feathers. If not for theck of a beak and the presence of the tail, Tista now looked exactly like a Phoenix-human hybrid.

    Lith, instead, between his long, tail, the curved horns, the seven eyes, and the two sets of wings looked more like a demonic bird.

    "As long as you are here, you''ll keep this appearance." Sark said. "Everyone must know who you are and who you belong to. If anyone takes your fancy feel free to make the first move. Know that my children are highly coveted breeding material.

    "Always remember that if you make it, you own it. Mate and dash is not allowed in my country." She pointed at a rectangr space that every tent had where the fewws of the Desert were written in ck ink.

    The one Sark had just mentioned was the fifthw, after "Always obey the Overlord and her envoys", "Do no harm", "Don''t steal", and "Do not practice Forbidden Magic".

    "You sure like to keep things brief, Grandma." Lith said, knowing that she was referring solely to him.

    "Indeed, and myws are not up to interpretation. What the people in the Kingdom callwyers disappeared from my tribes when they learned that they would share the same sentence of their clients if found guilty." Sark guided them to the oasis''s spring.

    "Really?" Raaz blurted out in surprise.

    "Really." She nodded. "I believe that following thew means to protect the victims and to punish the criminals, not to y with words and distort facts until the truth bes a convenient lie.

    "In my country, awyer''s job is to make sure that their client receives the sentence they deserve. If they are found aiding a criminal or hiding their crimes, they are considered aplices and treated as such."

    Sark lifted Leria and Aran on her shoulders, to let them admire theke that represented one of the sources of all the life in the Desert.

    "This is the only spring for dozens of kilometers, kids." She said. "It''s the beating heart of the oasis and for that, you have to treat it as if it was your mother. Here the air is too dry to practice water magic and people need to keep them hydrated to survive the heat of the day.

    "The spring is heavily guarded at all hours. Mages use it to practice their spells while people take turns to collect their daily ration. It''s forbidden to bathe, dirt, or throw anything that might make the water toxic in it. No shedding either."

    She red at Abominus and Onyx that had whined a lot to not be left home with the rest of their pack. They didn''t like either the new climate or the environment, but it was better than missing their friends and their pet privileges.

    "How do people bathe or practice magic if water is scarce, Grandmommy?" Aran asked.

    "We bathe only if necessary and everything used to make water spells has to be returned to the spring after purifying it. Water is too precious a thing to be wasted." Sark replied.

    The tour was quick since there wasn''t much to see. The Heavenly Plume tribe had settled in the middle of arge clearing amid the dunes that protected the camp from the wind.

    There were no cultivated fields and the only trees in the area grew near theke. Before leading them to the pce, the Desert''s Overlord showed them the living quarters of the Magical Beasts.

    To survive in such a harsh environment, the humans had developed a symbiotic rtionship with the only creatures powerful enough to carry the belongings of an entire family and to protect them from the monsters that roamed the desert.

    Finding a small oasis wasn''t hard for travelers or peddlers, the problem was surviving the encounter with the creatures that elected water sources as their home. Thanks to their true magic, magical beasts were the lifepanions of all tribes.

    In exchange for their services, they demanded not only food, but also respect. Magical beasts had their own city block and a proper ce where to live, not some smelly stable where they would be confined in small cubicles until a human decided otherwise.

    Young men and women looked with curiosity at the foreigners, receiving as many stares in return. The women of the desert made up for the simplicity of their clothes by wearing colorful make-up and essories.

    The men, instead, always carried their weapons with them and the regr practice in their use made the inhabitants of the desert have a lean but fit build.

    "Too bad for the beards." Tista grumbled after expressing her appreciation for the many young men waving at her. "If I liked that much body hair, I''d rather date an Emperor Beast."

 Chapter 1537 Menadionâ€™s Apprentice Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1537 Menadion¡¯s Apprentice Part 1</h4>

    "I''ll tell the boys to shave often, then." Sark chuckled. "Now that you guys have an idea of how things work in my cities, all that remains to do is to show you your living quarters now and the market in the morning. Things get quite busy at sunrise."

    "By the Great Mother!" The Verhens said after entering the Overlord''s tent. "This ce is like Solus."

    "It''s called dimensional discement." Sark said. "It''s the only way to have all the space I need without making a tent so big that it would copse under its own weight."

    The inside of the pce extended as much as Valeron''s Royal Castle, but everything was ced on the ground floor, requiring an internalwork of Gates to not get lost and to quickly reach any destination.

    The curtains that separated the rooms from the corridors were as thin as regr cloth yet also as hard as enchanted stone.

    "You can set up your tower here, Lith." Sark pointed at the biggest and most powerful mana geyser that he had ever seen. "I want Solus''s stay to be pleasant as well so I chose a spot that will allow her to keep her humanoid form inside the entire camp."

    "How could I not notice it earlier? Solus?"

    "It escaped even my mana sense''s detection." She sounded as surprised as he was.

    "That''s because under this ce there''s not only a water source, but also a crystal mine and rich Adamant veins. The three of them together absorb most of the world energy and keep it contained." Sark said.

    "Really?" Lith asked.

    "Really. What my countrycks in food, the Desert abundantly makes up for it in natural resources. We keep what we need and sell the rest to purchase whatever weck from the merchants."

    Solus turned into a small stone spider that quickly dug through the sand, making the tower emerge from the ground. The tent''s ceiling was so high that the third floor of the tower didn''t evene close to it.

    Then, Sark showed them their rooms. Each one of them had a colorful gold-embroidered carpet covering the entire floor, a king-size bed, several closets, a bathroom, and a small thermal spring big enough tofortably host three people.

    "I thought that water was scarce and precious!" Lith blurted out in surprise.

    "It is, but I''m a Guardian so both living beings and nature have to follow my rules." Sark shrugged. "I want you to respect my people, but I also want you to enjoy your stay. I expect you to sweat a lot and hence to need a good bath more often than at home."

    "Can Abominus use it too? I can''t bring him to my bed if he smells or if his fur gets filled with sand." Leria asked.

    "Of course. Your spring, your rules." Sark ruffled her hair. "Now, do you want dinner, to try and sleep a bit, or would you like some magical lessons?"

    "I''m not tired and I''m still full from breakfast. Can I explore your pce?" Aran asked.

    "As long as you don''t break anything, dear."

    The kids jumped on their respective steeds and trotted away before their mothers could say anything.

    "Before we start, do you mind giving me a tour of the tower? It has been centuries since thest time I saw Menadion''s masterpiece and I''m eager to see how Ripha bonding the tower with Elphyn- I mean, Solus changed it."

    "It''s the least I can do, Grandma." Lith said while opening a Warp that led directly inside the tower''s lobby.

    Thanks to Sark''s dimensional magic, the influence of the mage tower extended to the entire camp, filling him with nigh-endless energy. The god of Forgemastery felt nostalgic seeing the familiar runes and curious about the new ones.

    "You are still missing a lot, but the constant upgrades in the power core are as good as those that only Creation Magic can make." She nodded. "Now why don''t you show me yourbs?"

    The face she made while stepping inside the Forgemastery workshop told Lith that Sark was as disappointed as she had been enthusiastic of the crystal mines and of the Mirror Hall.

    "That''s it?" She asked while curling the upper lip in disgust.

    "Grandma, I know that this isn''t much, but I''m only 19 and Solus is still recovering." Lith replied with a sigh. "I didn''t have the time to umte many materials nor to set upplex arrays.

    "I came here exactly to rest because I''m on the verge of a nervous breakdown from overwo-"

    "Theb is good, silly child." Sark ruffled his hair, cutting him short. "I was questioning this!"

    She pointed at the big obsidian table that Lith used as a Forge during his experiments.

    "It''s a standard Forge, Grandma. I just use it to ce the items that I craft before the flow of world energy makes them float in mid-air. Obsidian offers small resistance to the mana flow and it doesn''t disrupt the enchanting process." He said.

    "My point exactly. It''s just a dignified table like there are hundreds of them. You are a Forgemaster, not a cook! Where is your Adamant Forge?" Sark asked in surprise.

    She used a Davross Forge for her creations, but she doubted that someone as young as Lith could have even enough of such a precious metal to make a sword for his human form, let alone several kilos of it.

    "Why should I use Adamant as a Forge?" Lith said. "It''s just a waste of good metal."

    "Are you telling me that you have partnered up with Menadion''s heir, worked all of your life inside Menadion''s tower, and yet you have no clue about the basics of Menadion''s Forgemastery techniques?" Sark couldn''t believe her own ears.

    "I lost my memory along with my Mom''s legacy, ma''am. We learned my real name only after meeting Silverwing in Jiera." Solus replied while blushing in embarrassment.

    "Well, good thing that you''vee here, then." The Guardian nodded. "I''m not going to teach you any of my techniques, unless you bend the knee and join my nest, of course.

    "Yet I have no problem sharing with you the technique that Menadion imparted to all of her disciples, me included."

    "You were one of Mom''s apprentices?" Solus asked.

    "Yes. There''s nothing wrong with asking for help from your betters. Back then, Menadion had developed techniques that exceeded everything I had ever made and she was looking for a way to improve them. It was a win-win situation.

    "On top of that, even though my stay was very brief, Menadion asked all of her apprentices to pass her teachings unto you in the case something happened to her." Sark took a Davross Forge out of her pocket dimension and ced it in the middle of theb.

    It was a rectangr table of metal 1.5 (5'') meters tall and wide and 2 meters (7'') long that had to weigh a few dozen kilos at minimum.

    "Watch and learn." She said as what looked like a one-handed battle hammer appeared in her hand.

    It had one crystal the size of a nut etched on each side of its head and one more on its top. Feathers from both a Phoenix and a Griffon were wrapped around the hilt of the hammer, enhancing Sark''s mana flow and giving her a better grip.

 Chapter 1538 Menadionâ€™s Apprentice Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1538 Menadion¡¯s Apprentice Part 2</h4>

    Instead of being smooth, the surface of the hammer looked like it wasprised of perfectly ovepping scales that only the presence of the ck edge between them betrayed.

    "Is that¡­" Lith couldn''t bring himself to finish the phrase.

    "Yes. I made it from pieces that we Guardians shed and shared. After I was done testing mine, I crafted one for Leegaain and Tyris as well. Always remember that only an idiot never shares.

    "No matter how brilliant a mind is, there''s always something that you can learn from others and ws in your creations that you can''t notice simply because you look at them with the loving eyes of a parent."

    Sark charged her hammer in a way that wasn''t any different from the technique that Lith had developed on his own. Yet, instead of summoning a Forgemastering circle out of the world energy like he would, she struck at the Forge instead.

    Her mana flowed inside the Davross, where the magic metal stored and amplified it thanks to its own ability to channel the world energy. Lith could see with Life Vision that, somehow, the Forge converted the world energy into Sark''s mana.

    Yet the more time passed, the more diluted her energy signature became. Lith expected the Guardian to charge her hammer again so that with the next hit she would recover the amplified energy and imbue a second pulse into the Davross.

    Sark used that time to recover her focus and rx her body instead, hitting the Forge with apletely empty hammer only when her energy signature was about to fade away.

    The hammer retrieved the mana and the Lord of Forgemastery used just enough power to restore her energy signature over the mana it was now imbued with before striking at the Forge again.

    With each cycle, the power that Sark had originally infused in the hammer grew at the expense of the world energy that the Davross naturally channeled without any further effort on her side.

    "By my Mom!" Solus started to cry as more memories that she had considered lost flooded her mind. "That''s why in my dreams I always use an Adamant hammer and an Adamant forge."

    "Well, I hope it was at least purified Adamant." Sark showed them her hammer that was now filled to the brim with so much mana that any more and even such a powerful artifact would shatter.

    "As you can see, with this technique the stress on the Forgemaster''s body and core is greatly diminished. Also, once part of the energy has been consumed, you can make a few more cycles during the crafting process.

    "The timing is a bit tricky for every piece, but it''s something you learn with experience. Always remember to never push your hammer beyond its limits or you will lose it along with whatever you nned to enchant."

    The Guardian then let the mana stored in the hammer disperse before putting it back inside her omni pocket along with the Davross Forge.

    "Why does the Forge need to be purified?" Lith was half inwardly jumping with joy and half cursing his endless need for Adamant.

    "A Forgemaster can use any magical metal for the technique I just showed you." Sark said. "Orichalcum, Adamant, Davross, they all work ording to the same principle."

    "Well, that''s a relief. Orichalcum is way easier to get." Lith sighed.

    "And also much less effective." She chuckled at his naivety. "The bigger the forge, the more world energy it channels. On top of that, the quality and purity of the metal both greatly affect the amplification process.

    "Orichalcum has the slowest amplification rate and is the quickest to lose your energy signature. Which means that the same process that you have just witnessed would have taken much longer and required much more focus from me.

    "Instead of having the time to rest and focus, I would have been forced to imbue and retrieve my mana non-stop."

    "Are you kindly telling me not to use Orichalcum?" Lith whined.

    "Correct. Orichalcum is good for stingy Awakened who have already mastered this technique, but it''s a nightmare for someone who has to learn it. Use regr Adamant if you are really bad with Origin mes, purified Adamant otherwise." Sark said.

    Solus felt Lith''s mood turning so sour that she had to conjure a seat for him.

    "Look at the bright side." Solus said. "We have learned something amazing that will greatly improve all of our future crafts."

    "Look at the dark side." He grunted in reply. "Now there''s one more thing that we have to master and I''ve basically wasted Zolgrish''s shapeshifting Forge. To make matters worse, I''m now in desperate need of huge amounts of Adamant.

    "Even if I were to use the metal that the Royals gave Tista to make an armor, it wouldn''t be enough. Grandma, do you mind adding insult to injury and telling us how crappy our hammers are?"

    He handed to her both their Forgemastery tools that they had spent weeks nning, months perfecting, and years mastering.

    "They are very good. The same quality I give my kids as toys to y with." Sark tried to be nice, but she ended up making Lith emit a high-pitched whine.

    "Grandma!" Solus scolded her. "You are not helping."

    "I''m sorry, but what was I supposed to say? They are just made of Orichalcum and mana crystals, there''s not a single amplifier in them. Even a monkey can make one of these." She shrugged.

    "That''s because I have no idea what works as an amplifier and I am always short on Adamant." Lith sighed. "I had barely enough for a purified armor, let alone making hammers!"

    "That''s because you are rushing too much. A purified Adamant hammer is not an expense, it''s an investment. It saves you the need to craft the same thing over and over again the moment your mana core or your Forgemastery improves.

    "Thanks to thebined effect of the technique I just imparted to you and of your tower, unless you make a major breakthrough in the Forgemastering arts, the difference in quality between your crafts will be minimum." Sark said.

    "Point taken." Lith pinched his nose to repress the childish tantrum that he had made up to that point and not make a fool out of himself further.

    ''Rx, you idiot. Grandma just gave me a huge gift, she showed me how to step up my game, and yet here I am crying uncle.

    ''Quy was right. I''m such a sourpuss that instead of appreciating what I have gained, I''m whining because I didn''t get it earlier.'' He thought.

    ''Well done, Lith. Progress, not perfection.'' Solus hugged him both physically and telepathically, d to have her humanoid form with its almost urate sense of touch. ''We''ll take our time and improve bit by bit. There''s no need to get discouraged.''

    ''Did you just think of me as your Grandma?'' His thoughts had moved Sark to the point that her eyes were veiled with tears. ''From what I heard about you, I assumed that you just called me that just to sweet talk me into giving you free stuff.''

    ''Grandma!'' Lith and Solus said in unison.

    ''What?''

    ''Personal space, dammit!'' They replied at her intrusion in their allegedly private mind link.

 Chapter 1539 Family Care Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 1539: Family Care Part 1</h4>

    ''I''m sorry, but in my turf, I''m so strong that I don''t need contact to exert my breathing technique. On top of that, when I''m close to someone of my blood, I don''t even need Mother Sun to read their minds.'' Sark said.

    ''Can you please get out of our head?'' Solus jumped off Lith in embarrassment, both physically and telepathically.

    "Yes, of course." Due to the Blood Resonance and how close they were, the Guardian needed focus to put boundaries between her and her descendants. "Now show me what you got from Urgamakka, from your past missions and your creations."

    Solus needed to erge the Forgemasteringb to allow Lith to drop everything that Sark had required without drowning them.

    "By the Great Mother, what a load of junk!" The Guardian flicked her fingers, separating all of Lith''s loot based on the materials they were made of.

    Orichalcum in a massive pile, Adamant in a big pile, and so little Davross that it could fit into a shoebox.

    "Did you finish studying these artifacts already?" She asked while pointing at the old Odi relics.

    "Yes, everything but Ruin." Lith held the prototype de with nostalgia.

    Even though he didn''t use it for long, he had grown fond of the de even after giving up on learning its secrets.

    "Don''t worry,pared to the one you have now, that weapon is crap." Sark didn''t wait for his reply and activated Creation Magic.

    Everything that Lith possessed, be they crafted by him or others, suddenly lost all of their enchantments. Each artifact split into metal, crystals, and ingredients as if they had never been consumed.

    "What the actual heck?" Lith stared at the now avable pile of Adamant, at the mountain of Orichalcum, and at the many violet crystals that Solus immediately nted into the tower''s mine.

    "Creation Magic, my Featherling." Sark cupped his face. "Turn that frown upside down for me. Even though I''m not going to teach you anything else, Grandma is willing to recycle your stuff so that you can practice as much as you want."

    Lith gave her a huge draconic smile of greed that pissed the Guardian off big time.

    "Are you telling me that as long as I stay in the Desert, you''ll reset my creations for me?" He asked.

    "Yes. You don''t have much, but with Creation Magic, there''s no limit to the number of experiments that you can perform on a single piece of Adamant." She said with a snort. "Beware that I asked you for a smile, not a smug grin so unless you-"

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lith jumped with joy while hugging her tight.

    "You are wee, dear." Sark could finally feel the greed be reced by honest gratitude. His non-cynical happiness became her own thanks to the blood bond that Phoenixes shared, warming her heart.

    "Not to sound ungrateful-"

    "Everything thates before a but is bullshit. If you have something more to ask, just do it instead of beating around the bush." The Guardian pushed him away, annoyed by Lith''s inability to ever be content.

    "-but can you recycle my Scalewalker as well?" He said.

    "Depends. Are you okay with moving around stark naked?"

    "Good point." Lith wore the Skinwalker armor that he had bought from the White Griffon that being made of cloth wasn''t worth recycling.

    "One more thing and then I promise that I''m done."

    "You better be because you are testing my patience." The Guardian replied in annoyance.

    "Earlier you spoke about amplifiers. Do I have anything with me that can work as such?" Lith took the Dryad''s bounty and every ingredient he possessed out of his pocket dimension.

    "Yes and no." Sark replied. "Amplifiers aren''t something you find, but something you make." She showed him her hammer again.

    "I used my own feathers here because the pieces from the other Guardians alone would have provided the wrong kind of energy otherwise. You can use your own blood, feathers, or scales to convert foreign energy signatures as well.

    "However, always remember that the longer a piece of a body has been infused with mana, the more powerful it bes. That means that since you became a Wyrmling just three years ago and a Tiamat three months ago, your body is a poor amplifier.

    "Even your mentor''s scales aren''t muchpared to those of creatures that lived millennia instead of just a few centuries."

    "Thank you very much, Grandma." Lith gave her an honest bow of gratitude that lightened her mood.

    "I won''t ask you anything more for as long as I''m here, but I''d still like to hear your opinion about a few of my ongoing projects."

    "New stuff or derivative stuff?" Sark''s curiosity was piqued.

    "New, or at least that''s what I hope. I made it myself based on my imagination and what I''ve learned in Urgamakka about my bloodline powers." He replied.

    "Do I get to use your ideas as well if I like them?" The Guardian had already given enough gifts to someone who didn''t belong to her nest, but trading knowledge was exactly what she had rmended Lith to do a few minutes back.

    Sark was many things but hypocritical and ungrateful weren''t among them.

    "Yes. It would be my honor."

    "Then we have a deal." She said while splitting the Scalewalker back into its basicponents, purified Adamant included. "Now let''s get out of here. This is supposed to be a vacation, not a full-time job."

    Lith looked at the pile of metal and thought about the fact that he had only until some shit happened and it forced him out of the Desert to exploit Sark''s Creation Magic.

    He didn''t feel like doing anything but holing himself up in the tower and working until Abyssal Gaze didn''t work anymore.

    "With pleasure." He said after setting his greed and pathological insecurity aside, determined to have the first real vacation ever since he had never had one even back on Earth.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, at the same time.

    While the Verhens visited the Heavenly Plume tribe and their city during the night, back in their homnd it was time for lunch.

    Aside from Tezka, no one had noticed the disappearance of the Phoenixes, while the departure of Lith''s family didn''t bother in the least the farmhands tasked with taking care of the fields.

    In theory, the absence of the Lords of thosends should have been a source of relief for both the members of the Queen''s Corps and Lith''s army of beasts. Now that they had no one to protect, they could justy back and rx.

    Very few people were stupid enough to mess with the citizens of Lutia and those who did usuallycked either the brains or the means to be a real threat. A simple spell was more than enough to get rid once and for all of any annoyance.

    Even when some serious opponent appeared, they managed to take them out quickly and efficiently thanks to their teamwork.

    Yet along with freedom also came disappointment.

    "Gods, how much I miss Lady Verhen already." Captain Locrias said while looking at the takeaway food that had been delivered to his soldiers.

    "She always cooks for us as if we are members of her family, giving us plenty of cold beverages during summer and hot beverages during winter."

 Chapter 1540 Family Care Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 1540 Family Care Part 2</h4>

    "Yeah. Once you get used to homemade food, going back is hard." Peicus, his second inmand, said. "I''m tired of working in the field. I want to be able to go back home and find more than an empty apartment."

    The members of the three units that protected Lutia spent their lunch break taking turns at both eating and whining. They missed Elina''s smile as much as her cooking.

    "Gods, how much I miss Lady Verhen already." Zest the Shyf whined while looking at the raw meat that filled the trough from which they had gotten used to feeding. "She always adds some tasty treat and even remembers what each one of us likes the best."

    Before going away, Raaz had paid the local butcher to provide the beasts that protected his fields, his farmhands, and his neighbors with plenty of meat, but aside from cutting it into bite-sized chunks, he served it as it was.

    "Yeah." Gremst the Ry said while gobbling the nd food. "I like her so much that it didn''t even bother me cleaning my teeth and make sure that my breath didn''t smell to not look badpared to the humans."

    The magical beasts and the Corps were in a friendlypetition to see which one of them received more attention from the Lady of the house. So far, neither of the two factions had managed to break the tie.

    ''Gods, those guys are hrious!'' From his pocket space, Tezka the Fylgjaughed behind the backs of all of them. ''So powerful and yet so na?ve.''

    He sat on a throne made from the bones of all those who had escaped the notice of both forces just to end up as his meal.

    ''Vastor did well sending me here. Undead attack at night, skilled mercenaries during the day, and now even some rogue Emperor Beasts for hire.'' He thought.

    ''Whoever is behind them, they know the Corps'' skills very well and send enough troops to keep them busy but not enough to make them call for permanent reinforcements. Now that Lith and the Phoenixes are gone, this is the perfect time for the guy who sent the Future card to attack.

    ''All I need to do is to make sure to stay hidden and stop making their forces "mysteriously" disappear. This way, once the one behind the card thinks to have gauged the Corps'' strength, they will reveal themselves and find me ready.''

    The Abomination-Warg hybrid looked at Zinya''s kids ying with nostalgia. They reminded him of back when he was just a Xogh (Fox-type magical beast) and life was much simpler.

    Then, his dimensional senses picked up a disturbance in the surrounding space and Tezka took his de, Endless Night, out of his pocket dimension.

    ''What the heck?''

    Aran and Leria galloped out of the barn while riding their magical beasts. The Desert at night was too boring for them so they had gone back home to y with their friends.

    The children''sughter brought Zinya outside in the open as well and created an opening that no skilled assassin would miss. Between the lunch and the sudden return of the Verhen''s, the detail had been caught off guard.

    Tezka readied himself to jump out of his dimensional space, in the case he wasn''t the only predator on the prowl.

    ***

    Golden Griffon Academy, Ker region, at the same time.

    After a little over three months, the lost city had undergone aplete makeover. The outdated teaching equipment had been reced with state-of-the-art tools and the once empty sses were now filled with students.

    The apprentices from all races that Thrud had brought with her were now Awakened mages who devoted their time helping her to study the many bloodline legacies that she had liberated.

    Her aim was to integrate them to create a powerful breathing technique and unique spells that would benefit her entire army instead of a single entitled idiot that wouldter pass them upon a single heir.

    She had yet to craft anything from the resources that she had umted after killing Xedros and his associates because she wanted to wait for the moment when she was finally Awakened.

    Only then and after mastering techniques that would tap into the full potential of her new status would the Mad Queen start creating the equipment necessary for her war machine.

    Thrud had demonstrated unyielding willpower by resuming her operations the day after Jakra had left.

    During the day she would study the Awakened legacies, searching for anything that she could use even as a fake mage. The smartest among her followers helped her while those capable of using Origin mes were tasked with purifying the metals.

    During the afternoon, she would impart lessons about military strategy and have her apprentices train against the Forgotten, the previous students of the Golden Griffon. Despite Thrud''s and Sevenus''s best efforts, their sanity was forever lost.

    Nothing of their personality remained, only mindless creatures who followed their most basic urges. Thrud needed to keep them under the Unwavering Loyalty array and its ve spell just to keep them from harming themselves or others.

    During the night, she worked alone on the academy''s power core, to bring it up to the standards of the modern runes. It was supposed to be an impossible feat, but the Mad Queen had found a way.

    After thoroughly studying the dozens of bloodline legacies she had seized, Thrud had managed tobine several different Forgemastering arts with the one she had developed during her 700 years of research and her current condition.

    She used the Dominance she had gotten from Arthan''s sword, Life Maelstrom, and the power of her nine months old baby to not just take control of the academy''s power core so much as to temporarily integrate it as a part of her body.

    Dominance reced the mana of the living legacy with her own, Life Maelstrom gave the power core so much power that it could resist damage that otherwise would have destroyed it, and the baby brought Thrud''s prowess beyond even a bright violet-cored Awakened''s wildest dreams.

    Even after a few hours since her water broke, the Mad Queen kept working relentlessly on Hystar''s core, channeling the violent bursts of mana that each contraction generated into a mana de that she handled with surgical precision.

    ''I would love toy down and rest, but I have no idea if I''ll ever be as powerful as I am now.'' She thought. ''Even if I achieve a bright violet mana core, I doubt that I''ll have half of my current magical prowess.''

    The process was slow and incredibly painful for Sevenus Hystar, the body that the living legacy possessed, but Thrud couldn''t care less about his suffering.

    Compared to that he had inflicted upon the students of the Golden Griffon and more importantly on her beloved, it was nothing.

    The Mad Queen destroyed small parts of the power core at a time and then she regenerated them while exploiting Domination to force the ancient runes to turn into their modern equivalent.

    Once the power core recovered from the damage, it had no memory of its previous status and considered the new runes as if they had always been a part of its enchantments.

 Chapter 1541 - New Life (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1541 - New Life (Part 1) </h4>

    Thrud knew that the seven hundred years old magic of the Golden Griffon couldn¡¯tpare with the modern academies that were constantly updated nor did she have any idea how Royal Forgemasters achieved such a result.

    Her method was crude and rough, but also very effective. With each bit of the power core that she destroyed and regenerated, Hystar could feel the lost academy growing stronger. New spells appeared in his mind and new abilities became avable each day.

    He had no need to study them since a living legacy mastered all the enchantments they were imbued with as if they were born with them. His joy would have been boundless if pain didn¡¯t fill his mind already to the point that it was the only thing he could feel.

    Suddenly, Thrud¡¯s Forgemastering hammer fell to the ground and Hystar¡¯s agony stopped. The entire Golden Griffon started to quake and rumble as the changes that she had made to the power core spread throughout the lost academy¡¯s structure.

    To achieve the full extent of its new power, the Golden Griffon assimted part of the materials that the Mad Queen had brought from her travels with the same hunger of a famished man consuming a hot meal.

    "The core¡¯s update isplete.." Thrud¡¯s delicate features were twisted in a grimace of agony that put Hystar¡¯s to shame. "I would have loved to craft a few more pieces before giving birth, but I can¡¯t do that without endangering the baby."

    "Do you need help, my liege?" Iata the Scorpicore asked.

    Like most of the apprentices, the only childbirth Iata had ever witnessed was her own and she had no memory of it for obvious reasons.

    "No, but there¡¯s one thing you can do for me. Take my amulet and call Jakra. Coming here or not is up to him, but he needs to know that our child is about to be born. If something happens to me, Jakra needs to take the baby away as soon as possible." Thrud replied.

    "Do you suspect that there are traitors among our ranks?" Iata asked in outrage.

    "No, I trust every one of you." Thrud replied with a huge grin on her face.

    Unbeknownst to her soldiers, back when they had voluntarily submitted to the Unwavering Loyalty array in order to survive their Awakening, Thrud had questioned each one of them and then ordered them to forget all about it.

    She now knew the strengths and weaknesses of her subjects along with where their loyaltyy.

    "It¡¯s just that I¡¯m afraid that my child will be the matter of the legends." Thrud let the Scorpicore help her standing while a Warp led them to her bedchambers. "I believe that they will be Awakened from birth, and living on top of a mana geyser would be dangerous for them."

    Those words shocked both Iata and Hystar, but while the former felt great joy at the news, thetter could only suck it up and smile. Thrud had vited or rewritten almost all of the ns that Arthan had left, enraging the Headmaster to no end.

    Yet there was nothing that Sevenus Hystar could do to her and now even to her kid. Arthan had been a Mad King, but far from stupid. Like Baba Yaga with Night, Arthan had imparted Hystar themand to not harm his descendants directly or indirectly.

    Unlike her, however, having no trust in a cursed object that he considered nothing but a tool, Arthan had also left themand that were Hystar to be aware of any threat to the royal blood, the Headmaster had to protect them even at the cost of his life.

    This way, even if Hystar set up a trap or divulged some information that led to a threat to Thrud¡¯s life, he was bound to be the only victim of his plotting, no matter how convoluted.

    Jormun was still in the Empire, recovering from his wounds when he received a text message about the start of thebor. Thrud didn¡¯t want to force him to see or even hear from her, afraid to trigger his trauma.

    The Emerald Dragon looked at the amulet and then at the calendar in Leegaain¡¯sir. He was surprised realizing that his first reaction had been of worry because the child was a few weekste.

    <i>¡¯I can¡¯t tell Dad. He might report it to Tyris. Labor canst for several hours and if Tyris attacks right now, there¡¯s no telling what might happen.¡¯</i> Jormun used one of the Warp Gates to reach the borders of Leegaain¡¯s turf and then he flew at Dragon Speed.

    It took him but a couple of minutes to reach the Golden Griffon academy and to walk along the straight path that went from the entrance to Thrud¡¯s chambers that Hystar created for him.

    Yet upon his arrival, the baby was already born, announcing their arrival on Mogar with cries that sounded like a screeching roar. The mother was pale and couldn¡¯t stop panting from exhaustion.

    Blood, urine, and shit stained the bedsheets, making Jormun worry that something had gone terribly wrong whereas it was just how life generated more life.

    "It¡¯s a boy." At a wave of her hand, the academy created a thick curtain to hide Thrud from his sight, leaving visible only her arms offering the baby to Jormun.

    In his human form, the newborn was no different from any other. In his other form, however, he had the head, the hands, and the tail of a Griffon. Everything else on his body resembled that of a Dragon and was covered with white scales smaller than a stamp.

    A set of still featherless wings emerged from his back while a second set of membranous wings came out from his hips.

    "Take this sh- I mean this thing out of my sight!" Jormun roared, veiling Thrud¡¯s eyes with tears and breaking her heart as she had ever believed it would have been possible.

    At least until he ripped off the curtain that separated them. Jormun then caressed her cheek while using his breathing technique, Scalesong, on Thrud to make sure that she was alright.

    "I¡¯m sorry for the swearword. I¡¯m not used to children." He said after confirming that both mother and son were as fit as a fiddle. "By the Father of all Dragons, he¡¯s not a hybrid!"

    Scalesong didn¡¯t just show Jormun a perfectly healthy baby but also a unique life force. The baby¡¯s essence looked like a nebprised of a thick red gaseous energy inside of which many red stars of all sizes were forming with each breath he took.

    "And he really is Awakened! How did you know?" Jormun asked as the baby emitted a soft cooing while searching for warmth.

    "I didn¡¯t. I just suspected it because of the strength he gave me and because of how he was conceived. The process that turned me into a Griffon, having a Dragon for a father, and living the past three months above a powerful mana geyser must have done the trick." She said, brimming with joy.

    "Have you already thought about his name?" Jormun asked.

    "Yes, but I have yet to make my mind. At first, I thought about calling him Arthan if he was a boy and Hervor if she was a girl.

 Chapter 1542 - New Life (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1542 - New Life (Part 2) </h4>

    Yet now I believe that both of my parents¡¯ names would be an ill omen." Thrud replied.

    "My father was a great King. A genius mage who created Body Sculpting and saved countless lives as a healer, yet he also caused the death of too many people, including himself.

    "My mother spent herte life on the run like a criminal and in the end, she died of heartbreak. I don¡¯t want my child to suffer from either of those fates."

    "Our child." Jormun said. "And I agree. Any other option?"

    "Well, then I would like to give him your name-"

    "No way.. I spent over half of my life as a prisoner just to be enved. Neither of my names is worth passing." Jormun cut her short.

    "Then I have no ideas." Thrud sighed. "The Headmaster brought us together, but naming our child like him makes me want to puke. Sevenus is just a monster."

    "Agreed." Jormun said, making Hystar want to add him to the hit list, just to discover that the Emerald Dragon was covered by Arthan¡¯s orders as well.

    "Then what about Valeron? He¡¯s the first of his kind, maybe even the future King of the Griffon Kingdom. If we want to raise a happy man who will achieve everything that he sets out to do, Valeron is the most fitting name I can think of."

    "Valeron, the First King. Again." Thrud chuckled as color and strength returned to her body thanks to her vortex sucking the surrounding world energy in. "I like it."

    Then, the baby started to cry, shapeshifting and wing non-stop no matter what Jormun did in the attempt to calm Valeron down.

    "Dude, you might be powerful, but you sure are dumb." Iata said while taking the baby off the Emerald Dragon¡¯s hands.

    She wrapped the baby with a warm cloth to stop Valeron¡¯s movements and then gave him back to Thrud who held him close to her bosom. The crying instantly stopped and Jormun felt like a mindless brute.

    "The first thing about babies that my mother taught me is that they spend months in a warm and dim ce, listening to the same music over and over again. Once they are born, the world is too bright, cold, and noisy for them." The Scorpicore had veiled Valeron¡¯s eyes with a bit of darkness.

    "That exins the cloth and your spell." Jormun said. "What music are you talking about?"

    "The beating of his mother¡¯s heart." Iata said, pointing at the little Valeron shapeshifting into his morefortable human form and falling asleep.

    ***

    Blood Desert, lunchtime.

    "Thank you very much, Grandma." Lith said while cutting the oddest-looking steak he had ever seen and inwardly praying that it would taste good. "I haven¡¯t sleep so well ever since Mirim died."

    "You are wee, my child. Now eat to your heart¡¯s content or your Tiamat form will never developpletely." Sark said with a smile.

    After visiting her pce and bing familiar with his new environment, Lith and Solus had started working on the Davross until they had be too tired to do anything but sleep.

    Sark¡¯s Creation Magic allowed them to try all of their enchantments in order of increasing difficulty andplexity without any risk. Either they seeded or failed, the Guardian would restore the four ingots in their possession to their original state before they started anew.

    "Thanks, Grandmommy! Your ce is super cool!" The kids said in unison. "We can go back home to y with our friends and then return here in an instant. We can move with the sun and y all day!"

    Aran and Leria had quickly grasped how time zones worked, exploiting them to not miss anything from their old routine and going to sleep muchter than usual.

    "Don¡¯t think that you¡¯ll be able to do that for long." Elina said while filling their sses with water to keep them hydrated. "Soon you will feel tired like the rest of us."

    "Is it always this hot here?" Raaz asked, taking the words out of everyone¡¯s mind.

    Aside from Lith and Tista who were naturally resistant to heat, the others had been sweating bullets ever since the sun had risen. The pce was actually cooler than the outside.

    The Overlord had enchanted the cloth of her tent so that it would store all of the heat during the day, making its inside the same temperature of a cave where the sun never shone. During the night, it would slowly release the umted warmth, keeping the temperature steady.

    This way, those who moved in and out of the pce wouldn¡¯t experience a wide temperature range and not get ill.

    "No, usually it¡¯s hotter." Sark chuckled. "Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get used to it. The first days after a big change are always the worst."

    Lith discovered that the steak actually tasted very good and that he liked the foreign spices that seasoned the meal. Seeing him put even a hot sauce on the steak made his family sweat harder.

    "Grandma, I know that you are a Guardian and everything, but is it really possible for you to keep people from rebelling?" Tista asked. "I mean, you¡¯re but one person and you can¡¯t be everywhere at the same time."

    "No, it¡¯s not." Sark replied. "No matter how peaceful a country is, no matter if you give people free healthcare and education, somewhere there will always be someone who wants more.

    "The kind of people who think they know better and yet have no idea how hard it is to just maintain peace between the members of the same tribe, let alone between different tribes."

    "Then how did you avoid a civil war?" Lith asked. "ording to the history books that I¡¯ve read in the Kingdom, ever since you rose to power the only conflicts that took ce in the Desert were those against foreign invaders."

    "Your books are correct." She nodded. "The Desert is too rich in magical resources and natural treasures to not be under the constant threat of forces that aim to instigate my subjects and sow discord.

    "One of my constant problems is that both the so-called free countries and businessmen from the Empire and the Kingdom offer their help to wannabe revolutionaries in exchange for treasures.

    "There are too many mines and too many mana geysers to keep an eye on all of them, even with the help of my children." Sark sighed.

    "Then how do you keep the Desert at peace?" Raaz said while pointing at the kids to make sure that the conversation would remain family-friendly.

    "First, I always take into ount and allow small level smuggling from my deposits." She said, making Lith spit his food out.

    "What? Why?"

    "Because traitors always start small, Featherling." She replied. "I let them grow confident with each heist they pull, checking who reports them, who pretends to not notice, and who actively helps them.

    "Everyone is honest until they have the opportunity tomit a crime and get away with it. You should know this best."

    Even though vague, the mention of Lith¡¯s many wrongdoings against the Griffon Kingdom¡¯s best interests in favor of his own made him blush in embarrassment, but only because he didn¡¯t want to offer a bad role model to the kids.

 Chapter 1543 - Quality Time (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1543 - Quality Time (Part 1) </h4>

    "I exploit the criminals to find the weak points of my trading routes and the ws in my security, be they of human origin or not." Every five years or so, I have a chivalrous knight of the Desert rise against me and challenge my rule.

    "Those who have the resources and the will to form a new country always follow him. The knight racks only victories, making his followers grow in number until even the most cowardly among the traitors crawl out of the shadows, certain that victory is at hand.

    "At that point, I make my move and get rid of them all at the same time." Sark shrugged.

    "If they have an army so big that they can challenge your authority and such a powerful leader, how can it be so easy?" Tista asked.

    "Because I¡¯m that knight, silly Featherling!" Sark shapeshifted several times into different men and women, each one of them exuding the charisma of a natural-born leader.

    "Once every five years?" Lith blurted out in surprise. "How can people not notice the pattern and how can they fall for the same trick over and over again?"

    .

    "Because I don¡¯t instigate a rebellion, I just ride the wave the moment it takes form." Sark said. "Hence there¡¯s no precise pattern. As for your second question, no one everes out alive of the ughter.

    "The only thing that the rest of the Desert knows is that the Valiant knight falls either due to an ambush of the cowardly Overlord or because of a traitor. I let each knight have a valiant death so that no one ever questions their loyalty to the cause.

    "Also, the greater their fame, the greater mine grows with each one I defeat."

    Lith had to admit that it was an excellent n that allowed the Mother of all Phoenix to turn problems into assets. After that, the conversation moved to much scarier topics.

    Elina had no qualms asking Sark when they would meet Mimeria¡¯s daughter and how exactly the pregnancy of a Phoenix happened.

    ***

    Ernas Household. Lunchtime in the Desert, nighttime for the Kingdom.

    Friya Ernas checked her dimensional items¡¯ content with a list of provisions she had prepared, making sure to have not forgotten anything. Now that she was no longer a prisoner in her own home she couldn¡¯t wait to get out and have some fun.

    "Are you sure that you want to go to the Desert?" Orion asked.

    "Yes, Dad." She replied. "What Mom did to all of us, how she manipted our family to further her n, made me feel like back when I studied at the White Griffon and I was just a tool in the hands of my birth mother, Drenya Solivar.

    "I need to sort out my feelings and I can¡¯t do it in a ce that right now feels as toxic as my old household. Thanks to Lith, I can travel to the Blood Desert without any worry of stirring political troubles and deepen my knowledge about Forgemastery."

    "Friya, you know that you can tell me the truth. I understand if you want to go to the Desert to search for your mother." The idea of his daughter leaving home so soon after divorcing his wife tore Orion¡¯s heart to shreds.

    Actually, the divorce wouldn¡¯t be final until he destroyed Jirni¡¯s betrothal gift. Lord Ernas had damaged and fixed it so many times that he had lost count.

    "Drenya is not my mother, Jirni is." Friya said with a cold voice that held no rage, only spite. "She¡¯s no different from an artisan that throws away one of their creations. She gave birth to me and then called quits.

    "I know that you are angry with Mom, but to me, the difference between them is still like heaven and earth. Everything Drenya did was for herself, from giving me an education to getting me a tutor before I applied to the White Griffon.

    "Everything Mom did, instead, she did it for me. She never treated me any different from Phloria ever since she adopted me. She didn¡¯t force me into marriage, allowing me to pursue my dream of establishing my own mercenary guild and she even helped me with the paperwork.

    "Even kidnapping me and making a meat puppet behind my back was just her twisted way to protect me. Mom used me, but she did it out of love. I can¡¯t tell you what to do with her, Dad, but please don¡¯t let anger blind you."

    Friya hugged Orion, who returned the embrace wishing he could never let her out of his arms so that she would always be safe.

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t wantpany? I can take a leave ande with you." He said, dodging her request.

    "Thanks for the offer, but no. Also, I doubt that Sark would extend her offer to you without asking something in return." She chuckled while pointing at all the letters, invites, and job offers that the scouts from the Desert sent to Lord Ernas on a daily basis.

    "That woman sure is persistent!" Orion grunted. "She alone manages to make me feel like Tista."

    "Keep an eye on Mom and on my siblings while I¡¯m away. I¡¯ll call you once per day. I promise." Friya said.

    "Let¡¯s make it once per meal." He replied, haggling until he got at least three calls per day.

    ***

    Blood Desert, a few dayster.

    Life as Sark¡¯s guests waspletely different from what the Verhens were used to in Lutia. Raaz and Elina had no responsibility there, allowing them to spend time with each other or visiting the tribes of the Desert.

    Due to theck of Warp Gates, to move from one to another the Feathers had to conjure a Warp array for them or a Phoenix would fly Lith¡¯s parents to their destination.

    The kids were having the time of their life.

    During the day, they would take part in the morning sses for magically talented children that the Feather of the Heavenly Plume held. After lunch, they would take part inplex games that required the use of magic and their steeds.

    The Feather would reshape the dunes with earth magic, creating an artificial battlefield. The children would split into two groups in a game of tag that required the use of first magic and ended solely once one of the groups had been wiped out.

    Unbeknownst to them, it wasn¡¯t a game so much as a military exercise. Kids had to grow fast in the desert since sand didn¡¯t allow them to build fortifications and the nomadic life made permanent arrays a waste of resources.

    Monsters, brigands, or just sandstorms could strike at any moment. To make each tribe survive, everyone needed to pull their weight, even children. After that, Aran and Leria would go back to Lutia to y with their friends.

    Time zones made so that the hours before dinner for them matched those before lunch for Frey and Filia. They would meet every day and then return to the Desert to sleep the moment that Zinya called for the meal.

    Lith and Tista, instead, found themselves on the opposite sides of the spectrum.

    Sark allowed Lith to train his Forgemastery skills only for a few hours each day, forcing him to take it easy the rest of the time.

 Chapter 1544 - Quality Time (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1544 - Quality Time (Part 2) </h4>

    Lith had already forged and dismantled his Scalewalker armor several times, but had yet to find a way to give it a power core.

    Once he was banned from his ownb, he would either use Abyssal Gaze to refine his mana core or train in the use of the Eyes of Menadion in-between naps. For the first time in his three lives, Lith could finally rx and put his worries aside.

    Sark¡¯s presence and might had a soothing effect on him to the point that even Death Vision didn¡¯t bother him. As long as the Overlord was in her pce, everyone was safe, sealing Death Vision¡¯s mind-wearing effects.

    Tista, instead, hated the Desert more with each passing day. Due to her ming red feathers, she was considered a Phoenix and an adult at that. s, all of her skills were considered severelycking.

    She had to take flight lessons before breakfast, magic lessons during the morning, and fight lessons during the evening. Tista wasn¡¯t even allowed to go back into her human form except that for the meals so that she would familiarize with her new body until ws, mes, and wings would be second nature to her.

    .

    "Worst vacation ever." She said during dinner, panting non-stop.

    "I like it, instead." Lith said. "I can finally practice without the worry that my failures will rob me of precious materials. On top of that, now that I finally have some time to rest and think, I can organize all of my magical knowledge in a more efficient way."

    "I like it too." Solus said, showing her golden body that now had nails, eyshes, and even irises. "I have yet to go back to my ring form even for one second and I can spend a lot of time with Dad too."

    Solus couldn¡¯t bring herself to call Elina "mom" because she still had a few memories of Menadion and they were all very precious to her. Threin, instead, was just a name and Solus knew nothing about him except for the things that Silverwing had told her.

    It made Raaz very happy and pissed Elina off big time.

    "I¡¯m sorry for being often absent, sweetie, but managing a big farm is a full-time job. Also, the fact that you and Lith are often away for your experiments doesn¡¯t help." He replied with a sigh.

    "Grandma, a friend of mine would like toe and visit. Is it a problem for you?" Lith asked while handing to her Friya¡¯s introduction letter.

    "As long as you vouch for them and they behave, not at all." Sark opened the envelope, reading Friya¡¯s request to visit the Heavenly Plume tribe and join Lith in his studies about the Davross.

    Before purifying the magical metal Lith wanted to learn from Xenagrosh how to control his Origin mes. Otherwise he would destroy the Darwen thatprised about half of the Davross ingots and with them the chance to craft anti-magic equipment.

    On top of that, Friya wouldn¡¯t miss for the world the opportunity to try out her craziest ideas on the most powerful metal on Mogar. Sark¡¯s Creation Magic allowed Lith to lend his ingots to anyone for their experiments since they would always return to their original state.

    "Thanks." Lith nodded. "One more thing, Grandma. Xenagrosh is going to visit me in a while and she says that she wants to introduce me to a few of my siblings. I¡¯d really like to meet her peacefully without having to hide in some dark corner of the Desert.

    "Can you tolerate her for me?"

    "Keep her out of my tribe, of my pce, and away from my people." Sark didn¡¯t like havingpetition.

    She had brought Lith there to make him get acquainted with the Phoenix side of the family and to show him what the nest could offer him. Mogar¡¯s orders or not, she didn¡¯t trust either the Master or their Organization.

    The idea of Lith spending time with such dangerous creatures was far from alluring, but Sark only wanted loyal followers, not ves.

    <i>¡¯Like all Featherlings, Lith has to make his own experiences in order to make the important choices of his life. I can only hope he won¡¯t do something that he¡¯llter regret.¡¯</i> She thought.

    "Solus, do you want to join me or do you want to stay in the tower?" Lith asked.

    On the one hand, she was really curious to learn more about their alleged big sister and about Origin mes. On the other hand, however, staying out of the Heavenly Plume tribe meant losing her physical form and slow down the recovery of her power core.

    The tower was very close to restoring another floor and with it, she dearly hoped to get back her human body as well.

    "I¡¯d like toe with you, thanks." She replied after weighing her options for a while.

    <i>¡¯I really want to meet the rest of the family, even if I have to act just as a ring. Also, if Xenagrosh teaches us something, the Eyes of Menadion could make a big difference.¡¯</i> She thought.

    The following day, Lith had to travel by flight for several kilometers before reaching a neutral spot where he was allowed to meet with his Abomination side of the family.

    "You are looking good, little brother." Xenagrosh said aftering out of a Chaos Warp.

    Unlike regr dimensional magic, by switching darkness with Chaos, an Abomination pierced through space. It allowed them to travel much further than a regr Gate and to ignore sealing arrays, making up for theirck of Spirit Magic.

    Just like Lith spent most of the time in the Desert in his feathered Tiamat form, Xenagrosh had arrived in her Shadow Dragon form and armed to the teeth as well. She could trust Sark¡¯s word, but one of her children might not agree with her decision and Xenagrosh couldn¡¯t take any risk.

    She stood over 30 meters (100 feet) tall, with two sets of yellow eyes on her snout whose vertical pupils searched the area around them for traps. Her wings were translucent due to the thinyer of shadows that filled the space between the bones where most Dragons had a membrane.

    Her ck scales constantly changed shape and size, but they always ovepped to perfection, forming an imprable natural armor. Sky Piercer, the wed glove that Bytra had crafted for her, covered Xenagrosh¡¯s right hand.

    "You look good as well." Lith replied, noticing how both the shape and the position of the six violet crystals on Sky Piercer were simr to those of the Hands of Menadion. "What are we going to do today?"

    "I don¡¯t have much time and neither do you." She replied while Warping them both away.

    "What do you mean?" Lith instinctively took one step back, offending her.

    "I¡¯m not threatening you, you moron! If I wanted you dead or captured, I would have asked Tezka instead of wasting my time and taking the risk of letting Sark know about my presence." Xenagrosh said in outrage.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but in my defense, I think that we Dragons are terrible with conversation starters." Lith replied.

    "Apology epted." Xenagrosh snorted and ignored his attempt to shift the me on her. "What I meant is that Origin mes are bound to put a great strain on your body. I almost died several times and I¡¯m a frigging Eldritch!"

 Chapter 1545 - Phantom Body (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1545 - Phantom Body (Part 1) </h4>

    "You, instead, arepletely alive and with a cracked life force at that. I¡¯m not letting you take any risk." The Shadow Dragon embraced the smaller Tiamat, giving him an odd feeling.

    Not only because with his barely 20 meters (66 feet) of height Lith felt like a childpared to Xenagrosh, but also because the contact between their scales allowed them to express their respective feelings in a way Lith had never experienced before.

    While Phoenixesmunicated mostly through their blood and by sharing their emotions on a telepathic level, Dragons were more physical.

    The contact allowed them to feel each other¡¯s burden, to realize how tired they were from working non-stop for months, and how worried they were for their respective families.

    The hugsted barely a few seconds, yet its effect was akin to a long and honest conversation.

    "I¡¯ll teach you the basics and then we¡¯ll go meet our sister, Sinmara. I don¡¯t care how much you learn or you don¡¯t, once I say stop, you stop. Okay?" Xenagrosh pushed Lith gently away to look him in the eyes and make sure that he understood how serious she was..

    "Rx. I have practiced Origin mes a lot on my own and I¡¯m still here." Lith shrugged. "Also, did you say Sinmara? I thought she was a Phoenix. How can she be our sister?"

    "No, you didn¡¯t, smartass." Xenagrosh snorted a big puff of smoke from her nostrils. "You just breathed fire, that¡¯s different. Every Wyvern, Dragon, and Phoenix can do that. As for your question, I admit that she¡¯s just my half-sister.

    "She and her twin were born from Dad and Sark, like you. Yet neither of them managed to merge the two bloodlines. They ended up bing respectively a Phoenix and a Dragon, but they are still full siblings to you."

    "Why is it so important that I meet her?"

    "Sinmara is Sark¡¯s right-hand and one of the few Awakened who managed to reach the white core. If she likes you, she can not only help you with any issue that might arise with the Overlord, buts she might also impart you the secret of the white core." Xenagrosh said.

    Lith whistled in surprise, considering himself lucky for once.

    <i>¡¯So far, I¡¯ve met three white cored Awakened and Baba Yaga being the sanest among them speaks volumes about what eternal life does to people¡¯s minds. Sinmara is a Phoenix and one of my siblings at that.</i>

    <i>¡¯I doubt she will give me freebies on our first meeting, but if I manage to establish a good rtionship with her, I might finally get rid of my cracked life force and solve my reincarnation problem at the same time.¡¯</i> He thought.

    "Okay, I¡¯ll try to behave, then. What¡¯s the difference between the Origin mes that I regrly use and those you spoke of earlier?" Lith asked.

    "It¡¯s easier to show than to tell." The Shadow Dragon replied. "It took me and Kigan months of relentless training to reach our current understanding of the Origin mes. If not forparing our notes and our ability as Eldritchs to quickly recover from any wound, I would have needed years to learn how to purify metals."

    "Who¡¯s Kigan?" Lith asked.

    "An Eldritch Phoenix. You saw him back when we beat Night¡¯s ass into oblivion. He¡¯s like a brother to me and a half-brother to you. Don¡¯t mention him to Sark unless you want to get in trouble."

    Xenagrosh took a huge lump of metal out of her pocket dimension and ced it between them.

    "This is what you do when you breathe Origin mes during a battle." She hurled a stream of fire that made the metal melt and then boil until nothing remained.

    The Origin mes didn¡¯t discriminate, eating at everything they met and turning the sand into ss. The mes even consumed the world energy in their surroundings until they vanished.

    "This is what you need to do to purify metals or to exploit them in battle in ways that your enemy can¡¯t even imagine." Xenagrosh took a lump of Orichalcum out and breathed another stream of mes.

    Lith had Solus cover his pupils in what he considered the Contact Lenses of Menadion form. The two of them had the same energy signature and the Tiamat¡¯s massive body made her almost invisible.

    This time, the Origin mes struck at the metal, leaving its surface, the sand, and the surrounding world energy unscathed. Lith could see them moving in and out of the Orichalcum as if they were a living being.

    The mes destroyed all the impurities in the metal, reducing it to half of its original size before bursting out of it and disappearing.

    Lith had already seen something simr back when he had fought Jakra the Emerald Dragon in Lightkeep. This time, however, the phenomenon had happened slowly enough for he and Solus to study it carefully from different angles as it progressed.

    <i>¡¯The good news is that Xenagrosh really is a master of Origin mes. The flow of world energy is better than what we ever achieved with Orichalcum and she managed to not lose a single piece of Adamant in the process.</i>

    <i>¡¯After her treatment, the Adamant has evenly spread throughout the silver, improving both the Orichalcum¡¯s magical and physical properties.¡¯</i> Solus said.

    <i>¡¯What¡¯s the bad news?¡¯</i> Lith could feel her next words lingering in the air.

    <i>¡¯That Xenagrosh is greatpared to us but she suckspared to Jakra.¡¯</i> Solus said. <i>¡¯Back when we fought him, the Emerald Dragon used just enough energy to counter our spells and dismantle our arrays.</i>

    <i>¡¯Xenagrosh, instead, wasted a lot of energy to achieve the same result.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Well, it¡¯s not surprising considering that, ording to the Kingdom¡¯s records, Jakra has been trapped inside the Golden Griffon for centuries whereas Xenagrosh just told us that she has months of practice.¡¯</i> Lith replied.

    <i>¡¯On top of that, she had to be careful not to damage her life force whereas Jakra was immortal. He could afford to test the craziest experiment and to push his body to its utmost limit since the lost academy would fix any damage.¡¯</i>

    "What do you think of your big sister¡¯s skill?" Xenagrosh¡¯s voice was filled with pride.

    She had recovered her Origin mes for just a few years, yet she was already capable of purifying Orichalcum, the weakest and the trickiest among the enchanted metals.

    "I think that you are great. I¡¯ve been practicing for months and I¡¯m nowhere near your level." Lith sighed in envy. "It pains me to admit that I haven¡¯t inherited the Dragon Eyes, so you have to exin to me what you did unless you just wanted to show off."

    "Don¡¯t worry, little brother." The Shadow Dragon patted the Tiamat¡¯s head. "Dragon Eyes aren¡¯t omniscient. I have them and yet I struggled as much as you do."

    "What? Why?"

    "Dragon Eyes allow us to understand the nature of things, but solely of those we already understand the underlying principles. To give you an example, I can reproduce any of your gravity magic spells because I know gravity magic." Xenagrosh said.

    <i>¡¯I wish I had a single damn gravity spell!¡¯</i> Lith inwardly griped.

    "Back when I started practicing Origin mes, instead, Dragon Eyes were pointless because I had no idea what I was looking at. Zero times any number is always zero."

 Chapter 1546 - Phantom Body (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1546 - Phantom Body (Part 2) </h4>

    "On the other hand, the more I learn about Origin mes, the more the Eyes help me to deepen my understanding." Xenagrosh said.

    <i>¡¯So, if Jakra also has Dragon Eyes, he still needed centuries to master Origin mes!¡¯</i> Solus was bbergasted.

    "The first thing you need to understand about Origin mes, little brother, is that they are not just energy, but a part of your own body." The Shadow Dragon said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, but isn¡¯t that the same for magic? I mastered all elements, yet I still suck at Origin mes." Lith replied.

    "No, it¡¯s not the same. Magic is a part of you, but you can consider it as an extension of your mind. It requires imagination and willpower whereas Origin mes are an extension of your body.

    .

    "They don¡¯t use mana, only your own life force and the world energy. The reason why controlling them is so hard is that unlike mana, controlling your life force once it¡¯s outside your body is akin to trying to move the blood that you spilled.

    "It¡¯s just impossible."

    Her word actually encouraged Lith since he had already proven to be capable of moving a limb severed from his body and his Phoenix side had the ability to control his blood even after it had been spilled on the ground.

    "For starters, keep close to your target and then, instead of emitting a burst of mes, breathe them out slowly. Like this." Xenagrosh took a lump of rock out of her pocket dimension while she exhaled a soft stream of fire.

    Much to Lith¡¯s and Solus¡¯s surprise, the Origin mes slithered out of her maw in the form of a snake that coiled around the rock without affecting it. Once she ran out of breath, the snake disappeared and the rock turned out to be unscathed.

    "As long as you keep the connection with the mes, it¡¯s easier to control them. They are a phantom limb that you can flex, move around, and that can even feel akin to fingertips." She said.

    "You can¡¯t possibly remember the position and size of all the impurities inside a block of metal and destroying them bit by bit consumes too much energy. You must learn to use your mes as if they are a diagnostic spell.

    "It¡¯s the only way to know when to stop the purification process and to avoid hurting your allies when you use Origin mes as a means of attack. Come on, try."

    Thanks to all the practice with Faluel, Lith needed but a couple of tries to learn how to feel through the mes while they were still attached to his body. He could simply adjust their power, intensity, and piercing ability as they twirled in the air.

    Lith would give them a simple order at first and then add moreplex instructions as the mes propagated through their target. Back in Faluel¡¯sir, he had been forced to input into his mes a full set ofmands that he had to formte in the split second he emitted them.

    Compared to that, Xenagrosh¡¯s method was child¡¯s y.

    "Okay, that¡¯s enough for today." She said while forcing the Tiamat to stop.

    "I have barely started! I didn¡¯t even give the trick with the rock a go." Lith said in annoyance. He hated to be interrupted when he felt to be close to a breakthrough.

    "You promised me." Xenagrosh¡¯s tone didn¡¯t leave space for discussion. "Now sit down and drink this."

    She handed Lith a powerful Dragon-sized tonic as he suddenly felt his knees buckling and his head spin.

    "What¡¯s happening to me?" He stuttered every single word, needing help to drink the tonic without spilling it on the ground.

    "I told you how dangerous this method is. Every second that you prolonged your mes, every new order you imparted them, cost you more and more life force. They may have looked like a single breath of Origin mes but they were actually as expensive as dozens of them at the same time." Xenagrosh exined.

    <i>¡¯Fuck me sideways, she is right!¡¯</i> Solus said now that she had finished studying the Origin mes and focused her attention on Lith¡¯s life force.<i> ¡¯If she hadn¡¯t stopped you in time, it would have taken days to recover.</i>

    <i>¡¯To make matters worse, it might have even worsened the cracks in your life force.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Is it that bad?¡¯</i> Lith asked.

    <i>¡¯Actually, it¡¯s worse.¡¯</i> Solus replied. <i>¡¯One more second and you would have ended up like after the battle with the Odi. Unless you want to spend days resting, let¡¯s follow Xenagrosh¡¯s order.¡¯</i>

    The Shadow Dragon handed him two more tonics and only after Lith gulped them down did she allow him to stand up.

    "That¡¯s why Kigan and I almost died several times until we understood that while we studied our mes, we needed someone to keep an eye on our condition. Using Origin mes as a scalpel instead of as a blunt instrument is very demanding for a beginner."

    "Generating a continuous stream of Origin mes is akin to making an entire arm out of world energy. You need to make the flesh and the bones out of it whereas the blood that allows it to thrive is your own life force.

    "The longer the arm moves and the more intense its exercise is, the more blood it requires. In other words, every single second of this kind of training drains your life force. If you are not careful, your cracked life force might sustain more permanent damage." Xenagrosh said.

    "I understand now, big sis. Thanks for stopping me." Lith hugged her both as a sign of gratitude and because he had trouble standing on his own. "Isn¡¯t there another and safer method I could use?"

    "If there is one, I don¡¯t know it." She sighed. "I renounced to my Dragon side as soon as I came of age and I¡¯ve regained it only recently. Kigan, instead, was a ck sheep of his family. He abandoned the nest early and never received Sark¡¯s training."

    Lith needed to sit down and rest for a few more minutes before recovering his strength. Even breathing techniques like his Abyssal Gaze couldn¡¯t help him to relieve the effects of life force exhaustion but his Tiamat physique recovered much faster than a human¡¯s.

    On top of that, Xenagrosh had stopped Lith before he reached his limits so the moment the tonics entered his bloodstream, he regained most of his energy.

    "If we¡¯re done with practicing Origin mes for today, what¡¯s next on our agenda? Lunch?" Lith took out a full pic set out of his pocket dimension.

    He had waited a long time to thank Xenagrosh for saving his life and his family from Night¡¯s attack. Yet after receiving her lessons and experiencing the care she treated him outside of the battlefield, Lith felt his debt only grow bigger.

    For the first time in his life, he was really the little brother, relying on an older sibling for guidance without being asked anything in return. Offering Xenagrosh a good meal was the least he could do.

    "Yes, but not here and not now." She was amazed by the Dragon-sized servings and even more by their delicious smell. "I promised Sinmara that I would bring you to her and to you that I would introduce you to some of your siblings."

 Chapter 1547 - Sinmaraâ€™s Home (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1547 - Sinmara¡¯s Home (Part 1) </h4>

    "This will make a wonderful greeting gift. Remember that the quickest way for the heart of an Emperor Beast¡¯s heart is through their stomach.

    "They need to eat like anyone else, but due to the massive amount of food necessary for every meal, home-cooked delicacies are the stuff of the legends for them." Xenagrosh said.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Making stoves and pots big enough for our size is a hassle. The same stands for preparing the food and procure enough seasoning. Most of us just gobble whole cows and trees to get over with it quickly." The Shadow Dragon replied.

    "How does V- I mean, the Master provide you with so much food without it being noticed?"

    "We Abominations hybrids are different and so should you be.." She said. "We eat much less than our beast counterparts because we not only assimte everything we eat aside from their impurities, but we also feed on world energy.

    "Thanks to that, our need for food is greatly reduced and we can eat almost anything since the light element is everywhere around us. In a way, we are simr to nts since we feed upon sunlight as well."

    <i>¡¯Fuck me sideways, that¡¯s why even after turning into a Tiamat I never felt the need to eat as much as Faluel does. My scales feed on both light and heat to sustain my body. That¡¯s why water weakened me back in Kolga.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    "This feast must have cost you a pretty coin and a lot of pain." Xenagrosh interrupted his musings with a chuckle. "I know how stingy you are."

    "I¡¯m not... Actually, I am." Lith was too tired to argue so he just put the food back in the pocket dimension. "Where does Sinmara live?"

    "Where you would expect a single Phoenix to. Inside a volcano." She opened a Warp Steps followed by a few others until they reached one of the Blood Desert¡¯s Mountain ranges.

    "Let me guess. There she is." Lith pointed at a mountain that looked stumpypared to its neighbors and that had a column of ck smokeing out of it.

    "Correct." Xenagrosh nodded. "Don¡¯t worry, the volcano has been inactive for centuries now. What you see is the smoke of her Forgemasteringb."

    "What the heck does she craft that can require that muchva and make so much smoke?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "Items the size of a Phoenix, little brother."

    "Is there anything I should know before we go in?"

    "No. Sinmara has no oversized ego nor absurd rules. Not anymore at least. Be polite and everything will go well." Xenagrosh said.

    Not being able to use Life Vision, the Shadow Dragon needed to cast an array detecting spell to reveal the formation in front of them and push the magical equivalent of a door phone.

    The arrays scanned the visitors and their surroundings for a few seconds before letting them in. The moment Lith stepped through the magic that sealed the entrance, the Contact Lenses of Menadion picked so many powerful energy signatures that Lith was forced to have Solus go back into her ring form to not fry both their brains.

    <i>¡¯By my Mom. This ce radiates so much power that even mana sense ispletely blinded.¡¯</i> She thought, regretting her inability to examine the many magical marvels decorating Sinmara¡¯s home with anything but her regr eyesight.

    Just like Faluel¡¯sir, everything was the size of its master. The corridors, the ceiling, and the rooms could all easily amodate a creature 40 meters (132 feet) tall. Unlike the Hydra, however, the Phoenix had decorated her ce like a home.

    Every room had a soft carpet giving warmth to the ce and muffling their footsteps. Otherwise, each step of a creature as big as Lith would have produced a thunder that the echo of the halls would have made deafening.

    The walls, ceiling, and the ground had been polished to the point that the red light that came from the heart of the volcano was reflected to perfection. It illuminated each room with a soft white light thanks to theck of doors and to the walls changing its color.

    Yet the air was clean and the temperature no higher than that of the outside Desert. The Phoenix had no trouble with heat, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for her furniture. Enchanting the home arrays to keep the temperature stable was much easier than crafting everything to be heat-resistant.

    Paintings were hung to the walls, depicting not only the most important moments in Sinmara¡¯s life, but also those of the people of the Desert and of Sark¡¯s nest. Lith noticed a recurring theme in the pieces.

    Many Phoenixes of various colors were portrayed but there was only one so ck that it resembled an Abomination hybrid. On top of that, a Dragon shining with a silvery-white radiance always appeared next to her.

    "Who are those guys? Is the ck Phoenix one of yours?" Lith pointed at the odd couple.

    "I wish." Xenagrosh chuckled. "That¡¯s Sinmara, our host and the Phoenix of Darkness. The other one is her twin brother, Surtr, the Dragon of Light."

    "A twin?" Lith asked in amazement.

    "Yes. They picked different life forces, but they always stuck together. Their bond is so deep that they worked their way up to the white without anyone¡¯s help but each other¡¯s. They didn¡¯t rely on Leegaain¡¯s help nor Sark¡¯s."

    "Are they both white cores?"

    "Yes. Now enough with the questions." Xenagrosh led him to the lowest level of Sinmara¡¯s home, near the center of the volcano.

    There stood a 40 meters (132 feet) tall creature that resembled a hybrid between a human and a pitch-ck feathered Phoenix. It was Sinmara¡¯s work form, to be capable of using her tools without magic while also retaining all of her bloodline abilities.

    The creature wore a white overall, heavy working gloves, and a thick work apron all made of pure-white scales. In her right hand, she held the hiltless de of a spear of Davross while with the left she wielded a Forgemastering hammer that rhythmically struck at the metal.

    With each hit, the spearhead¡¯s shape became more borate and more runes covered its surface while differentyers of magic formed a power core.

    The lower part of the de was kept heated by the moltenva while the upper part was showered with bright white Origin mes that erupted from the giant wings on the creature¡¯s back.

    Sinmara slowly turned the spearhead, alternating which side would withstand the mes and which one would be tempered by theva.

    <i>¡¯That¡¯s how Origin mese out from both Tista¡¯s wings and those of my Voidfeather Dragon form. I wonder if I can use them like that even as a Tiamat.¡¯</i> He thought.

    While waiting for her to finish, Lith did all he could to remove the excess energy signatures and study her Forgemastering technique with the Eyes of Menadion. Yet all he got for his efforts was a crippling headache for both him and Solus.

    <i>¡¯Do your Dragon Eyes help in situations like this one?¡¯</i> He asked Xenagrosh via a mind link to not disturb Sinmara.

    <i>¡¯I wish.¡¯</i> She replied with a sigh.<i> ¡¯I learned Forgemastery from Bytra, but her technique is so different from Sinmara¡¯s that I¡¯m probably understanding less than you do.¡¯</i>

 Chapter 1548 - Sinmaraâ€™s Home (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1548 - Sinmara¡¯s Home (Part 2) </h4>

    Yet neither Lith nor Xenagrosh gave up and kept staring at the Phoenix¡¯s work as if their life depended on it. Because one day, it might be the case.

    "Little brother! You have no idea how much I wanted to meet you in person." Sinmara said after putting away hertest piece and her working clothes.

    Her Forgemastering equipment was made from Surtr¡¯s scales not because a Dragon¡¯s hide offered more protection than a Phoenix¡¯s feathers so much as because Sinmara found it creepy wearing the magical equivalent of her own dead skin.

    In a simr fashion, Surtr¡¯s working clothes were made of ck feathers.

    "Because I¡¯m a new species and the first sessful fusion between two Guardians¡¯ bloodlines?" He asked, feeling awkward for being half her size.

    <i>¡¯Wee to my world, beanpole.¡¯</i> Solus said with a sneer.

    .

    "No, because of your I-scream thingy. Mom fell in love with it at your birthday party. She always brags to me how it¡¯s the best thing along with a cold beer while taking a hot bath after a hard day of work in the Forge." Sinmara replied.

    "It¡¯s called ice cream, not I-scream." Lith replied. "Also, I¡¯ve gifted Grandma the recipe. What do you need my help for?"

    "Because she refused to share it with me saying that it would be rude of her to betray your confidentiality!" The Phoenix snarled. "The truth is that she uses it to ckmail me into working more.

    "Can you share the recipe with me as well, pretty please? I¡¯ve really had a bad day."

    Lith had brought plenty of ice cream for the lunch, but he had assumed there would only be him and Xenagrosh. He didn¡¯t have enough ingredients inside his pocket dimension for an extra serving for someone that big.

    "Sure thing." He handed to her a regr-sized piece of paper that Sinmara¡¯s eyes were able to read solely thanks to her incredible eyesight.

    "Finally! See you two in ten." She quickly hugged Lith, kindly pecking his head before disappearing into a side room.

    "Hot bath?" He asked while listening to the sound of running water.

    "Probably." Xenagrosh nodded. "Let¡¯s wait for her in the dining room. Unless you want to go peeking."

    Lith clicked his tongue, having no interest in either scales or feathers.

    The dining table was already set for three, with proper sses, tes, and furniture. Everything was of the right size for Sinmara but the moment they touched their respective chairs, the items adjusted their height for them.

    Even from a sitting position, Lith had the impression to be a child among adults.

    <i>¡¯Now you know how I feel every time you joke about setting a baby chair for me at the table.¡¯</i> Solus knew that it wasn¡¯t fairughing at another¡¯s misery, but she did nheless.

    She had too many shortie jokes that she wanted to repay in kind.

    "Thanks for the wait. I hate to admit it, but Mom was right. Ice cream after staying for hours inside a volcano really hits the spot." Sinmara entered the room exactly ten minutester as she had promised, but not in the form that Lith had expected.

    She was now very small, with the appearance of a stunning redhead about 1.83 meters (6¡¯) tall with emerald green eyes. She had cute little freckles under her eyes, on her nose, and on the pale shoulders that the bath towel she wore left exposed.

    "Why are you in human form and why are you naked?" Lith said with the raspy voice of someone choking on a tennis ball while his Tiamat eyes followed the water droplets that ran from her hair and down her ample bosom.

    "Dragons and Phoenixes don¡¯t like water much and the feeling is returned. In my other form, I would have turned the bathtub into a sauna on contact. On top of that, do you have any idea how much water I would waste to clean a 40 meters (132¡¯) tall body?

    "As for your second question, do you bathe clothed?" Sinmara said before reading the hormones in the room. "I¡¯m ttered by your feelings, but I have no interest in anyone younger than 300."

    Lith was d that the pitch-ck scales that covered his body kept the two women from seeing how embarrassed he felt.

    "Is it better now?" Sinmara went back to her gigantic humanoid Phoenix form while she sat at the head of the table.

    "Very, thank you." Lith took the food out of his dimensional pocket and added the recent awkward memory to all those he wanted to repress forever, like proposing to Nalear the day they had met.

    "First the ice cream and now a home-cooked meal?" Sinmara pped her wed hands in enthusiasm, putting away the still-living cattle that she had intended to offer to her guests as lunch. "This is really embarrassing for me. I didn¡¯t prepare any gift for you."

    "Then maybe you can give me a few hints. I came back from the Council¡¯s mission with lots of questions and very few answers." Lith had prepared the servings to feed two Faluels, but since he and Xenagrosh ate much less than a Hydra, there was more than enough for a third person.

    An awkward silence filled the room during the first few bites. Lith was still embarrassed from before, Xenagrosh was lost in thought, trying to make sense of the many enchantments around her, and Sinmara was focused on the food.

    So much time had passed since thest time she had eaten a proper meal that the rich vor of Lith¡¯s tes overwhelmed her.

    "Good gods. A powerful creature that¡¯s good with children and even knows how to cook. You definitely are a full package. If I¡¯m still single in 300 years you have to call me." Sinmara said after devouring the over 1000 regr servings ofsagna that filled her te.

    "Thanks." Those words made Lith think back at Kam and helped him regain his cool. "How do you know about the kids?"

    "The same way I know everything about your training routine with Faluel and that you¡¯ve ranked first as a Spear during the test in the fake Urgamakka and second overall.

    "Mom gives me all the paperwork from the Council and the reports from our siblings watching your house to examine." She replied.

    "What¡¯s a Spear?" Lith asked.

    "In an Awakened army, there are four main roles. The Spear that charges directly against the enemy, the Shield, who protects the main attackers, the Highmaster who deals the damage from a distance, and the Tower, who supports everyone else." Sinmara said.

    "The most important role is that of the Highmaster since arrays deal most of the damage in a fight, but without the others, they would never have the time to cast their long-ass spells.

    "The Spear pierces through the enemy ranks aiming at their Highmasters, the Shield blocks everything that survives the Spear, while the Tower changes their role ording to the circumstances.

    "You yed your role as Spear very well and so did you apprentice as Shield and that elf as Tower."

    "Let me guess. Athung was our Highmaster, correct?" Lith said.

    "Correct. That, among other things, helped her to rank first overall." Sinmara nodded, moving to the meat dish that wasprised of a steaming pile of fillet mignon.

 Chapter 1549 - Fire And Metal (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1549 - Fire And Metal (Part 1) </h4>

    "What other things?" Lith never cared much for rankings, only about survival and loot. Yet he was curious to understand in what way the regional Lord had bested him.

    "Athung moved back to the convened spot faster than you did. She nned her strategy so to save and help as many people as she could while you fought the Hordes. You, instead, just charged ahead and yed it solo." Sinmara replied.

    "You led the undead by example, true, but you didn¡¯t issue any order nor did you care for those who remained injured."

    "Damn, you are right. It was supposed to be a team effort, yet once again I took everything upon myself." Lith had to admit that the Council¡¯s judgment was fair.

    He had suspected everything being a test since the beginning, yet when the battle had gotten too real his natural instincts had kicked in, making him treat everyone else as an expendable tool instead of an ally..

    "Don¡¯t be too hard on yourself. All Phoenixes are like you. I ranked second overall as well back in my time." Sinmara patted his head, making him feel once again like a kid.

    "Who ranked first?" Xenagrosh gave up on stealing the Phoenix¡¯s magical secrets at the same time as Solus did. Both had only gained a blinding headache for their efforts.

    "My brother, and he still rubs it in my face." Sinmaraughed.

    "Well, since you know all about me already, let¡¯s talk about you." Lith said. "If you and your brother went along well to the point of sharing between you the secrets of the violet and the white core, howe you two split up?"

    "Different life choices and the need to have our own resources." She replied. "Do you know why a mana geyser under a volcano is the best possible location for a home?"

    "No. Enlighten me."

    "While the rich mana flow turns themon metals molten in theva into their magical equivalents, the natural heat tempers them over time and purifies them of most impurities.

    "The process not only improves the quality of the metal, but it also speeds up the refining process. On top of that, I don¡¯t have to mine or look for my Adamant simply because as soon as it¡¯s ready, it starts floating atop the magma in the form of a thinyer of liquid metal.

    "I then have to decide whether to pick it up or let it simmer until it bes Davross. Either way, the metal will have a degree of purity and magical properties better than average, saving me a lot of time and energy in the processing steps."

    <i>¡¯Do you think we can do the same in the tower?¡¯ </i>Lith asked.<i> ¡¯If the heat really helps the Adamant turning into Davross, it could save us a lot of time.¡¯</i>

    <i>¡¯Until we get the metal mine, assuming that the tower has one, there¡¯s no way to tell.¡¯</i> Solus replied.

    "My brother and I split up so that we could each have their own volcano, doubling our resources and getting personal space. As you can see, I like my work very much and so does my brother." Sinmara said.

    "A singleb can only contain so much magical energy before overloading and two white cores are too much for any array. To make matters worse, the bastard decided to start a family at some point."

    "Surtr is happily married and he rubs it in my face whenever he can, sending me pictures of his kids, grandkids, and even grand-grandkids. Every time we talk, he mocks me by asking me to give a hug to my hammers for him." She snarled. "That¡¯s why he¡¯s not here."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith asked.

    "He would have loved meeting you so I didn¡¯t invite him. It will teach Surtr a lesson about not being an insufferable prick. Besides, I would have never split my food with him, there was barely enough for me."

    Sinmara had eaten more than Lith and Xenagroshbined, yet she could have gone for seconds.

    "You know, my brother has been keeping an eye on you since he learned about your astounding growth speed. He says that you remind him of us. Too bad you don¡¯t have a twin." The Phoenix winked at Lith the moment Xenagrosh was distracted, making it clear that she knew about Solus.

    <i>¡¯Either Sinmara has found out on her own or Sark told her, it doesn¡¯t matter. Yet she just gave me an idea about how to improve my Origin mes training.¡¯</i> Lith thought.

    "I bet that Surtr will be much more interested in me and angry with you once he learns about this." Lith shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form to take the final bite of meat before turning into a lesser Abomination for a few seconds.

    "I don¡¯t take losing bets. My brother is going to kill me." Sinmara had a worried look on her beak as she touched the soft red-veined ck feathers that covered the back of Lith¡¯s beast form.

    "Really?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "Yeah. Thest time I angered him, Surtr dropped his kids on me and went on a long vacation with his missus. I barely survived the experience." The Phoenix shivered at the memory of the horde of children using her home as a yfield.

    "Big sis, do you think I can try and learn Chaos magic since I still have my Abomination side?" Lith asked.

    "Absolutely not. It¡¯s too dangerous." Both women replied.

    "Why?"

    "It¡¯s easier to show than to tell. Examine my life forces and cores." Xenagrosh said.

    Lith touched her scaly shoulder and activated his breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze, witnessing what an Abomination-hybrid really looked like.

    Xenagrosh waspletely different from any other hybrid Lith had studied before. Her life forces were partially fused, with the ck hole of the Abomination near the white hole of the troll.

    One never stopped sucking in the energy and matter that the other produced. As for her cores, instead, they worked akin to how Lith¡¯s life forces did when he was still a Wyrmling.

    The troll core sealed the ck one, keeping a perfect bnce that allowed the Shadow Dragon to retain the best of both worlds.

    "Now look what happens when I try to use darkness magic." Xenagrosh said.

    The moment her ck core produced the mana necessary to link with the world energy, it also robbed the darkness element of its light counterpart, turning it into Chaos.

    To use normal darkness magic, the Shadow Dragon needed to consume more mana from her troll core to return the light element to the Chaos.

    "Gods! That¡¯s why Abominations can safely use Chaos magic." Lith blurted out in surprise while Solus showered him with a montage of the times that people had told him to forget about such a dangerous branch of magic.

    She ended the montage with a short "I told you so" song of her own making.

    "Exactly." Xenagrosh sighed. "It¡¯s not that we can, but more that we don¡¯t have any other choice. Just like the undead, using light magic drains lots of our energy. For an Abomination, however, even using darkness magic requires us to consume light element."

    "I know that I can¡¯t stop you from trying, but know that you¡¯ll die the first time you make a mistake controlling the cursed elements." Sinmara said.

 Chapter 1550 - Fire And Metal (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1550 - Fire And Metal (Part 2) </h4>

    "Xenagrosh doesn¡¯t have to worry about the Decay produced along with the Chaos because her ck core feeds upon it whereas you would have to worry about both of them. Know that neither Guardians nor white cores use cursed elements.

    "The only species that can safely conjure them are the Abominations and the Liches. Abominations for the reasons I just exined and Liches because their phctery makes any kind of damage, even those to their minds, just temporary."

    "I see." Lith decided to forget about Chaos magic unless he discovered something new and drew aparison between Nalrond¡¯s and Xenagrosh¡¯s body.

    <i>¡¯Maybe making Nalrond¡¯s cores ovep like hers might be the first step to wear down the barriers between his human and Rezar life force.¡¯</i> He thought.

    After a nice helping of ice cream and giving the recipe to Xenagrosh as well, they all turned back in their respective human forms to enjoy a ss of Red Dragon.

    Sinmara wore now a red blouse and ck pants..

    "I know that Mom probably wants you to join the nest, but if you enjoy your freedom as much as I did during my youth, you¡¯d better turn her offer down." She said while slowly drinking the alcohol so strong that it could make a Guardian drunk.

    "I would still like to take a look at the job. The Griffon Kingdom is full of problems and I¡¯d like to have a ce where to fall back if everything goes south." Lith said.

    "Don¡¯t worry. The next time I have a mission from Mom, I¡¯ll bring you and Xenagrosh along so that you can see what kind of threats a high officer of the nest must face." She said.

    "I¡¯m sorry, what do you need me for?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "I can¡¯t focus on my job if I have to protect pipsqueak here." Sinmara chuckled. "I need you to ensure his safety."

    "Then you can count on me." The Shadow Dragon replied.

    On the one hand, more work was thest thing Xenagrosh needed. On the other hand, the opportunity to keep an eye on Lith and to learn the spells of a white cored Phoenix was too good to turn it down.

    ***

    Trawn woods, Faluel¡¯sir, that same day.

    Having her ss more than halved allowed the Hydra to kick her disciples¡¯ asses while also conducting several experiments at the same time. Protector had reached the bright blue for a while now and he needed to start learning Spirit Magic.

    Aside from him, only Quy and Nalrond took part in her sses. Being the only non-Awakened students, they needed to fortify their bodies to handle the power of true magic for their respective ends.

    Quy wanted to make sure to survive the Awakening process she was developing while Nalrond hoped that by making the physical prowess of his human bodye close to that of the Rezar, the barrier separating them would weaken.

    Friya had left for the desert already and Phloria was focusing on improving her mana core while also resting her body from the events of Urgamakka. The use of her de tier spellbined with the Chaos energies she had withstood had taken a heavy toll on her.

    "Excellent work like always, guys." One of Faluel¡¯s seven heads said while the others were quarreling about someplex magical equations they couldn¡¯t agree on.

    "Since training is pointless without some real action, I¡¯m sending you all into the field tomorrow."

    "What?" Protector was in his Skoll form and growled his words in outrage. "Our deal was to let me spend more time with my family and not sending me on more missions until I had improved my skills!"

    "Don¡¯t be a Lith and listen until the end beforeining!" Faluel¡¯s words made everyoneugh, Protector included. "It would be a simple matter of two days tops. Also, I¡¯m not breaking our deal since you won¡¯t work for me this time.

    "Ajatar the Drake has requested my help and I couldn¡¯t refuse after all he did for me."

    "What¡¯s the matter?" Quy asked.

    "He has only one disciple and he¡¯s afraid that Morok alone might not be enough. On top of that, Ajatar is worried that Morok¡¯s father, Glemos might make a move the moment our Tyrant friend is far away enough." Faluel said.

    "Is he using us as helpers or as bait?" Nalrond asked.

    "Both. Ajatar and I will be ready to intervene since one of us might not be enough to face an Awakened as strong and old as Glemos." Faluel said.

    "At the same time, however, we must make sure that he¡¯s really lurking around Ajatar¡¯s territory. That¡¯s why he needs our help. If Glemos has left, then you¡¯ll just be Morok¡¯s backup.

    "If he¡¯s still around, however, your task is to buy enough time until we arrive."

    "You can count on me." Quy said while burning with anger.

    Morok¡¯s father had put him in the same situation Deirus had forced upon her for months. The Tyrant was a prisoner of his own home, fearing that his estranged parent might snatch him away the moment he stepped in the open.

    "I can use spending a bit of time with him." Nalrond nodded.

    "Two days tops. After that, I¡¯ll go back home, no matter if the mission is finished or not." Protector said as the memory of his children asking him who he was made him shudder.

    It had just been a horrible prank that Selia had arranged back when he had returned from hisst autumn mission to teach him a lesson. Yet the kids had yed their role so well and made the charadest long enough that it didn¡¯t hurt any less than if it was real.

    "Are you sure that Quy cane with us?" Nalrond asked. "She has recently gone through some bad stuff and she¡¯s the weakest among us."

    "Thanks for asking." Quy unleashed Bloodbind, the mystical Adamant chains that Orion had crafted for her.

    They darted from her sleeves faster than a snake, wrapping around Nalrond before he had the time to shapeshift. When he tried to switch bodies, the chains were already so tight that they almost crushed his expanding ribs.

    On top of that, Quy needed but a thought to m him left and right on the ground like a dirty rug. The strength behind the chains came from their enchantments and was fueled by her core, not her muscles.

    "Okay, I give up." Nalrond said the moment he felt her darkness spell traveling through Bloodbind and seeping directly inside his body.

    "I may be weak, but I¡¯m almost a true mage." Quy said. "I already mastered fusion magic and all spells up to tier three. On top of that, the equipment that my Dad made for me is state-of-the-art Royal Forgemastering."

    Two metal wings came out of her back, allowing her to fly without the need for magic and revealing her clothes to actually be thetest version of Orion¡¯s Featherwalker armor.

    "Human Rangers like Ac have single-handedly dealt with missions like that for centuries now and even if Ick their physical prowess, my artifacts more than make up for it."

    "Indeed." Nalrond sighed in envy as his clothes ripping from a simple love tap revealed to be nothing but regr clothes.

 Chapter 1551 - Mutated Monsters (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1551 - Mutated Monsters (Part 1)</h4>

    "Do I get equipment for this mission or in exchange for my services?" Nalrond asked.

    "Yes." Faluel''s words brought a smile to his face. "If you find it while on the job. As I said multiple times, you are not my apprentice and magical materials don''t grow on trees."

    The Rezar inwardly cursed at the Hydra, leaving their first.

    "What about me? I worked my ass off for you for years." Protector said.

    "You did it in exchange for my lessons and for the resources you needed to make your home asfortable as Lith''s." She replied. "But you are right, I can''t send you there with Lith''s prototypes for equipment¡­

    "Ajatar would never let me hear the end of it, bragging about how he treats his apprentice better at every asion he gets."

    "Are you really giving me equipment only to not look bad in an Awakened measuring contest?" Protector was bbergasted.

    "Of course. You''ve been benched for months now and before that, you spent most of your time working as a mercenary. Take a lesson from Lith. He makes his own equipment and owns his own materials." Faluel said with the prideful stinginess typical of all Dragons.

    Protector had many mean things he would have liked to say, but the full suit of Adamant armor along with the Adamant mace shut his mouth. He held in his arms a treasure worthy of a magical bloodline, worth enough to buy Lutia a few times and leave something to spare.

    "Does it grow in size with me?" He asked.

    "Don''t push your luck, furball." She replied with a snarl. "It will shapeshift to keep your vitals protected in your Skoll form but that''s it."

    Protector imprinted the equipment and gave it a quick go. His human form was fully covered, but once he turned into an Emperor Beast, the armor only covered his heart, head, and spine.

    "Any advice for me?" Quy asked.

    Despite her brave front, she was intimidated by the task at hand. Not because of its difficulty but because every time she went on the field something bad happened.

    "Yes. Try to not rely on any of yourpanions at all times. Morok would have done this mission solo if it wasn''t for Glemos. Nalrond and Protector could do the same but we are sending them together as a failsafe.

    "I''m sending you as well so that you can test the limits of your human body. With your equipment and all the training you had, you should be on their level so every time you need help means that you''re doing something wrong." Faluel said.

    Quy swallowed several lumps of saliva, suddenly feeling as if it was the night before the exams at the White Griffon academy and she was still a student.

    The next day, they met at Faluel''s a few hours past sunrise. Due to time zones, they would arrive at Ajatar''sir while in the Weghan region was still dawn. The Warp Array led them in the central part of the Griffon Kingdom where the Tyrant and the Drake were waiting for them.

    "I missed you so much, sweetheart!" Morok threw his arms at Quy and she threw Bloodbind at him, mming the Tyrant against the ground just like she had done with the Rezar the day before.

    "That''s why she moved that fast. Quy must have gotten a lot of practice keeping Morok''s hands off her." Nalrond said.

    "Indeed." Ajatar didn''t even try to defend his disciple.

    The Drake resembled a 20 meters (66 feet) long lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales, with a huge white horning out of his snout. His tail was almost 11 meters (36 feet) long, ending with thick bone spikes.

    Ajatar would use it either as a weapon or to bnce his body whenever he needed to stand on his hind legs.

    "What are we supposed to do?" Quy asked after releasing the Tyrant.

    "Routine stuff." Ajatar shrugged. "A few monster tribes have assembled over one of the unproductive mana geysers of my region and I need you to get rid of them as soon as you check up on what they have achieved so far."

    "Unproductive mana geyser?" Nalrond scratched his finely trimmed beard in confusion.

    "It''s the term we use for those surges of world energy that don''t yield mana crystals or magic metals." The Drake replied. "Some of them just need time to mature while others nourish natural treasures that are more easily snatched."

    "What use do monster tribes have for them and what do you mean by, what they achieved so far?" Quy asked.

    "I can answer that." Protector chimed in after seeing Ajatar roll his eyes at those questions. "Evolution is supposed to bring the races closer to each other, making them stronger.

    "That''s why evolved creatures can mate with members of the other races and why beasts be more intelligent the more their core develops. Monsters, instead, have ended up amplifying an already strong racial trait, further suppressing the others.

    "The Wargs, for example, were once Magical Beasts who lost themselves to their beast side, while humanoid species lose control of their magical powers, as it happened to orcs and trolls.

    "At the same time, however, their unstable state coupled with their fast spawn rate makes them prone to mutations.

    "Because of this, all of the fallen races are naturally drawn to mana geysers even though they are incapable of Awakening. They can still absorb the world energy to spark change in their bodies.

    "Awakened Lords have to keep an eye on mana geysers not only for resources, but also to keep the monsters'' poption in check. Our hope is that the world energy will restore them, but usually it only makes things worse.

    "That''s why Ajatar said that we have to check on what they have achieved. If a tribe is getting better, we leave them alone. If they are just getting more dangerous or deranged, instead, we have to put them down." Protector said.

    "Just one more question." Nalrond said. "You mentioned more than one tribe. How is that possible?"

    "Long story short, all the nearby monsters want the geyser for themselves and none of them is willing to leave. After a fight to the death, the weaker tribes are enved by the winner." Ajatar said. "Anything else?"

    Nalrond and Quy suddenly felt incredibly ignorant but since the questions they had left were more rted to their curiosity than to the mission, they just shook their heads.

    Ajatar and Protector were already annoyed and both couldn''t wait to get the mission over with.

    The Drake activated one of the arrays of his cave, generating a detailed 3D hologram of the entire Weghan region. It was filled with small luminous dots where Ajatar had noted downndmarks and the details he needed to remember their spatial coordinates.

    "Be careful out there." He said after opening a Warp Array that would lead them to their destination. "Glemos or not, if the monsters have started to mutate, they will be much more dangerous than usual."

    They arrived in the middle of some deep woods, a few kilometers off the mana geyser.

    Ajatar had no idea of how many tribes had assembled nor how much their numbers had grown, so he preferred to not take unnecessary risks.

 Chapter 1552 - Mutated Monsters (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1552 - Mutated Monsters (Part 2)</h4>

    He had sent Morok and the others far away enough from the geyser where they wouldn''t be swarmed by the monsters before they coulde up with a proper n.

    The apprentices moved by flight, covering the distance in just a few minutes and stopping at a safe distance to scout the area without being spotted thanks to the cover of the woods.

    "Is it me or is this the wrong ce?" Quy said pointing at the serene scene in front of them.

    They had reached the position marked on Ajatar''s map, yet the small teau in front of them showed no sign of monster activity. Only a few trees had been cut down recently and the birds sang without a care in the world.

    "This is indeed odd." Morok used Life Vision, but the intense energy flowing out of the ground blinded his mystical senses. "Maybe the geyser really reverted the monsters to their peaceful nature or maybe they left."

    "Really?" Nalrond asked.

    .

    "No, I''m messing with you." The Tyrantughed at his naivety. "I bet they moved underground to bathe in world energy and that they survive by eating the captured tribes, that''s why they have yet to plunder the woods.

    "Speed is of the utmost importance when dealing with monsters. Let them spawn or mutate enough and only a proper city or a small army of Awakened can deal with-"

    Several goblins appeared from a corner of the nearest teau, cutting Morok short and making him signal the others to shut up.

    They were a short humanoid race, rarely taller than 1.2 meters (3''3") high, with skinny limbs, bloated bellies, and disproportionatelyrge eyes that further emphasized their childish appearance.

    They were also supposed to have a pale, almost translucent skin and a bald head with eyes filled with an unquenchable hunger for all the pleasures of the flesh.

    The creatures in front of the group, however, almost reached 1.5 meters (5'') of height and had bright yellow skin. Their limbs were well-proportionate and the pointy ears visible from under their white hair almost resembled those of the elves.

    "What the fuck?" Protector blurted out in surprise, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    The goblins also wore simple clothes instead of rags and moved in an orderly fashion. Each one of them was carrying huge stones with earth magic that they turned into dust before going back from where they had arrived.

    "Since when can goblins use magic?" Quy asked.

    "That''s not what worries me." Morok said. "There was something on their necks that reminded me of a cor."

    "Are you sure?" Quy became pale as a ghost and stared at her right ring finger, afraid that Nalear''s ve item might reappear to haunt her at any moment.

    Protector and Nalrond exchanged worried looks, hoping that the Tyrant was wrong. Unlike him, their most developed sense was that of smell so they had failed to notice the presence of the cors.

    "Not really. They were too far to see them clearly even with my eyes and with their huge heads it''s hard to look at their necks. Let me call master Ajatar." Morok said.

    "This is odd indeed." The Drake said. "The use of ve cors would mark the presence of humans or at least of Awakened since monsters can''t craft magical items. Yet it still wouldn''t exin their sudden mutation or what''s happening there.

    "If the Goblins needed to bring the rocks outside instead of justpressing them with earth magic, it means that they need an awful lot of space and this doesn''t fit with any monster tribe I know either. Continue the mission and keep me posted."

    Before moving forward, they established a mind link tomunicate between them without the risk of being overheard. Then, they took flight to study the teau from above with their regr sight due to the mana geyser blinding their mystical senses.

    The array detection spells came out negative, allowing to the group toe down to the ground and search the location where the goblins had disappeared.

    ''They are very smart.'' Nalrond said after turning into a Rezar and studying the rock walls. ''There is a passage, but it''s so deep that if we use earth magic to reach it, the noise, the vibrations, or the sunlight would betray our presence.

    ''Unluckily for them, my bloodline abilities are perfect for this situation.''

    The Rezar needed but to touch the ground to make it open in front of him as if Nalrond was diving into a thick liquid instead of solid stone, allowing him to swim through it.

    ''I''ll open a Steps for you as soon as I get to the other side. Don''t forget to shield the sunlight.'' He said before the rocks cut the mind link.

    ''You know, I''m really happy that you''re here.'' Morok had a hard time staying away from Quy because after going so close to losing her forever, every time he saw her, he just wanted to hold her tight and never let her go.

    ''Yeah, same. It''s really a bummer that first Deirus and now your father is making it impossible to have our second date.'' Quy replied while dropping on the ground a red sphere that she buried with earth magic.

    ''Really? Didn''t you change your mind after my earlier little outburst of enthusiasm?'' He asked.

    ''No. Our first date wasn''t so bad and my sisters told me what you did at my funeral. You really are a moron, but you are also a good guy. I am willing to give you a chance as long as you promise me to stop trying so hard.

    ''We don''t know each other so well. If you keep doing crazy things to impress me, you are just going to look like a creep and scare me.'' Quy said.

    Morok swallowed a huge lump of saliva, happy that she had no idea that he had Awakened for her and that he had even nned on killing Deirus to avenge her.

    ''Don''t worry. I attacked Deirus out of grief, but once I cooled my head, I didn''t do anything stupid.'' He lied through his thoughts.

    ''I''m curious about how your father found you.'' Quy asked, making the swallowing get worse. ''I thought that the tracker he had imnted in your life force would trigger only upon your Awakening and you were adamant about not-''

    A dimensional corridor opened in the point where the Rezar had disappeared under the rocks. Small at first, to give hispanions the time to shroud the entrance, but big enough to re-establish the mind link with them.

    ''Get in quickly. You have to see this.'' Nalrond said, saving Morok in the nick of time.

    Quy was too busy stopping the sunlight with darkness magic to finish her question and force the Tyrant to lie again.

    After the group walked through the Warp Steps, they found themselves in aplexwork of caves. The walls had been masterfully dug with earth magic and each corridor wasrge enough to allow three adults tofortably walk side by side.

    There was no light inside, forcing the Awakened to activate Fire Vision and Quy to wear special goggles that Orion had crafted for her. Nalrond had neither, but he could navigate by following the vibrations in the ground.

 Chapter 1553 - Perfect Body (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1553 - Perfect Body (Part 1)</h4>

    ''Why are your eyes shining red just like Protector''s?'' Quy asked Morok after noticing that Nalrond was the only one in need of guidance in the dark.

    ''Fire Vision, babe. It''s one of the many perks of being an Awakened stud.'' The Tyrant mindlessly replied.

    He even showed her for a second his six eyes that allowed him to see in every direction at the same time.

    ''When did you Awaken and why didn''t you tell me until now?'' Quy asked, looking at Morok with renewed suspicion.

    ''It happened right after your funeral.'' The Tyrant cursed at his own stupidity and tried toe up with a believable excuse. ''To fix the wounds that Deirus inflicted to me, master Ajatar had to use Invigoration and it triggered my Awakening.''

    ''Oh, gods, I''m so sorry.'' Quy held him tight, bringing his head close to her chest and making his heart race like crazy. ''This is all my fault. If not for my mother''s ploy, you wouldn''t have Awakened and your father wouldn''t have found you.

    ''I put you in this awful situation and you didn''t tell me to not make me feel guilty about it. You''re so sweet.'' She was so moved by Morok''s kindness that warm tears streaked down her cheeks.

    On the one hand, the Tyrant was really happy that by filling the gaps on her own, Quy had saved him the trouble toe up with a lie. On the other hand, her tears and him being too scared to tell her the embarrassing truth made Morok feel like the worst scum on Mogar.

    ''No, it''s not your fault. I acted like a fool and paid the consequences.'' He tried to downy his actions, only to end up looking even more stoic and brave.

    ''Thanks.'' She gave him a soft kiss that he didn''t enjoy one bit.

    The sweetness of her lips was poisoned by his own lies, guilt, and the terror of what would happen if Quy discovered the truth.

    ''Gods, why are you so cruel? The one time I didn''t even try to act cool I got everything I wanted but at a terrible price. What the heck did I do to deserve this?'' He thought.

    ''Sorry to ruin the moment, but I can feel movements ahead.'' Nalrond said while dragging everyone near a wall.

    He used his abilities to soften it up for everyone so that the rock covered them until only their noses and eyes remained exposed.

    Quy hadpletely forgotten about the others and was grateful for the darkness shrouding her beet red face. Her heart pounded so hard that she was afraid that it would betray their presence.

    Then, a figure stepped into the corridor and her blood froze.

    The creature stood over 3 meters (10'') tall, with a humanoid body covered in small blood-colored scales. A single red eye right in the middle of the forehead shone with an ominous light that moved around the corridor''s walls as if it could pierce through them.

    Three sets of short curved horns emerged from her head, cheekbones, and the sides of her chin. Her massive upper body was covered solely by a ck scaled sash that protected andpressed her breasts, revealing the creature as a female.

    The rest of her upper torso waspletely exposed and seemed to beprised of bulging muscles so big that each one of her arms was thicker than the legs of Protector''s human form.

    Her legs were reverse jointed like those of a cat, and were covered by a ck armor that only left the talons extending out from her toes and heels exposed. Two ming red membranous wings were folded around her neck, almost looking like a mantle.

    ''A Balor, and a female one at that!'' The group thought in unison.

    The creature walked at the head of a second column of goblins that carried another load of rocks. While the others had to shut down Fire Vision to not get discovered, Quy could keep using goggles without the risk of being exposed.

    Once the group of monsters came close to her, she noticed that not only the goblins, but also the Balor wore the cor that Morok had spotted earlier. She instinctively searched for all the signs of rebellion that the victims of ve items could manifest, just like she did back at the academy.

    Yet she found none. Quite the contrary, the goblins didn''t even look scared.

    ''This makes no sense. Down here they have no need to hide their emotions and even if their master ordered them to get along, the Balor should at least show hostility toward lesser beings.'' She thought while sharing what she saw with the others via the mind link.

    "Be quick and make sure to turn the rocks into a fine dust." The Balor spoke slowly to make sure that the goblins understood her words. "We can''t afford to lose a single gram of metal nor to draw unwanted attention by leaving around piles of debris.

    "I''ll wait for you here. If anyone attacks you or if you simply notice something out of ce, call me immediately."

    The goblins spoke between them in a gutturalnguage until the smartest of them tranted the Balor''s orders to the rest of the group. Then, the small creatures nodded to the Evil Eye and used their collective earth magic to open a temporary passage to the surface.

    ''What he actual fuck?'' Nalrond said via the mind link. ''Even if those things around the monsters'' necks were ve cors, the goblins that don''t understand the words of their alleged master would be free to ignore the instructions of another ve and run away the moment they get out.''

    ''That''s not even the strangest thing here.'' Morok replied. ''Thanks to my eyes, I don''t need Life Vision to follow the flow of the elements. I can tell you that those cors are channeling the surrounding world energy inside the monsters'' bodies.''

    ''Do you have any idea what they do?'' Protector asked.

    ''Dude, I''m not even a Forgemaster, let alone a fortune teller!''

    While they waited for the goblins to return, Quy noticed how the Balor kept nervously tapping her foot while looking at her massive limbs with disgust as if she had been cursed to inhabit her body instead of being born with it.

    It took the small creatures a short while to return and when they did, the goblins seemed to be as eager to leave as the Balor. One of them handed to the one-eyed monster a small metal shard to examine.

    The light of the Balor''s red eye moved back and forth the fragment until it started to turn into a liquid.

    ''She''s not just looking at it. The Balor is using her eye to determine the melting point of the metal.'' Quy said, making the others very happy for her presence since they would have never realized it on their own.

    ''Such fine control over the fire element is beyond even what Fire Vision can do. Use water fusion or she might pick up the heat signature of our exposed parts if the red light touches us.'' Protector warned the others.

    "Good work. Alert the excavation team that we found another Orichalcum vein." The Balor said with a huge grin.

 Chapter 1554 - Perfect Body (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1554 - Perfect Body (Part 2)</h4>

    Luckily for Morok''s group, between the Balor''s difort and the lucky surprise, she had been too busy to perform a thorough search of the walls. When she took the final check to make sure that no trace of the tunnel opened by the goblins remained, it was toote.

    Nalrond and the others had already cooled their bodies, matching their heat signature to that of the wall they hid in.

    ''Do we wait for them to leave or do we follow them?'' Protector asked. ''If this ce really is a metal mine, then we''ll never find the way down on our own. We need an unwitting guide.'' Protector said.

    ''Agreed.'' Nalrond said while listening to the vibrations in the ground to check for any more surprises.

    The goblins had no problem moving in the dark thanks to Earth Vision and the Balor used a rough version of Fire Vision whereas the invaders werepletely blind.

    .

    Any of their mystical senses would make their eyes glow and betray their presence due to the absolute darkness that filled the tunnels.

    Quy was the only one capable of seeing thanks to Orion''s enchanted goggles. To make up for it, she shared her sight with the others via the mind link while Nalrond shared his hearing.

    His Rezar''s senses filtered the echoes of the caves, allowing them to understand several conversations at the same time instead of just hearing jumbled words.

    The only downside was that to covey so many sensory inputs, their mana slowly poisoned Protector and Morok.

    They followed the Balor for several minutes, going deeper and deeper in the ground as the monsters moved past several junctions and side corridors.

    To be sure that they would find their way back, Protector rubbed his hands on the walls from time to time, leaving a smell that he could trace back despite the stench of sulfur, sweat, and dirt that became more intense as they moved forward.

    Suddenly, the Balor''s cor turned to a bright shade of green. Her body started to writhe, making her emit moans that sounded like a mix of pain and pleasure. Her muscles shrunk and her bones popped as she underwent aplete metamorphosis.

    The Balor was now slightly over 2 meters (7'') tall, making the sash that previously covered her breasts into a top that went from under her armpits to her waist. The armor on her legs had now loosened into a ck metal gown so long that it brushed against the ground, making sparks with each step she took.

    The towering monster had turned into a delicate woman with pale blue skin and a cascade of long silver hair that reached the small of her back. Her body was that of a goddess, with curves and muscles of perfect proportions.

    The red eye on her forehead had split into two, one red and the other blue that now rested at the sides of her pretty nose. The red membranous wings shone like suns as they became covered in feathers made of pure energy.

    Each wing took the same color of the element that they fueled their respective eye with.

    Unbeknownst to the bbergasted group of invaders, the remaining four elements that had been previously fused with the Balor''s body converged to her midriff, where along with the energy from her wings they formed a rough mana core.

    ''By the Great Mother!'' Quy said. ''That''s why the fallen Balors can''t have more than three eyes. They need to merge two into one to make up for theirck of wings. One draws in the world energy and the other focuses its element.''

    ''The transformation must be due to the cor and the depth we have reached.'' Morok said. ''Here the flow of world energy is much stronger, allowing not only the smaller goblins, but also the huge Balor to revert to their original form.''

    ''Man, if she''s hot!'' Nalrond blurted out, making the others turn towards him.

    ''The boy needs to getid.'' Protector said after sniffing the Rezar''s raging pheromones.

    ''Big time.'' Morok said with eyes filled with such empathy that it made Nalrond feel even more like a creep.

    ''If you keep staring at me, we''ll lose them. Let''s move.'' The Rezar said in embarrassment.

    When he finally managed to move his eyes from the Balor''s ass to her delicate neck, Nalrond wondered if the cor might help him with his problem. The artifact seemed to be capable of fixing more than one kind of life force and he was eager to try its effects.

    ''This exins why earlier she was so disgusted by her own appearance but not how Ajatarould have missed a magic metal mine. Didn''t he say that this geyser was unproductive?'' Quy asked.

    ''It is, or better, it was supposed to. He brought me here to teach me how to identify the signs of magical resources but his spells all came out negative.'' Morok said.

    ''And I think that''s the reason why.'' Nalrond pointed to a spot of the wall where several cors had been linked together, forming small circles in the stone.

    Near each one of them, there was a group of fallen Balors whose members collectively had ess to all six elements. Some groups just required two three-eyed Balors while others needed six of them with a single eye.

    They would unleash six elemental pirs at the same time against the metal circle, causing an amazing phenomenon that made the jaws of Quy''s group fall to the ground.

    The enchanted ring focused the abundant world energy of the mana geyser at its core and when the Balors added the power of their eyes, a small mana crystal formed at its center.

    The gemstone was barely the size of a pea and of a tinge of red so deep that it looked like an old bloodstain. Yet forcing the germination of a mana crystal in seconds rather than decades was something that mages had tried and failed to do for millennia.

    On top of that, the Balors continued to shoot pirs of elemental energy until their eyes bled and they were incapable of keeping them open anymore.

    The ring focused the mix of elemental energies generated by the monsters, adding them to the world energy from the geyser before forcefully injecting them inside the crystal.

    By the time exhaustion forced the Balors to stop, the gemstone had grown to the size of a nut and became of a brighter shade of red.

    ''By the Great Mother!'' The group of intruders thought in unison. ''We need to inform Ajatar and Faluel as soon as possible. If these monsters can refine crystals up to white and use them for their crafting, there''s no telling how dangerous they might be.''

    ''I mean, this is something that not even Solus can-'' A powerful nudge to the ribs from Protector cut Nalrond short. ''Why did you do- Oh, sh*t.''

    Quy and the Skoll were both pointing at the Tyrant who had no idea of either who Solus was or what her abilities were. Nalrond was so used to hanging with people that already knew her that he had forgotten that Morok wasn''t part of the club.

    ''Who''s Solus?'' He asked.

    ''A friend of ours who''s been trying for a long while to make artificial crystals.'' Quy managed to lie only by omission, hoping that Morok would drop the subject.

    Luckily for them, things were about to get even more interesting.

 Chapter 1555 - Harmonizer (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1555 - Harmonizer (Part 1)</h4>

    "That''s it?" The reverted female Balor said with a snicker. "Not only are you guys a bunch of failures who unlike me are incapable of obtaining a perfect body, but your power also amounts just to so much. Pathetic."

    "Tough talk for a one-eyed bitch, Rhona." Said a male Balor with three eyes, drawing the res of most of those present.

    Very few Balors had two eyes and having three was considered akin to a miracle.

    "Tough talk for someone whose bloodline will die with him, Nouhka." Rhona lifted the taller and much heavier male Balor by the neck with just one hand.

    Her red wing crackled with fire element, multiplying her strength by several folds.

    "The only reason I don''t kill you is that your three eyes are hard to rece¡­" Nouhka punched and struggled at the thin arm that made his neck pop, but to no avail. "Now get back to work. Without more crystals, there will be no new Harmonizers.

    "No new Harmonizers means that I''ll be stuck in this putrid hole with the rest of you dregs and you have my word that I''ll make your life even more miserable than mine."

    Rhona''s blue wing lit up as well, draining the heat from Nouhka and with it the little strength he had left. Having exhausted the energy of his eyes to fuel the metal circle, he waspletely helpless in front of the reverted Balor.

    Fire fusion made her fist as heavy as mountains while water magic made his body stiffer than a punching bag. The female Balor punched Nouhka within an inch of his life under the scared gaze of the other monsters, making an example out of him.

    Only when a crying and begging pulp of blood remained of the once proud three-eyed Balor did Rhona stop. Then she weaved a spell that all those present knew very well while her hands conjured the world energy necessary for a tier three healing spell.

    White light engulfed the fallen Nouhka, healing all of his wounds except for his still bleeding eyes. Once a fallen Balor ran out of world energy, time and rest were the only way they had to recover their strength.

    "Did you see what just happened?" Rhona addressed not only the other Balors working at the crystals, but also at the groups of goblins that were using earth magic to make space in the caves and to search for precious metals.

    "This is what we can achieve if we work together like people instead of whining like this little bitch." She kicked Nouhka to emphasize her words. "Our old bodies, our old minds, and even magic."

    She cast another healing spell on the wounded Balor before conjuring water to quench the thirst of the miners. Small spheres of water floated in front of the workers, allowing them to drink slowly even without a cup.

    "At the moment, the Harmonizers works only on a few of us, but if we keep perfecting them, soon all of you will reap their benefits. But only if we work together." She waved her hand at those that still retained their fallen state.

    Yet most of the goblins were so stupid that not only didn''t they understand Tyris''s universalnguage despite its simplicity, but they also needed theirpanions to repeat the concept several times before vaguely grasping its meaning.

    ''Okay, this is bad.'' Morok said. ''We are out of our depth. Back when I was non-Awakened and worked as a Ranger, I could barely fight one Balor on my own. Here we have several of them and even a reverted one.

    ''To make matters even worse, they are capable of reasoning, have allies of races that usually they would just keep in their pantry as snacks, and can even use true magic. Let''s slowly retreat to the exit and call-''

    Unfortunately for them, Rhona had yet to finish her pep talk.

    "This is what awaits us outside! No more hiding in the shadows like rats!" Her red eye and a light elemental spell conjured a perfect replica of the sun right in the middle of the mining site.

    It spread a gentle light that moved the creatures of the deep to tears as their brains were now capable of understanding how much they had lost after their fall. The small sun''s warmth seeped inside their bodies, relieving them from the fatigue and filling them with new hope.

    Its light also revealed the presence of four human intruders, quickly turning the joy into a blood frenzy.

    ''Oh, sh*t!'' Protector and the others thought in unison.

    ''We are too deep in the ground for regrmunication amulets to work.'' Morok said. ''Luckily I always keep my council amulet at hand. You keep them busy while I call for help.''

    The others nodded while shielding the Tyrant with their bodies. He pressed Ajatar''s rune, making the white crystal fill the Davross amulet with its power.

    Through her blue wing, Rhona felt the water magic imbued in the amulet trying to open the small Gate necessary to open themunication and used the power of her corresponding eye to alter the elemental bnce in the cave.

    Unlike a sealing array, the Balor''s wing didn''t iste the amulet. The artifact still worked, but its signal was now jammed, wandering aimlessly through the cave until it faded away.

    "Stop the intruders! We can''t let them escape and call for reinforcements." Rhona said while leading the charge.

    Morok and the others stared at the iing wave of enemies, weighing their options.

    The good news was that most of the Balors were so tired that their eyes were still closed shut. Only a few of them had any elemental energy left and even they couldn''t produce more than a couple of shots.

    The bad news was that, even if tired, the locals outnumbered them ten to one and that the reverted goblins had sounded the rm the moment they had spotted the invaders.

    It was only a matter of time before more monsters arrived, sealing the fate of Morok''s group.

    Quy tried and failed to Blink at the enemy''s back while also wasting one of the water spells stored in her magic holding rings that she had used to freeze the ground in order to buy some time.

    She had no idea that the elemental unbnce sealed water magic unless one knew how topensate for it, something that not even most Awakened could do.

    ''What''s wrong with water magic and why isn''t Ajatar picking up?'' She asked as an over 2.5 meters (8''2") tall two-eyed Balor who weighed about 180 kilograms of pure muscles jumped on her, pinning Quy to the ground while biting gums-deep into her flesh.

    ''I don''t know!'' Protector replied while shapeshifting into his hybrid form to take on the two Balors charging at him from above while the small goblins just passed between his legs, using their mining tools to cut his tendons.

    Morok tried to call Faluel first and then the entire Council, yet nothing worked. The elemental imbnce was a rare phenomenon that was both hard to recognize and to counter.

    If not for his past encounter with the rtively weak Gadorf the Wyvern, even Lith would have died while fighting his first reverted Balor, Yozmogh, when the ex-ve had pulled that trick to seal all of Lith''s spells.

 Chapter 1556 - Harmonizer (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1556 - Harmonizer (Part 2)</h4>

    Nalrond conjured a hard-light wall to stop the enemy''s advance, but with so little time he couldn''t'' weave a powerful spell. Just like the others, he had been taken by surprise and with no spell at the ready, forcing the Rezar to resort to low tiered magic due to its short casting time.

    Protector inwardly thanked Faluel as her Adamant armor, Ouro, kept the goblins from crippling his Achille''s heels and kneecaps with their enchanted mining tools. The picks stung instead of piercing and the hammers bruised his flesh but didn''t break his bones.

    The two Balors tackled him, trying to squeeze the life out of the werewolf-looking creature that had reced the red-headed barbarian with their tree trunks-sized arms, but even in his smaller form, the Skoll retained all of his mass.

    Even thebined efforts of the two titans couldn''t move a creature that weighed a few tons once he had ted his ws deeply into the rock. Protector had been forced to tank the hits to not expose his teammates, not because he was too slow to dodge.

    His enchanted mace, Boros, swatted the goblins like flies, leaving a red smear on the floor as the only trace of their fleeting existence. Then, he moved his grip to near the head of the weapon, making it an extension of his fists.

    He struck with the mace at the Balors, forcing them to take a step back to not have their heads burst open like watermelons¡­

    "Somebody help Quy!" Morok said in a panic the moment he raised his eyes from the jammed amulet.

    Yet his words fell on deaf ears.

    Protector was fully equipped but he was outnumbered and the moment the monsters restricted his movements, it would be his end. As for Nalrond, the only protection he wore was the natural scales covering his Rezar body and his only weapon were his ws.

    He could only take a few hits before being forced to run away or die.

    The sound of ripping flesh filled the room while a river of blood spread from under the body of the Balor that had overpowered Quy.

    The creature stood up slowly with a huge grin on his face, but only because the Adamant des that had pierced his neck and skull pulled his skin up. The wings of the Featherwalker armor were now extended, revealing that each one of its plumes was actually razor-sharp.

    Before falling to the ground, Quy had used the metal wings as shields to absorb the impact, and then she had exploited the Balor''s very own weight to impale him. His bite had only met Adamant, turning his teeth into a bloody mess.

    Rhona cast a healing spell on herrade, only to find that there was no life to nurture anymore. Quy had shot several tier one Light Mastery heat rays through the open wounds, reaching the vital organs and killing him before her back even touched the ground.

    "Get over here!" Bloodbind, the Adamant chain that Orion had crafted for her, wrapped itself around one of the two Balors that were facing Protector, dragging her in front of Quy.

    Thebined effect of Fusion Magic, the body enhancing effect of the Featherwalker armor, and Bloodbind''s enchantments made the young woman strong enough to put the much heavier creature on a leash.

    Thanks to his red and orange eyes, the Balor could use Fusion Magic as well. Yet Quy had used the chains to restrict his neck, limiting both the blood and the airflow to her head.

    The Balor managed to resist the human''s pull only until his lungs started to burn for air as every time he rxed her neck, the constriction became tighter and the oxygen reaching his lungs scarcer.

    ''Pulling my head is the dumbest idea ever.'' The fallen Balor thought while the fire element built up in his red eye and he adjusted his aim so that the elemental pir would hit at least two enemies at the same time.

    "Never stand in front of an Evil Eye!" He roared before unleashing his attack.

    ''Opening that huge ass eye so close to me is the dumbest idea ever.'' Quy thought as the ends of Bloodbind turned into scalpels that pierced through the Balor''s ears, eyes, and mouth at once.

    Not only did they dispel the umted fire element, foiling the attack, but they also unleashed Quy''s spells directly inside the Balor''s body. Under the protection of his tough scales and thick bones, there were still just flesh and blood.

    A tier one air magic spell, Shock, and a tier one darkness spell, Rot, were more than enough to kill even an Emperor Beast when applied respectively to their brain and windpipe.

    The electric discharge sent the Balor into a seizure while the darkness destroyed the throat. Together, they kept the corpse convulsing for a while, giving its allies the illusion that theirrade was just wounded.

    One against one, Protector''s speed made him an impossible opponent for the remaining fallen Balor. Boros stuck at the monster''s gonads, crushing his hopes for offspring forever, before hitting his chest and head in quick session.

    Each hit left a deep depression in the flesh, but it wasn''t enough to kill. Yet.

    ''Quy is doing great but herck of battle experience is showing. We are still outnumbered and if we waste time double-tapping everyone we''ll end up trapped like mice.'' He thought while darting forward, leaving behind his opponents after hitting them only once.

    Goblins were so frail that they died on the spot whereas Balors would end up with several broken bones.

    Against non-Awakened enemies, it was better than killing them. Wounded soldiers were a burden to their allies and a perfect diversion. Even if Rhona wasted her mana to heal them, the exhaustion would have made them incapable of fighting anymore.

    Seeing Quy being alright made Morok rx.

    ''If anything happens to her before I have the opportunity to tell her the truth, I''ll never forgive myself.'' He thought while putting the amulet back into his breast pocket and wielding his twin one-handed battle hammers, Grimnir.

    They both had their head t on one end to inflict the maximum of damage to heavily armored enemies while the other ended in a pick. It allowed Morok to focus all of his strength on a single point and pierce through thin armor to reach the vitals.

    The young Tyrant had Awakened only for short while so he was still getting used to his now enhanced body. Yet his rich battle experience more than made up for it. Every time he made a mistake due to moving too quickly or with too much strength, he managed to turn the opening into a bait for a counter attack.

    Nalrond''s barrier fell under the repeated attacks of the Balors, switching the tide of the battle once again. The reverted goblins had used their earth magic to craft trenches from which they made the rock ceiling of the tunnel copse on the head of their enemies.

    The Balors opened their eyes in unison, unleashing energy pirs that flooded the tunnel, incinerating everything in their wake.

    With dimensional magic still sealed by Rhona''s wings, the invader had no way to reach the safety of one of the side tunnels before the elemental wave engulfed them.

 Chapter 1557 - Eye Versus Eye (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1557 - Eye Versus Eye (Part 1)</h4>

    Quy shielded Morok with her wings while Protector moved in front of Nalrond to take the brunt of the impact for him.

    Realizing that not even their armor were a match for thebined effect of the Evil Eyes, the Rezar and the Tyrant weaved their spells together via the mind link, making the ground rise and forming a series of makeshift barriers.

    ''If someone covers for me, I can dish out a big spell, but I need time.'' Nalrond said while a volley of fire pirs pierced through the rock walls, Protector, and yet they still had enough power to almost burn the Rezar to a crisp.

    Nalrond used his mastery over earth magic to conjure more and more thickyers of stone to fill the hole in the barriers before the next volley arrived, unwittingly turning the tide of the battle.

    The goblins had already consumed most of the ground with their spells, forcing Nalrond to take what he needed from the walls to not trigger a cave in. His spell dislodged several metal rings and made the magical gemstones that the Harmonizers had kept stable until a second back go haywire.

    A mana crystal was just a mass of world energy that had taken physical form due to its abundance, time, and the presence of rare minerals that usually could be found solely at great depths.

    The things that Morok had mistaken for ve cors were magical devices capable of exerting so much pressure that, in the case of living beings, it created an artificial mana flow¡­

    If left on the ground, instead, several Harmonizers linked togetherpressed the world energy to the point of causing the germination of mana crystals even in the absence of the rare minerals.

    By dislodging the Harmonizers, Nalrond had also relieved the newly formed crystals from the very force that kept them together. The gemstones had yet to stabilize so they exploded, triggering a chain reaction that turned the upper side of the corridor into a ughterhouse.

    "You idiot! Months of hard work and sacrifices ruined!" Rhona said in outrage afterpleting her tier four spell, Heat Wave.

    A raging river of boiling water erupted from her wings and flooded the entire corridor. Protector tried to Blink, but the elemental imbnce just made him waste his mana while the hot water seeped through the openings in his armor.

    Nalrond used his rock barrier to shield hispanions, but the water suddenly turned into vapor while the heat cracked the stone, letting the gas in while emitting a shrill sound akin to a pressure cooker.

    He sealed the cracks with earth magic but the reverted Balor burst through the wall with a single fist. Protector stepped in before Rhona could interrupt Nalrond but more water kept getting past the broken barrier.

    The Balor kept turning Heat Wave from liquid to gas and back, using both forms as an extra limb. A wave sent Quy crashing against a wall while a fine mist blinded Protector that failed to dodge an uppercut and retained his consciousness only thanks to darkness fusion blocking his pain receptors.

    "Sorry, sister, but you are not the only one with a cool bloodline skill!" Morok said while turning into his real form, that of a lean humanoid covered in rainbow-colored scales and with six big eyes, each one bearing the light of a different element.

    He now had the yellow and the orange eyes where his regr eyes had been until a second back. The ck and the white rested respectively on his right and left shoulders while the remaining two emerged from the back of his hands.

    He used the blue and the red eyes to counter Heat Wave, yet the willpower imbued in the spell made it resistant to both his bloodline ability to absorb elemental energy and to Domination.

    ''Something is wrong here. That''s a tier four spell, yet it has the same properties of a tier five!'' He warned hispanions while the hot water got past his armor and covered his skin with blisters.

    ''You don''t say.'' Protector replied with a snarl as Rhona blocked his mace, Boros, with her bare hands and almost stole it from Protector after stunning him with a headbutt.

    The Balor had only recently regained her ancient powers but her mastery over them was pushed to its limits by her rage and desperation. She kept Heat Wave within the control range of her elemental wings and constantly infused it with new mana.

    ''If only I had a violet core, I would be able to weave spells while I fight whereas now I''m a sitting duck!'' Protector cursed himself for hisck of progress as the cold that the Balor''s touch generated sapped his strength.

    ''Thanks for the cover!'' Nalrond came to the rescue, unleashing his most powerful spell, Daybreak, that he had learned from Dawn.

    It was a mix of light and darkness magic that generated a wave of dark energy followed by a volley of fiery constructs shaped like snakes. The darkness engulfed the tunnel, blinding even the Balors'' Evil Eyes while the hard-light constructs attacked from every side.

    Daybreak turned the Rezar into a one-man army while the light blooming from the shadows made him look like a rising sun. Each tendril of light moved akin to a living being, coiling around its respective mark and paralyzing them.

    The darkness spreading from Nalrond flooded the monsters'' skin first and then it seeped inside their bodies, eating at them from the inside. A single construct was enough to kill even a reverted goblin on contact, leaving it free to search for new prey.

    Yet the Balors were much tougher opponents. They used their physical might to fight against the tendrils of light while squeezing whatever elemental energy was left inside their Evil Eyes to fight back the iing wave of darkness magic.

    The tier five spell and the pirs shed against each other, technique against raw strength, to a standstill.

    While the Rezar''s friends couldn''t do anything without risking to mess with the hard-light constructs, the reverted goblins used their earth magic to build fortifications where the Balors could safely retreat.

    Their good intentions gave Nalrond an idea. Instead of focusing on his enemies, the Rezar had Daybreak attack the walls on the lower side of the corridor, where another batch of metal rings and unstable crystals was.

    ''In theory, using powerful spells inside a crystal mine is suicidal, but those gemstones are too small to cause a cave in. What they can actually do, is to take the monsters out for me!'' He thought.

    The ensuing explosions killed the goblins, destroyed their makeshift buildings, and ripped the defenseless Balors to shreds. At the same time, however, Nalrond had to turn Daybreak into a plug to keep the st from reaching his side of the tunnel.

    The hard-light constructs tanked the shockwaves while the darkness they were infused with smothered the mes. By the time the dust settled down, Nalrond was exhausted but all the enemies were dead.

    Except for Rhona, who had used the water from her Heat Wave spell to encase herself in a self-regenerating ice coffin. As soon as Daybreak disappeared, the ice melted, releasing the reverted Balor who was as unscathed as she was livid.

 Chapter 1558 - Eye Versus Eye (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1558 - Eye Versus Eye (Part 2)</h4>

    "You monsters! How could you do this? We haven''t harmed anyone and we were minding our own business. Why did you kill my tribe?" Her red and blue eyes wept tears of their respective color while two des formed in her hands.

    One was made of pure violet fire while the other one wasprised of ice and both of them brimmed with so much mana that they looked like small suns to Life Vision.

    Rhona infused herself with all elements, putting her life on the line to get rid of the intruders. Goblins were easily receable since they bred like rabbits whereas Balors were rare and their reproductive cycle was barely faster than the humans''.

    On top of that, without a full set of elemental eyes, growing crystals was impossible and without them, the experiment would stop.

    The thought of being forced to leave the geyser and return to be an ugly monster forever drove Rhona insane.

    Her wings burst with elemental power, activating an extreme version of fusion magic that no Balor had ever achieved before. Ancient Balors had wings, eyes, but no mana cores.

    .

    Instead of being focused and amplified in a single ce, the mana they produced would be spread throughout their bodies. It was the reason why their magic had always been stuck to tier three and why they had altered their life force, turning into monsters.

    Now, however, not only had Rhona reverted to her unfallen state, but bypressing and focusing her mana flow, the cor also gave her a core. It both made her akin to a true mage and brought her to the form that her ancestors had failed to achieve.

    As long as they had the eye of the corresponding element, Balors could naturally use fusion magic, but now that she also had a mana core, the interaction with the wings generated something greater.

    Fire fusion generated violet mes that erupted from Rhona''s body, burning everything that she touched, while the water fusion stirred the world energy around the Balor into a chaotic flow, making any spell that came near her be unstable.

    ''By the Great Mother!'' Quy thought as the reverted Balor shed at Protector with her ming de and lunged at Nalrond with the ice saber. ''That''s exactly what happened to Tista after she first transformed into the Red Demon.

    ''What if bloodline abilities are just enhanced versions of fusion magic that can be projected outside and used on others by recing mana with world energy? If I''m right, Origin meses from fire fusion, Life Maelstrom from air fusion, and Doom Tide from water fusion.''

    Even though Quy had witnessed only Origin mes, she had watched Lith''s holograms depicting his fights against those capable of using the Guardian''s skills to help him devise ways to defend against them.

    ''Which means that darkness, light, and earth fusion can generate bloodline abilities that-'' Her train of thought derailed as the ming sword cut through Protector''s mace as if it wasn''t there, burning his right arm and damaging his lung.

    Morok managed to block the ice saber and save Nalrond''s life, yet the freezing cold it emitted spread to his weapons, numbing his arms.

    ''Fuck! Damn you, brain. I can''t stand still like a moron while the others risk their lives. Act first, theorizeter!'' Quy had the same problem as most geniuses like Manohar or Solus.

    Whenever they made a breakthrough in the magical field, their minds would focus more on the discovery than on the threat at hand, making them sitting ducks. Only after several beatings as a student at the White Griffon academy had the god of healing learned that no opponent would give him a time out on request.

    While Quy tried to focus on the threat at hand, thebined effect of Rhona''s core and her elemental wings triggered a new effect. Heat Wave now spun behind her back in a circle, forming something that resembled more of an array with each passing second.

    Protector unleashed his tier four spell, ming Tornado, only for the fire element to be sucked in by the red wing and giving Rhona even more power.

    "Fire and water are sealed, use the other elements!" Morok said while unleashing a stream of bolts of lightning.

    He smiled seeing the reverted Balor trying to block them with her Heat Wave, yet he stopped his attack when the electricity disappeared without causing her any harm.

    The Tyrant had no idea that, after repeated cycles of boiling and condensing the water of her spell, Rhona had turned it into distilled water. The Balor kicked him square on the chest, sending him flying while lunging at Protector''s heart.

    Nalrond stepped in, praying that heat and darkness worked the same way. He had no weapon, but he knew how to infuse the ws of his Rezar form with both light and fire, turning them into energy des.

    The different energy signatures in the fire spells shed against each other, bringing the Balor''s ethereal sword to a halt.

    The sudden turn of events shocked Rhona and created an opening that Quy exploited to grab her with Bloodbind.

    "An ugly dwarf like you dares to touch me?" The Balor snarled as the fire and iceing from her body inflicted the chains a thermal shock so great that she managed to break the Adamant simply by flexing her muscles.

    Yet Quy''s aim had never been to restrain Rhona, only to throw her away while flooding Bloodbind with her tier four spell, Cruel Healer. It was a mix of light and darkness magic that damaged the enemy while healing their wounds at the same time.

    The two elementsplemented each other, draining huge amounts of vitality over time.

    ''I bet you don''t find her so hot anymore.'' Protector said via the mind link.

    ''She''s smoking.'' Nalrond and Morok replied in unison.

    With her long hair floating in mid-air, her savage expression, and the twin des in her hands, Rhona looked like a goddess descended among mortals.

    Nalrond regretted those words the moment they left his brain, especially because Morok telepathically gave him thumbs up.

    ''Any idea how to get rid of her?'' Quy''s thoughts sounded ice-cold, reminding the Tyrant that making suchpliments to another woman in front of her wasn''t such a good idea.

    ''Yes, but I can''t do it on my own. Quy, I need you to cast the spell that you used a second ago again. Nalrond, do you have enough juice for an earth and air spell?'' Morok asked.

    ''No.'' The Rezar replied as Rhona charged forward again.

    The pseudo-array behind her back boosted her wings even further, drawing power from them before returning it amplified in a cycle that would soon make her unstoppable.

    Nalrond blocked the fire de with his fire-infused ws again, but the Balor had be so strong that the impact shattered his arm. The ice de cut him diagonally, opening a deep wound from his left shoulder to his right hip.

    The cold spread throughout his flesh and froze the blood solid before it could gush out. It stopped the bleeding but it also generated ice spikes that widened the wound and punctured his organs.

    ''I''ll do it!'' Protector cast a couple of tier two spells, hoping they would be enough.

 Chapter 1559 - The Price Of Success (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1559 - The Price Of Sess (Part 1)</h4>

    Morok''s six eyes shone at the same time, sucking in Rhona''s swords and his allies'' spells. The foreign mana was refined through Dominance, turning its original energy signature into that of the Tyrant.

    "No, you don''t!" The Balor knew what was about to happen and darted to kill Morok before it was toote.

    Yet Quy didn''t miss the opportunity, conjuring her tier four spell, Lightning Vise. The ground erupted into tendrils that grabbed Rhona while also conducting a stream of bolts of lightning directly under her skin.

    Darkness fusion stopped the pain, not the muscr spasms.

    The shock broke her focus and dispelled the quasi-array formed by Heat Wave. Without its empowering effects, Lightning Vise bought Morok a couple of seconds before Rhona broke free of Quy''s spell, but they were enough.

    Once the massive mana flow reached his core, Morok fused the six elements together and added a spark of his life force. Then, he had the six eyes converge on his chest, forming the Tyrannical Eye¡­

    A massive pir of emerald green energy burst out of the Eye, hitting Rhona and the few monsters that had just arrived to help her, killing them all at once. Morok copsed on the ground in exhaustion and so did Protector as his copsed lung slowly choked him.

    Quy would have liked to help either of them, but now that Rhona was gone, the ice in Nalrond''s wounds had started to melt. Without the frostyer working as a plug, he was now suffering from massive internal bleeding.

    "Protector, Nalrond, use your breathing techniques and give me a hand!" She said while putting most of the blood back where it belonged and treating the vital organs first.

    Nalrond''s wounds wouldn''t have been lethal if she wasn''t that exhausted. If Quy didn''t share with him enough of her vitality, the strain from healing would kill him, but if she gave him too much, she would die as well.

    Between fighting tooth and nail and casting powerful spells non-stop, Quy was running on fumes. The only thing she could do was to keep Nalrond stable while the others recovered.

    Morok and Protector needed but a few deep breaths to go back to their peak condition. After that, they used their respective breathing techniques on one of theirrades, bringing them back to full health.

    "Gods, I envy you Awakened so much. I had to study for years and to practice even longer just to learn how to keep someone alive in desperate conditions whereas you just need to breathe. That''s cheating if I ever saw one." She said.

    "It is." Protector replied while sniffing the air around them to make sure that there were no more enemies around, waiting in ambush for them.

    "I''ve got only good news. No one ising here so I guess we have killed all the warriors. All that is left to do is to explore the caves, understand what the heck was going on, and where the monsters got those cors."

    "Agreed." Morok nodded. "Before that, I''m going to call Ajatar. This mission was supposed to be just a way for me to rest a bit and spend some time with you guys, not a death trap." He said while looking at Quy.

    "What do you mean?" She used her renewed energy to hasten the regeneration of the broken Bloodbind, making all the scattered fragments of the chains return to their original ce.

    "Usually, I don''t need help to clear monster tribes. Even if they manage to evolve into something dangerous, I just call Ajatar and we deal with them together." He replied. "This time, however, we needed to split.

    "There is another crisis that''s way beyond my abilities. It requires my master''s presence so I needed you guys as a backup in the case something went wrong. Also, I wanted to give Quy to put into practice what she has learned so far while also spending a bit of time together. Many birds with one stone."

    The Tyrant blushed a bit, bringing a smile to her face.

    "Are you telling me that we were supposed to be just third wheels?" Nalrond asked while wolfing down enough food for two people.

    "That was the idea." Morok called Ajatar, who picked up immediately.

    "We are still eating to regain our energies. No new enemy has appeared after several minutes so it''s safe to assume that even if there are still monsters around, they are not warriors." The Tyrant said after finishing his report.

    "I agree." Ajatar said while showing his apprentice a Harmonizer. "I found some of these things as well, but no Balor. I''m searching the ce to find any clue about the identity of the person who crafted the cors and I want you to do the same.

    "Be careful and don''t hesitate to get out of there or to call for my help if anything else happens. Ajatar out."

    Everyone ate food and drank tonics, waiting for them to take full effect before moving forward.

    "That went much better than I thought." Morok sighed in relief. "I expected Ajatar to eat my face for blowing up a crystal mine."

    "He''s probably more worried about what would have happened if you didn''t." Protector replied. "There''s no telling what those creatures would have be if they kept growing their resources."

    "Meaning?" Quy didn''t see any harm in monsters growing mana crystals or mining enchanted metals.

    Even in their reverted forms, the members of the fallen races were incapable of Forgemastering anything. The cors might give them back their sanity, but their bloodline legacy had been lost for millennia and they would have to start creating a new one from scratch.

    "Sorry. I tend to forget that due to the scarcity of the magical resources and to how well protected they are, most people have no idea how dangerous monsters can be." Protector replied.

    "You see, they don''t look for mana geysers just to bathe in world energy, but also to collect any natural treasure that they can find. Magical metals are just natural alloys tempered in world energy, just like crystals are a physical manifestation of Mogar''s essence.

    "Monsters can''t use either of them as we do, but they can feed upon magical resources and absorb the world energy stored inside of them. It allows them to alter their life forces even without Body Sculpting and the effects are always unpredictable."

    "It''s amazing." Nalrond said, wondering if he could do the same. "Monsters absorb the crystalized world energy to refine their bodies and cores just like Awakened."

    "Yeah, too bad that they have faulty cores and crippled life forces." Morok looked at the Rezar as if he was insane for showing such enthusiasm. "Maybe it''s me, but I think that if forcing their evolution once brought them down, doing it again can only make things worse."

    The group started exploring the nearby tunnels without splitting up, opting for a slower but safer approach in case there were still enemies capable of fighting. They found several more metal rings, each one with a small blood-red crystal growing at its center.

    "I wonder how many of these things they have nted around and if the gemstones can keep growing without the Balors." Morok said.

 Chapter 1560 - The Price Of Success (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1560 - The Price Of Sess (Part 2)</h4>

    "Maybe I should try to give my eyes a go. After all, I''ve got one for each element as well."

    "Now that you mention it, how did you use Spirit Magic earlier?" Quy asked. "I thought that, unlike Lith, you would never develop a green eye."

    "It''splicated." He replied while trying to find a way to exin his ability without revealing the secret of Domination and putting his life in danger. "Let''s say that I''ve got my seventh eye as well, but to use it I have to give up on the other six."

    "Meaning?"

    "As master Ajatar taught me, Spirit Magic is nothing but the six elements perfectly bnced between them and mixed with our life force." Morok said "The Tyrannical Eye works the same way.

    "Before achieving my sixth eye, the elements would remain unbnced and damage my core¡­ Now, instead, I can blend the energy I absorb from my enemies and turn it into Spirit Magic.

    "The downside of this technique is that once formed, the Tyrannical Eye can''t absorb anything but Spirit Magic so as long as I keep it open, I''m vulnerable to the other elements like any other guy."

    The Tyrant had told them the truth, leaving out solely the fact that absorbing the energy was his bloodline skill whereas using it against his enemies was just Domination.

    Also, unlike Lith, Morok couldn''t Dominate all elements at once.

    "I wish my bloodline had some skill." Protector sighed in envy. "I''ve put my life on the line countless times, yet I''ve not discovered a single unique ability."

    Truth be told, like most new species, Ryman needed to put time and effort to study his new body. All things that he devoted solely to support his family. Even his practice of magic wascking due to all the responsibilities that being a father implied.

    As the group started exploring, the upper corridors turned out to have been used as a crystal mine, but as Rhona had said, a few months of efforts had produced little results.

    They found several small gemstones lying around but, without the Balors, it would take them decades to grow into a proper crystal mine.

    "If these things be stable, master Ajatar must thank whoever created these cors. Germination is the slowest step and even a few crystals will save him centuries of wait." Morok said.

    "What if they are not?" Nalrond asked.

    "Then the moment he removes the Harmonizers, the crystals will blow up in his face,promising the underground caves."

    The deeper the group got, the fewer corridors they met. Also, they found no trace of survivors. What struck them as odd was that the monsters had dug several pantries and that they were filled with everything they might need to increase their numbers.

    "Goblins can''t go shopping for butchered meat and fruit. These guys must have a backer." Protector said while checking a meat deposit. "If they have reached such a degree of intelligence, maybe there''s still a chance for them."

    The answer to his hopes arrived an hourter when they reached the middleyer. It wasprised of a single big room, over 100 meters (330 feet) long and wide, filled with monsters belonging to several races chained to the walls.

    Each one of them had a metal cor at their neck and had undergone some kind of mutation. Some had regressed back into their unfallen state, like those they had met in the upper levels.

    Others had fallen into an even worse state as the world energy flooding through their bodies had turned them into deformed lumps of flesh. All of those chained to the wall, however, had lost their minds.

    They were unaware of the power they had gained or of the suffering their bodies were going through. Protector recognized among them Wargs, Orcs, Ogres, and Trolls. The Wargs emitted a scent so simr to that of his fellow Rys that Ryman had a hard time resisting the urge to set them free.

    "Is this Forbidden Magic?" Morok asked while using his breathing technique on the prisoners to understand how the cors could affect the monsters'' life force in so many different ways.

    "No, it isn''t." Quy replied after using her tier five Body Sculpting spell, Mind''s Eye. "Their life force has been altered, not stolen. Forbidden Magic by definition is consuming the essence of someone else for your own gain."

    "Yet I don''t understand how it''s possible to inflict such changes without Body Sculpting."

    She approached one of the goblins whose limbs were now thrice their regr size. Its organs were overgrown as well, to the point that the mastermind of their had broken the ribs of the creature to not let the bonespromise the specimen''s life.

    The lungs were visible under the stretched skin, dting and rxing with each breath it took. The heart beat so fast and bulged out so much that it seemed like it would burst out of the hapless creature''s chest at any moment.

    Even though the goblin had long lost its mind, the body made the eyes cry non-stop to express the agony it was enduring.

    Quy tried to figure how to reverse such a condition, but with no sess.

    "It seems that the cors collect the world energy from the outside and inject it into the body of the wearer, forcing it to follow a precise pattern." Protector said while using Invigoration to understand how the artifact worked.

    "These are the failed experiments. Wrong pathways that instead of fixing the faulty cores made them worse."

    "What if we remove the Harmonizers?" Quy asked.

    "Good question." Protector had acted aloof to not alert his prey, waiting for the right moment to strike.

    He moved so quickly that even Morok only saw a blur. When he reappeared, Ryman was holding a perfectly reverted goblin by the cor of her shirt.

    "Answer my friend or I''ll find out the hard way." He said as his free hand moved near the lock of the monster''s cor.

    "Please, don''t! I don''t want to die." Her voice and fear sounded so human that Protector froze in ce.

    "You can''t remove a Harmonizer without killing the patient. It''s the safeguard that allows the Lord of the region to ensure our loyalty." The goblin said.

    "The Lord?" Morok echoed in shock.

    "Yes. He offered us a ce to stay and a way for us fallen races to return to our former glory. All he asked in return was a few test subjects." She nodded.

    "What do you mean, test subjects?" Quy was no expert in monsters'' physiology, but after taking a second look at the chained creatures, she noticed that they all had small bodies.

    "Children. The younger they are, the better. I don''t know why, but the Harmonizers work best with them." She pointed at the organs-bloated goblin and to another, which looked like a very short humanoid with light yellow skin.

    If not for that and for the short pointy ears, it would have been easily mistaken for a human boy.

    "Did you really willingly give your own children away?" Morok felt his stomach churn.

    His human mother had kicked him out of the house, unable to stand the idea of having given birth to an Emperor Beast hybrid, but even she had never tried to hurt him.

 Chapter 1561 - Saving The Wrong Side (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1561 - Saving The Wrong Side (Part 1)</h4>

    "Why not?" The female goblin looked at Protector''s group with spite and envy. "If not for the Harmonizer, I would have already grown old and died. Now, instead, I''m smarter and more powerful than I would have ever been as a fallen goblin.

    "Who cares about a few runts? As long as I''m alive I can always have more!" The goblin used her words to mess with their heads and cast earth magic to take them down with a surprise attack.

    The walls, the ground, and the ceiling around the group of invaders bloated like a bubble before exploding into countless razor-sharp shards, attacking them from every side.

    ''How conceited! It''s easy for those who that belong to perfect races to talk like that.'' She thought. ''I can''t let them ruin my life. If I kill the intruders, maybe the Lord will reward me with a superior Harmonizer, like he did with Rhona.''

    Unfortunately for her, none of them trusted a goblin farther than they can throw her and had been on guard all along. They had already seen reverted goblins use true magic and there was no reason to think that the one in front of them was any different¡­

    Protector slipped his hand under her neck and squeezed it hard enough to make it almost impossible to breathe while a simple air barrier sent all the rock shards to crash against an empty wall.

    "What does this Lord look like?" Protector asked while fiddling with the cor''s sp, threatening to open it.

    "He always changes his appearance. Thest time he looked like an old man with golden eyes. All I know is that his name is Ajatar and he is the Lord of this region." The goblin wheezed for air with each word she spoke.

    "That''s bullsh*t. Master Ajatar never had the time to do something like this." Morok spat on the ground in disgust at those usations. "On top of that, he would have never sent us here if this was really his doing."

    "Agreed." Ryman nodded. "Clearly this guy must have used Ajatar''s name so to shift the me in the case their experiments got exposed. I wouldn''t be surprised if they even left something to incriminate your master with the Council."

    "Onest question. Does the Lord have their private quarters here and is there some ce where he forbade you to go?"

    The goblin hesitated and Protector released his grip while also opening the sp.

    Without the cor, the goblin''s body reverted to its fallen state, with translucent skin, a bloated belly, and oversized eyes yet she didn''t die.

    The transformation seemed to be painful, but the creature didn''t care. She just took the metal ring and put it back around her neck, shivering in pleasure as she regained her unfallen appearance.

    "It''s just as I thought. We cannot trust a word she said." Protector said while looking at the bloodlust and madness that shone in the goblin''s eyes no matter what form she took. "The Harmonizers fix a monster''s body, not their mind.

    "These creatures are too dangerous to be allowed to live and their treachery cannot be underestimated." Ice shards pierced the goblin''s head, double tapping her just to stay on the safe side.

    The corpse quickly reverted to that of a fallen goblin. Without a mana flow, the magic of the cor had stopped working.

    "You can leave the room if you want. I''ll put the specimens out of their misery." Protector said to Quy while pointing at the creatures chained to the walls.

    "Can''t we just remove the cors and try to heal them?" She asked.

    Killing a monster in the heat of the battle to save her life was one thing, killing defenseless creatures in cold blood was another.

    "And then what? Even if they somehow regained their sanity, they would still be dangerous creatures that are a threat to every living being. Waiting for monsters to kill someone before getting rid of them is just stupid." Morok said.

    "Every life they take would be on us. On top of that, we still have to finish exploring thepound. If there is even a single reverted Balor left, we can''t afford to have monsters on our back."

    "You are right." Quy thought back at the female goblin''s words and then looked at the collection of agonizing creatures in front of her. "No matter their appearance, they are still monsters who prey on their own kind.

    "Yet not even creatures like them deserve to pointlessly suffer."

    She closed the eyes of the test subjects one by one, snuffing their life out with darkness magic so quickly that they didn''t even notice. The spasms stopped and the tears ended peacefully as if they had just fallen asleep.

    Every time Quy killed someone, Yurial''s face shed in front of her eyes. She still remembered his surprised expression, the betrayal he had felt being attacked by someone he thought of as a friend, and the blood gushing out of his throat.

    Her eyes veiled with tears, but she didn''t cry nor did she stop weaving spells.

    "You didn''t have to do that. I could have taken care of it myself." Protector said, knowing how deep her trauma was.

    "Thanks, but I can''t expect that there will always be someone to do the dirty work for me. If I wanted to keep my hands clean, I would have remained at the academy." Quy said. "Let''s take the Harmonizers as evidence and study them.

    "Who knows? Maybe something good wille out of them."

    She choked on her words as the artifacts started to crumble soon after their wearer was dead, before Quy or one of the others could store them inside a dimensional item.

    "This makes no sense! The cor didn''t self-destruct once you removed it from the goblin''s neck nor after her death. Why now?" She asked herpanions.

    "Because someone must have triggered the mechanism from a distance." Nalrond said as he could suddenly feel the mana of the geyser around them turn against itself.

    The caves started to quake as the cloaking arrays that had shielded the base overloaded themselves with mana, making thepound copse.

    "We''re dead!" Morok said, knowing that there was no time to escape from the tunnels by flight nor to open a Warp Steps. "I''m sorry for dragging you into this mess. This is all my fault, just like when I Awakened to avenge you.

    "I don''t want you to die feeling guilty for a creep like me. I-"

    Quy stared at him in amazement, yet she didn''t interrupt either her hands or chant, making a red dimensional door appear in front of them and jumping through it, quickly followed by the others.

    "I left a Home Stone outside while waiting for Nalrond to let us in." Quy answered the silent question in the stupefied gazes of herrades while retrieving the dimensional device from the ground.

    "My father is now more paranoid than my mother and he gave the Stone to me just in case something like that happened." Then she turned to Morok.

    "What did you just say about your Awakening?"

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, Sark Pce, inside Solus''s tower.

    After his meeting with Xenagrosh and Sinmara, Lith had decided to follow in the footsteps of the Phoenix of Darkness for his training with Origin mes.

 Chapter 1562 - Saving The Wrong Side (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1562 - Saving The Wrong Side (Part 2)</h4>

    Even though he didn''t have a twin to practice with, he had the best next thing.

    Thanks to Solus''s Monocle form, he and Tista could share a perfect mind link. On top of that, as long as they were inside the tower, the power core relieved them from most of the burden that the artifact inflicted upon their minds.

    After teaching Tista Xenagrosh''s technique, Lith had devised for his sister and himself the following routine. While he trained, Tista would study him with the Eyes of Menadion so as to spot his mistakes and keep his life force in check.

    Once Lith''s condition neared the critical point, she would stop him and then the three of them would revise the footage together. This way, Tista wouldn''t make his same mistakes when it was her turn to practice and the siblings would both learn twice as fast than if they were alone.

    The practice of Origin mes took a huge toll on their bodies, forcing Lith to rest as Sark wanted and giving Tista an excuse to rest from her hellish training.

    "I don''t get why this is supposed to be a vacation for you and a near-death experience to me." Tista said while using water magic to guide a tonic down her throat¡­

    Her Red Demon form was lipless like a Tiamat and she had still a hard time drinking without spilling her beverages everywhere.

    "Because I''m amazing for an Awakened of my age whereas you are a couch potato." Lithughed at her expense.

    "It''s not funny! I''m not going to apologize for having a quiet life after years of suffering from the Strangler." Tista replied with a scoff. "Too bad that Phoenixes don''t care for sob stories nor do they pull their punches."

    "The training would be pointless if they did." Lith shrugged. "Besides, they want us to join the nest, but they have no need for weaklings. I can''t wait to go on a mission with Sinmara to learn a few techniques and spells from her."

    "Yeah, Solus told me a lot about how amazed you were by her ''assets''." Now it was Tista''s turn tough, making Lith''s red-veined feathers turn brighter in embarrassment.

    "Thanks, Solus." He said while hiding his face behind his hands. "Gods, I don''t know what it''s worse. If making a fool out of myself in front of one of the most powerful creatures of the Desert or beingprised of faulty parts."

    "I''m sorry. I''m not used to hiding anything from either of you." Solus turned in her humanoid form to apologize. "Besides, I don''t know how many times do I have to tell you that I don''t think that Aalejah is right."

    "What do you mean?" Tista asked.

    "I mean that being Lith the first perfect fusion between the Phoenix and Dragon bloodlines, it''s no wonder that we have no idea what his powers are. On top of that, if his beast side really was a lesser species, you wouldn''t be this strong, Tista.

    "Unlike him, you have no Abomination side, only the human and the beast. If my hypothesis is correct, you have all of Lith''s powers except for those he derives from the Abomination." Solus said.

    "I''m not strong." Tista sighed. "I''m still just a Wyrmling and aside from Origin mes, I have no powers."

    "Just like me when I had a blue core." Lith said to console her.

    "There''s one thing that I wanted to ask you." She replied. "Why didn''t you ever try to turn into a full Dragon or Phoenix while you were still a hybrid? Maybe it would have helped you to discover what bloodline powers you possess."

    "I couldn''t." Lith shook his head. "For a long time, I had no idea what bloodline my beast side belonged to and after I did, I couldn''t riskpromising the bnce that kept the Abomination in check."

    "Well, but I can." Tista said. "Unlike you, my beast side is split in half and there''s nothing it has to suppress. If my Red Demon can really do everything you can, then I might have a human, a Dragon, and a Phoenix form.

    "What do you say if I try and turn into a pure-blooded Phoenix?"

    "That''s a great idea!" Lith said.

    "That''s a terrible idea!" Solus said.

    "Lith worked so hard to keep his different life forces together and you want to do split yours on purpose? What if you end up breaking the bnce between your beast and human side, turning into a regr hybrid?"

    At those words, the sibling''s enthusiasm died, yet their curiosity remained. They called for the Overlord of the Desert and asked her opinion.

    "I''m sorry, kids, but I have no idea either." Sark said. "Solus might be right but, as she said, you guys are the first perfect blend between two Guardians'' bloodlines and there is no way to learn if not by experimentation."

    She used her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to make sure that Tista was at her peak physical condition and to memorize the structure of her two life forces down to the smallest detail.

    "All I can do is to offer you my supervision and help, but the choice is yours."

    "I want to do this." Tista replied. "Since my Phoenix side seems to be the stronger one, I''ll focus on that. Please, Grandma, step in the moment you even think that something is going wrong."

    She closed her eyes focusing on the melody of her beast life force until she recognized the two different tunes it wasprised of. Tista could feel the harmony between them while they were close grow dissonant as they strayed apart, allowing her to recognize one from the other.

    ''The red star must be the Phoenix. Here goes nothing.'' She focused on the fire that she had felt burning inside herself ever since she was a child, making its melody grow in intensity.

    The warmth of the Phoenix wrapped her body as Tista felt her mouth turning into a beak and her fangs fusing together. Her wings and arms started to fuse while her feathers grew thicker.

    Then, the silver on her body faded away and the warmth turned into scorching pain. By enhancing the Phoenix melody, Tista had unwittingly made it grow stronger, to the point that now it eclipsed the Dragon side and pushed it away.

    She now had three different life forces that were out of bnce and ripped her body apart as they fought for dominance. The weaker silver star became the victim of the sh between the human side and the red star, slowly fading away.

    Tista started to cry, not out of the agony she felt so much as out of grief at the loss of an important part of herself.

    "I hate being always right." Solus said while she could see Tista''s body shapeshifting from human to Phoenix non-stop, forcing her to choose between one of them or die.

    "Hold still, child!" Sark cast her own version of Body Sculpting, Rebirth Magic, using both light and darkness magic to undo the damage that the Red Demon had inflicted upon herself. "Focus on the silver star and don''t let it fade away!"

    Rebirth magic used darkness as a scalpel to weaken both the Phoenix and the human side while light gave the Dragon life force the strength itcked. Yet not even Sark could restore the original melody, only Tista could.

 Chapter 1563 - Discoveries And Plans (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1563 - Discoveries And ns (Part 1)</h4>

    Only thanks to Sark''s magic keeping the pain at bay did Tista manage to follow her instructions and re-establish her connection with her Dragon side.

    At the same time, the Overlord put Tista''s other two life forces in stasis, allowing the silver star to reconnect with Tista and grow back to its original size.

    "Now it''s up to you, my child. Only you can bring your different natures together." Sark said.

    Those words gave Tista hope and turned her tears of sadness into joy.

    She remembered the melody of her Red Demon life force by heart and she let it fill her whole being. Not just the symphony that the twin beasts'' stars produced but also that of her human side.

    Sark interrupted her spell, freeing the life forces from the stasis as Tista reyed the melody over and over. Her three life forces danced to her tune, growing closer every time the tempo became faster, and distant when it slowed down instead¡­

    The red and the silver star mirrored each other''s movements while the human life force moved on its own. It took Tista time, effort, and several nudges from Sark''s Rebirth Magic to make the three life forces be two again and reform the body of the Red Demon.

    Yet the Guardian didn''t lower her guard and used Rebirth Magic several times, fine-tuning the hybrid life forces until they returned exactly as they had been just a few minutes back.

    Tista still felt great pain, but it was nothingpared to the worry of having ruined everything out of greed.

    "I''m so sorry, Grandma. I shouldn''t have tried to enhance my Phoenix side just to be as powerful as my brother." She said amid tears. "Please, tell me that there is no permanent damage to my life force."

    "Hush, child." Sark said, holding her tight and making Mother Sun circte through Tista''s body until she checked it down to the cellr level.

    "It''s not your fault, but mine. In my curiosity to discover the powers of your bloodline, I let you do something that I knew was stupid. I''ve seen countless of my children undergo what has just happened to you when they reached twenty years of age.

    "Because of me, you were seconds away from bing a regr hybrid. As for your question, there is no damage that I can find. Yet I forbid you to train your Origin mes, your magic, or even to shapeshift until I''m sure that you have stabilized.

    "Can you do that for me?" Sark asked.

    "Yes, Grandma." Tista nodded, before turning towards Lith.

    "Solus is right. Whatever our beast life force is, it''s not faulty at all. I felt a great power as I turned into a Phoenix, yet the feeling of loss I experienced while my Dragon side was just as big. We are not weaker, just different."

    After saying those words, pain and exhaustion made her lose consciousness while Tista was still in Sark''s arms.

    "Well, I guess I need my own room here because I''m not leaving my sweet Featherling alone until she recovers." The Guardian said.

    "Me neither." Lith caressed Tista''s head, feeling no better than the World Tree for endangering his little sister just to sate his curiosity.

    Her Red Demon form had lost much of its luster and the silver on her plumes was now barely visible.

    Solus moved them all inside Tista''s room and ced a Sentry, one of the tower''s surveince devices, to constantly monitor her life force. Lith and Sark sat around a table, both searching for a way to deal with their respective guilt.

    "Do you think she will be alright?" He asked while Hushing Tista to not disturb her sleep.

    "She should." Sark said. "Yet she went this close to turning into a fallen race."

    "What? How can a Phoenix or a Dragon be considered a fallen race?" Lith asked.

    "They are not. The term fallen doesn''t mean turning into something weak so much as to lose an important part of yourself. For the Orcs it was their magic, for the Wargs it was their intellect. Falling didn''t weaken them but it made them iplete.

    "That''s what''s almost happened to your sister." Sark said.

    "Is there anything I can do to help her?"

    "No. We can only wait and hope that those few seconds don''t cost Tista her everything." The Guardian sighed.

    Seconds turned into minutes and since the silver veins on Tista''s feathers were slowly bing brighter, soon Sark grew bored of doing nothing. She had Solus create a long table for her where she ced several official documents of the Desert that needed her approval.

    "I get that you are powerful, but what if Tista has a rpse and you fail to notice it?" Lith moved to his sister''s side, using Abyssal Gaze to make sure she was alright.

    "Kid, everything in the Desert is under the effects of my breathing technique. It takes skills just to avoid my detection but once I know someone''s position, they cannot hide from me." She replied.

    "Then why did you hold Tista before?"

    "To reassure her and to focus my utmost attention on her. The problem of checking on such arge territory is that small details, like Vareen, can escape my notice." Sark calling the Eldritch a detail made Lith shudder.

    He remained by Tista''s side for a few minutes. Then, after nothing happened aside from a soft snoring, he grew bored as well and moved to Sark''s table after preparing a strong tea.

    "If you have anything to ask me, just do it. I can multi-task." The Overlord said while reading some documents, amending others, and using air magic to have several conversations at the same time over hermunication amulet.

    An hour passed before Lith felt safe enough to stop checking on Tista and focus on something else.

    "Grandma, during my exam in Urgamakka I put my hands on a few things." He said. "I think I got everything I need for a couple of major projects, but I feel like I''m missing something and I could use a second opinion."

    "I''m all ears." The Mother of all Phoenixes said.

    Lith took the Yggdrasill staff, the Evil Eyes of the Balor, Trouble''s corpse, and that of the Vagrash out of his dimensional pocket.

    "Did you say two?" Sark looked at the different pieces as her instinct of Forgemaster searched for the best way to employ those ingredients and tap into their full potential.

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "Keeping a Balor and his eyes together is too dangerous. This is why I''m thinking about grafting the Evil Eyes inside the staff. This way, Solus would have a weapon that will allow her to cast her best spells and to conjure the world energy even when away from a mana geyser."

    "For me?" Solus said, moved by his words.

    She knew that Lith had long since nned to make something for her, but she had never thought that he would use so many unique ingredients for her.

    "Of course. I have War while you have nothing. It''s time to make you something suitable for someone with great magical talent but limitedbat experience. The Sage Staff will provide you both with the focus to not space out like you usually do and the energy to make up for your core."

 Chapter 1564 - Discoveries And Plans (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1564 - Discoveries And ns (Part 2)</h4>

    Solus blushed at the thought of how many times she had let amazement and magical theory-crafting distract her from a fight. It had happened even back when she had faced the King of Kolga alone.

    "It''s an interesting n. The staff would provide Solus with enough world energy to let her keep her human body and to make up for her faulty core thanks to her tower half converting the world energy into her own mana." Sark said.

    "Yet unless Mogar got turned upside down while I wasn''t paying attention, world energy isprised of six elements and you only have three Balor eyes."

    "I know." Lith nodded. "That''s why my project involves cutting three white mana crystals the size of an apple and enchanting them so as to amplify one of the elements that Ick to make up for the missing Balor eyes."

    Lith had gotten a blue, a red, and a ck eye from Trouble''s corpse. He projected the hologram of three magical gemstones respectively orange, yellow, and silver¡­

    "Brilliant! The eyes of a Balor naturally draw the world energy, creating an imbnce that the altered white crystals can exploit to further enhance their elemental output!" Sark gave Lith an apuse and ruffled his hair.

    "Yet this raises a question. You''ve been here for half a month and I know about the Eye of Kolga you keep hidden in the basement. Why didn''t you craft this Sage Staff already?"

    "Well, because before we had this conversation, it was just a theory. I had no idea if my n would work and I couldn''t afford to waste the only Yggdrasill staff and the three Balor''s eyes I have." Lith replied.

    "Why didn''t you ask me earlier, then? Like back when I taught you Menadion''s Forgemastery technique?" She asked.

    "It''s not like I''m in a rush." Lith sighed. "I''m barely past the deep violet and I have no experience using the technique you showed me nor those that I obtained from the Council during Urgamakka''s test.

    "First, I need to use my Abyssal Gaze to at least reach the halfway violet core. Second, I must get used to that power. Only then can I attempt to craft the Sage Staff. And that is if Solus doesn''t prefer waiting until I reach the bright violet so that I can give her a top-grade weapon."

    "Aren''t you forgetting about something? Or better, someone?" Sark pointed at herself. "Failure or sess doesn''t matter when you have a lovely, genius, gorgeous Grandma who can bring everything back to its unaltered state. Creation Magic, remember?"

    "Really?" Lith and Solus said in amazement.

    He remembered the Guardian''s offer about recycling his materials, but he had assumed it was limited to their initial deal. Back at his arrival, Sark had only granted him the privilege of restoring metals for him to practice and to get used to working on rare elements like the Davross.

    "Of course. I already do the same for Tyris and your Grandpa. Not even a Guardian would have so much Davross to craft a Royal Fortress armor every time there was a magical breakthrough." Sark shrugged.

    "Just craft to your heart content. The moment your abilities improve, all you need to do is toe here and I''ll dismantle any of your creations back into their original materials."

    "Thank you!" Both Lith and Solus hugged the Guardian, wishing to run straight to their Forge before remembering about Tista. "But that will have to wait. Until Tista is back on her feet, I can''t afford to divert too much power from her bedside."

    "A wise choice. Is there anything else you need my help for?" Sark asked.

    "Actually yes." Lith nodded.

    "My bloodline ability to conjure Demons is powerful, but it requires too much energy on my side. Since the Demons'' power depends on my own, their usefulness in battle is limited to when I can use Invigoration or I''m near to a mana geyser."

    "Kid, without such limits, you would be literally a living one-man army." Sark said with a scoff.

    "My point exactly. That''s why I have racked my brain to find a way to solve the issue and I think I got it. Golems!" Lith said.

    "Golems?" Sark curled her upper lip in disgust.

    Artificial constructs had so many limitationspared to Awakened that she employed them solely during times of need as peacekeeping forces.

    "Yes." Lith conjured more holograms to keep the real ingredients preserved inside his pocket dimension while showing the Guardian everything she needed to follow his logic.

    "At first, I thought about raising undead. The link between our life forces might allow them to channel my energy signature and help me conjure the Demons. The problem is that creatures with free will are not trustworthy nor are they going to mindlessly follow me forever."

    "Indeed." The Guardian nodded. "Not to mention that they would be utterly useless during daytime."

    "Then, I thought about creating an artificial body and having one of my Demons possessing it. Yet I had to discard the idea as well because the souls that follow me can move on at any time.

    "On top of that, I can''t afford the time for thetest arrival to get ustomed to the body and to my abilities. That''s why after learning about the altered white crystal and about their Spirit version in particr, I understood what I needed to do."

    The hologram now showed the corpses of Trouble the Balor, of the lion-like Vagrash, the Earth Roots ingredients, and two emerald green crystals the size of their respective hearts.

    "My n is to use the Earth Root to make the mana conductivity of the corpses on par with Davross, also giving meplete freedom in cing the runes and the crystals. After that, I graft the Spirit Crystal in their body so that they share my same energy signature.

    "If everything works as intended, I can use the power core of the golems to fuel my Demons without it affecting my strength. They would act as both my lieutenants and as the energy source for the Demons that I can recharge with Abyssal Gaze whenever I get a moment of respite from the battle." Lith said.

    "I''m even nning on giving Trouble three altered crystals to rece his eyes and see if the Balor''s body can use them the same way as the originals without the risk of it bing sentient."

    "Let me get this straight. You want to create some hybrid between golems and lesser undead. Correct?" Sark asked.

    "Correct."

    "Well, too bad. This is a clear no." She shook her head.

    "Why?" Lith asked.

    "Because both are too dumb to be useful. Lesser undead you can move with your mind, but that would mean losing focus in the heat of the battle. Against a powerful opponent, a single moment of distraction is fatal.

    "As for golems, they have no brain. Sure, you can teach them a few patterns, but there are too many variables.

    "Allies, enemies, hostages, not falling for traps, are all things that need specific instructions and that any opponent with half a brain can use to render your creation useless. Why do you think golems are mostly used as house defense?" She replied.

    "That''s exactly why I didn''t even start studying golems." Lith knew those things as well, but he had hoped for a different answer.

 Chapter 1565 - Awakened Madness (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1565 - Awakened Madness (Part 1)</h4>

    "Theirck of intelligence and the massive amount of resources that Trouble and Raptor would require makes a mere golem unfit for the task. Isn''t there any solution, Grandma?" Lith asked.

    "There is, but I''m not going to share it with you unless you be part of my nest." She said with a huge smile on her face. "I''m lovely and generous, not stupid."

    Sark ruffled his hair before going back to her paperwork.

    ''What if she''s referring to the memory function of the crystals?'' Solus pondered. ''We have seen from the Orc shaman''s crystal and the Spell Hoarding Cube that they can retain a certain degree of knowledge and even a shade of will.''

    "Grandma, does studying this crystal help me in my project?" Lith made the Orc''s violet gemstone appear in the middle of the room, showing the Guardian the Master''s tracking device and all the notes they had collected up to that point.

    "Gods, this Master fellow is truly outstanding¡­" She said after learning everything about the crystal in the space of a single breath of Mother Sun. "Since I''ll use the knowledge that I''ve just acquired for my own golems, I can tell you that the answer to your question is yes."

    "Thanks, Grandma." Lith hugged Sark, feeling as if he had really found a kindred soul.

    Sure, she had just benefitted from his months of hard work and had chosen to retain key elements of his research, but she had also saved Tista''s life and bestowed upon him the possibility to upgrade all of his creations.

    Now there was no time like the present for him. Lith had no need to wait to reach a powerful core for his craftings, allowing him to gain experience as no other Forgemaster ever could.

    Yet he didn''t feel like abandoning Tista. He and Solus wore Menadion''s Eyes and researched the Orc Crystal again, trying to catch a glimpse of what the god of Forgemastering had already mastered.

    ***

    Golden Griffon academy, at the same time.

    Thrud Griffon had taken her time before Awakening. The Mad Queen''s first priority had been to make sure that baby Valeron was alright and to do her best to make Jormun''s stayfortable.

    The time that the Emerald Dragon had spent together with his father and his innate draconic mental fortitude had allowed Jormun to partially recover from the trauma of his envement.

    Yet he was still far from okay. Jormun still looked at the academy in fear and at her with disgust, as if either of them could attack him at any time. The only moment when his tortured soul found peace was while he held the baby in his arms.

    Also, he had demanded her to call him only with his real name instead of his ve name, Jakra. It was linked to his long captivity inside the Golden Griffon and to the time when she had unwittingly manipted him like a puppet.

    To give Jormun his space, Thrud had made their roomsmunicating, keeping Valeron in the middle so that his father might visit him at any time without having to bear her presence.

    Also, she had spent that time revising all of her notes about breathing techniques. By studying the dozens of bloodline legacies that she had stolen, Thrud had understood how each species had sought for the way that best suited their peculiar nature.

    She might have used any of them to be an Awakened, but none would have been able to tap into her true potential. It was the reason why during the final months of her pregnancy she had worked hard to understand each breathing technique''s underlying principles toe up with her own.

    The hundreds of Awakened disciples she had gained and the brilliant mind of Sevenus Hystar, the cursed object that was the heart and the Headmaster of the Golden Griffon, had helped her in the endeavor.

    "Are you sure you want to do this?" Jormun asked while Thrud breastfed the baby.

    Looking at the woman of her nightmares holding the newborn close to her bare chest while withstanding the nibbles that Valeron inflicted upon her by shapeshifting from time to time made a mess of his feelings.

    Due to its nature as both a human and an Emperor Beast, the baby seemed to have trouble understanding that he was supposed to suck at his mother''s breast instead of pecking it.

    Jormun still couldn''t forget everything that Thrud and the Golden Griffon had put him through. Those months of abuse were likely to haunt him for his entire life. Yet seeing her as a kind mother who took care of their baby melted his heart.

    There was something in the scene in front of him that made him want to forget everything about the past, sit beside her instead of at a few meters of distance, and hug both mother and child.

    Yet itsted only for an instant before his body revolted at the idea and his mind quickly followed suit.

    "Yes, I''m sure." Thrud nodded. "I''m finally certain that Valeron''s life force is stable. He is in no danger and the Unwavering Array has made me immortal. I can''t dy my Awakening any longer."

    "Even though you can''t die, you might still lose your mind!" Jormun replied. "You have a rainbow core like no one else ever had. The excess energy that will be released the moment your core is reduced to bright blue will tear you apart.

    "If the processsts long enough, you might go insane from the pain and just leave behind an empty shell!"

    "At least mindless or not, my body will still produce milk for our baby." Thrud flinched as Valeron kept shapeshifting from one form to another in the attempt to feed more quickly.

    She had the mass and the sturdy skin of a Griffon in human form, but it still hurt a lot.

    "Gods, I wish we could teach him how to keep his human form. Between the beak and the ws, I feel like a pin cushion!" She lulled the baby, hoping to calm him down.

    "Neither of our races is supposed to be breastfed since we are usually born from an egg." Jormun said. "On top of that, Valeron is the first of his own race and we have no idea how¡­ By the way, how do we call it?"

    "Bahamut." Thrud replied. The word derived from the draconization of Behemoth, one of the Griffon species.

    "How Bahamuts behave. Gods, you put a lot of thought into it." Jormun felt his eyes veiling with tears at the care Thrud had put into making sure that the baby wouldn''t forget about either of his roots.

    His feelings for her and his fears of her ripped his heart to shreds every time they spent too much time together.

    "I had a lot of time to think." She handed him the baby after covering herself. "Take good care of Valeron if I don''t make it back. I want him to know that no matter how little time we had together, his mother loved him with all of her heart."

    She took the Sword of Arthan and walked into the Headmaster''s office, the core of the Golden Griffon.

 Chapter 1566 - Awakened Madness (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1566 - Awakened Madness (Part 2)</h4>

    The de gave her mystical senses and enhanced her understanding of magic while the office was right above the mana geyser and filled her to the brim with world energy.

    Thrud needed one breath of her personal technique, Regal Flow, to start the process. Just as Jormun had predicted, the Awakening process caused her mana to flood through every fiber of her being and fight against the unnatural rainbow core of hers, trying to beat it into submission.

    Thrud''s body was ripped to shreds and so was her vortex and her mana core which turned into seven smaller spheres of different colors. As the impurities left Thrud''s body, all but the violet sphere grew in power and merged with the blue one the moment their color matched.

    As for the vortex, the mana organ that Arthan''s Madness had bestowed upon her and that granted her Invigoration-like abilities, it lost part of its mass by releasing small vortexes that fused with Thrud''s body.

    The mana flow of her Awakening process was more violent than that of a fake mage with a bright violet core. It coursed through the newly-assimted vortexes in waves, forcing them to curl up into unstable spheres that rxed the moment the flow decreased.

    Yet the process started anew with the following wave, leaving Thrud not a single moment of respite. If not for the Unwavering Loyalty array, she would have died dozens of times in less than one minute¡­

    The power of the Golden Griffon collected the bits of her body that kept exploding with each failed transformation and sewed them back together before her mana core could fade. Yet the Mad Queen''s suffering was twofold.

    Once when her flesh turned upside down in the attempt to get rid of the impurities and the second when the array restored it. Arthan had made sure that the process was efficient, with no care for how much pain it inflicted.

    "Why is itsting for so long?" Jormun demanded answers from Hystar. "Over than five minutes have passed and no Awakening is supposed to take that long."

    They were spectating at the phenomenon from behind a mystical ss that kept the baby in Jakra''s arms from hearing Thrud''s screams and from witnessing her gruesome deaths.

    "I''m as surprised as you are." The Headmaster replied. "None of our students had such problems, but as you know, your wife is as unique as your son."

    The living legacy spoke with a familiarity that made Jormun want to puke. The Emerald Dragon punched Hystar to wipe the smug grin off his face and vent centuries of pent-up anger.

    "Are you insane? It''s only thanks to me that she''s still alive!" The Headmaster said in outrage.

    "Wrong. It''s thanks to the safeguards that Arthan left behind. I did some reading while in my father''s library and I know what kind of creature you are. Unless you understand what''s happening, I order you to shut up!"

    Hystar opened his mouth to reply, but no word came out and his body froze when he tried to return the attack. Jormun carried the same blood as the Royal heir, making him King and one of the masters of the Golden Griffon.

    Arthan''s ve spells forced the Headmaster to obey and to treat the Emerald Dragon as Royalty. Hystar inwardly cursed at the Mad King and swore revenge, receiving such a powerful bacsh from the ve spells that his physical form disappeared.

    "Did I do that?" Jormun asked Valeron in amazement.

    "Da." The baby replied before falling asleep.

    The Emerald Dragon activated Life Vision while also transmitting Invigoration through the wall to understand what was wrong with Thrud.

    ''For some reason, both the violet sphere and the rest of the vortex that the Awakening process forcefully squeezed out of my body is not fading away. Somehow, I''m retaining both mana organs that the Madness created!'' The Mad Queen, however, had already found the cure for her condition.

    Thanks to thebined effect of Royal Flow and the Sword of Arthan, she could see the violet mana that her rainbow core had contained until a few minutes back kept trying to return into her body, causing it to be destroyed.

    The explosion released the excess energy and allowed the Unwavering Loyalty array to rebuild her body, just for the cycle to start anew. It took Thrud a while to get ustomed to the pain without using darkness fusion.

    Blocking her pain receptors would have only made it difficult to her to understand what she was doing wrong.

    ''I wanted to get used to Awakening before moving to the violet core, but it seems that I can''t afford such luxury. Unless I absorb all of the lingering energy from my rainbow core, the Awakening process will never end.'' The Mad Queen was aware of the secret of the violet core.

    Even though it wasn''t written in any of the legacies in her possession, she had understood it after spending centuries researching her condition and studying Xedros for months.

    Getting her hands on the legacies and on the description of the different philosophies developed by several different Awakened bloodlines had helped Thrud to deepen her understanding of how a core worked and what she needed to do to move on to the next level.

    She used the Sword of Arthan to Dominate her own energy, forcing the mana flowing inside her body to form runes. Bing a Griffon had also turned her into a true mage and with Jormun''s help before he was released from his very, she had already converted most of her spells.

    The Sword sped up the process, allowing her to master body casting quickly. The vortexes became spheres and after a while they became stable. Then, part of the energy lingering in the room flooded Thrud, bringing her core to violet and then to bright violet in a matter of minutes.

    Yet it wasn''t enough. Even now that her core was filled to the brim with mana there was still what remained from the vortex forcing its way in, making her body explode less often but explode nheless.

    ''Curse you, father. I lived my life on the run because of you. I sacrificed countless people for our dream and this is what your so-called masterpiece achieved. Whatever the Madness did to me, not even Awakening can fix that.

    ''What was supposed to be the instrument of our vengeance and the source of our eternal rule has be a curse of living death. Awakening didn''t make me powerful, it only turned me into an unliving.

    ''An eternal prisoner of your ursed academy forced not only to never leave this room but also to experience the pain of death over and over until my mind will break!'' Thrud fell to her knees, too tired to fight a battle that she considered already lost.

    Her mind shattered as the agony reopened old mental scars and plunged her into despair. Then, her eyes met those of Jormun who was mming his hand against the ss and on the small figure he was holding in his arm.

    ''You''ve taken everything from me, father. My mother, my Kingdom, and even my birthright. I won''t let you destroy what little I have. What I earned during thest few centuries I got it not thanks to your legacy, but in spite of it!'' She thought.

 Chapter 1567 - Vortexes And Cores (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1567 - Vortexes And Cores (Part 1)</h4>

    Seeing her baby waiting for her on the other side of the ss and the idea of never touching Jormun again gave Thrud new strength. She remembered everything she had learned about her body and about Awakening during the pregnancy.

    How her Awakened baby had made her stronger, to the point of pushing her rainbow core past its limits. She had briefly experienced the power of the white core and remembered well its touch.

    ''What the heck am I still missing? I have the auxiliary cores, I have a fucking bright violet core, and yet it''s not enough to contain the power of my previous rainbow core.'' She racked her brain until she noticed that the multi-colored mana wasn''t the only thing lingering around her.

    Most of the vortex that had previously allowed her to suck in the world energy was still there. Only the parts necessary to form the auxiliary cores had been integrated within her Awakened body while everything else could only try to force its way in.

    ''Were you just lucky or were you a true genius, father? How could you have understood the secret of the white core without even being an Awakened? Was this your n all along or just a fortuitous side effect of the Madness?'' Her body bloated and exploded again, putting an end to her thinking.

    When Thrud''s physical form regenerated, she didn''t try to further refine her core nor her auxiliary cores like countless Awakened before her had done in the attempt to reach the white.

    What she did, instead, was to create new auxiliary cores for every single part of her body that Regal Flow revealed to her.

    Based on their size, normal violet-cored Awakened had one or more auxiliary cores per organ. Their purpose was to evenly spread the power of the mana core throughout the whole body and amplify it thanks to the world energy they collected.

    Thrud had reached the violet for just a few minutes, but the persistent vortex hovering behind her core gave her an inspiration that very few had reached despite living for thousands of years.

    ''The violet core is the natural apex, otherwise there would be white cored individuals even among fake mages. That means that trying to feed it more world energy is pointless, just like trying to refine the auxiliary cores.

    ''They are nothing but an extension of the mana core, forming a web that reduces the strain on the body and quickens the natural absorption of world energy. They cannot get stronger unless the mana core gets stronger yet the core is capped at violet.'' She thought.

    ''It''s a seemingly impossible conundrum, but it has a solution and, thanks to the mad genius of my father, the answery in my body this entire time!''

    Thrud took small bits of the still lingering vortex that the Madness had bestowed upon her and assimted them inside her body. She ced them exactly halfway between pairs of her natural auxiliary cores, using them as milestones.

    The vortexes became ry points, transmitting the power of her bright violet core from an auxiliary core to another. It took the vortexes just a few minutes to make their edges ovep and turn into auxiliary cores as well.

    ''I knew it! The answer isn''t to further refine either the mana or the auxiliary cores but to make more of them to turn the entirety of an Awakened''s body into an amplifier.

    ''By having many auxiliary cores, the natural mana flow bes so powerful that it nurtures the mana core and allows it to break past its natural limits!'' Thrud made sure to stabilize the newborn auxiliary cores before assimting more pieces of the big vortex.

    Each time, she would ce the new vortexes between a pair of already stabilized auxiliary cores, strengthening thework that spread the energy of the mana core throughout her body.

    The more she progressed, the less often her body exploded and the artificial vortex of the Madness slowly shrunk. When even thest bit of it was assimted, Thrud had also absorbed all of the lingering energy of her previous rainbow core.

    Her body quickly stabilized, yet she had not reached the white, just another rainbow core where silver and ck had reced the cyan and the violet. The seven colors weren''t generated by the presence of impurities since they had all been removed by the Awakening process.

    They were simply the manifestation of the wild elemental energies that Thrud''s life force failed to merge into her own mana. The vortexes now absorbed more world energy than even a Griffon''s body could handle.

    ''You were truly a genius, father. You made a machine capable of granting the next best thing to a white core even to a fake mage. You unwittingly discovered the secret to turning a pitiful human back into a mighty Griffon.

    ''Yet youcked the vision, the motivation, and the talent to understand the importance of your masterpiece. Your obsession with immortality kept you from taking the most important step.'' Thrud thought.

    ''I''m not going to repeat your mistakes. My eternal life it''s not my goal but the means I''ll use to give my child and to every child on Mogar the life I could only dream about.''

    She took a deep breath, making her Regal Flow technique harness the wild elemental energies until they submitted to her will. Thrud wasn''t at risk of dying any longer, but she couldn''t settle for a mere Awakened rainbow core.

    She forced the energy of the six elements to match her life force and beat to its rhythm. As soon as the multi-colored energy turned into mana, she used Regal Flow to push it out of her core.

    Thanks to the countless auxiliary cores, the energy encountered no resistance and grew so intense that the boundary between energy and matter almost broke. Thrud''s body was now akin to a block of Davross, with each one of her cells capable of drawing and storing the world energy.

    Unlike the magical metal, however, the world energy she assimted would take her energy signature and convert it into her own mana. She had be a huge living mana core that turned white as the internal and external energy became one.

    "It''s done." Thrud said, yet she didn''t open the door.

    A dull white aura seeped out of her body, yet her skin had turned gold-colored and so did the feathers that covered the wings that came out of her back.

    "Who would have thought that I''d evolve into a Golden Griffon? Mogar sure has a twisted sense of irony."

    "Did you really reach the white core?" Jormun was bbergasted.

    "I didn''t reach it. I had it for most of my life but my non-Awakened body couldn''t tap into its true power." She conjured bricks from the academy in her hands pulverizing them the moment she flexed her fingers.

    "If everything is fine, then why are you still there? Why don''t you let me in?" He asked.

    "Because I''m not fine. I knew how to handle the power of the violet, but I have no control over the white¡­" Thrud ced her hand near a wall and Jormun saw it cken as if it had been struck by a fireball.

 Chapter 1568 - Vortexes And Cores (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1568 - Vortexes And Cores (Part 2)</h4>

    "Even my aura is dangerous, let alone my touch." She just leaned on the Headmaster''s desk, crushing it as if it had been made of paper. "I''ll stay here until I can at least restrain my new powers. Once I master them, I can finally start my war!"

    ***

    Blood Desert, night time.

    Contrary to Lith''s hopes, by dinner time Tista had yet to recover. The moment their parents noticed her absence they demanded and obtained an exnation.

    "I can''t believe you two have been so stupid as to endanger her life!" It wasn''t the first time that Raaz scolded Lith, but for Sark it was a new experience. "You are supposed to be her wise brother and guide Tista, not to use her as a test subject!

    "As for you, what kind of a Guardian can''t even protect her own blood? You brought us here boasting about how much you care for my children and look what you''ve done!"

    Sark would have liked the reply that it had been Tista''s idea and that all she had done was to act as a lifeline, but as a parent, she knew that there was no logic good enough to justify what had happened.

    "I''m really sorry, Dad. I know that I have no excuses. Tista and I now share the same problem. We are the only two members of a new race and we let it go to our head. I shouldn''t have let her try something so dangerous." Lith said.

    "If not for the fact that you both are taller than me and that I would likely break my hand, I would give you two a good spanking!" Elina pointed at Tista and Lith. "When can we be sure that everything is fine?"

    "We already know. Everything is fine." Sark replied.

    "Unstable life forces crumble quickly whereas Tista''s condition has remained stable for hours. The only precaution we must take is to make her rest for a few days until no trace of the trauma remains."

    Tista stirred in her bed, trying to remember the reason why she felt as if someone had kicked her to Lutia and back.

    "Gods, I''m aching even in ces I didn''t think they could ache." She said while using her breathing technique to check upon her body and finding it normal. "The silver lining in this mess is that what we learned today can help Nalrond.

    "On top of that, if the kids ever reach the blue core, we can properly exin to them the dangers of a split life force without the risk of it looking cool. The most important thing is that Mom and Dad must never-"

    The Hush spell that had let her rest undisturbed had also kept her from noticing the other people in the room.

    "What were you saying, sweetie?" Raaz crossed his arms, angered by Tista''s attempt to cover her mess up.

    "What are you two doing here? Weren''t you supposed to watch the sunset paint the dunes red or something like that?" She asked.

    "We were and we did. We need to talk, young woman!" Her parents first made sure that she was really okay and then scolded Tista for her recklessness.

    "First, I''m an adult and you can''t tell me what I can''t do anymore. Second, knowledge and risks often go hand in hand. How can I learn something about my beast half if-"

    She choked on her speech as her parents yed the forbidden card.

    "You have no idea how scared we had been, seeing youy motionless on the bed. We felt just like back when you were a kid and suffered from the Strangler. We were afraid of losing you forever." Elina and Raaz started to cry, holding their daughter as if she might fall dead at any moment.

    At that point, all that Tista could do was to apologize and promise to be more careful in the future.

    Lith and Sark exploited the moment to sneak away.

    "Do you think they are overreacting?" Lith asked.

    "Kid, if our situation was reversed, I would be kicking their ass into oblivion. We got off easy." The Guardian replied. "I''ll have their dinner served in Tista''s room but we must dine with the others or the kids will get scared."

    Once the food arrived on the table, Lith discovered to be starving. Between the scare and his experiments with the orc crystal, he had skipped lunch. The Heavenly Plume tribe was used to feeding Phoenixes so the chefs had no problem serving him a meal big enough to make up for the lost time.

    During and after dinner, Lith used the Sentry he had left with his sister to check up on her from time to time.

    ''I guess you were right back at the g. Not even the presence of a Guardian is enough to ease my paranoia.'' Lith said via the mind link.

    ''Speaking of which, maybe you should make a few calls. I''m afraid that the Balkor copycat might have made another move but we don''t know about it because people don''t want to ruin your vacation.'' She replied.

    Solus hadn''t thought about the Balkor cards for days until Tista''s failed experiment had made her remember Lark''s and Mirim''s death.

    Lith immediately called Vastor who reassured him that everything was okay.

    "Yet I share your fears. The only reason why nothing bad has happened is that the surveince is as tight as your wallet" The Professor said. "The Balkor copycat doesn''t attack only because theyck the opportunity.

    "By the way, how was your meeting with Xenagrosh? She seemed pretty happy about spending quality time with you."

    "It was interesting. I still find it a bit creepy hanging with strangers that treat me like a member of their family, but I''m getting used to it." After a bit of chatting, Lith called Xenagrosh as well just to hear from her.

    ''I must get rid of my bad habit of forgetting about people unless I need something from them. I still can''t believe that Marth didn''t invite me to his wedding nor did he tell me about the baby until the g.'' He thought.

    ''It''s not like you can me him. Marth always called you for your birthday and whenever he was worried about you. Yet you never went to visit him even after getting your own personal Gate.'' Solus replied.

    At those words, Lith shapeshifted into his human form and called Marth for the first time in years.

    "What can I do for you, Lith?" The Headmaster didn''t even raise his hands from the paperwork on his desk, expecting it to be a business call, like always.

    "Just tell me how are you doing, Duke. How long until I can meet Manohar junior?" Lith said with a chuckle, making Marth fall from his chair.

    It was hard to tell if he was more surprised by the unexpected social call or by the name Lith had called the child with.

    "Please, don''t you ever say that again! Manohar is dead set on forcing his name upon my firstborn and Ryssa finds our quarreling so funny that she sides with him from time to time to not let the argument die!"

    "You are the closest thing he has to a friend. I find it sweet that Manohar wants to be part of your life¡­" Lith replied.

 Chapter 1569 - Calling Card (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1569 - Calling Card (Part 1)</h4>

    "We''ll see if you still find it sweet when you have a child of your own or when Manohar discovers that that the children of the Verhen household can already project holograms." Marth said with a smug grin.

    "How do you know about that?" Lith''s heart skipped a beat.

    "Kids like to banter. Aran showed his skills to Frey, who in turn told ''Uncle'' Zogar about it when he visited Zinya. Vastor in turn told me and we''ll do our best to keep Manohar in the dark, but you need to be more careful."

    "If the Queen''s Corps learns about you teaching Light Mastery to the members of your family, the efforts of the Royals to put a leash on your neck will only get worse, especially now that you are single." Marth said.

    "Thanks for the advice. How is it going at the White Griffon?" Lith asked.

    "Ryssa can''t wait for the child to be born and the security is as tight as it can. I don''t want to make you worry, but there have been several break ins in the academy. If not for its powerful defensive mechanisms, people like Wanemyre might have been killed."

    "What? How?" Lith sent cold shivers running down his spine.

    "They all entered through the forest since our Gate is sealed. It took them a considerable amount of skill to avoid being detected by the arrays, yet they managed to escape our notice until it was toote.

    "We only find them when they are dead." Marth sighed.

    "What do you mean?"

    "The uniforms, remember? The White Griffon perceives whoever doesn''t wear one as an intruder and it sucks their life away the moment they cast a spell." Marth referred to the peculiar ability that only the six great academies had.

    Not only did they feed upon a mana geyser to sustain their power core, but they also drew their strength from the students. With each spell they cast, the academy would take a little bit of their energy to feed itself.

    Intruders, however, would be swallowed whole, keeping anyone without an imprinted uniform from being a threat to the people inside an academy.

    "Because of that, we never managed to capture and interrogate one of them. I''m afraid that this is just the calm before the storm. It''s only a matter of time before someone who has received a Balkor card slips up and the bastard makes their move again."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Belius, a few days after Lith left for the Desert.

    Almost a week had passed since thest time Constable Kam Yehval had been at her apartment. After learning about Solus''s existence and breaking up with Lith, she had spent most of her free time at Lutia, in Zinya''s home.

    Her work, instead, now kept her away from the military city since, as Jirni''s assistant, Kam had to apany her wherever a crime that required her attention took ce.

    The rest of her working hours Kam would spend them at the Myrok Household, either examining documents for clues or filing paperwork.

    The keys slipped easily inside the lock, yet turning them had never been so hard. Jirni being estranged from her family and her impending divorce only made the parallel between the two women closer, deepening Kam''s wounds.

    She avoided the apartment as much as she could because she could still smell Lith''s presence in the air. Every noise she heard became his footsteps in her head and she often saw his figure moving past a door just to realize it was all in her head.

    Her eyes veiled with tears every time she walked through the door as the familiar environment triggered an endless stream of happy memories that now caused her only pain.

    The kitchen was the second ce where they had spent most of their time together, either cooking or eating together. Kam could almost feel the smell of their favorite dishes and see Lith''s back while he made her breakfast.

    The couch reminded her of all the evenings they had snuggled together, exchanging cuddles while Lith projected a movie or a theatrical y for her. Every time she had a bad day, Lith would prepare for her a heavy nket, something sweet, and afort show.

    The bedroom was the ce where they had spent most of their time in Belius so it was off limits for obvious reasons. Yet after months, all those things had started to be dull and faded in her heart.

    Kam felt a grip on her stomach while walking through the door but her eyes remained clear and her steps steady. She went to a corner of the kitchen, where a small chest made of woody.

    Her spirit faltered a bit as she opened the lid with trembling hands, revealing all the gifts that she had received from Lith over the past three years that she had yet to find the courage to get rid of.

    On the bottom of the chest, there were her lucky clothes, that she had recovered from the trash bin and put inside a bag. On top of them, everything she had received formed severalyers that told the story of Lith''s and Kam''s rtionship in chronological order.

    First her g dress and the jewels that he had gifted her when he had been promoted to Spellbreaker. Then the pieces of lingerie, the bags, and clothes that Lith had bought for her back when she was burdened with the debts for Zinya''s operation.

    Everything was in perfect order but one thing.

    The Camellia, the very first gift that she had received from him rested atop of the pile of items, shining its dying light as thest remnants of Kam''s imprint were about to disappear.

    The once blooming fire flower was now reduced to just a handful of petals, most of which withered to the point of no recognition. She watched one of them fall off and disappear into specks of red light as if it had never existed in the first ce.

    The vise squeezing Kam''s heart became so violent that she had to fight an insistent tear that demanded to be shed as the past few months disappeared and she felt as if she had received the Camellia just a day back.

    ''I promised myself that I would throw away this junk right after the Camellia died, yet here I am, again. I wonder if I''ll manage to watch its final moments or if I''ll chicken out again.'' She thought.

    After the break up, Kam had left the mystical flower in sight, to watch it fade and die just like the trust she had in Lith for the past three years. Yet the moment the Camellia started to wither, all of her rage turned into sweet memories and she ended up imprinting it again.

    After one failure too many, she had put it in the box, hoping that the flower being out of sight would also bring it out of her mind. After renewing the imprint on the Camellia every day for so long, however, she still looked for it first thing in the morning, until reality pped her sleepy brain awake.

    She could almost hear the flower cry every time she didn''t feed it, almost hear its desperate pleas for help¡­ It tore her heart to shreds because what she felt weren''t the needs of an inanimated object but her own.

 Chapter 1570 - Calling Card (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1570 - Calling Card (Part 2)</h4>

    Kam always ended up going back to Belius when she knew that the Camellia was about to die. She went there hoping that she would endure watching its final moments and find the strength to move on, but she would just renew the imprint and start over.

    Looking at the withered flower was already hard, doing it with all the pressure from three years of memories from her apartment weighing on her was nigh-impossible.

    ''At first, everyone but me thought that this cheap-ass thing was a betrothal gift.'' Kam thought while picking up the badly hammered green painted scrap metal thatprised the Camellia''s stem.

    ''Then, while others forgot about it, I started to hope that Lith would give me another. A perennial Camellia as a proper betrothal gift. Yet I knew that it would never happen until we managed to bring out all the unspoken words left between us.

    ''Back then, I thought that saying "I love you" was the hardest thing in the world, yet hearing about Solus was much worse. Did he ever really feel something for me or was it just another lie?''

    Her mind spun until she became dizzy from remembering both Lith''s words before she left the tower and Jirni''s words about how simr the choice that Kam had to make was to Orion''s.

    Jirni''s parallel between her own situation with her husband and Kam''s with Lith had struck a nerve, nting the seed of doubt in the ear of her fellow Constable. Kam had mulled over the words of her mentor and of her ex-boyfriend so much that she had trouble sleeping.

    ''Gods, why is this so hard?'' She clenched the green stem with all the strength she could muster. ''All I have to do is to either stand still for the next few minutes or just leave the apartment ande backter to pick up my clothes.''

    Yet she didn''t move from the spot, her hands refused to let go of the Camellia and close it inside the chest until it was toote.

    Kam knew that the moment she let the flower''s enchantment die, everything would be over for good. There would be no second chances, no miracle forgiveness, just feelings turning into memories.

    It would be the final step before moving on with her life, yet she still had too many doubts that kept her from making up her mind.

    ''I can''t stop thinking about Jirni''s words.'' Kam thought. ''She is right about Lith. He didn''t lie to me to hurt me, only to protect me, just like Jirni did with Orion. If Lith had told me about Solus, I would have never given him a chance and both our lives would be ruined now.

    ''Yet his rtionship with Solus is so unique that I don''t know what to believe. I am certain that he was honest with me when he said there''s nothing romantic between them.

    ''On the other hand, I could also see from their memories how close they are and how the difference between love and friendship is paper thin.''

    Another petal of the Camellia fell off, leaving just three of them.

    ''If I were to take his words at face value, doubt would slowly eat at me from the inside, making me question what they do whenever they are together. I don''t want to let jealousy ruin the best thing that ever happened in my life but I won''t live in the shadow of another woman either.''

    Kam stared at the now two remaining petals of the Camellia, using them as an hourss to make up her mind and find the strength to do what had to be done.

    ''I fought too hard and too long to keep my rtionship with Lith. I''m not going to act like a coward now and let everything slip out of my hands out of inertia. Thest time we met, he told me that if I wanted to learn the truth about him and Solus, I had to call the Firstborn Banshee and ask her about their encounter.

    ''I don''t know what she''s going to say, but before making the final decision, I want to trust Lith onest time. The Camellia can wait another week. No matter how much I suffer, the sun will always keep rising.''

    She was about to imprint the stem again when two things happened at the same time. The secondst petal fell off and one of her tears fell on the dying flower. As the petal faded into nothingness, the Camellia came back to life.

    A blue doubleyered flowerprised of the water element bloomed, recing the fire one before she could even send a single spark of mana through her hands.

    ''Was that a sign from the gods or did my tear carry enough of my mana and willpower to renew the imprint?'' Kam thought in amazement as soon as she realized that it wasn''t just another trick of her imagination.

    In theory, only a mage who had mastered tier five magic could imbue their spells with willpower and control them once the mana had left their bodies. She was no mage, yet the pleasant coolness of the Camellia was a testament to her determination.

    Kam had stopped believing in the gods back when she was a teen and her parents wanted to marry her off to aplete stranger in order to make some money. Thanks to Lith, she knew enough about magic to understand that the only hand guiding her fate was her own.

    She took the rebirth of the flower of a sign, but not as one sent by fate or gods so much as from the depths of her heart, showing her what it truly desired.

    Unwilling to waste one more second, Kam took the mystical business card holding the Firstborn Banshee''s rune out of her dimensional item, bringing it near to hermunication amulet to add it to the many already on its surface.

    She had brought the card with her ever since Lith had given it to her the day of Quy''s funeral, but until that moment, she had hoped to sort out her feelings without the need to ask advice from Ilthin, one of the most powerful beings on Mogar.

    The Kingdom was still at war with the undead, making it hard for Kam to trust any of them, and she was afraid that Ilthin might lie to her just to get in Lith''s bed. Banshees had a bad name not only because they fed upon the unfaithful, but also because they spared no effort to seduce someone in order to turn them into a potential meal.

    During Lith''s stay in Lightkeep, Ilthin had already hit on him and fallen prey to her predatory instincts to the point of unwillingly putting a Charm on him.

    Back then, Kam hadughed at the story, but now it scared her to death.

    She was afraid of learning from the Banshee that the reason for her interest was that Lith had already been unfaithful.

    ''I have no reason to trust her words and she has no reason to be honest with me¡­ Heck, if I was in her shoes, I''d tell Lith''s ex anything to push him to cross the line.''

 Chapter 1571 - Breach Of Trust (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1571 - Breach Of Trust (Part 1)</h4>

    ''Elina even told me that ever since he became a Tiamat, Lith has so many Fae and Emperor Beasts suitors that he had to leave home. If he''s in a good rtionship with the Eclipsed Lands, I don''t see why the undead should be any different.

    ''Seeking love advice from a Banshee is madness, but I have no other choice left.'' Kam thought while pressing the contact rune.

    The moment Ilthin''s hologram appeared, Kam felt her stomach churning out of irrational envy. She had hair of gold, eyes of silver, and ten centimeters (4 inches) long pointy ears that came out of her waist-long hair.

    The Firstborn Banshee was about 1.75 meters (5''9") tall, wearing a skin-tight crimson cocktail dress with a deep neckline that outlined her lithe body and delicate curves. If the elf had a slightly bigger bosom, Kam would have probably had a stroke.

    She had long gotten used to the fact that in the Awakeningmunity being a stunner was the rule, making even Tista look like the girl next door.

    Knowing that Lith was surrounded by women like Ilthin put a strain on Kam''s self-esteem even back when she was certain of their rtionship whereas now it was akin to a punch in the gut.

    "I''m sorry, darling, but I can''t recall ever meeting you. If you don''t tell me how you got my rune, I''ll have to hunt you down." Ilthin''s voice was silvery and sweet, sounding to Kam''s ears like the gurgling of spring water sounds to a man lost in a desert.

    The Firstborn Banshee took a good look at the stranger, without ever stopping straightening her hair and then applying some light make up while waiting for the answer.

    ''I don''t mind such a delicious meal contacting me but I''m careful never getting so wasted during a party that I don''t remember the people I fed upon or I exchanged runes with. Either this is a trap or it''s my lucky day.'' Ilthin slowly licked her lips with a sensual motion, unable to avert her gaze from the prey.

    Kam''s emotions were so intense that the magic of the amulet picked them up along with her features, projecting on the other side traces that only an undead could perceive thanks to their mystical senses.

    ording to the Banshee''s readings, she was staring at a sumptuous feast of pain, love, and faithfulness.

    "I''m really sorry to bother you, Lady Ilthin." Despite being still noon, Kam couldn''t stop shuddering from the cold shiver that was running down her spine, stuttering every word.

    The Banshee looked lovely, her voice was sweet, and her attempts to hit on Kam were supposed to be beyond ttering, yet all the Constable could feel was fear. She felt akin to a small rabbit stumbling in front of a lion.

    No matter how majestic their fur or how beautiful a predator was, to their prey they were the stuff of nightmares.

    "You are right. We''ve never met nor did you ever give me your contact rune. I received it from my boyf- from my ex-boyfriend, Lith Verhen."

    "He kept it instead of using it? What a pity." Ilthin sighed in relief from knowing that her enemies had no way to track her but also in disappointment for losing the only link she had with a world-ss meal. "I knew it wouldn''t have panned out, but it was worth a shot."

    "What do you mean?" Kam asked.

    "Back when we met in Lightkeep, what made him so delic- I mean, charming to me also made him unreachable. Lith Verhen is one of the few people I have ever met that never broke a single vow he took his whole life.

    "That man is too faithful and I doubt he would be content to be just another of the members of my herd, no matter how pleasurable I make his stay." The Banshee replied.

    "Faithful?" Kam echoed with a sneer, feeling her sadness and fear being reced by the outrage that never left her for long. "I''m sorry, Lady Ilthin, but you are dead wrong.

    "I don''t know how Lith managed to deceive you as well, but you know nothing about him. He betrayed his vow to me the whole time we were together and always had another woman on his mind even during our most intimate moments!"

    Seeing the meek rabbit turning into a tiger answered a lot of Ilthin''s silent questions and made her smudge her lipstick up to her right eye.

    "Let me guess. He must havee clean with you about whatever he was worried about back when we meet in Lightkeep and things between you two didn''t go well, correct?" The Banshee asked.

    "You are spot-on down to thest detail." For a moment, Kam even thought that Lith might have talked about Solus with the Banshee first, making her rage skyrocket and regret not having let the Camellia die.

    ''How can I still be so jealous after over three months?'' She thought as her rage faded as quickly as it had appeared. ''Lith would never be so stupid as to reveal about Menadion''s tower to anyone, let alone endanger someone he deeply cares for.''

    The Banshee could see Kam''s emotional turmoil and had a hard time not exploiting it for her own ends. The human was far weaker than Lith but still a rare delicacy that appeared once in a blue moon.

    "After that, Lith gave you my contact rune, he asked you to call me, and here we are. How am I doing?" Ilthin asked.

    "Correct again." Kam had turned pale in fear again, yet her cheeks reddened by embarrassment and fury made her look lovely, stirring the Banshee''s hunger even more.

    "I indeed offered him my help to settle things with you if anything goes wrong, but I never expected this to happen with a call. I nned on having a heart to heart with you two, if not a threesome." The Banshee sighed.

    "What?" Kam turned to a deep shade of purple.

    "Never mind." Ilthin closed her eyes while pinching her nose in the attempt to get ahold of herself and stop thinking with her full-red blood core.

    She wanted to keep her promise with Lith, but her hunger kept messing with her head.

    "What I meant to say is that Lith has never cheated on you. Even if there is this woman you talked about in his life, the feelings he had for her were never romantic, at least up to the moment I met him.

    "You have nothing to worry about. I can understand why you are hurt and why you left him, but he never lied about his feelings for you. Never." Ilthin said while looking straight into Kam''s eyes to show her sincerity.

    "How can you be so sure? That man is a world ss liar." Kam replied, yet her outrage was almost gone from her voice, reced by a mix of doubt and relief.

    "Kid, knowing that kind of thing is my bread and butter. The chances of a Banshee failing to recognize a faithful person are the same as you eating sh*t and mistaking it for chocte." Ilthin felt offended, almost talking it personal.

 Chapter 1572 - Breach Of Trust (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1572 - Breach Of Trust (Part 2)</h4>

    "For example, I know that even though you broke your word a few times during your life, you have yet to cheat on Lith."

    Kam swallowed a lump of saliva at those words, remembering how she still felt terrible for abandoning Zinya at the beginning of her military career despite her promise of always taking care of her.

    Kam knew that during a boot camp all contacts with the outside world were forbidden and that, after having been disowned by their family, she didn''t have the means to stay close to her sister.

    ''How does she know that I still regret letting Zinya down? Joining the army was the most difficult decision I''ve ever had to make because it also meant disappearing from my sister''s life until I could afford to visit her.

    ''Only officers can freely use Gates while soldiers have to pay for it like anyone else.'' She thought.

    "What do you mean, I didn''t cheat on him?" Kam actually said. "We broke up for months now. Even if I dated other men, it wouldn''t be cheating."

    "That''s where you are wrong." Ilthin shook her head. "Just like breaking a vow you took because it was forced on you doesn''t count, separation isn''t enough to break a true bond.

    "It''s not cheating only if the vow has lost significance for your heart. If the feelings you had while taking your oath have disappeared. Breaking up doesn''t matter, only the fact that you feel something for him or not does.

    "As long as you do, dating others would be cheating whereas if you had already moved on, I would perceive you as a nk te."

    "How do I know that you are telling me the truth?" Kam asked, torn between hope and doubt.

    "Grow up, child." The Banshee rolled her eyes. "I have no reason to lie to you nor to back Lith''s story. Mogar doesn''t revolve around you two, it barely registers your existence.

    "Back when I met Lith, he had never betrayed his heart. I can swear it on my very name. Also, considering the fact that the both of you are still single after three months, that he kept my card just to give it to you, and that you had the guts to badger me about him, I''d say you two are far from done.

    "That doesn''t mean that you have to get back together, just that you need closure. How you do that is none of my business." Ilthin hung up the call and fixed the mess that her make-up was.

    Kam kept staring at the amulet for a while, pondering everything she had heard. Then, she went into her bedroom to take a few more clothes to bring to Zinya''s home along with the Camellia.

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth, in the Headquarters of the Master.

    After bringing Lith to visit Sinmara, Xenagrosh had found her desk filled with so much paperwork that thete Mirim Distar would have died of old age before being done with it.

    Luckily for Xenagrosh, Abominations had little social life and no need to rest, only to feed.

    Vastor was too busy taking care of the new monster-Abomination hybrids, keeping the appearances with the Kingdom, and making time for Zinya to oversee the Organization''s operations in the entirety of Garlen.

    That was her job.

    The Master had long since found a way to determine which monster core was better suited to be the counterpart of one of the Eldritchs at his service, yet the number of Eldritch-monster hybrids was still stuck at nine.

    Vastor had learned from Bytra''s case that the Original Abomination couldn''t always be trusted with such power. Insane creatures would only grow crazier and betray him the moment they had gotten what they wanted.

    Xenagrosh''s case, instead, had shown him that younger didn''t mean also better. Just like Tezka, her younger self was too conceited and deranged to be of any use for his n. For that reason, once he created a new clone, he would keep it a secret.

    The Master would take his time to watch them from afar and determine whether they were better, worse, or just the same as their Original before letting them merge.

    In Vareen''s case, after confirming that both the clone and the original were as dangerous as a live grenade, Vastor had the clone suppressed. Vareen''s betrayal was no surprise, but it still caused a lot of frictions with the Council that he had to deal with.

    In the end, however, Vareen''s death had been a relief. His pocket dimension had be avable for the taking and with it the legacy that the guespreader had stored within.

    The Master had found it for a while thanks to Life Vision, but the many protections surrounding the artifact made it impossible to get close to the source of the pocket dimension without Vareen noticing.

    To make matters worse, there was no way to remove his imprint or to keep him from retrieving it with a thought no matter the distance thanks to the link with his life force.

    Once Vareen had died, however, the protections had lost most of their power and there was no one who could respond to their call when triggered.

    Xenagrosh had split the legacy between the hybrids, to make sure that each one of them would deepen their understanding of their respective fields. The Shadow Dragon found Vareen''s research about Chaos Magic very interesting.

    Bytra wasn''t as talented or skilled as Aylen the Lich, but she knew about the existence of the six cursed elements. Her tier five Chaos spell, World Severance, allowed her to create them all at the same time, but not to freely manipte them.

    She hoped that by studying the guespreader''s work she might find a way to employ Mirror Magic the way that Lith had described it to her, increasing her chances of victory in the case she had to fight a white cored Awakened if not even a Guardian.

    As for Bytra, she had paired up with Nandi the Minotaur Eldritch and together they were getting closer and closer to the secret of tower crafting. Each Eldritch-monster hybrid was already a force of nature, but if they also got a tower, they would be unstoppable.

    On top of that, the appearance of the Horsemen''s steeds during the war between the Griffon Kingdom and the undead had shown the Fourth Ruler of the mes that towers could actually move along with their owners.

    Until that moment, Baba Yaga''s hut had been considered a unique piece born out of the genius of the oldest white cored Awakened on Mogar and of some kind of Forbidden magic ritual akin to the one that had spawned the Horsemen.

    The ancient tower had chicken legs that allowed it to move around and was capable of shapeshifting into any form that suited its master, making it look like a living being. Yet based on the Kingdom''s reports about the Horsemen''s steeds, they were just inanimated pieces of crystal.

 Chapter 1573 - Growing Power (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1573 - Growing Power (Part 1)</h4>

    Menadion''s Fury opened a small crater on the stone floor that the arrays protecting the Master''s headquarters started to repair immediately.

    "Calm down." Nandi the Minotaur said. "We have already made a lot of progress during my time here. Between our collective knowledge and powers, we get closer to sess with each failure we make."

    He pointed at Ultah the Griffon and In''Kou the Garuda who used their Life Maelstrom to boost the abilities of the Fourth Ruler of the mes and of the Orc-Eldritch hybrid.

    Thanks to them, Nandi''s bloodline skill to control the world energy allowed him to conjure a power superior to that of a mana geyser while Bytra managed to exceed the limits of both her body and equipment.

    Even though Menadion''s Fury was a masterpiece, it didn''t make its enchantments any less outdated. Life Maelstrom gave it the juice that the Fury needed to be as good as a modern tool, but that was it.

    "Are you kidding me?" Bytra snarled as those words only fueled her rage. "If that was true, between the number of times that I''ve failed back when I was alive and now that I''m a hybrid, then I should have learned not only how to craft towers, but also how to bring them to the next level!

    "My Forgemastering technique, Spirit Anvil, makes any material bend to my will as if I used an Earth Root. Your bloodline skills give me the same control over the world energy of a mage tower, I learned all I could from our brethren, and Life Maelstrom grants me power beyond what even Menadion had.

    "Then why do I keep failing?" Bytra sat on her purified Adamant Forge as centuries of frustration piled up with her most recent failure, bringing her on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    ''Now I understand why the old Bytra became insane to the point of killing Menadion first and then giving up on Forgemastering. What point does it have to devote your entire life to a discipline that you are incapable of mastering?''

    She couldn''t stop thinking about Korgh, the Original mad Bytra that she had fed upon to beplete. The Eldritch had renounced her title of Ruler of the mes and her pride as an artisan, preferring to steal the creations of others instead of facing her limits.

    "Because even though we might have the perfect tools, there are too many things we don''t know." Nandi was always calm and so was his voice. "There''s a reason why very few mages have a tower and I think the main issue is twofold.

    "First, we stillck Spirit Magic. Second, your understanding of mana crystals is still shallow."

    "What do you mean?" Bytra suddenly remembered how much Menadion had struggled to alter the flow of world energy inside white mana crystals and create their elemental enhanced counterpart.

    ording to the words of the First Ruler of the mes herself, she had crafted her mage tower soon after that.

    "I''m saying that mana crystals are not just a power source." The Minotaur grabbed one of the white gemstones in theb, making it change color ording to the elemental aspect he enhanced.

    "They are inanimated objects that yet act simrly to an Awakened''s mana core. Their power and purity grow with time by absorbing world energy, and they have the ability to endlessly replenish themselves."

    "I know that, yet I don''t see how it can help. I mean, enhancing an elemental aspect is not that hard. Even you learned to do it quickly after a few lessons." Bytra took a white crystal and started to change its color.

    "Think about it. Horsemen are made of crystals and so are their steeds." Nandi said as the magical gemstone in his hand formed a rainbow.

    "Mana crystals are small pieces of Mogar, capable of growth and even memory. They have their own mana flow and pulse. The main ability of a tower is to channel the world energy, to connect with Mogar.

    "No matter what materials a mage tower is made of, they act like a mana crystal. I lived in Baba Yaga''s hut long enough to know that it was really made of wood. What about Menadion''s tower?" He asked.

    "It was definitely made of stone." Bytra replied while pondering his words. "I scanned it with my breathing technique countless times and that''s the only thing I learned."

    "See? Then maybe, the trick is to make anything into a mana crystal. Maybe, Baba Yaga made the Horsemen''s steeds like that because it''s the easiest way to replicate a tower''s powers." Nandi said.

    "If you are right, then the reason why I failed until now is that my technique bends the mana flow of my creations to my will, whereas a crystal must be guided, not dominated." Bytra replied.

    "You are wrong about one thing, though." She showed him one of Vastor''s Royal Forgemastering wands. "Thanks to this, I have gotten my Spirit Magic back. What I trulyck is the ability of my old violet core to cast magic through my body.

    "What limits fake Forgemasters is the fact that craftingplex power cores requires too much focus. Even the greatest mind has its limits. When I was an Awakened, instead, I could form runes with the beat of my heart and with every movement I made with my hammer."

    "Are you telling me that we should better give up and focus on merging our cores to Awaken again?" Nandi asked.

    "No, I''m saying that to make up for that, I''ll need help. Your help to be precise." She created three replicas of the Fury, handing one to each of the hybrids. "Until we trulye back to life, you are going to be my hands. I''ll make you into true Forgemasters!"

    "What? Why?" The Eldritchs asked in unison, unwilling to increase their workload any further.

    "Among its many powers, the Fury has the ability to turn the mana flow of its replicas into that of the person who wields the original, allowing multiple Forgemasters to work on the same piece." Bytra said. Her voice and eyes were now filled with confidence.

    "Menadion devised it as a crutch for her less talented apprentices, but if used properly, once you reach an adequate level of skill, we can exploit the Fury to surpass her!"

    Xenagrosh looked at the scene from the surveince devices, d to see that somehow things were working out.

    "What''s the status in the Gorgon Empire?" She asked than and Oskhat, respectively the Fenrir and the Leviathan Eldritchs in charge of controlling the underworld.

    The war with the Undead Courts had created a power vacuum among criminals that the Organization was desperate to fill. Not only because the Master''s research was alwayscking funds, but also because controlling the ck market meant having ess to all kinds of rare resources.

    Had the Master bought everything they needed with his personal fortune, the Vastor Household would have long gone bankrupt.

    Also, magical metals and ingredients were strictly regted so the ck market was the only reliable source that allowed the Organization to avoid the scrutiny of the three great Countries.

    Vastor had spread his Abominations everywhere, gaining capiry control over most of the illegal business on Garlen.

 Chapter 1574 - Growing Power (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1574 - Growing Power (Part 2)</h4>

    His aim wasn''t to rule, only to help mankind to reach the next evolutionary step by granting upon a selected elite the gift of immortality and matchless power.

    Fixing a centuries old system, however, was much harder than just overthrowing a ruler. The Master needed not only the resources necessary to turn regr humans into Eldritchs, but he also needed to find a way to make the transformation safe and permanent.

    So far, all he had achieved were hybrids and no matter how powerful they were, until their condition stabilized, they would be a treat for themselves and for others. Vastor himself needed the Yggdrasill staff to contain his Abomination half.

    He couldn''t move his operations to the next step until he was sure that the gift he wanted to share with humanity wasn''t actually a curse that would doom them as it had already happened to the fallen races.

    "Slow but steady." than replied. "It seems that the rumors are correct. Dawn and Dusk are nowhere to be found. Everything is now in Night''s hands."

    "What about the Undead Courts?" Xenagrosh said.

    "We are taking them down one at a time." The Fenrir replied with a huge grin. "Thanks to our bloodline ability, Doom Tide, we can single-handedly take down one branch each.

    "The few undead that survive the st are powerless without world energy. Only Awakened could pose a threat to us, but so far we found none."

    "What about you, Kigan?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "The Desert is really big so I managed to find several unattended mines of both metals and crystals." The Eldritch Phoenix also known as the Blood Wind felt like a traitor for exploiting his knowledge against the interests of the nest.

    "My spells have found no trace of surveince devices, but with Mom''s senses, it doesn''t mean much. One breath is all that it takes her to find us the moment we use too much power.

    "Either we take our time and set several arrays that would give out our presence as soon as one of the members of the nest finds the mines as well or we need to be really quick. We need Tezka."

    "You heard the man. Can you leave a couple of your tails in Lutia and get to the Desert?" Xenagrosh asked the Fylgja.

    "No way." He shook his head. "You know all too well that I''m doing more than ying baby sitter here. I''m protecting our future. If something happens to Zin and the kids, the Master will lose it and we with him."

    The bond between the Abominations that Vastor''s experiments had created was a double-edged sword. It allowed them to make their life forces resonate, boosting their bloodline abilities, and even tobine them.

    At the same time, however, it also forced the Eldritchs to share their most intense feelings so that the outburst of a single one of them would quickly spread to the others.

    "Besides, I''ve got some interesting news that keeps me from leaving. I-"

    Suddenly, the signal was cut off and Tezka''smunication rune became unavable. To make matters worse, due to the nature of the Fylgja''s dimensional space and the distance between them, their bond was useless unless he called upon her.

    "What the heck is happening?" Xenagrosh blurted out. "I''m too far to be of any help. What about you guys?"

    "We can''t drop our mission withoutpromising the Organization." than and Oskhat said.

    "If I move too fast, the nest will spot me and you can kiss me goodbye." Kigan replied.

    "Dammit! I and the others at the base will never get there in time unless someone summons us! If something happens to Lith''s vige, both he and the Master will be devastated!" The Shadow Dragon almost burned the whole room in outrage before her own words made her snap out of it.

    She grabbed hermunication amulet and called for help.

    ***

    Ever since Lith had left for the Blood Desert and Tezka had stopped making the invaders disappear, life for the members of the Queen''s Corps protecting Lutia had be more hectic.

    Thanks to their teamwork, to the many arrays that the Kingdom hadid to protect the Verhen household, and to the help of the magical beasts that lived in the Trawn Woods, the attackers had been neutralized before any of the vigers could notice the danger.

    Yet Captain Locrias could feel that something was wrong. His instincts honed by years of battle and by all the crazy stuff that seemed to happen in Lutia on a regr basis kept him on edge.

    "I''m telling you that the situation is weird." He said to his handler, Holmen, a middle-aged man with thick ck hair and beard. "With Archmage Verhen gone, there should be no attack at all.

    "The worst anyone can do now is to damage his property, but that''s hardly worth spending the money to hire professionals capable of doing the job. Also, no self-respecting mercenary I know would risk their life for mere vandalism.

    "Yet we had two attacks during thest week. Both times the attackers were well-equipped and coordinated. Judging from the poison that coated the weapons they carried, they were after someone.

    "Are you sure that no one of those who received a Balkor card is here? An Ernas, maybe?" Locrias asked.

    "Negative. They must be targeting Aran and Leria Verhen." The handler replied after checking the position of the contact amulets of all the people linked to the Balkor copycat.

    "I don''t think so. They attacked both times after the kids had returned to the Desert and I got the feeling that they were just testing our reaction time." The Captain said.

    "If you want me to request for backup, you better say so. The army and the Mage Association have had their hands fulltely. Winter in the northsted way longer than usual and those damn nobles hoarded the food for themselves, causing a famine.

    "Grain is now more heavily guarded than gold and we need our full forces to stop the constant rioting. Hungry people don''t give a damn about due process, they only want food and revenge.

    "I can send someone to help you, but it might take some time so the sooner you tell me the better." Holmen said.

    "It might be just a gut feeling, but it''s better to be safe than sorry. Ask for reinforcements to be on stand-by. If I''m wrong, I''ll take full responsibility." Locrias hung up the call and focused his full attention on the door of the barn from which the Verhen kids woulde out at any moment.

    ''Dammit, they are as regr as clockwork which makes them easy to predict. If my gut feeling and Holmen are right, then the children might be the marks of the assassins.'' Locrias thought while watching theme out of the Warp Gate on top of their magical beasts.

    Filia and Frey run towards them until the kids met halfway between the Verhen and the Yehval household. Men and magical beasts remained on edge for a while, but nothing happened for several minutes so they started to rx.

    ''Wait a second!'' Locrias jumped up from his hiding spot to make sure that the sudden paranoid thought burning through his mind was just a side effect of living next to Lith for too long.

 Chapter 1575 - Nightmares And Reality (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1575 - Nightmares And Reality (Part 1)</h4>

    Captain Locrias used a pair of enchanted binocrs to check on both the kids and the arrays that protected the Verhen household. He knew theyout of the magical formations like the back of his hand, but when lives were at risk, he couldn''t afford a memorypse.

    "The children are moving toward the edge of the dimensional blocking array!" He said via themunication earpiece to the three teams that were evenly spread around the cultivated fields.

    The members of the Queen''s Corps reacted in unison, using their scouts to check the surroundings with spells and magical devices while the others chanted their spells. To not leave anything up to chance, one of them contacted the headquarters and renewed their request to keep reinforcements on stand-by.

    The Verhen and the Yehval kids kept ying their version of a game of dodgeball where both the magical beasts and their riders could throw or block the ball while Locrias gritted his teeth in anxiety.

    "The life sensing array on the north side came out clear." One of the soldiers said.

    "East side is clear as well."

    "West side is clear. No enemy in sight or in the range of the arrays."

    "South side is clear. Requiring permission to go back on stand-by." Thest soldier sighed in relief at the realization that everything was fine.

    "Denied! You get to rx only after the children get out of the arrays and nothing happens." Locrias said while remembering the directions from which the previous two attacks hade and adjusting the position of his soldiers ordingly.

    Then, his worst fears came true.

    A series of Warp Steps opened near the borders of the dimensional sealing arrays in a spot that was not only close to the kids, but also the further away from the members of the Queen''s Corps.

    To make matters worse, he immediately recognized the crimson uniforms that the enemies wore. Except for the color and for the pin on their chest depicting the ws of a bird of prey instead of a crown, they were dressed exactly like the Corps.

    "We are against the Talons!" Locrias cursed their bad luck and flew forward to protect the kids.

    By adjusting the position of his soldiers, he had contained the disadvantage, but the members of the Queen Corps were already on their back foot.

    The Talons was a criminal mercenary unit, whose members were once part of the elite troops from the armies of all the three great Countries. All of them had either deserted their own duty or had been dishonorably discharged.

    Some of them came from the Queen''s Corps, making the Talons the worst possible enemy. They had received the same training of Locrias'' men, they knew all the standard tactics that a detail team would employ and how he had distributed his soldiers on the fields.

    They had opened small gates around the Verhen farm to cast life sensing arrays from a distance to find out the position of the members of the Queen''s Corps without being detected beforeunching their assault.

    If not for Locrias''st-minute maneuver, his soldiers and the kids would have been ambushed at the same time. The assassins opened their Gates where their marks had been until a minute back, losing the element of surprise and giving the members of the Corps the time to react.

    On top of that, themunication officer managed to call for reinforcements, tipping the scale. At least until another mercenary unit walked through the Talon''s Steps. And then another and another more.

    Despite the Corps'' best efforts, the kids managed to stay alive only because catching a magical beast was no easy feat under normal circumstances. The mercenaries were good, but turning their back to the enemy was suicide.

    On top of that, the packs of magical beasts from the Trawn wood joined the fray a few momentster the attack had started, making the battlefield even deadlier and more chaotic.

    "We need more reinforcements!" Themunication officer said in the amulet the moment he realized that they were still outnumbered.

    They were not outmatched, but against so many enemies and with so much ground to cover, one shot was enough to kill one of the kids.

    "We sent you everyone we had at the ready. Calling for more will take a while. Most of the troops have been dispatched in the North." The headquarters replied.

    ''Sh*t! This is the work of the Balkor copycat. They attacked us when we were at our weakest and the Kingdom''s resources were already stretched thin. The only question is who is their mark?'' Locrias couldn''t make sense of the situation.

    Neither the Verhen nor the Yehval had received a card, yet he didn''t need to understand his enemies to kill them. While Locrias struck at anyone dumb enough to stand on his path, the beasts focused on protecting the Verhens, bringing them away from the battlefield and to the Warp Gate in the barn.

    Zinya''s children, however, weren''t so lucky. The Kingdom considered them irrelevant and the beasts were loyal to Lith. Unbeknownst to the beasts and humans alike, everything was going ording to the blue robed man''s n.

    "The Yehvals are about to be killed!" One of the soldiers said via hismunication earpiece.

    "The Verhens are the priority. Don''t do anything that mightpromise the mission!" Locrias hated himself, but life in the army was about making tough choices and facing their consequences.

    ''Focus on the battle, not on the coteral damage.'' He thought to himself to not think about having sentenced to death two children.

    Frey and Filia were running for their lives under the helpless gaze of their mother. After hearing themotion, Zinya hade out of the house to check on her children and was now screaming for help, pushing every single rune on hermunication amulet.

    s, Lith''s rune was unavable due to the distance while Kam could only urge the headquarters for more reinforcements and ask Orion for help. She tried to contact Faluel and Protector but their runes were unavable as well.

    Lith''s absence had also relieved the Hydra from her duty of protecting Lutia. She had left herir along with Protector and his family right after he had returned from the mission in Ajatar''s turf.

    Faluel had temporarily moved to the Gorgon Empire, way past the area of effect of a civilian amulet. The only way to reach her was through a Council amulet.

    Captain Locrias had barely the time to curse the unfairness of life that another mercenary unit came out of the Talon''s Steps, making it impossible for him to protect anyone but himself.

    "Again? How many goons has that asshole hired?" Locrias found himself facing three enemies at the same time, each one belonging to the most wanted list of the three Great Countries.

    His men fared no better and the situation quickly turned for the worse as more people kept pouring out of the dimensional corridors. Aran and Leria were still safe thanks to the army of magical beasts fighting fang and w to protect them, but Frey and Filia had been surrounded.

    Someone wearing a deep blue robe dived down from the sky, saving them from the burning death that the fireballs raining upon them from every direction were meant to cause.

    The Archmage took the children but left their magical beasts behind.

 Chapter 1576 - Nightmares And Reality (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1576 - Nightmares And Reality (Part 2)</h4>

    Frey and Filia could hear the death throes of their magical beasts as they disappeared in a burst of mes that filled the air with the smell of barbeque, sending pieces of burned flesh and fur pping against their faces.

    "Volgun!" Frey screamed at the top of his lungs as his best friend disappeared in an explosion.

    The st was so powerful that its heat reached his face despite the fact that they were moving at high speed away from the battlefield and towards his home.

    "Please, mister, go back and save Brionac! She''s going to die!" Filia''s plea was answered by a strong p that twisted her face sideways.

    The man had used chore magic to conjure a strong wind that hit the kids, striking fear in their hearts and putting an end to their begging. Only then did they raise their eyes to meet those of their savior, finding no warmth norpassion in them.

    As the battlefield became too far away to see and the agonizing whines of the magical beasts were swallowed by the strong winds surrounding the flying mage, the kids froze in terror recognizing the man carrying them.

    Fallmug, their violent and allegedly dead father was now in front of them, dressed up like an Archmage. His gaze was cold and full of rage as they remembered it, making them squeal as the memories of the past abuse resurfaced, erasing thest few happy years as if they had never happened.

    The kids still remembered Fallmug and his face would often haunt them in their nightmares. The fear would make them shiver even during the hottest summer mornings until they realized to not be in their old house in Xylita and went to breakfast.

    ''Volgun is dead and Dad is back. This must be a bad dream. Please, gods, let this be just a bad dream.'' Frey closed his eyes, but when he reopened them, Fallmug was still there.

    He started to cry between hups until a second p hit him.

    "Is this how you thank me for saving your life, you ungrateful brat? With tears andints?"

    Between the pain from his cheek and the traces of fur between his fingers, Frey understood that once again the gods had ignored his plea. He looked at Filia who gestured him to shut up to avoid being beaten more.

    ''Thank the gods one of Verhen''s friends was nearby and must have heard our request for back up.'' Locrias thought while dodging a de, unleashing a stream of bolts of lightning that killed two mercenaries, and being hit on the chest by an earth spike that squeezed the air out of his lungs.

    ''Wait a second. There are only so many Archmages and most of those affiliated with Lith received a Balkor card. I checked their position right before the attack and none of them was close. Who the fuck is that guy?''

    A sword pierced his side, making the Captain bleed profusely. Locrias cursed his moment of distraction, but it was toote. Outnumbered and now outmatched, he suffered wound after wound until a mace broke his neck, putting an end to his life.

    The mysterious Archmage flew straight in front of Zinya who was still standing in front of her house. Even in the chaos of the battle, she hadn''t lost sight of her children nor had she stopped calling for help through themunication amulet.

    The man threw the kids at her before pushing Zinya inside and locking the door.

    "Thank you so much." She said amid tears while kissing the children''s heads and making sure they were alright. "Don''t worry about us and go help the others. The arrays around this house are weak but they will hold long enough for-"

    "I''m not going anywhere, woman." The sound of that voice cut Zinya short and made her be as pale as a ghost.

    She had failed to recognize Fallmug earlier because she had been blind for most of her life and she had never seen his face after gaining sight. Each word he spoke echoed through her body, filling her with phantom pain and fear.

    "Being a widow did wonders to you. You look young and fresh like the day we got married." His voice held a mix of cruelty and lust that she hadn''t heard ever since Fallmug had gotten bored of her years back.

    "Fallmug? How can you still be alive?" Zinya was scared to death, but even her resurfacing trauma didn''t stop her from putting herself between the kids and her ex-husband.

    Back when she was blind, the only thing she could do was to listen to Fallmug''s screams of rage and to the weeping of the children. Now that she could see, Zinya could finally protect them.

    "Is that how you wee your husband after not seeing him in years? After sending me to my death?" He pped her as hard as he could, making her lose her bnce and fall to the ground.

    "Who the heck are you?" Zinya ignored her throbbing cheek and stood up slowly without ever taking her eyes off the stranger in her kitchen.

    "Have they damaged your brain while giving you sight? How can you not recognize your lord and master?" A backhand p hit her right cheek, sending her back to the floor with a chipped tooth that cut deeply into her inner cheek.

    She started to bleed profusely as the dizziness from the concussion made it hard for her to regain her bnce. Yet Zinya stood up again as spite and rage reced fear in her eyes.

    "You are not Fallmug. I heard his voice for years and he beat me up so many times that I lost count. Whoever you are, you are not him. He would never hit my face nor did he speak like that.

    "Your ent, your choice of words, everything in your voice is wrong." She said as blood seeped through her lips, painting them red.

    "Gods, you women are so damn annoying." The copycat sighed while dropping the act. "First Distar ruined my fun and now you have thrown weeks of rehearsal into the gutter. I worked hard to find a picture of your dead husband and to learn how to mimic his voice.

    "If not for the recordings of court''s hearings being avable to the public, I would have never seeded. Yet all that hard work was for nothing! You were supposed to relieve your greatest nightmare, to cry in terror and beg me not to kill you.

    "I guess I might as well skip to the second act and rip your children apart in front of you before the big finale."

    "What?" Zinya turned pale, raising her arms as a flimsy shield to protect Filia and Frey, but it was all she could do.

    "Why do you think I bothered saving them?" He said with augh. "To make this much more fun for me and painful for you. I''m going to decorate the walls with your entrails and prepare a nice show for that whore of your sister.

    "When she sees the terror twisting the face of your corpses, when she finds her precious niece and nephew dead because of Verhen, it will destroy his future. She and every other woman on Mogar will avoid him out of fear like the monster he is.

    "Because if they don''t, I''ll have to teach them a lesson as well."

 Chapter 1577 - The Suneater (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1577 - The Suneater (Part 1)</h4>

    The copycat waved his hand, emitting a st of wind that sent Zinya mming against the wall so hard that a new bloody wound opened on the back of her head.

    A flick of the fake Fallmug''s fingers made Frey float in mid-air, forcing him toe closer while an air de formed around the left hand of the mage, emitting a buzzing sound.

    "Feel free to scream, kid. It''s not going to help you with the pain, but it sure will make the experience funnier for me." The blue-robed man said while enjoying the terror on Zinya''s and Filia''s face.

    Killing Mirim so quickly had given him no pleasure. He had worked hard to make sure that this time no one would interrupt him and that he could set up another masterpiece like the disy he had left at the Lark''s household.

    "Feel free to follow your own advice." Tezka''s eyes brimmed with Chaos and fury as he came out of his dimensional space.

    He grabbed the blue-robed man''s extended right arm that was about to touch Frey and twisted it so violently that the arm broke in three ces at once. The wrist, the ulna, and the radius shattered in unison as the Fylgja''s right fist struck the man''s face like a meteor.

    "Hands off my children!" The Abomination-Warg hybrid roared as the man wearing Fallmug''s face was sent flying away, breaking through the door and darting in the air as if he had been shot by a catapult.

    Despite the pain and the surprise attack, the blue-robed man managed to emit five elemental beams, one from each of the fingers of his still intact hand, and aim them with surgical precision.

    Tezka''s Davross-coated tails intercepted the spells before they could strike at the hearts and the heads of their respective victims.

    "Zogar?" Zinya asked in confusion.

    The creature in front of her was over 2.5 meters (8''2") tall, wearing a full suit of silvery armor over pitch-ck fur and wielding a longsword whose ck surface was covered in stars.

    He resembled a humanoid wolf with shoulders as broad as a door with ten tailsing out of his back instead of just one. Nine of them were four meters (13 feet) long, whipping through the air as if they had a mind of their own.

    Thest one was atrophied, barely reaching 1.5 meters (5 feet) of length.

    Her savior looked and sounded nothing like the man she knew, but the fury in his voice and the fact that he had referred to the children as his own could only mean one thing.

    "I wish, Zin." Tezka said with a pained sigh.

    Between the bond that all the Abomination-hybrids shared, his debt of gratitude towards the Master, and his paternal instincts, he really wished to be part of that family.

    After spending so much time watching and protecting the children from afar, this wasn''t as Tezka had pictured their first meeting. The once cruel and calcting Eldritch that just a few years back wouldn''t have cared for weaklings now hated himself for having waited so long before stepping in.

    He had been forced to hold his hand to learn as much as he could about the Balkor copycat and to make sure that he wouldn''t escape.

    "Stay here and don''t move. I''ve already called for reinforcements. That bastard is mine." Tezka''s Spirit Tail detached from his body, taking a form barely taller than the kids.

    It looked cute and fluffy, like a really big fox that had learned how to stand on its hind legs. The creature didn''t have much magical power being Tezka''s Spirit Magic still sealed, but its equipment made up for it in full.

    The armor had slipped off Tezka''s body and now covered the embodiment of the Spirit tail who also held Endless Night in its left hand. The de had reduced its size to that of a short sword but had lost none of its power.

    "Don''t worry, kids. I''ll protect you." The Spirit Tail clone licked their wounds, healing them with a spark of light magic.

    "Please, don''t go." Filia desperately grabbed Tezka''s leg and tore his heart. "If you leave, Dad wille back and hurt us again."

    "That''s not going to happen. The pipsqueak is still a part of me and way stronger than he looks." The Fylgja delicately pushed her away as his cloneforted Filia. "As long as he is here, nothing bad will happen to you. You have my word."

    "Hold tight, I''ll be back before you can say Tezka the Suneater." He winked as a dimensional corridor opened in Leria''s shadow, moving him right behind the still flying blue-robed man.

    ''How the heck can he be still alive?'' The Fylgja thought. ''I hit him with so much strength that his head was supposed to burst or at least be ripped off his neck. Yet he flew away instead, which means that his body is strong enough to withstand my hits.''

    The blue-robed man had already tried to counter the momentum behind the punch, but to no avail.

    The pain from his broken face and arm, the nausea from his body spinning like a top from the impact, and the bouncing on the ground like a pinball, smashing through trees and rocks alike, kept him from focusing.

    All he could do was to wait for the momentum to dissipate enough for him to stop while healing his wounds with magic.

    Or so the copycat thought until a second fist hit him square on the chin. The right hook ripped his jaw off, sending him crashing against the mercenaries that he had hired.

    The members of the Queen''s Corps thanked the gods for the unexpected backup for almost a full second before freezing in fear along with their opponents.

    "What the fuck is that?" A member of the mercenary unit known as the ck Dragons said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    Tezka''s body emitted a dark gold aura due to thebined effect of both his Warg and his ck cores going all out. The coldness of his Abomination side filled his mind, allowing him to see through the golden veil of frenzy from his Warg side that had clouded his mind until a second back.

    "You wear a full suit of Adamant and one filled to the brim with enchantments at that!" The Eldritch said.

    "Guilty as charged." The man said while reattaching his jaw as if he was just fixing his hair. At the same time, several spheres of all elements appeared around him, each one holding a tier five spell from a different specialization.

    Now that his head didn''t spin anymore, the blue-robed man could finally fight back

    "You''ll regret leaving your armor behind. Sacrificing your safety in order to protect mere ants and stopping my fall will be thest mistakes you m-"

    A huge grin appeared on Tezka''s face, filled with so much bloodlust and mana that it cut the fake Fallmug short. Just like everyone else standing in the Verhen''s fields, the copycat was covered in a cold sweat as his body trembled in fear.

    "Howling Hunger." Tezka said, unleashing the tier five Chaos spell.

    A tidal wave of ckness erupted from his body, moving with the speed of a freight train.

 Chapter 1578 - The Suneater (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1578 - The Suneater (Part 2)</h4>

    The blue-robed man and everyone standing in front of it tried to fly away, yet the air magic imbued in Howling Hunger sucked them in with the strength of a tornado.

    Then, they Blinked, only to discover that the ck wave had Blinked as well, making their effort useless. Those who had moved in the opposite direction from the fake Fallmug still had a chance to make it out alive but only because Howling Hunger ignored them to follow its mark.

    The blue-robed man kept Blinking non-stop and so did Tezka''s spell. He tried to move towards the members of the Queen''s Corps, hoping that the monster would worry about them as well, but the Fylgja didn''t give a damn about anyone but the Yehvals.

    He stood between the fake Fallmug and Zinya''s house so that the only way that anyone could get close to them was by going through him.

    ''I would love to drive this huge ass spell back at that wench''s home, but if I do that, I''ll find myself between a rock and a hard ce. The silver lining is that the further I get from that wolf guy, the easier escaping from his spell should be.

    ''I have no idea how darkness magic can be this fast, but all elements can only get so far away from their caster before losing their integrity. By keeping my distance, I have already halved the power of the spell and soon-''

    "You never fought against a dimensional mage, didn''t you?" Tezka appeared behind the blue-robed man while he was focused on setting up his best defenses against the seemingly inevitable attack.

    The Fylgja being so close to Howling Hunger returned the spell to its full might while a fist to the fake Fallmug''s back shattered his spine and sent him crashing against the tidal wave of Chaos.

    Tezka wasn''t really scared for Zinya, he had kept his position solely to lure the enemy into a trap. The Spirit Tail that he had left with them wore his Suneater armor that just like his new Endless Night sword was made of pure Davross.

    One of the perks of being a regr sized creature was that Tezka could actually use the Davross ingots that he had hoarded through the millennia for himself. A humanoid body required much less metal than that necessary to cover a creature the size of a Dragon.

    On top of that, many quality-of-life spells such as weight reduction or the ability topress and expand at will weren''t necessary, allowing the Fylgja to have Bytra enchant the armor solely with battle-oriented skills.

    Even though his Spirit Tail was weak, as long as it had such powerful equipment, it could take on almost any opponent.

    Much to Tezka''s surprise, the enemy once again ignored the pain and kept a cool head, unleashing the blue, orange, red, and yellow elemental spheres that surrounded him against the Eldritch, keeping for himself only the silver and the ck ones.

    Howling Hunger engulfed the fake Fallmug, wrapping itself around its mark while also killing all the mercenaries it encountered on its path before imploding.

    ''There is something wrong with this guy.'' Tezka thought while his tails intercepted the hail of tier five Warden, Battle Mage, and War Mage spells that the blue-robed man had thrown against him.

    Fylgjas were unable to use Domination, but each one of their tails was still imbued with the power of a different element, allowing them to absorb the mana and world energy of any spell, adding them to their core.

    ''A regr human would have died from just one of my punches while even an Awakened would have fainted from the shock of having their body messed up like that. I''m certain that myst hit broke his spine, keeping him from using any breathing technique.

    ''Then how the heck did he manage to move his arms andunch such a precise counter attack a split secondter?''

    Once the link with their caster was severed, the copycat''s spellscked the willpower needed to escape the tails'' pull.

    Tezka exerted but a shred of his focus to overwhelm the energy signature of the opponent and turn what was supposed to be a deadly attack into a full course meal.

    When Howling Hunger disappeared, the fake Fallmug was still standing. His body was battered and his armor full of cracks, but he had somehow escaped from the jaws of death.

    "You are persistent, kid, I''ll give you that. But if your skill amounts only to this much, you are already dead. I merely threw three punches and one spell whereas you already have a foot in the grave." The Fylgja said.

    "Appearances are deceiving." Even though the man was bleeding from every orifice of his body and seemed to be on the verge of fainting, he still had the gaze of someone who was sure of his victory.

    Tezka cursed his ownck of Life Vision that forced him to waste time studying his opponents to notice if they had a breathing technique or not.

    "You aren''t here to kill me, but to protect that sow and her piglets. Then answer me this: why hire a few mercenary groups when you can afford them all?" The blue-robed man pointed at the Warp Steps from which people kepting out.

    Tezka recognized among them the Talons, the ck Dragons, the Quicksands, and even the Grim Reapers from Verendi. They were all irregr armiesprised of elite soldiers on par with the Queen''s Corps.

    "Now choose. Do you want to stay here and waste time fighting me or go save those insects?" The copycar pointed at Zinya''s home, where all the mercenaries who had already gotten rid of their respective opponents rushed to.

    "Clever n, but no matter how many specks of dust you gather, it only takes a gust of wind to scatter them!" Tezka replied while unleashing a barrage of tier four Chaos spells, Howling Void.

    Each one of the ck spears was as thick as a small tree and as fast as a bullet. Unlike Howling Hunger, the distance wouldn''t weaken them since they required no willpower.

    They darted through the nearest enemy lines, killing all those on their path while moving to intercept the mercenaries that were approaching Zinya''s home.

    The fake Fallmug spread his arms, conjuring a wall of healing light. None of the Howling Voids got past the copycat because as soon as they touched the light, they reverted into simple darkness magic that faded away after just a few meters.

    "Interesting." Tezka nodded in approval. "That''s how you survived my first spell. You used the light energy to convert the Chaos into darkness that you then countered with your own. This is not your first fight against an Abomination."

    "How can you be so calm?" The blue-robed man had the upper hand, yet he could feel that something was wrong. "Your precious Zinya is about to die and yet here you are, talking with me."

    Tezka replied with a maniacalughter as a ck pir appeared in the morning sky where his Spirit tail was¡­ At the same time, his nine tails pointed at the fake Fallmug and the fur on their tips opened, revealing as many spells of untold power.

 Chapter 1579 - Ten Tails (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1579 - Ten Tails (Part 1)</h4>

    "If you think to have cornered me, kid, think again." The first tail unleashed a burst of Cinder aimed at the fake Fallmug''s heart.

    The cursed element moved as fast as Chaos, also causing an elemental imbnce that made the well-timed Blink of its prey fail. The blue-robed man realized toote what was happening, managing only to partially dodge the bright red pir.

    Cinder generated heat of thousands of degrees while also robbing the humidity from anything that came too close to it, in order to restore its bnce by absorbing the nearby water element.

    The right arm of the fake Fallmug was struck by the cursed element, causing his blood to boil, his armor to be white-hot, and every tissue up to his shoulder to be turned into dried meat.

    The pir was infused with willpower, yet instead of keep chasing after its first target, it moved onto one of the Warp Gates from where reinforcements kepting out.

    Tezka''s tier five Cinder spell, Dread Star, killed all those nearby and disrupted the Warp Steps'' elemental bnce as well, making the spell copse.

    On top of that, once the dimensional corridor closed and the connection with its caster was severed, Dread Star exploded on the other side of the Steps, boiling the mercenaries alive in the alleged safety of their own base.

    "Quick question, kid. How many elements there are?" Tezka asked while unleashing from five of his tails as many cursed elements.

    The blue-robed man didn''t attempt to Blink anymore, focusing all he had to dodge.

    ''I only need to avoid getting hit by the first volley. Once those goddamn tails are depowered, it will be my victory. Without them, he cannot ovee the gap in our equipment.'' He thought.

    Tezka watched at the enemy''s movements with interest. He noticed that whenever one of his cursed spells came in too close, the fake Fallmug would conjure a powerful spell of the opposite element, partly restoring their bnce.

    This way, the fake Fallmug could take off the brunt of the damage of the cursed elements that managed to hit him since in their reverted form they were no match for his powerful Adamant armor.

    "Either you are a quick learner, or you are much older than you look. Countering Mirror Magic as you just did is no easy feat." Tezka gave him a round of apuse without looking one bit disappointed by the blue-robed man surviving the onught.

    The reason was that the copycat had never been the target all along. Decay had made another Warp Steps explode, hitting the mercenaries'' exposed backs and making them easy prey for the soldiers of the Kingdom.

    Just like Cinder, it had also crossed the dimensional door, turning an entire building full of powerful mages into a bunch of fossils.

    Zero, Choke, and Corruption had respectively caused a city block-sized ice age, poisoned to death anyone in a 100 meters radius, and made a mercenary base copse while melting everything inside.

    In a split second, the equivalent of an entire army of elite mages had been ughtered by just six spells. To make matters worse for the fake Fallmug, Tezka had aimed the cursed elements so that they would kill people on both sides of the Warp Steps.

    "How dare you ruin months of nning and ignore me as if I''m just a two-bit side show? I''m the new Balkor and alone I''ve brought the Kingdom on its knees!" The copycat said in outrage.

    "Kid, you''re spouting so much bullsh*t that I suspect my punches must have connected your ass to your mouth. Let me fix that." Tezka Blinked behind his target from the side of the still-limp arm, making any counter impossible.

    He grabbed the blue-robed man''s head and mmed it on the ground with so much strength that the impact created a several meters deep crater. At the same time, he tried to pierce the man''s skull with his ws and to burst the copycat''s head open with his grip, but to no avail.

    ''Whoever crafted his stuff, they are one damn good Forgemaster.'' The Fylgja thought. ''It doesn''t matter, though. I''ve unleashed the Chaos in my body and it will take it seconds to make short work even of purified Adam-''

    The fake Fallmug stabbed Tezka''s wrist with inhuman speed. An Adamant dagger cut deep into the flesh, severing the hand with the same ease of a knife slicing bread.

    ''Son of a¡­'' The Abomination jumped back as ck tendrils reconnected the two extremities of his body, dodging by a hair''s breadth another stab of the knife, this time aimed at his right eye.

    Somehow, the grip of the short weapon had sprung forward, gaining a momentum that would have sted Tezka''s skull open. Such damage wasn''t enough to kill an Eldritch, but without the head, he would have been helpless until it regenerated.

    In a battle between mages, even a single second was enough to turn the tide of a battle.

    "Seriously, kid, I''m going to have fun ripping off your flesh and discovering what are you." Tezka looked in amazement at the blue-robed man''s right arm that had already recovered from the effects of Cinder.

    Meanwhile, the Spirit Tail didn''t share much of its main body''s optimism. No matter how many mercenaries he cut down, more kepting. To make matters worse, they weren''t just dumb goons.

    After the Spirit Tail had ughtered the first waves of enemies with ease thanks to Chaos magic, they had cast a darkness sealing array that had taken away his best offensive weapon.

    Also, to better exploit their numbers and press the advantage, the mercenaries had taken down the walls, creating enough ess points to attack Zinya and the children from every side.

    ''Dammit! These guys pose no threat to me and I could take them out easily by escaping the sealing array''s area of effect. Yet to do that, I would need to leave the humans behind.'' He thought.

    What made the fight so hard was protecting their lives from both physical and magical attacks with only a fraction of the powers that any other tail held. The Spirit Tail had been forced to share the Suneater armor with Zinya from time to time, leaving itself open.

    Luckily, thanks to his Warg half''s ability to share their wounds, every time the tail would get hit, the main body would take the damage in the tail''s stead and heal it without the blue-robed man even noticing Tezka''s distress.

    The main body and the Spirit tail had only one mind, forcing the Eldritch to formte different strategies while also moving the two bodies at the same time without either of them making a single mistake.

    ''When I get back, home I must thank Bytra for enchanting my new Endless Night with spells of all elements. Were it like the old one with only darkness and dimensional enchantments, my mission would have already failed.'' He thought.

    A sh of the starred de cut through an Orichalcum polearm before tearing the Talon wielding it asunder. The woman wore manyyers of enchanted armor, but the Davross cut the Orichalcum as if it was just paper.

    Endless Night fed its master with the energies it had robbed from its victim and unleashed the Full Moon skill.

 Chapter 1580 - Ten Tails (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1580 - Ten Tails (Part 2)</h4>

    The light of the stars on the surface of the de grew in intensity, releasing a blinding sh that turned the Yehval household white. For an Eldritch, the light element was nothing but a snack.

    It filled the Spirit Tail with new strength while also blinding everyone nearby. The mercenaries stumbled and died on Endless Night without even noticing while those who kept their distance to cast spells missed their targets and culled their own allies.

    The darkness sealing array blocked most of Endless Night''s abilities, but it didn''t affect the de''s power core. The Spirit Tail used the de Tier spell, Unbreakable Bond, to add the energy of Endless Night to his weak core.

    It allowed him to convert the world energy that the Davross absorbed into physical strength and mow the waves of enemies down the moment they stepped inside the house.

    Numbers, tactics, and equipment were all pointless in front of the overwhelming strength born from thebination of the raw power of Bytra''s masterpiece and Tezka''s millennia of battle experience.

    Zinya was curled up on the ground right behind the Spirit Tail. She protected the kids with her body, making sure that they wouldn''t do something stupid out of panic. She was as scared as they were, but she knew that running away meant death.

    ''Tezka told me to not move from here and that''s what I''m going to do.'' She thought while whispering reassuring words to her children. ''Gods, what did I do to deserve this? Why does that man hate me so much?''

    The Spirit Tail knew to be in big trouble when the mercenaries suddenly retreated, leaving the house in a rush.

    "We have to run away, but stay close to me, no matter what!" He picked the children in his arms, cursing his bad luck.

    If not for the Darkness sealing array, the ck pir that he had conjured earlier would have allowed the other Abomination-hybrids to Warp to his position.

    Zinya''s house exploded in a burst of violet mes as a volley of tier five War mage Raging Suns materialized in the living room. Each one of them was a mixture of fire and earth magic which generated a powerful explosion along with mes so hot that they could melt stone.

    "Mission aplished." Said one of the Grim Reapers while shielding herself with air magic from the shockwaves of the chained explosions. "Nothing can survive th-"

    The voice died in her throat and so did the mercenary woman as Endless Night stabbed her heart, sucking her dry to revitalize its owner.

    The Spirit tail had used the Suneater armor to wrap Zinya and the children before conjuring an explosion of his own to propel them all outside. The Davross protected the humans while his own magic couldn''t hurt him.

    Then, he had ridden the shockwaves like a surfer, passing any damage to the main body so that he would always be in peak condition. By the time the Raging Suns had detonated, their intended victims were already out of the house.

    Now, however, the Spirit tail was out in the open,pletely surrounded and without anything that might help him to protect the humans.

    The mercenaries surrounded them before the corpse of the woman hit the ground and with the destruction of the house, the arrays protecting it had crumbled as well. Without the magical formations hindering them, the mages in the backlines were free to unleash all the spells and the magical formations that they had kept at the ready as a contingency measure.

    Yet the small Eldritch smiled.

    "You can open your eyes, kids. This is where the real fun begins." A simple flick of his wrist activated Endless Night''s Nightmaze ability to cut the space in front of the Spirit Tail and open several exit points throughout the battlefield at the same time.

    Nightmaze created a permanent dimensional crossroad that the Spirit Tail used to escape the encirclement while also throwing all those that stood over the dimensional doors right in the middle of the crossfire.

    The only thing the Spirit Tail had to do to escape from the bombardment that the dimensional spell carried throughout the area around the ruins of the house was to shut down solely the Steps they had walked through.

    Yet being able to use dimensional magic again wasn''t the reason why he felt so confident that he had invited Zinya and the children to look around. They were still surrounded and outnumbered one hundred to one, but to him, the battle was over.

    Tezka still had his hands full with the blue-robed man, yet he smiled as the information from the Spirit tail reached him, making his grin grow even wider.

    "Now you are fucked, kid. In a few moments, I''ll be finally able to give you my undivided attention." He said while a new dimensional door opened and Zogar Vastor stepped on the battlefield.

    He panted heavily from the strain of ending his previous mission and reaching Lutia from the Warp Gate in Derios as fast as he could. He had tried reaching the Gate in the Barn, discovering that somehow it had been sealed off.

    Vastor was so weak that he needed his Yggdrasill Staff to walk.

    Yet his eyes scoured the battlefield, taking in every single small detail as if he was still at his peak condition. He saw the many corpses of the men of the Queen''s Corps, of the magical beasts that had given their lives to protect Aran and Leria, who were now protected by the farm''s arrays.

    The situation was so bad that if not for the intervention of the three Kings of the Trawn woods, the battle would have been already lost. Countless air sealing arrays had been cast, keeping the Emperor Beasts from both flying away and Warping the kids to safety.

    To make matters worse, even though the enemies couldn''t step inside the Verhen house''s arrays, they could still ce their own all around it. Unless someone dispelled them, the Gate in the barn couldn''t be remotely activated.

    The mercenary elites formed a human wall around the farm while their arrays sealed the spells that could lead the children away from the massacre.

    A de struck at Vastor''s neck the moment he walked through the door yet he didn''t care.

    A fireball set him aze, burning his hair and his lungs alike, yet he didn''t notice. He had stopped breathing the moment he had seen a pir of fire from where Zinya''s house was.

    The two-story cottage was gone, reced by a smoking crater whose edges were visible from a distance.

    For a moment, Vastor thought to have arrived toote and the world lost its light. Colors disappeared from around him as his aura spread around, turning everything into ck and white akin to a photo''s negative.

    The mercenary units at first thought there was something wrong with their eyes. They instinctively brought their hands to their faces, finding only empty sockets.

    The first pulse of Chaos had affected the light element, the second seeped through their skin, ying them alive and leaving their throbbing flesh exposed. The third devoured everything but the skeletons while only the items made of enchanted metals resisted the fourth.

    Aran and Leria were still sobbing behind Lifebringer the Kirin''s back when everything ended¡­ They clenched at the fur of their respective magical beasts with so much strength that they had unwittingly ripped off several tufts of hair.

 Chapter 1581 - Curse Of Darkness (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1581 - Curse Of Darkness (Part 1)</h4>

    The Emperor Beasts and the mercenaries alike stared at the short man that needed to drag his feet to step forward.

    Zogar Vastor was a short man in his mid-sixties barely over 1.55 meters (5''1") tall.

    ck hair has started to grow again on the top of his bald head while the snow-white hair he had left on the sides had regained part of its color and so did his waxed handlebar mustaches.

    After bing interim Headmaster and then turning himself into an Abomination-Hybrid, he had slimmed down quite a bit, but he still looked more like a loving grandpa than a fierce warrior.

    Yet despite his meek appearance, he was a Highmaster and the unsung god of the battlefield of the Griffon Kingdom.

    "Uncle Vastor!" The kids escaped from Lifebringer''s grasp, hugging the man that they considered as a part of their family while bawling their eyes out.

    "Please, you must save Filia and Frey. The bad guys tried to kill us all."

    "Are they still alive?" He asked while using his breathing technique, Radiant Storm, to stop panting like a bellows and regain his strength.

    Completing his mission and Warping his way from Derios'' army base had consumed most of his mana. Using a powerful tier five Chaos spell like Reverse Flow and controlling it with such uracy that it had affected solely the enemy side had taken everything he had left.

    "We weren''t their main goal, quite the contrary. They mostly toyed with us the whole time." The Kirin resembled a gigantic white horse partially covered in scales with antlersing out from the sides of his head and a huge horn at its center.

    Emerald mes came out of his hooves, antlers, and chin. Thetter formed what looked like a long zing beard.

    "The main forces focused on the Yehval household while the rest of them focused on keeping the magical beasts and the Queen''s Corps busy. Someone must have warned them about Lith''s rtionship with Sark because they never tried to actually kill the kids.

    "They just made sure that we couldn''t leave the safety of Lith''s arrays nor contact him."

    "Then let''s screw their ns for good." Vastor said while cing his hand on the ground to perceive thework of ovepping elemental blocking arrays that surrounded the area around and above Lith''s house.

    It was because of them that the army couldn''t send more reinforcements through the Warp Gate in the barn, forcing them to waste precious mana just to reach Lutia. Those who had managed to arrive before him had ended up outnumbered and isted from the forces already on the battlefield.

    Without a strategic n and due to the many traps and arrays that the mercenaries hadid before starting their ambush, the moment the mages stepped out of their respective Warp Steps they had been quickly cornered and killed.

    ''Whoever staged the attack is really good. They have chosen a moment when Lith is away and Faluel is with her family. This is all my fault.

    ''I would have never thought that the Balkor copycat would havested more than a couple of seconds against someone like Tezka, nor that they would have brought along a whole army!''

    Vastor always carried the "Future" card that he had found under Zinya''s door in his pocket and now his guilt made it a burden so heavy that even his hybrid body could barely stand it.

    ''Filthy bastard! If only I could reveal all of my powers, if only I could summon the entire Organization here through a Gate instead of wasting time with Chaos Steps, they would already be here and this battle would be over in a second!''

    The Master used the tier five Highmaster spell, Clean Field, to flood the magical formation below him with his mana. Usually, Vastor would use cantrips to destroy the focal points of an array in order to destroy it, but he had no time to deal with so many of them.

    Ovepping arrays allowed mages tobine their attacks and to affect a greater area, but it also exposed them to several risks. Vastor''s spell not only did allow him to alter the position of the runes of a magical formation, making it crumble, but it also altered the bnce of the neighboring arrays.

    Guided by his willpower, the runes of the starting air sealing array spread like a disease, disrupting the precise sequence ofmands that governed the magical formations and triggering a chain reaction that cleansed the area around Lith''s house.

    Clean Field required the Highmaster to analyze and neutralize multiple non-permanent arrays in one fell swoop, but doing that would take a huge toll on both their mind and body.

    After using it, a fake mage needed either help from his allies to finish the job or time to rest whereas Vastor only needed a few breaths to regain his strength.

    "Kids, go through the Gate in the barn and tell everyone what''s happening. I''ll hold out as long as I can." The Master waited for Aran and Leria to disappear inside the Gate before flying straight where he could feel the presence of Tezka''s tail.

    The enemy mages cursed seeing the arrays that they had worked hard to conjure and coordinate copse like a house of cards and trembled at the sight of the neer, fearing that Manohar, or maybe even Verhen had arrived.

    All of the mercenary units had epted that job only after being reassured that they wouldn''t have to deal with Lith. Killing a few elite members of any army or a few filthy beasts was just a regr day job.

    Lith, however, was someone well-known for having decimated the Talons when he was twelve, to have killed a Wyvern at thirteen, and to have destroyed Lost Cities that were supposed to be immortal receptacles of Forbidden Magic.

    Rumors said that he wasn''t just a mage trained to kill like regr members of the army, but someone born and bred for the job. Other rumors imed that he controlled a seven-eyed demon who in turn could summon legendary creatures that wouldy waste upon anyone who dared to challenge him.

    The moment a single man came from the direction of the Verhen Household, everyone shivered in fear.

    At least until they recognized Vastor. Then, the mercenaries regained their confidence and a huge grin appeared on their faces.

    Every mage within and beyond the borders of the Kingdom knew the Eternal Loser, the Wannabe Magus, the god of nothing, the spare wheel.

    With his short stature and well-fed appearance, Vastor could inspire respect in any academic, but to a seasoned warrior he looked more of a joke than any of his nder titles could express.

    "Whoever you are, don''t move from behind my back." The Master said, pretending not to know the small Eldritch.

    Arrays or not, Tezka''s Spirit Tail didn''t have the magical prowess to open a Warp Steps that could lead Zinya and the kids to safety. Also, the spells imbued within Endless Night were meant to fight, not to run away.

    "I''ll deal with these guys. You just worry about stopping anything that gets past me." Vastor turned around for a second, just enough to make sure that everyone was alright¡­ "Zinya, whatever you hear, please keep your eyes closed. I-"

 Chapter 1582 - Curse Of Darkness (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1582 - Curse Of Darkness (Part 2)</h4>

    It was then that he saw the purple marks on Zinya''s cheeks, the split lips, the blooding out of her mouth, and the tears streaming down her face. Filia and Freyy still between her arms as if they were dead while they had just fainted from the terror.

    Until that moment, Vastor wanted to protect her from the ugliest side of him and from the horrors of battle. Humans weren''t undead that would conveniently leave behind just a pile of ashes.

    Killing monsters in front of her made him a hero whereas killing people would just make him a murderer. Yet after seeing how the Balkor copycat had messed her up, none of that mattered and the Master''s eyes turned pitch-ck.

    A two meters (6''7") tall man d in a full suit of Orichalcum armor exploited Vastor''s shock to swing his mace in a downward arc meant to burst his head open. The Yggdrasill Staff lunged forward, making up for the gap in their arm length.

    The movement was quick, efficient, and so strong that a hole the size of a watermelon appeared where the mercenary''s heart had been until a second back, letting the people in the backline see the god of the battlefield''s enraged face through theyers of bleeding flesh and broken metal.

    Several tier five War Mage spells like Raging Sun, Frozen Maw, and Chasing Night rained upon Vastor from every side, yet he just flicked two fingers to conjure his tier five Chaos Array, Curse of Darkness.

    A six-pointed star with uneven sides appeared below his feet, covering an area of 20 meters (66 feet) around him and a humongous tendril of Chaos emerged from each of its points.

    They moved as fast as a bullet and as precise as a surgeon''s hands, snuffing the iing spells out as if they were matches amid a storm.

    The tendrils smothered the purple mes, devoured the tornado filled with ice spikes, and consumed the darkness-infused bolts of lightning without letting a single speck of energy get past their boundaries.

    Vastor threw a small red mana crystal at Tezka''s Spirit tail, giving him full control of the array so that the Master could focus on the sea of enemies in front of him.

    A female warrior, whose face possessed both a rare beauty and savagery, exploited that moment of distraction to swing her two-handed greatsword at Vastor in a vertical sh while spitting a cloud of acid from her mouth.

    Even if the short Archmage dodged the sword, the acidic breath would have hit the woman and children behind him, turning them into a puddle of melted flesh and bones.

    ''He has no way out. Either he takes my de and dies, buying my marks a mere second, or he runs away and I kill them.'' The woman was actually a Lindwurm shapeshifted into human form.

    The lesser Dragon had yet to learn the secret of Awakening and the only way she had to obtain the resources she needed for her magical research was through the ck market.

    They cost a pretty penny, but a single mission with the Grim Reapers usually earned her enough money to buy ingredients to perform a few Forgemastering experiments.

    With the prize that the blue-robed man had promised to the guild whopleted the mission for him and what he had already paid in advance, she would be able to work non-stop for weeks.

    "Please, Zogar, run! There''s no point in dying with us!" Zinya said amid tears.

    Even though she was ready to give her life to protect her children, she wouldn''t resent him for abandoning them. The Professor had already done enough for her. He had given her sight and fought to the death for her against the undead during Night''s attack.

    The life of amoner woman was nothingpared to that of an Archmage and she couldn''t ask Vastor to risk everything he had to protect the children of another man.

    Yet Vastor didn''t move, grabbing the greatsword with his bare hand and taking the acidic breath square on his face. The Dominator armor effortlessly repelled the Orichalcum de while a thin mist of Chaos got rid of the acid before it could reach him.

    The Emperor Beast weighed a few tons so the impact from the attack made the ground under the Master''s feet crumble until he was waist-deep into the ground. He could feel the joints in his elbows and knees crack from the strain despite the Adamant Armor protecting him, yet he didn''t flinch.

    Vastor ripped the de off her hands with the sheer strength of his grip, making the woman stumble forward. She exploited his pull and added it to her own speed to punch the Master square in the face with a perfect counter.

    He let go of the de, using his now free hand to intercept the fist when it was centimeters away from his nose.

    "Emperor Beast or not, touching an Abomination is a mistake that no one lives to regret." He whispered to her ear as his hand turned ck.

    The mere contact drained the Lindwurm''s strength and gave Vastor new energy, healing all the wounds that the previous de strike had inflicted upon him. The punch lost all of its momentum and Emperor Beast fell to her knees.

    The woman felt dizzy for a second before falling asleep. Her body turned into dust in front of her bbergastedpanions who had no idea what had just happened.

    "Are you dumb or what?" The leader of the ck Dragons said. His confident voice allowed the mercenaries to shrug off the fear that had paralyzed them until that moment.

    "He''s an Archmage of the Kingdom, but he''s still just one man. Stop attacking him one at a time. Charg-" A ck dart from Vastor''s extended forefinger put an end to both his speech and life.

    ''This guy is exactly like the little fox monster. Take darkness magic away from him and he''s nothing.'' The Wardens among the mercenaries thought while casting their best sealing arrays as fast as they could.

    Yet Vastor could see thanks to Life Vision the mana flow of all the opponents in his line of sight and Bytra had taught him how to understand who was casting what spell.

    A wave of his hand unleashed his tier personal tier five War Mage spell, Tetrastrophe. A pir of fire, a hail of frozennces, a deadly quicksand, and a thunderstorm, each one with the destructive power of a tier five spell appeared amid the enemy lines, scattering their formations and killing the Wardens.

    The mercenaries attacked in groups and died in groups. Then, once they managed to coordinate again, they attacked in waves and died in waves.

    The Chaos array blocked the iing spells while Vastor got rid of anyone that dared to step forward and face him. He circled around Zinya and the Spirit tail with the grace of a dancer and the uracy of a surgeon.

    Unlike Tezka, close-quarterbat didn''t stop him from weaving new spells with every movement that he made and unleashing them as soon as they were ready.

    Seeing their front lines dropping like flies made the mercenaries step back and bought Vastor the time that he needed to conjure one of the most prized spells of Kigan, the Blood Wind of the Desert and one of his Abomination hybrids.

 Chapter 1583 - The Pain Of Loss (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1583 - The Pain Of Loss (Part 1)</h4>

    Vastor conjured a red sphere the size of an apple on his left hand and an orange one on his right. The heat generated by the former drained the humidity from the air, raising the temperature by several dozens of degrees per second.

    Thetter, instead, broke down the solid ground below him until it turned into fine sand, each grain of which was no bigger than a speck of dust.

    Vastor brought the two spheres together, and the tier five War Mage spell, Red Storm, revealed its true form.

    It was a mix of fire and earth that Kigan had researched ever since he was still a Phoenix, in the attempt to safely conjure a destructive power on par with Cinder without having to deal with its counterpart, Zero.

    Aside from Decay, cursed elements were dangerous even for Eldritchs. Red Storm was the result of Kigan''s studies and he had taught it to Vastor to make sure that if anything happened to him, someone would live on and continue his legacy.

    A blood-colored sandstorm flooded the area surrounding Vastor, sparing only the people at its center. The mercenaries conjured several kinds of protections against the unknown threat but all of them failed.

    The red color of the spell was caused by the intense heat that coated each grain of sand while the storm was generated by the earth magic that made the spell spin around its caster.

    Together they formed an incandescent whirlwind that could not be dodged or blocked.

    Shields made of ice disappeared as soon as Red Storm dried the air. Walls made of earth and air domes could stop the fine particles, but not the heat that they released as more and more of them piled up on the surface of the conjured protections.

    All those who failed to understand the true aim of Kigan''s spells died without understanding what they had missed. Red Storm didn''t target the people inside its area of effect directly, it killed them of dehydration.

    The heat made the mercenaries sweat bullets but the dry air made the sweat evaporate as soon as it formed so that it was impossible to notice the phenomenon until it was toote. First, their vision blurred, then they had difficulty breathing, andstly, they turned into mummified corpses.

    Once Red Storm disappeared, only the backlines and those who had managed to Blink to safety were still alive. At least until Vastor unleashed more spells that the Abomination hybrids of his Organization had taught him.

    Zinya couldn''t avert her eyes from the horror taking ce in front of her. People exploded, burned, or simply disappeared in shes of darkness, spattering blood and entrails everywhere while the stench of sh*t made the air almost unbreathable.

    From time to time, she lowered her gaze to make sure that Filia and Frey were alright, yet the sound of the carnage kept drawing her attention like a siren whose song she was unable to resist.

    She cried, puked, and even peed herself as she witnessed the death of countless people.

    The mercenaries didn''t fare any better and they didn''t stand behind the safety of Vastor''s back but faced his unbridled fury. Those who surrendered died and so did everyone who offered him their backs in the attempt to escape.

    Panic started to spread and even the backlines started to fall back. Orderly at first and then in a chaotic, desperate run for their lives. They trampled everyone that moved too slowly or that simply stood in their path.

    The Master never ceased his attack but he didn''t give chase either. No matter how many of those human-faced monsters he killed, there were plenty more on Mogar ready to take their ce whereas there was only one Zinya.

    He didn''t care how the rest of Mogar saw her. To him, she was more important than the Queen.

    Ever since he had lost any hope to be the god of healing and the Royals had started to consider him as an expendable asset, Vastor had wasted years in the foolish attempt to bring back the glorious days of his youth.

    The more effort he had put into oveing the skill gap between him and Manohar the more frustrated he had be. For each step forward he made, the god of healing advanced ten, if not a hundred times that much.

    After over a decade of failures, Vastor had inwardly given up. He still chased Manohar''s back only because he didn''t know what else to do with his life.

    Zinya had been the first person to make him feel special again.

    She treated him as if he was the sessful man that he had always dreamed of bing instead of a middle-aged loser. She didn''t care for how old and short he was, always looking at him as if she could see something dazzling.

    When she smiled at him, Vastor felt the disappointment and self-loathing that had haunted him during his adult life disappear.

    He had used the ck core on himself, turning into the first artificial Abomination-human hybrid, not because he cared about immortality, but because he wanted to protect her. Even if that meant scaring Zinya and losing her forever.

    Once only corpsesy in front of him and the still alive mercenaries were out of the reach of his spells, Vastor turned around. He noticed Zinya''s sorry state and knew that she hadn''t listened to his warnings.

    She sat in a pool of her own urine and puke, trembling from head to toe. Her face was as pale as a ghost and part of her hair had turned white. She had been biting her lips to not scream and clenching her hands with so much strength that both were bleeding.

    The Master didn''t dare toe close to her, knowing that nothing he could say would make her forget what she had just witnessed. He just released a pulse of darkness to cleanse the air from the stench of sh*t and to clean her, yet Zinya held her children tighter, yelping in fear at the sight of his magic.

    "Thanks for your help. Now you can go." Vastor said to the Spirit Tail after a roaring thunder broke the silence.

    Tezka and the blue-robed man were too far for Live Vision to pick up their energy signatures, but the noise and the shes of light produced by the conflicting spells meant that their fight was far from over.

    ''If I step in against an opponent that can go toe to toe against the oldest Eldritch of my Organization, I would only be a hindrance. Most of Tezka''s best spells have a huge area of effect and they don''t discriminate between enemies and allies.'' Vastor thought.

    Zinya raised her face to look into his eyes onest time, stuttering gibberish for a few seconds before fainting. The Master used Invigoration to make sure that both she and the kids were fine as the Spirit Tail darted away, eager to return to the main body along with their equipment.

    Meanwhile, away from the ruins of Zinya''s house, Tezka and the blue-robed man were still fighting¡­ The Davross dagger had given the fake Fallmug a significant edge over the unarmed Eldritch.

 Chapter 1584 - The Pain Of Loss (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1584 - The Pain Of Loss (Part 2)</h4>

    Not only did each hit of the de open deep cuts into Tezka''s flesh, but the enchanted weapon was also imbued with several spells that had bought the blue-robed man enough time to fix his right arm that Cinder had crippled.

    To make matters worse, ever since the man had taken out the dagger, his movements had changed from that of a savage prick into those of a seasoned warrior. His footwork, swordy, and even his gait hadpletely changed.

    Tezka had used one of his Warg abilities to have his fur harden and turn it into quills akin to that of a porcupine, yet the enchanted de made short work of them as well.

    The Eldritch used the Chaos imbued quills as means of both attack and defense, yet the blue-robed man managed to dodge everything the Abomination threw at him, and his dagger pierced through the quills as if they were made of paper.

    "You did a nice job hiding your strength up to this point. A lesser fighter would have fallen for your trick and died when you changed your rhythm. What can I say, great minds think alike!"

    Tezka altered the shape and density of the fur on his tails, turning them into spikes as hard as a rock, the tip of which was imbued with enough Chaos to pierce even through Adamant.

    Each one of the nine tails moved as if it had a mind of its own, coordinating their attacks between them without hindering Tezka''s movements. Among their many powers, Fylgjas could extend and retract their tails at will like springs.

    It boosted their speed and piercing ability, allowing them to reach a length up to six meters (20 feet). On top of that, Tezka''s arms and feet had a greater reach than the blue-robed man''s, a gap further widened by the quills.

    Truth to be told, unlike the fake Fallmug, Tezka hadn''t been holding back. To control two bodies at the same time while also protecting Zinya and fighting so many enemies at the same time had taken a huge toll on his focus.

    Until Vastor''s arrival, he had to split his energies on twopletely different battlefields. Now, however, the only role of his Spirit tail was to control the Curse of Darkness array, relieving Tezka''s mind of a huge burden.

    Now that the fight had be ten versus one, the blue-robed man lost his advantage as quickly as he had gained him. The tails attacked him from the sides and behind while Tezka charged in front of him.

    He used one of the spells imbued in the dagger, ck Shroud to envelope himself into a thick sphere of Darkness. It hid him from the Fylgja''s sight and forced Tezka to stop his attack.

    Darkness was the bane of Abominations and turned their own Chaos against them. Every time the tails missed their target, they would get damaged by ck Shroud while also robbing the spell of the light element.

    The resulting Chaos magic couldn''t harm the blue-robed man since it wasprised of his own mana but it dealt a massive amount of damage to Tezka.

    "I knew it! You''re not a random psycho but an expert mage." The Fylgja said in amazement. "Too bad thatpared to me you are nothing but a cub!"

    The fur on the tip of his seventh tail opened, revealing the tier five gravity spell, Titan Fall. Once a Fylgja mastered all elements, they would grow an additional tail for each branch of magic that they mastered.

    Like most dimensional mages, Tezka also had a knack for gravity magic. His tails allowed him to store any kind of spell indefinitely, no matter theirplexity, without putting any burden on his mind or core.

    Titan Fall increased the gravity of the blue-robed mage one hundred folds, making him fall from the skies and unto the ground like a meteor. His bones cracked under the pressure, piercing through his muscles and puncturing his organs.

    Then, Tezka turned the fake Fallmug into the center of gravity, making everything within Titan Fall''s area of effect fall towards him. The gravitational pull that the blue-robed man now created made rock, trees, and dirt pile up on him, enveloping him into a perfect sphere that became denser with each passing second.

    ''What a moron.'' Tezka thought. ''The danger of enveloping yourself in a spell is that the enemy can''t see you, but you can''t see the enemy either. If not for his self-inflicted blindness, I would have never gotten the opportunity to use a gravity spell.

    ''These babies are powerful, but a simple Blink and I would have just wasted a crapload of man- Wait a minute!''

    The Spirit Tail fused back with him, restoring Tezka''s full power and giving him back the Suneater armor and more importantly, Endless Night.

    The use of such a powerful gravity field had hindered Tezka''s dimensional awareness but now that he had the de in his hand, he could filter the interferences caused by Titan Fall and notice a spatial ripple that until that moment had escaped his notice.

    He temporarily blocked the effect of Titan Fall and cut the sphere asunder, discovering that it was empty.

    ''Son of a bitch!'' The Fylgja thought in outrage. ''He used the sphere of darkness to cloud my vision and Blink away. If only I was an Awakened or at least I had Endless Night, I would have never missed the appearance of an exit point!

    ''If only I was still able to cast with my body like back when I had a violet core, I wouldn''t have been limited by the number of spells I can store in my tails and not even an entire army could have stopped me from killing that bastard!''

    Tezka cursed his fallen status for a while until a powerful ripple of mana made the ground quake and the air tremble.

    Lith had just crossed over the Warp Gate in the barn and Sark was with him. Their rage was terrible and their mystical senses scoured the area, but aside from corpses, there was no one left they could use to vent their anger.

    Lith was livid at the copycat and himself. Ever since he had gone to the Desert, he would keep the Council amulet inside his pocket dimension whenever he was training his Origin mes or with the Eyes of Menadion.

    After all, only a few people had his rune and they were all so powerful that they would hardly need his help. It was the reason why Xenagrosh had failed to contact him.

    After the kids had returned to the Desert and to their respective mothers'' embrace, it had taken Elina and Rena a while to calm them down enough to make sense of their words.

    Abominus and Onyx had lost too many of their brethren to care for the appearances so they spoke for the first time, exining the situation to the two women and making them faint.

    Luckily, the people of the Desert were used to converse with magical beasts and ryed the information to the Overlord. After that, it had taken Sark the time of a Blink to fetch Lith and another to reach the Warp Gate.

    Yet despite their haste, they had arrived only when everything was over¡­ After Vastor''s arrival, between Tezka, the Kings of the Woods, and the army''s reinforcement, the battle hadsted barely one minute.

 Chapter 1585 - Bonds And Chains (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1585 - Bonds And Chains (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith immediately took out hismunication amulet, checking on both Kam and Zinya, sighing in relief when he noticed that their runes were still there.

    "What the heck happened here and why didn''t you assign at least one Phoenix as a bodyguard for Aran and Leria?" Lith said after finding the corpses of Brionac and Volgun, the magical beasts of Zinya''s children, and that of Captain Locrias among the fallen.

    "Because they leave the Desert for less than two hours per day, in an area protected by powerful arrays and with a Warp Gate always avable thanks to my influence. No seal can shut down the passage to the Desert." Sark replied.

    "On top of that, I know about Tezka''s presence and relied on his protection. I don''t know whether to be more shocked by him giving priority to the Yehval children or by an enemy capable of holding their ground against him for more than one second."

    "You and me both." The Fylgja said after Warping between them. "For the record, I didn''t give priority to Frey and Filia. The enemy just used Aran and Leria as a diversion, they never needed my help."

    The Abomination hybrid was panting in exhaustion. Using so many powerful spells while also controlling two bodies at the same time had taken a huge toll on his body. Unlike a pure Eldritch, a hybrid needed food to heal from the injuries and energy to replenish his cores.

    "What do you mean?" Lith had a hard time containing the fury that ravaged his mind.

    ''Taking it out on Tezka would be both pointless and stupid.'' He thought. ''First, I need to understand what happened here. Then, I must find who''s responsible and make them pay.''

    "It was another of the Balkor copycat''s ploys." The Fylgja said, shocking his audience, Queen''s Corps included.

    "He staged the attack on the kids knowing that the army and your magical beasts would worry too much about Aran and Leria to care about Frey and Filia. While everyone was distracted near your barn, he came to Zinya''s house, wearing Fallmug''s face."

    "What? All of this was just a diversion?" Lith was shocked.

    Fallmug was yesterday news and was dead for almost two years. Zinya''s abusive ex-husband had yed a very small role in Lith''s life and only a few people knew about the event.

    "Are you telling me that the copycat not only is capable of shapeshifting, but they also have targeted the Yehvals on purpose?" He asked.

    "Exactly." Tezka nodded. "ording to his words, if he really is a man, it took him quite a lot of effort to learn enough about Fallmug to y the part and terrorize Zinya, but she saw through the disguise. The copycat and Fallmug seem to have never actually met."

    "That''s interesting, but right now I couldn''t care less. I want to know where Zinya is now and why that bastard went to such lengths to attack her. She didn''t receive one of his damn cards!" Lith said with a snarl.

    "She''s at your professor''s house now. As for the rest, that''s not up to me to exin. He''s waiting for you there." The Fylgja pointed at the crater where once stood the Yehval house and a short round man searched through the debris.

    Sark hated riddles even more than Lith did, so she used her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to study Tezka from a distance and read his mind.

    Yet the Fylgja noticed her attempt and vanished the moment Sark took a deep breath. He wasn''t an Awakened anymore, but he remembered well the feeling of foreign mana trying to slip under his skin.

    "Dammit!" She replied to Lith''s questioning gaze. "I hoped to get a sneak peek at Tezka''s new body, maybe even to understand how to help you to get a grip on your Tiamat bloodline''s skill. I don''t like those who try and keep secrets from me."

    "That makes the two of us." Lith nodded while looking at the ruins that his father''s cultivated fields had be.

    Raaz would lose almost one fifth of his next harvest, but it was nothing that money and magic couldn''t fix. What really pained Lith was another invasion of the ce that he considered his castle, where he was supposed to be safe.

    He felt akin to a man whose house had been burrized. Things could be bought again or fixed, but the experience of having his turf vited despite his best efforts made his stomach churn.

    "Grandma, please go back to the Desert and take care of the kids. I''ll deal with the rest here." Lith Warped near Vastor, using Leria and Aran as an excuse to keep the Overlord away from the Master.

    He didn''t need two of his best allies to start bickering, he needed answers. Also, in the case Vastor didn''t give him the answers Lith wanted, it would just take him a call to unleash the Overlord.

    Sark liked taking orders even less than she liked secrets, but she could sense the very essence of the Griffon Kingdom rejecting her. She was on Tyris''s turf without her permission which limited her powers greatly.

    ''I could force my way in, but there''s no reason to squabble. There''s nothing that I can learn from here and my Featherlings need me. Also, in the case Lith doesn''t get an answer, it only takes him a call to give me a reason to kick some asses here.'' She thought while returning to the Desert.

    "What the heck happened here? Why did the Balkor copycat attack Zinya?" Lith didn''t waste time with greetings or niceties. He had already guessed everything, he just wanted to confirm his suspicions.

    "For the what, you just need to look around." Vastor waved his hands at the ruins surrounding them, at the once luscious fields turned withered and at the mountain of corpses around what was left of the house.

    "As for the why, I owe you an exnation." The Master told Lith about how months back he had found the Future card under Zinya''s door and how he had taken it away without telling anyone.

    "Are you insane? You have endangered the lives of Zinya, the children, and even of Kam!" Lith''s voice rose in intensity with each name he spoke, making thest also the loudest.

    "We may not be together anymore, but she still means a lot to me. How could you do that to me? How could you do that to Zinya? I thought that you cared for her."

    "I do care for her and more than you can possibly imagine. Why do you think that I left Tezka here all this time?" Vastor''s voice turned from sad to cold, not liking one bit the allegation in Lith''s words.

    "You should have told me! You should have told the Kingdom. That way, we could have protected them to the best of our abilities!" Lith''s eyes burned with violet mana and rage.

    "Stop speaking out of your ass and think, Lith! I know that you are better than this!" The ck-violet light erupting from Vastor''s eyes and his genuine outrage matched the Tiamat''s, making the air around the two men crackle with power and brewing a storm above their heads.

 Chapter 1586 - Bonds And Chains (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1586 - Bonds And Chains (Part 2)</h4>

    "What could you, or the Kingdom, for that matter, could possibly do? You don''t have the resources nor the time to set enough arrays around Zinya''s house. If I revealed the existence of the Future card, I would have given the Royals the means to put you on their leash and destroy your rtionship with Kam!

    "From that very moment, the Kingdom would have used the Yehvals as leverage to make you do their biddings. And for what? You''ve seen what has happened to Lark and Mirim. What has happened here?

    "The copycat would have just taken their time to set up a better trap, brought along even more troops, and maybe we would be grieving our dead instead of having this conversation.

    "My lie made the copycat underestimate our forces, yet look at what they have achieved. Without Tezka, no number of troops or arrays would have been enough." Vastor said.

    ''He''s right.'' Solus said. ''Once again, the timing of the attack was perfect. Even with many more troops and arrays, during a crisis, the forces of the Kingdom are always stretched thin.

    ''The copycat had won the moment he sealed dimensional magic and cut off the reinforcements. Most of our trump cards are already known and static arrays can be studied with ease. Even if Vastor told us about the Future card, nothing would have changed.''

    ''Unless I brought everyone to the Desert with me.'' Lith replied.

    ''And what about another moment when you were simply away?'' Solus said. ''Had your family been there, the Queen''s Corps would have had even more people to protect and fewer soldiers to spare for Zinya.

    ''Not to mention how embarrassing it would have been to drag Kam and the others along after your break up.''

    "What do you mean with, destroying my rtionship with Kam?" Lith asked after being forced to admit the truth in Solus''s words.

    "How long would you two havested after learning that the safety of her family depended on yourpliance to be a loyal dog of the Kingdom?" Vastor replied. "

    "Be they Sark, the Royals, or even the Awakened Council, no matter who you asked for help, their favor would alwayse with a price tag.

    "After that, sooner orter your sense of guilt for dragging the Yehvals in this mess would have ruined your rtionship. Kam would have started to doubt her feelings, wondering if she stayed with you because she cared for you or just to protect her family.

    "If I told you and Kam about the card, you would probably be still together but there would be less affection between the two of you than that I feel toward my ex-wife. You would have stuck with her out of duty and Kam out of need.

    "This way, instead, you have been happy, living together because you wanted to, not because fear forced you to." Vastor sighed deeply as his rage faded away and so did Lith''s.

    "The copycat attacked at the worst possible moment, bringing along an army of elite troops. Even if you had the power to keep the Phoenixes here, he would have just waited longer.

    "Let''s be honest. Youck the power and the resources to protect so many people and you already had a lot on your te. I just did all I could to relieve your burden. Do you think that you might have seeded where Tezka failed?"

    "No." Lith said as the air around them stopped crackling with thunder and the sky cleared from the storm clouds. "Thanks for your help, Professor."

    The two men shook hands, each noticing how stronger the other had be.

    "Can I talk to Zinya? I owe her an apology."

    "She doesn''t have a home anymore so I brought her to mine." Vastor turned pale as despair twisted his face. "She saw me fight, Lith. She saw the real me, Chaos and everything, ughtering humans like cattle.

    "Zinya and the kids are safe now, but I don''t know how long will itst. Once she learns what I did, she will be livid and demand to leave my ce. You should contact Orion and ask him if she can stay with the Ernas until we find a solution."

    Lith''s stomach churned once more, knowing all too well how Vastor felt. It was the same situation that he had found himself in after endangering Kam''s life time and time again.

    ''Gods, if not for Vastor, at this point Kam would already hate my guts. Ever since Night''s attack, her family has gone through a lot of hardships just because they were our neighbors, but this time is even worse.

    ''The Balkor copycat doesn''t give a damn about our break up. Zinya''s life will be in danger until we find and kill that bastard. I bet that both sisters hate my guts at this point. It''s only my fault if they have a target on their back.'' Lith thought.

    He and Vastor walked through the Gate in the barn, reaching the Professor''s Household with just one step.

    The mansion was no way less magnificent or smaller than the Ernas''s. The floors were made of magic resistant gold-veined marble that, along with the many arrays they had been enchanted with, made them as sturdy as a mountain.

    The gold-edged red walls were decorated with animated paintings depicting all the feats of the Vastor bloodline from its very foundations. Every single piece of furniture was a heavily enchanted work of art, making even flower pots a deadly weapon.

    ''By my Mom! My mana sense ispletely blinded. Vastor must have put his house on lockdown. The whole ce hums with so much mana that it''s giving me a headache.'' Solus said.

    Lith couldn''t care less about any of it. He impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for Vastor to lead the way, yet the Professor didn''t move.

    "I''ve already contacted Constable Yehval and she''sing here." Vastor said in reply to the silent question in Lith''s eyes. "Zinya will need the support of her family to recover from the shock enough to tell us what happened."

    "What about Tezka?"

    "Please, he was busy protecting your kids, keeping an eye on the situation, and getting rid of the traps around Zinya''s house that the copycat hadid beforeunching the attack. He''s a genius, but his attention was split into too many sides to be reliable." Vastor said.

    His reasoning made sense, but Lith''s stomach twisted into a knot anyway. Between the mental scar that might haunt Aran and Leria, the death of so many of his loyal magical beasts, and the guilt he felt for dragging Kam into his mess, meeting her was thest thing he wanted.

    The Gate shed once more and Constable Yehval appeared, freezing for a second at the sight of the two Archmages.

    "Thank you so much!" She hugged Lith tight while crying uncontrobly. "If not for you, if not for the magical beasts, Zin and the kids would be dead by now. I can never repay you for keeping them safe even after our break up."

    Kam had done all she could until the Gate to Lith''s barn had been reopened, which amounted to very little¡­ She had felt helpless, staring at hermunication amulet the whole time while waiting for any news from the battlefield.

 Chapter 1587 - Bonds And Chains (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1587 - Bonds And Chains (Part 3)</h4>

    Now that everything was over and everyone was alright, Kam lost herself in Lith''s warmth, venting her fear and pain before meeting her sister.

    ''I can''t allow Zin to see me like this. She''s the one who went through a murder attempt. I need to be strong for her.'' She thought while Ilthin''s words about Lith still echoed inside her head.

    Yet even though she found tenderness in their embrace, it only made him feel worse.

    "It''s not me that you have to thank, but Professor Vastor." Lith said, not finding the strength to push the still crying Kam away while the sweet scent of her hair triggered countless memories and feelings.

    "When I arrived, the copycat had already escaped. If not for the Professor and Tezka, there''s no telling what might have happened."

    "She knows about my Organization?" Vastor was bbergasted.

    "Of course she does." Lith gently caressed her head. "I never lied to her about my dealings with anyone nor would I have kept her in the dark about who her sister is dating."

    Those words made Kam doubt her decision of breaking up once more and made Vastor turn of a shade of purple.

    "We are not dating. We are just friends."

    "That''s not how Zinya feels, Professor." Kam said.

    "Not anymore, I''m afraid. Now, if you two are done, follow me." Hearing those words and watching them holding each other was more than Vastor could take.

    He walked briskly toward the guest room without even looking back.

    It took Lith and Kam a few whispers from the house staff to realize that they had been millimeters away from kissing for a while. They pushed each other away in embarrassment before chasing after the Professor.

    Luckily for them, despite his short legs, Vastor had gained enough ground that they had to jog to catch up with him. It gave them the perfect excuse to avoid each other''s gaze and not talk about what had just happened.

    Vastor gently knocked on the cherrywood double doors and waited for an answer.

    "Wee back, master." A middle-aged maid with a round face and a gentle smile said after opening the door just enough to slip through it without making a noise.

    "Lady Yehval has been waiting for you. She refused to sleep until she made sure of your well-being."

    "What? Zinya was still unconscious when I left her in your care, N. When did she wake up?" Vastor asked.

    "The moment her children called her name." N replied. "I did as you ordered and put them in her same bed after cleaning them and changing their clothes."

    Just like Zinya, the children had lost control of their dder during the battle between the Professor and the mercenaries. Vastor had the house staff make sure that by the time they woke up, no trace of such events would remain.

    The maid opened the door for her master while giving him and his guests a deep bow. N didn''t miss her master''s hesitation nor how badly his hands trembled, but she kept her eyes low and acted as if everything was fine.

    "Is something the matter?" Kam asked, wondering why both men seemed to have turned into stone.

    "Kami?" A voiceing from inside said.

    "Zin!" Kam disregarded all of Jirni''s etiquette lessons and rushed inside, too worried about her family to wait for Vastor''s permission. "Thank the gods you are alright."

    Past the door, there was an ample living room with a tea table at its center, surrounded by several padded sofas and armchairs. The room was lit by porcin chandeliers that used light magic instead of candles and covered the ceiling with an aurora borealis.

    The west side had a reinforced ss wall that both provided plenty of sunlight and overlooked the mansion''s inner garden, filling the air with the smell of fresh flowers.

    Kam followed the voice, discovering that the living room had four doors, each leading to another room bigger than Kam''s apartment in Belius. They led respectively to the bedroom, the bathroom, a library, and a dining room.

    Zinya, Filia, and Frey had been amodated in the bedroom. The ce was decorated with soft silk carpets and enough closets to dress an army. The king size bed was sorge that it amodated all three of them with space to spare.

    It was lined against the middle of the west wall so that by leaving the curtains open the guest would be gently woken up by the morning light. A white oak dressing table with arge mirror was ced along the east wall, beside a dresser filled with women''s clothes of all sizes.

    "You have to thank Zogar and Lith''s friend, Tezka, for that. Without them, there''s no telling what that horrible man would have done to us." Zinya hugged her sister and then let her free to check on the kids.

    Frey and Filia had their eyes reddened from crying and filled with such a dread that they seemed to have lost their innocence.

    "Are Volgun and Brionac dead?"

    Frey said with a t tone, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

    "I''m sorry, I don''t know. I came here as fast as I could." Kam cupped their faces, feeling the coldness that still gripped their bodies despite the heavy nkets the kids had wrapped themselves with.

    "Yes, they are." Vastor said from outside the door, without daring to enter.

    The children quivered in fear at his appearance and started to sob, hugging their mother with all of their strength.

    "I''m so sorry." Zinya caressed their heads while trying to hold back her own tears. She had known the magical beasts for over two years and considered them as a part of her family.

    The Shyf and the Ry had been their ymates, their friends, and their bodyguards. The children loved them dearly and med themselves for the death of the magical beasts.

    "It''s all our fault." Filia sobbed. "They could have run away and gotten to safety but they chose to stay behind to protect us. Otherwise those men would have never caught someone as fast as Volgun."

    "It''s not your fault." Zinya said. "They did it because they loved you so much that they feared losing you more than they feared death. Volgun and Brionac sacrificed their lives for your sake and would never me you for what happened."

    Despite her attempts to console them, the children kept crying, reminding both Vastor and Lith of the weight of their own actions.

    N entered the room, bringing two big sses filled with warm milk and several drops of a sleeping potion. Between the shock from the loss of their best friends and the drug, the children soon dozed off again.

    "Why are you keeping your distance, Zogar? This is your house." Zinya asked.

    "Because you are supposed to be wearing a nightgown and I don''t feelfortable intruding while you are having a moment with the members of your family." He replied, making her blush in embarrassment.

    "Please, give us a minute." N said with a smile before closing the door.

    When she opened it again, Zinya was still under the bedsheets along with her children, but she was now wearing a day dress.

 Chapter 1588 - Bonds And Chains (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1588 - Bonds And Chains (Part 4)</h4>

    "Now you cane in." Zinya said.

    "Leave us alone and close the door. I''m not to be disturbed until I get out of this room." Vastor said to N, looking her straight in the eyes.

    "What do I have to say if someone has an urgent message for you?" The maid asked.

    ''Tell them to go fuck themselves.'' He thought.

    "Tell them that one of my patients has an emergency and that I''m currently operating them." He actually said.

    N gave him a deep bow and then left.

    The Master listened to the children''s snoring, making sure that they were fast asleep before Hushing their ears. They had already suffered enough and he didn''t want to add any more to their burden.

    "Frey and Filia are right. The death of their friends is not on their hands, but on mine." He said. "Everything you three went through today is only my fault."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Back when the Balkor copycat dealt his cards, I found this under your door." Vastor handed Kam a small piece of paper with the word Future written on it.

    "Why did you take it without telling the Kingdom? Or at least Lith?" She looked from Vastor to Lith, incapable to know what to feel.

    Suddenly she wanted to punch Vastor instead of thanking him for saving her sister. On top of that, the joy of her reunion with Lith had just been poisoned by the realization that if not for him, none of that would have happened.

    ''Lith warned me that by bing his girlfriend I would have been dragged into the mess that his life his, but I never thought that my choice would endanger Zinya as well nor that his enemies would target us even after our rtionship ended.'' She thought.

    "To what end?" Vastor shrugged. "Zin- I mean, your sister had already been a target during Night''s attack just for being his neighbor. Did the Kingdom worry about either her or Selia after that? No.

    "That''s because that kind of protection takes time, money, and plenty of resources. Before Lark''s death, the cards were considered but a sick joke and after that, who do you think the Kingdom would have rather protected?

    "A group of powerful nobles and Archmages that are the backbone of the Royal Court or a country housewife? Even if they assigned you a detail, would have they kept it after your break up? More importantly, would you have even broken up with Lith?" Vastor asked.

    Kam opened her mouth to reply multiple times, but the only answers that came to her mind sealed her lips tight and made her swallow a huge lump of saliva, making her look like a goldfish.

    ''He''s right. Even if he told us, today''s events would have likely happened anyway. To make matters worse, the only way Lith had to protect us would have been to have us move into his house.

    ''Even after he revealed to me about Solus''s existence, I would have never had the courage to leave him. Not because I still loved him but because I would have been too afraid for Zinya and the kid.

    ''We would have been forced to marry despite our rtionship going sour and Lith would have taken care of us out of guilt. By not telling us anything, Vastor did more than protect our lives from the shadows, he also protected our happiness.

    ''Zinya and the children lived freely until today, unaware of the danger, instead of like caged like animals, fearing the next attack of the copycat. Gods, why things can never be simple?'' Kam was now even more torn than before, wondering whether to p the Master or thank him from the bottom of her heart.

    "He''s right." Lith said, taking the words out of her mind and rekindling for one second the feelings that Kam had never been able to let go of. He stared at the ground out of guilt, incapable of looking Zinya in the eyes.

    "Even though I knew nothing about the Balkor card, the death of Volgun and Brionac is only on Vastor and me. I dragged you into this mess. That bastard targeted you only because of my rtionship with Kam.

    "It''s only because of me that you have lost your home, your safety, and have suffered the events of today. I swear that I''ll do everything in my power to help you and-"

    "Thanks for your offer, but it''s not your fault." Only once he felt the soft warmth of a finger pressing against his lips did Lith notice that Zinya had gotten out of the bed and was now in front of him.

    "You didn''t send those men there. You didn''t taunt the Balkor copycat nor did you intentionally involve Kami in any of your business. You didn''t murder Volgun and Brionac, that horrible man did.

    "Those beasts weren''t your ves. Despite your orders, they were free to run away the moment they realized how dire the situation was. They did it of their own choice and I''ll never forget their sacrifice.

    "As for the reason why my family was attacked, the copycat wanted to inflict you the maximum amount of pain and turn you into an outcast. Kam has never been in danger. The kids and I were his targets all along." She said.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Back when he thought that my life was in his hands, that man appeared in front of me and pretended to be Fallmug. Once I exposed him as a fake, he told me that he was going to kill me and the kids to make an example out of us.

    "To make sure that no woman would date you ever again and to destroy your rtionship with Kam. His n was to make her hate you and everyone else to distance themselves from you, leaving you alone out of the fear of suffering my same fate."

    "What?" Lith said in outrage.

    ''This guy might be deranged, but he is truly cunning.'' Solus thought.

    ''Even if Lith and Kam married, unless they kept Zinya with them 24/7, nothing would have changed. Zinya will always be the weak link and the easiest target since her existence is irrelevant to both the Kingdom and the Council''

    "I''m actually d that he attacked me because otherwise, the copycat would have targeted Phloria''s sisters, if not the families of your previous girlfriends." Zinya said. "Quy already almost died once and those poor people would have had no chance of survival."

    "What the heck are you saying?" Vastor chimed in. "How can you be d of anything that happened today? You almost died! Your children almost died. You have seen things that no one ever should."

    Despite his initial fury, he was incapable of looking at her in the eyes as well. His voice turned from a roar into a whisper the moment the Master saw Zinya step back in fear at his outrage.

    "I know that it may sound crazy, but it''s the truth." She replied. "If not for Lith, those people would probably have a long life whereas I would be already dead¡­ I''m aware that I''m living on borrowed time and that if Kami didn''t date Lith, Fallmug would have beaten me to death."

 Chapter 1589 - Give And Take (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1589 - Give And Take (Part 1)</h4>

    "I don''t know if my children would have suffered my same destiny, but I''m certain that they would have lived a miserable life. Their father''s violence would have corrupted them or at least poisoned their minds.

    "Whatever life they had, they would have never known the love of their mother and they would have never opened up to others, afraid that strangers would hurt them just like their father did if not worse."

    Zinya''s words struck a nerve. Lith almost felt as if she was talking about him, making his stomach twist and churn.

    "I may have seen horrible things today, Zogar, but if not for you two, I would have seen nothing at all my whole life." Zinya stepped toward Vastor, bending down until their noses almost touched.

    "I wouldn''t have ever seen my children''s faces nor their smile. I wouldn''t have ever realized how the pain that my ex-husband inflicted upon me also reflected on my sister. I wouldn''t have ever seen what a truly happy couple like Raaz and Elina looks like.

    "Most importantly, I would have never seen what a good man looks like nor witnessed to what lengths he''s willing to go to protect those he loves." She caressed his wrinkled cheek, making clear that she wasn''t talking about Lith.

    "I know that I''m just amoner. A woman with two children from a previous marriage who has nothing to offer to you. I have no money, status, nor any magical talent.

    "I''m just a 34 years old widow tormented by such bad luck that my betrothal gift was blown up along with my house when you defended us from those men. Yet I''m going to ask you anyway."

    Zinya put her right knee on the ground while taking Vastor''s right hand in her own.

    "Zogar Vastor, will you marry me?" Her words came out abruptly, making Kam''s and Lith''s faces twist in a shocked grimace.

    They even took a step back, looking at each other in disbelief.

    ''That''s what Tezka meant by big news!'' The Master''s mind started to spin out of control as fear, panic, and surprise ravaged his brain, fighting for dominance. ''That bastard knew it all along.

    ''The problem is, how do I politely turn her down? I don''t give a damn about our difference in status, but I can''t put Zinya into even more danger than she already is. Sure, if we were to marry, she would start living here and anyone who tries to harm her would have to get past not one, but every one of my Abominations.

    ''Yet I''m old enough to be her father and on top of that, she has no idea what I''m doing as the Master. The moment the truth is exposed, our rtionship would crumble.

    ''Either the Kingdom brands her as a traitor or she runs away from me, our destinies would be sealed. I would remain alone once again and she would lose any chance of being happy.

    ''Zinya must be talking out of shock. I need to find the right words to reject her without hurting her feelings.'' Vastor thought while never averting his gaze from her sad smile.

    Somehow, she seemed to read every single thought that was passing through his head. As if their bond was more than just emotional.

    He took a few deep breaths to calm down, clenching his free hand to find the strength to say what he had to. The prolonged silence spoke volumes, making Zinya''s hands tremble.

    Yet she patiently waited, without saying one more word nor shedding a single tear.

    "Yes, I do." Vastor said, his mouth connected to his heart rather than to his brain, refusing to care about anything but the woman in front of him. "But what will your children think about having such an old step-father?"

    "They already gave me their blessing, silly!" Zinya started to cry with joy, hugging Vastor before kissing him.

    Somewhere far yet near the Vastor''s household, in the Master''s secret undergroundb, the Abomination hybrids spectated at the whole event thanks to Tezka''s Spirit tail always watching after the children.

    The room erupted into cheers and apuse as the Abomination-hybrids started to n for the marriage. How to participate and disguise themselves among the guests soon became the main topic of conversation.

    Meanwhile, Lith and Kam stared at each other, their eyes speaking akin to a mind link. Yet there was no joy in them, only worry. Unlike Lith, Vastor had a bag full of secrets that he was keeping from Zinya.

    It was only a matter of time before one if not all of them turned their fairy tale into a horror story.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to make this awkward for you." Zinya stopped kissing Vastor and turned to them, mistaking their concern for embarrassment.

    "I would love you to be my maid of honor, Kami."

    "What? I mean, sure." She set all of her worries aside and put her best smile on her face, to not ruin the moment to her sister.

    "I guess that makes you my best man." Vastor said while watching the two women, hug, cry, and make ns for a private ceremony.

    "Why? I mean, sure." Lith replied. "Don''t you think that Xenagrosh, Tezka, or any of your children might resent me for it?"

    "I prefer not putting my new children under the spotlight." Vastor replied. "As for my children-children, they have long since cut ties with me. I''ll invite them, but I''m not going to impose such a burden on them.

    "You, instead, are the reason Zinya and I met. Also, it will give you a perfect chance to spend some time with Kam without making it awkward."

    "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Lith asked with a whisper. "My secrets destroyed my past rtionships and I don''t see why the same shouldn''t happen to you as well."

    "Right now, I''m not sure of anything." Vastor sighed deeply as his brain and mouth started to talk to each other again. "This might as well be the biggest mistake of my life."

    "Then why?" Lith said.

    "Because this way, I have still a chance to be happy. Had I answered no, I''m certain that I would have lived the rest of my life regretting it forever."

    ***

    After leaving the Vastor household, Lith went back to Lutia to assess the damage. Half of the members of the Queen''s corps he knew were dead and so were several magical beasts.

    The three Kings of the Woods were still alive, but their forces would be crippled until the numbers of their followers increased once again.

    "I''m really sorry for your loss." Lith said to Reaper the Manticore.

    "Thank you foring." The huge feline said while counting the dead Shyfs.

    Now that evolution had increased his intelligence, he didn''t know what to do. Beasts didn''t bury their own. They would either eat them or leave them for other animals to eat.

    Yet some of them had been his friends, others even children he had sired back when he was still a Shyf. The thought of leaving them to rot tore his heart to shreds.

    "With this, I consider our debt settled." Lith said.

    "Well, I don''t¡­" Reaper replied.

 Chapter 1590 - Give And Take (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1590 - Give And Take (Part 2)</h4>

    "Ever since you gave us lessons about magic and provided us with enchanted equipment, the number of cubs greatly surpassed that of our dead.

    "Our packs had grown so much that some of us would have been forced to move away to not destroy the woods with our hunger. Death is not necessarily a bad thing. The survivors will be stronger and they will pass their experience upon the new generations." The Manticore said.

    "Are you serious?" Lith asked.

    "You didn''t ask us to fight thugs but to protect your cubs from menaces that humans couldn''t stop. The fact that none of us died until today was just luck." Reaper shook his head.

    "I consider our deal still standing because I''ve yet to repay my debt. Also, I want you to keep teaching me. I want you to give me the knowledge I need to make sure that what happened today will not repeat itself."

    "What about Lifebringer and Sentinel?"

    "They share my same thoughts." The Manticore waves his pawn, making the dead beast seep through the ground until they reached six meters of depth.

    "This is my house. Those are my fields. Do you realize what you have just done?" Lith asked.

    "I know that this ce is called the Death''s Door. Consider it a part of our new deal." Reaper replied. "When that fuckeres back, I want you to raise my friends back from the grave and make him regret ever approaching the Trawn woods."

    Lith pondered for a moment about his project to craft two unique golems, Raptor and Trouble, and decided that it was time to push their crafting schedule forward.

    "You have my word."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe,ter that same day.

    When Lith returned, Sark had already reported to everyone what had happened to the children in the Kingdom. The Verhens were still shocked, yet they managed to hide their feelings and to calm Aran and Leria down enough to put them to sleep.

    The Crown had wasted no time, sending Captain Ruusa to rece Locrias and reinforce the security measures by expanding the area of effect of the already set arrays and adding new ones.

    "Don''t worry about the kids. As long as you are my guests, I''ll have two Phoenixes escort them everywhere." The Overlord said. "Also, I''ve ordered my intelligence services to start investigating this copycat.

    "I won''t stand them messing with my blood once again."

    "What about once we get back to the Kingdom?" Senton asked.

    "I''m sorry, but then you will be on your own. Unless Tista or Lith join my nest, I can''t assign my children to you for months just in the case that something more happens." Sark said.

    "Not only sending my forces there might in the long term cause a diplomatic ident, but also I need to prepare for the war with Thrud as well while also keeping the undead under control.

    "The longsting peace in the Desertes at a price and I can''t assign you so many Phoenixes without getting something in return."

    At first, everyone resented the Mother of all Phoenixes for her words. Then, they remembered how they knew each other for a very short while and that what they were demanding from her was no small thing.

    Dispatching one elder Phoenix per child was something that not even the Royals could ask for their own offspring, let alone farmers. On top of that, Sark had already given them a lot while they could offer nothing in return but theirpany.

    Asking for more wouldn''t have been just rude, it would have also been unreasonable.

    "How is Zinya''s doing?" Elina asked after seeing Lith''s sour face. "Tell her that she''s wee to stay with us until the Kingdom rebuilds her house. I already spoke with Jirni and she told me that all the expenses are already covered."

    "About that¡­" Lith sighed deeply, making everyone worry that more bad news had yet toe.

    Once they heard about Zinya''s marriage proposal and Vastor epting it, however, they erupted in cheers and tears.

    Cheers because even after Lith had broken up with Kam, the Verhens had kept considering Zinya more than a good friend, akin to a member of their family. Tears because they had no other way to express both the joy and envy that they felt.

    "At least something good came out of this tragedy." Raaz said. "Who would have thought that Zinya would have married before Kam."

    Everyone stared at Lith, expecting him to say something.

    "What about you, dear?" Elina asked.

    "What about me?" He echoed. "Kam is still upset with me about Solus and I have no suitor at the moment. Did you already forget how Emperor Beasts who aren''t born from humans have little interest in anyone younger than 200 years old?"

    Sark had arranged a meeting between Lith and Mimeria''s daughter, but even with the charm that already having a violet core and being the first member of a new race gave to Lith, she had found him wanting.

    The same had happened with most of the Phoenixes that Sark had introduced to him. The only ones that had made their move had treated him more like a science project than as a potential partner.

    Because of that, Lith had turned them all down, having no interest in such dry and pointless rtionships.

    Everyone sighed at the memory, but Solus was the loudest.

    ''When the heck will I get my human body back?'' She thought. ''Lith has gained the violet core for a while already and I''ve spent over half a month sitting over one of the most powerful mana geysers I''ve ever found.

    ''I can feel the tower core getting stronger by the day and I with it. Yet the tower hasn''t recovered any new floor and I''m still stuck with an energy body. Am I just impatient or am I missing some key element that my artifact half needs to rebuild itself?''

    "What about giving my sister a call?" Friya asked.

    "That''splicated." Lith said to cut the conversation short and change the topic.

    ''Phloria walked out on me just like Kam did. I don''t feel confident making the first move because not only have we grown in different directions ever since the academy, but also because I''m her Awakened master.

    ''If things don''t work out between us, as long as she is my apprentice, it would make things awkward as fuck and she might be afraid of my retaliation. It''s hard having a fair rtionship with someone who holds your life in their hands.'' Lith thought.

    ''It''s the same reason why Vastor didn''t tell Kami about the card. Otherwise, we would have been in the same situation I am now with Phloria.''

    ''And you keep calling her by her moniker.'' Solus pointed out. ''That means something, no?''

    Pissed off or not, Solus only wanted Lith to be happy.

    ''Solus!''

    ''Yes?''

    ''Personal space, dammit!'' Lith scolded her.

    After a bit of quarreling with Solus, Lith exined to everyone the words that the fake Fallmug had told Zinya, making Friya shudder at the thought that the same might have happened to her.

    "I have no time for romance at the moment. I can''t risk giving that psycho more marks¡­" He said.

 Chapter 1591 - Purified Davross (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1591 - Purified Davross (Part 1)</h4>

    "How do you feel, Tista?" Lith asked.

    "Much better, thank you." She shapeshifted from her human form into the Red Demon a few times to show him that she hadpletely recovered.

    "Then we''d better get back to the Forgemasteringb. As far as I''m concerned, my vacation is over." Lith said.

    "I''ve already contacted Faluel and asked her to send Grandma a list of all the knowledge I collected in Urgamakka so that she can teach us in the case we fail to understand the key points of any technique."

    "Are you really willing to share them with me?" Friya asked.

    "Why not?" He shrugged. "Phloria and I got them together. I''m nning to share them with both Tista and Phloria as my apprentices while you would learn them anyway from Faluel.

    "Don''t forget that, aside from Protector, you are the only true disciple she has. Even if you weren''t, Phloria would surely share them with you. There''s no harm in letting you study in advance."

    Elina, Raaz, and Sark didn''t like Lith getting back to work so soon. Yet while his parents couldn''t stand the thought of their house having been vited, the Overlord realized that time was of the essence.

    ''Denying him the opportunity to benefit from my Creation Magic while such a dangerous opponent has already knocked at his door would be beyond idiotic.'' She thought. ''I won''t give him more gifts, but I''ll support Lith however I can.''

    Lith needed but a flick of his fingers to activate the Mirror Hall and Warp everyone inside the Forgemasteringb. Thanks to the geyser and to Sark''s arrays, the area of effect of all the tower''s abilities extended to the whole Heavenly Plume tribe.

    "What''s the first point on our agenda?" Tista asked.

    "Purifying the Davross while also making sure to not lose any of the Darwen it contains." Lith took a few papers out of Soluspedia and had Solus make copies of them for everyone before putting them back.

    "Together with that I got from Vastor''s Rock Worm, I should obtain enough Darwen to start crafting a few pieces at the same time and put their abilities to the test. As for the Davross, I need to make sure if it''s as underwhelming as it appears."

    During the past few weeks, Lith, Solus, and Tista had crafted several enchanted items out of the fabled metal. They had practiced making magic holding rings, swords, shields until reaching perfection, yet the final result was always disappointing.

    Impurified Davross was indeed sturdier than Adamant. It even had a better mana flow and a greater amplification rate of the enchantments, but such properties weren''t worth the trouble of finding enough Davross when Adamant was much moremon.

    "Wait, I remember that Faluel said how we need magma to melt the Darwen since it''s resistant even to Origin mes. We don''t have a volcano at hand and Xenagrosh warned us about the dangers of Origin mes destroying it." Solus said.

    "That''s why my n is to use Origin mes to melt solely the Davross while avoiding the Darwen." Lith said. "We''ll collect the solid mass, separate it from the liquid, and destroy everything else.

    "Remember what Xenagrosh said. While working with Davross, we must consider even traces of Adamant as impurities."

    Lith took the four ingots of Davross he had out of his pocket dimension along with the Yggdrasill branch. It had yet to be carved, let alone enchanted, but it still retained the ability to enhance the focus andprehension abilities of its wielder.

    ''Without Dragon Eyes, thebination of Yggdrasill wood and Eyes of Menadion is the next best thing I have. Luckily, there is no need to imprint the branch to activate its passive properties.'' Lith thought while Tista and Solus also assumed their working formation.

    Having a stronger core and more powerful Origin mes, Lith would always start first. He wore one of the Monocles of Menadion and wielded the Yggdrasill branch in his right hand while Tista wore the second Monocle.

    That way, Solus could use their collective intellect and the tower''s power core to study the purification process while also creating a perfect mind link between Tista and Lith.

    The three of them could freely share any discovery they made without the need to speak or waste time, allowing them to improve the quality of their work the moment any of them made a breakthrough.

    ''Wielding the staff still gives me a weird feeling.'' Lith thought as a sudden spark turned the mes in his mouth from violet to ck.

    It had already happened back in Urgamakka, but he had yet to find a way to replicate the phenomenon and to understand its significance. Every time he tried to breathe them out, the ck mes would return to normal, no matter how hard he tried.

    ''Aalejah said that my Tiamat''s abilities should be abination of those belonging from my single parts. Also, she said that ck Origin mes are unheard of, yet I always produced them even as a wyrmling.

    ''Back then, they reced all the bodily fluids in my body and-''

    ''Cool story, bro.'' Tista cut him short. ''Now, do you mind getting to work? I don''t want to hear about your bodily fluids. Too much information.''

    The red veins on Lith''s feathers burned bright in embarrassment as he suddenly remembered about the perfect mind link. He needed to take a few deep breaths to calm down before starting the purification process.

    He ced a hand on the ingot, using Abyssal Gaze to study and memorize the position of the different impurities.

    ''If not for the importance of the Darwen, I could easily purify the Davross simply by breathing uncontrolled Origin mes. At my level, the metal is the only thing they can''t destroy. Yet since I want my cake and eat it too, this will be a bit tricky.''

    Solus took the information from the breathing technique and used it to generate a real-time 3D hologram of the ingot''sposition. Thanks to the visual aid, Lith could more easily remember the position of all the impurities and lessen the burden on his life force.

    Then, Lith ced the ingots in the furnace, bringing them to a temperature of several hundreds of degrees that turned the metal into a white hot mass that yet refused to even melt.

    He used the technique that Xenagrosh had taught him, emitting the Origin mes slowly so that the link with his body would never be interrupted. Lith could move the mystical mes as a part of his body, making them seep through the solid metal.

    There were many impurities inside each ingot, but the silver lining was that, aside from the Darwen, Lith had no need to keep the mes from destroying the traces of silver, Orichalcum, and Adamant.

    They amounted to so little that collecting them wasn''t worth the effort. After a few seconds, the metal started to melt, passing through a heat-resistant sieve that collected the ck mass of Darwen that the molten Davross left behind.

    Lith reduced the intensity of the mes to not lose precious material, focusing more on precision than on raw power.. The violet fire gently caressed the Darwen, getting it rid of every trace of Davross still attached to it.

 Chapter 1592 - Purified Davross (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1592 - Purified Davross (Part 2)</h4>

    Once Lith was done, they had collected what looked like a bumpy piece of charcoal the size of a fist and a small metal ingot. Its surfaces absorbed the lighting from both the surface and the tower''s walls, shifting from silvery to ck as if someone was stirring it from the inside.

    "That was amazing!" Friya felt a mix of awe and envy while looking at the final results of Lith''s work. "Gods, Origin mes are a Forgemaster''s best friend. It took you less than a minute topletely separate two of the most precious metals on Mogar.

    "Why can''t Hydras have them as well?"

    Lith panted and wheezed in reply as Solus conjured a chair for him to sit. She also gave him a barrel worth of tonic that he gulped down with the help of water magic.

    "It''s not all fun and games." He said amid pants. "The processsted less than one minute, but it also drained everything I had and Invigoration can''t fix my current condition. Before moving to the second ingot, I need to rest."

    "That''s what Tista is for, no? She can work on her own." Friya shrugged.

    "Wrong." The Red Demon shook her head. "I need to wait for his recovery, otherwise the Monocle is useless. Right now, Lith can''t focus on anything and before we move on, we need to study the footage together.

    "What we can do in the meantime is to study the differences between the purified and the impurified Davross."

    Solus took the Yggdrasill branch from Lith, using their mind link to share her findings with him. Tista and Friya ced their hands on the small ingot as well, activating their respective breathing technique.

    "What the heck?" The three women said in unison.

    Invigoration revealed to them that removing the impurities had not only greatly increased the Davross''s density, further enhancing its physical properties, but it had also amplified its mana flow to the extreme.

    The whole ingot was now capable of drawing, storing, and amplifying the surrounding world energy. If before it looked like having a mana core when observed through a breathing technique, now it looked like an ingot-shaped mana core.

    The purified Davross was filled to the brim with world energy, making it hard to understand where the line between energy and mattery.

    "If purified Adamant works akin to a blue core, what is this? Because that''s nothing like a violet core." Solus blurted out in surprise.

    "What do you mean?" Friya and Tista asked in unison.

    They had no idea that Lith''s vigorous mana flow was actually due to the presence of the auxiliary cores that were now fused with his organs. To them, purified Davross looked exactly like a violet core.

    ''My guess is that''s how a white core works.'' Lith said via the mind link after taking off the Monocle. ''Too bad that because of the mes we have no idea how the metal''s mana flow improved. It could have given us some insight.''

    ''Sorry to burst your bubble, but if it was that easy, I think that all species capable of using Origin mes would have already discovered the secret of the white core.'' Solus replied.

    ''I said insight, not an instruction manual.'' Lith had recovered enough of his focus to helping Tista so after reviewing the footage together, he handed the Yggdrasill branch to her.

    It took them over four hours to purify the ingots and most of that time was actually spent on either recovering or heating the metal in the furnace. Once they were done, Lith handed a purified ingot each so that they could thoroughly study the Davross before starting the crafting process.

    "So far, the changes in its physical and magical properties don''t make the hassle of finding Davross worth its time." Friya said. She had used the time when the others rested or discussed the mes to study the ingots with her Forgemastering spells.

    "We can only hope that once enchanted it has some special abilities, otherwise I''m fine with a full set of Adamant equipment."

    "Agreed." The others replied in unison.

    Lith had decided to purify all of his ingots so that they could each craft a different piece of equipment at the same time. After all, they didn''t need anything fancy orplicated, just to study how the purified Davross reacted when imbued with different kinds of enchantments.

    Lith crafted a small dagger, Solus a magic holding ring, Tista an arm protector, and Friya a small mace. They channeled their mana through their respective creations, trying to spot any difference with regr items.

    The results were simply appalling.

    "This is junk!" Tista said in frustration. "And I''m not talking about our craftmanship because we did a poor job on purpose, I mean that they are utterly useless."

    "Well, not really." Lith activated the fire elemental property of his dagger several times before handing it to the others to observe. "The purified Davross draws world energy so quickly that it''s as if it has a breathing technique of its own.

    "As soon as you give it a moment of rest, it recharges and stabilizes the pseudo core, making it ready for use again."

    "It''s still underwhelming." Solus sighed. "I mean, between runes and magic crystals, Adamant achieves almost the same effect. Also, no battlests that long or has enough breaks to make such an ability relevant."

    "The good news is that none of us needs to find Davross." Tista said after even the Yggdrasill branch failed to reveal anything useful about the purified metal. "The bad news is that we just wasted our time."

    "I beg to differ." Sark appeared inside the tower, studying each piece of equipment and pointing out any w she spotted in the enchantments. "It''s just that your ignorance reaches such depths that darkness blinds you.

    "Just because you can''t see it doesn''t mean that the world is just an empty ce. Lith, do you mind channeling the fire aspect through your dagger? It works the same way you did with the Gatekeeper or when you enhance an elemental aspect in Spirit Magic."

    Lith did as instructed, yet nothing happened.

    "I meant while activating the enchantment." The god of Forgemasters rolled her eyes in frustration.

    This time, when Lith activated the enchantment, the de of the dagger didn''t just be red-hot, it also emitted a burst of mes from its surface whose destructive power forced everyone but its wielder to take a step back.

    The fire burned even the world energy in the air, producing such heat that Solus had to activate the tower''s defensive systems.

    When Lith tested the dagger on a dummy, the results scared him to death. The de pierced through the stone construct as if it was made of paper, leaving behind a hole the size of his arm.

    "What the fuck?" He asked.

    "Solus, be a dear and channel the air element while activating the magic holding ring." Sark said.

    The stored tier three spell became infused with the world energy that the Davross ring constantly sucked in, boosting the destructive power of a simple fireball to that of a tier four spell.

    "Tista, water element, if you please.." The Overlord didn''t wait for a reply before attacking.

 Chapter 1593 - Training Time (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1593 - Training Time (Part 1)</h4>

    Sark threw a dagger and conjured a tier one spell that the Red Demon instinctively tried to block with her newly crafted arm protector while imbuing it with the water element.

    The violent flow of mana that the Davross had umted inside the artifact created a maic field that deflected the dagger and separated the world energy from Sark''s mana, making the spell fade away.

    "Wait a second!" Friya had already understood what was happening, coating her mace in mes like Lith first and then with a powerful barrier akin to Tista. "This is exactly what Quy told me happened with the Balor."

    "What are you talking about?" The others said in unison.

    She told them everything that Quy had witnessed during the mission in Ajatar''s turf and about her sister''s theory about the real nature of the Guardian bloodlines'' abilities.

    "Your sister is truly brilliant if she managed to guess so much from just a glimpse of an imperfect power." Sark said while also telepathically ordering Sinmara to investigate Quy as well.

    "Are you telling us that she''s right?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "I wouldn''t go that far." The Overlord chuckled. "Quy has simply understood that the difference between the world energy and Spirit Magic is paper thin. Think about it.

    "You already know about how to manifest elemental aspects in your mana and in white crystals. Davross is the apex of metal so why should it be any different?"

    Lith experimented with his dagger, noticing that once infused with the water aspect, it worked exactly like Thrud''s Arthan''s Armor. It deflected physical attacks and disrupted iing enemy spells.

    Yet due to its small surface, the chaotic mana flow it produced was so little that the slightest mistake would make the conjured barrier pointless. On top of that, using a weapon to block a spell meant being incapable of both dodging and stopping physical attacks.

    "Let me get this straight." Solus said after pacing around theb while holding the Yggdrasill branch. "Any enchanted piece of purified Davross not only has an almost inexhaustible flow of world energy, but it can also manifest the power of all elements and produce a lesser version of Guardian bloodlines'' skills?"

    "Almost correct." Sark disarmed Friya, using the stolen mace to attack Lith.

    He instinctively blocked with the dagger, but the heavier and bulkier mace broke the thin de.

    "Why did you do that?" Lith asked while looking at the Guardian as if she had gone crazy.

    Then, the broken de turned into a liquid metal that reattached itself to the dagger, restoring its form without losing the enchantment.

    "What the fuck?" Everyone but Sark blurted out in surprise.

    "That''s why, Featherling. Davross is not sentient, but ites incredibly close to it. Like crystals, it has a memory, and once enchanted, it remembers its shape. Yet everythinges to a price. Examine your dagger with Abyssal Gaze and you''ll see the tag." She said.

    Lith cursed again, sounding like a broken record. After using the elemental aspects several times, activating the enchantment, and now the metal self-repairing ability, the Davross had lost part of its energy flow.

    On top of that, Lith could feel that the metal had be more brittle, degrading almost to purified Adamant.

    "Is this effect permanent?" He asked.

    "Of course not." Sark shook her head. "It works exactly like your body. Each time you use Invigoration, it loses part of its effectiveness. In the Davross'' case, it also weakens it until it bes no better than ss.

    "Give it some time and the dagger will recover its strength."

    "But we used barely a few spells and only of a low tier at that." Tista said.

    "Indeed, just like you made crude objects with no runes nor magic crystals." The Guardian replied. "Without them, the Davross has to withstand the full strain of such powerful abilities by itself.

    "Magic is no miracle. Even when a house is built with the best materials, if the supporting pirs are badly ced the building will copse. Didn''t you wonder why the Sword of Saefel has so many runes and so many white gemstones?

    "It''s because without them it would take but a couple of swings to turn a Guardian artifact into scrap metal. Davross is powerful, not all-powerful."

    "Grandma, something is off. In one of Solus''s memories of her mother, Menadion said that bringing an elemental aspect out of a white crystal was a difficult task even for her yet we all managed to do it on the first try with the Davross.

    "Is it because of our modern Forgemastering techniques?" Lith asked.

    "You are dead wrong." Sark replied. "The answer is much simpler. You didn''t enhance the elemental aspect of the Davross, but of your own spell. It was easy because the enchantment was tier one and thanks to your imprint.

    "White crystals cannot be imprinted, which makes them harder to manipte, just like high tiered enchantments. Give one of those things a power core and manipting a white crystal will be child''s y inparison."

    "Which means that the real power of the purified Davross is to allow its master to draw upon the elemental aspects of the spells it is enchanted with by manipting the flow of world energy it provides!" Solus said.

    "Correct, but only one at a time. Davross is not Spirit Magic nor does it use your own mana. The resistance that the world energy offer is so great that, just like white crystals, the Davross can enhance only one element at a time.

    "Unlike the white crystals, however, you can switch the element at will." Sark threw to each one of them a white gemstone the size of an apple.

    "Grandma, you shouldn''t have. This is a wonderful gift." Lith said while looking at it with the greed of a true Dragon.

    "I know, that''s why I didn''t. That''s no gift, I''m just lending them to you." A snap of the Overlord''s fingers reverted the magical items into Davross ingots, also cleansing them from the magical imprint.

    Lith''s smile turned upside down while his eyes became watery from the pain that such cruel words inflicted upon his wallet.

    "This way, you don''t have to cut the Eye of Kolga until you are ready. Also, your personal crystal mine will keep growing at top speed until you decide to craft something worth your while. I''m helping you big time, you ungrateful runt." Sark poked his chest in outrage.

    "I''m sorry, Grandma. Thanks for your kindness." His sour face and constant sighing didn''t match his words at all. "What am I supposed to do with a borrowed crystal?"

    "You guys have to use them to practice bringing out the elemental aspects. If you don''t master all six of them, you''ll never be able to create a Spirit Crystal for your golems.

    "Also, you can''t craft the Sage Staff or anything from the Davross you have unless you learn how to create Elemental Crystals, correct?" The Guardian said.

    "Correct." Lith had to admit that she was right.

    All of his big projects involved the use of Elemental Crystals, yet he was still at square one.

    "My advice is to practice with the white crystals until you are sick of them.. After that, start studying the Forgemastering techniques you found back in Urgamakka."

 Chapter 1594 - Training Time (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1594 - Training Time (Part 2)</h4>

    "Call me only if there''s something you guys can''t figure out on your own. I''m very busy and I was supposed to be dealing with my Country instead of teaching you guys." Sark Warped away while waving them goodbye.

    "You heard the boss. Let''s get to work." Lith gave his Monocle to Friya, keeping the branch for himself.

    He and Solus naturally had a perfect mind link so she could constantly ry to him any progress the others would make. On top of that, she had her own body, allowing her to practice as well.

    "I thought this was supposed to be a vacation." Friya whined as the white crystal in her hands remained white, no matter how much mana she poured into it.

    "Wee into my world." Tista grumbled.

    ***

    Jiera continent, Zagran''s turf.

    "I thought this was supposed to be a vacation." Scarlett the Sekhmet whined while lying sprawled on the ground.

    After turning into a Guardian, even though her body was still that of a feline whose height at the wither reached over 30 meters (100 feet), her prized red fur had turned into scales as thick as a shield.

    The Sekhmet had two sets of wings, one membranous and the other feathered that she didn''t have back when she had been a Scorpicore.

    Her muzzle was a fiery te that hid her mouth and left only her two sets of eyes visible. The once soft mane had turned into a ring of white mes, scorching the ground below her whenever Scarlett lost control of her emotions.

    The only part of her body that hadn''t undergone changes was the scorpion tail that came out of her back. If one ignored the fact that now it was the size of a train, of course.

    "ording to my standards, this is a vacation." The Garuda said while lifting her fellow Guardian by the scruff with just one hand despite the fact that they were about the same size.

    Zagran''s real body was that of a gigantic female humanoid about 50 meters (164 feet) tall with three sets of wings on its back, and talons instead of hands and feet. Her blue feathered limbs acted as support wings, allowing her to feel and adjust the slight air current.

    Aside from the plumes that came out of her scalp instead of hair, forming seven colored tresses, and from two small wings that came out from the back of her head, the Garuda''s face was no different from that of a woman.

    A woman with cold blue eyes that shone with a savage light.

    "You have spent too long inside Leegaain''sir. You need to learn how to cut off Mogar''s voice from your head, how to ignore the calls of those who require your attention, and most importantly, you need to learn how a Guardian fights.

    "Otherwise an ancient Eldritch if not even a couple of white cored Awakened could kill you. No matter how powerful you are, if you don''t know how to use your new body, you are barely better than a violet core."

    After humankind had spread a gue that had annihted the non-Awakened human race on Jiera, its poption had struck an all-time low. It was the perfect ce for the newborn Guardian to master her abilities without going insane.

    "I know that you are right, but why do I have to do all those things at the same time? Baby steps for a baby Guardian?" Scarlett deeply regretted having left Leegaain''sir.

    Sure, the Lord of Wisdom would share with her boring anecdotes until her ears bled, he would drag her in hisb, forcing the Sekhmet to work as his assistant with the excuse of teaching her Guardian tier magic, but at least she could always m the door in Leegaain''s face whenever she was sick of him.

    Leegaain was an annoying chatterbox, but at least he respected Scarlett''s privacy.

    Zagran, instead, would barge into her room at any time and deck her whenever they had an argument. The Lord of Might had Scarlett fight for everything, from the right to eat to have the privilege to sleep five more minutes.

    "Where''s the fun in that?" The Garuda replied with a smile.

    "Remind me why I couldn''t learn all of this stuff from Sark." Scarlett remained still. After one beating too many, she had learned that Zagran wouldn''t hit a fallen opponent.

    "Because Sark is the Lord of War. She doesn''t fight, she conquers. Her specialty is killing while mine is battling." The Garuda said with pride as the silver bolts of lightning from Life Maelstrom painted her blue feathers white.

    "She is the to-go person when you need to learn strategy and resources management whereas I''m teaching you self-control and discipline. Without them, controlling the side effects of Guardianhood is a dramatic process."

    "Meaning?" Scarlett asked.

    "It involves being driven insane by the voices, then bing a living natural disaster as you do what you think will make them stop, andstly getting your shit together before returning sane again." Zagran said.

    "Is that what happened to you?"

    "To me and to most of the Guardians. Why do you think we have now this little support system in ce now?" The Garuda shrugged.

    Scarlett had spent thest few months inside Leegaain''sir, where the Lord of Wisdom had exined to her everything about her condition and taught her how to control her powers.

    At least in theory.

    The biome she had lived in had only as much world energy as Leegaain allowed to and waspletely cut off from Mogar, reducing the voices in her head to utter silence.

    The moment the Sekhmet stepped out of it, however, both the power and the noise overwhelmed her. It was the reason why she had been sent to Jiera. Zagran had even moved to an unpopted area to make things easier for Scarlett.

    "I''d say that we are done for today. Let''s have some dinner." The Garuda took flight, preferring to exercise rather than Warping.

    "I still don''t get this." The Sekhmet pped her wings and the simple gesture conjured twin hurricanes that ravaged the area they had just left for a few seconds before dissipating. "Why are both you and Leegaain so stubborn about making me sleep and drink?

    "I don''t need to do either of those things anymore."

    "Your control still sucks." Zagran pointed at the devastation that Scarlett had caused on the wastnd.

    "Do that in a popted area and hundreds will die. As for your question, keeping the same routine of when you were an Emperor Beast will help you to keep your sanity until you find your own way to cope with your condition as a Guardian."

    "Meaning?"

    "Kid, Guardians are the closest thing to immortals. We don''t age, don''t get ill, and it takes so much to kill us that aside from another Guardian, none can match our power alone." The Garuda said.

    "Yet immortality doesn''t mean to never die. It means to see everyone else die. You are still young, but soon you''ll realize that your children, lovers, and friends are nothing but specks of dust.

    "That people''s livesst barely the space it takes you to blink. At that point, most of us detach themselves from the rest of Mogar, considering anyone but Guardians and white cored like passing shadows.

    "Yet even though those people might seem irrelevant to you, they are not."

 Chapter 1595 - Waves And Ripples (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1595 - Waves And Ripples (Part 1)</h4>

    "The voices remind us of our purpose just like eating and sleeping allow you to keep track of time and remember about your origin. Without them, in a few centuries, your mind would turn into a broken mess, just like it happens to Liches."

    By the time the Guardian of Might was done talking, they had arrived at their current residence. Yet while Zagran gently shapeshifted before hernding, touching the ground with the grace of the flying squirrel she once was, Scarlett plummeted like a brick.

    She fell head first, opening a small crater on impact.

    Zagran''sir looked like a Greek temple from the outside. It was a simple rectangr stone building with a sloped roof and protruding side walls. The inside, however, was much bigger.

    The building had been decorated akin to a noble household that extended for hundreds of meters and had multiple floors. Even the entrance was filled with high-end furniture from all past eras of Mogar.

    Each one of them had been engraved or iid with decorations that depicted the story of the Guardian of Might, including her brief time as the ruler of the entire Jiera continent.

    In her human form, Zagran looked like a bulky woman in her mid-twenties, over 1.8 meters (6'') tall, with shoulder-length blue hair, brown skin, and purple eyes. Zagran usually wore shoeless monk''s clothes, but to honor hertest guest and apprentice she had reced them with afortable adventurer''s set.

    It consisted of a saberist leather jerkin over a fine linen shirt, brown pants, and leather shoes.

    The butler offered to each one of them a flower-scented towel soaked in warm water to clean both their faces and hands from the dirt of their recent battle. The man was actually an Awakened and was dressed like a warrior, not as a servant.

    His steel gaze and the long sword hung to his back made his expression unsettling rather than weing, but Zagran didn''t seem to notice. She was one of the few Guardians that still took in disciples and the butler was one of them.

    Scarlett was in her human form as well. She felt embarrassed noticing how only her towel had turned brown whereas Zagran''s was still snow-white.

    "I don''t get it. Why the servants?" She asked.

    "Not servants, apprentices. They want to be stronger and maybe reach the white core while I need to remain sane. It''s a win-win." The Garuda replied.

    "Do you really know the secret of the white core?" Scarlett had already tried asking Leegaain, but he had refused to share it with her until she got ustomed to her new condition.

    "Yes, but I don''t just teach it to anyone. I guide my disciples during their training and offer them my insight. The rest is up to them. I''ve met enough Awakened who reached that level to understand the danger that such knowledge poses to any living creature, even to a Guardian." Zagran said with a nod.

    "Danger?" The Sekhmet echoed.

    "Yes. The voices in our heads aren''t a cruel leash that Mogar burdens us with to keep us in line. They are the means we have to find those who really need us and to spot the danger before it esctes to the point of being dangerous to the bnce.

    "Eldritches, white cores, and Guardians are very simr between them, that''s what makes us so powerful. Eldritches are the rulers of death, yet being cut off from the world energy there is a cap to the power they can reach.

    "White cored individuals, instead, are one with the world energy but are cut off from Mogar''s will. When an Awakened reaches the white core, their will bes so strong that they can ignore the''s needs, yet it caps their powers as well.

    "Without Mogar''s aid and guidance, however, they be living natural disasters prone to madness. All the white cored Awakened before Baba Yaga either killed themselves or were put down by us."

    "At this point, you should have understood that Guardians are one with both the world energy and the will of Mogar. The only limit to our power is the amount of effort we put into developing our abilities." Zagran said.

    "I never heard from Mogar ever since I became a Guardian." Scarlett said in confusion.

    "And you should be grateful for that. It means that there''s still no reason for you to intervene. Mogar doesn''t boss us around, they expect us to do our stuff. They call us only when something big is going on, but we can contact them at any time." The Garuda replied.

    ''Mogar?'' Scarlett closed her eyes, calling upon the conscience of the just out of curiosity.

    ''What do you want?'' They replied as their vast consciousness flooded the Sekhmet''s mind, allowing her to catch a glimpse of all the major events on Mogar and the ns that the entity had for their Guardians.

    The mind link was different from anything Scarlett had ever experienced. It wasn''t just a passing of thoughts, but a sharing of essences. Her mind and memories fused with those of Mogar to the point of bing one.

    The experience frightened the newborn Guardian. Her conscience wasn''t just her own anymore and, in a way, even her body.

    Something that Lith called Monday from the day he had found Solus.

    ''Nothing. Sorry to bother you.'' Scarlett closed the mind link in a rush, returning to be the sole ruler of her own mind.

    "That''s what I meant with danger." Zagran resumed talking as if she could read every thought and fear that was passing through Scarlett''s brain. "The voices, Mogar''s influence on our mind, are all things that white cored Awakened don''t have to worry about.

    "Sooner orter, all Guardians go through a phase when they want to get rid of them forever and be their own person. Then they grow out of it and thank themselves for not doing something so stupid."

    "It doesn''t seem stupid to me." The Sekhmet sat at the dinner table, still shivering from the shock.

    "Yet it is." The Garuda ordered the waiters to bring the appetizers. "Think about it. Why did you be a Guardian? To be stronger or to live forever?"

    "No. Otherwise I would have either joined my friend Ka in her quest for Lichhood or I would have researched the secret of the white core." Scarlett shook her head. "I did it because I wanted to give those poor children justice.

    "To keep monstrosities like those that Balkor and Xedros did from happening again."

    "My point exactly." Zagran nodded. "All Guardians have an ideal that they strive to uphold, but not for personal gratification. We do it because it''s a part of us that we want to share with others, something that even Mogar agrees on.

    "The isn''t our master, it just gives us the means to do what we want and helps us to never forget the reason why we gained our powers in the first ce. White cores, instead, are still egotistical creatures.

    "Take Baba Yaga, for example. Just like you, she loves children above everything. Unlike you, however, she now focuses solely on her own¡­ She doesn''t care about the kids of humans, Emperor Beasts, or of any other race but the undead.

 Chapter 1596 - Waves And Ripples (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1596 - Waves And Ripples (Part 2)</h4>

    "That''s not because Baba Yaga has lost her original drive, but because it''s in the nature of non-Guardians to put themselves before others." Zagran said.

    "Wait, aren''t you the Guardian of Might? You spend your whole time training and fighting. What exactly do you do for others?" Scarlett asked.

    "You could say the same of all Guardians."

    "Do you see any of them going around and helping people like the heroes of the bards'' tales? No. What we do is to inspire others and provide them with what they need to achieve their potential." Zagran replied.

    "Okay, now you lost me." The Sekhmet at first had been annoyed by her host''s riddles and at the idea of wasting precious time eating.

    Yet the food that the chefs had prepared was delicious and the more she ate, the better she felt. Even the voices in her head became muffled until Scarlett could barely hear a white noise.

    "Tyris helped Lochra Silverwing to share her knowledge, bringing a golden era for magic. Leegaain taught people like Milea, who didn''t use their powers to rule, but to be chosen as rulers.

    "Back when the Gorgon Empire was gued by the ve cors, it was I who made sure that the mage with the wits to build a device that could free the enved mages ended up serving the idiotic warmonger that ordered her to create the spell that is now known as Clean te."

    Zagran referred to the Forgemaster that by following his master''s orders had crafted an artifact capable of disabling other artifacts, ve cors included. It had been only thanks to her that mages had stopped being ves and the Gorgon Empire had be the most advanced magical power on Garlen.

    "What?" Scarlett dropped her dumpling in amazement.

    "We Guardians are not heroes. We don''t go around saving people randomly. We are the ones who set the domino tiles so that the right person can trigger the change." Zagran conjured a hologram that showed her fellow Guardian the ripple effect that Silverwing, Milea, and the nameless Forgemaster''s actions had triggered.

    One person in the right ce and with the right mind had changed the lives of billions of people.

    "Back then, I intervened because without free will there is no self-improving. ve cors go against everything I stand for and whenever someone starts mass producing them, I make sure that''s thest mistake they make." The Garuda said in outrage as her skin turned silver due to the Life Maelstrom she released.

    "That''s why you and Sark don''t like each other!" Scarlett pondered those words. "She believes in absolute unity whereas you strive for absolute individuality."

    "Correct." Zagran nodded. "While she tries to keep all of her children in her nest and teaches them her ways, I kick mine out of this house as soon as they learn the basics so that they can found their own path.

    "Sark rules her turf with an iron fist whereas I let people do what they think best."

    "How did that pan out?" The Sekhmet said with a sneer.

    "ording to my children, I''m a horrible mother. They want me to give theming of age gifts like Leegaain, or at least to allow them to stay here as long as they want and learn from me by imitation, like Sark.

    "I, instead, think that there''s no teacher like necessity and hard work. As for my turf, before the gue, it was split in dozens of small countries eternally at war between them."

    "So you are a horrible ruler as well. The food is good, though." Scarlett said moving to a juicy steak.

    "I''m no ruler." Zagran snarled. "If people abuse their freedom, is none of my business. They are all adults who either ignore their responsibilities or fail to keep in check those they have chosen to make important decisions in their stead.

    "What''s the point in free will if it has no consequences?" She showed another hologram depicting how all those too weak or stupid to survive had been wiped out by the gue.

    The survivors of Jiera depicted in the images were slowly and painfully learning to put aside their differences, be them about their respective races, homnds, and personal beliefs.

    At the same time, the people living in the other continents of Mogar had destroyed all their own so-called "deterrent weapons". After seeing what happened when a single idiot pulled the trigger, the people had started to fear their politicians more than the enemies.

    "Ripple effect, huh?" Scarlett said, obtaining a nod in reply.

    "Onest question before going to bed." Suddenly, the huge responsibility weighing on her shoulders gave the Sekhmet a massive headache, making even the voices feel like a pleasant distraction.

    "If white cores are cut off from Mogar''s will, then why do they get summoned as well during tribtions? What''s the point in showing them important events if Mogar has no control over them?"

    "Because white cored people are still engrained in the world energy. They are the apex of their race and the closest thing to a Guardian that a living being can be. In a way, you can consider their potential akin to that of a whole raceprised by a single person." The Garuda said.

    "White cored people are usually individuals that cause one of the ripples or that develop their skills because of it, making the change reverberate through time without stopping. Even those who achieve their white core simply due to their outstanding talent, like Baba Yaga, can produce a ripple just like Guardians do.

    "She altered the bnce of Mogar by creating the undead race, recing those too weak or conceited in the natural order of things. Mogar summons the white cores during important tribtions to let them know that a change is about to happen.

    "The light pirs that appear every time an Eldritch, a new race, or a tribtion happens aren''t just a light show, but the milestone of a new power. It''s the duty of the old ones to adapt or be reced. No one is indispensable."

    "A raceprised of a single person? Isn''t that exactly what Lith is now?" Scarlett replied.

    "No, it''s different. Lith is the name that he received from his human mother while Tiamat is that Mogar bestowed upon him. He will spawn Demons just like you will spawn Sekhmets. You two will be able to pass down your powers to your respective heirs.

    "A white cored individual, instead, is someone who has reached a state of individual evolution due to achieving enlightenment. Their powers and abilities are not passed down to their offspring.

    "This and the fact that a white core cannot be influenced by Mogar is the reason why they don''t receive a pir." Zagran said.

    "I''m sorry, but your exnation doesn''t apply to the white cored Lich. What ripple can possibly cause someone like Aylen who spends centuries holed up in herb?" The Sekhmet felt drowsy, but her curiosity was stronger.

    "Do you know that she''s the Maker of all Liches?" The Garuda said while dismissing the waiters and pouring Scarlett a ss of Red Dragon.

    "Maker?" She echoed.

    "Her children aren''t born as Liches because reaching such state requires a mana crystal, but they are still born as hybrids whose mana core can freely turn into a blood core and back, making it easy to split¡­" Zagran replied.

 Chapter 1597 - Back And Forth (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1597 - Back And Forth (Part 1)</h4>

    "On top of that, Aylen was the first to be a Lich after the fall of the Odi race and the one who spread the secret to achieve Lichhood in the magicalmunity. All the Liches on Mogar are her indirect creation. Their existence is just the result of a ripple that Aylen caused."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, a few dayster.

    Whenever Lith wasn''t practicing with the white crystals or his Origin mes, he kept in contact with the White Griffon and with Xenagrosh. The former kept him informed on the investigation about the copycat, while thetter was mostly a social call.

    Lith was deeply grateful for what Tezka had done for Aran and Leria. He wanted to get to know better the Abomination members of his odd extended family and was eager to meet Sinmara again.

    "You are the one in the Blood Desert. Why do you ask me what Sinmara is doing instead of talking with her yourself?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "Because you are the only one with her contact rune. Grandma always contacts her with a mind link and Sinmara is so busy that I didn''t meet her once during my stay in the pce." Lith replied.

    "So, Sark is Grandma and I''m just Xenagrosh?" She pouted.

    "No offense, but I met you what? Thrice? Isn''t it a bit early for monikers?"

    "Four times, actually. At the Council, during Night''s attack, for your birthday, and at Sinmara''s ce!" The Shadow Dragon said.

    "I don''t really count the second time because we didn''t exchange a single word. You arrived and left like the wind." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment.

    "Point taken." Xenagrosh sighed. "If you feel awkward calling me big sis, you can at least call me Zoreth, like all my friends do."

    "What does that mean?"

    "It''s my real name." She chuckled. "The one I was born with."

    "Okay, Zoreth. Let me know if I can do anything to help you prepare something special for the Master''s wedding." Lith''s words put a big smile on her face.

    "What about a few Camellias? I heard they are quite the rage in the Kingdom. A lot of people want them but- Too soon?" Xenagrosh said after his face twisted into a grimace of bitterness.

    "Too soon, sorry."

    "No problem, I''ll think about something else. Zoreth out."

    Lith put themunication amulet away with a sigh. He turned around, finding Solus''s face floating just millimeters away from his own in what was supposed to look like an angry pose.

    "Can we please stop working? Just for one day? This was supposed to be a vacation!" Her foot tapped the air, yet it produced a noise that reverberated throughout the tower.

    She stood straight as an arrow with her arms crossed and puffed-out cheeks, looking simply adorable to his eyes. The more time they passed together over the mana geyser, the more Solus recovered her delicate features that along with her diminutive stature made her too cute to be intimidating.

    "This is a vacation." Lith couldn''t help but hug and cuddle her as if she was a puppy. "If spend our days doing nothing but the things we like."

    "No, we spend our days doing nothing but the things you like!" Solus''s voice lost its edge as her body rxed against her will and she returned the embrace.

    "Between the desert''s heat and working inside the Forge, I don''t think I''ve ever sweated so much my whole life." Friya said. "I didn''t escape Dad''s house arrest just to end up in yours!"

    "This isn''t really helping our case, Solus." Tista wanted to throw her white crystal against the ground in frustration, but she remembered Sark''s warning about not breaking her stuff. "Stand your ground. You are the only one Lith listens to."

    "You wish." Solus sighed. "You know what, I''m done arguing with you. I''ll Warp Dad here and then he''ll do the rest."

    "Gods, no! Please, don''t." Tista shook Solus with such a frightened voice that it gave Friya the creeps.

    "Is really Raaz so terrible or do you just don''t like involving him in your siblings'' quarrels?" Friya asked.

    "It''s a family secret, sorry." The Red Demon shuddered before turning to Solus again. "Do you remember what happened thest time."

    Solus''s eyes went wide open as the images that those words conjured in her mind. During one of their previous fights, Solus had summoned Raaz to them without first contacting him on hismunication amulet.

    Raaz had appeared in a sitting position, with a reddened face twisted from the effort, and his pants down. He even relieved his bowels a bit before noticing that something was wrong with the restroom.

    "Gods, I will never be able to unsee that." Solus and the rest of the tower turned to a bright shade of purple.

    "There''s no need for ultimatums." A shiver ran down Lith''s spine as well at the memory. "Just tell me what you want to do. I''m all ears."

    Solus pondered a bit before realizing she had no idea how to spend her free time. They had already visited the Heavenly Plume many times, moved to several different oases to sightsee the natural beauty of the Desert, and spent a lot of time with the family.

    Once she had craved for a physical form and somepany so much that even spending a single day with her friends or with Lith filled her with joy, but now she found the idea boring.

    Ever since they had moved in the Desert, she had turned back into a ring only when they had gone visiting Sinmara. Before the incident with Tista, she had enough free time to write off her wishlist everything she wanted to do with Lith and his family.

    "I have a list of things I was nning for your birthday." Lith said after a long awkward silence. "Feel free to check it and tell me if there''s something that you''d rather do now."

    "Are you really preparing a birthday party for me?" Solus froze up to her floating hair from the surprise. "But I don''t even remember when I was born."

    "Well, I found you just a few days before my birthday, but there''s no point in celebrating the event since you were still unconscious. We had our first real meeting after I killed that boar, remember?" Lith said.

    "Of course I remember." Solus nodded. "You wanted to make some extra money for the uing Spring Festival and-"

    Only then did she check the calendar and noticed that the date was close. Solus had an eidetic memory but with everything that had happened, she had forgotten about the anniversary of her awakening.

    "You always wanted to be part of my family and now you do. This is the first time since you have regained your sentience that you have a body and no need to hide from others." Lith handed her the list.

    "I wouldn''t let you miss this opportunity for the world. On top of that, thanks to Grandma, we spend enough time away from each other that I had the opportunity to n everything ahead without you noticing."

    "Did you really invite Nyka as well?" Solus read the Vampire''s name on the guest list.

 Chapter 1598 - Back And Forth (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1598 - Back And Forth (Part 2)</h4>

    "She is the first friend you made after Tista so yes. I already talked to Mom and Dad and even though they are not really okay with the idea of us hanging out with an undead they agreed to it.

    "As you can see, I''ve listed all the activities that I know you would enjoy." Lith said.

    Solus noticed that he had organized a visit to the Eclipsed Lands to pick up Nyka and meet Ka again, to watch her favorite movies, to throw her a party, and many other things.

    Solus''s eyes veiled with tears, moved at the thought that despite his chaotic life, the very little free time he had due to his magical research, and the recent terrible events Lith had never forgotten about their anniversary.

    On top of that, he had put a lot of thought to turn what until a year back had been just a private event into a party to share with all the important people in her life.

    "Would you guys really do all of this? For me?"

    "We already prepared everything, silly girl." Elina said while walking inside the room along with Raaz, Rena, and Senton.

    Lith had called her via themunication amulet before opening the Warp steps, to avoid embarrassing situations.

    "You are now part of this family, Solus." Raaz hugged her, gently caressing her head. "The day you came into Lith''s life it''s also the day you came into ours. You have worked so hard from the shadows to make our life better without even receiving so much as a thank you.

    "Even if you asked me to go to the moon for your birthday, I would do it because you deserve it and so much more. This is not just our opportunity to celebrate youring, but also to show you how much you mean to us."

    "Thank you so much, Dad." Solus sniffled while returning the embrace.

    "So, he is Dad and I''m just Elina? You are being unfair." Elina took Solus in her arms and kissed her forehead. Her voice and her words didn''t match, holding only motherly warmth.

    "I''m sorry, Elina. Even though I have only one memory of Mom, it is very precious to me. Threin, instead-" A sudden sh appeared in front of her eyes, cutting her short.

    She saw a young version of herself that couldn''t be older than four years, holding a brush. She was sitting on thep of a lean man in histe twenties, about 1.6 meters (5''3") tall.

    He had green eyes, long light brown hair in a ponytail, and a nose a bit long. He was wearing a worn-out shirt and pants, both covered in stains of paint old and new. Solus could see the child trying to color the spaces inside the ck lines of a drawing that the man had prepared for her.

    Yet the little girl was so clumsy that, when she was done painting them, trees looked like broli, flowers looked like stains, and even the sun looked as if someone had smeared an egg yolk on the canvas.

    "You are a better artist than papa, Epphy." Threin said while guiding her hand to the best of his abilities. "We must hang this in Mom''s workshop so she will never forget what the sun looks like."

    "Really?" Baby Solus puffed her chest out with pride while watching her masterpiece.

    "Daddy is a professional, so you can trust my word. If you ever get bored of magic, you''ll make into a great artist." Threin turned her around to watch Solus in the eyes and she used the opportunity to dip the brush in the palette and paint his lips red as if it was make-up.

    "What are you doing, darling?" He said doing his best to bear the pungent smell tormenting his nose and the sting of the solvents on his skin.

    "I''m making you pretty for Mom." Baby Solus said with a serious face as she dipped the brush again, adding a bit of white to Threin''s cheeks.

    "For what reason?" He asked.

    "Mom always makes herself pretty for you. It''s only fair for you to do the same." She replied.

    "You are right." Threinughed, letting her make a mess of his face and clothes.

    Then, the memory faded as fast as it had arrived and Solus''s eyes filled with tears.

    "Are you alright?" Lith asked, feeling her sudden emotional turmoil.

    Before she could reply, the tower started to hum with power. It drew in the sand from its surroundings along with the world energying from the mana geyser below. There was a reason why a skilled Forgemaster like Menadion had made most of her best works out ofmon materials.

    This way, there was no need to hoard tons of magical metals in the case they needed repairs or if they had to fit a wearer the size of the Dragon. The tower could just take the mass itcked from the raw materials avable and flood them with world energy.

    This way, the enchantments of the power core could spread through the new parts without encountering any resistance and assimte them for as long as it was necessary.

    The tower grew in size both inside and outside, absorbing so much sand that part of Sark''s pce sunk of a few centimeterspared to the rest, making it tilt. The tower had doubled its diameter, reaching over 20 meters (67 feet), and had also gained two floors, making it over 15 meters (50 feet) high.

    The third and the fourth floors had beenpletely restored, yet there was still no trace of the roof that was reced by the debris of the sixth floor.

    Once everything was over, Lith and Solus copsed to the ground, panting heavily in exhaustion.

    Lith because the power core had taken from him the energy itcked for the final push while Solus because the regeneration process had temporarily drained the tower of most of its power.

    With her cracked core and crippled life force, she needed huge amounts of energy to keep her physical form. Now that Lith and the tower were both debilitated, she needed sheer willpower to not fade away.

    Her energy body became a blurred mass of light, losing her features and letting her clothes fall down to the ground.

    Lith and Solus had never been there when new floors had been restored. They had alwayse back to the tower after it had all the time it needed to stabilize its power core.

    "What the heck just happened?" Elina rushed to Lith''s side while Raaz tried to help Solus to stand up, just to discover that her bodycked any substance.

    "I think I just got my deep blue core." Solus replied. "The problem is that being inside the tower, my recovery also triggered my other half''s breakthrough, doubling the strain we experienced."

    "You don''t look stronger. Quite the contrary." Raaz said as his hand kept going through her body as if she was a ghost.

    "That''s how breakthroughs work." Lith didn''t even try to get up, lying on the floor to save as much energy as he could¡­ "They make you feel like crap until you rest long enough to recover your strength.

 Chapter 1599 - Four Floors (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1599 - Four Floors (Part 1)</h4>

    "Luckily for Solus, between my presence and the mana geyser it shouldn''t take long before she regains her strength." Lith said.

    "Then you should let your body fade, dear. It''s of no use for you as it is." Elina said while pointing at the clothesying on the floor.

    Only then did Solus realize that she was stark naked and that the moment her form stabilized, she wouldn''t be just a blurred figure anymore.

    She turned into a beet red wisp of light the moment before Sark Warped in.

    "You gave me a scare, Featherling. For a moment I thought that someone had found a way to attack my pce from the inside." She said.

    "Grandma, can you help her?" Lith asked after Abyssal Gaze failed to restore both his and Solus''s strength.

    "No. It''s better not to mess with the tower while it''s at its weakest. You are in no danger here and Solus just needs a bit of time. Recovering four floors at once put a great burden on the power core and on your mana cores.

    "Any external help might make things worse rather than better." The Guardian said.

    "Four?" Lith and Solus said in unison.

    The adrenaline rush made them feel great for almost one second before the effort to stand up almost made them faint.

    "Two above and two below." Sark evened the sand level that sustained the pce and raised its columns, making space for the tower''s third and fourth floor.

    "I''d take a nap if I were you. Turning so manymon materials into enchanted stone and then rearranging the matter inside the tower''s rooms so that they be an extension of the power core will take a while.

    "The mana geyser is providing you all the world energy you need, but the process requires finesse more than raw power."

    The tower rumbled one more time as if it was agreeing with the Guardian.

    "Do you want somepany, dear?" Elina asked.

    "For a nap? No, thanks. I''ll call you as soon as I wake up." Lith replied, losing consciousness the moment he closed his eyes.

    When a few hourster he opened them up, Lith noticed that the tower had not only grown taller, but also wider and more powerful.

    The lobby was twice asrge as he remembered it and each one of the rectangr stones in the walls had such a powerful mana flow that it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

    "Solus?" Lith could have used more rest, but curiosity took the better of him.

    "I''m right here." Her voice sounded utterly disappointed. "I hoped that once I got a deep blue core, I would also get my real body back, but I was wrong! The tower may have grown stronger but nothing changed for me."

    She had now regained her energy body and it was solid enough to wear clothes, yet there was no improvement. She looked the same as before the breakthrough.

    "I''m sorry, Solus." Lith would have liked to tell her that maybe she just needed a bit more time.

    That maybe herck of progress was due to the huge strain that her mana core and the tower having a breakthrough at the same time had put on Solus, but he didn''t want to give her false hope.

    "Don''t worry, I''m fine. Really." She replied with a deep sigh.

    That along with her slouching shoulders didn''t make her sound convincing at all.

    "The silver lining in this situation is that I have recovered one memory of my father."

    "Do you want to show it to me?" Lith asked.

    "I''d rather wait for the others. I don''t know if I have the strength to watch it more than once." She said with a pained voice before rushing to change the topic. "Also, I have gained full awareness of the purpose of the new floors."

    "That''s a relief." Lith said, pretending to not have noticed her distress. "After all the problems we are having with mastering the Eyes and the Hands of Menadion, I was starting to worry that your ess to the tower''s records was iplete."

    "No, recovering a floor and mimicking one of the artifacts of Menadion''s set are twopletely different matters." Solus shook her head. "I recover a floor as soon as the tower can sustain its effects, hence I also regain all the memories rted to their use.

    "The artifacts of Menadion, instead, require not only the energy from the mana geyser, but also the information contained in the power core. That means that we are currently using just a fraction of their abilities.

    "I don''t remember their properties not because there is no data about them, but because until the power core doesn''t recover enough to exert their full power, the information about Menadion''s artifacts will remain sealed.

    "Now let''s call the others. This way, I can give you all a tour of the new floors at the same time, without the need to exin the same things over and over again."

    While waiting, Lith stepped outside the tower to observe how much it had changed. Thest floor still looked copsed, but now even from the outside the tower had doubled its perimeter and stood over 15 meters (50 feet) tall.

    ''I wonder if the same will happen when Solus reaches halfway blue or if this time the tower recovered so many floors simply because blue is an important milestone for Solus as it was for me.

    ''After all, she''s a hybrid as well and when I reached the deep blue core, I also gained my wyrmling form.'' He thought.

    "Are you alright?" Tista''s voice was full of worry.

    "I''m peachy, thanks for-"

    She ignored him and walked in front of Solus, quickly followed by the rest of the family.

    "Don''t worry, dear. I''m sure that it''s just a matter of time before you regain your human body." Raaz said. "The only thing that matters now is that you are back with us."

    "Seeing you fade away like that gave me one of the worst scares of my life. Don''t you ever do that again, youngdy." Elina hugged Solus, touching her face, shoulders, and arms to make sure that she wasn''t injured.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to rest a bit more?" Rena asked. "You look exhausted."

    "I''m not tired, I''m just sad. Right before my breakthrough, I regained another of my memories. Please, form a circle so that I can share it with a mind link." Solus took Lith''s hand, squeezing it in search of strength.

    "Call me when you are done." Sark moved away, but Solus stopped her.

    "You are one of my mom''s apprentices. She considered you as a part of her family just like Lith does. That makes you part of my family as well."

    The Overlord gave her a small bow of gratitude and joined the circle.

    After witnessing the memory, Elina was moved to tears while Raaz just held Solus''s tight to console her.

    "Your father was a great man." He said.

    "He was." Sark said with a sad smile. "I still remember that day¡­ Threin had to walk around looking like a clown for over two weeks before Menadion found a way to clean his face."

 Chapter 1600 - Four Floors (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1600 - Four Floors (Part 2)</h4>

    "What do you mean?" Solus asked.

    "The "make up" you put on his face was magical paint that your mother had crafted. It was resistant to time, fire, and even darkness magic. Without a proper counterspell, Threin would have remained like that for years."

    Solus halfughed and half cried as those words triggered more memories of her spending time with her father while his face was still painted. In none of those fragments he seemed angry or annoyed.

    Every time Threin looked at the baby girl, a big smile would always appear on his face.

    It took Solus a while to regain her cool, yet no one said anything. They patiently waited until she managed to pull herself together and led them inside the tower.

    "We are going to start from the lower floors and walk our way up." Solus said. "The deepest underground level will make Lith very happy."

    She opened a thick wooden door that led to one of the oddest ces that everyone had ever seen.

    The room waspletely empty and consisted solely of a stone sidewalk that ran along the walls, forming a ring that had a high railing along its external edge.

    The railing allowed people to look down into the magma boiling right under their feet without the risk of falling down.

    "Is this what I think it is?" Lith asked while looking at theva with Life Vision.

    "Yup. Wee to the tower''s metal mine!" Solus said with the first big smile ever since she had dreamed about Threin.

    "This doesn''t look like a mine at all." Friya knocked at the solid stone wall around them finding no trace of precious materials nor of any ce where Lith could grow his own metal veins like it happened for the crystal mine.

    "That''s because you are looking in the wrong direction." Sark said. "Try looking down with Life Vision."

    Friya and Tista did as instructed, discovering that not only did the magma spun as if stirred by a giant invisibledle, but it was also filled to the brim with the world energying from below.

    "How do we use it, exactly?" Lith asked.

    "The same as the crystal mine. Just throw every piece of metal you have into the magma. The heat will melt and purify them frommon impurities while the world energy will seep through their liquified form, refining it." Solus said.

    "What about Orichalcum? It''s just silver with traces of Adamant and the temperature is high enough to vaporize it." He said.

    "That''s the best part." Solus replied. "The enchantments in this room make so that the silver vapor from the Orichalcum will condense into liquid and merge with the Adamant again.

    "With each cycle, the silverponent will be tempered, rearranging its structure thanks to the absorbed world energy until the Orichalcum turns into Adamant."

    "What?" Lith, Friya, and even Sark said in unison.

    "You heard me. If we throw silver in the well, it will slowly turn into Orichalcum, then into Adamant, and then into Davross. It works just like a real mine, just better faster, and it works even on already mined materials." Solus said, puffing her chest out with pride.

    ''Oh, Ripha. If you were still alive, I would be kicking your ass right now for not having ever shared the secrets of your tower with anyone.'' Sark thought in envy. ''Your death has deprived Mogar of all the marvels that you kept for yourself.''

    "Are you sure?" Lith asked, fearing to lose his silver.

    "Yes." Solus nodded.

    The magma formed a huge bubble that popped, releasing small droplets that charred the railing where they hit before the self-repairing properties of the tower mended the damage.

    "Are you really sure?" Lith threw a handkerchief down, watching it burn instead of being refined.

    "This room is enchanted specifically for silver, not cloth!" Solus snarled as she opened their pocket dimension and poured their entire stock of metal into the magma well. "It''s called the Crucible, not the tailor''s shop."

    "I haveplete trust in your judgment, dear, but how do you get the metal back?" Raaz asked and Elina nodded.

    "Just like in the crystal mine." Solus sighed.

    Judging from everyone''s panicked expression, they didn''t believe a single word she had said.

    "Look!" A simple wave of her hand made the magma cool down until it turned into a ck rocky surface.

    The metals she had thrown had not only solidified as well, but they were also lumped up based on their nature. The silver, the Orichalcum, the Adamant, and the Davross each formed a vein whose size depended on their abundance.

    "As I said, the Crucible works the same way as the crystal mine." Solus pointed at the Davross'' vein being connected through thin tendrils to the Adamant which in turn was connected to the Orichalcum and so on.

    "If you look at it with Life Vision instead of whining, you''ll notice that the Davross can''t evolve further. Yet the Crucible greatly benefits from its presence. Each metal acts as a catalyst, hastening the refining process of that of lower quality."

    "This is amazing!" Everyone said in unison, and this time not just to be polite.

    "Wait. Are you telling me that if I didn''t have any Davross, the refining speed of the Adamant would have been no better than a regr metal mine?" Lith asked.

    "Correct. The Crucible is no miracle worker. It needs a sample to study theposition of the Davross and then use it as a blueprint. The refining process is faster simply because the tower can use small bursts of world energy to nudge the Adamant in the right direction." Solus nodded.

    Lith waved his hand, making the block of solidified rocke in front of him, and studied all the different metals that Solus had dropped in the Crucible just a minute ago before putting them back into ce with a deep sigh.

    "Did you really expect them to have improved in such a short time?" Sark was so bbergasted that she didn''t even wait for his answer. "You are worse than a Dragon, Featherling. They are just greedy whereas you are also impatient.

    "I know lots of people that would kill you just for the opportunity to study how the Crucible works, let alone to be its masters."

    "You are right, Grandma. I should be content for what I own, Grandma. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me and for your hospitality, Grandma." Lith stressed their rtionship more than once to keep at bay the fury and scorn that he could read in the Overlord''s eyes.

    ''I guess that Menadion didn''t exactly share everything about her tower with her disciples. I must be careful. Grandma has a big heart, but envy and greed can poison even the heart of a Guardian.'' Lith thought.

    As a fellow Forgemaster, he knew that if their roles were reversed, he would be absolutely livid. He would either wish Sark a quick death to get his hands on the tower or make ns that would assure him not to have to wait for too long.

    The Overlord, instead, even though she was intrigued by the Crucible, had yet to try and analyze it with her breathing technique¡­ She was respecting his secrets.

 Chapter 1601 - Shared Power (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1601 - Shared Power (Part 1)</h4>

    "Let''s go." Solus said, interrupting Lith''s train of thought. "Next stop, the second underground floor. The Armory."

    "What happened to the crystal mine?" Tista asked.

    "It''s right above us." Solus replied. "The Crucible will always be at thest floor because it needs both lots of world energy and theva that I''m drawing from Mogar''s mantle while the crystal mine will remain secondst.

    "That''s because the deeper the tower gets in the mana geyser, the more abundant the energy flow is. The tower ces its floors so as to optimize the consumption of world energy.

    "If the Crucible and the Forge were to be swapped, the tower would need more arrays just to keep the heat from damaging the floors below. On top of that, the excess world energy would hinder our Forgemastering experiments.

    "This way, instead, the power of the mana geyser gets progressively sapped by the mines that work as a buffer, making it easier for me to fine-tune the output. My hypothesis is that once the tower is fully rebuilt, it will be able to tap into the full power of any mana geyser."

    "Do you mind if we take a short detour to the crystals first?" After no one objected, Lith walked inside the third underground floor alone with Solus.

    He noticed that, while the most recent violet crystals he had acquired had yet to undergo any refining, the oldest gemstones in his possession, like the orc''s crystal, now had a white spot at their center.

    It pulsed like a heart and with every one of its beats, the white spot would reveal small veins running throughout the crystals.

    "It took over three years and the Eye of Kolga to reach this point." Lith said after checking on all the red crystals that had turned into green ones already.

    Just by selling them, he would earn more than 100 times what he had spent to buy them. Yet he had no need for pocket money.

    "The Crucible and this mine work the same way, correct?" Lith asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "Then the number and the size of white mana crystals in our possession matters. The more we have, the faster the violet crystal will be refined. Correct?"

    "Correct again." Solus replied.

    ''Then let''s keep this a secret between us.'' Lith took the four white crystals that Sark had lent him and nted them in the soft soil of the walls.

    They immediately radiated pulses of snowy energy that spread throughout the mine and sped up the expansion rate of the white areas of the violet crystals.

    ''I was thinking about asking Grandma to lend us a bit of Davross as well, but that would really be pushing our luck.''

    ''If you think that she might be jealous, then isn''t it risky to show her the rest of the floors as well?'' Solus asked.

    ''No. Sark is a good person and she worked under Menadion. If she really was interested in this tower, she wouldn''t have waited until now to seize it. She would have done it right after your mother''s death.'' Lith replied.

    The entire conversationsted less than one minute and then they moved onto the second underground floor.

    The Armory was simply a circr room with a radius of about twenty meters (66 feet) whose thick stone walls were filled with weapon racks. Aside from those, it waspletely empty.

    "What kind of Armory doesn''t hold a single weapon?" Raaz scratched his head in confusion.

    "The tower doesn''t craft artifacts, Dad. That''s our role as Forgemasters and the tower does everything it can to make our job easier." Solus replied.

    "No offense, but what''s the point in showing us an empty room? This ce is useless." Lith asked.

    The Armory was the most underwhelming floor he had ever seen, but his face didn''t show any disappointment so as to not offend Solus nor piss Sark off any further.

    "Kid, you have no idea of the nonsense you''ve just spouted." Sark chuckled. "The Armory isn''t meant to provide you with weapons but the other way around."

    "Meaning?" Friya asked in confusion.

    "Put War on one of the shelves and see what happens." The Guardians said.

    The moment the angry de touched the Armory''s wall, the tower absorbed it into its structure, releasing pulses of crimson energy that Lith could feel connecting the artifact with the tower''s core.

    "The Armory is not a pointless disy for weapons." Sark said. "Everything you put on the racks is temporarily integrated with the power core, allowing the tower to replicate all of their enchantments."

    "Does that mean that if Phloria were to ce her Reaver there I could store two minutes'' worth of spells even though I''m not the owner of the de?" Lith asked.

    "It''s so much more than that." Sark shook her head. "You could store two minutes'' worth of Tower tier spells while everyone who has your permission could do the same but only up to tier five.

    "What makes both the tower and the Armory great is that their effects aren''t limited to the owner. Don''t you remember how many apprentices Menadion had?"

    "What if-?" Lith didn''t dare toplete the sentence, afraid to jinx it.

    "That''s right." Sark chuckled. "It''s one of the reasons why Menadion tried to keep me here at all costs. She never managed to get her hands on Yggdrasill wood after I left."

    Lith ced the branch of the World Tree on one of the shelves and then he opened the control panel of the tower, changing the status of all those present from guests to apprentices.

    Thanks to the Amory, it was as if each one of them was holding a Yggdrasill staff, giving them rity and inspiration.

    "This is amazing!" Tista said as her brain spun at full gear, giving her insight about her Red Demon form and about how to better handle the Origin mes. "Now we don''t need to take turns with the branch anymore."

    Lith thought about all the artifacts that he could put in the Armory to improve his magical and crafting abilities before remembering that he had asked Sark to turn everything he had back into metal that was now slowly being refined in the Crucible.

    ''It''s not a big deal. Aside from Phloria''s estoc, Reaver, and her shield, Breaker, there''s nothing that would have made a big difference. Most of the stuff I had was old junk.''

    "Next stop, the Library." Solus brought them to the second floor of the tower that looked exactly like the name suggested.

    It was a circr room with a radius of 50 meters (164 feet) with bookshelves aligned along the walls while at its center there were several long rectangr wooden tables. Each one of them could host up to eight people.

    Windows took the space in-between the bookshelves, providing the room with plenty of natural light at all hours of the day.

    "What does this ce do?" Lith asked.

    "The Library is the physical manifestation of Soluspedia." Solus replied. "It''s a bit underwhelming for us, but I bet that everyone else will love it. Guys, try thinking about the Kingdom''s justice system."

    She took all thew books Lith owned out of the pocket dimension and put them on the shelves.

 Chapter 1602 - Shared Power (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1602 - Shared Power (Part 2)</h4>

    Just like Soluspedia, the Library allowed Lith to ess the content of the books with a single thought and to quote them word by word as if he had memorized them. Just like the Armory, however, the Library''s effects didn''t apply only to the master of the tower, but also to the people that the artifact recognized as his apprentices.

    "Is this how you cheated your way through the academy?" Friya didn''t even bother hiding her envy.

    "Yep." Lith shamelessly shrugged. "What''s the difference between the Library and Soluspedia?"

    "Soluspedia is essible solely to the both of us, but we can use it anytime and anyce. The Library is much bigger than Soluspedia, it works for anyone of our choosing, but it can''t be used without a mana geyser fueling the tower." Solus replied.

    "Between the Library and the Yggdrasill branch in the Armory, our magical research will go much faster, and teaching to the kids will be much easier. Whoever we decide to share our gift with, will be able to read our techniques in an instant and have their ingenuity boosted by the staff."

    "That''s great news." Elina put a cooking book and a few recipes that she wanted to teach Solus in the Library. "With the help of the new floor, our cooking lessons will go much better."

    Everyone took something out of their respective dimensional amulet and put the Library to the test. Not only did they remember every single line of each book as if they had an eidetic memory, but thanks to the Yggdrasill branch they could also understand and memorize their contents much faster than usual.

    "What''s on thest floor?" Sark asked.

    "The Greenhouse." Solus led them to the fourth and currently top floor of the tower.

    Beyond the door, there was no room but a small biome that looked like a cultivated field.

    They were still inside the tower yet they could see the sun high in the sky as if it was still noon.

    A gentle breeze passed between them, making the long des of grass that surrounded the field bend until it passed.

    "Let me guess. Like the mines but for natural treasures." Lith said.

    "Yes and no." Solus giggled. "You can''t further refine a natural treasure nor can you turn a sunflower into a Frost Dew, no matter how much world energy you make flow through them."

    "Then what''s the point of this ce?" He asked.

    "It allows the tower to study the mystical nts that we possess and to preserve their potency even once out of our pocket dimension." Solus said while nting the Earth Root, the Thunderstone flower, and everything they had left from the Dryad''s bounty into the cultivated field.

    "Given enough time, the tower will understand how their life cycle works and what are the conditions necessary for their growth. Long story short, once the tower is done with them, we will learn how to cultivate them at will."

    "Good gods!" Every mage present said. "This means that instead of looking around Mogar to find an ingredient, all we have to do is to obtain one, make the tower study it, and then grow them akin to wheat?"

    "It''s not that easy." Solus replied. "nts are living beings and you can''t hasten their growth too much without damaging their magical properties. Also, most natural treasures require special nourishment that we need to provide them."

    As the tower studied the various ingredients that Lith had umted during the years, he realized that growing them would require care, dedication, and skills that he had never practiced his whole life.

    Each nt needed to be regrly pruned at the right moment of their life cycle, a specific amount of nourishment based on their size and development speed, and so much more.

    "Dad, can you take care of this for me?" Lith asked.

    "Sure." Raaz nodded. "Gardening has always been a hobby of mine. On top of that, thanks to the Library I can learn everything I need about natural treasures in a jiffy. As long as you give me the proper tools and fertilizers, taking care of these little fellows is far from impossible."

    Lith would have preferred to have professional help, but trust mattered more than skill when it came to the tower. He could afford to lose a few nts due to Raaz''s mistakes while learning the ropes whereas revealing the existence of Menadion''s masterpiece to the wrong person would ruin him.

    "This ce is really nice." Elina said while appreciating the cool wind on her skin. "It doesn''t seem to be in the Desert at all. It almost feels like home. We could use it to have pics whenever we want."

    Sark nodded with a warm smile on her face. Only an asional twitch in her left eye betrayed how frustrated she felt.

    ''I swear, Ripha, that if I ever find a way to resurrect people, you''ll be the first one that I bring back just for the sake of beating the crap out of you. How could you be so stupid to let your legacy die like that?'' She thought.

    ''I can understand your love for Elphyn, but everything I just witnessed went this close to disappearing from Mogar forever. I knew about the Greenhouse, but before Solus exined it to me, I never realized its full potential.

    ''Luckily, Elphyn is safe now and the tower is in good hands. I must ask Leegaain how much he knows about tower crafting in general and about Menadion''s tower in particr.

    ''If he doesn''t know how the Crucible and the Greenhouse work, I will have to ask Lith to make me study them. I can''t bear the thought of the tower being lost again and with it all of its secrets.''

    After finishing the tour of the new floors of the tower, Lith and Solus remained in the Greenhouse even after everyone else left.

    They both needed more rest and staying inside the tower was the best way for them to recover. Yet the real reason was that Lith wanted to speak with her.

    "You know, the Greenhouse is definitely the less useful floor we have gained. I mean, this annoying bastard requires a lot of maintenance whereas the Crucible and the Armory just need us to put stuff into them and they do everything by themselves.

    "Yet it''s also my favorite." Lith said while sitting among the grass with Solus by his side. "It allows us to replicate any ce, any time, and gives you a bit more of the freedom you deserve."

    A simple wave of his hand allowed him to turn the day into the sundown. The nightsted just enough for them to appreciate the replica of the starry sky before the sun rose again.

    At the same time, Lith changed thendscape from a valley to a mountain. The Greenhouse was capable of reproducing any environment since some natural treasures required a very specific set of conditions to thrive.

    "I know that this floor is actually smaller than it seems, but unless you look at it with Life Vision, you have the illusion of walking to different ces instead of our usual circling around the tower." He said while shapeshifting the Greenhouse into some of his favorite restaurants.

    "It''s very sweet of you to say. Maybe a bit too sweet¡­" Solus rested her head on his shoulder.

 Chapter 1603 - Tower Gate (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1603 - Tower Gate (Part 1)</h4>

    "I wonder if Nyka can stay awake here as long as we keep the artificial sun down or if the outside light element forces her to slumber during the day despite the tower''s protection." Solus pondered out loud, snuggling on Lith.

    Lying down on the grass like that made the height gap between them disappear while being finally alone and talking about something different from work reminded her of the times back when all they had was each other.

    During all those years before Lith hade clear with his family, both he and Solus had suffered from the istion, fearing that the people they loved would have rejected them, considering them monsters.

    Yet at the same time, that very same istion made their rtionship deeper than words could express. Back then, it had been the two of them against the rest of the world.

    Now that many people knew about their secrets, they weren''t alone anymore. Their bond was as strong as ever yet their lives had drifted apart ever since Solus had gained her energy body and had refused to follow Lith during his dates.

    They both had strived to break free of their co-dependency and to make space for other people in their lives. It had made them stronger, but it also left a bittersweet longing for each other.

    "I guess there''s only one way to find out." Lith shrugged. "I''m curious to see how Ka and Nyka are doing. Also, if we return to the Eclipsed Lands, I would get the opportunity to ask dion when the heck he is going to deliver the information he had promised me."

    "Sounds like a n." Solus said.

    The seconds passed without either of them saying anything. Then, she decided to talk about the elephant that had entered the room ever since they had visited Vastor''s home.

    "I think that Kam would like it here as well. Why don''t you bring her to the Greenhouse for a pic and a heart to heart? I noticed how she looked at you. There was more sadness than rage in her eyes."

    "That''s why I''m going to stay away from her." Lith said, feeling his stomach churning. "You''ve seen what happened to Zinya because of me. Now she is safe because of Vastor, but if I get close to Kam, that bastard might switch targets.

    "After we broke up, the copycat left Kam alone because he knows that the only way that he has to hurt me is to make her hate me, but if I approach her again, he might kill her at the first opening he gets."

    Solus nodded, feeling guilty for what she had just done. She already knew the answer to her question and had only mentioned Kam to test the waters. While they were so close, she had no need for a mind link to feel his emotions.

    ''Even if I had my human body, there''s still no ce for me in his heart.'' She thought in a deep recess of her mind.

    "You know, ever since Aalejah helped me gain my other forms, I can''t stop thinking about Mogar''s twisted sense of humor." Lith said, drawing her attention. "We are identical, yet so very different.

    "We both died at a young age and lost our bodies. Yet you were given new life out of love whereas I got mine only out of the hatred I felt toward every living being in the universe.

    "We are just like light and darkness, two sides of the same coin that ended up glued together out of sheer luck."

    His human form disappeared, reced by the lesser Abomination that bore the appearance of Derek McCoy. His IRS haircut danced in the air like a ck me while her golden long hair floated as if she was suspended in water.

    Both wore clothes yet neither really needed them since they just covered a living mass of energy. Solus stared into his seven white eyes before noticing that now their hands were threaded together.

    Her gold shone more dazzling among his ckness which in turn grew deeper because of her light. Thanks to the focus granted to Lith by the Yggdrasill branch and the energy from the mana geyser, his touch was cold but pleasant, inflicting her no harm.

    "Luck or not, even if I could turn back time, I would do it all over again. I wouldn''t want to bond with anyone else, my dear host." She chuckled, repeating the words she had used on their first meeting.

    "Me too. Mage towers are really hard to find and without the pocket dimension, my life would have been much harder." Lith replied with a smug grin on his shadowy face.

    "You son of a gun!" Solus pped his shoulder with fake outrage. "I sold myself short only because I had no other choice, my dear bare minimum requirements. Never forget that you are nothing more than an off-brand life supporting system."

    ''I really missed this.'' She thought while they poked and teased each other. ''Even though now many people know that Lith is not a human, the part of his life as Derek McCoy still belongs to me.

    ''Protector and Ka may know his story, but I''m the only one who really knows how many scars got deeper and which have somewhat healed. How each one of them had turned the man he was in the one he is.''

    ***

    A few dayster, while Lith was still struggling to make even a single tinge of color manifest inside a white crystal, Xenagrosh contacted him.

    "Hey, little brother, are you ready for our adventure?" She asked.

    "I was actually starting to fear that this moment would nevere until I was gone back to the Kingdom and too busy to take Sinmara''s offer." Lith said.

    "Already tired of the Desert? It hasn''t even been one month."

    "I''m not tired, just worried." Lith sighed. "I can''t help but feel guilty for what happened to Zinya. I should have known that with me gone, she would have been the next target. The copycat always went after the easiest prey."

    "You have no reason to feel guilty nor worried." Xenagrosh shook her head. "The Master hid the existence of the Balkor card from you on purpose, to lighten your burden as much as he could.

    "Also, now that she lives in our home, Zinya and the kids are surrounded by our brethren. Frey and Filia refused to get another magical beast and still cry a lot at night, but at least during the day, they have started tough again.

    "I really hope that bastard makes another attempt because I''ve gotten so many bones to pick with him that I can rise a fucking undead army!" A savage grin appeared on her face as she daydreamed about how to make the copycat''s death as slow and painful as possible.

    "Any news about the marriage?" Lith asked.

    "It may be a small and private ceremony, but it''s still the marriage of an Archmage. You can''t just snap your fingers and make it happen." She replied.

    "How so?"

    "Unlike a certain someone" Xenagrosh pointed at Lith¡­ "Normal Archmages have duties to the Kingdom, to the academy, and to their own fief."

 Chapter 1604 - Tower Gate (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1604 - Tower Gate (Part 2)</h4>

    "A marriage implies not only that such burden must be shared with the spouse, but also the need to take some time off for the honeymoon and to properly introduce Zinya to all of her subjects." Xenagrosh said.

    "Are you telling me that before the marriage Zin has to be a realdy?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "That would take years. She still needs to learn at least the basics to everything a noble dame must know and even that will take a while." She said.

    "Where are we going to meet?" He asked.

    Sark didn''t allow Xenagrosh toe within 100 kilometers from her vige nor did the Eldritch-Troll hybrid feel safe getting close to the Guardian so each time Lith and Xenagrosh met for their lessons, they would arrange the pick-up spot at thest minute.

    "At these coordinates. From there, we''ll go visit Sinmara. She''s already waiting for us." She replied.

    Lith used the Surveince Mirror to check what was at the location that Xenagrosh had selected, discovering that it was just arge t stone formation surrounded solely by small sand dunes.

    ''There''s no ce where an assassin might hide and no way to keep someone from running away, it''s the worst possible spot for an ambush. Even though Grandma has promised Xenagrosh to not hunt her down when shees visiting me, Xenagrosh is still wary of her.

    ''I wonder if paranoia runs in the family or what.'' The answer to Lith''s question was thetter. In the past, the Organization had tried to kill Sark a few times, using her as a benchmark for the Master''s research.

    Also, by getting rid of the Guardian, the ensuing chaos would have let them free ess to the countless resources of the Desert. Sark had yet to forget her sh with Pazuel and the death trap that the Organization had prepared for her.

    She had been relentless in tracking them down and that was also the reason why before the war with the Undead Courts had started, the Master had steered clear from the Desert.

    Now, however, the war offered him a perfect cover to move back and scapegoats in the case his operations were exposed.

    ''Do you want toe along?'' Lith asked via their mind link.

    ''Are you kidding me? I wouldn''t miss watching a white core in action for the world. On top of that, this time we have a front-row seat on the show and a bodyguard. I can''t wait to see if the upgrade of the tower''s power core has also enhanced the Eyes of Menadion.''

    ''Good point.'' Lith thought.

    One of the issues of Solus being constantly in her humanoid form was that they had never gotten the time or the opportunity to put her abilities to the test away from the mana geyser.

    Lith used the Dimensional Mirror from the Mirror Hall to cover part the hundreds of kilometers that separated him from the extraction point with the tower''s help and save mana, yet the result shocked him.

    "Fuck me sideways! This isn''t a Steps anymore, this is a Warp Gate!" The two of them said in unison.

    The main difference between a dimensional corridor and a dimensional tunnel was the range. Now that he had a deep violet core, Lith could cross over thirty kilometers (20 miles) with a single Warp Steps whereas a Gate could lead him from one corner of the Griffon Kingdom to another.

    He tried to focus on his own house, hoping that the tower could already cover such a distance without the need of a receiver on the other side. s, it didn''t work out.

    "Too bad." Lith sighed. "I was hoping to not be so dependent anymore on the Gate in the barn, but this is still great news."

    He shifted the dimensional tunnel''s destination back to the pick up spot and reached it with one step. The Gate shrunk behind him until it became the size of a pinhole, giving Solus barely the time to slip through in her liquid form before closing down.

    She turned into her Eyes form, searching their surroundings for Xenagrosh.

    ''Xenagrash is not here yet.'' Solus said.

    ''Big surprise.'' Lith replied with a sneer. ''Without the Gate, it would have taken us a while to reach our destination even if we used Warp Steps non-stop. On top of that, Xenagrosh can''t afford to get here tired in the case she is ambushed.

    ''In her shoes, I''ll cover the first part of the trip with dimensional magic, drink a few tonics, and then cover thest part by flight.''

    ''Agreed. What I meant is that we have a bit of us time, dummy!'' After onest sweep of the area with all of her mystical senses, Solus assumed her arm protector form.

    Or at least, what had been her arm protector form until a few days back.

    Now she had gained enough mass to cover both of Lith''s arms up to the shoulder des. The ws on the fingers could extend up to 30 centimeters (1 foot) and the spikes on the forearms could now extend as well.

    The design of the protectors had be more borate, looking more like a proper artifact crafted by an artisan than a stone armor conjured with first magic. Both gloves had a deep blue gemstone on the back of their hand.

    The right glove also had one more gemstone on each of its knuckles and one more on its palm. The left glove, however, had just a yellow and a red gemstone respectively on the knuckles of the index and the medium finger.

    ''Seven mana crystals?'' Lith stared in awe at the right glove. ''Does this mean that Menadion had engraved even a Spirit Crystal in her tower?''

    ''That would have been idiotic. Don''t you remember what Faluel told us about Spirit Crystals? Once you embed one in an artifact, no one but the original Forgemaster can use it, making it impossible to pass it down.'' Solus replied.

    ''Also, this design is different from that of the Hands of Menadion that we gifted Faluel. My theory is that I''m the seventh gemstone since I have my own life force. In a way, our Hands have already surpassed my mother''s.''

    She was actually a bit disappointed due to the fact that even the right glove didn''t have a perfect set of seven gemstones of different colors. Aside from the blue, which represented her mana core, there were just a red, a yellow, two silver, and two orange crystals.

    ''The imbnce must be caused by my natural affinities being light and earth. I''ve gained the other four only after bonding with you.'' She sighed.

    ''Solus, did you really not notice it?'' The enthusiasm in Lith''s voice stopped her brooding.

    ''Notice what?''

    ''I''m still wearing the Eyes of Menadion.'' He said.

    ''By my Mom!'' Only then did Solus realize that her conscience had been evenly split between the two artifacts.

    She quickly shapeshifted the protectors into the Hands, sacrificing the defensive properties in exchange for the ability to fine control the world energy in their surroundings.

    ''You are right! Now I can keep two forms at the same time. Gods, if only I knew what the Mouth and the Ears of Menadion do, I might be able to keep even three forms¡­'' Solus said.

 Chapter 1605 - Odd Friends (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1605 - Odd Friends (Part 1)</h4>

    ''And you dare say that I''m the greedy one.'' Despite his reproachful tone, Lith''s voicecked conviction.

    He too wanted to discover what abilities the remaining two pieces of Menadion''s set possessed. Yet unless they managed to meet their current owner or found some clues about how they looked like and worked, there was no way to trigger the transformation.

    Only once the tower regained its full power would Solus achieve the full scope of her skills and the memories rted to the artifacts that she was capable of reproducing.

    ''Yes, you are. I me you for turning me into a Scrooge. You-''

    The Shadow Dragon swept down from the sky, interrupting their friendly quarrel and cutting Solus short. They were so caught up with studying theirtest discovery to have almost forgotten about the reason they were in the middle of nowhere.

    Luckily for them, Xenagrosh didn''t have Life Vision and Solus had made the Hands disappear the moment she had perceived the Dragon''s energy signature.

    Had she been one second slower there would have been too many exnations to give.

    "Sorry for the scare, but speed is of the essence." Xenagrosh said to Lith while carrying him on her massive right hand. "Sinmara is on the clock and Sark doesn''t seem to have told the member of her nest about our deal.

    "I had to dodge a couple of Phoenixes on my way here and I can''t afford getting caught."

    She opened a Chaos Steps, piercing through space for hundreds of kilometers to lose the pursuers that were still on her tail.

    "How long will the trip take?" Lith could use a bit of time to study the Sky Piercer glove that Xenagrosh wore on her left hand with the Eyes.

    It resembled the Hands of Menadion a lot and if the two artifacts shared simrities beyond the mere appearance, then the Shadow Dragon might know something about the fall of the First Ruler of the mes.

    Yet Lith couldn''t introduce the topic without a good reason, otherwise he would risk exposing his knowledge about Menadion''s legacy.

    "We are already to our destination." She replied, making him inwardly curse.

    ''I have good news and I have bad news.'' Solus said. ''The bad news is that I have learned squat about her glove due to theck of time. Also, I tried keeping both the Hands and the Eyes active at the same time, discovering that it causes a drop in their respective abilities.

    ''The good news is that, once I took off the Hands, the burden on our minds while studying Xenagrosh''s equipment, her life force, and ck core, is the same as when we split the Eyes into Monocles.

    ''The tower core is now strong enough to act as an auxiliary brain. Which means that the next time we use the Monocles, their efficiency will be greatly increased.'' Solus said.

    Sinmara, the Phoenix of the Darkness, was waiting for them atop a mountain clearing. She was currently in her human form, that of a stunning redhead about 1.83 meters (6'') tall with emerald green eyes.

    She had cute little freckles under her eyes and on her nose. She wore a white cotton shirt over brown linen pants and leather boots, but to the Eyes of Menadion those simple clothes shone akin to a Royal Fortress armor.

    ''I guess that the Skinwalker armor must be pretty popr.'' Solus said. ''Everything Sinmara wears is actually Davross shapeshifted to resemble a regr attire. I''ve never seen such enchantments so studying them might take a while.

    ''Another good news is that I can iste and ignore an energy signature much more quickly than before which allows me to focus solely on one of them. Take your pick.''

    The Eyes of Menadion were currently in their Contact Lenses form to avoid detection. Thanks to the artifact, Lith could see that the difference between Xenagrosh''s Orichalcum equipment and Sinmara''s Davross gear was like heaven and earth, making his choice simple.

    ''Focus on Xenagrosh.'' He said.

    ''Copy that.'' Solus replied.

    Both powerful Emperor Beasts wore equipment capable of growing in size with them, but there was a good reason why Lith had decided to ignore Sinmara.

    Her equipment had so many enchantments that their energy signature almost blinded the Eyes and to make matters worse, her Forgemastering techniques were nothing like Lith had ever seen.

    On top of that, he had no clue how Davross reacted to powerful enchantments. There were so many variables that studying Sinmara''s gear might have taken a long while even if she just stood still, let alone during a fight.

    Orichalcum, on the other hand, could withstand much fewer enchantments and it was a material that Lith knew inside out. Also, the crafting method used for Xenagrosh''s equipment had many affinities with Menadion''s works.

    Lith had thoroughly studied the Hands, the Eyes, and the tower, gaining insight about the First Ruler of the me''s way of thinking. That along with Xenagrosh being his bodyguard would make the process much easier.

    "Hello, little brother." Sinmara ruffled his hair. "Are you ready for our field trip?"

    "Yes. Do you mind exining to me the nature of your mission? I can hardly imagine what kind of threat might require the intervention of someone as powerful as you." Lith said.

    "Sure, but since I''m in a hurry, we''ll do it via a mind link while we are on our way. Are you guys okay with it?" She asked.

    Lith and Xenagrosh nodded, but he suspected that the Phoenix had actually asked for Solus''s permission as well. She stared at his eyes long enough to make Lith ufortable and stopped only when the word "Yes" appeared on his irises.

    "Perfect." Sinmara touched their cheeks with an open palm while also sending a thin mana strand to the Eyes from under his skin, to make it impossible to perceive from the outside.

    ''Good gods, Elphyn. It''s really you. I couldn''t believe my eyes when I saw you fighting the king of Kolga. I thought you were dead.'' Her lips curled up in a loving smile.

    ''Sort of. I''m sorry, but I go by Solus now and I don''t remember ever meeting you. Except that at the Council and at your ce, of course.''

    ''Then it''s true what Silverwing says. You havepletely lost your memories.'' Sinmara said with a worried look on her face.

    ''Please, don''t take her words at face value!'' Solus hurriedly replied. ''I''m not a ve and Lith never mistreated me. He''s the best partner I could ask for.''

    ''You are still as cute as ever.'' The Phoenix giggled. ''As for Lochra, don''t worry about her. We made clear to her that the Desert is off-limits for her and that she''s not allowed to bother either of you.

    ''Mom might not like you much, but you are still Menadion''s daughter. The first thing she did when you first met her was to make sure you were alright. Otherwise she would have never acted so friendly with Lith.''

    ''Why doesn''t Sark like me?'' Solus inwardly became as pale as a ghost.

    ''Back when we hanged out together, she considered you a bad influence.''

    ''Does she still hold a grudge? I died almost 700 years ago¡­'' Solus was terrified at the idea of meeting one of the friends she had back during her rebellious phase and of what they could tell Lith about her past.

 Chapter 1606 - Odd Friends (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1606 - Odd Friends (Part 2)</h4>

    ''She does. She mes you for my reclusive lifestyle all work and no y.''

    ''Oh, thank the gods.'' Solus sighed in relief making both the Phoenix and Lith raise an eyebrow in confusion.

    ''What do you think I was talking ab-''

    "Sister, I know that the blood rtionship between the two of you is thin, but Lith is nothing but a childpared to you." Xenagrosh threw her a reproachful look, cutting Sinmara short while pointing at her hand that was still on Lith''s face.

    Between the smile, the giggling, and the caress-like touch, the Shadow Dragon had lots of things to worry about.

    "Don''t be ridiculous." Sinmaraughed it off, taking a step back. "I was just lost in my memories of my youth."

    Before Xenagrosh could object, Sinmara turned around and shapeshifted into her real form. Her body was now that of a huge ck bird that resembled an eagle, about 40 meters (131 feet) tall with a wingspan over twice as wide.

    Unlike an eagle, however, the feathers on her tail resembled those of a peacock and formed a long tress engulfed by ck mes that extended for a dozen of meters.

    Her clothes had changed into a light suit of armor that covered her neck, chest, back, beak, and talons. A golden circlet with a huge white gemstone at its center had appeared on her head, giving the Phoenix a royal appearance.

    ''That''s really a smart move.'' Solus thought, eager to change the topic. ''Sinmara''s armor doesn''t cover the entirety of her true form, but only her vitals and the parts of her body that she needs to fight efficiently.

    ''This way, she needed much less Davross than what it would take to cover her from head to toe, while not sacrificing her defense thanks to the energy field that covers her. Should we do something like that for you as well?''

    ''We can afford to leave my wings and tail exposed, but that''s it.'' Lith replied. ''Unlike a Phoenix, I can fight with all of my limbs, wings included. On top of that, crafting such armor would mean that I lose the option to shapeshift in front of witnesses.

    ''We need a full armor to hide my other forms when I retain the size of a human since everything that we leave exposed would betray my real nature.''

    ''That doesn''t matter anymore.'' Solus replied with a sigh. ''The wings are one thing, but you cannot exin either the tail or the horns. Even if you cover them, people would still ask you how you move a tail as well as an arm and why you wasted precious metal.''

    While Lith realized that his Tiamat body couldn''t be hidden with a simple armor anymore, Sinmara took flight and sent the mission''s details straight into his brain. At the same time, Xenagrosh let him ride on his back.

    Alone, he had no way to keep up with the Phoenix''s top speed.

    ''As you already know, theck of life in the Blood Desert makes its mana geysers much more effective in generating magical resources because there are no living beings that can siphon the energy thates out of Mogar.

    ''We have the greatest number of magical metals and crystal mines among the three great countries. Also, spotting them is easy since wherever there is an oasis usually there is also a mana geyser.

    ''On the other hand, however, having so many resources isn''t necessarily a good thing. We need to keep under constant surveince not only the resources that we are currently exploiting but also those we are not using to keep them from being raided.

    ''There are countless powerful individuals that consider any unprotected mine as a self-service buffet and today''s mission is to stop one of those people. You know her already. My opponent is an old friend of mine, that white cored Lich who saved your life in Urgamakka.'' Sinmara said.

    ''How can she be so stupid to target the Blood Desert? Isn''t she afraid of Grandma?'' Lith asked.

    ''Aylen doesn''t target the Desert, she lived here long before Mom became the Overlord after following Valeron''s example. To Aylen, we are the trespassers who are messing with her business.'' The Phoenix chuckled.

    ''Liches are usually harmless. They spend so much time holed up in theirbs that it''s easy to forget about their existence until theye out to get more supplies and materials.

    ''She usually appears once every century, but she must have had bad luck if she ran out of crystals already. Any member of the nest can chase off a regr Lich, but I''m the only one that can stop Aylen. You are in for quite a show.''

    ''If this Liches out rarely, why fight her? Wouldn''t it be better to ignore her?'' Lith asked.

    ''Have you have ever heard about dimensional amulets?'' Sinmara said with a sneer. ''If someone doesn''t stop her, Aylen will take away every single white and violet crystal she finds.

    ''On top of that, would you be so generous if it was your mine and you had to wait decades for the blue crystals to be violet, let alone to get a single white crystal?''

    Lith had to admit that he would let Aylen rob him only because she was a white core. Against any other opponent, he would fight tooth and nail even to defend even the scraps of the tower''s mines.

    ''Is she so strong that only you can take her on? I mean, I''ve seen her facing Vareen the guespreader and use something she called Mirror Magic, but she''s just a Lich while the members of the nest are all Phoenixes.'' Lith said.

    ''She has many names. The Lich Magus, the Maker of All Liches, but the title she''s known best is the Cat Lady.'' Sinmara said without an ounce of derision, only respect.

    ''I beg your pardon?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    ''Aylen is the one who cracked the remnant of the Odi technology after the Guardians wiped them out and discovered the method to turn any living being into a Lich. Then, she spread such knowledge with the rest of Mogar, hence why the other Liches consider her a hero.'' She replied.

    ''That''s impressive, but I''m more curious about the cat part.'' Lith said.

    ''Contrary to most Liches, Aylen knows that the prolonged istion and theck of physiological needs cause any living being to sooner orter delve into madness. To keep it from happening, she adopted pets that would keep herpany while also using their needs to rece those she no longer had.'' Sinmara said.

    ''Did it really work?'' He couldn''t believe his own ears.

    ''Like a charm. Living above a powerful mana geyser and being surrounded by the powerful aura of a white cored Awakened, turned her damn pets into magical beasts first and then into Emperor Beasts.

    ''Aylen has indirectly spawned most of the feline magical bloodlines on Mogar and to make matters worse, she uses them as assistants for her experiments and as helpers when she goes "shopping".

    ''They are highly intelligent creatures that received her teachings. Back in the day, it might have been considered an oddity, but now she has an entire army of Emperor Beasts.

    ''Not only do they keep herpletely sane, but they also share with her any knowledge they acquire.''

 Chapter 1607 - Food Chain (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1607 - Food Chain (Part 1)</h4>

    ''Do you understand now the threat level that Aylen poses?'' Sinmara asked.

    At those words, Lith froze in horror.

    Aside from their phctery, Liches only had two weak points.

    The first was their madness that made them oblivious to the point of stupidity. The second was that by working alone, no matter how brilliant a Lich was, their magical knowledge outside their fields of interest would be outdated.

    Aylen, instead, had no such problem.

    ''Is that why she appeared in her human form from the beginning?'' Lith asked.

    ''Correct. She followed a strict routine that kept both her body and mind from decaying. On top of that, thanks to her feline assistants, there''s no telling how many magical breakthroughs she can achieve.

    ''Why do you think I sent her to your rescue instead ofing myself? Aylen needed a pardon to keep her pets out of the international list of the most wanted creatures and I wanted to check her progress.

    ''She wasn''t supposed to defeat Vareen so easily. The n was to force her to reveal all of her trump cards and expose the properties of her equipment. I have no idea if her victory was due to you guys weakening him too much or Aylen being too strong.

    ''Either way, at least I learned about the existence of Mirror Magic and I had the time to learn how to defend against it.'' Sinmara replied.

    Before Lith could finish pondering the hassle of having to look after a country like Sark did, the trip was already over. Phoenixes didn''t have a term like Dragonspeed to describe how fast they flew, but they were no slower than Leegaain''s offspring.

    The group had stopped in the vicinity of a small mountain rangeprised of several peaks made of a reddish stone. Both their surface and the area around them werepletely barren, with no water source, no trace of green, nor signs of wildlife.

    ''Are you sure this is the right ce?'' Xenagrosh had been trained by her fellow Abominations to recognize ces abundant with world energy and the area she was flying over had none of the characteristics that she would have expected to find.

    Even her Abomination hunger that could perceive the world energy and even Spirit Magic with such uracy that she considered it akin to a mystical sense couldn''t detect anything.

    ''You tell me.'' The Phoenix red down, where a small figure covered in red dust was carefully camouged.

    Lith had to switch from Life Vision to his regr sight to manage to see what Sinmara was referring to. The Lich wore several cloaking items, making her invisible to all mystical senses.

    Sinmara swooped down with her talons extended, shrinking her body to not take away a chunk of the mountain along with Aylen. The Lich cursed her bad luck and took a golden staff out from her pocket dimension.

    She had been caught by surprise and the difference in physical prowess between them made it impossible for the Lich to dodge. She managed to block the attack with her Davross staff, Lighthouse, but the impact sent her crashing against the mountain wall behind her, opening a few meters deep crater on impact.

    "Is this really necessary, old girl?" Aylen shook off the dust and debris as she stood up while throwing her robe away.

    The First Lich looked like a woman in her early forties, about 1.60 meters (5''3") tall with seven streaks of different colors almost entirely covering her light brown hair. She wore a sleeveless red doublet over a white shirt, linen pants, and mountain boots.

    Her features were human, but that was the only ordinary thing about her. Her clothes were actually shapeshifted Davross and the bright white light from her eyes betrayed the presence of her white core.

    "It''s not like you guys can operate these mines. They are too deep underground and any attempt to dig them out would cause the whole mountain range to copse. On top of that, there''s nothing here but hungry monsters for kilometers.

    "Unless mommy dearest ttens the entire area, this ce is a death trap even for a mage and we both know that Sark is obsessed with nonsense like bnce and whatnot.

    "Let''s save us both a pointless squabble ande to an agreement. I take the goods and you won''t have to add another of my footprints to your feathery ass. Deal?"

    Sinmara''s reply came in the form of the tier four Gravity Magic spell, Copsed Star. It raised the gravity surrounding the Lich one hundredfold, making her bones and organs implode under their own weight.

    Sure, for an undead such things were barely cosmetical, but their equipment was still bound to follow thews of physics. Sinmara had fought Aylen enough times to know that she would never go on an important mission without her phctery.

    Bringing it along was the only way to keep a simple dimensional spell from halving her strength but, at the same time, the phctery was the source of her immortality and her only weak point.

    If anything happened to the white crystal holding half of Aylen''s life force and mana core, the Lich would have died.

    "I''ve got no idea how you found this ce nor how did you manage to mine the crystals and the metals buried down here, but I''m not going to waste my time chatting!" Sinmara replied.

    "Come on. We''ve done this dance countless times. What''s the point in getting humiliated for the umpteenth time?" Aylen asked while Blinking outside Copsed Star''s area of effect and activating a gravity spell of her own.

    She didn''t mind the pain but her phctery was a delicate piece of art. Even though she kept it shielded inside a Davross ne, gravity didn''t need to destroy the protection to crack the crystal.

    Sinmara''s spell had actually turned the ne into a vice, ignoring all the safety spells that Aylen had put into ce. Gravity magic had many limits, but due to its passive effects, there was no way to defend against it except that with another gravity spell.

    Aylen didn''t have the time to weave one so her only way out was dimensional magic. Sinmara spotted her exit point with Life Vision and used the tier five dimensional spell, Sealed Space.

    It was Leegaain''s trademark anti-Lich weapon that sealed the surrounding area and that would cut off an undead from their phctery, halving theirbat strength, in the case they didn''t wear it on themselves.

    The Phoenix wasn''t surprised seeing that Aylen''s mana flow was unchanged even under the effects of Sealer Space, confirming her suspicions.

    "Oh, crap." The Lich said.

    The dimensional spell didn''t affect her phctery since she wore it at her neck, but it still blocked all dimensional spells, making it impossible for her to Blink again.

    Sinmara then cast abination of a tier five Gravity magic, Small Sun, and a tier Five Spirit spell, Starfall. The former generated a high gravity nucleus that drew in anything within a 100 meters radius.

    The pressure was so strong that rocks, dust, and whatever was caught in the gravity pull would be brought at the center of the spell and turn white-hot from the heat¡­ The highlypressed mass it generated looked exactly like a dwarf star.

 Chapter 1608 - Food Chain (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1608 - Food Chain (Part 2)</h4>

    Sinmara had used the experience gained from her previous defeats to devise spells that when used together would conjure an inescapable trap for someone the size of a human.

    Sealed Space blocked dimensional magic, Small Sun used gravity to both pull Aylen toward the burning mass at its center and to generate heat that put a heavy strain on the enchanted protections that ensured the Lich''s survival.

    Sure, her white core allowed Aylen to recover from any damage the moment it was inflicted upon her, but the same didn''t stand for her equipment. On top of that, Starfall had conjured a hail of small green meteors imbued with the power of all elements.

    Air gave them speed, light made them as hard as diamonds while earth gave them physical mass that the gravity spell could draw in, increasing their kic energy and giving to each fragment that was the size of a marble the energy of a cannonball.

    Fire made them detonate, pushing Aylen closer and closer to the Small Sun, water made the fragments seep through her armor, carrying the darkness along and sapping her strength.

    ''Crap! Every second that I spend here takes away a big chunk of energy from the power cores of my artifacts. If I don''t find a way out, even if my phctery doesn''t break, I will be a sitting duck.

    ''Sinmara already has a physical prowess greater than mine. If I also lose the edge that my anti-Phoenix equipment gives me, I''m as good as dead.'' Aylen thought.

    She took a vial from her belt and removed its stopper, freeing the stream of bright violet Origin mes that was stored inside. Small Sun sucked them right in its own core, weakening the perfect bnce that the elements needed to keep such a powerful gravitational effect.

    ''Cunning bitch!'' Sinmara cursed as Aylen exploited the split second when Small Sun lost its efficacy due to the Origin mes and escaped from the death trap.

    Once outside the Sealed Space, the Lich used a long range Blink to get to a safe distance and kept blinking non-stop until she was outside the mountain range. Much to her surprise, Sinmara had yet to give chase.

    She hadn''t fallen for Aylen''s trickery and she knew that the Lich was just trying to lure her away from the mines.

    ''If Aylen is fighting with me, then she can''t be the one extracting the natural resources. My mission is not to kill her, just to keep her from stealing Mom''s property.

    ''Life Vision is not spotting any array powerful enough to build an instantwork of caves nor any dimensional spell. Even if her miners all wear some kind of cloaking device, the ores they carry cannot be concealed.'' Sinmara thought.

    She knew of the existence of bloodline abilities that allowed people to move through the ground as if they swam through water and suspected that was the case. When Sinmara saw a Vagrash emerge from the ground, dropping a load of violet crystals on the surface, the Phoenix understood what was really happening.

    Aylen was just a diversion while her apprentices took away everything they could and Warped the resources back into her secret hideout.

    Sinmara had never stopped weaving her spells, keeping them at the ready for that precise moment. She swooped down where the Vagrash was, storing the crystals inside her pocket dimension while attempting to bite its head off at the same time.

    The Emperor Beast survived solely because it had already started to sink back into the ground, but Sinmara still pecked off its mane and left ear.

    "My fur baby!" Aylen screamed in outrage.

    Her series of Blinks had brought her too far away to stop the Phoenix''s attack. To make matters worse, Sinmara would have no problem dodging her spells from such a distance and even if they hit, their power would be more than halved.

    "Do you want to go all out? Challenge epted!" A wave of the Lich''s hand opened a dimensional door from which poured out what looked like a waterfall of living beings.

    The hapless creatures belonging to all races had their extremities fused with each other, making every one of their movements cause them unspeakable pain. Aylen touched the nearest of them, exploiting the connection between their life forces to suck all of them dry at the same time.

    Liches were artificial undead that, unlike Baba Yaga''s true children, had no need to feed. Their mana core was safely stored inside a white crystal that provided it with all the energy it needed while the pressure exerted from the crystal also kept the core from dispersing.

    As for their body, without nourishment, it would rot but not die. No matter how weak their life force became, as long as the mana core was intact, they could always convert part of their mana into life force to replenish their strength and continue existing.

    Liches usually chose not to eat simply because it was a waste of time and because, unlike the other undead, they could absorb life force but not mana from an external source.

    Their blood core was just an extension of their mana core and feeding like a vampire would cause them mana poisoning instead of making them stronger. A Lich''s magical prowess was no different from that of when they were still alive.

    Fixed if they were fake mages and capable of growing over time if they were Awakened, but still dependent solely upon their own man core. Yet back when she had devised Lichhood, Aylen had made sure to imitate the undead''s ability to feed upon others.

    Absorbing life force temporarily bestowed upon the First Lich not only a greater mass and physical prowesspared to that of her original body, but also ess to the bloodline skills of her victims.

    It was the reason why Zolgrish had turned into a reverted orc after feeding off his rebellious assistant and why no one dared to fight a Lich in closebat even though most of them had no training outside of magic.

    Aylen had not fused her prisoners'' life forces together out of cruelty, it simply made it more efficient to consume them. She activated her white core''s ability, Food Chain, adding the maelstrom of life forces to her own.

    "Oh, crap." Sinmara said as she noticed how the Lich''s physical prowess now surpassed her own.

    Having discovered Aylen''s n and how she had been piging the underground mines wasn''t of much use if she didn''t survive to tell the tale.

    Aylen''s appearance was now that of an odd hybrid. She looked like a humanoid woman in her twenties with feathered wingsing out of her back. She had now three sets of arms, all made of wood and vines, and her skin was covered in scales.

    A wave of the Lich''s hands generated a burst of a different cursed element from each of her palms. Thanks to her overflowing life force all the damage that casting so many dangerous spells at the same time inflicted upon her body was almost instantly healed.

    Almost.

    Her arms withered, burned, froze, dissolved, pulverized, and melted just to regrow a secondter and unleash a new barrage of cursed elements that formed a deadly rainbow as big as the Phoenix of Darkness.

 Chapter 1609 - Shadows And Crystals (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1609 - Shadows And Crystals (Part 1)</h4>

    Sinmara''s body shone with white light as she activated Domination to turn the iing tide of death against its own caster. Unlike an Abomination, her feathers weren''t ck due to the absence of the elements.

    Back when she had turned into a white core, she had evolved into a form different from that of a regr Phoenix, that was both capable of absorbing all elements and of Dominating them.

    She had no colored streaks because just like Lith, she had no natural elemental affinities except for the two that she had been born with. The others belonged to her unique Phoenix of Darkness bloodline''s abilities.

    Sinmara released a burst of energy that restored the bnce in the cursed elements and then used Dominance to take control of the sheer mass of energy thatprised them to weave the Tier five Spirit magic spell, Rumbling Demise, simply by adding a spark of her life force.

    ''What the heck?'' Lith watched in amazement as the Phoenix breathed as if she was about to use Origin mes.

    What came out, instead, was a waterfall of emerald energy that hit Aylen with so much strength that the shockwave from the following impact made the surrounding mountains crumble.

    Yet once the energy of Rumbling Demise faded, the Lich appeared to be more annoyed than hurt. The innate regenerative abilities of her temporary nt sidebined with the white core had healed Aylen so quickly that even Sinmara thought that her prized spell had been ineffective.

    ''Take a good look, little brother.'' Xenagrosh said. ''All white cored people are monsters. Even humans can evolve after reaching it, gaining powers that make no sense.''

    Lith, however, had already seen what happened when a Lich fed and he was capable of using Domination as well so he understood what was happening on both sides of the battlefield.

    ''What do you mean, even humans can evolve?'' He asked.

    ''Despite their weak bodies, thanks to their high intelligence and reproduction speed, humanoid species are akin to Emperor Beasts and can get stronger only by Awakening.''

    ''Yet there are actually two steps above even my and your condition. Achieving a white core also means turning into a unique being capable of tapping into their full potential and abilities

    ''Unlike us, people like our sister cannot pass down their bloodline skills simply because it''s the presence of the white core that allows them to manifest. Even if Sinmara''s children ever reached the white core as well, their powers would be different from hers.'' Xenagrosh said.

    ''How can you be so sure of that?'' Lith asked.

    ''Because I''ve seen Baba Yaga split her body into three different people, disying abilities simr to the Hydra bloodline despite the fact that she''s an Odi.'' She replied.

    ''What?'' The memories from Kh and the horrors he had witnessed there flooded Lith''s mind, making the contrast with Baba Yaga''s kindness so stark that he refused to believe that she might belong to such a cruel race.

    ''Feel free to doubt my words, but ask yourself, where did she gain the knowledge that she needed to give birth to the undead first and to the Horsementer?'' Xenagrosh asked.

    ''Solus, does what she says have sense?'' He asked via their mind link, making sure that none of it passed through the one still connecting him with the rest of the group.

    ''Actually, it makes a lot of sense. When you put it this way, both Baba Yaga and Aylen used the Odi knowledge to create their respective version of undeath. If you remember, my mother managed to fuse me with my tower only thanks to her coboration with Baba Yaga.

    ''In a way, I''m closer to a Lich than to an undead. I never really died and my tower is akin to a phctery. It is even capable of restoring my body after it gotpletely destroyed.

    ''The main difference between a Lich and I is that while half of their core is turned into a blood core, half of mine has been fused with the tower''s power core.'' She replied.

    ''So I''m an Abomination and you are a Lich?'' Lith asked.

    ''Yep, a natural and an artificial undead bonded together. Mogar really has a twisted sense of humor.'' Solus tried to make it sound like a joke, but the idea of bing like Zolgrish or Inxialot scared her to death.

    ''How close are your readings on Xenagrosh topletion?'' He said to change the topic and ease the worry that he could feel was tormenting her.

    Lith had walked more than one mile in her shoes back when he had met Scarlett the Scorpicore for the first time. Yet their situation was pr opposites. She was doomed to live forever and probably became mad, while he was bound to die and reincarnate.

    ''It will take a while. Ever since the fight started, there''s a lot of interference from the two white cores and I really can''t afford to miss a single one of their exchanges. Tactics, spells, methods to synchronize external energy flows with Dominance.

    ''We can learn more from this fight than from an entire library.'' She replied.

    While the two of them talked, Aylen had charged forward, turning her golden staff into a spear that absorbed part of the extra life force and converted it into destructive power.

    The Lich knew about Domination and even had seven-colored hair but she had no clue about how it worked. Even after millennia, Aylen had still failed to find a way to tap into such godlike power.

    Now not only was she furious at the Phoenix, she was also envious. With six arms supporting Lighthouse, the Lich Magus performed a flurry of attacks that changed their trajectory as she switched the grip of the different hands.

    Her movements were as quick as lightning and as fluid as water, making it impossible for Sinmara to dodge.

    The breastte of her armor deformed from the impacts, making her spit out a mouthful of blood as she was sent crashing against the ground akin to a meteor. The Lich gave chase and lunged with her spear while infusing it with more life force.

    The weapon grew in size until it became big enough to pierce through the Phoenix''s chest and crush her whole heart.

    ''Damn. Never before Aylen had demonstrated such power and martial skill.'' Sinmara thought. ''She hid her strength this whole time.''

    The Phoenix of Darkness was too hurt to dodge the iing attack, yet she had no need to thanks to her unique ability, Echo of Darkness. The shadows surrounding them, even that of the Lich, came to life and turned into a copy of Sinmara.

    Each one of them unleashed a different tier five spell that struck Aylen from every side, leaving her no way out.

    ''By my Mom! Isn''t that simr to your Demons of Darkness?'' Solus said in amazement.

    ''Kind of.'' Lith replied. ''My Demons are guided by a soul and have only the skills that they had in life and the spells that I bestow upon them. Sinmara''s shadows, instead, channel her mana, allowing her to weave and cast spells even during the fight.''

    The gravity spell, Crushing Pir, increased the weight from the extra mass that the Lich had gained from Food Chain to the point that her whole body imploded and even the Davross equipment screeched from the strain.

 Chapter 1610 - Shadows And Crystals (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1610 - Shadows And Crystals (Part 2)</h4>

    Aylen had crafted her spear so that it would convert the life force it was imbued with into extra mass in the same way her body did. Yet under the effects of Crushing Pir, even the most durable metal on Mogar could barely stand its own weight.

    To make matters even worse, when the dimensional spell, Full Circle, Warped the tip of the spear right at Aylen''s back and made it sh against her Davross armor, the result was their mutual destruction.

    At the same time, the Spirit Magic spell, Starpath, conjured an emerald streamprised of countless particles above the Lich. Starpath used the Crushing Pir''s gravitational pull to increase its momentum while Full Circle warped every particle that had missed its target back on top of Aylen.

    "I see that I''m not the only one who likes to y their cards close to the vest." The Lich snapped her fingers, releasing a burst of cursed magic that disrupted Sinmara''s spells long enough to escape the onught.

    "I hope you realize that with each passing second, my kittens are getting what I need while you are achieving nothing. Beat me as much as you want, unless you manage to destroy my phctery it''s just a waste of time."

    "Are you sure about that?" A few moments had passed since the Phoenix of Darkness had copsed to the ground, yet she had already recovered without the aid of her breathing technique.

    "What do you-" Only then did Aylen notice that the Echo of Darkness had been just a cover for the Phoenix''s bloodline skill, Call of the Blood.

    While Sinmara kept the Lich''s focus on her, she had conjured other members of the nest that were capturing Aylen''s Emperor Beasts the moment they came out of the ground to deliver the goods or opened a Warp Steps to collect them.

    Contrary to Sinmara''s expectation, instead of falling into despair, the Maker of all Liches burst out in a maniacalughter.

    "You should have done more than watch my fight with Vareen. You should have also listened to my words. As I said to him, it''s by fighting against you that I draw my strength and inspiration."

    One more snap of her fingers opened several Warp Steps at the same time.

    ''If Aylen is conjuring more sacrificial victims to get another power boost by feeding, I''m screwed.'' Sinmara thought. ''Our magical power is nearly identical and between the strength and the bloodline abilities that she obtained from the first meal, she has already gotten the physical advantage.

    ''I can''t allow her to do that again, otherwise, only Mom can be her opponent.''

    The Phoenix of Darkness pped her wings, generating waves of fire with the same intensity of a tier three spell that flooded Aylen''s Warp Steps. Her goal was to kill the iing meal and empty the Lich''s pantry in one fell swoop.

    Yet the mes disappeared without ever reaching past the dimensional corridors. Aylen had not conjured more food, but more helpers. What stepped through the Steps was a small army of what looked like skeleton soldiers.

    The Phoenixes that were still fighting against the feline Emperor Beasts sneered at the appearance of lesser undead while Sinmara knew that there was something off in that move.

    ''There''s no point in bringing such weaklings to the battlefield.'' She thought. ''They can''t even buy her one second, let alone fight against Phoenixes. Yet it''s not like Aylen to waste precious mana for a spell that''s merely a distraction.''

    Lith was the only one that understood what was happening, but only because he was also working on a simr project.

    Each one of the undead wore a full suit of Adamant armor and wielded powerful enchanted weapons that alone would turn even a farmer into a powerful warrior. Truth to be told, they were just Aylen failed creations and prototypes.

    Just like Lith, she hated to throw away stuff, but unlike him, she couldn''t ask Sark to recycle the materials for her nor afford to buy enough Origin mes to cleanse all of her past failures from their magical imprint.

    A single swing of the undead''s weapons dispelled the fire weaves, protecting their master''s home from harm. Then, they raised their hands, unleashing a barrage of tier five spells that took the Phoenixes by surprise and wounded them deeply.

    The feline Emperor Beast didn''t miss the opening. Half of them went to rescue their captured friends while the other half pressed their advantage and went for the finishing blow.

    The Phoenixes had been caught with their guard down and the skeletons had each demonstrated a magical power that belonged to someone with a bright violet core. In an instant, the enemy army had doubled its numbers and turned the tide of the battle.

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' The Phoenixes thought in unison while fighting for their lives. ''How can a mere skeleton be that powerful?''

    ''Those things are not skeletons at all!'' Lith thought, forcing Solus to study the new enemies with the Eyes of Menadion. ''Those things are the watered down version of what I want to do with the corpses of Trouble and of the Vagrash.

    ''They are magic crystal-controlled golems!'' He pointed at their eye sockets, where two gemstones of different colors had been etched.

    ''By my Mom, you are right!'' Solus ignored Xenagrosh and focused her full attention on the new task at hand.

    She noticed that no skeleton had emerald green eyes. The gemstones had been imbued with the power of one of the six elements, allowing each golem to control two elements at the same time.

    The gemstones had been programmed to be capable of working either independently to cast two tier three spells at the same time or in synch with the other crystal to cast any high tiered spells that employed the elements stored in their eyes.

    ''They are weaker than what our creations are supposed to be, but they are a huge step in the right direction.'' Solus said after observing that not only were the skeletons physically weaker than an Emperor Beast, but also that their energy reserves were dropping quickly.

    Only their magical prowess was simr to that Lith wanted to bestow upon his creations. Even then, the limit of two elements made Aylen''s golems one trick ponies that relied on their equipment and on the element of surprise to be effective.

    ''I think it depends on the fact that while we aim to make golems that can serve as our generals and lead my Demons into battle, Aylen needed mere foot soldiers. Her generals are the Emperor Beast while the golems are just expendable pawns.'' Lith pondered.

    ''Well, it makes sense.'' Solus pondered. ''Those creatures are all highly intelligent Awakened that she has trained and each one of them is already as powerful as one of our golems is supposed to be.

    ''The only difference is that they have free will and can''t share Aylen''s bloodline abilities. My guess is that the golems are a low effort product of Aylen''s research. Prototypes that she realized as the first step toward something bigger.''

    ''Prototypes or not, they are exactly what we were looking for. Lesser undead that thanks to the power of the crystals have been granted a fine degree of intelligence, powers on par with greater undead, but no free will¡­'' Lith replied.

 Chapter 1611 - Origin Demons (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1611 - Origin Demons (Part 1)</h4>

    Just as Lith and Solus had predicted, the skeleton golems fought with no fear of death nor care for their survival. The moment they became damaged above a certain threshold, they didn''t hesitate to blow themselves up.

    The Phoenixes had been forced to retreat and fight only with magic, losing the advantage that their superior physical prowess granted to them. Getting anywhere near the battlefield was risky yet Lith''s heart raced from excitement.

    ''Can you study them?''

    ''From this distance, no. What can I tell you even from here is that while the pseudo cores of the enchanted weapons prototypes have been shielded with cloaking spells, those of the mana crystals are perfectly visible.'' Solus replied.

    ''It makes sense.'' He thought while formting his battle n.

    ''Without the Eyes, studying an artifact during a fight is impossible and the golems are programmed to self-destruct the moment they are incapable of fighting anymore.

    ''On top of that, unless someone already knows that mana crystals can store memories and willpower, no one would waste their time studying them in the first ce. Even Sark had no idea that a mana crystal is more than just a power source before we shared our research with her.

    ''If Aylen aimed to maximize the damage output of her golems, she couldn''t waste precious space with a cloaking spell. Golems cannot be stored inside a dimensional artifact unless their owner deactivates them first and the self-destructmand that she imprinted in the golems'' cores is more than enough to protect her secrets.''

    Lith and Solus had a hard time believing to such a lucky coincidence, but they would never look the gifted horse in the mouth when they could use that time to learn how to get as many horses as they wanted.

    They had no way to know that it was no coincidence at all. Aylen had discovered the existence of the memory crystals only after one of her pets had told her about the amazing feats of a kid Necromancer named Balkor.

    The Maker of Liches had dismissed the news as a lucky shot at first, but year after year the fame of Balkor''s undead grew and so did her curiosity.

    Not even Aylen had the skill to raise so many powerful undead in a single year so she had put her pride aside and studied the god of death''s creations from a distance, even infiltrating hisb whenever he went back to his family.

    It was then that she had discovered the existence of memory crystals and started to work on her golems. Balkor''s Valors wasted too many materials, required the use of dangerous Abomination tissues, andsted too briefly to be of any use.

    The golems that had entered the battlefield were the first batch of prototypes that the Lich had kept stored while waiting for the opportunity to field test them.

    Lith and Aylen had been studying the same branch of magic, but the source material for their research couldn''t have been more different.

    Lith had used the orc''s crystal as a basis, just like Menadion when she had built her tower and the artifacts that carried her name, while Aylen had been forced to reverse-engineer the process by studying Balkor''s suicidal method.

    ''Big sis Zoreth, I know that we are supposed to just spectate the fight, but if we don''t help the Phoenixes, some of them might die.'' Lith needed an excuse to get close enough to the golems to study them and that was the best lie he could think of.

    ''Are you insane?'' The Shadow Dragon replied. ''I can''t allow you to endanger your life nor am I going to leave you alone and break my promise to Sinmara. Also, remember that Sark doesn''t like me and that the other Phoenixes might attack me on sight.''

    ''Don''t worry, I''m not going there to fight. I''ll just support them from the sidelines. As for the other Phoenixes, we can use our mind link with Sinmara to share our n with her. If she orders her soldiers to not attack you, they won''t dare to disobey.'' Lith said.

    ''Still a no.''

    ''I am Sark''s guest and a member of the Phoenix bloodline. How can you ask me to stay here and do nothing?'' He felt guilty lying through his teeth like that, but the end justified the means.

    Even the tiniest hint about Aylen''s golems would save him months of research and even more of trial-and-error runecrafting.

    Xenagrosh knew how deep the blood bond between Phoenixes was because she shared it with Kigan and with the other monster-Abomination hybrids. On top of that, she really loved Sinmara.

    The Phoenix of Darkness was one of the few half-siblings Xenagrosh had that despite all the atrocities that she hadmitted in the past didn''t consider her as a rabid beast that had to be put down.

    ''Fine.'' Xenagrosh snorted more than said. ''But the moment the enemies shift their focus on you or things be too dangerous I''m going to drag you away from the battlefield.''

    ''Thank you, big sis.'' Lith said, only pissing off Solus further with his maniptions. He was aware of how much Zoreth yearned for recognition and calling her like that was a low blow. ''Please, bring me close to the wounded and I''ll do the rest.''

    The Phoenixes cursed their bad luck when they saw the Shadow Dragon approaching their backs. The members of the Organization had a bad name and Lith was still in his human form, too small for them to notice.

    ''Stand down. Xenagrosh carries Lith, one of our brethren. She''s our ally in this fight.'' Sinmara said via the mind link the Phoenixes shared.

    The members of the nest had no idea what just two more people could do, but any help was most wee.

    Lith came down from Xenagrosh''s back and reverted to his full Tiamat form, standing 20 meters (66 feet) tall. He was smallpared to the Shadow Dragon and the Phoenixes who both reached at least 30 meters (100 feet) of height.

    Yet the aura he exuded made both armies stop for a second to study him.

    Lith sank his fangs deeply in the flesh of his right hand and then threw drops of blood the size of a small car on the battlefield. Right after Xenagrosh had agreed to help him, Lith had used Abyssal Gaze to fill the ck mes that flowed through his veins to the brim with both mana and life force.

    The moment the blood drops came in contact with the outside world energy, they grew in size and power. The ck mes assimted the sand to gain mass and added the heat from the scorching sun to their own.

    In the blink of an eye, they had turned into four meters (13 feet) tall creatures made of sand and fire that looked like lesser versions of the Tiamat. Somecked the horns, some had no tail, and only very few had wings.

    The number of their eyes varied from two to four ording to the amount of mana that Lith had sessfully stored within each drop of blood.

    The Origin Demons roared their challenge and threw themselves against the enemy lines, throwing the golems into disarray¡­ The bodies of this new kind of Demons wereprised of Origin mes that consumed everything they touched.

 Chapter 1612 - Origin Demons (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1612 - Origin Demons (Part 2)</h4>

    The Emperor Beasts found themselves in the same situation as the Phoenixes, fighting creatures who had no care for their own survival and that suffered no harm from physical attacks.

    The golems fared much better, but by shifting their attention on the new opponents they allowed the Phoenixes to catch their breath. To an Awakened, it meant to go back from the brink of death to their peak condition.

    The tide of the battle turned once again, reaching a standstill. With Abyssal Gaze giving to each of the Origin Demons the same amount of mana Lith had, the only cap to their strength was the mana capacity of his deep violet core and his mastery over Origin mes.

    Lith hadbined the technique that Xenagrosh had taught him with his innate ability to manipte his body parts even after they left his body to imbue his blood with enough life force to spark the Origin mes.

    This way, his Demons would consume world energy to maintain their bodies and use the mana that he had bestowed upon them solely to weave spells, doubling their offensive abilities.

    Lith could have kept spawning more Origin Demons until his life force reached its limits and further tip the scale, but that was beyond the point. He didn''t want the conflict to end, quite the contrary. He wanted it tost as long as possible.

    Solus could now focus on the golems and study their crystals, but even in the form of the Eyes of Menadion she needed time. Each gemstone had been filled with unknown runes and to replicate their effects she needed to scan their exact sequence.

    She skimmed many golems at the same time, avoiding unique runes and searching formon patterns.

    ''The most crucial step in order to ovee the limits that normal golems have is to find a way to imbue part of our knowledge and personality into the crystals. Learning how and what spells Aylen has imbued in her creations would be useful, but that can wait.'' Solus thought.

    ''First, I need to identify themon sequence of runes that all crystals share, the one that Aylen used to tap into their memory-like ability. Everything else is of secondary importance.''

    "What an interesting fellow." Aylen chuckled.

    Her voice sounded more excited than annoyed. She had heard about the birth of the first perfect blend between the Dragon and the Phoenix bloodline but she had never got the time or the opportunity to take a peek at him.

    Until now.

    "You have no idea how I envy you Phoenixes. Your children are blessed with the same might and powers of their parents whereas mine seem to keep taking the worse from me." She sighed, thinking back at Inxialot.

    She had gifted him Nero in the hope that the Emperor Beast in disguise would help the King of Liches retain at least a shred ofmon sense and to keep an eye on him. Yet like all of her children, the obsession for research and the genius that Inxialot had inherited from her had only made it easier for him to iste himself from the rest of the world.

    Aylen''s train of thought was interrupted by an update via hermunication earpiece.

    "I''m sorry, Mom, but Sinmara arrived way faster than you predicted and we have barely acquired half of the resources you need. If you don''t pick up the ck, we''ll soon be forced to retreat." Ashien, one of her seconds inmand, said.

    "Fine!" She replied with a snarl. "You better move those fat asses of yours because if I bring too much heat and one of Sark''s kids dies, she is going to join the fight."

    Aylen activate another of the abilities that she had acquired after achieving the white core, Feeding Frenzy. Unlike normal Liches who could only mimic the physical abilities of the living beings they fed upon, the Devourer Lich could also imitate all of their bloodline abilities.

    She carried around part of the life force from the strongest creatures she had fought in the past in the form of crystallized blood. She etched those crystals on the same pendant of her phctery and among them, there was Sinmara''s very blood.

    Aylen crushed the gem along with another that she had crafted after fighting against a Griffon. Then hurled a stream of white Origin mes that split the battlefield in half while also unleashing a silver bolt of lightning of Life Maelstrom upon her soldiers.

    The now strengthened golems charged forward as soon as the wall of white mes disappeared while the Emperor Beast used their newfound powers to hasten the mining operations.

    Lith and the Phoenixes took flight to escape from the frenzied golems. Life Maelstrom''s effects were temporary and without the time necessary to umte enough of it, there was only so much that the Lich could give to so many people.

    Yet the constructs had no reason to give chase either. As long as no one disturbed their masters, the golems would simply weave their spells and keep them at the ready. The moment the members of the nest understood that they were ying into their opponent''s hands, the battle resumed.

    The Phoenixes formed a line, unleashing a tidal wave of Origin me from their wings that flooded the ground. Yet the constructs didn''t hesitate to release their umted spells all at once, neutralizing the attack.

    The golems that bore a yellow mana crystal took flight, aiming for the weak points of the enemy formation before blowing themselves up. The Phoenixes that failed to dodge were forced to turn their bodies into a mass of living mes thanks to their bloodline skill, Molting Essence.

    They took no damage, but due to the strain that their most powerful abilities and spells inflicted upon their bodies, their life forces were bing weaker. Breathing techniques could restore lost mana and stamina, but they couldn''t fix the effects of the abuse of Origin mes.

    While the battle between the Phoenix of Darkness and the Devourer Lich raged, the number of golems was dropping so quickly that Lith had to run from one side of the battlefield to another to keep at least one of the memory crystals under the Eyes'' scan.

    ''Dammit, I was hoping for a war of attrition. I bet that the moment Aylen runs out of golems, she''ll run away. I need to prolong this battle as much as I could.'' Lith thought.

    He had noticed how the Devourer Lich considered her constructs expendables while she cared deeply for her Emperor Beasts. Lith had the Origin Demons ignore the golem and rush where Life Vision showed him that a Warp Steps was about to open.

    The Demons had no chance against creatures empowered by Life Maelstrom, but that had never been Lith''s goal. Unrefined crystals were highly vtile and making minions explode was a game that two could y.

    The Emperor Beasts could easily defend themselves from the st of Origin mes whereas the mined gemstones were sitting ducks. The Demons triggered a chain reaction that severely injured many Emperor Beasts and forced them to mine new crystals.

    Lith clenched his fist in triumph, just to realize the consequences of his actions¡­ Half of the constructs was retreating to better protect their masters while the other half was now focusing on him.

 Chapter 1613 - Chaos And Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1613 - Chaos And mes (Part 1)</h4>

    ''Dammit, I just wanted to buy enough time to study the memory crystals inside the golems, not to be their main target. If I Blink away, everything I''ve done so far will be for naught but if I stay here, I''ll die.

    ''Whatever I do, I''m screwed!'' Lith thought while Aylen''s constructs swarmed him.

    At least until a ferocious roaring from his back reminded everyone that he wasn''t alone.

    Xenagrosh stood in front of Lith, hurling a jet steam of bright violet Origin mes that engulfed the iing wave of flying golems, turning them into a mix of ashes and molten metal.

    The ws of her Orichalcum glove, Sky Piercer, extended towards the constructs on the ground and released her tier five Chaos spells, mes of Absolution, at point-nk.

    Xenagrosh had created it before the Master''s experiments had given her back her Dragon form, in the attempt to imitate Origin mes.

    The ck fire infused with Chaos magic filled the area inside the five silvery pirs, corrupting the enchantments that animated the golems and even disrupting the flow of world energy that they needed to cast their spells.

    mes of Absolution''s destructive power was inferior to Origin mes and they had no purifying ability. Yet not only did the Chaos allow them to tamper with the elemental bnce, they also put no strain on the Shadow Dragon''s life force.

    On top of that, they gave Lith insight into both his Tiamat and Voidfeather Dragon form.

    ''The ck mes of her spell are simr to those of my Origin Demons, which means that both involve Chaos.'' He thought. ''Then why even though we both have the life force of an Abomination do we breathe regr Origin mes?''

    His train of thought was interrupted by Xenagrosh''s tail that moved like a whip and hit like a Orichalcum train whatever dared toe close to Lith.

    ''Solus, is there any polite way to tell bis sis Zoreth to curb her enthusiasm? I''m grateful for her protection, but at this rate, she''ll wipe out all of our precious specimens.'' He thought.

    ''On your six!'' She replied

    A few flying skeletal constructs had exploited the fog of war to snuck past the Shadow Dragon and remove the annoying Tiamat from the chessboard. The Origin Demons kept messing with the mining process and as long as Lith was free to use Abyssal Gaze, they would regenerate.

    ''The good news is that their power cores are nearly depleted, the bad news is that the altered crystals are overloading themselves with world energy. The bastards want to blow themselves up and bring us with them!'' Solus said.

    Lith cursed his bad luck and had Solus take the form of the Hands of Menadion, even though they barely covered the w of his index.

    He had already discovered that artifacts with a power core were immune from Solus''s ability to manipte the world energy, but in the case of Aylen''s golems, the mana crystals weren''t just an energy source, they were also their brains.

    Lith only needed to disrupt the elemental flow that surrounded the memory crystals to dispel the world energy they had umted before it could explode and to depower the weakened constructs, making them drop like flies.

    ''This is bad.'' Lith and Aylen thought in unison. ''As I expected, the memory function of an altered crystal works akin to an artificial willpower that shields them from external influences like Domination.

    ''At the same time, putting a power core inside a white crystal makes it vulnerable to any ability that affects the world energy. Unlike amon artifact where runes, crystals, and the power core are separate, a golem has them all in the same ce.''

    ''This is bad news.'' Lith thought. ''To craft a superior version of these golems, not only do I need the Earth Root to make the corpses into decent mana conductors and a Spirit Crystal to use my bloodline abilities, but I also need to find a way to stabilize the flow of world energy!''

    ''This is great news.'' Aylen thought. ''I learned everything I needed to craft a superior version of my golems and spotted a critical w that would have crippled my work if discovered toote.

    ''On top of that, I''ve put Sinmara''s newbat skill to the test and discovered a lot of interesting things about how Origin mes and the cursed elements interact. It will take a lot of work to reproduce them with my bloodline abilities, but time is the only thing I don''tc-.''

    Sinmara exploited Aylen''s distraction to conjure six shadow copies of herself thanks to the Echo of Darkness ability and cast the tier five Spirit Array, Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    The seven Phoenixes of Darkness emitted seven differently colored rays of light that shattered the equipment of the Lich Magus, cutting her short and forcing Aylen to protect her phctery with her own body.

    She survived by emitting a burst of Origin mes enhanced by what little Life Maelstrom she had left, consuming thest remnants of the crystallized life force she had fed upon.

    To make matters worse, even though the Davross regenerated immediately with its enchantments intact, its durability was now inferior to Orichalcum and Sinmara had already conjured six more shadows.

    "Thanks for the fun, old girl. See you next time!" The Devourer Lich touched one of the gems on her breastte that gave her spatial awareness of all her pets and remaining golems.

    They weren''t of much use anymore but Aylen wasn''t willing to leave her secretsying around for other Forgemasters to study. Also, she could use them as test subjects and search for more ws that had escaped her notice.

    Then, she Blinked them away and kept doing it until they were far away enough to safely open a Warp Steps back to herir. The Devourer Lich had failed to get all the materials she needed but in exchange, she had learned much more than she had hoped for.

    In her eyes, it was a fair trade. Also, Aylen could always take what she stillcked from any of the neighboring countries. It would piss off the Awakened Council big time, but being used to mess with Sark, Aylen paid them no heed.

    ''Fuck me sideways! Solus, what''s the status of the scan?'' Lith asked.

    ''I didn''t learn a single one of Aylen''s enchantments nor did I understand her crafting method.'' She replied, making him punch his own forehead in frustration. ''But thanks to thatst few golemsing too close forfort, I managed to finish scanning the spell that she used to trigger the crystal''s memory function.''

    ''Excellent news.'' Lith said as his telepathic frown turned upside-down. ''Did you discover anything about Xenagrosh or her equipment?''

    ''Not much. Her equipment''s cloaking system is excellent. I could only skim the surface and get a rough estimate of its power. Whoever crafted her stuff is as skilled as Sinmara, if not even better.

    ''I exploited our trip on Xenagrosh''s back to use Abyssal Gaze on her equipment, but the skill gap between us and her Forgemaster is too big. As for the Eyes, I focused them on her too briefly to obtain useful data.''

    ''Can you give it another go now that the battle is over?'' He asked.

 Chapter 1614 - Chaos And Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1614 - Chaos And mes (Part 2)</h4>

    ''Are you kidding me? I have a splitting headache and I''m barely able to stay awake. Speed scanning those golems took a huge toll on me. You were too focused on controlling the Demons to help me and doing everything alone drained my energy.'' Solus replied.

    "Impressive disy of abilities, little Featherling." Sinmaranded in front of Lith, helping him to treat the Phoenixes who had lost consciousness or that had suffered wounds that kept them from using their breathing technique.

    "I never expected to see someone use Origin mes that way. Now that you''ve seen what our missions are like, would you be interested in working with the nest?" She said with a huge sarcastic grin on her face.

    "I think that I''ll follow your advice and enjoy my freedom until I reach a wall that I can''t ovee on my own." Lith replied. "Thanks for giving me the opportunity to see you in action."

    "You are wee, kid." She patted his head.

    "Only one question. Are all of your assignments like this?"

    "Gods, no. Liches are rare, let alone Liches with a white core." Sinmara shook her head. "Yet we still have to deal with Abominations of all kinds, invading armies, and even rogue Phoenixes.

    "If you join the nest, you''ll have to spend most of your time training at first and then tending the problems of other people. Until you be powerful enough to get rid of most threats quickly, free time is a luxury that you would rarely be able to afford."

    ''Just as I thought.'' Lith pondered. ''She brought me here to scare me by showing me how many powerful creatures roam Mogar. Sure, I won''t be facing anyone on Aylen''s level, but I''m still just a deep violet core.

    ''Very few can pose a challenge to Sinmara, but there''s plenty of people on my level and I bet that Grandma would put me against them on a daily basis. She needs powerful warriors while I want to take my time enjoying my family.

    ''They are not going to live as much as me and I can''t spend the rest of their lives running from one battlefield to another.''

    "Thanks for your guidance. This has been an enlightening experience." Lith gave Sinmara a small bow.

    "d that you had the opportunity to learn something." She replied with a warm sisterly smile.

    ''You have no idea.'' Lith inwardly grinned. ''As soon as I get home, I''ll use what we learned to-''

    Solus yed in his head the sound of someone clearing their throat, sharing with him the burden from overusing the Eyes to make herself clear.

    ''As soon as I get home, we''ll get plenty of rest.'' Lith corrected himself. ''After that, we''llbine what we discovered about Aylen''s golems with what we already know about the orc''s crystal to start working on our projects!''

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, house of Fyrwal the Hydra.

    After Lith''s departure from Lutia and helping out Ajatar with his problems, Faluel had decided to take a vacation and go visit her family. She had brought Protector and his family along as an apology for sending him on a mission even though he was supposed to be on break.

    Selia had dly epted the invitation on his behalf, eager to travel outside the Kingdom and learn about the schooling system of the other countries. Her children, Lilia and Leran, both possessed a great talent for magic and in a few years, they would need an academy.

    What worried Selia the most, however, was how their life would be in the case that their nature of hybrids was discovered. Most people of the Griffon Kingdom still considered Emperor Beasts as inferior beings if not as monsters.

    In the Gorgon Empire, instead, the Magic Empress Milea was working hard to integrate all kinds of magical creatures in society and break the invisible boundaries that kept the human race apart from nts and beasts.

    Recently she had made quite some progress thanks to the war against the Undead Courts. Now that the living races shared the same enemy, it was easier for them to findmon ground.

    Emperor Beasts lived in packs, but unless they had an Awakened ancestor willing to help them, their knowledge of magic would be limited and they would have no ess to enchanted items.

    nts and Fae, instead, had ess to magical knowledge and artifacts from their own cities, but due to the nature of the World Saplings, there were only so many people that they could amodate.

    Being alone made them easy prey for the undead who used them both as cattle and ingredients for their workings.

    Milea considered the war as a blessing in disguise that would allow her to rally three of the four races under her banner, just like it had happened for Valeron almost one thousand years ago.

    The real challenge, however, would have only started once the war was over. Even the First King had failed to keep his allies together after the prolonged peace had made them focus more on their differences rather than on what they had inmon.

    "Why did your mother move to the Gorgon Empire if she has a nice noble title and lots ofnds in the Kingdom?" Selia asked.

    She was a woman in herte thirties, yet thanks to Protector''s rejuvenating treatments she looked barely past her mid-twenties. She was about 1.7 meters (5''7") tall, with skin tanned from the years of exposure to the sun while hunting.

    Her shoulder-length ck hair gave her sharp hazel eyes and features a gentler look. She wore a set offortable clothesprised of ck cotton pants and a dark blue shirt.

    She held her youngest child, Fenrir, in her arms, doing her best to keep the baby from wing her way out of her grasp. Hybrids were capable of shapeshifting from birth, yet they had little control over their strength.

    "Too many sad memories." Faluel replied while showing them around the house. "She is one of the only two still living members of Valeron''s party and seeing any of the ces that they visited or built together always reminds her of her friends and of everything that time has taken away from her.

    "On top of that, my mother has never gotten along with the Royal Court nor with any of Valeron''s heirs. She has fulfilled her role as one of the founding pirs of the Kingdom only until Valeron''s death.

    "Then, she refused to obey monarchs that she considered unworthy of her loyalty and to be an aplice of what she considered a corrupted system."

    Fyrwal had built her home inside Mount Elm. The Hydra didn''t just live inside air like most of her children but in a ce as luxurious as a noble manor and big enough to allow her to movefortably in her real form.

    Most of the Elm mountain was now empty, reced by halls, corridors, and rooms whose ceiling was at least 30 meters (100 feet) high. Every piece of furniture had been crafted to suit the physiology of Hydras instead of humanoid creatures.

    The chairs had no legs and a hole to amodate the tail while the doors had no handle.. They could be opened simply by pushing them and locked by pressing metal bolts with the stumpy legs typical of the Hydra bloodline.

 Chapter 1615 - Parents And Children (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1615 - Parents And Children (Part 1)</h4>

    Moving around Fyrwal''s house required either to use magic or to be the size of an Emperor Beast. Otherwise simply going from the front door to the guest room would take hours.

    Selia found the ce more creepy than majestic, making her feel as if she was an ant that might be stomped at any moment, whereas Protector had been enjoying himself since the day of their arrival.

    After having been forced to live most of the past six years in his human form, he enjoyed every second that he could spend in his Emperor Beast''s body without the need of keeping gravity magic constantly active to not destroy everything that he touched.

    After the Skoll had achieved a bright blue core, his shoulder height had reached three and a half (11''") meters, his fur was ming red with streaks of yellow and white all over it.

    His whole body was enveloped in a bright blue me that was actually cold to the touch and that erupted more intensely from his neck, almost looking like a mane.

    Protector had two curved hornsing out of his forehead, right in front of his ears. Eagle-like feathered wings came out from his back and his tail was made out of dancing mes.

    He carried Selia on his back who in turn carried Fenrir. Lilia and Leran trotted right behind him in their small beast forms, with their tongues hanging out from the effort of keeping up with him.

    Hybrids would always retain the mass of the smallest of their two sides until they reached twenty years of age and were forced to choose between them. Only those who decided to keep their nature as an Emperor Beast would grow in size like their parent.

    The couple and their kids didn''t live in the main building, but in one of the wings of the castle that had been designed to amodate human-sized creatures.

    "Is Fyrwal really one of the only two survivors of Valeron''s group?" Selia''s voice echoed through the massive rooms.

    "I know that Juria and Oghrom were born about one thousand years ago which is also the average lifespan of Awakened humans, but I expected that being friends with a Guardian, Tyris would have kept them alive longer."

    "She would have done it if they had allowed her to." Faluel''s seven heads sighed in unison. "Juria Ernas stopped using her breathing technique right after Valeron signed with the Empire and the Desert a treaty that established the borders of the Kingdom, putting an end to the war.

    "She had no desire to outlive her family nor did she learn magic because she had any passion for it. Juria had epted to be an Awakened only to use those powers as a means to an end.

    "Once she achieved it, Juria used magic only to protect her territory and help Valeron however she could.

    "As for Oghrom Gernoff, he killed himself the same day that the First King died. He tried to change Valeron''s mind until thest minute by using logic andpelling arguments, but to no avail."

    "If Oghrom was such a logical man, why did hemit suicide instead of supporting the Kingdom from the shadows?" Selia asked. "Who knows, maybe with his help we wouldn''t have lost so muchnd to the Empire nor would we have gotten so close to a civil war a few years ago."

    "Gernoff was indeed a logical man, but he had no heart." Fyrwal appeared from one of the side doors.

    The Elder Hydra had seven heads as well, but unlike her daughter, she stood over 25 meters (82 feet) tall and it wasn''t the color of the scales covering her body that revealed the elemental affinity of each had but their eyes.

    "He married only to have children who could inherit his legacy and even split his household in two based on the different tasks that he assigned them."

    "What''s wrong with that? If he didn''t marry, one of the founding pirs of the Kingdom would have died with him and the ensuing power vacuum might have triggered a civil war." Protector said.

    "You don''t understand because you never met someone like Oghrom. In the case of a famine, he would have rationed the food at first and then killed everyone he considered a burden." Fyrwal said.

    "Those too old, that wouldn''t be able to contribute to any work, those too ill, that even with the aid of magic would need lots of food to make a full recovery, and even those too young."

    "What? Why?" Selia said in horror.

    "Because babies need a lot of care and attention from their mothers. A woman with a young child wouldck the energy and the time to contribute to society during a famine so Oghrom would just remove the root of the problem.

    "After all, a healthy woman can have as many children as she wants after the famine whereas an infant is just dead weight for at least twelve years." Fyrwal read out loud those words from one of Oghrom''s diaries before showing it to Selia.

    "What a horrible man." Protector skimmed through its pages, finding more and more of Gernoff''s projects to improve the quality of life of the Kingdom.

    He was d that such a monster was gone forever, yet Ryman still failed to understand the reason why one of the founding fathers of the Kingdom had chosen tomit suicide.

    "Indeed." The Elder Hydra nodded. "He and Valeron nearly came to blows every time we annexed a new region to the Kingdom. Valeron was content recing the old monarchs with their heirs after having them bend the knee.

    "Oghrom, instead, wanted to kill the entire bloodline to keep them from seeking vengeance against us and to prevent the old nobles to rally under the g of the ''true rulers''.

    "Oghrom would always say that an invading army already had plenty of enemies ahead of its path and that there was no reason to leave our back exposed to potential traitors."

    "Cut the head of the snake and the body will wither." Selia said, understanding his strategy. "Without a rightful heir, the people wouldn''t follow the nobles who would be too busy filling the power vacuum before theirpetitors to be a threat for Valeron."

    "Exactly." Fyrwal nodded. "But it would have also meant to leave the people at the mercy of the nobles'' petty interests and right in their line of fire of the conflicting households as they tried to expand their area of influence.

    "On top of that, without a ruler, a region wouldck the unity necessary to stand against any organized force like mercenaries, foreign armies, and monsters. They would be dependent on Valeron for protection and suffer many casualties until our army sent reinforcements."

    "It disgusts me to admit, but Oghrom''s n is perfect. It kept the invaded territories too busy with infighting to pose a threat to Valeron''s advancing army. Also, each time you saved them from an external threat, the people would grow grateful of you and spiteful of the useless nobles." Protector said.

    "All of his ns were perfect." Fyrwal sighed. "That''s why Oghrom and Valeron argued so much¡­ Valeron was afraid of turning the Kingdom into a tyranny by following them but he was also scared at the idea of what might have happened if he didn''t."

 Chapter 1616 - Parents And Children (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1616 - Parents And Children (Part 2)</h4>

    "Can we please change the subject?" Selia shuddered. "I''m already creeped out by what happened to the poor Zinya and at the idea of what might have happened if we didn''t follow Faluel on her vacation. I don''t need to hear about one more madman."

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to upset you." The Hydra said with a sad smile.

    Fyrwal had never liked Oghrom much when he was alive, but now she missed him dearly and rarely had the opportunity to speak about her youth.

    "Yeah, I need to apologize to that poor woman once we get back." Faluel said. "I didn''t expect that someone would target her nor that the other Lords of the Distar region would just sit there and do nothing. Especially Athung."

    "So young and na?ve." Fyrwal''s seven heads rubbed against her daughter''s with the same tenderness of when she was just a one-headed hatchling. "Undead can''t move during the day, nts don''t care about anyone but themselves, and the human Lord had no reason to intervene.

    "Not only is Athung the youngest and the weakest among the Lords of the Distar region, but she has only one apprentice under her. Going alone against an army of elite fake mages would have put her life at risk for no gain.

    "The Council wouldn''t have supported her since we don''t mess with the affairs of the non-Awakened and Lith has no way to reward her properly. He has not enough resources for his own research, no political influence, and no standing in the Council.

    "Never forget that humans have no interest in silly things like protecting their own unless it hurts their profits." Fyrwal hissed every word while one of her heads stared at Selia with spite for a split second.

    Faluel opened her mouth to reply, but then she realized that her mother was right and remained silent.

    "You don''t like us much, do you?" Selia instinctively tugged Ryman''s fur in fear.

    "How could it be any different?" The Elder Hydra replied with a scoff. "Back when I unified the Kingdom, every one of those who knew my real nature treated me either as a monster or as a tool in the shed.

    "I was their ruler, yet my so-called subjects dared to propose to me to cut my heads and use them as ingredients just because I can grow more. They questioned my decisions, iming that a beast can''t understand the needs of humans.

    "Only when they messed up, be it with some crazy magical experiment or by triggering a conflict with the other races, did they conveniently remember that I was in charge and treated me with respect."

    Fyrwal''s eyes brimmed with mana and fury until she realized that she was scaring even her own daughter.

    "I''m sorry for my outburst, Selia." She said with a sigh. "It''s just that I was so proud of the Kingdom Valeron built with my help and I''m disgusted by what it has be. It''s the reason why I moved to the Empire.

    "This country has its fair share of problems, but at least it has never given birth to a monster like Balkor or like the madman who attacked your vige."

    "About that, Faluel." Selia said. "Not to sound ungrateful for everything both you and Lith did for us, but what happened to Zinya is one of the reasons why I''m considering moving to the Empire as well.

    "I returned to Lutia because I wantedpany and a safe environment for my children. This is already the second attack that some psycho pulled to go after Lith and I don''t want to be there for a third.

    "I bet that if the Kingdom knew that Ryman is actually Protector and that he survived Balkor''s attack, we would have gotten a card as well. I don''t want to live my life in fear, constantly watching my back."

    "That''s actually good thinking." Fyrwal nodded. "In a few years, your children will need to enroll into an academy to learn magic and get used to human society. The Empire has some of the best magical schools and most tolerant policies about hybrids on Garlen.

    "Define most tolerant policies about hybrids, please." At those words, Selia instinctively held the little Fenrir close to her chest.

    "They can dere their race before taking the admission exam and it would be kept secret from their ssmates during their stay. The school staff would pay them special attention and help them to deal with any problem that might arise due to their nature." Fyrwal replied.

    "How is that different from the Kingdom?" Protector asked. "I don''t want my children to be treated differently nor to have to bear years of hazing just because I''m their father."

    "Unlike the Kingdom, the Empire already hasws that allow nt-human hybrids to have the same rights of humans, even inside an academy." Fyrwal replied. "The Empress knows that Emperor Beasts shapeshift and so do her Headmasters that have taken a vow of secrecy.

    "They would help your children in the case their real nature gets exposed and cover up any incident."

    "That''s not good enough." Selia said in anger. "No matter what country my family lives in, we will always be forced to hide like criminals!"

    "Regr people are bound to freak out when they discover that their neighbor is actually a creature that weighs several tons, can rip metal apart with their bare hands, and can use perfect silent magic of all tiers." Protector sighed.

    "Regr people can go fuck themselves for all I care!" Selia snarled. "At this point, I''d rather send Lilia and Leran to the White Griffon. Lith''s friends would take good care of them and they could be skilled Healers or Forgemasters.

    "Anything that doesn''t require fighting as a part of their education. It will lower the chances of being exposed and give them all the knowledge they need to be sessful and rich without the need to risk their lives."

    "I would like them to be Battle Mages or War Mages, instead." Protector said. "Even those who don''t pickbat-rted specializations must learn how to fight and their survival abilities are put to the test during the exams.

    "If Lilia and Leran don''t learn how to handle stressful situations and how to control their transformation, they will get exposed anyway. Also, between Thrud, the undead, and the Abominations, they need to know how to defend themselves."

    "Bah!" Selia dismissed his arguments with a wave of her hand. "By the time they are old enough to go to an academy, all those issues will already be resolved. On top of that, I don''t want our children to shed anyone''s blood for a living.

    "Battle and War mages are useless outside of the battlefield whereas Healers make lots of money without risking their lives and bing murderers."

    "If Thrud conquers the Kingdom, the Empire will be at war anyway." Protector replied. "Healers would be sent to the frontlines where they would be pushovers. I want our children to be capable of fending for themselves under any circumstance!"

    As the couple started yelling at each other, the Hydras left them alone¡­ They knew from experience that siding with either of them would only make matters worse.

 Chapter 1617 - Down The Memory Lane (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1617 - Down The Memory Lane (Part 1)</h4>

    After the stalematested for several minutes, Selia lost her temper.

    "Damn Lith for endangering my life in more than one way. Before meeting him, I had no intention of getting married, let alone having children. Also, if not for his enemies targeting Lutia, I wouldn''t be forced to leave my home like this!" She said.

    "Any sessful mage makes enemies. Talent always arouses envy and grudges cannot be avoided." Protector said. "The same will happen to our children."

    "Except that at least when he joined the academy, he was stillpletely human." Selia started to pace around the room, her worry increasing with each step she took. "Lilia and Leran will have to live with the burden of beingmoners and hybrids!

    "And that because you didn''t bother telling me the truth about your nature. Thank the gods I didn''t need a midwife for Lilia''s birth, otherwise we couldn''t show our face in Lutia without being chased with pitchforks."

    Selia had learned about Protector actually being an Emperor Beast only after seeing her newborn baby girl in her hybrid form. The huntress had almost lost her mind, thinking that someone had cursed her and praying to the gods for help.

    Only then did Ryman reveal his real form in the attempt to calm her down, just to make matters worse. Selia had kicked him out of the house for days until she had forgiven him out of the love for their daughter and the desperate need for help in safely raising a hybrid.

    At those words, the mes engulfing the huge Skoll went out in shame. His anger faded as he stared at the floor, whining like a beaten dog.

    "You are right. This is all my fault. Back then I knew nothing about human society and being a dumb oaf, I always assumed that you had already guessed my identity and that you were fine with it.

    "If only I was smart enough to tell you the truth from the start, you and the kids wouldn''t be in this mess. You would be with a good man and they would have a normal life.

    "Because of me, you''ve spent years alone in the woods to raise our daughter away from a world that wouldn''t ept her. I''ve taken so much from you that I will never be able to pay you back." Protector said with eyes veiled by tears.

    "Oh, gods! I''m so sorry. I didn''t mean what I said." Selia took the huge snout in her arms, happy that the children had not witnessed her outburst.

    "If I really was unhappy with you, do you think that I would have given you a second and a third child?" She said amid tears while caressing his head.

    "I regret nothing of what we had together, I''m just scared at the idea that in a few years we''ll not be able to protect our children anymore. I chose to marry you not because I need you, but because I want you."

    Protector shapeshifted into his human form to be capable of returning her embrace and letting her know how deeply he cared for her. He held Selia in his arms, kissing her with the same passion of the day when they had first met.

    Even though they had been together for seven years, Ryman still couldn''t thank the gods enough for the miracle of finding someone who truly loved him.

    Meanwhile, at the Myrok Household, Faluel, Fyrwal, and Jiza Gernoff of the human faction of the Awakened Council were discussing the most recent events that had taken ce in the Kingdom.

    In her human form, Fyrwal looked like a lovely woman in her early thirties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall with ocean blue eyes and light brown hair. She wore a cream-colored day dress that emphasized her shapely figure and slender arms.

    "What do you think of this Balkor copycat?" The Hydra asked.

    "That they are a pain in the ass." The human replied with a grunt. "Normally, I wouldn''t give a damn about a random psycho, but since they are threatening one of my own, I can''t let it slide."

    Jiza Gernoff was a woman 583 years old, but due to Awakening, she looked as if she was barely in her early forties. She was 1.62 meters (5''4") tall with shoulder-length blonde hair streaked brown all over and light blue eyes.

    She wore a deep blue ample mage clothes that looked like something in between an army uniform and an Archmage robe.

    "Here are all the reports from the Royal Army about their known strategies, spells, and resources." Jiza neared hermunication amulet to Fyrwal''s, passing to her every bit of information that the Griffon Kingdom had collected on the scenes of the copycat''s attacks.

    "What does this mean?" Faluel''s rainbow eyes shone with ill-concealed suspicion. "Back when I asked the Council for help, you didn''t move a finger. Am I supposed to believe that you suddenly care for my disciple?"

    "I don''t, but since our interests align, we might as well join our forces." Jiza replied while activating the defensive arrays of the manor and conjuring the hologram of Jirni.

    She was sitting behind a desk cluttered with paperwork and alcohol bottles. Her eyes were reddened from crying, theck of sleep, and one drink too many. Jirni had lost most of her youthful appearance, looking even older than she actually was.

    "As you should already know, one of the members of my family has received a card as well. Until thest attack, I was certain that the magical protection of the Myrok Household would be enough to keep her safe.

    "I even had my niece, Cy, protect Jirni from the shadows just in case. Yet after seeing what happened in Lutia thest time, I''m not so sure that my several contingency measures are enough anymore."

    Jiza showed them a few clips from the fight between the blue robed man and Tezka, including the copycat''s escape.

    "Anyone who can fight with an Eldritch and live to tell the tale can make short work of my ipetent niece. The defensive arrays can be overloaded by a fewpetent Wardens and the bastard brought dozens. Also, look at this."

    The images depicted Tezka''s gravity spell nailing the copycat to the ground. Yet once the Eldritch had gone collecting the corpse he had found nothing.

    "A well-timed Blink indeed, but nothing worth mentioning." Fyrwal said.

    "You would be right if it wasn''t for this." A wave of Jiza''s hand made the lines of an elemental sealing array appear. "Tezka could still warp around thanks to Chaos magic but a fake mage had no way out. He was supposed to die unless¡­"

    "Unless they are an Awakened." Faluelpleted the phrase. "Yet this still doesn''t exin why I should help you nor your sudden change of heart. The Gernoff bloodline can take care of the copycat."

    "We could, but we won''t." Jiza replied. "Jirni is a public figure and she isn''t aware of the fact that the Gernoff are the other side of the coin of the Myrok. If many Awakened humans intervene, there''s no way to exin it to her or to the Kingdom.

    "If you beasts help her because she''s a friend of Lith, however, no one will question your actions."

 Chapter 1618 - Down The Memory Lane (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1618 - Down The Memory Lane (Part 2)</h4>

    "We take the bastard down together and everybody wins." Jiza said.

    "If you are willing to go to such lengths to protect her, why didn''t you just Awaken Jirni and bring her into your fold? Based on what Lith told me about her, she''s an outstanding woman." Faluel asked.

    "She is, but I can''t Awaken her for the same reason my ancestor Oghrom took his own life. Jirni is as much of a monster as he was and your mother knows what his final words were." Jiza looked at Fyrwal who started to quote herte friend.

    "Never Awaken someone like me, no matter how talented or brilliant they are. Once I gained the power of magic, my friendship with Valeron was the only tie with my humanity that I had left and the only leash still restraining my actions.

    "If they are like me, the stronger they''ll get the more detached they''ll be until they''ll see even their own blood as numbers in an equation. I''m afraid of what they might do exactly as much I''m afraid of what I might do now that my moralpass is gone.

    "If I keep living, I am bound to be a threat to everything that I built. To be the Kingdom''s worst enemy until someone puts me down. I''ve always been a monster, but before meeting Valeron I never had a conscience so I didn''t care.

    "Now, however, I''ve gained enough to understand how dangerous I am. With the long life and the power of an Awakened, I feel the void inside me grow with each passing day.

    "My heart withers and with it all of my feelings but boredom. I choose to die now, while I still grieve my friend, otherwise not even death will stop me.

    "The only thing that Mogar needs less than Awakened Oghrom Gernoff is Abomination Oghrom Gernoff." The Hydra said.

    Faluel pondered those words for a while, browsing the several pieces of information that she had beencking until that moment. By giving up on her noble status, Faluel had lost ess to the army''s database whereas the Myrok had full clearance and through them so did the Gernoff.

    Small details that made no sense to a fake mage exined a lot to an Awakened.

    "We have a deal." Faluel extended her hand and Jiza promptly shook it.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, Solus''s tower.

    "What''s the first piece you are going to craft?" Friya asked while putting her personal notes on one of the Library''s bookshelves to share them with the others.

    "The Sage Staff for Solus." Lith replied. "Tapping into the full potential of the Balor''s eyes might take a few tries and I want it to be ready when Solus gets her human body back.

    "If I''m right, then thebined effect of the eyes and of the white crystals will allow her to keep that form indefinitely while the Yggdrasill wood will make it possible for her to use the Eyes of Menadion without my brain."

    "Yep." Solus nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed with excitement. "I can''t wait to finally see Lutia with my own eyes. I was reborn there, yet I never visited the vige."

    "Why the staff and not the hammers?" Friya patted at the Forgemastering tool hung to her belt.

    "Way ahead of you." Solus showed her a pair of purified Adamant hammers.

    They had different shapes and sizes but they both had a violet mana crystal the size of a nut embedded on either side of the head and another on its top. Lith''s hammer was symmetrical, with both ends t.

    Solus''s tool had a shorter and slenderer handle. One of the ends of its head was t while the other resembled an ice pick.

    Lith had used his human blood, the Tiamat''s scales and feathers as amplifiers. Their power was small, but still better than nothing. Solus had tried to contribute with a few hairs, but the moment she cut them off they faded away.

    "We followed Grandma''s advice and forged our tools from the Adamant that I got by recycling the Odi equipment." Lith looked at the hammers and sighed.

    "Was that sigh because taking some Adamant out of the Crucible slows the refining process of the Orichalcum or because in hindsight you would have rather put them in the Armory?" Solus asked.

    "Both. With a mana geyser fueling them, they would have made a great addition to the tower''s defensive system." He replied.

    "Disagree. Their energy consumption was highly inefficient." Solus shook her head. "A single Tower Spirit Spell can do much more damage than the Odi sword ever could and the Tower''s Heart can nullify almost all attacks.

    "After I regained my deep blue core, the number of arrays that the Heart can store rose up to six. If we use them to keep all elemental sealing arrays at the ready, there''s nothing that we can''t stop at will but Spirit Magic.

    "On top of that, since the Heart allows us to turn on and off the array at will and even to change their position, it''s much better than Silverwing''s Hexagram. Keeping sealing arrays is much cheaper in terms of mana and focus required.

    "Last, but not least, remember Grandma''s words and consider the hammers as an investment for the future." Solus floated high enough to flick his frowning forehead.

    "Point taken." Lith replied.

    While they had their umpteenth friendly quarrel of the day, Friya kept reading Lith''s notes about the Yggdrasill wood and his ns about how to enchant it. Or better, she browsed the dozens of pages thatprised his blueprints at the same time thanks to the Library.

    "Gods, I wish I could live in here forever. Studying has never been so easy." Friya said, amazed by how easy assimting knowledge was for her due to the branch of the World Tree stored in the Armory.

    "Just a few questions before you begin. Why did you show me your notes? As a Forgemaster, I thought that you would keep your secrets of the trade close to the vest. Unless you need my help with the power core, like with the DoLorean." She asked.

    "Because I expect to fail a lot before seeding." Lith replied. "Once I take out the Yggdrasill branch, no one will have ess to its abilities unless Iplete the Sage Staff or Grandma restores it.

    "I only have so much time before we have to go back to the Kingdom and I can use your brilliant mind to spot any w in my project that I failed to notice. After all, it''s not like you have Yggdrasill wood or Balor Eyes.

    "My blueprint is worthless to you. As for your offer to help, thanks but no thanks. I want to try and work only with Solus this time. The power core allows for multiple mages but the extra energy signature is a variable that I want to avoid.

    "So, what do you think?"

    "It''s brilliant, at least in theory." Friya said while reviewing the various parts. "I''m not sure that Necromancy and Forgemastery can get along, though. I''m afraid that using two different disciplines together might mess up your technique.

    "Also, I think that the power core you devised requires too many pseudo cores¡­ If this is a prototype, I would start with fewer of them and gauge my skills."

 Chapter 1619 - Life And Death (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1619 - Life And Death (Part 1)</h4>

    "The blueprint is for a prototype and I used so many pseudo cores on purpose." Lith replied. "I want to find out as many problems as I can at the same time so that I canter focus on solving them one by one.

    "On top of that, if the Yggdrasill wood''s mana capacity is anything like the purified Davross, then it can hold many more pseudo cores than you think. I''m not just testing my limits but those of the Yggdrasill as well."

    Lith called Tista from her training with the Phoenixes before starting the experiment. His sister had already discussed the procedure thoroughly with him and Solus and was eager to learn from them. Also by giving Tista and Friya one Monocle each, he would be able to analyse and record the procedure without putting any burden on Solus.

    With a wave of Lith''s hand, the Yggdrasill branch left the Armory and appeared on the Adamant Forge in front of him. All those inside the tower felt a small pang in their heads as the rity of thought they had enjoyed until a second ago disappeared.

    While Lith and Solus waited for their brains to adjust, they used Abyssal Gaze on the branch onest time. They wanted to make sure that no impurity was left before starting to work on their masterpiece.

    Unlike magical metals, there was no need for Origin mes to purify the wood. The World Tree was a violet cored Awakened so everything from the wood texture to the disposition of the fibers was perfect, offering almost no resistance to mana.

    Yet being a part of a living being capable of surviving away from its main body, the branch retained small sacks of the Yggdrasill''s life force and willpower even after Aalejah had severed the link between the Tree and its branch.

    If not removed, the sacks would resist the enchanting process and tamper with the imbued spells whenever the power core would be activated.

    Lith and Solus had noticed the residual sacks only after a thorough study of the branch with the tower''s Greenhouse, where they had nted it in the hope to grow their own World Tree or at least a few more branches.

    Purifying the Yggdrasill staff had required to use darkness magic with surgical precision and remove the energy signature left from the previous owner of the wood in order to be its only true master.

    ''Between this and the Balor''s Eyes, I''m almost certain that either Necromancy is a branch of Forgemastery or it''s the other way around.'' Lith thought.

    ''It would exin why Baba Yaga is one of the two people who can use Creation Magic, the highest form of Forgemastery, and is also the Mother of all Undead.'' Solus pondered. ''Anyway, if not for the Greenhouse, we would have never noticed the sacks.''

    ''Indeed.'' Lith nodded. ''It allowed me to find a w in my breathing technique''s detection capabilities and to not only fix it, but even to improve my Abyssal Gaze. I finally got my first breathing skill!''

    ''Show off!'' Solus snarled with a bit of envy.

    She was still using Lith''s technique, but not being a Demon, she had no way to use Abyssal Gaze''s to its full potential.

    ''I need to create a breathing technique of my own.'' She grumbled.

    Lith used Spirit Magic to ce the staff on the Adamant Forge and started what he considered the most crucial step to crafting a Sage Staff, the preparatory phase. Bonding crystals and injecting sets of runes was something he had done a lot of times in the past.

    Bonding living eyes to an artifact with Necromancy and making sure that they wouldn''t rot, however, was a first for him. On top of that, even the Bonding process posed too many questions.

    He had never worked on either Yggdrasil wood or altered white crystals so he had no idea what would happen from the interaction between them. The only silver lining was that he was using Sark''s borrowed crystals so at least the Eye of Kolga in the mines was still intact.

    Solus took one of the gemstones, groaning from the strain of turning the white into silver. Enhancing an elemental aspect in a crystal worked exactly like doing the same in a Spirit Spell, just hundreds of times harder.

    Solus had a natural affinity toward light magic that had only grown stronger ever since Lith had opened his silver eye. Yet even her ability to sense and Dominate the light element beyond what any normal mage could wasn''t enough.

    The perfectly bnced flow of world energy inside a white crystal was akin to a great wall that resisted any attempt to change its structure. Every element ovepped so perfectly that even discerning a single one from the others required a great focus.

    On top of that, unlike a real wall, altering the flow of any element caused the others to reject the external influence as if when a builder tried to remove one of the stones on top, the rest of the wall would grow a leg and kick him away.

    Solus groaned and sweated as she seized control of the world energy stored inside the gemstone with Domination, forcing the light element to stand out. Once she took hold of it, she amplified the silver energy by adding her own.

    The other elements became incapable of recognizing their light counterpart now that it was tainted by Solus''s energy signature and rejected it, making the gem color turn into a muddy silver.

    Yet the worst had yet toe. Unless the Forgemaster managed to establish a new bnce, the moment they took their hands off the crystal the world energy would go back to its original state.

    Solus used Domination again, this time on all the elemental aspects, forcing them to stabilize in a controlled manner. Then, she infused the entire gem with her mana to lessen the rejection of the light element.

    Once the turbid silver turned into a clear color that reflected every single ray of light, she handed the crystal to Lith who bonded it to the branch. There had been no need to carve sockets, the wood absorbed the gemstone into its structure as if the wood was soft y.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Lith said when he noticed that, unlike what happened with magical metals, the Bonding process didn''t create a mana circtory system from scratch.

    It simply revitalized the branch as if it was still connected to a living being, making the silver energy flow through the wood fibers without encountering any resistance.

    "If we hadn''t purified the branch, we would have already failed."

    "Nice. Now shut up!" Solus was already working on the orange crystal since she was also naturally attuned to the earth element.

    After several more minutes of panting and groaning, the second gemstone shone from the top of the staff, flooding it with power.

    "It''s your turn. Otherwise, I''ll be forced to use Invigoration even before the real Forgemastering begins. I need to rest." Solus was so weakened that her feet touched the floor, unable to float as usual.

    "Watch and learn." He said with a smug grin as he opened his seven eyes at the same time and took care of the third crystal.

    Lith had already mastered Spirit Dominance, something that Friya and Solus had yet to aplish as theck of an emerald streak amid their hair proved.

 Chapter 1620 - Life And Death (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1620 - Life And Death (Part 2)</h4>

    Lith used the Spirit Eye to sever Mogar''s energy signature from the world energy and reced it with his own. The crystal was now filled with mana that offered no resistance to him.

    Then, Lith used his yellow eye to iste and amplify the air element, turning the crystal into a muddy ochre. He had no natural affinity toward air and if not for the Spirit eye, his level of mastery would have been too low to seed.

    Yet bybining his skill with Spirit Magic, Crystalsmithing, and Dominance he had carved a path toward sess that very few could use.

    "Good gods!" Tista said in amazement, seeing how Lith refined the crystal much more smoothly and quickly than Solus. "I have no idea what he is doing with his eyes, but can I do the same thing?"

    "Sure. Once you have seven eyes and a violet core." Lith snarled in frustration.

    Even with a core much stronger than Solus''s and Spirit Dominance, creating an altered crystal was still a mammoth task. He now understood why Solus had reacted so harshly back when he had disturbed her focus.

    "Can you do that?" Tista asked Friya who shook her head in reply.

    "It''s called cheating. Deal with it and shut up!" Lith said.

    One final burst of Dominance and willpower turned the ochre into a radiant yellow air crystal that he added to the staff as well.

    The moment the mana circtory system epted the third energy flow without any hitch, Lith fell to the ground panting and covered in sweat.

    "You can talk now." Solus said. "Sorry if we forbid you to use mind links, but even the presence of the feeblest of spells can screw a Forgemastering process."

    "Can you teach me how to do the thing with the eyes?" Tista said while making her irises change from red to silver at will. She had understood that her eyes and elemental affinities were somehow linked, but she had no idea of its significance.

    "Maybe." Solus said while Lith gulped down a tonic. "Right now, he is forbidden to, but if you manage to open a third eye Faluel might give her permission."

    "That''s not fair! It will be years before¡­" While Tista rambled, the other three discussed the procedure via a mind link.

    ''This sure exins why Menadion had such troubles mastering the white crystals.'' Friya said. ''Unless someone taught her Dominance, having a natural affinity to all elements could only bring her that far.''

    ''Dominance isn''t really necessary to get the job done.'' Solus said since Lith''s thoughts amounted to a bunch of swear words. ''It''s like a crutch that helps the mage.''

    ''A crutch my sweet ass! It''s more like a road map.'' Friya replied. ''I''ve gotten natural affinity to all elements, a blue core, and I practiced with the crystals as much as you did yet I''m still stuck at singling out the elemental flows.

    ''Why didn''t you share this method with me? It would have given me the opportunity to practice Domination as well, killing two birds with one stone.''

    Her thoughts didn''t sound angry or envious, just hurt. Friya knew that Lith had no obligation to teach her, but throwing his technique in her face like that felt like a mix of bragging andck of trust.

    ''Because I didn''t want to affect your growth as a mage.'' Lith replied. ''I discovered this method only thanks to my seventh eye and Solus managed to pull it off only thanks to her natural affinities.

    ''As you can see, using Domination like this is very demanding. It drains both energy and focus in a matter of minutes whereas we can practice the regr method for hours.

    ''On top of that, I never used this technique during regr practice because forcing my way into the world energy is a shortcut that allows me to exceed my limits but it doesn''t help me deepen my understanding of Crystalsmithing.

    ''If I shared it with you, you would have wasted time trying to learn it as well. Consider that without the empowering effect that the tower has on us, we wouldck the necessary strength to overpower even a crystal that small.''

    ''Point taken. Thanks for your honesty.'' Friya said.

    After resting for a few minutes, it was time to add the Balor''s Eyes. One of the good things about the preparatory phase was that the mage could take their time with each step withoutpromising the final result.

    It was akin to assembling a space shuttle. Only once the Forgemaster turned on the engine/power core would they see their creation soar through the sky or blow up.

    The process that Lith had devices was the pr opposite that he had just used for the crystals and involved the use of Necromancy. First, he used his personal spell, Harmony, to conjure a gentle flow of world energy that surrounded the ck eye.

    Harmony filtered out the darkness element, discharging it outside the tower and leaving the rest to seep into the eye to restore the bnce. At the same time, Lith used Dominance on both the ck eye and the filtered world energy to make their energy signatures match.

    His goal was to make the organic matter work akin to a mana crystal. It would not only facilitate the assimtion of the eye, but it would also protect the staff from side effects.

    The darkness energy that the eye conjured non-stop was harmless to a living Balor whereas it would either erode an inorganic host or turn a corpse into an undead. Lith had no idea if the same would happen to the Yggdrasill branch and had no desire to find out.

    ''Thest thing I need is to unleash an undead World Tree upon Mogar.'' Lith thought as he used the Necromancy spell, Lingering Soul.

    He had to spill a bit of his blood to provide the spell with the vitality it needed. For a brief moment, the branch came back to life and its wood fibers seeped inside the eye, recing the blood in its vessels with lymph.

    At the same time, the silver energy from the altered crystal neutralized the eye''s dark energy the moment it tried to feed off the staff. The two elements fought for a while until their intensity matched and they became one.

    "This is going to be tricky because I need to insert thest two eyes at the same time. Without their counterpart, one will freeze the staff while the other will burn it." He said while activating both Harmony and a six-elemental Dominance at the same time.

    ''Did you incorporate Dominance in all of your Forgemastering techniques or is this a special case?'' Friya asked via a mind link before Lith started the process.

    ''Dominance is not something just meant for battle.'' He replied. ''It''s a tool meant to achieve control over someone else''s power and perfect mastery over your own. I use Dominance every time I need a degree of finesse that my current abilities don''t reach.

    ''I bet that the reason why Hydras are renowned as both Healers and Forgemasters is that their seven heads allow them to control all kinds of energies, even life forces.''

    Lith had to be careful, casting each spell twice and keeping the eyes close so that they would constantly neutralize each other.

 Chapter 1621 - Life And Death (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1621 - Life And Death (Part 3)</h4>

    Lith had embedded the ck eye first so that the moment the remaining two merged with the staff, the necromantic energies that now flowed through the mana circtory system would keep the Evil Eyes from rotting while the light element from the silver crystal would feed them.

    Lith had to counter the bursts of fire and ice that the eyes released until they became part of the six-elemental flow of energy and recognized the staff as their new body.

    "What do you think?" Lith used Spirit Magic to hand the staff to Solus.

    "This is amazing." She replied. "Even without any enchantments, it can already provide me with a constant flow of energy that only needs a spark of my life force to be identical to my own mana.

    "I need to give the Sage Staff a test run away from the mana geyser, but the ability to filter Mogar''s energy signature out is already outstanding."

    "What''s so different from just using Invigoration?" Tista asked.

    "Invigoration loses efficacy over time because your body suffers from both mana abuse and from the aftereffects of taking in Mogar''s energy signature." Solus replied. "With this, my only problem is mana abuse."

    Then, Lith applied to the staff four sets of runes. The first set would enhance his energy signature so that the mana flow originating from the crystals embedded into the staff would offer less resistance to the Forgemastering process.

    The second set would amplify the effects of every pseudo core that he nned to assemble into a power core. It granted an artifact the ability to not only to temporarily boost its single enchantments, but also theirbined effects.

    The third set would disperse excess energy in the case that casting too many spells in rapid session overloaded the staff. The runes would also help the wood to withstand enemy spells and reduce the stress that the boosted power core would experience.

    Thanks to the three sets of runes, the Sage Staff could now activate several enchantments at the same time without burdening Solus and making up for herck of body casting.

    Also, they would allow both the Staff and its user to replenish their energy reserves faster than normal.

    The fourth set of runes, instead, was something that Lith and Solus had created from one of their bounties in Urgamakka that they hadbined with the data collected after watching General Vorgh''s staff and Athung in action.

    The runes by themselves had no effect nor would they even be linked with the power core. At a first nce, they were just a bunch of random very intricate runes, but at a second nce, one would notice that they were all rted to arrays.

    Yggdrasill wood was famous for its ability to mix spells and Lith nned to exploit it. Whenever Solus would need to cast an array, by activating those engraved in the staff she would save herself the time and energy to weave the mostplex runes.

    It would significantly reduce the time and focus required to cast the mostmon types of arrays.

    Solus traced a golden circle in the air while infusing the staff with her mana. Several runes left its surface and joined the circle, filling the empty spaces that she had left on purpose.

    The moment the sequence of runes waspleted, Silverwing''s Hexagram appeared above the Forgemasteringb.

    "It''s not as good as Vorgh''s staff but it''s a start." She said.

    "Tista, Friya. Stand back and don''t move a muscle. This is the final step." Lith took his Forgemastering hammer, filling it with mana before hitting the Adamant Forge to trigger its amplification powers.

    At the same time, Solus picked her own and conjured the Forgemastering circle. The world energy from the mana geyser below filled the space surrounding the staff until the air started to crackle with power.

    ''Dammit, this doesn''t bode well.'' Solus said while noticing that the presence of the crystals and eyes messed up her control. The Sage Staff seemed to have an unquenchable hunger that constantly depleted the circle.

    ''If it keeps up like this, the energy will overload the wood, making it burst into splinters. I really don''t want to put Creation Magic''s regenerative abilities to the test.''

    She had to use her willpower to take control of the magic circle and keep the world energy from getting sucked in.

    Lith took his time crafting one pseudo core after another, following the teachings of the Fifth Ruler of the mes.

    From the Adamant sphere in Urgamakka, Lith had learned that the best way to minimize the resistance from merging multiple pseudo cores into a power core was to keep them unstable on purpose.

    After studying Bytra''s technique, Tavar Sinak had discovered that just like by choosing pseudo cores with simr enchantments it was possible to make so that the sets of runes would affect all the pseudo cores instead of just one, a simr principle could be applied in the crafting of power cores.

    The trick was brilliant in its ingenuity.

    Sinak''s Forgemastering technique required choosing pseudo cores with as many runes inmon as possible and to craft them in an imperfect form on purpose. Each one of them had to beprised of all of its unique runes but tock part of those inmon.

    It made the pseudo cores unstable, requiring from the Forgemaster a great focus and mana just to keep them from fading away or blowing up in their faces. On the other hand, however, once the mage proceeded to make them ovep to form the power core, the process would go smooth sailing.

    The hardest part of crafting a power core was that the greater the power each pseudo core possessed, the harder it would be to make them perfectly ovep until they fused into one.

    On top of that, a truly powerful artifact would never use just a few of them, but at least a dozen.

    The purpose of purifying magical metals was to make them capable of withstanding many enchantments while that of crafting a power core was tobine such spells in a way akin to how a mage would do.

    Bybining these two properties, a good Forgemaster could create artifacts as powerful as their owner. Crafting a power core from just a few pseudo cores was considered as a waste of good materials and of the Forgemaster''s time.

    Combining several powerful pseudo cores, however, had proven to be a mammoth task for a long time. Something that only Guardians, mages with their own tower, or those willing to share their crafting methods with many apprentices could perform.

    At least until the fifth Ruler of the mes had shared his discovery with the rest of Mogar.

    Thanks to his technique, the unstable pseudo cores would offer little resistance to the merging process because they would obtain the runes theycked and achieve stability. Only once the power core was fully formed would all the pseudo cores have their rune sequencespleted.

    The procedure reduced the repulsion between the different enchantments not only because the missing runes would fit into the different pseudo cores like pieces of a puzzle, keeping them together, but also because it made their energy signatures and properties harmonize with each other.

 Chapter 1622 - Life And Death (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1622 - Life And Death (Part 4)</h4>

    Lith and Solus had no such problem since they had the same energy signature, but for any other mage, it was the only way they had to craft powerful artifacts with the help of one or more colleagues.

    It was also how the fake mages of the Kingdom had enchanted the six great Academies and how Inxialot''s Adamant sphere had been capable of empowering the golems back in Urgamakka.

    The sphere itself was a teaching tool, showing to whoever was smart enough to understand its workings how to properly arrange different pseudo cores and how to align theirmon runes.

    Lith had decided to start off with ten pseudo cores while Solus would add five more, but he soon noticed that they needed a change of ns. The strain from keeping the world energy in the circle and outside the staff already took too much of her focus.

    Any more and she would not be capable of participating in the Forgemastering process.

    ''Either you needed to rest more after treating the crystals or we need to find a new way to handle the Forgemastering circle. Something simr happened when we enchanted the Davross, but it was nothing like this.

    ''I wonder if it''s because of the altered crystals or of the Yggdrasill wood. Either way, this is just an experiment. We have already learned a lot, ten pseudo cores are enough.'' He said via their mind link.

    ''Thanks.'' Solus replied while conjuring the Hands of Menadion to get a better grip on the world energy. ''Damn, I hate to use raw strength rather than finesse. It feels like I''m kicking down a door because I''m too dumb to find the handle.

    ''Luckily, I had Friya and Tista wear the Eyes while we work so that once we are done, I can understand what we are doing wrong.''

    The magical gemstones of the Hands allowed her to regain full control over the Forgemastering circle, stopping the Yggdrasil branch from leeching any more world energy.

    Meanwhile, Lith used fake magic, true magic, and body casting at the same time to conjure the ten pseudo cores as quickly as he could. Weaving so many powerful enchantments and keeping them unstable on purpose took a great toll on him.

    On top of that, he couldn''t start crafting the power core until all of its pieces were ready and properly aligned. Using three casting methods at once was exhausting, but weaving the pseudo cores slowly would require even more energy.

    Also, as soon as hepleted the power core, it would remain stable long enough for Lith to regain his strength with Abyssal Gaze before injecting it inside the Yggdrasill branch.

    Witch each pseudo core that Lith weaved, the burden on his focus grew as the unstable rune patters tried to deform in order to fill the gaps. Keeping them from copsing ate his mana by the second, making him haste even more.

    Once all ten pseudo cores were ready, he had them turn into a series of concentric spheres, each one slightly smaller than the next and bigger than the previous, aligning them so that themon runes filled the gaps.

    The moment he was done, the pseudo cores naturally merged into a power core, needing Lith''s guiding hand solely to nudge them from time to time. The different spells started to work in harmony, akin to several musicians that had yed each a different tune before bing part of an orchestra.

    The final result was bigger than the sum of its single parts, creating a radiant sphere of white energy.

    ''I can''t believe this!'' Lith thought while using his breathing technique. ''Back when I crafted the DoLorean it took three people to make a power core from threeplex pseudo cores. Yet now I made one from ten pseudo cores and all by myself.''

    ''It''s all thanks to your violet core.'' Solus said with a tinge of envy. ''The stronger you get, the more you can tap into the tower''s true potential. Without the auxiliary cores, the amount of energy that you are handling now would have blown up your body.

    ''The tower amplifies your powers, allowing you to go past your physical and magical limits, but only up to the point its regenerative abilities can keep up with the damage that the excess energy inflicts upon you.''

    ''Are you ready for the final step?'' Lith hit the now charged Forge with his hammer, retrieving the umted power and starting a new cycle.

    ''Ready when you are.'' Solus replied while doing the same.

    Lith pushed the power core toward the Yggdrasill branch, distant enough so that the two energy masses wouldn''t reject each other, but close enough to trigger the Yggdrasill wood''s amplification process.

    Any magical material with its own mana flow would enhance the enchantments it was imbued with. On paper it was great, but reality begged to differ. The same effect would also strengthen the repulsion between the material and the power core, making the Forgemastering process more difficult.

    Forcing a mass of mana inside an inanimate object usually encountered a great resistance that deformed the pseudo core.

    The Forgemaster had to constantly fix all the imperfections that arose as the pseudo core slowly seeped inside the vessel and the slightest w in the final product would make it a useless failure.

    When Lith had first worked on Adamant, he had learned that he could only create a core with 50% of his true power. Yet the use of crystals and the amplification effect of the metal would bring the core to 150%.

    If Lith used any more mana, the Adamant would bring the pseudo core''s energy mass beyond what he could handle even with Solus''s help.

    Now, however, after reaching the violet and practicing Menadion''s Forgemastering technique that Sark had passed onto them, Lith and Solus could use up to 80% of his power.

    Bybining their strength and thanks to the Davross'' amplification effect, the resulting pseudo core would reach a mana capacity almost twice as Lith''s.

    "By the Great Mother!" All of those present said in unison.

    The world energy flowing from the Yggdrasill branch into the power core made it grow in size as they expected, but instead of being rejected, the power core was being slowly sucked inside the staff.

    ''What the heck is happening? This has never happened with the Davross.'' Lith said while needing sheer willpower to stop the process and fix the bumps and indentures that appeared on the power core''s surface as the altered crystals and the Evil Eyes drained its energy.

    ''Maybe it''s because the Davross is inorganic, or maybe it''s because we never used altered crystals before. Questions can wait until we are done. Now focus on the problem at hand before it blows up in our face.'' Solus replied.

    She could see with mana sense that just like Bonding the crystals with the staff had rejuvenated its natural mana circtory system, the power core was moving on its own towards the point where once the life essence of the World Tree resided.

    It was as if the wood still remembered being alive and it was using the Forgemastering process to heal itself¡­ Instead of rejecting the power core, the branch was guiding it to the center of the branch so that it would rece its missing mana core.

 Chapter 1623 - Failure And Success (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1623 - Failure And Sess (Part 1)</h4>

    By reversing the energy flow of the Forgemastering process, the Yggdrasill wood was bothpromising the power core''s integrity and wrestling its control out of Lith''s hands.

    It was only a matter of seconds before the energy mass exploded and turned the staff into wood kes.

    Luckily, Lith had followed Sark''s advice and purified the two Adamant blocks that the Royals had gifted to him and Tista during thest G. This way, Lith and Solus had one Forge each and couldbine Menadion''s prized technique with their own, Twin Forge.

    The technique exploited their perfect mind link and the fact that they had the same energy signature, allowing them to switch their roles at will or tobine their strength when necessary.

    After hitting the Forges with the hammers, their mana flowed inside the Adamant, where the magic metal stored and amplified it thanks to its own ability to draw in the world energy akin to a breathing technique, and converted it into their mana.

    A second hit and the hammer retrieved the amplified mana. Lith and Solus only needed a speck of focus to restore their energy signature before striking at the Forge again.

    With each cycle, the power that they had originally infused in their respective hammer grew at the expense of the mana geyser that endlessly fueled the tower without any further effort on their side.

    They used the extra energy topensate for the mana loss from both fixing the damages in the power core and countering the pull that the Yggdrasill branch exerted on it.

    Were the power core to enter the mystical wood before the end of the amplification process, the energy from the crystals and the Evil Eyes would have blinded their mystical senses.

    At that point, it would be impossible for them to repair the power core without using Invigoration. Yet the use of a breathing technique required physical contact and they couldn''t step inside the Forgemastering circle without making it copse.

    The tug of war between the artifact and the Forgemasters went on for several excruciating minutes. The power core''s deterioration rate was faster than the Adamant''s ability to enhance their mana, keeping Lith and Solus from taking a break.

    Only bybining their strength non-stop could they keep pulling at the power core while also fixing the damages that the eyes and the crystals inflicted upon it and not letting the world energy dissipate at the same time.

    The fight was desperate yet they refused to yield.

    Solus even cut off most of the power from the other floors of the tower in order to give Lith as much juice as she could, yet it wasn''t enough. Without Abyssal Gaze their energies dwindled, consuming more mana than that the tower could passively restore.

    Lith squeezed every drop of energy he had, focusing solely on the task at hand. His core grew weaker but his determination endured. When the power core reached 200% of the mana capacity that Lith had outside the tower, it was still a perfect sphere.

    Half of it had already been pulled inside the staff but Solus yed around it by making the power core spin and by treating the exposed half. They had to work even faster while keeping their uracy, depleting their mana reserves even faster.

    Solus cursed her long hair when exhaustion made them stop floating and fall on her face. It blocked her view for just a split second, but it was almost fatal nheless. She swept it away along with the sweat that covered her forehead, revealing her brown eyes.

    Lith struck at the Adamant Forge more and more often topensate for hisck of energy, until the hammer came back empty.

    "Fuck me sideways." He said when his hand refused to lift again.

    There was only so much that willpower could do without mana and his deep violet core was dry. Solus had given up on her energy body as soon as her Forge had be useless, hoping to gain one more second.

    Yet the moment their teamwork crumbled so did the power core. It exploded in a burst of light that tore the staff asunder and filled the air with sawdust. If not for the tower''s automated defenses, it would have also killed everyone in the room.

    An energy bubble encapsted the power core the moment it went haywire, limiting the damages to the part of the branch it was already fused with and saving everything else.

    Without the mana circtory system to support them, the altered crystals returned white while the Evil Eyes fell from the branch with the sound of a wet sponge.

    "Close, but no cigar, my dear Featherling." Sark gave them a heartfelt round of apuse as she stepped out of a hidden dimensional space. "It was one of the most amazing failures I''ve ever seen."

    "Grandma, how long have you been standing there?" Lith stuttered every word, panting them out rather than speaking.

    "Long enough." She replied with a mischievous grin.

    "Can you please tell me what I did wrong?" He asked while Solus gave up even on her wisp form, too tired even for that.

    "Do you want the list in chronological or alphabetical order?" Sark chuckled, making him groan in frustration.

    "First, you used three crystals right off the bat, without even checking in advance how they interacted with the eyes. In your shoes, I would have started with just the ck eye and the silver crystal."

    "Second, ten pseudo cores are too much for a beginner. Do you realize that if each one of them reaches 200% of your power, then the power core requires over 2,000% of your energy just to be imbued in an artifact, let alone being repaired?"

    "But I have Solus and the tower!" He tried to stand up, bing so dizzy from mana abuse that he fell face-first on the floor.

    "Third, Solus has not a violet core and she had no grasp over the world energy once the elemental flow from the staff started to interfere with the Forgemastering circle. If not for the Hands and for how stubborn you two are, you would have failed right off the bat.

    "Handling altered crystals requires an additionalyer of protection to neutralize their effects for the duration of crafting process."

    Sark shook her head while activating Creation Magic to repair the Yggdrasill branch and cleanse the ingredients from the traces of the failed core, making them usable again.

    "Imend your effort and self-confidence, but instead of wasting your energy, it would have been better to stop the Forgemastering and study the unexpected phenomenons the moment they arose.

    "Solus, with your weak core, you can''t afford to solve a problem by force. While the tower is still so damaged, it takes one of you to fine-tune the world energy while the other one crafts.

    "If Lith takes care of the world energy, however, youck the strength necessary to lead the enchanting process.

    "Lith, your greatest w as a Forgemaster is that you try to tackle too many problems at the same time. For someone as inexperienced as you, the slowest route is also the best for learning from your mistakes."

    "Any more observations?" Lith asked.

 Chapter 1624 - Failure And Success (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1624 - Failure And Sess (Part 2)</h4>

    "Depends. Are you going to join my nest?" She replied.

    "No." They said in unison.

    "Then I can only advise you to do things step by step and fix your mistakes one at a time. I''m no volunteer worker and my time is precious." Sark''s frown turned into a small smile as she turned around and left.

    ''Soon.'' She thought.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Orthan Region, city of Hunc.

    The failed attempt on Zinya''s life had brought terrible consequences for the usually flourishing business of the underworld. Tezka''s cursed spells had done more than just kill most of the members of the mercenary units, it had also exposed the location of their headquarters.

    On top of that, Zogar Vastor wasn''t a forgiving man. As the Master, he had put a bounty on the heads of the survivors so big that no matter where they went, they had no allies.

    The Organization scoured the illegal routes out of the Kingdom and patrolled the alleged safe houses. At the same time, the Spellbreakers of the Mage Association questioned the families of the known members of the Talons and had put the entire city of Nunc, where the giant iceberg had appeared, on lockdown.

    Even the few rogue mages who had escaped death by Blinking outside the building or out of sheer luck were now forced to hide in the sewers and hope for a miracle.

    An Linnea, ex-Headmistress of the Lightning Griffon and current General of the Talons, had survived only because her work as a Forgemaster required quiet and istion.

    Also, ever since Scarlett the Scorpicore had decimated the mercenary unit, the upper echelons had moved their private quarters away from the dimensional hub that the Talons used to move around the Kingdom.

    ''Damn you, Nerea. Once again, this is all your fault. First, you cost me my position in the army. Then, your twice damned prot¨¦g¨¦ had the Royal Court take away from me my seat at the Lightning Griffon, and now that thrice damned Constable Yehval has seized my new house.''

    Linnea was sitting on a squeaky chair that belonged to the Frothing Mug. Despite its friendly name, the tavern was so sordid that under normal circumstances she wouldn''t even consider burning it with a fireball and using it as firewood, let alone being one of its patrons.

    The floors were dirty and sticky from the cheap alcohol that had been spilled during the night that no one had bothered cleaning. Her table was greasy from the food that the so-called cook deep fried in animal fat to cover up the taste of the barely edible ingredients he used.

    The dim lights of the rooms revealed so many round marks left by the sses of the past customers that Linnea hade to believe that no one had actually cleaned the ce since its grand opening.

    A rat so big that it might as well have worn an apron and worked there as a waiter, mistook the noise of Linnea''s chair for the love calls of a member of its species and fearlessly scampered under her table.

    It found no love but plenty of food.

    The sight of the hairy little creature disgusted her, but since the rat had left the ce cleaner than it had found it, Linnea put a piece of cabbage on the floor as a tip.

    She had chosen a table near one of the many windows of the tavern, to keep an eye on her surroundings and to have a clean line of sight to Blink away in the case something went wrong.

    Unsurprisingly, the ss was the only clean thing in the Frothing Mug and not just thanks to the downpour outside.

    The customers of the establishment had a shady reputation and past, if not also shady business to attend to. The clean windows gave them a clean line of sight on anyone who might get near the Frothing Mug and worked as emergency exits whenever police officers burst from the doors.

    Linnea stared at the rumbling sky and cursed Nana''s name aloud. Back when she was the Headmistress of the Lightning Griffon, she used to love thunderstorms. She considered them as a manifestation of her power over the air element and of her status.

    The raindrops reminded her of the tears of her defeated enemies while the booming thunders sounded like apuse to her ears. Ever since the Royals had fired her, however, she hated thunderstorms.

    Even now she could almost see Nana''s shadows in the ck clouds, flipping her off with every sh of lightning while the rumbling of the distant thunders reminded her of Nerea''s raspyughter from thest time they had met.

    ''Wherever you are, old bat, I bet that you are having the time of your life. I''ve stooped lower than you ever did but at least I''m still alive. Laugh as much as you want, Nerea, this is still my win.'' Linnea thought while ring at the sky.

    After being kicked out of the Lightning Griffon, Linnea had been forced to run away from her home to avoid being killed by the very same Royal Assassins that she had once trained at her academy.

    Back then, the Royals couldn''t afford to have a bitter Royal Forgemaster with extensive knowledge of how the power cores of the six great academies worked go their own way.

    Luckily for her, the looming civil war had stretched the resources of the Kingdom''s thin and there was always a high demand for skilled Forgemasters in the criminal underworld.

    At first, she had bartered her work in exchange for protection, but then the very same runt who had ruined her had given Linnea the second wind she needed. After being ughtered by Lith and Scarlett, the Talons were in dire need of fresh blood.

    The fallen Headmistress had happily joined them in order to regain her wealth and to get her revenge against the Kingdom that had tossed her away like garbage. Thanks to her knowledge and talent, she had quickly climbed the Talon''s ranks.

    Linnea had worked in the academy long enough to know the basics of every specialization and owned many books that couldn''t be bought even on the ck market.

    Her abilities as teacher, Royal Forgemaster, and leader soon brought the entire mercenary organization under her thumb, giving Linnea back most of what she had lost.

    Every powerful noble who needed the Talon''s help had to show her respect and deference. Her works would be sold on the ck market for tens of times their regr price, filling her pockets with gold.

    Last, but not least, by choosing which assignments the Talons would ept and which they would refuse, Linnea had exerted a political influence on par with that of an ancient noble household.

    Yet her dream life had been shattered again. She had survived during the past few weeks by breaking into the house of middle-ss people and killing all of its upants.

    It usually bought her a few days of respite before someone noticed the disappearance of her victims and called the guards¡­ Linnea was careful leaving behind no traces nor bodies so that the constables would believe to be dealing with a missing person case instead of murder.

 Chapter 1625 - Golden Cage (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1625 - Golden Cage (Part 1)</h4>

    Linnea didn''t like killing innocents, but she had no other choice. Fame was a double-edged sword and now it was pointed at her throat.

    Pictures of her face were still hung on the walls of all decent establishments among the most wanted criminals and the bounty that the Master had put on her head made the non-decent ones even more dangerous.

    The only reason why she had taken the risk ofing to the Frothing Mug was that she had been promised safe passage out of the Orthan region and a new identity.

    Getting out of the city with dimensional magic was easy, but then what? Linnea couldn''t bear the thought of spending the years that she had left on the run like a petty criminal, eating crappy food and sleeping in cheap inns if not in the wilds.

    ''I''d rather die than live like amoner, hiding my talent for magic and never drawing attention.'' She thought.

    ''I find it hard to believe that a healer capable of changing my features with Body Sculpting exists since not even Manohar nor Vastor have ever achieved such feat, but what choice do I have left?''

    Actually, the god of healing had long since learned how to shapeshift. It was one of the secrets behind his sessful escapades, but that''s a story for another day.

    ''Even if this is a trap, it''s better to put an end to this pointless struggle. I''m old and the strain from constantly running away is sapping my strength. It''s only a matter of time before I be too weak, desperate, or both to fight.''

    Linnea was used to living in luxurious houses and eating gourmet food. Yet ever since Tezka had frozen the Talons'' headquarters over she had only eaten gruel and barely slept due to the ufortable beds and to the fear of getting caught.

    She had never learned how to cook and the only time she had left a woman alive after breaking into her house, the screams had alerted the entire neighborhood. Linnea had been forced to kill the woman and to use Warp Steps several times to get away without being seen.

    Dimensional magic required lots of physical and magical strength. Linnea was in her mid-seventies and the life as a fugitive was quickly wearing her down.

    "Headmistress An Linnea, I presume." A youthful voice said, apanied by the screeching of a chair being dragged on the squeaky floorboards.

    Those words snapped Linnea out of her reverie. She stood up while turning towards her guest, weaving an attack spell first and a dimensional spell second while they were still sitting down.

    "I appreciate your punctuality. I''m a busy woman and time is precious to me." The stranger gave her a polite nod of the head and offered Linnea her hand as if the Archmage had greeted her instead of chanting a spell that would turn the Frothing Mug into a crater.

    "Please, sit."

    Linnea ignored her and unleashed the tier five War Mage spell, Raging Sun. Yet nothing happened. Then she tried to Blink outside the tavern but once again her magic failed her.

    Only when the people in the tavern stood up with a terrified look on their faces, pointing at the golden aura surrounding Linnea did she notice being enveloped by Silverwing''s Hexagram.

    Rage turned her vision red as she remembered how that very spell had granted both Nerea and Lith admission to their respective academy.

    An enchanted knife coated in deadly poison came out of the long sleeve of her robe and flew at the stranger''s right eye. Linnea had imbued the weapon with aplex air magic spell so that once given a target, it would chase them until it struck.

    Yet the mysterious woman just grabbed the knife by the hilt in mid-air and stabbed at the table with it with so much strength that the entire de disappeared in the wood. The enchantment that allowed the knife to move on its own made the table tremble in its struggle to escape.

    "I said, sit down." Linnea felt forced to obey and so did all the other patrons.

    "Do you know who I am?"

    The Headmistress looked at her dumbly, shaking her head.

    Thrud Griffon was 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with long ash blonde hair that framed the delicate features of her oval face. Her rosy skin was wless, emphasizing the contrast between her silver eyes and her full red lips.

    She wore a simple white sweater over brown pants and riding boots. Thrud had inherited Tyris''s beauty, which made her a gorgeous woman even before she underwent several cycles of the Arthan''s Madness.

    After Awakening and reaching the white core, however, her looks rivaled that of her foremother. She crossed her legs with a sensual grace that made everyone forget about their inability to control their bodies.

    Pregnancy had made her curves stand out even more, especially her bosom that heaved with a hypnotic rhythm under the heavy woolen fabric every time she breathed.

    "I''m your employer." Thrud said while her eyes glowed with white light. "I''ve gotten an academy that needs maintenance and apetent Headmaster and you need a ce to stay. I''d say we are a match made in heaven."

    Hystar''s teaching methods were as inhuman as the man who had given him life. He knew how to make those trapped inside his academy stronger and what they needed to survive, but nothing about giving them a life worth living.

    Thrud wanted someone who would treat her apprentices like people instead of as cattle, to ensure their loyalty without the ve spell. No free will also meant no creativity and no ingenuity, making her soldiers only a bit better than golems and require constant supervision.

    On top of that, with Linnea''s help the Golden Griffon''s power core would be as good as that of the six great academies. Thrud had reced the old runes with modern ones, making it more efficient, but the enchantments were still 700 years old.

    "I don''t know who you are or how you found me, but if you think that I can turn any building into the Lightning Griffon you are sorely mistaken." Linnea said the moment that the Mad Queen''s aura allowed her to.

    "Also, I didn''te here looking for a job. I was promised safe passage and a new life."

    "And I''m here to deliver them both." Thrud replied with a charming smile while taking the Headmistress'' hand.

    Linnea felt her body be hot as light magic rejuvenated her and changed her physical appearance.

    "If you don''t believe me, just look for yourself." The Mad Queen conjured an ice mirror in front of the Headmistress, who discovered that she not only felt as if she was fifty again, but she also looked twenty years younger.

    Linnea touched her own face, making sure that her smooth skin wasn''t just an illusion and discovering that her hands had no age spots anymore.

    "How did you do that?" The Headmistress asked in amazement. "First an array and now you conjured two more powerful spells without a single chant."

    "That''s also part of my offer¡­" Thrud said. "What if I told you that the magic you practiced until today is nothing but a cheap parlor trick?"

 Chapter 1626 - Golden Cage (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1626 - Golden Cage (Part 2)</h4>

    "What if I told you that I can teach you the secrets that made the past Magi great and that they kept for themselves?

    "That what you know as the lost city of Huryole is actually the Golden Griffon, the seventh great academy? If youe with me I''ll give you a second youth and all the means you need to get your revenge on the those who turned their back to you without any regard for your decades of loyal service." Thrud said.

    "What do you mean?" Linnea asked.

    "My name is Thrud Griffon, daughter of Arthan Griffon, the Mad King, and I''vee to take back what''s mine." She stood up while opening a Warp Steps leading to a nearby mana geyser where she had moved the lost city of Huryole.

    "Follow me and bathe into my glory or stay here and rot. The choice is yours."

    "It''s not much of a choice since you are as mad as your father!" Linnea replied. "How could you be so stupid as to make your grand speech in the presence of so many witnesses?

    "What point does it have to give me a new face just to reveal it to the whole Mogar along with my name? You can''t kill so many people nor make them disappear without alerting the authorities.

    "The Orthan region is crawling with Spellbreakers looking for the Talons and the undead. How long do you think it will take them to find and siege your precious academy?"

    "The line between madness and genius is often paper-thin." Thrud snapped her fingers and suddenly the eyes of all those present lit up with mana from red to yellow.

    "All the people here are my aplices and I chose this ce for our meeting to show you what I''m capable of. My men have already infiltrated many cities of the Kingdom and are ready to act on mymand."

    It was actually a tant lie. Thrud had arrived a few days ago, just in time to capture and enve enough criminals to pull the stunt necessary to impress Linnea. Getting the Headmistress'' trust was but the first step of her n.

    "Then what are we waiting for? Let''s get out of this sh*thole." Linnea stood up, eager to get the first decent meal and good night''s sleep in days.

    ''I have nothing to lose by epting Thrud''s offer. If she somehow wins, I''ll be one of the founding pirs of the new Kingdom and reform the academy system as I see fit. If she fails like I expect her to, I just need to bail out before it''s toote.

    ''If what she said about magic is true, I''ll use my stay in her academy to build a small force of mages loyal only to me. Then, when Thrud and the Royals are busy fighting each other, we''ll pige her treasury and escape from the Kingdom.

    ''I just need to reach one of the free countries to live for the rest of my life as a Queen. With a new face, a clean te, and enough powerful mages at mymand, bing an important noble again will be a cakewalk.''

    Linnea had already tried to leave the Kingdom on her own terms, but no one trusted a traitor. Every country that she had contacted had either refused, afraid of the political consequences, or asked her to reveal to them everything she knew about the academies in exchange for asylum.

    Yet Linnea knew that the moment she spilled herst secret, she would also outlive her usefulness. Once she learned how to shapeshift, however, recognizing her would be impossible.

    "Not so fast." Thrud''s grip on her wrist was as delicate as a feather, yet Linnea froze in fear. "An army needs soldiers just like an academy needs students. Raising powerful mages takes years that I don''t have.

    "I heard about the Talons and I know you are one of their members." Thrud took out an official document listing the identities of the known Talons along with their bounty.

    Linnea cursed out loud reading her own name on top of the list.

    "As you said, the region is crawling with Spellbreakers and it''s only a matter of time before your colleagues get captured. If they are willing to serve my cause, I''ll offer them a good deal as well."

    The Mad Queen had been traveling the Kingdom ever since the day that Tezka''s attack had exposed the mercenary units'' headquarters, looking for survivors.

    Thanks to Spirit Magic, her Awakened disciples could bypass elemental sealing arrays and by shapeshifting, they could take the appearance of local mages to learn confidential information.

    At those words, Linnea''s mood changed and she finally returned Thrud''s smile.

    "It will be my honor, my liege." She said while pressing the runes on her contact amulet that were still lit and giving them coded instructions to inform them of her true intentions.

    ''This fool has no idea that I''m no ordinary member of Talons. This way, I have no need to build my own force because Thrud is weing them with open arms.'' Linnea thought.

    ''This fool has no idea that the list is a fake and that I extracted the information about her from one of her men.'' Thrud thought.

    ''I needed this charade only because I arrived here toote and because by the time the Unwavering Loyalty arrays enves her, the rest of the Talons would already be dead.

    ''The Kingdom has no prisons for mages. They are killed the moment their interrogation is done. To make matters worse, low ranked Talons only know themunication runes of the members of their own unit.

    ''High officials can reach only those of lesser rank whereas the General can contact any of them to assign special missions. As soon as I''m done here, I''ll recruit the ck Dragons.

    ''Most of my apprentices are powerful mages but theirbat experience iscking. These mercenaries will teach me everything I need to know about the army''s tactics, serve me as drill sergeants, and once the war starts, they will make excellent suicide squads.

    ''There''s no ce for traitors in my Kingdom, but rather than just dying, they might as well pay for their crimes while doing something useful.''

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, a few dayster.

    After their first failed attempt at crafting the Sage Staff, Lith and Solus had followed Sark''s advice and had worked relentlessly to fix the many issues that she had pointed out to them.

    Solus had to learn how to adjust the flow of world energy inside a mana circle so that it would resist thebined pull of the Evil Eyes and of the Yggdrasill wood while Lith had devoted himself to furthering his understanding of the altered crystals.

    Using Domination to enhance their elemental aspects was but a crutch and the procedure still took so much effort from him that it was clear that his current technique was iplete at best.

    It took them so much time that Lith and Solus would meet their family only for the meals and cause them so much fatigue that they both needed to sleep each night to recover.

    Even with the tower empowering them, Solus suffered from a great mental strain frombining the Forgemastering circle with the Eyes and the Hands of Menadion while Lith could only use Invigoration so many times before it lost effectiveness.

 Chapter 1627 - In The Flesh (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1627 - In The Flesh (Part 1)</h4>

    After one failure too many, Lith had decided to take a short break from his experiments and focus on further refining his mana core.

    ''I would have never thought that Forgemastering would be so exhausting.'' Lith sat cross-legged on the carpet that covered the floor of his room while the world energy flowed through his seven eyes with each breath he took.

    ''Menadion''s mana enhancing technique that Sark taught us greatly increases our mana capacity, but at the same time, it puts a huge strain on our bodies. Or at least on mine since Solus''s is a mass of energy.

    ''To make matters worse, after days of working myself to the bone, the cracks in my life force have started to hurt again. It''s no wonder that Menadion died if she rushed to face her enemy right after fusing Solus with the tower.

    ''This kind of procedure pushes both the mana core and the body of the Forgemaster to their utmost limits, to the point that they can get permanently damaged if one is not careful.

    ''I need to strengthen my core and give my life force the time to recover before resuming my Crystalsmithing practice. Luckily, Demon Grasp allows me to take care of both issues at the same time.''

    Demon Grasp was the first breathing skill that Lith had developed for Abyssal Gaze. It allowed him to split the world energy into its elementalponents and to use his seven eyes instead of his body to absorb it.

    The emerald eye would absorb Mogar''s energy signature and rece it with Lith''s so that the pure elemental energies would turn into his own mana the moment they seeped through his life force.

    This way, the mana core would offer no resistance to the new energy and assimte it more quickly than with a regr breathing technique. Much to his surprise, after trying out Demon Grasp for the first time, Lith had also discovered that nothing would go to waste.

    The seventhponent of the world energy, Mogar''s essence, nurtured his body, making it grow stronger, bigger, and denser. It also reduced the resistance that his flesh and blood offered to powerful mana flows, allowing him to exert a greater power before suffering from mana abuse.

    ''I always wondered why feeding off someone else''s mana causes mana poisoning whereas Awakened can use umtion without such a problem.'' Lith thought. ''It''s because Mogar''s essence never reaches the mana core but it''s absorbed by our bodies, refining them over time.''

    Lith had devised such technique back when he worked as a Ranger, but at the time hecked Domination and his attempts had failed.

    Now, however, after opening his seventh eye and having learned from the papers that he had found in Urgamakka how to alter his breathing technique, he had finally seeded.

    Lith''s technique was simr to Morok''s ability to absorb elemental energy through his eyes, but it had no offensive potential and required to have seven eyes at all times, making him the only person capable of using Abyssal Gaze that way.

    Solus had tried and failed to develop a simr technique with Domination, but shecked the emerald streak. On top of that, after studying Lith with the Eyes of Menadion she had discovered Lith''s eyes were some kind of mana organ whereas her hair was just hair.

    Not possessing such bloodline ability not only was she unable to absorb the split world energy, but it would also return to its original state the moment she stopped using Domination, making Demon Grasp just a waste of time and energy.

    Lith used his breathing technique until his grumbling stomach reminded him of the passing of time.

    ''Dammit, is it already thiste?'' Lith looked at his pocket watch and realized that his family was waiting for him to have breakfast. ''If I don''t eat properly, undergoing any more body alteration will make me weaker rather than stronger.

    ''Even worse, Mom would nag at me until my ears bleed. Solus, we need to-''

    Only then did he realize that there was something off with the tower. Before starting his morning training, Lith had clearly perceived Solus''s peaceful sleep in a corner of his mind.

    Yet now that space was empty. He had failed to notice it earlier because Demon Grasp required Lith''s full focus. Conjuring a steady flow of world energy that his eyes would unravel a split second before absorbing it was no easy feat for a beginner.

    While a regr umtion technique absorbed the world energy solely when the Awakened inhaled, Demon Grasp also worked while Lith exhaled, refining both his body and core non-stop.

    The downside of this technique was that keeping his breathing rhythm steady while also coordinating his seven eyes to avoid an elemental imbnce required so much concentration that Lith wouldn''t notice anything less subtle than an earthquake.

    ''Solus?'' He asked again, scared by the prolonged silence.

    Lith conjured the Eyes and the Hands of Menadion, but they were now just enchanted pieces of rock. He Blinked to all the floors of the tower, finding that they worked properly but no trace of Solus.

    Even the mystical globes that illuminated the rooms had be white and steady.

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' Lith thought while his surprise slowly turned into fear and then into panic. ''I can''t feel Solus in my head anymore nor find any trace of her in the tower.

    ''I''ve spent enough time here to understand how she feels just by watching at the lights. Usually, their color and intensity vary ording to her mood, even when Solus sleeps. Now, instead, everything feels like a cold heartless machine.''

    "Solus, answer me, dammit!" Lith yelled at the top of his lungs while running up and down the stairs to find any evidence that could exin her disappearance.

    ''What if she''s dead?'' The thought made no sense but his mind refused to work properly.

    Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension and only when he saw that Solus''s rune was still there did he sigh in relief. Sadly, it was also unavable since her amulet was in the dimensional space.

    ''I have no idea what''s going on, but at least she''s alright. Before scaring everyone to death and asking Grandma for help, I''d better check if Solus left me a note or something.'' Lith bolted to the dining room''s table without realizing how absurd the idea was.

    After finding it empty like the rest of the tower, he went to Solus''s room where he found the shocking answer to all of his questions.

    Her bed was unmade with the sheets tossed aside along with several pieces of clothing. The room was messy as if a violent struggle had taken ce there.

    Yet on the mattress in front of himy a petite, pretty woman in her early twenties, about 1.54 meters (5''1") tall. She wore a knee-length sleeveless nightgown that left exposed her slender legs.

    Her long hair covered her body almost down to her heels and was streaked silver, orange, ck, red, blue, and yellow all over, giving the impression that she used a rainbow for a nket.

    Amid the colored streaks, there were locks of a brown so light that her hair shone like polished gold the moment Lith turned the lights on.

 Chapter 1628 - In The Flesh (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1628 - In The Flesh (Part 2)</h4>

    "Solus? Are you alright?" Lith asked while poking at her with a finger.

    Her pink skin was softer than her energy body had ever been and it was warm to the touch.

    "I''m just tired." She replied while searching for a bedsheet to cover her eyes with and using her pillow once she failed. "I don''t know why but I don''t feel well even after sleeping the whole night. Can you please get out and let me sleep?"

    Lith was so relieved and yet so shocked by seeing Solus back into her human body that he just stood there speechless. She turned the lights off with a snarl but he turned them on again and moved the pillow and her hair away to look at her face.

    "I get that you can''t Forgemaster without me, but we''ve worked our asses for days. I deserve some rest." She said with a groan.

    After a few seconds with no reply and the cruel light still hurting her eyes, Solus decided that she had enough.

    ''Okay. Exin to me what''s the matter before I Warp you in the middle of nowhere.'' Only then did she notice that her mind was silent.

    Usually, when they were so close, they would need sheer willpower to not hear each other''s most private thoughts.

    Their minds were fused to the point that Lith and Solus often wondered where one finished and the other started.

    Or at least so it had been.

    Solus opened her eyes wide in surprise and noticed the shocked expression on Lith''s face. She activated her link with the tower to check both for threats and for the identity of the intruder, yet her telepathicmand fell on deaf ears.

    She then jumped off the bed, extending her arm to touch him and make sure that the thing in front of her was really Lith and not someone just wearing his face who had used a more powerful version of Clean te on her.

    Yet instead of standing up and nailing the intruder against the wall, her momentum sent Solus sprawling on the floor. She tried to get up but after her mind, her body refused to obey as well.

    Solus tried to float, but her mana was dry.

    She screamed out of panic, resorting to first magic to defend herself from the doppelganger that had snuck into her room yet nothing happened. For the first time since she had memory, she couldn''t feel the mana in her body nor activate any of her mystical senses.

    "Are you hurt?" The thing that looked like Lith but couldn''t possibly be him said with such tenderness in his voice that for a moment Solus thought to be still dreaming.

    He gently lifted her from the floor in a princess carry but the feeling of his hands on her legs as the nightgown slipped towards herhers creeped Solus out enough to snap her out of her shock.

    Solus struggled and kicked with all the strength she could muster, sending the pervert crashing against a wall like a cannonball.

    "Are you insane?" He said with a surprised voice. "I was trying to help."

    "Yeah, to help yourself, though!" She replied. "You can''t fool me, asshole. The moment Lith gets back he will kill you so slowly that you''ll forget how not to be in pain feels and this time I''m going to help him!"

    "I am Lith!" The jackass even shapeshifted into a pretty urate imitation of a Tiamat while she crawled on the ground to get away from him. "I thought that having your body back so suddenly would have made you happy, not deranged!"

    "What the fuck are you talking ab- By my Mom!" Solus looked at the pink skin of her arms, of her legs, and then she caressed her own hair in a daze.

    "This must be a trick! If you really are Lith, then what happened to our mind link? Thest time I assumed my human form our bond didn''t break."

    "That''s why I asked you if you were alright earlier." Lith said. "Everything was fine when I woke up at dawn to practice Demon Grasp but when I realized it was time for breakfast, you weren''t in my mind anymore."

    Solus red at the imposter that had yet to approach her again, trying to regain her cool.

    "If you really are Lith, then tell me something that only he knows."

    "I was first born on Earth as Derek McCoy. My brother Carl was killed and I was resurrected in an alien''s body before possessing Lith as a Puppeteer Abomination." He replied in English.

    "Good gods!" Solus froze for a second before sighing in relief. "It''s really you. Sorry for the kick."

    "Yeah, it''s me." Lith replied with a scoff.

    "The same guy who picked your pebble when he was four, that already saw your real appearance back in Kogaluga, and who now has several broken ribs. Can I put you on the bed now or do you prefer staying on the floor?"

    "Bed, please." She felt relieved hearing his cranky voice that she would recognize among thousands. Only when Lith was really pissed did his Earth ent resurface again.

    She extended her arms to him and when Lith knelt down, she embraced him with so much strength that he whined in pain.

    "Please, my ribs are still healing and you are way heavier than you look, short stuff." He said while still sitting on the ground and returning her embrace.

    "What color are my eyes?" She asked, afraid to hear the word golden.

    "Light brown, but not as much as your hair."

    "Can you feel it as well?" Solus moved his hand over her chest, where her heart was pounding hard.

    "Yes. Your breast feels amazing, but it''s also damn awkward-"

    "I meant my heartbeat!" Solus became beet red as she pushed him away and sent him to m against her bed.

    "My head!" Lith whined while massaging the part that had crushed one of the bedposts. "If you don''t want my help, just say so."

    "You ruined this moment for me, jackass! You- Wait a second. Why are the lights still yellow and why I don''t have any mana? What the heck happened to our mind link? None of this happened in Kogaluga."

    Solus was so used to the tower changing ording to her every thought that the shock reminded her of her current predicament.

    "I have no idea." Lith said while healing his new injury as well. "Maybe it''s because back then you had no tower. I mean, all the energy from the Forbidden Sun was channeled in your human body whereas now the mana geyser has also to sustain the tower.

    "If this works akin to a breakthrough, then you are running on fumes. If I''m right, your mana core is still empty and needs time to recharge."

    "It would exin everything." Solus pondered. "I can still operate the tower''s basic functions because it''s a part of me, but I''m in safe mode, so I''m cut off from our mind link and the lights to save energy."

    "Do I have your permission to lift you up or do you want to kick my ass some more?" Lith asked.

 Chapter 1629 - In The Flesh (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1629 - In The Flesh (Part 3)</h4>

    While Lith healed his injuries, waiting for Solus to calm down before approaching her again.

    ''Dammit! I wear a nightgown solely to feel more human since my energy body was mostly featureless. I didn''t expect to get the full package and lose all my powers at the same time!'' She tried and failed to conjure some panties, blushing even harder than before.

    "Before lifting me up, please go back into your human form."

    "Why? Do my scales prick your sensitive skin?" Lith shapeshifted while kneeling down.

    "No, because I can only keep watch on two eyes at a time." Solus said with an embarrassed whisper while keeping her nightgown in ce with her hands.

    "Goingmando? Kinky!" Hisugh only made her turn to a brighter shade of purple until she was able to sit properly on her bed. "Do you want to keep resting or do you want to share the good news with our family?"

    "Definitely share." She nodded. "But I can''t conjure any dress in this state nor can I walk on my own. I need help."

    "Sure." Lith handed Solus her own Scalewalker armor.

    "Not that. I want a real dress. I want to feel some real fabric, not go to war."

    "You really are hard to please." Lith started rummaging through her wardrobe, picking for her the pair of linen pants and the sky-blue blouse that he knew were her favorite clothes.

    "We are alreadyte for breakfast so we got to be quick or Mom will kick my ass." Lith put his hands on theces of her nightgown when she stopped him with an iron grip.

    "I''m really happy that you freaked out as much as I did when our mind link disappeared and I''m ttered that you remember even my favorite outfit." Solus said with flushed cheeks that made her smile one of the sweetest things Lith had ever seen.

    "Yet I''m not going to let you undress me. When I said that I need help I meant a woman''s help."

    "Good point." Lith blushed while taking his hand off quickly as if she was a live grenade.

    He opened and stepped through a Warp Steps created with his own mana to not burden the tower, without letting it disappear.

    "About time!" Solus heard everyone scolding Lith, but Friya was the loudest. "First you work me to the bone and now you starve me? You are the worst host ever!"

    "Friya is right, dear." Elina said. "I was starting to get worried. Where is Solus?"

    "It''s easier to show than to tell. I''ll be back in a jiffy" Lith said while dragging Tista through the Steps that had been ced so to show only the entrance of Solus''s room.

    "Since when is your room a pigsty? You have many ws butziness is not among them. And why are there so many women''s clothesying arou- Oh, gods!" Her shriek made Lith''s family turn beet red in embarrassment.

    Solus gestured Tista to lower her voice, only making her yell louder.

    "What the heck happened in here? This looks like a battlefield." She said while pointing at the petite woman on the bed and then to the damages in the room.

    "I''m so sorry." Raaz gave Sark a deep bow, assuming the worst. "He usually doesn''t drag Tista in his personal mess. It''s just the quickest way to get rid of a clingy date."

    "Dad!" Lith snarled from the other side of the steps.

    "Don''t worry, Raaz." The Overlord shook her head. "Lith is young and idents happen. At least he''s back in the game."

    "Grandma!"

    "She''s right, you know?" Elina said with a sigh. "I was starting to worry that you would never get out of yourb and mope around-"

    Lith had just managed to convince Tista that the person in front of her was Solus and only because his sister was one of the few people who had already seen her human form in the past. He jumped out of the Steps again, cutting Elina short.

    "I don''t mope nor am I so rude to have an orgy in Grandma''s pce!"

    "It wouldn''t be rude. I gave you my blessing the day you arrived." Sark shrugged. "Just use protection or be ready to bear the consequences for the next twenty years minimum."

    "You are not helping!" Lith snarled as the embarrassment in the room became palpable. "Once you understand what''s this all about, I expect an apology."

    "I''m done here but I need your help." Tista''s voice stopped the quarrel. "She''s too heavy for me."

    "Is she a Phoenix?" Senton asked.

    "Please, tell me it''s Faluel." Raaz said.

    "I can''t kill him because he''s my father, but you-" Lith pointed angrily at his brother-inw.

    "He''s the father of my four children." Rena cut him short and nudged Senton to keep him from adding fuel to the fire.

    "Nice save." Lith red at him, but Senton had long since grown numb to fear.

    After everything he had witnessed after marrying Rena, he wouldn''t flinch even if the sun suddenly disappeared.

    When Lith returned, he was carrying in his arms a petite woman with a delicate oval face, kind eyes, and rainbow-colored hair so long that it almost brushed the floor.

    "I''m sorry to disappoint you." She was stillughing at Lith''s expense.

    Making him so flustered and embarrassed was something that only his family could achieve.

    "It''s just me, Solus. I got my body back!" She expected them to rejoice with her and to hug her the moment Lith delicately put her down on her seat, yet an awkward silence filled the room instead.

    "Congrattions." Raaz said with a t voice, not knowing where to look.

    "Indeed." Elina cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Wee to the family."

    Solus looked at Lith for an exnation but he was just as confused.

    "For the gods'' sake!" Tista said the moment she managed to stopughing. "I dressed her, that''s why Lith needed my help. The princess carry was just because Solus can''t control her body just like in Kolga.

    "He wasn''t introducing his new girlfriend."

    "Seriously?" Both of them became of a deep shade of purple while everyone else sighed in relief. "Did you really think that the first thing I''d do in this situation is sleep with her? What did you think I needed Tista for?"

    After a few awkward coughs and mumbled exnations, Sark spoke the words on everyone''s mind.

    "Well, you two have the same energy signature so you can''t use darkness spells on each other."

    "Why would I-" Lith choked on his words as Solus whimpered while trying and failing to hide her face behind her hands due to herck of motor coordination.

    Lith red at the members of his family one at a time, who started to gobble the food in front of them to fill their mouths and have an excuse to put an end to that conversation.

    ''I don''t know if they acted like that because they find the idea of us starting a rtionship the moment that I became human again inappropriate or because they see me more like another of Lith''s sisters.'' Solus sighed sadly.

    No one looked at her and they carefully avoided saying anything that might have started a conversation¡­ Without her mind link with Lith and with the awkward silence in the room, even though Solus was surrounded by the people she loved, she felt more alone than ever.

 Chapter 1630 - In The Flesh (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1630 - In The Flesh (Part 4)</h4>

    ''Gods, I dreamed about this moment for years. I made ns and preparations, and yet everything went horribly wrong. I can''t even ask them for an exnation without making matters even worse.

    ''I''d better start eating as well. At least nothing can ruin the taste of my first meal with my family.'' Yet Solus was once again wrong.

    Her arm refused to lift and when she put more energy into it, her right hand darted up like a bullet, punching a hole in the table and sending her meal sttering everywhere.

    The sound of tes shattering and of cutlery clinking on the floor was thest straw.

    "I''m so sorry." She started to cry uncontrobly, almost falling off her chair. "The day has barely started and I''ve already ruined it. I wish I didn''t get this stupid lump of flesh back."

    "You didn''t ruin anything, Solus." Raaz swallowed his food with a gulp that would have made a boa constrictor proud. "It''s just that you took us by surprise and the initial confusion made it hard for us to understand what was happening.

    "I mean, you are a wonderful youngdy and the two of you have been together for so long-"

    "What he''s trying to say is that we are happy you are finally yourself again." Elina shut Raaz up before he choked on his own foot and wiped Solus''s tears away with a napkin. "You did nothing wrong and I apologize if I made you feel anything less than loved and wee."

    As Elina hugged Solus and consoled her, she had to staypletely still, afraid to hurt Elina.

    "Don''t worry about the table. Things can always be fixed." A snap of Sark''s finger fixed the hole and cleaned the mess, sending an order to the kitchen for another serving.

    "I me Lith for the horrible conversation starter." Senton said.

    "He always tries to act cool and mysterious but it always ends with an awkward situation. I''m sorry for having been a jerk, Solus. Wee home."

    He stood up, giving Solus a peck on the head before helping her to blow her nose.

    "Is there something wrong with your body, sweetie?" Rena caressed Solus''s cheek, noticing that she was still trembling, frozen in ce like a puppy during a thunderstorm. "You always move around so gracefully and yet now you can''t even lift a fork."

    "Beats me." Solus shrugged, sending Elina who was still hugging her flying away andnding butt first onto the floor. "Oh gods, I''m so sorry. Are you alright?"

    "Peachy." Elina lied through her teeth without letting her smile falter from the pain.

    "It doesn''t make sense." Friya said while healing Elina''s wounds with the excuse to help her to stand up. "Lith showed me the events of Kolga and you weren''t this strong back then.

    "On top of that, you practiced walking and moving until you managed to fight properly. Eating breakfast shouldn''t be an issue yet you seem to be back to square one, if not even right back into the game box."

    "I wish I knew." In all of her dreams, Solus had imagined herself being able to hold hands, to hug the people she cared for, and to live like one of them. Not to be a loose cannon.

    After hurting Elina, she was now too focused on staying still to think about anything else.

    "The Forbidden Sun only restored her human body. There was not enough energy to form the tower as well. Also, it has already passed over a year." Lith replied. "Her body must be numb from theck of exercise.

    "Also, don''t forget that back then our mind link worked. Solus learned so quickly because of it."

    "Excellent idea!" Tista extended a tendril of mana towards Solus, but Sark dispelled it.

    "Don''t. She has so little mana that even a mind link would poison her. Lith is the only one who can safely establish a telepathic connection with Solus, but he didn''t. Why?"

    "Because I assumed that her body cut off even our mind link to protect itself." He replied. "Maybe it''s because her core is too weak even for that or maybe it''s because at this stage, my influence might affect her personality.

    "I decided to trust Menadion and give Solus the time she needs to recover."

    "What if your bond is broken forever?" Tista asked, making Solus turn as pale as a ghost.

    "It''s very unlikely. The tower is still mine and Solus''s body mass is the proof that she is still a hybrid." His stomach grumbled, quickly followed by Solus''s.

    Between the delicious smell from the table and the emotional rollercoaster, she had worked up the appetite of a Dragon.

    "Eating is the best way to regain mana and I''m dizzy from hunger. Time to shut up and dig in." Lith sat in front of Solus, opening his seven eyes even though he was still in human form.

    "I can''t eat by mys-" The cutlery in front of Solus started to move due to Lith''s Spirit Magic. He used two eyes to check on his own meal while the others spoon-fed Solus, cut the food for her, and cleaned her mouth with a napkin when necessary.

    Solus found it sweet and caring of him, yet it also made her feel like a drooling toddler.

    After the meal, Lith conjured a floating chair with Light Mastery to move Solus around without arousing any more misunderstandings. The construct cracked several times under her weight, making her blush.

    "How does the world feel to your real body?" Lith asked after moving away from the crowd and putting her feet in the sand.

    "The sun blinds me, the heat is making me sweat, and my feet feel like they are inside burning sandpaper." She replied. "Don''t get me started about my hair. It always ends up in my face or gets stuck into something."

    "This bad?" With a wave of his hand, Lith arranged Solus''s hair into a tress that still reached the small of her back.

    "Are you kidding me? I''m loving it." She smiled for the first time since the breakfast disaster. "I can''t wait to get back on my feet and get even more annoyed by the small things that my energy body kept me from experiencing."

    "What''s the first thing you want to do after you be able to walk?"

    "I want to visit Lutia. Then I want to go see Quy and Phloria. I want to eat with you at your favorite restaurants. I want to buy myself a dress after trying it out in the fitting room." She said with dreaming eyes. "I just want to live."

    "What about working out a little bit?" Lith pinched her soft belly that bulged out way more than she liked.

    "By my Mom! After how horrible this morning was couldn''t you cut me some ck?"

    "Hey, I''m looking out for you." Lith kept teasing her. "Awakened can get fat and if you keep eating like you did today, soon Aran will ask you when the baby is due."

    "You son of a gun!" Solusughed. "I''ve changed my mind. The first thing I do when I get back on my feet will be to kick your ass¡­ Exercise and revenge, two birds with one stone."

 Chapter 1631 - Domestic Issues (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1631 - Domestic Issues (Part 1)</h4>

    They sat on the sand next to each other, with Solus leaning on Lith''s shoulder and with his arm wrapped around her shoulder to keep her from losing her bnce.

    ''Gods, I hadpletely forgotten how everything feels much more vividpared to my energy body. It makes wonders for my taste buds but it also makes me feel awkward when people touch me, especially Lith.'' She tried to look down at her abdomen, but her shapely bosom eclipsed it.

    ''I wonder how I look like ording to human and Awakened standards. I mean, I''m not a stunner like Friya, but Tista confirmed to me that I have a sweet ass and Lith said that my breast felt amazing.'' She giggled at the memory and her cheeks flushed.

    ''Yep, it''s almost a D cup.'' Lith replied.

    ''How long has our mind link returned?'' Even her thoughts stuttered as her face turned to a bright shade of purple.

    ''Long enough.''

    ''Gods, this is the worst day of my life!'' Solus said.

    ***

    A few dayster, Solus had be capable of eating on her own and of interacting with others without endangering their lives. Yet her movements were still clumsy and every attempt to run ended with her tumbling after the second step.

    Things were much harder for herpared to the time when she had taken human form in Kolga. Once rest and food had replenished her blue mana core, she had be even stronger.

    That and her body mass made it hard for Solus to perform even the simplest task.

    A second of distraction was all that it took to turn her fork into a crumpled lump of metal or to make her open a crater where she walked. Gravity fusion controlled her weight, but it didn''t help her to control her body.

    ''This would go much better if we fused our minds As we did in Kolga. It wouldn''t give you my muscle memory but at least you could experience first-hand how I deal with these problems.'' Lith said while helping Solus with her rehabilitation.

    He performed simple movements that she mirrored with the help of their mind link, using it to feel whenever she lost control of her strength or failed to properly shift her center of gravity.

    ''Over my dead body!'' She replied with a fury that baffled him. ''I mean, thanks, but no thanks. I''d rather put some more effort than lose what little I have left of my privacy.''

    Solus wanted to avoid at all costs that Lith learned about her rebellious phase and the things that ording to Silverwing and Baba Yaga she had done. Also, Solus had now many thoughts that she was more than happy to hide.

    Her old energy body had no hormones, no physiological or emotional needs, and everything felt as if she was wrapped in stic wrap. All of her senses were now heightened and after being single for so long, she had trouble controlling her reaction when meeting attractive people, especially Awakened.

    ''Ready for the big one?'' Lith asked while holding her left hand.

    ''I''m ready.'' Solus took the half-crafted Sage Staff out of her pocket dimension and made the tower disappear.

    Her knees buckled as vigor left her body, forcing Solus to lean on the staff and on Lith just to not copse on the ground. She took a series of deep breaths, using the staff to draw the world energy she needed to not disappear and the physical contact with Lith to stabilize her life force.

    The moment her legs steadied, Solus took a step forward and Lith followed her.

    ''How does it feel being human without the tower?'' He asked, opening a Warp Steps that led them away from the mana geyser so that the amount of world energy in the air was no different from Lutia.

    ''Like I have a mountain on my back and I''m thigh-deep in a tar pit, but it gets easier every time.'' She said, grunting with effort just to put one foot in front of the other. ''Thanks for spending your time with me.

    ''I know that you would rather practice Demon Grasp or Forgemastering instead of ying babysitter.''

    Due to their bond, Lith was the only one who could share with her as much information she needed without poisoning her cracked core. Also, without him and the staff, Solus was incapable of keeping her human form.

    ''Please, you have spent thest fifteen years taking care of me, helping me with my studies, my career, and with all the crazy stuff that happened. This is nothingpared to that.'' Lith replied.

    Solus''s lips formed a small smile as she kept walking, clinging to his hands in the only way she had to express her gratitude without losing her focus. She was already so weak that even talking via their mind link sapped her strength.

    Her Awakened body barely felt the heat from the desert''s sun, yet she sweated bullets.

    They walked for a little less than fifteen minutes before her body started to crumble. Unlike her energy form, forcefully losing her flesh was an excruciating experience as if someone was cutting her into pieces.

    Lith Warped them back to the Heavenly Plume vige, where the abundant world energy relieved most of her pain. Once the tower was back in ce, Solus felt reborn.

    "I''m going to take a long bath and then an even longer nap." She said amid pants. "Please, don''t disturb me unless there''s an emergency."

    "Will do." Lith nodded.

    "How did it go?" Friya asked right after Solus disappeared inside the tower.

    "Solus has already regained her old muscle memory, but it''s useless to her. Because of her mass, she has to learn everything from scratch, or the next time she hugs someone out of joy she will crush them to death.

    "The silver lining is that thanks to the Sage Staff she can move away from a geyser and that the time her bodysts is getting longer by the day. My guess is the blue core is a big deal for her as well and that she has yet to adjust to her new condition." Lith said.

    "How long did it take you to get used to your wyrmling body?"

    "Months. I gained it before joining the military but I got my first set of wings only after meeting you in Zantia."

    "Ouch. If there''s anything I can do to help, just let me know." Friya said.

    "Tell that to Solus, not me. She still feels terrible for hurting my mother and walks on eggshells every time a normal person approaches her, especially the kids. She could use an Awakened friend that can survive one of her idental love taps."

    "What about Tista?"

    "She''s too busy with Grandma''s training. Their schedules- What the fuck?" The army amulet drew Lith''s consciousness and cut him short. "How the heck did Brinja manage to contact me? I''m sorry, but I have to take this call, it must be important."

    "Hello, Lith. I hope I didn''t interrupt anything." The 3D hologram of Lady Distar popped out of the blue gemstone the moment Lith pressed the blinking rune.

    She was 22 years old, about 1.63 meters (5''3") tall with silky blonde hair that looked like a golden waterfall.

    AN: Please read the Author''s thoughts below.

 Chapter 1632 - Domestic Issues (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1632 - Domestic Issues (Part 2)</h4>

    Before the death of her mother, the previous ruler of the Distar region, Brinja had let them grow until they reached her ankles.

    Now, however, shecked the time to take care of it and had cut them to shoulder length. She wore an ocean-green day dress that left her slender arms exposed and emphasized her sky-blue eyes.

    Her once lively face had been reced by the stern expression of a strict ruler and her bright smile would rarely extend to her eyes anymore.

    "Nice to hear from you, Brinja. How are you?" He asked.

    "Depends. Have you found the person who killed my mother?"

    "No."

    "Then my feelings are irrelevant. I''m calling you on behalf of the Kingdom. We need to meet as soon as you can." She replied.

    "I took this call because I thought that you called me as a friend. I told everyone that I don''t want to be disturbed." Lith said.

    "I''m really sorry, but I''m under Royal orders and so are you. I wouldn''t have called you if it wasn''t strictly necessary." Something about Brinja was wrong.

    Her voice was warm and her posture rxed, but Lith could see her eyes darting around from time to time as if she was surrounded by enemies.

    "How did you manage to contact me? I thought that the amulet''s range extended only to the Kingdom."

    "It does." She nodded. "I am currently past the borders and held at wandpoint by several guards."

    "Wait, what?"

    "Emissaries of the Kingdom are not wee in the Desert. I am still in front of the Warp Gate and I will be forced to leave as soon as we end this conversation." Brinja said.

    "I''m listening."

    "Did I mention that I''m being held at wandpoint? Also, I''m not going to discuss the business of the Kingdom in the presence of foreign officers. I''ll wait for you at the Distar Household. Brinja out."

    ''Dammit, whatever this is it must be important. The only Royal orders I ever received were invitations to gs and summons to the Court. The army and the Mage Association usually deal with the rest.'' Lith thought.

    ''Maybe she has news about the copycat''s identity, or maybe something happened to the people who received a Balkor card.''

    Lith didn''t tell anyone that he was leaving. Every second that Solus spent over the mana geyser made her stronger and he didn''t want to disturb her sleep. As for his parents, he didn''t want them to worry.

    The Gate in the Desert brought him back to his barn and from there it took him only one step to reach the branch of the Association in Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate.

    "It''s good to see you again Lith." Much to the house staff''s amazement, Brinja personally weed him and led him to the office of herte mother that was now her own.

    Either side of the white mahogany desk was covered by orderly piles of paperwork, leaving only enough free space for Brinja to work without toppling them and to let her guests look her in the face.

    The wall-to-wall window behind the desk provided the room with plenty of sunlight while a bookcase lined against the nearby wall was filled with the official logs of her household.

    The important documents were kept inside the many drawers of the desk and each one of them was heavily enchanted.

    The house staff followed them closely, arranging on the carpet in the middle of the room a tea table and one sofa where Brinja sat down, gesturing Lith to do the same. A butler brought a silvery cart filled with delicacies that he left beside the table before taking his leave and closing the door behind.

    "I find you well but way less tanned than I expected." She said while taking a teapot and pouring a cup for him and one for herself.

    In his Tiamat form, Lith was covered in ck scales that fed upon sunlight without letting it reach his skin.

    "Both the Desert and its Overlord have been kind to me." Lith gave her a polite bow. "I hope you are fine as well."

    "You tell me." She said with a radiant smile, bringing his hand to her womb. "Since you are already here, I might as well get the opinion of the greatest healer of the Kingdom. I''m just a couple of monthste but I hope for good news."

    "Thanks for your trust, but I''m not Manohar. I''m just ranked fourth." Lith said while using Invigoration on her.

    "Thank the gods for that! The jackass is never around when you need him. You saved me from that poison that Marth and Vastor failed to identify so you are the number one for me."

    "Congrattions. It''s a girl and she''s perfectly fine." Lith said.

    "Are you sure?" She asked with eyes veiled with tears.

    "Yes." He nodded.

    "I''ll call her Mirim, hoping that she''ll grow to be a great woman like my mother."

    "I''m d to be the bearer of good news for once, but I doubt that you had mee here just for that." Lith said.

    "How can you call the future of the Distar Household "Just that"? But since you are going to be my daughter''s personal healer, I''ll let it slide. This time." She said with a stern expression of someone who wouldn''t take a no for an answer.

    "Yet you are right, I wouldn''t have disturbed you if it wasn''t a grave matter.

    "As the Lord of the Distar region, I''ve been ordered to notify you that unless you take a more active role in the Kingdom''s affairs, the Queen''s corps can no longer afford to protect your family." Brinja lowered her eyes, giving him the only apology that she could.

    "Howe?" Lith could barely contain his fury, but taking it out on Brinja was pointless.

    "The Royals still hold you in high regard. They are still building the Verhen Mansion and they have chosen me as their representative because of the good rtionship between our families." She said.

    "If what you say is true, why not just ask for my help instead of giving me what sounds like an embellished ultimatum?" Lith replied with a scoff.

    "Just because you never cared for politics it doesn''t mean that politics stopped caring for you." She poured him another cup of tea and arranged small tes full of different kinds of sweets in front of them.

    That kind of bitter pill needed an extra sugar coating to be swallowed.

    "The Royals are disappointed in you because ever since you have left the military, you have washed your hands off of the Kingdom''s affair. My mother constantly updated you about the various problem that the army and the Mage Association faced, but you never volunteered to help."

    "I had a lot on my te. There''s a reason why I turned down the offers for a fief or for an official position." Lith shrugged.

    "That''s actually another reason for concern." Brinja sighed deeply.

    "No one has any idea what your interests are, but the Royals are certain that they don''t align with the Kingdom''s¡­ To make matters worse, you broke up with Constable Yehval, breaking yourst vague bond you had with your country."

 Chapter 1633 - Royal Demands (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1633 - Royal Demands (Part 1)</h4>

    "If you add the fact that thest year you invited no official of the Kingdom to your birthday, that you held a private party instead of a g, and that the Overlord of the Desert visited your home, you can understand why your standing in the Court has be precarious." Brinja said

    "That''s not true. I invited the Ernas." Lith replied.

    "It would have mattered only if Lady Jirni and Lord Orion attended." She said. "But the only Ernas that came to your party are the very same that turned their backs to the Kingdom shortly after you did and followed you in the fold of the Emperor Beasts."

    "After that, you left for the Desert for over a month now and you even brought Friya Ernas with you. After I just connected the dots for you, are you still surprised that the Royals feel the need to make sure that it''s still worth investing in you?"

    "Point taken." Lith nodded.

    ''Fuck me sideways. Between my apprenticeship with Faluel, bing a Tiamat, and breaking up with Kam, I''ve sealed myself in a bubble. Even if Mirim was still alive, it would be just a matter of time before it burst anyway.''

    "I want to be honest with you." Brinja snapped him out of his reverie. "If you n to permanently move to the Desert, feel free to refuse this mission. If you or your parents n to live here, however, you must take it."

    "Do you want to discuss the matter with them before giving me your answer?"

    "No. I ept. I have one question, though. Is my situation really so bad that the Royals need to threaten the safety of my parents? I destroyed the lost city of Kogaluga recently. Doesn''t that count for something?" Lith asked.

    "That''s one of the reasons we are having this conversation in the first ce." Brinja replied. "As I said, the Royals hold you in high regard. The problem is that the Kingdom''s forces are spread thin.

    "Fighting the undead, searching for Thrud, dealing with the famine in the north, and protecting those who received the Balkor cards are all tasks that can be entrusted only to powerful mages with years of field experience.

    "The attack on Zinya Yehval and on your kids has cost the lives of dozens of members of the Queen''s corps. Now that you have left Lutia, there is no point wasting good men to protect a backwater small city if there''s no return.

    "Not after the disappearance of the lost city of Huryole. I swear to the gods that I can''t believe that the Ranger who seeded you managed to lose something that big."

    "The what?" Lith dropped his cup in shock, but a single strand of Spirit Magic was enough to keep it afloat without spilling a single drop of tea.

    "You heard me. Huryole is gone, leaving behind a crater and a set of perfectly working arrays that failed to register anything worthwhile. It''s as if the entire city just walked away." Brinja shuddered, thanking the gods for theck of lost cities in the Distar region.

    ''Sh*t! The Royals know that Huryole is actually the Golden Griffon academy, one of the legacies that Arthan the Mad King left for his heirs. Its disappearance means that Thrud got there and she''s probably going to collect the remaining gifts of daddy dearest.

    ''It''s no wonder that the Royals feel antsy and want to put me to the test. They need to know if they can rely on their Archmages or if they will run away the moment the situation gets dire.

    ''If I''m right, then Manohar and Vastor will receive a simr mission. Marth can''t move withoutpromising the safety of the White Griffon.'' Lith thought.

    "Your mission is to recapture several cities in the Nestrar region." Brinja put hermunication amulet on the table and pressed the blue gemstone at its center.

    The mana crystal projected a 3D holographic map of the Kingdom that she zoomed in on one of the central regions. Lith noticed that aside from the cities with a Warp Gate, everything else was glowing red.

    "Recapture?" Lith echoed.

    "The Ranger of Nestrar took advantage of the winter lockdown to be the ruler of the region. As you already know, only the best mage soldiers can be a Ranger. This bastard used his rank and abilities to take out the local forces one city at a time."

    Brinja touched the blue stone again, conjuring the hologram of a man in his early thirties wearing the Ranger uniform. He had hair so ck that it almost looked blue, red streaks, and green eyes.

    From the tag attached to the image, Lith learned that his name was Alman Quaron and that after the boot camp he had been ranked as an M ranked soldier as well.

    "How the heck did he pull it off and how could no one notice such a thing until now?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Unlike you, Quaron is a people person and has considerable political skills." Brinja replied. "He has never antagonized his hosts and built good rtionships with them. He used the istion from the harsh winter to make people dependent on him.

    "They already worshipped him as a hero when news of the famine started to spread. At that point, he only had to frame and execute anyone who could pose a threat to him with the charge of hoarding food and selling it to the ck market to seed.

    "Mages are a rarity and without a Warp Gate, the Kingdom can''t deploy Constables. The local and central authorities had to trust Quaron''s judgment and the evidence he presented."

    "How could the death of so many people not raise any red g?" Lith asked.

    Yet he reminded how during his service as a Ranger he might have wiped out entire cities and no one would have realized until it was toote.

    "Because he was smart about it. First, he started interveningte whenever there was an emergency so that upon his arrival the local forces would be weakened if not decimated.

    "Then, whenever he discovered someone who had really hoarded food, Quaron only had to frame a few people at a time as aplices to get rid of anyone who might stand against him.

    "It didn''t take him long to be the only mage capable of freely moving through the region with dimensional magic. He cured people who couldn''t afford a healer, killed the monsters that breached inside their houses, and punished those who tried to starve them.

    "After a while, people lost all trust in the local authorities and stopped asking questions about his methods. After winter ended, he continued his tour as if nothing had happened until the Royals sent orders to ration the food and send everything they could spare to the north.

    "Quaron fanned the mes of fear and hunger to trigger a rebellion that led us to this." Brinja pointed at the map.

    "Why hasn''t he been already arrested and executed?" Lith said.

    "Because after the war with the undead started, even medium and medium-small sized cities have been equipped with air blocking arrays¡­ The forces of the Kingdom cannot get in without tearing down the walls."

 Chapter 1634 - Royal Demands (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1634 - Royal Demands (Part 2)</h4>

    "We have no idea where Quaron is right now and we can''t afford to destroy our own fortresses with not one, but two impending wars at our doorstep. To make matters worse, the people of the Nestrar Region already hate the Royals.

    "Quaron had the entire winter to convince them that he''s the good guy while the Royals are just a bunch of self-entitled assholes that left them at the mercy of the monsters first and that now are trying to steal their food." Brinja replied.

    "That doesn''t sound so far from the truth." Lith said.

    "Rangers are Royal envoys, not volunteer workers." She said with a scoff. "Quaron was provided with everything he needed to fix the damages from the monsters'' attacks and with plenty of medical supplies.

    "He left the discontent grow on purpose by withholding the materials he collected at the Warp Gates and then imed that they all came out of his own pocket. As for the food, it''s not being stolen but paid at market price.

    "Even I had to give up on parties and gs because the only thing I could offer would be spring water. Every loyal servant of the Kingdom is making sacrifices so that millions will not starve."

    "What about these sweets?" Lith pointed at the many tes in front of him.

    "Let''s just say that ever since I heard about the famine, I stopped throwing away leftovers and I exploited the ability of dimensional items to preserve food indefinitely."

    "What''s my role in all of this? Why me instead of sending a couple of Rangers to take care of the situation?" He asked.

    "The Royals don''t send Rangers against rebellious mages, they send Spellbreakers and it''s time you earn the annuities that such title grants you instead of just pocketing them while minding your own business.

    "Also, you are not just any Spellbreaker. You are amoner who not only rose to the title of Archmage by relying solely on his talents, you are also the destroyer of two lost cities.

    "If we sent a Spellbreaker of noble origins it would be akin to adding oil to the mes. The people of the Nestrar region would see our intervention not as an act of justice, but as the petty revenge of the Royal Court against their champion.

    "The Kingdom can''t afford to ughter its own citizens just as much as it can''t afford to tear down the city walls. Leaving a fortress filled with resentful people is akin to leaving it empty.

    "They wouldn''t fight for us but wee our enemies with open arms. You, instead, are a hero of the people as well and the beacon of hope for everymoner with a shred of magical power." Brinja said.

    "So the Royals want me to be the face of the clean-up to nip the rebellion in the bud and also to prove my loyalty by working as Spellbreaker. Two birds with one stone." Lith said.

    "Correct." Brinja handed him a brand-new Ranger uniform with the Spellbreaker badge on its chest and the stripes of a Major of the army on its sleeves.

    It was shaped like Silverwing''s Hexagram, but the lines connecting the six dots were depicted as broken in multiple points.

    "With your reputation, you should have no problems defusing the conflict and earning the coboration of the locals to apprehend the traitor. Yet killing Quaron is only half the mission.

    "The other half consists in letting the army take control of the region again and that''s not something you can do alone. Once you wear this uniform, you will be temporarily reinstated in the army and have full authority over the toon assigned to you."

    "Are you serious? Putting me in charge of anything never ended well." Lith sighed deeply in stress.

    Having witnesses meant limiting his abilities and sealing his Tiamat form.

    "When can you start?" Brinja asked.

    "I need a couple of days to settle my business in the Desert and craft a few things that might be useful." He replied.

    "Then I''ll see you three days from now."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Forgotten Plume Tribe

    Ever since Ilyum Balkor, the god of death, and Krishna Manohar, the god of healing, had allied themselves with Jirni Ernas, the two mages would meet increasingly often to help each other in their respective research.

    The Blood Magus needed Manohar''s unique understanding of the light element in order to reach tier two Creation Magic while the Never Magus needed Balkor''s help for several reasons.

    Manohar''s attempts at achieving perfect silent magic had reached a wall that he failed to ovee. After working with the god of death, Manohar had decided that Awakening was a riddle worth solving.

    On top of that, his defeats at the hands of Night and Dawn had shown him that even though his hard light constructs had unparalleled versatility, theycked the destructive power necessary to tip the scale against an opponent of the caliber of the Horsemen.

    Last, but not least, Manohar really liked the food.

    "Why do youe here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?" Balkor said, annoyed at the fact that his wife, Eos, now always set up the table for him as well. "I thought that someone as rich as you had at least one castle and plenty of chefs."

    "How can you be so insensitive?" Manohar asked in a half-assed outrage. "There''s a famine guing the north of the Kingdom. I''m a Healer and to many people now hunger is a deadly disease.

    "It was my duty to donate all my food supply to the less fortunate."

    "First, the entire Griffon Kingdom can starve for all I care. They are-"

    "Not in front of the children." Eos red at him in a way that would have raised the dead if they weren''t already up and spread throughout the vige to help with the daily chores.

    "I know that I can''t magically erase your hatred and your past sufferings, but I won''t allow you to pass them onto our kids. Are we clear?"

    "Yes, Ma''am." Both men replied in unison.

    Manohar had no role in that family but he preferred to stay on the safe side. He had learned from experience that it wasn''t wise to mess with the one who prepared his meals.

    "Second, howe you worry so much about the people of the north, and yet you have no qualms piging my pantry after every one of your visits?" Balkor asked.

    "To save time and have a safe snack at hand in the case I get hungry." The god of healing replied. "I''ve been banned from several establishments under the absurd im that odd things happened to the customers whenever I was there."

    "What about shapeshifting into a different appearance or just eating at the White Griffon?" Eos said.

    "Sadly, idents follow me whatever form I take, revealing my identity." Manohar sighed as if it was only bad luck that he kept slipping experimental drugs in the food and drinks of those who annoyed him.

    "As for the academy, its cooks cannot be trusted. They arepdogs of the Royals who are still obsessed with knowing where I am at all times¡­ They try to feed me trackers with just a sprinkle of food as a seasoning."

 Chapter 1635 - Call Of Duty (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1635 - Call Of Duty (Part 1)</h4>

    "How can the Royals be so cruel?" Eos suddenly reconsidered Balkor''s words, thinking that maybe he had a point holding a grudge after so much time and so many dead.

    "Beats me!" Manohar shrugged. "They call me whimsical, unreliable, and childish only because I refuse to listen to a word of what they say, no matter how dire the situation is or how many lives are at stake."

    ''That''s the very definition of whimsical, unreliable, and childish!'' She thought.

    "That''s why you eat here!" Balkor said after pondering for a while. "They put trackers in your food provisions as well and you donated them with the aim to create countless unwitting decoys."

    "I''m deeply insulted by your allegations." Manohar blushed in outrage. Never before had one of his brilliant ruses been exposed so quickly. "You are lucky that I''m in a rush or I would have your wife scold you for not trusting even your friends!"

    "I''m not your friend!" Balkor replied.

    "You sure are. We work together, we exchange our notes about magic, and you don''t even try to kill or cuff me on sight. That''s more than I can say about most people I know." He said with a sad voice.

    "We can be your friends." The children patted his back and offered him part of their dessert.

    "Thank the gods you have taken your father''s brains but your mother''s heart and looks." Manohar shamelessly ate the extra servings of ice cream under Eos''s shocked gaze.

    "Just tell me why you are here and let''s get this over with." Balkor said.

    "I think to have cracked the secret of Awakening, but there''s something that worries me."

    "Meaning?" The god of death raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    Each time Manohar paid him a visit, he would ask Balkor to cast spells while he used his best diagnostic spells on the Blood Magus. Yet neither of them was aware of the existence of things like impurities, mana cores, and breathing techniques.

    Balkor had tried to discover the secrets of his own body ever since Sark had turned him into one of her Feathers, the fake Awakened at her service, but like all those before him, he had failed.

    The idea that Manohar might have seeded in just a few months was simply preposterous.

    "I noticed that while the mana flows freely throughout your body, mine is stuck here." Manohar tapped slightly under his sr plexus where his mana core resided. "I found a way to force it to move, but the pain is unbearable.

    "Did you experience a simr feeling right after Sark''s procedure?"

    "Quite the contrary. I''d never felt better." Balkor said. "How did you do it?"

    "A mix of alchemy and healing magic." The Mad Professor said. "I used the principle behind body strengthening potions to make the mana flow and light magic to spread it evenly."

    "What about the results?"

    "That''s the more incredible part. The non-mages I administered it to disyed no reaction whereas the mages died."

    "I can''t believe this!" Eos said.

    "Me neither, but one can''t argue with facts." Manohar conjured a hologram of people bursting like a water balloon.

    "Not that!" She covered the gruesome images with a towel before the children could see them. "I meant that I can''t believe that someone underwent such a crazy experiment of their own will."

    "Well, Spellbreakers are not supposed to capture people, only to execute them. The method is up to our discretion. I hope you didn''t expect me to use such a dangerous experimental technique on myself. The fate of Mogar depends on me!" The Mad Professor stayed true to his name.

    "I''m sorry, but I have no idea whether you are onto something or if it''s just another dud." Balkor said after pondering for a while.

    "That''s too bad." Manohar stood up, handing the god of death a book about light magic of his own writing and the alleged Awakening procedure.

    He had no idea that establishing a mana flow without a breathing technique would give birth to true mages, not Awakened.

    "This is yours." Balkor gave Manohar a thick folder with everything he knew about darkness magic but Domination. "I hoped that we would talk some more after lunch."

    "No can do." The god of healing shook his head. "I told you, I''m in a rush. Something fishy is happening in the north and the Royals required my services as a Spellbreaker."

    "I thought you didn''t care about what the Royals wanted." Balkor said.

    "I don''t, but I have a few new theories to test and a direck of specimens. Sacrifices must be made in the name of science!" Manohar disappeared in a burst of light from his spell and a round of apuse from the kids.

    "I want that man out of our house." Eos said while showing her husband two small tomes that the Mad Professor had tried and failed to pass to the kids without her noticing.

    Their title, "Tier five for dummies", was already bad but not as much as the foreword that recited:

    "My dear friends, magic is its own reward, even when it identally blows up your house. Never listen to your parents and always follow your dreams. I wish you the best of luck.

    "PS: Mothers are by nature a bit uptight about the risks of the magical research so avoid showing yours this book.

    PPS: Eos if you are reading this, I want you to know that it''s all Balkor''s fault. He forced me to write the above foreword even though he knows I have the utmost respect for your cooking."

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, Zogar Vastor''s home.

    "Is there something wrong, Zogar? Why aren''t you at the academy? I thought that you had to supervise the first trimester exam." Zinya asked.

    "You are right, I should." He replied while changing his Professor uniform for the Dominator armor and having it absorb the ck Highmaster armor, just to stay safe.

    He couldn''t wear it at the White Griffon. There were too many powerful mages and Forgemaster and he couldn''t afford any of them noticing Bytra''s masterpiece.

    "Then why are you here?" She was wearing a lovely satin white and green day dress.

    Ever since she had moved into the Vastor household, Zinya had nothing to do but help her children to recover from the copycat''s attack and enjoy themodities of her new life as a soon-to-be noble dame.

    She had gained a bit of weight that she tried to hide wearing ample clothes, but Vastor pretended not to notice. He actually found her even cuter.

    "I can only tell you that bad stuff is happening in several regions of the Kingdom." Vastor replied. "The Royals have recalled all the avable Spellbreakers, including the old coots like me."

    "You are not an old coot!" She bent down a little to hug him from behind. "Gods, I can''t understand for the life of me how someone like you can keep beating himself down."

    "Yeah, right. Then since we are spouting nonsense, I''m also very tall and handsome." His cold tone cracked when he turned around to return her embrace and saw the love in Zinya''s eyes.

    For some reason that Vastor could never understand, she always looked at him as if he was the most outstanding man on Mogar.

 Chapter 1636 - Call Of Duty (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1636 - Call Of Duty (Part 2)</h4>

    Vastor gave her a soft kiss, wishing he could stay home with her.

    "How long will you be away?" Zinya asked.

    "I don''t know. This is bad, Zinya. Really bad. We might even have to postpone the wedding."

    "I don''t care about the wedding. I just want you toe back alive." She held him tight, perceiving the immense strength that his stumpy body concealed so well that even his owner failed to see it.

    Yet Vastor''s power was gentle and his touch always kind. He never raised his voice with her, not even when they argued.

    Even back when she was just a nameless blind woman to him, Vastor had always treated her as a peer, without the contempt or sympathy that her condition usually inspired.

    It was the reason why she had started to like him. Then, after her recovery, when she was a housemaid at the Verhen''s house, with nothing but her first name as her possession, Vastor had helped Zinya to get her children back.

    It had earned her admiration and eternal gratitude, but not her love. That hade gradually, with each moment they had spent together. After being blind for most of her life, Zinya didn''t care for how people looked, only for who they were.

    She had no idea that while Vastor lost himself in her warmth, he also burned of a hatred beyond what words could express. Hatred for those who were forcing him to leave her side, for those who kept messing with his life and ruined his happiness.

    Before the end of that day, most of those people would still be alive, yet they would pray for the merciful release of death that wouldn''te until they lost their minds to pain.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe.

    Lith returned to the tower right after his talk with Brinja.

    "Why didn''t you take me with you? I might have been of help." Solus felt hurt from being left behind.

    "Please, Brinja is an ally. I didn''t go to battle, just to hear what she had to say. Besides, your deep blue core has yet to bepletely filled with mana. I want my partner to be at the top of her game once we go on the field." He replied while sharing all the details of the mission with a mind link.

    "Thanks." She nodded. "Gods, I hate being so emotional. Getting my body back has actually made things worse. I''m not used to having this monstrous strength and the tower has troubles nurturing my human form along with all the new floors.

    "On top of that, I keep going from furious to crybaby in less than one second."

    "As I said, I want you at the top of your game." Lith wiped the tears that her short outbursts always caused. "I dyed the mission for two days because I want to craft the Sage Staff for you before we leave and then I''ll spend the rest of the time practicing Demon Grasp."

    "We already have the Sage Staff. Why craft it again?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "Because it''s the only way we have to make you take your human form and keep it stable even in my absence. If I need you to blend in with the crowd, a walking cane covered in white crystals and Evil Eyes defies the purpose." Lith replied.

    "Also, right now it has no useful abilities. It just provides you with elemental energy. I want to give it a simple but useful power core."

    "Good thinking." Solus pondered. "Are you sure it''s safe bringing Sark''s crystals out? No mission is worth pissing her off."

    "Nope, that''s why I''m going to ask her permission."

    The Overlord didn''t like much the idea of Lith leaving so early, let alone that of him bringing her stuff along.

    "Don''t worry, Grandma. I promise to get back here as soon as I''m done. Please, let me borrow the crystals for a bit longer. Carving new ones out of the Eye of Kolga would dy the refinement of the violet gemstones.

    "On top of that, I don''t have the time to adjust the Forgemastering process to the new crystals." Lith said.

    Since he was leaving the rest of his family in the Desert and there would be no protection in Lutia until hepleted the mission, Sark agreed.

    The Forgemastering of the new Sage Staff went without a hitch. Lith gave it the ability to shapeshift to more ordinary appearances and a few spells that mighte in handy.

    "Threeplex pseudo cores are nothing to Yggdrasill wood." Solus said after checking the final product with Abyssal Gaze.

    The mana they had imbued it with felt akin to thest drops of water on the bottom of a ss.

    "I know, but more means risking to fail and I can''t afford do-over. I need a full eight hours of sleep to reset Invigoration and every second I can spare to refine my mana core while you practice with your body." Lith replied.

    Solus could now walk without Lith''s help even away from a mana geyser, but she had to work through the pain and focus to slow down the energy seeping out of her core as much as she could.

    "How am I doing?" She asked Tista while they walked among the desert''s dunes.

    Being able to move on her own wasn''t enough. Solus had also to learn how to appear normal and not let her emotions appear on her face. During the past few years, she had gotten used to her golden featureless body doing the trick for her.

    "Well, you seem to have a stick up your ass and you grimace at every dirty joke I say as if you are about to puke." Tista replied.

    "Because they are disgusting!"

    "I know, but you can''t afford to draw attention on you like that in a market, let alone while working undercover." The Red Demon sighed. "A nice word and a cute smile make people open up to you without the need to beat them up."

    "You can''t go around looking like you''re about to murder someone. Not even Lith does that. Often."

    "Why don''t youe along with us?" Solus asked.

    "I can''t. This is an official mission for a Spellbreaker. We are not even supposed to know about it and unlike you, I can''t hide on Lith''s finger at will." Tista shook her head.

    "By my Mom, this is going to be a disaster."

    "Nah. Whenever you are talking with a man, look at him in the eyes, puff out your chest, don''t mind him talking to your breasts and everything will be fine." Tista pointed at Solus''s petite but shapely body.

    Her figure was emphasized by the sweat that made her clothes stick to her like a second skin.

    "Thanks for making it worse." Solus snarled.

    "Solus, I''m not being a smartass. You are capable of punching a hole in a wall and casting spells powerful enough to turn a building into a crater. Yet violence can only bring you so far." Tista said.

    "You must be aware of yourself, of your surroundings, and act ordingly¡­ Otherwise even taking a walk in Lutia will end in a disaster. "

 Chapter 1637 - Chain Of Command (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1637 - Chain Of Command (Part 1)</h4>

    "You won''t meet only nice people and you can''t afford to antagonize everyone who doesn''t meet your standards or who makes a bad first impression." Tista said.

    "Fine." Solus sighed.

    She spent the following two days working on her poker face and people skills while Lith never stepped outside the tower. He hoped that each increase in his mana core, no matter how small, would help the tower core''s recovery and Solus''s with it.

    When he walked out of the Gate in the city of Alten, Lith found the officers in charge of the regiment at his orders waiting for him. There were ten people lined up, one officer for each 100-men unit, and a man standing in front of them who wore the stripes of a Lieutenant Colonel.

    They were all older than him and from the cold look on their face, Lith could tell that they weren''t one bit happy about being there.

    ''They are all mages, but nothing exceptional.'' Solus said after studying them with mana sense. ''The officers go from bright green to bright cyan. They are well fit, but judging from their life force they aren''t used to working in the field.''

    ''What about the Lieutenant Colonel?'' Lith asked.

    ''You mean the rude jerk who''s trying to drill a hole in your face with his stare?'' Solus referred to the fact that while the officers were giving Lith the salute, waiting for him to return it, his second inmand still stood on attention.

    ''Bright cyan with a tinge of blue and the life force of someone who spends too much time in the gym topensate for something.''

    The hostility in the room was palpable yet Lith didn''t care. He walked past the Lieutenant Colonel, giving him the back as if he wasn''t even there before returning the salute.

    "At ease. Any sighting of Quaron in the area?" Lith asked an officer that he had picked at random.

    The man was a Captain about thirty years old, 1.78 meters (5''10") tall who stood ufortably as if someone had suddenly lit a candle under his ass. Debriefing the Spellbreaker was the Colonel''s duty, but he couldn''t disobey an order from a superior officer even if that meant crossing another.

    "None, sir. The target has yet to show his face and due to the air and earth sealing arrays surrounding the rebel cities we have lost allmunications. Our orders are to-"

    "Enough!" The Lieutenant Colonel cut the Captain short and stepped between him and Lith.

    "Have you spent so much time in your backwater vige to forget the basics of military discipline, Major?" His eyes burned with spite and his voice was cold yet controlled as he tapped on the insignia of his rank.

    Lieutenant Colonel Xolman Pn had graduated from the Crystal Griffon academy ranking first of his year and had joined the army as soon as he had reached adulthood.

    Not only did he belong to one of the most important noble families of the Nestrar region, but his career was also one of the quickest and most sessful in the history of the Kingdom.

    Yet he had never even achieved the title of Great Mage, nor did his name had ever been considered for the Spellbreaker order, no matter how many magically talented criminals Pn apprehended.

    The fact that the Royals had put such important matters in the hands of a southerner that knew nothing of Nestrar only added insult to injury. Pn had heard about Lith''s achievements, but he considered them only as the result of the effort of the Royal Court to curry favor with the young magical bloodlines.

    He believed that Lith''s rank in the army and his title of Spellbreaker were due to political ys instead of talent, just like his own.

    The other officers came from noble families as well and shared his feelings, but being their rank inferior to Lith''s they couldn''t express their discontent without risking being court-martialled.

    "I''m your superior for rank and seniority. You-"

    "I''m themanding officer of this mission and I have the authority to rece my second inmand at any moment." Lith tapped on his Spellbreaker Badge while taking the Royal Orders he had received from Brinja out of his pocket dimension.

    "Or have you spent so much time listening to your own voice to forget the basics of the Kingdom''s hierarchy, Captain?" A wave of his hand activated the enchanted uniform, lowering Pn''s insignia of two ranks.

    "You don''t have the necessary authority to do such a thing! You retired from the army and-"

    "Yourck of respect is more than enough ground for your demotion." Lith''s eyes shed with violet light, releasing a burst of mana and hostility that cut the newly demoted Captain short.

    Even though the killing intent was aimed solely at the rebellious officer, the pressure in the room made it hard for everyone to breathe. A cold shiver ran down their spines as they suddenly found themselves covered in a cold sweat.

    "You can appeal to the military court, but only after we are done with the mission. The Kingdom can''t dy a matter of national security just to indulge the temper tantrums of a man-child."

    A second burst of killing intent brought Pn onto his knees. His eyes zed with a cyan-blue light as he tried to resist Lith''s will but his mana flow was swallowed by the strongest current, bringing his face centimeters away from the ground.

    For any free man of the Kingdom that was one of the worst possible humiliations. Even when in front of the Royals Pn only had to bend his right knee whereas now he needed sheer willpower just to keep control of his dder.

    "In case you have forgotten, this isn''t an investigation, otherwise they would have sent a Royal Constable." Lith released a third burst of killing intent that brought the other officials on their right knee and sent Pn mming against a side wall with his feet dangling in mid-air.

    "This is a manhunt. That''s why they have sent me. Our target is just one man. A traitor who has exploited his position and the blind arrogance of people like you to conquer a region unhindered.

    "Now you have two choices. You can follow my orders like everyone else or get executed for treason. Either way, I want you out of my headquarters. Are we clear?" Lith brought his face millimeters away from Pn''s who was still nailed to the wall by the violent mana flow.

    The cyan-blue light in his eyes died out as he fell limp with a gurgle after losing his consciousness.

    "I''ll take that as yes." Only then did the killing intent disappear, allowing the officers to stand up and to Pn''s body to sprawl on the ground akin to a ragdoll.

    "What were you saying before we were interrupted, Captain¡­"

    "Estar. I''m Captain Loman Estar, sir!" He instinctively gave Lith another salute while his body still shivered from the cold. "Our orders are to find and eliminate the traitor without further exacerbating the situation.

    "Nestrar is one of the most fertile regions of the Kingdom¡­ Losing a single harvest would bring a second winter famine with disastrous consequences."

 Chapter 1638 - Chain Of Command (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1638 - Chain Of Command (Part 2)</h4>

    "The Kingdom''s food supplies have almost been emptied to save as many lives as possible. Violence must be used only as ast resort."

    "Well said." Lith nodded. "I have yet to receive any update from centralmand about our mark''s sightings. Where do you suggest starting our search?"

    Estar took his army amulet and pressed the blue gemstone engraved in the middle, conjuring a holographic map.

    "The centralmand chose Alten as our base of operation because it''s the nearest Gate to Zeska." At a wave of his hand, the map centered itself around a medium sized city surrounded by a vast area of cultivated fields.

    "Due to the conflict with the locals, sowing has been dyed for too long and in a few more weeks it would be toote. Quaron knows it as well so he is likely to be there.

    "In the case of his absence, it''s of paramount importance to exploit theck of leadership to retake the city as quickly as we can. After Quaron killed the only Mage of the Association, there are only magicos and graduates from lesser academies left in Zeska.

    "If the city falls, some of their neighbors wille to their senses and surrender. After that, the others will lose their fighting spirit, making our job easier."

    "Or harder." Lith pondered. "How do you think that people will react when they hear that the Kingdom didn''t hesitate to ughter hundreds of civilians that were simply defending the fruits of their hardbor?

    "What if, instead of being demoralized, the rest of the Nestrar region fights until the bitter end because they think that they are going to die anyway? A cornered prey is the most dangerous."

    "Then what do you propose to do?" A blonde female Captain in her mid-thirties said. "To stand here and do nothing?"

    "No, to go to Zeska and do nothing." Lith replied. "Mobilize the regiment. Time is of the essence."

    One male Captain who didn''t have the courage to speak suddenly stood on attention.

    "What is it, Captain¡­?"

    "Rudra, sir. What do we do about Lieutenant- I mean, Captain Pn." He pointed at the still fainted officer whoy on the floor, drenched in his own piss.

    "Clean him up and bring him along, Rudra." Lith said. "There must be a reason if he was appointed as my second inmand and I''m willing to find out."

    Captain Estar, the new second inmand, led the way through the army base to the inner courtyard where the rest of the soldiers was waiting for them. Enough long rectangr benches had been set near simrly shaped tables to amodate them all.

    Some were eating and drinking quietly, others were maintaining their equipment, but most were simply sitting to save their strength while waiting for orders.

    ''By my Mom! Each one of them has at least a deep green core. I haven''t seen so many mages assembled ever since we left the academy.'' Solus said.

    ''It exins why there are no horses around and speak volumes about the importance of the mission.'' Lith replied.

    "Are you familiar with the Nestrar region, Major?" Estar asked.

    "It''s my first time here." Lith shook his head.

    "Then with your permission, I''ll take the lead until Zeska."

    "Permission granted." Lith nodded.

    Estar started to shout orders while the other officials took flight in a widely spaced wedge formation. The soldiers quickly followed, arranging themselves in 100-man groups that stood behind their respectivemanding officers.

    To avoid an ambush from the ground, the regiment of mages flew so high that onlookers saw them as ck dots in the sky and mistook them for ate flock of migratory birds.

    To lessen the air resistance, each of the officers constantly generated a wind de in front of them, making it ovep with that of their neighbor. The de not only protected the magically weaker soldiers from high-speed impacts with dust and insects, but it also generated a slipstream effect that allowed them to fly faster.

    ''Nice technique.'' Solus said. ''The wind des sustain each other, saving a lot of mana to both soldiers and officials. Without it, our men would get tired before reaching our destination.''

    Whenever there was the need to change the formation''s speed or direction, Estar would release pulses of colored light that would then be ryed by his fellow officials first and then by the soldiers in the front lines.

    Speaking while traveling at such speed impossible while using one single big re would have blinded the battalion and exposed their position to scouts looking at the sky.

    After one hour of flight, Estar conjured a re that signaled the regiment that it was time tond and rest.

    "Zeska is right there." The Captain pointed a ck dot in the distance at Lith. "We have no idea what we are going to find and we can''t afford to let them see us panting and covered in sweat."

    "Excellent idea. I''ll mention your ingenuity in my report." Lith patted his shoulder in approval.

    Estar was about to say that it was just standard procedure when he noticed that Lith was breathing normally and had yet to break a sweat.

    ''Good gods, are all Archmages like this? After flying for so long and the show off against Pn, he was supposed to be tired. Does his mana have no limits?'' He thought.

    Instead of resting, Lith was moving his hands and chanting gibberish to cover his use of true magic.

    "I have good news. Quaron is not in Zeska. Now I can n our strategy ordingly." Lith said.

    "With all due respect, sir, how can you be so sure?" It was the same female Captain from before.

    She had a well-built body, about 1.80 (5''11") tall, with sharp features and more muscles than curves. Fear still lingered in her hazel eyes, but her curiosity was stronger.

    "Because the gates of the city are closed and even though the fields have been already plowed, they are left unattended." Lith replied.

    "The citizens of Zeska need to prepare for the next winter as well and they would feel confident enough to keep working if their hero was there with them. Look at it yourself."

    He stepped aside, revealing a dimensional fissure the size of a binocr that offered a view from above of the city.

    Her jaw fell to the ground along with that of all the officials that one after the other stood up to observe the odd phenomenon up close.

    "How could you pinpoint the spatial coordinates from such a distance?" She asked. "Zeska is still dozens of kilometers away."

    "I didn''t." Lith replied. "I used a trick that a friend of mine versed in dimensional magic taught me. First, I created a small Warp Steps as far as I could see. Then, I simply switched the exit point to the farthest coordinates I could pinpoint from there.

    "Rinse and repeat a few times and voil¨¤."

    Lith widened the dimensional fissure enough for both of them tofortably see through it and then he switched the exit point so as to study Zeska from all sides.

    "This is brilliant! We can now perform reconnaissance from a safe distance and with minimum risk of being noticed¡­" She said.

 Chapter 1639 - Power Move (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1639 - Power Move (Part 1)</h4>

    After a few tries, the female Captain managed to replicate Lith''s spell, but between the long flight and the imminent fight, she needed to recover her strength so she had to let it fade away.

    "What army base do you serve in, Major? With your permission, I would like to apply for a transfer. There''s a lot that I could learn from you."

    "I''m not back in the army, Captain. Once we are done with our mission, I''ll go back to being a civilian." He replied, leaving her quite disappointed.

    Studying standard spells from a book was one thing, being taught by an Archmage was quite another.

    While the soldiers rested, Lith discussed with the officers what the best approach to surround the city with their limited numbers and keep anyone from escaping was. All the members of the regiment could fly, but very few could use dimensional magic.

    On top of that, Lith had no notion of military strategy. Despite the fact that he was an officer, he had always worked alone. The one thousand mages under hismand were a powerful tool that he had no idea how to properly employ.

    As soon as Zeska was in sight, the regiment split into four 200-men units that stood in front of one of the city gates each while the remaining soldiers formed a circle in the sky right outside the city arrays to keep anyone from escaping unnoticed.

    The guards patrolling the walls sounded the rm the moment the army of mages started its descent, but the siege waspleted even before the noise of their horns could die out.

    "What was the original n, Captain¡­?" Lith asked.

    "Timeka Ahria, sir." She gave him a brief salute before answering his question. "Zeska is equipped with air and earth blocking arrays. Flying, Warping, and even taking down the walls with magic is impossible.

    "The best course of action is tobine our powers to conjure a snowstorm. The cold will clear the battlements from the guards and allow some of us to infiltrate the city. Once inside, we just have to open one of the four main gates and Zeska will be ours once again."

    "What if before leaving Quaron changed the locks'' passwords?" He said.

    "Worst case scenario, our contingency n is to keep the storm at full power and the city will fall in a matter of days. The citizens had no time to restock for coal or firewood and not even a stone house can keep out the cold for long." Ahria replied.

    "It would be a great n if the Royals didn''t order me to avoid violence unless absolutely necessary." Lith shook his head.

    "There would be no fighting nor the shedding of a single drop of blood." Estar pointed out. "We will remain outside the city and cease the attack the moment the enemy surrenders."

    "That''s where you are wrong." Lith dismissed his argument with a wave of the hand. "There is no enemy here. Just people afraid of starving. If your original n seeds, Zeska will not fall without a fight.

    "Resorting to your contingency n would be even worse. Hundreds of farmers would freeze to their death, leaving too few alive to take care of the fields. Even the survivors would need time to recover from our siege. A time that we don''t have."

    "Then what''s your n, sir?" Captain Pn asked. "To knock on their door and politely ask them to reconsider their position? The army sent its best negotiators and they all failed. If diplomacy was an option, we wouldn''t be here."

    The former Lieutenant Colonel was still furious for being demoted and humiliated, but he was smart enough to avoid challenging Lith directly.

    ''I just have to object to his nonsense and wait for him to fail. After that, the Royals will strip this violent barbarian of the lead role and put me in charge of the mission after restoring my rank.

    ''I''ll give him all the rope he wants and enjoy watching him hanging himself with it.'' He thought.

    "Correct." Lith nodded. "You all stay here and make sure that no one escapes unless I say so. Keep an eye on sewer pipes and remember that even though we can''t fly in, the citizens of Zeska only need to turn the arrays off for a second to fly right under our noses."

    Lith walked inside the area of effect of the arrays, feeling slightly nauseous as his connection with the world energy faltered. Back when he still had a blue core, elemental sealing arrays made him feel as if someone had covered him with a wet nket.

    After achieving the violet, however, he could smell the unbnce. Theck of the two elements in the air surrounding the city made his auxiliary cores lose efficiency and altered his five senses.

    A hail of arrows and catapults'' shot weed him, but the defensive aura of the Scalewalker armor deflected even the heavy projectiles with ease. Lith walked in a straight path toward the city door while darts just made way for him, falling to the sides.

    The boulders were a tougher client, but thanks to the gravity sheath altering their weight and direction, Lith needed but a flick of the wrist to deflect them. They moved in slow motion to him while his movements were but a blur to everyone else.

    What both the soldiers atop of the city walls and those behind him saw was Lith taking a stroll while everything that was thrown at him refused to stand in his way, lying orderly on the ground like a silent honor guard.

    Once the soldiers realized that it was pointless wasting any more bullets, they switched to wands, unleashing on Lith a barrage of fire, ice, and darkness.

    Alchemical tools couldn''t hold spells above tier three but anyone could use them, even those with no magical talent and without enough mana to light a match. They were military-grade weapons that had been charged by at least bright cyan-cored mages.

    It was impossible to infuse willpower inside an alchemical tool since the caster of the spell and the person that would actually use it would be different and so was mixing different elements together.

    Yet with enough wands firing at the same time, it was easy to produce a destructive power that outssed even a tier five spell.

    In front of the iing onught, Lith was forced to stop and take a deep breath. He closed his eyes to more easily attune his cores and the five eyes hidden under his skin with the distorted frequency of the world energy.

    When he opened them again, the magical bullets stopped in front of him, forming a curtain of light as more and more spells piled up. Lith didn''t need to chant, only to trace a semicircle with his hands to split the energy wall in front of him and resume his walk.

    His hands never stopped moving as he moved forward. Weaving the dozens of spells of three different elements into a single one required so much focus that he needed to trace runes even with his fingers.

    A three elemental spell was akin to a Tower tier spell, something that Lith couldn''t do on his own. Now, however, the city guards were providing him with all the mana and the elemental energy he needed, leaving to Lith only to rearrange them in the form that suited him best.

 Chapter 1640 - Power Move (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1640 - Power Move (Part 2)</h4>

    Neither the soldiers nor the rebels had any idea what was happening, they only knew that it was unnatural and terrifying. The energy mass had been arranged in the form of a grey sphere that floated above Lith''s head and that grew with every spell it absorbed.

    At first, it had been as big as a bowling ball, but as the city guards went into a panic and kept shooting in the hope that the army dog would bite more than he could chew, it soon grew to the size of a house.

    "I am the military officer in charge of the peace talks with the citizens of Zeska. My name is Lith Verhen." Even though he was already inside the city arrays and he couldn''t use air magic to amplify his voice, everyone heard him clearly.

    Thanks to his breathing exercises Lith had long since learned how to speak through his diaphragm, making his baritonal voice a roar that spread up and beyond the city walls.

    That and the fact of actually being a twenty meters (66'') tall creaturepressed in the form of a human body, of course.

    Between his thunderous words and the tri-elemental sphere the size of a two-story house floating above his head, the city guards decided that pay was a much better option than keep feeding the monster.

    "You talk about peace, yet youe with an army behind your back and you threaten our city with a spell of untold power." The Commander in charge of defending the walls said while pointing at the sphere. "Why should we believe you?"

    Eman Yndel was a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.76 meters (5''9") tall with light brown hair and a finely trimmed beard. He had cold blue eyes that well-concealed the fear he felt and a steady voice that overwhelmed the roaring spell enough to be heard.

    He wore a suit of armor that left exposed only the hips and the inner side of his legs and arms so to offer the best protection while not limiting his range of motions. The enchanted armor bore the orange and red of the city g.

    "Because I approached your city alone and unarmed." Lith replied while turning around to show that he didn''t carry any weapon. The elemental sealing arrays of the city also made it impossible to use dimensional amulets.

    At least in theory.

    Arrays didn''t work on Lith''s pocket dimension but he had no reason of letting them know that.

    "On top of that, I didn''t cast this spell. Your men did. I just acted in self-defence. If it makes you feel ufortable, I''ll dly get rid of it." He threw the sphere up into the sky for hundreds of meters until it reached a safe distance.

    Then, it detonated producing a light so strong that for several seconds two suns shone above Zeska. Despite the distance, the resulting shockwave produced gusts of wind that forced the mages of the regiment to conjure a barrier to not be swept away and the soldiers atop the city walls to seek refuge inside one of the many watchtowers.

    The explosion produced a mushroom cloud visible from dozens of kilometers away and a noise akin to the war cry of an angry god.

    Among all that, Lith stood still as if nothing was happening, protected by an invisible barrier made of Spirit Magic and Light Mastery.

    "Now that we are all at ease, I hope that we can discuss the terms of your surrender." He said with an amiable voice.

    Commander Yndel was still quaking in his boots, shivering from head to toe while silently thanking the gods for having survived the insane st. Yet when he heard those words, his pride and sense of duty gave him the strength to ovee his fear.

    "We''ll never surrender! We are not a region of the Kingdom anymore. Zeska is part of the free country of Nestrar now!" Unfortunately for Yndel, his voice came out as squeaky rather than angry.

    It made his words sound empty, failing to restore the morale of either his troops or the citizens.

    Lith''s power move had worked exactly as he had intended and his opponents were too shaken to even notice it. Detonating the tier Tower spell from a safe distance had deprived him of a powerful deterrent but the gains were well worth the loss.

    Anyone in Zeska now knew that Lith had the ability to level the city and every hope they had to stand their ground was already lost. The memory of the two suns was forever etched in their minds and so was the fear of seeing them again, this time up close.

    "The Griffon Kingdom has abandoned us during our darkest hour. You bureaucrats have left us for dead until the end of the winter and now you demand us to share our precious food with the parasites from the north?

    "Why should we starve just to let you fill your belly? What has any of you ever done for us to deserve such a sacrifice? I''d rather destroy the food supplies than hand them over to you." Captain Yndel said while drawing strength from the memories of all the hardships that he had endured during thest year.

    "The Kingdom never abandoned you. It gave you a Ranger who was regrly supplied with everything you might need and tasked with delivering it to Zeska. It''s not our fault if he hoarded the resources and used them to manipte you." Lith replied.

    He could hear the soldiers swear in outrage at the nder of their hero, yet he didn''t stop.

    "As for what the Kingdom has done for you, it has given you the walls from which you now threaten me. It has given you the fields that give you more food than you can eat.

    "Also, I resent you calling the people of the north as parasites. I''m from the south of the Kingdom, yet I served there for two years and I know how harsh is life there. They suffer from cold and istion in order to protect our borders.

    "To make sure that all the monstrosities inside the Lost Cities never threaten anyone. Isn''t that a sacrifice worthy of your help? Your winter is but springpared to theirs and while you stay here with nothing to do but worry about keeping you warm, they fight for their lives every single day."

    Lith never mentioned being an Archmage, a Spellbreaker, nor even the fact that he had destroyed two of the dreaded Lost Cities.

    He had no need to. His name alone held all of that information and his feat with the tier Tower spell had demonstrated that everything the citizens of Zeska had heard about him was true, if not even an understatement.

    Every one of them knew the story of Lith Verhen, the humble son of a farmer who had risen to the highest honors of the Kingdom before reaching his twenty years of age.

    Many of those who listened to his words looked at Lith with admiration and envy, secretly wishing that at least one of their children may one day achieve the same.

    The citizens of Zeska suddenly felt ashamed of themselves, remembering the lengths that a man of the south had gone to protectnds so far away from his home.

 Chapter 1641 - Trust And Lies (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1641 - Trust And Lies (Part 1)</h4>

    The citizens of Zeska were grateful to Lith not only for his services, but also for making the lives of themoners better.

    After listening to his arguments, the fear from his power move turned into gratitude that cracked the will to oppose the Kingdom at any cost. Yet it wasn''t enough. The memory of all the times that Ranger Quaron had protected them and the faith they had in him were stronger than any word.

    ''I realize that Archmage Verhen might have wiped our city off the maps earlier and that I have no way to stop him from casting another of those magical monstrosities.'' Commander Eman thought.

    ''Yet I can''t stand him ndering a good man like Alman Quaron nor will I surrender out of fear. If they destroy Zeska, the food will be lost as well so Verhen has to be cautious.

    ''On top of that, I have no guarantee that the moment we open our doors the Kingdom will not execute us all as traitors. If we have to die anyway, we are going to take down with us as many dogs of the Royals as we can.''

    "How dare you use our savior?" He replied. "I''m aware of the many things you have done for us during your time as a Ranger, yet after you retired to pursue your own interests, Ranger Quaron stood by the side of the people.

    "He has saved more lives than I can count and helped every single vige of the region more times than I can remember. A loyal friend is way more trustworthy than a retired hero turned countryside noble. Unless you have proof of your ims, of course."

    "What proof do I need besides my reputation and logic?" Lith said. "You know what I did and what I am capable of doing. If I wanted to, nothing would stop me and my regiment from marching inside Zeska yet here I am, reasoning with you."

    A tower of golden light emerged from under his feet. The construct grew in size until it brought Lith at the same level as Commander Eman, allowing the two men to look each other in the eyes.

    ''Dammit, I hadpletely forgotten about Light Mastery.'' Eman thought. ''There''s no array in the city that can stop it and it would take Ranger Verhen seconds to conjure siege towers that would make our walls useless.

    ''Our weapons and wands are but toyspared to what he can do.''

    ''Dammit, I hadpletely forgotten about Light Mastery.'' Captain Pn thought as his face turned green with envy. ''It''s such a rare discipline that''s almost considered a myth.

    ''If only I was the one knowing the secrets of Light Mastery, I would put Verhen under my heel and repay him of all the humiliations he inflicted upon me. Gods, why did you grant such power to a moron that wastes time with useless bber instead of recapturing the city and killing the traitors?

    ''First, he wasted a powerful spell, and now this? I can''t wait to submit my report to the Royals and make Verhen pay for his ipetence.''

    "As for your "loyal friend", have you ever stopped to consider the origin of all the supplies Quaron provided you with? Do you think that a Ranger is some kind of miracle worker that can conjure anything out of thin air?

    "As a Ranger and a Forgemaster, all can I say is: I wish!

    "All the coal to keep you warm, the fabric for your clothes, and even the fresh fruit he gave you all came from the Kingdom, carried through the Warp Gates, and stored inside special dimensional items crafted by the Royal Forgemasters.

    "Why do you think that not one of the cities with a Gate has joined you in your rebellion?" Lith asked.

    "Because the Gate allows the army and the Association to instantly send reinforcements. They simply have no way to oppose the tyranny of the Royals!" Eman replied.

    "Please!" Lith replied with a sneer. "If the citizens really revolted, the soldiers would be outnumbered one thousand to one and the local mages would undoubtedly sabotage the Gates.

    "No, the reason is that unlike you, they didn''t rely on Quaron to carry and distribute the supplies. Everything that came out of the Gates would be delivered by the army whereas Quaron exploited the winter lockdown to feed you lies!

    "You may have no reason to trust me, but at least trust your brain. Where did he take all of that stuff?"

    "He used the Gates to reach the richest regions of the Kingdom and bought the supplies we needed." Eman said.

    "With what money? Rangers are paid in silver, not in mountains of gold." Lith replied.

    "Our money, of course! We gave Quaron what he needed to buy the strict necessary from the ck market-"

    "Are you telling me that you paid overinted prices for what was rightfully yours?" Lith cut him short. "Did you at least check for the Royal seal on the boxes?"

    "Of course, there was the Royal seal! Those were stolen goods." Eman replied.

    "They were stolen alright. Stolen from you! Can''t you see how ridiculous this story is? Stop letting a bunch of convenient lies cloud your judgment. Think with your head." Lith pointed his finger at the Commander, making him feel like an idiot.

    He could see on the faces of the city guards that their faith in their hero was wavering, along with their will to fight until the bitter end. Lith then struck the iron while it was still hot, taking the Royal Decree out of his breast pocket and handing it to Eman with Light Mastery.

    "If you cease this madness now and open the gates, I have been granted the authority to pardon all of you. The Kingdom needs Zeska as much as you need the Kingdom and a city without its people is just a bunch of buildings." Lith said.

    "That''s not what is written in here." The Commander read the decree carefully. "The Decree states that my people will be detained and investigated."

    Now that the seed of doubt of having been duped had taken root into his mind, Eman had be cautious of the fine prints.

    "You are wrong." Lith shook his head. "Not your people, only Quaron''s aplices. No matter how difficult the past winter may have been, three months is too short a time frame for a single man to fool so many cities into rebelling.

    "Ranger Quaron must have had someone inside the city that kept the fa?ade going while he wasn''t here. Someone who fed you lies to fuel your anger and make you grow hostile toward the Kingdom.

    "Someone with the clearance necessary to open the city treasury and the vault from which you took those weapons." Lith pointed at the alchemical tools that the city guards had used and then at the enchanted weapons and armors they wore.

    "A Ranger can request the necessary codes but it requires a good reason whereas city officials know them to be capable of defending the city even in the case it''s under attack and the Ranger is unavable.

    "My guess is that those who armed you also took part of the gold for themselves if not even a few artifacts."

 Chapter 1642 - Trust And Lies (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1642 - Trust And Lies (Part 2)</h4>

    "The Kingdom has no reason to punish the city of Zeska as a whole. Surrender now and you have my word that only the real traitors will be punished."

    Lith made sure that his voice echoed throughout the city, nting the seed of discord as well. No matter how valiant, there would always be people more interested in their own survival rather than a noble cause.

    He had offered themoners a way out and even the opportunity to get rid of the upper echelons of Zeska. Without the support of themoners, the city would fall without a fight.

    "I can''t surrender just based on a few words and a conspiracy theory. We are not alone in this fight. Many other cities stood up against the Kingdom with us. I won''t turn my back on them nor on Ranger Quaron without solid proof.

    "We have helped each other for years through thick and thin. I won''t let fear destroy our mutual trust." Captain Eman said.

    "I wouldn''t have it any other way." Lith replied, bbergasting everyone present. "It means that you and your soldiers didn''t act out of petty gain but because you believed to be doing your people''s best interest.

    "Let''s assume that your rebellion seeds. How do you think you lot can survive without Warp Gates, without the help of the army, or of the Association? Do you really believe that monsters and natural disasters will just leave you alone?" Lith asked.

    "Of course not. Ranger Quaron will be by our side and will protect us as he always did." Eman replied.

    "Let''s put your theory to the test, shall we? Consider my army as a monster wave. I will give you three days to call upon your hero and for him toe here. If Quaron bests me in a one on one fight, the Kingdom will recognize the free country of Nestrar and stipte fair trade agreements with you.

    "If he loses or simply refuses to fight, I''ll have no choice but to retake Zeska by any means necessary." Lith said.

    "Why should we ept those terms and why should we believe that the moment hees here you won''t arrest him on the spot?" The Commander asked.

    "Because it''s the best deal you''ll ever get. Check the Royal Decree. I have the authority to do as I promised. As for your hero, if Quaron stands you up here it means that he would have done the same the moment a real threat appeared and that he has never been honest with you.

    "Do you think that a monster tribe or an invading army would give you the leisure of three days to prepare for a fight? If Quaron can''t hold his ground against a single Archmage, your rebellion has already failed." Lith replied.

    His enhanced hearing could hear the whispers of the soldiers on the walls and even a few of the people beyond that.

    "Verhen has no need to lie to us. He could have killed us all with that monstrous spell if he wanted. I say we surrender before the Royals change their mind." A woman said.

    "No, that''s exactly the scenario that Quaron predicted." A man replied. "The arrays keep them from entering the city so they are trying to scare us into letting them in. If Verhen destroyed the city gates we would have destroyed the food supplies."

    "He''s right." A feminine voice chimed in. "It wasn''t an act of mercy but a calcted move. Without that food, the Kingdom will have no choice but either be dependent on the other countries or let the north starve."

    "You are both idiots!" Another male voice said.

    "If we touch the food supplies the Kingdom will have no reason to keep us alive anymore. Besides, Verhen is right. If your beloved Quaron isn''t at least as powerful as he is, there''s no way that the city guard alone can protect us."

    The arguments quickly degenerated into quarrels and then into brawls, forcing the guards to leave the walls in order to stop the infighting.

    "There''s merit in your words." Eman said after realizing how brittle their convictions were. "If you promise me that you will not arrest nor follow our messenger, then we have a deal."

    "Deal." Lith extended his hand, conjuring a replica made of light that appeared in front of the Commander who shook it while a cold shiver ran down his spine.

    ''Good gods. He could have killed me where I stand if instead of my hand this thing grabbed my neck or if it simply threw me off the wall.'' He thought.

    When the hard-light construct disappeared, Lith had already returned among his ranks.

    "With all due respect, I think that you had a great start and then you gave away most of your advantage, sir." Captain Estar, Lith''s second inmand, said.

    "How so?" Lith replied with an expression akin to a stone mask.

    "If I were you, I would have taken down the walls with¡­" The officer failed to find the words to describe the tier Tower spell. "Whatever that thing was and have us raid the city.

    "This way, the people guarding the food supplies wouldn''t have had enough time to destroy them all and we would have aplished the mission. Now, instead, you gave them a lot without getting anything in return."

    "What if somehow Quaron bests you?" Pn chimed in, eager to rub salt in Lith''s alleged bad choices. "Even if the Royals really gave you the authority to allow the Nestrar country to be established, they will skin you alive when they hear what you promised!"

    "I can''t believe that I fooled you as well. Are you stupid or what?" Lith replied with a sneer. "Our orders are to leave the walls intact, or we won''t be able to hold the city against any enemy.

    "Our orders are not to harm the people and to keep the food supplies safe. If we just march in, we''d have to pave our road with corpses. As soon as word of the massacre spreads, any chance of negotiating with the other cities would disappear and they would fight us tooth and nail.

    "On top of that, if I were in Quaron shoes, I would have booby-trapped the granaries so that the moment the assault begins a pulse of darkness magic would make everything rot."

    "You are right but still, giving them so much time and such favorable conditions was too much." Estar replied.

    "I just gave us the time we need and them the rope they need to hang Quaron in our stead." Lith replied. "I said that I wouldn''t arrest nor follow the messenger because I expect one of you to do it.

    "Right from the start, my purpose was to find the real traitors and to put an end to the rebellion without shedding a single drop of blood. The moment we find Quaron, we''ll surround and kill him like a dog without anyone knowing.

    "This way, after the three days deadline passes, what the people of the Nestrar region will know is that he is a coward and that he betrayed their trust, running away with the stolen money."

 Chapter 1643 - Citizen McCoy (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1643 - Citizen McCoy (Part 1)</h4>

    "Once Zeska surrenders, we just have to offer the same deal to the other cities and wait for them to realize that no one is going toe to their rescue. I bet that after the second no-show, the faith in their hero will crumble for good and the rebellion will end peacefully." Lith said.

    "It makes sense." Captain Ahria pondered. "Why did you give them three days, though? Isn''t that too long?"

    "No. Quaron can''t use hismunication amulet without being located so they have to reach him in person and this might take a while." Lith shook his head. "On top of that, I''ll use this time to investigate the city.

    "Due to my offer, those who supported Quaron until now are probably quaking in their boots and will seek each other''s support to get away with their lives. It''s the perfect opportunity to understand how deep-rooted the treason is.

    "Also, I''m curious about what Quaron could possibly offer to already powerful people to put everything on the line and support his coup. He may be working with the Undead Courts or maybe even with Thrud.

    "The rebellion is but a symptom of a hidden disease."

    "Investigating the city? How?" Estar asked.

    "I''m not an Archmage just because I''m good at breaking stuff." Lith replied.

    "I''ll open a Warp Steps in the sky above the city arrays and then use Light Mastery to break the fall. I can freely change the color of my constructs and no one will notice ck stairs in the middle of the night."

    He conjured a ck dahlia in his hand, making his seconds inmand gasp in amazement.

    "That''s brilliant. I''m sorry for doubting your strategy." Ahria gave Lith a deep bow, quickly followed by her colleagues.

    Pn joined them only once he realized to be the only one still upright.

    "Apology epted. Who is the best at stealth among the troops?" Lith asked.

    "I am." Captain Rudra replied. "I may not be a Light Master but I know how to distort light and my uniform can change color ording to the circumstances, making me nigh-invisible."

    "Excellent." Lith nodded. "It''s of paramount importance that you follow the messenger discreetly and discover Quaron''s location. They are unlikely to Warp but even a magico can fly at high speed so it''s better if you get in position already."

    Rudra nodded and took flight, quickly reaching an altitude where the arrays didn''t hinder air magic anymore. He stood above the middle of the city, waiting.

    The army had surrounded Zeska from every side so no matter what direction the messenger would take, Rudra would know where to go thanks to thework ofmunication amulets.

    Much to Lith''s surprise, when the city gates opened, two mene out instead of one.

    ''A decoy? Dammit, the City Lord is smarter than I thought.'' He inwardly cursed while quickly giving more orders in hismunication amulet.

    Yet only one of them hurried towards the edges of the elemental sealing arrays while the other, a man in his mid-thirties, marched toward Lith with strides filled with confidence and a defiant look in his eyes.

    ''Or not.'' Solus said. ''This guy has a deep orange core. If he can fly then I can travel through time.''

    The man had thick ck hair and blue eyes. He was over 1.95 meters (6''5") and had shoulders wider than most doors Lith had ever walked through. He wore a full suit of heavily enchanted armor, wielding a longsword with only one hand.

    "I don''t care what Eman says. I don''t trust someone who relies on magic even to pick their own nose." He said.

    "And why did you feel the need toe here and tell me yourself?" Lith asked with an amused tone.

    "I''m here to make sure that you don''t follow Hest and to offer you another deal." The man said. "Face me without any magical trick, warrior to warrior. If I win, you leave us alone as you promised."

    "What if I win?" Lith asked, already annoyed by that nonsense.

    The question left the man bbergasted. Sergeant Throq had expected Lith to refuse the fight, not to discuss terms.

    ''He''s just a child who has yet to reach twenty years of age. Without his magic, the difference between our battle prowess is like heaven and earth. Verhen is shorter, lighter, and much less experienced than me.'' He thought while never stopping his advance.

    "I asked you, what if I win? I''m not wasting my time with a pointless fight." Lith said.

    ''What an idiot!'' Throq inwardly smiled. ''I came here with the intent of forcing him to back down and restore the troop''s morale. Between the spell and his poisonous speech, the citizens are too scared to hold their ground anymore.

    ''Even if he killed me, it would have just shown the others how ruthless and cowardly the dogs of the Kingdom are. To give my people the will to fight, even my life is a small chance to pay.''

    ''Yet I would''ve never expected Verhen to be so conceited and his soldiers to be so ipetent that they would let mee this close. If he dies, the army willck the power to recapture Zeska and my people will find their courage again.''

    ''This is my opportunity to turn this around.''

    "Then don''t fight and die!" Throq drew his sword and lunged at Lith''s exposed neck in one fluid motion, moving so quickly to be just a blur.

    He had drunk the best enhancing potions the militia had before leaving Zeska, in case he needed either to escape or to bring down as many enemy soldiers as he could with him if after refusing his challenge Verhen ordered to capture him for intel.

    Lith intercepted the attack, pushing the de aside with the back of his right hand while pressing the palm of the left against Throq''s chest and giving him a gentle push.

    A gentle push that sent him flying against the city walls with such speed that his spine shattered on impact, his head burst open like a melon, and so did many of his internal organs.

    Even before his corpse touched the ground there was already a pool of blood spreading below him.

    The Sergeant''s final thoughts didn''t go to his beloved city or to the family that waited for him behind the walls and that he would never see again. All he could think about was the feeling of hitting a lump of metal that had reverberated through his de and Lith''s expression.

    It wasn''t that of a warrior reacting to a sneak attack so much as that of a man who swats an annoying fly.

    "Do you want us to retaliate for the assassination attempt, Major?" Estar, like the other Captains, had let Throqe near their leader simply because they knew he posed no threat.

    "No need. Make sure that Rudra has seeded following the messenger, have my tent built at the edge of the sealing arrays, and report to me as soon as you are done with your tasks." Lith conjured a tower of light again to speak with the Commander of the City Guard.

    "If that guy was your champion, then ording to our deal Zeska is mine to reim."

 Chapter 1644 - Citizen McCoy (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1644 - Citizen McCoy (Part 2)</h4>

    "I deeply apologize for Sergeant Throq''s behavior." Eman unconsciously took a step back before giving Lith a deep bow. "He acted on his own without my permission."

    ''That damn idiot!'' He actually thought. ''His stunt cost us one of our best set of equipment, a good soldier, and it destroyed what little was left of our morale. Even I can''t stop looking at the bloody mess of what''s left of him.

    ''If Ranger Quaron abandons us, we are doomed.''

    "I''m giving you the benefit of the doubt and I''ll let this slide." Lith said. "Yet if any of your men try something funny again, I''ll hold you responsible and start the attack immediately. You have two days and twenty-three hours left."

    He left before the Commander could reply, collecting the corpse with a hand-shaped hard light construct.

    "Status report." Lith asked Estar while putting the precious equipment inside his pocket dimension.

    "Rudra is currently heading west. The messenger doesn''t seem to have noticed his presence but he is changing his trajectory often so we have no idea where his destination is." The Captain replied. "Also, with all due respect, you are an army officer."

    "So what?" Lith replied in confusion.

    "Your assant wore military-grade equipment so is reasonable to assume that it came from the city vault."

    "And?"

    "And if I''m right, those things are the Kingdom''s property, not loot. If they are not returned, you might end up in trouble." Estar cleared his voice multiple times in embarrassment.

    "Dammit!" Lith checked every single piece of equipment, finding the Royal Seal etched into every single one of them.

    ''Yeah. I''m sorry to say this, but they also have a tracking spell so we can''t "identally" pocket some without being caught the moment we use them.'' Solus sighed.

    "I''m sorry for your loss, sir, but I''m sure that the Kingdom willpensate you properly for your valor." Estar felt stupid apologizing for doing his duty, but Lith scared him too much. "By the way, your tent is ready."

    "Excellent. Lead the way."

    "Isn''t it dangerous to set your living quarters so close to the city? You are still within attack range." The Captain was happy to change the topic.

    "It is, but this way I''m creating a diversion that will increase my chance of sess during the infiltration." Lith replied. "Get inside first."

    Estar did as instructed while Lith stood on the entrance, looking at the city with an intense expression. A split secondter, he turned around and walked into the tent as well, yet a second Lith remained in in sight while staring at Zeska.

    "You can split?" The Captain fell onto his knees from the shock.

    "Don''t be ridiculous. That''s just a hard-light construct with my appearance." Lith replied with a smirk. "The assassination attempt worked in our favor. As soon as the news spread, Quaron''s aplices will panic and do something stupid.

    "Now that all the eyes are fixed on my tent, it''s the perfect moment to sneak in unnoticed since no one is looking at the sky anymore.

    Send someone to speak with my double at regr intervals and make sure that no one touches it."

    Lith chanted a brief spell that conjured the array needed to fuel the Light Mastery spell in his absence and then opened a Warp Steps leading to the sky above Zeska.

    The airing out the dimensional door was so thin and cold that Estar became dizzy and fell to the ground again.

    "If you need to contact me, send three rainbow-colored fireballs high in the sky and I''ll get out of the city as soon as I can." Lith jumped through the Steps, closing it behind him before activating a Spirit Spell.

    His ability with Light Mastery wasn''t enough tond safely from such an altitude, not even with his enhanced body. Spirit Magic, however, was another story. It used only the mana from Lith''s mana core, making it immune to the effects of elemental sealing arrays.

    Lith simply conjured a float spell that allowed him to take his time changing his appearance with Body Sculpting and another Steps that brought him to the ground level without anyone noticing.

    ''My best guess is to start our investigation in the City Hall''s pce.'' He said via the mind link. ''Even in the unlikely case the City Lord isn''t involved with the rebellion, if we get our hands on the records of all the past transactions and of those who visited Zeska during the winter we can discover who''s behind it.''

    ''By my Mom, what''s wrong with your hair?'' Solus replied.

    The man who had walked out of the dimensional door was in his mid-twenties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall. He had the haircut of an IRS employee on a windy Monday morning and the friendly eyes of someone whose entire family had been ughtered just an hour ago.

    Lith couldn''t risk shapeshifting into a body he wasn''tfortable with so he had just mixed his Abomination and Human side together to obtain the appearance he had back on Earth.

    ''We are in the middle of a covert op and all you can think about is nagging about my hair?''

    ''First, that do is a crime against eyesight. Second, no one uses it on Mogar.'' Solus replied.

    She checked with mana sense that they were alone before using Spirit Magic and a pair of scissors to give him a less conspicuous look.

    ''Now stop ring or you''ll get reported to the city guards and our mission will end before even starting.''

    Lith needed several deep breaths and quite some coaching to soften his expression. His face as Derek McCoy seemed to be stuck in a perpetual frown and it took him sheer willpower to alter it.

    As he had predicted, Zeska was in a state of panic. The citizens had abandoned their daily activities and had assembled in the streets to discuss the events that had taken ce in front of the city walls.

    They were too busy pointing at the mages floating in the sky that had surrounded the city to notice Lith.

    "Where the heck is Lord Quaron when we need him the most? He should have known that Zeska would be targeted first!" Most people said, receiving nods in reply.

    "If he doesn''t get here quickly, I''m going to surrender. I''m not risking my life for someone who abandoned us nor for his noble friends." Knowing that their lives would be safe even in the case the rebellion failed made themoners unwilling to spend three days in fear.

    Lith walked briskly toward the city hall, located in the city''s inner rim.

    Zeska was one of the most important agricultural hubs of the Kingdom and the majority of its inhabitants were farmers. Their duty was to cultivate the hundreds of acres of fields that surrounded the city and they were well paid for it.

    The outer rim consisted of the living quarters of the soldiers and mages that protected the city. They were the nearest to the city walls so to minimize the response time in case of an emergency.

    Farmers and merchants lived in the middle rim, respectively producing and processing the food for their daily necessities¡­ The food storages were located in the inner rim along with the noble households.

 Chapter 1645 - Trouble In Paradise (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1645 - Trouble In Paradise (Part 1)</h4>

    It was the nobles'' responsibility to inventory the harvest down to thest sack of grain and make sure that the city would keep what it needed for the next sowing.

    All the buildings in Zeska were made of stone to protect both people and goods. Yet while a farmer''s or a soldier''s house was small, those belonging to mages and nobles were at least two-stories high.

    Some even took an entire city block.

    The streets were wide enough to allow two carriages to move side by side with space to spare.

    If not for the tall walls that blocked the horizon and theck of green spaces, Zeska closely resembled what Lutia would have looked like in a few years if the city kept expanding.

    Lith had no trouble finding his way through the middle rim, yet despite his farmer clothes and his best poker face, he kept drawing attention. People would often point at him and whisper, sending a cold shiver down his spine.

    ''What the fuck? I''ve heard the saying "in tight-knitmunities everybody knows everybody", but this is ridiculous. What the heck am I doing wrong to stand out so much?'' He thought.

    ''I''m afraid that it''s a matter of appearance.'' Solus replied.

    ''Please, I''m not handsome enough for that in this form. Or are you implying that I was ugly in my first life?''

    ''Not that, dummy!'' She said. ''While everyone else is going to the walls to check the situation, you are walking toward the inner rim. You don''t talk with anyone, you don''t look scared, and you have no usible reason for going in that direction.

    ''Your gait is that of a man on a mission, not that of a scared farmer. I don''t think that your cover is blown already, but unless you find a way to blend in, people are going to report you to the guards.''

    Lith inwardly cursed and entered an empty alley after checking it with Life Vision. He leaned against the wall, racking his brain to make up a cover story or at least find a way to reach his destination in the quickest way possible.

    The army had given him a map of Zeska that he had stored inside Soluspedia. Lith closed his eyes, focusing on the buildings near the city hall and the roads leading to them.

    ''Flying and Warping are out of the question. The buildings are too low and people would see me from the streets.'' Lith thought. ''I could dress as a soldier, but without written orders, I would be sent to the walls.

    ''Posing as a noble isn''t an option either. Even if the farmers don''t mind me, the guards would stop me on sight. They surely know all the nobles and their guests and I''m not one of them. I can''t change my face into that of someone I''ve never seen before.''

    ''What about the healer?'' Solus pointed at the local hospital that was right beside the city hall.

    ''I already thought about that and dismissed the idea.'' Lith replied. ''If I go there iming to have the flu or a fever, they will just send me off to a minor healer. During a crisis, the hospital is for emergencies only and anyone healthy enough to walk doesn''t qualify.''

    ''What about simting a heavy injury?'' She asked.

    ''I can''t shave with magic, let alone inflict an injury. Besides, do you know what it takes to hurt me now that I''ve be a Tiamat?''

    ''Point taken.'' Solus pondered for a while.

    ''I got it!'' The Sage Staff appeared in a burst of emerald mes as she injected a bit of her life force in the pocket dimension to ovee the dimensional sealing array.

    Solus''s small hand appeared from Lith''s stone ring, grabbing the staff and having it shrink to the size of a pin to hide it in her palm. She used Lith as a cover to assume her human form without anyone outside the alley noticing.

    ''What the heck are you doing? You can hold that form for less than half an hour.'' Lith said.

    ''Wrong, I can move around for less than half an hour.'' She replied while jumping in his arms.

    Body Sculpting removed the colored streaks from her hair and raised her temperature by a few degrees. Lith could see sweat cover her forehead and hear her breath be heavy.

    ''You are not a suspicious farmer anymore, now you are a concerned man carrying her feverish girlfriend to the healer.'' Solus said.

    ''You are a genius!'' Lith said. ''And also quite heavy. I think that I heard my spine pop. You know that Gravity Fusion is a thing, right?''

    ''Less yapping, more walking, jerk.''

    Lith walked out of the alley while holding Solus in a princess carry. People kept pointing at him, but now they were worried about the woman''s condition rather than the man''s identity.

    "Is everything alright?" A man asked.

    He and a woman were riding in a carriage that had slowed down after nearing the distressed couple.

    "I wish, there''s something wrong with my wife." Lith said amid what he hoped resembled strained pants. "After that crazy spell exploded in the air, she copsed and developed a fever!"

    At the word "wife", Solus turned to a bright shade of purple and emitted an honest groan that made even Lith almost fall for their own cover story.

    "And you are taking her to the healer on foot?" The man was bbergasted.

    "One of the wheels of our carriage broke at the worst possible times and our neighbors are-"

    "Guyll, you idiot!" The woman cut Lith short and brought the carriage to a halt. "How can you question a man worried for his pregnant wife?"

    She pointed at Solus''s belly that was further emphasized by the princess carry. She became so red and whimpered so loudly that the bystanders started to address the poor Guyll with mean words that made him turn as red as Solus.

    ''That does it! From tomorrow I''ll cut down onfort food, exercise, and cheat all the way down with Invigoration. I''m aware that I''ve gained a bit more weight after regaining my human body, but being mistaken for pregnant?'' She thought while Lith and Guyll carefullyy her on the back of the carriage.

    Lith had a hard time not having a goodugh at her expense but since he had a mission and knew from experience that there were few doors that a pregnant woman couldn''t open, he decided to roll with it.

    "Are you sure?" He asked the kind woman, pretending to be shocked and even more scared by the revtion. "I thought it was just a big scare due to the army at our doors, that monstrous mage, and Lord Quaron being away."

    "I''m sure of it just as I''m sure that it''s your first. Correct?" She replied while making the horse trot toward the hospital.

    ''It''s my first make-believe child.'' Lith thought.

    "Correct." He actually said.

    "Don''t worry, it''s amon mistake for newlyweds. The wife starts eating more, gains some weight, and the husband mes her for being a glutton just because he''s too dumb to understand that she''s eating for two¡­" The woman said with a snort while looking at Guyll.

 Chapter 1646 - Trouble In Paradise (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1646 - Trouble In Paradise (Part 2)</h4>

    ''At least she got that right. You do eat for two.'' Lith inwardly chuckled.

    ''Ha ha! Very funny. Why don''t you try spending years trapped inside a stone form without any of your five senses? Then when you get out, we''ll see if you won''t indulge in a bit of food after a long day''s work.'' Solus said.

    ''Please, stay calm, Solus. Too much stress could hurt the baby.'' Lith said while pretending to caress her womb while he actually pinched it.

    ''Tell this story to anyone and I''m going to kill you!''

    The carriage quickly reached the inner rim of the city where a couple of guards attempted to stop them to search the vehicle and identify the passengers.

    "Move away, dimwits! There''s no time for this crap. This woman might lose her baby!" The umpteenth groan and Solus''s genuine distress at those words made the guards move out of the way.

    "Bring them straight to the hospital. Our colleagues will identify the man while the woman receives the necessary treatment." The senior officer said.

    They couldn''t leave their station normunicate with others due to the dimensional sealing arrays. They just followed the carriage with their eyes, making sure it wasn''t just a ruse.

    "Thank you very much. I can do the rest on my own." Lith jumped out of the carriage while looking through the windows on the second floor of the nearby city hall with Life Vision, searching for an empty room.

    "We couldn''te with you anyway." The woman sighed. "The food rations for the day won''t deliver themselves and with all the soldiers on the walls, everyone must do their part to protect our city."

    Lith gently took Solus between his arms, opening the door of the hospital with a kick while screaming:

    "My wife needs a healer!" Loud enough for everyone to hear.

    Yet he also opened a Warp Steps on the floor and ced a Hush spell in the corridor in front of him. The guards inside heard the yell muffled and thought it came from one of the hospital rooms.

    Also, when Lith walked inside, he fell straight into the Steps. The door opening and closing on itself baffled the guards only for a second.

    "I can''t believe that people can''t even close a door properly! We are soldiers, not butlers." The man looked outside, making sure there wasn''t anyone who needed help, and gestured to his colleagues that were staring his way that everything was okay.

    Meanwhile, Lith found himself in a storage room filled with stationery.

    ''How are you doing?'' He asked while making sure with Life Vision that no one would disturb them.

    ''I''ve never felt so embarrassed my whole life but I''ll get over it. Thank you for asking.'' Solus checked her own bby, soft belly and Lith''s t, well-toned abdomen.

    Theparison only made her feel worse.

    ''I meant your energy reserves. You can only spend so much time in human form and I might need your helpter.'' Lith replied. ''Also, hands off the merchandise.''

    ''Right. I''ll get back inside my ring.''

    Lith used Hush on the door so that neither the lock nor the hinges would creak when opened and stepped outside. The corridor was lit by two lines of torches hung to the walls while the magical stones had been turned off to redirect the energy into the city arrays.

    Lith spotted several energy signatures and moved away from them.

    ''If I kill people randomly, their disappearance might be noticed and my mission would be even moreplicated. First, I need to find a clue about what''s happening here.

    ''Then I can search for one of the local nobles and ask them why they decided to follow Quaron in his madness.'' He thought.

    ''Agreed. It''s best to have answers before asking questions. I found a few heavily enchanted doors that look promising.'' Solus said while sharing with him the findings of her mana sense and array detecting spell.

    Lith followed her directions, using a Hush spell to not make any noise and sticking to the high ceiling with Spirit Magic whenever someone walked their way. The City Hall was a three-story building tastelessly furnished.

    The rooms and corridors on each floor were identical if not for the tags that identified them by number.

    ''Either the people who built the City Hall were confident in the arrays that surround the building or they made the corridors confusing on purpose. There is no other way to exin why the locks and the arrays are not connected.'' Lith thought.

    ''Without Life Vision, I wouldn''t be able to distinguish the door of a broom closet from that of the treasury. On the other hand, someone like me only needs a good old Clean te spell to open a door without triggering any pesky rm array.''

    The tier four Forgemastering spell used a pulse of light and darkness magic to temporarily reset any enchantment the caster touched, making them lose their imprint.

    The lock clicked and Lith stepped inside, making sure to leave no visible trace of his passage.

    ''Oh, fuck me sideways!'' The rectangr room was five meters (16.4 feet) wide and ten meters (33 feet) long, with three desks each one lined against a different wall.

    They had two cabs each on either side and were covered by orderly piles of documents as long as Lith''s arm. It would have taken a regr person hours to read the files on a single desk and that without even opening the cabs.

    ''The bad news is that everything here is magically locked. The good news is that I made a lot of room in Soluspedia before leaving the tower exactly in case something like this happened.'' Solus said.

    ''Thanks, Solus. This will still put some strain on my life force but it''s better than nothing. As soon as we''re done with this mission, I''ll prepare your favorite dishes.'' He thought.

    ''Yeah, right. I don''t want people to ask me if I''ve already chosen the name for my twins so hard pass on that.'' Yet if she had a mouth, it would have been watering at the thought of his cooking.

    Lith needed to consume a spark of life force to make the pocket dimension ovee the seal of the arrays and to make matters worse, the amount wasn''t fixed. The more things he stored the more energy conjuring the emerald mes required.

    Lith opened the drawers of the desks and the cabs, putting everything inside Soluspedia at the same time. He felt so tired that he needed to sit down and eat, but at least it took him less than a minute to browse through all the files.

    Thanks to Soluspedia, he needed but a thought to study the contents of every single document. He took notes of his findings so that once he was done, he could put everything back in the same ce where he had found it.

    ''Either the Commander of the city guards lied to us or he underestimated how much money Quaron took from Zeska.'' Lith thought. ''Even if he really bought supplies on the ck market, there''s no way Quaron spent so much in just three months.

    ''The taxes have already been collected and yet the treasury is almost empty.''

 Chapter 1647 - Faith In Numbers (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1647 - Faith In Numbers (Part 1)</h4>

    ''What''s even stranger is that everything has been properly recorded and documented.'' Solus pondered while looking at the signatures at the end of each document.

    ''Not only did the City Lord and the nobles know everything, but they also didn''t take a dime for themselves. It''s as if they paid Quaron, but for what? Not protection since he''s not here.''

    ''We''ll ask themter. We have still more rooms to visit.'' Lith replied.

    Moving unnoticed was easy whereas using the pocket dimension took a heavy toll on him. Even though Solus shared as much of the burden as she could, Lith had to do most of the heavy lifting.

    If she spent too much energy, she would either be incapable of assuming human form or be too weak to be more than a punching ball. To make matters worse, she needed much longer than Lith to recover due to the gap in their mana cores and her cracked life force.

    The rest of the rooms belonged to other administrative departments and from them, Lith discovered only that aside from the money, everything else was in order. There had been no stockpile of food or weapons during the past few months as if Zeska had never nned for any kind of war.

    ''This is weird. They knew that the Kingdom would try and recapture the Nestrar region as soon as their rebellion was discovered yet they didn''t prepare in advance.'' Solus said.

    ''Agreed. Enough with the paperwork, it''s time to pay the Armoury a visit.'' Lith stood up, feeling his knees weak and his head dizzy due to the life force consumption.

    ''Dammit, I need to rest. On top of that, I''ve left the camp for a while and I have no clue if something has happened in my absence.''

    ''We can leave at any time you want. Now that we know the spatial coordinates of this ce, we can use Spirit Magic to Warp straight to the City Hall.'' Solus examined his condition with Abyssal Gaze.

    The cracks in his life force were fine, but he couldn''t afford to use the pocket dimension or Origin mes any longer.

    ''There''s no time for that. If upon my return Rudra has discovered Quaron''s location, I would have no excuse to dy the chase. Besides, three days are way shorter than you think.

    ''If that bastard shows his face, I want to know what his endgame is and what he is capable of.'' Lith replied while gulping down tonics.

    ''Good point. Use Demon Grasp to refine your core while you rest. I''ll stand guard.'' Solus replied.

    He nodded, using his breathing skill to split the world energy into its elementalponents before absorbing it through his seven eyes instead of his body like a human Awakened would.

    The emerald eye absorbed Mogar''s energy signature and reced it with Lith''s so that the pure elemental energies would turn into his own mana the moment they seeped through his life force.

    This way, the mana core would offer no resistance to the new energy and assimte it more quickly than with a regr breathing technique. The seventhponent of the world energy, Mogar''s essence, nurtured his body, making it grow stronger and hastening his recovery.

    The use of Demon Grasp, however, required Lith''s full focus, leaving him helpless.

    Solus''s stone ring left his finger and assumed the form of a small spider that slid under the door to patrol the nearby corridors.

    ''I wish I could do this in my human form and stretch my legs, but I can''t afford to waste precious energy.'' She thought while moving as far as she could without losing sight of the room Lith was in.

    They were now on the third floor of the City Hall where the offices of Zeska''s upper echelons were located. It was the worst ce to take a break since even during the siege powerful people mighte and go from there.

    Lith would have visited it first instead ofst if he had the blueprints of the building, but requesting them from the army would raise questions he couldn''t answer.

    Solus heard stepsing closer and weaved a Warp Steps on the fly to move Lith to a safer location.

    "What rotten luck!" The voice belonged to a woman and it sounded annoyed rather than worried or scared. "Just a few more days and we''d be done with this cesspool."

    Luckily, they were headed for the office of the City Lord that was far from Lith. The woman opened the door with a silver key that turned off the defensive spells of the lock on contact.

    "I got that the first dozen times you said that." The man who answered her sounded even more annoyed. "Just shut up and take those damn documents. I want to go home and-"

    The moment the iron-studded door closed behind them, the soundproof spell of the room cut their voices short. Solus cursed the paranoia of Zeska''s mages before realizing how hypocritical it was for a kettle to call a pot ck.

    The stone spider scurried on the floor and turned into a liquid to pass under the doorframe unnoticed. Solus also had to keep mana sense active to make sure that no one would find Lith, further draining her energy reserves, but she hoped it would be worth it.

    "I''ve got everything we need." The woman said, making Solus curse.

    She looked to be in her mid-forties, about 1.61 meters (5''3") tall, with curly blonde hair framing her round face. She wore a silk day dress more suitable for a social event than a day in the office.

    "Double check that you haven''t forgotten anything." The man replied, making her smug grin disappear. "We need to be quick and efficient. We need to deactivate the arrays for the meeting and the longer itsts the higher the risk of getting invaded by an army of mages when we are so close to our goal."

    He looked to be in his early forties, about 1.85 meters (6''1") tall, with short ck hair and mustaches with a few grey strands. He wore a tight-fitting white shirt and blue pants that revealed a lean but muscr build.

    In a way, the couple reminded Solus of Jirni and Orion, but neither could match the original in any way.

    ''What goal?'' Solus thought. ''Keep the juicy stuffing.''

    "I did double-check! How stingy must a god be to care more about numbers than faith? I feel more like an ountant than a believer." The woman replied with a scoff.

    ''God? What are they talking about?'' The more Solus heard the less she understood.

    "You say that like it''s a bad thing." The man shrugged. "I much prefer a god with goals that I can understand and with interests that can align with my own instead of some mystical bullsh*t. Let''s go."

    The woman nodded and followed him, leaving Solus with lots of unanswered questions.

    ''Let''s go where? By my Mom, why isn''t this like one of those movies where the bad guys exin their n in detail for the hero to conveniently learn everything they need to foil it?'' She inwardly groaned.

    ''I can capture them on my own and then interrogate them with Lith, but they are clearly in a rush¡­ The moment the other nobles notice their absence, they will sound the rm and our mission will bepromised.''

 Chapter 1648 - Faith In Numbers (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1648 - Faith In Numbers (Part 2)</h4>

    ''We still have to check the armory and there''s no guarantee that we can make them talk before the guards swarm the ce. Zealots are tough nuts to crack.''

    Solus memorized their energy signature and checked the direction they moved to after leaving the City Hall, to have an idea of where to find themter. Only then did she return to Lith who was still far from recovering.

    ''What do you think about this?'' She asked after sharing her most recent memories.

    ''That it exins a lot.'' Lith replied. ''Whoever this god is, those nobles are willing to temporarily take down the arrays just to talk with them, something they didn''t do even for Quaron.''

    ''At least that we know of.'' Solus pointed out.

    ''Also, the ountant part means that either they have a quota of goods that their "god" demands from them or that they arepeting with the other cities in order to gain the god''s favor.'' Lith said.

    ''It makes sense.'' Solus nodded. ''The City Lords of the Nestrar region rebelled from the Kingdom not just because Quaron spurred them, but because they really think they can win the war thanks to this god.''

    ''Letting those guys go was the right move, Solus. This way, they will talk freely during their meeting and when we get them, we''ll have ess to fresh information.''

    Lith had to wait for more than an hour to stop feeling dizzy and be capable of using his peak strength in the case of a fight. The moment his life force stabilized, he went to the City Lord''s office.

    Just like the treasury, the armory wasn''t a big vault in a deep dungeon. No one wanted a ce hard to reach that would take a long time to open during an emergency.

    The Kingdom always favored practicality so instead of safes it used a special kind of dimensional space that would work even under the effect of the elemental sealing arrays.

    The problem, however, was twofold. One had first to find them and then to know how to open them. During his tour as a Ranger, Lith had learned that the armory would always be located in the Lord''s office to give them quick ess to the artifacts in case of need.

    At least, that was how things worked in the north.

    Getting past the enchanted door took just another Clean te spell, but once inside things got harder. The room was filled with arrays that would trigger on contact, from detection of movement or even of body heat.

    ''How the heck did those guys deactivate this madness?'' Lith asked.

    ''They didn''t. The silver key that opened the door must have been linked to the arrays'' formation as well. Which means that the lock controls them. Wish me luck.'' While Lith still stood in the doorway, Solus shapeshifted from a ring into a key.

    ''Clean te has removed the imprint, but the enchantment still works.'' She thought as she fused with the lock, trying to take control of the defensive system.

    Meanwhile, Lith used tendrils of Spirit Magic to search the room for anything that could hide the armory. The trick used by the Royal Wardens was to permanently stretch a portion of space.

    Dimensional sealing arrays kept spells from being activated but they had no effect on an already activated enchantment. On top of that, the dimensional space could be easily hidden inside a drawer, a closet, or even right under the Lord''s desk.

    Lith had lots of ces to search and no idea where to start.

    The Spirit Magic tendrils were ethereal, but they would still trigger the movement detection array the moment they interacted with anything in the office. Lith could only use them to probe everything for spaces bigger on the inside.

    As for Solus, she didn''t fare any better.

    After fusing with the lock, she had discovered that to turn off the arrays all she had to do was to push the magical equivalent of a switch. The problem was that the enchantment of the door had dozens of them.

    One would deactivate the office''s defense system while all the others would trigger them and sound the rm.

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' She thought. ''I should have stolen that damn key!''

    Solus had to slowly merge with the pseudo core of the door so that she could check the mana pathways of every switch without the need to activate them. Luckily for them, the Royal Forgemasters favored practicality as well.

    All the pathways of the fake switches converged to a single spell. The enchantment was tooplicated to understand it quickly, but Solus had no need to. She simply triggered the only switch that had a spell of its own.

    Fake mages had never considered the idea of a living artifact, leaving their masterpiece exposed to the attack of Solus''s power core.

    ''I did it! We can get inside safely.'' She said while telepathically puffing out her chest with pride.

    ''At least you have good news. There''s nothing unlocked in this ce. My tendrils couldn''t get anywhere without pushing or pulling a spell so I''m still at square one. This might take a-'' Life Vision showed Lith that the dimensional sealing arrays of Zeska had been turned off.

    ''The meeting with the god must have begun.'' Solus had almost forgotten about it.

    ''Finally some luck!'' Lith took out hismunication amulet and called his supervisor.

    Captain Estar had already informedmand about Lith''s n, so it didn''t take him long to exin why he needed to know where the armory was and how to open it.

    "Shouldn''t you exploit this opportunity to inform your men and raid the city?" Brigadier General Berion asked.

    He was a man in his mid-thirties, standing 1.8 (5''11") meters tall with pitch-ck hair and eyes. His pale blue uniform had a single gold star on the stripes of either shoulder and could barely contain his muscr body, giving to each of his movements an impression of strength.

    "Negative, sir. They would be surrounded and outnumbered. On top of that, the moment the rm sounds, the arrays will be restored and our mages would have no way out.

    "One thousand mages cannot im a city in such a short time and even if they did, the casualties on both sides would be massive." Lith replied while deactivating the armory''s protections under Berion''s supervision.

    "It seems that your assessment was right." The General frowned when they discovered that the dimensional space had beenpletely emptied. "With that firepower, the city guards can easily dispose of mages who can''t rely on movement spells."

    "Maybe and maybe not." Lith couldn''t stop thinking about the conversation that Solus had overheard. "Where''s the treasury, sir?"

    It was the only way to "casually discover" the issue of the missing funds without having to exin how he could have possibly read the logs of the past few months in such a short time.

    "Bottom left desk drawer. Hidden under a lid in the chamber pot." Berion couldn''t care less about the gold in those circumstances but he trusted Lith.

    The General knew that there had to be a good reason for such a request¡­ Berion would wait for Lith''s report before questioning his actions or asking him how had he managed to get inside the City Lord''s office unhindered.

 Chapter 1649: Credit and Responsibility (1)

    <h4>Chapter 1649: Credit and Responsibility (1)</h4>

    "By the Great Mother!" Berion blurted when the treasury turned out to have been emptied as well. "What does this m-"

    The dimensional sealing arrays had been activated again, cutting off the transmission.

    "Excellent question." Lith thought out loud while putting everything in the office back as he had found it.

    ''I can get taking out all the weapons in preparation for the war, but why take the money as well?'' Solus pondered.

    ''Aside from the muscle head that attacked me, no one used a decent artifact and even those he had were nothing much.'' Lith replied. ''It doesn''t make sense unless the nobles are nning to run away while the army invades.''

    ''I don''t think so.'' She said. ''If they wanted the gold they would have escaped before the army arrived and those weapons have no value for someone who isn''t trained in using them.''

    Too many things didn''t add up. Now Lith had a clear understanding of the situation inside Zeska, yet he still couldn''t find a way to connect all the dots.

    He was still considering whether to find the nobles and interrogate them or get out of the city to give the Royals a full report when the decision was taken out of his hands.

    A rainbow light shed through the windows apanied by the distant sound of multiple explosions. The colored fireballs were the convened signal meaning that Captain Estar needed Lith and that he had to get out of Zeska as soon as he could.

    The sun was already low and there wasn''t much time left before nightfall. Lith found a broom closet where to hide and waited for dark while using Demon Grasp to further refine his deep violet core.

    Then, he opened a Spirit Warp Steps outside the city and then another to get back to his tent. This way, when Lith walked out the dimensional corridor, his second inmand saw amonndscape on the other side.

    "What''s the matter, Captain? I was about to get some answers. This better be important."

    "It is. Rudra has followed the messenger to Phresca and is waiting for your instruction. Quaron has to be there." He said.

    "I can''t break Zeska''s siege on a maybe." Lith shook his head. "Give him the people he needs to keep an eye on all the city gates and have them look out for Quaron."

    "But, I''ve already alerted the regiment and we are ready to mobilize at any time. If he''s there, all we need to do is to take Phresca down and kill Quaron to take back the entire region!" Estar said.

    "First, we are not sure he is actually there. The messenger might have just gone to thest known location. Second, even if Quaron is hiding in Phresca, he just needs to lower the arrays for a second to Warp away and slip past our forces." Lith replied.

    "By staying here, we are cornering him. If he gets out of the city we will surround and kill him. If he keeps hiding, he''ll lose the support of the people of the Nestrar region. Either way, we win.

    "On top of that, I just discovered the presence of another yer who maniptes the nobles of Zeska from the shadows. If the same is happening in all the other cities, then this is something bigger than just a traitorous Ranger."

    "What do you mean?" Estar was bbergasted.

    "Just stay here and listen." Lith took out his army amulet and called Berion who in turn had the King join the conversation.

    "At ease. There is no time for formalities." Meron said to his kneeling subjects, allowing them to stand up. "Major Verhen, tell me everything that you have discovered in Zeska."

    Once Lith was done with his report, the King felt the need to sit down.

    "I doubt that our enemy is an actual god, but they have gotten their hands on the best artifacts we had granted Zeska, if not on those of all the cities who are taking part in the rebellion." Meron said.

    "Are you sure?" Berion asked.

    "Judging by the tone of the conversation that Major Verhen overheard, it is clear that the nobles of the various cities arepeting to gain the favor of this so-called god. It wouldn''t surprise me if all the missing weapons and money have been handed to them." The King replied.

    "Your Majesty, if you are right the forces assigned to Verhen might not be enough. If the enemy uses all the stolen weapons at the same time, then even a bunch of city guards can easily take on a regiment of mages.

    "We need to send reinforcements." Berion calcted how many soldiers were needed to the task and the answer was appalling.

    To guarantee their victory, the Royals had to leave several key areas of the Kingdom exposed, giving the Undead Courts and Thrud an opportunity that, if exploited, might upset the bnce.

    "That''s what the enemy wants so we are going to do the opposite." Meron shook his head. "Major Verhen, we have been dealt terrible cards but if yed properly we can still win.

    "Your promise to recognize the Nestrar region as a free country was reckless and stupid, yet it gives us the higher ground we need."

    "Your Majesty, it was merely a ruse. Captain Estar can confirm you that my n was to kill Quaron the moment we exposed his location-"

    "I don''t care what your intentions were, I''m interested only in the results." Meron cut him short. "Quaron has no way to avoid your challenge without losing everything he has built whereas scouring the entire Nestrar region for him would be nothing but a wild goose chase."

    "I want you to stay put and wait for him. You are lucky that Quaron didn''t arrive while you were absent because it would have meant his victory by default."

    "Are you really putting the fate of an entire region on my shoulders?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Of course not. This is not a bard''s tale. In the real world, a ruler that bets the future of his country on something as barbaric as a fight is a delusional idiot. Either you win or lose, I''m going to use all of my power to take Zeska back.

    "The only thing that will change is how much blood is spilled and if you will be punished instead of rewarded." Meron said.

    "Punished?" Lith echoed.

    "Archmage Verhen, I assigned you this task in order to defuse the situation, not to aggravate it. You are smart enough to know that, as the leader of this expedition, you are bound to take credit if you seed and responsibility if you fail.

    "By using the Royal Decree toy your trap you didn''t put only your name on the line but also mine. The people of Zeska heard you and so did our soldiers. Whatever the oue of the fight, the people will judge us.

    "If you win, you''ll be considered a hero, but if you lose and go back on your word, then you''ll be my scapegoat.

    "Not only will your family remain without any security detail, but I''ll also revoke all of your privileges within the Kingdom, ask you to pay the Verhen Mansion for its market price, and have you serve the army until you make up to the mess you''ve made."

 Chapter 1650: Credit and Responsibility (2)

    <h4>Chapter 1650: Credit and Responsibility (2)</h4>

    "Useless to say, in the case of failure, it''s better if your family never returns to the Kingdom. You have my word that the Crown will not harm them but we will not protect them any longer.

    "You have made plenty of enemies during your short life and many of them wouldn''t miss the opportunity to strike the moment you leave Lutia." Meron''s words made Lith feel as if the King had hit him in the guts with a sledgehammer.

    What he had considered as another bargain with the Kingdom had turned out to be a double-edged sword that was now pointed at his throat. All of his life work was at risk and the worst thing was that it was a nightmare of his own doing.

    "That said, I want you to know that your n will have my full support. I''ve sent hundreds of scouts to surround Phresca and they will report you the moment Quaron leaves the city. Assuming he is there, of course.

    "If you can kill him before he reaches Zeska, it will save us a lot of trouble. If you can''t, make sure to prepare the battlefield to your advantage. Use your time wisely and remember that if you manage to force Quaron even to seemingly vite the terms of your deal, it would still be your victory." The King said.

    "I understand." Lith gave him a bow.

    "By the way, I''m impressed by how easily you infiltrated Zeska first and then even the City Lord''s office. Do you mind to exin to me how you bypassed so many arrays and how did youe back to the camp so quickly?" Meron asked.

    "I got out the same way I got in." Lith replied. "Under the cover of darkness, I waited for a gap in the patrol rounds and used a hard-light construct to reach the top of the walls. Another to get down and here I am." Lith replied.

    "As for the office, I simply used Light Mastery to keep the lock from clicking once it had been opened with its key. I didn''t bypass the arrays because they were still inactive once I came out of my hiding ce."

    "So you used Light Mastery to leave a decoy in front of your tent, to get in and out of Zeska despite the dimensional sealing arrays, and to vite one of the allegedly safest ces in the city. It''s no wonder that Manohar manages to escape so often." Meron sighed.

    "I''d put light blocking arrays in ce in every city of the Kingdom as well if that didn''t also mean to cripple our hospitals and- Did you say a key? Can you show it to me?"

    Lith conjured a hologram urate down to the smallest detail of the artifact that Solus had witnessed.

    "That''s no key. It''s the Royal seal entrusted to all City Lords. Why didn''t you mention in your report that Quaron''s corruption has reached Zeska''s highest official?" Meron said in surprise.

    He would have never expected Lith to make such a blunder.

    "Because that was no City Lord. I have studied the mission''s files thoroughly and memorized her appearance." Lith conjured from his right hand the hologram of a scrawny olddy in her mid-eighties with a hunched back and a wig.

    "The people I saw, instead, were much younger." The image of the couple appeared above his left hand, showing that there was no resemnce between the two women.

    "This makes no sense." Meron said in confusion. "The Royal seal is nomon trinket. It cannot be imprinted without the supervision of the ruler of the Kingdom."

    "If Quaron or this so-called god have cracked the seal''s security, then they pose a threat second only to Thrud!"

    ***

    City Lord''s Mansion, a few hours earlier.

    The couple that Solus had briefly followed and many other nobles of Zeska stood in a circle around one of the many Warp Gates that had opened the moment the arrays surrounding the city had been deactivated.

    They had chosen the ballroom to meet their god because it was the only room of the house big enough for the purpose. While thest batch of riches and magical weapons floated through the dimensional corridors, the nobles kept their forehead on the ground.

    In the middle of the circle stood a man of exquisite beauty, about 1.92 meters (7'') tall with such delicate features and long silky raven-ck hair that it would have been easy to mistake him for a woman if not for his deep voice.

    He wore a loose white shirt over pitch-ck pants that made him look even taller. Behind him there were mountains of riches and magical treasures arranged to form the walls and the furniture of his home.

    He sipped wine from a red crystal ss that had actually been cut from one giant ruby and the handmaiden serving him was of a beauty worthy of a god''s dream. Yet she paled inparison with her master.

    "This is everything we had promised you and even more, my Liege." The blonde woman said while putting on the floor all the papers ounting for their offers.

    The documents floated on their own, flying through the Gate in an orderly manner for the man to examine them. From time to time, he would move his eyes to the crates that were being delivered, to make sure that nothing was amiss.

    A warm smile appeared on his face when he finished checking the goods. The crates contained enough gold to form a small hill and the artifacts emitted such a powerful magical aura that it made even his skin crawl.

    "You have proven your faith and are worthy of receiving my gifts." At a snap of his fingers, a golden light enveloped the convened nobles.

    Their skin became more stic and their bodies toned while even the bald ones grew a thick mane. When the light disappeared, the god allowed them to stand up and conjured a mirror of ice in front of each one of them.

    "I''m back to my prime!" A nobleman said while looking at his arm that had gone from thin to muscr.

    The faces in the mirrors that returned their gazes were those of people who looked to be in their mid-twenties, with perfectly fit bodies as if they had trained regrly instead of suffering from the ailments of old age.

    On top of that, they didn''t just look young, they also felt full of energy like it didn''t happen from decades.

    "In the world that I''m going to create, my loyal retainers will be blessed with an eternal life full of pleasure and joy." The god said. "All that I ask of you in return is loyalty and trust."

    "All hail Syrook!" The circle of nobles fell to their knees again, mming their heads against the ground with joy.

    "Soon the true Queen will return." Syrook continued. "She will rule under my guidance and make you members of her court. Your families will regret banishing you to a remote corner of the Kingdom, even the founding pirs like Household Myrok."

    The blonde woman whose resemnce with Jirni had be even more apparent couldn''t help but smile at the thought of the suffering she would inflict upon her rtives.

 Chapter 1651: Players and Pawns (1)

    <h4>Chapter 1651: yers and Pawns (1)</h4>

    The Warp Gates disappeared in unison and Syrook could finally drop the act. He rushed to the crates, bursting them open with a touch of his hand and letting himself almost be drowned in a wave of gold.

    "I can''t believe that those morons bought your act." Quaron said while stepping out of a Warp Steps. "A bit of Body Sculpting to fix their looks and a bit of rejuvenation to crank those old bones up can''t change the fact that they have just a few years to live."

    Syrook sighed deeply as the appearance of the Ranger ruined the moment for him.

    "It will only matter if they manage to survive the iing war." He replied. "For the moment, their foolish dream of youth is just the leash with which I''ll keep the nobles in line until they outlive their usefulness.

    "At that point, I can im that they died because of theirck of faith. The good thing about being a god is that you don''t have to exin yourself to anyone."

    "We''ve really done it!" Quaron threw a handful of gold in the air, letting it fall on his head akin to rain. "Thrud upheld her part of the bargain."

    "Indeed." Syrook dted his nostrils in annoyance at the sight of the Ranger touching his gold and at the thought of losing half of it.

    "Not even youth would have brought those old fools on my side if not for a member of the Royal family supporting my political coup and her subjects in the neighboring regions assuring that they would quickly join the uprisal.

    "Too bad that now I have to do my part." Syrook split all the riches he had gained from the Nestrar region in half and took one artifact of each kind to be delivered to the Mad Queen.

    She was eager to learn the secrets of Royal Forgemastery and recreate them with true magic before the war really started.

    "Aren''t you afraid of the Council? They are not going to remain silent once they discover that you Awakened me." Quaron said.

    "Those old farts are irrelevant. They are so scared to reveal their existence and so glued on their chairs that when they understand what''s happening it will be toote.

    "Thrud will help me to take them down right after we get rid of the Royal army. Once that happens, I will have full control of the mana geysers of Nestrar and of all the magical goods they produce. As long as I give the Queen her due, of course."

    "That said, why are you here? You were supposed to keep riling up the people and stall for time until the Royals are forced to attack their own subjects." The false god said.

    He was certain that the Nestrar region would fall, but the seeds of grudge that were being nted in the key areas of the Kingdom would give Thrud the ground she needed to im the throne.

    She didn''t want to reign over a pile of ashes nor to win a civil war just for a weakened Griffon Kingdom to be invaded by its neighboring countries. The Mad Queen had been working behind the scenes to make sure that her subjects would wee her as a savior instead of fighting her like an invader.

    "We are in a bit of trouble." Quaron sat on the throne, drinking from the ruby ss and groping the handmaiden''s shapely buttocks. "Instead of attacking Zeska or trying to pay with the City Lord as you predicted, Verhen challenged me to a duel.

    "Even with your gifts, I''m not sure that I can take him. The bastard has a crazy reputation and his body count is wless."

    "How can a body count be wless?" Syrook''s eyes turned into fiery slits brimming with mana and fury at the sight of the Ranger touching his stuff.

    "Verhen doesn''t have a perfect record. He failed a few missions, but he always survived by walking on the corpses of his enemies. I don''t want to join the club so I was thinking that we should just ignore him-"

    "There''s no we!" A simple wave of the fake god''s hand made the Ranger bleed from his eyes, ears, and nostrils as every fiber of his body writhed in agony.

    "You don''t think, you just follow my orders." Quaron fell from the throne in a seizure, foaming from his mouth.

    "I didn''t give you those powers as a gift nor because I think of us as equals. I just put you on a different leashpared to those buffoons but a leash nheless. Once Thrud conquers the Kingdom and gives me the Nestrar region, I need a human face to rule it.

    "I can''t bear the stench of your race nor the thought of wasting precious time to take care of bipedal cattle instead of using it to increase my powers. My "gifts" give you strength, but they also allow me to read your mind and control your body.

    "Touch what''s mine again and you''ll discover that the difference between a leash and a noose is paper thin!" Syrook sent a new wave of pain that pinned the Ranger to the ground like a bug in a collection.

    "Then tell me what to do, master!" Quaron said, yet the false god kept torturing him until he was certain to have broken the Ranger''s mind, body, and spirit for good.

    "You are going to face Verhen fair and square. Don''t even dare to attempt a dirty trick or to change the terms of the fight." Syrook said after reading from Quaron''s memories the message that he had received from Zeska.

    "Why?" With his life on the line, Quaron feared death more than pain and found the courage to question his orders.

    "Because it doesn''t matter if you win or lose. You need to show to my subjects that you are the hero they believe you to be. That you are willing to die for them. If you win, then the King will be forced to break his vow.

    "If you lose, I''ll show up and kill Verhen along with his army. The sight of their god will strengthen the faith of my followers and with no witnesses left, the Kingdom will believe that Verhen lost to you and they will attack Nestrar. Either way, I win." Syrook said.

    "It will be done." The Ranger said, coughing out mouthfuls of blood between words.

    "Don''t worry, you are still too valuable for me. I won''t let you die." Syrook bit his index finger, letting the blood drip into the mouth of his servant still sprawled on the ground.

    Quaron''s body healed instantly as a new strength flowed through his veins. His muscles swelled and his bone popped under the mana pressure that usually only a violet core could exert.

    The Ranger felt an adrenaline rush while looking at himself in the mirror and discovering that not only his strength, but also his looks had improved.

    Yet he turned pale the moment he realized that he was no different from those nobles he had mocked just a few minutes earlier.

    "Let me guess. You didn''t do it to increase my chances of victory but only to make me fit for the role of hero." Quaron said.

 Chapter 1652: Players and Pawns (2)

    <h4>Chapter 1652: yers and Pawns (2)</h4>

    "Correct." Syrook nodded. "I can''t let my subjects see you when you look like a beaten mutt. Now go and don''t forget who holds the leash."

    ***

    Military camp outside of Zeska, Lith''s tent.

    Right after King Meron had ended the call, Lith had given instructions to his seconds inmand about how to arrange the troops and prepare the battlefield while he rested.

    He needed eight hours of sleep to reset Invigoration''s effects but what worried him the most was the condition of his life force and Solus''s. Even though she had kept her human form briefly, it had been enough to weaken her.

    As for Lith, he wanted to be capable of using the pocket dimension and Origin mes to ensure his victory no matter what cards Quaron had in his sleeve. In theory, there was no way that a fake human mage could beat an Awakened Tiamat in human form, but there was too much on the line to risk underestimating his opponent.

    ''Too many things don''t add up.'' He thought while using his breathing skill, Demon Grasp, to recover his strength and refine his mana core.

    ''The north was filled with angry people that would eat a foreigner alive to survive winter, but not even the most remote vige ever rebelled. On top of that, no one seemed scared by the presence of my battalion, they only feared me after I disyed my strength.

    ''Last but not least, I have no idea what part this so-called god yed in all this and if they are going to meddle during my fight with their champion. The more I think about this ce the more I feel like a pawn on a chessboard of which I can only see my own square.''

    ''Don''t worry too much.'' Solus said to cheer him up. ''I''m already back to my full strength and even if Quaron is an Awakened, you still have the advantage of surprise. Now go to sleep. There are two days left until the deadline and plenty of time to practice.''

    King Meron''s words about the fate of his family in the case Lith failed the mission still echoed in his mind. It wasn''t the first time that he had considered leaving the Kingdom but never before had his personal life been at stake.

    He loved his house in Lutia with all of his heart. Not only was it linked to most of the happiest moments of his life on Mogar but it was also the only ce that his parents could call home.

    It was Raaz''s ancestral house and the ce where Elina had given birth to their children. Losing it like that would break their hearts.

    Lith had trouble falling asleep and it seemed to him to have just closed his eyes when the ruckus outside woke him up.

    "Face me if you dare, Verhen!" A deep manly voice roared like thunder with enough strength to make the edges of the tent p. "You wanted to see me and here I am. Are you brave enough to step forward or are you going to hide behind your army like a coward?"

    "I mean no disrespect by stating the obvious but Quaron has arrived, sir." Captain Ahria said, stepping inside Lith''s tent as soon as she received permission to.

    "What a smart son of a bitch." Lith yawned while watching at the orange light of the sun that still barely peeked at the horizon. "He showed up at dawn to catch me off guard while my body is still stiff and my mind numb from the sleep."

    "There''s no rush, sir. Wash your face while I have a strong tea prepared for you." Ahria said.

    "If you can''t even respect the terms of your own challenge, then I''ll assume that you are just wasting my time. Either you fight now or never, Verhen." Quaron said.

    "Don''t fall for his provocation and ignore him, sir. His tactic is as childish as it''s stupid." Ahria prepared a basin filled with fresh water and a towel.

    "I can''t." Lith replied. "Remember what the King said. This is a battle of honor to impress the locals. If I stall for time and Quaron ims his victory it doesn''t matter what the terms were, only that the people of Zeska will consider his words true.

    "At that point, no one will care about the oue of the fight and our mission will be as good as failed."

    Ahria tried to argue with that logic but no words came to her mouth. There was no point in defeating Quaron if Lith ended up losing the hearts of the people. He would just look like a violent bully and Zeska would never surrender.

    "Here I am, jackass. No need to be so loud." Lith walked out of his tent while still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and scratching a bitch of an itch on his left ass cheek.

    "I''m sorry. Did I interrupt your beauty sleep?" Unlike the two mages'' voices, theughter of the people that filled Zeska''s battlements to the brim wasn''t magically amplified.

    Yet it could be clearly heard from miles away.

    Most of the hrity didn''t ensue from the joke but from theparison between the two contestants.

    Quaron floated high in the sky, with the sun on his back shining over his armor. A gentle breeze ruffled his perfect hair and his mantle, making him look like a hero straight out of a bard tale.

    His eyes brimmed with confidence and his smile made many hearts flutter.

    Lith instead, dragged his feet on the ground and his capeless ck armor made him look like a puddle of tar from a distance. He had disheveled hair and bleary eyes, giving him the look of a man that either had partied untilte or had recently be a father.

    "You sure did, so I''m going to go back to bed as soon as I''m done kicking your ass." Lith''s words echoed throughout the valley, making theughter stop.

    There was no arrogance or mockery in his voice. He spoke amid yawns with a deadpan tone as if he was ordering breakfast.

    "Let''s set a few ground rules so that no one canin about the oue, shall we? We''ll fight one on one, without any external help of any kind. We can use anything we have on ourselves or that''s stored in our respective dimensional items.

    "We can also exploit the environment, such as the arrays of Zeska and everything thaty in our surroundings. The first one to die loses. Deal?" Lith extended his right hand to the sky, generating an identical hard-light construct in front of his opponent.

    "Deal. The people of the free country of Nestrar are our witness." Quaron promptly shook it while raising his left fist in the air to proim his imminent victory. "We are writing a page of history that will change the Garlen continent forever!"

    "More like a footnote." Lith said, ignoring the booming cheersing from Zeska. "And a short one about what a dumbass you were at that. Let''s fight!"

    Air magic amplified thest two words enough for everyone to hear them. Only then did the traitorous Ranger and his followers notice that the construct had not faded.

 Chapter 1653: Players and Pawns (3)

    <h4>Chapter 1653: yers and Pawns (3)</h4>

    "Get over here!" The sudden pull dragged Quaron down, sending him crashing against the ground akin to a living meteor.

    He promptly reacted by making the soil stic in order to soften hisnding and add the momentum gained to his counterattack.

    Unfortunately for him, Lith noticed his n with Life Vision and foiled it with a flick of his wrist. The construct changed the direction of the fall, leading straight against Lith''s fist.

    Quaron managed to Blink away in the nick of time, but he had no way to get rid of the hand of light that shackled him. The moment he came out of the dimensional door, the construct exerted its pull again and this time he was ready to counter it.

    Quaron managed to avoid getting dragged again, but only until Lith sent a second construct to also pull Quaron by the cape and change the direction of the force.

    ''His quick thinking and reaction speed are worthy of someone ranked M by the military. Yet only a self-absorbed idiot wears a cape. Solus, analysis.'' Lith thought while Quaron orbited around him akin to a with its star.

    ''I would have ranked him C for cheater rather than M for monster.'' She replied. ''His equipment is nothing like the standard stuff they gave you received at the end of the boot camp. They are all high-end artifacts, some of Awakened making and some not.

    ''Whoever gave them to him is no Forgemaster. As for his mana core, Quaron has a nice bright blue Awakened one but for some reason, it has several violet streaks and it produces mana of simr quality to yours.''

    ''What?'' Lith was bbergasted, holding the thug of war long enough for Solus toplete her report. ''I don''t remember any way to temporarily boost your mana core and it took me years to reach the pseudo-violet level.

    ''Even thralls just receive a blood core while their original mana core stays the same. Quaron''s status service was impable untilst winter but nothing in his personal achievements makes me think he''s a self-Awakened.''

    ''I have no idea what''s going on. If I had to make an educated guess, I''d say that Quaron''s core, just like his equipment has been modified by the so-called god who is pulling the strings behind the scenes.'' Solus said.

    In the few seconds that their conversationsted, Lith used every iota of his willpower to twist and pull the constructs.

    There was only so much he could do from a distance whereas his opponent exploited his enhanced body, further boosting it with fusion magic. On top of that, Quaron kept flooding the phantom hands with darkness magic that ate at them from the inside.

    The hard-light construct had just started to crack when they suddenly disappeared into thin air.

    ''Tired of fighting a losing battle, Verhen? Too bad those spells weren''t just a leash, they were also your lifeline!'' The traitorous Ranger brimmed with fury just thinking the word leash.

    Lith was unknowingly salting Quaron''s wounds and the fact that he had fallen for such an obvious trap only worsened his mood. He weaved one of his best Battle Mage spells, Eclipsing Shockwave.

    It would conjure several streams of darkness-infused bolts of lightning followed by a series of high-speed windsprised of razor-sharp air des.

    The shes from the bolts were barely visible under the darkness coating them, giving the spell the first part of its name, while the air currents that devastated everything in their wake gave it the second half.

    Quaron''s favorite tactic was to spread the lightning bolts so that the high-speed winds would block any escape route.

    ''Back when I was still a fake mage, my opponents could avoid Eclipsing Shockwave with Blink, but now I can see the exit points with Life-'' A sudden hit to back cut him short.

    Quaronpleted the spell despite the pain, yet Eclipsing Shockwave failed to take form, throwing a good chunk of his mana into the gutter.

    The Ranger was stunned by the sudden turn of events but things got even worse when he started to fall like a brick despite his flying spell. He gritted his teeth to endure the pain and never avert his eyes from the opponent.

    The moment Lith had dispelled the construct he had also jumped towards the enemy and deactivated Gravity Fusion, leaving behind a small crater.

    Quaron tried to Blink away but the spell failed him.

    Only then did he notice thanks to Life Vision that Lith had timed the disappearance of the construct so that it would throw Quaron inside the elemental sealing arrays of Zeska.

    Unbeknownst to him, Lith had further fooled the traitorous Ranger by coating himself in air fusion in a way that resembled a flight spell. Quaron had mistaken Lith''s speed for a spell whereas it was only due to his boosted physical prowess.

    ''What the heck is this guy?'' Quaron thought. ''The fight has barely started, yet I''m already backed into a corner without even having the time to unsheathe my weapon. I didn''t want to use Syrook''s powers against a human but I''ve got no choice left.''

    The Ranger opened his mouth as if he was about to yell but instead of words, a violent burst of Origin mes came out. Just like his mana core, the mystical fire was bright blue yet several violet streaks brought it to the next level.

    ''Origin mes? I thought he was a human. How could you make such a mistake, Solus?'' Lith inwardly cursed.

    He could still dodge them with Spirit Magic, but that would mean being forced to give an exnationter.

    If he didn''t, however, Lith would take a huge blow. The problem with Origin mes wasn''t just their destructive power but the fact that he would have to stop and extinguish them, giving the enemy the time to recover.

    ''He seems human. Without the Scanner spell or Invigoration, I can''t see much from a distance. He might even be a hybrid as you were.'' She replied. ''You can still move freely without earth and air magic. Use Light Mastery to conjure floating tforms to step on.''

    ''Excellent idea. It makes my n even better.'' Despite the surprise attack, Lith had already faced enough Origin mes users to know what to do.

    He hurled a jet stream of violet mes that shed with Quaron''s for a split second before exploding. Lith was in mid-air so the shockwave just pushed him back whereas Quaron was stuck to the city walls.

    The congration pinned him in ce, making it impossible for him to dodge the iing burst of fire. To make matters worse, Lith''s Origin mes were stronger than his own so part of them had pierced through the explosion that now boosted their speed to that of a bullet.

    "Are those two really human?" Many of those spectating to the fight asked to their neighbors.

    The former Lieutenant Colonel Xolman Pn was covered in a cold sweat, his neck hurting from the sharp movements necessary to pretend that he managed to follow the fight with his eyes.

    ''I really want Verhen to lose. His career and reputation would be destroyed and I would be the newmanding officer. On the other hand, I don''t want to fight Quaron.''

 Chapter 1654: Players and Pawns (4)

    <h4>Chapter 1654: yers and Pawns (4)</h4>

    ''Ayman might think that Quaron is being overpowered, but I know that in his ce all of us would be already dead. The fact that he''s still alive proves that he''s not an opponent I can take.'' Pn thought.

    When the violet Origin mes engulfed Quaron, they burned away the defensive barrier of his artifacts and his skin alike. Darkness fusion couldn''t protect him from the pain since the mystical fire consumed even the magic flowing through his veins.

    His agonizing screams coupled with the smell of cooked meat and fat typical of barbeque broke the hopes of the citizens of Zeska.

    Lith rode the shockwave until he was safe from the mes. Then he followed Solus''s advice and conjured a golden tform to resume his attack. The construct shattered from the sheer strength of his leg muscles, leaving behind a luminous trail that betrayed his trajectory.

    Quaron inwardly thanked the gods and took what looked like a small baton out of his belt. The stick shapeshifted into a long pole ending at both sides with a curved de that resembled a short scimitar.

    At the same time, he activated one of the enchantments of his armor, releasing a pir of high-density ice magic from the violet crystal on his chest. The spell was a mix of frozen air and razor-sharp icicles that would push the enemy away while the cold would weaken them.

    ''It''s far from a deadly shot, but I need to recover-'' Quaron inwardly cursed the gods for their trickery when Lith conjured more floating tforms in every direction.

    Not only did he effortlessly dodge the pir but by bouncing around like a pinball, Lith also turned the stardust from the broken constructs into a blinding curtain of light that hid him from both regr and mystical sight.

    "Hi, Quaron." Lith appeared in front of him in a downward sh with War aimed at the traitorous Ranger''s head.

    He raised his polearm, blocking the de with the staff.

    A noise halfway between the crunch of cereals and the breaking of wood filled the air when Quaron''s arms broke at the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Without Gravity Fusion, Lith weighed several tons and the sh carried them all.

    "Bye, Quaron." Lith pivoted with War on the enemy''s staff, moving the momentum of the sh from his hands to his legs and kicking the hapless Ranger with both feet.

    The impact overpowered the protective enchantments of the city walls, opening a deep crater behind Quaron while he coughed out blood. The Adamant armor had kept the hit from being lethal, but his internal organs had taken heavy damage.

    Even the best enchanted armor was weak against blunt hits because a perfect kic shield would also paralyze its wearer.

    The enchantment had no way to distinguish friendly from hostile energy and blocking kic energy also meant that the person wearing the armor would be incapable of performing high speed-movements of any kind.

    ''One breath of Invigoration. All I need is one-'' War cut Quaron''s head off and him short.

    Lith also pierced his heart, just to stay on the safe side. The Adamant of the de and that of the armor shed along with their respective enchantments, producing white-hot sparks.

    Yet even though they were made of the same material, one was a masterpiece wielded by a titan whereas the other was a high-end artifact worn by a limp body. It took War a second to short circuit the armor''s mystical defenses and plunge hilt-deep into its mark.

    The angry de screamed with inhuman joy, making both Lith''s allies and enemies take a step back.

    "Open the gates. Now!" The blood rain produced by the severed neck of his fallen enemy didn''t bother Lith yet it gave him a savage appearance.

    Driven by fear and by the killing intent he emitted, the guards obeyed hismand with the discipline of trained dogs.

    ''Quaron is still alive! Don''t drop your guard.'' Solus had never stopped looking at the enemy with mana sense in the attempt to understand the secret of his strength.

    So, the moment the blood that still spurted from the fatal wound started to flow in reverse she noticed it immediately.

    Lith had no idea what was happening but he opened his palm at point-nk range from Quaron and activated two of his tier five holding rings,bining two Final Sunset into one.

    Fire and darkness weren''t blocked by the arrays so they hit the fallen Ranger with their full might.

    Or at least they were supposed to.

    "Don''t falter, my children! Not even the full power of the Kingdom canpare to that of a god!" A booming voice said, giving new hope to the citizens of Zeska.

    Strong gales came out of nowhere, bringing with them ck clouds that amassed above the city and formed a swirling maelstrom. Bolts of lightning coursed through the thunderclouds like angry golden snakes that emitted shes of light with their every move.

    At the same time, an emerald sphere enveloped Quaron''s body. It protected him from the Final Sunsets and generated a pulse of pure mana that sent Lith flying.

    Everyone could see the blood flowing back inside the traitorous Ranger, even carrying his head and reattaching it to the neck.

    ''Okay, that''s not a god, just a Spirit Magic user.'' Lith thought. ''Any idea how did Quaron survive?''

    ''You never killed him in the first ce.'' Solus said. ''The violet energy in his core kept his body alive after the decapitation and made his blood flow even with a punctured heart.

    ''Right now, that very energy is being consumed to heal his wounds. Quaron''s mana core is turning into bright blue so unless he gets another infusion of that strange power, the next time you kill him will also be thest.''

    "Who dares to threaten the children of Syrook and kill their champion?" A colossal figure descended from the eye of the thunderstorm.

    It was a majestic Dragon covered by pitch-ck scales, about 25 meters (82 feet) tall. A 12 meters (40 feet) long tail came out from the small of his back and every p of his membranous wings produced gales so strong that the army''s mages were pushed back despite the distance and the air shields protecting them.

    The violet lighting from Syrook''s eyes and the mes bursting from his mouth made the resurrection of Quaron look insignificant inparison. Even the people that called him their hero had forgotten about his existence.

    Yet while the citizens of Zeska kneeled in front of their god, feeling his presence breathe new strength and determination in their bodies, the soldiers surrounding the city kneeled in terror as the aura of fear of the Dragon broke their spirit.

    Such was the raw power that coursed through Syrook''s body that watching at him was akin to looking at an iing tidal wave hundreds of meters high. Awe and fear made almost no one doubt his words, treating his descent like that of a god among mortals.

    Almost.

    "That''s it? A Dragon?" Lith slow pped the enemy''s performance. "If it wasn''t sad enough calling yourself a god you even talk about yourself in the third person. I met countless arrogant Emperor Beasts but you get the cake."

 Chapter 1655: Divine Beasts (1)

    <h4>Chapter 1655: Divine Beasts (1)</h4>

    "I''m a Divine Beast!" Syrook roared in outrage at that tantck of respect, turning the gales surrounding him into a windstorm. "I''m the descendant of one of the six gods of magic, not a pathetic animal that crawls in the mud!"

    "Dude, spouting bullsh*t as part of your act is fine, but when you start to believe it, then you need help." Lith used the air currents mming against his face to fix his bed hair.

    "Were you acquainted with Xedros? I can see a striking resemnce between you two."

    "How dare youpare me to a filthy lizard?" They had yet to throw a single blow yet the ck Dragon''s ego had already taken a huge hit.

    For some reason, the human Spellbreaker was unaffected by his aura of terror and seemed to treat the whole thing as a joke.

    ''Seem is the keyword here.'' Syrook thought. ''The bastard is stalling for time to cast several spells. I can see it with Life Vision, just like I can see that he''s an Awakened. The only thing I don''t understand is what he is.

    ''His life force looks human but it''s far from it.''

    "What''s wrong with being a lizard?" Lith shrugged. "I heard that even the Father of all Dragons started off as-"

    "Don''t you dare say one more word!" The ck Dragon was both shocked and enraged hearing one of the most shameful secrets of his familying out of the mouth of a pathetic worm. "Let''s see how long you canst against me and my champion!"

    Syrooknded near the fallen Ranger who just needed to touch one of the scales to obtain the mana necessary to repair the damages in his armor. The creature was so tall that his head reached past the walls. Even the people on the battlements had to look up.

    Meanwhile, Lith jumped outside the area of effect of the city arrays to respond in kind to the threat.

    "Emperor Beast and Divine Beast are just names." Lith activated the Scalewalker armor, having it cover him from head to toe while reverting it to its original form that resembled a Tiamat. "Guess what, Quaron isn''t the only one who can call for backup."

    ''Don''t!'' Solus said the moment he shared his new n with her. ''Everything but this!''

    Yet he did.

    Lith wrapped himself with the two sets of wings of the Scalewalker before opening them at the same time in a majestic p. The purpose of the move wasn''t to show off his equipment so much as to conceal himself from all kinds of senses while he came out of it and Warped away.

    The moment the four wings fully spread an enormous crack appeared in the air above the military camp. Instead of just opening the exit point, Lith shaped it as if the space itself had been pierced, even conjuring the hologram of a neb as background.

    Two enormous hands covered in ck scales emerged from the crack, forcing it open with brute strength. The creature had long curved horns on its head and seven eyes, each of a different color.

    With one final push and a savage roar, the creature ripped the space enough to pass.

    To all those present it seemed like the second titan had emerged from the space across the stars or maybe even from a different dimension.

    Lith had watched enough Kaiju movies to know how to make an entrance.

    The army mages started to weep uncontrobly, throwing discipline into the gutter and using theirmunication amulets to say goodbye to the people they loved. The creature seemed to be on their side, yet they doubted to survive the sh between the Divine Beasts.

    The citizens of Zeska, instead, could feel the aura of terror of the second god piercing through their hearts and filling them with despair.

    "Allow me to introduce you to my friend here, Tiamat. The Father of all Demons." Solus said while using air magic to imitate Lith''s voice from inside the armor and Spirit Magic to move it.

    Her petite body ill-fitted the Scalewalker and to make matters worse, she sucked at swordy, let alone dual wielding.

    ''Luckily, Lith left me a script.'' She said while holding the Sage staff in the right hand and War in the left.

    "You heard Verhen. Open the gates!" The Tiamat ordered and the city guardsplied.

    "Don''t!" Syrook''s voice snapped them out of their stupor. "Who are you and why have I never heard about your kin? Are you one of Father''s failures? A lesser Dragon?"

    Like most Divine Beasts, the ck Dragon treated the Awakened Council with contempt. In their eyes, those who didn''t carry the pure blood of a Guardian were a bunch of weaklings that needed numbers to make up for their weakness.

    He had heard the rumors about a hybrid, but that kind of gossip was of no interest to Syrook. He had even ignored the return of his older sister, Zoreth, so he knew nothing about Lith.

    "Are we here to fight or to exchange contact runes?" The Tiamat said with a sneer while never stopping to weave spells.

    "An amazing disy of confidence for someone younger, smaller, and weaker than me." Lith''s ruse couldn''t work on someone with Life Vision, but Syrook''s interest had been piqued.

    His violet core gave him an edge against Lith''s deep violet and he was eager to see if his newfound brethren was worthy of bing one of his followers or his next meal. Either would do.

    The ck Dragon took a deep breath and a violet light seeped from between his scales, starting from the chest and quickly rising up his neck until it came out of his mouth in the form of a pir of fire the size of a train.

    ''What the heck did he just do?'' Lith thought while unleashing a deep violet burst of Origin mes.

    He might have easily dodged Syrook''s breath, but studying how other Divine Beasts used their bloodline abilities was his best shot at discovering and mastering his own.

    The two streams of fire met halfway, each trying to overpower the other before exploding with such brilliance to paint the area violet for kilometers.

    "A second sun twice in as many days is too much." One of the guards said as his mind spiraled into insanity. "Fuck the rebellion, I just want to live!"

    He tried to open the city gates, not caring about who would win anymore. He just wanted for that horror to end. The other guards tried either to help him or to stop him, making the fight quickly spread throughout the city along with mass hysteria.

    Since Quaron was still behind the emerald barrier and Solus had no energy to waste, she enacted the most important part of Lith''s n.

    She took hismunication amulet out of the pocket dimension and called the Royals.

    "Here is Spellbreaker Lith Verhen. My mission seeded and I took the traitor down." She also sent them the recording of the fight between Lith and Quaron. "The problem is that he was the pawn of a ck Dragon.

    "We need reinforcements, now!" She moved the amulet so that the blue gemstone at its center would also transmit the images of the sh between Origin mes.

 Chapter 1656: Divine Beasts (2)

    <h4>Chapter 1656: Divine Beasts (2)</h4>

    "By the Great Mother, a Divine Beast!" Queen Sylpha said while looking at Tyris who was sitting beside the Royals, disguised as her Constable Griffon alias. "Someone should really do something."

    Meanwhile, the Royal Court went into an uproar. The Kingdom had several countermeasures to deal with such powerful creatures but no one wanted to pay the price. Each faction tried to goad their respective rivals into volunteering with the most creative arguments.

    "Thest time we had to deal with a Dragon it was the Ker region to y it. I say that for once the Ernas region can prove that its title as a founding pir of the Kingdom isn''t just for show." Duchess Lassa said.

    "You say it like it was yesterday but it actually happened 300 years ago!" Archduke Gunyin Ernas, Phloria''s oldest brother, said.

    "On top of that, your region didn''t do much, it was just one of your Archmages who dealt the finishing blow. The Ernas household has yet to recover from the squabble with Deirus which happened just a few months ago instead.

    "I say it''s time that the Horman region pulls its weight!"

    "My region is dealing with the famine, monster waves, and with a further decrease in birth rates. We have no people to spare, send someone else." Duke Jyian replied.

    "Everyone is dealing with the famine jackass!" The room roared as one.

    ''Why should I care?'' Tyris replied to both Meron and Sylpha via a mind link. ''He''s not one of my children. A Guardian doesn''t deal with such low level squabbles.''

    ''But he''s still the offspring of one of your kind!'' Meron rebuked.

    ''Then call Leegaain.'' She replied with a scoff. ''There''s a reason why I established the Archmages, the Highmasters, the Queen''s corps, and the Corpse. Use them instead of whining to me.''

    ''At least say something to raise the morale!'' Sylpha begged.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Royal Court." Tyris stood up and the room fell into silence as her natural charisma made the nobles behave in the hope to gain her approval. "Our Kingdom is facing a crisis that requires us to pool up our wits and resources, not to y a dignified game of hot potato.

    "That said, I hereby bear witness that Spellbreaker Verhenpleted his mission and petition for restoring the security detail of the city of Lutia. Do you have anything to add, Spellbreaker Verhen?"

    "Yes. If my friend and I have to deal with that thing, we call dibs on the corpse. Verhen out." Solus blushed up to her ears while saying such a thing in front of the entire Royal Court.

    Yet even while performing what looked like an anime beam battle, Lith was adamant that she followed his script.

    "A reasonable request. All in favor?" Meron asked while looking at Sylpha who rose her hand. "It''s unanimous, then. To the victor will go the spoils ording to their contributions."

    As its name implied, the Griffon Kingdom was no democracy. The votes of the Royal couple were the only two that mattered.

    Suddenly every member of the Court offered their best artifacts and Archmages, working together as one well-oiled machine to get to the site of the battle before it was over. Otherwise they would lose all ims on the spoils of war.

    "Isn''t it wonderful when people set aside their personal interests for the greater good?" Tyris''s voice oozed sarcasm while pointing at the nobles.

    Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, the battle went on.

    "What are you doingying there on the ground and crying like babies?" Solus did her best Lith impression even though she really felt for the situation of their fellow soldiers.

    "Quaron vited the terms of our fight so this isn''t a one on one battle anymore. Fight with me to take the traitor down first and that overgrown lizardter. There are no gods on Mogar, our fate is ours to make!"

    Then, she turned towards Zeska.

    "You have been promised freedom, but all that awaits you is to live under the heel of a creature that has no idea how hard it is to make a piece of bread. Quaron had promised me to surrender your city if I defeated him, but he lied to me as well.

    "How many of you knew about the Dragon? How many things has he hidden from you in order to have yourpliant obedience? How can you still put your lives in his hands?"

    One after the other, the soldiers of the regiment stood up and started to weave their best spells while their respectivemanding officers coordinated with each other after regaining their cool.

    At the same time, inside Zeska, the people stopped fighting and started talking about whether to keep believing in Quaron or not.

    Syrook could hear every single word yet he didn''t like any of them.

    He had invested too much time and effort to make hispdog win the hearts of themoners to let whoever was now in that armor ruin everything.

    He unleashed against Solus a tier five Spirit Spell, Breakdown, that he had prepared for Lith.

    Upon hitting, the hexa elemental emerald sphere would implode on its target and cause their death. Air and earth would block Solus, respectively by inducing an electric seizure and by trapping her limbs in a prison of rock.

    Fire and water would alternate in pulses, causing a thermal shock that would damage her equipment and sap her strength by making it impossible for her to breathe. Darkness and light would constantly eat at her and heal her in a cycle that would consume her vitality until her bodycked the necessary energy to keep living.

    Solus was too busy checking the script and was caught unprepared in the middle of her speech. She gritted her teeth and had the Sage Staff revert to its true appearance, revealing the set of three colored crystals and as many Evil Eyes.

    Then, she emitted a burst of emerald energy that made Breakdown bounce against the Sage Staff and hit the barrier that protected Quaron, making it copse before he could recoverpletely.

    "What have you done, you pesky thing?" Syrook turned toward her and roared.

    Once again, violet light shed through the scales on in chest while he prepared a second wave of Origin mes.

    "Where do you think you are going?" Lith exploited the moment of distraction to close the distance between them and punch the ck Dragon in the stomach.

    Being five meters (16.4 feet) shorter, hitting Syrook''s head would have been difficult due to the fact that the neck of a Dragon took almost one-fourth of their body length. At the same time, however, it also meant that their body would be smaller and their limbs shorterpared to a humanoid.

    The hit snapped Syrook out of his frenzy and when Lith tried to follow up with a front kick, the ck Dragon simply wrapped the iing leg with his tail to block the Tiamat in ce.

    "Poor idiot! Did you really think that my long neck is just for show?" The ck Dragon bellowed. "It allows me to attack freely in every direction and to use my maw as a sixth limb whereas, with your short neck, you are all bark and no bite!"

 Chapter 1657: Battle of the Dead (1)

    <h4>Chapter 1657: Battle of the Dead (1)</h4>

    Syrook twisted his tail, pulling Lith close enough for his head to lunge at the exposed upside-down left membranous wing on the Tiamat''s back.

    Much to his surprise, Lith didn''t try to break free from the grip nor to stretch his wings as far away as possible. The four bones in between the membranes flexed like fingers, forming what looked like a thumbs-down fist.

    Then, the wing punched the ck Dragon''s face with an uppercut movement that closed his mouth shut and sent his neck back like a whip.

    ''You are not the only one with extra limbs, pal.'' Lith thought while he exploited the recoil from the wing''s punch to pivot on his trapped leg and kick the ck Dragon square in the chest with the other.

    His talons dug past the scales and into the flesh, making Syrook bleed as he was sent mming against the walls of Zeska. The entire city trembled as if it had been struck by an earthquake and several people fell down the battlements.

    Before the ck Dragon could recover, Lith unleashed one of the most powerful spells he knew, Primordial Roar.

    It manifested the aspects of all elements, using air to create a powerful shockwave whose strength was boosted by fire while water froze the target, earth locked the enemy''s movements, light needles pierced their body, and darkness coated everything else.

    The hexa elemental Spirit Spell further intensified the quake, putting the arrays that protected the city under so much strain that they became visible to the naked eye.

    Meanwhile, Solus had her hands full as well.

    ''Thank the gods all that insane training Lith put me through allowed me to master all the six elements and to manifest the emerald streak in my hair, otherwise I wouldn''t have been able to use Domination on a Spirit spell.'' She thought.

    ''I''m still too weak to counter every spell with another, let alone take them head-on. Domination, instead, allows me to exploit my surgical precision in controlling mana flows and to hijack spells with minimum consumption of energy on my side.

    ''On top of that, the Yggdrasill wood and the Evil Eyes offer me the perfect cover. Everyone will think that it''s all thanks to my artifact while it just gives me the strength to keep standing.''

    "I knew it!" Quaronughed like a madman while darting toward her and dodging the hail of spells from the mages of the regiment. "There was no way that you achieved so much on your own, Verhen.

    "Kwart was right about you, hypocritical bastard. Despite your pretty words, you are just like me. You sold yourself to a Divine Beast in exchange for power. You are a Harbinger as well!"

    ''The boosted core, the Origin mes, and all of Quaron''s strange abilities are just part of the powers of a Harbinger?'' Solus was bbergasted.

    She knew of their existence, but it was the first time that they actually met one.

    Quaron lunged with his polearm, taking advantage of its longer reachpared to War. If Solus dodged, he would keep the offensive. If she blocked, he would spin the staff and attack her with the de on the other end of his weapon before she could react.

    Solus was still recovering from the exertion of Dominating Breakdown and even if she wasn''t, her body coordination was severelycking. Knowing all of Lith''s battle techniques was pointless if she was incapable of performing them.

    ''I could Blink, but he would see my exit point with Life Vision and I would have just wasted mana. I can''t allow him to cut the armor. Not only would people realize that Lith isn''t here anymore, but if Quaron notices that I have just a deep blue core, he only has to exploit myck of mana to win easily.'' She thought.

    Instead of just blocking, Solus hit the polearm with War with all the strength she could muster. Quaron had taken Lith''s insane physical prowess into ount for his n, but Solus was stronger.

    The full weight of a nine-story mage tower struck the ive, almost ripping it off the Ranger''s fingers and pushing him off bnce. Then, Solus lunged with the Sage Staff, hitting Quaron''s exposed chest and sending him crashing against the city walls for the second time in less than five minutes.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Solus cursed her stupidity.

    Her strength faded with every move she made. She couldn''t afford to chase her prey around nor waste precious mana with Spirit Spells. On top of that, flying or Blinking while inside the array field would expose Lith''s identity as an Awakened.

    Luckily for her, she had no need to.

    "Attack!" The regiment of mages didn''t waste the opportunity that had been offered to them.

    Both the Dragon and the traitor were now nailed to the walls, making them easy targets. The barrage of tier five spells produced by the one thousand mages deepened Syrook''s wounds and opened new ones.

    sts of fire, ice, and darkness shook the east side of Zeska. The people behind the walls screamed in terror as the shockwaves caused by the spells made their houses tremble as if they were made jelly instead of solid stone.

    As for Quaron, he survived only thanks to the many protective enchantments of the equipment that his master had given him. No barrier could fully block such an onught, but he was an Awakened.

    Darkness magic allowed him to ignore the pain from the burn and freeze wounds, keeping his breathing rhythm stable. When the mages stopped their attack to let the dust settle and check the result of their work, he was unscathed.

    Most of his artifacts had their power cores almost depleted and Quaron had only a few uses left of Invigoration before it lost any effect, but the mages of the Kingdom had no way to know it.

    "He¡­ He''s immune to magic." A soldier with a deep green core said before copsing onto the ground from exhaustion.

    He had given his all, yet he refused to surrender. He tried to reach his de but he lost consciousness along with all those too weak from the mana abuse.

    "Nonsense!" Solus could feel the despair gripping the hearts of the soldiers and she shed it away with a burst of light.

    Her tier three Light Mastery spell, Sunburst, generated a beam of incandescent light that struck Quaron exactly in the dent left by the Sage Staff in his armor. The Ranger kneeled in pain, groaning and cursing his inability to use Spirit Magic to Blink.

    "See? He''s just a man covered in stolen equipment. As long as we keep him near Zeska, he can''t fly nor dodge. Take him down!" Solus regretted not having used a stronger spell, but she couldn''t risk it being foiled by a mere Spirit Blink.

    She was too far away to exploit the exit point and she had to keep Lith''s abilities a secret.

    ''At least now I''m sure that Harbingers don''t inherit their master''s knowledge for free.'' She thought, d to have an army of mages that made up for the mana shecked.

    "Enough!" Syrook roared as the violet light that still shone on his chest spread throughout his body.

 Chapter 1658: Battle of the Dead (2)

    <h4>Chapter 1658: Battle of the Dead (2)</h4>

    The Origin mes burst out of the ck Dragon''s scales, neutralizing the mages'' barrage of spells and Lith''s Primordial Roar.

    There was no point in winning if people stopped believing that he was a god and his Harbinger a hero. Winning wasn''t enough anymore, he needed to inflict the Kingdom a crushing defeat to restore the loyalty of his followers.

    Realizing that the battle was on the precipice of disaster, he took the kids'' gloves off and resorted to his contingency n.

    While the Origin mes shielded him from any kind of attack, Syrook activated one of his bloodline abilities, Nether Gate. A thickyer of darkness magic covered the city of Zeska, making every corpse inside its walls raise as a lesser undead.

    The ck Dragon''s power granted them part of his magical andbat skills, boosting theirbat prowess close to that of sentient undead. Also, it allowed them to make use of the equipment that he had provided them with.

    Syrook knew that, until Thrud made her move, he would be alone and that he needed to be able to stand on his own. Part of the weapons that he had collected from the Nestrar region had been used the equip the undead forces spread in the various cities.

    "You have an army, but so do I." He said. "Yet while the strength of yours dwindles, mine will never falter or die. The dead will always outnumber the living just like mortals will always bow down to gods!"

    The undead emerged from their graves, from the city morgue, and even from the butcher shops. They swarmed the streets, climbing the walls with ease and shielding the wounded Ranger with their bodies.

    "What can I say." The Tiamat shrugged. "I couldn''t agree more!"

    Lith has used that time to conjure his Demons of the Darkness and to fill with mana the corpses that his soldiers had buried overnight so that the quickest souls to answer his call would possess them and be Demons of the Fallen.

    The ck Dragon was amused, but not impressed.

    He could see with Life Vision that the Demons of Darkness were weaker than those of the Fallen and that none of them couldpare with the strength that proper equipment granted to his own undead.

    What piqued his curiosity the most was the fact that every Demon had different features. They still retained part of the appearance they had back when they were alive yet the Demons also bore the scales, the upside-down wings, and the multiple eyes of their master.

    "Show me what you can do, hatchling!" Syrook pped his wings, charging at Lith while hurling a jet-stream of violet Origin mes.

    The Tiamat conjured a wall of earth to block the mes and another to intercept the ck Dragon, but neither seeded.

    Syrook noticed the mana with Life Vision and took to the sky while his bloodline ability, Dreadwing, turned the Origin mes into a mass of darkness magic that passed through the earth wall before reverting them back.

    Lith was caught by surprise and took the full hit before he could understand what had happened. The switch between world and elemental energy had been too fast for his Domination to follow.

    Syrook didn''t miss the opening and dived down from the sky to rain more fire against his helpless enemy. The Tiamat worked through the pain, taking a deep breath and releasing the Origin mes from his whole body.

    He used the explosion caused by the conflicting mes as a cover to Blink to safety.

    ''I didn''t want to do this, but I have no choice.'' Lith thought, seeing that his army of mages and Demons were about to be overpowered by the undead.

    On top of that, Quaron was using the reinforcements as meat shields to cover his advance and would soon reach Solus.

    His ck eye became violet as Lith shared its power with the Demons of Darkness. Their shadow bodies suddenly became ethereal and seeped inside the enchanted protections of their skeletal opponents.

    Then, the Demons used Domination to overpower the blood core of their respective prey, recing Syrook''s energy signature with Lith''s. Thanks to the ck eye, the Demons imed the mana of the ck Dragon and the corpses as their own.

    The new Demons of the Fallen had not only doubled their original strength, but also gained free equipment.

    "What have you done to my army!" Syrook screamed in outrage.

    Lith ignored him, taking flight with his wings while the Dragon gave chase and threw at him tier five elemental spells non-stop, forcing Lith to Blink forward from time to time to dodge them.

    They were too far away for Syrook to exploit the exit points, forcing him to Blink as well just to not fall behind.

    ''What''s the point of this game of tag?'' The ck Dragon wondered. ''If he wanted to escape, he would have opened a Steps. Sure, he can use Invigoration to restore his energy but so can I, making this a zero-sum game.''

    The Tiamat flew higher and higher until he reached the eye of the thundercloud from which the Dragon had appeared, dissipating it to let the sun shine over the valley.

    ''That''s it?'' Syrook was bbergasted by Lith seemingly wasting so much time and effort for little gain. ''Even a beginner Necromancer knows that lesser undead are unhindered by sunlight.

    ''Sure, direct exposure makes their blood coresst less but this battle is going to end way before that might matter.''

    What he didn''t know was that Lith''s Demons were more simr to Abominations than to undead. Just like him, they would feed upon sunlight and warmth. Just like the shadows they were born from, the stronger the light, the darker they would get.

    Without the thundercloud, the undead would grow weaker by the second whereas the Demons would grow stronger, turning the tide of the battle once again.

    Down on the ground, the mages were forced to retreat. They had been sent to deal with a medium-sized city of regr citizens and were ill-prepared to fight an undead squadron.

    The Skeletal Knights Syrook had animated were capable of employing severalbat techniques that he had passed unto them and to use the first three tiers of darkness magic like true mages.

    They were still mindless creatures following a script, but between their equipment and theplexity of the instructions they had received, the Knights were a force to be reckoned with.

    The mages, instead, had already used their best spells against the Dragon and the traitorous Ranger. They needed to protect their injured, those who had already exhausted their mana, and needed time to cast new spells.

    Only the Captains and a few Demons of the Fallen stood by Solus''s side while she dealt with the waves of Knights and with Quaron at the same time.

    ''By my Mom, there''s nothing of this in the script Lith left me.'' To save mana, Solus fought using mostly hard-light constructs.

    She could reshape them at will based on the circumstances and keeping a single tier five spell required much less energy than casting new ones.

    Her shields kept the enemy at bay while letting in only one of them at a time.

 Chapter 1659: Rise Unto The Call (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1659 - Rise Unto The Call (Part 1)</h4>

    War needed to hit a Skeletal Knight once to disperse the darkness that animated it, but only if Solus managed to make the de get past the protections and touch the corpse.

    She already had trouble moving with her human body, let alone while being forced to puppeteer an oversized armor.

    "I hate undead!" She roared as no matter how hard she hit them with the Sage Staff, the Skeletal Knight would keep getting up and fighting until all of their limbs had been destroyed.

    "Fall back, Major!" Captain Eman was surprised by how feminine Lith''s voice sounded from time to time. "You are already tired from the previous fight and need to rest. We''ll cover your escape!"

    The officer unleashed the tier five spell, Dark Star, generating a pir of darkness that descended from above and engulfed the Skeletal Knights surrounding them. Darkness magic was the origin and the bane of the undead, quickly turning them into ashes.

    "And leave you guys behind? Never!" Solus blocked Quaron''s attempt to Blink past the Dark Star and inside her defenses by putting a shield of light right in front of his exit point.

    He mmed his face hard against the construct and tumbled on the ground without even knowing what had gone wrong. The Ranger had tried to Blink behind her back, unaware that Solus''s mana sense could see all around her.

    She pointed at his position and the Captains opened fire with their wands but Quaron conjured an earth shield to defend himself before Blinking away to escape from the Demons that had encircled him.

    ''If only I could use Invigoration like a true Awakened, I would have impaled him on a tier five spirit spell!'' Solus thought while the soldiersplimented "Lith" for his impable timing and leadership.

    Usually, a deep blue mana core would have been capable of casting several powerful spells before needing rest but her case was different. Her cracked core leaked energy by the second and keeping her physical form caused Solus great pain.

    Her life force was cracked as well and it crumbled faster with each move that she made. Even with the aid of the Sage Staff, focusing on a spell drained a lot of her focus.

    To make matters worse, not only was she still unable to cast spells with her body due to theck of auxiliary cores, but she also couldn''t afford to go all out. If her body disappeared, leaving behind an empty suit of armor, Lith''s cover would be blown.

    The Skeletal Knights outnumbered the Demons ten to one and with each mage that fell, with each shadow that faded because Lith was too far away to infuse them with new strength, the situation grew direr.

    A small unit of undead managed to nk Solus and strike at her constructs. They got past the shattered shields before she could reform them, separating Solus from the Captains by alternating feints and darkness spells.

    ''This doesn''t make any sense. Skeletal Knights are supposed to be incapable of such clever thinking without- Oh shit!'' Only then did she notice that Quaron had ceased his attack to direct the battle from a safe distance.

    As Syrook''s Harbinger, he had ess to most of his bloodline abilities, including control over the undead conjured by Nether Gate.

    Solus Blinked to blindside Ranger, but the moment Quaron saw the dimensional energy gather, he turned around and put all of his weight behind a lunge aimed at the heart of his hated enemy.

    Metal shed with metal and enchantment with enchantment until his ive pierced through a wailing Skeletal Knight.

    "What the fuck?"

    "Nothing personal, kid." A voice said from behind his back, making him shudder.

    ''He must have Blinked the undead first as a decoy! Too bad Verhen forgot that my weapon has des at both ends.'' He thought while shifting his body weight and reversing the grip on the polearm to strike at the source of the voice.

    This time, it hit only air.

    When Quaron turned around, Solus was still where he had seen her a few seconds ago. Her tier four Light Mastery spell, Stingray, however, was right in front of him

    She had simply used the dimensional door to carry a small cantrip and make him think that she had moved while she had used that time to weave a spell instead.

    The construct resembled a huge multi faceted sphere akin to a disco ball the size of an SUV. Quaron expected it to shapeshift into a more dangerous form the moment it came close enough so he attacked it with a barrage of low tier spells.

    Such a clumsy form made Stingray an easy target and if he managed to weaken the construct before its activation, he would regain the initiative.

    Quaron conjured one tier three spell after the other, exploiting their fast casting time to make up for quality with quantity. Unfortunately for him, Stingray wasn''t a construct so much as a carrier.

    The moment that the sphere got close enough to its mark, it released from each of its facets the equivalent of a tier three Light Mastery spell. The hail of golden beams of light pierced through the elemental spells and then filled the area around the Ranger.

    Only a few managed to hit him while the rest opened holes in the ground, making Quaron''s footing uneven.

    ''That''s the worst waste of mana I''ve ever seen. My armor may be weakened but it can take much more than this before-'' Instead of disappearing after the initial burst, the rays of light remained fixed in ce and adjusted their trajectory to converge on him.

    Quaron Blinked away, only to discover that nothing had changed aside from his position.

    Solus had waited to activate Stingray because Light Mastery spells lost their firepower with distance and because by cing it in the middle of Quaron''s Blinking range, Stingray made dimensional magic useless.

    On top of that, part of the Light Beams surrounding him had turned into hard-light constructs, limiting his movements and making it impossible for him to fly away. Everything else poured on him, hitting Quaron akin to a swarm of incandescent drills.

    The Ranger Blinked again to gain the moment of respite he needed to take a deep breath. Mana sense showed Solus where he would reappear and she adjusted Stingray''s line of fire ordingly.

    Yet this time Quaron weed her spell with a burst of bright blue Origin mes that ate at the iing beams of light, working their way up to the core of the spell. Solus used part of the energy stored in her spell to put out the mes but Quaron simply breathed more.

    Stingray copsed, leaving the two contestants far away enough from each other to use Invigoration yet only one of them could actually do it.

    ''Shit! I hoped that he would rush at me while we are both down on mana. I can''tst for much longer.'' She thought while heavily panting.

    Rangers were used to working alone and had often to fight tribes of monsters or groups of bandits. Those who charged in blindly rarely lived long. Quaron had noticed how after their fight "Verhen''s" power had drastically dropped.

    At first, he had put pressure on Solus to keep her from using Invigoration, yet time and time again she didn''t even when she had the opportunity.

 Chapter 1660: Rise Unto The Call (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1660 - Rise Unto The Call (Part 2)</h4>

    ''I guess that after going all out on me Verhen is running on fumes.'' Quaron thought. ''His aura is barely visible behind that of his artifacts. I''m starting to think that he isn''t a Harbinger and not even an Awakened.''

    The traitorous Ranger took control of the Skeletal Knights again, getting rid of all the Demons and the soldiers closest to Solus before making his move. Then, he cast a flight spell and bolted at her.

    Solus didn''t waste mana trying to hit him. She already had to lean on the Sage Staff to stand and had to make every ounce of strength she had left count.

    Quaron moved past her while breathing another burst of Origin mes. Invigoration had given him barely half of his strength back and he couldn''t waste mana as well.

    Solus had worked with Origin mes long enough to know that aside from their low speed and short range they had no weak point. To neutralize them she would need to spend as much energy as they contained, but it would leave her drained.

    She used Domination again, recing Quaron''s energy signature with her own to take control of the mes. Yet the Ranger was already back, breathing a new attack.

    The two conflicting mes detonated with Solus in the middle, leaving her no way to avoid taking the full brunt of the st. She was sent tumbling on the ground while the Scalewalker, the Sage Staff, and even War took fire.

    She tried to roll to put out the mes but Quaron returned for the third time and unleashed another burst of Origin mes.

    Solus had plenty of strategies left and several moves she wanted to try. Yet her body was too weak to obey hermands and there was no time to cast a spell with the little mana she had left.

    When she saw Quaron returning for the fourth time, with his ive aimed at her heart she started to panic.

    ''Blink would just buy me time, a construct would never hold such a blow, and he can move around any wall that I might conjure. What can I do?'' Yet there was no answer.

    Solus kept her eyes open, racking her brain for any solution that had a ghost of a chance. She found none.

    Metal shed against metal until the weak bent to the strong. The enchanted de pierced deep into the flesh, sending burning waves of pain throughout Quaron''s body.

    One of the Demons of the Fallen had pushed the tip of the ive away, altering its trajectory away from Solus. Then, with a flick of the wrist, it had turned the parry into a lunge, making short work of Quaron''s depowered enchanted armor.

    It was a life-or-death situation, yet Solus froze for a second in shock.

    The Demon had four eyes, a set of horns on its head, and wings on its back, but his face was as human as it was familiar.

    "Captain Locrias?" She asked, forgetting to hide her voice from the surprise.

    "You took your sweet time conjuring me. I had to follow you for over a month for this moment!" Locrias may have been dead, but that wasn''t enough to make his loyalty to the Kingdom falter.

    He was a member of the Queen''s corps, sworn to protect those kids and the Kingdom from every threat. He didn''t care what form he took as long as he could do his job.

    Syrook felt Quaron''s pain as his own and stopped chasing the Tiamat to take a good look at the battleground. His undead army had lost half of its numbers to the Demons and the mages, but the Skeletal Knights were still winning.

    His Harbinger was in a pitiful situation and needed help. If Quaron died, the shock from the loss of the life force that the ck Dragon had infused into him would cripple Syrook''s strength for months.

    He doubted that Lith would let the opening slip and make Syrook''s painst more than a second, but that was hardly aforting thought.

    "Taking a break mid-fight? Don''t mind if I follow your lead." The Tiamat said while taking a deep breath.

    "Please, we returned to our peak strength at the beginning of this game of tag, why should I care if you rest?" The ck Dragon could see with Life Vision the world energy entering Lith''s body, yet his aura didn''t change.

    Knowing that no one would be so stupid to waste one use of Invigoration without a good reason, Syrook looked back at the battlefield. Suddenly his Skeletal Knights were being pushed back like chumps.

    The Demons grew in strength with each passing second and they were now capable of casting tier five spells of all elements whereas the lesser undead grew weaker and could only use the low tiers of darkness magic.

    "How?" He blurted out. "Even though my bloodline ability can rise an unlimited number of undead, I still need to be close to them to feed more energy to them because of the darkness element''s limitations.

    "How can you just use Invigoration on yours?"

    "I guess that my bloodline is better." Lith replied with a mockingughter that stung at the prideful Dragon, making him crazy with fury just like Lith wanted.

    "We''ll see who''s better!" The tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, carried Syrook''s words and struck at Lith with such strength that it sent him plummeting to the ground like a meteor.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I hadpletely forgotten about the Dragon Eyes. I was studying him while he was studying me and learning all of my spells. This wasn''t part of the n!'' Also, Lith had no idea how dangerous it was to anger a Dragon.

    Rage didn''t make them stupid, it simply made them stop underestimating their opponents and go all-out.

    Syrook dived to follow his prey, pping his wings to gain more and more speed until the Tiamat was within breathing range.

    Lith countered the Origin mes with his own and exploited the explosion to put some distance between them again. Unfortunately for him, the ck Dragon''s violet mes had won the sh and what was left of them struck his back.

    "Do you still believe to be better than me?" Syrook activated his bloodline ability, Dreadwing, to turn the Origin mes into darkness magic that entered Lith''s body.

    He was about to neutralize the threat with Domination when the darkness turned back into Origin mes, burning him from the inside.

    "Do you?" Syrook said while Lith screamed in pain and lost control of his flight, crashing against the ground.

    "Do you?" The ck Dragonnded on Lith''s back with both feet, making his spine pop and the crater that hisnding had created deeper.

    Syrook kicked the fallen Tiamat with all of his strength, but Lith used the momentum from the first hit to roll away.

    "I bet that you are so dirt poor that you don''t even have a proper weapon!" Metal gloves made of Adamant appeared over the ck Dragon''s hands while he walked towards his still dizzy enemy.

    Syrook shed the air in front of him and the enchanted gloves, Sunder, boosted his strength to the point of generating wind des that cut five deep pits into the ground as they approached Lith.

 Chapter 1661: Void Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1661 - Void mes (Part 1)</h4>

    "Yes. Everything you said is true. I''m younger and much poorer than you, yet I''m still better than you." The Tiamat plunged his hands deep into the ground and when he pulled them back, he held two swords that he used to stop the wind des in their tracks.

    He had conjured them with the elements of creation, earth and light. The former gave them substance while thetter made them as sharp and sturdy as a metal de. Syrook could see with Life Vision several emerald runes etched on their surface.

    Spirit Magic gave them a simple enchantment and even a pseudo core. Dragon Eyes allowed Syrook to understand what Lith had done but not how to replicate it. He was no Forgemaster and the art of Light Mastery was a myth to him.

    Lith charged forward, exploiting the des'' longer reach topensate for theirck of durability.

    Or so he thought until the ck Dragon had its pair of enchanted gloves, Sunder, extend their fingers and then join them into edged weapons. The Adamant cut through the des made of stone and light first and then deep into Lith''s chest in a single sh.

    "Anyst words?" Syrook''s grin disappeared as Lith''s Light Mastery generated two hard-light constructs that reconnected the severed ends of the Tiamat''s swords, further extending their range.

    While Sunder was still stuck inside his body, Lith lunged at the enemy with his des, piercing through scales, flesh, and bones until the tip of the swords came out of Syrook''s back.

    The Spirit Magic runes released bursts of lightning that sent the ck Dragon into a spasm and mes that burned him from the inside.

    Syrook twisted and pulled Sunder while Lith did the same with his constructs. Each contestant had now two gaping holes in their chest that made it difficult for them even to breathe.

    The sh had ended in a draw, but to the ck Dragon''s pride, it was no better than a defeat.

    ''I have artifacts and a violet core whereas he has toy weapons and a deep violet core. I should have won already!'' Syrook gritted his teeth to not let the fury go to his head while taking deep breaths.

    He was using Invigoration and charging up the biggest burst of Origin mes he could make.

    ''He has artifacts and a violet core whereas I have makeshift weapons and a deep violet core.'' Lith kept racking his brain for a solution.

    Running away wasn''t an option. He had aplished the mission that the Kingdom had tasked him with, but letting the ck Dragon live was out of the question. Lith already had enough enemies.

    Adding a powerful Divine Beast to the list and giving him the time to plot his revenge would have been beyond idiotic.

    ''On top of that, I must be careful about everything I do because Syrook can learn it with Dragon Eyes and use my weapons against me. My bloodline abilities are my best bet, but there''s nothing I can do except summon Demons. Unless¡­''

    Lith remembered what he had learned from Xenagrosh about the life force of the Abominations, about the way Syrook conjured the Origin mes, trying to put everything together.

    The Tiamat''s body started to twist and writhe as it shapeshifted into another form.

    Lith focused on the stars thatprised his life force and turned into a seven-eyed Voidfeather Dragon whose body was covered in red scales while his back, spine, and his single set of wings were covered in ck feathers.

    It was just as tall as the Tiamat, reaching 20 meters (66 feet) of height from head to toes. The main differences were the long neck that took one-fourth of his height, the 7 meters (23 feet) long tailing out from his back, and the shorter hind legs.

    That form was moody and Lith still felt awkward in it.

    Yet while the life force of the Tiamat looked like a gxy where the void of the Abomination kept itself away from the myriads of stars, that of the Voidfeather Dragon was different.

    The stars would assemble to form a single constetion that resembled a Dragon where the red thread of the human side and the void of the Abomination formed a framework that connected the stars to each other.

    "What do you think you are doing?" Syrook had never seen a Dragon like that and his curiosity almost overpowered his rage.

    Almost.

    "Science." Lith had the ck tendrils of his Abomination side seep inside each and every star, turning them ck.

    At his next breath, when he added to the world energy the spark of life force necessary to ignite the Origin mes, half of it belonged to the Abomination.

    A ck light burst from between his scales, starting from his chest and quickly raising along the neck and into the mouth, just like Syrook''s violet light did.

    The two Dragons mirrored each other movement, opening their mouths at the same time. Yet the mes that came out of Lith''s mouth were ck and they moved as fast as a bullet.

    The Void mes were imbued with just enough Chaos to suck the light element from the darknessponent of the world energy and turn it into Chaos as well.

    The Void mes reached the violet Origin mes while they were barely outside Syrook''s throat, triggering the detonation before he could try to activate Dreadwing and use the darkness to smother its destructive power.

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Solus exploited that moment of respite to put out the Origin mes and get back on her feet while Locrias kept Quaron busy. The Ranger was wounded, but it was nothing that light magic couldn''t easily fix.

    Being the Harbinger of a Dragon gave Quaron an amazing vitality. He didn''t need to rest or feed to recover from his wounds because his body could store nutrients for a prolonged period of time, just like a Dragon''s.

    He had gotten up right after Locrias'' sneak attack, without giving him or Solus another opening that they could exploit.

    Locrias was using every ounce of his skill and experience to keep the enemy at bay, but his condition was no different from Solus''s.

    After his soul had taken the form of a Demon of Darkness, he had fought tooth and nail against the Skeletal Knights while trying to understand the limitations of his new body.

    Lith shared with the Demons his knowledge about true magic, but each one of them could only cast a couple of spells before fading away. It was the reason why Locrias had saved his strength until Lith had activated Domination, allowing him to overtake the body of an undead.

    Even with the power of the blood core and the new equipment, however, Locrias was still the literal shadow of his past self. The energy he had couldn''tpare with his old bright blue core and his weapon paled inparison with what he was used to back in the Queen''s corps.

    Only when Lith had shared Invigoration with the Demons could Locrias show his real prowess and dominate the battlefield.. It had been him casting tier five spells exclusive to the corps that Syrook had seen from above, tearing the Knights to shreds thanks to the endless supply of mana he received.

 Chapter 1662: Void Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1662 - Void mes (Part 2)</h4>

    Locrias had saved as many of his fellow soldiers as he could before helping Solus.

    Now that Lith was too busy facing the ck Dragon to share any more mana, Locrias could feel his energy slipping away with each exchange and regretted not having taken care of the enemy leader sooner.

    Even as a soldier, Quaron had ranked higher than Locrias did back in his prime and now that he was a Harbinger, the Ranger had be stronger than a regr Awakened human.

    ''The bastard is stronger and faster than I ever was.'' Locrias thought. ''If not for my new inhuman body, he would have already turned me into mincemeat. To make matters worse, Quaron keeps spitting those odd mes.

    ''Every time they even graze me, I can feel my consciousness fading. I need help!''

    Lith had a natural connection with his conjured Demons but he was too far away for a mind link. As for Solus, she had none so she just assumed that as long as Locrias held his ground everything would be fine.

    ''I have barely a couple of spells left in me and I can''t risk Quaron Blinking them.'' She thought. ''As soon as I get back to the tower, I need to craft some magic holding rings for myself.''

    Solus called upon the Sage Staff''s power core, using the elemental energy that the colored crystals and the Evil Eyes conjured to activate its enchantments instead of feeding her body.

    She hadn''t done it before because it would further shorten the time she could keep her physical form, but now she had no other choice.

    Thanks to Life Vision, Quaron saw the power umting in the Staff and reacted by taking a deep breath. The moment Solus activated the Distorted Field ability, the Staff released six small spheres of Gravity Magic while Quaron hurled a river of Origin mes at Locrias.

    He dodged them on instinct only to realize that Quaron had them aligned so that Locrias would cover Solus''s sight until it was toote. Locrias inwardly cursed and pped his wings with fury.

    His body was as lithe as a feather and stronger than a bull, allowing him to reach Solus before the mes and to attempt to pull her in the air with him to not break her focus.

    Unfortunately, she weighed more than he could handle. Locrias'' attempt to lift Solus on the go had the same result as a car crashing against a wall.

    He didn''t lose consciousness on impact only because there was no brain in his head that could suffer a concussion and she barely managed to block the mes by having the spheres surround her.

    By working in unison, they trapped the Origin mes in apressed gravity field where they couldn''t burn anything but themselves until they went out.

    "How can a woman be so short and yet weigh so much?" Locrias asked.

    "Shut up and get out of my way!" Solus snarled.

    Due to Locrias'' meddling, Quaron had managed to get close to her while the Distorted Field was still busy dealing with the mes.

    "Calm down and listen to me." Locrias blocked a lunge of the ive but the impact almost ripped the de out of his hands. "I can take him on my own. I just need you to give me a boost. I''m running on fumes."

    "That''s a bloodline ability that I don''t have." Solus''s voice was full of frustration. "That''s why I was trying to help you with a spell that you ruined!"

    "Good to know." Quaron replied with a smirk while shing horizontally with his ive.

    He could see with Life Vision that neither of them had enough energy to be a threat but if they were somehow able tobine their resources, he would have found himself in a tough position.

    Now that he was finally sure that their inability wasn''t just a trap, Quaron squeezed thest drops of strength he had left in a final burst.

    The curved de pushed Locrias'' sword away and then traced a small circle in the air, returning to its original position without losing momentum. Quaron shifted his weight, turning the sh into a lunge and piercing Locrias'' chest.

    He made sure to remain in Solus''s blind spot by always keeping the Demon between them. This way, Locrias''s energy signature blinded her mana sense and she couldn''t aim her spells.

    Quaron charged forward, using the impaled Demon as both a shield and a battering ram while also hurling a burst of Origin mes. All three of them were dangerously low on mana, but only one of them had ess to an ability that didn''t require any.

    Locrias'' shadow faded away right after the impact, leaving only the remains of the Skeletal Knight and the stolen armor to take the brunt of the mes. Without his burden, Quaron became even faster and aimed at Solus''s head.

    ''I have no strength left or spell ready and there''s no time to rearrange the Distorted Field. I don''t want to find out what happens when my body gets destroyed but Lith still wears my stone ring and I can''t get back inside from this distance.'' Solus feared that the death of her body would force her to rebuild it from scratch.

    She had waited twelve years to be human again and the thought of losing it after a few weeks scared her to death.

    Much to her surprise, her body sidestepped the attack while keeping War glued to the ive to control its movements. Her right hand holding the staff performed a riposte that caught Quaron by surprise, crushing his nose and making it hard for him to breathe.

    ''I bet that he can''t spew fire with his mouth full of blood.'' Locrias'' voice said in her head. ''Don''t let him recover and use your magic. I''ll take care of the fight.''

    ''What? How? Most importantly, why didn''t you do it sooner?'' She replied.

    ''Demons are just shadows. the moment I understood that I had lost, I moved into yours and left my body behind as a decoy. As for yourst question, yes, I could have done it since I know by instinct everything that I''m capable of in this form.

    ''Yet after over a month of istion during which I couldn''t speak, touch, or be heard, even pain is a pleasant change and I wanted to savor every single sensation my new body could offer.''

    Solus knew the feeling very well so she telepathically nodded and focused on the fight. Now that she didn''t have to worry about hurting Locrias anymore, she could use the Distorted Field to its fullest.

    The six spheres arranged themselves in a circle around the fighters, each one releasing small bursts of energy that could alter the gravity in a small area. On the one hand, it limited their effectiveness but on the other hand, it also got rid of most of gravity magic''s side effects.

    Solus was very proud of her idea.. Usually, conjuring and controlling six elements at the same time while also keeping them perfectly bnced was a demanding task, but the Sage Staff had been devised exactly for that purpose in order to feed her mana core.

 Chapter 1663: Soul Feather (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1663 - Soul Feather (Part 1)</h4>

    On top of that, thanks to the Sage Staff''s power core taking care of the fine control of the effects of gravity magic, all the caster had to do was to point and shoot.

    When Quaron tried to get out of the area of effect of Distorted Field Solus altered the direction of gravity, making him fall toward her. He instinctively tried to take a deep breath and almost choked on his blood.

    ''What can those things do exactly?'' Locrias asked while trying to sever Quaron''s head from his neck with a horizontal sh with War.

    ''Can''t you just read my mind?'' Solus replied while using one of the spheres forming the Distorted Field to elerate Locrias and another to make Quaron''s feet heavier, messing with his tempo.

    ''No. I can speak with you like this only because I''m in your shadow. Your energy signature is attuned with me enough to control your body, but that''s it. I feel like I should be able to do more yet I can''t.'' Locrias was amazed by the Ranger managing to block his attacks.

    Yet he could feel from the impact that due to Solus''s monstrous strength and to the spheres that somehow limited his movements, Quaron had failed to disperse the force of the hit, taking a lot of damage anyway.

    ''It must be because Lith and I share the same energy signature but not his bloodline abilities. It seems that he can Possess his Demons as he did in Urgamakka.'' Solus was relieved by that answer.

    She liked Locrias, but she didn''t want to share with him the most private details of her life nor her thoughts.

    Quaron felt the bones in his arm cracking but darkness fusion made the pain bearable. He focused healing magic on his nose, repairing it and hurling Origin mes at Solus.

    She only needed to activate the sphere closest to his face to create an updraft that altered the trajectory of the breath enough for Locrias to dodge it with minimal movement and aim for the neck.

    Quaron Blinked away, only for Solus to Blink along and for Locrias to lunge from behind, piercing his throat.

    ''It''s not enough. Cut his head off and pierce his heart. I have no mana left.'' Solus said and Locriasplied.

    Only when mana sense confirmed that Quaron was dead did Solus dispel Distorted Field, using the Sage Staff to fuel her core.

    ''What do we do now?'' Locrias said, feeling that if he used even one bit more strength he would be back being a wandering soul.

    ''We wait.'' Solus replied.

    Suddenly, War escaped her grip and took the sky, flying towards the two still fighting titans.

    ''Can you see what''s happening?'' Solus asked Locrias, discovering that he was gone as well, leaving her alone.

    ***

    The explosion of the Origin mes had wounded Syrook, but it was far from lethal. Lith was still wounded from the fall and the kicking, making them even.

    Yet the ck Dragon had still the advantage of a bigger body, a stronger core, and better equipment. Lith didn''t waste time patting his own back and hurled a second stream of Void mes to finish the job.

    Both Dragons were amazed at how fast and destructive the ck mes were.

    While Origin mes moved akin to an oversized me thrower Void mes moved akin to aser, keeping their formpact and without decreasing their intensity over distance.

    Syrook reacted promptly by pping his wings and breathing Origin mes. He couldn''t get far in time but that small step back allowed him to ride the winds of the explosion and get away.

    At the same time, he shed non-stop with Sunder, generating a volley of wind des that ravaged thend and attacked Lith from every side.

    "Enough of this." The Voidfeather Dragon snarled as his yellow eye shone bright.

    The spells passed through Lith like a spring breeze, incapable of hurting their new master. Then, they turned around and moved against Syrook.

    The ck Dragon had no idea what Domination was but after Solus had reflected one of his spells, he had gotten the gist of it. He activated his Nether Gate bloodline ability again, releasing all of the undead he had created.

    Their existence limited the amount of darkness element that Nether Gate could conjure and with his life on the line, Syrook couldn''t hold back.

    A sea of dark energy shrouded him, eating the wind des inside out with each meter they advanced. The rain of spells managed to hit him anyway and opened several deep wounds, even tearing his wings in multiple spots, but it was still better than dying.

    Lith could feel his throat hurting from the Void mes and reverted into his Tiamat form.

    ''I can''t risk Chaos or whatever it is damaging me during a fight. On top of that, I suck at fighting as a Dragon.'' He thought while giving chase, hoping to catch up with Syrook before he could use Invigoration.

    The ck Dragon''s pride hurt from being forced to run away, yet he valued his life too much to keep fighting a losing battle.

    ''I just need a coupled of breaths for-'' Quaron''s death struck at him like a lightning and dealt almost as much damage.

    Losing his Harbinger wounded a Divine Beast''s very life force, causing a pain that couldn''t be treated in any way. Lith saw Syrook freeze while Life Vision showed him that not only had the ck Dragon yet to heal, but his strength had also dramatically decreased.

    ''He has recalled his minions, it''s time that I do the same!'' Lith focused on his link with War and the angry de answered the call.

    It abandoned Solus, flying at sub-sonic speed over the battlefield, and used its Soul Weaver ability as it moved. War collected the Demons on its passage, adding their strength and mass to its own.

    When it reached Lith, War fused itself with his conjured swords, using them as a scaffold for the Demons it carried. In a split second, the two des became a replica of War made of earth, light, and shadows, big enough for the Tiamat to use.

    Lith closed the distance that separated him from the Dragon and lunged at the heart.

    Syrook blocked the attack with both hands, forming an X with Sunder in front of his chest to cut down the de along with its wielder. Yet even though its body wasn''t made of Adamant, War withstood the hit and overpowered his guard.

    The angry de pierced through the thick ck scales that protected the Dragon''s chest and unleashed all of its enchantments inside his body, killing him on the spot.

    Lith usually would have destroyed the heart and crushed the head of a fallen enemy to confirm the kill, but his wallet was already bleeding over the loss of the ck Dragon''s heart.

    ''I always heard that it''s a top grade ingredient that contains a lot of magical power.'' He thought with a deep sigh. ''I wish I could have just cut his neck. I didn''t mind losing a few scales.

    ''Now there''s one huge problem left.. I have no idea if my pocket dimension can fit something this big.''

 Chapter 1664: Soul Feather (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1664 - Soul Feather (Part 2)</h4>

    ''If I leave even a crumb behind, the Kingdom will appropriate it and I can kiss my loot goodbye.'' Lith thought.

    ''That''s not very patriotic of you, young man.'' Locrias scolded him. ''If not for everything that the Kingdom has done for you, you would still live in your backwater vige.''

    ''Locrias?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    While the rest of the Demons had disappeared after venting their anger and vanquishing the enemy at hand, Locrias had remained. His body was reduced to flickering shadow, but his will was as strong as ever.

    ''Nice to meet you again, too.'' The Captain replied with a sneer. ''I always knew you were a jackass, but this is too much. How can you worry about your loot instead of about your country and even forget about your partner?''

    ''Solus!'' Lith suddenly remembered that she was still on the battlefield, pretending to be him.

    ''Yeah, her.'' Locrias said. ''That poor girl risked her life for you and-''

    ''Shut up! I need to think.'' Lith sighed in relief when Syrook''s corpse disappeared inside the pocket dimension and immediately opened a Warp Steps back to Solus.

    ''I''m not done with you, young man, but I agree that this conversation can wait.'' Locrias'' defiance reminded Lith of the reason why he had given up on the idea of creating higher undead.

    There was no such a convenient thing as a being with free will who was also blindly loyal for no good reason.

    ''I''m sorry for taking so long. How do you feel?'' Lith said via the mind link.

    ''Like crap. Thank you for asking.'' Her legs had already started to disappear, making it impossible for Solus to stand up. ''The pain is unbearable. Please, get your ass back inside this armor as soon as possible and me inside my ring.''

    ''On it.'' Lith took her on his hand.

    "Stop right there!" Lith recognized Captain Eman''s voice and admired him for his bravery. "Where are you taking Major Verhen?"

    Eman and the other soldiers hade to help as soon as they had stabilized the condition of the wounded. They had barely any strength left, their equipment was almost depowered, and their spells would amount to a mosquito bite and they knew it.

    Yet they stood against the Tiamat as if he needed more than lifting his foot to squash them like bugs.

    "Verhen needs urgent treatment. After that, we must discuss how to share the Dragon''s corpse." In that form, Lith''s voice sounded like a howling from an abyss that somehow had learned how to form words.

    "There''s nothing to discuss." Eman didn''t budge. "You''ll take half of it and the Kingdom will take the other half."

    "Half?" The Tiamatughed, sending a shiver down the spine of those who heard it, no matter the distance. "Then I demand also half of the items that the human and the undead wore."

    "Quaron is Major Verhen''s kill, not yours."

    "I can say the same about the Dragon." Lith snarled.

    "As for the undead''s equipment, we are grateful for your assistance, but it didn''t belong to the Dragon. It was stolen from the Kingdom and if you take even a single piece, you''d be a criminal as well." Eman said.

    Lith admired his guts and loyalty, wishing that his Demons were all like him.

    ''You wish.'' Locrias scoffed. ''People like me and thatd took an oath because we believe in a cause, not to be puppets.''

    The Tiamat''s seven eyes brimmed with fury and greed at the thought of losing even a single scale of the Dragon.

    ''Please, I need help.'' Solus said, making his anger fade.

    Lith Blinked high in the sky and then he flew away. Solus promptly returned inside her ring and her pain stopped.

    ''I need time to recover, maybe even a mana geyser.'' She said.

    ''What''s that?'' Locrias asked.

    ''Seriously, why are you still here?'' Lith checked War and noticed how desperately the Captain clung to the strands of mana he had left.

    ''I''m not ready to move on.'' The Captain sighed. ''I can''t just die while the Kingdom is sieged by people like Thrud or the undead. On top of that, I can''t forgive the Balkor copycat.

    ''That bastard took everything from me, killed a lot of good people, and yet they are still somewhere, enjoying life. Before I go, I want to see them dead.''

    ''That makes the two of us.'' Lith replied. ''Yet I still don''t understand what you want from me. I''m not going to keep a Demon always active just for you. It takes too much energy and it would drive you insane.''

    ''I''m not asking anything from you, I''m offering you my help.'' Locrias replied.

    His body was made of Lith''s mana and because of that forming a proper mind link came to him as natural as breathing.

    Locrias showed Lith how the Demons rarely worked together, each one only focused on venting the anger or resentment that still bound them to the world of the living. He also revealed to Lith that Demons inherited his knowledge, making them able to use most of his spells.

    Yet the majority of them hadn''t been mages in life so they stuck to what they knew or used their powers clumsily. On top of that, the fact that they shared the same energy signature made them immune to each other''s spells and created countless tactical advantages.

    ''I see what you mean.'' Lith nodded. ''I''m already working on giving my Demons some leaders but I could use more than two. I don''t care how you do it. You can stick around me as long as you promise to keep my secrets.''

    ''Don''t worry, kid.'' Locrias replied. ''I won''t share your secrets with anyone just like I won''t share the secrets of the Kingdom with you. It''s a fair deal.''

    ''Wait, what secrets is the Kingdom keeping from me?''

    Locrias ignored Lith''s words and let go of the energy thatprised thest spark of his Demon form. The shadow disappeared, leaving behind a small sphere of light the size of an apple.

    Lith expected it to dart toward the sky, like it always happened when a soul moved on, yet Locrias'' sphere of light charged at the Tiamat instead. Or better, at his only feathered wing.

    The red veins on one of them turned from a random pattern to a rune that closely reminded Lith that of Locrias''munication amulet. Lith and Solus could sense the presence of the Captain within the feather and tried to talk to him, yet instead of words came visions.

    Locrias was at peace, in a state simr to a deep slumber where he re-experienced the happiest and the saddest moments of his life. The former dreams reminded him of what he was fighting for and kept him from bing insane.

    Thetter nightmares reminded him of what he was fighting against and rekindled the mes of hate that kept him bound to Lith.

    ''I guess this exins what my feathers are for. Each one of them can store one soul.'' Lith pondered.

    ''I''m sad for Locrias.'' Solus said. ''The dreams give him the illusion of being still alive and of going back to his family.. Once he wakes up, the pain will blind him.''

 Chapter 1665 - Opening Moves (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1665 - Opening Moves (Part 1)</h4>

    ''Yes, but reviving his memories will also keep Locrias motivated and focused.'' Lith said.

    ''How can you be so cold? That poor man is reliving his death and that of his men over and over again. On top of that, whenever you call upon him, Locrias will have just a few minutes of strife in front of him before going back to his dreams.

    ''That''s no life, just a living nightmare.'' Solus said.

    ''Locrias knew all of this and yet he chose to stay.'' Lith replied. ''At first, I wasn''t happy that my Demons aren''t blindly loyal, but now I changed my mind. Those that will follow me like Locrias will have a depth of character and determination that no ve could ever have.''

    ''You''d better go back to Zeska, or your regiment will put a bounty on your Tiamat form for kidnapping Archmage Verhen.'' Solus said after a while.

    There was no point in arguing with Locrias'' choice, she could only respect it as much as she respected the man.

    ''With my luck, I''ll get a bounty anyway.'' Lith returned to his human form and weaved a Warp Steps leading to the same exact spot where he had left Captain Loman Estar, his second inmand.

    ''Locrias is right, you are a jackass.'' Solus said after reading his mind and his n.

    "Major! Thank the gods you are alright." Ahria said when he stepped through the dimensional door, drawing everyone''s attention.

    "You had no reason to worry. I told you that Tiamat is a friend of mine."

    "What about the Dragon''s corpse?" Estar asked.

    "He took it."

    "What? Why?" It hadn''t been one of the Captains speaking.

    Several Warp Steps had opened and the nobles'' armies from the capitol were stepping through one after another.

    "Tiamat said that he was willing to split with Lith Verhen, not with Major Verhen because the army would have imed most of my part. He also said that you didn''t do anything to deserve it so he will keep it safe and send me some scraps just like the army would." Lith sounded genuinely depressed.

    Even Dragon poop was a powerful ingredient, making the corpse a gold mine. Yet stealing it implied that only Tiamat could employ equipment made from such magical wonders whereas Lith Verhen had to appear empty handed.

    "That''s not true! We helped you against Quaron, and if not for us, the Skeletal Knights would have killed you." Eman was outraged by the Divine Beast dismissing the army as useless.

    "Yeah, but that was also your duty and you fought to protect your own lives. On top of that, Tiamat gave us plenty of help by sending his Demons. Not to mention that none of us gave the Dragon a single scratch." Lith replied.

    Then, after noticing that everyone was looking at him with suspicion for openly defending the Tiamat he added:

    "His words, not mine. I tried to talk him into sharing at least a quarter of the body, but he wouldn''t listen."

    "How convenient a story for you!" Captain Pn poked at Lith''s chest in anger. "I say that you bartered your share with your friend and ignored your duty as an officer of the Kingdom. That''s what I think and what I''ll write in my report."

    ''This guy is smarter than he looks.'' Solus said.

    "And I''ll write into mine that you disrespected my authority from the beginning, gave no contribution to the mission, and that I don''t recall seeing you on the battlefield." Lith grabbed Pn''s finger, twisting it until the Captain had to grovel on the ground to keep it from breaking.

    "Let''s move. We have yet a work to do and a city to retake." Lith said. "Captain Ahria, make sure to collect all the equipment of the Skeletal Knights. Estar, with me. We must capture and interrogate all the nobles involved in the uprising.

    "It''s unlikely, but if they know where the Dragon''sir is, we- I mean, the Kingdom can still get its due."

    Lith brought the nobles'' armies in front of the city gates that opened without offering any resistance. After the death of their so-called hero and the revtion that Quaron was working for a Divine Beast and not for them, the citizens of Zeska had lost the will to fight.

    The city was taken in a matter of minutes and Lith was free to raid the City Lord''s mansion. The very same arrays that had kept the army at bay now kept her and her aplices trapped like cornered mice.

    Yet the only thing that the army officers found was a bunch of corpses. Something had killed Syrook''s believers, leaving no one left to interrogate. They still retained their youthful appearance so the army managed to identify them only thanks to the help of their oldest servants.

    The papers in the City Lord''s private chambers revealed her involvement with the Lords of many other cities. The true surprise awaited them in the keep, where all the people that had opposed to Syrook''s n were held captive.

    ''I don''t understand why the City Lord kept them alive.'' Lith interrogated them one by one and even studied them with Invigoration to understand if the ck Dragon had experimented on them in any way.

    Aside from the natural consequences of prolonged incarceration and malnutrition, however, he found nothing.

    ''The nobles could have riled up the people against the City Lord by revealing her treachery whereas the civil servants'' help will be invaluable in uncovering the details of her dealings with the rebels.''

    Yet after his questions and his spells found no answer, Lith could only shrug and move on to the next city. It was none of his business and he was eager to get back to his family in the Desert.

    The rest of the mission went smoothly thanks to the fact that all the leaders of the rebellion had died as well soon after Syrook''s defeat and thanks to Lith projecting in front of the various cities the events that had happened in Zeska with Light Mastery.

    At first, the people refused to believe in Quaron''s death and his involvement with a Divine Beast. His head on a pike dispelled the rebels'' questions about the Ranger still being alive while the testimony of Zeska''s Commander confirmed his involvement with Syrook.

    One after the other, the cities of the Nestrar region surrendered to the Kingdom.

    Lith''s mission was over, he had a whole Dragon corpse in his pocket dimension, and Lutia would be guarded again, ensuring the safety of his family.

    He had all reason to be happy, yet a thought kept nagging at the back of his head.

    ''Who the heck killed the nobles of every single city before my arrival and why did none of the City Lords dispose of their enemies? An Awakened might have bypassed the elemental sealing arrays, but to what end?

    ''The vaults and the treasuries were all empty so there was nothing to steal. It feels like someone is covering their tracks but Syrook is already dead and each prisoner we rescued is a loose end they didn''t tie.

    ''I even checked them for blood cores in case they were thralls of the Undead Courts and their life forces for Thrud''s ve spell, but they were clean.''

 Chapter 1666 - Opening Moves (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1666 - Opening Moves (Part 2)</h4>

    The Royal Constables shared Lith''s doubts but came to different conclusions, considering the prisoners that the City Lords had kept alive as hostages that the traitors intended to use as a deterrent since most of them belonged to noble families loyal to the Royal Court.

    Meanwhile, several hundreds of kilometers away from Zeska, several Spirit Warp Steps opened inside Syrook''sir.

    "Gods, I love it when a nes together." The Mad Queen said while taking control of the now masterless defensive arrays with but a swing of Arthan''s Sword.

    She had taken care of memorizing the dimensional coordinates of the ck Dragon''s home during their past dealings in the hope of his death.

    Now not only would she take all the riches he had collected from the cities of Nestrar instead of half, but also those that Syrook had stockpiled during his life, his magical legacy, and all the magical weapons that he had bartered for himself in exchange for his Origin mes.

    "I can''t believe that you tricked him the same way you did with Xedros." Jormun held the small Valeron in his arms while the Emperor Beasts collected everything that wasn''t bolted to the ground.

    They would keep those forst.

    "Even though he was born during my imprisonment in Huryole and we barely knew each other, Syrook was still a cousin of mine. I introduced him to you." His tone was cold, suspecting her to have deceived him.

    "I would never do that to you. It wasn''t a trick, just a contingency n." Thrud shook her head. "I really needed a powerful retainer for the Nestrar region and I would have provided Syrook with all he needed to deal with the Council.

    "Yet I couldn''t afford to waste months of nning and preparation if he screwed up. That''s the reason why I had to clean up his mess and nt my Skinwalkers. This way, with or without him, I still have the Nestrar region under mymand and no one suspects anything."

    Skinwalkers were monsters capable of taking the form of thest being they consumed, as long as they devoured them whole. The skin and bones would give them the ability to copy their physical appearance down to the life force to perfection while consuming the brain granted them their victim''s memories.

    The only things they couldn''t imitate were the mana organs responsible for bloodline abilities and the mana core.

    They were terrifying predators in the wilds or for isted viges since it was impossible to recognize them until it was toote. They failed to be a real threat for an organized militia because a Skinwalker could keep up the appearances only until they weren''t hungry.

    Then their feral nature would start to take over, making it harder for them to behave until they either fed or were discovered.

    Thrud had experimented with them, discovering that not even the Unwavering Loyalty array allowed them to survive Awakening. Their faulty cores would burst every time and even though the Golden Griffon could keep them alive, their eternal agony made them useless.

    What the array could do was to force them to suppress their instincts and hunger to the point that they could keep mimicking the same person to perfection until Thrud decided otherwise.

    The real nobles who had opposed her ns had long been reced by the Skinwalkers that now were considered heroes of the resistance and had the full trust of the Crown.

    They would take the key position in every city and help Thrud to expand her influence. Syrook or not, the Nestrar region was already under hermand and soon there would be others.

    The crises that the Archmages like Manohar had been called to solve were all part of Thrud''s n to put her pieces into ce so that when the game started it would take her just a few moves to checkmate her opponents.

    "Wait, who are those people?" Thrud pointed at the two beautiful women who stood right next to Syrook''s throne.

    One had long blonde hair streaked red and blue all over while the other had long wavy ck hair with orange and yellow streaks.

    They wore sandals, a white silk roman toga with a deep neckline and side slits that left most of their slender legs exposed, and a golden sash on their waist. They kept their eyes low, not speaking a word while waiting for their master''s return.

    "Their clothes and role are part of an old Dragon custom that dates back when Dad was worshipped as the god of knowledge." Jormun turned his gaze away in embarrassment. "He only took women as priestesses and Awakened them so that-"

    "They could get old and beautiful enough to his fancy?" Thrudpleted the phrase for him with a sneer. "I can almost see Leegaain spreading "knowledge" left and right."

    "No, so that they could achieve the time and power necessary to learn from him." Jormun turned to a shade of purple in shame. "Dad would take people of all races and gender as students."

    "Yeah, and I guess it''s just a coincidence that he only kept women around him and that there are so many species of Dragons and lesser Dragons." Thrud''s voice oozed sarcasm as she examined the two handmaidens.

    There was no trace of ve spells, they were just two healthy humans.

    "Is master Syrook really dead?" The blonde asked.

    "Yes." Thrud nodded. "You are free to go."

    "Go where?" The brte replied. "We are orphans that he picked up like strays and that he raised as pets. There is no one waiting for us out there and we know nothing but magic."

    "Take this and make a life for yourself." Jormun handed to each one of them a bag full of gold. It was enough for them to live for decades without worries.

    "How is a bunch of metal supposed to help? How do we get food with this?" The blonde asked while making her bag jingle.

    From their puzzled look Thrud understood how literal the expression they had used to describe their ignorance was.

    "Do you know how to deal with babies?" Thrud said.

    "No. Syrook was only interested in partners that could help him to strengthen his bloodline and always left his failed experiments with their mothers." The brte replied.

    "Well, you need a ce to stay and I could use a couple of nannies. You''ll learn."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, a few dayster.

    Lith returned to his family as soon as thest rebel city surrendered and the sowing started without a hitch.

    "Thank you so much, son." Raaz hugged Lith as soon as he came out of the Warp Gate.

    He had been so worried about the oue of the mission that he had waited for Lith alone, to speak with him in private without worrying Elina.

    "I didn''t tell you because I didn''t want to put even more pressure on you, but I haven''t had a good night''s sleep ever since you told us that we couldn''t return to Lutia until we got our security detail back.

    "I know that a house and a bunch of cultivated fields are nothingpared to our lives, but it''s all I have left of my parents."

 Chapter 1667 - Source Of Power (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1667 - Source Of Power (Part 1)</h4>

    "Sark''s pce is the most beautiful ce I have ever seen, but I can''t stand the thought of living here. Lutia is the ce where I was born, where I met your mother, and where I hope that in a very distant future I''ll die surrounded by the love of my grandkids." Raaz said.

    "Don''t worry, Dad." Lith returned the embrace. "Rena gave you four grandkids and I''m certain that with a bit of effort Tista can give you just as many."

    "Don''t get smart with me, son, or the next time your mother gives you the speech I''ll side with her instead of you." Raaz said with an amiable tone while patting Lith''s back.

    "You wouldn''t dare." Lith looked him in the eyes while swallowing a lump of saliva.

    "Wee back, Solus. We all missed you a lot." Raaz dodged the question, sending a cold shiver down his son''s back.

    "Thanks, Dad. I missed you, too." She would have liked toe out of the stone ring and greet him properly, but she couldn''t.

    "Son, if you don''t mind, I''d like to go back to Lutia to instruct my farmhands about the sowing. With the ongoing famine, I''m thinking about focusing on strong crops that might sell for less but ensure a bountiful harvest in case of bad weather." Raaz didn''t ask her questions, but he worried for her nheless.

    After living with Lith and his lies for so long, Raaz knew that something was probably wrong with Solus and for some reason, she was hiding it from him.

    "Quantity over quality. It''s a good idea." Lith nodded. "Do you mind if Ie with you? I miss our vige and I''m eager to check if everything is alright."

    "Of course you can be my bodyguard." Raazughed. "Now stop wasting time with your old man and go clean yourself up. We''ll continue this talk after dinner."

    Lith Warped to the mana geyser inside Sark''s pce, allowing Solus to assume her tower form.

    "Fuck me sideways." He said once the transformation was over.

    The building was full of cracks and some of the windows were broken. The magical aura that usually gave the tower a majestic appearance despite its iplete form was gone as well, making it look like just a bunch of ruins.

    "What''s wrong with the tower?" Lith''s question received no answer. "Solus, are you okay?"

    He rushed inside, going straight to her room. The door was locked, making him sigh with relief and worry to death at the same time. Only Solus''s will could keep him out so she had to still have her body but there had to be a good reason if she didn''t want to let him see her.

    "Do you need help? Is there anything I can do for you or do you want me to leave?" He asked while knocking on the door.

    "Please,e in." She said with a deep sigh.

    The door opened, revealing Solus wearing a knee-length sleeveless summer dress. Usually Solus looked great in sky-blue, but now all Lith could see were the bruises on her arms and the deep wounds on her legs bleeding on the carpet.

    Even her face was ck and blue.

    "It seems that the damage on my human body reflects on the tower." She said with an apologetic tone as if it was her fault.

    Lith hugged her tightly, trying to use light magic first and then Invigoration to heal her, yet nothing worked.

    "How can you still be this hurt? We fought Quaron and Syrook days ago. You were supposed to have fully recovered. This has never happened before." Lith said.

    "Because I never fought in my human body before." She returned the embrace, feeling his warmth soothing her spirit while the direct contact elerated her healing.

    "During our walks in the Desert I started to fade when Icked energy, not because of the damage I took. After Zeska, I discovered that even though I can recover my magical power once I return in my ring, the same doesn''t happen to my body."

    Lith gently caressed her long hair, trying to make heads or tails of that situation. He could feel her wounds due to their bond, but what hurt him the most was the fact that she had dealt with such pain alone for so long.

    "Why didn''t you tell me?"

    "I didn''t want you to worry." Solus replied. "I guessed that only a mana geyser could heal me and I was certain that if you knew, you would have freaked out until you got me on one."

    "Can you me me for that?" Lith''s voice would have cracked if not for the joy of seeing her injuries heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    The bleedings had stopped while the violet of the bruises was turning into a healthy pink.

    "I can''t, but the fate of your family depended on your sess. I wanted you focused on the mission, not on a problem you couldn''t do anything about." She shook her head.

    "You are family, dummy, not a problem."

    Solus just smiled as they remained like that in silence, even after all of her wounds were gone. The tower had recovered along with her and now there was no trace left of the damages.

    "I don''t mind getting a bit hurt if it means that I get you to spoil me instead of working me to the bone like usual." Solus rubbed her face on his chest, appreciating Lith''s good smell.

    "If you want a break, just ask. I don''t want to see you hurt ever again." Lith replied with a snarl. "The only silver lining is that we learned something new about your condition and that you slimmed down a bit."

    He pinched Solus''s side to emphasize the point.

    "What?" The memories of the people of Zeska assuming she was pregnant made her blush.

    "Well, now that you have a real body you also need nutrients to heal. Why do you think I''m so fit? Between training and sparring, I burn a lot of calories."

    "Yeah, and "luckily" I have stored a lot of nutrients." She said after pushing him away.

    Lith had ruined the moment for her and Solus''s voice oozed so much sarcasm that he could almost hear the air quotes.

    "Indeed. Chubby Solus best Solus." Lith ignored her outrage and held her again.

    "I''m not chubby! I-" Between the honest joy in his voice and the pleasant feelings that she experienced, Solus''s rage disappeared. "I''m hungry."

    Her grumbling stomach matched her words.

    "Of course you are hungry. As we always say to our patients, healing requires a lot of energy." Lith let her go, giving Solus a chocte chips muffin that she wolfed down.

    "You don''t understand. I''ve never been hungry before." She said with a big smile and more crumbs on her face than on her dress.

    "It means that either you really need to exercise more or that you got one step closer to a normal human body!" Lith opened his arms, but this time she punched his shoulder.

    "Enough teasing me, you jerk!" She got up from her bed and walked briskly out of the tower.

    She wasn''t actually mad at him, just worried about a recurring feminine problem that she had perfect theoretical knowledge about but no practical memory.

 Chapter 1668 - Source Of Power (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1668 - Source Of Power (Part 2)</h4>

    All the members of the family were happy to see Lith and Solus again and asked them the details of the mission.

    "I''m so d nothing bad happened." Elina checked them both for injuries before hugging them. "Take the uniform off, dear. You are upsetting the guards."

    Sark''s servants were used to seeing Lith in his Tiamat form while he wore desert clothes. Seeing a pale man dressed in the colors of the Kingdom made them nervous.

    During dinner, Lith told them everything that had happened in Zeska. When he arrived at Solus''s brilliant ruse to reach the City Hall, she kindly stomped his foot as a friendly reminder to not mention the fake pregnancy.

    "What was that?" Rena asked after seeing a ripple in her wine and the chandeliers swinging.

    "I don''t know. There are no quakes in this part of the desert." Sark had a hard time repressing a chuckle. "Please, go on."

    At the part of the fight, Lith took a pause, asking the Guardian to send the servants away.

    "You don''t have to worry. They are all loyal and trustworthy." She said.

    "Not to me." Lith replied "I want to keep this conversation as private as possible, Grandma."

    "Fine. Everyone out." Lith had used the magic word, making Sark''s heart and feathers flutter.

    A pair of wings popped out of her back, pping with enthusiasm.

    "Do you want me to leave as well?" Friya asked while putting her cutlery on the te.

    "You can stay." Lith shook his head. "I trust both you and Faluel. On top of that, if you really want to be her Harbinger, you need to hear the rest of the story."

    Only once Sark sealed every entrance with her magic did he tell them about the Void mes, Captain Locrias, and about Quaron''s abilities.

    "I knew it!" The Overlord jumped from her seat and hugged him tight while kissing his head repeatedly. "You are not a lesser anything and this proves it."

    The rest of the family didn''t share her enthusiasm.

    Based on what they knew, everything rted to Chaos magic was bad news and they found the idea of Locrias'' restless soul to be still with them beyond creepy.

    "Can you show me?" Sark had noticed that her feelings about his newfound powers didn''t match Lith''s family''s, she just didn''t care.

    "Right here and now?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Don''t y coy with me, kid. You told me only because you have no idea how your bloodline abilities work and you want my advice." She replied with a sneer.

    "Guilty as charged." Lith said under the reproachful looks of his family. "But I won''t call upon Locrias. Disturbing his slumber for no reason would be in cruel. Dead or not, he''s still a person, not a tool."

    "Fine." While the others softened their gazes, finding Lith''s care noble, Sark deemed it annoying.

    She ced her hand on Lith''s shoulder and activated her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to study the phenomenon to the best of her abilities.

    Lith turned into his Tiamat form while retaining his human height, yet when he tried to breathe Void mes, nothing happened. Moving the ckness that surrounded his life force into the stars thatprised it turned out to be quite difficult.

    To make matters worse, he had never practiced shrinking his Voidfeather Dragon form so Sark had to erge the tent. The kids loved Lith''s new body, tugging at his feathers and scales while begging for a ride.

    The rest of the family, not so much.

    Ever since Lith had be a Tiamat, they had felt him bing more distant as if he hadn''t only lost his human body but part of his humanity as well. The Voidfeather Dragon had nothing human about it, making his family worry if the transformation would affect his mind even more.

    "I''ll try and keep it small, but I can''t make any promise." His voice was now more guttural and deep, sounding like he was speaking from deep within a cave and the echo carried the words outside.

    Sark used Spirit Magic to move everyone on his back.

    "The safest ce from a Dragon''s mes is not behind them but on them." She replied to their silent question.

    Lith breathed a small burst of Void mes on the ground that hit the protection of the pce, sizzling for a few seconds before disappearing.

    "Interesting." Sark said. "They work simrly to Origin mes yet they arepletely different."

    "What do you mean?" Lith turned his long neck behind, allowing the kids to pat his snout, to y with his fangs, and then teaching them Simon says by having Aran and Leria remember the order with which he lit his seven eyes.

    "Void mes have no other ability aside from destruction. They are faster but they can''t purify anything." She replied.

    "I''ve seen Sinmara and Xenagrosh produce Origin mes, but never something like this. Yet they have mastered respectively Darkness and Chaos. Why am I different?" Lith asked.

    "Because Sinmara is still a Phoenix. We can use darkness magic like nobody else but it''s not part of our life force. As for Xenagrosh, she''s an Abomination and her life force is wed.

    "Every time she uses Origin mes, she has to purge the Chaos out of her life force or it would destroy the bnce in the world energy. You, instead, can keep it stable by coating the spark of Chaos with your human life force." Sark said.

    "I what?" Lith turned toward her, focusing his full attention.

    "You heard me. The trick isn''t injecting Chaos. It would suck the light element out of the world energy and corrupt the darkness, making it turn against the remaining elements instead of the enemy." Sark caressed her womb, now certain that the baby would never be a Demon.

    It didn''tck only the Abomination side, but also the human.

    "To produce Void mes, you have your human side coat all the elemental aspects thatprise the world energy. This way, the beast side lights the world energy, the Abomination turns the darknessponent into Chaos while the human keeps the Chaos from affecting the other elements."

    "That''s why I failed before." Lith pondered. "In my Tiamat form I solely called upon the void of my life force while I should have also used the red threads."

    "Correct." She nodded. "Now turn back and let me study your feathered wing."

    Sark studied the runed feather with her breathing technique, but there was little she could understand without Lith activating his ability.

    "I''m sorry, I have no clue." She said after a while. "You can try and ask your grandfather. The Empire is beautiful this time of the year."

    Aran and Leria approved the idea, suggesting they could all go there riding Lith''s back. They were eager to meet Leegaain again and demand all the gifts they had missed during the years.

    Despite the distance, a cold shiver ran down the Father of all Dragon''s spine and one of his tools suddenly cracked for no reason.

    ''If I were a lesser and superstitious man, I''d think this is a bad omen.'' He shrugged and resumed his experiment.

    After dinner, the family split.

    Solus asked Elina to teach her how to cook, while the others went back to Lutia.. Friya would just stop by Faluel''sir before going back to her house.

 Chapter 1669 - Fields And Ovens (Part 1)

    <i>''It''s been too long since I heard from my sisters and judging by Dad''s gloomy tone, he''s still mad at Mom. Maybe now he has calmed down enough to talk about it.''</i> Friya thought.

    Rena and Senton wanted to check on Zekell and make sure that Leria would have all the support she needed. Ever since the copycat''s attack on Zinya''s house, the kids had refused to return to Lutia, bawling their eyes out in fear.

    Not even after Lith had them talking with Frey and Filia over themunication amulet and reassuring Aran and Leria that nothing bad had happened to their friends did they want to walk through the Warp Gate again.

    They would always start to cry, hugging their magical beasts, Abominus and Onyx, and shivering at the memory of the massacre.

    Now that enough time had passed, their parents hoped that the kids would find the strength to confront their fears.

    Senton didn''t like Leria refusing toe down from Abominus'' back in case she needed to retreat quickly nor the fact that she used her free hand to hold Lith''s instead of that of her own father.

    "Don''t take it personally, dear." Rena said while holding his arm. "When you have seen real monsters, it''s hard to inspire more confidence than a 20 meters tall Dragon."

    "Will you really let me ride on your back if Ie with you to Lutia, uncle Lith?" She looked at the Warp Gate as if untold horrors waited for her on the other side.

    "I promise." Lith replied. "And if anything goes wrong, I also promise to fly you back to Grandma."

    "I call dibs on the horns." Aran looked at the ripple in the dimensional energy while quaking in his pants, but he had his priorities straight.

    "I wanted to ride between the horns!" Leria protested.

    "You can stay between the feathers." He replied with defiance. "Horns are cool so they are a boy thing while feathers are soft, like a girl."

    "Mom, Aran is being mean!"

    "Thank the gods!" Rena raised her eyes to the heavens with gratitude. "We have yet to get there and things are already back to normal."

    The bickering intensified to the point that the kids didn''t notice being in Lutia until their steeds came out of the barn and a wind way too chilly to belong to the desert ruffled their hair.

    The group stopped to look at the familiarndscape while Lith used Life Vision to make sure they were actually alone.

    The grass had been regrown with magic, the holes in the ground had been filled, and even Zinya''s house had been rebuilt, leaving no trace of the fight.

    "Tezka?" Lith said after failing to find any trace of the Eldritch.

    No reply came and since there was also no sign of impending threats, he was the first to step outside the defensive arrays of the Verhen household.

    "Thank the gods you are back, Raaz." Bromann, one of the family''s oldest friends and head of the farmhands rushed toward them. "I''ve made sure that the army fixed the fields but after plowing and fertilizing them there wasn''t much we could do without you."

    He pointed at the men tending the fields that were long ready for the sowing.

    "There was a rumor saying that you had moved to the desert and wouldn''te back. Lots of people wanted to quit and search for new employment. It was hard to convince them to say, especially with the famine."

    "What do you mean?" Raaz had been too busy enjoying his vacation first and dealing with Aran''s traumater to worry about rumors.

    "This year people don''t want to be paid with money, but with food. An uncultivated field produces none and everyone is eager to stockpile enough to get us through the next winter." Bromann left out the part about him being one of them.

    He had stayed out of loyalty, but fear became stronger with every working day lost waiting for Raaz''s return.

    "There was even a rumor saying that the Crown would have seized your fields aspensation for the death of all those poor soldiers."

    "That''s just-" A friendly nudge from Rena reminded Raaz of the kids. "nonsense. I never nned to move out of the Kingdom and the Crown would never do that. Tell him, son."

    "Don''t worry, Bromann. The situation in Nestrar is solved and soon there will be no longer need to ration the food. I took care of that." Lith couldn''t share any detail of his work but he was allowed to wink.

    Bromann was a practical man and that was all he needed to know.

    "Thank the gods you are here, Lith." Bromann shook his hand with gratitude. "I wonder how would the Kingdom fare without you and that nice gentleman, Vastor. He took care of Zinya''s house andpensated everyone who got their property damaged."

    "The Kingdom has more than two Archmages and each one of us is doing their part." Lith was well-aware that ever since he had left his job as Ranger his contributions had been minimal.

    His recement had destroyed no Lost City during his tour, but the Ker region was as safe as always.

    "Puah!" Bromann spat on the floor. "A bunch of arrogant idiots who never did Lutia any good, unlike the two of you."

    "Bromann! Politics will not feed my family during winter!" One of the farmhands yelled and the others grumbled in annoyance.

    "Don''t worry, son. I''m safe here. You take the kids to see grandpa Zekell." Raaz said while caressing Aran''s head.

    "I''m not leaving you alone, Dad." He replied.

    "I''m not alone. There''s Bromann and my friends here." Raaz waved at the men in the fields. "Also there are people from the Queen''s corps hidden all around us and a Phoenix in my shadow."

    Actually, there were three. Sark didn''t half-ass the security detail of her guests.

    "Go and have some fun. I promise that I''ll be safe until your return."

    Only after they exchanged a pinky promise did Aran agree to leave.

    "Do you want to walk or Warp?" Lith asked.

    "Warp!" The kids replied in unison, eager to get to the safety of Lutia.

    "We''ll walk." Rena said. "I want to show you there''s nothing to be afraid of and see what''s changed since we have left."

    Lutia had gone from a small vige to a small city and was slowly expanding.

    Back when Lith was a kid, it would take half an hour to reach it but now after twenty minutes, they would enter Lutia''s outskirts.

    "What about the joyride?" Leria asked.

    "What would you do if a Dragon who isn''t your uncle flew over your house?" Lith replied.

    "I would invite them in since they are your rtive-"

    "I would hide in the basement and call for your help." Rena answered for her.

    "Exactly." Lith sighed at the little girl''s naivety. "Dragons are like people. Not all of them are good, like the one who I had to send to jail."

    In all of his stories, the bad guys like Syrook were sent to a vaguely descript and remote prison from which they would never be able to escape.

    The only thing the kids knew for sure was that gardening was an integral part of the rehabilitation program since ording to Lith, the bad guys spent their lifelong sentence pushing up daisies.

 Chapter 1670 - Fields And Ovens (Part 2)

    "Also, remember never to reveal my or aunt Solus''s secrets, or bad people like those who attacked you two wille for us." Lith said.

    "Sorry, Uncle. I promise I''ll be careful." Leria squeezed his hand, afraid that something might happen to Lith because of her big mouth.

    The kids had spent so much time in the Desert that they had forgotten that it was the only ce beside their home where they could talk freely about their odd family and friends.

    Lith checked the road ahead with Life Vision, noticing how many things had changed in thest neen years. The constant passage of the carriages between his house and the vige had smoothened the once rough path.

    In the distance, he could see new buildings being built over abandoned unfertilends. Sometimes, the silence was broken by the echo of a faint noise from Lutia that had been carried by the wind.

    "Gods, I can still remember when our vige was just a few dozen houses that you couldn''t see from the road until you almost got there. Now I can see the grey mass of the buildings from here and even hear its noise." Lith sounded like an old man even to himself.

    "Well, it''s not all that bad." Rena said. "Now instead of mud we have paved roads and when you go out for a romantic walk at night it doesn''t feel like a haunted vige anymore. There are enough establishments and lights to not make you feel alone."

    "Romantic?" Lith echoed with an amazed tone.

    "We are married, not dead. My life may not be as adventurous as yours but we never get bored." Senton grunted. "Speaking of boredom, Dad often whines about you not allowing merchants to use your Gate.

    "He says that otherwise Lutia would already be a middle-sized city."

    "I won''t sacrifice the safety and the privacy of my home in exchange of a few coins. Allowing people toe and go would endanger us all." Lith replied.

    "I know. I''m just trying to warn you. Dad loves you, but when ites to business, he can be really annoying." Now that Leria had rxed enough to stop clutching Abominus'' fur, Senton took her other hand, restoring his wounded fatherly pride.

    ***

    Heavenly Plume tribe, at the same time.

    Solus had no problem with the Desert''s heat, but for Elina using an oven during the day was akin to torture. The chilly nights instead were the perfect moment to ask for a cooking lesson and have a chat.

    Especially now that the children were away and wouldn''t barge in at any moment demanding attention. Also, Lith''s absence would make it easier for Solus to open up.

    "Are you alright, dear?" Elina asked while arranging the ingredients for the cookies on the table. "You weren''t as lively as usual during dinner and Raaz told me that you didn''t assume your human form upon your return."

    "I was just tired." Solus lied through her teeth. "I needed to rest a bit on the mana geyser to get my strength back."

    "Was it that bad that you feel the need to hide it from me?" Elina said.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about." Solus became beet red in embarrassment.

    "Solus, you may have learned many things by living with Lith over the years, but lying isn''t among them. You wince every time you lie and the moment someone calls it out you act all awkward." Elina sighed.

    "If you don''t want to talk about it just say it but please don''t treat me like a dumb kid. The gods know if I hadn''t had enough of that from Lith in the past and I probably still have."

    "I''m sorry." Solus turned around her head in shame and her eyes fell on the sugar bag. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

    "No, it''s not. You always wanted to learn how to cook and finally you have the time and the means to. It''s really easy, just follow the recipe and everything will be alright." Elina said.

    "That''s what I''m worried about. If I learn how to make my favorite sweets, I''ll be even fatter!"

    "What are you talking about? You are not fat, you are a lovely youngdy!"

    Solus sat on a chair and told Elina everything that had happened in Zeska, from her being mistaken for pregnant to the wounds that she had failed to heal until her return on the mana geyser.

    "That woman was very rude, but she was only concerned about you." Elina said while hugging Solus from behind. "I''m much more worried by the tower getting damaged. It holds your life force and without it, you would die.

    "How could the tower get cracked by a few hits of an Awakened? I thought it was nigh-indestructible."

    "Maybe in its full form, but right now the tower is just very sturdy. And that only as long as it''s fueled by a mana geyser. Without it, the tower has to consume the energy it stores and bes weaker with each second that I spend in human form.

    "I couldn''t heal because I''m not fully human, yet. This body is a product of the tower so once it loses too much energy, we both start to crumble. I''m just like a Horseman, but my power core needs much more energy than theirs to work. It''s not fair!" Solus sighed.

    "Life rarely is." Elina replied. "Look at the bright side. Now you know how it feels to be tired, hungry, and how fragile the life of a human is."

    "You say it like it''s a good thing, but aren''t those ws?" Solus replied.

    "Yes, but they are also what makes a living being different from a statue. You have spent years worrying whether you were a person or an enchanted piece of stone and know you know. I say that it''s worth celebrating instead of brooding." Elina said.

    "Thanks, Mom." Solus stood up, returning Elina''s embrace and melting her heart. "How do I prepare chocte chip cookies?"

    "You just need, flour, eggs, sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt." Elina put emphasis on thest word, remembering Solus'' stone cookies. "The chocte chips gost so we''ll worry about themter.

    "The trickiest part is the beginning since you can''t taste the dough until you are done."

    Solus followed her instructions, adding the butter and sugar to the flour and kneading them together before adding the eggs.

    "By the way, Mom, I still don''t have my period but-"

    "You what?" Elina froze while looking at Solus'' womb and counting in her head the days since Solus had gotten her human body back to see if the numbers added up.

    <i>''That woman in Zeska was right, yet it''s not even been a full month. How can the bun already be in the oven? Maybe it happened when she fused with Lith and it remained in stasis along her body!''</i> She inwardly promised never to underestimate a woman''s intuition again.

    "Okay, that came out wrong." Solus blushed up to her ears. "I meant that sooner orter I''ll regain my period as well and I want to be prepared."

    "Good gods, and here I thought that Lith was horrible with conversation starters. I need to sit down." Elina took a few deep breaths. "Don''t worry, dear. A woman''s period is nothingplicated.. We''ll talk about it as soon as my heart starts beating again."

 Chapter 1671 - Treacherous Seeds (Part 1)

    Vige of Lutia.

    Soon the kids felt reassured rather than intimidated by the familiar environment and they started to challenge each other with feats that their respective steeds had to perform.

    The magical beasts rolled their eyes but they were also happy to see their human friends back to their old selves.

    Lith was bored out of his skull and green with envy. Rena and Senton were really happy together, but all of their lovey-dovey routines reminded Lith of his condition as single.

    <i>''Back when I was a Ranger, I would have met with Kami after a big mission. I would have told her everything and she would have worried about me while I showed her the hologram of the fight as if its oue had yet to be determined.</i>

    <i>''I wonder what she is doing.''</i> He inwardly sighed as the couple nned to go on a vacation alone and leave the children with their grandparents.

    Having an Awakened in the family made them feel confident already but a Guardian that could bring them to their kids at any moment really took a burden off their chest.

    "Hello, Professor Vastor. How are you doing?" Less than ten minutes had passed and Lith was already sick and tired of being the third wheel.

    He had taken out hismunication amulet to break the istion with the excuse of getting updated about the situation in the north.

    "I''m green with envy!" Vastor replied.

    <i>''That makes the two of us.''</i> Lith thought.

    "I wish I was already back home like you but things gotplicated. There''s no rebellion here but wintersted too long. Food, wood, coal, you name it, theyck it. People are this close to rioting and it makes my work much more difficult."

    "What are you doing exactly?" Lith asked.

    "ssified, especially on a non-secure line. Let''s just say that someone exploited the situation for their own ends." Vastor replied.

    <i>''Either someone experimented with Forbidden Magic and tried to disguise their victims among those of the winter or the Undead Courts stole the corpses to raise soldiers to fill the ranks of their army. Whatever it is, it''s not good.''</i> Lith thought.

    "I can''t believe that Manohar and I are among the few Archmages that have yet toplete their mission. Maybe I''m getting old or maybe the idea of marrying again threw me off my game.

    "I never thought that Zinya would propose to me and now I''m scared to death at the idea of screwing things up again." Vastor would have dly fought a Dragon as well instead of facing the terror of the unknown.

    Lith was d that the poor man had no idea that their conversation wasn''t private. Rena, Senton, and even the kids had stopped their conversations to listen to Vastor''s story.

    "I''m sure that everything will be fine." Lith shushed Leria who wanted to chime in. "What were you saying about Manohar?"

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to burden you with my problems." Vastor said, thinking that Lith had changed to topic because he found it annoying. "Manohar''s situation is simr to that you faced."

    "Rebellious cities?"

    "No, only nobles. The odd thing is that at the time of the crimes, the culprits have a rock-solid alibi, yet there''s no doubt about their guilt." Vastor replied.

    "Okay, you lost me." Lith said and Rena nodded.

    "I wish I could tell you more, but the line isn''t secure and you are back to being a civilian." Vastor shrugged. "The only thing that I can tell you is that Manohar doesn''t seem to mind being forced to spend so much time working in the field.

    "On top of that, there are rumors about him being a regr customer of the red-light district."

    "Are we still talking about the same Manohar who throws a tantrum whenever he has to get out of hisb and that rejected countless marriage proposals?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "In the flesh. Now I got to go. Say hi to Kam for-" Vastor realized his blunder and hung up the call.

    The group reached the outskirts of Lutia a few minutester.

    Magicos were leveling the ground before workers couldy the foundations of the houses. Whenever they lost control of their spells, they would raise a cloud of dirt that the wind would scatter everywhere, making the neighbors curse their ancestors.

    "Big bro, what''s the difference between a small and a regr city?" Aran asked. To him, Lutia was big enough.

    "It''s a matter of size and poption. Only once Lutia grows so big that it will need nobles to administer it and a military trained city guard will it be considered a proper city." Lith replied.

    "But you are a noble, Uncle." Leria said.

    "In name only. Thesends don''t belong to me and I don''t meddle with the city''s affairs. It would take me too much time." Lith said.

    Zekell''s workshop was now split into three different single-floor buildings adjacent to each other. He had moved in a two-story house on the other side of the road to have his family nearby without the customers bothering them or mistaking them for clerks.

    Once he had owned only a small smithy beside his house, but between the money that he made by smelting magical metals for Lith and the constant need for supplies that the city''s growth required, he had been forced to expand his business.

    Zekell now the owner of a state-of-the-art smithy that he had entrusted to Senton, a goldsmith where he worked to keep himself busy, and of a shop from which he sold Lith''s creations like chessboards, strollers, and underwear.

    "About time." Zekell grunted.

    He was a short man in his mid-forties, about 1.62 meters (5''4") tall, with grey short hair and a finely trimmed short beard. During his youth, he had tried to grow them both but after one burn too many Zekell had resigned to the fact that long hair and high temperatures didn''t mix.

    He wore a white shirt stained with sweat despite the chilly air of the morning, a canvas apron over loose brown working pants, and an adjustable sses-like contraption on his head that allowed his old eyes to perform the finest incision on any metal.

    Despite his age, he had muscr arms and legs that barely fitted his loose clothes. Only his belly betrayed theck of exercise and the love for warm food and cold beer.

    "Look who has finally remembered that they have a job! Get changed before going to the smithy. You don''t want to ruin your fancy clothes."

    "Nice to see you too, Dad. I just came by to make sure you were okay. I''m still on vacation." Senton replied.

    "Vacation! Who do you think you are? A noble?" Zekell snarled.

    "I''ve never taken a day off in twenty-six years!" Senton snarled back.

    "Grandpa, can Dad stay with us in the Desert, please? I''m still scared at night." Leria asked with her big puppy eyes.

    "Of course, pumpkin." Zekell''s face and tone changedpletely when she entered the goldsmith. "It''s just that your Dad doesn''t call nor visit. He took all my beloved grandchildren away from me and grandpa feels so lonely."

    He lifted the little girl from Abominus''s back and hugged her tight.

 Chapter 1672 - Treacherous Seeds (Part 2)

    "Why didn''t youe with us, Grandpa?"

    "Because there''s no one I can trust to manage the shop in my absence. It''s a family business so it needs someone of the family to take care of it." Zekell threw a final reproachful look at Senton before turning to Lith.

    "It''s nice to have you back, even if just for a little while." The two men shook hands.

    The difference in treatment made the poor Senton wonder if he had been adopted.

    "Do you have new work for me? Because I have some for you. The stocks of chessboards are running low and once we sell thest pieces, we''ll leave the market open to counterfeits." Zekell handed Lith a report of the sales and an inventory of what was left.

    "Not now, sorry." Lith examined the numbers and was quite pleased of them. "As for the chessboards, I''ll send you a new batch as soon as possible. I can work on them even in the Desert so it shouldn''t take long."

    Everything was mass-produced in the Alchemicalb and enchanted in the Forge, requiring so little focus that usually Solus did it in her spare time.

    "Excellent." Zekell nodded. "You know, it''s too bad that you''re the only one who can use that Gate. If I had one of those keys, I could triple our profits simply by cutting on the transportation fees."

    "Yeah, but you would need to personally make every single trip through the Gate and you''d have a nice target on your back. If something happened to you, one of my enemies could imprint the key and use it." Lith replied.

    "Never mind, then." Zekell hated traveling and hated risking his life even more.

    ''There''s no point in making money that I can''t live to spend.'' He thought.

    Zekell invited them for lunch and they epted. They had just dined, but after not seeing each other for over a month they missed the old cksmith, even Senton.

    The family spent the time before closing to visit the new shops and establishments that had opened during their absence.

    Lith noticed that while the citizens of Lutia always gave him a warm smile and invited him to stay over, those who had recently moved there treated him coldly at best, whispering behind his back the moment he turned around.

    ''Who the heck are those guys? I don''t recognize half of them. I wish Solus was here. She would know whether I just forgot about them or if we actually never met.'' Lith thought.

    He noticed that the same people that treated him coldly would also look with fear at the magical beasts, forbidding them entrance.

    Rena noticed that the quality of the clothes had improved, but it was still a long shot from those that Lith bought them from the big cities. The quality of the toys disappointed the kids, but that was hardly a novelty.

    They were so used to enchanted items that no matter the craftsmanship, they would always find themcking.

    Lith went to pick up Raaz, but just like Rena, he refused to use a Warp Steps to reach their destination.

    "There''s still some time before noon and I''d rather have Zekell wait a few minutes than have this conversation in front of the kids." He said with a sigh while taking the old road to Lutia.

    "What''s wrong, Dad?" Lith asked.

    "I couldn''t stop thinking about what Bromann said so after I finished negotiating the new contracts with the farmhands and instructing them about the sowing, I called Count Jadon Lark." Raaz felt the need to call the new ruler of the Lustria County by name since the death of the old Count still pained his heart.

    "It seems that our honeymoon with Lutia''s citizens ended a while ago without us even noticing."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Son, this is a small vige. Gossip about who is cheating with who or about a merchant overpricing his goods are nothing to worry about while rumors about the seizing of fields are not." Raaz clenched his teeth so hard that he snarled rather than speak.

    "The famine is no different from the gue in Kandria. Farmers are always informed about the value of their crops and aim to make it big when such asions arise. Jadon confirmed to me that my suspicions were correct.

    "The new citizens of Lutia me you for the attack and resent you for keeping the Warp Gate for yourself so much that they exploited our absence to petition Jadon to take away mynds.

    "They imed that we had abandoned the Kingdom in its darkest hour and that with the current shortage of food there was no time to waste for my return."

    "They did what?" Lith seethed with anger, making the sky quake until Raaz patted his shoulder to calm him down.

    "Their argument was groundless but it made sense. Weren''t Jadon a friend, things might have gone differently. Once he said no, they petitioned Brinja, and when even that failed, the Royals."

    "Seriously?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Yes." Raaz nodded. "Not to brag, but your old man is the biggestndowner of the County. Nobles excluded, obviously. You have seen how desperate my farmhands are. Right now, crops are just crops, but if the famine endures, they will be worth more than gold.

    "Sure, the Royals would enforce fixed prices, but slipping a few sacks of food on the ck market can make a farmer earn with a single harvest more than they would in years. ording to Brinja, who defended my interests in front of the Court, it was the work of a small noble, Bar Hogum."

    "I remember him." Lith was surprised by how rage could jog even his Lich-like memory. They had met briefly during the g when Lark had introduced Lith to Mirim for the first time.

    The two youths had faced each other with magic and the final result had been an utter humiliation for the Bar.

    "The good news is that the Royals had him waiting in the bad antechamber for hours before dismissing him without even listening to Brinja''s counterarguments. The bad news is that they wouldn''t have even granted him audience if it wasn''t because the people of Lutia backed him." Raaz said.

    "Interesting." Lith sounded aloof, but his father could hear the cogs in his brain ticking like war drums.

    "Calm down, son." Raaz walked in front of Lith, to look him in the eyes while holding his shoulders.

    "You have every right to be angry and so do I, yet these are difficult times. At any other moment, I would have asked Zekell''s help and together we would have made those people have a hard time doing business.

    "Heck, I would have probably even exploited your and Jadon''s influence to screw them up good. Right now, however, messing with them means messing with the livelihood of countless people."

    "Give me one good reason why I should care." Lith said with a voice as cold as a death and eyes brimming with violet mana.

    "I''ll give you two. Because I care and because I raised you to be better than this." Raaz replied.

    Lith didn''t reply and soon they started walking again, this time in silence.

    "What if they make another attempt?" He asked after a while.

 Chapter 1673 - News From An Old Friend (Part 1)

    "There will be no second attempt." Raaz shook his head. "They would have never dared to make a move against me if not for our prolonged absence."

    "And my rocky rtionship with the Crown." Lith added the part that his father had left out not to make him feel responsible. "I''m not a kid, Dad. You don''t have to sugarcoat the truth for me."

    "Correct." Raaz nodded. "You may not be a kid, but you''ll always be my son. I know how heavy the burden you carry is despite all of your efforts to make it look as if it''s nothing. You can''t me me for trying to help you however I can."

    "Thanks, Dad." Lith said.

    Raaz heard those precious words so rarely that they moved him, making him wish he could do more. Yet he kept walking, pretending that nothing had happened.

    "Now that the sowing of my fields has started and with you being a hero again, making another move would be suicidal. Also, you have my word that if they do, I''ll not stand in your way. Being good is one thing, being stupid is another."

    After that, they didn''t say another word until they reached Zekell''s house.

    They spent lunch talking with the cksmith and telling him about all the marvels of the Desert while he brought Senton and Raaz up to speed about the most recent events.

    "I''m not going to lie, Lutia''s growth is good for business, but it''s also a pain in the ass." Zekell said after sending out the children to y. "The neers me Lith''s enemies? for everything that goes wrong with their business and consider him a threat to their safety."

    "This is ridiculous!" Raaz lost hisposure, forcing Lith to calm him down. "Lutia has one of the lowest crime rates in the County thanks to the Queen''s corps. It''s only thanks to Lith that no noble dares to bully us and that none of our caravans get attacked even outside the city.

    "Criminals are too afraid of retaliation from Lith or the army. On top of that, the Warp Gate in our barn allows the Kingdom to dispatch troops at a moment''s notice. Our vige- I mean, our city has never been safer!"

    "You are right, but the other merchants see the Warp Gate as another unfair advantage. They im that the least that Lith could do topensate Lutia for living under the constant threat of an attack is to share the Gate with everyone so that they can make up for their losses ." Zekell said.

    "What a bunch of ungrateful bastards!" Raaz snarled. "Son, I say it''s time we go back to the Desert, this ce is starting to sicken me. Don''t forget about the promise to the children, though. Go fetch our ride, we''ll wait here."

    Raaz threw at Lith a meaningful nce to which he responded with a nod.

    "I thought you brought the DoLorean with you." Zekell scratched his head in confusion. "Besides, Abominus and Onyx will never fit. Isn''t it better to just Warp?"

    "Not that kind of ride." Raaz said with a smug grin on his face. "You and your wife are invited."

    The cksmith had no idea what was happening, but after living for so long in Lutia he had stopped asking too many questions. After one surprise too many Zekell had grown numb to them.

    Or so he thought until the Voidfeather Dragonnded on luminous tforms that appeared a few meters above his workshop.

    His breath had the strength of a gust of wind and smelled of sulfur while his red scales glistened under the sun like giant rubies. The creature red upon the city with his seven eyes, spreading a subtle aura of terror that made it impossible to talk.

    "Get on. I don''t have all day." Lith, or better, his life-like hologram said from the Dragon''s back while sitting on a saddle and holding reins both made with Light Mastery.

    "What a magnificent beast." Like all the old inhabitants of Lutia, Zekell was unaffected by the aura of terror.

    He instinctively raised his hand to reach the creature and Lith gently lowered his snout to allow the cksmith to caress it.

    "Is it tame?" He asked.

    "No, but it owes me a couple of favors." The hologram said loud enough for everyone to hear.

    An esctor made of light appeared from the saddle and extended to the feet of the Verhen''s. The kids didn''t waste a second, running to the top of thedder without fear.

    Zekell looked his wife in the eyes for a second before asking:

    "Is it safe?"

    "What do you think?" Lith''s hologram replied while pointing at the kids sitting on the head of the beast, each one of them glued to a different horn.

    A barrier of light enveloped them and the seats they were strapped to.

    "Zekell Dragonrider is a heck of a name for a smithy." The cksmith managed to find to courage to use the esctor only because he was the only one still on the ground and because it would do wonders for the business.

    "Can I sell scale replicas of you in my shop?" He asked.

    "Which one?" The Dragon replied.

    "All of them. Dragon themed jewels for thedies, weapons for the men, and toys for the kids!" Thest part had Aran''s and Leria''s approval.

    "Fine, but I want my share." Lith said with a sigh.

    "Sure. I-"

    "Grandpa, we want to fly, not sit!" The kids yelled in unison.

    After everyone was safely strapped to their respective seat, Lith took off with a roar that made Lutia tremble. At first, Zekell and his wife thought they would die of fright but after nothing bad happened for a few seconds, fear gave way to the exhrating joy of flight.

    The barriers of light let in just enough wind to ruffle their hair and the Dragon moved as lithe and majestic as a hawk. The city of Lutia became smaller as Lith rose higher in the sky until they could see even Raaz''s house and the Trawn woods from above.

    They flew through the entire Lustria County and Lith made sure to pay Bar Hogum a visit. He circled several times above his mansion, releasing a powerful aura of fear with each roar until he could almost smell the piss from above.

    <i>''Once Hogum investigates the phenomenon, he''ll learn who the Dragon belongs to and will get his message. You touch my stuff, and I touch yours.''</i> Lith thought.

    ***

    Heavenly Plume Vige.

    Solus''s cookies were the best she had ever cooked, which wasn''t actually much but to her, they tasted like victory.

    <i>''Maybe starting my cooking lessons with sweets wasn''t such a good idea.''</i> She thought while patting her stomach. <i>''I need to diet and exercise if I want to lose weight.''</i>

    "You need a more delicate touch with the dough, dear." Elina said, dipping a cookie in milk to make it soft enough for human consumption. "If youpress it too much, instead of crunchy cookies you get cookie-shaped rocks."

    "Sorry, I''ll do better next time." Solus wolfed them down, instead.

    <i>''After everything I went through, I deserve a break. The diet can wait for tomorrow..''</i> She thought.

 Chapter 1674 - News From An Old Friend (Part 2)

    "Shouldn''t you leave some for the others?" Elina asked.

    "Nah, they are still too hard. It''s better to erase the evidence of this disaster and prepare a second batchter." Solus replied.

    "Isn''t it too much right after dinner?" Elina said.

    "I promise that I won''t touch them, Mom." Solus finished the cookies and stood up. "I''m going to my room if anyone looks for me."

    She Warped away, leaving Elina alone and sighing.

    "She could have at least walked. It''s no wonder that Solus gains weight if she doesn''t take a single step after eating a mountain of food."

    Solus Warped the tower to Lutia long enough to check that no one had left messages for her before moving to the borders of the Gorgon Empire and calling Nyka.

    <i>''Ever since we came to the Desert, I''ve been too busy to call her. On top of that, regr amulets don''t work from this distance so we could only talk through Council amulets when Lith and Ka were both avable.</i>

    <i>''I wonder how she''s doing.''</i> Solus thought, unaware of Elina''s worries.

    "Who the heck are you and how did you get your hands on my friend''s amulet?" Nyka''s joy at the sight of Solus''s rune blinking turned into rage when she didn''t recognize the person projected in the hologram.

    The Vampire had been risen by Ka with Necromancy just seven years ago, yet her body and mind were those of an adult.

    Nyka looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, around 1.7 meters (5''7") tall with emerald green eyes emphasized by her rosy skin. A vampire was pale only when unable to properly feed and that wasn''t her case.

    Her raven-ck hair looked almost blue and after her Awakening, Nyka had gained yellow and pitch-ck streaks typical of the elemental affinities of her species.

    She wasn''t a stunning beauty, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body lithe. Yet now it also twisted her face with fury as she bared her fangs and he eyes burned like embers.

    Nyka was so enraged that her slender fingers grew longer and her red-painted nails became sharp ws.

    "I am Solus and this is my amulet, dummy!"

    "Lies! She lives in the Kingdom and no regr amulet can reach my position. Also, she looks nothing like you." Nyka replied.

    "Tower Warp, remember? I know a lot of mana geysers from the time when Lith worked as a Ranger." Solus suddenly understood how Lith must have felt back when she had failed to recognize him.

    Right after she had regained her body, between the shock of the sudden change and the temporary disappearance of their mind link, it had taken him quite some effort to calm her down.

    "Okay, you know about the tower and about the Warp, but how do you exin the rest?" Nyka still didn''t believe her.

    "What rest? I''m finally human again and I wanted to share the good news with you." Solus cursed at her own stupidity, turning into a wisp, then into her energy body, and then into a human again.

    "This is amazing! I waited so long for this moment that I''m having a hard time believing it even though I''m seeing you with my own eyes." Nyka lost her feral features, jumping with joy like a child.

    "You have no idea how scared I was back when it happened. I had lost all of my powers and I couldn''t control-"

    "What do you mean, back when it happened? How long have you had your body back?" Nyka cut her short.

    "A bit less than a month ago." Solus lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "And you are telling me just now? What kind of friend does that?" Nyka replied. "That''s it, I invoke my right to kick your ass. Give me your coordinates right now!"

    "I''m really far away and undead are not very good with dimensional-" Solus attempted to say, but Nyka hung up the call the moment she learned the tower''s position.

    "At least at this longitude, it''s still night." She sighed. "There''s no risk Nyka gets harmed by sunlight."

    Solus released the Sentries to check the surroundings of the tower before lowering the cloaking array that made it invisible to the naked eye. She had just moved to the Mirror Hall when she heard someone knocking.

    "Solus!" Nyka expected her to be floating in mid-air like usual so her arms were a few dozen centimeters too high and hugged only air.

    "That''s the oddest kick-ass attempt I have ever seen." Solus embraced her friend. "I missed you and our talks a lot."

    "I couldn''t stay mad at you. I just wanted to see you in person." Nyka tried and failed to lift Solus to take a better look at her. "Nice rack, shortie."

    "How did you get here so quick?" Solus effortlessly lifted Nyka, spinning her around as if she was just a little girl.

    "I had help."

    "Long time no see, Solus." Ka the Wight had to shapeshift to pass through the door.

    Even though she looked like an undead, she was actually an Emperor Beast whose body had mutated to ept the massive amounts of darkness element that now reced part of her flesh.

    Her height at the withers was over 2.5 two meters (8''3") and her body was as big as a small house. Her skeleton still resembled that of a bear and the white bones glimpsed from time to time under the living shadow that made her skin.

    The red light that burned in her eyes could easily be mistaken for that of undead and she wore a pure white crystal the size of an apple on her neck.

    "Please, tell me that you''ve not turned yourself into a Lich." Solus let go of Nyka from the surprise while she was still spinning.

    The Vampire managed to avoid crashing against the wall only thanks to her agility,nding on her feet with a backflip.

    "I wish." The Wight sighed. "I have a long way to the bright blue and then I have to find a way to reach the violet."

    "Then why the crystal?" Solus asked.

    "I discovered that by making my phctery attuned with my life force, I can increase the chances of achieving Lichhood." Ka replied.

    "And I''m stuck. A little help here." The brown Byk following them was incapable of shapeshifting and passing through the door even though his size was way smaller than his mother.

    "What are you doing here, Nok?" Solus asked while erging the entrance. "No offense but you are the one I least expected to see."

    "None taken." The Byk replied. "I just couldn''t miss the opportunity to get some fresh air after months spent in a stinky cave."

    "The Eclipsed Lands don''t stink!" Nyka rebuked him.

    "Are you kidding me? Do you know what it means to live surrounded by the smell of blood and of dead flesh when you are on a strict diet? I couldn''t get the food out of my head because it was constantly in front of my eyes." Nok snorted.

    The word diet stung Solus, making her eager to change the topic.

    "It''s wonderful to have you all here.. I can finally introduce you to my family."

 Chapter 1675 - Overdue Meetings (Part 1)

    Solus Warped the tower back to the Desert where it was still the middle of the night, giving her all the time she needed to catch up with Nyka.

    They came out of the tower and walked towards the Verhen''s living quarters.

    "Oh my! Is it hot in here or is it just you, babe?" Nok said to Tista who was still forced to keep her Wyrmling Red Demon form.

    "Who is this creep?" She said while trying to push away the Byk who kept rubbing his snout on her feathered body.

    "This is my brother, Nok. My name is Nyka, nice to meet you. Any friend of Solus is a friend of mine." She gave Tista a deep bow.

    "I have no words to describe how beautiful you are." Nok''s hormones ravaged his brain as he smelled the closest thing to a magical beast that he encountered in months.

    "You are everything that I''ve dreamed to find in a mate, thick, strong and-"

    "Get your paws off me!" Tista shapeshifted back into her human form. "Nyka, it''s me."

    "First Solus and now you, too? Why does no one ever tell me anything?"

    "A human?" Nok half roared in outrage and half cried in desperation. "I finally found someone who is in heat as much as I am and it''s just a human woman?"

    "I''m not in heat!" Tista turned to a bright shade of purple as she hit the Byk''s head with all of her considerable strength, making him whimper more loudly.

    Truth to be told, Nok was wrong, her biology was still that of a woman. Yet he was also right since she felt very lonely.

    "What is all this ruckus?" Elina walked inside the tent, drawn by the noise and boredom.

    There was little she could do at night while waiting for the return of Raaz and the kids.

    "Mom, these are my friends Nyka, Nok, and-"

    "An undead has infiltrated the pce! Guards!" Elina yelled at the top of her lungs, cutting Solus short.

    She grabbed the first thing at hand, a chair, and used it to hit Ka on the head until it broke.

    "Nice to meet you. I''m Ka, Nyka''s mother." The Wight was used to misunderstandings so she introduced herself without defending herself from the blows.

    "Silly me." Elina dropped the chair and took a step back. "A chair can''t hurt an undead."

    "I beg to differ." Ka shook her head, falling into her old pedantic habits. "That piece of furniture was heavily enchanted and every hit was quite painful-"

    "But this can!" Elina took a spiked mace out of her dimensional item, crafted by Lith to be as light as a feather and yet to hit as hard as a wrecking ball.

    Nyka reacted by impulse, baring her fangs as she grabbed Elina''s wrist to keep her from hurting her mother. The Vampire also released invisible tendrils of mana that wrapped around Elina, freezing her in ce.

    Yet Elina replied with a mean left hook to Nyka''s jaw followed by a sweep of her right leg that sent the Vampire sprawling on the floor. No woman would survive bing the Spring Maiden of Lutia without learning a thing or two about self-defense.

    On top of that, her clothes were actually a body-enhancing full suit of purified Orichalcum armor that made its wearer immune to tier zero Spirit Magic and turned the fists of a 60-kilograms (134 pounds) woman into war hammers.

    "Guards! We are being overrun by the undead!"

    "Mom, stop! She is my friend!" Solus stopped the mace.

    "Mom, since when are you such a badass?" Tista blurted out.

    Several soldiers armed to the teeth emerged from as many Warp Steps, led by three Phoenixes that were in a hybrid form that resembled a feathered humanoid.

    Only after they apprehended and hogtied the intruders like prime roast did Elina feel safe enough to answer her daughter''s question.

    "Ever since I was left only with Arana and your father, I''ve had a lot of free time. After the first attack on our home, as soon as the members of the Queen''s corps came for lunch I asked Locrias to teach me the basics ofbat."

    "Lady Verhen, are you sure that''s the way you want to treat your guests?" A young soldier said.

    "What guests and why did it take you so long?" Elina clenched the grip of her mace to contain her fury.

    "Your Ladyship, this is the Overlord''s pce. Except for your private quarters every room is under surveince 24/7. We were immediately notified of the arrival of intruders but we didn''t react because they are Lord Verhen''s friends."

    "They are?" Elina was bbergasted.

    "That''s what I have been saying from the beginning!" Solus tried and failed to untie her guests. "If you knew they were harmless, why did you do this?"

    "To calm Lady Elina and end the conflict." One of the Phoenixes said with a male voice. "Can we free them and take our leave or do you want us to stay?"

    "Oh, dear." Elina looked at Ka who had not moved a muscle for the entire time and felt deeply ashamed of herself.

    Nok''s whimpering and whining made her feel even worse, thinking that the guards had beaten Solus''s guests into submission.? She had no idea that he was just in pain from Tista''s blow to the head.

    Elina helped to untie the Vampire, the Wight, and the Byk, and then apologized repeatedly, giving them deep bows.

    "Now that I take a good look at you, I recognize you from my son''s holograms. You must be Ka, Nyka, and Nok." She said, receiving a nod in reply. "Why did no one of you ever tell me they are undead?"

    "Actually, only Nyka is an undead." Tista said. "Also, we didn''t mention it because it didn''t seem relevant. We have friends of all races."

    "I''m very sorry for my unreasonable reaction." Elina nodded and gave Ka onest bow.

    "Please, don''t worry Elina. As a hybrid, I''m used to much worse and as a mother, I can understand the ferocity with which you defended your cubs from what you perceived as a threat. In your shoes, I would have done the same." The Wight said.

    "I''m a bit confused, though." Elina hoped that her questions wouldn''t overstep her boundaries. "If you are a bear¡­"

    "Wight."

    "And your son is another bear¡­"

    "Byk." Ka corrected Elina again.

    "Why is Nyka the only one in human form? Can''t you all shapeshift?" Elina asked.

    "That''s because Nyka is a human Vampire that I raised from the dead with Necromancy after killing her in order to torture her more." Ka''s calm voice coupled with her eerie appearance made her words sound utterly terrifying.

    "You did what?" Elina dragged Nyka behind her, to protect the youth from her insane parent.

    "Don''t worry, Elina. Mom did the right thing. Back then I was a ruthless killer for hire." Nyka said, trying to clear the misunderstanding.

    "Guards!" Elina pushed Nyka away and stood in front of Solus and Tista who facepalmed in unison.

    "I''m under the impression that our family''s history is upsetting your mother, Solus.." Ka kept mulling over what she had just said, finding nothing wrong with it.

 Chapter 1676 - Overdue Meetings (Part 2)

    "By the gods, Mom, shut up and let me do the talking!" Nok rolled over his back, exposing the soft fur of his belly to look as harmless as he could before exining the whole story from the beginning.

    "So you adopted Nyka once you understood that she had been reborn as an entirely new person." Elina said.

    "Correct." Ka nodded. "Do you mind offering me something to eat? Nurturing the crystal on my neck takes a lot of energy and being clobbered doesn''t help. Also, the kids have a lot of things to say to each other and I don''t want to embarrass them further with my presence."

    "Sure. Follow me to the kitchen. I''m sure we have many things to talk about." Elina said while making way to the pantry.

    "Food? Kitchen?" Nok''s stomach rumbled from all those emotions and the strict diet. "I think I''ll join you. I''m not interested in girls'' talk."

    The three of them walked away while the girls went to Solus''s room, taking a bath in the hot springs that Sark had given to each one of her guests in the ce of a bathtub.

    Tista told Nyka about how after reaching the blue core she had be a Wyrmling as well and how she had been struggling with her newfound double nature. Then, it was Solus''s turn to share with her friend everything that had happened since the events in Lightkeep.

    "Wow!" The Vampire said with a face that didn''t match her words. "You girls are boring. After all this time, all you have to talk about is work? I wonder who among us is really dead and who is alive!"

    Nyka then told them about how after moving to Lightkeep she had met lots of people, both living and undead, spending most of her free time at social events.

    "I have a boyfriend now." She said, puffing her chest out with pride.

    "Is he nice?" Tista was sick and tired of the handsome yet obnoxious men she had met in the Awakenedmunity.

    "Is it serious?" Solus asked.

    "Respectively yes and no." Nyka replied, conjuring a life-sized image of her boyfriend from the gurgling water.

    It took the semnce of a man with the features typical of the Griffon Kingdom. He was as tall as Nyka and had a kind yet sad look in his eyes.

    "Ikaros is a nice guy, but I don''t think our rtionship willst." Nyka shrugged. "He''s a thrall waiting to be turned into a Banshee and I bet that once it happens, he will be too busy learning how to control his powers and hunger to care about me.

    "On top of that, I don''t mind a Banshee''s flirty attitude in a friend, but if it was my boyfriend, I''d kick his ass before dumping him."

    "Then why are you dating him?" Solus asked.

    "Because I have to start from somewhere and I''m tired of being alone. What about you two? Did you meet someone interesting?" Nyka said.

    "No." Solus replied.

    "I wish." Tista groaned.

    "How is it even possible? Tista, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met and you, Solus, finally have your body back while Lith is single. Why didn''t you ask him already to get his magical sword inside your enchanted cave and drive out the evil Dragon?" Nyka asked, making Solus turn to a bright shade of purple.

    "What the heck is the Dragon supposed to be in this metaphor?" Tistaughed at Solus''s expense while she plunged into the water to hide her face.

    "I have no idea. It just sounded fitting." Nyka replied and Tistaughed harder.

    "You''ve got nothing tough about, young Lady. At least Solus has only been back in the game for less than one month and she still has lots of limitations. What''s your excuse?"

    "I got plenty. I live in the shadow of my brother, there''s a madman targeting our friends-"

    "That''s bullshit and you know it. I mean the real reason." Nyka cut her short.

    "First, I had trouble finding a boyfriend because they only cared either about my body or getting close to Lith." Tista sighed. "I had ced my hopes in the Awakenedmunity, but after our bloodline became of public dominion, they treat me like a breeding ground.

    "I''ve just gone from being surrounded by gold diggers to baby diggers. I''m sick and tired of being approached by people that want something from me instead of just being interested in me. How the heck did Lith find someone like Kam?"

    "By getting his ass out there and taking risks!" Nyka said. "I can''t believe that I, the youngest of the group, have to teach you the ropes."

    Tista hid in the water as well, dipping up to her mouth.

    "Speaking of risks, Solus, you''ve know Lith for a long time and you two even fused more than once. Have you tried walking in his room wearing nothing but a smile? I''m sure it-"

    "How''s dion''s investigation going?" Solus said, eager to change the topic.

    "Not well. Ever since you guys left Lightkeep, he has been rarely at home. He stayed only long enough to Awaken me and teach me the basics of Blood Magic. Then he sent me to the academy and went out in search for the copycat." Nyka said.

    "Thest time I heard from him, he said to be close to the solution."

    ***

    Valeron, Knight''s Guard Headquarters.

    After Quy''s staged death and filing for divorce, it had taken a long while for Lord Ernas to go back to a semnce of normality.

    Time had failed to heal the wounds that Jirni, the person Orion had always thought that he would spend his whole life with, had inflicted upon him by breaching his trust in such a cruel way.

    Alcohol had only made it worse and so did loneliness. Yet with all the troubles that gued the Kingdom, the Royals had soon needed his help and Orion''s sense of duty managed to give him the strength to escape his slow spiraling into depression.

    He spent so much time working to keep his mind busy that he hadn''t seen his children in weeks. When Phloria walked into his office at the Knight''s Guard, he didn''t even notice it was her.

    "About time. I''m almost done with the paperwork. What''s our next assignment?" He barely raised his eyes enough to look at the neer''s boots and assumed that it was his secretary.

    "What about lunch with a beautifuldy?"

    "How many times do I have to tell you that I''m not interested in blind dates, Drowald? Stop trying to fix me- My little Flower!" He stood up from his chair and went to give his daughter a proper wee.

    "Hi, Dad." Phloria chuckled. "What about that lunch?"

    "I''m in a bit of a tight schedule, but I think I can squeeze the time for a quick meal." Orion looked at her with pride.

    Phloria was supposed to have already reached her prime yet he could feel just by her handshake that she had grown stronger from thest time they had met.. She had also be cuter, but to his fatherly eyes, she had always been the most beautiful girl on Mogar so the change only made her fit better to the image Orion had of her.

 Chapter 1677 - Overdue Meetings (Part 3)

    Phloria was a very tall woman by Mogar''s standards, 1.8 meters (5''11") tall. She had the lean yet muscr build of a professional swimmer, olive-colored skin, and hazel eyes.

    After Awakening, her waist-long unruly hair had be naturally straight, silky, and so ck that they almost looked blue under the sunlight. Body refining had also perfectly harmonized her muscles with her physique, giving her gentler features and a more feminine appearance.

    "Dad, you look terrible. You need to sit down, enjoy some good food, and rest a bit. When was thest time that you slept in your bed?"

    Orion Ernas was a man in his mid-forties, over 1.96 meters (6''5") tall with ck hair and brown eyes. The military training and the constant use of powerful spells as a Forgemaster had tempered his body, giving him toned muscles that made his uniform fit like a glove.

    Even though Lith rejuvenated his body regrly, Orion had now some wrinkles around temples and bags under his eyes. He had yet to shave for the day and his stubble made him look even more tired than he actually was.

    "I don''t have time to-" Orion''s words died in his throat when he looked into Phloria''s eyes and saw how worried she was. "A few weeks ago."

    "And I bet that you worked non-stop since you left the house. Dad, you need to take care of yourself."

    Orion was an adult man and one of the most influential people of the Kingdom, yet it would always take his daughter just a few words to make him feel like a dumb kid. Ever since he had got three of them, every time he looked at himself through their eyes he felt as if he was facing a court martial.

    "Fine. Let me treat you to something better than the army canteen." Orion said while offering her his arm.

    "Really? Then maybe I can tempt you with a nap." She replied while walking arm in arm.

    "Maybe."

    Orion brought her to the Phoenix''s Nest, one of the best restaurants of the capitol where the Ernas couple had a table always reserved. It was located in front of a panoramic window with a view into the inner garden of the establishment.

    It allowed the customers to dine while enjoying the songs of the many birds that inhabited the ce and the smell of the freshly watered flowers. Their table was also more spaced from the others, giving them privacy.

    During the day, when most of the customers would be high officials of the Kingdom instead of couples, the Phoenix''s Nest used enchanted tables that kept the conversations from being overheard.

    Orion ordered a pint of dark beer, a fillet steak with green pepper sauce, spiced potatoes, and a vegetable cream for fibers. Phloria ordered the same and forbade the waiter to bring any alcohol to the table.

    House Ernas had spent a small fortune to repair all the damage caused by Orion''s drunken outbursts and throwing another in a public ce would have destroyed more than furniture, it would have ruined Orion''s career.

    He grunted, steeling his gaze and preparing to give her a piece of his mind.

    Then their eyes met and he was back on the stand of the court martial, reading a long list of charges of his own making.

    They ate slowly, chatting only about the most insignificant details of their lives. Yet that moment of respite spent not worrying about what had happened but appreciating what he had, reminded Orion of how much he missed dining with his family.

    Of how much he missed Jirni''s nagging at him to be back home for every meal so that they could always spend some time together, no matter how heavy their workload was.

    He pushed that painful memory away and kept only the warmth that his daughter had gifted him with.

    "Thanks for being here with me, little Flower." Orion extended his hand and held Phloria''s who was thankful for the table''s Hush zone.

    "Don''t mention it, Dad. Also please stop calling me like that in public. It''s embarrassing."

    "I''m a lonely old man without a single grandchild. How can you be so cruel to take away from me the little joy I have left in life?" He said, trying to make her feel guilty for being still unmarried despite being already 22 years old.

    "Gunyin gave you three already, Tulion-"

    "Don''t mention that name!" Orion snarled.

    His phnderer second born was unmarried as well, yet he had quite the number of children from several different women. It caused the Ernas household great embarrassment and the need to give each one of them a minor noble title.

    The children still carried the blood and the magical potential of the Ernas. Even though their father didn''t feel responsible for them, Orion did. He made sure that they would grow up to a far cry better than Tulion.

    "Fine. As for my sisters and I, it''s hard to find a date when your father first locks you up for months and then heins the moment you start to date. Let Quy go out more often and maybe she could give you a cute little grandchild." Phloria said.

    "My little girl with that long-haired hobo?" Orion turned pale at the mention of Morok Eari, the creepy ex-Ranger that courted his youngest daughter. "With that haircut and his poor manners, he''s a disgrace for the army. Quy cand do better than him!"

    "Yeah, right. Because Great Mages that don''t just aim to exploit the Ernas household grow on trees. I know something about it." Phloria said with a sigh.

    "I''m sorry, little Flower. I didn''t mean to remind you of that Kallion asshole."

    "It''s in the past, Dad." Phloria shook her head. "I''ve gotten more pressing problems in the present to worry about him."

    "Is it something wrong with Lith? With your apprenticeship with the Hydra? Do you have a new boyfriend?" Orion asked, his voice increasing in intensity the uglier his hypotheses became.

    "Wow, that escted quickly." She chuckled. "At least you didn''t ask me if I''m pregnant."

    ''Nah, you would have mentioned that earlier instead of defending that Morok.'' Orion thought.

    "I think you heard about what''s happening with the Royal Court." Phloria said.

    "You have to be a little more specific than that. Thrud? Undead? Famine? Political ys?" Orion sighed.

    "A little bit of everything. The Kingdom is in dire straits to the point that the Royals have recalled in service every single Archmage, even Onia, the former Headmistress of the ck Griffon academy.

    "I want to help, but after everything that Deirus and his aplices did to me with theplicity of the army, I don''t trust anyone anymore." Phloria said.

    "Your sentiment is noble and your caution most sound." Orion nodded for her to continue.

    "The Royal Court has already forced Lith back in the field iming that he has done nothing for the Kingdom after his retirement from the army. It''s only a matter of time before they turn against me as well.

    "I''m going to beat them to the punch and volunteer for a mission.. This way the reputation of the Ernas will be safe and none of our opponents will be able to use me against Gunyin in the Court."

 Chapter 1678 - Overdue Meetings (Part 4)

    "I have already found the perfect opportunity, but I need to work with amanding officer I can trust. You." Phloria said while looking at him straight in the eyes.

    "I''m so proud of you, my little Flower. It will be an honor for me to help you defend our country and our household." Orion was overjoyed at the idea of working with his daughter.

    Phloria had worked hard every day since she was six years old to be a Mage Knight good enough to join the Knight''s Guard and work with her old man. She had given up on everything to pursue that dream, only for it to be crushed by Deirus'' schemes.

    Orion hoped that the mission would give Phloria the opportunity to reconsider her decision of quitting the army and to him a way to spend some time with his family without having to think about Jirni.

    ***

    Valeron, Royal Constable''s Headquarters. At the same time.

    After staging Quy''s death and being served divorce papers, it had taken a short while for Lady Ernas to go back to her usual self.

    Or at least to pretend to.

    Under her impable manners, her perfect hair, and pristine uniform Jirni was still as shocked as the day Orion had kicked her out of their house. She had built her whole life around the family she had raised and without it, there was only a void inside of her.

    She had thought of countless schemes that would give her old life back to her. Yet they were all based on deception and maniption.? Those schemes would give her what she wanted but not the way she wanted it.

    The love and trust of her family would hang by a web of lies that if discovered, would cost her everything and this time for good.

    Her mood was terrible, but aside from those unlucky enough to end up with her inside an interrogation room, no one had noticed it. Jirni''s spirit may have been bent, but her discipline was as adamant as always.

    She had stopped drinking a week before going back to work and she hadn''t touched a drop ever since. Whenever she felt the need to drink or to hit someone, she hit the gym instead.

    Yet she refused to be called with her maiden''s name, Myrok, until the divorce was officially concluded.

    Archon Jirni Ernas was a petite woman, barely 1.52 cm (5'') tall. She was wearing her dark blue military uniform that emphasized blonde hair that extended mid-way down her back and her sapphire blue eyes.

    She was in her early forties, but thanks to Manohar''s rejuvenation and good genes it was hard to think her a day past thirty. Her hair was perfectly curled, framing her face like she had been taken out of a painting and giving her the allure of a mature yet youthful woman.

    Many had mistaken her lovely appearance for her real self and most of them had died for it.

    "What''s next on the agenda, Captain Yehval?" Due to her role as Archon and the crises affecting the Kingdom, Jirni was forced to spend most of her time in the office instead of on the field.

    She supervised the work of the other Royal Constables, helping them to follow their leads or to find new ones when they were slumped in a case.

    "Next you have lunch, sir." Kam replied. "I already filled your morning report and revised for you those that were still on your desk while you debriefed the Royals about the famine investigation."

    She was a woman in herte twenties, about 1.74 meters (5''9") tall with long ck hair held up in a ponytail and almond shaped brown eyes. Before her break up with Lith she had a slender figure that made her deep-blue Constable uniform look a bit loose.

    Yet now she hit the gym with Jirni so often that her clothes had be tight fitting.

    "You are a gift from the gods, Kam." Lady Ernas said after making sure that they were alone. "I don''t mind the paperwork but these days it''s all I do. If I keep being stuck inside this office for one more week, I''ll escape like a Manohar just to feel the thrill of the chase again."

    "If that''s how you feel, then you are going to like your next scheduled meeting." Kam said.

    "Didn''t you just say that I''m free for lunch?" Jirni was about to question Kam more when she opened the door of the office, letting their guest in.

    "I''m your next appointment. I hope that you don''t mind having lunch with me, Mom." Quy said. "Please, don''t get angry with Kam. I asked her to surprise you and she had to jump through several loops to buy us a few hours."

    After not seeing nor hearing from her daughter for months, the sight of her smile made Jirni''s heart skip a beat. Quy wasn''t angry at her, quite the contrary she seemed genuinely happy.

    Jirni felt her eyes be watery but she suppressed it before anyone could notice.

    "I''d love to have lunch with you." She offered Quy her hand but she walked past it and hugged Jirni instead.

    "I missed you, Mom. We all did."

    Jirni froze up for a second before finding the strength to return the embrace without her voice cracking.

    "Thank you for this magnificent present, Kam. Lith was an asshole for keeping secrets with you. He doesn''t deserve someone as special as you."

    <i>''I guess Jirni/Mom must be out of her mind from joy to say such a thing since she did exactly the same thing.''</i> Quy and Kam thought in unison.

    Quy brought Jirni to the Griffon Peak, one of the best restaurants in Valeron. It was located atop one of the highest buildings of the city and it was famous both for the food and its panoramic veranda.

    Jirni couldn''t talk about her work just like Quy couldn''t tell her about Faluel''s lessons and her studies to be an Awakened despite her violet mana core. Yet they had so much to say to each other that by the end of the lunch they had barely scraped the surface.

    "I''m d to hear that you and your sisters are alright." After calming down, Jirni had noticed that something was off with Quy, but she didn''t mention it to not ruin the moment.

    "Well, it would be strange otherwise. Phloria trains all day, Friya is under the roof of a huge-ass Phoenix, and Dad freaks out the moment I try to step out of the protective arrays of house Ernas." Quy sighed.

    "What about your second date with that Moron Eari?" Jirni inhaled sharply while pronouncing that name wrong on purpose, to make the ex-Ranger sound as dumb as he looked.

    "It''s Morok, Mom." Quy chuckled. "And it went well, thank you. So did the third and the fourth."

    "The fourth?" Jirni tried to sound casual, yet her voice came out as a death rattle at the thought of what that number might imply.

    "With you gone and Dad out of the house, I just asked Morok toe over. The Ernas Mansion is so big that even I don''t know most of it. We explored it together during our dates.." Quy said.

 Chapter 1679 - Family Meeting (Part 1)

    "Excellent thinking. I''m proud of you." Jirni said.

    <i>''Just when I thought that things couldn''t get any worse.''</i> She actually thought.

    Jirni could easily picture two young and bored people "exploring" the house.

    "Thanks, Mom. Your approval means the world to me." Quy said, obtaining a whimper in reply. "That said, I want to be fully honest with you. I didn''te here just for a meal. I need your help with something important."

    Suddenly everything made sense and Jirni''s mind pieced together all the elements of the puzzle.

    "What can I do for you?" She asked anyway with a warm smile on her face despite the knot in her stomach.

    "With all the recent chaos, the Kingdom had to call Manohar back in the field. Professor Marth can''t leave the White Griffon without putting the lives of all those who live there and received a Balkor card at risk.

    "Lith is unavable and quite pissed off with the Royals for threatening his family which leaves me as the sole candidate as Manohar''s assistant. I''ve tried my best, but he''s harder to predict and does more damage than a Blinking fireball.

    "This is my only opportunity to make up with the Kingdom for quitting my job as Assistant Professor and maybe even be a Great Mage." Quy said.

    "Indeed. By volunteering, you have saved the Ernas household from further embarrassment. On top of that, whatever mission requires Manohar must be big enough for you to achieve plenty of merits." Jirni pondered out loud.

    "The crazier he behaves, the more relevant your contribution will be and in turn the payoff. Let me guess, you want my help to keep him in line."

    "Yes." Quy nodded, making Jirni inwardly sigh in relief.

    She would rather spend a month working with the Mad Professor than tell her estranged husband about Quy''s rtionship with Morok and deal with its potential consequences.

    Morok Ernas. Just thinking the name made the food in her stomach take a second tour of her throat.

    "Kam told me how much you want to leave your office. This would be the perfect opportunity to spend some time together and to get you back in the field, two birds with one stone." Quy said.

    "I don''t think that the Royals will agree with this n but I''ll call in as many favors as I need to make it happen." Jirni replied.

    "They already gave their approval." Quy pushed a document bearing the Royal Seal on the table. "They refused at first, but then I pointed out that both you and they owe me that much for ''killing'' me."

    "You have guilt tripped the Royals and me into doing your bidding." Jirni was moved to tears again, but this time she didn''t hold them back. "I couldn''t be more proud of you, pumpkin."

    "Thanks, I guess." Quy knew that her mother used such words as apliment yet they still stung at her conscience.

    "Since when are you close with Kam?" Jirni asked, realizing the role that her assistant had yed to bring the ploy to fruition.

    "Since Lith introduced her to us during your birthday." Quy replied. "Also, even though we have been mad at you, we never stopped worrying about you and that damned Balkor card.

    "We kept in touch with Kam the whole time to make sure that you were alright."

    "I was right. Lith is an asshole and that poor woman deserves better." Jirni said with a hup.

    "Mom, not to ruin this moment, but-"

    "I know. The kettle called and said that he wants the pot to stop calling him ck." Jirni cut her short, regaining herposure. "When do we leave?"

    "Tomorrow. I took into ount that if you epted to help me, you''d need some time to arrange the work in the office during your absence."

    "If I epted?" Jirni echoed.

    Not even an Archon could defy a Royal Order. With that piece of paper, Quy might have ordered Jirni to jump and she''d have to ask how high.

    "Yes. I wouldn''t force you to do anything you don''t want to do, Mom. I just want to try and mend our rtionship, if you allow me to."

    Jirni was at loss for words so she simply nodded.

    <i>''I swear that as long as I draw breath, I won''t betray my family''s trust again.''</i> She thought as the void inside her heart was filled by the missing piece that she thought was lost to her forever.

    ***

    Zedken Region, city of Ruham, the following day.

    "Good gods, my little Flower, why didn''t you tell me yesterday that we have to deal with both the enemies of the Kingdom and Manohar?" Orion walked with fury at the idea of having to bear with the Mad Professor''s antics for days.

    His armor clinked at every step as if someone was shaking a sack filled with coins.

    "For thest time, stop calling me like that in public!" Phloria scolded him. "Besides, what was the first thing you taught me about the Knight''s Guard? The who, where, and what are irrelevant¡­"

    "The only thing that matters is the mission." Orionpleted the phrase for her with a grunt. "By the way, you look lovely in the uniform."

    "Thanks, Dad. The receptionist, the data analyst, and that cute Lieutenant we met earlier must agree with you since they slipped me their contact rune. Too bad they were all women!" Phloria snarled.

    All the members of the Knight''s Guard wore a full suit of light armor made of Adamant that covered them from neck to toe, leaving only the head exposed. Both father and daughter sported a surcoat with the colors of the Kingdom, silver and gold.

    They also bore the insignia of the Royal Family on their shoulders and chest. It depicted a triangr shield with on its center a prancing griffon wearing a crown on its head and holding two scepters in its front ws.

    One scepter represented the authority of the Royals over the Mage Association and the other over the army.

    Phloria wore Orion''s magical pin that rolled andpressed her hair, turning her do into a pixie cut. Long hair was nice to look at, but for a fighter, it was nothing but a nuisance.

    Thebined effect of the armor, her height, and the pin made her look like a young officer with delicate but beautiful features.

    "That''s nonsense! Only an idiot would mistake you for a man. It''s just that you are so gorgeous that no one is immune to your charms." Orion said.

    "Thanks, Dad, but from now let me do the talking. At least I sure don''t sound like a man." She grumbled.

    They reached their destination, the private apartments of Krishna Manohar. The god of healing, the Never Magus, and the Royal Pain were only the most polite among the many nicknames he had earned during the years.

    He was a man in his early thirties, about 1.74 meters (5''9") tall with ck hair streaked silver. Thanks to his slender build and white uniform, he appeared to be slightly taller.

    A stubble at least three days old was the sign of how busy he had been during thest few days dodging those that were supposed to make him behave.

 Chapter 1680 - Family Meeting (Part 2)

    "It''s always a pleasure to meet an alumnus of the White Griffon, no matter how unsessful they have be." He said while extending his hand to Phloria first and Orionter. "You have grown into a fine mage, Lieutenant Colonel Beanpole."

    "Thanks." She replied with a voice that carried the warmth of an ice age.

    "Nice to meet you again, Jirni''s plus one."

    "For the umpteenth time, I have a name!" Orion tried to crush Manohar''s hand but no matter how hard he tried, the god of healing didn''t even flinch.

    <i>''He sure is stronger than he looks.''</i> Orion thought.

    "And I''m too busy to remember something as insignificant as a name so I call things as I see them." The Mad Professor had long since learned to keep a hard-light construct over his hand during greetings.

    Petty people always held petty grudges for petty reasons.

    "Then you have to fix your eyes because we are divorcing." Orion said.

    "Congrattions!" Manohar patted him with such obnoxious honesty that only years of discipline kept Orion''s hands off the god of healing''s neck. "I was certain that no man could bear that hag forever.

    "Let''s toast to your new life as a single man."

    Manohar offered him a drink that Orion poured into a nearby decorative potted nt that shapeshifted in front of his astonished eyes into a catatonic frog.

    "Interesting. I didn''t expect it to work even on nts, but there are side effects when it''s not used on animals." Manohar poked the creature multiple times but obtained no reaction.

    "What in the gods'' name was in that ss?" Orion put his hand on the hilt of the de in outrage.

    "Compound 54. It''s supposed to make humans-"

    "I meant why did you give it to me?" Orion cut him short, d that every single note of the army regarding Manohar mentioned to never ept food or drinks from him and to consume only meals preserved inside one''s own dimensional amulet.

    "To get rid of the two of you, of course." The Never Magus couldn''t believe that Jirni''s plus one was stupid enough to need an exnation for the obvious. "Beanpole here would have been too busy taking care of you to notice my escape."

    "What would have happened to my father?" Phloria pointed her estoc, Reaver, at Manohar''s throat.

    Yet instead of showing fear or remorse, he exploited the opportunity to study the Forgemastering techniques of the Ernas legacy with his spells.

    "Nothing much. He would have just fallen into a deep slumber for a few minutes before-" The frog turned back into a nt, except now it was bright pink.

    Then it exploded, filling the air with fragments no bigger than confetti.

    "Did you just try and kill a member of the Knight''s Guard?" Phloria was there for less than five minutes and she was already sick of him.

    "Of course not! That potion wasn''t intended for nts and, as I said, at this stage of development side effects are to be expected. After all, Alchemy is a little more art than science." Manohar said.

    "That''s the definition of cooking, not Alchemy!" Phloria said while Orion had to use every ounce of his considerable strength to keep her from ruining her future with a charge for manughter.

    At that point, he didn''t care for Manohar''s life more than for that of a rabid opossum.

    "Alchemy, cooking, who cares? My point was to get out of here before-"

    The door opened again and this time Archon Ernas and Assistant Professor Ernas walked in.

    "Orion, Phloria! What are you doing here?" Jirni dropped the uniform hat that she carried in her arm from the surprise.

    "Jirni, Quy! What does this mean?" Orion let go of Phloria who mmed against the wall.

    "Manohar!" Manohar said in outrage.

    The only thing that he hated more than being forced to work was being ignored.

    "Shut up and sit down while the adults talk!" Jirni''s re reminded him of his mother, Sitri, and scared Manohar to death.

    "Yes, Mom. I mean, Mo''om. I mean, Ma''am." He sat down quietly, hoping it wouldn''t end like that time when he was still a young boy and had decided to find a way to destroy the lost cities for good.

    His mother, Sitri, had been surprised when a Constable had knocked to her door, looking for her still eight years old child. The man had sat at their kitchen table along with mother and son.

    Then, he had exined as calmly and politely as he could that even though the Kingdom appreciated the promising youth''s sentiment, kidnapping and sacrificing the neighbors, no matter how obnoxious he considered them, it was still an act of forbidden magic.

    The child''s many inquiries at the local school of magic had raised more gs than a Royal parade, alerting the authorities.

    After Sitri learned how her son had nned to turn her toolshed into a Lost Toolshed to study the phenomenon up close, she had spanked him so hard that Manohar could see her hand in his nightmares.

    It took Orion a second to notice that Quy and Phloria weren''t surprised in the least by the allegedly unexpected development and to draw his conclusions.

    "Phloria Rose Terra Ernas, you owe me an exnation!"

    "What exnation? Since both of you are too stubborn to make the first move, we arranged this mission so that you can finally talk. I can''t stand seeing you suffering any longer." Usually, when Orion used her middle names, Phloria knew she was in trouble.

    Yet this time he wasn''t ashamed of her actions.

    "You lied to me and manipted me to bring me here. You two are just like your mother!"

    "Thanks." Phloria and Quy replied in unison.

    "Why are you thanking me? I''m scolding you." Orion was so shocked that he had to sit down.

    "Mom is a beautiful, cunning, badass woman. Your words are apliment to us." Quy said with a shrug, making Jirni blush with joy.

    "Quy Nimea Daphne Ernas, you lied to me and manipted me to bring me here. I''m so proud of you." Jirni hit Manohar in the middle of the forehead to make him faint and keep him from escaping while she was busy hugging her daughter.

    "Mom, I don''t have middle names." Quy said in confusion.

    "You actually do." Orion said. "After thest g, we decided that even though we are not your biological parents, we are still your family. So we gave you the middle names that we had agreed upon in the case we had a second daughter."

    At those words, Quy started sobbing and held Jirni tight.

    "We decided to keep it a secret and surprise you during your next birthday, but with everything that happened, you didn''t want to celebrate and at that point, the divorce had already started." Jirni said.

    "Thank you, Mom." Quy released Jirni and hugged Orion. "Thank you, Dad."

    "There''s no need to thank us, little one. We gave you middles names also because they make scolding you much more effective. Also, I''m still mad at you." Yet his words and his tone didn''t match as he caressed Quy''s head.

    Phloria joined them in the embrace, sniffling a little, and so did Jirni after striking several of Manohar''s nerve clusters for good measure, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

 Chapter 1681 - Family Meeting (Part 3)

    Orion didn''tin about his daughters abusing his trust nor about Jirni taking part in the group hug. He could see how worried his little girls were and how happy having both of their parents in the same room made them.

    "Girls, I understand why you did this, but the matters between your mother and I cannot be solved just by talking while sitting at a table and drinking tea." Orion broke the embrace and took a couple of steps back to look Jirni in the eyes.

    "You can''t bandage a deep wound and wait for it to heal. It remains hidden from sight, but it keeps bleeding and festering. On top of that, a Royal mission is hardly the ce to discuss our marriage problems, especially in front of Manohar!"

    He pointed at the god of healing who had been making retching sounds ever since he had regained consciousness.

    "I know that, Dad." Phloria said while keeping an eye on Manohar who was slowly regaining his mobility. "I just wanted you two to meet in the hope that by spending enough time together you can at least build a small bridge over the abyss that Mom created with her schemes."

    Orion remained silent. Phloria had already admitted that he wasn''t responsible for the situation which didn''t leave him much to say, at least in the presence of his daughters.

    <i>''The problem here is that this time I didn''t do anything wrong. Jirni kept me out of the loop and let me grieve Quy''s fake death like a moron because she considers my love for our children a weakness. I can''t trust a person like that and without trust, there''s no rtionship.''</i> He thought.

    "Is the mission real or is it a ruse as well?" Orion said after moving his gaze onto Phloria.

    "It''s very real and it''s also as good as solved." Manohar jumped up.

    "Then why are we here?" Jirni asked. "The Royals wouldn''t waste our time like this if not for a good reason."

    "Because there are still a couple of details to clear up and because they don''t trust my methods." He replied with an annoyed snort.

    "Professor, keep up like this and your next title will be the god of understatements." Quy said. "In theory, the case is open and shut just like the Professor said, but reality begs to differ.

    "A few weeks ago, a surprise inspection revealed that some of the most powerful artifacts in the capital''s armory have gone missing. The Kingdom opened a secret investigation in order to not alert the culprit in the hope they have yet to escape.

    "As you know, an armory is hidden and protected, but it doesn''t require imprinting to be opened because the City Lord might die or be kidnapped during a time of crisis, which would leave the city undefended.

    "All the city''s officials with high enough clearance can open it. On the other hand, however, anyone who knows where it is and how to open the armory can ess it at any time."

    "Still, only a handful of people have the codes so the number of suspects should be very small. You said weeks ago. How can the case not have been solved already?" Jirni asked.

    "Herees the problem and why they sent me." Manohar said. "What anyone who isn''t a Royal Forgemaster ignores is that even though those locks can''t recognize the magical imprint, they keep a log of who sessfully opens them and when.

    "Each official is given a different entry code to avoid foul y. The Royal Forgemaster who came here before me discovered that the code belonged to the City Lord, Marquis Beilin.

    "Yet he had a rock solid alibi since at the moment of the theft he was attending a party in front of several witnesses.

    "To make matters worse, while trying to discover if the Marquis was a willing aplice or if there was a leak in the security of his household, the stolen weapons have been put back in their ce by using a different code."

    "I can understand a traitor, but two?" Orion was bbergasted.

    "And herees the worst part." Manohar red at his audience. He hated being interrupted.

    "This time not only did Countess Metra, the noblewoman holding the second code, have a rock solid alibi as well, but one of the city guards ims to have seen her leaving the building at the time of the crime."

    "Maybe it was just someone looking like her or disguised as her." Phloria shrugged.

    "No, because he saw Metraing out of her own office, which needs imprinting. Yet the people who went with the Countess to the city gardens on that very same night swear that it was her and not a body double." Manohar shook his head

    "They can''t be all her aplices nor can an impersonator fool nobles and servants that have known Metra for years."

    "A shapeshifter?" Quy blurted out in surprise.

    She was aware that Emperor Beasts and Awakened could freely change their appearance, but for regr people, it was just a myth.

    Manohar didn''t know about it, but being capable of shapeshifting himself, he knew that there had to be at least a few non-idiot mages out there capable of doing the same.

    It was the secret behind his many sessful escapes and he wanted to keep it that way.

    "That''s my hypothesis and the Royals agree with me." He nodded. "They sent me here to make sure that the two nobles weren''t under the effect of the Golden Griffon''s ve spell and to capture the shapeshifter.

    "Arresting the culprits would be easy, but we have no idea what they used the weapons for. On top of that, there is no telling if they are actually responsible or if they are just being framed.

    "Worst case scenario, we are dealing with a creature that can imitate not only a person''s physical appearance, but also their magical imprint."

    "The existence of such a person wouldpromise the entire security of the Kingdom!" Suddenly Orion''s marriage problems took second ce. "That''s why you are still here. What I don''t get is why we are here."

    Manohar was the best diagnostician of the Kingdom and the leading expert in the field of life forces. He was the most suitable person to recognize a shapeshifter in disguise, no matter how good their ability was.

    "The nobles have already been interrogated and examined multiple times with no sess. On top of that, there have been more cases of people being seen in two different ces at the same time." Phloria said.

    "Dad, our task is to use the city arrays to track and find the shapeshifter. Mom, your task is to keep the Professor under control and help him to investigate the two nobles."

    "The Royals don''t trust me just because I told them that the best way to find our guy is to put Ruham on lockdown and to let me experiment- I mean, use my potions." Manohar said with a scoff.

    "That''s a ridiculous idea." Jirni said.. "Taking a whole city hostage to search for someone who might not be here anymore would set a very dangerous precedent and undermine the trust in the Royals."

 Chapter 1682 - Family Meeting (Part 4)

    "Our mission is to apprehend the shapeshifter, dead or alive, in order to understand the scope of their ability and find out who their aplices are." Phloria said. "The key is to not alert our suspects or our target will just be a face in the crowd."

    "Manohar, you are a Royal Forgemaster and have been here for a while. What have you discovered so far?" Orion asked.

    "I examined everyone in the Metra and the Beilin households, yet I found no trace of ve items, spells, or suspicious life forces." Manohar said, leaving them bbergasted.

    A single noble household wasprised of hundreds of people, yet he had managed to meet them all without even being recognized since the news of the god of healing harassing people would have made the headlines.

    "The ess logs to the city mainframe were of no use. I couldn''t reveal their existence and then ask those who used the codes where they were at all given times without making the investigation public."

    "So, you''ve got nothing." Jirni racked her brain trying to find a way to lure the shapeshifter in the open.

    "No, I''ve got a lot on my te." Manohar sneered at theirck of faith. "During my stay in Ruham, I increased the security and kept an eye on the armory logs.

    "With the dimensional sealing arrays surrounding the City Hall, no one can use dimensional amulets and anyone carrying weapons in public will hardly go unnoticed.

    "Our culprit has taken another set of artifacts and we just have to wait for the moment they bring the weapons back to catch them."

    "Excellent news." Orion nodded. "Yet we only have one shot at this. If we fail the shapeshifter will run away and catching them will be impossible. Also, in the meantime, we have to understand how long this has been going on and the role of all those involved.

    "The moment our trap goes off, the aplices of the shapeshifter will either run away or be killed to tie up the loose ends, leaving us no way to understand what happened and if it might be happening in other cities as well."

    The group spent the rest of the morning nning their next move and the afternoon getting familiar with the Ruham.

    Orion and Phloria had been called as Manohar''s bodyguards under the pretense that someone had attempted on his life. They followed him everywhere, having the opportunity to study the City Hall and to be introduced to the officials who worked there without arousing suspicions.

    Jirni and Quy, instead, had to keep their presence hidden.

    The arrival of an Archon right after that of an Archmage would have been impossible to exin. Jirni had several aliases and disguises but she preferred toy low and study the bigger picture from her hotel room.

    "How is Friya doing? I haven''t heard from her ever since I left the house and yesterday you''ve have been vague about her whereabouts." She asked while passing all the logs to Kam while she checked the personal files of Ruham''s upper echelons.

    Kam''s years as a data analyst made her a valuable asset when working on numbers and even though it wasn''t the same as meeting them in person, Jirni could still learn a few things about the city nobles by running deep background checks on them.

    "Well, she''ll be here for dinner. We nned this together, you know?" Quy said.

    "That''s not what I asked you and you know it."

    "She went to the Desert with Lith." Quy swallowed a lump of saliva in embarrassment.

    "Alone? Right after he broke up with Kam?" Jirni''s words made her poor assistant on the other side of the amulet freeze up for a second. "Is there something going on between them?"

    "No way." Quy couldn''t tell her mother about Solus or about Sark teaching Forgemastery to Lith withoutpromising his position with the Kingdom even further. "She went there just to spend some time away from you and Dad."

    "With all the ces in the world why the Desert?" The excuse was asme as it sounded.

    "Because she wanted to visit the homnd of a guy she likes." Quy said the first thing that came to her mind.

    Jirni could tell from Quy''s tense expression and bodynguage that it was either a lie or that she was still hiding something important from her.

    "Really? A guy from the Desert? What''s his name?"

    "Nalrond."

    "Nalrond who?"

    "Just Nalrond." Quy suddenly realized she knew nothing about the Rezar but his name.

    "Amoner from the Desert? Seriously? Is he at least a good mage?" The good news was that now Jirni understood why Friya had gone to the Desert and why Quy had lied about it.

    A noblewoman dating amoner was romantic only in theatrical ys. In real life, it would have brought the Ernas household great embarrassment.

    <i>''I bet that this Nalrond is there with her, showing Friya his "house" just like Quy did with Morok.''</i> Jirni just wanted her daughters to be happy but at that point, she had almost resigned to Friya being a more considerate version of Tulion.

    "Very good. He''s a Light Master." Quy bit her tongue at the idea of revealing such a secret, but there wasn''t anything else that she could tell her mother about Nalrond to impress her.

    Telling her mother that he was good with children and worked as a nanny for Selia would have forced Friya to lick the spoon with which Quy had stirred that pot of bullshit.

    "Finally, some good news. Tell me more about him."

    ***

    The first family dinner in months was incredibly awkward. Not only because Orion refused to look at Jirni or even to talk with her, but also because Manohar was there.

    After what had almost happened to Orion during the morning, everyone stared at Manohar''s nimble hands as if they were venomous snakes, keeping their tes as far away from him as possible.

    "It''s good to see you again, Mom." Friya said with a dazzling smile that only made Jirni grow more suspicious.

    Friya was usually the grumpiest of the three and that unusual behavior together with her tanned skin had to mean something.

    She was a gorgeous 22 years old woman, 1.67 meters (5''6") tall, with long silky ck hair that framed her delicate visage, emphasizing her light chestnut eyes and her fair skin.

    Her soft curves and ample bosom were so voluptuous that not even the loose adventurer''s clothes she wore could hide them more than a passing cloud could eclipse the sun.

    She was also the only dimensional mage of her generation, which along with her beauty and noble family made her one of the most coveted maidens of the Kingdom. In theory, she was supposed to be the easiest to marry, but after several bad experiences, she had be wary of both men and women.

    If Jirni, or anyone else for that matters, were to discover that after being Awakened she had turned out to possess the six elemental streaks in her hair that she was now hiding with Body Sculpting, it would have given her a stroke.

    Bearing the blessing of all the six gods of magic made Friya a worthy Queen candidate and proved a raw talent on par with Sylpha if not even legendary figures like Lochra Silverwing.

 Chapter 1683 - Strange Allies (Part 1)

    "Thanks, dear. It''s good to see you, too. How did your trip to the Blood Desert go?" Jirni asked.

    "Same old, same old." Manohar said with a sigh. "It''s too hot, the people are too cranky, but at least the food is great and the kids love me."

    "Were you a guest of Overlord Sark as well?" Friya was too surprised by the revtion to care about the Mad Professor hijacking the conversation.

    "In her dreams." He replied with the modesty of a male peacock during the mating season. "I go there for the same reason I go to any other ce. Work. I have several side projects with both your father and Ily-"

    A prompt kick from under the table stopped him before he could mention the god of death and Jirni''s re did the rest.

    "Ilyana, a very nice Royal Forgemaster who''s madly in love with me." Before someone could ask him any other question, Manohar stuffed his face with food.

    "What were you saying, dear?" Orion moved the attention back on Friya and nudged the god of healing, praying that his big mouth wouldn''t cost them a charge for high treason.

    "The ce was great. Sark is an amazing host and as the Professor said, once you ovee the cultural shock, the food is amazing. I wouldn''t mind living there." She said.

    "I hope that Nalrond behaved like a gentleman." Jirni said while studying her daughter''s reaction.

    "He didn''te with us. Nalrond has too many sad memories of- Wait a minute how do you know about him?"

    "Who''s Nalrond?" Orion asked.

    "The new guy our daughter is dating. Don''t you know anything that happens inside your house, Lord Ernas?" Jirni felt a tinge of pleasure seeing her husband spit his food back into his te as he became pale as a ghost.

    Friya spitting her food as well and turning beet red was expected, but Phloria joining her not so much.

    "Since when?" Phloria blurted out.

    It took Quy a quick mind link from her wand to exin what was happening before the situation spiraled out of control.

    <i>''I''m going to kill you for this!''</i> Friya said.

    <i>''I''m sorry, but it was either this or Mom asking you if you were trying to catch Lith on the rebound.''</i> Quy said, making her sisters choke on the water they were using to wash their mouths after the incident.

    "Good gods! Can I invite my mother for lunch tomorrow?" Manohar asked. "She always nags at me that I have no table manners but once she sees you, she''ll understand how lucky she is to have a son like me."

    "Friya, who is this man and why haven''t I never heard about him before? Don''t tell me that you have fallen for the charms of azy bum like Morok?" Orion said.

    "He''s not azy bum!" Quy said in outrage.

    "Oh, really? What does he do, exactly?"

    She couldn''t tell him about Morok''s apprenticeship under Ajatar nor that he was still trying to avoid his father, Glemos. Friya, instead, knew that Jirni would spot any half-assed lie and kept her mouth shut.

    "I knew it." Orion sighed, assuming that the silence of his daughters meant that he had struck a nerve. "You know what? I don''t care. As long as you are happy, I am happy."

    <i>''None of their previous boyfriends stuck for long and with a bit of luck, those two won''t be any different.''</i> He actually thought.

    The rest of the dinner passed awkwardly until everyone lost their appetite and they brought Friya up to speed.

    "Damn, this is a hot mess. I came here to deal with our family''s crap, not with the Kingdom''s." She said. "Luckily for you, I''m great at tailing people and very few know my face."

    Unlike her sisters, Friya had never been famous after graduating from the White Griffon academy.

    Everyone knew Phloria for her trial that hadsted for over one year while Quy was renowned for her contribution to foiling the return of the Odi during the disastrous expedition of Kh.

    "No offense, dear, but with a figure like yours and with dimensional magic sealed, it''s hard for a woman like you to go unnoticed." Jirni said.

    "Don''t worry about that, Mom. As a mercenary, I''ve learned plenty of tricks to deal with situations like this." Friya couldn''t tell them that by using Body Sculpting to shapeshift and Spirit Magic to move around, she had no such problem.

    Orion and Jirni looked at her with worry but said nothing.

    "When do we start?"

    "Tomorrow." Manohar said. "We have already linked the arrays of the City Hall to a silent rm that will alert us in the case someone gets in, but I doubt something will happen.

    "The weapons always get stolen and returned during a social event, when the nobles can give each other an alibi and the security around the city isxer because the guards are focused on maintaining the order in the streets."

    "Giving parties during a famine is like pping the poor people in the face. It''s no wonder they riot." Friya''s upper lips curled up in disgust.

    "Or maybe it''s just a brilliant ruse of our shapeshifter to have everyone look in the wrong direction while they enact their n." Jirni said.

    ***

    Over a mana geyser at the borders of the Nestrar Region, Golden Griffon academy.

    Thrud Griffon, the Mad Queen, was still busy collecting and taking inventory of the spoils from the cities her men had infiltrated and from Syrook''sir when Sevenus alerted her of the presence of an intruder that had managed to slip past her guards.

    The Headmaster of the lost academy was also its living core. Every piece of stone and ss of the academy was his eyes and ears, making it impossible for anyone to escape his detection the moment they stepped inside the Golden Griffon.

    "Just one?" Thrud was more curious than worried.

    She had scouts watching all the nearby cities to be prepared to move the moment an unusual number of troops was mobilized and her men had yet to report anything.

    "Yes, my liege." Sevenus said. "I''ve already checked the premises of the academy and sent more scouts without finding any trace of an army waiting in ambush."

    "Good." She replied, leaving him bbergasted.

    Their position was supposed to be a secret and even killing the intruder might not be enough to keep the news from spreading.

    "Make a straight corridor so that they can reach my throne room quickly."

    The Headmaster had no idea what she was nning, but obeyed nheless.

    The intruder turned out to be a man in his mid-twenties, 1.82 (6'') tall, with the muscr build of an athlete, ck hair, and brown eyes. He wore a full suit of armor made of ck crystals that left only his face exposed.

    His features were handsome, but the cruel light in his eyes and the arrogance of his gait as he walked along the corridors like a conqueror taking a look at his newly acquired possessions made the members of Thrud''s court dislike him at first sight.

    He even dared to give the Mad Queen a simple nod of the head as a greeting, treating her like a peer instead of the master of the Golden Griffon.

 Chapter 1684 - Strange Allies (Part 2)

    "Nice ce you got here." Orpal said while actually looking in contempt at the bare stone pirs and theck of high-end furniture of the throne room. "Yet your men made a sloppy job hiding their movements. Following them here wasn''t that hard."

    "Meln Narchat. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Thrud didn''t flinch at his words whereas the mention of the name that had been forced upon him after being disowned made him angry.

    "My name is Orpal and how do you know who I am?" He said with anger.

    "In this ce, I give the orders." A speck of white light flicked in Thrud''s eyes, sending a powerful wave of killing intent and Spirit Magic that pushed her unruly guest down.

    Orpal used every ounce of his considerable power and will to resist, yet he found himself kneeling and with his forehead against the ground just a couple of secondster.

    <i>''That bitch! She used her own power instead of the academy''s arrays just to humiliate me.''</i> He thought.

    <i>''Thrud is just trying to get under your skin to not make you think clearly and get the upper hand in our negotiations. Guess what? She seeded because you are a hot-headed idiot.''</i> Night said with a sneer.

    <i>''She has no idea why we are here!''</i>

    <i>''Really? I guess it''s just a coincidence that she knows your name and that she has yet to try to kill us despite your charming introduction. Sit back and learn.''</i>

    Orpal''s body shapeshifted as the Horseman took the wheel.

    Night looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.70 meters (5''7") tall, with ebony skin that seemed to devour all light and sensual full lips. She had silver waist-long hair and round eyes without pupils that shone like moons with effort as she slowly raised her head.

    "Finally the person I wanted to talk to." Thrud released the pressure, allowing Night to stand up.

    "I guess that what they say about the power of the white core is true." The Horseman gave the Mad Queen a deep bow but refused to kneel. "I''m Night, Queen of the Undead Courts and I''vee here to offer you an alliance, Your Majesty."

    "State your terms." Thrud didn''t like someone else calling themselves Queen, but arranging that meeting had cost her too much effort to let such a petty thought interfere with her n.

    She had sent a few of her Emperor Beasts to trade gold for information in the establishments of the Dawn Court spread in the region.

    Every time the undead tried to follow them they would disappear with Spirit Magic, but a smart person could guess the general position of the academy based on the details that they had ''let slip'' during their stay in the cities and from the questions they asked.

    "As you know, the Undead Courts are at war with the three great countries, and things aren''t going well for me. My siblings have disappeared and our recent failure in taking down the Griffon Kingdom cost the lives of too many undead, leaving my forces crippled." Night said.

    "You are not doing a good job at selling yourself." Thrud said. "I already know of your foolish attempts to conquer Garlen and how your ploys have been foiled time and time again.

    "Bying here alone, you are just proving that you are too arrogant and stupid to be of any value to me."

    "Quite the contrary, my Queen." Night shook her head, making her silver hair dance like moonlight on a waterfall. "I''ve shown you how resourceful I am bying here. I just admitted my faults, proving to you that I''ve learned from my mistakes.

    "Last, but not least, I''m not really here."

    Thrud sent her breathing technique, Regal Flow, through the ground, discovering that the thing in front of her wasn''t the real Night, just one of her Chosen whose appearance and powers had been altered by the prism in their chest.

    "Continue." Feeling reassured not to be dealing with an idiot, Thrud smiled.

    "As I was saying, it will take time for the Undead Courts to regain their strength, but we still have more than enough to help you in your endeavor. For the right price, of course." Night said.

    "Help me how?"

    "I know that you have infiltrated some of your people in the cities of the neighboring regions, but once the real conflict begins, they will not be enough. You carry the stigma of your father''s madness and the people of the Kingdom will fight you to the bitter end." Night said.

    "On top of that, even if you win, how do you n on running your domain? Brute force can only bring you so far. What you need is a way to increase your reputation and capable administrators, and I can offer them both.

    "Undead are universally despised and by bing our sworn enemy and saving people you can be a hero in the eyes of your subjects. Also, the Undead Courts are deeply rooted in the nobility.

    "If you win, my thralls will help you during the transition from the old to the new regime and teach your loyalists the ropes. On top of that, the presence of my undead will keep your people on their toes.

    "If we continue our "hostilities" even after you take the throne, your subjects will be too busy defending from us and too reliant on your protection to think about rebelling."

    "Yours is a nice offer, but you have yet to state your price." Thrud nodded.

    She had lured Night there not only to test her wits, but also to make a few experiments. As they spoke, the Unwavering Loyalty array of the Golden Griffon was attacking the life force of the Chosen non-stop.

    "My services don''te cheap." Night said. "I want a ce in your Court once this is done. I want the help of your men to conduct my business during daylight. I want the secret of the white core and I want Lith Verhen dead!"

    "The first two requests are reasonable." Thrud replied. "The third is uneptable and the fourth just proves that you need a new host. You have nothing valuable to offer me in exchange for the white core and Verhen is not worth the effort that killing him requires.

    "He''s aligned with the Kingdom and has strong backers in the Beast Council. Taking him down would take an unknown amount of resources away from more important targets and might have dire consequences once his allies seek revenge."

    To Thrud, Lith was a powerful and resourceful pawn of her enemies, but a pawn nheless. She had no idea of the role he had yed in Othre and by helping Scarlett to kill Xedros, Lith had actually helped Thrud.

    To her eyes, his only achievement was to have beaten Jormun''s ass despite the huge gap in experience and equipment.

    "I''m sorry, but you are wrong again." Night replied. "I can offer you to study my steed, Moonlight. Can you imagine the power that your army would wield if all of your generals had their own portable mage tower?"

    At those words, Thrud''s eyes opened wide.. If she managed to mass-produce the Horsemen''s steeds, then her n to conquer the entire Garlen continent wouldn''t be just a pipe dream anymore.

 Chapter 1685 - Truth Among Lies (Part 1)

    "As for Verhen, you should better not underestimate him. He has already destroyed two lost cities and there''s no guarantee that the Golden Griffon won''t end up being the third if your enemies hire him for the job." Just by looking at Thrud''s frown, Night knew to have her full attention.

    The Mad Queen had countless pawns and contingency ns in ce, yet if anything happened to the Golden Griffon, they would all crumble along with her ambitions of conquest.

    Lith was the only man to have ever achieved the impossible, not once but twice. Lost Cities were supposed to be eternal and yet they had fallen.

    <i>''I thought it was Orpal''s obsession to outshine his brother talking, but she made a point. Verhen already entered and escaped Sevenus'' office, something not even Jormun managed to do.''</i> Thrud thought.

    "Besides, I said that I want Verhen dead, not that either of us has to dirty their hands. Here is my n¡­" The Horseman smiled like a kid pulling the wings out of a butterfly just to see what would happen.

    Once she was done, the Mad Queen wasn''t just convinced, she was impressed.

    "We have a deal." She sealed the pact with a handshake before starting to discuss its terms in detail with the Horseman.

    <i>''My Queen, that''s a reckless choice.''</i> Sevenus said via a mind link and Jormun agreed.<i> ''You can teach her the secret of the white core in a few sentences whereas there''s no telling how long it will take us to figure out Baba Yaga''s workings.</i>

    <i>''On top of that, the life force of the undead has always proved to be immune to the Unwavering Loyalty array. My guess is that unlike the fixed life force of living beings, an undead''s life force is made up of countless energy signatures and it changes greatly over time.</i>

    <i>''Any rune applied to their life force gets washed away after a good feeding or a big fight.''</i>

    The ve spell needed to be carved on the victim''s life force to work, but while a living creature''s essence would slowly dwindle over time, taking years if not decades for the life force to be altered enough to get free from the ve spell, undead were different.

    They would consume life force along with their mana every time they used their abilities and rece it by feeding. Even if Sevenus managed to enve an undead, the spell would fade a few days after entering the academy.

    <i>''Good to know.''</i> Once again, Thrud''s calm baffled her generals.<i> ''I never trusted either Orpal or Night, they are too deranged.</i>

    <i>''I''m certain that they will betray me at the first opportunity they get, but this doesn''t mean that I can''t exploit their help before getting rid of them.</i>

    <i>''Their offer has undeniable merits and as long as our interests align, they will y ball. I can''t enve undead, true, but why should Night''s human thralls remain loyal to her once I offer them Awakening?</i>

    <i>''I only need to keep them here long enough for the array to work to steal her assets forever. As for the secret of the white core, I''ll keep it forst and demand to study Moonlight from the beginning.</i>

    <i>''Even if I started right now and kept working on it 24/7 with my best Forgemasters, the war will start and finish before we have learned the secret of mage towers. Night knows it as well, that''s why she is so confident.</i>

    <i>''She''s going to try and exploit our research to actually study my white core but I''m not going to give her anything but a swift death. There''s no ce for traitors in my Kingdom.''</i>

    ***

    Zedken Region, city of Ruham, the following morning.

    The upper echelons of the city had yet to stop gossiping about the reasons that might have brought the god of healing to literally poison their existence when the news of the arrival of the Knight''s Guard Commander and his handsome aide had spread.

    The presence of one of the strongest Archmages of the Kingdom, if not the strongest, was already a good reason to worry. Yet the presence of another Archmage as his bodyguard could only mean the presence of a threat capable of endangering even the life of the god of healing.

    People were still debating if it was Thrud, one of the Horsemen, or the copycat when the news that Lady Ernas woulde to Ruham as well spread like wildfire.

    "The god of healing, the Commander of the Knight''s Guard, and an Archon? This must be the biggest case of the Kingdom since Othre!" The nobles rushed to make sure that their dirty business was properly covered up.

    Each one of them hoped that their respective rivals were the ones under investigation and prepared anonymous tips against them, just in case the authorities needed the help of a concerned citizen.

    They all ced their men near the Warp Gate, hoping to understand what was happening. When Jirni asked where she could find Orion immediately after her arrival, none of the spies were surprised.

    The fact that she hade wearing a simple day dress instead of her uniform and that she was apanied by her daughter instead of her assistant left everyone bbergasted.

    Lady Ernas had no written orders with her which was even more confusing. To know where to find her estranged husband as a civilian she had to pull many strings and ask many favors.

    She even offered Quy''s services as a healer, causing her daughter great embarrassment. When the couple finally met, things went from odd to awkward.

    "What the heck are you doing here, woman? I epted this stupid task to stay away from you." Orion said in outrage.

    "Please, you can''t keep avoiding me forever if we want to save our marriage." Jirni replied.

    "There''s nothing to save! You yed with my feelings, you made a fool out of me in front of my family and the Court. If I wanted just to teach you a lesson, I would have already withdrawn the papers for the divorce!"

    "If what you say is true, then why do you still keep my betrothal gift? If you really hate me so much, just destroy it and our marriage will be over." Jirni said amid tears.

    "I keep it only because I want to see you squirm! Because the longer the divorce takes, the longer you''ll know how it feels being at the mercy of a cruel monster that once you loved." Orion snarled.

    "Please, I beg of you. Think about our children." She sobbed.

    "That''s exactly why I kicked you out. I need to protect them from you. Now get out of here before I get you arrested for abuse of authority and exposing the location of an officer!

    "But, Quy-"

    "She will stay here. I won''t let you poison her mind any longer." Orion had Jirni escorted outside the local branch of the army by force and thrown in the middle of the street.

    The conversation had happened in the privacy of the headquarters so of course all those on the same floor had stuck their ear to the walls to overhear it.

 Chapter 1686 - Truth Among Lies (Part 2)

    Orion Ernas was known to be a terrible liar, yet no one doubted his words. Everything he had said except for the reason of his staying was true.

    His honesty was one of the reasons why Jirni loved Orion and yet now it caused her a great deal of pain. He had gone off script, using that opportunity to vent out the burden that had eaten at him for over a month.

    Jirni Ernas had an awful reputation, but the sight of her crying in the middle of the street, after being rejected in such a cruel way despite all of her beggings was beyond pitiful.

    She dusted her dress while calling for a stagecoach and then went to the Silver Swan, one of the best hotels in Ruham.

    The quarrel between the couple made every person with a dirty business sigh in relief. Orion hadn''te to protect Manohar, just to get away from his wife''s attempts to reconcile.

    At the same time, however, it put the City Lord, Marquis Hassar Beilin, in an awkward spot. On the one hand, he couldn''t ignore the visit of someone as important as Jirni. If he didn''t invite her over at least for a tea he would lose a lot of face.

    It wasmon courtesy between nobles to offer each other hospitality and help, especially during hard times. If one of his political rivals reached her first, they would exploit the opportunity to make friends with Jirni and destroy Beilin''s reputation.

    On top of that, avoiding her without a good reason would make people think that he had something to hide, which was true.

    On the other hand, however, inviting the wolf in the sheepfold would have been dangerous. After all, Jirni''s methods weren''t a secret and the entire thing might have been staged.

    The Marquis waited a few hours, following the developments from a safe distance by using his house staff as his eyes and ears. As he had feared, Lady Ernas received several invitations from the most important noble households of the city, starting from his political opponents.

    She epted them all, telling her story to whoever was willing to listen to her with insignificant variations from time to time. The only questions she asked were if any of her hosts had ever had a simr problem and how had it ended for them.

    Soon Belin was forced to invite her as well not to be the only one left out. Lady Ernas gracefully epted it despiteing sote, yet she had to postpone her visit to the following day since she already had a busy schedule.

    <i>''Damn my paranoia!''</i> The Maquis thought while walking circles in his office.<i> ''Not only have I be theughingstock of the city, but I''m also forced to rely on third hand information that my enemies might as well have made up.''</i>

    Everyone was curious about what had brought Manohar to Ruham and why he had yet to leave. After consoling her to the best of their abilities, Jirni''s guests had asked her what she knew, which wasn''t much but still better than nothing.

    The Marquis knew nothing of the content of those conversations except what the servants had overheard, shared with other servants external to their household who had then reported it to his own.

    By putting them all together, it seemed that Manohar hade to investigate a gue caused by a traitor who was embezzling city funds for the Undead Courts in order to gain ess to a secret vault.

    Only a small part of that ridiculous story was true which meant that either the investigation was running in circles or that Manohar was onto something and was muddying the waters for the fun of it.

    The Marquis spent the hours until the meeting with Jirni wondering if his role in the disappearance of the weapons had been discovered and what could have possibly gone wrong.

    <i>''I''m not dealing with the Courts and certainly, I caused no gue. On top of that, I have a perfect alibi for the day of the crime. Even if the vault Manohar is investigating is actually the armory, I can always frame one of my rivals.''</i> He kept repeating to himself, yet his mind refused to calm down.

    As for Jirni, the moment she was away from prying eyes, she wiped her on-cue tears and had a good cup of tea to stay hydrated for her next performance.

    "How did my host behave after I left?" She asked.

    After bawling her eyes out, she would always let one small detail slip at a time to study the reaction of her mark. She always started with an absurd story to make them feel safe just to mention a secret vault once they lowered their guard and were already anxious to get rid of her whining.

    "The usual." Friya shrugged. "As soon as you left the house, they called all of their friends to gloat about your misfortunes and boasted how they manipted the high and mighty Archon Ernas into betraying state secrets."

    The reason why Jirni kept a schedule was to allow her daughters to know where she would be and give them the time to find a ce from where they could intervene in the case Jirni needed backup.

    They also had to monitor who would leave or enter the house after Jirni and listen to the calls that her host would make. Tapping amunication amulet required being close and above to it for the array to work and to know when the call was made.

    In a city with an air sealing array, both issues could be solved by staking out a mark from a nearby building. Unless one had ess to Spirit Magic, of course.

    The girls had actually opened small Steps to listen to the conversations, even those with the servants, and take a look around. Yet they had discovered nothing of interest.

    "It was worth the shot." Jirni sighed. "Keep up with the good work for the City Lord. He''s our main target and I''m sure that one way or another he has heard all of the rumors that I spread.

    "Between the wait and the bits of truth I inserted in-between lies stinging at his paranoia, I bet that he has no idea what''s going on. If I''m right, we are going to have a reaction from him, but not in my presence."

    "Don''t worry, Mom. We already scouted the ce and I know where to set up our stakeout." Quy said.

    While Jirni visited the nobles, Orion and Phloria used their Knight''s Guards'' tools to further the investigation. They checked the entire City Hall with spells that allowed them to find any trace of magical activity in the previous 24 hours and the time frame was even longer if powerful artifacts had been employed.

    Unfortunately, they found nothing.

    "This is simply absurd." Orion said after trying and failing to find any trace of tampering on the magical locks.

    "Each one of these doors is protected by powerful arrays during the night. I get that as long as one knows where the armory is and how to open it, they can ess the vault, but how did they enter the room in the first ce?"

 Chapter 1687 - Outplayed (Part 1)

    "Infiltrating the City Hall is not that hard." Manohar shrugged. "You just have to get in during the day when the arrays are down, jam the lock so that the arrays don''t trigger, and hide inside an empty room. Then you wait for people to leave, do what you have to, and get out in the morning."

    "What about the guards? You can''t just walk inside the City Hall unnoticed." Orion pointed out.

    "You can, if you have the right face. I have done- I mean, it''s one of the reasons I understood that I was dealing with a shapeshifter." Manohar saved himself at thest minute.

    "Let me ask you one thing." Orion said. "You don''t seem the kind of guy who asks for help nor did you want Jirni here. Then how did I get this job?"

    "You are right. I don''t need help and I never fail." Manohar said, puffing his chest out with pride.

    "That''s not what I-"

    "I had the perfect n to find our culprit before your arrival and I even got the Royal Permission to experiment on them and on their aplices as much as I want after making them talk." Manohar cut him short.

    "I''m not great at interrogating people, but usually it''s enough to start from my experiments and the talkinges naturally."

    "Then why am I here?" Orion asked.

    "Well, let''s say that usually a lot of my test subjects- I mean prisoners die from unexpectedplications. The Crown wanted to make sure that this time I would follow their precious orders so they called your daughter."

    "Phloria? Why not Jirni? She''s the one they send to make you behave."

    "Because they wanted the Beanpole to do something useful for once and drag you out of your slump. They knew that if they called Jirni you wouldn''t havee. They are afraid that you''re slipping."

    "So I''m your babysitter and she''s mine?" Orion was bbergasted.

    "Yes, Dad." Phloria nodded. "The Royals wanted me on a mission and I thought that this was the perfect asion to make you meet Mom and maybe settle things between the two of you.

    "I''m not asking you to forgive her, just to put this story behind you before it eats you alive. Lucky told me about your drinking problem and how it''s affecting your career."

    "Damn furball." Orion was angry at the Ry and moved by the concern that his daughters were showing him. "I promise you that I''ll talk with your mother, okay?"

    "That''s unfair, dude!" Manohar said in outrage. "Maybe I shouldn''t have spiked your drinks, but I made up for that by being honest with you. There''s no reason to call my mother."

    "He meant mine." Phloria said, making the god of healing sigh in relief.

    "Wait, what do you mean, drinks? As in more than one?" Orion had wondered why that morning he didn''t feel rested and his mouth tasted like trash.

    Then he remembered the weird taste of his evening tea and that the staff of his hotel hadined about a wild animal making a mess of the kitchen dumpster.

    "First of all, let''s all remain calm, appreciate the fact that nothing bad happened, and remember that I''m certified insane." Manohar said as if it exined everything.

    "You son of a¡­" Orion tried to assault him, but a powerful hard-light construct and Phloria stopped him.

    Meanwhile, it was almost time for Jirni''s appointment with the City Lord.

    He lived in the high end of the city and his house was so big that it took an entire city block. The mansion was surrounded by a wonderful park filled with tall trees that weed the guests of the Marquis.

    Topiary beasts and high flower beds formed green walls around the mansion, giving it color while also hiding everything that happened inside the City Lord''s office on the ground floor from prying eyes.

    There was only one ce high and close enough for Friya and Quy to do their job, the bell tower of the nearby Royal Library. The problem was that to gain ess it was necessary to show an ID.

    The girls couldn''t use their own without leaving a trace that would immediately alert Marquis Beilin and no fake ID that Friya had from her days as a mercenary would pass a thorough examination.

    To make matters worse, unlike Friya, Quy''s presence in Ruham was known since she had apanied Jirni and the moment she showed her face, people would recognize her.

    She wore simple clothes and covered her head with a hood that she would have been forced to remove when the guards checked her documents, exposing her real identity.

    It was the reason why Friya wore a shirt instead of her usual loose blouse.

    "Is everything alright, officers?" She asked after the two men at the entrance ignored the papers in her hand for a few seconds, focusing on her shapely bosom instead.

    The first three buttons were undone, showing a great deal of cleavage that drew their eyes, no matter how hard they tried to focus. Friya had the care to take deep breaths, making her chest press against the thin fabric of the shirt and giving the illusion that the rest of the buttons would pop any second.

    "Yes. Your breasts are in order." The guard on the left, a middle-aged man with brown hair, eyes, and mustaches said.

    "I beg your pardon?" Friya was waiting for the moment to y the righteous outrage card and that slip of the tongue qualified.

    "My colleague meant that your papers are breastfect." His colleague, a man in his early thirties with dark hair and a perfectly shaven face, tried to save the situation, actually making it worse.

    "I demand to speak with yourmanding officer! This is no way to treat ady." She hid her cleavage with her hand, making their brains start working again.

    "There''s no need to go that far! Please, ept our humblest apologies and enjoy your stay in the Royal Library." They gave her such a deep bow that the plumes of their helmets touched the ground.

    Friya marched inside, making Quy slip inside unnoticed as well.

    "Good gods, how is that possible?" She asked once they reached their destination.

    "It''s not that hard." Friya shrugged. "One button is enough to distract teens, two for young men, three when I want to y it safe."

    "No, I meant how is it possible that you have no problem doing stuff like that. I would have died of embarrassment in your ce." Quy said.

    "Are you kidding me? I saw you at the gs. You had your fair share of men talking to your cleavage all night. You should be used to it at this point."

    "That''s why I don''t date any of them! They are creeps."

    "I agree. It''s the same reason I usually dress like a monk, but sometimes creeps have their usefulness. Now shut up, Mom has arrived." Friya used a binocr to look inside the City Lord''s office and to find the dimensional coordinates of a spot that would allow them to listen to the conversation with Spirit magic.

    Marquis Hassar Beilin was a man in his early fifties, about 1.63 meters (5''3") tall, with thick ck hair streaked grey and a finely groomed short beard.. It hid his age lines except those around his eyes, also giving him a wise appearance.

 Chapter 1688 - Outplayed (Part 2)

    Marquis Beilin wore a ck zer over a white shirt, ck pants, and brown shoes.

    When Jirni entered the room, the Marquis couldn''t believe that such a beautiful and frail-looking woman could be the fabled Constable Ernas.

    Jirni wore a light pink day dress that covered her from head to toe, making her look like a young maiden and emphasizing her cheeks reddened from the crying.

    His first instinct as a gentleman was to console her and offer to defend her honor against that brute of her husband, but there was too much at stake for Beilin to act like a mindless fool.

    <i>''Remember who she is and what she has done.''</i> He thought while inviting Jirni to sit down.

    "Lady Ernas, how nice of you to ept my invitation." Beilin gave her a deep bow to which she replied with a curtsy. "I must apologize for noting to you earlier, but this is really a bad moment for Ruham. Between the famine and the investigation, I barely have the time to sleep."

    "Please, stand tall, Marquis." Jirni shook her head, sniffling. "You have no reason to apologize. It''s my fault foring here uninvited and unannounced. I was so desperate to talk with Orion that I acted without thinking."

    Then, before Beilin could even offer her a cup of tea, Jirni drowned him with her sob story and tears. She told him how painful it had been being kicked out of her house just for doing her duty, and how much she had suffered from being forbidden to see her children for months.

    Like most men, the Marquis could face a trial as well as an armed opponent without batting an eye whereas he had no idea how to deal with a crying woman. At first, he suspected it was all a ruse to gain his sympathy.

    Yet after ten minutes of sobs and hups the situation became awkward. The maid that brought the tea and the pastries didn''t even bother hiding her disgust, assuming it was all his fault.

    Every time that a member of the house staff heard those desperate wails, they would peek inside and get sent away by their master without an exnation, only making things worse.

    ''If she keeps up like this, my reputation will be ruined no matter what this damn investigation is about.'' Beilin desperately tried to console Jirni, but to no avail.

    He felt clumsy and helpless, almost forgetting about the reason why he had invited her.

    Almost.

    "I''m really sorry for your misfortunes, Lady Ernas. Why didn''t youe to me first upon your arrival? I would be d to mediate with your husband in your stead." He said.

    <i>''I don''t care about your marriage, but I can''t pass up on the opportunity to get close to Lord Ernas and understand what Manohar is investigating.''</i> He actually thought.

    "Because I didn''t want to trouble you." Jirni delicately blew her nose in a handkerchief. "With my reputation as an Archon, people would have thought that you were under scrutiny from the Crown.

    "I kept away from you until you invited me here to protect your good name. I also chose to stay in a hotel instead of asking the local nobles for hospitality because the same would happen to them. I''m cursed to be alone."

    <i>''Damn! That''s exactly what I would have said if she asked me to stay here.''</i> The Marquis thought. <i>''Now, however, if I send her away after the scene she made in front of my servants and the consideration she has shown to me, people will think that I have something to hide.''</i>

    "Thank you for your kindness and for offering me a friendly ear." Jirni stood up, giving him a deep bow. "Now, I''d better leave. I already bothered you for too long and I can''t wait to meet my daughters."

    "Daughters?" Beilin echoed in confusion.

    "Yes. My little Flower has finally returned to the army and she is helping Orion as his field assistant. Jirni said with a radiant smile that made him wish to be single. "She and Quy have epted to meet meter."

    "I thought that your husband had forbidden them from seeing you." The Marquis couldn''t believe his own ears.

    "Please, children ignore their parent''s orders when they are teens, let alone when they are adults." Jirni chuckled. "I''m still their mother. Even when we couldn''t meet, they still called me to tell me how they were doing with their jobs."

    "I''m d to hear that there''s a beacon of light in your darkest hour and I hope I can offer you a bit more." Beilin stood up as well and took her hands as if they were old friends.

    "I can''t stand the thought that after everything you went through, you have to meet your daughters in a cold hotel room and live like amoner without even a maid. I insist that you stay here as my honored guest."

    "I can''t ept." Jirni said. "What about your reputation? I''m a married woman traveling alone and people will talk."

    <i>''Toote to worry about that now, damn you.''</i> He thought.

    "I''m the City Lord, people always talk about me and rarely to say good things." He actually said. "They already me me for everything. One more rumor is just a drop in the ocean."

    "I don''t know what to say." Jirni timidly lowered her gaze, making him feel in control.

    Back in the day, the Beilin had been quite the yer. He knew a vulnerable woman when he saw one. Once Archon Ernas may have been a lioness, but now she was reduced to an emotional pile of rubble.

    "Just say yes." Then, without waiting for her reply, he showed Jirni around the house and brought her to her chambers.

    <i>''My loyal ves will keep her from snooping around and from this room, I will have the opportunity to listen to every conversation she has and to every call she makes. If her daughters tell her something about the investigation, I''ll use their information to change my ns ordingly.</i>

    <i>''Many birds with one stone.''</i> The Marquis thought while inwardly congratting himself.

    Meanwhile, on the belltower, Quy was busy picking up her jaw from the floor.

    "What the actual fuck? Everything went as Mom predicted."

    "I would have been surprised otherwise." Friya said. "Who do you think taught me how to use my assets to get us in here and made use right when the soldiers with the worst disciplinary record stood guard?"

    She made the first three buttons of her shirt, which was her shapeshifted Featherwalker Armor, open with a thought, blushing on cue like a timid maiden for the embarrassing "ident".

    "That''s why you were so confident unting those! You knew that those guys couldn''t afford to get anotherint." Quy said, pointing at her sister''s chest.

    "My eyes are up here, little one." Friya chuckled. "And yes. It was all nned."

    "Maybe Dad had a point about Mom having a bad influence on us. At this point, I would never think you had been adopted." Quy grumbled.

    "Thanks." Friya ruffled her hair as if that was the bestpliment she had ever received. "Now let''s keep an eye on the Marquis.. I bet that as soon as he leaves Mom, he''ll call his aplices."

 Chapter 1689 - In The Lionâ€™s Den (Part 1)

    Yet Friya was wrong about the Marquis. They followed Belin all around his house thanks to Spirit dimensional magic, the binocr, and even Life Vision, but he never took hismunication amulet.

    When finally one of his servants walked out of the house, Quy followed him only to see one of the butlers buy the daily groceries.

    Inside her luxurious guest room, Jirni used the enchanted items she wore disguised as jewelry to search for surveince devices, finding none. Then, she checked the paintings for holes andstly the firece, discovering that it was identical to those in house Ernas.

    The chimney had been built so that it wouldn''t carry only the smoke, but also the words of the upants of the room thanks to its particr acoustic that amplified the echoes. It was a trick meant to lull even paranoid mages into a false sense of security since there was no spell that could detect them.

    <i>''I bet that the moment I start talking, one of the panels in the wall will slide and someone will watch my every move.''</i> Jirni started humming while pretending to examine the inside of a wardrobe to test her hypothesis.

    By giving her back to the wall and with the doors hiding her sides, there was no way to tell from the outside what she was doing.

    Less than a minuteter, the same young woman that had served Jirni the tea earlier came knocking on her door.

    "Good evening, Lady Ernas. My name is Phisa and I''m going to be your personal maid for the rest of your stay." She gave Jirni a passable curtsy. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

    Phisa looked to be in her early twenties and was just a bit taller than Jirni. She had red hair, green eyes, and a friendly face full of freckles.

    "Many things, actually." Jirni nodded, giving her permission to enter the room. "I need you to send someone to retrieve my luggage from the Silver Swan. I don''t care much for my clothes but I left mymunication amulet there as well.

    "Without it, I can''t tell my daughters where I am and if they can''t reach me, they will think I''ve done something stupid. Here is my hotel key and my ID to prove that I''ve sent you."

    "It will be done, Lady Ernas. Anything else?" The maid smiled, but it didn''t extend to her eyes.

    They weren''t cold, just empty like those of a dead fish ready to be cooked.

    "Yes, I could use a hot bath. I must be a mess right now." The gurgling of water would hide the sound of her movements while the steam would do the rest.

    On top of that, Jirni exploited the opportunity to take a better look at Phisa. There was something different about her from their earlier meeting and her movements felt off.

    She wasn''t clumsy, but her bodynguage was awkward as if she had recently started working as a maid whereas Jirni hadn''t noticed any hesitation back when Phisa had served her tea like the professional she was supposed to be.

    ''No one sends rookies to take care of honored guests, nor do people forget about how to do their jobs in the space of a few hours.'' Jirni was tempted to stab the maid to check if she was a shapeshifter, but if she was wrong it would blow her cover and alert Belin.

    As soon as the maid left her alone, Jirni undressed and took her sparemunication amulet from a pocket hidden in her gown, bringing it into the water after covering it with a towel.

    She had left her personal amulet in the hotel room on purpose, to make her opponents loosen their guard thinking that due to the dimensional sealing arrays surrounding the city, she had no way to carry another with her.

    Jirni used a first magic trick to make the steam denser and hide the holographic panel of the amulet while she wrote to Phloria the script for their next move. Unlike civilian amulets, those belonging to the army or the Association allowed their user to write.

    It was mainly used to write reports or to search a database for a keyword. In Jirni''s case, she used it to send the magical equivalent of an email without making a sound.

    Later in the evening, when the butlers delivered Jirni her belongings, she noticed that there was something awkward in their movements as well. Their eyes weren''t empty andpared to Phisa it was barely noticeable since she had never seen them before.

    Yet Jirni trusted her gut instinct and yed her role of heartbroken wife to perfection, bothering the butlers with the happy memories behind every one of her dresses as soon as they took them out of the trunks.

    <i>''If I''m right about these guys and they are all shapeshifters, then I''m both Beilin''s prisoner and hostage. I have no weapons with me and I have no idea what they are capable of.</i>

    <i>''I can''t even take another bath so soon. I need to find a way to tell Phloria and Quy what''s happening here when theye to visit me without ruining the script.''</i>

    Jirni spent the rest of the time before her daughters'' arrival on her bed with her eyes closed. Allegedly she was resting, but she was actually racking her brain to decide whether to follow her original n or not.

    <i>''If I take my time, I should be able to discover if Lady Metra has shapeshifters as well or if she used those at the service of the Marquis. Either way, we would have the opportunity to capture them all. If we act now, instead, at least part of the shapeshifters will surely manage to escape.''</i> She thought.

    <i>''On the other hand, dying the n also means that the enemies of the Kingdom would manage to get their hands on even more weapons and we don''t know how close their n is topletion.</i>

    <i>''I don''t want to capture Beilin and all the shapeshifters just to learn that their n isplete. At that point, whoever pulls their strings will have already achieved their goal and escaped our.</i>

    <i>''I must choose between taking only some of the culprits but keeping their n from seeding, or taking them all and risking it to be a hollow victory.''</i>

    Jirni didn''t like either option, yet she was a practical woman. It took her but a minute to opt for damage control and another to find a way to alert her daughters of the presence of the shapeshifters in the Marquis'' house.

    When Phisa announced Phloria''s and Quy''s arrival, Jirni had changed from the day to a simple light yellow evening dress that emphasized her blonde hair.

    "Mom, it''s so good to see you. I''m sorry for what Dad said to you yesterday morning." Phloria had changed as well and now wore a light green emerald dress instead of the uniform.

    The movement of a member of the Knight''s Guard would have caught many eyes and be reported to Orion whereas a noble dame visiting the City Lord was hardly a novelty.

    "It''s good to see you too, love.." Jirni hugged Phloria tightly, digging her nails enough to alert her daughter that something was off and that the script needed to be changed.

 Chapter 1690 - In The Lionâ€™s Den (Part 2)

    "Don''t worry about what happened yesterday. The important is that you are here now." Jirni said.

    "I''m sorry for not visiting you earlier, Mom." Quy gave her a deep bow. "Dad kept me confined inside the army headquarters until Phloria broke me out. The silver lining is that at least now I know what''s happening.

    "Maybe if you can help Dad with his mission he will-"

    "Shush, child!" Jirni put her hand on Quy''s mouth while ring at her. "You spend too much time in your magicalb and too little in the real world. Think before you speak."

    Phisa was still in the room, exactly like nned.

    "I''m sorry, Lady Ernas." The maid gave them a bow for outstaying her wee. "I''ll take my leave now. Call me if you need anything."

    "We''ll take some tea but no pastries to not ruin our appetite." Jirni said, going off script and making her daughters almost flinch in surprise.

    "It will be done." The maid gave them onest bow and left the room.

    "Phisa is a good maid." The moment they were "alone" Jirni took a piece of writing paper from the desk of her room, ying with it with her nimble fingers. "She is kind and discreet, but she needs a bit more training."

    Jirni folded the paper quickly, turning it into a frog.

    "The rest of the staff is better, theye when you call them and leave the moment they are done." Jirni then turned the frog into a swan just to undo everything again and make a dog.

    ording to the script, in case of emergency the rule was to ignore everything Jirni said and only look at her hands, yet Quy could see that wasn''t the case anymore. Jirni kept dragging the conversation about her amodation, keeping her hands still until she mentioned the house staff.

    Then, she would start unfolding the origami, giving it a new shape by the time she was done talking.

    <i>''Do you have any idea what''s happening?''</i> Phloria asked via a mind link.<i> ''Mom has always been good with her hands, but she isn''t the type to fiddle for no reason. You know what she always says.</i>

    <i>''A restless body is the symptom of a restless mind. Mom would never screw up her own n for no reason and if she''s panicking then I''m a Dragon.''</i>

    Quy was d that Phloria had thought about pooling their resources. Quy had understood everything but she couldn''t use Spirit Magic without her wand and had no way to share her findings.

    <i>''She''s not screwing it up, she''s saving it. We are surrounded by shapeshifters.''</i> Quy thought.

    <i>''What?''</i> Phloria was bbergasted, but nothing transpired from her face.

    <i>''Then she must be telling us who we have to watch out for. On top of that, catching the shapeshifter that will go to put the weapons back into ce will be pointless if those here escape and kill the Marquis.</i>

    <i>''We must change the n so that Beilin and Metra get arrested the moment the trap is triggered, otherwise the mastermind will have the time to tie up the loose ends before disappearing.''</i>

    "Can you shape it like a dog again, Mom? It''s my favorite because it reminds me of Lucky. Gods if I miss that furball." Phloria tapped on the origami, to let Jirni know that she had gotten the message.

    Phisa returned right after Jirni was done with the paper, bringing a silver tea cart and leaving the moment she was done serving the guests.

    "I''m sorry for bothering you with my bbering, but I couldn''t risk Phisa overhearing our conversation on her return and then eavesdropping on the rest. I may be out of shape but I''m still a Constable." Jirni said.

    "Don''t worry, Mom." Phloria chanted the spells necessary to find out surveince devices, showing the proper caution that anyone would expect from an officer before speaking of delicate matters.

    She even checked outside the door, finding no one.

    "What were you saying, darling?" Jirni went back to the convened script after Phloria gave them the all-clear.

    "That Dad''s mission turned out to be moreplicated than that." Quy said, following her lead. "It seems that someone is embezzling funds and to make matters worse, there is trace of activities of the Night court."

    <i>''What?''</i> Marquis Belin had been following the conversation from the beginning. <i>''How could something like this happen right under my nose without me noticing? The Crown will deem me ipetent and have me removed.</i>

    <i>''Still, it''s better than being found out. As long as I bring the n topletion, my reward will make the position of a City Lord no better than a doghouse.''</i>

    "It makes sense." Jirni said. "After the disappearance of Dawn and Dusk, the war has taken a bad turn for the undead. They need money to rebuild their army and buy new weapons to make up for those they lost on the battlefield.

    "But why is Manohar still here and why call Orion as well?"

    "Manohar is actually done with his mission, he''s just taking his time experimenting on the prisoners." Phloria said. "The story about the death threats is only a pretext for Dad toe here and do some finer work."

    "What do you mean?" Jirni took the words out of Beilin''s mind.

    "You see, after what happened in the Nestrar region and now in Ruham, the Royal Court has decided to perform a surprise inspection of all the City Halls to make sure that nothing else goes missing unnoticed." Quy said.

    "Dad is here to inventory the Royal weapons stored in the city armory and install trackers into them."

    "I guess he''s already started by now." Jirni said with a sigh while Beilin''s illusion of safety shattered. "Also, I don''t see how can I help him. I''m no mage."

    "No, Dad has yet to start the inventory because that''s just a secondary mission. The Crown tasked him with double-checking Manohar''s work. It wouldn''t be the first time that he does a half-assed job just to go back to hisb.

    "That''s how you can help Dad. You are the best at keeping Manohar in check and the best Constable in the Kingdom. You can make him spill out every detail of the case and use that knowledge to get close to Dad again.

    "On top of that, if the inventory proves that something is missing, he will need your expertise and will be forced to work with you. Dad is great at forensics, but he''s no detective. That''s your job." Phloria said.

    "How much time do I have?" Jirni asked.

    "It''s a big case, but Dad''s working on it restlessly from yesterday. Even if Manohar messed something up, it will not take him more than two days." Phloria said.

    "Two days? But today is almost over, which leaves me just one day and one night to get up to speed and find something useful. I''ll change into something morefortable and then you have to bring me to Manohar, there''s not one second to lose!"

    Marquis Beilin thanked the gods for the opportunity that they had dropped in hisp. The situation was dire, but far from desperate.

    <i>''I bet that Commander Ernas has already reinforced the security of the City Hall during the night, but that''s not a problem.''</i>

 Chapter 1691 - Troubling Times (Part 1)

    <i>''Even if I''m forced to get rid of a couple of soldiers, I just need my puppets to take away a few important documents.</i>

    <i>''Once Ernas checks the vault and finds there''s nothing missing, he will think that the assassin has been caught stealing the secret information. No one will ever suspect that they actually came to put the weapons back in ce.''</i> Beilin thought.

    ***

    Later that night, Jirni and Orion met in his office to discuss their respective findings.

    "I must say that you never cease to amaze me." Orion said with a sigh while pouring Dragon Water for both of them. "We came here with nothing and in two days you''ve made more progress than Manohar in a week."

    "I ept thepliment but not the drink and neither should you." Jirni took the ss from Orion''s hand and poured it in the sink along with her own. "I heard about your problem with alcohol and you should stay away from it."

    "Look, I''m not here to argue. I just wanted us to have a polite conversation for our daughters'' sake. You shouldn''t meddle with my life since you are not my wife anymore." Orion said with a snarl, watching the amber-colored liquid go down the drain.

    "Not by my choice." Jirni said, sitting in front of him.

    "Really? Wasn''t it your choice to stage Quy''s death? To keep me in the dark for days and parade me like a bawling idiot? Wasn''t it your choice to put your precious n before your family?" His voice was cold and so were his eyes.

    "That''s not what I meant." Jirni felt guilty for her actions, something that waspletely new for her, just like Orion being so hostile with her.

    "Then exin yourself, o master of deception. Neither of us can take a step out of this room since we are both allegedly working our asses off on a case. We can use this time together to make ourselves clear and put an end to this story once and for all."

    "I mean that you kicked me out of our home without giving me an opportunity to exin myself!" Jirni stood up abruptly in outrage.

    "What there was to exin? You yed me and Deirus like a fiddle to get what you wanted!" Orion jumped up as well, towering over her. "You took all of my daughters away from me.

    "You left me grieving while Manohar, the Royals, and even the damn god of death knew everything! You admitted it yourself, and for me, it was more than enough."

    "I did it only because I love you!" Jirni started to sob, but Orion had seen her fake it so many times that he couldn''t believe her.

    "I knew that as long as Deirus was alive, he would have never given up. He had too much power and money to fail. Without the n that you despise so much, we could only force our daughters to live like prisoners until he made a mistake, or resign to their death.

    "Either way, we would have lost them. The gods know if I tried having Deirus killed, but he was too careful. He was so obsessed with revenge that he brought bodyguards and ced arrays even when meeting his lovers.

    "I couldn''t let our children waste their lives nor stand the thought of attending their funeral. Staging Quy''s death was the only way I had to stop Deirus. I now realize to have underestimated the pain that I inflicted you but what was the alternative?

    "Letting our baby girl die for real? Giving Deirus the time to n for Phloria''s death as well? You had to grieve just for a few days, yet you are still suffering so much. Imagine if instead of cursing my name for tricking you, you had to deal with the loss of one or more of our children." Jirni said.

    "Are you still putting our lives and feelings in your ordinate rows and columns?" Orion started to yell as well, rejecting her logic. "We aren''t a goddamn equation for you to solve. There is no eptable loss.

    "I was your husband and I loved you with all my heart yet you didn''t stop one second to think of how your scheming would affect me."

    "Affect you?" Jirni steeled her gaze. "You just had to grieve for a few days instead of that for the rest of your life. Quy''s life was at risk and I simply did what had to be done. You should thank me for saving our daughter!"

    "Thank you?" Orion froze for a moment as fury reced pain. "You saved my daughter and in exchange, you took my wife! Our was an arranged marriage. It took me years to find the courage to trust you yet you needed seconds to destroy it.

    "I always knew that a conspiracy might kill Gunyin, that an STD will sooner orter kill Tulion, and that with the dangerous life that our daughters have chosen for themselves they might die at any moment.

    "I worry for them and try to keep all of them safe because I''m their father and that''s my job, but I know I can''t keep them safe forever. What gave me the strength to ept even the idea of losing a single one of them was the certainty to have you by my side.

    "People may call you a monster, but until that day you have been the light in my life that kept all the other monsters at bay. Now I''m alone in the dark, and I can''t bring myself to trust you anymore."

    Orion fell onto his knees, his eyes empty, showing her how vulnerable and broken he truly was once the veil of rage that kept him standing had been removed.

    "I''m so sorry." Jirni hold him tight to her chest, not knowing if he was listening to her anymore. "I didn''t mean to hurt you, I was only trying to protect you. You are right, I treat everything as an equation because even though I know human feelings, I don''t understand them.

    "I know that I ruined everything and that at this point words can''t solve anything. But if you give me a chance to redeem myself, I''m willing to spend the rest of my life rebuilding what I stupidly took for granted."

    Warm tears streaked from her eyes and onto Orion''s head, who remained still. His heart and his brain were at odds, but he was too tired to keep fighting.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Quy and Manohar worked together on the hair samples that Jirni had taken from the clothes of the suspicious house staff, to understand the nature of the enemy before the actual confrontation.

    "Good gods! I swear that if your mother wasn''t already married, too old, too cranky, and if she didn''t scare the crap out of me, I would probably propose to her right now and then regret it immediately after."

    The god of healing managed to tap his feet, p his hands, and move his eyes akin to a child under a sugar rush due to the excitement. The hair had turned out to be something he had never seen before.

    Something that wasn''t even human, it just looked the part.

 Chapter 1692 - Troubling Times (Part 2)

    Manohar prodded it with a mix of air and light magic to alter its metabolism. The hair turned from red into blonde and then dark.

    Small sparks of electricity induced spasms into the "hair" instead of burning it, allowing the god of healing to employ Body Sculpting on the otherwise impervious life force.

    "How do you change the color at will?" Quy asked.

    "I don''t. I just trigger the memory centers while it''s still stunned and the little guy does the rest." Manohar replied.

    "Memory centers? Guy?" Quy could see what the Mad Professor meant with her own tier five Body Sculpting spell, Silver Hand, but she had a hard time believing her own magic.

    Hair wasn''t supposed to have a life force once removed from the head, nor to have memory, yet the thing in front of her was alive. Quy had examined the life force of nts, beasts, undead, humans, monsters, and even Lith''s but all that knowledge only confused her even more.

    The hair wasposed of a homogeneous substance capable of rearranging its disposition freely as long as it was provided with a proper temte.

    What creeped her out the most was the fact that even once removed from the main body, the small hair still retained some sort of consciousness and the urge to reconnect with the rest.

    Quy could see the strands of hair slithering on the table in the direction of the Marquis'' home.

    "Any idea what it is?" She asked.

    "None." Manohar sighed. "If only it had more mass I could put a few theories to the test, but as it is, the only possible result is death. Unless¡­"

    He threw the hair that Jirni had taken from the butlers on top of that from Phisa, hoping they would merge since their life force was almost identical, yet nothing happened.

    "Dammit!" He roared in frustration. "So close and yet so far. We can only hope that Beanpole and Hot Stuff have more luck, Quy."

    "Wait, I understand you remember my mother''s name, but why do you remember mine as well?" She asked.

    "Because Beanpole isn''t a student of mine, Hot Stuff squandered her talent as a healer, and if not for Jirni, I would have already forgotten that Jirni''s plus one exists. You instead are a good student, a good healer, and a wonderful assistant." Manohar said.

    Quy had no idea what he was talking about. Sure, back when she was assistant Professor at the White Griffon she had worked for him for a while. Yet after doing Manohar''s paperwork, teaching his sses, and taking the me for his escapes for months without learning anything from him, Quy had requested to be transferred under Vastor.

    There was noparison in the talent between the two Professors, but at least Vastor would do his own job and teach her as much as he could instead of leaving unreadable notes on her desk, iming they were priceless magical secrets.

    <i>''I bet that he has yet to notice both my transfer and the fact that I don''t work at the White Griffon anymore.''</i> Quy thought.

    "More mass, you say? Then I have a theory that could easily fix this problem." She cut a lock of her hair and threw it on the table.

    The test subjects ignored it and so they did with a drop of her blood and a b of raw meat.

    "Please, do you really think I haven''t thought of feeding them?" Manohar said with a sneer. "I even put them on your jugr earlier to see if they would attack a vital spot when given the chance."

    "You what?" Quy instinctively touched her neck with one hand while the other formed a fist that a mysterious force pulled towards his gonads.

    "Well, they didn''t attack your mother''s hand so I already knew that direct contact is safe. I needed to check if the hair-looking things posed a threat to us. Don''t worry, I was ready to take them off you as soon as they had eaten enough to be properly analyzed." He said.

    "How kind of you." Quy''s voice was stone cold and the pull on her fist suddenly grew stronger.

    She could picture the scene of the worm-like creatures digging through her flesh while Manohar ignored her pain and fear, cheering for them to grow strong.

    "Thanks. I wish more people were as open minded as you." Manohar sighed deeply.

    Quy opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but then she swallowed her indignation without saying anything. Scolding Manohar would have been akin to talking to a wall and time was running out.

    Rather than wasting her energy, she preferred to focus on the task at hand.

    "Maybe they are not interested in my hair or the meat because they are dead while we are just too big to qualify as prey." She pondered out loud.

    "It would imply some kind of intelligence and the need for babies. Both are unlikely." Manohar replied. "There''s no space for a brain in there and the Kingdom will never give me newborns as test-"

    Quy took out her Forgemastering wand, using Spirit Magic to capture a fly that had entered the room following the smell of fresh meat. Air magic''s currents would have torn apart such a fragile creature while Light Masterycked the fine control she needed.

    "What is that?" Manohar looked at the blue tendril of pure mana wrapped around the insect, keeping even its wings still without doing them any harm.

    "It''s just a trick that I learned while practicing my Forgemastery." Quy lied while bringing the fly near the long red hair belonging to Phisa.

    It immediately stopped slithering and wrapped itself around the insect like a small boa constrictor. The fly tried to escape, but the hair dug through its body, paralyzing it with pain.

    The insect fell down on the table, writhing its small legs in the air in a desperate attempt to save its life. The hair kept eating until it gained enough mass to wrap the whole fly into a thin translucent scarletyer that digested the insect at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    The liquid dissected the fly, detaching the limbs and wings from the body before attacking the exoskeleton oneyer at a time.

    "Interesting." Manohar said. "It swallows the prey and digests it whole. This exins why it doesn''t attack humans. A single hair is simply not up to the task."

    "It means that the hair retains some kind of intelligence and that we need no babies." Quy said with a sneer. "It also means that someone was wrong."

    "I''m never-" Manohar set his gigantic ego aside the moment he saw the now thicker hair curl up and quickly turn into an exact copy of the fly that it had just consumed.

    The thing resembling the fly ended up with its legs in the air, incapable of standing up. The wingscked any coordination, giving the impression that the creature was having a seizure.

    "Very interesting. Despite its ability to mimic its prey, this creature has no familiarity with this form.. Do you know what that means?" Manohar said with a huge smile on his face.

 Chapter 1693 - Doppelgangers (Part 1)

    "Of course I know." Quy replied. "It means that Marquis Beilin had his shapeshifters watch my mother, but due to her unexpected arrival, they didn''t have the time to get used to their new bodies, allowing her to notice the clumsiness of their movements!"

    "Who cares about that. It means that I discovered a new species! I''ll call it Manohar 34 since it''s the 34th discovery that I''ve chosen to share with the Kingdom." He replied.

    "First, <strong>we</strong> discovered a new species. Second, this might be worse than we thought. The shapeshifters-"

    The wannabe fly had no interest in their bickering and kept experimenting with its body until it got the hang of it. The fake insect stood up and took flight, yet instead of going against the closed window like a dumb creature would have done, it went for the door''s keyhole.

    Quy pointed her Forgemastering wand at the runaway but Manohar was faster. A blue tendril from his silvery wand caught the fly, squashing it due to hisck of control.

    "Professor! Light magic doesn''t work on corpses and that thing is too small to study with the naked eye." Quy said.

    "I know, but we still have three more of those and there are plenty of flies on Mogar. I wanted to try out your trick." He shrugged.

    Quy was about to spill that it had taken her time and practice to learn how to fine control pure mana when the remains of the fly started to writhe. Manohar let them go, observing the broken form assemble itself into a healthy fly.

    Manohar squashed it instead of capturing it again, clicking his tongue in self-disapproval.

    "This is harder than it seemed." He said.

    "These things have an amazing regenerating ability." Quy got close to better observe their specimen. "Any other living being would have died of malnutrition shortly after healing such wounds."

    "I disagree." Manohar replied while capturing the fly-like creature again.

    It took him three tries and almost ten seconds to master Spirit Magic enough to keep the insect still without hurting it. After that, he conjured a new tendril of gold streaked emerald energy from his wand.

    "How did you do that?" Quy''s jaw hit the floor when she recognized a tier one Spirit Spell manifesting the light element. They were both fake mages but she had needed Faluel''s teachings and hours of practice to do the same.

    "It''s not that hard once you know Forgemastery and Healing magic as well as I do." Manohar sounded casual, but he had actually been trying to use Spirit Magic ever since Balkor had revealed its existence to him.

    Until that moment, the Mad Professor had simplycked the means to practice it. Now, however, he could feel the wand stirring something inside of him, bringing Manohar one step closer to crack the secret of Awakening.

    Thanks to the wand, now he could use one of his diagnostic spells from a distance.

    "What do you mean, you disagree?" Quy simply assumed it was all due to his genius and cursed at herself for underestimating him.

    "That''s not regeneration. It''s much worse. This thing is just a big lump of shapeless life force akin to bread dough. Even if you squash Manohar 54 or grind it into pieces, it just needs to reattach the fragments to be as good as new.

    "It''s not healing or regeneration simply because this thing is immune to physical damage." He said with the huge smile of a kid who had received the best gift of his life.

    As for Friya and Phloria, they took turns casting the array necessary to tap into themunication amulets inside the Marquis'' house and take note of whoever he called.

    Until that moment, the stakeout had just been a waste of time. Beilin had simply performed social calls full of ttery and gossiped about the local nobles who were not invited to his parties.

    "How was the Desert?" Phloria asked.

    "It would have been pretty nice if not for Lith working me to the bone." Friya replied with a sigh. "Sure, I learned a lot and even came back with a nifty present, but I would have liked to have more time to think. What about you? Why did you never join us?"

    "Because I needed some time alone to think about my life." Phloria sat on the ground, holding her knees close to her chest. "After what happened with Kallion, the army, and then Awakening, I found myself in a tough spot.

    "I''m thankful to Lith and I like Solus, but things have always been awkward between us ever since I discovered her existence. At first, it was hard to ept how much Solus had influenced our rtionship, but between him already having a girlfriend and me having to learn about Awakening, it helped to keep a lid on it.

    "I still have feelings for Lith, but I''m not ready to give us a second chance. My personal life is a mess, I''m bound to him for the next 99 years, and I can''t wrap my head around him being so close to another woman.

    "As long as he was with Kam, I could use her as an excuse to not dwell about it and focus on my studies. Now that they broke up, however, I need to make up my mind. Either I decide that we are worth the risk of being an eternal threesome or I move on for good." Phloria leaned her face against her legs, not knowing what to do.

    "What''s the rush?" Friya tried to console her. "You are both bound to live for a long time."

    "What''s the rush?" Phloria echoed with a scoff. "If I don''t catch him on the rebound, Solus will. Only a blind, dumb, and deaf person can miss how she looks at him. Now that she has her body back, it''s only a matter of time before she makes her move.

    "If they end up together, with their stupid mind link, their bond, and all the damn time that they spend working in the tower, it''s going tost forever!"

    "Okay, then why don''t you approach him first?" Friya asked.

    "Because I''m not certain it''s what I really want. I didn''t like how intimate they acted even when Lith was still with Kam. I don''t want to be second to anyone and I''m afraid of what would happen if things between us didn''t work.

    "Can you imagine being forced to hang around your two times ex and his shiny girlfriend for one hundred years?" Phloria shuddered at the thought.

    "Gods, it would be a nightmare." Friya nodded. "You know, sis, you could have gone a little easier on me. I think you have just doomed me to a lifetime of one-night stands."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Well, I''m bound to Faluel for one hundred years as well and if she takes me as her Harbinger, I will be in the same situation as Lith. With a silent partner in my head that leaves me no privacy and to which I''m bonded for life." Friya replied.

    "Well, at least your boyfriend won''t have to worry that you have a rtionship with a Hydra.." Phloria said.

 Chapter 1694 - Doppelgangers (Part 2)

    "Yeah, right. Any sane man wouldn''t want to stay with a woman who can''t keep any of his confidences for herself while those willing to ept it would probably ask Faluel to join us." Friya snarled.

    "Gods, we are both screwed." Phloria chuckled. "What are you going to do, then?"

    "I''m tired of waiting for Prince Charming toe." Friya clenched her fist with determination. "From now on, I''m going to live myst one hundred years of freedom to their fullest and you should do the same.

    "Stop focusing on Lith and Solus and think only on making a life for yourself. Maybe we''ll never find the right person, but we won''t know it unless we try." Friya extended her fist which Phloria bumped.

    "Okay. Two questions. How do we get a job without it meddling with our Awakened apprenticeship and where can we find some dating material?" She asked.

    Friya was about to answer when the array tapping into the Marquis'' amulet finally brought something interesting.

    "Wyma, please tell me you got the weapons back."

    "Yes, Hassar, I do. Why?" They recognized the voice of Countess Metra, the other suspect.

    "I got reliable information that Commander Ernas is here to perform a surprise inspection of the armory. If we don''t return them soon, we are going to end up as the primary suspects along with all those with the ess codes." The Marquis replied.

    "What''s the n?" Metra''s voice tensed up.

    "We just move ahead of schedule. Return them tomorrow night during the party and everything will be fine." He replied.

    "It''s risky. Thest time I almost got caught by a guard. Why don''t we just dump them somewhere?"

    "If we do that, the Constables will start asking questions and the Knight''s Guard would trace their energy signature straight to us. If we return the weapons, instead, there will be no investigation at all.

    "Also, don''t you dare go in person. We need to be both at the party and do something that proves our identity, like using any enchanted item that''s not amunication amulet. We don''t want people to mistake a call for a coded message.

    "At that point, even if something goes wrong and the Doppelganger gets caught, it only has to shapeshift a couple of times before self-destructing to clear us from any suspicion." The Marquis said.

    "One of mine or one of yours?" She asked.

    "One of yours. It must be capable of ying your part well. This way, even in the case the guard recognizes you, you can just im that it wasn''t you and that one of your enemies is trying to frame you for the crime.

    "No one will ever believe that you are stupid enough to send someone with your own face tomit a crime." The Marquis said with a sneer.

    "How many times do I have to tell you that I''m sorry? I got unexpectedly stuck at the Royal Court during the day and had toe to pick the weapons myself at night to not miss the delivery.

    "Doppelgangers can''t reproduce our magical imprint and without someone leaving a way in open for them, they can''t get past the City Hall''s defenses without triggering the rms." The Countess replied.

    "That''s why it is vital that tomorrow we leave the City Hall forst, after the final security sweep. Make no mistakes this time or you''ll pay the consequences alone." The Marquis hung up the call.

    "Why is it important that they leavest?" Friya asked.

    "Because this way they can lock the doors, have them checked, and then open them again unnoticed." Phloria replied. "Due to the arrays protecting each room, the guards can patrol the corridors, not get in."

    "Then how do the Doppelgangers enter the City Hall in the first ce if they don''t have the imprint?" Friya asked.

    "My best guess is that they can mimic the guards and they enter after a colleague opens the door for them with an excuse during the shift change." Phloria said. "The real guard reaches their position while the fake goes straight for the City Lord''s office and then leaves during the next shift."

    "What an ingenious bastard!" Friya said.

    "Yeah. You update the others while I keep monitoring the array. This is going to be a long night."

    ***

    The following night, Orion and Jirni attended the Marquis'' party while the others staked out the City Hall.

    He would have rather stayed with his daughters, but he was the only one with a decent cover. The Marquis had kept his word and tried to mediate a reconciliation on Jirni''s behalf.

    Orion had no trouble offering a fair amount of resistance until he had pretended to give in to Beilin''s insistence and had epted the invitation to his party.

    Not only had Manohar refused to not miss the opportunity to face whatever a Doppelganger ( or Manohar 34 as he called it) was, but his presence to any party would have been received with the same joy as the sudden appearance of a rampaging Dragon.

    His habit of spiking food and drinks with thepound of the week was well known. To make matters worse, thest time he had attended a banquet in Othre, many people had turned into flesh monstrosities that had killed dozens of nobles before the army managed to put them down.

    The Crown had exined that it wasn''t Manohar''s fault and that the Carpenters were part of the ploy of an enemy of the Kingdom, but people considered such an exnation to be just a cover-up for a failed super-soldier program.

    The "Mad Professor" nickname and the fact that Manohar publicly confessed to being responsible for those events in order to avoid future social gatherings were just the icing on the cake.

    "I''m sorry for being a dumb oaf, but exin to me again why we can''t just arrest the Marquis and the Countess. The call has been recorded and it sounded like a confession to me." Orion wore a white tie suit.

    It consisted of a ck dress coat with tails over a white shirt, a piqu¨¦ waistcoat, and a white bow tie worn around a standing wingtip cor.

    He tried to act natural, but between the embarrassment for his outburst of the previous night and the mess that his feelings were, the atmosphere around the couple was so awkward that the other guests kept their distance to not be dragged in a conjugal mess.

    On the one hand, Orion needed time to ponder his own words and Jirni''s. Both had taken him by surprise, shocking him. On the other hand, he didn''t want to leave her alone in such a dangerous situation.

    No matter how angry he was with her, Jirni was still the mother of his children and the woman he had loved for almost thirty years.

    "You are not a dumb oaf." Jirni straightened his coat''spel and adjusted the handkerchief in his pocket while standing on her tiptoes. "It''s just that without someone confirming that their personal amulets have been used for the call, they can just im that it''s the work of the shapeshifters.

    "All we know is that someone made a call from that house using their voice which normally would be enough, but this case is special."

 Chapter 1695 - Chimeric Body (Part 1)

    "On top of that, there''s no way those two idiots created the Doppelgangers.

    "If we move too soon, the person who gave them those creatures and took the weapons might just dispose of his aplices as soon as they outlive their usefulness, leaving us empty-handed. Like it or not, we are their bodyguards."

    Jirni''s smile was so bright and every one of her movements so tender that no one doubted for a second that the words that she was whispering were sweet promises of love.

    "Fine." Orion pushed her hands away. "The backup is waiting outside, but they should intervene at the first sign of trouble. You stick to the Countess, I''m going to speak with our host."

    Then he turned around and walked away without looking back.

    For the first time in her life, Jirni didn''t need her training to express all the sadness and pain that she felt.

    ***

    Outside the City Hall, at the same time.

    The group had split into two teams. Manohar and Phloria waited for the Doppelganger inside the City Lord''s office while Friya and Quy stood on the tallest buildings at the opposing sides of the City Hall.

    Manohar only cared about capturing the Doppelganger while Phloria was more worried about retrieving the weapons as soon as possible. Dealing with an unknown creature was already bad enough.

    Dealing with an unknown creature armed with state-of-the-art equipment while she was incapable of using earth and air magic due to the arrays surrounding the city and Spirit Magic due to Manohar was the stuff nightmares were made of.

    As for Friya and Quy, they used the high ground to keep an eye on the area. Their role was to keep the Doppelganger from escaping in the case something went wrong and to coordinate the members of the Association hidden in the nearby buildings.

    The mages didn''t like taking orders from someone so young and inexperienced, but the name Ernas carried enough weight to crush a career without the Royals even asking for an exnation.

    So, when Orion had given the orders, the mages had agreed with a stered smile on their faces.

    Working alone allowed the girls to freely use Spirit Magic to bypass the restrictions that the elemental sealing arrays imposed on fake mages.

    <i>''Man, your Scope spell is really good. At night such a small dimensional fissure is as good as invisible.''</i> Quy said.

    <i>''I created it more for offense than recon, but thanks.''</i> Normally it was impossible to use a mind link from a great distance, but by creating a dimensional hole the size of a pinhole near her sister, Friya could talk with her as if they were just a few meters apart.

    Friya kept her enchanted rapier, Dreadnought, on her left side while on her right there was what looked like a stringless crossbow ending in a giant tuning fork.

    <i>''What is that thing?''</i> Quy asked.

    <i>''Something that Lith wants me to field test. He tried to exin to me how it works but I didn''t understand a word he said except that it''s based on a mix of earth and air magic. ording to him, it packs quite a punch.''</i> Friya replied.

    <i>''I thought he couldn''t make Spirit Artifacts yet.''</i> Quy was bbergasted.

    <i>''He can''t. It''s not a Spirit Artifact.''</i>

    <i>''Then what''s the point of bringing it around? The elemental sealing arrays of Ruham make it useless.''</i>

    <i>''Look, Lith told me that it would work and that''s enough for me.''</i> Friya shrugged. ''Now stay sharp. It''s time for the shift change.''

    As predicted, they spotted two identical guards entering from the opposite entrances. The problem was that both carried nothing suspicious and entered along with their colleagues without the need to use their magical imprint on the door.

    <i>''Fuck! Any luck with Life Vision?''</i> Quy asked.

    <i>''Are you kidding me? If I open a fissure in a well-lit area filled with people, the guards will sound the rm and our mission will fail before starting.''</i> Friya alerted the mages of the Association while her sister notified Phloria.

    "The Doppelganger ising our way. You''d better prepare, Professor." She said whileying her enchanted estoc, Reaver, on the City Lord''s desk to have her hands free and pretend to chant fake magic.

    <i>''Dammit, Lith made it seem so natural, but I''m afraid of messing up. Manohar is a genius who learned tier one Spirit Magic by watching Quy perform it once. If he notices my ruse, he''ll ask me questions I can''t answer.''</i> Phloria thought.

    "Who do you take me for, Beanpole? I''m always ready." The Mad Professor opened his arms and countless golden runes covered his pristine white uniform until it almost turnedpletely yellow.

    <i>''That''s simr to the array that Dawn used to keep her magicalb made of hard-light constructs always active.''</i> Phloria recognized the pattern from the hologram that Lith had used to show her the fight against the Horseman but aside from that, she had no idea what she had just witnessed.

    Afterbining his efforts with Balkor, Manohar had invented an array that he could wear whose sole purpose was to keep his spells at the ready after he was done casting them.

    The golden runes belonged to Light Mastery spells that Phloria had no knowledge of, and there were more than thirty of them. Most of them were of high tier, Manohar kept some of low tier only to not waste a single inch of the array.

    While the magical formationy dormant, it consumed only a little amount of mana that was provided by the custom professor uniform that Orion had crafted per Manohar''s instructions.

    <i>''I am the greatest light magic genius of the Kingdom, but I must admit that Jirni''s plus one beats me at Forgemastery. He managed to whip up my armor even though I only gave him a rough sketch.''</i> Yet it actually was more like a childish doodle filled with a wish list of enchantments.

    "Any idea of the ETA of the Doppelganger?" Phloria wasn''t so lucky.

    Reaver could hold her spells only for two minutes. One second longer and they would fade away, wasting her mana.

    "No clue. Good luck." Quy replied and hung the call to keep the noise from alerting the enemy of their presence.

    Phloria cursed Life Vision''s zing eyes that would have probably piqued Manohar''s curiosity and decided to count up to sixty before starting her chant.

    The door of the office opened a few minutester and the person who stepped through the door didn''t match Quy''s description.

    The Doppelganger had memorized the appearance of all the guards, giving it the ability to blend in any area of the City Hall after checking who it could mimic without meeting the original.

    Manohar and Phloria held their breath from their hiding spot, wondering where the creature kept the weapons. The woman it now resembled was stout and short. There was no way to hide the stolen artifacts under her clothes without them bulging out suspiciously.

    <i>''The City Lord used a small wedge between the door and the lock so that the protections can''t trigger. Once the Doppelganger is done with her task, she only has to close the door after removing the wedge to activate the protection and leave no trace of her passage..''</i> Manohar thought.

 Chapter 1696 - Chimeric Body (Part 2)

    ''<i>The only thing that I don''t understand is how they smuggled the weapons in and out of the office. Dimensional amulets don''t work in the City Hall and most of the artifacts are as big as my arm.''</i>

    The answer came when the body of the woman split in two like a watermelon, revealing a short staff in ce of her spine, an amulet where her heart was supposed to be, and a chainmail floating in the middle of her chest.

    The creature had no internal organs or bones. Under the skin, there was what looked like a bright blue gooey substance where the missing artifact had been stored. The gtinous substance was dense enough to keep everything in ce without making the chainmail clink.

    The Doppelganger didn''t show any sign of difort as it took the artifacts out of its body and cleaned them from the residual goo with darkness magic.

    <i>''That''s amazing/disgusting!''</i> Manohar and Phloria respectively thought.<i> ''An intelligent creature capable of using magic who seems to be immune to pain.''</i>

    Only after the Doppelganger opened the safe using the Countess'' code, proving her involvement in the theft, and stored the weapons back into the armory did the two magese out of their hiding spot.

    Until that moment, there had been no proof that she had helped the Marquis since the previously stolen artifacts had already been returned and the ones still missing had been taken out by using the Marquis'' code.

    Now, however, Jirni would be able to arrest them both and there was no way to justify how the shapeshifter knew their personal codes without their help. On top of that, they had to wait for the creature to seal the vault shut or it would have had the entire Kingdom''s arsenal at its disposal.

    "You''re under experiment, I mean, under arrest!" Manohar said as a part of the library lined against the wall burst in a shower of sparks, revealing to be a hard-light construct behind which he and Phloriay in ambush.

    The room had no ce where two adults could hide so the Mad Professor had just made the library a bit longer from either side, hoping that between the darkness in the room and the urgency of the mission the creature wouldn''t notice the discrepancy.

    A hard-light cube as hard as stone trapped the Doppelganger, leaving it no way out.

    "Let''s inform Mom, I mean, your mother that we are done and that they can-"

    The creature showed no sign of fear or panic. It simply punched the construct, making a small crack appear on the surface of the cube.

    "Your effort is as fascinating as it is pointless." Manohar waved his hand, sending a strand of mana that repaired the damage. "It seems that our specimen is way much heavier than it looks, Beanpole."

    "I have a real name!" Phloria yelled while never stopping weaving spells with her mind. "Don''t lower your guard and think. How can a woman that size have such strength?"

    Unlike the Professor, she knew that a shapeshifter''s size might be misleading. If it knew how to use gravity fusion, the creature could weigh several tons and no one would notice until it was toote.

    "Easy. Enhanced mass." Manohar replied with a smug expression. "Yet you are underestimating me and overestimating our opponent. With that level of strength, I can fix any damage it makes to moment a-"

    "Good to know." The creature replied, making the Mad Professor choke on his words.

    Not just because he had been expecting a dumb creature born only to follow orders like Jirni had described whereas the Doppelganger sounded sarcastic and confident. But also because new sets of arms kept popping from its back, joining the onught.

    The creature hit the cube from every direction, covering its surface with a web of cracks that destabilized the construct''s integrity too quickly for Manohar to close them.

    The cube shattered but the Mad Professory another construct in front of the door and windows, to keep the creature from escaping.

    Yet the Doppelganger didn''t mind the new setback, it just charged forward while activating its bloodline ability, Chimeric Body.

    The Doppelganger grew tall enough to graze the ceiling with its snake-like head while its body was covered in Dragon scales and the tail of a Scorpicore came out of the small of its back.

    It had now four arms as long and muscr as those of a Vanara, a gori type Emperor Beast, and each one of its twenty fingers ended with the one-meter (3.3 feet) long ws typical of a Rezar.

    "This is unexpected." Manohar said as the creature spat out acid from its mouth, the tail'' sting lunged at him, and the four arms blocked every conceivable escape route.

    Due to the elemental blocking arrays, the Mad Professor couldn''t fly nor Blink to safety, leaving him at the mercy of his opponent.

    He activated many of the spells engraved on his clothes at once, using a tier three Light Mastery spell to conjure a heat ray that vaporized the acid and entered the open mouth of the beast, burning it from the inside.

    His tier five Light Mastery spell, Can''t Touch This, conjured six hands of light. The first four stopped the creature''s arms, another intercepted the tail, and thest struck at the abdomen of the Chimaera so hard that its body deformed on impact.

    Or so Manohar thought until he realized that the creature had simply turned its density to that of a liquid to spread and disperse the strength of the attack. The holes in the snake-like head and neck closed without leaving any trace of damage while the trapped limbs simply extended forward to resume their attack, ignoring their restrictions.

    Luckily for Manohar, Phloria didn''t miss the openings that the Doppelganger''s countermeasures had created. After extending themselves, the limbs had be thinner and had spaced theyers of Dragon scales enough for Phloria''s estoc to reach the flesh underneath.

    She blocked the tail with Reaver while a hail of frozen shards cut the Vanara arms to shreds and hit the still gtinous main body of the creature, making it explode like a water balloon.

    "Not bad." Manohar said. "But that''s not enough to win this battle. If we allow it to reform in such an enclosed space, we''ll be at too much a disadvantage. We need-"

    "Ice and Darkness!" Phloria cut him short.

    She conjured a snowstorm to make the liquid thatprised the Doppelganger''s body sluggish and a hail of darkness bullets to destroy it for good. Phloria and Manohar couldn''t use fire without hurting each other.

    On top of that, with air and earth magic sealed there was only so much they could do.

    "Exactly! You would have made a good healer." Manohar unleashed a barrage of heat rays to check whether the creature suffered cold or heat more.

    Much to his surprise, the Doppelganger''s body would make bubbles but not burn. Also, unlike cold, heat didn''t slow down either its movements or its recovery.

    "I should have listened to my own advice." He grumbled while snapping his fingers.

    The heat rays turned into bullets of darkness that joined Phloria''s onught and turned most of the fragments of the Doppelganger into dust.

 Chapter 1697 - Protheus (Part 1)

    The Doppelganger tried to slip from under the door and windows, but Manohar''s constructs sealed every way out of the room.

    Then it tried to reform its body, but the cold had frozen the smaller bits of the creature and the two mages focused their darkness magic on the fragments big enough to keep moving.

    It took Manohar and Phloria great caution to keep their respective spells from hurting their partner. By the time the Doppelganger was dead, half of Manohar''s uniform was back to be white and Reaver had run out of spells.

    The gtinous lumps left in the room quickly evaporated, revealing amunication amulet that lost its imprint along with all the runes etched on its surface.

    "This was a disaster." The Mad Professor cried over the spilled specimen. "Such a unique life form and not one fragment left to examine!"

    "Who cares about that?" Phloria exploited her rage painting her eyes blue with mana to use Life Vision, making sure that the creature was dead down to thest bit. "Don''t you remember what my mother said?

    "There are at least three Doppelgangers at the Marquis''s house and even more at the service of the Countess. The moment those creatures take a look at their own amulets and realize that their partner is dead, they might go on a rampage.

    "The two of us had this much trouble dealing with one of them. None of the mages at the party is a Light Master and my mother is not even a mage. You alert the army while I inform my parents of the danger."

    "You are a genius!" Manohar said while jumping with joy. "There is still hope. I just need to capture one of the other Doppelgangers!"

    He rushed out of the City Lord''s office, ignoring Phloria''s words.

    The guards mistook him for an intruder and tried to arrest him. The Mad Professor used the fighting skills that Orion had taught him to break their bones and severalws of the Kingdom while saving the mana he had left to recharge the magic holding array that covered his vest.

    By the time Phloria reached the door after collecting the Doppelganger''s amulet, he was nowhere to be seen.

    "That man is not crazy, he''s a raving lunatic." She called Quy and Friya, giving them an exhaustive report of the Doppelganger''s abilities before opening a Spirit Warp to the Marquis'' house.

    <i>''Without Manohar, Phloria can''t deal with so many monsters alone. She needs my help.''</i> Friya said via the mind link. <i>''Exin the situation to the mages of the Association and the soldiers while I go help Mom and Dad.''</i>

    Quy didn''t like being left behind, but if both leaders of the mission disappeared, it would hurt Orion''s reputation since he was the one that had put them in charge. On top of that, Quy still couldn''t use Spirit Dimensional magic.

    Despite all of her efforts, she was stuck at tier three Spirit Magic whereas Friya was both a dimensional mage and an Awakened. At that moment, Quy didn''t care about her pride as a mage, only about saving her parents.

    ***

    Marquis Beilin''s home, at the same time.

    "Your wife sincerely regrets what she has done." Beilin said with a brotherly, caring tone as if he and Orion were old friends. "Jirni has done all she could to obtain your forgiveness. As a man, you can''t tear your family apart like this."

    The Marquis couldn''t care less about the couple, but having the Commander of the Knight''s Guard as his alibi was too good an opportunity to turn down.

    "I appreciate your concern, dear Marquis, but regret is not enough and forgiveness has to be deserved. Lady Myrok breached my trust and endangered the life of my daughter. Neither matter deserves any leniency."

    Orion didn''t like Beilin calling his wife by her first name nor his patronizing tone.

    "She did it with the approval of the Royals, yet I heard nothing about you handing in your resignation to them. Isn''t it hypocritical of you to be so harsh only with Jirni?

    "Also, I didn''t want to tell you about it because it''s none of my business, but your daughters came here to visit her behind your back. Are you really willing to lose both your wife and children because of your stubbornness?"

    "You are right." At those words, a smug grin appeared on the Marquis''s face. "It''s none of your business."

    Orion''s eyes lit with a bright violet light like it hadn''t happened in years. The fury and the pain that burned inside of him had finally found a target, flooding the air around Beilin with a violence that almost ttened him to the ground.

    The Marquis could neither move nor breathe. His leg kept him standing only because fear made them stiffer than wooden poles.

    Then, Orion took a deep breath, using the mental discipline that he had developed after spending his life in the army and after raising his three children to calm down.

    "I came here only out of respect for your role as City Lord, Marquis, but if you keep acting like you have the right to tell me how to live my life, I''d better take my leave." Orion gave him a small bow before turning toward the exit.

    "I''m sorry for overstepping my boundaries, Lord Ernas." Beilin followed Orion who never stopped walking briskly. "It''s just that after having Lady Ernas as my honored guest for a few days and seeing how worried your daughters are, I think you are underestimating the consequences of your decision."

    The Marquis just wanted Orion to stay until the Doppelganger returned and his tonecked sincerity. Unbeknownst to him, however, there was some truth in his words. Orion stopped abruptly, pondering how he had gotten to Ruham.

    <i>''Ever since I kicked Jirni out of the house I have developed a drinking problem, almost ruined my career, and my daughters worried so much about me that they orchestrated a whole fa?ade just put us both in the same room.</i>

    <i>''Beilin is right about how I''ve let my grief blind me. I don''t know if I''ll ever find the strength in me to forgive Jirni, but that doesn''t mean that our children must pay the price for her action.</i>

    <i>''I''m not alone in this matter and without apromise, we will all suffer from the separation.''</i>

    "I ept your apology, Marquis, and I offer you my own for my earlier behavior. I''d need more time to recover, but s duty called me here and it''s unfair for me to take my frustration out on you." Orion turned around, offering his host a polite bow.

    "Let''s try and rx a bit. What was the artifact that you wanted my opinion about? The Forgemastery art always helps me rx and I could use a distraction."

    Beilin smiled from ear to ear as he took out a useless but unique contraption that he had bought. Using an item that required his magical imprint was a seamless alibi that would protect him no matter what happened to the Doppelganger.

    Meanwhile, Jirni was bored out of her skull. Listening to Countess Metra''s marriage advice was one form of torture she had no training against.

    "Don''t worry, my dear.. Men often get angry but they are simple-minded creatures and calming them is not that hard if one knows what to do."

 Chapter 1698 - Protheus (Part 2)

    One sure-fire method to get away with anything is to hire a gorgeous young woman as his personal maid.

    "After your husband has a bit of fun and gets tired of her, he will feel guilty and forgive you just to clear his conscience."

    "What if he falls for her, instead?" Just the idea of Orion with another woman made Jirni want to kill the Countess for suggesting it, yet her face blushed from the alleged embarrassment and fear. "I''m not young anymore, what if he chooses her over me?"

    "That''s why I said to find him amoner." Metra said with a scoff. "A man like your husband can''t fall for an uncultured woman for long and even if he does, his status requires a spouse to match. Lord Ernas-"

    The moment the Doppelganger had died in the City Lord''s office, a few members of the house staff waiting at the tables of the noble guests lost their human appearance. They shapeshifted into human-sized monstrous creatures that seemedprised of parts from different Emperor Beasts and even monsters.

    <i>''Those aren''t just any parts.''</i> Jirni thought while standing in front of her annoying guest to protect her. <i>''Those are traits from creatures specialized in killing their prey with a single strike.''</i>

    She recognized the venomous quills typical of Manticores, the fangs of ckers, and even the head of an acid-spitting Nidhogg.

    The Doppelgangers ignored the guests, focusing only on the Countess and the Marquis. Their fingers extended into meters long snakes whose heads bared their fangs at the hapless nobles.

    "We need backup, now!" Orion took his handkerchief out of the breast pocket that turned into an Adamant shield while his white tie suit reverted to its true form of a Featherwalker armor.

    The razor-sharp wings cut the snakes in mid-air while the shield intercepted the charge of the closest Doppelganger, sending it flying. The severed heads slithered toward their mark, leaving Orion bbergasted.

    "Stop! I order you to stop!" Beilin was too scared to worry about the consequences of his words.

    His only hope of survival was that the Mad Queen hadn''t lied to him when she had guaranteed the Marquis that the Doppelgangers would be his obedient ves. When the creatures ignored his words and continued attacking, he knew that all was lost.

    Even if Beilin survived the Doppelgangers, the Kingdom would execute him the moment the Constables were done with him. Yet while facing the terror and chaos that those mindless monsters inspired, the Marquis stuck with Orion.

    Except that the Doppelgangers were neither monsters nor mindless.

    Thrud Griffon had achieved something that no other Awakened before her had ever had the guts and the wits to do.

    She had given the slimes that lived in the Golden Griffon the gift of Awakening and with it sentience. The reason why not even Manohar nor Quy had recognized their life force was that Doppelgangers were a new species.

    Thrud had used the Undying Loyalty array to force the slimes to obey her orders and then a mind link to give them instructions in a form that they couldprehend: thought.

    The ve spellpelled them to perform the breathing technique and the mana geyser below the academy did the rest.

    In their natural state, Doppelgangers had no given form. They resembled a living mass of colorless, translucent jelly the size of a wooden trunk that could only move around by crawling.

    At first, Thrud had deemed her experiment a failure, believing that the slimes had just be bigger. Then, when she neared the First Doppelganger to examine them with Invigoration, the creature assumed a humanoid form.

    It still looked like jelly, but the longer Thrud stood still the more the Doppelganger mimicked her appearance and movements. Its head grew long tendrils to resemble her hair while the extremities of their limbs split into fingers.

    The moment their hands touched, Thrud realized that her experiment had seeded. The evolved slime had now a perfectly developed mana core which could only mean that her creation wasn''t mindless, just as na?ve as a baby.

    While she was still rejoicing in her sess, the Doppelganger''s hand kept moving forward, ovepping with Thrud''s.

    <i>''The slime has just evolved and has no experience of the outside world. It probably mistook me for food, but it''s not like a red-cored creature can pose any threat to me.''</i> Thrud thought until the Doppelganger digested her dead skin and turned into an exact copy of her.

    It was like watching herself in a mirror.

    A mirror whose reflection could walk out of the ss and take the ce of the original, though. The Doppelganger-Thrud had a cruel look in her eyes and her smug grin made Thrud feel like prey in front of its predator.

    <i>''Good gods, what have I done? If my creation is like a Skinwalker and can steal my spells, memory, and physical abilities, I''ve doomed not just my ns of conquest but the entire Mogar.''</i> A cold shiver ran down her spine as she imagined the rise of a new master race.

    Then she saw the Doppelganger''s expression be worried as if it was suddenly afraid of her.

    Thrud furrowed her brown in confusion and so did her double. It took her a few more tries to confirm that the creature had no ill intentions, it just mimicked everything she did. Yet it was still too early to sigh in relief.

    <i>''I must understand this creature''s powers and abilities before its intelligence fully develops. If this is the perfect form of a Skinwalker, then I must destroy my creation before it''s toote.''</i> Thrud touched the creature again to study it with her breathing technique, Royal Flow.

    The Doppelganger smiled at the frowning Thrud, expressing the first emotion of its own. Yet she found it creepy because it showed that the creature was not only? sentient, but also a quick learner.

    Only after Royal Flow showed her that the Doppelganger had mirrored only her appearance while its mana core was still red and its life force had none of the features of her own did Thrud allow herself to rx.

    "Can you speak?" She asked.

    The Doppelganger moved its lips, but only a gurgling sound came out.

    Then Thrud twirled her fingers and conjured a small me with chore magic. Once again, the creature mirrored only her movements, failing to wave the simplest of spells.

    <i>''The good news is that my creation doesn''t pose a threat to Mogar. Just like a Skinwalker, it cannot mimic mana organs which means it cannot copy bloodline abilities.</i>

    <i>''On top of that, it cannot even copy the memories of its prey, making it a much cheaper copy of the original. The bad news is that I have no use for it in my ns and that I still have to be careful around it.</i>

    <i>''Unlike a Skinwalker, my creation is an Awakened. If it reproduces like a slime and has even one powerful bloodline ability, it might be dangerous.''</i> She thought.

    "Follow me, Protheus." Thrud said while stepping forward.

    The Doppelganger looked at her in confusion without moving from their spot.

    <i>''I''m Thrud and your name is Protheus. Now follow me..''</i> She used a mind link to ovee thenguage barrier.

 Chapter 1699 - Protheus (Part 3)

    Thrud showed the Doppelganger around the Golden Griffon, teaching them the names of the things and the people they met by using abination of mind links, gestures, and words that she had nned to use with the little Valeron.

    Protheus proved to be smart and curious. They took samples from all those they met and in the space of a few days, the Doppelganger was already able to talk fluently. Protheus joined the sses for Awakened to understand magic, spending all of their free time practicing umtion.

    Protheus would rarely speak because the world around them was interesting and filled with countless marvels that they were eager to learn about. Over time, Thrud and everyone else inside the Golden Griffon had be used to the Doppelganger''s quiet presence.

    Protheus usually spoke only to ask questions so when they chose Thrud''s war room to give their first speech, she almost couldn''t believe her own ears.

    "Conquering the cities of the Kingdom from the inside is a smart n, but you can''t trust traitors. They could change their mind at the first hitch in your ns or simply chicken out under pressure.

    "You need someone to keep an eye on them at all times. Someone that can take out a useless pawn at any moment and escape without being noticed." Protheus turned into their gtinous form, mimicking their escape through a drain pipe.

    "My brethren and I can pass through an enchanted sieve without being noticed, let alone the sewer''s grids. We can get in and out from any city." Thrud had allowed the Doppelganger to reproduce in order to not make them feel lonely and to study their behavior as a species instead of a single individual.

    "That''s too dangerous." She dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "You and your children have no idea of howplex the everyday life of any creature is. Skinwalkers, instead, can learn everything they need with a single meal."

    "Indeed, yet their feral nature limits their intelligence and adaptability. They can follow your orders, but not improvise." Protheus said. "On top of that, they make the perfect scapegoat. If one of your subjects betrays you, they can always im that they acted under the threat of being reced by a Skinwalker.

    "Using those monsters as spies is a double-edged sword because even though they can rece anyone, their existence gives the traitors who have joined your cause a bargaining chip with the Kingdom to obtain a full pardon for their actions.

    "If the Skinwalkers get exposed before the war starts, your n will fail."

    "You may be right, but your numbers are too few and you are too weak." Thrud shook her head. "Going from a red to an orange core is quick, but it will take you months if not years even to achieve a green core."

    "We are not weak!" Protheus shapeshifted into an Emerald Dragon, crushing a huge stone with the sheer strength of their grip and showing the hardness of their scales by withstanding the strike of an enchanted weapon.

    Then the Doppelganger turned into Iata the Scorpicore, stinging with the scorpion tail at the enchanted walls of the academy and secreting enough acid to open a sizzling hole.

    Unlike a slime, a Doppelganger could store the excess mass obtained through feeding indefinitely andpress it into their bodies to have the same physical abilities as the creatures they turned into.

    Then, Protheusbined the bestponents of each creature that they had sampled to use their bloodline ability, Chimeric Body. It allowed a Doppelganger not to be forced to mimic the full body of a creature to use their natural gifts, adapting them to whatever form they chose.

    They could retain human form and still be able to use wings to fly or look like a rat whose bite was venomous.

    "I admit that you are strong but without magic, there isn''t much you can do." Thrud said. "I didn''t create your species to use you in this war as soldiers. I did it only because I wanted to check the limits of the Unwavering Loyalty array and the potential of slimes'' evolution.

    "You guys are too young, na?ve, and inexperienced to understand the implications of your proposal. If you get discovered, you are bound to be captured, vivisected, and then exterminated."

    "No, it''s you who don''t understand the implications of your actions." Protheus said. "Before you Awakened me, all I knew were fear, hunger, and darkness. I lived my days incapable of nning past my next meal or seeing what was in front of me.

    "Every time I felt a vibration, I could only slowly slither away and hope that whatever creature it was would pick something else to fill their belly. When you gave me sentience, you also gave me hope, light, and curiosity.

    "I now understand that to really call myself a living creature I can''t just worry about eating and surviving. I need a purpose. Otherwise, I would be no different from a slime."

    "War is not a purpose. It''s a means to an end." Thrud replied.

    "I know." Protheus nodded. "That''s why I found a purpose of my own. I want to help you build a world where my species, any species, don''t have to hide from humans. I want you to im the throne of the Griffon Kingdom so that you and my brother Valeron can have the life you deserve.

    "Please, allow us to help you, Mother." Protheus shapeshifted into an androgynous human form that had Thrud''s silver eyes, Jormun''s emerald hair, and that bore a semnce to both of them just like Valeron did.

    "Please, allow us to help you, Mother." One after the other, all the Doppelgangers joined Protheus'' plea and shapeshifted into their unique human form.

    They knelt in front of Thrud, leaving her no choice. She had sent the Doppelgangers to keep an eye on her willing subjects like Marquis Beilin and to aid them to destroy the Kingdom from the inside.

    Yet before sending them away, she had given to each one of them amunication amulet. This way, the Doppelgangers could report to her developments like Jirni''s arrival while pretending to be brainless ves.

    It also allowed her to know when something went wrong because with their death theirmunication rune would fade away. The moment Phloria and Manohar had killed the Doppelganger, Thrud knew that her n had already beenpromised.

    She had already faced Manohar and the annoying Constable together and unlike the Marquis, she had never underestimated them. Thrud assumed that the worst had happened and ordered the Doppelgangers in Ruham to tie the loose ends before running away.

    ***

    Jirni had her Featherwalker armor shapeshift into a morefortable form while she threw her needles at the iing Doppelganger, aiming where their vitals were supposed to be.

    Her aim was perfect and Orion''s enchantments easily pierced through the eyes, chest, and the opened mouth of the monstrous creature, unleashing pulses of darkness magic that would make organs rot.

    Yet no matter their form, a Doppelganger had no brain nor heart so the needles merely stung and the darkness magic caused them pain but no real harm.. The wounds shed no blood and closed immediately, like the surface of ake after being struck by a stone.

 Chapter 1700 - Protheus (Part 4)

    The Doppelganger shed with its ws and only when they passed millimeters away from her face did Jirni notice that instead of fingers the creatures had five small Scorpicore''s tails.

    <i>''Yesterday Manohar told us that these things can just copy someone''s appearance. He never mentioned the ability tobine and imitate Emperor Beasts!''</i>

    She assembled her remaining needles into the staff of a polearm to block the following sh, but as soon as she perceived the creature''s strength, Jirni knew not to be its match.

    She jumped back, using the momentum of the impact to gain some distance and drag the Countess with her.

    "Give me the woman or die with her!" The Doppelganger''s voice sounded like gurgling water while their words revealed apassion that Jirni didn''t expect nor respect.

    A second before she and her mark were about to get caught, Jirni activated one of the needles'' many enchantments to recall them to her hand. They released pulses of water magic that froze the Doppelganger''s liquid body and darkness magic that sapped its strength.

    Thebined effect of the two elements made the Doppelganger groggy and allowed the needles to easily pierce their hard rock skin on the way back.

    <i>''My attacks may only cause ripples to a creature capable of adjusting their density at will, but even if just for a split second, those ripples can create an opening.''</i> Jirni thought.

    The needles had actually opened gaping holes in the creature''s head, blinding it. On top of that, the moment the needles touched the polearm they extended it further and formed a curved de on its end.

    Jirni stabbed at the Doppelganger''s still opened mouth, turning it into a block of ice ckened by the amount of darkness magic it was imbued with. The creature stumbled, but it wasn''t enough to stop it.

    The Doppelganger grew a new set of legs from their chest, using them to break the fall and be even faster. Jirni threw her spear at one of its feet, nailing it to the ground and enveloping it in a thickyer of ice.

    Yet she knew it wouldn''tst.

    "Run, you idiot!" Jirni ordered and the Countess was happy to oblige.

    The Doppelganger didn''t even bother freeing their limb. They just cut it off and grew another before their prey could take ten steps away.

    Orion wasn''t faring any better.

    He was a mage and could use magic holding rings, but they didn''t make much of a difference. The creature in front of him shrugged off anything below tier four but using such a powerful spell would have killed everyone present including the Marquis.

    The armor he wore had the same body-enhancing enchantments as Jirni''s which was the only reason they were capable of keeping up with the Doppelgangers boosted by elemental fusion.

    His shield and sword were of little use against an enemy who could grow as many limbs as they wanted and even extend them at will. Orion kept trying to gauge the Doppelganger''s attack range just to see it increase every time he took a stand.

    To make matters worse, the creature didn''t care much for him and focused on the Marquis, forcing Orion to spin like a top to block the attacks that tried to bypass him from every direction.

    Even after activating Full Guard, he had often been forced to choose between defending himself or Beilin, taking many blows just to keep the City Lord alive. Not even Jirni could interrogate a corpse and the Royals needed to know the identity of the person who had been secretly piging the Kingdom.

    The only silver lining was that the Doppelgangers were limited to tier two magic due to their weak cores which also affected their skill with fusion magic. On top of that, they had the mass and the strength of an Emperor Beast butcked the battle experience necessary to use them properly.

    Thrud had trained them to the best of her abilities but between therge number of possible forms the Chimeric Body could take and the limited time at her disposal, the Doppelgangers were amateurs fighterspared to the Ernas couple.

    Amateurs with countless limbs, no vitals, and a weight of several hundred kilograms, making each one of their relentless attacks as heavy as a charging bull.

    The Dragon scales were no match for his de, Grimlock. Yet every time Orion cut a limb asunder, the stump simply extended forward and exploited the opening that his perfect counter had created.

    Even without scales or ws, the stump still hit like a battering ram. The pieces that Orion cut, instead would either immediately reconnect to the stump or slither back to the main body, bringing Orion back to square one.

    <i>''If only I could use dimensional magic.''</i> He spat out a mouthful of blood after receiving a heavy blow to the chest.<i> ''I would just Blink the Marquis to safety and lure the monster outside, where I could use powerful spells without causing a massacre.''</i>

    The ballroom was still full of screaming nobles running for their lives. Together with the elemental sealing arrays of Ruham, they greatly limited Orion''s options. The Doppelgangers knew it and it was the reason they had barred the doors before revealing their presence.

    The presence of so many hostages gave Thrud''s children a food reserve at hand in the case they needed to heal their wounds, kept their magically gifted opponents from using high tier magic, and if push came to shove, the Doppelgangers would also have a perfect cover for their escape.

    The creature in front of Orion was over three meters (10'') tall, whose upper body was that of a humanoid covered in emerald scales. It had five sets of arms, each one ending with razor-sharp fingers that the Doppelganger could move and extend freely, making their trajectory unpredictable.

    From the chest down it had the body of what looked like a giant silver wolf with quills instead of fur. The four-legged stance gave the hybrid a speed and reflexes that Orion could barely follow while the quills allowed the Doppelganger to keep attacking even when Orion gained some distance.

    The reinforcements arrived seconds after Orion had sounded the rm, but between the civilians standing in their way and the rest of the Doppelgangers using the nobles as human shields, they could barely advance.

    "Blow the fucking wall!" Orion yelled while activating his tier five Mage Knight spell, Searing Gate, he had imbued his sword with.

    Grimlock released waves of darkness alternated with mes that engulfed the entire space within a meter (3.3 feet) of his body, sparing the Marquis that was still glued to Orion''s back.

    Not only did the spell produce a heat capable of melting rock, but it also pushed back whoever and whatever entered its area of effect. Doppelgangers were naturally resistant to fire, but the molten ground still hindered their mobility.

    Also, the waves of darkness magic attacked everything on their path, making it impossible for the creature to retrieve a part of their body once it fell onto the ground.

    Until that moment, the Doppelganger hadn''t cared about the severed limbs or losing quills because they would alwayse back by themselves, allowing the creature to not lose precious body mass.

    Yet now fire cauterized every wound that Orion opened while darkness seeped inside the quills, making them rot.

 Chapter 1701 - Science And Magic (Part 1)

    The soldiers obeyed the order, using a mix of fire and darkness magic to make all but the load-bearing walls crumble.

    The nobles could finally get out of the reinforcement''s way while the Doppelgangers had to choose between holding their ground and being killed or escaping by blending in with the crowd.

    Unfortunately for them, the choice was quickly taken out of their hands.

    Phloria had arrived for a while, but all she could do was to keep watch from the outside with Life Vision while filling Reaver to the brim with spells.

    Rushing in meant revealing a power capable of ignoring the city arrays. She had been forced to wait and hope that nothing bad would happen until a reasonable time to justify her arrival had passed.

    As for Friya, she had spent the time before the destruction of the walls trying to figure out Lith''s weapon.

    <i>''I wish that cheapskate had allowed me to practice with the Fixed Tracks Metal Barrel, but he said that if I did, it would consume charges that he wasn''t willing to pay for.''</i> She thought.

    <i>''On top of that, Sark forbid me to use it in the Desert and when I asked Faluel to test it in her cave she freaked out. Let''s hope that I understood enough from Lith''s exnation to make it work.''</i>

    The weapon looked like a stringless crossbow ending in a giant tuning fork longer than her arms. Friya inserted a cylinder with a blue crystal at the base of the weapon and heard a humming sound as electric arcs built up between the fork''s extremities.

    <i>''Unlike artifacts, alchemical tools don''t suffer from the sealing arrays since the spells they use have already been cast and their elemental energy stored inside by their crafter.</i>

    <i>''They would be great, if not for being limited to tier three spells and the impossibility to imbue them with willpower since user and caster don''t match. That''s why only magicless people want alchemical tools while mages only want artifacts.''</i> She inwardly sighed.

    After a few seconds, the blue gemstone blinked and Friya inserted an odd rectangr-shaped metal box right below the tuning fork, like Lith had instructed her to.

    <i>''I wonder why he put two handles yet he nagged at me not to grab the removable one while firing the Fixed Tracks Metal Barrel. It would make aiming easier.''</i> Almost in reply to her question, a click followed.

    A small piece of metal moved from the box and into the middle of the fork where it floated in mid-air,pleting the circuit.

    Now the current traveled from the power source up one of the forks, through the metal which acted as a connecting wire, and back down the other fork. The electric arcs disappeared as the electricitying from the power source could flow freely and create a powerful maic field.

    <i>''Okay, I''m done with this nonsense. Let''s see how it wor-''</i> Friya aimed at one of the giants that were walking through the copsed walls and pressed the trigger.

    The electricity in the fork surged, but instead of producing a bolt of lightning like she expected, it pushed the enchanted metal forward and out of the fork.

    The projectile moved at supersonic speed, enveloped in a golden light caused by the air magic that reduced the air resistance and kept the friction from pulverizing the bullet.

    The recoil from the shot, however, dislocated Friya''s shoulder and sent her tumbling down the roof.

    <i>''That moron! Not everyone weighs a few tons. He should have warned me.''</i> Lith actually had, rmending her to always have a solid footing and a strong grip, but Friya had thought that he was being anal retentive as usual.

    She was a blue cored Awakened, not a weak human after all.

    Friya stopped the fall with a flight spell and recovered the weapon with spirit magic as a roar of thunder followed the projectile hitting something.

    <i>''Oh, shit!''</i> She thought while looking at the crater that had reced one of the rooms on the first floor of the mansion.

    In spite of the protective arrays of the house, the stone floor was copsing onto the ballroom, making the fight even more chaotic. The air resistance was reduced but it was still there, and the recoil had thrown her aim off even further.

    Friya shifted to a kneeled stance, using full elemental fusion to stabilize her arms before pulling the trigger again. Yet aside from the electric arcs building up again nothing happened.

    <i>''Okay. The good news is that now I have the time to think about how to properly aim the next shot. The even better news is that once I get back to the Desert, I''m going to kick Lith''s ass big time.''</i> Friya took a series of deep breaths and as soon as the blue gem blinked again, she made her move.

    She had created the Scope spell to spy at her enemies and to hit them with her rapier, Dreadnought, from a distance, but it worked perfectly for the situation at hand as well.

    It was the reason why Lith had entrusted her the first model of the magical version of a railgun that he had devised. Tyris'' universalnguage had no word to describe it and Fixed Tracks Metal Barrel didn''t have a nice ring to it but Lith didn''t care for the name until he was sure that it worked.

    The second shot still hurt Friya''s arms but her aim stayed true. The projectile entered Scope and came out almost at point-nk range from the Doppelganger. The upper body of the giant exploded like a water balloon, making Friya and all those that were watching the fight freeze in amazement.

    <i>''How can something so small do so much damage?''</i> Friya thought while waiting for the arcs to charge up.

    Lith knew the principles behind a railgun, but he had alwayscked the engineering knowledge and the materials necessary to make one. At least until Aalejah the elf had exined to him what the Thunderstone Flower in his possession was and how to use it.

    The Thunderstone Flower had the ability to harmonize the earth and the air element, allowing anything that was imbued with its essence to retain the hardness of earth while also still being capable of tapping into the air element''s full potential.

    Without it, Lith would have never had the means to create a maic field strong enough to charge the bullets. On top of that, the Thunderstone Flower was also involved in the making of the projectiles.

    Projectiles without a magical aura, no matter how fast they moved, would have been rendered useless by the gravity sheathe of any enchanted armor. Also, unless Lith wasted magical metals to make the bullets, the friction and the high temperature would have destroyed any kind of material before it reached the target.

    The railgun was the product of a mix of Alchemy and Forgemastery. The weapon itself was an artifact with aplex series of pseudo cores that would just keep the maic field stable and cool down the rails in-between shots.

    The projectiles, instead, were an alchemical tool. Lith had enchanted them with the air and earth element not only to be superconductors, but also topensate for his ignorance about aerodynamics.

    It made them very expensive, but the pros surpassed the cons.

 Chapter 1702 - Science And Magic (Part 2)

    Lith had long searched for something that could hurt huge Emperor Beasts or even Divine Beasts without the need to waste time to cast a powerful spell or a simple air sealing array to screw his ns.

    The railgun solved both problems and had only one downside. The cooldown of the rails and the build-up of the maic field required time so each shot had to count. Friya with her dimensional magic was the best candidate to put it to the test.

    If she couldn''t use it sessfully, then it was likely that no one could.

    Meanwhile, after seeing the part of the first floor copsing, Phloria had be tired of waiting and joined the fray.

    Until that moment, the fight had reached a stalemate. The mages of the Association and the soldiers of the army had managed to keep the Doppelgangers from escaping. Their spells made the giants explode and their enchanted des cut deep into their flesh, yet no injurysted for long.

    Doppelgangers were a new life form and regr tactics didn''t work on them due to theirck of vitals. On top of that, Protheus'' children only needed to grab a soldier that hade too close or a nearby noble to devour them and recover their strength in full.

    Even though their cores were bright orange, they were still Awakened. A few deep breaths were enough to heal any injury and the humans worked as an excellent source of nutrients.

    "Don''t stop attacking until they arepletely destroyed!" Phloria said while unleashing a tier four water magic spell that turned the nearest Doppelganger into an ice statue.

    "Don''t get fooled by their appearance, their real body is made of a liquid substance. If you let the pieces merge again, you''ll be back to square one. Use water magic to slow them down and darkness to kill them!"

    Phloria lunged at the sluggish giant while activating her personal tier five spell, Master Sword, to unleash the darkness spells that she had stored inside Reaver directly inside the Doppelganger''s body.

    Master Sword was a tier five Mage Knight spell that allowed Phloria to channel her magic inside her estoc and release it at will upon contact.

    Mage Knights had to often fight in closebat while defending their mark, so Phloria had devised Master Sword to be able to use all kinds of spells without having to worry about their area of effect or speed.

    The ice cracked on the point of impact and spread throughout the Chimeric Body as the darkness magic ate at the Doppelganger from the inside. The statue shattered, revealing to the soldiers that the blue liquid inside was quickly evaporating.

    "That''s what happens when the creature is really dead. Now fight!" Not only had Phloria led the soldiers and the mages by example but she had also killed her enemy in a single strike.

    None of their attacks had worked until that moment and after failing to kill a single monster despite their superior numbers, the morale of the troops was low. Her victory gave the soldiers the second wind they needed and forced the Doppelgangers to step back for the first time since the beginning of the fight.

    Then, Friya''s second shot turned one of the other giants into a puddle of liquid that the soldiers drowned in darkness magic. The lower body of the Doppelganger that was still intact writhed with pain as the sudden loss of so much body mass forced them to assume a smaller form.

    The Doppelganger fought as hard as it could, but it died nheless. The forces of the Kingdom were well trained and well equipped. Now that they knew what to do, they had an easy time taking down a less experienced human-sized opponent.

    Friya shot a third time, but after losing tworades, the Doppelgangers had activated Life Vision to study the human leader and to understand the nature of the invisible threat that had made theirpanion explode.

    They saw a small dimensional rift open and moved away from it. The soldiers looked at the monster sidestepping in unison and didn''t waste time looking the gifted horse in the mouth, assaulting them from every side.

    Only once Doppelgangers shared with a mind link the position of the rift did they realize that each one of them had spotted a different dimensional opening. To make matters worse, three of them were now aligned.

    The bullet, however, didn''t resist the impact with the Dragon scales, shattering along with the upper half of the Doppelganger''s body and leaving the others scared but unscathed.

    <i>''Dammit. If only the bullet was more durable, I might be able to take down multiple enemies with a single shot.''</i> Friya dropped the railgun that needed to recharge again and used Dreadnought to keep sniping at her enemies, but now with darkness magic.

    Orion had enchanted the rapier so that it could emit all of the six elements, even light, so as to give his daughter the greatest versatility in battle. Dreadnought had an outputparable to a tier four spell without the need to weave it.

    Dreadnought''s enchantments turned Friya''s mana directly into the element of her choice and then amplified it. Bybining Dreadnought with Scope, Friya helped the soldiers to kill the third Doppelganger without losing her vantage point.

    "What are you doing, you idiots? We need them alive!" Manohar reached the battlefield atop of a hard-light construct shaped like a horse that allowed him to fly despite the air sealing arrays.

    While traveling from the City Hall to the Marquis'' home, the god of healing had the time to weave several spells and now the golden light of the magic runes covered the white of his robe again.

    A wave of his hand trapped the remaining Doppelgangers into cube-shaped hard-light constructs created by his tier five Light Mastery spell, Double Standards. It was a nasty spell that kept anything from getting out while letting everything get in.

    The creatures started to hammer at the walls, cracking them, but this time the god of healing was ready.

    He unleashed a second volley of golden runes that turned ck at a flick of his wrist. Light became darkness, sucking the life force of the captive Doppelgangers until they were within an inch of their life.

    The damage they sustained was so extensive that their bodies were reduced to half the size they had as newborns. Without the strength to keep any appearance but their own, Manohar needed but a nce to recognize a slime.

    "I don''t know how those guys evolved, but I''ll be d to find out." He said to the soldiers that were waiting for new orders.

    "Ignore him and go help the others inside!" Phloria said after making sure with Life Vision that no one would attack them from the back.

    The battle outside had gone smoothly because of the backup''s superior numbers and because despite their incredible physical prowess, the Doppelgangers''ck of magic was a huge handicap against a powerful mage.

    Orion and Jirni, however, were not only fighting one-on-one without any intel about their enemy, but Jirni wasn''t even a mage.. She could have easily escaped, but that meant leaving the Countess to die.

 Chapter 1703 - Battle Of Monsters (Part 1)

    <i>''The moment Orion gets the Marquis to safety I''m going to get rid of this dead weight.''</i> Jirni thought while bleeding from several wounds.

    The Scorpicore''s acid from the Doppelganger''s ws had melted her armor in multiple points, allowing the snake-headed tendrils that came out of the creature''s wrists to bite her and inject their venom.

    Jirni had no light fusion to remove the toxin nor darkness fusion to cut off her pain receptors. All she could do was grit her teeth and hope that her acquired resistance to the most deadly venoms was enough.

    Without magic and against an enemy with no vitals or nerve clusters that she could attack, Jirni could only stall for time by relying on the basics.

    As for Orion, now he was faring much better. The Mage Knight spells didn''t affect the Marquis while they kept the Doppelganger at bay, nullifying their attacks before they could evene close to their target.

    It had taken Orion a bit of trial and error, but now that he understood the nature of his enemy, victory was just a matter of time.

    "Stay close to me if you don''t want to die!" He said while weaving his Tier Five personal spell, Death Rod.

    Orion was no true mage, but a Mage Knight''s spells were quick to cast due to their limited area of effect and could be executed with only one hand.

    The temperature in an area of ten meters (33 feet) around Orion plummeted, turning the humidity in the air into snow and covering the ground with ice. Only the eye of the spell, where he and Beilin stood was safe.

    Then, his body released pulses of ck energy that aimed at the Doppelganger without fail. Darkness was slow, but the ice crystals covering the creature acted like a ma, drawing the ck bullets to them.

    The Doppelganger was faster than the ck bolts and managed to dodge them despite their numbers, yet the bolts never stopped chasing the creature.

    As the cold kept slowing the Doppelganger down and Death Rod releasing more darkness, the creature had the impression of moving to the deep end of a river while chased by a school of piranhas.

    The Marquis knew that the Doppelganger was about to die, yet he had no reason to rejoice.

    <i>''No matter which one wins, I die either way. If I manage to reach the secret passage in my private quarters, I can still escape capture. I only need to make sure that these two morons are too busy killing each other to chase me.''</i> Beilin waited for the Doppelganger to fall onto their knee to make his move.

    Then, he took a dagger out of his belt and stabbed Orion in the gap under the armpit of his armor. The enchantment of the de was enough to pierce through the thinyer of Adamant and the poison the dagger was coated with did the rest.

    Full Guard had alerted Orion of the movement, but he was too focused on the Doppelganger to care and the Marquis was too close to miss. The shock from the betrayal dispelled Death Rod while the poison coursing through Orion''s veins drained what was left of his strength.

    "I''m just evening the field. Your opponent is tired and can''t use magic. Now, neither can you." Beilin said withughter while kicking Orion in the back and sending him onto his knees as well.

    Beilin turned around, running toward a tent that hid one of the servant''s passages that would lead him to the kitchen, and from there he could easily reach his private quarters.

    Much to his surprise, the Doppelganger didn''t waste time finishing Orion and gave priority to their mission instead. What turned surprise into shock was the fact that the Commander of the Knight''s Guard didn''t even try stopping the beast.

    <i>''If you want to die, be my guest, you bastard.''</i> Orion thought.<i> ''My priority now is to get rid of the poison and help Jirni. As long as the Countess is alive, nothing is lost.''</i>

    Orion activated the detoxify spell stored inside one of his magic holding rings while he took care of healing his wounds enough to make the pain bearable but not so much that theck of stamina would hinder his focus.

    Marquis Beilin screamed like a little boy as the Doppelganger swallowed him whole. Neither the beast nor the Commander felt any pity for the traitor that now invoked the help of his protector.

    Jirni turned around just enough to notice that everything was lost. With Orion down and alone against two of those creatures, she had no chance. The situation was hopeless but something could still be saved.

    "Oh, well." She said while taking out a dagger of her own and stabbing the Countess in the neck.

    The noblewoman looked at Jirni with a gaze even more shocked than Orion''s while she fell limp on the ground and her eyes turned dull.

    "There. You said it earlier that if I gave you that woman you would spare my life." Jirni dropped her polearm to the ground, looking at the Doppelganger straight in the eyes. "Since I did the job for you, I have a request. Please, spare my husband as well."

    "Why did you do that? What about the mission?" Orion asked.

    "There will always be another mission, but there''s only one you." She said with a sad smile that reminded the creatures of their mother.

    "That offer is no longer standing." The snake-like Doppelganger said. "You wounded me too much and I''ve got no hope to escape from the army in this condition. I need someone to feed upon to regain my strength."

    "Then eat me and the Countess'' corpse, but leave him alone." Jirni replied.

    "Your deal is eptable." The creature lifted the lifeless noble, bringing the body to their mouth.

    s, the blood was still dripping from the wound and the moment it fell on the tongue, the Doppelganger could feel it burn down along their throat.

    "You poisoned her in order to poison me!" The creature roared in outrage, lunging their head with the mouth open to swallow the Constable whole.

    "It''s not my fault if you make it all too easy for me." Jirni jumped to the side and threw several sks inside the maw.

    The gnashing of teeth was followed by the sound of broken ss. Some of the vials contained nerve paralyzers, others contained exotic venoms, and a couple contained top-grade healing potions.

    By enhancing the Doppelganger''s metabolism, the potions also made the absorption speed of the toxins so quick that the creature died before they could use their breathing technique.

    Thest remaining Doppelganger screamed in fury at the human''s trickery and charged at Jirni. The centaur-like upper humanoid body that emerged from the silver wolf''s neck disappeared, reced by a spherical head with countless horns branching into every direction

    Eyes popped on the shoulders and sides of the wolf-like lower body, allowing the Doppelganger to look in every direction while keeping the horns pointed at Jirni.

    She recalled her spear back into her hands with but a thought, never averting her gaze from the charging creature.

    <i>''Running would just expose my back. That thing is just too fast..''</i> Jirni had the spear grow to its maximum length while lunging at the Doppelganger''s head.

 Chapter 1704 - Battle Of Monsters (Part 2)

    The de pierced deep into the spherical head, releasing all the enchantments that it had left. Her hands bled and cracked from the violence of the impact, but Jirni never let go of the staff, using it to stay away from the mass of deadly spikes.

    The Doppelganger sneered at her attempt rammed against a wall. The impact made the spear prate deeper into the flesh, but it also sent Jirni mming against the solid stone.

    The violent blow gave her a concussion and shattered her spine. As her consciousness faded, her hands lost their grip.

    Orion stood up, chasing the creature as soon as his legs allowed him to, but when he reached the Doppelganger, it was toote. The moment Jirni had let go of the spear, all that took the creature to impale her on their horns was to raise their head.

    Seeing her blood dripping on the floor made Orion forget about how tired he was and how angry he still was at her. Fury fought the still lingering effects of the poison while hate injected new strength in his limbs.

    Now that he didn''t have anyone to protect and that Jirni was away from him, Orion could activate the powers of his new sword, Grimlock. A thick dark mist surrounded him, sucking the life of everyone nearby and injecting it into him.

    At the same time, the edge of the de heated up quickly, turning it red and then into a glowing white. If not for the sealing arrays surrounding the city, Grimlock would have also released powerful jolts of electricity to stun the enemy whenever the de was blocked or reached its mark.

    Earth was sealed as well, keeping the de from conjuring elemental shields to protect its master. Yet Orion didn''t care about defense. All he could think about was the pool of blood below Jirni''s body growingrger and getting rid of the creature that stood in his path.

    A single horizontal sh severed both the wolf''s hind legs, making both extremities sizzle. By cauterizing the wounds, the heat of Grimlock''s Searing Bite ability preserved the vitality of the enemy so that the ck mist could better consume it.

    The Doppelganger immediately shapeshifted so that the head moved onto their back and the legs rearranged themselves to face Orion.? The horns grew longer than Grimlock, moving like snakes and attacking the human from every side.

    At the same time, the silver fur of the wolf condensed into ten centimeters (4 inches) long quills coated with venom that darted at Orion to stop his charge.

    Yet he didn''t stop.

    The wings of his Featherwalker armor pped furiously, blocking most of the quills and deflecting the rest with the sheer force of the wind that their movement produced.

    "I bet that now you regret having killed that moron! With Beilin behind my back, I could have never done this!" Orion said while the blue aura of his spell enveloped his body.

    Full Guard allowed Orion to perceive the slight difference in growth speed between the countless horns and to cut them down with circr motions of his de.

    Not one of them reached his armor and the Doppelganger''s head was now full of cuts from which the ck mist seeped inside. While the beast focused on retrieving the lost quills and growing new limbs to attack, Orion never stopped advancing.

    Thanks to Searing Bite, his strength grew with every attack while that of his enemy dwindled. After eating Beilin and using Invigoration, the Doppelganger had gone back to their peak condition, yet they had already lost half of that strength.

    Orion performed a vertical sh that cut the wolf-like creature open and then plunged the sword deep into the wound, making the ck mist eat at the Doppelganger from the inside and allowing it to spread throughout their body.

    The creature felt their power fading. Between the searing heat of the de and the darkness ravaging them, the Doppelganger slowly reverted in its original,id form.

    The Doppelganger split their body asunder to escape Grimlock''s cruel edge, but Orion impaled both halves to the walls with his wings and then nailed one of the halves with his sword as well, focusing Searing Bite''s full power on it.

    Without the quills and the fur protecting the tender flesh, Grimlock sucked its prey dry in a matter of seconds. Orion took it out of the wall and lunged at the remaining half that tried to squirm through the metal feathers of his wing.

    "Please, help me. I don''t want to die." His de froze when what remained of the Doppelganger shapeshifted into Jirni.

    Her voice, her face, even the position of the wounds caused by the horns were a perfect replica of the original.

    Even in their fury, the Doppelganger had the presence of spirit to collect a sample of the Archon''s blood. Her appearance had countless uses, like a disguise to escape or psychological warfare.

    Orion''s fury disappeared and he turned around to check on the real Jirni. The pool of blood was still gettingrger yet shey limp.

    The Doppelganger exploited that brief moment of respite to turn their fingers into ws and to boost them with as much elemental fusion as they could muster while aiming for the eye slits, the only opening in the Featherwalker armor.

    Grimlock rose and fell, cutting all the elongated fingers at once with a single fluid movement.

    Then, the de moved in a spiral, cutting at the imposter''s wrists first, then the forearms, andstly at the elbows. The Doppelganger screamed in pain as the ck mist devoured the severed chunks of flesh and seeped inside the stumps.

    "You''ve made a mistake, creature." Orion''s voice brimmed with fury. "You may sound and look like my wife but you''re not her. Jirni would never beg nor is she afraid of death."

    "Yet if you keep wasting your time with me, she''ll die nheless." The Doppelganger tried to crawl away but Orion severed their legs as well, turning them around to look the fake Jirni in the eyes.

    "If I let you go, sooner orter you''ll be back to finish the job. Also, you have no idea how long I''ve dreamed of this!" Orion sliced the impostor, unleashing Searing Bite''s full power until nothing but a smear on the ground remained.

    Orion felt guilty for being so cruel toward someone that looked identical to his wife, yet at the same time, it had allowed him to vent the pent-up anger and frustration that he had felt ever since Quy''s death.

    Now fear and worry were the only feelings he had toward Jirni.

    Orion used the healing spells he had left from his magic holding rings to stop the bleeding while he used a diagnostic spell to check the severity of her condition. Jirni had lost a lot of blood, her life force was dwindling, and many of her organs had been punctured.

    Her mouth gurgled with blood with every breath she took.

    "Please, don''t die. If anyone has the right to kill you, that''s me." Orion''s eyes veiled with tears as he consumed the vitality that he had stolen from the Doppelganger just to keep her alive.

    "Didn''t you just do it?" Jirni attempted to chuckle, but it turned into a cough and then into a spasm.

 Chapter 1705 - Pros And Cons (Part 1)

    "Shut up and save your strength! Where the heck is Manohar when you need him?" Orion''s body was battered from the mana abuse and the battle.

    To make matters worse, the more vitality he shared with Jirni the more his consciousness faded and so did his healing spells.

    "Don''t worry about me." She said. "The Countess is still alive and you must keep her that way."

    Orion checked the noblewoman, discovering that Jirni''s knife was coated with a poison that induced in its victim a state of apparent death. Also, Jirni had stabbed Countess Metra so that the knife closed the wound like a plug.

    Between her very slow heartbeat and the knife, the noblewoman was in much better shape than Jirni, needing but a tier one healing spell to be brought back to full health.

    "You beautiful genius." Orion started to sob, returning to her side the moment he was done with the Countess.

    "It''s just as you always say. All that matters is the m-" Jirni''s head turned to the side, her consciousness lost.

    "Manohar!" Orion screamed as thest bits of his strength slipped away with his wife''s life.

    "I''m here." The god of healing appeared behind Orion''s back the moment after all the Doppelgangers on the outside had been either captured or killed. "This is a mess. Without more life force your wife will die of healing and without blood, her organs will soon copse.

    "I can''t give them to her myself withoutpromising my focus. I need a donor for both."

    "Then take them from me!" Orion snarled.

    "It''s not so simple. Giving Jirni the blood from the wrong person would kill her and your life force is almost depleted." Manohar replied. "On top of that, I can''t do it with just my hands, I need the proper tools."

    "Let us help." Phloria and Friya arrived secondster, using Invigoration on Jirni.

    <i>''Dammit. We could save Mom, but if we do it in front of so many witnesses, our life is over.''</i> Friya said via a mind link.

    <i>''I don''t care about it. I''m not letting Mom die just to protect a stupid secret.''</i> Phloria replied while racking her brain for a solution.

    "No, you are no good." Manohar tapped Friya''s head and his diagnostic spell revealed that her blood type wasn''tpatible with Jirni. "You are perfect!"

    He grabbed Phloria, trying to undress her and receiving a powerful blow in the face in response.

    "Why did you do that? I just need to take some blood from you!" He said in outrage.

    "Couldn''t you just say it?" Phloria had her armor shapeshift into a sleeveless training shirt.

    "Oh, right. Note to self, remind to just ask the subject to roll up the sleeves the next time." Manohar took a set of tubes and needles out of his dimensional amulet that made Phloria''s stomach turn into a knot.

    ''Shit! Unless those things are made of magical metal, they will never get through my skin. What do we do?'' She asked via the mind link but Friya had no answer.

    "What''s going on here?" Quy arrived just in time. "Why didn''t you administer her tonics?"

    "I''ve already done that." Manohar showed her a sack filled with a purple liquid and the IV drip that he had set in Jirni''s left arm, leaving the right ready for the transfusion.

    "That won''t do. It''s too slow." Quy took several sks of tonics and used water magic to have them seep under Jirni''s skin and into her bloodstream at once.

    "Brilliant! Amazing!" Manohar gave her a round of apuse as if he was at a theatre instead of on a patient''s deathbed. "Why didn''t you share this spell with the Kingdom?"

    "Well, I¡­" Quy couldn''t say that she had bartered it with Faluel in exchange for her teachings.

    "It doesn''t matter." Manohar touched Phloria''s jugr with his right hand and Jirni''s free arm with his left.

    Blood moved from one vein to another as the god of healing kicked the transfusion kit in the dirt.

    "Did you just reinvent my Injection spell after seeing it once?" Quy was bbergasted.

    "Please, it was just a tier one spell. It''s not that hard." Many mages would have begged to differ, but those present only cared about color flowing back into Jirni''s face.

    "Dad, there''s something you must know." Phloria took out amunication amulet from her pocket dimension. "The creature we killed had this hidden inside its body."

    "When did you find that?" Manohar asked.

    "Right after you ran away, while examining the remains." Phloria replied. "Also, those I killed outside had one as well. Too bad they all lost their imprint."

    "Not all of them." Manohar pointed at the battered Doppelgangers that he had imprisoned inside the hard-light cubes.

    "Foolish human! We rather die than submit. Glory to the Kingdom!" The creatures used light magic on themselves to heal their wounds and regrow the lost parts.

    Yet without nutrients, their elerated metabolism killed them of starvation. The Doppelgangers evaporated, leaving behind onemunication amulet each.

    "Dammit, dammit, dammit! Me and my big-" Much to Manohar''s surprise, one of the amulets was still covered in runes.

    "Interesting." Quy said. "It seems that if you let them grow enough, the fragments of a shapeshifter''s body can rece the original after it gets destroyed."

    Four small cubes of hard light floated in front of her.

    Three of them contained a single strand of a different Doppelganger that died along with their respective main body whereas the fourth one was still alive.

    It was the strand that Quy had fed with a fly andter with more meat, nurturing the Doppelganger''s fragment until it grew enough to withstand her experiments.

    It was big enough to have a life force of its own but too small to have the means to escape.

    "You learned Light Mastery to this degree by yourself?" Manohar was bbergasted.

    "Please, Professor. It''s just a tier one spell. It''s not that hard." Quy replied with a smug grin.

    ***

    Later, Orion remained at Jirni''s bedside in the local hospital, waiting for her to regain consciousness.

    The healing had taken a toll on her body, giving her a thin and frail look. After her condition had stabilized, Manohar had set one IV for the nutrients and another of blood before going to give the Royals a full report of histest sess.

    The Countess had regained consciousness right after the poison had been cleansed from her system and the local Constable had an easy time making her talk. The Kingdom had promised to let her live in exchange for information.

    Countess Metra knew that without protection Thrud would kill her so she had epted. Between her intel and themunication amulet, the Royals would soon be able to track the position of the Mad Queen.

    Meanwhile, in the hospital, Orion looked at the tubes, grateful for their existence and yet disgusted by their presence. He couldn''t wait to see them out of Jirni''s body. He tried countless speeches in his head, yet they all came out wrong.

    <i>''I''m still angry at her, yet she risked everything she had to save my life.. After today, I understood that I can''t force Jirni to change the way she is.''</i><i>  </i>

 Chapter 1706 - Pros And Cons (Part 2)

    <i>''I have to ept that she will always lie and manipte those around her, even her family, if it means keeping them safe.''</i> Orion'' s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her stirring.

    "Are you alright? How are the girls?" Jirni said the moment she opened her eyes.

    "I''m fine, dummy, and so are our baby girls. It''s you who are in a hospital bed." He said, forcing her to lie down.

    "Thank the gods." Jirni felt weak and tired, yet she couldn''t afford to sleep.

    "Look, I''ve thought a lot about our situation." Orion said. "If you stay at the Myrok household, you will have to worry about Thrud as well now. The moment that madwoman learns how you ruined all of her ns, you''d be her main target and-"

    Jirni chuckled at how stiff and funny he was while trying to act cold and logical.

    "Scratch that. The Kingdom will deal with Thrud and if the copycat dares toe near you, I''ll kill them on the spot. What I''m trying to say is that I''m willing to give us a second chance."

    "Thank you." Jirni took his hand, letting her emotions go for the first time in her life.

    Orion lifted her from the bed enough to embrace her. Despite her weakened state, Jirni mustered the strength to hold him while crying tears of joy on his shoulder until exhaustion made her lose consciousness again.

    ***

    Over a mana geyser at the borders of the Nestrar Region, Golden Griffon academy

    Thrud looked at hermunication amulet, where all the runes of the Doppelgangers in Ruham had disappeared but one. That single rune was now blinking, pulling at her mind until she would ept the iing call.

    "Sevenus, jam the signal and start the academy. It''s unlikely that the Royals have already pinpointed our location, but I''m not taking any risk." The Mad Queen said while crushing the mystical amulet between her fingers.

    "What do you mean?" The Headmaster of the Golden Griffon asked.

    "Reffa has been captured. Otherwise they would have called me right after the ughter of their brethren." Thrud replied. "I don''t know how much the Royals have discovered about my n, but now that my Doppelgangers are burned, there''s no time to waste.

    "We need to move swiftly before the presence of my Skinwalkers is exposed as well. Alert all my loyal followers that the war has just begun."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Vige of Lutia, a few dayster.

    "I''m d to hear that everything is solved between your parents." Lith said while offering the girls some more tea. "By the way, how did my weapon perform?"

    "Pretty well, but the bullets are too fast and too brittle. You can''t redirect them even with dimensional magic in the case you miss your target nor can they pierce through their first target." Friya said.

    "Well, that was to be expected." Lith replied. "If they were slow, an Awakened would dodge them even without Full Guard. To make the bullets more resilient, instead, I would need to increase their size.

    "It would require a bigger device, which I can''t make with just one Earth Root."

    "Why didn''t you use something made of a rtively cheap enchanted metal, like Orichalcum?"

    "I tried that and the effect is just the same. Unless the bullet has enough mass, it either explodes on impact or it deforms so much that its trajectory bes unpredictable." Lith replied.

    <i>''There is also the problem that my notions of aerodynamics are too shallow and that the random amount of Adamant in the Orichalcum makes it almost impossible to have two bullets behave the same way, but that''s beyond the point.''</i> He actually thought.

    "Also, this thing takes too much time between shots. It''s useless in closebat and from a distance, the slightest mistake makes you miss your target entirely." Friya sighed.

    "That''s why I gave it to you. You can alternate between the sword and my weapon thanks to dimensional spirit magic whereas a regr person would be a sitting duck after the first shot." Lith said.

    "Speaking of regr people, don''t even think about making it bigger. I could barely stand the recoil as it is with fusion magic. That said, I had to answer a few questions about how I took down two Doppelgangers and now you are the proud inventor of two tier one Forbidden magic devices." Friya made a toast to that with her cup.

    "Well, at least that should keep the Royals off your back for a while." Solus offered the girls thetest batch of her homemade cookies. "We have saved the Nestrar region and reaffirmed Lith''s reputation as a Forgemaster.

    "Now that we are also back to Lutia, no one will dare to look down on us anymore."

    "About that." Quy broke the cookie with her hands to test its hardness before biting it, just to be safe. "Why are you back to Lutia and how can Solus stay in her human form even inside the house?"

    "I had overstayed my wee." Lith replied with a sigh. "Grandma told me that I was free to stay longer, but only if I epted to work for her. As for Solus, we left the tower in the Trawn woods.

    "It''s too far to use its powers, but close enough for her to keep her body even without the Sage Staff."

    "I don''tst long and Lith has to bring me back to the tower once per hour, but during that time I can have a normal life." Solus''s dazzling smile stunned a young farmhand who tripped on his own feet while staring at her through an open window.

    Unlike the other guests, the girl that Lord Verhen had brought back from the Desert didn''t behave like a noble. Solus had fun helping Elina with the kids and the house chores so the people of Lutia thought that she was a maid the Verhens had hired to rece Zinya.

    Many farmers looked forward to introducing themselves or their sons to her.

    "What''s the big difference between working for the Kingdom and for Sark?" Phloria looked at Solus, wondering what had happened in the Desert and if it wasn''t better for her to move on with her life.

    "It''s not big, it''s huge." Lith replied. "The Royals have no idea of what I''m capable of and they send me on missions that they consider hard for me only when it''s strictly necessary.

    "Sark, instead, knows exactly the scope of my abilities and she wouldn''t hesitate to demand my services just like she does with any other member of her nest. The freedom that I enjoy in the Kingdom is something that even the Empire cannot offer me."

    "How can you be so sure?" Phloria asked.

    "Because I asked the Empress. She knows that I''m an Awakened and Leegaain''s blood at that. Between the famine and the undead, she is so desperate for help that she offered me to be her right-hand man. After I prove my loyalty, of course." Lith scoffed at the idea.

    "Wow, from country noble to vice-head of one of the three great countries sounds like a dream." Friya whistled in approval.

    "You mean a nightmare. I would have lots of responsibilities, people to order around, and missions to carry out whenever the Empress even suspects the presence of Awakened. Thanks, but no thanks.." Lith replied.

 Chapter 1707 - Visiting Hours (Part 1)

    "Thanks for the tea and the biscuits, Solus. They were delicious." Friya stood up. "Now I have to go visit Faluel. Being an apprentice suck. She says that I spent too much time in the Desert and that now I have to make it up to her by solving the problems of her territory."

    "I''ll join you in a minute. I just need to bring Solus back to the tower first." Lith closed the windows of his house before opening a Warp Steps.

    "Do you mind if Ie with you?" Phloria asked. "I''m really curious to see how much the tower changed during your absence."

    "I''m going back home, instead." Quy said. "I''m going to have all the dates that I can while Mom and Dad are having a second honeymoon to fix their rtionship. Once they get back home, magic will be my onlypanion."

    They each Warped to their respective destination and Lith also gave Phloria a tour of the new floors. Solus held his hand the whole time, using the physical contact to regain her strength more quickly.

    Phloria could see that there was nothing romantic behind that gesture, yet the way how such intimacy felt natural to them irked her to no end and made her feel somewhat jealous.

    She was annoyed at the thought of them having such a close rtionship back when she and Lith were together, and jealous because despite all of her efforts, after joining the army she had failed to find not only love, but also friendship.

    The difference in height, noble title, and magical talent were things that had stood in the way of an honest rtionship ever since she was a child. People either avoided her because they felt inferior or tried to suck up on her to climb the socialdder.

    Once in the army, the difference in rank had made things even harder. Those of lower rank were usually scared to death by her, while those of higher rank only considered her like a tool for their political ambitions.

    It was the reason Phloria had started to date with people from the Mage Association and how she had found Kallion. He had been a tall noble from an ancient noble family with talentparable to her own.

    With him, there were no barriers nor stupid measurement contests about everything. Ever since the mission in Kh, however, after the nobility, the Association, and even the army had shunned her, her world had be painfully small.

    <i>''I guess I now understand how Friya felt during the academy.''</i> She inwardly sighed. <i>''As long as I can''t broaden my horizons again, I''ll never know if the feelings I have for Lith are honest or just gratitude that my istion makes me mistake for something more.''</i>

    "Are you alright?" Solus touched Phloria''s arm, snapping her out of her reverie.

    "Yeah, sorry. I was spacing out in envy." The best lie was always covered in truth. "The tower is bing more amazing with every floor it recovers."

    "Menadion made sure that she and her apprentices would be self-sufficient and this really works out for us as well." Lith said. "Dad is taking care of the Greenhouse for us ever since we got it back in the Desert.

    "He is no mage, but thanks to the sharing effect of the Library, he knows everything he needs and he is making a great job. By the way, Solus, do you want toe with us to Faluel, or do you want to stay here?"

    "I''ll pass, thank you." Solus replied. "I''m d of getting rid of you and having some time for myself."

    Before Lith could reply, the tower''s defensive systems activated one after another as someone knocked on the front door.

    "Isn''t the tower supposed to be invisible?" Phloria asked.

    "From regr sight, yes. Anyone with mystical senses can easily see it unless we hide it underground." Solus replied. "What really makes no sense is the knocking. Everyone who knows about the tower also knows that they have to inform us before visiting."

    The knocking repeated, this time louder and a bit longer.

    "Fuck me sideways." A wave of Lith''s hand conjured the image of the hooded figure standing in front of the door, sending a cold shiver down his spine.

    The tower''s Sentries had canned and recognized the intruder, reporting the threat at hand as a code white.

    The unexpected guest was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, but she was actually almost one thousand years old. She was about 1.68 meters (5''6") tall, with shoulder-length light blond hair streaked all over with the seven colors of the elements.

    At a first nce, her chestnut eyes brimmed with the energy typical of youth, yet a second would reveal a centuries-old sadness that covered everything like dust.

    She wore the deep violet mage robe that the Griffon Kingdom awarded to its Magi, with a round pin of Davross on her breast pocket. A prancing Griffon holding two scepters was embossed at its center while the words First Magus had been etched on its edges, forming a full circle.

    She carried a rectangr package in her right hand the size of a jewelry box and another the size of a t-screen in her left.

    "Aunt Loka!" Even after their sh in Jiera, that childish babble word was still etched in Solus'' mind, recing the real name of Lochra Silverwing, the First Magus.

    "The same crazy bitch who tried to murder Lith in his sleep and to take you away?" Phloria took Reaver out of her dimensional amulet and had Lith put it inside the Armory.

    "I want to see if the fabled Silverwing can withstand two full minutes of Tower tier Spirit Spells!" She said with a snarl.

    "Thank you, Phloria." Lith was d to have by his side someone who not only was quick-witted, but also wasn''t afraid to fight against a white-cored legendary Magus. "Solus, engage protocol omega."

    "Wait a second." Solus pointed at Lochra knocking from time to time and ignoring the Sentries that kept circling around her in the attempt to scan her equipment. "I think that if she wanted to harm us, aunt Loka would have already barged in."

    "Maybe." Lith replied. "Or maybe she is afraid of what we can do with the tower boosting our powers. Or maybe she knows that any damage she does onto the tower would reflect on you."

    "Yes, but then why didn''t shee to your home? Everyone knows where you live and there she wouldn''t have to be afraid of the tower. If aunt Loka wanted to harm you, she would have taken your parents hostage to keep you from escaping.

    "I think that she just wants to talk." Solus said.

    Lith thought of countless contingency ns, even to Warp the tower back to Sark. Yet running away would have solved nothing.

    "I''m with Solus." Phloria said. "Unless you want to spend the rest of your life on the run, you have to face her. Yet, if I were you, I would start chanting already. Just to be safe."

    "Let her in, Solus." Lith said with a sigh. "And Phloria, I''ve been weaving spells from the moment I put Reaver in the Armory."

    "Same." Solus said.

    "And so did I. I guess we can''t be more prepared than this.." Phloria said.

 Chapter 1708 - Visiting Hours (Part 2)

    "Thanks for having me here despite my sudden arrival. You have my word that I have no ill will." Lochra gave Lith, Solus, and Phloria a small bow while taking in the marvelous changes that the tower had undergone since herst visit.

    The round carpet that covered the entire hallway of the ground floor piqued her interest the most. The hand-woven tapestry depicted the shared history of Lith and the tower in a circr picture.

    In the first slot, Lith was still a four years old kid picking up a rock. In thest one, there was the scene of him and Solus rejoicing for some reason along with his family.

    <i>''This is odd. Based on what Baba Yaga told me about the Horseman technology, the tower is supposed to be a manifestation of Epphy''s psyche. The lights are too warm and the tapestry should be twisted from her trauma.''</i> Silverwing thought.

    <i>''On top of that, what does thatst image m-''</i> Only then did she notice that Elphyn was standing in front of her in the flesh.

    "Good gods, you are back! Your mother was a damn genius." The items Lochra carried dropped to the floor as she hugged Solus, even lifting her up to take a better look at her.

    The ancient Magus checked Solus''s face, arms, and hands for signs of injuries or malnutrition, just like Elina did with Lith every time he returned from a mission.

    Everyone was so bbergasted that they almost lost their focus and the spells they were casting.

    Almost.

    "Yes, I''m back and as I tried to exin you the first time we met, I''m fine." Solus gently but firmly pushed Silverwing away. "What do you want, aunt Loka?"

    "Keep weaving your spells if it makes you feel safe, but I''m here only to talk." Lochra replied.

    "How did you find us and why did you wait until now?" Lith asked. "Why didn''t you visit while we were in the Desert?"

    "I know where you live and I know that the tower needs a mana geyser. Finding this ce was easy." Lochra said. "Also, I didn''te to the Desert simply because Sark forbade me to and because you would have had no reason to listen to me with a Guardian ready to incinerate me the moment that I made a move.

    "I wanted us to meet as equals, that''s why I didn''t bother you in your house. Is there a ce we can talk like civilized people or do we have to stand at the entrance the whole time?"

    "After you." Lith pointed at the kitchen, refusing to give his back to Silverwing.

    It was an exact replica of the dining room at Lith''s house. A long rectangr table with many wooden padded chairs was ced near a firece while the stove, the pantry, and everything needed for cooking were on the opposite side of the room.

    The space was warm and cozy, surprising Lochra once more.

    "What do you want to talk about?" Solus asked while everyone took a seat.

    She offered Lochra a cup of tea and a te of her homemade biscuits, secretly hoping that she would like them

    "You, of course." Silverwing replied. "I''vee to settle the terms for Elphyn''s freedom. Unless the two of use to an agreement, you can be sure that once I leave this ce, I''ll treat you as an enemy."

    "Two of us?" Lith echoed.

    "Why? Has your new girlfriend any voice in the matters of the tower?" Silverwing pointed at Phloria while curling her upper lip in disgust at the thought that Lith might allow his disciples to have their way with Elphyn as well.

    "No, he was referring to me!" Solus mmed her hand on the table so hard that the tower trembled. "I like to be part of every decision that involves my life, thank you very much."

    "Fine. The three of us, then." Silverwing nodded, d that Elphyn was now strong enough to kill even a Divine Beast.

    <i>''Even though they share the same energy signature, she can get rid of Verhen. I just need to make her see reason for one second and then this nightmare will be over.''</i> She thought.

    "I don''t see what there is to talk about. Solus is my partner, not my ve." Lith said.

    "Her name is Elphyn!" The First Magus snarled.

    "My name is Solus!" She mmed her hand on the table again, putting an end to the quarrel before it even started. "I have just bits of memory as Elphyn whereas I spent fourteen years as Solus and I remember every single second of them."

    "Please, tell us what you want because you are already this close to overstaying your wee."

    "Very well." Silverwing nodded to Solus before turning to Lith.

    "I''m here to offer you a deal. Let Elph- I mean Solus go and I''ll bother you no more. I know that you already have the Eyes and the Hands of Menadion so I''m willing to reveal to you the position of the final two pieces, the Mouth and the Ears.

    "Yet I''m not going to help you get them. Once you assemble the full set, losing the tower won''t bother you much."

    "Letting Solus go is not up to me. Our bond is unbreakable until I die and that''s off the table. Even if I had a way to set her free, why should I entrust Solus to you?" Lith said.

    "Because she''s not your property, you arrogant brat! She lived for 28 years as Elphyn against 14 as Solus. Believe me when I say that she had a much better and fuller life than the one she spent on your finger!" Silverwing stood up to look down on him.

    "She had a loving mother, friends, rivals, and too many lovers for my liking but at least it was her own choice." At those words, Solus became beet red.

    "I don''t care if she has no memory of her past. I can bring her to all the ces where she lived, to meet the people she knew who are still alive. I can help her remember. My core would feed her much better than yours and even if that''s not enough to break her free from the shackles of the tower, I''m sure I can find a way.

    "My talent has been honed through centuries of experience and I can dedicate every second of the day to solve Elphyn''s problem whereas you are an ignorant, selfish bastard that drags her in your problems, making them her own."

    Lith didn''t like Silverwing''s self-righteous attitude one bit, yet her speech held enough truth to hurt him deeply.

    He thought about all the pain and suffering Solus had gone through for years because he was too weak to nurture the tower properly and because he had no idea of how to help her.

    Phloria expected Lith to yell in outrage, yet he remained silent for a while before answering.

    <i>''Silverwing is right. Solus didn''t have much of a life during thest fourteen years and every time I introduced her to someone, things got worse before they became better. Even when she met my family.</i>

    <i>''I don''t want to lose Solus, but I don''t want to own her either..''</i> He thought.

 Chapter 1709 - Removal Unit (Part 1)

    "I agree. Solus deserves a good life and even though I did everything I could for her, it didn''t amount to much." Lith said, leaving everyone bbergasted, especially Silverwing.

    "Yet I''m not going to die just to let you have your way. I have still many things to do and I don''t even know how much time I have left."

    Lith had never forgotten about his cracked life force nor about his resurrection problem because every time that he allowed himself to rx, Death Vision reminded him of his condition.

    Even now he could see Silverwing''s body turning into ashes in a ze of mes, being shattered to bits after being frozen, and disappearing after being hit by a Chaos spell.

    The only thing that those visions had inmon was that they all required three-quarters of her body to be destroyed at the same time.

    "Last, but not least, I want it to be clear that I have never ever abused Solus as you keep implying. From time to time, I have been a rude jerk to her, just like I have been to anyone else, but that''s it."

    "Lucky you, I brought something that will tear apart all the convenient excuses you just used to cover your ass." Silverwing put on the table the smaller of the two items she had brought, taking away the wrap that blocked even the tower''s mystical senses.

    It turned out to be a wooden box engraved with silver runes of power. A blue mana crystal the size of a tennis ball was embedded on its lid, fueling aplex series of humming arrays carved on the surface of the box.

    Lith and Solus had seen something simr once in the past. Solus when Nalear had used an almost identical artifact to sever their bond while Lith had seen it through her memories. They both became pale, jumping back to safety while conjuring Tower Spirit spells so powerful that the Trawn woods quaked.

    "How can you be familiar with a Removal unit?" Silverwing didn''t move nor flinch in front of their disy of strength, yet she was impressed.

    Thebination of two mana cores instead of one with the tower''s power core had brought the tower to new heights. On top of that, War, Reaver, and the Sage Staff stored in the Armory further boosted the spells.

    The Sage Staff channeled the power of the mana geyser that exceeded the tower''s capacity, Reaver allowed the tower to hold countless spells without burdening its masters while War increased their mastery over elemental energies and pure mana alike.

    <i>''The tower is far frompletion yet it''s already this strong.''</i> Silverwing thought. <i>''I wonder what it would do in the hands of a bright violet core or maybe even a white core. Maybe Baba Yaga is right. I should make a tower for myself.''</i>

    "What''s a Removal unit?" Phloria asked to break the standstill since none of the two sides had moved a muscle for several seconds now.

    "Child, ever since cursed objects were invented, mages searched for a way to separate the host from the parasite. A Removal unit is the answer to that problem." Silverwing replied.

    "If such a thing exists, then why do Lost Cities still exist and why didn''t the Kingdom use them against the Horsemen?" Phloria asked and the other two just nodded.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Once it was evident that none of the three youths seemed to agree, the First Magus sighed at their ignorance. "As I said, it can remove the cursed object from its host, not destroy it.

    "Most of them are plenty capable of defending themselves even without a physical body, just like the ck Star. Despite the best efforts of people like me, there is no way to cut off a cursed object from its energy source.

    "The ck Star fed off the mana geyser and the people of Kaduria, Dawn feeds on the light element, and so on. Epphy is a unique case since away from a mana geyser, her host and her power source are one and the same.

    "As for your second question, the Removal unit uses most of its power to sever the bond. It requires either the host''spliance or for them to be incapacitated. That''s why you don''t see them often.

    "Most hosts be so deranged after years of abuse that they refuse to be helped and once you kill them, the Removal unit is pointless." Silverwing said while never averting her gaze from Solus who she considered the victim.

    "If the Kingdom tried to use them on a Horseman, it would have taken them a single spell to destroy the Removal unit."

    "She''s saying the truth." Solus took several deep breaths to calm down. "Nalear couldn''t kill you, so she had to beat you into submission before taking me away. I managed to escape from it even though I had barely a yellow core.

    "That thing isn''t a threat for any powerful relic."

    "I believe you, Solus." Lith said. "Yet I don''t understand what we are supposed to do with it, Silverwing."

    "You are supposed to let me sever your bond. To prove to me that Solus isn''t buried under a thick web of orders that you imparted her over the years to suppress her free will.

    "You are supposed to let her go with me if that''s her choice." The First Magus said with a smug grin.

    "I think that Silverwing is right. You should let her do it." Phloria said, clenching her fist below the table. "Think about how you can''t stop saying "we" instead of "I". Think about how her presence poisoned your rtionship with me, with Kam, and with any woman that you''ll meet.

    "Even your own family has a hard time defining your rtionship. This is your first opportunity to take a step back and think about your life as a single individual. Sure, the tower gives you plenty of power, but the moment it gets exposed it will put you and whoever you love in trouble.

    "Think about how easily Silverwing found you and about what would have happened if she was one of your enemies. Think about how Scarlett tried to kill you because of Solus and so will everyone who thinks she''s a cursed object or knows she''s Menadion''s tower."

    Phloria''s speaking of Lith as the victim and of Elphyn as a cursed object that was ruining his life annoyed Silverwing greatly, but since they both wanted the same thing, she said nothing.

    "You are right, Phloria, but this isn''t just my choice. It''s our choice. Solus?" Lith asked.

    "Do you really still believe that I''m some kind of ve? That I''ve stayed by Lith''s side for so long because he forced me to?" Solus pinched her nose while taking deep breaths to calm down, but to no avail.

    "I don''t believe it. I know it." Silverwing replied. "The Elphyn I knew-"

    "Died a first time seven hundred years ago and then died again of hunger, madness, and loneliness!" Solus cut her short. "Do you have any idea how many times I could have let Lith die simply by not warning him about a hidden enemy?

    "How many times the only thing that kept me from bing a monster like Night was sharing his mind?"

 Chapter 1710 - Removal Unit (Part 2)

    "Lith didn''t kill me, a madman did. Lith didn''t turn me into a piece of stone, it only happened because Mom was so fixated on revenge that she abandoned me in the middle of nowhere without telling any of our friends!

    "Because she didn''t trust you or Malyshka with her legacy. Seeing how close-minded you are and how you behave to get what you want, I can only say that Mom was right!"

    Actually, Menadion had simply brought the tower to a mana geyser that no one else knew to keep her safe in case Bytra returned while she was away. Also, Menadion couldn''t ask either of the white-cored mages for help simply because back then they were both in Jiera and theirmunication amulets were out of range.

    Yet Solus had no way to know it.

    Silverwing lowered her gaze, incapable of denying Elphyn''s words.

    "I''m fine with using the Removal unit, but only if it means getting rid of you once and for all." Solus said. "Promise me that if even after severing our bond I don''t change my mind, you''ll leave us alone."

    "I promise." Silverwing tried to reach the wooden box that stilly on the table near her, but Solus stopped her.

    "Not so fast. As I said multiple times, I don''t remember much about you and I don''t trust you one bit. For all I know, you might take the box and Spirit Warp away the moment my ring is in there.

    "Lith, you and I must be ready to make any dimensional spell copse. Phloria, take the box, please. I trust you with my life." She said while never averting her gaze from the First Magus.

    "Spirit Magic cannot be blocked except by powerful dimensional mages and-" Silverwing looked at Solus''s emerald streaks brimming with power while five more eyes appeared on Lith''s human face.

    "Did you teach her Domination already?" She said in surprise.

    Silverwing had spent centuries realizing the hidden potential of the elemental affinities and then learning how to use Domination. Magus or not, she was still a human and Emperor Beasts didn''t trust her more than Solus did now.

    "Yes, he did. Even though it means that I might kill him just by messing with his barriers during a fight." Solus said with a grunt, tired of the Magus'' refusing to ept reality.

    "What''s Domination?" Phloria took the box and checked it with her Forgemastering spells to make sure that it didn''t have hidden functions or traps.

    "Thanks, Loka. Now Faluel will kill us. I can''t wait to get you out of my life." Solus said. "We''ll talk about thatter, Phloria. Now please open the Removal unit."

    Lith took off the stone ring, letting the strings of blue energy generated by the box take it out of his hand. When the ring reached the center of the Removal unit, the lid closed by itself and the blue gemstone sealed the box, making it akin to a dimensional spacepletely disconnected from the outside world.

    Lith and Solus felt much worse than the day she had regained her human body. Not only was their mind link gone, but there was also the feeling of having suddenly lost a big chunk of their being.

    Lith felt weak. Without the power of the mana geyser, he couldn''t weave Tower Spells anymore and was forced to let them fade. At the same time, he felt sad and empty without Solus''s light to soothe the abyss in his mind, yet he smiled.

    Unlike when Nalear had separated them, this time it had been their choice. On top of that, having Solus out of his mind allowed him to realize that even though the rage and the grief were still there, now he could face them on his own without being crushed.

    Solus fell onto her knees due to the feeling of her life force having lost her source of nourishment. It wasn''t just the hunger terrifying her, but all the memories that came with it.

    She could now remember the moment when Menadion''s imprint had disappeared from the tower, leaving her alone in a dying body made of stone. Solus wept, wing at her head as images of the past shed in front of her eyes.

    Solus remembered weeping over the loss of her mother for hours before finding the strength to Warp to the geysers where they usually met with Malyshka or Aunt Loka. She remembered how with each Warp the tower had grown weaker.

    Alone and desperate, Elphyn had returned to the Trawn woods, Menadion''s secret yground as a young mage. For weeks she had traveled Mogar until she couldn''t Warp anymore.

    Those very same feelings of desperation flooded her mind as the now masterless tower became weaker by the second just to keep her cracked life force and mana core from degrading.

    Silverwing mistook her reaction for the shock of having been finally released from the ve spell. She had seen it happen countless times in the past. ve spells didn''t need brainwashing so the masters didn''t bother creating a rtionship with their victims, they just gave them orders.

    They could have the ve behave and say whatever they wanted, but their mind was unaffected by the forbidden magic, remembering every abuse and disgustingmand they had been forced to follow.

    Elphyn was probably capable of killing Verhen with the same spells she had prepared to protect him, but Silverwing weaved a couple of her own, just in case.

    For a moment, Phloria feared that there might be some truth in Silverwing''s words since Quy had behaved the same way after being freed from Nalear''s ve ring. Yet she just had to look at Solus''s eyes to know that she was nothing like her sister.

    Quy had been filled with remorse, shame, and pain whereas Solus was just afraid of something no one else but she could see.

    When the visions passed, Solus''s knees were still weak.

    "Do you mind giving me a hand? I don''t think I can stand up on my own." She raised her arms toward Lith, smiling.

    Solus felt empty and alone inside, but she was happy nheless. She could finally experience her own feelings without Lith''s interfering and when he took her in his arms to put her on a chair, Solus knew that the joy that gesture gave her was pure.

    Her mind was clear like never before and she could think like her own person, worrying only about the things that she wanted.

    "Are you happy now? I''m staying here." Solus said.

    "What?" Silverwing''s brain froze in confusion.

    "We had a deal. I''ve done my part and now it''s your turn. Get out."

    "Please, think this through. My offer is still valid. I can help you recover your memories and feed you much better than Verhen ever could. I would give you absolute freedom." The First Magus said.

    "The freedom of doing what? Of visiting ces I don''t care about and meeting people I haven''t seen in centuries?" Solus replied. "Even if I trusted you, which I don''t, my life is here.

    "I have a family, friends, and a partner who actually listens when I talk.. What can you offer me aside from the shadows of my past? You speak about freedom, yet I''m willing to bet that you wouldn''t let mee back here if I wanted to."

 Chapter 1711 - Springtime (Part 1)

    "No. I wouldn''t let youe back until I made sure that your mind isn''t damaged and enough time passed so that you could make a rational decision, no." Silverwing admitted.

    "And how long would that take? Months? Years? That doesn''t sound like freedom, but control." Solus shook her head. "My answer is no."

    <i>''As if I''d let someone like her learn Lith''s secrets. If I take a new partner, they could check my memories and ruin Lith''s life. It''s enough to tell his family that he isn''t the real Lith to put at risk everything he loves.''</i> She thought.

    "It would take as long as it takes." Silverwing said with a sigh, putting on the table the second package. "By the way, child, you''d better throw the Removal unit away."

    Phloria had already noticed the surge caused by the tower''s energy trying to be whole again. She did as instructed, watching the wooden box turn into a bunch of wood splinters and small crystal fragments.

    Removal units were relics of the past whose Forgemastering methods had been lost to time due to their uselessness. Silverwing had traveled far and wide to find one of thest pieces.

    "Are you sure this is your final decision?" She asked.

    "Yes, I''m sure." Solus replied, picking the stone ring up from the floor and offering it to Lith.

    "Wait." Phloria said. "Wouldn''t it be better to give the ring to Tista? She and you are friends, the bonding wouldn''t mess up your personal life. You could even give it to Elina. She lives a quiet life and could use someone as powerful as you to protect her."

    "Tista already has enough problems dealing with her hybrid nature. Having me inside her head would only make matters worse. Also, would you really be okay with another person hearing your thoughts, watching your every move, andmenting on everything you do?" Solus said.

    "As for Elina, she''s no mage. My presence would put her at risk of Awakening and live long enough to survive her husband and most of her children. On top of that, whoever I pick will have to shoulder the burden of keeping the tower a secret.

    "Lith and I, instead, are already used to each other and we make a great team."

    "What about you, Lith? What about Kam?" Phloria asked.

    <i>''What about me?''</i> She inwardly added.

    "I would love to have Kami back, but I don''t think that pushing Solus away would make her change her mind. What''s done is done and the decision to ept it or not is up to her, just like Solus has the right to decide who she wants to bond with." Lith replied.

    "I could say that neither Mom nor Tista can make Solus recover as fast as I do, or spout some cheesy line about destiny. Yet the truth is that I just want Solus in my life, but only if she agrees with it."

    Then, he turned towards Solus.

    "If you want to go with Silverwing, Mom, or Tista, I''ll ept it. Just please give me back my stuff and delete my browser history."

    Solusughed at the joke while the two other women had no idea what he had just said.

    "You are not going to get rid of me so easily, Lith Verhen." She took the ring out of Phloria''s palm and put it on the medium finger of Lith''s right hand, where it had always been.

    Lith, Solus, and the inside of the tower shone like a sun for a brief moment as the bond was restored.

    <i>''This is it.''</i> Phloria felt a part of her dying, yet she epted it without flinching. <i>''Whatever they have, Lith didn''t hesitate to put on Solus'' ring in front of me. It''s time I give up on the idea of going back together and start searching for someone who will put me first.''</i>

    "What is that thing?" Solus pointed at the second package.

    It was covered by regr gift wrapping and she could see it had a faint magical aura, yet the spell was nothing she had ever seen before.

    "It was supposed to be your wee gift in your new home, but at this point, it''s going to be our parting gift."? Silverwing removed the wrapping with more care than she had with the Removal unit, almost with tenderness.

    It turned out to be a painting depicting a flower field surrounded by blooming trees. Multi-colored dots depicted petals flying through the air, swirling around a couple in the distance who seemed to be having a pic.

    A tag on the lower frame marked it with the unoriginal name "Springtime".

    "Dad?" Tears streamed out of Solus''s eyes as she recognized the familiar signature on the lower right corner of the painting.

    It was a ck scribble that back in the day had brought many of Menadion''s visitors to ask why ruin such a joyful scene by depicting a pile of horseshit, but it actually read Threin.

    "Yes. It''s one of your father''s paintings. The colors that your mother made for him allowed them to survive the passing of time. There are still a few around, mostly in the Awakenedmunity." Silverwing said.

    "While I searched for you and your mother, people broke into your home in hopes of finding a clue that would lead them to Ripha''s legacy. This is one of the few I managed to recover over the centuries.

    "It depicts-"

    "The first date of my parents." Soluspleted the phrase for her.

    New memories flooded Solus''s brain, but this time they were happy ones.

    Solus was back being a four years old child, with shoulder-length hair streaked silver and orange while the rest was of a hue of brown so light that it looked golden under the sunlight.

    She thought that the painting had sucked her in just like the Removal unit had done to her ring, because the scene in front of her eyes matched the picture except for theck of horseshit.

    Baby Solus and her parents sat on a pic nket covered with horrible-looking food whose foul smell contrasted with the sweet scent of the blooming flowers around them.

    "I''m hungry!" The baby said while looking at her parents spoon-feeding culinary horrors to each other with a smile on their faces. "Dad, I want food!"

    "There''s plenty of food." Ripha said with a chuckle after swallowing the mouthful whole to not suffer its taste.

    "Why do you do this? Thest time Dad spent more time in the bathroom than with me!" Baby Solus pouted, demanding her father''s attention.

    "You were just three years old. I didn''t expect you to remember that." Threin picked her up before she stomped everything in her path.

    "I remember waiting for you and how you smelled of poo when you finally arrived." Her words made her parentsugh.

    "I''m sorry, pumpkin." Threin said. "Know that even though the food on these tes tastes as bad as it looks, Mom and Dad wouldn''t be together without it. We like to re-enact our first date on the day of our anniversary."

    "Really?" Baby Solus had no idea what they were talking about but her parents had taught her that it was polite to feign interest before making requests. "Can we eat now?"

 Chapter 1712 - Springtime (Part 2)

    "Yes to both, dear." A wave of Ripha''s hand made the nasty food disappear, recing it with delicacies. "Did we ever tell you how we met?"

    "No." Baby Solus put her brain in autopilot while stuffing her face with a soft and sweet sponge cake.

    "Do you want to hear it?" Ripha asked while recing the cake with a vegetable soup.

    "No!" She protested at the tant abuse of power. "I mean, can I have dessert first if I listen to your story?"

    Baby Solus''s tone was very serious, yet her parents seemed to find it hrious.

    "Of course, princess." Threin cried withughter while handing the te back to the kid and wondering if she would hear one word of what they said once she had what she wanted.

    "You see, back then Mom was in a huge slump." Ripha said. "I had spent weeks holed up in myb trying to make mytest creation work, but to no avail. Then, one day Aunt Lochra came looking for me."

    Menadion conjured a hard-light sock puppet dressed like a Magus and another dressed with Menadion''s dirty working overall, getting baby Solus''s undivided attention.

    "Good gods, Ripha, what is this smell? Metal doesn''t stink and you would never keep fresh ingredients in the open. When was thest time that you took a bath?" Sock-Silverwing asked with a stern voice.

    "I have no time for baths! I''m a finished Forgemaster. I have dozens of open projects and I can''t make even one work." Sock-Menadion said with a petnt, childish voice.

    "I know what''s your problem. You need to get a life! Luckily for you, my girlfriend Quina knows just the guy for you."

    "I''m tired of blind dates! Awakened always look good but as soon as they notice the streaks in my hair, they always start a measuring contest and when they discover that I''m more talented than them, they dump me!" Sock-Menadion whined.

    "That''s why I''m dating Quina and why she''s going to introduce you to another non-mage. It''s pointless to take your body out of theb if your head stays there. You need someone who can help you unwind."

    "What is he like?" Sock-Menadion asked while being forced to bathe like an unruly child.

    "Cute. For human standards, at least."

    "Hey! I resent that." Threin said. "Not everyone gets Awakened from youth. I was considered handsome, not cute!"

    "He is also smart, funny, and he is an artist, just like you. I''m sure things will go great." Sock-Silverwing said, ignoring the booing peanut gallery.

    The hologram moved to a pic, in the same ce Solus''s family was in the memory. Menadion was much older than Threin, but she looked almost the same age as him.

    As any maiden, she was supposed to be able to cook for their date. Yet the hologram showed Solus how Sock-Menadion preferred to craft an artifact that would do all the work for her.

    "Mom has always been a genius so her creation produced dishes that looked and smelled delicious. Little did she know that the machine just shaped the ingredients and reproduced the sampled smells but it had no clue about tastes."

    Sock-Menadion offered several dishes to a paint-dirt Sock-Threin.

    "So they tasted horrible, but Dad fell in love at first sight with you. He ate everything and then you two married." Solus pped at what she thought was the ending of the fairy tale.

    "No. Dad was a rude jerk who spat out my food and used me of trying to poison him." Menadion made the Sock-Threin emit retching sounds while squirming like a snake with a seizure.

    "That''s not true!" Threin said. "Your Mom was really pretty, almost like Aunt Lochra¡­"

    "Almost?" Threin''s sincerity earned him a piece of sponge cake right on his face.

    Baby Solus ate off her father while Menadionughed at his expense and Threin tried to keep the small hands out of his mouth.

    "So I was really tense and wanted to make a good first impression. Yet the moment I took the first bite, I couldn''t stand the disgusting taste. I spat it back on the te and when Ripha started to call me names for disrespecting her hard work, I dared her to eat it herself."

    "Then Mom realized her mistake, you twoughed it off, fell in love, and married." Baby Solus nodded, appreciating the plot twist.

    "No. I tried my own food and for the first time in my life, I was so ashamed that I wished Mogar would swallow me. Yet I was too proud to admit my mistake so I double dared Threin to do better." Menadion said.

    "The shortest date ever." Threin chuckled. "I epted the challenge and invited her to my ce for some real food."

    "And then you married?" Baby Solus was quite confused at that point. Usually in fairy tales, things always kicked off good.

    "No, Epphy. Real life is moreplicated than that." Threin said. "I invited your mother over to impress her with my works and my cooking."

    "The first part of the n worked." Menadion said. "I never cared for art, but the moment I saw your father''s paintings, they reminded me of the joy and the beauty of Mogar that I had almost forgotten after staying in myb for so long."

    "Thank you." Threin gave her a polite nod. "It took me two days to clean the ce and the whole morning to clean myself so when Mom arrived, I was tired. So tired that I used the same bowl of the amaranth red for the tomato sauce."

    "We got poisoned and if not for my magic, we would have died." Menadion said. "To make matters worse, back then Dad didn''t know that I was a mage. I kept it a secret to not scare him."

    "So when she cured me, I was both grateful and terrified for having offended a powerful mage. Yet sheughed off at my apologies andplimented me for my work before showing me hers." Threin said.

    "Our second date brought us to a third and here we are now, Epphy." Menadion said. "We each prepare terrible food for our anniversary to never forget that good things cane out of the rockiest times."

    The memory continued with Solus''s parents doing their best to convince the small girl to eat something other than sweets before giving up and taking her for a stroll.

    "Thanks, Aunt Loka." Solus said as the memory faded away while she could still feel the warmth of her parents holding her hands while they walked.

    "You are wee." Silverwing stood up, ready to leave. "I''m sorry I couldn''t find more, but most of Threin''s original paintings were stored in the tower. They must have been consumed by the power core along with the other treasures in order to keep you alive."

    "Do you have more Removal units?" Solus asked.

    She didn''t want to leave Lith''s side, just give him the option to have some real privacy if he ever needed it.

    "No. They are old ass magic that very few know how to craft and I''m not among them. I just stole the one I brought here from a museum''s archive without bothering to study its pseudo core simply because I never expected to need another.." Silverwing said.

 Chapter 1713 - Harbinger Privileges (Part 1)

    "You stole it from a museum?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "As I said, Removal units are considered a failed branch of research. Its goal was to find a way to force the host and the cursed object to split, but it turned out to require more energy than a Royal artifact.

    "As it is, a Removal unit is useless since no one is stupid enough to give a host to a cursed object just to free them. Also, it''s much easier to kill a host rather than make them submit." The First Magus said.

    Silverwing stood there for a few seconds, hoping that Elphyn would ask her what she could do in case she changed her mind or how to keep in touch, but Solus remained silent. She didn''t trust Silverwing enough to share hermunication rune, not with the risk of Silverwing using it to follow them.

    On top of that, the First Magus'' hostility towards Lith had been toned down, but it was still there. Solus worried that any request for help might be misunderstood as a subconscious call for help or second thought, making the white core into a powerful enemy that they had no chance to beat.

    "Aunt Loka, do you know Malyshka?"? Solus said.

    "Who?" The name sounded familiar, but not having heard it for centuries, it took Silverwing a few seconds to put a face to it. "Baba Yaga? Yes, why?"

    "At first, she shared your same doubts about my rtionship with Lith, but after examining us with her breathing technique, she changed her mind. Please, before your third surprise visit, talk with Malyshka.

    "I hope that she can help you to understand that I need my dear aunt Loka, not a savior. There are many things that I would like to ask you about my parents and my forgotten past, but I can''t let you in my life until I''m sure that you won''t harm the people I love out of prejudice." Solus said.

    "I''ll keep that in mind." Silverwing nodded and left the tower, racking her brain about how to find Baba Yaga. The Blood Mother was hard to track since she had nomunication amulet.

    It was the reason why she created a powerful bond with her Firstborns so that they could contact or find her no matter how far she was. Unlikemunication amulets, such a bond couldn''t be used to track her.

    "Oh, gods!" Lith copsed on the nearest chair the moment the Sentries confirmed to him that the First Magus was nowhere to be found. "The ck Dragon was nothingpared to her. Tower or not, I didn''t like my odds."

    He was covered in a cold sweat and panted in exhaustion. Even though Lith hadn''t thrown a single punch nor cast a spell, the mental pressure from Silverwing''s hostility and from casting Tower tier spirit spell non-stop had taken a toll on him.

    Phloria felt the need to sit down as well. An important piece of her heart had just withered, and now that the threat at hand was gone, sadness veiled her eyes with tears.

    <i>''I''m happy that nothing bad happened, just like I''m happy that all my doubts about the rtionship between Lith and Solus have been cleared. There is no mind control on either side, they are just two people that really love each other.''</i> She thought while staring at the stone wall in front of her.

    ''<i>Yet it also means that there''s no space between them for me. At least not a space I can bring myself to take without being consumed by doubts.''</i>

    Solus, instead, was too happy to notice anything. She hummed while carrying her father''s painting around, trying to find the perfect spot to hang it.

    "Faluel is probably going to kill us, but since we are alreadyte, making her wait a few minutes longer won''t change a thing. I''m going to take a quick shower." Lith smiled only for a second until those words jogged his memory.

    "Speaking of killing, Phloria, I still have to exin to you what Domination is."

    "Is it some form of mind control?" She asked with a deadpan tone, still grieving her loss.

    "No. It''s just a magical technique that only people with streaks in their hair like Solus and Friya, or with special features like Morok, Faluel, and I can use." Lith replied.

    "I understood that much from Silverwing''s words." She nodded. "Don''t worry, I don''t want to know about Domination if it means endangering you two. Just tell Faluel the truth and me Silverwing for everything."

    "Thank you Phloria. You are a true friend." Solus hugged her with joy.

    "It''s not like I would gain much aside from more envy. I only have blue streaks." Phloria sighed. "Go take your shower or Faluel will kill us anyway."

    "I think it''s better if I take one as well." While hugging Phloria, a pungent smell had reached Solus'' nose.

    Between the tears, the snot, and the sweating from the intense emotions, she was dirty.

    At those words, Phloria tensed up, expecting them to go inside Lith''s room and shower together. Only when she saw them walk into their respective room did she sigh in relief.

    <i>''I don''t know what''s worse. If the fact that I''m relieved that nothing happened or that it takes them but a single thought to make the wall between them disappear. I understand now why Kam broke up with him and in her shoes, I would have done the same.''</i> She thought.

    Phloria washed her face and took a bowl of chocte ice cream with biscuits to drown her sorrows while she waited. At the third spoonful, Springtime appeared on the kitchen wall, making her flinch.

    Solus had actually hung the original in her room and crafted a copy for eachmon room of the tower so that she could always keep that little piece of her family that she had recovered close to her heart.

    Meanwhile, in Faluel''sir, the Hydra wasn''t happy about how things had gone in the Distar region during her absence nor about her disciple''s performance.

    "I can''t believe that you have yet to develop the emerald streak in your hair." Faluel said.

    "Lith, Morok, and even Solus already managed to do it. You are the only onegging behind. Did you at least follow the training routine I had assigned you or did you just work on your tan in the Desert?"

    "Lith and Solus don''t count because they are basically Awakened from birth." Friya replied. "As for Morok, not only does he have the advantage of a bloodline ability, but he mastered true magic from a young age as well.

    "You Awakened me recently and I have yet to master tier four Spirit Magic, let alone Domination which I started learning months after them! As for the Desert, it was a boot camp, not a vacation. Feel free to check if you don''t believe me!"

    "Don''t mind if I do." Faluel used her breathing technique, Lifestream, to check on Friya''s body, discovering that her mana flow, body, and core had been tempered to the point of bordering on breakthrough.

    "By the Great Mother, you really did work hard."

    "See? I need a vacation and a real one this time.." Friya said.

 Chapter 1714 - Harbinger Privileges (Part 2)

    "Nonsense." Faluel shook her head. "I see that you diligently used Lifestream to nurture your mana core and that the constant practice of Forgemastery at a level beyond your own brought your impurities together.

    "Now is not the time to rest, but to make onest push to achieve a bright blue core."

    The lesser version of the Hydra''s breathing technique that Friya used was still more effective than Lith''s old Invigoration, allowing her to progress at a faster pace.

    "By the way, is it true that a Harbinger shares their master''s bloodline abilities?" Friya asked.

    "Yes." Faluel nodded, liking her enthusiasm. She had expected Friya to whine and beg her to take a break from training.

    "Why didn''t you ever mention this before and what would I get if I became yours? Dragon Eyes? Origin mes?"

    "You wish." Faluel said with a sneer. "I don''t have Origin mes and if having a Harbinger was enough to not need to pay a Divine Beast for them, all lesser Dragons would have one. No, you can only obtain the same bloodline abilities I have."

    "But, you only have Domination and your seven heads!" Friya blurted out in disappointment. "I already have the streaks of my own so I have no use for your Domination and growing six more heads would make me into a monster!"

    "And that''s why I''ve never mentioned any of this before." Faluel said with a sigh. "I''m an Emperor Beast, not a Divine Beast. I''m already lucky to have a few bloodline abilities instead of none like most of my kind."

    "This is great!" Friya''s voice oozed sarcasm. "What''s the Harbinger of a Hydra capable of doing, exactly? I mean aside from things that any regr Awakened can do."

    "They can Dominate the same elements that the Hydra has already mastered and they can shapeshift into a hybrid Hydra form. It allows them to grow more heads and obtain a physical prowess between that of an Awakened human and an Emperor Beast." Faluel replied.

    "If I fail your test, can I ask Lith to be his Harbinger instead? ording to Syrook, he is a Divine Beast." Friya pouted in annoyance.

    "So that you can share with him my breathing and Forgemastering techniques? Sure!" Faluel clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Of course not. You fail, you die. I have been crystal clear about it from the beginning.

    "You have be pretty arrogant for someone who begged me to take her in. Someone that without me wouldn''t even be an Awakened and would be stuck with her pretty bright cyan core!"

    The Hydra didn''t shapeshift into her true form nor did she bare her fang. She just stared down into Friya''s eyes until she lowered her gaze.

    "You are right. I''m sorry, master Faluel." Friya gave the Hydra a deep bow. "Without you, I would know nothing about true magic and spirit magic, let alone Domination."

    "Good girl." The Hydra patted her head, smiling. "Also, there''s an unwritten rule to never take a Harbinger of the gender you are interested in. That''s why I took you and Syrook took Quaron."

    "Why is that?"

    "Because the rtionship with a Harbinger is very intense. The blood bond and the mind link cause the Harbinger to be influenced by their master''s mood even when they receive no order." Faluel replied.

    "Imagine what would happen if the master were to take a fancy to their Harbinger."

    "I definitely don''t want to be Lith''s Harbinger." Friya swallowed a lump of saliva at the idea.

    "Yeah, unlike Solus, you wouldn''t be his peer, but his servant. Also, I have no idea if a Tiamat can have a Harbinger." Faluel said while someone knocked on the door of herir.

    No array could block a Spirit Warp, but they could still kill whoever opened one without authorization.

    "Wee-" The words died in the Hydra''s throat when Solus walked through the door in her human form, using the Sage Staff as a walking stick.

    "Elphyn Menadion?" Faluel fell onto her butt from the shock.

    She had recognized the lost daughter of the First Ruler of the mes from one of the paintings that her mother, Fyrwal, kept in the dining room.

    After the encounter with Silverwing, the entire group became pale. The Hydra was too young to have ever met Solus back when she was alive and Lith had never nned to let her know about the tower.

    "That''s how you could craft powerful artifacts even before receiving my lessons and why you didn''t hesitate to offer the Hands of Menadion to me. You possess the tower of Menadion!" Finally all the pieces of the puzzle fell into ce.

    Faluel knew from her mother about the ughter of Menadion''s apprentices that had taken ce shortly before her death. Lith''s odd Forgemastering prowess, Solus''s unusual behavior for a cursed item and her getting stronger over time finally made sense.

    "Guilty as charged." Lith had no point in denying the obvious. "I was nning to tell you one day, but not like this."

    "Not while I''m stronger than you, you mean." Faluel knew him enough to understand his way of thinking. "Judging from yourck of surprise, you knew it all along, Friya. You are the worst Harbinger ever."

    "Master Faluel, I-"

    "I don''t care." The Hydra cut her short. "Now, young man, if you still want my help, you''d better tell me how you two met from the beginning, but this time I want the truth."

    Lith hesitated for a second, looking Solus in the eyes until she nodded. Then, they took Faluel''s hand, forming a circle, to share with everyone their story up to theirtest meeting with Silverwing.

    "I''m pissed off at you two for lying to me for so long, yet I''m also proud of you. You did the right thing." Faluel embraced them both, d that they had survived two encounters with a hostile white cored Awakened.

    "If you told me about the tower too soon, I might have been tempted to take it for myself. Also, the moment I told my mother about Elphyn, she would have reacted just like Silverwing.

    "Mom despises humans and she would have never left the daughter of an old friend at the mercy of a stranger."

    "Did Fyrwal know my mother as well?" Solus asked.

    "After King Valeron faked his death, he dedicated every moment that he couldn''t spend with Tyris to the study of magic in order to improve the lives of both his descendants and subjects." Faluel said.

    "He studied under both Silverwing and Menadion, bing a friend of both. Mom didn''t trust any human, so at first, she followed him to make sure that they wouldn''t take advantage of his good heart and then she became their apprentice as well."

    "Does she have some of my father''s paintings?" Solus said. "If I could see them, I might recover my memory and remember who killed me."

    "Yes, she has one depicting you and Menadion." Faluel nodded. "My mother also has paintings of all of her fellow apprentices, but she made them herself.

    "When Threin married Menadion, my mother had long finished her apprenticeship and for Awakened standards, his existence was too brief for him to befriend Mom.. After his death, my mother would make you a portrait every year on the day of your birthday to carry on the family tradition.

 Chapter 1715 - Hands And Eyes (Part 1)

    "That''s how I recognized you, Elphyn. You are identical to the pictures of you from over 600 years ago." Faluel said.

    "Please, call me Solus. The name Elphyn means nothing to me. Can I see those paintings? Even if I recover no new memory, I would still love to have a portrait of my mother."

    "I can try and borrow them for a while." Faluel replied. "It''s not safe bringing either of you to my mother''s castle. Silverwing may be wrong about your rtionship, but every one of Menadion''s friends would react the same way she did.

    "The tower half technically makes Solus a ve and even as Elphyn shecked the malice necessary to overpower someone as shrewd as Lith. No offense."

    "None taken." Lith said. "By the way, how was your vacation and how are you doing with the Hands?"

    "Are you asking me because you want to know if I unlocked properties that you are not aware of, because you want my help crafting something from that Dragon''s corpse that I heard you took away, or both?" Faluel asked.

    "Both." Lith shrugged. "I was just trying to be polite and not go straight to business."

    "My vacation was great, thank you. Too bad that when I got back, I discovered that someone exploited my absence to make a mess of my turf. We''ll talk about thatter." She snarled. "As for the Hands, I''m sorry to say that I''ve made little progress with them.

    "At least until I talked with my mother."

    A flick of her wrist and a smug grin made the Hands appear.

    Menadion''s artifact looked like a pair of thick silver working gloves that covered Faluel''s arm up to the elbow. The Hands had one mana crystal of a different color on each fingertip and a sixth in the middle of their backhand.

    The crystals went from red on the little finger to blue on the thumb, in a pattern simr to the mana core''s progression, but the green was reced by bright silver while the gemstone on the backhand was ck instead of violet.

    "You should already know about this and this, correct?" Faluel took control of the world energy flowing inside herir, making it hard to cast elemental magic and deactivating every piece of equipment without a power core her apprentices wore.

    "Correct." Lith nodded, feeling his auxiliary cores growing weaker. "Yet I had no idea the Hands could affect spells as well."

    "They can do it only if the ce, like my cave, has arrays that limit the flow of world energy. Otherwise there is just too much elemental energy to control it." Faluel said. "What my mother taught me is that each gem on the Hands grants their master control over the single elements, like this."

    Faluel stopped drawing the world energy, flooding the Hands with her own mana instead. Each gem produced a small circle of their respective color that grew in size until they filled the cave.

    "How did you cast six elemental sealing arrays so quickly?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Could you please stop doing that? I need the Sage Staff to keep my strength." Solus panted heavily.

    Now that the world energy was blocked, the Sage staff was no better than a regr walking stick.

    "Sorry!" Faluel dispelled the arrays, conjuring more but of a different kind.

    After a few seconds, six new elemental circles had appeared in between the gems of the same color on the two opposing gloves.

    "As you can see, each gem is infused with enough elemental runes to allow me to cut down the casting time and even to hold six different elemental arrays at the same time with a limited burden on my focus.

    "Without the Hands, I would never be able to sustain so many, nor could I do this!" Faluel made the arrays ovep, turning them into Warping arrays first and then into Gravity arrays.

    Once conjured, Faluel could rearrange the runes forming the magical formations, changing the effects of the spells without having to cast them again.

    "By my Mom! We would have never thought about this method by ourselves." Solus said while the Hydra Warped everyone through herir and to all the ces in its vicinity she was familiar with.

    "Neither would I." Faluel shrugged. "If my mother hadn''t exined it to me and then given me a practical demonstration, it would have taken me months if I dedicated myself solely to the study of the Hands and years if I kept to my usual schedule.

    "I always tell you guys that you are trying to do too much already. I hope you didn''t tell Lith about de tier spells."

    "I''m not insane." Solus went pale at the thought of adding one more thing to their infinite to-do list. "But, Professor, the tower''s Hands are a bit different."

    A pair of ck gloves appeared over her hands and both of them had now a ck gemstone on the back of their hand.

    The right glove also had one gemstone of a different color on each of its knuckles instead of on the fingertips and a crystal of muddy color on its palm. The left glove, however, had just a yellow and a red gemstone respectively on the knuckles of the index and the medium finger.

    "This doesn''t make sense." Faluel said. "Based on what my mother told me, the tower''s Hands had six gemstones as well, not seven. There shouldn''t be any on the palm."

    "Just like I''m supposed to have two streaks in my hair instead of seven." Solus shrugged. "Malyshka, I mean, Baba Yaga said that it''s because ever since I fused with the tower, it became a living artifact capable of evolving and self-upgrading."

    "I see." Faluel used Lifestream to study andpare the two artifacts. "The good news is that if my theory is right, the seventh gemstones might allow you to cast even Spirit arrays.

    "The bad news is that until your Hands recover, you can''t conjure more than three arrays at the same time."

    "Professor Faluel, you seem to forget that I don''t have a bright violet core." Lith said. "Also, I can''t afford that much time to cast an array nor to take the Hands out unless I''m sure that I can kill all the witnesses."

    "I could cast them for him, but between the energy necessary to keep the Hands active and everything I usually do during a fight, maybe I can do two. Maybe." Solus dispelled the Hands to not reduce the duration of her human form any further.

    "It''s still more than you could do until a minute ago. Have fun training." Faluel said with an impish smile as she exined to everyone how the Hands worked.

    Solus slouched and groaned, knowing it would be up to her to practice with the tower''s artifact and that she would have even less free time than before.

    "Why are you teaching them as well?" Lith pointed at Friya and Phloria. "Don''t tell me that you are dying and n to leave the Hands to one of your beloved disciples. Fyrwal would hunt us down."

    "No, smartass! It''s because the Hands are a teaching tool. Anyone of my choosing can use them as long as they don''t get too far from me.." Faluel said.

 Chapter 1716 - Hands And Eyes (Part 2)

    "We are idiots." Lith and Solus said in unison.

    "No, you are not." The Hydra shook her head. "Yours is an iplete version. It''s perfectly normal that you failed to understand the scope of the Hands'' abilities. Had you imprinted the original, you would have been forced to keep them for yourselves.

    "Which would have also meant that I would have never shown them to my mother, she wouldn''t have taught me how to use the Hands, and I would have never taught you in turn. Your generosity came around nicely."

    "You would be right, if we didn''t already know about the sharing ability of the Menadion''s set after trying Scarlett''s Eyes." Solus took a deep breath and conjured a in pince-nez made of stone, offering them to Faluel.

    "That frigging cat had the Eyes?" The Hydra took the priceless artifact from Solus''s hands and put it on her nose. "This is amazing, I bet that this is how it feels to have Dragon E-"

    The tremendous load of information from her own cave and her apprentices flooded her brain. At first, Faluel felt dizzy, then Mogar started to spin like a frenzied top on steroids, making her puke her guts out until nothing but bile was left.

    "Solus, why didn''t you give her the trial version?" Lith took the Eyes back before the Hydra''s eyes rolled back into her head.

    "I''m sorry. It''s just that we are always trying to get used to the full power of the Eyes so it became their default form." Solus used darkness magic to clean the cave and get rid of the terrifying stench that several half-digested deer emitted.

    "Dammit, guys. You have to be careful with that thing. The Eyes fried my brain to the point that I''ve trouble remembering what I did during thest two days." Faluel said after washing her mouth and assessing the damage.

    Part of her short-term memory had been reced by the information that the Eyes had collected while she wore them. She used her breathing technique, Lifestream, to get rid of the redundant data about her own workings and keep only those about Lith and Solus.

    "Wow, you guys have progressed by leaps and bounds while in the Desert." She said while pointing at Lith''s armor, Solus''s Sage Staff, and Friya''s railgun. "I wish I had the ability to craft stuff like that back at your age.

    "They are small masterpieces."

    "Thanks, but that would have never happened without your teachings, the techniques we acquired in Urgamakka, and Grandma using Creation Magic to endlessly recycle the materials." Lith said.

    "Otherwise I would havecked the crystals and the Adamant necessary to perform enough experiments."

    "Creation what?" Faluel demanded a full exnation about the tower''s abilities and the details about their stay in the Desert, bing more pissed off the more she learned.

    "Gods, I hate you guys so much." She said with a sigh. "Can I have a tour of the tower? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

    Faluel tugged at Lith''s shirt forcing him to look in her big eyes while she did her best impression of a puppy stare. She was very lovely and he was very lonely so it was super effective.

    "Yes."

    "Great! Time for round two." She took the Eyes again, but before putting them on, she reverted to her Hydra form.

    The Eyes of Menadion grew with her by collecting dust, debris, and everything non-magical that they found in their.

    "Oh, gods, this is amazing! Please tell me that you have the original Eyes as well. I''ll do anything if you give them to me." Now that she had seven heads and the burden of the artifact was reduced ordingly, the Eyes had be a true source of wonder.

    Faluel could not only see the spells, pseudo, and power cores of everything in herir, she could also read the flow of the world energy going through each of her magical workings and see which runes were less efficient, making the enchantments weaker.

    "I can''t believe I made so many mistakes!" Yet her voice was full of joy like that of a child in front of their birthday presents. "Let me take some notes."

    "Do you mind sharing with the rest of the ss?" Friya tugged at her leg since Faluel''s tail was wagging like crazy, causing small shockwaves as it moved in excitement.

    "Oh, sure." One of Faluel''s heads created a mind link with her apprentices while the other heads used water magic to fill several pages of notes about how to improve her creations.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Lith and Solus said in unison, realizing how even with the support of the tower, they had barely started to scratch the surface of the Eye''s potential.

    "You said that I get seven heads as well in my hybrid form, right?" Suddenly Friya didn''t find being the Harbinger of a Hydra underwhelming anymore.

    "Of course." Faluel moved her heads around the cave taking notes until even her seven brains started to hurt, forcing her to stop and turn back into her human form. "I''m the first Hydra of Mogar who experienced Dragon Eyes! We need to celebrate."

    Faluel popped the cork of a bottle of Red Dragon. The magical liquor was capable of making an Emperor Beast intoxicated by drinking a few sses instead of a river''s worth of alcohol.

    Friya became drunk and unconscious simply by smelling its vapors.

    "Oops!" Faluel shrugged while detoxifying and waking up her apprentice.

    "Where are the Eyes, sweetheart?" Faluel said with a flirty tone that Lith had never heard her use before.

    <i>''Is it the euphoria, the Red Dragon, or the greed of Dragons talking?''</i> He thought.

    "Scarlett didn''t need them anymore after bing a Guardian so she gave them to me¡­"

    "Excellent." Faluel said with a sensual whisper whileing dangerously close and rubbing her body against Lith''s.

    "¡­and asked me to give them to Ka, which I did. She has them." Lith rushed to say.

    "Fuck!" Suddenly her lovely visage twisted into a mask of rage as she stomped her foot to the ground, swearing with growing intensity until her words turned into roars. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!"

    <i>''Definitely greed.''</i> Lith thought.

    "Fucking cat! Fucking bear! They ruined my day." Faluel conjured a chair and a bowl of ice cream that she flooded with Red Dragon.

    She sat with the grace of a sack of bricks and ate the soft cream by stabbing it with the spoon and emitting roars in between mouthfuls.

    <i>''Mogar hath no fury like a disappointed Dragon.''</i> Solus said via mind link and the others nodded.

    "Well, master Faluel, you still have the Hands." Friya said, trying to cheer her up. "Without them, you wouldn''t be capable of using the information collected by the Eyes to their fullest.

    "On top of that, Lith can always lend the Eyes to you whenever you need them. Teaching tool, remember?"

    "I know." Faluel said with a majestic burp that echoed throughout the cave. "But do you know how much I dreamed about having Origin mes or at least the Dragon Eyes? They are the dream of every Forgemaster and that jackass has both. It''s not fair."

    The Hydra clung to Friya, whining and pointing at Lith like a little girl telling her mother about a boy who had been mean to her.

 Chapter 1717 - Scales And Bones (Part 1)

    "There, there. One day you''ll have the Eyes. There''s no need to cry." Friya caressed Faluel''s head, not knowing what else to say.

    After a while, the effects of the greed and the booze faded, and the Hydra went back to her old self.

    "I guess you want to know how to refine the corpse of a powerful Divine Beast, correct?" She said, pretending that nothing weird had happened during thest few minutes.

    "Correct." Everyone was eager to put that outburst behind and acted ordingly.

    "Well, the first thing that you must know is that the value and use of Dragon scales vary with their quantity. When you have just a few, like those I gave you for your Scalewalker armor, then you can only employ them in your crafts as ingredients.

    "When you have a decent amount, instead, you can use them as a working material in ce of rare magical metals.

    "By mixing the remains of a powerful Awakened with Adamant, or any other enchanted metal for that matter, you can make yourself a Dragonwalker armor or whatever you''re going to call it." Faluel said.

    "What? How?" Lith asked.

    "Having your own personal metal mine, you should have a grasp of how magical metals form, correct?" Faluel asked and the others nodded in response.

    "A metal is just earth that has been purified from its weakestponents that also bes magical after being subjected to a powerful flow of world energy for a long time.

    "The same can be said about the bodies of Awakened, be them humans, Emperor Beasts, or Divine Beasts. Until the blue core, their bodies still have impurities that limit their strength and mana flow.

    "Past that point, energy and matter mix, transforming every part of us into a powerful magic conductor. The problem is that, unlike an enchanted metal, our body starts much weaker and it takes a long time for the mana flow to temper our flesh.

    "I have a bright violet core, but after only 300 years my scales are not that powerful, yet. Let me see this ck Dragon and give me back the Eyes, please." Faluel said while reverting into a Hydra.

    Lith gave her a Monocle, keeping the other for himself. Solus gasped in amazement at his idea, abandoning her human form to be capable of looking through Lith''s eyes and experiencing first-hand the full power of Menadion''s relic.

    "You can do that too? I-" Envy twisted the seven serpentine heads as they put the Monocle on. "Never mind. Let''s take a look at this guy."

    A snap of Lith''s fingers made Syrook''s gigantic carcass appear in the empty area in the middle of their, leaving barely enough space for the group.

    "The subject is a violet-cored ck Dragon, about 500 years old. The bad news is that he had only recently achieved the violet. I guess no longer than a couple of decades ago, considering that he was a self-Awakened and had to develop his breathing technique with no help.

    "The good news is that he spent most of that time as a pseudo violet core, which means that his body has been long since devoid of impurities and it experienced a powerful mana flow for over 400 years. It''s an excellent material." Faluel said.

    Lith was trying to exploit her heads to take a look around their, but unluckily, tobine the effects of the Eyes their wearers had to look at the same thing. Lith could understand everything about Syrook''s physiology but he got a splitting headache the moment he looked away.

    "My eyes are down here, jerk." Faluel said after noticing that Lith was trying to study a bastard sword hung high on the ceiling.

    "I''m sorry, sweetheart. You can''t me a man for trying." He gently caressed her scaly leg in a parody of her earlier behavior.

    "My inner Dragon got the better of me when you dangled a lifelong dream in front of my eyes, what''s your excuse?" Suddenly all seven of Faluel''s heads had fire affinity.

    "Whatever you want, sweetheart." Lithughed at her expense along with the others.

    "Very funny. Call me sweetheart again and the lesson is over." She snarled.

    "Please, continue, Professor Faluel." Lith took a step back, giving her a deep bow.

    "I''ll never hear the end of it." The Hydra sighed sevenfold. "Since you are not technically my disciple anymore and I need a sample to give you a practical example, I''ll take enough scales to make an armor for Friya."

    "What?" Lith''s wallet bled at the thought.

    "This will teach you not to mock a sensitivedy for a moment of weakness!"

    He would have liked to point out that her stomping, burping, and whining were hardly befitting of ady, but Lith was afraid of losing more scales so he remained silent.

    "As I said, the corpse of a powerful Awakened and magical metals are simr, to the point that they can mix akin to what happens with the Bonding spell for magic crystals." Faluel said.

    "The procedure requires a crucible big enough to host all the materials and to melt the metal." The Hydra took several tools out of her dimensional amulet that reminded Lith of his own hunter set to skin and field dress his prey, just much bigger.

    "Keep in mind that no race in the Awakenedmunity likes for their members to wear each other''s skin. Both Emperor Beasts and Divine Beasts will look unfavorably on you if you walk around wearing Dragon scales." Faluel said before starting to cut in.

    "What? I saw Grandma''s hammer and she used Leegaain''s scales just like Sinmara has clothes made out of her brother''s skin and vice versa!" Lith considered human skin indeed disgusting but he had worn animal skins all of his life, giving him double standards.

    "That''s different." The Hydra replied. "Any beast is free to do with their fur, scales, or feathers whatever they want. Sark and Sinmara received those scales as a gift whereas you murdered Syrook."

    "Because he was trying to kill me!"

    "Did you make a hide armor of the knights that attacked you as a kid? No. How would your vige have reacted if you did? It''s the same thing here." Faluel shrugged.

    "So it''s wrong to wear your grandpa unless he leaves you his corpse in hisst will?" Lith''s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "Correct. Why let your body rot and be devoured by maggots when you can strengthen your bloodline?" Faluel pointed at a war armor made of Hydra scales coated in Davross.

    "That''s disgusting!" Solus said.

    "No, it''s practical. My great grandfather died of old age at 3026 years, leaving behind scales so powerful that needed but a thinyer of metal to be even stronger than Davross itself."

    "That armor is part of his legacy and it has saved the lives of his descendants. We honor his sacrifice and his will to stand by his family''s side in battle even after death." Faluel''s voice was filled with pride as she looked at the armor with loving eyes.

    Then, she used Spirit Magic to handle the surgical tools and the Eyes to cut Syrook''s corpse without damaging either the skin or the scales.

    "What are you going to use for me? Davross?" Friya hoped to get ahead of thepetition for once.

 Chapter 1718 - Scales And Bones (Part 2)

    "Are you kidding me?" Faluel sniggered. "Maybe if you were my Harbinger. Be d that I use Adamant instead of Orichalcum. I barely know you so you''d better not make me regret this, miss ''Hydras suck''."

    Friya blushed in embarrassment when four of the seven heads nodded in unison making the already audible air quotes visible as well.

    "As I was saying, violet is the optimal level of body refinement for Forgemastering because theck of impurities makes the use of Origin mes unnecessary and the materials lose no mass during the rest of the procedure."

    Faluel put a couple of ingots of Adamant in a smaller crucible before conjuring a bright violet me that heated the metal to 2,000 degrees, making it slowly melt. At the same time, the Hydra kept cutting at the dragon skin.

    The crafting of leg and arm protectors was straightforward enough for Lith to be able to do it on his own with a bit of practice. Yet when Faluel started to work on the joints, chest, and helm, the process turned from mere cutting into something in-between etching, sewing, and sculpting.

    First, she separated the scales from the skin, and then she used air, darkness, and water magic to further harden the skin into a ck leather. Faluel cut and sewed the dragon leather, forming a scaffold that would suit Friya''s body.

    Only after triple-checking her measurements and leaving enough space so that she could shapeshift without the armor leaving any vital area exposed did the Hydra proceed to reattach the scales.

    Faluel didn''t cut them, she just used magic topress them so that they would retain their mass while having their durability increased. Once she was done, she deposited the Dragonscale armor in a humanoid-shaped crucible.

    The Adamant was nowpletely molten, yet even magical mescked the heat to make it boil. The smaller crucible was filled with a silvery liquid akin to quicksilver that would have looked cold if not for heat distorting the air around it.

    Faluel weaved a spell that created two concentric Forgemastering circles around the armor. A seven-pointed star centered around the armor appeared in the innermost circle while countless runes filled the space in-between the circles and the star.

    "Seven points for seven elements." One of the heads exined while another wore the shapeshifted Hands of Menadion in the form of a Hydra-sized helm to fuel the circle. Another head focused on the Forgemastering circle and one more used Lifestream so that Faluel''s strength would always remain at its peak.

    "I''m using Spirit Magic to flood both skin and scales with magic, reopening the mana channels that disappeared after Syrook''s death. This way, the Adamant will coat the armor inside out, keeping the channels open after I''m done with the Infusion spell."

    As if the Dragonscale armor had waited for her cue, emerald veins appeared throughout the suit of armor the moment Faluel finished her exnation. The leather became stic and the scales glimmered with the mana flow of a living being thanks to Spirit Magic coursing through them.

    Another of her heads conjured one more spell, this time aimed at the molten Adamant, filling it with blue veins instead. Then, Faluel poured the liquid metal inside the humanoid-shaped crucible before sealing it.

    The lid was transparent, allowing her students to witness the whole process. The sixth head weaved a spell that connected the other two respectively inside the metal and the armor.

    It created a bridge between the emerald and the blue veins that guided the Adamant through the opened mana channels, filling them to the brim. The remaining metal coated the outside of the armor, creating a thickeryer around the scales and a thinner one around the leather to notpromise its mobility.

    "Now, for the final touch, it''s of vital importance to keep your focus until everyst drop of metal has been absorbed and cools down." Faluel said. "It takes a while but as you can see, it took me only one-tenth of the Adamant that I would have otherwise needed to make a full suit of armor."

    "I don''t know what Friya told you earlier, but Solus is my witness. I''ve always thought that Hydras are amazing." Lith said. "You just cast four spells at the same time, all the while using Invigoration and exining everything to us."

    "Thanks." At those words, all seven heads had a proud grin on their face.

    "Professor Faluel, why didn''t you use your hammer and your forge?" Solus asked while wondering if between her and Lith they could repeat the process with such uracy.

    "Sark taught you the Mana Well, the technique that Menadion shared with her fellow Forgemasters, huh?" The only head that could afford to talk said. "To answer your question, I will when I enchant the armor away from prying eyes.

    "Every bloodline adapted and evolved Menadion''s Mana Well their own way and I''m not going to share mine with you. Infusion is a preparatory step like Bonding or Runesmithing. A good Forgemaster needs to amplify their mana during the enchanting process."

    "All of this was just a preparatory step?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Well, yes. You can always skip it, find yourself enough Adamant to cover your entire Tiamat body and enchant it the old-fashioned way. Why do you think that Awakened don''t mind wearing dead skin as long as it''s gifted?

    "We favor practicality over pointless morality. Without the use of scales, making a single Emperor-Beast-sized armor would take centuries just to collect the metal." Faluel replied.

    "What about the rest? I mean, ws, fangs, bones, and organs?" Lith asked.

    "Fangs, ws, and bones can be used when crafting weapons by using the same method that I showed you with the scales. The problem is that their shape is all wrong so you need to add one more spell to change them into the form of your choosing." The Hydra said.

    "As for the organs, they have no value as materials but they are powerful ingredients. A Dragon''s heart is a great magical amplifier for all kinds of enchantments, the lungs boost air magic, the windpipe fire magic due to the lingering power of the Origin mes, the liver has rejuvenating properties, and I could go on."

    "The same heart that I punctured?" Lith pointed at the cavity in Syrook''s chest.

    "Yeah, it''s utterly useless. Don''t try to mend it with necromancy because the darkness element would purge the magical properties as well." Faluel sighed at the loss as well.

    She would have asked half, but Syrook''s heart was only good as a culinary oddity.

    "Can you teach me the spell to reshape the bones and give me a book about what organ boosts what element?" Lith asked.

    "Of course that I can." Now that she had no need for the extra mouths, Faluel reverted to her human form, looking at Lith with an impish smile. "The real question is if I should.

    "After passing the trial in Urgamakka, you have graduated from my apprenticeship.. Now you have turned out to be a Divine Beast, you possess the fabled tower of Menadion, and you have received lessons from the God of Forgemastering herself who also recycles all of your materials.

 Chapter 1719 - Void Sigil (Part 1)

    "You are not a dirt poor Wyrmling anymore, whereas I''m a mere Emperor Beast who not only can rely solely on her bloodline legacy, but also was abandoned by a certain ungrateful apprentice without him doing anything nice for me." Faluel said.

    Lith had to admit that she was right.

    Sure, he had gifted the Hands of Menadion to the Hydra and had purified her stockpile of magical metals, but the former had been a gesture of friendship while thetter had been part of his training.

    <i>''Without Faluel giving me plenty of materials to practice my mastery over the purifying ability of the Origin mes and her input whenever I made a mistake, Xenagrosh would have been forced to teach me from the basics.</i>

    <i>''The time we spent together would have not been enough to refine my skills and I would have never learned how to use the Void mes on my own. Both the missions in Jiera and Urgamakka Faluel assigned me were for my sake. I never really did anything for her as an apprentice.''</i> He thought.

    "Fine. This is ckmail bordering on sexual harassment, but I''ll y along. Faluel, would you like to go out with me?" Lith took a red rose out of his dimensional pocket, offering it to the Hydra and doubling down on the teasing.

    "What?" The girls said in unison.

    Solus was too stunned to even think while to Phloria those words felt like a punch in the guts. Yet they hurt way less than what they would have done before that morning.

    "I meant that I want half of the Dragon''s organs and you to do something for me." Faluel had an unamused look, but she took the rose nheless.

    "What about taking you to dinner? I promise that I''ll pay for it. No excuses to share the tab." He kept ying dumb.

    "No. Yes. We''ll see. As I said before, someone has messed up with my turf during my absence. There is so much to do that I even had to call in a few favors, just like now."

    "Really, half? Isn''t half a Dragon a lot of stuff for someone who just told me how the Awakenedmunity doesn''t like exploiting a corpse?" Lith replied.

    "I''ll just take half the organs." Faluel said. "There''s not enough skin and scales for the both of us anyway and I want to keep my reputation. By the way, I suggest you to keep the ribcage to reinforce the breastte and to turn the skull into a helm."

    "Half?" Lith liked the suggestions, yet kept repeating himself like a broken record.

    "Yes, half. You can have Sark recycle your share if you fail something whereas mine is lost forever no matter the oue of my experiments. Be thankful that I don''t ask more." Faluel poked at his nose with the flower.

    "Okay." Lith slumped. "What about the rest? Do I have a deadline or what?"

    "It''s a date, not a job interview. We''ll set the details once I catch up on the backlog. I want to enjoy my night without having to worry about work. As for you,e with a full wallet because I''m going to eat to my heart''s content." Faluel shrugged.

    "I meant the mission." Lith felt a bit awkward at the idea, but he didn''t want to be the one to blink first in that game of chicken.

    "Oh, that." She nodded. "I''m too tired to keep teaching you today so the spell will have to wait for tomorrow. Which gives you two days to put your business in order before you go."

    "It sounds good to me."

    "Friya, you''ll apany Lith. You need to pull your weight as my apprentice and the experience might help you break through to bright blue." Faluel said. "Before you go, I''d really love to have a tour of Menadion''s tower.

    "I''ve heard a lot about it from my mother but I''ve never seen a real mage tower in my whole life."

    "Sure." Solus replied too fast and with a voice too stiff for her liking as she opened a Warp Steps to the Trawn woods.

    <i>''Are you really taking her out on a date?'' She asked via their mind link. ''She''s over ten times your age and she had children.''</i>

    <i>''It''s more like going out with a friend.''</i> Lith couldn''t see it any other way. <i>''We both went through a lot recently and as you always say, I could use spending some time with my friends outside of work.''</i>

    <i>''Yeah, except that I meant me, Nalrond, Protector, or even Morok, not our teacher.''</i> Solus grumbled.

    "Excellent choice." Faluel said after taking a look at the tower''s usual location. "A medium-sized geyser which currently spawns no resources and is in the middle of nowhere. Even I had forgotten about its existence."

    It took Solus a few seconds to materialize the tower and let them in. The Hydra envied and marveled at Menadion''s legacy more with each floor she visited, ending the tour by flipping Lith off for always being so stingy.

    The sun had reached the zenith and it was lunchtime. Elina invited Friya and Phloria to share the meal with the rest of the Verhen family and they dly epted. Quy had gone out with Morok, and without their parents, the Ernas household felt too big for just the two of them.

    Lith told his parents about the events of that morning and Solus proudly showed everyone Threin''s painting before using a hologram to share with them the memory she had recovered.

    "I can do better." Aran was unimpressed by the bold and dramatic brushstrokes that Threin had used to express his emotions while also adding a feeling of movement to the flying petals surroundings the scene.

    To Lith, the painting reminded of a Van Gogh, to Aran, it looked like one of his drawings when he smeared the colors on purpose to cover a mistake.

    "Get your hands off!" Solus scolded the children whose first reaction was to touch the paint with their small fingers covered in gravy sauce.

    Thanks to the stop at the tower, she had regained most of her strength and could enjoy the meal in her human form.

    "Silverwing may be too overprotective, but she could have helped you to regain your memories." Raaz said. "Why didn''t you at least ask her for a way to find her in the case you need help?"

    "Dad, if Aunt Loka wasn''t so fixated on the idea of "rescuing me", I would have invited her here for lunch and introduced her to you." Solus replied. "If I give her an inch, she would misinterpret it for a call for help and make our life impossible."

    "I can''t condone her actions either, yet as a mother, I can understand how she feels." Elina said. "Everyone that Silverwing loved is dead and the world she knew no longer exists. To her, you are thest remnant of a past that she can''t let go of."

    When Lith told them about Faluel''s lesson and how the mutual teasing had ended up in nning for a date, he received mixed reactions.

    "I''m proud of you, son." Raaz patted his back.. "You are finally back in the game and Faluel is a keeper."

 Chapter 1720 - Void Sigil (Part 2)

    "She''s lovely, mature, sophisticated, and has one of the most important noble titles in the Kingdom."

    Solus looked constipated for a long second before managing to smile while Phloria just nodded.

    "She sure seems nice. I only want you to be happy." Elina said while fiddling with the contact amulet in her pocket.

    <i>''Heck no! I want someone a bit younger and that can give my grandchildren a bit more skin and a bit less scales. I can''t wait for lunch to end so that I can call Zinya. There must be something that we can do.''</i> She actually thought.

    "Big bro, can you take us to the Trawn woods?" Aran didn''t share any of his parents'' worries. "Lilia and Leran are back and we''d like to go y in the woods."

    The children were still too scared to move around without the supervision of an adult. Protector had already gone back to work to provide for his family and help Faluel with the mess that they had found upon their return from Fyrwal''s castle.

    "Sure. I just have a couple of errands and then I''m all yours."

    After lunch, as soon as Friya and Phloria walked through the Warp Gate in the barn, Lith summoned Locrias'' shade for the first time since he had discovered his Void Sigil bloodline ability.

    The former captain of the Queen''s Corps emerged from the feather that now hosted his soul, drawing the shadows inside the barn to him. At first, he looked like a small ck star, but the sphere quickly grew into the fully developed body of a five-eyed demon.

    <i>''It seems that by conjuring him alone, Locrias received much more energy than usual.''</i> Lith could see that along with the unusual number of eyes, the Demon of Darkness had clear features that made him look like a living being.

    Only the random flickering of his energy body betrayed the fact that he wasn''t made of flesh and bones.

    "What can I do for you, Lith?" Locrias looked incredibly sad, yet his eyes quickly steeled the moment he recognized where he was. "Are some of the members of the Queen''s corps acting suspiciously or is there someone inside the house you want me to tail?"

    "Neither." Lith shook his head. "It''s just that before Zeska, I never thought that souls could linger around me after so much time from their death. I wanted to ask you to apany me to the ces where Lark and Mirim died.

    "Maybe they are waiting for my call, just like you did. They could tell us something about the copycat and help us to catch him. Yet I can''t go to their houses and conjure the Demons of Darkness without causing amotion and revealing that I''m the Tiamat."

    "I can help you look around for them." Locrias cupped his hands, generating a ck me between them that revealed Lith the presence and the identity of the souls that kept following him.

    Lith flinched as the allegedly empty space of the barn filled with ethereal figures. Some were dressed in ancient clothes, some were half-naked and covered in mud, but they all had their faces twisted by violent emotions as they stared at Lith, waiting.

    "Yet I doubt they are still around." The captain said. "I died before your arrival, but I felt your pull and used it to follow you around. You visited the Lark''s estate soon after the attack and the Distar household just a few dayster.

    "They were much closer to you than I ever was so if they had chosen to stay, I wouldn''t be your first." Locrias neared the ck me to his chest, revealing the presence of a thin chain that connected him to Lith.

    <i>''That''s the same thing that kept Carl by my side until I broke it!''</i> He thought in shock.

    <i>''This means that you can break the bond with your Demons at will and it also poses a question.''</i> Solus pondered. <i>''Why didn''t Carl ever take the form of a Demon, even just to talk to you?''</i>

    <i>''Maybe he did.''</i> Lith suddenly regretted sending his little brother away.<i> ''As a Wyrmling, my Demons were much weaker, barely a three-dimensional shadow with no mouth nor features.</i>

    <i>''Maybe he fought by my side for a long time, protecting me, but we''ll never know because by the time I became a Tiamat, he was long gone because of me.''</i>

    <i>''Seriously? Would you really have liked to force Carl in a state like that of Locrias?''</i> Solus asked.

    <i>''No. Carl had suffered too much both in life and death. I much prefer knowing that he is at peace rather than dragging him around potentially forever. Also, the Odi machine is the only way that I''ve found to break my reincarnation cycle and I don''t want Carl to see me like that.''</i> Lith inwardly sighed. <i>''Thanks, Solus.''</i>

    <i>''You are wee.''</i> She replied with a dazzling telepathic smile.

    <i>''Do you know that it''s really rude of you to keep me waiting while you two flirt?''</i> Locrias chimed in, making them both flinch.<i> ''Yeah, I''m a part of you so of course I can use a mind link as well. Do you mind telling me what you want to do? By the way, who is Carl?''</i>

    Feeling his presence in what usually was a private space irked Lith to no end. He cut Locrias off before replying.

    "You are probably right, but it''s still worth a shot. Even if Lark and Mirim saw nothing, I can still say goodbye before helping them to move on, if that''s what they want. We''ll start from the Lark mansion."

    Lith opened a Steps back to the Trawn woods and Solus used the Tower''s Warp Mirror to instantly reach their destination.

    "I still can''t believe that you are the owner of a mage tower and yet you refused to share it with the Kingdom." Locrias said in awe.

    The building still looked broken, but in his Demon form, he could perceive the power coursing through the in grey stones.

    "Don''t be foolish. If I did, I would have never survived childhood. Petty politics and power-hungry nobles still bother me now that I''m an Archmage. Imagine what would have happened back when I was just a student from a backwater vige." Lith replied.

    "I meant now. The tower grants you amazing abilities that could greatly help the Kingdom now that there are so many threats circling around it like hungry wolves. Your household might even be a new founding pir of the Kingdom." The captain said.

    "Yeah, right. It would also put a target on the back of every member of our family." Solus said with a sneer. "So far, they are safe only because Lith has nothing that the various Households want. His talent can''t be stolen andpared to them, he is poor.

    "If the existence of the tower gets revealed, the nobles would spare no effort to kill Lith and his family to get their hands on it."

    "The Royals would be your sword and shield as they always did. They would move your family to the capitol and-"

    "Make my parents live as prisoners until the day of their death, if not even use them as hostages to keep me on a leash." Lith cut him short.. "Thanks, but no thanks."

 Chapter 1721 - Flames And Embers (Part 1)

    "Also, I''m a living being and I don''t want a bunch of Royal Forgemasters putting their hands on me, tinkering with my mother''s legacy in order to replicate it." Solus said.

    Locrias opened his mouth to reply, but he could see their point. The Royal Court would always be a vipers'' nest and the thought of what the wrong people might do with a tower sent shivers down his spine.

    Lith and Locrias appeared on the site where Lark''s corpse had been arranged like a scarecrow. To forever delete that image, his heirs had built a statue of him, depicting Lark while he painted.

    Jadon had given instructions to the sculptor so that the statue wore Lark''s old monocle, recing the silk string with a metal wire to make sure that he wouldn''t lose it ever again.

    Seeing the serene expression of the statue reminded Lith of his old friend, stinging at his heart.

    <i>''I swear that I''ll find whoever killed you and I''ll make them pay. Locrias?''</i> His arrival had scared the gardeners and alerted the guards, but the moment they recognized Lith they returned to their daily routine.

    The Demon was hidden in the shadow under Lith''s Archmage robe so no one saw him.

    <i>''He is not here.''</i> Locrias shared with Lith his sight, allowing him to see that Hilya, Lark''s former kitchen head, was among the lingering souls.

    Then they moved to Distar, where Brinja was overjoyed seeing him. She asked Lith to give a full check-up to both her and the baby.

    "Did anything strange happen here? Many vaults of the Kingdom have been robbed and with its two academies, the Distar Marquisate is among the most well-armed regions.

    "I would be surprised if whoever is behind the Doppelgangers didn''t send a few of them after you." Lith dly took a cup of tea with her yet discovering that Mirim''s soul had moved on as well left a bittersweet feeling in his mouth.

    "I would be surprised if they did, instead." Brinja shrugged. "Thanks to the White Griffon''s healers the impostors have a hard time around these parts. Manohar has already found a simple way to recognize a Doppelganger."

    She pricked her finger with a needle until a drop of blood came out.

    "No one gets in and out without doing this, not even the delivery guys. Doppelgangers have no organs hence they have no blood either. As for my noble guests, theye from my personal Gate and there is no way to fool the magical imprint.

    "My mother had the tokens she gave to trusted people like you enchanted so that in case of death of their owner, they self-destruct. On top of that, thework of Warp Gates allows the authorities to investigate the moment something strange happens.

    "There is no way to create here the unrest necessary to pull tricks without the Royal Constables noticing. My people are pissed off because of the food rationing, but thanks to our own cultivated fields and the mild climate, my Marquisate is self-sufficient.

    "Even if the famine gets worse, it can''t threaten our livelihood."

    Lith sent Locrias to investigate the house while they conversed, just to be safe. The Captain had no problem moving unnoticed despite the great number of servants because he used them to move around, passing from one shadow to another.

    <i>''The security is excellent and the arrays have been changed since myst visit. Whatever knowledge the copycat had of house Distar is now useless.''</i> Locrias reported Lith, proud of how the Kingdom took care of its own.

    With nothing left to do, Lith went back to the mana geyser before picking up the kids. The tower would be too far away to sustain Soluspletely, but it would still lessen the burden on her body thanks to the flow of world energy fueling the power core.

    "Nice to mee you, Auntie." Leran introduced himself politely as his parents had taught him.

    "Who is this olddy, uncle Lith?" Lilia asked, looking at Solus with suspicion. As many kids did, she considered decrepit anyone but her parents and those she liked.

    "She''s my dear friend, Solus. Solus, these are Leran and Lilia." Lith grinned from ear to ear seeing Solus annoyed from being called old.

    <i>''I know these little runts for years, yet for them, this is the first time we meet. Be patient and make friends with them.</i>'' She thought to herself.

    "Nice to meet you too, Leran." She shook his hand. "I''m not old, Lilia. I''m barely 28 years old, just like your aunt Kam."

    "Aunt Kami is pretty and she looks young." Lilia ignored Solus''s extended hand and grabbed Lith''s. "If she doesn''t marry uncle Lith, I already called dibs so don''t get your hopes up.

    "I''ll grow up as tall as Dad and as pretty as Mom, you have fewer chances than a rabbit in a wolf den."

    "Well said, sweetheart." Selia hugged her daughter,ughing her ass off at Solus''s expense. "Even though this kinddy is not as young and pretty as Mom, she is a good friend of your parents, so be nice to her."

    "I will." Lilia answered with the determination of a soldier faced with a monumental task, making Seliaugh harder.

    "I''m proud of you, baby girl." She ruffled Lilia''s hair before hugging Solus. "Don''t mind, her. You look great and I''m happy to finally meet you in the flesh."

    "Thanks, Selia. I can''t wait to spend some time together."

    "Me too. I always wee an extra pair of hands." Selia pointed at the little Fenrir in her Skoll form who had wed her way up to the roof.

    She proudly wagged her tail while looking down at the small people below.

    Lith brought the kids to his old secret clearing in the Trawn woods, allowing them to y to their heart content away from prying eyes while also practicing their magic

    The Philo river that flowed across the clearing created a natural boundary between the opposing teams and greatly enhanced chore magic''s efficacy. Mud was much easier to manipte than earth and also less dangerous while the river provided plenty of water to manipte.

    Darkness and fire were too dangerous to be used even in a game while air magic was allowed only to push the opponent. Wind des and bolts of lightning were forbidden as well.

    The first part of the game that Aran and Leria had learned in the Desert consisted in building a small number of fortresses. They served both as cover from spells and to hide the rune that the opponent had to find during the second part of the game.

    Since there were not enough kids to y the "game" properly, Lith involved the magical beasts of the woods as foot soldiers. Ry would act based on Aran''s and Leria''s orders while Shyfs worked for Lilia and Leran.

    The first team to find and conquer the enemy fortress holding the rune would be the winner. It represented the enemy''s food stock, their secret military ns, or any resource without which the strength of their army would be crippled.

    The kids had no idea of the real purpose of the exercise but they took it seriously nheless.

 Chapter 1722 - Flames And Embers (Part 2)

    "What the heck did you put up as winner''s reward?" Solus asked while keeping an eye on the small-scale war taking ce in front of her, to make sure that no one got hurt.

    "All the ice cream they can eat." Lith replied.

    "But their mothers never allow them to eat more than one bowl for dessert." She replied. "Did you make a deal with Rena and Selia to motivate the kids?"

    "No, but I didn''t lie either since one bowl is all the ice cream they can eat." He said with a smug grin. "That will be another important life lesson for them. Always read the fine prints."

    "You''re a jerk." Solusughed.

    The battle remained at a stalemate until it came to closebat. At that point, Lilia and Leran shapeshifted into their hybrid forms and overpowered Aran and Leria before they could cast any more spells.

    "That was unfair!" Leria grumbled on their way back home. "If only we had a hybrid form like you, uncle Lith, we would have won."

    "No, it was a fair fight." Lith replied. "Lilia and Leran used everything they got, just like you did. Also, you knew that they could shapeshift and you had the advantage of having already yed this game a lot in the Desert whereas it was the first time for them."

    On their way back to their respective houses, the magical beasts suddenly stopped with fur raised. Protector''s children sniffed the air, emitting a low growl that resonated with their steeds''.

    <i>''This is odd. I''m certain that the Queen''s corps has surrounded us ever since we came out of the woods. If there was any threat, they would have intervened already.''</i> Lith said via the mind link.

    <i>''There are a few people waiting for us ahead.''</i> Solus shared with him the readings of her mana sense.

    <i>''An ambush?''</i> Lith took War out of his pocket dimension and started weaving spells.

    <i>''No, unless you consider sitting in the open an ambush.'' </i>She replied.<i> ''They are all human, with soldier-level life force and the weakest of them has a yellow core. Only one of them has enchanted equipment but it''s nothing that you couldn''t cut down with a single swing of your sword.''</i>

    Behind a small hill, there was a group of five people and as many horses. Four of them looked like knights, wearing armor and standing around the man that was their lord in a square formation.

    The fifth man, instead, was dressed like a noble, wearing hunting leather pants and a jerkin over a fine silk shirt. He sat on afortable padded armchair, yet his expression was tense.

    He couldn''t have more than twenty, about 1.70 meters (5''7") tall, with dark brown hair and eyes.

    "Bar Frenon Hogum." Lith didn''t even need Solus''s help to recognize him. "What are you doing here?"

    "I came to wee you and your lovelypanion back home, Archmage Verhen." Hogum stood up, offering Lith his hand which he shook. "I also wanted you to know that my petition to the Court was nothing personal.

    "As the noble in charge of overseeing the development of Lutia, it was my duty to listen to the citizen''sints and act in ordance with thew. I have nothing against your father and I have the utmost respect for your achievements.

    "I came to visit you to clear any misunderstanding that a cold reading of the events might have aroused and to make sure there is no grudge between us."

    Frenon Hogum had changed a lot from thest time they had met. After being bitterly humiliated by a child younger than he was in front of the nobility of the Lustria County and even Marchioness Distar, Frenon had turned his life upside down.

    He had stopped indulging infort food, dedicating his life to the study of magic with the hope to get admitted into one of the six Great Academies to clear his name.

    Once he failed and had to resort to paying his title as a mage from one of the lesser academies, Hogum had used his skills to develop his fief, bing a ruthless politician.

    Everything he had just said to Lith was the truth.

    Hogum didn''t linger on the past anymore and had no reason to make a powerful opponent out of an Archmage. The Bar had simply tried to exploit the famine to increase his status and influence by bing the biggestndowner of the Distar marquisate.

    Now that his n had failed, however, his only option was to limit the damage.

    "I have no grudge against you, Bar." Lith said, making Hogum inwardly sigh in relief.

    "Yet I can''t help but notice that you have chosen a precise time and ce for this meeting. I have returned to Lutia for a few days, yet instead of sending me an invitation, you waited for a moment when I would be surrounded by the Queen''s corps and in thepany of my little brother.

    "If I were a betting man, I''d say that you feel guilty for your actions or are at least scared of their consequences."

    Hogum tensed up. There was no animosity in Lith''s voice but everything he said sounded like a threat. To make matters worse, he had seen through Frenon''s setup and was politely calling him a coward.

    "You misunderstand me. I know that you are a busy man and that you would hardly have the time to visit me just to discuss such trivial matters. I came here today only because I knew that I wouldn''t disturb either your work or family." The Bar said.

    "Which means that somehow you knew my schedule." Lith nodded in gratitude. "Someone is keeping an eye on me for you and since no spy could get past the Queen''s corps or my magical beasts it must be one of the farmhands."

    Hogum wanted to deny everything, but the more he talked the more Lith unraveled his n so the Bar remained silent.

    "To thank you for the precious information you have provided me today, Bar, allow me to give you a piece of advice. Be careful when ying with embers because it takes just one spark to burn down an entire household."

    Lith friendly patted his back while moving past the Bar, without using any more strength than a regr human. Yet Frenon froze in terror feeling the searing heat that Lith''s hand emitted.

    "I understand." The Bar said, but the group never stopped moving nor turned around.

    <i>''I treated Verhen like a fool and he made a fool of me, again.''</i> He actually thought. <i>''Yet despite his threats, I still have nothing to fear. Pn''s report will taint his reputation just like his Tiamat friend hogging the Dragon''s corpse.</i>

    <i>''With the support of the Pn household and of what is left of Deirus'' faction, Verhen''s political influence is negligible. If I don''t give any of his allies an excuse to get rid of me, I''ll be safe.''</i>

    "Thank you very much. My evening will be quiet today." Selia said when Lith brought her kids back.

    They were dirty and smelly, but also so tired that they didn''t protest even when they discovered Lith''s treachery.

    "But Mom, don''t we deserve a prize for our victory?" Leran said with literal big puppy eyes.

    "You deserve a prize alright. Here is one bar of soap each.." s, it was an old family trick they had abused until Selia had be immune to it.

 Chapter 1723 - Second Life (Part 1)

    Lith informed Jadon and Brinja of Hogum''s visit and Raaz about the presence of one or more informants among his farmhands.

    "The Hogum household is easy to crush for someone of your status. Do you want me to order their execution?" If the Bar could hear Brinja, he would have regretted his arrogance.

    "Without a usible reason, I would get rid of one enemy just to make ten more." Lith shook his head. "The rest of the nobles of Lustria would consider me a madman and themoners would resent me even more than they already do.

    "On top of that, the Association doesn''t like me at all and I''ve just fixed my shaky standing in the Royal Court. What I''m asking you to do is to dig up all the dirt you can about the Hogum household and see if there''s a way to take them down after destroying their reputation.

    "I want to send the message that whoever tries to take anything from me must be ready to lose everything they have and I want it delivered in the most painful way."

    "I agree with you." Brinja nodded. "I''ll inform Jadon and together we''ll give Bar Hogum a taste of his own medicine."

    The following day, Lith met Protector, Nalrond, and Friya for the lesson about boneshifting.

    "Ryman, it''s so good to see you again!" Solus said, hugging her friend.

    The Skoll was in his human form, 2.1 meters (7'') tall, with long ming-red hair held in a tress. He wore a white linen shirt over brown leather pants and ck boots. His shirt was so big that it could be used as a tablecloth and Lith suspected that he was wearing a whole cowhide.

    Ryman''s face was rough and savage, with a square jaw and a cleft chin covered by a well-trimmed beard. Despite his huge size and bulging muscles, Protector''s emerald eyes were calm and his smile warm.

    "I''m d to see you too, Solus. You are a really pretty and heavy shortdy." Ryman said after his back popped in the attempt to lift her from the ground to take a better look at her.

    "Thanks and rude! Never ask a tower about her weight." She chuckled.

    "Wow." Nalrond said while looking at her petite but shapely body. "Are you free for dinner?"

    "No, but thanks for the offer." Solus blushed a little while shaking his hand.

    "Just my luck." He groaned. "Don''t let Morok see you or he''ll never let us hear the end of his theory about Lith''s harem."

    "What are you guys doing here and what does Morok have to do with us?" Lith asked.

    On the one hand, he had hoped that Solus would have epted to go on a date with the Rezar. It would have helped her to develop her personality and have life experiences of her own.

    On the other hand, he had noticed that peopleplimenting Solus for her looks annoyed him and her refusal had actually made him feel relieved.

    "Unlike you, we don''t y Dragons, we have no mines of our own, and getting close to the Kingdom would be a one-way ticket to trouble." Nalrond said. "Bones are the best materials we can hope for."

    "Indeed." Protector nodded. "Master Faluel has given me decent equipment for an apprentice, but if I were to face a truly powerful opponent it wouldn''t be enough. We both came here to study Faluel''s method.

    "I''m a Forgemaster so I''ll be able to do it on my own while Nalrond is here to observe and learn how not to be scammed."

    "Scammed?" Lith asked. "If you ever find the materials, you can ask Faluel, me, or even Protector to craft your equipment for you at production cost."

    "Thank you for the offer, but I''m not going to stay in Lutia for long. This ce has nothing more to offer me and it''s time I get a move on with my life. Using Warp Gates requires money and an ID that I don''t have." Nalrond said.

    "I can''te back here every time I need something so I''d better learn to recognize a proper Forgemaster from a poser.

    "As for Morok, he''lle with us tomorrow." Protector said.

    "Who exactly is us?" Lith asked.

    "You, me, Solus, Friya, and Nalrond." Protector replied. "This is Faluel''s territory and we are her apprentices. It''s our duty to help her. Ajatar is sending his apprentice as well because this case seems to be linked to the one that took ce on his turf a few months ago."

    "Do you mean the unproductive mana geyser filled with reverted monsters?" Lith said.

    "Exactly." Faluel nodded. "But this time those fuckers didn''t pick an unproductive mana geyser but one of my favorite crystal mines! I need you to go there, retrieve every single mana gemstone, and find whoever I need to ughter for it."

    "Then why haven''t you attacked them already by yourself?" Solus asked.

    "Because the nt and the Undead regional Lord of the Distar region have exploited my absence to plunder my mines as well so I''m already busy kicking their asses and seeking reparation!"

    The righteous outrage of a Dragon whose treasure has been touched deformed Faluel''s lovely visage, covering her skin with scales and turning her teeth into venomous fangs.

    "If the Council discovers that even filthy monsters can get their hands on resources exclusive to Awakened, they might revoke my status as a regional Lord. I need you to conduct a stealth mission and leave no witnesses. Am I clear?"

    "No witness would be my legal middle name if not for the fact that it would forever ruin my reputation." Lith nodded.

    "Great, not now let''s move on to the lesson." Faluel said. "The spell necessary for boneshifting is one of the few techniques that still give us Awakened an edge over Royal Forgemasters.

    "It''s simr to the Infusion spell that I taught you yesterday but there is one crucial difference.

    "Infusion requires to temporarily restore the life force of your material in order to coat its mana pathways with enchanted metal whereas Second Life''s purpose is to enhance the life force enough to use Body Sculpting on a corpse.

    "It''s a technique where Forgemastery and Healing magic ovep. With a bit of practice, you could do it yourself, Nalrond."

    Since it was just a demonstration, the Hydra used for her spell the bones of a cow that she had had earlier as a morning snack. Faluel conjured once again the two concentric Forgemastering circles with a seven-pointed star within.

    This time, however, there were no runes inside the circles, just elemental energy. Water, air, earth, fire, darkness, and light formed a stream that seeped inside the bones, recing respectively the missing bloodstream, oxygen flow, flesh, heat, and metabolic activity.

    Spirit Magic camest, giving the pile of bones the spark that it needed to imitate life. The emerald Spirit Magic moved along the elemental stream until the remains turned green.

    "Now ites the most delicate part." Faluel exined. "You might think that since we are working on a lifeless corpse you can use Body Sculpting more easily, but it''s the opposite.

    "The artificial life force that I have infused has the purpose to allow me to check on the mana flow of my material and to make sure that while I change its shape, I don''t also shut down the mana channels."

 Chapter 1724 - Second Life (Part 2)

    "Once closed, the mana channels cannot be opened again because your spell can''t pass through the bones anymore, leaving their shape and properties fixed. An ipetent Forgemaster will ruin your bones, giving you equipment that has lost most of its mana conductivity, bing barely better than silver.

    "A scammer will give you bones with the perfect shape but no mana flow that have no Forgemastering value."

    The Hydra focused on Second Life, moving her hands like an orchestra director, to better exert surgical precision in controlling the elemental flow through the bones.

    After a few seconds, most of the skeleton had turned white again while the emerald energy was now condensed in the mana channels, making them perfectly visible to the naked eye.

    "This is what you can expect when you do Second Life right." Faluel moved her fingers as if she was kneading something and the bones fused together, turning from a pile of bones into a single ivory-colored piece.

    Yet the emerald flow through the mana channels didn''t change in either number or intensity.

    "This is when you are doing it wrong." The bones changed into a two-handed broadsword and three of the mana channels lost half of their radiance. "Here you can still salvage the situation, but if you screw up Second life any further¡­"

    All the mana channels disappeared at once and the emerald energy now flowed solely along the surface of the de.

    "That''s an irredeemable failure that would turn even the bones of a bright violet cored Awakened into a tool worthy of a caveman at best. Now it''s your turn to give it a try."

    Faluel pointed at the massive te where the remains of her breakfasty.

    "Can I work with Lith as a team?" Solus asked.

    "No. Be your own person. Especially now that you have gotten your body back." Faluel shook her head. "I''m training Solus, not Lith''s essory."

    "Yes, Professor." Solus sighed as her flesh disappeared, reced by a humanoid stone doll barely 1.3 meters (4''3") tall.

    The sunlight that Faluel''s arrays allowed to enter herir had suddenly lost its warmth while the world around Solus seemed to have be painfully distant. Her sense of touch was dulled as if she wore surgical gloves while every noise reverberating through her stone skin sounded like an echo.

    "I''m sorry, Solus, but I''m doing this for your own good." Faluel said.

    "I''d better get to work. The sooner I understand Second Life, the sooner I can use my body again." The silver lining was that thanks to thetest model of the Sage Staff, Solus could keep her stone doll form indefinitely.

    The flow of energy that the artifact provided her surpassed the consumption caused by being away from Lith, giving her the best next thing to Invigoration.

    "Professor, there''s something I don''t understand." Lith said. "You said that we need thisplex spell because Necromancy would destroy the mana channels, making them useless.

    "Then how can undead use magic? What''s the difference between these bones and Nyka?"

    "It is true that Necromancy creates life, but it happens in two steps." Faluel replied. "First darkness magic destroys everything and then thebination of light and darkness gives birth to an undead.

    "We are not going to reanimate these bones so only step one takes ce. It''s the same reason why turning a living into an undead takes time. The process destroys the mana channels the thralls used as living beings and creates new ones.

    "That''s why even though they are not Awakened and their bodies are filled with impurities the thralls and the undead can use true magic, something that normal humans can''t."

    "What about Quy?" Friya asked with worry.

    "She''s a different case. Your sister isn''t creating new channels to make up for a faulty core, she is slowly increasing her mana flow. Fake mages'' mana is static, true mages like Emperor Beasts have a vigorous flow, and Awakened have full control over their mana core." The Hydra said.

    "If Quy seeds, she will be like Nalrond. Yet if pushes it too far and the mana flow triggers her core, she''ll Awaken and die."

    "Are you telling me that the maniption of the mana flow can trigger Awakening?" Nalrond asked.

    "The basics of Awakening is to draw inside your body a huge amount of world energy, creating a flow so powerful that it affects your core as well, so yes." Faluel nodded.

    "In this case, I''d like to try the Second Life spell with the others." Nalrond said. "The array is pretty simple and I''m a Healer first. Good case scenario, by mastering this technique I can save a lot of money while dealing with Forgemasters.

    "Best case scenario, I can trigger my Awakening and fuse my two cores, just like Lith fused his life forces."

    "It doesn''t work that way." Faluel sighed, shaking her head. "Otherwise hybrids wouldn''t be forced to choose between their life forces if Awakened early."

    "It''s still worth a try." Nalrond took the remains of a cow and took out his enhanced Forgemastery wand that the Hydra had made to allow non-Awakened mages to use Spirit Magic.

    ''I better keep an eye on him.'' She thought. ''The meditation technique he showed me is simr to a breathing technique, just very inefficient. That and his study of Spirit Magic during the past two years might actually Awaken him.''

    The group began working on their respective bones, each of them focusing on a different problem.

    Friya had little practice with arrays. Even in its simplified version, the Forgemastering circles with seven elemental flows were hard to handle.

    Protector was still more a warrior than a healer so his mana perception was stillcking and he had a tough time feeling the presence of the mana channels.

    Solus'' deep blue corecked power, forcing her to split her focus between keeping the spell active, controlling the mana channels, and keeping her output to the maximum. One moment of distraction and she would fail.

    <i>''It''s no wonder that the Headmasters of the academies have to be Forgemasters and that most men of the Queen''s Corps are Forgemasters as well.''</i> Lith thought while hepressed and reshaped the pile of bones into a replica of War.

    ''Forgemastery is a discipline that requires the mana capacity of War Mages, the finesse of Healers, the mana perception of dimensional magic, and a mastery over the arrays like a Warden.

    <i>''That must be the reason so many Awakened dedicate their life to it, like Faluel and Menadion, while others choose to ignore it entirely. To truly master Forgemastery one must be an all-rounder whereas by avoiding its practice an Awakened has plenty of time to focus solely on a particr branch of magic.''</i>

    Lithpleted his task quickly and efficiently, obtaining a bone sword with the same density of iron.

    Nalrond was no Awakened, but between his two blue cores and his mastery over both light magic and arrays, Second Life was pretty simple to use.

    <i>''I''ve always felt the mana flowing through my body and now that I can use Spirit Magic, I can roughly understand the position of both my cores..''</i> The Rezar could visualize the path of the pure mana that came out of his wand.

 Chapter 1725 - Conflicting Natures (Part 1)

    Nalrond observed his mana moving from somewhere near his sr plexus and then through his body until it reached the hand wielding the Forgemastering wand. He focused on the flow, following it until its point of origin.

    ''I did it! I found my cores. Now I only have to stimte them as I do with my mana and my life as a monster will be over! Anything is better than being stuck between two worlds yet belonging to neither.'' He thought while trying to Awaken.

    Nalrond carefully stirred the two cores at the same time and with the same intensity, starting with small rhythmical beats no stronger than the heart of a newborn. His mana flow increased dramatically as the color of his cores became brighter.

    Waves of world energy flooded his body, giving him an exhrating feeling of power like he had never felt before. Then, it turned into pain. His human body was incapable of handling the two Awakened cores and to make matters worse, their flows were discordant.

    Each tried to push the impurities against the other, tearing Nalrond apart from the inside. Blood started to seep out of all of his orifices instead of impurities as the agony became so intense that not even darkness fusion could keep it at bay.

    He switched instinctively to his still healthy Rezar body, yet in the space of a few seconds, it turned into a bloody mess as well.

    "Damn idiot!" Faluel tuned into her Hydra form,bining mind and body casting to wave several spells at once.

    A healing array enveloped Nalrond who kept shapeshifting between his two bodies, stopping the bleeding. At the same time, several tendrils of Spirit Magic reached his cores and poisoned them.

    They went from bright to just blue, but she didn''t stop until they became deep blue with shades of cyan. Lastly, she used Lifestream to put all of Nalrond''s impurities back into their ce, stopping the deadly tug of war between his cores.

    "You are lucky that your body is fighting the Awakening process instead of enabling it, otherwise nothing would have saved you." Faluel used the Hands of Menadion to remove every bit of world energy from around the Rezar, isting him.

    His breathing technique was now useless and the only energy he could use to heal came from his own cores. Thebined effect of the mana poisoning, the impurities, and of the Hands brought the cores to a stop, making them dormant again.

    "Congrattion. You mastered Second Life and you almost killed yourself. What the fuck were you thinking?" None of those present had ever seen an angry Hydra and they found it terrifying.

    Each stomp of Faluel''s feet made the ground quake, her heads shone like seven suns each of a different color and her necks whipped the air with the fury of a storm. Her bared fangs dripped a venomous acid that burned both rock and magic and the seven mouths yelled in outrage.

    "Did you really believe that none of the werepeople ever managed to Awaken? That you are the first to have ever had an Awakened teacher? Guess what? You are wrong! They simply died.

    "It''s not that you cannot fuse your bodies until you Awaken, quite the contrary. You can''t Awaken until you fix your situation, you idiot!" Faluel''s blue head came so close and quickly that Friya thought she was about to eat the Rezar.

    "I''m sorry." Was all he managed to say before fainting.

    The pain from his injuries and his poisoned cores was too much even for an Emperor Beast.

    "I guess he''s out of the mission." Lith checked Nalrond''s pulse and vitality, discovering that Faluel had already replenished it.

    "No, he is not." Faluel went back to human. "Nalrond needs to pull his head out of his ass. If he stays home, he''ll drown in self-pity and things will just get worse. I trust you two to keep an eye on him."

    She pointed at Protector and Friya.

    "Why us?" She asked.

    "Because you are a beast who found his ce among humans while you are a human who befriended a hybrid." Faluel replied. "Didn''t you notice how Nalrond never turns into a Rezar unless he has to fight and how he refers to his condition as a problem?"

    "She got a point." Protector nodded. "Nalrond rejects his beast half to the point that until recently he considered it the source of all the rage and bloodlust he feels. If he doesn''t ept himself first, no matter where he goes, he''ll never belong."

    An awkward silence fell into the room. No one else had actually cared enough to notice.

    "Some friends you are." Faluel said with a scoff while examining the bone weapons. "Solus, your work is excellent but it could have been better if you had more magical power. The next time, either renounce keeping your stone form or conjure the Hands.

    "Protector, your mana perception needs work. I suggest you to work in Lutia for a while as a healer. Friya, your ignorance about arrays is limiting your potential. Once you get back, I''m going to make you practice Forgemastering circles until they be second nature to you.

    "Now go back home and rest. I want you in perfect shape for tomorrow."

    "Great! More work is just what I needed. Selia is going to kill me." Protector grumbled on his way back, carrying the unconscious Rezar on his shoulder.

    "Are you kidding me? Being a healer is a well-paid job with fixed hours and no risks involved. She''ll love it." Lith replied.

    "I''ll trust your word. My only problem is if the people of Lutia will trust me enough to let me treat them. They are a wary bunch, especially the new arrivals."

    "Don''t worry, humans are hypocritical creatures. As long as they fear their illness more than they fear you, they would let you treat them even if you kept your Skoll form.

    "On top of that, if anyone asks you for references, send them to me and I''ll kick their asses." Lith replied.

    "You mean that you''ll vouch for me, right?" Ryman furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "Same thing."

    "Lith, how did you deal with your condition as a hybrid?" Friya asked.

    "It was really hard, especially back at the academy." He replied with a sigh. "I considered myself a monster as well and I was always afraid that my family or you guys would chase me away if you discovered the truth about me."

    "Yet I already had Solus, and she always epted me for who I am. Things got much better after I revealed my nature to Phloria and she didn''t care either. Yet the moment I really made peace with it, was after sharing my secret with Kam."

    "Yeah, I heard about that." Friya nodded.

    "What do you mean?" Lith said with a puzzled look.

    "I''ve always been curious. How does the Princess and the Demon Lord exactly w-"

    "Where the heck did you hear about that?" Lith cut her short, turning beet red from embarrassment at the mention of one of the role ys he had invented with his ex.

    "Women do a peculiar thing called "talking" and it''s not like Kam had anything to be ashamed of.." Friya replied.

 Chapter 1726 - Conflicting Natures (Part 2)

    "One day, Kam and Selia told me and my sisters about the benefits of having a shapeshiftingpanion but they always refused to share the details. Does either of you care to exin?" Friya asked.

    "That''s none of your business." Lith and Protector said in unison.

    The group remained silent for the rest of the walk.

    "Take it." Lith handed Friya the railgun along with a new cartridge and power unit before opening the Gate for her.

    "Is this some kind of bribe? If that''s the case, there''s no need. I won''t ask you again about the Princ-"

    "No, it isn''t. The weapon still has your imprint and it could be useful to you tomorrow." Lith turned to a shade of purple, making Solus grow more and more curious about the nature of the game.

    "Thank you. Any idea about a decent name? Because Fixed Tracks Metal Barrel sucks." Friya stored everything in her dimensional amulet.

    "Knock yourself out." He shrugged.

    "I''ll tentatively go with Thundercrash." She said while walking through the dimensional door.

    The following day, Nalrond was still feeling down and he left the house before Protector woke up. When Lith reached Faluel''sir he found the Rezar waiting for the others along with Morok and Ajatar the Drake.

    "Eye brother!" The Tyrant hugged Lith like they were good friends instead of mere colleagues. "You never call, you never visit. Sometimes I have the impression you are avoiding me."

    "First, I''m not your brother." Lith pushed Morok away. "Second, I''m not avoiding you, I just don''t care about you. We worked together only for one mission and I''m still having nightmares about it."

    "Come on. Don''t tell me that a dark, tall, and scaly Tiamat is scared by the puny Odi?" Morok said.

    "It''s not the Odi who haunt my dreams." Lith replied with a sneer.

    "That''s rude! You and I have a lot inmon¡­"

    "Here, take this. I can''t let you go on the field stark naked." While Morok still talked, Lith ignored him and gave Nalrond a prototype of his armor and Sunder, the metal gloves that once belonged to Syrook.

    "This weapon works like an extension of your ws and it should suit yourbat style the best."

    "Are you really giving them to me?" Nalrond was deeply moved by his generosity, to the point that he almost forgot about the utter failure of the previous day.

    "And lose the biggest piece of Adamant I''ve ever found? No way! I''m just lending them to you." Lith said with an outraged voice as if the Rezar had tried to im his firstborn.

    "I have to get back to the Desert to remove Friya''s imprint from Thundercrash anyway and Grandma can recycle my stuff in bulk so there''s no harm in increasing your survival chances."

    "Is Sark really as hot as the rumors say? Did you have some "bonding" time with her now that you are single? I always heard crazy things about Phoenixes'' mating rituals and I''d give an arm to try it once." Morok asked.

    "Respectively yes, eww, and good for you." Lith replied. "Also, I have just forwarded this conversation to Quy. Have fun with that."

    "Not cool, bro!" The Tyrannical Eye turned pale as hismunication amulet started to blink.

    "Yours is an odd apprentice." Even though Faluel preferred her human appearance when dealing with smaller creatures in order to put them at ease, that day she was in her original 20 meters (66 feet) tall form.

    "That''s riching from you. Aside from the Skoll, yours are one weirder than the next." Ajatar rarely shapeshifted and the Hydra didn''t like even to look weaker than her colleague.

    The Drake was an over 8 meters (27 feet) tall and 20 meters (66 feet) long lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales, with a huge white horning out of his snout. His tail was almost 11 meters (36 feet) long, ending with thick bone spikes.

    Ajatar would use it either as a weapon or to bnce his body whenever he needed to stand on his hind legs.

    "You are just jealous because I have a Divine Beast for apprentice and a human willing to be my Harbinger." One of the seven heads said while all of them stood straight, puffing their chest out with pride.

    "You are damn right I am." Ajatar grumbled, looking at his disciple making excuses and bowing in apology to the small woman on the other side of the amulet.

    To make matters worse, all lesser Dragons were prideful creatures, and the news that Faluel would be the first of their kind ever to have a Harbinger, and one with six colored streaks at that, made them green envy.

    When Friya and Protector arrived, the lesser Dragons were still bickering and Morok was still apologizing.

    "Where are we going?" Friya whistled in approval at Nalrond''s new shiny set of equipment that changed its size and shape to suit both the human and the Rezar form.

    "In one of the woods near Distar." Faluel said. "The mine is located on top of one of the biggest mana geysers of the region. Humans have never found it because the woods are beast territory and whoever gets too close bes my snack.

    "I want to keep things that way so use mostly bloodline abilities and spells up to tier three. If you use anything more powerful while above the ground, the spells might reveal the position of the mine while if you do it below the ground, the mine might copse.

    "Raw crystals are highly vtile and if one explodes, it triggers a chain reaction that it''s impossible to stop. Be careful."

    The Hydra gave them the passwords for all of her arrays surrounding the mine and they were so many that even with Solus''s help Lith needed to take notes.

    "Quick question. How does someone get past this level of security without you noticing?" Protector asked.

    "I wish I knew, that''s why I''m sending you." Faluel sighed. "It might be thanks to an artifact, Spirit Magic, or maybe the bastard is really good with arrays."

    The Hydra stared at Lith, Friya, and Morok long enough to make them understand that she also suspected the presence of an enemy capable of using Domination.

    "While you are there I''ll be dealing with Dh, the nt regional lord, while Ajatar will take care of Issah, the undead lord. Our amulets will always be avable in case you need help.

    "Don''t mistake pride for courage or wisdom for cowardice. If the enemy is stronger or simply better organized than you, retreat. The Council can always assign me a new mine." Faluel said before opening a Warping Array.

    The dimensional corridor closed the moment the group walked through it.

    "This is unbelievable!" Lith pointed at their destination, a beautiful pond fed by an underground spring from which originated the Philo river.

    Yet he didn''t care about the colorful flocks of small birds drinking from theke nor about the luscious vegetation surrounding it. The capital of the Distar region was visible on the horizon and Lith could hear the noise from the passage of carriages in the distance.

    "How the heck did no one notice this ce?"

    "The humans know it well, yet the mine has never been discovered because it''s very deep and the entrance is hidden.." Protector pointed at the pond.

 Chapter 1727 - Deep Trouble (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1727 - Deep Trouble (Part 1)</h4>

    "Hold your breath and follow me." Protector dived in theke, swimming toward the bottom of theke where the underground spring was.

    Then, he used the first password to stop the water flow and go through the long tunnel the river came from without having to fight the current. It was a simple but effective measure against fake mages.

    The arrays were too deep to be detected and once in the water, fake mages would be incapable of using magic.

    Once inside, the second password opened a secret passage in the rock that led to a dry space where water couldn''t enter due to an array. The others followed him closely, drying their hair and clothes as soon as he told them they wouldn''t swim anymore.

    ''We''ll cover the rest on foot.'' Protector said via a mind link. ''No talking and no lights.''

    ''Man, I wish I could have followed Master Ajatar instead ofing with you guys. Fights between Regional Lords are awesome.'' Morok said as everybody''s eyes lit with Fire Vision.

    The spell granted them an improved version of thermal goggles, allowing them to see in the dark in a scale of colors ording to the temperature of their surroundings. Usually Awakened preferred to use Life Vision, but while in a mana geyser using it would have been akin to staring into the sun.

    ''Isn''t it just a debate that the Council oversees?'' Friya asked.

    ''No, it''s a no-holds-barred battle where the Council is both the arbiter and the bookmaker. I made more money with the bets than in my entire career as a Ranger.'' He replied. ''Remember always to put your money on the big guy. Size matters.''

    ''So you always bet on Ajatar?'' Protector asked.

    ''Only if he''s the big guy.'' Morok said. ''I love that Drake more than my own father, but money is money.''

    At those words, everyone stared at Lith who for once agreed with the Tyrannical Eye. They indeed had something inmon.

    Protector cast a flight spell and signaled the others to do the same. Even though they moved at a quick pace, the descent took them more than an hour.

    Lith could see with Fire Vision that the cave was artificial. The surface of the walls, floor, and ceiling was too smooth to be natural and too cold to be surrounded by nothing but water.

    ''The entire underground area is flooded and this is the only known passage created by the Council to reach the mine.'' Protector said. ''In theory, it should be impossible to reach the mine for those who don''t know about its existence.''

    He pointed at the earth blocking array fueled by the geyser that made the passage impervious even to those that like Nalrond were capable of moving through stone as if it was water.

    ''Thebined effect of the arrays and the mine creates a perfect protection.'' Lith thought. ''The arrays seal the ess to the only ess way while the mana crystals make it impossible to use even Spirit Dimensional Magic.

    ''Even if someone knew the dimensional coordinates of the mine, it would blow in their face.

    ''Entering this passage with Spirit Dimensional Magic is feasible, but without taking the correct route and inputting the passwords in the proper order, the defensive array system would make mincemeat of even someone as big as I am.''

    The magical formations in the stone tunnel were linked to each other so that triggering one would not only alert Faluel, but also cause a chain reaction that would activate them all at once.

    ''Yeah, even with everything we know, the tower, and your bloodline abilities, not even I can think of a way of getting in here.'' Solus replied. ''By the way, have you considered telling Morok about my existence?

    ''Because, otherwise, as long as he is with us, I can''t show myself.''

    ''Depends. Do you trust him?'' Lith replied.

    ''He seems a good guy, but I don''t know him enough to be sure of it.''

    ''Neither do I.'' The corridor ended and so did the discussion.

    Protector brought his forefinger to the end of his muzzle, signaling everyone to make silence.

    He Hushed the wall in front of them before using thest password. The stone became mud that rolled to the sides like dough, opening the passage to the mine and reactivating the protections of the tunnel.

    ''Until this moment our steps didn''t produce any sound or vibration due to the arrays but past this point there are none. Cancel your smell, smother your heat signature, and float above the ground.'' He said via the mind link.

    The others followed his instructions before resuming their advance at a walking pace.

    Lith could see with Life Vision that the flow of world energy around them was even stronger than the one that Sark had given him for the tower in the Desert and that its intensity kept growing as they moved through the lower levels.

    Once he switched back to Fire Vision, it took him a few seconds for his sight to return.

    ''Why did you do that? You know that looking at a geyser from the inside blinds you. You had no chance of spotting the intruders.'' Solus asked while guiding his movements.

    ''Faluel said that this is one of her best mines. I wanted to know if there''s a difference between the mines of the Council and those of the Kingdom. Also, this way I know what a really powerful geyser looks like.'' Lith replied.

    ''What are your conclusion?''

    ''This ce makes the Feymar mines and those that led to Kh look like a candlelight.'' Lith said.

    The tunnel they walked into had a rough and uneven surface, showing clear signs of having been opened without the help of magic. Arcs of stone or wood were ced at every intersection and in the proximity of exhausted mining areas.

    The moment Protector spotted the first crystal on the wall, he signaled the group to stop.

    ''Go back to regr sight and let''s give our eyes the time to adapt.'' Mana crystals emitted a cold light that Fire Vision wouldn''t detect and that would expose the presence of the investigation team despite all of their precautions.

    A violet light came from the tunnel in front of them, bright enough to see but still leaving enough shadows where to hide. Ryman moved like a ghost, avoiding the illuminated areas and moving his head so to keep the crystal''s light from reflecting in his eyes.

    The deeper they went, the more abundant the violet crystals and the brighter their light became. A faint echo in the distance alerted the group that they were close to their destination.

    They slowed their advance, giving Friya the time to use her Scope spell to peek around every corner before moving to a new area. Short range dimensional magic like Blink was safe to use and Scope was barely tier one.

    The weak mana flow Scope required allowed the spell to create a small dimensional fissure that extended forward for hundreds of meters at a time without disrupting the unstable crystal fields.

    Friya used Scope to scout the path ahead and to explore the branching corridors until they reached a dead end without the need to move.

 Chapter 1728 - Deep Trouble (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1728 - Deep Trouble (Part 2)</h4>

    She kept each fissure open for barely a second before moving the exit point forward to another dimly lit area. The distortion in space didn''tst long enough to be noticed and it was so small that it blended with the shadows.

    ''You are almost as amazing as Quy.'' Morok said in amazement as Friya drew a map of the mines with water magic without ever taking her eyes off Scope. ''You are saving us hours of crawling between corridors and pointless scouting.''

    Nalrond tried to look into the dimensional fissure by standing behind her shoulders, but the swift changes in perspective made him nauseous after a few seconds.

    ''Anyone can use Scope, but only a dimensional mage can identify a set of spatial coordinates so quickly without- Sweet mother of all gods!'' Her banter was cut short by a scene that looked out of a fairy tale.

    The bright violet light had been suddenly reced by a bright white light so intense that not only did it illuminate the area as bright as day, but it also left Scope no way to move forward.

    No matter how small, the dimensional rift would have looked like a small ck hole amid all that light. Friya changed the height and the angle of the fissure to make sure that no enemy was around.

    The tunnel she had found was filled with pure white crystals the size of a football protruding from the walls. Each one of them had a metal ring of unknown design at its base.

    From further down the corridor came the noise typical of mining and chatting, but the echoes and the distance made it impossible to hear them clearly.

    ''I think we found our enemy.'' Morok said while pointing at the devices around the crystals. ''Whoever this guy is, they use goblins and Balors for their dirty work. Don''t underestimate them just because they are monsters.

    ''Among them, there are a few that by wearing those rings around their necks can revert to their unfallen status and use true magic along with their old bloodline abilities.''

    Nalrond looked at the new version of the Harmonizers with greed, wishing he could take one off the crystals and wear it.

    ''I don''t care what Faluel wants, this time I must make sure to take one of those things for myself. I''m just like the monsters. I can''t Awaken without dying. Yet if the Harmonizers work on me as well, my problem will be finally solved!'' He thought.

    The group followed Friya''s map, reaching the area of the white crystal quickly. From that point, they had to move slowly and always keep in mind the coordinates of a safe location where to Blink in the case they needed to retreat.

    They would have loved to move straight toward the source of the noise, but without exploring the rest of the corridors, they would have risked being taken by surprise from enemiesing in their direction.

    ''I can feel a lot of people ahead of us.'' Nalrond ced his hand on the ground, listening to the vibrations running through the rock to have a rough idea of the number and position of the miners.

    ''What about the rest of the area?'' Protector asked.

    ''Either the corridors are empty or the people in there are awfully quiet.''

    ''My nose is of no help either.'' Protector said. ''The stale air makes it impossible for me to distinguish between old and new smells. To make matters worse, I don''t recognize the scent of the creatures in here.

    ''Whatever they are, they aren''t goblins or Balors.''

    ''Great! We are surrounded by an unknown number of unknown enemies.'' Friya inwardly sighed. ''Moving together is too risky. I''ll go check the other corridors alone. I just need a few dark areas to use Scope and be done in a few minutes.

    ''You guys make sure to watch my back. If anyonees my way, I need to know as soon as possible.''

    She crouched on the ground before peeking behind the corner from a height that was supposed to be out of the line of sight of a humanoid-sized creature. Once Friya made sure that the coast was clear, she Blinked to the side of the nearest corridor and activated Scope.

    ''I could watch that back for hours.'' Nalrond stared at the hunter pants that stuck to her like a second skin while Friya was in a crouched position.

    Luckily for him, that kind of mind link required will for the thought to be transmitted so Friya didn''t hear him. Unluckily for him, the others weren''t blind and it didn''t take them long to notice that the Rezar looked in the wrong direction.

    Lith created a hologram that said "She asked us to watch her back, not her ass!", Morok took a long, appreciative look at Friya before giving Nalrond a thumbs-up, and Protector mouthed at him to ask her out instead of being a creep.

    Friya finished checking on the corridor, Blinking to the next and starting over. After a few minutes, she was done and returned to the group walking to not waste more mana.

    ''I have good news and I have bad news.'' She said via the mind link. ''The good news is that the rest of the area is empty. The bad news is that our enemy has mined a lot of white crystals and is preparing for more.''

    Friya shared with the others an image of a stone wall filled with Harmonizers. Lifestream had revealed to her that the metal rings drew the energy of the mana geyser and focused it within them to the point of draining the surrounding area.

    In the middle of the metal rings, there was a small deep-red crystal growing at a rate that would allow it to reach full maturity in just a few months instead of years before the refinement process started.

    Solus calcted that the pace would be on par with the tower''s, turning the red crystals into pure white in about a few years instead of decades.

    ''Oh, sh*t! They found a way to grow the crystals without the Balors, but how?'' Morok said in shock.

    ''Like this.'' Friya pointed at one of the white crystals that filled the corridor they were in.

    At first, no one understood what she meant, pondering why the miners had taken the rest and ignored that particr area. Then, they noticed that the crystal Friya had shown them from her memories was a scaled-down version of the one she pointed at.

    ''The mana stones in this tunnel managed to grow without interfering with each other, optimizing the space they needed. It''s a miracle of nature that''s being artificially reproduced in the rest of the mines.'' Friya said.

    ''How did you notice such a thing?'' Lith was honestly impressed.

    It was a feat that only Solus could have performed thanks to her eidetic memory.

    ''I didn''t, at least at first.'' Friya shook her head. ''But at the third corridor, I noticed that the different rune patterns on the Harmonizers were arranged always in the same order. I wasn''t sure of my theory until I came back.

    ''They didn''t touch this portion of the mine to use it as a temte. Otherwise it wouldn''t make sense to use a Harmonizer on a white crystal since they can''t grow any further.''

    The group nodded and resumed their advance, moving toward the source of the noise. The mining operations had dug most of the crystals, leaving enough dark spaces for Friya to use Scope unnoticed.

    It didn''t take them long to reach the source of the noise. The group took a good look at the miners thanks to the light emitted from the unmined crystals that made the corridor ahead as bright as day.

    ''What the actual fuck?'' Lith said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    The creatures in front of them didn''t look like anything any of them had ever seen before.

 Chapter 1729 - Once And Future (Part 1)

    The creatures that had invaded Faluel mines were divided in three groups and judging from their angry faces they didn''t get along very well.

    The first group wasprised of huge wolf-like creatures that greatly resembled lycanthropes from Earth''s horror movies. At a first nce, they looked like the hybrid form of an Emperor Beast, yet their form was unstable.

    Their silver-furred bodies kept shrinking and expanding, growing new tails or limbs thatsted barely a few seconds before being assimted again.

    Right beside the hairy giants stood several humanoids of exceptional beauty with six arms whose skin shifted non-stop between pale white and pitch-ck.

    Their leader was an androgynous man with elegant features that Lith was certain to have never met before and yet looked familiar.

    The members of the second group wore fancy clothes as if they were going to attend a party rather than work in a mine. Some of them had turned part of their bodies into a living liquid while others had their skin glistening like precious stones and a few of them emitted a ck steam from their exposed limbs.

    Only a faint red light in their eyes along with their bared fangs and stretched ws betrayed them as different unknown species of undead. Even though it was morning, none of them showed signs of being weakened and emitted a powerful aura.

    Their leader was a woman, clearly a Vampire, in her Chiropteran form.

    It was supposed to be a giant hybrid between a human and a bat.

    The woman was 2.5 meters (8''2") tall, towering her much shorterpetition. Membranous wings connected her hips to her hands, where ten centimeters long razor-sharp talons reced her nails.

    Yet the creaturecked the giant ears and the thick fur of a bat, having her body covered in small scales and her head deformed in a long snout, making her almost look like a Wyvern.

    Only the members of the third group were males and females of the same species as their leader.

    They were all over 2.3 meters (7''7") tall, with hair of the six colors of the elements. Lith would have thought of them as humans, if not for their unusual height and the perfection of their bodies.

    Each one of them looked like the masterpiece of a sculptor obsessed with fitness. Their toned muscles looked like they had been chiseled rather than trained. They worefortable silk pants and loose vests that left most of their backs exposed.

    Their leader was a man slightly taller than the others, with a beard and several odd deep expression lines on his face that ruined his otherwise handsome features.

    All the members of the three factions wore a Harmonizer and only the presence of their respective leaders in the middle of the corridor kept them from jumping at each other''s throat.

    They pointed fingers while talking at the same time, making it impossible even for Protector''s fine ears to understand a word they were saying.

    <i>''Rtives of yours?''</i> Morok asked Friya while pointing at the third faction and in particr at the women, shaping an hourss with his hands.

    <i>''No, but you got a point. Even if those guys really are human, how can there be so many Awakened with six elemental streaks gathered in one ce? I''m supposed to be a unique case.''</i> She inwardly cursed at the geyser blocking her Life Vision.

    <i>''I''m more troubled by the undead.''</i> Nalrond said. <i>''I know that we are deep underground and that some of them can move during the day, but that''s something that takes centuries of experience.</i>

    <i>''On top of that, how can they manifest the elements like that and how can they emit an aura? Isn''t that supposed to be something that only Awakened can do without a spell?''</i>

    <i>''Yours are all excellent points, but we''ll never learn anything if we stay here. Friya, can you open a Scope near them so that we can overhear what they are quarreling about?''</i> Lith asked.

    <i>''Too much light and too many people. We have no idea of what we are against and the dimensional fissure works both ways. The wolf creatures might smell us, the undead might perceive our heartbeats, and the tall guys might¡­ I don''t know, anything!''</i> She replied.

    Lith thought about sending Solus, but it would mean exposing her existence to Morok. Also, as Friya had said, it was too dangerous to send any of them near a bunch of unknown creatures.

    He moved back into a side corridor, letting his feathered wing out of his back and Locrias out of his feather. The Demon of Darkness became a ck puddle and Lith used Scope to move Locrias to a shadow zone near his targets unnoticed.

    The dimensional fissurested the blink of an eye, leaving the former Captain of the Queen''s Corps just a few meters to cover.

    <i>''I often used to say that a real spy can walk through the shadows to remain unseen, but it was just an expression. I never expected that one day I would be capable of doing it for real.''</i> He thought while adjusting his shape as he moved from a dark space of the cave to the next.

    The good thing about tall creatures squabbling under a strong light was that they projected long shadows every time they gestured, offering Locrias the cover he needed to never leave a part of his body exposed.

    "I don''t care about your whining, Lekha, only about our initial deal." The androgynous man said as the Demon got close enough to hear over the echo and the many thunderous voices.

    While the others yelled, the three leaders talked quietly. Their posture was apparently friendly and rxed, yet each one of them emitted a powerful killing intent that made Locrias shiver.

    "I''m not whining, Protheus. I''m just reporting the orders of the Dead King. You freaks have already received enough crystals. Our numbers are greater than yours and we should split the resources ordingly." The Vampire-Wyvern said.

    "I serve no King, only the Queen." Protheus replied, his eyes aze with yellow mana at the word freaks.

    "We started this project as rivals, but now we are allies. What benefits us will also benefit you." Lekha replied.

    "Maybe, and maybe not. I''ve been sent here to make sure that your masters keep their end of the bargain and that''s what I''m going to do." Protheus pointed at the other two leaders.

    "Don''t overestimate yourself, slime." The vampire''s raspy voice turned into a cackle that sounded like a dry cough. "You''ve been sent here solely because your Queen''s precious freaks need a babysitter and because she''s scared of giving a Harmonizer to a Skinwalker.

    "You are nothing but a pale imitation of what they could be if along with their core they regained their mind as well. One bite. One bite is all that it would take to a single Skinwalker to rece your precious Queen without any of you noticing."

    "Too bad that your brain didn''t grow along with your head, leech." Protheus lips curved up into a smile as his body shapeshifted.

    He grew over 5 meters (17'') tall until his eagle head grazed the ceiling.. Emerald energy flooded his talon-ending fingers while his lion tail whipped the air with fury.

 Chapter 1730 - Once And Future (Part 2)

    The rest of Protheus'' body resembled that of a Dragon and was covered with white scales the size of a buckler shield.

    A set of feathered wings emerged from his back while a second set of membranous wings came out of his hips and they all pped furiously, generating a windstorm. It pushed back the smaller undead back and forced Lekha to crouch on all four to stand her ground.

    Valeron was still a baby, yet the Chimeric Body bloodline ability allowed Protheus to bring out the full might of an adult Bahamut. After the failure in Ruham, Thrud had given the Doppelgangers a drop of Valeron''s blood.

    Even the least loyal among them had turned into a zealot due to the new bond with their creator. The Doppelgangers now shared the same emotional connection as the baby with his mother.

    "My Queen sent me here because in a crystal mine the magic of you parasites is useless whereas the strength of a Bahamut reigns supreme." A single punch sent Lekha flying, knocking down all of the undead behind her like bowling pins.

    Protheus'' subordinates chanted their leader''s name while using every single racial slur they knew about the undead. The Vampire stood up slowly as her broken bones set themselves into ce with cracking sounds before healing.

    "Did I touch a nerve, slime? I''ll take your share of crystals after killing you and the rest of the freaks!" Lekha bared her fangs and jumped against the Doppelganger, enveloping herself with crimson energy.

    "Enough!" The tall man pped his hands, generating a force field that paralyzed both contenders. "You are all guests of the Seven-Eyed tribe and you''ll respect the terms that the Sovereign agreed to with your respective leaders."

    "Protheus broke the pact when he attacked first, Typhos. Our deal is no longer valid!" Lekha said.

    "Wrong! You broke the pact when you insulted our guests. By viting the hospitality of the Sovereign, you offended him as well. If Protheus didn''t punch you, I would have done much worse. Are we clear?"

    Typhos said with fury and the deep lines on his face opened, revealing two more sets of eyes. At the same time, a set of feathered wings emerged from his back.

    Each one of the eyes was a different color, based on the element inhabiting it, and so were his feathers. Just like his hair, the wings were imbued with the power of six elements andcked only the emerald of Spirit Magic.

    The eyes on the creature''s forehead were red and blue, those under his eyebrows were ck and white, and those on his cheekbones were brown and yellow.

    <i>''Congrattions.''</i> Morok said to Friya and Lith. <i>''Your children look amazing, but damn if kids grow up fast these days.''</i>

    <i>''Either you kill him, Lith, or I''ll do it!''</i> Friya said, tired of Morok''s nonsense.

    The world energy in the area flooded Typhos'' wings, leaving the rest of the ce dry and keeping anyone else from using elemental magic. One tier five spell took form on each of his hands without destabilizing the surrounding crystals.

    The humanoid''s arms shone like stars as he aimed at the Vampire, emitting a destructive power that Lith''s group could perceive despite the distance.

    "Crystal clear." Lekha nodded as she shied away from the energy mass that was now millimeters away from her body.

    "Onest thing." Typhos said. "Don''t you ever dare to call anyone freak. While those like you gave up on your humanity, those like us stuck to it to the bitter end, no matter our failures. You have no right to judge even the least of us."

    He weaved at the people behind him and at the six-armed creaturesposing the second group.

    "Now choose who has to deliver your share of the crystals. The others can go back to work." The spells in his hands turned into three Warp Steps that led to as many different ces outside of the mine.

    One member of each group used a dimensional amulet to store the gemstones and left along with half of their members. The quarrel had happened during a shift change over the splitting of the loot.

    Things between Orpal and Thrud had gotten even more tense after they had agreed to work together. After his visit to the Golden Griffon, the self-proimed Dead King had realized the gap in strength between his Undead Courts and the Mad Queen''s followers.

    Orpal knew that unless he found a way to bnce the scales, his organization would be sooner orter swallowed by the rival''s. Arguments like that took ce on a daily basis now that the war with the Kingdom had silently begun.

    <i>''Oh, crap.''</i> Lith and Solus thought in unison as the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into ce. <i>''We have just solved the mystery of how they bypassed the arrays, but the situation is worse than I thought.''</i>

    <i>''What do you mean?''</i> Protector was puzzled since he had no innate link with Locrias and hadn''t heard a word of what the creatures had said.

    After sharing everything he had learned with the others, Lith exined Solus''s theory.

    <i>''Thest time you found the Harmonizers, they allowed crystals and metals to grow faster, but when worn by a monster, the artifact restored the creature to their unfallen state, correct?''</i> Lith projected the image of one of the cors.

    <i>''Correct.''</i> Morok nodded.

    <i>''In a way, the undead are fallen creatures as well since their core is defective from birth. Stable, but defective nheless.</i>

    <i>''If I''m right, not only did this Sovereign find a way to make the Harmonizer work on most kinds of defective cores, but he also perfected the cor to the point that by wearing it, monsters managed to evolve into new species.''</i> Lith conjured holograms of the various creatures.

    <i>''My bet is that the six-armed guys are trolls.''</i> Each time Lith conjured an image of both the unfallen state of the monster and that they had reached now, highlighting the simrities.

    <i>''The wolf guys are Wargs, the six-eyed humanoids are Balors, and the undead well, you know them already. The Harmonizers make them immune to sunlight and enhance their elemental affinities to the point that energy reces part of their bodies.''</i>

    <i>''I''m dumb. Exin to me how they got here in the first ce.''</i> When Morok talked business, he became so serious that it was hard to recognize the usually yful and annoying Ranger.

    <i>''My bet is that Ghouls found the mines by swimming in the earth like Nalrond does. Then, they brought along a few Balors that by sucking the world energy with their wings safely cast the dimensional spells necessary to move in the others.''</i> Lith replied.

    <i>''The Queen the Doppelganger talked about must be Thrud.''</i> Friya had recognized the Chimeric Body bloodline ability from the way Protheus had shapeshifted. <i>''Yet I have no idea what a Bahamut is nor who the Dead King the undead serve is.''</i>

    <i>''Me neither.''</i> The others replied in turn.

    <i>''Yet it''s clear that Night''s organization must be faring quite badly after she lost so many powerful followers.''</i> Lith said. <i>''Also, I don''t like what the Vampire said about Skinwalkers serving Thrud.</i>

    <i>''Those things are already dangerous.. If the Skinwalkers manage to evolve and be capable of mimicking the bloodline abilities they steal at will, Mogar would turn into a nightmare.''</i>

 Chapter 1731 - Once And Future (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1731 - Once And Future (Part 3)</h4>

    ''One more thing.'' Friya said. ''If Skinwalkers are so powerful, why didn''t Thrud send them here? Also, why does the Doppelganger wear a Harmonizer? Manohar is studying them thoroughly and he says they are no fallen race.''

    ''I can answer that.'' Solus replied, but only in Lith''s mind. ''When the Balor sucked away the world energy, I managed to use mana sense to understand our situation. The Harmonizers are the only reason the fallen races are reverted and managed to evolve.

    ''My bet is that without the cors, the faulty mana cores would be incapable of surviving on their own. I noticed that on the other side of the Steps there was another mana geyser that kept fueling the Harmonizers even after they left the mine.

    ''Thrud didn''t send Skinwalkers simply because they are best suitable for fieldwork rather than mining. As for the Doppelganger, I bet that she sent him here with a ruse to get her hands on a Harmonizer and study it.

    ''The rest of the creatures would die the moment the cor is removed whereas Protheus is a regr Awakened. He can study the Harmonizer with Invigoration without arousing suspicion.''

    Solus was only half right. Thrud had sent Protheus not only because he could freely move away from the geyser and report to her at any moment without the Balor''s permission, but also to test if the Harmonizers could help Awakened to develop their cores more quickly.

    Time was of the essence and with the Golden Griffon moving from one mana geyser to another, the Harmonizers would allow her army to be stronger in the short time between battles.

    ''There''s only one remaining question.'' Lith said. ''Are we going to leave the mine, call Faluel, or fight them head-on?''

    ''Let''s call Faluel. It''s her mine and we are her apprentices.'' Protector replied before backing away to the nearest side tunnel.

    "Interesting." The Hydra seemed intrigued by the situation, not scared. "How many intruders are left?"

    "Each group isprised of five people, for a total of fifteen." Protector replied.

    "Then I don''t see what the problem is. Five of you is plenty enough to deal with a bunch of weaklings. Try to spare at least one enemy per group to interrogate them. If it''s not possible, put a Harmonizer in a dimensional item the moment you kill its wearer.

    "I have a way to keep them from self-destructing and I want to study them at all costs." Faluel said with the greed typical of Dragons lighting her multi-colored eyes.

    "I''m sorry, but you lost me. We are outnumbered three to one." Protector said. "On top of that, why aren''t you angry? They have stolen a crapload of crystals from you."

    "Numbers matter only when skill and equipment areparable." Faluel shook her head. "Those guys have no weapons and if they recently evolved, they are even weaker than their previous state because they aren''t used to their new bodies.

    "You guys instead are all veterans and fully equipped. Worst-case scenario you only have to damage the Harmonizers to kill or incapacitate any of them in one shot.

    "As for the crystals, I would be angry if this Sovereign didn''t turn all of my violet crystals into white and the blue into violet. Even like this, the mine is more valuable than when I left it and if I get my hands on those cors, I can easily make up for the lost crystals.

    "You get to work. I''lle there as soon as I''m done with the Council. I''ve already beaten the other two Regional Lords. I''m just waiting to get my due. Faluel out."

    "Can we really do it by ourselves? Wouldn''t it be better to call the Council for reinforcements?" Nalrond asked after the hologram of the Hydra disappeared.

    "To what purpose?" Lith shrugged. "This is a mine, not an open field. Too many people would just get in the way of each other. Also, if I were Faluel, I wouldn''t want to share the Harmonizers nor let the Council know of their effects on the mine.

    "The other Regional Lords might demand that Faluel gives up some of her resources since now she has so many white crystals."

    "We don''t need reinforcements." Protector said. "Aside from the Balors, I don''t fear any of those things. Ready your spells. The moment you are done we attack."

    "Not so fast." Friya took out Thundercrash, the railgun, and started to charge it up. "This thing takes a long time to reload and as you said, Balors are nasty. We could use starting the fight with one less of them.

    "This way, Thundercrash might cool down in time for a second or maybe even a third shot."

    Friyay on the ground, using elemental and gravity fusion to stabilize her position. The air and earth magic in the bullet wasn''t strong enough to trigger a chain reaction, but only if they didn''t hit a crystal.

    She had to wait for a moment when an evolved Balor was visible and away from the gemstones which wasn''t easy since they were all mining.

    ''I wish I could take out the leader, but the bastard always sticks to the walls.'' Friya opened a Scope in the blind spot of her victim to keep them from dodging the bullet and avoid the potentially lethal consequences of a stray shot.

    She pressed the trigger the moment the dimensional fissure opened yet the six eyes coupled with their wings bestowed the Fomors, the evolved Balors, uncanny senses. The creature perceived the distortion in space and turned around instantly.

    Unfortunately for him, from that distance the bullet was way faster than his reflexes, making his head explode before he could alert hispanions. In such an enclosed space, the boom apanying his death bounced on the walls, stunning the other Fomors.

    While they were still down, holding their ears and trying to regain their bnce, Morok jumped on them with his twin battle hammers, Grimnir, bursting the head of a female Fomor open like a watermelon, bringing their numbers down to three.

    The others clenched their teeth in outrage, but the tinnitus kept them from casting spells. All they could do was to unfold their wings and open their eyes to unleash a hail of energy pirs of all elements.

    "Thanks for the meal, suckers!" Only then did Morok go back to his Tyrant form.

    He now looked like an over 2 meters (7'') tall lean humanoid covered in multi-colored scales, with six big eyes, each one bearing the light of a different element.

    Morok had the yellow and the orange eyes where his regr eyes had been until a second ago. The ck and the silver rested respectively on his right and left shoulders while the remaining two emerged from the back of his hands.

    He used Domination to separate the energy beams based on their element and to suck them in via the corresponding eye. Then, his six eyes merged on his chest, forming a giant emerald-colored eye that returned the absorbed energy in the form of the tier five Spirit Spell, Breakdown.

    Air and earth would block the victim by inducing an electric seizure and by trapping their limbs in a prison of rock. Fire and water would alternate in pulses, causing a thermal shock that would sap their strength and make it impossible for them to breathe.

    Darkness and light would constantly consume and heal those hit by the spell in a cycle that would consume their vitality until they would die of starvation.

    The Fomors had no power over the seventh element nor defense against it¡­ By sucking in the surrounding world energy to fuel their attack and keep the crystals from exploding they had also paved the way for Morok''s counterattack.

 Chapter 1732 - Once And Future (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1732 - Once And Future (Part 4)</h4>

    The emerald beam vaporized a male Fomor and then moved onto Typhos. He was the strongest in the group, but even he was no match for the collective might that the Tyrant had stolen from the other three Fomors.

    "I''m sorry, Straga." He said while grabbing the only female left.

    She was still doing her best to protect him with her elemental pirs when Typhos put her in front of Breakdown and used her as a meat shield.

    Straga died instantly, but after killing two Fomors the attack was weakened and Typhos'' betrayal had bought him enough time to recover his focus. He drained the surrounding area of world energy and used that power to dissipate the remnants of the Spirit Spell.

    "That was a cowardly move, bro." The Tyrant''s maw curled up in disgust, exposing a row of fangs as he aimed one hammer at Typhos'' heart and the other at his head.

    "It takes one to know one, traitor." The Fomor conjured a sword in his right hand and a shield in the left.

    They were both made of ice, earth, and covered by golden sparks that proved Typhos had an elementary understanding of Light Mastery. The shield cracked under the Adamant hammer but managed to deflect the hit before it did too much damage and so did the sword.

    "Your equipment is crap, dude. It''smon courtesy to leave spoils to the victor." Morok viciously alternated his strikes, breaking the constructs faster than the Fomor could reform them.

    "There''s no point wasting artifacts on a dead man. Besides, I don''t need them." Typhos'' red eye burned bright a split second before it released a burst of bright red mystical mes.

    The Tyrant was too close to dodge and the eye on his chest had already split back into six to counter any element that the Fomor could use. Yet the mes ignored his fire Domination and Morok took the st square on his chest.

    The impact sent him flying as even his equipment burned and made him lose the edge that the surprise attack had given him.

    At the same time, Protector and Lith faced Thrud''s soldiers while Nalrond and Friya were against the undead.

    The noise had alerted them of the danger and they were far enough to not be affected by the sonic st. When the assants appeared from behind the corner, the creatures had the time to react.

    One of the evolved trolls, a female Traughen, jumped at Lith with two of her hands releasing heat rays at his head while the other two aimed at his heart, brimming with darkness magic.

    She used the remaining set of arms to conjure andpress stones into a dense armor to make up for herck of equipment.

    She had chosen Lith as her target because Protector wielded his enchanted mace, Boros, while the other human was unarmed and much easier prey.

    Lith tilted his head so as to ce it right in between the tier three Light Mastery spells. His left hand deflected the darkness-infused hands while the right pierced through the conjured armor, punching a hole in the middle of the Traughen''s bosom.

    It was just a straight punch not fueled by mana, yet it crushed her heart, lung, and sent her crashing against herpanion.

    "Don''t be fooled by his size and leave him to me!" Protheus had gauged the opponent''s real mass from the sound of the impact but his allies weren''t as bright.

    The evolved Warg fell into the frenzy typical of his species and ignored the order. When the creature attempted to bite Lith''s conveniently exposed neck, he grabbed the Warg''s head and ripped it off the shoulders along with part of the spine.

    ''Solus, analysis.'' Lith tried and failed to retrieve the cor that exploded the second its wearer died.

    ''The geyser still blinds me, but I managed to collect a bit of data with Abyssal Gaze while you touched those creatures.'' She replied. ''My guess was right. Their cores are no longer fallen and they even evolved to the equivalent of Emperor Beasts.

    ''Yet they are no Awakened. No matter what their bloodline abilities are, they are no match for a deep violet-cored Divine Beast like you at close quartersbat.''

    Protheus shapeshifted into the Bahamut form as he charged against the enemy. His body grew so big that it blocked the corridor and tackled Lith with so much strength that it sent him flying.

    ''You where saying?'' His thought oozed sarcasm as the impact squeezed the air out of his lungs and dug a new short tunnel in the rock wall.

    ''I was talking about the monsters, not the Doppelganger.'' Solus said with a shrug. ''The guy is a regr yellow cored Awakened with a mass simr to yours. I don''t know what a Doppelganger can do, but I can tell you that his fusion magic and body refining sucks.''

    The hand of the Bahamut turned into the head of a Nidhogg and spat a river of acid. Lith infused himself with the power of the elements and escaped from the tunnel before the first drop reached its entrance.

    ''The guy is smart and has been trained inbat. His charge was actually a setup for the breath attack. Anyone slower than me would have remained stuck long enough to be drowned in Nidhogg''s saliva.'' Lith thought as the tunnel behind him growrger due to the acid dissolving the rocks for meters before losing its potency.

    Protector felt really awkward fighting against the evolved Warg. Not only did their elemental affinities match, but their hybrid forms were almost identical. The only differencey in the color of their fur, ming red for Protector and pure white for the Warg.

    The creature tried to intercept Boros by grabbing its handle before the macepleted its descending arc, but Faluel''s enchantments covered it at well. The moment the evolved Warg touched it, his hand was cut clean as if Boros'' handle was a de.

    Yet the wound healed almost instantly and the Warg''s speed increased tenfold. The creature managed to sidestep the blow when it was millimeters away from his head, suffering nothing but a scratch.

    Protector froze in surprise for a split second, yet it was enough for the Warg to unleash several low tiered spells at the same time from point-nk range. Ice darts froze Protector''s joints while darkness bullets sapped his vitality and an air de aimed at his neck.

    The armor blocked everything but the darkness bullets, leaving the Skoll short on breath and with a thin red line on his throat.

    "Don''t underestimate me, brother. I''m not a dumb Warg anymore. I''m Selkar of the Hati tribe!" The creature exploited the debilitating effects of darkness magic to push his advantage.

    Protector could feel from the weight behind each blow that Selkar''s true form was much bigger as well.

    ''How could he cast so many spells while in closebat? Only a violet-cored Awakened can do that and he''s no Awakened at all. On top of that, his hand wasn''t supposed to heal nor his speed to surpass mine.

    ''Sure, Wargs can share their wounds, but even if Hatis can do the same, Lith killed the only other member of his pack in the mine¡­ This must be the effect of their bloodline ability'' The Skoll thought while using darkness fusion to cleanse his body.

 Chapter 1733 - Perfect Cores (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1733 - Perfect Cores (Part 1)</h4>

    Protector had no idea that the Hatis'' bloodline abilities had a much greater range than the Wargs'' nor that they didn''t involve solely their bodies but also their minds.

    The members of the Hati tribe had started the weave spells the moment they had perceived the death of theirpanion and were sending them to Selkar along with their physical prowess thanks to the bloodline ability, Hunting Pack.

    Without it boosting the Hati''s speed and regeneration, the first swing of Boros would have crushed Selkar''s head right after cutting his hand.

    "If you really are not a monster anymore, how can you betray your brethren and serve a human like a mere dog? Where is your pride as an Emperor Beast?" Protector released a volley of stone darts that dug deep into the Hati''s flesh, pushing him away.

    "Do you think we have a choice? We are tired of being hunted. Of being hungry and powerless! While those like you abandoned us, the Queen gave us hope and turned us into a new race.

    "We are Elder Beasts now and we won''t stop until we''ve got our revenge. If we have to be her pets, so be it!" Selkar said with a snarl.

    His fury was great, but Protector''s bright blue core made him stronger than an entire tribe of yellow cored Hatis. On top of that, no matter how many spells they sent Selkar, they would consume his mana and burden solely his body.

    Selkar couldn''t cast them recklessly so he waited for an opening, but the Skoll gave him none and quickly pushed the Hati on his back foot with his superior battle experience.

    The moment earth magic gave Protector the space to swing his mace again, Boros struck at Selkar''s head. The Hati had yet to recover his footing so he raised his crossed arms to intercept the blow.

    The mace mercilessly crushed his hands and wrists before smashing his skull. Once again, the wounds instantly passed unto several of Selkar''s pack members, allowing him to survive.

    "Well said, brother." The remaining evolved troll, Arko, unleashed six tier three Light Mastery spells from her hands in the form of heat rays. "We have been discarded by our respective races as failures but now we have the opportunity to rece them."

    Traughen were even more naturally gifted for light magic than Trolls, but the art of conjuring constructs was lost to them. It would take them years if not decades to learn how to create hard-light again.

    Protector easily dodged the spells, yet Arko smiled. The ray of light turned into darkness the moment they reached their real targets, reanimating the corpses of the fallen as undead.

    "Arise, my pets!" Traughen were natural with both elements and capable of switching freely between them.

    The dead Hati, the other Traughen, and all of the dead Fomor stood up again, surrounding Protector from every side. Selkar''s muzzle twisted in a grimace of disgust at the sight of the Necromancy spell.

    Even Elder Beasts considered it an abomination that defiled the bodies of their fallenrades and spoiled the meat of their prey. Yet Selkar preferred a dishonorable victory to an honorable death.

    Now that they were eight against one, victory was at hand.

    As for Friya and Nalrond, the fight against the undead had taken an unexpected turn. The Harmonizer at their neck fixed the imbnce in their blood cores, making the undead not only immune to sunlight but also allowing them to use all elements like true mages.

    It also boosted their natural regenerative abilities to the extent that even striking at their weak points wasn''t enough to kill them. A severed head reattached itself just like any other limb and a punctured heart regenerated the moment that the sword or the w piercing it was pulled out.

    ''Damaging their bodies is a waste of time. We have topletely destroy them!'' Friya said via a mind link.

    ''Easier said than done.'' Nalrond replied with a grunt while pushing away a Ghoul whose skin shone like metal due to some kind of extreme version of earth fusion. ''We can''t use powerful spells and if we let them get close, they''ll tear us to shreds!''

    ''Use your equipment and everything will be fine. In a ce like this, brains are more important than brawns.'' Friya executed a thrust that her opponent dodged easily, yet Dreadnought reached its mark nheless.

    The tip of the sword plunged into a small dimensional rift and came out from the Grendel''s back. The darkness infused de hit the Harmonizer at her neck, damaging it enough to disrupt the flow of world energy.

    The mana core of the massive hairy creature went back to its normal, defective status and the Grendel fell instantly asleep. Two more quick thrusts of Dreadnought destroyed the heart and the head of the helpless undead the moment he reverted into his human form.

    ''Right. I had forgotten about that.'' Nalrond looked at his ws covered by a thickyer ofpressed Adamant and at the glistening silver that coated the scales of his Rezar body.

    He wasn''t used to having magical equipment and up to that point, had fought as if his body was all he had.

    He shed at the White Lady in front of him and the enchanted gloves, Sunder, produced five air des, one for each of his ws. The undead hurled a river of water to stop the spell or at least to lessen its power.

    She could have easily dodged it, but as Friya had said, in such a confined space the spell would have either hit one of herpanions or one of the crystals they had yet to mine.

    Losing a crystal wasn''t a big deal, but being struck by a powerful explosion from the back and shielding their enemies with their own bodies would have been fatal. The air des cut through the raging river of the White Lady, yet she didn''t dodge.

    At thest second, her body burst into a wave that smothered what strength the spell had left without her taking any damage. Upon their death, White Ladies would be one with the river where they had drowned themselves along with their children.

    They were capable of storing massive amounts of water, yet the more they used for their attacks, the dryer their physical body would be, making it highly mmable.

    Thanks to the Harmonizer, the White Lady could now turn herself into liquid and retain her consciousness by spreading it via water fusion. In that new form, she was nigh-invulnerable.

    s, just like Nalrond wasn''t used to his new equipment, she wasn''t used to wearing a Harmonizer.

    The metal cor stayed behind, taking the full hit. White Ladies had no trouble staying awake during the day, but without the Harmonizer the hunger was back, and with it her natural weakness to fire.

    As her body forcibly reformed, she conjured a wave that crashed against the Rezar in the attempt to drown him and suck his life. Nalrond had the Scalewalker armor seal all of its pores, nullifying the attack.

    The moment she regained her physical form, he needed but a tier three lightning spell to set her aze.

 Chapter 1734 - Perfect Cores (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1734 - Perfect Cores (Part 2)</h4>

    "What''s wrong with you idiots?" Lekha roared in outrage as she assumed her Chiropteran form again. "We are now stronger than any other child of the Blood Mother has ever been, yet you''ve been cornered by two mere flesh bags!"

    "That''s not a nice thing to say to someone you''ve just met." Friya Blinked away to escape the two undead charging at her while Nalrond tackled the third.

    The Ghoul bit and wed to escape from his grip, but the Adamant didn''t budge.

    Cursing his bad luck, the Ghoul took the mana de he used for mining from his pocket and stabbed at the Rezar''s neck. The pure mana cut through the enchanted metal and pierced the scales underneath, but it was too short to reach the flesh.

    Nalrond felt a painful sting, but nothing more.

    "Thanks for the reminder." Nalrond said as four metal wings popped out of his back and Sunder fused his ws into a de over one meter (3 feet) long.

    From such a close distance there was no way to dodge. The wings cut off the Ghoul''s legs and arms while the two des hacked and shed at the helpless torso. Syrook had been a ck Dragon, naturally attuned with air and darkness, and so was his weapon.

    Sunder''s ck des shredded the Ghoul until Nalrond found the heart hidden in the tight and turned it into ashes. Even the Harmonizer couldn''t recreate a vital organ from scratch so the rest of the body quickly followed.

    The Chiropteran and the Duhan chasing Friya were infused with all the elements and even though they weren''t Awakened, their physical prowess was evenly matched.

    By fixing the imbnce in the blood core, the Harmonizer had bestowed upon Baba Yaga''s children the abilities of an Awakened violet core.

    They could now weave spells of all elements with their bodies and use all kinds of fusion magic. The Chiropteran could move in every direction, walking on the walls and ceiling of the cave with the same ease as if it was the floor.

    Lekha''s every move generated bits of darkness mixed with small spheres of lightning that relentlessly followed the human like a swarm of angry wasps. The moment the spell reached Friya, darkness would sap her strength while the spheres would cause her muscr spasms, making her easy prey.

    The second undead chasing her was a Duhan, an undead born from the corpse of someone who had been unjustly decapitated. Even in death, their head was still severed from the rest of the body.

    The Duhan threw his head against the ceiling, making it bounce to Friya''s blind spot before firing bolts of darkness from his mouth and eyes.

    The human managed to survive only thanks to Full Guard and Blink, but she failed to move on to the offense. The Chiropteran kept chasing her relentlessly along with the magical swarm and there was more.

    Duhans were an oddity, even for the undead. Even though their head and body were doomed to never be attached again, they could never be kept apart. One could instantly Blink near the other, making their movements unpredictable.

    More often the head would Blink to the body to dodge an attack, but the opposite was possible as well.

    Friya had to be constantly wary of the possibility of the head conjuring the body and grabbing her before she managed to Blink. If that happened, her dimensional magic would be useless.

    To make matters worse, the magicalmunity had yet to discover what the weak point of a Duhan was.

    Friya had to look out for the hulking figure stalking her, for the ck and yellow swarm that filled more space of the cave with each passing second, and of the Duhan''s tricks.

    The smaller undead cast his spells from the body and the head at the same time, making it as dangerous as two different opponents. Air des cut through the defensive barrier of the Featherwalker armor, opening several deep wounds on her body.

    The Duhan surprised Friya by generating an electric arc between his parts while she was right in between them, trying to anticipate the trajectory of the head. The tier three spell caused her a seizure that made her lose her focus and with it all the spells she had at the ready.

    The Chiropteran jumped at her again, but this time Friya couldn''t Blink away. The humongous hand mmed Friya against the ground while the long ws pierced through her flesh.

    "You made me work quite an appetite, flesh bag." The Chiropteran opened her maw, bringing it to Friya''s neck.

    "My treat, then." She shoved Thundercrash in the opened mouth, using Spirit Magic to pull the trigger from a safe distance.

    The mana tendril had the Railgun''s barrel point downward before firing the shot. The bullet made the Chiropeteran''s chest explode like a balloon and the recoil did the rest. Friya had aimed Thundercrash so that without anyone holding it still, the railgun would be the second projectile.

    The artifact hit the Duhan''s head, stunning it and sending it towards its body.

    This way it didn''t matter who retrieved who, they would be in the same spot. Friya then recalled Dreadnought to her right hand, unleashing a river of darkness magic while the magic holding rings on her left did the same.

    The Duhan had yet to understand what had hit him when the rain of spells turned him into dust.

    Nalrond stared at her in amazement, not knowing if he would have ever had the skill or the guts to perform such a dangerous move.

    "Please, marry me." He blurted out.

    "Rejected. Let''s start with a date and see how it goes." She replied while using Lifestream to heal her wounds and regain her strength.

    "I didn''t mean- I-" Nalrond kept stuttering, incapable of epting either making a fool out of himself or Friya actually agreeing to go out with him.

    "No time for poetry, pretty boy. We have work to do." The moment she was fit to fight again, she turned around and rushed towards her friends without waiting for a reply.

    "You''ll pay for the death of my brethren, traitor!" In the middle corridor, Morok was literally against a wall.

    Typhos had used his wings to conjure all the world energy from their surroundings, using it to cast tier four and five spells non-stop without triggering the mana crystals or spending his own mana.

    The Tyrant had tried to counter the wings with Domination, but it was a game that two could y. The Fomor had six eyes as well and their ability to control the elements matched Morok''s.

    The only silver lining of the situation was that Typhos couldn''t use spells with a big area of effect so Morok could still dodge.

    Yet each one of the spells was sopressed that it easily pierced through his armor and weapons alike. Morok had blocked the first one by crossing his twin battle hammers, Grimnir, and now they both had a hole in their Adamant heads.

    To make matters worse, due to theck of world energy, the Tyrant could resort solely to Spirit Magic.

    ''I''ll never win like this. I must get close to him and exploit the gap in our equipment¡­'' Morok thought while Spirit Blinking at Typhos'' back and hitting him with both hammers.

 Chapter 1735 - Predator And Prey (Part 1)

    It would have been a great n if Typhos'' yellow eye didn''t re up, releasing a burst of air element that reminded Morok of Life Maelstrom.

    The yellow lightning coursing through his body made the Fomor so quick that he intercepted the weapons before they struck and so strong that he tossed the Tyrant against the wall like a ragdoll.

    "A beast will always be a beast! You are nothingpared to the power that the human race was destined to wield!" Typhos reached Morok while he was still flying, hitting him with a flurry of fists empowered by the Maelstrom-like energy that deformed the Adamant of his armor.

    At the same time, Protheus had partly reverted his body into the gtinous form of a Doppelganger to flood the corridor where Lith had moved to avoid the Nidhogg''s acid. The liquid mass suffered no harm from War''s cruel edge and it was seeping through all of Lith''s orifices, drowning him.

    <i>''I will eat you inside out. Even if the inside of your body is as tough as your skin, organs are such delicate things. I need to slightly harm just a few of them to kill any living being.''</i> Protheus thought.

    Lith could feel his body burn as the acid secreted by the Doppelganger attempted to digest him. His lungs were filled with jelly and every one of his senses was dulled by the viscous mass trapping him, making it impossible for him even to understand where Protheus was.

    Yet Lith didn''t need to know Protheus'' position to hurt him.

    Lith just reverted to his Tiamat form, growing to a size that matched his enemy''s.

    The Doppelganger suddenly felt that something was wrong with him. A weird sensation that he had never experienced was coursing through his body, triggering his fight or flight instinct.

    For the first time in his life, Protheus felt pain.

    Touching Lith in his Tiamat form meant to suffer from his Abomination Touch. Be it his scales or organs, they all sucked at the life force of whoever was dumb enough to touch them, turning the Doppelganger from predator to prey.

    By growing in size Lith had increased the surface of his body that Protheus had to cover while also freeing his nostrils at the same time. The first speck of air he took in produced a ck light that seeped from between his scales as it moved from his neck to his chest.

    The Void mes cleansed the lungs, heart, and windpipe of the Doppelganger''s gtinous body beforeing out of Lith''s mouth. The ck mes worked their way up to Protheus'' arms, forcing him to cut them off before they infected the rest of his body.

    <i>''I don''t know what a Bahamut is, but if that thing is just a Doppelganger, then it doesn''t have any of their bloodline abilities.''</i> Lith thought while hurling a jet stream of Void mes that turned the Griffon head into a zing torch.

    He would have liked to flood the entire corridor and kill everyone, but he could neither risk killing Protector nor detonating the crystals andmitting the most expensive suicide in history.

    Protheus considered hundreds of possible strategies in the span of a few seconds, yet all the scenarios he came up with ended up with his death.

    <i>''If I hadn''t already lost so much body mass, I would still have a chance. Now, however, not only am I magically and physically weaker, but I also can''t afford to touch Verhen without bing his meal.''</i> The First Doppelganger charged Lith in a desperate, suicidal tactic.

    Yet it was just a cover to hide a small piece of his body Spirit Warping away with the Harmonizer. His yellow core was too weak to open a human-sized dimensional door, but it could still open one the size of an apple.

    The world energy from the mana geyser blinded Solus'' mana sense and the huge Bahamut body covered Lith''s regr vision, keeping him from noticing Protheus'' escape.

    The Doppelganger moved to a nearby corridor that had already been mined for crystals. That and the small size of the dimensional corridor allowed him to reach the surface without causing any explosion.

    "Arise, my pets!" Arko said while focusing the six beams of darkness into artificial pseudo cores.

    Yet seven bodies stood up and one of them intercepted the jumping Traughen with an open palm strike to the head. Then, the ck hand grabbed her face and mmed Arko against the ground.

    "Be careful what you wish for, coward."? Locrias said while using his Abomination Touch to suck her life force dry.

    After the quarrel between the three factions had ended, he had remained hidden, waiting for another instruction.? The former captain of the Queen''s Corps had no interest in the mission, yet after hearing Selkar threatening the Kingdom, he couldn''t remain idle.

    The sight of the undead had triggered his memories of Night''s attack on the Verhens and of all Locrias'' colleagues that had died during the war against the Courts. Lith''s rage seeing Protector in danger mixed with Locrias'', spurring him into action.

    Arko pummelled at the Demon with her six arms and considerable strength, but to no avail. Lith''s conjured Demons of Darkness usually didn''t amount to much because he split his mana among dozens, if not hundreds of them.

    Locrias, however, had been summoned alone. He had been given the power to wield five eyes and the shadowsprising his body were so dense that they were tangible.

    The six lesser undead shambled left and right, conflicted between the order of attacking Protector and defending their own master. The brainless creatures couldn''t make a decision of their own and tried to perform both tasks at once.

    The Skoll didn''t miss the opening that Locrias had created and attacked at the Hati with his mace, Boros. The first hit shattered Selkar''s arms, leaving him defenseless from the waist to the head.

    The Hati conjured a hail of low tiered spells weaved by his packmates, but this time Protector was ready and sidestepped them with ease. The second blow caved Selkar''s skull, damaging his brain beyond what the Elder Beast''s sharing ability could mend.

    As Selkar''s death sent the pack of Hati that lived inside the Golden Griffon into a frenzy, Arko conjured six des of light. They weren''t hard-light constructs, just short streams of highly condensed sma the Traughen used to stab at the Demon.

    Yet they only made Locrias stronger as the spark of Chaos inside of him devoured the light energy.

    <i>''I can''t believe that once I had problems dealing with trash like this.''</i> The exhration from the feeding frenzy and from the power coursing through him made the Captain forget about his past life for a second.

    Then the pain returned and his fury only grew stronger. The Demon crushed Arko''s skull, seeping inside her corpse to be a Demon of the Fallen and add her strength to his own.

    "Thank you for your help." Protector said, giving him the salute.

    Locrias was still crestfallen at the thought of having lost himself to the feeding frenzy, acting no better than an undead. Yet his body returned the salute by instinct, reminding him why he had chosen to walk like a shadow in a world of lights.

    "The mission is not over.." He said before turning to help Morok.

 Chapter 1736 - Predator And Prey (Part 2)

    <i>''I wonder how simr Skolls and Hatis are.''</i> Protector pondered for a second before following the Demon. <i>''We both descend from wolves and are supposed to work in packs.</i>

    <i>''Maybe I have yet to discover my bloodline abilities because I''m the only member of my species. My kids are still hybrids, not Skolls.''</i>

    Typhos had beaten Morok an inch from his life when a jolt of electricity forced him to let go of his prey. Then his joints froze, a burst of light exploded in front of him, and a small ball of fire entered his mouth as he yelled in surprise.

    Every single attack had been just a tier three spell, but aimed with such timing and uracy tobine their effects to deal a devastating damage. The Fomor didn''t even notice Nalrond closing in and hitting him with a roundhouse tail.

    The blow sent him against a wall from which he bounced at a side sh that would have cut an Emperor Beast asunder, but Typhos'' orange eye called upon the power of earth, making his body impervious.

    Sunder cut a deep wound into his chest, but not enough to be lethal.

    <i>''This is impossible! I am absorbing all of the surrounding world energy. Elemental attacks should be sealed for anyone but me. Where did those spellse from?''</i> Typhos thought.

    He had no idea that Friya had opened several Scopes with Spirit Magic, using the cantrip to restore the elemental energy in the corridor. Then, she had used them to attack at the Fomor from a distance and aim for his weak points in quick session.

    Typhos'' red eye lit again, unleashing a stream of fire at the Rezar, but Lith stepped in front of him. His emerald eye shone as he tried and failed to control the mes with Domination.

    Then, he tried to use the red eye but his arm continued to burn.

    <i>''Those are not Origin mes but theye pretty close.''</i> Solus said while using Abyssal Gaze to study them.

    <i>''Save the exnations forter. How do I put them out?'' He asked.</i>

    <i>''Water magic? It''s not like Domination is the only thing you can do.''</i>

    <i>''Oh, right.''</i> Lith froze his own arm and then hurled a jet of Void mes at the Fomor.

    The world energy that Friya provided him wasn''t enough for a full st, but the ck mes still fought those produced by the red eye long enough for the Rezar and the Tiamat to move away.

    Typhos looked at Lith''s emerald eye in envy, gritting his teeth so hard that his jaw popped.

    "If only I had the seventh eye as well, you''d be all dead by now. Neither you nor the traitor deserve its power!" Light energy healed his wound while the flow of world energy restored his mana akin to a breathing technique.

    "Be careful, guys. Mister Congeniality here is capable of using knock-off Divine Beasts'' abilities from each one of his eyes. He even used something with the earth element that I''ve never heard about before." Morok said as he healed his wounds with Invigoration.

    The hole in his hammers and the dents in his armor, however, would take much longer to repair.

    <i>''It seems that Quy''s hypothesis about the connection between fusion magic and bloodline abilities is right.''</i> Lith thought. <i>''If only I could force him to show me what light and darkness do, I might find a clue about my own bloodline abilities.''</i>

    <i>''And I wish I could use mana sense.''</i> Solus replied with a sigh. <i>''If your eyes and his eyes work in a simr fashion, maybe I could understand what he does and teach you how to do the same.</i>

    <i>''Unfortunately, because of the mana geyser and the world energy he stored, I can''t see anything.''</i>

    <i>''Maybe we-''</i> Typhos darted forward, cutting their wish list short.

    One swordprised of pure world energy appeared in each of his hands, humming with power. His first target was the closest enemy, Nalrond. The Rezar raised Sunder''s des to block, but the energy swords passed through like the wind.

    At the moment of the hit, Typhos'' red eye sparked, turning the des into a living me that bypassed the armor and burned Nalrond''s flesh. His scales charred and his blood boiled, blinding him with agony.

    If not for the thickyer between the Rezar''s skin and his internal organs, his lungs would have been steamed by the very air they breathed.

    Typhos went for the finishing blow, but Friya shot him with a burst of darkness magic from Dreadnought, making him falter. The sword took her own mana and converted it into an element of her choice.

    That along with the Scope spell she used to attack from a distance allowed the darkness st to not be affected by the Fomor''s wings. On the contrary, Friya exploited them to attack with the power of a tier four spell without detonating the nearby crystals.

    Protector managed to rescue the Rezar and to move outside the range of the energy swords before Typhos could shake off the effects of the darkness. Morok stepped in and threw his hammers in rapid session.

    The Fomor''s yellow eye lit up again and more Life Maelstrom-like golden lightning coursed through his body, making him as fast as a bullet. The blue eye flickered as well, and the energy thatprised Typhos'' des turned into water.

    The hammers overpowered the water swords, yet the impact sent them flying harmlessly past Typhos and covered them with a thickyer of mystical ice.

    Morok called upon the enchantments of Grimnir to alter their trajectory and make them turn around to chase after their mark, but nothing happened. Then, he recalled the hammers to his hands, but it failed as well.

    The magic from Grimnir simply bled from its runes and into the ice covering them, reaching the outside in the form of multi-colored sparks.

    "What did you do to my hammers?" Morok yelled in fury, yet he kept his head cool and stepped back.

    "Come here and find out." Typhos replied with a grin as his des became ck.

    Another burst of golden energy coursed through the Fomor''s body as he bolted at Lith who could only Spirit Blink away. Typhos snarled and moved on to Locrias who failed to react in time.

    The ck des infected the Demon with entropic energies that triggered the spark of Chaos inside of him. Locrias screamed in agony as his body imploded and his soul was forced back into Lith''s feathers.

    "Why isn''t this thing still charged?" Friya yelled, exasperated by her own helplessness.

    "Isn''t that blood?" Lith looked in horror at the guts-covered railgun. "Do you really think that electricity can build up while the barrel is wet? You just wasted a bullet!"

    Friya cursed her stupidity before cleansing Thundercrash with small pulses of darkness magic.

    <i>''This is bad.''</i> Solus thought. <i>''We can''t use tier four Spirit spells or above without triggering the crystals, Origin and Void mes are too weakened to be useful, and our enemy can bypass or neutralize our equipment at will.''</i>

    <i>''Yeah. That and the fact that he seems to be capable of using all kinds of Guardians'' abilities doesn''t help.''</i> Lith telepathically nodded..<i> ''This ce is the perfect battlefield for a creature like that.''</i>

 Chapter 1737 - Tyrannical Power (Part 1)

    <i>''The mine empowers Typhos'' best abilities and neutralizes ours at the same time. Not even Faluel could defeat him in here and would be forced to wait for him outside the mine.</i>

    <i>''Or better, the old Faluel couldn''t. Now both she and we can.''</i> The gloves of Lith''s Scalewalker armor became thicker and a series of small crystals each of a different color appeared on his knuckles.

    Typhos swung his elemental des at the Tiamat in an overhead sh and much to his surprise, he blocked them. The dense darkness energy deformed near the Hands of Menadion due to the conflicting willpowers fighting for its control.

    The six colored wings of the Fomor worked akin to the Hands, granting Typhos control over the world energy. When two simr powers collided, the decisive factors were the skill and focus of their users.

    The elemental des were akin to a rope in a tug of war, each end had a different master that could touch them without suffering any damage. Typhos turned the swords into light, fire, and then ice, yet a simple flicker of the corresponding gem on the Hands neutralized his efforts.

    Friya didn''t miss the opportunity, Blinking in and stabbing several times at the Fomor''s vitals in a split second before Blinking out. Typhos lost his focus and his des slipped more under Lith''s control.

    "Damn you, woman!" He let go of the energy masses and retreated before the rest of the group followed her example.

    Had he waited any longer, Lith''s energy signature would have overtaken the des, and all the mana that Typhos had put into them would have been used against him.

    <i>''Do you have any idea how to replicate that trick?''</i> Lith could feel the constructs fading away but he had no reason to waste his energy to fuel them.

    <i>''No mana sense, no clue. I''m sorry. I have a better idea, though.''</i> She replied.

    Typhos went back to the narrow corridor where the white crystals would fuel his wings and keep his enemies from surrounding him, bing both his sword and shield.

    Yet he could feel the world energy resisting his pull. The color of his wings dulled and keeping more than one eye lit at the same time sent pangs through his head, making tears of blood streak down his cheeks.

    <i>''Guys, feel free to use your magic. I''ve neutralized the wings and put a cushion between us and the crystals.''</i> Lith said via a mind link to not alert the enemy that his field advantage was lost.

    It took both Lith''s and Solus''s focus for the task. He used the Hands to counter the Fomor''s abilities the moment he tried to activate them while Solus shaped the world energy around the white crystals so that they were insted from external influence.

    Protector, Friya, Nalrond, and Morok each cast a tier five spell that flooded the corridor where Typhos was before he had the time to understand what was happening. When he finally noticed the four iing sts, it was toote.

    He tried to Blink but the invisible battle between his wings and the Hands twisted the elemental energy and sealed dimensional magic. Before he could try and use his eyes, thebined effects of the four spells reduced him to stters on the walls.

    "My babies!" Morok ran into the corridor to retrieve his hammers before the pir of ck light, the white mes, the dimensional des, and the elemental spheres fadedpletely. "If any of you damaged my babies, you''ll pay for their repairs."

    He used air magic to force the dust to settle while he looked for his weapons. Luckily for him, the mystical ice was still there. It had blocked the magic explosions just like it blocked Grimnir''s energy, protecting them from the st.

    "The good news is that you don''t have to pay for my new weapons. The bad news is that I have no idea how to-" The ice melted as soon as thest remnant of Typhos'' energy signature disappeared.

    "Never mind." Morok checked his hammers with Foresight to make sure that none of their enchantments had suffered permanent damage.

    "Mission aplished." Friya panted. "The mines are clear and we have plenty of Harmonizers for Faluel to study."

    "Plenty is a big word. There''s barely four out of fifteen." Lith replied.

    "It''s more than zero." Her words dragged due to her ragged breath.

    "Are you alright?" Nalrond shapeshifted back into his human form before going to help her to sit down.

    Awakened were supposed to recover immediately from fatigue, especially when surrounded by the massive amount of world energy of a crystal mine.

    "I don''t think so." She clenched her chest that burned from a pain that originated near her sr plexus. "Faluel sent me here to have my breakthrough and I think it''s about to happen."

    "Shit! You used many powerful spells and the mana geyser did the rest. The same happened to Phloria in Feymar." Lith used Abyssal Gaze on Friya, discovering that her blue core was filled with bright streaks that throbbed like veins.

    "Don''t worry about me and seal the Harmonizers before they fall apart." She said.

    "You don''t have to worry about that." A silvery feminine voice said. "The Harmonizers are enchanted with a peculiar double imprint that will preserve their integrity as long as their true master wishes so."

    They all turned around, discovering the presence of a woman of a striking beauty over 2.3 meters (7''7") tall, with waist-long hair of the six colors of the elements. She wore a toga that left her arms and back exposed.

    With her six-colored eyes and the metal cor on her neck, she looked a lot like Typhos, but there was one big difference between them.

    She had six wings instead of two, each one of a different elemental color and arranged with the same pattern of her eyes.

    Everyone took out their weapons and readied their spells, except for Nalrond who stood in front of the still panting Friya while conjuring one hard-light construct after another.

    "Is this really necessary?" The woman asked with a sad look in her eyes. "You are tired from the previous battle and even if you regain your vigor with a breathing technique, there''s not much you can do.

    "The crystals block your spells and your partner is about to have a breakthrough. If we fight while it happens, she''s likely to fail and die. On top of that, there''s nothing you can do against a bright violet cored Awakened. You are too weak."

    "Are you really an Awakened?" Lith asked, cursing for the umpteenth time the mana geyser that sealed his mystical senses.

    "Yes, but I''m barely yellow cored, just like Typhos. Yet I can assure you that I''m much more powerful than him. Awakening split my wings just like it split the color hidden into your friends'' hair." She pointed at Friya.

    "We are still five against one and I like our odds." Lith summoned the Hands again, ready tobine their powers with War''s.

    "My name is Ekidna." She gave them a polite bow while looking at Lith''s seven eyes with a mix of hope and longing.. "And it''s actually four against two."

 Chapter 1738 - Tyrannical Power (Part 2)

    A single p of her wings altered the density of the world energy in the mine, focusing it around Friya. Before Lith could counter it, the bright blue energy of her core burst out and her body started to be torn apart inside out.

    <i>''Fuck me sideways! Nalrond, you protect her with your life, and don''t worry about the crystals. I''ll take care of them for you.''</i> Lith said via the mind link as Friya''s screams of agony echoed through the cave.

    "Now it''s three against two." Ekidna whispered, yet everyone could hear her clearly.

    She focused on the gems that covered Lith''s hands, feeling them fighting on par with her wings despite their iplete state. The left glove missed several crystals, unbncing the artifact''s power.

    "Why do you keep saying two if there''s only you here, Ekidna?" Morok asked to buy as much time as he could.

    He knew how dangerous a breakthrough was and didn''t want to put Friya''s life at risk for no reason. The Fomor in front of him had yet to show any sign of hostility. Quite the contrary, she seemed meek and dejected.

    "Because as any good ve, she never forgets about her master." A deep voice said.

    The man who walked from behind Ekidna seemed to be in his mid-twenties. He was about 1.83 meters (6'') tall, with thick golden hair and ice-blue eyes. He had a lean, almost effeminate build that made him look even taller and handsome features.

    The bright violet aura he exuded made everyone feel like an ant in front of an elephant, sending a cold shiver down their spines.

    "Dad?" Morok''s hammers fell to the ground along with his jaw from the surprise.

    "Who else, son?" Glemos the Tyrant pointed at the multi-colored scales that covered Morok''s body and then at Ekidna''s wings. "You two are the fruits of centuries of experiments.

    "Selective breeding, life force alterations, you have no idea how long it took me to reach this point or how desperate I was to meet you away from that ignorant, violent Drake."

    <i>''There''s no time to lose.''</i> Lith said Protector. <i>''While they are busy catching up, take out your amulet and call Faluel. I''ll focus on covering your back and keeping Ekidna from interfering with the signal.''</i>

    "Is she¡­ my sister?" Morok stuttered each word, afraid of his father''s madness as he realized that Glemos had pulled their strings all along.

    "Don''t be stupid." Glemosughed cruelly at the idea. "I would never mate with a disgusting Balor. I simply bred them for generations while they wore my Harmonizers until I perfected them enough to obtain this."

    He waved at Ekidna as if she was a showpiece instead of a person.

    "Now follow me. Your friend Verhen has an ill reputation and I don''t like being in a ce where I can''t use my mystical senses on him." Glemos turned around, but no one else moved.

    Protector moved closer to Lith, keeping his right hand wielding Boros visible as he conjured themunication amulet in his left that he kept behind the Tiamat''s back.

    "Seriously? Do you think my eyes are for decoration or what?" Two eyes appeared on his palms, two on his shoulders, and the remaining two took the ce of his human eyes. "On second thought, don''t bother answering."

    The yellow eye shone, severing the invisible dimensional connection that linked the runes engraved on the surface of the Protector''s amulet with those he had shared his rune with.

    Protector tapped Faluel''s rune, but the piece of silver he held had no magical properties anymore.

    Then, a bolt of lightning came out of the yellow eye, following the trail that linked it to the amulet and using themunication device so that not a single spark strayed from Protector''s body.

    The Skoll fell to the ground, his eyes white, as the smell of burned fur and cooked meat spread through the cave.

    Lith reacted instantly, using the Hands of Menadion to intercept the spell and seal Glemos'' magical abilities, yet a p of Ekidna''s wings restored the elemental bnce.

    "Nice artifact. I''ll take that." The Tyrant''s blue eye lit up, encasing Lith in a pir of ice several meters thick whose temperature reached 200 degrees below zero.

    Lith had learned back in Jiera that his Tiamat form was weak to water and had prepared several contingency measures, but none of them could counter the gap between his deep violet core and Glemos'' bright violet.

    The spellcasting had been near instant and Cold Grasp sapped the heat in his body so quickly that Lith fainted while he was still struggling. Solus made the Hands disappear and had her stone form ovep with the cloaking rings not to be discovered.

    <i>''I could free Lith, but then what? I have no idea how Glemos can cast so quickly and I''m no match for him.''</i> She thought.

    "Odd." The Tyrant had a puzzled look as he noticed that the artifact had disappeared. "Another mystery that I have to solve. Don''t worry about your friends. I''m not going to kill them straight away. They are all excellent specimens."

    "I''m not going to follow you." Morok acted tough, but he kept ncing at Friya who kept screaming non-stop.

    The body refinement had reached the bones, cracking them into bits to squeeze out the smallest of impurities. Her agony was blinding, but nothingpared to what would happen once the process reached her organs.

    "Please, don''t act as if you have a choice." Glemos'' silver eye shone, overtaking all the constructs that Nalrond had painstakingly erected and shattering them at once.

    Domination reced the Rezar''s energy signature with the Tyrant''s so that when the shards pierced the body of their original caster, they were no different from real des, turning Nalrond into Swiss cheese.

    "Remember, son, spells are energy and energy does whatever we want it to do." The hard-light shards turned into healing spells that healed the Rezar and drained his vitality.

    Nalrond fainted standing, refusing to leave Friya unprotected even after thest bit of strength left his body.

    Morok had tried the whole time to use his own Domination to stop his father''s, but the spells were too fast and his willpower seemed to hit an iron wall whenever he tried to take control.

    He was barely in his mid-twenties whereas Glemos had spent centuries, if not millennia, honing his skills. For the first time in his life, Morok cared enough about his father to wonder how old he was.

    <i>''Think, brain. Think. What do I know about Dad?''</i>? The word "Asshole" kept popping in his mind over and over along with unpleasant childhood memories but nothing he could use against his estranged parent.

    <i>''Thanks, brain. Very useful like always.''</i> Morok''s thoughts oozed sarcasm.

    <i>''You are wee.''</i> The sudden reply made him think that either the stress was driving him insane or that Tyrants had bloodline abilities aside from Domination.

    "Let''s go." Glemos used tendrils of Spirit Magic to lift the fallen members of the group and carry them away.

    "I said no! You have to beat me if you want me to follow you, old man." Morok replied.

    "You are my son. I could nevery a hand on you."

    <i>''Maybe he''s not such an asshole, after all..''</i> The younger Tyrant inwardly sighed in relief.

 Chapter 1739 - Mankindâ€™s Path (Part 1)

    "Ekidna, beat him within an inch of his life, but be careful about the genitals. I need them intact." Glemos snapped his fingers like he was giving orders to a dog.

    <i>''Fuck me and my big mouth!''</i> Morok thought as the Fomor darted at him.

    Her yellow eye enveloped her with a bolt of golden lightning, her blue eye produced a mist that drained the world energy and sealed his spells, while her red eye engulfed her in mes that made each one of her punches burn at both his body and mana.

    Typhos had hit Morok hard, but he wasn''t an Awakened and his two wings only had a limited number of feathers for each element. Ekidna had six wings, each one amplifying one specific element and generating a much greater output.

    He fainted before the fourth blow but she kept hitting Morok until Glemos stopped her.

    "What about the woman?" Ekidna asked while cleaning her dress from the blood.

    "Wait here until she is done." Glemos replied while lifting his son with Spirit Magic as well. "If she survives the process, I can use her to understand why humans with six affinities are stable while Formors are not. Your races both evolved from primates, after all."

    Ekidna unconsciously touched the Harmonizer at her neck, looking at Friya with envy. Glemos didn''t miss the gesture, but the feelings of his specimens didn''t matter to him, only their usefulness.

    ***

    Between their innate recovery abilities and the presence of the mana geyser, Lith and the other Awakened recovered just a few hourster despite the severity of their injuries. Friya was still unconscious due to exhaustion but was otherwise as fit as a fiddle.

    Nalrond, instead, was in dire need of food. His body had self-digested to heal the wounds and kept doing it in order to survive. Without nutrients, healing made him weaker instead of stronger.

    <i>''I wish Quy had shared with us her Injection spell.''</i> Solus was free to move but there was little she could do without the risk of alerting the Tyrant.

    Glemos had shown to have keen senses even in the mines, surrounded by world energy. Activating the dimensional pocket or casting any spell without a precise idea of how to escape his detection would have been suicidal.

    The Tyrant had brought his prisoners into an upper floor, where no crystal grew and aplex set of arrays drained the energying from the geyser, using it to fuel theb he had set up.

    Thanks to the magical formations, Solus''s mana sense worked again but so did Life Vision and whatever finer mystical sense Glemos might possess.

    Lith and the others were chained to the wall with the Council''s upgraded version of Odi restraints. The shackles attuned with the life force of their wearer and blocked every attempt to use magic or even bloodline abilities.

    Solus could have easily opened them, but she still had to find an answer to the question: then what? While herpanions were unconscious, she had watched Glemos examining them one by one with his breathing technique.

    He had taken a lot of notes, especially about Lith and Friya. After every session, he moved to Ekidna and the stretcher where Moroky, to try and spot the differences with the previous specimens.

    Solus had been busy leaving Lith''s side whenever Glemos closed in to avoid the effects of his breathing technique while also formting a n to escape. She now had dozens of them, but none would work in the presence of the Tyrant.

    <i>''When the heck does he leave?''</i> She thought in frustration. <i>''This is the perfect ce to Spirit Warp us away, but Domination would burst my Gate and alone I''m no match for him, not even with the Hands of Menadion. I need a diversion.''</i>

    About two hours after their capture, Morok stirred on the stretcher.

    "You are finally up, son." Glemos said. "I have prepared a good meal for you. You need strength for the next set of experiments."

    The voice of his father jogged Morok''s memory from its stupor, making him jump up while recalling his twin battle hammers, Grimnir, to his hands.

    "Do we really need to waste more time like this?" Glemos didn''t even turn around and kept setting the table.

    A square oakwood tabley in the farthest corner from the prisoners. It was covered by a white linen tablecloth, with gold-veined porcin tes at three of its four ends. A line of fine silverware was arranged on either side of the tes over napkins shaped like crowns.

    Morok noticed that his wounds had been healed, his hammers had self-repaired unhindered, and that his stomach was empty.

    <i>''There''s no point fighting now.''</i> He looked at hispanions, d to notice they seemed to be fine. <i>''I''d better regain my strength and listen to whatever my father has to say. With a bit of luck, I can exploit whatever he is plotting to get us out of here.''</i>

    "Excellent choice." Glemos nodded, gesturing to Morok and Ekidna to join him at the table. "We should have had this talk right after your Awakening, but that brutish Drake kept you away from me.

    "I can''t wait for the moment when the Council puts Ajatar to trial and executes him."

    "Why should they do that?" Morok wanted to snarl, but his te was suddenly filled with a steaming stew of freshly cut vegetables and prime cuts of meat whose scent made his mouth water.

    "Because I meddled with more than just one of the unproductive mines in his turf and I left more than enough proof to frame Ajatar for the practice of Forbidden Magic." Glemos grinned at the thought of the Drake chained like the beast he was.

    "It was you?" Morok dropped his spoon in surprise, but Glemos caught it with Spirit Magic before it sshed in the stew and dirtied the table.

    "Of course it was me. I needed Ajatar to be so busy that he would send you out. It was the only way to have our conversation away from prying ears. On top of that, performing my experiments on the turf of someone else gives me usible deniability when they get discovered.

    "People like Ajatar and Faluel will have a lot to exin once we are done here. When the Council is done with the investigations, they will be considered either ipetent fools or ruthless criminals.

    "Best case scenario, they lose their status of Regional Lord. Worst case scenario, their lives."

    Morok wanted nothing but to jump at his father''s neck and choke the life out of him for plotting against two of the best people he knew, yet he gritted his teeth and kept his cool.

    "What are you doing here, exactly?" The empty te of the stew was reced by a steak that Morok cut, wishing it was his father''s heart.

    "That was the next item on the agenda. Exining to you why you were born and making you a part of the opus of your family." Glemos smiled at his son.

    It was the first intelligent question that he had ever asked, making the older Tyrant hope to not havepletely wasted his gic material.

    "You see, Tyrants and Balors are considered to be two different evolutionary branches of the same species of magical beasts, yet the assumption is only partly right."

 Chapter 1740 - Mankindâ€™s Path (Part 2)

    "As you should have probably noticed by now, we both descend from humans just like they descend from primates." Glemos showed his five-fingered hand before waving at Ekidna who kept eating in silence.

    Now that her energy wings had disappeared, aside from her height and her six eyes, she was no different from a human woman.

    "We are not Emperor Beasts but we like to keep it a secret. Aside from Domination, humans have yet to develop any bloodline ability and we have nothing to gain from siding with them.

    "Beasts, instead, have plenty of useful things we can use, like Origin mes."

    Morok dropped his cutlery again but this time Glemos didn''t intervene.

    "Tyrants have spent millennia trying to develop our potential, but in the end, we hit a wall. Our eyes grant to every member of our species a few powers and Dominance over the seven elements without the need to rely on luck at birth, but that''s it.

    "That''s not enough to ovee the huge gap in size with the Emperor Beasts or theck of powerful bloodline abilities. Yet once we put our pride aside, we started working with our lost cousins and the Harmonizer was born.

    "Before their Fall, Balors had a greater physical prowess than us, wings, and bloodline abilities that made up for their small size. After the Harmonizer restores them and grants them a core, they even develop power simr to those of Divine Beasts.

    "My aim is to fuse our two species into one again. That''s why I created you two and why I''m keeping your friends alive." Glemos pointed at the figures chained to the wall.

    "Created?" Morok echoed.

    "Tyrants are naturally stable, perfect Awakened that always develop six elemental eyes that can merge into one to control Spirit Magic." Glemos nodded. "The number of eyes of an unfallen Balor, instead, is fixed at birth and their cores are split between the wings.

    "It makes them incredibly powerful since the wings give them ess to a Domination-like ability that requires no concentration. At the same time, however, it prevents them from refining both their bodies and magical powers.

    "Turning them into Fomors gave them a core and new powers, but no emerald eye."

    "The purpose of my research is to create a new species that will get the best of both worlds. Imagine if you had Ekidna''s six wings, her bloodline abilities, and even a seventh eye always open on your forehead. We would be invincible!

    "I''m convinced that Dominance is but a symptom of a greater power that only the Guardians have partly discovered. Once we perfect it, each one of us will be able to fight on par with Divine Beasts, if not with the Guardians themselves!"

    Glemos voice rose with excitement as he spoke, sending bits of food flying from his fork while he gestured franticly.

    <i>''Can you get me out of here?''</i> Ekidna''s voice resounded in Morok''s head through a mind link she had established by touching his leg from under the table, to not let the frenzied Tyrant notice.

    <i>''Wait, what?''</i>

    <i>''I''m not interested in spending my life trapped in a cave and giving birth to your children. I''m asking you if you have the means to get me out of here.''</i> She replied while never raising her gaze from the food on her te.

    <i>''You beat me to a pulp, captured my friends, and now dare to ask for my help? Besides, you are an Awakened and clearly, you can use Spirit Magic. Nothing stops you from escaping.''</i> Morok drummed his fingers on the table.

    Glemos thought that his son was pondering his words, but the younger Tyrant was actually trying to understand if he could trust the Fomor.

    <i>''Do you think I had a choice?''</i> She replied with a fury that slightly flushed her cheeks even though her expression didn''t change. <i>''I''m not like the others you faced in the cave. Without the Harmonizer they go back being monsters whereas I die!</i>

    <i>''Glemos didn''t Awaken me to make me a favor but to put a leash on my neck. The moment I remove the Harmonizer or get away from the geyser that powers it, my core will be unstable again and blow my body to bits.''</i> Ekidna said.

    <i>''I''ve pandered Glemos'' madness because I hoped that he would find a way to stabilize my body. I''m no Forgemaster. He taught me nothing but basic magic. Even if I rebelled and somehow killed him, I would have been doomed anyway.''</i>

    Morok felt sympathy for her, yet he didn''t tell her that he was no Forgemaster either nor that it would probably take years for anyone but Glemos to find a solution to her problem.

    "What''s your answer?" The silence hadsted too long, making Glemos wonder if his son was actually mulling over his words or if he was just too stupid to understand them.

    "First, you asked no question." Morok replied. "Second, there''s something I still don''t understand. Why do you work for the Undead Courts and the Mad Queen? What do we have to gain from associating with such dangerous organizations?"

    Glemos smiled. The boy wasn''t a lost cause after all.

    "Even as a Regional Lord, I can''t invest all of my resources in the Harmonizer. If I did, I wouldck the equipment and the funds necessary to make the contributions that the Council requires me to keep my role.

    "Every scientist requires a patron and the Undead Courts have been mine for centuries. Their Ghouls allow me to reach the mines and bypass the protective arrays, their thralls deliver me the monsters that I need for my experiments, and their criminal activities provide me with an endless flow of resources.

    "In exchange, all I have to give them is part of what I mine from the other Regional Lords and a few defective versions of the Harmonizer to show them that I keep making progress.

    "My partnership with the Mad Queen is recent, but she''s going to be our best ally. Once she takes the throne, she''ll make me the head of her scientific department and I''ll give her all the information she needs to get rid of the Council.

    "With the resources and the manpower of the entire Kingdom behind me, my research will proceed much faster." Glemos let the information sink in before delivering the final blow.

    "My offer is simple. Join me at the winners'' table or be my newestb rat. I don''t have the time to raise another son and if I mated with Ekidna, the resulting specimens would be of inferior quality." He pointed at Morok''s seven-colored scales that hecked.

    "What about my friends?"

    "From the Tiamat we can learn how to draw out the seventh eye without sacrificing the other six like Tyrants do. We can use the human female to alter Ekidna''s physiology or at least her offspring''s to free them from the need of wearing the Harmonizer.

    "The Rezar is pointless for my research, but I can''t pass on the opportunity to learn Light Mastery. As for the wolf-thingy, he''s really simr to the Hati. The Mad Queen needs the Elder Beasts if she wants to defeat the Council.

    "With an entire race at her service, the war will-" Glemos felt the ripple of a dimensional item opening through his yellow and orange eye, locating its source in Morok''s hand.

 Chapter 1741 - Fusion Mastery (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1741 - Fusion Mastery (Part 1)</h4>

    Glemos'' six eyes opened, attuning to the element that fueled whatever object his traitorous son had taken out in order to neutralize it. Yet his readings came negative and only when an emerald portal opened did Glemos understand what had happened.

    "A Spirit artifact?" Glemos didn''t like using the Tyrannical Eye since it would leave him exposed to elemental magic, but he had no other choice. "Ekidna, restrain the traitor!"

    Yet she remained still, hoping that whoever was about to step through the portal was the answer to her prayers.

    Glemos cursed both her and Morok as he used Domination to close the Warp Steps before it was toote, yet something stopped him.

    "Nice try, sucker." Faluel the Hydra stepped entered the room in her humanoid hybrid form, all of her eyes aze with emerald energy as her Domination countered the Tyrant''s and kept the dimensional tunnel stable.

    She wore the Hands of Menadion on her heads as crowns, with each elemental gem ced on the head of the corresponding color. Faluel used the artifact to boost her innate abilities and neutralize the defensive arrays of theb at the same time.

    "You havee to your death, Hydra. You can''t hold my defenses and fight me at the same time. You may have seven heads, but only one mana flow." Glemos said.

    "You are right. Beating your ass is my job." The human form of Ajatar the Drake appeared right behind her, making the Tyrant''s heart skip a beat at the thought that more reinforcements would follow.

    "Are you insane? If you reveal the existence of Domination to the Council, your species will kill you. Are the lives of a few apprentices worth your own?" Glemos gave up on the Tyrannical Eye, splitting it into six and readying for the battle.

    When the portal closed behind Ajatar, The Tyrant sighed in relief just to furrow his brows in surprise.

    "I haven''t revealed it to the Council, just to a trusted friend." A snap of her fingers opened the shackles that bound Lith and the others. "Only an idiot never shares and only a fool would break into an Awakened''sir alone."

    Glemos ignored the provocation, aware that the Hydra had mentioned his previous defeat at the hands of the Drake just to cloud his judgment.

    "How did you know I was behind this?" He asked.

    "We didn''t." Ajatar replied. "But I found it suspicious that the monsters would make mistakes that allowed us to discover their presence only when I was too busy to personally deal with them.

    "Just like I found it suspicious that you didn''t try to drag me in front of the Council to get your son back. I didn''t Awaken Morok anding from your bloodline, you had solid arguments to be his new mentor, yet you didn''t do anything.

    "It was almost as if you wanted to stay away from your son so that in case something happened to him, no one would have suspected you. I had no reason to assume your involvement in the monster incursions but I knew you were scheming something to get to him.

    "That''s why I gave Morok a Spirit Warp terminal."

    "I underestimated you, lizard." Glemos'' eyes shone, activating the full force of the arrays while readying himself to take control of any spell that Ajatar may throw at him.

    Faluel beat him to the punch, conjuring six elemental sealing arrays that surrounded the room, turning off Glemos'' magical formations within them. The Tyrant then used Domination to remove the interference of her arrays, but the Hydra countered it with her own.

    Yet Glemos could fully focus on Domination whereas she also had to deal with aplex set of powerful arrays fueled by the mana geyser below. Even with her seven heads and the Hands of Menadion supporting her bright violet mana core, there was only so much she could do.

    Ekidna could feel the tides of the battles through her wings and jumped at Glemos to help those she assumed were her rescuers. The Tyrant reacted by releasing an emerald pulse from his palm that sent her crashing against the wall with a broken spine.

    "Stupid kid. As long as we are surrounded by elemental sealing arrays, your feathers are good only to stuff pillows and your eyes are but a mere decoration. Without them, you are no stronger than a regr Awakened." He said while increasing the pressure on the Hydra.

    "Thanks for the help, kid, but this isn''t your fight." Faluel said while her knees buckled up.

    "It''s mine!" Ajatar bolted forward, his body infused with the full power of elemental fusion.

    His form shifted from human to that of a hybrid covered in sapphire-blue scales, with a white horning out right above the slits of his nose, and razor-sharp ws that shed at Glemos.

    The Drake''s mass was much greater than the Tyrant''s, but while the former wasn''t used to a humanoid body, thetter had spent centuries learning how to deal with bigger and stronger opponents.

    He moved his six eyes to his chest to keep using Domination against Faluel while also keeping himself ready to form the Tyrannical Eye. The Drake had cast several tier five Spirit spells, yet he couldn''t risk gifting them to the Tyrant.

    Ajatar had the advantage of his superior mass and physical prowess while Glemos was weaker, but he could still use magic freely topensate for his shorings.

    The Tyrant sidestepped the attack, grabbing Ajatar''s hand and exploiting his momentum to m the humanoid Drake against the wall with thebined force of both Emperor Beasts.

    A green st from Glemos'' right hand hit Ajatar at the moment of the impact against the rock, doubling the damage.

    Ajatar was still dazed when an emerald flow wrapped around Glemos'' arm, turning the limb into a drill as hard as diamond that struck at the exposed space between the scales on the Drake''s neck with surgical precision.

    Morok and Ekidna gasped in horror as the Tyrant''s arm disappeared up to the elbow into Ajatar''s body, sending blood spurting throughout the room.

    Glemos screamed in triumph until he noticed that the blood was his own and that his arm hadn''t pierced through the Drake. It had shattered along with the Spirit Spell so quickly that he didn''t have the time to feel pain.

    "Since you trusted me enough to show me the secret of your bloodline, Faluel, I''ll show you the technique that the Father of all Dragons left to his firstborns, the Drakes." Ajatar said.

    "Gravity fusion doesn''t just make us lighter or heavier, it can also alter our density, like this." The energy of the six elements coursed through his body, turning his scales white.

    Ajatar then performed a simple right cross that Glemos had no trouble dodging. When he tried to redirect the power of the attack again, he felt like he was trying to uproot a mountain.

    The friction upon contact was enough to set Glemos'' clothes aze and to break his left arm as well, forcing him to step away. The Tyrant unleashed a barrage of emerald projectiles while he used Spirit Magic to mend his wounds.

    The spirit spell hit the Drake, but his skin was so dense that the bullets shattered into colored sparkles without dealing him any damage.

 Chapter 1742 - Fusion Mastery (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1742 - Fusion Mastery (Part 2)</h4>

    Glemos snarled, forming the Tyrannical Eye and producing a concentrated beam of Spirit Magic that could pierce even through a creature the size of a Dragon.

    "I would like to show you the effects of Dimensional Fusion as well, but the sealing arrays force me to move straight to Spirit Fusion!" Ajatar dodged the iing attack by turning into a mass of emerald energy that swirled around the Spirit Pir.

    In that form, the Drake''s body wasprised of pure mana that he used to be a living spell. Ajatar had no Domination, but he was now one with his Spirit Magic, making it impervious to Glemos'' control.

    First, he took the form of the tier five spirit spell, Rainstorm, forming a storm of emerald lightning that bypassed the Tyrant''s protection by drenching him in water and cut his body with darkness-infused stone spikes.

    Light constantly healed Glemos'' wounds, sapping his strength, while fire turned part of the rain into steam that burned his throat and lungs, sealing his breathing technique.

    Then, Ajatar turned into Starfall and generated a hail of small green meteors imbued with the power of all elements.

    Air gave them speed, light made them as hard as diamonds while earth gave them physical mass thatbined with gravity fusion gave to each fragment of the Drake''s body the energy of a rocket.

    Fire made the meteors detonate, water made the fragments seep through Glemos'' armor, carrying the darkness along that burned at his skin like an acid.

    The Tyrant Spirit Blinked nearby his rebellious son to use him as a meat shield, but the meteors Blinked as well, swarming him from all sides and erecting a protective wall around Morok.

    Then, Ajatar''s energy form turned into an emerald waterfallposed of drop-sized des that drowned the Tyrant. Instead of flowing onto the ground, after hitting its target the water circled back to the top of the cave and started the attack anew.

    The des then turned into a fire tornado, with no pause in between the tier five Spirit Spells. Thanks to Spirit Fusion, Ajatar was a living mass of mana that had no need to weave spells.

    He just had to think about a specific shape and a particr effect that he wanted the elements to exert to make it happen. In that form, all of his spells were instant and flowed one into another with the speed of thought.

    Glemos used body casting to conjure as many Spirit Shields as he could, but between the initial damage that his body had suffered and the unknown technique that Ajatar employed, his body was quickly ripped to shreds.

    Glemos was used to subduing weaker opponents with the power of his core and killing those with a greater mass than him bybining redirection techniques with Domination.

    Together they allowed him to turn the physical and magical power of his enemies, even their bloodline abilities, against them.

    Yet Ajatar''s core was as powerful as Glemos'' and in that energy form, the Drake had no weak point that the Tyrant could exploit.

    Glemos died cursing the unfairness of fate that had bestowed upon the descendants of the Guardians almighty bloodline skills and nothing to the rest of Mogar.

    Little did he know that Spirit Fusion could be learned by anyone and that it was far from being wless. In that form, Ajatar took damage when hit by an attack or defensive spell, when hitting the enemy, and even when he collided with the dust floating in the air.

    Sure, once his body became a living mass of destructive energy his spellcasting time neared zero and he became capable of nigh-instantly adapting to any strategy his enemy employed, but it also meant that with every speck of Spirit Magic he consumed he would also lose part of his mass.

    To make matters worse, in that form an Awakened couldn''t stimte their core to produce more energy nor use any form of magic besides Spirit Magic. Last, but not least, a great part of the energy produced by converting his mass was retained to keep his mind working and to have a bare minimum body to return to.

    It made the process highly inefficient but without such a precaution, Spirit Fusion would have just produced an enormous st that would have killed enemies and friends along with the caster.

    When the Drake returned to his physical form, he was starving. He had lost so much of his body mass that it would take him a few days and several cows to recover.

    Yet all that Morok and the others saw was the triumphant return of the lesser Dragon.

    All of his wounds had disappeared and Ajatar''s breath was normal. There was no sign of fatigue from the battle, making his victory look overwhelming.

    "That was so cool, master Ajatar." Morok said. "I knew that I did the right thing choosing a love guru as my mentor. When are you going to teach me all the fusion stuff from gravity to Spirit?"

    "How dare you belittle my work? I''m much more than a collection of dating advice!" The Drake said in outrage.

    "Maybe, but until now I stuck with you mostly because of your experience with women. After seeing you fight, you''ve gained a whole new level of respect from me." Morok gave him a polite bow.

    "Kids." Ajatar sighed. "Always putting brawn before brains."

    "What about your teachings?" Morok insisted.

    "Yeah, what about that sharing we mentioned before." Faluel said while checking on her disciples'' condition.

    "That will be a fat no to both of you. I''ll pass down those techniques to my heir and to those among my bloodline that I deem worthy." The Drake said, making them groan. "I like you kid, but you are not heir material.

    "As for you Faluel, you''ve shown me yours and I''ve shown you mine. We''re even."

    "I could teach you Domination." She replied.

    "Nice try. Fusion Mastery has no perquisites whereas I bet that Domination depends on stuff like the number of eyes, heads, or streaks." Ajatar pointed at Friya, Morok, and Faluel. "I only have blue streaks so Domination is useless to me."

    Lith ignored the whole debate, rushing to the pile ofb notes that thete Glemos had written after examining the group.

    ''I have little interest in Fusion Mastery while Glemos'' hypothesis about Domination being the key to ess powers like Doom Tide or Life Maelstrom is too good to ignore.'' He thought.

    ''I think it''s pretty farfetched.'' Solus replied. ''Those abilities require mana organs that very few have. I find it unbelievable that species like Tyrants and Hydras never unlocked a single Divine Beast''s power after practicing Domination for millennia.''

    ''What about Ekidna, then? She used all of those abilities and even one we never saw before based on earth magic.'' Lith asked.

    ''That''s because she is a Balor who developed a mana core thanks to the Harmonizer and who also evolved thanks to Glemos'' experiments. She is an artificial species with unknown potential.

    ''It''s the reason Glemos wanted her to mate with Morok. To pass those abilities unto their offspring and create the perfect fusion between Balors and Tyrants¡­'' Solus put all the papers inside Soluspedia to prove her theory.

 Chapter 1743 - Dragon Greed (Part 1)

    After reading them, Lith discovered that all of Glemos'' notes about him and Friya only drewparisons respectively with Morok and Ekidna.

    Thete Tyrant had focused solely on what allowed the Tiamat''s seventh eye to manifest and on how Friya''s life force harmonized with the six elemental energies without bing unstable.

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ekidna ignored those idle chatter about sharing secret abilities and hugged Morok with joy, burying his head in her bosom the moment her wounds healed.

    With Glemos'' death, the elemental sealing arrays were gone and Ekidna had used her silver wing to mend her broken spine.

    "You really saved me and now I''m free! Which one of you knows how to stabilize a mana core?" She shifted her gaze from Faluel to Ajatar, feeling they were the most powerful in the room.

    "Slow down, kid. I don''t know what you are talking about." The Hydra looked at the Fomor with suspicion, noticing her resemnce with the reverted Balors she had seen from Lith''s and Quy''s holograms.

    "Didn''t you call them to help me?" She pushed the much shorter Morok away to look him in the eyes.

    <i>''Oh, crap shepletely misunderstood the situation. Brain, how do I get out of this situation?''</i> He thought, his face still flushed in arousal.

    The voice in his head replied with horny gibberish as Morok stared at her with a dumb look on his face.

    "I never said that I would." The Tyrant said.

    ording to Master Ajatar, the best thing to do when a woman put him up against the wall was to tell the truth.

    "They are our masters and havee to rescue us not you."

    Ekidna took a few steps back as her joy was reced by the frightened look of a cornered animal.

    "Don''t worry, kid. We won''t hurt you unless you give us a good reason to. Now, I need an exnation." Ajatar projected a mind link that allowed the members of the group to share the events in the crystal mine.

    "Those Harmonizers are amazing! In the wrong hands, they might do a lot of damage, but their ability to refine crystals and metals alone is worth the risk." Dragon greed shone in Faluel''s eyes, making Ekidna''s fear turn into terror.

    "Agreed." Ajatar nodded, his eyes burning with desire as well. "We just have to keep this knowledge to ourselves. The Council did nothing to help us so they have no right to benefit from our hard work."

    <i>''What hard work?''</i> The Fomor thought.<i> ''It was Glemos who created them and my people who had to undergo his cruel experiments to perfect them. They call us monsters, but we feel pain and grief just like anyone else.''</i>

    "On top of that, if too many people know about the Harmonizers, we could easily have a second Glemos, if not more. What we have discovered must not get out of this room." The Drake''s words sounded wise to the Awakened and like a convenient excuse to Ekidna.

    "Did you collect a few samples?" Faluel asked, and when her apprentices nodded, she had them hand her the Harmonizers one at a time.

    Glemos'' double imprint technique allowed him to destroy the metal cors at any moment by activating the only spell in the artifact that carried his energy signature and to make the Harmonizers self-destruct in the event both imprints were removed.

    Like most mages, thete Tyrant was an egotistical, paranoid creature scared of the thought that his research might be stolen and with no interest in sharing it with others.

    Just as his dimensional ring had self-destructed upon Glemos'' death so the now masterless Harmonizers went haywire the moment they were taken out of the dimensional space they had been stored in.

    Faluel used the Forgemastering spell that she had created for the asion, but Glemos had been a Forgemaster as well.

    Her Stasis Field couldn''t seep inside the multiyered enchantments fast enough to stop them from copsing all at once the moment that theck of imprint triggered the self-destruction process.

    "Shit! Ajatar, give me a hand with the next." The first Harmonizer crumbled from the inside, turning into a pile of cracked bits held together by the Hydra''s spell.

    The Drake had already used Invigoration, but it wasn''t enough. He had to drink several tonics to recover the focus he needed to help her. Together they cast the stasis field respectively from the inside and the outside at the same time, yet the final result didn''t change.

    "Dammit! What if we bring the Harmonizers back to ourirs and establish a stasis array?" Ajatar asked.

    "It would be pointless. The stasis would block the self-destructing spell along with or Forgemastering spells. My n was to use the stasis to keep the Harmonizers from falling apart and then use my breathing technique to study them." Faluel replied.

    "I see the problem now." The Drake nodded. "A stasis field would paralyze us as well."

    While the two lesser Dragons debated how to treat thest two Harmonizers left, the rest of the group kept their weapons at hand without never averting their gaze from Ekidna.

    To them, she was just Glemos'' aplice and they hadn''t forgotten her contribution in their capture. The Fomor felt Mogar crumbling under her feet. She was now surrounded by enemies and her only hope to achieve a stable core had died with Glemos.

    Silent tears streaked down her eyes as she realized that everything was lost.

    "Don''t worry. Master Ajatar is a great guy. I''m sure that he''ll find a way to help you." Morok patted her arm. He was the only one to know her circumstances and tried to console her.

    "Help me?" The physical contact snapped her out of it, turning her despair into blind fury. "I know Dragons, they are creatures of greed. Those two don''t give a damn about me, they only care about the profits they can make."

    "Well, yes but-"

    "They didn''t bother asking me one single question." Ekidna cut him short. "They don''t care about my core, only about this thing around my neck. Even if they manage to recreate Harmonizers, they will either keep me a prisoner or kill me. They are even worse than Glemos!"

    "Cut them some ck, okay? The only thing they know about you is that you helped my father with his ns. On top of that, monsters don''t have a good reputation. They will keep you a prisoner only until they are sure that you''re not a threat."

    Hearing his beloved teacher beingpared to his father made any trace ofpassion disappear from Morok''s voice.

    "And how long would that be? Months? Years? Decades? All the while they study my abilities with some self-righteous justification. How are they different from Glemos, exactly?"

    "Calm down, we can work on two subjects at the same time." Faluel said after losing the third Harmonizer and hearing the quarrel.

    "That''s the problem. You keep talking about me like I''m a thing whereas I''m a person!" Ekidnashed out. "I endured Glemos'' experiments in the hope to be free and because they would benefit my entire race.

    "I won''t stand being at your mercy just to survive. I''d rather die than spend my whole life as a ve.." Ekidna needed but a thought to release the Harmonizer on her neck.

 Chapter 1744 - Dragon Greed (Part 2)

    Faluel and Ajatar used tendrils of Spirit Magic to lock it again, yet the moment the delicate bnce that kept the Fomor''s body together faltered, both Ekidna and the Harmonizer exploded.

    Blood, guts, and metal shards filled the room along with the multi-colored sparks that until a second ago had been her mana core.

    "What? Why did she do that? We needed her as much as she needed us." Faluel was bbergasted.

    "What do you mean why? I told you her story! Calling her a subject was something so insensitive that not even I would have done it." Morok said in outrage.

    Even though he had known her briefly, he was aware that the Fomor had lived the same life that he would have if Glemos didn''t abandon him as a kid. After his father''s death, Ekidna was the closest thing to a rtive he had left.

    "At least I didn''t call her a monster." Faluel replied with a sneer.

    Morok was about to answer that it wasn''t an insult, just how the Balor''s race was called when he realized how Ekidna must have felt being called that way by the only person she still trusted.

    <i>''We should have helped her. Ekidna was no different from me, just less lucky. If I ended up in the hands of someone like Glemos or Xedros and after killing them you treated me like we did to her, I would have taken my life as well.''</i> Solus said, making Lith feel no better than Morok.

    <i>''That''s not true. There was no proof her version of the facts wasn''t just a sob story while you could have fused our minds to prove your good faith.''</i> He replied.

    <i>''I would have never let one of you imprint me because it would have meant bing a ve again.''</i> She shook her head.<i> ''Let''s get out of here, please.''</i>

    Meanwhile, the argument between Morok and Faluel hade to an end.

    "Gods, I hate it when Dragon blood turns us into insensitive jerks." The Hydra said. "That poor girl was just a victim, yet I was too blinded by the prize in front of my eyes to give a damn about her."

    "You and me both." Ajatar replied. "What''s done is done. Let''s save thest Harmonizer for when we have devised a better spell. Also, we''d better check your mine before leaving.

    "ording to the early report, Glemos had put Harmonizers around the crystals and there''s no telling what their destruction might have caused."

    After cleaning themselves from the remains of the Fomor, Faluel and the others returned to the corridor where the fight had taken ce. As Ajatar had predicted, Glemos'' demise had triggered the self-destruction of all the Harmonizers.

    Without them, the small red mana crystals that were growing in the already mined areas had exploded as well, leaving arge part of the mine barren.

    On the other hand, however, the remaining crystals were still either violet or white. The destruction of the artifact had inflicted them minimal damage that would self-repair thanks to the abundant energy from the mana geyser.

    Also, based on Locrias'' description of the ce where the Fomors had Warped Glemos'' share of the mined crystals, Faluel was capable of retrieving it.

    "My gains are way inferior to my losses but it''s still better than nothing." Faluel sighed. "Let''s get back home. We all need some time to think."

    Morok would have liked to joke that at least he had gotten rid of his father and could now go out with Quy without the worry of Glemos trying to capture him, but his heart was still heavy.

    <i>''Even though he was a jerk, Glemos was still my dad. I wanted him out of my life, not dead. Also, now I''ll never know what he did to me and what the heck the voice inside my head? is. Brain?''</i> He asked, yet this time no reply came.

    The group reached the upper corridors in a few minutes by flight and then Warped directly inside the Hydra''sir. Ajatar and Morok left immediately while Friya and Nalrond first had to return to Lith the equipment they had borrowed.

    "I can''t get the image of the exploding Fomor out of my head." Friya said while handing him Thundercrash. "She just wanted to live, yet we treated her like a bloodthirsty monster."

    "That''s because all the other Balors we met tried to kill us." Nalrond replied, returning Sunder and the Adamant Scalewalker armor. "As Lith said, we had no way to be sure that her sob story wasn''t just a trick to gain our sympathy and jump the bandwagon the moment the tables turned.

    "I feel bad for her as well, but I don''t feel responsible for her choice. In her shoes, even if we acted friendly, the moment I learned that I would have been forced to spend decades alone in the mines, I would havemitted suicide anyway.

    "Being thest member of your species is already hard. Not having any freedom or hope would have just been too much. I speak from experience."

    "Thanks. Listen, about our date-"

    "I''m sorry for what I said on the spur of the moment." The Rezar cut her short. "Let''s pretend it never happened."

    "I was saying, give me a couple of days because I''m not in the mood now." Friya said.

    "Wait, you were serious?" Nalrond was happy that the thick yellow scales that covered his body kept her from seeing how shocked he was.

    "You can bet your scaly ass I was. Call me." She waved goodbye to the others before Warping away.

    "Oh, shit!" The Rezar turned around, d that Morok had already left and that Lith was still there. "I have no clue where to take her nor how to not make a fool out of myself. What do you say about a double date?"

    "That it''s the worst idea ever." Faluel replied. "You two have already known each other for quite a while. You don''t need to break the ice, only to see whether you can be more than friends or not.

    "I doubt that either of you would manage to open up in front of your esteemed teacher."

    "Damn, you are right. Lith, can you give me some advice?"

    "Not now. I need to unwind." Not wanting to be dragged into someone else''s personal mess, he Warped back to the Trawn woods to set up the tower while Solus''s words still echoed in his head.

    She felt his distress and turned into her human form.

    "I wasn''t ming you for what happened, I was just sad for Ekidna."

    "I know, Solus." He ruffled her hair. "The problem is that I feel sad as well and our bond is creating a loop that I''m afraid will make us both depressed."

    "I can stay in the tower." Solus shrugged. "A bit of distance will help us to sort out our feelings."

    "And leave you alone while I''m surrounded by the warmth of our family? Not even I am that big of a jerk." Lith hugged her, to let her know how important she was to him. "Let''s go home. It''s better to be miserable together than happy alone."

    "I couldn''t agree more.." Solus returned the embrace, d for those words.

 Chapter 1745 - Unknown Threat (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1745 - Unknown Threat (Part 1)</h4>

    Over a mana geyser in an isted area of the Distar Region, Golden Griffon academy.

    Unlike her so-called ally, the Dead King of the Undead Courts, Thrud had trustworthy Awakened at her service. The moment Orpal shared with his associates the secret of Awakening they would abandon him whereas the members of her army shared her dream.

    She had sent Protheus instead of a Skinwalker not because she was afraid of their potential like Lekha had said, but to keep an eye on her investment without endangering the life of any of her followers.

    She didn''t Awaken the Hati or the Traughen because they would have ended up like Ekidna, forever trapped on a mana geyser. This way, instead, they could freely remove the Harmonizer and simply go back to their fallen state.

    It wasn''t pleasant, but it beat the alternative.

    "What do you think of this project?" She asked after Glemos'' death had caused the destruction of all the Harmonizers in her possession.

    The Tyrant had given his allies old models that were not only less efficient, but that would also crumble when examined with Invigoration. There was no honor among thieves.

    "I examined the real Harmonizers worn by the Fomors by using your Forgemastering spells while I pretended to mine for crystals, mother. Glemos never thought that you would trust me with Spirit Magic or your personal spells so he never suspected a thing." Protheus shared his findings with her via a mind link.

    "My personal opinion is that Glemos'' idea can work, but it will take centuries at best toplete it. Investing your resources in the Harmonizers now would just be a waste of time. They will never be ready in time for the war."

    "My thoughts exactly." Thrud nodded, using water magic to write on a parchment everything they knew about the artifact. "Yet once I take the throne, just using them to expedite the formation of mana crystals and magic metals will make the Kingdom unstoppable."

    "With an army equipped only with Davross and white crystals, the other countries will kneel before you, mother." Protheus said.

    "That''s far in the future. I''m more worried about the present. What about Verhen?" She asked.

    "He''s indeed powerful and has a talent for meddling in your affairs, but he''s nothing much." The First Doppelganger snarled at the memory of his defeat. "I''ve collected enough of his body to mimic and study it."

    "Good thinking. The more we know the less of a threat Verhen will be. Show me this so-called Tiamat." Thrud said.

    Protheus recalled the bits of Lith''s skin that he had stored during the fight and ck veins bulged out of his body. They spread like fire, burning everything in their wake and making the Doppelganger scream in pain.

    The veins reached Protheus'' face, forcing it to turn into a ck te with seven white eyes and a mouth filled with teeth that was curled up into a cruel smile.

    "I see you." The ck thing inside Protheus had a voice that sounded like the wind howling inside an abyss.

    It stared at the Mad Queen''s as it consumed the Doppelganger, eating at it from the inside.

    "Dammit, Protheus. I told you never to underestimate an enemy." A snap of her fingers released a silver bolt of Life Maelstrom that burned the ck matter before it couldpletely swallow its prey.

    A lot of meat and a few breaths of Invigorationter, Protheus was alive but far from well. He had experienced what he usually inflicted upon others and found it terrifying.

    "I hate to admit it, but Orpal is right. Lith is too dangerous to be left alive." Thrud said while covering her foster son with a nket and embracing him as he shivered from head to toe. "Give him everything he needs for his n."

    ***

    Lith and Solus were still embracing each other when images of Thrud and an odd throne room shed in front of their eyes. After trying and failing to find a reasonable exnation for the phenomenon, they med it on the stress from Ekidna''s death and the impending war.

    "We''d better go home. The tower is reinforcing our emotional loop to the point that we are hallucinating." Lith said while opening a Gate.

    "Agreed. I''ll go first." Solus could recall words, but not make sense out of them.

    "Solus is that you?" A familiar voice asked the moment she walked through the dimensional door.

    "Kami?" Solus replied, shocked at the sight of Lith''s ex-girlfriend sitting in front of the firece with Elina while the kids sat on theirps.

    "Kami?" She echoed, shocked by hearing such an intimate monikering from a person she barely knew.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to get too familiar. It''s just that Lith and I are linked and he still calls you like that." Solus replied in a hurry.

    "He does?" Months had passed since their break up so the news shocked Kam but also brought a small smile to her face.

    "Kami?" Lith arrived the moment the tower shrank to the size of a ring and slipped onto his finger. He didn''t care sounding like a broken record as long as he managed to not make that situation even more awkward.

    "Are you alright? Did something happen to you or Zinya?" He realized how dumb those words were the moment he said them.

    With Zogar Vastor as their healer and his Organization of Abomination hybrids to protect them, there was little that could threaten their safety.

    "I''m alright and so are Zinya and the kids." Kam said, having a hard time taking her eyes off the lovely petite woman in front of her. "I came here because Elina told me that you are having trouble dealing with the consequences of Zeska."

    Lith''s mother had actually exaggerated her story to make sure that the two would meet. Elina and Zinya had led Kam to believe that Lith had been physically and emotionally scarred by the fight with Syrook.

    None of it was true, but after Ekidna''s demise, Lith looked exactly as Kam expected him to be.

    "What consequences?" Lith shrugged. "The army didn''t like the Tiamat snatching the Dragon''s corpse but I had warned them that unless they helped me, I would take it. My mission was already over and without me, the regiment would have been wiped out.

    "They should be grateful that my intervention nipped the revolt in the Nestrar region in the bud."

    "I''m not here as a Constable, but as a friend so I don''t care about what the army wants, only about how you feel." Kam could see the pain in his eyes and wrongly assumed that it had to be something serious to havested that long.

    "I could definitely use a friend." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment. "Do you mind if we take a walk? I need some fresh air."

    "Sure." She recognized their code word for something that couldn''t be said in front of the children and stood up after putting Leria down her legs.

    "Are you leaving already, Aunt Kam?" The little girl asked.

    "No, don''t worry. I''lle to say goodbye before leaving." Kam said while caressing her soft blond hair.

    "But we missed you a lot in the Desert and you''ve just arrived.." Aran tugged at Kam''s shirt. "Can''t you at least stay for dinner?"

 Chapter 1746 - Unknown Threat (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1746 - Unknown Threat (Part 2)</h4>

    "Please?" Elina took her hand, making Kam feel cornered.

    She looked at Lith, hoping for a way out.

    "Please?" He rerepeated and his sad eyes became the final nail in the coffin of her determination.

    "I''d love to dine with you. See youter, kids." She walked in front of Solus, extending her a hand. "Nice to meet you in person, Solus. You look great."

    "Thanks, you too." Solus felt the awkwardness in Kam''s voice, yet her grip was firm and so was her gaze.

    For a moment, Solus felt like a boxer studying her opponent on the ring right before the sound of the gong. Then, Kam let go of her hand, put on her coat, and walked out the door quickly followed by Lith.

    She had severalments about how pretty Solus was and even more questions about how her rtionship with Lith had evolved since his so-called partner had regained her human body, but after seeing Lith so glum, Kam put everything aside.

    "How is your work as a Constable going?" He asked.

    "It was already bad when I was Jirni''s assistant, but now that she''s gone on her second honeymoon it''s a nightmare. I''m swamped in so many reports and so much paperwork that I need overtime just to deal with the daily activities.

    "It''s over one week since I haven''t worked in the field but it feels like years. I swear, if Thrud attacks, I''m confident that we can defeat her army simply by drowning them in the paperwork that the war preparations require.

    "They sure work on me." She chuckled while showing Lith the many paper cuts on her fingers. "What about you?"

    "It''s easier if I show you rather than tell you, especially because the members of the Queen''s Corps are around." He said, offering his hand to her.

    "Go for it." The moment Kam touched him, the mind link showed her everything that had happened in Zeska, from Lith''s demoting Pn to the fight with the ck Dragon.

    Kam was terrified seeing the power of the Divine Beast and his Harbinger, seeing not only Lith''s battle, but also Solus''. Witnessing the Void mes and Locrias'' Demon joining the fray made everything even more scary.

    Yet Lith didn''t stop there and also showed her the meeting with Silverwing and the events in Faluel''s mines. He wanted her to realize how deep Thrud''s web of connections was and to get rid of everything left unsaid between them.

    The mind link ended with Ekidna''s death that made Kam cry a bit.

    "Poor girl. She lived all of her life as a ve. I can''t even imagine how she must have felt knowing that her destiny was in the hands of a bunch of strangers who only saw her as an asset. Not even a monster deserves such a cruel fate." She said.

    "I''m supposed to know it better than anyone else since it''s what Solus went through until she was forced to bond with me. What she goes through every time someone like Silverwing discovers the existence of the tower or that I risk my life.

    "Yet I''m such an asshole that when Ekidna died I was only saddened by the loss of the opportunity to study her bloodline abilities. What''s wrong with me?" He asked while looking at Kam in the eyes.

    She pondered those words for a while, questioning herself and the reason she feltpassion for a stranger like the Fomor, and yet she had never shown such consideration for Solus.

    After all, the only difference between Ekidna and Solus was their master.

    "You are not an asshole, you are just human. See?" Kam showed him her hand again and how Lith had instinctively healed her during the mind link. "You are the reason Solus is a happy woman instead of a crazy artifact like Night.

    "You are the reason both our families are happy instead of being trapped by misery. Zinya, Solus, and I will never forget what you have done for us. No one asks you to be perfect so stop beating yourself up."

    "Thanks." Lith nodded, feeling a burden lifting off his chest. "By the way, if Mom didn''t call you, I would have. I really needed to talk with you."

    "I''m d she did. I had no idea how much I needed this talk." Kam said, feeling lighter as well.

    <i>''Even though Elina lied through her teeth.''</i> She actually thought.

    Lith had no idea of the thoughts that were crossing her mind so Kam''s words confused him quite a bit. He was certain that they were having a moment but he couldn''t understand the reason and was afraid of ruining it.

    "Don''t get me wrong, I love having you around, but this is a serious matter that I needed to share with you." Lith said.

    "I know and I''m d you trusted me enough to do it." Kam gave him the first dazzling smile since the day they had broken up, making him feel even more like an idiot for not stopping right there.

    "I''m not talking about Ekidna, but about what the undead said to the Doppelganger while they argued for the crystals." Seeing her smile disappear and turn into a puzzled expression made his stomach twist into a knot.

    Lith took her hand again, reying a short clip of Lekha the Vampire saying:

    "You''ve been sent here solely because your Queen''s precious freaks need a babysitter and because she''s scared of giving a Harmonizer to a Skinwalker.

    "You are nothing but a pale imitation of what they could be if along with their core they regained their mind as well. All they would need would be a bite and you''d have a new Queen without even noticing."

    "Don''t you understand?" Lith said, seeing Kam too calm for someone who had grasped the situation. "Thrud not only has Doppelgangers, but Skinwalkers as well. Which means that creatures capable of mimicking anyone to perfection walk among us, ready to attack when we less expect it."

    "This doesn''t make sense. Skinwalkers are ves to their hunger and are impatient creatures. They could never stick to a n for so long." She replied.

    "Have you forgotten about the ve array that earned me two weeks of quarantine just for being in the Golden Griffon for a few hours? Imagine what it can do on someone trapped there for days." Lith said.

    "Let''s say that you are right." Kam''s mind went to Constable mode, thinking how she would best employ such creatures in Thrud''s shoes. "It would exin why those who opposed the rebellion weren''t executed by the traitors.

    "After being freed, they are treated as heroes and the whole Nestrar region is in their hands. It would also exin why Thrud''s n in Zeska almost seeded despite having involved only two nobles.

    "They were probably aided by the Skinwalkers disguised as guards, nobles, or whatever she needed to get ess to the city armory. Yet there''s something that doesn''t add up.

    "I read your report and I''ve watched Manohar in action. You both examined all those involved and yet you didn''t spot any sign of the ve spell. He is the god of healing and you are an Awakened.. How is that possible?" She asked.

 Chapter 1747: Student And Professor (part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1747: Student And Professor (part 1) </h4>

    "I thought about how could Manohar and I get fooled by the Skinwalkers and I think I know the answer." Lith replied. "You see, the life force is a three-dimensional form of energy, yet when a healer looks at it, they only examine the surface because it''s there that the signs of an illness or of a ve spell can be found.

    "Yet a Skinwalker is different. They rearrange their life force to mimic that of their victim, folding and rearranging it until they match. It means that since their victims have no runes on their life force, the Skinwalkers probably turn their own inside out so that when a healer examines them, they look normal."

    "Good gods! We need to alert the army and have every city official checked again." Kam said.

    "Slow down. I said that I wanted to call you because you are the only army official that knows my secret. I have no way to share this information without arousing a ton of questions I can''t answer." Lith could see the disappointment on her face.

    "I need you as a Constable to bring this matter to the light without my involvement. Do you think you can do it?"

    "I''m a Constable, not a healer. Requesting such a deep scan on trusted members of the Kingdom requires an iron-d reason. What about asking for Vastor''s help?" She replied.

    "The Professor would be in my same spot. Too long has passed since we submitted our reports and without a good reason, we can''t go back-"

    "Hold that thought." Kam pressed her fingers on his lips to shut him up as a detail of the Vampire''s words echoed in her brain.

    The smell of ink mixed with her natural scent froze his mouth along with his body.

    "There''s something even worse than enved imposters running the Kingdom." She turned as pale as a ghost, pressing her palm on his face to not be interrupted by questions. "If you and Manohar failed to discover the Skinwalkers, then there''s no way the Undead Courts did.

    "Then ask yourself, how did Lekha know about the Skinwalkers?" Kam kept her hand in ce until Lith''s eyebrows rose in understanding.

    "Lekha knew because Thrud shared her ns with the Undead Courts and the only reason she did that is that they are working together." They said in unison.

    Lith and Kam kept walking and talking until Elina called them for dinner. They had spent hours trying to find a way to alert the Kingdom of the impending threat, but to no avail.

    Without a source or proof, no one would listen to them and even if they did, without knowing whom to trust, they risked alerting Thrud. They had no idea how close the Mad Queen was topleting her war preparations and without a proper n, they would just help her.

    Revealing the existence of the Skinwalkers while they still had no way to quickly identify them like it happened for the Doppelgangers would have thrown the Kingdom into chaos.

    Fear and paranoia would have driven people apart,promising even the army''s chain ofmand. Mages and soldiers would second-guess every order they received, afraid that theirmanding officer might actually be an imposter.

    If Thrud learned that the army had discovered the presence of her Skinwalkers before they had a spell to identify them, all she had to do to achieve a swift victory was to sacrifice a few of her pawns to fuel the ensuing chaos and strike at the Kingdom while its ranks were divided.

    "I''ll do what I can from the inside. You alert Vastor. He''s supervising the White Griffon''s Light Department in the search for Doppelgangers in the Distar region so maybe he can help." Kam said.

    When they returned home, the kids were ying with Solus. She had to hold the Sage Staff just to keep her body stable, something that Kam didn''t miss. Kam stopped to look at her, finding it amazing that Solus had retained her sanity after being trapped inside a rock for years.

    "Aunt Kami, you are back!" Aran dropped his toys and ran to her, quickly followed by Leria.

    "I''ve never lied to you and I never will." She hugged the kids and then Solus as well when she passed near Kam to reach the table.

    "I never got the opportunity to thank you for keeping Lith alive for all this time. You are an amazing person, Solus, and without you, Mogar would be a darker ce."

    "Thanks, I''ll do my best." Solus was so surprised that she said the first thing that came to her mind, making Kam chuckle.

    The kids were so happy to have what they considered the whole family reunited that they insisted on Kam staying for the night, forcing her to leave only after they fell asleep.

    The following morning Aran, Leria, and Elina nagged at Lith for Kam not being there for breakfast which made him leave for the Desert way sooner than he had nned.

    He had to use the Warp Gate in the barn because Sark''s tribe had moved to a new oasis where Lith had never been.

    He needed Sark to remove the imprint on the equipment he had borrowed and to split everything but Sunder in their basicponents. He wanted to improve the Railgun and the armor while he had yet to finish studying the enchanted ws'' power core.

    "Back already? Don''t tell me that after a little more than one month in the Desert you can''t live without your grandmother?" Sark said, weing him and Solus with open arms.

    The womb of the Overlord was starting to show the first signs of the pregnancy and so was the huge mahogany table that she used as a desk. Usually, it was filled with paperwork, but now it was covered with empty food trays.

    "Yes." He replied a little too quickly to be believable.

    "I knew it!" Sark stomped her foot, causing an earthquake and covering the sky with thunderclouds. "I did all I could for you and yet you visit me only when you need something.

    "Why are you so mean to me?" She started to cry and so did the sky. The usually dry Blood Desert was now facing the first typhoon in over a century.

    ''Oppenheimer almighty! I already have trouble with the mood swings of pregnant women. I have no idea how to deal with a pregnant Guardian.'' Lith thought while bearing the hostile gaze of all those present in the room.

    ''Get a grip or the Desert will not survive your social blunders.'' Solus replied.

    "I''m sorry Grandma. I dide here for your Creation Magic but I brought you gifts." Lith gave her a cheesecake, some doughnuts, and various new vors of ice cream.

    They were actually prototypes of sweets he had made for Solus''s birthday, but he had to go to war with the army he had.

    "How kind and delicious of you. Thank you." Sark now cried with joy and the typhoon turned into a misty spring rain that cleared the sky as soon as she tasted the first doughnut. "Can I have the recipe, please?"

    "Yes." Lith gave her a few papers.. "I still have to perfect them and I''m open to suggestions."

 Chapter 1748 - Student And Professor (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1748 - Student And Professor (Part 2)</h4>

    Sark gestured him to pass her the equipment he wanted to recycle while she wrote a small tome about the different kinds of sweets she wanted to try.

    "Lith Manohar the fourth Verhen, you are a hard man to find." A petnt annoying and yet familiar voice said.

    "I have no middle name and even if I had it, it wouldn''t be Manohar the fourth!" Lith said to his old teacher and sort of friend, Krishna Manohar.

    "I understand that you are upset. No one likes getting fourth ce, but there''s no other choice. The second and the third are already taken respectively by Marth''s first and second born." He replied.

    The god of healing was a man in his early thirties, about 1.74 meters (5''9") tall with ck hair streaked silver. He wore the uniform of the Professors of the White Griffon and had several handcuffs on both his wrists.

    The bloodstains on his face and hands were the proof that whoever had been tasked with keeping him restrained had done their best, yet they had failed nheless.

    "Finding me is easy since you have mymunication rune. How did you get here and what do you need me for?" Lith asked.

    Contrary to his expectations, the usually rude Professor gave Sark a deep bow before answering.

    "Well, yes but technically no. If I called you, they would know where to find me and hunt us both. As for your questions, I got here through the Desert''s Gatework that the Overlord graces me to use and I need you for the most important of tasks!

    "The fate of the Kingdom depends on it." Manohar replied.

    "Wait, if you are on an official mission, then who is after you?" Lith''s mind went to Thrud and her army of Shapeshifters.

    Taking Manohar down would have crippled the Kingdom''s military strength and its ability to counter her army of enved creatures at the same time.

    "The Royal Constables and Marth, who else?" The Mad Professor said like it was an obvious answer.

    "Why would they try and stop you from performing your duty?" The more Lith heard the more his head spun in confusion.

    "You can ask them yourself when we are done with the mission." Manohar took his Forgemastering wand out of his pocket and cast a tier two Spirit Spell that was an enhanced version of Clean te.

    The shackles fell on the ground, their magical imprint jammed and put into stasis, disabling even passive enchantments like tracking spells.

    <i>''What the heck?''</i> Solus thought while wearing the Eyes to better understand the situation. <i>''Didn''t he learn Spirit Magic just a few days ago?''</i>

    <i>''He went from tier zero to tier two without any help.''</i> Lith thought.

    "Remind me to thank Quy. Without this little guy that ignores stuff like arrays and normal means of magical detection, I would have never managed to escape. Menadion must have been a genius almost on par with me." Manohar said, looking at the silvery wand with respect.

    "You never cease to impress me, god of healing." Sark shared their feelings of admiration. "If you ever decide to be a grown-up and leave the Kingdom, there will always be a ce for you here."

    "Thank you, your Highness, but I have no intention to mess with perfection." He gave her a small bow, noticing for the first time the size of her belly.

    "Congrattions are in order." He gave her another bow before shaking Lith''s hand. "I guess now your stay in the Desert makes sense. Have you already thought of a name? Manohar would sound amazing and it fits both boys and girls."

    "It''s not mine!" Lith said while Sarkughed at his flustered face.

    "There''s nothing shameful in a love triangle in your age." Manohar pointed at Solus while admiring the seven streaks in her hair. "Like every great healer, you sure like to expand your horizons. First tall, then medium, now pint-sized."

    "I''m not pint-sized!" Solus replied.

    "And I''m not a runaway!" The Mad Professor said, making Sarkugh harder. "You have the streaks and the temper to be Sylpha''s daughter. Also, you are quite plump and older than Lith. Has she sent you as a honeytrap?"

    "You son of a-" Being called short, old, and fat made Solus jump at his throat.

    "What''s your mission?" The murder attempt would have seeded if Lith hadn''t stepped between them to keep the quarrel from escting.

    "Our mission, to be precise. I''m Vastor''s best man and you are his favorite student so it''s our sacred duty to throw him a bachelor party." Manohar''s solemn tone left Lith stunned for a few seconds until he realized that it wasn''t a joke.

    "Why do you need my help?"

    "Because I have never attended one and I''ve been proven more than once that few people share my idea of a pleasant evening. These are Vastor''s final days as a free man and I want them to be memorable.

    "Also, I''m dying to experience my first bachelor party. For some reason, people never invite me so I''ve decided to throw one myself. Yet I have no clue where to start, that''s why I need the help of a libertine."

    Manohar conjured a hologram of every woman Lith had ever dated on Mogar. The list was creepily precise, except for the final two entrances, Sark and Solus.

    The Overlord of the Desert started to cry fromughter at Lith''s beet-red face while he gritted his teeth and hands. The Mad Professor had added the proverbial insult to the injury of viting his privacy.

    "Let''s get over with this. I''ll meet you back home." Lith handed Solus her stone ring.

    She nodded, pretending to walk outside the tent just to get back in her stone spider form and crawl under Lith''s robe.

    "I''m d you got rid of her." Manohar nodded. "We need to make a stop first and it''s not something I could share with one of your flings."

    <i>''Can I please kick him in the nuts once we are done?''</i> Solus asked.

    <i>''Yes.''</i> Lith replied.

    Manohar moved through the pce with a confidence that made curiosity rece their anger. He had clearly been there many times before, making them wonder why Sark allowed him to use her Gates.

    "These things are great, but they let both sides know who uses them." The god of healing pointed at the Warp Gate as he inputted a set of coordinates. "That''s how I found you and why I always walk to the borders to not leave a trail."

    On the other side of the dimensional corridor, there was a vige of tents much smaller than Sark''s pce. It wasprised of about forty white tents that Lith recognized as human homes and fifteen bigger tents used for the magical beasts that the people of the Desert used as steeds.

    "Wee to the Forgotten Plume tribe." Manohar walked toward the big tent with the g of Sark''s Feather on its top.

    Lith knew Feathers to be powerful mages that Sark used as City Lords.

    "What the heck are you doing, Manohar? I would ask you if you have gone insane for bringing an Archmage of the Kingdom here, but we''ve already established that." The vige Feather said.

    Lith was certain to never have met the man before, yet his face was oddly familiar.

 Chapter 1749 - God Talk (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1749 - God Talk (Part 1)</h4>

    The vige chief was a man in histe thirties, about 1.76 meters (5''9") tall.

    Despite the scorching sun of the Desert, the Feather was quite pale and from his features Lith could tell that he was from the northern part of the Griffon Kingdom, if not from the Gorgon Empire.

    Unlike the other men of the desert, he had no beard and his robe was ck and silver, the same colors as the ck Griffon.

    "I came here to further our pet project. As I told you, we need the help of a true Awakened to understand the phenomenon so I brought one. Lith, this is Ilyum Balkor. Balkor, this is Lith Verhen." Manohar said.

    "What?" Both men said in unison, assuming abat stance.

    <i>''Solus, analysis.''</i>

    <i>''Awakened bright violet core, a body on par with Raagu, but his life force is terribly weak, almost like Nana''s when you first met her.''</i> She replied. <i>''You have no chance taking him head-on, you must avoid direct confrontation and tire him out.''</i>

    Lith studied the opponent better, noticing that Balkor had light blonde hair streaked both in ck and white.

    The former was proof of his affinity for the darkness element whereas thetter was the consequence of him spending most of his life force to create an army of greater undead every year for eleven years straight.

    Balkor recognized in the man in front of him the kid who had contributed to hisst and only failed attack on the Kingdom.

    Lith could finally put a face to the man who had put him through a two days long nightmare that had almost cost him and Protector their life.

    "Uncle Krishna!" A boy about eleven years old ran out of the tent to greet Manohar. "Wee back. Who is your friend?"

    The kid resembled Balkor, but his darker skin showed that his wife belonged to the Desert.

    "If you think that you can hide behind a kid after what you''ve done you are sorely mistak-" Lith choked on his words when Manohar shut his mouth with a hard-light construct.

    "Erak, this is Lith Verhen. Lith, this is Erak." He said with a jovial tone.

    "Ilyum, I told you that I want that man out of our house. What is he doing here?" Eos came out of the tent, quickly followed by a girl, about thirteen years old who wore the deep orange robe of the Desert''s Mage apprentices.

    It was the equivalent of the second year of academy.

    "How can you say that?" Manohar was deeply hurt by those words. ording to his standards, he had always been a perfect guest to her.

    <i>''Calm down.''</i> Solus said the moment she recovered from the surprise. <i>''He''s one of Sark''s Feathers which means Balkor is under her protection. We can''t afford to anger her and you have nothing to gain from this fight.''</i>

    <i>''This is the bastard who almost killed Protector and cost me a big chunk of my life force!''</i> Lith replied in outrage.

    <i>''He also caused the death of countless people, but I guess you don''t care about that part.''</i> She sighed. <i>''Yet Manohar brought us to him and revealed your nature as Awakened. Aren''t you curious about how he knows the term and what are the two of them working on?''</i>

    Only then did the fact that Balkor was a fake Awakened and that Manohar knew about Lith''s secret sink in. His fury faded, reced by the need to know how the Mad Professor had found out and who else knew it.

    <i>''I swear that if it wasn''t for that madman and Grandma, I would-''</i>

    <i>''Fight a violet-cored Awakened in front of his wife and children? To what end, exactly? They are innocents and even if we managed to win, your life force and Protector''s would still be cracked.''</i> Solus forced him to reason.

    Manohar was still holding Lith''s arm and logic told him that beating both of them was impossible.

    "Eos, Eylen, this is Lith Verhen, the rudest Archmage of the Kingdom. Lith, behave."

    "Nice to meet you." Both didn''t miss the hostility in his eyes and treaded carefully. Eos had the kids get back inside the tent before activating a powerful set of arrays that sealed the deal for Lith.

    There was no chance of victory so he rxed his body and stopped casting spells.

    "Are you done with your staring contest? We don''t have all day." Manohar pouted.

    "I''m not letting him near my family. Follow me." Balkor dropped his spells as well and led them to the nearby tent that housed his magicalb.

    Lith had Solus turn the Eyes into contact lenses and scan the area. The ce was filled with marvels of magic that they had never seen before and others that resembled their own prototypes.

    A wave of Balkor''s hand cleared a table from the papers and the sks filled with magical ingredients that covered it, making three ufortable wooden chairs appear. The god of death clearly wanted the meeting to be as short as possible.

    "You know that he isn''t human, correct?" Balkor gestured them to sit down.

    "I don''t see the relevance of your question but yes, I know." Manohar shrugged.

    "You do?" Lith was so shocked that he lost control of Gravity Fusion, smashing the chair under his weight. "When and how?"

    "From the time you got back from Huryole and were quarantined." Manohar replied. "Back then I had already collected enough data to make sense of the Awakening phenomenon so discovering your hybrid nature and the source of your powers was easy."

    "Bullshit!" Balkor said. "I told you about it during our mission against Night. You had no clue about Awakening."

    "That''s how you defeated one of the Horsemen." Lith said in amazement. "You had Balkor''s help."

    "That''s a crude and inurate reconstruction of the events." Manohar said with an indignant tone. "Balkor just exined to me a couple of things I had missed and he yed a minor role in the battle. I did most of the job."

    "That''s not how I remember it. I seem to recall you hiding behind her throne most of the time while your clone and I fought." The god of death said.

    "I don''t give a damn about that!" Lith couldn''t stand them bickering like an old married couple. "How did you find out about my secrets and who have you revealed them to aside from Balkor?"

    "Lith Manohar the fourth Verhen, how dare you think that after fighting so hard to keep my own privacy I would disregard yours? I''ve never told anyone, Balkor here already knew." Manohar said in genuine outrage, for once.

    "As for the how, I examined you for weeks during your imprisonment. If I didn''t discover your second life force along with your abnormal mana flow during all that time, I might as well retire due to senile mediocrity."

    "He is saying the truth." Balkor nodded. "I learned about your status as Awakened and Divine Beast only recently. When you came to the Desert to visit Overlord Sark, she informed her Feathers that you descend from her bloodline.

    "She also ordered us to treat you as royalty and forbade us from asking you anything about Awakening."

    "I see." Lith sighed in relief.

    "That''s why he isn''t going to ask you any question. I am.." Manohar said with a jovial tone.

 Chapter 1750 - God Talk (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1750 - God Talk (Part 2)</h4>

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t help you with that." Lith shook his head. "I''m not going to cross Grandma to help a mass murderer and the Council''s rules would make me responsible for you for the next one hundred years, which-"

    "Is way more than you have left to live, I know." Manohar cut him short. "Let''s keep things simple. I''ll tell you what we know and you''ll tell us if we are missing something, okay?"

    "No." Lith''s voice was reduced to a whisper.

    "Why not? I''m not asking much." The god of healing asked.

    "I mean, no, I have much longer to live. Awakening increases lifespan by about tenfold." Lith replied.

    "I know about that." Manohar shrugged. "Otherwise Balkor would have been dead for years now."

    "He is right." The god of death suddenly looked old and tired. "I had barely five years left to live when I epted Sark''s offer and ording to both her and Manohar, I have now another twenty more left."

    "Twenty? It should be more than forty." Lith was bbergasted.

    "You don''t understand. She didn''t boost a healthy and vigorous life force, but a flickering one. It bought me some time, but the more time passes the weaker I be.

    "I''m already in my twilight years and every effort I make puts a strain on my life force. Imagine me as an over 900 years old Awakened. Just like any old mage, every fight might be myst." Balkor said.

    "The same applies to you, Lith." Manohar said while checking him with his tier five diagnostic spell, Third Eye. "As a kid, you would have lived until fifty at most, but only if you had a quiet life."

    Third Eye was simr to Invigoration, allowing Manohar''s mana to resonate with the patient''s body. By shifting his focus whenever he perceived an anomaly, he would obtain detailed information almost up to the cellr.

    "Instead, you''ve choose to live your life to its fullest, going from one battle to another. With every powerful artifact you create, with every life-or-death battle you endure, you are piling up more fatigue than you can take.

    "Your life force is cracked, which means that a few drops of it slip out with every effort you make. You are indeed a Divine Beast now, but your starting life force was that of a human and the cracks are still there."

    Manohar unraveled Lith''s seemingly human life force, discerning its true shape. It was something so fascinating and unique that the god of healing stopped talking to study it to the best of his abilities.

    "The good news is that I stand corrected. You have a few hundreds of years left to live, but I can''t tell you exactly how many because I''ve never seen anything like this before." Manohar said.

    "The bad news is that I''m positive that your life force has wanedpared to both the time after Balkor''s attack and the quarantine. Did you suffer some major trauma since then?"

    <i>''He''s talking about the time you copsed in Kh after facing the Odi and that time in Jiera due to your Abomination side ravaging your body.''</i> Solus said as she followed Third Eye with Abyssal Gaze and noticed the discolored areas highlighted by the spell.

    "Yes." Lith replied.

    "This is the reason I''m interested in Awakening. I failed to save your wolf friend, to heal your life force back when you were a student, and to destroy those like Night and Dawn who threaten the life of my patients."

    The word failure didn''t belong to Manohar''s vocabry, yet this time he used it without stuttering or shame.

    "I''m not interested in a long life, but I''m tired of losing. If I be an Awakened, I''ll have the power to kill the Horsemen. If I learn how the slowed aging process works, I can find a way to restore the life force of both of you.

    "I consider you two my friends and I don''t want to lose either of you. Ilyum, you are a self-centered asshole, but you are the only person I know as smart as I am. Without you, Mogar would be way less scary, but also very boring."

    "That''s riching from you." Balkor said with a wanly smile.

    "Lith, you are all I ever wanted to be. Someone strong and talented who yet manages to have a normal life without pushing away with your antics everyone you care about. I failed you twice, don''t let me do it for a third time."

    His genuine honesty and care left Lith at a loss for words. He remained silent, pondering what he could and couldn''t say.

    "Even though I may have much less time left than I believed, it''s still too long for me to make an enemy of Grandma and the Council." Lith said. "Yet there are a few things that should help you.

    "First, the source of our magical powers is something called the mana core. The power of a core depends on the quality and quantity of mana it stores. The weakest core is deep red while the strongest is violet, just like it happens for fire."

    Lith raised six fingers, lighting each one of them with a me of a different color.

    "I see. That''s why the color of the manaing out of the eyes of a mage when they are angry is used to estimate their talent." Manohar nodded as he and Balkor lit their eyes with bright violet light.

    "One of the biggest differences between a normal mage and an Awakened, is that an Awakened can develop their core to violet even if they were destined to be stuck at red their whole life." Lith tuned his eyes aze as well, showing deep violet energy with several brighter streaks.

    "That''s how you''ve developed your talents even though you are not a natural like us. Balkor and I reached the bright violet way before twenty." The god of healing said.

    "Yes, but there''s also a catch. An Awakened can''t exceed bright blue unless certain conditions are met. At the same time, anyone who reaches the blue level cannot Awaken without help and those who reach the violet can''t do it at all."

    "What do you mean? I was a bright violet before Awakening and here I am." Balkor said.

    "Sark is a Guardian,mon sense doesn''t apply to her." Lith shook his head. "Just know that an Awakened violet core has its mana spread evenly throughout the body whereas people like Manohar have their manapressed inside their core.

    "Once the Awakening process starts, without the power of a Guardian to contain it, his body would explode." Lith showed them a body refining process going awry through a hologram.

    "The bones, skins, and even the internal organs have to undergo a mutation to withstand such a powerful mana flow. Last, but not least, even if for some reason a violet cored survived the Awaking process, they would be downgraded to bright blue."

    "That''s depressing." Manohar had Lith rey the hologram over and over, making questions and taking notes of the answers.

    "I''m not going to divulge the secret of Awakening nor the method to reach the violet unless you find a way to survive. I''m willing to take calcted risks, not gamble on dumb luck.." Lith said.

 Chapter 1751 - Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1751 - Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Part 1)</h4>

    "That''s fair." Balkor nodded. "Let me tell you a few things, kid. Don''t be too quick to judge me, because I''ve heard a lot of things about you and very few are nice.

    "You have no idea how it feels when your own country betrays you out of petty interests and takes away everything you love."

    "I actually do." Lith thought back at how the legal system had betrayed him, leaving Carl''s death unpunished.

    "I doubt it. Based on what I know about you, in my shoes you wouldn''t have acted any different." Balkor said. "Also, remember that yesterday''s enemy can be today''s friend.

    "Don''t focus too much on the circumstances where you met someone and consider instead how they act once your interests align. Manohar and I fought a lot in the past, yet now we work together on many things. Here, take a look."

    The god of death showed Lith a small cube with a white crystal at its center.

    <i>''By my Mom! That''s a working memory crystal with no cloaking device.''</i> Solus said as the Eyes started to analyze the runic inscriptions.

    "Is that a replica of the Spell Hoarding Cube?" Lith was d to have never mentioned the importance of breathing techniques as Manohar passed the artifact to him.

    "No, that would be beyond even ourbined abilities." Manohar sighed. "Yet while I borrowed it, I managed to study it enough for Zogar to understand the underlying principles of the Cube. Ilyum provided the crystal necessary for it to work and Orion assembled that cheap copy."

    "I call them memory crystals. They are the reason my creatures were so powerful." Balkor used Life Vision to make sure that Lith didn''t cast spells, but he couldn''t spot Abyssal Gaze flowing inside the proto-cube.

    <i>''How is this a cheap copy?''</i> Lith thought while his breathing technique revealed to him aplex power core surrounded by so many mana pathways that they ovepped, forming a sphere.

    On top of that, aside from the parts where the white crystals came out of the cube, every centimeter of its surface was covered in runes, most of which he had never seen before.

    <i>''Solus, is there any chance we can study the proto-cube thoroughly?''</i>

    <i>''No way.''</i> She replied while using her brain, Lith''s, and the tower''s power core as a third processing unit to expedite the scan. <i>''Even the basic activation spell is different from Ayleen''s and to make sense of the rest I need to study it first.</i>

    <i>''The silver lining is that while Ayleen''s golem skeletons were aplex device, the proto-cube is rtively simple and its rune strings are straightforward. If we manage to understand even the basics of the proto-cube, it will save us months of research.</i>

    <i>''We might even start working on building your golem assistants. Buy as much time as you can.''</i>

    As soon as Abyssal Gaze had revealed Lith every detail that Solus could memorize, he returned the pseudo-cube to Balkor. While in the presence of a fake Awakened genius it was better not to be too greedy.

    After all, the Eyes would keep scanning the pseudo-cube undetected as long as the god of death kept it where Lith and Solus could see it.

    "I can understand Vastor but Orion? How did the four of you end up working together? Knowing his loyalty to the Kingdom, I would expect him to attack you on sight." Lith asked while Balkor checked his prototype for any sign of spells or tampering with Life Vision.

    <i>''Weird. I expected Verhen to cast a Forgemastering spell from his palm or at least use a device to study my creation right under my nose. I guess I misjudged him.''</i> The god of death thought.

    "You have your secrets and we have ours." He replied.

    "Then answer me this. Why are you two working for Jirni and what does that thing do?" Lith asked, making Balkor''s jaw drop to the floor.

    "Oh please, Ilyum. He''s not dumb. Lith knows that demon disguised as a woman is the only person that can keep that hothead under control." Manohar shivered at her mention. "Yet I resent your choice of words, Lith. We work with her!"

    <i>''Yeah, right. Because Jirni can surely add much to Forgemastering with her non-existent magical talent. Also, I can see how scared you are of her.''</i> Lith thought, but knowing how prideful the Mad Professor was he remained silent.

    "We havemon enemies that we want to get rid of." Balkor said. "As for the proto-cube, it''s supposed to be a weapon for our magicless contractor but so far is a failure."

    Lith almost couldn''t believe his ears. It had been months since Manohar''s fight against Dawn, yet four of the most brilliant people he had ever met had yet to make an enhanced version of the spell holding rings work.

    <i>''I work alone with Solus and I have no ess to the resources of the Organization or the Royal Forgemasters. How long will it take me to make my golems work?''</i>

    <i>''Don''t be the usual sourpuss.''</i> Solus said.<i> ''We know that Tyris made the Cube so even a very downgraded version of it is still a veryplex tool because anyone must be capable of using it.</i>

    <i>''Your golems, instead, have a much simpler purpose and they''ll answer only to their creator. Also, basing our work on Ayleen''s and the proto-cube will save us a lot of time.''</i>

    "Since we are being honest with each other, there''s something you can help me with, Professor." Lith told Manohar about Thrud''s Skinwalkers and her coboration with the Undead Courts.

    "The problem is that I can''t share any of this information with the Kingdom without revealing my nature as Awakened."

    "Don''t worry, Lith. I''ll handle that." Manohar patted his shoulder. "What the Royals expect from me are results, not exnations. They have given up on that for years now. I''ll just take the credit- I mean say that I''ve discovered the issue on my own.

    "The Royals will take my word at face value and keep you out of it."

    After that, Manohar and Balkor discussed for a while what Lith had shared with them about Awakening, asking for his input every time they formted a theory. He would just reply yes or no to nudge them in the right direction.

    Manohar practiced Spirit Magic with his wand the whole time and his mastery improved at a terrifying speed thanks to Balkor giving him a hint every time he hit a wall.

    Lith waited patiently for them while Solus kept scanning the proto-cube with the Eyes. Even with three brains, they had to take a break from time to time to avoid a memory overload.

    By the time Manohar and Balkor were done, Solus had finished studying the rune sequence necessary to trigger the memory ability of the crystals and to infuse them with willpower.

    <i>''I wish we could do more, but byparing the proto-cube with what we have learned from Ayleen''s skeleton golems we have enough material to work on the first prototype for Trouble and Raptor.''</i> She said.

    "It''s time to decide where to bring Zogar for his bachelor party." Manohar opened a Warp Steps that would lead them to the nearest Gate.. "I''ve never been to brothels so I''m in your care, Lith."

 Chapter 1752 - Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1752 - Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Part 2)</h4>

    "Why do you assume I''m an expert about brothels?" Those words broke Lith''s concentration, increasing Solus''s burden.

    "There''s no need to be modest." The god of healing said. "We need strippers, dancers, and a lot of booze to throw a decent party. Or so I''ve heard, at least. You just point me in the right direction and I''ll do the rest.

    "I''ve already proven to you that I know how to keep a secret so your kinks are safe with me. I''m not one of those White Griffon gossipers who go around saying that you, Nalear, and Wanemyre had a thing that ended badly, leading to her rebellion."

    Yet the long pause that followed as Manohar waited for some juicy details told Lith otherwise.

    "This is going to be a damn long day." He sighed.

    ***

    Lith almost called Tulion, Phloria''s phndering brother, for advice but after calling Vastor to make sure that he agreed with Manohar''s idea for his bachelor party, there was no need to.

    After a heated argument and Vastor swearing upon his name that he would y Manohar alive if Zinya ever heard of it, the two Professors agreed on something less spicy and more friendly.

    "I just want to have fun with my friends, not set the grounds for divorce even before the marriage!" Vastor said. "Just bring me to a ce with good food and drinks as old as I am. But not too much, I need to fit my dress."

    After solving the issue with Manohar, Lith and Solus spent the rest of the day in the tower. They needed time to decipher what they had just learned about memory crystals andpare it with their previous knowledge.

    "We have everything we need to work on the first prototypes, yet after Faluel''s lesson about how to preserve a corpse''s mana channels, I''m having second thoughts." Lith said.

    "We are not creating an undead so Necromancy might lower the quality of the materials and cripple the performance of the golems for good."

    "Agreed, but the Balor and the Vagrash didn''t die of a stroke in their sleep." Solus said. "Their bodies are broken and battered. If not repaired, they might fall apart during the Forgemastering process. Both choices are equally bad."

    "I guess that my best option is to ask the opinion of an expert." Lith sighed.

    They finished working on everything they could on their own before going to Faluel''sir.

    The Hydra was in an excellent mood, humming while theplex spells she weaved moved heavy pieces of metal along the lines of a Forgemastering circle that epassed most of the cave.

    Faluel wore the Hands of Menadion on her human form, using them to channel the world energying from both the arrays in herir and a huge pile of white crystals thaty in the middle of the circle.

    The single pieces came close to each other slowly, assembling together to form what looked like part of an armor.

    "What are you doing?" Solus asked.

    "Crafting myself equipment. I''m testing the Hands'' potential now that I''ve grasped how they work." Faluel replied.

    "Without a mana geyser?" Lith was bbergasted. "You are just wasting a lot of magical metal!"

    "I''m not, silly." She tapped his nose with her gloved hand. "First, that''s just Orichalcum. Not even the richest Dragon is mad enough to use Adamant for a prototype. Second, I Forgemastered every single piece while on top of a mana geyser.

    "Why do you think I''m not using the Mana Well technique?" She pointed at theck of a Forge and a Hammer. "Do you really think I''m that stupid?"

    "Still, it''s a lot of Orichalcum." Solus said. "Also, considering that your best mine has been recently piged, I think it''s unwise to take out so many white crystals. They would have helped new gemstones to germinate more quickly and in the long term they would have made up for your losses."

    "Oh, that''s the best part. The materials don''te from my mines. Do you remember that I told you that Ajatar and I had to face the nt and undead Lord of the Distar region?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "They piged your resources during your absence and you demandedpensation."

    "That and that are part of saidpensation." Faluel waved at both the floating metal and the pile of crystals.

    "That''s why I''m in such a good mood. The Council rewarded me for the information we brought them about Thrud by making those jackasses Jihan and Grenjork pay dearly for their trespassing."

    "How does that Forgemastering circle work?" Lith asked.

    "It''s simr to the process the fake mages used to build your academies." Faluel replied. "I''ve enchanted every single piece with their own pseudo core and now I''m assembling them.

    "This way I''ve reduced the difficulty of the task and I can focus on one pseudo core at a time. As the piecesbine so do the pseudo cores they contain, forming a power core of growingplexity."

    Lith could see with Life Vision how the Forgemastering circle created pathways that connected the enchantments, merging and stabilizing their energy before adding a new piece.

    Faluel''s method limited the energy and focus that matching the pseudo cores required by splitting the task into small steps and giving the power core the time to stabilize before feeding it a new pseudo core.

    "I thought that the trick to make a power core was creating iplete pseudo cores and making them ovep like the pieces of a puzzle." Solus said.

    "That''s the perfect method for a beginner or when you have to create something of a rtively small size." Faluel replied. "When you craft something as big as an academy or the equipment for an Emperor Beast, however, it''s not enough.

    "The energy amplification effect of the magical metals coupled with the massive amount of mana necessary to enchant something that big would be too much even for an Awakened."

    "Why didn''t you teach me about it?" Lith asked.

    "I did. It''s just an enhanced version of what you used to craft the DoLorean, remember?" Faluel chuckled. "This is my personal spell and you have yet to work out how to craft aplex power core for standard equipment.

    "As I said about de Tier spells, you already have too much on your te. Focus on one thing at a time because if you spread your resources too much, you''ll achieve nothing."

    The Hydra snapped her fingers, sealing Lith and Solus in a space that kept them from using their mystical senses or the Eyes to peep at her workings.

    "Tell me the reason you are here and don''t worry about my work. I''m good at multi-tasking."

    Lith exined to her his worries about how to restore the corpses without destroying their magical properties.

    "Why would you do that? It makes no sense." Faluel asked.

    An awkward silence ensued as Lith and Solus pondered how much of their research they should share.

    "This is offensive! You want me to teach you everything you need, to help you devise solutions for your problems, and yet you refuse to share anything with me? If you don''t trust me, stop wasting my time.." The hydra called out their double standards, and realizing she was right really hurt.

 Chapter 1753 - A True Mentor (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1753 - A True Mentor (Part 1)</h4>

    "Fine." Solus told Faluel everything about their ns for semi-sentient golems and using the whole corpses as materials.

    "See? Only an idiot never shares." The Hydra said with a smug grin. "Without this information, I wouldn''t have been able to help you and your golems would have been defective from the start."

    "Do you have the solution?" Lith said.

    "Of course I do. Actually, you had it already. The trick here is to simply mix Infusion and Second Life. A corpse cannot be repaired without Necromancy, but using it would destroy the mana channels.

    "What you have to do is to use Infusion to coat the corpses with a magical metal and to rece the missing parts. Then, use Second Life to make sure that the mana channels in the metal and the corpse match.

    "This way, not only will you repair the damage as you nned, but you will also improve the durability of your golems by expending a little amount of Adamant." Faluel said.

    "This is brilliant! How can I possibly repay you?" Lith asked.

    "I have an idea or two." She giggled. "Once I''m done with the armor I will be done with my backlog and I''ll have worked a serious appetite. Didn''t you ask me out a few days ago?"

    Faluel twirled her hair yet she never stopped assembling her armor. Lith found it equally hot and annoying. He wasn''t used to being the one put second to work.

    "Tonight? How am I supposed to make a reservation to a nice ce on such short notice?"

    "That will not be an issue." Faluel dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. "I don''t want to go to a human restaurant. Their kitchens don''t have enough food for a Hydra and the other customers would look at me like a monster.

    "That''s why I took the liberty to book a table at Haug''s Travelling Tavern on your behalf."

    "At Haug''s?" Solus''s mouth dried up. She had almost forgotten about the date, hoping that neither of them would ever mention it again.

    "Yes, excellent food, goodpany, and alcohol strong enough to make us pleasantly intoxicated. What more could you want?" Faluel shrugged. "The reservation is for eight o''clock so wear something nice and be here at seven and a half sharp. Bye!"

    Another snap of her fingers Warped them outside their.

    "Are you sure you want to go out with Faluel?" Solus tentatively asked. "She may not be our mentor anymore, but things could get awkward between you two."

    "Indeed. I still remember how after Sedra''s death and Kam breaking up with me Faluel said that if we kept drinking, we might have done something that we would have both regretted. Yet now she was pretty specific about the alcohol." Lith nodded.

    "I have no idea if my childbirth control spell works on Emperor Beasts as well because I''ve always dated humans, but asking her about using protection might kill the mood."

    "That''s what you are worried about?" Solus had a hard time not kicking him in the nuts.

    "We are both adults." He shrugged. "I asked her out, she said yes. I trust Faluel enough to know that, as long as I don''t act like a creep, even if the date doesn''t go well we can still be friends.

    "I have no expectation for the night but as a responsible person, I must take into ount all possible scenarios. Mom can say what she wants, I''m not ready for children."

    Solus stared at him nkly, not knowing whether topliment him for his thoughtfulness or to strangle him for hisck of tact towards her.

    "Maybe I should ask Protector. He''s an Emperor Beast as well, after all." Lith mistook her silence for focus, believing that she was pondering the issue as well.

    "Yes, Protector should know best." She said with a deadpan voice.

    ''Let''s hope that he manages to make Lith see reason. I mean, dating a Hydra? What about me?'' She thought.

    "I just add an odd thought about you, Solus." Lith''s words sent her heart in her throat, making her fear that somehow her fury had propelled her inner monologue where he could hear it.

    "What thought?" She swept her hair, trying not to blush.

    "What would happen if you got pregnant?" Solus froze while Lith kept walking. "I mean, now you have a perfect human body, but it disappears every time you get back in the ring. Do you think-"

    "I guess we''ll never know!" She quickly changed her hair to light brown and opened a Warp Step to Selia''s house to put an end to the conversation.

    Lilia and Leran were happy to see Lith while Selia was d to give Fenrir to someone like Solus who wasn''t afraid of ws and fangs. When they arrived, Protector was still repairing the holes that the baby left in the walls whenever she decided to explore the house.

    "A childbirth control spell for Emperor Beasts?" He asked with a puzzled look after Lith mentioned it.

    "Wait, does such a thing really exist?" Selia red at Ryman with such an intensity that no one would have been surprised if his head suddenly exploded.

    "Well, duh! How do you think that Kam and I never had children? I mean, after having Aran, my parents use it as well and so does Rena after the triplets." Lith said.

    "I thought you were just lucky! Or unlucky, based on what you wanted, of course." Selia quickly corrected herself after noticing the kids staring at her. "Who wants some ice cream?"

    The room erupted into cheers, making Lilia and Leran forget about the matter. Having extra sweets was too rare an asion to ruin it with thinking.

    "I want chocte!" Leria said.

    "I want hazelnut!" Leran said.

    "I take mine with-" Protector attempted to say.

    "The only thing you''ll taste is my fist on your face, you farming wolf!" She pulled him down to her eye level by the cor of the shirt.

    Her voice was a low snarl that made Ryman whimper and Lith think that she was the Emperor Beast of the two.

    "I swear that I had no idea such a thing was possible, sweetheart. I didn''t mean to-"

    "Sweetheart my tight ass!" She mmed him against the wall while Lith covered the quarrel with a well-timed animated movie. "What didn''t you mean, exactly? The first time? The second? Or maybe the fourth? We are this close to having a whole pack!"

    "The fourth?" Protector felt his mouth dry as she brought his hand to her womb.

    "Congrattions. ording to Faluel it''s a boy." Her voice and re made it sound like a threat. "Good news, kids. Dad says that we can have his share."

    "Thanks, Dad. You are the best." The children said in unison while Selia divided the scoop between the three of them.

    "Thank the gods you are here, Lith." She said. "Four is my limit. One more child and I would have ended up killing that idiot."

    Solus tried to talk with Protector about her problems, but he didn''t listen to a word she said.. Ryman was too scared at the idea of another son and of all the money that raising him would require.

 Chapter 1754 - A True Mentor (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1754 - A True Mentor (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>''Gods what have I done?''</i> Protector thought while looking at the holes in the walls, the rips in their clothes, and at the two magical beasts that stared at him, demanding their afternoon food.

    To his eyes, every one of them turned into a small pile of money equivalent to their respective daily expenses.

    <i>''Nalrond wants to leave, I already work a lot, and once Fenrir grows, she''ll want her own magical beast. If Selia doesn''t kill me first, stress will.''</i>

    "Thank the gods you are here, Lith." Nalrond rushed out of his room and Fenrir weed him by biting yfully at his foot. "Bad girl! Bad! You ruined another pair of good shoes!"

    At that point, Ryman started to cry. He would have to pay for that as well.

    "What can I do for you?" Lith turned up the volume of the cartoon to cover the sobbing.

    "Friya just set up our date!" Nalrond threw the already chewed shoes along the corridor to get rid of Fenrir before she attacked his pants as well.

    She chased them, barking with joy.

    "Good for you." Lith shrugged.

    "That''s not good at all. I mean, what do I do? I already had trouble dating normal women and she''s a noble." Fenrir tugged at his leg and offered him the shoe in her mouth.

    Nalrond threw it again, making the small Skoll w deep into the floor to sprint. The thumping of her short but powerful legs on the ground was apanied by the sound of the wood shaving and Protector crying harder.

    "To make matters worse, Friya chose the time, the ce, and notified me less than a minute ago."

    "I fail to see how any of this is a problem." Lith replied. "She saved you a lot of trouble. Now you don''t have to worry about anything but having a good time and getting a pair of shoes without holes in them."

    Every time Fenrir returned, the shoe in her mouth looked more and more like something only a war refugee would wear.

    "You don''t get it. I have no idea what we can talk about or how to behave if she brings me to a fancy restaurant. What if I make a fool of myself?" Nalrond asked.

    "Laugh it off." Lith said. "Look, I could tell you that you should have thought about all of this before asking her out, but that wouldn''t be of any help. What I''m going to tell you, instead, is to wear something elegant but not too much and to trust Friya.

    "She knows you and is aware of your origins so she won''t put you in an ufortable situation on purpose. Also, she''s not the type to bring her dates to five-star restaurants, more like a family diner."

    "Any advice?" Nalrond asked.

    "Think about the date as if you''re just going out with a friend. The more expectations you have the more tense you''ll be and the less fun you''ll have. At the end of the dinner, offer to pay the tab.

    "You make enough money with my mines to afford it and even if Friya chooses to split the bill instead, she''ll appreciate the gesture. Just because she''s rich doesn''t mean that she has to pay for everything.

    "Otherwise she''ll think that you are dating her wallet, not her." Lith said.

    "This sounds more like you than her, but it''s still good advice. Here''s mine. Always! Use! Protection!" Selia poked at Nalrond''s chest with an ice cream-stained spoon.

    She was so angry that she would have dly eaten the whole tub, but then the kids would have asked their share. Then they would have gone on a sugar rush and Selia would have to spend the rest of the week fixing the house.

    "Yes, ma''am." Nalrond nodded.

    Lith left Selia''s house still filled with doubts, with Solus by his side who grumbled for unknown reasons.

    "It''s hard to believe that someone can be as dumb as Protector. Selia has every right to be angry at him." Lith chuckled, trying to lighten her mood.

    "It''s not hard to believe at all, but I agree on the rest. Selia''s anger is more than justified." Solus snarled, finding the issue far from amusing.

    <i>''Judging by her reaction, it seems that Solus took it personally and that she''s actually talking about herself.''</i> Lith thought.

    "Do you want toe with us or do you want to stay at the tower?" He asked.

    Solus stopped abruptly, facepalming with a boom of thunder that startled the members of the Queen''s Corps before taking a deep breath.

    "No, thanks." She replied with a voice as cold as an ice age. "I''ll stay in the tower and work on a breathing technique of my own. Abyssal Gaze is great, but I can''t use any of the breathing abilities you are developing because Ick your eyes."

    Then she turned around and walked back to the Trawn woods without turning around even to say goodbye.

    <i>''I''m sorry, Solus.''</i> He thought as soon as she was out of the range of their mind link. <i>''I may seem insensitive, but I''m doing this for you. I want to be a part of your life, but as long as you don''t have one of your own, I''d be your entire life and that would be toxic for both of us.''</i>

    The time of his date was near so Lith wore a dark blue zer over a white shirt and ck pants. He followed his own advice to Nalrond, choosing clothes that would look nice on him without overdressing.

    Then he went to pick Faluel up, arriving on her doorstep exactly at seven and a half. He knew that being early would have been rude, arriving on time meant having to wait a lot and that arrivingte would have been even ruder.

    Much to his surprise, the Hydra walked out of the mystical gate immediately.

    In her human form, Faluel looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5''7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with multi-colored eyes and long hair that framed her fine features.

    Unlike a normal woman, her hair wasn''t of a regr color with streaks rted to the element she was more attuned with, but bore the six colors of the elements plus the emerald green of mana.

    She was wearing a white dress with a colorful flowery pattern that left her arms and shoulders exposed. It was stillte winter so the air was quite chilly, making her shiver due to her sensitivity to the cold.

    It made her a little paler than usual, emphasizing her rep lipstick and the light makeup around her eyes, making her look even more charming than usual.

    "Let''s move before I go into hibernation." She said with a chuckle while hugging Lith''s arm in search of warmth.

    The grace with which her slender body moved along with the warmth of her voice emphasized Faluel as a whole, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.

    "You look lovely, but if you are that cold, you could have worn something heavier." Lith gave her his zer which she promptly epted.

    "Thanks, but I''m not so insensitive to look like a bear on a first date." She pouted, pretending to be offended.. "Beauty has its price and I''m willing to pay."

 Chapter 1755 - Dinner With Surprise (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1755 - Dinner With Surprise (Part 1)</h4>

    "Why are we still here?" Faluel asked after they stood for a while in front of herir.

    "Because Haug''s Travelling Tavern is true to its name and moves around Garlen. You made the reservation. I have no idea where it is now." Lith replied.

    "Point taken." She waved her hand, opening a Warping Array that led them straight to Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate.

    Lith recognized the middle rim of the city, noticing that Haug''s establishment blended perfectly with the other buildings, looking like it had always been there instead of just for a couple of days.

    Most passersby found it odd and only a few were brave enough to walk through the solid wooden door.

    From the outside, the tavern didn''t look like much. A rectangr one-story building made of stone with several squared windows and a door that sealed all the noise inside except for the brief moment when it was opened.

    The most peculiar thing about it was a huge neon-like insignia that said: Haug''s Travelling Tavern.

    Faluel dispelled the array behind them with a snap of her fingers, her hand still trembling from the cold despite the nearby buildings blocking most of the night wind.

    "Did you pick a non-enchanted dress on purpose?" Lith found it impossible to believe that a skilled Forgemaster like Faluel couldn''t make self-heating clothes.

    "Guilty as charged." She giggled while they stepped through the door. "It makes even a mighty Hydra look frail and arouses a gentleman''s instinct."

    The tavern was not only bigger on the inside, it was also far from ordinary. The floor and the walls wereprised of small hard wooden boards, giving the ce a warm and cozy ambiance.

    Most of the tables were taken and the ce was full of people, but everything had been spaced so that it didn''t feel crowded, leaving to each group of customers their privacy.

    Equallyfortable padded chairs and barstools allowed people to choose between sitting in groups at a table or at the bar counter at the top right corner with the bartender as their onlypany.

    In the top left corner, there was a bandstand from which musicians were ying, entertaining lone customers and covering the conversations of clients so that they wouldn''t be overheard from the other tables.

    "Lith, it''s been a long time! Where''s your girl-" Parmegianno Haug froze as both the Tiamat and the Hydra red at him.

    He was a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.8 meters (5''11") tall with brown hair, eyes, and a well-groomed beard. The orange and yellow streaks in his hair were hard to notice in the soft lights of the bar.

    He had broad shoulders but due to the loose white shirt that along with the ck pants, waistcoat, and bowtie thatprised his uniform it was hard to tell if he was thin or muscr.

    "I mean, thanks for choosing my humble tavern for your evening. I sure didn''t expect you to be Faluel''s date. Not with that reservation." He said.

    Lith had no idea what Haug meant, at least not until he apanied them to their table. It was a long, rectangr t piece of oakwood,rge enough tofortably host eight people.

    It was too big for a couple, devoid of any ambiance, and covered in enough tes to feed a small toon.

    "You weren''t joking when you said that you wanted to eat to your heart content." Lith said in amazement.

    "I never joke about food." She chuckled as Lith moved awkwardly around the many chairs that surrounded the table, wondering where he should sit. "I hope you won''t mind for a little surprise."

    "What surpr-" The door of the Tavern opened again, letting in a frenzied mass of fur and ws.

    "Uncle Lith, thanks for the invite!" Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir jumped on him in their hybrid form, licking his face and covering it in slob.

    "Thank you very much." Selia walked right behind them, dragging her feet in exhaustion. "I really needed a night out without having to worry about dinner or the kids."

    "You are a lifesaver, Lith." Protector''s eyes were reddened from the crying and the idea of having a hearty meal without worrying about the tab lifted his spirit.

    "First time clients!" Haug gave them a small bow. "The first round is on the house, hoping to see you again."

    "Thanks, but I''ll have some fruit juice instead." Selia''s hand instinctively moved to her belly.

    "Congrattions, mydy! Then the dessert is on the house for you." A snap of Haug''s finger put the kids in a boxed area that kept them from running around and throwing their food on the other customers.

    The array was shaped like thin strings of light, forming squares filled with animal shapes around the children that produced their corresponding sound when touched. Fenrir bit and wed at the cage, but it didn''t budge.

    The young Skoll enjoyed a good challenge and kept at it until she was too tired and jumped on her mother''sp to rest.

    Lith had no great expectations for the night, but now he had none.

    He patiently waited for the food to arrive, making small talk with his unexpected guests until he found a moment to ask Faluel for an exnation.

    "What does this mean? I thought this was a date." He asked while Selia was too busy feeding Fenrir to pay them any attention.

    "It is." She nodded while looking at the kids with loving eyes. "This is the date we both needed. I to get out of myb and you to get your head out of your ass."

    "I''m sorry, I don''t follow you." Lith replied.

    "Lith, you are a stingy, workaholic asshole, but you are a nice person and you deserve more than what I can offer you. That''s why I asked Selia and Protector to join us. To show you what you are going to miss out if you ask me out a second time." Faluel said.

    Then, noticing his growing confusion, the Hydra cast a spell that scrambled their words before continuing.

    "You should have noticed by now that Sinmara, Ajatar, and I don''t have what you would call a social life nor a conventional family. Believe it or not, it happens for all races, even humans. It''s part of the burden thates with Awakening.

    "I''m just like Raagu. I only have time for my research and my apprentices, I don''t have any desire to get into a serious rtionship and spend the next few decades squabbling to make it work.

    "That''s what you want because you are young and inexperienced, but I''ve already yed this game enough times during my over 300 years to know how it goes. At first, it''s all roses and butterflies, then once the honeymoon ends, we both go back to ourbs.

    "And that''s the beginning of the end. We are both mages and we know that doing real work takes time, effort, and focus. A single project requires months of research, during which we could only meet if and when our breaks ovep.

    "We''d be sharing only the crumbs of our individual time together.. Though we both know it''s unreasonable to ask either of us to drop everything just to cuddle, we''d still feel bitter every time one of us needs the other but they''re too busy.

 Chapter 1756 - Dinner With Surprise (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1756 - Dinner With Surprise (Part 2)</h4>

    "Rationally, we understand and ept it, but a rtionship is not based on timetables and cold logic. It''s born from feelings and dies with them. On top of that, the long life of Awakened makes them consider months as days and years as weeks.

    "I''ve had many rtionships crumble because I would iste myself to finish a research, discovering that so long had passed that my partner had assumed we had broken up and moved on.

    "Many Awakened keep many rtionships at the same time not because they are fickle, but because when they need to take a break from it and their significant other finds someone else, decades can pass before they are both avable again.

    "You deserve someone like Selia, that will count the days you are apart instead of losing track of them. Someone that can give you a full life and not just fill the pauses in between your experiments.

    "Someone like Solus or Kam." Faluel said.

    Lith pondered her words for a while before sharing with her what Manohar had told him about his crippled life force.

    "That man really is a genius, but he''s also a jerk. He shouldn''t have told you." Faluel grunted while eating her fifteenth steak and ordering the tenth refill of beer.

    "So it''s true?" Lith suddenly lost his appetite.

    "Why do you think Sark is helping you so much and I asked so little from you?" The Hydra replied. "You are a burning candle and we both want you to reach your full potential in the time you have left."

    "Why did you hide it from me?"

    "Because it would have increased your burden to the point of driving you crazy. You already had to deal with your hybrid nature, your Abomination side, Death Vision, and all the shit that both the Kingdom and the Council threw at you.

    "If I told you the truth, you wouldn''t have enjoyed your rtionship with Kam and would have rushed things, knowing that your time was limited.

    "Then, after she discovered about Solus and inevitably broke up with you, the failure of your marriage would have scarred you for a long time. Instead, here you are, back on your feet already." Faluel replied.

    "Thanks for your care and your wisdom." Lith said, realizing the truth of her words. "Was it really necessary to make a mess of this date, though? Goodpany and a warm smile can sugar-coat even the harsher of truths."

    "I think that seeing how much I eat and how I eat would have turned you off anyway." Faluel ate the steaks whole, her mouth deforming to thrice its original size like in a cartoon to chew them.

    She had drunk more beer than her human body could reasonably contain and kept ordering more. It was indeed an unsettling sight that shed with her lovely and lithe appearance.

    "Since we are being honest with each other, there''s a reason I didn''t ask Solus out even though I''m aware of her feelings and she already got her body back." Lith said. "Our bond made us grow close in the past, back when we had nothing but each other, but now it just makes things awkward.

    "Our shared thoughts and emotions are great during a fight or while working on a project, but they would destroy us as a couple. If one gets angry, the other follows and even the silliest argument would escte.

    "The same happens when we are sad. We can''t support each other during any shared emotional moment because staying together just makes it worse. It happened with Lark, Mirim, and even after Ekidna''s death.

    "On top of that, what would happen if, in the end, we break up? Solus can''t walk away from me and I from her. It would be beyond unpleasant and ruin any possibility of staying friends."

    "That would be ugly." Faluel nodded.

    "Last, but not least, I don''t like it that along with her powers Solus has lost her memories as well. If she still remembered her past rtionships, what she likes and dislikes in a partner, I wouldn''t hesitate to ask her out.

    "Yet while I was free to go out, meet people, and date whoever I wanted, she has always been stuck at my finger. I don''t know whether she likes me for real or just because for 15 years I''ve been all she had.

    "Until Solus dates someone else, as long as she doesn''t have meaningful experiences that only belong to her, even the thought of us being a couple makes me feel like I''m abusing my position to take advantage of her.

    "As you said, I''m a stingy, workaholic asshole, but I love Solus too much to hurt her. I''d rather wait until she can freely get away from the tower and live on her own than abuse her trust just to ease my loneliness."

    "I never thought about that." Faluel nodded. "It''s very noble of you. Most people I know wouldn''t see past her pretty face and the possibility to have a willing concubine. You''re making me regret screwing up this date on purpose."

    "You''re very lovely when your mouth is empty and I''m pretty sure that if I y my cards right, I can still get some pity sex from you. I mean, would you really be so cruel to deny the final wish of a dying man?" Lith clenched his heart with a dramatic gesture, as if he was having a stroke.

    "Maybe you are right, I shouldn''t have told you. You''re clearly delusional." Faluelughed at his performance.

    "Look at that. Another spell you don''t know." Selia pointed at the couple near them that was apparentlyughing about the effects of intion on the gold price.

    "Not only did you never learn how to ''dull your de'', you also forced me to speak in riddles for years whenever we needed to have an adult conversation in front of the kids. Either you learn both those spells quickly, or I''ll make you."

    "Sure, dear." Ryman racked his brain trying to find a way to change the subject. "How do you think Nalrond is doing?"

    "Better than you for sure. It doesn''t take much." Selia called Haug, forbidding him to bring more alcohol to her husband. It wasn''t fair that she was the only one paying the price for his mistakes.

    ***

    The city of Catreesh, West of the Kingdom.

    "Is it going to take long to reach our restaurant?" Nalrond asked, eager to get away from all those familiar smells that made him recall memories from his past life.

    Catreesh was south and west enough from Lutia to have a much warmer climate despite the season. Some flowerbeds were already blooming and thanks to the artificial lights, the roads were lively and crowded with people even after sundown.

    Being one of the border cities between the Kingdom and the Desert, the city was a hybrid of both cultures whose beauty came from harmonizing them over the years. The people of the Desert treasured greenery above all while those of the Kingdom loved order.

    Each city block was a perfect square,prised of rectangr buildings of different heights based on the wealth of their owners. Every one of them had its own garden and another green area on the rooftop.

    Nalrond''s stomach churned in nostalgia from the mix of vibrant colors of the buildings and the scent of the traditional dishes of the Desert that came from the various establishments near the local branch of the Association where the Warp Gate was located.

 Chapter 1757 - Willpower And Imagination (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1757 - Willpower And Imagination (Part 1)</h4>

    "Is this the thanks I get after doing my best to give you a taste of home?" Friya replied, opening a Warp Steps leading straight to their destination.

    It was arge grassy clearing surrounded by widely spaced trees. Much to Nalrond''s surprise, Friya had chosen for their date one of the parks at the outskirt of the city. It was still hours before curfew, yet no one else was there.

    The crescent moon high in the sky reflected on the nearby smallke whose surface was disturbed only by the wind. Small groups of waterbirds rested near the pond, looking to the neers with curiosity and expectation.

    They started to quack at the couple, hoping for some treats.

    He had to admit that it truly was a romantic location, maybe too much for a first date.

    "Why do you think I never came to visit you in the Desert?" Nalrond replied with a scoff. "I had plenty of home during our trip to the Fringe. There''s nothing for me here but bad memories. So, yes. This is all the thanks you get."

    "Wow, you are a real fun guy. If you don''t like it, we''ll go somewhere else. What do you have in mind?" She asked while feeding the birds with fresh bread.

    Ducks, swans, and other smaller creatures surrounded her in a colorful parade that seemed to sing her praises.

    "You decided everything and I have toe up with an alternative? It''s toote now and the few establishments I know are already full at this time. We''ll have to wait hours for a table." He replied.

    "If you want to be as grumpy as Lith, you should always have a contingency n like he does." She chuckled. "I''m hungry now and I''m not going to wait one minute more than necessary. Join me or leave. It''s up to you."

    Friya took what looked like a huge cloth ball out of her dimensional amulet and threw it a few meters from them. Upon contact with the ground, the ball opened, revealing the presence of thin metal pieces that assembled themselves into four long poles.

    A couple of secondster the ball had transformed into a white canopy tent with the side towards the pond open and a transparent roof. An already set table and two wooden chairs appeared as well and Friya sat on one of them, waiting for his answer.

    Seeing how much thought and preparation she had put into their date Nalrond felt like a jerk. He sighed loudly and joined her, discovering that not only was the inside of the tent heated, but the roof also amplified the moonlight.

    The silvery glow illuminated everything as clear as day, as if they were under a clear sky and a full moon. The in white porcin tes shone like silver and the tableware seemed enchanted.

    Yet the beauty of the scene was nothingpared with the sparkles that the moonlight created by reflecting on Friya''s eyes and multi-colored hair, making her look like a fairy queen out of a bard''s tale.

    Nalrond opened his mouth to thank her but his throat was too raspy and dry to talk. He swallowed loudly several times but his voice simply refused toe out.

    "That''s the first nice thing you''ve said tonight." She giggled while pouring some water into his ss.

    <i>''Pull yourself together and stop acting like a jerk.''</i> He thought to himself while drinking furiously. <i>''Are you always this unpleasant to those who try and be nice to you or are you just walking an extra mile for her?''</i>

    "Thanks for the water." He said three sses and a few rehearsalster. "And for being so patient. This ce is amazing for a date."

    "You are wee." She politely nodded while conjuring small tes of different kinds of appetizers from her dimensional amulet. "I just thought that we could use some privacy.

    "I didn''t want to meet Lith at Haug''s and I know you don''t like being surrounded by people. Dining at my ce was a bit too intimate for a first date so I decided that a night pic would be the perfectpromise."

    "Do you call this a pic?" He pointed at the cherrywood table, at the enchanted canopy tent, and at the gourmet food.

    "I''m rich and for once I''m dating someone who doesn''t look at me like a fat wallet. I''m allowed to show off." Friya said with a smile.

    The dinner was delicious and they spent the meal talking about everything that came to their mind. Nalrond appreciated the quiet of the park and despite his first negative impression of Catreesh, soon he felt at home for the first time in a long while.

    Without people around he could freely use Light Mastery just like back in his vige and with no kids to take care of, he could finally rx.

    "It''s too bad that the Harmonizer was a bust again. There''s only one left and I doubt that Faluel will manage to save it." He said after they started to talk about theirtest mission. "If I had one, I might fix my life forces just like it happened for the monsters."

    "Do you really want to be trapped for life inside a mana geyser? I thought you were nning to leave." Friya rose an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Of course not. Yet if the Harmonizer works on me, Faluel would be capable of using her breathing technique to study what my perfect life force and mana cores look like. Then, I would finally have a clue to work on." Nalrond sighed.

    "While you guys were in the Desert, I studied Protector''s kids every day. I hoped to find a way to break the barrier between my life forces and be a hybrid like them but to no avail. That''s why I''m nning to leave. I need to find more hybrids to examine."

    "Don''t you think you''re being too hard on yourself?" Friya said. "You should stop thinking of your condition as of something broken. Before Lith reached the violet core, his situation wasn''t very different from yours yet he was happy."

    "We are nothing alike." Nalrond replied too harshly even for his own liking, but theparison stung at a never healed wound. "Sure, he had two life forces as well, but he still had hope.

    "His conflicting natures weren''t fixed like mine and even if something went wrong, he still had options. He would have either entered the Master''s Organization or the Beast Council.

    "Solus and Kam would have still epted Lith so no matter the oue, he would have lost nothing. As for me, unless I find a way to move forward, I''m stuck at a crossroad."

    "As I see it, your situation is not as bleak as you make it out to be. Your tribe lived happily in the Fringe for centuries and-"

    "Happily?" Nalrond cut her short. "We were prisoners in our own bodies and cut out from the rest of the Mogar because we were too afraid of being captured again. There are many ways to describe a gilded cage but happy is not among them."

    "Still, dedicating your whole life to a single project at the cost of giving up on your adoptive family seems a bit extreme to me.." Friya replied.

 Chapter 1758 - Willpower And Imagination (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1758 - Willpower And Imagination (Part 2)</h4>

    "That''s riching from you." He scoffed. "You have put your life in Faluel''s hands just to get Awakened. Even though you are not her Harbinger, she can order you around and kill you the moment she finds you wanting.

    "If Faluel really turns you into a Harbinger, you are going to be like Solus. You''ll lose your privacy and free will. You''ll even be forced to abandon your family if that''s what she wants.

    "As I see it, your actions are way more extreme than mine even though life gave you everything. You chose to gamble everything just for your thirst for power whereas I''m forced to do it to stop being a monster.

    "Until I get rid of this thing inside of me, I''ll never be happy. You have no idea how it feels, knowing that the moment people learn the truth about you they''ll hunt you down. How hard it is to fight against yourself every day to not scare those around you."

    "Is this what you think of me? That I''m a spoiled brat who chose to throw away her life on a whim?" Friya asked.

    Nalrond realized to have gone too far and expected her to be angry, offended, or both. Yet her voice was calm and her eyes full ofpassion.

    "I''m sorry for being an ass." He rushed to say. "I would like to put the me on the wine but the truth is that I''ve always been envious of you and I can''t understand why someone as amazing as you decided to-"

    Friya touched his hand, sharing her life with him via a mind link. Nalrond saw her neglected existence as a kid, alwayspared to her siblings and harshly reprimanded by her mother, Duchess Solivar, whenever Friya failed her expectations.

    Then he experienced her istion at the White Griffon academy. Until the fourth year, Friya had beenpletely alone in an unforgiving environment and surrounded by enemies.

    Then came Yurial, Lith, and Quy. It was a brief happiness filled with struggles until the betrayal of Friya''s mother caused the death of her whole family. Friya was now more alone than ever, everything she had worked for was gone and she wasbeled as a traitor.

    Jirni adopting her had saved her life, giving her a ce to stay but no direction. Nalrond could see how lost Friya had felt, struggling to find her way in life. She loved her two sisters, but they outshined her in everything and she was afraid that even her new parents would consider her a failure.

    She didn''t have Quy''s passion for research nor Phloria''s ability as a leader. Friya had believed to have found her path after creating the Crystal Shield Guild. It was a thankless job that brought her more trouble than satisfaction, but at least it gave her a purpose.

    After her guild had been ughtered, Phloria had been Awakened, and Quy had earned her ce at Faluel''s academy, leaving Friya alone like the day she had lost her family.

    The despair from knowing that her sisters and Lith were going where she could never reach them had driven Friya to put her life on the line just to still be a part of the group.

    She knew it was a stupid and childish move, but she feared loneliness more than she feared death. Under her charms, her magical power, and witty banter, there was a lonely little girl that just wanted to belong.

    The vision broke and Nalrond found himself holding her hand tight while tears veiled his eyes. Their lives had been nothing alike yet it didn''t make hers any better. At least inside the Fringe he had spent a happy childhood and had found love.

    Nalrond''s pain came from everything he had lost. His family, his fianc¨¦e, his home. Friya''s came from all the things she had never had and that she was desperately looking for.

    "I usually don''t show my life before the tenth date." She said with a small, sad smile. "I made an exception for you because you are right. I am a spoiled brat who chose to throw away her life on a whim.

    "Yet it doesn''t make my point any less true. Look at your hand"

    Only then did Nalrond notice that the intense emotions he had felt had brought out his Rezar form, ripping through the clothes and clenching her arm with its razor-sharp ws.

    His first instinct was to turn back into a human, but it would have left him naked and the ws would have cut her skin as they retracted.

    "I usually don''t strip before the third date." Nalrond joked awkwardly, d that the golden scales on his body covered the red of his shame. "Do you mind letting my hand go and turning around? I have to put on some clothes before someone passes by and-"

    "Actually, I do mind." Her strength as an Awakened matched the Rezar''s. He would need to fight to escape from her grip yet he had no will to. "I know that you have no reason to answer my questions, but I want you to at least hear them.

    "Do you ever use your Rezar form outside of a fight or training?"

    "No." He replied.

    "Even back in your vige, did the members of your tribe use it to y among themselves like Protector''s kids do? Did you ever stage silly role ys with your girlfriend like Kam?"

    "The kids had no control over their strength, so their parents forbid them to. As for my girlfriend, who wouldn''t be turned off by this thing?" He said.

    "Did you ever run, swim, or dive into the earth as a Rezar, just for the fun of it?" Friya asked and Nalrond shook his head, tired of the sound of his own voice.

    "Then you are telling me that you have always kept your other half bottled inside, not because of others, but because you are ashamed of it." She said.

    "I''m not ashamed of it, just afraid. The Rezar inside of me is always angry, violent, and lustful. If I don''t contain it-"

    "With all the experiments you performed on yourself with light and even with Spirit Magic, didn''t you discover that you have two bodies, two cores, but only one mind?" She cut him short.

    "Didn''t it ur to you that maybe your Rezar half is always so angry because you never let it experience nothing but strife and pain? That werepeople have always been so obsessed with the idea of getting rid of their beast half that they treated it like a disease?

    "Magic is based on willpower and imagination. Your Rezar half acts like a monster because that''s how you imagine it to be and pin on it all your negative emotions. How can any spell bring down a barrier that your will strengthens every single day?" Friya asked.

    It wasn''t the first time that Nalrond heard those words but it was the first time he actually listened to them. Each Fringe was a closed ecosystem and a single tribe of werepeople could live there, their numbers limited by the resources it contained.

    Eachmunity was tight-knit and those who shared Friya''s theories would be shunned, not encouraged.. They ended up either abandoning the Fringe or living their whole life as pariahs, bing a cautionary tale for the children.

 Chapter 1759 - Set Up (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1759 - Set Up (Part 1)</h4>

    "What do you suggest I do?" Nalrond asked.

    "To live up a little." Friya took a delicious-smelling cheesecake out of her amulet. "Let''s enjoy our dessert and then take a swim. The night is beautiful and with the curfew nearing, no one will bother us."

    Nalrond choked on his food, but not because he wasn''t used to eating as a Rezar. Or better, it wasn''t the only reason. On Mogar there were no swimsuits and people usually swam naked.

    "Don''t get your hopes up, pretty boy." Friya chuckled as the Rezar struggled to fit his snout into the ss and drink some water.

    "I don''t go anywhere without my Featherwalker armor and Dad guaranteed me that it''s waterproof."

    Her blouse and pants shapeshifted into a silvery diving suit that left only her head exposed but also stuck to her like a second skin. Nalrond felt hot as if he was under the scorching sun of the Desert instead of the pale light of the moon, yet it didn''t bother him.

    Despite all the awkward and embarrassing moments of that night, he had finally learned the difference between surviving and living.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, outside Protector''s home.

    The Hydra wasn''t the only one who had eaten to her heart''s content. Protector and the kids had gone all-out, knowing that the meal wouldn''t burden the family budget. They had all left Haug''s establishment so full that they could barely walk.

    Lith, on the other hand, was now lighter than when he had walked through the tavern''s door. The weight of ten silver coins had moved from his pockets to Haug''s. The Awakened cook rarely made so much from a single table so Lith''s request for a family discount fell on deaf ears.

    Selia even took several dishes as takeaway before leaving, to not be bothered with cooking for the next few days. Lith snorted at her "foresight" but his old mentor had been shameless even back when she was way better off than him.

    "I must eat for two. Maybe three." Selia touched her womb, ying the pregnancy card. "Feel free to take it out on Ryman, but leave his hands and feet intact. He needs them to work."

    "Thank you, Uncle Lith. It was all delicious." Lilia and Leran gave him a bow out of gratitude, but the movement triggered a majestic burp that echoed through the night, alerting night animals and Queen''s Corps alike.

    Once the happy family closed the door, Lith opened a Warp Steps leading to Faluel''sir.

    "No need. I can use a walk and the moon is beautiful tonight." Faluel took Lith''s arm and zer to find some protection against the chilly spring air.

    They walked in silence until they reached the Trawn woods

    "This is the moment when you are supposed to say: not as beautiful as you." She said after a while with mock indignation.

    "I would say it if we had this walk after a date instead of a life lesson." Lith replied. "I''ll be honest, watching you eat didn''t turn me off."

    "It didn''t?" Faluel said with surprise.

    "Not as much as the tab." Lith said with a smug grin.

    "I can''t believe I walked into that one." She said with a chuckle. "And you are a jackass for fooling ady."

    "And who might that be?" Lith furrowed his brows, feigning curiosity. "I know nody that would take my jacket without even asking."

    "Jackass." Faluelughed.

    Once they reached the entrance of herir, Lith put his hands on her shoulders to retrieve the zer and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

    Her lips were soft and sweet, yet he remained stiff. It had been a peck, but only because Faluel noticed he wasn''t returning the kiss.

    "How did it feel?" She asked.

    "It felt wonderful, but also wrong. Almost like I was cheating." Lith replied.

    "It''s a good sign. It means that you already have an emotional connection and aren''t interested in something you consider as a mere fling." If Faluel was offended, it didn''t show. "Say hi to Solus for me.

    "If you twoe up with a crazy n to fix your life force, you can always count on my help."

    She walked toward the stone wall that opened and closed so quickly that it looked like a mirage.

    "Wait a second." He said.

    "No second thoughts allowed." She said with a chuckle.

    "What about my jacket?"

    "Jackass!" Her enraged voice came with a powerful gust of wind that sent the zer against Lith''s face.

    "Thanks. It''s part of a suit that cost me-" A Warping array moved him in front of the tower, cutting him short.

    Lith knocked on the door, still puzzled by both the unexpected turn of the night and by his own reaction.

    <i>''I''d better tell Solus what I learned about my life force and then call it a night. I bet she''llugh her ass off once she hears about the "date". I only need to skip the part about the kiss.''</i>

    "Wee back." Solus said with a smile that didn''t extend to her eyes. "I see you had a lot of fun but there was no reason to rush here to share the details."

    "What do you mean?"

    Solus floated high enough to look him in the eyes without getting neck pain and then passed her thumb on his lips. The motion was slow and sensual, yet the fire in her eyes had nothing romantic about it.

    "I mean this¡­" She put her finger, red with lipstick, under his nose. "And this."

    A mirror appeared in front of Lith, showing him that the gust of wind that had returned his zer had also thoroughly crumpled his clothes. They looked like either he had gone through a storm or they had been savagely taken off before being worn again.

    "Oh shit! I can exin-"

    "There''s no need to. You and Faluel are both adults and what you do in your free time is none of my business." Her voice was calm yet the door mmed behind him so hard that the tower trembled.

    Solus turned around and walked toward the kitchen, ignoring every word that came out of Lith''s mouth.

    <i>''Kam I can understand, but Faluel? With everything that is happening does he really have the time for a new rtionship?''</i> The answer that logically came to her mind was yes, but it just fueled her rage.

    <i>''Not only does Lith still have to bring me somewhere nice, but he even had the gall toe here and banter about histest adventure.''</i> Solus stormed into the kitchen and prepared a bowl of ice cream so big that it would prolong her diet for months.

    Since the cat was already out of the bag and had been painted like a tiger there was no point in holding back anything. Lith activated a partial mind fusion and shared with her everything that had happened since he had left.

    "Oh." Solus'' rage burst like a soap bubble, leaving her mind empty and her hands full of ice cream.

    "Oh, indeed! Can we please talk now?" Lith would have liked to call her out on herck of trust and the bad eating habits but he preferred to gloss over.

 Chapter 1760 - Set Up (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1760 - Set Up (Part 2)</h4>

    "Would you like some ice cream? I think I made a bit too much." Solus said.

    "Yes, thank you." Lith sat on a sofa, taking a doggie bag from Haug''s restaurant out of his pocket dimension.

    Solus squealed with joy at the sweet scent of freshly baked chocte-dipped cookies. She jumped on the sofa beside Lith, putting the bowl of ice cream on the tea table in front of them and the cookies on her side of the sofa.

    "Those are my favorite. Thanks for remembering." She used the cookies as scoops, covering her mouth in cream and crumbles.

    "Those are my favorites as well. Can I have some, please?"

    Solus looked at the cookies she had conveniently left out of his reach, weighing her options.

    "Sure, but eat with moderation or there won''t be enough left for tomorrow''s breakfast." She gave him two cookies, keeping the tray for herself.

    "Hey, pot. My name is kettle and you are ck!" Lith snarled at her stingy double standards.

    "Guilty as charged." Solus used Body Sculpting to make her skin dark and snuggled up to him while continuing to eat.

    "Smartass." Lith said with a chuckle, caressing her head.

    "Speaking of smartasses, why do you think Faluel pranked you?" She asked.

    "Either because of the kiss or just for the fun of it. After all, she sent me here. She probably wanted to mess with both of us." Lith replied.

    "And she seeded." Solus grumbled as if she had no part in it.

    "Whatever the reason, it''s not important." After finishing his two cookies, Lith decided to face the elephant in the room. "Based on what she told me, Sark and everyone in the Council knows about my condition.

    "I still have quite a long time to live, but it gets shorter every time I''m forced to go all-out. I know that you don''t like it, but I''m thinking about experimenting with the body-swapping machine."

    The sweet, still warm cookie turned sour like a lemon in her mouth, making Solus lose her appetite. She put the bitten biscuit back in the tray and cleaned her mouth to buy some time to think.

    In Kh, they had found the ancient blueprints of the machine that the Odi used to prolong their life by stealing the body of others. It was an old relic half magic and half technology that was impossible to recreate just with Earth''s knowledge.

    Lith and Solus had worked on it for months trying to understand its underlying principles in order to use modern magic to make up for the missing technology, but to no avail.

    Blueprints and schematics of the various parts were pointless without knowing how to build them and what materials they were made of. Without such information, Lith was incapable of building another machine and solving his reincarnation problem.

    Then, the Horseman of the Bright Day had lured Lith into a trap, to kill him and give her host, Ranger Ac, the glory they deserved. After meeting Nalrond and escaping her ambush, Lith had found Dawn''sb.

    Built deep in the mountains, inside one of the old Odi settlements, the Horseman hadbined the knowledge from their books with her own to alter the body-swapping machine.

    Instead of snatching a body, Dawn''s creation would allow the undead to rob their victims of their knowledge along with their life force, aplishing the mission that the Red Mother had given her.

    Lith had no use for the contraption, but he had rejoiced when, after studying it, he discovered that the Horsman had solved the issue for him, recing most of the technology with arrays.

    After defeating Dawn and stealing the ancient Odi books and her notes, Lith and Solus had managed to devise a body-swapping machine of their own. Yet it was still on paper because Solus didn''t like the moral implications of its use and Lith had thought to have a lot of time left.

    After he had be a Tiamat, they had assumed that his new life force had further extended his life span and had almost forgotten about it. Now, however, they knew that his clock might stop at any time.

    "I already have aplete list of the materials we need. Once you procure them for me and I finish building it, we can start the experimentation." Solus said while taking several pieces of paper out of their pocket dimension and putting them inside Soluspedia.

    "Thanks." Lith said, knowing how hard that step was for her.

    "Are you really sure you want to do it?" Solus bit her lower lip, pacing around the room. "I mean, body-swapping means losing not only your body, but also your family and even your bloodline abilities.

    "Before you were a human, but now you are a Tiamat. You are a unique existence that cannot be reced. On top of that, even if your family condoned your use of forbidden magic, no one else will.

    "Faluel, the Council, everyone will hunt you down. Except maybe for Vastor. If you really have to take that path, why don''t we ask for his help?"

    "For the same reason I don''t ask Thrud''s help. She is the greatest expert on Arthan''s Madness, but just like with Vastor, her help woulde with a price. Also, the Professor''s expertise is focused on Abominations and I''m no longer one.

    "Our only hope is Manohar, but even if he manages to find a way to heal my life force, it will take him months, if not years of research."

    Lith didn''t like the idea of losing his Tiamat body, throwing into the gutter all the efforts he had made to develop his breathing technique and discover his bloodline abilities, yet he had no choice.

    Kolga had shown him that even using the Madness to pump new life force into his own was pointless unless he found a way to close the cracks. Getting an intact life force was his only option.

    They stared at each other in silence, waiting for a sign or a brilliant idea that would solve all of their problems.

    "Can we go home, now? I feel really tired." Solus said after minutes that seemed tost hours.

    "Sure." Lith replied.

    Solus stopped pacing and embraced him, fearing to lose him. Lith bing a Tiamat, her meeting his family and regaining her body had been like a dream. Yet now she felt it slowly turning into a nightmare.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Castle, a few dayster.

    Receiving another summon from the Royals so soon after the mission in Zeska didn''t surprise Lith. On the contrary, he was expecting it.

    <i>''I bet that the King will scold me for my "friend Tiamat" stealing Syrook''s body and then he will pester me to get himself a few railguns.''</i> Lith thought as the Royal Guards escorted him to the throne room.

    <i>''Can you me him?''</i> Solus said. <i>''With Thrud''s shadow looming over the Kingdom, they need all the ingredients and the weapons they can get. I just hope that they don''t assign you a new mission.''</i>

    "Hey, Lith. I''m sorry for dragging you into this but they left me no choice.." Seeing Manohar hogtied like a prime roast and wearing more chains than clothes was quite unexpected, instead.

 Chapter 1761 - Royal Court (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1761 - Royal Court (Part 1)</h4>

    The god of healingy right in front of the King''s throne, incapable of moving more than a few fingers at a time.

    Meron looked at him with a scowl, and so did a petite figure sitting beside him on a smaller throne that resembled the Queen''s. Lith recognized her as Princess Peonia.

    She was a young woman, 20 years old, about 1.58 (5''2") tall. She had blonde hair streaked silver, ck, and blue all over. Her blue eyes and Tyris'' blood smoothened the sharp features she had inherited from her mother.

    That along with her slender figure and diminutive stature made her as cute as a button.

    Her presence was unexpected as well since the throne wasn''t hereditary and the heirs of the current King had no voice in matters of state.

    Lith gave them both a deep bow, waiting for an exnation.

    "It''s nice to see you again, Archmage Verhen." Meron greeted him with a nod of his head. "I wanted to personally thank you before discussing the next item of our agenda."

    "Thank me for what, exactly?" Between Pn''s report, the missing Dragon corpse, and the railgun, a warm wee confused him more than a sword pointed to his throat.

    "The Royal Healer informed us that it was you who convinced him to return after just a few days from histest escapade. Also, he told us how your diagnostician skills helped him to figure out the threat of the Skinwalkers." The King said with a fatherly smile.

    Now that the situation finally made sense, Lith red at Manohar. He silently scolded the Mad Professor for breaking his promise to not involve Lith in that mess.

    "Nobody''s perfect." Manohar replied since the word sorry wasn''t part of his vocabry.

    "There''s no shame in admitting your own limits and asking for help from a peer, Manohar. Especially when you suspect that the security of the Kingdom is at risk." Meron smiled, but at a flick of his wrist, the chains tightened, just to be safe.

    "As for you, Lith, I always encourage friendship and camaraderie, but the next time Manohar contacts you while he is on the run, I''d like you to not cover for him and inform us of his position."

    <i>''Great. Now I''m considered his aplice.''</i> Lith inwardly sighed.

    "I didn''t contact Your Highness because Manohar promised me that he would start working on the issue immediately. How long ago did he return?" He said.

    "About an hour ago, right before you were summoned." Princess Peonia''s warm smile made his bachelor sense tingle.

    "It was obvious that when I said ''immediately'', I meant after I was done with my current project, Lith. Your misunderstanding is an insult to both my and your intelligence." Manohar whined as if he was the injured party.

    "If you are done showing off your daughter, Meron, we have a lot of work ahead of us."

    At those words, the King and Peonia blushed in embarrassment. If someone as insensitive as Manohar called out their ruse, then it had been way too obvious.

    "It''s King Meron for you." He said just to save his dignity in front of the Royal Guards. "Are you sure about the Skinwalkers?"

    "It''s the only exnation that makes sense, Meron." The Mad Professor replied. "Both Lith and I have found minuscule abnormalities in the life forces of several nobles. Too many for it to be a coincidence."

    It sounded a farfetched hypothesis to the King, but he had long epted that Manohar''s genius was beyond the understanding of mages that were just talented. Lith somehow following his logic was an unprecedented miracle.

    "Do you understand that we can''t just arrest all nobles in the Kingdom? Panic would spread and without leaders, our forces are useless."

    "Do you take me for an idiot?" Manohar scoffed. "Of course I know that. That''s why you need to release me. We have a perfectly usible reason to examine the nobles in Zeska since they have been allegedly imprisoned for months.

    "If Thrud''s Skinwalkers have reced anyone, it must be one if not all of them. Once I expose their presence and find a way to identify Skinwalkers that even regr mages can use, I''ll pass it onto you."

    "Fine, but remember that time and discretion are of the essence." A snap of Meron''s fingers released the god of healing from his bindings. "No tomfoolery nor dy is allowed. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal." Manohar dusted off his clothes and took his leave without bowing.

    "That man will be the death of me." Meron sighed, weaving at the Royal Guards to let him go.

    "Since I''m already here, I would like to ask you a few questions, Your Majesty." Lith said and the King nodded for him to continue.

    "I was wondering what happened to Captain Pn after the mission in Zeska and why you listed mytest creation as tier one forbidden magic yet I received nomission nor instruction about it."

    The King flinched at those words, taking his time to find a polite way to answer.

    "Captain Pn and some of the upper echelons of the army, like General Morn aren''t happy with your leadership. Xolman Pn may be an idiot, but his family is powerful and well connected.

    "Demoting him kicked a ho nest in the Court and the loss of the Dragon''s corpse only made it worse. Even though the army failed to help you in the subjugation of the beast, its remains should have been split equally between you and Tiamat.

    "Since you were there as an army official, the Kingdom was entitled to half of your share which is a lot considering the size of a Dragon. Yet your ally disregarded thew and took everything for himself."

    <i>''Yeah, right.''</i> Lith inwardly scoffed. <i>''If I lost a quarter of the corpse, I wouldn''t have enough to make a decent armor.''</i>

    "I solved the issue without involving you because I know that you don''t like politics. No matter how much Pnined, there were plenty of witnesses to his insubordination and to your valiant fight against Quaron on the frontlines.

    "We have issued a dead or alive arrest order for Tiamat, but you have my word that''s not going to affect you in any way. You are not responsible for the actions of an associate of yours." Meron tried and failed to reassure Lith.

    <i>''That would be true, if not for the fact that you and Tiamat are the same person.''</i> Solus said. <i>''Now you have to be careful when shapeshifting.''</i>

    "As for the weapon, you are forbidden to manufacture more, even for yourself." The King said.

    "I''m fine with it, but I expected Your Majesty to ask me to provide a few for the Royal Army." Lith replied.

    "Thanks for your kind offering, but no." Meron hadpletely misunderstood his words. "An alchemic weapon like that bypasses arrays and can be used even by non-mages, making it a threat for my life as well as for yours.

    "General Morn wanted to build some of them the size of a ballista and use them as either siege weapons or defensive systems against Divine Beasts, but I denied his request.

    "We have traitors in our midst and if one of them puts their hand on¡­"

    "Thundercrash." Lith said.

    "Thundercrash, they might use it to conquer our own cities."

 Chapter 1762 - Royal Court (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1762 - Royal Court (Part 2)</h4>

    "On top of that, if a Thundercrash is mounted atop the walls, they would only need to turn it 180 degrees to blow up a castle and kill everyone inside." Meron said.

    "Thanks, your Majesty. I have no more questions. If you don''t have an assignment for me, I''ll take my leave." Lith gave the Royals a bow and took a step back, waiting for their permission.

    "I wouldn''t call it an assignment, but I do have something for you." Meron raised his hand to stop Lith. "I''m d to inform you that the Verhen Mansion is almostplete.

    "Beforemissioning the finishing touches, I need to know if everything is of your liking. Sadly, I''m very busy with state affairs but Peonia here kindly offered to apany you."

    At those words, the princess stood up and gave Lith a perfect curtsy.

    <i>''Oh, shit! Manohar was right.''</i> He inwardly cursed.

    <i>''Do you still need to learn that the god of healing is always right?''</i> Solusughed at his expense.

    <i>''Well, at least this time you are not jealous.''</i>

    <i>''I''m not jealous of Faluel!''</i> Solus said with enough conviction to make a three-dor bill look genuine inparison. <i>''It''s just that she''s your mentor and workce affairs rarely work.''</i>

    <i>''Kami and I had no such problem, but if that''s what you think, I''ll respect your decision.''</i> Lith said as Solus cursed her own choice of words.

    "If you want something to be changed, you just need to ask." Peonia walked to his side, taking Lith''s arm and forcing them to interrupt their telepathic conversation. "This way, please."

    The Royal Guards escorted them to the Warp Gate as they walked. The Princess made small talk the whole way, but she dropped the act the moment they stepped through the dimensional corridor and got rid of the guards.

    "Yes, my father is not-so-subtly trying to make us spend some time together. He even assigned me the duty to build your manor to give me plenty of pretext to talk with you on a daily basis." Peonia sighed deeply, letting go of him.

    "You don''t seem very happy about it." Lith was amazed seeing that the mansion already had a working Gate and that aside from furniture, there was little to add left.

    The marble floor had been polished, making it smooth, and the white walls had been decorated with paintings, frescos, and tapestries. The Verhen family''s coat of arms had been embossed on the door handles and the shields worn by the decorative suits of armor ced near the entrance.

    "I''m a Royal Princess. My happiness is of little importancepared to assuring the loyalty of a genius Forgemaster who is also the second-best diagnostician of the Kingdom." She managed to say without making it sound like brown-nosing.

    "Why you?" Lith asked.

    "Because I''m the only one who didn''t want the task and my parents think that I could use a powerful husband in the case I decide to try and follow in father''s steps once he abdicates the throne." She stopped walking, drawing his attention as she looked him in the eyes.

    "Like it or not, we both have a role to y in this charade but it doesn''t mean that we cannot be friends. Hanging out with a Princess will spare you from petty pce intrigues while the backing of a genius will strengthen my faction in the Royal Court.

    "It''s a win-win situation." She offered Lith her hand.

    "Let me guess, you''ll cover for me and alert me in the case the Pns or your uncle make a move against me. In return, I need to help you whenever you need me." He said.

    "Correct."

    "Then we have a deal."

    ***

    Nestrar Region, city of Zeska.

    King Meron had rmended Manohar to be swift and discreet, but when the god of healing was involved, things were bound to get messy. His reputation preceded him and the moment he stepped out of the Gate he was flooded with invitations.

    "I thought my presence here was supposed to be a secret!" Manohar inwardly cursed not being able to shapeshift in the presence of witnesses.

    "It was. We even Warped to several cities beforeing here to hide the fact that we came from the Royal Pce. Someone must have bribed one or more of the clerks on our way here." The Royal Constable assigned to him replied.

    The bored nobles'' love for gossip yed right into Thrud''s hands.

    Without their meddling, Manohar would have caught her Skinwalkers off guard. Yet the news of his arrival spread like wildfire, giving them the time to assign shapeshifters to tail him.

    The Royal Constable had been warned to not disclose his orders until thest moment, but the information ckout was enough for Thrud to understand what was about to happen.

    "It seems we have been discovered." She sighed.

    "Are you sure?" Jormun asked.

    "My shapeshifters hold all of the most important positions of power in Zeska, yet the Court didn''t inform them of Manohar''s arrival. Even the most covert missions require paperwork yet my men that have reced the city clerks didn''t receive a single memo.

    "If you take into consideration the fact that forces from external branches of the Association and the army are swarming the city, there is no other possible exnation." Thrud said.

    "The Royals know I have someone other than the Doppelgangers capable of recing their retainers, but judging from the deployment of forces they don''t know who nor how many."

    "Have the Skinwalkers evacuate Zeska, then." Jormun said.

    "To what purpose? Manohar would just move to another city and unless I get lucky again, I won''t be able to alert them in time." Thrud shook her head.

    "I can''t have the Skinwalkers escaping because to do it they need to change their appearance. But if they eat another person, they''ll lose the memories I need to control those cities.

    "I only have two choices left. I can put my n into action ahead of schedule or give up on the Nestrar region."

    Thrud took hermunication amulet, pressing the most annoying rune that belonged to the most annoying person she knew.

    "Dead King, I have a job for you." Thrud always pronounced Orpal''s title with as much mockery as she could, but this time she was serious.

    <i>''The only silver lining in this disaster is that I can finally put this arrogant fool to the test. If Orpal seeds, I''ll know that I can count on him. If he fails, I''ll have a good reason to cut our ties and kill him at the first opportunity I get.''</i> She thought while exining the situation.

    "Manohar." Orpal said while a huge grin appeared on both his and Night''s face.

    His head was split into two perfect halves, one feminine, the other virile. Night used that method to teach him magic and share her muscle memory even while he was asleep or apparently doing nothing.

    "You have no idea how long we have waited for this rematch. We''ll be happy to help you." He nodded. "Yet he is very strong and with all the troops in the city supporting him, we need to wait for sundown, when our powers are at their apex.

    "You have to force your Skinwalkers to eithermit suicide or escape."

 Chapter 1763 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1763 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 1)</h4>

    "My Skinwalkers will stay where they are." Thrud shook her head, d to see that Orpal was thinking things through instead of putting his ego first. "Manohar can capture them. Once you get rid of him, I will start the invasion and rescue them."

    The Dead King started to snicker, his voice slowly rising in intensity until it be a maniacalughter.

    "The gods really are on my side." He said while alerting his troops throughout the Kingdom. "Tonight, I''ll paint the moon red with blood and my ursed brother will know despair."

    ***

    City of Derios, capital of the Distar Marquisate, that evening.

    Lith, Protector, and Nalrond were sitting around a table at Haug''s Travelling Tavern in their respective humanoid Beast form.

    Lith needed someone to talk to about his dwindling life force, Protector needed some distance from Selia who was yet to let him off the hook, and Nalrond needed a ce to use his Rezar form without causing amotion.

    Haug''s tavern could easily amodate them since dimensional magic made it spacious enough even for the bulkiest customer and Awakened didn''t care for each other''s appearance.

    Protector had just finished whining about how much the new kid would cost him and the earful that Selia gave him every time he dared toin about his workload.

    "Remember my words. Don''t marry and don''t have kids." He said swallowing the tenth tankard of beer with just one drop of Red Dragon in it.

    "Don''t mind him. He gets sad every time he drinks too much." Nalrond said, still struggling to drink and eat with his long-wed hands.

    "I don''t believe a word he says. I know that he''d rather cut his own tail than give up on one of his children." Lith replied.

    "How could I? They are so cute!" Protector shoved in the middle of the table a Rememberer that projected countless images of his kids as babies.

    He could tell when and why each picture had been taken, arousing memories that moved him to tears, but to anyone else they looked identical, boring them to death.

    "They sure are. How did your date with Friya go, Nalrond?" Lith pushed the Rememberer away, eager to change the topic.

    The Rezar told them everything until the shocking conclusion.

    "Sorry to hear that, man." Protector hugged him with all of his strength, almost crushing Nalrond''s ribs. "Not even a goodnight kiss is never a good sign. Don''t lose hope. You are a wonderful person."

    The drunken Skoll started top him, covering him in slob.

    "It didn''t go badly either since I asked her for a second date and she said yes." Nalrond pushed Protector away and cleaned himself with darkness magic.

    "That''s great news, actually. If she''s taking it slowly maybe it means that she actually cares and doesn''t want to rush things. You''d better not wait too long to set the date because once her body stabilizes, Faluel will bring her core to violet.

    "Then Friya will need a lot of time to learn body casting and practice umtion." Lith then shared with them the details about his conversation with Faluel, how their date ended, and the conversation with Solus.

    He only left out the part about the body-swapping machine because Forbidden Magic wasn''t a topic he could share even with his closest friend. They wouldn''t like it and it would also make them his aplices.

    "See what I mean? Even Lith got a goodnight kiss!" Protector said, missing most of Lith''s points.

    "I''m sorry for yourpromised life force." Nalrond said. "At least Solus took it well and your family will probably do the same. Yet this raises a question. She''s a great woman and your days are numbered so what the heck are you waiting for?"

    "Dude, I would expect something like this from Morok, not you." The Tiamat snarled, his tail whipped the air so quickly that it produced a cracking sound. "Do you have any idea how bad things would be between us if we broke up?

    "Why do you think I didn''t ask Phloria out? She and Solus are the same. Their survival depends on me and our bond is in the way of a healthy rtionship."

    "Why don''t you just have Phloria''s apprenticeship transferred to Faluel, then?" Nalrond asked.

    "Don''t you think I tried that? Faluel says that she''s already too busy, Ajatar doesn''t have the knowledge that Phloria needs, and she doesn''t trust anyone else in the Council. I-" Lith''s Council amulet drew his attention, cutting him short.

    Worried about his family, he sighed in relief noticing that the blinking rune belonged to dion and not to Faluel. The Vampire Firstborn called him regrly to update Lith about his search for the copycat, but at that point, Lith had lost hope.

    "Let me guess. Still, nothing but you''re not going to give up-"

    "Shut your mouth and listen!" dion''s appearance was ragged and tired. "I did it. I know who the copycat is."

    "What?" The whole table jumped up at the news.

    "You have no idea what it cost me. I had to infiltrate the Undead Courts and work my way up for months. Yet I would still be clutching at straws if not for a huge development that-"

    "Save the details forter. I want a name!" The Tiamat snarled as his seven eyes zed with elemental energy and the shadows in the tavern grew in size, painting the walls ck.

    "It''s your brother." dion said.

    "Aran?" Protector asked, the drunken stupor still clouding his judgment.

    "That makes no sense." Lith said.

    "Yeah, he''s just a kid-" The Skoll attempted to say, but Nalrond shut his mouth and cleansed his system.

    "Orpal has no power. How could he kill someone like Mirim?"

    "Lith, I have to be brief because I had to interrogate one of his Chosen to get this information. Orpal killed her before I extracted his whereabouts from her whereas he knows my position and will send someone to shut me up." dion said.

    "His Chosen?" Lith echoed dumbly.

    "Long story short, your brother Orpal is the host of the Horseman of Night. He''s the Dead King, the only ruler of the Undead Courts and he''s also the copycat. Tonight, he''s going to check off one of the names on his list, but I don''t know who.

    "Protect your family and if I fail to return, please protect mine. You have no idea what Orpal is capable of-"

    Suddenly dion''s mantle moved as someone invisible grabbed him from behind. The shadows on the other side of the amulet came to life as well and themunication ended.

    Lith hoped that dion could fend for himself and called those who had received the Balkor card, starting from the weakest of them.

    ***

    City of Zeska, Nestrar Region, that same night.

    Finding and arresting all the nobles that had been left alive by the traitorous Ranger Alman Quaron had taken the forces of the Kingdom less than one hour. In front of the Royal Seal, even the most loyal retainer and the best-paid mercenary would step aside.

    The prisoners had been chained, muzzled, and their hands covered with special cuffs that made even the deadly ws of a Skinwalker useless.

 Chapter 1764 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1764 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 2)</h4>

    Manohar had them brought to the City Hall, the most secure location in Zeska.

    The Royal Seal also granted him full control over the arrays and the enchanted prisons in the underground dungeons. Manohar was confident that only an Awakened might escape from there and only if they knew Spirit Magic.

    ording to Lith, however, Skinwalkers couldn''t Awaken without dying so they had no way out. The god of healing had them watched 24/7 by multiple guards at the same time, just to be safe.

    "What a cunning daughter of a bastard!" It had taken Manohar a lot of time to find the runes of the ve spell hidden under the folds of the Skinwalkers'' life force. "This is without a doubt the longest diagnosis of my life.

    "Almost two hours to identify the problem, one hour to devise a spell to spot the runes, and two more to dumb it down enough for everyone to use it."

    A lot of time ording to his standards, of course.

    "Yes, fine. You are the greatest Healer of Mogar, Manohar. We get that." Queen Sylpha sighed in annoyance at the painstakingly urate retelling of his most recent feat that had taken most of her afternoon.

    "Now if you''re done preening your feathers, I''d like to know how many Skinwalkers you found and who they reced."

    "Of the over two hundred nobles that Quaron imprisoned, only 163 have been reced by Skinwalkers." Manohar said. "You have no idea how terrible it was when I examined the first subject and found no anomaly.

    "For a second I almost doubted my talent, but after moving on to the next, I understood that I had just been unlucky and that the guy was actually human."

    "Gods, it must have been heart wrenching." The Queen said with all the sarcasm that her voice could convey. "How bad is the intel leak?"

    "Well, you are thoroughly screwed, Sylpha. Thrud''s goons had ess to every database and vault of the region. By now they must have taken whatever they wanted and learned everything they needed.

    "You need to change every ess code and-" A rumble of thunder apanied the explosion of the wall behind the City Lord''s chair where Manohar sat.

    The violence of the st and the heavy debris flying through the room like bullets would have been enough to kill an ordinary mage, but nothing about Manohar was ordinary.

    The moment he had perceived a distortion in the arrays, he had used his chair as a framework for a hard-light construct, turning it into an impregnable shield. At the same time, he had activated the Featherwalker armor he wore so that it would cover his ears.

    The shockwave that was meant to send him sprawling on the floor and to damage his sense of hearing left him unfazed.

    "Dammit, you are still as good as I remember." Said a feminine voice while performing the impossible.

    The City Hall was surrounded by dimensional and air sealing arrays, yet the armor-d figure rode atop a thundercloud while walking out of an emerald fissure in space.

    "I had many stalkers in my life, but you are definitely one of the craziest and most stupid." Manohar said. "Do you have any idea how arrays work?"

    It took him but a thought to turning off the magical formations. The god of healing cast a flight spell and took his weapon out of his dimensional amulet, floating at his opponent''s eye level as the rm resounded.

    "Do you really don''t remember me?" The helm disappeared, revealing a stunning young woman with ebony skin that seemed to devour all light and sensual full lips that curled up in a cruel smile.

    Her silver waist-long hair fell like a cascade down to her hips and her round eyes without pupils shone red like blood moons.

    "No clue." He honestly replied, activating the City Hall''s defensive system.

    A burst of fire, thunder, and darkness assaulted the Horseman from every side with uncanny violence and surgical precision. The onught produced a terrifying noise, but the spells were so finely controlled that not one spark of energy affected the room.

    "I resent you for both forgetting about me and cheating. The arrays were supposed to seal your magic and leave you solely with your precious light magic." Night spun her spear, Thorn, blowing away the dust cloud surrounding her.

    Only then did Manohar notice the darkness element that had burst out of her chest and weakened the spells enough for her armor, ck Rose, to block them without taking any damage.

    Theyer of darkness shrouding her was so thick that her face was but a blur, yet ck Rose and Thorn still glistened under the moonlight like precious gems.

    "Your magic can ignore arrays and your equipment is made out of Davross so I''d say that you are the biggest cheater here." The god of healing took his Royal Forgemastering wand in his left hand to even the field.

    "Don''t sell me short, little man. I''m just getting started." Night smiled in the face of the Warp Steps opening all around Manohar.

    He knew that Thrud would have tried something, and even though the appearance of the Horseman of Night was outside his calctions, Manohar''s n covered every worst case scenario he could imagine.

    Mages and soldiers swarmed the ce, surrounding Night from every side. They were armed with alchemical weapons that wouldn''t suffer from the arrays and with their numbers they would more than make up for their quality.

    Manohar had his armorpletely covered in golden runes down to the metal feathers of his armor''s wings and when the array turned on again, Night was both outnumbered and outmatched.

    The god of healing had learned from Balkor that even though Spirit Magic couldn''t be sealed, its cost would make the Horseman run out of mana way before he could run out of reinforcements.

    On top of that, he had practiced enough with the wand to learn all the Spirit Spells he needed to counter most of what Night could do.

    Or so he thought until the air and earth sealing arrays came back online, cutting off all the Steps around him. All but one that shone with emerald light right behind him.

    The Horseman charged forward with a madugh, her body sucking the darkness element from the world energy and using it to conjure a ck avnche. Manohar knew that it would seep past his constructs and armor, decimating the soldiers.

    A simple flick of his wrist turned the hard light into nigh-solid darkness that shed with Night''s. It saved the lives of dozens between mages and soldiers, yet it also made him fall for Orpal''s trap.

    From a standing position, Manohar couldn''t resist the momentum from the charge. His spell kept Night''s at bay, but it also pushed him back and through the Warp Steps that she had disguised among those of his reinforcements.

    The Horseman focused the ck avnche around herself, turning into a living bullet that quickly followed the Mad Professor through the portal. The emerald Gate closed behind them, leaving the reinforcements and the Queen who was still spectating through the amulet bbergasted.

    "This doesn''t bode well.." Manohar said as he noticed that they were now in the middle of nowhere, in a ce he had never seen before so far away from Zeska that the city wasn''t even in sight.

 Chapter 1765 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1765 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 3)</h4>

    "Now that we are finally alone, I can properly introduce myself, little man." The silvery voice turned manly and Night became Orpal. "I don''t expect you to recognize my face, but I know you''ve heard of Lith''s brother."

    "Of course I know Aran. What does he have to do with all this?" The Mad Professor was d for that chat.

    To face a Horseman by himself he needed a n and he could use some time to figure out one.

    "I meant his oldest brother!" Orpal snarled.

    "The one whomitted suicide? How can you be alive, Trenton? I performed the autopsy myself in respect for Lith''s family." Manohar furrowed his brows in growing confusion.

    "Trion! His name was Trion and he wasn''t the eldest!

    I''m talking about me, Orpal Verhen." Rage made his eyes re up with a red light that the god of healing recognized as undeath, yet there was something off about it.

    "Never heard the name and I''ve known Lith for years. You are making that up." Manohar said as he conjured his most powerful tier five Light Mastery spell, Supernovas.

    From his fight with Dawn, the god of healing had learned to always go all out instead of starting out small like he used to do against people he considered small fries.

    Meteors made of light and fire appeared all around them, each one as big as a house. Together, they formed a sphere that prevented Orpal from escaping. They were solid so he couldn''t fly through them and he couldn''t Blink away because his vision was blocked.

    On top of that, every single one of the meteors was powerful enough to blow up a castle.

    "I remember this spell." Orpal shrugged. "You used this very same spell against a previous host. It failed then and it will fail now. You are nothing without Balkor!"

    He pumped as much mana as he could inside the ck Rose armor and engulfed himself with a thickyer of darkness.

    "You aren''t the only one who learned a few tricks in the meantime." Manohar replied as the world around them burst with shockwaves and heat akin to the surface of the sun.

    <i>''He''s as insane as the rumors say.''</i> Orpal thought. <i>''Not only is he trying a spell that he knows to be useless, but even if the hot air doesn''t burn his lungs, the explosions will rip him to shreds. Even the caster of a spell isn''t immune to its indirect effects!''</i>

    Yet while the mes and the hard-light shards battered his body, dragging the Dead King around like a leaf in a storm, Manohar stood still.

    <i>''Oh shit!''</i> Orpal understood what was happening only when it was toote.

    At thest second, the god of healing had turned the Supernova behind him into darkness, using it to get out of the encirclement and protect himself from harm. The Mad Professor may have been true to his name, but not stupid.

    <i>''It''s just like Balkor said back then. Light and darkness were never meant to be used separately. If only Mother didn''t split me from Dawn, I would be capable of doing everything that Manohar can!''</i> Night thought, her fury reinforcing Orpal''s.

    <i>''Great, so not only do you not know how to use Domination like Balkor, you don''t even know how to switch light and darkness?''</i> He asked.

    ''They are both tough subjects and I''ve never put much effort into my studies.'' She admitted.

    <i>''Neither did I. You focus on learning from Manohar while I take care of killing him. Tonight, we''re going to bury our shameful past.''</i> Orpal roared as he channeled his mana through the mystical metal of his equipment, boosting his power by several folds.

    The light fought against the darkness for a few seconds before being slowly consumed.

    "I can''t believe it!" Manohar was bbergasted. "You recognized my spell, you saw my new ability, and you fell for it anyway. Now I get why I don''t understand a word you say. I don''t speak stupids!"

    Supernovas turned into his darkness counterpart, ck Hole. The new spell ate at Orpal''s barrier, forcing him to focus on each dark mass and split the sphere of energy surrounding him into smaller, more dense fragments in order to survive the onught.

    The Dead King gritted his teeth with effort, pushing the ability of Night''s crystal to control the darkness element to its utmost limit. It took him but a second to suppress ck Hole as well, but it came with a price.

    Splitting his barrier also meant leaving parts of his body unprotected, parts that the god of healing attacked all at the same time with his best Spirit Spell, the tier three Cutting Edge.

    His wand conjured several blue constructsprised of all six elements shaped as scalpels whose des were actuallyprised of minuscule drills that spun at high speed like a buzzsaw.

    Manohar had them slip through the openings in the barrier and attack both the crystal bulging out of Orpal''s chest and his joints.

    The Dead King screamed in pain as every part hit by Cutting Edge emitted blue sparks and the scalpels slowly pierced through their marks, including the crystal.

    Before the spell could damage the core of Night''s true body, Orpal had the barrier detonate on himself. The congration wasn''t enough to block ck Hole, but it swallowed the conjured scalpels that lost the connection with their caster and faded.

    "You truly are amazing, Manohar. I would have never thought that any other man but my brother would have forced me to reveal my Divine Beast form!" The Dead King''sughter sounded like a cough but his new appearance aroused the god of healing''s interest.

    Orpal''s face was nowpletely ck and his hair had disappeared. His features were still that of a human, but the ckness of his skin made it hard to distinguish anything but his eyes and mouth that werepletely white.

    His arms had be thicker and his hands ended with small ws. His legs had be reverse-jointed and a pair of membranous ck wings came out of his back. Two small horns protruded from his forehead, pointing at the sky while three mes floated above his head, akin to an iplete crown.

    They were ck, yellow, and blue.

    "Behold the power of the Dead King! Behold the power of Vurdk the Father of-" Several sets of golden hands surrounded him, squashing him with a p like a bug and cutting him short.

    The moment one pair of hands opened, another pped in an eternal cycle.

    "Enough! I''ve waited too long for this, training day in and day out. I won''t be denied again!" True to their name, ck Rose and Thornbined with Night''s crystal to produce a spell shaped like a rose whose stem was full of thorns that shattered the constructs.

    Manohar wasn''t impressed by anything that Orpal did or said, but he had to admit that the ego of the Dead King was on par with his own. Also, his resilience was turning out to be a problem.

    The god of healing had gone all out from the beginning, using his best tier five spells and even a Spirit Spell.. For a fake mage incapable of stimting their mana cores it meant to deplete it one go.

 Chapter 1766 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1766 - Light Vs Darkness (Part 4)</h4>

    "I swear that I didn''t want it toe to this." Manohar gripped his de with his right hand and removed the cork from histest concoction, Awakening number 87, with his left.

    "Me neither!" Orpal roared as he extended his hand.

    A ck dimensional fissure opened and Moonlight galloped out of it. The Horseman''s steed was made out of a single gigantic white crystal that had turned pitch-ck after being attuned with the darkness element.

    Orpal''s rage and envy consumed him at the idea that a mere mortal had forced him to conjure his tower. After he had reached the deep cyan core, Night had ordered one of her Chosen to turn Orpal into a Thrall and give him a blood core.

    This way, both his mana core and life force had the time to adapt to their undead counterpart. When he had reached the deep blue core and awakened his dormant Guardian bloodline, it had swallowed the undead energy, giving birth to somethingpletely new.

    s, even though what Orpal had self-proimed Vurdk, the Father of all Undead, had an intimidating appearance, it was no different from Lith''s Wyrmling form. It didn''t make him any stronger, it just gave him bloodline abilities.

    To make matters worse, being a new life form also meant being unknown. He had immediately tried to ess Origin mes, discovering to have none. Night had learned from Dusk how the Guardian''s abilities worked and she had passed that knowledge unto Orpal.

    Yet he had failed to discover a single bloodline ability aside from Domination. Too bad that Night had no idea how it worked and she had no one that could teach it to them.

    Orpal had turned into a Vurdk in the hope to shock the god of healing and buy the time he needed to use his breathing technique. Manohar had seen way worse in his life and he had learned from a young age to never give an opponent the time to recover.

    Orpal''s deep blue core was almost depleted, his body suffered from mana abuse due to the repeated use of abilities way beyond his level, but he refused to let Night fight his battle or to let Manohar go.

    The moment he got into the saddle, Moonlight filled him with new energy and healed his wounds.

    "Anyst words?" Orpal said while focusing his mana into Thorn, to finish the enemy in one blow.

    "My name is Krishna Varaja Manohar. My mother Sitri gave me life and that''s the only choice I''ll ever let others make for me. I might lose today, but I''m the only one that decides how I live or die."

    The god of healing swallowed Awakening 87 without ever taking his eyes off the enemy. His hands weaved new spells as small tendrils of light held the sword, the wand, and the vial for him.

    Manohar and Balkor had spent the days after Lith''s visit discussing the newly acquired information. He hadn''t said much, but to them, it was more than enough. The two most brilliant minds of their generation had concocted a potion that would grant anyone Awakening.

    At least in theory.

    From his previous inconclusive experiments, or failures, like the rest of Mogar called them, Manohar had learned that the process would kill anyone whose mana core was strong enough to cause a too violent body refining.

    The number and the position of the impurities varied for every person and without a breathing technique, there was no way to determine how dangerous Awakening was. The only clue they had was the color of the core by looking at the mana in someone''s eyes.

    Yet it didn''t help much. Manohar had seen even people with a deep green core die and he had no idea how to locate and remove the impurities. So he had tackled the issue the way he knew best, healing.

    A violent bright violet aura burst out of the god of healing as the energy of his overloaded core forcefully spread to the rest of his body. Manohar had no breathing technique, but if he Awakened, he would finally be capable of using tier four and five of Spirit Magic.

    He would also be capable of fusion magic and body casting, two disciplines that Balkor had taught him to the best of his abilities, even letting the god of healing study his body while he used them.

    That along with the violent burst of energy that apanied the Awakening process, would give Manohar the opportunity to win that fight.

    First, he encased his whole body with the tier four Light Mastery spell, Second Skin. The construct coated him inside out, keeping the body refining process in check and allowing Manohar to determine its speed.

    Then, he ingested two more potions. One to suppress his pain receptors and the other a tonic that would give him enough nutrients to not need to eat for a whole month.

    <i>''Lith told me that a violet core is supposed to degrade to blue upon Awakening, but that''s only because the body isn''t trained to circte so much energy. By waiting the moment when my mana core was almost empty, I should have solved half the issue.</i>

    <i>''I can use Spirit Magic to channel the excess magic out of my body safely so that once the Awakening finishes, I will retain my violet core.''</i> Manohar thought.

    A ck tar-like substance seeped out of all his orifices, making him gurgle at every breath yet his focus never faltered. His bones, flesh, and muscles broke down, but Second Skin and the painkillers kept the process bearable.

    "Behold the power of a true mage!" Orpal said while his spear moved through the air in wide circles, tracing runes of mystical power and absorbing the darkness element at its passage.

    "This is something that an insect like you could never achieve. A perfect de Tier Spell."

    When Thorn stopped, the night air was so clean and transparent that the light from the moon and stars illuminated thendscape around them as bright as day. Manohar could finally see Zeska on the horizon, but it was toote to open a Warp Step.

    "You can do that too? Cool. It took me almost a month to learn de Magic. What about you?" Manohar''s hand moved from the hilt of his de to its tip, revealing countless runes of power upon its passage.

    The double-edged de deformed, turning into a single-edged de with a big hunch near its tip. It no longer resembled a sword anymore, but an oversized scalpel. Just like Quy, Manohar wasn''t a demaster, he was a healer by trade and that was the weapon that drew out his full potential.

    The runes spread to the power cores of his Featherwalker armor, his rings, and even his Forgemastering wand. After teaching him de Tiers Spells, Sylpha had made sure that Orion gave the god of healing everything he needed to fuel world breaking spells.

    Orpal roared in outrage since even by fusing his mind with Night, it had taken him over one year to grasp that technique and even more to master it.

    "Fine! Let''s see which one of us learned de Magic best!" The Vurdk said.

 Chapter 1767 - The Last Word (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1767 - The Last Word (Part 1)</h4>

    Orpal unleashed his de Tier Spell, Shattered Moon, at the same moment Manohar released his own, Rogue Sun.

    The silver st from Thorn and the golden sh from Surgeon, Manohar''s de, shed in mid-air, releasing a pulse of light that was visible not only from kilometers away, but even from space.

    "That''s interesting stuff, Nero." Inxialot the Lich King said while looking at the source of the brilliance from the garden of his secretb, located on the surface of the moon.

    "Indeed." The ck cat spectated the fight through a telescope since hecked his master''s uncanny sight.

    "Ho, ho, ho! It must be the istion, but sometimes I swear that your meowling almost sounds like words." Inxialotughed.

    "Preposterous!" Neroughed with him.

    The Queen, however, didn''t find the phenomenon amusing. Quite the contrary, it sent shivers down her spine.

    "That''s where Manohar is! Send him reinforcements, now!" Sylpha shouted orders in hermunication amulet as she took the Saefel set, ready to join the fight.

    "Calm down!" Meron stopped her with a heavy heart. "The set can never leave Valeron except that in times of war, that''s thew!"

    "We are at war, you idiot!" She roared like a wounded tigress.

    "A man is in danger, not the people of the Kingdom." Meron shook his head. "Besides, do you really think you can get there in time? By the time the light fades Manohar will be either dead or victorious."

    "Then I''ll be able to either avenge him or to help him, now move!" Sylpha pushed him aside, yet he offered no resistance and darted right behind her.

    "What do you think you are doing?"

    "The right thing." Meron left her both the Sword and the Armor of Saefel, conjuring a Royal Fortress armor and the Spell Hoarding Cube for himself. "I''ming with you."

    What they were about to do went against all thews of the Kingdom. The King and Queen leaving the capitol unprotected and taking the most powerful artifacts away was a crime that might force them to abdicate the throne, but neither of them cared.

    "I love you." Sylpha said while Spirit Warping to the nearest Gate.

    "I love you more." Meron replied.

    Yet as the King had predicted, the fight had ended before the light disappeared and the natural ckness of the night returned.

    The winner and the loser both coughed out a mouthful of blood, their bodies devastated by exhaustion. Yet only one of them still stood tall.

    "This is not the end." Manohar said. "As I told you, I''m the one who decides how I live or die."

    His battered bodyy face down in the mud, yet he kept talking and moving through a construct made of light that contained every spark he had left of mana and all of his will.

    The god of healing had been a powerful violet-cored mage, but a fake mage nheless. No matter how good his equipment was, he had only learned de Tier spells that used regr elements, whereas his opponent had cast Spirit Magic.

    On top of that, Orpal was on Moonlight''s back, making Shattered Moon into a Tower tier Spirit de spell.

    Yet none of it would have sufficed to kill the god of healing if the effort of facing the enemy''s de Spell hadn''t broken his focus on Second Skin. Manohar had dodged Shattered Moon at the cost of letting the Awakening process go awry, killing him on the spot.

    What was left of Second Skin had kept his body from exploding, but he had died nheless.

    As for Orpal, half of his body and head were destroyed. If not for the regenerative abilities of Night''s crystal, he would have been dead as well. This was the second time that it happened, the first during his fight with Tezka.

    Vastor had never defeated him under the walls of Belius. It was just one of his Chosen that he had manipted like a puppet while waiting for Mirim''s return in Derios.

    After the battle, the Master had wondered why Night was the only Horseman who had fought without her steed, but had never found the answer. He had no idea that what had escaped the broken crystal armor was just her consciousness returning to the main body.

    "As long as you die, I don''t care." Orpal felt humiliated, yet he had to swallow his pride and revert to his human form for the next part of his n.

    He wore the deep blue Archmage cape that he had taken from Deirus, and took the items he had stolen from the Marchioness and Lark to confirm his identity. Then, he broadcast his message throughout the Kingdom via hismunication amulet.

    Members of the Undead Courts who had his rune projected the hologram of the Dead King in the sky above all the major cities. It was so big that people only had to look out the windows to see it.

    "Good evening, citizens of the Griffon Kingdom. You know me as the new Balkor, but my real name is Orpal Verhen, the fallen member of the family of your so-called hero." He said while giving them a bow.

    "You have taken away everything from me. My life, my family, and even my name. I survived those nightmares that you call orphanages and joined the army to serve my country, but even then, the Griffon Kingdom has been ungrateful to me.

    "I took the oath to defend this country in exchange for the army to take care of me, but they broke their word first! The officials treated me like trash, refusing to recognize my talent just to follow their political agenda and pander my little brother.

    "That''s why I took out Count Trequill Lark first. He was the one who exiled me from my birthce and made scorched earth around me wherever I went. Then, I took out Marchioness Mirim Distar, the woman who granted Lith the ess to the White Griffon that he didn''t deserve."

    As he spoke, Orpal threw in front of the camera small objects that he had taken from his victims as souvenirs. Mirim''s cloaking hairpin and the silk string of Lark''s monocle.

    Both had their respective initials and coat of arms engraved on their surface.

    Sylpha and Meron stopped for a second to listen to the nonsense that resounded from the sky above Zeska before rushing to the sentinels above the city walls. They needed directions to resume their chase.

    Brinja Distar looked at the sky of Derios, recognizing her mother''s hairpin. Warm tears streaked down her cheeks yet her face was twisted in a mask of fury and hate. Brinja clenched her hands so hard that her long nails made them bleed.

    "And now, I''ve aplished something that not even Balkor, the so-called god of death ever could. I''ve killed your beloved Krishna Manohar, the god of healing!" Orpal cut the head of the corpse off and lifted it in front of the amulet for everyone to see.

    Sitri Manohar fainted on the spot, and death quickly followed. No matter how much trouble her son gave her, he was her heart and Orpal had just ripped it out of her chest.

    "This bastard coddled my brother, giving him the highest honors in the Light Department even before he enrolled. Don''t call me a traitor, because you all betrayed me first.

    "I''m just evening the field, taking away all the unfair advantages that the Kingdom gave my brother yet refused me."

 Chapter 1768 - The Last Word (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1768 - The Last Word (Part 2)</h4>

    The Dead King glossed over his failed attempt on Zinya''s life and moved on.

    "Mom, Dad, I hope you are watching. I''ll show you that you chose the wrong son. You shouldn''t have favored that monster over me. By doing that, you have created another monster that will take away from you as much as you have taken from me.

    "Today you could have been sitting at my table, enjoying the riches and the safety of the Dead King of the Undead Courts. Now, instead, you''ll tremble in fear of my reckoning inside your pathetic little home just like the rest of this wretched Kingdom.

    "That''s why I never sent you a card. I n to leave you forst and savor your screams after I destroy every single thing that you have built upon my misery!"

    <i>''Enough ranting!''</i> Night warned him. <i>''Someone ising and in your current state, they are too powerful even for Moonlight.''</i>

    Orpal hung up the projection and reached for Manohar''s equipment to take them as his spoils of war. Yet the figure of living light that until that moment had stood there listening to his speech, took them away while slow-pping him.

    "No one touches my stuff!" Manohar disappeared along the horizon in his final act of defiance, leaving the Dead King empty-handed.

    Orpal cursed his bad luck and escaped via a Warp Steps that Night had weaved for him. The Royals alternated opening their Warp Steps, moving to the farthest coordinate they could see, but once they arrived, only Manohar''s corpse was left.

    The Dead King had left in such a rush that he had had only the time to engrave with magic the word "Past" on Manohar''s back. Aside from that and the missing head, the corpse was intact.

    "Dammit!" Sylpha roared, emitting a burst of bright violet energy that made the people in Zeska tremble, fearing that the Dead King wasing for them. "Manohar wasn''t just one of our strongest mages.

    "He was the greatest Healer we ever had. Without him, a single gue can decimate our forces, leaving the Undead Courts unscathed and tipping the bnce in their favor. How could we let this happen?"

    "We didn''t." Meron embraced her, forcing her to calm down. "Our enemy hid in the darkest ce of the Kingdom like a cockroach and attacked only when he was sure to win. We did everything we could, it just wasn''t enough.

    "Now, however, we know his name and the source of his powers. Orpal may have taken Manohar from us, but he has also lost his greatest advantage, anonymity. I promise you that it''s a mistake that buffoon will pay dearly."

    ***

    At the same time, dozens of kilometers away, Manohar could feel his Avatar of Light growing weaker so he took hismunication amulet. He noticed the disappearance of his mother''s rune and even though he no longer had a heart he could still feel his chest tighten.

    "I''m sorry, Mom." He sighed as golden sparks trickled from his eyes. "At least you have all the time in the world to scold me once I join you. Before that, I''ve still got a few things to do."

    He pressed the contact rune of Zogar Vastor, the most mediocre, arrogant, and stubborn man that the god of healing had ever known. Yet he was also the man that he considered to be his only rival and his friend.

    "Manohar, thank the gods! That loser in the sky pulled a good stunt, but I knew that you were alive. Your rune-"

    "As usual, you''re wrong, Zogar." Manohar cut him short. "I''m dead and I don''t have much time left so as usual, shut up and listen to your better."

    The Master choked on his retort as he noticed that there was nothing inside the golden construct.

    "Good. I never understood why you chose to study Arthan''s Madness or to be the so-called Master. I wish I had the time to hear your exnation and see if there''s something salvageable in your research, but I don''t.

    "I just want to tell you that I forgive you for what you have done, but only if you stop with that nonsense and give that crazy-ass woman who proposed to you a good life."

    "You knew?" Vastor asked in shock.

    "Of course I knew." Manohar replied with a scoff. "I would have been a really crappy god of healing if I failed to notice such major change in a man that I knew for decades."

    "Then why didn''t you ever say anything and why didn''t you expose me to the Royals?" Hearing the screams and seeing the hologram disappear from the sky of Essagor, Zinya entered the room.

    "How could I do that? You are the author of my favorite books as a child. You have been my childhood hero. Until I joined the academy, knew you in person, and surpassed you in one year, of course, but that''s beyond the point." Even as a construct, the smug grin of the god of healing was as insufferable as ever.

    Yet Vastor didn''t feel rage nor envy when Manohar called the books of magic that he had written as children''s books. Only a deep sadness.

    "Even though you didn''t like me, you have been a great teacher first, then a good colleague, and then you have been my only rival. You had no more chances to reach my level than anyone else, but while the rest of Mogar gave up, you never stopped chasing me.

    "I never felt threatened by you, but you always inspired and stimted me to do my best. I may not like your methods, but I couldn''t resent you for them because everything you did, you did it for me.

    "On the contrary, you made my final years interesting. Thanks for never being boring, Zogar." Manohar said.

    "Please,e here to Essagor." Vastor clenched his Yggdrasill staff until the wood creaked.

    His voice was firm, but tears streamed like rivers from his eyes and a ck-violet aura burst out at regr intervals from his body, making the lights of the house flicker and the ground quake.

    Only when Zinya embraced him from behind did Vastor manage to calm down. The fear of hurting her eclipsed even the fury he felt.

    "It''s not over yet. If you can speak, reason and your amulet still has your imprint, it means that your life force and mana core have yet to disappear. It''s all I need to turn you into an Abomination.

    "I don''t care how many lives I have to sacrifice. I can give you a stable body, turn you into a hybrid, whatever you want! I''ll do everything I can to bring you fully back to life along with my children.

    "Please, don''t make your death pointless, and don''t let that asshole of Meln win. You never lose, remember?" The Master begged.

    "Thanks, but I''m not interested in eternity. I knew that one day I would die and that''s the reason I wanted every moment of my life to be interesting and funny. That day hase and I have no regrets.

    "I had a good life and I wish you one as well.. Please, keep an eye on Lith for me and kick Orpal''s ass."

 Chapter 1769 - The Void (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1769 - The Void (Part 1)</h4>

    "The bastard cheated with his goddamn mage tower in the form of a horse. You have to look out for that. Glory to the Kingdom, Zogar." Manohar said.

    Zogar Vastor had heard those words countless times, yet he hadn''t spoken them in years. It was the battle cry of the Kingdom that its loyal citizens yelled when performing an act of valor or the ultimate sacrifice.

    Vastor hated the Kingdom for how he had been treated and for all the lives he had taken in its name as a Highmaster. He resented its citizens for the way every young talented mage was treated because nobility andmoners alike were envious and scared of their talent.

    The Master knew that the war with Thrud was imminent and had been pondering which side to take, if any.

    Joining the victor was the most rational and convenient choice, especially after Lith had told Vastor about the Mad Queen''s shapeshifters and her involvement with the Undead Courts.

    Yet those words changed everything.

    "Glory to the Kingdom, Krishna." Vastor nodded.

    Themunication ended, leaving the Master looking at his amulet for a few seconds before his grief and fury spread to his Abomination-Hybrids.

    The same bond that allowed them to share their emotions and dimensional coordinates now spurred them to wage war against the Mad Queen.

    ***

    "I can''t believe that asshole waited until my final day to call me by my first name." Manohar clicked his tongue in disapproval.

    He was done with Vastor and his energy was flickering too much to waste one more second. He had two calls left to make, but Marth''s took priority.

    "Thank the gods you are alright, Krishna. I knew that madman was full of it when-"

    "Not you too, Duke! Birds of a feather do flock together! I''m dead and I''m running out of time." Manohar said, shattering every hope Marth had left after seeing his radiant body.

    "How is it possible?"

    "Cheating, of course. Orpal had no chance in a fair fight." The Mad Professor pouted at the memory of his defeat, almost reconsidering Vastor''s offer.

    Almost.

    "Horsemen have mage towers for steeds so don''t leave your academy at any cost. One of them managed to kill me even though she chose a moron as her host. Imagine what they could do to you."

    "You can''t have called me just to insult me onest time. Come back to the academy, there must be something we can do to save your life!" Marth said in outrage and denial.

    "If it sounded like an insult, I apologize. I just worry about you." It was then that Duke Marth knew that his beloved alumnus and dear friend was really dead.

    Manohar never apologized.

    "I called you because I wanted to warn you of the threat at hand. I know for certain that Thrud and the Undead Courts are in cahoots but they''ll do everything they can to make it look otherwise." The god of healing said.

    "I''ll let the Royals know." Marth nodded.

    In death, even the Court''s old fogeys wouldn''t doubt Manohar''s words, thinking that Orpal must have told him something during their fight. Now that he had shared thest piece of knowledge that Lith had entrusted to him, Krishna Manohar felt at peace.

    "I also called you to thank you for being my only true friend. A lot of people always tried to get close to me, but you were the only one who actually cared about me. You had me eat my meals regrly and forced me to exercise.

    "You spent your free time with me, no matter how much I annoyed you or how much trouble I made. You have been a great teacher and I''m sure you''ll be an even greater Headmaster and father.

    "Please, take good care of Manohar junior and of Manohar the third in my stead. Make sure that they grow loving light magic and hating boring people. There''s a secretpartment in the right drawer of my desk.

    "I left there a manual there that should teach them Light Mastery, if they have the brains for it. It''s my legacy, and I entrust it to you to pass it onto them and only them. Can you do it for me?" The Mad Professor said with a soft smile that had nothing mad about it.

    "You want to annoy me until yourst moment, huh? Even now you give me nothing but trouble and try to burden with your crap even my unborn child." Marth tried to chuckle, but it came out as a sob.

    "Yeah. My Mom is gone and you are the only family I have left." Manohar nodded.

    "I''ll do it." Marth started to cry, unable to hold back anymore. "I swear to you that no one else will read that manual, not even me."

    Manohar''s construct faded and so did the call.

    Marth would have copsed to the floor if not for his wife, Ryssa the Dryad, holding and bringing him to the nearest chair. Her pregnancy was nearly full-term, but her inhuman physique allowed her to lift an adult man even in her condition.

    Marth held his wife tight, feeling her warmth and the kid''s movement through her swollen belly. He wanted to be strong for them and for the Kingdom, yet all he felt was pain.

    "Cry all you want." Ryssa said while caressing his head as Marth cried softly.

    She looked like a gorgeous woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.73 meters (5''8"). She had wheat-blond straight hair that fell like a waterfall down to the small of her back and light green skin.

    Ryssa had big yellow eyes, that sparkled like masterfully cut pieces of amber. Her visage was simply stunning, from her delicate features to her full lips.

    "If you want, we can really call our child Manohar junior."

    "Are you really okay with this? I know that you never liked him." Marth asked.

    The god of healing had been many things, but a kind man had never been one of them. He resented Ryssa in particr because he med her for having stolen his best friend from him.

    "He was arrogant, condescending, and obnoxious." Ryssa snarled at all the memories of Manohar being Manohar to her. "Yet he was also your precious friend and he loved our child as much as we do.

    "I have no problem with honoring his memory, but only on two conditions."

    "Anything." Marth managed to calm down as if giving to his child the name of his lost friend would keep a part of Manohar alive.

    "It must be a second name. I''d love for our kid to be a genius, but not if that means spending my life chasing them like Sitri did." Ryssa said. "Also, I want you to find whoever took our friend away from us and make them pay."

    ***

    Manohar had just a spark of life left, but Lith''s amulet was unavable. He had started calling Kam, then Zinya, and now Jirni because he considered them the weakest among those who had received the Orpal card.

    The god of healing had no choice but to leave him a message.

    "Lith, remember my words. It doesn''t matter how long you have left. Don''t waste time crying my death or pursuing something as pointless as revenge.. Choose life, and then live."

 Chapter 1770 - The Void (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1770 - The Void (Part 2)</h4>

    Thest fragment of his mana core faded and so did the construct holding thest spark of his life force. Themunication amulet fell to the ground, the many runes on its surface disappeared, leaving a clean te.

    Manohar could feel the pull from the chain that bound him to Lith, but he ignored it. He broke the link with his characteristic stubbornness that not even death had tamed and left Mogar to discover the final mystery.

    ***

    City of Derios, capital of the Distar Marquisate, at the same time.

    Like the two Professors of the White Griffon, Lith refused to believe the images projected in the sky of the city. Krishna Manohar was the strongest and most annoying fake mage he knew.

    Lith was certain that there was no way that someone like Orpal could defeat Manohar nor that death would assume on herself for all eternity the burden that was the god of healing.

    Also, as long as the items that bore his imprint were fine, he had to be as well. Yet the moment he finished speaking with Jirni and listened to Manohar''s message, he knew that it was all true.

    "¡­and then live." The Mad Professor''s voice said as his rune disappeared from Lith''s amulet.

    "No." Lith said, barely a whisper that only the customers of the Traveling Tavern with the finest hearing managed to hear.

    "No." He repeated, this time louder.

    Lith still refused to believe it. Just a few days ago they had traveled to the Desert together. Just a few hours ago, they had talked to each other and to the King and the Princesses. Manohar couldn''t be dead.

    Not like this. Suddenly taken away from him and tossed in the dirt like a band-aid.

    "No!" Lith screamed in an inhuman roar that grew in intensity without ever stopping.

    His seven eyes red up with elemental energy as the shadows radiating from his body didn''t just cover the walls anymore, they swallowed the entire Travelling Tavern.

    The ckness erupting from him devoured all light, be it natural or magical in nature. It quickly expanded out of the restaurant and spread throughout Derios, blotting even the night sky.

    For a few seconds, no one could see even their hand in front of their own faces. Then Locrias came out of his feather, joining the roar and so did countless shadows.

    The ck me he emitted allowed Protector, Nalrond, and Haug to see countless chains bursting out from Lith''s chest. Unbeknownst to them, the mystical bindings were scouring Mogar, in the search for Lith''s lost friend.

    For every Demon that rose, the ckness spread further like a disease, throwing the citizens of Derios and even the undead that had infiltrated the city into a panic. The only light in that darkness was the white eyes and fangs of the Demons.

    It was a light that growled and red, offering no sce, only terror.

    Soon a cacophony of screams echoed through the city as the screams of the living joined the roars of the dead. Panic and furyplemented each other in a concert that only grew louder when the quake started.

    "Where the fuck is Solus?" Nalrond asked as he tried to reach Lith, only to be grabbed and mmed to the ground by countless invisible hands.

    "Back home. This was supposed to be a boys'' night out." Protector replied, joining him and appreciating the self-cleaning spells of the floor from up close and personal. "Not that her presence would help. If Lith hears her cry, things would get much worse."

    "Solus!" The Tiamat said, almost feeling her pain from the distance separating them.

    A storm joined the quake, signaled only by the rumble of thunder since the ckness hid the clouds from sight like everything else.

    "Me and my big mouth!" Protector said as the sound of rocks hitting heavily against the window and the sudden cold told him that hail was pouring down from the sky.

    "Who the heck is Solus?" Haug asked.

    He had already lived a simr situation back in Lightkeep, when Lith had learned about Mirim''s death. The barkeeper had needed the help of several of his disciples to restrain Lith and back then he was much weaker.

    The chaos in the tavern kept him from activating the offensive arrays. He would have hit the Tiamat along with many others that probably wouldn''t survive the firepower needed to stun him.

    Luckily, Haug had the contact runes of all his frequent customers in the case they needed to make a reservation. He pressed Kam''s rune, hoping it was the right choice.

    He might have called Faluel or even another Divine Beast, but if a struggle broke out, his tavern if not even Derios wouldn''t survive the sh of titans.

    "Haug, this isn''t the time for a social call. I have to run back to the office. Manohar''s death is the biggest crisis since Balkor''s attack seven years ago and-"

    "I don''t know you enough to care for a social call, miss Yehval. I need your help solving another crisis we both know." He cut her short.

    "What are you talking about? I''m a human without magical powers whereas you are a violet cored Awakened. What could you possibly need me for?" She replied in confusion.

    "Look up for Derios in thetest news. That''s what I''m talking about." From her words, Haug understood that wherever she was, Kam could talk freely.

    "Is that Lith? Is he there with you?" The moment she read about the ckness and the wailsing from the capital of the Distar Marquisate, Kam understood what was happening.

    "In the flesh and grief." A couple of spells flew through the room, passing a few millimeters from Haug. "Stay still you idiots! If you keep shooting blindly, you are going to kill someone."

    His clients were starting to panic and had cast spells hoping to take down the Tiamat, but the choir of screaming voices made it impossible to pinpoint his position. The Demons reacted badly to the threat, grabbing the customers and sucking their vitality away to neutralize them.

    "Your boyfriend told me that you can keep him under control. If you don''t calm him down, the Kingdom''s officials will find this ce the moment they devise a way to get rid of this darkness." Haug said.

    "I can reach the Gate of Derios, but how will you find me if you can''t see?" Kam had no time to update a stranger about her love life so she moved straight to the point.

    "I know the local branch of the Association like the back of my hand. Once you walk out of the Gate, stay there and I will find you."

    Luckily for Haug, Kam was already on the move when he had called. Her badge allowed her to use the localwork of Gates of Belius to reach the Association and from there Derios in less than one minute.

    "I''m here. Now what?"

    Haug opened a Spirit Warp, bypassing the elemental sealing arrays of the Mage Association, and then used tendrils of Spirit Magic to search the vicinities of the Gate until he found her.

    He dragged Kam through the Steps and that''s when it happened.

    The ckness engulfed the entire city yet it avoided Kam as if a spotlight followed her around the tavern.

 Chapter 1771 - The Void (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1771 - The Void (Part 3)</h4>

    Kam followed the chains at a brisk pace until she stood in front of their source.

    In his frenzy, Lith hadn''t noticed her presence but his Demons did. Locrias tried to stop her but his body refused to move. Dozens of shadows jumped at her just to fade away the moment they stepped into the light.

    Kam took a deep breath, covering her hand with the Orichalcum of her armor before pping Lith with all of her strength.

    "Lith Verhen what do you think you are doing?" Her stern voice and the impact put an end to his roar.

    "Orpal! That bastard killed Manohar!" The Tiamat said with a snarl, towering over the much shorter woman.

    His eyes zed with fury and the bone endings of his wings clicked, readying to w at her.

    "The whole Kingdom knows that. Just like they know that he also killed Lark and Mirim. Speaking of Mirim, Brinja was probably grieving her mother before you scared the shit out of her." Kam ignored the threat and walked right under his nose.

    "Brinja. The baby." A light of understanding smothered the fury in his eyes and she struck the iron while it was still hot.

    "Exactly. I know that you are hurt and sad, but that doesn''t give you the right to terrorize an entire city and your friends. Now stop before someone gets hurt."

    Lith was the only one that could see through the ckness. Protector and Nalrond were kept down by his Demons, the customers in the tavern were either cowering or unconscious, and the air was filled with terrified screams that echoed through the empty streets.

    Lith took a deep breath and everything ended as quickly as it had started. The Demons faded, the light returned, and the cries ceased.

    "I''m sorry for dragging you into this mess. I just wanted someone to pay for what happened to Manohar. I wanted-"

    "Shut up, you idiot." Kam embraced him, shattering the form of the Tiamat that forcefully reverted to human. "No matter how powerful you are, you are still human. You have every right to grieve the murder of a friend."

    Lith wobbled as strength left his body. Whatever he had done, it had consumed so much of his energy that not even Invigoration worked.

    Yet that word kept echoing in his head, fueling his rage.

    Murder.

    Manohar hadn''t just died peacefully in his sleep. He had been killed, taken away from him.

    "Orpal. I should have killed him when I had the chance." Lith grumbled.

    "Yeah, right. Murdering your brother would have broken Elina''s heart and destroyed your family." Kam''s voice oozed sarcasm. "I need help bringing him home. I don''t trust leaving him alone tonight."

    "I thought you had to go back to work." Despite his great strength, Protector could carry Lith around only as long as he used gravity fusion.

    "I''ll take a rain check." Kam shrugged. "How much does he owe you, Haug?"

    "I''ll discuss the matter with him the next time hees to my Tavern. Now get him out of here. I have to leave Derios before the Constables arrive and start asking questions."

    Warping and flying were sealed after curfew so Kam stopped a stagecoach to reach the Association. At the same time, she called her superior to notify her leave of absence.

    "Don''t worry, dear. Take all the time you need. I can manage on my own until your return." Jirni said before Kam could evene up with an excuse.

    "That was weird." Protector said. "I expected she would give you an earful."

    "Me too. To Belius, please." Kam said the night clerk in charge of the Gate.

    "Belius? Not Lutia?" Nalrond asked.

    "No. I want Lith to grieve in peace without worrying about his parents feeling guilty for raising an asshole or having to act tough. He is allowed to have feelings, to stumble and fall.

    "Also, Belius will keep the ident from happening again. Please, tell everyone Lith is okay and not to contact him unless strictly necessary." Kam said.

    Meanwhile, in her office, Archon Jirni Ernas read the reports of the odd phenomenon in Derios and how it had conveniently ended a few minutes after Kam''s badge had requested ess to the city.

    <i>''Next step Belius, just like thest time.''</i> Jirni pondered. <i>''Lith bes sloppy every time he loses control of his emotions. At this point, I am certain that he and Tiamat are one and the same.</i>

    <i>''I can use a powerful ally, but at the moment he''s a double-edged sword. If anyone else notices how shadows behave oddly in his presence, things will get dicey with the Royal Court for everyone close to him.''</i>

    ***

    East part of the Continent of Jiera, Roghar''s turf, at the same time.

    "What the heck is that?" Scarlett the Sekhmet asked.

    She was the youngest among the Guardians and her senses were also the weakest, yet she could perceive the Void Lith had unleashed upon Manohar''s death.

    "An ancient power that has renewed itself in a new form." Roghar the Fenrir said. "The power over death of the Abominations has gained ess to the physical ne of existence through the shadows that only a Phoenix can cast."

    After Scarlett had finished learning the basics of fighting as a Guardian from Zagran, she had been sent to Roghar, the Guardian of mana.

    He had been teaching her how her bond with Mogar gave the Sekhmet ways for her mana to interact with the world energy that she couldn''t even conceive back when she was a Scorpicore.

    His role was to help her discover her newfound bloodline abilities and master them.

    "What does that mean, exactly?" Scarlett asked.

    "I wish I knew." Roghar sighed. "Even a Guardian has limits and from one ocean and half a continent of distance, there''s not much I can see. Stupid idiots!"

    He called Tyris, Leegaain, and Sark via their mind link, but only the Overlord answered. The other two Guardians cut him off without even listening to his reasons.

    They were all watching the events in Derios with interest and curiosity. The potential of a young Tiamat capable of covering an entire city while still at the deep violet core had piqued their interest.

    Lith was always a pleasant source of surprise for them, whereas the Fenrir was a constant pain in their ass.

    "Be brief because I''m busy and I dislike you." Sark was wolfing down doughnuts filled with ice cream instead of jelly, the newest hit of the Desert kindly offered by her most recent grandson as a thank you for her help.

    The hot of the Desert and the cold of the ice creamplemented each other, making the Overlord crave for them at every meal.

    "I want to investigate the new power." Rogharplied, being as brief as he could.

    "Rejected. Anything else?" Sark barely rose her eyes from the tray on her table.

    "How can you say that? Do you know how long I''ve waited for an Abomination to turn back from the dead? To conquer the ck core and see what a natural undead can do without its fatal imbnce?" Roghar dropped any pretense of courtesy as he made his plea.

    "For all your life.." The Mother of all Phoenixes replied. "The better question is, why should I care?"

 Chapter 1772 - The Void (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1772 - The Void (Part 4)</h4>

    "I''m the freaking Guardian of Mana! There is no telling what I could learn from that thing. You have to let mee there and bring it to myb!" Roghar said in outrage.

    "First, that''s not a thing. It''s a person and my grandson at that." Sark stopped eating, looking at the Fenrir for the first time since the start of the conversation. "Second, I don''t have to do anything for you."

    She took a deep breath as her power blotted the sun of the Desert from the sky and made the shadows in Roghar''s own home flicker like angry mes.

    "I despise you and your methods. During thest meeting, I clearly told you that if you dare to make a single step in Garlen, I''ll kick your ass. Now, as you can see, I''m pregnant and I won''t risk my baby for a lowlife like you.

    "Yet I will not hesitate to throw every single spell I know at you from a safe distance while my boyfriend kicks your ass with the weapon that I''m going to provide him."

    "Are you seriously back with Leegaain again?" Roghar was astonished, not scared. "That lizard is the weakest among you and I''ve created more spells than you''ll ever learn. Think twice before making an enemy out of me."

    Sark just hung up the call and ryed the conversation with the Fenrir to her two friends before picking up her Forgemastering hammer.

    "Challenge epted, jackass."

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, at the same time.

    Elina hadn''t stopped crying ever since the image of Orpal ndering her family and maiming Manohar''s corpse had disappeared from the sky above Lutia and her farm.

    "Gods, what have we done?" She said while hugging her husband. "Our son killed our friends and even tried to kill his own brother. How could we raise such a monster? How could we even think of giving him a second chance?"

    "We have done nothing wrong dear." Raaz''s eyes were veiled with tears, but his voice was steady. "Our only mistake has been to love him with all of our hearts and let our feelings cloud our judgment.

    "We didn''t turn him into a monster, he already was one at birth. Don''t you see how the rest of our children, even Trion, have grown into fine people? The problem has never been us, but Orpal''s incapacity to ept the consequences of his actions."

    "What can we do to make up for his crimes?" Elina asked amid sobs.

    "Nothing, because those crimes belong only to him." He held her tight and took themunication amulet. "Let''s call our children to make sure that they are alright. They need us, and they need us to be strong for them."

    ***

    Night''s secretir, at the same time.

    The Void covering Derios greatly rmed the Royals. They believed it to be a ruse of the Undead Courts and dispatched the members of the Corpse to investigate the events.

    Night and Orpal knew to have nothing to do with it, yet they also had plenty of reasons to worry about the phenomenon. Ever since the ckness had appeared, they had lost contact with the undead that they had dispatched there for the follow-up mission to Manohar''s death.

    Then, their runes had disappeared from Night''s contact amulet. After a while, every single member of the Undead Courts living in Derios had suddenly died. It didn''t matter whether they took part in Orpal''s conspiracy or not, nor if they belonged to the Dawn, Dusk, or Night Court.

    Their runes just faded away one after the other.

    "What the fuck does this mean?" Orpal asked in outrage.

    "I have no idea." Night replied. "I can only guess that it''s one of your brother''s bloodline abilities. What worries me the most is how he found our associates so quickly."

    Unbeknownst to them and even to Lith, the Void fed off him and used the souls that he turned into Demons as amplifiers that transmitted his power and extended the Void''s area of effect.

    Once they became Demons, the souls could affect the living and the undead alike to follow the impulse they received through their bond with Lith. A soul staying behind was a rare phenomenon, but undead lived until killed.

    Most of them had more than one angry soul following the undead around that happily pointed them at the Demons, betraying their existence no matter how good their fa?ade was or how many cloaking devices they wore.

    The Void had surrounded Derios, filling the city with angry Demons that had plenty of invisible informers lying in wait. Once the ckness disappeared, both the Demons and the angry souls following the Undead Courts'' members moved on.

    "This isn''t fair!" Orpal said with a whiny voice. "I trained hard, I learned de Spells, I have be a new race, the perfect merging of Dragon, human, Phoenix, and Vampire bloodline! Why does Leech have so many abilities while I have none?"

    "Good gods, stop it with your tantrum!" Night snapped at him.

    Orpal had improved by leaps and bounds, but whenever Lith was involved, he would quickly revert to his old obnoxious, narcissistic self that had gotten himself disowned by his parents.

    "You have done squat, what you listed is my doing. You simply followed my instructions!"

    "What do you mean?" Orpal reeled his ego in for her and actually paid attention.

    "That''s better." Night took control of their body and nodded. "It''s actually simple. Your brother probably Awakened from a very young age, which gave him plenty of time to develop his skills and grow ustomed to his potential.

    "You, instead, have been forcefully trained in a quick way, with me exining everything to you and spoon-feeding you knowledge down to the smallest detail. It helped you to grow in strength quickly, but it also makes your understanding of your abilities non-existent.

    "Lith grows slowly, but with each day he learns something new, adding more and more to his foundations that at some point bloom into something like this ckness. Every power he gains is his own.

    "You, however, add nothing to our union. I''m just turning you into a clone of myself. The techniques, the spells, the spearsmanship you use is identical to mine. Nothing you can do is actually yours, just a replica of what I already achieved."

    Orpal gritted his teeth at those words, managing to refuse them and ept their truth at the same time as only someone like him could.

    "It''s not fair! I want to learn my bloodline abilities and they must be stronger than Leech''s! I won''t have it any other way!"

    Night would have liked to tell him that whining wouldn''t change his bloodline abilities, but she had long since learned that rather than wasting her time trying to stop his tantrums it was much better to channel it into hard work.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, Regalia ins, over a powerful mana geyser.

    Baba Yaga paced around the big table of the dining room of her hut while waiting for her guests. She kept shapeshifting out of nervousness from the Maiden into the Mother and then into the Crone before starting all over again.

    Sometimes her body split instead of shapeshifting.. The three women moved each at her own pace and moved in a random direction so their paths ended up crossing after a while.

 Chapter 1773 - Strange Partners (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1773 - Strange Partners (Part 1)</h4>

    Whenever they bumped into each other, Baba Yaga''s three bodies would fuse until nervousness split them again.

    "If you don''t calm down, mage tower or not, you''ll open a hole in the ground." Of the eight chairs around the table, only one was taken.

    Leegaain was in his human form, looking like a lean albino man in his mid-thirties, 1,75 meters (5''9") tall, with snow-white hair and skin. His eyes were ocean green with vertical pupils. He was wearing ab coat over a set of pitch-ck clothes.

    "I know, but this is big." The Crone said. "I''m not used to inviting people here, especially those who have hunted me my whole life."

    "Then why did you do this?" He asked.

    "Because this time Night went too far disobeying my orders." Baba Yaga replied. "Not only is she still nning to kill Lith, but she is also going to do the same with Elphyn and that''s not going to happen on my watch."

    The Crone took a few deep breaths to calm down before managing to merge all of her forms into one and sit down.

    "Thanks for your help, Leegaain. Without you, I would have never had the chance to safely invite here the Council. Giving them the location of my tower would have been like asking for an ambush." She looked at her former mentor and friend with eyes full of gratitude.

    "Don''t worry. As long as you are in my turf, I''ll make sure that they behave." The Guardian nodded. "Is it me or have you renovated the ce?"

    "I did. After meeting Elphyn and after what has just happened, my tower needed more weapons and fewer ygrounds-"

    The door of the hut opened and four humanoids walked in. Fe the Behemoth, Lotho the Treant, Raagu the human, and Inxialot the Lich King all looked around the tower, using any means at their disposal to understand its secrets.

    "You took your sweet time staring at my hut from the outside. I know that you arrived over half an hour ago." Baba Yaga said with a sneer. "Believe me, you are not going to have better luck from the inside. Sit down."

    "You can''t me a man for trying." Inxialot shrugged, producing a dust cloud from his clothes that made the other Awakened cough.

    "By the way Leegaain, when are you going back? Things are boring up there without you and I miss our games of chess."

    The Lich pointed at the moon high in the sky, without any one of those present but the Father of all Dragons understanding his words.

    "I''ve been busy, but I n on returning as soon as I''ve collected everything I need for my experiments. It''s the best ce to get some peace, quiet, and resources." Leegaain replied. "The Empire is too chaotic and it''s only going to get worse."

    "Agreed. Let''s hope that the snake stays away. He''s good with research, but not even up there there''s enough space for his ego." Inxialot said.

    "Yeah, Fenagar is a pompous asshole." The Guardian nodded.

    "Why are we here?" Now that her best attempt had failed to study the power core of the mage tower, Raagu had already lost interest in the meeting, and hearing that nonsense only made it worse.

    "Because I''m issuing a kill order for Night and you are going to help me." Baba Yaga said. "Every one of my children who is loyal to me is currently hunting her down with the purpose of destroying her.

    "It would be in the Council''s best interest to join them."

    "We have no responsibility for the actions of your crazy daughter, Crone. Why should we care?" In his human form, Lotho looked like a muscr man with brown skin and a shaved head.

    "Because of this." A flick of Baba Yaga''s hand made appear a hologram listing the bullet points of Thrud''s ns.

    The Council leaders chuckled at most of it until they reached the part about their annihtion and turning anyone who swore their loyalty to the Mad Queen into an Awakened.

    "Night and Thrud are working hand in hand to conquer the Garlen continent, starting from the Griffon Kingdom. If you stay there without doing anything, Thrud will have an army of Awakened with steeds like my children and Night will learn the secret of the white core.

    "Neither of them cares about your precious secrets and politics. They are going to take all the magical resources for themselves and kill whoever stands in their path, Awakened or not.

    "The Council is powerful, but it has no regr army and you are divided. Your legacies won''t be enough to protect you from my daughter, let alone from the Mad Queen''s army. We have to act now, before it''s toote." The Crone said while shapeshifted into the Mother.

    "This is bullshit!" Lotho jumped from his chair.

    "No, it''s not." Fe said. "It matches what Faluel learned from the undead that invaded her mines. I nned to search for more evidence before submitting the issue to the Council but that''s not necessary anymore.

    "Yet this arouses a question. How did you get your hands on that list and yet failed to discover Night''s position?"

    "Thanks to me." The door to the hallway opened and the slender figure of a young woman walked through it.

    She looked like a woman of untold age, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall with golden eyes without pupils. Her skin was whiter than an albino''s while her waist-long hair was pitch-ck.

    She wore a sleeveless yellow day dress that left her slender arms and delicate shoulders exposed.

    "I still have loyalists inside the Dawn Court. They are too scared to betray Night but they keep me posted." The Bright Day sat at her mother''s side, ignoring the Awakened weaving their best spells in a hurry.

    "Calm down, you idiots." Baba Yaga said. "My daughter isn''t a threat. She''s here to help me answer your questions."

    "Let''s say we believe you. How can we possibly destroy Night? As long as she rides that mage tower you gave her, even we are no match for her." Raagu said while Inxialot conjured from his staff a hologram of the battle between Manohar and the Horseman.

    "She can use Tower and de Magic. Thatbined with her insane regenerative abilities make her nigh-impossible to kill." The Lich King said.

    "That''s why I invited you and why I am broadcasting this meeting to all of my Firstborns." The Mother said.

    Ilthin the Banshee, Nandi the Minotaur-Abomination, and even Dusk were all watching at the scene taking ce in the kitchen as if they were there.

    The Red Mother projected a detailed image of Night''s crystal, followed by the schematics of the weak points of the artifact. It wasn''t enough to understand the workings of a Horseman and produce another, but the hologram contained all the information needed to destroy her.

    At the sight of those images, Dawn''s eyes lost their light out of fear while the Awakened looked at her like a quarry.

    "Don''t worry, dear. Each one of you works in an entirely different way. Nothing I''m revealing them can help the Council against you.." Baba Yaga said, making Dawn and the Awakened respectively sigh in relief and groan.

 Chapter 1774 - Strange Partners (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1774 - Strange Partners (Part 2)</h4>

    "This is great news." Fe said. "Tower or not, now we can destroy Night as soon as we face her in battle."

    "Beware, though. Time is of the essence. I''ve reason to suspect that the longer we wait, the less these weak points will help us defeat her. It''s the reason I need your help. If we don''t act swiftly, by the time we find Night she might have removed them." Baba Yaga said.

    "What do you mean removed?" Inxialot said, impressed by how much the Horseman''s crystal resembled his own phctery. "Artifacts don''t change after being Forgemastered."

    "That''s what I thought as well, but that may not be the case anymore." The Red Mother replied, snapping her fingers.

    Zepho Ac walked through the door as well, sitting beside Dawn and holding her hand. The ex-Ranger was a man in his mid-thirties, yet after Awakening, he looked ten years younger.

    He was 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with chestnut hair and a beard of a brown so light to look almost red. His bond with the Horseman had turned his grey hair into silver and the violet aura surrounding him proved his strength.

    "What the heck?" All the Council members jumped from their chairs, Leegaain included. "This is impossible."

    "Correction. This was supposed to be impossible." Baba Yaga sighed. "Allow me to introduce you to my daughter''s host, husband, and the living proof of my worries."

    "The what?" Inxialot was the most scared, fearing that his phctery might walk out of its cave and ask Raagu out before he did

    The Mother hated the idea of revealing even one shred of her secrets, but she had no choice.

    "The method people use to turn themselves into Liches is a perversion of my Horseman technology." She said. "The mana core was never supposed to be split into two. On the contrary, it was supposed to be one with the power core of the artifact.

    "I created my Horsemen so that by bonding with a host, they could have a full life and the ability to evolve like living beings without being limited by their nature of artifacts.

    "I gave them the mission to ovee the limitations of the undead not by performing crazy experiments like they ended up doing¡­" Baba Yaga red at Dawn and Dusk, who blushed in embarrassment.

    "But by bonding with an undead, Awakening them and then growing through their bond. My idea was that it would have allowed my Horsemen to alter their host and fix the imperfections in their blood core.

    "Yet I never imagined that they would bond with living beings. It had the unforeseen consequences that you see. Since there was nothing wrong to fix with Ac''s core, it was Dawn''s that started to change.

    "I am happy for Dawn and Ac, but I''m terrified by what might happen if Orpal and Night manage to do the same. You have seen the fight, she doesn''t just ride him like she did with her previous hosts, she rides along with him.

    "Orpal had full control during the fight with Manohar, something that has never happened before. It makes her potential limitless."

    While Baba Yaga''s kitchen erupted in yells and battle ns, Dusk pondered what he had just learned. His red crystaly atop one of the tallest buildings of the slums of the city of Gima.

    After stripping him of his host and powers, Baba Yaga had dropped the Horseman in the Gorgon Empire where he still resided.

    <i>''My n is even more perfect than I thought. I need to take a leaf from whatever has bonded with Verhen and bond with a young host who carries a dormant bloodline.''</i> Dusk knew about Solus from his sister Dawn, but he had no idea she was the daughter of Menadion.

    He looked below at the ruthless beating that was taking ce in a dirty back alley. A kid dressed in rags was fighting to protect their most prized treasure. A loaf of fresh bread that they had managed to steal after two days of starvation.

    "These are our streets, runt. You have to ask our permission and pay for protection before robbing anyone. That''s the rule." The man was twice the size of the kid, yet he kicked the sorry figure on the ground as if it could retaliate at any time.

    "If we let every beggar steal from our customers, they don''t make business. And if they don''t make business, they don''t have the money to pay us. So either youpensate us for our losses or we''ll break your hands!"

    Now that the message was delivered, the guys blocking the alley''s entrance to keep the kid from escaping joined the beating. The child cried from the pain, but mostly from the hunger and the idea that most of the bread was now covered in filth and inedible.

    ''That''s'' my cue.'' Dusk said as the snapping sound of a broken bone and a yelp of pain echoed through the alley.

    The thugs suddenly found themselves paralyzed, incapable of moving a muscle.

    <i>''Hello, there. Don''t worry. I''m here to help you.''</i> Dusk said to the kid via a mind link.

    Kelia had no idea what was happening, she was just d that the pain had stopped. Fear came only when she lowered her gaze, noticing that the loaf of bread was gone, reced by a shiny red crystal.

    "Where''s my food?" She had a lisp due to many broken orpletely missing teeth.

    The moment Kelia tried to move, her broken arm sent a pang that froze her. The pain reminded her of the thugs that had cost her what little she had.

    The young girl stared in hatred at their figures floating in mid-air and her broken lips painfully curved in a smile when she noticed that their faces were blue.

    Her mysterious benefactor had hanged them with an invisible rope.

    "Kill them! Kill those fuckers and that baker that sent them after me!"

    <i>''That''s not going to happen, but I''m going to make sure that they''ll think twice before bothering you again.''</i> Dusk said, breaking their wrists and engulfing them in red mes.

    The thugs screamed in fear and pain, rolling onto the ground to extinguish the fire before running away.

    Dusk had let them live, but not out of pity. He didn''t want to taint the memory of their first meeting with murder. Also, everyone in the Gorgon Empire knew about cursed objects, even kids.

    He wanted the thugs to haunt Kelia''s mind, to make her desperate and scared enough of their revenge to bond with him.

    "Thanks. Where did you put my bread?" She slowly stood up, noticing that most of her pain was gone.

    <i>''Do you mean this crap?''</i> Dusk took the piss-stained muddy bread out of his pocket dimension. <i>''Wouldn''t you like this, instead?''</i>

    Kelia''s desperation turned into amazement when a te filled with a steaming stew appeared out of nowhere. She drank it in big gulps, uncaring for the burns that the hot broth caused her.

    The only thing she could think of was to eat before someone took the food away from her, again.

    <i>''Slow down and use this. No one will bother you as long as I''m here.''</i> Dusk offered her a spoon and refilled her te, adding a fresh loaf of bread.

    Kelia almost choked several times as she ate as quickly as she could.

 Chapter 1775 - Recurring Problem (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1775 - Recurring Problem (Part 1)</h4>

    Kelia''s appetite never seemed to wane but her te kept filling itself so she didn''t care. After a while, when the pain waspletely gone and her hunger under control, she started to question the nature of her miraculously convenient new friend.

    "Are you my fairy godmother?" She asked.

    <i>''Your fairy godfather, to be precise.''</i> Dusk replied.

    "Yeah, right. Then where have you been my whole life?" Kelia said with a sneer.

    She was one of the many orphans of the Empire. She had no idea if her parents had died or if her mother had abandoned her. All she knew was that once she had turned eight and the light in her eyes had remained deep orange, her life had been turned upside down.

    The Empire took great care of its kids, hoping they would grow to be powerful mages. The orphanages were state-of-the-art facilities where the kids were well-fed, schooled, and nurtured.

    Those whose eyes didn''t turn deep yellow or at least bright orange by eight, however, were deemed regr people and transferred to way lessfortable institutions. Despite all thews protecting the children from abuse, the fate of the magicless orphans mostly depended on luck.

    Kelia was one of the unlucky orphans who had run away, preferring the streets to an even worse fate at the hands of people whose love for children was as twisted as their minds.

    <i>''Look, we can argue all day about the past or enjoy the present. Don''t you feel better?''</i> Dusk asked.

    "What do you-" Only then did Kelia notice that her rags were clean, the bruises were gone and that she could see the pink in her nails for the first time in weeks.

    "Did you do this?"

    <i>''Yes, and that''s the least I can do if you keep me around.''</i> The Horseman replied.

    "What if those guyse back? Can you protect me with your magic?" Kelia didn''t know whether to be scared of the talking stone or the idea of what would happen to her without its help.

    <i>''I can protect you with my magic, but I''d rather teach you how to protect yourself with your magic.''</i>

    "I wish." She sighed. "If I had a shred of talent as a mage, I wouldn''t be here."

    <i>''That''s what ignorant humans believe. I can teach you the most powerful of spells. I can give you more money than you can spend. I can make sure that you always have a soft bed and a hot meal. All you have to do is to let me in.''</i>

    The red crystal glowed as Dusk projected in Ke''s head images of her possible future with him.

    "You are no fairy godfather." She said after a while. "You are a cursed object."

    <i>''I am Dusk of the Red Sun and I swear upon my name that nothing I told you is a lie.''</i>

    Ke knew that the offer was too good to be true. The Empire used fairy tales to pass magical knowledge upon the children and the first thing they learned was to never trust an easy source of power.

    In the stories, the evil mage always used forbidden magic or a cursed object to fuel their nefarious ns. The hero, instead, had to work hard and practice to be powerful, teaching the children that true power, like wisdom, couldn''t be granted, it had to be earned.

    Ke looked at her twig-like arms while her tongue unconsciously passed over the empty spaces in her mouth. She was almost thirteen, the age when a girl was supposed to develop curves, yet she was as short and thin as the day she had escaped the orphanage.

    She thought with envy of her friends at the old orphanage. Thanks to their innate talent, they had already enrolled in an academy and were bound to live the rest of their lives in luxury.

    The Empire had warned her of the risks of forbidden magic, but it was the same country that had abandoned her in the hands of monsters whose faces were the only thing human about them.

    A country that for thest five years had forgotten about her, leaving her to starve and rot on the streets of Gima.

    "I ept." The red crystal turned into a liquid that seeped through her hand and flowed toward her chest.

    Ke felt no pain as she became one with Dusk and her core awakened.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Belius, at the same time.

    Lith was barely conscious when Protector and Nalrond brought him to Kam''s apartment. The arrays of the city had blocked the flickering of the shadows that had scared Derios'' night clerk and stabilized his condition.

    "Great thinking, Kam." Protector said. "Here his powers are dampened, relieving the burden on his life force."

    "Not on the couch!" She yelled when she realized they were about to drop Lith in the wrong ce. "Bring him to the bedroom. It''s the only ce Lith enchanted to resist his weight in case something like this happened before we broke up.

    "I don''t want to exin to my downstairs neighbor why there''s a hole in his ceiling in the middle of the night."

    "Where are you going to sleep, then?" Nalrond asked, receiving a scowl from Protector.

    "Good question. The couch, the floor, or maybe I''ll just stay awake." She sighed.

    Nalrond had no ID so she had to apany them back to the Gate and vouch for him before returning to the apartment. Kam had expected Lith to grieve and me himself for what had happened, but when she arrived, he was already asleep.

    She sat by his side, checking that he was alright and caressing his sleeping face until he calmed down and the scales turned back into skin. Then, she used that moment of privacy to take the Camellia out of her briefcase.

    Kam had never let it die and now she always brought it with her.

    She imprinted the flower, having the care to hide it where Lith wouldn''t find it the morning. Then, she took a quick shower to clear her head and rx before bringing a few woolen nkets to the coach.

    Kam had just turned off the lights when someone knocked on her door.

    <i>''First Manohar''s death. Then Lith went crazy. Is this night ever going to end?''</i> She took hermunication amulet, ready to call for reinforcements, and a few wands before looking through the peephole.

    "Phloria, is it really you?"

    "Who else am I supposed to be?" The tall woman on the other side of the door said.

    It was way past curfew and most cities were on full lockdown to track the undead who had projected Orpal''s deration of war. Yet there were few doors that the name Ernas wouldn''t open, no matter the circumstances.

    At that point, Kam trusted no one. She pressed Phloria''s rune on her amulet and only when the person in front of her answered the call did Kam open the door.

    "Seriously? Are you that paranoid?"

    "Orpal tried to kill my sister disguised as her ex-husband so it wouldn''t surprise me if he tried to get to Lith disguised as a friend." Kam replied.

    "You have a point." Phloria nodded while showing her a stone ring at her finger. "Solus asks your permission to take human form."

    "You brought Solus with you?" Kam was bbergasted.

 Chapter 1776 - Recurring Problem (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1776 - Recurring Problem (Part 2)</h4>

    "I''m the only one that could freely move in Belius thanks to my mother, just like you. Solus was scared that Lith might do something crazy and asked me to bring her here. She''s still waiting for your answer." Phloria replied.

    "I''m sorry, permission granted."

    A wisp of light came out of the ring, growing in size until it became a humanoid figure. Then, light turned into flesh and Solus appeared.

    "Thank you so much for bringing Lith here! Belius is the perfect ce to force his life force to rest."

    "I don''t mean to be rude, but I had a terrible day and an even more terrible evening. I understand that you are worried about Lith, but Protector already checked on his life force. Couldn''t this wait until tomorrow morning?" Kam asked.

    She had nothing against Solus, but getting inside her house at this hour and with a trick at that, felt like a home invasion to Kam. Just by being there, Solus was invading a space that Kam considered private.

    "No. I have no time for exnations now, where is Lith?" Solus looked around the apartment with a familiarity that reminded Kam how messed up her rtionship with Lith had been.

    "In the bedroom." She replied, quickly gesturing to the coach once the other two women looked at her awkwardly. "I was sleeping there."

    Solus moved with a haste that left Phloria and Kam confused, exchanging a silent question they replied to each other with a shrug.

    "A little help here!"

    "Oh, shit. I hadpletely forgotten about that." Kam rushed inside once she heard Solus''s voice and the thumps.

    The bedroom was soundproof so she hadn''t heard a peep until the door had been opened. Lith was having a fitful sleep which wouldn''t have been a big deal if not for his mass and his shapeshifting.

    His ws and talons had ripped the mattress open and shredded the sheets. His wings pped furiously, throwing around the fabric scraps with enough strength to incapacitate an adult man.

    None of it was a problem for Solus, but his struggle and constant shapeshifting made it hard for her to cast a spell. Kam hushed him before stepping inside and Lith stopped long enough for her to grab his hand.

    He calmed immediately and once she started lulling his head gently his form stabilized to human.

    "This always happens after Lith has a bad day." Kam said in a whisper, with the soothing tone she used to tell a fairy tale to the kids.

    After Solus finished performing a full check-up with Abyssal Gaze, Kam covered the now calm Lith with a new set of nkets and the three women safely left the room.

    "What the heck was that?" Phloria asked, still shocked from what she had seen.

    "When Lith sleeps alone after something bad happened, he always trashes the room." Kam sighed. "That''s why I always tried toe back for the night when we were still together."

    "Yeah." Solus nodded. "Ever since you broke up with him, he always sleeps in the tower with me to not scare his parents in the morning."

    A long awkward gaze forced her to borate further.

    "I mean that the tower can safely support his weight and since everything at its inside is made by me, I can repair everything without spending a dime. We each sleep in our own room."

    "That was very brave of you, Kam." Phloria said.

    "What do you mean brave?" She asked with a puzzled look.

    "Even before gaining the mass of a Tiamat, Lith might have killed you with one of his wings or ws while he slept. Even a pillow could be lethal for a human if thrown with his strength, yet you stepped in without fear." Phloria replied.

    "Because there''s nothing to be afraid of." Kam chuckled as if Phloria had just said something nonsensical. "Lith would never hurt me. Even tonight, when he waspletely out of it, he held back for me.

    "Just like he calmed down after hearing my voice. Besides, I always wear my armor, just to be safe." Her pajamas shapeshifted into a Scalewalker and back.

    "Yeah. As you can see Lith didn''t hurt me either." Solus nodded, showing Phloria the wless skin of her exposed arms even after being so close to the trashing Tiamat. "I couldn''t calm him down only because our mind link made our pain worse."

    Solus wiped from her face the tears that theirbined grief had made her shed.

    Phloria listened to their words without really understanding them, feeling like the only sane person in a mad world.

    "What were you saying about his life force?" Kam asked.

    "It''s easier if I show you." Solus offered her and Phloria her hands, establishing a mind link that reyed the whole conversation they had had with Manohar in the Desert.

    "Good gods! How is Lith now?" Phloria asked, turning pale as a ghost.

    "We''re lucky. His life force didn''t deplete further this time." Solus replied.

    "I don''t understand, Lith didn''t fight nor did he use spells. He justshed out. How could that possibly hurt him?" Kam asked.

    "Kami, I mean, Kam, that wasn''t justshing out." Solus shook her head. "Lith darkened an entire city, conjuring Demons for kilometers and used them as amplifiers to support whatever he was doing.

    "That was a feat that I doubt any regr violet core Awakened can perform and it put a massive strain on him."

    "What did he do, exactly?" Phloria said.

    "Beats me. The problem with a new life form is that no one knows what it can do." Solus shrugged.

    "What I do know is that if Kam stopped him even one minuteter and if she hadn''t brought him under the effect of Belius'' arrays, he would have lost another piece of his life force. We''re lucky that whatever that ckness was, it didn''tst enough to damage him further."

    "Would you like some tea?" Kam asked. She could use both somepany and a hot beverage after receiving another piece of dreadful news.

    "Yes, thank you." Solus noticed that the Camellia was nowhere to be seen and that all the items belonging to Lith had disappeared, feeling guilty for it. "Let me know how much I owe you for the mattress and the nkets."

    "Don''t worry about that." Kam put the kettle on the stove. "Recurring problem, remember? Lith bought them in bulk exactly for cases like this."

    "More like to get a big discount." Solus chuckled. "He is as stingy as he likes to be prepared."

    "That''s so true." Kamughed, remembering the shocked face of the mattress store clerk having to haggle with an Archmage.

    "For someone who never spent time together you sure sound like old friends." Phloria said, making the other two women look at each other like it was the first time.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, at the same time.

    Thrud had no time to lose so the moment Orpal had killed Manohar,pleting the first step of her n, she moved on to the second phase. Now that the Kingdom had a spell to smoke out her Skinwalkers, it would take the healers less than one day to single them out and ruin months of preparation.

    She had to wait only for a few hours until the panic and mass hysteria reached their apex while the forces of the Kingdom spread thinner by the second.

    First, they had to recover Manohar''s body, then they had to hunt down Orpal before his trail went cold, and finally, they had to deal with the unrest that Thrud''s shapeshifters instigated.

 Chapter 1777 - The War Begins (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1777 - The War Begins (Part 1)</h4>

    When the chaos from Manohar''s death and the Dead King''s threats reached its apex, the members of the Undead Courts attacked every city where one of their branches was located.

    The Dusk, Dawn, and Night Court had coborated to turn as many Thralls as possible into undead and to raise armies of lesser undead exactly for that moment.

    Every city had cemeteries and ughterhouses, providing them with everything they needed. The attack was swift, brutal, and bloody. To the citizens of the Kingdom, it looked like another attempt of conquest but the undead''s only aim was to brew fear.

    They didn''t attack strategic objectives or ces that would give them the upper hand in the long term. They focused on the most populous areas, killing in the most cruel and terrifying ways possible.

    Fear grew into terror that soon became utter despair when the citizens received no help as their friends and neighbors kept being ughtered in front of their eyes. The attacksted barely over one hour yet it felt like years.

    The main forces of the soldiers of the army and the mages of the Association was busy defending the local strategic assets and could only dispatch so many units to protect the residential areas withoutpromising the safety of the whole city.

    They held their position, waiting for an attack that never came.

    After a while, the generals in charge of the cities grew restless and sent their men to stop the onught in the streets, ying straight into Thrud''s hands. The moment the security was minimal, her shapeshifters conquered the City Halls, gaining control of the arrays, while her army "saved" the citizens.

    The undead and the Awakened beasts yed their role to perfection, making each other bleed in a fight apparently to the death while they actually avoided hitting vital spots.

    The army, the Association, but most importantly the Royals looked like ipetent fools, taking so long to mobilize their forces whereas it took minutes to Thrud''s army to save countless lives and restore order.

    Everything had been an act, but the people had no way to know it and acimed their saviors as heroes instead of an invading army, even helping them to deal with the Kingdom''s forces when they tried to kill them for no apparent reason.

    The Mad Queen had been meticulous, focusing her efforts to capture areas that would be vital after a famine and before the next harvest. The undead had attacked everywhere, but she had imed solely the cities with strategic value and plenty of her shapeshifters.

    The rest had just been a ruse, to keep the Kingdom from focusing their forces as well and hide her real objectives. The people of the captured cities acimed her marching parade without putting up a fight.

    Not only was their new Queen the leader of the heroes that had saved them, she also had the support of the most trustworthy nobles and officials that had gained their reputation through decades of selfless service to themunity.

    Little did the citizens know that the former had just followed a script and that thetter were just Skinwalkers that had reced their precious heroes.

    Before sunrise, the Nestrar region was mostly in her hands and so were other major cities throughout the country, giving Thrud control over one-third of the Kingdom.

    "Good gods, you really did it." Jormun couldn''t believe his eyes as he followed Thrud from one city to another through the Kingdom''s Gate system and witnessed her g recing that of the Royals.

    It depicted a prancing Griffon like that of the Royal family, but Thrud''s was golden, with two sets of feathered wings and one of the scepters reced by Arthan''s Sword.

    It depicted Thud''s form as a Golden Griffon that she had gained after bing a white core.

    "I would have never made it without you, my love." She gave the Emerald Dragon a dazzling smile and took the little Valeron from his arms. "Soon everything will belong to mommy and daddy and one day it will be yours."

    The baby giggled, enjoying his mother''s warmth.

    "I''m d you recognize the importance of my role, sweetheart." Orpal walked through the ss door, joining them on the balcony. "The bed is big and I don''t mind sharing. What do you say if we three celebrate?"

    "Call me sweetheart again and I''ll kill you." Thrud''s voice was calm to not scare the kid, but her eyes zed with dull white light and feathers popped from her skin.

    She hadn''t forgotten her promise to kill whoever had pointlessly murdered loyal servants of the Kingdom like Lark and Mirim. She was now certain that Orpal was insane and he couldn''t be trusted.

    Yet until she finished siphoning his power and influence over the Undead Courts, she needed him. He was a rabid dog that she would happily put down the moment he outlived his usefulness.

    "Angry sex in our hybrid forms? Kinky." Orpal replied with a lustful gaze.

    It drove Jormun mad with fury to the point that he forgot about his trauma and his conflicting feelings for the Mad Queen, leaving only killing intent.

    "Talk to my wife like that in front of our child again and I''ll destroy you even if it costs the alliance with the Undead Courts." He grabbed Orpal''s shoulder, his hand covered in emerald scales and ending with ws.

    Jormun''s grip was a vise that could bend steel, but it could do nothing against the Davross of the ck Rose armor.

    "Take that filthy hand off me, lizard, or I''ll-" Suddenly Orpal felt sick, his stomach knotting and fever running under his skin.

    He was already partly undead, yet he felt like dying.

    "Call me whatever you want, but don''t forget that I am an Emerald Dragon and I deal in life forces. I know how you managed to survive such a quick body and core refinement. It would take me but a nudge to turn you into a bloody firework."

    Jormun kept injecting his aura inside the Horseman''s body, splitting his two life forces and making Orpal''s highly unstable.

    "Here you have no steed and even if you summon Moonlight, I''ll show you the difference between an artifact crafted by a white core and one made by a Guardian. Are we clear?" Jormun''s voice was the same he used to y with Valeron, making the baby giggle.

    "Crystal." Orpal replied as Arthan''s Sword prickled at the skin under his chin until he bled.

    Thrud giggled at the scene like a little girl as well. It was the first time that Jormun referred to her as his wife. She was so happy seeing him standing up for her that she almost forgave Orpal''s rudeness.

    Almost.

    "Calm down, my love. Not in front of the baby." She put her hand on his shoulder and for once he didn''t shrug it off.

    "You are right." Jormun''s eyes didn''t match his words, expressing all the pain that letting Orpal live caused him.

    "Make a wish, asshole." Thrud grabbed the cor of the ck Rose armor while silver bolts of lightning ran through her body.

    She lifted and tossed the Horseman as if he weighed nothing, turning him into a morning shooting star that shone under the sunlight and crashed kilometers away from the city.

 Chapter 1778 - The War Begins (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1778 - The War Begins (Part 2)</h4>

    "Laugh all you want, you bitch." Orpal stood up unscathed but furious.

    He had been once again rejected by a woman beautiful enough to be worthy of his attention and bullied by a scaly monster like his brother. Yet what angered him the most was Valeron''s giggle that reminded him of Lith''s as a baby.

    "It will only make it more fun when I watch you drown in your own blood, just like Manohar."

    ***

    City of Belius, the following morning.

    Upon waking up, Lith had the worst morning of his three lives.

    He immediately recognized his bedroom, but it looked like a battlefield. His ws were still out and not seeing Kam, he feared to have injured her badly. Lith sniffed and searched for blood to understand what had happened and only once he found none did he calm down.

    Then, he remembered the events of thest night.

    The grief for Manohar''s death, the unbridled fury, and then the shame for forcing Kam toe and stop his tantrum. Lith sat down on the bed, looking at the results of hisck of self-control with growing embarrassment.

    "Orpal." He muttered nning countless ways to prolong the suffering of his estranged sibling beyond what nature deemed right or possible.

    Once he found the strength to face Kam and entered the living room, he found the three most important women of his life sleeping near each other in some kind of slumber party.

    The kettle was cold, there were no more cookies, and Solus had gone back into her ring form once she had depleted her energies. The stone ringy on the couch between Kam and Phloria, where Solus'' scent still lingered.

    "I''m so sorry for bothering you all." Lith woke them gently, putting Solus back onto his finger. "There was no need to babysit me together, but I really appreciate the gesture."

    He started to make breakfast for everyone and to clean the house out of habit.

    "Solus and I came to check on your life force, but we didn''t stay here for you." Phloria rubbed the sleep off her eyes. "You have missed a lot."

    "Define a lot." Lith feared the three of them being in the same room more than everything. There were countless embarrassing anecdotes about him that he didn''t want them to share. Anything was better than that.

    Or so he thought until Phloria answered.

    "We couldn''t leave because the city was under total lockdown. Tonight, the Griffon Kingdom went to war and we lost."

    "What do you mean?"

    Phloria told him everything that had happened after Manohar''s death and how the three of them had spent the night awake, listening to the reportsing from all over the country.

    "Fuck me sideways." Lith couldn''t find better words to describe how he felt.

    "Indeed." Said Solus from her ring.

    "What happens now?" Lith asked.

    "Now we wait." Kam stretched her sore limbs. "Most of the cities Thrud has taken are in the middle of the Kingdom so at least our borders are safe. The army needs time to regroup and assess the damage before nning a counteroffensive."

    Lith took hismunication amulet, finding a lot of missed calls. Mindful of Manohar''s final message, he felt a pang to his heart and listened to them all, hoping none of them was another final farewell.

    Then, he called his parents to check on them, finding them distraught. Elina felt guilty for the deaths that her son had caused. Mirim''s and Lark''s murders weighed on her conscience and so did the attempt on Zinya and her children.

    "We can''t even show our faces in Lutia. If anyone med me for what Orpal did or for what he will do, I wouldn''t know what to say." Elina said amid tears while Raaz did his best to be strong and support her even though all he wanted to do was to fall apart.

    "None of what happened is your fault, Mom. Even if you hadn''t disowned Orpal, he would have walked the same path. Don''t worry about Lutia. The Queen''s Corps and my magical beasts will defend you." Lith said.

    ''And if anyone dares to touch you, I''ll turn the vige into a bunch of ruins.'' He kept this part to himself and called Faluel the moment the conversation ended.

    "The Council is in turmoil." The Hydra reported to him what had happened during the meeting in Baba Yaga''s hut. "If the Kingdom falls into Thrud''s hands, the Council will be next.

    "We are nning to join the fight on our terms, but before that there are several things that must be discussed and your presence is needed. We''ll talk about it in another moment.

    "I''m going to spend every moment I have preparing the best equipment I can craft. Faluel out."

    Then, Lith pressed Vastor''s rune.

    "Remember to be quiet. He can''t see you but he can hear you." Lith said, waiting for the Professor to answer.

    "You can go in the bedroom if you need privacy." Kam said.

    "I would share everything with you anyway so there''s no point in changing rooms." Lith replied.

    "d that you finally made it. Who would have guessed that making a call was so hard?" Vastor''s usually jovial face was twisted into a grimace of fatigue and rage.

    Lith could see from his bloodshot eyes that the Professor had cried a lot and slept little if any.

    "I was out cold until a few moments ago. Have you heard about Derios?" Lith asked, receiving a nod in reply. "That was me working out my grief."

    "Good gods, my boy, what even are you?" Vastor covered his eyes with one hand, trying to calm down. "Sorry for before. I''m still working out my own grief, and as you can see, I''m not having much sess.

    "On the plus side, however, your little stunt must have scared the Undead Courts shitless since Derios is the only major city in the Kingdom that was spared from the attack."

    "No need to apologize, Professor. I''m barely holding out." Lith replied. "How is Professor Marth? I couldn''t reach him."

    "For the gods'' sake, enough with honorifics. Call me Vastor, Zogar, anything but Professor or the M-word." The Master had no idea if amulets were being tapped but in times of war, it was hardly a novelty.

    "He is devastated. Manohar was a rival to me and a brother to him. The good news is that Manohar was smart enough to prepare his legacy and leave it to Marth. The bad news is that he left nothing to us but his goodbyes." Vastor tried and failed tough.

    "The Undead Courts and Thrud are clearly allies. She wouldn''t have managed to score such a smooth victory without their help. Manohar told me that he would have warned the Royals about it yet they seem to have not listened to him." Lith said.

    "Oh, he did and the Royals believed him. The problem is that just like the Skinwalkers, there are Thralls of the Undead Courts among our ranks. The Royals kept it a secret to not alert our enemies until they had a spell to rat them out, but it backfired because Thrud acted too swiftly." Vastor replied.

    "What''s going to happen now, Vastor?"

    "We are going to war, son. Or at least, I am.." The Master replied.

 Chapter 1779 - High Treason (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1779 - High Treason (Part 1)</h4>

    "That''s why I tried to reach you, Lith. Zinya and I wanted to invite you to our marriage." Vastor said.

    "Wasn''t it scheduled for mid-spring?" Lith was bbergasted and so was Kam who had to shut her own mouth with her hands in surprise.

    "That was in times of peace. In war, there''s not one moment to waste. If anything happens to me, I don''t want to leave Zinya with nothing." Vastor said.

    "How can something happen to you? You are one of the strongest mages I know." Even though Lith couldn''t mention Vastor''s Abomination powers or his Organization, everyone understood what he was talking about.

    "Yes, and so is that fucker of Meln. He is fused with Night. He has a mage tower for a steed and killed one of the most powerful men I ever knew who had decades to hone his skills. At this point, I''m not certain of anything."

    Vastor hinted at how both he and Lith had gained their powers recently and didn''t have someone teaching them how to use them as Orpal did.

    "I am leaving her my wealth and my magical legacy to you."

    "That''s insane, Vastor."

    "Don''t worry, Zinya agrees with me. You and I are very simr. I''m certain that you are the best-suited person to follow my line of research and help my children in case something happens to me." Vastor said.

    "Also, you were the one who introduced me to the madwoman who is going to be my wife and who I hope will be crazy enough to stay by my side until my bitter end."

    "Zinya is not mad." Lith replied. "She''s a good woman who is going to marry a good man."

    "A good man?" Vastor''s voice held so much sarcasm that there was barely anymore left on Mogar. "Son, clearly you are as ignorant as she is. Zinya has no idea of what I have done as a Professor, a soldier, and even as a man."

    He referred to his tant favoritism for magical bloodlines at the academy, his war crimes as Highmaster, and the thousands of lives that he had sacrificed in the name of his research.

    "I''m anything but good, yet here I am. I can''t really have a fresh start with her as long as I keep hiding my bloody baggage behind a flimsy tent, but you can. Why don''t you marry on the same date as me?

    "You would save yourself a lot of money for the ceremony and the wedding banquet. My treat."

    "And who should I marry, exactly?" Lith shrugged.

    "Manohar told me about that short, plump, older girl you are hanging around with. Don''t you already have a new girlfriend? I swear, I wouldn''t have ever believed that I was your type." Vastorughed at the joke, whereas Solus became beet red.

    Beingpared to Vastor was far from ttering.

    "She''s just a person I met in the Desert that now works with me." Lith said.

    "Good!"

    "How can me being single be a good thing?" Lith asked.

    "It means that you can propose to Kam. I''ve always liked that woman and Zinya would die of joy if she could marry along with her beloved sister. She nned a double wedding from the beginning. What do you say?" Now it was Kam''s turn to be beet red.

    She knew that Zinya loved to meddle with her love life, but until that moment she had never understood how much.

    <i>''Now it makes sense why Zin kept me posted about Lith being hurt after Zeska, the date with Faluel, and everything else. I''ve been yed all along and Elina helped her!''</i> She thought.

    "I say no. Unlike you, I told my girlfriend everything about me and Kam broke up with me. If she couldn''t ept my burden back then, I don''t see why it should be any different now." Lith said.

    "Bah, just tell her the truth about your dwindling life force. Between that and the war she''ll fall into your arms and say yes." Vastor replied, making Lith regret not having the conversation in private.

    "I''m looking for someone I can have a bond with, not to put a chain and a muzzle on them."

    "You are right and I''m a jerk." Vastor sighed. "Kam deserves better than a guilt trip, but I just don''t want you to die alone."

    "Don''t worry, I''m not alone." Lith held Solus'' hand from under the table bringing a huge smile to her face.

    "Well, then. You are officially invited to my marriage that will be held in a week from now. Are you going to attend?" Vastor said.

    "Yes." Lith nodded.

    "Good. I''ll see you then unless something happens. Vastor out."

    "Phloria, how close are you to the bright blue?" Lith felt incredibly awkward and wanted to quickly change the topic.

    "Very close. Why?" She asked.

    "I suggest you to focus on umtion as much as you can. You know how the Kingdom works. In times of need, everyone able is conscripted. Refusing to answer the call means being charged with treason and being stripped of everything.

    "We must be ready for the war if we don''t want to endanger our respective families." Lith replied.

    "Are you really nning to join?" Solus said. "We could just move to the Desert and stay away from this mess."

    "It would mean abandoning Faluel, Jirni, and losing everything my parents worked hard their whole life." Lith said. "Also, I''m not going to wait for Orpal toe and get me, I''m going to hunt him first.

    "If Thrud wins, he will own one-third if not half of the country. He will take my home as his own and destroy anything and anyone I love in the Kingdom."

    "This is why I''ll spend every second before the Royals summon me using Demon Grasp to reach the violet core and working in the Forge. No matter if I have to face Orpal as Lith or Tiamat. I''m going to be ready for him."

    ***

    City of Valeron, Capitol of the Griffon Kingdom.

    That morning, Kam''s kitchen was a mess, but the Royal Court was a bem. One-third of the country was suddenly out of control and the noble households were out for blood.

    They wanted someone to me, a scapegoat to vent their anger on.

    The names of Lith and the Royal couple were on the chopping block, waiting on the gallows while the executioners weighed their respective crimes to decide who''s were heavier.

    Estranged or not, Orpal was a Verhen. The Royal Court med Lith for the crimes of his brother, iming that he had to be aware of the Dead King''s ns if not helping him.

    As for the Royals, they were used of criminal ipetence in dealing with Thrud and of treason for having abandoned their duty after taking away the Saefel Set.

    One-third of the Court wanted to pin everything on Lith and save the Royals. One-third wanted to force the King and Queen to abdicate the throne in order to rece them with someone easier to control.

    One-third wanted to do neither. They recognized it was no one''s fault and that getting rid of talented people would only y into Thrud''s hands.. Then, there was one person who wanted to execute all three of them and had charged them with high treason.

 Chapter 1780 - High Treason (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1780 - High Treason (Part 2)</h4>

    General Morn, the King''s cousin, wanted to take Meron''s throne and cleanse the Kingdom from the eyesore that Verhen was.

    Morn had never forgotten all the trouble that Lith had caused to the noble households and resented him for having never really bent the knee to the Crown, no matter how many resources the state had invested into him.

    The General believed that making an example out of him would have raised the morale of the troops and taught all the mages ofmoner origin a lesson. Either they epted to be pawns in the game of politics or they lost their ce on the board.

    "The first thing we have to do is to put Verhen on trial." Morn said. "His brother is a traitor and their name is a disgrace for this Kingdom. The citizens demand justice and if we can''t offer them the Dead King''s head, we can at least offer them those of his parents.

    "After all, he said it himself that he''s doing all of this to get even with his brother and family. Maybe if we kill them, Orpal will lose his motivation and break his alliance with Thrud. Without the support of the Undead Courts, it will be easier to deal with her.

    "On top of that, we can''t forget that he recklessly crafted tools like the DoLorean and Thundercrash. The first allows anarchists to avoid our troops and the city arrays that guarantee our safety while the second allows amoner to kill even a mage.

    "Some may call him a genius, but I see him more as an idiot with no care for the consequences of his actions. If the two brothers join their resources, none of us is safe."

    A murmur of approval spread throughout the room.

    "Morn is right. We can''t be sure that the two brothers are not in cahoots. Better to be safe than sorry." Said a Duchess.

    "Archmage Verhen never cared for the Kingdom. Right now, he''s more a threat than an asset. Getting rid of him is the right move." Said a Marquis.

    "General Morn must be the victim of some Body Sculpting spell gone wrong if he spouts bullshit from his front instead of his back." Jirni said, drawing attention to her.

    "Archmage Verhen and his family are the victims, here. Even as a kid, he asked Count Lark to keep an eye on his brother and that''s the reason why we have so much information on Meln Narchat even though he was a nobody until yesterday."

    She used Orpal''s new name to separate him from the Verhens and emphasize how there was no connection between them.

    "As soon as the Dead King reappeared, it was Archmage Verhen who alerted the Royal Constable office, asking me to run a deep background check on Narchat and find a way to get rid of him for good."

    Jirni handed copies of everything she had found out about Orpal along with her report of the night she had arrested him to the nobles.

    "I delivered him to the court of justice and I was forced to deport Narchat to the Empire due to insufficient proof. If you want to me someone, me me for letting the Dead King go and yourself for ignoring my request for help during the investigation."

    An embarrassed murmur reced the usations as the nobles read their own names in the reports where it was emphasized how little they had done despite Jirni''s many appeals.

    "I was there when Archmage Manohar warned us of the alliance between the Undead Courts and Thrud and of the threat of the Skinwalkers. He told us how Archmage Verhen had helped him in his investigations." Princess Peonia stepped forward.

    "Without Lith, Manohar would be dead anyway and there would be Skinwalkers among even us whereas now they have been eliminated from both the Royal Court and the rest of the Kingdom."

    By using his first name she gave credit to the rumors about their rtionship, strengthening both the position of Lith and her parents.

    "Also, don''t forget that Archmage Verhen destroyed two lost cities and faced Dawn alone. That his friend Tiamat defeated Night in front of many witnesses. Now that Manohar is dead, he''s our best card against both the Golden Griffon and the Horseman."

    The Royals nodded at Peonia in approval. As the defendants, they couldn''t speak for themselves so it was up to her and Jirni to do it for them.

    The Princess'' words struck more than one nerve. The members of the Court realized that now the Kingdomcked both a god of healing and a Royal Healer. Killing the person who was called the Soldier Magus and who also was the second-best diagnostician of the Kingdom was out of the question.

    Especially if he was a pawn that might get promoted to King through Peonia. The faction after Lith''s head disbanded as quickly as it had formed, leaving only the Royals on the chopping block.

    "Fine." Morn snorted more than said after noticing how Jirni''s report used him of obstructing her investigations. "Yet this doesn''t absolve our rulers from their ipetence.

    "They knew about the alliance between the Mad Queen and the Undead King and yet one-third of the Kingdom is now in Thrud''s hands. They left Valeron unprotected, taking away the Saefel set and the Spell Hoarding Cube without the permission of the Court.

    "What if the Mad Queenunched her attack on Valeron as well? Without our leaders and our best weapons, the Capitol would have fallen, and with it the Kingdom. Their carelessness and ipetence make them unfit to rule."

    Many nodded at his words, way more than Meron expected to.

    The problem was that the King was no tyrant. He had no right to take the Royal Weapons whenever he wanted. The currentw existed to keep another Arthan from being born and Meron had broken it.

    The absence of both rulers from the capitol had slowed the reaction time of the army, ying indeed an important part in the loss of so many cities. On top of that, had Thrud conquered Valeron, she would now have ess to the beating heart of the Kingdom, making any resistance futile.

    Valeron held the best weapons, the entire database of the army and the Association, and its vaults contained the most precious resources that the Royal Family had stockpiled ever since Valeron the First.

    The same resources that had allowed Arthan to craft replicas of the Royal Set would have made Thrud''s army unstoppable.

    "That''s an even bigger load of bull, dear Morn. Keep up like this and your bottoms will be jealous of your face." Jirni said, making the Courtugh and the General turn to a shade of purple from rage.

    "Manohar warned solely the Royals, but then they shared the news with the King''s inner circle of which we are both part of. You knew everything and you agreed on the n to keep the Royal Court in the dark until we had a way to smoke out the Skinwalkers."

    She handed copies of the transcription of the meeting where Morn''s signature was present. There was no record of him objecting to the Royals or proposing an alternative.

    "If you want them to me them, then you should be put on trial as well along with the rest of the inner circle."

 Chapter 1781 - The Day Of Fate (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1781 - The Day Of Fate (Part 1)</h4>

    Jirni pointed at all the members of the Crown''s inner circle who like Morn had signed the Royal Decree yet were nowining about the consequences of their own decision. Following that logic, they should receive the same sentence as the Royals, creating a power vacuum that would cripple the Court for months if not years.

    "Also, it''s only thanks to my parents that we managed to recover the corpse of the god of healing before it was brutalized." Peonia said. "They brought back Manohar''s equipment before it fell into enemy hands and found among them the diagnostic spell that he had devised.

    "Without their quick thinking, instead of running away like a coward, the Dead King would have kept bantering like a conqueror in front of the whole Kingdom and we would have no protection against Thrud''s Skinwalkers.

    "The King and Queen may have broken thew, but desperate times require desperate measures. Protocol can''t supersede good sense in war."

    After reading Jirni''s transcriptions and listening to Peonia''s words, the opinion of the Court was swayed once again. The two remaining factions merged into one that unanimously absolved Lith and the Royals from all charges.

    "Onest thing." Meron said once he was back being the King. "If you really want the throne, dear cousin, thew allows you to undertake the same trial I did during my youth. If you pass it, I''ll dly give my crown to you.

    "Yet seeing you here, using myw against me tells me that you are a coward. You and I both know that Tyris was right. Had you taken the trial instead of me, I wouldn''t have to suffer your presence today and she''d have had you for dinner."

    Only the General understood what the King meant and the memory of Tyris'' threat turned him pale for days.

    ***

    The god of healing received the honor of a state funeral the day after his death and was buried beside his mother, Sitri. The Manohar bloodline had been wiped out, but amid the chaos of the war, there was no ce for long ceremonies.

    His colleagues and ex-students from the White Griffon attended en masse, yet Marth, his wife, and Lith still managed to take the first row beside the Royals. Even Ilyum Balkor was there, shapeshifted into one of Jirni''s cousins to give his rival the final salute.

    The funeral was brief because everyone needed to go back to protect the Kingdom. After Meron gave his eulogy to the god of healing, the crowd dispersed and the preparations for the war began.

    Lith spent the days before Vastor''s marriage inside the tower, working like a madman. He and Solus had toplete the preparatory steps for all their projects.

    Thanks to the dimensional magic of the tower, Lith had no problem expanding the Forge enough to contain Syrook''s corpse. He followed Faluel''s advice, using the ribcage to reinforce the chest piece and turning the ck Dragon''s skull into a helm with Second Life.

    He used the rest of the bones to form a bastard sword big enough for his Tiamat form and stored the organs away to use them as ingredients.

    Then, he used the Forgemastery spell, Infusion, to coat the Dragon scales and the de with Orichalcum while he used Adamant for the corpses of the Vagrash and the Balor.

    Even with the tower''s mines, turning Orichalcum into Adamant took time and Lith wanted to keep his purest metals there in the hope to obtain more Davross. Orichalcum was the only thing he had in abundance and only because the Royals provided him plenty due to his "rtionship" with Peonia.

    Recing the missing parts of the corpses with Second Life and then coating them with Adamant was the easy part. Even coating the armor made of Dragon scales turned out to be a mammoth task since it was the first time that they had worked on something that big.

    Between enchanting the golems and using Infusion on the de and the armor, Lith and Solus failed so often that they had to move to the Desert whenever they decided to work on their equipment.

    They had to return to the Griffon Kingdom from dawn to dusk in order to avoid arousing suspicion of preparing for defection.

    Thanks to Sark''s Creation Magic, every mistake that once would have meant wasting hours of work and dozens of kilograms of enchanted metal was now merely an annoyance that could be solved with the wave of a hand.

    Both the hand and the annoyance were Sark''s, of course.

    "I swear that if you weren''t such a sweet child, I would have already knocked you unconscious for disturbing my work so often." The Overlord was being literal since Lith had converted the Alchemicalb into a bakery for his stay in the Desert.

    The sweets it produced satisfied her cravings and kept her in a good mood.

    While in the Griffon Kingdom, Lith practiced Demon Grasp to refine his core while Solus worked on a breathing technique of her own. As long as her mana core was cracked she couldn''t refine it, but she hoped to find a way to replenish her core quickly without being dependent on her tower form.

    Lith drowned himself with work to not think about Manohar''s death. He had lost a friend, a mentor, and his best shot at fixing his life force without the need to resort to forbidden magic to solve his reincarnation problem.

    If it worked, he wouldn''t have to rely on luck and would remain on Mogar, yet he would still have to give up on his friends, his family, and even his powers as a Tiamat.

    To make matters worse, the Verhen''s had be pariahs in Lutia.

    The people who had never met Orpal and only knew his side of the story that he had broadcasted, med Elina and Raaz for everything.

    The new citizens of Lutia considered them horrible parents who had driven their eldest son insane. In their frenzy to pin the me unto someone, they held the Verhens responsible for every death that the Undead Courts had caused during the first night of war.

    If not for the magical beasts, Rena wouldn''t have been able to walk on the streets without being bothered and Raaz now avoided the vige. Many fights broke out on a daily basis already between his farmhands and those who used the Verhens of the most heinous crimes.

    He didn''t want to add fuel to the fire with his presence, not when Zekell already did that for both of them. One rumor was all he needed to hear to double his prices for whoever he didn''t like.

    Triple if they messed with Rena and aplimentary solid beating if they came anywhere near Leria. His clerks were fewpared to the vigers, but they were all as stocky as a bull and they came with hammers.

    The ongoing conflict did wonders for the local healer and Protector''s family budget, but it made the air in the vige toxic, dividing its people just like what was happening to the Kingdom.

    Lith med himself for everything and most of his failures as a Forgemaster came from the heavy burden that weighed on his mind.

 Chapter 1782 - The Day Of Fate (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1782 - The Day Of Fate (Part 2)</h4>

    Ever since the day of Manohar''s death, he felt as if he had turned from the sun that shone on his family into a storm cloud that threatened their safety.

    His mood was gloomy and he avoided the vige as well, knowing that he was this close to making Lutia true to its nickname and turning it into a graveyard.

    On the day of the wedding, Lith was d to take a break from his work, hoping to relieve his mind from the pain thanks to the presence of his friends.

    "I hate to bother you, but Friya invited me as her plus one and I don''t have a suit. Can I borrow one from you?" Nalrond asked while Lith was checking himself in the mirror.

    "Sure, take your pick." Lith was looking for warm colors that would mitigate the cold expression that he seemed incapable of removing from his face.

    "Thanks. Who are you bringing with you? Kam? Phloria? Faluel? The Princess?" The suits were all too big for Nalrond but even a rtively cheap Skinwalker armor could resize them to tailor-fitting for the Rezar.

    "Kam is the bridesmaid, going to a wedding with Phloria would send the wrong message, and I can''t let Faluel meet Vastor in a house full of Abominations without putting the Council against the Professor.

    "That''s why I invited Peonia as my date. I want to thank her for her support and use this opportunity to reinforce our public image as a couple. Solus agreed with my decision and she''sing as well." Lith replied.

    "She is? I thought that, without a mana geyser, her body couldst only for a short while." Nalrond picked a ck suit thatplemented his bronze skin but made the current Lith look like an angry mortician.

    "Correct, but Vastor''s house is built on a mana geyser. On top of that, we have added an enchantment to the Sage Staff that shrinks it to the size of a pendant. Solus will wear it on a ne and hold her human form as long as she wants." Lith replied.

    Under his deep blue Archmage robe, Lith wore the high uniform of the Kingdom. It wasprised of a deep blue jacket with golden epaulets, deep blue mid-waisted ck trousers with a trimprised of two silk stripes to conceal the outer seams, and ck shoes.

    He wore a silver brooch shaped like a Griffon with emeralds for eyes on the cor of his white shirt and the gold embroideries on thepels of his jacket were shaped like feathers.

    "Wow. You look great, man. Are you sure you aren''t going to marry today?" Nalrond admired Lith''s broad shoulders and his lean yet muscr body that the tight-fitting suit entuated.

    "This is just my ceremonial suit. Did Solus tell you about my conversation with Vastor?"

    "No. What did he tell you?" The Rezar had actually listened to a conversation between Zinya and Elina while they daydreamed of the eventuality that two marriages would take ce on that same day.

    "Never mind." Lith walked out of his room to check on the rest of his family.

    Raaz and Senton were ready, pacing around in their suits, while the women of the family had yet to finish their respective preparations. Aran and Leria had yet to dress because formal clothes were akin to torture to them.

    On top of that, the kids had the habit of either taking them off or dirtying them if left unchecked for too long so their mothers nned to dress them at thest minute. Skinwalker armor were off the table, or the children would shapeshift them into something morefortable the moment their parents took their eyes off them.

    Elina came out of her room, wearing a beautiful pale yellow day dress decorated with floralce and pearls that only left her forearms exposed. Rena wore a pale red day dress decorated with a leaf pattern and small emeralds while Tista wore a simple pale cream day dress with a feather pattern and rubies.

    All of the dresses had no neckline and were of dull colors to follow Mogar''s tradition to not outshine the bride. For the same reason, they also wore little jewelry, just a simple parure of ne and matching earrings decorated with the same style of their respective dresses.

    Last but notst, Solus wore a in white day dress with no pattern and no jewelry since she was attending as Elina''sdy in waiting. Her hair had been altered with Body Sculpting, reverting it to its original color.

    Her hair was of a shade of brown so light that it almost looked golden, with streaks of silver and orange all over. Despite its simplicity, the dress emphasized her bosom and pearly skin.

    For the first time since they had met, Lith saw her wearing a light make-up that brought out her kind eyes, her delicate features, and her full lips. At her neck, she wore a simple golden silk string from which the Sage Staff hung, disguised as a mage-themed wooden pendant.

    "Good gods, Solus. You look hot- I mean amazing." Lith said, making her giggle.

    "Thanks, you too. I''m so happy to finally be able to attend a party with you all. My only regret is that you already have a partner." Solus lowered her gaze, looking dejected for a split second before smiling again.

    "Now, for the final push, I need a team effort." At Elina''s sign, the adults surrounded the children, cutting them off from their magical beasts and sealing every possible way out.

    It was a short and brutal battle, but in the end, everyone was ready and the Verhen family was just a few minuteste. Even Abominus and Onyx had their fur groomed for the asion and wore a bowtie each.

    "Thank the gods we have a Gate in the barn or we would never make it in time." Elina said.

    The Vastor Household''s ancestral home was no way less magnificent or smaller than the Ernas''s. The floors were made of magic-resistant gold-veined marble that, along with the many arrays they had been enchanted with, made them as sturdy as a mountain.

    The gold-edged red walls were decorated with animated paintings depicting all the feats of the Vastor bloodline from its very foundations. Every single piece of furniture was a heavily enchanted work of art, making even flower pots a deadly weapon.

    The corridor that the Gate brought them to had been decorated with festoons and gands of flowers. There was one healer on either side of the dimensional tunnel, checking the life forces of the guests with Manohar''s final spell.

    Zinya and Zogar greeted their guest personally and were waiting for the Verhens at the end of the entrance corridor. On Mogar there was no superstition about seeing the wife before the wedding nor did marriage require an altar.

    It was simply considered an act of love that thew recognized in the form of a civil contract between consenting adults.

    Zogar wore the Kingdom''s high uniform as well, but his was white to distinguish the groom from the rest of the high officials. Were the god of healing still alive, he would have been forced to wear the deep blue like anyone else.

    Men weren''t supposed to outshine the groom, yet the white and gold clothes made Vastor look like a prime egg whenpared to more fit people like Orion and Lith.

 Chapter 1783 - The Day Of Fate (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1783 - The Day Of Fate (Part 3)</h4>

    Zinya wore a magnificent bright red dress with a v neckline decorated with whitece and emeralds as big as a nut. It left her shoulder and arms exposed, emphasizing her features and the jewelry.

    She wore a golden circlet on her head, a white gold ne and earrings with emeralds, and several small bracelets at her thin wrists. Zinya had clearly enjoyed Vastor''s skill as a rejuvenator, if not even Invigoration, because she looked way younger than her age.

    The Master, instead, even with his hair regrowing on his bald head and turning ck again still looked like her father at best. Yet if the age gap bothered him, it was impossible to tell.

    Lith had never seen Vastor smile so much and so honestly. Even for those who''d known him for years, it was hard to recognize him without the bitter light of envy that usually tainted his eyes.

    "Lith, my boy! You finally made it." The two men shook hands the moment the healers finished checking the Verhens.

    "Congrattions, Vastor and Zinya. I''m so happy for you. Gods, you two look amazing." Lith replied.

    While the adults exchanged their niceties the kids were happy to meet again. Aran and Leria had been allowed to ride their steeds since their hosts would do the same. Frey and Filia weed them respectively atop a red and blue wolf, each with four tails.

    They were actually both Tezka that ever since the attack on Zinya''s house had be their nanny and best friend.

    "Hey, kids. Want to see something cool?" The red wolf said, making his tails merge and split non-stop with the grace of dancing mes.

    "Cool!" Aran and Leria said in unison.

    Unlike their parents, hearing the beast talk didn''t scare them, it only added more charm to him. They broke the ice immediately and they felt as if they hadn''t seen each other for days instead of months.

    "It talks?" Elina had seen a lot in her life, but she still flinched in surprise.

    "Yes, but don''t worry." Zinya said. "It makes forcing the kids to do their homework and behave much easier since they know that Tezka doesn''t lie to me."

    "That''s Tezka? I mean, it''s amazing. I never saw it that way." Elina said, sighing in relief after recognizing the Eldritch.

    "We can talk too." Abominus felt jealous seeing Leriaplimenting the other beast so much for something he could do as well so he broke Lith''s order.

    "Yeah." Onyx nodded, revealing a feminine voice.

    "Cool! I''m going to marry Onyx when I grow up then." Aran said while kissing the feline''s head who purred in reply, making his parents turn pale.

    Knowing about Ryman and Selia, and with all the time the kids spent with the beasts, those weren''t words that Elina and Raaz could take lightly.

    "That''s marvelous. Where are the drinks? I need something strong." Elina said.

    "I''ll apany you." Zinya said. "You are thest to arrive and the ceremony will start in a while."

    She led them to the Ballroom that had been repurposed for the ceremony. In times of war, even an ancient and powerful noble Household like Vastor''s preferred keeping things small and only inviting a few people for a rushed marriage.

    Lined along the walls, there were several rectangr tables covered with pristine white cloths embroidered with gold and silver, the colors of the Kingdom. Theycked tableware and food to not distract the guest during the ceremony with their aroma.

    The room was split in half by a long red and gold carpet that went from the entrance to the end of the room, where Princess Peonia would officiate the wedding on behalf of the Royal family.

    She was a young woman, 20 years old, about 1.58 (5''2") tall. She had blonde hair streaked silver, ck, and blue all over. Her silver eyes and Tyris'' blood smoothened the sharp features she had inherited from her mother.

    That along with her slender figure and diminutive stature made her as cute as a button. Peonia wore a pale ocean green day dress, tailored to emphasized her curves and pale skin.

    <i>''Goddammit. There must be something in Lutia''s water.''</i> The Princess thought in envy while looking at the Verhens.

    Every woman in the family was taller, better looking, and more endowed than she was. Despite her short stature, even thedy in waiting made heads turn.

    On the left side of the carpet sat the guests of the groom. Among them, there were the Ernas, Marth with his spouse, the Abomination-hybrids disguised in human form, and some of the most important figures from the Kingdom.

    After Manohar''s death, Vastor was the second-best healer of the country and the most likely to be the Royal Healer, making people prone to suck up to him again. Marth would soon be too busy with the academy, the war, and his family to take the position.

    Lith noticed that the grey hair had disappeared from the Headmaster''s head. He looked younger, more fit, and most of all, ready to kill. Manohar had been his best friend and Duke Marth was determined to avenge him.

    <i>''I guess that Marth finally used rejuvenation on himself and exploited his light magic to endure grueling training sessions. Otherwise there''s no way he could have gotten those muscles this quickly.''</i> Lith thought.

    On the right side of the room sat the guests of the bride, yet Zinya had no rtives outside Kam and no friends aside from the Verhens. It was the reason she had raised no objection when Elina had asked her if they could bring Solus along.

    Kam sat in the front row alone, the rest of the chairs empty.

    "Thank you for inviting me as your plus one, but I''ll seat on Zinya''s side of the room. We''ve know each other for quite some time and I don''t want to make her feel alone during such a special day." Nalrond said to Friya.

    "That''s really sweet of you. Mind if I join you?" She nodded. "I could use some space and Morok wouldn''t get a stiff neck in the attempt of not talking to my chest."

    "You are going to pay for this." Quy snarled in embarrassment.

    Neither of their dresses had a neckline, but it was still likeparing hills to mountains.

    "Why? I didn''t look at her once." The poor ex-Ranger was telling the truth. He had resorted to every trick he knew to look at Friya''s head whenever they talked.

    The Ernas couple looked at the man from the Desert and sighed at their daughter''s poor taste in men.

    "At least she has a boyfriend." Jirni red at Phloria who didn''t reply.

    "At least he seems a gentleman. He didn''t look at Friya like a b of meat." Orion red at every man in the room that had trouble taking his eyes off her ass as she walked away.

    Unlike the poor Morok, after spending enough time with the Verhens in general and Tista in particr, Nalrond had be immune to such problems.

    A few seats in front of them, another person was staring at a woman for too long and too intensely for it to be polite.. Reproving murmurs filled the room while many pointed at the rude guest who dared to lust after a meredy in waiting.

 Chapter 1784 - The Day Of Fate (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1784 - The Day Of Fate (Part 4)</h4>

    "Are you alright, darling?" Zoreth asked, noticing that the Raiju''s eyes were fully dted and her gaze fixated on something that only she could see.

    "It''s impossible." Bytra mumbled over and over, incapable of taking her eyes off Solus.

    Her face was pale white and even though she could withstand the fires of her Forge without any protection, the fourth Ruler of the mes was sweating bullets. The veins on her neck bulged and her head throbbed at the sight of the revenant Elphyn Menadion.

    Solus was no longer a mere figure of golden energy. Her looks, her voice, her bearing were all drilling through the meditation techniques that Bytra practiced to keep the fits of blood madness at bay.

    Most of all, it was Solus'' hair that stirred the Raiju''s memories. The silver and orange streaks sparkled under the magical lights, conjuring echoes of Menadion''s voice in her head and with it Bytra''s sense of guilt.

    "My Epphy is blessed by the light. I don''t care how many elements she''s attuned with, I''m certain that she will surpass me as Forgemaster." The First Ruler of the mes used those words to introduce her daughter to her apprentices.

    Bytra would never forget that hair and all the time she had spent staring at Elphyn''s back in envy while the young woman crafted one power core after the other, effortlessly absorbing Menadion''s mostplex techniques like a sponge with droplets of water.

    <i>''Snap out of it!''</i> Zoreth''s voice boomed in her head via a mind link that she had created from a Forgemastering wand.

    <i>''Thank the gods you are here. Please, keep my mind busy.''</i> Bytra clenched Zoreth''s hand to find strength in her touch.

    <i>''What''s wrong?''</i> She asked.

    <i>''I know that this is going to sound crazy, but that girl over there is Elphyn Menadion, the first person that Bytra- I mean, that I killed before ughtering Ripha''s apprentices and attempting on her life to seize Menadion''s tower.''</i> Bytra replied.

    Meanwhile, at the end of the carpet, the rest of the room was unaware of her distress and quickly moved their focus to Lith embracing Princess Peonia.

    "Thanks for defending me in the Royal Court. I really appreciated that." Lith had learned of his own trial only after its end.

    It made him realize the importance of political allies and brought his hate for Orpal to new heights. It was because of him that Mirim had died. Without her, Lith had only Jirni looking out for him.

    He was thankful to Peonia for saving his family from even more suffering and held her with a tenderness that went beyond what selling their act to the audience required.

    "You are wee." The Princess said with a dry throat.

    Looking at him from a distance was one thing, feeling his body pressing against hers and smelling his scent was another. She tried and failed to keep her hands from caressing his back.

    "Do you have ns for after the banquet? There are many things we could discuss."

    "Don''t tell me that Morn fucker is at it again." Lith found her acting to be a little too enthusiastic and gently broke the embrace.

    "No, everything''s fine in the Court. There''s nothing for you to worry about." Peonia felt her face flush as the blood rushed back to her head and realized what she had said and done.

    "Then if you don''t mind, I''d rather go back home. I''m in the middle of a huge magical breakthrough and I need to upgrade my equipment if I want to be prepared for the iing war or any task of your choosing." Lith replied.

    <i>''Any task?''</i> The Princess thought as her mind went wild again.

    "Excellent idea." She actually said.

    "Thanks for the supply of Orichalcum. If there''s anything I can do for you, don''t hesitate to contact me."

    "I will. Now, if you excuse me, I need to freshen up." As Peonia walked toward the nearest bathroom, the nobles whispered in theirmunication amulets what would have soon be the gossip of the week.

    <i>''That''s impossible, Bytra. Elphyn Menadion is dead. You showed me your memories and there''s no way that a human can survive with a punctured heart.''</i> Zoreth didn''t care for gossip, only for her girlfriend''s mental health. <i>''Even if she did, she would be way older.''</i>

    <i>''We know that girl from Lith''s house. She''s simply a shapeshifted Emperor Beast. Think about it. Were she really Elphyn, why did she introduce herself as Solus and why didn''t she recognize you?''</i>

    <i>''I have no idea how this is possible, I only know that I''m right. Even her smell is the same as Elphyn''s. This cannot be just a coincidence.''</i> Bytra said as the red waves of blood madness crashed against her sanity.

    <i>''Let''s say that you are right, why do you feel so bad? If that''s Elphyn, that''s one murder that the original Bytra failed tomit and that shouldn''t burden your conscience.''</i> The Shadow Dragon said.

    <i>''Are you kidding me? I''m the reason her mother is dead. I''m the one who ughtered everyone she knew out of envy for Menadion. I killed her family and stole her legacy. I have to give the Fury back to her!''</i>

    Bytra started to cry, but Zoreth hid her distress by burying the Raiju''s face in her chest in a seemingly tender embrace between lovers.

    <i>''That''s pure madness! What would you achieve by doing that? If you are right, we''d make a mortal enemy. If you are wrong, we''d expose your real identity. Either way, we''d ruin Dad''s wedding!''</i> Zoreth said.

    <i>''Dad!''</i> The thought of spoiling Vastor''s happiness and staining the ceremony with blood made her feel like a child throwing a tantrum. <i>''You are right. This will have to wait.''</i>

    Bytra slowly regained her cool, yet keeping the raging river of her memories at bay took every ounce of willpower she had. Zoreth never let go of her hand, using the mind link to project images of the good memories they shared together.

    "Politicians really are first ss liars." Lith said after taking his seat between Kam and Solus. "Peonia is an amazing actress. If I didn''t know of our deal, I would have fallen for her act."

    "So would I." Solus nodded. "What did you two talk about?"

    "I just thanked her for her support and the Orichalcum." Lith shrugged.

    Kam feigned indifference, but she listened to every word and felt reassured by theck of his perverted face. If there was anything between him and the Princess, it was bound to appear after she had touched him that way.

    After having Lith back in her home after Manohar''s death and being so close to him during Zinya''s wedding, Kam was ready to admit to herself how grateful she was to Lith for everything he had done for her sister.

    More importantly, she understood how much he meant to her and that even though they didn''t see each other often, he still had her full trust and she had his. It was that trust that didn''t make Kam feel jealous of the Princess despite the rumors or the hug.

    She discovered to not be much jealous of Solus either anymore, yet she didn''t know how to say it.

    <i>''I don''t care what Zin and Elina say. I''m not going to do anything that might ruin the wedding. She deserves this much after all she went through..''</i> Kam thought.

 Chapter 1785 - The Day Of Fate (Part 5)

    <h4>Chapter 1785 - The Day Of Fate (Part 5)</h4>

    After Peonia returned, Vastor took his ce at her right, in front of his guests while Zinya moved to her left, standing in front of her friends and family.

    Lith and Marth were beside Vastor as his groomsmen while Kam and Elina were Zinya''s bridesmaids.

    The Princess was not only the guest of honor, but also charged with officiating the marriage in ce of the King who in times of crisis couldn''t leave the capitol.

    "Dear guests, we are gathered today to celebrate the union of Zogar Gryron Svent Vastor and Zinya Yehval. Some people outside these walls may object that a marriage between two individuals with such a great difference in upbringing, social status, and power is madness.

    "Yet those people would be wrong because by focusing solely on how different Zogar and Zinya are, they fail to see the simrities. Zogar and Zinya had a rough life that led them topletely different paths, yet it was one of those hardships that made them meet.

    "During one of the darkest moments of their lives, they found sce in each other, finding the strength to move on until they weren''t together only in their misery, but also in their happiness.

    "As I see it, that''s the very definition of marriage. What we are doing here is to let thew acknowledge something that happened months ago, even before Zinya and Zogar themselves noticed.

    "I agree with those people on calling this marriage madness, but only because loving someone more than yourself is the greatest act of madness that anyone can do. It''s this kind of madness that sheds light even in times of war and gives me hope for the future of our Kingdom.

    "Zinya, Zogar. Pronounce your vows to each other." Princess Peonia said.

    "Zogar, the first time I saw the light wasn''t the day Kam brought Lith to my house. That''s just the day I could finally see my sister''s face and the world around me. I didn''t see the light after the Body Sculpting procedure or after moving to Lutia either." Zinya said

    "The first time I saw the light was the day you brought my children back to me. When you helped me build a house for my family, and when I understood that it became a home only when you were there with us.

    "I know that I don''t have the power, the wits, or the means to repay you for everything you have done for me, yet I swear that I''ll spend every day of my life trying."

    Her words brought great joy to the Master, yet also as much pain. The burden of all the lies and the omissions between them weighed on Vastor''s conscience to the point that his knees buckled.

    The Abomination-hybrids shared his feelings, reinforcing Bytra''s resolve to do the right thing.

    Zinya offered him her hands and Vastor took them, but when she tried to help him to stand up, he remained kneeling on his right leg.

    "I''m sorry, Zinya. I had prepared many vows, but after hearing your heartfelt words, I realized that those were nothing but hot air. I''m sorry because there''s very little that I can promise you."

    The audience gasped since refusing to offer vows to the spouse was the same as abandoning them on the altar.

    "I can''t promise to always be honest with you. I''m an old man, and during my long life I''ve done many things that I''m not proud of as a Professor, a mage, and a servant of the Kingdom.

    "Were you to learn of them, I''m afraid they would destroy your faith in me and with it our happiness. The only thing I can promise you is that I''ll try my best to be a better man for you and that I''ll do everything I can to make you happy."

    The guests thought he was referring to his war crimes as a Highmaster and all of his failures as a mage, not the thousands of lives he had sacrificed as the Master.

    "I can''t promise to be with you for the rest of your life. The war is here and soon I''ll have to move to the battlefield. I don''t know what''ll get to me first. If my age, my past, or just a stray shot from the enemy.

    "You are marrying a dead man so I can only promise you that I''ll stay with you for the rest of my life, however short might it be. These are my vows. They may be worth little, but they are the only ones that I can offer you that are as true as my love for you." Vastor said.

    "They are more than I could ask from anyone, Zogar." Zinya pulled him up again and Vastor rose to his feet.

    "Congrattions. In the name of the Griffon Kingdom, I dere you husband and wife." Princess Peonia said.

    As the newlyweds kissed, the audience stood up, giving them a round of apuse and many cheers. At the end of the ceremony, the house staff came in while the guests moved to the end of the room.

    The red carpet was rolled up and taken away while the tables were moved to the center of the room and set up with everything necessary.

    The Princess took Lith''s arm and then moved to greet the guests one by one with him.

    He had arrivedst, missing the opportunity to mingle with the nobles. Peonia needed a second round to both help him find new backers in the Royal Court and reinforce their status as a couple.

    "You gave a wonderful opening speech." Lith said while they moved toward Marth.

    "Thank you." She blushed a little. "But after you celebrate dozens of marriages, it''s not that hard. It became second nature to me."

    "Dozens?" Lith rose an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "It''s the war, Lith. There''s no time for courting, dates, and nning. Every single bachelor mage of the Kingdom without an heir is rushing to marry, hoping to leave one behind.

    "My siblings and I have been marrying people since the day Manohar died. You should give it a thought as well." She threaded her fingers through his, to better convey her message.

    After giving it some thought, Peonia had decided there was no harm in turning their fiction into reality. Lith was the youngest Archmage of his generation, the best diagnostician of the Kingdom, and one of the candidates for the title of Royal Healer.

    All things that would help her in the case she seeded her father to the throne. His good looks were just icing on the cake.

    <i>''Oh, shit! Great actress my pale ass. This is a subtle marriage proposal.''</i> Lith thought.

    "The Princess is right. I hope that witnessing Zinya''s and Vastor''s happiness will inspire you to do the right thing and propose to a good woman. Don''t you agree, Your Majesty?" Elina jumped to the rescue, taking his other arm while looking Peonia in the eyes.

    Her gaze was gentle and her smile warm, but it didn''t extend to her eyes.

    The Princess could swear that she could read the message "get your hands off my son" in them.

    Elina had never made a mystery of her dislike for the Royals and the fact that she considered the Court a vipers'' nest.

 Chapter 1786 - The Day Of Fate (Part 6)

    <h4>Chapter 1786 - The Day Of Fate (Part 6)</h4>

    She wanted Lith to have a good and quiet life where he could spend time with his children and family.

    Not to be involved in petty power ys for the rest of his life, leaving the education of his children to tutors and nannies.

    "Professor Marth, you certainly don''t have such problems." Lith said, eager to avoid the crossfire. "How is the baby?"

    "Manohar Jr. should be born any day now." His steel gaze softened while looking at Ryssa and caressing her belly. "It seems they gave me a high five, unless that was a foot."

    "Do you still not know the baby''s gender and are you really going to call them Manohar Jr.?" Lith was bbergasted and so were his dates.

    "We wanted it to be a surprise." Ryssa tried to give the Princess a curtsy despite her state, but Peonia stopped her. "Besides, like thete Krishna loved to say, it sounds amazing and fits both boys and girls.

    "It will be only the second name, though. One Manohar was too much for Mogar to handle."

    "I''m sorry if I haven''t answered any of your calls, Lith." Marth gave him and thedies a deep bow. "I was very busy arranging Manohar''s legacy and making sure that it was written in anguage humans can understand."

    "His legacy?" The Princess'' eyes shone with greed and wonder.

    "Yes. I want the Royal Family to know that thete god of healing died without an heir, but he preserved his knowledge for the future generations. Hisst will was that his life work belonged to my children and I intend on honoring it."

    "No one, not even I will read Manohar diaries. I swear it upon my life." Marth stared at Peonia with steel eyes.

    "I''ll pass the message to my parents. I''m sure they won''t object." Her friendly expression was only betrayed by the corners of her mouth twitching in disappointment.

    "Lith, I hope you don''t mind if the moment I met Meln I put him down like the rabid rat he is." Marth said, his eyes glowing with furious bright blue mana.

    "Only if I don''t find him first." Lith''s eyes burst in deep violet mana, sealing a silent promise between the two men.

    It didn''t matter to them who killed Orpal, only that he suffered greatly before drawing hisst breath.

    At the same time, Tista was introducing Solus to Zinya and Vastor. Neither of them had ever seen her before, but since the Verhens considered her a member of the family so did the Vastors.

    "You make a wonderful couple." Solus said with eyes sparkling with joy. "Your vows moved me so much that I wish I had someone who felt that way towards me and proposed to me."

    "You are too kind." Vastor blushed in embarrassment. "I just took a page from my niece, Zoreth. Allow me to introduce her and her wife, Bytra, to you."

    "We already know each other, Uncle. We met at Lith''s birthday." Xenagrosh said, weing Solus with a curtsy that sent her hair falling forward into a ck-shaded brown cascade.

    Her pale pink dress gave color to her pale skin and a light makeup covered most of the freckles on her cheeks, nose, and shoulders. Xenagrosh''s smile didn''t extend to her chestnut eyes that darted from Solus to Bytra, worried about what might happen if she really was Elphyn.

    Luckily for Zoreth, due to her sharp features, square jaw, and stern-looking nose, she always looked like there was something grave on her mind, so Solus paid it no heed.

    "Hello, Solus. Do you remember me?" Bytra asked, afraid of the answer.

    She wore a dull red day dress thatplemented that of her date. Her usual pixie cut was considered unbing of ady so she had grown her silver hair to shoulder-length.

    She had arranged them in a wavy updo that emphasized her golden eyes and framed her oval-shaped face and delicate features.

    "Yes, of course. I''m a huge fan of your work." Solus said with a dazzling smile that made Bytra''s stomach twist into a knot.

    After that, Vastor introduced his nieces and nephews to the guests. They were all charming, wise, and good-looking, drawing the attention of the singles in the room.

    "Is there anyone of your fancy, dear?" Raaz asked Tista.

    "Dad, those are all Abomination-Hybrids!" She grumbled with a whisper. "I may be a Demon and maybe we could make beautiful Tiamats together, but if I wanted a partner like that, I would have dated in the Desert."

    "No one is ever good enough for you." He sighed.

    "Dad!" Tista blushed in embarrassment.

    Bytra used the confusion that her siblings always created to escape Zoreth''s notice and speak alone with Solus.

    "Look, there''s a war iing and we both are Forgemasters. As the Fourth Ruler of the mes, I don''t want to die leaving my secrets behind. Do you mind following me to a private ce where we can talk without being disturbed?" She asked.

    "You want me to be your heir?" Solus was ttered and embarrassed by her proposal. "I thought you would rather leave it to Vastor, your wife, or one of your siblings."

    "I''ve already taught them everything I can and left them detailed notes about all of my projects and theories. I have no regret left but to find someone to carry my torch and I think you are the one." Bytra replied.

    <i>''This is weird. We barely know each other and picking me as her heir is random at best. She has no idea that I''m Menadion''s daughter and the owner of her tower.''</i> Solus thought.

    <i>''On the other hand, Bytra has no reason to lie nor to attack me. If she did, she would destroy the rtionship between Lith and Vastor while I can always escape back into my ring.''</i>

    The mana geyser and the Sage Staff at her neck allowed Solus not only to keep her human form indefinitely, but also to return to the tower at any moment, no matter the distance.

    She followed Bytra out of the room and along the corridors of the house until they reached an isted tower. There were several wards that would keep people from getting in but offered no resistance to those who wanted to get out.

    Aside from that, the only other enchantment in the room made it soundproof. The ce was stuffed with marvels of Forgemastery that Solus happily scanned with the Eyes of Menadion.

    "I''m sorry, Solus. I really am." Bytra said while clenching her hands.

    She stuttered every word, falling onto her knees as her eyes veiled with tears.

    "Is this an ambush?" Solus joked, trying to lift the awkward mood yet making it worse.

    "Yes. No. Gods, have mercy." Bytra cried at the top of her lungs as the memory of her sneak attack shed in front of her eyes.

    She could feel her horn piercing through Elphyn''s chest, the scent of her blood, her surprised death gasp, but what haunted Bytra the most was the feeling of her own lips curling up in a cruel smile.

    She shapeshifted into her Raiju form, kicking and trashing the room, while thest shred of her sanity kept Solus safe.. The small woman was terrified by the sheer power that the Abomination-Goblin emitted, dwarfing even Faluel''s.

 Chapter 1787 - Solusâ€™ Fury (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1787 - Solus¡¯ Fury (Part 1)</h4>

    "No. I''m not a monster!" Bytra returned to her human form, sobbing. "Not anymore."

    "Bytra, what''s going on? You are scaring me." Solus said.

    "Good. You have to be scared of me. No, you have to hate me." Bytra endured the pangs from the blood madness and kept it at bay.

    "Hate you? I barely know you."

    "You are wrong, Elphyn Menadion." A thunder apanied that name and ck clouds appeared out of nowhere, covering the clear sky.

    Solus froze, feeling her world turning upside-down for no apparent reason.

    "We''ve know each other for a long time. Yet there are no words that can express our rtionship. I''d rather show you, if you''ll allow me." Bytra took her Forgemastering wand, creating a blue tendril that stopped in front of Solus.

    The mind link had to be her choice.

    Solus extended her hand and she witnessed Bytra''s life ever since her first meeting with Menadion. She saw them bing friends until Ripha took the Raiju as her apprentice.

    She saw the friendship grow into rivalry as Bytra poured her sweat and blood to be a Ruler of the mes. She saw her failures turn into bitterness and envy after she achieved the title and yet failed to craft a tower of her own.

    Solus relived the one-sided rivalry that Bytra felt toward Elphyn while the young mage ignored the Fourth Ruler, considering her but a pale imitation of her mother. Bytra had known Elphyn since her birth whereas the girl barely acknowledged the Raiju''s existence.

    Then it came the night of the attack, and Solus witnessed her own murder. Bytra had exploited her status of former apprentice to bypass the tower''s security system and kill Menadion''s students one by one before any of them could sound the rm.

    Then, the two Rulers had briefly fought and Bytra survived only because Ripha cared more about saving her daughter than chasing the runaway traitor. It was in that moment of distraction that Menadion had let go of the Fury and Bytra had snatched it.

    Solus cried at the sight of her mother focusing so much on her dead body to not even spare the necessary thought that would bring the Fury back to her hand before the Raiju could store it in her dimensional object.

    Bytra made sure to highlight that moment, to let Elphyn know that Ripha Menadion had loved her daughter more than her work.

    Then the visions moved away from the tower and Bytra''s euphoria for her victory almost drove Solus insane. The Raiju had bathed in the blood of Elphyn''s friends and family yet sheughed with pride.

    Solus witnessed Bytra training non-stop to reach the bright violet core and then her final fight against Menadion. Rage and sadness ravaged her as Solus watched her mother die.

    Menadion had fought valiantly, but she was still too worn out from fusing Elphyn with the tower. On top of that, she didn''t have the Fury with her whereas Bytra had thoroughly prepared for the fight, setting several arrays.

    Then, she witnessed two different lives. The story of the original Bytra and of her clone ran parallel until the goblin-Abomination hybrid swallowed the Eldritch, bing the person that Solus knew.

    Her meeting with the rest of Vastor''s Organization, her love for Zoreth, and the happiness they had shared together.

    When the visions ended, Solus saw Bytra kneeling in front of her. Her arms were raised, her palms opened, offering her Menadion''s Fury.

    "Menadion''s legacy and my life belong to you. Do with them whatever you think best." Bytra said.

    Solus red at the Abomination, her pupils fully dted and her teeth bared in fury.

    "Murderer!" Her right fist struck Bytra''s jaw, dislocating it at shattering the bone on the point of impact.

    "Monster!" A left hook at Bytra''s temple crushed her skull and turned her brain into mush.

    "It was you all along! You took everything from me! My mother, my friends, my life!" With each word, another fist struck until the Raiju''s head was reduced to a bloody paste of flesh and bones.

    Bytra didn''t try to defend herself nor did she offer any resistance, refusing even to use darkness fusion. She knew that the pain she was experiencing was nothingpared to what she had inflicted on countless others and to Elphyn in particr.

    She had offered Solus the Fury because even a bright violet cored Awakened couldn''t harm an Eldritch without a weapon, let alone one of the Master''s hybrids. Yet Solus wasn''t just an Awakened.

    The mass of the tower she manifested in her human form was further enhanced by the mana geyser below them, giving her a strength on par with an Elder Divine Beast. One of Solus'' fists would have been enough to breach a castle''s gates and Bytra had already taken dozens of them.

    "How dare you." Solus snarled as she picked the Fury from the ground.

    "How dare you steal my mother''s tool and use it for your monstrosities? How dare you be happy when you left me to rot for 700 hundred years?" She couldn''t activate its spell since the hammer bore Bytra''s imprint, but it still worked as a Davross weapon.

    Solus pummelled at the helpless woman in front of her, crushing her hands first, then her joints, and finally her chest, making it burst like a watermelon.

    "The pain, the loneliness, the madness, it was all because of you! How dare you thrive on my misery? How dare you find love in spite of the countless people you murdered? You don''t deserve to live!"

    Solus kept bashing with the Fury until her arms gave out and the blood that soaked her hands made the hammer slip from her grasp.

    ***

    "Thanks for your help in the Royal Court, Jirni." Lith said, unaware of what was happening just a hundred meters away.

    Elina had let go of him as soon as Peonia had done the same, busy with a call about national security. Lith''s mother hoped that Kam would exploit the moment to make her move.

    "You are wee." She graciously nodded. "If you want to repay me, I''m in dire need of a new rejuvenator now that Manohar is no more. Also, I know that he told you about my private research team and I would appreciate it if you took his ce."

    "Couldn''t you talk with me about this first?" Orion flinched, unaware of Jirni''s ns until that very moment.

    "Hush, dear." She said like to a child. "You know that I love you and I''m only doing what I consider the best for our family."

    "Why me as your personal rejuvenator? I''m the third best healer." Lith asked.

    "Marth wouldn''t approve of my methods and would ask too many questions. As for Vastor, I don''t fully trust him. He has gotten very powerful very quickly and I don''t understand how. I hate mysteries, that''s why I am a Constable." Jirni said.

    "What about me?"

    "Tell mister Tiamat that his secret is safe with me.

    Also, tell him to keep his temper in check. After that shadow show at Zeska, it wasn''t hard understanding that he''s also the one responsible for Derios'' ckout.." Jirni said with a smug grin, leaving both Orion and Lith bbergasted.

 Chapter 1788 - Solusâ€™ Fury (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1788 - Solus¡¯ Fury (Part 2)</h4>

    <i>''Shit! Jirni knows about my ability to manipte shadows since the incident at the academy. Then it happened again with Lark and Mirim. I bet that the moment she saw the recordings of my fight as a Tiamat, she solved the puzzle.</i>

    <i>''At least she knows nothing about Solus-''</i> Lith''s train of thought stopped when he suddenly felt a re in their bond.

    There was so much pain, rage, and grief twisting Solus'' mind that it now resembled his own. On top of that, the air in the room was weird yet familiar. Lith could feel a high concentration of world energy simr to a world tribtion.

    There was no pir of light and no quake. Only the ck clouds swirling above the mansion and the unusual amount of energy matched his experience.

    "I''ll rejuvenate whoever you want whenever you want. As for your research team, I have to think about it. I''m sorry, but I got to run. Make up an excuse for me, sorry." He left the room in such a rush that the guests checked their amulets, expecting to find news of another attack of the copycat.

    ***

    Solus was out of breath and her arms hurt. Yet when she saw the gruesome puddle in front of her reforming a human body, she picked the Fury again.

    Killing an Eldritch was already a hard job, but killing an Abomination-hybrid as well-fed as Bytra was even harder. Killing an Abomination-hybrid while they stood above a mana geyser that constantly nurtured and fed their twin cores was something that only a Guardian could achieve.

    "That''s not the right way to do it." Bytra said the moment her windpipe and mouth regenerated enough to allow her to talk. "Beating me will only bring me pain. If you want to kill me, you have to use your breathing technique to locate my cores.

    "Once you find them, use light magic to throw my cores into disarray. This body survives on a very delicate bnce. Destroy it and you''ll destroy me beyond even what my Abomination side can recover."

    Solus nodded and shattered her face again, incapable of bearing the sound of Bytra''s voice anymore.

    "Bytra!" Zoreth had searched for them right after noticing the disappearance of the two women. "Why are you doing this? You promised me not to tell her!"

    Her fists hammered at the door with the full weight of the Shadow Dragon, but the arrays held.

    "You knew?" Solus said in outrage. "How can you love and care for a monster?"

    "Because I''m a monster as well!" Zoreth roared, hurling a river of Origin mes that consumed the magical formations and the reinforced door alike.

    Seeing the blood spattered throughout the room and Solus'' hands brimming with power aimed at Bytra''s heart, Zoreth shapeshifted in her Shadow Dragon form, just keeping its size small enough to fit inside the room.

    Seeing the four yellow eyes ring at her, the ck scales steaming darkness, and the wings spread to hide Bytra from Solus''s sight, made her think of Lith. Solus stopped and her fury quenched enough for her toe back to her senses.

    "You would have every right to hate and kill Bytra if she was the original, but she''s just a clone who inherited her memories. She''s not the person you knew. Killing her wouldn''t bring Menadion back, it would just put me in your same shoes.

    "I hope that you''ll find in yourself the strength to let her go because otherwise, we are going to fight." Zoreth growled, emitting puffs of fire and smoke with each word she said.

    "No, you are not." Bytra stood up and walked in front of Zoreth, offering herself to Solus again. "Whatever Elphyn does to me, I deserve far worse. Zoreth, if you try to stop her, I''ll never forgive you."

    "Crazy woman! Are you telling me that either I let her take you away from me or I''ll lose you because I didn''t respect your decision?" The Shadow Dragon asked, and Bytra nodded.

    "Fine! Then I choose the third option, not losing you." Zoreth ced herself in front of Bytra again. "If you want to kill her, then kill me first. One less mass murderer on Mogar won''t burden your conscience and will make everyone happy."

    "I have nothing against you." Solus'' fury and confusion battled for dominion over her heart. "You''ve always been good to Lith."

    "Yet I am a cmity for more people than you can imagine. I''m way older than you two and I''m an Eldritch Abomination. How many lives do you think I took just for the sake to keep living and how many to achieve my goals?"

    Solus knew that what Zoreth said was the truth. There was no such a thing as a peaceful Abomination. Yet seeing the Shadow Dragon so determined to defend the person she loved to the point of seeking her own death, smothered her anger instead of provoking it.

    "Why are you doing this? Why did you confess your crimes to me and tell me how to kill you?" Solus asked Bytra, her eyes still blood-shot with fury and her hands trembling in indignation. "You have a good life and a loving wife.

    "All you had to do to keep them both was to keep your mouth shut."

    Solus'' voice came out of his clenched teeth, almost sounding like a hiss.

    "A few days ago, Dad- I mean, Vastor, spoke with Lith. Zoreth and I were there, listening to their conversation when he said something that struck me harder than you ever could." Bytra said.

    Solus remembered that day very well. She, Phloria, and Kam had listened to the conversation as well. In a way, Bytra''s life was simr to her own, and it made Solus want to puke.

    "He said that he can''t really have a fresh start with Zinya as long as he keeps hiding his bloody baggage from her. The same stands for me, Zoreth." She turned to the Shadow Dragon. "I can''t have a new life until I get free from the shackles of my past.

    "You were also right, my love, when you told me that I have to embrace all of the good and the bad things that my original did if I want to heal. I may not be the Eldritch Korgh, but I carry her legacy."

    "I need to bear the consequences of my actions because if I don''t, if instead of seeking reparation I just shielded myself behind a wall of excuses, I wouldn''t be any better than the original Bytra. I would be a heartless monster, just like Korgh was."

    Seeing how much Bytra loved Zoreth, how determined she was to make the right thing even if it meant giving up on her own life, made Solus understand that the Shadow Dragon was right.

    The person in front of her now wasn''t the Bytra she had known a little less than 700 years ago. That Bytra loved no one but herself and her pride as a Forgemaster. She had dedicated her whole life to her work, to the point of turning it into an obsession that had driven her insane.

    The old Bytra had been consumed by envy and had rejoiced in taking out thepetition, no matter the means she employed.. The new Bytra, instead, admired Menadion and was haunted by the memories of her death.

 Chapter 1789 - Solusâ€™ Fury (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1789 - Solus¡¯ Fury (Part 3)</h4>

    Solus started to cry, still clenching the Fury, but now out of affection.

    The artifact was the only thing she had left of her mother and she held it to her chest like a baby. She fell onto her knees bawling her eyes out as the ck cloud outside dissipated and the sun returned.

    Lith arrived a secondter, cursing the maze that all big mansions were and the architects that designed them. He found Solusying on the ground, covered in blood. She was curled in a fetal position while she clung the Fury to her chest, sobbing.

    "What did you do to her?" He snarled at Zoreth, turning into his Tiamat form and picking a size that matched the Shadow Dragon''s. "Why is Solus crying?"

    His fury surprised the two Eldritches as much as Solus'' tears. Neither made sense. Solus was supposed to seek vengeance and Lith just to not care about her, yet reality begged to differ.

    "Nothing." Bytra replied. "I didn''t attack her. Quite the contrary, I''m waiting for her judgment."

    Lith''s seven eyes burned with mana as he examined the room and Void mes burst out his bared fangs, aimed at the Abominations. His senses told him that their story was true, but his paranoid nature kept him from lowering the guard.

    The only blood in the room was Bytra''s, there was no trace of spells, and Solus'' life force and mana were at their peak. None of it was consistent with a fight, no matter how brief.

    On top of that, Solus was no match for Bytra, let alone two of Vastor''s hybrids at the same time.

    "She''s saying the truth." Solus stuttered amid sobs. "She just¡­"

    Cries and wails turned the rest of her words into gibberish, yet it was enough for Lith to calm down. He cleaned Solus from the blood with a pulse of darkness magic and took her in his arms in a princess carry.

    The physical contact allowed the distraught Solus to instinctively share her memories with him and with them her burden as well. Lith''s eyes went open wide as he learned the truth about Bytra and the events that had led Solus to her current condition.

    He stuttered gibberish as well, trying to find something to say.

    "Fuck me sideways." He shook his head, leaving the brooding to another moment. "Solus has forgiven you, Bytra. She says that you can go and that she wants to never see you again. As for you, Xenagrosh, we need to talk, but that can wait."

    Lith darted out of the room before either woman could reply to him and ran like the wind to the mansion''s Warp Gate. Solus never stopped crying or clenching the Fury and he knew that she never would, unless he did something.

    Once he reached the barn of the Verhen farm, he opened a Warp that led him to the mana geyser in the Trawn woods and from there he Tower Warped to the Desert. Lith didn''t care for barging in in the middle of the night.

    Solus needed help and Sark was the only one who could give it to her.

    "What in the Great Mother''s name are you doing here?" The Guardian said as Lith crashed her party and trampled the guards that had politely asked him to stop.

    Sark had no need to sleep and she spent her nights having fun. Being pregnant, dancing and partying were off the table so she had been watching a theatrical y while eating enough for two Guardians.

    Lith had arrived in the middle of the big scene of the second act, ruining it.

    He tried to exin, but there was no need for words. Now that they were so close, the Blood Imprint bloodline ability that Phoenixes shared allowed her to read his thoughts without the need of her breathing technique, Mother Sun.

    Solus'' memories passed from her to Lith, and from Lith to Sark in a stream of consciousness that made the three into one for a split second.

    "That''s how you died, Ripha." Tears streaked down the Guardian''s cheeks at the vision of the pain that her dear friend and her daughter had endured.

    Before continuing that conversation, she Warped herself, Lith, and Solus to her private chambers.

    "Why did you bring her here? She needs her family to recover and as much as I care for her, our bond is not that deep." Sark asked.

    "Because you are the only person that can give her peace of mind, Grandma." Lith replied. "Solus keeps crying and holding the hammer not out of pain, but out of fear. The Fury still bears Bytra''s imprint and it only takes her a thought to retrieve it."

    "That wasn''t in Solus'' thoughts. How do you know that?" The Guardian had been kind calling the sorry mess that ran through Solus'' head thoughts.

    She just kept reying her own death scene and that of her mother, screaming telepathically non-stop.

    "Because I know her as well as I know myself. Can you please remove the imprint with Creation Magic?" Lith asked.

    "I can do better." Sark took a small box out of her pocket dimension and opened it in front of Lith.

    It contained the blueprints for a new hammer and the ingredients necessary to craft it by using the Fury as a base. Menadion had left them to Sark because the Guardian was the only one who could use Creation Magic and forge her final gift for her daughter.

    The First Ruler of the mes had nned to leave the tower and the Fury to Solus once she finished her apprenticeship, something that Ripha had never lived to see.

    "If I just remove the imprint, the Fury would not only be a piece of crap, it would also be a bloodstained memento of the worst moment in Solus'' life. What she needs is a token of her mother''s love."

    Sark called upon the power of her two cores, her own and that of the baby, to perform the Forgemastery without the use of any tool. Creation Magic first removed the imprint on the Fury and then separated the artifact from its power core.

    Lith saw the energy sphere grow into countless concentric circles made ofplex and unknown runes. Each runic circle spun vertically around its respective axis, revealing how each spell interacted with the others.

    Another wave of Sark''s hand gave life to the second sphere from Menadion''s parchment, recing the first. Then, the Guardian switched the old runes with modern and then did the same with the spells imbued in the artifact.

    Once she was done, the concentric circles went back to being an energy sphere no bigger than an apple. After that, Sark split the Fury into its basicponents. The Davross of the head, the Phoenix bone in the handle, the Dragon leather wrapped around it, and the white crystals etched on its sides and top.

    Lith failed to recognize any of the ingredients from the box but one, a Griffon''s multi-colored feather. The Guardian turned the unknown ingredients into more energy that joined the power core and fused the feather with the bone.

    The white split into the seven colors of the elements, brimming with new power.. A final flick of her wrists put everything back together, giving life to a new Fury.

 Chapter 1790 - Solusâ€™ Fury (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1790 - Solus¡¯ Fury (Part 4)</h4>

    One of the hammer''s heads was t, while the other resembled an ice pick.

    The three mana crystals that rested on its top and sides remained white for a split second before starting to cycle through the seven colors of the elements and then turn white again.

    "This is no longer Ripha Menadion''s Fury. This is now Elphyn Menadion''s Fury, crafted like her mother would have made me do it were she still alive. Yet Elphyn is a relic of the past, just like the runes that Menadion left me.

    "Hence, as its crafter, I rename it Solus'' Fury since just like her, it''s born anew." Sark offered the hammer to Lith, holding its head in one hand and the end of the grip in the other.

    Lith took the Fury and gave it to Solus. She imprinted the hammer while he was still holding it, ripping it from his hands and embracing it like a long-lost child. Her sobbing slowly decreased in intensity until it stopped.

    Solus had lost her consciousness but she had found her peace.

    "Don''t let her out of your sight even for one second!" Sark pointed the nail of her forefinger millimeters away from Lith''s nose.

    "I won''t. Thank you, Grandma." He was about to give her a deep bow when the Guardian stepped forward and embraced him.

    "I''m proud of you. Bying here, you saved her days of suffering. You saw that hammer not as an artifact to hide from the rest of Mogar, but for what it truly was: the source of her pain. Now go and take good care of the daughter of my mentor." Sark let go of him and Warped him to the tower.

    Lith moved back to the Trawn woods and then brought Solus to her room, where all the things most precious to her were.

    <i>''Kami is right. Just like when I grieve she brings me to Belius, I can''t bring Solus home. There she would be forced to tell her story over and over again and to relive her pain.</i>

    <i>''Solus would have to worry about not falling apart in front of the others and not making them worry whereas what she needs now is to worry solely about herself. The tower is her home and I''m the only person she needs right now.''</i>

    Lith put Solus in her bed and shapeshifted her dress into pajamas before joining her. He could feel through their bond that she was in a lot of pain, like that they had experienced upon Lark''s death.

    This time, however, Lith wasn''t part of it and his heart was steady. Their bond allowed his calm to soothe Solus'' grief and his affection to not make her feel alone, even in her sleep.

    He held her tight despite the difort of the Fury between them pressing against his chest, giving her all the warmth that he could. While Solus dreamed of her mother, Lith answered all the worried calls of their family, exining the situation to them.

    He asked them not to call Solus or to visit until she felt ready.

    The sun had already set and the moon was shining high in the sky when Solus finally stirred. At first, her mind was so fuzzy that she had no idea where she was. Thest thing she remembered was attending Vastor''s wedding.

    "How did I get in my bedroom?" She mumbled.

    "You gave me a huge scare. Wee back, Solus." Only upon hearing Lith''s words did Solus realize that she wasn''t alone and that the warmth wrapping her didn''te from the nkets.

    "What the-" The blood rushed to her head, trying to understand for what reason Lith had vited the unwritten rule between them to not sleep in the same bed.

    Her mind cleared instantly and she noticed that while Lith embraced her, her hands were otherwise upied. Her eyes fell upon the Fury and everything came back to her mind, destroying the barrier that her subconscious had erected to protect her from the pain.

    "Mom! Bytra! She-" Solus sobbed losing control of her mouth and eyes that teared up again.

    "I know. Don''t worry. It''s alright. It''s all in the past. There''s only you, me, and the tower here. Between your mother''s legacy and me, no one can hurt you." Lith tightened his embrace, gently caressing her head.

    The pain that just a second ago had almost crushed her faded away enough to be bearable. Solus kept sniffling, but now she managed to talk.

    "What happened after I lost consciousness?" After leaving Vastor''s home, her memory was a blur.

    Lith shared his mind with her, showing her the visit to Sark and how the Guardian had transformed Menadion''s Fury into Solus''.

    "Is that a hammer on your chest or are you just happy to see me?" Lith said, making her chuckle.

    "It''s not funny, jackass." She said.

    "Tell me about it. It''s my first time waking with something hard that doesn''t belong to me pressed against my body." The chuckle turned into aughter and so did her tears.

    "Thank you." She put the Fury on her bedstand and returned his embrace.

    "Please. You have always been there for me. I''m more than happy to return the favor." Lith said.

    "I meant about bringing me to Sark. I know that it was the right thing to do, but if you left the decision up to me, I would have never allowed her to alter the Fury. It was my mother''s memento and I''d have cried over it for a long time before finding the strength to let it go." Solus said.

    "Everything for you." He caressed her head and shoulders.

    "I''m hungry." She said after the repeated growling of her stomach reminded her that she hadn''t touched a single bite of the glorious wedding buffet. "I haven''t eaten since breakfast."

    "Let me prepare you something." Lith jumped out of the bed, shapeshifting his pajamas into regr clothes while Solus took the Fury and carried it with her.

    "It''s beautiful, isn''t it?" She ced the hammer on the table while they dined with a savory stew.

    "It is. How do you feel?" Lith asked.

    "Angry, sad, and confused. All at the same time." Solus sighed, fighting to hold the tears back. "What am I supposed to do now? Thank Bytra? Kill her? Forget about her and move on with my life?

    "I''d wanted to learn what happened to my mother for so long, yet now that I know, I''m more lost than ever."

    "Why choose? We can do all those things in the future." Lith shrugged. "What you have to do now, instead, is to eat to your heart content and get plenty of sleep. Everything else can wait."

    Solus had a second serving of stew before asking for a steak and roasted potatoes. Once her stomach was as heavy as her heart, her life didn''t look so bad anymore.

    Lith was about to go to his room when she stopped him.

    "I know that we are not supposed to sleep together, but I don''t want to be alone tonight. There are too many ghosts in this tower." Solus tugged at his shirt while the death of Menadion''s apprentices shed in front of her eyes.

    Back into her bed and without the Fury between them, Lith felt awkward when Solus suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck.

 Chapter 1791 - The War Of The Griffons (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1791 - The War Of The Griffons (Part 1)</h4>

    "I was thinking. We don''t really have much time. There''s a war out there and your life force is cracked. We have yet to assemble the body-swapping machine and make sure that it works. If anything happens before that, it''s over." Solus said.

    "It''s over for me." Lith pointed out.

    "For us." She replied.

    "Don''t pull a Xenagrosh on me, Solus. I don''t want to live with the burden of your life. Mine is already heavy as it is." He said while holding her tight.

    "You are potentially immortal and I''m fine with it. I can''t promise to be with you for the rest of your life. I can only promise to be with you for the rest of my life."

    "That''s more than enough for me." Solus said, falling into a sweet, peaceful slumber.

    ***

    Solus needed time to get back to normal, but luckily, she had plenty.

    A few days after Vastor''s marriage, Ryssa the Dryad gave birth to Dhiral Manohar Marth. The baby boy had light green skin and blonde hair in his dryad form while ck hair streaked silver all over as a human.

    The baby wailed to announce his birth, ignoring his father''s attempts to calm him down while Marth cleaned Dhiral and wrapped him with a clean cloth. At least until he heard his full name.

    Then, he started to giggle.

    "I can''t believe this." Professor Marth said amid tears. "You really did it, Manohar. You beat even death. I warn you, if this is really you, Krishna, I''m going to beat your ass until adulthood."

    "Duke, those are not the first words that a father should tell his son." Ryssa managed tough despite the strain from thebor.

    "Wee home, Manohar." Marth handed the baby to his wife, making him cry again.

    "Shush, my love. Mommy is tired." She said, and the babyplied as soon as she put him against her bosom to feed him.

    Lithughed about it and so did everyone present, yet the fact that Dhiral Manohar Marth giggled every time he heard his second name and obeyed his mother, creeped them out more than Thrud.

    The wedding and Ryssa giving birth were the only good things they enjoyed those days. The Griffon Kingdom was in turmoil and for a good reason.

    The war against the Mad Queen which was now known as the War of the Griffons, was nothing like those that had preceded it and the rules of the game werepletely different as well.

    The two armies couldn''t use the Warp Gates to invade the enemy cities because the connection had to be established from both sides at the same time.

    The Royal override didn''t help since Thrud separated the Gates from their power source until her troops needed to use them. She only held one-third of the Kingdom, yet time was on her side.

    The country was still recovering from the famine and she had conquered the most fertilends in the Kingdom, giving her the food advantage. To make matters worse, while nning a battle, the Royal army had to be careful moving around cultivated fields.

    Without crops, no matter who won the war, they would all starve.

    It left the Royal army a limited space to maneuver and as long as the troops were near the fields, everyone was forbidden from using powerful spells.

    Thrud used the crops to restrict the enemy movements, creating only a few possible pathways that made any strategy, no matter how brilliant, predictable.

    On top of that, neither Thrud nor the Royals wanted to attack the civilians.

    Without its people, the Kingdom would just be a bunch ofnd and empty houses. The Mad Queen had learned her lesson from Jiera''s devastation while the Royals wanted to avoid hurting people whose only crime was to have fallen for her lies.

    The leaders of both armies knew that destroying city walls and murdering a lot of innocents would have yed straight in the hand of the third parties that circled around the warring state like vultures, leaving it open for both internal and external invasion.

    The Undead Courts were an enemy of both factions, at least on paper, and they would exploit the opening to conquer the weakened cities and establish a third yer in that war.

    Thrud didn''t trust Orpal and wanted to keep him from getting a territory of his own, yet she couldn''t stop his advance either. As the Dead King loved to remind her, the Undead Courts going easy only on her side of the field would have revealed their alliance.

    She still needed his help to both keep the conquered cities from rebelling and the Royals on their toes. The Undead Courts regrly attacked both factions, forcing her citizens to rely on her protection and limiting the formation of pockets of resistance.

    As for the Royals, the Undead Courts were a constant thorn in their side that made it impossible for them to fullymit their forces. The undead attacks were brief, but violent and bloody.

    They retreated as soon as they understood they couldn''t win and kept ughtering people until a sufficient force was deployed. Orpal used this strategy to probe both factions for weak points and to give his troops the feeding of a lifetime.

    During a war, the Undead Courts thrived and their strength grew the more blood was spilled. They were the internal force that threatened the Kingdom.

    From the outside, the troops of the Desert and especially those of the Empire had be restless ever since the War of the Griffons had broken out. Even the small nearby countries were ready to expand their respective territories at the first sign of weakness.

    Sark was still against a full-scale invasion, but she had no objection to her Feathers'' proposal to conquer the fertilends at the borders and their rivers. It would keep her troops sharp and show her the real talent of her generals.

    She kept herself out of it, more interested in checking the results of her hard work than in kicking an old enemy while they were already down. As for Milea, she had no such qualms.

    She kept the Imperial army always ready to invade the Kingdom and waited for an opportunity to strike. Unfortunately for her, Thrud and the Royals didn''t want to share their fief and had reached a truce regarding the borders.

    As soon as an external force attacked, they would cease hostilities and fight the invaders together. At first, the Royals had hoped that epting the deal so readily had been a blunder on Thrud''s side.

    That letting her forces go to the frontlines would give them the opportunity to study her tactics and weaken her army at the same time. Yet Thrud considered their move to be a na?ve blunder that she could exploit as well.

    The areas at the borders were surrounded by elemental sealings arrays from either side, making alchemical tools of paramount importance for fake mages. Her troops, however, wereprised solely of Awakened mages.

    While the Royals, Milea, and her troops stared in horror at the Emperor Beasts unleashing one Spirit Spell after another, ignoring the magical formations, the soldiers of the Kingdom looked at the Mad Queen in awe.

 Chapter 1792 - The War Of The Griffons (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1792 - The War Of The Griffons (Part 2)</h4>

    Milea''s army wasn''t just repelled, it was utterly destroyed every time they moved one inch inside the Kingdom''s territory. To make matters worse, Thrud didn''t leave themand of her troops to one of her generals like the Royals did.

    She led them herself, charging into battle first.

    Her exploits were broadcasted via the Kingdom''s interlink, growing her reputation with each skirmish. To her citizens, she wasn''t just an invader, she was a hero that protected their country, putting her life at risk and fighting on the frontlines.

    It boosted the morale of her armies and her territories while also dispiriting the enemy''s. Not only were the members of the Royal army and the Association scared by the prowess that Thrud''s army showed.

    They also secretly started to wonder if with her as their new Queen, the Kingdom might be able to reconquer the territories that had been lost after Valeron''s death and return to its former glory.

    The peculiar nature of the conflict that limited the movements of big armies and the possible methods of attacking the enemy, had turned the War of the Griffons into what reminded Lith of a game of castle conquering.

    The most effective way to seize any fortress was to send troops inside, retake a Warp Gate, and then let the troops swarm in. Attacked from the inside and the outside at the same time, any stronghold would fall quickly with a minimum number of civilian casualties.

    The problem was that while the Royals had to infiltrate elite soldiers, have them reach the Gate bypassing all the security measures, and use the Royal Override, Thrud just had to send her Emperor Beasts that could use Spirit Magic to quickly Warp to their destination.

    Before the Royals understood what was happening, months had passed and Thrud had expanded her territories, controlling one-third of the Country. Their only advantage over her was the Royal Override.

    It allowed them to take control of a Gate without the need of its password or those of the arrays protecting it, but aside from that, it was an uphill battle that became steeper with each day.

    Winter had finished and spring had arrived. Lith hadn''t left Lutia since Vastor''s wedding because he had too many things to do and the Royals preferred to keep him at the ready in the case they needed his expertise as a diagnostician.

    The death of the god of healing had left the Kingdom exposed to the trickery of the Undead Courts and their gues, but it had also robbed Lith of hope.

    He had considered Manohar a friend and the only person who could find a way to fix his cracked life force without needing to use the Odi''s Body-Swapping machine and losing his powers as a Tiamat.

    He and Solus worked non-stop on his golems, the Sage Staff, and their equipment. The Fury had greatly improved Solus'' Forgemastering prowess but she needed time to get ustomed to its powers and to develop a new technique capable of tapping into its full potential.

    The slightest mistake would make the energy running through the Fury wild, overcharging their creations into oblivion. They often had to go to the Desert to have Sark fix Solus''s mess and the War of the Griffons made their travels'' secrecy of the utmost importance.

    Luckily for them, Tower Warp couldn''t be detected by any means and the Overlord had no problem showing them the mana geyser where she would move her pce next.

    Lith was really happy for Solus. After learning the truth about Menadion''s death and recovering her hammer, Solus had been depressed for several days until she had stopped looking at the hammer and had started using it.

    Her morale had improved by leaps and bounds with every little thing she mastered of the Fury until she had fully recovered. Having a Forgemastering hammer made of Davross that could generate copies of itself allowed them to hone their crafts, but only to a certain extent.

    Solus was almost 700 years old but her death had reset her body and she had still a deep blue core. Sark hadcked an amplifier in remaking the Fury and it was something they still needed.

    Also, the hammer worked great for Solus, but Lith still needed one of his own. As long as they had the same energy signature, the copy of the Fury he used had no need to turn his mana into hers, yet Lith worried for several reasons.

    He could see how the hammer had been crafted specifically for someone like Solus and to employ the movements that Menadion had etched so deeply in her being that even her memory loss didn''t affect them.

    Yet for someone of his build and with apletely different Forgemastery style, it felt off. Also, if one day Soluspletely recovered, their crafts would be her crafts, which irked him to no end.

    Last, but not least, an amplifier that worked for her wouldn''t work for him and vice versa, just like she couldn''t use all the perks of Abyssal Gaze due to theck of his bloodline abilities.

    Lith and Solus still made amazing progress in that time, putting their hearts and souls in their work until the Spring Festival was around the corner. It was an ancient festivity that Thrud held dear to the point of requesting a truce for that day.

    She wanted to just be a mother and share her past with the little Valeron. The Royals had promptly epted her request. They could use the time while the enemy yed around to have their troops recover and n a new strategy safely.

    For Lith and Solus, however, the Spring Festival had a different meaning. It was the day when she had finally awakened from her slumber and she had interacted with Lith for the first time.

    It was the day of her birthday. Now that Solus had been introduced to his family and had gotten her body back, she was so excited at the idea of celebrating the anniversary with them that even the thought of the war didn''t bother her anymore.

    "By my Mom, it''s finally my birthday!" She would often repeat while literally walking on air. "I have so many things that I want to do that I don''t know if I can fit them in a single day."

    "First, it''s not your birthday yet." Lith pointed out, but not to curb her enthusiasm. "Second, you have not celebrated yourst fifteen birthdays so if you want to prolong the event for a whole fortnight, I''m okay with it."

    "Really?" She said, squirming with joy.

    "Really." Lith carried a heavy burden and even losing one day was a lot to him, but Solus deserved much more than that.

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She jumped at his neck, hugging him tightly. "I want to throw a party for sure. Then maybe we could go to the Eclipsed Lands and-"

    Lith''smunication amulet draw their attention and cut her off.

    "Gods! It''s Peonia again." Solus grumbled.

    After Vastor''s marriage, the Princess had often contacted Lith to talk about his manor and to request his presence as her date during several official events.. She had even kissed him in public, raising a scandal and her parents'' hope for marriage.

 Chapter 1793 - Burden Of Command (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1793 - Burden Of Command (Part 1)</h4>

    "So far Peonia has been a loyal ally." Lith scolded Solus. "You''ve seen what Morn and those idiots in the Royal Court tried to do behind my back. Peonia is the reason Lutia is safe and my Queen''s Corps escort has not been revoked despite the war.

    "Without her, we would worry about our family all day and the quality of our work would suffer every time we leave for the Desert. I owe her this much." Then he turned the amulet on.

    "How can I be of assistance today, Your Majesty?"

    "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Peonia?" The Princess pouted. "You need to get used to it because if you call me like that in public, everything would have been for naught."

    "Fine, Peonia. How are you doing?" Lith always opened their conversations that way to reaffirm that he considered their rtionship strictly professional.

    He wouldn''t have minded a bit ofpany, but he couldn''t risk the Princess having them "identally" found in bed and forcing him into marriage.

    "Great! Last night Thrud conquered another fortress and an important one at that!" Peonia said with a huge smile and a joyful voice that made Lith think she had gone insane.

    "How is that great?" He asked.

    "Because with every loss that Uncle Morn suffers, my faction strengthens and his hold over the Royal Court lessens. Also, losing the city of Mandia isn''t a big deal since you are going to reconquer it." Her smile turned into a predatory grin.

    "Okay, slow down and run it by me again. This time speak as if I don''t live inside your head." Lith said.

    "I''m sorry, I got carried away." She took a few deep breaths to calm down before speaking again. "My factioncks both military and political power so, until this moment, every proposal of mine that didn''t receive the full support of my parents has always been rejected.

    "Losing Mandia changed things. Uncle Morn always opposed your intervention, saying that you are disloyal, unpredictable and that your rtionship with Orpal makes you a threat.

    "I think that Morn is actually afraid that if you seed where he failed, you will be the hero of the Kingdom once more. All the influence he has lost would be mine, eroding his power base.

    "What''s really important, however, is that until yesterday the Royal Court backed him because they are afraid of Orpal but now they are more afraid of Thrud. This time, they backed my proposal and it got approved even against my parents'' opinion." She said with a huge smile.

    "Why didn''t your parents support you?" Lith asked.

    "Oh gods. You are so na?ve that sometimes you are silly." Peonia looked lovely as she giggled. "They did it on purpose because this way if the mission seeds, neither them nor Morn will take any credit.

    "It''s the first Royal Decree approved that only bears my signature. Until now, Uncle Morn and the Royal Court belittled my sesses and gave all the credit to my parents to keep me in check.

    "Now, however, whateveres out of this will be all on me, be it good or bad. Recapturing Mandia should be rtively easy since Thrud''s troops have yet to settle, yet I want you to personally lead the mission for obvious reasons." She said.

    "Because my sess would prove that all the fears of the Court about me are groundless." Lith said. "It would also bring a lot of me on your uncle since he''s the one who kept me out of the conflict until now.

    "Last, but not least, everyone assumes that we are a couple. My status as a hero would reflect on you in the Royal Court, doubling your influence. I have no interest in political power but people would still think that you are acting on my behalf.

    "All those who support me or just want to suck up to me will not hesitate to join your faction or at least support it from the outside. I ept the mission."

    Peonia gave him a small round of apuse.

    "Excellent thinking and excellent choice. I''m about to forward you everything you need to know about Mandia." She pressed a few buttons on her amulet and Lith received a message with several attachments.

    They contained maps of the city, the blueprints of the City Hall, and the ce where the Warp Gate was kept.

    "I want to thank you for putting your life on the line. No matter the oue of the mission, I''ll be grateful to you. At the same time, however, I want you to understand that you are about to leave the peace of Lutia and step into the War of the Griffons.

    "Are you sure that this is how you want to depart?" She asked, biting her lips seductively.

    "Do you mean single and without anydy with my bun in her oven? Yes, I''m sure." Peonia blushed at his impertinence. "I''ve left my legacy orderly organized for Tista and my little ones in the case something happens to me. Like Manohar."

    "Like Manohar." She sighed. "I hope you have better luck than he did. Call me if you change your mind. Peonia out."

    "What a shameless woman!" Solus snarled the moment the hologram of the Princess disappeared. "She dared to emphasize the dangerousness of the mission just to make her move on you."

    "Peonia isn''tpletely wrong." Lith sighed. "Manohar''s death made me realize that even those I deemed immortal can actually die. A war is nothing like the battles I fought in the past.

    "It''s a chaotic ce where your life can end at any moment, either by the hand of an enemy or of an ipetent ally. If it wasn''t for how awkward I felt when I kissed Faluel, I''d have asked her for a second date."

    "Faluel? What about Phloria or Kam?" Solus said.

    <i>''Or me.''</i> She inwardly added.

    "Dating either of them would be more than a fling aimed to leave an heir behind. It would also mean ying with their feelings, leaving behind a grieving widow if something happens to me, and setting up for an angry divorce if I survive.

    "As things are now, none of my rtionships is marriage material. Kam still has to wrap her head about the role that you y in my life while Phloria is too dependent on me for her survival to be objective." Yet when Lith said Phloria, he actually meant Solus.

    "Enough talk. Let''s finish the prototypes and then we have to give the bad news to our family. They are not going to like it one bit."

    ***

    Just as Lith had predicted, the news regarding his involvement in the war killed the mood, making everyone gloomy as if he was already dead. The members of his family knew that Lith couldn''t back down, but it didn''t make it any easier to ept.

    "Please, be careful out there." Elina said while taking his face between her hands.

    "I''m not just careful, Mom. I''m full-blown paranoid." Lith joked, trying to ease their tension.

    "I don''t care about your secrets. Go all-out if things go badly. I''d rather leave the Kingdom than lose my son.." Raaz felt responsible for Lith''s choice.

 Chapter 1794 - Burden Of Command (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1794 - Burden Of Command (Part 2)</h4>

    If it wasn''t for his family, Lith could have just moved to the Desert and avoided all that trouble. Yet if he did, he would bebeled as a traitor and a deserter. Just like Friya''s mother, Duchess Solivar, he would have lost everything and so would his family.

    Theirnds, their home, even his silver mines near Jambel would be seized by the Kingdom. Lith would lose all of his titles and annuities, turning into a wanted criminal forever barred from returning.

    "Don''t worry, Dad. I have several aces up my sleeve and a feisty woman in my ring." He said while pointing at Solus who stood by his side, still holding the Fury while she received her share of kisses and hugs.

    "I''m not feisty!" She tried to act intimidating, but Elina held her like a child, making her look as dangerous as an angry puppy.

    After they said their goodbyes, Solus disappeared in the ring and Lith walked through the Gate in the barn reaching his destination. Peonia''s men had prepared a temporary exit point for him right outside Mandia where the reconquering army had made its camp.

    Much to his surprise, he found the Princess, General Morn, and Captain Xolman Pn waiting for him on the other side.

    "Princess. General." He gave them respectively a bow and a salute, leaving Pn on attention. "Isn''t this a bit overkill?"

    "Indeed. My dear Uncle is a sore loser so he gave you an ipetent second inmand."

    Peonia''s eyes red in indignance as she pointed at Pn. "Knowing that he''d try his best to make the mission fail, I came here in person to keep an eye on Pn, and Uncle Morn used it as an excuse toe as well."

    "How dare you to speak like this to a General, niece? And in front of my soldiers at that!" Morn stood straight as an arrow, towering over the much shorter woman to intimidate her.

    "Just like you dare speak like this to themanding officer of this mission and a Princess of the Kingdom." The spite in her voice was almost tangible. "Now shut up and listen. You are here solely as an observer.

    "Give a single order and whatever goes wrong with this mission will be on you. Am I clear?"

    "Crystal." Morn lips trembled in indignance, but he had no way to retort.

    The Royal Court had given Peonia full authority over the matters with Mandia, something that not even the Royals could overrule, let alone him.

    "Good. I''m the only one allowed to give orders here." She said loud enough for everyone to here. "Lith, I assume you already have a n of your own."

    "Indeed." He nodded. "At this point, Thrud must be familiar with the strategy the Kingdom uses to infiltrate the cities. Also, sending in many people means increasing the chances of being discovered."

    "What are you proposing, then?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

    "I''ll go in alone while you prepare your forces to enter Mandia the moment the city gates are opened. Then, once the Warp Gate lets the other troops in, recapturing Mandia will be a matter of minutes."

    "What?" Peonia and Morn said in unison while Pn, still at attention, could only widen his eyes.

    The original n involved readying the troops outside the city while scouts infiltrated the walls and spent the next few days finding a way to let the main force in. Then, the goal was to reach the Warp Gate and set up for a two-pronged attack.

    "Think about it." Lith spoke while watching solely at Peonia as if Morn wasn''t even there. "Mandia was captured yesterday, which means that its citizens have yet to be influenced by Thrud''s propaganda.

    "To them, she is no hero, just an invader. The problem is that they know that the Kingdom is giving priority to recapturing cities that provide crops. If we waste days waiting, the citizens of Mandia will give up on rebelling if not switch sides entirely.

    "If I get in now, the moment they realize that the Kingdom hasn''t abandoned them and is fighting for them, they will join our forces. No matter how powerful Thrud''s soldiers are, they can''t win against an entire city.

    "Even if they did, the ughter of so many innocents would destroy all of her efforts to build herself a reputation as a hero. The next cities she conquers would fight even harder and those already under her rule would likely revolt.

    "If my n seeds, the citizens will open the city gates for you without even the need to bust them open."

    "I see your points, but are you sure you can make it?" Peonia asked.

    "I am." Lith nodded. "There''s only one thing that I need to know before starting the mission. What''s the allowed casualty rate?"

    "Are you nning to kill innocents?" Morn said, pretending to be outraged and making Lith sound like a cold-blooded monster. "The Kingdom hasn''t waged a full-scale war exactly to protect its citizens yet you think yourself better. Or should I say worse?"

    "I''m going to enter enemy territory and if I get spotted, I don''t have the time to check the loyalty of everyone I meet before letting them go." Lith replied. "One wrong move and the rm will sound, making the mission much harder and causing many more deaths.

    "So, yes. I''m nning to kill innocents, just like you do."

    "I''ve been a General for over twenty years and not once have I given such amand. Just because you are a murderer don''t assume that everyone is. I''ve never hurtmoners, never." Morn replied.

    "I may be a murderer, but what''s a soldier during a war if not a contract killer that doesn''t even get paid fairly? Generals like you point their fat fingers at a target and people like me dirty their hands.

    "Are you telling me that no one died during the recapture of the cities under yourmand?" Lith asked, yet he didn''t wait for the answer. "Of course they died, but remember that while each soldier carries their own body count, you should be supposed to carry them all.

    "You are our contractor. We kill people per your request. The blood of every single person that dies on a mission is also on your hands. If you know some bullshit spell that can paralyze or put to sleep a whole city, use it.

    "Otherwise get off your high horse and let me do my job." Lith spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

    While he waited for Peonia''s answer, the air filled with murmurs the moment that silence befell themand center. The soldiers looked at Morn with spite, hissing poisonous words at his back.

    He had attacked Lith personally to belittle him and his achievements, in the hope that the rest of the army would ostracize him, lowering the chance of sess of the mission. Without trust, the army couldn''t work properly.

    Yet Lith had spoken not as a noble Archmage, but as a soldier, reminding everyone of the burden that officials were supposed to carry instead of shoving it on their subordinates.

    Morn had ended up calling them all cold-blooded murderers, alienating their favor and sounding like a hypocrite.

 Chapter 1795 - Soldier Magus (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1795 - Soldier Magus (Part 1)</h4>

    <i>''Damn it, Peonia will surely spread this story among the Royal Court and the soldiers through their ranks. If this mission seeds, my reputation will be in the gutter by daylight. I''d better keep my mouth shut from now on.''</i> General Morn thought.

    "There''s no eptable casualty rate yet I permit you to kill anyone in Mandia that you consider a threat to the mission." Peonia said a few seconds after Lith''s words had died out, making the murmurs turn into shocked gasps.

    "Even if you kill hundreds, we''ll save thousands and the food supplies of Mandia will save thousands more." She looked at Lith, but she was actually talking to everyone. "Whether the mission seeds or fails, I''ll take responsibility for their deaths andpensate their families. The Crown will not hold you responsible, Major Verhen."

    "That''s how a true leader speaks." A female soldier of an elite infiltration unit said. "It''s too easy to hog the glory and avoid the responsibilities like Generals do."

    "I guess they see us as nothing but wooden pawns on their pretty little maps. Once they are done with a mission, they put us in a box and forget about our existence." A male soldier said while spitting on the ground in disgust, careful to avoid looking at the General.

    Morn fumed with rage as suchments became widespread and louder, but there was nothing he could say. That was Peonia''s unit and if the mission seeded, it would belong to her forever, outside of his area of influence.

    "Good." Lith nodded. "I''m on my way then."

    "Are you sure you don''t want help? Lieutenant Grenner here is one of our best spies." The Princess pointed at the female soldier who had spoken earlier.

    "I''m sure. I don''t doubt your skills, Lieutenant, but believe me when I say that not even you can keep up with me." Lith replied.

    "Really?" Morn scoffed, incapable of following his own advice now that Verhen had served such an opportunity to him on a silver tter. "These people have served longer than two measly years and trained their whole life, shedding tears, sweat, and blood.

    "Do you really think that a blue robe makes you better than them? Your pride will be your downfall."

    "You are right, General Morn. Talk is cheap so I have only three words for anyone who wants to take part in the mission. Follow my lead." Lith waved his hand, conjuring a powerful gust of wind that scattered the leaves on the ground and sent them flying toward Mandia.

    The natural wind carried them high and forward in the night sky above the city. Then, Lith took a short run before taking flight. No one understood his intentions until he entered the air sealing arrays of the city and started to fall.

    His foot touched one of the flying leaves and he activated gravity fusion, jumping toward another. His mass couldn''t be altered by gravity, but Lith could always alter its direction with magic, giving the impression to be weightless.

    "Good gods." Lieutenant Grenner said in awe. "I thought that stuff like that happened only in the legends."

    "I guess that Archmages are just built different from the rest of us." A Sergeant said while Lith moved above and past the city walls unnoticed, carried by the wind along with the leaves.

    "Not an Archmage." Peonia said. "A Magus. And a Soldier Magus to be precise. He isn''t sittingfortably on the backline. He''s fighting on the frontline so that we have a higher chance to go back home alive."

    The members of her unit looked at the Princess with a puzzled look before understanding her words and spreading her message. The words Soldier Magus spread like wildfire through the camp, making Morn regret to have not bitten off his own tongue.

    Lith kept using gravity fusion to move only until he reached a guard tower that shielded him from the vision of both enemies and allies. Then, he Spirit Warped as far as his eye could see, going from the outer rim to the middle rim of the city in a split second.

    <i>''Thrud uses Awakened forces and the presence of witnesses would only increase the body count. I need to be alone to perform at my best.''</i> He thought as he closed in to the City Hall.

    <i>''Was the question about the casualty rates really necessary?''</i> Solus asked.

    <i>''Solus, I can''t leave loose ends. One witness is all that it takes for everyone to know that I''m Tiamat and an Awakened. At that point, I''d be no different from Thrud''s Awakened Beasts for them.''</i> Lith replied.

    She sighed but said nothing, findingfort in the weight of Thundercrash that was strapped on his back and War which hung at his side. They could use the pocket dimension despite the dimensional sealing arrays, but it would consume his life force.

    Lith didn''t bother looking at Mandia''s elegant buildings, the numerous artworks that decorated even the zas of themoners'' district, or the blooming parks. He Warped from one vantage point to the next as soon as Life Vision and mana sense confirmed that the coast was clear.

    Once he reached the City Hall, he used Invigoration to recover his strength while looking for an entry point.

    <i>''Getting here was the easy part.''</i> Solus said. <i>''Once inside the building, walls will cover our line of sight and dimensional magic won''t help us escape if things go badly. Stealth is the key.''</i>

    Lith nodded and used the Eyes of Menadion to check inside the City Hall before Warping. He could take the dimensional coordinates from a window, but he needed the artifact to make sure that he wouldn''t pop in front of the guards.

    The City Hall was built on a small hill isted from the rest of the city. Life Vision had only a limited range and there was no way to get close enough to use the spell without getting spotted.

    Luckily for him, the Eyes could do everything that Life Vision did and so much more at a much greater distance. Lith chose an empty corridor where the guards had just passed, buying himself the time that he needed to understand his position from the map stored in Soluspedia.

    <i>''Why did you pick the third floor?''</i> Solus asked. <i>''The Warp Gate is on the ground level. This way we have to move a lot more and take more risks.''</i>

    <i>''Because the Warp Gate is disconnected from its power source to keep the Royal Override from opening it against Thrud''s will.''</i> Lith replied. <i>''I''m no engineer and I''m alone.</i>

    <i>''Fixing the Gate will take longer than the time between patrols and once I set the mana cables back into ce, even if I hide, the guards will notice them. I need to cull their numbers and create a diversion.</i>

    <i>''I''m strong, but I can''t take on dozens of Awakened Emperor Beasts by myself.''</i>

    Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, gaining its affinity toward darkness. He moved through the three floors of the City Hall, counting the guards and assessing their dangerousness thanks to Solus'' mana sense.

    The corridors were empty and there were only a few ces where the lights cast a shadow deep enough to hide.. Lith hid his smell, stretching the darkness enough to cover him but not so much that it looked unnatural.

 Chapter 1796 - Soldier Magus (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1796 - Soldier Magus (Part 2)</h4>

    He was pleased to discover that most people were regr humans and only a few guards were actually shapeshifted Awakened. The map that Peonia had given him was urate and moving something as big as a Gate in a single day was impossible.

    Lith found the Gate easily and then assessed the quickest path from his starting point to his destination. Solus had no idea why he had left the ground floor without even touching the dimensional device, but she knew that Lith was slyer and more ruthless than her.

    If he hadn''t shared his n with her it was probably because she wouldn''t like it.

    Lith returned to the third floor and much to her surprise, he allowed the guards to spot him. Under the magical lights of the City Hall, the tall figure d in the ck Voidwalker armor and with a crimson sheathe hung to his hip stuck out like a sore thumb.

    The helm made from Syrook''s skull covered the Tiamat''s horns with its own, making Lith''s figure look nothing more than a creepy intruder.

    "There''s someone on the third floor!" The human guards shouted in their amulets, yet Lith stood still despite Solus'' growing confusion.

    <i>''Didn''t we say that stealth is of the essence?''</i> She asked.

    <i>''I consider misdirection and deception stealth as well.''</i> He replied.

    Once the first Emperor Beast entered the range of Solus'' mana sense, Lith unsheathed War with his right hand while his left rose, and with it a thick ck fog that filled the corridors.

    The Tiamat was busy taking deep breaths, leaving to the angry de the task to issue the challenge.

    "Come, little mice. Make me feel it. Make me feel alive again!" War''s seals andtches clicked furiously, forming intelligible words thatcked humanity.

    The guards faltered for a second before resuming their advance. The Emperor Beast took point and turned her hands into massive ws that, unlike the bastard sword, wouldn''t get stuck in the walls.

    She shed at the unmoving figure, using Life Vision to anticipate a Spirit Blink and impale him the moment he came out of the exit point if he tried to dodge that way. Her ten centimeters (4") long ws pierced easily through flesh and armor alike.

    Too easily.

    The construct that looked like Lith shattered upon impact and War pierced through her back until its hilt touched her armor.

    "How-" Her words died in her mouth when she realized that the cover of the ck fog had been a trap all along.

    The darkness element had hidden Lith''s spell from Life Vision when he had the hard-light construct rece him. It also had covered both the exit and entry point of his Spirit Blink.

    With herst breath, she could see the dimensional door hidden among the swirling shadows, just like Ka had taught him. Then, her body fell apart and the Unwavering Loyalty array dragged her back to the Golden Griffon along with her equipment.

    The soldiers attacked Lith from every side with perfect teamwork. Their enchanted weapons aimed at his vitals while their wands shot spells that sealed his escape route. The problem with that tactic was that Lith wasn''t trying to escape.

    Their weapons hit only smoke as he Blinked from one point to another, delivering a lethal sh each time he moved. Be they regr humans or Awakened, they all fell like ripe wheat when cut by War''s edge.

    "It''s a ghost!" A soldier said in his amulet when his target turned out to be just ck fog shaped like the Tiamat.

    Lith didn''t reply, simplying out from a puff of smoke and killing him. The corridors were now empty, but more guards and several more Awakened wereing his way.

    <i>''I don''t get it. These people were simply doing their jobs. Why did you do that?''</i> Solus asked, baffled by the senseless ughter.

    <i>''Phase one isplete. Time for phase two.''</i> He replied, Warping straight to his real destination.

    Only then did Solus understand what had happened. The elite units arrived on the scene, finding plenty of blood but no corpses or sign of the intruder.

    "What the heck is going on here and what''s this nonsense about a ghost?" Another Emperor Beast asked.

    One of the soldiers that Lith had in just a few seconds ago turned around, revealing to be a Demon of the Fallen. The Emperor Beast froze at the sight of her five eyes long enough for her ws to pierce through his neck.

    The rest of his unit was quickly forced into a fight to the death while more reinforcements arrived. Yet the darkness that filled the corridor made it impossible for them to see the Demons of the Fallen ughtering the neers and increasing their numbers.

    <i>''Misdirection.''</i> Lith said.<i> ''Everyone is going in the wrong direction, giving me the opportunity to reach my real objective. Even if I reattach the mana cables to the Gate, it will be all for naught unless I turn on the power.</i>

    <i>''The controls are in the City Lord''s office and for that reason, the room is bound to be heavily patrolled. Now, however, the guards have to worry about what''s happening on the opposite side of the building.''</i>

    <i>''You created the fog to hide your spells from Life Vision and let the guards call for reinforcements just to have fodder for your Demons.''</i> Solus said in horror.

    <i>''Exactly. I charged each one of them with enough energy to increase their numbers and still be a force to be reckoned with. On top of that, the ck fog will both nurture them and hide their spells as well.''</i> Lith said.

    When he reached the City Lord''s office, only two soldiers stood guard at the door while the rest of the forces were busy dealing with the intruders. The corridor was long and empty, with no space where even a skilled Ranger could hide.

    Thanks to the elemental sealing arrays, even a regr human would have the time to spot an enemy from the distance and sound the rm.

    <i>''Regr red cores and life force, but there''s no way to know if they are Skinw-''</i> Their necks broke without emitting a sound thanks to the Hush zone around Lith''s hands.

    He had opened the exit point of his Warp Steps from the ceiling and used gravity fusion to stand on it. He lowered the guards to the floor slowly so that their armor and weapon didn''t clink.

    <i>''I can''t afford to take risks.''</i> Lith replied while using Invigoration once again to make up for the lost mana.<i> ''Who''s inside?''</i>

    He wore the Eyes of Menadion, scanning the room from behind the door and collecting information about everyone present.

    <i>''Four bright blue Awakened and a few unknown humans. Again, they may be Skinwalkers. Let''s hear them out.''</i> Solus said.

    "You lied to us, human." A bestial voice said, sounding like growls that somehow formed words. "The pact was that we would keep you alive and let your citizens live in peace in exchange for yourpliance."

    "I didn''t lie to you, it really does take a few weeks to relocate the Gate. If it''s not dismantled properly, the Gate will lose its enchantments and turn into a bunch of useless stones.

    "Disconnecting it from the power source makes our work even harder.." A male voice replied in so much fear that Lith could almost smell the piss.

 Chapter 1797 - Conflicting Bloodlines (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1797 - Conflicting Bloodlines (Part 1)</h4>

    "Really? So it''s just a coincidence that someone infiltrated the City Hall despite the protective arrays that only you can control." The bestial voice snarled. "I don''t care what the Queen says, I''ll have you all eaten by a Skinwalker, just to be safe."

    A few voices from the inside pleaded mercy while some swore eternal allegiance to Thrud. Others reminded their tormenter of the help they had provided to the invading army in taking Mandia and a few mentioned how they were under the protection of the Undead Courts.

    "These weaklings wouldn''t dare to betray us, Dhenma." A silvery feminine voice said. "What if it''s the Corpse? Those fake Awakened could have easily gotten here with Spirit Magic."

    "Unlikely." The snarl turned into a male voice. "They don''t have breathing techniques. They might easily get inside the city, but they know that they would quickly run out of mana if they rely on Spirit Magic alone.

    "Besides, ording to our intel, they have been assigned to protect major cities like Belius. Even if the Royals did send them here, they would never let themselves be discovered by amateurs. This is clearly an inside job."

    "Wrong." Lith said, slowly walking through the door while a barrage of tier one Spirit Spell killed the Thralls of the Courts and all those who had admitted to having betrayed the Kingdom.

    Even a wannabe Ghoul would die if their head was removed while they were still human.

    Everyone turned toward the intruder, using Life Vision to understand his identity.

    "I don''t know nor care if your oath of allegiance to Thrud is real or not. By aiding this scum you''ve be traitors and have only three paths ahead of you." Lith said to the humans, ignoring the three Emperor Beasts and the Fae.

    "One, stay here and die. Two, get out of here and die anyway the moment this battle is over. Three, get out of here and start fixing the mana cables of the Gate for me."

    Thrud''s soldiers saw Lith''s yellow core and powerful human life force, knowing that he had to be wearing a cloaking device. No one with a sword as powerful as War could be that weak.

    The one called Dhenma grabbed a richly dressed man by the throat, forcing him to activate the protective arrays of the City Hall against the intruder. The blocks of stone thatprised the walls and the floor bolted toward Lith, apanied by a hail of fire and lightning.

    A moment before they struck, he revealed the golden seal in his palm and the arrays froze in time.

    The Royal Override controlled both the Warp Gate and anything that carried the energy signature of the Royal Forgemasters, sending the blocks back to their ce no matter how many times Dhenma squeezed the City Lord''s neck.

    He threw away the useless noble and jumped at the intruder as his body swelled into a ck striped golden mass of feathers and fur that could only belong to a Sphinx, a lesser Griffon.

    The man called Dhenma shapeshifted so quickly that his movements were just a blur as he jumped at Lith''s throat with his Adamant coated ws. Despite the limited space of the room, thepressed form of the Sphinx still carried the same mass of a Scorpicore.

    The seven-colored feathers on his wings revealed his talent for Domination which was still untapped due to theck of a teacher. Dhenma, however, had been treated with Thrud''s ambrosia and had ess to far more simple bloodline abilities.

    The silver lightning of Life Maelstrom coursed through his body, enhancing both his physical and magical prowess. Yet he was still a Sphinx weighing half a ton while Lith was a Tiamat who weighed several tons.

    When Lith punched Dhenma with a left hook, he couldn''t dodge while in mid-air and the impact burst his defenseless head like a grape, sending him mming against the wall.

    "If you take path number three, I''ll let the Kingdom deal with you as a sign of gratitude." Lith continued to talk as if he had just swatted a mosquito "You have until I count to three to make up your mind."

    The people that Solus recognized from Peonia''s files as the City Lord and a few members of the Association bolted through the door before he could say "one".

    Thrud''s soldiers let them go, preferring to keep their eyes glued on the neer and prevent him from finishing off theirpanion. Dhenma was still alive, but barely. If not for his Adamant armor and the powerful boost of Life Maelstrom, he would have died on the spot.

    <i>''He''s not just wearing a cloaking device, he is also a very heavy Emperor Beast, if not a Divine Beast. Be careful.''</i> The woman shapeshifted into a lesser Garuda who had received ambrosia and gained Life Maelstrom as well.

    Instead of rushing forward, she used the silver bolts of lightning to boost herself and her remaining allies. Thanks to her bloodline ability, their cores now burst with bright blue light with several shades of violet, and their equipment''s magical powers and physical resistance now bordered on Davross''.

    <i>''I''ll try to keep him busy. Dhenma, you step back and go call reinforcements at the first opening you get.''</i> The woman, Ienta, was a Harpy, but she kept her human appearance to both not appear threatening and retain her charms.

    With her ming red hair, emerald eyes, and her and soft curves, she was no less beautiful than Tista.

    "I don''t know who you are nor how the fake King roped you into this war, but know that he has no chance of victory. You seem like a mighty warrior and our Queen will wee you with open arms.

    "Stop this madness now, join our cause, and I can promise you that you''ll be properly rewarded for your services whereas the fake King will toss you away the moment you outlive your usefulness.

    "Beasts like us should stick together. You can''t trust humans." Ienta said.

    "On another day, on another time I would have dly epted." Lith snarled. "My loyalty to the Kingdom has always been shaky at best, but I much prefer working for the Royals that for a Queen mad enough to join the Undead King.

    "Thrud should''ve made me an offer before my brother killed my friends and threatened my family!" Now that there were no witnesses, he shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, unfolding his wings as the Voidwalker armor now resembled him rather than Syrook.

    A deep violet aura burst from his body while every shadow in the room came to life, slithering and hissing like an angry beast.

    <i>''Shit, that''s Verhen! I don''t know what a Tiamat is but we can''t risk facing an unknown Diving Beast. Dhenma, go! I''ll cover for you.''</i> Ienta said while she and her associates turned into their bestial form.

    The Harpy had the chest and face of a woman and the rest of the body of a humanoid bird, and wielded twin maces in her hands.. The suit of Adamant armor she wore didn''t hinder her movements nor that of the feathered wings on her back, allowing her to fly with the grace of a butterfly even in the restricted space of the room.

 Chapter 1798 - Conflicting Bloodlines (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1798 - Conflicting Bloodlines (Part 2)</h4>

    In her full form, the creature would have been over four meters (13''2") tall but she was forced to keep her human proportions to not hit the walls and ceiling with every one of her movements.

    "You may be heavier, but I bet you''re not trained to fly in a small space like this whereas I am. There are four of us and you are alone. Don''t be foolish." Ienta flew around the Tiamat with an irregr pattern.

    She made the long Adamant des that covered her talons clink rhythmically to draw Lith''s attention while Dhenma opened a Warp Steps.

    Lith watched their preparation with an amused look in all of his seven eyes.

    "Alone?" He cackled, his voice slowly rising in intensity until it became a burst of maniacalughter. "I''m never alone!"

    War screamed as it broke free from the blood fetters of its scabbard and jumped into his right hand. A wisp of light emerged from his gauntlet, taking the form of a petite woman wielding a hammer in her right hand and a staff in her left.

    In contrast with the woman born from light, Lith''s shadow rose from the ground, taking the form of a six-eyed demon who conjured a de from a burst of emerald mes. The previous Warp Steps had consumed very little of Lith''s strength.

    He had used Invigoration right before entering the room because he had poured all the mana he had left into Locrias'' plume. The ex-captain of the Queen''s Corps now possessed a power simr to a living Demon.

    On top of that, during thosest few months, Lith had prepared for him the best replica he could craft of the equipment that Locrias used to wield in the Corps, restoring his full battle prowess.

    The woman of light was indeed the weakest of the three, but her weapons shone like stars that sent shivers down the spines of Thrud''s Awakened.

    "Attack!" Ienta roared, directing the Treant and the Roc behind her, both in their humanoid form, to take care of one opponent each.

    Dhenma didn''t miss the opening and activated a Warp Steps leading him to the barracks where the rest of the Emperor Beasts were. Yet the moment he crossed the dimensional threshold, a simple spark from Lith''s emerald eye made it copse.

    The Steps turned into a guillotine, severing the Sphinx''s body diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip, killing him on the spot. This time Lith was ready for the corpse returning to the Golden Griffon and stored Dhenma''s equipment inside his pocket dimension before it could disappear.

    "Domination! They can use Domination! Don''t cast any spell below tier five!" Ienta said while she managed to block War''s overhead sh by crossing her maces.

    <i>''That''s why you wanted toe alone!''</i> Solus said, finally understanding Lith''s strategy.

    Without witnesses, he had no need to hide his strength and could finally vent all the pent-up anger since he had discovered that Orpal was the copycat.

    The Tiamat roared, exploiting his superior strength and mass to push the Harpy back. Life Maelstrom made up for most of the gap in their physical prowess, but it wasn''t enough. Also, flying around gave her better mobility but no footing.

    Ienta pped her wings furiously, generating a wind that kept her from crashing against the back wall and conjured countless wind des that nged against the Voidwalker armor.

    The sh of magic against scales produced silvery sparks but dealt the Tiamat no damage. Even though they were coated in Orichalcum, the weakest of the magical metals, they were still Dragon scales.

    Lith used the space he had gained to take a deep breath and unleash a jet stream of Void mes. ck light seeped out of his body, moving from his mouth to his heart as he breathed in and then from his lungs to his mouth when he exhaled.

    Unlike Origin mes, Void mes were densely packed and as quick as a bullet, resembling more a ckser than a burst of fire.

    Ienta was still out of bnce and took the blow in full. The violence of the impact made her lose control of her flight as the ck mes and the silver lightning fought each other.

    The primordial forces of life and death battled to a standstill and then just canceled each other, much to the surprise of their respective owners.

    "What the fuck?" The Harpy and the Tiamat said in unison.

    Ienta had suffered no damage from the Void mes, but the Life Maelstrom that had coursed through her body and equipment until a second ago waspletely gone.

    <i>''If Lith goes all out, then so can I.''</i> Solus thought. <i>''I really want to see what the Fury can do now that it has been upgraded. Sure, it would be much more interesting if I ever saw the old Fury in action.''</i>

    She threw the weapon, activating what once had been the Hammerfall enchantment now evolved ording to the principles of modern magic into the Furies'' Flight. The Fury split into three hammers that in turn split into three again.

    Menadion had given her artifacts the ability to be used by others to more easily teach her apprentices, but the Fury''s ability to split wasbat oriented. The fact that its copies allowed others to work with her had been nothing but a happy and unexpected side effect.

    Each one of the nine hammers absorbed the surrounding world energy through the white crystals on their surface, working in unison to produce a powerful gravity field that gave the small heads of Davross the kic energy of a meteor.

    The first Fury struck the Treant with such force that, even though the Fae weighed over five tons, he was lifted from the ground and a huge dent appeared on his Adamant breastte.

    The second hammer hit him square on the face, making it burst into a hail of wooden splinters. The third and the fourth smashed his arms, the fifth and the sixth his legs, while the Furies from seven to nine just pummelled at his torso.

    "By my Mom!" Solus stared in awe at the result of her attack, forgetting once again that in battle there was no time for contemtion.

    Fae had an uncanny vitality that was further boosted by the Awakening and the Life Maelstrom that empowered the Treant. His bits and pieces reassembled together as he used Invigoration from the pores of his bark to regain the lost strength.

    "Stop daydreaming, dammit!" Solus scolded herself while recalling the Fury to her hand.

    Asa the Roc stared at Locrias, cursing her bad luck in Beast-speak as the Demon slowly advanced, the longsword kept slightly upward in a guard position that left no openings.

    The Tiamat was brutal, but he was also a victim of his own hatred while the woman was clearly as green as they came. The thing in front of her, however, had the calm fury of a battle veteran and the technique of a de master.

    Locrias never raised his feet to advance, preferring to slide them forward to lever lose his footing and keep his stance stable and strong.. His upside-down wings snapped from time to time on purpose, making Asa lose focus at the noise and giving the Demon the opening he needed to advance safely.

 Chapter 1799 - 101 Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1799 - 101 mes (Part 1)</h4>

    To make matters worse, the wingtips were long ws that the Demon kept ready to sh in the case the Emperor Beast tried to attack him from the sides. The two warriors had yet to perform a single attack but the Roc was already losing.

    Asa kept retreating and Locrias kept advancing, but soon the Roc''s back would reach the wall. When that happened, the fight would end. Emperor Beasts were used to overpowering smaller opponents by exploiting their raw strength and speed.

    Yet the Demon in front of her was capable of following her every move with his six eyes and Asa''s simple attack patterns were like child''s ypared to Locrias'' swordsmanship.

    The Roc''s instinct told her that if she let the fighte down to close-quarters, she would die. The feral wings, the cruel de, the hunger that the body made of darkness exuded, everything in the Demon seemed to have been made to kill.

    <i>''If I have to die, I''d rather die fighting!''</i> Asa infused the Life Maelstrom into her own bloodline ability, Living Thunder.

    She drew in the surrounding world energy, turning her humanoid body into a silver mass of crackling energy that charged at the Demon. Locrias tried and failed to use Domination since hecked the necessary mastery to harmonize the six eyes and conjure the seventh.

    Then, he lunged with his longsword while also wing with his darkness-infused wings, but they all passed through the Roc''s body without dealing her any harm. Locrias, on the other hand, took plenty.

    The Living Thunder flowed through his armor and de, directly reaching his body. Earth fusion granted him resistance to the air element, but not immunity so it only helped him to limit the damage.

    The Demon gritted his teeth, withstanding the spasms and managing not to lose the spells he had at the ready. That was the only advantage he had left after the Roc had escaped from the corner and readied her next attack.

    Rocs belonged to the lesser Phoenixes and thanks to Thrud''s ambrosia, Asa had regained part of her legacy. She breathed a river of violet-blue Origin mes at Locrias, hoping to finish him off.

    His body was made of pure energy which made it nigh-invulnerable to physical attacks, but it also made it easy for her to gauge his strength.

    <i>''He has yet to cast spells because he knows that with every iota of mana he spends and with each bit of damage he takes, he bes weaker. That thing started stronger than me but after I hit him with the Living Lightning I evened the field.''</i> Asa thought.

    <i>''Origin mes are the bane of beings that feed off energy. If they hit, he will be even weaker and the tables will turn.''</i>

    The Roc was right and Locrias shared her same thoughts, just in a much less optimistic light.

    His rage turned into hate and the hate burst out of his chest in the form of Void mes. The sh between the two different kinds of mystical fires resulted in a powerful detonation that made the City Hall tremble and sent everyone in the room flying.

    <i>''Locrias, you damn idiot!''</i> Lith roared after losing his advantage due to the st.<i> ''That was Origin mes 101!''</i>

    <i>''Don''t be such a drama queen! There were just two of them.''</i> The Demon replied, ignoring how Earth''s college sses worked. <i>''I know that I made a dumb mistake but knowing and doing are twopletely different things.</i>

    <i>''I have yet to get used to this body''s instincts.'' </i>

    <i>''Thanks, Locrias.''</i> Solus said with a dazzling telepathic smile. <i>''It feels good not being the noob anymore.''</i>

    The Demon was about to ask what a noob was when the fight started anew. Ienta released a second volley of Life Maelstrom that restored her strength and further boosted that of her allies.

    Both Lith and Solus tried to Dominate it, but the silver bolts of lightning were too quick for them.

    The Harpy darted in front of the Tiamat, executing an x-shaped attack with her maces that forced him to raise War to protect the de, leaving him unprotected from the chin to the waist.

    Ienta smiled as she used the momentum of her failed attack to perform a somersault and use the long des covering her talons to gut him like a fish.

    Or so she thought until something blocked her legs in their tracks.

    "Got you!" Lith said as the part of the Voidwalker armor that covered his wings shapeshifted into a solid block of metal, turning the thin membranes into thick maces.

    The impact produced a silvery sound while the blunt damage numbed the Harpy''s limbs and broke her feet.

    She tried to escape, but the wings-maces turned into des that coordinated with War to block her escape route, leaving nowhere to go but back.

    Forced to move in a straight line, Ienta was once again easy prey of the Void mes. The impact sent her mming against the wall where War nailed the Harpy. The angry de''s World Mirror ability took the Life Maelstrom for itself while the Counterflow ability distorted Ienta''s mana, unleashing her own spells against her.

    The Harpy died in a burst of Adamant as her armor exploded along with her flesh, yet Lith collected every piece of it for Sark to recycle.

    "This is the good stuff." He said while experiencing for the first time the effects of Life Maelstrom that War had passed onto him.

    Meanwhile, the Treant had fully reformed and after noticing how green Solus was, he had moved the fight to close-quarters.

    <i>''Clearly that midget relied on her artifacts and her magic to survive until now.''</i> He thought. <i>''She barely has a deep blue core so she can''t cast spells with her body. If I manage to stop her from throwing that hammer again, she is as good as dead.''</i>

    That was his first andst mistake.

    The Treant''s analysis was as spot-on as his conclusions were wrong. Solus had a limited energy reserve so she resorted to the Sage Staff''s and the Fury''s abilities to extend the duration of her human form.

    On top of that, with her deep blue core, she could only cast a few tier five spells before running out of mana. Her body, instead, carried part of the mass of the tower. Each of her physical attacks was deadlier than most spells and cost her an insignificant amount of energy.

    The hapless Treant was fooled by Life Vision that mistook her tower side as a part of her artifacts and only perceived the life force that belonged to the short woman.

    The Fae attacked with a long polearm that shattered at the first strike of the Fury. The Davross forged by Menadion and purified in Sark''s mes dwarfed the Adamant of the spear like the sun does a faraway star.

    The fact that Solus weighted more than ten adult Treants didn''t help either.

    "Wow, are you stupid or what?" She asked, sounding too much like Manohar for her own liking.

    The second hit of the Fury, a backhand attack, sent him flying right into the trajectory of the Sage Staff''s ability, Elemental Gaze.. The three evil eyes and the three crystals emitted each an energy pir of their respective element.

 Chapter 1800 - 101 Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1800 - 101 mes (Part 2)</h4>

    The Treant was too stunned from the shock and the hits to Blink away, taking the six beams in full. Before he could recover, a second Furies'' Flight turned him into wood splinters again but this time Solus didn''t space out and finished him off.

    At the same time, Asa and Locrias had resumed their dance where he tried to get close without wasting precious energy while she tried to keep him at a distance and wear him out with her bloodline abilities.

    <i>''If only I could use low tiered spells.''</i> She inwardly cursed while looking at the six eyes of the Demon that shone the same way as those of the Tiamat.

    She unleashed her tier five Spirit Spell, zing Storm, the moment she bought enough time to cast it with true magic. It produced a small-sized tornado of emerald fire that would grow in size the moment it got past her allies, making it look like a funnel.

    <i>''Dammit, she''s cornering me. If I back down or dodge the spell, it will take Lith and Solus by surprise, breaking their focus. Thrud''s soldiers know how to work as a team whereas each one of us fights for themselves</i>.'' Locrias thought.

    With no other choice left, he took the zing Storm head-on. Yet he couldn''t just sacrifice himself or the Roc would escape and call for reinforcements, foiling Lith''s n.

    He breathed a third st of Void mes, hoping that this time they wouldn''t explode, and used them as a cover. Asa was too focused on putting all of her mana and Life Maelstrom into the spell to notice that the conflicting mes had just blinded her Life Vision.

    Not having her back against the wall gave her space to maneuver and Locrias the opportunity to Blink behind her. His hands grabbed her head, his wings plunged into her chest, and the talons of his feet pierced her legs.

    The Abomination Touch that the spark of Chaos inside every Demon bestowed upon them killed the Roc before Locrias'' allies could even notice the zing Storming their way.

    Or so Locrias thought until he looked ahead, discovering to have finishedst.

    "Well done." Lith reverted to his human form and opened a Warp Steps leading to the ground floor.

    "Why didn''t you help me or the girl if you were already done?" The ex-captain said in anger.

    "You said it yourself. Knowing and doing are different. You need to get used to your new body and this fight was merely a spar. These guys were green." The Tiamat replied.

    Locrias snorted in annoyance but he didn''tin further.

    Based on Lith''s knowledge of Awakened, those they had faced were the equivalent of Thrud''s foot soldiers, those tasked with keeping the cities while her elites conquered them.

    "Don''t worry. I suck as well at fighting." Solus said, jumping back into her ring to save her remaining strength.

    Her attempt to console him only made Locrias feel worse. He knew that Solus had just recovered her body and that she had rarely fought whereas he was supposed to be a seasoned warrior.

    In his Demon form, the ex-captain was much stronger than he had ever been in life and the chain that bound him to Lith also gave Locrias an exhaustive knowledge of his new abilities, yet his human mind was still at odds with his new body.

    Just like Glemos'' newly evolved Fallen species, the final result was inferior to the sum of the single parts. Instead of working together like clockwork, they shed against each other, making stupid mistakes like with the Origin mes.

    Locrias knew that there was only a cure to his condition: training. He sighed and went back into Lith''s shadow to not betray his nature of Tiamat.

    Before walking through the Step, Lith took out the Royal Override again and turned on the power line feeding the Warp Gate. Once he reached the ground floor, he found several pleasant surprises.

    Most of the guards had gone to the third floor to fight his Demons so he took a short break to use Invigoration and send them more power that would prolong the fight long enough to carry out thest part of his n.

    The Demons of Darkness spontaneously evolved into Demons of the Fallen with each person they killed, but they were no match for Thrud''s Awakened and were falling like flies. The sudden wave of darkness and Spirit Magic gave them a second wind that caught the enemies by surprise.

    All the Demons now had at least three eyes, then four, and then five as Lith kept using Invigoration to refill the energy reserves that he poured non-stop into them.

    Another surprise was that not only had the City Lord and the mages from the Association actually followed Lith''s orders, but they had also gotten themselves several helpers.

    The guards were bound to discover them during their rounds and the grunting and panting from moving around the heavy mana cables made their presence ever more obvious.

    "What the heck do you think you are doing?" The Captain of the night shift, one of Thrud''s loyalists, asked the moment he found them reassembling the Gate.

    "What do you think? We are just following orders!" The City Lord snarled. His annoyance was genuine and a life spent in the political arena had taught him quick thinking and how to twist the truth to his ends.

    "Can''t you hear the noise from the third floor? We are under attack and the new Lord of this city ordered us to fix the Gate and call for reinforcements!" It was all true down to a T, he just had glossed over the fact that Dhenma was likely to be dead and that the person he referred to as the Lord was Lith.

    The Captain took his words at face value since there was no way that such a weakling could escape Dhenma and most importantly, the standard protocol in the case of enemy attack did require to reassemble the Gate.

    He assigned to the City Lord the most skilled with magical contraptions among his followers and he left for the third floor to join the fight. Thanks to his unwitting help, by the time Lith arrived, the Gate was up and running.

    To make things even more convenient for Lith, the Captain had left behind technicians, not fighters. The Captain had recalled the rest of the guards, thinking that in a matter of minutes new waves of Thrud''s soldiers would swarm through the Gate.

    "Well, done." Lith nodded as the heads of every single person in the room that Lith didn''t know flew off, their neck cauterized on impact to not make a mess of the room.

    He couldn''t afford to have the reinforcements slip on the blood, it would prolong his mission.

    "Now it''s my turn." Lith took out the golden que bearing Meron''s imprint and the Gate activated on its own.

    A Royal Override was a one-time alchemical tool that allowed its bearer to act as the King himself, giving him absolute authority over every piece of magical technology in the Kingdom.

    Lith had no need to operate theplex controls of the Warp Gate nor to bypass the multipleyers of protection and passwords that Thrud had set.

 Chapter 1801 - Victory And Defeat (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1801 - Victory And Defeat (Part 1)</h4>

    The Royal Override bent the Warp Gate to Lith''s will, reducing it to a bigmunication amulet.

    He just had to think of Valeron city''s rune and the dimensional device locked onto its coordinates. The magical formations surrounding the Warp Gate were turned off as well, allowing the Royal Army to swarm the City Hall unimpeded.

    Royal Guards wearing the Royal Fortress armor led the charge, ughtering everyone on their path. While the army took care of the City Hall, Lith moved on to the final step of his n.

    "We havee to your rescue! Wake up, citizens of Mandia. The King is here for you! Glory to the Kingdom!" He repeated over and over, piercing the silence of the night as he moved towards the city gates.

    At first, no one believed him, thinking Lith to be just a na?ve fool that would soon be silenced. Mandia had been conquered a little more than one day ago, and no city had ever been recaptured so quickly.

    Yet the voice didn''t stop and rose in intensity instead. As the people opened their windows, they witnessed a ck-d figure. With a single spell, or a few swings of his de, he was ughtering dozens of members of the upation army.

    Then, the doors of the City Hall burst open, and orderly lines of soldiers marched out while singing the Kingdom''s anthem with King Meron''s name in it instead of Thrud''s.

    The soldiers on the walls were too far to see the scene, but the noise of the fight soon reached them along with the orders to keep the city gates closed at the cost of their lives.

    When the wind carried Lith''s voice to them, they found hope. When the wind brought them the first notes of the anthem, it gave them the courage to ignore their orders and open the gates and keep them open at the cost of their lives.

    The night sergeant cursed and sent troops of Thrud''s loyalists to stop the traitors, but Peonia had followed Lith''s instructions and kept her army just outside the line of sight of Mandia''s sentinels.

    The moment the giant double doors opened, she ordered them to charge and never stop.

    "Do you want me to take down the elemental sealing arrays?" Lith asked after notifying her of the sess of his part of the mission.

    "By the gods, yes!" The Princess replied.

    It took Lith a thought to deactivate the magical protections thanks to the Royal Override that was still linked to the City Hall and one word from Peonia to unleash a whole battalion of mages that swarmed Mandia from every direction.

    Thrud''s men found themselves surrounded by the King''s army that attacked from the inside, the Princess'' that attacked from the outside, and the citizens that rose to arms, doing whatever they could to help their saviors.

    In less than one hour, the battle for Mandia was won. All of Thrud''s loyalists and the traitors among the citizens had been reported and either captured or killed. The gs inside the city changed for the second time in less than two days, yet this time the event was weed with joy instead of fear.

    The Princess and her ck knight marched in triumph from the recaptured gates to the City Hall, where her father, King Meron himself, waited for them.

    The cheers and cries of joy that apanied them the entire way were deafening. Countless more or less fresh flowers were thrown their way, covering their path in petals.

    "Well done, Princess." Meron gave her a bow, something most rare.

    "I''m sorry for letting you down. I''m a terrible King, but I hope you will find the strength to forgive me." The King kneeled to his convened subjects, something that hadn''t happened even in the legends.

    The citizens of Mandia fell to their knees as well, their foreheads touching the ground out of respect for the King and for the honor he had bestowed upon them.

    "Thanks, father." Princess Peonia helped him to stand up. "But I couldn''t have made it without Archmage Verhen, the Soldier Magus."

    Lith took off his helm, revealing his identity. The people of Mandia were still stunned at the revtion whereas the members of the army immediately burst in cheers. Official title or not, it was the first Magus belonging to their ranks.

    "Thank you, Archmage Verhen." The King''s smile twitched a bit at those words. The title of Magus was a deal bigger than any Princess and it couldn''t be given willy-nilly, not even by acmation. "I hope you''ll keep fighting on our side."

    "He sure will." Peonia exploited the moment when all eyes were on them to throw her arms at Lith''s neck and kiss him.

    That wasn''t part of the original n, but the opportunity was too good to let it slip so he kissed her back. The city walls almost trembled from the cheers while Meron smiled at the scene, promising Lith full support in front of lots of witnesses.

    Yet none of it had been his real goal.

    Seeing General Morn utterly defeated, his face a mix of green from envy and red from frustration repaid Lith of all of his efforts. Now that Peonia had had her first victory, the political influence of the annoying General would be weakened.

    With their alleged rtionship public, not even the Royal Court would dare revoke the protection that Lutia needed.

    <i>''A kiss is a small price to pay to get rid of that fool.''</i> Lith thought. <i>''Between his rank in the army and his royal blood, Morn is an opponent that I can''t underestimate. He already tried to get me dishonorably discharged and charged with treason.</i>

    <i>''I don''t think that he''s stupid enough to seek Thrud''s or Orpal''s help, but with the Kingdom sieged, an unreliable ally is much worse than an open enemy.''</i>

    <i>''Dammit! I wish I could side with Thrud, but she would kill me the moment I outlive my usefulness. Orpal is not an option either. He''s as insane as Night and too unpredictable.''</i> Morn thought.

    <i>''Well yed my niece. You and your boyfriend won this battle, but the war is far from over.</i>

    <i>''One mistake is all I need to turn the tides and get rid of both of you. After that, I''ll force Meron to abdicate the throne and I''ll be the regent until a new King emerges from the trial. If Tyris doesn''t ept me, then I''ll have to force her hand.''</i>

    ***

    Council of Awakened, right after Vastor''s marriage.

    The war of the Griffons had caught the Council unprepared. They knew about Thrud''s ns to take over the Griffon Kingdom and they wanted payback for the dozens of apprentices that she had killed for her experiments in Lightkeep.

    Yet the most powerful and ancient creatures of the Garlen continent had failed to grasp the power and resources that the Mad Queen had gathered during the past few years thanks to her schemes.

    The Council representatives had intended to abuse their superior expertise and numbers to assassinate Thrud as soon as she became exposed. It wasn''t the first time that the Awakenedmunity had to deal with a troublesome leader.

    Usually, all it took them to get rid of a pest was a Spirit Spell shot from a distance in a city where the arrays sealed regr magic.

 Chapter 1802 - Victory And Defeat (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1802 - Victory And Defeat (Part 2)</h4>

    The ruler felt confident, came out in the open, and then they died in an "ident" or from a sudden "stroke".

    The Council''s philosophy had always been to achieve the maximum result with the minimum involvement, in order to protect the secret of Awakening and itsmunity.

    This time, however, their usual approach had failed. Their tactics had managed to slow Thrud''s advance but that was it. Sooner orter, she would conquer the entire Kingdom and then it would be toote to stop her.

    Awakened were creatures of great longevity that counted time in decades and weren''t used to being in a rush. It was the reason the Council had summoned all of its members, no matter their seniority or power, in hope to find a solution to their problem.

    "I want to thank you all for being here." Raagu Drerian, the human representative of the Council said. "Before starting the meeting, I need to update you about the current state of the war and what the Council has already tried."

    The Council Chamber was usually the size of a courtroom, but to amodate so many people it had been erged with dimensional magic to the size of a stadium. Seeing so many Awakened filling the bleachers would have been a terrifying view for a regr person.

    It worried even the representatives since those present were all the Awakened of the Garlen continent. In their eyes, there were too few of them and there was no time to grow their numbers.

    "As soon as Baba Yaga informed us of Thrud''s ns to destroy the Council, we sent our elders to stop her troops from invading the Kingdom''s metropolises. Sadly, very few seeded in their mission."

    Raagu stood under a magical spotlight, her thin frame making her look taller than her normal1.6 meters (5''3") height. Her stern expression and weathered face gave her an old appearance for an Awakened, like that of a woman in herte fifties.

    She could have shapeshifted or just rejuvenated herself to look younger, but after living for six hundred years she didn''t care much about appearances.

    "We had no idea where Thrud would deploy her troops so we had to dispatch the Council''s elders and Regional Lords where the most important assets of the Kingdom are located.

    "Most of them met the undead, but only a few actually found themselves in one of the cities targeted by the Mad Queen and faced her army. Of those few, barely a half seeded.

    "They were unprepared to face units of Awakened equipped with Adamant and capable of using Spirit Magic. Each of our elders is a very strong individual, but they are still one person.

    "Our enemy used teamwork to make up for their inferior mana cores and experience. Due to Invigoration, they needed to buy each other the time of one breath to recover from most injuries.

    "Only the elders who managed to protect the Warp Gate seeded. The moment Thrud''s army seized control of the dimensional portal, her troops swarmed in and the battle was lost. Those who stubbornly stayed behind instead of retreating died."

    She pointed at several empty seats and sadness smoothed her expression, emphasizing her delicate features. The grey that streaked her long ck hair along with the silver and orange made her look like a grieving mother.

    "Now that Thrud''s n has be evident, we have dispatched more elders to protect the key assets of each region, but that will just buy us some time. The Mad Queen can make endless attempts and she needs only to seed once to take control of a city.

    "Killing Thrud in a direct confrontation proved to be foolish as well. She not only has somehow turned herself into a pureblood Griffon, but she has also achieved the white core.

    "On top of that, her equipment is far more powerful than anything that we Council representatives have ever faced. We survived only thanks to our skill and a bit of luck." Raagu exposed her slender arm where a huge burn had yet to heal.

    A testament to the power of the Mad Queen.

    One of the young Awakened on the bleachers raised his hand and received permission to talk.

    "I think we can be more optimistic. Even the elders who failed still achieved a partial sess. Every rogue Awakened they killed has greatly weakened Thrud''s army. Reaching a powerful core takes time that both we and she don''t have."

    "You would be right, if not for the Golden Griffon and its forbidden array." The giant oak tree that actually was Lotho the Treant spoke. His cracked bark spilled sap instead of blood and several branches on his body had been broken.

    "Every Awakened we killed didn''t die, they just returned to the Golden Griffon''s core where they have beenpletely regenerated in the space of a few days. We suffered losses, Thrud barely a setback."

    Murmurs of fear and panic spread through the arena as young and old Awakened tried to find a way to deal with a truly immortal enemy.

    "Thrud may be a white core, but it must be recent. She can''t have mastered its powers and even if she''s now a Divine Beast, we can still take her down by attacking her together." An elder said after raising her hand.

    "Indeed." Fe the Behemoth nodded, making the long tress her hair was arranged into bounce off her bosom and slid off her soft hips.

    "The problem is that she knows it as well. During the first night of war, she caught us unprepared, but after discovering her true prowess, we had arranged several countermeasures.

    "Yet we never had the asion to use them because from that night onward Thrud never moves alone and she always brings the Golden Griffon along. The lost academy is an impregnable fortress we don''t dare enter.

    "If any of us gets captured and falls under its arrays, the Mad Queen would seize the most prized secrets of our bloodlines and add them to her arsenal. To make matters worse, the academy provides her with an endless stream of soldiers who have no reason to fear death.

    "Until we don''t draw her away from the Golden Griffon or find a way to destroy it, Thrud is out of our reach." Fe looked around the arena, to make sure that her younger peers understood the gravity of their situation.

    She was the exact opposite of Raagu. Tall, shapely, and young. The Behemoth usually adopted an older appearance tomand respect, but in times of war she needed her body to be in its prime.

    "Let me get this straight." Another elder said in a distraught voice. "Thrud has the equivalent of an entire army of Awakened Liches who share one huge and indestructible phctery.

    "Also, she''s a white-cored Divine Beast. Am I forgetting something?"

    "Yes. You forgot about her old but still powerful Guardian Tier equipment." Inxialot the Lich King said, making the entire room groan in desperation.

    For once, the undead representative was invested in the matter. Losing to Thrud also meant losing the resources that the Council had assigned to him so Inxialot was the one who had tried and failed the most to kill her.

    Yet the only thing more disconcerting than hisck of tact was his odd choice of clothes.

 Chapter 1803 - Time For A Change (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1803 - Time For A Change (Part 1)</h4>

    Inxialot''s usual ragged mage robe was reced by a colorful feathery dress and his body was back to its human appearance. Raagu thought it was his way to lighten the mood and appreciated his silly appearance and random movements.

    Only Leegaain knew the truth. The Lich King was performing the mating ritual of the extinct crystal peacock. He hadpletely forgotten how to court a woman and he believed to be making his move on Raagu.

    "Shouldn''t we just ask Tyris to intervene and leave the Kingdom in the case she refuses?" The elder said and many nodded in agreement.

    "We called you here to receive your input, not to give up on our ancestral home." Raagu said with a snarl. "Does anyone have something useful to say?"

    "I have." Athung Soranot, Raagu''s ex-apprentice and Regional Lord of the Distar Marquisate said. "I admit that our situation is dire, but it''s far from hopeless. The Council holds millennia-old legacies and artifacts of untold power.

    "Even though our enemy is nigh-immortal, our collective power is dozens of times greater, but only if we really pool our resources together. If we fight Thrud as individuals, we are doomed to fail.

    "If we fight her like a real army, instead, we can drive her forces out of the cities. Once Thrud and her Awakened are amassed in the Golden Griffon, we just have to destroy it to kill them and her in one fell swoop."

    "Your words are not without merit." Raagu nodded in agreement with her prot¨¦g¨¦. "But how do you n to put them into practice?"

    "The elders and the representatives of the Council will keep following the old n, lulling Thrud into a false sense of security and buying us time. The main force of the Awakened, instead, will immediately start a boot camp.

    "They don''t need to share everything of their respective legacies, just enough to allow their team members to know the full scope of their abilities andplement them with their own.

    "Every one of us knows how to fight and is an aplished spellcaster, but to beat an army of Awakened, we must be one a well. We must learn strategy, teamwork, and build bonds of trust." Athung said.

    "All in favor?" Fe asked while raising her hand.

    The beasts followed her lead as one just like the members of the other races followed their respective representatives.

    "It''s unanimous then. Now, to appoint an instructor-"

    "With all due respect, how many of you have led troops?" The youthful voice that had cut the Behemoth off belonged to Phloria Ernas, who had been sitting quietly beside Athung until that moment.

    The representatives red at her for a few seconds before raising their hands along with several other members of the Council in reply.

    "I mean in thest century." All hands came down. "No offense, but military tactics and strategies have evolved just like magic. I''m certain that most of you kept themselves updated, but theory and practice rarely match on the battlefield."

    "Exactly." Athung nodded. "That''s why I brought Awakened Ernas here. I nominate her for the role of drill sergeant and field instructor. She has been trained her whole life in the art of war and her track record as a leader is spotless."

    A wave of Athung''s hand conjured copies of Phloria''s service record. While the Kingdom considered Kh a failure, the Council considered surviving such a nightmare scenario a sess.

    "Do you have the permission of your master?" Raagu asked.

    "Yes." Phloria hated referring to Lith as if he owned her, yet she managed to keep her cool.

    "I suppose he wants something from us in return for your help. Correct?" Raagu wanted to agree with Athung''s suggestion, to boost the status of both master and apprentice.

    Yet Lith''s greed was well known and she needed to read carefully the price tag before buying anything from him.

    "Yes, but nothing outrageous." Phloria replied. "During the mission in Urgamakka, we admired your disciple in action and how skilfully Athung cast arrays. I request you to teach Awakened Warden magic to Tista Verhen."

    "Are you insane? I''m not going to share my legacy with a stranger!" Raagu replied, holding her own emerald green robe tight as if someone might try and steal it from her.

    Unlike normal enchanted items, Raagu''s clothes didn''t hold spells but arrays whose runes had been woven along with the fabric. Even Manohar''s trick with Light Mastery wasn''tparable since the robe allowed Raagu to store any kind of spell indefinitely and even to shorten their cast time.

    "Not your legacy nor your personal spells." Phloria shook her head. "Just the basics of Awakened Warden Magic that you would teach to any of your apprentices. Our groupcks a Warden and our knowledge about arrays is limited to fake magic.

    "As Athung said, if we want to win, everyone has to share. As the leader, you should set the example."

    "Fine." Raagu replied. "How long will the boot camp take?"

    "Usually it takes six months, but that only applies toplete scrubs whereas your apprentices are all trained in individualbat. Taking into ount the fact that they can recover their strength instantly with Invigoration and train non-stop for days, the boot camp willst two months at best and three at worse." Phloria said.

    "Remember to send everyone with the equipment they actually intend to use while risking their lives. It''s the only way to allow their team members to exploit each other''s strength and cover for their respective weaknesses."

    "I agree with those terms." Fe said.

    Her heart tightened at the idea of sharing even the smallest of her secrets but for the n to work they had to shed the old bad habits. The arena grumbled a lot, but in the end they agreed unanimously.

    "I have another candidate to propose." Athung said. "Phloria can be a great drill sergeant and a leader, but she''s no strategist. We need someone to n ahead and coordinate our moves as a whole.

    "I believe that Aalejah Eventide is the perfect person for the role." She waved at a tall, blonde figure with long pointed ears who stood by her side.

    "I was a Chronicler for the former World Tree and even though our connection is lost, I still hold their knowledge of the past." Her blue eyes scoured the arena as she clung to her staff to keep her knees from wobbling. "Also, I''ve still got my Yggdrasill staff."

    "What Aalejah means to say is that between her wits, knowledge, and equipment, she''s the best-suited strategist we could hope for." Athung inhaled sharply to contain the annoyance at the elf''s social awkwardness.

    Yet she couldn''t me Aalejah for that. Most Awakened still had a poor opinion of elves due to the ancient war they had waged against the humans and treated Aalejah with cold indifference at best.

    On top of that, many people coveted her staff and had tried to buy the elf from Athung. Aalejah''s body held the secret of a longevity on par with Divine Beasts and humans hoped to be simr enough to elves to replicate their bloodline abilities.

    If not for Athung''s position as the Regional Lord and Raagu''s influence, Aalejah would have long since disappeared and died on a surgical table.

 Chapter 1804 - Time For A Change (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1804 - Time For A Change (Part 2)</h4>

    "Our elders and representative can help Aalejah, of course, but they are also our most powerful warriors so they are bound to be often in the field whereas she can hold the control room on her own." Athung said.

    Elves had an ill reputation and few trusted them, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Also, once Athung vouched for Aalejah and Raagu for Athung, the matter was solved.

    "Do I have your word that Lith will craft something decent for her in exchange for the knowledge I''ll impart Tista?" Athung asked Phloria.

    Everyone knew of his deal with Sark and of the existence of the Sage Staff that he constantly improved. Athung knew many Forgemasters way more skilled than Lith, but she couldn''t afford them nor to lose the staff due to a mistake.

    "Depends on what you teach her. After all, you will keep the staff just like Tista will keep her knowledge." Phloria replied before turning to Raagu again. "One more thing. If you want to fullymit to this war, you should open a channel with the Royals.

    "If the Awakened and the Crown coordinate their efforts, your odds of sess will dramatically improve. Also, you would get the help of one of the most aplished strategists of the Kingdom. My mother, Jirni Ernas."

    That name was renowned even in the Council and several murmurs rose when it was mentioned. Not only was Jirni considered an outer member of the Gernoff bloodline, but she was also notorious to have never been bested in mind games.

    "The Royals are fake Awakened so a deal with them is reasonable. Involving a mere human, however, is out of the question." Raagu said with a spiteful gesture of her hand.

    "My mother is anything but a "mere human" and she already knows that Lith is Tiamat. She even grasped the basics abilities of Awakened while fighting against Nalear. If you allow me to fill her in the few details that she''s still missing, you''ll gain not just one invaluable ally but two." Phloria said.

    "My father is a great Forgemaster and he would do anything to help the Kingdom."

    "Please, there''s nothing a Royal Forgemaster can make that any Awakened can''t do better." Lotho said and the others nodded.

    "Really? Then why has Sark been trying to recruit him for years now? My father crafted Reaver, the de thanks to which I survived going toe to toe against Vareen and mastered a de Tier spell despite my blue core." Phloria unsheathed the estoc for everyone to see.

    "He has worked along with Manohar and Balkor, another of Sark''s prized geniuses. The only reason Reaver can''t store Spirit Spells is that my father doesn''t know of their existence.

    "If he were to learn about Awakened, forget about weapons like War, there''s no telling what he might be able to craft."

    This time her words were met with silence as the Awakened Council pondered the issue. To them, Phloria was just a child boasting about her parents, but Sark''s holding Orion in high regard couldn''t be denied.

    "She''s right." Leegaain spoke for the first time since the meeting had started. "I can vouch for Sark''s intentions and for Orion''s skills. He can make swords like Reaver and War anytime he wants.

    "Manohar''s Surgeon and his Grimlock are on par with them and, with a little help, Orion Ernas might achieve much, much more. Beware, though. Without themand of the Royals or his wife''s influence, he''d rather die than help any of us."

    The revtions of the Guardian of Knowledge sent the room into an uproar, yet Raagu needed but a wave of the hand to silence her peers.

    "We''ll postpone the decision to another time. Sharing our respective secrets with Awakened is already a huge leap of faith. Trusting non-Awakened without properly discussing the matter, however, wouldy the foundations of our own extinction."

    ***

    Ernas Household, at the same time.

    With Solus still recovering from her meeting with Bytra and the shock from her confession, the tower had be off-limits. Lith and Solus spent most of their time working in the Forge, learning how to control the abilities of the Fury.

    Their experiments required focus and quiet so they had asked Tista to find herself another ce for her training. It was the reason she had asked Quy for hospitality and Nyka for help.

    The Ernas Mansion had cutting-edge training facilities that could reshape themselves into any conceivable scenario, self-repair, and lots of cloaking arrays that made it impossible to see or hear what happened at their inside.

    It was the perfect ce for the Vampire and the Red Demon to go all-out against each other without the risk of being noticed or their techniques being stolen. Ka''s adoptive daughter wore a simple white shirt and linen pants while Tista''s clothes were a light Orichalcum sparring set.

    Even though she was an Awakened with perfect body refinement, the mass of the Red Demon was the same as Tista''s human form and her physical abilities alone couldn''tpete with the physical prowess of the undead.

    They both could use fusion magic on a simr level which was the same as not using it. But while Tista''s hits left no damage on the Vampire''s soft skin and her ws opened wounds that healed in an instant, every of Nyka''s blows cracked the Red Demon''s scales and left a dark bruise on the skin beneath.

    If not for the Orichalcum, Tista''s body would have be a collection of broken bones in the space of a few exchanges. Quy sat outside the borders of the stone ring, grumbling from time to time.

    She was tired of being the third wheel and waiting for her turn.

    Nyka dodged Tista''s ws aimed at her neck with a spin and struck at the back of her head with a roundhouse kick that sent the Red Demon sprawling on the floor.

    "Dammit!" Tista said amid pants, her eyes burning respectively with red and silver light. "I Awakened when you were still an infant. I am the second member of the Demon race and I''ve trained my ass off with Faluel as much as Lith. Then why do I keep losing to you?"

    "First, I''m an undead. I learned how to walk, count, read, write, and fight all in the same day." Nyka swept back her raven-ck hair that looked as if she had just left a hair salon instead of a fight.

    No matter how much they exercised, Vampires would never break a sweat.

    "Second, I didn''t spend my days sitting on my thumbs. While you enjoyed your peaceful life at Lutia and the Academy, I fought every day against magical beasts who wanted to kill me.

    "Then Aunt Scarlett taught me how to fight against Emperor Beasts and Uncle dion Awakened me. I may be young, but I doubt that even humans triple my age have put as much effort as I did inbat."

    "Let''s say that you are right." Tista hated to admit it, but before joining Lith in his training under Faluel, she had always fought against opponents weaker than her.

    She had never cked off but she hadn''t been forced to give her all either.. The few times that she had found herself involved in her brother''s missions, like in Othre, she had always ended up having her ass handed to her.

 Chapter 1805 - Burning Rage (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1805 - Burning Rage (Part 1)</h4>

    "Let''s say that your training is still superior to mine, Nyka. Yet I should have at least opened another eye, developed a new type of mes, or at least discovered a unique bloodline ability. Lith and I had started our training with Faluel at the same time.

    "Yet while he keeps growing stronger and stronger, I''m still a wimp!" Tista hurled a river of Origin mes created by igniting the world energy with one spark of life force from each of her beast sides and another from the human side.

    Yet the blue mes remained blue and she started to cough out of exertion. Tista had trained hard to replicate Lith''s Void mes and she had even learned how to activate individually each of her life forces, hoping to trigger a new bloodline ability.

    The only thing she had obtained was to triple the toll that the Origin mes took on her body and nothing else.

    "While he rxed in the Desert, I practiced every day against Phoenixes. They taught me all about their bloodline abilities in the hope that I shared at least a few with them, but it turned out that I have nothing inmon with Phoenixes aside from the physical appearance!"

    Tista mmed her fist against the floor in frustration as she stood up, opening huge cracks that the arrays of the training center started to repair. As her fury grew, her Dragon and Phoenix life forces started to spin around each other faster and faster.

    Their respective Origin mes reinforced each other until they burst out as one. Yet instead of traveling through her throat, the mystical fire spread throughout her body, setting every one of her scales alight.

    Tista looked at her hands in surprise as the boundary between matter and energy disappeared. She was still alive and she could still think, but she could also see through her own hands.

    She pushed them against the rock floor, discovering that they phased through, leaving only a charred mark behind.

    "Neat!" Nyka performed a series of quick jabs that hit the Red Demon''s head and chest with so much strength that the air pressure they produced was enough to split the mes open.

    The Vampire suffered no damage and neither did Tista whose ming body quickly rearranged itself back into its original shape before reverting into flesh and blood.

    "Neat my ass." Tista said amid pants. "Your hits didn''t hurt, but filling the empty spots cost me one breath of Origin mes each."

    "Buzzkill." Nyka shrugged. "We just got you a bloodline ability and the proof that your efforts weren''t for naught yet you still find something toin about.

    "I think that your development is slow because even though you and your brother learned the same techniques, Lith was the only one who put them into practice over and over, even when his life was on the line.

    "Your weakness isn''t due to ack of talent or potential butes from having had a peaceful life. I, instead, have been so lonely that fighting and magic were my only distractions when Mom disappeared in herb for her experiments.

    "Once I moved to Lightkeep, things didn''t change until Uncle dion drilled into me all the basic techniques of Awakened Vampires and taught me how to use our bloodline abilities to their full potential.

    "If not for Auntie Scar attaching the secret of the Eternal Dusk array inside the Eyes of Menadion as a parting gift for me, I wouldn''t have had a single moment of free time." The Vampire referred to Scarlett''s personal array that drained the surrounding light element, keeping Nyka from falling into aatose state during the day.

    "Uncle dion was so pissed when Mom refused to teach Eternal Dusk to him or to use it outside of my training." Nyka sighed with longing. "I wonder where Uncle dion is. He''s been gone since the night Orpal killed Manohar.

    "We are all worried sick, but Auntie Lysa and Radusk are scared to death."

    "Well, at least you had an expert teaching everything about your species without having to clutch at straws for months!" Tista replied.

    "Waah. Poor you." Quy said with mock sadness. "How terrible it must be, being either the super-hot member of a unique race with unknown potential or a sexy Vampire, both rted to some of the most powerful beings on Mogar."

    She took a brief pause to let her sarcasm sink while her rage grew.

    "Are you kidding me? How dare youin so much? You didn''t go through one bit of the nightmare that my life is, yet not only are both of you Awakened, but you can also wipe the floor with my ass any time!" Her eyes burned with violet light.

    Quy''s core kept developing, but she had no reason to be happy. The stronger it became the fewer her chances to survive the Awakening process would be.

    To prove her point, she jumped on the ring and activated a full elemental fusion. After her visit to the Fringe, Quy had be the first human true mage in history. That and Orion''s Featherwalker armor boosted her stamina, strength, and speed.

    s, her base physical prowess was so weakpared to the two Awakened that no matter how precise herbinations of fists and kicks were, Tista and Nyka had no problem dodging the onught.

    To them, Quy moved in slow motion.

    Her mana core was stronger than the other two women''s, but there was only so much fusion magic that her body could take, limiting her output. Quy increased the elemental flow in her body with each failed assault, bing faster by the second.

    Soon she became as powerful as Tista and thanks to the hardness of the Adamant armor, she could overlook the opponent''s attacks and hit like a hammer. The first time her punch connected, Quy felt as much satisfaction as pain.

    She had sent Tista flying, but she had also produced a snap as her muscles ripped and the bones from the right arm to the left foot cracked. Even with darkness fusion numbing the pain, Quy was forced to stop.

    Warm tears streaked down her eyes because even though light fusion was already mending her wounds, it was powerless against the feeling of frustration that ate at Quy from the inside.

    "Are you still going to whine about how unlucky you are?" She yelled in fury. "I didn''t get my abilities from birth nor did I have a kind little brother who took me by the hand. I worked hard for them, risking my life in the Fringe and in those damn mines.

    "And for what? My body can''t handle half of the fusion magic I''m capable of. I can''t cast a tier four true spell without the risk of the mana flow activating my core and making me burst like a damn firework. I''m useless." Her voice cracked and she started to sob.

    "You just have to be patient." Tista said, using Invigoration to fix Quy''s wounds and restore her stamina. "Your body is that of a fake mage and ording to Nalrond, it takes the members of his species years to get ustomed to the mana flow.

    "It''s the reason why magical beasts are stuck with two elements unless they Awaken."

 Chapter 1806 - Burning Rage (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1806 - Burning Rage (Part 2)</h4>

    "Hello, pot. My name is kettle and I''m ck." Quy red at Tista with fury. "I can afford patience even less than you. Orpal already killed me and soon he is going to kill my parents whereas he promised to keep yours forst.

    "To make matters worse, Phloria is now dealing with the Council, proving her worth. Friya is helping Faluel craft her new equipment, learning how to use both the Hands and the Hydra bloodline''s Forgemastering techniques.

    "What am I doing, instead? I''m watching you train from the sidelines. I''m tired of being the eternal third wheel. Tired of being a burden. Tired of always being left behind when dangers approach because of my weakness."

    Nyka and Tista looked at each other, not knowing what to say aside from hot air that would only make Quy angrier.

    "You know, your sister wants me to be the Warden of the group." Tista sat beside Quy, hugging her slim shoulders. "Yet I hate arrays. They are so slow and dullpared to shy tier five spells."

    "Yurial thought the same." Quy smiled at the memory of her lost friend. "Gods how I miss him. He would have loved true magic. I can almost see him hit on every woman in the Council before begging Raagu to take him as her apprentice."

    Neither of the other two women had ever met the heir of the Deirus Household but since his memory seemed to console Quy, they both nodded enthusiastically.

    "Why are you training bare-handed, Tista?" She asked after she calmed down. "Your brother is a great Forgemaster and he just got heaps of Adamant. I can''t believe that Lith is so stingy that he wants you to fight unarmed."

    "I never received formal training in the army and no matter how many weapons I try, I suck with all of them." She replied. "Luckily, I''ve been beating people ever since the academy. Mom, Lith, Faluel, they all taught me self-defense."

    "Oh, yes. The curse of being beautiful." Quy replied with a tinge of envy in her voice.

    "After defeating Syrook, Lith got his hands on Sunder. ws are the thing I''m most skilled with and thanks to its des being an extension of my fingers, I proved to be a decent swordsman."

    "I suck with weapons too." Nyka sighed. "That''s why Auntie Scar gave me a mace. She said that with my monstrous strength I don''t need any technique, just to swing and hit."

    "Was she right?"

    "Yes. My opponents can only dodge my attacks. Even if they manage to block, their weapons bend and their bones crack."

    Suddenly, theirmunication amulets lit up and the hologram of the King celebrating the recapture of Mandia appeared.

    ***

    Vastor Household, at the same time.

    Unlike Lith, Vastor had spent thosest few months traveling across the Kingdom, taking back cities in his role as Highmaster. His armor allowed him to ignore the city arrays and once inside, he could take on Thrud''s forces alone thanks to his Chaos spells.

    Yet Vastor knew that not even that was enough to kill the army of Awakened. No matter how many he destroyed, they would always be regenerated at the Golden Griffon.

    For each city that he captured, two more fell. It disheartened him and made Zinya worry to death. After the marriage, even when he was home, he would spend most of his time in his secretb, supervising the work of his hybrids.

    Nandi was using his talents to manipte the mana geyser below the ancestral mansion of the Vastors. Hebined the natural flow of world energy with his powers to refine at uncanny speed the magical metals and crystals that his siblings seized.

    After meeting Solus and obtaining her forgiveness, Bytra''s skills as a Forgemaster had soared. She had long since crafted a Forgemastering hammer that eclipsed the Fury, yet she had always refused to use it in order to never forget her past crimes.

    Bytra''s Absolution had been forged based on Vastor''s studies on the Fury and crafted with his help. The Master was an Awakened with ess to Spirit Magic while the Fury could split and turn different energy signatures into Bytra''s.

    By following her instructions and using the copies of Menadion''s prized weapon, the Abomination hybrids and the Master had worked together to craft Bytra''s Absolution.

    Ever since the marriage, she had been working non-stop on the equipment necessary for her siblings. Equipment made of Adamant that fitted both their human and bestial form.

    Nandi''s mines couldn''t produce the tons of metal that such a feat required, but there was no need for it. While the Raiju relentlessly worked in her Forge, the other Eldritches enacted the revenge of their adoptive father.

    Vastor hated Thrud, but to him, she was just a secondary objective. More than anything, he wanted to see Orpal die suffering after beingpletely humiliated. He wanted to see Orpal beg on his knees before ripping his head off like he had done to Manohar.

    Yet Vastor would do it while Orpal was still alive to enjoy his screams.

    Thanks to his connections with the criminal underworld, the Master was working to find out the locations of the branches of the Undead Courts in the various cities of the Kingdom.

    As soon as they discovered one, they would notify the Awakened Council and then raze them to the ground. The undead possessed uncanny powers and equipment, especially Night''s Chosen, but they could do nothing against the power of Eldritch Divine Beasts.

    Kigan, Xenagrosh, Cyare, and Hushar raided the undead bases in pairs and took away everything valuable they found. The resources that the Undead Courts had hoarded for centuries were immediately given to Nandi who refined them until they were ready for Bytra''s hammer.

    "Hide as long as you want, Meln." Vastor said while helping the Fourth Ruler of the mes to craft a proper weapon for Xenagrosh. "I''ll just keep hitting you and your Mad Queen friend hard where it hurts the most.

    "And when youe to me likembs to the ughterhouse, I will be ready."

    ***

    Trawn woods, Solus'' tower, a few days after the recapture of Mandia.

    After the sessful recapture of Mandia, Princess Peonia hadmissioned Lith another mission that had ended just as well, taking back the city of Temia from Thrud''s army.

    After that, Lith had asked to be left alone to make use of his spoils of war and take the time he needed to celebrate the joyful event that the Spring Festival was. Or better, one that took ce very close to the Spring Equinox.

    "Happy birthday, Solus." Lith hugged her and kissed her forehead while she was still stirring in her half-awake state.

    "By my Mom, not only did you remember about it, you even managed to be the first to say happy birthday to me." She said while returning the embrace and losing herself in his warmth.

    "It''s not that hard since I slept here." Lith said, half-joking and half-embarrassed.

    Ever since Solus had regained her human body, she went back to the tower for the night whenever she could, to further stabilize and feed her power core.. Yet after Bytra had told her the truth about Elphyn''s and Menadion''s death, Solus often suffered from terrible nightmares.

 Chapter 1807 - Solusâ€™ Birthday (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1807 - Solus¡¯ Birthday (Part 1)</h4>

    Solus kept seeing Bytra''s memories in her sleep, forced to relive the terrible events that had led Menadion to lose her life after bonding her daughter to the tower.

    Even though the old and new tower were nothing alike, when Solus was alone, she could almost see the corpses of Menadion''s apprentices and even her ownying all around the ce amid pools of blood.

    At night it became even worse since it was about the same time when the murder attempt had taken ce.

    Solus would wake up in tears and trembling in terror, incapable of falling asleep again until sunrise. Whenever that happened, Lith would move to the tower and sleep in her bed, using their bond to soothe her trauma.

    She loved the new amodation and all the hugs and cuddles that came with it, but Lith still found it awkward. Solus was a wonderful young woman and he was a healthy single man who wanted to avoid doing something that they wouldter regret.

    In regr circumstances, there would be no such risk unless they were both intoxicated by alcohol, but his bond with Solus made everything much more intense.

    At that moment, while the scent of her hair invaded his nose and the softness of her chest pressed against him, Lith''s willpower squeaked a little. Yet it would take only one moment when his arousal matched Solus'' to trigger a loop effect with predictable consequences.

    They would spend a few hours of pleasure together before realizing they had crossed a line from which there was no return, changing their rtionship forever. It would have made them both happy while the honeymoon phasested, but after that, it would have been a potential nightmare.

    Lith considered it the proverbial penny-wise and pound-foolish scenario, where he would have minor gains in the short term and massive problems in the long run.

    Even if somehow they remained friends after the break-up, any woman he dated would have been far from happy to know that he was joined at the hip with his ex and every rtionship he would have but flings would fail the moment Solus appeared on the scene.

    <i>''No need to worry about this now. It''s Solus'' special day. The first birthday she can spend outside of my ring, surrounded by the people she loves and that love her back. Everything must be perfect.''</i> Lith thought.

    "Well, what do you want to do first?" He asked, waiting for her to break the embrace first.

    "Breakfast! Today is my birthday so it''s also going to be my cheat day. Off the diet until the end of the celebrations!" The thought of all the delicious food she could finally eat without worries wiped away the remaining traces of sleep, filling her with enthusiasm.

    Between the preparations for the war and the training with Locrias, Solus had exercised a lot. That along with a clean cut on all kinds offort food had toned her body and honed her hand-to-eye coordination.

    Much to her dismay, however, she had achieved what Aran, Leria, Rena, and even Solus herself called the "Senton physique". Every part of her body was a symphony of perfectly bnced softness of the skin and hardness of the muscles whereas her belly was pure softness.

    "Not to be that guy and spoil your mood, but you never told me if you intend to have a day-long birthday or to make up for the lost time and extend the party for a fortnight.

    "A cheat day is fine, 15 cheat days straight would ruin your hard work." Lith said.

    "That''s what you are worried about?" She pushed him away, pouting in mock indignance. "Jokes aside, I don''t know. I guess I''ll enjoy today and then make up my mind.

    "As for the cheat fortnight, I thought about that already and decided that it''s not going to happen. Starting the diet once was already hard, I don''t want to get used to eating again just to go through that nightmare again." She shuddered at the thought.

    The first days with no sweets for breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch, midday snack, dinner, andte-night snack had taken a huge toll on her mind. Solus had always been a glutton, but after Bytra''s revtions, food had be more than just a pleasant taste, it had be a sanctuary to relieve her stress.

    "Let''s go home!" Solus shapeshifted her heavy pajamas into a yellow day dress with a colored flowers pattern that left exposed her hands and neck.

    She had tried crafting a dress with hammers, anvils, and towers but it hade out so tacky that she hadn''t shown it even to Lith before destroying it.

    Lith shapeshifted into his regr farmer clothes and Warped them both to their house in Lutia.

    "Happy birthday, Solus!" The family said in unison the moment she stepped through the gate. Even Onyx and Abominus who after Vastor''s wedding were finally free to talk joined the cheers.

    "Cheat day! Cheat Day! Cheat day!" They chanted, wagging their tails like crazy in excitement.

    "For the Great Mother''s love! Is it possible that the only thing everyone worries about is my weight?" Solus stared at the beasts in anger until she realized by their starry eyes that they were hoping to join her in the diet break.

    "Bad Abominus, bad!" Leria scolded the Ry who whined in his best puppy impression. "You made Aunt Solus sad."

    "I just want food." Onyx meowled at Aran. Her pupils became big and round, making her look like a defenseless kitten instead of two hundred kilograms of fangs, ws, and muscles.

    "Can they join you, Aunt Solus? Onyx is often hungry, but Mom is always strict." The little boy asked.

    "Of course they can. I''m sorry for earlier. Your friends did nothing wrong." Solus shook off her bad mood as she caressed the kids'' adorable little heads.

    The family moved to the table for breakfast. Elina and Lith had prepared all of Solus'' favorite foods and others that they had practiced on during the past few months, hoping that she would like them just as much.

    "What are your ns for the day, dear?" Elina asked, in order to force Solus to take a breath between mouthfuls.

    Between her and the beasts, it was hard to tell who looked more like a famished wolf. Onyx and Abominus were devouring their respective triple steak in a feeding frenzy as if they feared someone might take them away.

    Solus, instead, shoved the cream puffs in her mouth whole, munching a few times before sending them down with milk.

    <i>''I have Hydra shbacks.''</i> Lith thought.

    At first, Solus tried to talk with her mouth full, emitting gibberish and sending bits of cream and chocte flying over the table. Then she regained her senses and realized how the others were looking at her.

    She straightened her back, munching slowly and swallowing her food like ady. She even cleaned her mouth with a napkin before answering but, by the time she had closed the stable''s door, the horse had bolted and the dust had already settled.

    "First, I''m going to visit Lutia. I want to see it with my own eyes, walk along the streets with my legs, and try all the clothes I want in a fitting room!"

 Chapter 1808 - Solusâ€™ Birthday (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1808 - Solus¡¯ Birthday (Part 2)</h4>

    Solus squirmed in enthusiasm at the idea of not needing Tista as a proxy anymore.

    "Why Lutia?" Rena asked. "I mean, sure, quite a few shops have opened and the quality of the goods is greatpared to when Lutia was still a vige, but it''s nothingpared to Derios, Valeron, or any major city of the Kingdom.

    "They have a much better variety and quality in both the fabrics and design."

    "I know, but Lutia is my home. My Mo-, I mean Menadion left me here for a reason and I intend to honor it." Solus had corrected herself to not hurt Elina''s feelings. After what Orpal had done, she had yet to recover from her personal trauma as well.

    "On top of that, if I went to any other city, the nearest mana geyser would be far away and with it the tower. Here, instead, I can still use it to partly fuel my body and have quite some time before the pain begins."

    "Excellent thinking. I''m proud of you." Raaz ruffled her hair. "Do you wantpany? No offense but the citizens of Lutia are a rough bunch and Lith is terrible with clothes."

    The entire female side of the family sighed in unison, Leria and Onyx included.

    "Thanks for the offer, Dad, but no." Solus replied. "I want to learn to face people on my own and be a functional adult. No offense, Lith, but I wouldn''t even bring you along if not for the fact that your presence boosts my stamina."

    "None taken." Lith replied. "Do you want me to shapeshift into a different face? The Verhen name brings trouble these days."

    The citizens of Lutia med every one of Orpal''s crimes on his estranged family. After Manohar''s death, the city was split into two factions. Half of them were grateful to the Verhens for the jobs they provided to the farmers and Lith''s acts of valor for the Kingdom.

    The other half hated the Verhens'' guts and considered them responsible for everything, from the famine to the current war.

    "No. In their eyes, I am but a humble maid. If you disguise yourself as a member of the house staff, the shopkeepers might even refuse to serve us. I don''t want to have to argue and fight during my first birthday in almost 700 years.

    "Having an Archmage by my side and a hero at that will spare me a lot of trouble." She replied. "After a bit of shopping, I want to go visit Grandma Sark in the Desert.

    "I still have to properly thank her for the Fury and there are a few things that I want to ask her. I know that she has no obligation to help me, but I hope that my birthday will soften her up."

    "I cane with you, if you want." Tista was a bit disappointed that Solus didn''t include her in her ns.

    "I''m sorry, but I want to see how other people look at me. If youe along, all eyes would be on you and every time I try on a dress, I would end up makingparisons between us." Solus gestured at Tista''s height and breasts.

    "Point taken." She sighed.

    After breakfast, Lith and Solus left the farm, walking at a brisk pace toward Lutia. It would take them time to reach the vige on foot, but she was eager to feel the sun and wind on her skin.

    To enjoy the beauty of nature like a normal person instead of worrying about the death clock hanging on her head.

    That day luck smiled on them. The sky was clear blue, with just a few small white clouds pushed forward by a gentle breeze. Yet the biggest surprise was waiting for them inside the city.

    There were still a few days left before the Spring Festival so there were no festoons or decorations. The people had no reason to wear forced smiles or be gentle, but everyone weed their arrival with cheers and flowers.

    A cute little girl with red hair who couldn''t be more than ten years old walked up to Lith and handed him a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

    "Thank you for your hard work, Lith. Good day, miss Solus." The kid slightly frowned while focusing to remember the lines she had rehearsed, looking even more adorable.

    "Thank you, little girl." Lith caressed her head, using Invigoration to give her a full check-up and cure any ailment he found.

    The kid stopped being serious and ran away giggling.

    "What the fuck is going on?" Lith gifted the bouquet to Solus while trying to understand what had brought so many changes in Lutia''s mood.

    "Cheapskate. You could have at least bought the first flowers you wanted to gift me instead of just recycling them." She grumbled, yet her confusion beat her anger.

    The more they walked across the streets the less the attitude of the people around them made sense.

    The city of Lutia seemed to have traveled back in time when it was still a small vige and Lith was its local celebrity. Many men came to shake his hand, girls giggled at his passage, and everyone was so friendly to the point of being creepy.

    "Lith, my boy!" Zekell Proudhammer, Lith''s trusted cksmith and Rena''s father-inw,ughed at his silly questions about Lutia''s sudden changes. "You should get out of yourb more often, or you''ll turn into a Lich."

    "Nice to meet you, mister Proudhammer. My name is Solus." Since Lith had forgotten about the introductions, she did it by herself.

    "Please, call me Zekell,ss. Nice to finally meet the fabled maiden of the Verhens. Between your beauty and your exotic origins, you are the biggest talk of the vige ever since Tista got her growth spurt." The cksmith took a long, not very polite, appreciative look at her.

    "Thank you." Solus swept her hair back in embarrassment, finally realizing how the men in the vige stared at her, believing that she came from the Desert.

    "What''s going on here?" Lith asked.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Only once it was clear that Lith had no idea what Zekell was talking about did he continue. "Kid, you have recaptured two cities all by yourself."

    "I had the help of two armies and-"

    "That''s not how the story goes around these parts." The cksmith cut him off with a wave of his hand. "You are a hero of the Kingdom and Meron''s favorite. Even the assholes who me you for Orpal wouldn''t dare to mess with Princess Peonia''s boyfriend.

    "In their eyes, you are royalty already and only an idiot spits in the face of someone who might be King by the end of the war."

    <i>''What the fuck? A couple of kisses was all that it took for people to believe we are engaged?''</i> Lith couldn''t believe his own ears.

    <i>''Well, so far, your deal with Peonia really paid off. The Orichalcum, the crystals, and now it has even bought you the peace that your family so desperately needs.</i>'' Solus shared his happiness, aside from one detail.

    <i>''If only the Princess was less grabby and didn''t hit on you at every opportunity she has, she would be the perfect decoy.'' </i>She added.

    <i>''I have to go to war with the army I have, not the one I want..''</i> Lith shrugged.

 Chapter 1809: Solusâ€™ Birthday (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1809: Solus¡¯ Birthday (Part 3)</h4>

    "Boy, you really did it. You make small men like me dream again."

    Zekell snapped Lith and Solus out of it as he stared at them holding hands. "From farmer to Archmage, then dating a Princess while also keeping such a pretty girl for yourself.

    "Weren''t l happily married and content with my life, I would either worship you like a god or die of envy."

    Lith and Solus blushed up to their ears and broke contact, but it only made Zekell have a goodugh.

    ¡°No point hiding that now. Everyone saw you sweethearts walking around. If you need anything, just let me know."

    They spent the morning visiting the shops in Lutia, going back to the tower only when not even the Sage Staff that Solus wore at her neck was enough to keep her body together and the pain started.

    Even the most spiteful merchants were all smiles and niceties, referring to Lith as either Archmage or even Soldier Magus. He would have dly smacked that servile grin off their faces with a p if not for the bargain prices they offered him.

    "A beautiful dress for a beautifuldy." They said every time they brought out their best items for Solus.

    She bought in a single day more clothes and shoes than Lith had ever possessed his whole life. The price didn''t scare him, he had spent more on the date with Faluel, but the pile of clothing made his jaw drop in shock.

    "What the heck do you need all this stuff for? The dresses I can understand, but the shoes? Since when do you wear heels? They are ufortable, impractical in a ?ght, and utterly useless in every day''s life." He said.

    ¡°Shoes aren''t meant to be useful, but to look pretty!" She pouted at his insensitiveness. "Besides, it''s not my fault if l¡®m paired up with a beanpole. I needed to buy shoes with progressively higher heels to get used to them."

    Lith facepalmed at her reasoning but didn''tin further. lt was the most feminine argument he had ever had with Solus and even though it was about a trivial matter, it was another step forward in her life.

    She thought about what she wanted and stood up to him to get it instead of just worrying about what he wanted.

    After Lith and Solus were done with the shopping, they moved back to the tower and Warped to Sark''s pce. lt was the middle of the night there but they knew that the Overlord had no need for sleep and she would rather spend her time having fun.

    Another surprise waited for them since she wasn''t wearing one of her cocktail dresses nor taking part in an artistic performance. Contrary to her usual jovial character, Sark was grumpy and in a bad mood.

    She received them while wearing a canvas apron made of white Phoenix plumes over what looked like jeans overall and a dirty ck shirt. Her heavy working gloves were made of Dragon leather and covered in ck scales that seemed to devour the magical light in the room.

    Judging from the soot on her face and arms and by how she clenched her personal Forgemastering hammer, Sark had been working on a serious piece. Even when she had reforged and enhanced Menadion''s Fury into Solus''s, she had just used her hands.

    They had never seen Sark wearing her full Forgemastering gear. On top of that, based on what mana sense perceived, not a single piece of it was any less powerful than the hammer made from the Guardian''s very ?esh.

    Whatever she was crafting, they didn''t even want to think about what would happen to anyone who ended up facing its wrong end.

    "What do you want this time? Be brief, because I''ve been very busy and I''m getting hungry. Believe me, you wouldn''t like me when I''m hungry."

    Between her vicious tone and overbearing aura, it was supposed to sound menacing. Yet both Lith and Solus took her words as an unintended reference and started to giggle like children.

    "What''s so funny?" Sark asked in confusion.

    "Nothing." Solus managed to regain her cool quickly, yet she kept picturing the Mother of all Phoenixes as a green hulking ?gure.

    "l''ve brought you a gift."

    She handed Sark a copy of Threin¡®s painting, Springtime, that she had made in the alchemicalb of the tower.

    "I know that you are not my Grandma as well, but you were my

    Mom''s apprentice and you helped me retrieve her legacy. In my heart it makes you part of the little family I have left.

    "That''s why 1 wanted to share this little piece of ourmon past with you and invite you for my birthday party tonight. I mean tonight Eastern Griffon Kingdom time, not right now."

    "Really? You want me at your party?" Sark looked at Menadion''s most beloved painting with eyes veiled with tears. Phoenixes were creatures of passion by nature, pregnancy made them even more emotional.

    "Yes." Solus nodded emphatically.

    "There will be just a few people since I don¡®t know anyone outside Lith''s circle of friends so there will be plenty of food."

    "You are so sweet, my darling. Of course I''lle. May the Great Mother have mercy of that jackass, because I sure won''t." The Overlord dropped the hammer and hugged Solus, lifting her as if she weighed nothing.

    "I''m sorry what jackass?" Lith had no idea of Roghar''s ns.

    "Just an idiot who thinks he can mess with me. Nothing you have to worry about." She replied.

    ¡®Mostly because there''s nothing you can do aside from worrying about it.¡® She inwardly added.

    "Sark-"

    "Call me Grandma.¡° The Mother of all Phoenixes cut Solus short and ruffled her hair.

    "Okay. Grandma, do you know any Awakened who owns paintings made by my father? I would like to buy them. At this point, people should have given up on ?nding my mother''s legacy. Worst-case scenario, I can settle for a copy."

    Sark scratched her chin, pondering whether to answer honestly or not.

    "Look, those who piged your house didn''t exactly leave their business card behind. I think that they either kept the paintings for themselves or they threw them away once they understood those images held nothing but your father''s love."

    "Please, I just need one name. I want to add at least another painting to my collection for my birthday." Solus said.

    "I know one person who possesses Threin''s paintings." Sark sighed, giving up in front of those sad eyes.

    "Why didn''t you ever tell us about them?¡° Lith asked.

    "Because he''s a weirdo. One of the rare Phoenixes that decided to be a schr instead of a warrior. I didn''t want to embarrass you or me." The Overlord replied.

    "Please, we have dealt with Liches, Dragons, Phoenixes, and

    Abominations. I-Iow could this guy be any worse than them?" Solus smiled at such silly worries.

    "Because he''s my son and your ex." Sark scratched her head in embarrassment, quickly followed by Solus.

    "I stand corrected. That''s much worse." She dreaded the idea of her past meeting her present.

    "Why is that? We have already met people who knew Elphyn

    Menadion. We have just to leave out the part about you being fused with the tower and everything will be ?ne." Lith shrugged, unaware of the reckless behavior of Solus'' past self.

    ****

 Chapter 1810: Solusâ€™ Birthday (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1810: Solus¡¯ Birthday (Part 4)</h4>

    "Yes, but l would still need toe up with an excuse for not having a ged a day and you know how embarrassing it is to ask an ex for a f avor. I guess l have to give up on the painting." Solus said too quickly t o be believable.

    "l don''t think so.¡° Lith shook his head.

    "l think you should go and meet t his guy. He could help you remember your past. We''lle up with s ome bullshit while we are on our way. Worst¡ªcase scenario, just use y our amnesia as an excuse."

    He was happy at the idea of Solus meeting her ex and maybe even r enewing their rtionship. lt would have been a huge step forward i n bing independent from him and getting her own life.

    Solus opened her mouth and then closed it several times, never s aying a word. On one hand, she wanted the painting and her m emories back. On the other hand, she was afraid of what her ex w ould say about her old self.

    "I agree with Lith here." Sark said. "Aerth is a ?ne young man and a g reat Forgemaster. He''s one of the most promising members of my r esearch and development team. l know that you are working on the m emory crystals and so is he.

    "You could get there, chat a bit about the past and your work. You h ave a lot inmon.¡°

    "Fine young man?" Lith echoed. "Isn''t he like one millennium old?"

    "Nah, just over 700 years old. For an Awakened Phoenix, he is a lovely l ittle runt." The Overlord said with a warm smile on her face, r emembering the day her child had been born.

    "He has be famous as a problem solver and many mages look for h im to have a second opinion about their research. You are lucky to h ave the opportunity to meet him."

    "I agree." Lith nodded.

    "Just one word of advice. Aerth is a Blue Phoenix who became known a s ¡®the bluebird of happiness¡¯ since whoever found him went home w ith the answer they were looking for, but if you mention it to him, h e''ll kick you out."

    Lith and Solus chuckled at the once glorious nickname. In recent y ears, "the bluebird of happiness" had been chosen as the name of a p otion of obvious color used to solve a recurring problem that some m en past a certain age had to reach happiness in bed.

    ¡®Your ex has unwittingly be the poster boy for Mogar''s e quivalent of Wyagra.'' Lith inwardlyughed.

    ¡®Poor fellow.¡® Solus chuckled. ¡®In his shoes, I would get irritable as w ell.¡¯

    "Thanks, Grandma. l think I''ll follow your advice.¡° She said with a sigh, u nwilling to run away from her past. "Where can we ?nd Aerth?"

    "Hisb is several hundreds of kilometers to the west of here, but you c an reach it directly via the Warp Gate. Unlike my tribes, a mana g eyser can''t walk so the members of my nest have all their own t ransportation device." Sark replied, handing them a traveling p ermit.

    "This way you don''t have to waste time looking for him and you are f ree not to tell him about the tower. The mana geyser should be more t han enough to sustain you, Solus."

    "Off we go, then." Lith gave Sark a bow and a few sweets that he h ad kept for the party before leaving.

    "Not so fast." The Overlord said.

    "l know that you guys went on a m ission recently and I bet that you''ve gotten yourself some loot. Do y ou want me to recycle it for you?"

    "We thought you were in a bad mood and we didn''t want to bother y ou further.¡° Solus replied.

    ¡°Sorry for earlier." Sark sighed. "l¡®m still pissed off at a rude jerk, a nd pregnancy doesn''t help. Since you are already here, there''s no r eason to waste your and my time with a second trip."

    Lith had her use Creation Magic to tum all the armor he had c ollected into pure Adamant, keeping only one of them to study it.

    The weapons, instead, he kept them as they were.

    "Lith, do you mind if we go back to the tower for a while before v isiting Aerth? There''s something I need to tell you." Solus ?dgeted w ith her hair, acting so awkward and embarrassed that Lith feared s he wanted to confess to him.

    "Not at all. It''s your birthday and today I''m at your service.¡° He replied g iving her a warm smile and a bow worthy of a butler.

    "Thank you."

    Once they entered the kitchen, it took her a strong liquor spiked with s ome tea to ?nd the courage toe clean with him about what she h ad learned about her past from Malyshka and Silverwing.

    "The part from Silverwing I knew because we fused right after you m et her. As for the rest, l didn''t know about the memories you have r ecovered, but I ?gured it out by myself from your reactions." Lith s hrugged it off, leaving her ?abbergasted.

    "I''ve tormented myself for so long and you already knew? Why didn''t y ou tell me?" Solus asked.

    "Because your past personal life is none of my business. Back then y ou were a different person, but a good one nheless. On top of t hat, I have no right to force you to open up to me. I waited for you t o feelfortable enough." He replied.

    "What about the..." She couldn''t ?nish the phrase, her cheeks tumed p urple.

    "You were a grieving angry teen." Lith chuckled. "You have seen me a fter Carl died. I used prescription drugs but drugs nheless. Does t hat make you ufortable around me?"

    Solus shook her head.

    "Then there''s nothing you have to be ashamed of. The past is in the p ast and this is your life now. Anything else?"

    "No, but since we''re already talking of personal stuff, I vividly recall h aving boyfriends and girlfriends. Which seems a bit odd to me since I h ave yet to ?nd a woman that I consider attractive in a sexual way."

    Solus shrugged.

    On the one hand, the piece of news reinforced I.ith''s determination to ?nd a way to make her independent from him. He didn''t ?nd it odd, b ecause being bonded to him, Solus had never had anyone in her m ind but him, clouding her judgment.

    On the other hand, he couldn''t stop picturing her with Kam, both w earing nothing but a smile. His expression was one of great c oncentration and focus, as if he was pondering the mysteries of life a nd death.

    "Why are you making your perverted face?" Solus¡® voice snapped him o ut of it.

    "I need to getid. Big time.¡° He replied, making her chuckle.

    Thanks to the Warp Gate, they reached Aerth''sb in a second.

    Sark had announced their arrival and the master of the volcano was w aiting for them. Yet when he saw Solus, his jaw dropped to the ?oor a nd his eyes went wide.

    "Thank the Great Mother you''re alive Elphyn, I had thought to have l ost you forever." He threw away the book he was reading and hugged h er, failing to lift her up like in the old times.

    Aerth the Blue Phoenix looked like a man in his mid-twenties, about

    1.86 meters (6''l") tall, with a lean build, ck eyes, and bright blue hair t hat looked out of an anime. He had handsome features and eyes b rimming with intelligence.

 Chapter 1811: New and Old Memories (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1811: New and Old Memories (Part 1)</h4>

    "Good gods, am I that out of shape, or have you gained a few tons?¡°

    The Blue Phoenix said after his back popped from the effort.

    "Kind of both. Creatures your size are supposed to lift me with ease."

    Solus nodded in Lith''s direction while gently but ?rmly taking Aerth''s h ands off of her.

    The Phoenix may have remembered her clearly but she didn''t, making t he sudden intimacy creepy.

    "Oh, I''m sorry for my manners. I''m Aerth." He offered Lith his hand.

    "Are you her boyfriend, husband, or something in between?"

    "I''m Lith Verhen and I''m her partner."

    "This is de?nitely a ng term I''m not familiar with. Damn, I need to g et out more." Aerth nodded. "Did Elphyn ever tell you how we''ve m et? She was really curious about the Phoenixes'' mating ritual and I w as the lucky one she picked at a party."

    "One of my acquaintances mentioned the ritual to me. What''s so g reat about it?" Lith asked, out of scienti?c curiosity, of course.

    "Well, Phoenixes are born and bred warriors. When we pick a mate, w e engage in a brutal and sensual ?ght that ends only once one of the c ontestants gets pinned to the ground. Then the winner mounts the l oser and-"

    "By my Mom, we got the picture!" Solus cut him short while Aerth w as making explicit gestures.

    Her face had turned to a shade of purple up to her ears and her voice h ade out shrill and dry. She had remained frozen in e mbarrassment until she couldn''t take it any longer.

    "Who won?" Lith asked, always for science.

    "She did, of course. Back then I was weak whereas she trained like a f reak due to what had happened to her father." Aerth said with a p ensive tone. "By the way, Elphyn, you are behaving in a very odd way.

    "There''s nothing shameful about what we did and everyone in the

    Awakenedmunity knows how the mating ritual works."

    "Let me be crystal clear with you." Solus snarled at Lith for prying into h er past life. "I suffer from almost total amnesia. Whatever my mother d id to save my life, 1 fell into a slumber thatsted until 15 years ago.

    "I go by the name of Solus now and everything you say doesn''t ring a ny bell. You are just embarrassing me big time."

    "Fascinating." The Phoenix said with a pensive tone. "This exins the f all in your magical strength, your increase in mass, and the altered p ersonality. Menadion must have bonded you to some kind of p hctery to save your life but the procedure had unexpected side e ffects."

    "Did you get all of this from a hug and an embarrassing anecdote?"

    She asked in amazement.

    "Well, Grandma said that he is good." Lith shrugged.

    "Grandma? Then you must be that Lith Verhen." A light of recognition s hone in Aerth''s eyes. "The Tiamat."

    "The one and only." Lith shapeshifted into his true form while giving h im a bow.

    Then, he exined Aerth the reasons for theiring.

    "After meeting you for the ?rst time after all these years, I had hoped t hat you woulde to me for more than a mere errand, Solus. You m ay not remember me, but even after we broke up, we still remained g ood friend friends.

    "I¡®ll dly help you. Please, follow me." He led them through a series o f perfectly smoothened stone corridors.

    The ceiling was over 30 meters high and aside from doors and locks, t here was no furniture. The ground caught Lith''s attention. It had b een covered with gold¡ªveined marble, one of the few natural m aterials resistant to magic.

    "Wow, that''s it? No questions about how she survived, what''s our r tionship, anything?" The Tiamat asked.

    "In the Awakenedmunity in general and in my line of work in p articr, secrets are of the utmost importance. Poking around m eans looking for trouble." Aerth replied. "Besides, mother considers y ou part of the family. That''s enough for me."

    "Is your father a Dragon?" Solus asked, impressed by how aloof and c ool-headed he was for a Phoenix.

    "No, a human. It''s the reason you picked me and I epted your c ourt. For a pureblood Phoenix you would have been barely a toddler, b ut to a boy your age you were really hot. You had the brain of a g enius and the body 0f¡ª"

    "I get that!" She cut him short as his hands were tracing the exact s hape of her curves in the air.

    "Sorry." He shrugged, his voice not matching his words.

    "l have a question." Lith said, receiving a re from Solus that he i gnored. "Grandma said that you are part of her research and d evelopment team for the memory crystals."

    "Correct." Aerth nodded.

    "What does she need R&D for? She examined my crystals and seemed t o have understood everything already."

    "For the same reason she needs the nest, the Feathers, and she didn''t b other with Dawn centuries ago. Mother wants us to be able to walk w ith our own legs. She only helps with things we can''t solve on our o wn and only after we have given our all.¡° The Phoenix replied.

    "Here we are. The gallery.¡°A wave of his hand opened a human-sized d oor.

    The room inside was magically lit, the ?oor and walls covered in tiles r espectively painted red and white. On the walls, there were several p aintings with a recurring theme.

    All of them depicted a man sitting on arge couch beside a woman.

    Lith recognized them as Threin and Menadion. In the ?rst painting, t he Ruler of the mes held a newborn between her arms.

    In the next painting, a small girl sat on herp. Then a young girl that

    Lith recognized as Solus sat on the opposite side of Threin. Each p ainting was named after the year it had been drawn, and depicted

    Solus''s growth until she was identical to how she looked now.

    The rest of the paintings werendscapes or still life that arose no i nterest in them.

    "Are these copies?" Solus asked while her eyes were ?xated on the

    gure of her father.

    "Yes. l kept them to make you feel at home whenever you spent the n ight here." Aerth nodded. "You kept the originals in your room in the t ower."

    "lsn¡®t Dad supposed to have died when 1 was a teen? l-lowe he''s in a ll the paintings?"

    "Threin and your mother were both Awakened. They didn''t age like y ou did. Your father would always draw you and Ripha ?rst and then a dd his self-portrait. After his death, you kept the tradition alive and a sked the painter to keep adding Threin even when he was no more."

    Aerth took thest painting off the wall and handed it to Solus.

    "This is one of the few originals I have and is yours to take.¡°

    "What do you mean?" She stuttered, her eyes veiled with tears r eading the date of the painting.

    It had been rnade just a few months after she and her mother had b een murdered, yet they all looked so alive, even Threin.

    "I learned how to paint for you and l got so good at imitating your f ather''s style that you had me draw your birthday picture every year. I w ould make one for you and one for me." He replied.

    She could see that the love and the passion in the painting were in no w ay inferior to Threin''s.

 Chapter 1812: New and Old Memories (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1812: New and Old Memories (Part 2)</h4>

    "Why did we break up?" She asked.

    "For the same reason you broke up with all of your past love interests.

    You were scared of falling in love with someone and losing them, like i t happened to your mother." Aerth said.

    "Thank you very much." Solus hugged the painting like it was her lost f amily and tears streaked from her eyes.

    "l''m sorry for what I did and l ''m even more sorry for what I''m about to ask you. Would you please d raw a new painting for me?"

    "Sure thing. Let me guess, you want me to add Lith to the family?"

    "No. I want you to add all these people to the family." Solus projected a hologram of the Verhens above her hand.

    "It will take a much bigger canvas and a hologram with a higher d e?nition. l can''t see the details from something that small."

    The Phoenix said.

    "There''s no need for a hologram. Today is my new birthday and I w ould be honored to have you at my party. This way you can meet t hem and see them in person." Solus said with a dazzling smile that s tirred feelings that had never died.

    "Sure. Just tell me where and when." Aerth nodded.

    After the matter with the painting and the birthday was resolved, Lith t rusted the Phoenix enough to share with him everything they had d iscovered about the memory crystals.

    As Faluel always said, only an idiot never shared. Besides, with the r esources and manpower of Sark¡®s R&D, it was only a matter of t ime before Aerth discovered everything on his ovm.

    "Fascinating." Aerth seemed to have two different personalities, going f rom mushy to business in a split second. "l had guessed most of t hese things, but not all of them. At the same time, there are a few t hings you have missed.¡°

    The Tiamat and the Blue Phoenix literally exchanged notes while also d ebating the unique properties of the memory crystals. After a while, t hey were considering the idea of working together to expedite their r espective research.

    "Lith Verhen! This is my birthday and you have the gall to waste my t ime working? I''ve been waiting for over an hour. Any longer and we''ll b ete for lunch!" Solus stomped her foot, creating a weak quake.

    "We''ll discuss this matter some other time, then." Aerth gave her a s mall bow in apology. "l¡®ll see you tonight, Solus.¡°

    She rushed out of the cave, falling down on her knees the moment t hey entered the tower. Her angry facade fell apart and Solus started t o cry as she could ?nally vent the pent¡ªup emotions that seeing her f ather''s works had stirred.

    Seeing her sob and tremble like that while she held the only image she h ad of her father, made Lith feel like a jerk.

    "l¡®m sorry, Solus. I have no excuse." He lifted her from the ground and m oved her to a couch. "l should have known that being surrounded b y your past like that had to be overwhelming to you."

    "Don''t worry. I''m ?ne." Yet it was clear that wasn''t the case.

    Lith sat beside her. remaining quiet until she calmed down.

    "Is there anything l can do to make it up for you?"

    "lt''s not your fault, idiot.¡° She blew her nose with a handkerchief. "The g allery didn''t affect me much at ?rst, but while you worried about y our work, leaving me alone, I started to look at the paintings.

    "Memories from different moments of my life started to pop up one a fter the other until l couldn''t take it anymore, yet I didn''t want to s tart crying in front of a stranger. I waited, hoping for you to notice m y distress, but you never did.

    "You were too happy to have found another work freak like you to l ook at me even once."

    "Fuck me sideways. I can''t imagine what nice words you would have u sed if you considered it my fault." Lith said. "Any more passive- a ggressiveness and you''d strangle me while saying that you are not a ngry at me."

    "l guess you are right." Solus chuckled amid sniffs. "lt is your fault and I''m angry at you."

    She sent the painting to her room while several copies of it popped in a ll themon spaces of the tower.

    "Now let''s go home before Mom starts worrying. We''ll think of a way t o make you sufferter." Solus said while Tower Warping back to

    Lutia and then to their house, where everyone was waiting for them.

    During lunch, she showed her newfound prized possession to the rest o f the family, sharing with them what she had discovered about her p ast that didn''t involve her personal rtionships.

    After so many emotions in the moming, Solus spent the rest of the a fternoon resting and ying with the kids. The hours passed p eacefully until the time for the dinner party was around the corner.

    ¡®Wait, why are you dressed like that?" Solus said after noticing that t he members of her family had worn clothes that they would use for a f ancy restaurant. "l thought we''d spend the night here, like for Lith''s b irthday."

    "As someone pointed out to me more than once, I never brought you t o a nice ce so it''s time to correct the situation." Lith wore a white s hirt and ocean blue pants, offering her his hand.

    "lf you don''t tell me where we are going, l don''t know what to wear.¡°

    She replied, standing up from the couch.

    "Wear whatever you like." Tista said with a scoff.

    "lt''s a family dinner. We are dolling up for you."

    Solus shapeshifted her clothes into one of her favorite evening d resses. It was bright red, with golden embroideries that formed a s mall ?oral pattern. lt had a square neck and left her arms and s houlders exposed.

    Much to her surprise, Lith brought them to the tower and from them t o the Verhen Mansion on the other side of the Trawn woods. The k eep had been built ording to his speci?cs, exactly in the middle of t he mana geyser andrge enough to amodate the tower.

    This way, Menadi0n''s legacy could sustain Solus¡® human body no m atter where she was.

    "I''m not going to rely on the generosity of a Guardian for tonight. I p repared for everything." Lith led them to the ballroom of the house, w here everything for the party was already set.

    The crystal chandeliers were lit with both candles and magic, giving t he ce plenty of light but also warmth. The white marble of the ?oor shone like a precious gemstone and was covered with tables ?lled with delicacies that Solus loved.

    The walls had been decorated with tapestries identical to the one that

    Solus had woven in the tower, depicting all the major events of her l ife. In all the family paintings that Lith had hung on the walls, she was t here as well.

    "This isn''t a proper restaurant but it''s still a nice ce."

    Lith said, d t o see her eyes sparkling with joy every time that she noticed a new e lement of the room where she had been included.

    "Also, here you can have fun without the worry of running out of e nergy.¡°

    "Thank you, it''s perfect! lt''s more than I had ever hoped for." Solus h ugged him, ?ghting back an insistent tear of joy that demanded to b e shed.

 Chapter 1813: Party Crushers (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1813: Party Crushers (Part 1)</h4>

    "It wasn''t just me. Mommissioned the tapestries and Dad had the p aintings drawn after noticing how much the t0wer¡®s decorations m eant to you. I just put in the money and cooked a lot of food." Lith s aid, returning Solus'' embrace.

    "Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad." She hugged them as well, but this time s he carefully controlled her strength. "Isn''t it a bit overkill for just the t en of us? I mean, even if Granma brings a few people like thest t ime, it''s still too much."

    ¡°No, dear. We invited all your friends." Elina replied as the door o pened and from the Mansion''s gate arrived Selia, Nalrond, Protector, a nd their kids.

    Then, it was the turn of Ka, Nyka, and Nok.

    "Happy birthday, Solus. I hope you don''t mind if I brought several plus o ne." Sark wore afortable emerald evening dress to give her s wollen belly the space it needed.

    "Happy birthday, Elphyn, Solus, or whatever you call yourself now."

    Sinmara looked stunning in her emerald green evening dress that b rought out her ?aming red hair and matched the color of her eyes.

    "You have no idea how long I''ve waited for your invitation. It was rude o f you to keep me hanging until now." The tall Phoenix of Darkness l eaned forward to hug Solus, drowning her in a pleasant ?owery smell o f her hair.

    Solus had to admit that Sinmara was really pretty as her eyes followed t he cute little ?eckless that went from her eyes to her nose. Then, she f ound herself staring at those on the generous bosom of the Phoenix''s human form that such position left exposed.

    "Did we know each other in the past?" Solus asked, suddenly u nderstanding Lith''s reaction upon their ?rst meeting.

    ''1 guess l do like women as well.¡® She thought.

    "Menadion had a lot of Phoenixes as her apprentices. There was a l ong queue, but it was worth the wait." Sinmara handed Solus a r ectangr present that was clearly a painting, making her squirm w ith joy.

    "Always nagging at your friends, dear sister. It''s no surprise that no o ne wants you around.¡° The most handsome man that Solus had ever s een walked through the door.

    He looked to be in his early thirties, about 1.84 meters (6'') tall, with w heat blonde hair and blue eyes as clear as the sky. His tight-?tting e ven clothes emphasized the con?dent grace of his movements and t oned body Solus¡¯ jaw fell to the ?oor, along with those of every woman in the r oom but his rtives.

    "Who invited you here, Surtr?" Sinmara snarled more than spoke.

    "Hey, I resent that!" Raaz, Senton, and Protector said before their eyes f ell onto the woman who walked by Surtr''s side and was easily his m atch.

    Rethia looked to be in her early thirties as well, as tall as her husband t hanks to the heels. She had hair of the same tinge of red as the s etting sun and silver eyes that shone like stars.

    She wore a silver evening dress that matched her eyes and e mphasized her hair and her rosy skin.

    The v neckline of her dress wasn''t deep, but enough to show how s hapely her ?gure was and draw the attention of anyone who a ppreciated female beauty. Her slender limbs moved with a grace that f urther ampli?ed her beauty and her smile was so bright that it could b reathe new life into a corpse.

    Lith hadn''t stared at a woman like that ever since his ?rst meeting w ith Nalear as a kid, but there was little he or anyone else could do. It w as as if Faluel''s grace had met Tyris'' beauty, giving birth to an i rresistible allure.

    It took Lith a second too long and sheer willpower to stop ogling at h er while the other men needed a few nudges from their respective c ompanions. SuItr''s charms had lost their effect once the women had n oticed the stupid look on the face of their husbands.

    "Mom invited me, dear sister." Surtr said while shaking Lith''s hand.

    "After all, I knew Elphyn as well. I was also an apprentice of Menadion a nd l was eager to meet this famous couple that you oftenpare t o our young selves."

    The Dragon of Light turned toward Solus.

    "Happy birthday, Elphyn. Or do you prefer if l call you Solus?" He a sked.

    "Thank you, and I prefer Solus. Elphyn is just a name to me.¡° She r eplied.

    "So it''s to me." Surtr nodded. "Whatever you choose to call yourself, m y present doesn''t change. Feel free to open it now."

    He handed her a thin rectangr package, clearly another of Threin''s p aintings. Solus removed the wrapping, revealing a picture of her m other working in the forge. Beside Menadion, there was a cradle w here a small ?gure slept.

    The title of the painting was "Luby."

    "Thank you so much." Solus said, her eyes veiled with tears.

    ¡°No problem. Your mother kept working even when it was her turn to t ake care of you and soon the sound of her hammer became your cue t o sleep." Rethia said with augh.

    "l hope that you two are grateful enough topensate us with a few o f those delicacies that my terrible mother and my bossy sister give t o our children but refuse to us." Surtr said while looking at the tables ?lled with ice cream and the other Earth sweets that Lith had r ecreated.

    "They are just food and their ingredients are far from expensive. Why d o they do that?" Lith asked.

    "Because they like to spoil our kids and they want to rope us into the n est." Surtr replied with a grumble. ¡°Where are my manners. Lith,

    Solus, allow me to introduce you to my better half, Rethia the Wind Griffon. Rethia, these are Lith and Solus."

    "It''s an honor." She gave them a perfect curtsy that required them s heer willpower to not stare into her cleavage.

    "How long have you been together?" Solus asked.

    "We manied a little over one thousand years ago and we''ve been h appy ever since." Just the thought of all the moments they had s hared made Rethia spark with joy.

    "What? I thought that Awakened had issues with long-term r tionships." Lith failed hard to contain his surprise.

    "That''s because Awakened grow insensitive and egotistical with age."

    Surtr replied. "They want their space, their own time, to take care of t heir own experiments, and put everything else on hold.

    ¡°The trick to make it work is to put your own stuff on hold and r ecognize when your loved one needs you more than you need that p articr piece of knowledge."

    "l understand, but there is a crisis-" Lith felt guilty at those words.

    Not only had he yet to help Solus with her own breathing technique, b ut he had even forgotten about her during that very same day in the g allery just because he had been too taken by his work with Aerth.

    "There''s always a crisis, a breakthrough, or any excuse that c onvenientlyes to mind. If you don''t learn when to stop, no r tionship will ever work." Rethia cut him short. "Another issue for Awakened is their children.

    "At some point, they need to decide whether to Awaken them or not Non¡ªAwakened have a short life and seeing even an obnoxious brat d ie can break the most solid union, because it''s still their obnoxious b rat.

 Chapter 1814: Party Crushers (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1814: Party Crushers (Part 2)</h4>

    "Any argument the parents have about the Awakening while the child i s still alive bes a matter of grudge after their death and the one w ho wanted to Awaken them will me the other for their death.

    "Surtr shared with me the secret of the white core exactly because he c ouldn''t bear the thought of losing me. We have lost a few children a lready, but thanks to the natural longevity of our species, it has n evere down to age..."

    Only then did Rethia notice that the music had stopped and that e veryone was listening to her lecture about marriage.

    ¡®Oh gods, I killed the party! How do I ?x that?¡¯ She asked Surtr via a m ind link.

    "Where is this famous ice cream I''ve heard so much talking about?¡°

    He asked. "Mom, I hope you won''t mind if I ask Lith the recipe."

    "Don''t you dare share it with him, Lith!" Sinmara said.

    ¡°This is not my home. Here I am a guest as any other." Sark shook h er head. "Lith is free to do whatever he wants.¡°

    "But, Mom!" A bit of family drama about ice cream was all it took for t he mood to lighten up and people to chuckle at Sinmara trying to p ick up a ?ght with her brother.

    After them, Aerth arrived as well. Lith introduced the Blue Phoenix to e veryone, exining that he didn''t bear gifts because he had already g iven Solus one.

    Then arrived the Ernas sisters and, much to Lith¡®s surprise, Phloria as w ell.

    "What does she do here?" He asked.

    "l invited her to thank her for taking me to you after Man0har''s d eath." Solus replied. "After spending that night together, 1 think it''s t ime that l try to mend our rtionship."

    The more people an''ived the more awkward Lith felt. Solus''s birthday w as turning into an even moreplex event than his, and that s poke volumes of the ?gures that walked through the room, chit- c hatting.

    ¡®As far as I know, Solus and Phloria never got along ever since I

    Awakened her. This doesn''t bode well.¡¯ Lith thought, without even k nowing that the worst had yet toe.

    The double doors of the ballroom opened once again, letting in more u nexpected guests.

    Baba Yaga in her Mother form and Lochra Silverwing walked briskly to Solus in their magni?cent evening dresses, hugging her as if she has j ust escaped mortal danger.

    "Thank the gods you are alright, Elphyn. I was afraid to lose you f orever." The Mother looked great in her cream¡ªcolored dress. It had a square neckline and was decorated with a sr pattern.

    More than her beauty it was the warm tenderness that she exuded t hat made the male guests turn their necks to look at her way longer t han it was polite. Aerth studied her with interest, waiting for the r ight moment to make his move.

    "Malyshka? Loka? What are you doing here and what are you talking a bout?" Solus asked in confusion as the rest of the room readied their s pells in case Silverwing tried something funny.

    "We know everything about what Bytra did to you and your mother."

    The First Magus said while her chestnut eyes scanned the room, a lmost fearing that the Abomination might pop out at any moment.

    She wore a dark blue dress embroidered in gold and diamonds. Her l ight blond hair streaked all over with the seven colors of the e lements produced small rainbows as she turned her head left and r ight.

    "l told them. l hope you don''t mind it.¡° Sark said. "l thought that as t wo of Ripha''s oldest friends, they had the right to know."

    "l¡®m so happy to see that you are alright." Both Baba Yaga and Silven/ving referred to her tribtion, but Solus thought they were j ust scared that during Vastor''s wedding Bytra might have attempted t o ?nish the job she had started centuries back.

    "I hate to admit it, but you worried for nothing.¡° Solus spat every w ord, putting in it as much spite as she could. "The Bytra I met is not t he same that killed my mother, I¡®m sure of it. Otherwise I would have k illed her on the spot.

    "She''s more like a daughter who has inherited her mothers memories a nd it wouldn''t be fair to make her pay for something she didn''t do.

    The old Bytra died and my only gripe with it is that she didn''t suffer e nough."

    The Mother and Lochra exchanged a puzzled look, quickly ?guring o ut the misunderstanding. Solus had no idea of her recently u ndergone a world tribtion of her own.

    Not wanting to further ruin her birthday or to burden her mind with a p roblem they had no solution for, they decided that ignorance was b liss.

    "I¡®m d to hear it." Silverwing let go of her goddaughter and turned t o Lith. "l want to sincerely apologize for my previous behavior. I was w rong in doubting you and your rtionship with Elphyn. l hope that y ou can forgive me."

    She gave him a deep bow, leaving everyone ?abbergasted.

    Lith and Solus kept doubting her, not knowing that her sudden c hange of heart had solid foundations. A world tribtion could h appen only when the will of an individual resonated with Mogar''s.

    Someone enved could never experience a tribtion because their a ctions would be a re?ection of their master''s will instead of their o wn. The personality of a ve couldn''t resonate with Mogar simply b ecause they weren''t allowed to have one.

    "We''ll see.¡° Lith said, noticing that they both had brought more p aintings for Solus. "You''ll be our guest for now, but the moment you s how hostility toward me or any member of my family, I''ll kick you o ut."

    A quick bright white ze in the eyes of Surtr, Rethia, Sinmara, and e ven Sark told the First Magus that she was one step away from o blivion. Yet she didn''t care.

    "I''ll keep that in mind." She nodded. "Please, if you ever change your m ind and decide to turn that traitorous horse into a steak, let me k now. I''d be also d to help you in case you need anything that d oesn''t involve my secrets.

    "I''m sorry but having an eternal life also means having no need for an h eir. I don''t n to share my legacy unless strictly necessary."

    Lith couldn''t help but click his tongue in disappointment.

    "Malyshka what happened to V|adion?" Solus asked. "We have tried c ontacting him but he never answered and not even his family in Lightkeep knows anything.¡°

    "He was almost killed by Night''s Chosen after he called you." Baba Yaga replied. "He survived solely because of my bond with the Firstborns that gives me their dimensional coordinates.

    "Once he realized that he had no way out, he called for me and I r escued him. He''s Currently recovering in my house where I brought h is family to keep himpany. These are the documents he had p romised you. They should clear any suspicion the Kingdom has a bout you."

    Lith and Solus sighed in relief at the news. Solus had been worried for dion while Lith just didn''t want to take care of his family as he had p romised. Also, the documents about Orpal would clear his image to t he Royal Court, making his life easier.

    "Malyshka, I need your help." He said, exploiting the unique o pportunity in front of him.

 Chapter 1815: Void and Undeath (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1815: Void and Undeath (Part 1)</h4>

    "l recently manifested a new power that almost further damaged my l ife force and l have no idea how it''s possible. Also, even though I''ve u sed umtion for quite some time and feel ready for the b reakthrough, it never happens.

    "What''s wrong with me?" Lith asked.

    The Red Mother stood on her tiptoes, taking his face between her h ands and forcing him to stoop. Lith and the rest of the guests held t heir breath, thinking that she was about to kiss him but she just used h er breathing technique, Sun and Moon.

    Under the in?ux of her energy, his ?ve hidden eyes opened one after a nother while his body shapeshifted back and forth from human to Tiamat.

    "Wonderful!" Once she was done, Baba Yaga¡®s lips brie?y touched his f orehead and his body stabilized again into its human form.

    "Care to borate?" Lith asked.

    "You are right. You are close to a breakthrough and that''s why your p ower manifested. Yet your body and core are still too weak to bear t he burden of the Call of the Void. Don''t use it again unless your life is a t risk." She replied.

    "I will, but why no breakthrough? My body is stronger than ever, l h ave no impurities, and my mana core is bursting with power." Lith s aid.

    "This mighte hard to ept, but I don''t think that your problem l ies in how much energy you umte. You are not a normal Awakened, but a new form of life entirely.

    ¡°Necromancy, the art that l spent my life perfecting, is about fooling d eath to preserve life. Even though they are called undead, no one of m y Firstborns ever died. Higher Necromancy, like the spell that gave b irth to Nyka, breathed new life in her but in a form of Ka''s c hoosing and at the cost of everything she was.

    "Your power, instead,es from death oveing life. You didn''t l ose anything. You are pure entropy that has turned into order by i tself. Unlike a Necromancer, you don''t conjure souls.

    "They answer your call, their rage resonating with the Void that r esides where your heart is supposed to be. Yet such power still d epends too much on your Abomination side, throwing your life force o ut of bnce and bringing you harm.

    ¡°You must get rid of the shackles that bind you. It''s the only way to m ake the Chaos within you fully integrate with the rest of your life f orce. Until that moment, always remember that the Void is your e nemy as much as it is your ally." Baba Yaga said.

    Lith knew that she wasn''t vague to piss him off but because cryptic w ords were all that she could tell him without the risk of making him s tray from the right path. The Red Mother couldn''t choose the way f or him, only give him hints that would help him to recognize it in due t ime.

    "Thank you.¡° Lith gave her a small bow and went to mingle with the o ther guests to ?nally rx.

    "Can I offer you a drink?" Aerth offered the Red Mother a ?ute of wine t he moment Lith left.

    "Cheeky brat." She giggled. "Do you have any idea how old I am?"

    ¡°No, but after living for 700 years I''m tired of foolish girls and ?nd w ise women much more charming.¡° He replied, offering her his arm t hat she took.

    "That son of a bitch ditched you without a second thought!"

    Silverwing said in amazement before realizing her blunder and turning t o Sark. "No offense.¡°

    "None taken." The Guardian chuckled.

    "I can''t wait to see his face when he realizes that she''s the same Malyshka that was hanging out with you back when you and Aerth w ere together." Silverwing said to Solus.

    "Did they get along?" She asked.

    "No. She always called him an immature brat and he called her a pain i n the ass. This is going to be good." After giving Solus her present, t he First Magus followed the Blue Phoenix.

    "Exes always make a mess of everything." Phloria said with a sigh.

    "Thanks for inviting me."

    "We had a rough start, but I want you to know that l never interfered w ith your rtionship with Lith." Solus replied. "I may feel like a s tranger to you, but to me, you are a precious friend and a dear s choolmate. I wouldn''t celebrate my birthday without you."

    "Also, if you didn''t, my sisters wouldn''t havee and it''s not like you k now that many people." Phloria chuckled.

    "Yeah, that yed a big role in my decision too.¡° Solus said with a l augh.

    "You know, it took me a long time to realize that even though my and Lith¡®s feelings were real, our rtionship was bound to fail. We were b oth too young. I used Lith as a crutch to face my fears and he used m e to ?ght his demons, but neither of us really tried to make the o ther pan of their ns for the future.

    "I want you to know that I don''t resent you anymore. Even if you w eren''t there, we would have screwed it up anyway. Thank you for a lways being honest with me and a good friend."

    "And I want you to know that I appreciated your honesty as well."

    Solus replied. "You never pitied me or hesitated to speak your mind e ven though you knew my story. It hurt me, but it also made me feel l ike a normal person.

    ¡°While everyone else walked on eggshells around me, you have never s ugar¡ªcoated your words, helping me to realize how screwed up my l ife must seem from the outside."

    While Solus and Phlon''a were having a heart-to-heart, Nyka kept p estering Tista for her impossible standards about men.

    "Why didn''t you invite Bodya tonight? That Nidhogg keeps asking you o ut and giving you time, but he won''t wait for you forever.¡° She said.

    "l''m sick and tired of Emperor Beasts treating me like a science p roject and that was before Lith turned out to be a Divine Beast. I w ant a boyfriend, not someone who only talks about mixing b loodlines."

    "I don''t remember you ever telling me that Bodya was insistent on t hat point, but let''s assume he is. Then why didn''t you even take try t o talk with that stud or the other one?" Nyka pointed at Nalrond and Aerth who had been politely dumped by Baba Yaga.

    "l mean aside from the hair there''s nothing wrong with him."

    "One is going out with Friya and the other is Solus¡® ex!" Tista replied.

    "So you already lost your chance with a nice guy due to your h esitation and don''t even consider the other one just because he has a dating history 700 years old?" Nyka said with a sneer.

    ¡°Look, Nalrond is a great guy but he''s always ?xated on solving the p roblem of his life force. As for Aerth, he''s much older than me and h e''s a Phoenix. I don''t see it w0rking between us." Tista shook her h ead.

    ¡°Oh, gods, Tista. I ?nally understood what your problem is!" Nyka s aid.

    "You do? Because all I see is bad luck."

    "It''s not a matter of luck." The Vampire grabbed her shoulders forcing Tista to look her in the eyes. "The problem is that you don''t consider d ating as a way to have fun, but as a way to ?nd a long-term r tionship.

 Chapter 1816: Void and Undeath (Part 2)

    1816 Void and Undeath (Part 2)

    "You dismiss people without even giving them a chance because in your head you are only looking for husband material. That''s the worst way possible to search for a partner.

    "It doesn''t matter how someone looks on paper, but how they behave when you really need them. You heard Surtr. If you keep acting like this, you''ll end up like Faluel."

    "Let''s say you are right. What should I do?" Tista asked.

    "Either you go talk with the Phoenix guy or you call Bodya. If he likes you, he''ll find the time toe here." Nyka shrugged.

    "Fine." Tista sighed, taking out her Council amulet. "Let''s hope that what they say about the demon you know it''s true."

    Ten minutester, Bodya was there.

    ***

    A few days after Solus'' birthday Lith received two calls. One was from Peonia who updated him about the situation in the Kingdom and asked him to be her partner for a g.

    Despite the famine and the war, social events were still of the utmost importance to test the political waters and to feel the shifts in the alliance among the members of the Royal Court.

    Lith found no joy in being showcased like an exotic beast, but he had to humor the Princess and make sure that she had all the aces in the hole she needed to protect the peace of his home.

    Peonia was charming and lovely as always, ending the call with an invitation to visit her any time he wanted.

    The second was from Faluel who summoned him to herir.

    "Thanks foring so quickly." The Hydra said once Lith, Tista, and Solus arrived. "As soon as Friya joins us, we are going to meet the Council. Solus, go back into the ring unless you want to reveal your existence to the world."

    "Now?" Lith asked in surprise while Solus'' body turned into light and disappeared. "What about etiquette, armor, and everything else?"

    "This isn''t a parade like the time your bloodline was revealed. This is a summon for official matters, like when I had to debate with Raagu about who was more suited to be your mentor." Faluel shook her head.

    "Why is Friyaing, then?" Solus asked.

    "Because she''s my apprentice just like Tista is yours. They have responsibilities as well." Faluel replied.

    Lith had several questions, but he doubted that Faluel could answer them and there was no point asking them multiple times. Much to his surprise, Friya came apanied by Phloria and Quy.

    "What is she doing here?" Faluel pointed at the youngest of the Ernas.

    "You can''t summon my friends and sisters and leave me behind. I''m a true mage and a part of this group!" Quy said in anger.

    "You are a brilliant mage, but you are still a weakling. There''s no ce for you in Council matters." Faluel shook her head. "To make matters worse, if they discover that you are learning Light Mastery on your own, they won''t hesitate to kidnap you and extort the knowledge from you.

    "I''m leaving you behind for your own safety. Manohar thought himself invincible, yet he died. If he couldn''t defeat our enemies, what chances do you have?"

    The Hydra opened a Warping Array that moved them to the Council of the Awakened before Quy coulde up with an answer.

    She got mad at Faluel for ditching her and making her feel like dead weight. Yet what truly hurt Quy was the realization that the Hydra was right. Even if they waited there the whole day for her to answer, there was nothing she was better than Manohar at.

    ''Unless I put my life on the line and Awaken.'' She could feel her core stirring as she briefly practiced the breathing technique she had developed. ''If I seed, I''ll reach heights where not even Manohar has ever been. If I fail, however, I''ll be dead or worse. I might even end up joining Vastor''s ranks.''

    Quy gritted her teeth in frustration, the emptiness of their matching the one she felt for being once more the only weak link of the chain.

    Meanwhile, the five Awakened appeared in the middle of what looked like a war room. A square oakwood table big enough to amodate dozens of peopley in the center of the chamber, surrounded by all the Regional Lords of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Floating above the wooden surface there was an even bigger hologram of the country that the Lords used to zoom on the cities of their respective territories and arrange battle ns.

    The size of the table allowed them to discuss more than one raid at a time and to share the information that Lords from the same region but different factions possessed.

    Lith recognized the courtroom where he had been first introduced to the Awakened Council and then judged worthy to be their member. The stand where he had sat was gone now and so were the table for the jury and the seats for the judges.

    The five Council representatives sat on wooden thrones aligned against the south wall, to keep an eye on the situation as a whole and be capable of giving their input on all the missions that were being nned.

    Lith recognized the empty seat where Faluel was supposed to sit because besides it stood Athung Soranot, the human Lord of the Distar Region. Much to his surprise, she had left her seat to another familiar figure.

    Aalejah Eventide was engaged in multiple heated discussions at the same time. She used her Yggdrasil branch to move the troops on the holograms and sometimes she passed it to a Lord who failed to understand her strategy.

    The mystical wood of the World Tree helped its wielder to focus, temporarily enhancing their intellect and allowing the less brilliant among the Awakened to grasp herplex strategies.

    Her staff was simr to Solus'' but much rougher, with fewer mana crystals and pseudo cores. Unlike Lith, Aalejah didn''t have someone who could undo a poor enchantment at will andcked the funds tomission the best staff that she could devise.

    Until Tistapleted her training with both Athung and Raagu, Lith had given her a half-assed job on purpose to make sure that they would uphold their part of the bargain.

    Only Sark could use Creation Magic to reset the staff and only he could ask her such a favor. The poor imitation of the Sage Staff served as a reminder of both his talent and the need they had for him.

    Aalejah was the reason the room was slowly going from chaotic to orderly as more and more battle ns were settled and the Lords could start arranging their respective preparations.

    It was then that Lith realized that the holographic map didn''t actually allow forplex edits, it was the elf drawing upon it with her staff.

    It was just tier zero Light Mastery, but Lith was still impressed.

    Learning such a rare branch of magic by herself couldn''t have been easy. The more Aalejah contributed to the meeting, the more Athung''s status increased, and with it Raagu''s who looked at the scene with a smug grin on her face.

    Athung was her old apprentice and the elf was her apprentice''s retainer so whatever they did it reflected positively on her.

 Chapter 1817: Shadow War (Part 1)

    Lith had just noticed a skeletal draconic figure that looked like a Lich right beside Aalejah when Fe stood up and gestured them to approach the Council.

    On top of that, mana sense revealed that both Athung and Aalejah had deep violet streaks covering their cores, showing that by pooling their knowledge they hade close to discovering the secret of the violet core.

    "Let''s take a break for now." The voice of the Behemoth echoed throughout the room, putting an end to the debate. "Our main guests have arrived and I want to hear everyone''s opinion before the Council makes the final decision."

    Much to Lith''s surprise, Fe wasn''t just pointing at him but at Tista as well.

    "I was d to hear that you''ve joined the war efforts of the Kingdom, Lith." The Behemoth said. "Because the Council needs you as well but for a much more important mission than conquering a measly castle.

    "Today, we are going to write history." Her words were met with enthusiasm from the Council members and indifference from Lith''s group.

    "With all due respect, Fe, but the war started months ago and this is the first time that I''m hearing anything about the Council ying an active role in it. I know what happened during the night Thrud made her move and of your ns about training your own army, but that''s it."

    He looked at Athung, with whom he had assumed to be on good terms, at Fe, who was still helping him to train his Tiamat form, and even at Leegaain.

    "I''m the one who discovered Glemos'' alliance with Thrud and Meln. I warned you all about their intention of wiping out the Council and taking your resources for themselves, yet so far you have washed your hands of this war.

    "If you want my help for anything else, you need to tell me what makes this mission so important."

    The Regional Lords sneered at him while the Council representatives chuckled at his naivety. Inxialot the Lich King who had been pleasantly working on his research until a second ago, rose his head from the notes and misunderstood the situation.

    "Off with his head! Why do we have to always judge this idiot? Let''s kill him and avoid any further problems."

    The chuckles turned into exasperated sighs as Raagu repeated him for the umpteenth time why they were there and what they were doing. For some reason, she was the only one Inxialot listened to.

    "I can understand your anger. This war has already taken away someone you cared about and the Dead King has relentlessly attacked you over the past few years." Fe said. "Yet the Council didn''t sit idly as you think.

    "In the past, there have been countless madmen that by chance discovered our existence and tried to enve or kill us, but they always failed. This time it will be no different.

    "You see, after the start of the war, we have withdrawn the bulk of our forces not only to train them, but also to use them to gather intelligence." She pointed at the locations of the Undead Courts that they had discovered and even that of the Golden Griffon.

    "Also, we never washed our hands of this fight. The Council has helped the Royals from behind the scenes just like the Dead King does for Thrud."

    "Did you follow my advice and form an alliance with the Royals?" Phloria asked.

    "Not yet." Fe shook her head. "They are fake Awakened and letting them into Council matters is something that we prefer to keep as ast resort. Once they learn about our names, numbers, and resources, there is no turning back.please visit

    "They might even be tempted to attack us if at the end of the war we''ve suffered too many casualties. Today''s ally can be tomorrow''s enemy."

    "I''m sorry, but you are making no sense. Every one of you is stronger than my brother and there are hundreds of you. How can the war still be going on if you are helping the army as you said?" Tista asked.

    Her reasonable question sounded incredibly stupid to the Council members that held back their viciousments only because they needed her help.

    "Stop thinking like a human and think like an Awakened, child." Lotho the Treant said, standing up from his chair and towering over her.

    The giant oak tree stared at Tista with his amber eyes zing with mana and squirrels ran over his bark due to the sudden movement scaring them.

    "A war is nothing but a trifling matter that mayst months, years, sometimes decades, but it always bes just a few pages in history books, given time.

    "If the Council unleashes its full might, Thrud might be desperate enough to divulge the secret of Awakening to the public and at that point, there would be no way to stop it from spreading.

    "Such a revtion would turn a measly war into a world-breaking event that would change life as you know it. It would rewrite history and cause events whose consequences would still ripple even after most of those present here will be dead.

    "On top of that, the Mad Queen''s Awakened army is immortal whereas every one of our losses is definitive. It''s not just a matter of winning, but also of limiting our losses and not being wiped out by our next enemy.

    "We are indeed strong, but the death of a single one of us means the loss of hundreds, if not thousands of years of magical research and the potential loss of entire legacies. Each one of our lives is worth thousands of non-Awakened, if not millions!"

    His rage made the room tremble and Tista stepped back in fear. It wasn''t just his massive size but also his bright violet aura that made her feel as helpless as a child in front of Dragon.

    "Calm down, Lotho." Fe stepped between them, protecting the young woman with her aura. "Tista isn''t even a full member of the Council. She''s an apprentice and by disrespecting her you are disrespecting her master, Faluel, and even me."

    Lith was no longer Faluel''s apprentice, but she still considered herself his mentor, just like Fe considered the Hydra her friend. Unlike most of the other races, the Beasts looked out for their own.

    "Tista, what Lotho said is right. We can''t use our full power, but that doesn''t mean that we have been sitting on our thumbs either. You have no idea how important the role of the Dead King is in helping Thrud to keep the cities she has conquered.

    "People didn''t submit overnight and many of them don''t really believe in her hero charade. Yet they don''t rebel because they have no other choice. The Undead Courts keep attacking the civilians regrly and without her help, they would bembs to the ughter.

    "At the same time, the Undead Courts keep the Royals frommitting the full force of the army and the Association with guerri tactics. To assemble enough troops to move against the Golden Griffon, the Royals need to weaken their defensive forces since the number of soldiers at their disposal is limited.

    "Whenever that happens, the Undead Courts attack the areas with the highest people per soldier rate, forcing the Crown to withdraw."

 Chapter 1818: Shadow War (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1818: Shadow War (Part 2)</h4>

    "What you need to understand is that her alliance with Orpal allows Thrud to focus solely on the offense while he focuses solely on d efending her assets.¡° Fe said.

    "She just needs to send a few Awakened each time to open Spirit Gates and allow her allies to reach any point in any city despite the a rrays. The undead work as a leash for both the people that have yet t o surrender to her rule and for the Croum."

    "What a cunning woman." Lith hated Thmd for allying herself with Meln, yet he had to recognize the brilliance of her n. "It must have b een Thrud''s or Night''s idea because Meln isn''t smart enough to c ome up with something like this."

    "Indeed." Fe nodded. "That''s why the Council has been secretly a ttacking and eradicating the branches of the Undead Courts this w hole time. By weakening the Dead King, the leash on the Kingdom g rows loose.

    "We prefer not messing directly with Thrud because we don''t want to l et her know that we are aware of her ns. We know from Dawn''s l oyalists that her alliance with Meln is shaky at best.

    "Our strategy is to tip the bnce of power in Thrud''s favor. This way, t he Undead King will feel his position threatened and do something s tupid that will split them further apart, weakening both our enemies

    "Once we get rid of him, Thrud¡®s measly forces will no longer be able t o keep the Royal army and the Mage Association at bay, especially w ith a few of us disguised among their members.

    "This way, the Mad Queen will fall discreetly, the secret of Awakening w ill remain as such, and the history written by the winners will c arefully gloss over the bizarre magic used by the usurper.

    "The memory of the attack will die with its witness and be n othing but a fairy tale in the span of a couple of generations.

    Everybody wins."

    "l like your n, yet l don''t see what could you possibly need me for."

    Lith said. "As Tista said, many of you are stronger than me and so far, y ou didn''t bother asking my opinion about anything."

    "My next words will reply to all your remaining questions.¡° A huge grin a ppeared on the Behemoth¡®s face.

    "We know that you hate the Undead King for his relentless attacks a gainst you during the past few years. You should be d to know t hat you have been summoned here to enact the ?nal part of our pn. Killing Meln Narchat."

    "What?" Lith''s group said in unison.

    "We are aware of the restriction that Baba Yaga put on Night." After ?nishing exining the situation to lnxialot, Raagu stood up as well, s howing Lith the hologram of a familiar scene from his past.

    "This spell that you all can read will prevent her from attacking the Verhen household again." Baba Yaga said in the projection while using Creation Magic to put a ve spell on Night''s crystal.

    Then it fast¡ªforwarded her discussion with the seven Abomination-

    Hybrids that hade to the Master''s rescue until the next point of i nterest.

    what about I change the spell so that Night will be unable to h arm directly or indirectly anyone who resides in Lutia?" The h ologram disappeared as soon as the Red Mother ?nished speaking.

    The ve spell protected thoroughly whoever bore the Verhenst n ame and extended even to those who lived in Lutia. Had Trion not c hanged hisst name, he would have still been alive.

    "We have kept you and your sister out of the game because you are o ur secret weapon." Raagu said. "Meln may be powerful to a fake m age, but he is still a deep blue-cored Awakened with little e xperience.

    "He''s nothing without Night whereas you..." A wave of her hand r evealed Lith''s deep violet aura with several lighter streaks, Tista''s b lue aura, and Friya''s and Phloria''s bright blue auras.

    Their auxiliary cores had fully formed but had yet to stabilize. On top o f that, their bodies had yet to grow ustomed to their new s trength. The moment they mastered their abilities their respective m entors would teach them the secret of the violet core.

    Or at least that was the n, but both Friya and Phloria wanted to d iscover it on their own. Yet if the war went on, they would have no c hoice and ept such knowledge even if it meant limiting their f uture growth.

    "Also, we are not sending you alone. Your group will be our s pearhead, but we''ll send four more units of the Hand of Fate to s upport you." Ragu said.

    The Hand of Fate were the enforcers of thews of the Council that w ere dispatched every time the strength of a single Lord wasn''t e nough to solve a problem or to keep con?icts between Lords from e scting.

    Its members were all bright blue-cored Awakened with centuries of e xperience yet no legacy who had remained stuck in such a state long e nough to have run out of ideas about how to reach the violet.

    Joining the Hand of Fate corps was a way for those who couldn''t b e elders to join the political board of the Council and curry the f avor of their respective representatives in the hope they would at l east give them a hint to get out of the slump.

    "I admit that you are a bit overquali?ed to be a simple member of the Hand of Fate so I''ll give youmand of your unit as a sign of trust. I h eard many things about your aplishments as a soldier and I h ope that you''ll serve the Council as well as you did the Royals." Raagu s aid.

    With his violet core and his nature as a unique Divine Beast, Lith m ight have be an elder, if only he bothered with the politics and r esponsibilities that a seat in the Council required.

    "l''m ?ne with your n, but l want my group to move independently a nd to limit its members to the four of us." Lith avoided saying that he s erved no one to not antagonize Raagu as long as their interests a ligned.

    "Units are usuallyprised of ?ve members. The Spear, the Highmaster, the Shield, the Tower, and the Storm." Raagu referred to t he most effective battle formation for Awakened units that Aalejah h ad developed after including dimensional mages like F riya.

    "l know, but the Council already stole from me the information about m y bloodline abilities. I''ve developed more and just like you all, I''m e ntitled to my privacy." Lith replied. "These people know what my s ister and I are capable of and they won''t breach our trust."

    He wanted to avoid dealing with strangers because that way he could r ely on Solus and even on Locrias, bringing the members of his group u p to six if necessary.

    "Are you talking about the purge of Derios'' undead?" Lotho''s voice s ounded like a stone rubbing against tree bark yet it couldn''t hide his c uriosity.

    "To that and so much more." Lith spouted lies like breathing, making Tista and Solus want to puke as the Council members stared in awe at t he only two existing members of the Demon race.

    "Fine. We''ll allow it." Fe said.

    "Well, I don''t agree with any of this." Xenagrosh walked out of the s hadows where she had remained hidden until that moment. "Sending Lith alone is too dangerous. 1 volunteer as the ?fth member."

 Chapter 1819: Into the Vurdalaks Lair (part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1819: Into the Vurdk''s Lair (part 1)</h4>

    Lith looked at Xenagrosh in surprise, feeling Solus tremble at the sight of the Shadow Dragon and the smell of Bytra that she carried.

    "We may have our differences, but you know that I''ve always kept your secrets. You can trust me." The divide that had opened between Zoreth and the man that she considered her little brother hurt her deeply, and her eyes showed it.

    She was eager to redeem herself and her wife in Lith''s eyes to the point that neither of them had told Vastor about Solus'' real identity. Bytra preferred to die rather than inflict more pain on the woman that she had already killed once.

    ''The decision is up to you, Solus.'' Lith said.

    ''I don''t like Xenagrosh much, but if we face Orpal and he conjures his tower, we''ll need all the help we can get. Just keep her away from me.'' Solus'' ring was made of inanimated stone, yet it managed to shake in fear.

    "I ept."

    "But we don''t." Raagu looked carefully at Leegaain, weighing her words.

    Thest time that Lotho had mistreated the lost daughter of the Guardian, he had been humiliated to the point that just seeing Xenagrosh had made the Treant subconsciously shrink in size and seal his own mouth.

    "With all due respect, Xenagrosh, the Organization is not a part of this Council. We appreciate all the help and information you have provided us, but this doesn''t change that Awakened don''t like dealing with people that remain hidden in the shadows.

    "As long as the so-called Master doesn''t reveal himself, we cannot let you take part in any mission. It would mean sharing with you confidential information that we can''t disclose as long as we don''t fully trust each other."

    "Fine." Xenagrosh snorted, producing a puff of ck smoke. "But if anything goes wrong, it will be on you and I''ll make sure that you pay for it."

    "There''s one thing that I want to say before we move out." Tista stepped right in front of Raagu. "If we do this for you, we''ll leave our house exposed. Meln has made no mystery of his intentions and his troops will likely attack the moment the coast is clear.

    "While we are away, I want all the Regional Lords to help Faluel defend our home. Lith isn''t the only one under Meln''s threat and we won''t risk everything for you."

    Raagu looked at the other Lords who sighed but epted.

    "If everything is settled, you have five minutes for the final preparations before we Spirit Gate you to your destination."

    "No briefing? No time to study the maps?" Phloria asked, curling her upper lip at their stupidity.

    "Who do you take us for, humans?" Raagu put a pin on their chests and the information about the ce they were about to raid flowed into their minds.

    Blueprints, the number of known enemies, even their names and known abilities were easily essible to them with but a thought. Lith''s group had already experienced the effects of the tower''s library, yet the pins surprised them anyway.

    "Just be careful not to lose them." Leegaain said. "I couldn''t cram so much knowledge into your minds without damaging your memories so it''s all stored inside the pins. They will work like a second brain, with no burden on your abilities."

    "Thank you." Lith tried and failed to study his pin with Abyssal Gaze. Leegaain''s cloaking runes let him see only a simple message through the fog that covered the power core of the pin: "Nice try."

    "Friya, as the Storm you are supposed to scout the enemy lines and deal devastating blows to disrupt their battle formations. Take Thundercrash and make it rain." Lith handed her the railgun and a full cartridge.

    "I thought you had imprinted it yourself for your missions." She epted the weapon with a small bow of gratitude.

    "I did, but I always have Grandma reset it when I visit her."

    "Lucky bastard." Friya took the words out of the mind of everyone present.

    While they discussed the final details, Leegaain left his seat and approached his daughter.

    "Are you alright?" He said.

    "Not really, Dad, but thanks for asking."

    "You know that you can tell me anything, don''t you?" The Father of all Dragons touched her shoulder, checking on Zoreth''s condition.

    Much to his surprise, both her twin life forces and cores had stabilized. The Master''s experiments had brought the fusion of the life forces near itspletion while the ck and the troll core now spun around each other like twin stars.

    ''Whoever this Master is, he must be a damn genius.'' Leegaain thought. ''They managed to turn Zoreth from a messed jigsaw puzzle into a proper hybrid. She is now no different from the offspring of two different Emperor Beasts.

    ''The only question that remains is if her two sides will manage to fuse into one like it happened for Lith or if once theye too close, she''ll be forced to choose one. At this point, everything is possible.''

    The Father of All Dragons saw the Eldritch life force try to suck the troll''s dry, only to be pushed back by waves of pure light element.

    At the same time, the two cores got closer with every cycle until they collided.

    They managed to partially merge before the repulsive effect forced them apart and they started their dance anew. The ck core was a creature of Chaos just like the Troll core was infested by Decay.

    In theory, they should have neutralized each other and achieved perfection, but in reality was much moreplex. Too much light energy would turn Chaos into darkness, just like too much darkness would snuff out the Decay.

    So far, the two cores neutralized the side effects of each other but that wasn''t enough to bring Zoreth fully back to life.

    Each core had its own output and needs that couldn''t be fulfilled by the random amounts of energy that the other emitted. The final step that Zoreth needed to be something whole yet alsopletely new, was to have her two life forces be one.

    Only then, after the energy and the flesh of her body became interchangeable like it happened for the white cores, would her cores manage to synchronize. At that point, it would be only a matter of time before the troll''s and the ck core''s energy signatures would synchronize and they would fuse as well.

    On paper, it was very simple, but it was actually an incrediblyplex process that involved too many variables even for Leegaain to calcte.

    "Dad, do you think that it''s possible to forgive someone who has hurt you really bad, if they didn''t do it on purpose?" She asked, worrying about Bytra''s mental health.

    "Depends, my dear." He replied. "Just saying sorry is cheap. The first step is to recognize your mistakes, the second is apologizing, and the third is proving with actions to be worthy of forgiveness.

    "Even if you do everything you can, however, the final decision is always up to your victim. You can''t demand to be forgiven. Even if you think to havepensated them properly, what you believe doesn''t matter, only their feelings do."

    "That''s what I thought." She sighed.

 Chapter 1820: Into the Vurdalaks Lair (part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1820: Into the Vurdk''s Lair (part 2)</h4>

    "Is there anything I can help you with?" Leegaain asked.

    "It''s not about me. It''s about my wife."

    "You married and you didn''t invite me?" He replied, his feelings hurt.

    "Dad, she''s an Abomination like me and the ceremony was held in the presence of the Master and my new siblings. Having a Guardian ready to annihte us would have killed the mood." She replied.

    "Are you happy? Is she treating you right?" While Leegaain worried about his daughter, Lith and the others had finished their preparations and were ready to go.

    "Onest question. How did you find Night''s position?" He asked, as paranoid as usual.

    "Baba Yaga put us in touch with Dawn''s loyalist inside the Undead Courts. We don''t trust them so we used our informationwork to check the rumor they passed us before starting this n. We wouldn''t send you in blindly." Fe tapped on Lith''s pin.

    Leegaain had once again outdone himself. The artifact not only worked as a small Soluspedia that provided the members of the assault team everything they needed to know about the undead''s headquarters, but it also worked as a short-range Spirit Communication device.

    The pins were connected to each other, creating awork of mind links that would allow a team tomunicate silently as well as with other teams to exchange information in real-time.

    Spirit Magic was invisible to non-Awakened and no sealing array would jam its signal.

    "Is everyone ready?" Raagu asked, obtaining several nods in reply. "It''s daytime so most of the undead will beatose or weakened. Remember that if we fail, the next time the Dead King will be ready for us."

    Her eyes zed with bright violet energy and so did those of the rest of the Council representatives as theybined their spell for a long-distance dimensional spell.

    Together they weaved a Spirit Warping Array that moved the assault teams to their respective positions inside the underground base of the Night Court located in the city of Panat, in the Gorgon Empire.

    ording to the intel they had received, Orpal steered clear from the Griffon Kingdom due to the seal that Baba Yaga had imposed Night. She couldn''t attack anyone without first verifying that they didn''t live in Lutia which grated on her nerves.

    Tista looked around their arrival location, her jaw almost touching the floor. They had appeared inside a richly decorated room with windows, but plenty of light came from the enchanted crystal chandeliers on the ceiling.

    The furniture was made of iid secr wood while the ornaments, from the flower pots to the book ends, were made of solid precious metals. The air was fresh and filled with the sweet scent of flowers, making it hard to believe that they were underground.

    ''Good gods, this is the most luxurious dungeon I''ve ever been into.'' She said via the mind link. ''Yet why the fresh air if they have no need to breathe?''

    ''The undead like livingrge.'' Lith replied. ''As for the air, usually I''d say that they do it for their Thralls, but if Meln really is here, then he did it just to satisfy his ego.''

    ''If?'' Friya said while moving a curtain with the point of Thundercrash, to not touch anything before checking on the ce.

    The gesture revealed the presence of a painting gallery in the room to their right. Among the portraits, there was one depicting a half-naked Meln. He was sitting on a throne, his body as perfect as that of a Greek god, while several gorgeous naked women groveled at his feet like animals in heat.

    One of them bore a striking resemnce to Tista.

    ''This is disgusting! How did you put up with such a perverted creep?'' Phloria said.

    ''We didn''t.'' Tista''s face was half-red in outrage and half-green in disgust.

    She just wanted to puke and burn the painting, but she had no idea if it had any defense mechanism. Failing the mission just because of Orpal''s perversion was off the table. She wanted him dead, now more than ever.

    She cast her best array detection spell, Unravelling Eye, to understand what dangery ahead of them. Life Vision and mana sense were blinded by the massive magical aura of the ce that made them useless.

    ''I don''t know if it''s intentional, but that painting is the only one connected to an rm.'' Tista said.

    ''It''s intentional. I bet that Meln has ced disgusting pieces of art like this one in the hope to upset us and make us do something stupid.'' Lith was disturbed by Orpal lusting after his own sister but even more by his cunning.

    Somehow the Dead King had predicted that Lith or someone rted to him would have found his hideout and had made sure to shake them psychologically before the real fight started.

    Lith preferred his opponents stupid and predictable, but after Manohar''s death, he had ceased underestimating Orpal.

    ''You stay here, I''ll scout the ce.'' Friya wanted nothing more than get out of there quickly, but it would have meant ying straight into her opponent''s hand. ''Meln is an Awakened as well so he knows how Life Vision works.

    ''I bet that all the useless enchantments in this ce are here to blind our mystical senses. If you add that to the booby-trapped painting, I''m afraid that there are more surprises waiting ahead of us.''

    Tista shared with her the results of the Unravelling Eye spell, allowing Friya to move past the array field without triggering it nor needing to use spells that would drain her focus.

    Thanks to Leegaain''s pins, Tista could cast Unravelling Eye again as soon as Friya reached a new area even though she wasn''t physically there.

    While Tista took care of the magical protections for her, Friya used her spell, Scope, to check for guards and make sure that the map the Council had provided them was urate.

    The ce was exactly as it was described in the blueprints and the guards were in their ce, yet Friya couldn''t help but feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up in rm.

    Orpal had filled the ce with a magical aura that neutralized Life Vision and weighed on her mana perception. Friya knew that the spells were just cosmetic in nature, but their sheer power ringed a constant rm in her head.

    To make matters worse, all of the guards wore cloaking devices, making it impossible for her to discern their power level and which among them were Night''s Chosen, regr undead, or Thralls.

    Every one of them moved without making a sound, their presence almost ethereal.

    Friya felt as if she had walked inside a den of Wyverns whilepletely naked and blindfolded. Just like she was depicted in a painting while she begged Orpal for attention yet he ignored her.

    As soon as she was done, Friya Spirit Warped back to herpanions. Even though she had cast just a few spells, she felt tired and her forehead was covered in sweat. The mental and magical strain from moving in such a hostile environment had taken its toll on her.

    ''I''m sorry, but I''ve got only bad news.'' She shared with them everything that she had learned.

 Chapter 1821: Primordial Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1821: Primordial mes (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡®Did Meln really put all of you in his sick paintings?¡¯ Lith asked with his lips curled up in disgust, wishing he could puke and burn that ce to the ground.

    ''You wish.¡¯ Friya replied, doing her best to repress a retching sound that would reveal their position. ¡®I''ve seen a statue of Kam and Zinya doing something that I''ll never forget.

    ¡®Another one of my Mom with Orpal, and a painting of you that I''d rather not talk about.¡®

    They spent the next few minutes preparing their battle n to reach the throne room and waiting for the report of the other assault teams. Once they were done, Lith discovered that the Hand of Fate corps had found themselves in a simr situation.

    None of them was a dimensional mage and with Life Vision blinded and surrounded by enemies they had been forced to move more slowly than normal.

    ¡®The situation is unfavorable, but we can still make it.¡® Zeraka the Redcap, one of the most experienced members of the squads said.

    ¡®Our best course of action is to follow the guards and create a diversion right before you reach the throne room.

    ¡®This way, the guards will be taken by surprise and fall easily while their uing reinforcements will have to spread their forces to deal with all of us at the same time.¡®

    Lith nodded and his squad started to move, following Friya¡®s footsteps. Her role was that of the Storm, to scout ahead as quiet as the wind yet ready to bring destruction to her enemy with hit and run tactics.

    Right behind her followed Tista. She wasn''t skilled enough to be called a Highmaster, but she had practiced hard with arrays to cover for Lith''s weaknesses. She had learned how to cast with fake and true magic at the same time, halving the time needed to prepare an array.

    It was still a long timepared to someone who could use body casting as well, but she had the lowest battle prowess of the group,

    and giving the role to anyone else would have been a waste of talent.

    Phloria stood in front of her, a Shield ready to protect the Highmaster and Solus the moment she came out of her ring. Lith was the Spear and closed the line, protecting their back and making sure that no one was following them.

    He wasn''t as quick as Friya with Scope but he was pro?cient at using it. They moved through the corridors, using Spirit Magic to both ?oat a centimeter above the ground and erase their smell.

    Orpal had ced ?ve elemental sealing arrays in ce that could block everything but darkness, the undead¡®s greatest weapon. The magical formation turned on and off almost randomly, forcing the group to use Spirit Magic even for cant?ps and spend a lot of mana.

    To make matters worse, the guards had no such problem. During her recon, Friya had noticed how they had a device that alerted them of which arrays were on or were about to be turned on at any moment.

    lt was brilliant in its simplicity. On the palm of the gloves that the guards wore, there were ?ve concentric circles, each one of the color of their respective element. When an array was active, its respective circle was visible.

    Also, the circles blinked when the corresponding array was about to be turned off or on, giving the undead ?ve seconds¡® notice. Enough to ready their spells and prepare a strategy suitable to the situation at hand.

    lt gave the undead a considerable advantage that coupled with their innate outstanding physical prowess put them on par with the Awakened.

    ¡®Can''t you shut these damned arrays down with Domination?¡¯ Phloria asked, not having a clue about how the ability worked. ''There''s three of you with seven streaks, it must be worth something.¡®

    She was covered in a cold sweat, incapable of taking her eyes off a painting depicting her that would haunt Phloria for years. Stress and outrage made her eager to hang Orpal with his own entrails.

    ¡®Maybe we could, but it would alert the enemy of our presence and drain our energy. We''d¡ª¡® Friya''s train of thought derailed when the guards dashed out of the same corridor that they had entered a few minutes ago.

    They spotted the intruders, sounding a silent rm before rushing to intercept them.

    ¡®What the fuck is going on? I double¡ªchecked the patrol''s route before retuming to our entry point and this has never happened.¡¯

    Friya said, feeling guilty for her blunder.

    ¡®It''s not your fault.¡® Zeraka''s voice echoed inside their heads. ¡®One of the patrols suddenly turned around and discovered one of our units.

    The moment they sounded the rm, the other guards did the same.¡®

    ''You are supposed to be professionals!¡® Lith said while unsheathing War.

    ¡®We are, dammit!¡¯ Zeraka and the Hand of Fate had done nothing wrong.

    Orpal had his guards follow a precise pattern, but at a random time, a random unit would receive the order to retrace their own steps.

    Even Friya would have failed to notice them until it was toote. She had been too busy keeping an eye on their route and there were too many corridors to monitor them all at the same time with Scope.

    ¡®If stealth isn''t an option there''s no point being silent. Cover your ears!¡® Thundercrash slipped from Friya''s back and into her hand as if it had a mind of its own.

    The two guards ran towards the intruders while keeping a couple of meters of distance, giving each other the space that they needed to shapeshift.

    As their forms burst out of their uniform, a ck prism in the middle of their chest identi?ed them as Night''s Chosen.

    ¡®That''s why darkness is not sealed!¡¯ Friya alerted the others. ¡®They are immune to it. Save your manal''

    She carefully took her aim and shoot, yet the undead easily dodged the bullet. One of them dashed against the wall, running on it on all four without losing speed while the other jumped on the ceiling and stayed there.

    They were both Grendels, a rare type of undead that was very rare and dangerous. They were nigh-invulnerable due to their iron skin and neither magic nor des could harm them.

    Their only weaknesses were darkness magic, blunt weapons, and their inability to use magic but the prism neutralized two out of three of them.

    Grendels had nothing but their physical strength and resilience, but thanks to Night''s blessing they now shared all the bloodline abilities of their fellow Chosen.

    It was only bybining the re?ex of the Grendels with the uncanny senses of a Banshee that they had managed to predict the trajectory of the bullet and dodge it before it was even ?red.

    The creatures in front of Friya grew over 3 meters (10'') tall and had a round head, with eyes the size of a tennis ball. Most of the red light of undeath of the pupil was covered by the darkness element the Grendel received from Night, making their eyes look like eclipsed suns.

    Their bodies were entirely covered by a dirty brown thick fur that made them look like giant sewer rats capable of defying gravity as they ran on all four at impossible angles.

 Chapter 1822: Primordial Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1822: Primordial mes (Part 2)</h4>

    The lipless mouths of the undead deformed into cruel grins after dodging the bullet, revealing that their maw extended almost to the back of their head.

    They activated the power of their fellow Draugr Chosen, further growing in size and power while the wings of the Vampire''s Chiropteran form allowed them to ?y despite the air sealing arrays.

    They moved nimbly back¡ªto¡ªback, in a spiral of razor¡ªsharp ws and teeth that couldn''t be dodged in the small space of the corridor. At the same time, however, they only offered Friya a bigger target.

    It would have taken Thundercrash a while to ?re the next shot, but she had no need to wait. Friya just pointed at the iing Grendels and a bullet popped out the tip of her fore?nger.

    The senses of the Banshee and the air fusion further boosting their lightning re?exes allowed the undead to dodge again despite the close range. Yet Friya adjusted her ?nger again and a third bullet came out again, this time from too close for the undead to avoid.

    The head and torso of one of the Grendels exploded, producing a shockwave that sent the other mming against the wall.

    ¡®Who would have thought that l''d ?nd a new way to use the ?rst dimensional spell that I''ve ever learned, Loop?¡® Friya thought to exin to her ?abbergastedpanions what had just happened.

    The bullets of the railgun were too fast to intercept them with a dimensional ?ssure, but Friya knew their trajectory. All she had to do to recycle a potentially missed shot was to open the entry point of the Loop spell behind her target and the exit point in Front of her fore?nger.

    Loop kept the two openings perfectly aligned, so even if the bullet missed a second time, Friya would get another attempt until she either hit her mark or lost her focus.

    The remaining Grendel got back on his feet with a kip¡ªup, lunging at Friya with so much strength that each one of his ws generated an air de that cut through the stone of the corridor.

    Phloria moved in front of the attack and used her Adamant shield,

    Breaker, to stop it. Each one of the four Awakened could Blink to safety, but it would mean losing their advantage and giving the reinforcements the time to block the rest of the corridors.

    The Mage Knight conjured her personal tier four Spirit Magic spell,

    Stalwart Defender.

    The penta¡ªelemental spell used the light and earth elemental aspects to form a thick barrier that only let the light in, the ?re element to convert the kic energy of iing attacks into heat that the water element would neutralize, and the darkness aspect to eat at anything that stuck at the barrier for too long.

    Thebined effect of the enchanted shield and the spell neutralized the air des before the Grendel could recover his bnce, leaving him helpless against the burst of Origin mes.

    Lith and Tista breathed each on a different side of the creature and the moment their ?ames ovepped, they produced a powerful explosion that sent the undead ?ying back.

    ''Something¡®s wrong.¡® Lith said. ¡®He should have died already. The Grendel''s immunity to magices from their bodies being one with their blood cores. Yet Origin mes are no magic and they should have burned him to dust already.¡®

    What Lith and the rest of the members of the Hand of Fate had failed to take into ount was that with each Chosen that they killed, the survivors became stronger. Night could only share so much energy with them so the fewer they were, the more power they would receive.

    The Grendel was still alive because his body was covered by a thickyer of darkness magic that protected him from the Origin mes.

    Night''s energy ?owed endlessly, intercepting the mystical ?re before it actually reached its target.

    Yet the explosions bought Lith enough time to conjure his Void mes. The ck ?re ?lled the corridor, burning the furniture and enchantments alike before hitting the undead.

    The three types of ?ames reacted badly to each other, causing an explosion that pierced through theyer of darkness and blew the Grendel to bits.

    The group was about to celebrate their victory with a quick high-?ve when they noticed that the shockwave had turned bright white and it wasing their way. In such an enclosed space, the violence of the ?re spread along both sides of the corridor, forcing them to Spirit Blink.

    ¡®Don''t you dare mix Void and two sources of Origin mes ever again!¡® Phloria said when a second look at the corridor, revealed that everything had been burned away.

    Furniture, paint, and even the pavement¡®s marble tiles were gone,

    revealing the bare rock underneath.

    ¡®Good gods, I never thought thatbining Origin mes could be so devastating.¡¯ Tista said while admiring the results of their team effort. ¡®I wonder if we just created the Primordial mes like Xenagrosh and her Phoenix friend.¡®

    During their stay in the Desert and after receiving Xenagrosh''s lessons about Origin mes, Lith and Tista had tried several times to replicate thebined attack of the Eldritches¡ªhybrids.

    They remembered well how the Primordial mes had dealt great damage to Night and were eager to add them to their arsenal. Yet despite their efforts and countless tries, the only thing that they had achieved was a series of explosions.

    The mes refused tobine, eating at each other like hungry beasts ?ghting over a carcass during a famine. Even after Lith had discovered the existence of the Void mes, things hadn''t changed one bit.

    The strength of the explosions was the same, the only difference was that Tista had to breathe her Origin mes in advance to not get sted away by the much faster ck ?ames.

    To add insult to injury, Tista had proved to be incapable of producing Void mes, no matter how hard she tried.

    They hade to believe that her Red Demon wyrmling form was the lesser equivalent of a Tiamat and that even if she managed to fuse her life forces together, her power would be no match for a Divine Beast.

    On top of that, they hade to the conclusion that to produce the Primordial mes, the strength of the two users had to be the same,

    like Kigan and Xenagrosh. They both produced bright violet Origin mes whereas Tista¡®s blue ?ames were much weakerpared with Lith''s deep violet.

    Yet all of their assumptions ha just crumbled in the face of an overwhelming power that could only be exined with Primordial mes. The white light, the destruction of stone and spells alike would have required several tier ?ve Spirit Spells, not just three breaths of ?re.

    ''1 think I know what''s happened here.¡® Solus said from her ring.

    ¡®You do?¡® Lith and Tista asked in unison.

    ''lt¡®s just a hypothesis based on my empirical observations and reasoning since even the Eyes of Menadion are blinded and-''

    ¡®Dammit, Solus, we are on a mission!¡® Phloria scolded her. ¡®If you have something to say that can increase both our survival and sess chances, just say it. Save the lectures forter.¡®

    Phloria also telepathically emphasized the sounds of battle that came from the other corridors and the possibility that soon more undead woulde, forcing them to ?ght again.

 Chapter 1823: Cursed Flames (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1823: Cursed mes (Part 1)</h4>

    Solus cursed at herself. She was so used to exchanging her thoughts with Lith that she would often forget that most people found having a voice bbering in their head distracting, especially in the heat of battle.

    ¡®My guess is that the strength of the two Origin mes doesn''t matter. Tobine them into Primordial mes, our two Demons here have to somehow manipte the energy signature of their respective mes until they match.¡® She said.

    ¡®Please, borate.¡® Tista said.

    ¡®Think about it. When you breathed together, nothing different from the usualhappened.'' Solus replied. ¡®Your respective Origin mes worked independently and caused explosions whenever they made contact.¡® Solus said and the others nodded for her to continue.

    ¡®At that point, the Grendel used Night¡®s prism to defend himself by conjuring massive amounts of darkness that mixed your Origin mes. This way, when the Void me arrived, they found a matching energy signature and created the Primordial mes.

    ¡®Void mes are identical to Origin mes with just a spark of Chaos added to them. My hypothesis is that Night''s darkness tainted the Origin mes, making a difference.¡®

    Her reasoning made sense, but they had no time for more theories.

    They got back to their feet and darted through the corridors,

    following the map in their pins to reach the throne room while the members of the Hand of Fate corps created a diversion.

    Or so they thought until a second wave of four enemies appeared from around a corner to intercept them. They each had a prism in their chest and weren''t affected by the presence of the sun shining high in the sky.

    ''Fe said that thanks to daylight we wouldn''t encounter much resistance aside from Thralls, yet these guys are as strong as theye.¡® Friya said.

    The Primordial mes had wiped out enough of the magical aura of the building to make their mystical senses work again.

    ''lt''s the prism.¡¯ Lith replied. ¡®One of the Chosen must have a bloodline ability that allows them to move freely during the day and the prism shares it with the others.¡¯

    Baba Yaga had disclosed all the information she had about Night''s abilities to the Council. She wanted to be sure that whoever found her rebellious daughter ?rst would know what they were dealing with.

    "Hello, my dear siblings." Orpal''s voice came out of the mouths of the four undead that spoke in unison as they approached. "There''s no need to break into my home. If you wanted an invite, all you needed to do was ask."

    ¡®Shit! This wasn''t in Baba Yaga''s ?le.¡® Tista said.

    The prisms were supposed to only allow Night to share her powers with her Chosen and vice versa. Yet now they seemed to also form a mind link between them, if not even some kind of hive mind.

    ¡®Our situation has just gone from bad to worse since Orpal will be able to study our new abilities. Yet if he can pass his own skills unto the undead, things might be from worse to nightmare.¡® Lith said.

    ¡®Shouldn''t we call off the mission?¡® Phloria asked. ¡®If Orpal knows we areing, he must have run away already.¡®

    ¡®Gods, you''ve never met Meln, have you?¡® Tista replied with a dryugh. ¡®Running away would mean admitting he is inferior to Lith. He would rather die.¡®

    The four undead stopped their advance, opening their mouths unnaturally wide as if their jaws had been dislocated. They emitted the shrill shriek of a Banshee, producing each a shockwave with the sheer energy of a speeding truck.

    Yet thanks to the mind link and Orpal''s ?ne control, the wavelengths of the screams were in perfect synch, ovepping due to constructive interference. The undead''s voices fused into one with four times the destructive power.

    Friya shot with Thundercrash while Tista and Lith breathed Origin mes, but they only managed to reduce the damage they received.

    The sonic boom of the railgun was neutralized and the bullet hit the iing wall of sound, fragmenting before it could reach its target.

    The Origin mes ate more of the raw energy of the Banshee''s shriek, but the shockwave smothered the ?ames like birthday candles.

    Their efforts still bought Lith''s group the time to cover their ears and for Phloria to activate Stalwart Defender again.

    Her tier four Spirit spell ?lled the corridor and absorbed even more of the damage, but it still wasn''t enough. Phloria''s shield-bearing arm went numb from the impact while the others lost their footing and were sent tumbling back on the ground.

    Lith''s mass had allowed him to keep standing, but the vibrations that now coursed throughout his bones dulled his movements and slowed down his reaction time.

    "First, I took out your sight. Now your hearing. Nextes your breath." The four undead said with Orpal''s voice, certain that his opponents weren''t able to hear a word he said.

    He had no idea that due to his unwittingly help, Primordial mes had made Life Vision useful again and that thanks to their teamwork,

    Lith''s group wasn''t deaf.

    ¡®The good news is that Meln can''t share his mystical senses with them.¡¯ Solus said. ¡®The bad news is that he is about to turn the air in the corridor either very hot or very cold. Pick your poison and cross vour ?nger.¡®

    ''lt''s cold!¡® Lith replied with a snarl.

    He remembered well how Glemos the Tyrant had effortlessly made Lith faint due to his weakness to cold. There was no reason for Glemos to hide such knowledge from his allies and Orpal would have been stupid not to exploit it.

    Even though Lith despised his brother''s guts, he had to admit that his deranged quest for revenge had made him into a cunning strategist.

    Tista was weak to the cold as well so with a single spell Orpal would knock out both demons and cripple the strength of their allies. Many birds with one stone.

    Lith hurled a jet¡ªstream of Void mes just in time to see the four undead employ the bloodline ability of a Wendigo, Chilling Wail.

    Wendigos were undead monsters born from a hapless creature that to survive a long and harsh winter had been forced to feed upon their tribe.

    Their Firstborn was not only gued by the madness and guilt that cannibalizing their loved ones had caused, but they also carried the cold of that cursed winter within themselves and had passed it down to their descendants.

    Chilling Wail sucked the warmth from the air, lowering the temperature of dozens of degrees at once and making snow fall. The focused ?re of the Void mes managed to pierce through the cold wave, sending one of the undead ?ying.

    Yet he was hurt, not dead.

    On top of that, the other three kept wailing and the room dropped down to 100 degrees Celsius below zero. Lith and Friya tried to use Spirit Domination to get rid of the cold or at least became immune to it.

    Under Orpal''s guidance, however, the willpower of the three undead fused into one and he added his own, making Chilling Wail impossible to dominate.

    Lith felt his strength plummet and reverted to his human form, but it would only buy him some time. The temperature kept getting lower and the prisms on the Ch0sen''s chests sent a wave of darkness magic that would soon engulf them.

 Chapter 1824: Cursed Flames (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1824: Cursed mes (Part 2)</h4>

    Tista felt so cold that she thought that she was about to die. Her core and her body were weaker than Lith''s, making her even more sensitive to low temperatures. The scales over her body froze and fell,

    shedding just one drop of blood each before it turned solid.

    The ice dug into her ?esh and fell, deepening the wound.

    The cold was numbing her senses but the pain remained unbearable.

    Faced with the death threat, the silver and the red star of her Beast life force started to spin around each other faster and faster, sucking the remaining heat in the room to survive.

    A blue eye opened on Tista''s forehead, right above the red one. Then,

    both of them lit up as she instinctively used Domination to respectively extract more heat from her surroundings and ward off the cold.

    She decided to breathe Origin mes, hoping to gain even one moment of respite from that blinding agony.

    And it was then that it happened.

    The effect of the Chilling Wail, Tista''s twin stars, and Domination,

    perfectly split the ?re from the water element. As she breathed in, a red light shone in between her scales, moving from her mouth to her lungs and then throughout her whole body.

    Suddenly she didn''t feel cold anymore, the red ice covering her turned into blood and then into a zing red ?re. Tista stood up and roared her fury as her Red Demon form produced so much heat that the air surrounding her steamed and the snow now evaporated before reaching her.

    The red light moved back into her heart, up her throat, and out of her mouth in a st of True mes. The small spark of Cinder that she had generated had reced the ?re element in the world energy while her human and beast life force coated the rest of the elements in the world energy.

    lt protected them from the in?uence of the cursed elements and generated something new.

    The True mes moved as fast as the Void, piercing through the Chilling Wail and heating the room. The bright red ?re struck one of the three standing undead, sending her ?ying as well.

    Yet between Night''s Darkness Wave and the little ?re element that the Wendigo''s bloodline ability had left in the surrounding world energy, the st of True mes wasn''t enough to kill the Chosen.

    To make matters worse, together with the spark of Cinder Tista had also generated a spark of Zero of equal intensity.

    The cursed element ravaged her body from the inside, sucking both the heat and the life away from her. Tista had no idea what to do until she remembered what Lith had shown her about Sinmara''s Forgemastering technique.

    While Dragons breathed ?re through their mouths, Phoenixes emitted it through their wings and Sinmara used this ability during her craftings.

    ''l¡®m not just a Dragon, I''m also a Phoenix!¡® Tista thought as she used her blue eye and all the willpower that she could muster to focus the spark of Zero and move it to her wings.

    The Red Demon''s feathers turned to a bright blue and a burst of ?re of the same color erupted from them. The Frozen mes carried the cursed water element away with them, making Tista''s body temperature return to normal.

    The bright red of the True mesing out of her mouth mixed with the blue of the Frost mes erupting from her wings, and both reached their mark, killing the Chosen on the spot.

    The two ?ames couldn''t mix, but the thermal shock they generated was enough to shatter the prism in the undead''s chest even after being weakened by Chilling Wail and Darkness Wave.

    "What the fuck?" Orpal said.

    The death of one of his Chosen was inconsequential to him, yet losing a prism was another story. They were imbued with his power which retumed to him upon the death of their host so that he could choose whether to reabsorb it or send it to his still living Chosen.

    The destruction of the prism, instead, had caused him to lose the power and the portion of his consciousness that he had stored within. The pain from loss gave him a violent seizure that broke his focus and his connection with the remaining three Chosen.

    Orpal''s obsession with Lith coupled with his bonding with Night had given birth to a new ability of her prisms, yet also to an unexpected weakness. He could now impose his will upon his Chosen, but whatever damage the prisms would take, he would suffer it in full as well.

    Thrud looked at his pitiful performance as he wriggled on the ?oor like a worm and smiled.

    "Let me guess. Your n is not going as you nned and your base is about to be taken." She said with a giggle through hermunication amulet.

    "My n is working exactly as intended." He managed to snarl between spasms. "The information l leaked reached the Council and they believed it. There are over ?fty members of the Hand of Fate here plus my brother."

    "Excellent." Thrud nodded. "I can almost see the high and mighty Awakened Council follow the action from their headquarters, hiding underground like the rats they are. Time for my opening move. Thrud out."

    Glemos had been a Regional Lord and he knew the location of theirs of his peers from his visits over the centuries. That along with the knowledge that the Awakened apprentices she had rescued from Xedros had shared with her, gave the Mad Queen all the information she needed about their defensive systems.

    ¡°Call my elite soldiers." Thrud said tota the Scorpicore, her second inmand. "While the Council deals with that moron, I''ll deal with the Council."

    Meanwhile, back in Orpal''s underground pce, Tista''s newfound bloodline abilities had turned the tides of the battle. Without the Dead King coordinating them, the remaining undead were left to fend for themselves.

    Lith''s Domination easily got rid of the remaining Chilling Wail and the Darkness Wave. War found its way through the chest of what turned out to be a Vampire, shattering another prism.

    Lith had done it on purpose after hearing the pain in Orpal''s voice before the mind link was cut off. Now that she had no need to protect her allies, Phloria unleashed her tier four Spirit Spell, Pinning Star that she had weaved with body casting.

    The spell conjured four emerald pirs that attacked another of the undead from the front, back, above, and below. They pierced through his body while also keeping him in ce and giving Phloria the exact coordinates of his prism.

    It allowed her to make a ?fth pir erupt from inside Night''s spawn and bypass its hard shell.

    The only remaining enemy could feel Orpal''s pain growing with every destroyed prism and to make matters worse, the power they contained was lost instead of reinforcing her as the n predicted.

    Cursing her bad luck, the undead essed the bloodline powers of a Blood Witch to Blink away despite the elemental sealing arrays that protected the Death King''s living quarters.

    Her joysted only until Friya¡®s Spirit version of Dimensional Ruler distorted the space around the Blink, making it close halfway and cutting the prism asunder.

 Chapter 1825: Methodical Madness (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1825: Methodical Madness (Part 1)</h4>

    Friya had prepared the tier ?ve Spirit Dimensional spell, Dimensional Ruler, to face Orpal and keep him from escaping.

    Unlike Domination, Dimensional Ruler didn¡®t require a battle of wills.

    It would simply force space to obey her wishes, without giving her opponent any means of defense.

    "I did it! I did it! I did it!" Tista jumped with joy while pointing right above her eyebrow, where her third eye had opened. lt shone with blue energy, showing how much her mastery over the water element had improved.

    "I can get a full Domination as well. Whatever that is." She said with all the enthusiasm that her ignorance about such power allowed her to feel. "Also, I''ve just gotten two new kinds of Origin mes against your Void mes!

    ¡®Whatever I''ll be after I reach the violet core, I bet that I''m not going to be a lesser species but a proper Divine Beast. After all,

    everyone knows that Dragons and Phoenixes are the strongest beings." She puffed her scaly chest out with pride.

    "First, Mogar itself called me the Father of all Demons so I bet that I can do whatever you can. Second, how did you produce those mes?" Lith asked.

    Tista exined to him in detail what had happened and how she had felt, leaving him confused.

    ¡°It''s too vague. Can you show me?"

    The Red Demon tried and failed several times before giving up. She had seeded despite not being trained in Domination because the Wendigo''s bloodline ability had prepared the ?eld for her.

    I-{er beast life forces had had just to perform the ?nal step to split Cinder from Zero.

    "See? It''s much better to have one ability you can use at will after you discover it for the ?rst time than two you have no understanding about." Lith said with a smug grin.

    "Laugh all you want, smartass. I bet that you can''t use them while I just need..." Tista''s voice died at the idea of going back to Faluel and her grueling training sessions. "More practice."

    "Why should 1 be incapable of using them?" Lith asked.

    "Because you have only one feathered wing." Tista pointed at his hip. "I could barely withstand the force of a small spark of Zero because I could expel it through both my wings. If I had only one, I would have frozen to death. We are weak to cold, remember?"

    "Fuck me sideways, you are right." Lith looked at the third membranous winging out of the small of his back as if it had betrayed him.

    The wing ?appedzily and then wrapped itself around his left leg.

    "l hope that while you ?apped your gums you also used a bit of that air for your breathing technique." Phloria said. "We are back at our peak strength and are ready to move."

    They all gulped down a tonic to recover the nutrients lost to heal their wounds before calling Zeraka.

    ¡®Our path is clear and we are close to our destination. What''s your status?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ¡®Whatever you did, it worked like a charm. The Chosen suddenly lost their perfect teamwork and at that point, taking them out has be a child''s y. We''ll reach the Dead King''s quarters as well shortly. Zeraka out.¡®

    ¡®Are you ready, Solus?¡¯ Lith asked after they reached a massive door and Solus came out of her ring.

    ¡®I saved my strength exactly for this moment. He''ll never expect me or my Fury.¡¯ She wielded the hammer in her right hand and the Sage Staff in her left while both were covered by the Hands of Menadion.

    She used the artifact to suck the energy of the several enchantments that reinforced the door dry before kicking it down. Without its magical properties, not even the 20 centimeters (8") thick reinforced steel door could withstand her mass.

    Once again, however, Orpal proved that there was a method in his madness.

    ***

    Thnid had no intention of attacking the Council, not when all the Regional Lords and the representative had left their own territories unguarded. The Mad Queen didn''t dare to underestimate an old monster like Raagu, but elders weren''t scary to her.

    Thanks to Glemos'' and the Awakened apprentice¡®s information, she stormed their homes, using the Sword of Saefel boosted by Life Maelstrom to tum off their defensive arrays while her soldiers raided the ce.

    She didn''t even harm the apprentices she found. Thrud knew that the Council''s policy to kill the unworthy ones made them spend their lives in terror so she offered them a choice.

    They could stay there and die at the hand of their master the moment they failed them or they coulde with her and join her revolution.

    She had no care for talent, only for loyalty.

    The Mad Queen promised them the best teachers and fair living conditions for those who epted to serve her. Most of the apprentices turned down her offer, afraid of the Unwavering Loyalty array.

    Yet those among them who had shown poor results in their studies already felt like ves and knew that their days were numbered. They thought that they had nothing to lose in the exchange and followed her.

    "That''s the problem with the old order,ta." Thrud said while piging ab. "They grow socent of the status quo that they forget that the same people that clean their shit usually are also the ones who know all of their dirty secrets.

    "Indeed." The Scorpicore snarled at the memory of how her old mentor had sold her to Xedros without a care for her well¡ªbeing. "My Queen, there''s a call for you from Squad 15."

    Thrud wasn''t surprised to hear from them. Squad 15 wasprised of her most loyal and powerful soldiers, yet they were against a particrly strong elder of the Council who had many loyal disciples from her own family.

    ¡®They probably need reinforcements or are going to tell me that the mission has failed. I''m ?ne with either result as long we didn''t suffer too many losses. I know that I can''t always win.¡® She had no idea how right she was nor how cruel the irony of Mogar could be.

    "The mission is as good asplete, Your Majesty." Ginma the Hippogriff said with a huge smile on his face. "We suffered no casualties and we are almost done taking anything worthwhile."

    Thrud furrowed her brows in disbelief at the good news that were too good to be true.

    "What about Quisar?"

    "The elder of the Council will soon be dead and then we''ll be able to take even the items stored in her dimensional items." Ginma replied.

    "How did you do it?" Thrud asked.

    ¡®How is this possible?¡¯ She actually thought. ''l sent them there to take as much as they could while also dealing a huge blow to the Council''s pride, showing its members that none of them is safe from me.

    ¡®My purpose was to force the Awakened to step back from the war and to expand the divide that exists between such egotistical beings. l never expected that the young Awakened of my army could defeat a bright violet elder in her own home.¡¯

    "It''s all thanks to your cunning strategy, Your Majesty. Sending the Dead King as ast-minute reinforcement was a stroke of pure genius." Ginma said, making her turn pale.

 Chapter 1826: Methodical Madness (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1826: Methodical Madness (Part 2)</h4>

    "Quisar didn''t see himing and thanks to his steed, not even the arrays could stop us. We havebined our strength and soon Quisar will-"

    "Orpal is there?" Thmd cut the Hippogriff short, her voice ?lled with dread.

    His contribution to the battle would force her to split the loot in half with him. Quisar was one of the biggest targets of that day''s agenda which meant she would lose a lot of resources. Yet magical crystals and metals were the least of her concerns.

    "Yes. We are winning." Ginma repeated, to make sure that his liege understood he carried good news.

    "I don''t give a fuck about winning a single battle nor killing a mere elder. Order the retreat and have Orpal call me. Now!" The Hippogriff had no idea what was happening, but Thrud''s tone didn''t leave space for arguing.

    She even interrupted her own mission, drumming her ?ngers against themunication amulet in a frenzy until the Dead King''s rune ?nally lit up.

    ¡®What''s wrong, sugar lips? Do you feel lonely without your boy toy and want thepany of a real man?¡° He asked with that con?dent grin that she had hated since the ?rst moment they had met.

    "What are you doing here? Weren''t you supposed to take care of Lith during the trap?" She asked, obtaining a peal of sardonicughter in reply.

    "Did you think that I''m a poor idiot? Even before meeting Night, I''ve always been good at math." Orpal said. "l counted how many precious undead l had to sacri?ce and how many resources my Undead Courts had to lose in order to make the Council believe the information that l intentionally leaked.

    "I noticed how every time you have problems controlling the upied cities it''s ¡®our business¡® whereas when the Council gets close to my position it''s ¡®my business¡® and you tell me to deal with it on my own.

    "l¡®m not going to stay idle while you grow your power and let mine dwindle. l know that in the case of my unfortunate death, you would step in and take control of the Undead Courts by exploiting the power vacuum.

    "Well, guess what, sweetheart. We are in this war together. Ifl take risks and losses, then it''s only fair for you to follow my same fate. l prepared the trap ording to our n, investing a lot of resources and Chosen in it.

    "You have no right tofortably sit on the sidelines while I do all the hard work. That''s why l invited Jormun to my home. Your dear husband will ?ght in your ce so that, either we win or lose, it will be a team effort.

    "Also, retreating from Quisar¡®sir was your choice hence it shouldn''t affect my share of the loot. I''ll take most of it since I did most of the work and don''t you dare question my decision or we''ll see how long can youst without me." Orpal hung up the call and Thrud started screaming with mad fury.

    Due to Manohar''s meddling, she had been forced to start the war beforepleting all the necessary preparations. On top of that,

    after meeting Night, most of Thrud¡®s ns were based on the assumption that she had the support of the Undead Courts.

    She knew that if Orpal were to retreat, her newfound Kingdom would crumble after the ?rst big mistake that she made. Winning wasn''t always possible yet losing wouldn''t be an option anymore.

    To make matters worse, Orpal knew it as well. It was the reason he was so con?dent taking most of the loot and that there would be no consequence for him even if Jormun were to die.

    Not until the end of the war, at least.

    ''This is such a great day. I''ve put that bitch into her ce, either Jormun or Leech will die today, and I''ve gotten way more than what I lost in the residence that Leech raided.

    ''Thrud will probably be mad at me for a while, but this war is not going to end S00n. She''ll have the time to get off her high horse and learn to respect me.¡® He thought with a huge on his face.

    ¡®I pray for your victory Leech. I want you all for myself so don''t you dare die on me. Also, if Jonnun croaks, his grieving widow would be eager to help me get rid of you. Last, but not least, once she gets tired of sleeping alone, she''ll dly wee mypany to warm her bed.¡®

    ***

    Gorgon Empire. Base of the Night Court located underground the city of Panat, at the same time.

    When Solus kicked dovlm the door, the Emerald Dragon instinctively unsheathed his Dragonw de and started weaving spells with both his mind and body, readying himself for the ?ght.

    Neither Jormun nor the elite Awakened apanying him had noticed the ?ght taking ce outside the room because Orpal had taken care of making his private quarters soundproof.

    "Little Brother Lith!¡° The Emerald Dragon said with a kindness and a joy in his voice that reminded the Tiamat of the time they had escaped together from the Golden Griffon, except that now they could understand each other.

    "Jakra? What are you doing here?¡°

    "I was going to ask you the same question."

    Lith didn''t like what he saw one bit. The members of the ?ve-man unit apanying him all exuded a powerful deep violet aura and were armed to the teeth with Adamant.

    Jakra and the Tiamat both had light violet streaks in their aura,

    matching their powers. Yet while the enemy side had what Lith could only call masterpieces, his team wore mostly Orichalcum, himself included.

    Friya and Phloria had a bright blue aura, Tista a light blue, and Solus a deep blue with lighter streaks. Theparison was humbling.

    ¡®I defeated Jakra once, l can do it again. Fn''ya has the Adamant armor that Faluel made for her and the railgun so I don''t have to worry about her. Phloria is a veteran and she fully charged her de, Reaver.

    She''s ?ne on her own as well.

    ''Tista, however, is too weak and the darkness sealing array that she prepared along with a few others to counter Night''s skills are useless now. Solus¡®s physical strength is second to none and the Fury is powerful, but she''s magically weak and she can''t properly use her hammer inside such a small space.

    ¡®We might squeeze out a win if we go all out and Tista manages to use her new ?ames, but l doubt that we''lle all out of here alive.¡® Lith thought.

    Neither side lowered their weapons nor stopped to wave spells, both ready to ?ght until theirst breath. Tista dispelled the arrays and cast new ones while Sunder''s ws extended into des.

    Between the self¡ªdefense lessons that Elina had given her ever since she had recovered from the Strangler disease and her training with Lith, her ws were the weapons she was most con?dent with.

    Sunder had turned out to be the perfect weapon for her, allowing Tista to switch freely from close-quartersbat to mid-range without losing her rhythm. s, just like for Nalrond, Lith had only lent it to her.

 Chapter 1827: The Enemy of my Enemy (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1827: The Enemy of my Enemy (Part 1)</h4>

    "I owe you an apology and an exnation." Jormun said. "An apology for attacking you the day Xedros turned into a Dragon. I wasn''t myself back then. The Unwavering Loyalty array of the Golden Griffon had me under its thumb.¡°

    "What about now?" Lith asked.

    "Now I''m free from its effect, but I won''t deny that my allegiance stilly with Thrud. This time on my terms, though. Are you still interested in hearing why I''m here or do you want us to ?ght?"

    "I have nothing to lose by talking some more." Lith replied. "Besides,

    neither of our deaths will change much the oue of the war."

    "But if one of us were to die, it would surely help someone we both despise." Jormunpleted the phrase for him.

    "Good. Exin yourself."

    "I''m not here to ?ght you. I''m not even a General in this war. I''m just a concerned father who came here to limit the interactions between the mother of his son and a creep to a minimum and ended up being yed instead."

    "Father?" Lith echoed in surprise.

    "Unwavering Loyalty array. It''splicated and it''s none of your business. What matters now is that I only ?ght for my son and that Orpal baited me here with the intention of taking his ce in a battle to the death." Jormun replied.

    "It makes sense." Lith nodded. "I never heard reports of an Emerald Dragon ravaging the battle?eld and you seem as surprised as I am from this development."

    "I am." Jormun nodded back.

    "1 came here to deliver Orpal his share of the spoil of war. He demanded that Thrud came here in person and I believed him like a moron. I insisted toe here in her stead without even talking with her, ying right into his hand!"

    The Emerald Dragon''s eyes burned with mana, and were ?lled with spite for Orpal and self¡ªloathing for having fallen into his trap.

    "My brother has be quite a thinker, Jakra." Lith replied. "No matter how this ?ght ends, he would be the sole true victor. If I survive, I''ll lose some of my most precious friends and he''d hurt me again.

    "lf you suwive, the Kingdom will be weakened and the whole Council will hunt you down. You, Thrud, and your son would be dependent on Meln not only for the war but even to survive."

    "My thoughts exactly." Jormun said. "I kept myself out of this war so that even if everything fails, my son and I will still be free men. Yet if I kill you and even one of your allies survives, it will start a blood feud that will never end.

    "That''s why I''ve nned for a different ending that will make both of us happy and will make Orpal regret crossing us."

    The Emerald Dragon waved his hand, taking a few Davross ingots and several white crystals out of his dimensional amulet.

    "l say that the best way to get even with Orpal is that we don''t ?ght at all. I go back to my son and you getpensated for your trouble."

    "Why are you giving me that stuff?" Lith looked at the precious materials with greed, yet didn''t lower his guard or weapon.

    "Didn''t you hear me? That''s Orpal share. Even if I bring it back with me, it would end up in his hands. This way, instead, I can im to have identally lost the dimensional ring during the ?ght.¡°

    He yed with the enchanted item on his ?nger until it slipped off,

    falling right next to the pile of treasure.

    "After all, he asked me to bring such a treasure here. He nned to have us ?ghting to the death. He has no one to me but himself for this ¡®unfortunate ident¡¯. Am I right?" Jormun asked with a sly smile on his face while his guardsughed.

    ¡°l ept your offer." Lith replied after con?rming that the reinforcements from the Hand of Fate Corps would never get there in time. "I have now nothing to gain from our ?ght."

    "On my three we both put our weapons and spells away. One..."

    Jormun counted while slowly stepping back toward the old Warp Gate that the Undead Courts used.

    He took a hand off his de to signal his soldiers to stand dovm and Lith did the same.

    "Three." Jormun released the spells he had at the ready and sheathed his Dragonw sword, yet the soldiers waited until Lith held his side of the bargain. Only once his aura disappeared and War went back into its bloody scabbard did they lower their weapons.

    "l wish you the best of luck, little brother." The Emerald Dragon used the crystal pearl to activate the Gate. "Stay alive. I hope that one day you¡®ll meet my son, Valeron, and see how simr you two are."

    "You too, Jakra."

    "That''s my ve name. Now l''m free and my draconic name is Jormun." He said before disappearing through the dimensional gate.

    "Can you shut it down with Dimensional Ruler?" Lith asked.

    "I''m sorry, 1 have no idea how old runes work." Friya replied.

    "Pity. At least this mission wasn''t aplete failure." Lith shrugged while collecting his bounty.

    He knew that letting the Emerald Dragon go meant leaving a loose end. Sooner orter, the two of them would have to ?ght. Yet the idea of following Orpal''s script made Lith want to puke.

    On top of that, by keeping Jormun alive, the strength of Thrud''s army didn''t change whereas his presence would keep the Undead Courts in check. Any other choice would have meant putting the lives of everyone on the line for no real gain.

    "Hey, there''s ?ve of us here. Don''t you think we should share?¡° Friya replied.

    "Excellent point." Lith nodded. "You are entitled to 20% of the loot and the rest is mine."

    "What?" Everyone said in outrage.

    "Tista and Phloria are my apprentices so they get nothing. Solus and I are one thing so I get her share as well.¡° Lith unted his status as mentor and the ring on his ?nger.

    "What an asshole!" Many grumbles followed but Lith refused to give away a single piece of crystal or metal.

    "Consider it an investment." He told Friya. "The more Davross l put in the Crucible and the more white crystals take root in the mines, the faster the other materials stored there develop.

    "I can give you your share now or you can leave it with me until you need it. If you choose thetter, I''m willing to let you grow your own patch of crystals and metals."

    "One of these days, I''m going to kill Selia for teaching you how to corner people with bad deals." Friya shook his hand in anger but epted nheless.

    "Are you really going to steal from me, lil bro?" The hurt in Tista''s eyes was palpable. She didn''t care about the magical resources as much as she did about their bond.

    "Of course not.¡° He replied. ¡°Let''s be honest. At the moment, your skills as a Forgemaster are mediocre at best. You don''t have a tower nor the blueprints for a decent weapon or armor.

    "Not to mention the fact that once split into ?ve, you''d never have enough metal for a pair of ?ghting gloves."

 Chapter 1828: The Enemy of my Enemy (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1828: The Enemy of my Enemy (Part 2)</h4>

    "l¡®m just safekeeping your share and making it grow. lf your Red Demon form be as big as my Tiamat once you reach the violet,

    you''ll need a lot of materials.

    "lt takes a long time to grow them even in the tower so it''s better to start immediately." Lith caressed her head gently. "Thanks to Grandma, I need enough to make myself a single set of weapons and armor.

    "If I get better, I can just recycle them and forge something better.

    Everything else is for you, Phloria, and for Solus."

    "Hey, why do you put mest? The tower is mine as well and I''m your partner!" She pouted, looking as adorable as an angry puppy.

    "Because of this." He pointed at the Fury, made in Davross, and at its omni-elemental crystals that Sark herself had reforged.

    ¡°And this." Next came the Sage Staff, with its Yggdrasill wood, evil eyes, and more elemental crystals.

    "Aside from the armor, you have the best equipment among us.

    Besides, it''s not like you need it that much. Thanks to your body mass, you are plenty durable yourself and you can only ?ght for a short while before being forced back into the ring.

    "Right now, using Davross for you would be overkill. Even Adamant is too much for the use you''d make of it. It''s much better to keep everything in the mine and the Crucible until the next batch is ready.¡°

    Solus had to admit that he was right and disappeared the moment the pin signaled the arrival of the reinforcements. They left the undergroundplex, learning about the massacre of Awakened elders that had taken ce throughout the Griffon Kingdom after the start of their mission.

    "Dammit!" Fe was seething with rage, hitting the walls whenever she walked within arm''s reach of them. "We''ve bided our time before attacking Thrud in order to catch her by surprise and we ended up dancing to her tune instead.

    "Her surprise attack not only in?icted devastating damage on the Council, it also proves that she isn''t afraid of a direct confrontation.

    She managed to kill our elders and recmit our youths, tipping the bnce in her favor twice with a single move."

    "ls there anything we can do?" Lith asked with a worried expression,

    but only because he was afraid that the Behemoth would answer yes.

    Yet he had to ask in respect for his representative in the Council.

    "No, but if that''s open war what Thrud wants, that''s what we''ll give her. You are dismissed until further notice. You two are still our trump card against the Undead King." Fe replied, making him inwardly sigh in relief.

    ¡®What about me?" Xenagrosh came out of the shadows slowly. "Are you still going to keep the Organization out of the Council for no valid reason?"

    The representative of the ?ve Awakened races started to whisper and argue between them. Even though a spell kept their words from being overheard, Lith could easily tell that Leegaain and Lotho were against it.

    Inxialot had rolled a d20, and judging from the reactions of his peers,

    he now sided with Raagu and Fe who were gloating.

    "l''m sorry guys, you have to work on your ?uency. l did the best that l could with the modi?ers, but you still failed your persuasion roll." He said leaving everyone confused and Lith shocked.

    ¡®ls there someone else from Earth on Mogar who''s teaching him Dungeons and Looting?¡¯

    "By majority vote, the Organization and its Abomination¡ªhybrids are now probatory members of the Council. Our invitation is extended solely to those who actually have a chance of bing Awakened and it will be withdrawn at the ?rst sign of foul y." Raagu said,

    extending her hand to the Shadow Dragon.

    "You won''t be disappointed." Xenagrosh shook it with aiel smile on her face. "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I have a lot of people to kill and little time to do it."

    She used Chaos to rece the darkness element in her Warp Step,

    piercing through the defensive arrays and leaving the room.

    "Now the problem is killing Thrud without revealing the existence of Awakened." Fe said.

    ¡®We should..."

    While the representative argued again, Faluel brought the group back to herir where they found Quy waiting for them. She was using fusion magic to circte the six elements at the same time through her body, tempering it.

    Her right hand produced a heat ray while her left blocked it with a hard light shield. She had the ray grow in power over time, from tier zero to almost four until her body couldn''t take it any longer.

    The construct ?lled with cracks every time she failed to bnce the two spells, forcing her to learn how to split her focus evenly. Her own mana couldn''t harm Quy so the only thing hurt when the heat ray shattered the shield and pierced through her hand was her pride.

    "Have you been practicing this whole time?" Phloria asked after seeing how drenched in sweat her clothes were.

    The Featherwalker armor she wore was supposed to self-clean,

    speaking volumes about the effort that the exercise required.

    "What was I supposed to do? Praying? Pacing around?" Quy said with a snarl before hugging her sister in a wet, smelly gesture of affection. "Thank the gods you are alright. You have no idea how scared 1 was."

    The moment she moved to Friya, Phloria cleansed herself with a pulse of darkness magic.

    "There was no need to be afraid, little one. We are powerful and we had help." Friya said.

    "That''s the same thing that everyone thought before Manohar was killed." Quy replied. "If it was just Orpal and Night, I wouldn''t worry.

    lt''s that damn tower that creeps me out. No offense, Solus."

    ¡°None taken." She replied.

    "Any news from the war front while we were away?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. Guess who has two thumbs up and is the new Royal Healer?"

    "You?" Everyone said with enough surprise to sound offensive.

    "Yeah, me. Thanks for your vote of con?dence." She pouted. "Scratch that, you are right. They picked me because Vastor is too valuable as a soldier to keep him locked in the Royal Court. Then, they discarded Lith for the same reason.

    "They had considered Marth, but he refused to be often absent from the academy and his family. They came to me only because they had no other choice left and because of this." She showed her pro?ciency with Light Mastery again.

    "It seems that too many people saw me using it in Ruham. Now I''m the second-best diagnostician and a self-taught Light Master. The Royals hope to rope me back to their side and make me take Manohar''s ce."

    "Who cares about what they want." Friya dismissed the issue with a wave of her hand. "Why did you ept?"

    "Because they are right and because I''m sick and tired of being left behind. Of being helpless whenever someone I love is in desperate need of help. Like it happened to Phloria after Kh or to Lith after Orpal imed to be a Verhen.

    "It''s time that l get free from the shackles of guilt for killing Yurial and stop holding back. It''s time for me to Awaken."

 Chapter 1829: Truths and Secrets (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1829: Truths and Secrets (Part 1)</h4>

    Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household.

    After Zinya''s marriage, Kam had made the habit to have lunch with her sister and dine with the Ernas. She wanted to keep an eye on how Zinya¡®s rtionship with Vastor progressed, but also to be kept posted about the condition of Lith¡®s life force and his life as an Awakened.

    Kam was deeply worried for both of them, even though forpletely different reasons. Zinya had no idea that her husband was actually an Awakened, a war criminal, and one of the most wanted men in the Griffon Kingdom under his alias of the Master.

    Kam was afraid that his past might suddenly catch up with him,

    trampling her sister in the process. Even worse, Zinya might discover it on her own and run away to Lutia, where Orpal would sooner orter attack her again.

    As for Lith, even though she was aware of how powerful he was, she worried for him even more than for Zinya. Her sister was surrounded by powerful Eldritchs and Abomination Hybrids, her house was a fortress, and Thn1d''s army was far away from the Duchy of Essagor.

    The only thing at risk was her happiness and marriage, but even if the worst happened, she and the children would be safe. Vastor would protect her with his life and the Kingdom would never exact revenge on an innocent woman.

    Lith, instead, had the dangerous habit to ?irt with danger ever since they had met, back when he was still a newly appointed Ranger of the Nestrar region. The idea that his role as an Archmage now demanded him to in?ltrate alone Thrud''s, ?ghting armies by himself, kept Kam awake at night.

    The voices about Lith and the Princess didn''t bother her. The fact that Peonia exploited their ruse to put her hands all over him, instead,

    pissed Kam off big time. Yet she shrugged it off, knowing that it was a necessity and none of her business.

    Now, however, she had just learned from Elina that Lith Verhen had gone ?ghting the Dead King to the death for the Council. Kam had feared that moment, knowing that it was only a matter of time before both Lith Verhen the Archmage and the Lith Verhen the Awakened went to war.

    ¡®I know that Baba Yaga''s restriction will stop Night from interfering and that at least this time he isn''t alone. Tista and the others are powerful Awakened and they work as a team since the academy.

    ¡®Yet Orpal managed to kill Manohar. Unlike Solus'' tower, Moonlight can move around and boost Orpal''s power everywhere he goes. I can''t get out of my head the idea that killing the god of healing was Orpal''s ?nal test run to see how powerful he has be.

    ¡®That''s why he fought Manohar alone, without letting Night intervene.

    Sure, Manohar was just a fake mage, but he was also the most powerful mage in the Kingdom and a genius without equal. lf he couldn''t survive, how can Lith have better chances?¡¯

    Kam felt her heart gripped in a vise and walked with hermunication amulet in hand. The moment that Elina knew about the oue of the mission had, Kam would know as well.

    She couldn''t wait to leam if the blight that the Dead King was had been cleansed or if she would have to mourn another loss.

    "Lady Yehval, please, follow me." A lean middle-aged butler said as soon as she walked out of the Warp Gate, leading her to the study.

    Kam was no noble, but the house staff treated her like royalty because of Zinya. Most of them had known Vastor all of their life and treasured dearly thedy who had brought new light into their master''s life.

    The few among them who had dared to mistreat or simply act condescendingly towards either of the sisters due to their humble upbringing, had been ?red without any rmendation letter.

    "Kami, thank the gods you are here! I needed a break." Zinya stood up from her chair, her shoulder¡ªlength raven¡ªck hair shone like crystal under the daylight. "l thought to be the one having a hard time, but you look terrible."

    Her radiant smile was reced by worry when she noticed the dark bags under Kam''s eyes from the regr overtime and her twitchy hands from the stress she was under.

    "I need a break, too, Zin. You, instead, look amazing." She hugged her sister, not without a tinge of envy in her voice.

    Zinya had always been prettier than her, but ever since she had moved to Vastor¡®s home due to Orpal''s attack, she also looked younger. lf anyone saw them, they would think that Kam was the older sister.

    Peace, happiness, and plenty of Invigoration made Zinya look like she was in her mid-twenties instead of her thirties. The tight-?tting day blue dress emphasized her bosom that two pregnancies had made quite generous and her lithe ?gure.

    "You are too kind.¡° Zinya said with a chuckle. "Gods, I''ve never worked so hard in my life. There are so many things that the wife of a Duke and Archmage has to know that l barely have a moment of rest."

    She pointed at the long rectangr table made of solid mahogany that she used as a desk. It was ?lled with books about etiquette, the Kingdom''s history, politics, geography, and musical sheets.

    Zinya had more than one tutor for every subject, but it was still a mammoth task. She had been born blind, and during her life in Lutia she had learned solely how to read, write, and count.

    As a Duchess, however, it was required of her to be knowledgeable about many topics and learn how to y at least one instrument.

    "I never thought that I would have ever said it, but I''m happy that I didn¡®t go to school. This stuff is boring me to death and there''s no end to it. l thought that the life of nobles was all about ?nding a way to spend your free time whereas this is a full-time job."

    She waved the staff away and ordered lunch to be served in the study.

    "l-low is married life treating you, Zin?" Kam asked, throwing away her shoes the moment the servants left the room and giving relief to her sore feet.

    "Pretty well. We have our problems, but nothing we can''t ovee."

    Zinya served her a cup of strong mint tea. "Zogar and l argue quite a lot these days, but you know what they say. As long as you have more sex than quarrels, you''re doing ?ne."

    Hearing those words, Kam almost spat her tea on the ?oor. She was about to ask her sister for an exnation when her contact amulet drew her consciousness. Kam pressed the blinking rune in such a hurry that she didn''t even notice that it wasn''t Elina¡®s.

    It was the emergency rune that allmunication amulets had. It allowed the Royals and local authorities to broadcast important news or emergency messages. Zinya took her own amulet out with dread as well.

    She was afraid for her husband''s life, knowing that she might receive a condolence call to inform her that she had just be a widow at any time.

 Chapter 1830: Truths and Secrets (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1830: Truths and Secrets (Part 2)</h4>

    "My dear citizen, I bring you good news." The hologram of King Meron and Queen Sylpha materialized, making the entire Kingdom sigh in relief.

    "Thest time you heard my voice it was to announce the beginning of the war against the Mad Queen, Thrud Griffon, yet even though l bring you important news, there''s nothing to be scared about."

    King Meron unrolled a parchment and started to read out loud.

    "With the following Royal Decree, the Crov\m, the Mage Association,

    and the Army unanimously absolve Archmage Lith Verhen from all the charges rted to the thieving Divine Beast Tiamat, and the traitor Meln Narchat, the Dead King.

    "It has been presented to the Royal Court irrefutable evidence that Meln Narchat alone conspired with the Undead Courts. He built his strength beyond our borders, in the Gorgon Empire, without ever having contact with the rest of his family.¡°

    He presented the scans of several documents that Kam recognized as those that dion had procured at the risk of his eternal life.

    ¡°After Archmage Verhen''s parents disowned his mad brother, he did all he could to warn the Kingdom about the threat Narchat posed to us, but we didn''t listen to him. It''s only our fault if good people like Count Lark, Marchioness Distar, and Archmage Manohar are dead.

    "Despite our many shorings, Archmage Verhen has never ceased to protect the Kingdom to the best of his abilities. lt''s thanks to him that many cities have been recaptured. lt''s thanks to him that two Lost Cities have been destroyed.

    "lt''s thanks to him that the gue of Kandria was eradicated. To Archmage Verhen goes our gratitude. This message will be repeated at noon and hung on the zas of our cities for everyone to read.

    Meron out."

    "Ungrateful bastard!" Zinya said with a snarl, leaving Kam ?abbergasted. "Please, Kami, tell me that all that lip service was just because Meron is afraid that Lith might run off to the Desert and not because he''s really engaged with that stupid Princess."

    "Calm down, Zin. As far as I know, it''s the Royals¡® way to apologize for Morn charging Lith with treason." Kam said. "Why are you so angry?

    They were good news, like the King promised."

    "l''m angry because he''s all nice with people like Lith, yet didn''t say a word about those like Zogar who risk their lives as well every day,

    dirtying their hands so that the Royal Family can keep their own clean." Zinya replied, pacing around the room with fury.

    "What are you talking about, Zin? Is this the reason why you and Vastor argue?" Kam asked.

    "Among many, yes." She nodded. "1 didn''t notice it at ?rst because we slept in different rooms, but after we got married, l couldn''t miss how Zogar never gets away from his staff.

    "There are nights when he wakes up screaming and tries to clean his hands from blood that only he can see. I asked him many times what was wrong, but he never answers.

    "That was the ?rst crack in our happiness that only got worse when one night he was so shaken that he told me some of the things he did for this Kingdom. Terrible things no one knows about but that still haunt him.

    "I told Zogar to stop being a Highmaster, that we could have moved anywhere and that I don''t care for a big house or a noble title. Yet he refused, saying something stupid about honor and the promise he made to Manohar."

    A maid knocked on the door but Zinya sent her away and brought the cart inside herself.

    "It''s easy to say such nonsense when you are not the one that stays at home, spending every second afraid to receive the condolence call.

    When it''s not you who have to witness the man you love being incapable of having a good night''s sleep because of how guilty he feels."

    "That''s something that every man or woman married to a soldier has to experience during a war." Kam replied.

    "That''s not true. All the missions that Lith performs bring him glory,

    honors, and medals. Those the Royals assign Zogar, instead, remain hidden to the public and give him nightmares."

    Zinya set up the table for them and served her sister a tasty soup.

    They ate in silence for a while, before Kam found the strength to ask:

    "You said you also argue for other reasons. What''s the matter?"

    "Kami, despite what everyone seems to think, I''m not stupid." Zinya put her spoon down before answering. "Zogar''s nieces and nephews are not his rtives at all. I''ve seen the portraits of his children and ex¡ªwife.

    "How do you think it makes me feel being surrounded by women younger, smarter, wiser, and way more beautiful than me? Women who also spend lots of time with my husband, doing the gods know what, and that call him Dad?"

    Kam froze, realizing that Zinya hade to believe that the female hybrids had to be either Vastor''s bastard daughters or his lovers.

    "At ?rst, l thought he had one or more mistresses, but after living with Fallmug for so long, it wasn''t hard understanding that it wasn''t the case. Vastor never has the smell of another woman on him, never neglects me, nor does he give me gifts out of guilt.

    "Yet the fact that he still feels emotionally distant from me it''s unbearable. I know what Tezka is and I''m pretty sure that the rest of the ''family'' is no different. I hate it that Zogar refuses to exin to me how they met and what they do together in that secretb of theirs."

    "What if he is doing it to protect you?" Kam said, incapable of raising her eyes from the ?oor. "What if he is just afraid that you would divorce him if you knew the truth and wants to protect your happiness?"

    "ls this why you broke up with Lith?" Zinya asked after lifting her sister''s chin and forcing Kam to look her in the eyes.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Kam couldn''t help but draw aparison between them.

    She was the one who knew the truth, yet it had cost her the man she loved, the family she dreamed to have, and the parents she had never had. Kam often wished that Lith had nevere clean with her.

    "Did he cheat on you?" Zinya said.

    "No."

    "Did he do something you would be ashamed of or that would break the trust you have in him?¡°

    "Yes. No. sort of. He did some stuff¡ª"

    "Then you made a mistake." Zinya cut her short. "Ever since I started living with Zogar, seeing what this country demands from him, and the scars he bears in his soul, l understood how cruel the life of a mage is.

    "They have the power of the gods and everyone expects them to use it wisely and to be infallible. But in the end, they are just people like you and me. They make mistakes like everyone else but theirs have terrible consequences.

    "The same powers that make them great when they do good, make them monsters when they do evil. With the same effort that takes me to p a rude man Zogar can wipe out a city.

    "I can''t even imagine the burden and the temptation that having such power implies. I know very little about Zogar''s past mistakes, but it''s enough to admit that I can''t judge him as if he was just a farmer or a merchant."

 Chapter 1831: A Rough Start (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1831: A Rough Start (Part 1)</h4>

    "But, there are also mistakes that no one can ept or forgive."

    Kam said.

    "Indeed, but I prefer not knowing such things. I just want Zogar to tell me where he goes, with who, and why.¡° Zinya replied.

    Kam stared dumbly at her sister for several seconds, too stunned to speak.

    ¡°Kami, there''s no such a thing as a perfect man. If you wait for someone like that, you''ll wait your whole life. I love Zogar and he loves me and the children. We make each other happy and that''s all l want from him.

    "It doesn''t bother me that he has secrets, they are part of his job. It bothers me that he doesn''t trust me enough to shoulder even a bit of his burden with him. Loving someone is about sharing your happiness to double it and your misery to halve it.

    ¡°Otherwise, you are better off single, dealing only with your own problems."

    Kam thought back at the words Lith had used to ask her out the ?rst time, iming that being a Ranger was a dangerous job and that she shouldn''t deny thest wish of a dying man.

    Never before had a stupid joke sounded so true to her. The idea that his life was hanging by a thread because of his life force, the war,

    Orpal, and all the things that haunted him veiled her eyes with tears.

    The thought that she might have waited too long and there was nothing left to ?x between them, crushed her heart.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, city of Gima.

    After Dusk had cleaned Kelia up and given her a decent set of clothes,

    the homeless orphan had moved into one of the worst ratholes that dared to call themselves taverns in the slums.

    lt wasn''t much, but it still beat sleeping on the street and offered rooms for their guests, no questions asked.

    The owner doubted that a dirt-poor child dressed in rags could have honestly earned the copper coins necessary for the bed and food for a day, but as long they ended up in his pockets, it was none of his business.

    Then, the more the Red Sun improved her looks, wardrobe, and manners, they had moved up the luxury scale of the hotels. They had now reached the middle rim of the city, where the young girl could easily pass for the daughter of a merchant.

    Kelia had spent the ?rst two weeks of her new life eating non¡ªstop while the Horseman ?xed her body. During that time, she had refused any form of contact with Dusk.

    Right after bonding with her, the Red Sun had performed a mind fusion that had shown her everything he had done in the past and given him full ess to her memories.

    Dusk was no idiot. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Kelia started asking him questions he couldn''t avoid answering. So he had given her the whole tmth the moment she couldn''t back down from their deal anymore.

    The girl now knew how the Horseman had followed her around for days, checking some sort of dormant Griffon bloodline in her body,

    and letting everyone beat Kelia until the Red Sun was certain that she would ept his offer.

    At the same time, she was now afraid of ending up like Dusk''s previous host, Wynwald the Lich who the Horseman turned into a vegetable to be the sole master of their shared body.

    Yet the Horseman had done it early exactly because they had just met.

    There was no trust to breach, no love to betray. It was the moment when the blow would hurt less and as soon as Kelia got over it, she realized how great her powers would be if she removed the seal that Baba Yaga had in?icted upon the Red Sun.

    Spirit Domination, Origin mes, Life Maelstrom, Doom Tide, all the abilities of the most powerful creatures of Garlen would be at her ?ngertips. Kelia knew how it felt to be weak and craved power above everything else.

    "This is dumb. l''m already thirteen now and regr people enroll in an academy at twelve. Why should I wait any longer?" Kelia said while pacing furiously around her hotel room.

    "Because you are still too weak. Despite my relentless work, your body is still a mess ?lled to the brim with impurities. I brought you safely to the bright yellow in a few months, but if you try to break through the deep green so early, you might die.

    "Thirteen or fourteen makes no difference. ln times like this, the Empire will dly ept you at any moment as long as you possess enough power and discipline." Dusk replied from the mirror.

    To not freak Kelia out by speaking with her own mouth nor invading her mind as she wanted, the Red Sun spoke via tier zero air magic only when she looked into a mirror that yet re?ected his image.

    Kelia had con?icted feelings about that. On the one hand, she liked looking at her new ?gure. In thosest few months, she had gone from her 30 kg (66 pounds) of weight to 60 kg (132 pounds) and she had grown from barely 1.2 meters (3¡®11") tall to 1.63 meters (5''4").

    Her lips were now rosy and her mouth ?lled with perfect teeth. Dusk had grown new ones to rece the empty spaces and regenerated the broken ones. Her tight¡ª?tting mage clothes in Red Dragon scales emphasized her ?gure, making her impatient for her growth spurt to turn her from a girl into a young woman.

    On the other hand, as time passed as her rage faded, her hormones made Dusk quite attractive to her eyes. He was a tall, handsome man with blonde hair that seemed to dance in a wind that was only inside the mirror.

    His bright red skin was odd and his ?aming orange eyes that always stared at her were supposed to be creepy, but she liked being the only one he could see.

    "Puahl I saw how your sister took that trash Orpal and turned him into a powerful stud. Are you telling me that you are inferior to her?"

    She asked.

    "I''m not!" He replied with a fury that made him hot in more than one way.

    "Then the issue is closed. No academy would ept me with my measly bright yellow core. Deep green is the bare minimum and I don''t want to waste any more time.¡° She shrugged.

    ..But_..

    "No buts! I''m already a nameless orphan and the older I get the more shunned I will be by my peers." She cut him short. "On top of that,

    none of your teachings can rece an academy. Until sixteen I will be a minor with no ce to go nor an honest job I can do.

    "In an academy, they will take care of me, nurture my abilities, and give me all the background I need to be a respected and powerful mage like that Verhen guy. I''m tired of hiding inside my room like a rat, giving you my body whenever people want to speak with an adult.

    "I want more from life than living in fear of being discovered.¡°

    "I agree with you, but not like this!" The Red Sun replied. "Without human interaction, you would turn into a Lich. Also, without a proper environment, you would add nothing to our union and be nothing more than another Orpal."

 Chapter 1832: A Rough Start (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1832: A Rough Start (Part 2)</h4>

    "I''m just worried about you because you never experienced a breakthrough of this scale. Even if you survive, expelling so many impurities might in?ict you a mental trauma if not even drive you insane."

    "Why don''t you just help me if you''re so worried about me?" Kelia asked.

    "Because just like you''re not my meat puppet, I''m not your toy. When we disagree, the ?nal decision is yours, but unless we ?nd apromise don''t expect me to alwayse to your rescue.

    "Just like I found you, I can always ?nd a new host." Dusk replied.

    ¡°All the more reason to not waste more time, then." Ke replied in outrage while using umtion. "We both want to see what my dormant bloodline is like, but we''ll have to wait until I reach the blue core just to get a glimpse of it.

    "Since I''m just a consumable tool for you, we might as well speed up things instead of preparing for years!"

    Soon the world energy over?owed her bright yellow core, making several green streaks appear all over it. As its power grew by the second, so did her mana ?ow that pushed away the impurities umted near her core.

    Dusk knew that having a breakthrough so early was reckless and stupid, yet he said nothing.

    ¡®If this is how you want to y, be my guest. We''ll see if you are still cocky while you writhe in agony.¡® He thought.

    ¡®We''ll see who''s ?ght, old fossil.¡¯ Kelia thought. ¡®I''ve checked your memories of the breakthroughs of your past hosts and until the cyan core, all you have to do is to endure throwing up a bit of that ck shit.

    ¡®So far, my breakthroughs were nothingpared to the pain I experienced from hunger and food intoxication when I picked bad stuff from the trash. I''ve lived with pain my whole life and I''m going to show you what I''m made of.¡®

    At ?rst, everything went as she was used to. The burst of mana from her core caused an increase in the ?ow that pushed the impurities stuck in her body away and toward her skin.

    Kelia fell to her knees as the familiar burning sensation spread throughout her body and she started excreting the impurities from all of her ori?ces. Her skin seemed to be on ?re, but she had survived high fever several times so she ignored it.

    The impurities ?owing over her tongue tasted like rotten meat, but she had eaten plenty of that and spitting was much easier than swallowing those horrors. Then, she felt something new that made her fear that Dusk might have been right.

    Invigoration had revealed to her some big clumps of impurities that now refused to budge. The mana ?ow had already removed the smaller ones and its strength had further increased.

    It was now relentlessly attacking the clumps, yet the impurities resisted her attempts to break them ClOWl''l. The con?ict between the clumps and the mana ?ow grew in intensity as more and more impurities were removed, until only the clumps remained.

    Kelia saw her left hand, where one of the biggest clumps was stuck In the metacarpus, bloat like a balloon. Each of her ?ngers became the size of a sausage and her palm looked like a meat bun from the swelling.

    A meat bun that was being cooked.

    Kelia felt as if her ?esh had been put against hot metal before her hand exploded and the stump spurted blood everywhere. The pain and the agony overwhelmed her, making her cry, yet her screams were muf?ed by the blood gurgling in her throat.

    Then, her right cheek, left thigh, abdomen, and right leg swelled as well.

    ¡®Please, help me! l don''t want to die.¡® She was in too much pain to talk so she opened the ?rst mind link since she and Dusk had bonded.

    The Horsman gloated at her desperation. Kelia had refused to listen to him and now she was paying the price. The Red Sun had no reason to help her and no will to. At least until due to her inexperience with mind links, Kelia shared with him more than a plea for help.

    He could now feel her rage and distrust born from a lifetime of abandonment. First her parents and then the Gorgon Empire. After running away from the orphanage, Kelia had learned the hard way that trusting someone meant asking to get hurt.

    During her short life, she hade to believe that kindness was but a myth. Even Dusk had only manipted her for his ends and had just reminded her how she was nothing but a temporary vessel.

    ¡®Damn me and my big mouth.¡¯ The Red Sun cursed. ''1 keep treating her as an adult, but she''s just a dumb kid. I know her memories, but due to our minds being always apart, I failed to grasp how deep¡ªrooted her trauma is.¡®

    Kelia¡®s foot was on the verge of exploding and so was the rest of her body. The agony was so intense that the plea had turned into begging.

    Her mind, just like her body, was about to crack.

    Dusk was at a crossroads. If he chose to keep his word and do nothing, Kelia would be his to mold. The lesson would teach her humility, respect, and the memory of the pain would be a leash that would turn him into her master and Kelia into his obedient disciple.

    Or Dusk could step in and prove to her that she mattered more to him than being right. He would end up ?xing her mess, but Kelia would also understand that he wasn''t just trying to order her around,

    he was only looking after her.

    Being Kelia an immature child, it might have also back?red. She might not learn her lesson and just think that she could take any dumb risk because Dusk would take care of it for her.

    Dusk had to choose whether to turn her into a broken puppet or give her the opportunity to take the ?rst step to be human.

    The Red Sun inwardly snarled as he used lnvigoration to pinpoint the lumps of impurities and released pulses of darkness magic to fragment them. By joining his weakened core to Kelia''s, the mana ?ow managed to get rid of the clumps and her body returned to normal.

    "''l''hank... you¡ª" Whatever she wanted to say was cut short when she fainted from pain and exhaustion.

    Her little body was covered in a pool of blood and impurities that drenched the ?oor. The fragments of her left hand were scattered throughout the room and the stump was still bleeding.

    Dusk cleaned everything with darkness magic and used his crystal to seal the wound before putting Kelia in her bed. To an outside observer, her body would seem to ?oat as the bedsheets tucked her in on their own.

    But if they looked at the mirror in front of the bed, they would have seen the ?gure of a man holding the unconscious girl to his chest,

    lulling her like a baby.

    When Kelia woke up, she instinctively looked at the stump, ?nding her left hand intact like nothing had happened. She also found a hearty meal and a hot bath waiting for her.

 Chapter 1833: Changing Fate (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1833: Changing Fate (Part 1)</h4>

    "Congrattions, miss deep green core. Everything went ording to your ns.¡° Dusk said from his mirror, without any trace of sarcasm in his voice. "You can now enroll in any academy of your choosing.¡°

    "Thanks." Kelia said, and after he remained silent for a while, she added: "I meant, thank you for your help, Dusk. I really messed up this time."

    It was actually what always happened when she didn''t follow his advice, but the Red Sun just epted her gratitude.

    "You are wee. Before we move out, there''s someone I want to introduce you."

    "Who?" Kelia asked, wol?ng down her food.

    "My mother." He replied.

    ***

    After Kelia was done taking her bath andbing her hair, she uncovered the mirror. It was not really effective since Dusk saw and hear everything through her senses, but she liked to keep at least the impression to have some privacy.

    Then, they called together upon the Red Mother.

    Baba Yaga had a special connection with her Firstboms, even those like Dusk who had fallen from her grace. She wanted to teach him a lesson, not to kill him so she had left the ability to contact her intact.

    This way, the Horseman could ask Baba Yaga''s help when in danger and maybe even help her to locate Night. The Red Mother could feel from the strength of the call that her son had ?nally found a host.

    With Dusk''s powers sealed and Kelia being incapable of using dimensional magic, they couldn''t Warp to the tower on their own.

    Baba Yaga had to give them a pick¡ªup spot outside Gima where she would wait for them.

    Kelia wasn''t impressed by the run¡ªdown hut, nor by the person that opened the door. She had expected the Red Mother to be an imposing ?gure, like a Queen or an Empress, not a hunched old woman that was even shorter than her.

    ln Kelia¡®s experience, old people used their harmless appearance to hide their intentions and their age as an excuse for their cruelty.

    When the Crone tried to caress her head, Kelia pped the hand away and green ?ames burst from her ?sts.

    "No one touches me, old hag. Not anymore!" She said with a snarl.

    "What the heck did you tell her about me, Dusk?" The Red Mother''s voice was stone cold as she talked to Kelia¡®s chest, where the red crystal resided, ignoring the girl.

    "He told me everything I needed to know, you sicko." Kelia conjured a cape to cover herself, having misunderstood the situation.

    "You called me here. If this is how you intend to behave, you have just wasted my time." The Crone said. "I''m not going to listen to a word you say until l make sure that you have really changed your ways,

    Dusk.

    "Either you let me check this rude mnt with Sun and Moon or l¡®ll leave.¡°

    Kelia and Dusk whispered to each other for a while before consenting

    ¡®Good gods, this girl is a mess. She mistook me for a pen/ert and she even refuses to use the mind link. At least her ?ery personality means that Dusk has left her free will. Maybe even too much.¡® Baba Yaga had no problem hearing the mean words the young girl used to address her.

    When her hand touched Kelia''s head, Sun and Moon allowed the Red Mother to read her whole story. The breathing technique scanned both her mind and body, revealing scars that no healing spell could mend.

    "Poor child." Warm tears streamed from her eyes as the Crone turned into the Mother. "l¡®m sorry for how I treated you earlier. I assumed you were just another of my son''s experiments."

    The hunched back became as straight as an arrow and the dirty¡ªwhite hair turned into a ?aming red. Baba Yaga embraced Kelia who tried to resist, punching and kicking at her assant with as much strength as she had.

    Yet the Mother didn''t let go and Dusk showed Kelia his infancy again.

    She could see how even a piece of rock had had a mom. How he had been nurtured and schooled.

    It made the void and the sense of loss inside of Kelia even heavier, yet it also made her want to ?nd a way to ?ll it. As Baba Yaga gently caressed Kelia¡®s hair, she broke into tears, and the walls that she had erected to protect her heart copsed.

    The Mother''s aura made even happy people feel homesick. To a loveless orphan, it was a siren they couldn''t resist. Kelia returned the embrace, feeling through it only tenderness and affection.

    Being touched still terri?ed her, but the joy that hearing the Mother''s beating heart gave her allowed the young girl to resist the urge of pushing that unknown woman away.

    "Come in. It seems we have a lot to talk about." Baba Yaga kissed her forehead and let her go, knowing that to such a miserable person even love was poison.

    lt couldn''t be just given, it also had to be epted. Otherwise Kelia would end up growing suspicious of her host and mistake care for maniption.

    "By the Great Mother, this ce is bigger on the inside!" Kelia said once she realized that the dining room that she had just walked into was thrice the size of the hut. On top of that, she could see many rooms and corridors departing from there.

    "Yes, it is." The Mother chuckled. m Baba Yaga, the Red Mother. Yet since you''vee to me as my son''s guest and he''s raising you as I did with him, you can call me Grandmother, if you want."

    ¡°l''ll go with Baba Yaga, thank you.¡° Kelia quickly regained her cool as the madness of that ce kept surprising her. "To be honest, l have no idea why we are here.¡°

    She could hear a lot of noise from children ying and running around the house. Thedle stirring the huge pot where lunch was preparing itself and the furniture moving on its own to amodate her made Kelia ?inch.

    "1 know that I''m asking a lot from you, Mother, but 1 need you to recycle the materials of the equipment I used for my previous host."

    Dusk said. "They can shrink to Kelia''s size, but they were crafted for Wynwald and would ill¡ª?t her needs."

    "Why should I?" Baba Yaga replied. "What you have done for this girl is a good start, but it''s far from enough to eam my trust again. On top of that, you are powerless and can''t craft anything for her."

    "That''s why l want you to do it." Dusk replied.

    "What?" Kelia and Baba Yaga said in unison.

    "I''m not asking it for me, but for her. Without my powers, Kelia can only rely on me for information. She still has to face everything alone and that equipment can make the difference between freedom and a lifetime of imprisonment.¡°

    Without a mind link, Kelia had no idea of what they were talking about, yet she was certain that Baba Yaga would have refused to help them.

    ¡®Grandma my ass. We barely met and she had no qualms taking everything away from Dusk the moment he disappointed her.

    Whatever this equipment is, it would make us stronger and weaken Baba Yaga''s in?uence on Dusk. She''d be a fool to give up on her advantage.¡¯ Kelia thought.

 Chapter 1834: Changing Fate (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1834: Changing Fate (Part 2)</h4>

    "l¡®ll do it." The Mother said, leaving Ke ?abbergasted. "No offense,

    but I don''t think that a double¡ªheaded ax is ?t for such a tiny girl."

    As she spoke, Creation Magic dismantled Firebrand, turning it into two short swords that ?t into Ke''s hands like an extension of her arms. At the same time, the Davross armor reshaped itself around her body and its enchantments changed to suit Kelia''s talents and affinities.

    The blood¡ªred Scorpion armor absorbed the Red Dragon leather clothes she wore and shapeshifted itself into an exact replica down to the smallest detail.

    "l advise you to change into something less conspicuous before going to the academy, but we can discuss it over lunch." Baba Yaga pped her hands, setting the table and making an invisible bell ring.

    Dozens of undead hybrid children swarmed the room and the table grew in size until it could amodate them all. Kelia didn¡®t care about their unusual and sometimes monstrous appearance, nor about the fact that food and furniture popped out of nowhere.

    What really shocked her to her core was how they were all well-fed,

    dressed, and most of all, happy. She could tell from their clear eyes and from theirughter that they had still had their innocence.

    Kelia envied them from the bottom of her heart and suddenly she found herself wishing for more than just power. She wanted to be able tough and smile again.

    "Allow me to introduce you to the rest of my children." The Mother said. "I didn''t give birth to them, but I consider all of them as my own.

    Wee to the family, Kelia."

    ***

    Distar region, Faluel¡®sir, at the same time.

    Lith''s group had yet to recover from Quy dering her ns to self-Awaken when their respective contact amulets projected the image of King Meron reading the Royal Decree that absolved Lith''s family from Orpal''s crimes and him from those of his alleged associate, Tiamat.

    ¡®Well, at least this is one less thing to worry about.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡®Between the Decree and Peonia, the life of my family in Lutia should quickly go back to h0w it was.¡®

    ''l hope so.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡®l don''t like Dad moving his business away from Lutia to avoid con?icts. He has been using the DoLorean a lottely to travel to the nearby viges and cities where to sell his products.¡®

    ¡®Yeah. The Queen''s Corps can follow him easily thanks to the tracking device I installed, but it still takes them some time to catch up with him. On top of that, the more people follow him the fewer are left to check on the rest of my family.¡¯ Lith said.

    "Are you gone insane?" Friya had no worries aside from her little sister. "You are a damn violet core and I bet that you''ll reach the bright before you turn twenty. Not even Faluel can Awaken you safely!"

    "l know that, I''m not stupid." While Friya and Phloria freaked out,

    Quy remained calm. ¡°Why do you think I waited for so long before making this decision?"

    "Because you knew it''s a death sentence!" Phloria said.

    "No, because l was ?nishing the ?nal details of my n." Quy shook her head. "Look, we can argue all we want, but the truth is that there is an abyssal gap between an Awakened violet core and a fake mage.

    "Even Manohar realized his limits after ?ghting with Thrud, Night,

    and Dawn, otherwise he would have never resorted to Awakening.¡°

    "She''s right.¡° Lith nodded. "First Manohar tried to ?nd a different way to silent cast, then when Balkor exined to him that Awakened could also use body cast, he gave up on the idea of relying solely on fake magic."

    "That''s my point." Quy nodded. "let''s be real, Manohar has always been an unbridled genius. He always made what he wanted with the full support of the Kingdom. His growth never stopped because he didn''t let anything, not evenmon sense, stand in his way.

    "I, instead, after what Nalear¡ª no, after I was forced to kill Yurial, I''ve stopped practicing magic, and even when I returned to the academy, I never dared practicing offensive magic out of guilt.

    "I let my skill and will rot until Kh, but now I can''t afford to be a coward anymore. Thnld wants to conquer the Kingdom and Meln already tried to kill me. If not for Mom''s crazy ns, 1 would be dead already.¡°

    She took a brief pause, letting everyone remember the insane ruse that Jirni had pulled and the pain that came from it.

    "He isn''t going to stop. Meln is going to try and kill all of our family."

    Quy conjured a hologram of the Orpal card. "If I don''t Awaken, I''ll die. It''s only a matter of when, not if and you can be certain that it won''t be peacefully in my bed.

    "I''m not deluding myself. I know that I''m inferior to Manohar and that I won''t ever be able to catch up for the lost time. Yet if I Awaken, I still have a chance. If I don''t, I''ll always be the weak link of the group, the one you need to leave behind.

    "Just like it happened a few hours ago. You can choose to help me or not, but that''s not going to change my decision."

    "Let''s say that I agree¡ª" Friya and Phloria freaked out, forcing Lith to raise his hands and wait until they quieted down. "The tower barely allowed Phloria to suwive, and she was just a bright cyan core.

    "You''ve already reached the violet which makes things much harder.

    What''s your n? Because I''d rather knock you out and keep you in stasis again than help youmit a digni?ed form of suicide."

    "d that you asked." Quy took several pages out of her dimensional amulet and passed them to him.

    Lith put them inside Soluspedia, double and triple-checking everything with Solus. His eyes tumed golden and hers ck as they exchanged in a few seconds what would have otherwise been a long,

    heated debate.

    It creeped everyone out, no matter how many times they saw it happen.

    "The good news is that it might work. We just need to run a few tests and make a few preparations to maximize the odds of sess. The bad news is that no one ever attempted anything like this so if your starting hypothesis is wrong, you are dead.

    "Only one way to ?nd out. Just stay still until I say so." Lith took several steps away, staring at the group with Death Vision.

    Faluel was the ?rst one to start to die, every time a violent and gruesome death. Then Friya and Quy suffered the same fate as well whereas Phloria and Solus were okay. Yet while Friya died mostly of Origin mes, ws, or des, Quy also died of poison and exploded like a bloody ?rework.

    ''l''m going to help Quy Awaken.¡® He thought, believing his own words.

    The death by poison disappeared, but she still kept exploding. On top of that, the number of violent deaths that he witnessed now far exceeded those due to old age.

    ¡®Scratch that. I''m not going to help her.¡® Quy''s deaths returned back to how they had been until a second ago, with poison and failed Awakening being the most predominant cause.

    Yet now, sometimes, he could see a ck shadow wailing in hunger where her body had been just a second ago

 Chapter 1835: Medicine and Poison (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1835: Medicine and Poison (Part 1)</h4>

    The Quy-Abomination stared at Lith in anger as if it med him for its fate before losing its mind and feeding upon its sisters and Faluel.

    ¡°Fine, l''ll help you." Lith sighed in resignation. "But l''ll need everyone''s help and this is going to wait until tomorrow. We need to be at the peak of our strength if we want to keep the worst from happening."

    And by that, he didn''t mean something as tri?e as death.

    ***

    The following day, Lith and the group met at the tower early in the morning.

    "l have good news and I have great news." He said while leading them to the underground ?oors of the mines and the Cmcible. "The good news is that after adding the loot from yesterday''s mission, the orc crystal has ?nally turnedpletely white.

    "l can now start working on my golems since thanks to my experiments with Vastor''s tracking mechanism it''s the gemstone I know best. l should be able to make decent memory crystals out of it.

    "The great news is that even the Adamant re?ning process took a huge leap forward overnight. In a few weeks, lwon¡®t be stuck with just a few Davross ingots, but I might have enough for a weapon and an armor."

    "Seriously? You have so much already to cover your Tiamat form?"

    Tista said in amazement.

    "l wish." Lith sighed. "I meant enough for a human-sized set. The entire Crucible should be ?lled with Davross to have enough to craft something like that."

    "Seriously?" Phloria echoed, yet her voice was ?lled solely with anger.

    "Today Quy might die if not even turn into an Abomination and your so¡ªcalled good news are about your already thick wallet?¡°

    "Phloria is right, can''t you be a little morepassionate for once?"

    Friya threw him a reproachful look. "Our sister is acting tough but her knees are shaking."

    Quy looked pale that day and she kept hugging herself despite the wann sun, trying to shmg off the dread cold that haunted her.

    "l''m not worried about my wallet." Then, after they all red at him for a long second, he added: "1 mean, not right now. l said that I had great news because the white crystals produce a ?ow of world energy of their own that the metals further enhance.

    "Their progress means that during Quy''s Awakening process I can use both the powering from the geyser and that umted inside the tower mines.

    "On top of that, now that we have learned how to use the Hands of Menadion, we can control even the energy of the mana geyser that exceeds the tower¡®s capacity. We couldn''t ask for better development."

    "Nice save." Phloria said, punching him in the shoulder and regretting it immediately after.

    Between the Voidwalker armor and his mass, hitting a block of Adamant would have hurt less. Seeing her grimace of pain, Friya managed to stop in time and just red at him.

    "When do we start?" Quy asked with a hoarse voice.

    No matter how much she drank, stress kept her throat dry.

    "As soon as Faluel arrives." Solus replied while handing Quy several milky potions.

    "Why Faluel and what''s in these ?asks?" She asked.

    "Two pairs of Hands of Menadion are better than one." Solus replied.

    "As for the potions, they are the best tonics we have managed to brew after visiting Jiera. They contain more nutrients than a full course meal and taste good.¡°

    Quy sipped one, discovering that it tasted like honeyed milk.

    "You have to drink them all." Lith said. "We have no idea how long the process willst and if you die of malnutrition, it would be all for naught."

    At those words, Quy literally started drinking for her life.

    "Sorry for beingte, but the Council is still assessing their losses and they needed all hands on deck." The Hydra walked in while Quy ran to the bathroom before drinking more.

    "Thrud and Or¡ª I mean Meln hit us hard. It''s going to be an uphill ?ght from now on."

    "All more the reason to Awaken me!" Quy yelled from behind the doon Once she was done emptying the tank and ?lling it with tonics, they moved to the Forge. it was the floor right above the mines and the ce where they could best harness thebined strength of the tower and the geyser.

    Lith and Faluel wore their respective Hands while Solus would focus solely on controlling the energy ?owing through the tower. Together they formed a triangle around Quy while the others watched the scene from the Mirror Hall.

    "Before we start, I have to drink this as well." Quy took out a potion that seemed to be ?lled with tar.

    It was actually a painkiller infused with darkness magic whose effects wouldst for several hours. Quy had witnessed Phlon''a''s agony and she knew that her own would be much worse.

    She couldn''t afford to lose her consciousness in the middle of the process. if that happened, the Awakening would go haywire and she would die.

    "I''m sorry, but there¡®s one more thing that you have to do." Solus said while staring awkwardly at the ground. "You also have to strip."

    "What?" Quy went from pale to bright red in less than one second.

    "The Adamant armor wouldpress your body, slowing the ?ow of impurities and increasing the risks." Lith replied. "Besides, we are all friends here and I''ve seen my fair share of naked women. There''s nothing for you to worry about."

    "Doesn''t this mean that aside from Friya you''ll have seen the three of us naked?" Quy refused to take the armor off.

    "Fair point. Friya, if you want to strip as well out of camaraderie, I''ve nothing against it." Lith said with his serious face that meant he was thinking about something lewd.

    "Nice try, pervert! Why don''t you do it, instead." She replied.

    "Because it would make Solus, Faluel, and Quy lose focus." Lith made his shirt disappear and his pants be skin¡ªtight to prove his point.

    Friya giggled at the sight of his broad shoulder and chiseled physique while Phloria quickly turned her head around. Faluel was used to Awakened bodies so she just smiled while biting her pinkie seductively.

    Quy had never seen something like that before and blushed up to her ears whereas Solus yawned. Everyone turned toward her, staring inquisitively.

    "Why should I be embarrassed? I''ve seen him naked countless-" She bit her own tongue, but it was already toote. "I mean with our mind fusion and when Lith has to clean himself up after a breakthrough. I don''t peek at him."

    Solus turning beet red only made her words sound like an excuse.

    "ls it better now?" Lith asked after covering himself.

    ¡°No. I mean yes." Quy said while using water magic to cool down.

    She took several deep breaths until she managed to focus her mind on the imminent risk of death instead of Lith''s body. Then she took her Forgemastery wand out and cast one Spirit Spell after another until even a tier zero spell became dif?cult.

    "I''ve thought hard about your breakthroughs during the past year."

    She said amid pants. "I believe that it''s not a coincidence that they always triggered when you were physically and magically exhausted like it happened to Friya in the mines.

 Chapter 1836: Medicine and Poison (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1836: Medicine and Poison (Part 2)</h4>

    "A weak mana core means a weaker pressure and fewer risks. Phloria,

    instead underwent such an agony because after resting in Baba Yaga¡®s house she had recovered her mana.

    ¡°l am going to empty my core as much as I can while keeping my body in peak condition to increase its resistance." After a while, even using cantrips almost made her faint due to mana abuse.

    "Okay, phase one isplete. Let''s move on to phase two." ording to Quy¡®s original n, Lith had to poison her core to weaken it further, degrading it to blue if not even cyan.

    Yet now that Faluel knew about the tower and had mastered the Hands of Menadion, she would do a much better job due to her centuries of experience and superior breathing technique.

    The Hydra ced her palm over Quy¡®s hips, sending several tendrils of pure mana straight into her core.

    Quy felt as if molten metal was being injected in her abdomen,

    slowly spreading throughout her body and setting it aze. Yet she gritted her teeth and didn''t emit a single sound, knowing that it was the least she would have to endure.

    ¡®Dammit! I knew that no painkiller or darkness fusion can mitigate the symptoms of mana poisoning, but l didn''t expect it to be so intense.¡®

    She thought as her core turned deep violet and bright blue streaks slowly appeared all over it.

    By the time it became bright blue, Quy was as pale as a ghost. At blue, she fainted and Faluel had to stop the process.

    ¡°How long was I out?"

    ¡°Less than ten minutes." The Hydra replied.

    "Has my core already started to recover?" Quy asked.

    "No, but there isn''t much time. Can you go on?" As soon as she nodded, Faluel resumed injecting the mana.

    She was careful tainting solely the outeryers and letting her energy spread on its own through Quy''s core, withoutpromising its inner and pure violet mana.

    When her core turned deep blue, the pain was too much and Quy started to scream, clenching Faluel''s hands just to not faint again. Her wailssted until she was out of breath and resumed as soon as she ?lled her lungs with fresh air.

    Then bright cyan streaks appeared over the bright blue core and Quy started to cry as well. She banged her head against the stone ?oor, using the physical pain to attenuate that from mana poisoning even for one second.

    "We''ve reached the bright cyan." The Hydra said. "Now you need to strip."

    Quy was in so much pain that modesty was the least of her worries.

    She took off her clothes at once, uncaring for who and where people were looking.

    ¡°Fuck you, Mogar!" Quy yelled as she stimted the mana ?ow inside her body, guiding it to the source of that ungodly pain that her core was.

    Her hands shook but her breathing rhythm remained steady as she self¡ªAwakened.

    It was a crucial step of her n to not burden anyone with her new status. Lith wouldn''t have to take care of her for 100 years and even if Faluel didn''t want her, someone in the Council would.

    Then, just like Lith or Athung, she would just have to endure her apprenticeship until her mentor deemed her a mature Awakened.

    A burst of cyan light emerged from her body as the violet of her inner core tried and failed to burst out due to its weakened state. Solus kept surgical control over the energy of the tower and its mines,

    leaving Lith and Faluel to take care solely of what she failed to handle.

    The Hydra and the Tiamat also used their respective breathing techniques to break down every lump of impurities that refused to move before it could hurt Quy''s body.

    She excreted a ck tar¡ªlike substance from all of her ori?ces, going quickly through the body re?nement necessary to achieve a green core. Her past suffering while training true magic was now showing its results.

    Her body was already used to an intense mana ?ow, her ?esh and bones tempered by the strict training regime she had followed. Quy would have Awakened perfectly and reached the deep cyan without a hitch if that was her true level.

    Unfortunately for her, that wasn''t the case. Even after being thoroughly poisoned, her mana core was still bright cyan. With each wave of energy it unleashed, part of Faluel''s mana was cleansed and Quy''s core regained part of its strength.

    Lith, Faluel, and Solus worked in unison to focus the full power of the mana geyser below the tower against Quy and put a halt to her re?nement. She kept puking for a while until thest bit of impurities got out of her system.

    "Why did we stop? I had almost gotten used to the pain." She said while Lith destroyed the deep pool of tar¡ªlike substance that had formed under her feet and tainted her skin.

    Despite her words, she was grateful for that brief respite from the puking and the awful smell that had almost made her faint. On top of that, the ?ow of impuritiesing out of her body had been so intense that she had been barely able to breathe.

    She could inhale only in¡ªbetween gagging ?ts, like a woman swimming in open waters during a storm. She risked drowning every time she breathed at the wrong moment and a sudden wave buried her underwater.

    Quy appreciated the new energy that coursed through her being,

    the fresh air that ?lled her lungs, and with it, her own breathing technique, Guiding Light. Being ?nally able to see her own core instead of just imagining it gave her goosebumps with euphoria.

    A secondter, however, the joy turned into fear as Quy noticed that her core had almost reverted to deep blue and the sheer number of impurities still left inside her body.

    ¡°Because once you reach the cyan, each breakthrough will be much harder and your body can use a little break to heal.¡° Lith replied. "Also,

    Faluel needs to bring your core down a notch again."

    Quy nodded and gritted her teeth as the Hydra ced her hands on Quy''s smooth and exposed abdomen. The idea of how much pain she was about to go through made even the resurfacing shame from being naked be irrelevant again.

    The moment the Hydra used Lifestrearn to locate Quy''s core and get rid of the blue streaks that had appeared over its surface, Quy felt her whole body scream in agony.

    Awakening had reinforced her, but now the mana ?ow wasn''t restricted to her abdomen anymore. It ?owed through every nook and cranny of her being and it carried the poison that she needed to ensure her survival.

    The processsted a few seconds but to her, it was more painful than the entire Awakening process until that moment. Yet not a single whimper escaped her lips.

    "Good work gritting your teeth. Whatever happens, keep up like this."

    Solus said as she released the ?ow of world energy and the re?ning process started again.

    At cyan, most of the impurities that could be carried away by the bloodstream had been removed. It reduced the resistance that the mama ?ow encountered enough to start attacking the impurities that over the years had be deeply etched in the Awakened''s body.

 Chapter 1837: Dangerous Bottleneck (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1837: Dangerous Bottleneck (Part 1)</h4>

    Quy emitted a shrill sound through her closed mouth as her skin turned ck from the impurities that tainted it after reaching the surface. The same happened to her hair which lost its shades and to her nails which grew unnaturally long.

    Then, they both fell off, just to regrow so quickly that the process hurt no less than losing them. At the same time, her skin dried and cracked due to theyer of external impurities having exceeded what the blood ?ow could sustain.

    The ckyer around Quy fell apart, revealing the muscles underneath that twisted like living snakes entangled together. They also were ?lled with impurities from the harsh training she had endured and were eager to get rid of them.

    The process happened three times as Quy reached the deep cyan,

    then the light cyan, and ?nally the bright cyan core. Each time she would expel the same amount of impurities but the process would be more painful since they came from a deeper part of her.

    Then Lith, Solus, and Faluel channeled the power of the mana geyser against Quy''s core to stop the process before she reached the blue

    "No more mana poisoning. Please, l beg of you.¡° Quy said amid sobs as the Hydra approached her.

    "No more mana poisoning, little one. I promise you." Faluel wiped off her tears and offered her a tonic.

    Quy had yet to notice how much hair, skin, and nails she had shed until that moment. She was standing on a pile of wet dead parts of herself, like an insect after molting.

    While the Hydra got her attention, Solus cleared the tower''s ?oor from the remains. Quy''s mental strength was as important as her core for the Awakening to seed.

    Quy sat on the ?oor to catch her breath and drank the liquid with gratefulness. Its sweet ?avor made her forget the hardships she had just endured. She still used Guiding Light to make sure that her core had not already reached the blue and Faluel wouldn''t sucker poison her, just to be safe.

    Quy sighed in relief noticing that her mana core was bright cyan and streaked blue all over, like it was supposed to be.

    "Nice breathing technique, little one. Since when did you develop it?¡®

    Lith asked while kneeling in front of her and offering her a second tonic that she hungrily gulped down.

    "Months ago, right after I helped you to understand the secret of body casting and learned that of fusion magic for myself." Quy said in between gulps. "You have no idea how many times I''ve been tempted to just use it and Awaken.

    "Of course, the thought of death always stopped me in time. I''m not that stupid."

    ¡®You are not stupid, little one. You are de?nitely a genius. And not so little, after all." Lith took a long appreciative look at her body.

    "You had your opportunity with me and you lost it. I already have a boyfriend, so bug off." She replied while covering her chest and crotch with her hands in mock embarrassment.

    lt was a brief chat and a stupid joke but it still helped her to take her mind off the pain she had endured and that she was about to.

    "Blue is supposed to be even worse, right?¡°

    "It is. l''m sorry." Lith hugged her, quickly joined by Solus, Faluel, and Quy''s sisters.

    "Don''t be." She replied. "This is my choice. l witnessed Phloria''s Awakening and I knew mine would be much harder. l''m the one who''s supposed to be sorry for crying like a baby earlier."

    "Kid, all of us had years to get used to breakthroughs whereas you are withstanding them one after the other with just minutes between them.¡° Faluel said. "Don¡®t belittle yourself. Most people with a core as powerful as yours would have already gone insane from the pain, me included."

    "I don''t think so, but thanks anyway." Quy got free from the embrace only when her mind had found its bnce again. "Let''s kick the crap out of the blue."

    Then, the worst part of the re?ning process started. Quy kept excreting impurities from all of her ori?ces. Her nail, hair, and skin kept falling just to regrow a secondter.

    Now, however, her bones started to crack in multiple points like breadsticks to get rid of the most deeply etched impurities, those that over the years had be an integral part of her being.

    They couldn''t be just washed out of her body, not even by the now powerful waves of blue mana. They had to be forcefully removed along with the living matter they had fused with, no matter if they were bones, tissues, or even organs.

    Quy¡®s muscles didn''t just twist and bulge anymore, they ripped themselves to shreds, her bones broke down until they were reduced to splinters, and her skin exploded, ?lling the room with a bloody mist.

    Quy fell on all fours from the relentless and sudden jolts of pain.

    Her body seemed to have turned into a torture device and boiling oil seemed to ?ow inside her veins instead of blood.

    Yet she managed to keep her focus, screaming not just to express her agony, but also as a means to not let her ?ghting spirit die. Her voice was full of determination, making it sound like a battle cry.

    She withstood the breakthroughs to deep, light, and ?nally to bright blue. Her core regained more and more of its power at every step of the process as Faluel''s mana was cleansed by the violent bursts of energy that ravaged Quy¡®s body.

    "lt''s over." Solus said, letting the world energy ?ow back into the tower and its mines. The crystals dulled from the effort slowly regained their light. "lt''s over, little one. You can rx now."

    "No, it''s not and no, I can''t." Quy raised her arms pushing away those who had approached her to check on her condition. "My core is still poisoned. Under its bright blue surface, the violet light still burns."

    She talked in¡ªbetween deep breaths, using Second Chances to assess the position and number of the auxiliary cores that had formed within her body.

    "lf l allow myself to fall asleep, the energy that my core can''t contain anymore will be lost forever. Even if l reach the deep violet at some point, l''ll need to use umtion for months just to go back to square one.

    "I don''t know how Manohar had nned to deal with this issue, but I''m not letting my gift go to waste. I suffered too much just to surrender now that I am in front of the ?nishing line." Quy said.

    "This wasn''t part of the n!" Lith said.

    "Because this isn''t a n, more like a gamble." She replied as she started to execute the basic defensive movements that she had learned at the academy ?rst and then Orion had etched inside every ?ber of her being.

    At the same time, Quy cast the ?rst chore magic spell that she had learned as a kid. Back then, the adults of her vige had no care for an orphan. Whenever she was hurt or ill, she could only rely on herself.

    At ?rst, her movements followed the rhythm of the exercise but as she moved to the upper tiers of light magic, they followed the ?ow of mana.

 Chapter 1838: Dangerous Bottleneck (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1838: Dangerous Bottleneck (Part 2)</h4>

    The runes had be so familiar to her that Quy could see them like notes on a musical score, each one with its sound, requiring a different tempo ording to the spell they were meant to produce.

    Soon she seemed to be dancing with a shadow partner that kept trying to get close but missed her by a hair''s breadth.

    Like Lith had earlier said, Quy was de?nitely a genius.

    She had learned fake magic from books when she was barely six years old and had just learned how to read. She had managed to survive even though no one had exined to her anything about theplexities of hand signs, ents, and the risks that mistakes implied.

    She had created her ?rst spell by herself when she was seven, to help her patients and she had never stopped improving it as she discovered more about magic. Quy had enrolled in the fourth year of academy when she was just twelve,peting the whole time with Lith for the top spot.

    She had reinvented magic from scratch in the few weeks she had spent inside the Fringe with just a few whispers from Mogar,

    bing the ?rst true human mage in history.

    Herck of achievements, whenpared to Balkor or Manohar,

    wasn''t because of a gap in talent. Quy wasn''t a frog in the well, but a majestic Dragon who had been scarred by Yurial''s death and had hidden in a shallow pond for years.

    Now, however, she wasn''t afraid of spreading her wings anymore.

    Quy had already learned how to make the runes ?ow through her body from her studies about fusion magic. She wasn''t an Awakened nor a magical beast. She didn''t know the runes instinctively and had had to discover them one by one.

    After that, she had to learn how to make them move from her head to her toes to gain their effects. Now that her mana flow wasn''t constricted to just her core, conjuring the runes through movement and channeling them through her auxiliary cores was second nature to her.

    The auxiliary cores closed one after another, turning from vortexes into perfect spheres. The bright blue light that coursed throughout her body turned into deep violet the moment Quy overcame the natural restrictions of an Awakened core.

    The mana ?ow kept growing in might until it became light violet and new auxiliary cores appeared. Awakening them was no different from the ?rst time and the experience gained made it much easier.

    Quy felt her body brim with power as her core went back to violet,

    its vigor intact even afterpleting the Awakening process.

    She took a few deep breaths, witnessing more auxiliary cores forming inside her body, but she could instinctively tell that they weren''t enough for another breakthrough.

    Quy turned toward her family and friends, smiling from the bottom of her heart before falling head-?rst on the ?oor.

    "Good gods, how is she?" Phloria asked while covering her sister with a cloth.

    "Alive, but weak. Too weak." Faluel said. "Did she share with any of you her Injection spell? Because she needs to drink tonics faster than we can give her while she''s unconscious."

    "No." The others unanimously replied, clenching their ?sts in helplessness.

    "Good. It means that Quy hasn''t broken her vow." Faluel used the spell that Quy had bartered with her to take part in the apprenticeship and injected several tonics into her student''s body at the same time.

    Once an Awakened reached the bright blue, the body waspletely ridden from impurities and the resistance their body offered to their own mana flow was nigh-zero.

    Even though the breakthroughs into and through the violet core were painless, they still required huge amounts of energy that the body needed to develop the auxiliary cores.

    Quy had survived the process thanks to her careful nning and preparations, but going straight to the light violet had left her skin and bones. She would need plenty of rest and food to recover.

    ¡°That was really odd." Lith said after they rnade sure that Quy was alright and she rested in the safety of her own room in the tower.

    "Quy formed new auxiliary cores as she regained her strength yet l''In still stuck with those I developed after reaching the bright blue."

    "I''m sorry, but Quy isn''t the odd one, you are." Faluel said. "Breaking past the deep violet is supposed to be just a matter of patience after developing a proper breathing technique.

    "New auxiliary cores were supposed to form as you umted more energy. Then, all you have to do to break through is to turn the vortexes into spheres until you have enough to amplify the power of your core to the next level.

    "It''s how it worked for me, Quy, and how I expect it to work for everyone else."

    "What''s wrong with me?" l.ith asked, looking at his body like a traitor.

    "I don''t know. New species, remember? Unlimited potential but also unpredictable problems" She shrugged. "What I can tell you is that your cores are now overloaded with mana akin to the violet core of a fake mage.

    "The power you diligently umted is not lost, just blocked by a dam. l¡®m certain that you''ll ?gure out something, you just need some time."

    ¡®Time.'' Lith thought. ¡®Something that most Awakened take for granted without realizing that it''s a luxury, especially in times of war. I have no idea what''s blocking my growth nor how different my race is from the others.

    ¡®If only Tista was already at violet, I could at least know if l''m the exception due to my previous lives or if it''s a problem that gues my entire bloodline. Fuck me sideways.¡®

    ¡®Don''t worry too much.¡® Solus said via their mind link. ¡®It''s been four months and a half since you achieved the deep violet and usually it took you much longer to step into the next level. The fact that your aura and eyes already have light violet streaks is a good sign.

    ¡®It means that you just have to take one more step to ovee this unprecedented bottleneck. Remember what you learned about the art of weaving spells with your body. You don''t use magic, you are magic.

    ¡®The more you stress over this problem the longer you''ll be stuck at deep violet. The block is likely something of your own making. You just need to understand what it is and how to get rid of it.¡®

    ¡®Even if you are right, l don''t know if I can afford to wait.¡® Lith replied.

    ¡®The war is not going well and even if Thrud doesn''t seem to care much about me, Orpal is clearly plotting something.

    ¡®l can''t stop thinking that the branch of the Undead Court where he lured me was more than a trap for the Council. It was some kind of trial run for something bigger.¡¯

    ***

    Quy needed to spend the next three days in bed doing nothing, just like Lith after he damaged his life force. She had no cracks, but the immense strain her mana core and body had undergone had left Quy in a state simr to Lith''s after he saved Protector.

    She ate more than when she was at the academy and during the ?rst day even reading blurred her vision.

 Chapter 1839: Final Steps (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1839: Final Steps (Part 1)</h4>

    Quy stayed at the tower during her recovery, in order for Lith,

    Solus, or Faluel to administer her any treatment she might require.

    Jirni and Orion were pissed off at the idea that she had gone away with Morok without warning them. A couple staying away for several days and nights could only mean one thing and it scared even Jirni to death.

    Morok knew that she was with Lith, but he was pissed off anyway.

    Quy couldn''t tell him where she was nor was he allowed to visit her Seeing her so weak and emaciated, her voice reduced to a whisper,

    squeezed his heart in a vise.

    "Why did you go to Lith for your Awakening? I''m a self¡ªAwakened as well and I''m your boyfriend. Why do you still prefer him over me?"

    Morok asked in outrage.

    "Well, maybe she had developed a better taste for men." Friya said in themunication amulet. "Also, if you had seen Lith naked like we did, you wouldn''t ask such¡ª"

    "Give that to me!" Quy found the strength to retrieve the amulet from her sister''s hands as her face ?ushed.

    "Did you really see him naked?" Morok asked with an ashen face.

    "Yes. l mean no. It was just a stupid joke and he wore pants¡ª¡°

    "Tight pants." Friya exploited Quy''s weakness, taking hold of the amulet again. ¡°And I saw how you stared at the bulg-"

    "l don''t care for that." Morok shook his head. "Sometimes I look at your chest as well, but it means nothing. The important is that Lith didn''t see you naked."

    "About that¡ª"

    "Friya! l''m going to fucking murder you!" Quy jumped out of her bed as everything spiraled out of control.

    Meanwhile, in the Royal Castle, King Meron and Queen Sylpha received the ?rst visit from the representatives of the Awakened Council since the days when Valeron still ruled the Griffon Kingdom.

    Or better, one representative.

    Fe the Behemoth had been tasked with mediating a deal with the Royals so that they would join their forces with the Council and ?ght Thrud together. After losing so many elders, the Awakened hadn''t much of a choice left.

    The other representatives weren''t interested in wasting their time with ants so the moment Fe had volunteered, they had given her their blessing no questions asked. They had no idea that Athung Soranot had followed her.

    "l''m Fe. The representative of the Awakened Beasts in the Council and she''s Athung, the human representative." The two Awakened gave the Royals a small bow but they didn''t kneel.

    The Royal couple retumed to bow, sitting on normal chairs at the same eye level as their guests. Status and etiquette were irrelevant when dealing with the Council.

    "lt''s an honor having you here, Lady Fe." Meron said with a polite nod. "No offense, but have the Council''s standards changed? Your colleague looks a bit young for the role."

    He actually meant weak. Meron could see with Life Vision that Athung was close to reaching the violet, but her core was bright blue nheless.

    "They have." Athung replied. "ln times like these, we can''t allow outdated customs to stand in the way of survival."

    Fe looked at her in admiration, hoping that the youth''s gall wouldn''t prove to be her downfall once Raagu learned about her actions.

    "Tell us what you had in mind for our alliance." Queen Sylpha said,

    feeling there was something wrong with them.

    The two Awakened spoke in turns, sharing with the Royals everything they had learned from Baba Yaga about Night''s weak points and Thrud''s ns.

    "You have lost many regions, just like we have lost many elders to the Mad Queen''s trickery." Fe said. "Her immortal army is a problem for us both and so is the madness of the Dead King."

    "United we stand, divided we fall." Sylpha nodded. "The Kingdom agrees on a temporary alliance with the Council as long as your terms fall within reason."

    "We don''t ask much." Athung said. "We just want our respective factions to share their resources and more importantly, their intel."

    "That''s it?" Meron asked, the deal seemed too good to be true.

    "Let''s say that we are content that things remain as they are." Fe replied. "lf any of our assets are exposed during the war, we ask you to turn a blind eye and not reim them."

    Sylpha gritted her teeth but agreed. She hated the idea of losing precious mines, but if Thmd became the Queen, she would lose much more than that.

    "Onest thing." Athung said. "We want people we can trust as liaison officers. My colleague and I havee here with two speci?c names in mind."

    "Who might they be?" Sylpha asked.

    "The Beast Council requires Lith Verhen as its liaison.¡° Fe''s words made sense.

    The Royals already suspected Lith to be an Awakened and he was renowned to be on excellent terms with Faluel and other Emperor Beasts so they epted the request.

    "The Human Council requires Jirni Ernas as its liaison.¡° Athung said,

    shocking the Royals and putting her life on the line.

    Jirni Ernas was many things, but a mage wasn''t one of them, let alone an Awakened.

    The Royals had met her as a young girl, they had seen her grow and then age. She had never had the eternal youth of Awakened and herck of magical powers was beyond question.

    Jimi was a remarkable woman, an amazing tactician, and a nlthless Constable, but that was it. She had always required a security detail for her missions, constantly restocking her potions and wands.

    She hade an inch from death too many times for it to be just a facade.

    "Archon Ernas?" Sylpha asked in disbelief. "Don''t you mean Archmage Orion Emas or Mage Phloria Ernas?"

    The ?rst was another of their best elements while the second was known to have left the Royal Court to follow Lith in his apprenticeship under Faluel the Hydra.

    "We already have plenty of powerful mages in our ranks. What we need is a brilliant mind, not more ?repower.¡° Athung replied. "l admit that the Council is interested in Archmage Ernas, but only as a Forgernaster.

    "We''ve heard incredible things about him and both our factions would bene?t from any exchange in our respective I-¡®orgemastering techniques. Thrud is a dangerous opponent that can''t be underestimated.

    "We are willing to open up to you in order to gain an edge against her,

    but only if the Royal Forgemasters do the same."

    "We have no issue about Verhen, but for Jirni and Orion Ernas we need some time to think about your proposal." King Morn said.

    "Don''t take too long because Thrud sure won''t before making her next move." Fe stood up, quickly followed by Athung. "We aren''t delighted at the idea of sharing our techniques either, but saving them now is pointless.

    "If Thrud wins, every member of the Council she captures will be forced by the Unwavering Loyalty array to share their legacy. After your fall, however, the Royal Forgemasters will bend the knee to their new Queen.

    "We''d lost part of our knowledge to her whereas you would lose all of it. Remember this before making your decision."

    The two Awakened Warped away before the Royals could even open their mouth to reply.

 Chapter 1840: Final Steps (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1840: Final Steps (Part 2)</h4>

    "That was a bold move, Athung, but when Raagu learns that you have gone over her head, she''ll kill you." Fe said the moment the dimensional corridors closed behind them.

    "Only if she reminds blinded by the old ways." The young woman replied. "This isn''t a petty squabble over territory or in?uence. This is a battle for survival and a true warrior leaves their pride off the battle?eld.¡°

    ***

    A few days after Quy''splete recovery, vige of Lutia.

    Lith was walking along the streets of Lutia, visiting one shop after another to check their goods. Now that the peace in his hometown had been restored, he was eager to check if he could get more provisions without the need of traveling all over the Kingdom.

    Wherever he went, envious gazes and whispered curses followed him It wasn''t due to his tall and muscr body, his Archmage robe, or even the fact that bards all over the Country were writing songs about him.

    Such matters would annoy nobles and those mages who thought of themselves as his rivals. The people of Lutia were much more simple-

    minded and down to Mogar. What irked them to no end was the fact that he walked arm in arm with two women.

    One was a bit older and much shorter than him, with long hair of a brown so light that it looked golden under the morning sun. The other woman seemed to be in her thirties, with shoulder-length light¡ªbrown hair with red shades all over that danced like ?ames every time she giggled.

    They both had a wonderful ?gures and with each stride they took they lightly swayed their hips, making heads turn.

    "Damn, Royals sure must be different from our regr folks." One of the clerks of the fabric shop that Lith was visiting said.

    "Yeah, I mean, clearly the King must have a harem of concubines as well, otherwise he wouldn''t let his future son¡ªinw hang out with other women in public." The store owner replied.

    "I don''t get why women swarm Verhen like ?ies with honey. He got himself a Princess yet the handmaid and that hot piece of ass are all over him. Man, what I''d give to bring her in the storeroom and restock her¡ª"

    ¡°lt''s my mother you are talking about, jackass!" Lith''s enhanced hearing had allowed him to hear suchments all morning and they had ground on his nerves.

    Most new citizens of Lutia had never seen the whole Verhen family assembled and still mistook Elina for Lith''s sister and sometimes even for his date.

    The two men froze in panic when they realized that despite the considerable distance, Lith had overheard their words and was so pissed off that the violet light in his eyes was perfectly visible despite the sun.

    "What were they saying to upset you so much, dear?" Elina asked.

    ¡°They were... making rudements on your physical appearance and what would they do if you were to give them a moment of your time in private." Lith replied while avoiding looking her in the eyes in embarrassment.

    ¡°They think that we''re together and that I''m hot?" Elina chuckled.

    "Mom!" Like most sons, Lith didn''t like that word applied to his mother, let alone referring to her as such.

    "There''s no need to be angry, sweetie." She kissed his cheek,

    embarrassing him even further. "lt''s ?attering for a woman my age."

    Lith snarled in reply and brought a few rolls of fabric to the counter,

    his eyes still alight.

    "How much for this?" He asked while ring at Elina''s suitor who was about his age.

    "lt''s on the house, Archmage Verhen." The owner said in a rush,

    covered in a cold sweat.

    "Do you think I need your charity?" Lith turned towards him, his voice a growling rumble that announced a storm.

    "Yes, I mean, no. 1 mean twenty copper coins." The merch actually cost twenty-seven, but the man was so scared that he had missed one roll.

    A wave of Lith''s hand made the rolls of cloth disappear and reced them with the sum required. Once the store owner realized his mistake, he considered seven copper coins a cheap price for keeping his skin.

    "Mom, why did you want me to apany you shopping? l was in the middle of an important breakthrough!" Lith said with a grumble.

    "You always say that." Elina sighed. "Besides, you need to get out of yourb more. You look terrible and you, Solus, should have dragged him into sunlight before he started to get pale.¡°

    "I know, but we¡ª"

    "Were in the middle of an important breakthrough.¡° Elinapleted the phrase for her. "Gods if I miss Kam."

    Solus blushed at that remark but she had no excuse to offer.

    Mastering the Fury, discovering a breathing technique for herself, and crafting the equipment that Lith needed for the war were all matters that required lots of time.

    Yet she knew that it wasn''t just because of that that she had let Lith hole himself up in the tower for so long. She had just been too happy having him all to herself and unwilling to share.

    "Me too." Lith said, shielding his eyes from the light of the day to which he was no longer used. Yet what pained him the most was the thought that it was l(am''s birthday and that they wouldn''t spend it together.

    "I''m still waiting for an answer, Mom."

    "l asked you to apany me because you look sickly. Also, we both have gotten too used Warping around the Kingdom for our chores.

    It''s no surprise that the people of Lutia treat us as strangers if they never see us.

    "You are the only one they recognize and only because of your robe.

    On top of that, I want you to witness the good that you are doing for the people of the Kingdom. You are ?ghting the war for the freedom and the happiness of us all, but ideals are just words.

    "l want you to see what and who you are really ?ghting for. To remind you that you have a ce to call home and where you have to return once the ?ght is over. l hope that during your darkest hour, it will give you the strength you need to win ande back to your old,

    boring Mom." Elina snif?ed.

    She always acted tough and pretended to be alright, but she suffered whenever she didn''t see Lith for days or weeks. If before the thought that he was in the safety of hisb was of constion for her, now she felt dying inside every time he left for a mission.

    She was terri?ed of not seeing him again, his corpse lost under the rubble of some ancient ruin.

    "Mom, you are not boring and de?nitely you are not old." Lith embraced her, giving her a handkerchief. "Not ording to the horny jerks of Lutia, at least."

    Elina blew her nose and then chuckled at the memory of the embarrassed clerk.

    "All these emotions and shopping made me work quite an appetite.¡°

    She said while looking at the noon sun. "Where do we eat?"

    "I¡®ve reserved us a table in the best restaurant in Lutia, the Heavenly Wolf." Lith replied.

 Chapter 1841: Brothers at Arms (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1841: Brothers at Arms (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith, Solus, and Elina walked slowly toward their destination. They enjoyed the noises of the bustling city and the warmth of the sun that shrugged off the coldness that haunted them inside.

    Yet the brightest light always cast the deepest shadows and many of them were following Lith from far away enough to not let even his inhuman senses notice them.

    ***

    City of Belius, about the same time.

    Kam Yehval stared at her sorry ?gure in the mirror, taking deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm down. She had deep bags under her eyes from theck of sleep, she was covered in sweat, and her eyes were bloodshot.

    Yet she wasn''t back from a deadly mission nor had she been forced to work a triple shift. It was her birthday and she had taken a leave of a few days to recover from fatigue and celebrate the anniversary with her sister.

    What had reduced her like that was simply stress.

    The idea of meeting Lith again and giving him the ?nal answer about their rtionship that she had withheld since the y she had run away from the tower was driving her insane.

    She had spent the days after talking with Zinya questioning her rtionship with him and pondering if breaking up had been a mistake on her part.

    "Calm down, dammit.¡° She said to the mirror. "We just have to go there and tell him that we don''t mind Solus. That she''s just another of those hot women he always hangs out with." She said thest part with a snarl.

    ¡°Note to self, don''t snarl. This way, with a little luck, everything will go back to the way it was and we''ll spend my birthday together with our families reunited for the event.¡° She had already made the dinner reservation, she only needed to hear Lith''s answer before inviting her guests.

    "Worst case scenario, even if things between us don''t work because of the forced ¡®threesome¡¯, I can always break up with Lith again. I''d still have a job to return to and Zinya''s family as a shoulder to cry on.

    ¡°This isn''t a matter of life and death. I just have to be strong and give ourselves a chance." The idea of another break-up actually terri?ed Kam, but after spending so much time with Lith, she didn''t feel safe without at least one contingency n at the ready.

    Three more rehearsals and two showerster, she Warped out of the barn of the Verhen house.

    ¡°Aunt Kami! I missed you!" Aran galloped to her with Onyx.

    "Happy birthday Auntie!" Leria said, looking at him with an air of superiority for forgetting about the date.

    "You remembered! You''re the smartest and the cutest girl of the Kingdom, Leria." Kam hugged the kids, kissing their foreheads while Aran rushed to make up for his blunder.

    "Happy birthday, Kam." Raaz inwardly thanked Leria since he had forgotten about it as well. "What brings you here?¡°

    "I need to speak with Lith for a moment. Is he home or at theb?"

    She asked while looking around.

    The security had de?nitely improved. Since the day Orpal had dered his intentions, the kings of the woods watched the house,

    never letting the kids out of their sight.

    The magical arrays around them emitted such dense energy that Kam could feel the hair on her neck stand up.

    "Neither. He''s at Lutia with Elina and Solus." Raaz replied.

    "Oh." Kam looked at her lucky clothes and her shoes, unsuited for the thirty minutes walk that it would''ve taken her to reach the city.

    Between the dust and sunlight, she would''ve gotten there covered in dirt and sweat.

    "Don''t worry, I can give you a ride." Raaz proudly patted on the DoLorean. "You are lucky, I was just about to leave. My business is expanding a lot and between the war and the famine, my crops are never enough.

    "I''m going to the vige of Nenia to see if there arends that I can turn into cultivable ?elds with a little help from Lith."

    "What about the kids?" Kam asked with worry.

    "Rena is always here while Senton works. Besides, we have magical,

    Emperor Beasts, and even the Queen''s Corps. They are safe. It''s us that should be worried about." He said with augh as the magical device took ?ight and devoured the distance from Lutia.

    "Please, tell them that l''ll be back for dinner and that they can always call me on my amulet if they need something." Raaz dropped Kam in the middle of the vige, in front of Zekell''s shop.

    The members of the Queen''s Corps would take a while to reach them,

    but there she would be safe and the cksmith would point her where to ?nd Lith.

    "Thank you, Raaz!" She gave him one of her dazzling smiles, d for that lucky break.

    Then, after the DoLorean turned around and soared the skies, an Adamant de pierced through the Orichalcum of her Scalewalker armor. It just prickled her skin and made a droplet of blood run down her back, forcing Kam to freeze in ce.

    lt wasn''t fear stopping her but the awareness that the de was poking at one of the major arteries of her body. One small cut and she would bleed out so quickly that after less than one minute only a healer capable of using tier four magic would be able to save her.

    "Make a sound and it will be yourst." The cold voice came from a smiling mouth. She had never seen the man before but he was acting as if they were good friends. "Nod if you understand."

    Kam nodded and followed her kidnapper with a smile on her face.

    She had seen worse and Jirni''s training made her con?dent in her skills. That and the countless magic wands and alchemical tools stored in her dimensional amulet that she could use to kill him.

    The only thing she needed was an opportunity to use them.

    7\"k*

    After cing their order, all that Lith, Elina, and Solus had to do was wait.

    The Heavenly Wolf restaurant was a cozy building made of solid wood. The owner had to be a skilled hunter since he hung his trophies along the walls for his guests to see them.

    Oddly enough, despite the restaurant''s name, there was no stuffed wolf head.

    Solus stopped one of the waitresses, asking her for an exnation.

    "Years ago, the owner almost got killed by a Byk. He was hunting down the beast to get the bounty on its head that Baroness Rath had promised to whoever brought her proof to have avenged her son.

    "Too bad that the Byk was a much more skilled hunter than my boss and he almost died for his bravado. If not for a ?aming red Ry saving his ass, I would be unemployed today." The young woman replied.

    "It gave the restaurant its name and the reason whoever hunts wolves is not wee here."

    "Someone should tell Protector that he has a fan club." Solus chuckled as soon as she was certain that the waitress wouldn''t overhear her.

    "What''s a fan club?" Elina asked.

    "lt''s a ce where people who admire the same person assemble." Lith red at Solus for adapting Earth''s terms to M0gar''snguage.

 Chapter 1842: Brothers at Arms (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1842: Brothers at Arms (Part 2)</h4>

    "We should make one for you, then. I''m certain that you have plenty of admirers.¡° Elina said.

    Lith was about to dismiss the idea with an excuse when the waiters added another chair and set the table for one more person.

    "I reserved for four, but my father is not going to make it." He said.

    "We aren''t expecting anyone else. I''m sorry for the inconvenience."

    "Your words hurt me deeply." A familiar voice came from the entrance of the restaurant, behind Lith''s seat.

    His eyes went aze, Elina turned pale while Solus tried and failed to take hermunication amulet out of the pocket dimension.

    "Hello, brother." Orpal said while walking toward the empty seat.

    "Mother, I see you have aged well. Aren''t you going to introduce me to this young maiden I''ve heard so much talking about?"

    Lith stood up, trying to conjure War but he failed as well.

    "I wouldn''t try anything funny if I were in your shoes, little brother."

    Orpal''s eyes were aze with deep blue light from Life Vision as he studied his guests. "If we ?ght, things wouldn''t go well for Mom, your new girlfriend, or Lutia, for that matter.

    "I promise you that we''d ?ght so hard that you''d be forced to reveal your Tiamat nature."

    "Do you really think that kicking your ass without your steed is so hard for me? Your ego is still only matched by your idiocy." Lith replied as several spells manifested around him.

    Yet no one seemed scared, no one was running away, not even the waiters and he didn''t like it.

    "Is it ego when it''s you who walked into my trap? Is it idiocy when I have more hostages than those sitting at our table?" At a snap of Orpal''s ?ngers, a lean man brought Kam from the kitchen room.

    He kept her iight arm twisted behind her back and kept a de covered in runes against her neck. Lith could tell at a nce that such a weapon might decapitate her in one hit if the man was a Thrall and Kam didn''t pour mana into her armor to reinforce it.

    Lith used Life Vision as well, discovering that he was blinded. The restaurant had been ?lled with pointless arrays, just like the Undead Court''s branch in Panat. Neither he nor Solus had noticed it because the arrays had been kept inactive until that moment.

    Even though they always swept a room with their mystical senses upon entering, inactive arrays could only be spotted by a speci?c spell. A spell that Lith didn''t use when going to a restaurant with his family.

    "Sit down, or you''ll discover that I''ve many surprises left for you and none of them is of the good kind. Speaking of surprises, happy birthday, miss Yehval." Orpal said while staring at her soft curves pressing against the fabric of her clothes due to her position.

    "l must say, you have indeed good taste in matter of women, brother."

    Lith didn''t miss how Orpal ogled at Kam, Solus, and to a lesser extent, even Elina.

    He used body cast to Warp them all away and Switch Kam with one of the waitresses, but once again, nothing happened.

    "ln case you are wondering why no one ising to your rescue and none or your spells is working, I had my men cast Sealed Space over this building." The Dead King chuckled as he felt the noose that he had put around Lith''s neck tightening.

    "I''m certain that an Archmage as powerful as you knows what l''m talking about."

    Lith actually had no idea that, aside from elemental sealing arrays, a spell capable ofpletely blocking dimensional magic existed. Yet being Sealed Space a self-exnatory name, he understood what was happening.

    ¡°Let me be crystal clear, Meln." Lith said while staring at his fallen brother in the eyes. "Threaten me all you want. We both know you can''t touch any of the hostages."

    ¡°And why is that?" Orpal shrugged, but he inwardly hated Lith calling him with his disowned name and feeling the deep violet aura pressing down on him.

    "Because they are the only thing that keeps me from killing you and your men on the spot. Were that to change, Night or not, you are going to die.¡° Lith tried to summon his Demons of Darkness,

    discovering that the Sealed Space around their table blocked even that.

    Yet everything inside those three cubic meters (106 cubic feet) was still game.

    "What do you want?"

    ¡°Contrary to what your brutish mind thinks, I didn''te here to ?ght. I came here to catch up with my loving family and to make you an offer you can''t refuse.¡° Orpal sat down ?rst in a disy of con?dence.

    "What offer?" Lith followed his lead, but only so that his foot could touch Solus'' and establish a mind link that would go undetected, no matter what tricks Orpal had prepared.

    ¡®I''m sorry, but mana vision is blinded and the pocket dimension is sealed. The space is being highlypressed, cutting off dimensional magic in all of its forms. The only world energy we have ess to is that inside the cube so even our ?repower is limited.¡® She said.

    ¡®What about Domination?¡¯ Lith asked.

    ''1 tried that, but Sealed Space seems to be a tier ?ve dimensional spell because it''s imbued with willpower.¡¯ She exploited the physical contact to send him a Monocle of Menadion. ¡®If I try to overpower it recklessly, the caster will notice and alert Meln.

    ¡®Now, instead, we can study it together. We''ll learn a new spell and kick your brother''s ass as soon as the Eyes are done.¡®

    ¡®Excellent n.¡¯ Lith inwardly nodded.

    "Join me and together we''ll take dovsm Thrud." Orpal said, snapping them out of their conversation.

    "Are you serious?" Lith asked.

    "Dead serious. Pun intended." Orpalughed at his own joke, but he was the only one. "I''m not afraid of the Royals. They are just a couple of powerless rulers surrounded by those idiots of the Royal Court.

    "l''m not afraid of the Council either. Those old fossils fell hand and feet into every single trap that Thrud and Iy so far. They are so slow adapting to the change of time, so worried about protecting their precious little secrets, that I can beat them simply by plucking them one at a time.

    "The Mad Queen, however, scares me." While saying those words,

    Orpal''s face showed how much admitting that someone was better than him hurt his pride.

    "Her army is immortal, she shares with them everything she has, and she''s so powerful that even my fellow Horsemen look like trash inparison. Believe it or not, she has reached the white core and has shared with her followers her breathing technique and the secret of the violet core.

    "Those damn idiots are so blindly loyal to Thrud that they are incorruptible even when she lifts them from the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array.¡° He said with a grunt. "Yet she''s far from invincible."

    "lmagine the two of us together. My Chosen and your Demons ?ghting side by side, each one armed with that Thundercrash of yours. We know what each other can do and you should have recognized my power from my ?ght with Manohar if not evene to respect it.¡°

 Chapter 1843: Brothers at War (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1843: Brothers at War (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith''s face showed only spite at Orpal, Solus'' focus as she deciphered the Sealed Space spell, and Elina''s utter despair.

    "I¡®ve visited the Golden Griffon enough times to draw an urate map of it.¡° The Dead King said. "Vl?th your DoLorean, we can invade it and move so quickly that Thrud won''t be able to rearrange the rooms before we Spirit Warp forward.

    "While our soldiers ughter hers, we''ll reach the core of the Golden Griffon. I''ll keep Thrud busy and buy you enough time to destroy it.

    Without that lost city, she''s nothing.

    "After you get rid of the power core of the academy, we only have to run away and the battle will be won. The Council and the Royals will do the rest, exhausting their forces to take Thrud down along with her now mortal but still powerful army.

    "Once they are done, while they are at their weakest, we''ll strike.

    Without the Royals and the Council, the Griffon Kingdom will be ours to take. I''ll be its Eternal King while you''ll be my trusted second inmand."

    Orpal''s voice rose in intensity as he spoke, the images that he was describing almost visible to his eyes. He could already see himself sitting on the throne, ?nally achieving the respect he deserved and with his hated brother as his ?rst ve.

    "Are you insane?" Lith said, making the bubble pop. "You need my Demons, my crafts, my weapons, ad my expertise. l wouldn''t even ept sharing the Kingdom with you, let alone serving you. Give me one good reason I should do it."

    "Because I''m not going to leave you a choice." Orpal said with a huge grin on his face.

    He had been waiting for that question and seeing his n running on track ording to his schedule ?lled him with joy. I-Ie had learned everything he could from Lith''s raid on his mansion.

    Inside the Sealed Space spellmunications were cut off. There was not enough world energy for a full breath of Origin or Void mes,

    no way to bring his loved ones to safety, or even the possibility to cast whatever had darkened Derios.

    Orpal had taken a page from Lith''s book, preparing several contingency measures for that meeting. Even the arrays that blinded mystical senses and his Thralls were just two of them.

    I-Ie was certain to have cornered Lith. To have already put a leash on his neck, a muzzle on his face, and a cage around him. They were all invisible and Orpal couldn''t wait for the moment when Lith would notice them.

    "You have stolen my stuff. That wasn''t very brotherly of you, but I''m a forgiving man and I''ll allow you to keep it. Consider it your advance payment for your allegiance and the ?rst batch of materials for your crafts.

    "For fairness, however, I need to take something of yours. Just to make sure that you don''t get funny ideas. Mom and your girlfriends areing with me." Orpal said, making Lith''s eyes go wide.

    As he clenched his teeth, dark clouds gathered above the Heavenly Wolf restaurant and the sound of distant thunder echoed.

    "Don''t worry, I''ll keep them safe and sound for you and give them back once Thrud is dead. Worst case scenario, I hope you don''t mind your older brother getting a taste of¡ª" A low rumble in the ground had grown in intensity until Orpal sensed it below his feet.

    "What do you think you are doing? Stop immediately or I''ll kill them here and now!"

    "I''m not doing anything." Lith said while his eyes bumed with mana and his aura ?lled the sealed space, making the borders of the spell visible to the naked eye. ¡°lf I had such power, I would have used it to smite you, not wasted it in theatrics!"

    ¡®Night, what''s happening? Isn''t Sealed Space supposed to block him?¡®

    Orpal asked while the pressure that Lith exerted made the Dead King suddenly doubt his allegedly perfect n.

    ¡®It is. There''s no way your brother can cause a quake and a storm so quickly. 1t''s beyond him. It''s something beyond even you, me, and Moonlight.¡¯ The Horseman could speak because the information was of no help to her host.

    Quite the contrary, it made his fear and anxiety grow. Night had meant to shut up, but panic had gotten the best of her.

    Fear or not, she was right. Lith wasn''t doing anything. It was Mogar resonating with him, singing their call and waiting for his reply. There was no way to seal the off those they were interested in.

    The air they breathed was Mogar, the soil they walked was Mogar,

    and even the world energy that empowered the Sealed Space was Mogar. No one could get rid of them more than they could shake off their own shadow.

    Lith felt the call of the tribtion, yet he had no idea what Mogar wanted from him. At the same time, he could feel his mana core stirring against the fetters of the deep violet that hindered its growth.

    The mana core was begging Lith to remove the chains, wing and mming against its cage to escape.

    Yet Lith had no idea how to do that either. There was no mystical sixth sense guiding him nor did the Tiamat forme with a convenient instruction manual. He had discussed the issue countless times with everyone who knew he was an Awakened yet the answer kept evading him

    ¡®What the fuck am I supposed to do?¡® He asked Solus.

    ¡®I don''t know!¡¯ She replied, racking her brain and even using the Eyes to understand what was happening but to no avail.

    "l have a counter offer." Since everyone seemed to want something from him, Lith decided that it was time to unleash the fury that he had bottled up until that moment, hoping that it was the right answer.

    "Let Kami go, let me Warp everyone to safety, and in exchange, I''ll give you a painful but not too slow death."

    "Kami?" Orpal said with augh. "How cute of you. Let me make you a counter counter-offer."

    At a snap of his ?ngers, a Nightwalker emerged from the shadow of Elina''s seat. Orpal couldn''t ?ll the restaurant with Thralls without the risk of his paranoid brother noticing them nor could he use undead that would be paralyzed or killed by the midday sun.

    What he could do was bribe humans and use them to carry his soldiers with their shadows once Lith was done sweeping the ce.

    The Nightwalker Thrall was a young woman with a thin build and a powerful enchanted knife pointed at Elina''s throat. Her aim wasn''t to kill the hostage. Just to make her bleed andmand respect into the Tiamat.

    Yet the de never reached its target.

    A second shadow rose from the table quicker than the ?rst, clenching the Nightwalker''s wrist with a grip of steel.

    "Keep your fucking hands off my mother." Trion Proudstar, aka Trion Verhen, stood almost two meters (6¡®6") tall in his one¡ªeyed demon form.

    He had never left Night''s side since the day she had killed him, waiting for an opportunity to exact his revenge or at least warn his family of the danger they were in.

 Chapter 1844: Brothers at War (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1844: Brothers at War (Part 2)</h4>

    At ?rst, Orpal bonding with the Horseman had ?lled Trion with hope,

    thinking that his older brother would turn himself in and expose Night in order to defend their family.

    Then, after Trion had realized Orpal''s true intentions, hope had turned into a rage and hatred so powerful that they had kept him sane during all that time. For over one year Trion had been forced to helplessly watch his once esteemed older brother ughter innocents just for the fun of it.

    Now that he was close to Lith, however, he had clung to the thin chain between them and epted the power that Lith unconsciously emitted along with his desire to y Orpal.

    A wish that Trion was willing to ful?ll.

    "Trion, baby, is it really you?" The fear from her current predicament disappeared from Elina''s mind as the grief and pain from the death of her secondborn resurfaced.

    "Yes, Mom. It''s really me."

    Trion threw the Nightwalker away like a rag, without looking his mother in the eye out of shame. "I''m so sorry for everything I''ve said and done. Please, forgive me."

    "There''s nothing to forgive because I never resented you." Warm tears streamed down her eyes while puffs of ck ?ames came from his.

    Lith and Orpal were both so shocked that neither moved a muscle for a while.

    "Thanks, Mom, but I don''t deserve your kindness." Trion pointed an usatory ?nger at his older brother. "But that piece of shit is much worse than me! He knows that Night killed me. He knew about her ns to hurt you and he still bonded with her!"

    Orpal shrugged, opening his palms in surrender as heughed heartily at those words.

    "You knew?¡° Elina asked.

    "Of course I did!" He replied with a snarl. "We fused our minds and bodies multiple times."

    "How could you ally with the person who murdered your own brother?¡° Elina''s fury grew to the level of Lith''s and Trion''s.

    With every word she heard all traces of motherly love for Orpal disappeared, making her want to rip her womb out for giving birth to such a monster.

    "How could I not?¡° He replied. "Also, I''m d to have the opportunity to thank you, little brother. If it wasn''t for your stupidity, I would have never gotten this chance. So much power would have been wasted in the hands of an idiot like you!"

    Lith had never liked Trion, but he wasn''t stupid enough to watch a gift horse in the mouth. He stood up, taking a deep breath of lnvigoration as new energy ?ooded his newfound Demon, bringing his eyes up to six.

    "I wouldn''t do that if I were you! Everyone here is either my Thrall or my aplice and they will all testify that you are Tiamat. You have no idea how even the most grateful of people can turn their coat once they get a little taste of immortality." Orpal said with a savage smile on his face.

    "Refuse my order and I will destroy your life. I will tum you into a wanted criminal and our parents will lose everything they have. One wrong move and my soldiers will kill everyone in Lutia, including Zekell and Rena." At a snap of his ?ngers, several recording devices were brought in.

    With Sealed Space active they couldn''t broadcast, but they could still record and transmit the moment the spell was lifted.

    ¡®Keep calm, Lith.'' Solus said. ¡®There''s no way to know if Orpal is telling the truth. Some of the waiters look scared of him and most of the customers now are just frozen in terror.

    ¡®Killing Orpal and his soldiers is one thing, but if you ughter innocents your reputation will be destroyed. He''s goading you into making a massacre!¡¯

    Lith tried even to activate the Call of the Void, but he could feel that it wouldn''t extend past the Sealed Space either.

    ''S0lus, I can''t blind people. I can''t Warp away. There''s only so much l can do. Orpal is right about one thing. I have no choice left.¡® He replied, his heart bleeding with pain.

    "I-Ie''s lying!" Trion said. "Most of the people here are just paralyzed by his spell. Orpal only bribed those guys and had them bring his soldiers in their hiding spots there, there, and there!"

    The Demon pointed at the exact locations where more Nightwalkersy in ambush and the walls behind which other kinds of Thralls waited for their master''s orders.

    "Rena is safe. Orpal failed to get past your Emperor Beasts and the Queen''s Corps. He''s just bluf?ng!¡°

    "I-low do you know?" Orpal asked in surprise.

    "l followed you around until now. I know everything!" Trion snarled.

    ¡®Then pass it to me via the mind link, you idiot!¡® Only then did Lith realize that the chain between them was so thin that Trion had ess barely to a fraction of the power and knowledge of a regr Demon.

    It took him but a thought to reinforce the chain and let his brother tell him everything he knew about Orpal''s ns.

    "I''d rather die than help you." Lith snarled. "Do you think I''m an idiot?

    Once you take Mom and Kami, they will be as good as dead. You''d used them to force me to obey, and even if I did, I have no guarantee you''d keep your ?lthy hands off them."

    "Do your worst, because that''s what l''m going to do."

    Lith snapped his ?ngers and the several Sealed Space spells that covered the Heavenly Wolf restaurant shattered one after another.

    Solus and the Eyes hadpleted analyzing the spell, giving them the opportunity to counter it.

    Even with theirbined Domination they couldn''t overtake so many spells, each one backed by a different willpower. What they could do,

    instead, was to use their power over the elements to break the delicate bnce that Sealed Space required to work.

    At the same time, Lith emitted a wave of power that destroyed the blinding arrays, making Life Vision and mana sense work again, and surrounded Orpal with a Sealed Space of his own.

    Solus stood in front of Elina to protect her along with Trion while a six-eyed Locrias appeared behind the Thrall holding Kam. The ex-

    captain killed the man and took out his de, ready to ?ght whoever tried to approach her.

    The Dead King tried to activate the other contingency measure he had created, but they were cut off from him and with them the signals that he was supposed to use to coordinate the actions of his Chosen.

    ¡®Who needs the Dragon Eyes when we have Menadion''s?'' Solus jumped up, proud to have learned a new tier ?ve spell in the space of a single awful conversation.

    in order to avoid the sensory overload from the Eyes¡® full capacity,

    she scanned the whole room with mana sense and kept them ready to analyze Orpal''s next trick.

    "n three!" Orpal yelled after his mentalmands received no answer and Night remained still.

    His body grew to gigantic proportions, reaching a height of 20

    meters (66 feet). His colossal Vurdk form spread its wings, covering Lutia with shadows.

    "If I can''t obtain your servitude, I''ll dly settle for your life!" Then,

    the titan threw his right ?st at the restaurant.

 Chapter 1845: The Mask Falls (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1845: The Mask Falls (Part 1)</h4>

    The colossal Vurdk¡®s hand was ?lled to the brim with the darkness element that Night''s crystal conjured and ampli?ed. Upon impact, the darkness would spread like a wave and kill everyone in the entire city block.

    Lith and Solus tried to Blink away, but Orpal''s soldiers had cast a second Sealed Space they had kept at the ready the moment the Dead King had yelled the code word.

    ¡®This is impossible!¡® Solus said. ''You didn''t get your giant form until you reached the violet core and Orpal is still deep blue. Also, there''s something wrong with his energy signature. It''s him yet is not at the same time.¡®

    Without the blinding arrays Solus had now the means to unravel the Dead King''s n, but it was toote.

    The appearance of the colossal Vurdk had drawn the attention of the entire city and Lith had no way to bring Kam and Elina to safety before Orpal''s attack struck. He and Solus could easily escape, his Demons would survive, but the explosion of darkness magic would kill any regr human in its vicinity.

    To make matters worse, Thralls and assassins were swarming the ce, keeping Trion and Locrias from ?ying away with their respective mark.

    ''It doesn''t matter, Solus. But thank you for everything.¡®

    The Vurdk roared his fury as the punch crashed through the roof of the Heavenly Wolf tavem and the darkness element swallowed the entire city block. The simple movement produced a gale so strong that houses creaked and people were sent ?ying.

    Yet the living ck bolt produced wind, but no thunder.

    The impact was silent and the wave of darkness that apanied it faded like fog under the midday sun that shone over Lutia.

    Only the ground ?oor of the restaurant was left. The roof was broken and the walls had been sted away by the shockwave.

    What the citizens of Lutia saw was Lith''s extended right arm that stood millimeters away from the Vurdk''s. One was small, the other a giant. Their limbs didn''t even touch yet the open hand blocked the ?st as if they were just ying r0ck¡ªpaper-scissors.

    Orpal roared and attacked again, just for his left cross to be de?ected by Lith with a simple p of his hand.

    Even though his form waspressed, his mass was still the same.

    To nullify the impact Lith only needed tobine gravity fusion to alter the direction of the gravitational pull and spirit magic to create a Cushion.

    As for the darkness element, Orpal produced it and Lith Dominated it,

    making it harmless.

    It was an amazing feat. Something unthinkable. Something that even a kid could understand no human could achieve.

    "How? How can you be this strong?¡° Despite his might and size Orpal''s voice still sounded like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.

    "They are not human! Neither of them is!" A woman said pointing at the two brothers.

    Her voice boomed like thunder in the dreadful silence that surrounded the restaurant.

    The Thralls took it as their cue and dispelled the Sealed Space that blocked the transmission of the recording devices while the Vurdk conjured a tier ?ve spell that Lith couldn''t avoid.

    Not without losing two of the most important people in his life.

    He shapeshifted as well, assuming his Tiamat form and staring at the Vurdk in the eyes. He gripped the enemy''s wrists, twisting them away from their target and sending the spell ?ying high in the sky.

    "This is how.¡° Lith opened his mouth, hurling a river of Void mes that struck its target at point-nk range.

    Orpal screamed in agony as his head was swallowed by the ?re and turned into cinders. Yet ck crystal popped out of the cauterized wound, growing at a breakneck speed as they reformed the missing limb.

    Lith was still wearing the Monocle of Menadion, giving Solus ess to the phenomenon.

    ¡®By my Mom, that''s not Meln! It''s just like back in the mission. He has put the prisms inside Thralls that aren''t affected by sunlight and has somehow fused them together.

    ¡®Meln is manipting them from a distance and using bloodline abilities like those of a Draugr to boost their size to match yours.

    That''s why he was so con?dent. He isn''t even here!¡® Solus said via the mind link.

    ¡®I wouldn''t expect anything else from a coward like him. Too bad that I did my homework as well. l know the weakness of this trick.¡® Lith replied.

    Night could now not only turn undead into Chosen, but even simple Thralls, just like she had done with Deirus. Yet there was a price to pay to grant her and Orpal perfect control over their Chosen and override their ves¡® will and powers with their own.

    The link worked both ways and Orpal and Night would experience the same pain that the body they inhabited suffered. On top of that, Lith¡®s Sealed Space spell didn''t cover the whole Vurdk, but it still encased the prisms in its chest.

    Even if Night and Orpal wanted to pull out of the clone in order to retrieve the life force and consciousness they had imbued it with,

    they couldn''t. They were stuck there, cursed to ?ght until the prisms were shattered or the battle won.

    Lith breathed a second burst of Void mes as his grip tightened,

    crushing the Vurdk¡®s wrists before ripping his hands off.

    The crystal armor the Vurdk clone wore was sturdy and his Chosen had been bestowed with the most powerful undead bloodline abilities.

    On the other hand, their bodies were non¡ªAwakened and the roughly mixed¡ªup body of theirs couldn''tpare with the perfect body re?nement of the Tiamat in front of them.

    Hundreds of kilometers away, where the real Opal was, he screamed in agony as his head burned into a crisp again and his hands turned into a bloody mess. Lith had underestimated the effect of Night''s Double Body ability.

    Orpal didn''t just experience the pain of his Chosen who he inhabited,

    but he also shared their wounds.

    The colossal clone bellowed and hit with the razor-sharp crystals that grew out of the stumps, but they shattered against the Voidwalker armor without leaving a scratch on it.

    Down on the ground, however, things weren''t going as well. Solus''

    Sage Staff was useless without world energy and her body was quickly running out of juice. Trion had no weapon and wasn''t used to being a Demon.

    Locrias was the one faring the best, but even he had trouble ?ghting unarmed against so many opponents while also protecting Kam.

    ¡®We need to shatter the Sealed Space spells if we want to win.¡¯ Solus said to the two Demons while de?ecting the des aimed at Elina with her staff. ¡®Once we get rid of them, l can give you weapons, call for reinforcements, anything.¡®

    She groaned as her body grew weaker and frustration followed every sessful block. She would have loved to counterattack, but without her, Elina would die.

    ¡®I already lost the woman I called Mom once. Never again!¡¯

    Trion heard her thoughts and felt even more ashamed for how he had treated his family while he was still alive. He had always taken their love for granted, desperately trying to keep Orpal¡®s instead.

 Chapter 1846: The Mask Falls (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1846: The Mask Falls (Part 2)</h4>

    Trion remembered how coldly he had treated his parents after they disowned his beloved older brother. He hadshed out at them despite what Orpal had done to Lith and hisst-ditch effort to implicate Trion in the murder attempt.

    Later, Trion had chosen to abandon his family and cut ties with them out of envy for Lith. He had discarded their family name, and refused all of Elina''s letters and calls. Yet here she was, still mourning his death after over one year.

    Elina''s joy at his sight, the warm tears she had shed when she had learned the truth about his demise, and the worried look in her eyes while he fought, let Trion understand that she still loved him no less than Lith or Solus.

    ''l''m the worst son on Mogar, second only to Orpal.¡® He gritted his teeth as his fury and hatred, even the self¡ªhatred, gave him ess to the innate powers of his Demon body.

    "Protect Mom. I''ll do the rest." Trion said, taking the des into his body and epting the pain they brought him as a punishment he believed to deserve.

    The Thralls struck at his vitals, yet he had none.

    They had a vague idea of what a Demon was so they retreated after every attack, saving the limited undead energy stored in their blood cores to boost their physiques and fuel their deadly skills.

    Trion charged at them like a mad beast and soon was covered in wounds. Driven by agony and fury, he breathed a st of Void mes that was easily dodged by the many Thralls crowding the room.

    Just like he intended.

    The mind link that Lith had granted Trion also gave him ess to the contingency ns that he had devised during the talk with Orpal.

    Each Sealed Space spell contained only a limited amount of world energy, limiting the Void me''s power.

    After apparently missing its target, the ck ?re attacked the borders of the nearest Sealed Space, piercing through it and then attacking the adjacent one. The moment the second border copsed as well,

    the Void mes gained ess to the world energy it contained.

    Akin to a backdraft effect, the fresh oxygen and world energy invigorated the ck ?re that became strong enough to pierce a third Sealed Space. Then, a fourth and a ?fth, until the st of Void mes created a small but de?nite tunnel with the outside world.

    At the same time, a couple of Thralls dodged Trion''s mes and ws, but they ended up too close to his upside¡ªdown wings. The hand-like limbs wrapped themselves around their prey, activating Abomination Touch.

    The Thralls fought like trapped lions, but trapped nheless. The Chaos inside Trion''s body consumed their life, their mana, and even their blood cores, adding their strength to the Demon''s.

    Meanwhile, above Lutia and many other cities of the Griffon Kingdom,

    the gruesome show had caught up by fast¡ªforwarding the recorded part and was now being broadcasted live.

    Orpal had been careful recording everything from the moment of his arrival, in the hope that Lith would hesitate to turn down his offer,

    giving the Dead King the opportunity to brand his brother as a traitor.

    Yet the images only boosted his reputation as he defended his family and vige, without even considering Orpal''s offer.

    At least until Trion appeared.

    The Demon came from Lith''s shadow and still retained enough of his original appearance for his colleagues to recognize Trion. The revtion about his death shocked his friends, but scared to death anyone with more brains than feelings.

    Lith''s ability to summon the dead who still retained their memories was more terrifying than any war. It meant that none of their secrets was safe if even one passing soul witnessed them.

    The fear turned into horror when Locrias joined the fray, revealing to everyone that the ex-captain of the Queen''s Corps was among Lith''s Demons.

    Among the dreadful thoughts and words that followed Lith''s name as people couldn''t take their eyes off the broadcast, there was also a silver lining. The Queen''s Corps that was protecting the farm saw the titans in the distance ?rst and the broadcastter.

    "Toman, take the kids, Rena, and go to the barn.¡° Zesker, the newly appointed Captain of the detail unit ordered to his second inmand. "At the ?rst sign of trouble, Warp them to Valeron, the Ernas, wherever you deem the safest.

    "I also leave you in charge of Raaz''s detail. Let me know the moment the target is found and secured again. The rest of the squad and I will give the Dead King the beating of a lifetime.¡°

    "And we are going to help you." Reaper and Lifebringer, two of the kings of the woods, stepped forward in their human forms. "Sentinel,

    you stay with the kids."

    Toman and Zesker were grateful to the beasts for the reinforcements They had no idea that they had left one of their own along with a battalion of hundreds of magical beasts because they didn¡®t trust humans.

    Then, they opened a Warp Steps straight to Lutia and they joined the ?ght at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant.

    At the same time, Tista, who was studying arrays under Raagu and Athung, received the news of what was happening via themunication amulet of their mentors.

    "Fuck arrays, my family needs me!¡° She said, Spirit Warping away before the Council representative could even answer.

    Fn''ya leamed about it the same way, while Faluel was showing her the ropes of the Hydra bloodline''s Forgemastering techniques.

    "You go ?rst." Faluel said while opening a Warping array. "I just need a few seconds to stabilize the process and not lose hours of work."

    Friya nodded and jumped inside the circle.

    Meanwhile, in Lutia, the battle was already ongoing and became bloodier by the second. Orpal hadn''t lied when he said that he had assembled his forces for the asion.

    The moment the members of the Queen''s Corpse and the Emperor Beasts had stepped through the Steps, they had been ambushed by the same civilians they had tried to defend.

    They found themselves surrounded and outnumbered, but not outmatched.

    "Good work, Trion. It''s my turn now!" Solus had the Sage Staff revert to its original size and used the flow of world energy to empower herself.

    Now that the Sealed Space spells were damaged, she shattered them with ease even in her weakened state and without Lith''s help.

    Kam and Elina had no idea what was happening, but while the Constable had training and experience, Elina was frozen in terror. The sight of the sharp des, the chaos of the ?ght, and the wounds that her children sustained paralyzed her.

    Solus had a hard time keeping her safe, even with Trion''s help.

    Kam, instead, kept her back glued to L0crias'', following his movements and making it easy for him to protect her, wrapping her with his wings when necessary.

    The moment the Sealed Space shattered, she took out hermunication amulet and several wands, shooting non-stop while calling for reinforcements.

    "Finally!" With the Thralls busy dodging Kam''s onught, Loerias could ?nally catch his breath.

    Literally.

    Locrias hurled a stream of deep violet Origin mes while using his six eyes to Dominate Kam¡¯s spells.

 Chapter 1847: Chains of Fate (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1847: Chains of Fate (Part 1)</h4>

    Locrias¡¯ mystical ?re guided by Domination formed an unbreakable barrier while now the tier three bolts of energy shot from I(am''s wands followed their targets until they hit.

    A second breath of Origin mes shattered more Sealed Space spells,

    giving the sieged makeshift team even more power.

    "Can you hold your own for a couple of seconds?" Locrias asked.

    "Are you kidding me?" Kam replied as the wall of ?re faded and she barely dodged an iing lunge.

    "Fine!" The six-eyed demon entered her shadow, manipting her movements like a puppet. A puppet that now had decades of battle experience and the aim of a marksman.

    As Kam dodged and shoot down her enemies thanks to Locrias¡¯

    eyes behind her back that left no blind spot, the ex¡ªcaptain conjured the ck ?ame that all Demons possessed.

    It revealed the chain that bound him to Lith and several others that he had always hoped to never have to use.

    "I beg you, my friends, heed my voice. Queen''s Corps, answer the call onest time!" The darkness and Spirit Magic that Lith had infused inside Locrias¡¯ body traveled through the chains, turning more souls into Demons.

    Some of hisrades who had fallen during Orpal''s previous attack were still haunting Lith''s house, refusing to abandon their duty and their captain. Locrias had let them be until that moment, hoping that they would move on and ?nd peace.

    Yet they were still there and now he was in desperate need of help.

    Four of Locrias¡¯ six eyes disappeared as their power was poured into the newborn Demons of the Darkness.

    The strength a Demon possessed grew exponentially with the number of their eyes. By sacri?cing four of them he rose ?ve four-

    eyed Demons. Then, the chains spread from the newborn Demons to even more souls.

    Souls that belonged to members of the Queen''s Corps that Locrias didn''t know or that the wandering spirits had met after their death.

    ¡°Bring me with you. I can still ?ght. I have to!" Some were fallen warriors from says past, most were simply dead people from Lutia.

    Each one of the Demons near Lith''s house used their own Chains of Fate to share their power, giving those who willing to answer the call onest chance. Then, the chains pulled them from the farm to Lutia in the blink of an eye.

    At the same time, Zesker and the rest of the Queen''s corpse were ?ghting for their lives.

    "l-low the heck do you recognize a Thrall from a human?" He asked Reaper who at ?rst had seemed to attack innocents just for their wounds to heal and reveal the regenerative power of the undead.

    "The smell!" He yelled while cutting his way toward the Heavenly Wolf restaurant. "A Thrall always has the lingering smell of the undead essence their master feeds them with."

    Reaper and Lifebringer were Awakened who had already reached the blue core, but they were having a hard time as well. Orpal had hired human assassins, nted his Thralls among the Lutians, and even made some of them his Chosen.

    They could use the bloodline abilities of Draugrs to be as strong as an Emperor Beast. Or those of Blood Witches to use the undead equivalent of Origin mes and Life Maelstrom.

    lf not for Lith providing them with enchanted equipment and teaching them Spirit Magic, they would have already fallen due to the sheer numerical advantage of the enemy.

    They could still discern a human from a Thrall but the more enemies they killed, the harder it became. The battle had started for less than a minute, yet most of the bystanders were covered in blood, making them smell like Thralls.

    "How the heck does an undead even smell?" Zesker cursed and sent Valia, one of the newest recruits, to rescue a group of citizens from the attack of a Thrall that had turned into a Grendel.

    She answered with a nod of the head and put herself between the monster and its victims, blocking the creature''s deadly w with her polearm.

    "Run away! I''ll hold him off while-" Her voice broke as the woman she had just rescued stabbed her in the back

    "Foolish child." She said. "I won''t allow you to ruin my hard work.

    These people are a sacri?ce for the Dead King. Their blood will make him stronger and so will yours."

    Only then did Valia notice that the group of people was as scared of the woman as they were of the Grendel. With herst breath, she felt her life essence drained and sucked by the Vurdk''s colossal body.

    Valia tried to speak, but only a gurgle came out as she drowned in her own blood. The Blood Witch then turned towards her victims,

    emitting bolts of Blood Maelstrom that made the Lutians burst like ?reworks.

    The ?nal thought of the newest fallen member of the Queen''s Corps didn''t go to her family and friends. Valia died cursing herself. She had failed to save those people and to warn herrades of the hidden importance of the ughter.

    The Thrall had used Blood Maelstrom because it enhanced the life essence of her victims, giving Orpal the power he needed to keep ?ghting.

    Valia knew all that yet her knowledge died with her.

    Zesker watched her die and wished for Lutia to burn. Of the ten members of the Corps he had brought along, only ?ve survived. The rest had been killed by the very people he had sent them to rescue.

    Then, Locrias¡® Chains of Fate brought reinforcements and conjured more.

    "Glory to the Kingdom!" The reborn members of the Queen''s Corps shouted while throwing themselves at the enemies with fury.

    The Blood Witch and the Grendel turned towards the Demons,

    holding one Lutian in each hand to use them as meat shields and further empower their master.

    A sword pierced through the Grendel¡®s back until the hilt struck his back while a ck hand clenched the Blood Witch''s head.

    "Glory to the Kingdom and thanks for the information, traitor." Valia whispered in her ear before sucking her dry with Abomination Touch The corpse had risen as a Demon of the Fallen the moment she had died. She now inhabited her own body and had even imprinted her equipment again.

    "Captain, protect the citizens! It''s their blood that feeds the Undead King. Without it, he is powerless." Valia used her voice to warn the rest of the Queen''s Corps and the mind link to spread the news between the Demons.

    Her sight struck terror in the Thralls and inspired new con?dence in the members of the Corps as Valia showed her newfound prowess.

    "Kill me if you dare, fucker." A soldier said while pointing the chain that linked him to Iocrias to the assassin in front of him. "I''ll just return a secondter and then I''ll be stronger than ever."

    The threat turned into a prophecy as the Chains of Fate spread throughout the city and more Demons rose. Some of them had just died and like Valia had returned as Demons of the Fallen.

    Others had lost their body for years, but their spirit was unbroken.

    "Don''t worry, Mom." Said a Demon with the semnce of a child barely six years old. "1 promised you that once I grew up, I would protect you. I can''t grow up anymore, but I can still save you."

    The woman witnessed her lost son ?ght the Thrall that had tried to kill her and her daughter. All around Lutia, the citizens could see their loved ones rise as shadows to protect the living from the undead.

 Chapter 1848: Chains of Fate (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1848: Chains of Fate (Part 2)</h4>

    Orpal''s clone screamed in pain and frustration as his Thralls started to fall like ?ies and his carefully nned ambush crumbled.

    "Curse you and your bloodline abilities! Why do you have so many?

    Why?" The Vurdk''s hands had fully regenerated, but he needed some time to craft a spear from his prisms.

    ¡®Maybe Leech is still stronger than me as an Awakened, but I know de Tier spells. My Shattered Moon killed Manohar. Thanks to the life force that my Thralls harvested for me, it should be no less powerful than the one I cast with the help of my steed.

    ¡®Whatever a Tiamat is, not even him can withstand the collective might of hundreds of blood and mana cores!¡® Orpal thought as he unleashed the closest thing to a bloodline ability he had discovered.

    The umted darkness element stored inside Night''s prisms joined his hybrid life force, generating what he called King''s Wraith.

    A vortex of dark fog the size of a tornado formed around the Vurdk and moved toward Lith. Orpal wanted to keep the Tiamat away while hepleted the crystal Thorn and cast his spell.

    Lith didn''t answer, conjuring two items out of his pocket dimension instead. One was War and the other was Double Edge. A silvery¡ªwhite giant bastard sword made of Dragon bones coated with Orichalcum.

    War was too small to ?t into the Tiamat''s hand whereas the Double Edge was of the right size and had a power core, yet its prowess was still iparable to that of the angry de.

    Which was why Lith used them both.

    Double Edge had a War¡ªshaped slot in its de, right above the hilt.

    The angry de reached it and disappeared under the surface of the Orichalcum as the two weapons became one.

    The colossal de was just an exoskeleton for War to use when Lith had to assume his full Tiamat form. The silver and white turned into blood¡ªred as Double Edge reshaped itself into a copy of War down to the smallest detail.

    Yet it wasn''t a mere copy. War''s semi¡ªsentience allowed it tobine its own pseudo cores with Double Edge''s power core, gaining ess to newbinations of enchantments and abilities.

    At the same time, Lith received a telepathic warning from Trion.

    ¡®Beware, if Orpal manages to conjure his spear he can cast Shattered Moon! It''s an all¡ªpowerful spell that he used to kill Manohar, but it has one weakness. While I watched him, Orpal always whined that it takes a long time to cast a de spell.

    ¡®Something about harmonizing his core with that of his equipment.¡¯

    ''Thanks.'' Lith replied as a n formed in his mind and another in War''s. ¡®Since you know everything Orpal has nned, I give youmand over my Demons.¡¯

    A single breath rose dozens of new Demons that Trion led into battle,

    countering Orpal''s contingency ns before they started.

    "All those deaths, all this suffering, and for what?" Lith said as his emerald and ck eye lit up, ?ooding Double Edge with their power.

    "Just to satisfy your childish ego? You act all high and might yet you are a coward!"

    A single sh of the de cut King''s Wraith asunder, leaving Orpal defenseless.

    "If you hate me so much, you should have taken it out on me!¡° The Vurdk blocked the overhead attack with the half¡ªformed spear that shattered upon impact.

    "lnstead, you choose to lurk in the shadows like the cockroach you are." Lith cut off Orpal''s right dominant arm and hit it with Origin mes to keep it from being reattached.

    The clone and Orpal screamed in agony as they felt the pain with the same intensity as if their arm was still attached.

    "You always target the weak and when you do, you even wait for the moment when they are alone!" The left arm fell and burned as well.

    ¡°You are a coward and your attempt to imitate my hard work isn''t ?attering, it''s an insult!" The clone tried to ?y away, just to have his wings ripped off.

    "How dare you mock me?" Orpal tried and failed to hold back his tears of frustration. "l worked hard as well. You have no idea of the pain and sacri?ces I went through during the past year!"

    "A whole year?" Lith''s voice held so much sarcasm that the whole Mogar was left dry. "I worked hard all of my life while you whined,

    ming everyone for your failures but yourself!"

    War answered its master''s fury to the best of its abilities, somehow feeling offended by that senseless rant.

    "Even I work harder than you." All it took was a speck of air magic to turn each swing of the sword into an inhuman voice. "With every life I take, with every enemy I consume, I learn!"

    War had already practiced controlling Double Edge, but only now did the sword have a clear idea of what it could do. The angry debined his pseudo cores with those that formed the power core of the exoskeleton to produce the Gleipnir skill.

    Golden fetters emerged from the hilt of the colossal de,

    connecting War with the Voidwalker armor''s power core and then with Lith''s mana core as well. The Tiamat didn''t know what was happening, but he trusted the de enough to not interfere.

    Warbined what it had learned from witnessing O1pal''s failed attempt at producing Shattered Moon, Phlon''a¡¯s Omnish, and the de Tier spell that Lith and Solus had unwittingly weaved against Jormun to create one of its own.

    The angry de forcefully harmonized the power cores with the mana ?ow from Lith''s body, producing the de Tier Spell, Ruined World.

    The spellcked real coordination between the weapon and its wielder. lt was rough and amateurish, being the product of War''s simple mind.

    Ruined World moved in an upward sh that cut the Vurdk into shreds, leaving only the prism core of the clone intact and still having enough power to split the thickyers of cloud above Lutia asunder.

    The sun returned for a few seconds, reinforcing the demons before the gap closed again as the tribtion continued.

    lt was then that fear started to rece rage in the Vurdk''s heart.

    Even though he was ?ghting the Tiamat by proxy, with each exchange Orpal could feel the gap in power between their bloodlines.

    The Vurdk could raise corpses into greater undead, empower them with the darkness element and, through Night, even allow them to share their most powerful traits and bloodline abilities.

    The Tiamat, however, was different. He didn''t seek corpses,

    everything that diede to him on its own. The Demons didn''t just serve him, they lived inside of him.

    lt was then that Orpal realized that Night had been wrong all along.

    Lith wasn''t a monster spawned by the Abyss, he was the Abyss itself.

    The Tiamat clenched the bundle of prisms that formed the clone,

    using War''s World''s Mirror and Counter Flow abilities to amplify the feedback that Orpal felt whenever his Chosen were hurt.

    "Wherever you are, this isn''t going to be quick." Lith stabbed the prisms with Double Edge, being careful not to break them. "This isn''t going to be painless or merciful either."

    War pierced through the crystalline mass while using every pseudo core at its disposal to repair the prisms and in?ict as much pain as it could for as long as it could.

 Chapter 1849: Quiet Before the Storm (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1849: Quiet Before the Storm (Part 1)</h4>

    War''s Counter Flow ability turned Orpal''s blood into acid that burned through his veins. At the same time, World Mirror dominated the energy Night and Orpal had stored inside their clone, using it to strike at the very core of their essence.

    Together, War''s abilities also amplified the feedback from the Horseman''s Double Body to the point that the cracks that opened in the prisms now appeared on the surfaoe of Night''s crystal as well.

    Despite the distance separating him from the fight, Orpal''s real body had been reduced to a puddle of blood and bones that squirmed in agony. Night tried to mend his wounds but every piece of ?esh she regenerated crumbled the second it was formed, further increasing her suffering and Orpal''s.

    The Thralls felt the mind of their master slipping and lost their fighting spirit. As they ran away, the Demons, the surviving members of the Corps, and the kings of the woods attacked them non¡ªstop.

    ¡®Do you still need my assistance?" Locrias asked.

    ''No.'' Solus replied. ¡®Do whatever Lith asked you to. Trion and I will manage the rest!¡¯

    Her body had depleted its energy and was on the verge of copse. Yet with the world energy flooding the Sage Staff and just a few enemies left, she knew that nobody would manage to harm Elina.

    ¡®Watch my back, Trion. I just need a few seconds.¡® Solus activated her own breathing technique, Sky Blessing.

    It used her Domination and her tower half to suck in massive amounts of world energy, allowing her to regain her strength and mana without Lith as a medium. Due to her cracked life force and mana core,

    Sky Blessing only worked as lnvigoration, not umtion.

    On the other hand, however, by tapping into the abilities of Menadion''s tower, Sky Blessing also granted her a few breathing abilities already.

    Locrias nodded and took flight at his top speed, bringing Kam with him.

    ¡°What the heck are you doing¡®? This is far from over." She had to yell to be heard despite the wind pressure.

    ¡°That''s exactly the reason you can''t stay here." Locrias replied. "Meln broadcasted his message and everyone knows that Lith and Tiamat are one and the same. If you stay there, people would suspect your involvement,

    ¡°Your life and career would be over. Worst case scenario, you would be imprisoned and you would never see Zinva again."

    ¡°Since when do you care so much about me?¡° Kam struggled to escape his grip, but to no avail.

    ¡°I don''t, but Lith does." Locrias Warped inside the barn, raising a curtain of darkness behind the hay to not be seen and a Hush spell to not be heard. "He entrusted me a message for you."

    The features of the Demon changed from those of a weathered middle-aged man to those of someone much younger who meant the world to her.

    ¡°I''m so sorry for dragging you into this Kami. Especially on the day of your birthday." The face, the voice, and even the eyes belonged to Lith.

    The only difference with the original was the skin being in shades of grey instead of his usual olive.

    ¡°I don''t care about my-" She tried to say, but he put his forefinger on her lips in a plea for silence. I don''t have much time. I can guess what''s about to happen and it''s going to be ugly.

    ¡°This is probably the end for us, Kami. The whole Kingdom knows that I''m a monster and soon they''ll start chasing me and my family. I can''t stand the thought of destroying your life as well.

    ¡°Not after all the hard work and sacrifices you endured to reach your position and get Zinya back into your life. That''s why you have to go back to Belius and pretend that you were at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant only because Meln kidnapped you."

    Lith could feel the clock ticking, yet the weight of his next words made it difficult for him to speak.

    ¡°My whole life. I''ve always been running toward the next achievement. I''ve always been worried about what might happen if my secrets were exposed or if I simply wasn''t strong enough to face my next enemy.

    ¡°That was, until I met you. You gave me more than I might have ever asked and taught me things I didn''t even know I needed, filling my void. More importantly, whenever I was with you, I stopped worrying about the future and was just happy to be there."

    Lith took a deep sigh, tired of cowardly beating around the bush.

    ¡°What I''m trying to say is that you are the only woman I have ever loved with all of my heart. No matter the distance between us, I''ll always miss you. Be happy and forget I ever existed."

    Then, before she could reply, Lith turned hack into Incrias and nuched her through the open Gate. The dimensional doonvay shut down the moment she crossed it, leaving her no way back.

    Locrias rushed back to Lutia while Kam stared at her now lifeless shadow, hoping that it woulde to life and prove to her that not all was already lost. She felt as if Mogar had given her light just to take it away.

    She just wanted to fall apart and cry herself to sleep, unable to stand such a cruel fate. What she did,

    instead, was to keep her cool and n her next move.

    After a few seconds, she ordered the day clerk to open Gate to the city of Valeron.

    ¡®Whatever is about to happen, Lith needs all the help he can get.¡® Kam thought. ¡®Even though my power as a Constable is limited, even one small drop of water can make a difference in the uing storm if I y my cards right:

    Hundreds of kilometers from Lutia, but much closer than Lith would have expected, Night''s crystal emitted a shrill shriek as the bundle of prisms shattered under Double Edge''s onught.

    The cycle of destruction and repair that W''ar''s abilities had caused was finally over. The prisms had depleted the energy that the Horseman had stored within them, breaking the link that had caused her and her host so much suffering.

    Her crystal was full of cracks, but they immediately started to mend and Orpal''s body to reform.

    Moonlight was right beside them, boosting their abilities and allowing them to sunrive the nightmarish experience.

    ¡°You won this round, Leech." Orpal said the moment his head reformed. "You refused to submit and I failed to kill you, but that doesn''t mean that I can''t still take your life.

    Thanks to Locrias acting as his proxy, Lith could talk to Kam onest time while also taking care of Elina in the aftermath of the conflict.

    ¡°Mom, are you alright?¡° He asked,nding on the ground while transforming back into his human form.

    After breaking up for good with Kam, he could feel the whole world he had built for himself slowly falling apart in a dreadful silence. Lith knew that unless an unexpected miracle happened, he would lose everything.

    Despite the turmoil in his heart, however, he couldn''t let his feelings transpire. He had to be strong for his mother and prepare for the worst. A storm was ooming and he was the only hope his family had toe out of it alive.

 Chapter 1850: Quiet Before the Storm (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1850: Quiet Before the Storm (Part 2)</h4>

    Elina answered Lith''s question by wrapping her arms around him, Solus, and Trion, in a family embrace. Then, she started to shake uncontrobly and sob.

    Seeing what kind of a monster Orpal had always been, learning the truth about Trion¡®s death, and witnessing the carnage of the battle for Lutia had been too much for a simple farmer.

    She had often seen the images of Lith''s battles in his holograms, but she had never been in the eye of the storm before. Even during Night¡®s ?rst attack on the farm, no blood had been shed and Elina had always remained in the safety of her own house, surrounded by the Corps.

    She tried to apologize to Lith for not having realized earlier who Orpal really was. To thank Solus for being the best daughter she could ask for. To tell Trion how sorry she was for him dying alone, far away from his family.

    Yet only wails and gibberish came out of her mouth as the trauma sunk in her mind now that everything was over. Many more people cried and yelled in desperation, breaking the silence with grief.

    Many people had died during the battle. Only a few were innocent bystanders, most of the corpses belonged to people who had fallen for Orpal''s temptation and had be his servants.

    Despite their foolish choice, they were still citizens of Lutia with a family and friends. Their loved ones knew nothing about the deals with the Undead Courts, only that the person they loved had been murdered in broad daylight.

    "I can''t believe this!¡° Zesker, the Captain of the Queen''s Corps who had reced Locrias, said. ¡°The Kingdom has invested a lot of time and resources, my people have fought and died, and for what?

    "To protect a Divine Beast that not only has his personal army of beasts but also an invisible army of shadows?¡° He pointed at the Demons of the Darkness and of the Fallen that still lingered on the battlefield.

    "Do you realize the damages and the toll of lives that your brotherly quarrel in?icted on these poor people? Who is going topensate them¡®? As I see it, you and the Dead King are both monsters and deserve each other.¡°

    He waved his arms at the houses whose roofs had been cracked or sent ?ying, the broken walls, and the people that stilly bleeding on the roads nearby the Heavenly Wolf Restaurant.

    At those words, Elina cried harder and Lith¡®s eyes red with red and ck mana. Yet his face remained a stone mask and his voice cold.

    "First, I never asked you anything. I have a deal with the Royals and you your orders. No matter my nature, you had to follow them or quit the army." Lith said while looking down on Zesker.

    "As for those people, maybe in the heat of the battle, you missed a few parts of the broadcast." A snap of his finger conjured a hologram that repeated the part where Orpal boasted about the number of Lutians among his followers and their attempts to murder everyone.

    "I would dlypensate those who suffered in this battle, if not for one thing. Before I became I mage, Lutia was but a small vige of a few dozens of houses. It was thanks to me that Count Lark first and Marchioness Distarter invested in this cesspool.

    ¡°It was because of my achievements that the Corps was sent here, making the life of the merchants much easier and the trade routes safer. It was because of my products and my creations that people from all over the Kingdom came to Lutia.

    "Yet how did they repay me?¡° Lith projected the same holograms as before, adding more images depicting how the new citizens of Lutia had been treating his family before his rtionship with Peonia.

    "They med everything that was wrong in their lives on me and took it out on my family. They only stopped because in their cowardice they were afraid of the Royal family.

    "At least until they betrayed the Kingdom and became Thralls. The people who died today attacked me and my mother so don''t ask me to feel guilty about killing them. As for the damages, I¡®ll dly help those who have always been fair to me.

    "The rest of them can rot for all I care!" Lith said, and outraged yells eclipsed the grieving cries as the bystanders cursed at him and his heartlessness.

    Then tempers run high, and some of them found the courage to throw stones at the monster disguised as a human. Lith rose his fore?nger stopping them in mid-air and his eyes lit up, emitting a pulse of killing intent.

    Those who had thrown the rocks fell to their knees, gasping for air as the terror they felt made them forget how to breathe. Some of them lost control of their dder, others of their sphincter, but most of them just fainted on the spot.

    Those who didn''t throw rocks just found themselves kneeling while all those who Lith called friends stood without understanding what was happening.

    "Just because I don''t unt my powers, just because I don''t abuse my authority, it doesn''t make me weak." Lith said to both the Captain and the bystanders. ¡°I''m not a dog, I''m a wolf. If I have to rip a few throats out to remind you, so be it,"

    Then, all themunications amulets of those presents lit up and a Royal Decree put an end to the quarrel.

    Capitol of the Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, Royal Throne room.

    "That son of a thief!¡° King Meron mmed his fist on the armrest of his golden throne. ¡°Tiamat is my friend my Royal ass! It was him all along. The one who stole the orc shaman¡¯s crystal and took away Syrook''s corpse."

    The wide grin on his face and the enthusiasm in his voice didn¡®t match at all with his words.

    "Yes." Queen Sylpha nodded, as radiant as her husband. ¡°He''s also the one who beat Dawn once and Night twice now. Who would have thought that such a young runt would have turned out to be such a powerful Divine Beast?"

    "I doubt he was bom one." Meron shook his head. "He was beaten many times as a kid and severely injured while at the academy. All things that are impossible even to a newborn Divine Beast.

    "On top of that, I doubt that Marth, Vastor, or at least Manohar would have failed to notice it while they took care of him.

    "Our best healers examined Lith after the sabotage of the dimensional hall, the fight against the Valor, and the quarantine after his escape from the Golden Griffon."

    "Point taken." Sylpha steepled her fingers, drumming them in excitement. "The Verhens must have a dormant bloodline, just like yours. Yet his status as a true Awakened must have activated it at some point."

    "Yes, mother.¡° Peonia giggled like a little girl. "It means that our children will not only bear the might of a Tiamat, but they might also recover the power of the Griffons that our forefathers foolishly relinquished."

    Royals and Emperor Beasts weren''t so different. They both cared little about things like appearance and true nature. What mattered to them was to get their hands on powers that would be passed on to the new generations and that would be their exclusive.

 Chapter 1851: First Fall (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1851: First Fall (Part 1)</h4>

    Peonia was walking on air at the idea of having a spouse so brilliant and powerful. Lith''s human form being handsome was just icing on the cake.

    "We should thank Orpal, before killing him." She said. "Now that he has exposed Lith''s crimes, we can offer him a full pardon in exchange for our marriage and his allegiance to the Kingdom.

    "I''m confident that after a while he''ll realize that being a prince consort is not-"

    Hermunication amulet suddenly lit up along with that of her parents and the image of General Morn appeared. He read from a scroll bearing the stamp of the Royal Court, making it an official Royal Decree.

    One they had never heard about.

    "Stop that moron!" Meron ordered, but the Royal Guards stood still.

    Thew was thew and even the King was just one of its subjects.

    "For stealing a giant violet crystal that belonged to the army, for stealing the corpse of the ck Dragon known as Syrook, for conspiring with the Dead King against the Kingdom, the Royal Court finds Archmage Lith Verhen guilty of high treason.

    "As such, his status as Archmage, Spellbreaker, Major of the army, and Baron of Lutia are removed with immediate effect. All of his possessions will be seized by the Kingdom until a full investigation will reveal if the members of his family were unaware of his crimes or his willing aplices.

    "For his crimes, I hereby order to all the loyal citizens of the Kingdom and to its armed forces to arrest the members of the Verhen household. I also authorize the use of lethal force were they to resist the arrest. General Morn out."

    Meron and Sylpha recognized from the hologram the room where Morn was and Spirit Warped there the moment that nonsense ended.

    "What in the gods'' name have you do-" The King''s voice died in his throat when he realized that his foolish cousin wasn''t alone.

    If you want to read more chapters, visit pa nda-novel,c.o,m . The entire Royal Court had stood witness and none of them seemed to find anything wrong in his statement. On the contrary, they were congratting him. Even those who until a few days ago had defended Lith tooth and nail.

    "I''m saving the Kingdom, including your sorry ass, Your Majesty." Morn said with a tone full of scorn and the rest of the room stared at the King like a dumb kid.

    "Lith didn''t conspire with Meln!" Peonia didn''t care how many they were, only that they were wrong. "Did we watch the same broadcast or did you geezers suddenly go senile?"

    "Foolish girl!" Archduke Folg said. "What were we supposed to say? That we are scared at the idea of an existence who holds an invisible army at his back and call? That was just a lie to not stir even more panic."

    "Correct, Folg." Morn nodded. "Thew is clear. Only the Royal family is allowed to have an army. I don''t care if the Demons following Verhen do it because of a bloodline ability,e from another dimension, or what.

    "His very existence goes against thew and must be treated as such. On top of that, there''s no telling when he might turn that army against us. He''s a threat that must be nipped in the bud."

    "It was an army that might have sided with our own if we faced the matter with tact and diplomacy instead of the executioner''s ax!" Sylpha said. "In case you idiots forgot, we are at war and we are losing."

    Some of the convened nobles and mages went pale and started second-guessing their choice out loud. Morn intercepted the whispers and closed the ranks before they could defect.Want to see more chapters? Please visit pan da-novel ,c.o.m

    "Maybe. Or maybe Verhen could ask those souls following him to share their secrets. You''ve seen Trion Verhen and Captain Locrias Erwald following him from the grave. What if he digs up dirt on us?" Morn replied.

    "What if he learns secrets of state just with a casual chat? He''s a threat to everything we worked for and to national security. We did what had to be done. It doesn''t matter if Verhen conspired with the Dead King or not.

    "He must be disposed of and quickly." Every member of the Royal Court had many secrets they couldn''t allow to be exposed. They just nodded at Morn''s words and refused to listen to the Royal, no matter what they said.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, at the same time.

    After the defeat of Orpal''s clone, the storm clouds had dissipated and the quake had ceased. Whatever Mogar wanted from Lith, he had failed to start the tribtion and the moment was now gone.

    His mana core had quieted down as well. The pulses of violet light had stopped, turning it back into deep violet.

    His victory was empty. He had lost both the opportunity to be a Guardian and to break free from the bottleneck of his core. And the worse had yet toe.

    "You heard the General. Surrender now and no one will get hurt." Zesker said.

    Unlike the citizens of Lutia, his strong mana core and military training made him immune to Lith''s killing intent.

    "My second inmand is with Aran, Leria, and Rena. We already have your family. Let''s not make things get ugly."

    "Bullshit!" Locrias spat on the ground in disgust. "Toman is a good soldier. I believe that she''d harm innocent kids only when I see it with my own eyes."

    "Sentinel is with them as well as all the members of our packs." Lifebringer took a few deep breaths of Invigoration to regain his strength and get ready for battle.

    He had never lost a cub in his whole life and he wasn''t going to start today.

    "Fine!" Zesker unsheathed his sword again, yet no one followed him.

    The members of the Queens'' Corps were too busy talking with Locrias and the rest of theirrades that they had believed to have lost forever.

    "Is it really you Captain?" Peicus asked.

    "Would I know that you still owe me the money for the bet on Renkin''s death otherwise?" Locrias replied, making his old second inmand shed a silent tear.

    "Valia, are you¡­" Brezo couldn''t find the courage toplete the sentence.

    "Dead? Yes, but I''m not gone." The woman nodded.

    Amid that scene, Lith finally noticed that the chains linked the new Demons to Locrias, not him. Somehow, those who inhabited his feathers had their own links with other souls.

    ''It would exin how Call of the Void works.'' He thought. ''Every Demon I conjure receives energy from me and they use it to conjure more Demons, expanding the area of effect of my powers.''

    "What are you doing?" Zesker rebuked them "Don''t you remember our orders? We are soldiers of the Kingdom and there''s no guarantee that Verhen hasn''t enved our fallenrades.

    "For all we know, those might be just shadows that mimic their appearance and willing to sell their families if-"

    "Don''t you dare finish that sentence!" Locrias lifted Zesker by the neck with one hand, his eyes brimming with hatred.

    The thought of his wife and daughter being safe was the only thing that allowed him to retain his sanity. The ex-captain wouldn''t stand his recement dragging them in the mud.

 Chapter 1852: First Fall (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1852: First Fall (Part 2) </h4>

    "You are nothing but a disgrace to the uniform." Locrias said. "We are the Queen''s Corps. We are supposed to protect the weak and serve our country. Not to be thepdogs of ambitious idiots like Morn!

    "I''ve followed Verhen this entire time and even though he''s far from a perfect man, he''s always protected our Kingdom while your rash actions are endangering it."

    "He killed you and your soldiers!" Zesker replied.

    "No, Meln Narchat did. I died in the line of duty and I would do it again." Locrias said.

    "I don''t me Verhen for my death. The Lutian woman sold herself to Meln and I was too na?ve to notice." Valia said and the rest of the Demons nodded with her.

    "We need to go." Solus said, feeling several dimensional corridors opening in the air all around them.

    Lith nodded and hugged Elina before Warping the three of them to the barn.

    Much to his surprise, the Demons had followed him. Also, as Locrias had predicted, Toman hadn''t arrested Rena and the kids. She, Sentinel, and Selia stood guard, sighing in relief when they recognized the neers.

    The huntress hade to rescue the children the moment that Morn''s hologram had issued the arrest warrant for all the Verhens. She wielded a bow with an alchemic arrow already nocked and two short swords hung to her hips.

    "Everyone is safe." Selia said while nodding toward Toman and never letting go of the arrow.

    Lith could see from her posture that the huntress had positioned herself to be capable of moving her aim from the barn''s door to the member of the Queen''s Corps with ease.

    "Thank the gods you are alright." Rena hugged them, crying her eyes out as the grip of fear finally left her heart.

    "Quick, you have to go to the Desert." Toman tried to activate the Warp Gate, but it had been sealed. "Shit. I bet that reinforcements are about toe from Valeron and they will be Royal Guards. You can''t stay here."If you want to read more chapters, visit pa nda-novel,c.o,m

    "Mom, I want to go home. Where''s daddy?" Leria started to cry.

    "Mom, why did that bad guy say so many things about Lith?" Aran was angry, instead. "We did nothing wrong yet he said that we are criminals. We must save Dad!"

    "Dad!" Lith echoed as he scanned the farm for Raaz but found no trace of his presence. "Where is he?"

    "He said that he would go to the viges around Nenia. He wanted to see if there were barrennd that he could restore with your help." Elina said as panic made her shiver.

    "Thanks, Mom, but I was actually speaking with Toman."

    "I have no idea." She replied. "We sent a couple of our members after him, but your DoLorean is damn fast. They need to wait for him to stop and then pinpoint his position via the tracking device to Warp next to him."

    "Dammit, the tracking device. I had almost forgotten about it. Dad is likely to have been captured already." Lith cursed as he tried and failed to pinpoint the DoLorean. "Someone turned it off."

    "That''s not our doing." Toman raised her hands to shield herself from his fury. "If a member of the Corps had taken your father, they would have reported it already. Let me try."

    She took out hermunication amulet, asking for a status report from her colleagues.

    "We lost Raaz Verhen way before the arrest warrant was issued, Toman." Tikrelos said. "We had just Warped to Nenia when some guys got the jump on us. We survived only because at some point they ran away.

    "I was just to report Captain Zesker that Verhen''s father is likely to have been kidnapped and the DoLorean stolen."

    "Thanks and- Shit!" The energy from the mana crystal flowed into the Warp Gate of the barn as it came to life. "Go, dammit!"

    A wave of Lith''s hand moved everyone but Selia and Toman to the mana geyser in the Trawn woods where Solus conjured her tower.

    "What about your father? We can''t leave him behind!" Elina grabbed Lith''s shoulder, shaking him with all the strength she had.

    Want to see more chapters? Please visit pan da-novel ,c.o.m ."First, I need to put you somewhere safe. Then, I''ll go rescue him." He replied. "Don''t worry, Mom. The Eyes of Menadion have Dad''s energy signature recorded down to a T. Unless he''s outside the Kingdom, I''m sure I can find him."

    "Do you mean we." Solus chimed in.

    "No, I mean I''ll find him. You need to stay at the tower and keep everyone safe. Without me, you are the only one who can operate it and warp away if needed." Lith shook his head.

    "Where the heck are you?" Tista''s voice came from themunication amulet.

    She had already gone to the vige and the barn, escaping from the Royal Guards only thanks to Spirit Magic.

    "In my secretb." Lith replied. "Throw away your amulet ande here. The army will likely track us and listen to all ourmunications."

    He stored the amulet inside his pocket dimension and so did the other members of his family. The moment Tista arrived, Solus Tower Warped to another geyser, just to be safe.

    "Thank the gods you''re alr- Trion?" The Red Demon stared in shock at her long-lost brother. "What is he doing here and who are these people?"

    Lith had no time for an exnation, not with his father''s life at stake. He grabbed Tista''s hand and used a mind link to share with her everything that had happened.

    "Dad!" She yelled as soon as she noticed that he was missing. "We need to find and rescue him."

    "And I''m going to help." Trion said. "I don''t care about the Kingdom anymore. All I know is that I''ve been a terrible son and that I''m partly at fault if Orpal has gotten his hands on Night. I should have epted her offer and then turned myself in."

    He took a deep breath and then turned towards Lith.

    "I know that there''s no love left between us, but I can''t rest in peace until our family is safe from risk. I know everything Orpal has nned so far and I''m willing to do anything you ask me. All I ask you in return is to give me one chance to prove my worth."

    "You already did when you protected Mom." Lith unfolded his wing and Trion disappeared into a feather, where a new unique rune formed. "What about you guys? I''m a wanted criminal. A traitor.

    "I don''t care about your preciousw. I''ll break it as many times as I need in order to rescue my father and remove the Dead King." Unlike Trion, Lith carefully avoided words that might have traumatized the kids even further.

    "If thew is wrong then only an idiot follows it blindly." Locrias replied. "I uphold my oath, I don''t just follow orders blindly. As long as you fight against Thrud and the Dead King, my sword is yours."

    He disappeared into a feather as well, leaving behind the rest of the members of the Queen''s Corps who had been turned into Demons.

    "I''m not ready to die." Valia looked at the body and the equipment she still wore.

    Her mind still refused the idea of being dead and that her dreams and hopes would remain unfulfilled.

 Chapter 1853: Water to a Fish (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1853: Water to a Fish (Part 1)</h4>

    "There is still much I want to do and I want to say goodbye to my parents before I leave. Please, take me with you." Valia said.

    Lith nodded and the Demon disappeared into one of his feathers, leaving behind a dead corpse and non-imprinted equipment. He stored them both inside his pocket dimension, in the case they contained tracker spells.

    "Tell the Captain that I''m sorry, but I''m too tired to keep fighting. I just want toy down and rest." One after the other, the Demons faded and their souls darted towards the sky.

    "Where''s Dad?" Lith asked Solus.

    "Way ahead of you." She replied. "I''ve linked the Eyes with the Tracking Mirror and Dad is very close. He''s-"

    Solus'' voice died when the location popped on the tower''s map of Mogar. They had never been there before, but the name of the local Lord was written in big bright letters.

    "Hogum!" Lith said with a growl. "I thought that my warning after he tried to exploit our absence to seize Dad''snds had taught him a lesson. Even though he''s a political rising star, Hogum is still a small-time noble.

    "I wonder who or what gave him to courage to make thest mistake of his life."

    ***

    Lustria County, Hogum Household, right after the fight between Lith and Orpal had ended.

    Frenon Hogum was a smart man. One mistake had been enough to learn his ce in the world and stick to it. He had met Verhen only twice in his life and both times hadn''t ended well for him, but at least he had brought his skin back home.

    The first time, as a kid, Marchioness Distar had protected him while the second time Verhen was bound by thew and the Queen''s Corps would have been his witnesses were Lith to make a move against him.Do you want to read more chapters? Come to p a n d a - n ovel,c.o.m

    Now, however, the monster known as Tiamat was angry, hurt, and already a wanted criminal. Thew could protect Hogum no more than a sheet of paper could stop a fire and he knew it.

    It was the reason he repeated the same question for the umpteenth time since the moment he had ordered his men to capture Raaz.

    "Are you sure that this is the right move, darling? Verhen, Tiamat, whatever his name is, is a very dangerous man. If he finds out that his father is here, death is the best thing that could happen to us.

    "You have seen those images. His army of shadows would easily enter our house and eat us alive, bit by bit."

    "What a morbid imagination you have, darling." His wife, Cenia Hogum, said with a delighted, soft peal ofughter. "Of course it was the right thing to do. How many times do I have to say it?"

    She was a gorgeous young woman, 20 years old, about 1.65 meters tall, with luscious blonde hair and blue eyes.

    "You didn''t kidnap Raaz Verhen, you rescued him when those monsters attacked him. The members of the Queen''s Corps were too busy fighting for their lives to protect him at the moment, remember?"

    "Yes." He nodded. "But still, isn''t it odd that our soldiers were so close to the ce where the DoLoreannded and they managed to react faster than the Corps-" His wise doubts died as Cenia pressed her voluptuous breasts against his arm.

    "It''s just luck, darling." She whispered, her full lips millimeters away from his ear. Her warm breath tickled him and her sensual voice was filled with promises of pleasure that Hogum''s wife knew so well how to deliver in the bedroom.

    Want to see more chapters? Please visit p a n d a -n o v e l .c o m

    "You saved Raaz Verhen first, and now you are keeping him prisoner on behalf of the Royal Court. You heard General Morn. They are all wanted criminals. Once you hand Raaz Verhen to them, the Royals will have the leverage they need to force the traitorous Archmage to turn himself in.

    "Once he does, you''ll be a hero to the Kingdom. The Royal Court will reward you for your brave and cunning actions. With Verhen gone, the King might even give you the title of Count of Lustria.

    "After all, Lark has always been a good friend of Verhen so he''s likely to be put on trial as his aplice." Cenia''s points made sense but what really convinced Hogum was the way she delivered them.

    The Bar had married the prettiest and most influential noble dame he could find. He had done it to get himself a trophy wife and satisfy his ego, but Cenia was no less smart than him and soon she had learned how to control him.

    After reassuring her husband, she walked into her private quarters, where her lover was waiting for her.

    "I''m sorry for making you wait for so long, darling, but that fool can''t even take down his pants without someone holding his hand." She threw her arms at the neck of Count Zint of the Empire, kissing him with passion.

    "Thanks, Cenia. You have no idea how much this means to me." Under his flesh mask, Orpal was grinning from ear to ear. "Your actions will not only make your fame grow in the Griffon Kingdom, but I''ll also spread them throughout the Empire.

    "Once you get a position of your own and divorce that dignified pig, we''ll finally be together as husband and wife." The Count was a man as handsome as Orpal after Night''s Body Sculpting treatments so getting into Cenia''s good books first and her bedroomter had been easy.

    Hogum had chosen Cenia as his wife mostly because of her looks, disregarding the fact that her pride and ambition eclipsed her intellect. She had been easily swayed by Orpal''s sweet words and empty promises of greatness.

    He had seduced her to both turn her into his pawn and to prove to himself his worth as a man. Cenia''s body wasn''t as gorgeous as Tista''s nor her smile and character as charming as Kam''s, but she was still a stunner.

    "You know that I''d do anything for you, darling. When will you take me out of this cesspool of a backwater County?" She said with a moaning, purring voice.

    "Soon." He replied. "Now I need to have a few words with the prisoner. The more information we extract from him, the greater your reward will be. Don''t let anyone enter the room and remember that I''m doing this for us."

    They sealed their promise with another passionate kiss before returning to their respective role. Cenia went back to Frenon, and Orpal went to visit his long-estranged father.

    ''As Night taught me, a handsome face and a few sweet words can sell water to a fish.'' He thought while walking through the padded door of the interrogation room.

    "Hi, Dad. Long time no see." He said as his body shapeshifted back into his real form.

    "Meln?" Raaz said in surprise. "What do you want from me and why did you bring me here?"

    Thin metal chains bound his hands and legs to a heavy metal chair that had been bolted to the ground, making any attempt to escape pointless. Raaz had been stripped of his enchanted items when searched and his chore magic was too weak to melt the chains.

    "My name is Orpal!" He said while pping his prisoner with enough strength to make the chair rattle.

 Chapter 1854: Water to a Fish (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1854: Water to a Fish (Part 2)</h4>

    "You gave it to me! What kind of father forgets the name of his own son?" With each word, Orpal pped his father again, forcing Raaz''s head to turn left and right non-stop.

    The sudden movements blurred his vision and the pain was so intense that it almost made him faint.

    Almost.

    "You are not my son. I disowned you years ago and every single one of your depraved actions reassures me that I did the right thing." Raaz said with a cold voice, just before spitting a mix of saliva and blood on Orpal''s face.

    "I saw how you looked at Elina and what you tried to do to Lith. Do you have no shame?"

    Orpal slowly wiped the bloody lump of saliva with his hand, licking it to let his Vampire side relish the nectar in it.

    "In my defense, I haven''t seen Mom in years and I grew up without her. To me, now she''s nothing but a nice piece of ass." He said,ughing at Raaz''s outrage and foolish attempts to get free from his bindings.

    "You should thank me, Dad. I allowed you to watch the fall of your family. Even though they were just holograms, I hope you told them your goodbyes because you''ll never see them again."

    "Didn''t you say that you would kill usst?" Raaz asked with a tinge of fear in his voice.

    "That was the original n, but after seeing Leech''s ability to manipte souls, I need to perform a few experiments and you will help me." The Dead King replied.

    "Do your worst. I''m not going to beg for my life or reveal anything I know to you." Raaz steeled his resolve, fearing that a moment of weakness could doom the rest of his family.

    "You don''t have to say anything, Dad. I only need you to suffer and potentially die. I want to check how strong the link between Leech and the blood members of our family is.

    "Once I''m done with my experiments, I''ll entrust you with a message. Try to stay alive and if you don''t, please stick around as a soul, or I''ll have to capture someone else. Maybe Rena. Oh, the fun that I would have with her!" Orpal said as his hand slowly pierced through Raaz''s flesh.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Court Hall, right after the Royal decree.

    "What is this madness? I knew that you were an ipetent fool, Morn, but I would have never thought that you were also this stupid." Archon Jirni Ernas, Archduchess of the Ernas region, walked into the room, looking at the General like a worm in the mud.

    "How dare you-" Morn choked on his words as one after the other several important figures of the Kingdom followed Jirni, each one of them staring at him in hatred.

    First came the Commander of the Knight Guard, Orion Ernas. Then, the Royal Healer, Quy Ernas. Then, two Headmasters of the six great academies, Marth and Ainz, followed by his wife, Brinja Distar.

    Last, but not least, came the god of the battlefield, the Highmaster and unsung hero Zogar Vastor, apanied by his sister-inw, Constable Yehval. Alone he emitted an aura of dread that covered all those on the opposing side in a cold sweat.

    Want to see more chapters? Please visit p a n d a -n o v e l .c o m His fury was almost tangible, making their mouths turn dry and their lips unable to move. His grip was so strong that his Yggdrasill Staff cracked and self-repaired in an endless cycle.

    Jirni knew that she needed as much backing as she could for her power move. Contacting Orion and Quy had been easy since they lived in her same home. Yet she would have never made it so quickly if the rest of the team hadn''t already been assembled by Kam.

    The moment she had regained her cool, she had contacted Vastor and Brinja, exining the situation to them. Both had a Headmaster on their speed dial and weren''t afraid to call them.

    "How can you have taken such an important decision without summoning the entire inner council?" Jirni continued. "You have put at risk the safety of the Kingdom and the fate of the war in one fell swoop.

    "Look past your fear and envy. Archmage Verhen destroyed and humiliated the leader of the Undead Courts and Manohar''s killer in front of the entire Kingdom. If we yed it well, it would have boosted the morale of our troops and served as the start of our counterattack."

    "But-" Morn attempted to rebuke, but the collective killing intent that assailed him barely let him breathe.

    "We have finally learned how Verhen destroyed not one, but two Lost Cities. How he held his ground multiple times against the Horsemen, and what do you do? You severed our link with the only Divine Beast that openly sided with the Kingdom!

    "How do you n to make up for that loss? Are you powerful enough to fill his shoes?"

    "Verhen is a threat to the Kingdom. He uses undead. He''s no better than the Dead King." Morn replied, stuttering every word to fight against the mana suffocating him.

    "That''s not true!" Kam stepped forward.Do you want to read more chapters? Come to p a n d a - n ovel,c.o.m "If that really was the case, Lith would have used his shadows to attack the people of the Kingdom, to drive away all of its forces from Lutia to im it as his own fief.

    "Instead, even when he unleashed his powers on Derios, only the members of the Undead Courts were harmed. The proof is that Derios was the only city that didn''t suffer an attack when Thrud made her move."

    The Royal Court mumbled loudly as the events of that night finally made sense and Kam''s words drove a wedge in the wall of their fears.

    "Shut up, woman! A mere Constable and an aplice of Verhen has no right to address the Court." Morn said, eager to discredit her. "Or would you like us to believe that after sticking with him for three years you had no idea of his true nature?"

    "If you are talking about his identity as Tiamat, I didn''t. Just like everyone else in this room." Kam lied through her teeth, making Jirni proud as she waved at Quy, Marth, and Vastor.

    "If even the greatest healers in the Kingdom couldn''t notice it, how could a mere Constable seed?" She took a brief pause allowing them to nod and confirm her words.

    Two out of three were lying as well, but nodding didn''t take much skill, and doubting their testimony was beyond reason.

    "As for his true nature, you are right, I know it well. Archmage Verhen is a shrewd, maniptive bag of secrets, but he also never turned his back on the Kingdom. He had no reason to destroy the Lost Cities at great personal risk, yet he did.

    "He had no reason toe back here from the Desert and foil Syrook''s n, dying Thrud for precious months that allowed the army to survive her attack. He had no reason to help Manohar spot the Skinwalkers if not for his loyalty to us all.

    "If Lith really was the threat you say he is, he would have already learned everything he could during these 19 years and sold everything to Sark in exchange for a seat in her Royal Court."

 Chapter 1855: Second Fall (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1855: Second Fall (Part 1)</h4>

    Not only did Kam just remind the members of the Royal Court of Lith''s achievements, but she had also shown them how he was the one who had gained less from them. Compared to the Kingdom, Lith''s gains were insignificant.

    "He also crafted wonderful tools like the DoLorean and Thundercrash that, in a near future, might change the quality of life of the Kingdom, if properly tuned down." Jirni said as soon as she noticed that Kam''s words had sunk in, to not give their opponent the time to twist the facts against them.

    "On top of that, I have been informed that Archmage Verhen had been appointed as the liaison of the Royal Court with the Beasts'' Faction, just like I have been appointed for the Humans''.

    "How do you expect the Council of the Awakened to react, Morn? You have just exposed one of their own, calling him a criminal, and put a bounty on his head. They were supposed to be our greatest ally against Thrud and you might have turned them into another enemy."

    The Royal Court gasped in shock and fear. They only had a vague concept of the shadow organization known as the Awakened Council, but each one of them had dealt with enough Emperor Beasts to know how powerful a single one of them was.

    "What is this madness and why didn''t I hear anything about it?" Morn turned toward the King with fury at the idea of having been kept in the dark about such important matters.

    "Constable Ernas, you shouldn''t have revealed the existence of the Council like that, but I forgive you because it was the right choice." Meron nodded, ignoring his angry cousin.

    "As for you, Morn, I had no obligation to inform you.

    "The representatives came to me and Sylpha as their peers, not to the army. I kept the information a secret to avoid Thrud''s and Orpal''s spies in the Court from revealing our alliance with the Council and deal them a great surprise blow.

    "A blow that now might nevere because of you. How could you treat Verhen like a monster? He''s a Divine Beast, so what? You, I, and even my children, we all descend from the First Griffon.

    "It''s in our blood and what makes us suitable for the throne. Valeron himself married the Great Mother and had a Titania and a Hydra among his closest friends. We were this close to getting such a wonderful scenario back thanks to Marth''s wife and Verhen''s hidden nature, but you ruined it!"

    "Either you punish General Morn ording to thew, or I leave this Kingdom, and may the gods help whoever tries to stop me." Vastor said, putting the final nail in the General''s coffin.

    "I''d rather move into another country with my family than stay in such a corrupted ce." Marth nodded.

    "My family and the entire Derios owe a great debt to Verhen. I stand by Headmaster Marth''s decision and so does the council of the Headmasters. We are all ready to leave for the Empire."

    "Sark has been trying to recruit me for a while. I guess that at my age, a warm climate might do me well." Orion shrugged.

    "Find yourself a new Royal Healer and Light Master because I''m done with you. If General Morn stays, I go." Quy said.

    Aside from Vastor and Quy, the others were bluffing.

    They had too much to lose by leaving the Kingdom or, in Ainz''s case, he didn''t care about Lith that much. Yet he recognized Lith''s value and his wife, Brinja, was adamant about not letting her mother''s killer win.

    The Headmaster of the ck Griffon could tell from the faces of the members of the Royal Court that no matter what he said, they couldn''t afford to call his bluff. There was no harm in making such bold ims.

    Losing an Archmage and a Divine Beast at that was already a huge blow. Losing eight more and the only Light Master left would have been the end of the Kingdom.

    The Royal Court knew it as well and now that Lith''s fate was so tightly knitted to the national security, it took them a second to switch sides. Then, all their amulets lit up, putting an end to the quarrel.

    ***

    Above the mana geyser nearby the city of Derios, Solus''s tower, right after Lith had pinpointed Raaz''s position.

    "Solus, I''m going to rescue Dad. You stay here and ready the Immortal Body array and as many tonics as you can. Hogum knows that Dad is a valuable hostage and should treat him well, but I don''t want to take risks." Lith said.

    "His captors might have imnted trackers inside of him or maybe even altered his life force, if Thrud is behind the kidnapping. I need you to be ready to treat him and Warp us to Grandma the moment I''m back."

    Rena and Elina were doing their best to keep the kids quiet, but they were scared to death by the sudden events.

    "Where is Dad? I want to go home." Leria cried and Rena had no idea how to get in touch with Senton.

    "Is Dad alright, mommy?" Aran asked amid tears. "Why are those people being so mean to us?"

    "Shush, child. Your father will soon be with us because your big brother is going to rescue him." Elina reassured the boy while looking at Lith to be reassured herself.

    "Lith, is there a way to find Senton? He took our family name and if he gets arrested¡­" Rena didn''t have the heart to finish the sentence, not with Leria listening.

    "Solus, go back to Lutia and Warp Senton via the mirror. Take Zekell and his wife as well if needed. I''m going." Lith said as the tower moved to the nearest mana geyser to his destination.

    "We are going." Tista grabbed his arm, staring him right in the eyes. "He is my father and I''m a Demon as well. Don''t you dare try to leave me behind this time."

    Her blue aura burst out of her body in waves and the third eye on her forehead opened in fury against her will, betraying her nature as a hybrid.

    "I can use all the mes I can get. Dragon speed, sister." They grabbed their forearms and Warped as far as the tower''s Warping Mirror allowed.

    Lith was already in his Tiamat form,bining gravity and fusion magic with the ps of his wings to reach a speed barely below the speed of sound. Tista wore Sunder as she shapeshifted into her Red Demon form, her mouth and wings already burning with mystical fire.

    ''I don''t give a fuck about what Baba Yaga said. Hold tight, Dad. I''ming for you.'' Lith let the Void crawl out of the empty space where his heart was supposed to be.

    The ckness conjured by the Call of the Void covered thend below, spreading in every direction until it blotted the spring sun out of the sky.

    ***

    Hogum Household, right now.

    "This is really too bad." Orpal sighed, cleaning his hands from the blood with a clean towel. "You blood didn''t awaken any of my bloodline abilities and Leech doesn''t seem to feel your pain like a Phoenix would."

 Chapter 1856: Second Fall (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1856: Second Fall (Part 2)</h4>

    Orpal had moved Raaz from the chair to a table now that the chains were no longer necessary. Not after he had torn his father''s arms and legs to shreds to suck the lifeblood from them.

    "Otherwise, he would already be here." The Dead King smiled while looking into Raaz''s eyes.

    They were veiled with tears, without any trace of his earlier defiance. He looked like an animal begging to be put out of its misery.

    "Don''t get me wrong, this is great news to me, Dad. It means that when I take the next member of the family and make them my ything, Leech will have no clue where to find them.

    "The problem is who do I start from? I would say Tista, but I''m not much into scales-" Suddenly, the room went dark.

    The sun disappeared, the lights in the room turned off, and every one of his attempts at conjuring a mystical light failed, even when using Spirit Magic.

    "What the heck is this? I have yet to entrust you with my-" White eyes and fangs lit the darkness, filling the air with the inhuman screams of countless souls.

    For decades, if not centuries, they had remained silent and helpless. Now, however, they had been given flesh and they could hold their fury no longer.

    ws dug into Orpal''s flesh, teeth bit him to the bones, other limbs that he couldn''t see pierced his body, and all of them sucked his essence with the deadly Abomination Touch.

    "Get off me!" A simple burst of mana killed the Demons and healed his wounds.

    Yet the ckness was still there and the whiteness instantly returned, attacking without care for its life.

    "Night, help me!" The Dead King''s plea fell on deaf ears since the Horseman was paralyzed.

    She couldn''t harm Raaz and thanks to her affinity with the darkness element, she could see through the ckness, but she wished she couldn''t. Night recognized the faces of the Demons because they belonged to the people of Lutia.

    Baba Yaga''s ve spell still held and Night discovered that even Demons were covered by the restrictions that her mother had imposed on her.

    She couldn''t move, talk, or even think. She was one of the most powerful beings on Mogar, yet she was reduced to a little girl scared of the dark, helpless to defend herself from the things that crawled out of the ckness.

    Then, a deafening noise broke the silence of the Void as the walls and the floor of the mansion trembled. It wasn''t a weak quake like in Lutia. Chandeliers swung back and forth, dust fell from the ceiling, and paintings tilted.

    Yet no one could see it in the blinding darkness.

    The sun still shone in the sky, the noise wasn''t due to the rumbling of thunder from a storm, but from the hail of powerful spells that rained from the sky upon the Hogum mansion.

    During the short travel, Tista had prepared her strongest arrays. After spotting the focus points of the magical formations that protected the noble household, she had ced her spells so that they would put a strain on the key areas of the enemy''s runes.

    Hogum''s arrays were now focused on stopping her tier five magical formations while the barriers surrounding the rest of the area became thinner and weaker. Lith took careful notice of the position of Tista''s arrays, aiming his attacks so as to not disturb them.

    The giant sword Double Edge was already in his hand, War into ce to coordinate the abilities of the two des with those of its master. The tier five Spirit Spell Primordial Roar covered the entire house, making it shake akin to a grade 6 quake on the Richter scale.

    With the size of a Tiamat, the shockwaves infused with the power of the elements could have spread even wider, but it would have meant losing destructive power and hindering Tista''s work.

    At the same time, the tier four Spirit Spell, Piercing Explosion, attacked the mansion from every side. A storm of ck mes created by Lith and his Demons casting Final Sunset had turned the ground surrounding the household into moltenva.

    Last, but not least, the army of Demons hurled together Void mes along with their master while the only Red Demon on Mogar unleashed both Frozen and True mes, respectively imbued with the power of Zero and Cinder.

    "Help! Send Help!" Hogum said in hismunication amulet while invisible hands pinned him to the ground, being careful to inflict him lots of pain but no wound. "Cenia, help me! This is all your fault!"

    The request for help had immediately reached the army and the Association, but no answer came. The Hogum Household was too insignificant to have its own Gate so the troops had to mobilize and arrive with Warp Steps.

    The problem was that the Call of the Void covered a wide space around the mansion, making it impossible to pinpoint an exit point at its inside.

    To make matters worse, the upper echelons of the two most important armed forces of the Kingdom were busy with much more important matters than the survival of a small-time noble.

    Meron was currently arguing with Morn, and Jirni had just made her entrance. With the bnce of power shifting, no one dared make a move. The fate of the Kingdom was at stake and someone was about to be charged with treason.

    Choosing the wrong side also meant following their fate so both Generals and Archmages took careful notes of Hogum''s request and of the sighting of the Tiamat. They even mobilized their respective troops, but gave no further orders until the new ruler of the Kingdom became clear.

    Cenia screamed louder than her husband, but she called for the name of her lover. The powerful and strong man that was supposed to protect her and ensure her a bright future.

    ''Run, you fool!'' Night thought, but only to herself.

    Baba Yaga''s seal kept her from interfering or helping Orpal in any way. She could only hope that his survival instinct kicked in, or at least that for once his cowardice overpowered his immense pride.

    The Dead King had no idea of what was happening and his blindness quickly turned fear into horror. He Spirit Warped away with Moonlight, using the power of the steed to put hundreds of kilometers of distance between him and the invisible monsters.

    Even from there, he could see the swarm of ck clouds moving toward the Hogum mansion like sharks following a blood trail. They moved as fast as the wind, yet there was none.

    "What is happening?" He asked while Warping further and farther away until Night was free from the restrictions of the ve spell.

    "A world tribtion waiting to happen. Yet something is wrong with it. I''ve never seen a tribtion like that. It reminds me of what happened in Lutia, but if it really was one, Lith should be dead now." Such knowledge couldn''t help Orpal, only strike more fear into him as he ran for his life.

    The Horseman was right. She had never witnessed a tribtion like that because the final trial before a Guardian was born was a rare event and it followed its own rules.

 Chapter 1857: Empty Shell (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1857: Empty Shell (Part 1)</h4>

    There would be no judgement until the final tribtion really started.

    No sess or failure until all conditions were met.

    "Are you telling me that not only is my brother a powerful Divine Beast but also a potential Guardian?"

    Orpal gritted his teeth until his gums bled and clenched his fists until his ws pierced his skin.

    Baba Yaga truly was cruel. Everything that Night said only spread salt on Orpal''s open wounds, making him cry in frustration.

    During their long history, the Hogums had strengthened the arrays surrounding their house with each generation, turning it into a fortress. Yet even a fortress would fall under a siege if its walls were left unprotected.

    The Hogums had invested most of their wealth on the defensive arrays, certain that an intruder would be either kept out until reinforcements arrived or crushed by the magical formations if they managed to sneak inside the house.

    The storm of arrays, spells, and mes attacked the mansion in waves, each one draining the mana crystals that fueled the multiyered magical barrier. The Demons and the ckness prevented the servants from switching them with fresh ones, and soon the barrier fell.

    One final burst of Void, Frozen, and True mes destroyed the runes that formed the defensive arrays. Now even new crystals would do nothing. The magical formations were gone forever, centuries of hard work went down the drain.

    The Tiamat roared as he ripped off the ceiling of the mansion, tearing apart the upper floors to reach the room from where his father''s energy signature came. A faint trace that was growing weaker by the second.

    "Dad! Hold on. As long as there''s a spark of life I-"

    It was then that Lith/Derek McCoy saw him.

    The body of Raaz Verhen,y on an oakwood table. It was covered in his own blood and with no limbs, yet such a dreadful sight wasn''t the reason Lith froze. His shock was so great that the Call of the Void in the mansion disappeared, allowing Tista to see as well.

    In Lith''s/Derek''s head, the oakwood table was the hospital bed. The missing limbs were Carl''s broken corpse that had been cobbled together to make it decent for his brother during the identification.

    He was back on Earth, during the worst day of his life.

    The Tiamat''s knees buckled, his fall onto the ground followed by a weak quake as the scene became more simr to the one that had taken ce almost twenty years ago.

    His gigantic hand slowly moved toward Raaz, until Lith realized that he was trembling so much that a wrong move would cut his father asunder.

    He didn''t notice the ck clouds assembling over his head nor the slow rumble that shook the ground below him. Tista was blind and deaf as well, her body frozen in shock as the hate that coursed through the body of every Demon drove her insane.

    All that Lith could hear was Derek''s voice.

    ''You tried to change, but it was pointless.'' His old voice said, full of scorn and spite. ''You know it in your soul that this ce is no different from Earth.''

    In a ce simr to the Mindscape, Lith faced Derek while in the real world, Tiamat was frozen.

    ''They will always hunt us. Hurt us.'' Derek looked like an angry teen, before turning into an even angrier adult. ''You tried to be this Lith and forget about me, coddled by the warmth of these people.

    ''You forgot that we are just like space. Empty, cold, and we kill everyone thates close to us!'' Derek''s clothes turned into those he wore the day Carl had died.

    He stood still with his fists clenched and tears streaming from his eyes. Yet not a hup came from his throat, just a primordial roar that had scared the nurses.

    In the real world, seven rivers of tears, each of a different elemental color, ran down the Tiamat''s eyes, mixing together in a white pool on the floor that made the red of Raaz''s blood more evident.

    Responding to his grief, the sky started to cry as well and rain came down.

    ''You kept living your dream life, leaving me behind.'' His appearance changed again, turning into the one he had the night he had avenged his brother. ''Too bad that without me, you are an empty shell. A punching bag for our enemies.

    ''A fool that puts chains on himself so that people like Hogum can pull your leash.'' Derek suddenly was covered in Chris'' blood, and then in his own. ''It''s time you break free of those shackles, to return to your true self.''

    Then, Derek disappeared, reced by a humanoid Abomination with seven white eyes and an open maw.

    ''I can avenge our father as I did with Carl.'' The Abomination grew in size and small cracks started to open on the Tiamat''s body. ''I can kill Hogum. I can kill Orpal. I can bring the entire Griffon Kingdom down to its knees, make it beg for mercy before killing everyone in the slowest and most painful way possible.''

    The cracks expanded, the ckness inside and outside Lith ran toward each other while the Void turned back into Chaos, running rampant throughout his body.

    ''All you have to do, is to let me out!'' The Abomination''s body had grown in size, matching the Tiamat.

    Yet he stood still, his hand extended toward Lith.

    Now, Lith could feel the call of Mogar and that of his own core. The deep violet was coursing with light violet, begging him to remove the chains that restricted his mana core. Yet once again Lith didn''t know how.

    He slowly raised his hand, thinking to have found the answer and the Abomination''s grin grew wider until it went from ear to ear.

    Then, he heard Tista''s screams and saw his own madness reflected into her. He witnessed the cracks that were destroying his body from within. Most importantly, he could see Raaz''s breath steaming in the cold that his fury generated.

    He remembered Baba Yaga''s words on the day of Solus'' birthday and finally made sense of them.

    ''No.'' Lith pulled his hand back, staring at Derek with hatred.

    ''What do you mean no? Are you letting them get away with this? How weak have you be?'' The Abomination roared its fury but its size shrank as the bnce changed.

    ''No, I''m not letting them get away with this, and no, I''m not weak. You are.'' Lith''s voice was firm and his tone cold. ''I remember who we were. A wounded beast that spent his days licking his wounds just to bite them open over and over again and never let them heal.

    ''We were a bloodthirsty monster, alone, with no one who cared whether we lived or died, ourselves included. We existed solely for our revenge and once we achieved it, there was nothing left of us.

    ''We were a hollow husk, waiting to die so we just pulled the trigger.'' ck scales covered Lith''s body as five new eyes opened on his face.

    ''You say that my new life made me weak, but it made me strong. Without these people, I would have been no different from all those who reincarnated here before me. Just another Abomination.''

 Chapter 1858: Empty Shell (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1858: Empty Shell (Part 2)</h4>

    ''Mom and Rena kept me from killing myself when I first arrived here. Then Tista and Solus taught me what love is. Phloria helped me to be a real human instead of just pretending to be one. Kam saved me from you time and time again.

    ''She taught me that there''s more to life than worrying and killing.'' Wings popped out of Lith''s back as he grew in size, turning him into a Tiamat identical to the one that stilly on his knees in the real world.

    ''Without all those people, I would have died a long time ago. I would have never reached this strength nor would you have. Now look me in the eyes and answer me. Do you really call this weak?''

    Multi-colored mes burst out of the Tiamat along with the powers he had and the shadows of those yet toe.

    ''No.'' Derek said, fusing with Lith once again.

    ''Yet you are right as well. The Kingdom needs to be taught a lesson.'' The Tiamat said.

    Time started to move again and Lith''s colossal hands stop trembling.

    He gently lifted Raaz''s body, feeling the spark of life that still remained inside of him and feeding it with Invigoration. Maybe it was his dormant Phoenix blood making him sturdy, or maybe Raaz had too much to live for to give up.

    Whatever the answer was, Raaz''s core was still intact.

    Lith stopped the bleeding, healed what he could, and cupped his hands to protect his father from the cold and the rain.

    "Go away, Tista." Lith said, freeing her from his madness and snapping her out of her own. "You don''t want to see what I''m about to do?"

    "Are you fucking kidding me?" Her whole body turned into mes, her rage too strong for such a small body to contain. "He was my father as well! Whatever you''ll do to them is not enough. Death is not enough."

    "Dad is alive." Lith said, making her fury and mes disappear together. "Yet this can''t be the end, a message must be sent."

    He took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension, using for the first time the emergency overridemand that Jirni had taught him. Lith called Peonia, the Royals, and whoever had a shred of power he knew.

    "This is what you have done." The amulet showed Raaz''s mangled body and the room where the torture had taken ce.

    Blood was sprayed throughout the room, and bits of flesh and bones covered the floor. The Demons of Darkness carried in the room Frenon, Cenia, and everyone who hadin their hands on Raaz, even if just to drag him from one room to another.

    Tears blurred Kam''s sight but she held still without making a sound. Seeing the condition of the man that she loved like a father, that she had once wished was her own or at least her inw, broke her heart.

    Yet she wasn''t there as a friend of the family, but as a Constable, and she couldn''t allow her pain to distract the Court. Also, she knew how Lith must have felt and inwardly wept for him.

    Orion and Jirni exchanged a meaningful look, both barely suppressing their rage. Raaz was a friend and an innocent victim, dragged into political ys against his will by forces beyond his control.

    Orion was tempted to break Morn''s neck, but Jirni stopped him. Death was too an easy way out for the fallen General. His foolish actions would help her ns, but for once the Archon found no joy in a lucky break.

    "This is what your foolish actions caused my family." Lith''s voice was deadpan, echoing in the Royal Court like a Monday decree.

    "Who is that idiot and what has he done?" Peonia yelled in horror and outrage.

    "That''s Bar Frenon Hogum and his wife." Brinja said. Then, noticing that no one recognized the name she added: "The idiot who petitioned the Court to seize the Verhens''nds after I sent him away.

    "Morn''s decree must have given him the legal ground he needed to further his n." All eyes fell on the General.

    Whatever would happened, Morn knew that the me would be on him.

    "You have taken much from me, yet I''ll still give you the same choice that was given to me today." The Tiamat''s forefinger came down on Hogum''s right leg, his delicate touch not matching the pain from the Abomination Touch turning the limb into a dried plum.

    Hogum screamed at the top of his lungs, begging for mercy, but Lith just Hushed his mouth.

    "To everyone who is currently chasing me, heed my words." The forefinger moved to the left leg, slowly draining the life out of the limb and injecting it into Raaz. "You can only run away for your lives ore here and die."

    <i> []</i>

    Lith then drained Frenon''s arms one at a time, turning him into Raaz''s match before moving on to his wife.

    "Please, it''s not my fault." Hogum said once Tiamat freed him from the silencing spell just to hear and ignore his pleas. "I was just following orders."

    "Ah, yes. The oldest excuse on Mogar." Lith drained Cenia''s life force and used it to fix the damage that the Void had done to his own before it became permanent. "I clearly recall warning you, Hogum.

    "I told you that one single mistake is enough to make an entire household burn. Yet you didn''t listen." Cenia screamed and called for Orpal''s fake name so Lith had still no idea of his involvement.

    The love that Hogum had for her made those words hurt more than the torture.

    Even in her final moments, Cenia didn''t care one bit about him. Theirs had been an arranged marriage for power, but he had hoped that just like he hade to love her with time, she would do the same.

    "Now you are going to burn, Hogum. I''m a man of my word." While Lith drained everyone involved of their lives, adding it to both Raaz and his own, he had also conjured countless fire and earth spells.

    "Please, at least spare my son. He''s but an innocent baby." Frenon said amid tears, agony ravaging his body whenever he tried to move the stump that his body had be.

    "And my father is but an innocent man." Lith replied. "Don''t you dare y the family card. If it was alright for you to drag my father into this then the same stands for your son."

    "I didn''t do anything to your father." Frenon sobbed, hoping that rescuers woulde at any moment now. "I was just detaining him for General Morn. I was a Bar, not a butcher!"

    Hogum considered himself already dead, but he hoped that he could at least save his son, Felmor.

    "Please, Lith." Tista joined his plea. "I''ve lost enough today. If you kill that baby, you''ll also kill the image of my little brother that lives in my heart."

    Lith pondered their words, then he thought about what Derek McCoy would have done in his shoes and did the opposite. He would show his enemies no mercy, but he wouldn''t relish in pointless cruelty either.

 Chapter 1859: Toll of the Void (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1859: Toll of the Void (Part 1)</h4>

    A tendril of Spirit Magic found Felmor, a baby less than one years old who cried in panic and terror.

    "Your son will live, but he will own nothing but his life." Lith Warped the child away before unleashing all the spells he had at the ready along with a river of Void mes.

    Earth and fire magic made the ground below the Hogum household crack open as it turned into magma. The ck fire hit the fissures, making them burst. At the same time, the Demons of mes self-detonated, producing a volcanic explosion.

    The storm clouds above the mansion cleared and the quake stopped. The world tribtion couldn''t happen anymore and the turned their attention to more pressing matters.

    Lith''s mana core calmed down as well, the violet energy it contained sealed again into thin streaks. Whatever Mogar and his core wanted from him, he had failed them both for the second time in a single day.

    While Lith and Tista Warped away, the ground swelled up and hurled a river ofva that devoured everything the Hogum bloodline had ever built and killed whoever had yet to run away.

    Frenon and Cenia died a few secondster, when the magma swallowed them, yet their agony seemed tost hours. The Bar died at peace with Mogar, knowing that Felmor wouldn''t pay for the stupidity of his father.

    Cenia, instead, died with her heart full of hatred for Orpal, and her spirit found itself unable to leave.

    Meanwhile, in Valeron, the Royal Court stood witness to a small but ancient household turning into an active volcano, leaving a scar in Lustria that would match those left in Lith''s life force.

    "Do you see that, you damn fools?" Peonia pped in the face the heads of the ancient and new households with so much strength that they staggered and bled. "That''s the power you have forfeited. That''s an enemy you have created!"

    While Peonia talked, Quy and Kam hated her for speaking about Lith as if he was just a jar of magic with a face. She also reminded Vastor of the reasons he had thought of sitting out of the war, yet his promise to Manohar bound him.

    The King stepped forward, stripping Morn of the insignia of General of the Army from his right shoulder. Then came Sylpha, ripping the one on the left shoulder.

    One after the other, the various nobles stripped Morn''s uniform of all of its features until it wasn''t a uniform anymore, just red clothes.

    The Royal Court had just trialed and judged Morn Griffon for his crimes. The sentence was death, but it wouldn''te easy, it wouldn''t be quick, and there would be no mercy in the execution.

    ***

    Lith and Tista alternated their Warps, giving each other the time to use Invigoration while they approached the tower. Raaz''s condition was stable but still critical, just like Lith''s.

    The Call of the Void had ravaged his life force while his almost falling for his old self''s temptation had devastated his body. The life essences he had taken would keep him together, but not for long.

    First, they went to the Trawn woods. Then, after they found no trace of the tower, they moved to the nearest geyser, the one under the Verhen Mansion. Solus had moved there, to hide in in sight.

    The moment they arrived, Solus activated the Immortal Body array and warped to the Desert, where Sark had already been notified of their arrival. The heir of Menadion was horrified when she noticed both Lith''s and Raaz''s state, moving everyone to a different room.

    "By my Mom, you need to rest. You are no better than Dad!" Solus said.

    She was scared for Lith, but even more for Raaz. While his wounds conjured the memories of Carl''s death for Lith, Solus kept seeing her father, Threin, exploding over and over.

    He would die in a loop while in the background Menadion was in by Bytra. She had lost her first family and the thought of losing her new father as well made the entire tower tremble in fear.

    The lights dimmed as Solus had to fight against her mental scars just to keep standing.

    "We''ll think about thatter." Lith said with a sigh, wishing that Quy was there.

    They could only feed Raaz tonics mouth by mouth without her Injection spell. Without them, any attempt to cure him would also kill him. Invigoration could regrow lost limbs, but the process would still take a toll on the patient''s body.

    "Dammit!" Lith said as he estimated how long the process would take. "I wanted to fix Dad before he wakes up. He has been tortured and I didn''t want him or the others to see him in such a state.

    "The problem is that he has no exposed veins that I can use for a physical IV and even if he drinks tonics for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it will take me days to heal such wounds!"

    "That or a little help from the family." Sark said, mildly annoyed for not being taken into consideration, "I don''t mess with stuff that happens outside my turf but under my roof, none of my children are allowed to die!"

    She weaved Creation and Rebirth magic together, putting her right hand on Raaz''s forehead and the left on Lith''s. Solus had prepared dozens of tonics and the Overlord opened them all with a flutter of her eyshes.

    The milky liquid filled the cracks on the Tiamat''s body, seeping under his scales and skin. At the same time, it also entered through Raaz''s pores and orifices while also umting on the stumps of his missing limbs.

    Lith could see via his Tiamat eyes and Demon Grasp how Sark''s spell worked. She was using Creation Magic on the inanimated matter of the tonics to split them into their individualponents.

    Proteins, amino acids, mineral salts, and all kinds of nutrients in order to rearrange them to form living matter. Then, she used Rebirth Magic to shape the newborn matter into flesh, bones, and white and red blood cells.

    Lith felt his body being invaded by the tonic that used the still healthy parts as a scaffold to rece everything that was missing and fix every damage that calling upon the Void had inflicted upon him.

    His life force stabilized immediately, the cracks returned to their original state by consuming the life energy that he had consumed from the people of the Hogum Household.

    They hadn''t healed but they had not expanded either.

    As for Raaz, color returned to his face as his breathing became regr and rxed. The torso and the head, the only parts left of him were now back in perfect condition, yet the tonics kept umting at his extremities.

    ''Why is she doing that? It''s not like she-'' Before Lith could even finish the thought, Sark activated her Blood Imprint bloodline ability.

    The scales on Lith''s and Tista''s bodies turned into feathers and fire burst out of Raaz''s stumps. The mes fed upon the tonics as if they were gasoline, growing in strength and size.

    The milky liquid was consumed so quickly that even though Solus had prepared over one hundred of them, she suddenly feared they wouldn''t be enough.

 Chapter 1860: Toll of the Void (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1860: Toll of the Void (Part 2)</h4>

    The four jets of fire kept growing as the Overlord kept feeding them yet they didn''t burn Raaz''s skin, no matter how many times their mes touched his body. Once each one of the small pirs reached the size of their respective missing limb, they suddenly extinguished.

    In their ce, there were now four long bundles of ck feathers that reminded Lith of feather dusters from historical dramas. Also, they reminded him of the feathers that now decorated his own body and that he had already seen on his Voidfeather Dragon form.

    "ck Feathers? Is Dad a Phoenix of Darkness?" Lith asked.

    "No." Sark chuckled, lowering her arms now that her work was done. "If he really was Sinmara''s long-lost offspring, I doubt that she would have let either of you leave the Desert. She''s very protective of her Featherlings.

    "Your father belongs to the Dark Phoenix bloodline whose powers are based on shadow maniptions."

    "It definitely makes sense." Lith nodded. "What about Mom?"

    "Your mother is a Red Dragon." Sark raised an eyebrow in annoyance and her voice grew a little colder. "They are the keepers of the mysteries of the primordial mes belonging to the age back when Mogar was born in fire."

    "What are her powers bas-" Solus tried to ask, but the Guardian put one hand on her mouth and the other on Lith''s.

    "By the Great Mother, you two really are two peas in a pod! If you really are that curious, ask your Grandfather. I have much more important things to worry about." After Sark made sure that Solus wouldn''t interrupt her, she let them go.

    "Do you realize how stupid you have been? The life force you consumed and my Rebirth Magic have limited the damage you inflicted upon yourself, but your life span has further decreased!" The Guardian stared at him with literal fiery eyes.

    White mes burst from her irises, producing small columns of smoke. Yet she didn''t look scary, just an angry mother scolding her unruly child.

    "I know." Lith sighed and Solus gasped in fear. "Baba Yaga warned me, but I needed that power to save Dad. Only the Call of the Void could keep the Royal Guards away and prevent his captors from killing him or moving him to a different spot.

    "Blinded and surrounded by Demons, there was no way for them to open a Warp Steps. Not without the dimensional coordinates of their entry point."

    "I saw what you did." The mes disappeared from her eyes as she took Lith''s face between her hands and gently caressed it. "I saw you facing your tribtion and your inner demon at the same time. I''m proud of you."

    Sark forced him to lean, kissing his forehead.

    "I''m proud of you as well, Tista." She let the Tiamat go and embraced the Red Demon, kissing her as well. "Today, you saved both your father and your brother. Twice."

    The Guardian referred to both the moment when Lith had stopped himself after seeing his own madness affecting Tista and then when she had stopped him from killing the child.

    "Thanks, Grandma." Tista lost herself in the motherly warmth of the embrace and started to cry.

    She had been so scared of losing Raaz first and then terrified of the violence and bloodshed that a full-scale battle required. Yet in the heat of the battle, there was no time for hesitation, only death.

    Remembering her fury, how much damage her mes had done, and how many lives they had taken, Tista was scared of herself. At the same time, however, she was also proud of herself because her actions weren''t random violence.

    She had killed people that she didn''t know and didn''t care about who had tried to take away those that she loved. It was an exchange that she was willing to make any day of her life.

    "Grandma, was that at the Hogum Household really a world tribtion?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. And another one took ce while you were at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant." Sark nodded.

    "But, I''m still me and I''m not dead either. This isn''t how tribtions are supposed to work." He replied.

    "I''m sorry, child. I would like to answer your questions, but I can''t. Not without putting your life at risk." Sark hugged Lith again, holding him tight. "I can fix your life force, young man.

    "I can even give you the life span you have lost. But only if you bend the knee and swear your allegiance to my nest. There''s no free meal in this world."

    "Thanks, Grandma, but no. I suspected as much, but I never asked you exactly because I knew that such a big favor woulde with a price attached." Lith replied. "I''d rather live a short but free life than a long one burdened by chains."

    "And I respect your choice." She nodded.

    Then, the effects of the Blood Imprint started to fade and the dark feathers that came out of Raaz''s body slowly turned into arms and legs. At the same time, the scales returned on the bodies of the two Demons.

    "Is Dad already healed?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "Did you awaken his bloodline?" Tista jumped in enthusiasm.

    "Respectively yes and only temporarily." Sark said. "It was the only way to regenerate Raaz without causing further trauma to his weak human body. Be careful, though. I sensed how damaged his mind is with the imprint.

    "I''m sorry, but there is no magic that can fix that. You will have to be patient with Raaz and give him all the help he needs."

    Lith nodded, knowing how the wounds of the mind were the most difficult to heal. Almost two decades had passed since his death on Earth, yet the scars his psyche still bore had almost killed him.

    "That said, I want to congratte you two." Sark embraced Lith and Solus. "Your Immortal Body array is not much, but it''s a nice step into Rebirth Magic."

    "Really?" Solus forgot about her worries for a second, brimming with joy.

    The array was her original creation.

    "Yes, but enough talking about work, Lith the second." The Mother of all Phoenixes said, bringing a small smile to their faces. "Time to let your family in. Those poor fellows are dying of fright."

    "By my Mom, you''re right!" Solus had locked everyone inside their respective rooms and then she had forgotten about them.

    When she Warped them into the Heart of the tower, where all the arrays were, Elina''s eyes were bloodshot. Her face was streaked with snot and tears after being left alone with Aran until that moment.

    The young boy was terrified, begging his mother to bring him back home and asking her about his dad.

    Senton and Rena were still hugging the triplets and each other while Leria clung to them both.

    The magical beasts of the two kids rubbed their snouts against their faces,pping their tears away but they were powerless in calming them down.

    The moment they saw each other and the rest of the family finally reunited, they screamed in joy and relief.

    "Thank the gods you made it! You saved your father." Elina gave both Tista and Lith a quick hug and kiss before running to her husband''s bedside.

 Chapter 1861: Broken Mind (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1861: Broken Mind (Part 1)</h4>

    Sark had restored Raaz''s body and clothes, but Elina could see from his involuntary spasms that something was wrong with him.

    "Thanks for remembering about me." Senton''s voice was half-gratitude and half-sarcasm.

    After Morn had issued the Royal Decree, Senton had been terrified of having lost his wife and children forever. Rena, Leria, and the triplets were all at the Verhen''s house. Senton had run there as fast as he could but by the time he had arrived, they were all gone.

    Knowing how little love Lith had for him, Senton had believed to have been left behind.

    "You are wee. You should also thank Solus. She''s the one who looked out for you and Zekell." Lith said.

    "I already did that. Don''t worry about Dad. He doesn''t carry yourst name and he can fend for himself. I tried to talk him into following us, but he said that he''d rather die than let anyone seize his life''s work." Senton replied.

    "Lith?" Elina''s voice interrupted them as she gently pushed Senton away to stand in front of her son.

    "Yes, Mom?"

    "Can you please let Trion out? With everything that happened, we could barely talk. Also, I''m certain that your father would be d to see him again." She said.

    Lith felt very tired, his body was in dire need of rest.

    Yet he conjured his brother''s soul, giving him enough power to form a two-eyed demon body so to not scare his family.

    "Mom?" Trion said, his voice slurred from the slumber. "Rena? Senton? Do you have three more children now?"

    "Gods, Trion!" Rena started to sob once more, throwing her arms at the neck of her long-lost brother. "I missed you so much. When I heard that you had taken your life, I felt guilty for your death.

    "I thought that you did it because you felt abandoned by your family."

    "I didn''tmit suicide and even if I did, you shouldn''t have to feel responsible. Everything I did was my choice. Mostly bad ones and I ended up paying the price." Since no one seemed to understand his words, Trion used a mind link to show them what had really happened.

    Not only back when Night had killed him but also inside the Heavenly Wolf restaurant and during the past year of plotting.

    "That Orpal farmer!" Her face flushed in anger at the memories of what her own twin had said about her and of his ns about the women of the family.

    "I''m going to murder him!" Senton clenched his teeth and fists in anger. "Lith, I need to protect my family. Can you Awaken me?"

    "And to what end?" Lith''s voice was half-rage and halfpassion. "You know nothing about magic and if I were to Awaken you, Meln would have no trouble killing you even if I taught you everything I know.

    "Reaching my strength takes time and effort."

    Elina and Tista flushed as well at Trion''s recount of Orpal''s lecherous dreams whereas it just strengthened Lith''s determination to kill him. Also, he tried to anticipate what the next move of the Dead King might be and to n a countermeasure in advance.

    "Thanks, Trion." Lith said.<i> </i>

    Speaking those words cost him a great deal, but he did it for his family. They needed to hear it from Lith and he desperately needed that information.

    "You owe me no thanks, little brother. All your life I''ve been a thorn in your side and then I mistreated everyone else out of envy. I''ve just started paying my due." Trion shook his head in sadness.

    "No one resents you, baby." Elina hugged him, caressing his face gently.

    Lith noticed that Trion''s scales escaped Elina''s touch just like his Abomination side did Kam''s.

    "Yet you should, Mom. I treated you like crap all my life. I never returned your letters and thest time we met, I said horrible things just to make you feel as bad as me." Trion returned the embrace, shedding small mes from his eyes that disappeared into puffs of smoke.

    "You are too good for me, Mom. I don''t deserve you nor do I deserve being here. Dad has gone through a lot. He doesn''t need the burden of the return of his ungrateful son as well. He doesn''t need to hear how I died and what Orpal did.

    "Believe me, it would break him." Trion looked straight into her eyes, letting his words sink in. "When Dad recovers and you think he is ready, then call upon me. Until then, please keep my existence a secret.

    "There is no rush. We have lots of time ahead of us because I''m not going anywhere." He let Elina go and turned toward Lith.

    "Thanks for protecting Mom, Dad, and the rest of the family during my absence. If anything happened to them, I would have lost my mind and whatever waits for me beyond the veil would have been filled with regret."

    Then he got down on his right knee, like a knight in front of his king.

    "For that, you have my loyalty. I promise you that I will serve your cause, whatever it is, and I will not spare any effort in the line of duty. I''m not going to leave until I''m certain that Orpal is dead and our family is safe.

    "As long as he draws breath, my soul is yours tomand. My vows with the Kingdom broke not upon my death, but when they tried to arrest my family. I''ll tell you everything I know, no matter how small."

    Trion''s fist struck his chest in salute and then returned into the feather.

    "Orpal." At the sound of that name, Raaz started to murmur it at first.

    "Orpal. Orpal. Orpal!" Then, his voice grew in volume until he suddenly woke up with an enraged roar.

    Raaz jumped off the bed, running to Lith in a frenzy.

    "It was Orpal! It was Orpal all along!" He said while shaking the Tiamat with all the strength he had.

    "I know, Dad, don''t worry. I kicked his ass and banished him from Lutia. Mom and the others are safe." Lith replied.

    "Safe? They are not safe, you idiot!" Raaz bared his teeth, his eyes spirited with a fury that bordered on madness. "I know because he told me. He was with me while he fought you. He was with me when General Motherfucker read his decree!"

    Lith swiftly Hushed the kids'' ears, signaling the others to stay away and not interrupt the stream of consciousness. Whatever Raaz was trying to say, it was eating at him from the inside.

    It had kept him vignt and strong enough to wake up from a procedure that was supposed to knock him out for at least one day.

    "Nothing was real. He leaked the position of his Courts to the Council so that they would send you there. It was all part of his n. Orpal studied you and your abilities,paring them with his own like the little envious dipshit he has always been!

    "He staged the ambush in the restaurant to turn you into hispdog and when it failed, he used General Motherfucker to take everything from you. But this is not all! Orpal sent the clone to study you even more. To learn and copy from you."

 Chapter 1862: Broken Mind (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1862: Broken Mind (Part 2)</h4>

    "All the while he was torturing me just to send you a fucking message!" Raaz went from screaming, to crying, to roaring in an endless cycle as different emotions overpowered his rationality.

    "A message I couldn''t listen to because you got to him too soon. All of my sufferings was for nothing!"

    "I''m sorry, Dad." Lith stared at the crazed eyes of his father, without trying to make physical contact or belie his delirium. "Do you have any idea what his final goal might be?"

    "Of course I do! Orpal wants to make you suffer. He''s going to take apart the members of our family one by one. Starting from my little girls." The mental and physical breakdown brought Raaz to his knees, bawling his eyes out in desperation.

    "Why am I so weak? I couldn''t do anything. I couldn''t protect anyone. I could only stay there and listen while he ate me alive!" He wed at Lith in anger who had the care to make the Voidwalker as soft as silk and his skin no tougher than a human''s.

    Lith kneeled to keep his face at his father''s level, letting him grab, punch, and cry as much as he wanted. After a few minutes of venting his despair, Raaz found the strength to speak again.

    "You have to stop him, son." His voice was hoarse from the strain of the constant yelling, but it was still clear. "You have to kill Orpal."

    "I will, Dad." At those words, Raaz held his son in a bear hug.

    "I''m so sorry. This is all my fault for being a weak and useless father."

    Lith returned the embrace, making Raaz yelp and quiver like a terrified puppy at the memory of the cruel touch he had had to endure. Yet he kept his eyes open and when he recognized his son, he calmed down.

    Elina saw everything and cried while shutting her own mouth with her hands. She just wanted to embrace her husband and tell him that everything would be well, but she was afraid of making everything worse.

    ''Trion was right.'' She thought. ''He needs time and space to heal. I can''t burden him with my suffering. Raaz''s is barely holding on.''

    Elina finally understood why Kam had always kept Lith away from his family during his darkest hours, even at the cost of causing them great worry. She prayed to the gods to watch over such a wise woman and wished for the umpteenth time for Kam to be with them again.

    "Gods." Raaz said amid pants, trying to catch his breath. "Help me to stand up, son. I need to check on your mother."

    He was oblivious of where and when he was and of who was there with him.

    "We can''t let her see me or she''ll die of anguish at the sight of the horrible wounds that Orpal-" Only after Lith returned his father''s grab did Raaz notice his own hands.

    His eyes ran up and down his upper limbs, looking at them like a miracle of nature. Then, he felt the tower''s carpet tickling his feet and lowered his gaze, discovering that his legs were back as well.

    Raaz started to cry again, but this time with joy.

    "You rescued me. You healed me." He said while taking Lith''s face between his hands and appreciating every sting that the stubble inflicted on his fingers.

    "We rescued you and she healed you." Lith pointed at Tista and Sark who had kept their distance the entire time. "It was a family effort, mister Dark Phoenix."

    "I''m so proud of you." Raaz let him go, staggering toward Tista to hug her as well.

    "And of you. Gods, I don''t know what I''d do without my children." Tista returned his embrace, her words drowned in hups at the sight of the man who had seemed so big when she was little and now looked as frail as paper.

    "Thank you." Raaz moved from his daughter to the Guardian, burying his face in her chest. "Thank you for giving me back my limbs. Thank you for returning me to my family. I missed you so much, Mom."

    In his delusion and under the lingering effects of the Blood Imprint, the image of his long-dead mother ovepped with Sark, making them both cry.

    "Wee back, son." She gently caressed his hair and back, wrapping him into her maternal warmth.

    After a while, the aura of might of the Guardian eased his trauma enough for Raaz to regain his senses.

    He felt a little embarrassed hugging a woman that looked more like his daughter than his mother and let her go gently. Then he looked around the room, recognizing the tower.

    His embarrassment grew as he noticed in front of how many people had he made a fool out of himself. When Raaz''s and Elina''s eyes finally met, time seemed to stop. The joy from seeing her after so much suffering brought peace to his troubled mind.

    "Elina, thank the gods you are alright!" He ran to her, checking the small details of her face and the warmth of her skin to make sure that she wasn''t just another hallucination induced by the tortures.

    "Please, talk to me, my love. I need to know that this is real."

    "I''m so sorry." She said amid sobs. "I shouldn''t have let you go on that damn business trip. I should have forced you toe to the restaurant with us or at leaste with you. I shouldn''t have left you alone."

    "Don''t you even dare say that." Raaz held her tight, and when she returned the embrace, her touch didn''t make him quiver. "Every second of that nightmare, I thanked the gods for you being far away and safe with Lith.

    "It''s the only reason I managed to endure everything Orpal did to me without losing myself in desperation or madness. I kept fighting because I knew that you were waiting for me. I refused to die because I had to return to you, my love."

    "You''re the bravest warrior I''ve ever known, Raaz Verhen. I love you so much." Elina said, burying her face in his shoulder. "I don''t know if I would have had the strength to keep living without you."

    While his parents exchanged tender caresses and sweet words, Lith''s mind went over all the bad things that had happened to him during the past few years.

    "Meln was behind everything, always messing with my life." He thought out loud. "He gave Deirus the means to keep Phloria''s trial going and sent the assassin to kill Quy. He killed Trequill, Mirim, and Manohar.

    "Now, he has kidnapped Dad and Kami, almost torturing him to death." Lith clenched his fists as fury grew like wildfire inside his chest. "I don''t care about the Kingdom''sws or what the Royals say.

    "As soon as I regain my strength, I''m going to tower Warp back to the Kingdom, hunt Meln down, and kill him like the rabid monster he is!"

    "Please, Lith. We barely escaped death multiple times today." Elina said. "You are powerful, but just one man. Meln, instead, has the Undead Courts behind him and he''s probably creating more undead as we speak.

    "You''d need an army to fight him."

 Chapter 1863: From the Rubble (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1863: From the Rubble (Part 1)</h4>

    "I have an army." Lith''s voice was calm as he conjured his Golems, his Demons of the Darkness, of the Fallen, of the mes, and all those who answered his call.

    With every breath he took, the tower filled with new angry Demons yet it also increased the burden on his already battered body.

    "Men." Sark sighed while gently touching Raaz''s forehead and then Lith''s.

    They both fell asleep, their minds finally at peace.

    A snap of the Overlord''s finger Warped them away, leaving the rest of the family bbergasted.

    "There''s no need to worry, I just moved them to their respective bedrooms. Solus, Elina, stay with them and don''t leave their side for even one second. Thanks to you, sleep will be a safe haven where their minds will find sce and process their respective traumas more quickly.

    "Without you, it would be a nightmarishnd where the events of today repeat themselves in a loop, aggravating their mental condition." Another snap of her fingers sent the two women away.

    "Tista, I can feel that your trauma is quite severe as well. Do you want me to call Crevan, Bodya, or Aerth? Any of them and of my children will be d to keep youpany for the night, in whatever way you like."

    "I''m not going to sleep with any of them!" Tista replied, her Red Demon bing redder.

    "There''s nothing to be ashamed of, big sis." Aran hugged her. "I always sleep with Onyx and when I have a bad dream, I sleep with Mom and Dad."

    ''That''s a different kind of "sleeping with", little imp.'' Tista thought. ''You are just too young- Oh, shit!''

    Tista suddenly realized that the sudden heatwave and the knot in the stomach she felt had nothing to do with embarrassment. She had given her all against the Hogum''s Mansion, putting a great strain on her core until it was almost depleted.

    Now, thebined effort of her painstaking training and the countless hours spent practicing Demon Grasp were finally paying off, triggering her breakthrough. A silver pir descended from the sky, looking like the giant finger of a god.

    The light engulfed her, pushing everyone away before the final impurities left in her body came out. Her physical pain eclipsed even her mental trauma as both her human and Red Demon body were turned inside out.

    Once the process was over, the red scales that covered her body had be bigger and the feathers on her wings thicker. She still had a single set of wings, but now two small horns came out of the crown of her head.

    They were slightly curved, pointing toward the sky. Also, her fourth eye finally had the strength to manifest itself. A ck eye had opened on her forehead, right above the silver one.

    The four eyes looked around the room, before closing all at once.

    "This is the worst day of my life." Tista said while falling headfirst onto the ground with a thud.

    ***

    The Verhens had arrived at the Desert while it was still midday in the Kingdom, but midnight in the Overlord''snds. They were all mentally exhausted and fell asleep the moment they touched their pillows.

    Usually, they would have had a hard time rxing under such circumstances, but the tower was a ce of power that eased their worries while Sark''s warm aura and her Blood Imprint soothed their minds akin to a mother''s embrace.

    The following morning, Tista discovered that Sark had arranged malepanionship for her anyway. Aran and Onyx had slept beside her, keeping Tista calm and covering her with fur.

    The young boy was scared and his parents couldn''t be disturbed so he had settled for his older sister. As for Lith, he spent a troubled night.

    As Sark had predicted, sleep didn''t bring him peace until Solus joined him. Then, he trapped her in a bear hug and didn''t let her go until the following morning. Solus wasn''t afraid of his ws as he shapeshifted from human to Tiamat, nor did the situation bother her.

    Yet she would have loved to have a bit of personal space and a bathroom break a couple of times. Aside from that, she slept like a baby and when the morning light woke her up, she thought that she had just closed her eyes.

    Lith stirred as well, his half-open seven eyes looking around, recognizing the tower and the familiar presence of his partner. Sleep still clouded his mind, making him think that she must had been the one who had neededpany the previous night.

    "Good morning, Solus." He held her tight, his husky voice expressing the joy he felt while losing himself in the sweet scent of her hair and the softness of her body.

    "Good morning, Lith. Is that a wand in your pants or are you just happy to see me?" She awkwardly chuckled, feeling something hard pressing along her abdomen and answering her year-old question whether a Tiamat had reproductive organs or not.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Now he felt it as well and the blood rush fully awakened him. "It''s just a natural reaction, I swear."

    Lith let her go but she put her arms around his neck, restoring the embrace.

    "I know and I don''t mind." For one second, they stared at each other in the eye, their respective traumas making them crave relief from their loneliness.

    Then, Lith''s mind became clear and he remembered all that had happened during the previous day. Sadness, rage, and pain assaulted him, destroying the tenderness of that moment.

    "We''d better get up. I want to check on Dad." Lith gently but firmly freed himself and got up, quickly followed by a sighing Solus.

    It was past midday, they had slept much longer than they had thought and were the secondst to arrive. Raaz had yet to wake up and Elina was still with him.

    "How are you doing, big bro?" Tista said in her human form while making her two new eyes wink at him.

    "Tista, did you have a breakthrough?" Solus''s mana sense perceived the vortexes in her aura that still needed time to stabilize.

    "Yeah. Between Orpal, our escape, saving Dad and the bright blue core, yesterday''s pain makes the years I suffered from the Strangler look fun." She replied while the enthusiasm disappeared from her voice. "How do you feel?"

    "Like crap." Sark had restored Lith''s life force, but it still hurt. "I don''t think I will need three full days of rest like usual, but I''ll take two anyway, just to be safe."

    The Desert was hot and sunny, yet to the Verhens Mogar had turned into a dark and cold ce. Even the kids were depressed, refusing to leave the tower. Leria didn''t let go of Rena for one second, asking to go back home.

    Aran, instead, sat on Tista''sp, always caressing Onyx''s head. The magical beasty beside them on the couch and her purrs helped him to not freak out like his niece.

    They ate their lunch in silence, the delicious food filled their belly but they barely registered any taste.

    Each one of them kept mulling over their losses and fears even after the meal, until the entrance door was mmed open.

 Chapter 1864: From the Rubble (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1864: From the Rubble (Part 2)</h4>

    "Come on, guys. This is too a good day to spend it holed up home." Sark walked into the tower, forcing everyone to follow her outside. "I moved my capitol here just for you."

    The Heavenly Plume city had relocated near one of the mountain ranges of the Desert. It cast shadows that were a rarity and that along with the presence of a hugeke lowered the temperature.

    On top of that, trees and des grew all around theke, giving the Verhens a small taste of home. The kids weren''t convinced, but the magical beasts were drawn by the foreign smells and the fresh water.

    Aran and Leria would never let their furred friends go alone so they quickly followed them. Before they knew it, they were ying in the water and building sand castles with magic.

    "Kids." Sark said with a warm smile on her face as the sight of their smiles and the sound of their innocentughter lightened the mood of the adults. "They are so weak and yet so strong."

    Rena, Senton, and Tista decided to join them, bathing in both water and sun. Lith and Solus wanted to follow suit, but Sark stopped them.

    "I''m sorry, but I couldn''t tell this in front of the others. Follow me, you have visitors. Do you want to receive them in my pce or your tower? They are all good friends."

    "The tower, please. It will help Solus to recover faster." Lith replied.

    Whoever the visitors were, he could always say that the building belonged to the Overlord and no one would have doubted it.

    Sark nodded, Warping them and their guests back into the tower''s sitting room.

    "Lith, thank the gods you are alright!" Quy rushed to him, embracing him with so much strength that Lith actually felt it.

    "Wow, little one, you have gotten really strong. You would have crushed a man''s spine with that hug." Lith said.

    "Yeah, sorry. I''m still learning how to control my strength and Spirit Magic. At least with people like you and my sisters I can afford to make mistakes."

    Friya, Phloria, and Faluel were there as well, hugging Lith and Solus in turn and expressing their relief.

    "How did you get here?" Solus asked.

    "Warp Gates from the Kingdom are blocked, but the Council''s Warping Arrays work just fine. The girls came to me and I brought them to you after asking Sark''s permission." The Hydra said.

    "Sit down, Lith." There''s something you should know." Phloria pushed him gently away but kept holding his hands and brought him to his favorite armchair.

    Faluel took hot tea, a bottle of Red Dragon, and her delicious biscuits out of her dimensional amulet, arranging them in front of the tower''s masters.

    "This is going to be bad." Lith said, taking a cup of tea and spiking it with a few drops of liquor.

    "Very bad." Solus added one drop but filled her saucer with biscuits, munching them nervously.

    Then, the four women took turns sharing with them the events that had taken ce in the Royal Court the previous day. How the Royals had confronted Morn to a standstill until Jirni''s and Kam''s arrival with their allies had turned the tables.

    "I want you to know that everyone fought for you like a lioness defending her cubs, even Peonia." Phloria said with a grunt.

    "Why are you angry with Peonia?" Lith asked.

    "Because even though she was as fierce as Mom and as passionate as Kam, she always defended Archmage Verhen. She worried about protecting the power you represent, not you as a person." Quy crushed a biscuit with her grip in anger.

    "It''s fine." Lith shrugged. "Our rtionship has always been shallow and Peonia made her intentions clear from the beginning. She was willing to marry me and give me children as a way to seize my talent and assets.

    "Everything else is just a sideshow to her. It''s the reason I didn''t date her seriously nor any Emperor Beast. No offense, Faluel."

    "None taken." She replied

    "Morn has been trialed and imprisoned." Friya said with disgust. "He''s currently being tortured and will be until the day of the execution."

    "Good news, then." Solus said.

    "No. Not at all." Quy shook her head. "He''s not going to bother Lith anymore, but all the charges on his head remain. Meln has exposed Lith''s crimes and his double nature, making scorched earth around him.

    "He''s wanted for the theft of the Shaman''s Crystal, Syrook''s remains and equipment, and of several artifacts that he''s suspected of having stolen while working as a Ranger.

    "To make matters worse, Lith, you are also charged with high treason and the ughter of the Hogum Household with Forbidden Magic."

    "High treason?" Lith echoed.

    "Yeas." Friya nodded. "Stealing while in the line of duty is a big deal. You dishonored the uniform, broke your oaths, and betrayed the trust that the Kingdom had in you.

    "As for the ughter, you gave a confession and plenty of evidence. For whatever reason Bar Hogum kidnapped and tortured your Dad, Raaz was still alive. Your response is considered excessive for the crime.

    "If only you didn''t kill him and with Forbidden Magic at that, the situation wouldn''t be so dire. Hogum would still die at the hands of an Executioner, but after being trialed and interrogated about his dealings with Meln.

    "You have destroyed the gods know how much evidence and ughtered even his wife who was, allegedly, innocent. Don''t get me started about the damage you''ve dealt to thendscape.

    "Mom has calcted that not even by consuming all of your Royal Pardons and calling in the favors that the Royals owe you can your te get out of this mess clean."

    "I''m already in exile. Why should I care?" Lith asked.

    "Because your house has been seized." Phloria said, shedding a few tears. "And so was your mansion and your silver mines. All of your life work is lost, ready to be sold to whoever can afford it."

    Lith didn''t care much about the Verhen Mansion, but the idea of losing his home and the mines sent pangs through his heart. His happiest memories were linked to that house, a ce that he had renovated bit by bit over the years.

    Without the mines, he wouldn''t have a steady ie of money and silver. Sooner orter, he wouldck the materials necessary for his experiments and to refill the tower''s Crucible.

    "Are you alright, Lith?" Solus could feel his distress and took his hand, threading her fingers into his.

    "I''ll survive. I always do." He emptied his cup in one gulp and put it down before his grip crushed it. "Now, I''d like to have your opinion on a few things."

    Lith created a mind link with them, showing everything that had happened at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant first and then at the Hogum Mansion. He emphasized the presence of the clouds, of the quake.

    How both times he hade close to a world tribtion and a breakthrough, yet neither of them had seeded.

    Quy, Friya, and Phloria, almost puked at the sight of Raaz''s condition upon his rescue and of the torture Lith had put Hogum, his wife, and everyone involved.

 Chapter 1865 Picking Up the Pieces (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1865 Picking Up the Pieces (Part 1)</h4>

    For the first time since they knew each other, Phloria was scared of Lith. He showed no sign of remorse nor did he care for anyone who might have died when the volcano had erupted.

    Lith didn''t know nor care if Hogum''s servants had escaped before the st. Even the child had been saved only on Tista''s plea.

    "You went easy on them." Faluel said, eating a biscuit. "If that was my father, I would have eaten the happy family alive one at a time. Sure, if it was my father, he would have likely escaped on his own after ughtering everyone, but that''s another story."

    The girls needed a bit of time and liquor to recover.

    The world tribtion was beyond everyone''s understanding so they focused on the issue of Lith''s sealed deep violet core.

    "As you can see, I tried something different on each asion." Lith said while showing them the holograms of yesterday''s events to not poison them with another mind link.

    "When I faced Meln, I unleashed all of my power to destroy him and protect Mom and everyone in Lutia. Then, at the Hogum Mansion, I released my fury and hate to punish those responsible for hurting Dad.

    "Yet both times I failed to trigger the tribtion and even ovee the bottleneck that stunts the development of my core. Any ideas?"

    "I''m sorry, I''ve got nothing." Faluel said. "I was thinking about telling you to go all out or to stop repressing your feelings, yet that''s exactly what you did without getting any result from it."

    "I would like to say something along the lines of: maybe you had to show restraint. If I did, however, I would be the first one to bash my own head. Those guys had iting." Friya shrugged.

    "Let''s think about what we know about other Divine Beasts." Solus said. "After all, Lith''s Tiamat form it''s still one of them, born from mixing the blood of a Dragon and a Phoenix."

    "Dragons are creatures of wisdom but also greed." Faluel said. "Phoenixes are creatures of passion, experiencing only the most intense love and hate. Griffons are creatures devoted to nurturing, but are also prone to jealousy and anger.

    "In a way, they are simr to Life Maelstrom. They can strengthen what they care about but they can also smother them with their excessive affection. Think about how Tyris became heartbroken after finally finding true love."

    "I''m indeed a creature of greed and passion." Lith said. "I crave for what I need and I either love or hate. Everything else is indifferent to me. Yet if I had to define myself with one word, I''d say hate."

    He then showed him how his fury and madness had infected the Demons conjured by the Call of the Void and even Tista.

    "And that''s your problem." Quy said after mulling over those images for a while.

    "Should I stop hating?" Lith asked.

    "Well, that would be definitely healthy of you, but it''s not what I''m talking about." Quy shook her head. "I think that you should start by stopping hating yourself."

    "What do you mean?" Solus asked.

    "Lith, I''ve seen your whole life through mind links, and thanks to them, I experienced your emotions as well." Quy replied. "Back when you were hungry, you hated and despised yourself for your weakness.

    "Then, after you got food by bing a hunter, you kept hating yourself for not being strong enough to heal Tista. After that, you had to worry about helping Solus to recover and finding a way for her to get a body.

    "This is also what you have done until now, when you med yourself for falling for Orpal''s trap at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant and for Raaz''s kidnapping.

    "You keep living by taking everything on yourself and getting angry every time something outside your expectations happens. You can''t always win, Lith. No one does, not even my Mom or the Guardians.

    "I think that the key to break through to the light violet is to stop hating yourself and project it only outwards."

    "How the heck do I do that?" Lith knew of his control issues for years.

    It had been a long uphill battle that he still had no idea how to win.

    "Beats me." Quy shrugged. "But if anyone has a better idea, I''m open to suggestions."

    They took turns giving Lith advice, but they all amounted to generic wishful thinking worthy of a self-help book with no real clue about how to actually achieve what he wanted.

    "Okay, enough of this sorry mess that''s my life." Lith stood up. "Quy, Phloria, you''ve never visited the Desert before. Let me give you a tour of Sark''s pce and then you have to meet the kids.

    "They need to see some friendly faces."

    ***

    As Lith had predicted, Aran and Leria weed their aunties with enthusiasm. The kids invited them to y with them with water and magic in theke which everyone epted.

    Not before kicking out Lith and Senton of course.

    Now that there were only women and Aran, they could freely take a dip together while wearing only skin-tight enchanted armor.

    "Can''t you like mind fuse with Solus and share?" Senton asked, quickly adding in reply to Lith''s re. "Hey, I''m married, not dead."

    "First, Solus would know. Second, if I ever peeked at my naked sisters, I would be no better than Meln." Lith spat at that name as if was venom on his tongue.

    "Fucking bastard." Senton spat as well and that was thest time that they ever talked about exploiting Lith''s ess to the women''s locker room.

    Raaz woke up after over 24 hours of sleep and only because he was starving. He was still a bundle of nerves, yelping and stepping back in fear even when Aran tried to touch him.

    To be capable of enduring physical contact, even with his own children, Raaz needed to have Elina holding his hand, to remind him that he was safe now. Orpal had abused mind links to torture and interrogate his father by projecting familiar visions in his mind.

    Now, he had a hard time distinguishing hallucinations from reality. Only when Sark was present, exuding the majestic aura of a Guardian, did Raaz manage to assume a semnce of normalcy, and only because he felt like a mouse riding a Phoenix.

    The awareness that no one and nothing could touch him without paying the price soothed his broken nerves. Without Sark, he couldn''t eat without puking a few minutester or sit without having his back against the wall.

    Seeing him like that broke his family''s heart but they did their best to repress their feelings and be strong for him.

    "Don''t worry, kids. You can stay here as long as you want. No strings attached." Sark said. Raaz was just a distant offspring of her own children, but her heart was wrenched by his pain nheless.

    Lith spent the two following days resting, to give his once again wounded life force the time to fully mend. The Overlord kept a close eye on his condition and did her best to help him recover.

    During that time, he received countless calls on his Council amulet, the onlymunication device that he had left after destroying his civilian one.

 Chapter 1866 Picking Up the Pieces (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1866 Picking Up the Pieces (Part 2)</h4>

    Vastor, Xenagrosh, Athung, and Aalejah called him often to receive status updates on the situation of his family and to offer him their help. The Abomination in particr was worried for him and Solus, fearing that distance and Sark would destroy their rtionship forever.

    Xenagrosh wanted Solus to meet Bytra again above everything else, to let the two women talk instead of fighting and set aside their differences. The Fourth Ruler of the mes'' joy after being forgiven for her crimes hadsted shortly.

    After a while, she had realized that she actually had no idea how Elphyn had spent thest 700 years, of what had happened to Menadion''s tower, and what the reason for her amnesia was.

    Bytra suspected that everything came down to her again, more crimes and senseless cruelty that her old self had inflicted upon the heir of Menadion without even knowing it.

    She needed closure, real closure, and the uncertainty ate at her from inside, making it impossible for her to enjoy her life anymore. Lith reassured everyone but made no promises.

    He was too depressed, too broken, and too tired to care about anything but his family.

    Much to his surprise, even Fe the Behemoth called him.

    "Why so surprised? I''m the Council representative of the Beast faction and you are one of our own." She said with a warm smile that would have raised the temperature of the room by several degrees if not for his sour mood.

    "On top of that, you had also been designated as our liaison with the Royals. Those bastards knew it and dared to mess with you anyway." She said with a snarl, mming her fit arms on her chair and making the long tress her hair was fixed into bounce on her perky bosom.

    "I can''t break the treaty, mind you. We are at war and in the big scheme of things, differences must be set aside. However, this doesn''t mean that I can''t raise the price for our help or use my influence to try and smooth things over for you."

    She rose from her chair, pacing around nervously in quick strides that emphasized her long and shapely legs. She wore training clothes, not a cocktail dress, but they were tight enough to bring out her soft curves.

    "Thanks, Fe, but right now I don''t feel likeing back to the Kingdom. I''m still too angry and if I''m in the same room with a soldier or a noble, my fangs are thest things they are going to see." Lith said,pletely oblivious of what was happening.

    "Understandable." She swept her tress back, making it seductively slither around her hips. "If there''s anything you need that doesn''t involve materials and legacy secrets, you can count on me."

    Fe wasn''t really interested in someone so young for Awakened standards, but after hearing from Faluel about Lith''s crippled life force and how it had been further reduced, she knew that there wasn''t much time left.

    She had even retained her youthful looks of a woman barely thirty years old, knowing Lith''s weak spot for partners of that age.

    ''He''s down and vulnerable. All I need is to remain alone with him during one training session. Then, I''m going to make things heat up by moving to a close-up and physical approach.'' She thought.

    ''At that point, I should be settled and the Behemoth bloodline will finally have its chance. His Tiamat form already merged perfectly the Phoenix and Dragon bloodline so the chances that he can do the same for the Griffon bloodline are high.

    ''Worst case scenario, we could always give birth to a new species that possesses the traits of the Griffons and those of either a Dragon or a Phoenix.''

    "Thanks for the offer, Fe. I could use both somepany and distraction, but now I need to recover. We''ll talk about thister." Usually Lith would have seen past her words, but too many things weighed on his mind already, slowing it down.

    "Perfect! Let me know when you are feeling better. Fe out."

    On the second day of their arrival in the Desert, the Verhens received a pleasant surprise. Nalrond, Protector, Selia, and their kids hade there to stay.

    "Selia!" Elina said while embracing her friend who she had thought lost.

    "Elina, don''t you think that you can get rid of me so easily. Not with another bun in the oven." The huntress chuckled.

    "Wow, you look like crap." The Rezar said, patting Lith''s arm.

    "Thanks. What are you guys doing here?" He asked.

    "Things in Lutia are not going well for Zekell due to his rtionship with you, but thanks to Count Lark and Marchioness Distar, he''ll manage. We, however, are known to be close friends of your family and have no noble ally." Protector replied.

    "People were getting suspicious of us. Suddenly my mysterious appearance and that of Nalrond were raising too many questions. That along with the risk of Meln making us his targets pushed us to leave."

    "I''m sorry for your houses. I know how much money and work you had poured into them." Lith sighed, feeling guilty for dragging them in his misery.

    "Don''t worry, we''ll manage." The Ry shrugged, squeezing Lith in a bear hug. "Besides, I couldn''t leave you alone, Scourge. Now more than ever, you need friends.

    "I''ve already arranged lodges for us with Sark and enrolled my kids in the local school. Here their nature of hybrids is hardly a novelty. There are plenty of Phoenix hybrids and lesser hybrids born from the members of the nest.

    "Here, Lilia and Leran will be able to learn magic, control their strength, and socialize with people of their age. This is actually a blessing in disguise for us. Also, I can always go back to the Kingdom with a Warp Array if Faluel needs me."

    "What about you, Nalrond?" Lith asked.

    "After talking a lot with Friya, I decided that it was time to stop running away from my past." He replied. "I''m just like the kids, I need to getfortable around humans even in my second skin.

    "On top of that, I was thinking to go back to the Fringe and see if I can learn something new after pulling my head out of my ass. Would you like to join me?"

    "It would be my pleasure." Lith nodded. "I have many things that I need to ask Mogar as well."

    "Good! Friya will be happy to know it."

    "What does she have to do with this?" Lith asked.

    "It was her pushing me to get back home and keep youpany. Also, this way she has a good reason to visit often since the both of us live here. When we go to the Fringe, she''lle with us." Nalrond replied.

    Every time that he mentioned Friya or talked about her, his eyes lit up with joy, making Lith understand that their second date must have gone well and that many others had followed.

    It filled him with joy for his friend and made him green with envy. Nalrond had found a lovingpanion and put his life back on track whereas Lith''s was in shambles and he felt more alone than ever.

 Chapter 1867 Victors and Vanquished (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1867 Victors and Vanquished (Part 1)</h4>

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, main za.

    It was night in the Desert, but for the people of the capitol it was almost noon. Arge crowd had assembled around the tall gallows that had been built in the middle of the za.

    The structure was made of rough wood, easy to assemble and dismantle.

    There was nothing fancy about it because just like its purpose, it had to be simple and brutal. The pinewood was stained with blood that was never cleaned and the chopping block was already in ce on a dais.

    Nobles, mages, and evenmoners hade from all corners of the Kingdom to witness an event that hadn''t taken ce since the era of Arthan, the Mad King. The public execution of someone carrying Royal blood.

    Valeron''s descendants weren''t all good people, but Royals preferred to deal with the bad apples in a discrete and private way to not taint the reputation of the Crown. Especially when the punishment was extreme.

    Yet Morn Griffon had made his crimes public and so would be the carrying of his sentence.

    The former General of the Army was escorted by three guards wearing the Royal Fortress armor arranged around him in a triangle formation. He was dressed in grey clothes that while clean were ragspared to his usual attire.

    His reddish hair was stained with dried blood and his silver eyes had lost any spark of nobility. He looked and moved like a cornered rat, turning his head left and right in the hope to find a way to escape.

    The guards pushed him forward every time he slowed down. Morn had been a muscr man in his fifties, but now he was as thin as a stick and looked twenty years older.

    Two days of torture made horrors for the health and being fed solely tonics, with no solid food, had slimmed him down greatly. He had been tortured alternatingly with fire, ice, and lightning with pauses in between so that his body could never adapt to the pain.

    As he stepped up the gallows, his eyes fell on the golden crown on Meron''s head and the General wondered what had gone wrong. His n had been perfect and its execution wless.

    The crown was supposed to belong to him now, yet the only ornament he wore were the chains binding his hands and feet to his waist.

    "People of the Kingdom." The King wore the same clothes he would for a g.

    A set of a silk shirt and pants with a mantle covering his shoulders. Meron held the Sword of Saefel in his hands, the tip pointing down and resting on the wood of the gallows.

    "Today we are gathered to witness the end of a man that once I considered a friend and an ally. My very own cousin, Morn Griffon." The King''s voice was enhanced by no spell, yet it carried clearly throughout the za thanks to his powerful lungs and the perfect acoustics.

    "As you know, we are in times of war. We have enemies outside and within these walls. It''s a time when petty grudges, ambitions, and differences must be set aside if we want to survive.

    "Yet Morn Griffon, in spite of all that and of his duty as General of the Army, plotted against the Kingdom. His action cost us a powerful Archmage and ally, sowed discord among our people, and most importantly, caused innocent victims."

    A hologram of the fight between Lith and Orpal appeared, followed by images of how Lutia had been protected by the Demons. Then, appeared scenes of unrest in various cities of the Kingdom, where people attacked their neighbors believing them a Beast in disguise.

    Raaz''s mangled body appeared, his face made unrecognizable but his wounds in in sight. After that, the hologram depicted scenes from the attacks of the Undead Courts.

    "Archmage Verhen may have not been sincere with us, but he was an invaluable ally and a trustworthy friend. I can understand many of you being angry with him and demanding justice, but again, we are in times of war.

    "Verhen contributed to recapturing several cities, he protected the Kingdom from all kinds of threats, and he was our best hope to take down the Golden Griffon. He was also the only tether we had with powerful allies that now might be lost forever.

    "If it was up to me, he would have served his sentence by fighting for us until he hadpensated the Kingdom for its losses. Verhen took a few things, but saved countless lives. Our lives."

    The people nodded and their outrage for Lith''s crimes faded once they realized that they had much more to lose than to gain from his death.

    "Yet Morn put his ambition first. He put Verhen in danger and with him his family. He is a criminal, but they are innocent. And so are all the people injured during the mass hysteria that Morn''s foolish decree caused.

    "For all these reasons, he has been sentenced to experience the pain he has caused to others before being executed. Bring the prisoner." Meron ordered and the Royal Guards brought the former general to the gallows.

    Morn''s head was now magically locked on the chipping block, forced to kneel in front of people of lesser upbringing.

    The King didn''t ask him for ast wish or final words. He simply plunged the Sword of Saefel straight into Morn''s heart and then decapitated him with one fluid movement.

    The head was picked up by a Royal Guard and stored inside a dimensional box while the enchantments of the de turned the corpse into dust. This way, there was no way for Morn to survive or be turned into an undead.

    The crowd remained for a while, discussing their future while the King walked away with the box under his arm.

    "I''ve already made sure that the news of the execution spread beyond our borders." Sylpha said, bearing no grief for the death of her inw. "This and the head should appease Lith''s wrath and give us the opportunity to negotiate his return."

    "Too soon." Meron shook his head. "You''ve seen what happened to his father and you know how much Verhen values his family. Let''s wait one week. After that, his rage should have subsided and we can send someone all of us can trust as a mediator."

    Sylpha nodded and followed him. She had already in mind the name of the perfect candidate for the job.

    ***

    Lustria County, at the same time.

    Count Zint of the Empire, Orpal''s alter ego,ughed like a madman at the sight of Raaz''s wounds and the death of Morn Griffon. He was just back from the north, in Jambel, where he had visited the silver mines that he intended to buy.

    He hade to Lustria to take a look at two more objects of his interest. The Verhen Household in Lutia and the Verhen Mansion on the other side of the Trawn woods.

    The Dead King looked in disappointment at Selia''s empty house, regretting to have lost an opportunity to hurt Lith.

    ''The huntress is an old hag, but her kids and ours seemed to be great friends. Also, ording to the people of the vige, the Fastarrow family and this Nalrond are good friends of the family.'' He thought.

 Chapter 1868 Victors and Vanquished (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1868 Victors and Vanquished (Part 2)</h4>

    ''I didn''t send them a card because the sudden blow is the one that hurts the most, yet now they are gone. I should have struck earlier.'' Opral thought.

    "Is everything to your liking?" The Kingdom''s emissary said.

    Lith''s assets had all been seized and in times of war, the country needed all the funds it could get. Count Zint had offered to pay for both buildings more than their market value, making his offer hard to resist.

    The Kingdom already had the codes for the arrays of the Verhen Mansion and Orpal had taken a long appreciative visit. He felt like a conqueror counting his spoils of war.

    As for the Verhen Household, the array system had yet to be cracked, but the Dead King didn''t mind the wait. It only made things more exciting.

    "Liking is an understatement, I love them!" Orpal said with a huge smile on his face. "Life is wonderful even though it has a bit of twisted sense of irony."

    "What do you mean?" The female clerk asked with a puzzled look.

    "Nothing, I''m just rambling. Don''t mind me." The Dead King shrugged it off as a joke.

    ''My parents kicked me out of my house and now they are the ones in exile. This will be my house again and everything that Leech has built that I cannot take I will destroy.'' He actually thought.

    ''Verhen mines, house, mansion. It''s so funny that there''s not even a need to change their name since they now belong to me, Orpal Verhen!''

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, a few dayster.

    Thanks to Sark''s Rebirth Magic, Lith hadpletely recovered after a single day of rest but he took a second just to be safe. He spent a lot of time with the kids and his father, soon realizing that they both would take time to recover.

    After his condition stabilized, he and Solus contacted Aerth, the Blue Phoenix, to work together on the memory crystals. Now that Lith didn''t have to work for the Kingdom anymore, he had lots of free time and was eager toplete his golems.

    Aerth was d to have Lith back since Solus always came to visit him as well. The Phoenix hoped that by spending some time together a part of her feelings would return along with her memories.

    The three of them worked together to figure out a way to create artificial soldiers like those that Ayleen the Lich used. Creatures capable of using tier four spells and above because they were endowed with willpower but no personality of their own.

    Ayleen had crafted lesser undead golems that carried her own will, mind, and strategy thanks to the memory crystals embedded in their bodies. It was the only way to have at her service intelligent but expendable creatures without the use of Forbidden Magic.

    The white-cored Lich had learned early in her career that taking shortcuts would only end badly whereas Lith couldn''t bear to give life to creatures that would consider him their father just to send them to die on a battlefront.

    His past trauma from Earth and the memory of his violent father made him puke even at the idea of raising his hand against his offspring, no matter if biological or magical in origin.

    On top of that, he knew that by creating a new life he would also conjure a soul and he couldn''t risk torturing Carl, no matter how insignificant the odds that his soul would answer the call were.

    "Very interesting." Aerth said while examining the lines of power in the Shaman''s crystal via the device that the Master had imnted into it. "Crystals aren''t living beings, yet the more we learn about them, the more I think they might be some kind of prototype."

    "A prototype for what?" Solus asked.

    "Mana cores." The Phoenix replied. "There''s barely any difference between crystals of green purity or above and mana cores. They both can produce an endless amount of energy and can be properly stimted to produce more.

    "Yet while mana crystals can only store and use world energy, a mana core produces its own energy with an individual''s life signature. I think that your project is feasible, Lith. You can imbue bloodline abilities in your golems if you use Spirit Crystals."

    "I feel a but iing." Lith grunted.

    "But while my research has much simpler purposes, yours is going to take more time, effort, and luck." Aerth replied. "Mother has tasked me to create simple constructs that can follow simple orders.

    "Her purpose is to employ the memory crystals in weapons for her nest and as artificial intelligence for civilians. You, instead, need to find a way to impart your creations more than rudimentary orders and strategies.

    "You want them to retain a part of your conscience, of your tactical mind, but none of your ugly personality."

    "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence." Lith said while Solusughed her ass off at his expense.

    "You are wee." The Phoenix nodded with his deadpan tone that made it impossible to understand whether he was being sarcastic or he was just brutally honest. "Elphyn, I mean Solus, do you have ns for tonight?"

    "No. Why?" She asked while looking at Lith and hoping for a reaction.

    "I was thinking about bringing you to a couple of your favorite oases. Threin depicted them in his paintings and maybe being there in person might help you regain your memory.

    "Worst case scenario, I can annoy you with embarrassing anecdotes from your past while away from prying ears. This way, when you meet certain people, you''ll know why they will react badly to your appearance."

    "Are there more people that I knew back in the days still alive?" She asked in amazement, wondering if they were the holders of the Mouth or the Ears of Menadion.

    "Most of them are Beasts. Humans are either really old now or dead." Aerth shrugged.

    "You should go, Solus." Lith reacted, but not how she was expecting. "I''m going out for the night with Protector and Nalrond. There''s no point staying holed up in the tower. We both need some fresh air."

    "I couldn''t agree more." The Blue Phoenix nodded. "Honestly, your performance during thest few days has been constantly dropping. Youck focus and are slowing us down."

    "I lost my home!" Lith snarled, bringing the shadows of theb to life with his fury. "My father was tortured and almost killed. I had to leave everything behind to escape from being branded and trialed as an oath breaker.

    "Excuse me if I''m not really at the top of my game."

    "I''m not criticizing you for it, just pointing out a fact." Aerth used his own bloodline powers to dispel the shadows like smoke.

    "And I''m not criticizing you for it, just pointing out that you are an asshole." Lith flipped the Phoenix off and Warped back to his living quarters.

    "Did I say something wrong or is he in a bad mood?" He asked.

    "Out of curiosity, were you like this when we dated as well?" Solus said.

    "No. Back then I spent much more time with people and less in theb. Mother says that I should learn to be gentler again, but being gentle is just a dignified way of lying."

 Chapter 1869 Stick and Carrot (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1869 Stick and Carrot (Part 1)</h4>

    "I treat people like my experiments, in the most direct and efficient way." Aerth answered with pride.

    "Even Grandma says you are a weirdo and now I understand why." Solus sighed. "I''lle here straight after dinner."

    "So it''s a date."

    "No, I want to be back home early. My father is still a mess and I want to be there to wish him goodnight." She replied.

    "We set a ce and an hour and you said you wille. That''s how a date works." Aerth nodded with a huge grin in his mind, clearly oblivious of the subtext of the entire conversation.

    Meanwhile, Lith was already back at the tower and was preparing for the night.

    ''Gods, saying that the guy is a pain in the ass is an understatement. If I didn''t need Aerth for my golems, I''d have already given him the beating of a lifetime.'' He thought while trying out different outfits.

    He needed something not too elegant to not overdress hispanions and bright colored topensate for his terrible mood. Lith wanted to spend a pleasant evening, maybe vent off a bit, not be a buzzkill.

    ''I''m actually happy that he''s making a move on Solus. Even if they get carried by their old feelings and get back together it will neverst. After Solus finally gets some life experiences of her own, if she has to be with an insufferable prick, it might as well be me.''

    As it always happened in those cases, Lith was torn.

    On the one hand, he wanted Solus to enjoy herself and be her own person instead of just being the essory at Lith Verhen''s finger. On the other hand, he was jealous of her.

    Even though their rtionship had never had a physicalponent, the intimacy between them ran deep. They knew each other better than anyone else and, in a way, even better than themselves.

    It had made their rtionship ambiguous even back when Solus was just a voice in his head and now the boundaries had be much foggier. They had gone from never spending the night in the same bed to doing it every time Solus had a nightmare after Vastor''s wedding.

    After moving to the Desert and with all that had happened, forcing Lith into exile, she always slept beside him. It created a growing atmosphere of tenderness between them that was further aggravated by their respective recent trauma.

    "I''m sorry, man, but I have no clothes fitting for the evening. Can I borrow one of your suits again?" Nalrond entered his room after knocking, snapping Lith out of it.

    "Same." Protector''s deep baritonal voice said. "I would like to say that it''s because I escaped in a rush, but the truth is that I never cared much about fashion and I''m tired of people looking at me funny."

    "That''s because no one wears hunting clothes in a city, you wolfhead!" Selia''s voice came from a distance. "When people see a man of your size dressed for battle, they expect trouble."

    "Why didn''t you bring him on a shopping spree, then?" Lith yelled.

    "Because he''s too big! Every piece of clothing has to be tailor made and it costs a lot. We already had troubles making ends meet with two houses, three kids, and too many mouths to feed!" She red at sh and Crash, the kids'' steeds who contributed to the family budget only with expenses.

    The two beasts whimpered, offering their belly to the alpha in submission.

    Lith sighed and lent his friends a suit each. After they were all dressed and shaved, they used the Warp Gate to reach the nearest Regional Lord of the Desert. From there, a Warping Array brought them to their destination, the city of Efima in the Gorgon Empire.

    None of the three men had the papers to use the regr Gate and Lith was even a wanted criminal in the Kingdom. Sure, the Empire wouldn''t arrest him. The Empress was more likely to offer him a job, yet he wanted to avoid drawing attention.

    Thanks to the Beasts'' Gatework, he could still move throughout the Garlen continent as long as he didn''t cause trouble and escaped the local authorities'' notice.

    The destination of the group was Haug''s Travelling Tavern again. It was one of the few establishments where people of every race, Awakened or not, could mingle together without being bothered, even in times of war.

    The ambiance was great, the food was even better, and usually thepany was pleasant.

    Usually.

    The Travelling Tavern was packed and lively, yet once Lith walked through the door, a few people recognized him. The music and the chatting stopped, making an awkward silence befall the room.

    Parmegianno Haug inwardly cursed, he had hoped for a more discreet reaction to his 7 o''clock reservation. A wave of his hand made the band resume ying and the singer sing the tunes of a love song.

    "I''m sorry for the cold shoulder." Haug shook Lith''s hand. "Some people still remember your little show in Derios and are afraid of an encore."

    "No, I''m the one who should be sorry." Lith said with a sigh. "It''s the second time that I''ve messed with your livelihood, but I promise that there won''t be a third. How much do I owe you fromst time?"

    Haug pondered for a while as he led them to their table. A nice square table for four near the band and away from the rest of the customers.

    "Adding up the bill, the damages, and the lost ie from the hurried escape it makes two silver coins."

    Lith gave him three and Haug epted them with a deep bow before taking their order.

    "How are you guys doing in the Desert?" Lith asked, eager to lighten the mood.

    "Believe it or not, it worked great for Selia and me." Protector said with a smile. "Sark gave us a huge apartment that self-repairs so we don''t have to deal with damage anymore.

    "The kids have already made a lot of new friends and now every morning is a battle to make them wait for schooltime instead of forcing them to go. On top of that, thanks to the set of Orichalcum Scalewalkers you gave us, clothes aren''t an issue anymore.

    "Thank you, Lith. You have no idea what this means for both my family and my budget." He said while shapeshifting his nigh-indestructible suit.

    Actually, Selia wasn''t happy losing her home and her job again. The climate was too hot for their taste and there was the problem of getting used to new dishes and customs of the Desert.

    Yet Ryman could see how depressed Lith was so he glossed over everything that would have made him feel worse.

    "No need to thank me. It''s the least I could do after troubling you so much." Lith sighed. "What about you, Nalrond?"

    "It''s hard." The Rezar sipped the beer from his tankard while in his beast form. "Everything here brings me back to the times when my fianc¨¦ and I escaped the Fringe to mingle with the Desert tribes.

    "Eskia loved pretending to be a regr woman and disappearing in the bustling activity of the markets. Gods if I miss her." The longing in his voice and the sadness in his eyes were palpable.

 Chapter 1870 Stick and Carrot (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1870 Stick and Carrot (Part 2)</h4>

    "Yet it was also time to grow a spine and face my past, as Friya always says. Ever since I followed her advice and started living not only as a human but also as a Rezar, I can feel the barrier between my life forces thinning."

    "Why still gloomy, then?" Protector asked, throwing him a reproachful look for not reading the room.

    "Because even if I manage to make it disappear, I will be a regr hybrid. I''m an old ass man so when that happens, I will have to make a choice. Losing either of my natures would be crippling.

    "I still need to find a way to make them merge like it happened to Lith or at least dy the choice like Tista." Nalrond replied, noticing that Lith was staring at the singer.

    Whatever her race was, she had the appearance of a woman with shoulder-length raven-ck hair and violet eyes. Her sweet, soft voice as she sang a sad song made even the Rezar wish to know her better.

    "She''s real pretty. Are you thinking of asking for her contact rune?"

    "Yeah, she is." Lith nodded. "She reminds me of Kami."

    Protector and Nalrond shared a quick nce. Aside from the hair, the singer looked nothing like the Constable.

    "I won''t ask her contact rune because my life is already a mess. Also, I have no amulet anymore." The memory made his face and voice be even gloomier.

    The Rezar inwardly cursed himself for the blunder.

    "Lith, I''ve known you since you were a kid and I''m used to your killer re routine." Ryman said. "Being so sad is not like you, especially showing it to others. Whatever happened, you can tell us. We are your friends."

    "Speak for yourself." Nalrond rubbed his ws as a waiter brought them more beer and steaming dishes. "I''m here for the free food."

    Lith chuckled at the joke before answering.

    "My problem is twofold. The first part is Solus." His tablemates inhaled sharply and waited for the blow. "She''s gone on a date tonight."

    "Isn''t that what you wanted?" Ryman asked. "Either you let her go or you get jealous, you can''t do both."

    "It is what I wanted and I''m the one who told her to go." Lith replied. "We are getting closer, but in the wrong way. I need to make some distance between us and Aerth is a good guy. He can give her what I can''t."

    "What do you mean?" Nalrond asked. "Whenever I think about soulmates, you two alwayse to my mind."

    "Thanks, but we''re more co-dependent than soulmates." Lith said. "When we met, we already were two broken people who survived by relying on each other, but back then we had certainties.

    "I knew my path in life and Solus wanted to find out her nature and past. Now, however, everything has fallen apart. My life is in shambles and learning the truth almost destroyed her.

    "We are both more damaged than ever. We feel lonely, empty, and have a constant desire to forget about our worries. Our bond makes everything more intense and dangerous.

    "If we end up together like this, it won''t be because of our feelings but because of our problems. Which means that once one of us realizes that even intimacy doesn''t make the problems go away or ovees their trauma, the rtionship would crumble.

    "We are akin to two broken towers that lean on each other to keep standing, but once one of them gets repaired, there will be no space for the other and it will fall." Lith hid his face in the beer mug until it was empty.

    "I''ve known you long enough to know that this is indeed part of the problem but not all of it. What''s really troubling you?" Protector asked.

    "Quy called me today." Lith''s eyes steeled and his voice became cold. "My house and the Mansion have been seized and they will soon be put up for auction. My silver mines now belong to the Kingdom and unless Zolgrish finds a loophole, the metal they produce will be used for the war efforts.

    "The DoLorean that my father used on the day of his kidnapping has been found in a nearby vige and is now being examined by the Royal Forgemasters!" With each word he spoke his voice rose in intensity until he was yelling.

    "My whole life has fallen apart and what little remains has been stolen from me. That''s what''s troubling me, Ryman." Lith said with a sneer. "To make matters worse, I bet that Meln is already prowling outside my house, ready to taint it with his presence.

    "I''d rather see it burn than leave it to him. I bet that it was all part of his fucking n!"

    "I''m really sorry, man. I expected the Royals to treat you better if they ever want you to return." Nalrond signaled a waiter for a refill of their drinks and a Red Dragon for Lith. "Morn wanted you dead, but the Royals wanted to rope you in, especially Peonia."

    Lith nodded but said nothing, too busy keeping his rage in check.

    "I think that you have no reason to worry about your house." Protector said.

    "How so?" Lith drank the red liquor in one gulp and ordered another.

    "I know auctions. Since you are a runaway, your stuff was supposed to be already on the market since there will be no trial. If they kept it, it''s because they are probably using the carrot and stick strategy." Ryman replied.

    "On one hand, they are keeping your assets like the mines safe so that once you return everything can go back to the way it was. On the other hand, they have put your house on the auction list to show you that they can hurt you, if they want.

    "The same stands for the DoLorean. They are simply making you pay the price for your betrayal. In a way, they are doing you a favor since if the Royal Forgemasters learn something useful from the car, it would give you merits.

    "Also, shared magical secrets are a form ofpensation, lessening your charges. By taking the DoLorean, the Royals have protected its secrets and used them to prove the Kingdom your worth."

    "It makes sense." Lith drank the third Red Dragon, wondering why he hadn''te to that same conclusion.

    ''Aerth is right. I still have my head up my ass if I failed to see through the Royals'' ploy. I need to get a grip on myself.'' He thought.

    After venting his frustration and four shots of Red Dragon, Lith''s mood improved and the conversation moved to lighter topics. Nalrond told them how for their tenth date, Friya had arranged for a double date with Morok and Quy.

    "That guy is hrious especially when he doesn''t want to. Thest time we came here, he almost picked a fight with a Lich over-"

    "Are you Lith Verhen?" Four shadows eclipsed the magical lights of the tavern and their owners had surrounded the table.

    "In the flesh. Who wants to know?" Lith had to focus to not slur his words.

    He had drank too much and he knew it.

    "Someone you owe an exnation to."

 Chapter 1871 Funny Business (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1871 Funny Business (Part 1)</h4>

    Judging from the vines thatposed her dress, the branches that came out of her hair, and the several nts that seemed to have fused with her body, the giantess standing near Lith was likely to be a Titania.

    The other three people smelled like a beast, a human, and even an undead.

    "An exnation about what?" Lith asked.

    "During the day of the attack on the Undead Courts, not only did you fail the mission, but our elders were attacked and many of our fellow apprentices killed. On top of that, I heard that you came out of it unscathed and that your group suffered no casualties.

    "How awfully convenient." Her voice oozed sarcasm and spite.

    "Are you implying that I worked with that fucker of the Dead King?" Lith replied with mockery. "That I attacked my own family and caused my exile? And for what reason?"

    "To avoid any suspicion." She said with a stone-cold voice. "After all, that day you lost nothing but your human fa?ade. None of your loved ones died whereas good people, like my mentor and my friends, were killed by your brother!"

    "Look¡­" Protector said.

    "Dughia." The Titania introduced herself.

    "Dughia, I can vouch for Lith and his loss. I understand that you are angry and you want someone to me, but sowing discord among us Awakened is exactly what the Dead King wants." He said.

    "Then how do you exin how my master, a powerful bright violet-cored Awakened fell at Orpal''s hands, while your friend survived? How do you exin how both of them have authority over the dead?

    "They are brothers, after all, and they seem to have many things inmon." Dughia hissed a word too many, making Lith jump on his feet.

    "Don''t you dare lump me with that pile of shit!" He red at the Titania, yet she was over three meters (10'') tall, making him look like a child inparison.

    "Why not?" She stopped to re him in the eyes. "Thest time you were here, your pets hurt a lot of my friends. When you met Thrud''s spouse, you let him go. He even called you his little brother on more than one asion.

    "How do I know that you aren''t helping the Mad Queen in order to rece your brother by her side?"

    The spite in her voice grew with every word she spoke and before Lith could answer, she decked him with a right hook. Despite his mass and the Voidwalker armor, Lith felt the punch.

    Titanias were one of the strongest Fae. Despite their size, they could hit with the might of a Divine Beast.

    ording to Fe, Titanias were no weaker than Behemoths who had inherited the full physical prowess of their Griffon Foremother.

    Dughia caught him from the cor of his shirt with her left and quickly jabbed at Lith''s eyes and nose.

    Protector and Nalrond tried to intervene but the Titania''s friends stopped them.

    "Sit down, weakling." A Vagrash in his hybrid form effortlessly pushed Nalrond on his chair.

    Not only was he much heavier than a Rezar, but the gap in physical prowess between them due to body refining was enormous.

    Protector had no such problem against a Duhan and an Awakened human, but he was one against two.

    "Haug! A little help here." He said.

    The bartender looked in their direction and seeing that no weapon was being used, he just signaled the band to y something appropriate.

    "I''m sorry, but in any tavern friendly fisticuffs are considered a free form of entertainment." He replied. "No spells, no weapons, and no damage on the establishment allowed."

    The Titania turned toward Haug for a split second and nodded before resuming the pummelling.

    Another wave of Haug''s hand stretched the space inside the Tavern, creating a wide area where the two groups could fight without bothering the customers or damaging precious furniture.

    Dughia threw Lith against the now empty wall, catching him on the rebound with a punch to the guts with all of her considerable strength. The Voidwalker armor creaked and his dinner rose back to his mouth, bringing along the acrid taste of bile.

    While once again Nalrond cursed his double nature that kept him from Awakening, Protector had a hard time against two deep violet-cored mages. He was faster, stronger, and heavier but their perfect teamwork sealed his movements.

    Every time he moved to escape the encirclement or tried to attack one of the two, the one behind him would exploit the opening to strike at Ryman''s most vulnerable areas.

    ''Fuck! Bright blue or not, I can destroy them with my speed, but only if I manage to get the space I need to move!'' Constricted as he was between the human and the Duhan, Protector could barely take a side step.

    All he could do was turtle up and wait for a chance.

    As for Lith, the first hit had cleared his head. By the time he had sustained the fourth, his system had cleansed the alcohol, bringing him back to his peak form. Yet he remained passive.

    After being unjustly assaulted for the umpteenth time in a few days, rage had immediately made his blood boil. Then, as hatred once more was about to blind him, Lith had noticed his core stirring again.

    There was no quake nor storm so the bar fight hadn''t triggered a tribtion, yet he could still ovee the bottleneck, if only he understood what his problem was. Then, Lith remembered Friya''s words about mercy and forgiveness.

    ''Maybe she''s right.'' He thought while the taste of blood invaded his mouth and his vision blurred more with every hit. ''I never forgive or forget. This Titania is simply mad with grief, just like me.

    ''Orpal is my brother and, in a way, I''m responsible for his actions. It''s because of me that our parents disowned him. Everything he does, is just to get back at me. Dughia is trying to ovee the pain from her loss, just like me.

    ''She doesn''t deserve my fury, only mypassion.''

    s, the Tiamat was a creature of hatred.

    That and his survival instinct urged him to react to the senseless assault and deliver twice the pain he had suffered. Lith felt his feelings stirring along with his core, believing to have finally found a solution.

    Yet two broken fangs, three cracked ribs, and a hairline fracture of his shoulderter, nothing happened aside from a copious bleeding.

    The Titania conjured vines that wrapped her fist, enhancing its mass, hardness, and strength, and threw a right cross at Lith''s face to put an end to that farce. She wanted a fight, not a one-sided beating.

    "Enough!" The Tiamat intercepted the fist with the palm of his left hand, snarling. "I''m sick and tired of being everyone''s scapegoat!"

    He grabbed and pulled, forcing Dughia to stoop and line her chin up with his uppercut. The blow sent her head whipping back and blurred her vision.

    "I''m tired of bearing the shit of others on top of mine!" His size rose to that of the Titania, headbutting her as she stepped back and then raising his head so that his horns pierced deeply into her lovely visage.

    Fae, however, had the best healing abilities of all races.

 Chapter 1872 Funny Business (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1872 Funny Business (Part 2)</h4>

    Dughia''s wounds closed and her head cleared before Lith could deliver a third blow, dodging it with ease. She sidestepped the attack, ready to counter with her gigantic fist, when she noticed that something was wrong.

    Away from Lith, her speed matched his, but now that they were close again, the Tinania was slow. It was as if she was moving through a tar pit that slowed every one of her movements.

    Lith yawned at the attack and struck with a counter that carried theirbined weight, sending Dughia flying against the wall.

    "Dragon Fear?" One of the customers said, pointing at the deep violet aura with lighter streaks exuding from Lith''s body.

    "Yep." Replied a draconic customer. "Dragon Fear."

    Every living creature could emit killing intent, but while even Divine Beasts inspired awe and adoration, Dragons instilled terror. It was one of their bloodline abilities that allowed them to spread their feelings through their aura.

    Anyone trained enough could resist killing intent, but Dragon Fear was different. The Dragon would infuse their will into every strand of their mana, making their aura be so thick that it would be almost tangible.

    Whoever stepped inside their domain, would have to fight that will to advance of even one millimeter. It was the reason Dughia had suddenly gotten slower.

    On top of that, Lith wasn''t really a Dragon.

    His seven eyes lit up together, turning the surrounding world energy into an extension of his aura. The Tiamat unfolded his wings as the energy surrounding him be dense enough to make him float without the need of pping them.

    "y the song." Haug said, taking a bowl of popcorn and a beer.

    "What song?" The Lamia asked?

    "The one Leegaain wrote for his hatchling. One winged demon." He replied to her silent question by pointing at the single feathered wing on Lith''s body.

    The Lamia nodded as the band dropped their usual instruments to move on to a more orchestral performance.

    The customers who knew how to deal with Dragon Fear didn''t counter it, mostly because it sent shivers down their spines, making the fight more intense.

    "I have nothing to do with Orpal!" Lith struck with a left jab, followed by a left straight from his wing. "I hate his guts and now I hate you too!"

    His front kick sent his talons deep into the Dughia''s flesh, enough to lift her up along with his leg. Then, the Tiamat mmed her to the ground with an ax kick as he stomped with all the strength he had.

    "I am no fucking dog to kick whenever you or the Kingdom have a bad day!" Then he straddled her and started to hit non-stop with his fists and his wings in an endless onught.

    At that point, Protector and Nalrond had to help the Titania''s friends to stop him, with terrible results. When they finally managed to drag Lith away, nothing above Dughia''s waist was left.

    "Are you insane, Haug? Why do you keep standing there without doing anything?" Nalrond and his muscles screamed in the effort to block one of Lith''s arms. "How can you call this friendly fisticuffs?"

    "Because it is." Haug pointed at the remaining half of the Titania as he finished his beer.

    Vines sprouted out the lower half of Dughia''s body, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. They regenerated the torso first, then the head, and finally her arms. In a little more than five seconds, she was standing as good as new.

    "See?" The bartender said. "Fae''s have regenerative abilities second only to undead and they can use their breathing technique even through their skin. Our feisty Titania only needs a couple of meals to fully recover."

    The audience nodded and pped their hands at the good show.

    "Was it fun for you kicking me while I was already down, bitch?" The moment Dughia was back on her feet, Lith struggled with all of his might to get free and finish the job. "Was it fun for you bastards to see me suffer?

    "What the heck do you all want from me? What more do you want from me?"

    The customers of the Tavern thought that either the Tiamat had lost it or he had to have a very unusual rtionship with his crotch since Lith had yelled thest past to his lower abdomen.

    They chuckled, finding it amusing, until everything became clear one shocking secondter.

    Lith had his Voidwalker armor slip off his abdomen and plunged his ws deep inside his guts. Everyone recognized the position where the mana core was.

    "Rage, fury, protection, willpower,passion, and even mercy!" Lith screamed in outrage at his deep violet core that once again had stopped stirring at the end of the fight. "I gave you everything! What more do you want from me, you bastard?"

    Once again, there had been no breakthrough. He was still stuck at deep violet. All of his pain, all the self-introspection, all of his suffering had been for naught.

    Haug and the customers didn''t find the situation amusing anymore and rushed to stop the Tiamat before he maimed himself. They used Spirit Magic and all the tricks at their disposal, but stopping a Divine Beast without hurting them was like fighting a quake.

    Even Dughia and herpanions did their best to stop Lith''s rampage, finally realizing how he must have felt while they spat their hate in his face. It took the Awakened a lot of effort and to pour half a bottle of Red Dragon down the Tiamat''s maw when he roared to calm him down.

    "I''m really sorry, guys." Haug gave Lith, Protector, and Nalrond a bow. "I should have known that the kid wasn''t in the mood for more shenanigans and intervened sooner. Don''t worry about the bill, it''s on the house."

    Even in his drunken and rxed state, Lith flipped him off.

    Protector and Nalrond brought him back to the tower, tucking him in before warning his family of what had just happened.

    "Is he alright now?" Elina asked.

    "Physically, there''s not a scratch left, but Lith''s mind is still in a bad ce. If before the exile the bottleneck was an annoyance, now it''s eating at him from the inside. Keep an eye on him." Nalrond said.

    "I will." She nodded. "I can''t believe that your night out ended even before Solus''. Gods, I wish Kam was here. She would know what to tell him."

    As for Solus, her date had gone much better than she had originally thought. She had regained no new memories and the oases actually looked all the same after seeing a few of them.

    Yet Solus was happy to have gone out with Aerth instead of holing herself up again. The Blue Phoenix was quite rude, but sincere and caring. Something she wasn''t used to from Lith.

    Sure, he never lied to her either but with their bond, it would have been pointless. Unlike Lith, Aerth wasn''t two faced. He was genuine, treating everyone as he felt they deserved.

    She still left him around 10 pm, when Raaz usually went to bed, and was shocked to feel the presence of Lith''s mind already there. After wishing her father goodnight and asking Elina what had happened, Solus rushed to the tower as fast as she could.

 Chapter 1873 Friendly Face (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1873 Friendly Face (Part 1)</h4>

    Solus found Lith inside the tower, silently lying in bed with his eyes closed. The pain he radiated, the frustration that burned his mind were so intense that she started to cry.

    "Oh, gods. I knew that going out tonight was a mistake." She slipped under the bedsheets, cuddling up to him and holding him tight. "It''s alright, Lith. Now I''m here with you."

    "Nothing is alright." There was a huskiness in his voice due to his previous screaming. "I''ve lost everything and my fucking mana core keeps letting me down."

    "What do you mean?" Solus asked.

    Lith was too tired and weak to speak, so he partially fused their mind to share with her the news from Quy about his houses and the events in the Tavern.

    "The moment I meet Haug in person, I''m going to deck him!" She snarled at his definition of friendly fisticuffs. "Why didn''t you tell me about the auctioning of your properties?"

    "Because there was nothing you could do and I know that you love that ce as much as I do. There was no point in making you suffer more. Not with everything Bytra put you through. I did it to protect you." He replied.

    "I don''t need your-" Then Solus remembered the nights spent crying between his arms, how Lith had carried the rambling mass of pain she had be from Vastor''s home to Sark''s, and the words died in her mouth.

    "Thank you. Thank you for protecting me and for pushing me to go out tonight. I feel lighter now." She said.

    "You are wee." He returned her embrace. "You know what scares me about this damn bottleneck? That while I''m stuck at deep violet, Meln grows stronger with every day.

    "As long as I can''t train, the divide between us will decrease until he catches up to me. At that point, when he returns, I might not be able to win anymore. To make matters worse, if my core stops developing, your tower will recover slower than predicted.

    "I want you to be free, Solus. I can''t bear the thought of contributing to your imprisonment due to my ineptitude."

    "It''s not your fault. Without you, I would be already dead." She sobbed a little.

    Lith kissed her head and Solus felt an opening. She knew that if she raised her head, he would have kissed her again, this time on the lips, and things between them would have changed.

    Yet she also knew that it wouldn''t be out of love, but out of despair and loneliness. A pitiful attempt to fill the Void that reced his heart.

    ''Lith always gives his all to protect me, it''s only right that I return the favor.'' Solus made sure that her thought couldn''t reach him.

    ''When something finally happens between us, I want it to be because we love each other, not because I exploited his weakness.''

    She held Lith close to her bosom, lulling him like a child until slumber relieved him from his pain.

    ***

    A week after the banishment from the Kingdom.

    Whenever Lith wasn''t working in the tower or with Aerth, he spent his time at theke. Swimming helped him to rx and studying the effects of bodies of water on his Tiamat form was the intellectual spice he needed.

    Coming from Earth, he didn''t give a damn if someone saw him in swimming trunks and most women of the Desert appreciated the fine addition to thendscape.

    "Oh, my. You know I''m a married woman, don''t you?" A familiar voice said from his back, making Lith turn around.

    While he swam underwater, he was deaf and his sense of smell was pointless, but being in Sark''s pce, Lith didn''t feel exposed.

    "Jirni, what a nice surprise. What are you doing here?" He came out of the water, noticing how she wore the deep violet Archon uniform and bore all the insignia of her rank.

    "As you have probably guessed from my attire, I''m here on a diplomatic mission. Also, I would really like it if you put on some pants." Her face didn''t flush and her eyes were sizing him up, her actions and words in stark contrast.

    "A diplomatic mission at theke? Grandma''s office is that way." He pointed toward the pce as the Voidwalker armor covered him, making Jirni click her tongue in disapproval.

    "Grandma?" She raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.

    "There''s no point hiding it anymore. I''m distantly rted with the Overlord."

    "Good to know. It makes my mission even easier." Jirni nodded. "I came here for you, not the Ruler of the Desert. You may be a runaway criminal, but the Kingdom is still very interested in you. Is there a ce where we can talk?"

    Lith led her inside his private quarters inside the pce. He still didn''t trust Jirni enough to show her the tower.

    They sat at his desk while a butler served them hot tea and pastries filled with different ice cream vors. Ever since Lith hade to the Desert, pastry art had improved by leaps and bounds.

    The hot of the tea and the cold of the ice cream made the sweets irresistible even to Jirni.

    "First of all, let me introduce myself properly. I''m Ambassador Jirni Ernas, on a diplomatic mission for the Kingdom. I''vee here to discuss the terms of your return and negotiate your sentence. This is for you."

    She handed him a box the size of a ser ball. Lith opened it, finding Morn''s head perfectly preserved.

    "What I''m supposed to do with this?"

    "Use it as a chamber pot, a flower pot, burn it, whatever you want. It''s just a sign of the goodwill of the Kingdom and proof that an obstacle to our rtionship has been permanently removed." Jirni shrugged.

    "Too little and toote. Under what conditions would I be granted a full pardon?" Lith turned the head to ashes.

    "There are actually several options for that." Jirni replied. "All of them require you consuming your Royal Pardons and using up the I owe you that the Royals granted you after solving the gue in Kandria."

    "Isn''t that already enough?" Lith asked.

    "No. The thefts would be of little importance if Morn didn''t make them public. Now they have to be treated as treason." Jirni shook her head. "Yet what really puts the Royals in a bad spot are the people you killed during your broadcast.

    "You turned a fertilend into a volcano, murdered innocent people of the Kingdom with Forbidden Magic, and attacked officers in the line of their duty."

    "I understand. What are my options, then?"

    "The first portion is toe back to the Kingdom, help with the war, and share enough of your magical resources to obtain the title of Magus. It would give you enough merits to obtain a full pardon." She replied.

    "What''s next?"

    "Come back, help with the war, give up on all spoils you might find, and serve the Kingdom with no retribution until you have fullypensated for your crimes."

    "Next." Lith said with a scoff.

    "This is the easiest yet hardest option at your disposal." Jirni leaned forward on her chair. "Just marry Princess Peonia."

 Chapter 1874 Friendly Face (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1874 Friendly Face (Part 2)</h4>

    "That''s it?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Don''t sell it short. You would be a member of the Royal family, give them heirs, and help them with whatever business they need. The Crown knows that you are a Divine Beast that would outlive them all.

    "If you ept their offer, you will be a member of the Court until Peonia''s natural death with all thates with it. As long as you are discreet and don''t humiliate the Crown, you would be allowed to have other rtionships." She said,

    Lith mulled over her words for a while. The second option was a no-go since it would mean submitting to a subjective judgment that could keep him chained for an indefinite time.

    The first had the charm to be easy. Just disclosing the existence of Spirit Magic to Royal Forgemasters would be enough to be a Magus. Yet the idea of sharing his spells and research made Lith''s skin crawl.

    Thest option was quite alluring as well.

    Peonia was an intelligent, attractive woman and a powerful mage. Marrying her would have meant giving his parents all the protection they needed and Solus the time she needed to grow.

    On top of that, being an arranged marriage there was no need to be faithful. He would keep dating in the Awakenedmunity and with a bit of luck, maybe find someone.

    On the other hand, Lith didn''t like the idea of bing a puppet of the Crown nor that his children would suffer the same fate.

    "You don''t have to reply now. This was just a formal meeting on the Kingdom''s behalf to express its interest in your return and present you with options. Is there anything you have to ask me?" Jirni said.

    "What if I don''te back at all?" He asked.

    "Your houses will be sold, the mine will belong to the Kingdom, and everything magical you left behind will be thoroughly studied and patented by the Royal Forgemasters." She replied.

    "Until we hear your answer, you have my word that none of your creations will be examined. Anything else?"

    "No." Lith shook his head.

    "Perfect." Jirni''s uniform shapeshifted intofortable adventurer clothes, linen pants and a shirt. "Then allow me to introduce myself again. I''m Jirni Ernas, a friend of the Verhen family."

    "Nice to see a friendly face, Jirni." Lith smiled and shook her hand.

    She pulled him close in an embrace.

    "I''m so sorry for what happened to Raaz. How is he now? His condition looked terrible in the hologram."

    "Dad has made a perfect recovery in the body, but his mind is unwell. He can use a bit ofpany." Lith tried to lead Jirni out of the room but she stopped him.

    "Not now. There are some things we need to discuss privately first. Lith, be honest with me. Are you human?"

    "Not anymore." He shook his head. "I was when we first met, but then things changed as I reached adulthood."

    "That''s what I thought. Your bodynguage and your mass were all wrong for a human when I hugged you." At those words, Lith rose his eyebrows in surprise.

    "It did seem out of character."

    "Please, before asking questions, I always have answers ready." She scoffed, feeling insulted. "What are you exactly?"

    There was no judgment or spite in her voice, only curiosity.

    "A Tiamat. The fusion between a human, a Dragon, and a Phoenix." He decided to keep his Abomination side a secret.

    "Interesting." She nodded. "Did you get the best or the worst of the two worlds?"

    "I got a brand-new world." He sighed, going back to his chair.

    "Do you have Origin mes? Because my poor Orion would dly be your frequent customer. You have no idea how expensive that stuff is." She chuckled, yet seeing Lith''s face darkening, Jirni remembered how dire his situation was.

    "I''m sorry. I understand that between what happened to your father and your identity being exposed to the whole Kingdom this is noughing matter to you. I meant no offense, I''m just built that way.

    "When I see a business opportunity, I have to seize it."

    "You and me both." Lith chuckled back, thinking how simr he and Jirni were.

    He wondered how things would have changed if he were born in the Ernas household. Jirni wouldn''t have given him the love and care Elina did, but between her training and the Ernas'' legacy, he would have been unstoppable.

    He lost himself in that fantasy for a while before he saw a business opportunity and felt the urge to seize it.

    "Did you say that Orion uses Origin mes? How so?" Lith asked. "I''m no expert, but I know how hard it is to purify something without damaging the materials and Orion is no Dragon."

    "It''s actually pretty easy." Jirni casually shrugged. "The first purchase is the most expensive because the Emperor Beast also has to sell you something like this."

    She put a huge sk on the table that looked made of ss but at Lith''s Life Vision it shone like a lightbulb.

    "The Beast breathes the mes in here and somehow, when my husband removes the stopper, they purify their target without causing any coteral damage. That''s because we only buy them from a very skillful creature.

    "We tried buying cheaper mes but either the purification process was iplete or part of them would go wild and damage Orion''sb, if not even his ingredients. After losing a small fortune that way, now he only buys the good stuff."

    She put another sk on the table, but this one was full to the brim with bright violet Origin mes. Lith looked at the violet fire in awe as it danced inside the sealed vessel despite theck of fresh air.

    "How nice of you to bring them with you on a diplomatic mission. Were you expecting trouble?" Lith smirked, understanding the game they were ying.

    "No. I just imagined that a business opportunity would present itself and I needed to check if we can both profit from it." She said with a sly smile, offering him to examine the two sks.

    Lith took one of them in each hand and used Demon Grasp to understand how they worked. He expected them to be something simple, like a dimensional storing device, but they were so much more.

    ''Fuck me sideways! These things are the closest thing to an alchemical Spirit Item I''ve ever seen. The sk''s enchantments allow the mes to retain the willpower of their caster and purify their target.'' Lith thought.

    ''At the same time, they can also bear the imprint of the buyer so that they are the only ones who can open the sk and use their own willpower to direct the mes. I have no real use for such things, but their enchantments are one of the pieces of the puzzle Icked for my Golems.''

    A warm smile appeared on his face seeing the first ray of light after so many dark days.

    "Do you mind if I keep the empty sk?" Without Solus and the Eyes there was no way for Lith to study such aplex device in a short time.

    Besides, it was clear that the development was too convenient to be just a coincidence.

 Chapter 1875 Joining the Team (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1875 Joining the Team (Part 1)</h4>

    "I brought those sks as a present." Jirni said. "Ilyum told me how interested you were in our pseudo cubes so I assumed that something rted to Origin mes might be useful for your research as well. Since we are already here, there''s a way you can repay me."

    She took two more empty sks out of her dimensional amulet and pushed them toward Lith.

    "Let''s see if you can fill them."

    "How many of these things do you have?" Lith asked in amazement.

    "A lot. My husband changed his suppliers several times and they all insist for him to buy their own sks, iming that the other Beasts are ipetent fools." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "There''s no point arguing over a few coins, so he humored them."

    Lith took a few deep breaths before turning into a Tiamat and breathing a jet stream of Origin mes. The sk absorbed his imprint, making the fire ebb and flow against the ss without damaging it.

    It looked like a single breath, but it actually contained several sparks of his life force to guarantee a perfect purification and surgical precision.

    "It contains a lot more than I thought." Lith said while catching his breath.

    "So this is how you really look like." Jirni was sizing him up again, her fingers steepled and her expression focused.

    "You yed me again." He sighed.

    "There''s no shame in losing to a much more experienced yer." She replied with a warm smile that Lith didn''t buy for a second. "Fill the other sk with those ck mes of yours, please."

    "They have no purifying power. Void mes only destroy."

    "Good." She nodded. "So we can both check if the sks can contain them and give Meln a nasty surprise if he darese to my door."

    That name was enough to arouse Lith''s hatred and suffering so that when he breathed the Void mes, they packed enough energy to st open a castle. He closed the stopper the moment he was done, ready to Warp himself and Jirni to safety if needed.

    The sk''s surface became red and it rattled on the table for a while before stabilizing.

    "Perfect. Another item on our agenda is done." Jirni stored the sks, leaving Lith only an empty one. "At this point, I would be d if we stopped pretending that I don''t know that you are like Nalear, whatever she was.

    "You can produce an aura, you cast spells with nothing but your mind, and you were absurdly strong as a kid." Then, she added to reply to his silent questions. "Everyone saw your fight with Meln and you just examined the sks without even pretending to cast magic.

    "I was paying attention the whole time so it couldn''t be just a spell you kept at the ready."

    "And this is the third time you''ve yed me today." Lith clicked his tongue in self-reproach.

    "The count will only go up if you keep treating me like an idiot." She replied dryly. "Make no mistake, I''ve always kept an eye on you and I know that you went from monster to Tiamat around the time Kam broke up with you."

    "It''s called Awakening." Lith raised his hands in surrender. "It''s what Manohar was researching before his death. It improves both your body and magical abilities, allowing anyone to cast spells like Nalear did."

    "And you Awakened Phloria after the Feymar mines, Friya after Night''s attack, and recently even Quy. Correct?" It was asked as a question but it was actually a statement.

    "Not really. I didn''t Awaken Friya, Faluel did. As for Phloria and Quy, I merely helped them survive the process. Ites with many risks and the stronger the mage is when it happens, the fewer the survival chances." He replied.

    "And for that, you have my eternal gratitude as their mother." Jirni wore the first real smile since that meeting had started.

    She took his hand between hers, gently caressing it with her thumb.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I''ve never seen Jirni emotional before. Scratch that, I''ve never even seen her smile sincerely before. Even when they extend to her eyes, I can always tell that it''s just a charade, a mask she wears, just like I do.'' He thought.

    "How did you notice with such precision?" Lith asked.

    "As I already said, I''m not stupid. My daughters have all been educated like noble dames, trained as soldiers, and instructed in the art of magic. Every one of their movements overflows with grace, be it when they lift a flute, a sword, or trace a rune in the air." Jirni replied.

    "After those events, however, I noticed them bing clumsy and walking on eggshells every time they had to physically interact with people or frail items. On the other hand, they also became stronger and so fast that sometimes, if they are not careful, their hands be a blur that my eyes cannot follow.

    "Phloria and Friya yed it a little better, getting back home the same day it happened, but Quy couldn''t have made it more evident even if she wrote it on a banner." Jirni chuckled at the memory.

    "She disappeared for three days, the girls refused to tell me where she was, and her boyfriend was in the dark as well. Now, were you her boyfriend or a heartbreaker, I would have just thought the two of you were having a fling.

    "Yet I know you are not the type to do such a thing to a friend and when Quy came back, she was another person. Not only her body, but also her mind and confidence have skyrocketed since that day.

    "I don''t know what Awakening exactly entails, but for what you did for my daughters, for protecting their lives and happiness, I will always be indebted to you."

    ''We really are two peas in a pod. The only thing we really care about is our family.'' Lith thought.

    "You know, sometimes I can''t help but think about how simr we are and how things would be different were you born from me instead of Elina." Jirni took the words out of Lith''s mind, making him falter in shock.

    If not for Life Vision and Abyssal Grasp agreeing on her being just a regr human, Lith would have believed that Jirni actually was a mysterious being with even more mysterious bloodline abilities.

    Yet her life force was human, her mana core orange, and her mass that of a petite woman. There was nothing uncanny about her but her brain. Lith had faced monsters, Divine Beasts, and Eldritches, but nothing scared him more than Jirni''s mind.

    "We would have made a great mother-son team and I''m sure that you would have made me proud. Yet I doubt that I would have managed to make you happy. I have given everything to my children, wealth, status, honor, but I always failed at bringing them happiness." She said.

    "I want you to know that I care about you and I consider you part of the Ernas family as does Orion. Otherwise he wouldn''t have gifted you something like War nor would he have kept it a secret from me for so long."

    "You didn''t know about War?" Lith asked.

 Chapter 1876 Joining the Team (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1876 Joining the Team (Part 2)</h4>

    "I didn''t. Orion said that he kept me in the dark to protect me. To not involve me in the act of treason that disobeying a direct Royal Order is." Jirni chuckled at the idea. "I only discovered about your sword due to Meln.

    "When he broadcasted your fight and you fused War with the giant sword, Orion was in awe and asked me why he''s never thought of such a clever trick. Then, when War used the bond with you to weave its own de Spell, my husband jumped out of his boots with joy.

    "Creating a great piece is the dream of all Forgemasters, but creating something that can perform such magic without its owner having full mastery of de Magic is the stuff of legends.

    "He was so drunk with joy and pride that he told me everything. He even referred to War as his third son." Jirni giggled at the memory of Orion''s childish enthusiasm. "Also, he said that he regrets having given the de away.

    "I thought to be the only one in the family good at keeping secrets, but Orion has proved to be my equal. That man always ovees his limits when the safety of his family is involved."

    "Thanks." Lith was moved by both hers and Orion''s feelings. "I''m not going to lie, if not for War, I would have died many times already. While you protected me in the Royal Court, your husband''s masterpiece protected me on the battlefield."

    "It''s what parents do." Jirni nodded. "Also, I''m not going to lie either. Your banishment actually helps my schemes because it makes you much easier to manipte.

    "I know that you want toe back to the Kingdom to kill Meln. It would be easy for me to have the Royals force upon you unfavorable conditions that would make you dependent on me.

    "Yet I''m going to ask you to refuse their terms, forget about the Kingdom and remain in the Desert. Here you''ll stay away from the war and your family will be safe from Meln. There''s nothing waiting for you in the Kingdom." She grabbed his hand and Lith could feel her sincerity.

    "I know it well, yet I have to return." He said as his eyes steeled. "There''s nothing for me here as well. The Desert isn''t my home, just a sanctuary. Also, I can''t let Meln go. He took everything away from me and my parents.

    "He killed Trequill, Mirim, and if I don''t stop him, sooner orter he''ll kill you and your daughters. My friends. He dared to kidnap my father and almost drove Dad mad with his torture.

    "Meln is a cancer that mustn''t be allowed to spread further, a rot that has to be eradicated." As he said it, thunder rumbled and a light tremor shook the ground. "I''m going to take everything he stole from my parents back. Their fields, their home, their happiness. My life is ruined, but theirs can still be saved."

    "If you are so determined toe back, then you have my word that I''ll do everything I can to lighten the terms of your pardon." Jirni said. "As long as I draw breath, I won''t allow anyone to put a leash on your neck. I owe you that much."

    "Thanks, Jirni." Lith brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

    Jirni wasn''t really a friend but was his most trustworthy ally. Thest light in a world of darkness. His hope to rebuild what Orpal had thoroughly destroyed.

    "Two more things." She said. "I haven''t been rejuvenated for a while and if I''m right, I''ll be Orpal''s next mark. I need to be in my tip-top shape for that moment."

    Lith nodded, using Invigoration on her and removing so many impurities that a stronger core would have likely Awakened.

    He fixed the damages on the cellr level and appreciated how Manohar had somehow increased the density of her muscle fibers. He also had enhanced her synapses so that Jirni''s reflexes now reached the human limits.

    Yet she was still a weak humanpared to an Awakened with her same core.

    "Good gods, first you show me your body, then the hand kiss, and now this? Need I remind you that I''m a married woman?" Jirni chuckled as her body flushed with the heat that the rejuvenation process caused and her blood rushed with the vigor of a teen.

    "You made me all hot and sweaty. I need to clean up." Lith left her alone in his room.

    Jirni took a quick shower to make herself presentable again and to get ustomed to her newfound physical prowess. She had released so many impurities that not even the Featherwalker armor''s self-cleaning spell had managed to keep up.

    "For the final item on our agenda, I have to ask you one more question." Jirni said after letting Lith in again. "My research team is still missing one member. They are the most brilliant minds of their generation and you could learn a lot from them.

    "On top of that, if you were to decide to share with us your research or at least part of it, their talent would be an invaluable asset for you while I would provide you with everything you need."

    "Everything?" Lith rose an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Everything." Jirni replied.

    "Then I''m in. Do you mind if I bring someone along?" Lith shook her hand to seal their deal.

    "No problem. I''ll have Balkor inform you about the details of the meeting. He lives in the Desert as well and it''ll save me useless trips. Now let''s go meet your family. I''m no healer, but I''m very familiar with torture.

    "Maybe there''s something I can do for your father."

    ***

    In the days following Jirni''s visit, Lith felt rejuvenated and his experiments progressed by leaps and bounds. Thanks to the sks, the research on memory crystals took a huge step forward.

    He, Solus, and Aerth worked hard to understand how the vessel for the Origin mes worked and to adapt its enchantments to crystals. Such items didn''t exist in the Desert because Sark liked to have a monopoly on Origin mes.

    Whenever a mage wanted something purified, they had to request an audience with her and exin to her what they were doing. It was a strict policy, but it had prevented the spreading of Forbidden Magic in the Desert.

    Ever since she had risen to power, no more Lost Cities had been created. It was something that only the Desert had achieved and the Overlord wanted to keep things that way.

    "This is the first double imprint mechanism I''ve ever seen." Aerth said while studying the sk with great interest. "The first allows the Origin mes user to leave a series ofplex instructions embedded in the fire while the second ensures that only the buyer can trigger them."

    "It''s exactly what I need." Lith said. "I want my Golems to retain enough of my knowledge and willpower to be capable of thinking on their own and retain full mastery over my bloodline abilities.

    "Yet they must also be my loyal servants, not my rivals."

    "I''m sorry, but the sk''s enchantment is not up to the challenge." Aerth shook his head. "You''ll need a Spirit Crystal minimum and the bad thing about those puppies is that they only answer to their creator. Once you craft them, I can''t help you."

 Chapter 1877 Three Sides of the War (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1877 Three Sides of the War (Part 1)</h4>

    "But I can." Solus said with a warm smile. "Thanks to our bond, our energy signature is identical so even after we craft a Spirit Crystal, I can still help Lith."

    The Blue Phoenix found her lovely even with her dress dirtied by the fumes of their failed experiments and the sweat from the long hours of hard work. He prided himself on being open-minded and fair, yet jealousy had started to creep in.

    ''They sleep under the same roof, she smiles like that only at him, and they share even the fucking same energy signature.'' Aerth thought in ill-concealed envy. ''It''s no wonder that all of Lith''s girlfriends dumped him.''

    Lith was too happy to notice his distress. Jirni truly was his goddess of luck. She had given him back the hope that he had believed to bepletely lost.

    ''I''m sure that with her help, I can bargain a decent deal with the Royals. I don''t care if I have to marry Peonia or be a damn Magus. I''ll do everything I need to find Meln and make him pay tenfold for what he did to Dad.'' He thought.

    ''The world already knows me as a monster and my life force is crippled. I have neither the time nor luxury to be picky. Since I can''t be happy myself, I''ll make sure that Solus and my family have the life they deserve.

    ''Yet nothing I do will truly matter as long as Meln''s shadow looms over them. Even if it''s thest thing I do, even if it costs me my life, I have to kill Night and Meln with her.''

    ***

    City of Valeron, Capitol of the Griffon Kingdom, Royal Throne Room.

    Jirni had been true to her word and from the day of her return, she had fought on Lith''s behalf to ease the terms for his full pardon. Household Ernas had always had great political influence, but after Morn''s death, they had be even more powerful.

    Orion had taken Morn''s ce as General of the Army and with the Council of the Headmasters backing them, their authority was second only to the Royal Court. On top of that, Vastor seconded every of Jirni''s motions, bing another thorn in the Royals'' side.

    It was great for Lith, but not so much for the King.

    He didn''t actually care about Hogum. The more the Archon dug into the Bar''s past, the more evidence she brought to the light that the Frenon had been an unwitting puppet in the hands of the Undead Courts.

    That and the torture of an innocent citizen were enough to sentence him to death for high treason, if not for Hogum being already dead.

    The Royal Forgemasters were pissed off for the theft of Syrook''s corpse and the shaman''s crystal, but Meron thought differently.

    "Who cares about a dead Dragon when we can have a living Tiamat?" He always replied. "As for the crystal, we have bigger and purer gemstones in our mines. It''s no big deal."

    The King didn''t know of the exceptional size and purity of the crystal, nor about Vastor''s tracking device embedded in it and the tower turning it white.

    "This is the first and probably the only opportunity we have to bring Verhen into our fold. Not only is he a skilled and talented mage, but also a powerful Divine Beast that the Council holds in high regard.

    "We need to force upon him conditions that will ensure us hisplete loyalty and cooperation. This way, his army of shadows will help us win this war. His Light Mastery will allow the Royal Forgemasters to reach new heights.

    "If he marries Peonia, the Royal bloodline will be strengthened. On top of that, their children would also bridge between the human and the beast society. No matter who wins the War of the Griffons, Thrud has shown Mogar that Emperor Beasts are more than animals.

    "They can shapeshift, they are mages as powerful as any human, and their physical prowess is unrivaled. If we want to thrive as a country and gain a solid foothold on Jiera, we''ll need their help.

    "That''s why I''ve chosen you for this mission, Constable Yehval." The King said.

    "You are a dear friend of Verhen like Archon Ernas, but unlike her, you''ve proven to be more sensitive to the needs of the Kingdom. She has let her personal interests cloud her judgment and must be reced.

    "Your duty is to use every means at your disposal to convince Verhen toe back on our terms."

    "This goes beyond my duty as a Constable." Kam slightly flushed in embarrassment.

    "I don''t care what you have to say or do as long as youplete your mission." Meron mmed his fist on the armrest. "Making him ept the marriage is your top priority. If that fails, we can use a new Magus."

    "Considering what you are asking me to do, wouldn''t it be better to convince Verhen to share his work first?" Kam asked.

    "Silly child." The King chuckled. "If he marries Peonia, his work will be shared anyway. We''d have a powerful ally and a Magus. Why choose when you can have both? Also, members of the Royal family having affairs is hardly a novelty.

    "Unless Peonia takes the test to be the next ruler of the Kingdom and seeds, having an open rtionship is not an issue. After all, this is merely a business transaction. It can and will be renegotiated if necessary.

    "Whatever you promise Verhen, it will be up to you to keep your word or not."

    Kam gave the King a deep bow before taking her leave, but when she turned around, she found Queen Sylpha staring at her in the eyes.

    "Before you go, I want to remind you how much there is at stake. Without Verhen, there will be no army of shadows at our service. Without him, our already strained rtionship with the Council may break.

    "Thrud is slowly winning this war. Humans cannot take on Awakened Beasts and immortal undead alone. If the Mad Queen wins, her Unwavering Loyalty array will rece the courts of justice, making Constables like you useless.

    "People like Archmage Vastor, who fought strenuously against her, would be enemies of the state. They would lose everything they have and their families trialed with them for treason.

    "This isn''t just about bringing an Archmage back into our fold. It''s about saving your career, the life of your sister, her children, and all your colleagues. If Thrud wins, we are all going to suffer and life as we know it will end forever.

    "So I don''t care if you have feelings for your ex or not. I don''t care about your moral scruples. The integrity of a single person is but a small sacrifice if it means saving millions of lives." The Queen took a long pause, to let her words sink in.

    "When you enrolled in the army, you took an oath to protect and serve this country. When you became a Constable, you took the oath to defend justice and the lives of the innocents.

    "You are maybe the most important Constable in the history of the Kingdom because now you have the lives of us all in your hands."

 Chapter 1878 Three Sides of the War (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1878 Three Sides of the War (Part 2)</h4>

    "Whenever you have to make a difficult decision, remember my words. Remember how much is at stake." Sylpha said.

    Kam''s heels clicked as she gave the Queen the salute and walked out of the Throne Room.

    ''I remember the three years I spent with Lith very well, but I also remember his words in the barn. He said that he loved me, putting me in the past. Ever since his escape, he never tried to contact me.

    ''Jirni and her daughters receive regr updates through Faluel whereas I''m left out of the loop. I know what I have to do, yet I pray the gods will give me the strength to go through with it.'' She thought.

    The voice of the Queen still echoed through Kam''s head, making her clench her fists so hard that they bled.

    Her family and her job were all her life. Protecting them was a mission that she needed no order to pursue at all costs.

    ***

    Nestrar Region, a mana geyser near the south border, Golden Griffon Academy.

    After finishing checking Lith''s properties, Orpal went back to celebrate with the Mad Queen. He carried a bottle of expensive wine and a box full of sweets that he was certain she would enjoy.

    ''I may have not beaten Leech physically, but I''ve still driven him out of the Kingdom and destroyed his life. Now that I''ve proven my worth and cunning, Thrud must have changed her mind about me.'' He thought, still believing to have a chance with her.

    Thrud was the most beautiful woman the Dead King had ever seen and he considered himself the most perfect man on Mogar, making them a match made in heaven.

    He had even brought Moonlight along, willing to allow her to spend a bit of time studying the tower if she agreed on spending as much time alone with him. Despite his repeated failures, Orpal was nothing if not tenacious.

    Yet he found the main gate missing. The double doors of the academy seemed to have simply disappeared, reced by a solid wall. Orpal circled the entire structure, finding no ess or a way tomunicate.

    "I demand an audience with the Queen!" He snarled.

    "The Golden Griffon is closed today, Dead King." The hologram of Headmaster Sevenus Hystar appeared in front of him. "The Queen is in the middle of an important experiment and can''t be disturbed."

    "What experiment?" For a moment, his curiosity surpassed his anger.

    "I''m not at liberty to say." Hystar replied, vanishing as quickly as he had appeared.

    "This is bullshit, we are equal allies! I demand-" A sudden Warp Gate led him to the middle of the ocean, where the shock of surprise and the weight of his armor made him plunge into the abyss.

    Moonlight was still there so the Headmaster used all the spells at his disposal and conjured the best Forgemasters of Thrud''s army to study the steed before its master recalled it.

    Meanwhile, inside the Golden Griffon, Thrud, Linnea, and Jormun were working together,menting on Orpal''s performance.

    "Gods, that guy is a creep. I don''t want to meet him ever again." After Awakening, An Linnea had used Body Sculpting to return her body to the youthful appearance she had in her thirties, making her a target of the Dead King''s unwanted attentions.

    The ex-Headmistress of the Lightning Griffon had been Awakened at ate age and had just a few centuries to live, yet she wasn''t aware of that. Also, unlike Quy and Thrud, her Awakening hadsted for days.

    The Unwavering Loyalty array had saved her life and tempered her body until it could endure the power of her bright blue, converting the energy that had overloaded it for decades into vortexes.

    She had only recently gained the deep violet and her body was still adapting to the changes. Her role was to collect the memories of the fallen soldiers as their bodies were reconstructed in the academy''s core.

    From such information, Linnea would study the circumstances of their defeat, the Kingdom''s strategies, and the weak points of Thrud''s. After that, she would devise new ns and countermeasures for the next battle.

    She also helped Hystar to teach the fallen soldiers how to improve their magical abilities while they waited for their bodies to reform. Linnea had been an excellent Headmaster and had a solid understanding of all specializations.

    After learning true magic, it hadn''t taken her long to update and adapt her knowledge before imparting it to her new students.

    "I know. I wish we could keep him out forever." Jormun grunted as he used his Dragon strength to move the giant devices and connect huge cables between them.

    "I know that you are angry about what Orpal did to your little brother, dear, but at least he''s still alive. Also, now that Verhen is gone, there are only two obstacles left on my path.

    "The Awakened Council and the Academies. Today, we''ll strike one of them off the list." Thrud said while watching the line of Arthan''s Madness devices they had prepared.

    The other two Awakened nodded as Hystar let the test subjects inside the room.

    Ever since the Council had joined the Royals, the War of the Griffons had reached a stalemate. Thrud''s army could barely keep up with the reconquest rate of the elders of the Council.

    Her soldiers were immortal, but their enemies were centuries, if not millennia old, monsters with powerful equipment. Yet the Mad Queen knew that sooner orter she would have had to get rid of them, and had nned for a solution in advance.

    She had waited until that moment to put the final step of her n into motion because it had taken time for her Emperor Beasts to reach the deep violet and get used to it. On top of that, Thrud could bestow her gift only to the most loyal, powerful, and cunning among her followers.

    Lined up in front of her stood over thirty lesser Phoenixes, Dragons, Griffons, and even one Scorpicore.

    "Iata, my friend, are you sure you want to do it?" Thrud asked, her eyes filled with worry. "Your foremother only recently became a Sekhmet and there''s no telling if your blood now carries her powers."

    "Only one way to find out, my liege." Iata nodded and with her a Drake.

    They were the first lesser Dragons and had always been curious to find out if the power of a Guardian was also passed on to their original race.

    The Emperor Beasts entered their respective Madness and the ss door sealed the entrance the moment they took position. Ambrosia flooded the capsules and a steady stream of universal life force flooded the beasts'' bodies.

    Back in Lightkeep Thrud had harvested a limited amount of such precious resources and now she was going to use them down to thest drop. Once the process was over, she would have over thirty Divine Beasts leading her army.

    Thanks to their colossal bodies, their violet mana cores, and the bloodline abilities of their ancestors, not even the Council would stand a chance against them.

    ***

    It took Jirni over one week to find a date when Vastor''s and Orion''s duty in the war didn''t interfere with the meeting of her research team.

    The five of them met in a secretb that Vastor had set up in one of the free states that bordered both the Griffon Kingdom and the Desert.

 Chapter 1879 Only Idiots Never Share (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1879 Only Idiots Never Share (Part 1)</h4>

    The secretb had been built above a mana geyser, ensuring Jirni''s research team all the power they needed to fuel the cloaking arrays that their job required.

    Vastor couldn''t step inside the Desert without the risk of Sark or her nest hunting him down while Balkor had the same problem with the Kingdom. Despite his years of inactivity, he was still the most wanted criminal.

    Lith had recently joined the list and even though he could move freely throughout Garlen thanks to the Tower Warp, he had no intention of letting anyone discover his secret.

    Orion was in theory the only honest man there, but just being in the same room with two traitors without attempting to arrest them made the Commander of the Knight Guard guilty of high treason.

    None of them could expose the others without implicating themself. It was the principle behind their mutual trust. It was also the reason that made them all furrow their brows at the presence of an unknown member.

    Jirni had told them that Lith would have brought someone along, but they had expected Tista or a powerful mage worthy of his trust. Not a petite and pretty young woman of unknown origin.

    "I''m d to see that you are alright, Lith." Orion said, shaking his hand and patting his shoulder. "How''s Raaz? His wounds looked terrible in the broadcast."

    "His body is as good as new but his mind is still trapped in the torture room." Lith replied with a sigh.

    He noticed that Orion was worried about Raaz and the bad news only made it more awkward to ask Lith for an exnation about the stranger in the room.

    "Lith, my boy, you are free to date whoever you want but you shouldn''t bring your girlfriend along when you meet your fellow conspirators in a secret location." Vastor said and the others nodded.

    "Solus isn''t my girlfriend, she is my partner." Lith shook his head. "We''ve known each other for years and she studied under Sark. She''s an amazing mage and a great Forgemaster. Also, she''s an Awakened."

    He knew from Quy that now the entire Royal Court was aware of the existence of the Awakened Council, Orion included. Vastor was an Awakened as well while Balkor was one of Sark''s Feathers.

    There was no harm in mixing lies with that truth.

    "Sark?" Lith could hear a tinge of fear in Vastor''s voice.

    "Don''t worry, I''ve shared with her not only what I know about you, but even my own research. I trust her with my life." Lith said.

    "That''s more than enough for me." Vastor sighed in relief. "I knew that she couldn''t be just a pretty face if you brought her with you even at my wedding. Is that-"

    "Yes, Professor. I have a Yggdrasill staff as well." Solus smiled as she pointed at her pendant.

    Thanks to the Sage Staff and the mana geyser, she would be able to keep her human form indefinitely. Even though she didn''t like Vastor much for taking in Bytra and Balkor for the horrors he had perpetrated, she was excited like a schoolgirl.

    She could finally work together with the most powerful mages of the Kingdom without the need for Lith to act as her proxy and take credit for her ideas. Solus felt butterflies in her stomach and brain as she remembered Ripha introducing her to the second and the third Ruler of the mes.

    Then Solus remembered the day she had met the fourth, and her smile disappeared.

    "No offense,ss, but you look quite weak for an Awakened your age." Vastor knew that looks didn''t matter and could clearly feel that Solus'' core was deep blue.

    Theboratory was perfectly insted from the mana geyser below to not interfere with the energy of the spells that the researchers used during their work. It also allowed Awakened to use Life Vision and Solus to use mana sense.

    Vastor, Balkor, and Orion, however, were veterans who needed nothing but their instinct to gauge someone''s prowess. The mana pressure that Solus exuded was the weakest among them, making her look like a fountain amid raging rivers.

    "It''s because I Awakened recently." Solus blushed in embarrassment. "But I can guarantee you that I make up for myck of magical prowess with my technique and deep knowledge of Forgemastering."

    She was also a terrible liar. They could all tell that she was hiding something. Practicing Forgemastery at a high level was impossible without a power to match, yet she imed to have somehow ovee the issue.

    Yet they were all conspirators so having secrets was the norm. Lith and Jirni had vouched for Solus and that was more than enough for the three Archmages.

    "I can guarantee you that her technical skill is even superior to mine." Lith said, leaving them all with their mouths hanging. His fame had reached even the Desert and Balkor had always been curious about his talent.

    Now, however, fate brought to him not one, but two geniuses.

    "Also, if we have to argue about sheer magical power, I''m inferior to the rest of you as well and I may be stuck like this forever." Lith lowered his gaze in embarrassment for his own weakness.

    "What do you mean forever?" Even Orion now knew how Awakening worked. "People like you are supposed to be as strong as Manohar with time. I mean in terms of pure strength, not skill."

    "What you say is true for regr Awakened, but I''m different." Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form and the three gods of the Kingdom unconsciously took a step back. "When I reached adulthood, I also became like this. A new race.

    "Along with the powers of a Divine Beast, I also got limits that I seem to be incapable of oveing. What you see now might be my apex. I already peaked and everything might be downhill from here." He said with a sigh.

    Vastor could feel Lith''s deep violet core turning light violet for a split second and then go back to a weaker state. It was akin to a simple dance, one step forward and one back, performed over and over.

    With each cycle, the mana core emitted a pulse that to the Master''s Abomination senses felt like a scream. Yet where Xenagrosh''s core radiated envy and Kigan''s fury, Lith''s core sounded sad.

    The grieving voice of someone who had lost everything.

    "We both will help you to the best of our abilities, but our main contribution will be theoretical. There''s nothing we can Forgemaster that you guys can''t do better." Lith said.

    ''At least not without the tower.'' He inwardly added.

    "Don''t worry, Lith. After losing Manohar, brains are what we need the most. His analysis skills and creativity were the best among us. Without him, our research is slumped." Orion said while patting his back.

    "What exactly is your research about? Jirni refused to give me any details until you epted us in your ranks." Lith asked.

    "We are devoted to resolving a very ancient and difficult conundrum that so far only Tyris, the First Queen, ever managed to crack." Orion handed Lith one of the pseudo cubes, but he had already studied them in secret with no result.

    "And what would that be?" He asked.

 Chapter 1880 Only Idiots Never Share (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1880 Only Idiots Never Share (Part 2)</h4>

    "As you already know, the current magic holding rings have terrible limitations. They cannot store a spell of a different tier from their own and they cannot be used by anyone who isn''t their owner." Balkor said.

    "On paper, there''s nothing wrong with it, but look at the issue from another perspective. Every mage has something they excel at and something they suck at. For example, I can''t match Orion''s defense as a Mage Knight just like he can''t match the destructive power of my spells.

    "If I could charge his rings and him mine, we would cover our respective weaknesses. We would also always have at the ready spells that we are only able to cast slowly and with sub-par effects."

    "On top of that, it would allow even a non-mage to use powerful spells." Vastor chimed in. "This research started because Jirni wanted to get rid of Deirus, but after Manohar got ahold of the Spell Hoarding Cube, he saw a fix to all of our problems.

    "Jirni and I arranged thisb because her wits can only bring her so far against overwhelming power. The purpose of our proto cubes is to store each at least one spell of any tier and make them essible to anyone who imprints them."

    "Tier one to five?" Solus asked.

    "No. Any tier." Orion shook his head. "Our current problem is that we have failed to find a way to avoid the conflict between the willpower of the owner of the spell and that of the owner of the cube."

    "You- no, we are indeed very lucky." Lith smiled as another piece of the puzzle fell into ce. "I think I have exactly what you need and you have what I''ve been missing all along."

    Lith took the sk for the Origin mes and the Orc Shaman''s crystal out of his pocket dimension. Everyone was shocked at the sight of the gemstone, but Vastor more than the others.

    The violet crystal had be much bigger than he remembered and had turned into a pristine white. It now held more power than any of the Archmages in the room.

    "Professor, do we have your permission to share the spell for the tracking device?" Solus had always dreamed of attending an academy and acted no different from one of Vastor''s students.

    "Sure,ss." He found himself patting her head as if she was a first year who had given a correct answer.

    Solus squirmed in joy and passed along two spells. One to study the memory function of the shaman''s crystal and the other to study the sk''s ability to hold two imprints at the same time.

    Knowing that they would work with fake mages and with no desire to use Invigoration in front of people like Balkor, they had prepared a fake spell that would give them the same information but only about the sk.

    "Good gods." Orion said after trying them both. "I had the answer, no, dozens of answers in my veryb and I never noticed."

    Then, the god of Forgemastery turned towards the god of the battlefield.

    "If this is the Orc Crystal that Lith stole and it contains your tracking device, then it means that you nned to steal it as well. Even worse, you threw an entire tribe of powerful monsters against a bunch of kids!" His voice was full of reproach, but Vastor just shrugged.

    "The Kingdom taught me how to dirty my hands and never feel guilty about it. I don''t see why I should use my skills only to benefit a bunch of ungrateful bastards. Mark my words, if it wasn''t for Manohar, I would''ve sat out of this war.

    "I''m tired of being used and then forgotten once my services are no longer required."

    Orion opened his mouth to reply but Balkor stopped him.

    "If we turn this into a debate about the Kingdom, things are going to get ugly." Balkor pointed at himself and Lith. "I''m sorry for your father, kid. Yet I also envy you, because you managed to save him."

    Orion looked at Lith and saw the deep sadness in his eyes. He couldn''t even think what would he do if such a thing had happened to his wife or his little Flower instead of Raaz.

    "Thanks." Lith nodded. "Before we start, I still have to show you something. As my master Faluel the Hydra always says, only an idiot never shares."

    He made Trouble and Raptor appear, their bodies a shining mass of Adamant. Embedded in their chests, right where the heart once had been, there was an emerald mana crystal, the most recent of Lith''s prototypes.

    "I''ll help you with your research only if you help me with mine." Lith said. "The Demons I conjure have a fatal weakness. They take me too much time and energy to conjure, leaving me weakened."

    Lith could use Invigoration to recover his strength, but with each consecutive use, it would lose effectiveness. Using his breathing technique to charge up the Demons would leave it severely weakened once the real battle started.

    "On top of that, while a living being has mana and stamina and can alternate using them to recover their strength, my Demons have only one source of energy and no recovery ability.

    "Every hit they take, every spell they cast makes them weaker and the only way they can regain their strength is that I give them more of my energy. Such a strategy can work against a few powerful opponents if I have the time to prepare, but they are pointless otherwise.

    "My golems will allow me to ovee these weaknesses. The mana crystals will fuel them and by harnessing my very same bloodline abilities, they will be capable of refueling my Demons when necessary.

    "Also, by keeping part of my personality they will also be able to lead the Demons into battle and use their energy wisely. Countless birds with one stone. Yet no matter how many times I try, I always fail." Lith said.

    "If this gives me the opportunity to study Awakened magic, count me in." Orion and Balkor nodded.

    "I''m going to leave you my magical legacy so helping you is a duty for this old fart." Vastor said. "Also, I''m very curious about your Demons. Helping your research may be the key to cracking my own."

    "Onest thing." Solus said. "Everything that''s shared in here stays in here. We don''t want our techniques to be spread, especially in the Kingdom."

    She said while looking at Orion.

    "Of course." He nodded. "I''ll add it to the Ernas legacy but the Royal Forgemasters will never hear about it from me."

    "Your constant use of ''we'' is a bit creepy, but I give you my word I won''t share your secrets." Balkor said, making Solus turn pale.

    She still had problems remembering that she only had to speak for herself to not betray her bond with Lith.

    "Agreed." Vastor said. "Now let''s get to work. Our time is limited and we''ve wasted enough chatting. The war waits for no one."

    ***

    Thanks to the powerful mana geysers below Sark''s pce, Aerth''s, and Jirni''sb, Solus'' core became stronger by the day. Spending most of her time with Lith only made her progress faster.

    They worked with both the Archmages team and the Blue Phoenix on different aspects of the problem, using the answer they got from one to help the other.

 Chapter 1881 Welcome Home (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1881 Wee Home (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith spent his days drowning himself in his work to not think about the many things he had lost. Aside from his revenge on Orpal, there wasn''t much left in his life. Everything he had worked for and built during the past 19 years was now gone.

    Aside from the tower and what he had stored inside the pocket dimension, he had nothing but his name.

    The Desert was a golden cage where to spend his time, but a cage nheless.

    The people he cared about lived in the Kingdom. Every day, Faluel, the Ernas, Vastor, fought on the battlefield while he was stuck in Sark''s pce. Thrud and Orpal, the people he hated, were in the Kingdom as well, outside of his reach.

    On top of that, until Friya found a moment of respite from her duties as an apprentice, the Fringe would have to wait.

    ''Is my third life going to be like the first?'' He thought whenever he stopped working. ''Beginning and ending with revenge?''

    "Lith, we need to talk." Rena entered hisb without knocking.

    "What''s the problem, big sis?" Lith smiled at her, seeing how her blonde hair looked more vibrant now that the Desert''s sun had darkened her skin.

    "If the Kingdom makes unreasonable demands in exchange for the full pardon, you must turn them down." She replied. "I can''t stand the thought of getting my life back if that means you losing yours."

    "Wait, how do you know about this?"

    "Everyone else may be too broken to realize that Jirni wouldn''te all the way from the Kingdom just for a courtesy visit but I''m not. I talked with her before she left and I know everything." Rena said.

    "Fine." Lith replied with a sigh. "I agree with you on the deal, but what choice do I have?"

    "The longer the war goes on, the more desperate the Royals will be." She said. "The only thing you have to do is wait until they realize they need you more than you need them."

    "Time is a luxury I don''t have." He shook his head.

    "That''s not true. Even though it''s cracked, your life force-"

    "It''s not a matter of my life force, but of my damn core!" Lithshed out, cutting her short. "I considered stalling, but with my core stuck at deep violet, I have to move quickly, before Meln bes too strong.

    "The gap in our cores is still big enough for Solus and me to beat him and his tower even away from a mana geyser, but soon he''ll surpass me. On top of that, how can you ask me to sit idly while our entire family suffers?"

    "Dad is still traumatized by what Meln did. I''m sure that if we brought him back home, surrounded by his friends, he would recover much faster. As for Mom, this ce is a prison to her.

    "She has nothing to do but take care of Dad and it''s slowly consuming her. On top of that, ever since I infected Tista with my madness and she went on a killing spree, not a day passes that she doesn''t have nightmares.

    "She''s a gentle soul and murdering people who were just trying to escape scarred her. She can barely practice magic now. I dragged you all down with me and fixing this is my responsibility."

    "Seriously? Going back to Lutia is your answer?" Rena was bbergasted. "How do you think that people will treat us now that they know who you are?"

    "With the fear and respect that a Magus deserves. They will leave us alone and we will be better for it." Lith lowered his eyes in resignation.

    "I''m sure there must be other options." She took his face in her hands, forcing Lith to raise his gaze. "Don''t sell yourself short."

    "Rena, the longer I wait the lower my chances to actually make a difference be. Thrud and Orpal grow stronger by the day whereas I''m swamped. I promise you that I won''t ept a ve contract, but aside from that, my hands are tied." Lith took her hands.

    "I''m d you care so much about me, but all the nice words on Mogar can''t change reality."

    "But-"

    "Young master, an ambassador from the Kingdom requests an audience with you." A maid wearing the long robe of the Desert cut Rena short after knocking at the tower''s open door and kneeling to them.

    Lith had still a hard time getting used to being called like that and people treating him as Sark''s son. He tried to help the woman stand up but she ran away, afraid to have angered him.

    "Fuck me sideways. This day couldn''t have started any worse, let''s get over with this crap." Lith Warped to his living quarters where he expected to find Jirni.

    ording to Orion, she had worked relentlessly to ease the conditions for his full pardon and for once he felt optimistic.

    Yet when he appeared, he found Kam instead.

    For a moment, tears misted his eyes. He had given up on seeing her again and it seemed all too good to be true.

    Because it was.

    His feelings didn''t let his eyes fail to notice that she wore her Constable uniform and a diplomatic pin over her breast pocket. She also held a folder as thick as a book. One nce was all he needed to know that she hade there as his enemy, not as a friend.

    Yet there she stood, with her long ck hair held up in a ponytail, as beautiful as the first day he had met her and as he would always remember her, no matter how much time he had left to live.

    "Let me guess. Jirni did too good of a job speaking on my behalf and the Royals sent you instead." His voice was grave, bearing no trace of his inner turmoil.

    "Correct. Archon Ernas forgot that her duty is to protect the interests of the Kingdom, not those of a criminal on the run." Kam nodded, speaking with the same detached tone that she used back when she was his handler.

    A tone that he had learned to love and that stirred countless good memories.

    "Are those the conditions for my return?" Lith pointed at the folder. "If the Royals want to drive a hard bargain, they are going to learn that I''m not easily manipted."

    "You mean this?" Kam raised the pile of paper and threw it into the brazier that lit the room.

    Lith furred his browns, failing to understand her intentions.

    "I don''t care about what the Royals want. I epted this mission because it''s the only way I had toe to the Desert." Her uniform shapeshifted into her lucky clothes, the same outfit that she had worn during their first date.

    It was just a light blue shirt and a knee-length ck pencil skirt, but they meant the world to Lith.

    He was still recovering from the shock of the burning documents and the emotional blow from her clothes when Kam fell on her right knee, holding the Camellia with both hands.

    The end of the stem was in her left while the petals of the magical flower rested on her right palm. In the middle, there was amon string knotted in a unique way that Lith recognized solely thanks to Soluspedia.

    It was the ritual knot of betrothal gifts. Something that required long hours to be made, symbolizing the effort that the giver was willing to put into the rtionship they wanted to turn into a marriage.

    It was also impossible to unravel, representing the will to establish an unbreakable bond. The giftee had to either ept it or cut the know in refusal.

    "Lith Verhen, will you marry me?" Those words made the walls around Lith''s heart shake and so did the tower in answer to its master''s distress.

 Chapter 1882 Welcome Home (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1882 Wee Home (Part 2)</h4>

    It took him but a second to snap out of it, kneeling to her level while pushing the Camellia away.

    "Are you insane? Everyone knows that I''m not human. The Royals have the bat, the ball, and make the rules, whatever they sayF goes, goes. You, instead, would be branded as a traitor.

    "You''ll lose your job, you''ll never meet Zinya again, and everyone will consider you a freak who chose to marry a monster. You have made too many sacrifices and went through too many dangers to throw everything away on a whim.

    "My family has already lost everything because of me. I can''t bear the thought of you following us in our misery." Lith said.

    "You are right. It''s my life and I''m free to do whatever I want with it." Kam replied, offering him the Camellia again. "I''m aware of the consequences that my choice entails but I came here anyway.

    "As for Zinya, I met with her before going to the capitol and she gave me her blessing. Back at the Flying Griffon, I told you that I don''t care if you are a human, a vengeful spirit, or a Demon from the Abyss.

    "I love you, Lith Verhen. I want to be part of your life and your family, no matter the cost. Now please, answer my question, because I don''t think I''ll have the courage to propose for a third time.

    "Will you marry me?"

    Lith touched the Camellia and saw with Invigoration that it had never lost its imprint. Every single day that Kam recharged it with her mana left a trace, like one drop of water that after umting for years had formed ake.

    He couldn''t believe that after over four months, after everything that Kam had learned about him, she had never lost her faith in him, no matter what the rest of Mogar thought or how they branded him.

    That a brilliant, amazing woman still found something worth loving in that pile of danger and suffering that his life was. Kam''s love wasn''t out of a mystical bond, blood, ormon interest.

    It was pure and unconditional.

    Just like at the Flying Griffon, he could tell from her heartbeat, scent, and perspiration that she waspletely honest. It wasn''t a trick, mind maniption, or a ruse to exploit his feelings.

    The only emotions that Kam exuded were excitement for the situation and fear of being rejected.

    Moved by her feelings, Lith stopped caring about what was the right or the most convenient thing to do and focused solely on his own happiness.

    "Yes, I will. I love you, Kam Yehval." He took the Camellia from her hands, before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her.

    The four wings popped out of his back, enveloping her as well. They formed a cocoon that wasn''t meant to trap her, but to protect her. It was Lith''s arms that hugged Kam, but it was Derek''s wings that wrapped around her.

    The innermost part of the Void had stopped resisting the integration with the other life forces.

    Then, as joy spread throughout his body, Lith felt his mana core stirring once again. All the energy that until that moment had been used to keep the Void in check was now free to burst out.

    By believing in something more than cold logic, by epting something nonsensical as love and reciprocating it, Lith had also given himself a chance to beplete.

    The chain of grief and pain that he still carried since the day of Carl''s death shattered, moving into Kam''s body without her even noticing.

    It was then that Lith instinctively knew that he wouldn''t reincarnate anymore. That he had found his tether to life beyond life itself.

    A silver pir descended from the sky and a ck one rose from the depth of Mogar as his core broke through to the violet. This time the two pirs didn''t sh against each other, but merged into one.

    The silver and the ck shifted one into the other non-stop, in a dance that reminded him of how pure Davross reacted to light.

    Oddly enough, the pir of light that usually kept everyone away during a breakthrough didn''t affect Kam.

    Before he could say anything, Lith felt his consciousness being pulled away from his body, finding himself back in the Mindscape like during his tribtion in Kolga.

    The incarnation of Mogar was there, waiting for him. She looked like Elina when she was twenty and wore the same clothes that his mother did when she had given birth to him.

    The only difference between Mogar and the real Elina was the hair. Mogar''s bore the six streaks of the elements and a seventh that Lith couldn''t focus, no matter how much he tried.

    "I''ve waited neen years for this moment, my son. I was starting to lose hope." She said with a faint smile. "Now I can finally tell you the words that I kept for myself during all this time.

    "Wee home, Lith." Mogar embraced him and more chains transferred from him to her.

    "What do you mean home? The Desert isn''t my birthce and this isn''t my house, just a hotel suite." He replied.

    "Foolish child." Mogar chuckled. "A house is not a home, nor is it a specific ce. A home is where you want to be, not where you have to be. You won''t reincarnate again after your death because that''s the choice you made.

    "It was never a matter of fate or an external will. Always remember that the most important things in life depend solely on you, just like your core."

    Lith could feel that as the deep violet turned into a lighter shade, several new vortexes formed and Awakened, turning into new auxiliary cores. The breakthrough didn''t stop there nor did the energy he had umted to that point go to waste.

    New vortexes appeared, proving to him that not only had he reached the light violet, but he had also moved his first steps toward the bright violet already.

    "Finally!" Lithughed with euphoria as the world energy filled him to the brim, giving him new power and mass. "This means that now I''m just like any other Awakened. That I''ll reach the violet and beyond like anyone else, right?"

    "Maybe." Mogar replied, curling her lips into an impish smile before fading away.

    "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu¡­" Lith screamed in the Mindscape.

    "¡­uuuck!" And continued even after returning to his own body, shocking everyone present since they couldn''t hear the first part of his curse and thought that for some reason he was in pain.

    Once Lith was done swearing, he looked down on his body and noticed that he had shapeshifted into his full-size Tiamat form. It was now 25 meters (82) feet tall, covered in ck scales thicker than ever streaked with red veins all over.

    The membranous wing on his right hip was upside down no longer. It was now covered in red-veined ck feathers, just like its twin. Lith could feel them resonating with his eyes just like Tista had described him while practicing the Cursed mes.

    Several new small horns came out of the crown of his head, almost forming a perfect circle. He could feel that his entire body had be stronger and sturdier than before, the boundary between flesh and energy had be thinner again.

    Then, Lith used Abyssal Gaze to study his life force, discovering that the changes in his physical appearance were just the reflection of a deeper change in his life essence.

 Chapter 1883 The First Day (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1883 The First Day (Part 1)</h4>

    Lith''s life force still looked like a gxyposed of stars connected by a red thread and surrounded by the Void. Now, however, the Void had also seeped inside the gxy.

    New ck stars had appeared among the blue and violet ones, connected to the rest of the structure by the red threads that now rhythmically pulsed with dark energy. At the center of the gxy, there was now a light violet star whose surface red ck from time to time.

    The energies of life and death had found a new bnce, just like the two pirs that had ushered Lith''s breakthrough. Harmony had reced conflict and the Void had be an integral part of the whole.

    Lith instinctively knew that as Baba Yaga had predicted, now that his soul was at peace, the Void was no longer his enemy. His body and his mana core had be powerful enough to contain it, but there was no need for it.

    The Call of the Void was now answering to his will like a tame mare instead of a wild bronco. Yet it was far from gone or weakened.

    By merging with the other life forces, the Void had calmed down. The next time something triggered it, however, there would be nothing stopping it. The various aspects were now one in both calm and fury.

    Only after Lith was done checking all the changes in his being did he notice that Kam was standing on his right palm. She was holding onto his fingers with all of her strength to not fall down when he moved.

    "You look great." She said when their eyes met. "Also, you''re really hot. A bit too much. Do you mind putting me down?"

    Between the tension and the warmth from his scales, she was sweating bullets.

    Lith slowly reverted to his human form being careful she wouldn''t fall or get away from him.

    "Kam Yehval, will you marry me?" He asked the moment they were down and surrounded by his family.

    At those words, the room exploded with cheers and joy. Raaz found the strength to smile from the deep of his heart for the first time since the day of his torture, hugging Elina and crying with happiness.

    "Our son is finally marrying." He said. "We are getting a new daughter and grandchildren."

    Seeing her son so happy and her husband back to his old self almost broke Elina with joy. Yet she held her tears and just nodded to not make Raaz worry.

    As for Solus, the news made the walls around her heart shake and so did the tower in answer to its master''s distress. Her knees buckled as all of her ns and dreams shattered.

    If not for Tista noticing her suffering and helping her to stand, she would have fallen to the ground.

    ''Why do I feel so happy for him and yet so sad for myself?'' She asked via a mind link to not let her pain taint that precious moment.

    ''Because you are human.'' Tista replied. ''You are starting to care more about what you want than what the others want. It''s a great sign that you are not just an extension of Lith anymore, but it also means that you''ll have to suck it up.''

    "I asked you first, silly." Kam giggled at the mention of kids and then kissed him. "Of course I do."

    "I mean, right here and now." Lith said.

    "Now?" Kam opened her eyes wide in surprise while the room exploded with more cheers. "What about the dress? The guests? The buffet?"

    "I don''t give a damn about them." He shook his head. "I''ve lost too much recently, and after what happened to Dad, I was willing to give up on myself. Now that you''ve rescued me, I don''t want to lose one more second before starting to spend the rest of my life with you."

    Lith held her tight, his four wings popped out on their own again, making the embrace even more tight and tender.

    "Me too." Kam felt the wings gently caressing her back. Their touch was delicate yet it made her feel protected.

    "That''s new." Elina said. "Since when do you do that?"

    "That''s new indeed." Sark instead stared at the second feathered wing with a warm smile on her face. "My boy is growing so quickly."

    "Your boy?" Elina''s re almost bore a hole in the Overlord''s head.

    "I mean ours."

    "Grandma, I know that it''s sudden, but would you please officiate our wedding?" Lith ignored the territorial disputes and moved on with his n.

    "I would be honored to." Sark''s wings popped out as well, pping in excitement.

    "By the way, You Majesty-" Kam tried to say.

    "Call me Grandma or suffer my wrath." The Overlord replied with a threatening chuckle.

    "Grandma, I''m now a deserter of the Kingdom. I request for political asylum and Blood Desert''s citizenship." Kam said.

    "Granted." Sark pulled a few papers out of her pocket dimension and signed them. "As if I''d let those brutes put a finger on the wife of my- I mean our son."

    Elina''s re improved by the second.

    "Congrattions!" Lith''s parents, all three of them, hugged the couple.

    Raaz showed no sign of distress when Kam returned his touch and even managed to kiss her cheeks without shuddering.

    "You have no idea how long I''ve waited for this moment. I can now be sure that I won''t die without grandchildren." Raaz said before leaving her to Elina.

    "I resent that! What are my children? Yesterday''s news?" Rena snarled.

    "I have no idea what has happened here, but I''m d to have you back." Elina said while taking Kam''s face between her hands.

    "Thanks, Elina. Or do I have to call you mother-inw now?"

    "Call me Mom for short. After all, I''m getting a new daughter. Every word after that is irrelevant." She replied.

    "Congrattions." Sark whispered in Lith''s ear to not be overheard. "Not for the marriage, I honestly find them a bit too definitive. For pulling your head out of your ass."

    "Marriages are meant to be definitive." Lith chuckled. "What do you mean by that?"

    "You have let your Phoenix side take the wheel for once. We are not just creatures of hate, but also of love. As long as you haven''t experienced the whole emotional spectrum, you''ll always feel iplete.

    "Now, however, you''ve merged the Phoenix side with the Dragon and the Abomination. You are just one step away from perfection!" She said.

    "Wait. How do you know in such detail what''s happening to me and should I expect another bottleneck for the bright violet?" Lith pushed Sark away abruptly to stare her in the eyes.

    "Today''s the perfect weather for a wedding." The Mother of all Phoenixes put on a business smile and looked sideways, making Mogar''s "maybe" echo inside Lith''s head. "Too bad that the same can''t be said for our lovely bride."

    The Overlord stepped in front of Kam, examining her face while sniffing her.

    "She''s overworked, overstressed, and hasn''t gotten a good night''s sleep for ten, no, thirteen days. Kam sweated more in thest hour than most soldiers during a day-long battle. This girl is a mess."

    ''Thank the gods she didn''t say I''m stupid or something.'' Kam thought. ''So far Sark got everything right.''

 Chapter 1884 The First Day (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1884 The First Day (Part 2)</h4>

    "Let Grandma fix it for you." Sark used a mix of Rebirth Magic and her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to cleanse Kam from her afflictions.

    Once the Guardian was done, Kam felt as if she had just returned from a week of rest in a spa. Her body was clean, brimming with energy. Her fatigue was gone and she could almost feel her skin breathing from its fully cleansed pores.

    "Now all that remains is to fix you a decent dress and put on a bit of make-up. Luckily for you, I have a wardrobe the size of a vige and several make-up artists at my service." Sark said.

    "Thank you, but I''d like to keep the suit I wear. I want to wear my lucky clothes for my lucky day." Kam noticed the Overlord''s frown and quickly added: "I could use some make-up, though."

    Sark Warped everyone to a different location. Lith and his family to the Throne room where the ceremony would be held. Kam to Sark''s private rooms, where the maids also took care of her hair, and herself to the Duchy of Essagor.

    "Your sister is about to get married and it would be terrible for her not to have any witness from her family." She exined to a terrified Zinya after popping into her bedroom in the middle of the night.

    Vastor was out so the Overlord and the Master didn''t meet.

    On top of that, due to Sark''s powers being diminished from being inside the territory of another Guardian without their permission and Vastor''s powerful cloaking arrays, she failed to notice the secretb.

    "Really?" Zinya asked, jumping out of her bed. "Oh, gods. I need to dress myself and the children properly. We can''t attend a wedding in our pajamas."

    For some reason, she felt like she could trust that stranger and epted following her.

    "Don''t worry about the dress, I have plenty." Sark then Warped into the children''s room where Tezka snarled at the intruder before recognizing her.

    Then, he started to whimper.

    "Don''t worry, old dog, I''m not here for you. This time." She said, bringing him along since the kids insisted on calling him their pet.

    ''From the Suneater who made entire kingdoms tremble in fear at the mention of his name to a nanny. Mogar indeed has a twisted sense of irony.'' The Overlord thought.

    Zinya and Kam hugged and cried in Sark''s quarters, ruining the make-up. The maids rolled their eyes and pulled the two sisters away to prepare them both.

    As for Lith, after a quick shower and a shave he was as ready as he could.

    Just like Kam, he wore the clothes from their first date. It consisted of a simple red shirt and white pants, both bearing the Verhen''s family insignia, respectively on the breast pocket and belt buckle.

    "I always thought you would wear your Archmage robe even on such an asion." Raaz said, patting Lith''s shoulder.

    "So did I." Lith smiled seeing his father back to normal even if just temporarily. "Now I''m just Lith Verhen, son of farmers and vagrant mage. I thought that my titles mattered, but they were just a burden to me."

    He didn''t miss how Solus had yet to congratte him and that Tista never left her side, but there was nothing he could do or say to make her feel better.

    ''Solus will need decades to be her own person and ovee the influence that our bond has over her feelings. I can only hope that I''ll live long enough to see it.'' He thought.

    When the bride arrived, she was radiant. Not only because of her dazzling smile that warmed Lith''s heart after almost five months of winter, but also because of her clothes.

    Sark had used Creation Magic to turn Kam''s clothes from simple linen into something lighter and softer than silk. They were still her lucky clothes, but they looked brand new and tailor-made from the finest materials.

    Zinya, Filia, and Frey apanied her and both families rejoiced at the unexpected reunion.

    "Are you going to be our uncle for real now?" Filia asked while looking at Leria in defiance.

    "Yes." Lith nodded, ruffling the children''s hair and apanying them to their seats.

    After everyone took their ce, Sark had a few of her childrene so that the size of the groom''s and the bride''s sides matched.

    Then she stood on a dais that was ced between the couple.

    "I''m usually against marriage unless both parties have reached a three digits age. Choosing a partner for life is an important decision that needs time and wisdom before being made.

    "Yet I''ve never been happier of being proved wrong. Despite their young age, Lith Verhen and Kam Yehval went through a lot. Their lives have been a constant storm but they were lucky enough to find haven and sce in their love.

    "They have been lovingpanions, enduring together the worst moments of their respective lives and building together the best ones.

    "Lith and Kam have always been each other''s guiding light out of the storm. The first ray of sunshine after a long night. The first flower of spring after a harsh winter.

    "We are here to recognize the importance of their bond and bear witness to their decision of making itst for their whole lives. You can now exchange your vows." Sark said.

    "Back when you asked me out after the fall of Kaduria, I never thought that we would go past our first date." Kam said. "I considered you an immature brat who just wanted to fool around with a mere Lieutenant.

    "That you considered me nothing more than an easy pick that would be quickly seduced and as quickly forgotten. I was really surprised when you treated me like a person, when you never unted your powers or status.

    "Ever since that first night at the Velorian, you''ve always managed to make meugh. I liked everything about you, even your stinginess that brought me to split the bill. Yet I think that our rtionship really began after you gifted me the Camellia on the second date.

    "It was a fake flower, yet it nted a seed in my heart that grew each time I renewed its imprint. epting the truth about your nature every time you found the strength to share a piece of it with me was never hard thanks to the deep roots we had.

    "You have been there for me, for Zinya, and you have never taken me for granted. You could have let our rtionship grow while keeping me in the dark, but you choose to make me a bigger part of your life with every step you took.

    "Even when facing the most shocking revtion, it was your trust and honesty that never made me falter. Even after we broke up five months ago, I never stopped believing in you nor in us.

    "You gifted me the Camellia over three years ago and now I''m returning it to you with the hope that it will perform its miracle for you as well." Kam handed the mystical flower to him, the knot still in ce.

    "I must admit that when I asked you out, I wasn''t expecting to find love. All I wanted was to find a pretty and smart woman that would keep mepany during my tour as a Ranger." Lith said.

 Chapter 1885 Returned to Sender (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1885 Returned to Sender (Part 1)</h4>

    "I wasn''t sure you were the one, only that our story would end along with my service to the army." Lith said. "Yet the more time we spent together the more I looked at the end of my tour as a Ranger with dread rather than expectation.

    "I didn''t want to be discharged because I feared losing you. In just a few months, you had be more than my girlfriend. You were my friend, my confidant, my home away from home.

    "I told you the truth about me not out of bravery or confidence but because I knew that if you ever discovered it from someone else, it would have broken your heart and your trust.

    "I did it only because the certainty of losing you scared me more than I could bear. Also, I wanted you to love me for who I truly am, not for the lies I tell to the rest of Mogar.

    "Every time you chose to be with me after learning one of my secrets, you became my only truth in a life of deception. You had no reason to love me yet you did. There was no business rtionship between us, no magical nor blood bond.

    "Each time you epted another part of me, I epted myself until I found the strength to conquer my fears and allow myself to love you back." Lith took a Tuner out of his pocket dimension and offered it to her.

    The magical item was capable of storing and ying songs. It was shaped like a cube the size of an apple and it was wrapped with a betrothal knot like the Camellia.

    "It may sound silly, but I always associated a song with each of my rtionships. Ours, however, has more than one and they are all recorded within this Tuner. I hope that we''ll choose more together so I left several empty slots.

    "I give you this as my betrothal gift with the hope that it will grow and thrive along with our marriage."

    Kam took the Tuner, but she didn''t activate it.

    No music could sound sweeter than those words to her ears. Even though the marriage had been decided minutes ago and Lith had been forced to improvise his gift, she found it as romantic as the Camellia.

    It was something that he had crafted, not just bought, giving her a piece of himself that they would nurture together. A silent tear of joy streaked down her eyes and her feet quivered, waiting for Sark.

    "Congrattions. In the name of the Blood Desert, I dere you husband and wife." The Overlord said and Kam took it as her cue to stand on her tiptoes and kiss Lith after wrapping her arms around his neck.

    "As the Overlord, I also ept Kam Yehval as a citizen of the Blood Desert and bestow upon her thest name of Torchbearer because she shines light in the darkness like only a Phoenix should."

    Thest part of Sark''s speech was lost as the guests stood up, giving the newlyweds a standing ovation and plenty of cheers. The kids yelled with their shrill voices and the magical beasts barked, roared, or howled.

    "Fine, we''ll resume this conversationter." She said to no one since at that point there was no one listening to her.

    After the end of the ceremony, everyone moved to the banquet hall, where despite the short notice, the cooks of the Desert had prepared a feast worthy of a King. The quality and the quantity of the dishes surprised even Zinya who was now used to the Royal Court.

    "Every chef of the pce must be a mage, because this food is as good as Lith''s." Elina said, picking one small serving from each tray to savor them all before feeling full. "How did you manage to have such a banquet prepared so quickly?"

    "Everything for my Featherlings." Sark lied through her teeth.

    She was pregnant and suffered from cravings several times a day. What was a full course banquet for a small tribe was just a snack for a Phoenix her size. She had simply had her midday meal served.

    "Do you have any idea for our honeymoon?" Lith asked while noticing several of his sweets among the desserts.

    "It took me all of my courage to propose." Kam shook her head. "My mind kept ying a scene where you kicked me out after throwing in my face that I was the one who broke up with you. That you already gave me a chance and I wasted it."

    "I didn''t n to marry today, let alone for a honeymoon."

    "Good, because I did!" Lith said with his deep thought expression that she recognized as his perverted face.

    "Remember that there are kids in this room." She nervously replied, activating the Tuner that started to y a song written by Dragons about Demons.

    "Who do you take me for?" Lith said in mock outrage. "I just want to cash in your promise about our beach vacation. Even the Desert faces the sea. Sand plus ocean makes a beach. Also, the climate is hot and finding an isted ce should be easy."

    "Just the two of us?" She asked while looking at Solus and feeling bad for her.

    "Yes. Just the two of us. Solus needs time and some distance to ept that our rtionship has changed. Also, I don''t want anyone around to witness all the things that you and I know that I will do to you." He said with a seductive smile ruined by a sauce mustache that she cleaned with a kiss.

    "It sounds great. We have a lot of catch-up to do and I want to have you all for myself. No work, no magic, no worries. Just the two of us." She said. "Where will we sleep though?"

    "Grandma?" Lith had noticed the Overlord conveniently picking food near to them and clearly eavesdropping on their conversation.

    "The beach is an excellent idea for a honeymoon." She nodded, proving his theory. "I can lend you an enchanted portable house. It''s no tower, of course, but it''s cozy and has everything a couple could wish for."

    "As long as there is a bedroom, a bathroom, and a real kitchen, I''m sold." Kam said with a radiant smile that actually offended the Overlord.

    "I said a home, not a rathole. First, you don''t listen until the end of my speech and now you belittle my skills as a Forgemaster?" Sark stared at her in fury, tapping her foot.

    "I''m sorry, I-"

    "Kidding! Gods, people fall for that joke every time." She giggled like a little girl while hugging Kam to show her that she wasn''t actually mad.

    "Maybe the fact that you can smite anyone like a fly makes it hard for people to ignore your threats." Lith replied.

    "True. What is this?" The Tuner was now ying a song also written by Dragons but about Birds this time.

    "The song that I associate with the moment I bid Kam goodbye in the barn." Lith replied.

    "It''s very sweet, but also very sad." Kam was almost moved to tears as the melody seemed a perfect fit for that memory.

    "You must make me one of these things." Sark pointed at the Tuner, enjoying the fact that unlike real musicians it had no need for breaks nor did it hit t notes.

 Chapter 1886 Returned to Sender (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1886 Returned to Sender (Part 2)</h4>

    "What about this one?" Kam asked while a song written by Wild Gardens about a really, extremely, crazily love started.

    "The one when you proposed to me. Do you want to dance to it?"

    "I would love to." Kam put down the dish, the Tuner, and turned the volume to the maximum.

    The guests were still busy eating the delicacies of the Desert and the wide selection of Lith''s sweets so the couple had the ballroom all for themselves.

    As the song yed, they danced alone and the world around them seemed to disappear until there were only the two of them left. They remained silent, the sweet love song already saying with its lyrics what they felt for each other.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, city of Valeron, War Room.

    Even in the middle of the night, the highmand of the army and the Association had been assembled to discuss the developments of the War of the Griffons and decide the next strategic line of action.

    The King and the Queen frowned in an expression of great focus as they studied the holographic map in front of them. The entire floor of the War Room was an enchanted item that depicted the situation of the Kingdom and the position of the troops in real-time.

    "The north and the south front are holding, Your Majesty." General Vorgh said. "The presence of heavily defended cities and many lost cities makes the north easy to guard.

    "The south, instead, has so far avoided the attentions of the Mad Queen. My hypothesis is that due to her deal with the Dead King, Thrud steered clear of Verhen. That, or she doesn''t want to give him a good reason toe back to the Golden Griffon."

    At that name, the Royals bit their lower lip in anger and frustration, barely containing an angry bellow.

    "That Morn idiot!" Sylpha''s visage twisted into a grimace of disgust. "His stupid move managed to damage the Kingdom on multiple levels. We already lost Manohar, and with Verhen gone, we are down two Archmages who were our main attack force."

    "Not only that." Meron held his wife''s shoulder to calm her down while he took a deep breath. Losing their temper in front of witnesses would have been an act of weakness that would further demoralize their troops.

    "The Council is still willing to help us, but the negotiations had to be redone from scratch. They say that if we attack one of them just because of their secrets and strip them of everything they have, then others like Verhen have no guarantee that they won''t receive the same treatment.

    "My reckless cousin managed to anger both the human and the beast faction in a single move. I wish we tortured him longer. The more the war goes on, the more I''m certain that Morn got away too easily."

    Fe and Faluel had been enraged by the death warrant on Lith''s head and that of his family. The beasts all had several rtives and they stole from the Kingdom on a regr basis so attacking one of their own like that was perceived as a precedent.

    Also, Emperor Beasts looked after their own and demandedpensation and assurance that such events wouldn''t happen again before moving a muscle.

    Raagu and the Human Council were enraged as well.

    At first, the representative had intended to punish Athung for pretending to be her and involving a mere human like Jirni in the pay. Then, after meeting the Archon in person and the Gernoff Household having vouched for her, Raagu had let Athung''s transgression slide.

    Her fate would be decided by the results of her actions, not a second earlier.

    Yet the heavy measures taken against Lith had thrown a huge monkey wrench in the alliance between the Council and the Kingdom. House Gernoff and those that like them were hidden among humans were now afraid of being stripped of their titles like it had happened to Lith.

    On top of that, Jiza Gernoff hadn''t taken kindly to the Royals'' decision to rece Jirni as the official in charge of the negotiations for Lith''s pardon. They wanted to use it as a measure of the Kingdom''s fairness and removing a yer they trusted didn''t bode well.

    The Awakened humans in general and the Gernoff in particr now demanded a full Royal pardon for themselves in advance. Which of course was impossible until they disclosed the crimes they were guilty of and those they nned tomit.

    "What about the east and the west fronts?" General Berion asked.

    The ex-Commander and Lith''smanding officer was among the gloomiest in the room. He now knew the value of the asset that he had failed to realize and that he had let get away.

    "They are holding as well, but barely." The Master Warden replied. "We are capturing Thrud''s fortresses and she captures our own. It''s a game of tug of war that we are bound to lose. It''s only a matter of time.

    "The longer this goes on, the more our strategies lose effectiveness whereas the enemy can use this Spirit Magic that allows them for countless variations. To make matters worse, Verhen was the only one besides Vastor capable of recapturing a city on his own.

    "Losing him slowed us down and forced us to spread our resources more to cover for his absence."

    "Mom, Dad! It finally arrived. A package from the Desert!" Princess Peonia entered the War Room with big strides, holding a huge box that looked quite heavy. "This must be some good news or at least a first draft of the deal with Verhen.

    "If he just said no, there would be no need for something like this. Your idea of sending Constable Yehval was pure genius, Dad." Peonia said with a huge smile on her face.

    She wasn''t jealous of Kam and didn''t mind sharing her future husband. As long as they didn''t have bastard children, her honor as a Princess would be safe.

    The highmand assembled around the square box, checking that the Royal Seals were authentic and untampered with. Meron made everyone take one step back, to have enough space to examine the content of the package with ease.

    What he found made his jaw drop to the floor along with those of the rest of those present.

    Lith''s Archmage robe and Kam''s Constable uniform had been neatly folded andy on top of the box along with Kam''s resignation letter. Under the clothes, the Royals found a bunch of ashes and burned remains of paper that after a careful examination turned out to be the documents they had sent.

    Last, but not least, an envelope with no insignia contained a short letter.

    "Thanks for your offer, but we are not interested. We won''t resume the negotiations unless Archon Jirni Ernas is your envoy and you give her the authority to negotiate a fair deal.

    "Take your time because we are going on our honeymoon for one month starting now. Any attempt to contact us before its end would be pointless.

    "Best regards, Lith and Kam Verhen."

    "One month?" The King said in horror.

    "Honeymoon?" The Queen took the paper from her husband''s hands, refusing to believe her own ears.

    "Kam Verhen?" Peonia yelled in outrage, taking the letter from Sylpha''s hands.

 Chapter 1887 Lost Time (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1887 Lost Time (Part 1)</h4>

    "How dare a mere Constable take what''s mine! Dad your idea couldn''t have been more stupid even if Uncle Morn suggested it." The princess threw the letter on the floor, stomping on it several times.

    As the room burst into an uproar, only the General of the Army Orion Ernas smiled softy, keeping his cool.

    ''I''ll be damned if this isn''t due to one of Jirni''s ns. Crossing my wife always backfires.'' He thought with pride. ''She managed to get them back together, give Lith hope again, and force the Royals on standby.

    ''The more time passes the more desperate they''ll be. At one point, Jirni will ask the Royals something outrageous and they will have to ept because now she holds the key to both Lith''s help and the Council''s.''

    ***

    Blood Desert, outside Sark''s pce, at the same time.

    The Banquet Hall was filled with delicacies from the Kingdom and the Desert. Plenty of sweets had been arranged in lovely presentations and many of them were among Solus'' favorites.

    Yet she was nowhere to be found. After taking a few bites, she had left the celebrations, looking for an isted ce.

    As soon as Tista had noticed her absence from the sweets buffet, she had warned Elina and had gone searching for her missing friend.

    She found Solus sitting on the shores of theke, crying.

    "Until yesterday, Lith and I taught the children how to swim here." She said after recognizing Tista from her footsteps. "We wore swimsuits, spent time together, and no one disturbed us.

    "The other women wouldn''t show themselves in front of him with skimpy clothes and the men would avoid me for the same reason. This was our oasis, literally."

    "I''m so sorry, Solus." Tista didn''t know what else to say.

    "Don''t be. This is supposed to be a happy day. That''s why I left. I didn''t want to ruin it for everyone." Solus replied.

    "I''m sorry, but I have to ask you. It''s been a while since we have moved to the Desert again and even longer since you have gotten your body back. If you love him so much, why didn''t you make your move earlier?" Tista said.

    "Because it would have never worked." Solus shook her head before burying it in her own knees. "I could barely keep this form for half an hour. I couldn''t leave the tower without suffering a world of hurt.

    "I couldn''t really be with him anywhere. I was just a temporary guest. Heck, even if we wanted children, we couldn''t have them for the gods know how many years and Lith''s days are numbered.

    "On top of that, after Bytra told me the truth about my mother, I was too hurt to consider a rtionship. All I wanted was to stop suffering.

    "If I made my move then, I would have regretted it once I recovered, even if Lith said yes. Aerth is right, I''m still scared shitless ofpletely falling in love with someone.

    "Lith is strong, but his life force dwindles and every moment we spend together I worry if it''s going to be thest. Also, the more I get to experience life, the more I understand why he didn''t make a move on me either.

    "Compared to him, I''m childish. I don''t know what I want or what I like. He is not the angry child that needs me to contain his anger anymore. Lith has be a full person whereas I''m not.

    "Until I can stand as his equal, I knew that I would be more like a daughter or a sister to him than a girlfriend. Someone he needs to take care of while what he needs the most is someone he can rely on. Someone like Kam." Solus sobbed.

    "If you knew all this and you are happy for him, why are you crying so much?" Tista asked while wrapping her arms around Solus'' slender shoulders.

    "Because I hoped to have more time. More time to discover myself, to stabilize my body. More time to make my choice. I''m crying because I feel that it has been taken away from me." She replied.

    "Well, you know Awakened and marriages." Tista tentatively said. "Also, Kam is a human. Unless Lith Awakens her, she''s not going to live as much as you do. Consider it as time you can dedicatepletely to yourself."

    "Wishing them unhappiness or death would only make me feel worse." Solus sniffed. "I hate waiting. I spent thest 715 years waiting. When will I finally be whole again?"

    Tista had no answer to offer so she remained there in silence, keeping Soluspany until the sun set and the moon rose.

    ***

    Inside the Banquet Hall, Lith noticed Solus'' absence, but he had no idea what to do.

    Tista had already gone to find her and calling Aerth was likely to backfire. The Blue Phoenix cared about Solus, but his brash attitude and unkind words would only make matters worse.

    "Do you want me to go talk to her?" Kam asked as if she was reading his mind.

    "Thanks, but no. As I said, time and separation are the only things that can help Solus now. I would feel like her if our positions were reversed. Our rtionship is still toxic. We are too reliant on each other." Lith replied.

    "Do you mind if we bid our guests goodbye and leave? I feel very tired." She said.

    Between all the emotions she had gone through, standing and dancing until that moment, Kam couldn''t feel her feet anymore.

    ''Trion, are you sure you don''t want to talk to Dad?'' Lith said via the mind link while Kam hugged Zinya and the children before Sark returned them home. ''He is feeling great and I doubt that another asion like this will happen anytime soon.''

    ''I''m sure, thanks.'' Lith''s older brother replied from his feather. ''Seeing me would only ruin this day for him and throw him back into the depths of despair. After how I left Mom and Dad thest time we met, I don''t want to hurt them anymore.

    ''By the way, congrattions, my liege.''

    Trion didn''t feel like calling Lith little brother. There was no love between them and he felt like a parasite who clung to Lith for survival. Between that and the oath he had sworn, Trion now considered himself like a soldier.

    He didn''t like it one bit, but it was the result of a streak of poor choices of his own making and it still beat being a wandering soul. He sucked it up and just pretended to be still in the army, under themand of a General.

    After thanking Sark onest time, Lith informed Elina of his brother''s decision and then the newlyweds went to his living quarters for the night.

    "Thanks." Kam said as she undressed. "I know that in the future we are going to spend a lot of time in the tower, but right now the idea of Solus spying on us creeps me out."

    "She would never do that, but I can understand how you feel. She''ll need time to get used to the new me just like you to get used to her." Lith gently held her shoulder and stopped her before too little clothing remained.

 Chapter 1888 Lost Time (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1888 Lost Time (Part 2)</h4>

    "I''ve always been honest with you and I''m not going to start lying now. Before we move on, there''s something you must know." He used a mind link to share with Kam what he had done the day of Orpal''s attack after sending her back to Belius.

    How he had attacked the Hogum mansion, the people he had killed after rescuing Raaz. Then, Lith showed her his failed tribtions and the stirring of his core, including the day he had almost eviscerated himself after the bar fight with the Titania.

    Kam quivered in horror at that brutal violence but the mind link allowed her to share more than images. She could also experience Lith''s emotions, how he had felt after finding Raaz''s mangled body and believing him dead.

    Once the vision stopped, she was crying.

    "I don''t care, I''m still your wife." She was quite shocked, yet she also knew that if it had been Zinya instead of Raaz and if Kam had Lith''s powers, she would have done much worse.

    Many times she had cursed her impotence and prayed to the gods to kill Fallmug and everyone that knew about the abuse yet did nothing. Even years after his death, she still hated him, his mistresses, and the rest of the house staff.

    Lith embraced her in silence, needing no exnation.

    "Gods, I''m a mess. I can''t consummate our marriage while covered in sweat, snot, and tears. I need a shower. Care to join?" She asked with a thin smile.

    "Yes." He replied.

    "Before we go, there''s something I have to tell you as well." Another mind link allowed her to share how she had gone on dates, trying and failing to move on.

    Every first meeting was also thest. Then she showed him how she had started to hit the gym often with Jirni, how the stress and the bad eating habits as a single had affected her, often skipping meals.

    "You dated. Big deal. I went out with Faluel once and several times with Peonia." Lith shrugged.

    "You left that part out from your sob story, didn''t you?" Kam said in mock outrage. "Tomorrow you have to tell me everything. Right now, I just want you to know that I''m a bit less on the Friya side and more on the Phloria side now."

    She took off her clothes, revealing her naked body.

    Her muscles were toned like those of an athlete, to the point where she had a four abs pack. Contrary to her words, however, her breasts were as big as Lith remembered them and her tight buttocks were as round as a sunset.

    "What the fuck?" She said while noticing the missing centimeters being back only in the right ces.

    The Overlord''s Rebirth Magic had done more than just the equivalent of a spa. It had also restored the body bnce to perfection.

    "Thanks for your wedding present, Grandma." Lith gave Kam''s curves a deep bow. "Now, if you''ll excuse me, since you already unwrapped my gift at least let me y with it for a bit."

    ***

    When the sunrise arrived, the couple was still awake, leaving them only a few hours of rest before their departure. Kam needed one more injection of Invigoration but the fact that she couldn''t stop smiling told Lith that she considered the experience worth the price.

    "Gods, I had almost forgotten the magic you can ''weave'' with your Tiamat tongue. It''s very versatile." She said while they walked toward the dining room for breakfast.

    "Kami!" Lith blushed up to his ears. "What if someone hears you?"

    "You are so cute." She replied with a giggle. "In the past you were always the one who''d made me blush. Who would''ve thought that our roles would be reversed after one night?"

    "By the Great Mother, I''m serious! There are Aran, Leria, and Protector''s kids here. If they overhear your words and ask their parents for an exnation, I''ll die of embarrassment." Those were the rare moments when Lith discovered religion.

    "Selia knows how to deal with it." Kam shrugged. "As she always says, a shapeshifting husband has unique skills that a wife has the moral duty to help him master. You should be grateful for my sacrifice."

    Lith turned to a brighter shade of purple and wished to never continue that conversation.

    After a hearty breakfast, they said goodbye to their family and friends. Solus arrived just in time to give Lith a long hug and Kam a much shorter one before running away.

    "That was awkward." Elina said after several seconds of silence that no one else had dared to break.

    "Yeah, also, since you don''t havemunication amulets anymore, I made you this." Sark handed to each member of the family an elliptical piece of Orichalcum with a violet crystal at its center.

    "They are not as good as Council amulets but have a wider range than those made of silver. They are also much harder to track and tap into. Also, these amulets have free ess to the Desert''s informationwork."

    The Overlord showed them how to ess the various databases, be they about public news or war reports.

    "This way you can chat with our newlyweds and check how things are going in the Kingdom during your absence. My amulets have only limited ess to foreign interlinks but are better than nothing."

    Everyone imprinted their respective amulet and exchanged theirmunication rune with the others.

    Even Kam, Selia, and Nalrond got one of their own. Lith and Protector didn''t need one because Sark''s model could exchange contact runes with all models ofmunication devices, including Council amulets.

    "Can wee to visit you, big bro?" Aran asked.

    The little boy had grown fond of the Desert after the arrival of Lilia and Leran, but he still felt more confident knowing that Lith was around.

    "Sure. Just ask Mom and Dad for permission." He replied while looking at their parents with a gaze that begged them to leave him alone for a while.

    "Bye!" Before things could get more awkward, Sark Warped Lith and Kam on a beach hundreds of kilometers away from her pce.

    There was no one as far as the eye could see. A bit of grass and a few tropical trees grew in a de a few dozens of meters from the spot where the Overlord had already set the house.

    From the outside, it looked like a two-story cottage, while on the inside it was identical to the room Lith and Kam had shared in the Flying Griffon hotel.

    The building was made of redwood andprised of several rooms. It had a living room furnished with a tea table and sofas to spend time with friends. On the first floor, there was a terrace where to dine while enjoying the sea breeze.

    The rest of the floors wereprised of a kitchen, a sauna, a gym, a library, two huge bathrooms, and two even bigger bedrooms.

    Even though all rooms were magically air-conditioned, most of them had a firece for ambiance. The Desert was very hot during the day but also very cold at night and a crackling fire made anyone feel at home.

    "This is the pantry." Sark showed them around the house, opening a single cab in the kitchen. "There is enough food to feed one Phoenix and one Dragon for a year so you two should have plenty for a month."

 Chapter 1889 Thousands of Miles (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1889 Thousands of Miles (Part 1)</h4>

    "What an odd measuring unit." Lith said with sarcasm. "Did you clean the ce? And I mean deep cleaning?"

    "Of course. Origin mes and everything." Her answer made the couple sweat at the thought of the nights of passion that had taken ce inside those walls to require such a drastic measure.

    "The house is right beside a mana geyser so if you stand on it while focusing on the tower, you can call upon Solus at any moment." Sark nonchntly continued the tour. "If you want somepany, thispass always points at my pce."

    She handed Lith a small device the size of a penny.

    "Also, two hundred kilometers in that direction there is the coastal city of Yrma. Excellent seafood and hospitable people, especially if you show them my seal." She handed to each one of them a silver coin embossed with Sark''s human and Phoenix form.

    "Is there anything you need to know?" She asked, receiving a no for a reply. "Great, then I''ll get out of your hair. Bye!"

    Kam stored the seal in her dimensional amulet and took another tour of the house on her own to familiarize herself with the ce.

    "Fine, show me those damn swimsuits." She said after noticing that Lith''s gaze followed her like an abandoned puppy.

    "Your wish is mymand. I prepared several of them to give you plenty of choices." A wave of his hand made them appear on their bed.

    The first was a one-piece swimsuit with no neckline that only left the legs and arms exposed. Then there was a bikini that covered the same amount of skin asfortable underwear.

    After that, they became risqu¨¦. One was partially see-through like lingerie, another wasprised of just three triangles with thinces that covered solely the important parts, and thest one looked like suspenders joined at one end.

    "Who in their right mind would ever wear this thing? I''d rather go around naked!" She said in outrage.

    "Be my guest. We are married after all." Lith replied.

    "No. I''vee here for a honeymoon, not for a sex marathon." Kam took the one-piece swimsuit and saw Lith''s face turn dark as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in despair just to be suddenly silenced.

    "Fine!" She took the underwear-like bikini and a smile returned on her husband''s face. "I should have known that this would happen the moment I proposed to the offspring of a perverted lizard."

    ***

    Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in the Gorgon Empire.

    "I resent that." Leegaain grumbled, his colossal body coiled around the Magic Empress'' desk.

    She was revising the dossiers from the seven great academies of the Empire while the Father of all Dragons conducted dozens of experiments at the same time. Over half of them were aimed at finding a way to give his daughter Zoreth a fully human body.

    sks filled with undead, Abomination, and living tissues floated in mid-air as he mixed them with different proportions. He used Body Sculpting to force them to mix and a steady flow of life force to keep the hunger from the dead tissues from harming the living during the process.

    He had managed to replicate the Master''s procedure, but he had been stuck at that point as well, incapable of making the fusion take thest crucial step. Upon Faluel''s request, Leegaain had even taken a look at Glemos'' Harmonizer, deeming it a failure.

    The device fixed the wearer''s life forces by brute force, causing unpredictable long-term consequences and offering no hints for a permanent and stable solution.

    "What do you resent, exactly?" Milea raised her eyes from the dozens of holograms in front of her.

    Paper was too precious to waste it on paperwork so she had the clerks of the Empire fill out solely digital copies of regr documents. Only the secret files and magical records that needed a physical copy to avoid tampering were still printed.

    "There is this woman who called me a perverted lizard!" Leegaain replied.

    "Seems an urate estimate to me." The Empress lost interest and browsed the documents again. "Besides, since when do you listen to everyone who badmouths you? Is she one of your too many children?"

    "No, she isn''t and I wouldn''t even care for her if it wasn''t for some special circumstances." He said.

    "What do you mean?"

    "It''splicated." Leegaain replied with a sigh.

    "Fine, if you want to y mysterious, suit yourself. I don''t care who your girlfriend of the week is." Every year, Milea had his most trusted retainers check the profiles of the academies'' students and report the most talented kids to her.

    Then, she would personally go and meet them to check if they were Awakened. The Empire was the greatest magical force on Garlen, but theck of fake Awakened like the Corpse or the Feathers crippled its military force.

    The War of the Griffons and Thrud''s forces wiping out the Empire''s soldiers on the border made that reality even more painful. As long as the Empirecked its own squad of loyal Awakened, invading the Desert or the Kingdom would cost her people way more blood than it was worth.

    The Magic Empress hoped to build a small force of true Awakened and with their help, to turn the tables. So far, however, she had failed to meet a single one.

    ''Either they are too smart to stand out or they have a bloodline legacy and no need for the academies.'' She inwardly sighed.

    Then, a name caught her attention. A young girl named Kelia Sunbry had enrolledte as a first year. She was already thirteen years old, but her examiners had marked her as an S rank talent.

    On top of that, the girl''s potential seemed limitless. Strategy,bat, theoretical sses, she outshined her peers in every subject and her Professors praised her talent.

    ''Interesting. ording to the papers, she''s the daughter of a merchant from a small vige yet it''s quite odd that I never heard anything about such a talented girl. My recruiters scout even the most backwatermunities once per year, I was supposed to have heard at least some rumors about her.'' Milea thought.

    ''I''ll wait for the first exam. If this Kelia gets ranked S again, I''ll run a deep background check on her, and then I''ll go meet her. Before asking her questions, I need answers.''

    ***

    Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in Jiera.

    Roghar the Fenrir couldn''t believe his luck.

    ''Every piece on the chessboard is aligned to perfection. I knew that Mogar would not let me down and pull one of their tricks for the sake of my research.'' The Guardian thought.

    Ever since Lith had activated the Call of the Void for the first time, revealing to possess the full powers of a natural undead, Roghar had stalked his prey.

    The young Awakened was the first case of a natural undead returning back to life, conquering the ck core and gaining powers that no Guardian had ever seen before.

    What had stopped his hand until that moment wasn''t the cold shoulder that his fellow Guardians of Garlen had offered him nor the threats they had made. It had all been a matter of timing and opportunity.

 Chapter 1890 Thousands of Miles (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1890 Thousands of Miles (Part 2)</h4>

    First, the Guardian of Mana had waited until Scarlett had left his turf to start her apprenticeship with Fenagar.

    The Fenrir taught newly appointed Guardians how to discover and master their bloodline abilities and then the Leviathan would teach them how to better use them for the magical research.

    Sark and Tyris were respectively the secondst and final mentor in their initiation journey. Once a newborn Guardian had learned what their abilities were and how to use them, the Overlord would teach them how to tap into their full potential during the Forgemastering process.

    As for Tyris, her role was to help them to reconnect with their old life ande to terms with their new condition. Many Guardians fell into despair because they felt they didn''t belong among mortals anymore while others would believe themselves gods.

    Both would end up raving mad in the span of a few centuries and need either an intervention from the other Guardians or to be put down. As much as Roghar hated to admit it, her role was the most important.

    Even he had lost his way during his youth and had survived only thanks to the mercy of the First Guardian first and then to her teachings.

    Now that the Sekhmet had gotten out of his hair and without the risk that she might alert the other Guardians of his ns he had no need to act nice anymore. Yet even after Scarlett''s departure, he had needed more time to thoroughly prepare.

    Even a scuffle between Guardians was a disaster-level event. Roghar wanted to seed on the first attempt and quickly, or things would get ugly. If he were to fight Leegaain or Sark, defeating them would have been pointless if Tyris arrived.

    Then, he had to wait for a moment when Lith was far away from the Kingdom and enough from Sark and her nest. Back during Lith''s first visit, the Overlord had assigned him Phoenixes as detail and the Fenrir couldn''t risk them summoning Sark with the Call of the Blood.

    Now, however, Lith was outside of Tyris'' reach, at the fringes of Sark''s domain and breathing technique. Most importantly, he was alone.

    It was the perfect opportunity for Roghar to sweep in, take his prized specimen, and get out before anyone noticed. Once back on his turf, the Fenrir was confident in taking down even the damn Griffon.

    The Fenrir didn''t put Leegaain in his eyes. The old lizard was weaker than him, both physically and magically. Sark was considered the strongest of the six original Guardians but now she wasn''t his match.

    Being past mid-pregnancy, she was bound to avoid a physical battle to not endanger the baby.

    Once it came down to magic, Roghar would win by andslide. Not only was he the Guardian of Mana, but thanks to Doom Tide he could also take the world energy away. Without it, Sark would have no way to stop him and would be forced to retreat.

    The real problem was Tyris who he had to avoid at all costs.

    Guardians were usually paired as natural enemies, like it happened for Fenagar and Leegaain or Sark and Zagran. Opposite elements that bnced each other. Griffons, however, seemed more like Fenrirs'' natural predators.

    Their wings gave them aerial dominance and superior maneuverability over their earthbound rival. Their bodies possessed a physical strength unparalleled even by Phoenixes and Garudas, making close-quarterbat suicidal for a Fenrir.

    Sure, Roghar had superior magical prowess, but it didn''t mean much when the enemy could just even the field by infusing their spells with Life Maelstrom. Just thinking that name made the wolf Guardian clench his teeth.

    Doom Tide was supposed to be his ace in the hole. The ability that Mogar had bestowed upon his kind to snuff out those pesky Origin mes and counter the other Guardians'' bloodline abilities.

    Yet it didn''t work on Life Maelstrom because it didn''t rely on external world energy, but on that stored inside a Griffon''s body, where it was safe and protected from the effects of Doom Tide.

    Roghar had learned it the hard way the day that Tyris had banished him from Garlen. He had removed the world energy to win thanks to the gap in their Spirit Magic prowess just for her to empower her body with Life Maelstrom and punch him away.

    Using Doom Tide against a Griffon only further tipped the scale in their favor.

    "What the fuck was Mogar thinking when they created such a broken ability?" Roghar snarled as his massive body escaped the''s gravitational pull.

    This way, he could exploit Mogar''s rotational speed under him to cover the distance that separated the Fenrir from Lith in minutes instead of hours and even escape detection from the other Guardians.

    Their turf extended up to the sky whereas space was a no-man''snd.

    ***

    Meanwhile, back on the beach.

    While Lith had already set up the deckchairs and the sun umbre, Kam looked outside the cottage''s door as if she was about to walk in her underwear through the bustling streets of Belius instead of a deserted beach.

    Only after using a binocr to make sure that no one was around did she find the courage to step through the door.

    "Wow, you look amazing." Lith couldn''t take his eyes off the red bikini emphasizing her pale skin.

    "Thanks, you too." Kam had to admit that seeing her husband moving around half-naked was really exciting.

    The heat of the sun was tempered by the fresh breezeing from the ocean and once she was certain that no one would suddenly pop out and see her, Kam managed to rx.

    "Maybe I was wrong about this." She said while walking in the water to give her feet relief from the scorching sand. "This ce is really nice. I think I will like living here for a while."

    "Yeah, but don''t forget that this is the Desert." Lith handed her a water canteen and cast a light magic spell on her.

    "It''s hot and dry so you are going to sweat a lot and not even notice. Remember to keep yourself hydrated."

    "Thanks." She took a sip, realizing how thirsty she was and gulping a lot more. "Will I get double-colored as well?"

    "You mean tan lines? Yes. Exposed parts be darker and the rest stays as it is. That''s how sunbathing works." Lith shrugged.

    "Isn''t there a way to avoid it? It will give me an awkward look whenever I wear a dress." She asked.

    "You can always get naked." Lith replied with a perverted smile. "Besides, why awkward? I clearly remember you calling my tan lines sexy because they highlighted the yground."

    "The bikini stays. As I said, I want a rxing vacation, not a sex marathon." She glossed over her double standards. "Also, with my pale skin, it shouldn''t be an issue. I''ll probably not get much of a tan."

    "Don''t underestimate the talents of your magical husband and his dreams of having a bronze-skinned wife." Lith said.

    "Wait a minute, that earlier spell wasn''t Body Sculpting, right?"

    "No. I promised you that I would never use such a spell on you without your consent. It was just tier one light magic to enhance your metabolism and avoid sunburns." He replied.

    "And?" She could tell from his cocky attitude that there was more to it.

 Chapter 1891 Wisdom Against Mana (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1891 Wisdom Against Mana (Part 1)</h4>

    "And it should also give you the best tan you can get, but it''s not body modification. My spell simply cranks up your natural resistance to the sun to the maximum. With a bit of luck, you''ll get a darker skin than Selia." Lith said.

    Kam was about to scold him but his sincere smile stopped her. She had seen from his memories how much Lith had suffered after leaving Lutia. A bit of tan was a small price to pay if it helped him to ovee his trauma.

    "Fine, do your worst. You have my permission." She said with a sigh but Lith''s squealing with joy brought a smile to her face.

    "I want you to promise me something, though."

    "Anything you want." He nodded in excitement while he boosted the mnin in her skin.

    "As long as we are here, promise me that you won''t use magic except that for cooking and doing the chores." She actually would have avoided that as well, but she was toozy to give up on those cheat abilities.

    "Promise me that you won''t use umtion, Invigoration, nor will you study magic. I haven''t had a good night''s sleep for weeks and I didn''t have a single day of rest for months.

    "Now that we are finally back together, all I want is to eat when I''m hungry, sleep after snuggling up to you when I''m tired, and make love with you when the mood is right. I want us to be a regr couple on their honeymoon.

    "After everything that happened, I think we both deserve some peace. I want to enjoy every single moment we spend together without magic messing with our lives like it always happens.

    "Can you do it for me?" Kam asked.

    "I promise you that no one and nothing will mess with our honeymoon." Lith replied.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the stratosphere, Roghar was seconds away from reaching his destination. He had circled the globe in the opposite direction from the Kingdom, to make sure that he would cross from his own turf into Sark''s without passing over Garlen.

    As he descended from the sky, he made sure to slow down enough to not leave a trail of fire that could alert a sentinel left by the Guardian of War along the coast. After making sure that no one was around, the Fenrir took his time to prepare all the spells he might need, just to be safe.

    "This is as far as you go." Leegaain''s voice almost broke Roghar''s focus.

    Almost.

    "What are you doing here, old lizard?" The Fenrir asked while staring at the ck-scaled Dragon.

    His massive wings pped slowly while the rest of his body floated in mid-air without osciting. For some reason, his back was hunched and swollen, but Roghar paid it no attention.

    "What I must, hungry cur." Leegaain replied. "I''m not going to let you disturb the kid. Not after everything he has gone through."

    "Really? Since when does the Father of all Dragons care so much about his offspring? You let terrible things happen to your firstborns like Jormun and now worry for an artificial hybrid made by Mogar?" The Fenrir said with a sneer.

    "I don''t." Leegaain replied. "Jormun''s choices, just like Lith''s, are his own. I won''t interfere with their consequences either, but you are not here because of something Lith did. You are here because you want something from him."

    "Even so, why did you bother keeping an eye on me and the kid? Or is the human woman one of your lost children as well?" Roghar tilted his head in confusion.

    "You wish, it''s much worse." Leegaain said while power kept umting inside his body. "Bying here in defiance of the decree of Garlen''s Guardians, you have be our enemy.

    "I promised my granddaughter Elina to protect Lith from all of my enemies and that''s what I''m going to do. Also, any enemy of Sark is my enemy as well."

    "Still chasing the sparrow''s skirt after all these centuries? Grow a spine!" Roghar said in mockery and the fight began.

    The Fenrir had tried and failed countless times to get ustomed to wings. Yet no matter how much he practiced, he couldn''t match the skill of those who were born with them and had lived as long as he did.

    Since he had no time to waste, he used the same tactic that he had prepared for Sark. Roghar activated Doom Tide''s passive effect, Elemental Flow. It was simr to the power manifested by the Fomors'' blue eye but much more powerful.

    It allowed the Fenrir to cast arrays quickly, to freely move their position even after conjuring them, and to change their effects at will.

    The water aspect in Doom Tide''s world energy could freely reshape itself so that once cast, a magical formation could turn into another of apletely different kind without losing power.

    Suddenly, six elemental sealing arrays surrounded Leegaain and he started to fall. Without air magic his wings couldn''t support his weight, forcing him to activate Gravity Fusion to not waste precious mana.

    He sprinted past the speed of sound but the magical formations kept following him. Roghar, instead, could chase him effortlessly bybining air magic to fly and Light Mastery to create floating tforms.

    He used them to both sprint and suddenly dodge, exploiting his mastery over footwork even in the sky. It gave him an aerial maneuverability on par with that of flying Guardians and a strong edge against them whenever it came to close-quarterbat.

    While they had to keep pping their wings and needed space to turn around, he stood on a solid surface that empowered his physical attacks. Whenever Roghar''s maw reached Leegaain, the foothold allowed him to sink his teeth in and twist, ripping huge chunks of flesh at a time.

    Leegaain cursed as most of the spells he had prepared had now be useless whereas Roghar''s kept hitting their mark. Elemental Flow answered to the Fenrir''s will, turning the arrays off whenever Roghar unleashed his magic and turning them on solely to neutralize the Dragon''s spells.

    Leegaain hurled a stream of white Origin mes the size of a skyscraper, but they were too slowpared to a Guardian and Roghar dodged them with ease even from point-nk.

    The Father of all Dragons still managed to exploit that moment of respite to cast the Guardian Tier Spirit Spell, Roaring Destruction.

    An emerald sphere with a one-kilometer radius covered the sky around the two Guardians before exploding with so much force that a tidal wave formed in the ocean that was hundreds of kilometers below.

    The light aspect was supposed to trap everyone inside the spell but its caster. Earth to reinforce all other elements, giving them substance. Water was supposed to freeze the target, turning their blood into deadly des that would pierce through the flesh from the inside out.

    Fire would dissipate any kic energy, reducing even the strongest creature to a helpless baby. Darkness destroyed everything while also engulfing the area and smothering all forms of magic.

    Air produced bolts of lightning that were supposed to blind the Fenrir and electrocute him at the same time. The ozone they produced would seal Roghar''s sense of smell while the thunders would deafen him, robbing him of his senses.

 Chapter 1892 Wisdom Against Mana (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1892 Wisdom Against Mana (Part 2)</h4>

    Yet once the smoke cleared, the Guardian of Mana stood unscathed. His colossal body, over 30 meters (100'') high at the withers was surrounded by a multi-colored sphere that had absorbed the power from Roaring Destruction, making it its own.

    "Guardian of Mana, remember?" He said with a wolfish smile as he unleashed his Guardian Tier Mirror Magic Spell, Elemental Curse. "Just because you guys are too scared to dabble with the Cursed elements, it doesn''t mean that others should do the same."

    The six cursed elements had fed upon Leegaain''s Spirit Magic to restore their bnce and Roghar had simply split them from their opposite element again as soon as they absorbed it, doubling their strength with minimal effort.

    Elemental Curse had now the power of twobined Guardian Tier spells that the Fenrir fired against the Dragon in waves. A pir of Zero froze Leegaain''s wings, stopping his flight and making the rest of the pirs hit him like a fish in a barrel.

    Cinder vaporized the wings, Choke entered Leegaain''s mouth, burning his lungs and suppressing his Origin mes. Corruption turned all the minerals inside his cells into acid, eating at him from the inside.

    Chaos exploded into countless ck spears that filled him with holes so big that Roghar could see through them. Decay made all the wounds fester and rot, creating scar tissue that went beyond the flesh and reached Leegaain''s life force.

    As the mangled body of the Guardian of Wisdom plummeted in a pir of smoke, Roghar never stopped chasing his prey. A bite at the base of the neck and a strong twist decapitated the Dragon, putting an end to the fight.

    "Let''s see if you can survive without a heart and a brain." The Fenrir said while resuming his rush toward the beach.

    The whole encounter hadsted barely ten seconds, but they were still ten seconds too long. If Leegaain had noticed him, the other two knew of the Guardian of Mana''s presence as well. Roghar had no time to waste and had double tapped Leegaain hoping that Sark would waste time retrieving his corpse.

    Or so he thought until a st of Origin mes struck him from the back and his whole body exploded in a ball of fire.

    "What the heck?" The Fenrir said while turning around.

    Only then did he notice that there was a second head on top of a second neck. What he had previously mistaken for a hump was actually a spare brain that Leegaain had prepared in advance.

    "Running away like that is rude." The new head had caught the severed neck in mid-air and was now reattaching it. "I''m far from over and you foiled my trap. I was expecting you to st me into pieces with a charge."

    "Hydras! I forgot you sired those damn Hydras as well!" Roghar replied as five more heads grew from Leegaain''s spine.

    "Well, yes. I learned a trick or two from them. Guardian of Wisdom, remember?" One head used his breathing technique, Worldkeeper, to heal his wounds and recover his strength.

    Another used Body Sculpting to remove the scars from his life force while the others conjured spells in unison.

    "Mirror Magic is a nice trick. I''ll give it a try as well." The five remaining heads conjured one Guardian Tier Elemental Curse each and aimed them at Roghar.

    The Fenrir cursed his bad luck as the uncanny speed of the cursed elements beat that of the activation of his elemental sealing arrays, forcing him to relocate them around himself to stop the onught before it killed him.

    By the time the magical formations activated, half of his body had already been annihted.

    "Since when did you study Mirror Magic? I thought you were afraid of its madness-inducing effects." Roghar asked while using his breathing technique, Mana Heart.

    "I never did. I just learned from you."

    When his eyes regenerated, Roghar noticed that Leegaain was standing on floating tforms as well.

    He was using Roghar''s same spell, staring at him with seven pairs of eyes.

    Each one of them had three vertical pupils that crossed each other, forming a six-pointed star. It was the bloodline power that had given birth to Dragon Eyes in his offspring and inspiration to Silverwing for her Hexagram.

    Leegaain''s Eyes studied the mana flow coursing through Roghar''s body, reading the rune patterns of his spells as soon as he conjured them. To them, every spell that the Fenrir kept at the ready was an open book that he could study.

    "What you told Sark is true. You have created more spells than all the rest of the Guardiansbined. That''s why she sent me. I''ve learned more spells than all the rest of the Guardiansbined." Leegaain said.

    "Do your worst, hungry cur. I''ll record every one of your prized spells and add them to my collection."

    Then, six new elemental sealing arrays appeared around Roghar, nullifying his own and making him plummet toward the ocean. Without Elemental Tide, Leegaain couldn''t move his arrays but he could cast more along the Fenrir''s falling trajectory.

    ''If Roghar Spirit Blinks, I can see where he appears and punish him hard. If he tries to Spirit Fly away, I can just force him back inside the array field with regr spells and he''ll run out of mana much faster than I do.

    ''Whatever spell he weaves, I can see it and n ordingly. This should be checkmate.'' Leegaain thought.

    Contrary to his expectations, Roghar did nothing. He let himself fall into the ocean, diving into its dark depths.

    ''Smart son of bitch!'' Leegaain thought. ''My Eyes can''t see him underwater nor can I follow him without shapeshifting. He must know that water is the weakness of my-''

    His train of thought was interrupted when a Warp Steps opened behind him. The Dragon expected Roghar to strike from the dimensional door but all that came out of it was water.

    An enormous pir of water that struck with the energy, mass, and speed of a falling mountain.

    The Fenrir had used the high pressure of deep waters andbined it with the limited size of the Steps to further enhance the speed of the st.

    Leegaain was caught by surprise and the liquid sapped his inner fire, further slowing down his reaction time.

    As second and a third Steps poured more water on him, pushing the Father of all Dragons inside a fourth that brought him into an air bubble underwater, where Roghar was waiting for him.

    The bubble popped the moment Leegaain arrived and the ocean swallowed them both. The water pressure weighed on the Dragon''s wings much more than on the Fenrir''s fur, making his movements clumsy.

    Without air, all of Leegaain''s mes were sealed, turning a mighty Dragon into an oversized lizard. To make matters worse, not only did the ocean drain Leegaain''s strength by the second but it also blurred his vision, making his Eyes useless.

    Roghar exploited the opportunity to unleash the Guardian Tier spells he had prepared underwater and strike at the Dragon''s vitals at the same time to keep him off bnce.

    His maw ripped one of Leegaain''s heads off while the ws scratched away scales and flesh alike, digging toward his heart.

 Chapter 1893 Worldbreaker (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1893 Worldbreaker (Part 1)</h4>

    Then, the Fenrir turned the water surrounding them into a chunk of ice, sealing the Dragon''s every movement and sapping his strength even faster.

    Just as Tyris'' elements were light and air, Roghar''s were darkness and earth. He used them to drag the iceberg deeper and to flood it with darkness element to finish his prey off.

    Leegaain took another page from one of his children, this time the Drakes. He activated Dimensional Fusion, teleporting away from the trap and back into the air where his breathing technique restored his body and mana core.

    A simple Blink would have been useless since it would have dragged the iceberg along. Also, Roghar would have seen the entry point and countered it with one of his arrays. Dimensional Fusion, instead, had no such problem.

    Each one of Leegaain''s cells had opened their own minuscule dimensional passage, invisible to the naked eye even of a Guardian. The cells had assembled themselves back into their original form thanks to Dimensional Fusion ending only once all of the single pieces had been put back to their respective original position.

    "That was dangerous." Leegaain panted, opening the mind link to call for reinforcements.

    That was until the ocean below him exploded and what looked like a golden wolf came charging at him from the spurts of water. The Dragon released the spells that he had at the ready, but Roghar didn''t even slow down.

    The rain of Guardian Tier magic inflicted him less damage than water on a windshield thanks to his bloodline ability, Mana Body. The Fenrir''s life force mixed itself with the earth element from the world energy, using it to make Roghar as sturdy as the itself.

    Physical and magical attacks now did little to no damage to him, but such ability came at a price. Just like a Grendel, infusing his body with so much elemental energy that didn''t carry his energy signature prevented Roghar from casting new spells.

    He had to make with those he had at the ready, hoping they were enough to get in close-quarterbat and win. Leegaain was no warrior and his Eyes didn''t allow him to learn fighting techniques like they did spells.

    The Fenrir mmed against the Dragon, using abination of magical and physical attacks that were supposed to end him. Yet Leegaain countered every spell with an identical one, dodging and blocking the enemy''s strikes at the same time.

    The Eyes could still read everything Roghar had prepared and mimic them.

    As for the attacks, Leegaain knew that this day woulde and had trained with Tyris. He still suckedpared to the Fenrir, but when he focused on defense, he could hold his ground.

    "Mana Body? Great Skill. Do you know what it''s weak against?" Leegaain asked while his seven heads merged into one, to draw a deep breath that filled his lungs.

    Then, Origin mes burst out of his body at the very moment when Roghar bit into Leegaain''s flesh, sending them into the Fenrir''s mouth and down his throat. The Guardian of Mana yelped in pain as his insides burned.

    On top of that, the Origin mes stuck onto his golden skin, eating at the world energy that empowered it. Cracks appeared all over Mana Body, but it wasn''t enough to stop Roghar''s onught.

    Leegaain kept that routine, focusing on defense, countering spells, and unleashing a new burst of white mes every time Roghar managed to hit him.

    "Give up. At this point, even Tyris must have noticed your presence and she''ll be here at any moment." Leegaain said, hitting the Fenrir in the nuts with his tail and discovering that they were armored as well.

    "Not quite." Roghar said with a wolfish smile. "I staged a distraction for her that will still buy me a bit of time!"

    Tired of that charade, he unleashed the strongest st of Doom Tide that he could conjure. The Origin mes died and all spells disappeared, leaving the Guardians only with their Spirit Magic and physical abilities.

    Roghar surpassed Leegaain in both and assumed the Dragon would be easy prey.

    At least until Leegaain hurled a burst of emerald mes from his mouth. They were no faster nor more dangerous than Origin mes so the Fenrir had no trouble dodging them.

    Just like the mes had no trouble turning around and giving him chase.

    "What? Where do these thingse from? There can''t be Origin mes without world energy!" Roghar yelled in frustration.

    He had charged at Leegaain after dodging the first volley, but the Guardian of Wisdom had breathed a second st of chasing fire.

    "Really? Do you have yet to learn how to cast your bloodline abilities by relying solely on your own life force? In this case, allow me to introduce you to Immortal mes and give you a practical demonstration!" Leegaain replied while hurling a third burst of emerald fire.

    Immortal mes were the Spirit Magic equivalent of Origin mes, fueled by Leegaain''s life force and the elemental power stored in his body. He could emit them under any circumstance and move them like one of his limbs.

    Yet they also took an enormous toll on him. Every st drained him akin to one thousand breaths of regr Origin mes.

    ''Dammit, I wish I had cursed mes as well.'' He thought. ''They are the fastest kind of mes I have ever seen and against an opponent like Roghar, they would work like a charm.''

    The Fenrir managed to dodge the three salvos of Immortal mes multiple times before being hit, using that time to weave more spells now that Mana Body had copsed.

    Leegaain couldn''t get close, or he would be burned as well.

    "Enough!" Roghar screamed as the inexorable ticking of the clock told him that his time was almost over.

    He had tried to avoid showing his trump card and save it for when Tyris woulde to his turf, but he had no choice left. A massive spear appeared from his pocket dimension, filling the air with new world energy.

    Roghar turned into a humanoid wolf, holding the weapon with two hands and aiming the tip at Leegaain''s heart.

    Its head was made of Davross while the pole was made from a single huge white crystal that was covered in Roghar''s fur to give it a better grip and further amplify its power.

    The Maw had been purified by the Origin mes of an Elder Dragon, its power cores permanently boosted by Zagran''s Life Maelstrom, and crafted by Roghar himself.

    Elemental Flow was a valuable tool not only in battle, but also in the Forge. Forgemastery circles were arrays as well, and his bloodline ability allowed the Fenrir to change them at will.

    While a regr Forgemaster, even Sark, had to create a single Forgemastering circle that best fit all the pseudo cores, Roghar could use the perfect array for each pseudo core he had to craft and then change it ording to the properties of the next.

    He didn''t have Sark''s skill nor technique, but thanks to Elemental Flow, the enchantments he crafted always reached their full potential.

    "Kid, you have no idea the trouble you''ve put yourself into." Leegaain sighed as the appearance of Sark''s gift made the sky rumble and the ocean floor quake so violently that several dormant volcanos became active.

 Chapter 1894 Worldbreaker (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1894 Worldbreaker (Part 2)</h4>

    Worldbreaker had the appearance of a Guardian sized ive, with the head made of pure Davross and the pole made of Yggdrasill wood. Purified by Leegaain''s Origin mes, its power cores permanently boosted by Tyris'' Life Maelstrom, and crafted by Sark while pregnant.

    The ive was actually an omni-weapon, capable of shapeshifting into every form since Leegaain was proficient with all kinds of weapons. Its enchantments and the Yggdrasill woodplemented his breathing technique, Worldkeeper.

    What had been born to protect, the weapon used it to destroy.

    "We''ll see. I''m still a better fighter than you." Roghar said, and Mogar seemed to agree.

    The created a Fringe around the two Guardians and sealed them inside.

    A normal battle between them would have forced maps to be redrawn, but once Guardian level weapons were unsheathed, Mogar had to prevent the sh from extinguishing all forms of life.

    Everything that would happen inside a Fringe had no consequence on the outside world. It was a sandbox where Mogar''s most powerful children could squabble without breaking her house.

    Leegaain moved forward, using the ive''s reach to keep the opponent at bay while he looked for an opening.

    "Amateur!" Roghar yelled. "A spear can only lounge while a ive can also sh, but such big movements are easy to read!"

    The Fenrir pushed Worldbreaker''s tip sideways and performed a series of thrusts aimed at Leegaain''s vitals with surgical precision. Yet they all bounced on the shield that the ive had turned into.

    "Arrogant!" Leegaain replied while sliding the shield along the Maw''s staff to anticipate its movements and shapeshifting Worldbreaker into a pair of fighting gloves.

    Now that they were close, the spear was useless. The Dragon unleashed a flurry of fists that broke Roghar''s ribs, cutting his breath. A second barrage pounded his liver, blocking Roghar''s movements, and a third hit his nose, filling his eyes with tears.

    Each impact was boosted by Leegaain''s Fusion Magic, Gravity Fusion, and Worldbreaker''s enchantments. The Yggdrasill wood of the weapon rxed the Dragon and brought his focus to the point that he could read the Fenrir''s every move.

    He was still slower and weaker than Roghar, but his mind moved so fast that he could anticipate what the Fenrir would do and start dodging before the attack even started. On top of that, with each hit, the sheer power of Worldbreaker produced a shockwave that sted everything within one kilometer radius into dust.

    Roghar tried to activate Mana Body and step back, but a burst of Origin mes ate his armor. Every spell he tried Leegaain would copy one split secondter, neutralizing them.

    To make matters worse, every time the two weapons shed, he could feel the Maw screech in agony as its crystal grip filled with cracks.

    "I yield." Roghar said when the time run out.

    There was no point in keeping fighting. No matter the oue, his prize was lost.

    "Excellent choice." Leegaain nodded. "I won''t kill you because then I would have to take care of your turf, but don''t expect to go home in one piece. You still defied the Guardians of Garlen."

    Roghar swallowed a lump of saliva as he tried to escape but the Fringe refused to let him go.

    "Hello, jackass." Sark was there in her human form to not hurt the baby, 50 meters (164 feet) tall and still pregnant. "Darling, do you mind lending me Worldbreaker?"

    "Take it. It''s yours after all." If anyone doubted that a ck dragon could blush, that day they would have to change their mind.

    Roghar wanted to puke, but fear kept his tongue still as the Overlord used Creation Magic to cancel Leegaain''s imprint and turn Worldbreaker into Scorching Sun, a one-handed sword.

    "I want my turn as well." Tyris appeared in her Griffon form, zing with silver bolts of lightning and eager to repay Roghar for his actions.

    "I''m pregnant, sister." Sark replied. "My feet hurt, my back is killing me, and I''m starving. I need one minute to vent out my pent-up frustration and then the cur is all yours. I''ve crafted a third form for this weapon that will suit you like a glove."

    "Thank you. I have a lot of free time and a lot of stress to vent these days." Tyris replied.

    When several hourster Mogar finally lifted the Fringe, there wasn''t enough of Roghar left to make a doormat out of him.

    ***

    Meanwhile, back on the beach.

    Lith and Kam had no idea what was happening just a few hundreds of kilometers away.

    Sark hadn''t intervened sooner to make sure that nothing disturbed their honeymoon and to be thest line of defense in case something happened to Leegaain.

    "Was that a thunder?" Kam asked as Leegaain unleashed his first Guardian Tier spell and Sark blocked the tidal waves it had produced.

    "No, more like an explosion." Lith replied, sniffing the air and not smelling humidity. "Besides, what are the chances of a storm in the desert?"

    Kam was a city girl. She had rarely seen rivers let alone the ocean. She was dazzled by its majestic beauty and crippled by fear. She had never learned how to swim.

    "What are you scared of? I''m an Archmage and I''m actually 25 meters (82 feet) tall. There''s no chance for you to drown." Lith''s words reassured her and they walked into the water slowly, to give Kam the time to face her fear of the unknown.

    They spent the time before lunch with Lith teaching her how to swim and then talking once Kam was too tired to continue.

    They hadn''t seen each other for months and even though their families had kept them updated about their respective lives the whole time, they still felt the need to share what the other had missed.

    They had a lot of catching up to do and took their time doing it.

    "Wow. Princess Peonia should be renamed Princess Pervert." Kam said after listening to all the advances she had made to Lith. "Was the frontline really that bad?"

    "Worse, but let''s stop talking about me. I want to hear about you." He replied, handing her a tall ss of water and a bowl full of ice cream.

    "Thank you." She gave him one of her dazzling smiles that warmed even the Void in Lith''s heart. "Man, ice cream is the perfect meal on a beach. Sweet, cold, and refreshing."

    "I know. Tell me your favorite vors and I''ll prepare them for you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you want." He said.

    "I don''t care how the rest of Mogar calls you. To me, you will always be the Cook Magus." She chuckled before giving him a sweet kiss that tasted of chocte from the ice cream and salt from her lips.

    During the hottest hours of the day, they went back inside the cottage for lunch. They had over three months to catch up on, but they preferred moving to less depressing topics.

    Kam hadn''t eaten Lith''s cooking for too long and asked him to prepare her favorite foods to which he agreed. After a hearty meal of ravioli with Bolognese sauce and a side of roasted potatoes, they went to bed for a nap.

    "I want to sleep, not to sleep with you, okay?" She said, just to stay safe.

    "Hey, I''m not aplete Lich. I can still remember what you told me this morning."

 Chapter 1895 Lithâ€™s First (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1895 Lith¡¯s First (Part 1)</h4>

    "By the way, there''s still one thing that I really need to ask you." Lith said while Kam was still chuckling at the joke.

    "What is it?"

    "What are your thoughts about children?" Those words made her blood flush and her drowsiness disappear.

    "I thought you were adamant about not having any." She looked him straight in the eyes to make sure it wasn''t just another joke.

    "I was and I am, but I haven''t forgotten how many times you mentioned it in the past. This is not just my decision anymore, it''s our decision." He said, making Kam''s heart race. "Also, I''m an Awakened whereas you are twenty-eight and human¡­"

    "Since when did the age gap bother you?" She asked.

    "It doesn''t. I just mean that time flows differently for us." Being reminded of her mortality smothered Kam''s enthusiasm, but not by much.

    As for Lith, considering his first life he was actually 45 years old. He had spent the first 26pletely alone, shut inside himself without ever letting anyone in. Aftering to Mogar, however, family wasn''t an f-word anymore.

    Elina and Raaz had proved to him that loving parents did exist. On top of that, after spending so much time with the kids and after Kam had proposed to him, Lith wasn''t afraid to be a terrible father anymore.

    The shadow of Ezio McCoy, his Earth father and the first man that Lith had killed, didn''t haunt his thoughts anymore and he was now certain that nothing of that monster would be passed down to the next generation.

    When Kam was with him, Lith felt like anything was possible.

    "I''d really love to have children." She replied. "A boy and a girl. Not necessarily in this order but surely not together."

    The thought of having twins or triplets like Rena sent a cold shiver down her spine.

    "I''m already scared of bing a mother for the first time, let alone having more than one child."

    "I feel a ''but'' iing." Lith said.

    "But not now." Kam continued. "I''m unemployed and so are you. We have no real home, we are just Sark''s guests. We have no n for the future, only what your Grandma is willing to lend us and only as long as she is willing to.

    "Until we decide whether we are going to live in the Desert or go back to the Kingdom, as long as we don''t make something out of our lives, having a child would only increase our burden.

    "I want to give them the stability, the love, and the home that I never had."

    "So do I." Lith said, puzzling her quite a bit.

    "On top of that, if we decided to have a child, they would be born with a target on their back. Meln would do everything he could to destroy our happiness." Kam replied.

    "I would like to see him try." Lith wrapped her in his arms while projecting the hologram of Sark, Tyris, and Leegaain taking the oath to protect Lith''s firstborn and the woman who would carry them.

    "He may be less stupid than before and Night might be nigh-immortal, but I don''t see them surviving a sh with the three Guardians of Garlen. Heck, I''m not ashamed to say that the worst I could do to him pales inparison with what Grandma would do to Meln in one minute."

    ***

    Once the sun had lost the scorching heat of midday and its rays were gentler again, they went back to the beach. Kam couldn''t wait to learn how to swim and Lith had found the perfect way to make her feel safe even among the ocean waves.

    While she swam to the best of her abilities, he walked on the water right beside her. Lith would lift her up or offer her a foothold with Light Mastery whenever she felt tired or started to panic.

    Before sunset, they could already swim together. Kam had learned how to crawl and backstroke whereas her breaststroke was stillcking and she often swallowed water.

    "Do you want to sightsee Yrma?" Lith asked aftering out of the shower and letting her in. "Grandma said it''s a nice ce and the seafood is good."

    "No chance." She replied from behind the closed door.

    "Aren''t you tired of seeing only my face and listening only to my voice?" He asked.

    "After not even a whole day? Not at all." She opened the door slightly, giving him a quick peck and a sweet smile. "Besides, nothing beats your cooking and with our luck, we''d meet some asshole and you would have to fight."

    "Wow, and here I thought I was the paranoiac between us."

    "Look, I''m tired of the war, of all the bad stuff that always happens whenever we step out of that door. This is our haven, our paradise. Unless I get bored to death, I''m not going out. By the way, what''s for dinner?" She rushed under the shower to have a usible excuse to not help.

    "It''s a surprise." Lith sighed and went to the stove.

    The pantry was filled with fresh seafood preserved by dimensional magic so he had no need to make a trip to the nearest fishmonger. He took cuttlefishes, mackerel bits, and shrimps, breading them before deep frying them in olive oil.

    At the same time, he gutted and cleaned a salmon, turning it into two thick slices and bushing them with a bit of olive oil before grilling them.

    Once Kam came out of the shower, the fragrant smell made her mouth water and once she had a taste of the food, the conversation died until she cleaned her te.

    "It was amazing." She said with a satisfied burp. "What''s the secret ingredient? I barely had to add any salt."

    "That''s because I added a pinch in the olive oil so that it would vor the fish while frying it. Don''t get too used to it. Deep-fried food is tasty but also very greasy." He replied.

    "I really missed your cooking, but I missed you more." She said while taking his hand. "I''m too full for a walk. What about a movie?"

    "Do you have anything in mind?"

    "I was thinking about R for Revenge." Kam said.

    "I thought you found it too sad. Especially the part when he dies in her arms." Lith raised an eyebrow in surprise while they made the dishes together.

    "I can take a bit of tragedy as long as I have my happy ending sitting beside me." She replied, kissing him without a care for the soap and water sshing on them.

    Almost as if Sark knew about Lith''s abilities, the three couches of the sitting room were arranged around a square table where to ce snacks and in front of a white wall where Lith projected the movie.

    Kam was tired from swimming and having a full belly didn''t help either. She slept for half the movie, waking up from time to time and iming to have been just resting her eyes.

    She remained wide awake only at the beginning, at the letter scene, and for the ending. Lith didn''t care for it, the movie was great and thepany was even better.

 Chapter 1896 Lithâ€™s First (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1896 Lith¡¯s First (Part 2)</h4>

    Before falling asleep, Kam would always snuggle up on him and emit purring sounds of pleasure that made up for the following snoring that disturbed his immersion in the story.

    In those moments, he would caress her shoulder and head, realizing how weak, small, and fragile Kam was. Yet she was also the strongest and bravest woman he had ever met.

    ''I guess that aside from thebat scenes of the movie, I won''t get any action today as well.'' He inwardly sighed. ''This is nothing like I imagined a honeymoon, but it isn''t bad either. It''s just the second day and Kami is still exhausted from all that happened since Meln kidnapped her.''

    Once the movie ended, they both needed a bathroom break before the night. The projection had been long and while Kam slept, he had to hold it in to not wake her up.

    Lith went in first and then immediately to bed. Kam went in second,ing to the bedroom a few minutester with her raven-ck hairbed and down, forming a shiny dark waterfall that reached the small of her back.

    Her pajamas were gone, reced by a ming red babydoll and stringced panties.

    Lith went from half asleep to fully aroused in two seconds, breaking Mogar''s world record.

    "Lith, you know that we are married, don''t you?" She asked while giving the final brushes to her hair and sitting on the bed in front of him.

    "We are on honeymoon and you are dressed like that. It''s kind of hard to forget." He said with a huskiness in his voice, not knowing where to look first.

    "You know that you can tell me everything and that you can bepletely honest with me, right?" Kam gave him a warm and dazzling smile, drawing his attention to her face.

    "Of course. It''s the thing I love the most about you." He replied, making her heart flutter.

    "Then be honest with me. Are you still a virgin?"

    "Can you run that by me again?" Lith went from aroused to puzzled just as fast.

    "I''m asking you if you are still a virgin." Kam made sure to not break eye contact.

    "Did you hit your head or something?" He replied. "Have you forgotten about the three years we have been together? The first night of marriage? Your unfounded jealousy over my exes, especially Phloria?"

    Lith projected a hologram of the women Kam was aware of that she dispelled with her hand.

    "My jealousy was founded alright, but that''s not what I''m asking about. I don''t want to argue. I''m just asking if you, in your Tiamat form, are still a virgin." She knew about the date with Faluel and how coveted his bloodline was among Emperor and Divine Beasts.

    Also, during the previous night, when Lith had shapeshifted in his sleep during the morning wood, she had discovered how much he had changed after bing a Tiamat.

    Kam wouldn''t me him if he had other women after the break up, she just wanted to know.

    "Well, yes." He said in embarrassment. "After you left me, I was too sour and distraught to have a rtionship, let alone in that form."

    "Then tonight I''ll have the honor to be your first." She put the hairbrush and the bedstand and leaned forward to kiss him, exposing miles of cleavage.

    "Kami, you have no idea what you are talking about." Lith was now aroused and afraid in equal measure. "In that form my hands end with ws. I have no lips that can kiss, only fangs.

    "What if I bite you since it''s the only way I have to show affection? What if my wings go wild and hurt you?"

    "Lith, as I told you the night when Lark died, I''m not afraid of you. Of any part of you. Your Tiamat form is just like your clothes. It changes your appearance, not who you are.

    "Sometimes, when you had nightmares and I had to hold you to keep you from turning our bedroom into shreds, I could almost hear your heart. I could feel its hatred towards everyone, including yourself.

    "I can''t stand the thought of your heart hating the man I love. I want to show you that there''s nothing to be afraid of. And I''ll do it by showing you how much I love every single part of you."

    ***

    The following morning, they slept in to make up for thete night. When they finally got up, there were barely two hours left before lunchtime.

    "I''m not going to lie, theck of lips and the fangs scared me a bit at first." Kam said with a huge satisfied grin on her face. "But your tongue and the prehensile tail more than made up for it.

    "I must thank Fe for teaching you how to use it as a third hand. Who would have thought that your bone spikes are retractable?"

    She caressed his tail, making the bones disappear. Once clenched, the scales on the Tiamat''s body were a bit rough, but warm and pleasant to the touch.

    "Kami!" The red veins on his ck scales spread, tuning him into a shade of purple.

    "What? There''s just the two of us here." She shrugged while kissing him on the face-mask. "I''m a very lucky woman. I married one man and got two husbands and double the fun."

    "Kami!" This time there was a bit of anger in his voice, but she giggled in reply. "Then what if I wanted to have another woman or to shapeshift you into another form?"

    "That would be cheating." She immediately became serious. "Both would be the same as saying that you''re tired of me and want to have sex with someone else."

    "How is it different from what you didst night?" He replied with a scoff.

    "It''spletely different. That was a loving wife epting every aspect of her husband and helping him toe to terms with his unusual condition. Mine was an act ofpassion, yours would be of lust." She replied.

    ''Compassion my scaly ass.'' He thought while remembering the things she had done to him.

    "I''ll go prepare breakfast." He actually said to avoid a pointless quarrel.

    "Thank you! I''ll take my eggs sunny side up." Kam took out hermunication amulet and made a call.

    "Hey, Selia. How is it going?"

    "Kami! Finally someone remembered that amulets are a thing. We were starting to report you missing. Everything is fine here. Raaz is always the same and Solus is moping around. The poor soul couldn''t get a wink of sleep." The huntress sighed.

    "But I guess you didn''t call me to hear depressing stuff. How are your hot nights going?"

    Lith was worrying about his father and wondering if due to his absence theck of nourishment might aggravate Solus'' trauma when those words made him drop the spat.

    "We finally did it. You were right, shapeshifting husbands are amazing."

    "Kami!" Lith roared, even his apron was now tomato red.

    "What? Ever since we got together, I could speak about your secrets with very few people and Selia is the only person I know in a rtionship simr to ours. There''s nothing to be ashamed of." She replied.

    Lith wanted to say that there was plenty, but what came next left him at loss for words.

 Chapter 1897 Necessary Adjustments (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1897 Necessary Adjustments (Part 1)</h4>

    "How did it go?" Selia asked, biting her lower lip in excitement. "Did you take a ride on the Dragon or¡­"

    "No, yesterday was the Tiamat''s turn. The Dragon is not human enough for my taste and the Abominationcks the fun parts." Kam replied, making Lith inwardly scream.

    "Excellent choice. Always starts from what you are familiar with and then go with the flow." Selia said. "I envy you so much. One husband, four bodies. You are not going to get bored any soon, that''s for sure."

    "You think?" Kam asked.

    "I speak from experience. At first, you keep things as human-like as you can, then you start exploring. After a while, in for a penny, in for a pounding I say [AN: freely tranted from kinky Mogarian]."

    "You can always change your mind about the Dragon. As for the Abomination, I wouldn''t worry too much. There''s still the bright violet. Maybe it just needs-"

    Lith''s scream turned from internal to external as he ran out of the house and away until he couldn''t hear them talking anymore.

    "By the Great Mother." He said while sshing some cold water on his face to calm down. "If I ever had a shred of innocence left, today is the day I lost it for good."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, at the same time.

    The news of Lith''s escape to the Blood Desert had spread like wildfire throughout the Kingdom and more kepting every day.

    Rumors had that the Divine Beast Archmage had be even stronger. That a woman had defected the Kingdom to marry him. That Sark had recognized him as her son and wanted to share the throne of the Desert with him if Lith had an heir.

    The Royals and everyone else had a hard time discerning the truth from exaggeration, but knowing Sark, all of the above was quite possible. After receiving the package announcing Lith''s wedding, the ambassadors and even Jirni had their ess to the Desert revoked.

    There was no way to confirm or deny any of those rumors and asking their spies to investigate gossip would have been a waste of resources. Something they couldn''t afford with the current state of the War of the Griffons.

    The Council had resolved to help the Royals in battle and things were going much better, but Thrud kept advancing. Her troops were immortal and fought until turned into shreds whereas the Awakened cared a lot about their lives and preferred to retreat to fight another day than die.

    "We need to take out the Golden Griffon or this war will never end." Meron said to Raagu.

    The Council and the Royal Court were assembled in Valeron''s War Room to n their next course of action. The good thing about their new allies was that thanks to the Awakened''s help, the Royals had uprooted all the Thralls in the pce, leaving Orpal no spies.

    "Yeah, that''s why it was a terrible move to drive Verhen away." The human representative snarled. "It takes the whole Council to take down a single lost city and he destroyed two by himself.

    "On top of that, the Golden Griffon is nothing like the other lost cities. It moves, defends itself, and is heavily guarded."

    "Verhen''s banishment wasn''t part of our n!" Sylpha snarled. "More importantly, why didn''t you ask him how he destroys lost cities? Didn''t Verhen share his secrets with you?"

    "Why would he do that?" Every mage in the room looked at the Queen like a madwoman.

    "Point taken." She sighed. "Can''t you at least contact him? Ask him for suggestions?"

    "No." Fe replied. "Sark has cut off allmunications. She says she doesn''t want to be bothered and neither does her family. Worst case scenario, we have to hold out for a month."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, city of Othre, Orpal''s underground pce.

    "This wasn''t part of the n!" The Dead King screamed over and over every time he read one of the outrageous reports he received from the Desert.

    Raaz had survived, his family now lived in the Supreme Pce, Lith was happily married, and he would soon rule the Desert. On top of that, the Kingdom still refused to put on auction the Verhen''s home and Mansion.

    As for the silver mines, Lith had a partner in the business.

    This Zolgrish not only had imed full ownership, defending his property from the Kingdom with a battalion ofwyers, but he had also somehow gotten rid of the assassins that Orpal had sent to kill him.

    Little did the Dead King know that Inxialot had included his apprentice''s mines in the deal with the Royals and that there was no person in the Undead Courts, not even his Chosen, who could take on a Lich in his ownb.

    Zolgrish weed the assassins like a hungry dog with a camion of cheeseburgers. He had no idea why someone was so kind to keep sending him fresh batches of specimens.

    He could have easily investigated the phenomenon, but he forgot about the matter as he forgot about anything else.

    "I didn''t stop him from marrying a two-bits princess to make him an Overlord!" Orpal tossed and trashed the high-end furniture of his room in his frenzy. "He was supposed to be at the lowest point of his life.

    "To know nothing but despair like I did for over ten years! Not to have the time of his life!"

    Night couldn''t answer him since Baba Yaga''s seal kept her from hurting Lith even in an indirect way. She couldn''t calm Orpal down, couldn''t help him with his ns nor their execution.

    "Let''s see how many people are left on the list." He took out a piece of paper with the names of those he had sent a Balkor card to. "Marth never gets out of the academy. Maybe I could target his wife and his half-breed son.

    "Wanemyre is single and she doesn''te out either. Vastor-" At that name, a fear so intense coursed through Night''s crystal that Orpal''s mouth dried.

    The Horseman still remembered their two previous encounters and how badly the Master had beaten her. Sure, back then Orpal was much weaker and she hadn''t used her steed.

    Yet she knew that Zogar Vastor had held back as well. She had reyed the fight countless times with her eidetic memory and the result was always the same. The Master had yed with Night the whole time.

    Like an athlete facing an insignificant opponent, he had just bided his time to put up a show for the audience and not reveal his true power. The Horseman knew of Vastor''s Abomination powers since the day of the failed attack on Zinya and they scared her to death.

    Tezka would have killed her one hundred times if only he had known about the crystal, their only weak point. Now that the identity of the copycat had been revealed, both Tezka and Vastor knew where to strike. One Chaos spell and her eternal life would end.

    "Vastor is not a worthy opponent. He is just a pathetic, fat, old man." Orpal said, hiding his fear behind spite. "The Ernas sisters I want them alive. Orion is always surrounded by guards¡­"

    While drumming his fingers on the table, Jirni''s business card caught his attention.

 Chapter 1898 Necessary Adjustments (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1898 Necessary Adjustments (Part 2)</h4>

    ''That woman is weak, but her family is very dangerous.'' Night said, d that Orpal had picked the easiest target again.

    He needed a confidence boost and the Horseman could help him. Jirni was just a human, she wasn''t a Verhen nor did she live in Lutia.

    "Agreed. We need a solid n, like usual." Orpal nodded. "Jirni Ernas is the reason I failed getting back in my mother''s grace. She treated me like garbage and protected that Yehval wench from my subordinates.

    "She''s the one who''s fighting for Leech in the Court. Once she''s dead, he''ll never return to the Kingdom and what he owns will finally belong to me."

    ***

    Meanwhile, back to the beach.

    The second day of the honeymoon went by like the first. Lith taught Kam how to swim, then they would spend the time during lunch catching up on the lost time. The couple would get back home for the afternoon nap and return to the beachter.

    On the third day, they started to feel bored of that routine so they went to Yrma for dinner. The city was a lovely ce, its buildings made of red bricks that shone under the sunset, making Yrma look as if the sun had set it aze.

    That and the ocean made thendscape magical.

    As Sark had promised, once they had shown her insignia, the people of Yrma had treated them like Royals and had been caring hosts. The food was great as well and Lith was happy not having to cook for once.

    They spent the night in a hotel built on a hill from where they could watch the sleeping city from above. When the moon set, its light and that reflecting on the ocean painted the city silver.

    "Your Grandma sure picked for us a romantic ce." Kam enjoyed the cold air of the Desert''s nights because it allowed them to embrace each other without sweating bullets like it happened during the day.

    "Yep. We must definitely spend a bit of time here and visit more than the restaurants." He chuckled.

    The following day, Lith received a pleasant surprise. Kam had woken up before him and had prepared breakfast for both of them, serving it in bed. No one else in the Desert knew his recipe for the pancakes or the hot chocte cream she had covered them with.

    "I asked permission to use the kitchen for a while and they reluctantly agreed. The chef looked at me like I was trying to kill her baby." She chuckled. "Yet she didn''t dare defy Sark''s seal."

    "Let me guess, her attitude changed when she saw the result of your work." Lith said.

    "She wanted the recipe but I sent her off. No one steals my husband''s secrets." She arranged the trays and their holders for both of them before joining him back in the bed.

    "To what do I owe this delicious surprise?" Lith took a bite and the taste was as good as if he had prepared the pancakes himself.

    "No reason. I just wanted to be the one to pamper you for once." She replied while enjoying the fruits of her work. "Also, I thought we could use something sweet before facing a bitter topic."

    "What do you mean?" He asked.

    "Lith, I noticed how you reacted when Selia mentioned your father and Solus." She put down her cutlery, taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her.

    "I don''t care how many times I''ll have to repeat that I love you to make it sink into that thick skull of yours, I''ll continue until you start behaving like they are more than just sweet words.

    "I love you, Lith Verhen, with all my heart. When something troubles you, you don''t hide it from me. You don''t lie about it to me. You tell me and let me share it with you. Whatever happens to you happens to me.

    "Loving someone is about sharing your happiness to double it and your misery to halve it. Otherwise, you are better off single, dealing only with your own problems." Kam borrowed Zinya''s words after giving them her own spin.

    Lith put his own cutlery down as well and told her about what had happened between Solus and Bytra during Vastor''s wedding. Then, he told Kam about how deep Solus'' trauma was and the distress it caused her.

    "Good gods, poor Solus. Mogar sure is cruel for putting Bytra and Solus together during my sister''s wedding. Zinya''s happiest day must have been Solus'' worst." Kam said.

    "Indeed." Lith nodded. "Also, there''s something else you should know."

    Then, he told her about the tortures that Orpal had inflicted on Raaz and the pitiful state he had been to that very day. How his cracked psyche could barely function, needing Sark''s presence just to have a semnce of normality.

    "Does he really not know that Trion is al- I mean, one of your Demons?" She asked.

    "No. Trion asked me to hide it from Dad. He thinks that Dad is too weak to face his dead son. That if Dad knows how Trion died, his condition will worsen. I agree with him." Lith nodded.

    "Well, this kind of ruins our honeymoon, but I can''t stand the people I love suffering while I spend my days having fun and eating delicious food." Kam took a bite, discovering that everything had gone cold.

    "Do you mind heating them?" She asked and Lith made the breakfast steaming again with a wave of his hand. "Thanks. Also, what do you say if we go back home right after breakfast and invite Solus to spend the day with us?"

    "Really? During our honeymoon?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Lith, I know how important she is to you. I never thought that after we married Solus would magically disappear." She replied with a serious yet sweet tone. "She''s now important to me as well and if she needs our help, we have to give it to her."

    "Gods, Kami. I don''t deserve you." Lith wrapped his arms around her before kissing her.

    "Good. Never forget that." She kissed him back, giving him a warm smile. "Now finish your damn breakfast because I worked hard for it and I don''t want it to get cold again."

    "Yes, ma''am." He replied with a chuckle, giving her the salute.

    ***

    Once they paid the bill, Lith Warped them back to the cottage. He walked right in the middle of the mana geyser, eager to put Sark''s words to the test.

    ''After all, the tower is a part of me as well. I should be able to mark the mana geyser by myself and allow the tower to Warp here.'' He thought.

    Lith ced his hand on the ground, activating Demon Grasp to absorb as much world energy as he could until he became one with it.

    Then, he felt something click inside of him where the bond with Solus was.

    ''Come to me, please.''

    She answered his call, Warping with the tower and walking through the door with her weapons in hand.

    "Where is the enemy?" Solus asked after noticing that aside from seagulls, there was no one around.

    "There is no enemy." Lith replied, holding her hands and using their mind link to show her his conversation with Kam over breakfast. "We just wanted to make sure that you are alright."

    That "we" struck Solus harder than any punch she had ever taken.

 Chapter 1899 Three is a Crowd (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1899 Three is a Crowd (Part 1)</h4>

    Solus was used being the other half of that "we". She and Lith had been the only "we" for over fifteen years and now Kam had taken it from her. Solus looked at the woman that waited in front of the house, keeping herself at a distance to give them the space and time they needed.

    Solus found herself envying Kam deeply.

    Not because of her long legs or because she looked amazing in a bikini. Nor because Kam looked as youthful as an Awakened thanks to Jirni''s training, Sark''s Rebirth Magic, and the happiness of the recent days.

    But because she could feel through her bond with Lith that whenever he looked at Kam, he didn''t see her worries, he wasn''t afflicted by her burden. All he felt from her was her love and care.

    Theck of a magical connection put a distance between them, but at the same time made their intimate knowledge of each other precious instead of taking it for granted.

    Once Solus realized there was no threat at hand and how happy Lith was, she understood there was no ce for her there.

    "I''m fine, thank you. I wish you a happy honeymoon." Her warm smile didn''t extend to her eyes as she turned around to walk back into the tower.

    "Actually, being always just the two of us is bing boring so we were wondering if you wanted to spend the day with us for a change." Kam said, making Solus freeze in ce.

    "Really?" She asked with a dazzling smile to Kam first and then to Lith.

    Once both of them nodded, Solus hugged him with joy. She felt as if she had been stuck underwater until that moment and could now breathe again.

    Their bond soothed her tormented mind, making her feel at peace. At the same time, his core flooded her with new strength, allowing both the tower''s and Solus'' core to repair themselves faster than ever.

    It was the first contact they had since Lith had gained the violet core and she could tell that her recovery speed had further increased. Solus also understood how dependent she was on Lith, both physically and psychologically.

    How she still had a long way to go before bing her own person. Yet Solus didn''t care. In that moment, she was too happy for having found her sun again to worry about such a trifling matter.

    At the same time, Kam never took her eyes off her, noticing how deep their bond was and how desperate Solus was for help. The traces of fatigue disappeared from her face at a speed visible to the naked eye, her pale skin turned glossy, and her bloodshot eyes went back to normal.

    Seeing what had happened to Solus just for being away from Lith for a few days in such a dramatic moment of her life, strengthened Kam''s resolve.

    "Could you please wear a swimsuit, Solus?" She asked. "Seeing you dressed while I wear a bikini makes me feel stupid."

    Solus nodded and after letting Lith go, she shapeshifted her day dress into a swimsuit identical to Kam''s to have a matching set.

    Solus envied Kam, but the Constable returned the feeling in full. Kam envied Solus'' strength, her magical talent, and her deep bond with Lith that she had no idea if she would be ever be able to match.

    Solus shared with him many passions that Kam didn''t and most of all, she could follow him on the battlefield, where there was no ce for a mere human.

    Also, Kam envied Solus because she looked amazing in a bikini. The two women had more or less the same curves, but on someone so petite they looked softer, rounder, and bigger.

    ''Just focus on her belly and repeat to yourself that you have a four-pack abs.'' Kam inwardly sighed. ''If it''s not enough to cate your ego, then get over it.''

    Lith could feel how famished Solus'' body was for his energy so he kept holding her hand to hasten the recovery process. Then, she noticed Kam''s faint re and offered her his other hand.

    "I''m sorry, darling." He didn''t give her any exnation and there was no need for it.

    Him noticing her distress and realizing that he was the source of it was enough.

    They walked to the house and then gave Solus a tour. She was enthusiastic of the ce and of its countless enchantments. She used the Eyes of Menadion to study every nook and cranny, trying to unveil at least one of Sark''s secrets.

    "Wow, there are two bedrooms here." Solus said with a casual tone while looking at her hosts.

    "Yeah, it''s a really nice guest room." Kam replied, pretending to have conveniently missed Solus'' subtext. "Nowe, there''s still a lot left to see."

    Lith was careful to avoid the crossfire and feign ignorance of what was happening.

    ''Kam already made a huge step inviting Solus during the honeymoon. Asking more for her would be just in cruel.'' He thought.

    After the tour of the house, they went back to the beach where Lith had a new student for his swimming lessons. Solus had always loved the sea, but her body had no muscr memory from her previous experience.

    She still had Lith''s memories about swimming, but knowing and doing were two different things. On top of that, if she focused too much on her movements, she would lose control over gravity fusion and plummet like a brick.

    "By my Mom, I had forgotten how much I like swimming." Solus said with a bright smile that reminded Kam of her own during their first day there.

    "I''m sorry, but didn''t you recover your human body during the first stay in the Desert?" She asked while they were sitting on a hard-light floating tform. "Why didn''t you go to the sea at the time and why do you have no tan?

    "I mean the mana geyser sure was already here and you spent over a month in the Desert."

    "You are right, but back then there was so much work to do that there was no time to waste with a vacation." Solus replied, lowering her gaze in embarrassment.

    Kam red at Lith for hisck of consideration toward his partner, before remembering that he had no idea of how to have fun without her. What made him a great mage also made him a cold machine.

    "It''s not Lith''s fault." Solus had misunderstood Kam''s worried look. "I was like that even before bonding with him. Mom always scolds us because we are too simr."

    She chuckled, but realizing how they also had a bad influence on each other, made Kam not be so envious of their bond anymore.

    By lunchtime, Solus swam as well as Kam and had worked up quite an appetite. Between her depression and missing Lith''s cooking, during the past few days, she hadn''t eaten much.

    Solus looked at the many steaming tes in front of her and decided it was time to catch up. Kam was bbergasted seeing someone eating almost as much as Lith. The intense sun of the Desert fed his Abomination side with warmth and sunlight, reducing his need for food, yet he still ate way more than a human.

 Chapter 1900 Three is a Crowd (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1900 Three is a Crowd (Part 2)</h4>

    "I''m sorry. I forgot you never saw me eating." Solus said while switching her stance from that of a famished troll to that of ady. "The tower still needs a lot of repairs and I a lot of nutrients."

    "Right, the tower." Lith sneered, his voice full of sarcasm. "Then why do you eat food instead of bricks and mortar? Is this a storage dimensional space then?"

    He poked at her belly, making her turn beet red and Kamugh.

    "Stop making me look like a ravenous glutton!" Solus said in embarrassment.

    "You don''t need any help for that. Or are you nning to skip dessert?" Lith made a tray with big bowls of ice cream covered in hot chocte pass under her nose.

    Steaming chocte chip cookies spread their fragrance, ready to be used to scoop the dessert instead of spoons. There were lots of them and were Solus'' favorites.

    She looked around like a trapped animal, caught between her sweet tooth and her pride. She knew that if she got her hands on a bowl, she would be unable to keep up appearances.

    "I''m d to see you two in such a good mood." Kam chuckled while they brought the empty tes away and made room for the dessert. "There are a couple of things that I want to discuss."

    Suddenly, the siren made of ice cream stopped singing in Solus'' ears and she clenched her teeth, preparing for the blow.

    ''First something good, then something bad. It''s the rule of life.'' She dryly thought.

    "Solus, I know of your bond with Lith, but this is still our honeymoon." Kam''s words made Solus'' stomach churn and her eyes look at the door, expecting to be thrown out at any moment.

    "I was thinking that you coulde here every other day. This way, we would get some alone time and you would receive regr nourishment." Solus'' and Lith''s eyes went wide at her offer.

    "Really?" Solus said in amazement. "Can I stay here half the time?"

    "Really." Kam took her small hands in her own, smiling. "When I proposed to Lith, I knew that in a way, I was marrying you as well. I never nned or even thought of driving you away.

    "I know how important you are to my husband and that makes you important to me as well. We need to spend time together and know each other better. What do you say?"

    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Solus jumped with joy, holding Kam''s hand with both of her own, as if she was epting a marriage proposal.

    She had actually feared that Kam would have been jealous of her and that she would have tried to keep away the other women that had been hanging around Lith until that moment.

    "Hold your Dragons, there are rules in this house." Kam said and Solus reced the jumping with a frenzied nodding.

    "You can stay from breakfast to dinner. Spending the night here is a no-go. I want to keep our privacy and make full use of the most romantic time of the day." Solus nodded for her to continue.

    "Also, no magic, no mind links, no work, no Invigoration. This is a vacation and you two are both work-addicts. I don''t want you to make a breakthrough in some branch of magic and make me feel left out the whole time.

    "I''m no mage. Try to remember it and to involve me in your conversations." Kam said.

    "Yes, Mom." Solus pouted.

    Then, after noticing Kam''s re, she quickly added.

    "I mean, yes, Kami. Kam."

    "Kami is fine." She replied with a sigh.

    Solus'' reaction had matched Lith''s, making Kam feel as if she was about to have her hands full with two kids on a sugar rush.

    "Thest thing I wanted to discuss with you is the matter of Trion and Raaz." Kam said.

    "What about it?" Lith asked.

    "I''ve seen plenty of victims in my line of job. Torture means taking away someone''s dignity, their self-confidence, and making them understand that they have no control over their lives anymore.

    "A good torturer humiliates their victim, destroying the certainties they had their whole life and breaking their mind along with the body." Kam said, not proud of the way she had gained such expertise.

    "If Night is even half as good as Jirni, I can easily imagine what Meln must have put Raaz through."

    "What''s your point?" Lith asked.

    "My point is that by coddling him all the time you are doing him no favor. The more you treat Raaz like a child needing protection and make all the important decisions for him, the longer he will be haunted by the feeling of helplessness.

    "You need to tell him the truth. Treat him like the person he was instead of a victim. Let him choose what he wants or doesn''t want to do." Kam replied.

    "Are you sure it''s the right thing to do?" Solus bit her lower lip in distress.

    She had spent a lot of time with Raaz and she knew how his psyche was hanging by a feather.

    "Yes, I am." Kam nodded. "It will show him that you don''t think any less of him for what he''s gone through. Victims always me themselves, thinking that somehow it''s their fault for being captured.

    "Also, making this decision will strengthen his resolve. Raaz needs to know the truth and realize that he''s not alone. Of how many people Orpal hurt, even his own brother.

    "The experience will be traumatic, but if he gets the support of his family, it might help him take a step forward."

    "Trion?" Lith asked his shadow, who materialized in the form of his dead brother.

    "Yes, my liege?"

    "Cut the crap. This is a family issue. This is about you and our father. It''s the reason I conjured you and let you listen to the conversation." Lith said. "I want your opinion as well. I''m not going to force you to do anything."

    "Thanks." Trion gave him a deep bow, but Lith stopped him.

    "I''m not doing this for you, but for Mom and Dad. They''d notice your reluctance and be hurt at the idea that I''m abusing my authority. I''m not you. I care for them." Lith''s words stung, but Trion preferred his honesty to a fake smile.

    "I think Lady Verhen is right-"

    "For the gods'' sake, call me Kam. Dead or not, you are my brother-inw." She cut him short.

    Being called liked that, her voice without any pity for his condition, made Trion feel human and a part of the family again.

    "I think that Kami is right-"

    "Don''t push it." Lith''s eyes zed with violet fury. "The right to use such moniker must be earned."

    "Fine!" Trion snorted in exasperation. "Kam is right, but I''m afraid. Not only that I might make Dad''s condition worse, but also to face him. Let''s be honest, I''ve been a self-important asshole most of my life.

    "The entire family gave up on me after I refused to answer your calls and letters. Mom was the only one who never stopped trying and I''ve made her cry countless times."

    "Yeah, you are an asshole." Lith nodded.

    "A piece of work." Solus said.

    "A total jackass." Kam agreed.

    Trion looked at the two women with wide eyes. He could understand Lith''s scorn, but after being weed as her brother-inw he had hoped to garner at least Kam''spassion.

 Chapter 1901 Three is a Crowd (Part 3)

    <h4>Chapter 1901 Three is a Crowd (Part 3)</h4>

    "What''s important is that you''ve recognized your mistakes." Lith said. "Now the question is, do you think you can conquer your fears for Dad''s sake?"

    "I have to." Trion replied. "I owe Dad that much. I''m tired of being the ck sheep of the family. They don''t need a second Orpal."

    "Meln." Solus corrected him.

    "Right. Have a nice dinner." Trion disappeared in Lith''s shadow, but the mood remained gloomy for a while.

    Then, the peaceful night''s breeze and Solus'' love for sweets overwhelmed her worries and she went back to being a famished troll, hogging all the cookies.

    The three of them took a stroll on the beach, with Solus between Lith and Kam. She avoided taking Lith''s other hand to show her confidence in herself and in their rtionship.

    Solus wondered if she would have been able to do the same while also feeling like a child holding her parents'' hands.

    "I guess this is a goodbye." Solus dragged the sand in front of the tower with one of her feet.

    "See you in two days." Kam waved her hand, eager to get some alone time after such a tiring day.

    "Are you still having nightmares?" Lith asked.

    "Yes." Solus had a dejected look on her face. "I hate the night. It''s when I''m left alone with all the ghosts that haunt this tower. I''m supposed to love it since it''s part of my mother''s legacy, but it''s also the ce where my friends and I died.

    "Sleeping in there is creepy."

    "Then why don''t you sleep in your own private quarters?" Kam asked.

    "Because with Lith away, I can''t regain my strength. Without him, I can''t work nor get too far away from the tower because every bit of energy I lose is gone until I get near him.

    "Keeping my human body takes a lot of energy and the tower is still heavily damaged."

    She stared at Kam with the longing eyes of a puppy abandoned on a sidewalk.

    ''Why did I ask?'' Kam inwardly kicked herself.

    "Do you want to stay the night?" She actually said.

    "Yes!" Solus nodded and then bolted inside the house before Kam could change her mind.

    Lith was shocked by her generosity, but even then, he couldn''t have predicted how the events would unfold.

    Solus shapeshifted her evening dress into loose pajamas and went to the guest room after wishing them a good night.

    "Thanks." Lith said after closing the door of their bedroom. "You have no idea how much this means to Solus and me."

    "Sure, just don''t make it a habit." Kam sighed. "Gods, those sad eyes should be banned as tier one Forbidden Magic. I made the rules just a few hours ago and I was the first to break them."

    "Still, I admire you for yourpassion." Lith said with a warm smile. "Bytra''s revtions left a deep trauma on Solus. Those events may date back 700 years ago, but it''s yesterday for her."

    "Sure." She said with an unconvinced tone. "Let''s get to sleep. I can''t wait for this day to be over."

    "Wouldn''t you like to-"

    "Heck no!" She cut him off. "I don''t know if the rooms are soundproof and even if they are, I''m too afraid of your mind link sharing any detail. I don''t feelfortable making love while Solus is under our same roof."

    Lith couldn''t me Kam for her paranoia, but he still shrugged off her worries as groundless.

    That was until the door of their room opened less than an hourter and a crying sleepwalking Solus found her way into the bed. Even at a room of distance, Lith was close enough to calm her down, making her fall asleep, while their bond had allowed her to pinpoint his position.

    ''What the fuck is going on?'' Kam asked via a mind link that Lith had created.

    ''Beats me. This has never happened before.'' The situation was getting more awkward by the second as Solus crawled under the bedsheets, emerging right in-between them.

    Luckily, the bed was big enough for all three of them, allowing Lith and Kam to slide by the side to make room for Solus.

    Kam''s eyes went wide and her back stiffened as she expected the unwanted guest to strip or jump on Lith.

    ''Solus tends to hug people in her sleep, there''s nothing to be jealous about if that happens.'' Lith said, making her worries grow.

    Kam gritted her teeth and needed all of Jirni''s teachings to not let her emotions get the best of her. She had to repress several rude thoughts and the wish of kicking her own ass for allowing Solus to stay.

    ''This is great! I have another woman in my bed during my honeymoon and you ask me to not be jealous if she spends the whole night hugging you. Do you really expect me to sleep when we don''t know what she might do-''

    Contrary to her expectations, Solus turned around and embraced Kam instead. Solus snuggled up to her, burying her face into Kam''s chest while mumbling one word.

    "Mom." Solus said as a tear streaked down her cheek.

    That and her sniffling made Kam''s anger pop like a bubble.

    ''Good gods, I hadpletely failed to consider who I''m dealing with. Solus and Lith are identical. They both had their childhood ruined by a traumatic event and had to grow up fast.'' Kam thought.

    ''When Lith bonded with Solus, she was back to being a baby. Pure, na?ve, and in need of affection. He has never mistreated her, yet he didn''t give Solus the care she needed either. She grew up alone and without love again.

    ''Learning what Bytra did to her mother must have sent her mind back to when Threin died in front of her. Solus''ck of affection runs deep yet she is now too old to ask Raaz and Elina the attentions she seeks, but in her sleep she''s honest.

    ''She has already lost her parents once and the fear of losing Raaz to madness only makes things worse.''

    "Shush." Kam whispered in Solus'' ear while returning her embrace and caressing her head. "Mommy''s here. It was just a bad dream."

    Solus mumbled some gibberish in reply and stopped crying.

    After a few minutes, her breathing calmed down and she fell into a deep sleep, yet she refused to let go of Kam.

    ''Thanks.'' Lith said, moving closer to them.

    ''You are wee.'' She inwardly sighed. ''I''ll consider this practice for when our kids will barge in our room in the middle of the night after a nightmare.''

    "Dad?" Solus asked, feeling a familiar presence beside her.

    In her mind, she was reliving the memory of when she slept with her parents. It happened every time Elphyn had a bad dream or just felt lonely.

    "You are a big girl, Epphy. You are already five years old. Mom and Dad wanted to cuddle." Threin used the code word for sex.

    "You can cuddle Mom and me and I can cuddle you." Elphyn begged him with her big eyes while Menadion hurriedly dressed behind her back.

    Threin inhaled sharply, cursing the gods for not giving children the ability to sleep a full night or at least read the mood.

    "Elphyn, when two adults cuddle, they need to be alone." He said.

 Chapter 1902 Three is a Crowd (Part 4)

    <h4>Chapter 1902 Three is a Crowd (Part 4)</h4>

    "Why?" Solus asked in confusion. "Can''t I cuddle you like Mom?"

    "For the gods'' sake, no! I mean, you''ll understand when you grow up." Threin had to drop the argument since Menadion''s re was about to drill a hole in his head. "Fine, you can stay.

    "But tomorrow you must be a good girl and stay in your room until sunrise. Promise?"

    "Promise, daddy." Elphyn moved toward him but the now dressed Ripha dragged the child to her bosom, giving her husband the opportunity to wear something as well.

    That night, Solus'' memory of when she embraced her mother and Threin embraced them both, took ce in a different time, ce, and with different people. Just like in the past, she felt loved, protected, and safe.

    And she wasn''t the only one.

    Kam woke up often due to the unusual circumstances, noticing that Solus didn''t struggle in her sleep and Lith didn''t shapeshift. She understood how much they both had lost during their childhood and figured out another important missing piece in Lith''s life.

    ***

    "You know that I''m a married woman, don''t you?" Kam asked as Solus buried her face deep in the softness of Kam''s bosom to shield her eyes from sunlight.

    The morning hade and Lith had opened the windows and pulled the curtains to get his wife back.

    "Kami?" Only then did Solus realize that she wasn''t pressing her face into a pillow and that her hands were actually grabbing a pair of buttocks.

    She instantly woke up, looking around and discovering she had spent the night in a different room from the one she had fallen asleep into.

    "Quick, hide in the bathroom! What would Lith say if he found us like this?" Kam pointed at the door, her tone and expression matching the gravity of the situation.

    Solus nodded and rushed into the other room, trying to understand what could have possibly happened while she was unconscious.

    ''By my Mom, what have I done? I''ve ruined Lith''s honeymoon and maybe his marriage. How can I exin to him that I-'' She was biting her nails in frustration when she heard a burst ofughter from the other room.

    Two people were having the fun of their lives and didn''t even bother to keep their voices down.

    "Wait a minute! I don''t know how I ended up here, but you were here all along." She pointed her finger at Lith who wasughing his ass off.

    Tears streaked from his eyes as he clenched his belly, gasping for air.

    "This is my bedroom and she is my wife." Lith replied amidughs. "Where else would I be?"

    Solus opened her mouth to reply but then she started worrying about what she might have done and looked down. She was still wearing her pajamas and so were Lith and Kam.

    "Now that you had a goodugh at my expense, do you mind telling me how I got here?" Solus sighed in relief.

    "There''s not much to tell." Kam shrugged. "Last night, while Lith and I were having a moment, you sleepwalked in our room and then you forced your way between us. Luckily, our armor can get on and off with but a thought."

    She lied through her teeth to make sure that Solus wouldn''t be so willing to spend the night at the cottage again. Kam''s acting scared Lith and would have made Jirni proud. If he didn''t know better, he would have believed her.

    "I''m so sorry." Solus said, turning to a bright shade of purple. "I promise you that it won''t happen again."

    "It''s fine, don''t worry." Kam said with a warm smile of satisfaction for the mission aplished.

    "By the way, you ignored me and went straight to Kami." Lith said. "Is it because you prefer a woman''s chest or did you need the mommy treatment?"

    "First, I don''t think of Kami that way!" Solus replied in outrage.

    ''Maybe.'' She actually thought, the softness of the buttocks still lingering on her hands.

    "Second, I''m not a baby-" Her voice died as the word triggered the memory of her dream.

    Solus could remember it down to the smallest detail, even things that as a child she had missed. She could now easily decipher the grown-ups'' secret code and smiled sadly at her own naivety as a baby. Threin''s words now made sense.

    Her mind could see the times she had barged into her parents'' room, finding them without clothes in spite of the coldest winter. Her childish questions always received the most imusible excuses, but she never actually listened as long as she got her spot in the bed.

    "I''m a big baby." Solus sighed and sat on the bed.

    Then, she told them about the dream and how safe it had made her feel.

    "I thought that recovering my memories would have made me feel better, but learning of my father''s death left a hole in my heart." Solus dangled her short legs in the air.

    "Then, after Bytra told me what she had done to Mom, another hole opened. Since we almost lost Raaz, I''m always scared of losing my family again. Of remaining alone. I bet that I came here for Lith, but then I must have mistaken Kami for my mother.

    "Gods, I''m such a useless adult. At my age, I still need to sleep with my parents."

    "Stop beating yourself up, Solus." Kam said, d to have understood the root of her problem. "You went through a lot recently and you have lost a lot. There''s nothing shameful in a moment of weakness."

    "Did you at least sleep well?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, very." Solus felt her body brimming with energy and her mind lighter than it had been in months. "Did I hurt you or throw a fit in my sleep?"

    "No." Kam replied. "You and Lith both slept like logs. He didn''t shapeshift once nor did he kick the bed."

    Sark''s cottage was made to withstand the passion of Guardians. A few hits from a Tiamat were nothing to its sturdy enchantments.

    "Really?" They asked in unison.

    "Really." Kam nodded. "You missed your parents while Lith never knew that kind of affection. In the end, no harm no foul and you both had a serene night''s rest."

    Solus pondered her words, realizing how much Lith had lost as a child on Earth and Mogar as well. Then, an idea dawned in her mind.

    "You know, I feel that between the months since myst breakthrough and the improved nourishment from Lith''s violet core, the tower is close to finishing repairing another set of floors." Solus kept her tone as casual as possible.

    "If I reach the blue core before we hunt down Meln, our chances of killing him will greatly increase."

    "Sure." Lith shrugged. "If your mana core and the tower''s power core recover, there''s no telling how much ourbined prowess will improve."

    Kam red at him, having already understood where Solus'' reasoning was going.

    "We already passed the awkward moment. What if I also remain for the night when Ie to visit? I mean, there''s no harm in a sleepover, and Lith and I got great benefit from it." Solus asked.

    "Over my dead body!" Kam blurted out, quickly adjusting her tone after noticing Lith''s and Solus'' hurt expressions. "I mean, we''ll talk about this another time. I''m starving and I need breakfast."

 Chapter 1903 The Monster You Feed (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1903 The Monster You Feed (Part 1)</h4>

    Solus nodded and rushed to the dining room. She was starving as well and couldn''t wait for the delicious homemade food. Kam saw there was no malice in her words, just a desperate need for affection.

    "As soon as she leaves, you and I are going to talk. This is still our honeymoon. Maybe sleeping in the same bed with two women was funny for you, but not for me." She said while tapping her finger on Lith''s chest.

    "I thought you wanted to bring Trion to see Dad today." Lith tilted his head in confusion.

    Seeing that there was no malice in his eyes either, only love for her and bewilderment for her usation, Kam decided that they indeed needed to talk.

    ''I may be a tad jealous, but Lith''s way too dense. I''m okay with his bond with Solus, but we need to set boundaries.'' She thought.

    "Not today." A kind smile broke on her face. "I just went through a lot. I need time to recover from my sleepless night. We''ll go tomorrow, if it''s okay with you, Solus."

    "Okay." She actually didn''t like the idea of spending her precious time with Lith that way, but after what she had done and asked, it was the least she could do for the newlyweds. "I''m still hungry."

    "Move that ass and make us something good." Kam pped Lith''s buttock. "Make mine extra sweet. I had a troubled night and an even more troubled awakening."

    ***

    The rest of the day passed uneventful, with Kam giving Lith his first earful as a married man. She pointed out how mystical bond or not, Solus was still a stranger to her.

    Kam wanted to get acquainted with her husband''s other half, but she also wanted to keep their own space. Especially during the honeymoon.

    The following morning, they were fully rested and ready to help Raaz however he might need.

    They went to Sark''s pce at sunrise, to pick up Solus and meet Lith''s parents. Much to their surprise, thepass that the Overlord had given them on the first day of their honeymoon was nopass at all.

    It opened a hidden wall, revealing a fully operational Warp Gate that led to any location in the Blood Desert, including the pce.

    "Why didn''t you tell us earlier?" Kam asked when she found Sark waiting for them on the other side.

    "Because I didn''t want to bother you, sweetie." The Guardian said while embracing them both. "Now that you know that my pce is just a step away, you will feel tempted toe here just like your rtives will be tempted to visit you.

    "I didn''t want anyone or anything to disturb you two until you decided otherwise."

    Suddenly, the thought of Aran and Leria bursting through the Gate at will sent a cold shiver down Lith''s spine. The kids would have loved the beach, wouldn''t mind their rtives in swimsuits, and getting rid of them would be nigh-impossible.

    "Let''s keep this between us, Grandma. If someone asks, Solus picked us up." Lith said.

    "As you wish." Sark chuckled. "When you feel ready for visitors, let me know. I could use a bit of sunbathing andpany. Unless the sight of my swollen body bothers you, of course."

    Lith looked at Kam for the answer. He had no issue with other people hanging around in skimpy clothes nor letting them see him in trunks.

    "You will be most wee." Kam replied.

    She couldn''t regard Sark as anything but a loving parent. Even though Kam was still embarrassed about wearing a bikini, she was certain that neither she nor her husband would be a novelty for someone like the Guardian who was millennia old.

    After that, they went to greet Elina and Raaz who were already up for breakfast. Lith''s father had dark bags under his bloodshot eyes, having been sleeping little and poorly. Whenever he closed his eyes, Raaz found himself trapped in the Hogum''s household.

    He would scream while trying to break free from the phantom chains at his legs and arms, readying to fight an enemy that wasn''t there.

    "Back already?" Raaz did his best to smile and act normal. "You should appreciate your life more. Back in the day, your mother and I couldn''t afford a honeymoon."

    Lith felt his father shivering as they touched. Instead of hugging him and checking that Lith was alright as usual, Raaz just hurriedly patted his shoulder and stepped back.

    "You shouldn''t have brought Lith back, Kam. His mother will never let you go again." Raaz extended his hand that was sweaty and twitchy.

    Kam could see the sheer willpower that Raaz needed just to keep up appearances, but feigned ignorance.

    "We both missed you guys. After a while, being alone on a beach bes really boring." She replied.

    "Do you want to stop for breakfast?" Elina''s eyes were tired and teary as well.

    She was relieved from seeing them again and having someone to share her burden with. She loved Raaz and seeing him slowly crumbling apart was killing her heart. He had shortly improved after the wedding, but it hadn''tsted long.

    Most of all, it was the feeling of helplessness that ate at her from the inside. Elina would have done everything to help her husband, no matter the price, yet there was nothing she could do unless he let her in.

    "Mom, Dad, sit down. We need to talk." Lith moved the chairs and projected the hologram of the events that Raaz still didn''t know about.

    Orpal had cut off the transmission in the interrogation room after the events had spiraled out of his control. He needed to keep his father on edge, not giving him hope.

    Raaz had watched everything until the moment Trion had popped out of Lith''s shadow and was still unaware of his presence.

    Lith used words and holograms to lessen the emotional impact on his father, keeping him from reliving the emotions of that terrible day. Yet Raaz trembled every time Orpal appeared.

    His face became green as his stomach churned, forcing him to puke more than once. Lith could have asked Sark to be there, but he wanted his father to face that hurdle without the crutch of the Guardian''s aura.

    As Kam had said, they had to stop treating him like a baby and Sark was the closest thing to a mother that Raaz had after she had saved his life.

    "Trion is alive?" Raaz said, half in anger and half in surprise.

    "No, he''s a Demon now, dear." Elina shook her head.

    "You know what I mean!" He yelled at her, his voice filled with cold anger. "All of you knew for all of this time and yet you kept me in the dark."

    "We did it for your own good, Dad." Rena said. "epting what happened to Trion was already hard for us. You weren''t in the condition to-"

    "What''s to ept?" Raaz snarled. "He had iting. Trion has always been an idiot and an asshole. I''m honestly surprised that he stuck around instead of bitching his way out. That''s a first."

    "Dear!" Elina turned pale at such cruel words.

    "Dear my ass!" He turned towards her, his face twisted in anger. "You lied to me. All of you did. You treated me like an idiot for all this time."

 Chapter 1904 The Monster You Feed (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1904 The Monster You Feed (Part 2)</h4>

    "Trion may be a shitty son, but I''m still his father. Before allowing him to stay, you should have asked my permission!" Raaz repeatedly poked at Lith''s chest in fury, uncaring for the broken nail he got from it and the bleeding it caused.

    Whoever the person in front of Lith was, he wasn''t Raaz Verhen. Not anymore.

    It was a wounded animal wearing his skin. A rabid beast that would bite anyone who came close to him, in the hope that spreading his disease would relieve his symptoms.

    Seeing how low the man he loved and respected had fallen, made Lith''s heart tighten. He felt terrible at the idea of having left his mother alone for so long, ignoring the problem while he spent his days happily with Kam.

    ''Thank you. If not for you, I would have let this fester, believing that Dad just needed time to recover. Thank you for being here with me.'' He said via a mind link while holding her hand and letting Raaz vent his anger.

    In that unexpected storm, she was once again his silver lining.

    ''That''s what family is for.'' She replied while squeezing his hand to give him strength.

    "You are right, Dad. I''m sorry for hiding it from you." Lith said, his eyes low like an unruly child scolded by his father.

    "You better be. Now bring that asshole here. I''ve waited years to give him a piece of my mind and I''m not going to wait one second longer!" Raaz said.

    The left feathered wing popped out of Lith''s back, revealing the red-veined ck feather bearing Trion''s rune. The sight triggered something deep inside Raaz''s mind. He instinctively recognized the mystical rune as the one he had named his son after.

    Yet it didn''t make him feel any better. Quite the contrary, the memory of the effort to find an auspicious name for their secondborn, just to receive so much pain from him made Raaz''s anger re again.

    A flick of Lith''s wrist conjured his brother, yet he didn''t look like a Demon. Trion was back to his human appearance, 1.65 meters (5''5") tall, his face simr to Raaz''s.

    He still wore his uniform of first lieutenant, the shadows thatposed his hair shaped like a military cut. If not for his features flickering in shades of ck and white, it would have been hard to believe that he was dead.

    "Hi, Dad." He said.

    "Don''t you dare call me dad!" Raaz replied. "You lost that right when you walked out of my home, our home. You have always been a failure of a son, a bastard who made his mother shed countless tears, but we were stupid enough to never stop loving you.

    "Tell me, young man, do you think that just because you are dead everything is forgiven? That you deserve a free pass for all the shit that you did while you were still alive just because for once you did the right thing?"

    The two men were about the same height, but while the older looked bigger due to the frenzy possessing him, the younger looked as small as a shameful child.

    "No. I don''t think so." Trion replied.

    "Well, look at that. It seems that death finally gave you a working brain and a heart." Raaz said with a voice full of sarcasm and spite. "When you were still alive, you were so stupid that you wasted years of your life indulging in self-pity.

    "You were so self-centered that you never bothered thinking about the pain you inflicted us. Saving your mother was a noble act, but it''s too little and toote. It doesn''t take much courage to step up when you have nothing to lose anymore.

    "It''s easy acting strong when you were just leeching your brother''s power!"

    Raaz hated the word "leech" because it reminded him of Orpal. Just saying it made his stomach twist into a knot, yet he couldn''t help himself. His wrath demanded retribution and using that word made him feel like he had finally switched positions.

    He was now like Orpal, finally in control, and Trion was Raaz. He could hear Elina''s sobs, but he didn''t care. He could see the faces of his children twisted with anguish at his frenzy, yet it didn''t matter to him.

    The old Raaz would have been horrified by the thing he had be, but the new one loved that feeling of empowerment. He was tired of being a helpless victim. He wanted to get ahold of his own life again and stop fearing his own shadow.

    Raaz just wanted that pain and humiliation that haunted him to end. He was willing to do anything, to sacrifice anyone just to make them stop, even if just for one minute.

    "You know what, little bastard? There are two words that describe your current condition: poetic justice! You had everything. Your mother and I gave you everything we had, even at the cost of having nothing ourselves.

    "And what did you do? You threw everything away and pushed your family out of your life. All because you were an insecure brat afraid of living his whole life under his brother''s shadow.

    "And that''s exactly where your foolish actions led you to. You are not Trion anymore. You are nothing! Just a shadow that wouldn''t even be able to show its disgusting face if not for the mercy of the man that you spent your life hating!"

    After yelling non-stop for so long, Raaz was out of breath and was forced to take a break. He could see the suffering that his words inflicted on his lost son, feeling poison dripping on his heart as he let his temper run wild.

    Yet it was a sweet poison that easily rolled off his tongue and made him feel better. The idea that Trion was and would always be in a much worse situation than his own made Raaz feel better about himself.

    "Well, mister Proudstar? What do you have to say in your defense? Are you going to me Lith again or do you prefer to pin it on your mother and me for not coddling your wounded ego enough?" He said once the silence grew longer than he could bear.

    "You are right." Trion finally rose his head and looked his father in the eyes.

    "What?" Raaz took a step back, the answer hit him like a p.

    "I said that you are right. I deserve everything that happened to me. To be honest, I think I got it too easy." Trion clenched his fist, taking deep breaths to find the strength to admit his mistakes.

    "During the past few days, while I slumbered inside Lith''s feather, I kept reliving the happiest and the saddest moments of my life in an endless cycle. They reminded me of who I am, of what I did, and why I can''t just die like I lived, like a coward.

    "No matter how many times I witness my life, the story is always the same.

    Every good memory I have, every happy thought I have left that gives me the strength to fight, belongs to when I was still a part of your family.

    "Even my career in the army wouldn''t have been possible if you didn''t feed and take care of me."

 Chapter 1905 Good Memories (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1905 Good Memories (Part 1)</h4>

    "You and Mom gave me the strong body that could endure the harshest training. It was you, Dad, who forced me to learn how to read and write, allowing me to pass the written exams to be a sergeant.

    "Everything bad that happened in my life, instead, was of my own doing. Every stupid decision I made, every attempt I made to get back at Lith, only brought me more pain and suffering.

    "I shouldn''t have messed with Phloria Ernas out of envy just like I shouldn''t have treated Mom so badly. Even after reaching adulthood, my mind remained that of a childish sore loser.

    "I know that empty words cannot make up for all the bad things I did to you and Mom, but it''s the only way I have to start. I''m sorry, Dad. I''m sorry for everything I''ve done.

    "As you said, it''s too little and toote, but if you give me another chance, I promise that I won''t disappoint you again. For whatever short time I have left, I promise that I''ll make you proud."

    That wasn''t the oue Raaz had been hoping for. He wanted Trion to yell back at him. To try and defend himself, giving Raaz the opportunity tosh out his righteous anger again.

    He gritted his teeth, looking in hatred at the shadow of his son. Even in death, Trion was hurting him. Raaz had just found a way to feel better, to relieve his pain, and Trion was already taking it away from him.

    Raaz lifted his open right hand, ready to strike Trion in the face and force him to react. At that point, he would be the bad guy again and Raaz would continue.

    Then, Tista hupped.

    Raaz turned around, seeing the pain on Elina''s face and knowing it wasn''t Trion''s fault but his own.

    He saw how his own daughter looked at him, in fear. Even Kam, the woman who had brought light in the darkest hour of his family was pale, looking at him like a monster.

    Then, Raaz looked at his own raised hand and remembered all the times that Orpal had pped him while torturing him.

    ''Good gods, I''m not just taking Orpal''s ce. I''m bing him!'' Raaz gripped his right hand with the left, afraid that it might have a mind of its own.

    The room started spinning around him as the memories of the suffering he had endured and the time when he had educated his children ovepped. Raaz had never used violence on them.

    Sometimes he had been forced to spank Orpal, but only when he kept harassing his siblings and ignoring his parents'' scoldings.

    As he puked his guts out, Raaz realized that he had let a monster growing inside of him. That he had been feeding it until that moment. That the monster would have taken his ce forever if he let it strike his son only to relieve his wounded ego.

    "Dad, are you alright?" Trion knelt down, worried about Raaz.

    Even while throwing up, Raaz kept clenching his hands together, preferring to get covered in bile rather than let Orpal destroy him for good.

    Elina, Tista, Rena, Senton, Lith, and Kam got close to them, but left Raaz the space he needed to breathe.

    It was then that Raaz realized it. Until that moment, he had looked at them without really seeing them. He could hear them, but he had stopped listening for a while already.

    Lith had rescued his body from the interrogation room in the Hogum Mansion, but his mind was still trapped there. Raaz was stillying on that table, waiting to be put out of his misery.

    Seeing the worried faces of the members of his family and hearing the fear in their voices, he understood that those people weren''t just in the same room with him. They were there for him.

    Trion used a pulse of darkness magic to clean Raaz and tentatively offered him a hand.

    Raaz grabbed it, feeling the unnatural coldness of the darkness thatprised Trion''s body and the strange texture of what was supposed to be skin.

    ''My son is really dead.'' He thought. ''He died over one year ago and despite how angry he was at us, despite what Night did to him, Trion had the strength to stay behind. Not to avenge himself, but to protect us.

    ''Otherwise he would have followed the real Orpal instead of his clone and Elina would now be dead. He endured several months of pain and istion just to make sure that we would be alright.''

    The realization struck Raaz like a lightning bolt. He felt as if he was holding the cold hand of the corpse of his son. As if Trion had just died between his arms, making Raaz experience the same grief that he had felt the day he had learned of his son''s death.

    "My baby boy." Instead of standing up, Raaz pulled Trion down, taking his face in his hands and caressing it. "My beautiful baby boy. What has that monster done to you?"

    Tears streaked down his eyes as Raaz''s sadness turned into hatred for Night and then into rage for what Orpal had done despite knowing that his power hade at the price of the life of his very own brother.

    That rage gave him the strength to stand up and embrace his long-lost son, weing him back home.

    If Kam''s arrival had given him hope that even in the darkest time something beautiful could happen, Trion''s existence was the proof that true determination could defeat even death.

    Raaz looked at them, using them as crutches for his mangled heart. He knew that he had simply taken one step forward in the long journey toward recovery, but it was still one step after so many days of rotting inside.

    "I''m so sorry, Dad. Can you forgive me?" Trion returned the embrace as small puffs of smoke and fire came out of his eyes instead of tears.

    "Foolish child, I already did." Raaz replied. "I never hated you and you never disappointed me, except when you made your mother cry. During all these years we followed your military career thanks to Jirni.

    "We were so proud of your achievements and all we wanted was to share that joy with you. That''s why your rejection hurt us so bad. Now it''s all in the past. You are here now and it''s all that matters.

    "Can you forgive your foolish father for his cruel words?" Raaz asked while looking Trion in the eyes.

    "There''s nothing to forgive." Trion shook his head. "You may have been brutal, but everything you said was true."

    "Still, a father should never say such things to his child. Not after everything you went through."

    "That''s no justification for my actions, Dad. But if it makes you feel better, I forgive you." The two men remained on the floor for a while, kneeling and crying under the loving gaze of their family.

    When Raaz stood up, he had regained his cool and his eyes had regained a spark of life. His gaze was still dull and full of pain, but his smile now was sincere, not just a mask.

    "Lith, does it cost you much energy allowing a Demon to hang around?" He asked.

 Chapter 1906 Good Memories (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1906 Good Memories (Part 2)</h4>

    "Not really. I can keep hundreds at a time. Just one is nothing." Lith replied.

    "Can they eat and taste food?"

    "Taste, yes. They can''t digest it, but the darkness of their body should consume anything they eat. Why?"

    "I was thinking of having breakfast with the whole family. Now that we are all reunited, we should celebrate." Raaz replied.

    Lith stiffened for a moment. His love for Trion was second only to that for a kidney stone, yet he couldn''t deny his father such a simple favor. Not after seeing the light in his eyes again, like the day Kam had proposed.

    "Sure thing, Dad." Lith said, forcing himself to smile.

    "Lith?" Kam tugged at his arm.

    "Yes, darling?" He turned around to look at her, noticing the sadness on her face.

    "Shouldn''t you let Locrias and Valia out as well?" She asked.

    "Why?"

    "Because they are people, not tools. Because their families saw them die and resurrect in Orpal''s broadcast. They must be suffering just like your parents. Imagine how must they feel not knowing what really happened to their loved ones.

    "The only thing they know is that Locrias and Valia are in the hands of a runaway criminal that somehow controls them. You heard Trion. It''s the good memories that remind him of what he fights for and allow him to resist the madness.

    "Why don''t you give your Demons the opportunity to make more good memories? They didn''t die centuries ago. Their families are still alive." Kam replied.

    Lith pondered her words and used a construct to give Trion the same appearance and warmth of a living being.

    "This way you won''t scare Aran and Leria." He replied to his brother''s silent question. "Feel free to shapeshift after the introductions. You are their rtive, after all, and they will expect you to turn into a Demon."

    "Do the children really know about you? About us?" Trion asked in surprise while pointing at Tista and Solus.

    "Yeah. Believe me, as soon as they consider you a friend, it takes a lot to surprise them. They even have talking pets." Lith shrugged.

    Trion was about to give him a deep bow, but Elina stopped him.

    "No formalities today. You are not a Demon, but his older brother and my son." She said while finally embracing him.

    She had longed to reconnect with Trion ever since he had saved her life in the Heavenly Wolf restaurant, but she couldn''t leave Raaz alone nor let the two meet.

    Seeing her joy, Solus teared up as well.

    "Since today is supposed to be my day, can we please stay here?" She asked both Lith and Kam. "Mom deserves to spend more than a few minutes with Trion. They haven''t seen each other in years and have so much catching up to do."

    Lith rolled his eyes and Kam nudged him in the ribs.

    "You are right, Solus. We''ll dly spend the day here. I heard that theke is amazing. It''s no beach, but it will do. Right, darling?" She said with a smile that didn''t extend to her reproachful eyes.

    "Right." He replied with a sigh.

    "What about Locrias and Valia?" Kam asked.

    "What about them?"

    "Don''t be a smartass with me."

    "Oh, gods, fine!" Lith conjured them both and the two Demons looked around for enemies.

    "What''s going on?" Locrias pointed at the people crying in joy on the other side of the room.

    "I remember you talking about your wife and daughter." Lith said. "And you, Valia, said that you wanted to say goodbye to your parents. Yet neither of you are really dead and you are still going to be around for a while.

    "Do you want to talk to them? See them?"

    The two Demons froze. On the one hand, there was nothing they wanted more. On the other hand, they were terrified of the reaction their loved ones might have to their inhuman appearance.

    "I''m a monster. My family is better off thinking me dead." Locrias said with a dejected voice.

    "What about now?" A wave of Lith''s hand restored their human appearance and a hard-light construct gave them color and warmth.

    Seeing her hands pink instead of greyish-ck made Valia feel more confident, but she was still afraid of rejection.

    "Can I talk to my parents? Meeting them is too much, but I think if it''s just a call on themunication amulet, I can make it." She asked.

    Lith was no miracle worker. He had stored Valia''s amulet in his pocket dimension, but it had lost its imprint and with it also all the runes engraved on its surface. Hence he called Sark.

    Once Valia imprinted the amulet again, the Guardian restored the lost runes by reigniting their lingering energy that had been preserved in the time-frozen dimensional space.

    Valia''s hand trembled as she pressed the rune of her parents.

    "Mom? Dad?" They had both run to the amulet, answering the call at the same time.

    They had believed that the reappearance of the rune must have been some sort of magical glitch, but they still answered.

    "Baby girl? Is that really you?" Said a feminine voice as it cracked.

    "Yes." Valia took a deep breath and activated the hologram.

    Screams and tears erupted from the amulet as her parents asked her questions without giving her the time to answer. In their frenzy, they tried to touch her through the projection every time Valia leaned forward, just to phase through.

    Locrias looked at her in envy. He had been dead for much longer and his amulet was lost. Not even Sark could make him talk with his family.

    Or so he thought until she handed him a silver amulet with only one rune already engraved, waiting to be imprinted. The rune of his daughter.

    "How?" He asked with a quivering voice, looking at the Guardian in awe.

    "I just went there and exchanged runes." She shrugged. "Quick, or it will disappear."

    Locrias imprinted the amulet, making his rune also appear on his daughter''smunication device thousands of kilometers away.

    "Dad?" A teen''s voice came out along with the hologram of a girl about fifteen years old. "Dad are you alive?"

    "No, Gilly. I''m dead, but not gone." He replied, his voice shaking.

    "Mom! Come here, quick!" A shuffling of quick steps followed the panicked yell in fear that something bad was happening.

    "Erwald, is that really you?" The middle-aged woman of the hologram covered her mouth with a hand, trying to suppress a scream.

    "Yes, my love." Locrias replied. "Gods, Cidra, you are still as beautiful as the day I proposed to you while blind drunk."

    They always left out that detail while telling the story of their marriage. It was a secret they had shared only with their daughter.

    "See, Mom? It''s Dad! When you cane back home?" Gilly asked.

    "I can''t. Verhen is in the Desert and if I get too far from him, I''ll fade away."

    "Is he holding you hostage?" She said with fury, ready even to fight a Tiamat for her father.

    "No, I''m here of my own will, pumpkin. It''s the nature of Verhen''s powers that tethers me to life. I can free myself whenever I want, but when I do, I''ll be gone forever." Locrias replied.

 Chapter 1907 The Light Before the Darkness (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1907 The Light Before the Darkness (Part 1)</h4>

    "Then don''t you dare go anywhere. I want you to keep nagging me every time I bring a boy home. I want you to scold me for how I dress." Gilly started to tear up, missing even the most insignificant moment of the life with her father.

    "I won''t. I promise." Puffs of smoke and fire came out of the Demons'' eyes as they reconnected with their families.

    "Baby girl, if Verhen returns to Lutia, you cane back as well, can''t you?" Valia''s father asked.

    "Yes, Dad." She lied just to reassure them.

    "Darling, if you are still alive, maybe Verhen can bring you back." Cidra''s hope rekindled with each moment they spent together and Locrias didn''t have the heart to tell her the truth.

    "Enough with this bullshit!" Sark roared, interrupting all the conversations. "Breakfast time is long overdue and I''m starving for two!"

    The Demons were about to hang up the calls amid the screams of their loved ones when Sark opened two Warp Steps at the same time, pulling their families to the Desert.

    "There. Enough with this back and forth. Talk like civilized people and let me eat my meal."

    Her voice was drowned in the burst ofughter and screams of joy that ensued. The Overlord ignored them and Warped everyone in the dining hall.

    Just like Trion, the other two Demons spent the day with their respective families. The more they reconnected with their loved ones, the more the chains that bound them to Lith grew thicker and sturdier.

    Power and knowledge now flowed freely in both directions, allowing the Demons to fuse their minds with him and share their techniques if they wanted.

    Lith, Kam, and Solus spent half the day with Raaz and the other half at theke with Sark and the kids. Everyone else was too shy to join them.

    Except for Elina, of course.

    Seeing half-naked women didn''t bother her and Lith would always be her miracle baby.

    "Thank you for the wonderful gift." Elina said while embracing him and allowing herself to fall apart now that Raaz couldn''t see her.

    She had been forced to be strong for so long, keeping at bay Raaz''s inner demons in a losing battle. Elina could support her husband in his fight, but only he could defeat them. Seeing the man that she loved slowly crumbling apart had almost broken her.

    Elina couldn''t rely on Rena and Senton since they already had the triplets and Leria to think about. Also, they had lost everything as well and their marriage was squeaking already.

    Relying on Lith would have meant ruining his happiness and honeymoon. As for Tista, asking her for help would have been just cruel. After having killed so many people to rescue Raaz, she had her own inner struggle to ovee.

    Elina had never felt so alone and helpless in her whole life. Even when Tista had the Strangler, at least she had her husband and her children by her side.

    "What gift? It''s the least I could do." Lith wrapped his arms around her quivering body, feeling like a jerk for ignoring his mother for so long and worrying solely about his honeymoon.

    "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She repeated over and over as he lulled her like a baby. "I''m such an ipetent mother for always needing my son''s help. I can''t do anything on my own."

    With every tear Elina shed, Lith''s hatred for Orpal grew.

    Until that moment, he had believed that it had already reached its apex. Yet now a new world opened to him as the suffering of his parents etched wounds in his heart that he would pass on Orpal the next time they met.

    After a while, Elina fell asleep. Her mind was finally at peace after one day of suffering too many.

    Lith refused to leave her side until she woke up and to return to the cottage until the next day. Locrias'' and Valia''s families stayed for the night as well, clenching their loved ones until Sark forced them back to the Kingdom.

    Once they were gone, the two Demons fell onto their right knee and brought Kam''s hands to their forehead in submission.

    "Thank you, my liege. My sword is yours. My life is yours." They said in turns.

    "Shouldn''t you tell that to Lith?" Kam felt awkward from such deference.

    Not even her niece and nephew were so respectful toward her.

    "The dark lord sits on a dark throne, casting a shadow that swallows us." Locrias'' voice oozed sarcasm as he stared at Lith. "Your grace, instead, cast a light on us and gave us our families back. We won''t ever forget your kindness."

    "How do you know? You weren''t there when I asked Lith to let you out." She asked.

    "He told us." Valia replied.

    "They deserved the truth." Lith said in reply to her gaze. "As you reminded me yesterday, they are people, not tools. I disregarded their feelings just like those of my mother. They deserve better from me."

    Lith and Kam returned to the beach at sunrise and by then, Mogar seemed to have be a brighter ce. Just a bit, but still brighter.

    Right before darkness fell upon the Griffon Kingdom.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Pce, right after sundown.

    Archon Jirni Ernas had so much work to do those days that even after pulling an all-nighter she would still find several piles of papers on her desk the morning after.

    She had her duties as Lord Commander of the Constables and as the political representative of the Ernas family in the Royal Court. After Morn had pulled the stunt that had led to Lith''s charges for high treason, Gunyin had asked her help.

    The ongoing war forced him to spend most of his time in the Ernas Duchy to take care of their cultivated fields and resources. After taking care of his own family, of the Household, and of the people of his region, Gunyincked the energy to properly follow the madhouse that politics had be.

    The intervention of the Council had stopped Thrud''s advance but there was still no real strategy to win the war. They could now prolong the struggle for months, maybe years, but unless they got rid of the Golden Griffon, every victory only bought them time.

    The Mad Queen''s troops were immortal and used such ability to its fullest. They fought with all their might until thest breath, using the experience gained to be stronger.

    The worse part about that was Thrud''s army learning more from their defeats than from their victories. The stronger the opponent they faced, the more things those among them with Dragon Eyes would learn.

    The Emperor Beasts in the Madness had yet toe out, but all of Thrud soldiers had consumed a small dose of ambrosia. Thrud would always send those who had managed to awaken the Eyes on the frontline.

    This way, once their bodies regenerated inside the Golden Griffon, they would share the acquired knowledge with everyone. It was a well-oiled, immortal machine of destruction.

    On top of her work as a political advisor and Archon, Jirni also had to deal with the Royals and their attempts to draft a deal that Lith would ept. After the fiasco with Kam, they were onto Jirni, ming her for having failed to notice where the Constable''s loyalty trulyy.

    Actually, Jirni had always known about Kam''s intentions, she just didn''t care.

 Chapter 1908 The Light Before the Darkness (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1908 The Light Before the Darkness (Part 2)</h4>

    ''When a monster like me finds their Orion, they must sink teeth and nails in and never let go. The Kingdom threw their cards into the gutter and I''ll be damned before I break my word.'' Jirni thought every time someone questioned herpetence.

    To make matters even worse, her domestic situation wasn''t good.

    Orion was rarely at home. He was too busy working with Vastor and Balkor on her private project, sharing the knowledge of the Royal Forgemasters with the Council, and serving as General of the Army.

    As for her daughters, they were livid both at Lith and Jirni.

    "I can''t believe that he married without even inviting us!" Friya said. "After all we went through together, we had to learna about it from Faluel!"

    The news of Kam''s defection had made them happy but also hurt their feelings.

    "Lith has nomunication amulet anymore. Also, if all three of you disappeared at the same time, even an idiot would have guessed where you had gone. On your return, you would have found a charge for high treason waiting for you.

    "Lith did it to protect you." Jirni replied.

    "You knew?" Phloria was bbergasted and the most outraged among the Ernas sisters.

    She had given up on the idea of getting back with Lith for some time, but getting cut off from such an important moment of his life still hurt.

    "Of course I did. Only someone blind, dumb, and deaf would''ve failed to notice how much effort Kam put into foiling Morn''s decree. Someone like the Royals." Jirni chuckled, further offending her daughters since they hadn''t seen iting as well.

    "Don''t worry. I''m sure that as soon as the situation calms down, Lith will hold a second ceremony for his friends. After all, you weren''t the only one left out." She shrugged at their res.

    Faluel was pretty pissed off as well, but not as much as Fe. She had hoped to get her hands on Lith''s genes by exploiting his difficult situation but the opportunity was now gone.

    Jirni hadn''t gotten a full night''s sleep for weeks, overworking until she could feel her body giving up. She had done everything she could to uphold the promise she had made Lith, even at the cost of spreading her energy thin.

    That night, things went from bad to worse.

    "Are you sure about that, Dyta?" Jirni asked her cousin while walking towards the nearest Warp Gate.

    "I''m positive. I''ve already contacted Vastor and Marth and they did the best they could. I''m sorry, Jirni, but your mother has a few hours left to live at most." Dyta Myrok replied. "She has refused to be moved to the White Griffon.

    "Aunt Oblia says that she''d rather die where she was born. You know how stubborn she can be."

    "It runs in the family." Jirni sighed, rubbing her eyes to shrug off the fatigue that blurred them.

    ''Mom has been sickly from birth. Her life force was born twisted and if not for the best healers of the Kingdom treating her symptoms, she would have died decades ago.

    ''Even Manohar refused to treat her, saying that the procedure was so delicate that even if it seeded, even worseplications might arise. Unlike Zinya, it''s not just one part of Mom''s life force that is damaged but all of it.

    ''If Lith was still here, I''d ask him to take a look at her.'' She stopped in her tracks as a sudden thought popped into her mind. ''It''s really weird, though. Vastor has always been a leading figure in Body Sculpting and now he has be much better at everything.

    ''I find it strange that he didn''t seed. Either the bastard is holding back to not let people notice his newfound abilities or he doesn''t want to show his cards to me. If my mother really dies, Vastor and I will have to talk.'' Jirni gritted her teeth in frustration as she reached the Myrok Household.

    "Wee back home, Lady Ernas." Phina, one of the maids, gave her a deep curtsy. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

    "It''s toote and I''m too tired for pleasantries. Bring me to my mother." Jirni knew that the Myrok trained even the house staff to keep their emotions in check, but Phina''s behavior was still weird.

    She was still a simple maid and being so indifferent to the imminent death of the head of the house was beyond her.

    "I''m sorry, but Lady Myrok is sleeping and she has ordered to not be disturbed unless there''s an emergency. Is this your case?" Phina''s face was a stone mask, but her eyes were a mix of curiosity and fear.

    "How can she sleep when-" The words died on Jirni''s lips as her brain finally pulled out the fog of exhaustion that clouded her mind and put the pieces together.

    ''It''s not just Ph, the house staff is rxed. There is no noise of stepsing and going from Mom''s room, no trace of healers, none of her so-called friends weeping for her, nothing.'' Then, she noticed that the hair on her neck wasn''t standing up.

    House Myrok was the weakest among the founding pirs of the Kingdom due to theck of mages, but its arrays were still second only to the Royal Pce. The thick mana to which Jirni had gotten used since childhood was gone.

    "Why are the defensive arrays turned off?" She asked.

    "That''s impossible, my Lady. Only the Head of the house and the most trusted members of the family can-" One of the external walls crumbled with a boom of thunder, cutting the maid short.

    Coming from the garden, Orpal rode atop Moonlight, his steed, advancing through the corridor at a canter. The deafening silence was broken only by the rhythmical clopping of the crystal hooves on the gold-veined marble of the floor.

    The house staff and Jirni weren''t frozen just because of the appearance of the Dead King but because never before since its founding had house Myrok been invaded by an enemy.

    Ph and the rest of the servants looked in horror as not a single spark of energy rose to stop the advance of one of the most wanted men in the Kingdom. They called for the guards, but no one answered.

    They essed their dimensional items, conjuring theirmunication amulets and weapons. Yet the amulets were dead, all of their runes turned off. Everyone in house Myrok was a trained soldier, willing to give their lives for their masters, yet they knew at a nce that without reinforcements there was no hope.

    The Dead King exuded a light blue aura of power that glistened on the silvery ck of his Davross armor, ck Rose, filling the house staff with fear that only their discipline allowed them to resist.

    Regr people would have already lost consciousness or fallen to their knees, begging for mercy. Ph and the others, instead, held onto their weapons and prepared for the fight.

    Their hands were covered with a cold sweat and their knees quivered, but they refused to back down.

    Jirni managed to keep her cool while she took out hermunication amulet, finding it dead as well.

    "Lady Ernas, I''m sorry it took me so long to ept your invitation." Orpal said with a cruel smile on his face. "Here, you dropped this."

 Chapter 1909 Full Domain (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1909 Full Domain (Part 1)</h4>

    Orpal threw Jirni''s business card at her.

    It was just a small piece of paper, but after being infused with Spirit Magic it traveled as fast as a bullet. The business card was also sharp enough to pierce through the gravity sheathe of her armor and cut Jirni''s cheek.

    If she hadn''t managed to sidestep it at thest second, the card would have shattered her teeth and gone down her throat, just like she had done to Orpal one year ago.

    "Don''t bother calling for help. The entire ce is sealed, the arrays are turned off, and the Warp Gate''s cables have been cut." With each word, the intensity of his aura rose and with it the savage joy that made his heart pump.

    "You can try sending some of you little ves to call for help, but my soldiers are already outside, waiting. They could use an evening snack."

    "You have quite some nerve for being a coward." The others in the room had already fallen to their knees, but Jirni''s willpower allowed her to resist. "You promised me that you would have killed me first.

    "Yet here I am, over one year and several corpsester. I guess that Vastor and I must have beaten you so hard that it gave you amnesia. Or did it take you this long to find a crack big enough to crawl inside my home like the cockroach you are?"

    "I''m not a coward, you are!" Orpal said, sounding like a five year old. "I would have attacked you and that egg-like man much earlier if only you hade out in the open.

    "Instead, you two hid inside your homes all the time and were always apanied by Royal Guards. I''m powerful, not suicidal!"

    "Indeed." Jirni nodded, buying herself some time while racking her brain to find a way out of that situation. "Yet here you are, targeting me instead of Vastor. A normal human instead of an Archmage. It doesn''t sound very brave to me."

    "Silence!" Orpal mmed Thorn against the ground, producing a shockwave that sent the house staff crashing against the walls and forced Jirni to crouch to not be sent flying.

    "That''s a better position for you, woman. Kneeling." His smile faded as soon as Jirni stood up again. "You know, I tried for months to infiltrate house Ernas, but those who had ess to the arrays'' control system were beyond my reach.

    "House Myrok, instead, proved to be much more malleable. None of this would have been possible if not for the help of your dear cousin, Dyta."

    "What?" Jirni''s eyes went wide open and seeing the first sign of emotion on her face rewarded the Dead King for all his efforts. "That''s impossible! We are like sisters. We-"

    "What kind of sister forces the other to live in her shadow?" Orpal cut her short. "Did you really think that Dyta could be happy ying your double? She lived an insignificant life, while you, her sessful cousin, got married, had a loving family, and rose to the highest honors of the Kingdom.

    "Dyta is just like me and she was happy to help me, after a little persuasion, of course." Actually, Dyta had been a very tough nut to crack.

    Orpal first had to find out what kind of man she liked, then he had sent a natural-born honey-trap, a Banshee, to approach her. Even then, it had taken him the Banshee''s Charm ability, the Mesmerism of Vampires, and even Orpal''s mind links to nt suggestions in Dyta''s mind slowly erode her willpower and loyalty.

    She had pushed Orpal''s and his Chosen''s skills to their limits, but after months of hard work, Dyta had fallen deeply in love with the Banshee and was willing to do anything in order to spend eternity with him.

    "Now your cousin belongs to me in mind and body. It''s thanks to her if I managed to lure you with the pathetic excuse of your dying mother. It''s thanks to her that I got ess to the arrays'' control room."

    "You are lying." Jirni said, but her voicecked conviction.

    House Myrok was too hold and powerful to fall without an inside helper.

    Also, now everything made sense. Why Vastor had failed to save Jirni''s mother, why he hadn''t even bothered contacting her, and why Dyta had rushed Jirni toe there in the middle of the night.

    "I''m not." Orpal gloated too much for it to just be a lie. "Thanks to my steed, the entire mansion is shrouded by my personal array, Full Domain! It allows energy to get in, but nothing can get out."

    After losing to Lith, Orpal had realized the huge w of Sealed Space that had caused his defeat. Limiting the flow of world energy limited Orpal''s power as well and neutralized Moonlight.

    Without dimensional magic, Lith''s superior strength tipped the scales beyond saving and without world energy, his steed was just a pretty crystal statue. Full Domain solved all such problems, fueling Orpal''s powers while keeping his prey from escaping and calling for reinforcements.

    "You should be honored to die at the hand of a powerful mage who possesses a legendary tower. Something that not even my dear brother owns." Being superior to Lith made the Dead King walk on air, especially after his recent breakthrough into the blue core.

    "But first, I want to have some fun with you. I put so much effort into this hunt, I worked so hard that I deserve to y a bit with my prey." Orpal got off Moonlight, walking toward Jirni who stepped back until she hit the wall.

    "I''ve heard a lot about you from Deirus. As his master, it''s my duty to fulfill the dying wish of a loyal servant. Am I right?" His Davross-coated hand grabbed the cor of her shirt and pulled.

    Jirni grabbed his wrist, trying to twist it and using her other hand to strike at Orpal''s nerves. Yet he was too strong and hitting the ck Rose armor only made her fingers bleed.

    The Dead King tore her deep violet Archon overcoat and her white shirt with ease, as if he was just unwrapping a gift. The magic of his armor was too powerfulpared to Orion''s Featherwalker armor, especially with Moonlight standing right next to him.

    "Gods, Deirus was right." Orpal''s pupils dted in excitement, a lustful grin on his face as he stared at Jirni''s pale skin and her soft bosom.

    Between her rigorous training and Lith''s rejuvenation, her body didn''t look one day past thirty. Jirni wasn''t the most beautiful woman Orpal had ever seen by a long shot. Yet after haunting his dreams for so long, after the humiliation she had inflicted upon him, she was the one he desired the most.

    Orpal grinned from ear to ear in anticipation to see the rest.

    The fact that she wore a sports bra disappointed him, but only for a second. More clothes also meant more time to y. The Dead King kept tearing her clothes from top to bottom, feeling his arousal grow the more she struggled.

    Jirni''s eyes were still defiant, but now that only the sports underwear still covered her, they became veiled with tears of frustration. She refused to cry or beg, but she had exhausted all the cards in her hand.

 Chapter 1910 Full Domain (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1910 Full Domain (Part 2)</h4>

    "I must say, there must be something special in noble dames. You don''t look at all like a woman who has grandchildren." Orpal said while ripping off thest piece of her pants and taking a long appreciative look at her.

    Jirni''s toned body was now exposed, her soft curves exalted by her petite body and covered only by the thick cloth of the underwear. Lith produced it, making her look like a gift from Orpal''s despised brother.

    "Once I''m done with you, I''ll deal with Marth andWanemyre. I''ve yed this same trick on her mother and the protective arrays of her house are already under my control. Mommy dearest will lure Wanemyre out of the White Griffon and I''ll have my fun with her as well.

    "As for Marth, I''ve already discovered the secret clearing where the Dryads meet and when the next gathering will happen. I''ll kidnap his precious wife and give her back to him after I''m done with her. He loves that slut too much, and love is a weakness. Once Marth loses his head, killing him will be a child''s y."

    Orpal put his hands on Jirni''s shoulders, pushing her down to her knees. She didn''t even try to cover her chest or crotch, using her full might to resist for as long as she could.

    "Stop fighting, it''s pointless." He said. "Now, I have an offer for you. If you manage to satisfy me, I''ll allow you to live. You''ll be a member of my harem until you break or I get bored of you. Deal?"

    "That''s it?" Jirni asked, her voice suddenly strong and confident again. "That''s all of your ns?"

    "What do you mean that''s it? It''s brilliant!" Orpal replied.

    "Thank the gods it is. Otherwise I would feel like a moron to have put so much effort into mine." Jirni started to stand up, and it took Orpal all of his considerable strength to keep her down while the armor on his crotch opened right in front of her face.

    "I''d rather die than let an obnoxious man-child like youy a single hand on me." Her right fist hit his exposed genitals, turning them into a pulp.

    At the same time, her left hand grabbed his wrist, reversing the hold and throwing him through a wall and into the next room.

    "What the heck?" Orpal''s high-pitched voice sounded feminine while Night repaired the damages.

    Yet his shock would have made it shrill anyway. Both the Horseman and her host were shocked to see sparks of silver lightning burst from the short blonde woman in front of them.

    ''What the fuck? Did Jirni have a Divine Beast shapeshift into her?'' Orpal asked.

    ''Shapeshifting doesn''t change the energy signature nor the life force.'' Night replied. ''That''s Jirni Ernas. A non-Awakened human with an orange core.''

    ''Then how can she be so strong and where does the Life Maelstrome from?''

    Night had no idea how that was possible, nor did Fe, Faluel, and Jiza Gernoff who had been keeping watch from a distance.

    "Why the heck are we still here instead of intervening?" Faluel asked.

    With Lith and Protector gone, she had dedicated her time to protect Jirni, just like she had promised to her Awakened counterpart of house Myrok.

    "Because I knew there was something off." With her blonde hair and petite figure, Jiza resembled Jirni. A Jirni who had undergone body refinement. "This might be one of the rare asions when we can witness the legacy of Oghrom Gernoff."

    "What legacy?" Fe said. "Oghrom was a human with no bloodline abilities and Jirni is no mage. She has no ess to his magical legacy."

    "Oghrom wasn''t a mage either. What he passed down to us is another form of magic." Jiza said while tapping her forehead. "Now shut up and watch."

    Jirni was darting forward, her body coursing with silver sparks as her underwear came to life. The cloth turned into a ck silvery liquid that reformed her Archon uniform.

    She arrived in front of Orpal in the blink of an eye, yet the clothes were already intact again. He swung his fist at her to keep Jirni at bay, but she grabbed his wrist with her left while her right flickered in a flurry of jabs.

    Each one of her punches was powerful enough to dent the Davross and so quick that Orpal felt the pain from the first jab only after being struck by the fifth. Each hit made him snap back, but the trapped wrist made him bounce back to Jirni who never stopped her onught.

    "I must say, you are a careful nner and a thorough thinker for an idiot, but you are predictable. And I''ve been ying around predictable even before Elina was changing your diapers." She said while a right uppercut shattered his jaw and teeth just like the night they had first met.

    The ck crystal on his chest emitted a strong pulse of darkness magic that forced Jirni to release her grip. Her hand was now like that of a dried corpse, without any sensitivity.

    Another spark of silver energy healed it, returning the hand to its original condition.

    "I must say, hearing from Raaz about your habit of exining your ns to your victims gave me the idea. Like a spoiled brat, you can''t stop bragging when you think you are winning." Jirni said amid pants.

    Between theck of sleep and the overwork, she was really tired. That wasn''t a part of her fa?ade.

    "I don''t think, I AM winning!" He stood up, recalling both his spear and his steed. "Your cousin told me everything I needed to know about you. The arrays are down, the Mansion is enveloped in Full Domain and I have my steed!"

    "Wrong." She said while drinking a tonic. "Dyta never fell for your tricks. She just helped me with my n. First, she yed hard to get. Then, she fed you a load of bullshit to make you feel confident enough to lure you in the open."

    "What bullshit? You are here, alone and defenseless." Orpal said in outrage.

    "Gods, how stupid can you possibly be?" Jirniughed at him with scorn. "Who do you think spread those ridiculous rumors about Lith having a child and bing Sark''s heir?

    "I did it because I knew that hearing about his happiness would drive you mad with envy. I knew that you couldn''t resist the temptation to ruin his honeymoon by attacking the weakest link of the chain, like you always do.

    "Because under your pretty armor and despite all of Night''s trinkets you are still a coward."

    An awkward silence fell into the corridor as Orpal couldn''t deny any of her words and realized to have fallen for her trickery hook, line, and sinker.

    "As for Dyta, she led you to the arrays'' control room, but only because I knew that unless you were certain of winning, you would have sent here your clone." Jirni said with a predator smile on her face.

    "At that point, I only had to wait for a night when Thrud''s attacks forced the Royal Guards away. A night when my husband also had to leave on a mission and my daughters had been spotted far away from here, working for the Council.

    "Dyta didn''t have to warn me, I knew that the moment all the perfect conditions for an attack would present itselves, you wouldn''t resist the temptation to make your move.

    "All I had to do, was prepare for your arrival and then let you talk. Now that I know of your ns, I have no reason to y with you any longer."

 Chapter 1911 Skywarp (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1911 Skywarp (Part 1)</h4>

    "If you''re thinking of harming my cousin, think again. By now Dyta should be safe in Valeron. The Royal mages couldn''t wait to have a blood core to study.

    "Thanks to the first willing Thrall ever, they''ll find a diagnostic spell that can identify your servants even without the help of the Awakened Council. As I said, every single one of your brilliant moves was just a small part of my n." Jirni said.

    Seeing his months of careful plotting and efforts unraveled in a few sentences, made Orpal''s guts turn into a knot. Maybe it was the shock from Jirni''s words or maybe it was just his mind ying tricks on him.

    Whatever the answer was, Orpal found himself on a huge chessboard as a pawn, while the small woman in front of him had grown to gigantic proportions and was the only yer in that game.

    She moved both his pieces and her own, slowly setting up for a checkmate.

    "This is impossible! You are nothing but a weak human woman!" The Dead King infused himself with all the elements,bining their power with the prowess of his enhanced body to turn into a blur.

    Yet Jirni easily sidestepped the thrust of his spear, grabbing his face in mid-air like a fly and mming it against the magical resistant gold-veined marble until it shattered.

    "You are right. I''m weak. I''m just a human. I''m not even a mage, let alone an Awakened." She said, pummelling him after kicking the spear away.

    "But you know what? The weak can always ask the strong for help."

    Her uniform shapeshifted again, revealing its true form.

    The clothes turned into a full suit of armor, with bright violet mana crystals as big as an apple grafted on its hands and thighs. Three more white mana crystals were respectively embedded on each one of its shoulders and the middle of its chest.

    The armor appeared to be made of golden feathers that shone like a sun, repelling Night''s darkness away.

    The helmet was shaped like an eagle''s head, its gloves ended with ws, and a couple of wings made of energy erupted from Jirni''s shoulders. The Royal Fortress armor made her look like a humanoid Griffon covered in metal.

    "Did you never wonder how could I be so strong? How someone as short as me could break a grown man''s bones so easily?" Jirni''s voice was reduced to a cold whisper that passed through the pin-sized breathing holes in the Davross of her helm.

    "I wore one of these the first time we met and I wore it every time I created an opening for you to exploit. Let''s see which one of us has the better equipment."

    "That''s impossible!" Orpal said as the spiked helm of the ck Rose armor wrapped around his face. "I know the powers of the Royal Fortress armor and I had them counted.

    "Eight are deployed to protect the Kingdom''s major assets and the other four stand guard around the throne!"

    "Exactly." Jirni''s voice was so smug that her helm seemed to grin as well. "Too bad that this isn''t one of them. I borrowed the armor of my ancestor, Oghrom Myrok, and it''s a bit special.

    "Or did you think that the title of founding pir of the Kingdom was just for show?" Oghrom''s armor had such fine cloaking spells that even to Life Vision it looked just like a lump of ordinary metal.

    There were no traces of its enchantments nor of the massive flow of world energy that the Davross created. Purified in Leegaain''s mes, crafted by Tyris herself, and upgraded with each magical breakthrough of the Kingdom, it was made of several tons of metalpressed by magic.

    "Get her!" Orpal summoned his soldiers to buy himself enough time to get Thorn back and put an end to that madness with his de Tier Spell, Shattered Moon.

    "Thanks." Jirni replied as the wave of undead approached her.

    The Full Domain arrays kept her from calling for reinforcements, but the armor had plenty of pockets where she had stored everything she needed for the fight in advance.

    She took what looked like a thin card made of white crystal out of one of the feathers of her armor. The gemstone shone with pristine light, except at its center, where a small cube had been embedded.

    It spread a ck light of corruption that seemed to constantly fight with the white radiance of the crystal. Until Jirni let it out.

    The Chaos emerged from the small cube, taking the form of a hologram of Vastor. He held his Yggdrasill staff with both hands, staring at Orpal in hatred.

    "This is for you, Manohar." The tier five Chaos spell, Howling Hunger, erupted from the hologram, devouring everything on its path.

    The flesh, life force, and even the mana of the undead''s blood cores were drained by the power of the Chaos and injected into its caster''s body. Yet Jirni had no ck core whose hunger could never be sated, no bottomless pit for a life force.

    Her bones popped and her muscles bulged as the energy flooded throughout her being. Used by a regr human, the spell bestowed upon Jirni thebined effects of Rejuvenation and Invigoration.

    Her fatigue disappeared, her mind cleared as if she had just woken up from a full day''s sleep, and her mana core burst with power.

    "Now I can get serious." The fatigue wasn''t part of Jirni''s fa?ade, but it was still part of her n.

    She had tired herself on purpose, reaching a state where her mental abilities had slowed down and her movements be clumsy. Everything in order to lure Orpal out of his hiding ce.

    Just like Lith had been called the Soldier Magus since his days as a Ranger, Jirni had earned an unofficial nickname as well. Those who were part of the Crown''s inner circle whispered her name, calling her the god of deception.

    s, she wasn''t a mage, and even though the Royals appreciated her services, she couldn''t achieve such a title nor reach a rank in the army above that of major.

    Jirni didn''t care about trifling matters like titles, but she secretly enjoyed having gained the same moniker of the founding father of House Myrok. Oghrom Gernoff had been crowned god only after Valeron had Awakened him, but the title had belonged to him for years already.

    Like her illustrious ancestor, Jirni liked to be prepared.

    She knew that she couldn''t win against Orpal in a weakened state and had each of her allies prepare something that would cover for her weak points. Unlike the Spell Hoarding Cube, the proto cubes could only hold one spell each.

    Jirni had only four of them and had to make them count.

    Several small sticks came flying out of the arm and leg guards of the armor,bining in mid-air into a ive that reached Jirni''s hand.

    "By the way, my husband sends you his regards. Say hello to Skywarp, histest creation."

    Orpal ignored her and mounted Moonlight while calling for more reinforcements.

    ''What does that weapon do?'' He asked via the mind link.

    ''I have no clue! Everything that woman uses is cloaked. It looks like a regr ive but from its color, I bet it''s made of Davross.'' The Horseman replied.

 Chapter 1912 Skywarp (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1912 Skywarp (Part 2)</h4>

    Fear reced excitement as Night and Orpal realized they had no actual understanding of their opponent.

    Jirni''s equipment was a mystery and so was her mind.

    They felt like insects stuck into a web that a crafty spider had weaved in the form of a jar and covered in honey. Night was an old being and that made what she didn''t know or understand even more scary.

    Orpal based his confidence on her expertise so her insecurity infected him.

    ''Behind you!'' Night was no different from Solus in her ability to look everywhere at the same time with Life Vision.

    Jirni wasn''t a Verhen and she didn''t live in Lutia so the Horseman could help her host against the Archon. It was the only reason Orpal escaped death.

    Skywarp was true to its name, allowing Jirni to Blink right behind Orpal after leaving a hologram in front of the entry point as a decoy.

    The Dead King turned around, using Thorn''s staff to block the hit aimed at the exact spot where Night''s crystal was. He was stronger than Jirni, but now she weighed tons.

    "I forgot to tell you that my daughter Friya helped him. My bad!" Friya couldn''t share with Orion the Hydra''s bloodline techniques, but dimensional magic was her own thing.

    The Davross of the two weapons screeched upon impact and Orpal was sent flying away from Moonlight. The mindless artifact wouldn''t act without an order from its master and remained there, standing still.

    ''How can a human be this strong? I''m an Awakened!'' He thought as a p of Jirni''s wings turned her into a golden bullet aimed at his throat.

    ''The Royal Fortress armor is renowned for amplifying the physical abilities of its wearer to match those of an Emperor Beast.'' Night replied.

    ''I''m as strong as an Emperor Beast!'' Orpal said in outrage.

    ''You only weigh 90 kilograms (198 pounds) of purified flesh, bones, and muscles. She weighs tons and has that!'' Night forced him to focus on the Life Maelstrom that coursed through the Royal Fortress armor and that was now spreading to Skywarp.

    The ive cutting through the air emitted a high-pitched scream that made their skin crawl. They had already heard something like that in the past when fighting War.

    Orion had poured everything he had learned from the Council, Lith, Vastor, and Balkor into Skywarp.

    His decades of experience as a Forgemaster, his love for his family, and his relentless desire to protect his wife. Skywarp wasn''t just thetest piece in the War series, it was also imbued with a bloodlust second only to Jirni''s.

    The semi-sentiencebined with the blood bond with its master allowed Jirni to utilize spells like dimensional magic that required the willpower of the caster to work.

    It was supposed to be something impossible for a non-mage, yet Orion had pulled it off. Skywarp made Jirni even capable of flight, yet she had no reason to at the moment due to the Royal Fortress armor already having the same ability.

    Jirni moved her arms on the sides, preparing for a backhand sh.

    ''Don''t worry about this.'' Night read the enemy''s moves thanks to her centuries of battle experience. ''A ive is a little more versatile than a spear, but itcks in speed and precision.

    ''To perform a sh, she needs a wide movement that will leave her ready for a counter, but knowing Jirni, it must be a trap. Let her strike, deflect her weapon with yours and then strike at her vitals!''

    Just like Lith, Orpal was used to the mind link and the Horseman''s voice didn''t bother him.

    Quite the contrary, by sharing her mind, Night could make the trajectory she predicted appear in front of his eyes and even show Orpal what the best movements to counter it were.

    He telepathically nodded and prepared to react when suddenly Night saw with Life Vision a dimensional entry point appear in front of Jirni and an exit point right behind Orpal.

    ''I was right, it was just a trap! She''s going to strike from behind like before.'' Night was in charge of using Life Vision to save the Dead King''s limited mana and allow him to focus solely on the battle.

    He turned around, lunging at the point where the Horseman had predicted Jirni''s head would appear, but the spear bit only air.

    Jirni hadn''t moved from her spot, shing the Dead King''s back with a powerful movement that cut the Davross of his armor and sent him crashing on the marble floor below.

    ''What? How?'' Orpal and Night thought in unison.

    Little did they know that Friya''s mastery of dimensional magic had reached the point that she could harness the elements to form what looked like a dimensional opening but it was just a light show.

    Even to Night''s trained eye, the Blink had seemed real, but it had actually been a ruse designed against Awakened. A normal person would have not noticed the fake dimensional door and Jirni''s attack would have been telegraphed.

    The Constable grinned, proud of her daughter and how she had learned her mother''s trickery.

    Orpal had imed that she was alone, but Jirni had apletely different opinion. If the armor represented her long-dead ancestor, the weapon in her hands embodied how much her family loved her.

    Even though they weren''t there in the flesh, to Jirni they were fighting right beside her.

    "Do you see what I mean?" Jiza said. "Oghrom would be proud. She is not just using the power of the armor, she has bent the power of the armor to her needs."

    The two Emperor Beasts nodded, trying their best to crack Orion''s cloaking spells and understand the secrets of Skywarp. Fe was deeply impressed whereas Faluel was stunned.

    ''I thought that War was a fluke but another one? Again a weapon with no power core but semi-sentience.'' The Hydra thought. ''What would happen if Orion managed to create something with a power core? Would his weapon develop a true ego without the need for Forbidden Magic?''

    As a Forgemaster, the thought filled her with both excitement and fear. The fear arose from the shocking discovery that despite their short lives and no bloodline abilities, the humans could achieve such greatness.

    Meanwhile, Jirni dived toward the Dead King while performing a downward sh with her ive.

    ''Another telegraphed attack, but this time you have the back against a wall. Her dimensional trickery is meaningless!'' Night urged Orpal to let her take the wheel, but he refused.

    ''This is my fight! What kind of man can''t defeat a puny woman double his age and half his weight? She''s no Awakened, I can''t lose!'' The Dead King followed Night''s instructions, using Thorn to strike Skywarp from the side and deflect the attack.

    It would have worked, if not for Jirni exploiting the obvious counter to her obvious attack. She used the strength of the impact to pivot on the pole of the spear, shifting her momentum from the ive to her left foot.

    The sh turned into a kick so powerful that the talons on the boot pierced through the Davross of the ck Rose armor and reached Night''s crystal, opening a deep hole into it.

    Jirni had just used another of the Griffons'' bloodline abilities imbued in her armor, Focus Point.

 Chapter 1913 Frost Soul (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1913 Frost Soul (Part 1)</h4>

    Tyris'' descendants had inherited her peerless body. Their strength and vitality knew no equals even among Divine Beasts.

    Yet Griffons could take theirbat abilities to the next level thanks to Focus Point.

    It worked simrly to Leegaain''s Gravity Fusion, but with one main difference. Instead of boosting the whole body, Focus Point allowed a Griffon to instantly shift their whole weight in a single spot.

    If it was the arm they were blocking with, it became an imprable shield while if it was the talon they were striking with, it became an unstoppable spear. It was thanks to Focus Point that Tyris'' punch had sent Roghar flying across the ocean twice.

    The bloodline ability had just turned the small spike on Jirni''s boot into a Davross weapon that alone possessed the full weight and momentum of her attack.

    ''Do something, I need some time to recover!'' Night couldn''t switch with him anymore, her full focus was needed to heal the wound before it went beyond her natural recovery abilities. ''Get to Moonlight and heal me!''

    Orpal Blinked to the middle of the corridor, putting distance between him and Jirni and flying as fast as he could towards his steed.

    "Not so fast!" Jirni performed a wide horizontal sh and Skywarp''s de created a dimensional fissure that Warped the air away.

    The sudden vacuum closed on itself, propelling her forward and pulling the Dead King back. No matter how much he pped his wings, the air was being sucked with such violence that he was stuck on the spot.

    Before he could understand what had just happened, Jirni was onto him again, aiming her de at the still open gash in the ck Rose armor.

    Orpal gritted his teeth and performed a flurry of frenzied attacks. Each one was as quick as a bullet and surgically urate, aimed at one of the joints of the Royal Fortress armor where the metal was the thinnest.

    Jirni was caught by surprise by his skillful spearsmanship and was forced to take several steps back. The violent strikes had opened several shallow wounds despite the protection of the Davross.

    ''Dammit, I was certain that once I got the crystal, Orpal would experience Night''s pain and be helpless. My attack left me exposed and I paid the consequences of my ignorance. It seems that their bond can be loosened at will.'' She thought.

    ''Now that I know, I won''t repeat the same mistake.''

    The Royal Fortress armor was already healing the cuts with light fusion, further boosting it with Life Maelstrom, yet Jirni didn''t like her n going off track.

    The amount of Life Maelstrom stored in the armor was limited and consuming more put her safety at risk. To make matters worse, the blue me floating over Orpal''s head had grown to thrice its size and covered the entire corridor with its light.

    She had no idea what it meant but she was sure it was more bad news. She darted forward in a predictable trajectory again, ready to activate Skywarp''s enchantments.

    Thanks to the weapon, the enemy would overthink and fail to call her bluffs.

    The simple threat of her Blink was worse than the actual spell, trapping Orpal''s and Night''s minds in a web of doubts of their own making.

    ''I carry the blood of a fucking Dragon and a Phoenix! I must have Origin mes.'' The Dead King thought while remembering from Night''s lessons how both species used the same bloodline ability.

    He tried to breathe them from his mouth like a Dragon, but only an enraged roar came out. At the same time, he pped his wings like a Phoenix, emitting a frozen gust of wind that made the temperature in the room drop by dozens of degrees.

    Both fighters wore powerful armor so the cold didn''t bother them, it just made Orpal more desperate.

    ''That''s it? That''s a Vurdk''s bloodline ability? I can build a fucking snowman?'' He thought while heavy snow filled the air.

    ''Calm down.'' Now that the Horseman had been reduced to a voice in his head, the only thing Night could do was soothe his growing panic and frustration. ''Your dormant innate elemental affinity was Darkness and Air, that''s why I choose a Vampire for your blood core.

    ''It''s only natural that your Vurdk powers are based on those elements instead of fire. That''s Lith''s thing. Don''t try to copy your brother, just be yourself!''

    ''What if I''m just as useless as everyone always said?'' Orpal racked his brain trying to understand his newfound power, but to no avail.

    On top of that, Jirni was already in front of him, swinging her ive and activating a Blink. The Dead King saw the dimensional openings with Life Vision, but before he could wonder whether they were real or just another bluff, they froze and crumbled.

    At the same time, the cold from Frost Soul seeped inside Skywarp, depleting its pseudo cores and making the weapon wail in pain. The spell had been canceled, shocking Jirni and foiling her attack n.

    ''Yes! I knew that the Vurdk is the strongest Divine Beast!'' Orpal rejoiced as euphoria doubled his strength.

    He blocked the attack with the tip of Thorn, spinning on himself and lunging at Jirni with the rounded end of the staff. The blow struck her sr plexus, squeezing the air out of her lungs and pinning her against the wall.

    ''My Frost Soul creates a frozen domain where all spells are nullified, making me the only true King of Mogar!'' He activated one of hisbined abilities with Night, King''s Wraith.

    The ck crystal in his chest conjured all the darkness element in the room, amplifying it into a powerful elemental tornado that Jirni couldn''t avoid from point-nk range.

    It would have ripped her to shreds, sucking the life force out of her thanks to the darkness'' element ability to bypass physical protections, even those made of Davross.

    Or rather, that''s what would have happened if not for Frost Soul seeping inside Night''s crystal along with the darkness. It froze her, inflicted her more damage, and foiled King''s Wraith.

    "What an idiot!" Jirni said while freeing herself and Night agreed.

    ''Bloodline abilities work both ways and they can always hurt their own caster!'' The Horseman couldn''t believe that Orpal would have forgotten such a basic notion. ''Origin mes, Life Maelstrom, and Doom Tide work the same way.

    ''How could you think that Frost Soul would be any different?''

    The Dead King would have liked to reply, but Skywarp''s head had just shapeshifted into a thinner pointed de, bing a spear.

    "Interesting bloodline ability." Jirni''s helm twisted into a smirk. "Too bad that I''ve already cracked it!"

    ''What does she mean?'' Orpal asked while dodging an onught of stabs that was almost identical to the one that he had performed earlier.

    Except that Jirni''s was faster, more urate, and more devious. The tip of her spear seemed to freely switch its target the moment he tried to block, forcing him to step back to dodge.

    ''Frost Soul creates an unbnce in the world energy, amplifying the effects of the water element.'' Night replied. ''Anyone inside its area of effect can''t cast spells without absorbing the corrupted elemental energy that eats at them from the inside.''

 Chapter 1914 Frost Soul (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1914 Frost Soul (Part 2)</h4>

    ''Your bloodline ability doesn''t block the spells. There is no such a convenient ability, it simply makes the water element go awry. That''s why dimensional magic was blocked while things like fusion magic and shapeshifting are not affected by Frost Soul.''

    ''They use the internal elemental energy of the caster instead of the world energy.'' The Horseman said.

    ''I get that you understood it already but how could Jirni do the same and why did you get such a bacsh from King''s Wraith? It uses darkness, not water.'' He asked.

    ''She must have had a great teacher or she has the brain of Dragon.'' Night shrugged. ''As for King''s Wraith, you can''t just take an element and discard the rest. All spells except Spirit Magic require conjuring the world energy inside your body and using your core as a filter.

    ''That''s why I got affected by Frost Soul. You had me swallow a crapload of world energy! Now shut up and let me heal.''

    Jirni had actually discovered Frost Soul''s limits by performing a few cantrips. The Royal Fortress armor could use all kinds of low tiered spells and she had noticed how only those which had an external manifestation were affected by Orpal''s ability.

    Using cantrips dealt so little damage to the Davross that not even Life Vision could detect them, but the armor''s internal interface did.

    Jirni''s offensive was relentless, forcing Orpal to retreat until his back hit a wall. Gold-veined marble was not only one of the most durable materials on Mogar, but it was also magically resistant.

    With Frost Soul active, the Dead King had no way to break it with his pure physical prowess.

    "You know, you are not bad for an amateur." Jirni said to throw him off his game as more and more of her attacks reached their target.

    "I''m not an amateur!" Orpal roared while deflecting Skywarp and performing theplex attack sequences that he had mastered under Night''s guidance. "I''ve learned spearsmanship from the greatest master, pouring into it my blood, sweat, and tears for the past one and a half years!"

    Yet Jirni blocked and dodged them all, even countering them at the smallest mistake he made.

    "Really? I did the same ever since I was six." She replied with a sneer. "I''ve done this for 36 years now, my dear amateur. Yours is nothing but a hobby!"

    Jirni had learned her martial mastery from both the Myrok and the Gernoff households. Centuries-old Awakened had practiced Oghrom''s techniques, evolving and perfecting them over time.

    Her masters weren''t as skilled or as talented as Night, but the gap in battle experience and practice was abyssal. The Horseman was but one ky warrior whereas hundreds of people from both households had practiced and exchanged techniques their whole lives.

    With each sessful attack, Jirni''s advantage grew. Orpal used darkness fusion to stop the pain, but she aimed specifically for the weak points of the ck Rose armor. By damaging his joints, she also crippled his movements.

    Even though Orpal felt no pain, the wounds were still there and his damaged tendons slowed his reaction time.

    He swallowed his pride, admitting to himself that without Night he had no way to win that fight. He canceled Frost Soul and then Blinked atop Moonlight, taking Jirni by surprise.

    The power of the steed coursed through the Dead King''s body, healing both him and Night.

    Jirni had no Life Vision and failed to notice that the bloodline ability was no longer in effect. When Orpal disappeared from her sight, she just put her back against the wall and assumed a neutral guard stance while looking around, ready to react.

    ''Why didn''t just make Moonlighte to us earlier?'' Night asked as the ice melted and the hole in her crystal closed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ''To what end? Moonlight boosts our mana, but we had plenty. It also empowers our spells, but I had none at the ready. If I brought it along, I would have just offered Jirni an even bigger target and you know we can''t afford Moonlight to be damaged.'' Orpal replied.

    ''Excellent point.'' Night nodded, d that her partner wasn''t as dumb as he looked.

    Fear and pain had clouded her judgment but Orpal had managed to keep a cool head and admit his limits. Even though he had yet to defeat Lith, he was growing as a warrior and a mage at an outstanding speed.

    If not for his twisted mind and his unbridled ego, there was no telling how high his obsession might lead him.

    ''Can we switch?'' He asked.

    ''I need more time.''

    ''Got it.'' At a wave of his hand, more Chosen rushed inside the house and against Jirni.

    Skywarp could Blink, not Warp. He had to slow Jirni long enough for Night to recover.

    "Your brother sends you his regards!" A white crystal card with an emerald cube at its center came out of Jirni''s left armguard.

    "Meln!" Lith''s hologram said while unleashing the tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar.

    Now that Lith had reached the light violet, his power had further improved and he could cast Scarlett''s spell without Solus'' help.

    The mix of cold and vibrations slowed down the undead''s movements while the ice, light, and earth aspects of the spell conjured spikes that pierced through their bodies, pinning them to the walls while the darkness element devoured them.

    More and more undead came through the broken wall. Jirni could feel the hair on the back of her head stand up. She didn''t need a mystical sense to know that Orpal was growing stronger by the second, her instinct was already screaming that at her.

    The Royal Fortress armor also enhanced her eyesight, allowing her to notice how all the cuts on the ck Rose armor were repairing, the bleeding had ceased, and Night''s crystal was no longer visible through the cut in the metal.

    "Out of my way! I have no time to lose with small fries!" Jirni took the vial of Void mes out of her dimensional amulet and removed the stopper.

    ck mes flooded the corridor, eating everything and everyone on their path. The Chosen activated the prisms in their chest to conjure the darkness element and protect themselves, but to no avail.

    The st incinerated them and the only result of their effort was stopping the Void mes before they reached the Dead King.

    ''I''ve healed enough. Now let me show you how it''s done.'' Night''s crystal was almost whole again and she took over Orpal''s body, fusing with him. ''Shattered Moon is all about delicate movements.

    ''You must be like the spring rain, not a raging river.'' Thorn moved through the air, and countless strings of runes appeared in its wake as the de Tier spell took form.

    The Horseman had fused her mind with her host. Orpal could sense every minute movement of her arm and the magical runes flowing through their being while Night body cast the spell as if he was doing it himself.

    Once he reached the deep violet, that knowledge woulde in handy.

    Jirni cursed when the sk ran out of Void mes and more Chosen charged at her.

    "Shouldn''t we help her now?" Faluel tried to get out of the hiding spot, but both Jiza and Fe stopped her.

 Chapter 1915

    1915 Shattered ns (Part 1)

    "Can you withstand a de spell fueled by a mage tower or even cast one of your own?" Jiza asked Faluel, obtaining a no in reply. "Neither do I. Revealing our presence now would be suicidal.

    "Jirni let Night set up the field to her convenience and if we step out right now, we''ll be on the receiving end of Night''s spear as well and die a useless death.

    "We can only hope that Jirni survives. Once the de Tier spell has drained Night''s energy but before the tower replenishes it, then we''ll take action. It''s not my fault if Full Domain stops our amulets and even Spirit Warp.

    "If only we could call for reinforcements, we could stop that damn tower." Jiza hated herself for having waited for too long, but Jirni''s battle prowess was simply dazzling.

    With each of her moves, she revealed either a brilliant strategy or a masterpiece of magic. Just like the two Emperor Beasts, Jiza had fallen into a trance, hoping to see everything Jirni had prepared and learn from it.

    s, now that Night had gotten back on her steed it was toote and all the preparations that the Council members had set were worthless against a Tower de spell.

    The Archon threw the empty sk away, taking thest two proto cubes out of her arm protectors.

    "You killed Manohar with that spell. Let''s see if you can do it again." The crystal card in her left hand had a golden cube while the one in her right had the six colors of the elements swirling in a spiral.

    A spark of her mana and two holograms appeared in front of Jirni.

    One was Manohar, the god of healing. He was still wearing his Featherwalker armor and wielding Surgeon, his enchanted de.

    "Curse you, old hag! I hope someone has stolen this thing and is using my spell against you." The projection had no idea that the real Manohar was already dead, yet it had his full prowess as it drew the power from the de, the armor, and the rings.

    Night''s eyes went wide open as she recognized the de Tier spell, Rogue Sun, taking form faster than her own.

    The second hologram depicted someone wearing an armor simr to Jirni''s yet different. He was covered in Davross from head to toe, making Orion unrecognizable. He wore the armor that once had belonged to Juria Ernas, the foremother of House Ernas.

    He also wielded another sword of the War series, Grimlock, and his spell called upon the pseudo cores of the de and the power cores of his shield, armor, ten rings, and even his amulet.

    As the de gracefully moved through the air, six small elemental spheres took form, growing bigger with each rune he weaved. Manohar was the god of healing, yet he was still merely an apprentice of the god of Forgemastering.

    The Mad Professor''s hologram was just a bunch of light whereas the projection of Orion''s spell conjured so much energy that the Chosen who came too close to him were devoured by a different element.

    "Take your filthy hands off my wife!" He roared as the de Tier spell, Elemental Sonata nearedpletion.

    Jirni had only a vague idea of what a Tower Tier spell was, but since Manohar had lost to one of them, she couldn''t trust her final trump cards.

    She poured all the Life Maelstrom the armor had left into the proto cubes, bringing the power of the spells they contained on par with those cast by a Divine Beast.

    Night started to chant,bining true, fake, and body cast to finish her spell first.

    She fused with Orpal, using every ounce of mana from both their cores and Moonlight''s to fuel Copsing Moon.

    The Horseman''s Tower Tier spell darted toward Jirni, killing all the Chosen on its path and returning their power to Night, empowering her further.

    Manoharpleted his Rogue Sun as well. With only the fire and light elements, it was a basic de Tier spell, but now its golden light had turned silver due to the Life Maelstrom cursing through it.

    The two silver beams of light shed midway, Rogue Sun holding its own, but only for one second. The power in the proto cube was finite whereas Night constantly drew more world energy thanks to Moonlight.

    Then, Elemental Sonata burst forward.

    Orion had already boosted his hexa-elemental spell with his armor''s Life Maelstrom and now Jirni had added her own. The multi-colored pir grew to the size of a tornado as the silver lightning crackled its way forward.

    Elemental Sonata wrapped around Rogue Sun, protecting it and coordinating with its movements in a move that the two mages had practiced together.

    Together, they pierced through Shattered Moon and trampled Night''s efforts of keeping them at bay. The Awakened cursed under their breath now that the fight had gone beyond them.

    Thebined de Spell took the entirety of the corridor, blinding their mystical senses and making it impossible for them to step in. Casting a spell blindly would have been pointless and to reach Orpal they would need to pass through the crossfire, getting obliterated in the process.

    Once again, all they could do was wait and hope that their greed for knowledge hadn''t cost them the fight.

    Night saw thebined spell overpowering Shattered Moon as it quickly approached her.

    ''I don''t care what happens to my equipment or this body. As long as my crystal and Moonlight are in one piece, everything can be made anew. Time to get out of here.'' She stood in front of her steed, one hand still holding Thorn, the other touching the crystal snout to keep receiving energy from the tower.

    The Horseman ordered Moonlight to deactivate Full Domain and to Blink her as far away as it could. The fight had gone on for too long and the light from the shing de Tier spells was visible from miles away.

    She couldn''t risk another Royal Fortress armor wearer joining the fray.

    Rogue Sun and Elemental Sonata reached Thorn, twisting the Davross with the sheer pressure they emitted even before the energy touched the metal. The spear bent with a screech, soon followed by the ck Rose armor''s armguards.

    The enchanted gauntlet turned into a blender that ripped into shreds the body that it was supposed to protect. Night arched her back in the attempt to buy time, using all of her limbs, even the head, to shield her crystal and gain even one more second.

    Moonlight conjured the Blink, dashing through it and shutting it down immediately just like she had ordered. Part of the st entered with the Horseman, hitting with enough strength to rip the breastte open but not enough to reach Night''s crystal.

    An external observer would have seen a ck horse, a crystal, and several pieces of twisted glistening metal floating in the night sky for a split second before a Warp Gate opened, bringing the Horseman to a safe location.

    ''This attack was a failure, but we still gained a lot from it.'' Orpal said via the mind link. ''We''ve learned what Royal Fortress armor can do, we''ve forced Jirni Ernas to reveal her best moves, and more importantly, I finally discovered my first bloodline ability!

 Chapter 1916

    Chapter 1916: Shattered ns (part 2)

    ¡®I knew that the mes over my head couldn¡¯t be solely decorative. They form the crown of the Dead King, they are proof of my talent for Domination, and each one of them will activate a different ability.¡¯ Orpal thought.

    ¡®Yeah, too bad we have no idea how. Or do you n to risk your life for another stroke of luck?¡¯ Night¡¯s words struck like a whip, but he kept gloating.

    When Fe, Jiza, and Faluel could finally see again there was no trace of the Night King.

    All of their ns, all of their forces waiting in ambush outside had been for nothing. Orpal¡¯s Full Domain and Jirni¡¯s de Tier spells had gone beyond their expectations to the point of screwing everything they had prepared.

    ¡°I told you that keeping Jirni out of the loop was a bad idea.¡± Faluel said amid swear words. ¡°We should have alerted her of our ns and presence.¡±

    ¡°And tell her that shees from a family of Awakened?¡± Jiza shook her head. ¡°No way. In times like this, she would demand to be Awakened. On top of that, I doubt it would have changed anything.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen the power of Orpal¡¯s steed. If we moved in earlier, he would have just swapped with Night. Between his bloodline ability and that damn spell, it would have turned me into mincemeat. I don¡¯t have Davross equipment. Do you?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± The two Emperor Beasts shook their heads.

    ¡°Our n didn¡¯t take Moonlight into ount. We thought that to deal with a mere human, Orpal would have left his tower behind. Fighting a mage while they have their tower requires an open space where we can make up for theck of firepower with teamwork and numbers.¡± Fe said.

    At the same time, Jirni managed to link all the swear words she knew into a single sentence. The Life Maelstrom reserve of the armor was empty, her proto cubes were depleted, and she had no idea how to chase Orpal.

    ¡®I won the damn battle but I lost the war. I did my best, but the bastard still managed to escape. I underestimated him this time. Even a blue cored Awakened with a tower is too much for me.¡¯ Jirni thought.

    ¡®Had I brought Balkor and Lith, things would have gone differently. The silver lining is that I still managed to learn about Meln¡¯s next moves and his newfound bloodline ability. The next time we meet, I¡¯ll be ready.¡¯

    The moment the arrays protecting the Myrok household were turned on again, she used hermunication amulet to alert Wanemyre and Marth. Then, she contacted the Royals andstly the Desert¡¯s embassy.

    Jirni couldn¡¯t show the recording of her battle to the Crown without revealing the existence of the proto cubes. She would have to exin how she had obtained them and reveal her involvement with Balkor.

    Aside from Tyris, he was the only one who had mastered memory crystals. The Royals knew that without his help imitating the powers of the Spell Hoarding Cube would have been impossible.

    Lith, instead, would use the recording as training material against his brother.

    ¡®I¡¯m not going to share such a masterpiece of magic just to be charged with treason for a thank you.¡¯ She thought.

    Jirni then looked at the holograms of her husband and Manohar who had already started to fade.

    ¡°I won¡¯t waste my breath with a replica when the real one waits for me at home.¡± Yet she looked at Orion¡¯s shadow with eyes full of love and yearning.

    It was only thanks to him and Skywarp that her mad n had seeded. She felt happy about the life she had built for herself, promising to help Dyta to achieve the same.

    At the end of the day, Orpal¡¯s words were based on a half-truth. Her cousin really was unsatisfied with her current life and with age, Dyta had discovered to long for things she had despised during her youth.

    Then, Jirni turned towards Manohar who gave her thumbs up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, old hag. As long as I¡¯m here, all will be well.¡± He said with his patented smug grin.

    ¡°Thank you, Manohar, for always being the pain in the ass you were. You forced me to constantly improve just to keep up with your tomfooleries. You may not be among us anymore, but I¡¯ll make your wordse true.

    ¡°Goodbye, god of healing, and may you be obnoxious in death as you were in life.¡± The light construct disappeared, and with it the final trace left of Manohar¡¯s consciousness on Mogar. Do you want to read more chapters ?

    ***

    A few hourster, Blood Desert.

    Lith had just started making breakfast when the embassy sent him Jirni¡¯s recording. He and Kam watched it holding their breath from start to finish. Even though they knew that Jirni had to be alive to have sent it, it was still a terrifying show.

    She hadn¡¯t cut anything, not even the part where Orpal had stripped her clothes, in order to let them study his weak points and how chatty he became when he believed to be winning.

    Something that Lith had never noticed since he had always beaten Orpal¡¯s ass.

    ¡°Poor Jirni.¡± Kam said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe she went through all of this and yet she¡¯s already back to work.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. She should have called me. Together we would have killed Meln.¡± Lith nodded. ¡°There¡¯s no telling what I can do now that I¡¯ve reached the violet, especially if she imbued me with Life Maelstrom.¡±

    ¡°Lith!¡± She threw him a reproachful re.

    ¡°I mean, he has discovered a bloodline ability, but we already know how to counter it. Also, with this information, I can finally start working on my golems.¡± Lith rushed to say, only making things worse.

    ¡°Damn, even Orion knows de Tier spells, I guess the issue can¡¯t be dyed any long-¡°

    ¡°What did we decide about work and honeymoon?¡± Kam took the pan away from the fire and squished his cheeks in her hands, forcing Lith to look at her.

    ¡°That they don¡¯t mix. I won¡¯t work. I promise.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Good boy.¡± She gave him a long passionate kiss in reward. ¡°Now, let¡¯s have breakfast and hit the beach. I can¡¯t wait to take a good look at the coral reef.¡±

    ***

    After a few more days of that peaceful and slow life, however, things really became boring. They had visited Yrma so many times that they knew every nook and cranny of the city. They had even tasted every single local delicacy.

    Lith and Kam started to go back to Sark¡¯s pce to allow Trion to spend a bit of time with his family. On top of that, Tista was having issues recovering from her own inner demons as well.

    She had always been a gentle soul and during the fight at the Hogum mansion to rescue Raaz, she had done things that had scarred her. Lith¡¯s madness had infected her, but that was no excuse for the ughter that she had caused with her spells and Cursed mes.

    While she was scared for her father¡¯s life, Tista hadn¡¯t cared one bit for the lives of the guards or of Hogum¡¯s house staff. Even worse was the memory of gloating as she had watched Lith murdering Hogum and his wife in cold blood.

 Chapter 1917.1: Back to Work (Part 1)

    Chapter 1917.1: Back to Work (Part 1)

    Killing someone in self-defense or in order to save someone was one thing, murdering a helpless weakling was another. Back then, in the frenzy of the battle, everything had seemed to be ck or white to Tista. There were only enemies or friends.

    Once Tista had calmed down, however, she had been assaulted by the shades of grey.

    "How are you doing, sis?" Lith asked, feeling guilty for having ignored her and Raaz until that moment.

    "Like crap." She sighed. "If not for Grandma, I would''ve already be addicted to sleeping potions. Gods, Lith, how can you live with all the lives you have taken?"

    "Like this." He embraced Tista, kissing her on the forehead. "I''ve killed ever since I was a child, but I regret none of it. It was because I hunted animals that I could feed you and give you warm clothes.

    "It was because I hunted criminals that I had enough money to fix the house. I never think about those who I killed, only about what I obtained by doing it. Like saving Dad. Were I to have doubts or arrived even one secondter just to spare someone, he would be dead and I''d have regretted it forever."

    Tista looked at their father ying cards with Trion and for a moment, she imagined them both as Demons. Raaz lingering after his death to still be with his family, neither alive nor dead.

    A shiver ran down her spine, making a dreadful cold flood her body despite the heat of the Desert. She held Lith tighter, using his warmth and the echo of his words to shrug off the chilly touch of death.

    "Maybe you are right, but I still feel like crap." Tista said.

    "The first time is always the worst." Lith caressed her head. "Why don''t youe to the beach with Solus tomorrow? One more guest is no issue and at least we would be sure that she won''t sneak in our bed again."

    Solus had managed to sleep over a few times, giving the couple the privacy they needed. The problem arose only when Lith and Solus used the tower Warp to show Kam the ces they had been in the past.

    It was a way for Solus and Kam to get acquainted with each other and share with her what even a mind link couldn''t rece. The beauty of the sunset on the ciers in the north, the sunrise reflecting on thekes in the Distar region, and the wilnds that unless there was a monster horde, seemed out of a painting.

    During those trips past the Desert''s borders, they would sleep inside the tower and often have an unwanted guest.

    "No way! How could I stay naked in front of you?" Tista replied.

    "There''s something called a swimsuit now." Lith shrugged. "Besides, I don''t remember you being so shy when I taught you how to swim in the river. All you needed was a short-sleeved shirt and pants to take a dive during summer."

    "I was a kid back then and I had no idea what I was doing!" She blushed violently at the memory.

    "Suit yourself. I''ll invite Grandma and the kids then."

    Meanwhile, Kam was talking with Sark in her office.

    "Let me get this straight. After barely two weeks, you and Lith are so bored of your vacation that you are thinking of working part-time?" The Overlord asked. Do you want to read more chapters?

    "Yes." Kam nodded. "This way Lith can go back to his training and I can find a job. I don''t want to be a housewife. I want to earn my money and find my ce in society."

    "By the Great Mother, you two are really a match made in heaven. Too bad you are not one of mine." Sark used the Blood Imprint, feeling for the umpteenth time that Kam didn''t have a single drop of Phoenix blood.

    "I have your resume here and I know what you can do. What job are you interested in?"

    "My dream has always been to be a Constable. Is there a simr role in the Desert?" Kam asked.

    "Yes, but I''d rather you work as a clerk first." Sark nodded.

    "A clerk?" Kam furrowed her brows. "I could understand if I started as an assistant, but the clerk is a menial position and it''s really boring."

    "Indeed, yet you know nothing of the Desert''sws, correct?" Sark asked.

    "Correct."

    "You see, here we have no trials, no judges, or juries. The Constable does everything by themselves." Sark handed Kam a small book about legal procedures.

    "Really? Can they get things done?"

    "Sure. In the Desert, witnesses alwayse forward because they know that the criminal will be punished and I will protect them. Here the magical beasts listen, talk, and can even help you find clues." Sark showed her the most relevant pages.

    "Worst case scenario, you group up the suspects, I read their minds, and we are done. Yet remember, no matter how little evidence you get or how sincere they seem when they im to be innocent.

    "If I say they are guilty, you kill them. End of the story."

    "Me?" Kam pointed at herself.

    "Yes, you. Of course we don''t kill small criminals or those who only steal because hungry. But there is no ce in my Desert for people who''d rathermit a crime than work to get what they want.

    "There is no forgiveness for those who find it eptable to make money from the suffering of others. Corruption is a disease that I don''t tolerate. The only answer is death." Sark replied.

    "Being a clerk is fine." Kam swallowed a lump of saliva.

    "Good! First, get acquainted with the procedure and paperwork. Then, I''ll send you to the field as an assistant. If you have the guts to do what must be done, we''ll talk about making you a Constable." Sark noticed her distress.

    Kam was used to investigating the scene, interrogating the suspects, and then handing them over to the justice system. She had killed in the line of duty, but never in cold blood.

    "Let''s go to the others. The kids always ask about their favorite auntie." The Overlord wrapped her arm around Kam''s slender shoulders and brought her over to the Verhens.

    ''I can''t believe that I''m so lucky.'' Kam thought. ''Maybe my career is not over, after all. Sark may be merciless, but she''s been nothing but supportive to me. Ever since I married Lith, she treats me no differently from a member of her family.''

    ***

    During the following days, Kam and Lith would leave the cottage either for the morning or the afternoon, based on how tired they were.

    Lith used the knowledge from the footage against Orpal to work both with the team of Archmages and Aerth on his golems. The proto cubes had proved to be capable of holding a de Tier spell and even retaining enough will for abined attack.

    It was way beyond what Lith needed for his own research.

    "Lith, my boy, if you get any more tanned, you''ll look like a native from the Desert." Vastor said in amazement.

    Yet it wasn''t due to Lith''s bronze skin color. Ever since his return from the honeymoon, he looked like apletely different man. He was calm, devoid of that sense of rush that had always apanied him.

 Chapter 1918.2: Back to work (Part 2)

    Chapter 1918.2: Back to work (Part 2)

    Lith''s mind was rxed and fully focused, working better, faster, and more powerful than ever. Compared with the broken person Lith had been until barely two weeks ago, the difference was like heaven and earth.

    "Thanks, but believe me, it looks better on Kami." Lith said with a warm smile that creeped everyone out.

    Lith Verhen smiled only to deceive you or before dealing the killing blow. Orion, Vastor, and Balkor found this new Lith unsettling at best.

    "During the day, my Abomination side drains all the light and heat, so I now eat almost as little as a regr human. Also, if during the day Kami wants some cool, she can snuggle with me.

    "At night, instead, I''m warm like anyone else so the chilly ocean air makes it pleasant to cuddle. The Desert is really the best ce for my honeymoon."

    Spouting random facts just to brag about his happiness was unprecedented as well. It made the three Archmages envious and willing to drop everything to go back to their respective wives.

    Maybe even to try this beach and see if it really was a piece of heaven.

    "Yep, they make a wonderful couple." Solus'' voice was sincere, but she couldn''t avoid sighing.

    She had gone on a few dates with Aerth, but the more she learned and remembered about her past, the more she wanted something different for her future.

    ''I''ve be someonepletely different from Elphyn Menadion. She was talented, free-spirited, and self-confident but also a spoiled brat. I never bothered worrying about my mother.

    ''I only thought about my own pain, making Menadion lose both her husband and daughter on the same day. Yet Mom never gave up on me. Even when I cut her off from my life, she kept protecting me from the shadows.

    ''Even when I med her for Dad''s death, she never got angry with me. Maybe, if I was a better person, if I managed to see past my wounds, I would have more good memories with Mom.

    ''All that I''ve left, instead, are the echoes of the parties I attended, the clothes I bought, and the time I spent practicing. I don''t want to live such an empty life again. This isn''t just Lith''s second chance, it''s mine as well.''

    "By the way, are you sure that you don''t want our help in the Forgemastering process?" Orion asked. "We may not be Awakened, but you have seen how the proto cubes work and what we are capable of."

    He had noticed Solus'' daydreaming often, but he didn''t know her enough to care about whatever was running through her mind. Do you want to read more chapters?

    "Thanks, but I need help only for the theoretical aspect of the Golem crafting." Lith nodded. "I have a few tricks that should make up for what Ick, but if they fail, I''ll keep your offer in mind."

    Solus'' Fury could split up to nine times and every Forgemaster wielding one would have their energy signature converted into Solus'' which was identical to Lith''s. Yet to craft a true masterpiece, the power of the tower was needed.

    Lith didn''t feel like entrusting any of them with such a vital secret. Balkor was a maybe due to his sworn allegiance to Sark and Orion because of Jirni. Vastor, however, was still a mystery to Lith.

    As long as he had no idea of what the purpose of the Organization was and why the Professor was amassing an enormous power, revealing the existence of Menadion''s tower was too big a risk to take.

    ''With Manohar gone, Solus is the best Light Master I know. Friya is an outstanding dimensional mage and Faluel has more experience in Forgemastering than everyone in this room put together.'' Lith thought.

    ''If I add Tista, Quy, and Phloria, I already have seven people who have myplete trust. Before involving anyone else, I need to make sure that the tower can handle the power I already have at my disposal.

    ''In its broken state, the seven of us might already be too much. The tower needs to stay a secret as long as possible.''

    When Aerth and the Archmages weren''t avable due to their own business, Lith practiced the Call of the Void. Ever since the shadow of Derek McCoy had further merged with his life force, Lith''s bloodline abilities took a significantly lesser toll on him.

    The Void didn''t try to break free the first asion it got, leaving Lith free to use his focus and power against his enemies instead of keeping his Abomination side in check.

    Also, he practiced with Tista both the Cursed mes and the Primordial mes. She had now four eyes, making four kinds of Cursed mes avable. Lith taught her about Domination and Tista taught him how to unlock the new mes.

    He had received permission from Faluel to share his knowledge about Domination after Tista had proven to have a growing elemental affinity like a Hydra.

    Last, but not least, Lith practiced de Tier spells.

    Thanks to her eidetic memory, Solus could rey the memories of when they had cast one against Jakra and then those of Lith casting another with War alone. This way, they could study both the runes they had employed and how they had achieved the core fusion.

    As for Jirni''s footage, it gave them a practical demonstration of de Tier spells, but the Eyes of Menadion couldn''t read the runes from a hologram. The silver lining was that War could give them a feel of that new branch of magic thanks to its Gleipnir skill.

    It allowed the angry de to override the power cores of the Voidwalker armor and the Double Edge sword and Lith''s mana core to produce a simple yet effective de Tier spell despite Lith''sck of understanding.

    Solus allowed War to harmonize her mana core and the tower''s core as well, producing an even more powerful spell. At the same time, she and Lith used the Eyes to study the phenomenon and focused solely on the feeling of bing one with their equipment.

    Gleipnir''s spells were nothingpared to Manohar''s Rogue Sun and the Mad Professor had been just a genius fake mage. Learning such aplex discipline would have been a mammoth task and required months just to scratch the surface.

    Yet they had ess to the Eyes, to the Sage Staff that amplified their focus and theirprehension, and War that was eager to help. Not only did the angry de cast spells until its pseudo cores were exhausted, but it also exined the process to the best of its abilities.

    Which mostly consisted of single words and sound effects, but thanks to the blood bond with Lith, even those childish noises carried significance to him. He could experience the de''s feelings as it weaved the spell and also how it weaved the magical runes.

    "Fuck me sideways, War is bad at this. It''s as if he''s driving a car with the hand brake on." Lith said.

    "He?" Solus asked, catching her breath.

    The practice of de Tier spells neversted long because every attempt drained a huge amount of their collective mana. After less than an hour, Invigoration wouldpletely lose its effectiveness.

    "I can''t keep calling War ''it''. It sounds wrong." Lith replied.

 Chapter 1919

    "Agreed." Solus nodded, caressing the edge of the de that emitted a silvery sound of happiness. She was the only one besides Lith who could touch War. "I wonder how powerful I would be if I mastered de Tier magic and used it with the Fury."

    Lith looked at the Guardian crafted artifact and sighed in envy.

    "I bet that you would be stronger than War and me."

    "Thanks." Solus replied with a dazzling smile.

    Lith and Solus always asked Sark for a secluded spot to train with de Magic. Even a failed spell would cut the dunes asunder for hundreds of meters, spreading shockwaves that ttened thend.

    They didn''t want to kill the local fauna or destroy the little flora that guaranteed the survival of countless species. Luckily for them, the Blood Desert was full of deste areas where they could go all out without any worry.

    It took them a while to notice that while casting de Tier magic, the state of the mind was the most important thing. The strength of the muscles while wielding the weapon was pointless and so was controlling the output of the mana core.

    Only when the mage managed to feel the mana flow in his equipment as well as his own and make the output of every artifact in his possession match that of his core did a de Tier spell take form.

    To perform such powerful magic, raw power was pointless. The secrety inplete mastery over one''s own mana flow, to the point of perceiving even the mana that the imprint carried from the owner to the equipment.

    Yet that was just half of the problem, otherwise most of those who had achieved the violet core on their own would have been able to cast de Tier spells. The other half consisted of the equipment''s enchantments having a suitable matrix.

    The mana circting system, the mana pathways, and even the cores needed to match the way the mage circted their mana. The artifact had to be crafted to be a literal extension of its owner.

    Mass-produced weapons were pointless, making the skill of the Forgemaster the second key element needed. Rulers of the mes were highly sought after because of their skill to craft such artifacts.

    In Lith''s case, things were easier.

    He was a beginner, but Solus and War were more than mere powerful enchanted tools. Simply by spending a few seconds remembering the moments or the battles they had shared, made harmonizing with them second nature to him.

    On top of that, both Solus'' core and War''s enchantments had reshaped themselves after the bonding. In their case, the imprint hadn''t just marked them as his property but had also changed their very nature.

    ''I don''t know if the treaties with the Kingdom will go well or not, but we are going back anyway. Meln needs to be stopped and if I can''t get my home back, I''d rather destroy it.

    ''Yet I can''t do it alone. To survive a fight against the entire Undead Courts, I need your help. Will you follow me?'' Lith asked via their mind link.

    He considered Solus as his irreceable partner, not as just his tower.

    Lith didn''t want to put her happiness at risk because of his own personal grudge. She had 50% of the shares in their partnership and her opinion mattered as much as his own. Especially since he had no guarantee they woulde back alive.

    As for the angry de, Lith thought of it as one of his Demons. Someone whose life was entrusted to him, not a disposable tool. Orion had given it a semnce of life that made War capable of feeling joy as much as pain.

    That was something that Lith respected.

    ''Always.'' Solus and War answered in unison.

    After receiving their answer, Lith spread his mana from the violet core to the auxiliary cores. Then, it kept flowing through the Voidwalker armor that Solus had coated with her stone form.

    The metal didn''t offer any resistance to the mana that coursed through it in the same mana channels that the armor''s power core used to circte its energy. Lith''s mana resonated with that in the armor, turning the power core into another mana core.

    Then, it flowed into War, and not only did the de ept it, but War also amplified and spread the mana throughout the massive body of Double Edge.

    Lith had cast a simple tier three darkness spell, yet what came out of the de split thend, blotting the moon and the stars out of the sky.

    A few days after he had started practicing de Tier spells, Lith discovered that he had gained a new nickname: the ck Star of the Desert. After a bit of research, it turned out that Sark had sent him to deserted areas that passed rtively close to the merchants'' routes.

    His training cleared their way by ttening the dunes and gave them a terrifying show to witness. The merchants spread the rumors of Lith''s new prowess even past the Desert''s border.

    ''I''m not going to interfere with his treaties with the Kingdom, but I bet that when the Royals hear about the feats of my little Feathering, they will think twice before cornering him with a bad deal.'' Sark thought while a warm smile broke on her face.

    ''I really like him and I love Kam''s passion for her job. She would make a great Constable here and I''d love to keep them close to me. s, it''s not about what I want, but about what they want.

    ''I can''t stop them from leaving the nest. Only after they spread their wings and see the rest of Mogar will they understand if this is their home or just a nice ce for the vacations.''

    Lith was true to his word and since the honeymoon wasing to an end, he invited Aran, Leria, and Sark to join them on the beach. The kids brought the magical beasts with them and had lots of fun.

    After their parents heard from their respective children their enthusiastic impression of the ocean and Lith''s cooking, Elina asked Lith if she and Raaz coulde as well.

    Lith had examined her body countless times as a healer and being seen in a one-piece swimsuit by her son and her husband didn''t bother her.

    Also, Raaz could use a change of scenery and spend more time with his sons. His mood was slowly and steadily recovering, but he still hated crowded ces and couldn''t bear being touched, even by mistake.

    Trion was brimming with joy when Lith summoned him and then with embarrassment when he saw Kam and Solus in their one-piece swimsuit. It only left their limbs exposed but they were still a sight for lonely eyes.

    Then, after hearing from Elina only good things about the cottage, Rena and Senton came as well, followed by Tista who at that point felt stupid being the only one left behind.

    "Good gods. What have we done?" Kam said with a sigh as their once secluded spot was now filled with the noise of a joyous family.

    "We can always keep the Gate closed tomorrow." Lith shrugged. "This was your idea."

 Chapter 1920 Blade Spells Practice (Part 2)

    "I know, but I didn''t expect everyone would follow." Kam slumped her shoulders. "Having the kids and other women here is one thing, having men is another. I know that it''s stupid, but I hate the idea of being the less attractive woman."

    "That''s not true, you are the most beautiful woman on Mogar." Lith gave her a soft kiss as his wings unfolded, wrapping around her in an embrace.

    It was something that happened every time he held her. At first, it had creeped her out a bit because the membranous wings were weird to the touch. Then, Kam had realized that it was something he did only for her.

    Lith''s wings didn''t react to Sark, Elina, and not even Solus. Kam considered it their own thing and it made her feel special.

    "Also, I''m not the only one." Lith chuckled, using an air magic spell to carry the words of a distant conversation so that she could also hear it.

    "Man, I never thought that an undead could have a massive headache." Trion''s voice said. "Thank the gods I''m t down there or things would get awkward."

    "Between Solus, Kam and Sark, I don''t know where to look." Trion said.

    "You and me both, brother." Senton replied. "Sometimes I freeze up, staring at them and Tista like a moron. My only hope is that they haven''t noticed."

    "Dude, that''s gross! She''s my sister!" Trion made a retching sound.

    "She may be your sister, but she''s still a hot woman!" Senton replied. "I consider Elina like a mother whereas I''ve never-"

    At that point, Lith cut the spell off.

    "One more word and I can''t pretend that I''m not listening to them anymore. I''d need to exin Rena why I''m killing her husband." Lith said with a sigh.

    "The troubles of Awakened hearing?" Kam giggled.

    "More like a Tiamat''s. If Tista hears him, Rena will kill Senton for me. Fingers crossed."

    A few dayster, Lith received a call on his Council amulet.

    He was expecting one of the usual calls from Fe or Faluel to update him about the War of the Griffons, but the rune belonged to Xenagrosh instead.

    "What do you want?" He asked.

    "Before you left Dad''s home you said that we needed to talk about what happened between Bytra and Elphyn." The Shadow Dragon replied, hurt by the coldness of his voice. "I was hoping that after your marriage and all this time, you would have softened a bit."

    "You see, Xenagrosh-"

    "Please, I told you to call me Zoreth." She cut him short.

    "You see, Xenagrosh, I have softened up but Solus still has nightmares. She still cries every night when the images of your wife''s horn piercing through her chest and ughtering her friends sh in front of her eyes." Lith ignored her plea.

    "I have nothing against you but a lot against Bytra. Forgiving her is not up to me and you can rest assured that I don''t want to see either of you until Solus feels ready."

    "Can you ask her for a meeting, then?" Xenagrosh replied. "Bytra has many things that she wants to tell Solus and I to you. With all that happened with the Kingdom, family should stick together."

    "Family doesn''t murder family. Meln and Bytra are perfect examples of bad apples that must be brought away from the tree to not make it rot." Lith said.

    "Don''t you dare topare my wife with that disgusting man!" From her outraged voice, Lith understood to have crossed a line he shouldn''t have. "You are not talking about the old Bytra.

    "She was the real monster and did things that-" Xenagrosh stopped for a moment. "That every one of us Eldritches did over the centuries. Look, everyone here is a monster, but not Bytra.

    "She''s pure, na?ve, and kind. It''s the reason I love her. Isn''t even a monster like me allowed to want to protect the person she loves?"

    "You are." Lith nodded.

    He had felt like a monster for a long time and knew the feeling well.

    "I''ll talk to Solus and let you know the answer, Zoreth. Lith out."

    Right after the call, Lith told everything to Kam. They had decided that during the weekend they would stay alone after they were done with work. Havingpany was nice, but only until it wasn''t.

    "You should tell Solus immediately." Kam said.

    "She''sing here tomorrow for our shared day. What''s the rush?" He asked.

    "She''s as traumatized as Raaz and as paranoid as you." She said while caressing his face. "She''ll freak out at first and then she''ll mull over the issue until she makes a decision.

    "Solus needs a lot of time and courage to prepare herself to face her monster. She also needs your support. Whatever she chooses to do, Solus needs to know that she''s not alone."

    "Were you always so wise or are you developing maternal instincts for our ''daughter''?" They called Solus like that between them ever since she had forced herself between them at night, like a child after a nightmare.

    "No to both." Kam rolled her eyes at the memory. "I am just quoting Jirni and her extensive lessons about human behavior. I think that Solus needs to face Bytra, or she will be stuck like this until she does.

    "Yet it''s not up to us to decide."

    Just as predicted, Solus blew a fuse hearing that Bytra wanted to meet her.

    "No way! I''m not following that monster anywhere this time. She lied to me back at Vastor''s home just like she lied to my Mom!" Solus yelled at the top of her lungs, stomping the sand in outrage and creating a crater.

    After a while, she started pacing around the cottage, always asking the same question.

    "What do you think I should do?"

    "For the umpteenth time!" Lith said with a sigh. "Let''s go hear what they have to say. If you don''t feel well or simply you can''t stand her face we can always leave. I''ll be there with you and I swear that at the first sign of trickery we''ll show them the results of our training."

    The thought of the de Tier spell they were developing helped Solus to calm down.

    "I think that Kami is right. I need to face Bytra. Ever since Vastor''s marriage ceremony, my trauma has only gotten worse and I''m tired of being afraid of my own home. I need to kick that damn ghost out." Solus said.

    "I agree. The tower is the special ce you shared with Ripha first and with Lith now. You can''t let Bytra take it from you." Kam still felt a bit awkward when Solus used her moniker.

    Also, she would''ve really loved to make sure once and for all that Solus wouldn''t barge into their room in the middle of the night anymore.

    "Thanks, Kami." Solus nodded to her and turned towards Lith. "Let''s set up the meeting for tomorrow and make it over a mana geyser. This way, my human body willst as long as it needs and if anything goes wrong, we can fight at our full power."

    "Excellent idea." Lith nodded.

    "Tomorrow?" Kam echoed. "I thought you would need a bit of time to muster your courage."

 Chapter 1921: Peace Offers (Part 1)

    "You''ll miss part of our day together and you won''t be able to enjoy a single moment of it. First because of the stress of the impending meeting Bytra and then for its aftermath." Kam said.

    "I know, but if I wait any longer, I''ll run away in fear." Solus sighed. "Can I stay here today, instead? I want to be at the top of my game when I face Bytra."

    While Lith called Xenagrosh back and set up the meeting, Solus looked up to Kam with the big eyes of a scared puppy. She was so small, cute, and trembling that Kam''s mouth moved faster than her brain.

    "Of course you can." She hugged Solus who returned the embrace, sniffling.

    ''Above a mana geyser, Solus can recover her strength in a matter of minutes and she knows it.'' Kam thought while caressing her head until Solus stopped quivering.

    ''What she really needs is the self-confidence she gains by feeling a part of the family and the calm that the mind link with Lith gives her. Gods, this really feels like I''ve somehow gotten a daughter my own age.'' Kam sighed.

    Despite Solus''s brave front, she spent a sleepless night. Even with the bond with Lith soothing her mind, the image of Bytra ughtering Menadion''s apprentices shed in front of her the moment Solus closed her eyes.

    The following morning, Solus was pale as a ghost and ate a single serving of pancakes before her churning stomach forced her to stop.

    "We''ll be back soon." She said while squeezing Lith''s hand to feel reassured. "I don''t want to spend one second longer than necessary with Bytra."

    "Are you going to tower Warp?" Kam asked. "I think you should keep it as a hidden card."

    "No. I''ve picked for the meeting one of the ces where Grandma sent us to train de Spells. We can Warp there normally and set up the tower underground without anyone noticing."

    Kam wished them both good luck and watched them disappear through a dimensional corridor.

    "Gods, I hate my weakness! Why is waiting the only thing I can do?" She said to no one once she was alone.

    They hadn''t told anyone but Sark of the meeting to not make them worry. Not knowing what to do, Kam resumed her work as a clerk.

    Reading the reports of hideous crimes and murder scenes made her worry even more. Yet the thought of helping the families of the victims to find some peace, of giving justice to people like Solus who had suffered a cruel fate, gave her strength.

    ***

    Above a mana geyser hundreds of kilometers away from both the beach and Sark''s pce.

    Lith and Solus arrived early at the meeting spot. The clothes they wore were actually their best armor and the tower was safe underground, absorbing the power from the mana geyser and channeling it through their bodies.

    This way, there would be less world energy for the Abominations to feed upon and Solus could use all of the powers of the tower if push came to the shove.

    Even with Lith holding her hand and the Fury in the other, Solus was sweating bullets. Her throat felt parched and the acrid taste of bile that rose up from her guts from time to time only made matters worse.

    Bytra and Xenagrosh walked out a Chaos Steps a few minutester, but to Solus, they felt like hours. The sun of the Desert was nothing to a deep blue Awakened like her, but Solus felt fainting from the heat waves that burned her skin.

    The two Abomination hybrids came unarmed, wearing regr desert clothes, yet Solus felt the need to hide behind Lith as they closed in.

    ''Beware! This might as well be a trap. Xenagrosh has a pocket dimension as well. She can take the equipment out at any moment.'' Solus warned him.

    ''If that was the case, they wouldn''t meet us on Grandma''s turf. On top of that, they would have attacked us on the spot and obliterated us before we could react.'' Lith replied. ''Their strength doesn''t scare me, it reassures me.

    ''If they had ill intentions, they wouldn''t hide them.''

    Solus realized how irrational her fears were and stepped forward, her back as stiff as a stick.

    "Hi, Lith. A darker skin looks good on you and I can feel how much your power has grown since ourst meeting. Thank you for epting to see us, Solus. I promise you won''t regret it." Zoreth said while shaking their hands in turn.

    Solus'' was cold and sweaty.

    "Thanks, Zoreth." Lith kept his eyes on Bytra, who kept her distance for a while before stepping forward.

    "Hi, Elphyn. Do you mind if-" She had just taken one step when Solus rushed back behind Lith.

    She could almost feel the Raiju''s horn pierce through her heart. Smell the blood that flooded her nostrils and taste it as it gurgled in her mouth while life slipped away from her body.

    "Stay away from me!" The voice came from Lith''s mouth and his eyes turned golden.

    Solus was cowering on the ground, burying her face in her own knees, yet her swirling emotions still found a way out.

    "Good gods, Elphyn. What happened to you?" Bytra moved her eyes from one to the other, trying to figure out their rtionship.

    Back at Vastor''s home, she had thought they were romantically involved, but after hearing about Lith''s wedding, Bytra had assumed they simply had a business partnership.

    Yet hearing Lith speak with Elphyn''s voice and seeing his body emit both a violet and a deep blue aura made Bytra open her eyes wide in surprise.

    "That''s rich! Are you really asking what happened to me? You happened! You killed me!" Lith/Solus roared, taking abat stance and bing covered in ck scales.

    "Did you think that some merciful god descended from the sky and saved me like in a bard''s tale? Breaking news, Bytra, it didn''t. My mother sacrificed a lot of her life force to bind me to this ring!" Lith raised his right hand, showing the round piece of stone at his finger that now brimmed with blue energy.

    "That''s why you managed to kill her as well. Menadion was already half dead when she faced you. You took her away from me, leaving me trapped in here for centuries." Lith slowly shapeshifted into Tiamat, his size growing by the second.

    "Because of you, I''m banished from death. You have doomed me to an eternal life of servitude, forced to follow the whims of whoever found the ring. For seven hundred years, I couldn''t die because of you.

    "Yet I could still experience hunger, fear, loneliness, and madness! I lost my memory, I lost my powers, and everyone I knew died while I was trapped in a cursed object."

    "I''m so sorry." Bytra fell onto her knees, sobbing.

    Now everything made sense. Menadion''s weakness, Elphin''s memory loss, the regression of her core, and even how she had managed to survive for that long.

    "You''re sorry?" The roar created a sandstorm as the power of the tower made the dunes crumble and form. "Will any of your words make up for what you did? Will saying that you are sorry bring Mom back?"

 Chapter 1922 Peace Offers (Part 2)

    "Will it give me back the 700 years I lost? Will it?" ck mes erupted from Lith''s mouth while silvery ones erupted from his wings.

    His seven eyes burst with power and pain as Solus vented her pent-up rage.

    Lith was amazed by how strong the hold she had on him was. He even wondered if she was capable of overtaking his body if she wanted. If the only difference between Solus and Nighty in their character.

    Yet he didn''t oppose any resistance. Lith let her use him as his proxy to face the monster that had stolen her life.

    "No, it won''t." Bytra''s voice was steady, but tears streamed from her eyes. "Nothing I say can change the past. I''ve wronged you with my actions and words are cheap. That''s why I wanted to meet you again.

    "My life is yours. My legacy is yours. Do what you must."

    "I want nothing from you! Killing you would solve nothing, it would only make me feel worse." Solus stood up on the Tiamat''s palm, her hair whipping around due to the mana storm that her fury had unleashed, making her look like an angry goddess.

    "What about my legacy?" The Fourth Ruler of the mesy several thick books and Bytra''s Absolution in front of her.

    "Wait, were you serious back at the wedding? Wasn''t it just a ruse to lure me away from Lith?" Solus knew that for a Forgemaster their legacy was even more important than their life.

    It represented who they were and was the embodiment of their dreams for the future.

    "Yes, it was a ruse, but only because I never expected to walk out of that room alive." Bytra nodded. "I thought I wouldn''t have the opportunity to teach you. I had left instructions to give you everything in the aftermath, but much to my surprise, you spared my life.

    "So here I am, renewing my offer. I can''t give you anything of what you have lost but I can teach you everything you have forgotten and so much more."

    Seeing that the Raiju still offered her neck and that Zoreth wasn''t shielding her this time made Solus'' rage fade.

    Her breath was ragged from the yelling and the intense emotions, her hair still dancing in the storm she had conjured. Yet her hold on Lith was gone.

    He slowly reverted to his human size, gently putting her down on the sand where she started to puke her guts out.

    It took Solus several minutes to stop crying and regain her cool. Then, she destroyed the breakfast she had just regurgitated with a pulse of darkness magic and washed her face with conjured water.

    Lith offered her his hand, but she refused it.

    "This is something I must do alone, but thanks." She said while moving toward Bytra despite her weak knees.

    Solus looked down on the Raiju who kept her eyes close in submission. She took one of the books, opening it on a random page and discovering that it really contained the secrets of a ground-breaking Forgemastery technique.

    There was no code and every step was described in detail so that even aplete amateur would be capable of performing the spell with practice. Solus devoured the page and the next, bing so engrossed that she almost turned the page.

    Almost.

    "At least you are sincere." Her voice oozed spite as she dropped the book on the ground like trash. "As I said, I want nothing from you."

    Bytra was torn between the happiness of being still alive and the sadness from her precious research being treated like that. She had done all she could to make up for the mistakes of her previous incarnation.

    Words were cheap but even her actions had fallen on deaf ears. Even if Solus imed to have forgiven her, Bytra could see how deep-seated her hatred was and knew that Elphyn had every right to treat her like that.

    The Raiju needed closure with her past as much as Elphyn, yet now she had only one card left to y.

    Solus looked at the Absolution with curiosity, noticing the resemnce with the Fury.

    "What''s this?" She asked.

    "I''ve held your Fury for years." Bytra replied. "It was a powerful tool, but still a relic of the past. During that time, my father, my siblings, and I studied it thoroughly and searched for a way to recreate the Fury with modern techniques.

    "Bytra''s Absolution is the fruit of our efforts."

    "Bytra''s Absolution? Seriously? What a pretentious name." Solus'' voice was filled with spite, yet she picked up the hammer.

    She studied it with her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, and the Eyes of Menadion, making an amazing discovery.

    "By my Mom, Lith. This thing is as good as our Fury, if not even better."

    "Not to be rude, but the Fury is a Forgemastering fossil." Bytra said. "That''s why I''m offering the Absolution to you if you decide to kill me."

    "No, it''s not. Not anymore. See it for yourself." Solus couldn''t bear her mother''s legacy being badmouthed so she handed Bytra both Solus'' Fury and the Absolution.

    Lith''s eyes went wide, but he held still.

    ''Dammit, I know that she needs to face her fears, but was a measurement contest really necessary?'' He thought.

    "By the gods, Zoreth, Elphyn is right." Bytra couldn''t see past Sark''s cloaking but her spells could still gauge the power of the artifact. "Ripha was an amazing genius. She left a way for her heir to upgrade the Fury and even rece its runes with modern magic."

    "Mom was good, but not that good. She had left the ns for my hammer to Sark, and once you gave me back the Fury, she did the rest." Solus shook her head.

    "I see." The Raiju nodded, yet her admiration for the First Ruler of the mes didn''t lessen. "Even if it''s just the design, your Fury is a piece of art. Ripha managed to devise something that was generations ahead of her time."

    Now that she had established the pecking order, Solus recalled the Fury back. She hated the thought of the Raiju touching it or even speaking her mother''s name.

    Yet the more she stood her ground, the more the image of the present Bytra reced that of the invincible monster from her nightmares. She wasn''t the shadow of a god of death anymore, just another Emperor Beast.

    "If there isn''t anything else, we are done." Solus said.

    Lith could see her knees quaking and her hands bleeding from the strength with which she clenched them, yet he didn''t embrace her nor sent a single word of encouragement via the mind link.

    The only way for Solus to ovee her trauma was to face it alone. She knew that Lith was there with her and he had her back. Any other form of help would have made her fall back into her old scared self, using him as a crutch.

    "We are not done talking yet." Bytra dusted the sand off her clothes as she stood up. "We are going to Verendi to rescue a member of our brethren and I wanted to invite the two of you."

    "Why should we care about another Abomination?" Solus raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

 Chapter 1923.2: Treaty Terms (Part 1)

    "Because I want you and Lith to witness in person how the Organization works." Zoreth stepped forward, tired of seeing her wife treated like a doormat. "This way you can study our methods and learn directly from us instead of hearsay.

    "There''s no telling how the negotiations with the Kingdom will end. The Royals may cut ties with you, but the Organization never leaves its own behind. No matter who wins the War of the Griffons, we would help you to keep your family safe and to reim your properties."

    Lith pondered those words for a while. He knew about Vastor''s role as the Master and of the Eldritches following him, but his goals and methods were still a mystery to him.

    ''I could keep living in the Desert, but the Kingdom is where my home and my friends are. If I ept this offer, I could understand if Vastor is trustworthy and maybe even learn something about my Abomination side.

    ''Bytra and Zoreth are powerful Eldritches and our powers are simr. I could learn a lot about ourmon bloodline abilities from them. Yet this is not a choice I can make alone.'' He thought.

    "Also, we have gotten wind of the position of the Mouth of Menadion." Bytra said, making Solus freeze in surprise. "We were nning to retrieve it for ourselves. It will be a great tool as it is, but after a bit of study, I''m confident we can make a better and modern version of it.

    "Yet the Mouth is still a part of your mother''s legacy and I didn''t want to steal more from you. That''s why I called you here."

    "I already met the person who holds the Eyes and he''s a good man." Solus lied through her teeth to hide Ka''s identity. "I didn''t take it from him just like I don''t n to steal from one of Mom''s apprentices. I''m not like you."

    "Even if I told you that Vestha, the original holder of the Mouth is dead?" Bytra asked. "That he was betrayed by one of his fellow disciples, just like Menadion, and that now the artifact is being exploited by the culprit to enjoy fame and honors?"

    The news was a punch to the gut to Solus, who was now reconsidering the Abomination''s offer.

    ''Lith, can''t we go recover the Mouth on our own?'' She asked via the mind link.

    ''With no information about its position, no idea of thenguage they speak in Verendi, and just the two of us? Unlikely. This guy has centuries of experience, knowledge, and his house is bound to be a fortress.'' He replied.

    ''We didn''t conquer Kolga on our own, we had an army of Awakened at our back. The only reason we won is that nobody disturbed your fight with the King and the Forbidden Sun empowered hundreds of my Demons while the Awakened kept the army busy.''

    ''Yeah.'' Solus nodded. ''There''s no telling how long would it take us even to assess his defenses. I''m already wasting your honeymoon time and I don''t want to put your life at risk just because of my pride.''

    "What do you say?" Zoreth asked.

    "Solus?" Lith looked at her since hers was the heaviest burden.

    "I''m in, but I have a few conditions." She said.

    "Name them." Bytra nodded.

    "First, I want to make sure that this guy is as bad as you say. Second, I want your word that if the rumors turn out to be fake, you''ll leave them alone. Third, I want this to be quick.

    "Your presence sickens me and I don''t want to spend one second longer than necessary with you." Solus said.

    "Well, I have conditions too!" Zoreth snarled. "First, wash your mouth before speaking to my wife like that. If it wasn''t for her, you wouldn''t know anything nor would you have gotten your precious Fury.

    "Second, we are not your servants. So get off your high horse or stay home for all I care. I understand your resentment but I won''t tolerate any more harassment. I want us to be allies and if being coldly polite is too much for you then the deal is off."

    Solus was taken aback by Zoreth''s fury. In her outrage, she had forgotten that the same person that was a cold-hearted monster to her was the Shadow Dragon''s loved one.

    "I have conditions as well." Lith chimed in to ease the tension. "I can''t give you my answer before I ask my wife''s opinion. I''m still on my honeymoon and I can''t just leave her like that. It would be a dick move."

    "Does she know about Solus and your real nature?" Zoreth asked.

    "Yes, she does and Kami proposed to me anyway. That''s why I''m not taking a single step without talking with her first."

    "Good gods, three times congrattions, then." Zoreth hugged him in joy, wishing that one day Vastor could say the same. "Once for your marriage, another for finding such a wonderful person, and thest because we are now twice rted.

    "By blood and inw! If you ever make her cry, I''ll kick your ass to the moon and back."

    "Thanks, I guess." Lith replied, suddenly realizing how fucked up his family tree had be.

    "Take your time and thoroughly discuss the matter with her. We can wait." Zoreth waved her hand and Chaos Warped away.

    "I''m sorry." Solus stared at the ground in embarrassment.

    "Sorry for what?"

    "For freaking out like that, taking over your body, revealing the Fury to the Organization, and now ruining your honeymoon." She shook her head, trying to clear her vision.

    "It''s okay. I didn''t expect you to be so brave. Standing that close to Bytra must have been- Are you alright?" Lith could hear Solus taking quick and shallow breaths.

    At first, he had thought that she was using her breathing technique to recover from her earlier disy of raw power, but then Solus had faltered on her feet as if the sand had turned slippery.

    Lith caught her while she fainted, discovering that despite the scorching sun of the Desert, Solus was trembling and was covered in a cold sweat. Her eyes had rolled up and her lips mouthed gibberish non-stop.

    "Fuck me sideways." Lith tower Warped back to the beach where Kam was waiting for them.

    After putting Solus to bed, he told Kam everything that had happened.

    "A bit of shock therapy is okay, but that was too extreme." She said with a sigh. "Solus demanded too much from herself."

    "I know, but what could I have possibly done?" Lith shrugged. "I couldn''t stop her. Not while she was fighting so hard."

    "Do you want to ept Zoreth''s offer?" Kam asked.

    "Honestly, I''m torn. On one hand, I want to help Solus and learn more about Vastor''s Organization. On the other hand, I don''t want to leave you." He took her hand, caressing it gently.

    ''I knew what kind of mess I was putting myself into when I proposed to him, but trouble came knocking on our door sooner than I expected.'' Kam inhaled sharply to calm herself.

    ''There are just a few days of honeymoon left, but that makes them even more precious. If the Royals make Lith a good offer, he will go back to the Kingdom and risk his life on the battlefield.''

 Chapter 1924 Treaty Terms (Part 2)

    Kam pondered for a while before answering.

    "You should go." She said. "To truly start her new life, Solus muste to terms with the old one. More importantly, she needs you. Not only because she can''t move around alone, but also because she needs your emotional support.

    "Just like you needed her as a kid as your moralpass, she now needs you to be her strength. We owe Solus a great deal of gratitude because without her, you would have been an insufferable asshole and we would have never met."

    "Thanks, Kami." Lith replied. "But I want you to be honest with me. Are you doing this out of gratitude or just to get me out of your hair for a while and Solus out of our bed?"

    "Both." Kam chuckled. "Jokes aside, I have conditions."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I want you back here for lunch, dinner, and for the night. I don''t care where you are, find a mana geyser and Warp here. This is still our honeymoon and I want more than just seeing your hologram a few times a day." She said. "Besides, Solus can use a bit of time away from Bytra to recover."

    "I can do that." Lith nodded.

    "Also, keep it short. Do what you need ande back to me the moment you are done." She wrapped her arms around his neck, missing him already.

    "Deal. Are you sure you don''t want toe with us? I mean, with Zoreth and Bytra we should be safe. I don''t expect to y a big role either."

    "I would love to, but I''m too weak." Kam sighed. "This is still a mission and I want you to stay focused on protecting your life, not mine. On top of that, I want Zoreth to feelfortable enough to open up with you.

    "I need to know what Vastor is up to and if his ns can affect Zinya. She and you are all the family I have. I like Tezka, but after learning what Bytra did in the past, what every one of those Eldritches did, they scare me to death."

    "Damn, keep being such a thinker and I''ll call you Jirni the second." Lith kissed her.

    "I wish." She giggled. "Now let''s go to the kitchen and make something good together. I''m starving and I bet that once Solus wakes up, she''ll eat both of us if we don''t appease her hunger."

    ***

    Verendi Continent, a nameless cavern in the middle of nowhere.

    A humanoid figurey on a small patch of withered grass. Just a few hours ago, the soil had been moist and soft, the grass green and tall, but now it had be barren.

    The man stirred in his sleep and then jumped to his feet screaming.

    "Stay away from me!" His hands shone with the ck light of Chaos, making the darkness of the cavern deeper and killing the insects that had been buzzing around.

    "Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Another male figure stood up.

    He had been sitting outside, keeping watch on thendscape at a safe distance from hispanion.

    "Dolgus, is that you?" The sleeping man came to the light, revealing the figure of a young man in his early twenties, about 1.82 meters (6'') tall with alternating patches of ck and pink skin.

    His hair was disheveled and covered in dirt. He had hair so ck that it almost looked blue, green eyes, and he waspletely naked.

    "What''s left of it, but yes." Dolgus turned around, revealing a ckened withered right hand that he was still healing with magic.

    "What happened and where are we?"

    "You had another fit of blood madness." He replied with a sigh. "You revealed your true form, blew up our cover, and I had to fight both you and the humans on our way here.

    "As for the where, I have no clue, and with a bit of luck, neither do our pursuers."

    "Did I do that to you?" The naked man asked.

    "Sort of." Dolgus shrugged. "It''s not exactly easy to hide a 30 meters (100'') tall hybrid, Theseus. I had to hold you to use Body Sculpting and shrunk you to a human size before dragging you inside this cave."

    "Can''t you heal yourself with Life Maelstrom or something?" Theseus asked.

    Dolgus looked like a man in his early thirties, about 1.9 (6''3") meters tall, with red hair, green eyes, and a muscr figure. Yet his real nature was that of a Griffon, and one of Tyris'' firstborns at that.

    "Why do you think we are both still alive?" He pointed at the withered patch of grass. "I used everything I had to survive the contact and provide you with enough to eat for a while. I couldn''t risk you sleepwalking for a snack."

    Only then did Theseus notice that they are the only two living beings left in the cavern and that he didn''t feel any hunger despite the days spent on the run with barely any food.

    "Thank you. You shouldn''t have gone this far for me. I don''t deserve it. You should have healed yourself first." The Eldritch touched Dolgus'' shoulder, making the Griffon flinch at the memory of the deadly Abomination Touch.

    "That''s bullshit and you know it." Dolgus shook his head. "I came to Verendi to continue my mother''s work and help life to thrive. You are a new form of life and deserve a chance, just like anyone else."

    "I''m a monster. I killed thousands of people. Some because of hunger but most just to have some fun." Theseus shivered as the memories flooded his mind, guilt and self-loathing brewing another fit of blood madness.

    "For the love of the gods, not again so soon!" The Griffon shook the Abomination''s shoulders, making him snap out of it before the pink of his skin waspletely overtaken by the ckness.

    "Listen to me. You are not Paquut the Eldritch, you are Theseus, a newborn clone just two years old. You are a hybrid, an innocent new form of life. Otherwise I wouldn''t have hesitated to leave you behind."

    The ckness subsided and so did the blood madness.

    "Can we resume moving? The borders with the Desert and the Kingdom are still afar." Theseus asked.

    "Do you really want me to move while I''m still like this?" Dolgus pointed at his gangrenous hand. "First, I need to heal. Then, I need to store enough Life Maelstrom to stop you in the case you go wild again."

    "I''m sorry." The Abomination lowered his gaze in shame. "You tried to help me and got hurt. Maybe you should''ve left me to rot in the hands of the Council."

    "See? That''s proof that I''m right. An old monster like Paquut would never apologize for feeding on a lesser being. He would never put someone else''s life above his own." The Griffon smiled as a bolt of silver lightning coursed through his hand and regenerated it.

    The innate power of life fought the effects of the Abomination Touch, restoring the flesh that would have otherwise needed amputation and regeneration.

    "Now, how do we find your new friends?"

    "They are not my friends!" Thesues snarled. "They contacted me right after I devoured my original, asking me to take part in their Organization. Yet I had assimted all of Paquut''s memories, including those rted to my birth.

    "I saw the experiments they performed on the monsters, how many lives they sacrificed in order to create others like me just to feed them to the Eldritches and increase their strength.

    "They didn''t care who would''ve won between me and my original, only that the survivor joined their ranks.

 Chapter 1925 Long Live The Queen (Part 1)

    "I turned down their offer and only pretended to ept theirmunication amulet. I knew that they could use it to track me just like I knew that the so-called Master wasn''t any better than Paquut." Theseus said.

    "Please, don''t tell me that¡­" Dolguscked the strength to finish the sentence.

    "I''m sorry." Theseus shrugged. "I threw the amulet away and then forgot about it. I didn''t have fits of blood madness back then. I was finally free from my hunger and happy to have a second chance at life.

    "With my power and knowledge, I assumed that living a normal life among humans or beasts would have been easy. I didn''t want a Master nor ''siblings'', just to be left alone."

    "Yet once I fell prey to the blood madness, everyone started hunting me down. The humans want to capture and study me while the Awakened want to kill me for the crimes of my original.

    "My only hope is to join the Organization and escape Verendi. If only I still had that damn amulet, things would be much easier."

    "Then how do you know where and when we can meet your allies?" The Griffon asked.

    "Well, Abomination hybrids have a way tomunicate between them even without amulets. Do you remember the ck pir?" Theseus said.

    "You mean that huge ass sh of light that gave out our position and got three armies and the Hand of Fate on our tail? Kind of hard to forget." Dolgus shuddered at the memory.

    "That''s how. We just need to keep moving toward the border, find an area isted enough, and then I can use the ck pir to signal my position." The Bastet said.

    "You mean give our dimensional coordinates, right?" The Griffon''s smile twitched in nervousness.

    "No, we are too far for that. From this distance, I could only convey to them that I was in danger and I needed help. That along with my general direction. They know that I''m in Verendi, but that''s it." Theseus took some food out of his pocket dimension and the two wolfed it down.

    "That''s it?" Dolgus ate and spoke in outrage at the same time spitting part of his meal everywhere. "You blotted the moon out of the sky, eclipsed the stars for kilometers, and almost got us killed just to say ''help, I''m in Verendi''?"

    "Correct." Theseus nodded with a smile.

    "And we need to do that again and again until your rescuers find us by chance?"

    "Not by chance. The closer we get to my ''siblings'', the more information I can exchange. At some point, we will be able to establish a telepathic link and send them our dimensional coordinates." The Eldritch replied.

    "Sounds more like ast-ditch effort sprinkled with wishful thinking to me." The Griffon grunted. "Also, why are you smiling?"

    "Because you are funny and I had forgotten how it feels to have a true friend. The situation is indeed desperate, but at least I''m not alone anymore."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Othre, Main Branch of the Night Court.

    Even after days from his fight with Jirni, Orpal Verhen was still gloating about his newfound bloodline ability. He used Frozen Soul even to cool down his drinks, experimenting with it at every asion he got.

    He would often harshly punish his subjects just to show off his power.

    ''My crown already consists of three mes and I''m sure that all of them represent one of my bloodline abilities. I must devote myself to master them all before I make my next move.'' He thought.

    The Dead King had gone into secluded training for a while when he received an urgent summoning from his Inner Court. Outraged at the interruption, he swore that unless a catastrophe had happened, someone would have joined him in his training as abat dummy.

    "What''s so important to call for an emergency meeting?" He walked inside the richly furnished meeting hall, where his golden throne waited for him.

    Before his coronation, the undead would sit at a round table surrounded by identical chairs to symbolize how they were equals. After Orpal had proimed himself the Dead King, however, things had changed.

    "I''m very sorry to bother you, my liege, but the numbers of ourtest reports are a reason to worry for the Court and they need your immediate attention." Tethre the Vampire said.

    Usually she looked like a gorgeous woman in her mid-twenties but she had learned to shapeshift into an old hag to avoid Orpal''s unwanted attentions.

    Only after sitting on his throne and wearing his crown did the Dead King bother to look at the papers. The golden crown that he hadmissioned to one of the best goldsmiths of Garlen after bing a Vurdk had seven gemstones of different colors.

    One for each element that he was certain that one day would be under his rule.

    "Have you lost your mind, woman?" Orpal''s eyes red with a blue light and his anger increased the more he read. "Our profits are increasing, our area of influence is expanding, and the number of thralls is at an all-time high.

    "Where is this terrible news that scared you so much that you had to bother me?"

    "Read until thest page, my King." Tethre''s lips curled up in a grimace of disgust at that word and the gazes of the rest of the members of the Court steeled.

    Yet centuries of practice kept her voice sweet and Orpal never bothered looking at his ves.

    "Do you mean this?" He jumped up, shoving the final page of the report right into her face, smudging it with her makeup. "There are the casualty numbers of my raids. How dare you criticize my methods when they''ve brought us so many benefits?"

    "Your methods only brought us trouble, mourning, and bled our resources almost dry!" Tethre pped his hand off her face, baring her fangs. "Our profitse from the alliance with the True Queen.

    "She is sharing with us her gains, giving our elders position of power in the regions she rules, and helping us find suitable Thrall candidates among the less fortunate. Siding with Thrud was the only good thing you ever did."

    "The True Queen?" Orpal''s voice rose of an octave hearing his subjects referring to Thrud the same way her loyal retainers did. "Are you sick of undeath, woman? Because if it''s a hint of treason what I just heard, your long life is about toe to an end!"

    "Is it not enough that you killed so many of our elders and of our most promising youths for your mad schemes?" Tethre didn''t back down. "What point there is in being eternally young if all of your Chosen die quicker than a butterfly?

    "You sacrifice the lives of those much older and wiser than you without a second thought, throwing them away like garbage. How can you expect us to offer our lives to a tantrummish child who treats them like toys and has no qualms breaking them?"

    Being called a child pushed all of Orpal''s wrong buttons at once. What he wanted was to be feared and respected, yet even his own mother had treated him with nothing but scorn and revulsion.

 Chapter 1926 Long Live The Queen (Part 2)

    "I guess I left you guys alone for too long and now you need a lesson." He moved in a blur, grabbing Tethre''s neck and mming her against the wall. "I''m the Horseman of the ck Night. I founded this Court.

    "I''m your ruler and you owe me everything you got. The weak are meant to be nourishment the strong and what you call senseless deaths were just sacrifices needed to increase my power.

    "Just as the undead are superior to humans, I''m above the undead. I''m the apex predator. No matter how old or powerful you im to be, I can kill you with the same ease I snuff out a candle."

    "I''d like to see you try!" Tethre reverted to her real appearance, grabbing the Dead King''s fingers with both hands.

    She twisted them open, kicking him in the face with both legs and sending him crashing against the opposite wall.

    "You brag and brag, but you haven''t achieved anything on your own." Rusta the Banshee said with a scream that took Orpal by surprise and made his eardrums bleed. "You are a tyrant and a threat to our lives!"

    "If leaving the hard work to us while you y around is what the Dead King is for, then the Night Court can do much better without you." Vrudra the Lamia struck at him with so much force that the Davross of his armor sounded like a gong.

    One after the other, all the elders of the Court joined the fight and attacked Orpal from every side. The pain of the betrayal froze him up for several seconds during which they pummelled at him like a sandbag.

    That was supposed to be his Court and those people were supposed to be his ves. Adoring, mindless drones willing to do everything for their master. Yet here they were, turning against him like his family had done to him as a child.

    "Enough!" He took out Thorn and activated the power of the ck Rose armor to repel the undead. "No matter how many you are, you are no match for my Davross equipment."

    A snap of his fingers activated the arrays of the Court, sending the elders writhing on the ground in a seizure.

    "I barely felt your hits but you can be sure you''ll suffer a lot from mine." A second finger snap was supposed to increase the intensity of the torture, but it actually stopped.

    "Do you take us for idiots?" Tethre stood up, her wounds healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    "We added our energy signature to the array control system before summoning you here. We can control the magical formations as well."

    "Really?" Orpal and Night joined their efforts and it took the collective will of the elders to keep them at bay. "Let''s see how good at fighting you are while my partner forces you to focus on the arrays."

    "Oh, we won''t amount to much, but she will." Tethre''s face was a mask of determination, but a wide smile appeared on her face when the door opened and Thrud walked inside the room.

    She wore Arthan''s set that covered her from neck to toe, leaving only her lovely face and her golden hair exposed. The undead elders formed a corridor for her, kneeling at her passage like the loyal servants they were.

    "At ease." A snap of her fingers and a touch of Arthan''s Sword tipped the bnce in the elders'' favor.

    "You betrayed me just to serve her?" A revolt he could understand, but bending the knee to another ruler was more than Orpal''s fragile ego could take.

    "Of course we did." Tethre said with a sneer. "She''s more powerful and wise than you''ll ever be. Her soldiers are truly immortal yet she doesn''t throw away their lives as you do.

    "Thrud shares with them her knowledge and power while you just steal from us and hog all the fruits of our work. We knew that we couldn''t beat you alone so we called her here."

    "I ept your loyalty." Thrud said without even looking at Orpal.

    She picked the fallen crown from the floor, admiring its handiwork.

    "The artisan was a true master and these gemstones are priceless. The form you have chosen, however, is barely that of a toy. Something tacky and childish. It suits you very well, Meln."

    "My name is Orpal!" He punched Thrud right on the chin with all the strength he could muster.

    The two Davross armor emitted a silvery sound ruined by that of broken bones.

    The Dead King whimpered like a beaten dog while he held his injured hand and took a few steps back.

    "No, you are Meln. A stupid kid who became an orphan the moment his parents understood what kind of a rotten apple he was." Thrud replied. "Your family rejected you. Your homnd banished you.

    "And now even the subjects that remained loyal to the Horsemen for centuries despite their disappearance are turning their back on you. At some point, you have to ask yourself: is it really the whole Mogar to be wrong, or am I really the piece of shit everyone says I am?"

    Orpal lost it, attacking her with everything he got.

    He shapeshifted into his Vurdk form, using the Davross ws of the armor to reinforce his own. He used the full power of elemental fusion, adding even gravity fusion to make each of his attacks ten times heavier.

    Yet Thrud could take them all without even bothering to block. The Arthan armor was heavier than the Royal Fortress armor, better enchanted, and its wearer had the powerful physique of a white cored Griffon.

    "Is that all you got?" She asked a few minutester, once Orpal ran out of breath and was forced to stop his attacks. "I hope you had fun because it''s my turn now."

    The Mad Queen simply extended her arm forward, cing her hand on his chest and pushing the Dead King against the nearby wall. That simple motion carried the kic energy and mass of several tons of Davross and dozens of tons of Thrud''s refined body.

    The open palm struck with the energy of a falling mountain, squeezing the air out of Orpal''s lungs and leaving a deep mark with the shape of Arthan''s Gauntlet on the ck Rose armor.

    His brain bounced back and forth inside his skull, giving him a concussion so severe that he started to bleed from his nose. Then, while keeping him still with her left, Thrud struck at the Dead King with her open palm.

    "You are very good at dealing with women, children, and the elderly." Her p pulverized his jaw and sent his teeth tumbling onto the floor. "Trequill Lark was a good man and a loyal servant of the Kingdom, yet you defiled his legacy."

    A second p shattered what was left of Orpal''s jaw and cracked cheekbones up to the skull.

    "Mirim Distar was a chivalrous woman and a pir of themunity. You vited her home and attacked her right after she had risked her life to protect the Kingdom, like the coward you are."

    A third p ripped his head off his neck, but ck crystals sprouted from the stump, regenerating it.

 Chapter 1927 Long Live The Queen (Part 3)

    "Manohar must have had a bad day if someone pathetic and insignificant like you managed to kill him. He was a genius mage and fighter, just like your brother. They are the kind of people I would entrust with my armies.

    "An idiot like you, instead, isn''t even capable of cleaning a chamber pot without getting dirty." Thrud actually considered both Lith and Manohar two massive thorns in her side.

    Yet she knew that by badmouthing Orpal''s greatest sess andparing him to his hated brother, he would lose himself to envy and do something stupid.

    "Manohar was in perfect shape and I destroyed Leech''s life just like I''m about to do with you!" Those words struck at the Dead King harder than any p and drove him insane.

    His pride couldn''t allow such defiance.

    Not after the utter defeat he had suffered by Jirni''s hand. Not after the Undead Courts had betrayed him, bending the knee to an inferior woman. Not after he had once again been measured to Lith and found wanting.

    ''Stop, you idiot! You''re ying right into her hand.'' Night had understood Thrud''s game, but her warning came one second toote.

    Moonlight appeared out of a dimensional tunnel, sucking the world energy in the room and using it to empower its master.

    "I don''t care what kind of equipment you have or who you think you are. When a mage meets another with a tower, there''s no challenge." Orpal''s wound healed instantly and his strength grew to the point that he managed to push Thrud back.

    "I couldn''t agree more. That''s why I''m taking yours." At a snap of Thrud''s fingers, several of his Awakened soldiers appeared out of Spirit Warp Steps.

    They trapped Horseman and steed inside a Sealed Space, cutting their connection. Yet it wasn''t enough.

    From the fight of the Horsemen against the troops of the Kingdom, Thrud knew that the crystal horse would return to their master whenever the link between them was cut off by an external influence.

    It was the reason Iata and the others conjured the Spirit Spell Griffon Fetters and restrained Moonlight, using their weight to anchor the steed on the spot.

    "The most idiotic thing about broadcasting your feats is that you have shown me how to defeat you. Your tricks, your steed, your de Spell, I know everything about you." Thrud walked into the Sealed Space, cutting off any escape route.

    "Come on. Do your worst."

    Orpal lunged with Thorn, but Thrud was faster, grabbing the polearm and throwing it away. He then touched the wall, using the connection to bypass the Sealed Space and reactivate the defensive arrays of the building.

    A flicker from Arthan''s Sword took the control away from him.

    "How does it feel being powerless inside your own home? How does it feel walking a mile in your victims'' shoes?" Thrud kept walking forward until Orpal''s back touched the wall and the breasttes of their armors touched.

    He activated Frozen Soul, but Thrud already knew about it from the Undead Courts. He had killed many people just to unt his powers so she had been informed about how to deal with it.

    The Mad Queen conjured the silver lightning of Life Maelstrom stored inside her body and hit Orpal with a fist as heavy as a freight train. First, she shattered his armor, and then she broke his bones one by one before ripping them off.

    She broke his body, mind, and spirit. Night tried to regenerate her host enough to control him, but Thrud was relentless. On top of that, inside the Sealed Space there was not enough energy for the task.

    Even the darkness element she fed upon was scarce and thin.

    It took the Mad Queen a bit of work, but she reached the ck crystal that was the Horseman''s core.

    "I only need your tower." She said. "Once it loses your imprint, it will be mine for the taking. You are nothing but dead weight, Night, just like Orpal."

    The Mad Queen chanted the spell needed to destroy the crystal that Baba Yaga had spread far and wide in the magicalmunity, taking Night''s defenses apart. The spell restricted her and sealed her ability to sacrifice her host.

    Empowered by Focus Point, the ws of the Arthan armor pierced deep into the crystal, making it slowly crumble. Yet it wasn''t just a way to prolong his suffering. Thrud was methodical in everything she did and took no risk.

    "Stop!" Jormun said. "It''s just as you suspected. Moonlight is part of the same crystal from which Night has been carved. Even while she''s inside the Sealed Space, once the cracks be too severe, they spread to the tower as well."

    He pointed at the cobweb of fractures that were opening all over Moonlight.

    "How brilliant of Baba Yaga." Thrud sent a spark of Life Maelstrom inside Night''s crystal, even letting enough world energy in to heal her wounds but not enough to open a dimensional fissure.

    "If anything happens to her children, all of her secrets are lost as well. A Horseman and their steed are nothing but two sides of the same coin."

    "That or the spell that she so generously shared was intended to get rid of every trace of her work from the beginning." Jormun pointed at Night''s broken equipment.

    After Thrud had started chanting the spell, the ck Rose armor had stopped regenerating and Thorn''s Davross had be brittle.

    Thrud would have liked the squash the Horseman and her host like the cockroaches she considered them to be, but her sense of pity stayed her hand.

    "It would be a pity to lose something as powerful as a tower just because of my personal grudge against Meln. I''llmute his sentence from death penalty to imprisonment, at least until we figure out how to make mage towers of our own." She said.

    "I think we would be better off killing him and getting it over with." Jormun said, but Iata and the other beasts disagreed loudly.

    "Are you insane? You have seen how powerful a loser like Meln has be thanks to such a simple version of a mage tower." Iata said. "Imagine what our Queen would be.

    "Our troops would be unstoppable even if we managed to make only one but that retains the steed''s enchantment to share its master''s bloodline abilities with the troops."

    "I''m sorry, dear, but I agree with Iata." Thrud shook her head. "Mage towers are legendary artifacts that don''te by easily. I might never have another opportunity like this.

    "If we crack Moonlight''s secrets before the end of the war, our victory will be certain. Even if we seed on ater date, the conquest of Garlen would be just a matter of time."

    "My liege, Dawn has been trapped for hundreds of years yet she managed to escape." Tethre the Vampire said. "Are you sure you can contain a Horseman?"

    "The Golden Griffon may not be a Fringe but is the next best thing." The Mad Queen replied. "Jormun, move both prisoners to our stronghold and keep them in a Sealed Field array.

    "I want Night to receive as little darkness element as possible and no food. If she regenerates Meln, I don''t want him to use Invigoration or umtion during his stay. We''ll keep him alive, but barely."

 Chapter 1928 Long Live The Queen (Part 4)

    Inside the ck crystal, Night and Orpal screamed in despair, but no one could hear their voice. The darkness element and world energy would always slowly seep inside the Sealed Space, nature abhorred the void.

    Yet it would only be enough for the Horseman to survive and keep her host alive. To makes matters worse for them, Thrud''s soldiers took their equipment to study it as well.

    Orpal''s dreams of greatness, of bing as powerful as his hated brother died the moment he was brought to the Golden Griffon and the Headmasters set up a Sealed Field array.

    The academy also cast the Griffon Fetter spell around Night''s crystal, sealing her movements and any spell she might try to conjure with the little energy she had left.

    Thrud''s Awakened Forgemasters didn''t waste time and immediately started to examine Moonlight. The steed had been ced in an adjacent room to its master so that it wouldn''t damage itself in the attempt to reconnect with her.

    Yet without world energy to absorb, the steed was just a big piece of crystal.

    "My liege, will you share the secret of Awakening with us as well?" Rusta the Banshee asked.

    "You have betrayed your King, there''s no telling if you''ll do the same to me once I''ve outlived my usefulness." Thrud shook her head.

    "This is different. He was a cruel tyrant whereas you-"

    "I''m still not one of your own and you have no real reason to follow me now that Meln has been removed whereas I need you to keep my citizens in check." She cut him short.

    "Don''t take me for a fool, Rusta. I''m old enough to know that people like you were loyal to Meln because of fear and now you have sided with me only because our interests align."

    "But, my Queen!" Many undead fell to their knees, hitting the ground with their forehead to prove their sincerity with blood.

    "Enough. We''ll talk about this again once your loyalty has been put to the test." She stopped them with a wave of her hand and a Spirit Spell. "Awakening might be off the table, but you have my word that once the War of the Griffon ends, I''ll research a better version of the Harmonizer.

    "The Fallen Races at my service deserve a better life and so do you."

    The eyes of the elders shone with the red light of undeath and greed.

    Even though Baba Yaga''s n for her children was for them to achieve the full red blood core, go back to being alive, and have a second take on life, they begged to differ.

    After having lived for centuries like predators and bing ustomed to possessing great magical powers, the idea of going back to being weaklings was scarier than death.

    Without being Awakened, their lives wouldst less than a candle and even if they learned its secrets, they would be limited. With a Harmonizer, instead, the elders would achieve the best of both worlds.

    "Thanks, Your Majesty. Long live the Queen." Tethre the Vampire said and the others joined her in a chant.

    "Let''s go home, darling. It''s time to feed our Valeron." Thrud said and opened a Warp Steps back to the academy.

    Jormun was happy for his wife, yet scared at the same time. Her n was moving on track with unsettling precision. First the Doppelgangers, then the ambrosia, and now she had taken over the Undead Courts and gotten her hands on a mage tower.

    ''Thrud is amassing so much power and she''s an immortal white core. Unless someone stops her soon, she''ll be so powerful that only a Guardian might be able to stand against her.'' He thought.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, the following morning.

    The three great countries were shocked when the Mad Queen broadcasted the news of her victory over the Dead King and his Undead Courts.

    Lith and his family were sitting at the table together for breakfast when Sark barged into the room and projected the hologram for them.

    "Unlike the previous corrupted Royals and the ipetents that currently sit on the throne, I, Thrud Griffon, have kept my promise." She stood on a dais where a chopping block had been prepared.

    The scene mirrored the execution of General Morn, with Thrud wearing the same ceremonial robe as Meron and wielding an identical sword. Orpal wore his ck Rose armor, but it was full of cracks and blood, looking more like scrap metal than legendary equipment.

    He was all skin and bones, his eyes red from the crying and with only a few hairs on his head due to malnutrition. He looked like a pitiful, miserable creature, but no one felt anything but disgust at his sight.

    "Tonight, I''ve dealt a huge blow to the Undead Courts. They are far from being defeated and I expect them to keep bothering us in the near future, but losing their leader has crippled their strength.

    "Here I offer you the life of Meln Narchat, in reparation for his crimes against the Griffon Kingdom and its people. Anyst words?" Thrud asked.

    When Orpal started stuttering a few words, Arthan''s sword cut his head off and him short. The crowd exploded in cheers and apuse as those on the front row passed the head among them to make sure that he was really dead.

    "Too bad that no one is interested in the ramblings of a madman." The Mad Queen said. "Today, I''ve shown you my justice. I''ve proved to you that a better Kingdom is not just a dream, but a possibility. Have a nice day. Queen Thrud out."

    Raaz was among those cheering. He had jumped from his seat, clenching his fist in victory as if he had somehow contributed to Orpal''s capture. When he noticed that he was the only one rejoicing, his enthusiasm died.

    "I know that he was my son, but I don''t feel guilty for celebrating his demise." He said while looking at Elina.

    "The problem is that he''s not dead." Lith sighed.

    "What do you mean?" At those words, Raaz turned pale.

    "I''ve decapitated a Horseman in the past. Blew their heart and everything. They don''t die unless their crystal is destroyed. What Thrud did today was just propaganda." Lith said.

    "Why would she do that? I mean, aside from the obvious reason."

    "My guess is that she needs him alive for some reason. Either she hopes to enve him with the Unwavering Loyalty array or it must have something to do with his tower. Maybe once he dies, Moonlight will go back to Baba Yaga." Lith shrugged.

    "But, he''s still imprisoned. He can''t harm us anymore, right?" Raaz asked with eyes filled with hope, wishing his lost son to suffer as much as his victims.

    "That''s for sure." Lith said.

    ''But if he manages to escape, I doubt that Thrud will broadcast the news as well.'' He actually thought.

    Lith preferred not to share his doubts to not ruin his father''s joy. Thrud''s broadcast had made Raaz happy and he didn''t want to spoil it.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s beach house, a few hourster.

    Lith called Zoreth as soon as they went back to their honeymoon and enjoy some privacy.

    "You have to leave for the family meals? Gods, did your wife put you on a leash already?" The Abomination chuckled.

 Chapter 1929 Verendi (Part 1)

    "I''m not on a leash! It''s just that since it''s still our honeymoon and going to Verendi might be dangerous, I needed my wife''s approval." Lith blushed a little in embarrassment.

    "There''s nothing to be ashamed of." Zoreth sighed. "Bytra did the same to me soon after our marriage. Don''t kill him, darling. Don''t destroy a whole building just to get the job done faster. Talking is always an option."

    She imitated Bytra''s voice making it sound shrill and annoying, but whenever Zoreth talked about her wife, her lips curved up into a smile.

    "You know, I wish that Vastor and Zinya have such an honest rtionship as well. They always argue because he refuses to tell her where he goes and why. So far, she has been patient, but if he doesn''t open up a little, things will get ugly."

    "What about the rest? How long will the mission take?" Lith asked.

    "No more than a few days at worst." The Shadow Dragon shrugged. "If the idiot had kept hismunication amulet, we''d just get him and then look around for the Mouth. As things are, instead, we have first to search for Theseus and it could take a while."

    She exined to Lith how the ck pirs worked and how they would find the missing Eldritch as long as he was still alive.

    "I also want to bring you along to check if you have a simr ability. After all, you are part Abomination as well." Zoreth said.

    "What if I do?" The nature of the ck pir reminded Lith of the Phoenix''s bloodline ability Call of the Blood.

    "We would be able to find Theseus much faster." She replied. "Abominations work in pairs not because we need someone covering our backs, but because of the resonance effect that being close creates.

    "Bybining our strength, Bytra and I are capable of emitting a much stronger signal that allows our brethren tomunicate with us and know our position even from a continent of distance.

    "If you can do the same, the resonance will be much stronger and we''ll pinpoint Theseus''s position from a greater distance. Also, it would be of great help to you in the future since you could always call upon us in case you need help."

    On the one hand, Lith didn''t like the idea of the Abominations and the Master always knowing where he was. On the other hand, however, in the war and especially the next time he faced Orpal, Lith could use some Eldritch muscle.

    "Where and when do we meet?" He asked.

    "Tomorrow morning, at the city of Bilok, on the southern border of the Desert. I''d rather move now, but I think that Elphyn needs to rest. She didn''t look good when we left." Zoreth said.

    "Thanks for your kindness. Also, the next time you meet her, call her Solus. She doesn''t really like her old name."

    "Will do. Zoreth out."

    Much to Lith''s surprise, after finishing cooking lunch, Kam had demanded to cuddle on the couch while she exined to him everything that she knew about Verendi in front of a holographic map of the southern continent.

    "They speak Tyris'' universalnguage so you''ll be fine." She said in between kisses. "With your tan, very few will believe that you are a foreigner. You have almost gotten as dark as a native of the Desert."

    "Is there a problem with foreigners?" Lith asked.

    Solus was bright pink at best and unless Zoreth used Body Sculpting, she was so pale that she almost looked sick.

    "Not really, but they have a bad reputation." Kam sat on hisp, unbuttoning her dress. "Most criminals from both the Kingdom and the Desert cross the border to escape justice.

    "Seeing a pale face near the border usually means trouble. If you want to avoid pointless fights, stay clear from everyone who has a familiar ent."

    "Not that I''mining, but what''s the rush? We still have all day and night in front of us." The contrast between her bronze skin and the paleness of the tan lines was almost hypnotic.

    Lith''s hands gently caressed along the colored borders, making her moan.

    "Yeah, right." Kam said with a sneer before shutting him up with a deep kiss. "I bet that as soon as Solus wakes up, she''ll stick to you like glue. Then, at night, she''ll be so nervous that you''ll feel it through your bond, ruining the mood again."

    "What''s this delicious smell? I''m starving." Solus'' voice came from the guest room, making the newlyweds freeze.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Kam said.

    "Toote for that." Lith sighed as their Voidwalker armor covered them in a rush before their guest could see them in action.

    Kam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she looked calm and was smiling, yet Lith could tell that she would have dly killed the first person who''d bothered her.

    They shared the rest of the information with Solus at lunch. She just nodded and ate most of the time. Between puking her breakfast and the nervous stress from meeting Bytra, Solus ate for three, dessert included.

    "I''ve got only one question. How much do we want to tell Zoreth and Bytra about my condition?" She asked with a satisfied belch after finishing her ice cream with cookies.

    "Well, you''ve already told them too much for my taste." Lith shrugged. "I''d gloss over the tower, but we can''t hide the fact that your human body doesn''tst long."

    "Agreed." Solus nodded. "I don''t want dear Bytra to take a second shot at my Mom''s legacy. Now I''ll go back to my room. I need to rest."

    Kam''s eyes went wide at the sight of the number of dirty dishes and cookware on the table while Solus walked out of the door and toward the tower.

    "You are not going anywhere until we''re done cleaning." She said with a cold voice. "Also, saying please and thank you never killed anyone!"

    "Thank you for the meal and your hospitality." Solus Warped back inside the cottage, holding Kam tight.

    From her sniffling, Kam could tell that Solus had rushed out to hide her tears and not ruin the day for them any more.

    "You are wee." Kam sighed, gently caressing Solus'' head. "Now let''s get done with the kitchen and then we can do something together. I don''t want you to stay alone."

    The three of them spent the afternoon, the evening, and much to Kam''s dismay, even the night together on the couch in front of the firece. Company and the light of the stars helped Solus to fall asleep and gave Kam back pain.

    The following morning, Solus went back into her ring and Lith used the Warp Gate of the cottage to reach directly the city of Bilok. Border posts were connected by the Gatework in order to be capable of quickly assembling armed forces from all over the country in the case of an invasion.

    Every border post had multiple Gates at the ready and the guards remained bbergasted when Lith walked through the personal dimensional corridor of the Overlord.

    "Young master, you should have notified us of your arrival. We would have prepared a proper wee." The desk sergeant gave him the salute.

 Chapter 1930 Verendi (Part 2)

    "At ease." Lith replied. "I''m not here on official duty nor am I going to stay. I need to cross the border. Is that a problem?"

    "For you? Not at all." The sergeant shrugged. "When you return, however, make sure to show your ID, or the guards will think you are a shapeshifter and shoot you on sight."

    Lith thanked the guards for their service and went to the meeting point with Xenagrosh, a big rock used as andmark a few kilometers away from the city.

    "Isn''t it dangerous for you to be in the Desert? Why didn''t we meet past the border?" Lith asked after greeting the two Abominations.

    "The borders are rtively safe. Here Sark''s senses are at their weakest. Unless we use a lot of magical power, she won''t ever know we''ve been here." Zoreth shook her head.

    "As for your question, if we met past the border, you would have risked being arrested. Sark''s golden que makes you a valuable hostage. Sure you would''ve had no trouble escaping, but having an army on our tail would be a bad way to start our trip."

    "Where''s Elphyn?" Bytra asked, surprised to see Lith alone.

    "Right here." His eyes became golden and his voice feminine as he raised his hand to show her the stone ring. "Even after 700 years I still bear the scars of your attack. I can keep my physical form only for a short time before it crumbles.

    "I prefer saving my strength for when it''s needed."

    "I''m really sorry, Elphyn. I swear that if I could, I''d give everything I have to switch our condition." Bytra''s voice was filled with honest remorse that managed to get through even Solus'' resentment.

    "Please, call me Solus. I hate that name, especially when you are the one speaking it. It only brings me bad memories." She said.

    Zoreth assumed her Shadow Dragon form, making Lith and Bytra climb on her back before taking flight. The border between Verendi and Garlen was filled with all kinds of elemental sealing arrays, making it impossible to fly or Warp.

    Zoreth used her bloodline abilities to be as light as a feather and to turn herself and her passengers into a nigh-gaseous form that the wind carried through the border without triggering the magical protections.

    She moved akin to a huge bird, propelled only by the pping of her wings and the air currents. Once they got far away enough from the array field, she returned to normal and used magic to elerate past the speed of sound.

    "Fuck me sideways." Lith said, gawking at the energy dome surrounding them.

    Not only there was no air current pping his face, but his feet felt as steady as if he was still on the ground. Yet thendscape shing in front of his eyes in a blur told him otherwise.

    "From thest message we received, we know that Theseus is not close to the Desert. There''s no point wasting our time there. We''ll reach one of the inner countries of Verendi and start looking from there." Zoreth said via air magic.

    "Why not Warp?" Solus asked, gawking as well from her ring as she used the Eyes of Menadion to understand how the Dragon could fly that fast and protect her guests at the same time.

    "Warp requires a destination and we have none." Bytra replied. "Also, if we appear out of thin air, we''ll draw the attention of the guards, or worse, people will try to hire us.

    "This way, instead, we can go wherever we want unnoticed and listen to the rumors as we fly above the small settlements."

    "What rumors?" Lith asked.

    "We are looking for a thirty meters (100'') tall monster-Eldritch hybrid who suffers from fits of blood madness and has created a pir of ck light just a couple of days ago.

    "Even if he''s thousands of miles away, you can bet that he''s the talk of the day. That kind of news travels fast." Bytra replied.

    "What do you mean and why can''t you just use the pir again tomunicate?" It was the first time that Solus spoke to her without an insult or seething rage in his voice so the Raiju smiled at the question.

    "Verendi is made of several small statespared to Garlen. They are constantly at war with each other, trying to find a way to expand their respective territories. An Eldritch is considered a powerful weapon.

    "You can bet that all countries will try to cajole Theseus in their service and kill him if he refuses. They fear his strength, but they fear the idea of an Eldritch joining one of their enemies more." Bytra said.

    "And you can''t use the pir too often without exposing his position." Soluspleted the phrase for her.

    "Exactly." The Raiju nodded. "By following the rumors, we can still discover ourpanion''s whereabouts and use the pir only when we have no other option. We want to rescue him, not throw him to the wolves."

    "That''s great thinking. We should-" The words died on Solus'' ring when she realized how familiar the tone between them had be on the spur of the moment.

    Her love for magic and the idea of visiting a new continent had almost made Solus forget who she was dealing with.

    An awkward silence ensued and no one was willing to break it without a good reason.

    The Shadow Dragon covered hundreds of kilometers at a time, circling around small cities and merchants'' rest areas along the main trading routes, hoping to pick up anything about their mark.

    She used air magic to carry the noise up and then her keen Dragon hearing to filter the buzzing voices. It wasn''t enough to understand what they were talking about but she was just looking for recurring words like monster, weapon, and pir.

    If all she heard were curse words and haggling, she moved on to the next location, hoping to have better luck.

    After a few hours, they had already crossed the borders of the republics of Danghia, Ruthen, and Zelma but they still had no clue about where to find Theseus.

    ''At least I had all the time I needed to understand how Xenagrosh''s flight spell works and how to set up a gyrostabilized barrier.'' Solus thought. ''Without it, we would have been crushed by the wind pressure or knocked off her back at the first turbulence.''

    "Don''t worry, this much was expected." Xenagrosh voice resounded inside the dome. "We are still going blind, but the moment we get a lead, things will be much easier. All we need is a starting point.

    "We''re now in the republic of Namgar, two thousand kilometers from the border with the Desert and in the hintend of Verendi. If anything weird has happened in any of the nearby countries, here we can find some clues.

    "I''m above the city of Gulna, one of the main trading hubs of Namgar. The country is notoriously neutral and profits by selling weapons to anyone who can pay for them. People from all over Verendie here to buy and sell.

    "With a bit of luck, we''ll find Theseus simply by following the people hunting him. If he has been spotted, they are going to buy the biggest weapons they can afford."

 Chapter 1931 The Great Mother (Part 1)

    The Shadow Dragon flew away from the city until they found a secluded area. Then, she used a float spell for her passengers and reverted to her human form before Warping everyone on the ground.

    "I''d like to fly straight to our destination, but the time we spend walking is time saved from answering the questions of the local warlords and avoiding job offers." Zoreth said as her body shapeshifted into that of a ck-skinned tall man with beady eyes.

    Bytra shapeshifted as well, assuming the appearance of a woman of her same height but with dark brown skin, light chestnut eyes, and curly short ck hair.

    "You can keep your appearance, but those clothes have to go." Zoreth said in a deep baritonal voice with a thick unknown ent.

    She handed Lith tanned leather pants and a long-sleeved linen shirt, an attire suited to the savanna surrounding them. The climate was more humid than the Desert, but no less hot.

    Grasnd covered most of the ground, revealing only a few patches of an unknown red soil that seemed to be fertile. Despite theck of any visible source of water, there was plenty of pasture for herbivores and lots of trees.

    Unlike the forests he was used to, the canopy was open, allowing plenty of sunlight to reach the ground. Most of the nts weren''t recorded in the tomes stored inside Soluspedia.

    Lith was so taken aback by their transformation and the unknown environment that he looked around like a tourist who had just gotten off his flight.

    On top of that, it was the first time that he had seen ck-skinned people since he hade to Mogar and he didn''t know how to ask the obvious questions that were popping in his mind without sounding ignorant, racist, or both.

    ''Does racism exist on Mogar?'' He thought.

    "Judging from your staring, you had no idea what the locals look like, correct?" Zoreth had forgotten that Lith was still very young and had never left Garlen.

    She wasn''t aware of his trip to Jiera and Lith had never felt the need to share it with her.

    "Yes." He nodded with a dumb expression on his face.

    "Well, just like the people of the Kingdom are pink and those of the Desert are bronze-skinned, here they have an even darker color." Bytra said. "If you ever go on Jiera, instead, you''ll find even people with a kind of yellowish skin."

    "Really?" Lith''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "Yes. The appearance of humans, just like for beasts, changes based on the climate they grew in, but they are still people. Staring like that is in rude and betrays the fact that youe from Garlen."

    "Do the people of Verendi discriminate against the other continents?" Lith asked crossing his fingers.

    "Yes." Zoreth replied.

    ''Fuck! I had hoped to have left this kind of bullshit on Earth!'' Lith inwardly whined.

    "They can''t stand the people of Garlen because you are their enemies. If it''s of any constion, they discriminate against anyone who isn''t from their own country. Your ent betrays you so leave the talking to us." Bytra''s ent was just as thick as Zoreth''s, making it hard for him to understand some of the words.

    Lith shapeshifted his clothes after the gemstone in the Voidwalker armor absorbed them.

    "Wait, so the discrimination is only aimed at people perceived as enemies?" He asked.

    "Yes. What kind of other reason did you expect?" Zoreth looked at him in confusion.

    "I don''t know, maybe the color of my skin?" He said it as a joke, obtaining genuineughter in reply.

    "Why would people do that? It''s the most stupid thing I''ve ever heard." Bytra said.

    ''This exins why no one ever bothered Nalrond even in Lutia and why the people of the Desert had no problem epting us as their own. It wasn''t just because of Sark but also because on Mogar racism doesn''t exist.'' Solus thought.

    The three of them ran toward the main road, shifting to a jog as soon as they came close enough to other travelers. They kept moving at a human speed to not draw attention and even pretended to sweat.

    As soon as they reached the highway, a few people approached them. Lith''s hand instinctively moved to his hip, where War usually was but Bytra stopped him in time, threading her fingers through his.

    "Are you lost or have you been robbed?" A tall middle-aged man with a round belly asked while offering them a water skin.

    His colorful clothes identified him as someone rich, just like the magnificent white stallion he rode. The man had a warm smile and a friendly expression that didn''t extend to his eyes, especially while looking at Lith.

    "Both." Zoreth nodded to the man in gratitude, taking the water skin with both hands and drinking as if she was thirsty. "We were showing our friend around when bandits took us to a secluded spot and robbed us blind."

    "You have been truly unlucky." The man said.

    "I consider ourselves lucky, instead. They took our belongings but at least we kept our lives. We can always make more money and buy new things." Bytra had just answered correctly to the merchant''s coded words, making his smile turn genuine.

    "I''m always d to meet new friends and I''ll happily do what I can to help you. My name is Zugu, and I''m a merchant." The man dismounted and offered his hand to Xenagrosh.

    "I''m Goro and she is my sister Palea from the Merakapany." She shook it, noticing how the people surrounding the caravan acted casual, but they had positioned themselves so that their rings pointed at her.

    Their hands held the reigns, but they would need but a thought to rain magic on the strangers.

    "He is my sister''s fianc¨¦, Ilyum." Zoreth nodded at Lith. "We were showing him the ropes with a simple food transport when we got attacked. The kid needs to do better if he wants to enter the family."

    "Ilyum?" The man was already suspicious of the stranger''s features. "What an odd name. Does he belong to the famous riders of the Ghiskan ins? I could use a good horse tamer as well."

    "I wish." Zoreth said with a sigh. "He''s just a foreigner from Garlen. He had trouble there and was forced to run away. My sister fell in love with him and you know how these things go."

    She had noticed Zugu''s caution under his amiable fa?ade. Also, Lith''s ent would betray his origins the moment he opened his mouth, no matter how good his cover story was.

    iming that he was a mute would have been too convenient to be believable so the Shadow Dragon had preferred to mix lies and truth.

    This way, Lith was free to stare at unfamiliar things and make social blunders without arousing suspicions. The people of Verendi were suckers for love stories and iming that Lith was a renegade only made him worthy of respect.

    "Don''t be so harsh on thed. Young love is the most beautiful thing on Mogar. May the Great Mother bless your union with many magically talented children." Zugu gave the couple a bow before shaking their hands.

 Chapter 1932 The Great Mother (Part 2)

    "Wee to Namgar, thend of opportunities." The merchant said while patting Lith''s shoulders and feeling his amazing constitution. "Here tyranny is not tolerated. Unlike in Garlen, a simple boy can be a powerful merchant, like me.

    "Or even the most powerful man of the country, like our Prime Minister. In Namgar, there are no nobles who can harass you, only honest people that make a living."

    "Thanks." Lith replied with an ent that the locals found almost iprehensible.

    "You don''t look like a merchant, more like a warrior." Zugu was as tall as Lith, but the weight the man had in fat, the stranger had in muscles.

    "I am, but sadly, I''m not a mage. Those guys had wands and caught us by surprise. There was nothing I could do." Lith looked into the merchant''s eyes and above his shoulder while answering, receiving a nod from Zoreth.

    "Strong and wise! You''ll fit right in. You will be my honored guests." Zugu led them to a carriage where they could sit.

    Then, one of the guards offered them food, water, and wet towels from a dimensional amulet. They epted everything with gratitude, pretending to be relieved.

    ''Solus, analysis.'' He asked while looking around.

    The people of the caravan had either a bronze skin like in the Desert but also with slightly nted eyes or a ck skin that reminded him of African-Americans. Some were mixed blood and Lith couldn''t feel any animosity between them.

    ''This ce is no different from Garlen.'' She replied. ''Most people have a red or orange mana core, like Zugu. His personal guards, instead, are all low talented mages with a bright yellow core.

    ''Zugu and the guards are the only ones wearing magical equipment, the rest have regr gear. The caravan contains several enchanted pieces but it''s all small stuff.''

    Lith could feel Solus'' enthusiasm and curiosity. Unlike him, she was free to stare and gawk as much as she wanted. Solus was eager toe out and experience Verendi in person.

    Yet at the same time, spending more time with Bytra was far from alluring.

    ''It makes sense. If they were powerful mages, they wouldn''t guard a simple caravan and if Zugu carried something precious, he wouldn''t have stopped to help a bunch of strangers.'' He thought.

    Zoreth and the merchant spoke most of the time while Bytra exined Lith the terms he didn''t know and how to be polite towards their hosts. The Shadow Dragon avoided asking precise questions, letting the conversation flow by itself.

    As usual, there was war in the south, the north, and the west. The east was peaceful, but only because a widespread draught made it impossible to fight.

    "Your sister will make a great wife and mother." Zugu nodded at Bytra who was showing Lith how to use a piece of cutlery that reminded him of a spork, just much sharper. "She has the patience to teach her man like a child."

    Bytra smiled shyly and blushed at those words, but her eyes fell on Zoreth instead of Lith.

    Once they arrived at their destination, the city of Gulna, they helped the merchant to unload his merchandise as a thank you. Zoreth ordered Lith around like a drill sergeant so he didn''t argue to notpromise their cover story.

    ''I think that just like Zugu offered you hospitality, now it''s your turn to return the favor by working for free. It must be another custom of Verendi, or at least a merchant''s tradition.'' Solus pointed at him how even the guards were warming up to the group after they had started to help.

    ''Okay, but why unload all the carriages and make me lift the heaviest crates? This is just a waste of time.'' Or so Lith thought for about one minute.

    Zoreth had insisted to help because now they were surrounded by the bustling activity of the storehouses. It was full of people of all ages and social status, and they all talked to make their work less boring.

    At first, they became silent as soon as they saw unknown faces, but after witnessing Lith''s strength, the silence turned from distrust into admiration. As soon as Zugu told the people of the warehouses the circumstances of his guests, the mood turned upside down.

    Everyone patted Zoreth''s back for having found such a hard-working brother-inw. They asked her for help and she was happy to send Lith loading their caravans in exchange for money and information.

    While she dealt with the merchants, Lith listened to the carriers'' and the guards'' talking. He had be one of them and now they spoke openly in Lith''s presence, even asking his opinion from time to time or giving him advice.

    Aside from the weird food and the thick ent, Verendi didn''t look like a bad ce where to live. Or better, it wouldn''t if not for the huge crates of weapons he was carrying around and the fact that most of the news was about war.

    Once they were done, they left the warehouses with a purse filled with copper coins.

    Now that Lith could finally look around, he noticed that Gulna was built mainly in stone. The houses had big windows and doors that were left open during the day to keep them ventted.

    The furniture was made of some kind of light wood he had never seen before. The poor houses, instead, were made of straw or whatever their owner had put together to make four walls and a roof.

    What struck him the most was the poverty. He had traveled a lot in the Kingdom as a Ranger, but he had never seen so many poor people.

    He was about to ask for an exnation when they reached the main za. There, right in the middle and in the only free space between the merchant stalls, there was a stone statue.

    It depicted a beautiful woman with long hair and a long dress. She carried a basket full of food in her left hand and a stone tablet in her right. The people took good care of the statue, keeping it clean and painting it regrly.

    "Isn''t that Tyris?" Lith had no problem recognizing her even though the statue was centuries old.

    "She is. You heard Zugu, they still respect the Great Mother even in Verendi." Zoreth nodded.

    "What do you mean still? Isn''t it Tyris forced to stay in the Kingdom?" He asked.

    "That''s now." The Shadow Dragon shook her head. "When I was a child, my father would tell me how back when there was only one Guardian, Tyris the Great Mother would spend each season in a different continent.

    "Winter in Garlen to help its people survive the harsh climate. Summer in Verendi to keep the draughts away. Spring in Jiera to teach them how to face the monsoons, and Autumn in Zima, where the sun rises.

    "Theirnd is rich but unstable due to the frequent quakes. She taught them how to identify the safe areas where to build their homes and to recognize the early signs of volcanic eruptions."

    "All by herself?" Lith''s mouth fell to the floor.

    "Yes. Tyris was considered the goddess of earth and fertility. Wherever she went, life thrived." Zoreth nodded. "Then, as new Guardians started to appear, she couldn''t move as freely as before.

 Chapter 1933 Learn From History (Part 1)

    "So Tyris would send her children, the Griffons, to act in her stead and keep helping the other continents without messing with their Guardians'' turfs. The Griffons would always take her appearance to reassure the people that she hadn''t abandoned them." Zoreth said.

    "I get to depict her with a basket, but why the tablet?" Lith pointed at the statue''s right hand.

    "Because the first thing she taught her followers after how to survive was how to speak the samenguage and how to write. This way, they could preserve the knowledge she passed unto them and share it with the other tribes." Bytra replied.

    While they walked toward the tavern that Zugu had rmended to them, Lith spent the rest of the time in silence.

    ''I thought that Guardians were just powerful beings that sat on their asses all day except in times of crisis.'' He thought. ''Tyris basically shaped four continents alone for centuries. It''s no wonder that even the other Guardians respect her.''

    ''Then why did the people of Verendi speak so manynguages and why is she less active now?'' Solus asked and Lith ryed her doubts.

    "Verendi is under Fenagar, who promotes innovation, and Zagran, who preaches individuality." Bytra replied. "They were their local gods while Tyris was forced to stay away so the people preferred to follow their teachings.

    "As for Solus'' second question, Tyris acts less simply because people don''t need her so much anymore. She gave us amon tongue, the means to cultivate thend, and taught us magic.

    "Her children spread Silverwing''s legacy throughout Mogar and now the four races can fend for themselves. Or better, they must or they will always remain like children who can''t survive without their mother."

    The food at the Drunken Snake tavern was even worse than that on the caravan, but at least it was hot and the beverages were cold. A deep yellow cored barista would keep both the ingredients and the water fresh.

    Several ampoules of water were hung to the walls, spreading humidity and helping the weak mage to keep the dining area pleasant despite the heating from the sun, the stoves, and the people at the tables.

    "Did we anger Zugu or what?" Lith checked his watch.

    There was still time before his lunch with Kam, but as someone who had been allegedly stranded in the savanna and then had worked his ass off, he was supposed to be hungry.

    "Couldn''t he send us to a ce with good food?"

    "The food is good, it''s just you not having a taste for the local cuisine." Zoreth replied. "Also, we didn''te here to eat, but to listen. Zugu assured me that this is the right ce for those who seek a job or information."

    "Okay, fine. But what happened to all that ''we are Abominations. We don''t hide'' stuff? Why the disguise?" He asked.

    "Because due to Tyris'' legacy, women with pale skin and either bright colored eyes or golden hair are highly sought after." The Shadow Dragon pointed at her wife and Lith''s ring. "If we kept our original appearance, you''d have to fight just to keep people away from them.

    "Also, if someone gets too cocky with us and we have to kill a lot of people, the only rumors we would hear are those about ourselves. We can''t poison the water we are drinking from nor can we afford to have armies chasing us.

    "We are confident, not stupid. As I told you earlier, the first part of the chase is of critical importance. As soon as we find a lead, we can drop all the pretenses."

    "Well, Solus doesn''t have golden hair like Rena. She just has a very light shade of brown." Lith tried to change the topic, realizing that she was right.

    "Yeah, right." Bytra chuckled. "Because here they have so many blondes that they can afford to be picky. Any rich or powerful man here would kill for a redhead or even a brte."

    All the heads around them were either bald or covered in different shades of ck hair. Aside from elemental shades and grey hair, there was almost no variation in its color for both men and women.

    "Point taken." Lith nodded.

    After finishing her meal, Zoreth went to talk with the caravans'' heads with the excuse of looking for a ride back home in exchange for their work. Yet what she really wanted was information about any kind of unusual event.

    Since Lith had no desire for a second serving and all he could hear from the nearby tables were satisfied belches and ill-concealed farts, he decided to learn a bit more about Verendi.

    "There''s something that doesn''t add up." He said. "Zugu said that this is thend of opportunities and Kami showed me a map of Verendi. They are all democracies."

    "So what?" Bytra asked.

    "Then why there are so many poor people and why is everything I hear talking about war?" Lith replied.

    "Because the situation in Garlen is very different from here." She said after making sure that no one was paying them attention. "There, people advance through talent and merit. Be it in the Empire, the Kingdom, or the Desert, a talented mage or a cunning youth is nurtured.

    "I know that you think the Kingdom is a cesspool, but until Orpal messed with your life, you still managed to rise from a farm boy to an almost Magus without encountering much trouble.

    "Of course, the higher you got, the more people tried to stand in your way, but that would have happened no matter your job. Even your father had to face several hurdles and he is ''just'' a farmer." Lith appreciated her air quotes and the respect for his for Raaz''s work.

    "Here, instead, you would have been killed. Lark would have been the first to be afraid of your talent and would have had you removed to make sure you didn''t aim for his fief.

    "Nana would have never taught you magic unless you married her daughter and promised her to take care of her business. Your only chance to be a mage would have been to meet the local Council and be an apprentice."

    "Why?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "Because people work hard to raise the socialdder and they don''t want to lose their position. Both rich andmoners would have seen your talent as a threat. The wealthy would have tried to cajole you into their service to be richer.

    "Themoners, instead, would have done everything they could to profit from you, like selling any secret they discovered about your powers or identity if not even helping to kidnap you." Bytra replied.

    "Remember that mages hold the power of life and death in their hands and no one likes the idea of a rogue god messing with their livelihood. In Verendi the house you are born in is more important than your talent.

    "The rich keep the people poor and ignorant so that they can''t threaten their position."

    "This is absurd! Why did no one change thew? A democracy means that people vote for their representatives, correct?" Lith whispered in outrage.

    "Correct, but what you fail to consider is that being elected costs a lot of money."

 Chapter 1934 Learn From History (Part 2)

    "Just the sheepskin necessary for the fliers, the need to organize rallies, and the people that must travel far and wide throughout the country to spread your electoral promises cost a fortune." Bytra replied.

    "Those with the right ideas rarely have the means whereas those who have the means rarely have any interest in changing the status quo. Democracy is great on paper, but once you try it out, you discover that unless you have the money to make your voice heard, you are nothing but a whisper in a storm."

    Lith nodded, remembering what usually happened on Earth where even people with a good heart and full of ideals were forced to sell themselves to get the necessary funds to be elected.

    No matter what they promised, they were always forced topromise so much that their dreams became so watered down to be irrelevant, if notpletely twisted. Very few countries on Earth could be called civil, the rest just pretended to.

    "What about the war?" Lith asked. "Howe every country neighbouring Namgar is fighting another?"

    "Verendi is still divided into many small countries. It means that the resources are unevenly distributed and that very few democracies are self-sufficient. They use trade as a way to survive and keep their neighbours'' growth in check." Bytra replied.

    "The moment a famine, a gue, or a draught strikes, so do the neighbouring armies and the losers get their country split among the winners. Those countries are facing some kind of crisis and the others are simply making use of that.

    "With a bit of luck, by following a conflict that''s taking ce despite theck of such conditions we''ll find Theseus. You have no idea what the so-called civilized people would do to put a leash on a living weapon of mass destruction."

    "Would really a single Abomination change the situation of an entire continent so much?" Lith said.

    "Yes." The Raiju nodded. "Right now, all the countries have their hands tied and have to wait for favourable conditions in order to strike. That''s because the true strength of an army doesn''ty in the number of its soldiers but in its mages.

    "The nonsensical policy of Verendi prevents mages to rise because the upper echelons are afraid of being ruled by them like it happens in the Empire and the Kingdom. Yet at the same time, it also limits their power.

    "Let''s say that two countries with the same extension and number of mages go at war, the first to lose the most magic users in battle loses. Yet at that point, the winner has double the area to protect and less than half the mages they would need, bing easy prey for their neighbours.

    "With an Abomination at their service, instead, they would send it toy waste on the enemy forces withoutmitting a single mage. One of our kind is enough to win most battles.

    "The winner would suffer no losses and if anyone dares to attack them while they are still consolidating their new territory, they can just unleash the beast again."

    "Isn''t it the same situation the Kingdom was in before Valeron?" Lith asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Then how the heck did the First King pull off such a feat. Sure, he and hispanions were strong, but five people can''t keep a country the size of the Kingdom in check."

    "I can answer that because I was there." Zoreth had returned, bringing three tankards of a fermented fruit that passed for beer on Namgar. "Valeron wasn''t just a conqueror. He was a dreamer and a leader first.

    "After conquering a country, no matter how small, he would take his time and conquer its people''s hearts. He would stay there, spend time with them and help them solve the main problems that had gued them for generations.

    "Illnesses, food shortages, droughts, he and hispanions would get rid of them and make thend flourish just like the Great Mother would. Valeron didn''t treat those he defeated as inferior nor did he try to impose his customs.

    "He would rarely speak and spend most of his time listening. Then, after understanding what the people really needed, he would take action and help them achieve it.

    "He didn''t bestow anything to them, but he fought alongside them, sharing their efforts and rewards. You have no idea how much it meant for all those whose voices had never been heard.

    "For those who had been told their whole life they were nothing until they had started to believe it themselves. Valeron didn''t give gifts, he gave opportunities and those who were brave and determined enough would rise to the challenge.

    "At first, Iughed at him, considering Valeron a fool and his dream a fool''s errand. Then I saw entire armies turning their backs to their generals, people fighting against their own rulers to protect him.

    "At that point, I started to believe in him as well and I rooted for him." Zoreth lowered her eyes in embarrassment, taking a long sip from her tankard.

    "That''s a big understatement." Bytra giggled making the Shadow Dragon almost choke on her drink. "She was a real fangirl. Zor still has an ancient poster of Valeron''s coronation and she helped him from the shadows.

    "After a long battle, when his soldiers needed time to rest and heal, she would patrol the area and kill whoever dared to approach them."

    "Bytra! That was supposed to be a secret.

    "Do you realize how embarrassing it was for a millennia old being to be infatuated with a pup less than three decades old?" Zoreth''s voice became so high pitched that it almost sounded feminine.

    "It''s not embarrassing, it''s cute. It means that even then your heart wasn''t really dead and that you were still capable of dreaming and caring for others." The Raiju took Zoreth''s hands caressing them gently.

    ''Am I so cringy as well when I''m with Kami?'' Lith asked.

    ''You are worse. She ys you like a fiddle.'' Solus replied with a giggle. ''I''m really happy we decided toe here. Verendi can teach us a lot and the more time I spend with Bytra, the more I understand that she''s not Korgh.

    ''It was Korgh who killed my mother and, in a way, Bytra avenged her more than once.''

    Then, Lith noticed that people were throwing odd looks at the tender moment between the alleged siblings and stepped in.

    "So, have you discovered anything interesting, brother?" He said while wrapping his arm around Bytra''s slender shoulders and dragging her close to him.

    Zoreth had a hard time repressing a snarl and Solus didn''t puke at the contact solely because a stone ring was physically incapable of such a feat. No matter what her brain told her, her heart and soul had scars that ran deep.

    "Actually, a lot." The Shadow Dragon noticed the odd looks as well so she took a deep breath to rx and put some distance between her and her wife. "I imed that our business has several branches so I could ask about the status of many neighbouring countries."

    Zoreth unfolded a map of Verendi that she had just bought.

    "I''m now sure that Theseus is not here. There''s nothing relevant happening for hundreds of kilometres in every direction." She traced with her finger a circle around Namgar and all of its bordering states.

 Chapter 1935 Deep Scars (Part 1)

    "Which means we must go further south and start our search over." Zoreth pointed at the following cluster of countries, thousands of kilometers of distance. "We can be there in less than an hour if we alternate Warp and flight."

    "Excellent idea." Lith nodded and after paying the bill, they left the establishment.

    Xenagrosh moved faster than a ne, reaching her destination a bitter than she had estimated only because she stopped listening to the conversation of all the caravans they encountered.

    "Here is my stop. Please,nd." Lith had been checking his watch for a while and now pointed at an empty piece ofnd.

    The Abominations could feel the powerful flow of world energying from the ground thanks to their hunger.

    "What do you mean your stop?" The city of Graska is a bit ahead. "Zoreth asked."

    "Yes, but as I told you on the amulet, I must go back home for meals and night. I''ll see you in a couple of hours. In the meanwhile, have some more awful food from Verendi, go on a date, whatever." Lith winked on thest word. "See you!"

    ????? ????? Then, he ced his hand on the ground and opened his seven eyes. Lith used them to alter the world energy around him while the Void painted the area ck.

    ''Even if Bytra is aware of the tower Warp, there''s no way she can recognize it under the cover of two bloodline abilities.'' He thought as his body simply disappeared.

    "What was that?" Bytra asked, hoping that Zoreth''s Dragon Eyes had understood the phenomenon.

    "I have no clue." The Shadow Dragon replied. "I can only tell you that was no Warp at all. Lith seemed to be one with the flow of world energy and simply rode it."

    While the two Abominations were still at loss for words, he appeared in front of the beach house in the Desert. Kam was there, waiting for them while looking at her own watch.

    "Wee back." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Where''s Solus?"

    "Good question." Lith had to use their mind link to snap Solus out of it and made her assume human form.

    Solus felt all sticky, her body was burning, and her stomach churned in nausea. She fell on all fours, expecting to puke at any moment. Even though she hadn''te close to Bytra in person, the experience had ground on her nerves, bringing her to the limit.

    "Are you alright?" Kam touched her shoulder, feeling how cold Solus was despite the heat of the Desert.

    "Don''t touch me. I''m a mess and I don''t want to dirty you as well. I need a shower." Solus gently pushed her off.

    "What are you talking about? Was Verendi so hot?" Kam checked her forehead for fever, but found it normal.

    "I don''t know, I didn''t-" Solus stopped as the contrast between the warmth of Kam''s hand and the breeze from the ocean made her realize that it was all in her head.

    She had kept her stone form the whole time so she hadn''t sweated, her stomach had no way to puke, nor could she experience heat. Pa nda

    No vel "You need a break." Lith lifted her in a princess carry and brought Solus to one of the deckchairs.

    The sight of the sun, the ocean, and the sky washed Bytra''s face off Solus'' eyes, clearing her head. Lith and Kam sat on either side, holding one hand each. It strengthened their bond, allowing Lith''s calm to soothe her nerves.

    As for Kam, she shared no bond with Solus, but having someone that cared for her close in such a moment helped her mind to recover as well. It reminded Solus that her old family was dead, but she wasn''t alone anymore.

    She had gotten a new family on that beach and another waiting for her at Sark''s pce.

    "Thanks. I feel much better now. I''ll join you after freshening up." She said after a few minutes, when her knees had stopped quaking and Mogar spinning.

    Solus washed her face and arms multiple times to calm down and give the couple a bit of intimacy. When she came back, however, she found the table set for three, Lith cleaning some dirty pans, and Kam setting the food on the table.

    It smelled delicious, reminding Solus that she hadn''t eaten anything since breakfast. Not even a cookie.

    "Is that¡­"

    "Lasagna? Yes." Kam said. "I wanted to rx on the beach but I was too worried about you guys. To keep my mind busy, I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing your favorite dishes. I thought you might use somefort food."

    "Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed this." Solus'' stomach had settled in for good and demanded its due.

    "Not so fast!" Kam stopped her before she could take the first mouthful. "I have spent my morning cooking and I''ll be working in the afternoon. I''d like to see my efforts rewarded with a bit of appreciation and conversation.

    "Not to see everything disappear in five minutes while I talk to famished trolls."

    "Fine." Solus pouted, eating slowly and keeping her mouth empty from time to time to answer Kam''s questions about Verendi.

    ''Marriage is overrated.'' She thought. ''It''s more like having another mother nagging at you than apanion.''

    Then, she noticed that between the happiness from being home and being pissed off at Kam, the shadow of Bytra was gone from her mind. Ever since she had sat down at the table, she hadn''t thought about the Raiju once.

    It made Solus brim with joy and take part in the conversation willingly instead of being forced like before.

    "What do you mean, you had no idea ck and yellow-skinned people exist?" Kam rose her eyebrows in disbelief. "We studied that at school, remember?"

    "I only learned how to write, read, count, and magic." Lith shrugged. "I never read anything or studied a single book. Whenever it was necessary, I shoved a tome about the topic of the day in Soluspedia and I was done with it."

    "That''s why your manners are impable and you know so much about stuff that you have no actual interest in. Elina is right, you are a damn cheater!"

    "It''s not cheating. It''s efficiency. Right, Solus?" He asked.

    "Yep, it''s cheating." She nodded. "You have no idea how ignorant he is without Soluspedia. If it wasn''t for the map we stored there, he wouldn''t even know the roads in Lutia."

    Lith jumped up in mock outrage while Kamughed, seeing him more human and less perfect.

    After the meal, they moved to the veranda to enjoy their ice cream while looking at the sea. Kam sat in the middle of a big couch, with Lith at her right and leaning his head on her shoulder.

    Solus sat at her left, with her head on Kam''sp waiting for cuddles.

    "What do you think you are doing?" Kam asked in surprise.

    "When you married Lith, you knew you would also marry me. Your words, not mine." Solus replied with a straight face. "Show me some love, woman."

    Shested barely for a second before bursting intoughter, soon joined by Lith and Kam.

    "That was a good one, but please, don''t joke about it in the presence of others. They already look at us in a funny way whenever you stop for the night." Kam said.

    "Don''t worry, I-" Solus'' body was engulfed in a blue light that seemed toe from within her.

 Chapter 1936 Deep Scars (Part 2)

    As the light grew in intensity, a quick nce at the tower revealed that the building was sucking in tons of sands to convert them into two new floors. The reconstruction process didn''t make a sound yet it was clear that Solus was having a breakthrough.

    They had never witnessed one because for a long time she hadn''t had a body. On top of that, usually Solus'' breakthroughs took ce when she was in her ring form or asleep.

    Except for the few vacations that Lith allowed himself, Solus spent most of her time away from geysers.

    Now, however, between his violet core and the constant feeding that the tower received while either at the pce or the beach, she had reached the next stage while in her human form.

    The blue lighting from Solus didn''t form a pir, didn''t cause the ground to quake, nor did her body expel any impurity. The body that the tower gave her was identical to the one she had 700 years ago.

    It was a perfect vessel for a bright violet mana core, with no impurities or imperfections. The only thing itcked was the energy necessary to fill her core and body. Without it, she was no different from a blue-cored Awakened.

    A blue cored Awakened with the mass and the bloodline abilities of a mage tower, of course.

    "Two new floors?" Lith said in awe.

    "And two more in the basement." Solus nodded. "I mean, it was pretty obvious that the more I progress the more floors I will get. The tower at its prime was enormous and I''ve only got four more breakthroughs before we are both fixed."

    "Let''s go I can''t wait to see-" Lith jumped on his feet but Solus remained where she was, ring at him.

    "It''s still our honeymoon." Kam said, ring as well. "We made a promise about no work and no magic, remember?"

    "Tell him, honey." Solus said, making the corners of Kam''s mouth almost turn up in a smile and her angry voice in a peal ofughter.

    Almost.

    "But, part-time work." He stuttered. "You will work in the afternoon. Why can''t I?"

    "We already worked this morning and we''ll be away until dinner as well." Solus said. "Kam already made an exception for my sake and we are going to leave in less than one hour.

    "I''m not going to waste my time giving you a tour of the new floors. I need rest before I face Bytra again." Solus used a partial mind fusion to give him all the information she had recovered about the new floors.

    "Besides, my body needs time to adapt to its new state and fill itself with world energy. I bet that now I can keep my human form longer, but only if rest if I recover my mental strength." She put her head back on Kam''sp and fell asleep before either of them could reply.

    Lith sighed and raised his hands in surrender. He knew that two against one was a battle he couldn''t win.

    ***

    After lunch, they met back at the geyser with Bytra and Zoreth. They repeated the stranded merchants trick a few times, moving further and further away from the border with Garlen.

    Solus even joined them a couple of times to experience the life in Verendi in person. She shapeshifted into a Desert woman with waist-long ck hair and deep bronze skin. Solus pretended to be Zoreth''s wife while Bytra kept acting as Lith''s.

    They were both ignorant about the local customs and their foreign ents made people furrow their brows whenever they talked. Yet one of the reasons for that arrangement was that Solus wanted to stay away from Bytra.

    Solus enjoyed the new sights, the hot yet dry climate, and the exotic food. She soon discovered that her mind could withstand the stress from her trauma for an even shorter time than her body when away from a geyser.

    Every time she reached her limit, they had to find an empty alley where she could disappear away from prying eyes. With each following attempt, however, shested a bit longer before being forced to leave.

    Facing the beast, talking with it, and confronting her trauma gave her strength. Lith and Solus went back home for dinner and the night, leaving the Abominations in the city of Quuza.

    They could finally shapeshift both into women and have a bit of privacy for the night. ording to the rumors they had collected during the day, Theseus was near and unless something unexpected happened they would soon catch up with him.

    ***

    Verendi Continent, another nameless cave in the middle of nowhere.

    When Dolgus finally woke up, he realized that the sun had already risen and set while he was asleep. The good news was that his body was brimming with energy and that his reserve of Life Maelstrom was full again.

    The bad news was that they had wasted an entire day.

    ''Dammit, if only we could fly, it would take us hours to reach the Desert instead of days.'' The Griffon thought. ''Too bad that Theseus needs constant feeding and is prone to fits of blood madness that only make his hunger grow.''

    He turned around, noticing that the walls of the cavern that had been barren when he had gone to sleep were now covered in frescos and portraits. They were all made in shades of grey and the only color of the drawings belonged to the underlying rocks.

    Yet somehow the hybrid had managed to use differentyers of ckness so to give his subjects shadings and depth.

    "Did you do this?" He asked.

    "Yes." Theseus nodded. "I was- I mean, Paquut was an artist. Even after bing an Eldritch, he never stopped practicing. Our deadly Abomination Touch doesn''t bother a painter like it does other artists.

    "By controlling the pressure I exert with my finger, I can draw wherever I want as if I''m using a stencil." The hybrid was now working on a portrait of hispanion''s human form. "It was a good method to keep his mind off the hunger and to train self-control.

    "Whenever I lose focus, that happens." He pointed at several ck dots on the walls that had been caused by the Chaos energy going wild.

    "A few mistakes here and there mean nothing. You are really good." Dolgus patted Theseus'' back to show that he trusted hispanion.

    "I''m not good. That''s all Paquut." The hybrid slumped his shoulders. "I never studied art. I didn''t spend centuries practicing. I just stole the fruits of his hard work like he stole the lives of those he met.

    "You always say that I''m a new life form, that I''m innocent. But how can I have a fresh start if everything I know and does from my old self? There''s no difference between Paquut and me."

    "Do you enjoy drawing?" Dolgus asked.

    "Yes." Theseus nodded. "Only a painter can make beauty and harmony immortal through their work. Even a fleeting moment of perfection can be captured forever on canvas-"

    "Then it''s your art as much as it was Paquut''s." The Griffon cut him short, not interested in an art lesson. "Would your old self have spent his time drawing or would he have killed me in my sleep?"

 Chapter 1937 The Abomination Way (Part 1)

    "My original would have definitely killed you. A Griffon filled with Life Maelstrom is a hearty meal that could quell my hunger for weeks, maybe months." Theseus lowered his eyes in shame since he had considered doing it.

    Then you two are nothing alike." Dolgus said. "Paquut had no friends, only allies. He came here alone because he didn''t trust anyone and that allowed you to kill him. I''m your friend and I trust you."

    "But-"

    "Listen to me. Everyone makes mistakes." The Griffon cut him off. "A stupid man never learns from his mistakes. A normal man does, and a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

    "Right now, you are someone who has been burdened with millennia of mistakes that don''t belong to him. If you let them crush you, they will be a curse. If you learn from them, they''ll be a blessing that will turn you into one of the wisest people of Mogar.

    "You can use Paquut''s memories to predict what will happen if you abuse your powers. The consequences of thinking solely about yourself in the here and now. His legacy is full of horrors, but also of precious lessons.

    "If you find the courage to confront his life and make it your own, making the right choice under the hardest circumstances will be easy for you. Also, it will stop the blood madness and we''ll reach that damn border in a jiffy."

    Dolgus took more food out of his pocket dimension and they shared a meal worthy of a Divine Beast.

    "Who''s that?" He pointed at a figure on the walls, to move the conversation on to a less depressing topic.

    "That''s Elphyn Menadion, the daughter of one of my favorite painters. You see, Threin Menadion¡­"

    Dolgus inhaled sharply, listening to what sounded gibberish to him with a smile on his face. He had noticed the joy in the Abomination hybrid whenever he talked about his passion.

    Something that he hoped would help them to cover more than 200 kilometers a day and without being almost devoured three times in the process.

    ***

    The next day, city of Necram, Republic of Wudao.

    This time no one had stopped along the road to help the group of stranded merchants reach the city. The routes were filled with soldiers marching and the merchants were in a rush, moving as fast as they could. Pa nda

    Novel "Something tells me we are in the right ce." Solus said.

    "Indeed. Either someone has discovered a magical mine or Theseus can''t be far." Zoreth nodded.

    Once they reached Necram, it didn''t take them long before hearing about the hunt for the mysterious creature that roamed the area. The army was on the prowl, mages were scouring the skies, and a hefty reward had been promised to anyone who would provide clues useful for its capture.

    The local mercenary guild was empty and so were the taverns. Everyone was out, hoping to hit the jackpot.

    "What''s our next move?" Lith asked. "Do we infiltrate the merchant or the mercenary guild? Do we hit the slums for the ck market''s informationwork?"

    "How cute and na?ve." Zoreth turned around, pinching his cheeks like Rena used to do back when he was little. "Why should any of them trust a stranger with vital information? Also, there''s no point for them to help theirpetition in exchange for a few coins and risk losing the motherlode."

    "We could shapeshift into someone they trust and-" Lith said before being cut off.

    "That would take too long. As I told you at the beginning of this trip, we are Abominations. We don''t hide or cower. Now that our target is in sight, the gloves are off." Zoreth shapeshifted, but back into her human appearance and so did Bytra.

    People gawked at the sight of a burly man turning into a short woman, even more when she waltzed inside the local army branch as if she owned the ce.

    "This creature you are searching for, where is it?" She asked while two tall and muscr soldiers that guarded the entrance grabbed her by the shoulders, only to be dragged inside as she moved forward.

    They nted their feet, using every ounce of strength they could muster but it was like trying to stop a tornado.

    "Hands off, I''m a married woman." She pped them with a simple flick of the wrist, yet the hit dislocated their jaws and gave them a concussion. "I asked you where the creature is."

    Zoreth walked in front of the desk sergeant who took a hidden sword and lunged at her throat in one fluid motion. Her neck turned ck and the de sunk deep, yet not a drop of blood was spilled.

    When the woman attempted a second attack, she discovered that the sword was no more. What she had mistaken for a sessful thrust digging into the flesh was just the Chaos eating at the de on contact.

    What remained of it could be used as a box cutter.

    "I''m not going to ask you a third time. Speak!" The power of her ck and troll core mixed together, releasing a grey aura from her body that filled the room in a dark fog and the soldiers with dread.

    Dragon Fear made Zoreth''s mana seep inside their bodies along with the world energy, carrying her willpower and promises of agony.

    The weakest among them died of a heart attack. Regr soldiers fainted, leaving only the veterans conscious and with their pants wet and stinky.

    The desk sergeant stared at Zoreth in horror. Her mouth was dry, making her swallow so much that she couldn''t speak. Her lips opened and closed non-stop, like a goldfish.

    A snap of the Abomination''s fingers made the right leg of those fainted on the ground explode. Some of them died of shock and others came back to their senses, screaming in pain.

    A red mist colored the ck fog, turning the dread into horror.

    "Don''t you care about yourrades?" Zoreth asked. "Then maybe you have family in this city. Look at the window and watch the east block disappear."

    Her left middle finger touched the thumb, ready for another snap. The desk sergeant knew that it wasn''t an empty threat because her whole body could feel the mana flowing from the Abomination into her and then into an area filled with thousands of civilians.

    The same ck fog that filled the army branch was spreading throughout the east block like a disease. Even from a distance, the sergeant could see the buildings crumble and people falling limp on the ground.

    Her family lived on the west block, but the sergeant knew that the thing in front of her was going to destroy the entire city, block by block if she didn''t give the information to it.

    Still incapable of speaking, the woman pointed furiously at the door of themanding officer, the only person who knew all the details of the mission.

    "Was it so hard?" Zoreth snapped her fingers and all those in the room fainted, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of her mana.

    "That was quick." Lith said while they read the reports containing Theseus'' past sightings and hisst known position. "Are we going to kill everyone in this building? You know, to leave no trace of our passage?"

 Chapter 1938 The Abomination Way (Part 2)

    "Still na?ve." Zoreth clicked her tongue in disapproval. "We are leaving them alive. This way, the army of this country will have to split their forces to deal with us and call back part of their forces.

    "Also, the bigger the bounty on our heads, the fewer people will chase Theseus. They will look for the apparently easier and nearer target."

    "And here I hoped you had learned the importance of mercy, Zor." Bytra said with a sigh, making Solus'' eyes go wide in surprise. "Violence isn''t always the answer."

    "You are right, darling. Violence isn''t the answer, it''s the question. The answer is yes." Zoreth said, obtaining a reproachful re from her wife. "Now, time for phase two."

    A ck portal appeared, swallowing the four of them. Once they walked through the Chaos Gate, Lith noticed a familiarndscape.

    "This is where we started our search in the morning! We are hundreds of kilometers in the wrong direction from our mark." Lith was bbergasted by Zoreth''s decision.

    "Correct. I don''t trust second-hand information. I want to know our ally''s exact position and create a diversion at the same time. Watch and learn." The Shadow Dragon focused on her two cores, having the ck and white mana spread outwards.

    A ck pir erupted from her body, piercing both the sky and ground below. It filled the air with a melody whose volume increased by the second. It was something loud, filled with rage and aggression that reminded Lith of some kind of heavy metal.

    It was simr to the song that Nandi had used in Lightkeep to summon Vastor.

    Bytra did the same, releasing a second pir that resonated with the first, making them both grow in size and intensity. Her melody was sweeter, but still violent. Lith could feel a tingle in his body, yet aside from that nothing happened.

    "Let me guess, using that technique forced Theseus to create a pir as well." Lith said once the Abominations were done, receiving a nod in reply. "He exposed his position, but your pirs will act as a diversion.

    "You brought us near the border so that two more countries could witness the phenomenon. Now they''ll mistake us for Theseus and call back their respective armies as well for a wild goose chase."

    "You''re a fast learner, little brother." Zoreth winked at him and created another Chaos Gate that brought them back outside Necram. Then, she conjured a second dimensional opening that led them inside a cave.

    "You must be Theseus." She said to the two bbergasted men who had yet to understand what had just happened.

    "Who the heck are you?" The hybrid asked as one powerful Chaos spell materialized over each of his hands.

    Dolgus felt no threat from the neer, but her power couldn''t be underestimated. Even an Elder Divine Beast like him could feel his skin crawl in the presence of the Shadow Dragon.

    He injected himself and Theseus with a bit of Life Maelstrom, just to be safe. The silver lightning coursed through the hybrid''s body, doubling the size and destructiveness of his spells without even being imbued within them.

    "Oh, sorry. I just knew your original quite well so to me it''s like we''ve know each other for a long time. To you, instead, I must be a stranger." Then she turned around, ignoring the spells that were supposed to threaten her.

    "Bytra, you were his handler. See if you can talk some sense into him before I do it by force."

    Lith, Solus, and Bytra came out right after Zoreth and the Raiju greeted the still confused hybrid with a warm smile.

    "Long time no see, Theseus. As I promised, we came to your rescue as soon as we heard your call." She offered her hand, but it was ignored.

    "So it was you who forced me to generate the ck pir again? Do you realize the danger you have put us into? We spent thest few days putting some distance with our pursuers but your stunt ruined everything!" He said in outrage.

    "Yes, it was us." Bytra nodded, taking her hand back and steeling her gaze. "Because you needed help and we had no choice. You think you have lost the humans, but they were already close. Someone spotted you."

    She conjured a powerful gravity spell that bent the light, allowing them to watch at a great distance without moving. An army wasing from the west and several toons of mercenaries and mages were approaching the cave from every direction.

    "Besides, you are in no danger. Now that we are here with you, those people pose no threat." She said. "We are here to help."

    Theseus looked at them with diffidence. He remembered well who they were, what they had done in the past, and the fact that they had been Paquut''s allies. It was their leader, the Master, who had created the clones like him just in order for the Eldritches to consume them and be stronger.

    They knew what kind of monster his old self was and yet they had no qualms in helping someone as deranged as Paquut to be even more powerful. If not for the blood madness making his life a waking nightmare, Theseus would have never called them for help.

    On top of that, Bytra was like him, a clone who had conquered his original. Theseus felt that he could trust her, to an extent.

    "Okay, fine. Take me away and fix whatever you screwed up with me. I can''t turn into either of my forms without falling into a fit of hunger that leads to blood madness." He said.

    "That''s odd." Bytra said. "Once you fused with your original, the hunger was supposed to be contained and your powers enhanced. You look crippled instead."

    The weakness of his aura, the patched skin, and how everything was weakened in his presence, even a Griffon, were the proof that something had gone terribly wrong.

    ''Dad never made such a mistake before. The ck core of Paquut the Bastet and the Kobold core were supposed to be a perfect match.'' She actually thought.

    "What are we waiting for? Let''s go!" He urged them.

    "We are not going anywhere." Zoreth shook her head, leaving him bbergasted and making Dolgus sigh in resignation. "We still have a mission here and we can''t move you in this condition.

    "Even if we Warped to a different location, to provide Dad, I mean, the Master, with our dimensional coordinates we''d need to conjure the pirs and give away our position.

    "By the time he arrives, we would have to relocate again because he needs time to perform his tests and cure you.

    "Which is a massive waste of time and energy since there is a much better solution. Kill everyone who''s looking for you. No one will notice the ck pirs if there''s no one left to notice it."

    "What?" Solus and Theseus blurted out in unison while Bytra just bit her lower lip in stress. "You can''t just make a massacre because someone disturbs your job! Those people are innocent soldiers who are just doing their job."

    "Solus, I''ve been honest with you from the beginning." Zoreth''s sisterly tone turned into the stern voice of a leader reprimanding a rookie. "We are Abominations. We don''t care about the reason our enemies stand in our path, we just kill them."

 Chapter 1939 The Abomination Way (Part 3)

    "If someonees at us looking for a fight, we don''t just give it to them. We beat them so hard and thoroughly that those after them think thrice before even looking at us. Also, innocents? Seriously?

    "Those soldiers are trying to capture us and are willing to exterminate their targets if they fail to put a leash on us. They would happily doom every single one of us to a lifetime of very and then go back to their lives because of those orders.

    "Don''t get me started about the mercenaries. People who would do anything for money and have a gold purse for a moralpass. Say what you want, but they are not innocent. You are free to not dirty your hands, but I will." Zoreth said.

    Theseus tried to step forward and face the Shadow Dragon, but Dolgus clenched his shoulder, forcing him to stop.

    "She''s right." He said, making the Bastet''s jaw drop. "Do you think that if someone tries to capture or kill me, I just run away? No, I fight back. I didn''t do it until now solely because the injuries you inflicted on me were too serious.

    "Also, I couldn''t risk you having a fit of blood madness at the sight of violence and attacking me." The Griffon took a pause, letting his words and the guilt sink into Theseus'' heart. "I don''t me you because you have no control over your action, but they are different and deserve no pity.

    "If you just keep running away, you make them grow more confident and help them perfect their tracking skills. One day, they will discover a way to track your energy signature and you''ll be forced to spend your whole life on the run.

    "If we retaliate, instead, they''ll lose all the data they acquired so far and with no idea of the reason for their defeat, doubt and fear will cloud their minds. We are Divine Beasts. We don''t relish in violence, but we aren''t sheep either."

    "I''ll do it." Lith shapeshifted his clothes into the Voidwalker armor and conjured War on his hip.

    "What? Why?" Solus asked, her eyes wide open.

    "Marriage made me happy, not soft." He replied. "These people are like those in the Kingdom who would dly take me prisoner and experiment on me until the day I die.

    "Whatever data they collected about Theseus, I''m not going to let it fall into the wrong hands. If anyone learns how to track Abominations, I''ll be the next. Once that happens, I''ll have no privacy, and people could follow me and discover the tower.

    "Also, this is the first opportunity I get to put my new spells and body to the test. A simple fight against a human army, like the one that awaits me once I get back to the Kingdom.

    "Or do you expect the Royal army to leave me alone if I don''t ept their terms? Or Thrud''s followers, for that matter. More and more people follow her by the day and I''m not going to hold back just because they bought her lies."

    Solus pondered his words, knowing that Lith was right. That Zoreth and Dolgus were right. The Abomination clone was in the exact same situation she would be if the existence of Menadion''s tower was discovered.

    At that point, she would be left with only two choices. To spend her whole life on the run, putting in danger everyone she cared for, or fight back. Pa nda

    Novel "At least give them a chance. Try to send them away." Solus said, slouching her shoulders.

    "I will." Lith nodded. "You guys summon the Master. I''ll take care of the problem."

    He wrapped himself in a ck cape and jumped toward the approaching army just as three ck pirs erupted from the cave and reached for the sky, giving Vastor their coordinates.

    ''I''ll be there in a while.'' He replied via the mind link. ''It''s not easy to exin to your wife why you have to leave in the middle of the night even though yourmunication amulet is silent. Couldn''t you call me during the day?''

    The grumpy, slurred voice was nothing like Theseus remembered it. Bytra and Zoreth giggled something about a woman called Zinya. They joked about renaming her the Mistress and asking for her permission before taking action.

    The Bastet had no idea what had happened during those past two years, but he had never seen before an Abominationughing except during a feeding frenzy.

    Meanwhile, Lith stood halfway between the army and the cave, ready to intercept the mercenary toons approaching.

    Solus''s human body was almost depleted so she reverted into her energy form, with golden skin and hair. She floated a few meters above Lith, a flying figure in stark contrast with the sudden darkness that had invaded thend.

    "Please, turn back and go home." Her magically amplified voice resounded throughout the ins. "There''s nothing for you here but death. Don''t waste your life for something trivial like money."

    Many members of the army stopped in their tracks, mistaking Solus for the Great Mother and thinking that she had finally returned among them. Yet aside from the hair everything else was wrong.

    She was too short and her skin was supposed to be silvery pale instead of golden.

    They were discussing the issue when the cloaked figure below her spread a violet aura that made their skin crawl even from a distance. Lith''s Tiamat''s Fear formed a thick wall of mana that seeped into the world energy, extending its range.

    The mercenaries were the closest to him and some of them went into a panic, losing control of their flight spells. Before they could plummet to the ground, theirpanions rescued them and had them drink potions.

    "Calm down, you idiot. It''s just some kind of killing intent. Focus your mana and willpower to counter it." They said as the extra mana from the alchemical tool repelled Lith''s.

    "This is myst warning." He was still in human form, wanting to put to try out his skills as a mage instead of those as a Tiamat. "What you are approaching is the home of Divine Beasts. Come at your own risk."

    "Didn''t you hear him?" The general rode atop of his hose in front of the soldiers to rally his troops. "Divine Beasts as in more than one. Imagine how powerful our country of Asato will be once they submit.

    "Even if they resist and we manage to kill them, their corpses will provide us with plenty of materials for armor and weapons.

    "Our army would be unstoppable. I promise you that whoever deals the finishing blow will receive a full suit of Divine Beast equipment and rise to the rank of colonel."

    Greed and excitement reced fear as the general ordered powerful wands and alchemical tools to be distributed to the foot soldiers. Feeling the power of the elements at their fingertips and with the body-enhancing potions boosting their bodies, the soldiers felt invincible.

    The army resumed its advance, the mercenaries took their time weaving their best arrays, and the ck cape came off, revealing the Voidwalker armor. The goddess of light disappeared and with her any hope of survival.

 Chapter 1940 The Abomination Way (Part 4)

    The pirs had disappeared and between the bright sun, the ck armor, and the violet aura, tracking the knight''s movements was supposed to be easy. Yet he was as quick as lightning and each of his strides brought the noise of thunder.

    Where he stepped, a crater would open, scattering dust and pebbles around. The former clouded his position while thetter had the kic energy of a bullet, dealing damage even to those who wore enchanted armor.

    The ck knight appeared in front of the soldiers before they coulde to a halt and close their ranks. He swung his blood-red de in a wide horizontal movement, giving the soldiers the time to raise their shields.

    War cut through the metal as if it was paper and the strength behind the sh was so strong that it generated a wind de. Those who took the hit directly died on the spot, cut asunder at the waist.

    Those behind them lived a few seconds longer, noticing how Mogar had started to spin and the air had be filled with a red rain. Then, theynded on the ground, understanding that Mogar stood apparently still while their heads had flown off.

    The shield bearers who only took the wind de had their arms shattered, but they survived thanks to the impact sending them away. The others weren''t so lucky and died on the spot.

    A single sh of the angry de had killed dozens.

    "Don''t stand like that! Regroup!" The general said while Lith took another step forward, piercing through the ranks like a human cannonball and turning the soldiers on his path into living projectiles that crashed against theirrades in the backlines.

    The deeper Lith went the more the formation crumbled. The soldiers used their wands and unleashed a barrage of tier three spells, but they aimed to where he had been instead of where he was, his movements too quick to follow.

    Once he reached the heart of the central wing of the army, Lith had already finished body casting the tier Four War Mage Spell, gue Tempest. Countless bullets of darkness erupted from his body, each one of them twice as strong as a gue Arrow.

    They were stillprised solely of darkness so they were slow. Yet from point-nk range and with serrated ranks there was no way to avoid them. To make matters worse, Lith had reced the unused second element with willpower.

    War Mages learned the trick from Tier Four, allowing their spells to home onto their targets. gue Tempest came out of his feet, emerging from the ground, and also from his shoulders and head, darting upwards for a few meters beforeing down.

    The darkness bullets struck their mark ignoring their enchanted protections and moved on to the next even if they barely had a shred of energy left.

    The well-oiled machine that the army was supposed to be stuttered in front of overwhelming power and Lith exploited the brief pause to cast with his mouth, hands, and mind as well.

    He had prepared no spells to create the worst-case situation possible for himself and now he was casting three spells at the same time.

    "Don''t let him finish! Deploy the elemental sealing arrays!" The magemander yelled from the sky.

    Based on the reports, they were expecting to deal with a creature of darkness so they had prepared ordingly. The area around Lith became filled with elemental sealing arrays to which he replied with the spell he had cast with fake magic.

    The tier Four Warden Spell, Disarray, was something that he had learned from Red back at the White Griffon academy. It was a simple and quick incantation that made a magical formation copse by reversing its energy flow.

    Arrays, however, were powerful spells, and messing with them from the inside was considered a suicidal tactic. Once they became unstable, the magical formations were likely to blow up with the same power of a War Mage spell of the same tier.

    Yet Lith didn''t care and his Disarray spell slithered like a snake from one sealing array to another before they could affect his gue Tempest. The resulting explosion turned the soldiers around Lith for dozens of meters into meat paste, allowing the gue Arrows to lock onto a new target.

    Mages, soldiers, and mercenaries had to dodge a hail of bullets that were slow but relentless in their pursuit. To make matters worse, until the dust cloud from the explosion settled, they couldn''t pinpoint the ck knight''s position.

    "He''s still alive or his spell would have faded already." The magemander said. "Yet he must be heavily wounded. Clear the area before he has the time to heal."

    At his order, a mage chased by a gue Arrow flew toward the dust cloud and conjured a powerful wind that blew it away. Not only was the ck knight unscathed, but he was also triple casting again.

    The violet crystals on his armor shone like stars as they produced enough energy to conjure a Spirit Barrier. Lith had given up on his barrier ring because its reduced size made it easy to overload and overheat.

    On top of that, a single mana gemstone couldn''t hold against one or more powerful spells. The Voidwalker armor, instead, had several crystals and each one of them was the size of an apple.

    That along with the Dragon''s skin that he had used as an ingredient, reinforced the barrier and lessened its mana cost. As for the violet aura that the army of Wudao had mistaken for killing intent, it was actually the tier four de Knight spell, Full Guard.

    The moment the mage came into its range, the spell gave Lith her exact position despite the hail of spells blinding Life Vision and the dust blocking his sight. He focused the gue Tempest on her, killing the mage on the spot.

    ''She was a good soldier. Her sacrifice has given us the opening we needed.'' The magemander thought while issuing themand to unleash the spells they had at the ready against the enemy.

    As a volley of all six elements rained on Lith from every side, including from below, he activated the upgraded version of Final Sunset that he had developed before Kam''s arrival, Final Eclipse.

    A thick sphere of ck fire surrounded him, forming a powerful defensive wall. Final Eclipse sucked the fire and darkness element from the iing spells, adding their power to its own.

    At the same time, it vaporized the ice, melted the stones, and deflected the air des aimed at its caster. The spell couldn''t stop bolts of lightning but Lith could move Final Eclipse at will.

    He kept himself on the fringe of the barrier while his enemies aimed their spells at the center of the dome of ck fire, assuming he would hide where the defensive power of Final Eclipse was at its strongest.

    Even the spells lucky or powerful enough to pierce through the ck mes hit only air.

    At the same time, Lith used War''s Devour ability. Any stray spell that came close to him after being weakened by the barrier was quickly swallowed by the angry de. It allowed War to both protect his master and replenish its strength.

 Chapter 1941: Evolved Humans (part 1)

    Chapter 1941: Evolved Humans (part 1)

    When Lith perceived that Final Eclipse had reached its limit, he made it explode, turning the dome into several small tornados of ck fire aimed in the opposite direction from which the enemy spells hade.

    The mages who had moved from their original position saved their lives while the others were turned into charred flesh.

    ¡°Stop his spellcasting!¡± The general used an air magic spell to amplify his voice and be heard despite the boom. ¡°Buy time for our mages and fight until yourst breath!¡±

    If quality didn¡¯t work, they would swarm him in numbers. A n that might have worked if Lith hadn¡¯t already finished casting Mjolnir.

    Suddenly, the ground below the soldiers¡¯ feet became soft like sand, and several holes opened in the ground. Where hard rock had been until a second ago, now there were several holes.

    The ck knight plunged the crimson bastard sword into the ground and from it came a spell that defied logic.

    Bolts of lightning erupted from the earth as a strong electrical current coursed through the enchanted armors, bypassing their protection and paralyzing the soldiers in an area of 100 meters (330 feet) around Lith.

    The bolts of lightning that found their target killed them and then joined those that had missed, forming a thick thundercloud a few dozen meters above the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Less than a secondter, new lightning bolts rained from above while more erupted from below. Each one of them that missed their mark or had any residual energy after striking would be absorbed and shot again in an endless cycle.

    The earth fed the thundercloud and the thundercloud rained water on the ground, further increasing its conductivity and reducing the already limited protection that the enchanted protections offered.

    The mages attempted to fly away, but they were soaked with positively prized rain that turned them into lightning rods. The electricity followed the path of least resistance by nature, without the need for Lith to use willpower to make them chase his enemies.

    ¡°Retreat! we must-¡± The general¡¯s voice died in his throat when he recognized the de Tier spell that was taking form.

    Countless red and ck runes surrounded the dark knight, and more came out of his armor and de by the second. To the members of the army and the mercenaries, it was the stuff of the legends, but to Lith, it was just a prototype.

    He performed a simple horizontal sh and conjured Ruin. The energy of the de Tier spell burst out in the form of a dull red shockwave that cut everything on its wake.

    Spells, metal, flesh, and bones were struck at the same time and ended up the same way.

    Shredded.

    Only the mercenary groups that had kept themselves out of the fight were still alive, but it was an easily corrected problem. Lith¡¯s eyes could see them despite the distance and their attempt to hide behind the rocky formations.

    He simply aimed what remained of gue Tempest, Mjolnir, and Ruin at the survivors. The three spells chased their respective marks without giving them the time to conjure a Warp Steps.

    Those who knew dimensional magic Blinked, but moving thirty meters away couldn¡¯t change the oue, only prolonging their suffering as the spells followed them relentlessly until they fumbled their hand signs in panic. Pa nda

    Novel Lith cast a Life Detecting array before returning to the cave, to make sure that no one had gone hiding underground or had somehow escaped his notice. Life Vision had a limited range whereas the magical formation fueled by his violet core covered a wide area.

    ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Solus. I gave them a choice just like I did to the Kingdom¡¯s soldiers after saving Dad.¡¯ He said via their mind link.

    ¡®I know.¡¯ Her voice was sad.

    She knew that the bloodshed couldn¡¯t be avoided but that didn¡¯t mean that she had to like it. The only silver lining was that Lith had taken any pleasure in it either. He was satisfied with his new spells and of having seeded in using a de Tier spell without Solus¡¯s help, but that was it.

    ¡°Has V- I mean, the Master arrived?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Luckily for you, not yet.¡± Zoreth said, looking at him with a mix of sisterly pride and envy.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The Master would have been greatly fascinated by your spell and drowned you in questions whereas I¡¯m willing to keep another of your secrets.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Are you talking about Ruin? It¡¯s just a half-baked de Tier spell.¡± Lith replied with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m going to use it a lot once I get back to the Kingdom, so it¡¯s hardly a secret. Feel free to share it with the Master.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m talking about the one that used both earth and air magic.¡± Zoreth shook her head.

    ¡°Yeah, that was one odd spell. I was about to ask you the same thing, whoever you are.¡± Theseus said, making Dolgus inhale sharply in annoyance.

    The Abominations had clearly forgotten about them and were speaking freely. He was eager to learn about an unknown kind of magic but the Bastet had ruined everything.

    ¡°My name is Lith from the Desert and these are Xenagrosh and Bytra.¡± He gave the other two men a polite bow.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Theseus, and this is my friend Dolgus. I wouldn¡¯t be alive without him.¡± The Bastet returned the bow.

    ¡°Thanks for protecting our brethren.¡± Zoreth sniffed the air loudly before adding: ¡°Griffon. We won¡¯t forget your kindness. Now, if you excuse us, we still trust the two of you as much as you trust us so¡­¡±

    Shepleted the sentence by conjuring a Hush zone.

    ¡°Dude, words are important, but sometimes silence is better. If you just kept your mouth shut, now we would be listening as well.¡± Dolgus grumbled.

    ¡°I wanted to take part in the conversation. I¡¯ve been alone for years and you are getting grumpier by the day. You are not a very nicepanion.¡± He replied with an offended look.

    ¡°I get grumpy because you try to eat me every other day!¡±

    While the two quarreled, the real conversation continued inside the Hush zone.

    ¡°What¡¯s so odd about Mjolnir?¡± Lith asked. ¡°I created it almost one year ago. It¡¯s just a tier five spell imbued with the power of two elements.¡±

    ¡°Two opposite elements, though.¡± Bytra said. ¡°It¡¯s something very hard to aplish because they usually neutralize each other. I know a few spells like that, but they use one element as the base and the other has simply a support role.

    ¡°Like for spells that drain the vitality or that heal the very damage they cause. They are usually just mono-elemental spells with a quirk. In the case of Mjolnir, instead, not only did the two elements mix, but they alsoplemented and enhanced each other.¡±

    Lith pondered their words and had to admit that from their point of view Mjolnir was indeed weird.

    ¡°Can you tell us how you did it?¡± Zoreth asked.

    She had an expectant look in her eyes and Lith knew enough about human emotions to understand that more than his secrets, she cared about his trust.

 Chapter 1942: Evolved Humans (part 2)

    Chapter 1942: Evolved Humans (part 2)

    ¡°You see, a while ago I met a Scorpicore named Scarlett and she was capable of switching light into darkness at will.¡± Lith showed them a hologram of her prowess. ¡°After a while, I thought about Silverwing¡¯s words.

    ¡°About how light and darkness aren¡¯t opposites but the two sides of the same coin. Then, I realized that probably it¡¯s the same for the other elements as well. Otherwise how do you exin the existence of Spirit Magic?

    ¡°It¡¯s the proof that the six elements can coexist instead of neutralizing each other so I researched for a way to put my theory into practice. Mjolnir is the result of my experiments about earth and air.¡±

    ¡°Your words would make sense if not for the fact that your affinities are fire and darkness. This kind of maniption should be very hard for you.¡± Zoreth said, her expectant look was still there.

    ¡®She clearly wants to tell me something, but only if Ie clean with her.¡¯ Lith thought. ¡®Oh, well. In for a penny, in for a pound.¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t tell her that the reason air and earth were easier to manipte for him was that he knew the principles behind electrical conductivity, electrons, protons, grounding effect, and maic charges.

    That kind of physics was still beyond the knowledge of most Mogarians, so he opted for a dumbed down reply.

    ¡°You are right, but also wrong. What I did has nothing to do with my elemental affinities. It¡¯s just about breaking the ground into conductive elements that can transmit lightning and scatter them around.

    ¡°This way, instead of dispersing electricity, earth magic channels and focuses it.¡± His words only brought a puzzled look to their faces. ¡°It¡¯s easier showing than telling.¡±

    Lith picked up a rock the size of a melon from the ground and used earth magic to turn it into a fine powder. Insnt materials were discarded, leaving only metals and maized elements.

    Then, he added air magic, creating small sparks of electricity that coursed through the powder, enhancing the already present charges and creating new ones. Soon a small storm and a scaled-down version of Mjolnir appeared.

    ¡°And you did that with just magic?¡± Bytra said in awe.

    She had understood the basic principle but she had no idea how to do it.

    ¡°Actually, no.¡± Lith shook his head. ¡°This kind of microscopic maniption is still beyond me so-¡°

    ¡°This kind of what?¡± Zoreth cut him short.

    ¡°You need surgical precision, removing even the smallest bits of insnts and grounding materials.¡± Lith inwardly cursed Mogar¡¯s limited vocabry and decided to create new words himself.

    ¡°As I was saying, that¡¯s very hard to do, but ever since I broke through to the violet, all of my powers and abilities have improved. I can use Mjolnir as you have seen it only thanks to the elemental affinity of my eyes.¡±

    He took off his helm, revealing that his right eye was now burning with yellow energy and the left with orange mana. Everyone knew about elemental affinities, it was Domination that he wasn¡¯t allowed to disclose.Pa nda

    Novel ¡°Remarkable.¡± Zoreth tenderly caressed his cheek. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you little brother. You carry the power of an evolved human as well.¡±

    ¡°I what?¡± Lith and Solus said in unison.

    She was so surprised that she spoke while still in her ring form.

    ¡°You heard me.¡± Zoreth nodded. ¡°You have no idea how much it means to me that you decided to trust me with your secret because it means that I can trust you with mine.¡±

    Seeing Lith¡¯s confused look, she decided to exin things from the beginning since he was clearly unaware of the origin of his own powers.

    ¡°Humans, just like Emperor Beasts, can evolve. Tyrants and Balor are the proof of it. They were just humans who became something more, something different, but they all share amon trait.

    ¡°The natural ability of humans to channel all elements even in their non-Awakened state turned into aplete elemental affinity by developing multiple eyes, just like yours.¡±

    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Lith and Solus could hear their hearts pounding at the news.

    It exined why all of his forms had seven eyes, even the Abomination.

    ¡®Actually, the Abomination developed them first. ording to Phloria and Solus, whenever I was immersed in the darkness element, new eyes would appear on my face.

    ¡®It makes perfect sense since I¡¯m an Abomination who possessed a human body. Until I reached the blue core, my Divine Beast side was dormant, using all of its energy just to keep the Abomination side from eating the human.

    ¡®The Void that lives inside of me is just what remains of my life force as Derek McCoy that fused with the body of the original Lith, generating the human life force. In a way, my human and Abomination life forces are the two sides of the same coin.

    ¡®One can¡¯t exist without another which sadly makes me mortal whereas normal Abominations can¡¯t die of old age.¡¯ He thought, hoping to buy time with his stupid question.

    ¡°Because some of us predate even the Guardians. Vareen and Tezka were there when the first human be a Tyrant and then some of his most talented disciples became Balors.¡± Zoreth said.

    ¡°They were there when some of the Odi became what you today call Trolls. Before their fall, Balors and Trolls were a powerful race as well. They just ruined everything with their greed, like us Abominations.

    ¡°Balors wanted to regain their mana core and be capable of Awakening like Tyrants whereas Trolls wanted to ovee their absolute yet limited mastery over light and darkness and gain the other five elements as well.¡±

    Lith already knew about Tyrants and Balors from Glemos, but the part about the Odi bing Trolls made sense as well. It exined Baba Yaga¡¯s ability to use Creation Magic and how she had given birth to her Horsemen and the undead.

    ¡°Congrattions, little brother-inw.¡± Bytra hugged him while ruffling his hair. ¡°If Zor is right, it means that every aspect of your life force is evolving with your core. Your life forces managed to merge instead of making you a hybrid because they develop together instead of each one on its own.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± Lith could barely contain his joy. ¡°How did you know the origin of my powers when even I ignored it?¡±

    ¡®Zoreth¡¯s expectant look now makes sense. Also, I have to thank Faluel for her teachings. She was right, only idiots never share.¡¯ He actually thought.

    ¡°I knew it because to choose the proper monster core for his Abominations, Dad studied both Balors and Trolls. I helped him with my Dragon Eyes ever since I acquired them so when I saw you casting Mjolnir, I noticed that there was something other than mana mixed with the spell.¡± She replied.

    ¡°We even researched Tyrants, but their core is stable so they are useless to us. Mostly.¡±

    From her words, Lith guessed that probably someone had a Balor core and had studied Tyrants to better understand their powers. It wasn¡¯t Zoreth¡¯s secret to share so Lith didn¡¯t pry further.

    He had already gained a lot. He could wait to meet the other Abominations and maybe then they could call Morok andpare notes about their respective powers.

 Chapter 1943: Legacy Lesson (part 1)

    Chapter 1943: Legacy Lesson (part 1)

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t add up.¡± Solus said from inside the ring. Bytra was still hugging Lith and was too close forfort for Solus toe out.

    ¡°I can do everything Lith does. I don¡¯t have his eyes but I can cast Mjolnir as well.¡± She couldn¡¯t tell them that she used Domination as well to make the process easier.

    ¡®Maybe my bond with Lith is helping me to evolve as well. After all, I didn¡¯t have six streaks as Elphyn.¡¯ Solus thought.

    ¡°Interesting.¡± Zoreth said. ¡°Is it as easy for you as it is for him?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s harder but still manageable.¡± Solus replied.

    ¡°Excellent.¡± Bytra nodded. ¡°It means that our theory about the elements is correct. They can coexist if properly mastered. Your eyes at the moment work as a crutch but they must have some other power that I¡¯m certain you will discover with time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already d to have learned that my human side is not useless, I can wait for a¡­ second! Your Shadow Dragon form has four eyes. Is that the reason why you were so sure about your evolved human theory?¡± Lith asked Zoreth.

    ¡°Nailed in one.¡± She chuckled, making her second pair of eyes appear.

    ¡°What do they do?¡±

    ¡°I wish I knew.¡± She sighed. ¡°I can feel their power, yet I have no idea how to tap into it.¡±

    Zoreth didn¡¯t know about Domination and had no one to teach her whereas Lith had already started to use his eyes¡¯ elemental powers thanks to Faluel¡¯s lessons.

    The two Abominations¡¯ eyes turned ck as the Mastermunicated to them that he was now ready and asked them to open the dimensional pathway with him.

    ¡°Dad ising. Solus, stay in the ring or he will ask you why you are here. On top of that, if you get sick again and have to return to your ring, he¡¯ll discover you are fused with an artifact and maybe even figure your identity as Elphyn Menadion.¡± Bytra said.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Solus replied, always shocked whenever the same person who had mercilessly put an end to her old life showed so much care for her new one.

    Zoreth and Bytra conjured their own ck pirs and soon a third one appeared. Zogar Vastor walked through the Chaos Gate, yet Lith would have never recognized him if not for the warning.

    He wore the Dominator armor that covered him from head to toe. Also, he was now 1.78 meters (5¡¯10¡±) tall and had a slender figure. The Master cared about keeping his identity a secret and his daughters had told him how Theseus had no love for him.

    ¡°Lith. Girls.¡± He gave them a polite bow of the head. His voice sounded exactly like Manohar¡¯s. ¡°Well, well, well. What do we have here? It seems that something went wrong with your experiment, boy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a boy! I¡¯m millennia old!¡± Theseus snarled at the fatherly tone that such a monster dared to use with him.

    ¡°Correction. Your memories are millennia old. You are two years and something old.¡± Vastor replied, making everyone chuckle at the Bastet¡¯s expense. ¡°Be d that I call you boy instead of child.¡±

    Theseus grunted but said nothing.

    It was already the second time that he fumbled with words and not everyone seemed to be as understanding as Dolgus. His memories as Paquut made him used to people being too scared to talk back to him so he had never really learned how to quip.

    ¡°This is odd. And with odd I mean a mess.¡± The Master was still looking at the Bastet from a distance, noticing the irregr patches of skin and the violent conflict between the different life forces.

    ¡°This is all wrong. You are incapable of shapeshifting into any form, your hunger is barely lessened, and now you need to both eat food and absorb life force.¡±

    ¡°How do you know all that?¡± Theseus was bbergasted. It had taken him several trial-and-error experiments to learn what Vastor had understood from a nce.

    ¡°I studied Paquut and I made you, boy. Or better, I made your other half. Which confuses me since a kobold core was supposed to be the perfect fit for your unique ck core.¡± The Master said.

    ¡°What Kobold?¡± That day surprises seemed to never end. ¡°I¡¯m not half gnoll, I¡¯m half Meneos.¡±

    His head turned into that of a lion covered in brown fur and with an emerald mane of the same color as Theseus¡¯ eyes.

    ¡°Great Mother almighty!¡± The members of the Organization said in unison.

    ¡°What¡¯s so great about that?¡± Lith and Solus knew what a Meneos was because it was a peculiar kind of monster that lived in Leegaain¡¯s biomes.

    The Council had ordered Lith to fight one back when the human and the beast Council were arguing about who should be his mentor, Faluel or Raagu.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, my boy.¡± Vastor replied. ¡°Meneoses are the stuff of legends. Very few are still alive and they are very hard toe by. My hypothesis is that the kobold-Paquut fought and lost against one of them.

    ¡°Then, his powerful Abomination life force must have conquered the new body and that¡¯s how you came to be, Theseus. It¡¯s no wonder that your original lost to you. He had no chances against a Meneos.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t get it.¡± Theseus and Lith said in unison.

    ¡°You will, believe me. This is actually a blessing in disguise. Everything you have suffered until now is nothingpared to what you¡¯ll gain once I¡¯m done fixing your life force.

    ¡°Bytra, put your hand on my right shoulder. Lith, on my left. This is going to be one of my best lessons ever.¡± Vastor had reverted to his demeanor as a Professor of the White Griffon academy, making Solus squeal with joy.

    ¡°I¡¯m not your thing.¡± Theseus pped away the Master¡¯s extended hands. ¡°Whatever you are going to do, you should at least ask for my permission.¡±

    ¡°What I¡¯m doing you is a favor, boy. You should just thank me.¡± Vastor replied.

    ¡°Thank you for what? For ying with my life? For fixing a mess you have created? You made me against my will so I owe you nothing. You, instead, owe me a lot. I went through a lot of shit because of you so the least you can do is say please and thank you, father.¡± Theseus said.

    Thest word was filled with spite and sarcasm, yet it still struck Vastor harder than a punch to the guts.

    ¡°You are right, son. I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said, making the Bastet gawk. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for ying god with your life, but I¡¯m trying to be better. Will you allow me to fix my own mess, please?¡±

    Theseus was at a loss for words so he just nodded.

    The Master ced his left hand on the Theseus¡¯ head and the right above the mana core before activating his breathing technique, Beyonder¡¯s Eye.

    ¡®Bytra, this will be of great help for your research.¡¯ He said with a mind link as the details of the body and mana core of the hybrid started to appear in front of his students. ¡®Meneoses have the unique ability to draw world energy simply by touching the ground.

 Chapter 1944: Legacy Lesson (part 2)

    Chapter 1944: Legacy Lesson (part 2)

    ¡®They have no need of a mana geyser or a breathing technique to absorb massive amounts of energy. Because of this ability, they are known as living mage towers and I think there¡¯s a lot you can learn from Theseus, Bytra.¡¯ Vastor said.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t talking to them, Lith and Solus were part of the same mind link and heard everything. They both froze at the idea that Bytra might have her own tower on top of the Absolution.

    Even worse, once the Fourth Ruler of the mes learned how to make a mage tower, she was bound to make more for Vastor and for each one of the Abominations hybrids of the Organization.

    ¡®Fuck me sideways. As long as we are in a friendly rtionship with them there is no problem, but I fear the day something happens to Zinya or Vastor decides he¡¯s fed up with the Kingdom.¡¯ Lith thought.

    ¡®I doubt there are many that even now can take his Organization head-on. Once they have mage towers, only Guardians might be able to stop them from doing whatever they want.¡¯

    ¡®I couldn¡¯t agree more.¡¯ Solus replied. ¡®The idea of my mother¡¯s killer bing even more powerful scares to death, but what can we do? Zoreth is our friend and Vastor is even going an extra mile sharing his ns with you.

    ¡®If you attack him now, not only will you feel like crap, but we are likely to die. His armor is made of Davross and even our powersbined dwarf inparison with the three of them.¡¯

    Lith and Solus had no idea of the true power of an Eldritch and assumed that maybe they could take on one of them. Facing Bytra, Zoreth, and Vastor at the same time, however, was just suicide.

    ¡®Lith, this will be a great lesson for you as well.¡¯ The Master said via the mind link, snapping them out of their reverie. ¡®This spell is part of my legacy and I entrust it to you in case something happens to me.

    ¡®It¡¯s called Harmonizer and is the secret of my sess in merging two different life forces and cores. I nned to use it for Marth¡¯s son and yours, if necessary. It would be a shame for the children of my best friends to be hybrids.

    ¡®Thanks to Harmonizer, I¡¯m confident that the human and nt life forces of Manohar Junior can be fused, giving birth to a new species.¡¯

    Those words hurt Lith more than any wound ever could, making his stomach churn.

    ¡®What kind of asshole I am? While I plotted how to kill him, Vastor worried about me.¡¯ He thought.

    ¡®Now watch and learn. The procedure is very delicate and so far, it only works on Abominations because they are damn hard to kill. I doubt that a child might survive, but adult hybrids might.

    ¡®As long as I draw breath, I¡¯ll keep working on it. Where I fail, I know that you¡¯ll carry my torch and make life better for everyone.¡¯ The more Vastor said the more Lith felt like the scum of Mogar.

    He pushed guilt and shame aside, focusing solely on the task at hand. Solus had already shared with him the Eyes of Menadion, allowing them to study both the spell and the Master¡¯s breathing technique.

    Its effects were simr to Faluel¡¯s Lifestream, transmitting the details of Theseus¡¯ life force to Bytra and Lith as well. Vastor could zoom in and out at will, even highlighting a segment if needed.

    Lith felt like a medicine student watching a video of a surgery.

    Even though the only Abomination¡¯s life forces he had never seen were Zoreth¡¯s and his own, Lith could tell that Theseus¡¯ situation wasn¡¯t good. The ck empty sphere of the Abomination side shed non-stop against two more life forces.

    One belonged to the Bastet side and resembled a sr system where instead ofs there were smaller stars. The other was that of the Meneos and wasprised of green tendrils that looked like brown vines emerging from a green cloud.

    The empty sphere was in the middle, eating at both the other aspects. The vines regrew as soon as they were damaged and tried to wrap themselves around the sphere in order to subdue it.

    The Divine Beast aspect, instead, released bursts of bright violet light from the main star that spread along its satellites. Each one of the auxiliary stars absorbed and amplified the energy wave, focusing it like a lens against the Abomination.

    Yet even two against one, the ck sphere held its ground, slowly but inexorably sucking the life out of the living parts of Theseus¡¯ body.

    ¡®That¡¯s why he can¡¯t shapeshift without losing it.¡¯ Vastor pointed out the struggle. ¡®The other life forces are barely holding out at rest. The slightest exertion is enough to tip the bnce in favor of the Abomination.

    ¡®To make matters worse, the constant damage that Theseus endures makes him hungry. Not as hungry as an Eldritch but still to the point that it cannot be quenched if not for a brief time. No wonder he is so cranky.¡¯

    As he spoke, Vastor¡¯s breathing technique started attacking the three life forces at the same time. Lith had been expecting the Professor to weaken the Abomination so that the living aspects could subdue it, but he kept his curiosity in check.

    Asking questions to a healer during aplex procedure would put a risk both him and the patient.

    ¡®For a long time, I¡¯ve tried to put a muzzle and a chain at the Abomination life force, but it never worked. No matter how much energy you pour against it, the ck sphere is a bottomless pit.

    ¡®It can¡¯t be filled nor forcibly contained. What you can do, instead, is altering its nature. If there is no bottom, you can just make one.¡¯ While Vastor spoke, he started to rip small pieces from each life force and transnt them into another.

    At first, the vines were either burned from the stars or devoured by the ck sphere. The starlight from the Divine Beast, instead, was smothered by the ckness and snuffed by the vines.

    As for the pieces of the ck sphere, once transnted they faded away the moment they received more energy than they could take.

    Yet after coexisting for over two years, the three life forces had grown ustomed to each other and developed a mutual resistance. A small part of the life forces thrived even in the new hostile environment, creating small trees and dots of light in the ck sphere.

    Darkness and vines spread throughout the sr system while ck veins and fireflies appeared in the green cloud.

    ¡®Keep your hunger in check, son.¡¯ Vastor said to Theseus who hadn¡¯t experienced such a violent appetite ever since he had ceased being an Eldritch. ¡®Things are going to get worse before they get much better.¡¯

    The Master kept transnting small pieces of the life forces, adding them to those who had already managed to survive and adapt. Most of the time, the new tissue would inherit the resistance and help the foreign life force to grow in size and strength.

    When a transnt failed, Vastor would just sigh and start anew.

    Lith admired the Master¡¯s ingenuity and how despite having the same name, Glemos¡¯ device and the spell had twopletely different purposes.

 Chapter 1945: Legacy Lesson (part 3)

    Chapter 1945 Legacy Lesson (Part 3)

    The Harmonizer cor created by Morok''s father used the constant pressure exerted by the world energying from a mana geyser to reshape the life force of its wearer. It was no different from someone packing too much stuff in a suitcase and then closing it by force.

    Vastor''s spell, instead, neatly organized everything, optimizing the space and sharing it equally between the differentponents so that the new arrangement would be as stable as the old one.

    The procedure went on until the three life forces were painted with each other''s color. Then, the Master took a white mana crystal the size of an adult man and a barrel of tonic out of his dimensional item.

    "Eat to your heart''s content." He pointed the two objects at Theseus who nodded before digging in.

    His Abomination side absorbed the abundant world energy stored inside the crystal while his living body drank the delicious liquid that was filled with enough nutrients to feed several elephants for weeks.

    At the same time, Vastor directed the final part of Harmonizer at Theseus'' life forces. It was a steady, powerful stream of pure light magic that nurtured all the different parts at the same time.

    The three life forces recovered their strength, growing in size, and so did the transnted tissues embedded at their inside. The tissues created channels that allowed the different energies to ebb and flow into each other so that they were no longer separated.

    The Divine Beast, Meneos, and Abomination life forces were now perfectly mixed, creating a bnce between them. The distance between the ck and the Meneos core shrunk as their energy harmonized along with that of the life forces.

    The new bnce was delicate but functional.

    The hunger was contained, the imperfection of the Meneos core covered by the ck one, and together they hadpletely restored the Divine Beast bloodline, further empowering it with their own.

    "It''s done." Vastor said with a sigh from exhaustion. "How do you feel?"

    "I don''t feel hungry anymore." Those were the first words of most Eldritchs hybrids and Theseus was no different.

    The sudden absence of an impulse that had tormented him for millennia and had put everything at risk until a second ago was simply overwhelming. The Bastet looked at his arms, noticing that the patches of ck skin were gone.

    He stripped, uncaring of the presence of others and modesty as he checked his new body. Pa nda

    Novel The partial fusion of his different life forces had restored his Divine Beast form, but its features had been altered. As a Bastet, he looked like an anthropomorphic bipedal feline with a ck skinprised of cracked magma covered in redva dots.

    His head was now hidden under a Meneos skull mask that resembled that of a lion but with a mane of dark violet mes instead of fur. Sharp thorns came out of his joints and spine, extending all the way down to his tail that ended with a bone sting

    Theseus'' body might have grown up to 30 meters (100'') tall, but he kept his form small enough to fit into the cavern and not make it copse.

    The reborn hybrid started to jump with joy and Dolgus congratted him.

    "I''m really d that your ordeal is finally over." The Griffon said. "Now you can start your own journey. You don''t need me anymore."

    Theseus nodded with a smile that died the moment he realized he would be alone again.

    ''I''ve been alone for millennia until Paquut joined the Organization. What good is this power if I don''t have any goal nor anyone to share it with?'' He thought.In stark contrast to their enthusiasm, the other side of the room was depressed.

    "Another failure." Zoreth said.

    "A partial sess, you mean." Bytra corrected her. "Theseus can now live freely and he''s not a threat to others anymore."

    "Not a threat my pale ass!" The Shadow Dragon replied. "The blood madness is still there and he can live a half-life at best, like us. He can''t have children and he must be careful when interacting with weak living beings or his touch alone will kill them."

    "Indeed." Vastor noticed Lith''s silent question and answered it. "As I told you earlier, my Harmonizer spell is still limited. It stabilized the three life forces, allowing them to mix and coexist, but there are still three of them instead of one.

    "It''s the same for the cores. A perfect being can only have one so they were supposed to merge, just like the life forces. My spell is just a temporary fix that grants my children a normal life but it''s far from being a solution."

    "And I think I know why." Lith said, leaving the members of the Organization bbergasted.

    Vastor''s spell was an incredible treasure for Lith. It was likely to help Nalrond to fix his life forces and it might turn both Protector''s and Marth''s children into a new species instead of hybrids.

    Lith didn''t want to just take such a gift and the trust that came with it for granted. He felt that giving something back was the right thing to do.

    "Please, Pro- I mean V-, I mean Master, take a look at my life force." He said while making Solus slip off his body to avoid detection from Beyonder''s eye.

    "This is amazing!" Vastor and the two Abominations said in unison as he shared with them the scan of Lith''s life force and how it had changed since he had reached the violet.

    "The problem of your Harmonizer spell is that it mixes the energies of different life forces without altering their shapes. They are still a ck sphere, a sr system, and some kind of tree." Lith said.

    "I''ve be a Tiamat instead of a hybrid because my three life forces became one, taking a form that not only kept them stable, but also allowed them to nurture each other.

    "My Abomination side protects the others from any threat and shares with them the energy it steals instead of hoarding it. My human life force coats the elemental energy within my body, keeping Chaos and light separated.

    "Lastly, my Divine Beast life force shares its powers with the other two, giving them enough energy to tap into their hidden potential." As he spoke, Lith showed Vastor with a hologram how his life force had changed from when he was a Wyrmling.

    "As you can see, until I reached the deep violet my condition was no different from that of Theseus. To reach the next stage, you need to find a shape that his life forces can share, turningpetition into coboration." ?????-?????

    "Easier said than done." The Master sighed. "Your life force as a deep violet was already incrediblyplex but now is much worse. Still, my research is no longer swamped thanks to you."

    The two men shook hands while Bytra hugged Lith instead.

    "Thank you, little brother." She said, her eyes veiled with tears. "You have no idea how much this means to Bytra and me."

    "I just said a few words." At the thought that just a while ago he had been nning on killing them all, Lith felt even worse.

    "They may be just words to you, but they gave us hope. You just shattered what for years has been an insurmountable wall. Now, Dad''s research can finally progress again." She replied.

 Chapter 1946: Legacy Lesson (part 4)

    Chapter 1946 Legacy Lesson (Part 4)

    Meanwhile, Vastor put the white crystal back into his dimensional amulet and started to draw detailed schematics of Lith''s life force. He sat on a rock in silence until he was done writing down his impressions and thought while the memory was still fresh.

    "Thanks, ''father''. I feel reborn for the third time." Theseus gave him a small bow and this time the spite was limited to a minimum.

    "You are wee." Vastor nodded. "As Zoreth pointed out, you are still subject to fits of blood madness and you need someone to keep you calm. Are you sure you don''t want toe with us?"

    "No, but I can''t trust you either. I don''t know you except for what I learned from Paquut''s memories and from what I saw you are not a good person." The Bastet replied.

    "I never imed to be one." The Master stood up and checked Lith''s life force onest time to make sure he hadn''t missed anything. "I''d better go, or my wife will skin me alive. Zoreth, Bytra, are youing with me?"

    "No, Dad. We still have unfinished business in Verendi." The Raiju replied.

    "Excellent." Vastor asked them no questions. "Maybe you can bring Theseus along. You are already showing Lith the ropes, one more trainee shouldn''t be a problem. See you soon."

    The hybrids in his home conjured their own pirs and the Master crossed two continents in the blink of an eye.

    "We have a delicate business to attend to. We can go separate ways and meetter, if you want." Zoreth''s tone was brash. She didn''t want strangers messing with what she considered a family business.

    Lith and Bytra were part of her family, hence making amends with Solus was of the utmost importance. She had already done everything she could for Theseus and whatever he did of his life was none of her business.

    "I''d like toe, if you don''t mind." He said, making her inhale sharply in annoyance. "The Organization seems to have changed a lot since Paquut left to hunt me down and I''m curious to see how much."

    "I wish you the best of luck, my friend." Dolgus patted his shoulders and opened a Warp Steps. "My job here is not done and now Verendi needs my help more than you do."

    "Not quite." Theseus stopped him. "I don''t trust them. They might tag and bag me the moment I turn my back. If you stay, instead, I''m certain that our powers can match theirs."

    The Griffon was exhausted from the previous weeks on the run and the wounds that the Eldritch had inflicted upon him. He could use a bit of privacy and get plenty of food and rest to recover.

    Adding two more Abomination hybrids to the party was hardly good news.

    "You can count on me." He said and then moved toward the others. "I''m Dolgus Griffon, nice to meet you."

    "Wait, Dolgus Griffon? As in Tyris''s and Valeron''s son?" Lith asked as the Griffon shook their hands in turns. Pa nda

    Novel "Tyris is my mother but I was born before Valeron." He replied. "I left the Kingdom and came to Verendi to follow in my mother''s footsteps. Garlen doesn''t need the help of my brethren anymore.

    "The few of us left live in the Empire while everyone else has moved away."

    Solus''s ring went back on Lith''s finger before she conjured a Warp Steps and pretended toe out of it as she assumed her human form again.

    "Sorry for leaving abruptly earlier, but I had important business to attend to." She said while greeting the Griffon and the Bastet. "Nice to meet you, my name is Solus V-"

    "Elphyn Menadion! It''s an honor to meet you." Theseus jumped on his feet, hugging her with joy like a long-lost friend. "I''m sorry for not recognizing you earlier, Epphy, but between the hunger and fear I''ve been distracted."

    "Do I know you?" Solus swallowed a lump of saliva as a cold shiver ran down her spine after her identity had been exposed.''This doesn''t make sense. I had Aerth and Sark help me to make a list of the people who met me as Elphyn Menadion who might still be alive and these two are not among them.'' She thought.

    "No, but I know you. I''m a big fan of your father''s work and you were one of the favorite subjects of his paintings. You have grown up a lot, but I''ve painted your features so many times that I''d recognize you anywhere." He said, making her sigh in relief.

    "Please, be honest with me. What do you think of my work?"

    A snap of his fingers lit the cave, revealing the presence of the drawings he had made during his stay that now covered most of the walls. Some were copies of Threin''s works while others were original.

    Dolgus'' and Solus'' faces were everywhere, embarrassing them both.

    "Seems someone has a fan." Lithughed at her expense.

    "A huge fan." Theseus nodded, missing the subtext. "Can I draw you? Threin was a great artist but seeing you in person is different from a painting. I hope you won''t mind if I make you mine."

    "I beg your pardon?" Solus flushed at those words.

    "He means artistically." Dolgus sighed. "He''s saying that until now he could only copy Threin''s job while now he has the opportunity to develop his own."

    "No need to be pedantic. My words were clear." The Bastet took brushes and canvas out of his pocket dimension, starting to draw before Solus could even answer.

    "No, they were not." The Griffon threw him a reproachful look and the others nodded. "Miss Elphyn, I''m more interested in knowing what happened to your mother and her tower.

    "I barely met your mother, but I knew and respected Ripha. Did she survive as well?"

    "Yeah, I was wondering about that as well." Theseus nodded.

    "No." Solus inwardly cursed her bad luck.

    ''What are the chances of meeting a fan of Dad''s work in Verendi? The list doesn''t cover the owners of Dad''s paintings so I''d better shapeshift into a different form whenever I meet ancient beings.'' She thought. ?????-?????

    "My mother died and she had to sacrifice the tower in order to save my life. I slumbered for 700 hundred years to recover from the procedure and I still bear the scars." She actually said.

    Seeing how hard she clenched her hands and hearing the pain in her voice Dolgus decided to not pry further.

    "What''s the nature of your mission?"

    "Since I''ve lost my mother''s legacy, I want to retrieve what I can." Solus replied. "We heard that the Mouth of Menadion is here in Verendi and I''vee to take it back."

    Now that the Griffon and the Bastet had joined the mission, they would have soon learned about its goal so there was no point in keeping it a secret.

    "I can confirm you that the killer of Vestha, the original owner of the Mouth, is here in Verendi but there are countless ces where he might be hiding. How do you n to find the killer and fetch your prize?" Dolgus asked.

    "How can you be so sure?" She asked in surprise.

    "Probably the same way we do." Zoreth replied. "There are rumors of new powerful artifacts appearing in Verendi. The Council of Awakened makes no mystery of them and those who had the opportunity to observe them in action say that they felt the signature of the Mouth on them."

 Chapter 1947: Setting The Bait (part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1947: Setting The Bait (part 1)</h4>

    "Indeed." Dolgus nodded. "I''m not familiar with Menadion''s techniques, but everything she crafted in the tower possesses a unique energy signature and the same happens to artifacts that are Forgemastered with the aid of a piece of her set."

    "I''ve been here for centuries and I can tell you that either the Mouth arrived in Verendi about twenty years ago or until that moment the thief managed to go unnoticed."

    ''If what they are saying about the Mouth is true, maybe the Hands work just the same way.'' Solus said via the mind link. ''Luckily until now she was too busy learning how to use them to Forgemaster and sell anything.

    ''We have to warn her or she might have problems with Garlen''s Council.''

    ''I''m more worried about ourselves.'' Lith replied. ''Dolgus just said that the tower leaves a specific energy signature as well. I''ve crafted and sold several pieces so it''s only a matter of time before someone understands that I have the tower.''

    ''I wouldn''t worry about that.'' Solus said. ''We triple-check every one of our pieces and we never noticed anything weird. I think that when Mom fused me with the tower, that energy signature was reced by my own.

    ''After you bonded with me, it changed again into yours. Even if there''s still some mark in your creations, it bears your imprint, not that of the original tower.''

    ''It makes sense.'' Lith pondered. ''The Council examined several of my armors but never noticed anything. We are safe, but Faluel might not be.''

    ''We''ll worry about thatter. Now we have more pressing matters at hand.'' She replied before turning over to Dolgus.

    "Since you all knew my mother, what does the Mouth do, exactly?" Solus asked, realizing how little she knew about her own legacy.

    "I have no clue." The Griffon shrugged.

    "Never been to Garlen." Theseus gave another stroke at the painting.

    "I don''t know either." Bytra said. "Menadion developed most of the tower''s properties and the set''s pieces after you were born, Solus. I only heard a few rumors about the Mouth being capable of improving the spellcasting of its wearer.

    "It should allow even to blue cored people to body cast, to handle many spells at the same time like the tower did, and, ording to some voices, even be able to conjure Origin mes to purify metals."

    "What?" The entire room went into an uproar.

    "This doesn''t make any sense." Dolgus said. "Such a powerful artifact would have triggered a war between Awakened if not even with the Dragon and Phoenix bloodline. They wouldn''t stand idly while they lose the monopoly over Origin mes."

    "Yet nothing happened." Zoreth shared the same doubts. "If not for one of our associates recognizing the Mouth''s energy signature, we would have never known it had moved to Verendi."

    "How do you n to get information about the artifact?" Lith asked, burning with greed. "I doubt that whoever has it will give us an audience if we ask them politely."

    "You are wrong, little brother." Zoreth said with a sly smile on her face. "That''s exactly what''s going to happen."

    ***

    The group had split as soon as Theseus was done with his painting. It was almost dinner time and Lith had to go back home. Zoreth and Bytra left as well, giving Dolgus the opportunity to rx and get the first good night''s sleep ever since he had rescued Theseus.

    There was no trust between them so the Abominations had no interest in sharing their ns just like the Griffon wanted to go back to his full strength before dealing with a potential enemy of untold power.

    The following morning, everyone was curious about what Zoreth''s next move would be. Much to everyone''s surprise, she and Bytra had reverted to her original appearance, drawing lots of admired gazes.

    Bytra and Solus caused so much gawking that many people swallowed insects, choking on them.

    Lith was so amused by the show that he even shapeshifted into his Tiamat form a couple of times as they walked toward the main za of the city of Maraka, but no one noticed.

    Solus'' golden hair and Bytra''s golden eyes got the full attention even of children who pointed at them, asking their parents if the Great Mother had finally returned among them.

    "What exactly are we looking for here?" Lith asked.

    The surprise was quickly fading and the crowd of those following the foreign goddesses increased by the second. People still kept their distance but soon the group would have been swarmed.

    "Trouble, little brother. And we are about to find it." Zoreth replied with a cruel smile.

    "I''m sorry, but you lost me." Lith noticed how even the kids ying along the streets were looking at them with eyes full of hostility and curiosity.

    Zoreth had openly dered to the bbergasted guards at the city gates that they were illegal immigrants. On top of that, everyone in the group now wore magical equipment that identified them as either mages or powerful warriors. ?????-?????

    As criminals, however, they werepletely at the mercy of the authorities who had the right to imprison and interrogate them with any means they deemed appropriate to extort information from foreign spies.

    He heard many of those present discussing where that odd bunch came from and what their goal might be. The people of Maraka would have already lynched them if not for the fear of facing the pointy end of the magical weapons.

    "That''s because you are too used to hiding your strength. Resorting to subterfuge and deception to get what you want without getting in trouble with the Kingdom." Zoreth replied. "Don''t get me wrong, you did the best you could.

    "You are alone and have to worry about your loved ones. Even with all of your power, you can''t protect them at all times. We, instead, are Abominations. Those we love can protect themselves and each one of us has the power to level mountains.

    "We don''t care about the authorities, their armies, or their mages. If you be one of us, you''ll enjoy a level of freedom like you never had before. No one will dare to touch you simply because the consequences would be¡­ dire."

    "What about the Council?" Solus asked. "Won''t they intervene if youmit a massacre? We may be powerful, but so are they. On top of that, they outnumber us one thousand to one."

    "Please." Bytra replied with a scoff as the group came to a halt in the middle of the za. "They never cared about human lives, otherwise they would have done something to stop the wars that gue Verendi every other year.

    "Even if they did, the Council will nevermit its full forces for a mere city. Worst case scenario, they''ll send someone to check on the situation before taking action."

    "Stop right there!" A stern deep voice caused the crowd to step aside and let a small toon of 30 soldiers pass.

    They wore enchanted armor and ten of them wore golden robes that identified them as Elite Mages.

    "ording to the city guards, you have no documents and have confessed to having illegally crossed the borders. Do you deny it?" The captain of the guards, a well-built man over 1.8 meters (5''11") tall said.

 Chapter 1948: Setting The Bait (part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1948: Setting The Bait (part 2)</h4>

    "You have to be more specific." Zoreth replied with a mocking giggle that made the men clench their weapons harder and sent shivers down Lith''s spine. "We crossed all the borders from the Desert to here."

    To a casual observer, her tone seemed yful, but he knew her enough to notice the hidden threat and feel the power building up inside of her.

    "Thanks, ma''am. That''s more than enough for me. The details are a matter for the Constable, not me." At his signal, the soldiers surrounded the group and the mages started chanting.

    "If you resist the arrest, we''ll be forced to put you down. It''s in your interest to cooperate with the investigation and answer our questions."

    The captain wasn''t stupid. Someone dering their crimes at the city guards was already odd, but having no fear while surrounded was ominous.

    ''Either they are insane or more dangerous than their appearance lets out.'' He thought.

    "I have a counteroffer, captain." Zoreth''s eyes red with ck mana that made the temperature drop several degrees. "You and your dogs go back to your master with the tail between your legs and tell them that I demand an audience with the Council."

    "The city council doesn''t meet on the whims of a criminal. Stand down immediately or face the consequences." The captain pretended to pay but he gave the mages the signal to attack to kill.

    Exining to the mayor why he had to kill instead of capture a group of mages would have been bad, but it still beat being dead.

    A volley of tier four speel darted from the mages to the criminals in a multi-colored arc of elemental energy. Ten tier five spells would have leveled the entire city block and the foreigners had chosen uptown as their destination.

    If something happened to the luxurious vis, the mages would lose their jobs and probably their lives. Hence they had conjured solely spells that they could control with surgical precision and deadly efficiency.

    Zoreth replied by unleashing a shockwave of ck mana that canceled the spells and sent the entire crowd t on the ground.

    "I''m not talking about the city council, you fool. I want to speak with the Awakened Council!" A ck and white aura burst out of her body, pushing guards and citizens of Maraka away as she shapeshifted into her real form.

    The Dragon Fear that she emitted spread like wildfire, infecting even those who were still inside their houses, oblivious of the outsidemotion. Her aura grew in size along with her body, flooding the za and seeping inside the protecting arrays of the mansions.

    Now that her Abomination, troll, and human life force were one step away from fully merging, Zoreth''s Shadow Dragon form stood over 35 meters (115'') tall. She was covered in ck scales as big and thick as a tower shield that turned from solid to ethereal non-stop, as if they were shifting in and out of reality.

    Despite the bright sun shining over her massive body, Zoreth looked like a living shadow that light could make flicker but not chase away. On the contrary, the ck of her body grew deeper as it sucked sunlight and heat.

    "Go back to your masters, little man." Her giant muzzle came down, stopping millimeters away from the prone figure of the captain of the city guards. "Go and tell them that if I don''t get what I want, I''ll bestow Dragon magic on regr people and their secrets will be worth nothing!"

    Now that she was so close, Lith could notice that Zoreth was still stuck at four eyes and all of them shone with a weird yellow light instead of the usual white of the Abominations.

    ''Whatever the source of the yellow light is, that''s not elemental energy.'' He thought. ''I wonder if her eyes and mine are so different because her human life force''s evolution is stunted by the failed merging of her different energies, or if Zoreth simply took another evolutionary path.''

    ''I think the answer is both.'' Solus replied. ''Even back when you were still a Wyrmling and had three life forces, you already had seven eyes and they shone with yellow light as well.

    ''They changed color only once you achieved mastery over the elements and your body could withstand their power. In Zoreth''s case, four eyes are all she''ll ever get and their potential is still untapped.''

    ''Any idea what her powers might be?'' Lith asked while sharing with Solus the analysis of the Eyes of Menadion.

    ''None.'' She inwardly shook her head. ''The Eyes can scan all forms of energy but they provide no exnation. If her evolution is iplete as you say, our only chance to understand the difference between you two is seeing her going all out.'' ?????-?????

    ''Which is unlikely.'' Lith replied with a telepathic sigh. ''Unless we fight a Guardian, there''s not much that can corner someone as powerful as Bytra.''

    ''She''s almost reached the height of a white-cored Dragon.'' Solus pointed out. ''From what we have seen from Vareen, Eldritches have a power and durability on par with the white cored Awakened thanks to their energy body

    ''Yet theyck mass and rely on Chaos to deal damage. Zoreth, instead, has now both her powers as an Eldritch and a physical prowess superior to a bright violet Dragon. Your analysis is an understatement.''

    As they spoke via their mind link, Xenagrosh''s aura had started to swirl, reaching for the sky. ck massive clouds had assembled, turning the day as ck as the night. Gusts of powerful wind sent people tumbling along the streets, emptying the za.

    "Have I made myself clear, little man?" Zoreth voice was a low snarl, yet it echoed throughout the city block and beyond.

    The captain nodded, incapable of speaking or taking his eyes off the hypnotic gaze of the Shadow Dragon. Staring death in the eyes was terrifying but there was also beauty in it.

    The captain wondered how it felt to wield such power and hoped that whoever those Awakened were, they wouldn''t show up. He wanted to be the first in line to receive the gift of Dragon magic.

    "Good. Then tell your soldiers and your master to stay away from us. My wife doesn''t like when I kill people for petty reasons so if you force me to put a dent in her smile I might as well turn this whole city into a crater!"

    Her final word was apanied by a roar that made the ground tremble.

    Even array-protected households shook and the chandeliers on the ceiling swung wildly while small objects fell off the furniture and broke. A violet st of Origin mes erupted from her mouth and moved toward the sky, resembling a huge snake.

    Once it exploded, it blew away the ck clouds and sunlight returned.

    Yet its warmth was of nofort as the citizens of Maraka were covered in a cold sweat. Even those too far to hear Zoreth''s words or be affected by her Dragon aura had witnessed her power.

    Something in the main za had darkened the sky and then it had cleansed it with fire. Religion wasn''t a thing in Verendi either, but many fell to their knees and prayed to the Great Mother to spare their lives.

 Chapter 1949: Stepping into the Light (Part 1)

    Chapter 1949: Stepping into the Light (Part 1)

    When Zoreth reverted to her human form, the main za was deserted. Only the members of her group remained and she now had a smug expression on her face.

    "See, little brother? This is how we work. No subterfuges. We go straight to the point and wait for our prey to deliver itself on our te." She said.

    "That was idiotic!" Theseus blurted out. "I spent weeks running from both humans and Awakened. The Council knows who I am and is out for my blood. You just put a huge target on our backs for no reason!"

    "Quite the contrary." Zoreth replied with a sly smile. "You see, the Organization is now part of the Awakened Council of Garlen. As long as you stay with us, they can''t attack you without viting the treaty between the Councils.

    "Your presence actually helps us because they have more than one good reason toe to us. They know that ''Dragon magic'' doesn''t exist and that I threatened them to expose the secret of Awakening.

    "I was afraid that they wouldn''t buy my bluff since making good on my threats would get me nothing but make me an enemy of the Garlen Council as well. Thank you, Theseus."

    "If you are members of a Council, then why didn''t you just ask Verendi''s for a formal audience?" Dolgus couldn''t deny her logic, yet it seemed too much effort for such a little gain.

    "So na?ve for someone one thousand years old." Zoreth clicked her tongue in disapproval. "The Garlen Council doesn''t know about the Mouth, or we would have even morepetition.

    "The moment I mention the artifact and demand it be given back, what do you think would happen?"

    She took a brief pause, letting a nightmare scenario y in the heads of theirpanions.

    "We would be surrounded by some of the most powerful beings of Verendi, in their own home, under the effects of magical formations whose power I can''t even fathom. They would kill us, leaving no trace of what happened but fake evidence.

    "They would im that you went on a rampage due to your blood madness, that we tried to defend you, and that they had to put us down in self-defense.

    "They cannot afford to risk that we expose the existence of the Mouth to the Garlen Council.

    "They would rather kill us all and face the political consequences of their actions than willingly give up on such a powerful artifact. This way, instead, we have the home advantage and we can set the rules."

    "No array can be cast without us noticing and by forcing them to meet us in the open, in the richest block of one of the most populous cities of Verendi, they can''t just try to wipe us out.

    "If even one of us manages to escape, they would be done and even the Guardians of Verendi would side with Garlen. With a single move, I left them no choice but to y a game of my choice." Zoreth walked toward the Winged boar, the most luxurious hotel of the city, and the others instinctively followed her.

    Her intelligence and charisma made her the leader of the group, not her power. Even Lith was inwardly gawking at her strategy. He had always had lots of power, but he had always been forced to hide it.

    ''So this is how you use sheer might strategically.'' He pondered. ''Zoreth didn''t shed a single drop of blood yet the entire city is under her control. By avoiding violence, she made people scared enough to not provoke her but not so desperate that they would attack her.

    ''I must say, I like how the Organization operates. Quick, smart, and straight to the point.''

    "Does this ce have suites?" Zoreth asked a young woman who wore a long elegant dress that covered her from neck to toe despite the heat of the day.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. They are on the top floor of the building." She had big brown eyes and gentle features that would have made her lovely if it wasn''t for the fear freezing her face and making her voice as deep and husky as that of a man.

    "Good. We''ll take the full floor and that below. I want no oneing in or out of my property without our permission. Are we clear?" Zoreth asked while bringing her nose so close to the concierge''s that she stopped breathing in terror.

    "Crystal." The young woman croaked more than speak, swallowing at every syble.

    "Perfect¡­" Xenagrosh looked at the nametag on the concierge''s breast pocket and then at the prices listed for the rooms based on their floor. "Zyma. This is the advance payment for our stay."

    She put a small pouch filled with gold coins of Verendi on the counter. The sight was enough to make blood flow again through Zyma''s body, biting her lower lip in greed. She was paid in copper and she made one silver coin per month when the tips were good.

    Zoreth noticed color and light returning to the young''s woman face as a business smile appeared on her face.

    "This is for you." Zoreth took a gold coin out of the purse and ced it in Zyma''s hands. "Make sure that no one bothers us. If anything happens, let me know and I''ll deal with it."

    "Yes, Your Majesty." Zyma quickly hid the gold coin inside her pocket and thanked the gods for their generosity.

    No one had witnessed the donation since the concierge was the only member of the staff who had remained in the hallway of the hotel. It had happened solely because Zoreth''s stare had frozen her in ce, but now Zyma considered it part of her luck.

    "Is there something, anything you need? The kitchen is at your service and our hotel prizes itself for the skill of our masseuse and the thermal baths." She asked.

    "What do you want to do?" Zoreth asked Lith. "Now we have to wait. Feel free to go back home. I''ll call you the moment something happens."

    Lith pondered the average response time of Garlen''s Council and assessed that Verendi shouldn''t be any quicker. Before sending an ambassador, the Awakened would surely discuss among them, preparing a n and several contingency measures in the case it failed.

    "Thanks, big sis. I''lle back after lunch. There are a few points that I want to discuss with you, but they can wait."

    ***<i>  </i>

    Just like Lith had predicted, no one had arrived during his absence.

    Kam had been happy to see him back again so soon and to spend the morning with him. The closer their honeymoon came to its end the more precious the time they had together became.

    It was also the reason she didn''t like always having Solus around much.

    "You already spend more time with him than me these days. Can''t we have a little privacy?" She grunted while setting the table for three while Lith cooked.

    "I''m sorry, Kami, but I need my full strength. I need to be close to both Lith and the tower. I promise you that as soon as the issue with the Mouth is resolved, I''ll leave you two alone."

    Kam understood how precious Menadion''s legacy was for Solus and dropped the argument. Yet herpassion didn''t make her like the situation one bit more.

 Chapter 1950: Stepping into the Light (Part 2)

    Chapter 1950: Stepping into the Light (Part 2)

    Once they returned to the Winged Boar hotel, they were well-fed, rested, and Lith had still his head ringing from Kam''s earful about setting boundaries.

    "Do you think I''m getting a tan?" Solus asked, showing him her slender arms.

    "Definitely." Lith nodded while projecting a hologram of her old appearance. "Your skin is more reddish than bronze but it''s still a tan."

    "I definitely need to stay in the sun more." She replied with a warm smile. "Until now, I was afraid that every time I went back into my ring my body would reset. That I was still frozen in time, more a thing than a human.

    "But now I''m certain that I can change as well and it''s all thanks to you and Kami."

    Lith didn''t mention the earful to not spoil her mood and just smiled.

    "Any news?" He found the others in the restaurant.

    The ce was richly furnished and utterly empty. All the other clients had run away in terror, but no one cared. The owner had already seen the bag of gold and it contained more than what he earned in months.

    <i>  [

    . c o m ]</i>

    The staff often came to blows to decide who would serve the monstrous guests, but not to avoid them so much as for the privilege of serving them. They were all people paid in copper and Zoreth tipped in silver.

    There wasn''t a single hint of fear in the hotel, only the smell of fresh flowers.

    "Yes. The cooks are great and they even serve Garlen cuisine, mister picky eater." Zoreth chuckled. "Oh, and the spa is worth its reputation, you have to give it a try."

    "I meant the Council." A snap of his fingers set a Hush zone around the table.

    "Not yet." Bytra shook her head. "I guess they are still talking with Garlen and deciding if we are worth their time. Making us wait is a power move, Lith. It makes us understand that they are not afraid of us and gives them time to prepare."

    "That''s why I came back. We need to prepare as well." He nodded. "There''s one thing I don''t understand. How are we supposed to convince the Council to give us the Mouth?

    "ckmail rarely works and even if it did, once they don''t have anything to lose anymore, they can spill the beans with our Council and put us in a world of trouble."

    "That''s actually the weak point of my n." Zoreth sighed. "Sure, we can threaten to expose the existence of the Mouth, but at that point, they would rather keep it. Violence is not an option either.

    "The Master worked hard to get the Organization into the Garlen Council. We would just make a lot of enemies and gain nothing from it."

    "What if the heir of Menadion stepped forward?" Solus said while clenching her fists.

    "That would certainly give our im legal grounds." Zoreth tormented her chin as she spoke. "Whoever took the Mouth is a murderer and a thief. The Mouth can be considered part of your legacy and the Garlen Council would do anything to back you."

    "Are you insane?" Bytra said. "You can''t reveal your existence like that? It would put your life in danger."

    "Lots of people already know." Solus shrugged. "You, Zoreth, Grandma, even Dolgus and Theseus. Without the tower, I''m just a weak-ass Awakened. No war will be fought in my name or to get me.

    "On top of that, I''m sick and tired of living my whole life in the shadows. I''m not a criminal. I didn''t do anything wrong and I just want back what''s mine!"

    She took a brief pause to catch her breath.

    "Also, I was thinking of altering my appearance to avoid problems." Solus added ayer of darkness to the Hush zone and shapeshifted.

    Her body became taller, reaching 1.75 meters (5''9") of height. Her hair regained solely the orange and silver streaks that she was supposed to have and her features now resembled more Menadion''s than her own.

    She still looked simr to Threin''s paintings, but no one would recognize her as Solus unless they had met Elphyn in person. Also, thanks to her tower side, her body didn''tck extra mass and growing in size hadn''t lessened her physical strength.

    "This might work." Lith looked at her, almost failing to recognize his friend behind the stone mask of determination that her face had be. "But are you sure about this? If you step forward, people will ask questions and you need to have answers."

    "Are you going to pretend to be a human again?" Solus replied.

    "Only during an undercover mission." Lith shook his head. "I''m done hiding and pretending to be someone else. I''m going to always use my full powers and live proud of my nature of a Tiamat."

    "And I''m proud of carrying the Menadion name." She said. "I''ll make sure to not mess with your life. I just want back what''s mine. I''ve lost everything I had, I''ve lost centuries of life and most of my memories.

    "I''m sick and tired of letting people take everything away from me without putting up a fight. On top of that, I''ve nothing that the Council might want. Menadion''s knowledge is outdated and the tower is lost.

    "Since I spent thest 700 years slumbering, my Forgemastering is nothing special. If we get the Mouth back, I n to give it to Grandma. No one will dare to attack her and she will keep it safe if not even update it with Creation Magic."

    Actually, Solus just wanted to touch the Mouth to trigger its tower equivalent, and then she nned to gift it to one of their friends just like she had done with the Hands.

    That speech was for the sake of theirpanions, who were unaware of the tower.

    "That''s actually the best thing you can do." Zoreth nodded. "im that Sark saved you. That you are her guest and prot¨¦g¨¦. It will make our ims even stronger."

    "Don''t worry Elphyn, I mean, Solus. If anything goes wrong, I''ll protect you with my life." Bytra said.

    "Were you two really this close?" Theseus asked. "I know that all the Rulers of The mes knew each other, but this is a bit extreme."

    "We didn''t." The two women replied in unison, but only Bytra continued. "It''s because of me that she lost everything. I put Solus in the condition she currently is, killed Menadion, and caused the destruction of the tower."

    "You did what?" Dolgus'' eyes red with bright violet mana as he stood up, ring at Bytra. "She was one of the greatest minds and of the most generous people I''ve ever met. Council or not, today you''re going to pay for what you did!"

    "It wasn''t her." Zoreth jumped up, putting herself between them. "My wife is just like Theseus. She killed her original, Korgh, and inherited her memories. She wasn''t even born until three years ago, let alone 700."

    At those words, Dolgus'' aura disappeared and he gave Bytra a bow in apology.

    "I''m sorry for my brash words and losing my temper." He said. "I should have kept a level head and noticed theck of reaction from Lady Elphyn. I praise your determination to make amends for crimes that you didn''tmit."

 Chapter 1951: Bait And Switch (part 1)

    Chapter 1951: Bait And Switch (part 1)

    Theseus felt a sense of kinship toward Bytra. He had found someone who was exactly like him, who could truly understand what he was going through. He was about to ask the Riaju if she suffered from blood madness as well when she turned toward Dolgus, shaking her head.

    ¡°Please, I don¡¯t deserve your apologies nor your praise.¡± Bytra said, leaving both men confused. ¡°Ever since I gained the full memories of my original, I inherited not only the burden of her crimes, but also her greatness.

    ¡°Korgh was a genius who let her envy and ambition consume her until they turned her into a monster. What she did was terrible and she gained a lot from it. I can¡¯t undo her actions more than I can forget the source of the knowledge she bestowed upon me.

    ¡°For most of my short life, I suffered from fits of blood madness because every time I put Korgh¡¯s knowledge into practice, I was also reminded of how she had gained it and the suffering she had caused.

    ¡°Only after meeting Solus and epting my responsibilities as Korgh¡¯s heir did I finally find peace. I¡¯m not doing this because I¡¯m a hero, but because it¡¯s the right thing to do.

    ¡°If I just enjoyed the fruits of Korgh¡¯s crimes without even trying to make amends to her victims, I would be no better than her, and I would deserve your fury.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. You are guiltless. The crimes of your biological mother cannot fall upon you. You had no choice in the matters you me yourself for.¡± The Griffon replied.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s right.¡± Theseus stood up, walking in front of Solus. ¡°All of you gained your powers through hard work and sacrifice. It¡¯s your achievement, something you deserve and can be proud of.

    ¡°People like us, instead, have been granted powers that came at the expense of innocents. In a way, Bytra and I are Forbidden Magice to life. We took our knowledge from our Originals who in turn took it from whoever was unlucky enough to cross their path.

    ¡°Just using their powers for our sake would be egotistical.

    As Bytra said, we must try to make amends for our past crimes. This guilt we feel is what makes us truly different from our Originals.¡±

    He took Solus¡¯ face between his hands, applying Body Sculpting to her. The changes were minimal. The shape of her eyes became a little sharper, her mouth fuller, and her hairline advanced a little.

    Once he was done, she had be identical to the young Elphyn Menadion in Threin¡¯s paintings, with all the artistic liberties that Solus¡¯ father had taken in depicting her daughter as he saw her.

    ¡°Fuck me sideways. If I didn¡¯t see the before and after, I would never recognize you, Solus.¡± Lith said.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Theseus replied. ¡°This way, even if things with the Verendi Council go south, you can always go back to your old life, Elphyn. Everyone will go looking for a painting that came to life.¡±

    ¡°This is amazing!¡± Solus watched at her reflection in a mirror of ice she had conjured. ¡°It¡¯s still me yet at the same time I¡¯m not. How did you do that?¡±

    ¡°Paquut, my original, was an artist as well, but he used people instead of canvas for his works.¡± Theseus lowered his gaze in shame. ¡°He turned his victims into flesh puppets and then enjoyed their agonizing moans as they starved to death.

    ¡°I know things about Body Sculpting that give me nightmares. From how to fix a defective life force to how to make a human statuest for months by forcing their body to cannibalize itself, shrinking over time like a candle.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to fix cracked life forces as well?¡± Lith asked, barely containing his excitement.¡±No, that¡¯s beyond anyone but a Guardian. A defective life force is still whole whereas a broken one loses pieces that cannot be reced without Forbidden Magic. Believe me, Paquut tried.¡± Theseus replied.

    ¡°He cracked people¡¯s life force on purpose, just to put them together. Flesh puzzles, he called them. He neverpleted one.¡±

    ¡°Thank you anyway.¡± Lith offered Theseus his hand who shook it. ¡°Knowing it still takes a burden off my chest. Also, I won¡¯t forget what you did for Solus. I owe you one.¡±

    Bytra and Theseus spent the following hours sharing their respective past and their techniques to keep the blood madness in check. The Raiju didn¡¯t need them anymore and was happy to help someone like her.

    Dolgus, Zoreth, Solus, and Lith, instead, discussed their strategy. They could more or less guess what the Council¡¯s reply would be.

    They decided to keep their cards close to the vest and reveal them only if necessary. Rather than making feel the opponent pressured from every side and making them take an aggressive stance, it was better to apply pressure in waves.

    To breach their defenses one at a time so that they would be cornered without noticing until it was toote.

    It was almost evening when the concierge announced they had a visitor. Bytra thanked Zyma and tipped her, making the concierge thank the gods for theteness of the shift change.

    Without expecting a reply from either the Shadow Dragon or Zyma, a young-looking woman walked through the door. She marched along the tables keeping her back as straight as an arrow, exuding an aura of confidence.

    She was about 1.80 (5¡¯11¡¯) meters tall, with dark brown skin and eyes. She was dressed in ck and gold, with her long hair arranged in small tresses that sparked under the light due to its silver and yellow streaks.

    She had full lips and a stunning figure but for Awakened standards, she was barely an adult. She couldn¡¯t be more than 100 years old and had yet to reach the violet core. Lith could see with Life Vision her bright blue core and the vortexes that didn¡¯t show any sign of developing into auxiliary cores.

    Either she had reached the bright blue recently or her mentor didn¡¯t n to teach her the secret of the violet core until she was chosen as their heir.

    ¡°My name is Tryssa Mabati, apprentice of the nt Council representative Senara the Firbolg.¡± She didn¡¯t give them a bow nor treated them with any courtesy. ¡°I¡¯vee here only because your farce piqued my master¡¯s curiosity, Shadow Dragon.

    ¡°Neither she nor the Council fear you.¡± She kept standing even after being offered a seat, to keep looking down on the troublemakers.

    She considered the matter a waste of her time and was eager to leave as soon as it was dealt with.

    ¡°You should better fear me, runt. You have no idea of my powers.¡± Zoreth stood up, feigning outrage while she was inwardly smiling.

    ¡°We actually do. You are not the first Divine Beast that lets their ego go to their head and you are not going to be thest.¡± Tryssa sighed, with the same tone an adult would use while addressing a child not too bright. ¡°No matter what you do, you are not a threat.

    ¡°The Council is older than your forefather and we know how to deal with your kind. Try to spread your so-called ¡°Dragon Magic¡± and we¡¯ll know before you have Awakened a single human.

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll end you and whoever even dared to speak with you.

    ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? ????????????.???.

 Chapter 1952: Bait And Switch (part 2)

    Chapter 1952: Bait And Switch (part 2)

    ¡°My master sent me here solely because she is curious to understand the reason for your stunt. If you really wanted to mess with the Council, you wouldn¡¯t have announced your presence and intentions.

    ¡°Your threat is a bluff that you expected us to call. Unless I¡¯m wrong and you really are crazy, I demand you to exin why you didn¡¯t request a formal meeting through the official channels.¡± Tryssa said.

    After gauging her opponent, Zoreth dropped the pretenses and a sly smile appeared on her face. The Fae wasn¡¯t an idiot, but just like the Shadow Dragon had expected, the Council¡¯s ego had backfired on them.

    Sending someone young and irrelevant as their ambassador was another way to humiliate the unwanted guests, just like making them wait for hours without a single reply.

    Yet it yed straight into Zoreth¡¯s hand.

    Tryssa had the full authority to speak on behalf of the Council and none of the wits necessary for the task. Sending a youth to deal with old monsters was akin to throwing the live bait in the river without the hook.

    A free meal for the fish.

    ¡°The answer is simple. I don¡¯t trust you.¡± The Shadow Dragon replied. ¡°I don¡¯t trust being surrounded by a bunch of old fossils in their own home. Not when I demand them to hand me the Mouth of Menadion and the bastard who stole it.¡±

    At the mention of one of the most treasured secrets of the Council, Tryssa took a step back. She looked around the room, activating Life Vision for the first time since hering and looking for traps.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± She quickly regained herposure and looked at Zoreth like at a madwoman.

    ¡°Instead you do.¡± The Dragon stood up, growing her size a little to stare at the nt in the eyes. ¡°I am old enough to know that all the artifacts crafted with a piece of the Menadion set carry a specific energy signature.

    ¡°It was one of the safeguards in case one of her apprentices was killed. A Forgemastering tool is pointless if its creations can¡¯t be sold or used. It allowed Menadion to track her apprentices and study their progress.¡±

    ¡°Even if what you say is true, I doubt that Menadion would have shared such a secret with you, unless you forced her to spill it before killing her.¡± Tryssa moved on the offensive, threatening Zoreth to charge her with the death of the First Ruler of the mes.

    ¡°You are right, she didn¡¯t share it with me. Menadion told her other apprentices though, so that they could look out for each other.¡± Zoreth waved at Bytra who stood up as well.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce you Bytra the Raiju. Fourth Ruler of the mes and Menadion¡¯s apprentice.¡±

    ¡°I know of Vestha¡¯s death, but I ignore the identity of his killer.¡± Bytra shrouded the table for a split second as she shapeshifted back and forth from her beast form. ¡°I demand the Mouth back and justice for my fellow apprentice.¡±

    ¡°Even if you are who you im to be, you have no right over the Mouth.¡± Tryssa took another step back, suddenly feeling cornered.

    She now recognized Bytra. Both her human and beast appearances were identical to the paintings in her mentor¡¯s office. Very few knew what the inventor of the modern runes looked like and no one would dare pretend to be them.To make matters worse, the aura that the Raiju released was no bluff. Even though neither her master nor Bytra had gone all-out in front of her, Tryssa could tell that even the millennia-old Firbolg was no match for the Ruler of the mes.

    ¡°Oh, we have plenty of right.¡± Zoreth replied. ¡°Menadion lived in Garlen and so did her apprentice. The Mouth was stolen, not sold or inherited. As members of the Garlen Council, we demand to have it back.

    ¡°Fail toply and we¡¯ll inform the rest of the Awakenedmunity of how Verendi makes deals with murderers instead of dealing with them.¡± She put her Council amulet on the table as proof of her words.

    Tryssa swallowed loudly, not knowing what to do. The matter was way beyond her capabilities but she couldn¡¯t back down without tremendous political repercussions. If the Garlen Council was informed, there might be a war between the two continents.

    ¡°I understand your point, but this issue is centuries old. People gets killed every day and their legacy stolen.¡± Tryssa said slowly, to buy the time to find the right words. ¡°If you demanded justice right after it happened, we would have dlyplied but we would have still kept the Mouth.

    ¡°Vestha had no heir and with Menadion gone, the rules of the game are simple. Finders keepers. You have my respect for your talent and the many teachings you shared, Lady Bytra, but they don¡¯t give you any right over the Mouth.

    ¡°Menadion had hundreds of disciples, even among the people of Verendi, and they have the same ims over the artifacts that you do.¡± Tryssa gave her a deep bow to hide the smug grin for escaping the enemy¡¯s trap.

    ¡°Feel free to tell the Garlen Council about the Mouth. If it¡¯s a war you want, we¡¯ll dly bring it to your door. Yet with Thrud already thinning your numbers, it would be a damn shame if the Mad Queen suddenly had new allies.¡±

    ¡°Your closing every sentence with a threat is bing annoying, kid.¡± Zoreth snorted. ¡°Know that we have yet to inform the Garlen Council for the same reason we resorted to that fa?ade this morning.

    ¡°We don¡¯t trust them more than we trust you. Even if we won the war, the Mouth would be split among the winners whereas we want to give it back to its rightful heir.¡±

    ¡°Me. Elphyn Menadion.¡± Solus had remained sitting until that moment, giving her back to Tryssa.

    The young Awakened recognized her from a painting and her knees buckled. Solus looked exactly like the teenager Elphyn from Threin¡¯s drawings down to the smallest details.

    The full lips, the golden eyes brimming with power, and the perfection of her proportions were nothing like the real Solus but they matched how her father saw her through his loving eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± Tryssa had to sit down. ¡°Elphyn Menadion disappeared for centuries right after her mother. I don¡¯t know who you are or how you managed to shapeshift yourself in such form, but you can¡¯t be her.

    ¡°You are too young and weak.¡± Her voicecked conviction even after Life Vision showed her Solus¡¯s blue aura.

    Shapeshifting had limits. Resembling someone and being identical to someone were two entirely different matters. Either the person in front of her was the true Elphyn Menadion or someone old enough to have met her in person.

    ¡°I am Elphyn Menadion.¡± Solus stepped forward, looking down on the Awakened. ¡°My mother¡¯s murderer killed me first and then exploited Menadion¡¯s attempt to revive me to kill her as well.

    ¡°My mother died and the tower was stolen, but she still managed to partially seed in saving my life. The procedure left me in aa and crippled me. Before dying, Menadion sent me to the Desert, where I slumbered until a few years ago.¡±

 Chpater 1953: Nineteen (Part 1)

    Chpater 1953: Neen (Part 1)

    "Your story is too convenient to be true, ''Elphyn''. I need proof of your identity. Tell me something that only Menadion would know." Tryssa said.

    "Like what?" Solus replied with a scoff. "I won''t share my legacy''s secrets with you and even if I did, it''s all outdated knowledge. Whatever I say, you could just im that I''m making it up or that''s not enough until you learn what little I''ve left of my mother''s work.

    "If it''s proof that you want, I can give you plenty, though. I can call Lochra Silverwing and Baba Yaga to vouch for me. I can even call Overlord Sark to testify about my identity and how my mother entrusted me to her."

    Solus didn''t actually have their contact runes, but Zoreth could ask Nandi to summon Baba Yaga who in turn knew where to find Silverwing. As for Sark, her rune was on the speed dial.

    Seeing the rune of the Guardian on Solus'' amulet sent Tryssa into such a panic that she lost control over her shapeshifting and her skin slowly turned from brown to green.

    Arguing over the ownership of the mouth with the Garlen Council was one thing. Making an enemy of one of the original six Guardians and two white cored Awakened was another.

    If the young woman in front of Tryssa really was Elphyn Menadion, her im had solid grounds that couldn''t be denied.

    "Heck, if among your ranks there''s someone who met me in person, ask them toe here. They''ll recognize my energy signature. That''s something that no shapeshifting can change." Solus turned around and went back to her seat.

    "This is aplicated matter that''s clearly above my authority." Tryssa decided to swallow her pride and bail out.

    If she agreed on giving back the Mouth, the Council would kill her. If she refused to give it back and triggered a war, the Council would kill her. Allying with Thrud was but a bluff.

    The Verendi Council knew that once the Mad Queen imed Garlen, they would be next. They looked at the War of the Griffons in fear and wanted Thrud defeated. They didn''t intervene because distance made them feel safe and wanted to preserve their numbers.

    If the Garlen Council lost its power, part of its territories would be up for the taking and many Awakened would move from Verendi to take them.

    An all-out war between Awakened Councils, instead, would have thinned their already small numbers and paved the road to conquest for the Mad Queen. A nightmare scenario that had to be avoided at all cost.

    "That''s none of our problem." Zoreth shook her head. "Elphyn waited 700 years to get her life back and she''s not going to wait for you. Her homnd is in danger and there''s no time to waste.

    "You have 24 hours toe back with a deration of war or the Mouth. After that, we''ll reveal everything to the Garlen Council. She might lose the Mouth, but it''s still better than leaving it with you.

    "Also, know that you won''t face just the Council of the Awakened but also the Master''s Organization." Zoreth noticed that Tryssa didn''t seem impressed so she raised the ante.

    "I don''te to Verendi for over a century, but I bet that you heard about the Final Smile." She shapeshifted into her old Eldritch form.

    It resembled a humanoid with a small torso, huge w-ending limbs, and two membranous wings on its back. Even before undergoing the Master''s experiments, turning into an Eldritch had restored part of Zoreth''s draconic nature.

    The four white eyes and the monstrous row of teeth on the Eldritch''s oversized head resembled a distorted face wearing a cruel smile. It was thest thing that Xenagrosh''s victims would see and that gave her the nickname.

    Tryssa recognized the ancient monster from the surveince footage that she had studied during her apprenticeship and shivered in fear. The ck aura that Zoreth now exuded made it hard for her to breathe.

    "I''m not as famous, but I hope you haven''t forgotten about the White Lightning of Verendi." Bytra shapeshifted as well, turning into Korgh''s form.

    She now looked like a pitch-ck humanoid covered with small scales and long silver hair. Her horns were much smaller than a Raiju''s but they sparked with a pristine electricity that only Chaos could trigger after robbing it of its light.

    Another ck aura spread, covering Tryssa in a cold sweat and making her grip a nearby chair so hard that it turned into splinters.

    "Also, you''ll have to fight me. The Red Carnival." Theseus stood up, turning into his old appearance, that of an unnaturally tall and thin man with limbs as thin as a twig.

    White stripes alternated with the ckness of his body, giving the impression he was wearing a suit. His head was elongated as well, looking like a cylinder with two 10 cm (4'') long shiny slits that were actually his eyes.

    The Fae jumped back in terror and reverted to her true form, ready to fight for her life. The Final Smile and the White Lightning were famous Eldritches who had done lots of damage in Verendi, but their visits neversted.

    They were considered natural disasters, something that was more convenient to wait to be over than to fight against. The Red Carnival, however, was a scourge that had gued Verendi for millennia.

    A rot that had resisted every attempt of the Council to excise it. Paquut''s feats were well known. He would reach a city at sundown and by daylight, its inhabitants would be gone forever.

    He used their entrails as festoons, decorating the main roads. He painted the biggest walls he found using bile, blood, and every bodily fluid he could squeeze out of his victims instead of colors.

    Yet the worst part was the carnival rides. They were the results of the bodies of the citizens fused with Body Sculpting and turned into living carousels that emitted agonized moans instead of music.

    Their bones would break and their organs copse, unable to sustain such an unnatural andplex form for long. Yet Paquut always made sure to have an audience.

    That a few hapless travelers would witness his work until he made the bodies explode into what he considered the closing time fireworks.

    His name was that of the bogeyman mothers would use to scare their unruly children and Awakened masters to threaten their disciples.

    Theseus quickly reverted back to his human form and sat down again. Only then did Tryssa manage to stop quivering like a leaf in a storm.

    She was d to be a nt instead of a human because otherwise she would have lost control of her dder and would have fainted from theck of oxygen. She had stopped breathing for a while, but Faes could do it from their skin even when their lungs refused to move.

    Once she managed to regain her cool, Tryssa noticed that one of the men at the table was almost as bbergasted as she was while the other lookedpletely unfazed. He had listened to all those ancient names without batting an eye.

    ''He must be so powerful that even such an assembly of monsters poses no threat to him.''

 Chapter 1954: Nineteen (Part 2)

    Chapter 1954: Neen (Part 2)

    ''Maybe he''s even the Master they are talking about. That or he''s the bravest man on Mogar.'' Tryssa had no idea that Lith was simply ignorant.

    Names that would scare a wiser and older man were just cringy to him.

    She couldn''t afford to underestimate her opponents anymore so she took a long look at Lith with Life Vision. He was the second weakest of the group after Elphyn, but that could be exined by a cloaking ring.

    Tryssa ignored her sight and focused on her nose, smelling a faint trace of Eldritch Abomination from him.

    ''I knew it! As long as they are in human form, their power is suppressed but they can''t hide their smell.'' She thought, finding no joy in her discovery.

    "What are you exactly?" Tryssa asked Lith. "Before I go back to the Council, I need to know who we are dealing with."

    "I''m neen." He gave the bbergasted Fae thumbs up without moving from his chair.

    Tryssa racked her brain to make sense of those words, but to no avail. Every famous monster, Abomination, and Eldritch had a nickname that represented their madness, not a mere number.

    For a second, she assumed that it might have been the mysterious Eldritch''s body count, but then she realized that two digits weren''t something even an Awakened would brag about.

    "As in there are neen more of you? Or is it your position in this Organization?" Self-duplicating or ranking was the only logical exnation.

    "No, as in I''m neen years old." Lith shook his head as he stood up.

    He released his violet aura while unfolding his four wings and opening his seven eyes.

    "I am probably younger than most of the hotel staff, but I reached this level on my own. I am no legacy heir. I Awakened and developed on my own until the Garlen Council found me."

    "Imagine what I''ll be tomorrow." Lith stared at her, opening his face-mask and letting small bursts of Origin mese out.

    Tryssa furrowed her brows for a second before her eyes went wide in surprise.

    ''Great Mother almighty!'' She inwardly reassessed the threat level of each one of the invaders. ''If what this guy says is true, then he might be the second weakest of the group, but he''s also the scariest.

    ''Elphyn has Menadion''s legacy to back her while the others are old monsters who built their power through the centuries. Their strength makes sense. Reaching the violet so soon and developing a unique bloodline it''s unheard of, instead.

    ''He''s wearing no cloaking device and I can tell that his physical prowess is at the level of a Divine Beast. I can''t believe that someone who is less than one-fifth of my age can kill me with the flick of a finger.''

    The Fae hade to the Winged Boar hotel to intimidate and humiliate the arrogant Shadow Dragon who had dared to demand an audience with the Council instead of requesting it.

    Yet she was about to leave the building after having been scared to death and thoroughly humiliated. The Final Smile had yed her like a fiddle from the beginning and exploited her ignorance to corner the Council.

    On top of that, every single member of that unlikely group made her look like a child who threatened adults while throwing a tantrum.

    "You''ll receive the Council''s answer within the next 24 hours as per your request. I can''t do more, I''m sorry." Tryssa needed sheer willpower to turn around and walk out of there as slowly as she had entered instead of running for her life.

    "I suppose that you''re also like Bytra and Theseus." Dolgus stared at Zoreth with suspicion. "You are a clone who has devoured her original, correct?"

    "Wrong." The Shadow Dragon shrugged. "I''m exactly the monster you think I am and even though I''m not proud of some of my past deeds, I''m not ashamed of them either.

    "I did what I had to survive and I owe no exnation to the likes of you. Be grateful that I devoured my clone, because she would have turned Mogar upside down just for the fun of it."

    "How can you say that after what you did to the Kingdom and to countless people?" Rage and Life Maelstrom coursed through the Griffon''s body with greater intensity with each word he spoke. "You-"

    "She''s my wife and savior." Bytra stepped in front of him. "I don''t care what she did in the past, now she''s a better person. Those like you who have no idea of the hunger an Abomination suffers their whole life and the things that it forces us to do just to survive has no right to judge her."

    "She''s also part of my family, in a way." Lith said. "Attacking her would mean facing all of us. Even in the ridiculous case you win, everything we have done so far would be meaningless.

    "Verendi''s Council would keep the Mouth, the Organization and the Garlen''s Council would lose some of their best warriors, and Theseus would have no ce where to go. The only person who would be grateful to you would be Thrud."

    A tense silence ensued while Dolgus mulled over his chances of victory and the consequences of his actions. He kept circting the Life Maelstrom and weaving spells for a few seconds before letting them fade away.

    "Fine, but whatever happens next, don''t count on my help. I''ll protect Theseus and Elphyn, but that''s it." He said.

    "By the way, there''s something I don''t understand." Lith said as everyone went back to their human form and dispelled the cloaked area. "Your power move was amazing, sure, but the Council will never give up on such a precious artifact.

    "Based on what you said earlier, I assumed you had an ace in the hole. Something that would force their hand. Yet aside from showing off you achieved nothing."

    "You wish." Dolgus said, having a hard time believing that someone so powerful could also be so young and na?ve. "By revealing her true identity, she has given the Council the grounds for a killing order.

    "Our Eldritch ''friends'' here are all wanted in Verendi, especially Theseus. Tryssa may have been scared witless, but her master won''t miss the opportunity to attack you on sight in the name of justice."

    "Is he telling the truth?" Lith couldn''t believe that Zoreth had made such a stupid mistake.

    "The two of you are right, but you are also wrong." Zoreth said as a cruel smile appeared on her face. "As I told you earlier, we Abominations don''t hide nor cower. It was all intentional.

    "I introduced myself as a member of Garlen''s Council and I didn''t strike first because I can''t afford to ruin all of the Master''s hard work. If they attack us, however, ignoring our rights as members of another Council, they''ll give the Organization the grounds to retaliate.

    "Verendi can''t attack us without Garlen''s approval, but they''ll never give it. If they don''t follow protocol, once we strike back, Garlen will consider the issue as between us and Verendi.

    "I demanded an audience with the Council because Verendi is too big to search it in a brief time. Because this way, not only will Bytra and I have the perfect opportunity to test our new powers against a worthy enemy, but we will also have free reins in Verendi once the problem with Thrud will be dealt with."

 Chapter 1955: Climbing the Ranks (Part 1)

    Chapter 1955: Climbing the Ranks (Part 1)

    "At that point, no matter how long it takes, I''ll find the Mouth of Menadion and give it to you, Solus." Bytra said

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, above a mana geyser in the Nestrar region, Golden Griffon.

    Thrud came several times a day to check on the Arthan''s Madness pods where her generals were being injected with the ambrosia in order to be Divine Beasts. The academy was automated and Hystar checked on their vitals 24/7, ready to alert her in case something went wrong.

    Yet it wasn''t enough to keep Thrud calm.

    After spending so much time with those Emperor Beasts before the start of the war, being their mentor, friend, and leader, they had be more than mere soldiers in the Mad Queen''s heart.

    They had had countless opportunities to defect once outside the Golden Griffon or whenever she removed the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array from their bodies. Instead, they had served her faithfully, putting their hearts and souls into her master n as if her life dream was their own.

    Her soldiers would often return from the battlefield with mangled bodies and leave after a single night of sleep.

    Even when they met one of the old monsters of the Awakened Council, they would fight until theirst breath and appear in the academy''s regeneration chamber after having been shredded to pieces.

    Not one of the Mad Queen''s champions had put their own pain above the mission, sacrificing themselves, again and again, no matter how traumatic their death would be. Thrud considered them as her friends, people who she wanted to share the final victory and its spoils with.

    She felt responsible for the lives that they had once again put into her hands without a second thought, and the burden was almost crushing her. Thrud knew how dangerous the procedure was and had set the Madness'' settings to as slow and steady as she could.

    Emperor Beasts were usually bigger than a human, butpared to a Divine Beasts they were mere pups. For their body to grow in size so much, to develop strong muscles and bones capable of sustaining it, they usually needed Mogar''s help.

    It was the that would rearrange the body of an evolving creature, making sure that their organs wouldn''t copse due to the strain and keeping their proportions perfect.

    Mogar wasn''t going to help Thrud''s soldiers, though, and it was up to the Mad Queen to make sure that everything went without a hitch. One small mistake and her generals would emerge with imperfect bodies.

    Xedros'' procedure had taken half that long, but once he hade out of his pod, his new mass was the same of a non-Awakened Dragon, with no trace of body refinement and he had died for it.

    Iata and the others, instead, had developed their new body slowly, allowing them to use umtion during all that time and filtering the impurities from their flesh and bones the moment they formed.

    Just like when she had given birth to Valeron, the closer the final day the more anxious she would get. The Madness wasn''t her womb, but it was still Thrud''s life work and the legacy that her father had entrusted her with.

    Her generals were about to be reborn through her own version of the Madness and that made them her children as well.

    Now that the timers counted down the minutes before the pods would open, she couldn''t stop pacing nervously in front of the line of Arthan''s Madnesses, biting her nails in frustration.

    "Is this how a father feels?" She thought out loud. "Completely helpless while waiting for the dice to roll?"

    "Calm down, mother. I''m sure that everything will be alright. Worst case scenario, the Unwavering Loyalty array will fix them." Protheus, the First Doppelganger said.

    He looked like a mix of Thrud and Jormun, with silver eyes and light green hair. The androgynous features of his human body made it hard to understand his gender and usually, he had none.

    Protheus took from his stepfather when he needed to console his mother or y with Valeron while from Thrud when he had to deal with the troops.

    "You don''t get it, Protheus." She shook her head. "Worst case scenario, they will be trapped into faulty bodies that will make their life an eternal nightmare. Chronic pain, dementia, and madness are only a few of the-"

    The sound of the liquid filling the pods being drained told Thrud that the procedure was over and fear cut her short. The beeping of the capsules as air filled them sounded like the executioner''s steps to her.

    As the safety locks were released one at a time with a click, Thrud became so nervous that she was covered in a cold sweat, eager to know if years of preparation and almost one month of motherly care had paid off.

    "Good morning, my liege." Iata the Scorpicore said, walking out of the pod in her human form. "Or is it evening already? It''s hard to track time in here."

    "Who gives a damn about the hour and the weather? Just tell me how you feel." Thrud walked to her, using her breathing technique, Regal Flow, to check the condition of each and every one of her generals.

    "I feel incredible." Iata replied. "All I need is a real meal and I''ll be ready to train with my new body. I''m sick and tired of drinking goo."

    "Nonsense." Thrud shook her head. "Training can wait, you need rest!"

    "We spent thest month sleeping most of the time!" Ufyl the Hydra said. "If I see a bed or a fucking bathtub, I''ll go nuts. I''ve been soaked for so long that a little dirt and sweat sounds nice."

    "Don''t worry, Mom, we''ll be fine." Leari the Firebird said with a mocking tone. "I promise you that the moment we feel something is wrong, we''ll tell you. The past few weeks felt like death. What we need now is to live a little."

    Th word struck the Mad Queen like a punch to the guts, freezing her in ce until all of them walked out of the room in search of food andpany. They had spent a lot of time sealed in a transparent capsule alone and their stomachs weren''t the only part of their bodies that demanded its due.

    "Gods, they grow so fast." Thrud said as a silent tear streaked down her eyes.

    "Yeah." Jormun replied while carrying their baby between his arms and handing Valeron to her to calm her down. "From 20 (66'') to 30 (100'') meters in one month is one heck of a growth spurt."

    "Take your time and enjoy being a kid, Valeron." She said while lulling the baby. "Grown-ups have lots of work and sacrifices to do."

    The Doppelganger looked at the family scene and the Madness with envy. Everyone was growing more powerful while his mana core had just entered the green. With so many potential Divine Beasts, Protheus feared that now he had be irrelevant.

    Death didn''t scare himpared to the idea of being left out of the war and watching powerlessly from the sidelines.

    Thrud noticed his distress and patted his shoulder.

    "Don''t worry, my child. We have still much to do."

 Chapter 1956: Climbing the Ranks (Part 2)

    Chapter 1956: Climbing the Ranks (Part 2)

    "We?" He asked in confusion. "My doppelgangers have lost their effectiveness as undercover agents since Manohar taught everyone how to expose us. Our cores are still weak and our magic iscking. There''s no we. Not anymore." He replied.

    "You are wrong." Thrud took thest batch of ambrosia out of her dimensional amulet and handed it to Protheus.

    "What am I supposed to do with this?" He asked.

    "Why do you think I waited for them toe out to show it to you? Because now you have ess not just to my Golden Griffon, Valeron''s Bahamut, and Jormun''s Emerald Dragon''s bloodline, but to over 30 different Divine Beasts.

    "I''ll be honest with you. I didn''t n to give you your powers nor to use ambrosia on you, but fate decided otherwise." Thrud said. "You can store and ess the forms of the most powerful creatures of Mogar and with the ambrosia, you might even gain their bloodline abilities."

    At those words, Protheus'' eyes sparkled with greed. He would be back being her champion and his power would be unmatched. On top of that, if the ambrosia worked, all of his descendants would inherit the ability to recreate mana organs as well.

    "Don''t act rashly, though. Remember what happened with Verhen''s tissues." Thrud said, snapping him out of his reverie. "Also, you have no real Guardian blood, just tissue samples.

    "What I said earlier about pain and madness applies to you as well. I have no idea how ambrosia will interact with your body and powers. You might be the supreme being just like you could turn into a mindless jigsaw creature."

    "How long would the procedure take?" Protheus had already made his mind.

    The only question left was if he woulde out in time for his presence to tip the scales of the war, otherwise the ambrosia would have had to wait. He couldn''ty asleep while his family risked their life.

    "A few days at most." The Mad Queen replied. "You already have all the mass you need and it''s already refined. The only step you''ll undergo is the bloodline awakening. Please, think this through before-"

    The Doppelganger ced the vial in the Madness, starting the preparatory steps of the procedure.

    "I had one month to dream for this moment and I''m not going to wait for a second longer. Only for the time that I need to collect the samples from my newfound siblings."

    ***

    Verendi Continent, deep underground in the Zagovia ins, Council Hall.

    After hearing Tryssa''s report, the representative of the five races had rushed to meet, dropping whatever they were doing no matter how delicate the step of their research was.

    Sending a youth to deal with old monsters had been a mistake and they had less than 23 hours before that bomb exploded in their faces.

    "This is bad." Ozak Estus, the human representative said. "We are stuck in a lose-lose scenario. If we surrender the Mouth of Menadion and its owner, we''ll not only lose a powerful artifact, but we''ll also go back on our word.

    "We had promised Visante our protection and a full pardon for his crimes. No one will ever trust us after this." Worry made deep wrinkles appear in his otherwise handsome features.

    Ozak was over 600 years old, but his smooth dark skin and his muscr body were wless. Aside from the grey patches along with the silver, orange, and blue streaks on his ck hair, it was hard considering him one day over forty.

    "I disagree." Xergov the Duhan, the undead representative said. "This is much worse. Our Council can''t afford to lose the Mouth. It''s the second wind we have been expecting for decades.

    "Without it, soon even Jiera will surpass us. Garlen with its three Guardians and its three countries has always been a nightmare for us. The number of mines our fellow Awakened can exploit and the infrastructures they enjoy are iparable to ours.

    "We have so many fucking borders to cross, so many governments to infiltrate for a single delivery that our progress has always been slow. To make matters worse, these constant territorial wars are a pain in our ass.

    "We lost a lot of potential Awakened candidates among the war victims."

    "Indeed." Senara the Firbolg, Tryssa''s mentor, nodded. "Until a while ago, we could console ourselves that Jiera fared no better, but now things have changed. The gue has erased their cultural differences and driven out the undead, leaving the Council free reins.

    "Ever since they overcame the crisis of the aftermath, their development is progressing by leaps and bounds. Awakened can now reim and mine all kinds of magical resources in broad daylight.

    "The number of Awakened in Jiera has boomed and soon they''ll be as strong as Garlen. I heard That Zagran the Garuda is actively helping them and wants to follow in Sark''s footsteps to give her own Kingdom a go."

    "They''ll never reach Garlen''s prowess." Ileza, Guardian of Life and Mother of all the Bastets said. "The War of the Griffons has weakened their Council, but once it ends, they''lle out stronger than ever.

    "They have now a regr army, they are sharing their knowledge as I suggested you to do for millennia, and they even added the Abominations to their folds. Yet the crown jewel of all this will be the union between beasts, nts, and humans.

    "It doesn''t matter who wins, Garlen will be the first developed continent to ovee specism and its prejudices. If they stop living as three separate races and be one great society, they''ll thrive like never before."

    "What about Jiera?" Rokuno the Jotunn, the beast representative asked. "They have already built a society where all four races live together and Awakened teach magic to fake mages."

    .

    "Do you really want topare a bunch of ruins to a flourishing culture?" Ileza said with a sneer. "That''s why I said developed continent. Jiera is ahead of Garlen, but it''s incapable of facing an invasion.

    "What they have built is wonderful, but it will crumble at the first gust of storm."

    "Enough spreading salt on our wounds, Guardian!" Xergov said. "Instead of reminding us how much we suck, offer us a solution. Who knows, maybe if you were as good at your job as Tyris, we wouldn''t be in this mess."

    "I am Verendi''s Guardian of Life, but I''m no Great Mother." She gave the goddess a small bow while mentioning her name. "Also, I have told you idiots and your predecessors countless times what our continent needs.

    "It''s you who refused to listen and take action. If you expect me to do all the hard work and the sacrifices, letting you reap the benefits, you''ll wait until the end of times!"

    "Easy for you to talk!" The nt representative said. "You are a Guardian and have eternal life along with amazing powers. What would take you a finger snap to achieve takes us decades.

    "Also, it''s not our fault if Garlen''s Guardians are better than our own. The Master overcame the limits of undeath, the Tiamat is a brand-new race that has no equal, and Thrud''s child might be his peer if not even his better!

    "All three of them came to be because of Tyris, Leegaain, and Sark. While your offspring ughtered innocents, theirs achieved great things!"

 Chapter 1957 - The Die is Cast (Part 1)

    Chapter 1957 - The Die is Cast (Part 1)

    "Enough!" Ozak mmed his heavy fist on the Adamant table to quell the anger of his peers. "Let''s reconsider the situation from the beginning and make a decision instead of wasting more time with recriminations.

    "The past is beyond our reach and if we don''t focus on the present, we''ll have no future because we''ll be all dead."

    After silence returned to the Council Hall, the human representative continued:

    "The situation is not as dire as it seems. Our agents in Garlen have confirmed that the local Council is still unaware that we are in possession of the Mouth of Menadion. Our ''guests'' want to keep the information and the artifact for themselves and this ys in our favor.

    "Also, where you guys only see a disaster, I see an opportunity. If we get rid of the intruders, we''ll kill several birds with one stone. Their death will weaken the Garlen Council, the Organization, and we''ll finally get justice for the countless lives that those Eldritches took through the centuries.

    "After that, we just need to be careful with the Mouth and sell the artifacts crafted with it solely to trustworthy people who will keep the secret about their origin. The War of the Griffons is a blessing in disguise because it gives us the time that we need to step up our game.

    "As long as Garlen has to face Thrud, a political matter like the death of a few ambassadors will have to wait. Once the war ends, we just have to strike before the winner recovers, no matter who it is, to achieve a quick victory."

    "I like your idea." Xergov''s severed head rested on the table so her body had to lift it and shake it with its hands to make her nod. "But there''s another way that would avoid a pointless war. We can just im that we yed no role in the attack.

    "That the grief-stricken families of the victims acted on their own after learning of the presence of their sworn enemies. At that point, we might even close the issue by offering a few scapegoats.

    "After all, if we leave no witnesses, no one will trigger a full-scale conflict based on hearsay."

    "Agreed." Rokuno said. "But we must act swiftly and decisively. If even one of them survives and manages to escape to Garlen, things will escte. Even if we win, many of us might note out of it alive.

    "It would be of great help to the cause if you joined our efforts, Ileza. You are the Guardian of Life and avoiding the conflict between Councils would save countless lives."

    "Nice try, but no. I''m not an idiot and this is your agenda, not mine." The Bastet''s eyes red with mana and fury, making the other representatives quiver in their boots.

    "Fine." Senara raised her hands in surrender. "You could at least clean up your own home and get rid of the Red Carnival for us. Theseus is your son. His actions and the blood on his hands also fall on you."

    "I would agree if it was still the old him." Ileza said. "My son had taken a path from which there was no redemption and I''ve sworn to kill him with my own hands if I ever found him again.

    "Thanks to the Master, however, he''s gotten a fresh start, and the illness that twisted his mind is gone. I will always be grateful to the Master for saving my child and I''m not going to harm this new Theseus unless he proves to be no different from the old one.

    "Besides, it was you who against my advice granted Visante a full pardon and your protection in exchange for his services. You glossed over his crimes so that he could grow your power by sharing the Mouth with each one of you in turns.

    "He is now a respected mage of ourmunity and if the truth about him were to be revealed, you would be all in trouble. Elphyn Menadion is the legitimate heir of the Mouth and I won''t move a finger against her either."

    "Do you mean that she''s the real deal? Does she have the tower?" Senara asked and the others nodded, their eyes lit by greed like a bunch of Dragons.

    "She''s the real deal but the tower is lost. The killer took it away" Senara lied through her teeth, unwilling to cause Elphyn any trouble.

    "So you are going to abandon us, like always." Xergov the Duhan said.

    "I''m not abandoning you. You have decided to ride toward a cliff and I refuse to follow, end of the story." The Bastet stood up, opening a Warp Gate back to herir. "Onest word of advice.

    "My son was brilliant as a Bastet and once he turned into an Abomination, his brilliance was twisted into a monstrosity. He became more powerful and more dangerous than he had ever been.

    "Now, he has transcended beyond even that. I wouldn''t cross him if I were you."

    Then, she left before they could reply. All ????? full

    "All in favor to get rid of the intruders before Garlen learns about the Mouth?" Ozak asked, and the motion was unanimously approved.

    ***

    Penaka hill, in the middle of nowhere and of the Seota ins.

    The more Lith studied the area that the Council had chosen as neutral ground for the negotiations, the more it looked like the perfect ce for a trap.

    There was no settlement nearby so no witnesses either. The Penaka hill was an isted teau far from the borders of Garlen, with nowhere to hide for dozens of kilometers.

    In the case someone was forced to run, the pursuers would have a clear line of sight on their target. No matter if one flew at high speed or Blinked, it would take a miracle to escape.

    "Now I understand why you decided toe here as soon as theymunicated to us the meeting ce even though we are hours early." Lith said. "You didn''t want to give them the time to prepare traps."

    "Correct." Zoreth nodded. "I gave them such a short deadline so that they were forced to improvise. Even if they contacted us after starting the preparations, building huge arrays isn''t something that you can do in a few hours.

    "Even if they sent us to some secluded execution spot, we''ve cast array detection spells on our way here to avoid surprises."

    "This is still a trap, though." Lith replied.

    "Most likely. The alleged reason for choosing this ce is to allow us to have a clear sight of the members of the delegation and have many escape routes if something goes south.

    "Yet we know that even if they send just one person, it takes a single Warping array to move dozens if not hundreds of Awakened at a time." Zoreth said.

    "If this is a trap and we know it, why are we even here?" Theseus asked. "Between Chaos and Spirit Warp, there''s nothing that can stop us from reaching Garlen. Let''s spill the beans with the Council and let them sort this out."

    "I agree." Solus said.

    "Me too. This will be a pointless battle." Dolgus sighed.

    "Not really." Lith shook his head as he turned around to look Solus in the eyes.

 Chapter 1958 - The Die is Cast (Part 2)

    Chapter 1958 - The Die is Cast (Part 2)

    "If in my previous battle I needed to check how I fare against a human army, now I can experience the Awakened''s tactics and put mine to the test. Royal Pardon or not, I''m going to fight Thrud and I need all the practice I can get against an Awakened army."

    "Is it still worth risking your life for?" Solus fiddled with her hair, finding it ufortable having only two colored streaks due to Body Sculpting.

    "I''m going to risk my life anyway in the War of the Griffons." Lith shrugged. "At least now I have three powerful Eldritches and you by my side. It''s much safer than on any battlefield I will ever step into."

    "Why not just leave it to the Council?" She looked unconvinced.

    "Because the Mouth is yours, Solus, and if they knew about such a powerful artifact, they would take it for themselves. As I''ve always said, nothing that''s worth havinges easy, but once you reach our level, you often have to fight for it.

    "People will not let you have good things out of the goodness of their heart, not even those you deserve. If you don''t stand up for yourself, they''ll take everything away from you."

    "Is it an artifact really worthy of shedding so much blood? How are you any different from the Council?" Theseus chimed in, feeling conflicted.

    "The artifact? No, but that''s not on me. We gave them proof of Solus'' rightful im, we gave them a choice to end things peacefully, and they turned it down." Lith replied. "I''m different from the Council because I''m not the one seeking battle.

    "I can''t decide how people live, but for sure I can decide how people who raise their hand against me die. I don''t enjoy violence, but if you start avoiding conflict, you''ll end up with nothing but the clothes you wear. If you are lucky."

    Solus was still mulling over Lith''s words when Bytra approached her. The Raiju kept her distance until Solus allowed her toe close.

    "What do you want?" Her voice came out way ruder and colder than she intended.

    "This is going to be a difficult battle and I will need to use the Absolution." Bytra replied while offering Solus the hammer once again. "To do that, I need your permission."

    "Why do you need my permission to use your weapon?" Solus furrowed her brows in confusion.

    "Because I consider the Absolution a part of Menadion''s legacy." The Raiju said. "I could only make it because I stole the Fury and studied it for years. Like you always said to me, I have no creativity.

    "I upgraded your mother''s runes to be the Fourth Ruler of the mes just like I simply upgraded your mother''s hammer to craft the Absolution. It belongs to you not me and I don''t want to take anything away from you anymore."

    Solus flushed in embarrassment at the rudeness of the words of her past self. After spending years with Lith and working hard to understand the secrets of Forgemastery, she knew how hard it was to upgrade something.

    Most of their best pieces were "just upgrades" like the Orichalcum Skinwalker armor from which they had derived all the others. On top of that, the Raiju''s thoughtfulness moved her.

    Bytra was willing to put Solus'' feelings first and her own survival second in order to redeem herself.

    ''I really was a jerk to Bytra.'' Solus thought and was about to apologize when rage reced shame.

    Seeing the Absolution and its bare aura of power that matched that of her Fury, filled Solus with anger.

    ''Jerk or not, Bytra is right. She''s no better than those bastards of the Verendi Council. She stole the Fury and the Council the Mouth, using enjoying the artifacts without a care for how they got them.

    ''Neither of them is entitled to Mom''s legacy. The Mouth is mine and so is the Absolution. I can''t believe that Vastor managed to create something so powerful that it might even be better than my mother''s work.'' She thought.

    Then, before cruel words that she wouldn''t be able to take back left her mouth, Solus stopped for a second, putting her wounded ego aside.

    ''I stand corrected. Bytra and the Council are not the same. She''s offered me the Absolution twice already and it was my choice to refuse it. She''s here to fight for me, risking her life to get back the Mouth and try to fix our rtionship.

    ''The Verendi Council, instead, even after learning who I was and how the Mouth ended up in their hands, want to kill me just to keep their new toy. Lith is right, they don''t deserve mypassion.''

    "Please, Bytra, use the Absolution and do everything you can toe out of this battle alive." Solus said after taking several deep breaths to calm down and take the edge off her words.

    "You have stolen the Fury, but you also returned it to me the moment you learned that I was still alive. There''s no way we can change the past, but there''s no point in our enmity.

    "The old Bytra is dead and you seem a great Forgemaster." She pointed at the Absolution and at the enchanted equipment that the two Abominations now wore. "Even if I had died that night, Ripha''s legacy would still live through you.

    "The Absolution is the proof that you didn''t just uncover my mother''s secrets, you also understood the spirit of her teachings. So stand up and fight."

    "Thanks." Bytra hung the hammer at her hip and wiped her tears. "You have no idea how much these words mean to me."

    "Believe me, I know. They mean a lot to me too." Solus still couldn''t stand the Raiju, but she felt that the burden on her heart had lessened. All ????? full

    The scar that her mother''s death had inflicted upon her would never disappear, but it had finally started to heal.

    Theseus overheard them talking from a distance, feeling Bytra''s relief as his own. The bond between Vastor''s hybrids allowed him to perceive her sincerity and how Solus'' partial forgiveness had soothed her spirit.

    He had walked more than one mile in her shoes and now pondered whether to wish that none of his victims was still alive or to meet at least their descendants to make up for the suffering that Paquut had inflicted.

    ***

    The rest of the time passed in silence. Everyone was tense and aside from eating and drinking, in order to retain their peak strength, they spent their time meditating. Dolgus had tried for a while to change Theseus'' mind and avoid the conflict, yet the Bastet had been adamant in his decision.

    After that, the only thing that the Griffon could do was to n an escape route and keep his distance from the group.

    The emissary of the Council came dead on time.

    Senara the Firbolg, nt representative of Verendi, stepped through a Warp Steps that had appeared at a safe distance from the hill.

    She looked like a beautiful woman in her early thirties, about 2 meters (6''7") tall with bright green skin, crimson red vines for hair, and full lips. The Fae exuded a bright violet aura that made everyone but the Abominations feel pressured.

 Chapter 1959 - Blight Flames (Part 1)

    Chapter 1959 - Blight mes (Part 1)

    ''Damn. Is there really so much difference between the violet and the bright violet core?'' Lith wondered as he used Life Vision, Death Vision, and shared Solus'' mana vision.

    The Firbolg''s physical prowess was inferior to a Divine Beast''s but it was nothing to scoff at. He witnessed her die in several different ways, but every one of them required her body to be reduced to shreds.

    Even from that distance, Lith could see with the mana sense the Fae''s body crackling with the hidden energy of the spells that she kept at the ready.

    Also, judging from the full set of equipment she wore, Senara hade ready to battle in the case the negotiations failed.

    The Firbolg didn''t show any sign of hostility and released two seemingly harmless spells.

    The first was an array detection spell while the other was a life detecting array. There was nothing odd in her actions, Senara might just be checking that her guests hadn''t set up an ambush or a trap.

    ''In her shoes, I''d do the same. Life Vision has a limited range whereas a life sensing array can cover up to a kilometer. The question is if she used it to check for hidden reinforcements on our side or to make sure that there are no witnesses.

    ''As for the array detecting spell, I bet that if she found any, a well-ced Disarray spell would have turned our protections into the opening salvo of the conflict.'' Lith thought and he was right.

    Senara was truly disappointed to miss the opportunity to blow them up with minimal effort. She had conjured opened the Warp Steps away from the hill exactly to avoid being caught in the congration.

    "Wee to Verendi. I''m Senara the Firbolg, nt representative of the Council. My disciple, Tryssa, should have told you about me." She gave them a small but polite and graceful bow that they returned.

    "Have you brought the Mouth of Menadion?" Solus asked.

    "No, I came here to find a peaceful solution." She shook her head.

    "There''s nothing to talk about. Give me my mother''s legacy back or we''ll leave."

    "Lady Menadion, I think you are rushing things a bit." Senara raised her hands in a peace gesture. "There''s no reason to be enemies. You could juste to live here among us.

    "We would dly return the Mouth to you and you would not be involved in the pointless war that''s ravaging Garlen. All of you are wee to stay." She then turned toward the rest of the group.

    "We heard a lot about Garlen''s Tiamat and we are willing to offer you a seat in the Council. As for your Eldritches, your past crimes can be forgiven if you help us develop our continent and let us study your unique condition.

    "You have already joined Garlen''s Council and I can promise you that Verendi''s will not treat you any worse."

    "I''ll tell you what I said Raagu when she made me the same offer. I''m not interested." Lith replied.

    "I don''t want to be part of your Council and I don''t trust a bunch of thieves to keep their word. I bet that the moment I follow you, you would extort me of my mother''s secrets and add the Fury to your collection." Solus showed Senara the reborn hammer and the Firbolg''s eyes shone with unbridled greed.

    "Even if we were seeking our redemption, the likes of you can''t help us." Theseus knew that his destiny wouldn''t be much different from Elphyn''s.

    The Council wanted to befriend him solely to discover the secret of his power that went beyond the limits of the bright violet core. They would turn him into a test subject and discard his remains once they were done with him.

    "I''m truly sad." Senara sighed. "We could have achieved great things together, but you refused to take the hand that was offered to you even though it was the only thing that kept you alive."

    A snap of her fingers caused dozens of Warping Arrays to appear. The magical circles were so close to each other that their borders almost touched and there were so many of them that the hill waspletely surrounded from every side.

    As the Council''s elite corps of Awakened stepped out of the Warping arrays, Lith was amazed by their numbers. He had expected a small army, but it was barely a big toon.

    ''What the fuck? Why so few of them and why are they arranged into teams of seven? It''s a waste of manpower. Five is the best number per unit, like we did with the Hand of Fate to fight Orpal.'' Lith had no idea of what was happening.

    The reason there were so few people was simply that the Council couldn''t afford to reveal the existence of the Mouth to other people. Only those who were already aware of the fact that the Council owned it and had benefitted from the artifacts it created had been summoned.

    The more Awakened elders they involved, the more things they would have to exin and the less time their respective turn using the Mouth wouldst. Like Faluel always said, only an idiot never shared.

    The Verendi Council had avoided infighting for the artifact by exploiting its nature as a teaching tool that allowed the Mouth to be used by multiple people.

    Yet if too many mages were involved, there wouldn''t be enough time for everyone.

    "Now." Zoreth gave Lith the signal and he called upon the Void.

    A dome of ckness erupted from his body, covering the entire Penaka hill and reaching the Awakened units.

    "What the fuck?" Senara suddenly couldn''t even see the hand in front of her nose.

    No matter what kind of mystical sense she employed. Life Vision and Fire Vision were blocked while her enemies were too far away for Earth Vision to be effective. The elite units kept their cool, but when their ownrades touched them, several fights broke out.

    They mistook the hands groping in the darkness for their enemy having exploited the situation to Blink behind them. The worst part about it was that they were right.

    Lith was the only one still on the hill because the Call of the Void would always be centered around him. The others instead had Warped to the back of the enemy formation and escaped the encirclement.

    Yet they had no intention to run away. All ????? full

    The ckness of the Void lit up with countless white eyes and maws that assaulted the Awakened from every side, throwing their formations into disarray. Each Demon was nothingpared to an Awakened, but there were hundreds of them.

    Hundreds of ck hands invisible in the darkness whose touch robbed their victims of their vigor and mana.

    ''This is the part that I like the less about the n, but I must deal as much damage as I can before these old monsters find a counter to my Void.'' Lith thought as he shapeshifted into his full size, standing 25 meters (82'') tall and bing visible above the ck dome.

    Exposing his position was very dangerous and painted a target on his chest, but it was a risk he had to take. He was the only one beside Solus who could see through the Call of the Void and the only one who could exploit the situation to its fullest.

 Chapter 1960 - Blight Flames (Part 2)

    Chapter 1960 Blight mes (Part 2)

    As Lith used body and mind casting to weave his spells, he also took a deep breath. His ck and silver eyes lit up, splitting the light from the darkness element in the world energy and sending them in different directions.

    The ck light moved from the Tiamat''s mouth down his throat and into his lungs, erupting from between the scales as it coursed through his body. The silver light, instead, moved to his heart and from there focused into the feathered wings on his hips.

    When Lith opened his mouth, a burst of Void mes came out of it while a silvery stream of Blight mes erupted from his wings.

    The Origin mes infected respectively by Chaos and Decay moved as fast as a bullet, striking two different Awakened units whose members were fighting back-to-back against the army of shadows.

    The Void mes exploded on hit, generating a shockwave that sent the Awakened flying. The ck fire burned at everything from the outside, eroding their flesh, auras, and equipment.

    The Blight mes, instead, pierced through the ckness of the Void, allowing its bbergasted victims to see what was happening around them. They believed that one of their allies was helping them to quickly dispose of the Demons.

    Or so they thought until they noticed that the blinding light was eating at them from the inside while strengthening the shadows by the second. Decay was but nourishment for the Demons and death to anything else.

    The silvery fire burned and healed them at the same time, consuming the flesh, metal, and enchantments just to force them to recover a split second after. They dealt no damage, but they inflicted a huge burden not only on the life force of their victims but on their cores as well.

    Healing and repairing drained the energy respectively of the mana and the power cores.

    Lith had always been able to use the Void mes so learning how to conjure the Blight had been second nature to him the moment he had gained his second feathered wing.

    Using two Cursed mes at the same time required the help of his eyes, but it also lessened the burden on his life force. He didn''t need to inject part of his Abomination side in the Origin mes anymore because he had now a way to conjure the Chaos from the world energy and safely channel the Decay that the process created.

    He took another deep breath, ready to unleash a second volley of twin Cursed mes when something hit him square in the chest. The impact was strong enough to lift the Tiamat off the ground and imbued with so much mana that it pierced through his chest despite the Voidwalker armor.

    ''What the fuck?'' Lith thought as blood gurgled from his mouth and the Call of the Void faded.

    Much to his surprise, both units he had attacked seemed tired but unscathed. It would take them just a few breaths of Invigoration to return to their peak condition.

    ''It''s worse than I thought.'' Zoreth told him via the mind link they had established in advance. ''There aren''t many of them, but they can all use both Silverwing Annihtion and Bastion! That''s why they formed seven-man units.''

    Lith had no idea what she was talking about but thanks to the Monocle of Menadion that he shared with Solus, he could both rey the moment he had been taken down and analyze the unknown spells.

    Annihtion and Bastion were part of the legacy that Lochra Silvering, the First Magus, had spread throughout Mogar. They required seven violet cored Awakened to be cast because each one of them would summon and fine-tune a different element.

    They were known as anti-Guardian spells, intended to allow Awakened to fight a Guardian gone mad or at least survive the encounter. Their power matched that of de Tier spells but unlike them, they had no specific requirement.

    Anyone skilled enough could use the Bastion and the Annihtion.

    The Awakened groups had used the former to resist the Cursed mes and thetter to bring down the Tiamat. Such formations were the standard procedure of the Council when dealing with Divine Beasts.

    Sure, even Divine Beasts could use such spells but while the members of the Council lived as amunity, the offspring of the Guardians lived on their own. It was rare finding two of them, let alone seven and willing to cooperate.

    Both the mes and the Void had failed to hurt the Awakened but the n was still a sess.

    Senara noticed the disappearance of Solus and the others only once the shroud of the ckness had disappeared. During that time, they had finished preparing their spells and positioning themselves behind the enemy lines in order to strike them from the blind spot that the Call of the Void had created.

    On top of that, the ckness that had robbed the Awakened of their senses had also been the only thing that had kept them safe from the Abominations. Now that Bytra and the others could see them again, the counterattack began. All ????? full

    Solus could see through the Void so she had already dealt her fist strike. She had activated one of the powers of her Fury, Burning Rain. After throwing the hammer, it had split into nine copies, each one with its mana crystals of a bright red.

    The mystical gemstones sucked in the world energy, amplifying the fire element to the extreme until the Furies were engulfed in mes. The heat rose, turning the hammers from blood red to pristine white as they flew amid the enemies without touching them.

    Then, once the Furies reached their true target, they exploded into countless ming shards. Burning Rain turned the nine hammers into white-hot Davross shards that attacked the Awakened from every side.

    The spell pierced through the protections and the flesh, making the blood of its victims boil. The Awakened soldiers had formed circles, leaning against each other to cover their backs but the Void blinded them and they couldn''t see the Furies flying in the middle of their formation.

    The very technique that was supposed to allow them to defend themselves at a moment''s notice maximined Burning Rain''s effects, hitting nine seven-man units at the same time when they were still huddled up.

    When the Call of the Void started to fade, Zoreth and Bytra darted amid the Awakened who were rolling on the ground. The elite soldiers were trying to smother the mes while also using their respective breathing techniques to heal before it was toote.

    The glove on Zoreth''s hand extended its fingers into meters long ws that cut off five heads at a time with just a flick of her wrist. The new Sky Piercer was made of Adamant and so heavily enchanted that it had no problem cutting through the damaged enchanted armors.

    Solus noticed how much it resembled the Hands of Menadion and wondered how much Bytra knew about her mother''s work. There were many things that the Raiju would teach her, if only Solus managed to bear her presence.

    As Zoreth reaped Awakened lives like ripened wheat, Bytra threw the Absolution. The enchanted hammer split into eight exact copies that were engulfed into Chaos energy, unleashing Bytra''s version of the old Fury''s Hammerfall spell, Ruination.

 Chapter 1961 - White Griffon (Part 1)

    Chapter 1961 - White Griffon (Part 1)

    The white crystal on the Absolution turned ck as Ruination filled the hammer with Chaos energy. The enchantment split the light from the darkness, releasing the Decay produced in the form of silvery shockwaves that spread throughout the battlefield.

    The eight copies of the Bytra''s hammer pulsed in unison, using the Decay to weaken the enemy lines before striking at them with the full power of a Chaos spell.

    Now that the Call of the Void had faded, however, the Awakened saw the iing attack and managed to raise the Bastion in time. The hammers bounced off the mystical shield without even cracking them.

    The Chaos was suddenly dispersed and with it the mana coursing through the Absolutions that merged into one before falling onto the ground.

    The Raiju snarled and recalled the hammer to her hand.

    "Please, I don''t want to fight." Theseus said while dodging multiple attacks and refusing to fight back. "Stand down and I promise you that we''ll leave peacefully."

    The answer came in the form of seven tier five Spirit spells that blew him to smithereens, leaving only his feet intact. Which was more than enough for his Meneos side.

    The world energy flooded the fuming extremities along with nutrients and countless vines sprouted from them. They collected every single bit of the scattered body, rebuilding it from scratch before the dust cloud caused by the spells could even settle.

    "I gave you a choice and you chose death." The Bastet said as he shapeshifted into a 30 meters (100'') tall humanoid titan. "I won''t hold back anymore."

    Seven more Spirit Spell struck while he was still healing, yet they didn''t leave a single scratch on Theseus. The earth element of the world energy mixed with the Bastet''s life force, bestowing upon him the Mana Body bloodline ability.

    The elemental flow of the world energy flooded him and countered the Spirit Magic. A regr Divine Beast would have consumed a consistent amount of life force to neutralized so many powerful spells but Theseus was different.

    His Meneos side naturally drained the surrounding world energy while also healing his life force, making the bloodline ability have no cost for him. A flick of his wrist and the space tore apart as if a giant finger had shed through it.

    The Bastet jumped inside the rift that immediately closed behind him. The Awakened prepared a Silverwing Annihtion while looking around for the exit point of the dimensional opening but found none.

    ''Has he run away?'' One of them asked via the mind link.

    The rules of dimensional magic were simple. One exit point and one entry point were formed at the same time. Life Vision was supposed to spot them both unless one of them was too far away, like it happened for a Warp Steps.

    Ripple and Tear, however, worked differently.

    The Bastet''s tier five dimensional spell created one entry point and a dimensional pocket where the user could hide. Unlike normal dimensional areas, time inside the pocket flowed normally.

    New tears appeared in the space and the Awakened had no way to know from which one Theseus woulde out and which of them were just decoys. Tier four Chaos spells, Howling Void emerged from all of them, catching the Awakened by surprise.

    The Chaos element was too quick to conjure a barrier and make short work of their armor. The lucky ones managed to partly dodge and only lost a limb while the others died on the spot.

    They tried to return fire but the dimensional rifts closed before the spells reached them. New rifts opened into different positions and the onught of Chaos spears continued.

    ''Don''t stand like idiots! Rat him out!'' Senarabined mind and body casting to instantly weave a Copsed Space spell and force Theseus out.

    The spell made Ripple and Tear copse in a powerful implosion that struck only the Diving Beast who fell to the ground with a boom of thunder. Whole tufts of hair were burned to the root and the Basted now missed several chunks of flesh.

    Attacking from inside the rift was safe, but keeping it open required an enormous amount of energy that he couldn''t recover while away from the ground. Theseus was still gasping for air when an Annihtion struck him.

    He conjured Mana Body again while his Meneos side drained more world energy, but his body started to crumble.

    Senara didn''t miss how his feet were the only part of his massive body to be still unscathed and the fact they were the point from which the regeneration always started.

    ''Aim the Annihtion on his feet or make the Red Carnival fly!'' She said. ''Once we get him off the ground, he''s as good as dead.''

    Dolgus however begged to differ.

    He had no intention of taking part in the fight but the Awakened didn''t know it and had attacked the Griffon as well. On top of that, even though he didn''t approve of Lith''s and Zoreth''s n, he had sworn to protect Theseus and Solus.

    He abandoned his human form, revealing his nature as a White Griffon. The Emperor Beasts and the tree-tall Faes that until a second ago had towered over him were now overshadowed by his majestic figure.

    The Griffon quickly shapeshifted into a bipedal form with prehensile hands, keeping the same mass of his four-legged form and reaching a height of 30 meters (100 feet). His head, neck, and forelimbs were covered in pristine white feathers that turned pitch-ck toward the end.

    His leonine body was covered in glistening amber colored fur that ended in a tail whose tip was made of pure white light, shining like a star.

    Even though they had been together for a while, it was only then that Lith recognized Dolgus. The two had never met, but Lith had spent four years of his life surrounded by banners depicting Tyris'' firstborn.

    ''Are you rted to the White Griffon academy?'' Lith asked as a silvery armor covered Dolgus and a pair of battle maces appeared in his hands.

    ''I was his first Headmaster after its foundation.'' The White Griffon replied. ''My siblings took care of the other academies. Why do you ask?''

    Lith didn''t have time for talking as many attacks came in both his and Dolgus'' direction. The Griffon snarled, knowing that even with the White Wind armor he couldn''t afford to take seven Spirit Spell of that magnitude.

    Every piece of his equipment was a gift from Tyris. She had given them to him as a reward for following in her footsteps and helping the people of Mogar. Their Adamant was heavily enchanted, but it still had limits.

    Dolgus unleashed a stream of Life Maelstrom that empowered him, his equipment, and burst out into two more bolts of silver lightning that struck respectively Theseus and Solus.

    At the same time, he used the tier five Light Mastery spell, Castle of Light, to shroud his maces into multipleyers of hard-light constructs. The perfectly bnced weapons moved non-stop, using each the momentum of the other to never slow down even after deflecting a spell.

    Dolgus used one mace to strike at whoever darede close enough and the other as a shield that blocked both magical and physical attacks.

 Chapter 1962 - White Griffon (Part 2)

    Chapter 1962 - White Griffon (Part 2)

    The two weapons emitted sparks of light with their every move that didn''t fade away even after the Griffon had moved to another position.

    ''What in the Great Mother''s name is happening?'' Senara suddenly was afraid that even the elite units of the Council might not be enough to win her that battle. ''Three out of the four Abominations have transformed into Divine Beasts and the nameless man turned out to be a Griffon.

    ''Is Elphyn Menadion the only human in the group?''

    The answer to her question came when Zoreth in her Shadow Dragon form and Bytra in her human form who stood above the Dragon''s head started to move in unison. The Council representative noticed that there was something familiar in the spell they were casting but the realization arrived when it was toote.

    Their arms had traced a six-pointed star that she had mistaken for Silverwing''s Hexagram at first and then for Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    ''It cannot be either! The Hexagram takes too long to cast and the Annihtion requires seven violet cored Awakened and Spirit Magic!'' Senara thought, and she was right, but only in part.

    White-cored Awakened had more than enough power to use Silverwing''s legacy on their own and regr Eldritches were just as powerful. They couldn''t use Annihtion simply because the light element the spell required was sealed by their ever-hungry ck core andcked Spirit Magic.

    Bytra and Zoreth, however, were hybrids who could use light magic freely. They had yet to unlock the power of Spirit Magic, but after studying the anti-Guardian spells, Vastor had altered them in a form that his children could use.

    The Shadow Dragon unleashed Chaos Annihtion in the form of a ck pir that cut through the battlefield. It left a dozen meters deep scar into the ground, almost pierced through the Bastions that the Awakened kept at the ready, and killed those who didn''t.

    The Chaos reced the darkness and made up for theck of Spirit Magic, bringing Vastor''s variation of the Annihtion on par with the original. The seven-man units behind the Bastions replied with their own Annihtion, hoping to put the Dragon down just like they had done with the Tiamat.

    Bytra''s Corrupted Bastion stopped them all in their tracks, the cursed element of earth eroding the powers of the enemy''s spells while also making the barrier harder than a diamond.

    ''Dammit!'' Senara thought. ''No regr human can use Corruption and live to tell the tale. It means that the weak link of the chain is Elphyn Menadion, but I can''t afford to kill her. Old magic or not, every piece of the First Ruler of the me''s legacy is a priceless treasure.''

    At the same time, Solus and Theseus received the Life Maelstrom. The Bastet''s metabolism and bloodline abilities were now boosted to the point that his body instantly recovered from the injuries.

    On top of that, he could now share his Mana Body with his allies, imbuing them with the passive effect of his bloodline ability, Mana Aura. Every member of the group was now infused with a massive amount of world energy and a spark of Theseus'' life force.

    It boosted their fusion magic and granted them resistance to elemental magic until the world energy he had bestowed upon them wouldn''t run out. It had been thebination of Life Maelstrom and Mana Body that had allowed the two Divine Beast to survive until that moment despite Theseus'' pitiful condition.

    No matter the enemy they faced, Dolgus alone would be capable of standing against whole human armies and defending his friend at the same time. Now, however, Theseus wasn''t in need of protection and they weren''t alone anymore.

    Solus benefitted more than the others from the Bastet''s bloodline ability because world energy was her source of power and the sudden influx made up for her cracked core.

    ''Lith, we must even the field and do it quickly!'' She said via their mind link as she sent half of the Life Maelstrom that she had received to him.

    ''Got it!'' Mana Aura and Life Maelstrom boosted the Tiamat''s light fusion to the point that the hole in his chest healed as fast as if he had used Invigoration.

    A seven-headed Hydra had used his long necks to restrain his limbs and the remaining three to bite into his exposed flesh, injecting him with deadly venom. While Lithy helpless on the ground, the members of her unit had bombarded him with spells.

    He was covered in wounds and the Voidwalker armor was riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese. Yet now that his lungs were fixed, Lith could finally breathe again.

    He took a deep breath, but the Hydra read his move. One head conjured a muzzle of Spirit Magic that would keep his mouth shut while another buried his feathered wings underground with earth magic.

    Unfortunately for her, Lith had never intended to release the burst of True mes that way. The Cursed mes burst out of his body in a circr eruption that burned the serpentine necks restricting him and inflicted heavy damage on the rest of the seven-man unit.

    The Awakened screamed in pain as the Cinder in the Origin mes drained their bodies of the water element, turning them into dried, highly inmmable plums. Even the Hydra, with one head focused solely on using his breathing technique, could barely withstand the pain.

    So, when Lith stood up and freed his wings, the Awakened fell from the frying pan into the freezer. A shockwave of Frozen mes hit the members of the seven-man unit who were already using water magic to douse the mes, causing a thermal shock that turned them into popsicles.

    Their bodies shattered like ss when Lith hit them with Double Edge. War had already taken its ce inside the exoskeleton and had activated its Gleipnir ability to help its master to wave their de Tier Spell, Ruin.

    Lith would have liked to wait for a moment when he waspletely surrounded by enemies to inflict the maximum damage possible, but Life Maelstrom wouldn''tst forever.

    The extra power it bestowed upon him would more than make up for the strategic loss. Solus had shared the silver lightning with him and in turn, Lith shared it with War, allowing the de to develop abilities that exceeded the normal output of its pseudo cores.

    ''A de Tier Spell empowered by Life Maelstrom?'' A cold shiver ran down Senara''s back and of those who received her warning. ''We have to stop the Tiamat at all costs! Those close enough focus only on Verhen, the rest prepare another Bastion!''

    The idea was excellent, but in her panic, Senara had failed to consider that Lith wasn''t the only yer on the battlefield. Thebination of Mana Body, Life Maelstrom, and his Meneos side made Theseus nigh-invulnerable.

    Sure, while under the effects of the earth-based bloodline ability he couldn''t weave spells, but he had no need for magic when his ws could tear apart metal and his Abomination Touch suck the life out of whoever came too close to him.

    The Shadow Dragon breathed one burst of Origin mes after the other, forcing the Awakened to dodge and disrupting their formations.

 Chapter 1963 - Menadions Wrath (Part 1)

    Chapter 1963 - Menadion''s Wrath (Part 1)

    Along with the volley of train-sized bursts of Origin mes, Chaos spells erupted from Zoreth''s whole body, each one big enough to obliterate a human-sized creature in one hit.

    Emperor Beasts and nts could afford to get hit without dying, but in the heat of the battle stopping their movement was the same as bing sitting ducks.

    The Raiju had abandoned her human form and galloped through the battlefield, unleashing a rain on white bolts of lightning in her wake. Those who didn''t dodge Bytra discovered that her strength was above that of an Emperor Beast.

    Her horn would pierce through armor, scales, and flesh alike, draining the life out of her victims while electrocuting them.

    Each hit of Dolgus'' maces either killed or incapacitated an Awakened. The particles of light that his movements generated had now formed a thick curtain that crackled with power.

    "Gods, no!" Senara said out loud in shock as she recognized one of Tyris'' signature bloodline abilities that the White Griffon had inherited.

    Light Raider turned the curtain into magical runes that took the form of arrays, Light Mastery spells, and more. Dolgus could manipte the light element in the world energy, and by mixing it with his life force, turn it into anything else.

    The runes of light now shrouded the battlefield around the Griffon, forming healing spells to mend his wounds, hard-light shields to block the iing attacks, and tier five spells of all elements.

    Light Raider was empowered by the world energy which contained all elements. To convert light into another element, the runes simply had to sacrifice themselves to conjure what they needed.

    "Ignore the Tiamat and stop the fucking White Griffon!" She yelled at the top of her lungs while flying toward Dolgus. "Light Raider can turn the tables of any battle."

    The Awakened were now more terrified than ever.

    Despite their orders, they knew that turning their back to a de Tier Spell was moronic at best. They stood their ground and weaved Silverwing''s Bastion, ready to take the Tiamat down the moment the de Tier Spell faded.

    ''The kid is just 19 and has a violet core. He can''t have truly mastered such aplex discipline already. Also, his limit should be two consecutive de Tier spells tops. With all the damage he has taken, if we resist the spell and keep him from using his breathing technique, he''s as good as dead.'' The veterans thought in unison.

    Their analysis was urate. There was only so much that Lith could do, especially after consuming a lot of energy to conjure the Call of the Void and the Cursed mes.

    It was the reason he would''ve never attempted Ruin if not for Solus. She was just a blue cored Awakened and a human at that. Everyone was ignoring her and she was happier that way.

    It had given her all the time she needed to cast her own de Tier spell, Menadion''s Wrath.

    What made the title of Ruler of the mes so amazing wasn''t the knowledge they shared with the rest of the Awakenedmunity, but their ability to craft equipment that was in tune with their owners.

    Without it, it was impossible to cast a de Tier Spell. Ripha Menadion had spent years working on Solus'' Fury and making sure that it would fit her daughter like a glove.

    As a mother, she knew everything about Elphyn, from her favorite foods to the way she weaved the mystical runes in her mind. Solus had discovered that if not for her weakened condition, she would have been able to cast powerful de Tier spells.

    Her tower half was naturally attuned with her, giving her a power core that followed her everymand akin to her mana core while the Fury answered to her will almost with the same ease.

    The mystical hammer split into seven identical copies, each one with its mana crystals imbued with a different element.

    The energy that would form thest two was shared between them, further strengthening her spell. The Furies formed a seven-pointed star that flew across the space separating Solus from Lith.

    The Awakened prepared to dodge the array and remained confused when they noticed that it wasn''t aimed at anyone in particr nor did it seem to slow down.

    ''Whatever that thing is, ignore it.'' One of the most experienced said via the mind link. ''I don''t know what it does but its energy is weak.

    ''It hasn''t even charred the ground on its passage so withstanding the effects of the array for the split second itsts should be child''s ypared to blocking a real de Tier Spell.'' Everyone nodded and conjured Silverwing''s Bastion.

    Lith had nowpleted Ruin which generated a raging storm of energy des that covered a quarter of the battlefield. A single Bastion wouldn''t have been enough to withstand it due to the Life Maelstrom empowering Ruin, but there were many and the de Spell''s power was split among several targets.

    Still, thebination of Lith''s mana core and the power core of his equipment hit the seven-man units so hard that their feet dug into the ground and were pushed back of a few meters.

    That until Menadion''s Wrath reached them. Then, the twobined de Spells cut the Awakened forces apart like toilet paper.

    Solus knew that with her core even a de Tier spell wouldck the destructive power to take out her enemies in a single strike.

    So, while Lith spent his days alone with Kam she had devised a de Tier Counterspell.

    The strong point of magic like that belonging to Silverwing''s legacy was that by being imbued with the willpower of seven people, they couldn''t be affected by Domination. Lith and Solus had already encountered the same problem while dealing with powerful or multiple enemies.

    Domination required focus that wasn''t always possible and a will superior to that of the opponent. Menadion''s Wrath had been devised to make up for situations when Domination was pointless.

    The seven hammers didn''t carry elemental power meant to attack, but to disrupt. The array they formed carried Solus'' willpower and extended the range of her Domination.

    Since she couldn''t control too many spells at the same time nor a spell above her level, she had given up on the idea. Menadion''s Wrath released bursts of elemental power and Spirit Magic that disrupted the spells within the array''s area of influence, making them go awry.

    It was the result of abination of elemental sealing arrays and Domination that attacked both the structure of a spell and the mind of its caster. On top of that, by tainting the spells with Solus'' energy signature, once they exploded, they would harm their own caster but be harmless to both her and Lith.

    Tier four and five spells of all kinds fell victim to the Wrath, even those that the Awakened keep at the ready. They exploded from the inside out, tearing their flesh apart.

    Silverwing''s Bastion was the result of the collective will of seven people, so it held against the disruptive effects of the Wrath, but only until Ruin hit. Then, the Awakened had to split their focus between the two de Tier Spells, failing at both tasks.

 Chapter 1964 - Menadions wrath (Part 2)

    Chapter 1964 - Menadion''s wrath (Part 2)

    The pressure that the energy des conjured by Ruin exerted on the Bastions required the Awakened to focus on hardening the magical barrier. Yet this way the Menadion''s Wrath met no resistance as it twisted the magical energies until they turned vtile.

    The Bastions exploded, leaving their casters injured and opened to the onught of Ruin that cut them into pieces so small that even Faes couldn''t recover and died.

    "My name is Elphyn Menadion!" Solus yelled at the top of her lungs as a battle cry. "I''m here to reim both my name and my legacy. I don''t care who you are or how old you are. If you steal from me, you''ll face my Fury and Wrath!"

    "Screw keeping Menadion''s heir alive, she''s too dangerous!" Senara changed her orders again, making her soldiers sigh in frustration. "We''ll settle for studying her magical items."

    "Oh, shit!" Solus'' group said in unison.

    Lith was dead tired and needed to use Abyssal Grasp to recover. Dolgus was busy dealing with Senara who had earned her position as Council representative on the field.

    The Fae was smaller and weaker than him, but her expertise with magic and recovery ability made the Firbolg a force to be reckoned with. Senara used earth magic to conjure barriers that took the brunt of the damage of his maces while also making Dolgus slowly sink into the ground.

    His technique required him to be constantly on the move and shift his weight from one foot to another, but the muddy ground made it impossible. If the White Griffon took flight he would escape the trap, but he would also lose his footing and leave the enemies free to focus on hispanions.

    The Firbolg used her bloodline ability, Unbridled Growth, to inject the world energy into the soil and make nts reach a size that would take them decades to achieve otherwise. Roots, trees, and even flowers came to life, crawling over Dolgus'' body and further restricting his movements.

    Wyverns flew around him, breathing Origin mes that consumed his Life Maelstrom and weakened his equipment while a Litanu, a lesser Leviathan, used the power of Elemental Flow to conjure arrays that neutralized his spells.

    "Tyris'' son or not, you are just one while we are many. You shouldn''t have outstayed your wee, runt!" Senara said while conjuring the tier five Spirit Spell, Starfall.

    A hail of small green meteors imbued with the power of all elements appeared out of thin air, forming an emerald aurora that matched that of Light Raider.

    Each of the mystical projectiles was just the size of a marble, but also had the energy of a cannonball and detonated upon impact with the destructive power of a concussive grenade.

    The air filled with green fire as the countless projectiles reached their immobilized mark and forced the Griffon to fall onto his knees.

    "I may be youngpared to you, but I''m still a Divine Beast!" Dolgus joined the two ends of his maces, fusing them into a polearm.

    At the same time, he used what Life Maelstrom he had left to empower the enchantments of his Twin Stars before mming it against the ground and activating its enchantment, Force Wall.

    The light element mixed with fire, generating a huge pir of light that intercepted the iing attacks and pushed the Council''s soldiers away. Then, darkness joined the other two elements, opening cracks into the ground and making the nts wither.

    The stolen energy was passed onto Dolgus, healing his wounds. Force Wall bought him enough time to look in Solus'' direction, but not enough to help her.

    Theseus was fighting tooth and nail, but now that the Awakened had discovered the secret of his strength they were aiming their attacks at his feet. He withstood one Annihtion after the other, but the same Mana Body that saved his life kept him from casting spells.

    The enemies that until that moment had left Solus alone now swarmed her from every side while she was at her weakest. She had poured the Mana Flow and the Life Maelstrom into the Wrath, leaving her blue core almost depleted.

    Emperor Beast fought her in close-quarterbat while Faes kept themselves at middle range, using their abilities to hinder her movements and block her spells. The humans in the unit used that time to weave spells and conjure arrays to defend their allies.

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Solus thought as she turned into a punching bag for the Awakened.

    She had little battle experiencepared to Lith and had yet to lose her bad habit of overthinking in action whereas her opponents were all centuries-old seasoned veterans.

    To make matters worse, her superior physical prowess was useless if none of her attacks managed tond. Having a mere blue core not only limited her mana, but also her speed and reaction time.

    To the violet-cored Awakened, her movements were in slow motion, making Solus unable to see their movements, let alone block their attacks. If not for her tower half that bestowed upon her a great mass and her Voidwalker armor, she would have died at the first blow.

    Cracks kept appearing over her skin and they spread further with each attack that she suffered, forming spiderwebs. Solus could feel the tower slowly copsing and her human body losing its integrity.

    "Don''t worry, Elphyn Menadion. We''ll take good care of your legacy." A Wyvern dived down, hurling a river of light violet Origin mes.

    ''Thanks for the meal.'' Solus thought as she activated her bloodline ability, Draining Grounds.

    Her tower halfbined its effect with the Sage Staff to drain the surrounding world energy, including that of the Origin mes. Solus'' body started to heal as the stolen life force became her own.

    A Hippogriff threw a silver bolt of Life Maelstrom at her, but Draining Grounds split it into itsponents as well. The world energy filled the tower with new strength, the life force joined Solus'', and what little remained of Life Maelstrom was easily Dominated.

    She smiled when a Litanu started to conjure Doom Tide, but her optimism faded when the Wyvern called back the attack.

    ''Stop feeding her with our skills! Somehow Menadion is immune to world energy, let''s hit her with Silverwing''s Annihtion.'' The seven Awakened assembled in the Hexagram formation and unleashed the anti-Guardian spell.

    Even if Solus had been at her peak condition, she wouldn''t have been able to dodge.

    The Annihtion burst forward faster than a bullet, destroying everything in its wake and opening a deep trench into the ground.

    Solus closed her eyes, waiting for the worst, but the only thing that hit her was a sudden gust of wind. When she opened them again, she discovered to be on Bytra''s back.

    The Raiju had never stopped moving through the battlefield, always keeping an eye on Solus in the case she needed help. Yet Solus'' instinctive reaction wasn''t of gratitude, but of revulsion.

    She screamed in panic and fell off the Raiju''s back, kicking Bytra with all the strength she had left. They both ended up crashing against the ground, their vision blurred by the violent impact.

    The Abomination-Hybrid was sturdier than a normal Raiju, but her mass was still a small thingpared to Solus''. The hit would have ripped her head off if not for her innate regenerative abilities.

 Chapter 1965 - Light in the Dark (Part 1)

    Chapter 1965 - Light in the Dark (Part 1)

    ''I''m sorry!'' Solus thought as the Awakened forces exploited theck of teamwork between Bytra and her to surround them. ''Don''t worry about me and save yourself. As long as Lith doesn''t die, I can''t either. I will just lose my human body again.''

    She tried to make it sound casual but the fear in her voice betrayed her.

    Solus had no idea if the second time it would take her less to recover or if she would have to wait another fifteen years. On top of that, she wasn''t even sure about what would happen to the tower and what it contained.

    If the magical building regressed to its single floor status, there was no telling what would happen to the materials stored in the Crucible, the mines, and the Greenhouse.

    More than the material loss, however, what scared her was the thought of losing the life that she had barely started to enjoy.

    ''Just lose my human body my ass.'' Bytra replied. ''I know how it feels being reduced to a mass of living energy. To be incapable of eating, smelling, and even touching the people you love without killing them.

    ''You are no Lich, Elphyn. I don''t know what Ripha did to you but I''m certain that if you take any more attacks, you''ll fall into a slumber again. I don''t care what happens to me. Even if you can''t stand my touch, I can still protect you with my body.''

    A tier five Spirit Spell came onto them and the Raiju shielded Solus while conjuring from her horn an electromaic field to disperse the impact. The powerful magic got rid of the makeshift barrier and sted away Bytra''s left side and the Adamant armor she wore.

    It would have been a fatal wound even for an Awakened, but an Eldritch was a tough nut to crack. Bytra''s body began to heal the moment the emerald energy ceased to vaporize her flesh.

    Yet she could still feel the pain from the wounds.

    She still bled, drenching Solus in bits of ck flesh and blood. More and more spells came down, but Bytra stood still, using every enchantment her equipment had and weaving every spell she knew just to buy Solus one more second.

    With each new wound she sustained, her maimed body recovered but it came at a price. The hunger grew within her until the Raiju looked at the woman she had been protecting like prey, drooling from her snout.

    Along with the hunger also came the guilt for her actions when she had killed Menadion and Bytra almost lost her mind to a fit of blood madness.

    ''You have done enough, go!'' Solus said, and her voice reminded the Raiju of who she was and what she was fighting for.

    She channeled her hunger into Chaos and her guilt into determination as she faced her fate.

    "Bytra!" Xenagrosh yelled in outrage, feeling her wife''s pain.

    "Don''t worry, once I bring you to myb, I''ll make sure to put you in adjacent cages." Assali the Lich said. "I won''t let such fascinating specimens die and my experiments proved thatpany makes them live longer."

    Most undead couldn''te out during the day, which had crippled the attack strength of the Council. Liches, however, had no such problem. Once Ozak had promised them both a share of the Mouth and the opportunity to capture the hybrids, they had epted to help him.

    Not only Liches were among the most powerful undead, but they also had no fear of Chaos or death. Their phcteries were safely stored away from the battlefield so they could fight to their heart content without taking any risks.

    One Lich wasn''t much for Zoreth, but seven of them to cast Silverwing''s spells and each one with an army of lesser undead under theirmand was another story. The forgetful and socially awkward Liches were terrifying existences once they put their mind to something.

    They fought with the precision of machines and the cold blood of a gamer who could try even the most reckless tactic without fear. For Liches defeat didn''t mean death, just to wait for the respawn countdown to end.

    They used body casting to weave their personal tier five Spirit Spells and true magic to cast the Bastion and Annihtion. Zoreth, instead, was alone and could only conjure one of them at a time.

    ''If I only use Corrupted Bastion, I''ll never win but if I use the Chaos Annihtion, they''ll shrug it off and rip me to shreds.'' She thought while hurling a jet stream of Origin mes that was countered in kind by a squad of Firebirds.

    They flew away immediately after releasing the Origin mes from their wings while Zoreth was stuck in ce so she was the only one suffering from the explosion.

    "Elphyn!" Even in his panic Lith, didn''t forget to keep Solus'' cover.

    He had already regained enough energy with his breathing technique and was about to rush towards her when a colossal figure tackled him.

    "You had your fun, kid, but now it''s over." The creature resembled a huge man 20 meters (66'') tall with a stone skin and a hole for a face. Half of his head was an open maw with multiple eyes that blinked amid rows of razor-sharp fangs.

    The cavity in the middle of his face seemed to host his eyes, mouth, and nose at the same time since Lith could smell the fetid breathing from it.

    "Get off me!" The Tiamat tried to stab the creature with Double Edge but they were too close and the enemy just needed one hand to lock his wrist in an iron grip.

    "You wish." The hole deformed into a vertical grin as a bolt of ck lightning coursed through the body of the giant and entered Lith''s, ravaging it.

    ''I recognize this fucker from Faluel''s lessons.'' He thought while the Corrupted Lightning disabled his fusion magic and reduced the gap in physical prowess between them. ''He''s a Jotunn and I bet that he''s an evolved human as well.''

    The Tiamat had noticed the eyes inside the mouth glowing ck while the stone giant activated his bloodline ability in a fashion that reminded Lith of his own.

    Jotunns were indeed evolved humans as well who had reached a physical prowess akin to Emperor Beasts and gained mana organs. Just like the Tyrants, they found their conditioncking and disguised themselves as beasts in order to study them.

    Their Corrupted Lightning worked simrly to Life Maelstrom, but it was much weaker. The ck lightning empowered the Jotunn less than its silver equivalent and couldn''t be shared with allies or equipment.

    Its only offensive valuey in the ability to disrupt physical skills like body casting and Fusion Magic. On top of that, no matter how much a mage focused, any spell they kept at the ready would be lost as well. In Lith''s case, it even disabled his eyes.

    Corrupted Lightning also dealt damage to its victims, but no more than a tier three spell.

    Rkar''r the Jotun had joined the mission hoping to capture the Tiamat and extract the secrets of his perfect bloodline abilities. The Council didn''t even have to mention the Mouth that he was already in.

    The Jotun neared his mouth to Lith''s face, to seal off those dangerous eyes with one bite.

 Chapter 1966 - Light in the Dark (Part 2)

    Chapter 1966 - Light in the Dark (Part 2)

    The Tiamat snarled and headbutted the Jotun, happy to have horns that gave him the reach advantage.

    Rkar''r reeled back in pain as his skull cracked and the curved horns ripped away big chunks of his flesh, flooding his mouth with blood and blinding his eyes. Lith exploited that moment to light his emerald eye and take control of the Cursed Lightning still stored inside the Jotun''s body.

    Now that he was the only one with fusion magic, the smaller and weaker creaturecked the strength to keep him pinned to the ground. Lith threw Rkar''r against the other members of the Council and had him forcefully release the Cursed Lightning he had left.

    Those hit by the bloodline ability found themselves without fusion magic, with the spells they had kept at the ready or that they had been weaving gone. The Tiamat exploited the chaos that ensued to conjure the Call of the Void again.

    The ckness formed a dome where only he and Solus could see and dozens of Demons of the Darkness answered his call.

    Lith''s allies knew the effects of the Call of the Void and used the temporary respite to escape from their respective encirclement. They could all use a short break to heal and drink tonics.

    ''I''m so sorry, Bytra.'' Solus cried over the mangled body of the Raiju that refused to die even though half of it was reduced to a bloody pulp.

    ''Don''t be.'' Bytra replied. ''I''ve taken your life away and now I''m giving you mine. It''s a fair exchange.''

    ''No, it''s not!'' Solus cried harder. ''You are not that Bytra. If you had another face, I wouldn''t hate you one bit. You have been reduced like this only because I''m too weak.

    ''Too weak in the body to fight by the side of our allies and too weak in the mind to ept a helping hand when you offered it to me.''

    Her stomach churned and she puked in her mouth a little, but Solus withstood it and sent the bile back down her throat. She ced her hands on the Raiju''s body, ignoring her whole being screaming in revulsion.

    Then, Solus activated her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, while she poured with water magic dozens of tonics inside Bytra''s mouth. The sudden flow of world energy revitalized the Abomination side of the Raiju that used it along with the nutrients to repair the damage at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    The flesh and blood that had been scattered by the explosions came to life and reattached themselves into the right position until Bytra was whole again. She couldn''t see anything, just like her enemies, but she wasn''t scared anymore.

    Both the hunger and the pain were gone.

    Then, sight suddenly returned.

    Solus had leaned her head against the Raiju''s using a deeper mind link to share her vision with her.

    ''I''m not powerful enough to win this fight, but together we can make it. Please, lend me your strength.'' Solus asked.

    ''I''ll do more than that.'' Bytra knelt down, letting Solus mount on her back.

    Once she managed to hold with just her legs, keeping her hands free to cast spells, Solus discovered to be holding both the Fury and the Absolution.

    ''It works just like your mother''s hammer. Anyone of my choosing can use the Absolution. As I said earlier, it belongs to you so feel free to use it to your heart''s content.'' The Raiju said.

    Solus could see how simr the two hammers were and feel their power resonate like two siblings separated at birth that had found each other by chance.

    ''Run like the wind and never stop cast lightning spells, please.'' Solus thought as the elemental crystals on the Fury turned orange and yellow while the white crystals on the Absolution conjured the same elements out of the world energy.

    The orange and yellow streaks in Solus'' hair lit up as well while Bytra run across the battlefield, conjuring a hail of white bolts of lightning. The Raiju could feel the ground bing soft when she stepped on it and didn''t fail to notice how her spells seemed to have gained a life of her own.

    What were supposed to be one-time lightning bolts kepting down one after another.

    "Mjolnir!" Solus roared as the enchantments of the hammers mixed with her mana to conjure the mother of all thunderstorms.

    The ground was suddenly electrified, sending the Awakened soldiers with their feet on the ground into a seizure. A constant stream of lightning marked Solus''s position, emitting a sh of light so blinding that it partly dispelled the Void.

    Yet those close enough to witness the phenomenon died without having the time to alert theirrades. Solus''s strength was on par with a Divine Beast''s and so was Bytra''s speed.

    Oncebined with the power of Mjolnir and the hardness of the Davross'' hammers, one hit was all that it took to turn a powerful violet-cored elder into meat paste.

    At the same time, Lith rushed inside the enemy formation while the Void still held and unleashed his tier four War Mage spell, gue Storm. The bolts of darkness magic were slow, but speed was irrelevant if the enemy couldn''t see theming.

    The Awakened first had lost their innate magic and now their physical strength faltered as well. On top of that, now that the battlefield was littered with bodies, the Demons of the Darkness could collect them and evolve into Demons of the Fallen, increasing their strength.

    Theseus had no idea what was happening, but he remembered the position of his allies well enough to hurl a river of Origin mes around him without the risk of hurting them.

    His lion skull mask lit with bright violet mes and its green mane turned into an emerald fire as he drowned his blinded enemies in a searing firestorm.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, Throne room, at the same time.

    When Tyris had woken the Royals in the middle of the night, they had been too honored and curious by her presence to ask the Guardian for what reason whatever she had to tell them couldn''t wait until sunrise.

    Then, Tyris had simply opened her palms in front of her, conjuring the hologram of the events of the Oenaka hill battle from the moment it had started.

    Meron and Sylpha swallowed a lump of saliva every time they witnessed the Verendi Council cast with ease a spell that only the Kingdom''s Corpse unit could. The same happened when one of the Divine Beasts used their bloodline abilities and spell.

    Most of all, however, it was Lith''s prowess that scared them.

    The other yers were ancient monsters with centuries if not millennia of experience whereas he was just a youth of 19 years. A youth that was holding his ground and fighting on par with waves of those ancient monsters.

    "When you travel to the Desert to negotiate the conditions for Verhen''s full pardon, keep these images in mind." The First Queen said. "Never forget that no matter how small or young the appearance he takes is, this is what he is capable of.

    "This is what his allies are capable of. People who don''t give a damn about something as trifling as a King but who are willing to fight along those who they call their brethren."

 Chapter 1967 - Last Stand (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1967 - Last Stand (Part 1) </h4>

    "We will remember it." Sylpha knelt to Tyris, lowering her gaze in submission.

    "I have one question." Meron said while assuming the same position, incapable of looking the Guardian in the eyes. "It seems to me that you like Verhen and even respect him."

    "You are correct on both issues." Tyris nodded for him to continue.

    "Then why didn''t you do anything when Morn issued that damn Royal Decree? Why did you stand idly when Meln Narchat set up the trap in the Heavenly Wolf Restaurant? Why did you remain silent until this very moment?" The King asked.

    "For the same reason I''m not moving a finger against Thrud, I didn''t stop the civil war seven years ago, and I never protected you against Balkor''s attacks. Because I love you too much to rob you of your opportunity to be a better person."

    "What do you mean?" The Queen raised her gaze in confusion.

    "Do you really think that living a pampered life without ever experiencing hardships or paying for the consequences of your actions can teach you anything?" Tyris replied with a sigh of annoyance.

    "Had I stopped Meln, Morn, or you, for that matter, Verhen would have never traveled to the Desert, the Constable would have never proposed to him, and his growth would have remained blocked.

    "Had I stopped the civil war, the Royal Court would still be a rotten swamp of putrid water, filled with corrupted nobles. If I killed Balkor when I had the chance, the Academy system would have never changed.

    "You have learned from Ilyum Balkor more than just his research about undead and Abominations.

    "You have learned of the consequences of crossing a genius and he has shown you the weak points of the arrays you considered perfect. More importantly, he has contributed to making the Griffon Kingdom a better ce formoners and Lith is the living proof of it.

    "The Kingdom, just like Lith, has found new strength and light during its darkest hour exactly because it was forced to face such hardships. None of it would have happened if I just swept in and took care of your problems for you.

    "Adversities make you grow stronger and reveal your true self. Without struggle, there is no growth, either as a person or a mage. I love you like I love all of my children but if I were to shield you from the world, I would turn you into a bunch of spoiled brats.

    "My role isn''t to keep you from making mistakes or to make the hard decisions in your ce. My role is to be there for you when you fall and help you to get back on your feet.

    "If you choose to remain in the mud and give up on fighting, there''s nothing I can do." Tyris said.

    "Thanks for your wisdom." King Meron said.

    He realized how even that chain of terrible events had a silver lining. It had given them the opportunity to uproot Morn''s treachery, to force the Awakened Council to finally negotiate with the Kingdom, and Lith to show his true power.

    "You are wee." Tyris nodded. "Yet I have to warn you about a danger I feel is iing. Beware of the ck Throne."

    The Royals exchanged a puzzled look. Neither of them had ever heard that name before. Yet looking at Lith''s colossal ck body and the army of Demons fighting for him, a terrible thought came to their minds.

    "Are you warning us that if we don''t deal with Verhen right he will take the throne after the war ends?" Sylpha asked.

    "Maybe." Tyris replied with a sly smile. "Even if he does, I wouldn''t help you. This is a problem that you have created and that is up to you to solve, just like Balkor. It''s your burden to carry, not mine."

    The King and Queen looked each other in the eyes, shrugging in confusion. Neither of them had the faintest idea what Tyris'' words might mean yet the weight they carried was too great to not make them worry.

    They needed no mind link to decide that such an important matter couldn''t be delegated nor could it wait one second longer than strictly necessary.

    ***

    Verendi Continent, Penaka Hill, at the same time.

    Solus was still riding through the battlefield like an angry goddess of thunder. The ground broke at the passage of her steed, releasing bursts of electricity that she brewed in the depth of Mogar.

    Even nts and Emperor Beasts who were capable of moving through solid rock and those who had taken flight to escape the ckness weren''t safe from Solus'' and Bytra''s version of Mjolnir.

    The Fury''s and the Absolution''s power cores fueled their spell and their respective elemental crystals constantly conjured natural bolts of lightning that broke on the hammers like tidal waves against mountains before flooding their enemies.

    Raijus had an innate affinity with the air element and conjuring storm clouds was second nature to them. Bytra used her bloodline ability to create the natural bolts of lightning, unleashing part of them on those who came too close forfort and leaving the rest for Solus'' spell to manipte. A ll N OVE L FU LL . c 0m

    Senara heard a blip every time one of her soldiers died and their respective runes disappeared from themunication earpiece. The nt representative cursed their bad luck and asked her peers for reinforcements.

    ''Damn the Tiamat and his bloodline abilities!'' She thought. ''This is no normal darkness but after experiencing its effects once, I know what to do.''

    She sent a telepathic signal to the nearest seven-man unit and weaved the final rune of a darkness sealing array. Demons and Void mes were unaffected, but the ckness faded enough for the Awakened to spot the Tiamat.

    Another Silverwing''s Annihtion struck him square on the chest, sending Lith flying. This time he had managed to activate the Spirit Barrier of his armor that coupled with Theseus'' Mana Flow had taken the brunt of the impact.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith coughed out a mouthful of blood. ''One hit and my resistance to magic is gone. If I take another shot of that thing, I''m done.''

    The Demons of the Fallen near him rejoiced at his internal injury. The blood rain that he had produced fused with their bodies and they ignited the residual spark of life force the Tiamat''s blood contained before it faded.

    Their bodies turned into a mass of living fire as the lost flesh and blood of their master allowed them to reach the stage of Demons of the mes.

    Lith didn''t share their enthusiasm but the new metamorphosis gave him the time to finish casting his tier five spell, Final Eclipse. A dome of ck fire engulfed him and everyone around him for fifty meters.

    The Awakened screamed as their bodies started to burn whereas the Tiamat and the Demons were immune to the effect of the spells.

    Zoreth was no longer worried about her wife and could focus solely on the Liches, but it was still an uphill battle. The only thing she could do was to turtle up, hiding behind a Decay Bastion while the undead mages unleashed one Annihtion after the other.

    She had tried to squash them like bugs, but their deadly touch matched that of the Abomination and there were seven of them.

 Chapter 1968 - Last Stand (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1968 - Last Stand (Part 2)</h4>

    Dolgus was now free from Senara''s trap and spun his polearm to keep the Awakened at bay. The weapon was perfectly bnced and thanks to its enchantments, the motion was slowly conjuring a tornado that made it hard to approach him without bing easy prey.

    Yet now that the cover of the Void was gone, the Council representative could pinpoint the dimensional coordinates to send the reinforcements on the hill without them being blinded by the ckness.

    The other three Council representatives arrived along with their personal disciples and closest allies, people who would fight without asking questions. The death of so many Awakened was a tragedy, sure, but it was also the perfect cover to issue a kill order.

    The official version was that the pay had been broken by the Abominations in the attempt to feed on Senara, with no mentioning of the Mouth or Elphyn.

    "Each squad focus on one of them and take them down." Ozak said. "The hybrids are strong, but they can''t use breathing techniques or they would have done it under the cover of the ckness.

    "We just need to kill one of them and their formation will crumble."

    Theseus inwardly cursed at those words, knowing they were true.

    Bytra had recovered thanks to Solus, but he and Zoreth were on theirst leg. Using their bloodline abilities and casting so many spells had taken a huge toll on them. On top of that, even with Mana Body, Silverwing''s Annihtion still drained a huge chunk of his energy.

    Only Lith, Dolgus, and Solus had regained their strength, but they were still outnumbered seven to one and counting.

    Now the gap in numbers had gone back to the beginning of the fight, but this time there was no trick to blind the neers and have Solus strike at them while they were defenseless.

    To make matters worse, all the Council representatives had arrived and their prowess had no equal among their peers.

    Ozak and his apprentices conjured the tier five Spirit Spell, Griffon Fetters, conjuring a hexa-elemental bundle of emerald chains that wrapped themselves around Zoreth. As its name implied, it had been devised to restrain Griffons, the strongest creatures.

    The Darkness Dragon fell to her knees as the chains became tighter the more she struggled. Her joints were locked and her limbs kept close to her body, making it impossible for her to fight or flight.

    Theseus was attacked by Xergov the Duhan who brought with him a squad of Blood Witches. Undead couldn''t stand the light of day so he attacked from the safety of his house through a dimensional opening.

    The Duhan shapeshifted into his real form, that of a Nidhogg, a lesser Leviathan, and hurled a river of corrosive acid on the feet of the Bastet. The liquid ate at Theseus'' feet and soaked thend, cutting him off from the world energy.

    Any attempt to absorb the energy and nutrients from the ground would also carry with them the Nidhogg''s acidic breath, spreading poison throughout Theseus'' body. The undead representative had been listening to Senara the whole time and had prepared ordingly.

    From the safety of his home, Xergov had servants move his head, following the Bastet''s every move while his body focused solely on weaving two spells at the same time.

    Then, the Blood Witches drowned Theseus in Blood mes while the elder conjured the Spirit Spell Phoenix Smash. Both the red and emerald sts of mes eroded matter and energy at the same time, bringing the Abomination hybrid onto his knees.

    Normally touching the ground with his whole body would have hastened his regeneration process, but Xergov kept spitting acid and Theseus was sinking in a corrosive swamp. A ll N OVE L FU LL . c 0m

    Senara''s assistants hit Dolgus with a Silverwing''s Annihtion that ripped off the Griffon''s wings and cracked his armor. He had run out of Life Maelstrom after sharing it with Theseus and Solus and he had also run out of Mana Flow.

    The Firbolg used her personal tier five Spirit Spell, Doom Vines, to conjure hexa-elemental infused living nts that crawled on the Griffon, searching for cracks and opening into his armor before plunging into his flesh.

    Rokuno the Jotunn, the beast representative, was one of the biggest and the strongest of his race. He conjured thest bit of Corrupted Lightning he had left against Lith, negating his physical abilities before striking at him with Annihtion.

    The Tiamat reacted by using the Demons of the mes as a shield, having them detonate upon impact so that the Origin mes would lessen the destructive power of the anti-Guardian spell.

    He even tried to Blink, but Rokuno saw the exit point with Life Vision and when Lith reappeared, the Annihtion was already there waiting for him. The silver lining was that he had moved to an area with more Demons who sacrificed themselves for him and saved his life.

    Only Bytra and Solus who never stopped running throughout the battlefield at the speed of sound were still safe, but it was only a matter of time before they fell as well.

    ''I told you that we should have left this damn continent!'' Theseus said via the mind link.

    ''And I told you that this is the perfect opportunity to gauge our powers.'' Zoreth replied. ''Look at the damage that four of us have caused. The upper echelons of the Council of an entire continent are here yet we are still standing.''

    ''That sounds like something great to write on a gravestone.'' He replied dryly.

    ''Why so pessimistic? We haven''t started yet.'' Zoreth took a deep breath and a ck pir erupted from her body. ''Don''t fight it. Let it flow through you.''

    Bytra lit up immediately after, bing a beacon that made it easier to follow her movements and anticipate them. Yet while Solus questioned the sanity of the Abomination hybrids, the Raiju smiled in expectation.

    Theseus felt the resonance be even stronger after the appearance of the second pir and all he needed to do to conjure his own was to join his sisters in their inhuman melody.

    Lith felt the resonance as well and followed Bytra''s advice. He let that mysterious energy course through his body, filling it with new strength and an euphoria that he knew didn''t belong to him.

    It was a joy born from the awareness of not being alone and having be part of something bigger. The collective mind of the Abomination hybrids peered on the fringes of his consciousness but it couldn''t enter due to Lith''s nature of a Tiamat.

    Yet it was enough to trigger a simr resonance between him and his Demons. A silvery ck pir erupted from Lith''s body and each one of his Demons conjured a smaller one, even those whose physical form had been destroyed.

    The Tiamat could feel their broken bodies mending while those pulverized tried to reform even without receiving any energy from their master. His mind was filled with countless spells and martial arts he had never known before as the size of the chains that linked him to his Demons grew in size.

    ''Fuck me sideways! If I had positioned my Demons strategically, I could have used them as focus points for an array. Our bond is so much more than just a channel for my mana. We can share knowledge, strategies, and even magical runes.'' Lith thought.

 Chapter 1969: The Power Of The Gods (part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1969: The Power Of The Gods (part 1)</h4>

    ¡®My Demons can act the same way as my auxiliary cores, weaving spells in my stead and providing me with all the magic I need the moment I need it. The problem is that our normal chains aren¡¯t this strong. I must find a way to trigger this phenomenon on my own.¡¯ Lith thought.

    Before the Verendi Council representatives could understand what was happening, six new ck pirs appeared and all of the Master¡¯s chosen but Tezka joined the fray.

    Nelia the Griffon and Eycos the Garuda were already in their Divine Beast form, using the Life Maelstrom equivalent of Primordial mes, Chain Maelstrom.

    They each emptied their mana organ in one go, using half of the Life Maelstrom it stored to empower themselves and throwing the remaining half at the other in the form of a huge bolt of silver lightning.

    The iing mass of Life Maelstrom caused no harm to the two Eldritches. On the contrary, the silver lightning was absorbed and amplified by the Life Maelstrom already coursing through their bodies.

    Nelia and Eycos channeled the energy they had exchanged into their mana organs, filling them again.

    The Life Maelstrom enhanced not only their abilities, but also the amount of world energy they could store inside their bodies. When a split secondter they shoot another bolt of lightning at each other, it was bigger and stronger than the original.

    The sparks between the two Divine Beasts grew in intensity with each cycle. The Life Maelstrom they exchanged soon filled even their boosted mana organs to the brim until they couldn¡¯t contain it anymore.

    At that point, the Garuda and the Griffon flooded the battlefield with Chain Maelstrom, filling their allies with new energy and frying their enemies by overloading their cores.

    Hushar the Leviathan and Cyare the Fenrir used their Doom Tide ability to conjure the world energy from their surroundings, enriching the area more than a mana geyser.

    At the same time, they used Elemental Flow to conjure a series of arrays that neutralized the spells restricting their allies and healed their wounds.

    ¡®Nandi, do your thing on Solus as well!¡¯ Bytra said and the Minotaurplied.

    He had no idea what good could world energy do to a regr human, but in his frenzied state, there was no space for doubts, only for battle. The violet gems on the forehead and the arms of the Minotaur-Orc hybrid turned white as he harnessed the energy that Hushar and Cyare had hoarded.

    The world energy flooded Bytra, Zoreth, and Theseus with the same effects of Invigoration. Their wounds closed immediately and their ck cores quickly returned to their peak condition.

    One of Nandi¡¯s tendrils reached Solus as well, and its effects were amazing.

    Not only did shepletely recover her physical and magical strength, but they also unlocked all of the tower¡¯s abilities. If usually absorbing world energy in her tower form was akin to taking bites of a meal and then digesting it, what she received from Nandi was an IV.

    She didn¡¯t have to absorb and process the world energy, it willingly offered itself to her and became a part of her body in the space of seconds. She essed the Heart of the tower, conjuring the Immortal Body array to heal Dolgus the White Griffon in an instant.

    Solus stored her Sage Staff in the Armory, sharing its effects with Lith and his Demons. Now capable of absorbing huge amounts of world energy via their Abomination Touch, the wounded Demons healed and the vanquished ones returned.

    As for Lith, he felt his strength soar like never before. Chain Maelstrom was imbuing him with a constant flow of Life Maelstrom that he could freely share with War and the Demons.At the same time, as the tower¡¯s master, he also benefitted from the power that Solus received from Nandi. The Tiamat¡¯s body started to crackle with ck and silver lightning as his eyes spread their influence to his surroundings.

    The resonance effect with the Demons increased with each new source of power he received, making them stronger as well. The shadows stopped flickering, their energy bodies taking physical form.

    All of the Demons reached six eyes and then they burst out in Cursed mes. There were now six kinds of Demons of the Abyss surrounding Tiamat, unleashing their fury against anyone who dared approach them.

    Lith rejoiced to see their astonishing power and was utterly confused because he had no idea of what had happened and how to trigger the phenomenon again.

    A Silverwing Annihtion snapped him out of his reverie, sending him flying.

    Yet the damage was nothingpared to before. The Doom Tide had thinned the world energy for the Council so aside from Spirit Magic the other six elements were barely at one-tenth of their original strength.

    Lithughed in a frenzy and the tables turned once again.

    Zoreth had broken free of the Griffon Fetters and had unleashed a river of Origin mes. Kigan the Phoenix had followed suit, adding his own, and together they had conjured a burst of Primordial mes that exploded amid the enemy lines.

    The Awakened tried to conjure Silverwing¡¯s Bastion, but it was weakened as well by theck of elemental energy whereas Life Maelstrom empowered the Primordial mes, turning them into a silvery color.

    Doom Tide and Nandi weakened the Council as much as they empowered the Abominations, bringing their bloodline abilities to the next level. The st of Primordial mes pierced through the Silverwing¡¯s Bastion and killed Ozak¡¯s apprentices.

    The Council representative survived solely because once he realized how dire the situation was, he focused the protection on himself.

    Xergov the Duhan wasn¡¯t so lucky. Hushar and Cyare used the Life Maelstrom empowering them to amplify their ability to control the world energy. Their willpower reached the hiding ce of the undead that was located above a mana geyser.

    The two Eldritches conjured a Doom Tide each, making them detonate past the dimensional opening.

    What was supposed to be the undead¡¯s safe haven turned into a death trap. The suddenck of world energy made the dimensional corridor shut down and neutralized all kinds of defensive arrays.

    When thebined Doom Tides exploded, they bounced on the walls, producing shockwaves that ripped the Duhan and his Blood Witches to shreds. The congration fed upon the mana geyser, spreading throughout the undergroundplex.

    With no world energy to fuel their¡¯s defensive spells, the Doom Tides met no resistance, causing a cave-in that destroyed a century-old legacy and opened a kilometers-deep fissure in the ground.

    Nelia the Griffon and Eycos the Garuda charged at Senara, their bodies turning into a living mass of silver energy. Nelia¡¯s Lightning Body and Eycos¡¯ Nocturne st burned and withered nt representative and the rest of the Fae thatprised her squad.

    The Griffon struck first, using her energy form to pierce through the Bastion and weaken their equipment. Then came the Garuda, spreading a ck rain that seeped inside their bodies and tainted thend.

    Just like Theseus, nts needed to draw nourishment from the ground to make use of their recovery abilities, but suddenly there was none. Senara died by her own hand, burning thest spark of life she had in the attempt to escape with a Spirit Blink.

 Chapter 1970: The Power Of The Gods (part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1970: The Power Of The Gods (part 2)</h4>

    Rokuno the Jotunn ordered his fellow giants to unleash the full power of their Corrupted Lightning, but the Demons of the Abyss acted as meat shields, neutralizing the bloodline ability with the destructive powers of their Cursed mes to protect their master.

    Lith had already weaved another Ruin and the sh of his swords not only killed the beast representative, but also produced energy weapons that his Demons could wield. At that point, the battle was won and the few surviving members of the Awakened elite units were quickly wiped out.

    Whoever tried to conjure a Spirit Warp would be killed by Solus and Bytra. Menadion¡¯s heir spotted the entry point and the Raiju charged at them at such speed that the shockwave she produced would kill her victims without the need to weave a single spell.

    Whoever turned their back would be immediately killed by a bolt of silver lightning while those who held their ground had the privilege to choose the way they would die.

    If incinerated by Primordial mes, stabbed by Abyssal Demons, trampled by the Raiju and her rider, our cut asunder by Double Edge¡¯s de. After theirpanions had been healed, Hushar and Cyare stepped out of the onught.

    They kept themselves at the opposite ends of the battlefield, making sure that no one would escape to tell the tale or summon more reinforcements. They used Blood Tide to block elemental spells and Elemental Flow to conjure a Sealed Space wide enough to block Dimensional Spirit magic.

    Lith and Solus found the experience of fighting alongside the Abominations to be exhrating and terrifying at the same time.

    Exhrating because once they had assembled, it wasn¡¯t a battle anymore but a one-sided ughter.

    The Primordial mes destroyed everything, the Chain Maelstrom provided the allies with infinite energy, while the Doom Tidebined with Nandi empowered their spells and weakened those of their enemies.

    The Leviathan and the Fenrir had such a mastery over Elemental Flow that their arrays slithered throughout the battlefield and responded to the touch of the other Abominations assuming the form that suited their current situation the best.

    Between the resonance effect that linked their minds and their mastery over their respective bloodline abilities, it was as if each one of them possessed them all at the same time.

    That, however, was also the terrifying part.

    ¡®Let¡¯s be honest, Solus. You and I would have fallen at the first Silverwing¡¯s Annihtion after being incapable of breaking through a single Bastion. The only reason we survived the first wave was because of Zoreth¡¯s n and Dolgus¡¯ Life Maelstrom.

    ¡®The Master¡¯s Organization has just single-handedly destroyed Verendi¡¯s Council in front of our eyes and without much effort.¡¯ He said via their mind link.

    ¡®I know.¡¯ She inwardly nodded. ¡®Sure, not all of the Awakened Council was involved and if they attacked us all at once things might have gone differently, but it still makes you wonder.

    ¡®Why didn¡¯t Vastor make a move yet if his children are already this strong? Is he going to fight the Guardians if he doesn¡¯t consider this kind of power enough?¡¯

    Lith swallowed a lump of saliva, not knowing how to answer any of those questions yet knowing that they would haunt him at night from that day onward. In a way, Zoreth had invited him to show him how the Organization acted and also to let him know what to expect were he to make them his enemies.

    ¡°Mercy! We Yield!¡± A voice amplified by air magic said.

    The Abomination hybrids were curious to see who was still alive and had the guts to demand pay despite their defeat. Following that voice, the remaining Awakened lowered their weapons, falling onto their knees and putting their hands above their heads.

    Feeling that there was no will to fight left, the Eldritches stopped their attack, herding the survivors in one spot.

    ¡°Who cares if you yield or not.¡± The Shadow Dragon said. ¡°We came here to talk and you came here to kill us. We have no reason to spare a bunch of traitorous bastards.¡±

    ¡°We are defenseless now. Would you really kill us all in cold blood?¡± The voice turned out to belong to Ozak, the human representative.

    ¡°I¡¯ve done much worse to much better people in my life.¡± Kigan replied. ¡°You are nothing but a greedy pig who bit more than he could chew. Now choke on it.¡±

    ¡°What if I handed you the Mouth of Menadion? Wouldn¡¯t it be enough to buy at least my life?¡± Ozak said and the other Awakened turned around in outrage, dogpiling at him.

    They would have torn the human representative apart if not for Nelia saving him.

    ¡°The Mouth of Menadion? Is this the reason you came here with these puppies?¡± The Griffon pointed at Lith and Solus, who she recognized as the daughter of the First Ruler of the mes.

    Zoreth inwardly cursed her rotten luck. She hadn¡¯t expected to have an opportunity to retrieve the artifact, especially in front of her brethren. Just because they were part of the same Organization, it didn¡¯t mean that they shared the same ideals.

    Her siblings didn¡¯t know nor care about Bytra¡¯s feelings towards Menadion¡¯s heir. They barely cared for Lith due to his friendship with Vastor and his Abomination nature that made him partly one of their own.

    If they got their hands on the Mouth of Menadion, they wouldn¡¯t give it away easily.

    ¡°Yes.¡± The Shadow Dragon nodded, considering it pointless to lie. ¡°I wanted Lith to witness our methods and power. After all, our father chose him as his sessor. If anything happens to Dad, it will be Lith to help us merge our life forces.¡±

    ¡°This sounds utterly ridiculous.¡± Hushar said. ¡°Lith is strong, but he is barely a kid. He has sworn no allegiance to us nor has he any reason to care for our destiny. Why should we give him such a gift?

    ¡°He might help us in the future, but he might as well be our enemy. The Mouth would be a fine addition to our armory. Unless you give us a proper reason, I¡¯m against Lith having it.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡± Cyare said and the others nodded in agreement.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lith.¡± Nandi shrugged. ¡°I know that Baba Yaga likes you and you even helped her in Lightkeep, but that¡¯s not enough. If this was about an enchanted trinket I would be on your side, but we¡¯re talking about Menadion!¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Lith and Solus exchanged a quick nce, knowing that not everything was lost.

    Solus just needed to put her hands on one of the artifacts of Menadion¡¯s set to get her own tower version of it.

    ¡°That¡¯s the reason you should give the Mouth not to him, but to Elphyn!¡± Bytra said in outrage. ¡°I came to Verendi with her to prove my good faith and make amends for my past crimes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s your problem. It has nothing to do with the rest of us.¡± Eycos said. ¡°I¡¯m still pissed off with you for giving away the Fury without even asking Dad¡¯s opinion. I think you have done more than enough already. The Mouth is off the table.¡±

    Solus hated those creatures for speaking about her like she wasn¡¯t there, yet fear kept her tongue in check.

 Chapter 1971: Parting Ways (part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1971: Parting Ways (part 1)</h4>

    The resonance between the Eldritches was still in effect and so were thebined effects of the various bloodline abilities of the Divine Beasts.

    Even with her tower form at full power, she could feel the pressure they exuded.

    ¡®It¡¯s no wonder that Malyshka avoided fighting with them. I¡¯m not a white core and the Eldritches have be much strongerpared to thest time I saw them.¡¯ She thought.

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you think, maybe you should learn Forgemastering because I¡¯m not going to make equipment for any of you!¡± The Raiju replied in anger.

    ¡°Would you really betray our father for this insignificant relic of the past?¡± Kigan the Phoenix roared, revealing a second set of wings.

    They were membranous like those of a Dragon but it was the elemental eye that opened in the middle of his forehead to reveal the presence of his Balor half. Kigan had now a ck, a yellow, and a red eye.

    Three eyes were the limit for Balors in their fallen state and the Phoenix was no exception.

    ¡°I would never do that!¡± Bytra said in outrage. ¡°I owe a lot to the Master but nothing to you guys. The Fury was mine so I was free to do with it whatever I wanted and the same applies to the Mouth. If not for me, you wouldn¡¯t even know that it was here.¡±

    ¡°Enough!¡± Zoreth and Nelia said in unison. ¡°We¡¯ll quarrelter. First, let¡¯s get our hands on the prize.¡±

    Neither of them was the eldest or the strongest Eldritch. That role belonged respectively to Tezka and Orulm, who like the Fylgja pre-dated the Guardians but was still waiting for a monster core powerful enough to contain his ck core.

    Both the Shadow Dragon and the Storm Griffon were the most respected due to their wisdom. Zoreth was the first Abomination that the Master had recruited while Nelia was the one who had used her connections with the underworld to turn a small group of outcasts into a powerful shadow organization.

    ¡°Bring us the Mouth of Menadion and Visante. Then we¡¯ll talk about your life.¡± Zoreth said.

    ¡°Who?¡± Nelia asked.

    ¡°The man who killed Menadion¡¯s disciple and imprinted the Mouth. Without him, the artifact would be pointless. We can¡¯t remove his imprint and he would need but a thought to recall it.¡± Zoreth replied.

    Ozak, clenched his teeth, inwardly cursing the Abomination. He had offered them the Mouth because he knew that he would be able to retrieve it. Once back in the safety of his own home, nothing could scare him.

    No one knew where is secretb was and the Eldritches couldn¡¯t hurt what they couldn¡¯t find.

    ¡°Of course.¡± He actually said with a smile, as if that had been his intention all along. ¡°You¡¯ll need to cancel the Sealed Space, though. I need to call my assistant and she has to Warp here.¡±

    ¡°Fair.¡± Zoreth shapeshifted into her human form but her right hand remained that of a Shadow Dragon.

    She plunged it inside Ozak¡¯s chest and he felt her slightly clenching his heart as it literally skipped a beat.

    ¡°You know how Eldritches are hard to kill.¡± She said while looking him in the eyes. ¡°Warp away and my hand wille with you. You¡¯ll die a secondter and I¡¯ll find the ce you went to hide by following my own hand. I¡¯ll get both your life and your legacy.¡±

    Ozak nodded in a frenzy, swallowing a lump of saliva as even his second contingency n failed.

    The Leviathan and the Fenrir cleared from the dimensional seal only a small area around the representative, keeping the rest of the hostages trapped.

    ¡°Prexa, red protocol. Bring the Mouth and Visante at my coordinates, no matter how.¡± Ozak said in hismunication amulet.

    A few secondster, a Warping Array led a young woman and an old man near the representative.

    ¡°Elphyn?¡± The old man looked at Solus in fear but she didn¡¯t recognize him.

    He was about to say something about her weird appearance when his eyes met Lith¡¯s and he froze in terror. Visante was a bright violet core and under normal circumstances, he would be immune to Demon Fear.

    Yet now that the Tiamat was empowered by both Life Maelstrom and the resonance effect with hundreds of Demons of the Abyss, even the ancient Awakened couldn¡¯t stand the pressure.

    ¡°I¡¯ve kept my part of the bargain. Now it¡¯s your turn.¡± Ozak said.

    ¡°Elphyn, this is the man who killed your friend and stole your legacy.¡± Zoreth pushed Visante in front of Menadion¡¯s heir and forced him to kneel. ¡°You can kill him however you want. There¡¯s no rush, take your time.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, but I don¡¯t want to.¡± Solus shook her head.

    Visante was over 900 years old and looked like a man in his nies. He was a wiry tall man with clear white hair and a long beard. He onlycked a pointy hat to look like Merlin from Earth¡¯s legends.

    ¡°Thank you so much, Elphyn.¡± He said amid tears. ¡°I knew that you would understand. You¡¯ve always been so good to me. If only your mother chose me for the Mouth instead of Vestha, none of this would have ever happened.

    ¡°You and I both know that I was a better mage than he ever was.¡±

    Visante mistaking her mercy for camaraderie, her unwillingness to kill in cold blood for absolution for his murder, made Solus¡¯ blood boil.

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost my memories so I have no idea who you are or who was the better mage between you and Vestha. What I do know is that I can¡¯t let someone like you, someone who killed his fellow apprentice to rob him of my mother¡¯s legacy, live.¡±

    A single swing of the Fury turned the bright violet core into a bloody puddle.

    ¡°I like her.¡± Cyare said and the others nodded. ¡°Not enough to gift her the Mouth, though.¡±

    ¡°Can I go now?¡± Ozak asked, uncaring for who would keep the artifact as long as he kept his life.

    ¡°Depends, how many people know about the artifact?¡± Zoreth asked.

    ¡°A lot.¡± The representative lied through his teeth. ¡°Letting me go is in your interest. I can keep others from seeking vengeance but if I die-¡°

    ¡°The entire Verendi Council will be wiped out.¡± Neliapleted the phrase for him. ¡°That and the death of so many Awakened will cause a power vacuum that will take decades, if not centuries to be filled.

    ¡°If we kill them all, by the time the Verendi Council has the power to stand up to the current us again, our strength will have increased one hundredfold.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Fear turned Ozak as pale as a ghost. ¡°If you let me go, I promise that the Council will stay off your back, that no one will seek you for the Mouth.¡±

    ¡°Would really any of you be so foolish to attack us on Garlen?¡± Zoreth replied with a sneer. ¡°We¡¯ve beaten you in your own home, you¡¯d have no chance in ours even if by some sort of miracle all of your fallen soldiers came back to life.

    ¡°Also, as you said, a lot of people know about the Mouth. Any of them can rat us out to the Garlen Council and reveal we now are in possession of the artifact.

 Chapter 1972: Parting Ways (part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1972: Parting Ways (part 2)</h4>

    ¡°They, however, aren¡¯t a centuries-old elder. They didn¡¯t see us fight and can¡¯t study our tactics to borate a counter strategy for their revenge.¡±

    A flick of Zoreth¡¯s finger shot two Hollow Void, respectively aimed at Ozak¡¯s heart and head. The representative¡¯s corpse fell to the ground and exploded a split-secondter, destroying all the artifacts he wore.

    It was ast-ditch measure to bring his killer down with him, but the Eldritches were powerful enough to snuff the explosion bypletely sealing the space around Ozak.

    ¡°What are we going to do about the others?¡± Lith pointed at the Awakened who had surrendered along with theirte leader. ¡°They are loose ends and could report the strategies that we have employed today as well.¡±

    ¡°Excellent point.¡± Nelia nodded and killed them all, sparing only one who had yet to achieve the bright violet core. ¡°You two are free to go. Tell everyone what happens to those who cross the Master¡¯s Organization and that if they want the Mouth, they are free toe and get it.¡±

    The young girl who had brought Visante and the chosen survivor of the battle wasted no time, disappearing through a Warp Steps the moment the dimensional sealing was lifted.

    ¡°Why did you let them go?¡± Lith asked in confusion.

    ¡°Several reasons.¡± Zoreth replied. ¡°The girl knows nothing of the fight so killing her would have been pointless. To the contrary, she had witnessed the pathetic state of her almighty master was reduced and her words will shake the rest of the Awakenedmunity.

    ¡°As for the soldier, we need a witness of our strength, otherwise people might believe that we won thanks to some stupid trick. To drive fear into our enemies, we need them to know the difference in power between them and us.

    ¡°On top of that, the report of that guy will be of limited strategical use. To be stuck at the light violet at his age, hecks the cunning and the talent to be a genius. Even if he observed some of our strategies, I doubt he has understood them.

    ¡°What little he can share through a mind link will be muddled by his fear and confusion. Once they study his memories and see us through his eyes, new Council representatives of Verendi will believe that each one of us is as strong as a Guardian.¡±

    ¡°Last, but not least, by sending them away we can safely discuss what to do with the Mouth.¡± Bytra said. ¡°Even if we give it to you, Elphyn, the Councils will believe that we are the ones who have it and will leave you alone.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Bytra.¡± Solus said, and she was sincere.

    Seeing the Raiju fight against the Awakened first and now against her own family to return Ripha¡¯s legacy to its rightful heir moved her deeply.

    ¡°Do you mind if I take a look at the Mouth while you guys talk?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Nelia handed Solus the artifact. ¡°One word of advice, though. Imprint it, and we¡¯ll have a problem.¡±

    Solus nodded and took the Mouth in her hands, feeling something click inside her tower half. She conjured the Eyes of Menadion, sharing them with Lith to study the relic as quickly as possible.

    They used their respective breathing technique to study the Mouth¡¯s power core and spell matrix, but Menadion¡¯s cloaking enchantments were a tough nut to crack even though they were outdated for centuries.

    The Abominations argued for a long time and almost came to blows more than once. Lith and Solus used that time to study the original Mouth so that once they got back in the tower and conjured their copy, they would have the data necessary to understand how it worked.Bytra, Zoreth, Theseus, and partly even Nandi tried to convince their siblings to return the artifact to Elphyn, especially since she was Sark¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦ and was on good terms with Lith.

    After over one hour, they were still at a standstill.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, kid.¡± Nandi said. ¡°If this was any other trinket, I¡¯d give it to you without a second thought. The Mouth is too powerful to give up on it without thinking this through.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to keep it, then?¡± Solus asked.

    ¡°No.¡± Zoreth replied while taking back the artifact. ¡°The only thing we agreed upon is that we need to ask our father¡¯s opinion first. I give you my word that we won¡¯t imprint the Mouth until the final decision is made.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Zoreth.¡± Lith shook her hand. ¡°You kept your word the entire time, showing us how the Organization works and protecting us even when you had no obligation to.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for how things turned out, little brother. I wish I could have given your friend the Mouth.¡± She sighed.

    ¡°Actually, I appreciate even this ending. It proves that your associates aren¡¯t a bunch of sentimental idiots. They respected your opinion but still followed their own.¡± Lith replied. ¡°I like your way of doing things. Straightforward and direct.

    ¡°Yet you can afford such an attitude only because all the members of your family are as strong as you are. You have no one outside the Organization whereas I want for my wife and family a normal life.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± She nodded. ¡°If things go south with the Royals, keep my offer in mind.¡±

    The other Abomination hybrids Warped away, leaving behind only the members of the original group.

    ¡°What about you, Theseus?¡± Zoreth asked. ¡°Do you want to keep staying in Verendi or do you want to join us?¡±

    ¡°It depends. Can you help me with my blood madness? Will you really try and fix my life force even if I don¡¯t fullymit to your cause? Am I free to leave whenever our goals cease to align or would it be just a life of servitude?¡± He asked.

    ¡°No one can beat the blood madness but yourself.¡± Bytra shook her head. ¡°The only thing I can promise you is that we¡¯ll make sure you make no more innocent victims. As for the rest, yes, we¡¯ll do our best to fix your life force and you are free to go whenever you want.

    ¡°The only use is that you can¡¯t share our secrets nor work against us. Vite these terms and you¡¯ll make an enemy whose power you have just witnessed.¡±

    ¡°Dolgus?¡± The Bastet didn¡¯t want to leave his first friend in millennia, yet he knew that as long as he didn¡¯t learn how to control his new powers, he would just be a liability for the White Griffon and his mission.

    ¡°You should go with them, my friend.¡± Dolgus handed Theseus his contact card. ¡°Verendi needs me more than ever and they could definitely use not being afraid of the Wandering Carnival anymore.

    ¡°Once you get your own contact amulet, add my rune. If you ever need my help or just someone to talk to, I¡¯ll fly to you, no matter what.¡±

    The two men held each other in a long embrace. To the Griffon, Theseus was like a troubled child in dire need of help. After caring for him for that long, Dolgus had grown fond of him and wanted only the best for his friend.

 Chapter 1973: Royal Showdown (part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 1973: Royal Showdown (part 1)</h4>

    To the Bastet, instead, Dolgus was the closest thing to a brother that he had ever had. When the rest of Mogar had treated him like the monster that Paquut had been, Dolgus had given him a home and offered him a hand.

    ¡°Thanks man.¡± Theseus patted the Griffon¡¯s back onest time and then he followed the other Eldritches into the Chaos Gate.

    ¡°Do you need a ride to the Desert, Lith?¡± Zoreth asked.

    ¡°Yes, please.¡± After exchanging their contact runes, they bid goodbye to the Griffon as well.

    Lith and Solus were sad to have lost one Mouth, but between the one they had gained and the new floors of the tower, they were going to be busy for a very long time.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, a few dayster.

    The Royals didn¡¯t waste time and arranged their trip to the Blood Desert for the day after the terms of the honeymoon had expired. Now that the embassy was open again, Sark orded them an audience at her earliest convenience.

    It was still the middle of the night for the people of the Kingdom, but in the Desert, the sun had already risen for an hour.

    ¡°Are you ready, dear?¡± Queen Sylpha asked.

    She wore her full Royal garments as a monarch visiting a peer. Everything from her fur-lined brocade cloak to her long gown had been enchanted so that it wouldn¡¯t impede her movements nor would the heat of the Desert bother her.

    ¡°I¡¯m as ready as I can be.¡± Meron nodded, dressed in a simr fashion and wearing all the insignia of his status. ¡°We must be prepared to bear with Verhen¡¯s grudge and relieve his anger before starting the treaty.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Sylpha said. ¡°It¡¯s why I think that bringing along all this junk might do more harm than good to our cause. You¡¯ve seen how powerful Verhen has be and the allies he has made. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to wear more casual clothes?¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± Both the King and the Chambein went pale. ¡°We are still the rulers of the Griffon Kingdom and we are visiting Overlord Sark in her pce. What impression would we give if we walked through the Gate wearing shirts and shorts?

    ¡°This attire is meant to not make us lose face in front of Sark and show Lith how serious we are. They are not meant to intimidate him, but to make him feel honored for our presence.

    ¡°The King and the Queen of the country who banished hime in person to his door to negotiate his return. There could be no greatest honor or sign of sincerity. On top of that, by not sending a middle man we can settle things much quicker.

    ¡°There will be no back and forth from the Royal Pce. We have the full authority of the Crown and can ept or refuse his terms, giving him a proper exnation for the reasons we¡¯re doing so while looking him in the eyes.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Sylpha sighed. ¡°But I still feel ridiculous. Wearing fur in the Desert is like bringing salt water to the ocean, a foolish endeavor.¡±

    ¡°I would love to argue more about Valeron¡¯s etiquette, my dear, but I think that worrying about the color of our curtains while the war with Thrud has set our house on fire is even more foolish.¡± Meron said, putting an end to the conversation.

    The Warp Gate in front of them opened, revealing on the other side an honor guardprised of the elite members of Sark¡¯s nest who wore a ceremonial red suit of armor. Each one of them held a long pole flying Sark¡¯s silver and ck banner.The Royals stepped through the dimensional tunnel, using their own aura to resist the feeling of oppression that being surrounded by such powerful creatures caused. A silver and ck carpet below their feet guided them to the next room, where Sark waited for them.

    The Overlord had made her guestse to her to establish the pecking order and wore a long ck day dress worthy of a goddess. It was embroidered in silver with a feather pattern and decorated with several emeralds matching her eyes.

    On her head rested a white turban made of the finest linen bearing a ruby the size of an apple on its center. A silver ceremonial scimitar sheathed inside a ck scabbard was hung to her hip, the pommel resembling a beak while the cross-guard was shaped like wings.

    It was the Overlord¡¯s formal attire since she had unified the Desert under her rule.

    ¡®Told you so.¡¯ Meron inwardly grinned via their mind link.

    ¡°King Meron, Queen Sylpha, it¡¯s an honor to meet you again after so much time.¡± Sark gave them only a polite nod of her head while Sinmara who was beside her gave them a deep bow.

    ¡°I hope you won¡¯t mind my discourtesy, but I can¡¯t bend with such a dress at the moment.¡± She caressed her bloated belly, flushing in joy as the baby kicked.

    ¡°We would never dare to be so rude. We know all too well the hardships of motherhood. Congrattions, Overlord.¡± The Royals gave them a small bow and wore a huge smile, but inwardly they were quite scared.

    ording to the report that Manohar had handed down before his death, Lith was supposed to be the baby¡¯s father. It would have exined the rumors about him having an heir so soon after the marriage and why Sark was willing to share her domain with him.

    ¡°May I ask you who¡¯s the lucky man who blessed you with a new child?¡± Sylpha asked, trying to sound as causal as possible.

    ¡°Thanks for your understanding.¡± Sark gave them another nod. ¡°As for the baby, I¡¯ve gotten back together with the old lizard. Who knows, maybe this time things between us will finally work out.¡±

    The jaws of the Royals fell onto the floor and their mouths went dry.

    ¡®Good gods! This is much worse than Verhen being the father.¡¯ Meron thought. ¡®If the baby seals the alliance between the Desert and the Empire, the Kingdom is screwed!¡¯

    ¡®One problem at a time, dear.¡¯ Sylpha said via their mind link with a soothing tone. ¡®As you kindly pointed out a few seconds ago, if we don¡¯t win this war, their baby is the least of our worries.¡¯

    ¡°Please, follow me. I¡¯ve already notified Lith of youring and he¡¯s waiting for you.¡± The Overlord gave them a final polite nod before turning her back to them and leading them through her pce.

    ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Sylpha thought. ¡®He knows of our presence and didn¡¯t even bothering to greet us. This is the worst cold shoulder we could receive.¡¯

    Meron nodded and suddenly Tyris¡¯s words ran through his mind again.

    He could already picture Lith waiting for them in his Tiamat form, sitting on the ck Throne that the Guardian had mentioned to look down on them. No matter what they wore, the difference in size would put them at disadvantage.

    ¡®I told you we should have worn more casual clothes!¡¯ The Queen inwardly cursed. ¡®First impression matters are we look like pompous old coots.¡¯

    ¡®Yeah, because looking like tourists would have been much better.¡¯ Meron replied with a sneer.

 Chapter 1974: Royal Showdown (part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 1974: Royal Showdown (part 2)</h4>

    ¡®At least by dressing like this we didn¡¯t lose face to Sark and Verhen will have to treat us with the respect that honorable guests deserve.¡¯ The King said while moving forward.

    What they found a few roomster, left them gawking even more than the news of Leegaain¡¯s child.

    Lith walked toward them, wearing a simple white robe of the Desert. Between his dark skin and his clothes dirty with soot and the remains of magical ingredients, he looked no different from one of the many mages they had met on their way.

    ¡°King Meron, Queen Sylpha. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you again.¡± Lith said while giving them a polite bow suitable when meeting peers, without a shred of deference. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for beingte, but Grandma told me of youring at thest minute and I was in the middle of an experiment.¡±

    ¡°What happened to your etiquette?¡± Sark inhaled sharply and poked at his forehead. ¡°You can¡¯t call me Grandma in front of our Royal guests. I¡¯m Overlord Sark for you now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Grand- I mean, Overlord Sark.¡± He gave her a bow much deeper than the one to the Royals.

    What Meron and Sylpha witnessed scared them to the bone.

    Sark had scolded him with the familiarity of a parent instead of an offended ruler. Lith was so used to enjoying such a degree of freedom and confidence in the Overlord¡¯s domain that he had forgotten his manners.

    Worst of all, however, was his aura.

    Ever since they had met Lith for the first time, they had be ustomed to his cold eyes, his recurring frown, and the subtle waves of power that he seemed incapable of repressing.

    Now, however, they couldn¡¯t feel anything from him.

    His eyes were clear, his expression serene, and his aura was as cid as the surface of ake during a spring day. The calm scared them more than any storm because it could mean only one thing.

    The angry boy they had met had turned into a man who was inplete control of his emotions.

    Theck of any magical aura could only mean that during his second stay in the Desert, Lith had mastered his mana flow. It was the only possible exnation for such a harmless appearance despite his recent breakthrough.

    They remembered well that in Tyris¡¯ hologram he had grown to 25 meters (82¡ä) of height and had a violet aura. Those were the signs of an adult Divine Beast, yet if not for their prior knowledge, they would have never recognized an Archmage in the person in front of them.

    ¡°Would you like to oversee our treaties, my Overlord? You would be our esteemed guest.¡± Lith asked.

    ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m afraid that my presence would be inappropriate. This is an official business of the Griffon Kingdom and I¡¯m merely its host. I don¡¯t want either you or the Royals to feel pressured due to my meddling.¡± Sark led them to a finely decorated room.

    The ceiling was over 30 meters (100 feet) high, allowing a fully grown Divine Beast to move with ease. A long rectangr mahogany table was set in the middle of the room with many chairs lined on either side in equal numbers.

    Along the walls, there were bookshelves filled with tomes about thews of the three great countries and border maps. Several cabs contained paper sheets and plenty of ink to redact official documents, no matter the length.

    Wax sticks of all colors were lined up on a tray in the middle of the table, to allow both parties to use their respective official enchanted seals. Many bottles of fresh water and aged liquor had been ced on a cart, in the case the talks went on for too long or someone got thirsty.

    It was the very same room where Sark stipted international agreements and settlements. The Royals had been there a few times in the past and the fact that she had lent it to Lith was a clear indicator of how much she cared about the issue.

    ¡®Not feeling pressured my Royal ass.¡¯ Meron thought. ¡®For being someone more inclined to the sword than the pen, Sark is quite shrewd. First the rumors about Lith¡¯s marriage, then about his prowess, and now this.¡¯

    ¡®Agreed.¡¯ Sylpha replied. ¡®The question is if she wants the treaty to seed or fail.¡¯

    ¡®It¡¯s likely that she¡¯s fine with both.¡¯

    ¡°Before we start discussing the price for my full pardon, I¡¯d like toy my cards on the table.¡± Lith said, snapping them out of it.

    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± The Queen asked.

    The Lith Verhen she knew and appreciated was a devious man who would always y as close to the vest as he could. Revealing his hand without getting anything in return would have been a dumb move.

    ¡®To win this war we need the same sneaky bastard who led the entire Kingdom by the nose for years, raking merits without anyone ever doubting his nature.¡¯ Sylpha said via the mind link while clenching her husband¡¯s arm.

    ¡®I¡¯m afraid that after staying in the Desert for so long Lith might have lost his edge.¡¯

    ¡°Let me be brutally honest.¡± A smirk broke on his face and the coldness in his eyes wiped away any doubt the Royals had about his mental abilities. ¡°I don¡¯t consider this as a legal matter, but as a business transaction.

    ¡°The terms are as follows: I¡¯m offering you my services within reason and under precise conditions. In exchange, you are offering me a full pardon for my past crimes. We are just trading favors, as simple as that.

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s in my interest to showcase to you the power you are going to buy. The more I have to offer you, the less likely you are to forfeit it. On top of that, if I manage to make you interested enough, I¡¯m certain that you¡¯ll offer me a discount.¡±

    Lith took several steps away from the table, reaching an empty area of the room.

    ¡°Now, the first item is my real form.¡± He shapeshifted into a Tiamat, pointing out the various changes he had undergone from hisst breakthrough. ¡°As you can see, I¡¯ve grown past the limits of an Emperor Beast.

    ¡°I¡¯m now certain to be a Divine Beast and I expect to be treated as such. I can use Origin mes, Cursed mes, and I have several unique bloodline abilities that you¡¯ve already witnessed from Meln¡¯s broadcast.¡±

    He gave them a quick demonstration of his prowess by purifying an ingot of Orichalcum without wasting an iota of the precious metal. Then, he showed them the destructive power of the Void mes on a castle gate, kindly provided by Sark.

    A single st was enough to put a dent in the several enchantments of the reinforced double doors and to open deep cracks in its physical structure as well.

    ¡°I can do more, but focusing on my destructive abilities might be taken as an attempt to intimidate you so let¡¯s move on to the next item.¡± Lith then shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon.

    The red scales covering his body had be thicker and inside each one of them burned a different kind of Cursed mes. The color of the six mes resembled those of the natural elements but their light was sickening.

 Chapter 1975: Becoming a Magus (Part 1)

    Chapter 1975: Bing a Magus (Part 1)

    The furniture in the room seemed to twist, the ground to soften and the air to be thin in the attempt to reject the unnatural powering from the Cursed mes sealed inside the Voidfeather Dragon''s red scales.

    Two sets of ck feathered wings came out of Lith''s back and several small horns formed a crown upon his head that reminded the Royals of those of Leegaain. The Voidfeather Dragoncked the long, curved horns of the Tiamat but its body had grown taller as well.

    "Do you have Dragon Eyes?" The Queen asked, hoping for a negative and an affirmative answer in equal measure.

    Such a powerful skill would make Lith an incredible asset but also an unprecedented threat to the throne.

    "I wish, but believe me when I say that my seven eyes are not for decoration. In this form my mastery over all kinds of mes is further enhanced and so is my ability to conjure Dragon Fear. Last, but not least¡­"

    Lith shapeshifted again and the Royals expected him to take a Phoenix-like form. Instead, his body shrunk andpressed until it was just a bit taller than Orion.

    "I don''t go around telling people I''m part Abomination, but this is also who I am." In that form, Lith still resembled Derek McCoy but the changes in his Abomination side were much greater than those that his other forms had undergone.

    Long straight horns came out of his forehead while curved horns came out of the back of his skull, covering his neck. A set of membranous wings rested on his shoulders and seven white-colored eyes were open on his face along with a lipless white maw.

    Lith''s darkness body was now packed with so much energy that it was almost tangible and the way it drained the light in the room made his ck ws and talons glisten.

    "Are you an Eldritch?" The King asked, recognizing from the many distinctive features something more than a simple Empowered Abomination.

    The Void didn''t reply, looking at the Royals with a mix of mockery and joy.

    "Gods, you are so cute. It makes me want to eat you." It spoke with a voice that didn''t belong to Lith, stretching its limbs like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. "You have no idea how long I''ve waited to meet you."

    ''Down, boy.'' Lith needed sheer willpower to rein in his most violent urges. ''We are Grandma''s guest and so are the Royals. No matter how pissed off we are at them, we can''t offend Grandma by viting her hospitality.''

    Derek/Lith held a grudge against the Royals for what had happened to his family from the moment thete General Morn had issued the capture order and, in his Abomination form, his negative emotions were cranked up to eleven.

    The Void snarled in annoyance but crawled back among the other life forces, leaving Lith the wheel again.

    "I''m sorry for my rudeness." Derek''s voice turned into Lith''s "This form is very violent, that''s why I try to use it as little as possible. About your question, no, I''m not an Eldritch nor am I a full Abomination.

    "I''m fully alive, just like you. This is but a part of my life force, just like Lith Verhen and the Voidfeather Dragon." Hearing him using thest name that the Kingdom had bestowed upon him, reassured Meron.

    "How is it possible for a living being to also be an undead?" The Queen asked with a puzzled look on her face.

    "I have no idea, but I suspect it''s rted to the fact that I was stillborn." Lith told them the details about Nana "bringing him back to life", glossing over the part about his previous lives.

    "I''m sharing this with you because you already know of my ability to control the dead and to clear the allegations about my use of Forbidden Magic. What you''ve witnessed me using in the Hogum Household was just one of my bloodline abilities.

    "I''m tired of hiding in the shadows and pretending to be someone I''m not. The cat is already out of the bag so I want things to be crystal clear before we start the negotiations.

    "I''m telling you everything right now so that if anything of this bes public knowledge, you can''t go back on your word by iming that I hid my real nature from you."

    "I appreciate your sincerity but not yourck of trust." Meron said after pondering the revtion for a while.

    Knowing that Lith wasn''t a Necromancer like Balkor reassured the King because it meant he didn''t have a secret army of undead stashed somewhere. On the other hand, it was much worse.

    It meant that Lith had no need to collect corpses, to prepare and feed them for battle. The power came naturally to him like the shadows of the dead which made it necessary for the Royals to understand the boundaries of his bloodline abilities.

    "After Meln blew your cover, we took care of your interests." The Queen said. "Your house and your Mansion have been kept exactly as you left them. The Verhen Mansion still belongs to you and your house has been sealed to the public."

    Sylpha handed Lith a holographic map of the farm, showing him a new set of arrays surrounding the Verhen household in Lutia.

    "We feared that during your absence someone might attempt to study your arrays andter break into your home so we had our Master Wardensy several rms and barriers.

    "No one entered your property, no one studied your spells, and the DoLorean is kept safe even from the Royal Forgemasters." She said. "The silver mines you own and the silver it produces have been left untouched in your partner''s hands.

    "I want you to know that we didn''t move against him even after we learned about his nature as a Lich."

    Lith''s eyes went wide at those words, but then he remembered Urgamakka and how Inxialot and Zolgrish seemed to have some kind of rtionship.

    "How did you find out about his true nature and didn''t the Council cover for him?" Lith asked.

    "Zolgrish objected to the seize order for the mines and during thewsuit, he once forgot to change his appearance and entered the court with his real face." The King said with a deep sigh at the memory of the panic that had ensued.

    "Also, yes. The Council interceded for him but we also covered it up to avoid you more trouble."

    "And I thank you for that." Lith said.

    ''As long as the Undead Courts are part of the War of the Griffons, being a known associate of a Lich would make things even harder for my family.'' He inwardly added.

    "You can easily return the favor by allowing us to meet Captain Locrias and Lieutenant Valia." The Queen replied. "Everyone knows that they are now in your service and their families have petitioned us countless times to save them."

    "There''s nothing they need to be saved from. They are with me of their own will." Lith didn''t like that turn of events.

    "We believe you, but we need to check it with our own eyes. Can you please summon them for us?"

 Chapter 1976: Becoming a Magus (Part 2)

    Chapter 1976: Bing a Magus (Part 2)

    The King sounded sincere, but Lith knew that the request to summon his Demons was just a ruse to check how much free will they retained.

    A wave of his hand and the shadows in the room merged into the forms of the former members of the Queen''s Corps.

    "What''s going- Your Majesty!" The two soldiers acted aloof until they noticed the presence of the Royals and then fell onto their right knee. "What are your orders?"

    The ritual salute was so deeply ingrained in their being that their mouths spoke before their brains could remind them that death had relieved them of their service.

    "At ease." The King ordered. "How are the clouds today, Captain?"

    Locrias recognized the code words for the assessment of the threat at hand, but Lith was there as well, and answering would have meant revealing one of the Kingdom''s secrets.

    "I don''t know. I haven''t materialized in days." Locrias shrugged.

    "Never mind." A wide smile appeared on Meron''s face as he inwardly sighed in relief. "How is Verhen treating you, Captain? Is your condition painful? Your family is deeply worried about you."

    "Verhen is a fair lord, my liege." Locrias replied and Valia nodded. "He has given me an opportunity to keep fighting and I can''t wait to go back to the Kingdom. Bing a Demones with a price, but I''m willing to pay. Dead or not, my mission remains."

    "Excellent news. You are dismissed." The Queen nodded.

    "With all due respect, my liege, we are disappointed in how you dealt with the Dead King and Morn''s order endangering innocent lives." Valia said. "We are keeping your secrets and our oaths, but now more than ever our duty is toward the people of the Kingdom, not politics."

    The Royals pursed their lips in annoyance. Valia''s words bordered on insubordination and matched exactly the attitude that her personnel file reported.

    ''It seems that undeath didn''t change their characters.'' Meron said via the mind link.

    ''That''s not very reassuring. It only means that now they can change allegiance if they found uscking.'' The Queen replied.

    "We are aware of our faults and havee here to make up for them, Lieutenant." Sylpha actually said. "What happened after the Dead King''s broadcast was solely Morn''s fault and he''s been dealt with.

    "We have protected Verhen''s properties and interests and now we are offering him a fair deal. There''s nothing more we can do, but if you have any suggestions, I''m willing to listen."

    Valia opened her mouth to reply, but Lith raised his hand, dismissing the Demons.

    ''Your defiance is only giving them more reason to be afraid of my abilities.'' Lith said via the chains. ''I understand that you are angry, but if you want to say anything, do it through me.''

    ''I''m sorry, but seeing their smug faces while they worried more about codes and secrets than of our death got the better of me.'' Valia replied.

    "Before we move on with the treaty, there''s something I have to say." Lith returned to his human form and sat down so to not look down on the Royals. "The terms of our deal must apply to my family as well.

    "I want all of them to have a clean te. My parents worked hard for theirnds and my sisters have never aided me in my crimes if not by hiding my real nature for obvious reasons."

    "Of course." Meron nodded. "We want all the Verhens back to the Kingdom. If they share your potential, your family would be an invaluable asset. In due time, the Verhens might even be another founding pir of our country."

    Once again, Lith could perceive from the King''s heartbeat and perspiration that the offer was sincere, but it was hardly a surprise. Having a whole family of Divine Beasts at their back and call was the dream of every ruler.

    "I''m d we are on the same page because until a second ago I was worried about my wife." Lith said with a huge grin on his face while the Royals stiffened. "She''s a Verhen as well now and her crimes must be pardoned.

    "She deserted her duty and escaped her for my sake, so I consider the consequences of her actions part of my burden. Kam worked hard to be a Constable and I want her to get her job and career back, if that''s what she wants.

    "If in order to return to the Kingdom I have to sacrifice her happiness, then we have nothing to talk about."

    An awkward silence fell into the room.

    Morn and Sylpha had always included Kam in the deal, but giving back her old job would prove to be difficult. Constables were bound to know lots of secrets and were supposed to be loyal solely to the Crown.

    Kam Yehval had already betrayed their trust and her duty once, she could do it a second time.

    "It depends on what you can offer to the Kingdom." Sylpha replied after a while. "I guess you have decided to be a Magus."

    "Exactly." Lith nodded. "It''s the only way to not be burdened by an I owe you for years. Also, I have no intention to join the Royal family."

    "You can''t unless you divorce first." Meron replied with a sigh. "On top of that, know that no matter your choice, the deal is based on the assumption that you''ll consume the Royal pardons you gained as a Great Mage, Archmage, and even the one you''ll get as a Magus.

    "The favor we promised you after Kandria''s gue will be considered extinguished as well."

    "Sounds fair." Lith said. "One more thing. I want you to give the families of Locrias and Valia the opportunity to transfer to Lutia and provide them with everything they might need.

    "As they have proven to you, they are still loyal servants of the Crown and they deserve to be treated as such."

    The more conditions Lith moved the less the Royals liked that situation. Once the war ended, they needed something to keep him on the leash, but he was covering all of his bases.

    Even worse, refusing to reunite the Demons with their families might have cost the Crown their loyalty so Meron was forced to agree.

    "Not everyone can be a Magus, Lith." Sylpha pointed out. "What you have t offer must be something capable of making the life of everyone better, not just a few spells that only the elite can use.

    "Also, even though we don''t expect you to disclose the full extent of your contribution until the deal is sealed, you still have to give us enough elements to assess the usefulness of the knowledge you are willing to share.

    "Only then can the Crown decide whether to ept your deal, ask for more, or turn it down entirely."

    "I have several things I want to offer the Kingdom, starting from what Lochra Silverwing failed to grasp in her legacy." Lith said, making their faces deform in a mask of amazement.

    "Are you telling us that the First Magus, the mother of modern magic, was wrong all along and you know better?" Meron couldn''t contain either his surprise or disbelief.

    "Not at all." Lith shook his head.

 Chapter 1977: Becoming a Magus (Part 3)

    Chapter 1977: Bing a Magus (Part 3)

    "Silverwing''s legacy isn''t faulty, just iplete. Light and darkness are not the only two elements that are two sides of the same coin. All six of them are."

    "Can you give us a demonstration?" Sylpha had countless objections to such a statement but magic wasn''t about opinions.

    If Lith really could do as he imed, he just had to prove it. On top of that, the Queen doubted that he would try to con two expert mages like the Royals.

    "I know that you are fake Awakened so feel free to use Life Vision. This way, you can make sure that I''m not using some trick." Lith said and his eyes lit up with mana, quickly followed by the Royals''.

    "As a kid, I was amazed by Silverwing''s teachings, and my surprise only grew once I met Scarlett the Scorpicore, the previous ruler of the White Griffon''s Forest. She could freely switch the light element into darkness andter I witnessed even Professor Manohar do it."

    While Lith spoke, a small spark of light energy appeared between his hands. It started to spin clockwise, turning darker with every cycle. The Royals could see with Life Vision that Lith wasn''t casting a second spell.

    The very same energy of the original spark had turned from light into darkness. It reinforced their wish to get Lith back on their side, but it was far from amazing. Thete Manohar had achieved much more.

    "That''s because even though we perceive them as different elements, they are actually one and the same. Together, they represent the control over life." The spark of light nurtured the flowers in the room, making them more vibrant, while the darkness half made them wither.

    "Without light, darkness turns into Chaos, and without darkness, light turns into Decay." With a little help from his eyes, Lith created a spark of both Cursed elements, breaking the bnce.

    Half the flowers rot while the other half simply disappeared.

    "This ismon knowledge." The King said. "Aside from showing off your mastery over the elements, you added nothing to Silverwing''s legacy."

    "I needed to establish amon ground or you wouldn''t be able to follow my reasoning." Lith replied with a shrug. "You see, even though my natural affinities as a Divine Beast are fire and darkness, the first pair of elements I''ve mastered are air and earth.

    "That''s because in my line of work dimensional magic saved my life countless times. Even though dimensional magic requires more than two elements, it''s air and earth that together represent the mastery over space."

    "What?" The Royals said in disbelief while a small rock floated between Lith''s hands and half of it slowly turned into dust.

    Once again, it wasn''t a second spell nor was Lith simply altering the rock''s density. The dust turned into a fine powder, then into a yellow mist, and finally into a small thunderstorm.

    Exining with words to people with no knowledge of physics would have been impossible, but what he was doing was using air magic''s control over the electrical charges to break the bonds in the rock and earth magic to keep the prized matter split.

    "You heard me." Lith said. "Air and earth allow the mage to control the distance between things. Enhance the attractive forces and you get solid objects. Enhance the repulsive forces and you get gas instead."

    He stretched the cloud, turning the entire rock into the electromaic powder before condensing it again.

    "The ability to bend the distance between two different points in space requires the assistance of the other elements, but air and earth are all you need to affect the space around you. Like this." Lith extended his hand and a jolt of electricity burst from the ground.

    "Can you do it again?" Sylpha asked, scanning the surroundings with both Life Vision and Domination.

    Lith nodded and created a constant flow of energy going from the sand to his hand.

    "He''s telling the truth." Sylpha nodded. "So far earth magic became pointless every time a fight moved into the sky and air magic was limited in presence of metals. This is a game-changer."

    "What about fire and water?" Meron asked without bothering to hide his curiosity.

    "I kept them forst because this might be the hardest part for you to understand. Fire and water don''t control temperature as you might think. They control speed." Lith replied.

    "That''s in wrong." The Queen shook her head. "Nothing is faster than lightning and air fusion enhances speed. How could water and fire control speed them?"

    "As I said, it''s hard to understand." Lith said. "As you know, by using earth magic to alter the density of a surface, we can turn it from solid, to sand, to mud.

    "Fire and water can''t influence the density of solid matter, yet fire can liquefy and evaporate anything, while ice can turn the strongest object into a brittle piece of ss. Have you ever wondered why?"

    "It''s simply thermal shock." Meron shrugged. "Everything has a melting and a boiling point, but that''s a matter of temperature, not speed."

    "That''s where you are wrong." Lith shook his head. "I used air and earth to show you how even a rock is rich in electrical charges and can produce lightning. What you call ''air'' isn''t actually empty space, but it''s filled with things so small that you cannot see them."

    A wave of his hand made part of the humidity in the room condense in a small sphere of water that took ce inside the dancing dark light and the thundercloud.

    "There''s water in this room, but you can''t see it because it''s too fast. I used water magic to slow it enough to make the water turn from gas to liquid. If I slow it more¡­" The sphere turned into ice.

    "What I need you to understand is the underlying principle behind this phenomenon. There are forces that keep things together and those forces are affected by speed. When you provide heat to a metal, itsponents start to move quickly enough to break free of the forces that usually keep them together.

    "The weaker bonds break first, and the metal bends. Then, once that any material receives enough energy, it can melt and then evaporate. The temperature of living beings increases whenever they make an effort because the movement converts part of the energy stored inside the body into heat."

    Lith shapeshifted his hands into those of a Tiamat and started to rub them faster and faster until the friction produced a spark.

    "What you perceive as a change of temperature is actually just a by-product of the change of speed. If you fail to grasp this concept, you can''t do this." The frozen water turned into a me whose heat rose in intensity from red to violet before going back to mist.

    "The six elements control life, speed, and space, but when you also add even an iota of Spirit Magic, they can be anything." Lith emitted a spark of emerald light that joined the three elemental constructs, forming a de made of pure energy.

    Water and earth gave it substance, light and darkness formed several rune patterns on its surface, and air and fire coursed along its surface, manifesting the enchantments Lith had imbued them with.

 Chapter 1978: Becoming a Magus (Part 4)

    Chapter 1978: Bing a Magus (Part 4)

    "We can''t reveal the existence of Spirit Magic to the public, but if I understood it correctly, you are saying that by mastering these principles, mages would be able to switch elements at will." The King said.

    "Correct." Lith replied. "This isn''t something that only Awakened or true mages can do, but also fake mages. Imagine the ability to conjure two different spells with a single chant, switching between them based on the circumstances.

    "To alter the properties even of arrays, allowing Wardens to lessen their casting time and to give their creations a greater versatility."

    "It''s amazing." The Queen said while she tried and failed to replicate what Lith had just done.

    Herck of understanding of physics limited her imagination, but her rich experience as a mage and her Domination made her feel how close she was to achieving the same result after listening to a few words.

    "Indeed." Lith nodded. "I can''t decide what you''ll share with the public, I''m just offering you the knowledge worthy of a Magus. What you do with it, it''s none of my business."

    He could have just revealed the ability of Forgemastering wands to allow fake mages to use Spirit Magic to gain the title of Magus, but that would have angered the Council.

    The Awakenedmunity considered Spirit Magic their exclusive and one of the main reasons they still had an edge over fake mages.

    Lith couldn''t make an enemy of his own people just to solve his personal problems. On top of that, sharing such information would have made him a Magus to fake mages and a joke to Awakened.

    It wouldn''t be something he had created, but just something he had stolen and exploited. This way, instead, no one would be able to criticize him. This new discipline of magic was of his own making and only he could decide what to do with it.

    "In addition to what I''ve already said, I''m also willing to share with the Kingdom the necessary knowledge to replicate the DoLorean''s power core. With it, once the War of the Griffons is over, you can start manufacturing trains that will connect the cities of the Kingdom.

    "People will be capable of moving from the countryside to the Warp Gates freely even during winter. The quality of life, security, and the trading of merch will benefit everyone." Lith said.

    "People will not be stuck in their viges their whole lives and traveling will not be a luxury that only the rich can afford. Moving merchandise and soldiers will be much more efficient without being limited by dimensional mages. I think you can imagine the rest by yourselves."

    At the moment there was only one Light Master at the service of the Kingdom but Quy was still too inexperienced to replicate something asplex as the DoLorean.

    If Lith shared the blueprints of its power core, however, even Forgemasters incapable of using Light Mastery could manufacture it.

    It was the same principle behind the widespreadmunication amulets, shared by one of the rare mages who have be both a Light Master and a dimensional mage, Jeron vin.

    Hundreds of years ago he had be the second Ruler of the mes for the Awakened and a Magus for the Empire thanks to his creation.

    "We need to present your proposal to the Royal Court and the Mage Association, but this is plenty enough to ensure you the title of Magus." King Meron said while standing up and offering Lith his hand.

    "Before you go, there''s still a matter that I would like to discuss." Lith shook it, but invited the King to sit again.

    "Another request?" Sylpha was puzzled.

    The deal had already been made, adding more terms would reopen the negotiations.

    "No, more like a suggestion." Lith shook his head. "Crime breeds from misery and ignorance. The best way to uproot it is by spreading knowledge and I think I know how to do it."

    He took a small amulet out of his pocket dimension and handed it to the Queen. It was made of an alloy of silver and with a green mana crystal etched on its center.

    "What is this?" Sylpha asked.

    "A cheap and short-range version ofmunication amulets. Please, imprint it." Lith said and the Queenplied.

    She discovered that the amulet was not only connected to the Desert''s interlink, but also to a privatework. She also found that it contained spelling books, Silverwing''s Foundation of Magic, and many other tomes.

    "How is this possible?" The Queen asked after checking the artifact with a Forgemastering Spell. "This thing has a very simple pseudo core. It can''t host so much knowledge."

    "That''s because it doesn''t." Lith replied. "The amulet is simply a transmitter connected to a much moreplex device in myb. The current amulets are too expensive for normal people whereas this is something that most can afford and maybe the Kingdom could provide them for free.

    "My idea is to create a central system in the capital of each region and make the amulets rely on it to work. This way, a local corrupted officer could be exposed since people wouldn''t need days of travel to reach the nearest army branch.

    "Even those who cannot afford the paper for a single book will have many tomes at their disposal, teach their children magic or any other discipline and discover that they have a talent for it.

    "Even if you just give one of these to each family in the Kingdom, you will give them the opportunity to learn, practice magic, and broaden their horizons.

    "Bedtime stories would help the children to learn how to read and write and would give their parents a way to keep them quiet. During the long and harsh months of winter, people would have something to do while they are assembled in front of the firece.

    "Also, since the amulets by themselves are useless and the central unit would be in your control, you can start by adding solely safe books and then progressively increase their number and variety."

    Lith exined to the Royals how it was possible to grow the amuletwork and turn it into the closest thing to Earth''s inte. A ce where even people distant thousands of kilometers from each other could talk and share their knowledge.

    In a future version of the amulets, people would be capable not only to read from the mainframe, but also to write and create their personal spaces based on theirmon interests.

    "This is a great idea." The King asked. "Why didn''t you offer it to us as part of your legacy as a Magus?"

    Lith inhaled sharply and then proceeded to exin all the problems that the inte and the spreading of magical smartphones were bound to create.

    Like how extremists would more easily find like-minded individuals and dangerous knowledge would be easily leaked. How given enough time, voyeurism and stalking would be a thing.

    By the time he was done exining the range of cybercrime, the Royals had already changed their mind, considering the idea of such a shared virtual space reckless and idiotic.

    "It''s a nightmare. A lot ofws would have to be changed and even more created anew." Sylpha had already a headache at the thought. "We would need to train a new corps of Constables and keep an eye on thework."

 Chapter 1979: New Floors (Part 1)

    Chapter 1979: New Floors (Part 1)

    "I know that giving people such a powerful tool is bound to backfire. Once the amuletswork develops enough, it will take a life of its own and be impossible to fully control." Lith nodded.

    "Yet I still think you should do it. Keeping your citizens boxed makes them easier to control, but it also limits the development of the Kingdom. Sooner orter that box will not be enough and you''ll lose control anyway.

    "You can choose whether to oppose the change until it tramples you and then waste years to contain the damage, or to channel the growth of your society and guide them to the best of your ability.

    "After all, it will take a long time before someone other than Royal Forgemasters develops their ownwork. Until that moment, the amulets will be under your control.

    "You can use that time to study the effects that giving free knowledge has on the Kingdom and be the spider of this web." Lith had a hard time notughing as he conjured a fitting hologram over the city of Valeron.

    "It will be up to you to decide which threads to cut and which to weave. As long as you have the monopoly of thework, with enough manpower and resources you can keep things from escting until thew is ready to face further change.

    "This matter is no different from what happened with the academy system. You can leave it as it is until it blows into your faces or you can be like Linjos and take the matter into your own hands.

    "Until this moment, due to the ipetence of your predecessors and the load of stuff to fix they have left you, you have focused solely on day-to-day crises. That''s what a mediocre ruler does, dealing with the problems of today.

    "A great ruler like Valeron, instead, prepares for those that he knows will arise in the next thirty or fifty years. He works for the future because the longer you wait, the bigger a problem will be."

    "How do you know so much about the First Ruler?" The King asked.

    "As a Divine Beast I had the opportunity to talk with people who knew him and since I want the Griffon Kingdom to be my home, I also want it to be ruled by a new Valeron instead of Thrud." Lith replied.

    "By the way,munication amuletswork sounds terrible. I''d go for something catchier, like Web of Knowledge or Web for short."

    "We''ll keep your suggestions in mind." Sylpha said and this time, when they turned around after shaking his hand, Lith didn''t stop them.

    "Onest thing." Meron said. "Upon your return to the Kingdom, you should thank Marchioness Distar, Archon Ernas, and Baron Wyalon. They have rallied respectively the south, the center, and the north of the Kingdom for you."

    "I will." Lith nodded. "About that, I am nning to hold a second marriage ceremony for my friends who couldn''t attend the first. Many of them live in the Kingdom and I''d love for them toe here without the risk of being charged with treason."

    "The borders will remain open." Queen Sylpha replied. "Until the Royal Court and the Mage Association are done deliberating your offer, you are still considered an enemy of the state, Archmage Verhen.

    "Yet as a sign of goodwill, we''ll grant your request. I wish you all the happiness thates your way because once you return to the Kingdom, only the battlefield will wait for you."

    Lith gave them a polite bow that the Royals returned and then plunged into the nearest seat.

    "What do you think, Solus?" He asked.

    "I think it went well." She replied from her ring.

    "Me too." Lith inhaled sharply, pinching his nose to fight an iing headache.

    "Why are you so stressed then? I thought returning to the Kingdom was what you wanted." Solus said.

    "It is, but after a blessed month during which I only worked how much I wanted, now I must go back working as much as it''s needed." Lith replied. "Before I enter the War of the Griffons, I need toplete my Golems, craft a crapload of equipment, and understand what the heck the Mouth of Menadion does."

    "I''m sorry. I wish you had a bit more time alone with Kami." Solus said, yet her tone and words didn''t match.

    The idea of spending a lot of time together again and exploring all the magical theories they had developed during the second half of the honeymoon, made her jump with joy.

    Solus was jealous and just like Kam, she wanted to set her own boundaries in their rtionship. She even assumed her human form to be the first to congratte him with a long hug.

    "The silver lining is that the new floors of the tower, our friends, and Grandma should be enough to get our job done in time." She said, trying to sound casual.

    Lith pretended to not notice her enthusiasm and nodded.

    He was about to open the door and walk out of the room when the handle seemingly turned on its own.

    "I''m proud of you, Featherling." Sark patted his shoulders and then pinched his cheeks to congratte him. "Don''t worry about the Association, your theory is worthy of a Magus and if the Kingdom denies you the title, I won''t."

    A snap of her fingers produced a spark of light that turned into a drop of darkness.

    "Wait, how did you do that?" The Guardian squinted her eyes in focus, managing to switch all elements at will before Lith had the time to answer.

    "Granma! Didn''t you say that you would stay out of the treaty?" He would have liked to get angry with her, but he simply couldn''t.

    Lith now considered Sark a member of his family as much as she considered him one of her own. The Guardian had already done a lot for Solus and his family and before Lith left the Desert, he would still have to ask her for help countless times.

    "And I did. I just wanted to make sure that the Royals didn''t try to ckmail you or something. I swear that I had no hidden agenda." Sark had already mastered how to switch the first three tiers of magic and was now trying with the fourth.

    "Don''t be a sourpuss. Stop pouting and go celebrate with your wife while you still have the time."

    "I will." Lith and Solus nodded before walking through the door.

    "I was not talking with you. Give them some privacy!" Sark dragged Solus away, making her yelp like an angry puppy.

    "Did you really include my reinstatement as a Constable among the terms?" Kam was both happy and shocked at the news.

    "Yes. As I told you the day you came here to propose to me, you have worked too hard and made too many sacrifices to build a life for yourself. I couldn''t stand the idea of fixing only my problems." Lith replied.

    "You have sacrificed over ten years of your sweat and blood for my sake and now it''s my turn to put something I love at risk for you. Either we''ll both get our old lives back or no one will.

    "Whatever the future holds, we''ll face it together."

 Chapter 1980: New Floors (Part 2)

    Chapter 1980: New Floors (Part 2)

    Kam hugged him tightly, feeling tears stream from her eyes. Until that moment, she had avoided thinking about the things she had lost and the dreams that she had shattered by bing a deserter.

    She had never talked about them with Lith because, after everything that had happened in the wake of Meln exposing his identity, she didn''t want to further increase his burden.

    She had wanted their marriage to be the source of his happiness and the haven where he could rx in the storm of the exile. Yet it wasn''t just the Verhens mourning the loss of their old life, but she as well.

    "How did you know it was so important to me if even I didn''t?" Kam didn''t want to ruin that moment, but she couldn''t stop crying in joy.

    "Because I love you, Kam Verhen, with all my heart." Lith quoted the same words that she had told him in Yrma on the third day of their honeymoon.

    "When something troubles you, you don''t hide it from me. You don''t lie about it to me. You tell me and let me share it with you. Whatever happens to you happens to me. Your happiness is my happiness."

    They held onto each other for a while, hoping that their future would be even better than their present.

    ***

    The next day, Lith checked with the Ernas sisters and made sure that the Royals had kept their word. Now people from the Kingdom were free to cross the borders and visit him without beingbeled as traitors.

    "I''m going to kill you so bad, mister Verhen!" Friya said in mock anger. "After all we went through, after years spent bearing with your brooding and killing re, how could you leave us out of your marriage?"

    "Yeah, who was your best man? What did you do for your bachelor party?" Quy asked. "What about Kam?"

    Phloria remained a few steps behind, still conflicted about her feelings. She still liked Lith and loved him as a friend, yet she could feel that there was now a distance between them that couldn''t be crossed anymore.

    The bridge of their past rtionship had been burned for good and even though she had no intention of building it again, it still pained her.

    "I had no best man nor bachelor party." Lith shrugged.

    "What?" The Ernas sisters said in unison.

    "Dude, I had prepared something great for you ever since you dated Phloria!" Friya said, making her sister flush in embarrassment. "How could you do this to me?"

    "It happened on the spur of the moment. Kam had no party or bridesmaid either." He replied. "Zinya was too shocked even to stand and so were my parents. That''s why we are doing it again."

    "Yeah, the bastard didn''t even invite me!" Protector pouted.

    "Or me!" Faluel yfully punched his shoulder and Lith felt it.

    "Enough with the chit-chat." Lith cut them all short. "There''s lots of work to do and little time to do it. I didn''t call you here to be scolded until my ears fall off, but to show you the new floors of my tower and ask for your help."

    "Thanks, dear." Sark said. "You know how Grandma is fascinated by Menadion''s work. I''m seriously considering getting a tower of my own."

    "Can you make one?" Lith asked in surprise and everyone held their breath for the answer.

    "I have no clue." She shrugged. "But if I ask your grandfather''s help and you let me examine the tower, I''m certain that I can pull out another masterpiece."

    Lith knew how much he owed Sark and that someday he would have to return the favor. Yet giving her free ess to the tower still felt too much and the Guardian shared his opinion.

    Sark could have demanded it from Lith if the tab was big enough but she had chosen to ask for it instead. Most of the things the Overlord had done for him and his family, she considered them as acts of love and wanted nothing in return for them.

    "Please, follow me. There are four new floors that you should see. We''ll start from the underground levels." Lith brought them to the tower that now stood 21 meters (69 feet) high.

    It had turned into a seven-story building that had forced Sark to raise the ceiling of her pce to host it. The new floors had appeared in-between the old ones, altering the structure of the tower.

    "Wee to the Workshop." Lith had brought his guests to the level right under the Forge.

    When he opened the thin wooden door, their disappointment couldn''t have been any greater. The room was a circle with a radius of 10 meters (33 feet) and waspletely empty.

    "Are you sure this isn''t just the Closet or something?" Quy said with a scoff. "Aside from a lot of space, there''s nothing here."

    "There''s nothing because there''s nothing I need at the moment, but let''s say I wanted to practice enchanting the Davross." He said with a sly smile.

    Suddenly, an unknown rune appeared on each one of the square stones thatprised the floor, walls, and ceiling. The Workshop pulsed with the powering from the mana geyser below, umting andpressing the world energy until it took physical form.

    Once the glowing stopped, a huge chunk of Davross and several white crystals had appeared in the middle of the room along with all the necessary Forgemastery circles to enchant them.

    "By the gods! The Crucible must be a prototype of the Workshop." Protector said in amazement. "Who needs a mine when you can create everything you need out of thin air?"

    Everyone but Sark nodded in enthusiasm. The Guardian knew that not even her Creation Magic could achieve something like that and Lith had never stopped asking her help resetting his materials.

    On top of that, if the Workshop really was that good, he would have already reced the Adamant coating his golems and armor with Davross. There had to be a catch.

    "Yeah, right. Since we are already dreaming, then I also want the crafting method to shape and enchant Darwen." Lith replied with a sneer.

    "What do you mean dreaming?" Friya asked.

    "Darwen is a dick. Even Davross is easy to handlepared to it. I tried everything I had, but all I managed to do was shatter it." Lith sighed. "I understand now why Vastor uses Darwen just to coat stuff."

    "No, I mean what''s the problem? Isn''t that Davross?" She pointed at the lump of metal sitting in the middle of the room.

    "Yes, it is. Pure tower produced Davross ready to be enchanted." He replied.

    "And?" Friya tapped her foot in frustration.

    "And it''s just like Solus'' clothes and every piece of furniture in the living room." Lith said, making a collective groan rise from his guests. "It has all the properties of the real deal and can be enchanted, but bring the tower away from the geyser and it will go puff.

    "Bring it away enough from the tower-"

    "And puff." Faluelpleted the phrase for him. "It''s still amazing. How much of a single material can the Workshop conjure?"

    "As much as I have." Lith sighed.

 Chapter 1981 New Floors (Part 3)

    Chapter 1981 New Floors (Part 3)

    "The real Davross and crystals are still respectively in the Crucible and the Mines. The Workshop uses them as blueprints and can''t exceed their quantity." Lith said.

    "How is this amazing?" Protector scratched his chin in confusion. "I mean, sure, it''s good for practice, but it has little practical use."

    "You wolfhead!" Sark said in outrage. "This is a miracle of magic that borders on Creation Magic. Thanks to the Workshop, even without my help Lith and Solus can now experiment with their techniques as many times as they want without losing a single ingredient.

    "Thanks to this ce, no matter how crazy or risky an experiment is, there will be no consequence because nothing inside here is real."

    "It''s actually even better, Grandma." Lith offered her biscuits and hot chocte to sweeten the blow. "Until this moment, I couldn''t use powerful ingredients like Dragon''s organs or the nts I received from the Dryads without a recipe.

    "Your Creation Magic allows me to reuse those that end up in a failed butplete piece, but cannot recover an ingredient that has been destroyed due to the Forgemastering energies going awry or to a faulty crafting method.

    "With the Workshop, instead, I can experiment every kind of enchantment with my ingredients and discover what element orbination of elements they are more attuned with."

    "I can do that with Creation Magic as well." Sark said in-between mouthfuls.

    "That''s because you can revert the consequences of a failed experiment the moment something goes wrong whereas I can only bring you the final results. I can''t ask you to spend hours looking after me in case I make a mistake.

    "I believe that the Workshop is the reason Menadion managed to Forgemaster so many masterpieces and research so many branches of magic. She could experiment until she found the perfectbination of materials and technique and now we can do the same." Lith said.

    "Wait a second." The Guardian furrowed her brows. "If you had your own version of Creation Magic, why do you keeping to me to remove imprints and enchantments?"

    "Because I needed to use both the replicas and the real ingredients to make sure of how urate the Workshop''s ability to reproduce magical properties is and because I''m shamelessly trying to learn Creation Magic from you." He replied.

    "Cheeky brat!" Sark pinched his cheek,ughing. "Extra points for your sincerity. I knew that you have the Eyes and I was counting on you using them to give Creation Magic a go. This was a low blow, though.

    "I expect to bepensated for my time and my stolen lessons."

    "If there''s something you need, Grandma, all you have to do is ask." Lith gave her a deep bow, knowing how much deep is respect for Sark was.

    She had taken care of him and his family for all that time without asking anything in return. She had lessened the burden on his father''s sanity, sparing Raaz the trauma of having to live a single minute without his limbs.

    She had taken care of the Verhens like her own, giving Lith a safe haven to recover from the pain Meln had inflicted upon him and a ce where to enjoy his honeymoon.

    "Don''t worry, dear. We''ll talk about thister." Sark ced her hand over his head, caressing it gently. "Now show us the rest of the goods."

    "Sure thing. Our next stop is the Factory." The new floor was right below the Workshop.<del>

    ,c`o`m</del>

    The room looked like a mix of the Forge and Zekell''s smithy. There was a furnace fueled by both violet mes of magical origin and the magma that came from the lower levels of the tower.

    Like the Forge, there was a huge block of Adamant that worked as an amplifier for the magical energies and like the smithy, there was everything necessary to smelt metals and molds to shape them in different forms.

    "Here is where mybor in the Workshop trulyes to fruition." Lith said. "This floor is entirely automated. It can do the same things I do and with the same precision, as long as I provide a manufacturing method and the final product doesn''t require a strength above the blue core."

    "It would be incredible if you nned to sell low-quality weapons." Sark looked at the various artifacts, doing her best to conceal her disappointment. "Yet I doubt that anyone would be interested in such a low output.

    "A true masterpiece cannot be mass-produced. It''s the care and expertise of the artisan that make the difference between good and exceptional. Just think about War. Without Orion''s feelings, it would have just been an average piece of metal."

    "You are right, Grandma, but also wrong." Lith replied. "You see, I have a small army of Demons and I''ve decided that it''s time to give them some equipment. I can''t always rely on stealing it from my fallen enemies, especially against Thrud''s soldiers.

    "Their bodies and gear disappear a second before their death and my Demonsck the skill to capture it in time. On top of that, the souls who answer my call change every time.

    "There is no point in crafting something tailored for them. Even if I knew what weapon suits each one of them the best, it would be used only once, wasting my time and effort.

    . ?`?`m "Here, instead, I can craft everything I need without consuming a second of my time and focus. Also, never forget that quantity has a quality all its own." Lith pointed at several des identical in their shape and enchantments but with different kinds of power cores and mana pathways.

    "Ick the experience and skill to understand how the mana flow in the body of others. Because of that, I can''t make weapons suitable for the training of de Magic. Yet thanks to the Factory, I can rely on a trial-and-error process."

    A snap of his fingers conjured Locrias, Valia, and Trion who each experimented with the new batches of weapons, reporting to Lith which one offered less resistance to them.

    After spending enough time with them and having learned together how to use the chains to exchange knowledge, Lith had imparted unto them everything he knew about de Magic.

    The Demons could use such knowledge to understand their own mana flow and how it behaved when interacting with different kinds of power cores. Then, they shared their discoveries with Lith and he would focus on perfecting the power cores of their choosing.

    "A true Ruler of the mes has to be capable of forging tools that allow their clients to casting de Magic. I''m brute-forcing my way to the title, but what truly matters is the result." He shrugged.

    "Thank you very much." Locrias said. "First you allowed us to get in touch with our families. Then, you included them in your bargain with the Royals so that we can spend time with them during times of war and peace.

    "Now you are even teaching us one of the highest tiers of magic and providing us with what we need to practice it. You have given us so much and yet we have given you so little in return."

    "Nonsense''" Lith dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand.

 Chapter 1982 New Floors (Part 4)

    Chapter 1982 New Floors (Part 4)

    "None of you had any reason to stay behind and follow me right after your demise. Even though you haven''t given me your full loyalty, you haven''t betrayed my trust either.

    "When I conjured you in front of the Royals, you could have exposed my tower and Solus. The Kingdom would have greatly benefitted from such knowledge and the Crown would have asked much more from me.

    "Yet you didn''t, Locrias. You guarded my secrets just like you protected my family whenever I asked you to. You guys may be dead, but you still feel pain when you are hurt and you suffer from your condition as Demons.

    . ?`?`m "The cycle of dreams and nightmares would have broken lesser people, yet you three endure them on a daily basis withoutining. You always answer my call and are willing to fight for my sake even when it''s not the safety of the Kingdom at stake but my interests.

    "For that I''m grateful to you, and you deserve more than the living space of a feather from me. Locrias, Valia, you have my word that I''ll make sure that the Crown rewards you for your valor and that your prizes go to your families."

    "Thanks, my liege." Trion was the first to kneel, creeping Tista a bit.

    Even though there was little love between them, he was still her older brother. Comparing his old attitude with the current deference toward Lith made her think that either Trion had truly changed or that a ve spell had to be involved.

    "Thanks." The other two kneeled as well, bringing his hand to their forehead as they had done to Kam. "You have our solemn oath that we''ll defend your household like our own.

    "We''ll protect your secrets with our lives and we''ll never use anything you are gifting upon us against you, no matter our orders."

    Lith nodded and let them go back to their training.

    Those who hadn''t met Lith since he was still struggling with the bottleneck of the deep violet core remained shocked by the change in his attitude.

    He hadn''t threatened to dispel their souls the moment they attempted to betray him, nor had he mocked them for their blind loyalty to a Kingdom that had already forgotten about them.

    There was now a confidence in him that made those words pointless. Lith was now at peace with himself and that allowed him to stop seeing threats where there were none and to treat people right.

    He trusted none of his Demons, but he respected them and their beliefs. The feeling was returned in kind and the more they learned about him, the more simple resignation to their condition turned into trust and loyalty.

    "How does the Factory work, exactly?" Sark asked once the prolonged gawking stopped amusing her.

    "It''s actually the result of thebination of several different floors working in unison." Lith replied. "I have to store the production method in the Library and the necessary Forgemastery arrays in the Heart.

    "Then, I have to decide if to craft something for real, in which case the materialse from the Crucible, the Mine, and the pocket dimension, or just to make a mock-up. If it''s thetter, the Workshop provides the Factory with the test materials.

    "In either case, the smithy then smelts the metals and gives them the proper shape before the enchantment process starts. My skills as a cksmith are stillcking, but I can easily purify anything with Origin mes and I need but a rough sketch for the tower to create a proper mold.

    "Once everything is set, the Factory can produce both alchemical and enchanted items without any supervision from either me or Solus.

    "Thanks to this new floor, we are freely experimenting with wands, Thundercrash, and even on how our old enchantments interact with the various parts of Syrook''s body.

    "Also, my Demons can try out countless weapons and enchantments until they found one suitable for their own mana flow and learn de Magic."<del>

    ,c`o`m</del>

    "Can we use it as well?" Quy asked, eager to increase her battle prowess.

    "Sure." Lith shrugged. "As long as you stay in the tower and work on your own manufacturing methods. I don''t have the time to focus on more people. I''ve a lot on my te already."

    "Why didn''t you tell me earlier?" Tista pouted. "I could use learning de Magic and I spent most of my free time with Solus when she wasn''t with you."

    "That''s actually on me, Tista." Solus replied. "You were hurt and lonely. You needed a friend and some time toe to terms with the consequences of your actions in the Hogum mansion.

    "I kept it a secret from you because I thought that rather than bury yourself in training, you needed to confront your inner demons."

    Tista''s eyes narrowed in annoyance and she pursed her lips to hold back harsh words about Solus'' interference with her personal life. Then, she realized that Solus had done it only out of concern and her expression softened.

    "Thanks, Solus. I don''t know if resting was the right thing to do with the War of the Griffons still ravaging the Kingdom, but it definitely helped me."

    "You are wee." Solus said with a warm smile.

    "Let''s move to the upper floors. There are still two new levels you need to see." Lith snapped his fingers, Warping them all straight to the floor that had appeared between the Greenhouse and the Heart of the tower.

    The circr room was empty, looking exactly like the Workshop. After having underestimated Menadion''s creativity already, everyone kept their mouth shut, waiting for the exnation.

    "This is the Firing Range." Solus said. "Unlike the Workshop, it''s just as you see it. Empty. The purpose of this room is to put to the test the weapons we craft, their enchantments, and our new spells."

    A choir of furrowed brows and puzzled looks weed her words.

    "To what end?" Faluel said, expressing the words in everyone''s mind.

    "One of the biggest issues when learning de Magic is to find a ce where to practice without causing pointless destruction or drawing attention." Solus replied. "The same stands for powerful tier five spells.

    "A mage needs to test out their creations, but at the same time, they don''t want them to be witnessed. A Dragon might learn it, stealing in seconds months of hard work while a simple passerby might witness the quirks of the spell and spread the tale.

    "If it happens, the surprise effect would be lost. On top of that, every time we crafted a new piece of equipment for ourselves, we had to wait for a worthy opponent to test it out.

    "We couldn''t go all out against a friend nor could we risk getting seriously hurt just to test the durability of an armor. The Firing Range solves such problems. Look."

    Solus weaved a tier five spell, Final Eclipse, and unleashed it against the wall in front of her. The Firing Range shone with white light, filtering the world energy unnecessary elements until only fire and darkness remained.

    A second Final Eclipse burst from the wall, countering Solus'' with the same strength so that not a single tongue of fire reached its target nor any of those present.

 Chapter 1983 Home Away From Home (Part 1)

    Chapter 1983 Home Away From Home (Part 1)

    "As you have just seen, the Firing Range mirrors whatever you attempt against it and then rates it on a simple scale." Lith pointed at a holographic disy that appeared beside Solus.

    There were five levels, one for each tier of regr magic. They were split into fourpartments: low, middle, high, and tower. Then, there was an upper level marked as Spirit Magic with its own tiers andpartments.

    Above it, there were de Tier spells. Unlike the previous branches of magic, it wasn''t split into five tiers. It only had the usual fourpartments, hinting that Tower Magic waspatible with de Tier spells.

    It rated her spell as an intermediate tier five, far from the Spirit Magic tier and even farther from the de Tier.

    "That''s because of my blue core." Solus said with a sigh. "Final Eclipse is a powerful spell, but Ick the necessary mana to manifest its true potential."

    "Now, watch this." Lith changed the settings in the holographic disy and then he cast a Final Eclipse of his own.

    This time the tower replied by using a darkness and water magic spell, Ice Age. Not only was the rating of the spell higher than Solus'', but Lith could also experiment with it against all kinds of protections and test its effects.

    In the same way, the Firing Range could conjure the spells of the owner of the tower and then fire them at him. When Lith wanted to test a new defensive spell or the Spirit Barrier of his armor, he would have the tower keep his energy signature.

    This way, once a spell conjured by the Firing Range broke past his defenses, it would do him no harm. When he wanted to try out the raw defensive power of his armor, instead, he would have the tower change to a neutral energy signature.

    The spells could now damage him, allowing Lith to experience how well the Voidwalker armor fared against different elements. The safety protocols of the tower made the attack cease the moment he took damage.

    Then, Lith showed them his de Tier spell, Ruin. The Firing Range countered it and rated it as a low level de Tier spell.

    Aside from Sark, his guests were bbergasted at the power that Lith had just showcased and even more by the tower considering it weak.

    "Usually I would have needed arge empty space, a sparring partner, and lots of arrays to ensure our safety. Now, instead, I can perform all the experiments I want here while Tista helps Solus study my new spells and how they interact with different elemental defenses with the Eyes." Lith said.

    "Thanks to the Firing Range, I discovered that my armor is weak against earth magic and changed its enchantments until I fixed the problem. Also, I could experiment with different designs of barriers for the Voidwalker''s power core and find out which one was the more energy efficient."

    "This is truly a marvel of magic." Sark ced her hand against the cold stone of the nearest wall, using her breathing technique to study the tower''s floor.

    She had no ill-will to steal its secrets, it was just her inquisitive nature as a Forgemaster getting the better of her.

    "Can anyone use the Firing Range or is it limited solely to you and Solus?" She asked.

    "Anyone can." Lith nodded. "The floor is like those training booths back at the academy. It can be temporarily imprinted by a guest and then used to test out their skills.

    "I don''t know how useful it can be for you, Grandma. The scale only goes up to de Tier magic. I doubt it can withstand the power of a Guardian."<del> ,c`o`m</del>

    "It definitely can''t, but it would still be great to test out my creations." The Overlord took a thin one-handed de out of her pocket dimension and unleashed one of its enchantments right after imprinting the Firing Range.

    The tower had no idea of what the odd stream of lightning, water, and darkness was so it countered it with Lith''s Primordial Roar.

    "Not bad." Sark said while looking at the disy that rated her enchantment as a tier five Spirit Magic spell that bordered on Tower Spirit magic.

    "That was just the de?" Solus'' jaw dropped to the floor.

    "Yep. Not one drop of my own mana." Sark said with a proud smile on her face. "It''s a Guardian-crafted weapon, after all. What did you expect?"

    "The Fury doesn''t go that high, yet you crafted it as well!" Solus looked at the enchanted hammer in her hand as if it had betrayed her.

    "That''s because I didn''t design the Fury." The Guardian replied. "I updated it by following Menadion''s blueprints so I drew out its full potential, but the final result was still capped by Ripha''s skill."

    "Come, there''s only one floor left." Lith snapped his fingers again, moving them to the new top floor that had appeared above the Greenhouse.

    "This is the Watchtower." He said. "Unlike the other floors, it has no offensive ability. Its purpose is mainly for surveince and scouting. It synergizes with the Mirror Hall and the Eyes."

    A wave of Lith''s hand made the Watchtower release a pulse of mana that scoured the area around him for kilometers. Unlike the Mirror Hall, Lith had no need to focus in a specific direction.

    The Watchtower didn''t create a detailed map, it simply spotted everything with a powerful energy signature in the area and pointed it out to Lith. A holographic disy showed him the result of the scan.

    Every person with a core above green was marked with a dot of the corresponding color of their mana core. The same happened for magical equipment, arrays, and any magical source.

    The disy showed those present how Sark''s troops were arranged around the pce, their strength and that of their equipment. Also, it spotted a caravan in the distance by identifying the magical beasts that pulled the carts.

    "Thanks to this floor, I can now scan for other mana geysers, magical mines or resources, and even magical barriers of any sort. If someone powerful approaches the tower, the Watchtower will detect them from a distance, allowing me to study them with the Mirror Hall."

    "While Sentries would be spotted, the energy pulse of the Watchtower is hidden inside the world energy and can''t be noticed." Solus said. "Also, it can study the magical formations from the outside so that we can grasp the ability of our ''neighbors'' without the risk of getting discovered."

    "Wait." Sark turned toward Lith and Solus, her eyes ring with anger for the first time since they had known her. "Are you telling me that you have been studying my pce and my arrays this whole time?"

    "No, we are not." Lith quickly answered, showing his open palms in surrender. "We are simply experimenting with the Watchtower to understand its limitations, not stealing your secrets.

    "The energy pulse can detect anything with a significant energy signature within its area of effect. It''s as good and as bad as it sounds. We can instantly spot a powerful mage, a mine, or an array, but at the same time, it cannot spot something cloaked."

 Chapter 1984 Home Away From Home (Part 2)

    Chapter 1984 Home Away From Home (Part 2)

    "Which means that you can easily discover unprotected resources, but those that have already been found and shielded are off-limits." The Overlordpleted the phrase for him.

    "Exactly." Solus replied. "The Watchtower is a great tool since it works akin to my mana sense but has a much bigger range and usually not many people wear cloaking devices. At the same time, however, it''s easily fooled.

    "My guess is that the main purpose of the Watchtower is to find the magical resources that grow in the surroundings of a mana geyser without the need of scouting for hours.

    "We can just conjure the tower, Warp to any geyser we discovered in the past, scan the area, and if there is nothing precious in the area we just have to rinse and repeat. With a bit of luck, we might im an undiscovered magical mine.

    "Even if the Council forces us to hand it over to a regional Lord, we can at least obtain a share of the goods."

    "Don''t downy it too much." Sark patted Lith''s head. "It works simrly to a Guardian''s breathing technique. We use it to check on our turf in a simr manner."

    "It''s not a new floor, but there''s something I need to show you, Lith." Solus said while moving them to the lower floor.

    "What the fuck?" He said in amazement.

    The Greenhouse had changed so much that he had a hard time recognizing it. The fields where Raaz cultivated the magical nts for him were still there and Lith noticed that his father had discovered a way to make their seeds grow.

    Each one of the nts that he had received from the Dryads had now its own patch and was surrounded by seedlings. It would take them some time to grow and be actually useful as magical ingredients.

    Even with the massive flow of world energy that the tower provided, they were still barely better than regr nts. At the moment, they drew nourishment from the soil and absorbed the world energy as a whole.

    Only after they developed the ability to absorb one or more elements in massive amounts would they be natural treasures.

    Yet that was of secondary importancepared to the small cottage that had been built right in the middle of the Greenhouse. It was surrounded by other fields that had been sowed with regr crops that Lith knew all too well.

    The cottage was a replica of Lith''s house in Lutia and so were the cultivated fields.

    "Hi, son. Hope you don''t mind the few changes I made." Raaz walked toward the group with a small smile on his face.

    He wore a brown shirt and working overalls both stained with dirt and sweat. His long unkempt beard and the musk he gave off were clear signs that he had been neglecting his personal hygiene.

    "Not at all, Dad." Lith noticed that there was no trace of the usual tense expression that his father had ever since Meln had tortured him.

    He didn''t seem to mind the small crowd nor them disturbing his work. The fear and desperation that had haunted him until not long ago had been reced by a calm resignation to the traumatic events that had taken ce in the Hogum mansion.

    Raaz still looked deeply sad and his gaze was dull, but he managed to shake everyone''s hand without flinching.

    "What are you doing here?" Lith asked.

    "This was actually your mother''s idea." Raaz replied. "She thought that a familiar environment and having some work to do instead of sitting on my ass the whole day might help me recover.

    "Elina had Solus create a piece of home away from home for us in the Greenhouse. Your mother and I have lived here whenever Solus materialized the tower." Raaz waved at his surroundings.<del> ,c`o`m</del>

    The climate inside the biome was mild, the sky was blue, and a gentle breeze caressed his face.

    Lith didn''t like the idea that his parents had actually followed Solus and the tower to the beach every time she came to visit, but he could see that his father had gotten another piece of his old self back.

    "Was Mom right?" He asked.

    "Yes, she was." Raaz nodded. "I know this house it''s not the real deal, but after a long day of work is really hard to tell, especially at night. Sark''s pce is the most wonderful ce I''ve ever seen, but it can''t beat the house where I was born, raised, and I raised my own children. No offense."

    "None taken." The Overlord replied.

    "At night?" Lith echoed in surprise. "Do you sleep here as well?"

    Suddenly, asking Solus if the tower was soundproof both ways became of the utmost priority. When she visited, he and Kam had sometimes sneaked out of the beach house and gone to the shore to have some alone time.

    The moon had been their wingman, painting the water and the sands silver with its light, and the only silent witness of their romantic escapades. Or so he had thought until that moment.

    "Yes, we did." Elina came out of the cottage, bringing with her the smell of her cooking. "I hope it''s not a problem for you. Your father needs an isted ce to rx and nothing soothes his nerves more than home."

    It was still early for lunch, but after eating Verendi''s food and the Desert''s cuisine whenever he wasn''t the one preparing a meal, Lith''s mouth watered.

    "It''s not a problem, as long as there''s a serving for me as well." He replied.

    "Don''t worry, there''s plenty of food for everyone." Elina replied with a chuckle. "Solus warned me of youring and I prepared your favorite dishes."

    She walked in front of Lith and caressed his face in a slow, loving motion. Her hands still smelled of spices and ingredients even after she has washed them, but he didn''t mind.

    All he cared about was seeing her finally happy and rxed, looking at him like the living miracle she still believed Lith to be. The thought of telling Elina that her real son had actually died that night of neen years ago, of breaking her heart and losing her love still scared him to the bone.

    "Lith, I was thinking that now that Aran has started going to school in the Desert and without our farm, there''s not much left for your father and me to do. Would you like to have another sibling?" She asked.

    Lith managed to contain a sudden shudder, but barely. Like it happens to most people, he considered his parents some kind of ethereal beings, and the idea of them having sex still unsettled him.

    Yet the realization that they had "housewarmed" the tower before him was even worse.

    "Mom, I''m d to see that you and Dad are doing much better, but after losing our home and with the war ongoing, I don''t think it''s a good idea. Even if the Royals ept my deal, there''s no certainty we''ll go back home.

    "As long as our family doesn''t have solid foundations again, having a child would be unwise and would only increase our burden. It''s the reason Kami and I decided to postpone the matter until the end of the War of the Griffons." He said.

    "Are you really considering the idea of having a child?" Elina hugged him, soon joined by her husband.

 Chapter 1985 Tower Core (Part 1)

    Chapter 1985 Tower Core (Part 1)

    The rest of the crew had their respective jaw dropping, Solus included. Lith had always been adamant about not having children of his own. Only Sark didn''t even flinch at the news.

    Quite the contrary, she seemed to bepletely uninterested.

    "Yes, Mom." Lith was d to see his father''s radiant smile and not shivering at the physical contact like usual. "It''s a decision we both agreed on after a thorough discussion."

    "Bless that woman''s heart." Elina jumped with joy. "I''m so happy at the idea that you''ll finally give me a grandchild that I won''t even scold you for calling your little sister a burden."

    She took Lith''s hand and ced it over her womb.

    "My little sister?" Lith echoed in a stupor. "How?"

    "Lith, dear, when two adults really love each other¡­" Elina burst into a peal ofughter before finishing the phrase.

    "I know that, Mom!" He turned into a shade of purple in embarrassment. "I meant, how do you know? We are here for barely a month. It''s too soon."

    She pointed at Sark who clicked her tongue.

    "Guardian senses, you moron. Do you really think that I can fail to perceive someone of my blood who lives under my roof?"

    Lith first thought was about the unspeakable act that had happened under his roof. The second was about all the problems that his little sister would have. The third andst that eclipsed the other two was pure joy.

    "Good gods, congrattions Mom and Dad!" He hugged them both before using Invigoration on Elina and looking for the spark of life inside of her.

    It was so small that he wouldn''t have noticed it without an urate scan of her womb.

    "We could make a club." Elina chucked. "There''s me, Sark, and Selia. Tista, dear-"

    "Mom!" A shrill shriek cut her short as Tista flushed up to her ears.

    "Why such a reaction?" Elina furrowed her brows. "I was just about to say that now that Lith is happily married, we need to find someone for you. Don''t tell me that you are¡­"

    She looked at Sark with eyes full of hope, but the Overlord shook her head.

    "Stop it, Mom!" Tista suddenly felt cornered. She was the only member of the family still single and now everyone would nag at her at every family reunion.

    "Have you already picked the name?" Faluel asked.

    "No more names starting with L." Elina said. "Things are starting to get confusing at home so we were thinking of naming her after Sark."

    "It would be my honor." The Guardian said. "Still, I partially agree with Lith. Having a child during such times is a bold move, almost reckless."

    "Not really." Elina shrugged. "Worst case scenario, I wouldn''t mind moving our family to the Desert. You have been a wonderful host and even though we are not really blood rted, you have treated all of us as your own.

    "Also, it didn''t happen on purpose. I simply noticed how Kam had managed to turn Lith from a moping wreck into a new man and I decided to give her method a go."

    "Mom!" Now it was Lith''s turn to blush.

    "There''s nothing to be ashamed of, dear. Now, do you mind calling for Trion? I don''t want him to learn about this from a stranger."<del> ,c`o`m</del>

    "Oh, gods! I''m going to have a little sister!" The Demon said as small puffs of fire and smoke came from his eyes instead of tears.

    "You already have a little sister and two little brothers, dummy." Tista said.

    "Yeah, and I was a shitty brother to them all." Trion said with a sigh. "Aran barely knows me and he considers Protector''s kid his brother more than I''ll ever be. With this child, instead, I''ll have a fresh start."

    The members of the group congratted Raaz and Elina in turns, promising them to return for lunch and celebrate the good news together.

    "Before moving on to thest item of our agenda, there''s something I want to show you." Lith said after Warping the group back to the tower''s Heart.

    He briefly exined to them the reasons for his trip to the continent of Verendi and how it had ended.

    "Even though the real Mouth of Menadion is lost to us, Solus still managed to recover her own version of the artifact."

    "Too bad that we have no idea how it works and that conjuring it takes a lot of energy." She said with a sigh. "Even with the tower over the geyser, the only ce where I can manifest the Mouth without too much effort is here."

    By its name, everyone had expected the artifact to be something like a mouthpiece or to cover only the lower part of Solus'' face. Instead, it was a pristine white mask with no features except the holes for eyes and nostrils.

    It also had a red crystal for the upper lip and a yellow crystal for the lower.

    "The original was slightly different." Solus conjured the hologram of the Mouth from Verendi.

    It had six elemental crystals instead of two, forming a huge, creepy smile that reached either side of the mask.

    "Interesting, but why are you showing us that?" Faluel asked.

    "Actually, I''m showing it to Grandma, hoping that she can point us in the right direction." Lith replied.

    "I''m sorry, my Featherling, but Ripha created both the tower and the Mouth after Iplete my apprenticeship with her. I have no idea how they work so I can''t help you." The Overlord said with a shrug.

    "Not even if you examine?" He offered her the stone mask after releasing its restrictions.

    Lith couldn''t remove the cloaking runes left by the First Ruler of the mes, but by granting Sark full ess to the artifact, it would make her job easier.

    "Do you realize what you are doing?" The Guardian took a step back, fighting her innate curiosity to expose the workings of a fellow Forgemaster. "If I use my breathing technique on the Mouth, I''m going to learn a lot about it.

    "Not only how it works, but also how to make another and maybe even something about your tower. You are giving up on your greatest secret and advantage so I need to make sure that you are aware of the consequences of what you are asking me to do."

    "I know it very well." Lith nodded. "Yet I don''t have the time to wait for Solus to have another breakthrough and remember something about the Mouth. Right now, it has no value to me.

    "Also, the Master and his Organization have gotten their hands on the original. I bet that while we are speaking, they are working to uncover its secrets. Even without Menadion''s blueprints, Bytra and the Master managed to craft a hammer on par with your Solus'' Fury.

    "They will make their own version of the Mouth as well so if you make one more copy, it wouldn''t change much. Quite the contrary, it would even the field. On top of that, I think you deserve a peek at the tower."

    Lith stepped forward, putting the artifact into Sark''s hands while holding them.

    "You saved my father, you offered me protection when I had lost everything, and you always did everything you could to help Solus and me in our efforts to be better mages.

 Chapter 1986 Tower Core (Part 2)

    Chapter 1986 Tower Core (Part 2)

    "Without your lessons about Creation Magic, I wouldn''t have ever learned how to switch light and darkness, let alone the other elements. If I ever be a Magus, it will be thanks to you. Consider this as my way to thank you and repay a part of my debt." Lith said.

    The Guardian''s eyes were veiled with tears. She wasn''t used to gratitude, only to veneration or fear.

    Those who Sark bestowed power upon usually just demanded more while those she protected considered it the price that she had to pay in order to have their obedience.

    She had chosen the way of the tyrant because centuries of experience had taught her that no good deed went unpunished.

    Sark knew that there was no real blood rtionship between her and Lith, that his origin was part of one of Mogar''s ploys. Yet there he was, ready to share his legacy with her like only her direct children did.

    It was a gesture that touched her heart and made her feel like he really was one of her own.

    "Thank you, but I can''t ept it. This isn''t only about you, but also about Solus. Ripha''s legacy is all she has left of her mother and you can''t make such a decision for her." Sark''s face remained stern as she returned the Mouth.

    "Don''t be silly, Grandma." Solus stepped forward, holding the Guardian''s hands as well. "Lith would have never done something like this without my consent. I''m happy to share part of my mother''s work with you.

    "After regaining my human body, I wouldn''t have been allowed to live in Lutia if not for the fake identity you fabricated for me. You taught me my mother''s Mana Well technique, you have helped me to retrieve the memories of my past life and my father''s works.

    "Bytra may have given the Fury to me, but it was you who returned my mother''s heirloom to me. Without you, it would just be a useless piece of metal with Bytra''s imprint.

    "On top of that, you updated and upgraded the Fury even though it wasn''t part of your promise with Mom. You didn''t do it because you wanted something in return, only because you cared about me.

    "For everything you have done, not only for Lith and me, but for all our family, this is nothing. Besides, as Faluel always says, only an idiot never shares. I''m sorry I can''t give you more, Grandma." Solus stood on her tiptoes to hug the Guardian and avoid her belly bump.

    "You have done plenty enough, my child." Sark let the tears stream from her eyes while she caressed Solus'' soft hair.

    They remained like that until Solus let go of the Guardian and Sark focused her breathing technique, Mother Sun, on the Mouth of Menadion.

    Contrary to Lith''s expectations, it took her a while to study it and he remained shocked when he saw the Guardian focusing so much that she frowned.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I decided to share the Mouth with Grandma because she deserves to know about Menadion''s secrets at least as much as Vastor does, but it seems that I''m the one who''ll profit the most from this exchange.

    ''If the artifact is such a tough nut to crack for a millennia experienced Guardian, I bet that even with my bond with the tower it would have taken me months just to understand the basics.'' He thought.

    "This is very interesting." Sark said after she was done examining the Mouth. "Your mother was indeed a genius, Solus. Her work is something beyond what I have ever made. Even though I have no need for it, I think that I''ll make a tower of my own."

    "What do you mean?" Solus asked with a puzzled expression.<del> ,c`o`m</del>

    "You see, normal power cores are just the result of the merging of several pseudo cores. While a pseudo core can only have one function, the power core canbine the effects of the pseudo cores it isprised of to createplex spells.

    "The synergy of theponents generates a power that is bigger than the sum of the single parts." Everyone present nodded at Sark''s words that were themon knowledge about power cores.

    "You mother, instead, found a way to make every pseudo core amplify the power of those below. Their energy doesn''t stack, it multiplies. The secret of your mother''s tower lies in a tower-like core."

    "I''m sorry, but you lost me." After Sark, Faluel was the most expert Forgemaster, yet she had failed to understand a word.

    "It''s easier to show than to tell." The Guardian projected a hologram of a regr power core that consisted of several spheres of mystical runes perfectly ovepping between them.

    This way, the boundary between the single pseudo cores disappeared. The versatility of a power corey in its ability tobine the runes belonging to different pseudo cores and rearrange them in new forms, each with a different effect.

    Then, Sark projected another hologram depicting the tower''s core. It started from a single and simple pseudo core to which she added a second. The two spheres didn''t merge, they simply deformed enough to allow their runes to flow into each other.

    When Sark added a third and a fourth pseudo core, the phenomenon happened again. Instead of bing a chaotic mess until a specific function of the power core was activated, the runes kept their orderly nature.

    Some strings would never change, acting as foundations and bearing walls of the structure that was slowly forming. The limit of a power core was that keeping the collective energy of too many pseudo cores tightly packed made it unstable.

    For that reason, there was a cap to the number of pseudo cores that any Forgemaster, even a Guardian, could merge. It also limited the length of the strings of runes that the power core could form and with it the number of enchantments an artifact could conjure.

    The way Menadion had arranged her pseudo cores, instead, allowed the runes to freely flow between the different levels while also leaving them enough space to form strings of runes as long as the whole structure.

    "As you can see, this exins why the size of the tower is proportional to its power." Sark said. "With every breakthrough, Solus is actually recovering more of its pseudo cores. Each floor is a part of the power core and allows it to stretch further.

    "Thanks to this phenomenon and to the energy from the mana geyser, there''s virtually no limit to theplexity of the enchantments that the tower can bear."

    "Let me get this straight." Lith felt his knees quivering in front of the magnitude of the revtion. "For all this time I believed that the tower''s core was weakened whereas it was actually iplete?"

    "Exactly." The Guardian nodded. "Also, since its energy and Solus'' are now one, whenever she gains a new floor with its corresponding pseudo core, she can upgrade it by recing old runes with modern ones.

    "On the other hand, she can''t tap into the full potential of any of the tower''s enchantments until she regains all the necessary pseudo cores.

    "The missing gems on your version of the Hands must be due to the still missing floors that are supposed to fuel its true power. The same applies to the Mouth as well."

 Chapter 1987 Build Up (Part 1)

    Chapter 1987 Build Up (Part 1)

    "How? I mean, the tower has always been a powerful artifact. Sure, I knew about the missing floors but I never suspected that even those I have already recovered were crippled." Solus asked.

    "Think about it. What was the first floor that the tower recovered?" Sark said.

    "The Forge." Lith replied.

    It had also recovered the living quarters, but aside as a ce to rest in-between experiments, they had never mattered much.

    "What then?" Sark gestured for him to continue.

    "Then it recovered the Mirror Hall, the Heart, the Mine, the Crucible, the Library, and the Greenhouse. Only recently-"

    "That''s enough." The Guardian cut him off. "Now, stop seeing them as separate floors and consider them as a whole. The Forge is the foundation of Menadion''s work because she was a Forgemaster and the whole tower is a Forgemastering tool.

    "The Mirror Hall''s true purpose is to grant you the ability to focus and manipte the world energy freely. The Heart isn''t a mean for attack or defense. It was intended as an array holding device so that you could use more than one while crafting one of your pieces."

    At that point, Sark exined to them the Elemental Flow bloodline ability and how Fenrirs and Leviathans used it while Forgemastering.

    "Ripha made the Heart to be her own version of Elemental Flow. She couldn''t create a mana organ, but bybining the effects of the Heart, the Library, the Firing Range, and probably of other floors, she created the next best thing, the Mouth."

    She gave it back to Lith before continuing her exnation.

    "The reason you can conjure it easily while in the Heart is that this floor is the foundation of the Mouth. The Mine acts as a power source along with the mana geyser while the Library and the Firing Range are but an extension of the Heart."

    "What does it do, exactly?" Protector asked, eager to know.

    "At the moment, the Mouth has only one function, but it''s still impressive." Sark replied. "It can store any kind of spell you know and cast it with but a thought whenever you need it."

    "So it''s just a spell holding ring?" Lith found it far from impressing.

    "No, I mean any spell. Arrays, de Magic, Spirit Magic, anything can be stored in the Mouth forter use." The Guardian shook her head.

    His eyes shone with greed for but one second.

    "What''s the catch?" Lith had learned for a long while that perfection wasn''t a thing.

    After all, if Menadion truly was that powerful, saving Solus'' life wouldn''t have been soplicated and she wouldn''t have been killed by her traitorous apprentice.

    "It''s nothing like a spell holding ring." Sark replied. "The Mouth can only store the runes, not the actual spells. Once you activate the Mouth, they have to be cast. Not only does it take time, but you also have to spend the mana necessary."

    "I''m sorry, but what''s the point?" Lith shrugged drawing several cold and envious gazes on himself. "It would be an amazing artifact if it could instantly cast any stored spell without burdening my mana reserve, but as it is, the Mouth is no big deal."<del></del>

    "No big deal?" Faluel said with a scoff. "Kid, do you remember what I told you about normal Forgemasters? That they need someone to prepare the Forgemastery circle for them or have their prowess halved?

    "Well, the Mouth is like a Hydra''s second head. It allows any Forgemaster to have their own Solus who takes charge of the world energy while they can fully focus on crafting the core.

    "On top of that, if you are a violet core, you can stack it with the other casting methods to weave four spells at the same time, one of which doesn''t even burden your focus.

    "It''s great not only in the Forge, but also on the battlefield. Imagine being able to cast your best spell or array even in the heat of the battle. For a fake mage or an Awakened without the violet core is the equivalent of body casting.

    "For those like us, instead, it''s the same as doubling its effects. Don''t get me started about how convenient it is while Forgemastering a power core to store the mostplex spells in the Mouth so that you only have to control their effects.

    "Even I can''t employ more than one Forgemastering array for my craft due to the massive strain that keeping magical formations at the ready takes on the mind whereas you now can.

    "The Mouth is a game-changer because with it you can prepare one array for each critical juncture of your projects, switching between them at will and greatly increasing your odds of sess."

    "My point exactly." Sark said. "The more I learn about Menadion''s set the more I''m convinced that its purpose is to allow a mage to Forgemaster alone without the need of help.

    "The Hands control the mana flow, the Eyes study the procedure and find its weak points, and the Mouth handles the arrays on its own. You are underestimating the Mouth because you could already do all these things with Solus'' help.

    "Now that you have recovered another piece of the set, however, it''s the same as if there are now three of you. If youbine it with the Fury, the only limit to your creations is your own skill."

    Lith conjured the Eyes, noticing that now the burden on his mind while using them was further reduced. Then, he wore the Hands, discovering that another elemental gem had appeared on the left glove, increasing the amount of world energy it could handle.

    "You are right and I''m an idiot." He said. "I now understand why Solus knows how each floor works and yet has no memory of the single pieces of the set. It''s just that they are like the tower, iplete.

    "Until all the floors rted to each one of them are recovered, Solus has no ess to their full enchantments. She doesn''t know how to use them because they are not supposed to be used until they are fully restored."

    Now that he knew how it worked, Lith gave the Mouth a go. He stored Ruin and Silverwing''s Hexagram which were instantly assimted despite theirplexity. When he tried adding a third spell, Yurial''s Hexagram, the artifact rejected it.

    ''I wonder if it''s because of theirplexity or two is just the Mouth''s current limit. Only one way to find out.''

    When he cast them, they were weaved much quicker than usual, as if he was just reading words from a text without bothering to understand their meaning. Both the Hexagram and the de Tier spell came out imbued with Lith''s willpower, but took him no focus to control them.

    Just like Faluel had said, the Mouth acted as an auxiliary brain, allowing Lith to handle multiple spells at the same time with no effort. Then, he stored tier one spells but once again the third one was rejected.

    "Well, the Mouth will be of great help while crafting my Golems." Lith said. "Between this and the understanding that Grandma granted me of the Heart, things will be much easier.

    "This also brings us to the final item of our agenda. My wedding."

 Chapter 1988 Build Up (Part 2)

    Chapter 1988 Build Up (Part 2)

    "What? Is it going so badly between you and Kam that she has already filed for divorce?" Friya nudged at him. "Who''s the new unlucky woman? Does she know the hot mess she''s walking into?"

    "Very funny, smartass." Lith said with mock outrage. "There''s nothing wrong with my marriage, I just wanted to hold the ceremony a second time since the first none of my friends could attend."

    "Renewing your vows after just one month. Sounds bad." Quy said with a straight face. "It''s better to make sure that the gift is refundable."

    "Solus, since the two of you are a package deal, will you stand on the side of the groom as well?" Faluel tried and failed to hide her smile. "How does a three-way marriage work? Isn''t it tiring for you to have both a husband and a wife?"

    "It doesn''t work like that." Solus blushed up to her ears. "Sure, sometimes the three of us sleep together, but that''s it."

    At those words, everyone turned toward Lith, throwing disdainful looks at him while Tista and Sarkughed their asses off at his expenses.

    "Fucking pervert. You dodged a poisoned arrow there, sis." Friya''s upper lip curled up in disgust.

    "Ugh, don''t remind me of that." Phloria shuddered at the thought.

    "Solus suffers from sleepwalking!" Lith said in embarrassment. "She sneaks in our room and literally sleeps with us, no funny business. Ask Kami if you don''t believe me!"

    Their gazes became only colder at his ridiculous exnation and an awkward silence filled the air. Then, everyone couldn''t take looking at his outraged expression anymore and bust intoughter.

    "Oh, gods, he really fell for it." Quy held her belly, gasping for air.

    "That face! I''d pay gold to have a Rememberer projecting the moment when the stoic Lith Verhen almost died of embarrassment." Phloria cried withughter.

    "It took us a lot of practice, but it was worth it." Friya said while leaning on Faluel to not fall on the ground.

    "You practiced?" Lith''s face was twisted in a grimace of horror. "Who told you about Solus'' sleepwalking and since when is my private life gossip material?"

    "It was me." Tista raised her hand. "Solus told me and I Faluel."

    "Why did you do that?" He inhaled sharply in annoyance.

    "Because it''s funny and because you disappeared for a month." She shrugged. "Everyone was worried for you and pissed off for having missed the wedding. I just kept our friends in the loop. It''s no big deal."

    Lith clenched his teeth, emitting angry gibberish until he managed to calm down.

    "Fine! You are all invited to the wedding. Please, ry my invitation also to Vastor and Marth." He said.

    "What about our parents?" Phloria asked.

    "Kami has already contacted Jirni. She''s going to be her bridesmaid along with Zin."

    "Who is going to be your groomsmen? You need two as well to match the bride." Protector'' was so excited that his tail popped out of it back wagging furiously.

    "That''s actually a big deal." Lith replied with a sigh. "I don''t have many male friends and none of them actually contributed to my rtionship."

    "That''s not true. I helped you break the news of your nature as a hybrid to Kam." Protector said, but Lith ignored him.

    "Aran is too young and he can''t stand for long. I was thinking about asking Morok or Nalrond since they are the boyfriends of two of my best friends and they helped me a lot in the past."<del></del>

    "I''m married to your first mentor and I gave my life for you more than once!" Protector snarled, his tail ruffled by anger.

    "Let''s hope that Marth and Vastor can attend the ceremony. I''ve known them since I was little and they are the closest thing to a father figure I have in the magicalmunity.

    "I''ll keep Nalrond and Morok as stand-ins in case either of the Professors is unavable." Lith had a pensive look on his face as he mulled over the problem.

    "We''ve known each other ever since you were a pup and you spent more time with me than with any of those buffoons!" Protector partially shapeshifted back in anger, his eyes almost popping out.

    "And that''s why I want you to be my best man." Lith said after finally turning toward Ryman.

    "Damn bastard!" Protector hugged Lith, trying and failing to lift him up. "You got me good, but I''m too happy to be angry with you. Congrattions."

    One after the other, they congratted him on his marriage.

    "Wow, I seriously can''t believe it." Friya said while patting his back. "You''ve beaten us to the punch even in love. The only silver lining is that none of us won the bet."

    "What bet?" Lith asked.

    "We were certain that with your charming character and your bottomless pile of secrets, you would have marriedst if ever. The bet was about how many years after thest of us you would have found someone." Quy replied.

    "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence."

    "You are wee." Tista sighed. "The worst part is that now my parents will never let me hear the end of this until I find someone as well."

    The Ernas sisters sighed as well. Jirni and Orion nagged at Phloria for being single and counted the days, hoping that the other two would break up with their respective boyfriend.

    ***

    The ceremony was held a few dayster, just in time to receive the replies to the invitations and n the wedding ordingly. Useless to say, Vastor had plenty of cloaking devices but he trusted none of them to be effective enough to hide his Abomination nature from Sark.

    He congratted in private with Lith, sending him his regards and a gift along with an apology.

    "I''m really sorry to fail you on such an important day." Vastor lowered his gaze in shame during one of the meetings of Jirni''s private research group.

    "Don''t worry. I understand how dangerous would it be for you to participate." Lith replied.

    "Me too, but it still sucks." Vastor said with a sigh. "I never thought the day woulde when I''d be happy to be a Highmaster in times of war. At least I''ve plenty of excuse with Zin to cover for my absence."

    Meanwhile, in the Overlord''s pce, Kam looked for the umpteenth time at the guest list. Compared with the groom''s side, the bride''s was empty.

    "Don''t worry, dear. There are plenty enough of my children that would pay an arm and a leg to attend. Heck, even Leegaain''s children will be d to fill your empty spots." Sark said while supervising the beauticians'' work.

    "Why the heck would they? I understand that they care for Lith, but I''m just a human."

    "Nonsense, sweetie. You are a part of the family as well now and whoever says otherwise is going to die a slow, gruesome death." The Overlord personally took care of her, using Invigoration on Kam whilebing her hair.

    After Sark was done with the rejuvenation process, Kam went to the Greenhouse to visit Raaz and Elina. Lith''s father spent most of his time there, working on both magical and regr crops until he was too exhausted to think.

 Chapter 1989: once More with Guests (Part 1)

    Chapter 1989: once More with Guests (Part 1)

    Raaz was grateful for the Library that allowed him to learn and memorize everything he needed without wasting hours on books. He liked to focus solely on the manualbor, tilling the earth with a hoe and watering the buds without the use of magic.

    After spending over thirty years nurturing life forms that couldn''t express their needs, he had learned how to catch the early signs of a nt withering. Raaz made the best of his knowledge, adjusting the amounts of water and fertilizer the moment something went wrong.

    On top of that, after staying in the Greenhouse for so long, he could almost feel the changes in the mana flow of the different sprouts simply by touching them with his bare hands.

    It was also the best way he had found to keep the bad memories at bay and the most precious moments of his life close to his heart. The fields were smallpared to those he had left in Lutia, but so were those that his family had owned before Lith had started working.

    Spending his days there with Elina by his side brought him back to the times when they were still young and waiting for their first child. She was his silentpanion, talking only to remind him of drinking and not forgetting about the meals.

    Elina took notes of everything Raaz did, checking the batches of magical nts cultivated with different methods and recording which were the most effective. She was no mage but she knew nts and could ess the Eyes of Menadion in their simplest form.

    She registered all of her husband''s sesses and failures and stored them inside the Library so that he could improve his techniques. Raaz knew that it had to be boring for her, that Elina would have rather been outside under the real sun, yet he still couldn''t stand people.

    The Desert was still a foreign ce for him and no matter how wonderful a host Sark was, that wasn''t his home. The sight of the Desert reminded him of all the things that he had lost and made his heart ache.

    "Gods, Kam, you look gorgeous." Elina saw her appearing out of thin air, her long ck hair glossy and her tanned skin radiant after undergoing Sark''s rejuvenation treatment.

    "Thanks, you too." Kam hugged her, waiting for Elina''s ear to be close to her mouth before whispering: "How are you holding out?"

    "Raaz has good and bad days." She replied. "Today is a good day."

    . ???

    "Did Grandma take care of you as well?" Kam asked after letting go of Elina, making the conversation flow naturally.

    "Yes. She has given me and the baby a full treatment with Invigoration or something. Ever since Sark discovered that I''m pregnant, she became ten times sweeter than before." Elina replied with a chuckle.

    "Hi, Kam." The noise had disturbed Raaz who needed sheer willpower not to grunt. He loved his daughter-inw and was grateful for everything she had done for his son, yet her presence felt like an invasion of his sanctuary nheless.

    "What brings you here?" He asked with a thin smile, wiping off the sweat and dirt from his face with his right hand.

    "I needed a break from the wedding preparations." She replied. "I feel so tense that I almost puked breakfast this morning."

    "Tense?" Raaz blinked several times in confusion, refusing to believe to his own ears. "You are already married. The ceremony is just an excuse to invite your friends here and have a huge party with them. What''s to be tense about?"

    "This." Kam pointed at the wedding list. "The first time it was a rushed ceremony, there was no one to attend but the Verhens and Protector''s family. This time, however, we are doing things by the book.

    "There will be plenty of people and all of them are Lith''s friends. This is supposed to be a merry event yet seeing how none of my so-called friends epted my invitation is truly depressing.

    "Aside from Zin, I have no family either. My parents are in jail and even if they weren''t, they would still be the same assholes that I disowned years ago. I wouldn''t want them at my wedding for the world.

    "Elina is going to apany Lith to the altar but what about me? Vastor is not going toe and there''s no male member of my family that can stand in for my father." On Mogar, both spouses would walk along the aisle with their respective parents of the opposite gender.

    It represented the act of both families of letting go of their children and allowing them to form a new family of their own.

    Raaz took the list from Kam''s hands and saw so few names on the bride''s side that even his heart sank. Making the walk alone and with almost no one to share her joy on the day of her own wedding was the worst nightmare of every bride.

    ''Poor kid. After everything she went through to be here and all the sacrifices she made, Kam is going to feel like a guest at the wrong party.'' He thought.

    While the two women discussed the final details of the wedding, an idea popped into his mind, making him smile. Then, his trauma resurfaced and that very same idea sent a cold shiver down his spine.

    Raaz opened his mouth to speak, but no word came out. He had to clench his teeth to regain control of his nerves before making another attempt.

    "Are you feeling unwell, dear?" Elina asked after witnessing several of his failures that made him look like a goldfish. "Are you hyperventting again? Sit down and breathe in here."

    She offered him a small leather bag that Raaz pushed away in embarrassment.

    "No, I''m fine." He replied. "I just wanted to tell Kam that even though it''s a bit unorthodox, I can apany her to the altar, if she wants."

    "Would you really do that?" She beamed with joy.

    "Well, you are already my daughter-inw and I would be honored to stand by your side on such an important day."

    "Thank you." Kam hugged him and Raaz froze for a few seconds before managing to return the embrace. "I always dreamed of having a loving father like you and I couldn''t wish for a better man to walk me down the aisle."

    She started to sniffle, moved by his kindness. Kam knew how hard it was for Raaz to stand in a crowd.

    Raaz started to sniffle as well. Over one month had passed since they hade to the Desert, but his mind was still stuck in the Hogum mansion for most of the time. The smell of his own blood filled his nose and he could still feel the chains restraining him.

    Every morning, he woke up covered in a cold sweat and needed several minutes to make sure that he really was safe, that it wasn''t just another of Orpal''s cruel illusions. He was happy for Lith''s marriage just like he was happy to have had an opportunity to fix his rtionship with Trion.

    Yet none of it felt real to him. He often wondered if he wasn''t just watching someone else''s life.

 Chapter 1990 once More with Guests (Part 2)

    Chapter 1990 once More with Guests (Part 2)

    If it wasn''t just another attempt of his mind to create a fake reality to escape from the pain of the torture.

    It was the reason Raaz liked the Greenhouse so much. The smell of the earth was so familiar to him that it washed away the illusion of blood. The weight of the farming tools allowed him to make sure he wore no chains.

    Now, however, he felt like he had taken a step out of the invisible cage he had been trapped in for so long. The marriage was real. The pain of the young woman between his arms was real. The child growing in Elina''s womb was real.

    His offer to fill in for Kam''s father was but a small gesture, but to him, it meant to stop watching life from the sidelines and be more than a cracked vase everyone was afraid to touch.

    It meant having finally found the strength to face his demons in order to help the people he loved.

    "I guess I''ll need to clean myself up." Raaz suddenly realized the pungent smell of his sweat to which his nose had been dumb to until that moment.

    "Oh, that''s for sure." Elina wiped a tear from her own cheek. "Also, you need a good shave."

    "What''s wrong with my beard? It''s manly."

    "A groomed beard is manly." She replied. "A one-month wild beard makes you look like a bear."

    "Also, it tickles like crazy and makes you look like my grandfather." Kam said, giggling every time Raaz''s facial hair brushed against her skin.

    "That''s not tru- Great Mother almighty!" Raaz conjured a water mirror and stared at his reflection, refusing to believe his own eyes.

    He did the same time every morning but this time he actually saw what he had be. The skin around his eyes was weathered, full of deep age lines. His unkempt beard along with the dirt covering his face and hands made him look like a war refugee.

    Even back when he had almost fallen into poverty to pay for Tista''s medical treatments, he had never let himself go so much.

    "Why didn''t you tell me to shave?" Raaz looked at Elina in shock. "How could you stay by my side for so long and endure this without saying a word?"

    He waved at his sorry figure.

    "I told you to shave more than once, it''s just that you didn''t listen." She replied. "There was nothing to endure, dear. You needed me and that was all that it mattered. Wee back."

    Thosest two words struck at Raaz so hard that he had to take a step back. He looked at his wife, noticing all the pain and worry she had carried from the day their children had rescued him.

    It was the second time that day that Raaz managed to look past his own suffering and empathize with that of someone else. It opened another crack in the fortress of fear and self-pity that he had built to protect himself from the outside world.

    The crack was small, but it let the light in.

    "I hope that Sark epts male customers as well because I need a heck of makeover." He said.

    ***

    On the day of the ceremony, Lith and Kam stood near the main Warp Gate of Sark''s pce, greeting their guests the moment they arrived. On Mogar there was no superstition about the groom seeing the bride before the ceremony.

    By weing their guests in person, the spouses thanked them for their participation and gifts. The tradition required just a quick handshake and a few words to keep a long line from forming.

    "Good gods, Lith. It''s so good to see you guys again." Zinya said while hugging them both. "I don''t care what the rest of Mogar says, Lith, you are my hero. You only brought happiness to me and my sister."

    "Thanks, Zinya. Your words mean the world to me." He took a deep breath before asking a question he had been pondering for a while. "It really surprised me that you gave Kami your blessing. Didn''t my other form scare you even one bit?"

    "No." She shook her head. "Maybe it''s because I''ve been blind for most of my life, but to me physical appearance is of little importance. Once Kami told me that you blew your cover to save her life, I knew she couldn''t ask for a better man, demon, or whatever you are.

    "Gods, I wish Zogar was here to see you. It would make this moment perfect."

    "Is the Professor all right?" Lith asked.

    "He was until this morning, when the Royals summoned him to protect Belius again." She replied with a deep sigh. "He sends you his apologies for missing your wedding and a gift."

    Zinya handed Lith a package the size of a thick book and a small envelope.

    "He expressed that you are to open them both immediately and keep them away from prying eyes."

    Lith opened the package first, discovering that it was just a copy of Lochra Silverwing''s book, The Basics of Magic.

    ''This is weird. Vastor knows I have it alr-'' His train of thought derailed when he flipped the first page and the rest followed along, revealing the book to be a sealed container holding the Mouth of Menadion.

    Lith closed the book before someone could notice and opened the envelope.

    "Dear Lith,

    "I''m very sorry for how my children behaved when you met them in Verendi. They did the wrong thing for the right reason by taking the Mouth away from you but I hope you will forgive them.

    "I''ve thoroughly studied it and once I manage to craft a modern version of the Mouth, it will be part of the legacy that one day will be yours. I didn''t imprint the original so that you could do with it what you think is best.

    "You can study it yourself, give it back to Elphyn Menadion, or gift it to Sark. I wish I was there for your wedding.

    "In faith, Zogar Vastor."

    Lith quickly stored everything in his pocket dimension and went back to greet his guests. He would have loved to share the news with Solus, but during the short talk with Zinya, a long line had formed and discussing the matter would have taken more time than he had.

    Once everyone got to their respective seat, both sides of the throne room were filled to the brim.

    While Elina walked Lith to the dais, he looked around and recognized several faces. There were a lot of Dragons and Phoenixes that had taken part in the honor guard back when the Awakened Council had recognized him as the offspring of two Guardians.

    ''Who the heck are these people?'' He thought. ''I get Crevan and the others who protected my house wanting to attend the wedding. I get Sinmara, Surtr, and a few others who I invited personally.

    ''What I don''t understand is why there are so many Divine Beasts and why they took seats on Kam''s side.''

    Due to Sark''s dimensional magic, there was no limit to how much the room could stretch. If they wanted to, the guests could all seat on the groom''s side. To make matters weirder, he could hear the usually reserved and stuck-up Dragons talking to Zinya like she was their peer.

 Chapter 1991 Once More with Guests (Part 3)

    Chapter 1991 Once More with Guests (Part 3)

    After Lith, came Kam and Raaz with Aran and Leria in front of them as flower children, tossing petals in front of the bride''s path. She received as many cheers as the groom, if not even more.

    "What the heck is going on?" He asked as soon as Raaz let go of Kam''s arm and entrusted her to Lith.

    "I have no clue." She replied.

    This time they had followed protocol, with Lith wearing his high uniform but red to match the colors of the Desert and Kam with an elegant emerald satin dress from Sark''s wardrobe.

    Right next to her stood her sister Zinya and Jirni, the two people who had helped her the most and who had yed a critical role in bringing her to that point in her life.

    On Lith''s side, instead, stood Protector and Trion in their respective human form, wearing a high uniform as well. Selia had cut Ryman''s hair to shoulder length and had shaved him to perfection, almost giving him a civilized look.

    He kept tugging at the cor of his shirt for air, not used to tight-fitting clothes, but Sark''s enchantments didn''t budge. He looked like a proud general but he felt like a bull with a suit.

    As for Trion, his situation was even more awkward. There was still little love left between the demon and the Tiamat.

    Thanks to the chain that bound him to Lith, Trion had grown to respect more his little brother by experiencing part of his life whereas Lith had only discovered more contemptible things about his older brother.

    Yet he had chosen Trion as his groomsman because he knew how important it was to his parents. Seeing his two boys standing side by side filled Raaz with so much joy that he barely noticed the packed room.

    He held Elina''s hand tight, passing her one handkerchief after another. She had started crying in joy from the moment she had sat down and had never stopped ever since.

    "Trion looks so good in high uniform." She sobbed. "I''m happy that he''s part of the family again yet also sad because we''ll never have the opportunity to attend his wedding."

    "Let''s enjoy what time we have left with him, dear." Raaz wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It''s more than any other parent in our situation has ever had."

    Locrias'' and Valia''s families had been invited as well and were sitting on the far end of the groom''s side. The ceremony held little importance to them, they hade solely to enjoy thepany of their loved ones.

    When Sark arrived to officiate the ceremony, Leegaain walked by her side and stopped one step behind her once she stood in front of the couple.

    "What is he doing here?" Lith rudely pointed at the Father of all Dragons with his thumb. "He wasn''t here the first time and I''m pretty sure he isn''t on the guest list."

    For the asion, the Guardian had short ck hair, the pale skin typical of the Empire, and ever wore a ck g dress. The only sign of his real nature was his eyes, red with a vertical pupil that nothing had of human.

    Those very eyes red at Lith in annoyance, his nostrils dted as he inhaled sharply and opened his mouth to give the runt a piece of his mind.

    "I''m not here because I want to but-" His stern voice turned into a whimper and the ck of his pupils covered the red of his irises as the Overlord''s high heel dug deep into his shoes and flesh.

    "He''s here because I invited him." Shepleted the phrase for him while Leegaain clenched his teeth to withstand the pain. "It was a shame having so many of our children assembled without giving them the possibility to meet their father."

    "Are you telling me that all those guys are yours?" Kam looked at the packed room and then at Sark''s swollen womb.

    "Ours. Mine and Leegaain''s." She said with a dazzling smile while twisting the heel a bit more. She kept the Father of all Dragons from making a snarky remark that would ruin the mood. "We''re older than we look."

    Kam swallowed a lump of saliva, wondering if it was something that only a Guardian could achieve or just amon situation in the Awakenedmunity.

    "Three is my limit." She whispered at Lith, deciding that forewarned was forearmed.

    "That''s two past mine." He replied.

    The ceremony went smoothly, Sark repeated the same speech of the first time and the spouses exchanged the same vows and betrothal gifts.

    After that came the banquet and the room split with the male guests congratting the groom and the female guests the bride.

    "Gods, I can''t believe you could say or make something so romantic." Friya was the only exception. "I mean, Kam giving you back the Camellia was moving, but your idea with the Tuner almost made me tear up."

    "Congrattions, Scourge. Another one bites the dust, huh?" Zolgrish the Lich nudged at him, the red light of undeath in his left eye flickered multiple times in what was supposed to be a wink.

    "What do you mean another?" Lith asked in confusion. "And how did you get here?"

    "I brought him here." Inxialot the Lich King replied. "Otherwise I would have never remembered the when and where."

    Lith had invited the Council representatives only because he couldn''t risk offending them by limiting the invitation to Fe. He had never expected them to actually attend.

    "I dly epted because I really wanted to thank you." Zolgrish said.

    "Thank me for what?" Lith asked in confusion.

    They had never met or spoken ever since they had agreed on their respective shares of the silver mines in Jambel.

    "Not you-you. More like your brother, Merman." The Lich took a yellow stone the size of a marble from one of the pockets of his tuxedo, conjuring from it the image of a cow wearing a suit, a top hat, and with thick mustaches on its snout.

    Lith recognized it as one of the characters from a children''s book that he often read to Aran and Leria.

    "I know that everyone says Mint is a jerk, but he was so nice to me. He sent me so many test subjects for my experiments and top-notch artifacts that I think he has a crush on me."

    "Who did what now?" The more Lith heard, the less he understood.

    "Sure, the test subjects were unruly, rude, and aggressive upon their arrival and the artifact already imprinted, but the poor way they were delivered didn''t lower their research value.

    "When you see Midna again, please give him my thanks and tell him I''m not interested."

    "Cheers." Zolgrish brought a flute of wine to his skeletal mouth, sending both the liquid and the ss down the small bits of flesh that stillprised what was left of his throat. "Is it me or is this stuff vorless?"

    "It is you." Ratpack whined as the flute clinked against the ribs and the wine wet his master''s pants. "No taste buds with no flesh. You need body."

    "Oh, right." The Lich patted his own forehead with an open palm as he reverted back to his living appearance.

 Chapter 1992 Once More with Guests (Part 4)

    Chapter 1992 Once More with Guests (Part 4)

    "It still has no taste and now I feel really-"

    Zolgrish doubled over, spitting out blood all over Sark''s carpet. The growing flesh had crushed the flute and the resulting ss shards had pierced through his lungs causing him an internal bleeding.

    "I want you to know that I made sure that none of the silver from your mines was misced." Inxialot shook Lith''s hand while the small undead took care of his master.

    "Why did you do that? We never talked and the only thing you ever said to me is ''off with the head''." Lith asked.

    "I need a minute of your time and help with a delicate matter." The King of Liches stole a nce at Raagu. "Damn, why are the pleasures of the flesh apanied by so much pain?"

    After emptying his flute, the Lich chewed it. The shards of ss made an unsettling sound under his teeth and Lith could smell both wine and blood in his breath.

    "What the heck are you doing?"

    "I''m disposing of the empty ss. Or should I leave it on the floor like a barbarian?" He said with a shrug, looking at Lith like a kid asking stupid questions. "Gods, I can''t believe I have to stoop so low and ask for help to a runt still wet behind his ears."

    Lith emptied his ss as well and put it on the tray of one of the many waiters that moved along the guests. Inxialot gawked at his brilliance and grabbed the poor Ratpack, forcing the small undead to stand in front of him.

    Then, he took a quill and wrote with red ink and great penmanship a memo of how to deal with empty containers on the back of Ratpack''s elegant tuxedo.

    "I take back what I said. You clearly are the right man for the job. You are the worthy heir of the Guardian of Wisdom."

    Lith gave him a quick bow and ran away. Thepany of Liches always gave him a headache. ????w???ov??.co?

    Meanwhile, in the parents'' side of the hall, Orion and Jirni caught up with Raaz and Elina while some of the oldest beings in the room kept thempany, not interested in the chit-chat of youngsters.

    "I''m sorry for what happened to you and for noting to visit earlier." Orion said. "How is the Desert treating you?"

    "Don''t worry, my friend. Even if you dide to visit, I doubt that I would have been a pleasantpany. I was in a bad ce and I still am most of the time."

    An awkward silence ensued as Orion waited for Raaz to say anything from small talk to venting his trauma while Raaz turtled up.

    "Thanks foring and for everything you did for Lith after his banishment, Jirni." Elina said. "Are there any news about the deal with the Royals?"

    "Sadly no. Bestowing the title of Magus requires the approval of several people, the majority of which are busy with the war. It might take a while." Jirni sighed. "You know, I''m so envious of you, Elina. Two of your kids are already married and you even have a sixth on the way."

    "Thanks, Jirni." Elina instinctively caressed her womb. "You know, I always wondered why you stopped at three."

    "Because between work and running a household, we simply didn''t have the time." Jirni shook her head.

    "Tulion always made trouble for ten, draining what little energy we had left at the end of the day.

    "We didn''t want to have a child just to let the house staff raise them. Also, it would have put a long halt to my career. A Royal Constable''s day is long, dangerous, and stressful."

    "Do you think Kam will have the same problems?"

    "No. She''s younger than I was before my career kicked in and once the War of the Griffons will be over, there will be enough paperwork to keep us busy for years. She did the right thing waiting." Jirni replied. "By the way, you shouldn''t drink."

    "That''s not wine." Sark chimed in. "It''s the good stuff that I have the old lizard brew for when I''m pregnant. All the vor and none of the alcohol. An enchanted version of fruit juice."

    Jirni smelled the red-colored liquid before taking a sip.

    "Gods, it''s better than everything I ever had. You have to give me the recipe or at least a keg of this stuff."

    "I''ll see what I can do." The Guardian chuckled. "I''ve already gotten plenty of requests and the guests are drinking it like water."

    She pointed at the bride''s side, where Kam, Zinya, Selia, and Rethia were.

    "Zogar sends his apologies, Kami. He wouldn''t have missed this for the world, but the situation in Belius looks grim." Zinya said. "The Royals ordered him to join the defensive forces of the city."

    "Is it that bad?" Kam turned pale at the news.

    Belius was her adopted city, the ce where she had her home and she had some of her happiest memories with Lith.

    "Worse. Recently a bunch of never seen before Divine Beasts have joined the Mad Queen''s ranks and the situation is snowballing fast. The Royals are desperate to recruit anyone and anything who might stop their advance." Zinya replied.

    "I bet that soon they''ll ept whatever condition Lith has and they''ll call him on the battlefield as well."

    "Don''t be so glum, this is still a party. By the way, I''m sorry for stealing your thunder, Kam." Rethia wore an emerald dress as well that brought out the deep red of her hair.

    "Don''t worry, it''s just a dress. Thanks foring." Kam had never met the Wind Griffon before so she found a bit creepy the familiarity with which Rethia talked to her.

    "Oh, please. Surtr couldn''t wait to meet his little brother again." She replied, her silver eyes sparkling like full moon moons at the faintest light. "I know it''s none of my business but I think you should start working on your firstborn.

    "If Lith goes to war, anything can happen."

    "I agree." Zinya said, lowering her gaze in sadness.

    Despite many attempts and all the fertility potions in the Kingdom, she had failed to get pregnant of Vastor and feared having be too old. She had no idea that it was him to have be sterile after turning into a hybrid.

    "Come on, girls, this is supposed to be a party. Lighten up!" Selia stopped one of the waiters, handing everyone a ss filled with an amber-colored liquor with a pungent smell. "A toast to our lovely bride."

    "Congrattions, Kami." Solus had made peace with herself and this time she had attended the marriage.

    "I don''t think we''ve ever met. I''m Nyka, Ka''s daughter and one of Solus''s oldest friends. Congrattions miss Verhen." They had hosted the party at night to allow even the undead to attend.

    "Please, call me Kam." She instinctively flinched at the vampire, but itsted barely a second.

    She had seen too many strange things to be bothered by a friendly vampire. Solus and Nyka moved to the groom''s side of the room for some alcohol. Solus was in dire need of rx and Nyka was excited at the idea of meeting new people.

 Chapter 1993 Mixed Blood (Part 1)

    Chapter 1993 Mixed Blood (Part 1)

    While the others were chit-chatting, Kam''s eyes fell on the figures of Solus and Nyka while they walked away and then on Rethia''s.

    ''She''s over one thousand years old and she barely looks thirty-something.'' Kam thought. ''I''ll turn twenty-nine the next year whereas Lith will look in his twenties for decades, if not centuries. Should I ask him to Awaken me?''

    On the one hand, it would have meant having a long life together. On the other hand, Awakening would have brought more problems than it would solve. Kam couldn''t stand the idea of bing Lith''s property for 100 years, like it had happened to Phloria a Tista.

    On top of that, there was the possibility that with time their rtionship might go sour. If it happened, she would be forced to live for centuries in a world that didn''t belong to her anymore.

    "Is anything wrong?" Tista grabbed Kam''s shoulder who yelped in surprise. "You have been spacing out for a while and you''re sweating like crazy. Do you need to rest?"

    "I''m fine, thanks. What were we talking about?"

    "I was telling Rethia that I envy creatures like her who can choose betweenying eggs and pregnancy." Rena said with a sigh. "After giving birth to the triplets, just the idea of repeating the experience sends a cold shiver down my spine."

    "I wonder if Tista will have the opportunity to choose as well." Rethia pondered. "After all, we have no idea of Tiamatsy eggs, right?"

    "Now we don''t!" Tista flushed in embarrassment and rushed away, dragging Bodya the Nidhogg with her.

    He had attended the wedding as her plus one and Tista didn''t want him to get strange ideas.

    "Calm down. You made it clear that you are no one''s science project." His kind smile extended to his ck eyes.

    "I''m sorry, it''s just that my parents are already pestering me to find someone myself and all those talks about love and rtionships were more than I could handle." She sighed.

    "They are non-Awakened humans." He replied with shrug. "They are aware they won''t live long and rush things. Don''t let their standards affect your life. You are not like them."

    His words were meant to be kind and supportive, but they made Tista shudder. The more powerful she got and the more bloodline abilities she developed, the less human she felt.

    She always tried not to think about it or about the fact that her parents would die before the first wrinkle appeared on her face but being surrounded by many centuries-old beings forced her to realize that her parents weren''t really rushing things.

    Tista was close to 21 years, an age that on Mogar waste to marry for humans.

    "I''m sorry for spoiling your mood further, but there''s something I need to ask you." Bodya said, snapping her out of her reverie. "Are you going to take part in the War of the Griffons?"

    "Yes. Lith is fighting to get back all of our lives and I''m strong enough to stand by his side." Tista nodded, her determination steeled by the rumors about Linnea being among the Mad Queen''s followers.

    She had never forgotten about what the ex-Headmaster of the Lightning Griffon had done to Nana and Lith. The thought of her living happily after having destroyed the life of her mentor was unbearable.

    "I want to help him kill Meln and get rid of a woman named An Linnea. Why do you ask?"

    "Because the Royals are recruiting all the Emperor Beasts they can find and I had yet to make my decision. They offer fairpensation, but it''s not worth my life. I''m not from Garlen so I have no attachment to the Kingdom." He replied.

    "What do you mean had? Are you going to join the war efforts for me?" Tista asked in shock.

    "Yes. You are young, and inexperienced. I can''t let you go alone on the battlefront." Bodya looked her straight in the eyes.

    "I wouldn''t be alone." She shook her head. "Lith and I would probably be sent to different battlefields, but I would still have the Royal army and the Council by my side."

    "Which means being surrounded by enemies." Bodya sighed sharply. "For the humans, you are no different from your brother, a monster. On top of that, many Awakened consider your bloodline a threat to the bnce.

    "There are many among the humans and the Emperor Beasts who would be d if you two died while others dream about capturing and studying you to find clues that might help them to further their own evolution. You need me to watch your back."

    "Look, I appreciate your concern, but I''m not my brother." Tista said. "I''m not as powerful as him and nowhere near the violet. There''s no telling what I''ll be but I''m certain I won''t be a Tiamat. You are wasting your time with me"

    "I''m not dating your brother, I''m dating you." Bodya''s ashen skin emphasized all of his expressions and now showed honest worry. "I don''t care what you''ll be, I just want to make sure that youe back home safely.

    "Everything else can wait. We both have a long life ahead of us."

    "Why are you doing so much for me?" She asked in confusion. "I mean, I know you don''t give a damn about my looks. There are plenty of Divine Beasts here that make me look homely inparison. What''s your angle?"

    "Once you''ll get older, you''ll learn that having a great power doesn''t make you happy. That having a long life only means spending more time alone or grieving the loss of those you love." He said with a sad smile.

    "I''m doing all of this not because I expect something in return but because I''d rather risk my life for someone that might make it worth living than spend centuries in regret wondering what could have happened if I didn''t chicken out."

    "How old are you, exactly?" Tista asked.

    "I''m almost seventy. My mother was a human and died of a sudden illness while I was traveling.

    "As for my father, he died as well. He was killed by an Abomination while on a mission for the Council." Bodya was barely a child for Awakened standards but his tone was already that of a man who had suffered a lot.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to open old wounds." Tista said.

    "And you didn''t. The past is in the past. I''m only focused on the present and so should you." The Nidhogg gave her a soft kiss and when the music started, he led her to the dancefloor.

    "I''ll be d to have you by my side on the battlefield." Tista blushed a little, but not for the kiss.

    While the rest of Mogar pressured her to move forward with her life, to be stronger and match her brother''s achievements, Bodya cared only about giving her the time she needed to understand what she wanted.

    He didn''t seem to care about mixing bloodlines or what powers a Red Demon woulde to possess, only about Tista as a person. It felt nice and put her mind finally at ease.

    Meanwhile, on the dancefloor, Lith and Kam had bumped into Marth and Ryssa.

 Chapter 1994 Mixed Blood (Part 2)

    Chapter 1994 Mixed Blood (Part 2)

    The Headmaster of the White Griffon had found the time toe but until that moment, there had hardly been the time to go past small talk.

    Once Mogar''s equivalent of the Waltz ended, the couples moved to the buffet to get some drinks before the music started again.

    "Nice of you toe, Professor." Lith felt awkward speaking with his old mentor.

    He had no idea how Marth had taken the revtion about Lith''s true nature and the two men hadn''t had the opportunity to speak ever since Lith had been forced to get rid of hismunication amulet.

    Jirni had invited the Headmaster to the wedding on Lith''s behalf and until an hour ago, Lith didn''t know if he would attend.

    "It was nice of you inviting us." Marth replied with a nervous voice, not knowing what to feel or where to look. "I hope that the Royal Court swallows their pride and let youe back to the Kingdom soon. We are in dire need of-"

    "Stop making a fool out of yourself and be honest with him, Duke!" Ryssa cut him short. "Sorry, he''s still hurt."

    "Hurt by what?" Kam asked.

    "By the fact that Lith never told him the truth and that Duke always failed to recognize him as a Divine Beast. Duke feels guilty for never gaining your trust and pissed off because you wounded his professional pride."

    "Ryssa!" Marth blushed in outrage, throwing her a reproachful look.

    "Duke!" She nted her hands on her hips, staring at him with equal intensity.

    "I''m sorry Professor, but I couldn''t tell you the truth. During my stay at the White Griffon, I''ve heard what mages think of Emperor Beasts one time too many to trust anyone with my real nature.

    "If it makes you feel better, I didn''t tell even my family until muchter. As for your skill as a diagnostician, you have nothing to me yourself for. My hybrid nature didn''t manifest before I turned sixteen and only recently did I be a Tiamat."

    "I see." Marth nodded, but his expression remained gloomy. "Did Manohar or Vastor know?"

    "Manohar discovered my hybrid nature while I was quarantined after escaping Huryole while Vastor learned about it from Meln''s broadcast, like everyone else." Lith lied to protect the Master''s secret identity.

    "Damn bastard. Not only did Manohar y some trick on my son to make sure we would name the baby after him, but he also hid the truth from me. To make matters worse, Vastor is by far a better man than I am.

    "I didn''t have the guts to defend you in the Royal Court when your real identity was exposed and Morn tried to get you killed whereas Vastor did." Marth averted his eyes, incapable of looking at Lith.

    "Don''t beat yourself up, Professor. Zogar did it for Zinya who in turn pressured him on my behalf. I knew the truth and wanted to protect Lith." Kam said.

    "No, I must beat myself up." The Headmaster sighed. "I didn''t understand what you''ve been going through during all these years until I experienced the same hardships with my son, Dhiral."

    "What hardships? He is still a baby." Lith replied.

    "Yeah, too bad that people look at his lime-colored skin as if it''s an infectious disease. The members of my own family had no objections to my marriage with Ryssa but after seeing the baby, they are pressuring me to divorce.

    "They think that I should leave my and Manohar''s legacy to a ''normal'' child." Marth said in outrage. "Sure, in a few years Ryssa will teach Dhiral how to shapeshift at will, but he shouldn''t feel the need to hide who he is.

    "Also, I don''t want him to feel pressured to give up on his nt heritage once he turns twenty. If he decides to be human, I want it to be because it''s what he wants, not because choosing otherwise would make him a monster."

    Not knowing what to say, Lith just nodded.

    ''Fuck me sideways, if just a different skin color is giving them such a hard time, what will happen to Aran and Leria once we go back to Lutia? Everyone has seen my Tiamat form and if people think they are like me, not even an army of magical beasts will be able to protect their innocence.''

    "Are you part of this Council Ryssa told me about?" Marth asked.

    "Yeah."

    "Do you know someone willing to teach Dhiral how to cope with his condition? Ryssa has already introduced me to other members of her kind, but I''m afraid they would only make him feel worse. No offense, dear."

    "None taken." The Dryad replied, knowing first-hand how ruthless and insensitive most nt folks were.

    "I know a few people that might help you. If wee out of this war alive." Lith wryly said.

    "Thanks." The two men exchanged theirmunication runes while Marth updated Lith about the situation of the Kingdom.  since Thrud had seeded in turning her generals into Divine Beasts, the war was slowly but inexorably tipping in her favor. On top of that, after the Undead Courts had sworn her their allegiance, they had started to weaken the Kingdom from the inside, preparing the field for the Mad Queen''s army before every attack.

    On top of that, Thrud had emptied all the prisons of the territories she had conquered, turning the Kingdom''s worst criminals into immortal soldiers for her army. They knew little about magic, but some of them were skilled warriors and ruthless killers.

    Until that moment, Thrud''s army hadcked the manpower to face the Royal''s and had relied mostly on the strength of her Awakened followers. Now, however, those who broke thew or refused to bend the knee were conscripted into her army.

    "What did your family say about your decision to marry Lith?" Ryssa asked, eager to change the topic.

    She heard talking about the war day in and out and was afraid that soon it would havee knocking at her door.

    "My parents are assholes and convicted criminals so I didn''t bother asking their opinion." Kam replied. "As for my sister, she knows Lith and his family for almost as long as I do.

    "When I told her that I was going to propose, she asked me only two questions. If I was really sure that despite our differences Lith could make me happy and if it was true that he could change size at will."

    "And?" Ryssa chuckled while Marth spat his drink and Lith turned to a deep shade of purple.

    "I''m a lucky woman." A smug grin appeared on Kam''s face.

    "Kami!"

    "There''s nothing to be embarrassed about, Lith." Ryssa patted his shoulder. "Curiosity is part of human nature. Ever since he learned I can shapeshift, Duke had a lot of fun having me change my proportions, especially my brea-"

    "Ryssa!" Marth waved a quick goodbye and dragged his wife away before she embarrassed him further.

    "Lady Verhen, would you mind if I took your husband for the next dance?" Gilly Locrias tapped Kam''s arm to have her attention.

    The daughter of the ex-captain of the Queen''s corpse was a pretty young woman with red hair and ocean blue eyes. She was wearing a wonderful sky-blue g dress embroidered in gold and rubies that came straight from Sark''s wardrobe.

 Chapter 1995 Dangerous Knowledge (Part 1)

    Chapter 1995 Dangerous Knowledge (Part 1)

    "Sure. I can use a short break." Kam wondered what that was about, but she could tell from the determination in Gilly''s eyes that it was probably something about her father.

    The first notes of Mogar''s equivalent of the minuet resounded through the ballroom but the dancefloor remained empty. It was tradition for the guests to wait for one or both spouses to open the dance before joining them.

    Lith felt Gilly tensing up when he put his hand on her hip and realized she had no experience in formal dances. She moved clumsily, stepping on his feet every few moves.

    To make matters worse, she seemed to be too focused staring at his face to follow his lead. The only silver lining was that between the mass gap and the Voidwalker armor, he barely experienced any difort.

    "Is there really nothing you can do for my father?" She mumbled after a while.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith asked.

    "I''m grateful for you saving my father''s soul and asking the Royals to give us a house in Lutia so that we can stay close to him once you return, but is that really the best you can do?" Gilly said while looking him straight in the eyes.

    At first, she had been too embarrassed from the physical contact with aplete stranger to speak, then from her own clumsiness, andstly from the absurdity of her request.

    Yet once Gilly had started to speak about her father, courage had built up like an avnche. It had started small, like her voice, but the more she talked the more she discovered that she wasn''t afraid of the monster in front of her.

    "Yes, it is." Lith nodded. "If you know better, I''m open to suggestions."

    "Can''t you give him a proper body? A way for him to not be bound to you and return to his family for good?" Gilly asked.

    "No, I''m sorry. What you ask from me is impossible." Lith gave her a polite nod in apology while making her spin.

    "Is it impossible because your skills arecking or because having a Captain of the Queen''s Corps at your beck and call is too good amodity to let it go?" She said with a snarl.

    "Neither." Lith replied. "I could easily turn Locrias into an undead, but that would give him a hunger that would put you and your mother in danger. Also, putting a soul into a body that doesn''t belong to them wipes their memory.

    "They forget their past, their skills, and their feelings. Locrias would turn into apletely new person whose character would develop based on how you nurture him.

    "The creature I''d give you would be more like a son than a father. A son that can rip you apart at his first tantrum."

    Gilly froze for a second and the other couples bumped into them until she moved again, following Lith''s lead to the best of her abilities.

    "What about Forbidden Magic?" She gritted her teeth, the request sounding absurd even to her, but she had to try.

    Gilly was no mage and what she knew about magic came from bedtime stories and bards'' tales. ording to her sources, there was nothing that Forbidden Magic couldn''t achieve as long as the price was paid.

    "Are you out of your mind?" Lith empathized with her, but his patience was running thin.

    "You already used it in front of many people. It''s one of the reasons you are a wanted criminal. One more time makes no difference." She replied.

    . co?

    "For you, maybe. Not for me." He said with a snarl.

    "Whatever price there is to pay, I''ll do it. I don''t want you or anyone else to suffer." Gilly said. "I promise you that my mother and I will keep it a secret. Just give my father a body. Anything will do. Please. I just want my Dad back."

    She started to tear up, her voice cracking as she saw Locrias and her mother dancing just a few steps from them. He was so close and yet so far. Whenever they met, her hope rekindled just to die once they were separated again.

    "I might be able to do that, but are you willing to cause that kind of pain upon your father?" Lith asked, knowing all too well how it felt being empty inside.

    After the death of his brother, he would have done anything to have Carl back.

    "What do you mean?" She asked with a sniffle.

    "To bind his soul to a physical object, it would take a massive amount of energy. Life force can''t be created out of thin air or my own wouldn''t be still damaged after years. To give his body life, I need to take that of someone else." Lith replied.

    "Then take mine. I don''t care to live until I''m a withered olddy if I have to do it without Dad." She replied.

    "Really? What do your parents think about it? How would they feel knowing that their daughter has sacrificed her life span and that they will outlive her?" Lith said.

    "I don''t know. I haven''t discussed the issue with them."

    "Another thing you haven''t considered is that your life might not be enough. Cursed objects are created after countless tries and sacrifices. Even If I seed, you might not live enough to see it." He continued.

    "Even if you do, there is no guarantee that I don''t create a new living being or that your father''s mind doesn''t get twisted in the process. I saw it with the ck Star. It trapped the souls of the dead using them as fuel, but it wasn''t one of them, just a prison."

    "But it doesn''t always go that way, right? You might seed. You are an Archmage." She said with more faith than certainty.

    "I''m no god." Lith replied. "Even if somehow I granted your wish without killing you, Locrias'' life would be a nightmare. He wouldn''t be able to sleep and eat anymore. His body would be a thing incapable to feel your touch.

    "Right now he has no such problems and the slumber he falls into when I don''t need him gives him peace of mind. As a cursed object, instead, he would have to struggle with loneliness at night. In time, it would drive him mad."

    "Worst of all, however, he would be bound to an object and incapable of dying. Maybe his presence would reassure you, but what would happen once you grow old and die? Will you pass him onto your descendants like a pet or a family heirloom?"

    "Of course not." She said in outrage.

    "Then I''d have to give your father new life just to force you to kill him. I''ve destroyed more than one cursed object and heard their death throes. The process wouldn''t be quick or painless. Do you have the strength to do it?

    "Do you really want you and your father to undergo that kind of suffering?" Lith asked.

    "Can''t you just make him into a normal human?" Gilly knew how stupid her question was the moment she heard iting out of her own lips. "Of course not. As you said, you are no god and you can''t create life."

 Chapter 1996 Dangerous Knowledge (Part 2)

    Chapter 1996 Dangerous Knowledge (Part 2)

    "All I can do is to keep your father with me and allow him to spend time with his family whenever I''m home. I''m sorry." Lith said.

    "Please, don''t apologize." Gilly stopped in the middle of the dancefloor. "I knew that my request was unreasonable, but I still had to try. I couldn''t just ept that my father is dead and do nothing."

    "Locrias may be dead, but he''s not gone. There''s no need for you to mourn him yet." Lith took and handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped her tears. "Enjoy the time you still have together. It''s what my parents and Valia''s are doing."

    He nodded his head at Trion dancing with Elina and at the other Demon in her human form as well dancing with her father.

    "Onest word of advice." A warm smile appeared on Lith''s face. "You''d better learn to dance or your father''s feet won''t survive the experience."

    Gilly lowered her gaze, noticing how Lith''s ck shoes had turned white after being stomped countless times.

    "I will." She gave him a curtsy and ran to the restroom, to not let her parents see her makeup ruined by snot and tears.

    "Wow. Not even one full dance and Gilly ran away crying." Kam reced his missing dance partner, looking at Lith with confusion. "What was that all about?"

    "She wanted me to resurrect her father." Lith replied with a sigh.

    "Poor kid." Kam said. "I can''t even imagine what she''s going through."

    "Me neither." Lith replied.

    They kept dancing in silence until the minuet ended and the next song started, each worrying about how they would react if something happened to the other.

    "Why so glum?" Surtr and Rethia were the first to join them, matching their rhythm to converse with ease. "This is a party, not a funeral."

    "He''s right. Smile a little." Kam gave Lith one of her dazzling smiles that rose the temperature in his heart by several degrees.

    "By the way, little brother, I''m disappointed in you." The Dragon of Light said.

    "How so?" Lith asked.

    "I heard that you decided to postpone your firstborn. I mean, you are the Father of all Demons. Mogar themselves gave the title to you and yet your Demon count is still a t zero."

    "That''s not true. I have three of them and Tista." Lith replied.

    "They don''t count." Surtr shook his head. "Aren''t you curious to discover if your children will be born as Tiamats or be their own Demon species? It''s something that you should check for science''s sake.

    "I tried to pass down my abilities as Dragon of Light, but all my attempts failed. Rethia is my witness. I did all that I could."

    "I can vouch for that." The Wind Griffon nodded. "He''s the worthy heir of a perverted lizard. If there was any scientific approach in what he did to me over the centuries, it must have been very subtle because I''ve always failed to notice it."

    "Darling!" Surtr blushed in embarrassment.

    "I know." Kam chuckled. "Leegaain''s blood runs thick in Lith''s veins as well. If it was for him, I would never sleep at night."

    "Kami!"

    "I''m not a perverted lizard." Leegaain grumbled on the dance floor as he glided among the guests with Sark.

    "You are right, you are a perverted old lizard. They are two very different things." The Overlord giggled.

    "Very funny." He clicked his tongue. "Now, if you are done with the jokes, I''d like to know the reason you brought me here."

    "Why, don''t you enjoy such good music andpany?"

    "First, I hate family reunions and you know it. Second, I wrote most of these pieces. What do you want, Sark?"

    "To ask you two questions without you ''identally'' hanging up my call." The Overlord replied.

    "Shoot."

    "I''m thinking about building my own tower but I don''t think I can do it on my own. How much do you know about-"

    "Everything" Leegaain cut her short.

    "Wait, what?" Sark couldn''t believe her own ears.

    "Back in the day, both Baba Yaga and Menadion asked my advice. They made me promise to not use my breathing technique while visiting theirbs but little did they know that one nce was all I needed." The Father of all Dragons smirked.

    "To think that the hungry cur alwaysins about Life Maelstrom." The Overlord clicked her tongue. "Dragon Eyes are much worse. The most unfair and unbnced bloodline ability of them all."

    "What''s your second question about?"

    "Have you heard about what happened in Verendi?" She looked around, making sure that no one capable of spotting a Guardian''s Hush zone was nearby before speaking.

    "You mean the Master''s hybrids decimating the local Council? It was hard to miss." Leegaain shrugged.

    "They have gotten their hands on the Mouth of Menadion and one of them fused with a Meneos. If theybine their new assets with their version of the Fury, the Orc-Minotaur, and Bytra''s expertise, how dangerous will they be?" Sark asked.

    Leegaain looked away, his smirk disappearing and his mouth opening only to sigh.

    "Look, I know you care for Zoreth, but Mogar or not, I''m not going to sit on my hands while the situation snowballs out of our hands. Just tell me how bad it is."

    Then, the Father of All Dragons looked at her and spoke the most terrifying words Sark had ever heard from him.

    "I don''t know."

    ***

    The rest of the wedding party went without a hitch. Knowing that they would all go to the battlefield, Tista, Nyka, and Solus made ns for a trip on their own as soon as the War of the Griffons would be over.

    They also decided that it was time to graduate from wine and move on to heavier drinks. Tista got drunk on whiskey and fainted from just sniffing the Red Dragon after removing the cork.

    Nyka and Solus had a full ss each with no side effects. One was an undead and her body was naturally immune to alcohol intoxication while the other had the mass of a tower.

    Yet after a few drinks, while Nyka was still as fit as a fiddle, the liquor distilled for Divine Beasts got the better of Solus. She started tough about nothing and sway with every step she took.

    Yet the real problem arose when the tower got drunk as well. It produced blinding beams of light and loud music that drew the attention of many guests. Including the Ernas sisters and their boyfriends.

    "That''s amazing, darling." Morok pointed at the enchanted building that one moment wobbled as if it was made of jelly and the next bent sideways like a withering flower just to spring back into its original position. "How is that even possible?"

    "It must be one of Sark''s surprises for Lith''s wedding." Quy lied through her teeth, hoping that the Tyrant would buy it.

    "Really? I would have expected something ssy and romantic from her. That thing seems out of the mind of an old drunken sailor."

    The battle was clearly lost. There was nothing she could say to deny his statement without insulting him or his intelligence.

    "I find it romantic." Quy drew him close, giving Morok a passionate kiss thatsted until he was out of breath.

 Chapter 1997 Golem Crafting (Part 1)

    Chapter 1997 Golem Crafting (Part 1)

    "You are right. I have no sense of art, but I''m willing to learn." Morok replied with a gasp before dragging Quy into a side room.

    "I think it''s out of the mind of an old drunken sailor as well." Nalrond pointed at the tower while looking at Friya.

    "Very funny." She clicked her tongue, tilting her hips while putting her hands on them. "You already know about the tower and we''ve both seen Solus getting drunk. I''ve got no reason to sweet talk you out of this room."

    "It was worth a shot." He replied with a sigh. "Attending a wedding brought back a lot of memories from my vige and you are simply stunning in that dress."

    He pointed at her attire that even though had been chosen in order to not outshine the bride it could do very little to hide her hourss figure. The dull cream color just brought out her rosy skin and theck of jewelry drew more attention to her eyes that sparkled like stars under the magical lights.

    "Really?" Friya asked with a giggle.

    "Really. Maybe it''s because I saw how Lith changed from before to after getting married, but I wish I could be as brave as Kam." He said.

    "Are you proposing to me?" She asked in shock.

    "Gods, no!" The t refusal made Friya purse her lips in a thin line and steel her gaze. "I mean, we don''t know each other for long and I''ve yet to find a way to fuse my life forces. Besides, without Lith''s mines, I''m dirt poor and-"

    "I''m rich enough for ten people." She cut his short with words first and then with a deep kiss. "You know what, maybe it''s the wedding of my best friends or maybe I''ve drunk too much, but Quy is right. I find the new tower romantic as well."

    ***

    Between the drinks, the pleasant mood, and the jetg, very few guests returned home after the end of the party. Most of them stayed for the night, enjoying Sark''s hospitality.

    Lith, however, was on a clock and couldn''t afford to waste time sleeping in. He woke up at dawn, ready for a long day in the Forge.

    ''Either the Royals summon me to make me a Magus or to help them with the war, I have to be ready for action the moment our deal is signed. A full pardon means having our home back and Dad needs good news.'' He thought while dressing up.

    Kam was still deeply asleep from the moment she had touched the pillow the previous night. Between the stress from the marriage, the standing up all the time to chat with her guests, and the dance, she hadn''t even managed to undress before going to bed.

    "I''m sorry, but I have to go." Lith said with a sigh.

    "Mmhkay, love you." She replied from a corner of her lips.

    "Since everyone is already here, we can finally start working on my golems. I''ve already learned everything I need about memory crystals from Jirni''s research group. Also, with the new Fury, I can split the pseudo cores with the others and make a power core like I could only dream about until a while ago."

    "That''s great. Love you." She took Lith''s unused pillow and used it to shield her head from the light and his annoying chatter.

    "I love you too." Lith leaned over to kiss her, obtaining an exasperated groan in return. "You know, I was thinking that maybeter we could-"

    "Get the heck out of here and let me sleep or I swear to the gods that I''ll kick your ass!" Kam wrapped herself in the nkets, disappearing in a makeshift cocoon.

    ''Sometimes I forget how much sleep regr humans need.'' He thought. ''I''ll better go now. The others are probably waiting for me at the tower.''

    Yet even his Awakened friends didn''t like seeing him that early in the morning any better and weed Lith with harsh words that would have hurt any man who didn''t have a wallet for a heart.

    "For the record, not killing you on the spot should be considered my wedding gift." Faluel rubbed her eyes while taking deep breaths to activate Lifestream. "Give me my Davross ingots back, please."

    "I''ll do it if you don''t ask me any questions about memory crystals." Lith replied.

    "I changed my mind, feel free to keep them." She said with a huge grin on her face at the idea of learning an unprecedented Forgemastering secret.

    Even if Lith refused to share with her the entire procedure, just the crumbs would point Faluel in the right direction. After all, memory crystals were something not even Sark knew about.

    Every bit of knowledge about them was bound to be priceless.

    Between the alcohol and thete night, everyone was a wreck, but no one fared worse than Solus.

    "Somebody please kill me." She had a massive headache from the Red Dragon that not even her breathing technique could relieve. "I swear that I''ll never drink again."

    A human body would have needed but a few healing spells to get rid of a hangover but treating her tower half wasn''t so simple. The liquor had spread to the tower''s water reserves and she needed to flush them out as well to cleanse her system.

    Luckily for Lith, none of the effects of her drunken stupor had any longsting effect on the precious materials stored on the various floors of the tower.

    Lith brought everyone to the Forge, where thetest prototype for Trouble and Raptor waited for them. They were just the corpses of a three-eyed Balor and a Vagrash coated in Adamant inside out.

    It enhanced the mana conductivity of their bodies, their durability, and reced the parts that had been destroyed back when Lith had killed them.

    The Balor was over 2.5 meters (8''2") tall, with a humanoid body covered by small silver-colored scales. His head had three empty sockets arranged in a vertical line where once the Evil Eyes had been.

    The ck eye would have kept drawing darkness energy even after Trouble''s death so Lith had been forced to remove it even before crafting the Sage Staff to prevent the corpse from turning into an undead.

    Three sets of ck curved horns emerged from the Balor''s head, cheekbones, and the sides of his chin. His massive upper body waspletely exposed and seemed to beprised solely of chiseled metal muscles.

    Another hole had been opened at the heart level, to host the Spirit Crystal needed to fuel Lith''s bloodline abilities.

    His legs were reverse jointed like those of a cat and had talons extending out of his toes and heel. Two shining silvery membranous wings were folded around his neck, almost looking like a mantle.

    As for the Vagrash, in life he had been called Iskha but Lith never bothered talking with his opponents and had killed him without waiting for the Emperor Beast to introduce himself.

    He had named to corpse Raptor for no particr reason except that it rolled off the tongue well.

    The Vagrash had the front body of a golden lion while its back belonged to something with hooves that seemed to be made of stone.

 Chapter 1998 Golem Crafting (Part 2)

    Chapter 1998 Golem Crafting (Part 2)

    The hind legs were covered in thick grey scales and each had the size of a stone pir

    The Vagrash had feathered wings on its back and a long tail covered in jagged scales. Raptor reached a height at the withers of 5 meters (16.4 feet) and was 8.8 meters (29 feet) long.

    Unlike the Balor, the Vagrash had no sign of external damage aside from its tail. Lith had killed it with a burst of Origin mes that had destroyed the internal organs and created the space he needed for the Spirit Crystal.

    All of Lith''s assistants had learned Menadion''s Mana Well amplification technique and had brought their own Adamant Forge for the task. Before they began, Solus split the Fury into multiple copies, handing one to each of their friends to let them grow ustomed to it.

    Lith needed a Fury as well, while Solus kept the original. There could be up to nine Furies coexisting, but the group was onlyprised of Lith, Solus, Tista, Friya, Phloria, Quy, Faluel, and Protector.

    For the task, Lith needed only people who werepetent Forgemasters, who knew about Solus and the tower, and that could be trusted with the secrets of his Forgemastering.

    He didn''t mind sharing with them, especially with Faluel. The Hydra was more than a mentor, it was his friend and confidant. Also, Lith had gifted her with the Hands of Menadion that would make the crafting process easier.

    He needed but a thought to connect them to the Library and share with them the specifics of the crafting method and what kind of pseudo cores each one of them would have to conjure.

    "I know that if something goes wrong we can ask Grandma to reset the materials, but I want you all to remember that this issue is time-sensitive." Lith said. "While I deal with the preparatory phases, you can go to the Workshop and practice your part, if you want.

    "Don''t get cocky, because one single mistake from any of us will mean that the work of everyone else will be ruined and that we''ll have to perform everything from scratch."

    Tista and Protector swallowed a lump of saliva at the idea. They were the weakest and the least experienced Forgemasters of the group so they moved to the lower floor. Even with the help of a Fury and of the tower, they weren''t sure to be capable of crafting even the simplest power core on their own.

    "I''m not interested in stealing your secrets, but I''ve never seen an actual Earth Root, let alone witnessed its effects." Quy said. "I''ll go as soon as you are done with it, then you can ce the runes."

    Faluel, Phloria, and Friya nodded, sitting far away enough from Lith to not disturb him but close enough to study the procedure with Life Vision.

    "It''s not a big deal, really." Lith''s words garnered him a series of stern looks. "I mean, yes, getting your hands on an Earth Root is hard, but the how it works is nothingplicated."

    "Using it is easy." Faluel corrected him. "How it works is a damn mystery otherwise throughout the centuries someone would have developed a way to imitate its effects. We would have had another Ruler of the mes and Forgemastery would have reached a new golden age."

    Lith wanted to mock her for being so pedantic, but the tinge of envy in her voice stopped him. Earth Roots were very rare and Faluel had gotten her hands only on a few of them during her entire life.

    To make matters worse, most of them had been used to practice and the ensuing Forgemastering process had taught her a lot but had produced mediocre artifacts. Lith had gotten only one, but he had kept it until Sark had offered him to use her Creation Magic for him.

    It had allowed him to experiment freely with the Earth Root before attempting the actual crafting. Then, after the tower had regained the Workshop, Lith had gained even more freedom, testing even the craziest theory that came to his mind with no consequence.

    For a mage, it was the equivalent of having his cake and eating it too.

    Lith took the Earth Root out of his pocket dimension and slowly imbued it with mana until the boundary between energy and matter disappeared.  ingredients were precious for the unique variants of world energy they carried, not for their physicalposition. A magical flower was still just a nt, like even a Phoenix''s feathers were still just made of keratin.

    What made them magical in nature was the fact that along with respectively lymph and blood, a powerful mana had coursed through them for a long time, bing an integral part of them.

    Magical ingredients couldn''t be used in their natural state since it would have required adding them to molten metal or turning them into a fine powder. Not only would both methods cause a partial loss of the ingredient''s magical properties but they would also add new impurities that would need to be purified.

    The correct way of using an ingredient was to extract its magical essence by mixing it with the mana of the mage. The new mana flow would further refine the ingredient and ensure that its energy was extracted until thest spark.

    The process overloaded the physicalponent of the material, turning it into dust that Lith and Solus carefully collected. Sark''s Creation Magic was powerful, but not a miracle.

    Without the remnants of the Earth Root, once she recovered its energy after one of their failed experiments, she wouldn''t have a ce where to safely store it and the Earth Root would have been lost forever.

    Lith used his breathing technique, Demon Grasp, to flood the magical ingredient with his mana. The tuber pulsed rhythmically, producing a white aura as more and more of its essence was extracted.

    Lith''s violet mana served two purposes. It consumed the physical vessel of the Root, freeing the energy it contained, and allowed Lith to manipte the energy released as if it was his own.

    He held the natural treasure in his right hand, moving the magical essence to his left where it took the form of a pristine sphere. Once he was done with the extraction process, Lith split the sphere in two and gave half of it to Solus.

    Usually, a mage would have to stay focused until the energy of the Root was consumed and be careful with how much he employed but, in their case, they could split the task.

    It halved the focus and time needed for the process. On top of that, it allowed them to use the same amount of energy for each golem. Lith worked on Trouble while Solus on Raptor.

    They both injected their respective sphere where the Spirit Crystal would beter grafted and had the energy from the Root spread outwards from there. They used their mana and willpower to keep the energy of the ingredient focused despite the disruption from the Adamant''s natural flow of world energy.

    The refined magical metal had a high mana conductivity and because of that, any form of energy it came in contact with would be evenly spread throughout its structure. In normal circumstances, it helped a Forgemaster to imbue their creations with their spells, but in the Earth Root''s case, it would nullify the ingredient''s effect, making it go to waste.

 Chapter 1999 Harmony of Dissonance (Part 1)

    Chapter 1999 Harmony of Dissonance (Part 1)

    The difference between a simple artifact and a masterpiecey in the Forgemaster''s ability to infuse their creation with a power core, a mana circtory system, and multiple sets of external runes.

    Together, they granted to an inanimate object the ability of living beings to produce and control multiple kinds of spells at the same time.

    The main issue in achieving such a result arose from the mana circtory system which was created by grafting mana crystals onto the vessel of the enchantment. Aside from making sure to use only purified materials and choosing carefully where to ce the crystals, the Forgemaster had no control over the shape the system would assume.

    It would take a mage countless attempts to find a way to create the space that the power core required at the center of the artifact while also not hindering the strict positioning that the runes required to achieve their maximum effect.

    The Earth Root solved all of these problems.

    What made it a priceless ingredient was its ability to create a mana circtory system inside any kind of material before mana crystals were applied. This way, a Forgemaster could shape the mana circtory system as they saw fit, no matter how many mana crystals or sets of runes they would employ.

    ''Faluel is right. No matter how many times I do this, I''ve never understood why I can''t create a mana circtory system with just my mana.'' Lith thought. ''In theory, a metal is just earth that has been purified and rearranged, yet just like earth magic has no effect on metals, mana can''t affect them either by itself.''

    ''Maybe it''s because, unlike earth, the position of the molecules of metals are fixed. Their bonds cannot be altered without destroying the whole structure.'' Solus pondered.

    ''Maybe the Earth Root is a metal-like nt that provides us with what we need to rearrange the position of the atoms while keeping them stable.''

    The process was long and tedious. Lith and Solus had to make sure that like a blood circtory system, the mana would reach every nook and cranny of their golems. A construct had no nerves or muscles, requiring mana to move.

    An area isted from the mana circtory system would have no flexibility, greatly reducing the mobility of a golem and its effectiveness inbat.

    At the same time, however, Lith and Solus had also to be careful of leaving enough empty spaces where they would ce the sets of runes. If the energy from the system and that from the runes ovepped, they would sh until either of them was deformed and their respective efficiency crippled.

    After Lith and Solus were done, Faluel studied the Golems with her breathing technique, Lifestream. She noticed how they had used the remnants of the creatures'' blood circting system as a scaffold, making the mana follow the natural paths of veins and arteries.

    "Nice job. Why no capiries, though?" She asked.

    "That''s the runes'' duty." Solus exined. "Once applied to the surface, they''ll spread their energy until they reach the mana circtory system. This way, we can use a mind link to sendplex sets of instructions and even recharge the Golems if needed."

    "Brilliant." The Hydra nodded and left the room.

    "I would die of envy if you were able to do this at will." Quy sighed. "Too bad that you only have one Earth Root. No matter how many tries it takes, we must make sure that these two puppies are wless."

    "Thanks, girls." Lith gave them thumbs up and Warped them to the Workshop where they started practicing their respective section of the power core.

    . co?

    Only once they were alone did Lith and Solus apply the elemental crystal first and the runester. A ck, a blue, and a red crystal reced the missing Balor''s Evil Eyes while simple white crystals were embedded on the Vagrash'' back.

    Lith had no idea what elemental affinities the creature had had in life nor if its corpse still retained them. To not waste precious materials, he used solely one ck and one red crystal.

    ''Since the Golems are supposed to use my bloodline abilities and these are my own elemental affinities, even Raptor should be capable of using at least the fire and darkness element.'' Lith thought.

    The crystals connected to the mana circtory system that they had created with the Root, using the vast amount of world energy that was constantly stored within them to further strengthen the system.

    ''This is amazing.'' Solus''s mouth opened in surprise. Between the natural flow of energy of the purified Adamant, the circtory system, and the crystals, the Golems have already developed an aura simr to that of a violet-cored living being.

    ''This is a pain in the ass.'' Lith grumbled. ''We have yet to apply the runes and the mana flow is already this strong. Any more and the power core will meet more resistance than we can take.''

    ''I would agree with you if it was just the two of us.'' Solus replied. ''But this time we have plenty of help and even a secret weapon.''

    ''I can only hope you are right.'' Lith weaved several strings of runes while Solus could only watch and wait.

    ''If only I were stronger, I would be able to help him.'' She inwardly sighed.

    She remembered the rune sequences and their respective pattern down to the smallest detail, but that didn''t matter in the face of her blue runes. The power she could imbue was limited by her weakened core.

    Lith received the same boost from the tower and his core was violet, setting them worlds apart. Angry with herself, Solus checked for the umpteenth time that they hadn''t forgotten anything.

    The Golems would be the mostplex piece they had ever crafted and required a tremendous number of runes in order to be capable of supporting the power core they had devised.

    The first set of mystical runes was also the most important because it carried Lith''s energy signature. It would reduce the rejection that their mana would experience while infusing the power core and converting the world energy into Lith''s mana.

    This way, the Golems would be immune to Lith''s spells and vice versa. He poured so much energy into the runes that Lith needed to use Invigoration before moving on to the second set, yet the result was worth the effort.

    In the space of a few seconds, the mana from the runes and the world energy released by the Adamant and the crystals slowly merged together until they couldn''t be distinguished anymore.

    The following ten sets of runes required much less focus and energy, yet Lith had to use Invigoration ten more times to engrave them.

    The second set amplified the strength of the power core while the third would disperse the excess energy during an all-out fight. Together, they would allow the Adamant to better channel the energy that the enchantments would release and reduce the stress that the boosted power core would experience.

    Even with the mana circtory system, holding too many powerful spells would otherwise weaken the metal over time and cause the constructs to suffer from mana overload.

    The fourth set of runes would allow the Golems to draw in more world energy than normal to fuel their abilities.

 Chapter 2000 Harmony of Dissonance (Part 2)

    Chapter 2000 Harmony of Dissonance (Part 2)

    Unlikemon enchanted objects, Golems needed to move around, follow orders, and choose the best spells to use ording to the instructions they received.

    Fueling even a limited artificial intelligence required a massive amount of energy that no number of crystals could provide during a fight. Golems would lose power as they fought and needed a long time to recharge unless provided with an energy source like an array.

    The fourth set of runes prolonged their autonomy in battle and reduced the time they needed to refill their mana reserves.

    The fifth and the sixth set would respectively absorb part of the kic and magical energy that would hit the Golems during a fight, turning them into a protective energy field.

    The seventh and eight set had simr properties but different functions. The former would carry Lith''s and Solus'' telepathic orders in a form that the Golems could understand while thetter reced the nervous system.

    Even though the Spirit Crystal worked as a brain, it still needed a way to operate the body it was given. Having Lith''s strategical cunning and experience was pointless if the Adamantcked the physical abilities to put them into practice.

    The eight set of runes'' purpose was to ensure that the Adamant body and the power core would answer the Spirit Crystal''smands with the speed of thought. If done correctly, the Golems would have an unparallel magical and physical prowess.

    Not even a violet cored Awakened would be able to match the efficiency of a creature with no need to weave spells and the durability of purified Adamant. The only weak points of regr Golems were their short autonomy and the fact that they blindly followed orders.

    No matter howplex their power core of how detailed an order was, a construct''sck of creativity made it predictable while its inability to adapt to the opponent limited their fighting prowess once the surprise effect was lost.

    Turning the Spirit Crystal into a memory crystal resolved these issues. By granting the golems part of Lith''s mind, the crystal would make their attack patterns unpredictable.

    The ninth set would cloak both the power core and the rune formations, making it impossible for any regr Forgemaster to study them. Any good mage knew that they had to protect their secrets before selling their pieces.

    In a Golem''s case, things were even worse. If during a battle they ran out of power, nothing would stop an enemy from snatching and studying them in the safety of theirb.

    Sure, the Golems couldn''t be stored inside a dimensional item nor would they lose their imprint, but it would still be a huge loss for Lith.

    It was the reason the tenth andst set of runes not only worked as a tracking spell but also constantly provided the tower with the dimensional coordinates of the Golems in real time.

    ''I wish I could go for some kind of self-destruct mechanism.'' Lith pondered. ''Too bad that it would also cost me the Earth Root and all the materials. At least this way I always have a chance to retrieve the Golems and even if they get stolen, they can still recharge over time.''

    Once Lith was done weaving the final rune, the entire surface of the Golems was covered in glowing violet glyphs that yet had to merge with the metal structure just a few millimiters below them.

    Before finishing the procedure and making it irreversible, Solus used the tower''s mana sense along with the Eyes of Menadion to study the interaction between the runes and the mana circtory system.

    She and Lith had found the perfect theoretical position for the ten sets, but there was no telling if they had failed to take something into ount. Keeping so many strings active at the same time without letting them seep into the Adamant was a mammoth task, but Lith endured in silence.

    Solus took her time, letting the Eyesplete their analysis and thenparing it with her own readings.

    ''Dammit, we didn''t consider the mana pressure exerted by the crystals. Even with the Earth Root channelling their power, they still create small distortion fields for the nearby runes thatpromise-''

    ''Save the lecture forter!'' Lith cut her short. ''Is it salvageable?''

    ''Yes, but we-''

    ''Just do it!'' He took a deep breath to replenish his dwindling energy with Demon Grasp.

    Solus rearranged the closest runes to the crystals before moving on to the others. Her nimble fingers rearranged ten runes at a time, only taking a brief pause between movements to check the harmony of the energy flow hadn''t actually gotten worse.

    By the time she was done, Lith had used Demon Grasp one more time.

    ''Done! Sorry for the wait.'' Solus said.

    Lith replied with a wheeze as he could finally let go of the two massive energy formations. Theplex rune patterns shone with the radiance of a small star for a short while before fading under the surface of the metal.

    ''The next time, less conversation and more action.'' A snap of his fingers moved the two of them to the Workshop where the rest of the group was practicing on two replicas of the Golems.

    Lith felt tired, but thanks to his bond with the tower he was quickly regaining his strength. The others, instead, fared much worse. Aside from Faluel, they were covered in sweat and either cursing whomever had spawned Adamant or panting to catch their breath.

    "What''s wrong?" Lith asked.

    "I think you miscalcted." The Hydra offered him a glowing energy sphere to study. "You should have given them a power core section suitable not only to their mana core, but also to their skill."

    "That''s exactly what I did." Solus replied. "I assigned to each one of you only what you were supposed to be capable of handling. I even left them some wiggle room."

    "Then either you overestimate people or they exaggerated their talent when exchanging Forgemastering points with you." Faluel shrugged.

    Lith checked the partial core, discovering that the Hydra had followed his instructions to the letter and even improved the final result. The runes forming the energy sphere were densely packed and the empty spaces left for the others to fill didn''t destabilize it one bit.

    "I exaggerated nothing." Quy said amid pants. "Solus assigned me a partial core that I can craft. What she didn''t take into ount is that I never worked with something of thisplexity.

    "Keeping so much energy stable for a while drains a lot of my energy, especially after it gets amplified by the Adamant."

    "I may have exaggerated a bit. Maybe-" A retch cut Protector short right before he threw up out of fatigue.

    "I don''t know what my problem is, I only know that this is too much for me." Friya dropped her Fury to the ground before raising her hands in surrender. "Once the amplification process starts, it takes my all to not make the partial core pop."

    "Same." Phloria leaned her back against the wall. "Not everyone here has the Hands of Menadion."

    "Guys, you don''t have to let the amplification begin." Solus reviewed her notes in Soluspedia and confronted them with those in the Library.

    "Why not?" Tista said, her voice reduced to a whisper.

 Chapter 2001 Alone Together (Part 1)

    Chapter 2001 Alone Together (Part 1)

    "Because the amplification process will take ce only after we fuse the partial cores into theplete power core." Solus replied. "At that point, we''ll be capable of keeping it stable thanks to our collective focus and willpower."

    "Don''t be ridiculous." Quy attempted a scoff that almost made her puke. "After being amplified, the energy of the power core will be much greater than the single pieces put together.

    "How can we manage to control it if we can''t even handle our respective partial core?"

    "Thanks to an array that I have stored inside the Heart of the tower." Solus shrugged. "After retrieving the Mouth and listening to Sark''s exnation about how it works, I found a way to switch Forgemastering arrays during a crafting process.

    "I can''t replicate the effects of Elemental Flow but I can still prepare a different magical circle for each crucial step we encounter."

    "Why the heck didn''t you tell us?" Even Protector was angry and outraged.

    Ever since he hade to the Desert, he had worked hard to refine his skills yet the task had overwhelmed him, making the Skoll feel dispirited. He was still bright blue and had no clue about how to reach the violet.

    Lith was way younger than him yet was already one step away from Faluel. To make matters worse, Quy had surpassed him as well and aside from Tista, everyone else had already reached his level.

    "Because that wasn''t your task. That''s the reason I only wrote the specifics of the first Forgemastery array you have used for your practice." Solus'' reply was weed by several middle fingers.

    "I would strangle you on the spot, but I''m too tired even for that." Tista said. "I''ll see you tomorrow in the morning. I''ve used Invigoration too many times in this fool''s errand to continue."

    "No need to wait for that long." Lith said. "You only need eight hours to recover. Four if you stay in the tower. We''ll resume after lunch."

    "We can all use a bit of rest." Faluel replied. "It would give us the time to catch up with each other and enjoy the Desert a bit instead of the usual boot camp."

    "Hey, if this fails, we''ll have to do it again." Lith moved in front of Tista to stop her. "If the Royals summon me before we are done, my survival chances without the Golems are pretty low. Do you think I can face an entire immortal army alone?"

    "No. See you after lunch, then." Tista sighed and soon everyone Warped to their respective room, leaving Lith and Solus alone.

    "How do you feel?" He asked.

    "What do you mean?"

    "It''s the first time since you got your human body back that we are going to craft something with the help of others, like your mother did. I''m worried thatbining the use of the Fury, the Hands, and the Mouth might be hard on you." Lith said.

    "Don''t worry. If another piece of my memory returns in the middle of the Forgemastering process, I''ll repress it. I know how important to you is finishing the golems and-"

    "I''m not worried about that, silly." Lith cupped her face, forcing Solus to look him in the eyes. "Worst case scenario, Grandma will reset the materials and we''ll make an even better job. It''s you I''m worried about."

    "There''s nothing to worry about. I''m fine." Solus pushed his hands away only for Lith to grab her shoulders.

    "No, you are not. First the revtion about what really happened to you and your mother. Then the Fury, the trip to Verendi, and now this." Lith took the Mouth of Menadion out of his pocket dimension and handed it to her.

    "Ever since Vastor''s wedding, you are the one who had it the hardest between us. You had to face your past while also taking care of me. The marriage made me feel better, but it also put a wedge in our rtionship right when you needed me the most.

    "I can make those golems from scratch in a few days whereas it took you months to get out of the rabbit''s hole that Bytra''s confession sent you into. Now look me in the eyes and tell me that you are okay with the person who killed your mother stealing another piece of your legacy."

    Lith handed her the Mouth and an apology letter from the Raiju that Vastor had entrusted Lith in the case he decided to return the artifact to Elphyn Menadion.

    Solus could barely stand touching the Mouth. Knowing that all of its secrets had been vited, that the bond of trust between Ripha and her apprentices had once again backfired, made her want to puke.

    On the contrary, she had read the note often, crumpling and stomping on it every time she reached thest line. The paper had be so worn out that seemed decades old even though the letter had arrived just one day ago.

    "Dear Elphyn, I know that no matter what I say, my apologies will sound like empty words to you. Yet I have nothing else to offer you but my sincerest apologies. I want you to know that I did everything I could to have the Mouth returned to you and that I didn''t take any part in studying it.

    "s, my refusal to cooperate was pointless. Back when I still thought you were dead, I had shared with my brethren everything I knew about Ripha''s techniques and her Fury.

    "Even without my help, they were familiar enough with your mother''s workings to learn everything about the Mouth. If it''s of any constion, while my father wanted to gift it to Lith, I was adamant about returning it to you and Zor backed me.

    "Also, if you are reading this, know that what we learned while studying the Mouth has be part of my legacy, and it''s yours to take. Just say the word and I''lle to you.

    "In faith, Bytra."

    Even though Solus knew that the Raiju had done her best to not wrong Menadion''s heir again, it didn''t make her feel any better. First her life, then her partner, and now even one of thest heirlooms of her mother now belonged to someone else.

    Solus felt as if Mogar reveled in the sick pleasure of giving her hope just to take it away right when she was about to reach the object of her desire.

    "No, I''m not okay with any of this." Solus slouched her shoulders, ceasing her struggle. "But what choice do I have? I can''t ask you to wait for me, not when we don''t even know how long you have left to live.

    "I can''t storm the Organization to retrieve the data about the Mouth and even if I killed Bytra, it would solve nothing. She did everything she could. If not for Bytra, the Mouth would still be in the hands of the Verendi Council and sooner orter they would have uncovered its secrets as well."

    "You are right, you can''t change what''s already happened, but you do have a choice about how to face the consequences." Lith said. "Instead of turtling up and putting on a stoic mask, you cane to me.

 Chapter 2002 Alone Together (Part 2)

    Chapter 2002 Alone Together (Part 2)

    "We are in this together and I want you to understand that I''ll always be there for you. Cry on my shoulder, ask me to cook your favorite dishes or to be your sparring partner if you need to kick some ass.

    "Anything is better than you giving me the silent treatment and forcing me to see you suffer from a distance." Lith embraced Solus, making her feel through his actions and emotions that there was no distance between them.

    Some things had changed, but the depth of their bond and feelings was still the same.

    "Anything?" She asked.

    "Anything." He nodded.

    "Then I want to take a long hot bath to get rid of the sweat and then take a nap together like old times." Solus buried her face in Lith''s chest, ignoring the pungent smell he emitted.

    "No problem, but for the bath part I have to ask Kami''s permission."

    "I don''t needpany for that, smartass!" Solus blushed, then she considered the possibility, and then blushed harder. "By the way, howe everyone is dead tired while you are fine?"

    "There wasn''t much to do at Sark''s beach home." Lith shrugged. "Whenever we got bored, we worked on my stamina."

    "But Kami''s a hum-" Solus flushed up to her ears and Warped to her room.

    ***

    Lith arrivedst at lunch. Kam had insisted to join them and being between two beautiful women had made it hard for him to fall asleep. To make matters worse, he couldn''t get up until four hours had passed.

    After the meal, he met with the others in the Forge and showed them the Golems. Aside from the empty space in their chest, the preparatory phase was over.

    "There''s no memory crystal yet." Faluel said after checking theplex rune patterns and appreciating Lith''s use of elemental crystals to fuel the Golems'' abilities.

    "That willest." He replied. "A power core can exist on its own as long as it has a vessel to contain it and mana pathways to keep it stable. A memory crystal, instead, needs to have both a vessel and a power source.

    "Without the former, the stored data can''t be utilized while without thetter it soon reverts into a regr crystal."

    "What about those that my mother used against Meln?" Phloria conjured a hologram of Jirni''s crystal cards, emphasizing the cube etched at their center.

    "The cube holds aplex power core without which the spells stored inside the crystals would fade." Lith replied.

    "I''ve guessed that much, I meant what about the vessel? I don''t see one."

    "Jirni herself is the vessel. The proto cubes are just weapons." Lith said. "Now get ready. It''s time to work on the power core."

    Solus took out the Fury, giving one of its copies to each of her friends. Faluel wore the Hands of Menadion, Tista the Mouth, while Solus wore both in their still iplete form.

    Much to everyone''s surprise, the artifact had shapeshifted to match its new master. The mask had turned from pristine white into bright red and the gems were now aligned vertically instead of horizontally, looking like a row of fangs instead of lips.

    Yet even in its new form, the Mouth''s power was unchanged, emitting an aura that blinded the Awakened''s Life Vision.

    "Where does thate from?" Friya pointed at Tista in surprise.

    "It was Vastor''s marriage present." Lith said. "We decided to give it to Tista to make up for herck of body casting until she gets her violet core. Also, she''s the weakest among us and her Forgemastery skills can use a boost."

    "I''m not questioning your choice, just saying that''s one heck of a gift." The Hydra said.

    "Yeah, why didn''t you tell us earlier?" Protector asked.

    "When, exactly? The ceremony was yesterday and the celebrations didn''t end untilte at night. Did you expect me to barge into your rooms just to gloat?" Lith replied.

    "Congrattions, Tista." Everyone said with half joy and half envy.

    "Thanks. I promise you that I''ll make the best of the Mouth. I''ll dly lend it to any of you guys whenever you need it." She replied with a huge smile that matched the artifact''s.

    "How did Xenagrosh persuade the Master to give up such a powerful tool?" Faluel looked at the Mouth in suspicion, using her Forgemastery spells to make sure that it was the real deal and that there was no foreign device.

    The two pieces of Menadion''s set started to resonate on contact, their energy signatures fused for a split second, bing greater than the sum of the single parts. Then, the phenomenon stopped as quickly as it had started leaving everyone bbergasted.

    "She didn''t." Solus touched the two artifacts with their tower counterparts, trying to understand what had just happened.

    Unluckily for her, the tower didn''t react to their presence. Whatever the effect she had just witnessed was, either it was exclusive to Menadion''s set or the tower had yet to recover such ability.

    "What do you mean?" Tista wore the Mouth again before borrowing the Hands from Faluel, but once again, nothing happened.

    They took turns trying to clear the mystery and only after they gave up on it did Lith hand them the greeting card that he had found with the Mouth.

    "Shit." Faluel said.

    "You can say that." Lith nodded. "There''s no telling how much stronger the Organization has be nor if their version of the Mouth will dwarf the original. The Master returned the Mouth to me solely as a sign of goodwill and because it''s old ass. He knows that he can''t update it while Grandma can."

    "Do you think she would if I asked her to?" Tista asked.

    "If you bend the knee, sure. Otherwise you''ll have to butter her up a lot." Solus replied. "She fixed my Fury only because she had already promised Mom to do it."

    "Yeah, I asked Sark to update my Hands yesterday and sheughed in my face." Faluel sighed. "I wouldn''t bet on her being more lenient with you just because you are family."

    "I know." Tista nodded. "She didn''t craft anything for Lith either. Not even as a wedding present."

    "Enough chatting." Lith pped his hands to get their attention. "Is everyone ready?"

    "Not yet." Solus updated the documents in the Library so that everyone knew what array would be used for each step of the process.

    At the same time, Lith handed Faluel and Friya respectively a piece of Syrook''s heart and a chunk of the ck Dragon''s lungs. They were the only people besides himself that Lith could entrust with such a powerful ingredient.

    Quy had a more powerful core, but Friya had started studying Forgemastery right after joining Lith in his apprenticeship. She was the only one in the group who had had an expert Forgemaster as a mentor and her skills were top-notchpared to a self-taught like Lith.

    Orion had taught his daughters only the basics. Neither Quy nor Phloria would receive the Ernas legacy unless they swore their allegiance to the family and contributed to its development.

    The pieces of the ck Dragon that Lith had given to the Hydra and her apprentice were necessary to craft their partial core for the first Golem. They would start with Raptor and then move to Trouble.

 Chapter 2003 Partial Cores (Part 1)

    Chapter 2003 Partial Cores (Part 1)

    Lith nned on tapping into the full potential of the corpses and based on what he had learned from Xenagrosh during his trip in Verendi, the Balor should have been a better vessel for his powers.

    ''After all, my seven eyese from my evolved human side and Balors are a fallen race of evolved humans.'' Lith thought while holding a chunk of Syrook''s pupil. ''Even though it''s a faint connection, ourmon origin might allow Trouble''s Golem to channel at least three of my elemental masteries, if not even Domination.''

    The mana organ that fueled the Dragon Eyes'' bloodline ability had disappeared with the Syrook''s death, but the physical organ was still a powerful medium to focus eye-rted bloodline abilities.

    After each one of the eight Awakened had taken their position and conjured their respective Forge, they received their copy of the Fury from Solus. During the first part of the crafting process, the Forgemastering tools would be used as energy sources, converting the world energy into mana.

    Phloria and Quy had borrowed a block of purified Adamant from Orion while Faluel had provided Friya and Protector with their own.

    ''Thank you, Lith. You have no idea how much this means to me.'' Solus said via their mind link while giving him a loving smile from behind the Mouth.

    Her Forge was smaller than the others but also way more powerful.

    Faluel wasn''t the only one who had gifted him Davross for his wedding. Sinmara and Surtr had contributed with a couple of ingots each. Tyris hadn''t been invited to the wedding but she still had sent him two more Davross ingots as a thank you for helping her son, Dolgus.

    Lith had purified the gifts with his Origin mes and added them to the Davross he already had, fusing the ingots into a small anvil that Solus was about to use as her Forge.

    ''No, thank you, Solus.'' He replied. ''You have dedicated your whole life to me, following me at every step of my journey, no matter the sacrifices and pain it brought you.

    ''Even after recovering your human body, you always put me first, worrying more about my life than about making one of your own. As I told you yesterday, we are in this together. That Davross is as much mine as yours.''

    The anvil greatly increased both Solus'' magical and mental strength.

    The purified Adamant Forges that the other members of the group used drew and focused the flow of the surrounding world energy, creating a mass of energy simr to a mana core.

    Only Solus and Faluel had one made of purified Davross and its effects went beyond Lith''s wildest expectations. The metal drew, focused, and amplified the flow of world energy, sucking in more until the Davross shone like a star even to the naked eye.

    Unlike the Adamant, the Davross was also capable of splitting the world energy into its sevenponents, making it easy even for a beginner Forgemaster to amplify the effects of a specific element during their crafts.

    Many Forgemasters had studied the phenomenon, drawingparisons between the purified Davross and the elemental crystals but only a few had understood its link with the white core.

    What made the magical metal so outstanding was not only its nigh-zero mana resistance but also its ability to switch between matter and energy just like an Awakened needed to do in order to achieve the white core.

    Solus hammered the anvil, producing a silvery sound that resembled more the tinkling of crystal sses than the sh between hard metals. The delicate ng was music to Solus'' ears.

    It triggered countless memories of the time she had spent with her mother, Ripha Menadion.

    They were just shards, single images frozen in time without context. In some of them, the First Ruler of the mes had a stern expression, probably while exining a Forgemastering technique to her daughter.

    In others, Ripha seemed happy while in a few she was furious. Solus had no idea what any of those images meant, yet she loved them all, even those where Elphyn and Ripha seemed ready to jump at each other''s throat.

    ''No matter what happened back then, now this is the only way I have to see my mother''s face.'' Solus thought while small tears streamed down her eyes. ''I can see how she looked like when she was happy, sad, or angry.

    ''I can see how simr yet different we were. Most of all, I can remember how much she loved and cared for me.''

    At the same time, Solus'' mana flowed inside the Davross that amplified it tenfold, making up for her weak core.

    Thanks to thebined effect of the anvil, the tower, the pieces of Menadion''s set that she had recovered, Solus'' magical prowess reached a level between the bright blue and the deep violet.

    Once everyone''s Forge and Fury were nearly overloaded, Solus activated the first Forgemastering circle she had prepared.

    It channeled the power of the mana geyser below the tower, focusing on Raptor''s Adamant body as much world energy as it could handle and sending the rest into the Forges.

    Lith, Friya, and Faluel each refined their respective ingredient before weaving their portion of the power core. They flooded the piece of the ck Dragon''s body with their mana, reigniting and amplifying its magical properties.

    The chunks of flesh quickly turned into ash that was carefully collected while their mystical essence coalesced into a pseudo core that the Forgemaster would use as a scaffold for the outeryers of runes.

    The key phase to creating aplex power core required the mage to remove specific runes from every pseudo core so that the iplete cores would fill each other''s empty spots akin to the pieces of a puzzle.

    Sharing the same runes created a bond between the otherwise ipatible pseudo cores and allowed their energy to be highlypressed, stabilizing the resulting partial core.

    The final product would still have several missing runes, otherwise assembling the partial cores into a power core would have been impossible.

    Lith and those who had learned Awakened Forgemastery from him used his Necro Forge technique. It consisted in crafting one whole pseudo core at a time and then removing the runes needed to create the bond with the next pseudo core.

    It was quite aplex procedure because it required the mage to break down the sphere of mana into runes, destabilize it on purpose, conjure another pseudo core, rinse and repeat.

    Keeping the partial core stable became increasingly harder the moreyers it had. The bond between pseudo cores created by the shared runes only reduced the repulsive effect between the different kinds of energy while the still empty slots were like holes in a damn.

    With each pseudo core they added, the internal pressure built up, forcing the Forgemasters to increase the external pressure with their mana in order to keep the partial core from falling apart.

    Solus, instead, due to her weak core preferred to use Lith''s Bloom Forge technique

    She had weaved her partial core whole in one go instead of one pseudo core at a time. To do that, Solus had focused solely on the number and position of runes that each pseudo core needed in order to merge with the others.

 Chapter 2004 Partial Cores (Part 2)

    Chapter 2004 Partial Cores (Part 2)

    It was something that she could achieve only thanks to her eidetic memory and her mastery over controlling several different spells at the same time. On the other hand, her creation was far from finished.

    To keep the partial core stable despite the interferences between the single pseudo cores, the partial core she had created had been imbued with as little energy as possible.

    Solus now had to slowly pour mana into the partial core, making sure that it was distributed evenly between the single pseudo cores while also keeping the increasing repulsive effects between them in check as well.

    Necro Forge was simpler to use but could only be used by a powerful Forgemaster. Bloom Forge, instead, relied on finesse and precision to achieve the same results but with twice the effort.

    ''What the fuck?'' Solus allowed herself a moment of distraction to point at Lith what was happening on the other side of the room.

    Faluel knew about the Eyes of Menadion and had no intention of sharing with Lith and Solus the techniques of her bloodline legacy. Yet even without them, her ability as a Forgemaster left them in awe.

    The Hydra weaved the pseudo cores in the form of string of runes as if they were simple spells, removing what she didn''t need during the final step. By keeping the pseudo cores in such a form, their energy was spread thin and the repulsive effects between them kept to a minimum.

    Friya used a simr approach, butpared to Faluel her movements were clumsy and more than one string of runes faded due to a single moment of distraction, forcing her to waste time and mana to weave them again from scratch.

    The method required less focuspared to Bloom Forge and less power than Necro Forge, but it also required surgical precision and great spatial awareness. The runes had to be kept in a delicate bnce that Faluel adjusted every time she added a new pseudo core.

    The position of every single rune in the three dimensions had to be kept in line with those of the pseudo core it belonged to and with those it would be a part of.

    Her method looked simple at first, but after a few minutes the air above Faluel''s head was filled with so many runes that even Solus had trouble recognizing the single strings and visualizing how they needed to be folded to be pseudo cores.

    ''If not for Friya performing it as well, I would think this technique is something exclusive to the seven heads of the Hydras.'' Lith thought. ''Any chance you can record it with the Eyes to study itter?''

    ''Way ahead of you.'' Solus replied. ''The problem is that it''s not even a technique, it''s something you already achieved the day Faluel exined us the secret of Awakened Forgemastery.

    ''Yet dismantling and rearranging one single core like you did is a cake walk. Doing it with so many cores at the same time while also destabilizing them on purpose gives me a headache just thinking about it.''

    They would have loved to keep admiring the Hydra at work, but even those brief moments of distraction had slowed down their own work andpromised the integrity of their respective partial cores.

    "My eyes are down here." Faluel said with a chuckle after noticing their gaze.

    A final wave of her hand made the multiple strings of runes form a golden sphere.

    Each enchantment departed from the runes it had inmon with the others so that while forming their respective pseudo core, the different strings would naturally rearrange themselves to minimize the repulsive effects.

    ''That''s amazing!'' Lith thought. ''She used Necro Forge in a way that allowed her final product to find the same perfect disposition of the runes that Solus will obtain with Bloom Forge.''

    ''Less gawking, more working!'' Solus warned him as his partial core started to crumble.

    Lith inwardly cursed at his stupidity and hurried to fix the mess he had made.

    Once he was done, he could afford to look at how the others were faring.

    Phloria and Quy had almostpleted their part as well. Tista had stored inside the Mouth the spells that formed her pseudo cores and had used the artifact to weave them in her ce.

    This way, she had been able to focus solely on merging them and keeping them stable.

    As for Protector, he was the oldest of Faluel''s disciples and had Lith''s memories, yet he was also the one with less experience with power cores so he wasgging behind the others.

    He carefully weaved every singleyer of runes, making sure that the partial core was stable before moving on to the next. The Ernas girls had helped their father to enchant every piece of the War series and were familiar with the process, instead.

    "Are you ready for phase two?" Solus asked once all the partial cores were done and stable.

    "Give me a second." Tista conjured a small array that kept the fruit of her work in stasis while she changed the spells recorded inside the Mouth.

    "Faluel, howe you didn''t use the Hands to cast arrays and make your job easier like Sark suggested?" Quy asked.

    "For the same reason Solus didn''t either." The Hydra replied. "The Hands can conjure arrays on their own, but only those attuned to one specific element. The Mouth, instead, can conjure any kind of array but it drains the mana of its wielder."

    "Yeah. If I used the Mouth, I would havecked the mana to craft my partial core and keep the Forgemastering circle we are all using active at the same time." Solus pointed at the magical formation around them.

    Itpressed huge amounts of world energy for each one of them in order to boost their abilities and create boundaries that kept the different partial cores from shing with each other.

    Without it, eight mages conjuring such powerful and unstable spells inside a confined ce would have had disastrous consequences.

    "Okay, I''m done." Tista said, using Invigoration to regain her strength.

    The members of the group picked up their respective Fury, using its most basic enchantment to rece their energy signature with Lith''s again. Once their mana flow matched, Solus put the partial cores in stasis.

    Then, she removed the Boundary Array and brought the partial cores close to each other before activating the Confinement Formation.

    "Phase two is a go!" She said as she dispelled the stasis fields.

    The new array gave Lith full awareness of the position of every rune of every partial core as if he had crafted them all himself. Also, it allowed him to manipte them freely and kept them stable while he made any change that he saw fit.

    Once he was sure that everything was in other and no other correction was needed, Lith had the partial cores converge into a single spot. First, he arranged them so that their matching pieces would fit together like a puzzle and then he merged them into the power core.

    Even with the synergy between the partial cores, the repulsive effect between them was still overwhelming and their collective energy mass dwarfed Lith''s core.

    It would have been an impossible situation if not for the Mouth of Menadion that Solus used to switch the Confinement Formation with the Light Cocoon array.

 Chapter 2005 Memory Crystals (Part 1)

    Chapter 2005 Memory Crystals (Part 1)

    The second array stored inside Solus'' Mouth of Menadion acted as an external circuit that sapped the excess energy of the partial cores. The temporarily weakened fragments managed to match with the others, forming a perfect sphere.

    While Solus and Lith worked on the power core, the others used Menadion''s Mana Well technique to strengthen the Light Cocoon array.

    With each blow of the hammer, their mana passed from the Fury into their Forge which stored and amplified the mana by mixing it with the flow of world energy that the magical metal constantly drew in.

    A second strike of the hammer would recover the amplified energy and change its signature into Lith''s. Once a Fury was close to being overloaded, its wielder imbued the umted mana inside the Cocoon, bringing the power core one step closer topletion.

    The partial cores slowly fused into a single energy mass where countless strings of runespleted each other and flowed in unison, like musicians who yed different instruments to form the same melody.

    Once the power core became stable, the Light Cocoon array returned the stolen energy, making the sphere grow to the size of a bull. Yet it was too big even for the Vagrash''s corpse to contain so they had topress the power core until it was reduced to the size of a bowling ball.

    "I don''t know about you guys, but I''ve already used Invigoration several times." Quy said amid pants. "Can we take a break?"

    "I wish." Lith replied. "That array and my focus are the only things that keep the power core together. Even if you rest, Solus and I can''t afford it. Holding so many enchantments in ce drains me by the second, I can''t wait hours."

    "What about putting it in stasis like we did before?" Protector asked.

    "It doesn''t work like that." Faluel shook her head. "The partial cores were stable enough to be controlled by just willpower. If we put the power core in a stasis array, once it''s dispelled the residual energy would mess with the Light Cocoon array and boom."

    "Out of curiosity, how does Orion manage to craft pieces like War without Invigoration?" The Hydra asked.

    "He always uses pseudo cores, not power cores for that." Phloria replied.

    "When I helped him craft something with a power core, however, I noticed that he uses three arrays at a time. One to fill the vessel with world energy, one to keep the power core stable, and another of which I failed to understand the purpose."

    "Couldn''t you study them?" Lith clicked his tongue in disapproval.

    "First, Dad never lets me get near anything but the basic Forgemastering circle. Second, I''m too busy pumping the world energy he needs to pay it attention. Third, I''m not going to steal from my father."

    Her tone didn''t leave space for arguing so Lith raised his hands in apology.

    "Okay. Use Invigoration one more time and then we''ll move onto the final phase." Solus said.

    Once everyone signaled her to be ready, Solus dispelled the Light Cocoon array, redirecting the world energy that had been fueling it into the Golem. Then, she and Tistabined their Mouths to conjure a series of concentric arrays.

    In its broken state, the tower couldn''t handle the full power of the mana geyser. The arrays gathered the excess energy around the Forgemasters, boosting their recovery abilities.

    All of those present had reached at least the bright blue core, developing vortexes in their bodies. The thickyer of world energy that the Mouths had conjured would be quickly absorbed during the rest of the Forgemastering procedure and reduce the frequency with which they would need to use Invigoration.

    On top of that, Solus and Faluel used the Hands to channel part of the excess world energy into the Forges, always keeping them filled to the brim in order to elerate their mana amplification ability.

    "I''m not going to lie, I''m happy that the Master got his hands on the Mouth.'' Faluel said with a tinge of envy in her voice. "If we ever fight one of his goons, I call dibs of the first Mouth we retrieve."

    Even a Hydra with seven heads couldn''t achieve what Solus and Tista had done with the Mouth of Menadion.

    "I make no promises. Now less yammering and more hammering." Lith said while he started to use the Mana Well technique as well.  each strike of the Fury, the power core seeped a bit inside the Adamant coated corpse of the Vagrash. The two bundles of energy shed, creating bumps and indentures in the power core.

    Usually, Lith would have been forced to stop and fix it, but this time he could share his Twin Forge technique with seven powerful mages.

    The Forgemastering methodbined a mind link, the schematics of the core shared by the tower''s Library, and the fact that they all had the same energy signature to create a hive mind.

    It allowed the eight Awakened to assist each other andbine their strength when necessary.

    The moment an imperfection appeared in the power core, Twin Forge would highlight it to the nearest person, splitting the work evenly. Each member of the group knew what they had to focus on and ignored the rest.

    By working in unison, the time needed to restore the shape of the power core before dealing the next hit was reduced to barely more than one second.

    On top of that, the mind link allowed them to coordinate their movements, waiting for the moment when all the copies of the Fury were almost overloaded and pouring their mana against the Forgemastering circle at the same moment.

    The mystical runes covering the Golem and the mana circtory system facilitated the process, allowing the mana from the power core and the world energy from the corpse to freely flow into each other.

    It also caused an amplification effect that made the power core grow in size and power, making it harder to both fix the newly formed imperfections and to further the merging process.

    Yet thanks to Twin Forge, the eight Awakened worked as one and after being amplified by the Mana Well technique, the collective might of their mana cores outssed the power core''s by a wide margin.

    ''The merging has reached the point of no return.'' Solus warned the others as half of the power core had disappeared under the Adamant. ''Time for phase four.''

    The arrays changed again. Now instead of pushing the core inside the artifact, the magical formations slowed the process. Now that the power core had bonded with the mana circtory system, the resistance it encountered had almost disappeared.

    On the other hand, however, imperfections would still continue to form until the end of the process but now the Forgemasters couldn''t see the part of the power core hidden inside the Golem.

    The magic Lith had imbued the construct with blinded their mystical senses and using Invigoration would have required physical contact. Too bad that stepping inside the Forgemastering circle would have dispelled its energy in the form of a massive explosion.

    The only solution was to rotate the power core so as to leave exposed one half at a time and fix them both before continuing the merging process.

 Chapter 2006 Memory Crystals (Part 2)

    Chapter 2006 Memory Crystals (Part 2)

    Without the new array, the mana circtory system would have drawn the power core inside the Golem faster than the Awakened could fix it.

    Best case scenario, the Golem would work just fine but the residual imperfections in the core would slow down the activation of its spells. Worst case scenario, one or more of the enchantments wouldn''t work at all and those that did would be defective.

    Every time the group hammered at the Forgemastering circle surrounding Raptor, it produced a blinding sh of white light and the power core seeped a bit more into the Adamant.

    Soon there was just a little bit of the sphere still visible from the outside and fixing the mistakes took longer while the energy reserves of the members of the group were nearing the bottom.

    The Silver lining was that at that point the energy signatures of the power core and the Golem were nigh-identical. It reduced both the number of shes between them and the number of imperfections they caused.

    Once the power corepletely merged with the Adamant, the runesprising the Forgemastering circle left the ground, closing in to Raptor.

    The residual world energy the runes contained waspressed into a blue sphere that enveloped the power core. It created the mana pathways that would keep the core''s energy from dispersing and brought it exactly at the center of the mana circtory system.

    Lith had ced it exactly where the mana core of the Vagrash once had been, hoping that it would enhance the performance of the Golem.

    "Is it done?" Tista asked, using a wave of the hand to remove the sweat from her eyes.

    "Almost." Lith half-panted and half-said. "There''s still the final step."

    He took a few deep breaths with Demon Grasp to return to his peak condition but after using it so many times, he recovered barely 60% of his mana.

    ''Dammit, I might have overestimated our forces.'' Lith thought. ''Raptor is supposed to be the easy one yet we are already spent.''

    ''It was our first attempt at using the Mouth and the Fury with the others. Cut ourselves some ck.'' Solus replied.

    "Stop doing that. It''s creepy." Protector said after noticing Solus'' eyes going ck and Lith''s going golden.

    "Sorry, but I can''t afford to keep you guys in the loop with a mind link. I need all the energy I can muster or everything we have just done will be for naught." Lith took a white crystal the size of a coconut out of his pocket dimension.

    "Luckily, Spirit Crystals are the easiest to make." His words were weed by a choir of booing.

    Spirit Crystals were actually the hardest to make, just not for him. Lith had developed Demon Grasp by learning how to remove Mogar''s life force from the world energy and rece it with his own.

    It was something that only he could do thanks to his Spirit Eye.

    By using the same method, he could also transform a white crystal into a Spirit Crystal. A normal Awakened, instead, had to inject their own Spirit Magic inside a crystal until every bit of world energy was reced by their mana.

    It was a long and tedious process that usually required days since white crystals were the purest form of coalesced world energy. Their mana capacity was above that of a violet core of the same size.

    While people like Faluel needed a stasis field just to afford a bathroom break, Lith left the elemental energy inside of the crystal, recing solely the spark of Mogar''s essence with his own in less than half an hour.

    "Nowes the hard part. Turning a Spirit Crystal into a memory crystal. Wish me luck." He said.

    "How does that work, exactly?" Faluel asked.

    "Sorry, secret of the trade." Lith shrugged. "I promised the other Archmages of Jirni''s research group that I wouldn''t share it."

    "Not even with me?" Tista said. "I''m your first apprentice and your older sister."

    "Of course I''ll share it with you, Tista." He replied, making a huge grin appear on her face. "As soon as you either develop your Spirit Eye or be a Forgemaster good enough to make one."

    Her smile disappeared, reced by a deep frown and the flip of the bird.

    "Wait a second." Phloria said. "Valeron''s Spell Hoarding Cube doesn''t have a Spirit Crystal."

    "Yep." Lith nodded. "I need this to be both a Spirit and a memory crystal because otherwise the Golems can''t use my bloodline abilities."

    "Then what''s the connection between your Spirit Eye and the memory crystal?"

    "That I use my eye to cheat my way to sess." He replied with a wink. "I''m sorry, but I can''t tell you more without disclosing the secret of the technique."

    Lith sat cross-legged on the floor, breathing slowly to keep Demon Grasp active while his mana mixed with the elemental energy in the crystal.

    A Spirit Crystal was simply a mana gemstone that carried enough life essence of a mage to reproduce skills that required life force, be they Spirit Spells or bloodline abilities.

    A memory crystal, instead, was capable of storing not only the mana, but also the willpower of its user. They could be used to preserve a mage''s legacy, to allow other people to use their spells like Jirni''s cards, or to share memories.

    The principle was simple, at least in theory.

    All mana crystals above the bright yellow tier could be recharged either by the world energy or by a mage''s mana, if one was in a rush.

    Every mage capable of using tier five spells knew how to imbue their willpower in their mana, but only a few of them were capable of doing the same while recharging a crystal and turning it into a memory crystal.

    The crystals belonging to orc shamans naturally turned into memory crystals over time simply because their fallen race had the bloodline ability to dominate the crystals, using them as a source of power for their spells instead of their mana core.

    To do that, an orc shaman had to imbue the world energy inside the crystal with their willpower. Over time, the process would leave behind a faint imprint in the crystal that another shaman could recover, if they were skilled and powerful enough.

    Yet the method that orcs used was highly inefficient. It wasn''t something they did on purpose or with method, just a lucky side effect. It took years for a shaman to store even a single spell in the crystal and few among them lived that long.

    To make matters worse, their imprint would carry more of their personality than their knowledge.

    Because of this, when another Orc shaman managed to tap into the portion of the gemstone that had been turned into a memory crystal, to ess the magical knowledge they had to fight a battle of willpower first.

    It was the reason many Orc shamans became crazy after discovering the hidden power of their crystal. Tapping into many memories also meant shing with several personalities at the same time.

    What was left of the previous shamans'' minds wasn''t enough to rece the current shaman''s personality but it was enough to leave them mentally scarred and fuel their superstition.

 Chapter 2007 Memory Crystal (Part 3)

    Chapter 2007 Memory Crystal (Part 3)

    Back when Balkor had developed memory crystals to guide his thralls, he hadn''t had to deal with conflicting willpowers since what he imbued them with was his own personality. The limit of his memory crystal was that they couldn''t be used by other people and that the knowledge stored inside of them didn''tst for long.

    Balkor''s method consisted of storing the crystals inside a powerful array that insted them from the world energy. The gemstones were left with nothing to feed on but the magical formation which was fueled by Balkor''s mana.

    The world energy stored inside the crystals would be slowly reced by his spell that was imbued with his willpower, grudge, and anger, turning them into memory crystals.

    The problem with this method was that once the crystals were removed from the arrays, the natural flow of world energy would be restored, flushing the mana out.

    It was the reason Balkor''s attacks on the Kingdom and his undead couldn''tst more than three days.

    It was still a perfect method to craft a powerful and loyal undead army, but pointless to anyone but him.

    People like Jirni would have been unable to trigger his mana and even if they did, they would have been flooded by Balkor''s stored emotions, ending up brainwashed or dead.

    Lith had found the solution to both problems by studying of the Origin mes sks and the orc shaman''s crystal bearing Vastor''s device.

    From the former, the research team had learned how to create an enchantment capable of storing two imprints in parallel. The method allowed the willpower of the maker of the Origin mes to be retained without interfering with that of the buyer.

    To achieve this effect, solely the inner half of the crystal/sk had to be imbued with willpower from the caster, leaving the other half free to host the willpower of the buyer thanks to a special insnt ced in between theyers.

    Much to no one''s surprise, the insnt required was Darwen.

    cing the Darwen''s gel in the sk was easy since each sk actually consisted of two opportunely shaped crystals fused together. Using such a method to reproduce the Spell Hoarding Cube was impossible though.

    To hold both spells and willpower, the crystal needed all of its power, and cutting a gemstone into two would also halve its effectiveness. It was the Cube''s role to bear theyer of Darwen and allow the willpower of its wielder and that of the spells'' casters to interact safely.

    Yet it would still be useless if not for the orc shaman''s crystal that Lith had stolen during his boot camp. Thanks to Vastor''s device and the notes left from thete Manohar, the Archmages had discovered the secret to crafting a perfect memory crystal.

    By tracking the mana imbued by the shamans over the centuries, the device had allowed the Archmages to find anomalies in the crystals, and only after a careful study had they understood the significance of the phenomenon.

    Injecting willpower into a crystal like the shamans did or using both mana and willpower like Balkor were both highly inefficient methods due to the dynamic equilibrium that the world energy inside the crystal reached with the external one.

    Without constant injections of mana and willpower, it took years for a crystal to retain even a shred of its user''s personality simply because their essence would be scattered throughout the crystal and the stored mana wouldst for a short time.

    To make the effect permanent, the mana imbued with willpower had to be an integral part of the crystal''s structure. After all, mana crystals were world energy that had taken physical form after being subjected to high pressure for a long time.

    Aside from the fact that mana held the life force of its owner instead of Mogar''s the two forms of energy were identical.

    Vastor''s device had shown the Archmages how to recognize the areas of a crystals that were still sensible to growth after being mined and that could ept their mana. Once it crystallized, the mana would retain the willpower and spells of its owner without being affected by the constant flow of world energy through the gemstone.

    On top of that, once the stored spell was spent, the memory crystal would be capable of storing a new spell from a different person since the crystallized mana formation would have lost its initial imprint.

    The only thing that the research group had failed to uncover was how Tyris had managed to have the same crystal hold multiple spells from different people at the same time.

    For his Spirit Memory Crystal Lith had no use for the Darwen since Spirit Crystals wouldn''t answer to anyone but their maker, but he still had to permanently add his mana to the crystal''sttice.

    After turning the world energy inside the gemstone into his own mana thanks to his Spirit Eye, the task was even easier. He only had to fight the pressure of the world energying from the outside and make sure that it didn''t seep inside the crystal before he was done.

    The Spirit Magic that painted the crystal emerald answered his will like an extension of his body, helping Demon''s Grasp to find the areas of the crystals with enough natural imperfections.

    It was there that Lith would increase the density of his mana until it crystalized, filling the holes and reshaping thettice into a perfect form. This way he would not only be capable of indefinitely storing his personality and spells, but he would also improve the crystal''s quality.

    Solus joined him, using their mind link and the fact that their energy signature was the same to pour her mana as well inside the right areas of the gemstone, increasing the pressure and elerating the crystallization process.

    Yet it still took them several hours.

    It took a mana geyser centuries to condense the world energy into a crystal, but luckily they didn''t have to create one from scratch. They just had to use the already existing crystalttice as a scaffold and fill the nks.

    The process required unrelenting focus rather than raw power. The mana had to be focused on the imperfections and Lith and Solus had to keep the pressure high enough to make it slowly condense.

    The alterations they caused were so small that they were invisible to the naked eye and even to a breathing technique.

    Without Vastor''s device, they would have never discovered the anomalies in the orc''s crystal and without Balkor''s knowledge of memory crystals, they would have never understood their significance.

    After staring at Lith and Solus with Life Vision for a while and failing to understand what was happening, the others got bored. They walked out of the Forge, leaving a note where they asked Lith to call them before hepleted the Golem.

    Watching a couple of mages grunting and staring at a crystal was as interesting as watching the paint dry.

    "If the process to create a Spirit Memory Crystal is so long and you had no intention to share the details with us from the beginning, why didn''t you do it before the Forgemastering process?" Protector asked once Lith had recalled them to the Forge.

    "I would have loved to, but sadly a Spirit Crystal has to be attached to an artifact right after it''s crafted."

 Chapter 2008 Memory Crystal (Part 4)

    Chapter 2008 Memory Crystal (Part 4)

    "I already tried storing a Spirit Crystal inside my pocket dimension and using it at ater time. The moment you take the Spirit Crystal out, the sudden flood of world energy turns it back into a white crystal, ruining your work." Lith replied.

    "What?" The Skoll said in amazement.

    "He''s right." Faluel said. "To create a Spirit Crystal, you have to use your mana to perfectly inste it from the world energy. The power of our cores is abysmalpared to the world energy surrounding us.

    "While a Spirit Crystal is inside a dimensional amulet, the void keeps it stable, but once outside, the world energy enters it faster than you can inste it."

    "Why not create the Spirit Crystal, turn it into a memory crystal, store it, and then imbue it with Spirit Magic again?" Tista asked. "With your Spirit Eye it wouldn''t take you long and you could rest."

    "Because I''ve learned from experience that if the energy of the Spirit Crystal is the same used to imbue it with spells, the final result is much better." Lith replied. "It creates a synergy that allows the Spirit Magic to recharge the spells without my help.

    "I think it depends on the fact that the willpower currently in the Spirit Crystal is aware of the nature of the magic I stored and ''knows'' how it works."

    "Lucky bastard." Faluel grumbled. "I bet that you would have never discovered all this without Sark''s Creation Magic."

    "You bet." Lith nodded. "I could afford countless experiments on theplexity of the power cores for my Golems and how they interacted with memory crystals crafted with different methods solely thanks to Grandma''s help.

    "Otherwise I would have run out of materials before discovering anything worthwhile and it would have taken me years to achieve so much. Even the tower takes a long time to turn violet crystals into white."

    Lith put the Spirit Memory Crystal in the cavity in the Vagrash''s abdomen where once his mana core had been. The metal closed itself around the crystal, letting their respective energy mix and flow into each other.

    Lith''s instingyer was broken but thanks to the imprint, Raptor turned the world energy it absorbed into his mana.

    Lith kept checking on the gemstone with Demon Grasp until he was sure that its Spirit Magic wouldn''t dissipate and that the knowledge stored inside the crystal was spreading throughout the mana circtory system.

    "Oh, shit!" Suddenly, the massive figure of the golem lost its bnce, copsing to the ground and forcing Lith to dodge.

    The limbs of the construct moved in a frenzy,cking coordination. The head turned left and right, opening its maw at unnatural angles while producing a screeching metal sound that resembled a cry of agony.

    "I thought you said this was different from creating life!" Tista felt her heart tighten at the sight of the creature''s distress.

    "I can assure you that it''s not alive." Lith said.

    "Then why is it in so much pain and wiggles around like a toppled insect?" Protector asked as the scene reminded him of his prey right before he dealt them the killing blow. "Are you sure this isn''t Forbidden Magic and you just got yourself a child?"

    "Oh, gods." Lith sighed in frustration. "Think about this rationally. The crystal holds part of my memories and habits. I have little experience walking on all fours and I''ve never inhabited a metal body.

    "You can consider the crystal as a brain that has been transnted into a new body and is getting ustomed to it. As simple as that."

    After a few seconds, the Vagrash stopped shaking on its back and turned on its side. Then, it put the four legs on the floor, trying and failing to keep its bnce several times.

    The golem behaved like a baby learning how to crawl but its learning rate was much faster. It took it less than a minute to stand up properly and just a bit more to move around without faltering.

    "What''s your name?" Lith asked and the golem turned toward him, opening its mouth to answer.

    Yet no sound came out but a metallic growl. Following its master''s habits, the creature had attempted to modte the air through the vocal cords, but the Emperor Beast''s bodycked the ability to form words.

    "Ra-" The emerald energy of the memory crystal spread throughout the Adamant body, triggering the white crystals etched on its surface in order to weave a tier zero air magic spell.

    "Ra! Rahp." The golem stuttered, his voice going from loud to a whisper as it learned how to both produce sounds and regte the output.

    "Raptor. My name is Raptor." It said while looking at Lith and ignoring everyone else. "What are my orders?"

    "Get ustomed to this body. You need to learn how to run, fly, and use every single enchantment I''ve imbued you with." Lith said and the golem nodded. "Go to the training grounds and make sure you hurt no one.

    "Return to your recharge pod the moment your energy goes reaches 10%. Once you are fully charged, resume training until you gain full mastery over your abilities."

    "Acknowledged." Raptor flexed its tail on the way out, its movements more lithe and less awkward with each step it took.

    "Is it me or is that thing creepy as fuck?" Phloria said. "It shows no expression and no emotion. Even its voice is t."

    "It''s intentional." Lith said. "This way it''s clear that Raptor is no living being and arises no sympathy."

    "That might work if you only n on using them on the battlefield, but if you keep the Golems at home, they will scare the children to death. We know what a construct is whereas Aran and Leria will only see a huge kitty." Tista said.

    "We''ll think about thatter." Solus replied. "I''m exhausted and tomorrow we have to work on Trouble. We''d better go get some rest."

    The group groaned, but with the War of the Griffons ongoing, time was of the essence. Also, even though Lith hadn''t disclosed all the details of his procedure, had Faluel still learned a few things by watching him work.

    Her hope was to find a way to do with her heads what Lith did with his eyes. As for the others, they had never even dreamed of such a high-level Forgemastering procedure.

    What Lith had shared with them would strengthen their magical foundations in the months toe

    On top of that, the invigorating effects of the tower coupled with the practice of crafting partial cores had allowed them to put their skills to the test and discover their current limits.

    The procedure required them to keep a constant powerful output of mana and a fine control over the runes while never losing their focus. Those were the three key aspects of magic that people with a bright blue core needed to master in order to reach the violet.

    They already knew about body casting but they had no idea how to perform it. The Forgemastering process held no clue about the secret of the violet core but it stressed out the branches of magic they werecking in.

 Chapter 2009 Red Sun (Part 1)

    Chapter 2009 Red Sun (Part 1)

    "See you tomorrow." Friya sighed. "If Raptor is supposed the easy one, I don''t want even to imagine what you have in mind for Trouble."

    "Lith, do you minding with Kami to the tower to rest?" Solus asked. "If I take one step outside, I''ll fade away and I don''t feel like staying alone today."

    "Sure. Be right back." Lith could sense and see how worn out she was.

    Solus had used the Hands, Eyes, and Mouth of Menadion during the whole procedure and was now paying the price for it.

    Even with the powering from the mana geyser, both the tower and her core were still too weak to bear the burden of conjuring the three artifacts at the same time, but she had done it for him nheless.

    The moment Lith Warped out of the Forge, even though he had used his own mana, the distance between them was enough to weaken Solus so much that her body crumbled and she was forced to turn into her wisp form.

    ''Shit! Let''s hope that by tomorrow morning I''ll be alright. Lith sacrificed part of his honeymoon for me and I don''t want to be a burden for him anymore.'' While she waited, Solus felt the tower trembling from the strain.

    She let the wisp fade into nothingness in order to save as much strength as she could until Lith''s return.

    Just until a few years ago, being without a body had been perfectly normal for her. For over ten years she had been forced to be just a stone ring on Lith''s finger and had considered it everything that life had to offer her.

    After staying in the Desert for so long, always keeping her human form except for short intervals, even the thought of going back to such a condition made every second of wait feel like hours.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, Red Emperor academy.

    After the first term''s exams were over, Kelia Sunbry walked through the stone hallways of the academy with her head heigh, proud of her achievement.

    Even though she had enrolled a few weeksterpared to the other students and was one year older than them, she had caught up with the rest of the ss in less than a month ande on top of them all.

    It had taken her to sacrifice her social life and study 24/7, using Invigoration to make up for theck of sleep and resetting its effects solely when her focus started to slip.

    She had practiced magic for just a few months but her grades at the academy were so good that her Professors had already proposed to her to skip to the second year. She had aced both the written and practical tests, ranking first in all disciplines.

    People pointed at Kelia as she walked, either gawking at her score or dying of envy because of her record. It was the first time in the history of the academy that amoner had achieved the S rank from the first year.

    She replied to the scorn of the nobles with a huge grin, waving the middle finger to them in greeting.

    "Enjoy it while you can, Sunbry." Velyma Rouner said. "This is just the first trimester and lots of things can happen until the end of the year."

    She belonged to one of the most important magical bloodlines of the Empire. The Rouner Household had never lost its fief thanks to the family always having at least one powerful mage per generation.

    It was a feat that in the Empire, where noble titles didn''t exist anymore and political power couldn''t be passed down unless the heir of the household possessed enough magical prowess as well, was considered a myth.

    "Can you speak up? I can''t hear you from up here. How''s the weather down at the A rank?" Kelia didn''t even bother turning around nor did she stop walking.

    "Laugh all you want, jackass. It doesn''t change the fact that you are alone and no one likes you. You''d better watch your back." Velyma said, her face red in embarrassment.

    Her family had high hopes for her. Even though she was over twelve years old, her eyes already shone with bright cyan light. She had worked hard to master the basics of chore magic and everyone thought she might be the next Magic Empress.

    Yet her reign as the first of her year hadsted a bit more than a month.

    Velyma had studied magic since she was six years old, but no matter how much she practiced or how expensive the tutors her family provided her with were, the gap with Kelia only grewrger by the day.

    Dusk had the wisdom of centuries and the subjects of the first year were so simple to him that he didn''t hesitate to give Kelia all the pointers she needed during ss. Then, once they were back into her room, he would exin the lessons again from an Awakened perspective, teaching her how to convert fake spells into true magic and vice versa.

    Thanks to their mind link, exnations that would require hours of listening and demonstrations took merely a few minutes. The Red Sun would just share with her his memories, giving Kelia the opportunity to experience first-hand how she should make her mana flow.

    When even that wasn''t enough, she just had to give him control of her body for a while and let Dusk cast the spells for her. On top of that, even though most of the other students had a much stronger core than her, they still needed to rest, losing hours that Kelia spent practicing.

    ''I can''t believe that the academy is so easy.'' Kelia inwardly gloated. ''If it keeps like this, the next year we might skip to the third if not straight to the fourth year!''

    Thanks to the time they spent together and the master-disciple rtionship that they had established, Kelia had long forgotten about Dusk''s deception to force her to bond with him.

    Just like Lith with Solus, she considered now the Red Sun an integral part of her and had a hard time using "I" instead of "we" whenever she spoke.

    ''I can''t believe that you are acting this dumb despite my warnings.'' Dusk replied. ''What Vria said is true. We are alone here and every other student is gunning for us.''

    ''First, her name is Velyma. I''m beginning to think that bonding to a Lich might have long-term side effects since you can''t remember a name for your life. Second, so what? You don''t need to sleep and can watch my back 24/7. They can''t catch me by surprise. End of the story.''

    ''That''s true but aside from that there''s not much I can do to protect you while my powers still sealed.'' He replied. ''This is still the first year and your ranking is temporary. Students can target you. Professors can try and ruin your score.

    ''On top of that, there''s always the possibility that by showing so much talent, you might draw the wrong kind of attention.''

    ''What do you mean?'' Kelia asked.

    ''A namelessmoner admitted with an S rank off the bat who also aces all of her exams is bound to arise suspicion.''

 Chapter 2010 Red Sun (Part 2)

    Chapter 2010 Red Sun (Part 2)

    ''If a good diagnostician takes a look at us, they might discover my existence. It''s the reason I wanted you to keep a low profile and rank no higher than A.'' The Red Sun couldn''t help but worry.

    All the all-nighters in the world couldn''t help Kelia''s core refinement. She was now on the verge of green, but even to achieve the deep cyan it would take her at least a year and that without considering the many impurities that were still left.

    She had barely survived the transition to the green core and needed time to strengthen her body enough to withstand the next breakthrough. To make matters worse, even if Dusk helped her to reach quickly the deep cyan, her physical strength wouldn''t change much.

    A hit to the head, a well-ced spell, or even a powerful poison would have been more than she could handle, forcing the Horseman to reveal his presence to save her life. Yet what worried him the most wasn''t to blow his cover, but imprisonment.

    If their bond was discovered and Ke captured, they would live the rest of her life in captivity.

    Best case scenario, people would force her to be their puppet. Worst case scenario, they would extort the secret of Awakening from her with any means necessary.

    The regenerative abilities that Dusk bestowed upon Kelia would turn from a blessing into a curse, allowing her captors to be as creative as they could in their interrogation methods.

    ''Stop being a sourpuss.'' Kelia inwardlyughed at his worries. ''I crawled in the dirt all my life. Now that I have power, real power, I can''t stand hiding in the shadows like a rat.

    ''On top of that, once I skip to the second year, my rank will be official and the Empire will take good care of me. You know thew, harming an S rank mage in any way is high treason.

    ''We just need to study a bit more and then I can have those stuck-up brats flogged whenever I feel like it.'' Ke could already picture herself being crowned as the Red Emperor of the first year, the Empire''s equivalent of the pins that Lith had received as a student of the White Griffon.

    The title would not only grant her the highest honors, but also turn her into a living national treasure that would be treated no different from a princess.

    ''A bit of study my ass.'' Dusk replied. ''You are overworking yourself. You are progressing too fast and with the little rest that you allow yourself, your body is always bordering on exhaustion.

    ''You don''t have the energy to fight in the case something happens.''

    ''Nothing will happen. This is an academy, one of the safest ces in the Empire.'' Kelia said. ''As for my body, I promise to take a nap from time to time. You do the rest.''

    They spent the rest of the evening and night studying. Kelia took breaks solely to eat, bathe, and use the bathroom. After suffering from malnutrition for most of her life, she treated the academy''s canteen like a temple.

    She always ate slowly, savoring every single mouthful, and trying all kinds of food. If she liked one, she asked for seconds, otherwise she tried another, but only after cleaning her te.

    Even if it didn''t suit her taste, the academy''s food was still a blisspared to the scraps she was used to collecting from the dumpsters. The idea of wasting a hot meal was unbearable to her, even now that Kelia could eat to her heart''s content.

    Sometimes she even cried when finding a particrly tasty dish. It garnered endless mockery from her peers andpassion from the kitchen staff. They would take note of her liking and make sure to prepare those dishes during the weekend.

    Most of the students left the academy to return to their families, but Kelia had none. With the canteen almost empty, the cooks made sure to take care of her the only way they could.

    Kelia had also discovered her love for cleanliness and hot water. She was too proud to admit it, but for someone who had grown alone, a bath was the closest thing to a warm embrace that she had ever received.

    During those times, she allowed herself to dream about being the heir of a powerful magical bloodline who had been kidnapped as a child. That somewhere, her parents were still looking out for her, never giving up on their beloved daughter.

    In those dreams, one day her parents would hear about her achievements and she would finally be reunited with them. Then, the bath ended and Kelia shrugged it off as a childish delusion.

    The next morning, after racking 100 points in a single lesson, Kelia was summoned to the Headmaster''s office.

    ''I wonder what Pylika wants.'' Kelia thought. ''I already told her that I''m willing to skip a year and I''ve been in no fights this week. We have nothing to talk about.''

    ''Maybe you should have kept your mouth shut and been content with 50 points.'' Dusk scolded her. ''The greater expectations people have on you, the greater your burden. They think you are a genius when you are anything but.

    ''If they pressure you into taking the exam for the second year now, you are done for. If you pass it, to catch up with your new sses you won''t have the time to practice umtion and your core will stagnate.

    ''With a deep green core, not only is tier three magic your limit, but you are also much weaker than the other students of the first year, let alone the second. With so little magical power, even if you use Invigoration, you''ll barely reach the B rank.

    ''If you don''t pass the exam, instead, your S rank will be reevaluated. Either way, everything you have worked hard on until now will be lost. Swallow your pride for once and bide your time, kid.''

    Kelia usually ignored the Red Sun''s unsolicited advice and mocked him for his paranoia, but this time there was no quip or bravado that made his points any less urate.

    Her throat was parched and her back covered in a cold sweat when she knocked on the Headmaster''s door.

    "Come on in." For the first time since Kelia had enrolled in the Red Emperor academy, the friendly voice of Pylika Ashrein didn''t bring her any joy.

    She walked through the door, her feet as heavy as her heart, reaching the Headmaster''s desk that was covered with orderly piles of paperwork as usual.

    "Good morning, miss Sunbry." Ashrein gave the youth a warm smile that brought out the green of her eyes and the dimples on her cheeks. "Once again you''ve made our academy proud."

    It was unusual for an Archmage to greet a student first, but being an S rank, Kelia enjoyed a special treatment.

    "Thanks, Headmaster, but please, call me Kelia." She replied while giving the older woman a deep bow.

    "Only if you call me Pylika." Ashrein stood up and shook Kelia''s hand.

    The young girl forgot all about her worries and returned the smile from the bottom of her heart. The red-haired Archmage had been in Kelia''s corner since the admission test and was the closest thing to a motherly figure she had ever had.

 Chapter 2011 Red Sun (Part 3)

    Chapter 2011 Red Sun (Part 3)

    "Okay, Pylika." Kelia said while Dusk checked the room with Life Vision.

    Every time they hade to the Headmaster''s office, he had noticed that its magical aura increased by leaps and bounds. There were several iplete Forgemastering arrays that had no reason to be there and whose purpose he failed to understand.

    The most peculiar thing about them was that their energy seeped into the adjacent rooms over time and soon would have reached the other floors as well.

    ''Whatever this is, it requires a power core bigger than I''ve ever seen. It''s like a beating heart that branches into veins and arteries.'' The Horseman thought. ''To what end, though?''

    He was unaware that after witnessing the true power of the Griffon Kingdom''s academies during Nalear''s attack, the Empress had relentlessly worked to recreate them in the Empire.

    "To what do I owe the pleasure of your summon?" His host asked.

    "Oh, dear, stop being so modest." The Headmaster chuckled. "With your admission score, the first exam rank, and all the points that you have been hoarding, it was only a matter of time before you caught the eye of our beloved Empress."

    She expected her student to brim with joy and enthusiasm, but instead Kelia turned pale and froze as if she had just been notified a death in her family.

    "The Empress?" She echoed.

    "Yes, of course. I brought you to her attention every time I wrote a report and now she''s eager to meet you."

    ''Calm down.'' Dusk said via their mind link. ''Nothing is lost, yet. We have the time to prepare a cloaking device that will hide my presence.''

    ''Why didn''t we craft that before my enrolment?'' She managed to telepathically curse and thank him at the same time.

    ''Are you kidding me? You are not supposed to know tier three magic, let alone Forgemastering. How could we have possibly exined the presence of an artifact with a mana crystal?

    ''If anyone noticed it, you would have raised all kinds of red gs. Now, however, we have no choice but to risk it. I told you countless times to not push your luck but you always refused to listen.''

    "This is wonderful news. When is the Magic Empress going to bless us with her presence?" Kelia felt the sting of his words and regained herposure.

    "Right now." A second voice said from behind.

    The Warp Gate of the academy opened and Milea Genys came out of it. Her bright violet aura alone was enough to freeze a lesser mage, but that day the Empress wore her formal attire.

    The White Armor changed its color every time the power of an element surged and dwarfed the others. The White Sword hung on her hip was a masterpiece of magic that seemed to cut the air in its wake even while it was still sheathed.

    The crown on Milea''s head was made in pure Davross and bore six elemental crystals. ording to the legends, the artifact symbolized the power of the Emperor over both people and magic, but Dusk knew it was actually a tool to learn Domination.

    A secret that even he had failed to grasp and coveted dearly. Yet his greed was dwarfed by his worst fearing true.

    ''Change of ns.'' The Horseman gritted Kelia''s teeth in frustration. ''Don''t let her touch you. She''s an Awakened.''

    "It''s an honor to meet you." Ke took a step back and fell onto her right knee, putting as much distance from Milea as she could and not giving her any pretext to get close.

    "At ease, child." The Empress said while looking at her inquisitively. "Headmaster, did you add etiquette sses to the first year?"

    "No, my liege. Why do you ask?" Ashrein said.

    "Then how does amoner know the formal greeting of the Imperial pce?" Milea pointed at the youth kneeling while the Headmaster had simply given the Empress a bow to keep the meeting friendly.

    "I learned it from a book." Kelia rushed to say.

    "Really?" Milea sounded amused. "With all the amazing things you have achieved in a few months you even had the time to waste reading books about the Imperial Court on the off chance we met?

    "Either you are a monster or the academy has be too easy."

    Unlike Lith, Kelia had no noble friend like Lark who could have taught her good manner or lent her tomes before her enrolment. She had no usible excuse for her perfect manners.

    "It''s not easy at all." Kelia bid her time while Dusk racked his brain. "I''ve always dreamed to meet you so I prepared ordingly."

    "How very convenient, Kelia Sunbry. Or should I say Kelia from Gima?" A wave of the Empress'' hand conjured a series of powerful arrays that surrounded the youth, locking her in ce.

    Kelia fell on all fours due to a gravity field that made it hard for her even to breathe, barely mustering the strength to raise her head and look at the Empress in surprise.

    "My liege, why are you doing that to our precious student?" Ashrein was outraged but she didn''t dare move against the Empress.

    "Technically, she''s not a student of the Red Emperor academy." Milea replied. "Kelia Sunbry doesn''t exist. She enrolled under a false name and everything this girl ever told you is a lie. Assuming she is even a girl."

    A flick of her finger and the light from the innermost array seeped inside Kelia''s body. It entered in the space right above her navel, where the mana core was.

    From there, it spread throughout her body, following and revealing her mana flow.

    "I knew it! Only an Awakened could achieve so much in-" Milea''s voice died in her throat when the light reached Ke''s chest.

    The power from the array umted around Dusk''s crystal, making it visible to the naked eye. The spell was supposed to trap and identify an Awakened without the need to touch them by revealing their mana flow.

    Yet in Kelia''s case, it also exposed her bond with the Horseman.

    ''What a cunning woman!'' Dusk said in amazement. ''She unwittingly developed a method that recognizes Awakened, Horsemen, and even our Chosen.''

    ''Who cares! How do we get out of here?'' Kelia quickly fell into a panic.

    ''I have no clue. I warned you not to draw so much attention.''

    ''I''m sorry, Dusk, I should have listened to you. I promise that from now on I''ll always follow your advice. Just save me!''

    ''Don''t worry, kid. I''ll find a way.'' The Horseman was actually much less confident than he sounded.

    The Empress was a violet cored Awakened of unknown power while he was still sealed.

    "Sunbry. You must be the host of the Red Sun, then." Milea pensively tormented her own lower lip. "Night is in Thrud''s hands and thest time I checked Dawn was bonded to a Ranger."

    "A Horseman snuck inside my academy?" The Headmaster said in outrage.

    The disgusted gaze she threw at Kelia and the many spells that formed around her hands made the young girl lose hope.

    ''Even if Dusk saves me, my career as a mage is over and so is myfortable life in the academy.''

 Chapter 2012 Red Sun (Part 4)

    Chapter 2012 Red Sun (Part 4)

    ''I''ll be a wanted criminal and I''ll be forced to hide in the wilds until I reach the violet. No more food. No more rxing baths. I''ll spend the next decade on the run like an animal. Gods, I''m so stupid. I ruined everything.'' Kelia thought.

    Dusk had no time to console her. He had already taken over her body and was weaving a Spirit Warp, hoping Kelia''s mana would suffice. Her bathing naps weren''t enough to reset Invigoration''s effects and she hadn''t slept in nearly a month.

    ''Even if we make the Warp, she''ll faint from mana abuse. With my energy, I can at most make her float. If the Empress has a way to follow us, we-''

    A Sealed Space spell crushed his ns.

    "Not so fast." Milea had devised her True Vision array to have simr effects to her breathing technique without the need for physical contact. The moment the Horseman had started weaving his Spirit spell, she had recognized and countered it.

    ''It''s not Dragon Eyes but it''s a start.'' She thought.

    "Calm down, Dusk." The Empress said after the young girl had stopped struggling. "With Thrud at my borders and Night by her side, I can''t afford to make an enemy of Baba Yaga.

    "I came here hoping to find a fellow Awakened, but I could use your help just as well. Let''s have a talk."

    "A talk?" The Headmaster looked at Milea as if she had gone crazy. "You don''t bargain with cursed artifacts. They are monsters born of Forbidden Magic whose only aim is to conquer or destroy anything that lives.

    "If that thing really is Dusk, we must destroy it!"

    "I''m not a thing nor am I Dusk!" Ke yelled in outrage. "I mean, I share my body with him but I''m not his ve. I''m his partner."

    True Sight revealed Milea that the girl was telling the truth. For some reason, the Horseman was diminished and he was no threat to her.

    "Even better." The Empress nodded. "Headmaster Ashrein, everything you''ve seen and heard so far is a state secret. Divulging any of it will be considered an act of high treason. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty." Pylika had no idea what was happening but her loyalty to the Empire superseded her doubts.

    Meanwhile, Dusk tried and failed to contact Baba Yaga. The Sealed Space cut him off even from the bond that the Red Mother shared with all of her firstborns.

    ''The bad news is that we are on our own, kid. The good news is that the Sealed Space works in our favor. As long as we are trapped in here, the Empress can''t conjure more power against us. I can get us free anytime you want.'' He said via their mind link.

    ''Free to go where?'' Kelia replied with a dejected voice. ''Even without the Sealed Space, we have no chance to beat the Empress. Let''s hear her out first.''

    "I''ve made a lot of research about you Kelia." Milea took some folders out of her dimensional pocket, handing one to the Headmaster and another to the trapped girl. "You were born a little more than 13 years ago.

    "Father unknown and your mother sold you to her dealer in exchange for a dose. Little did she know that it was one of our undercover agents. You were born in withdrawal and it cost the Empire a pretty coin to heal you up."

    The Headmaster gasped reading the horror story that Ke''s life had been after being sent to the orphanage for the not magically gifted. As for the girl, the gravity was gone, but she still couldn''t muster the strength to get up.

    Discovering the truth about her origins shattered what little dreams she had left and learning how many people knew about what was going on in the orphanage without moving a finger to stop it made her want to puke.

    "After your escape, you''ve been living on the street for years as a street urchin. I can''t even start to imagine how bad your life must have been nor how you must feel knowing that you are going to spend the rest of your life in captivity." A snap of her fingers released the Sealed Space and the other arrays but the True Vision.

    "I''d rather die than live like an animal again!" Mad with grief and fury Ke conjured both her Davross armor, Scorpion, and her twin des, Firebrand. Every single piece of her equipment was blood red, bearing the enchantments that Baba Yaga had weaved for her.

    "Magnificent!" Milea opened her eyes wide in surprise and pped her hands as True Vision gave her a deep scan of the artifacts. "Those are not the weapons that Dusk favors and your childish threat proves that you really are in control of your body.

    "If he really has changed his ways, then all the more reasons to have you by my side."

    "Wait, what?" Dusk and Kelia said in unison, giving the Headmaster the creeps.

    "You heard me." Milea nodded. "After all, I came here for an Awakened and I found one. I have nothing to gain by killing you and you have nothing to lose by listening to my offer. I''d say it''s a win-win situation."

    "What do you want from me?" Kelia let Dusk in one more time, letting him use her core to weave the best spells he could use.

    ''If I have to die, I''ll go down fighting.'' She thought.

    "Many things, starting with youpleting your education." Milea said, making the Headmaster plunge on her chair and Kelia fall on her ass, if not for the Red Sun being in control.

    "Do you want me to keep a cursed object here?" Ashrein voice was hoarse from disbelief.

    "It''s not a request, it''s an order." The Empress replied, her aura crushing the Headmaster with the same ease it had done the same to the young girl. "And it''s not a cursed object, but a girl we are talking about.

    "A girl who has ess to the wisdom, the knowledge, and even the equipment of one of the legendary Horseman of Baba Yaga. Would you really turn down the opportunity to nurture someone like her into an Archmage?"

    Ashrein remained silent as she considered how great the power of the Red Sun was and what the Empire would achieve by having an immortal warrior in its ranks. When the War of the Griffons had started, the Empress had believed to have the opportunity to expand her territories.

    Her Arch Generals had agreed with her andunched a full-scale invasion of the Griffon Kingdom. s, they had been wrong. Thebined power of the Mad Queen and the Corpse had killed thousands of their mages and cost them countless artifacts.

    The Empire''s borders had never been so weak in centuries and the only reason the Kingdom had yet tounch a counterattack was that the war with Thrud consumed all of their avable resources.

    The truce the Royals had established with the Mad Queen applied solely when the Kingdom was in danger. Now, however, Thrud''s army had gained over thirty Awakened Divine Beasts never seen before and with their help, she was close to conquering the north.

 Chapter 2013 The Price of Change (Part 1)

    Chapter 2013 The Price of Change (Part 1)

    Once Belius fell into Thrud''s hands, the Empire would have to deal with the Divine Beasts on a daily basis. The Mad Queen had made no mystery of her intention to restore the Kingdom''s borders to the position they had been after Valeron.

    In other words, she meant to invade the Empire and once she got past the natural barrier of the mountain range, nothing would stand in the way of her troops. The Empress was trying to recruit as many Faes and Beasts as possible, offering equal rights for their kind, but very few had answered her call.

    Thrud''s deal was better since she also offered them Awakening and full disclosure of the secret of the violet core.

    The only reason they had yet to join her army and the Mad Queen stillcked the numbers to start another campaign against the Gorgon Empire was that Awakened creatures didn''t trust her.

    The Royals had spread the news of the Unwavering Loyalty array far and wide so there was no telling if those who fought under Thrud''s banner did it out of their free will.

    Awakened feared the possibility that going to the Golden Griffon to ept her offer and gain the knowledge they sought would also mean being doomed to a lifetime of very.

    The Awakened of the Empire unaffiliated with the Council preferred to bide their time and keep an eye on the situation while using their peers of the Kingdom as guinea pigs.

    If the war ended in Thrud''s favor, they nned to sneak past the borders and check whether her followers had truly regained their freedom or not. If she lost, instead, it would mean that what she had to offer didn''t amount to much, after all.

    ''The Kingdom has gained a lot by bringing Verhen into their fold.'' Milea thought. ''He became an Archmage at eighteen and single-handedly destroyed two lost cities, something unprecedented.

    ''Taking one of them down usually requires decades of preparation and the intervention of the Council or a Guardian. I checked Leegaain''s records about Menadion''s Desperation and his rtionship with Solus is no different from that between a Horseman and their host.

    ''If Dusk really cares about this girl, then with his help Kelia can reach even greater heights. While Solus''s worthy on the tower''s slow recovery, Dusk''s current limits actually y in my favor.

    ''Even without his steed, the Red Sun holds more knowledge than an entire academy but to make use of it he needs the proper facilities. Something that only I can provide him.

    ''I''ll make Verhen regret refusing to join the Empire after he ran away from the Kingdom. He said that I''m too weak to guarantee him the safety he requires for his family and sadly, he''s right.

    ''The Empire has no Guardian-crafted relics of the caliber of the Royal Fortress armor, but with Kelia''s help and Dusk''s masteries of three of the strongest bloodline abilities, things will change.''

    "The Empire would indeed gain a lot if we were to be an Archmage at your service." Dusk spoke from Kelia''s mouth since he was still in control. "Yet survival in exchange for our servitude is not worth it.

    "Why should we ept your deal? There''s nothing in it for us."

    "Don''t put words in my mouth, Horseman." Milea shook her head. "I never mentioned servitude. If you be my ally, Kelia, you''ll simply be on probation for the duration of your studies at the Red Emperor academy.

    "You''ll experience how the Empire will treat you were you to be an official and I''ll make sure that you are not just Dusk''s puppet. Once you reach the fourth year, I''ll start to assign you field missions to evaluate your skills and let you gain practical experience.

    "If by the end of the academy we are both satisfied, we''ll renegotiate the terms of your service. If not, we''ll simply part ways. I don''t n on killing you just because of Dusk''s crimes or out of fear of what you might do. You have my word."

    Kelia and Dusk pondered her words, seeing how the deal actually benefitted them both.

    "Let me get this straight." Kelia pushed the Horseman back, enough to speak for herself. "If everything goes well, you get yourself an Archmage and a Horseman while all I get is to stay in the academy?"

    "Of course not." Milea said with a chuckle. "To develop your mind and body to their full potential, you need a position, status, and safety. It''s the only way to avoid harassment and give you a taste of what I have to offer.

    "If you say yes, I''m going to adopt you."

    "You what?" Kelia and Dusk said in unison.

    "Think about it. You are a genius student with no family and I still have no heir. It only makes sense that I look after such a promising youth. My name alone will ensure that the rest of your stay in the academy will be uneventful.

    "It will also give me the excuse to summon you to the Imperial Pce when I need to assign you missions and also provide you with a usible exnation for your abilities.

    "With me by your side, you''ll never need to hold back or hide in the shadows.

    "Once you grow up, you won''t be my servant but my right hand. Your authority will be second only to mine and in time, you might as well take my ce as Magic Empress.

    "Our country is in dire need of Awakened if we want to survive the iing storm. Alone I stand no chance against it just like you are nothing if left to fend for yourself in a world filled with people who only want to use you. We need each other." Milea offered Kelia her hand and waited.

    The young woman discussed her options with Dusk for a while before shaking it.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, city of Valeron, right after the meeting with the Royals.

    With the War of the Griffons taking a turn for the worse and Thrud having almost conquered half the Kingdom, the Royals wasted no time. As soon as they got back from their meeting with Lith, the internal negotiations for his return started even though it was still the dead of the night.

    The Mage Association drooled not only at Lith''s offer to teach them how to switch elements, but also at his blueprint for the amuletswork that already was called the web.

    Great and small academies would greatly benefit just from not having to print hundreds of textbooks every year and have those in their libraries changed every time there was a major breakthrough.

    Libraries needed to purchase multiple copies of the same book, but they were never enough. Students would often have to wait their turn to borrow the most useful tomes and it would always raise the tension among youths, especially during the exams period.

    Thanks to Lith''s web, instead, textbooks and library books would be converted into a digital format. The students would be capable of essing them at any time without waiting for a tome to be returned.

    The web would allow the academies to save hundreds of gold coins every year and invest them into their research departments or teaching equipment.

 Chapter 2014 The Price of Change (Part 2)

    Chapter 2014 The Price of Change (Part 2)

    The Royal army, instead, was in love with the whole package.

    Switching spells meant doubling the offensive and defensive power of their troops. If the same principle could be applied to alchemical tools, even the prowess of regr soldiers would greatly increase.

    The web had for the army the same allure it had for the Association. It would save the army the money for the paper and would be a great teaching tool. Yet what really captured their interest were the trains.

    "Public transportation is great, but what if we created something smaller and better armored with the same power core that''s supposed to fuel a train?" General Berion said. "Regr soldiers would be able to soar the skies and rain death upon our enemies.

    "We''d be the first country on Mogar with an aerial fleet and ever since the advent of magic, those who control the sky control the ground as well. Unless the other countries develop a simr technology on their own, we''d be unstoppable!"

    Yet the enthusiasm of every single faction was doused by the sour notes that Lith''s demands were.

    Public apologies for what had happened to Raaz, the protection of his family, equal rights for all intelligent creatures in the eyes of thew, and Kam''s reinstatement as a Royal Constable were the hardest to swallow.

    The Royals did many things, but they never apologized. It would''ve set a dangerous precedent.

    Protecting Lith''s family would now take a lot of resources. People were still scared at the idea of having beasts as their neighbors and everyone knew that Lith was Tiamat.

    Every member of his family was likely to be harassed and their family''s business boycotted out of prejudice. Writing aw and putting it into practice every day were twopletely different things.

    Lith had demanded equal rights for Faes and Emperor Beasts because he knew that it was only a matter of time before someone understood that Tista was the Red Demon. Then it might be Aran''s, Leria''s, or even his little sister''s turn to Awaken.

    Instead of making each one of them an exception, it was much better to make them the rule so that even Protector''s and Marth''s kids would be safe. Last, but not least, no one wanted an oath breaker upholding thew.

    Even saying it out loud sounded ridiculous, hypocritical, and foolish. Any decentwyer only had to remind the court of Kam''s past to make whatever evidence she presented irrelevant.

    "Are we sure that we want our children to grow up with monsters in disguise as their ymates?" Archmage Lema, Headmaster of the Fire Griffon, said. "What will we tell to a parent after their child dies of a ''yful'' bite?

    "I have nothing against the other races, but beasts are much stronger than us while nts have regenerative abilities weck. If they start living in human cities, people are bound to be afraid.

    "We should create special residential districts and schools for them."

    "This is the greatest load of bullshit I''ve ever heard!" Marth jumped on his feet in outrage. "I married a Dryad and she''s never hurt me. Back when I was a student of the White Griffon, I befriended Emperor Beasts and nts like all of my peers.

    "The same happens in the six great academies since their foundation. If you had bothered to check the statistics, the number of incidents per year is abysmal. On top of that, most of the conflicts happen because the students provoke the inhabitants of the forest by treating them as you proposed, as monsters!"

    "Headmaster Marth, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I think your perspective is skewed by your personal choices." General Setha said. "Your spouse is not human and your child is a half-bre-"

    "You won''t refer to children like animals in my presence!" The Queen mmed her fist on the table, cutting her short.

    "I mean, a hybrid." Setha continued. "Headmaster Marth''s heart is in a good ce, but he isn''t seeing the bigger picture. Headmaster Lema''s proposal is the most reasonable if not the only choice we have.

    "I''m not saying we should keep the other races restricted forever, just until people get used to them and they learn how to follow the rules of human society."

    "Are you saying that you want to treat the other races as the mages were before Valeron?" The King''s voice was neutral but his words struck like a hammer nheless.

    In the past, having magical talent meant to be either worshipped or persecuted. People were afraid of the mages'' power and med them for everything bad that happened.

    The nobles had exploited that fear to deny mages any political career and keep them at the fringes of society.

    If not for Valeron enlisting them in his army and promising them equal rights, the Griffon Kingdom would have never been born, Garlen would still be like Verendi, and Archmages would carry empty titles with no right to ownnd.

    "I agree with Marth." Marchioness Distar said. "The idea of special districts and schools is idiotic. The people of the Desert coexist with magical beasts and nt folk for centuries.

    "The Awakened Council thrived right under our noses for millennia thanks to their differences, not despite them. We can''t ask someone to risk their lives for us if they have to beware friendly fire as much as the enemy''s."

    "It would just be a temporary solution." Archmage Lema said. "Slow and steady wins the race."

    "And loses the war." Archon Ernas said with a scoff. "It took Thrud what, two years to assemble an armyprised of members from all races. Months to conquer half the Kingdom and the hearts of its inhabitants, be they humans or not.

    "Yet here we are, wasting time with proposals of keeping our allies in dignified prisons and of treating them as second-ss citizens. If we want to beat Thrud, we must be like her. Efficient, organized, and rewarding solely on merit.

    "Verhen is a Divine Beast, yet until Meln ratted him out, we all would have thrown our daughters at him. Marth''s wife is a regr presence at the Court and she''s never been a source of embarrassment, unlike some entitled human brats like my own son, Tulion.

    "We need to stop being afraid of our potential allies and worry about what would happen if they join Thrud''s side because they realize that we are offering them nothing."

    "I agree with Archon Ernas." King Meron said. "We have stalled the reform of the academy system for decades and what have we got to show for that? Countless mages deserted the Kingdom and Balkor killed thousands of innocents for his revenge.

    "I''m not going to repeat the mistake of my predecessor. I say we take our chances and grant civil rights to the other races."

    "What about Constable Yehval?" General Setha asked.

    "She''s a Verhen now so she''ll get a full pardon as well." Sylpha said, her re nipping in the bud any objection those present had. "Archon Ernas has already agreed to take Constable Yehval under her wing.

    "Archon Ernas will control the information that passes through Yehval''s hands and make sure that her work is above all suspicion."

    The idea of Kam bing a Constable in name only quelled the fears of nobles and mages alike.

 Chapter 2015 Switching Roles (Part 1)

    Chapter 2015 Switching Roles (Part 1)

    Worst case scenario, Jirni would take the fall for Kam''s failure as a Constable and the other noble households would use it to undermine the Ernas'' authority.

    "All in favor to ept the deal with Verhen?" The King said while raising his hand.

    The motion was unanimously approved. A future where beasts lived next door was scary for most of the members of the Royal Court and so was the idea of allowing oath breakers to join one of the highest institutions of the country.

    Yet a hypothetical scary future was nothingpared to their dreadful present. If the Mad Queen won the war, their fiefs would be reduced to the few meters their bodies would take after being buried.

    If something remained of them, of course.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, a few dayster.

    The deal had been approved in the space of a few hours, but writing down its terms so that neither side could find loopholes required a bit more time. Lith received a long parchment almost a week after his wedding and brought it to Sark immediately.

    He had plenty ofw books in Soluspedia but hecked the finesse and expertise to spot hidden traps. Life Vision was useless against the constant references to uses and legal precedents while Solus'' eidetic memory didn''t help her decipher the convoluted jargon.

    They stored the parchment in the tower''s Library so that Kam and the Overlord could also instantly read the contents of the treaty.

    "By the Great Mother, this does it!" Sark literally red up in anger, emitting a burst of white mes from her hands that would have turned her desk and the mountain of paperwork on it aze if not for the magical protections.

    The Guardian of War was a creature of action and her temper had ruined hours of her hard work one time too many to use a regr desk.

    "Gods, how can the Royals be so stupid?" Lith said with a snarl. "They should have known that I would ask for your help before agreeing to anything yet they dared to try and screw with me."

    "I''m sorry, babe. Maybe if we call Jirni-"

    "That''s not the problem." Sark cut Kam short. "Everything is in order. The treaty is a confused, messed up jungle of words but there''s everything they promised you. Nothing more and nothing less.

    "Remember my words Featherling, the more corrupt a country is, the more numerous thews. That''s why in the Desert you can list them all on a single piece of paper."

    "Then what pissed you off, Grandma?" Kam asked.

    She felt awkward calling like that a woman that looked like her younger sister, but thest time she had called the Guardian by one of her titles, Sark had pretended to not hear one word she said.

    "The Library did. I just went through almost one hundred pages in the blink of an eye. If I had something simr, I would need minutes to administer my country instead of hours.

    "With that scream, I meant that I''ve finally made up my mind. I''m going to make myself a damn tower." Then, her eyes fell on the pile of documents she still had to revise and the new ones that were being carried by her attendants by the second.

    The simple justice system of the Desert worked thanks to Sark reading the mind of the suspects to discover whether they were actually guilty or not. It saved the constables a lot of time and took a lot of her own.

    "If and when I have the time." Sark added with a sigh.

    "Don''t worry, Grandma. As long as we are here, you can use ours." A snap of Solus'' fingers stored the mountain of paperwork in the Library, giving Sark relief and Lith and Solus a massive headache.

    "Thanks, pumpkin." The Guardian patted Solus'' head while using chore water magic to write dozens of documents at the same time.

    Lith signed the treaty and after giving the Overlord his thanks went to return the document to the Royal valet that was still waiting in front of the Warp Gate.

    "One more thing." Sark stopped them right before they closed the door. "Lith, you can stay here until they summon you via the Council amulet, but Kam is going back to work in two days."

    "No way." Lith dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. "She''s not going anywhere until I return as well. I''m not trusting the Royals with my wife after the massive screw up with Morn-"

    "Your wife is actually here and would like to make her own decision." Kam cut him off by putting her hand on his mouth. "Stop talking about me like I''m not in the room. I''m not a child and it''s demeaning."

    "But Kami, I''m only thinking about your safety. If the Royals get their hands on you, they might use you as a leash to keep me in line. I can''t risk losing you again. It''d kill me." Lith said.

    "Nothing is going to happen to me, my love." She took his face between her hands, caressing it gently before giving him a short kiss. "If I thought my job might ruin our happiness, I would never-"

    "Stop giving me diabetes and interrupting my work!" Sark Warped them to their living quarters, where they could continue their discussion without distracting her.

    She was no gossip lover but even watching paint dry was better than dealing with paperwork.

    "Why am I still here?" Solus asked after noticing to having been left behind.

    "I was about to ask you the same thing!" Another flick of Sark''s hand and the door mmed shut, leaving Solus even more bbergasted.

    "Are you seriously thinking of going back to the Griffon Kingdom without me?" Lith asked, without bothering to hide how hurt and worried he was.

    Now that they were alone, he could allow himself to be weak.

    "Yes." She nodded. "Because I love you."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I know that the Royals or someone in the Court might try something funny, but that''s all more the reason for me to y along. Once your whole family goes back to the Lutia, there''s no telling if with the excuse of protecting them the members of the Queen''s Corps don''t actually keep them hostages." Kam replied.

    "On top of that, even if the Crown upholds its word, the citizens of the Kingdom might react badly to our presence. You are still considered an oath breaker and a monster who controls the dead.

    "People will assume that your parents and siblings are the same. I still remember vividly how your fellow citizens of Lutia, people who owe you everything they have, reacted to your disy of power.

    "Imagine how those who only know you by name and rumors might react when Elina walks along the streets, when Rena works in her shop, or when Aran ys with the other kids.

    "No matter how powerful you are, you can''t follow everyone at the same time. Your family is big and once your baby sister is born, it''s going to grow even bigger. This way, we are putting only one person in danger. Me."

 Chapter 2016 Switching Roles (Part 2)

    Chapter 2016 Switching Roles (Part 2)

    "We can use this as an opportunity to test the waters before moving back to Lutia. I''m as weak as your mother, but at least I''ll have Jirni with me. If pushes to shove, you''ll only have to rescue me." Kam said.

    Her n was perfect.

    It would test the goodwill of the Royals, check if there were traitors among the nobles, and even worked as a test run for the hazing that the Verhens should be expecting upon their return.

    It was the kind of n that Lith would have devised if he didn''t care one bit about Kam, turning her into a bait.

    "I''m not going to use you like a disposable tool." Lith closed in to her, hugging her tightly. His wings popped out of his back, wrapping around her in an attempt to protect Kam from the rest of Mogar.

    "You are my light in the darkness. My beating heart. I''m not going to lie, you gave me the strength to ovee one of my darkest moments and the wall that kept me from reaching the violet, but you are weak.

    "I can afford to go back to the Kingdom on my own because I''m strong. Between my nature as a Divine Beast and my magic, it takes a lot to harm me let alone capture me.

    "You, instead, can easily die even by the hand of a human. I appreciate your thoughtfulness but the answer is no. I won''t let you out of my sight at least until after I receive the title of Magus.

    "After the ceremony, I''ll already have a good grasp of the situation and we can decide if it''s safe enough for you as well."

    "I wasn''t asking for your permission, I was only sharing my decision with you!" Kam pushed him away, taking a step back as anger flushed her cheeks.

    "I know that I''m weakpared to you, but that''s the exact reason I must go first. If it''s you, they''ll prepare something terrible. Something that might kill you in the case capturing you should prove to be impossible.

    "I have no value as a corpse. If there''s a traitor among the army or if the Royals are nning to double-cross you, they''ll have to take me alive. It will both give you the time to prepare instead of falling into a trap and to rescue me.

    "I may be taking a big risk, but you going to war is no cakewalk either. I''ll face weak enemies because I''m weak just like you''ll face Divine Beasts, immortal Awakened, and the gods know what else. How is it any less dangerous?"

    She stared him in the eyes, her gaze as cold as her voice.

    "It''s not, but I can take care of myself-"

    "And so do I!" Kam yelled. "Even after we broke up, I kept working as a Constable and faced the worst scum of Mogar. When the war started, I visited the front and kept doing my job even without the protection of the almighty Archmage Verhen, and guess what?

    "I''m still alive! Neither Meln''s undead nor Thrud''s goon managed to get past the Kingdom''s security. Why should this be any different?"

    "Because now you are not just my ex, you are my wife!" Lith''s voice rose as well in anger, his violet aura spreading throughout the room. "On top of that, back then you had someone you could trust.

    "The Kingdom had your back whereas now everyone is our enemy!"

    "Why is everything always about you and who do you think you are to make decisions for me?" The aura didn''t bother Kam as she red at him without taking a single step back.

    "Because I''m the one they want and I''m ying this game from the day I was born!" Lith replied in anger. "You have no idea of how stupid all this conversation sounds."

    "Then what''s the point of you asking the Royals to give me back my job?" She poked at his chest. "I understand that you are scared and just want to protect me, but this is too much.

    "I''m not a damn pet that you can keep under your wing or locked inside your tower out of fear. I''m a grown ass woman and I deserve to live my life however I want! If you don''t understand this, it''s your problem, not mine."

    "I asked them to make you a Constable again because I know how much your career matters to you and how hard you worked for it. Yet the n was for you to get reinstated after the end of the war, not now." Lith replied

    "Also, I''m not doing it out of fear. It''s just a precaution. I''m only asking you to wait until we understand how much we can trust the Royals."

    "Let me get this straight. You know better, you are the only one who is allowed to risk his life, and my opinion doesn''t matter at all." Her rage simmered into scorn. "The fact that I''m not an Awakened doesn''t make me your puppet!"

    "How can you say that?" Lith felt his rationality slipping. "I''ve always valued your opinions and sought your advice before making an important decision."

    ''Kami has never been so stubborn. Why does she refuse to see the truth?'' He thought in annoyance.

    "If you value my opinion only when I agree with you, then you don''t value it at all!" She replied. "I refuse to stay cooped up in the Desert while you risk your life. We''re in this together and I''m going to pull my weight, whether you like it or not."

    ''Lith has always been stubborn, but this borders on idiocy. How can he not see that I''m just trying to help?'' She thought.

    "Well, if this is what you think of me, then our marriage has been a huge mistake!" He said in anger. "I don''t need another liability."

    At those words, Kam blinked several times, taking a step back as if he had just pped her. It took her a few seconds to regain her bnce and use the pain to further fuel her anger.

    "Calling this a mistake is an understatement. I can''t believe I threw my life in the gutter for a pompous, ungrateful asshole. You know what? You are right. I should have nevere to the Desert. You are not worth it." Her rage was cold as his was hot but no less cruel.

    Lith faltered, his eyes wide open.

    "If I''m such a disgusting being, then you should leave."

    "Once again you are right. I should. Too bad that because of you I have nowhere left to go. The Kingdom took away everything I had and I won''t stand you robbing me of my freedom."

    A long silence befell the room while they both nned their next move, trying to find the words that would hurt the other the most. Yet they never spoke them.

    "You are right and I''m sorry." Lith sighed deeply, sitting on a chair before his strength left him. "Meln taking you hostage, the Balkor card Zinya received, everything you and your family went through was because of me.

    "I wish we never met. You''d probably be living a normal, happy life."

 Chapter 2017 Voidfeather Armor (Part 1)

    Chapter 2017 Voidfeather Armor (Part 1)

    "Don''t you dare say that." Kam''s rage disappeared like snow under the summer sun. "Without you, Zinya would still be blind. She would have never met Zogar and by now Fallmug would have beaten her to death while all I could do was grieve her loss.

    "I would still be a low-level bureaucrat, with no life, no family, and plenty of regrets. You''ve done more than putting me into danger, Lith Verhen. You have given me hope, purpose, and a ce where I belong.

    "I don''t regret for one momenting to the Desert and proposing to you. I''m sorry for what I said." She sat in front of him, taking his face into her hands.

    "And I''m sorry for questioning our marriage first. That was a dick move." Lith took her hands between his, kissing her palms.

    "You can say that." Kam sighed. "Now that we have both calmed down, can you please tell me why you don''t trust me?"

    "What do you mean?" He asked in bewilderment.

    "Lith, I''ve lost count of the times that you asked me to wait for you while you went risking your life somewhere far away from me. Of the days I spent keeping mymunicator close, praying that nothing happened to you.

    "The one time that our roles are reversed, you try to put a leash on my neck and treat me like an idiot. How else am I supposed to exin your behavior if not as ack of trust in my judgment and capabilities?" She asked.

    "That''s not true! I shared with you every one of my secrets. I revealed my hybrid nature to you before I told my parents. I literally trusted you with my life until now and I still do." He replied.

    "Then why can''t you trust me with my own?" Kam said, leaving Lith speechless.

    "Because I''m afraid of losing you." He said after a while.

    "And I you." She drew him closer in a tender embrace. "Yet I''ve never let my fear keep you from doing what I know is right. I''m only asking you to do the same."

    "Do I have any chance to convince you to wait until after the Magus ceremony?" Lith''s shoulders slouched in resignation as he returned the embrace.

    "Nope." Kam replied, giving him a make up kiss.

    "Fine. Then I guess I have even more work to do." Lith exhaled sharply while extending his hand. "I can''t let you go alone behind the enemy lines with that old junk you wear."

    Kam still used the Scalewalker armor that Lith had gifted her back when he was just her boyfriend. It was made out of Orichalcum and grafted with blue mana crystals.

    It offered better protection than the regr Constable uniform, but it was nothingpared to the Voidwalker armor. Lith had developed them after they had broken up so she had never had the opportunity to receive the upgraded version.

    "Wow. Smooth move, mister Forgemaster." She chuckled. "But it''s not enough to get me undressed after such an ugly fight. You need to put way more effort than that and be romantic."

    Only then did Lith remember that if Kam took her armor off, she would be stark naked.

    "That''s not what I meant." He chuckled as well. "Besides, it''s toote for angry sex and I''m not in the mood for cuddles. I just want to get you geared up as soon as I can."

    "Oh, really?" Kam replied, making the armor slip off of her body and onto the ground in an orderly pile of metal. "I think this is the perfect time for cuddles, instead. Otherwise those mean words will be stuck in our heads for days."

    She enjoyed seeing his reaction as she sat on hisp. The eyes wide open, his gaze fixed on the lower part of her body, and the amazed expression as if it was their first time.

    "What is that?" Lith pointed at the armorying on the floor.

    Only then did Kam notice that the metal was shinier than she remembered it, that the mana crystal had turned into a pristine white, and that her husband''s attention had never been focused on her in the first ce.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen, are you telling me that you are more interested in a piece of metal of unknown origin than in me?" The coldness had returned to her voice and her eyes held the promise of an ice age in the case he gave the wrong answer.

    ''Shit! Kami uses my full name only when she''s pissed off big time. If she added my beast form akin to a second name, I''m in deep trouble.'' He thought and he was right.

    "Absolutely not, honey. You know how paranoid I am. I was just worried about your safety." He replied, Warping them both to their bedroom and discovering that he had spoken too soon.

    It wasn''t toote, it was still angry sex o''clock.

    ***

    A couple of hourster, Lith recovered Kam''s armor and examined it with Invigoration.

    ''What the fuck? The design isn''t that of a Scalewalker armor, the metal is purified Adamant, and the white crystals are the purest I''ve ever seen.'' He thought.

    His regr senses proved to be much more useful than the mystical ones. Due to the unknown cloaking runes of the armor, Lith failed to learn anything about it. Even after calling Solus, he didn''t discover much.

    Her mana sense failed to see past the magical protections and the Eyes of Menadion didn''t fare any better.

    "I don''t get it." Solus said. "How could neither of you notice the disappearance of the Scalewalker armor until now and where the heck does this thinge from?"

    "Kami always wore it in the form of clothes." Lith shrugged. "Even when she takes it off, she never had a reason to revert it to its original appearance. As for your second question, I think I know the answer."

    Since Kam was still sleeping off her anger, Lith left the armor to Solus for studying it while he went to confirm his suspicions.

    A Steps brought him in front of the door of Sark''s office. Knowing how busy the Overlord was, he knocked and waited for a reply.

    "Come on in."

    Lith walked through the door, finding the Guardian sitting on her chair while dozens of sheets of paper and streams of ink floated in mid-air. Sark was using the Library to study the documents before signing them, amending those she foundcking, and rewriting from scratch those she didn''t like.

    "What can I do for you, my Featherling?" She asked while ordering her attendant to bring her a hearty mid-morning snack.

    "Did you use give Kam''s armor an upgrade?" Lith remembered well how during the day of the first wedding Sark had used Rejuvenation on his wife and Creation Magic on her lucky clothes to make them look brand new.

    Until that moment, he had never considered that being the clothes stored in the armor, Sark had to have modified it as well.

    "Yes." She nodded, inviting Lith to join her at the table. "Do you like my Voidfeather armor?"

    "I find it amazing but that''s beside the point." Lith replied.

 Chapter 2018 Voidfeather Armor (Part 2)

    Chapter 2018 Voidfeather Armor (Part 2)

    What I meant was, why did you do that?" It was too early for roastedmb and potatoes so Lith only took a cup of tea.

    "Did you really think that I would officiate your wedding, give your wife the Desert''s citizenship, and yet make the two of you no gift?" Sark said with a scoff, her voice oozing sarcasm.

    "I thought that letting us stay in your beach house for the honeymoon was the gift. That and themunication amulets you made for us." Lith replied.

    "Please, I just lent you my house, I didn''t give it away. As for the amulets, those were the bare necessary to allow you guys to keep in contact between yourselves and with your friends." The Guardian said.

    "Why didn''t you tell me?"

    "Because back then you already had too much on your mind." She shrugged. "I wanted you to enjoy our stay as my guest, not to worry about how you could repay me or spend your time studying a trinket.

    "That''s why I poured my entire gift into Kam''s armor. This way, even on the off chance something happened, she would have been safe until my arrival and you would have been able to focus on the threat at hand.

    "I knew how much you care for her and that sooner orter Kam would have to leave your side. I gave her the Voidfeather armor because I know that by protecting her, I''m also protecting you."

    "Thank you, Grandma." Lith stood up just to give her a deep bow. "If there''s anything I can do for you, just ask."

    "Silly child." Sark interrupted her meal to Warp in front of him and force Lith to stand tall. "That''s exactly what I wanted to avoid. You have already blessed me with your trust and your family.

    "Even if that weren''t already enough, you have also allowed me to study Menadion''s tower and to use its Library to fight my most dreaded enemy. Paperwork. We are more than even."

    "Bullshit." Lith embraced her, being careful about her swollen belly. "We are not even. If you told me earlier, Kami and I wouldn''t have gotten this close to getting divorced. You owe me."

    "Cheeky brat." She chuckled. "It''s not my fault if you are a control freak. Try to enjoy these two days instead of working yourself to the bone. Once you go back to the Kingdom as well, there''s no telling when you two will have to opportunity to spend some time together again."

    ***

    Lith followed Sark''s advice and returned to the beach house. Kam and he could use some privacy to give each other a proper goodbye. Unlike during the honeymoon, however, he used Invigoration to keep working whenever she was asleep.

    It was also the only time he and Solus had to study the Voidfeather armor with the Eyes.

    "This is odd. I don''t remember Kami having the habit to sleep naked." Solus pondered.

    "She doesn''t. She only takes it off because she knows that the more I learn about it, the less I worry about her safety. It''s part of our deal. She lets me arm her to the teeth and I don''t nag at her." Lith replied.

    Solus could feel that he was quite on edge. The armor was great, but just like the Fury, it was a Guardian crafted artifact, not a Guardian Tier artifact. Sark had simply improved the Scalewalker design and upgraded its materials.

    It would do wonders against non-mages but it would only buy Kam time against a truly powerful opponent.

    ***

    "The day has finallye. Are you ready?" Kam asked.

    "No." Lith replied.

    "You don''t say." Sheughed at how tense he was about her departure. "I understood you were nervous when you started to sort your socks drawer in chromatic order."

    "There''s anything I can say to change your mind?" He said, blushing in embarrassment.

    "No. You can only wish me good luck." She was now wearing her brand-new Constable uniform, standing on her tiptoes to give him a goodbye kiss.

    "Good luck and call me at the first break you get."

    "Do you realize that because of the time difference it''s probably going to be in the middle of the night?" Kam asked.

    "Do you realize that I''m not going to sleep until you get back?" Lith replied. "I don''t care if I have to screw up my sleep schedule, I''m willing to live as if I was in the Kingdom as well if it means I get to hear from you and wee you back every day."

    "Thank you." She gave him a dazzling smile and stepped through the Warp Gate of the Heavenly Plume pce.

    In a single step, she crossed the thousands of kilometers that separated the capitol of the Desert from that of the Kingdom.

    Archon Jirni Ernas was on the other side, wearing the deep violet uniform that identified her as the highest officer in the room.

    "Constable Yehval, it''s nice to have you back." Her tone was friendly and her smile warm whereas the cold re of the Royal Guards who stood by either side of the Gate seemed to bore holes through Kam''s back.

    "By the way, is it Constable Verhen now, Yehval-Verhen or what? I never asked you if you decided to take Lith''s family name, keep your own, or use them both."

    "Actually, I decided to use them both." Kam looked around, noticing that from the valets passing through the corridors to her fellow Constables, no one seemed happy to have her back.

    "The name Yehval might be just something I bought, but it means a lot to me. I''m not going to be just Lith''s wife, but also my own person."

    Those with a high degree of self-control grimaced at her words.

    "Bullshit." One of the assistants tried and failed to cover her remark with a coughing fit.

    Kam and Jirni stiffened at theck of respect from a subordinate while the others seemed to find it hrious. Even the edges of the Royal Fortress armors were curled up in a smile.

    "Is anything wrong, Constable Vylka?" Jirni turned around to look the woman in the eyes, her tone still friendly and her smile warm.

    "No, ma''am." She stood on attention. "Thanks for your concern. It must be the cold that''s been going around. I''ll see a Healer at the end of the shift."

    Vylka kept a straight face but the other Constables had a hard time suppressing a peal ofughter, sounding like they were choking on something.

    "It seems it''s spreading." Jirni nodded. "You better get rid of that cough by today because if it happens again tomorrow, I''ll have to reassign you all to the frontlines."

    The hrity disappeared, only to be reced by renewed spite. Vylka and the other Constables red at Kam, inwardly cursing her for the unfair treatment that had been bestowed upon her.

    "My eyes are down here." Jirni snapped her fingers to draw their attention. "I understand that some of you might not be pleased with their current situation, but I have to remind you that Constable Yehval has received a full pardon.

    "She has the right to be here as much as anybody else."

 Chapter 2019 Triple Threat (Part 1)

    Chapter 2019 Triple Threat (Part 1)

    "If you are incapable of separating your personal opinion from thew, then you are unfit to be a Constable. The next time any of you crosses that line, I''ll have your badges."

    "But, Archon Ernas!" Vylka said in outrage. "She''s an oath breaker. She deserted our country and relinquished her duty when we needed her the most and for what? To satisfy her lust towards a filthy animal.

    "Someone incapable of controlling their base urges doesn''t deserve to be here! A traitor wearing a badge is an insult to all those who sacrificed their lives in order to uphold thew."

    "Interesting point." Jirni steepled her fingers, drumming them against each other. "You have managed to insult with a single phrase the forefather of the Kingdom, Valeron, Archmage Marth, and my own daughter."

    She used the same tone for the three names but her brows furrowed when she spoke thest, emphasizing her annoyance.

    "Valeron too betrayed his country to create his own and ended up marrying a Griffon. I never realized that he was just a traitorous degenerate. I should probably share this revtion with the Royal family who still carries their blood." Jirni''s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "Marth too doesn''t fare much better since, based on what you say, he likes humping a rose bush."

    "That''s not what I meant. I-" The young Constable turned pale and tried to exin her reasons, but Jirni ignored her.

    "Even if everything you said was true, it doesn''t change the fact that Kam Yehval is here due to a deal bearing the signature of our King and Queen. Your open vition of its terms is an act of high treason.

    "If you have any objections to how the Crown operates, you are free to bring out the matter during your trial for insubordination." Jirni pointed her middle and forefinger at Vylka, prompting the Royal Guards to arrest her.

    They moved in the blink of an eye, locking her arms behind her back and forcing her to kneel as they took away all the magical tools in her possession.

    The Archon stripped Vylka of her insignia and took her badge before requesting a new aide. The news spread like wildfire, ensuring Jirni that the rest of the officers would keep their eyes low and their mouths shut.

    During her first day back on the job, Kam spent most of her time in the office but her day was far from uneventful and quite unpleasant. Her colleagues moved their desks away from hers and refused to speak with Kam unless they had to.

    Even when they did, their voice was filled with spite and they looked at her like someone who should be behind bars. Every time she left her desk, she would find a dead rat in one of its drawers.

    The first time it happened she freaked out. The second time she got angry because no one seemed to have seen anything. After the fourth time, however, sadness and hopelessness reced rage.

    When at the end of her shift she walked through the Gate of the Heavenly Plume tribe, she found Lith waiting for her as promised.

    Kam ran into his arms, falling apart the moment the dimensional passage closed and she was certain that no one would witness how hurt she was. Free?ebnovel.c?m

    "I knew that only in fairy tales do people gloss over the consequences of what the main characters do out of love, but I still didn''t expect the situation to be so bad." She said amid sobs.

    "I dreamed for so long to go back to my job only to find an alien ce filled with people who don''t want me to be there."

    "I''m so sorry, babe." Lith held her tight, caressing her shoulders. "What do you want to do about it?"

    "The only thing I can. I''ll do my job." After venting her frustration, she had calmed down. "I don''t care if they refuse to understand my reasons, that''s still my ce. I just need to prove to them my worth and that what I did doesn''t make me any less good a Constable.

    "As long as I work with Jirni, the situation is bearable. They can''t even look at me sideways in her presence."

    She took sce knowing that at least there was still someone on her side.

    "I told you that it was better to wait until the Magus ceremony." Lith sighed. "Your colleagues are picking on you because they still consider me a criminal and think that I got away with it.

    "The only reason they hate you is that you chose to stand by my side instead of theirs. Once I get back to the Kingdom and take part in the war, however, every one of my sesses will smother their rage.

    "The ceremony will also sway the public opinion and make your life easier."

    "I don''t think it''s so simple." Kam shook her head. "They consider me a freak for marrying a Divine Beast and no ceremony can change that."

    "Indeed, but war can." Lith replied. "To fight Thrud''s army of Awakened beasts, the Royals are calling to arms all of their allies. Once people meet Faluel, once those like me save their skins and houses, they will change their mind."

    "What does Faluel has to do with this?" She asked.

    "Faluel isn''t just an Emperor Beast. She belongs to one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom and will join the human frontlines. I wouldn''t be surprised if her mother Fyrwal takes part in the war as well.

    "I''m eager to see if your colleagues will dare badmouth even one of Valeron''s teammates."

    ***

    Lith waited for the Royal Summon, but the Magus ceremony kept to be dyed. Thrud''s forces had advanced deep into the Kingdom''s territory and were now threatening its beating heart.

    The capitol was still safe, but the same couldn''t be said about cities like Belius, Vesta, and Prode. Their strategical value was even superior to that of the city of Valeron and losing even one of them might have sealed the oue of the war.

    For the first time since it had been founded, Belius was actually the one of least importance. Its conquest would have left the border of the Kingdom exposed to an attack from the Empire, but at least it would be Thrud to have to deal with it.

    On the other hand, however, reconquering the city would be nigh-impossible. On top of that, while people could be evacuated, Belius held countless resources that couldn''t be relocated and that would make the army of the Mad Queen even stronger.

    Prode was the granary of the Kingdom, the city where the food reserves were stockpiled all year round and ready to be sent where needed. Between the famine of the previous year and the fertilend that Thrud had upied with her opening move, grain had be more valuable than gold.

    The Royals could always pay the troops and for new weapons by essing the Royal treasury but without food, their armies would starve. Most of the remaining food supplies were in Prode and if the city fell, the war would end in a matter of days.

    The only silver lining was that Thrud faced the same issue.

 Chapter 2020 Triple Threat (Part 2)

    Chapter 2020 Triple Threat (Part 2)

    Emperor and Divine Beasts needed to eat as well since the Unwavering Loyalty array granted them nigh-immortality but was helpless against hunger.

    Both sides knew that the first to strike the food reserves of the others would also be the winner of the war.

    Vesta, instead, was the main hub of the Dimensional Gate system, holding the database of the coordinates and passwords for every city Gate. Without it, transportation between the cities would be much slower because mages would have to input everything by hand each time.

    Also, without Vesta, Royal Override codes would be meaningless and Thrud would gain full ess to the Gatework. Even without the passwords, she would be capable of finding the secret bases of the army and the Association just by consulting the database of the dimensional coordinates.

    ''Back when the Horsemen targeted the three cities, the Royals sent Manohar, Vastor, and the Corpse to protect them.'' Lith thought. ''With Manohar dead, they''ll need me to take his ce.''

    He spent his days practicing Demon Grasp to strengthen his mana core, Awakening his newly formed vortexes into auxiliary cores, and training together with his Demons.

    Even if one of them managed to grasp the secrets of de Magic, it would have a huge impact on the battlefield. Locrias and Valia couldn''t wait for the call to action whereas Trion liked living in the Desert.

    There he could spend his free time with his parents and siblings, trying to make up for the many bad things he had said and done.

    He and Raaz were trying to learn chess, ying against each other with so little skill that Solus cringed every time she looked at the board, when Lith felt his consciousness drawn to hismunicator.

    A quick Hush spell ensured him that no one would eavesdrop nor disturb the call.

    "Archmage Verhen." King Meron gave him a polite nod with his head. "We have upheld our side of the bargain. Your wife is safe and back to her job. Now it''s your turn."

    "What can I do for the Kingdom, my liege?" Now that he was back being a subordinate of the Crown, Lith bowed to the King until he gave him permission to stand up.

    "The Mad Queen is knocking at our door and we need to send her off with extreme prejudice." Meron replied. "Are you up to date with the war''s development?"

    "Yes, my liege."

    "Then there isn''t much to say. Thrud is staging a three-pronged attack to force us to spread our resources thin and ensure her army gains a solid foothold in our territories.

    "You are to go to Belius as soon as possible and to coordinate your forces with General Berion. If the city falls, Thrud will gain a bridgehead in the north and the entire Ker region will quickly follow.

    "If Vesta falls as well, conquering the entire north will be child''s y and we''ll lose any chance we have left to win this war." Meron said.

    "Wouldn''t it be better to send me to Vesta then?" Lith asked. "With all due respect, at the moment Belius is of little strategic importance and the north is but a constant drain for our food supplies.

    "Losing it would leave the nearby territories exposed, but it would also force Thrud to split her attention between the Empire and us. On top of that, until the harvestes, having more people to feed will weaken her army."

    "You have more than one point, but you are wrong." Meron shook his head. "Our intel says that Thrud has already made a deal with the Empire''s ck market. If she conquers Belius, Spirit Warps will ensure her a steady supply chain since the smugglers would only have to pass the Empire''s defences.

    "As for splitting her attention, it would mean viting our truce. If we abandon our people just because we lose the city, the morale of the troops will plummet. Thrud always defended our borders, even when Belius was in our hand and we can''t be outdone.

    "It would show the citizens who really cares for them and that the current Royals cannot be trusted. We would lose our face and the people''s trust, something that cannot be easily regained.

    "Last, but not least, leaving one of the three cities unprotected would mean allowing Thrud to increase the number of Divine Beasts assigned to the invading force of the other two.

    "Right now, she has sent about ten of them to each target and we want to keep things that way."

    "Ten Divine Beasts?" Lith said in incredulity, suddenly weighing his options.

    "Yes." Meron nodded. "It''s both a threat and an opportunity. With her generals away, we''llunch a counterattack to the most exposed areas of her territory and reconquest as much fertilend as we can."

    "Wait, I''m strong, but not that much. I can''t take on so many enemies alone."

    "That''s why you won''t be alone." Meron replied. "In a battle between Awakened, our regr army would be just a hindrance. You''ll have the help of the Mage Association and of a few mercenary beasts who have agreed to join our cause.

    "I''ll be honest with you. I sent Vastor to Prode and the Corpse to Vesta because my hope was that after spending so much time in Belius, you''d consider it your home and would fight tooth and nail for it.

    "It''s disheartening hearing you talk about it merely in terms of numbers."

    "I consider Belius my home, but if its citizens are going to treat me like the colleagues of my wife are treating her, I find it hard giving a damn about them." Lith replied.

    Ever since Kam had resumed her work as a Constable, her smile was gone and the rare times it appeared was faint. She rarely spoke about her day and would often space out.

    Due to the time zones, by the time she arrived everyone was already asleep and she would leave again before they woke up. Lith and Solus did everything they could to keep herpany but the feeling of istion she experienced at home as well only made matters worse.

    "I''m aware of Constable Yehval''s situation, but there''s nothing that can be done about it." The King shrugged. "I''m afraid the same might happen to you. It''s the reason I want you to take care of Belius.

    "Your reputation as a hero of the north will protect you and allow you to coordinate your actions with the rest of our troops. Anywhere else you are still considered a traitor and I''m afraid that not even my direct order might be enough once the battle starts.

    "People me Yehval because of you, and you because of the crimes Meln perpetrated against the Kingdom.

    "Belius is your best chance of redemption, Archmage Verhen. If you lose, it will be very hard to clear your name and ensure your family a peaceful life after the war ends. King Meron out."

    Lith stared at his amulet in disdain, pondering if returning to the Kingdom was really a good idea.

    "What do you think, Solus?" Even with the Hush spell active, she had followed the entire conversation via their mind link.

    "That we have to win this battle." She replied while sitting beside him.

 Chapter 2021 A Place Called Home (Part 1)

    Chapter 2021 A ce Called Home (Part 1)

    "I don''t have many fond memories of Belius, but you do. Also, Thrud must be stopped. If she learns from Night''s steed how to Forgemaster portable towers, there will be no ce on Mogar safe from her.

    "Sure, Grandma can easily y Thrud and her generals even if they get a tower, but there''s only one of her whereas the troops of the Mad Queen are immortal. They only need one good shot to kill people like Sinmara and once Grandma will start losing her nest, it would be only a matter of time before the Desert starts falling apart.

    "I have already lost my home once, I don''t want it to happen ever again." Solus waved at the kids ying nearby the dunes.

    Then, at Trion and Raaz ying their chess game so badly that she was starting to believe that they would screw up even checkers. Lastly, at the tower standing in in sight without anyone giving a damn about it.

    "Lutia may be your home, but the Desert is my birthce." Solus said. "Not only because it''s here that I regained my human body, but also because it''s the only ce where I can freely move around without worrying about my identity.

    "Here I''m not seen as Menadion''s heir or a priceless artifact to steal, only as a gorgeous girl."

    "Wow, ego much?" Lith chuckled as she swept her hair with a dramatic gesture and the sunlight reflected on it creating sparkles of seven colors.

    "Because I''m worth it." She chuckled as well as the hologram of shampoo appeared on the palm of her hand. "Jokes aside, I don''t want the war to reach this ce, no matter the cost. On top of that, we have yet to pay Meln back for everything he did to our friends.

    "By fighting Thrud''s forces, we might find a way to infiltrate the Golden Griffon. Once inside, we just have to kill Meln with Baba Yaga''s spell to take the threat of more towers off the table. Two birds with one stone."

    "Yeah, it would also be the perfect opportunity to get back in the Headmaster''s office and study the academy''s power core." Lith said. "Without the Golden Griffon, defeating Thrud would be much easier."

    "Don''t forget about Dad." Solus pointed at Raaz. "He needs to get back home, or he will never recover. Remember that we are not just fighting for a bunch of assholes. By protecting Belius, we are going to protect everyone we love."

    "Thanks, Solus. I needed to hear it from someone."

    "You are wee." She leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying that rare moment of intimacy they were sharing outside the walls of theirbs.

    ***

    Since Lith always wore his Voidwalker armor and brought everything he needed inside his pocket dimension, he had no need to prepare for his departure. He spent the time before his summon with Solus and his family.

    "Are you sure you don''t want us to go back to Lutia with you?" Elina asked. "This way, we could share with you and Kam the free time you have and support the two of you to the best of our abilities."

    "I wish it was possible, Mom." Lith sighed. "Things are being ugly for Kami and there''s no telling if Lutia would treat us any better."

    "It''s not a problem. I know how to defend myself." She shook her head.

    "I''m sure of it, but what about Dad? What about the baby?" Both Elina and Lith instinctively touched her womb, making sure that everything was alright. "The stress would do either of them no good, especially Dad.

    "If he witnesses any form of violence, even in self-defense, he might go back into the rabbit hole for the gods know how long."

    "You are right." She said after a brief pause. "Your father struggled too much with his recovery to allow some rude jerk to send him back to square one. We''ll wait for you here. Please, you two, be careful."

    Elina held his face between her hands, looking at Lith for a while as the images of the child he had been, the man that he was, and the one she hoped he would be ovepped in her mind.

    She let him go after a brief embrace and then Elina caressed Solus'' face as well.

    "I don''t care about the deal with the Royals." She said. "If things get ugly, just run away. I''ve already lost two children and I can''t bear the thought of losing two more."

    "Why are you telling her/me?" Lith and Solus asked in unison.

    "Because unlike him, you are wise enough to know when everything is lost and you are strong enough to knock him out if you need to." Elina said with a chuckle, but her words didn''t sound like a joke.

    "Will do." Solus hugged her tightly before shapeshifting into her ring form and slipping on Lith''s finger.

    He walked through the Warp Gate, reaching Belius in one instant.

    Despite what Lith had said to Meron just a few hours earlier, the sight of the grey stones thatprised every building of the city, the cold air of the north, and its familiar smells made his heart clench with nostalgia.

    Even though Lith hadn''te there since after Manohar''s death, Belius was still the ce where he had lived for three years during his tour as Army Ranger first and then as a civilian.

    He had lots of memories there, both good and bad.

    Just like those he had for the room he had appeared in and for the man that he found waiting for him.

    Lith had expected toe out from the main Gate of the army base, instead he was in the very same room where three years ago the King, thete General Morn, and Tyris had made him a Great Mage as a reward for the destruction of the ck Star and the Lost City of Kaduria.

    In front of Lith, stood Berion, his oldmanding officer, who now wore a single gold star on his shoulder board that identified him as a Brigadier General. In the past, Berion had often watched Lith''s back during his service in the army, protecting him from the influence of nobles and Morn.

    On the other hand, however, he had also messed more than once with Lith''s personal life and family in order to further his political agenda.

    "Major Verhen, is nice to meet you again. You look good." Berion said while extending his hand and studying Lith as if it was the first time they met.

    His pitch-ck eyes ran up and down Lith''s body, almost expecting to see a tail or wings popping out of his back at any moment. With his1.8 meters (5''11") of height, the General was almost as tall as Lith.

    "You too. I just wish this happened in better circumstances." Lith noticed that the handshake hadsted a bit too long.

    Berion''s iron grip was meant to show the Tiamat both his physical prowess and that he wasn''t afraid.

    "What are we doing here?" Lith asked.

    "I wanted to speak with you man to man and also to avoid the mess that your presence here is bound to cause." Berion''s tone was neutral, but the uneasiness of his gaze and the absence of his security detail told Lith that something was wrong.

 Chapter 2022 A Place Called Home (Part 2)

    Chapter 2022 A ce Called Home (Part 2)

    "Is discipline reallycking so much these days?" Lith furrowed his brows in disbelief.

    "No, but ever since we have started losing the war, people have a low tolerance for beasts and there are already a few here." The general shook his head. "The soldiers are wound up like a drum and the arrival of a beast who is also a wanted criminal might be thest straw."

    "I''m not a criminal anymore. The Crown pardoned me." Lith replied with a shrug.

    "A piece of paper can''t erase the memory of what the people of the entire Kingdom saw you do while fighting Meln in Lutia." Berion sighed. "Now enough with the pleasantries and let''s get down to business."

    A snap of his fingers conjured a holographic 3-D map of Belius'' surroundings above a nearby table.

    The Kingdom''s forces were shown in the form of blue dots while Thrud''s were red.

    Much to Lith''s surprise, the n for the iing battle required most of the troops to be outside the city walls and to fight in the ins right in front of the city.

    ''It actually makes sense.'' Solus pondered. ''If this was a regr battle against fake mages, we would have employed siege tactics as you expected. The city arrays would block flight and dimensional magic while the city walls would provide us with cover.

    ''Against an Awakened army, however, such tactics are useless due to Spirit Magic. If we let them get close, the Divine Beasts will simply Blink through the city until they reach the Warp Gate.

    ''Once they arrive there, their overwhelming power and mass will allow them to hold back the Kingdom''s army long enough to seize the Gate. At that point, Belius would fall.

    ''The limited space inside the city makes quality much more important than quantity since the human mages can''t swarm the Divine Beasts, losing their only advantage.

    ''Our only hope is to stop Thrud''s army from getting close to the city walls. If that fails, all human mages can do is dy the inevitable.''

    ''Great thinking.'' Lith nodded.

    He and Solus had used a simr strategy in the past, but they always yed the invader role and acted alone. This time, they would y on defense and Thrud would send more than one Divine Beast.

    "What do you think?" Berion asked.

    Lith repeated to him Solus'' words, finding only one weak point in the General''s strategy.

    "Why are you covering only the front side of the city? What if Thrud''s army splits its forces and executes a two-pronged attack from the back as well?"

    "Excellent question. Do you see those towers?" Berion pointed at the buildings lined along the mountain range that acted as a natural border between the Kingdom and the Empire.

    Lith remembered well their effect.

    The towers worked as both amplifiers and ry points of the city arrays, allowing them to cover a wide area all around Belius. He had seen more than one mage trying to cross the borders by flight just to get chased and shot down by a mana storm.

    "Yes." He nodded for Berion to continue.

    "We left them unguarded on purpose. If Thrud tries toe at us from the back, she''ll discover that the towers can focus the power of the arrays with surgical precision.

    "We have already run several tests, even a Divine Beast will get killed in an instant if caught by surprise." The General said.

    "Since when are the magical formations of Belius this powerful?" Lith asked in surprise.

    As far as he remembered, the arrays served solely the purpose to neutralize the magic of their target and keep them prisoner. It was up to the mages stationed in the towers to deal the finishing blow.

    "Since never." Berion said with a smirk on his face. "We didn''t have the time to upgrade such a huge magical field in the little time we had at our disposal. Even if we did, Thrud''s spies would have noticed and ruined our trap.

    "What we could do, instead, was to reach a truce with the Empire. The moment someonees close to the towers, the arrays will lock them in ce as per usual. The difference will be that both our artillery and that of the Empire willbine their firepower to shoot our enemies down."

    "That''s brilliant!" Lith said. "You have stationed only a few soldiers there to lull the Mad Queen into a false sense of security."

    "Exactly." The General nodded. "Diplomacy can do a lot of damage if done in secret. The Empire prefers to deal with us than with Thrud and doesn''t want Belius to fall into her hands."

    "One more thing." Lith said. "Why are most of the troops assembled into a strategical formation while the vanguard units are so distanced between them?"

    "Because those aren''t our troops, but the Emperor and Divine Beasts that have joined our ranks." Berion replied. "Creatures as tall and big as you possess the same destructive power of a battalion and once they engage the enemy, there''s not much we can do.

    "If we get too close, we''ll just get in the way of our allies and risk getting stomped. The best we can do is provide them with healing and barrier arrays. Any offensive spell big enough to hurt one of Thrud''s generals would hurt them as well."

    "Makes sense. Which one of these blue dots am I?" Lith pointed at the valley in front of the city, where most of the troops were arranged a few hundred of meters from the walls.

    Near enough to be within range of cover fire and far away enough to make Blink useless at the same time.

    "This one." Berion threw Lith an awkward look as he tapped on the map with his finger, making a new blue dot appear in an isted position over one kilometer away from Belius.

    "What does that mean?"

    "Since you are going to risk your life for us, I''m not going to mince words. You alone are going to be our vanguard. The Kingdom has no idea of how many Demons you can conjure or how powerful they are.

    "With this battle, we want to evaluate the prowess of your personal army so that we can use it to its fullest while nning our future strategies that will involve your presence."

    "More like you are putting me against a wall so that I''m forced to go all-out without holding back anything that I mightter use against you." Lith said with a scoff. "So much for not mincing words."

    "Major, even if we were friends and we are not, my duty to the Kingdomes first. I''ve been tasked with assessing the threat level you pose and how valuable you are as an asset and that''s what I''m going to do." Berion replied.

    "What if I can''t stop their advance and get swarmed?"

    "I''m not ordering you to hold your ground there and die. You are free to retreat or call for reinforcements. All I''m asking you to do is to slow their advance and give us the time to gauge their strength.

    "The more of their offensive strategies they are forced to reveal against you, the better we can adjust our defenses. ording to our intel, Belius is going to be attacked first so everything we learn can be used to protect Vesta and Prode as well." The General said.

 Chapter 2023 Cranky Mood (Part 1)

    Chapter 2023 Cranky Mood (Part 1)

    Lith studied the map for a while, calcting how long would it take him to get to safety and running several simtions in his head with Solus'' help.

    ''This might not be as bad as it seems.'' He thought. ''From this distance, the army won''t get the opportunity to study my techniques. If I employ the Golems and you give me a hand, Solus, the first wave of enemies will have a nasty surprise.''

    ''Do you want me to just conjure the Hands and Mouth and use them in your stead or do you want me to take part in the battle in my human form to support you?'' She asked.

    ''Let''s save your strength for emergencies. Start with the Hands and Mouth, we''ll y the rest by ear.'' He replied.

    "I''m sorry, but you couldn''t possibly expect to be fully pardoned without giving proof of your goodwill first." Berion misunderstood the prolonged silence for hesitation. "If it''s of any constion, the Council has sent its troops here.

    "You can agree on a strategy with them or just spend the time before the battle with your kin if you want."

    "Maybe you didn''t read the memo, General. I''m part human and work for the Kingdom. You are part of my kin just like everybody else." Lith said, not liking the implications of Berion''s words one bit.

    If someone who actually knew and respected him considered him a monster, what point could it possibly have risking his life for the Kingdom?

    "I read it alright, Major." The General said with a shrug. "Part human, part undead, and part Divine Beast. Correct?"

    Lith nodded and Berion continued.

    "I''ll admit that I have no idea what you are, but I''m pretty sure about what you''re not. Humans aren''t covered in scales, don''t have more than two eyes, and most certainly aren''t 25 meters (82'') tall.

    "That''s what everybody knows about you and there''s no scientific jargon that can change it. Running to the Desert anding back only after taking your sweet time while people died every single day sure didn''t help.

    "Getting yourself a deal to bury your past misdeeds was just the icing on the cake. I don''t hate you, Verhen. I understand what you did and why, yet that doesn''t mean that I have to like it. Those who don''t, however, are terrified.

    "If you want to change my mind and that of the rest of the Kingdom, you''ll need more than nice words and the fancy title of Magus. Actions speak the loudest. Remember that when you are on the battlefield."

    ''Berion has a point, Lith.'' Solus said. ''From the Kingdom perspective, the only difference between you and Thrud is that you can be reasoned with. If you take a walk, there''s no telling how regr people might react.

    ''The General didn''t mean to offend you. He was simply suggesting you avoid useless conflicts.''

    "Where can I find the members of the Council?" Lith asked while inwardly nodding.

    "They are all in this building. When they introduced themselves in their human form, they triggered quite some panic. You can''t distinguish an Emperor Beast from a human, no matter how carefully you look at them.

    "It made our soldiers nervous as heck, but it was nothingpared to what happened with those who refused to shapeshift. The people here are getting so paranoid that if Thrud doesn''te here quickly, we''ll soon jump at each other''s throat. Dismissed."

    Lith and Berion exchanged their respectivemunication runes so that the Tiamat could reach his battle position the moment the enemy was spotted. Then, he left the room and walked into the hallway.

    Even though he wore the uniform of an army Major and the deep blue robe of an Archmage, those he met didn''t show him any respect for his rank. They would yelp and flinch at his appearance, running away without even giving him the salute.

    The few who managed to keep their cool looked at him with spite, without bothering to hide the revulsion they felt at his presence.

    ''If this is how people behave with me despite knowing that I can kill them with a snap, I can understand how hard a time Kami must have been having.'' Lith thought.

    ''What did you expect?'' Solus said with a sigh. ''You heard Berion. Those who admired you didn''t take well the revtion that you aren''t human while your rivals used it as an excuse to belittle everything you have achieved.''

    ''That''s bullshit. I didn''t be a Tiamat until Lightkeep. I had already been honorably discharged by then.''

    ''They don''t know that and even if you told them, at this point nobody would believe you anyway.''

    The army base was silent, but not because of Lith. Everyone was so focused on their tasks that they would raise their eyes from their amulets or papers only when they heard footsteps approaching.

    Once Belius''s soldiers had been proud and confident in their skill to protect the city like they had done in the past centuries. Yet Night''s attack first and now the repeated raids of Thrud''s forces had been an unpleasant wake-up call.

    The city had almost fallen before Vastor''s arrival and every attempt to raid the city had made hundreds of victims. The only reason none had seeded was thanks to the Council''s help.

    Lith''s pardon had dealt the final blow to their pride, shattering it.

    After witnessing the might of the Awakened of both sides, the soldiers of the Kingdom had realized their limits.

    As he walked towards the room where the Awakened forces had been stationed, Lith could hear an increasing number of voicesing from a distance. By following the noise, he reached the main hall of the base that had been repurposed into a hostel.

    Bunk beds were lined up against the walls, filled with people fast asleep or writing their personal journals. Several round tables had been arranged in the middle of the room, where the Awakened talked, drank, and gambled.

    Most of them were in human form, but a few humanoid Faes had kept their original appearance and so had a few beasts who sat on the floor since there was no piece of furniture big enough to amodate them.

    Even then they were tall enough to be at eye level with the others.

    Their casual clothes and rxed attitude were in stark contrast with the gloomy atmosphere of the army base.

    "d to see that you''ve finally made it." Faluel walked toward him and gave him a big hug.

    "What are you doing here?" Lith asked.

    "Nice to meet you too, jerk." She said with a sneer. "I asked to be assigned to Belius because I wanted you to have someone you can trust and because of our special synergy."

    The Hands of Menadion flickered into existence for a second.

    "I see. What about the others?" Lith nodded.

    "While you had fun in the Desert, Phloria has trained her Awakened troops until she drilled discipline and teamwork in their thick skulls. The problem is that she can''t lead them into battle without revealing her nature as Awakened.

    "The same stands for Friya and Quy. They are too worried about involving their household in their own mess to step into the light." Faluel replied.

 Chapter 2024 Cranky Mood (Part 2)

    Chapter 2024 Cranky Mood (Part 2)

    "Can''t they just shapeshift and use an alias?" Lith shrugged.

    "That''s what Friya is doing right now. She is in Vesta to protect the Gatework. As a dimensional mage, that''s the perfect ce for her to show her full prowess. Quy is the Royal Healer and she has to stand at the ready so that they can dispatch her where she is needed.

    "As for Phloria, after the start of the war, the Royals pressured her to resume her old rank in the army. With all the crap that Jirni is taking for helping you with the deal, Phloria''s refusal would have hurt the Ernas'' reputation.

    "She has been dispatched in Prode to fight by Orion''s side. She can''t be in two ces at the same time so Aalejah will lead the troops in her stead." The Hydra said.

    "She is stationed in Vesta as well and Protector is with her. As soon as they deal with the situation there, they''lle to our aid."

    "Protector has decided to join the war efforts?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Not really a choice. He''s my disciple and a member of the Council. He had to. As you can imagine, Selia was far from happy at the news." Faluel exhaled sharply. "You have no idea the earful she gave me."

    The Hydra took the lead, introducing Lith to the rest of the Awakenedpany. Since shapeshifting made it hard to understand who was who, she would always point at the person she was referring to.

    "This is Crank the Hyperion." She weaved her hand at a man over two meters (7'') tall. "Like the Bastet you have recently met, he''s a Divine Beast from Verendi. Well technically he''s just an Emperor Beast since his father is not one of the original six Guardians, but we call them Divine Beasts anyway to avoid confusion."

    "Nice to meet you, man. I''m d to have another heavy hitter to rely upon." Lith extended his hand while taking a good look at the man.

    The form of his choice had quite the pale skin, more suited to someone who had lived for a long time in the mountains rather than the savanna. He had long reddish hair and a beard, both tied in a long braid each.

    He only wore thick leather pants, leaving exposed his massive chest and the ming thick body hair that covered him. He was so big and his shoulders so wide that he made Protector''s human form look small inparison.

    His build was that of a man grown in the open and that no building could ever hope to contain. By his side stood a giant two-headed battle ax and a honey badger that was gnawing at the bones of a steak, probably his pet.

    "Man, you should have picked a more discreet form." Lith said while they shook hands. "This one is a dead giveaway. No one in their right mind will ever believe you are a human."

    "If you don''t like it, you can kiss my hairy ass." The honey badger replied with a burp as he took another serving.

    Lith''s eyes opened wide while the barbarian burst intoughter, incapable of keeping a straight face anymore.

    "He''s Crank. My name is Hengar Shuul and believe it or not, I''m human." His grey eyes looked at Lith in hrity. "Before you ask, no. I don''t have bear blood in my veins. I just look like this."

    "Nice to meet you, Hengar. Sorry for the misunderstanding." Lith said.

    "No problem."

    "How are doing, Crank?" Lith offered him his hand and the honey badger gave him the te full of scraps.

    "Still a bit hungry. Do me a solid and take out the trash, kid."

    "Don''t mind him." Faluel said. "He''s a bit cranky due to the cold weather and the even colder reception he received."

    "Don''t forget the stupid jokes about my name." The Hyperion snarled.

    "Well, you should''ve expected that with everything that''s happening in the Kingdom, no one would have liked a talking furball." Lith said while emptying the te into the nearest bin. "By the way, why a honey badger?"

    "My father became a Hyperion after achieving Guardianhood, but he never forgot about his origins nor was he ashamed of it." Crank said.

    "Let me guess, neither are you."

    "Nailed it in one."

    "What''s your position on the battlefield?" Lith conjured a hologram that reproduced Berion''s map down to the smallest detail.

    "Light Mastery?" Crank''s words made the entire room turn in their direction. "Lucky bastard. Your reputation is well deserved."

    The honey badger used one of his long ws to point at one of the dots that would have been considered the vanguard, if not for Lith''s even more advanced position.

    "What about you?"

    "I''m right here." Lith replied, making his own marker appear as well.

    "What the fuck?" Crank nervously scratched his chin. "Either you are even better than what the rumors say or someone wants you dead, kid."

    "You are wrong on both ounts. They just want to see what I can do. I''ve set a high price for my services and they want to make sure that I''m really worth their money."

    "That''s why I hate working with humans. No matter how much they smile at you, there''s always a catch." Crank said.

    "Then why are you here?" Lith asked.

    "For the money, of course, and tax-free at that. After 500 years of nomadic life, I decided it''s time to find myself a nice hole. When I heard that the Royals of the Griffon Kingdom offered citizenship and an estate to any Divine Beast willing to join their cause, I-"

    "Who cares about that!" Faluel cut him short. "The only silver lining is that all the big Emperor Beasts like me and Crank are assigned to the frontlines. If something goes wrong, give us a signal and we''ll cover your retreat."

    "Don''t speak for me, lizard. I barely know-" The Hydra marked her position on the map as well, making the Hyperion soften his words. "I mean, I''ll be d to help, for the right price.

    "Promise to teach me Light Mastery once the battle is over, and I''ll be your best friend today."

    ''The Tiamat knows Light Mastery as well, but he''s a Divine Beast. If half of what I''ve heard about him is true, he should be able to get to safety on his own. The Hydra, instead, is nothing but a lesser Dragon.'' He thought.

    "Please." Faluel scoffed in annoyance. "Do you overestimate yourself that much or do you think I''m that stupid?"

    "You never know what might happen on the battlefield, young lizard." Crank replied. "Your friend here is in a very shitty position and you are bound to be outmatched. The Guardian blood that flows through your veins isn''t thick enough to survive the encounter with a true Divine Beast.

    "Think about it. Light Mastery is a very important discipline, but what point will it have keeping it for yourself once you are dead?" The creature attempted a business smile, but when the honey badger form exposed its rows of white fangs, it looked threatening instead.

    "Try anything funny during this battle, furball, and I''ll make sure that the only home you''ll find is that where your corpse willy as a majestic carpet." Faluel turned around and walked away, dragging Lith with her.

 Chapter 2025 Domestic Affairs (Part 1)

    Chapter 2025 Domestic Affairs (Part 1)

    "Follow me. I want to introduce you to the rest of my team. We are split into groups of seven because we are going to employ a tactic simr to the one that was used against you in Verendi." Faluel said.

    "Wait! Don''t you know how to haggle?" Crank jumped off the wooden bench, trotting to catch up with them. "What about holograms? You teach me the basics and I''ll learn the rest on my own."

    "That''s better, but it''s still too much." The Hydra said. "I have no idea of what you can do or how useful you might be in realbat. We''ll resume this conversation after the battle, but only if you''ve done something worthwhile for me."

    "This is not haggling! This is straight ckmail. You are coercing me to follow you around the battlefield and cover your back." The Hyperion was bbergasted.

    "Correction. Our backs." Faluel pointed at herself and Lith. "He''s the only one who can teach you and I''m the only one who can give him the permission to. He''s my apprentice and has to do as I say."

    Actually, Faluel was restricted by his promise to Nalrond from teaching anyone Light Mastery, including holograms. Lith, however, had mastered them on his own and was free to share his knowledge with whomever he wanted.

    Also, Lith had already graduated from his apprenticeship, but Crank had no way to know it. Based on the Council''s standard procedure, he had at least 80 more years of servitude ahead of him.

    "Fine." The Hyperion jumped on the nearest chair and resume his binge eating, this time out of stress.

    ''Nice move.'' Lith said Faluel via a mind link. The physical contact between them allowed him to establish a telepathic connection that Life Vision couldn''t notice.

    ''Thanks, but it''s no big deal.'' She replied. ''People from Verendi love to haggle to the point that it''s considered rude not to. I knew that he didn''t expect me to actually agree with those ridiculous terms.

    ''I feigned ignorance of his customs and walked away to force him to make me an eptable deal, saving us a lot of time.''

    Lith inwardly nodded and followed her. He had no idea why Faluel wanted him to meet herpanions but he trusted her judgment and knew that the Hydra had to have a good reason for it.

    "Guys, this is Lith the Tiamat. Lith, these are Cenn the Oberon, Lix the Firebird, Loman Weiss, Khrill Arat, H the Treant, and Esgor the Behemoth. Lith is going to fight with us but he belongs to no unit.

    "Which means that if something happens to any of us or we need to Invigorate ourselves, he can fill in one of the spots of our formation." Cenn nodded, moving his wheat blonde hair enough to reveal his slightly pointed ears.

    "Excellent thinking, Faluel. Do you already know how to cast Silverwing''s Annihtion and Bastion, kid?"

    "Of course he does." The Hydra replied for Lith. "I taught him as soon as he returned from his honeymoon, after I learned that the Kingdom and the Council would fight together.

    "The problem is that he has never actually used either spell or has any experience with how to coordinate with others while casting them. I brought him here so that we can all give him tips and a practical demonstration."

    The seven violet cored Awakened formed a circle with Lith at its center, establishing a mind link that connected them all. Lith experienced how each Awakened dealt their own way with a different element while also keeping their mana flow ins sinch with the others''.

    They performed the Annihtion first and the Bastion second, weaving the runes without conjuring the actual spell in order to save their strength for the iing battle.

    ''This is very interesting.'' Solus thought. ''In a way, it''s simr to the Hexagram, but both the variants also require the use of Spirit Magic. Having seven members in the group shortens the cast time and mana expenditure but it also requires to fine-tune the seven different mana flows.''

    ''Yeah. Without this practice, we wouldn''t have known the patterns of our partners, and casting any of Silverwing''s spells would have been either slow or with a reduced effectiveness.'' Lith replied.

    ''It''s not only that.'' Solus said. ''Faluel wanted both of us to practice them because she knows that I can cover for one more Awakened on my own thanks to the Hands. On top of that, if we use the Mouth as well, we can split the mana cost and cast another 1/7 of the spells.''

    Lith doubted that with her blue core Solus had the necessary mana for such a burdensome task. Silverwing''s spells required a bright violet core and even he would need to squeeze every drop of his mana just to cast them once.

    Yet he said nothing in respect for her determination.

    ''Agreed. It''s the perfect asion to test the Mouth. Since it can hold two spells, I''d go with the Bastion and the Annihtion.'' Lith replied.

    ''I don''t think it''s a good idea.'' Solus pondered. ''We''ll start the battle away from the others so locking useless spells would be a waste of our resources. Let''s set up something useful in a one against many scenario.''

    ''As soon as you consume one, I''ll rece it with Silverwing''s spells.''

    ''Don''t space out, kid.'' Khrill snapped them out of their private conversation. ''Focus on how I deal with the fire element. As you can see, Silverwing''s spells are a hepta-elemental Spirit Spell that requires each member of the group to conjure all elements but control only one.

    ''The rest of the energy is channeled in the magical formation controlled by the seventh member and passed onto the others. Thanks to this method, you have to deal with seven times the elemental energy you are used to.

    ''Each member of the formation also serves as an amplification point, but this happens only at the moment the spell gets unleashed, otherwise even seven Awakened wouldn''t be enough to deal with such firepower.

    ''Last, but not least, the person at the center of the spell is in charge of harnessing and harmonizing our different life forces. Any mistake on their part and our different energy signatures sh will between them, causing the spell to implode.

    ''Study what each of us does because there''s no telling which spot you are going to fill and if you get the center role, you''ll have no margin for error.''

    Lith nodded and focused solely on studying the energy flow of Silverwing''s spells with the Eyes of Menadion. He and Solus noticed that the First Magus specialized in what appeared to be a hybrid between arrays and spells.

    Her legacy wasprised of an odd kind of magic thatbined the explosive power of tier five spells with theplex functions that only arrays could have.

    After cycling between the elements a few times, the members of Faluel''s group suddenly stopped chanting one at a time. Lith had to take their ce in the formation while being quick enough to stabilize it before it copsed and also matching with their rhythm.

    At first, he failed miserably every time he was entrusted with an element that wasn''t fire or darkness.

 Chapter 2026 Domestic Affairs (Part 2)

    Chapter 2026 Domestic Affairs (Part 2)

    After a few tries, Lith tried switching with Solus who discovered not only how hard it was for her core to deal with that kind of power but also that she was still attuned to light and earth better.

    The other elements resisted their control and there was no time to use Domination.

    The exercise went on for hours until even the elder Awakened were tired. Casting the spells without conjuring their effects didn''t burden their cores but it still required a lot of focus.

    "That''s enough for now, kid." H said. "We have no idea when the enemy will attack and we can''t have you get exhausted before the battle even starts. Go take a stroll, drink some tea, do whatever helps you to recover your mental strength."

    Lith waved them goodbye and left the room, knowing exactly what to do. He took one of the small Warp Gates that were the core of Belius'' public transportation system and went to his home.

    ''Actually, it''s Kam''s apartment, but I considered it mine as well ever since she gave me the keys.'' Lith noticed that there were no seals on the door, either magical or physical in nature.

    He had expected some sort of security measure to have been set in ce after Kam had defected the army, in the case she ever came back.

    Yet he didn''t stop wondering if the Royals had the seals removed after agreeing with the deal or if the apartment had simply been reassigned. All Lith could think about was the relief he felt when the key matched the lock.

    Once the door opened, he noticed that aside from theyer of dust and the stuffy air, everything was exactly as he remembered it.

    ''Gods, I can''t believe Kami didn''t change the lock even after we broke up. Thest time I came here was right after Manohar''s death, but back then I was barely holding my shit together to give my key a try.'' He opened the windows to let the fresh air in as he used water magic to wash the dust away from every surface.

    Cleaning wasn''t just out of habit. Lith loved that apartment and seeing it in such a neglected state just felt wrong.

    ''What''s that? I don''t remember ever seeing it here before.'' Solus telepathically pointed at a wooden trunk near the entrance.

    It was covered in a thickeryer of dust than the rest of the furniture so Kam must have left it here even before she moved to the Desert. Lith opened it, discovering that it contained every single gift he had ever given her.

    "What the fuck?" Without thinking about the time or that she might be busy with Jirni, Lith took hismunicator out and called her.

    "I was about to call you. I just heard that you have been assigned to Belius'' defense forces. Where are you?"

    "At our apartment, I mean yours-"

    "Got it." Kam hung up the call walking through the door just a few secondster.

    "How did you get here so quickly?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "The Gate right outside our door, remember?" She ran into his arms, holding him tight. "One of the privileges of dating an Archmage."

    Then, noticing that he didn''t return the embrace, she took a step back to look him in the eyes.

    "What''s wrong, babe?"

    "What does that mean?" He pointed at the trunk. "Why didn''t you change the locks if you were about to throw away all of my stuff?"

    Kam opened her eyes wide, she had almost forgotten about it.

    "That has been sitting there since we broke up. I couldn''t move on with my life if every time I opened a drawer or looked into my closet, I saw something that reminded me of you." She replied.

    "I know that. I mean why didn''t you bring it to the Desert?"

    "Because I didn''t know if you would have said yes and I couldn''t risk the army noticing it had gone missing. If they did and you rejected me, I wouldn''t have had a ce where to return." She lowered her gaze.

    "But I kept the locks, the chest, and imprinting the Camellia because I never stopped believing in us. I just¡­ needed to be a Lith and have a contingency n."

    "You''re right. Sorry for being a jerk." He wrapped his arms around her in a tender embrace. "Still, what are you doing here? I thought you were at work."

    "I was at work. Didn''t you notice that I pulled an all-nighter?"

    Only then did Lith realize that the sun was rising above the horizon, spreading a reddish light that barely filtered through Belius'' tall walls and buildings.

    "Wow. Insensitive much."

    "I''m sorry, it''s just that I rushed here right after the Royals summoned me and then I''ve been busy practicing spells with Faluel. I lost track of time." He said.

    "I''ll forgive you only because you''ve cleaned the ce." Kam passed her white glove over several surfaces, finding it immacte. "As I was saying, after working a double shift, Jirni gave me permission to have breakfast with you."

    She shapeshifted his uniform into a loose shirt and pants that left only her head and hands exposed. Then, she opened her briefcase revealing that it contained groceries instead of documents.

    Lith forgot about the chest and the iing battle, feeling at home again. Sitting in the dining room while Kam worked at the stove made it seem just like a regr day back when he was a Ranger.

    "I''m the one who''s up for over 16 hours. Do I have to cook and set the table as well?" She turned her head at him, pouting in mock outrage.

    "Sorry, babe." A snap of his fingers and a spark of Spirit Magic arranged two sets of tes and cutleries in front of their chairs.

    "What are you doing?" She asked.

    "My part?" He asked in confusion.

    "Did you leave Solus in the Desert?" Kam furrowed her brows, refusing to believe he could be that stupid.

    "No, she''s right here." Lith showed her the stone ring at his finger.

    "Then why set up the table for two if there''s three of us?" She stepped to the side, showing that she was cooking an extra serving of eggs and sausages. "Solus will need her strength in battle. She can''t fight on an empty stomach."

    "I didn''t want to bother you two." A feminine voice came out of the stone ring. "This is your home, not mine. The only times I''ve been here is when Lith brought me with him during your first dates.

    Solus still remembered how angry Kam had been when she had learned about her existence and how Solus'' intruding in the most intimate moments of their life had been the reason for their break up.

    She was afraid that her presence would stir those bade memories and make them argue, spoiling that moment of peace right before the storm.

    "What the heck are you talking about? How can my wife''s presence bother me?" Kam chuckled. "I even brought pastries from your favorite bakery."

    She took a small bag out of her briefcase, spreading the sweet scent of still hot cream puffs.

    "Are you sure?" Solus'' sweet tooth fought hard against her insecurities but lost miserably.

 Chapter 2027 Unpleasant Circumstances (Part 1)

    Chapter 2027 Unpleasant Circumstances (Part 1)

    "Fine. Solus Menadion-Verhen I hereby invite you into your home in Belius." Kam knocked on the ring as if they were speaking through a door.

    "What do you mean, my home?" Solus took her human form, timidly looking around.

    "I mean that you must stop feeling like an intruder. You are part of this family and of this marriage as well." Kam replied. "I don''t want you to think about this ce as a sanctuary you''re barred from.

    "It''s just like your tower, except that it belongs to me and has no special property aside from the happy memories it holds."

    Before Solus could reply, Kam took a step forward and embraced her.

    "I want you to consider this apartment as your home. The three of us have no memories together here, but that doesn''t mean that we can''t make them from now on."

    "Thank you." Solus held her tight, fighting back an insistent tear that wanted to be shed.

    "Don''t thank me. It''s not me who''s going to risk her life for Belius. I''m the one who should thank you. Lith''s deal with the Royals doesn''t benefit you yet you are shouldering its burden without asking anything in return.

    "Thank you, Solus."

    "You are wee." Solus'' voice almost cracked with emotion.

    "I know that I''m being selfish, but I have to burden you with one more favor. Please, look out for Lith on the battlefield. I''m too weak to follow him and he always bes reckless once he sees red. You are the only one I can count on." Kam said.

    "I will." Solus replied, taking a step back to look around with new eyes. "This ce is a bit cramped for three, though. Where am I supposed to sleep?"

    "We can take the bedroom and Lith can sleep on the couch." Kam shrugged.

    "Yeah, I can- Wait, what?" Lith said in confusion.

    "You heard our wife." Solus wrapped her arm around Kam''s hips. "She''s already tired of you and it''s my turn now."

    ***

    The breakfast went smoothly with lots of joke arguments about how they should have taken turns using the bathroom and doing the chores. Even with the Sage Staff hung at her neck, Solus could only keep her human form for a brief time so she returned in her ring form as soon as she finished eating.

    Kam had to leave a little less than one hour after her arrival.

    "Why so soon?" Solus asked.

    "Belius, Prode, and Vesta are all being evacuated." She replied. "There''s no telling how the battle might go and in the case we lose, the Royals don''t want to leave behind anyone or anything that might help the conquering army."

    "Isn''t that pointless?" Lith didn''t agree with the decision. "If we win, Thrud just has to wait a few days for her Generals to be as good as new andunch a new attack. If we lose, what good there is in evacuating three cities if the enemy has entire regions to repopte them?"

    "It''s far from pointless." Kam shook her head. "If we win, the Awakened will use Invigoration on our troops. In just eight hours the Kingdom''s army will be back at its full strength while Thrud''s will be at its weakest.

    "With the bulk of her army out ofmission for days until the Golden Griffon restores their bodies, the Kingdom will have the perfect opportunity tounch a full-scale invasion and reconquer a lot ofnds, if not even attack the lost academy.

    "If we lose, without people to manage the cities, Thrud will be forced to spread her resources thin, and invading the rest of the region will take her much longer, allowing the Royal army to regroup and strategize."

    Lith had to admit that it made sense. Infiltrating and recapturing an empty city was easy. To properly patrol and administer a metropolis the size of Prode or even Belius, Thrud would need to leave a lot of her troops permanently stationed there.

    If all the three cities fell, she would need her entire attack force to keep them and her advance would be halted until she found a solution.

    "I came here to cheer up both of you and to take a few things, just in case." Kam needed help to bring the wooden chest and a few clothes through the gate.

    "If only dimensional amulets worked this would be much easier." She said with a sigh.

    "Yeah, and so would be conquering Belius." Lith replied.

    After sending her off, he returned to the main hall where most of the Awakened were either asleep or gone for a stroll. The tension of the imminent attack weighed on everyone''s nerves and they needed to unwind.

    Faluel was among the former, buried under enough fur quilts to make Lith sweat just by looking at her.

    "Are you sure there is going to be an attack today?" Lith asked the desk sergeant after two more hours of dreadful quiet.

    "Today, no, but there will be an attack sooner orter." A man in his mid-thirties replied while activating a holographic map of the area. "In her advance, Thrud focused on capturing Bika, the closest city to Belius with a Warp Gate.

    "Then, her army cleared the surroundings, ensuring a safe supply route in the case they needed to siege Belius. We have resisted the assault so far because the strongest fighters in the Kingdom have been sent as reinforcements when needed.

    "Now, however, with Prode and Vesta under attack as well, our resources are limited. That''s why you are here, Archmage Verhen." Thosest two words held an awkward mix of gratitude and disappointment.

    It was how most people in Belius felt about Lith. They couldn''t forget about the many good things he had done as a Ranger, making the cruel life in the north safer and easier.

    At the same time, they couldn''t forgive him for abandoning them and betraying the country either.

    "That''s all the more reasons for the Mad Queen tounch a quick attack instead of wasting so much time." Lith replied, ignoring those eyes that kept asking him the same question: why?

    "You would be right if Thrud''s armies had gained the same foothold for the other two cities as well. Luckily for us, she didn''t. Too bad she is also smart enough to know that she can''t press her advantage, yet.

    "If she were to attack now, we could receive reinforcements from Prode and Vesta, ughter her troops, and then focus on protecting another target. She''s biding her time in order tounch a simultaneous attack and cut us off from the rest of the army."

    "I see, thanks." Lith returned to the main hall where he practiced Demon Grasp until Faluel woke up.

    Then, he resumed his practice of Silverwing''s spells. Much to his surprise, Crank joined them as well.

    "My stomach is full, my body is rested, and my brain is bored to death." He said. "I''m not a team yer, but since we are going to be friends, I need to protect my investment."

    It was almost lunchtime when the rm resounded. The human soldiers and the mages ran to their respective positions on the city walls while the Awakened used their wings or Spirit Flight spells to reach the battlefield.

 Chapter 2028 Unpleasant Circumstances (Part 2)

    Chapter 2028 Unpleasant Circumstances (Part 2)

    Getting out of Belius on foot would have taken too long and Spirit Dimensional magic was too mana expensive. On top of that, to show their full prowess, Divine and Emperor Beasts needed an open space so they had been stationed far outside the city, at the fringe of the array field defending the city.

    Human Awakened and small-sized Fae, instead, provided support to the humans. They would be thest line of defense, making sure with Life Vision that no one opened a Spirit Gate inside the city undetected.

    Even with four wings and gravity fusion, Lith had a hard time flying without air magic. He was used to conjuring air currents to stabilize his flight path and fill his wings whereas now he could rely only on his training.

    ''I''m as graceful as a falcon with a stroke.'' He thought ''I''m so d to have kept a humanoid-sized form. This way no one will witness my pathetic performance from a distance.''

    His hopes for anonymity shattered when he closed in to his assigned position and found an entire regiment waiting for him. There were at least 3000 people, one-tenth of them mages, arranged in square formations.

    The area surrounding Belius was supposed to be t, but the mages had raised small hills entirely made of solid stone to both ensure them the high ground and have cover against powerful area of effect tier five spells.

    "Is it a bird?" A soldier said while pointing at Lith.

    "No, it''s too big." A mage replied.

    "A wyvern, then?"

    "Too clumsy. It''s¡­" Dread and surprise made her choke on her words as Lith came down and his features became recognizable.

    The Tiamatnded as lithe as an avnche, producing a thud and opening a crater below his feet.

    Spears rose like a forest of metal and wands were pointed at him from every direction. The problem of fighting against an army full of shapeshifters was that you couldn''t trust even your own senses.

    "Password?" The mage asked, the five rings on her right hand aimed at Lith.

    "Red Kraken." Hearing the correct answer made the soldiers sigh in relief but they kept pointing their weapons at him until theirmanding officer stepped in.

    "At ease." A tall man with blonde hair bearing the insignia of a colonel said. "Thanks foring, major Verhen. It seems that we are bound to meet solely under unpleasant circumstances."

    Lith immediately recognized colonel Varegrave.

    He was now in his mid-forties and several grey hairs streaked both his thick hair and beard. Everything else was identical to how Lith remembered Varegrave from their first meeting during the gue in Kandria.

    "Are you alright? From the way you flew here you looked wounded."

    The friendly voice didn''t match the steely gaze of the colonel''s blue eyes. He was honestly worried for Lith, but he assumed that it was only because the Kingdom needed him to be at his full strength.

    Just like in Kandria, the colonel seemed to be far from grateful for his presence.

    "Nice to meet you again, colonel." Lith offered him his scaly hand and Varegrave shook it only after a couple of seconds, feeling all eyes on him. "Don''t worry, I''m fine. It''s just Belius'' arrays doing their job."

    "Good to hear." Varegrave nodded with a satisfied smirk on his face.

    "What are you and your troops doing here, colonel?" Lith asked. "I thought I would take care of the vanguard alone."

    "No one in the army is alone, son." Varegrave replied. "Everyone here has volunteered to cover your back and make sure that you can safely fall back to Belius'' first line of defense."

    "And how are you supposed to do that, exactly?" Lith couldn''t understand how people who seemed to despise him so much could have chosen to stand by his side on the battlefield.

    "We may be just humans, but we have trained our whole life for this. As long as you take care of the Divine Beasts, we''ll make sure that no one else meddles with your fight." Varegrave paced around the Tiamat, studying his ws, scales, and tail, looking for any trace of the boy he once knew.

    Only when he stood in front of Lith did he find it. They now had a vertical pupil and were of many different colors, but his eyes were still the same.

    "What if I fail? What if the enemy is too strong for me alone or if I have to face two Divine Beasts at the same time? What will you do then?"

    "In such case, we''lly our lives on the line to buy you the time you need to recover your strength and run away." The colonel replied. "We won''t survive but I can assure you that the 3500 people assembled here canst for a couple of seconds, no matter the opponent we face."

    "What?" At those words, Lith saw the soldiers tense up with fear, yet their expression was full of pride for that ridiculous im.

    "You heard me." Varegrave said. "We know that your kind can instantly recover. My soldiers and I have volunteered to be your sword, your shield, and if necessary, your healing potion."

    Looking around, Solus recognized the soldiers and mages one by one. They came from all over the Kingdom and were all people who had met Lith at least once during his travels.

    What he had mistaken for hostility was the pain of his betrayal and the sadness at the idea that they wouldn''te back to their homes. For those people, Lith spelled the death of their enemies, but also their own.

    "After all, what are a few thousand loyal citizens of the Kingdompared to a 25 meters (82 feet) tall creature who can weave spells with his mind and heal from crippling wounds in mere seconds? Dust. We are nothing but dust."

    Varegrave''s pacing became furious, expressing the frustration he felt for being weak. All the years spent practicing magic, all of his rich battle experience, and his decades of service dwarfed by someone, or better, something, less than twenty years old.

    The soldiers and the mages felt the same, silently nodding as the colonel spoke.

    "Well, kid, today this dust is going to make the difference. I don''t care if you have to literally toss us in the eyes of your enemies. Do whatever you need to take down as many as you can. Did I make myself clear?" Varegrave stopped in front of Lith to stare him in the eyes.

    "Sir, yes sir!" Lith gave him the salute, then he turned to the troops and repeated the gesture.

    "Now, the least you can do for me is be honest. During that ambush of seven years ago did you kill Vgros to protect your little dirty secrets or was he really killed in action?" The colonel asked.

    "I didn''t kill him." Lith shook his head. "The Talons caught us by surprise and ughtered the Queen''s Corps unit. I survived solely thanks to my skills as an Awakened."

    "That''s a relief." Varegrave sighed, feeling a heavy burden being lifted from his chest. "Onest question. All those people who died in the camp, did you fail them on purpose or there really was nothing you could do to save them?"

 Chapter 2029 The Rise of the Demon Race (Part1)

    Chapter 2029 The Rise of the Demon Race (Part1)

    "I could have saved a few of them, but not everyone. I''m no god. My power has limits and back then I was much weaker than I am now." Lith replied. "Even if I could, I wouldn''t have saved them anyway."

    "Good." Colonel Varegrave nodded, making both the Tiamat and the members of his regiment stare at him in confusion.

    "Good?" Lith echoed, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    "Indeed. It means that even back then you were neither an idiot nor a monster. You were just a kid, dragged from his academy into a nightmare, who did everything he could to survive.

    "We all have seen what happened after Meln Narchat revealed the truth about him." Varegrave turned around to address the troops. "The same thing would have happened back in Kandria if major Verhen had single-handedly resolved the gue.

    "General Morn or some other idiot would have ordered me to capture Archmage Verhen and I would''ve done it because it was my duty. At that point, no one would have stopped the civil war and by now Thrud would be already sitting on the throne.

    "I know that hindsight sounds cheap, but let''s be honest. Even with no knowledge of the future, who among you would have forfeited their life and that of all the people you love for a bunch of strangers?"

    The members of the regiment looked at each other, realizing that someone so young with so much power would have either ended up as ab rat or be doomed to fight for a cause they didn''t believe in for the rest of their life.

    "Also, I asked him the truth and I got it." The colonel paced slowly among the ranks, his magically enhanced voice bellowing throughout the in. "I''d rather have an honest answer I don''t like than a convenient lie.

    "Major Verhen, Are you going to give it your all to defend Belius, or are you here just because of your deal with the Royals?"

    Lith thought about all the moments he had spent in Kam''s apartment. He relieved the memories where he had met the people who now stood in front of him. For Lith, they had been simply bystanders, people in the crowd he barely noticed.

    For them, however, even though they had never managed to speak to him, even though they had just seen him from a distance, it was enough reason to be in the most dangerous ce in the Kingdom.

    Each one of them owed Lith their lives or those of their families and they hade to return the favor, no matter the cost.

    "I''m here to protect my home." The Tiamat replied.

    "Wee back, Lith." Varegrave breached protocol by calling him by his name and patting his shoulders. "I won''t ask you to bring us back home alive, that''s impossible. Just make sure that our deaths count."

    The members of the regiment rhythmically stomped their right foot in agreement.

    "Iing!" One of the mages on top of a hill shouted and others soon joined his warning Free?ebn?vel.c?m.

    The keen eyes of the Tiamat could see Thrud''s army advancing quickly like a swarm of silver ants. The Emperor and Divine Beasts capable of flight circled around the ground troops, making sure that there was no mage ready to make death rain from above.

    Lith spotted what looked like a seven-headed Dragon, a Sekhmet, and a huge birdprised of ck clouds and bolts of lightning. There were others, but they were still too far away for him to see more than blurred dots at the horizon.

    "Fuck me sideways." He said as Solus confirmed to him that the enemy forces wereprised of over 10000 units and more kept marching forward by the second.

    They advanced slowly on the paved road, taking their time to get rid of the traps and the arrays that had beenid by the Kingdom''s forces in advance. Their purpose wasn''t to deal actual damage, just to stall for time and force the enemy Awakened to consume part of their strength.

    "Take cover and don''te out unless the enemy gets past me or I''m wounded." Lith said and Vgros had his regiment take position behind the artificial hills.

    The Tiamat stepped forward and away from them until he walked out of the elemental sealing arrays that surrounded Belius. In the past, they had helped him to keep the Void at bay by smothering its powers, but now they were just a hindrance.

    Lith''s Abomination side was now fused with the rest of his life forces and he needed to tap into their collective abilities if he wanted to win. The feathered wings on his hips unfolded, releasing the souls they contained.

    Trion, Locrias, and Valia took their respective equipment out of the pocket dimension as the mind link of the chains brought them up to speed. Lith consumed one use of Invigoration for each of them, bestowing them six eyes and the power of a violet core.

    Then, he let his golems, Trouble and Raptor, out as well. The Spirit Crystal in their chests worked akin to an emerald heart, pumping them with a spark of Lith''s life force that gave them the closest thing to sentience and a direct link with their master.

    They took position by his side so that when he called upon the Void, they acted as his anchors. The Tiamat''s life force resonated with that coursing through the golems, reinforcing the chains that erupted from his ck scales beyond their limit.

    The intangible constructs made of death energy plunged into the Void, reaching deeper than they had ever had as they scoured through the folds of time in search of the most capable individuals whose souls still wandered Belius'' ins.

    Varegrave and the members of the regiment felt the chilly air of the north be even colder as the sunlight seemed to flicker in front of the wave of darkness that erupted from the depth of Mogar.

    ''This makes no sense.'' The colonel thought as he found himself covered in a cold sweat and in goodpany. ''Shadows are just a phenomenon that urs when light hits something, not the other way around!''

    ck pools appeared from thin air, devouring sunlight as they grew in height and size until they resembled a living being. Some looked like humans, others Beasts or Fae, and some were creatures that could only be found in folk tales.

    The ckness gave the Demons a body, but no shadow until they had at least three eyes open on their faces. Then, nature seemed to take its course, only for the shades to start growing as well into a new Demon who spawned their own chains, starting the process anew.

    Lith roared with effort as he tapped into the energy that he had stored inside the golems to increase his ranks from dozens to hundreds of Demons of Darkness. They formed an orderly line in front of the artificial hills.

    An army of living darkness stood as the first line of defense against the shimmering light that the Adamant equipment of Thrud''s soldiers shed on the reddish in of Belius as they advanced under the morning sun.

    Once the energy inside Raptor and Trouble was spent, Varegrave counted at least 1000 Demons, making for one-fourth of the total troops.

 Chapter 2030 The Rise of the Demon Race (Part2)

    Chapter 2030 The Rise of the Demon Race (Part2)

    ''They might be undead, but they are not going tost long against a well-trained army without-'' The colonel''s train of thought derailed as a wave of Lith''s hand conjured a wave of emerald fire.

    All kinds of weapons and armor came out of the mystical zes. A sea of silver, Orichalcum, and Adamanty in front of the Demons, but it was far from enough for all of them.

    "Those who are the strongest among you, pick one weapon and one armor each." Lith panted as he consumed two more uses of Invigoration to replenish the golems. "Yours is no privilege. Your duty is to y the enemy and retrieve their equipment for your brethren."

    A ck light shed through the chains, from each Demon to Lith and from him to the rest of their fellow undead, connecting them all in a mind link so powerful that for a moment their consciousnesses merged into a hive mind.

    There was no need for talk or banter. Everyone knew by instinct what the others were capable of and established the hierarchy among the ranks.

    It wasn''t the oldest or the strongest of the souls who ended up wearing the enchanted metal bearing the Verhen''s family crest, but those who despite the passing of time still retained their sanity.

    With it, they could think, reason, and use the modern magical knowledge they gained through Lith to its fullest.

    "First of all, allow me to thank you for answering my call." Lith said while assuming his full size as a Tiamat now that both he and the golems were back to their full strength.

    He could have spoken to his Demons through the chains that bound them to him, but his words weren''t addressed to his troops. Lith knew that somewhere, there had to be a mage recording everything and projecting it in real-time for the Royals.

    He wanted people like Meron, Varegrave, and everyone who was afraid of him to know that his Demons weren''t just puppets. They weren''t mindless ves, bound to his will for no reason and forced to obey his everymand.

    They were there because they wanted to and did only what they believed it was right. Death had already stripped them of their bodies and names, Lith wouldn''t let them be deprived even of their dignity.

    Not after experiencing their lives through the chains and feeling how much pain they had endured both in life and death. Call of the Void let Lith conjure restless souls at will but it also made him share their sufferings.

    He knew how each and every one of them had died and why they still walked Mogar.

    No matter who they had been or when they had lived. They fought for him to protect the Kingdom and deserved the same respect of every man and woman who that day would do the same.

    "Many of you died before the Kingdom was even founded, so this is not your war. The people who loved you are long dead, the lords you had sworn your loyalty to have fallen, and the dreams you''ve fought for have been forgotten by history.

    "Yet you havee to me, knowing that I can neither change the past nor give you another shot at life. You have defied fate, choosing to bear my chains and fight so that others could live. For that, you have my gratitude.

    "Know then, that today I didn''t call you here to kill, but to protect. To protect the people who I love, the ce I call home, and the dreams that I dare to keep alive. I called you here to ask you to fight for them with the same fury you fought for your own!"

    While Lith caught his breath, the Demons drummed the ground with their feet, making it quake and producing a boom of thunder that could be heard from kilometers away.

    "We are the proof that death isn''t the end and destiny doesn''t exist. It''s ours to make. Others may have chosen for you how you lived and died, but in the end, it''s only by your own will that you are here today.

    "No matter the race or the era you belonged to, now you are all Demons. We are born from the primordial Void that marks the beginning and the end of all life. Let''s remind Mogar why the light fears the darkness!"

    The Demons roared in unison as those on the first line wore their equipment. The armor disappeared under their ck skin, making the shining silver of the enchanted metal turn into a dull ck.

    The souls of the dead fused with their equipment, shapeshifting the armors in the form of the clothes they wore when they were still alive. Soldiers from past ages stood side by side.

    Some had fought for Valeron to conquest the Ker region. Others had fought against him to protect their homnd. Many of them had lived and died before the First King had been born.

    The only thing all the Demons had inmon was that they had died fighting to protect that barren, inhospitable piece ofnd that they called home.

    Thrud''s army saw the ck mass in front of them, but their advance proceeded unabated.

    The invaders were too far away for any kind of spell to be effective and thanks to the Divine Beasts scouting the area in front of them, it would take but a Blink to send back any physical projectile.

    The Demons snarled at the approaching enemies, digging the bleak soil with their talons in frustration. Lith had them hold steady until he could see the end of Thrud''s army and assess its numbers.

    From the distance, the troops looked like a several hundred meters long silvery snake that slithered from the horizon toward Belius. They raised no dust and made no sound.

    The sunlight reflecting on their equipment made it hard to focus the gaze on them, distorting their figures and making them look like mirages.

    "Fuck me sideways." Only then did Lith notice a second snake advancing in the sky.

    It was ck,prised of thunderclouds filled with the harsh cold of winter even though spring was already advancing into summer. There were only three Divine Beasts at the head of the army because the others were busy herding the clouds that usually surrounded ciers.

    Thrud''s n was to bring along a true storm that would produce a barrage of natural bolts of lightning and hail. The clouds were kilometers high, outside the area of effect of Belius'' protective arrays.

    Once put into position, the Divine Beasts would unleash the storm''s fury on the city, making it fight for them as they strengthened and controlled it from the sky. To make matters worse, the army advancing on the ground was dozens of thousands strong.

    ''We have never faced odds like this, but we have at least to try.'' Solus said via their mind link.

    The battle seemed lost before it had even started, but she wasn''t willing to give up. Not only because it would mean breaking Lith''s deal with the Royals but also because she didn''t want to lose the home she had just found.

 Chapter 2031 Battle of lmmortals (Part 1)

    Chapter 2031 Battle of lmmortals (Part 1)

    Until a few hours ago, Belius had been a foreign ce to Solus. It was where her life and Lith''s had started to diverge, making her feel like an intruder every time she apanied him to Kam''s apartment.

    Yet now Solus had one good memory of Belius and was eager to make more. To be part of that side of Lith''s life she had been excluded from for so long.

    The Tiamat silently pointed at the first line of enemies and the battle began.

    The armored Demons spread their wings and took flight while the rest of them seemingly disappeared into thin air. The flying Demons charged at high speed, using their aerial mobility to make their trajectory unpredictable.

    They kept themselves just a few meters above the ground, to avoid drawing the attention of the Divine Beasts and not offer the enemy mages an easy target.

    The soldiers of the Mad Queen raised their hands, unleashing a volley of fire, ice, and lightning. Much to their surprise, the Demons abandoned their formation and spread around the first battalion.

    Most of the spells missed their targets but now each unit of soldiers could focus on a single enemy. The numerical advantage had just gone from huge to overwhelming.

    Or so they thought until the Demons threw themselves at the enemies. This way, any high-tiered spell aimed at them would hurt one Demon and several of Thrud''s soldiers at the same time.

    The soldiers simply raised their shields, stopping the Demons from breaking their ranks while those right behind them used their long spears to push them back.

    ''Interesting but pointless strategy.'' Iata the Sekhmet thought while keeping an eye on both the vanguard and the Tiamat, waiting for the opening that was bound to appear when he joined the fray. ''All of our soldiers are Awakened.

    ''Their cores are yellow at best, but they can still use both Life Vision and Invigoration. Even if the Demons are individually stronger, our soldiers cannot be taken by surprise and it takes them the space of a single breath to heal any injury they might suffer.''

    Thrud had emptied the prisons of the regions she had invaded and conscripted the known criminals because she considered them expendable. There was no ce for them in her future Kingdom so instead of executing them on the spot, their sentence would be carried on the battlefield.

    The Unwavering Loyalty arrays made them ves to her will and had allowed them to endure her harsh training that would have killed a non-Awakened human. They had be soldiers for just a few months, but their fighting spirit, teamwork, and willingness to sacrifice for the cause made them a force to be reckoned with.

    Just as Iata predicted, the majority of the Demons were easily repelled and nailed to the ground by the enchanted weapons. Only a few managed to slip past the shields due to luck yet they were quickly surrounded and disposed of.

    It was then that the members of Thrud''s vanguard suddenly screamed and died by the dozens. Three pirs of elemental energy erupted from Trouble''s eyes, piercing through the raised-up shields and tearing the formation apart.

    At the same time, Raptor exploited the opening tounch its jagged tail forward. The backline soldiers hastily used earth magic to conjure stone walls, but the Golem maneuvered the tail to move it around the barriers.

    Its adamant coated tip pierced through the armor of the first victim and kept moving forward as the different sections of the tails sprung forward, extending it further without losing momentum.

    The skewered soldiers used darkness fusion to ignore the pain and their weapons to cut the tail stuck in their bodies, but the moment Raptor realized that it could move no further, the Golem ignited the tail with the tier Five War Mage spell, Final Eclipse.

    The dome of ck fire and the elemental pirs of the Balor exploded amid the enemy lines, scattering the soldiers to the wind.

    ''This is idiotic!'' Iata thought. ''The attack barely killed one-tenth of the first battalion but also all of his armored Demons. Verhen-''

    Then she saw it. The Demons of Darkness were still alive, standing amid the smoking craters as if nothing had happened. Those who had been injured were healing thanks to the Golems injecting them with new energy. .

    The Sekhmet was too high in the sky to notice that Lith''s Golems and Demons had his own energy signature. The initial charge''s aim wasn''t to kill, but to make Thrud''s soldiers close their ranks.

    This way, once Trouble and Raptor unleashed their attacks, they would have hit as many enemies as possible while leaving the Demons unscathed.

    Before the troops could recover from the surprise, ck hands erupted from the ground, revealing what had happened to the rest of Lith''s soldiers. They hadin in wait below, outside the range of the enemy''s Life Vision.

    As soon as the Golems had provided them cover with the mana of their spells, the Demons of Darkness hade out, taking the equipment and the bodies of the fallen enemies or finishing off those who had been gravely injured before they could recover.

    "No, you don''t!" Iata the Sekhmet dived below to keep the Demons from arming themselves at the expense of her army.

    At the same time, she kept an eye on the Tiamat, to make sure not to offer her back to him.

    Yet Lith remained still, seemingly not interested in the fate of the battle. Iata''s gut told her that something was wrong so she charged herself with Life Maelstrom and conjured the Mage Knight''s tier four spell, Full Guard.

    A violet aura spread around her body for dozens of meters, granting her perfect awareness of her surroundings as if she had eyes all over her body.

    Then, she unleashed the tier five War Mage spell, Rot and Wither.

    The spell used the darkness and earth elements to turn the road below the first battalion into a hungry maw that attacked both the Demons and the corpses, offering Thrud''s soldiers the cover they needed to regroup.

    Darkness was the bane of Abominations and could stop even creatures whocked a physical body. Once infused in the earth, it would offer further protection to the members of the vanguard while also keeping the Demons away from their prize.

    Without equipment, their strength would be limited and without bodies to possess, they wouldn''t be capable of evolving into Demons of the Fallen. Yet Rot and Withersted for one second before fading away.

    In its ce shone a six-pointed blue star with two extremities lit. At first, Iata mistook the unknown array for Silverwing''s Hexagram, but then she noticed that something was off.

    Not only were the runes different from how she remembered them, but the energy of her spell had been absorbed instead of scattered. While she was still making heads or tails of Yurial''s Hexagram, Lith took a deep breath.

    An orange light moved from his neck to his lungs while a yellow radiance reached his heart. Then, they moved respectively back to his mouth and to his feathered wings. Two different kinds of Cursed mes erupted from the Tiamat''s body, attacking Thrud''s army and her general at the same time.

 Chapter 2032 Battle of Immortals (Part 2)

    Chapter 2032 Battle of Immortals (Part 2)

    Origin mes were powerful, but they moved no faster than regr fire. On top of that, they were supposed to lose cohesion after moving too far away from their caster, making them good only for close-quarterbat.

    Cursed mes, instead, were focused like aser and so quick that even with Full Guard warning her, the Sekhmet managed to react by the skin of her teeth. She attempted to Blink but the Hexagram absorbed the spell, adding the energy to its own reserves.

    Iata was forced to conjure at thest second a Tier Five Spirit Barrier that saved her life at the expense of a lot of her mana. The spark of Corruption in Lith''s Nether mes created distortions in electromaic forces that held matter together, making it copse under its own weight.

    Spirit Magic was pure energy but to keep the Cursed mes from harming Iata, it required the same amount of power they held and to focus it exactly on the point of impact.

    ''It doesn''t matter. I''ve still got a lot of mana and now that I know how it works-'' Once again, the first attack was only a distraction.

    While the Sekhmet was busy, Lith''s feathered wings had produced a jet stream of Noxious mes, aiming them in the space between the first and the second battalion.

    The spark of Choke turned the air into a powerful acid, isting Thrud''s vanguard from the rest of the troops and making it impossible for them to escape.

    By the time Iata realized what had happened, many Demons of the Fallen had been born. Strong of their physical bodies, they used the weapons they had collected to kill more soldiers and feed them to their brethren.

    The soldiers of the first battalion sacrificed their lives to give the mages the time to conjure their spells but the Hexagram absorbed all elements but earth and darkness.

    The advance of the army was forced to a halt while the troops of the second battalion retreated to escape the Noxious mes and searched for a way to smother them.

    Thrud''s soldiers needed just a few breaths to recover even from crippling wounds while Lith''s healed the moment they grabbed an enemy. Their Abomination Touch restored even a Demon on the verge of flickering away.

    At first, the silver and the ck army seemed to be locked in a cycle of death of rebirth. Yet while the dead soldiers stayed down, the golems would share a spark of Lith''s life force with a fallen Demon to raise them again.

    Trouble and Raptor kept themselves at the opposite sides of the battlefield, conjuring arrays that negated the darkness and the earth element, forcing the enemy to use spells that ended up charging Yurial''s Hexagram without even putting a scratch on their target.

    Thrud''s mages were "students" of the Golden Griffon with centuries of experience that allowed them to quickly grasp their situation. They stopped casting elemental spells and switched to Spirit Magic, using mind links to conjure together arrays in the same time that a tier five spell would have taken.

    Barriers suddenly protected what was left of the first battalion while a hail of emerald bullets struck at the golems, stripping the Demons of their protectors. Many of them fell, but before fading they would Blink amid the enemy lines and detonate themselves in Void mes.

    The battle had started for less than a minute and the first battalion was already in shambles while the second was now under attack.

    The Sekhmet understood that the Demons were just a symptom of the Scourge called Lith Verhen.

    ''If I don''t take him out quickly, all those people will have died for nothing.'' Iata thought while charging at him.

    Thebined effect of Fusion Magic and Life Maelstrom turned her into a living meteor aimed at the Tiamat. He Blinked away but Iata could see the exit point of his spell with Life Vision and corrected her trajectory ordingly.

    ''I can''t take her head on. Our mass is roughly the same but between her momentum and bloodline ability, I''m nothing but a fly against a swatter.'' With no other way out, Lith activated the Spirit Barrier of his armor the moment Iata entered the range of his own Full Guard spell.

    The expanding energy field took the brunt of the impact and pushed Lith back to safety. The Sekhmet hit the ground so hard that the vibrations forced Varegrave''s soldiers to kneel to not lose their footing and raised a dust cloud visible from Belius.

    "I like you, kid." Iata emerged from the dozens-meters deep crater unscathed. "You are gutsy and smart, but you have overestimated yourself. Even if you manage to take down one battalion with your tricks, you can''t defeat a whole army, let alone me."

    The Sekhmet dashed forward by kicking the ground with her four legs, reaching a speed that Lith would have found hard to dodge even without the boost that Life Maelstrom gave her.

    He Blinked away and she followed suit, but when Iata came out of the dimensional opening, Lith was holding Double Edge in front of himself. The Blink had hidden the moment when Lith had taken the de out of the pocket dimension in order to catch her by surprise and use her own charge to impale her.

    Contrary to his expectations, her expression showed no fear nor surprise. A savage grin appeared on the snout of the Sekhmet when she realized to have met a worthy opponent.

    Full Guard gave Iata the awareness she needed while Life Maelstrom made her fast enough to tilt her head sideways at thest second, dodging Double Edge. Lith needed but a flick of his wrist to change the position of the de and aim at the Iata''s massive body.

    The Sekhmet snapped her head forward again, intercepting the lunge from the sides. Her head was covered by a thick golden construct conjured by Light Mastery, but she still used her horns to push the de away, just to be safe.

    The impact was so strong that Lith had to twist his body in an awkward position just to not lose the grip on Double Edge, leaving his body exposed. Iata''s charge struck him square on the chest before he could react.

    Despite the protection of the Voidwalker armor, Lith coughed out a mouthful of blood as the air was squeezed out of his lungs. The fight had finished as fast as it had begun.

    The Sekhmet''s four legs pinned him down to the ground, making it impossible for Lith to use body casting. Her ws pierced so deep into his flesh that any attempt to move would have ripped his limbs off.

    He still held War in his hand, but without an arm to swing it was just a big piece of metal, and with no air in his lungs, he couldn''t conjure any kind of mystical mes.

    Even though he had many spell holding rings on his fingers, at such close range Iata''s fangs would have ripped him apart before the elements even had the time to be conjured.

    ''Well yed, kid, but it wasn''t enough. You had power, wits, and a good n. The difference between usy in the quality of our armies.''

 Chapter 2033 Golden Knight (Part 1)

    Chapter 2033 Golden Knight (Part 1)

    ''I have expendable humans to spare whereas you have to defend those little Demons of yours.

    ''If you hadn''t been forced to split your focus between me and my troops, things might have ended differently. s, no one can be in two ces at the same time.'' Iata said with a mind link to not waste time chatting and go for the kill.

    Thanks to Life Maelstrom multiplying her strength tenfold, her Adamant-coated ws through Lith''s armor, scales, and bones as if they were paper. While the opponenty helpless on the ground, her maw opened wide to bite and rip off the Tiamat''s head.

    ''I always wondered if you are an immortal as I am and now I''ll have my answer.'' She said as her fangs clinked on the helm of the Voidwalker armor, dealing it no damage.

    While the rest of the armor was justprised of Dragon scales coated with Adamant, the breastte and the helm had been made using respectively Syrook''s skull and ribcage as a scaffold.

    It made them much sturdier and protected Lith''s vitals.

    ''Do you want to bet?'' He replied.

    ''On your immortality? That''s why I''m here.'' During their telepathic exchange, the Tiamat was drawing a useless deep breath.

    Iata had no stupid pride to uphold so instead of trying to crack the Dragon''s bones, she moved her mouth toward the much more vulnerable but still vital throat.

    ''No, about being in two ces at the same time.'' Lith replied as ck light seeped through his wounds and made that corner of Mogar a darker ce.

    The Sekhmet refused to fall for his bluff and bit as hard as she could.

    Blood spurted everywhere and pain blinded her vision when her fangs struck the wrong metal. Lith had released his hold, allowing War to jump into Iata''s mouth. Full Guard had warned her but she had chosen to bet on her speed rather than let her enemy free.

    Fusion magic and Life Maelstrom made her faster than any flight spell but she had failed to take the de''s intelligence into ount. War had simply slipped in and out of Lith''s dimensional pocket, choosing his neck as its exit point.

    Double Edge was now stuck between the open maw, its Adamant producing sparks as it shed against that of Iata''s mouthpiece. The cut was shallow, but enough for War to use its Counter Flow ability to damage the Sekhmet from the inside and make all the spells she had prepared for the fight fade away.

    To make matters worse, Iata could feel that somehow the enchanted weapon was trying to steal the Life Maelstrom coursing through her body.

    ''If this thing is already this strong, I don''t want to even think about what might happen if it gets empowered by my bloodline abili-'' Her train of thought derailed when she heard more screamsing from the battlefield.

    The Demons'' voices resounded with war cries whereas those of the livings were a choir of death throes. Iata wanted to turn around to understand what was happening, but she couldn''t afford to take her eyes off the enemy.

    "Who in the gods'' name is that?" Varegrave and the other two Divine Beasts in the sky said in unison while pointing a golden-d figure to their respective armies.

    Thrud''s second battalion had finally managed to smother the Noxious mes and had joined the battle. They had opened their ranks to allow the few survivors of the first battalion to take cover while the mages unleashed a volley of tier five spells on the Demons.

    It was then that a figure wearing a golden version of the Voidwalker armor had appeared. A wave of their hand had dispelled most of the iing attacks while a wall of light had blocked thoseprised solely of earth and darkness elements.

    For some reason, they were unaffected by the golden knight''s odd ability. The small figure spun an odd hammer, too slender to be a proper weapon and too small to be threatening.

    It looked like a ceremonial weapon, something that could be used in a forge at best. Yet with each cycle, it crackled with more and more power, making the gemstones it was studded with shine like suns.

    "Thanks, Yurial. I wish I had the opportunity to know you." The voice revealed the knight to be a woman.

    Her words made no sense to Thrud''s soldiers and so did her aura. They could see with Life Vision that the person standing in front of them was Lith Verhen, the same Lith Verhen that was struggling against Iata a few hundreds of meters away.

    The mages and the Divine Beasts conjured a second volley of spells that shattered the wall of light. Solus raised her hand again so the enemies focused Life Vision on her, expecting the tier five magic to disappear again and hoping to learn her secret.

    The gods fulfilled their wish in the worst possible way.

    The blue six-pointed star at Solus'' feet suddenly burst with light as it channeled through her small body the energy it had stolen. Yurial had derived his Hexagram from Silverwing''s and just like the original, it was a training ground to learn the Bastion and the Annihtion.

    Yurial had left behind in his notes several theories and suggestions about how to modify both the original Hexagram and his own in order to convert them into means of offense.

    Yet he was no Awakened and had no knowledge of Spirit Magic.

    It was the reason he had devised Immortal Fetters for the first version of Yurial''s Hexagram, converting the stored energy into a gravity spell that made use of all the six elements.

    Yet after their trip to Verendi and learning from Faluel how to cast Silverwing''s spells, a much better alternative had be obvious to Lith and Solus. It had taken them just a short time to learn how to insert themselves as the seventh point of the array and infuse it with the final element.

    Solus'' earlier gesture and the light show conjured by the Fury were just meant to draw the attention to her and away from the array. Everyone was so busy turning their head from Lith to her that they hadpletely forgotten about the blue array.

    The very same array that had nullified all those War Mage tier five spells, adding their power to its own in order to fuel something that only a white-cored Awakened could use alone.

    Yurial''s Annihtion burst out of the golden knight''s hand in the form of an emerald pir that overpowered the iing wave of tier five spells and cut the second battalion asunder.

    Even the spells of the Divine Beasts were dispelled by the sheer pressure of the mana surrounding Solus as the energy umted inside the array mixed with her Spirit Magic.

    The Annihtion turned everything and everyone it touched into memories, leaving scorched earth in its wake. The Orichalcum armors of the second battalionsted for a split second before being vaporized, allowing the emerald beam to move onto the third and then the fourth battalion.

    Amid chaos and destruction, Lith exploited Iata''s distraction to unleash a burst of Void mes from his entire body. The ck fire erupted from his opened wounds in the form of angry snakes that slithered through the gaps in her armor, reaching her flesh.

 Chapter 2034 Golden Knight (Part 2)

    Chapter 2034 Golden Knight (Part 2)

    Between the pain from War stinging at her from the inside and the Void mes eating at her from the outside, Iata didn''t notice Lith''s ming tail wrapping around her hind legs.

    The hold threw the Sekhmet off bnce while also giving Lith the leverage he needed to escape and regain his footing. He got up with a kip-up, using the same motion to strike with his head at her lower jaw and make War sink deeper in her flesh.

    ''What the fuck?'' Iata felt as if suddenly thews of physics had lost their meaning. ''How can Verhen be this strong? I had him pinned to the ground, and with Life Maelstrom empowering me, the gap in our physical abilities is abyssal.''

    She charged forward again in order to impale him with her horns before he could heal, yet Lith seemed to move even faster than the Sekhmet. He managed to regain his bnce and needed but a hand to force her to a halt by grabbing her head.

    "Begone." While his left hand locked Iata into ce, his right struck at her chin in an uppercut.

    The blow made her stagger and exposed her head to a left hook that sent her brain bouncing against her skull like a pinball. As the concussion clouded her vision, Lith lunged forward with his right hand.

    He grabbed War''s hilt again, twisting the de as he pulled it out. The motion freed War and almost cut off the Sekhmet''s jaw. Lith was about to decapitate her when a Seven Headed Dragon dived from the sky, attacking him from behind while conjuring seven different spells at the same time.

    Lith managed to dodge only thanks to Full Guard warning him and by Blinking right behind Iata, using her as a meat shield.

    ''Whoever this overgrown Hydra is may have seen my exit point, but now he has no way to make use of this knowledge without taking the Sekhmet out for me.'' Lith thought.

    Ufyl was on his same page so he used the willpower imbued within the spells to make them explode at a safe distance from Iata, blinding Lith''s mystical senses as he Warped her to safety.

    ''Get a grip, you stupid cat. You almost got killed.'' Like all those who belonged to the Hydra bloodline, the Seven Headed Dragon didn''t mind wasting mana. He needed just one head to use his breathing technique to recover it while the other six kept attacking.

    ''I had him, Ufyl. I swear.'' Iata replied. ''Despite that damn sword stuck in my mouth, I was about to rip Verhen into shreds when his strength suddenly grew beyond reason.''

    ''He didn''t get stronger, you idiot. It was you who got weaker.'' The Seven Headed Dragon used the mind link to show her how the Void mes had not only dispelled the Life Maelstrom, but also the fusion magic coursing through her body.

    ''We already learned about this when he stormed the castle of Mandia. How could you forget?''

    ''Easy to say when you have seven heads and are not busy fighting for your life.'' She replied.

    ''There''s no point arguing among us now. I''ll help you take down Verhen while Leari deals with the other Verhen.''

    ''What other Verhen? What the heck are you talking-'' The Seven Headed Dragon had just started bringing her up to speed via the mind link when two bolts of different kinds of Cursed mes split them apart.

    True mes turned the air into a scorching gas that kept Iata from recovering her strength with her breathing technique and burned her lungs. The Frozen mes just grazed their target, but the cold they radiated sapped the Dragon''s strength and almost sent him into hibernation.

    ''Just as I thought. All Dragons share my weakness to cold but Hydras fare even worse due to their lesser nature. It seems that not even evolving solved the problem.'' Lith knew that he had no chance of victory if he fought two Divine Beasts alone.

    He had to take them down one at a time and keep them from recovering or he would run out of mana faster than them. The Sekhmet and the Seven Headed Dragon took flight in opposite directions, their strategy simple but effective.

    No matter which one Lith followed, the other would have the time to recover and help the other as soon as they were done. Facing only two wrong choices, Lith created a third one.

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Yurial''s Annihtion was already fading away. The spell had an explosive strength and due to Solus'' blue core, there was only so much mana she could use.

    If the seven elements weren''t kept in perfect bnce, the Annihtion would implode. It could onlyst as long as its scarcestponent, Spirit Magic. To make matter worse, Leari the Stormborne had descended as well to stop the ughter.

    Her appearance was simr to that of a Phoenix, but her tail wasprised of two long tendrils and her feathers were of a dark grey that from time to time would shine with a white light from the inside.

    It was as if a thundercloud had taken the form of a bird and bolts of lightning were still brewing in its core.

    "I don''t know who you are but I don''t care. You are too weak to matter anymore." Leari stood in front of the second battalion to give the soldiers the time to reform their ranks and heal with their breathing technique.

    At the same time, she pped her wings and conjured a powerful wind that blew away the flying Demons and forced those on the ground to a halt. Solus was safe thanks to the mass she retained from the tower, but not for long.

    The purpose of the storm was to lock Leari''s enemies into ce as she activated her bloodline ability, Stormlight. Thunderbornes were one of the evolutionary branches that Sark had missed when she had turned from a Firebird into a Phoenix.

    Theybined the heat of the Origin mes with the electrical charges of Life Maelstrom to generate the violent streams of white sma that Solus had earlier mistaken for bolts of lightning.

    Stormlightcked the purifying ability of the mes and the empowering effect of the Maelstrom but its destructive power made up for it.

    The streams of sma moved too fast for the Demons to avoid them, destroying their physical form and their equipment alike.

    Solus conjured one wall of light after another to protect everyone but she was too tired from the Annihtion. The Stormlight pierced through her defenses before mming against an emerald sphere that enveloped her, sending Solus tumbling to the ground.

    ''Dammit, there''s not much I can do on my own.'' She inwardly thanked Lith for the Spirit Barrier of her armor. ''One shot is all that it takes a Divine Beast to take me down. Even if I manage to recover my strength with Sky Blessing, I''m no match for that thing.''

    Leari could see with Life Vision that while the golden knight had a weak core, her physical prowess was nothing to scoff at. On the contrary, most of the Demons of the Fallen had powerful magic but feeble bodiespared to hers.

 Chapter 2035 Golden Knight (Part 3)

    Chapter 2035 Golden Knight (Part 3)

    ''I have to keep the female Verhen at bay while using my superior strength to crush the Demons. If theybine their powers or conjure arrays, things can get ugly.'' The Thunderborne thought while focusing a second burst of Stormlight against Solus.

    While Trouble gave the fallen Demons the strength they needed to reform their bodies, Raptor ran to Solus'' side, helping her to stand up.

    ''Nice trick with the Annihtion, can you do it again?'' Locrias asked as he came out of the Golem that he had used as a safe haven against the sma storm.

    ''Yes, but I''d need more time than we have.'' She had given up on casting Yurial''s Hexagram again.

    The spell was stored inside the Mouth of Menadion so its casting time was significantly reduced but it would still take a while for someone without body casting.

    ''If we don''t stop this Divine Beast now, she''ll wipe us out. Time to start n D.'' Solus said via the mind link and Locrias ryed the message through the chains that bound him to the other souls.

    ''Copy that.'' The ex-captain, Valia, and Trion who still had all six eyes turned toward the Thunderborne and breathed a jet stream of Void mes in unison.

    Leari was still charging the second volley of her when she felt three powerful stings burn theyer of darkness that insted her physical body from the wild energy it produced.

    Void mes had a highly destructive power, but the small amount that a human-sized creature produced couldn''t deal much damage to a 25 meters (82 feet) tall Divine Beast.

    The Thunderborne wouldn''t have deigned their attack with a second nce if not for the rest of the Demons regrouping and taking a deep breath at once. One burst of Void mes was a pinprick, three a bother, but one thousand of them was more than enough to turn even a Divine Beast into a pile of ashes.

    ''Me and my big mouth! I had to jinx it, didn''t I?'' Leari thought.

    "Don''t worry about me! I''ll draw the enemy fire. You focus on destroying them while they are being so kind to gather." She actually said to themander of the second battalion who nodded in agreement.

    She pped her wings in order to put enough distance between her and the Demons to dodge the next volley or at least have the time to Blink away safely.

    s, the moment she took off, clearing the line of fire, she noticed two things.

    The Demons were still grouped in the same spot but they seemed to pay her no heed.

    "Oh, shit!" Leari saw their bodies brimming with ck light as their mouths opened toward the now defenseless second battalion.

    The silver lining was that if no one disturbed her, she could easily fry them all at the same time with Stormlight before the Demons attacked. The second item on her agenda, however, was a small lump of dead flesh and Adamant that was bolting towards her.

    During the fight in Verendi, Solus had learned the hard way that having an analytical mind and excellent equipment was pointless if she was incapable of hitting her target. No matter how good her n or how strong she was, if her strikes didn''t connect, she had no way to win.

    Thrud''s chosen had yet to reach the bright violet core but they were already at Lith''s level and too fast for a blue cored Awakened like her. It was the reason she had made some slight alterations to Raptor''s original blueprints.

    Now the Golem still acted as Lith''s general but also as her steed. While at full charge, Raptor''s power core granted the construct a physical prowess simr to a bright violet cored Awakened.

    The Adamant body would never get tired and instantly responded to her telepathicmands, acting as Solus'' limbs. The Vagrash had bolted at full speed on the ground and spread its wings the moment Leari had taken flight.

    Between its cloaking runes and Solus'' ring, the Divine Beast would have missed their arrival if not for sunlight glistening over Trouble''s body. The Thunderborne wondered what point could such an obvious frontal assault have.

    The answer was irrelevant so she simply adjusted her altitude, lining up Solus and the Demons in order to hit them all in a single strike. Stormlight emerged from her body true to its name, producing the roar of thunder and shining so bright that a second sun seemed to have appeared over the battlefield.

    Trouble folded its wings, using solely a flight spell to offer the smallest target possible as it dodged the sma discharges. Solus had fought at Lith''s side since she had memory and the mystical senses that the tower bestowed upon her exceeded those of her human body.

    Mana sense allowed her to see the energy arcs before they formed, her brilliant mind to predict their movements and where they would branch, and the mind link to tell the Golem how to avoid them.

    ''Run as much as you want, you are still rushing to your own death.'' Leari thought. ''The closer you get the harder avoiding Stormlight will be. On top of that, you are disregarding the fact that bloodline abilities aren''t that simple.''

    The Thunderborne waited for the golden knight toe so close that not even Blink could save her and then released a second volley of Stormlight. Bloodline abilities wereprised of world energy and life force which could be infused with willpower.

    A new barrage of sma bolts aimed at Solus and Trouble erupted from Leari''s body, following their every move in order to get rid of her, the golem, and the remaining Demons with a single burst of power.

    Solus threw the Fury that had been umting power until that moment and activated her own bloodline ability, Draining Grounds. Her tower half separated the world energy from the life force, turning Stormlight into a cascade of will o'' the wisps.

    The tower absorbed the world energy, filling Solus with new strength, while the life force contained in the attack was used to put a temporary plug on the cracks of her own.

    Leari''s eyes opened wide as her best weapon failed her when she needed it the most. When Thrud needed her the most. Draining Grounds exploited Stormlight''s vast area of effect to drain its energy from multiple points at the same time.

    The white sts disappeared when they were just centimeters away from the Demons, yet they didn''t bat any of their many eyes. They had experienced death once, they knew its touch and feared it no more.

    Their mouths opened in a choir of ck fire and light, fusing into an enormous pir of Void mes that struck right in the middle of the second battalion before detonating.

    The mages from the first battalion who had survived the previous battle and those of the second conjured several barriers of all elements, praying to their Queen that they would take form in time.

    Unfortunately, they were no light masters and the short time they had served under Thrud wasn''t enough to learn Spirit Magic. Ice crumbled, air strengthened the ck mes, earth was too slow to matter, regr fire was pierced like toilet paper, and darkness only turned more of the Void mes into Chaos.

 Chapter 2036 Golden Knight (Part 4)

    Chapter 2036 Golden Knight (Part 4)

    The Cursed mes killed dozens of soldiers at once while the explosion they produced upon impact killed hundreds and wounded even more. Leari was so shocked by the disappearance of Stormlight that she reacted to Solus'' attack one second toote.

    She struck at the creature''s chest with the Davross head of the Fury, making short work of the Adamant armor that was supposed to protect the Thunderborne. Both the enchanted metal and the ribcage underneath became covered in cracks.

    Leari''s wings spasmed as breathing had be agony, yet it was also her quickest way to recover. Solus recalled her weapon to her hand and moved past the Divine Beast, but not before throwing the Fury at the Thunderborne again in a backhand move.

    The Furies'' Flight ability activated, splitting the hammer into three which in turn split into three again.

    Each one of the nine hammers absorbed the surrounding world energy through the white crystals on their surface, working in unison to produce a powerful gravity field that gave the small heads of Davross the kic energy of a meteor.

    The first Fury struck the Thunderborne''s head, interrupting her breathing technique and forcing her to bend down. The second hit her square on the spine and the wings stopped moving. Four hit the wings, breaking them, while the remaining three Furies pummelled at the Divine Beast''s lower body.

    Every strike opened more cracks in the Adamant armor and opened new painful wounds, but none of them was strong enough to kill.

    ''If only I had a gods'' damned mana geyser at my disposal.'' Solus inwardly cursed. ''It doesn''t matter. I don''t have to win this, just buy as much time as I can.''

    While the Furies still harassed the Thunderborne, keeping her from recovering from her wounds and inflicting more, Solus brought her right hand to her neck and the Sage Staff returned to its full size.

    She inhaled deeply, using Sky Blessing to refill her mana and charge Raptor.

    Sharing the same energy signature as Lith allowed her to fuel the golems, but theck of his bloodline abilities made it impossible for her to replenish his life force stored in the Spirit Crystals.

    At the same time, she used the runes etched on the surface of the staff toplete those she had weaved with her mind and conjure the tier three gravity spell, Flipside.

    Suddenly the soldiers of Thrud''s second battalion found themselves falling upwards as gravity had been reversed and increased tenfold. Their screams echoed through the battlefield while their shining armors made them look like silvery stars that were visible from Belius'' walls.

    Then, the moment they reached the fringes of Flipside''s area of effect, the gravity changed direction again. Solus moved the center of attraction from the sky to the middle of the third battalion.

    The dozens of people caught by her spell were now falling under the effects of the amplified gravity, turning into living Orichalcum-coated projectiles. The impact killed barely a hundred people but the shockwave broke their formation, slowing the advance of the rest of the army.

    The soldiers and the mages stationed over the city walls rejoiced, cheering so loudly that the wind carried their words to Solus.

    In their voices there was no hate toward Lith or her. The people of Belius weren''t wishing for the death of their enemies either. Those were screams of hope and gratitude that warmed Solus'' heart.

    ''Mom was a great Forgemaster, but now I understand why people know about her work but arepletely oblivious of her life.'' She thought. ''By locking herself inside herb first and her towerter, Menadion abandoned Mogar.

    ''She was so busy studying magic and searching for new ways to enchant her creations that she forgot about everything else. Aunt Loka made many mistakes, but she realized that a true Forgemaster doesn''t just shape metal.

    ''If de Magic has taught me anything, is that a Forgemaster must shape people as well. Mom''s creations, Aunt Loka''s, and even Lith''s do that every single day, changing lives for the better.

    ''I want to be more than just my work. I don''t want to be forgotten ever again even if that means stepping into the light and fight!'' As her determination resolved, thunderclouds filled the sky, eclipsing those that the Divine Beasts from the rear guard were carrying around.

    The ground started to rumble, barely detectable at first but its intensity kept rising.

    What was left of the second and third battalion joined their forces, unleashing against Solus enough spells to fill the sky. She had no choice but to make Raptor turn around and flee.

    The Fury was back into her hand but it would have taken a while to conjure enough power to put a dent in Thrud''s army. Solus''s core was almost depleted again from the Gravity Spell and she couldn''t risk Leari recovering before she did.

    The people on Belius'' walls were still cheering, but she didn''t share their optimism. The first and second battalions had been decimated, but marching behind them there were many more.

    The storm clouds were slowly catching up with the vanguard and once they arrived, they would bring the destructive power of a winter blizzard and seven more Divine Beasts would join the fray.

    Lith felt the same way.

    He could sense through the chains that bound him to the Demons that their energy was waning and their numbers dwindling. Leari had destroyed more than his golems could reform but he didn''t have the time to go back and give his army new strength.

    He put his amulet away and chased the Sekhmet, hoping to catch her before she returned to her full strength.

    ''Smart kid. That''s why I like my opponents dumb.'' Iata inwardly cursed her bad luck. ''Yet Verhen is underestimating me and Ufyl too much. I may be weakened, but I''m far from helpless. Also, I now know all of his tricks while he has yet to see mine!''

    The Sekhmet had barely the time for a single full breath of Invigoration and she had to make do.

    Both her feathered and membranous wings pped in unison as he charged against the Tiamat instead of running away.

    Iata infused herself with Life Maelstrom again, making the red scales that covered her body crackle with silver lighting and the raging violet mes that surrounded her head like a mane double their size.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith inwardly cursed his bad luck. ''She has just be ten times more powerful and I''ve yet to learn if the sting of her tail produces acid like a Scorpicore or something even worse.

    ''If only she threw Life Maelstrom at me, I could Dominate it and even the field. That damn Dragon screwed up my n. So much effort and I''m on my backfoot again. The only silver lining is that I managed to use Demon Grasp a bit.''

    The Tiamat spread his Full Guard as wide as he could, hoping that it would be enough to dodge the attacks from an opponent much stronger than he was.

    Iata was wary of him as well.

    She knew about the Spirit Barrier of his armor and was afraid that if another st of Void mes hit her before the Seven Headed Dragon recovered, the next time she opened her eyes would be at the Golden Griffon again.

 Chapter 2037 Hidden Blade (Part 1)

    Chapter 2037 Hidden de (Part 1)

    Yet the Sekhmet didn''t slow down, conjuring several hard-light constructs at thest second and stacking them to form a dozen meters-thick spearhead. It enhanced both her offensive power and her defense, protecting Iata from the threat of the Void mes.

    As she got closer, the construct suddenly expanded forward, further increasing the attack speed. Lith was taken by surprise and barely managed to dodge. The spearhead barely grazed him but the impact was strong enough to send him flying and leave a wide dent in his armor.

    Iata turned around in mid-air and resumed the chase while Lith was still trying to stop tumbling.

    When the Tiamat dodged the second time, she altered the shape of the construct into that of a sea urchin. The spear turned into countless spikes, each elongating too quickly and covering an area too big for Lith to dodge them all.

    He had feared that something like that might happen so he covered his body with a hard-light construct of his own. Much to his dismay, however, Iata''s was much more powerful.

    The thin spikes pierced through the wall of light and even his armor, leaving many shallow bleeding wounds in their wake.

    ''What the heck happened, Solus? I''m certain that our level of Light Mastery isn''t that different and even if it was, how could she damage Adamant so easily?'' His questions met only silence. ''Fuck me sideways! I forgot that Solus is not here. I''m on my own.''

    When the Sekhmet returned for the third time, Lith activated the Spirit Barrier of his armor as well to focus solely on the attack and understand the secret of its strength.

    It was then that he noticed how Iata spread the Life Maelstrom from her body to the hard-light construct solely at the moment of impact and retrieved it immediately after.

    ''If Solus was here, I wouldn''t have fallen for this trick in the first ce and I would already have a counter.'' Lith hated smart enemies as well. ''Even if Scarlett or whoever her parent is taught her Light Mastery, there''s no way they knew about Domination.

    ''The Sekhmet can''t be afraid of me stealing the Maelstrom so the only possible exnation is that she can''t afford to go all-out. ording to what Faluel taught me, Griffon can only store so much world energy at a time.

    ''A Sekhmet must be no different so Iata has to save her bloodline ability for when they reach Belius.'' At first, the awareness of having an advantage made him smirk.

    Then, Lith pictured ten creatures like him strengthened by Life Maelstrom running toward the City Gate, and his optimism faded. If that happened, thebined attack of the blizzard from the outside and the Divine Beasts from the inside would spell Belius'' doom.

    On top of that, he realized why Iata seemed content with brief exchanges instead of looking for an opening. She was waiting for Ufyl to recover from the effects of the Frozen mes in order to kill Lith together with ease.

    ''I still have Ruin at the ready inside the Mouth of Menadion, but I''ll save it in case I can''t finish the Sekhmet off before the Seven Headed Dragon arrives. My de spell has a huge area of effect and it would be wasted on a single enemy.''

    When Iata attacked again, following the same pattern because sure that Lith had no way to stop her, he stood still.?

    ''I doubt he''s insane enough to y chicken with me. Verhen is probably going to wait until thest moment before Blinking. Once he get behind me, those Cursed mes would break my construct and snuff my Life Maelstrom again.

    ''A good n, but not good enough.'' Every single tactic that Thrud''s generals employed had been tested between them and with the Mad Queen herself.

    She hadn''t Awakened for much longer than them but with her over 700 years of experience, Thrud mastered most spells and techniques in a few attempts. After trying them out, she managed to find their weak points and suggest ways to improve them.

    Iata had trained a lot with the Queen and even though she had never won, she was confident in her skills.

    Or so she thought until Lith unleashed from point-nk range Scarlett''s signature spell, the tier five Spirit Magic Primordial Roar.

    The spell manifested the aspects of all elements, using air to create a powerful shockwave whose strength was boosted by fire. The explosive power of Primordial Roar turned the charge into a stumble and pushed Lith away.

    At the same time, water froze the humidity inside and outside the construct, earth locked the Sekhmet''s movements, light needles pierced her body, and darkness coated everything else.

    "What the heck? This spell is exclusive to the Scorpicore bloodline. Even I didn''t learn it because I wasn''t Awakened at the time. How do you know it?" The Life Maelstrom coursing through her and the construct had taken the brunt of the damage, but Iata stuttered every word.

    The cold numbed her body while the darkness was slowly eroding her strength. The hard-light spearhead was covered in cracks, yet it was her pride hurting the most.

    Lith''s answer came in the form of the index and medium finger of his right hand pointing at the Sekhmet as he unleashed his personal War Mage Tier Five spell, Final Eclipse.

    A thick sphere of violet mes imbued with massive amounts of darkness element surrounded him for a brief moment before focusing on his fingertips. Then, the sphere turned into a dense jet stream of ck fire that covered the short distance between them while propelling Lith further back.

    Iata snarled, needing but a thought to fix the cracks in her spearhead and resume the chase. Her spell was also a tier five and was imbued with Life Maelstrom. Light was one of the best defensive elements, second only to earth, and she was safe behind such an imprable wall.

    Unfortunately for her, Lith was a Light Master as well and knew how to deal with them. He had used Primordial Roar not only to gain more distance, but also as a cover to leave War behind to sabotage her construct.

    Double Edge was still in his hand, drawing the full attention of the Sekhmet while the small angry de had left the exoskeleton and nested itself inside one of the biggest cracks that Primordial Roar had opened on the spearhead.

    The moment Lith conjured Final Eclipse, War used its World Mirror and Counter Flow abilities to suddenly reopen those cracks. The fissure was small, but thanks to the bond with its master, the angry de guided the spell along the right path.

    The jet stream of ck fire was focused on the de, bing a thin yet densely packet pir of energy that slipped through the defensive wall. War fed upon the hard-light construct and amplified the power of Final Eclipse before making it explode inside the construct.

    The thick walls of light that were supposed to protect the Sekhmet turned into a prison, making it impossible for her to escape from the mes.

    ''Fuck it! The only way I have to not get roasted is to dispel the spearhead, but if I do that, I''ll get hit by the Void mes.'' Iata kept her cool despite the pain, saving herself from Lith''s trap.

 Chapter 2038 Hidden Blade (Part 2)

    Chapter 2038 Hidden de (Part 2)

    The Sekhmet used darkness fusion to ignore the pain, earth fusion to limit the damage, and light fusion to regenerate her flesh the moment it burned. Life Maelstrom coursing through her body allowed her to survive, but by the time Final Eclipse finally wore off, she had consumed half of the silver lightning.

    Soon she would need a third charge and after that, her reserves would be dangerously low, putting the sess of the mission at risk. Yet Iata knew that her defeat would have had even worse consequences so she gritted her teeth and aimed at the Tiamat''s heart.

    ''Are we getting desperate, aren''t we?'' Lith thought with a smug grin hidden by the scales covering his mouth. ''Now that I''ve put enough distance between us, I can dodge whatever you throw at me. Our situation is the same as before, but now it''s you can''t afford to wait.''

    He avoided Iata''s charge by a hair''s breadth and she conjured the hard-light spikes again to at least return some of the damage. The Tiamat didn''t move, letting them pierce through his body as he released gue Tempest.

    The bolts of darkness came out of his very wounds, using the spikes as a conduit to get inside the construct while countless others erupted from his scales. The darkness element was slow and would never catch up with the Sekhmet''s speed, but that wasn''t a problem.

    The gue Arrows that had gotten inside the spearhead were carried by the construct and struck Iata with ease, sapping more of her strength. At the same time, more bolts of darkness amassed around Lith like a school of hungry piranhas waiting for their prey.

    ''That cunning son of a bastard let me hit him on purpose.'' Iata thought. ''That damn sword is still stuck in my construct and if I keep attacking, I''d be the one taking the most damage.''

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Solus and the Demon army were retreating at breakneck speed. The short exchange with the Thunderborne had exhausted her limited reserves of mana while the Demons were starting to run on fumes.

    Using the Void mes consumed a lot of energy and many of them had been injured by Stormlight''s sma arcs. Without Lith giving them new strength, they had to rely on the Golems whose charges were limited as well.

    ''No matter how much damage we dealt, Thrud''s army is still advancing. The first battalion is almost gone, the second is decimated, and the third is halved, but they are stilling.'' She thought.

    ''They have quickly regrouped into a new battalion, using their breathing technique to restore even those on the brink of death. To make matters worse, I''ve lost the element of surprise and their mages have finished conjuring their arrays.

    ''If we hold our position, we''d be sitting ducks.'' Solus could see the various spells that the enemy army had prepared with the Eyes of Menadion.

    They were the perfect counter to the strategies that the Demons had employed until that moment. She needed time to use her breathing technique and to keep her forces away from Thrud''s.

    Solus was losing ground, but keeping an array at the ready was a burdensome task. She only had to wait for the mages to lose focus and then she would have to face mere yellow cored soldiers and their wands.

    Leari knew it as well so she furiously pped her wings to reach Solus before the worst happened. The Thunderborne had healed from her wounds, but she was still wary of the Fury.

    ''If that thing was big instead of pint sized, I''d be dead already.'' She thought in anger as she released a burst of Stormlight that burned down several small magical formations that Solus had left to cover her retreat.

    Varegrave still had no idea of who Solus was and how Lith could be in two ces at the same time, but he didn''t let such idle thoughts distract him.

    "Start chanting." He ordered the mages. "The moment that big bird is within range, I want you to shoot it down. We can''t let them reach the first line."

    ***?

    City of Valeron, at the same time.

    Lith was right about the fight being recorded and broadcasted by mages hidden in the area. The Royals, Berion, Vorgh, and all the Generals in the Kingdom were following the battle of Belius in real time.

    Vesta and Prode had yet to be attacked so they still had the time to adjust their strategy. As for Belius, the best minds of the Kingdom were working to increase its thin chances of survival.

    "The Mad Queen outyed us big time." Jirni said. "If that storm front reaches the city, it''s over. It must have taken days to gather clouds and turn them into a winter blizzard.

    "The cold will siege the city better than any army, weakening our soldiers and making it hard for our patrols to see."

    "It''s much worse than that." Jiza Gernoff said.

    The blonde Awakened made everyone feel uneasy, especially Jirni. The woman bore a striking resemnce to her and despite being much older, Jiza looked like Jirni''s younger sister.

    "It actually takes weeks to conjure a storm that strong and we can''t dispel it without spending the same time. Even if we could, Thrud has waited for the moment when the hot winds of springs would reach Belius.

    "When they met the clouds, we won''t have to deal with just magic, but the fury of nature. We have to prepare for a tornado as well."

    "But we can''t do that with the enemy already knocking at our doorstep!" King Meron hid his face behind his hands, uncaring if he appeared weak.

    "I meant Prode and Vesta." Jiza took hermunication amulet and contacted the weather mages in the area, confirming her suspicions.

    The three cities were experiencing a particrly hot breeze that would react with the unnaturally cold air with tremendous consequences. The mages stationed there immediately started to conjure arrays that would disperse the warm air and protect the cities in the case of a storm.

    "Not all is lost, Your Majesty." Jirni said. "Your n of sending Lith so far away from the Belius has created an opportunity for us. If we move all the troops forward and intercept Thrud''s army before they reach the city, we still have a chance.

    "Agreed." Jiza nodded with pride. "Without the Divine Beasts keeping the thundercloudspact, the storm will disperse. We just need to disrupt their formation long enough to scatter their spell so that when it reaches Belius, it will just make rain."

    "Wait." Jirni was listening to a weather mage who was exining to her how a tornado was formed. "We have an opportunity to counterattack and turn the tables. As you said, Belius is filled with hot air, correct?"

    Jiza nodded for her to continue.

    "If we push the spring winds toward the storm front, they''ll meet away from the city and right above Thrud''s army."

    "Brilliant idea!" Meron said. "Turning the enemy''s weapon against them. This way Belius'' arrays would protect the city from what little of the storm reaches it whereas our enemies would be exposed to its fury."

    "The problem is that we are short on time." Jiza said.

 Chapter 2039 Before the Storm (Part 1)

    Chapter 2039 Before the Storm (Part 1)

    "In Thrud''s shoes, I''d imbue the rain with just enough magical power to blind the mystical senses of us Awakened. This way, her soldiers will have no problem to Blink past the walls undetected and reach the Warp Gate." Jiza said.

    "If I''m right, the only battle that matters is the one outside the city. If we lose there, we''ll have no second chance and Belius will fall."

    ***

    Belius'' ins, now.

    Solus took one final deep breath, focusing on the Sage Staff''s ability to gather the world energy in order to regain her strength. Leari had kept throwing at her one spell after another, but Raptor had the reflexes of a violet-cored Awakened and nigh-infinite stamina.

    As long as Solus shared a bit of her energy with it, the Golem could go at it for days.

    The Thunderborne was about to emit a st of Stormlight, but stopped herself in time. She hadn''t forgotten how the golden knight seemed to be immune to world energy-based bloodline abilities.

    Even Origin mes had been easily nullified.

    "Run all you want, you can''t win." The Thunderborne dived on the ground, activating the tier five War Mage spell, Tidal Crash.

    The earth element turned the soil into semi-liquid so that the impact made the road ripple, bursting upward in a mud wave. At the same time, the air element produced a powerful st of wind.

    With its paws sinking in the mud and its wings almost ripped off by the shockwave, Raptor failed to dodge the spell and threw Solus out of the saddle.

    She tried tond on her feet, but a sudden white sh distracted her. Several bolts of sma were aimed at her, Raptor, and the Demons.

    ''By my Mom, I need to stop that, or all of my hard work will be for naught!'' Solus thought.

    While they ran away, she had infused Raptor with her mana so that the Golem could focus on recovering solely the energy for its Spirit Crystal and in turn restore the strength of the Demons.

    Solus needed her full focus to activate Draining Grounds and neutralize Stormlight, but to do that she fell head-first on the ground. A bit of energy started to flow inside her as the bloodline ability was split into its baseponents and absorbed.

    Oddly enough, the st of sma was very bright but had little substance. Then, a burst of Origin mes engulfed her and Solus felt pain like never before. Her body, her mana core, and even her tower half were burning.

    Darkness fusion couldn''t stop the agony that her whole being experienced while the mystical mes eat at her.

    ''I knew it that the kid was as green as grass.'' Leari thought. ''She was so focused on protecting everyone that she failed to realize that it was all a ruse. She couldn''t possibly absorb two bloodline abilities at the same time and even if she did, I made sure that she didn''t see the seconding.''

    In her sprawled position and with her mystical senses blinded by the light, Solus had missed the burst of Origin mes hidden behind the sma. Leari didn''t like leaving the front lines unguarded, but she had to make sure that the enemy was dead or they woulde back after a couple of deep breaths.

    While Solus screamed in pain, rolling on the ground in an attempt to smother the mystical fire, the Thunderborne prepared a new bolt of sma to finish her off.

    Three beams of elemental energy erupted from the Demons'' lines, cutting through both the ground and Solus in an upward arc before hitting Leari square in the chest.

    ''What the fuck? Why did they attack their own ally?'' Confusion and surprise made Leari miss her chance to dodge.

    At the same time, a silvery whip shed in front of her eyes, forcing her to step back.

    Yet with her legs off the ground and the elemental pirs still pushing her, she lost her bnce, falling on a side. Raptor used its fastest flight spell and rammed from below at the Thunderborne''s beak in an Adamant uppercut.

    Gravity magic doubled the damage from the impact and a timely gue Storm from the Vagrash-Golem tripled it. Trouble arrived a secondter, wielding a whip of lightning in its left hand and a ming sword in its right.

    Its three eyes shot non-stop, keeping the Divine Beast down, while the weapons searched for a vital spot under the cloudy mass of feathers that protected the Thunderborne''s flesh.

    Solus slowly stood up, fighting against the fear from the feeling of her body falling apart to keep her breathing rhythm steady and heal. Trouble had saved her in the nick of time.

    The odd trajectory of the elemental beams had been meant to smother the Origin mes without Leari noticing. In the heat of the battle, she had forgotten that Demons, Golems, and even Solus all shared Lith''s energy signature, making them immune to their respective magical attacks.

    "Is there something we can do?" Trion asked, his eyes down to five after having been destroyed once by Leari.

    "Buy me some time and conjure as much light element as you can." Solus spoke the words a bit at a time to not lose her breathing rhythm.

    "Will do." The chain in his chest be visible for an instant while Trion used it so call Valia, and Locrias.

    "Piss off, ant!" Leari had gotten back on her feet and swatted the golems away like flies.

    Their attacks were powerful, but the difference in size limited their effectiveness. On top of that, unlike Raptor that had been recharged by Solus, Trouble had fought non-stop on its own from the beginning.

    The three Demons went to their aid, each using a different version of Abyssal Gaze that had been slightly modified to suit their mana flow. Unlike the other Demons, they had received equipment tailor suited for them.

    It had taken the three former soldiers of the Kingdom countless hours of training in the Firing Range just to gain a grasp of de Spells and they were still far from casting one.

    Yet during practice, they had learned how to make their mana flow harmonize with that of their gear in order to draw the energy from the power cores. Demons were no different from the golems in their reliance on Lith to restore the lost mana.

    This way, however, they were capable of channeling part of the spells imbued in their equipment andbining them with their own, using the power cores as an auxiliary source of energy.

    Among the three of them, Valia was the strongest.

    She had died during Orpal''s attack on Lutia and Lith had collected her corpse after her soul had moved into his feather. It guaranteed her to always be summoned as a Demon of the Fallen and to have the best vessel possible.

    Valia, Locrias, and Trion could weave just a few de runes each. Enough to push their spells above the power of a violet core but no further.

    Leari had no idea what was happening but she scoffed at their slow spellcasting. Even while fighting with the golems, she had used body casting and now she had plenty of spells at the ready.

 Chapter 2040 Before the Storm (Part 2)

    Chapter 2040 Before the Storm (Part 2)

    The Thunderborne would have preferred to burn both golems and Demons with a breath of Origin mes but with Solus up again, she couldn''t risk to waste her strength.

    She conjured two tier five spells, Frozen Wind and Shattered Earth. The former took the form of several tornadoes filled with razor-sharp ice crystals while thetter caused the ground to erupt into pirs ofva, one for each enemy.

    ''Now!'' Locrias said via the invisible mind link that they shared through the chains.

    Four of their remaining eyes lit up in unison as they activated Domination andbined their willpower to wrest control of her spells and turn them against Leari.

    Solus and Lith had to be careful when using Domination. It was a skill known to few bloodlines that were jealous of its secret and wouldn''t hesitate to kill those whopromised it.

    On top of that, Thrud''s generals couldn''t be killed as long as the Golden Griffon existed. There was no way to shut their mouth and the risk that after experiencing its effects many times they might learn it.

    The Demons, however, had no such problem.

    Lith had spread the lie that it was a bloodline ability unique to the souls who answered his call and since he belonged to a newborn species, no one knew what the Demons could actually do.

    While the Thunderborne was forced to waste a Spirit Barrier to defend against her own magic, the ex-soldiers of the Kingdom had finished their chant.

    They had conjured the same tier four Light Mastery spell, Diamond Cutter.

    It generated a hard-light construct shaped like a drill that incorporated the hardest minerals in the ground tobine the speed of a light beam with the hardness of the earth element.

    The spells formed a triangr formation that attacked Leari from the front and the sides, leaving her no way out. The Divine Beast roared in annoyance as she was forced to keep her Spirit Barrier on and consume even more mana.

    ''That''s why Light Mastery is so annoying.'' She thought. ''Regr-sized spells and weapons are mosquito bites for those like me but the size of a hard-light construct can be adjusted at will.''

    At the same time, Solus kept her breathing technique active and focused on the light elemental gem of the Sage Staff to draw in the abundant light element of the morning sun.

    Once the energy reached a concentration that she could barely control, Solus converted it into her tier three Light Mastery spell, Sunburst. An incandescent pir of light the size of a train struck the barrier in the same point of the first drill construct.

    ''What the?'' Life Vision showed Leari that the two spells had the same energy signature so instead of shing, they ignored each other.

    Her shock only grew when Sunburst started to spin faster and faster, doubling the pressure that the drill applied to the barrier. Then, the energy from Sunburst seeped inside Diamond Cutter until the two spells be one.

    The speed and hardness of the drill increased again, piercing through the barrier before the Thunderborne could recover from the surprise. The spell stabbed her massive chest while spinning at high speed, sending blood and feathers flying around.

    With the Spirit Barrier weakened, the other two Diamond Cutter crushed through it, stabbing the Thunderborne''s wings and pinning her into ce. Darkness fusion allowed her to feel no pain, but if the main drill hit her heart she would have died.

    ''Good n, but not good enough!'' Leari unleashed Stormlight inside her own body, using it to destroy the constructs without the risk of Solus absorbing it.

    The Diamond Cutters met the bloodline ability head-on and were crushed by it. The Thunderborne roared in triumph as she unleashed one of Thrud''s tier five spells, Royal Blood, against Solus.

    It conjured a tidal wave of violet fire that spread in every direction, forming a sphere of mes that extended even below the ground, turning it into magma. Once the encirclement wasplete, Royal Blood started to shrink.

    The walls of fire became thicker while the air element imbued in the spell created chains of lightning that would paralyze anyone who tried to force their way out of the trap.

    Tier five spells could use only two elements at the same time, but the Mad Queen had devised Royal Blood so that it could add a third one with little extra mana consumption if the circumstances were right.

    The fire element had seeped and mixed with the earth, making it easy for Leari to manipte theva by spreading the willpower imbued in the fire throughout the molten ground.

    The temperature rose so quickly that the soles of the Voidwalker armor turned from golden to red. Despite the heat resistance of the enchanted metal and her enhanced body, Solus could feel the flesh of her feet sizzle.

    She clenched her teeth but refused to activate darkness fusion. After being trapped inside her stone form for over a decade, incapable of feeling anything, Solus embraced pain because it made her feel alive.

    She screamed in agony, but her mind remained focused enough to activate her tier five Light Mastery spell, Bright Arsenal.

    A giant hammer-shaped construct appeared out of thin air above Leari''s head while an anvil appeared below her feet, both created bybining the earth and light elements.

    The Divine Beast sidestepped, tripping on her own feet and taking the blow in full.

    Darkness fusion was a great tool in battle, but it was also a double-edged sword. Feeling no pain allowed Awakened to always fight at their best, but it also made it impossible for them to know when and where they were hurt.

    The hammer had been a distraction, drawing Leari''s attention while hard-light chains had bound her legs. Sword constructs stabbed in the space between the armor tes, making her bleed, while maces struck at her joins, crippling her.

    The number and size of the conjured weapons would have been enough to arm a battalion of Emperor Beasts and they all moved in unison,plementing each other''s attack.

    Solus had limited mana due to her blue core so her spells were capped by the amount of elemental energy that she could conjure. That was the reason she had asked the three Demons to do it for her.

    When the Diamond Cutters had been shattered into sparkles they had simply lost their physical form. Energy can''t be created or destroyed, only transformed. Solus had collected the light element before it returned to the world energy and used it to cast Bright Arsenal.

    Leari''s vision blurred from the blood loss, yet she could still see it.

    She could see a pir of white and golden lighting down from the sky like the finger of an angry god and piercing through Royal Blood. She could see a figure about 1.8 (5''11) meters tall and covered in golden scales standing in the middle of it.

    Two sets of wings came out of Solus''s back, one membranous and golden while the other seemed to beprised of hair that had been knotted and twisted to resemble feathers of the seven colors of the elements.

    Her hands now ended with razor-sharp ws and long horns that resembled thick tree branches rested on the sides of her head.

 Chapter 2041 First Blood (Part 1)

    Chapter 2041 First Blood (Part 1)

    A golden tail as thick as a leg and almost twice as long came out from the small of Solus'' back, whipping the air in pain.

    The creature''s face was also covered in scales, her only visible features were two golden eyes and a lipless mouth filled with pristine fangs that gave her an even more savage appearance.

    Leari made Royal Blood shrink faster while also taking a deep breath to use Origin mes to free herself in the case the mysterious pir protected Solus from harm.

    She was so focused on the world tribtion to have forgotten about Valia, Locrias, and Trion. The three Demons hurled a burst of Void mes each, burning her flesh and interrupting the flow of darkness that had shielded the Thunderborne from pain.

    The sudden agony made Leari scream, losing her focus. Royal Blood faded and no mes came out, only death throes.

    Solus opened her arms, making part of the earth element thatprised the hammer and the anvil turn into air. The Thunderborne was still trapped between the constructs and couldn''t avoid the stream of bolts of lightning that moved from one to the other in an endless cycle.

    The electrical current sent her into a seizure, paralyzing her even when Solus lifted the hammer. She sped her hands, giving the constructs opposite charges as she dealt the second blow.

    The hit bent the armor and crushed the bones that it was supposed to protect. Leari was already dead but Solus kept attacking until the Thunderborne''s body started to disappear.

    Only then did Solus raise the staff and the Fury in triumph, using thest bit of energy she had to cast a spotlight on the corpse, making known to everyone that the Kingdom had shed the first real blood of that battle.

    Thrud''s army stopped their advance in disbelief as the Divine Beasts in the sky had to rearrange their formation to send reinforcements to the front. Varegrave and all the people on Belius'' walls rejoiced, embracing the person closest to them.

    Lith, Ufyl, and Iata stared at the scene in amazement, almost forgetting about their own situation.

    ''Fuck me sideways! Why a tribtion now of all moments?'' Lith thought. ''What happens if Solus fails it? Can she die?''

    Her life force was bound to his which either meant that Solus''s tribtion was safe or that to kill her Mogar would also kill him in the process.

    "Leari, you idiot!" Iata''s voice was filled with rage.

    She didn''t care for her fallenrade, knowing that the Thunderborne would just reform in a few days inside the Golden Griffon. The only thing she worried about was the n to conquer Belius.

    With one Divine Beast less it would have been much more difficult to pass through the Council''s defenses.

    Lith charged at her, to finish off the most wounded opponent before the Seven Headed Dragon could recover. War was still stuck in her construct which crippled its defensive abilities but also made Double Edge much less dangerous.

    Without the angry de, Lith could still use it as a weapon or to bluff, but nothing else. gue Storm''s bolts of darkness followed him and each one of his scales emitted more by the second topensate with quantity theirck of speed.

    Much to his surprise, Iata charged forward as well.

    Lith aimed his lunge to the point where War was hidden to shatter the barrier and recover his weapon. Iata reacted by making her construct explode, sending everywhere shards of light that blinded his vision.

    ''I can''t see something as small as that damn de even with Life Vision due to the energy of my own spell. If I can''t rely on a construct, I might as well get rid of it.'' She thought.

    The de swing met no resistance, throwing Lith off bnce. Iata exploited the opportunity to strike at him from multiple sides. She intercepted Double Edge with her maw, locking it into ce while she struck with all of her four legs and her tail.

    Unlike many of her fellow Divine Beasts, she had refused to take human form because she considered it to actually be a disadvantage, especially during aerialbat.

    Creatures like the Tiamat needed one if not both hands to swing their weapons and their stances made the rest of their libs useless. The Sekhmet, instead, had a shorter range of attack but once she closed in to the enemy, she could perform six attacks at the same time.

    Lith could predict the trajectory of all of them, but unless he let go of Double Edge, he had no way to dodge. Yet if he did, nothing would have stopped Iata from storing it inside her dimensional device.

    The Tiamat snarled, twisting the de to free it while releasing the full might of gue Storm.

    ''There''s no way I let this fucker steal the fruits of years of hard work. Let''s see whoes out worse from this exchange.'' He thought while also breathing a burst of Origin mes.

    The Sekhmet''s Adamant-coated teeth screeched but didn''t let go of Double Edge, allowing her attacks to hit their mark. Her ws opened deep wounds on Lith''s thighs and arms while her tail aimed at his exposed heart.

    On the other hand, the swarm of gue Arrows ignored her defenses and seeped inside her body, draining her strength. At the same time, the Origin mes burned through her armor and ate at both her body and mana.

    Lith took the ws, waiting for Iata to be too weak to keep holding Double Edge and decapitate her, but he couldn''t afford to ignore the tail. He remembered well how powerful the acid of a Scorpicore was and there was no telling how much stronger it might have be after the evolution into a Sekhmet.

    The Tiamat used his own tail to p Iata''s away and coiled around it to prevent any further attack. The sting suddenly turned at what was supposed to be an impossible angle and struck Lith''s tail.

    The acid spread like wildfire, dissolving muscles and tendons. The Tiamat couldn''t feel pain thanks to darkness fusion, but without nerves, he couldn''t control the tail that kept taking more acid until it fell off.

    Lith stared in horror as the sting sprung forward for a second time. He used gravity fusion to be heavier and put all of his strength in a downward sh. Between the mes, the unrelenting onught of gue Arrows, and the sudden pull, Iata''s maw broke open.

    Even without War, Double Edge was still made of purified Dragon bones coated in Adamant. The de dislocated the jaw, almost ripping it off, and cut through the weakened armor like a knife through butter.

    It cut deep from Iata''s sternum down to her soft underbelly while her tail missed its target and hit Lith''s left shoulder instead of his heart. As Iata fell down to the ground, Lith followed her to the best of his abilities to finish her off.

    His left arm hung limp and the missing tail gave him a hard time finding the proper bnce to fly in a straight line. He was about to strike when Full Guard alerted him of a new threat.

    Several emerald bolts of energy filled the air between him and Ufyl.

 Chapter 2042 First Blood (Part 2)

    Chapter 2042 First Blood (Part 2)

    The Seven Headed Dragon had recovered from the damage Lith had inflicted him with the Frozen mes for a while, but had kept himself out of the battle to better study the Tiamat''s spells with his Dragon Eyes.

    Now that he had a clear grasp of Lith''s abilities and reaction time, he had moved for the kill. Manastorm covered an area too big to avoid it with Blink and even if Lith managed to evade the onught, the willpower-imbued bullets would have chased him.

    With no other option, Lith activated the Spirit Barrier of his armor, but the violence of the countless impacts sent him off his intended trajectory.

    Ufyl grinned as he got closer, unleashing both Final Eclipse and gue Storm.

    "Show me how to defend against these spells, kid. The army of the True Queen epts all contributions, no matter how small." He said with augh.

    Lith flipped him off in reply, adjusting his fall so as tond near his tail. Reattaching a limb would have taken much less energy and time than growing a new one from scratch.

    "Oh, no you don''t!" Three of Ufyl''s mouths unleashed as many bursts of Origin mes.

    The columns of fire twisted and turned,bining into a single fiery vortex that surrounded the ck mes of the Final Eclipse so that the two attacks would strike at the barrier without canceling each other.

    ''I bet that Iata has taught this guy Light Mastery and based on how he''s taunting me, he must have Dragon Eyes. Everything I use can and will be used against me. I can''t let Thrud''s army learn more of my spells.

    ''I have to stick to the basics and y it smart.'' Lith conjured a tier three Light Mastery spell that produced a powerful beam of light aimed at the Dragon''s point of impact on the barrier.

    "Foolish and unimaginative! That trick is pointless." Ufyl said with a scoff, but Lith begged to differ.

    The beam of light was crushed by thebined power of the Final Eclipse and the Origin mes, but it still shed with them with enough strength to work as a thruster and elerate Lith''s descent.

    Hended far off from his tail with the grace of a meteor, but thanks to his none of Ufyl''s attacks had reached him. Lith stood up, using light fusion to stop the bleeding while he hid behind a hill for cover.

    "You can do that with Light Mastery? Good to know." The Dragon used the Tiamat''s same strategy to elerate further and don''t let him out of the range of Life Vision long enough to Warp.

    ''Wait a second, the area in front of Belius is supposed to be nds. I don''t remember any hill on the maps.'' Ufyl thought a second toote.

    "Kill him!" Colonel Varegrave said the moment the Divine Beast was in firing range.

    A hail of tier five spell based on the water and air element cast by the mages of the battalion shot the Dragon off the sky. The cold sapped his strength and slowed him down, while bolts of lightning made his limbs spasm and air des tore his wings.

    A single spell could only dent a Dragon''s scales but so many together could open deep wounds. The problem was that they stillcked the strength necessary to kill a 25 meters (82'') tall titan covered in heavily enchanted Adamant.

    "Nice try, Verhen. Let''s see if these ants can buy you enough time to heal." Ufyl turned one of his heads at Lith as he used the Spirit Spell, Mother''s Embrace.

    The Dragon would have loved to learn it as well, but Varegrave''s battalion kept hammering at him with tier five spells that required his full focus.

    Lith had earlier spoken with his allies via themunicator, alerting them about the Seven Headed Dragon''s weaknesses and what to do in the case hended. During his controlled fall, he had cast both the healing spell and opened a short range dimensional corridor to retrieve his tail.

    Mother''s Embrace used all the elements of creation, light, earth, and soft water, to conjure the best healing spell Lith had in his arsenal. Emerald tendrils burst out of Lith''s wounds, sewing them back together and stopping the bleeding.

    The spell had also collected most of the blood and was now reinjecting it inside Lith''s body as it reattached the tail to his back with minimal consumption of his vitality.

    At the same time, the tendrils also extracted the nutrients from the ground and the water from the air to reduce the burden on Tiamat''s body to the minimum while his shoulder healed.

    ''Damn, I need to eat. Not even Mother''s Embrace can recreate all the tissues that the acid dissolved. I hope that Varegrave can hold for more than the two seconds he promised me.'' Lith thought while gulping down a tonic the size of a truck.

    Ufyl did his best to spare at least a head''s worth of attention, but the cold made him drowsy and the condensed water carried the bolts of lightning past the protectiveyer of his scales.

    "Damn you, insects!" The Dragon called upon the gue Storm that was still upon him and conjured another Final Eclipse.

    Killing the Tiamat''s allies with his own spells would have been just poetic justice.

    "I''ll take it from apliment,ing from a lizard!" Varegrave unleashed the tier five War Mage spell, Winter''s Bite.

    It conjured a localized snowstorm whose strong winds stripped the humidity from its victims, making their temperature drop fast. It was supposed to weaken an enemy battalion and cloud their vision, but with the Dragon''s size, it was barely enough to cover him from head to toes.

    Ufyl tried to roar in outrage, but his teeth ttered from the cold, making it sound like a yelp instead. He wrapped himself with his wings, feeling them bing rigid and heavy due to the ice.

    ''Damn humans. I''ll never manage to kill them and recover from the cold before Verhen is healed. The least I can do is make sure that they die a slow, agonizing death.'' The Seven Headed Dragon thought while trying to draw a deep breath.

    Yet it only helped the cold air to seep inside his body faster and for a moment his vision blurred. He suddenly felt drowsy, and only the pain from the unrelenting hail of spells kept him awake.

    Ufyl was forced to use fire fusion just to warm up as he conjured the tier five War Mage spell, Raging Sun. It was a mix of fire and earth that would have caused a massive explosion right under Vgros'' battalion first while also generating enough heat to melt a cier.

    "What the?" The Dragon felt the elements resist his will, refusing to gather.

    "Did you really think that the Kingdom would have just sent us to our death?" The colonel''s left eye lit up and countless streams of runes surrounded the space around them, reaching the area where Lith was resting.

    ''Isn''t that Small World?'' Lith thought, recognizing one of the Royal Artifacts left by the First King.

    Along with the Saefel Set and the Spell Hoarding Cube, it was one of the Kingdom''s most prized possessions.

 Chapter 2043 First Blood (Part 3)

    Chapter 2043 First Blood (Part 3)

    During the gue of Kandria, Small Wolrd had been used to iste the entire region and keep the information ckout to keep panic from spreading. Now its range was much smaller and both Lith and Ufyl could see with Life Vision that the Royal Artifact had ced around them several different arrays.

    Some were offensive while others were defensive and even their area of effect changed ording to their purpose. The battalion and Lith were shielded by several barriers whereas Ufyl was in the middle of the Freezing Coffin array.

    ''That''s why I feel so weak. The spells of the mages aren''t enough to overpower the heating system of my armor. It''s all because of that damn magical formation!'' One of the Dragon''s heads looked at Lith, noticing he had almost recovered.

    Knowing there was no time to lose, another head activated a Spirit Blink that brought Ufyl outside the Freezing Coffin array but not the Small World.

    A Warping array moved the whole battalion at the same time while several magical hidden magical formations exploded below the Dragon''s feet likendmines, blowing his legs to bits.

    The Royals had exined to their most trusted officials what an Awakened could do and how Life Vision couldn''t spot inactive arrays. Varegrave and his battalion hade early to Belius'' ins to prepare the field in advance with Small World.

    When Lith had called Berion, he had informed the colonel of the Dragon''s weak points, giving him the time to adjust his strategy.

    The traps conjured stone spikes that struck at Ufyl''s legs before exploding with the violence of a tier four spell. Each one of them wasn''t much, but the array unleashed dozens of that at a time.

    To make matter worse the thermal shock weakened the Adamant. The heat brought the Dragon no respite from the chilling cold as his feet were blown apart, making him fall head first on the ground.

    Ufyl felt humiliated by a human forcing him to kneel like a dog. It was the first important task that Thrud had entrusted him after bestowing upon him the glory of bing a true Dragon and he was letting her down.

    He roared in outrage and breathed Origin mes from six of his heads while the seventh used his breathing technique to recover. Varegrave activated the barriers, stopping the mes in their tracks.

    Yet the Origin mes attacked not only the magical defense but also the entire field of arrays conjured by Small World. Ufyl unleashed one burst of fire after the other, destroying the runes faster than Varegrave could repair them.

    Small World had its own energy source, protecting its wielder from mana overload, but due to the symbiotic rtionship required to control such aplex device, every damage the artifact took appeared as a wound on the colonel''s body.

    His eyes and ears started to bleed, needing the help of his second inmand just to stand up. Ufyl roared in triumph and unleashed a volley of emerald bolts against the army mages, decimating them.

    Dragon Eyes had revealed to him that Tyris'' artifact had no weak points but it had limits. Small World has no defensive mechanism that could stop Spirit Magic and it had been devised to be used by a fake Awakened.

    The burden that using it against a Divine Beast was too much for a regr human.

    Lith Spirit Blinked behind the Dragon and breathed a burst of Void mes that was met by Ufyl''s Origin mes. The Dragon''s seven heads looked in every direction at the same time, making it impossible to take him by surprise.

    ''Oh, shit!'' Ufyl thought as the two mes shed in front of his face due to the gap in speed.

    Their energy shed for a second before exploding, burning one of his heads off.

    ''One down, too many to go.'' Lith ignored the other heads and lunged with War at the Dragon''s heart.

    s, the de shed against an emerald and gold barrier made by ovepping a spirit barrier and a hard-light construct. Full Guard warned Lith the moment Iata entered its range but Life Maelstrom made her faster than he could react.

    Her head rammed at his chest while her tail aimed at his de, making the Tiamat''s seven eyes go wide in horror. He activated the spirit barrier of his armor, but the acid sizzled on the point of impactpromising its integrity.

    "How could you let yourself be cornered by a pup and a few humans?" Iata sent him a bolt of silver lightning that multiplied the Dragon''s abilities tenfold.

    At the same time, she hammered at Lith''s barrier with her ws, horns, and spells at the same time.

    "Said the one who almost got herself killed by just the pup!" Life Maelstrom made fire fusion strong enough to warm Ufyl and return him to his full strength.

    He imbued part of it inside his equipment, bing immune to cold, and a bit into each of his seven heads, producing as many bursts of silver Origin mes.

    ''At least I''vested far longer than the two seconds I promised you, Lith.'' Varegrave thought as the mystical fire ravaged the Small World and with it his body. ''I leave the rest to you.''

    The colonel coughed out a mouthful of blood, feeling his consciousness fade away. Lith was trapped inside his barrier, forced to focus on defense and wait for an opening to breathe Void mes.

    Fighting Iata while she was empowered by the Maelstrom would have been foolish, he needed to bring her to his level with the Cursed mes first. The problem was that the Sekhmet knew it as well and was always wary of his mouth and wings.

    The seven bursts of silver me suddenly disappeared into thin air as a second smaller seven headed Dragon tackled Ufyl.

    Earlier Lith had called Faluel as well, asking for reinforcements. She hade as fast as she could after shapeshifting into her battle form, yet she had kept herself at a distance until the moment was right.

    With her 20 meters (66'') of height, she was a good head shorter than Thrud''s Divine Beasts and even though she now looked like a Dragon, her abilities were still those of a regr Hydra.

    Faluel had waited for an opportunity to strike that had nevere. She had stepped in because she knew that once Varegrave died, Lith would''ve had no chances against two Divine Beasts alone.

    Her seven heads bit the Dragon''s, injecting them with her powerful acid and evening the field. Also, she had shapeshifted the Hands of Menadion into the form of five stone helmets, each crowned with a gemstone of a different color.

    The heads wearing them stretched their necks to keep a circr formation and be ready to use the Hands to instantly conjure arrays.

    ''How can a mere Hydra damage the armor that the Queen bestowed upon me? And while it''s empowered by Life Maelstrom at that!'' Ufyl''s mind was in chaos but the answer to his question was quite simple.

    During the tackle, she had used the tier four Forgemastering spell, Clean te. It had short-circuited the power core of the artifact, making it temporarily lose its imprint. By neutralizing his equipment, she had made up for the gap in mass and bloodline abilities.

 Chapter 2044 First Blood (Part 4)

    Chapter 2044 First Blood (Part 4)

    Yet Faluel hadn''t considered the silver lightning that coursed through his body. It countered the acid of her bite and made Ufyl so strong that he tossed her away like a ragdoll.

    Faluel opposed no resistance, using her wings to recover her bnce in mid-air.

    ''I need to be careful. In this form, my mass is spread thin to form limbs that I don''t usually have, making this body less sturdy than my original.'' The Hydra thought while unleashing her counter attack.

    She conjured a powerful gravity field that sent Ufyl sprawling against the ground before unleashing six different tier five spells that consumed all of her mana while the seventh head used Lifestream to instantly recover it.

    The Seven Headed Dragon was caught by surprise and instinctively followed his training. He poured more silver lightning into his armor to strengthen its barrier but because of Clean te, nothing happened.

    Griffon Fetters conjured a hexa-elemental bundle of emerald chains that hog-tied Ufyl like a prime roast. As its name implied, it had been devised to restrain Griffons, so even with his empowered physique, he failed to get rid of it fast enough.

    Phoenix Smash produced emerald mes that used light, air, and earth to hit with the energy of a speeding train. At the same time, water allowed the spell to seep inside every nook and cranny of its victim, fire caused concussive explosions, and darkness eroded everything inside out.

    Manastorm rained smallets from above while Volcano turned the ground below Ufyl into moltenva. At the same time, Lightfall unleashed five beams of light, one for each of her fingers, that pierced through Adamant and flesh.

    Ufyl tried to Blink away, but Faluel''sst spell was Sealed Space. The Seven Headed Dragon survived solely thanks to Life Maelstrom enhancing his abilities and the constant use of his breathing technique.

    By the time the Hydra was done, he had exhausted the silver lightning and even though his body was in perfect condition, the hunger almost blinded him. Invigoration could heal any wound and restore even mental focus, but it couldn''t provide nourishment.

    Ufyl''s body had cannibalized itself to heal and was now several hundreds of kilos lighter, crippling his physical strength. To make matters worse, not even darkness fusion could stop the pain radiating from his stomach demanding its due.

    "This is not over. Once my ally gets rid of the pup, I''ll eat you!" He said in outrage.

    "At least offer me a drink first!" Faluel said with a sneer as she conjured another gravity spell that the Dragon dodged with a Spirit Blink.

    He breathed a single burst of Origin mes, feeling even his life force waning from starvation.

    The five helmets on her heads shone in unison, taking control of the world energy. The Origin mes disappeared just in time for him to see the Hydra lunging with her ive at the opening in his armor that Lightfall had crated above his heart.

    ''Damn, I have no time to lose. If we lose Ufyl, no more Dragon Eye-'' Iata thought as a mass of fur weighing dozens of tons sent her flying and cut her short.

    Crank the Hyperion didn''t look like a honey badger in his real form. He resembled a colossal pitch-ck bear, 30 meters (100'') tall at the withers with a white streak running from his head to the tip of his long, armored tail.

    The white streak wasn''t made of fur, but of a crystal-like substance that crackled with the power of the elements. Curved tusks came out of the sides of his mouth, making it impossible for the victims of his bites to escape without losing the captured limb.

    "You look like shit, kid. That''s why you never send scrubs to the battlefield." His voice was now deep and guttural, his words more growled than spoken. "I swear, If I didn''t have to protect my investment, I would have let the cat beat you within an inch of your life.

    "Saving the Kingdom''s golden boy would have raised my reputation and earned me a pretty penny." He said while standing on his hind legs to look at Iata and also to scratch his massive butt with the curved ws of his front paws.

    ''Why are wasting your time bbering instead of throwing all the spells you have at the ready at her?'' Lith established a mind link to not waste any more time and cursed Crank''s ancestors down to the Father of all Hyperions.

    ''Why waste me precious mana? Didn''t you see how she went down too easy? If you live long enough to fight a few finches, you''ll learn that Light Masters teach their children to wear more barriers than fur. Between that and that damned silver lightning, they are annoying customers.''

    ''What do finches have to do with this?'' Between the hunger and the nonsensical words, Lith was getting a headache like only a Lich could cause.

    ''How else do you call Griffons without passing for a brown noser?'' Crank replied with a puzzled look on his face.

    Once the dust settled down, Lith noticed that Iata was indeed unscathed. A golden and emeraldyer had taken the brunt of the impact. Her tail was raised, the stinger ready to strike if either of her enemies attempted to follow up on the first attack.

    ''What''s the best way to deal with them?'' Lith asked, eager to learn from someone older and more experienced.

    ''Easy, you beat the crap out of them.'' Crank shrugged at the stupid question. ''Magic is a waste of time. They either dodge or Blink and even if you intercept them, those barriers take the fun out of it.''

    ''Do you listen to yourself?'' Lith said in frustration. ''How do you beat in brute strength someone who can ess Life Maelstrom?''

    Iata spread her wings charging at the elder Divine Beast who was now the biggest threat to their n.

    ''With Leari dead, now we''re three against two.'' The Sekhmet thought. ''The humans yed a nice trick on Ufyl and the Hydra has clearly more experience than the two of usbined.

    ''I can''t let thembine her brains with this guy''s brawns.''

    She used mind and body casting to prepare several spells while wrapping herself in severalyers of magic that would give her the time to Warp away if things went south.

    She advanced in a zig-zag pattern, changing her speed so that the enemy couldn''t get used to it and read her movements. Yet Crank stood still in front of Lith without casting any spell that Life Vision could detect.

    ''Why does he keep scratching his butt? Is it some kind of magic I don''t know?'' Iata closed in a few times just to Blink back to expose the presence of inactive arrays but nothing happened.

    To make matters worse, while she worried about possible traps Lith and Crank were eating in her face. The Tiamat needed to recover his strength while the Hyperion just wanted to kill time.

    On the verge of a nervous breakdown, the Sekhmet conjured several spells at the same time as a cover while diving into the Hyperion. Her Adamant-coated ws were aimed at the neck while the stinger feinted to the head before moving toward the heart.

 Chapter 2045 Crank it Up (Part 1)

    Chapter 2045 Crank it Up (Part 1)

    ''The Hyperion will raise his guard, hoping to block both my attacks. Once he realizes it''s a trap, even if somehow he manages to deflect my tail, I''ll still hit him on the chest.

    ''No matter if my acid burns his lungs or just an arm. Once I get the upper hand, the fight will be over.'' Iata thought.

    The Sekhmet''s ws and stinger struck without encountering any resistance.

    Crank just stared at her with his big, round eyes as if it was none of his business. The former dug deep into the ck fur while thetter reached the Hyperion''s chest, releasing a massive dose of acid that emitted a sizzling sound.

    The problem was that the ws failed to reach the skin. Crank''s thick fur was imbued with darkness and earth, his natural elements. Together they amplified the natural ability of the evolved honey badger to disperse the kic energy of any blow.

    Even a bigger and stronger creature had a hard time hurting a Hyperion. In Iata''s case, she was smaller and weaker. If not for the Life Maelstrom coursing through her body, Crank would have barely felt the blows.

    Now instead, he had to rely on the natural defensive properties of his fur and on the full Adamant armor that he wore under it. When Iata''s ws had reached it, they had so little momentum left that they had knocked on it rather than shed.

    ''You see, if you wear your armor over your scales it gets damaged easily, and usually repairing it takes time and mana. Fixing my fur is a piece of cake, instead. Worst case scenario, I can always grow a new one.'' Crank said to Lith via the mind link while he trapped Iata in a literal bear hug.

    Full Guard warned her and she was much faster than the goofy Hyperion, yet when she pped her wings to back off, she discovered that all of her limbs were trapped. Even the tail.

    ''Why isn''t the acid working? I can still hear the sizzle-'' Her brain mmed against her skull when her body met the ground.

    After grabbing her, Crank had simply let himself fall forward while using gravity fusion and magic. The Divine Beast had gone from weighing dozens of tons to hundreds in an instant, and they all pressed against the Sekhmet who found herself between a rock and a tough beast.

    Her mystical protections still held, but they were now full of cracks that kept getting bigger as the Hyperion hammered at them non-stop. His arms alone were massive blunt weapons that sent shockwaves through the barriers with each hit.

    Now that Iata was trapped, the kic energy of the blows struck her once when theynded and another when her back bounced against the ground. Even though Crank''s blows failed to reach her, they managed to deal her damage.

    ''If I Blink while this fatass is still stuck to me, I''d just bring him along. n or not, I cannot afford to hold back anymore.'' She conjured all the spells that she had at the ready, striking the Hyperion from point-nk range.

    "That hurt my feelings. We are just starting to know each other." He said with augh without stopping the beating.

    Lith wanted to step in, but there was nothing he could do that wouldn''t risk messing up with Crank''s strategy and creating an opening for Iata to escape. Also, he had conjured the Eyes of Menadion and was using them to clear the mystery of the Hyperion''s apparent invulnerability.

    Life Vision was of no help. All it showed to both him and Iata was that Crank''s body shone with blinding light. Whatever bloodline ability he was using, it emitted much more power than a regr bright violet core.

    It was the reason they had failed to notice the presence of the power core of his armor. It wasn''t cloaked, just overshadowed.

    The Eyes, instead, singled out the different energy signatures covering the Hyperion, identifying the Mana Body bloodline ability, fusion magic, a spell, and one of the oddest armor designs that Lith had ever seen.

    The surface of the Adamant consisted of long barbed hooks that normally matched each other, creating the illusion of a t surface. When the armor was hit, the hooks would spring out and stab at the aggressor, trapping them.

    The hooks had been coated with a short-range but powerful gravity spell that worked akin to a universal glue. Even if the enemy used a de, ws, or anything that the hooks couldn''t pierce, they would get stuck anyway.

    A strong tug was enough to get free from the hooks, but the surprise effect was all Crank needed to capture his prey. He knew that his speed was nothing muchpared to other Divine Beasts but also that his raw strength was the real deal.

    One second was more than enough for him to pin the opponent to the ground and once the fight moved to close-quartersbat, he was confident in defeating anyone. Mana Body increased his physical prowess further and made him nigh-immune to magic to the point that not even Life Maelstrom bothered him much.

    ''At least that mace-like tail he got is useless in this situation whereas mine is still a deadly weapon.'' Iata thought, whipping her stinger over and over.

    Her acid was of physical nature so there was only so much she could use before running out. On the other hand, its non-magical nature allowed it to work under any circumstance, no matter what elements had been sealed.

    She nted it firmly against the Hyperion''s chest, keeping it there while she pumped out her acid to burn his fur and flesh alike. Yet it was her feeling the sting of pain. She yelped in surprise, discovering that her tail was ckened.

    To make matters worse, she could hear the acid sizzling but there was no visible effect on Crank. Iata couldn''t understand how it was possible, but Lith could. The Eyes revealed the presence of a second bloodline ability that coated the fur just like Mana body covered Crank''s body.

    The darkness element from the world energy and his life force mixed together to generate a thick aura called Cleansing Mist that eroded everything it came in contact with at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Iata''s Adamant-coated ws were resisting its effects thanks to Life Maelstrom, but the silver light faded more with each second it remained stuck under the ck fur. Anything within the area of effect of the ck aura would be subjected to its entropic effects.

    Part of the kic energy from blows would be turned into heat while the mana of spells would be forced out of sync with the world energy, weakening them. As for the acid, Cleansing Mist broke it down into itsponents before burning it.

    The sizzling didn''te from the acid corroding Crank, but from the ck aura corroding the acid. Thebination of Mana Body and Cleansing Mist made Hyperions'' defensive abilities one of the best among Divine Beasts.

    "Sorry, love. My species is specialized in getting rid of pests that use acid, poison, or whatever weapon you cowards used." The Hyperion locked his front paws together, hammering at the Sekhmet while also boosting gravity fusion at the moment of impact.

 Chapter 2046 Crank it Up (Part 2)

    Chapter 2046 Crank it Up (Part 2)

    The impact produced a boom that could be heard from Belius'' walls and created a dozens meters deep crater. Iata coughed out a mouthful of blood, but a savage grin appeared on her ck snout.

    "Thanks, you moron!" She said while Warping away in the sky.

    The hit had dealt her severe injuries but had also freed her from the hooks and given her enough space to use dimension magic. Blink could have been followed whereas Warp moved her outside the range of Life Vision.

    She had conjured it with body casting while enduring the beating, waiting for the right opportunity.

    "Fuck!" Crank snarled, seeing his prey escape. "I forgot that Sealed Space doesn''t move with its target."

    Lith was about toment on that when he saw Solus''s golden and white pir flying toward him, followed by the golems and what was left of his Demons.

    "What happened?" He asked.

    "I ran out of juice and so did Raptor and Trouble." She replied panting. "I defeated one Divine Beast, but our army paid a big price for it. Once Thrud''s army resumed its advance, we didn''t have the strength to stop them anymore. We had to retreat."

    Of the over one thousand Demons that had answered Lith''s call less than a half were left. He could still see their shadows lingering around him, feel their hands clutching at him in a silent plea for new power.

    "Fuck me sideways." He said while consuming the energy he had just recovered to restore the army of Demons and partly recharge the golems.

    Their movements had be sluggish due to the depletion of their power cores, the mana crystals etched in their bodies almost out of juice. Solus wasn''t faring any better.

    Her blue core was strained from the repeated use of Sky Blessing while her body was on the verge of crumbling.

    Being close to Lith helped, but it wasn''t enough.

    ''I wanted to make my body disappear and return inside the ring to recover, but I''m too scared at the idea of what might happen. What if it counts as failing at the world tribtion? What if Mogar kills me?'' She asked via their mind link.

    ''Excellent question, but I have another. Since when do you have world tribtions as well?'' Lith was shocked seeing how simr yet different her proto-Guardian form was to his own.

    ''I don''t know that either!'' She replied in frustration. ''By my Mom, we are so dumb. All this time and we never figured it out. It''s actually obvious if you think about it. Back in Kh, Mogar talked to me.

    ''When Aunt Loka attacked you in Jiera and we fused, our appearance was far from human even though we used my body as a base.''

    ''Are you saying that those were your tribtions as well?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    ''Yes. I mean, no. Maybe.'' Solus felt her head splitting and her heart pounding, respectively out of mana abuse and fear. ''I don''t want to die! Please, Lith, help me.''

    She now understood why Baba Yaga and Silverwing had given up on achieving Guardianhood after reaching the white core. World tribtions gave no power and put the Awakened against a wall.

    Either they granted whatever Mogar wanted from them or they died. Solus had faced death many times, but a tribtion was different. She had no understanding of what the conditions of sess were so she could neither n her victory nor retreat.

    Meanwhile, a few hundreds of meters away, Faluel in her pseudo-Dragon form had pierced Ufyl''s chest with her ive, Strife. The only reason he was still alive was that he had caught its staff between his hands in time.

    The de had stopped centimeters away from his heart and he couldn''t move a muscle without putting his life on the line.

    To make matters worse, Varegrave used Small World to seal all elements but water while his battalion kept shooting at the Dragon cold sts that sapped his strength. The Royal artifact kept Ufyl from using regr magic, including dimensional magic.

    All he was left with was the mana expensive Spirit Magic, but even with his seven heads, he failed to find a way out of his predicament. There was no time to use his breathing technique and the Hydra simply conjured one barrier after the other to protect herself and her human allies.

    The fight had turned into a battle of attrition that he was bound to lose.

    ''I may be physically stronger, but she bests me in magic. On top of that, with those ants freezing my ass, I''ll soon be too weak to keep fighting. I must get out of here.''

    Whenever he stepped back, Faluel followed him while keeping the ive stuck in his chest. She gave Varegrave all the time he needed to relocate the arrays and make sure that the Divine Beast couldn''t escape their area of effect.

    Every time Ufyl conjured Origin mes, the Hands of Menadion neutralized them, wasting the precious life force he had left.

    ''If I can''t win, I must bring them down with me. Death is nothing but a few days of forced rest for me, but it''s permanent for these bastards!'' The Seven Headed Dragon roared as he poured all the mana he had left in the tier five Spirit Spell, World Crusher.

    An emerald sphere that resembled Mogar seen from space appeared around him, trapping both the Hydra and the humans at its core. The six elements produced a gravity one hundred times stronger than normal that affected only the space inside the sphere.

    To make matters worse, fire burned the air to one thousand degrees that alternated with cold waves of -200¡ãC (-328¡ãF), and the air pressure reached 100 atmospheres. Light and earth made the sphere diamond-hard and darkness filled it with poison.

    Faluel was caught by surprise, managing to conjure a Spirit Barrier on top of that of her armor at thest second. Varegrave and his troops took cover behind the several defensive arrays conjured by Small World.

    Yet the pressure of taking a tier Five Spirit Spell was too much for his human body. Not only had he already suffered from the Origin mes eating at the Royal artifact, but he was also using his sheer focus to counter every single effect of World Crusher to save his soldier.

    An anti-gravity field relieved the pressure while water and fire arrays kept the air breathable. Yet there was nothing he could do to stop the air pressure from bursting their eardrums and the darkness from eating at their bodies aside from energy barriers.

    All things that put an even greater strain on his already exhausted body. Small World was a powerful artifact, but it was meant to control elemental magic in a wide area and give its wielders a portable set of arraysparable to those of the ancient noble households.

    Not to be used on the frontlines against Awakened Divine Beasts.

    "No, you don''t!" While her flesh was ripped apart, Faluel used one of the spells imbued inside Strife, Cruel Healer.

    It negated the effects of darkness fusion, making the Seven Headed Dragon suddenly feel the pain from all of his injuries and from World Crusher. The gravity had broken his bones and the hot air burned his lungs, but until that moment he had felt nothing.

 Chapter 2047 Split in Two (Part 1)

    Chapter 2047 Split in Two (Part 1)

    The umted damage drowned Ufyl''s senses, making him lose focus. Without darkness fusion keeping the pain at bay, the Divine Beast failed to control both World Crusher and his own body.

    As the spell faded, his hands spasmed and his knees buckled up. The moment Strife''s haft was free from his grip, Faluel pierced Ufyl''s heart. The ive emitted a pulse of darkness magic that made the lungs rot and blocked his breathing technique.

    The seven heads wheezed in unison in the attempt to heal their wounds with Invigoration. Air, blood, and life abandoned the corpse of the Seven Headed Dragon who disappeared in a sh of light, quickly followed by his equipment.

    Once the emerald sphere disappeared, Faluel was panting hard, her body in no better condition than those of the human soldiers. Yet it only took her one breath to start healing.

    "Thanks, if not for your help, this would have been much more-" The words died in her mouth when she turned around and witnessed what had happened to her allies.

    Her injuries were bearable because her body was huge and her armor a masterpiece. The humans were much smaller and worse equipped. Despite Varegrave''s efforts, being so close to a tier five Spirit Magic spell had brought most of them to the brink of death.

    "Where the heck are the reinforcements?" She took hermunication amulet out while her seven heads triaged the victims and cast many healing spells at the same time. "Didn''t you hear the Royals?"

    "Did you?" The annoyed voice of the Council''s human representative answered from the other end. "The order was to abandon position and move the fight to the Divine Beasts in the sky. Not to help the Tiamat.

    "The army of humans is irrelevant. Only the thunderstorm matters."

    "Lith asked for our help!" She replied in outrage.

    "Foolish child! We are doing this for him as well as for us! His efforts will be worth nothing if Belius falls. Our fallen will have died for nothing. Stop listening to your heart and think with your brain!

    "This is a war, saving a single life means nothing. The human soldiers are just expendable pawns while Thrud''s generals cannot be killed until we get rid of the Golden Griffon.

    "First we need to stop the storm front. Only then can we worry about the rest. Raagu out."

    Faluel cursed the human representative for her heartlessness and because she was right. Yet the Hydra didn''t feel like abandoning all those people behind. They were so small and fragile yet they had bravely fought against a titan.

    If not for their help and for Varegrave using the Small World to protect her, the fight wouldn''t have ended so smoothly. The Hydra turned her head for an instant to check on Lith.

    She saw Crank beating the Sekhmet like a dirty rug and felt reassured enough about her apprentice''s well-being to keep treating the humans. She used healing spells to stabilize those heavily wounded, avoiding to consume her breathing technique.

    It didn''t matter if she used it on herself or on others, with every use Lifestream would lose its efficacy. She had no idea what was about to happen and couldn''t risk it bing ineffective once when she needed her breathing technique the most.

    The head in charge of the triage noticed that, despite the first aid she had already provided him, Varegrave''s life force kept waning.

    ''This doesn''t make sense. ording to my diagnostic spell, I''ve already taken care of his internal bleeding and of the rest of his major injuries. I don''t expect him to jump back on his feet and fight, but the colonel should be fine.'' She thought while double-checking Varegrave and finding nothing wrong with his body.

    She used Life Vision as well and what she saw made her stomach churn.

    Not only was Varegrave''s life force bing weaker by the second, his mana core was also turning from bright to blue. Refusing to believe her own eyes, she used Lifestream on him only to discover that her first impression was correct.

    The colonel had strained his mana core so much during the fight with Ufyl and burned so much of his life force to constantly move the arrays that his core had cracked.

    Varegrave could feel in his bones that something was wrong with him. The battle for Belius was far from over and he was still full of adrenaline for defeating a Dragon, yet he felt tired.

    So tired that even the idea of getting up made him feel light-headed. A quick diagnostic spell confirmed him that the Hydra was an excellent healer and also strained him so much that he lost consciousness for a few seconds.

    The screams and spells of his soldiers woke him up, but even after they shared part of their vitality with him his breath remained quick and shallow.

    The colonel turned his head around and smiled when he saw that most of his regiment had survived. Over one-third of the soldiers had died, but for a suicide unit, it was an amazing sess.

    "I''m dying, aren''t I?" Varegrave asked, his voice reduced to a whisper.

    "Yes." One of Faluel''s heads stayed by his side, trying everything she could to fix his core while the other six took care of the rest of the regiment.

    "Please, don''t waste your time with me, then. Take care of the others and protect Belius in my stead." Varegrave had spent his life on the line of duty and had often wondered how he would have felt when his time hade.

    If the fear of death would have made him cry, if he would have felt proud of his achievements, or just been angry. Much to his surprise, he just felt at peace with himself.

    "Are you sure?" Faluel asked. "I can''t save you, but I can at least prolong your life enough to say your goodbyes."

    "Thanks, but I have no one to call. I never had the time for a family and all of my friends are either dead or fighting for their lives at Prode or Vesta." He replied as his breathing became increasingly difficult. "I still can''t believe it.

    "I came here to die in two seconds but instead Isted the whole battle and even killed a Dragon. I have no regrets. Please, let me go and tell Archmage Verhen that no matter what the rest of the Kingdom says, it was an honor fighting by his side.

    "I only wish that-" His eyes lost their light and his head turned slightly to a side.

    Faluel had never met Varegrave before but his actions had earned him her respect.

    She had refused to let him die in pain. She had stood by his side to make him spend hisst moments without pain while surrounded by the people he had given his life to protect.

    "Your life mattered, young man. I''ll make sure that your death matters as well." She said.

    A gentle touch of Spirit Magic closed his eyes, giving him such a peaceful expression that if not for the stillness of death, Varegrave would have just seemed asleep. A blue light spread from under his left eyelid as it was shedding a small tear.

 Chapter 2048 Split in Two (Part 2)

    Chapter 2048 Split in Two (Part 2)

    The phenomenon would have surprised Faluel if not for Life Vision telling her that it was magical in nature. The colonel was dead and he couldn''t cry anymore. The left eye kept shedding tears that pooled up together, forming a small pearl.

    In a few seconds, it had grown to the size of an eye. The pearl was actually a white crystal covered in so many runes that its light waspletely blue. The Small World rose in mid-air, emitting short pulses of light as it searched for a new host.

    Finding no one among those present who had received the authorization of the Royals, it darted up in the sky and disappeared in the direction of Valeron.

    "If my mother hadn''t exined to me what the Small World is, I would have probably mistaken it for a cursed object." Faluel mumbled.

    Her curiosity as a Forgemaster demanded to know how it was possible to create such a thing and if she would ever be able to craft an artifact capable of retaining the will of its first wielder.

    Then, a distant roar of thunder snapped her out of it and she turned to the rest of the survivors.

    "There''s nothing more than you can do here. Go back to Belius. If you stay here, you''ll just get ughtered."

    The highest remaining officer looked at the silvery column that kept advancing, knowing that the remaining soldiers of Varegrave''s regiment were too few to even slow it down now that they had lost the colonel and the Small World.

    Yet he had his orders and had to follow them. There was no point surviving the battle just to be court-martialled to death.

    "She''s right. I order you to leave and help the defensive forces of the city walls." Varegrave sat straight, his eyes still closed.

    The soldiers looked at him with joy until they noticed a ck chaining from the distance that was now stuck in his chest.

    "Colonel, are you really alive?" The officer asked.

    "No. I''m not." Varegrave''s eyes opened, all four of them. His soul had inhabited his own body, recovering the mana that still lingered around it to fuel his ck core without Lith''s help.

    His skin slowly turned into scales and horns came out of his forehead, but his face remained the same. He called the highmand, informing them of their current situation and of his own demise.

    "I''m really sorry for you, Colonel." King Meron said.

    The situation was absurd. Varegrave''s rune had never disappeared but the only reasons the Small World could leave its host were their death or one of the Royals removing it from their body.

    "I''m not, Your Majesty. The battle isn''t over and I can still fight." The Colonel replied.

    The King was proud of the will shown by Varegrave but a quick nce to his wife confirmed that she felt the same way about his apparent resurrection. If Varegrave decided to remain after the battle, he would be the fourth member of an elite force to join Lith''s army.

    The Royals were afraid that more of the soldiers would follow, increasing the risk of state secrets falling into the hands of someone who was still considered a traitor and an oath breaker.

    "Your regiment has the permission to retreat." Sylpha said. "Once the Tiamat joins our Council allies, he would have no use for regr soldiers anyway. There''s no point in losing more good people. Highmand out."

    Faluel checked the soldiers onest time and then she joined the others. By the time she arrived by Crank''s side, Iata had already escaped and hadn''t returned.

    "What the heck is going on here?" She asked when she saw Lith standing still with Solus in her proto-Guardian form on his shoulder.

    The pir of light surrounding her emphasized her kind features as much as the ckness pooling below his body gave him a cruel appearance. From the shape of their wings to the color of their scales, everything made them look like one being split into two.

    Lith looked at her with a puzzled expression, shrugging in reply to save as much energy as he could.

    He was so tired that he couldn''t afford to use Invigoration to charge the Golems again and without them, the number of Demons left was already above what he could usually summon.

    Much to his surprise, Trouble and Raptor were slowly refueling their Spirit Crystals by staying to his side as the auxiliary cores restored his strength.

    The same happened to the souls who had lost their bodies of darkness. Lith''s shadow had turned into a ck pool from which the Demons would be reborn as soon as they managed to absorb enough of the energy that he radiated.

    Varegrave joined them, bathing into the Void as the knowledge about his new condition seeped into his mind and the events of the battle against Ufyl seeped inside Lith''s.

    ''My only regret is to have never had the opportunity to properly apologize for how I treated you back in Kandria. At first, I wondered what kind of monster you were. Then, I could only think, about what kind of man you would be, kid.'' The ex-colonel said through the chains.

    ''I know that it might sound stupid, but I always considered that mistake as the only blemish on my spotless career and I would like to make it up to you. Do you think we can arrange that?''

    ''We can. After the battle.'' Lith nodded.

    ''Then with your permission, I''ll stick around for a while.'' Varegrave said.

    "I''m doing as you asked, lizard. I''m watching the pup''s back." Crank replied. "I expected the cat toe back, but at this point, I think that she bailed."

    "That''s not it. Didn''t you hear the orders from the Council?" Faluel couldn''t believe that the Hyperion was without a scratch and yet wasted time like that.

    "No, my amulet is silent." He shook his head.

    "Same." Lith took his own from one of the pockets of his armor and checked if any of its runes were blinking.

    "They would never call you, Lith. You are supposed to be fighting. Crank, are you certain that you exchanged runes with the military before moving out of the city?" The Hydra asked.

    "Do you take me for an idiot?" He replied with a snort. "Of course I did. I must obey the Royals if I want to get paid. Exchanging runes was the first thing we did after I signed the contract."

    "This makes no sense. Why would they keep you out of the loo-" While the rest of her eyes checked the situation in the sky and on the ground, the eyes of the one speaking with the Hyperion squinted in frustration.

    "Where do you keep your amulet?"

    "In my dimensional amulet. Where else should it be? It''s not like my fur has pockets and I''m certainly not going to shove it up my ass. I don''t kink that way." Crank replied.

    "Then take it out your moron! How do you expect anyone to contact you if your rune is not avable?" She would have kicked his ass, but she knew that she would have just broken her foot.

    "Good point." The amulet came out of the dimensional space blinking like a Christmas tree due to the number of missed calls. "If anyone asks, you tell them that we got caught in a dimensional sealing array."

 Chapter 2049 Times Up (Part 1)

    Chapter 2049 Time''s Up (Part 1)

    While Crank listened to the messages, Solus flew on Faluel''s shoulder and the pir of light followed her.

    "Look kid, this is a great idea to have your troops always know your position on the battlefield but right now you are just wasting your mana and making all of us a target." The Hydra said.

    ''I''m not doing this on purpose. I think I''m undergoing a world tribtion. Do you have any idea how to make it stop?'' Solus replied via a mind link to avoid being overheard.

    ''What?'' Faluel had never witnessed one and had mistaken the light for a strategy and Solus'' odd appearance for a disguise to protect her identity.

    She used Lifestream to check on her apprentice, just to discover that ording to her breathing technique nothing was happening and Solus'' life force was unchanged despite her metamorphosis.

    ''I''m sorry, but I have no clue. Lith you are the expert.'' The Hydra replied.

    ''Expert my scaly ass. When it happened to me, it was always about killing or protecting someone. Except for that time when I tried to save Protector''s life.'' He said.

    ''Are you telling me that if we lose this battle Solus dies?''

    ''Maybe and maybe not.'' Lith shook his head. ''I failed to save Protector yet I''m still here. I think that tribtions are more about proving to Mogar who you are than about sess.

    ''I didn''t destroy Kolga alone, I just freed the souls from the Forbidden Sun with Solus'' help.''

    ''Let''s do everything we can to save Belius, just to be safe.'' Solus said, pacing non-stop to relieve her anxiety.

    "Okay, the lizard is right. We have new orders." Crank said, oblivious of their conversation. "Ignore thend army and move to the sky. Our new target is the storm front."

    "How is that going to save Belius?" Lith asked. "There are hundreds of Awakened mages just a few hundreds of meters from us and it just takes one of them to open a Spirit Warp inside the city."

    "The n is to stop the advance of the clouds and buy enough time for the weather mages to bring the hot spring air to them. This way, the storm will trigger away from the city and unleash its fury on Thrud''s army.

    "Two birds with one stone." Crank replied.

    "Are you kidding me? There''s no time for that." Lith said.

    "It''s a gamble, kid." The Hyperion''s voice became serious. "Either we stall the advance of the Divine Beasts or we kill enough of them to make the clouds disperse. Everything else will end in our loss."

    Lith looked at the iing army, then at Solus'' pir that refused to disappear, andstly at Belius.

    He felt that by allowing Thrud''s army to reach Belius'' walls, he was letting its people down again, but he had no choice. Solus was much more important to him than any city of the Kingdom, even Lutia.

    If he were to lose Belius, it would have been painful, but losing her would have been like losing Carl all over again, if not even worse.

    "Let''s go, then." He pped his wings, raising a lot of dust as his army of demons followed suit.

    The moment he took off, half of his shadow remained on the ground while the other half crawled on his legs up to his knees. The Demons who had yet to fully reform refused to give up and clung to him in their slime form to not be left behind.

    "Fair warning. I suck at flying so if anything happens, one of you has to catch me." Crank drew a circle with his left leg, using earth magic to cut deeply in the ground and create a thick tform a few tons heavy that lifted him up in the sky like an elevator.

    "Seriously?" Faluel asked in disbelief.

    Even magical beasts attuned with the air element learned how to fly once they reached adulthood. An Emperor Beast incapable of flight would have been a joke, let alone a descendant of the Guardians.

    "No, I''m just screwing with you. Of course I can fly. It''s just that since I don''t know Light Mastery yet, I don''t feel safe sticking my head in a thunderstorm without a bit of dear old Mogar covering my ass."

    Lith thought for a moment about the Faraday cage in his pocket dimension.

    ''Use it if necessary, Solus. It''s too small for me now but if you fold your wings you should fit.'' Lith said, receiving a nod in reply.

    ''Guys, remember what I told you about not using Domination in presence of witnesses?'' Faluel chimed in.

    ''Yes.'' They replied in unison.

    ''Now more than ever I forbid you to use it. If there is someone up there who has a vague notion of Domination and figures it out, we''re royally screwed.'' Faluel said.

    ''Raagu was right when she reminded me that defeating Thrud''s followers just buys us time whereas whatever they learn from us, they can use it during our next encounter.''

    ''Any more good news?'' Lith''s voice oozed sarcasm.

    ''Yes.'' The Hydra pretended to not notice it. ''That said, remember that we are about to enter a thundercloud. It means that we are going to be surrounded by natural bolts of lightning that will hurt even those who have conjured them.

    ''In a battle of mastery over the air element, there would be nothing strange if a "genius" like me managed to wrestle control of the lightning bolts from Thrud''s generals, and since you are my apprentices¡­''

    ''We can''t Dominate spells but we are free to go all-out on the natural elemental forces, got it.'' Soluspleted the phrase for her. ''Are you going to be alright with all that cold?''

    ''Don''t remind me of that.'' Faluel shuddered at the thought and cranked up the heating system of her armor to the max.

    Lith nced at the ins in front of the city walls, noticing that the Emperor Beasts had left their stations and only the human and small-sized Awakened Fae remained to stand guard.

    ''This is weird.'' He thought. ''Divine Beasts are strong, but just ten of them should have already lost to the Council forces. It takes seven bright violet-cored Awakened to cast Silverwing''s Annihtion and just one shot of that is enough to cripple even someone like me.

    ''Thrud''s generals are around my level so how the heck can they defend themselves and guide the thundercloud at the same time?''

    The answer arrived a few secondster when they reached the aerial battlefield.

    There were just eight Divine Beasts left now, but there were over 100 Awakened belonging to all races on Thrud''s side. Lith had failed to notice them from the ground because of their rtively small size and because they were hidden in the ckness of the clouds.

    They were arranged in seven-men units and used Silverwing''s spells as well, bringing the fight to a standstill. Every time an Annihtion crashed against a Bastion, an emerald sh painted the clouds green and the resulting boom drown out even the noise of thunder.

    The battle was one of the trickiest that Lith had ever seen.

    The Awakened of both sides had to be wary of the clouds, of their respective enemy, and even of their own allies.

 Chapter 2050 Times Up (Part 2)

    Chapter 2050 Time''s Up (Part 2)

    Thrud''s generals had done a nice work building up the mother of all storms but that also meant that arcs of electricity could randomly appear anywhere.

    Their light blinded the fighters, their noise deafened if not even burst the eardrums of those too close to their origin point, and anyone who got even grazed by a bolt of lightning would fall to the ground all hot and crispy.

    On top of that, in the chaos of the battle even defending against an attack could be fatal for your own allies.

    The spells that the Awakened used and especially Silverwing''s produced powerful shockwaves when blocked. If another unit was caught by them in the middle of a maneuver, their formation would crumble and the opponent would quickly dispose of them.

    Dodging was even worse since the spells would travel for hundreds of meters if not kilometers before losing cohesion. The smartest of the Awakened always aimed their spells so that they would line up with at least three enemy units that would be hit if they missed their original target.

    "I need to re-join myrades to use Silverwing''s spells." Faluel said. "Try to stay close enough to me that I can help you if something bad happens but far away enough to not be caught by the aftermath of a sh."

    "Where does this leave me and our deal?" The Hyperion asked.

    "Stick to Lith and make sure that nothing bad happens to him. I can take care of myself." The Hydra''s seven heads scoured the skies, searching for her unit before bolting away with a p of her wings.

    Meanwhile, Lith used his breathing technique to bring back the Demons of the Fallen who had lost their bodies during the sh with the Thunderborne and recharge his golems.

    He knew that each use of Invigoration made its next use less effective, but the clock was ticking. Violent high-altitude winds made it difficult for him to stand still amid the storm and quickly pushed the clouds forward.

    The storm front had already reached the ins in front of Belius and couldn''t be allowed to move any further.

    ''If it gets closer to the city, once it meets the hot winds the ensuing storm will hit both Thrud''s army and Belius. The problem is that while an army can just retreat a city can''t move. We need to stop it now!'' Lith said via a mind link.

    ''Thanks for the information, captain obvious.'' Crank replied with a sneer. ''Any idea how to achieve something that not even the Council''s forces managed to?''

    Yellow and emerald shes from the bolts of lightning and the conflicting Silverwing''s spells blinded the Tiamat as he turned his head around to study their predicament.

    Each one of Thrud''s soldiers was weakpared to Council elders like Faluel, but they had the advantage of surprise and a good n backing them. The Kingdom had prepared for a battle of might and magic, but it was ill-prepared to face a natural disaster.

    To make matters worse, the Mad Queen had instructed her troops in seven-men units as well. Fake mages were incapable of casting Silverwing''s spells, making the bulk of the Kingdom''s forces and even the Queen''s Corpse useless.

    Thrud knew that the seven fake Awakened would have been split between the three cities to guarantee them the same degree of protection but this way the elite unit couldn''t show its true prowess.

    To use their best spells and strategies, all seven of them needed to be together but that would have meant leaving two targets exposed. The members of the Queen''s Corpse were doing their best to support the Awakened, taking the ce of the injured to not make the formation crumble.

    Yet theck of synergy between them reduced the prowess of the spells whereas Thrud''s soldiers worked like a well-oiled machine. The final result was that the Council forces were still winning the battle but too slowly for it to matter.

    The enemy Awakened had ced arrays throughout the thunderclouds to keep them packed and not let the umted energy scatter in case their focus was otherwise required.

    Even now that Thrud''s followers were fighting for their lives, the arrays worked akin to an autopilot.

    ''Solus, analysis.'' Lith took a deep breath, using the burning mes within his body to shrug off the cold that was quickly sapping his strength. ''How the heck can the three of us have any meaningful impact on the conflict?''

    Not only had his Tiamat form inherited Leegaain''s weakness to cold, but he also felt overwhelmed by the battle taking ce in front of his eyes. In the past, his missions had always had a clear goal.

    In Kh he had to rescue Phloria and Quy. In Kolga Lith just needed to get rid of the Forbidden Sun. In Lightkeep, Jakra was all that stood between him and victory. By knowing himself and his opponent, Lith had always nned in advance and ensured his victory.

    Now, however, there were too enemies and too many variables. On top of that, he had no time to prepare and the storm front moved forward by the second.

    ''Helping the other Awakened is a no-go.'' Solus replied while standing on his left shoulder, using physical contact to slow down the energy loss due to keeping her human form.

    ''We would just mess up with their tempo and ruin whatever strategy they are employing.'' She shared with him her mana sense, showing Lith how the members of the seven-men units were constantly exchanging thoughts with mind links.

    ''The safest option would be to take an enemy unit by ourselves. You, Crank, and I have practiced Silverwing''s spells together. Now that your Demons are back to their full strength, we have the manpower we need.''

    ''It sounds as safe as pointless.'' Lith replied. ''Blocking a single group of Emperor Beasts will hardly slow down the storm front.''

    ''Then there''s only one route left.'' Solus sighed sharply. ''We must dispose of the Divine Beasts. It''s only thanks to the Life Maelstrom that Thrud''s soldiers can keep up with the Council and if not for Doom Tide, the arrays would be incapable of moving.

    ''The Divine Beasts are the backbone and the heart of Thrud''s n. Remove them and her n will fall apart.'' She showed him how most of the Emperor Beasts just fueled the arrays but had no control over them.

    They were nothing but a diversion to keep the Council forces to realize who really used Doom Tide in the heat of the battle. Between the onught of spells filling the sky, the arrays, and the hundreds of different energy signatures, using Life Vision only showed a blurred multi-colored mess.

    ''Great Mother almighty!'' Crank thought, scaring Lith and Solus so much that the mind link almost crumbled. ''How did you figure this much in just a few seconds? Even if I had a mystical sense as good as yours, if you didn''t point things out to me, I would have never noticed.''

    He was too busy dodging energy sts and lightning arcs to focus on anything but his survival.

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Lith and Solus thought in unison, this time making sure to keep it private. ''We had forgotten that this moron is part of our mind link now.''

 Chapter 2051 Joining Forces (Part 1)

    Chapter 2051 Joining Forces (Part 1)

    ''There''s no time for exnations.'' The Tiamat said. ''My partner is a renowned genius tactician so you just follow her instructions and ask no questions. We are going to take down that thing.''

    He pointed at one of Thrud''s generals, Ophius the Quetzalcoatl. Just like the Thunderborne, it was one of the evolutionary paths that the Guardians had ignored. In this case, Leegaain and Fenagar.

    The Quetzalcoatl resembled a long snake over 50 meters (165'') long covered with sky blue feathers instead of scales and with a set of feathered wingsing out of the middle of his spine.

    Like a Dragon, it was capable of natural flight, but since its forefather was actually a Leviathan, it had developed the ability to mix the water element from the world energy with his life force to conjure the Blood Tide bloodline ability.

    The creature was the leader of a seven-men unit and was keeping the Awakened at bay thanks to his ability to manipte arrays at will. Elemental sealing magical formations blocked everything but Spirit Magic the Council soldiers used whereas the Quetzalcoatl''s allies could freely cast magic.

    Every time that an Awakened tried to use a Disarray spell to remove the formations, Ophius only had to rearrange the runes thatprised them to neutralize the threat at hand.

    ''What makes you think that the three of us can do better than seven Council elders?'' Crank liked a good challenge like any other Hyperion, but suicide missions were just stupid.

    All the gold on Mogar was pointless if he was too dead to spend it.

    ''We can''t.'' Lith replied. ''But that doesn''t mean that we cannot turn the tables. How good is your mastery over the air element?''

    ''Not my favorite topic, but I can handle even natural lightning. Why do you ask?''

    ''Shut up and cover for me. The moment I give you the signal, you are in for a treat.'' Lith''s eyes turned golden while Solus'' turned ck as he shared with her his strategy.

    ''It should work, but it''s very dangerous.'' She replied. ''If anything goes wrong, we are screwed. Are you certain you want to do this instead of just biding our time like everyone else?''

    ''Damn sure because we are not everyone else. Your tribtion is still ongoing and there''s no way I''m going to let you die just to save my skin.'' The Tiamat replied in anger while ring at the golden and white pir that still enveloped her.

    ''Mogar doesn''t care for excuses and whatever they want from you they won''t settle for mediocrity.''

    ''I know.'' Solus gently caressed a scale on his neck, moved by the heat that his worry for her produced. ''But if we don''t take risks, at least you will be safe. There''s no reason to put both our lives on the line.

    ''During your tribtions, even if you failed nothing would have happened to me. I would have just needed to find a new host.'' She did her best to sound indifferent but just saying those words almost made her voice crack.

    Almost.

    ''It''s only fair that the same happens to me. There''s no point in taking unnecessary risks. You have your family and Kam waiting for you whereas I have no one. I-''

    ''Fair my scaly ass!'' Lith cut her short. ''During every one of my tribtions, you stood by my side, risking your life to ensure my survival. Besides, it''s not true that you have no one.

    ''You have me and our family. I''ve risked losing you once in Kh and I''d rather die than repeat the experience. We''ll face this like we do everything else, together.''

    Solus nodded and made the Sage Staff return to its original size in her hand, using it to recover as much strength as she could while Lith started weaving Double Edge.

    There was a rhythm to every battle and Lith had long since learned how to read it like a pianist with sheet music. He used the Mouth of Menadion to cast his de Tier spell, Ruin, as quickly as he could while never averting his eyes from the Quetzalcoatl.

    Crank froze seeing the mystical weapon weaving runes, but it onlysted for a second. He activated a flight spell while splitting the earth mass he had brought along in two and infusing it with the darkness element.

    Soon the tform''s halves took the shape of semi-spherical shields that floated a few meters away from his fore legs and that were big enough to cover the Hyperion from head to toe.

    Earth magic turned the soft ground into rocks and then into solid stone, purifying it from conductive materials. At the same time, darkness magic flooded every nook and cranny of the makeshift shields.

    This way, any bolt of lightning couldn''t pass through Crank''s defenses and any spell that hit them would be severely weakened by the mass of darkness even before it could reach the sturdy rock beneath.

    ''Fuck, I should have pped my gums less and dug more information about the runt.'' He thought while deflecting stray arcs of lightning and spells to make sure that nothing messed with Lith''s concentration.

    ''The Tiamat may be barely a hatchling but he has already mastered Light Mastery and can even use de Magic. I didn''t see the Hydra using it which means that she probably exploited my ignorance to lead me by the nose.

    ''If I''m right and I sucked up to the wrong person, I''m screwed. This guy could be the next Ruler of the mes yet I always treated him like crap. If he knows how to craft weapons attuned to the mana flow, I must be his friend or he will put my order on the bottom of the list.''

    Suddenly his deal with the Kingdom became irrelevant and the Hyperion focused on protecting the Tiamat at the cost of his own personal safety.

    ''I wish Solus could use her own de Spell. Menadion''s Wrath is the perfect tool against someone who heavily relies on arrays but the moment she uses it she''d be drained of energy and we''ll be a target.

    ''Solus has already used too much strength and we can''t afford the risk of her losing her human body counting as failing her world tribtion. I wish that crap came with an instruction manual!'' Lith thought as the battle neared its apex.

    The Council''s unit was being slowly cornered and its members had weaved Silverwing''s Annihtion as theirst-ditch effort. The elders had already tried everything they could and failed, but they had no option left aside from waiting for death or surrender.

    Every time they had attempted an Annihtion, Ophius had used Blood Tide to turn the elemental sealing arrays into barriers that along with the Bastion foiled the attack and created the opportunity for a counterstrike.

    Lith could see with Life Vision that the Council''s Awakened were pouring all the strength they had left into their spell while also preparing for a Warp Steps. The elders would rather retreat to fight another day than waste their lives for a losing battle.

    ''On my mark!'' Lith said seemingly to no one.

    ''On your mark what?'' Crank asked in utter confusion while a bolt of natural lightning hit his right shield with so much force to shatter it.

 Chapter 2052 Joining Forces (Part 2)

    Chapter 2052 Joining Forces (Part 2)

    The Hyperion took control of every single fragment with earth magic and reformed the shield before the next volley arrived.

    ''Now!'' The moment the elders unleashed the Annihtion, Lith activated Ruin.

    The ckness of the storm was painted red by the hail of energy des that moved in every direction, attacking all the nearest seven-man units belonging to Thrud''s army at the same time.

    The Demons of the Darkness jumped out of Lith''s shadows and legs, using Domination to take control of Ruin''s shards and imbue them in their weapons.

    This way, the Demons would not only harness a fraction of the power of the de Spell, but they would also ride it to reach their respective marks with a speed exceeding that of any flight spell.

    Ruin generated countless energy des that Lith had to control by splitting his willpower, but aside from the main st that still required his focus, each de had now a wielder that could use it on their own.

    By coupling the de Tier Spell with his Demons, Lith had exploited its huge area of effect to strike at multiple enemies at the same time without the need to control Ruin once it was cast.

    He focused solely on the Quetzalcoatl and on not missing the timing when the two Silverwing''s spells would sh.

    The Bastion supported by the barriers had no problem withstanding the enemy''s Annihtion, but once Ruin joined the onught, the emerald surface cracked. The single fissure quickly spread to the rest of the construct faster than it could be repaired.

    Both Thrud''s and the Council''s Awakened were taken by surprise when the defensive barriers suddenly copsed.

    Yet while the Quetzalcoatl and the members of his unit took what was left of the two offensive spells square on, the elders used the moment of respite to use Invigoration and weave new spells.

    Lith pressed his advantage, breathing a full burst of Void mes from his mouth and another of Blight mes from his feathered wings against Ophius. The former engulfed his head while thetter struck his tail and both burned at him from inside out.

    The two Cursed mes quickly covered their respective half of the Quetzalcoatl''s colossal body, drawn to each other like mas of opposite charge. Yet while the Chaos spent part of its energy to cancel Life Maelstrom''s effects, the Decay gobbled it up and used it to amplify its strength.

    The Void and the Blight met in the middle, turning the Cursed elements back into their natural state. Light and darkness mixed quickly and violently, causing an explosion that ripped off many of the sky-blue scales covering Ophius'' midline.

    At the same time, the Demons of the Darkness wielding the shards of Ruin attacked the nearby seven-men units belonging to Thrud''s army. Each one of them was nothing muchpared to a violet-cored Awakened, let alone seven of them working together.

    Yet there were over a thousand Demons focusing their full might on just five units. On top of that, they all wielded at least one shard of the de Spell and hurled a burst of Void mes at the same time.

    Thrud''s Awakened were caught by surprise, but they still managed to raise Silverwing''s Bastion before the hail of living dark-red energy turned them into mincemeat.

    The mes and the shards helplessly crashed against the barrier, dealing no damage.

    Just like Lith had nned.

    Thrud''s Awakened had been forced to focus their attention to the sudden threat, losing control of the fight and creating an opportunity that the Council''s elders didn''t miss.

    They used Life Vision to study the barriers and unleashed their respective Annihtion against its weakest spot. The attack of the Demons had forced Thrud''s Awakened to focus their energy in a single point, leaving the Bastion exposed to side attacks.

    The Annihtions shattered the mystical barriers on impact and still had enough strength to deal quite some damage before fading away. The elders exploited the ensuing moments of chaos and confusion to gain the upper hand, breaking the standstill.

    ''Well done!'' Solus said via their mind link. ''Our strength isn''t enough to win this battle on our own, but by tipping the scales in multiple points, we should trigger a domino effect.

    ''With each unit of Thrud''s Awakened that falls, the remaining Council members can join their forces to take down the enemies faster. In this situation, even outnumbering the enemy of a single seven-men unit can make a difference and with this attack, we have created the opportunity to wipe out six of them!''

    ''Don''t count our chickens before they hatch.'' Between the Cursed mes and the de Tier Spell, Lith was so tired that he panted even in his mind.

    ''The Quetzalcoatl is still standing and even with the advantage I''ve given them, the elders will have a tough time fighting the rest of the Emperor Beasts still infused with Life Maelstrom.

    ''To get rid of the Doom Tide that controls the snowstorm, wounding him isn''t enough. We must kill him.''

    ''Way ahead of you.'' Solus replied while the runes engraved on the Sage Staff flew in the air and surrounded Ophius'' group.

    The three Evil Eyes and the elemental crystals shone in unison as she used the power of the staff to make up for her blue core and conjure the tier four Gravity spell, Copsed Star.

    It increased the gravity surrounding the seven Emperor Beasts by one hundred folds, making it impossible for any flight spell to support their weight. The Quetzalcoatl and his allies plunged down, crashing against the ground before they could even understand what was happening.

    Their bodies twisted and broke, their very own bones piercing through their flesh and organs impaling them from the inside.

    ''Excellent work, kid.'' One of the elders, a man who looked in histe forties with blonde hair and blue eyes said via a quick mind link while chasing the prey. ''A little forewarning would have allowed us to kill them all in a fell swoop though.''

    ''It would have also alerted the enemy, and by the time you''d readied your spell, I would have missed my opening.'' Lith replied.

    ''Fair enough. Dragonspeed, Verhen.''

    Ophius managed to use Doom Tide to conjure a Warp Array and escape from the effects of Copsed Star before it killed them all, but it was toote.

    The fact that the Council elders were already on their tail before they could take a single breath of Invigoration would probably spell their death but it wasn''t that worrying Ophius.

    Solus knew that killing a Divine Beast in a single shot was impossible so she had conjured Shattered Star to remove the Quetzalcoatl from the battle. The purpose of her spell had been to drive one of the Doom Tide users away from the array field, not to defeat them.

    Without Ophius keeping the formation stable, the snowstorm''s advance slowed down and the clouds started to drift away from Belius.

    ''Excellent work, Solus. When did you learn Gravity magic?'' Lith asked while drawing in world energy with Demon Grasp to restore his strength while Solus did the same with Sky Blessing.

    ''It''s a side project I''ve been dabbling in with Friya ever since we crafted the Sage Staff.'' She replied.

 Chapter 2053 Best Laid Plans (Part 1)

    Chapter 2053 Best Laid ns (Part 1)

    ''Ick Friya''s dimensional awareness but thanks to the staff''s enchantments I can still conjure a few enchantments she taught me.'' Solus said.

    ''What the heck are you two talking about and why do I feel left out of this conversation entirely? I''m working my ass for you here.'' Crank was really cranky from blocking one bolt of lightning after another and receiving no recognition for his hard work.

    ''Sorry!'' Solus said, suddenly remembering that he was there too. ''How are you doing?''

    ''Peachy.'' He replied. ''Between my armor and earth magic, the lightning barely stings. What was all that stuff about my air mastery about?''

    ''It was about this!'' Solus bolted from Lith''s shoulder and into a thundercloud as she took the very same conductive metals that the Hyperion had purified from the soil out of her pocket dimension.

    She used them to form a thin mist around her that worked like a lightning rod and drew the full power of the brewing storm against her. The mother of all bolts of lightning erupted from the ckness of the cloud, illuminating the surroundings with the intensity of a second sun.

    The stream of electricity was longer and wider than any Divine Beast Lith had ever seen, yet when it enveloped Solus, he felt no fear. The yellow streak in her wings lit up as she used Domination to take control of the natural lightning and make it spin in the form of a ring around her.

    ''Is she insane?'' Crank said. ''Between my affinity toward the earth element and my bloodline abilities I''m confident to survive even something like that, but your friend there is a pipsqueak.

    ''If she gets so much as grazed by a lightning that strong, the only thing left of her will be her memory.''

    ''She may not have your raw strength, but she''s much smarter.'' Lith replied. ''On top of that, being small has its perks, you know?''

    The Hyperion was right. Even a veteran Divine Beast like him would have been severely, if not deadly wounded by such a majestic force of nature. Yet Solus had volunteered to go first because she had something better than bloodline abilities by her side.

    She had science and Lith''s Faraday cage.

    Even with Domination and the Sage Staff, controlling the vtile energy of the storm from so close was dangerous, but thanks to the copper mesh she suffered no damage even when she made a mistake.

    Solus had ced the ferromaic metals outside the cage, using them to both draw more bolts of lightning to her and to form a path where to safely channel the electrical current.

    This way, she could bide her time and focus solely to infuse the air element with her willpower until it obeyed her everymand.

    ''Take it, amplify it as much as you can, and then pass it to Lith!'' Solu said once the bolt of lightning had assumed a stable andpact form that anyone could safely control before throwing it at the Hyperion.

    Due to the limited mana of her blue core, she couldn''t empower it anymore by herself. The ring of lightning had already grown so big that it blinded all of her senses, making it hard for her to keep her focus.

    Crank cursed in manynguages but remained surprised when he noticed that the energy mass opposed no resistance, answering to his will like a loyal dog. Solus'' Dominance was still in effect and she used it from a distance to support him.

    The Hyperion used his mastery over earth magic to enhance the maic field of the metals and draw even more bolts of lightning. The ring grew in size again until it formed a perfect sphere that shrouded the Hyperion from head to toe.

    ''This is amazing! I''m naturally attuned to the earth element, but I would''ve never thought of using it like this by myself. Two opposing elements can actually work together!'' He thought as the power of the energy mass grew until it was almost too much to control,

    Then, he passed it unto Lith who used his yellow eye and his own Domination to put an even stronger leash on the natural lightning.

    ''I wish I had the time to boost it a bit more, but right now speed is of the essence.'' The electrical current flowed into his right arm and came out of his left hand and yellow eye, split into six smaller streams.

    They struck at as many seven-man units, each one hosting one of the remaining Divine Beast capable of using Doom Tide and in charge of steering the snowstorm, tipping the scale in favor of the Kingdom even more.

    Those struck by natural lightning died on the spot. Some managed to conjure Silverwing''s Bastion just to see it crumble. The anti-Guardian spell allowed the Divine Beasts and those who had a natural resistance to the air element to survive, but only for a few seconds.

    The sudden attack had disrupted their formation and left on them a residual charge, turning them into living lightning rods. The Council''s elders didn''t miss the opening and used their mastery over the air element to kill the survivors without wasting a drop of mana.

    The storm was supposed to be Thrud''s trump card yet Lith was turning it against her champions. Just a handful of seconds had passed since he had unleashed Ruin but it would have been enough to turn the tides of the battle.

    It was supposed to be enough.

    "Enough!" Iata the Sekhmet dived from above at Lith while he was still catching his breath. "First you cripple our army and now our storm. You are a Scourge to everything good in this world and I won''t allow you to ruin months of hard work!"

    After running away, she and the rest of the Life Maelstrom users had emptied their mana organs, splitting the silver lightning between the other Beasts and the arrays. The former would allow them to fight on par with the Council while thetter would ensure that the storm advanced at full speed even during the battle.

    After that, Iata had kept herself hidden, using her hard light constructs from a distance to shield her allies and heal them. With two members of her unit dead, joining the fight directly was suicidal.

    The fight with Lith had drained too much of her strength and without Life Maelstrom, all the Sekhmet could do was support her allies and be ready to take the ce of one of the fallen.

    The moment she had seen the Tiamat''sing, she had expected him to follow a simr strategy. She hadin in ambush, waiting for the opportunity to kill him and even the score.

    Iata had witnessed Solus killing Leari and had faced both the Tiamat and the Hyperion.

    She wasn''t confident in defeating any of them even when she still had Life Maelstrom to spare, facing all three of them without it would have been just stupid.

    Now, however, Verhen waspletely open and weakened from channeling so much power through his body, the golden knight wobbled in mid-air from exhaustion, and the Hyperion was distracted.

    Iata would have called it the perfect opportunity but the cost that it came at and seeing the True Queen''s n being hindered so much made it anything but perfect.

 Chapter 2054 Best Laid Plans (Part 2)

    Chapter 2054 Best Laid ns (Part 2)

    Her ws ripped the tendons in Lith''s right hand, making him lose the grip on War and allowing her to Warp the dangerous de dozens of kilometers away.

    ''That thing isn''t just a weapon like those that the Queen forged for us. It''s part of the Tiamat''s power. Without it, he can''t express his full abilities.'' She thought and she was right.

    It was thanks to War that Lith could use Domination with such ease. The de''s abilitiesplemented his own and there was no strategy in his ybook that didn''t make the best of the special bond he shared with it.

    With his limbs pinned by the Sekhmet''s legs during the freefall, the only thing that Lith could do was to breathe a burst of Origin mes but his shallow breath greatly reduced its efficacy.

    It was the only reason he survived his blunder.

    Iata had trained against Jormun the Emerald Dragon, an opponent who had mastered the Origin mes after spending over 500 years trapped inside the Golden Griffon. During her sh with Lith, she had been wary of the possible tactics he might employ, but now she had realized how little he could dopared to her mentor.

    The moment Lith had inhaled, she had felt his temperature rising as the mes spread throughout his body before erupting from his scales.

    ''The kid is so devious that I had forgotten he''s just neen. Without a master, he didn''t have the time to learn how to control his bloodline abilities. He can only breathe the mes from his mouth like a dragonewt or from his body.

    ''He''s just a two tricks pony.'' She headbutted the Tiamat while he was still inhaling, making him lose control of the world energy.

    The Origin mes manifested inside his body, eating at his flesh and blood without being hindered by the Voidwalker armor or any of its protective enchantments. Lith''s seven eyes boiled, blinding him and sealing Domination.

    His throat burned, stopping his breath and making it impossible for him to use Invigoration. Smoke came out of his ears along with two tongues of fire that burst his eardrums.

    His charred muscles stiffened, bing useless.

    The Tiamat had be blind, deaf, and paralyzed, incapable of using body casting. He had taken so much damage that without a healing spell, light fusion would take minutes to restore his mobility.

    Yet he had only a few seconds left to live.

    Lith crashed against Belius'' ins at terminal velocity, bearing both his own weight and that of the Sekhmet. His bones shattered on impact, piercing his own flesh and puncturing his organs despite the Spirit Barrier he had conjured at thest second.

    The emerald sphere had expanded outwards from his body, both cushioning the impact and pushing Iata away. She had been taken by surprise and sent tumbling on the ground.

    The Sekhmet had taken little damage, but Lith had bought himself a bit more time.

    ''Fuck me sideways. My only option is to either manage to restore enough of my throat to use Invigoration or hope that Solus has recovered her strength and can help me. Otherwise I''m finished.'' He thought while focusing light fusion on his windpipe.

    Lith knew that turning his head around would only cause him agony but he did it anyway in the hope that at least one of his senses could perceive Iata''s next attack and allow him to further prolong his life.

    The worst thing about that situation weren''t the wounds or the pain that overcame even darkness fusion. It was the feeling of helplessness that came from the dark, silent world where he was currently trapped in.

    His lungs burned from theck of air and small bursts of fire came from his empty eyes instead of tears of pain. He called upon his Golems, but they were too far to make it in time to save him.

    Lith searched his surroundings for a wandering soul strong enough to receive what was left of his strength and protect him from the Sekhmet but there was none. Iata stood up with air magic, avoiding to produce a single vibration that her opponent could perceive through the ground.

    Then, she bolted from the side at him with her wed weapon extended to its full length to decapitate the Tiamat like a flying guillotine.

    It was then that a second meteor fell from the sky, producing a shockwave so strong that it sent both Lith and Iata tumbling in opposite directions.

    "Thanks. You have no idea how awkward I feel when I''m away from dear old Mogar." The meteor turned out to be the curled-up form of Crank the Hyperion who stood up while never averting his eyes from the opponent.

    He didn''t move from hisnding spot, ready to Blink after Iata in case she tried to sneak past him to finish Lith off. Most of the spells he had at the ready were suited for an aerial fight and of little use on the ground so he needed time to weave new ones.

    He activated the tier four spell, Tidal Wall, and hit the ground with his forelegs. The earth rippled before bursting up in a series of concentric waves infused with darkness magic that corroded everything on their path.

    Iata shrugged off the concussion with a quick breath of Invigoration and flew above the spell at thest second. The moment she reached the safety of the sky, a bolt of darkness the size of a house struck her with the speed of a bullet.

    Not only was it unnaturally fast, but it had moved under the cover of the first wave of Tidal Wall so that she couldn''t notice it with Life Vision and had caught her by surprise.

    Iata fell right into Tidal Wall''s second wave that carried her away while eating at her body from every direction. The earth construct dived down like a hand swatting a fly, mming the Sekhmet against the ground.

    She bounced up just to get caught by the next wave, again and again in an endless cycle that broke her armor and cracked every bone in her body. Iata used Light Mastery to keep her armor from falling apart and activated a Spirit Barrier.

    It bought her the second of respite she needed to Blink away to safety.

    Or so she thought until she reappeared just to see a volley of darkness headed her way. The projectiles had been infused with Spirit Magic, granting them the speed and the kic energy of colossal cannonballs.

    The first bolt was too close to dodge it and she took it square on the muzzle. The impact sent her on the path of the second which in turn bounced her against the third, turning the scattered shots into a precise machine gun.

    ''Just because I have to keep things simple it doesn''t mean I can''t kick her ass.'' Crank thought.

    An elemental spell infused with Spirit Magic was way less powerful than a Spirit Spell but also much less mana expensive and quick to cast.

    On top of that, while Iata was busy fighting him, Solus was doing her best to save Lith''s life. She hade down riding the Hyperion''s back and had Blinked on Lith unnoticed during thending.

 Chapter 2055 Checkmate (Part 1)

    Chapter 2055 Checkmate (Part 1)

    ''By my Mom, there are more injuries in Lith''s body than items on a grocery list.'' Solus thought while Sky Blessing gave her a detailed report of Lith''s pitiful condition. ''I need to stop the bleeding and fix his bones, or he will die.''

    Her breathing technique could heal most of his wounds in a few seconds and restore his stamina, but without nutrients, his body would stillck the strength to keep fighting.

    Solus regenerated Lith''s throat first so that he could gulp down the tonics and then she stabilized all the life-threatening injuries. The Tiamat drank huge amounts of potions that he kept stored in his pocket dimension, allowing Solus to repair his organs.

    With each eye that she restored, his aura burst out with renewed strength, something that Iata didn''t miss even in her dazzled state.

    ''How can Verhen be still alive? Not even a Divine Beast can survive without breathing!'' The Sekhmet roared, creating a shockwave that interrupted her flight while a hard-light construct blocked the iing darkness bullet.

    She bolted toward Lith while avoiding the volley of Spirt Magic-infused darkness to kill him before he could fully recover.

    s, Crank had yet to be paid for his services and begged to differ.

    He stepped back, putting himself between the Sekhmet and her prey. To make matters worse he suddenly released a violent ck aura that eclipsed Lith''s energy signature, blinding Iata''s Life Vision.

    ''What an annoying prick!'' She thought while unleashing a barrage of scorching pirs of light that cut the ground asunder and vaporized Crank''s earth constructs. ''Now either he dodges, leaving Verhen wide open, or dies.

    ''Whatever he does it''s my win!''

    Yet the Hyperion didn''t move. He took the sts head-on, but aside from a bit of smokeing from his fur, there was no visible damage.

    ''Dammit, I had forgotten about his Mana Body bloodline ability.

    ''He''s immune to direct damage from magic, but ites at the price of his own spellcasting and offers no protection from indirect damage.'' Iata conjured several hard-light constructs shaped like hands, each one big enough to squeeze a Divine Beast.

    Crank snarled as the white streak on his back shifted into the six colors of the elements. It absorbed theponents of the world energy one at a time and used them to empower the spells he had left at the ready.

    The Elemental Overload bloodline ability turned the tier three spells into tier four while the only tier five he had managed to weave rose to the power of a Spirit Spell. Iata''s constructs shattered one after the other until only one was left.

    It trapped the Hyperion in a wall of light that surrounded him and imploded on itself, without giving him the time to Blink.

    ''Oh, fuck! It was a calcted risk, but man if I''m bad at math.'' Crank had underestimated the burden that boosting so many spells at the same time would put on his mana core.

    Elemental Overload allowed young Hyperions to make up for theirck of body casting and veterans to need but a split second to turn a cantrip into a devastating spell, yet it came at a price.

    The white streak on their back absorbed the elements required to boost their spells but the remaining world energy had to be neutralized by their body to fix the imbnce that Elemental Overload created.

    On top of that, the extra energy had to be channeled through the mana core, putting it under the same strain of casting multiple spells instead of just one.

    Unlike physical organs, the only way a core could recover was with rest, not even breathing techniques could hasten the process.

    Iata dived into the ck aura and finally noticed the small golden figure on the Tiamat''s chest. Between the gentle light enveloping her and the wings-shaped hair, the Sekhmet mistook Solus for a fairy.

    The ckness of Lith''s colossal body was in stark contrast with her golden and white pir, making her look like a spirit of light who had descended to either aid or vanquish the demon.

    ''How can there possibly be two Verhens?'' Iata thought the moment Life Vision once again confirmed to her that they had the same energy signature and confused her even further.

    Solus turned around, waving her hands in quick session.

    The first Switched Iata and Crank, blinding the former with her own spell and saving thetter a lot of damage.

    ''Big deal, my own mana can''t harm me and both the Divine Beasts are still exhausted. I can-'' Solus'' second hand had thrown Menadion''s Fury and activated its Furies'' Flight ability.

    The hammer split into nine, each enveloped in an elemental aura, that struck at the Sekhmet in quick session, shattering both the Spirit Barrier of her armor and the constructs she had enveloped herself with.

    The Furies were smallpared to a Divine Beast but their Davross heads coupled with the gravity magic the artifacts were imbued with gave them the same kic energy of a meteor.

    ''Crank, time to finish this. Buy me a couple of seconds.'' Solus said via a mind link.

    ''On it, whoever you are!'' The Hyperion bashed at the Sekhmet while the Fury was returning to Solus'' hand and pinned Iata to the ground.

    She twisted her lower back, sending her scorpion tail toward his unprotected eye with surgical precision.

    "Seriously? Do you think that my tail is just for decoration? Didn''t you wonder why I didn''t use it during our first squabble?" Crank knew his abilities and their weak points the best.

    Mana Body protected him from spells just like Cleansing Mist from dangerous physical substances like acid, but it only worked on his thick, sturdy fur that gave Cleansing Mist the time it needed to work.

    Any attack aimed at soft areas like his mouth, ears, or eyes would meet no resistance. It was the reason the Hyperion had kept his long, armored tail lifted and ready to strike. It faced the stinger head-on, using Cleansing Mist to make the acid harmless and its massive weight to squash the Sekhmet''s tail.

    Darkness fusion protected Iata from the agony of losing a limb, but she lost her coordination nheless as her body struggled to find its bnce after being maimed.

    Crank exploited the advantage to pummel the confused enemy with his Adamant-coated paws. The enchanted metal shapeshifted, turning his extremities into war maces.

    Iata felt her bones shattering, but she ignored the pain and unleashed her most powerful Spirit Spell, Devouring Light. It was a variant of Tyrannical Roar that she had derived from her memories with Thrud''s help.

    Yet the moment the golden light emerged from her body and started to eat at the Hyperion, it was eclipsed by the dim brilliance of what seemed an emerald dawn.

    After giving up on using Yurial''s Hexagram again, Solus had reced it with Silverwing''s Bastion, but she hadcked both the means and the opportunity to use it. Then, after Lith had used Ruin, she had stored the Annihtion in the Mouth of Menadion as well.

    Lith could use a de Tier spell only twice before exhausting his strength. Invigoration could give him back his energy, but it couldn''t make up for the still missing War.

 Chapter 2056 Checkmate (Part 2)

    Chapter 2056 Checkmate (Part 2)

    Without the angry de, the only piece of equipment with a power core that Lith had crafted was his Voidwalker armor. With that alone Ruin couldn''t manifest half of its power due to theck of offensive skills of the artifact.

    Silverwing''s Annihtion, instead, only required for seven Awakened to be assembled. Varegrave, Valia, Locrias, and Trion had answered Lith''s call, returning by his side as quickly as they could.

    All the Demons that Lith conjured were Awakened and by sharing his knowledge through the mystical chains that bound them to him, it was as if they had practiced all day with Faluel as well.

    After being recharged, they had still six eyes each, bringing them just one step below Lith. Varegrave had been a Demon for just a few minutes but what hecked in experience he more than made up for it with his mastery of magic.

    After serving for decades in the army and being entrusted with the Small World multiple times, thete colonel outperformed even Trion who in life hadcked any magical talent of sorts.

    The weakest link in the formation was Solus with her blue core since both Silverwing''s spells required to have reached the violet minimum. Yet she used the technique she had developed to cast de Tier spells in order to tap into the power cores of her equipment and fill the gap with the others.

    Crank was the only one with a bright violet core so he took point and harnessed the seventh element of magic, taking control of the Annihtion. Devouring Light was a powerful tier five Spirit Spell but Silverwing''s legacy outshone it like the sun does the stars.

    Iata used all the power left in her equipment and the spells she had at the ready, but to no avail. The Annihtion vaporized her and the Adamant she wore on contact, turning a treasure worthy of a king into a silvery mist.

    Then, the spell moved upward where the Sekhmet''s allies were still fighting. Crank didn''t let the power of the Annihtion go to waste, cutting through the enemy lines like a hot knife through butter.

    "We did it!" The Hyperion shouted in triumph. "Belius is safe. You are safe. Both my paychecks are as good as signed."

    As the emerald pir disappeared, Lith could see with his keen Tiamat eyes that Thrud''s forces were scattering in a hasty retreat both in the sky and on the ground. Even the pir surrounding Solus disappeared marking the end of her tribtion.

    ''We really did it.'' She said via the mind link amid tears, listening to the cries of joy that the wind carried all the way from Belius. ''I shaped more than metal. I gave those people the hope and strength they needed.

    ''For the first time in my life, I fought not for you, but for myself and everything I believe in.''

    "Wrong." Lith said to them both. "You saved me, Crank. You seeded, Solus. The Kingdom is fucked."

    "What do you-" A sudden gust of cold wind cut her short, quickly followed by pouring rain.

    Only then did they lower their gaze and notice what was truly happening.

    Jirni''s quick thinking had allowed the Council''s forces to understand the real goal of the Mad Queen and Lith''s intervention had tipped the scales of the battle as the Royals had hoped.

    Not even Thrud could have predicted that someone capable of using de Tier spells would have interfered, nor factored for the prowess of Solus, the Demons, and the Golems.

    All those unknown factors had made her lose the battle, but she had still won the war. Her Divine Beasts and Awakened soldiers weren''t retreating because on the verge of defeat but because the mission had been already aplished.

    The ground troops had been just a diversion to keep the Kingdom''s forces split until it was toote. The storm had always been her winning move and by the time Jiza had developed a countermeasure, it had almost reached its target.

    The Emperor and Divine Beasts of the Mad Queen had kept the thunderclouds packed and moved them forward even at the cost of paying for it with their flesh and blood.

    Unlike the humans, the Golden Griffon would always bring them back. Pain was transitory whereas glory was forever. The rain turned into snow and then into hail that started hammering at Belius'' stone buildings.

    At first, it sounded like someone was knocking on the doors for shelter. After just a few minutes, between the wailing of the storm and the ice ramming at the rooftops, it was as if a giant had sieged Belius.

    The wind also grew in intensity until the clouds started to swirl downward in a funnel that turned into a tornado the moment it reached the ground. It sucked in the pouring rain, the hail, and everything it touched until water and air became one.

    Lith had never seen a storm so violent even back when he was a Ranger, let alone a hurricane forming on drynd. Yet the monster ravaging his adoptive home was born of magic, making it possible for the two natural disasters to fuel each other in a loop.

    Due to the Kingdom''s weather mages meddling with the air currents, the storm had been unleashed outside Belius but the persistence of the Mad Queen''s generals had brought it close enough to make it work anyway.

    Even without the arrays pushing it forward, now the storm moved along the natural air currents and reached the city in the space of minutes. The downpour drowned the cries of joy that came from Belius'' walls and turned them into despair.

    "No!" Solus yelled.

    "My home!" Lith said as the storm became so intense that he couldn''t see further than his own nose.

    "My paycheck!" Crank''s wallet hurt in a way that the Tiamat would have sympathized with in any other circumstance.

    Then, the storm grew again in size and violence, reaching them. Even the fringes of the hurricane were fast and violent enough to lift the Hyperion off the ground. Without his protection, Lith and Solus were quickly swallowed as well.

    The cold sapped their strength while the hail striking at them moved at hundreds of kilometers per hour.

    The gravity sheath of their armors allowed them to survive, but deflecting so many projectiles charged with so much energy was depleting the power cores faster than they could be replenished.

    ''Let''s use the Bastion!'' Lith and Solus thought in unison.

    They coordinated with Crank via the mind link and with the Demons via the chains, grabbing onto each other before the storm separated them. The Tiamat and the Hyperion shrunk to the size of a human, using both body and mind casting to weave the spell as fast as they could.

    All of them were spent after using the Annihtion and had to squeeze until thest drop of their mana to seed. With the help of the Mouth of Menadion, the seven Awakened conjured an emerald barrier that even though was barely big enough to shield them was as thin as paper.

    Luckily for them, the hurricane had no mind guiding it. Despite the little mana used they had left, it would have taken a powerful and focused attack to destroy even such a half-assed version of the Bastion.

 Chapter 2057 Cracked Core (Part 1)

    Chapter 2057 Cracked Core (Part 1)

    Under the protection of the emerald barrier that kept them grounded, Crank conjured a Warp Steps leading the group far away from Belius.

    "Do you think that Faluel and the others are alive?" He said after the Steps closed, cutting off the deafening fury of the storm.

    Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension and checked if the runes of the members of Faluel''s unit were still there.

    "Everyone seems to be fine, but I''m going to wait for a while before calling them. If they were caught up in the hurricane as it formed, they can''t afford one moment of distraction." He replied.

    "Good to know." The Hyperion shrunk again, going from a human-sized Divine Beast to a honey badger. "My contract with the Kingdom is probably blown. If something happened to the Hydra, all my hard work would have been for nothing."

    "That''s what you are worried about? Your profit?" Solus was outraged by Crank''s uncaring attitude and stepped forward to give him a piece of her mind. "Good people died today. We put our lives on the line yet it was all for nothing!

    "In a few hours, Belius will fall into Thrud''s hands and there''s no telling if Vesta and Prode won''t end the same way. Don''t you understand how dire this situation is?" Her body was on the brink of copse.

    With each step she took, Solus could feel cracks opening along her legs. Her lungs burned with exhaustion, making every word painful to speak yet her fury gave her strength.

    "That''s none of my business,dy." Crank ignored her and sat down on a patch of grass. He took a big pile of food out of his dimensional item and started to eat to recover his strength.

    "I''m not from the Kingdom and I have no love for this ce. None of those people were my friends so I don''t care about what happens to them. Do you prefer fruit or meat?" He said with the same tone he would have used to talk about the weather.

    Solus was about to reply with very rude words when Lith put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

    ''Sit down and save your strength.'' He used physical contact to establish an invisible mind link. ''If you don''t return to your ring quickly, your human form might be lost forever.

    ''There''s no time for squabbles. Besides, I''m no different from him. I didn''te to Belius out of the goodness of my heart, only because of my deal with the Royals. A deal that might not be valid anymore due to our failure.

    ''We need to return to the Desert before the Kingdom pinpoints our position.'' He pointed at Varegrave who still held his body and equipment.

    "Don''t worry about your contract with the Royals." Lith used Invigoration to restore his strength while preparing a Warp. "After today, they will need you more than ever. As for Faluel, if she made it out alive, I''ll honor my end of our bargain."

    "Yeah, right. I''ll believe it when I heard it from them." The Hyperion said with a scoff, with optimism that rivaled Lith''s. "By the way, what do we do now? I''ve no ce to stay."

    "There''s no we." Lith replied. "Just reach any city that''s not under Thrud''s banner and I''m sure the army will be d to assign you a new mission. As for me, I''m out of here."

    He lifted Solus in a princess carry and walked through the Steps the moment it appeared. The Demons followed him by fusing with his shadow, making the dimensional corridorst for a split second.

    "Wow, that was rude." Crank said with a burp. "He didn''t even bother exchangingmunication runes. Let''s hope that the lizard is alive and well, or I''ll have no way to contact... What was his name again?"

    The Hyperion kept eating while talking to himself for several minutes before realizing that he had no idea who Solus was, what her motives were, and why she had the same energy signature as Lith.

    "Why didn''t I ask him a single question and why am I still talking to myself?" Yet there was no one to answer aside from a few birds perched on a tree that chirped at him.

    "I''m not crazy, you''re crazy! I don''t need your pity, birdbrains!" Crank said, making the small creatures fly away in fear. "Gods, I need a life."

    Meanwhile, Solus had shapeshifted into her ring form and Lith opened one Steps after another in order to reach the mana geyser of Kaduria, one of the most powerful sources of world energy he was aware of in the Ker region

    On top of that, too little time had passed since the destruction of the ck Star for something valuable to have formed so he could hope that the geyser was still in a no-man''snd.

    The stone ring that was the physical manifestation of Menadion''s tower was chipped in many points and Lith could feel there was something wrong with it.

    ''Dammit, Solus pushed herself too hard. First a Divine Beast, then both Silverwing''s spells. If not for that fucking tribtion, I could''ve her drop her human body as soon as Iata escaped. Let''s hope I''m not toote.''

    Solus felt his worry and wanted to reassure him, but her mind acted funny. She wasn''t supposed to be able to sleep outside of the tower yet her consciousness was bing blurrier by the second, reducing her thoughts to white noise.

    Varegrave wanted to speak with him as well, but he could feel that there was no time for chatter.

    Once Lith reached Kaduria, he ced his hand on the ground to let Solus slip off and conjure the tower without the need to turn into her spider form. He had no idea how much strength she had left and didn''t want to strain her further.

    "Fuck me sideways!" A few secondster, the ring was still on his finger.

    He kept waiting and checking it with Invigoration since no matter how much he called for her, Solus didn''t answer. She was still there, lost in-between consciousness and slumber.

    Both her condition and that of the ring had stopped worsening but it wasn''t getting better either. After a few minutes, Lith started to panic. Invigoration had no effect on her and the mind link gave him static.

    He did his best to remember how deep Solus usually dug underground before forming the tower and used earth magic to do it for her. Then, Lith took off the ring and ced it in a pit deep enough topletely surround her with the stream of world energy.

    At the same time, he made sure to keep touching the ring to also provide Solus with a constant flow of his own mana.

    ''Don''t give up, Solus. You can do it. Just form the tower and everything will be alright.'' Once again, nothing happened.

    Lith could feel the presence of the geyser invigorating his body whereas the ring remained cracked with no sign of recovery.

    ''Dammit, now that I think about it, Solus always pointed out how tribtions put a great strain on my body, especially after my life force cracked. She''s in no different condition, if not even worse.''

 Chapter 2058 Cracked Core (Part 2)

    Chapter 2058 Cracked Core (Part 2)

    ''At least after a tribtion, I could receive healing and life force from others whereas her hybrid nature as an artifact makes even my breathing technique useless once she''s back into her stone form.'' At his wits'' end, Lith called Sark and asked for her help.

    "Calm down, Featherling. Panic won''t help either of you." The Guardian''s voice sounded like that of a disgruntled sergeant.

    "Please, scolding can wait. Come here or at least tell me how I can help Solus." Lith replied.

    "My presence is unnecessary. You''ve done everything right. You only need onest step." Sark''s tone softened once, despite the distance separating them, Blood Imprint allowed her to feel how tired he was from the fight and how worried he was for his partner.

    "Which is?"

    "Do you remember when you were on the beach and called upon your tower?" She asked.

    "Yes."

    "It''s the same thing now. Just because you usually leave Solus in charge of the tower it doesn''t mean that you can''t control it without her. You are the master of the tower and it obeys your will." Sark said.

    "Are you telling me that I just have to force the tower to manifest?" Before wasting even one iota of Solus'' energy, Lith wanted to make sure that the n was foolproof.

    "No. If you do that, the tower core will copse. First, you must have the tower draw upon the mana geyser. Right now, it''s akin to aatose patient who''s unable to feed by themselves.

    "Go nice and easy. Don''t feed the tower more than it can handle or you will make things even worse." Sark said.

    Lith nodded and focused on the stone ring, treating it like an artifact instead of his best friend for the first time in his life. He took control of the tower, bypassing Solus'' remnant consciousness, and had it slowly absorb the surrounding world energy.

    At first, it was the same amount his auxiliary cores drew in with every breath he took. The ring effortlessly devoured the energy and craved for more but Lith waited until he was certain there were no side effects before increasing the flow.

    Sark guided him during the entire procedure, teaching Lith how to recognize when the tower core had recovered enough to not need his supervision any longer.

    "Menadion''s artifact is a masterpiece. If not for the burden of sustaining Solus''s life and the damage the tribtion inflicted upon her, the tower would have recovered the moment you reached the geyser." She said.

    "I don''t care! Just tell me if she''s safe." Lith had tried to contact Solus with the mind link from time to time, but to no avail.

    "Of course she''s safe! The tower is programmed to sacrifice itself down to thest pebble in order to protect her life." Sark replied. "Why do you think the ring cracked? The tower is shouldering her wounds for her.

    "Also, stop trying to contact her with the mind link. It just puts more strain on her. Solus needs to rest. Don''t use any of the tower''s powers until she has regained consciousness and her mana core has stabilized."

    "I will." He nodded. "Please, tell Kami that I''m alright. After Belius'' fall, she must be worried sick and I can''t call her until we''re done here. I can''t afford any distraction."

    Only when the cracks in the ring closed and its vigor was restored did Lith allow the tower to take form. The process required longer than usual and even though the building looked no different from usual, he could feel how weak it actually was.

    There was no light inside and every piece of furniture looked old and dusty. All the floors of the tower had been depowered, making them simple rooms. Until Solus recovered, the mage tower would be no different from a stone building.

    Lith immediately went to Solus'' room, hoping to find her asleep but the bed was empty. He was about to call upon her when he remembered Sark''s warning.

    ''The situation must be really bad. I feel no different from when I was just sitting on the geyser. The tower isn''t boosting my abilities like usual.'' Afraid to disturb Solus''s slumber, Lith conjured a Hush zone before calling Kam on her Desert amulet.

    He had no idea if his absence mightpromise her recovery and didn''t want to take unnecessary risks. He sat down on his bed, feeling dizzy from the fatigue of Solus'' treatment to the point that even such a simple spell strained his mana reserves.

    "Thank the gods you both made it." Kam said amid tears. "I''ve been worried sick."

    She had been staring at their runes ever since the bad news had reached Valeron but she didn''t dare to call them, afraid to disturb them while they might still be engaged in battle.

    "Didn''t Grandma contact you?" He asked.

    "Yeah, but I was afraid that whatever is wrong with Solus, the damage would reflect on you as well due to the bond you two shared. Are you certain that you are alright?"

    Lith was about to reassure Kam when he pondered her words and decided to check himself up.

    "Fuck me sideways, you are right." He could see with Demon Grasp that the tower was actually a ck hole for both mana and world energy. "I don''t feel dizzy from the Hush but because the tower is feeding on me.

    "Menadion must have prioritized Solus'' safety even over that of its master."

    "Would any mother have done any different?" Kam replied.

    "No, definitely not."

    "Eat and rest a lot." She said. "If even half of what I heard about Belius'' battle is true, you will both need it. Speaking of mothers, call Elina. She won''t rest until she hears from you."

    "I will, but first I must make sure that you''re safe as well." Lith said while taking food and tonics out of his dimensional amulets to not stress the tower.

    "What do you mean?" She asked.

    "What happened to Vesta and Prode? I''ve been cut off from the army since the end of the battle for Belius. Also, how did the Royals take the bad news?"

    "It''s a long story." Kam sighed.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Pce, at the same time.

    A dreadful silence filled the throne room where a holographic disy showed in real time the status of the battlefield for the three sieged cities. The Council''s elders kept theirmunication amulets open on a nearby table, receiving constant updates about the number of their casualties.

    The crystal bead of the Small World had returned to King Meron who could only clench it while he witnessed the hail storm and the hurricane ripping to shreds Belius'' protective arrays.

    "What''s the status of the evacuation?" He asked.

    "Over 50% of the personnel has managed to escape." General Vorgh replied. "We don''t think that the arrays will hold for long. We need the Awakened to open their ''Spirit Steps'' and save as many people as they can."

    "Lady Gernoff?" The King turned toward the Council''s envoy.

    "We can do that. After all, those inside the city didn''t fight and have mana to spare. Are you sure you want our people to just leave?" Jiza asked.

 Chapter 2059 The Price of War (Part 1)

    Chapter 2059 The Price of War (Part 1)

    "There''s no point in putting Awakened lives at risk for a losing battle. Just ask them to bring with them as many people as they can.

    "General Berion, the moment the evacuation isplete, I want you to activate the self-destruct mechanism of the arrays and the City Gate. I don''t want to leave behind anything that might be used against us." Meron said.

    "As you wish, Your Majesty." The storm howled and hammered through the solid stone walls of his office with such violence that he needed a Hush spell to be able to listen to the orders.

    "Excellent." The King nodded before turning to Vorgh. "How is the situation at Vesta and Prode?"

    "The weather mages managed to push the hot winds away from the cities and toward Thrud''s armies. As soon as they lost control over the storm front, they retreated without a fight. We didn''t lose a single soldier or Awakened.

    "There are just a few injured from the skirmish to buy time for the weather mages." The Brigadier General replied. "I think it''s an outstanding result and it''s all thanks to our strategists."

    He gave Jirni and her great-great-great-great-grandaunt a deep bow.

    "What about Belius?" The rest of the Royal Court was smiling but the Queen''s expression was as grim as the King''s.

    "There''s no saving it." Vorgh replied with a sigh. "The silver lining is that we suffered minimal losses. The barrier arrays we set up against War Mage spells held long enough to evacuate the outer walls.

    "Aside from about one-third of Colonel Varegrave''s regiment, no one died."

    "No human died, you mean." Jiza snarled. "We lost three Awakened elders today and each one of them was worth thousands of your insignificant soldiers, if not millions! While you ants sit behind the safety of your city wall, my people fought against the progeny of the gods!"

    At those words, Vorgh became livid and rage turned his face to a deep red.

    "And we are grateful for that." Meron stepped in before the General couldpromise the frail alliance with the Council. "You have my word that their sacrifice will be honored and that we''llpensate their families for their loss."

    Now that Thrud had Divine Beasts among her generals, the Awakened were paying the highest price at every battle. If before a Council elder would die solely due to a cunning trap or a major blunder, now the slightest mistake was enough to cause their death.

    It had led the Council to reconsider their involvement in the war and to renegotiate the deal with the Kingdom.

    "That''s not enough." Jiza shook her head. "What about those who put their lives on the line and managed to survive? If you want them to return to the battlefield and fight against immortals, you need to offer us more than a thank you, Your Majesty."

    "You are not fighting for us, you are fighting for your homnd." Queen Sylpha''s tone was calm but her eyes were cold. "If the Kingdom is defeated, you''ll have no army of soldiers or ''fake mages'' to throw at Thrud to test her defenses.

    "Our deal benefits both parties, it simply demands different sacrifices." She shoved the Small World centimeters away from Jiza''s nose. "Imagine what would happen if the Mad Queen gets her hands on the Royal Artifacts and finds a way to use them.

    "We''ll see how long your Council willst."

    As the two women argued, Meron could almost see his figure recing his wife''s and Lith in ce of Jiza.

    ''Verhen has failed his mission in Belius and ording to the survivors, Varegrave joined his ranks. At this point, I can''t stall any longer. May the Great Mother protect us all.'' The King clenched the armrests of his throne, cursing for the umpteenth time the weight of the crown he wore and of the decisions that it forced him to make.

    ***

    Ruins of Kaduria, now.

    After Kam finished bringing Lith up to speed with the events that had taken ce in the throne room, he called his parents to reassure them of his well-being.

    The call didn''tst long due to his exhaustion and the tower draining his energy almost as quickly as he regained it.

    "Take your time." Elina was worried by how pale he looked. "Let us know the moment Solus gets better."

    "Are you sure that Kam doesn''t need to rush back to the Desert?" Raaz asked. "What if they take her hostage?"

    "I doubt it, Dad. With how strained the Crown''s rtionship with the Council is, I doubt that attacking the family of one of its members is a good move. The Royals are many things, but stupid isn''t among them."

    "Let''s hope you are right." Raaz sighed. "Get some rest. You need it."

    Lith fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow and he didn''t wake up for over eight hours. When he opened his eyes again, his Council amulet blinked with several missed calls and light had returned to the tower.

    ''Solus?'' Lith asked, receiving only silence for an answer.

    He checked his bond with every single floor of the tower, making sure that nothing had been lost or damaged during the ckout. The Mines, the Crucible, and even the pocket dimension were in order, yet he couldn''t perceive any trace of Solus'' presence.

    Only when he checked his Council amulet and made sure that her rune was still there did he finally get free from the fear that had been gripping his heart.

    ''Is Solus just asleep or has she fallen into aa?'' Lith thought, trying to make sense of the void in his mind where her light had always been.

    ''Grandma said to wait until Solus wakes up, but if her mind had been damaged by theck of energy, without Grandma''s help she might remain unconscious for days, if not weeks or worse.

    ''Yet ignoring the advice of a Guardian is beyond foolish. I have no idea if the tower, and more importantly Solus, have regained enough strength to endure a Warp to the Desert.

    ''ording to the diagnostics everything is fine but they don''t take into ount Solus'' life support system. I''d better check with my breathing technique.''

    Lith used Demon Grasp to study the tower core, discovering that even though its size was unchanged and there were no missing runes, the core had be hazy. It would cyclically lose cohesion as the pseudo cores thatprised it shifted out of ce until the world energy forced them to align again.

    To make matters worse, a quick visit to the mines revealed to Lith that even though no crystal had been lost, they had all be dull and the power they contained had beenpletely depleted.

    ''The tower must have sucked the crystals dry while I reached the geyser to make up for theck of world energy and keep Solus alive. If I hadn''t filled the Mines to the brim with crystals, Solus might have lost her body if not her memories.'' A chill ran down his spine at the thought.

    Losing a floor or two would have been an annoyance, but nothing that time couldn''t fix. Any damage to Solus'' memory, instead, might have made her regress as a person and even alter her personality.

 Chapter 2060 The Price of Wwar (Part 2)

    Chapter 2060 The Price of Wwar (Part 2)

    With no other option left but to wait, Lith went to the kitchen and prepared himself a hearty meal.

    ''If not even the smell of my ravioli with Bolognese sauce wakes her up, Solus must be really out of it. I''d better make enough forter. Both she and Kami love this dish and we don''t eat it for-'' It was then that the realization hit him.

    The good food and thinking about the two most important women of his life had reminded him of the meal they had shared just a few hours ago in their home and made his paranoia run rampant.

    Losing control of the borders put the Kingdom in hot waters and Lith straight intova.

    The Royals had yet to sign the deal and his failure to protect the city might force them to worsen its terms if not to rewrite it entirely. Kam was still in Valeron and despite all of her reassurances, there was no telling if they would take her hostage.

    Lith put down the fork before he could destroy it with his grip, too afraid to furtherpromise Solus'' health since even the cutlery was a part of the tower. He looked at the multiple blinking lights on his amulet like snakes in the grass.

    The Royals, the Council, and Kam had left him multiple messages which in his experience was never a good sign. He had slept for way longer than he expected and in war, there were countless things that could go wrong in eight hours.

    ''Calm down and eat, old man. The tower drained you and if something bad happens, you need your strength.'' Lith forced himself to resume his meal while listening to his voicemail.

    Luckily, the Royals were just worried about his disappearance, Kam had sent him constant updates about the battles for the two remaining cities, and the people he knew from the Council wanted to reassure him that they were still alive.

    Lith spent half the time pacing around and the other half cooking and stress eating. He kept themunication amulet on the table, staring at it like an angry beast that might jump at him at any moment and bite him with bad news.

    "Is this delicious smelling from a baked ska?" Solus''s voice took him by surprise, making Lith turn toward her with a bolt of lightning running along his left arm and a fireball in his right hand.

    "If you don''t want to share, just say it." She pouted in mock indignance.

    "Thank the gods you are okay!" Lith dropped the spells and held her tight just to hear her whimpering in pain from the strain of being touched. "Please, tell me that you are okay."

    He let her go as softly as he could, afraid to hurt her. Now that he looked carefully at Solus'' energy body, Lith noticed that she emitted no radiance, she wasn''t floating like usual, and her long golden hair dragged on the floor, collecting dust.

    "I''m not okay but I will be." She said with a small smile while massaging her shoulders and back. "I can''t conjure my human body yet and I shouldn''t even use this form. It consumes too much energypared to my wisp form and slows down my recovery."

    "Then let it fade and rest." Lith took a quick look at the tower core.

    It wasn''t hazy anymore, but it would still be blurred from time to time.

    "Are you kidding me?" She replied. "I would have kept sleeping if not for the delicious smell of your sweets torturing me. Since you have woken me up, you must take responsibility."

    During thest few hours, Lith had prepared her favorite foods in the hope that Solus would wake up and then eaten them in frustration when it failed.

    "Meaning?" He asked.

    Solus had him sit down in front of the cake and then she sat on him before starting to eat.

    "This is the quickest way for me to regain my strength." She said in-between mouthfuls. "Food for the body, your mana for my core, world energy for the tower. No mind links, please. Both the tower and I are suffering from a bad case of mana abuse.

    "Due to the tribtion, I was forced to bite much more than I could chew."

    "I can see that." Lith chuckled seeing how in her feeding frenzy Solus dirtied her mouth, dress, and hair. "Let me help."

    A gentle touch of Spirit Magic tressed her hair and cleaned her from the stray bits of baked ska.

    "This time you scared me to death, Solus. I really thought that I''d lost you for good." He leaned his head on her shoulder, rubbing his cheek against her and making Solus blush. "Don''t you dare do it again."

    "How do you think I felt every time you underwent a tribtion or whenever you pulled one of your crazy stunts against an enemy stronger than us?" She turned around without letting go of the cutlery and hugged Lith with so little force that he barely felt it.

    "Now you know how it feels walking a mile in my shoes." Solus sniffled in fear as the memory of the battle overwhelmed her and buried her face in his shoulder.

    Then, her energy body suddenly turned human again.

    They remained like that for a while, appreciating each other''s warmth and listening to the beating of their hearts.

    "You should save your strength. There''s no point forcing yourself to take human form." Lith said while gently caressing her hair.

    "I''m not doing it on purpose, dummy. It just happened." Solus felt her body rxing and her consciousness slipping as the embrace soothed their spirit.

    "Go back to sleep. I''ll put the rest of the baked ska in the pocket dimension and you''ll finish it when you wake up." Lith said when her eyes started to droop and her breathing to turn into the asional snoring.

    "My cake!" Solus stood up abruptly and cleaned her te before Lith could say anything else.

    "That hit the spot." She said with a satisfied burp. "You have no idea how much better everything tastespared to when I''m stuck in my energy body."

    Then, she turned into a wisp of light the size of a basketball and fell asleep in Lith''sp.

    ''Dammit, physical contact really is the best way for her to recover. She''s gotten her human body back and I feel like I just finished a double-shift.'' Between the amount of food he had eaten and the mana Solus had drained from him Lith felt drowsy.

    He carried Solus to his room while making a quick call.

    "Mom, please call me as soon as Kami gets back, no matter the hour. Also, have Grandma take a good look at her and make sure the army didn''t nt anything on her."

    "Do you really think that the Royals would do something like that?" Elina asked.

    "They have yet to sign our deal and without it, the Royal Court might pressure them into making something foolish like what they did to Phloria." Lith sighed. "I''m sorry to burden you with this, Mom, but Solus still needs some time to recover and I have no idea when we''ll get back."

 Chapter 2061 Ties that Bind (Part 1)

    Chapter 2061 Ties that Bind (Part 1)

    "Don''t worry, dear, I''m sure that everything will be fine." Elina said, yet her voicecked conviction.

    The thought of Kam being kidnapped or subjected to a ve spell for the "greater good" of the Kingdom haunted Lith''s mind until he finally fell asleep right beside Solus'' wisp.

    A few hourster, Elina''s call woke him up and lifted a burden from his chest. Kam had returnedte because she had been involved in the political chaos that had ensued Belius'' fall, but not in the way he had feared.

    The nobles wanted some important heads to roll, the Council wanted an advance payment aspensation for its losses, and the Royals had to deal with them all while also find a way to break the news to the public without causing mass hysteria.

    "Unless we find a way to soften the blow, the consequences of Thrud''s victory will destroy the morale." Kam said to exin her prolonged absence. "The Griffon Kingdom has gotten both outsmarted and outpowered.

    "Saving Prode and Vesta will be perceived as due diligence whereas losing Belius will further undermine the public trust in the Royals. Ever since the war started, they achieved no real victory and people are starting to think that maybe Thrud deserves the throne.

    "The regions she has upied fare no worse than our own and many local lords at the frontlines are tempted to switch sides just to not be in the crossfire anymore. As for regr people, they just want to go back to their old life.

    "Between the rationed food, the conscription, and the constant fear of being invaded, if the citizens start thinking that this has turned into a losing battle, they won''t hesitate to revolt. If that happens, the war will be as good as lost.

    "The Royals cannot afford to fight on two fronts at the same time."

    "Okay, I get that." Lith replied. "What I fail to understand is why they needed your presence. No offense but you are no strategist and even before our marriage ruined your reputation, the Royal Court barely registered your existence."

    "None taken." Kam sighed. "You are right on all counts but one. As the wife of a future Magus, they needed me to set the date for the ceremony and discuss who of your family and friends would attend."

    "Is that what you meant when you talked about softening the blow?" Lith said in shock. "Why didn''t the Royals or Jirni just call me?"

    "They did, but you were already asleep and there was no point leaving a message." She replied. "As I told you, the situation is dire and there was no time to wait for your answer.

    "They''ll release the news about your appointment as a Magus and Belius'' capture at the same time. Besides, I knew how hurt Solus was and I didn''t want to burden you with politics while her life was still hanging on a thread. The three of us are in this together."

    "Thanks, Kami. Without Solus'' wits and with my head up my ass from exhaustion, I might have been easily manipted." Lith said.

    "You''re wee, but I mean it. We''re literally in this together. I''ve tried to leave your parents out of the ceremony but I''m going to attend with you."

    "What do you mean, tried?" Lith''s paranoid mind could already picture some traitorous noble luring his parents out of the Desert to handle them to Thrud in exchange for a seat in her Court.

    "Well, the event will be broadcasted in the whole Kingdom and if you go there alone, it will be clear that you don''t trust the Royals farther than you can throw them. The purpose of the ceremony is to show a united front against the Mad Queen and instill hope.

    "Not to sow more discord and doubt. On top of that, do you have any idea how hard it is to keep your mother away from you on such a special asion? When I told Elina that she couldn''t witness your coronation, she almost bit my head off."

    "Oh, gods." Lith was d to be still sitting on the bed or his knees would have buckled.

    "And don''t get me started about your father. He was already adamant about not leaving you alone, but when he heard that Tista has to attend as well, he stopped listening to everything I said."

    "Why Tista?" Lith asked.

    "She''s been caught on camera as a Demon during the ughter of the Hogum household. Her presence is requested to both show the renewed bond between the Verhens and the Kingdom after Raaz''s kidnapping and to personally receive her own Royal Pardon." Kam replied.

    "That''s great." Lith''s voice oozed sarcasm. "At this point, the only way to keep my parents from following us would be to kill them."

    "I''m sorry, babe. I''ve done everything I could. Maybe you''ll have better luck. When are youing back?"

    "Soon." A quick check on the tower core and Solus'' wisp confirmed to him that she had fully recovered.

    Even the mana crystals in the Mine and the magical metals stored in the Crucible had started to regain their luster.

    "Go get some sleep, Kami. You deserve it. We''ll Warp home as soon as Solus wakes up." The word home strung both their hearts, reminding them that their special ce in Belius was lost, maybe forever.

    Once Berion had cut off the array system, the hurricane had damaged many buildings and destroyed those closest to the eye of the storm. It had been a good tactical move to make the recapture of the city easier and to force Thrud to spend a great amount of her limited resources to repair the damage.

    .

    Yet to Lith and Kam meant that maybe one of the walls of their apartment might have crumbled and that the things that they couldn''t take away had been destroyed or scattered by the wind throughout the city.

    "You know, it''s hard to say what hurts me the most." Kam said after a long silence. "If the idea that our home has been destroyed or that it might be intact and other people now live there.

    "I don''t want anyone to sleep in our bed or eat on our tes."

    "I know what you mean." Lith had never brought clothes to Belius because everything he needed was stored in his armor.

    Also, being a rented apartment, all the magical appliances were provided by the army. The only things he had ever bought were cookware to prepare the meals, the mattress to rece the one he shredded when he shapeshifted in his sleep, and a few knick-knacks.

    Nothing he should have felt any attachment for, yet he did.

    He remembered every single pot and pan he had bought once he had realized that Kam''s love for good food matched herck of cooking skills. Lith treasured every moment they had spent in the kitchen preparing together her favorite dishes and teaching her to cook his own.

    A smile appeared on his face at the thought of how many times Kam had burned the baking tray in the attempt to prepare the best next thing to Earth''ssagna that Mogar had to offer.

    She had never cooked before and with the overtime required of her while he worked as a Ranger, she had little free time.

 Chapter 2062 Ties that Bind (Part 2)

    Chapter 2062 Ties that Bind (Part 2)

    Yet Kam had given her all just to make him happy.

    Lith''s smile grew even wider at the memory of how proud she had been once she had finally mastered the recipe.

    As for the mattress, it was just something worth a few copper coins, but back then it had meant the world to him. When he had woken up and found the mattress shredded along with the bedsheets, Lith had been terrified at the idea that he might have also hurt Kam.

    Much to his surprise, not only was she unscathed but she had also embraced him to calm him down instead of running away.

    That mattress was the proof that she wasn''t afraid of him and that she loved him for who he was and not despite of it.

    The moment when he had realized that even in his sleep his body refused to hurt her and that she had chosen to remain by his side despite the apparent threat he posed had been one of the happiest of his life.

    Even the knick-knacks triggered fond memories. Back when he had just moved in, Kam had nagged at him that to be their apartment instead of just hers, it needed to have something that gave the ce Lith''s personal touch.

    They had gone together window shopping to find some non-tacky stuff that Lith liked and that he hadter forged in the tower since he was too stingy to actually buy them.

    ''If she ever learns the truth, she''ll skin me alive.'' He inwardly chuckled.

    "Why are you smiling?" Kam asked and Lith shared with her all the thoughts that had just crossed his mind.

    "Good gods, I should really skin you alive." The revtion actually made herugh as well.

    "You know, Kami, I''d rather our apartment be destroyed than be taken by others. Even the thought makes me feel vited."

    "Me too." She said after a while. "I''m going to take a shower and then I''ll go straight to bed. Promise me that you''ll wake me up when youe back. I''ve been worried for you all day and I won''t have peace until I hold you in my arms." She said.

    "I promise. I love you, Kami."

    "I love you more." She gave him a dazzling smile and hung the call.

    When Solus finally recovered a couple of hourster, the tower was back to normal. Once they made sure that her life force had sustained no damage and that the tower core had regained more than enough energy for a Warp, they returned to the Desert.

    The following morning, Lith assembled his family in the Overlord''s dining room, hoping to convince them over breakfast to stay out of the Griffon Kingdom until he was certain of the goodwill of the Royals.

    Useless to say, they refused to listen to a single word.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Pce, a couple of dayster.

    Despite the uphill war against Thrud and the fact that calling the nature of the event controversial was a huge understatement, the Banquet Hall was filled to the brim with nobles, mages, and Awakened from all over the Griffon Kingdom.

    The ceremony for the ascension of a new Magus was an event that happened less than once per century so anyone with the flimsiest connection with the Verhen household had requested an invitation.

    The Royals had been forced to turn down even some of their most loyal followers of least importance to make room for the members of the Council and a few unexpected guests of honor.

    As a descendant of one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom and Lith''s mentor, the Royals had expected Faluel to take part in the event.

    "Lady Faluel Metina Riseta Nyxdra and Her Excellency the Archduchess Fyrwal Aurea Verena Nyxdra." The fact that she trusted the Crown so little that she would bring along her mother, not so much.

    The Royal valet announcing someone bearing the very same name of one of the legendarypanions of the First King shut up even the chattiest mouth and made Meron clench his teeth.

    "Who could possibly be so noble and yet so rude?" Many people said throughout the room. "It''s a non-writtenw to not soil the names of the forebearers of the Kingdom."

    Very few people in the Banquet Hall knew that the two women were Emperor Beasts, let alone that Fyrwal was the very same person who had helped Valeron to unify the Griffon Kingdom over one thousand years ago.

    Everyone else stared in spite at the double door behind the valet, expecting to see a couple of country bumpkins with more money than brains walk in. Much to their surprise, the two women were as impressive as the family name they bore.

    Faluel''s human appearance was that of a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5''7") tall, with waist-long light brown hair and hazel eyes. Her face had a delicate oval shape and the light makeup she wore along with her voluminous soft hair framed her fine features.

    She wore a cream-colored g dress embroidered in silver and decorated with several mana crystals shaped to look like precious gems. It left exposed her fair shoulders and arms, sticking to her body like a second skin until the hips.

    Her gown was loose and fluffy, giving the impression that she walked on a cloud that danced around her with each step she took.

    Many remembered her from the time she had apanied Lith to the g where he had a ''friendly spar'' with Archmage Kwart before being awarded by the Royals for the destruction of Kolga and the rescue of the Feymar mines.

    .

    It was more than enough to earn her reproachful looks and the suspicion of being a beast in disguise as well.

    "Gods, this ce hasn''t changed one bit." Fyrwal ignored the silent hostility that surrounded them, focusing on the Royal Pce. "It''s still as beautiful as those who roam it are unpleasant."

    She stopped for a second abreast of the valet so that the same perfect acoustic that carried his voice also spread her words throughout the Banquet Hall.

    "Mom! I brought you here to keep things from escting, not to start a war." Faluel whispered in embarrassment.

    "Why are you whispering?" The Elder Hydra asked. "We aren''t guests here, they are. We built this ce and we own it. These so-called nobles fill their mouths with Valeron''s name while they spit on everything he stood for with a smile on their faces.

    "They talk all day about how great they are and are quick to judge. Yet if even one-tenth of what they say were true, The Kingdom would have conquered Garlen and Verendi ten times already.

    "They are a disgrace to this country and killing them all should be considered an act of mercy, not a crime."

    If anyone else were to say such things, they would have been lynched by a blue-blooded mob and their corpses hanged. Unless the Royal Guards summarily executed them for treason first, of course.

    Yet everything in Fyrwal''s countenance from her voice to her stern look was that of an Empress walking among her subjects. She exuded a natural charisma and authority that made the nobles lower their gaze in shame and the Royal Guards stood on attention.

 Chapter 2063 Kinds of Silence (Part 1)

    Chapter 2063 Kinds of Silence (Part 1)

    In her human form, Fyrwal had the appearance of a lovely woman in her early thirties who could barely pass as Faluel''s older sister. She was about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with ocean blue eyes and light brown hair.

    For her return to the Royal Court after over 700 years, Fyrwal was wearing the very same dress that Valeron had gifted her for his wedding and with which she hadter attended his funeral and the birth of his children.

    It was an emerald g dress with a square neckline and embroidered with small white crystals the size of a pea that formed a hydra pattern. The upper part of the dress was skin-tight, emphasizing her shapely figure leaving exposed her arms and shoulders.

    The hoop skirt covered her from waist to toe and made it impossible to get close to her.

    The two women walked up to the Royals and gave them a deep bow before moving to the sides, where the seats reserved for the members of the founding pirs of the Kingdom were.

    The Royals Guards didn''t move and the King and the Queen even stood up from their thrones to return the bow, leaving the room in a shocked silence. Only the voice of the valet announcing the next guest managed to break the stupor of the nobles.

    "The Empress of the Gorgon Empire, Milea Genys, and her apprentice, Kelia Sunbry."

    Except for the Royals, everyone''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "What is she doing here?" Many asked, receiving only confused shrugs in surprise.

    "Maybe it''s true that after Verhen''s cowardly escape to the Blood Desert she offered him to move to the Empire.

    "Has the Empresse to make fun of the Kingdom for bestowing upon an oath breaker the title of Magus or for onest attempt at recruiting him?" A Duke asked, making half of his peers turn purple in shame and the other half gasp in curiosity.

    "Let''s hope that she hase to offer us an alliance. After all, Belius is already lost and if the Kingdom falls into Thrud''s hands, the Empire would be her next target." A Marchioness said, wishing that something good might stille out from theirtest disgrace.

    "What are we doing here?" Kelia, the host of the Red Sun, half-walked and half stumbled on the gold embroidered red carpet that led to the dais where the Royal couple sat.

    She had dreamed countless times of attending a g and having all eyes on her.

    Yet none of her dreams had prepared Kelia for how scared she would feel nor did they involve her wearing the in crimson uniform of the Red Emperor academy instead of a dress.

    ''Thank the Red Mother you are wearing pants and not a gown.'' Dusk said via their mind link. ''You can barely walk as it is and your face is already red enough to match your clothes. If you trip in front of this many people, I bet you''ll catch fire from embarrassment.''

    "I''ve brought you here to impart you several lessons." The Empress said while striding forward. "Right now, the Kingdom incarnates both our past mistakes and our future.

    "It''s what the Empire would have be if we didn''t reject something as stupid as the nobility system and is facing a fearsome enemy that we might have to deal with in case they fail."

    Milea wore a gorgeous white dress that covered her from the neck down. It was decorated withce and puffs arranged so that the folds of her dress resembled soft metal tes.

    Along with the white crystals on her shoulders, hips, and joints, it looked exactly like the White Armor that only the ruler of the Empire could wear.

    "Just like the Kingdom is a distorted image of the Empire, Verhen is yours.

    "Learn from both his sesses and mistakes. Remember that your goal is not to be like him, but to surpass him." Milea slowed her pace by half step to give her apprentice the time for a single question before they reached the Royals.

    "Which one is this exactly?" Kelia panted, having a hard time keeping up with the Empress'' long legs. "Bing a Magus is quite the feat, but risking his life to protect a bunch of morons who despise him is really idiotic."

    "Only time will tell." Milea stood tall in front of the thrones, giving her dress a small tug and the Royals a polite nod of the head that they promptly returned.

    She was their peer, not their subject, and owed them no respect aside from what etiquette required as their guest.

    The King took a long look at the woman and the girl in front of him, wondering about the motives of the former and the identity of thetter.

    He had many questions about their sudden request for an invitation, but they had no obligation to answer him. On top of that, it would only prove howcking their intel about the Empire had be ever since the War of the Griffons had started.

    After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Kelia and Milea moved to the right side of the room and waited for the next guest to be announced.

    "Spellbreaker Archmage Lith Tiamat Verhen and Royal Constable Kam Verhen." All heads turned around abruptly in surprise.

    Not for Lith''s arrival since without him, the whole event would have been pointless but because he was supposed to arrivest, after his parents and sister.

    ording to the Kingdom''s etiquette, the more important a guest theter they would be announced.

    This way, they wouldn''t need to introduce themselves.

    "It seems you got yourself a middle name." Kam nervouslyughed to hide her embarrassment.

    She wore a silk-satin ocean blue evening dress embroidered in silver to form a feather pattern,plementing the attire of her partner. It left her tanned arms and shoulders exposed while a v-neckline emphasized her bosom.

    On her head, she wore a golden circlet that Lith had made for her which appeared to be made out of small camellias woven together. The gold of the circlet brought out her ck hair and vice versa, while both shone under the magical lighting of the room.

    The rest of the parure at her neck and ears also consisted of rubies etched into golden petals forgemastered to resemble a camellia.

    Looking at her adamant gaze, the nobles thought she was returning the contempt of their gazes, whereas she was just focused on not tripping over her dress and hiding the terror she felt.

    "Damn, I should have patented it after our quarrel." It was Kam''s second time walking the red carpet of the Banquet Hall, but her knees felt so weak that she needed to hold on to Lith''s arm to not fall.

    Even mirrors were framed with solid gold, while all the tapestries and frescoes on the walls were not only masterpieces of such caliber that even ayman of arts like her gasped at their beauty, but they were also enchanted.

    Every single piece of art on the walls and ceiling depicted epic scenes of battle and the magical breakthroughs of the past Magi that had shaped the Kingdom''s history. The thought that her husband might one day be among them was enough to make her dizzy.

 Chapter 2064 Kinds of Silence (Part 2)

    Chapter 2064 Kinds of Silence (Part 2)

    And that was just the area in front of the entrance, before the crowd that swarmed at them from every side, leaving only space of the carpet empty.

    The room in front of her was more than forty meters (133 feet) long and over thirty meters (100 feet) wide.

    It was taller than a three-floor building, with balconies on the upper levels where people not important enough to stand near the Royals would still be able to spectate at the ceremony.

    They were the less coveted spot since from there it was impossible to mingle with the other nobles and to take part in pce gossip, but that day even the corridors leading to the opera boxes were crowded, splitting the Royal Court into four levels based on their importance.

    A single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the dais for the royal family.

    That way, even while sitting on their golden thrones, the rulers of the Kingdom would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming their status and authority.

    Every corner and box of the Banquet Hall was lit by crystal chandeliers fueled by mana crystals dating back to Valeron himself. The First King had hoped that by sharing their eternal light with his descendants, they would also inherit his vision for the country he had built.

    On the walls, magically enchanted tapestries would project in a loop the great feats that the current King had aplished to be deemed worthy of the throne. Both the floor and the pirs were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material avable in the Griffon Kingdom.

    "It''s not really a middle name." Lith replied. "More like a way to tag me and remind everyone of who I really am. The question is whether the Royals used it to remind everyone that they don''t care about my true nature or me of how precarious my standing is.

    "Either way, I don''t care." He looked around the room while keeping his head high.

    Many had opened their mouths toment on his return, yet no matter if they deemed him a hero or a shameless opportunist, the moment they met his gaze, their jaws remained hanging.

    Under his deep blue Archmage robe, he wore the full uniform of the Kingdom.

    It wasprised of a deep blue jacket with golden epaulets, deep blue mid-waisted trousers with galon, a braid of trim consisting of two silk stripes to conceal the outer seams, and ck shoes.

    He wore a silver brooch shaped like a Phoenix with rubies for eyes on the cor of his white shirt. The gold embroideries on thepels and the sleeves of his jacket were shaped like feathers.

    Thanks to Soluspedia, both his attire and knowledge of the Court etiquette were wless.

    Neither his clothes nor manners were the reason for the shock that spread throughout the ground floor and brought those on the balconies to lean forward to the point of needing help to not fall off.

    It was because of the ck upside-down membranous wings that came out of his back, whose finger-like bone spikes interlocked in front of his neck like thetch of a mantle. Also, small ck curved horns came out of his temples and his vertical pupils were emphasized by the unnatural color of his three eyes.

    Lith kept open only those that he had inmon with the humans and the emerald vertical eye in the middle of his forehead. The other four remained closed, but their eyelids formed creases on his tanned skin that made his inhuman nature even more evident.

    As he smiled at the crowd, they could see the rows of white fangs that now reced his teeth. No matter how warm his smile and how kind his gaze was, those watching him felt like sheep in the presence of a predator.

    It was different from the awed silence that the Elder Hydra and the Magic Empress had previously inspired. None of them had used killing intent, it was just the natural effect that their presence exuded.

    For Fyrwal it was charisma, for Milea authority, while for Lith something that escaped their understanding, triggering their natural fear of the unknown.

    "Since the cat is out of the bag, there''s no reason to keep up with the appearances." He said while Kam rxed seeing how the nobles were much more afraid of her than she of them.

    "They were expecting a monster in human''s clothing so they can''tin if I give them exactly what they want. I''m done hiding who I am and what I can do. If someone has a problem with it, it''s none of my business."

    Only once he moved past them did people regain control over their bodies. As Lith moved forward, more and more nobles started chatting. They were just whispering to each other yet soon the murmur of their voices drowned out the music.

    "Raaz Verhen and Elina Verhen." Yet the moment the valet announced his parents'' names, the upper echelons of the whole Kingdom had their stomachs churn in unison, and the Royal Chambein suffered from a mild stroke.

    Never before had people with no title nor magical achievements of sorts been announced in the Banquet Hall. It was an unprecedented breach of protocol that made even the Royals wince for a second before regaining their cool.

    Raaz wore a white tie suit that consisted of a ck coat with tails over a white shirt, a waistcoat, and a white bow tie worn around a standing wingtip cor. It had been tailor-made and fitted him like a glove.

    If not for his rough and callous hands there was nothing that betrayed his humble origins. Once he had been terrified of public events and being a source of embarrassment for his children.

    In the past, his knees would always betray him and he would spend most part of the gs looking at the floor as if he had crashed the party instead of being invited. After being kidnapped by the men of Bar Hogum and what Orpal had done to him, however, Raaz couldn''t care less.

    He walked proudly with his head held high, returning in kind the contemptuous looks and disgusted grimaces without deigning them of a second look.

    At his arm, Elina wore a beautiful pale-yellow evening dress with a shallow v neckline decorated with floralce and pearls that covered her shoulders but left her arms exposed.

    Like Kam, her parure had been forgemastered to resemble fiery roses woven together, forming a circlet, a ne, and earrings. She looked at the nobles crowding the room in defiance, wishing that one of them would be stupid enough to openly vite the Royal Decree that guaranteed her hospitality.

    She had no love left for the Kingdom. The only corner of Mogar that mattered to her was her farm in Lutia. Everything else might as well burn for all she cared. In her book, those who mistreated her family deserved no respect.

    "Mage Tista Verhen and Sergeant First ss Trion Verhen." The Royal Valet announced, making so many heads turn so fast that he wouldn''t have been surprised if they provoked a sudden gust of wind.

    For once it wasn''t Tista arousing the morbid curiosity of a crowd but her date.

 Chapter 2065 Void Magic (Part 1)

    Chapter 2065 Void Magic (Part 1)

    During the ambush at the Heavenly Wolf tavern, Orpal had revealed to the public Lith''s real nature and his ability to raise the dead.

    The entire Griffon Kingdom had witnessed Trion''s return and for the g, he had even used the military rank that had been posthumously bestowed upon him after dying in the line of duty.

    Aside from the Royals and the survivors of Varegrave''s suicide regiment, no one had ever met one of the Demons and lived to tell the tale. The nobles were thrilled and scared at the idea of meeting a perfect undead.

    Most of all, however, they were curious. They couldn''t help but wonder whaty beyond their mortal shell and by meeting a soul they hoped to somehow catch a glimpse of what waited ahead of them.

    The Demon walked beside his sister in human form, wearing the full uniform of the Kingdom. As a nonmissioned officer with no magical talent, the suit was entirely ck and had no robe.

    There had been no love between Lith and his brothers ever since they were kids so Trion had never been treated with Invigoration. He barely reached the average height of 1.65 meters (5''5"), full ten centimeters (4'') shorter than his younger sister.

    His dark hair bore the same military cut he had died with and his features were in. His eyes, instead, were quite unique. They were entirely white with no pupil, but not because they consisted only of sclera.

    They were made of pure Decay energy that kept the Chaos and darkness of his body in check. Every time Trion looked around, a small silvery spark erupted from his eyes and small tongues of energy rose from his eyelids.

    The only other distinguishing feature he had were a set of ck membranous wings that wrapped him from shoulder to calf.

    As for Tista, she looked gorgeous in her red g dress with loose straps that left exposed her arms and shoulders. Her parure was made of silver and had been forgemastered to project the images of small ck lotuses.

    Yet what truly draw everyone''s attention once they had finished staring at Trion were the silver-veined red feathered wings that draped her down to the knees and gave her an angelic appearance.

    The contrast between the siblings made the crowd gasp non-stop as their gazes moved from one to another, bringing them much satisfaction.

    ''I actually wanted to be as intimidating as Lith, but with my life forces still split, I can barely pull out the wings. Every attempt to open the other eyes or to manifest my fangs made me shapeshift into my Red Demon form and ripped my dress into shreds.

    ''Yet I came here to witness my brother''s ascension, not for a deration of war. I guess that awe will have to do.'' Tista thought as she reached the aisle in front of the Royals where her parents, Lith and Kam were waiting for them.

    Lith had used that time to look around, noticing that the space closest to the King and usually reserved for the members of the Royal family had been assigned to his allies.

    On the left side, there were Marchioness Distar, Professor Marth, Professor Vastor, General Vorgh, General Berion, Baron Wyalon from Jambel, and the entire Ernas Household. Everyone hade with their respective spouse, even the Baron.

    Mirias looked even paler than usual and clenched her goofy husband''s arm to make sure he wouldn''t make his mouth run wild. Faluel, Fyrwal, and the Empress stood on the right side, among those who carried Valeron''s blood.

    Unlike the ceremony when he had been invested Archmage, those belonging to hostile Households had been relegated to the balconies along with the minor nobles.

    ''Seeing how calm Zinya is and how tense Mirias is, this shouldn''t be a trap.'' Lith''s eyes met Jirni''s who seemed to read his mind and gave him a small nod in reassurance.

    He didn''t know whether to be reassured by the good news or to be creeped out by her intuition.

    The Royal valet hit the floor with his golden staff, signaling that thest guest had arrived and the ceremony could start. The double doors of the Banquet Hall slowly closed by themselves, triggering the most powerful defensive arrays of the pce.

    Only then did the Verhens kneel in front of the King and Queen. Standing any longer would have been a grave disrespect, implying that the Crown had no authority over them.

    "Allow me to wee you all back home." The King''s clothes shapeshifted into the Saefel''s armor as he stood up to walk among his subjects.

    "What my cousin, thete General Morn, did to you is unforgivable yet I hope that you are satisfied by the punishment he received. You have my word that as long as I draw breath, such acts of violence will not be tolerated." Meron patted Raaz''s and Elina''s shoulders, in the closest thing to an apology that protocol allowed him to.

    "I was deeply saddened by the news of your death, Sergeant Verhen. I am d to see that your loyalty to the Kingdom is something that not even death could defeat and that you chose to embrace your family name again.

    "At the same time, I regret not having the honor to meet you in happier circumstances." The King said while briefly touching Trion''s head and experiencing the unnatural cold skin of the Demons.

    Meron couldn''t care less about Trion. The existence of every Demon was bound to Lith''s will and the reason they had chosen to stay behind for was irrelevant since the only form of protest left to them was to let their souls fade away.

    The King''s words were actually meant to reassure the nobles that the Demons still had free will and to remind Trion of his vow as a soldier. He was the Royal''s best shot to assure that during the war Lith would protect the interests of the Kingdom instead of his own.

    Trion was still a Verhen and could influence Lith''s decisions through their parents.

    "Aside from Archmage Verhen, everyone steps aside." Queen Sylpha stood up as well and stepped down the dais, standing abreast of her husband while wielding the Sword of Saefel in her right hand.

    Kam moved beside Zinya who smiled at her sister and held her hand. Quy and Friya made space for Tista, touching her soft feathers with the excuse of patting her back.

    Elina and Raaz reached Jirni and Orion who could only greet them with their eyes to not breach protocol. The Ernas took a step back, leaving the Verhens the front line of the ceremony.

    As for Trion, he clicked his tongue and disappeared in Lith''s shadow, sending a shiver down the spine of the spectators. There was no telling how many more Demons might hide in there, ready to attack.

    There was no trace left of his clothes nor of his ceremonial equipment. The nobles wondered how many fully equipped Demons mighty in the small shade on the carpet and trembled in fear.

    "Thest time we stood here, I told you that you wouldn''t need to kneel in front of me again unless you became a Magus, and now that moment hase." King Meron said.

 Chapter 2066 Void Magic (Part 2)

    Chapter 2066 Void Magic (Part 2)

    "For those of you who still don''t know, after Belius'' fall, Archmage Verhen shared with the Kingdom his knowledge about the true nature of the elements of magic.

    "Something that even the First Magus Lochra Silverwing had failed to grasp before entrusting her legacy to us." The Queen stepped forward, generating from her left hand one sphere of air, one of fire, and another of light.

    At a flick of her wrist, half of each sphere turned respectively into earth, water, and darkness. Then, the two halves started spinning, turning into each other in an endless cycle.

    "Now we know that there is no such thing as opposing elements. They actuallyplement their twin and it''s impossible to truly master one without a deep knowledge of the other." Sylpha was in charge of the demonstration because her understanding of the process was shallow.

    Even to show such a parlor trick she needed Domination, something that her spousecked. To please the crowd and keep the nobles from turning to Thrud''s side after hertest triumph, they needed to show immediate results.

    Something that would prove to those still sitting on the fences that siding with the Royal family was still their most profitable option.

    At the end of the day, most people had little care for who sat on the throne. The only thing that mattered to them was what they could gain from a ruler rather than another.

    "Also, Archmage Verhen has passed unto our Royal Forgemasters the blueprints for the power core of the DoLorean." The King said while the Queen devoted her full focus to casting a tier one fire spell that turned into water in mid-air, creating a rainbow that epassed the Banquet Hall.

    "Thanks to him, not only will we be able to dramatically improve our quality of life, public transportation, and our trading routes." A hologram of trains the size of a Divine Beast appeared in the air, moving goods, people, and soldiers from one city to another at blinding speed.

    "We will also strengthen our military force and quicken our ns to colonize Jiera." The ground below the trains disappeared, showcasing how they could move over the sea as well.

    The nobles gasped as the promo showed mages crossing the ocean that separated the two continents while also carrying everything they needed to build a Continental Gate and a safe haven.

    At the same time, colossi made of metal that resembled a hybrid between a jet and a tank escorted the train, shooting downnd and sea monsters alike.

    The movie continued by showing how once the Continental Gate had been built, the trains would have allowed to deploy troops to upy magical mines, rebuild cities, and chart unknown territories at the same time.

    "Last, but not least, Archmage Verhen offered us the greatest gift of all: the opportunity for a better future for our children." King Meron pped his hands and one of Lith''smunicator amulets appeared in front of each noble.

    They had been shaped like smartphones but named Tablets to avoid questions he had no intention to answer.

    Despite their small size, the Tablets could project from their green gemstone a hologram of adjustable size that allowed his owner to read books, news, and even conjure GPS maps to reach any destination recorded in the database.

    "Thanks to the Tablets, all kinds of knowledge will be avable to the four corners of our Kingdom with no burden for our treasuries. No longer will we lose powerful mages simply because they can''t afford expensive books.

    "Our academies will not be forced anymore to print hundreds of tomes again every time there is a new breakthrough or a corrigendum. News will travel fast, without the risk of vicious rumors destroying the reputation of honest people with false allegations.

    "Once the Tablets be widespread, they will make us save a lot of money that will be relocated either to the development of our country or to lower taxes. They will allow us to eradicate ignorance and superstition while also helping us to keep track of our subjects."

    A holographic map revealed how the Tablets constantly pinged their position and revealed whatever their user requested ess to.

    King Meron took a long pause, allowing the satisfied murmurs to spread throughout the Banquet Hall. They had nned the showcase to give every faction something they wanted.

    The ancient noble households would benefit the most from the trains and the tax reductions. The modern magical household saw the free ess to books as a priceless opportunity to ensure that with time more and more new magical bloodlines would emerge, turning the old coots into a minority.

    Both of them would benefit from the new weapons and the colonization of Jiera. A new continent also meant to expand the yfield and reduce the opportunity for attrition between the two factions.

    There would be no red tape on Jiera, making it a firste first served basis.

    The same reasonings that made the nobles of the Griffon Kingdom grin made the Empress grit her teeth in frustration. She had yet toplete the power cores of the Empire''s version of the six great academies and now she had discovered how far shegged behind.

    ''Idiot Verhen!'' Milea thought. ''Had hee to me, I- Dammit, I couldn''t offer him anything more than the Royals!''

    For the first time in her life, she cursed theck of the nobility system in the Empire. Whatever she gave to him it would be taken away the moment Lith died whereas in the Kingdom his family and descendants would inherit everything.

    The Empire was still in the process of getting ustomed to living with the other races so even a better quality of life was off the table.

    To make matters worse, like most mages, Lith had no interest in politics so making him her right-hand man would have been more a punishment than a prize.

    "This truly is amazing." Fyrwal''s speaking was the second unprecedented breach of etiquette of the day yet nobody cared.

    She was using true magic to cast small elemental arrays that could switch elements at will or even mix them, generating new and unexpected effects.

    "Once mastered, this new branch of magic will not just double the power of a spell, but maybe triple it if not even more."

    "You are correct, Lady Nyxdra." Since her rudeness yed in his hand, Meron could only suck it up and grin. "s, all of these amazing developments will have to wait until the end of the war.

    "We cannot afford for Thrud''s spies to get their hands on such knowledge and use it against us. For this reason, only my beloved Queen, Archmage Verhen, and I are in possession of the blueprints.

    Groans and moans filled the air while smiles turned into frowns.

    "You have my word that as soon as the Mad Queen is vanquished, the principles behind Void Magic will be avable to the public. As for trains and Tablets, however, they will be shared solely with Royal Forgemasters.

    "There would be no point in forbidding nobles to have their own army if they can simply craft enchanted weapons of mass destruction. Also, sharing the source code of the Tablets would expose them to tampering that would poison the minds ofmoners."

 Chapter 2067 A New Magus (Part 1)

    Chapter 2067 A New Magus (Part 1)

    "Everything I have shown you today will be a reality, but only after the War of the Griffons is over." The final part of their pitch ensured the Royals that no one would switch sides during a critical moment.

    Thrud''s ve array was her best weapon but also the best deterrent against traitors. Now not only would the nobles put at risk their free will by joining her, but also forfeit the incalcble gains that only the followers of the Royals would reap.

    "Yours are amazing contributions, Archmage Verhen. I doubt that there is a single person in this room who would object to the decision of making you a Magus." The King took another pause, giving the members of the old and new households the opportunity to speak before his words would be written down by the Royal Scribes and turned intow.

    No one dared to utter a single word.

    Even those who had opposed Lith''s rise among the Kingdom''s ranks like Archmage Kwart had been enthralled by the endless possibilities that Void Magic, Tablets, and the DoLorean''s power core opened.

    Yet none of them would see the light unless the war was won and Verhen fully disclosed his findings to the rest of the magicalmunity. Their hatred burned no weaker than just a few minutes ago, it was their greed that now overshadowed it.

    "Thus, it''s my right and privilege to bestow upon you the title of Void Magus!" Meron ced his hands on Lith''s shoulder and the Saefel''s armor emitted a pir of violet light that engulfed them both.

    The phenomenonsted just a few seconds and when it was over, the deep blue of the Archmage''s robe had turned into the deep violet of a Magus.

    The crowd on the ground floor gave him a standing ovation while those in the opera boxes jumped on their feet so quickly that they knocked over their chairs. Even though they hated the Royals'' guts, Elina and Raaz cried in joy.

    They had to bite their lower lips to stop themselves from screaming at the top of their lungs.

    Among the sea of pping hands, Vastor''s were the loudest. For once in his life, the Master felt no envy nor bitterness seeing someone so much younger than him reach heights he could only dream about.

    His research had brought forward incredible breakthroughs, but if he were to be foolish enough to share it, he would be a new Arthan instead of a new Silverwing.

    His research would be burned, his family persecuted, and his name be a curse word.

    ''I know that there''s nothing between us but the rtionship between a Professor and his student. I also know that what I''ve given Lith is nothingpared to what he has given me.'' Vastor thought while looking at Zinya and thanking the gods for the day she hade into his life.

    ''Yet seeing another Abomination being crowned Magus, witnessing the achievements of someone who is more simr to me than my own children, I feel proud of Lith as if he was my own. My only regret is to not have taken different decisions in the past.

    ''Unlike Lith, I will never be able to step into the light without being hunted like the monster I am.''

    Quy, however, couldn''t say the same.

    ''Fair enough. I''ve long dreamed about bing the first Magus of my generation but I''m still stuck being a simple mage. I guess I''ll have to settle for second ce.'' She thought while pping her hands until it hurt.

    Kam tried to run to him and Lith to stand up but the arrays of the Banquet Hall locked them in ce like anyone else who didn''t wear a Royal Fortress armor.

    ''The fuck? What''s the point of attacking me now?'' Lith thought in confusion as four Royal Guards surrounded him in a square formation.

    "Enough!" Queen Sylpha raised her open hand in the air before clenching it in a fist that canceled every noise in the room but her voice.

    Meron stepped aside, leaving her the center stage.

    "I''m d that you all agree with our decision, but that''s not reason enough for celebration. While we are assembled here, our allies from the Council, our soldiers, and our mages risk their lives on the battlefield.

    "The War of the Griffons is still far from being over and to win we''ll need all the help we can get. That''s why I firmly believe that the Kingdom has yet to pay its debt to Magus Verhen.

    "He is nothing like Magus Silverwing, who after entrusting her legacy to us disappeared without a care for the consequences that the abuse of that knowledge would cause.

    "Magus Verhen has strayed away from the path of the Forgemaster Magus. Menadion taught us the secrets of the runes and of the power cores but refused to wield her very creations to protect the world she had contributed to building.

    "Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen has stood by our side from his infancy. He helped Lutia County to develop first and then saved the heir of myte friend Mirim Distar. May the gods rest her soul." Sylpha weaved her hand, making a spotlight appear over Brinja and Jadon Lark.

    "He helped us to defeat the gue in Kandria and there''s no telling how many of us would be dead now without his contribution from the shadows." The Queen reyed the conversation between Lith and Varegrave in front of the Belius ins for everyone to hear.

    "Some im that his crimes are as deep as his secrets, but I don''t believe it. He destroyed two lost cities." The hologram depicted the fall of Kolga and Kaduria, showing how those barrennds hade back to life.

    "He vanquished the Odi, the Bright Day, and the ck Night." The images transformed in the horrors of Kh and the battles against the Horsemen.

    "Before the ploy of the traitorous Meln Narchat exposed his nature, Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen was our spearhead against the invading force of the Mad Queen. Without him, we would have lost ournds before the Council intervened.

    "Without him, the Council wouldn''t have even bothered contacting us, stuck in their old ways no less than we were." The hologram now depicted the fall of many cities that Lith had recaptured less than 24 hourster and of their people celebrating their renewed freedom.

    "As I said before, I don''t believe that his secrets are as deep as his crimes. His secrets were the source of his strength. Without them, nothing of what you have just seen would have been possible.

    "His crimes are just the natural consequence of a man who lives in a society ready to hang him not for what he does, but for who he is. Do I need to remind you what happened when Morn the Fool learned the truth?" The arrays projected the images of the attack on Lutia.

    "Instead of rejoicing for the lives saved, for the defeat of the monster who has killed our god of light, he didn''t hesitate to disregard everything good Magus Verhen had done and sentenced his whole family to death.

    "Magus Verhen was forced to abandon his own home like amon criminal, his father tortured, and entire cities rioted in fear that their neighbor might have been a beast in disguise.

 Chapter 2068 A New Magus (Part 2)

    Chapter 2068 A New Magus (Part 2)

    "If any of you still wonders if Magus Verhen did the right thing hiding the truth from us, history has already given you the answer. People called him a monster because he seeded where they had failed.

    "They called him a beast as if it was something to be ashamed of, forgetting that humans are nothing but a kind of particrly cunning beasts. Yet it''s thanks to those beasts we were afraid of that we have the luxury to celebrate here today."

    The images showed the magical beasts of Lutia fighting alongside the Queen''s Corps to protect the citizens of the city from the undead and then the Emperor Beasts who fought side by side with the soldiers on the frontlines.

    "The Crown has turned Magus Verhen''s beast species into a second name because it''s something that he should be proud of.

    "Both his Magus title and this new branch of magic are named after his Voidfeather Dragon form to remind everyone that he has more than one aspect and that the Kingdom is ready to embrace them all.

    "There is no shame in being different and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong. It''s the diversity of Thrud''s forces that made her unstoppable until we did the same.

    The images now showed the fight outside Belius between Lith and Iata, Solus and Leari, Faluel shielding Varegrave''s soldiers with her body and then rescuing them from death.

    "We have chosen to use Magus Verhen''s Tiamat name when we introduced him today because it''s a sign of the Royal Court acknowledging all of his sesses no matter if he achieved them as a human or a beast.

    "We all should be thanking him for his sacrifices on the battlefield and his renewed efforts in developing our country. Magus Verhen could have easily achieved a peaceful life by staying in the safety of the Desert.

    "Yet he chose to return among us and take care of problems that no longer were his own."

    Sylpha stepped forward and patted Lith''s left shoulder, then the right, and finally the top of his head with the t side of Saefel''s sword. White light erupted from the de, bouncing from one Royal Fortress armor to another and forming a pir akin to that of a world tribtion.

    The deep violet of the mage robe turned to pristine white, leaving all those present dumbfounded.

    "For the first time in the history of the Griffon Kingdom, today we are crowning a Magus who not only shared with us the gift of knowledge, but who also took the destiny of our country in his hands. For this reason, the title of Void Mogus isn''t enough.

    "I hereby bestow upon you, Lith Tiamat Verhen, the title of Supreme Magus of the Griffon Kingdom. Something that even in the future might only be matched but never surpassed!" Queen Sylpha said.

    At those words, the four Royal Guards surrounding Lith turned toward Lith and raised their swords to the sky in salute.

    "All hail the Supreme Magus!" They said in unison as the array paralyzing the crowd disappeared, allowing the chant to spread to Lith''s friends and family first, then his allies, and after a few seconds of incredulous stupor, to the whole room.

    ''Not bad.'' Fyrwal used a mind link to talk with her daughter while her mouth joined the choir. ''Unlike us, your disciple had the guts to walk the Royal Pce in his true form.

    ''On top of that, he just achieved for our race not just the title of Magus, he had one tailor-made for him. Did you two¡­'' She let thest part linger in expectation.

    ''No, Mom. We didn''t.'' The younger Hydra blushed yet her mouth kept chanting.

    ''Shame. Is he married?'' Fyrwal asked.

    ''Yes, he is.''

    ''Shame again. Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.'' The elder Hydra shrugged. ''We''ll resume this conversation in a thousand years or so.''

    Once the acmation finally died down, the King took the floor again.

    "I think that I speak for everyone when I say that after being struck in the same ce for so long, you need to stretch your legs a bit. Let the celebrations begin!" At a wave of his hand, one of the dimensional formations stretched the Banquet Hall to trice its original size.

    Now there was enough space for the servants to set the tables for the banquet and for the people from the upper floors toe down and mingle with the rest of the Royal Court.

    ''Congrattions, Lith.'' Solus'' silvery voice brimmed with joy from the deep of her heart. ''No wonder there is no trace of the ceremony in the etiquette books stored inside Soluspedia.

    ''It didn''t exist until today. They made it especially for you.''

    ''Thanks, Solus.'' Lith replied. ''My only regret is that you couldn''t stand by my side today and be crowned Magus with me. We are the Supreme Magus.''

    ''Don''t worry. I don''t care about what the rest of Mogar thinks. Your recognition of my efforts is the only one that matters to me.''

    As Lith stood up, his family ran to him with such an impetus that they would have trampled him if not for his body mass being dozens of tons heavy even while in human form.

    "I''m prouder of you than words can express, son." Raaz hugged him briefly before patting his shoulder.

    "I''m a bit sad that this ceremony is sixteen yearste." Elina said amid sobs. "Ever since the day when I brought you to Nana''s house and you read her books, you''ve been my little Magus."

    "Congrattions, lil bro." Tista said. "Thanks for sharing the stage with me and for allowing Trion to apany me. I''m d we could enjoy this moment with our whole family."

    Kam remained one step away to not intrude.

    After a few seconds, Lith noticed her absence and waved her over. As his family made way for her, Kam said nothing while embracing him. The wings on Lith''s back wrapped around her, bringing her more happiness than any title could.

    Once again it was a form of tenderness that belonged only to her and Kam exploited it to kiss him in spite of etiquette forbidding public disys of affection.

    "Don''t get cocky just because now you are a Magus. You still have to do the house chores and cook me my favorite dishes." She chuckled. "Unless you want to hire house staff and pay for them."

    "Over my dead body!" He replied in mock indignance.

    Only after the wings folded back did Lith notice that there was a small crowd waiting for him.

    "The good news is that I can still be the first Magus of my generation." Quy pouted while angrily tapping her foot on the carpet. "The bad news is that now it''s worth squat!"

    She immediately dropped the act and gave him a warm smile.

    "I''m joking. Congrattions, Lith." She just offered him her hand to not force him to get free from Kam''s embrace.

    "Thanks." Lith said while shaking it.

    "You gave us quite a scare, young man." Jirni said. "I was aware of the Void Magus title, but everything else was off script. How did you convince the Crown to pull a stunt like that?"

 Chapter 2069 First of His Kind (Part 1)

    Chapter 2069 First of His Kind (Part 1)

    "I didn''t ask them to do anything." Lith shrugged. "I think it has be a habit for the Royals to screw with me ever since they scared the crap out of me during the Archmage ceremony."

    One after the other, Lith''s friends and allies shook his hand and congratted him on his achievement.

    "I can''t believe it! Your call name of six years ago just turned into reality and I was here to witness it. Well done, White." Lith was surprised when after Jadon Lark and Baron Wyalon, Red stepped forward as well.

    "Thanks R-"

    ''For the gods'' sake, that was just his call name during the academy training.'' Solus hated it when Lith forgot about anyone he couldn''t profit from. ''He is Great Mage Linden Gorth and the woman with him is his wife, Phrenna.''

    ''Who cares! Red would have sufficed.'' Lith thought.

    "I mean, Great Mage Gorth." He actually said, pretending that the name had any significance to him.

    "Just call me Red." The young man was clearly honored by his idol remembering him, but tried to y it cool. "I consider it an inside joke between us."

    ''Told you so.'' Lith inwardly grinned.

    "Red, allow me to introduce my wife Kam Yehval to you and Phrenna. Kami, these are Great Mage Linden ''Red'' Gorth and his wife, Phrenna."

    "Nice to meet you." Kam nudged at his ribs for using her moniker in public. "It''s always a pleasure to meet one of Lith''s friends, especially someone who didn''t chicken out after learning about his true nature."

    She shook Red''s hand while Phrenna hesitated for a second to extend her own, almost afraid that Kam might shapeshift at any second into a hideous creature. Unlike her husband, she couldn''t stop staring at the horns, the fangs, and the third eye that seemed to pierce through her soul.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Even though I never met Great Mage Gorth in person, I knew him by name. He was one of the few who always signed Jirni''s petitions in your favor." Kam replied. "I hope that when the Verhen Mansion isplete, you wille to visit us and tell me the story of how you two met."

    "It will be my pleasure, Lady Verhen." Red replied, smiling from one ear to the other for having been invited to their home even before the Royals.

    The Royals, instead, didn''t like it much.

    "Well, is the jury still out on that?" Kelia asked as soon as the magic in the room faded and she could talk again. "Did Verhen do the right thing by sticking with the Kingdom or not?"

    "Maybe, but it''s not going to be easy. At the moment, his title isn''t worth much." The Empress replied.

    "Yet if he survives the war and the political struggle that is bound to ensue when the Royals will have to purge the traitors who have willingly sided with the Mad Queen, the sky is Verhen''s limit.

    "He''ll be the first Supreme Magus and the first member of a new race that people will either fear like monsters or worship like gods. From my point of view, it''s an incredible victory.

    "I can''t offer him anything better and if Verhen makes it through the war, he''ll shape the future of the Kingdom no less than the Royals."

    After a while, Lith''s group moved to the nearest buffet table. The tension had made everyone work quite some appetite.

    While they chatted, many people tried to jump on the bandwagon and congratte Lith, but most of them failed to move past the small crowd that surrounded him since the end of the ceremony.

    Even the few who seeded didn''t manage to say a single word due to his beastly features striking terror in them and making them run away with the same determination they hade.

    .

    Except for one of them.

    "Excuse me, Supreme Magus, but the music is about to start, and is customary for the main guest of a g to open the dances with their partner. Here is the list of those who have reserved a dance with you tonight." Royal valets had to perform their duty or be charged with treason.

    The youth in front of Lith needed sheer willpower to not stutter. He handed the Magus a small cylinder of paper, waiting for him to take it.

    "The what now?" Lith unfolded the scroll that turned out to be over twenty centimeters (8'') long and filled with a close-packed list of names that started with the Queen''s.

    "There is only so much time for dancing so reservations are needed to avoid disputes that would spoil the mood." The valet clicked his heels and gave Lith a bow before taking his leave.

    "I know what a dance card is." Lith grumbled, sighing in relief when he noticed that most of the names belonged to people he cared for.

    A few minutester, the orchestra started ying and a spotlight gently prompted the Verhen couple to reach the center of the stage. Kam blinked thrice in quick session, their convened signal for a mind link.

    Physical contact would make it invisible even to Life Vision and kept their conversation a secret.

    ''What''s the matter, Kami? Jealous much? Horns or not I still have a list of suitors longer than my arm.'' He said with a smug grin on his face.

    ''Ha Ha.'' She replied with a deadpan tone. ''No, smartass. I just wanted to ask Solus if she wants to dance with us. This is her ceremony as well and it would be a shame if she didn''t get to enjoy it.''

    ''What do you mean?'' Solus asked after Lith let her take part in the conversation.

    ''You can slip from Lith''s finger to mine and then fuse your ring with my clothes. It still wouldn''t be the same as dancing with your own body but it''s the best I can offer you. Sorry.'' Kam said.

    ''Really?'' Solus would have jumped with joy, if only she had feet.

    ''Really. Lith and I will have just one dance together and the other dames will probably just try to get something from him. I trust you to keep his dirty mind in check.'' Kam inwardly chuckled.

    ''Thanks! It means the world to me.'' Solus covered Kam''s dress, letting Lith experience the warmth of the two women he loved the most at the same time.

    ''Thanks for allowing for this little three-way, Kami.''

    ''Lith!'' Kamil and Solus rebuked him in unison.

    ''Dance! I meant a three-way dance.''

    ''Gods, you were right about his dirty mind, Kami.'' Solus chuckled.

    ''Magus my ass. More like the Supreme Pervert.'' Kam shook her head in irritation.

    Lith remained silent until the music stopped, knowing that whatever he said could only make the hole he had dug for himself deeper.

    "Magus Verhen." The Queen tapped his shoulder, waiting for Lith to give her a bow before returning it with a curtsy.

    "Your Majesty."

    "What do you say if we exchange dance partners? It will allow your wife to take part in the conversation, were she to feel the need to." Sylpha said while Meron offered Kam his hand.

    Refusing the invitation of the King would have been incredibly rude and stupid. Whatever the Royals wanted from him, they had to listen.

 Chapter 2070 First of His Kind (Part 2)

    Chapter 2070 First of His Kind (Part 2)

    ''Let''s see what kind of strings came with my magnificent custom title.'' Lith said via the mind link while Solus returned to his finger.

    ''There''s no reason to jinx it.'' Kam took the King''s hand, leaving her ce to Sylpha. ''You''ve already given them a lot. What more could they ask for?''

    The dance started again and the Royals waited for the music to be loud enough to cover their words before starting to talk. With her 1.62 meters (5''4") of height, Sylpha was one good head shorter than Lith.

    While they shifted to find afortable distance to talk while looking at each other in the eyes, Lith had the opportunity to notice the seven colored streaks in her hair. On top of that, there were kindness and grace in her movements.

    They softened the cold impression from her sharp features that otherwise would make her look like a disgruntled sergeant ready to disciple a recruit.

    "First of all, allow me to congratte you again. Know that I really believe what I said earlier, it wasn''t just a political y." The Queen said. "I truly consider you the first of your kind, but giving you Silverwing''s same title would have meant to make you the second to achieve it and undermined your status.

    "I couldn''t allow people topare the two of you because a living man will never be a match for a legend of the past. Silverwing is gone whereas you are here and that''s the only thing that matters."

    "Actually, Silverwing is alive and well." Lith smiled awkwardly.

    "Really?" The Royals asked in unison.

    "Yeah. I met her a couple of times and I''m d you gave me a different title. She''s not someone you want to argue with."

    "Even if she has Awakened, Silverwing should be decrepit by now." The King pondered. "Is that the reason she hasn''te forward to help us?"

    "No. She just doesn''t care." Lith shook his head, making them turn pale. "Let''s just say that the First Magus doesn''t like how your ancestors used her knowledge. She''s still on the fence deciding who between you and Thrud is more suited for the throne."

    "Fair enough." Sylpha sighed, well aware of the failures of the past monarchs. "This makes our burden even heavier, but so does yours."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "We didn''t give you a special title just because of how it sounded in official documents. We did that because you are our best shot at taking the Kingdom out of the slump it has been stuck in for too long.

    "Over a thousand years have passed since the foundation of this country, yet we can''t still disclose to the public that half of Valeron''spanions were not humans. The First King hoped that with time, the divide between the races would disappear.

    "He entrusted to his descendants to reveal the truth when the time was right but that moment never came. At least until now.

    "Thrud''s army isprised of all races which actually helps us. Not only are the inhabitants of the upied territories getting used to living with them, but it also forces even the most bigoted fossil in our ranks to work with our non-human allies in order to survive.

    "I have no idea who will win the War of the Griffons, but I want to believe that whoever sits on the throne will rule over a better country. A ce where society has learned to embrace our differences instead of rejecting them in fear.

    "If Thrud wins, I have no doubt that she is going to use her ve array to discipline whoever causes her trouble. She is not human, nor is her husband or any of her aides. They are not going to be received well and I bet she''ll solve the problem like she does with everything else.

    "With violence." Sylpha took a short pause to give Lith the time to think about what woulde next.

    "If we win, however, our burden will be much greater and no one will have to carry it more than you. Telling people that Fyrwal is a Hydra and that Tessa is a Titania would just sound like an attempt to rewrite history.

    "Their legend is built on a lie that is hard to expose without putting at risk the very legacy of Valeron and the four finding pirs. You instead are more than a myth. Those who have taken part in your achievements are still alive and no one can question what you did or who you are.

    "You are a Divine Beast married to a human woman and after today, everyone will know that you are also a Magus who''s giving his everything to the Kingdom. From this day onward, what you do and say will go down in history books.

    "You will be the hero of this country and the living proof that the races can coexist. You will be the foundation from which everything our allies from the Council will build up.

    "The keystone that will allow us to disclose the real story about the foundation of the Kingdom. After witnessing the projections of the battle of the Heavenly Wolf tavern, of the fight for Belius, and everything that wille next, people won''t be able to dismiss the truth.

    "At least not easily. The legend of Valeron will strengthen yours while yours will make Valeron''s believable. The past will connect with the present to draw a picture of our future.

    "A future where nts, humans, beasts, and maybe even undead will work together. It will take time and a lot of work, but I promise you that the Crown will do everything it can to keep your younger siblings, your rtives, and your descendants to suffer like you did." Queen Sylpha managed to not miss a step during the whole speech.

    Lith was about to retort that he didn''t give a damn about the Kingdom when he thought of Protector, Marth, Aran, Leria, and his little sister who had yet to be born.

    ''I could just bring them all to the Desert, but if Thrud wins, they would just trade one war for another. Between the immortality array, the secret of the violet core, and the power of Night''s tower, the conflict with Grandma mightst forever.

    ''I don''t want them to grow up in fear. I don''t want my parents to give up on their life''s work nor for Kami to be treated for her whole life like a freak because of me. I want them to be happy.'' He thought.

    "Is this the reason you made me the Supreme Magus? Just for public rtionships?" He asked, his tone deadpan.

    "Again, no. I believe in what I said and I sincerely hope that future Magi will follow your example rather than Silverwing''s. Yet I''d be lying if I said that it has nothing to do with our ns for after the war." Sylpha replied.

    "Conflicts suck and cost countless lives, but they can make people ept changes that under any other circumstance they would fight to the death. In a way, by sitting out of the conflict the Empire is at loss.

    "Were we to triumph, we''ll achieve in the following few years what will take them decades."

 Chapter 2071 Someone You Loved (Part 1)

    Chapter 2071 Someone You Loved (Part 1)

    "On top of that, their role model is an old-ass Dragon who only minds his own business. Ours is going to be a dashing young man who dirties his hands to usher in an era of progress and peace." Sylpha said

    ''By my Mom, when the Queen puts it like that, I''m tempted to forget what big of an asshole you actually are and join your fan club.'' Solus projected the image of Tiamat-inspired merchandise going from t-shirts to action figures.

    The music ended and the Queen gave him a graceful courtesy before taking Meron and Kam out of the dancefloor.

    "It should be my turn now, correct? After all, I alwayse second." A familiar voice said with a sad chuckle.

    Lith didn''t need to check his dance card to know it was Phloria.

    "Outranking a Queen is hard." Lith shrugged. "Even if you did beat her to the punch, the valet would have just switched your names."

    "Fair enough but it doesn''t make it any less unpleasant." Unlike the Queen, Phloria barely needed to tilt her head to look at him in the eyes from up close. "Care dancing with an old friend?"[1]

    She didn''t wait for an answer, threading her left hand into his right and putting Lith''s arm on her waist while she was still talking.

    "I would love to." Lith smiled as her decisiveness and the golden lily pendant around her neck brought back countless memories. "But now I''m curious about your rush.

    "Usually during events of this kind, aside from my mother no one else signs up to dance with me but pricks who know they won''t have another asion to approach me.

    "We can dance whenever you want at your ce or mine. It''s not like we don''t spend time together already."

    "We actually don''t." Phloria sighed. "At least, not the way I would like to. We only meet to work, study, or train. Even after you quit the army, you rarely found time for us outside Faluel''sir.

    "Then, things got even worse when you were forced to escape to the Desert. Do you realize that I had to learn about your marriage from my mother and that thest time we met just for the fun of it was during the second ceremony?"

    "Yeah. Sorry about that. Things have been a little hectic." Lith''s senses warned him that something was off.

    Phloria''s movements were as lithe and graceful as always, yet he could feel through her hand how tense she was. She was smiling a lot, but only because she was forcing herself to.

    Her hazel eyes sparkled too much under the magical lights of the room, something that could only be exined with an insistent tear she was fighting back.

    "No need to apologize. I''m not without fault either." Her sky-blue dress matched the streaks in her waist-long ck hair while the olive tone of her skin emphasized the gold of her ne.

    That along with the deep v neckline brought Lith''s eyes to her bosom more often than he would have liked.

    "After you Awakened me, I''ve been pissed off at you for a long time. I avoided you on purpose while trying to make heads or tails of our forced rtionship." ording to the rules of the Awakened Council, Phloria would belong to him for 100 years or until she was deemed ready.

    "When I finally wrapped my head around all the madness that your life is, neither of us had a moment to spare. If I were a superstitious woman, I''d think that destiny worked hard to keep us apart." She sighed more and more often.

    Her smile was fading and her movements became clumsy from time to time.

    "First there was Kam between us, then Solus, and before I could even think, here we are. You''ve gone a long way from the grumpy kid who dragged me to dance on the ceiling of the Distar''s manor."

    The memory of that night, when Lith had used gravity magic for the first time and ruffled the feathers of hundreds of nobles for one of his schemes made them both chuckle.

    It was the first honestugh for both of them, but forpletely different reasons.

    For Lith, that night had been one of the happiest of his life. Back then, life was much simpler and he was just a magical student having fun instead of a Magus involved in a physical and a political war at the same time.

    To Phloria, instead, it had been the moment when her young heart had sparked with a feeling that only in her adult life she had recognized as love. It was the beginning and the end of everything.

    "You are now able to smile from your heart like I always wanted you to. You''ve found a woman who loves you so deeply that she chased you through two continents to be with you.

    "You are now the Supreme Magus and maybe, one day, you''ll find a way to be even more." Her right hand moved to his cheek, caressing it with her thumb uncaring for Court etiquette.

    "Those are all reasons for me to be happy for you, but they also force me to face reality. There is no more ce for me in your life." A spark of Spirit Magic opened the sp of the ne that Phloria caught in mid-air.

    "What are you doing?" Lith asked as she threaded her fingers through his again, feeling the cold metal of the golden lily between their hands.

    "No matter what happens in the future, I''ll always be your friend. If you ever need me, you just need one call and I''ll run by your side." Tears streamed from her eyes, but her smile never faded nor did her voice crack.

    "I loved you. I loved being your strength during your darkest times. I loved every single minute we spent together and I deeply regret the decision of breaking up at the end of the academy.

    "Yet there is no turning time back. I can only live with the consequences of my choices and move forward. I needed to talk with you on the dancefloor because I want this conversation to end the moment the music stops.

    .

    "I don''t want either of us to linger on what might have been one second longer. We have wasted too much time on that, or at least, I did. I''ll never forget the feelings I had for you but at the same time, I can''t let them burden me forever.

    "You''ve built an incredible life for yourself and now I want to do the same." Only when Phloria let go of him and gave him a curtsy did Lith realize that the dance was over.

    Phloria wiped her tears with first magic so that no one but him ever knew what had just happened.

    As she walked toward her next dance partner and Milea Genys approached him, Lith''s eyes fell on the palm of his right hand.

    The golden lily pendant was still there, heavy from the happy memories and broken promises it carried.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, White Griffon academy, two dayster

    After the g, Lith''s life became a vortex that rarely gave him a moment of respite.

    [1] Rmended Soundtrack: Someone you loved by Lewis Capaldi

 Chapter 2072 Someone You Loved (Part 2)

    Chapter 2072 Someone You Loved (Part 2)

    He had to split his time between the battlefield, the city of Valeron where he had to regrly meet the Royals and share with them another piece of knowledge every time they delivered their promises, and social events.

    Thrud had conquered Belius, but the victory hade with a heavy price. Not a single soul lived there and the very storm that had allowed her to conquer the city had also turned it into shambles after Berion had detonated the protective arrays.

    To make matters worse, Milea had exploited the opportunity to expand the borders of the Empire and had positioned the bulk of her forces along the mountain range of the Ker region.

    With most of her Divine Beasts still locked in the regeneration chamber of the Golden Griffon and no defensive mechanism left in Belius, the Mad Queen was forced to temporarily relieve the pressure on the internal borders of the Kingdom.

    Also, the Royals had been true to their word and had already issued a full pardon for Lith, Tista, Kam, and all of his rtives and friends. It was overkill, but the King wanted to make sure that nothing wouldter pop up and mess with his ns.

    As for Lith''s social life, everyone wanted to meet the fabled Supreme Magus.

    Especially his friends who mocked him to no end, calling him either the Supreme Miser or the Miser Magus.

    Lith rejected all the invitations from the nobles who had ignored him until he had been crowned Magus and who just wanted to suck up to him, but there were still a lot of ces he had to be.

    Marth had demanded him to attend a second smaller ceremony at the White Griffon. He wanted to parade his Magus alumnus to the other Headmasters, have Lith give an inspirational speech to the students, and have him meet his old Professors and schoolmates.

    "Who would have ever thought that an obnoxious runt ofmoner origins would be the first and probably the only student of mine to be a Magus?" Professor Khavos Rudd, Lith''s teacher of dimensional magic said after one drink too many.

    "I understood that I had been wrong all my life when those damn rankings for your fourth year came out, but damn, life surely loved to rub it in my face. First of your ss, then the youngest Great Mage of your generation, and then the youngest Archmage.

    "Now you''ve be a Magus¡­ No, I''m sorry, the Supreme Magus before your twenties. I wish it was Friya Ernas, instead. At least it would have been a fellow dimensional mage."

    "Thanks for your kind words." Lith''s voice oozed with ill-concealed sarcasm.

    "Gods, cut me some ck." Rudd sighed like a broken-hearted man. "When you get old, there are some words that be harder to say. Like apologies. I''m sorry for treating you badly when you were a student."

    ''Too little and toote.'' Lith thought.

    "Apologies epted." He actually said, not wanting to ruin the moment for Marth and not caring enough about Rudd to argue with him about the past.

    "Ignore that old fossil and follow me." Lyca Wanemyre, his Forgemastering Professor, dragged Lith to a table that she had filled with blueprints ofplex weapons.

    "Are you sure you want to show this to me?" He could see the full schematics of the runes and the power cores. One second in his eyes was a lifetime in Solus'' memory.

    "Don''t worry, I''ve got the clearance for this. Besides, even in the off chance your memory is a prodigy as you are, there''s not much you can do without a list of the ingredients." She replied with a cute smile.

    ''Fuck me sideways, she''s right! Without the perfect sequence of pseudo cores, the whole thing would just explode in my face.'' Lith replied.

    "I just wanted your input as a Magus and a Divine Beast. The problem with new weapons is that they need to be tested and I can''t exactly go to a Dragon and ask them if they can kindly allow me to try and beat the crap out of them."

    "Do you want me to be your test subject?" Lith said in amazement.

    "You could test your equipment and I could test mine. It''s a fair trade." She shrugged. "Besides, you are not just helping me. You are helping the whole Kingdom as its Supreme Magus." She said in an overly dramatic voice.

    "Consider all these powerful new runes and the way to arrange them as your payment if it makes your decision easier. On top of that, I''ll dly answer whatever question you have for me. It will be just like the old times." She said with a huge smile that took one second to turn into a bitter expression.

    "Except that you are already married and I''m still single. What the heck is wrong with me? Why does nobody love me?" She hugged him, starting to sob uncontrobly.

    "For starters, I think you should cut down on alcohol." Lith patted her back, holding Wanemyre for a couple of seconds before the sobbing turned into snoring. "First Rudd and now this? Duke, what the heck have you done?"

    After the ceremony, the Headmaster had asked Lith to drop the honorifics and go on a first-name basis. Archmages like Marth were considered the kings of the magicalmunity, but Magi were living gods.

    "I think someone may have spiked the drinks with Red Dragon to help you loosen up." Marth checked the cocktails with his spells but everything was fine.

    "You have a bottle of Red Dragon?" Lith asked in amazement.

    "Well, yeah. Anything else is as good as water to you. What kind of a host do you think I am?" The Headmaster shrugged.

    "Did you put the stopper back after pouring my drink?"

    .

    Marth turned around, discovering that the vapors of the liquor were free to spread through the room, causing an epidemic of drunken highs. Peopleughed or cried for no reason, some had be overly honest and told things that they should have kept to themselves.

    Others were making out withplete strangers or became violent at the slightest provocation.

    "What do you say if we show them how it''s done, handsome?" Zinya tugged at Vastor''s arm with one hand and unbuttoned her shirt with the other. Her pupils were dted and her voice a slur.

    The moment she was about to reveal her ckce bra and the generous bosom it held, Vastor used his professor ring to Warp them both in his apartments. A quick detoxification spell put her to sleep while he prayed to the gods that no one had witnessed the scene or at least they wouldn''t remember the morning after.

    "What the heck happened?" Lith asked while Kam still blocked his sight with her hand.

    "It seems that Zinya reacts to alcohol the same way I do." Kam sighed. "Luckily for me, the armor Grandma made for me blocks even poisonous gas or I''d have made a fool of myself as well."

    "Are you telling me that getting drunk also makes you-"

    "It lowers my inhibitions, yes. Why do you think I was always careful with wine back when we were still dating?" Shepleted the phrase for him.

    "I was about to say horny, but that works too. Care for a sip?" Lith offered her his drink spiked with Red Phoenix.

 Chapter 2073 Past Grudge (Part 1)

    Chapter 2073 Past Grudge (Part 1)

    "Very funny, jackass!" Kam blushed violently, turning around to make sure that no one had overheard Lith.

    "I''m serious. As any mage, I love experimenting with new stuff and I never had the opportunity to see you drunk."

    "Well, since you are so willing to try something new, I guess tonight you can sleep on the couch for a change."

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, the day after the doghouse.

    Phloria''s words during the g had stung hard so Lith had made as much time as he could for the Ernas who also threw him a party where only his actual friends and Council allies were invited.

    Friya and Quy exploited the asion to introduce their respective boyfriends to society despite the objection of their parents. It was also the perfect opportunity to force Jirni and Orion to meet them after months of dodging the issue.

    War made courtship short since every day on the frontlines could be thest and many of their daughters'' peers and academy mates had marriedtely to leave at least one heir behind.

    That and Lith''s marriage setting the example were enough to make the Ernas couple sweat bullets.

    "Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Morok Eari." Quy said, making Jirni purse her lips until a small line was all that was left of her mouth. "Morok, these are my parents, Jirni and Orion Ernas."

    "It''s nice to meet you again, ma''am." The Tyrant said in what was supposed to be the best smile of his human form. "If I didn''t know better, I''d say that it''s clear from who Quy inherited her beauty."

    "It''s been almost two years since thest time we saw each other but it seems like yesterday. You are a person hard to forget, Great Mage Eari." Jirni said with her best poker face.

    To a regr person, her words sounded nice yet her cousin Dyta could hear all the poison they hid. The former Ranger was the kind of man who always left a strong impression, but not because of his wits or charms.

    "It''s a pl¡­ A plea¡­" Just being forced to speak such a tant lie in her own home gave Jirni''s voice the same intonation of someone who was about to hurl. She twisted and turned an ivory fan between her hands to keep her expression under control.

    "A pleasure to have you here." Dytapleted the phrase for her.

    "That." Jirni nodded, restoring the perfection of her fa?ade.

    "It''s the first time we are properly introduced, sir." Morok extended his hand and Orion looked at it as if it was a de aimed at his throat.

    "Indeed. I heard a lot of things about you, young man." Not even a blind man would have mistaken Orion''s expression for a smile.

    He was simply curling his lips while clenching his teeth so hard that his jaw popped.

    "I''m past 26 years old so I''m not so young anymore." Morok managed to miss the subtext entirely and smiled awkwardly. "But I can understand that to a man of your age anyone below forty must look like a kid.

    "I promise you that I''ll make your daughter happy and with a bit of luck, we''ll give you plenty of grandchildren before you die." His honesty was apanied by the sound of Jirni''s fan snapping.

    Quy red at him, stomping his foot to make sure Morok wouldn''t embarrass her further.

    "He''s joking. We are just hanging out." She said. "We never even discussed such matters."

    s, for an Emperor Beast, her stomp felt like a footsie, or at least that''s how Morok perceived it.

    "Then maybe we should, darling. These days people are dropping like flies and even if they survive the war, your parents don''t have much left to live. Try putting yourself in their shoes." Truth to be told, the Tyrant was just referring to the fact that he and Quy were Awakened and had a much longer lifespan.

    "Ha, ha, ha! What a funny guy." Orion''s maniacalughter was apanied by the savage smile that usually appeared on his face only on the battlefield. "I wish that the rest of your life is as long as happy."

    "Thanks, sir. I wish you the same." Once again, Morok missed the subtext and Orion hoping that the prick would die a gruesome death a few secondster.

    Quy noticed the throbbing vein in her father''s neck and temple so she dragged Morok away before Orion could have a stroke out of sheer rage.

    "Help! I don''t want to die!" Nalrond grabbed Lith''s arm in search of protection. "If I meet a guy that big and angry right now, he''s going to kill me."

    "Don''t be such a baby!" Friya dragged him along effortlessly. Even though with his 1.84 (6'') height Nalrond was much taller and heavier than her, an Awakened of her level could lift him with one hand.

    "Besides, this is the perfect moment to meet my parents. No matter what blunder you make,pared to Morok, you''d still be a gentleman."

    Nalrond hadn''t been so scared since the day Night had tried to kill Selia and the children yet he would have dly faced the Horseman alone rather than be there. He whimpered all the way to the Ernas couple, like a man walking to his own funeral.

    "Mom, Dad, he''s Nalrond of the Desert. He has nost name because his vige was destroyed and it''s still painful for him to talk about it." At those words, Orion''s gaze softened enough for Dyta to notice.

    "Nalrond, these are my parents, Orion and Jirni Ernas. Never believe a word my mother says and don''t be afraid of my father. He''s actually a softie and I''m sure you two will go along just fine."

    Having heard terrible things about her, Nalrond''s eyes went wide when he saw how short and lovely Jirni was. On the other hand, it was hard recognizing the loving father Friya had told him about in the fuming giant in front of him.

    Orion was 1.96 meters (6''5") tall, making Nalrond feel like a small boy.

    "Sir, ma''am, it''s a pleasure to know you." He gave them both a deep bow. "I currently live with the Fastarrows as their nanny, but I n to buy a house of my own one day.

    "I''m a skilled healer and a Light Master." Nalrond emphasized the concept by conjuring a hard-light construct of his dream home under their noses. "Also, I own a share of Lith''s silver mines in Jambel so I have my own money and-"

    "Slow down, kid." Orion patted his shoulder whileughing heartily. "This isn''t a job interview. You''ve got nothing to prove to me except how much you care for my little girl."

    "How do I do that, sir?" Nalrond sweated profusely and tugged at the cor of his shirt which seemed to be tighter by the second, making it difficult for him to breathe.

    "You just did." Orion turned toward Jirni who didn''t seem to agree with him.

    "This house of yours, where do you n to build it? In the Kingdom or the Desert?" She asked.

    "I have no idea." Nalrond replied, making Jirni tilt her head in curiosity. "It''s not just my decision to make, but if I had the choice, I''d like to build it in Lutia. I wasn''t born in the Kingdom but the Fastarrows are my family."

 Chapter 2074 Past Grudge (Part 2)

    Chapter 2074 Past Grudge (Part 2)

    "Let''s not get ahead of ourselves." Jirni smiled and stepped forward, taking Nalrond by the arm. "Let''s take things slowly. Start by telling me how you two met."

    The Rezar looked at Friya and whimpered, having no idea how much he was allowed to say. He lived in a sheltered environment where everyone knew everything about each other whereas Lith''s world was utterly confusing.

    There were people who knew only a part of his secrets and were entitled to learn a few more, others who had to be keptpletely in the dark, and just a few he couldpletely trust.

    And that was just about Lith. Once Nalrond had to factor in for Solus'' share of secrets he would getpletely lost.

    "It''s actually an interesting story, Mom." Friya took her mother''s other arm feigning enthusiasm in recounting a heavily doctored version of the events of the Feymar mines in order to make no mention of the tower and Solus.

    "Ah." Jirni said noticing the nervousness of her daughter and the relief of the man from the Desert. "The garden is magnificent this time of the year. If I have to bear with a load of crap, I could use a pleasant smell to cover it."

    She steered them toward the double doors that led outside, inwardly taking notes of all the inconsistencies in Friya''s story to find a reasonable exnation for themter.

    Tista hade as well and had brought Bodya the Nidhogg as her date. Unlike during the ascension ceremony, she enjoyed herself a lot a smiled much more often.

    She still had her feathered wings out, but now that her expression had softened, between her figure and her delicate features, the wings only added to her charms.

    "Girl, you really are taking seriously that Fairy Queen moniker that Nana gave you on her deathbed." Selia said while touching the silver-veined red feathers and enjoying how fluffy they were.

    "Not really." Tista shrugged. "I just want to get used to both my bodies and not hide my second nature anymore. I''m not like my little brother, I can''t conjure anything and I have no servant. So much for a Queen."

    "Give yourself time. Nana nailed it big time dubbing Lith ''King of the Spirits'' so she was probably right about you as well." Protector pointed at Trion, Valia, Locrias, and Varegrave who were mingling with the other guests and enjoying thepany of their respective families.

    "Yeah. I wonder if in her final moments she had developed something akin to Lith''s Death Vision." Tista pondered. "By the way, I had hoped that the wings would keep the creeps away instead they attract them like flies to honey."

    Selia wasn''t the only one who had failed to resist the temptation to touch Tista''s feathers without even asking. Bodya kept most men at bay, but he was useless against children who considered them soft toys.

    "I see that you are still determined to take the beasts'' path." Jiza Gernoff moved her gaze from the wings to the ashen skin of the Nidhogg human form. "I hoped that you would side with the human Council or at least you would take a humanpanion, like your brother."

    "What I do with my life is none of your business." Tista snarled and her teeth shapeshifted into fangs for a split second.

    "It''s my business indeed. You are the only other living Demon on Mogar and your existence is bound to draw a lot of attention. Especially if one day the Council will need someone capable of countering Verhen." Lady Gernoff replied, finding the Red Demon as intimidating as an angry puppy.

    "I''m never going to fight against my brother and I have no reason to listen to one more word you say." Tista turned around to leave but the much smaller human woman held her in ce with a grip of steel.

    Bodya tried to step in to help her, but Jiza''s bright violet aura was enough to paralyze him.

    "Never is a long time and you don''t even know what will happen tomorrow. Also, I think I have something that might interest you." Jiza let Tista go the moment she had her attention and showed her a recording on the Council amulet.

    It was one of the battles against Thrud''s army Jiza had taken part into on behalf of the Council. The fight was a chaotic mess where people and spells often blocked the camera.

    Jiza blocked the recording on a specific frame, zooming in to a humanoid figure.

    "Isn''t that Headmistress An Linnea?" Tista needed but a nce to recognize the woman who had denied Lith the attendance to the Lightning Griffon due to her grudge with Nana.

    "Yes, it''s her." Jiza nodded. "Our liaison with the Crown confirmed it. There''s not much intel on her since we have no spies among Thrud''s forces, but ording to the rumors we have collected by scouting the Mad Queen''s territories, Linnea is in charge of the Golden Griffon."

    "I thought that Sevenus Hystar was the Headmaster." Tista said in confusion as she remembered how bitterly her mentor had lived after being betrayed by the people who were supposed to watch her back.

    Linnea wasn''t the only person responsible for Nana''s decades of misery, but she had yed a huge role in it.

    "And so did I." Jiza shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Thrud wants two Headmasters to better train her soldiers or maybe she keeps Hystar a secret even to her own troops. What really matters is this."

    A quick change of the resolution gave the hologram colors, painting Linnea''s aura violet.

    "You are strong for your age, Tista, but you are no match for a violet-cored Awakened." Jiza said. "Now, I know that your brother has refused to share that part of his legacy with you, but it''s never toote to ask to change your mentor."

    She had no idea that Lith hadn''t refused. It had been Tista''s decision in order to find a way to tap into her own full potential without using a method unsuitable for her that mightpromise her growth.

    "And be at your mercy for 100 years? Thanks, but no thanks. Let''s go, Bodya." Tista turned around again but this time Jiza did nothing to stop her.

    "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

    "Are you really that angry at a person you have never met before?" The Nidhogg could see the fury seething inside of Tista turning her skin into scales with the rhythm of her heart.

    "Of course not. That was back when I was young and stupid. I''m angry at Jiza for her attempt to manipte me and at myself for allowing her to rile me up like this." Tista shook her head, taking deep breaths to calm down.

    "Yet I''ve never forgiven Linnea for trying to destroy Lith just like she had done to Nana. I''m not going to put my life at risk for a decades old revenge but Linnea was a convicted traitor even before joining Thrud.

    "If I meet her on the battlefield, I''ll make sure to give her Nana''s regards and return to Linnea all the suffering she inflicted upon my mentor."

    Meanwhile, Lith, Solus, and Kam were enjoying their evening, getting to know Faluel outside of her grueling training sessions.

 Chapter 2075 Contingency Plans (Part 1)

    Chapter 2075 Contingency ns (Part 1)

    Solus had made a full recovery after the battle of Belius and was happy to have the opportunity to celebrate Lith''s Magus title in person.

    Since it was a private ceremony, Lith had prepared for her a pristine white Supreme Magus robe matching his own. Many raised an eyebrow at the sight but asked no questions.

    Kam was deeply embarrassed by the story about the drunken Zinya and Vastor''s attempts to make her keep her clothes on. Lith offering her drinks non-stop only made things worse.

    As for the Hydra, she was a sucker for gossip and she wanted to know everything about what had happened during the dance.

    "The Queen is damn right." Faluel nodded after listening about Lith''s conversation with Sylpha.

    "If we win this war, you''ll hold a power second maybe only to the Royals. You will be the Supreme Magus, the hero of the people, and the bridge not only between humans and beasts, but also between regr humans and Awakened."

    "I''m not interested in that kind of power. It would just take a lot of time from my experiments and Kam." Lith shuddered at the thought.

    "By the way, what did the Empress want to talk with you about?" The Hydra asked.

    ***

    Royal Pce, a few seconds after Phloria had left the dancefloor.

    "Nice to meet you again, Supreme Magus Verhen. Would you do me the honor of this dance?" Her long honey-hued hair sparkled under the magical light when she gave him a curtsy.

    Lith stared at his dance card for a couple of seconds before his brain was forced to admit that the Milea Genys listed as third was actually the Magic Empress of the Gorgon Empire.

    He hastily put the lily pendant into the breast pocket of his jacked to avoid questions that would''ve been too painful to answer.

    "Of course." He gave her a deep bow and took Milea''s hand as the music started. "To what do I owe this pleasure? You have my rune and if you wanted to talk, all you had to do was to make a call."

    ''By my Mom!'' Solus said in amazement. ''Her dress is no dress at all. It''s a full suit of armor of untold power.''

    ''You mean it has shapeshifted like my Voidwalker armor?'' Lith asked.

    ''No, or the guards at the entrance would have never let her in with such a powerful artifact. What the Empress wears is pure Davross whose density and shape have been rearranged to imitate silk.

    ''Its cloaking enchantment is so good that it fooled even my mana sense.''

    ''How did you notice it, then?'' Lith was quite puzzled at the revtion.

    ''Invigoration on contact.'' She replied, making him turn pale.

    "First, I don''t have your rune, I have Sark''s." Milea said with a sly smile. "Second, I knew that your partner would never miss such an important asion and I wanted the opportunity to speak with both of you."

    Her slender fingers clenched Lith''s stone ring like a vice.

    "Using a breathing technique on me was quite rude so don''t me me if I return the favor." The Empress scanned the ring to the best of her abilities and ignored Lith.

    ''Damn, Solus, why did you do that?'' He asked.

    ''I didn''t study her! I know that an Awakened can feel Invigoration. That''s why I used it solely on the dress.'' She replied in embarrassment. ''How was I supposed to know it has an rm system?''

    "Interesting." Milea said. "Aside from the fact that you two share the same energy signature, I failed to learn anything meaningful about your other significant half."

    "What do you want?" Lith had managed to keep Solus a secret from the Council and the Crown. The Empress knowing about her wasn''t good news.

    "First, I wanted to congratte you on bing a Magus. I had high hopes of bing one myself, especially since Leegaain is my mentor. Yet ever since I took the throne, the throne in turn took my life." Milea sighed, regretting being forced to spend so much time on paperwork and so little on the actual practice of magic.

    "Second, I''m here to offer you a contingency n."

    "I''m all ears." Lith replied.

    "You''ve gotten yourself a sweet deal with the Royals and I''m aware I can''t make you a better offer, but that only stands for now. A cautious man like you must have taken into consideration that the Kingdom might lose the war.

    "At that point, the knowledge you have shared with them would be lost and you''d be the Supreme Magus in name only. Also, we both know that after the Kingdom, Thrud will conquer the Empire and after that, it will be a battle between tyrants.

    "I know how fond you are of the Overlord, but that''s because so far she was the one giving while you just took. Once she bes involved in the conflict, she''ll demand you to bend the knee and obey or to get out of her turf." Milea said.

    "Sounds like Grandma." Lith grunted.

    "I''m different and so is the Empire. My country values magical knowledge beyond anything else and what the Royals presented here tonight is enough to earn youplete freedom under my rule.

    "All I''m asking you is to make with me the same deal you have with the Royals after the Kingdom falls. You''d get yournd, a safe ce for your family, and to pick your battles."

    "Why should Ie to you instead of Sark?" He asked.

    "To not get cornered and because I have a trump card that I''m nurturing." Milea nodded at Kelia. "I have the Red Sun on my side already. Unlike Thrud, my Horseman is willing to cooperate.

    "With Dusk''s expertise, reverse engineering the portable towers will be easier than studying Moonlight. He knows his steed like the back of his hand whereas Baba Yaga''s cloaking spells will prove to be a tough nut to crack.

    "With the two of you on the same side, the Empire will be invincible. Especially after Dusk will help you master your bloodline abilities. Remember that the Red Sun is the greatest expert in life force maniption.

    "Who knows, he might even find a way to fix your life force."

    "Deal." Lith replied.

    "Good." The music stopped and Milea gracefully stepped away. "I have booked Kelia your fourth dance so that the four of you can talk a bit. You lot have much inmon."

    The young girl awkwardly walked to him a few secondster, blushing up to her ears every time her gaze met that of another guest.

    Her uniform felt three sizes smaller and shrinking, her throat was clenched from stress, and she was certain that the nobles in the roomsughed at her back every time she gawked at one of the magical marvels of the Banquet Hall.

    The only reason she had yet to burst into tears was Dusk soothing her mind and taking the wheel every time she felt overwhelmed.

    To make matters worse, Kelia was a skilled dancer but she had never done it in front of so many people and Lith was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

    ''She''s really pretty. Dusk must have Awakened her early. She''ll be as beautiful as Tista.'' Solus said and Lith agreed.

 Chapter 2076 Contingency Plans (Part 2)

    Chapter 2076 Contingency ns (Part 2)

    "Nice to meet you, Kelia. You may not wear a dress but you are no less lovely than any other dame in this room." Lith decided to probe how deep the influence of the Horseman was with a randompliment.

    The choked, high-pitched squeal that came out of her mouth while even her nails turned to a deep shade of red told him that Kelia was a regr teenager if he had ever seen one.

    When the music started, Lith threaded his fingers into hers and put the other hand on her hip, sending Kelia into hyperventtion.

    "Do you realize that dancing requires physical contact, don''t you?" He asked.

    "And do you realize that she''s just a kid, hot stuff?" A cold, male voice came out of her mouth as her demeanor became as wless as Lith''s. "I''ve trained Kelia to be a skilled mage and a ruthless fighter, but even I am powerless against hormones."

    "Tell me about it." Solus'' chuckled through Lith''s mouth. "You have no idea how hard it was for me back at the academy to keep him from acting like an idiot whenever a certain hot woman was involved."

    "Are you his partner?" Dusk asked.

    "Yep." Solus nodded.

    "Did you teach him Light Mastery and Void Magic?"

    "No. We learned it together." She replied.

    "I see. It seems that my mother was right. A symbiotic rtionship with our host is the best way to go. What are your thoughts on gravity magic?"

    ***

    Ernas Household, present time

    "Dusk was a real gentleman." Solus said. "He didn''t ask me anything about my origin or powers, we just had a good time talking about magic. Who knows, maybe someday we''ll sit in front of a cup of tea and exchange notes abouts ours hosts."

    "I''m d that you finally met someone you can rte to, Solus." Faluel was actually creeped out at the thought of what the child of Menadion and the opus of Baba Yaga could achieve by working together.

    "As for you, Lith, that was really cold. Are you really nning on abandoning the Kingdom?"

    "No, but I like to have more than one option. Without space for haggling, I couldn''t make a deal, only ept or refuse an ultimatum. I would end up either fighting on my own or bending the knee, putting my life at risk no matter what I choose." Lith replied.

    Looking around the room, he noticed Phloria talking with her guests,ughing and smiling more than she had done in thest few years. Seeing her without the golden lily pendant hurt more than he expected and the small ne that was still in his breast pocket seemed to weigh tons.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Ranaku Region, city of Cenaria, a weekter.

    The forced truce with Thrud after Belius'' fall didn''tst long.

    Just the time for the Mad Queen to secure her hold on the city and for the Kingdom to regroup its forces before striking at the most vulnerable areas of her territory.

    Having just a new Magus would have been enough to make up for the loss of one of the most important hubs of the Kingdom and keep the people living in the war zones from falling into despair.

    Having a Supreme Magus who carried the blood of the gods of magic, instead, also gave the citizens of every region still under the Royals hope that the conflict would soon end with their victory.

    Yet the same couldn''t be said for the noble lords who owed their power to politics and bloodline privileges instead of talent or merit. To them, amoner Magus was a threat even bigger than Thrud, dawning an era when they would be obsolete.

    On top of that, many of the local lords were losing heaps of gold per day since the Kingdom had been cut in half and the trading routes closed. The Royals imposing tiered prices for food and essential goods made it impossible for the nobles to profit off the war.

    It gave them plenty of reasons to defect to the other side and Jirni a lot of extra work.

    "I can''t believe that we have stopped chasingmon criminals and instead we have to vet those who are supposed to be the backbone of this country." Kam sighed.

    "That''s because even the lowlives of the underworld are smarter than spoiled brats. If Thrud''s wins, they get a free ticket to the Golden Griffon before being sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

    "You won''t believe how much money the most wanted mob bosses have been willingly donating just to keep the Mad Queen off their back." Jirni replied.

    "What I really don''t get is what the nobles hope to gain. If Thrud is anything like her mad father, she''s going to be a terrible ruler." Kam said. "I mean, what would stop her from just enving them when the war ends and get rid of them as soon as they have finished training her retainers?"

    "Logic rarely applies to desperate people." Jirni checked the ounting books of Duke Sazar to make sure that he wasn''t withholding the funds for the war efforts nor moving his money past the border.

    "Thrud can make any promise and they will believe it because they want to. Some nobles have no care for who wears the crown as long as they keep their position. The idea of taking the wrong side and losing everything at the end of the conflict makes them fickler than a weather vane.

    "From their point of view, Thrud is a safer bet because of her immortal army."

    "It still sounds idiotic to me." Kam had seized themunication amulets found in Duke Sazar''s mansion and was now pinging the owners of the runes engraved on their surface.

    This way, she checked if someone in the house had recently reached for the traitorous nobles on Thrud''s side. The member of the Knight''s Guard could even determine how recently a rune had been contacted, for how long, and how often.

    "This batch is suspicious, Lady Magus." A sergeant of the Knight''s Guard kneeled in front of Kam, holding a box containing three amulets above his head while keeping his eyes down. "Please, interrogate their owners in the green room while we continue the inspection."

    "For the gods'' sake, call me Constable Yehval. Constable Verhen, if you must. Heck, even Kam is better than Lady Magus!" Receiving that kind of attention had been ttering at first, funny after a while, and then utterly annoying.

    At least for Kam. Jirni still found it hrious.

    "By the way, how is life treating you after the ceremony, Lady Magus?" She asked with the polite smile that for Jirni was the equivalent ofughing her ass off at someone else''s expense.

    "Good." Kam inhaled sharply in annoyance as the sergeant bowed even deeper down in apology. "I hate to admit it, but Lith was right. My colleagues have stopped picking on me and I can finally do my job like old times.

    "I swear, it feels like being born anew."

    "I can tell." Jirni had noticed how Kam recently was full of energy.

    She managed to finish a double shift with a smile on her face and to still have the strength to go on a date with Lith after that.

 Chapter 2077 Weak Point (Part 1)

    Chapter 2077 Weak Point (Part 1)

    Ever since Kam had resumed her job after the Magus ceremony, she worked faster and better than ever, finding clues that escaped the notice of most Constables and that Jirni was used to finding during her final sweep of a crime scene.

    Also, Kam had mastered Jirni''s teachings, bing a human lie detector.

    "Now, if it''s not beneath you, go interrogate the suspects in the green room, o Lady Magus." Jirni said with mock deference.

    "As you wish, Lady Jirni Narma Tageta Ernas." Kam gave her a bow as Jirni stiffened up for a second.

    Middle names were the bane of every noble, even she. The only reason no one was chuckling was that they were too afraid of the Archon, especially during office hours when her interrogation kit was at hand.

    ''Everyone needs a particr trigger to make their talent bloom. I guess that for Kam oveing so many hardships in a row did the trick.'' Jirni thought, appreciating the newfound sass of her apprentice.

    ''What the heck is wrong with me?'' Kam thought the moment she stepped out of the room, her face flushing in embarrassment. ''Even though I was pissed off at sergeant Junio, I shouldn''t have teased Jirni.

    ''She is the only one who stood by my side when everyone else on the job piled up on me. Gods, I guess that receiving the title of Supreme Magus went to my head instead of Lith''s.''

    Even though almost two weeks had passed since the g, whenever someone called Lith by his title, he would ignore them thinking they were talking to someone else. It always took him multiple calls or catching the reflection of his white robe to remember that it was actually him.

    Kam walked through a richly furnished corridor with one member of the Knight''s Guard by her either side. Back when she had started working as a Constable, visiting noble households left her in awe.

    The fine carpets were as soft as clouds and every wooden surface had been iid by skilled artisans, giving even a broom closet a majestic aura. At the same time, being constantly followed by soldiers whenever she went, even to the bathroom, had embarrassed her greatly.

    There was no telling when and where an attack might take ce so the Knight''s Guard would never leave a Constable alone except that in safe buildings like the army headquarters.

    After a while, the riches had be nothing but a glossy coating to the filth any noble household kept hidden and the presence of her bodyguards now reassured her. Living with Lith first and then working with Jirni had taught Kam to always be wary of her surroundings.

    She reached a door covered in golden strands centered around the handle that looked like a spiderweb. Corporal Assa tapped at the core of the magical lock with his silver wand and the threads anchored to the doorframe receded.

    The walls of a noble household were enchanted to be harder than steel and channeled several arrays through the windows, leaving the doors as the only weak point. The Sealing Yarn would link itself at the arrays and extend their effects to the doors as well so that no one could get in or out until it was removed.

    The green room owed its name to the ocean-colored wallpaper covering its walls but it was actually a tea room where the lord of the house would meet his guests. It was the closest ce to the study big enough tofortably hold the suspects and the members of the Knight''s Guard watching them.

    "I''m sorry for the wait, Duke Sazar. The Kingdom appreciates your patience and coboration." Kam said with a warm smile.

    "What are you talking about? I didn''t agree to anything, You barged into my home uninvited and without r-" Elyon Sazar was a burly man a few centimenters taller than her.

    He abruptly stood up from his armchair while yelling, to intimidate the Constable with his build. One of the Guards already in the room moved by his side in a blur, needing to put just one hand on the Duke''s shoulder to force him to sit back and cut him short.

    "Suspects rarely ask to be investigated." Kam was unfazed by his righteous fury and her voice was still amiable. "As for the reason, I already gave you a copy of the warrant. Here''s another, in case you misced the first."

    She ced the Royal Order on the crystal tea table between them, marking with her pen the most relevant charges and the Chambein''s signature as if the Duke was too stupid to read the whole document.

    "Now if you''re done with your questions, I have a few of my own." Kam didn''t wait for an answer and put the box containing themunication amulets on the table as well.

    Sazar''s rage turned into fear as he recognized them. His thunderous voice became squeaky like that of a mouse, almost inaudible despite the silence of the room.

    "I have no idea where those things came from. Someone must have nted them into my house."

    "Really?" Kam assumed a shocked expression, covering her mouth with a hand. "It would exin why we found them in your room, stored inside dimensional items disguised as cufflinks, paperweights, and even as a chamber pot."

    Behind her, Assa tapped with his Forgemastering wand at his own dimensional item, conjuring a silvery mist that took the shape of everything it contained. His lunch, his personalmunication amulet, and a few gifts for his boyfriend to take out at thest minute to pretend he hadn''t forgotten about an anniversary.

    A second tap and the Clean te spell made the item lose its imprint, spitting its content out.

    "Except for one, it took us ab search to find them. What''s the point of keeping a chamber pot in your study when your mansion has many bathrooms?" Kam said with a sly smile, taking a mental note of the Corporal''s brilliant yet shameless idea.

    "Do you really want me to believe that someone entered your room, enchanted your personal possessions, and then stored incriminating evidence?"

    "I don''t care what you believe. You can''t prove those amulets are mine and that''s all that matters." The Duke''s eyes ran through the room for a way out, but an Adamant gloved hand pressed on his shoulder, making it impossible for him to stand up.

    "That''s just anothermon misconception. Corporal Assa, if you please." At Kam''s request, the Guard cast a quick spell on the amulets that made a blue string of energy sprout from their surface and reach Sazar.

    The same happened for the cufflinks, the paperweight, and the chamber pot, proving that the energy signature their imprint bore was his own.

    "Now, I''d like to know who you have been contacting in the Nestrar region and w-" Several Spirit Warp Steps appeared in the green room and people of all races walked through them, bypassing the air sealing arrays that enveloped the mansion.

    The members of the Knight''s Guard surrounded Kam in a square formation to protect her, but the attackers unleashed tier three hexaelemental Spirit Spells that hit the Guards like trucks, sending them crashing against the walls.

 Chapter 2078 Weak Point (Part 2)

    Chapter 2078 Weak Point (Part 2)

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' Kam thought while pressing the panic button on her uniform. ''Why is Thrud targeting me? More importantly, how did she find me?''

    Only when she noticed that one of the Awakened humans had brown skin and that they all spoke a foreignnguage did she understand that the Mad Queen wasn''t involved in the ambush.

    After Lith''s little trip in Verendi had decimated its Awakened Council, those who had taken the ce of the fallen representatives had looked for a way to establish their power and authority.

    Verendi had been utterly humiliated and its elders massacred, an offense that could only be paid back in blood. The problem had been that no matter how much they searched, Elphyn Menadion seemed to have disappeared.

    As for the Master''s Abominations, not only there was no clue about their position either, but also no one wanted to face them again. They had already inflicted the Council a crushing defeat on its own turf, there was no reason for things to go any different in the Kingdom, where the hybrids even had the home advantage.

    The only possible target was Lith, whose position was well-known and his power not a threat to beings who had reached the apex of Awakening. Yet living under Sark''s roof made any attack on his person a pointlesslyplicated form of suicide.

    The Verendi Council had given up on revenge, at least until the news of the birth of the Supreme Magus had spread past the Kingdom''s borders. The magical marvels that the Royals had showcased to their subjects were exactly what Verendi needed.

    The power core of the DoLorean would allow the Council to make up for the death of so many of its members and to colonize Jiera while Garlen was still busy dealing with the Mad Queen.

    Void Magic would give them an edge against true and fake mages alike so that even Jiera''s Council would have to bend the knee or die.

    The only thing keeping that dream scenario from turning into reality was that capturing Lith alive was nigh-impossible. The Tiamat was a Divine Beast who could use de Spells, wielded Cursed mes of unknown power, and had a mystical army at his beck and call.

    The Golems and the mysterious Golden Knight made things even worse. To capture Verhen it would take a contingent so numerous that it would never escape the notice of the Garlen''s Council.

    Also, no one of the new representatives wanted to face him. They had just risen to power and had no desire to put everything at risk on a maybe.

    It was the reason they had targeted Kam.

    The human woman was harmless and was also Lith''s weak spot. The n was to capture her and force Verhen to go back to Verendi, away from the protection of his allies.

    There, the Council would have forced him to share his secrets or witness the woman he imed to love die amid unspeakable agony. If the n worked, Verendi would have restored its power and killed the Tiamat the moment he outlived his usefulness, achieving the perfect revenge.

    If it failed, they would lose nothing. Apprentices were more than enough to deal with humans and even if they died, the representatives could always make more.

    Finding Kam had been the only hard part of the n. The army kept the whereabouts of its members strictly confidential and there was no way to know which Constable would be assigned to a specific mission.

    The Awakened from Verendi had chased ghosts for weeks until gossip had betrayed the position of the Lady Magus.

    Orbaf the Treant was a wooden giant whose treetop brushed against the ceiling and whose arms were so long that he didn''t need to move from the Warp Steps to grab at Kam.

    Corporal Assa put himself in front of her, but the Fae swatted him away with a flick of his wrist. The members of the Knight''s Guard wore the best Featherwalker armors that the Royal Forgemasters could craft, but the Awakened''s equipment was made of Adamant as well.

    The power of their enchantments was equally matched, making the mass of the contestants a deciding factor. Even the humans were actually shapeshifted Emperor Beasts who shapeshifted into their hybrid form to quickly dispose of the soldiers.

    "Come here, sweetheart. I promise that I won''t harm you unless you force me to." Pilmo the Mikuna, an evolved dragonfly, extended her chitinous hand, grabbing Kam''s shoulder.

    Her training had allowed Kam to resist the fear that the sight of an oversized insect instilled into her and to sidestep the attack with footwork. Yet theposite eyes of the Mikuna followed her every movement as if she was simply stepping back.

    Kam screamed for help while Pilmo screamed in pain as a white me erupted from the Voidfeather armor. The Guardian-crafted artifact bore Sark''s enchantments and was programmed to kill.

    The Mikuna used darkness fusion to smother the mes and suppress the pain, but they devoured her mana and became stronger for it.

    With her enemy off guard from the surprise, Kam jabbed with her left at Pilmo''s chin beforending a right cross in her disgustingly big eye. The armor also boosted her physical prowess as if Kam was under the effect of a top-grade body-enhancing potion.

    The jaw emitted a squishy sound as it broke while the fist pierced through the Adamantyer covering the eye with a wet pop.

    Meanwhile, in the Duke''s study, Jirni and the rest of the members of the Knight''s Guard received the alert.

    "Drop everything you are doing and grab onto me." She quickly inputted the one-time use code that allowed her to override the Kingdom''s air sealing arrays in her Featherwalker armor and took Skywarp out of her dimensional amulet.

    The ive Blinked them in the green room where she hoped Kam would still be.

    "Fuck!" Both sides said in unison when they realized the mess that their respective allegedly simple mission had just be.

    ''Something is wrong!'' Pilmo said to her teammates via a mind link. ''I''m wearing enchanted armor, yet the human is wounding me like it''s paper.''

    ''Let me take care of it.'' Orbaf replied, hitting all the neers at once by expanding his massive fist to its full size before stepping toward Kam.

    Jirni tried to dodge, but with the Guards still weighing her down, she took the blow square on her chest like the rest of them. Awakened needed but a thought to use fusion magic whereas humans needed time to drink potions.

    Even if they did have the time for it, the body refinement of a bright blue core made their movements a blur for the human eye.

    Kam was easily caught and this time the white mes were just a sting for the massive frame of the Treant.

    "Stay still or I''ll have to break your bones until you do." Orbaf said while squeezing the air out of her lungs with the strength of his grip.

    ''These bastards want to take me alive. I can work with that.'' Kam shapeshifted the Voidfeather armor into its true form which resembled Lith''s Voidfeather Dragon but covered in plumes instead of scales.

    Razor-sharp wings erupted from her back, cutting through the Treant''s wooden fingers and armor, turning his hand into a stump.

 Chapter 2079 A New Life (Part 1)

    Chapter 2079 A New Life (Part 1)

    "What the fuck is that?" Treant copsed on the floor in agony as the white mes entered through his wounds and set his nervous system aze.

    ''Don''t use fusion or healing magic to counter them!'' Pilmo warned Orbaf. ''Only Invigoration works.''

    The now healed Mikuna unfolded her wings and jumped at the small human, only to meet an even smaller human head-on.

    "Back off, ugly!" Jirni Blinked between them, Skywarp already lunging at the creatures'' eyes.

    Pilmo saw the exit point with Life Vision, easily dodging the de and its wielder.

    Herpound eyes and flexible wings granted her full maneuverability in the three dimensions. Even while performingplex movements, a Mikuna could always move at their top speed.

    ''I just need to grab the human and drag her through the Steps I have at the ready. How hard can it be?'' She thought in frustration.

    Pilmo''s hand was centimeters away from Kam''s face when a sudden tug pulled her back with a strength that had nothing of human. Skywarp''s lunge had Warped away the air on its path, leaving behind a trail of vacuum that was now violently copsing on itself.

    The dimensional magic imbued in the ive had formed a path connecting Pilmo''s back to the tip of the de that were drawn to each other like mas of opposing charge.

    ''Thank the gods my tail is not just for decoration!'' The externalyers of her exoskeleton uncoiled, revealing the presence of a sting dripping a powerful acid that sizzled when exposed to the air.

    Even in her humanoid form, Pilmo was taller than any human and her tail longer thank Skywarp. The annoying female would be impaled with the strength of her own attack and the acid would burn her organs beyond saving.

    Or that''s what would have happened if Jirni was still there.

    She had Blinked away at thest second, timing her spell so that the dimensional door closed as soon as the Mikuna''s tail was halfway through as well, cutting it asunder. Jirni and the severed sting reappeared above Pilmo who had all the time to notice her appearance but no way to defend herself.

    Her mutted body moved awkwardly through the air, its center of gravity shifted. Instead of dodging, the Mikuna mmed against the floor and bounced right on the ive''s de that entered from her left eye and came out of the stump of the tail.

    At the same time, the members of the Knight''s Guard had recovered from the initial surprise and activated their body-enhancing tattoos while also triggering the code red that would soon summon the Royal Guard.

    The Awakened were outnumbered, but not outmatched yet. Jirni was already busy dealing with a Nue while the soldiers were doing their best to deal with the remaining two Awakened.

    Unlike the Archon, they needed time to chant their spells and none of their weapons was on par with Skywarp. To make matters worse, the enemies could Blink around with Spirit Magic whereas the Knights'' dimensional spells were sealed.

    Orbaf roared his challenge, covering the whole room with his bright blue aura.

    ''No time to y around anymore.'' The Treant went all-out, his humongous fist moving at an incredible speed for someone of his size.

    The first hit sent Kam crashing against the wall and opening a small crater.

    The impact would have killed a normal human and broken the bones of a member of the Knight''s Guard, but thanks to the Voidfeather armor, it just squeezed the air out of her lungs.

    Her head rang and fear pumped adrenaline into her veins as she saw a cross follow the jab. Orbaf had used the first and weaker attack to test her defenses to understand how much punishment she could endure without dying.

    ''I need her alive, not well!'' As he moved forward, he could have sworn to hear some kind of familiar pop but in the heat of the battle, he couldn''t put his finger on its source.

    Kam looked at the iing first through the crystals of the eye slits of the armor and suddenly it wasn''t blurred anymore. The white crystals on the Voidfeather armor burst with light that filled the space in between the plume-like tes while emitting a buzzing sound.

    She easily dodged the attack, sliding her left arm against the opponent''s right to keep his movements under control. The dodge turned into a cross counter that struck the Treant with thebined strength of Kam''s charge and his own momentum.

    His head snapped back with the cracking sound of wood thrown into the fire and the space under his chin shattered, sending splinters flying throughout the room.

    ''Seriously. What the fuck is that armor and how can it overpower mine? A human can''t be this strong.'' He thought as Kam headbutted him and her mouthpiece opened.

    A sudden burst of red-orange Origin mes entered Orbaf''s still opened mouth and burned his eyes. The weak mes couldn''t hurt his tough skin covered by the Adamant armor but his inner organs were another story.

    A Fae had no lungs, they could breathe through their skin, but they were still nts. They still burned.

    ''Okay, fuck this mission. If I can''t capture this wench then I''ll kill her.'' Fear, rage, and panic made the Awakened take the kid''s gloves off.

    A tier four Spirit Magic spell conjured a stream of hexaelemental emerald lightning. Air sent Kam into a seizure, earth clogged the joints of armor, water allowed the spell to slip past the enchanted plumes, fire and light made the metal red-hot while darkness just went for the kill.

    As she screamed in pain, the Treant unleashed the spells contained in his rings.

    Kam''s fear turned into terror that made her stomach churn and her entire life sh in front of her eyes.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, back when the Voidfeather armor had started to buzz.

    Themunication amulet of the Empress went wild as she received reports about all known volcanos, no matter if active or not, going into eruption in unison. Citizens, mages, and even Emperor Beasts were terrified by the quake that was shaking thend from coast to coast.

    From the windows of her throne room situated in the flying fortress that hosted the capital of the Empire, she could see ck pirs of smoke rising from every direction as the sun turned ck.

    ***

    Blood Desert, at the same time.

    The shifting sands of the dunes had turned into tidal waves that threatened to destroy every form of life that wasn''t affiliated with the Overlord. Only her tribes were protected by arrays strong enough to deflect the ongoing cataclysm.

    The tremors hade from the borders with the Empire and only grew stronger with each passing second. Then, the sunlight disappeared and the day turned into night.

    Yet there were no stars or moon, just an endless ck sky as far as the eye could see. Torches and magical lights still worked, but it was as if the heavens had been overturned.

    When the sun reappeared a few secondster, it was a ck sphere spreading an eerie violet light. The people of the Desert fell onto their knees, praying to the Overlord to have mercy on their souls and lives.

 Chapter 2080 A New Life (Part 2)

    Chapter 2080 A New Life (Part 2)

    Almost answering their silent question, ck clouds filled the sky. Silver bolts of lightning painted the sands white and the thunders following them sounded like the angry screams of a god.

    ***

    Mogar''s moon, Inxialot''s secretb at the same time.

    The King of the Liches looked at the events taking ce on the below with a puzzled expression on his skeletal face.

    He rubbed his eyes a few times, believing that it was just a hallucination induced by his centuries of sleep deprivation before he remembered that he had no eyes that fatigue could trick.

    "Nero, is it me, or do you see this nonsense as well?" He asked his house pet, an alleged ck cat.

    "Meoyes. I do." The ancient Emperor Beast in disguise pointed his small, fluffy paw at the cosmos visible from the other windows.

    The sun and the stars were still there, but some force on Mogar was sucking their energy, making them invisible from the and barely a blur from the moon.

    "Fascinating phenomenon." Inxialot stared at a point on Mogar that had started to emit all the stolen radiance, shining like a second sun.

    The amount of light energy it emitted destroyed the undead too close to the point of impact, while those who were far away or deep underground enough found themselves awake and back to life.

    The imbnce in their blood cores had been temporarily fixed, giving them all the powers of undeath and the mana core of living beings. Abominations would die as well if they stayed close for too long, but their ck cores with their endless hunger bought them enough time for a Chaos Warp, if they were quick-witted enough.

    The rest of them experienced the first break from the ravenous thirst for life that gued them just to rece that overbearing feeling with a bottomless fear. They ran, and they kept running until they reached the opposite side of Mogar.

    The only reason they stopped was that there was no ce further from death where they could move.

    As for Liches like Inxialot, they still had their mana core so fixing the imbnce in the blood core of their physical vessel just doubled their prowess. He could feel his whole body brimming with energy like never before.

    "I could use this extra mana for an experiment, but I don''t know how long it willst and if it goes out in the middle of the procedure, I''ll blow my house. I''d better use this opportunity to understand what''s between the violet and the white core.

    "But first¡­" The King of Liches called his mother, Aylen the First Lich.

    She was already a white core and Inxialot was dying to know if the unknown phenomenon was affecting her as well, bringing her core to the next hypothetical level.

    "Hey, Mom how is it going?"

    "Good gods, it''s everywhere! Help!" The Mother of all Liches was panicked, something that had never happened before.

    "Cool, cool." That and Inxialot''s madness were the reasons he didn''t catch the not-so-subtle subtext. "Look, there''s something wrong going on with Mogar. Can you tell me if you feel any different?"

    "I feel like I''m dying! Help!" Along with her voice, the amulet carried the rumbling of the earth surrounding her undergroundb, the clinking and crashing of crystal vials, and the desperate meowls of her feline assistants.

    "Interesting." He steepled his fingers as he activated the device he used to take notes. "Define dying. I know you are being metaphorical since Liches are physically incapable to, but I appreciate the vivid imagery nheless."

    The tool consisted of an undead small spider whose poisonous nds had been reced with inkwells. The creature would run along the empty pages of his notebooks, filling them with everything it heard, no matter how senseless.

    "I mean dying as in what I''ll do to you if you don''t move your bony ass and get me out of here, now!" Inxialot''s words made Aylen say many things a mother should never even think of their child and what they regretted not having done when she was bathing him as an infant.

    Nero groaned in annoyance and operated the Warping Array that connected the moonb with Mogar. Usually, it needed to be aligned with the location they wanted to move from, but the surge of Inxialot''s power allowed the cat to bend the rules a little.

    [Get small or you''ll blow this ce and we''ll be sent drifting in the void space!] He said in beast-speak to his brethren.

    The white-cored Lich and a small army of cats appeared in the living room surrounded by a pir of light.

    "I''m going to murder you, fucker!" Ayleen grabbed Inxialot by the neck and started squeezing, but to no avail.

    "In a sec, Mom. My neighbor has just arrived and I want his opinion on this." He leaned out of a window with the First Lich still attempting to strangle him. "Hey, Fenagar. Any idea what''s going on?

    "Quakes from the Empire, ck light from the Desert, and-"

    "Run for your life!" The Leviathan closed every ess to hisb shut before making it burrow underground. Just to be safe.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Ranaku Region, Sazar Household, present time.

    Orbaf the Treant had already unleashed the tier five spells from the magic holding rings on his fingers. Failing to capture the female would be bad, but at least Verendi''s Council would still have its revenge.

    Also, he had no intention of waiting for the Royal Guards to arrive. No matter what his master had promised him, it wasn''t worth dying for.

    A delicate, minuscule handpared to his bulky size caressed his cheek while another reached for his hip with sensual grace. Then, they pulled in opposite directions, ripping him into three huge chunks of wood.

    With his focus lost, the spells were supposed to fade away. Instead, they turned around and rained upon his allies. Tier five spells had a huge area of effect and had been fired with the intent of killing everyone in the room.

    Yet not a single spark of energy reached the humans as their power was focused into beams of elementalser.

    "How dare you attack my blood?" From behind the mangled but still living body of the Fae, Sark''s voice sounded like a frenzied storm.

    The Overlord of the Desert was seething with an anger that made the volcanos that were also erupting all over the Kingdom look like matchsticks inparison. mes burst from her eyes with increasing intensity until their zes reached the ceiling.

    Every single muscle of her visage twitched in fury, making red feathers emerge from her skin. It was a vision that would have terrified the most foolish and mad individual on Mogar, but it was made even worse by the equipment she wore.

    The silver armor and the ck de were Guardian-level weapons she only used when facing a member of her kin and only if they both agreed on putting their life on the line.

    "We didn''t-" Much to Jirni''s surprise, Pilmo was just ying dead. Ganglia allowed insects to keep moving even after their head was destroyed and breathed through the exoskeleton for Invigoration.

    "Shut up and die!" Sark''s voice was filled with so much mana that it hit the Mikuna like a mind link, forcing the Emperor Beast to obey and her heart to stop.

 Chapter 2081 A New Life (Part 3)

    Chapter 2081 A New Life (Part 3)

    Pilmo''s voice disappeared and her body started to cannibalize itself, believing to be dead.

    The darkness element in Sark''s voice made her tissues rot while the light element boosted the metabolism of the bacteria inside and outside the Emperor Beast, hastening the process.

    "Calm down, Sark. You can''t do this." The Guardian talked to herself as her hand turned into talons that scratched her face, making her bleed. "You can''t allow them to die so easily!"

    Her Guardian Tier healing spell, Blood Prison, sent her life essence inside the bodies of the Awakened, bringing them back to life no matter how gruesome their injuries were.

    Her Conqueror Moon armor slipped off, enveloping Kam and treating all of her wounds. The Tyrant Sun sword, instead, circled around the room and herded the humans in one ce before conjuring a defensive barrier to protect them.

    With each of her heartbeats, Sark''s fury grew stronger until the feathers on her body turned into pristine white. In her rage, she was slowly reverting to her true form, that of the White Phoenix.

    "I am order!" At a wave of her hand, a blinding light enveloped the Awakened from Verendi, altering their life force so that every cell in their bodies became cancerous.

    Their organs bloated and deformed at a speed visible to the naked eye, quivering in pain as their frenzied metabolism consumed the old tissues to create new ones in an endless cycle.

    The Awakened tried to heal themselves with Invigoration but the breathing technique found nothing wrong to fix. Their nature had been altered so deeply that they would forever know nothing but agony.

    "I am entropy!" A second wave released a mass of darkness energy that killed everything they didn''t need in order to survive. Non-vital organs copsed and their limbs fell apart, turning their own blood flow into a rhythmical torture.

    "I am Sark!" A sudden burst of Origin mes incinerated their bodies, their minds, and their mana cores at the same time.

    Yet the moment their forms turned into ashes and the mana organ was on the brink of fading, the Guardian''s blood activated again, saving their lives.

    Blood Prison was a healing spell meant to deprive her most hated enemies of the relief of death. No matter how much harm her victims would take or what its source was, they would heal as many times as she wanted.

    The drops of the Guardian''s blood provided them with nutrients, life force, and even shielded their cores from extreme abuse.

    Yet it did nothing to stop the pain.

    "What the heck is going on?" Kam had already recovered and from the safety of the Tyrant Sun sword and Conqueror Moon armor, she tried to make sense of the scene. "Sa- I mean, Grandma isn''t supposed to be capable of crossing the borders.

    "It''s an unprecedented vition of the ords between Garlen''s Guardians and a war with the Desert is thest thing the Kingdom needs right now."

    Jirni couldn''t care less about the fate of the Awakened whereas she worried about the destiny of her family. Her brain spun at top gear, reassessing the events in order to find the answer.

    "Congrattions, you are pregnant."

    "I what?" Kam had hundreds of questions, but they all had to wait.

    A majestic yellow and red Warp Gate had appeared and Leegaain''s human form was walking through the dimensional tunnel while Milea screamed at him from the other side, demanding for an exnation.

    "Don''t worry, I''vee to the rescue. Everything should be fine now." He said to both Kam and the Magic Empress.¦Ñ

    "I feel pretty safe already." She held her womb, wishing for the first time to be a mage just to check her condition with a diagnostic spell.

    "I''m not talking about you, child. I''m talking about the rest of Mogar." He pointed with his thumb at the Overlord who had now grown a set of snowy feathered wings.

    Sark knew that no matter how cruel a punishment was, a body was made to adapt and soon it would grow ustomed to it, lessening the pain. It was the reason she alternated frying the Awakened''s nervous system with air magic, calcificating their flesh with earth magic, and freezing them to death with healing sessions.

    She would make the pain disappear and restore their bodies to their peak, making even them experience absolute bliss before taking it all away with the next round of hexaelemental torture.

    "It''s said that when Guardians fight, maps get rewritten. What people are unaware of is that when Sark is angry, entire species disappear." The albino man conjured a wall of pure strength that protected him from the living storm of the Overlord''s fury.

    "I don''t remember reading about any extinction level event in the history books collected by the Kingdom. And some of them date millennia before Valeron." Jirni said in disbelief.

    "You are wee." Leegaain took the brunt of his fellow Guardian attacks, remaining unscathed.

    He walked slowly in front of Sark, to make sure that she didn''t perceive him as an enemy before tenderly hugging her.

    "Calm down, songbird. Think of the baby."

    "That''s exactly what I''m thinking about. Now let me go!" She snarled to break free, but opposed little real resistance. She trusted Leegaain enough to know there had to be a reason behind even such a foolish request.

    "I''m talking about ours! Look at yourself." A quick spell conjured a mirror that reflected the image of someone who had little humanity left.

    Sark''s skin was covered in white feathers, her limbs now ended into talons, and her mouth had started deforming into a beak.

    "If you shapeshift now, the umbilical cord will be cut and our baby will die. It''s toote to give them an egg. Are these guys worth it?" Leegaain asked.

    Sark''s ws instinctively reached for her swollen belly, the only part of her body that she had instinctively kept human to protect the small life she was nurturing.

    "No, they aren''t." She said while taking deep breaths. "I''m calm now. I''m calm¡­

    "Not!"

    A sudden energy st erupted from her body, followed by frenzied war cries. Sark kept killing and reviving the Awakened from Verendi for several seconds while Leegaain focused on keeping the attacks from razing the Kingdom to the ground.

    Once she was done, the bodies of her victims were still there but their minds were broken. The only way out they had found from that waking nightmare was madness, pulling away from reality and hiding in a corner of their own psyche.

    "I can pull them out, but it will take a while." Sark said. "In the meantime¡­"

    A snap of her fingers Warped the Awakened to the Desert, in a maximum security facility that she had named the Pits of Agony for self-exnatory reasons.

    "Shouldn''t we call Lith?" Leegaain was livid having missed his turn tosh out his fury, but he put the babies'' well-being first, then Sark''s, then the Empire''s, andstly, the rest of the Garlen continent. In that order.

    "At this point, he deserves to know."

    "Oh, fine!" The Overlord noticed Kam clenching her own womb the same way Sark did her own.

    The Father of all Dragons opened another Warp Gate, leading to the battlefront where Lith was fighting.

 Chapter 2082 A New Life (Part 4)

    Chapter 2082 A New Life (Part 4)

    The newly appointed Supreme Magus had been tasked with recapturing a fortress that would grant the Royal army a bridgehead into the Nestrar region. Rich in fertilends and food deposits, it was considered one of the key areas of the Kingdom.

    If they failed to reconquer Nestrar before the harvesting season, the subjects of the Crown would face a second famine whereas Thrud''s army would spend winter with their belly full.

    "Son, we need to talk." Leegaain said.

    "I''m kind of busy here!" Lith snarled back. He was in his Tiamat form and wielded Dual Edge while he led his army of Demons through the hordes of Thrud''s Emperor Beasts.

    "This is more important. It''s about-" A sudden st of tier five Spirit Magic that Lith had just dodged cut Leegaain short and exploded in his face.

    "Don''t let Verhen conjure reinforcements!" Xondar the Garuda said. "Copse that Gate and-"

    "Kid!" The Guardian''s voice roared through the battlefield, freezing even the undead marching under the banner of the Mad Queen in their ce. "I''m trying to talk about my family. You two can fightter."

    "I''m sorry, sir." The over 25 meters (82'') tall Garuda gave Leegaain a deep bow, Xondar''s body reacting faster than his brain. "Wait a minute, why am I apologizing and who the fuck are you? I am-"

    "I have no time for this." Leegaain opened his mouth, hurling an ocean of Origin mes that devoured spells, undead, humans, Emperor, and Divine Beasts alike as long as they were on Thrud''s side.

    It didn''t matter if they were standing on the ground, flying in the air, hiding below the earth, or even inside the city walls. The mes found them and killed them in an instant.

    Everyone else only experienced a breeze slightly warmer for the season and a disy of power that made even the Demons of Darkness shit themselves. Luckily for them, ck on ck was hard to notice.

    "There, can youe now or do I have to keep going?" At those words, the fortress city of Trephius raised a white g and opened its gates.

    Aside from the walls, there was no one left to fight. Even the militia was in the wind, their ashes the only proof they had ever existed.

    "Okay, fine." Lith walked through the Gate while informing the Royals that the uphill siege that was supposed tost weeks before victory or retreat had suddenly been resolved.

    "What''s this all about? It''s not like I don''t appreciate the help but, in my experience, there''s always a ca-" Lith froze seeing Kam sitting amid a bunch of molten ruins. She was crying her eyes out while Jirni embraced her, whispering sweet words to her ears.

    "What happened and what''s your involvement in this?" He stared at Leegaain in suspicion, trusting the Overlord too much to doubt her, especially since her fury seemed to match his own.

    Sark was in a Phoenix-human hybrid form, her body surging with mana from time to time.

    "It''s not up to me to say but believe me when I tell you that you need to sit down and take a deep breath." Leegaain put a chair under Lith''s ass before he could even notice.

    ''Wait, there''s something really off here. First, I can see that the emotion overflowing in Kam''s mana is joy, not pain or fear. Second- Oh fuck me sideways!'' Solus''s brain froze noticing two flowing auras.

    ''What? Don''t you leave me hanging as well!'' Lith was going crazy with worry, but the chair was glued to his bottoms and made it impossible for him to stand up.

    Jirni helped Kam to stand up and apanied her as she slowly walked toward her husband who was human-sized but still in Tiamat form.

    "ording to Sark, I''m pregnant with your baby." She said after putting Lith''s hand on her belly to verify the Guardian''s words.

    "That''s bullshit. I always use the birth control spell and-" Demon Grasp found nothing until he focused on Kam''s womb, finding a very small life form with a pinhole-sized deep red mana core.

    Lith''s eyes went wide and his whole body turned into a statue.

    "Do you mean the same birth control spell you learned as a human?" Leegaain asked.

    "Yes." Lith''s voice was deadpan.

    "Did you ever think to upgrade it after bing a Tiamat? Our biology is no different but the life force of a Divine Beast is hundreds of times more resilient than a human''s. A small pulse of darkness magic is nothing."

    "But she is human!"

    "And you are not. Lowering her fertility without taking into ount the increase in yours was na?ve at best." The Father of all Dragons shrugged.

    Lith didn''t ask what had happened to reduce a noble household into shambles nor why two Guardians had left their turf. His brain had stopped working and he was now d that the chair seemed to be deeply rooted in the ground because Mogar had suddenly started to spin like crazy.

    All he could do was stare at Kam''s waist as if it was the scariest thing he had ever witnessed in all his three lives.

    ''Lith? Can you hear me?'' Even Solus felt only static through their mind link. ''By my Mom, Lith.exe has stopped working.''

    "This is the moment when you are supposed to stand up, congratte your wife, and then piss yourself at the thought of bing a father." Jirni said after the paralysis hadsted for a while.

    "No? Then let me tell you what just happened here." The recount of the attack woke Lith up from his stupor, making him jump to his feet and wrap Kam with his arms and wings to protect her from any danger that might stilly in ambush.

    "How could this happen? I thought you had sworn to protect my baby and the woman carrying them from any threat!"

    "What do you think we are doing here? A pic?" Leegaain replied with a scoff.

    Only then did Lith''s brain put the attack and the rubble together, filling the nks.

    "Fuck Thrud! I don''t give a damn about this war. The first thing I''m going to do after bringing Kami back to the Desert is to go back to Verendi and kill those fuckers!"

    "Oh, dear." Tyris appeared out of a silver and golden Gate. "You should have told me sooner. I would have dly left a few for you."

    The Great Mother wore a beautiful silvery day dress that matched her eyes and emphasized the gold of her hair. Also, it was drenched in so much blood and guts that even its self-cleaning spells had yet to cleanse them.

    "What do you mean?" Kam asked, clinging to Lith to resist Mogar''s crazy rotation speed.

    After seeing his reaction, the small part of her mind that still thought it was just an borate prank had thrown in the towel.

    "With Sark here my presence would have been redundant so I went to Verendi to settle the score once and for all." Tyris replied.

    "Isn''t that outside of your turf? What about the local Guardian?" Lith asked in a stupor.

    "You mean Ileza the Bastet? Of course she wasn''t happy seeing me and tried to stop me from butchering that bunch of trash she calls a Council." Tyris replied.

 Chapter 2083 Awakened Problems (Part 1)

    Chapter 2083 Awakened Problems (Part 1)

    "Ileza is a nice kid and a good Guardian. That''s why after beating her within an inch of her life, I let her choose between dying along with her Council or grovel at my feet and get the fuck out of my way."

    Tyris'' radiant smile didn''t match the cold light of her silver eyes nor the bursts of raw power that with each of her heartbeats made her muscles bulge and her bones pop. Tyris''s fury was different from Sark''s, but in no way inferior.

    Just like the Phoenix Guardian had darkened the sun, it had been the Griffon Guardian''s light to temporarily return the undead to life and put the Abominations on the run.

    "Are the representatives of Verendi''s Council dead?" Lith asked.

    "Not just them. I killed anyone remotely involved and burned their houses to the ground." Tyris replied with a crazed giggle.

    "Doesn''t that mean that Verendi will undergo a turbulent time until the power vacuum is filled?" Jirni said.

    "Probably, but I fail to see how that''s my problem." The Mother of all Griffons threw Jirni a re that made her respectfully step behind Lith.

    The gaze of an enraged Guardian was enough to make a human feel like their bones were melting.

    The rest of the Knight''s Guard had either fainted or bent down in prayer to appease the angry gods in the room.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to scare you all." Tyris cleansed her dress from the bits of body parts before handing Jirni a thick folder. "This is everything you were looking for,plete with dates, names, and addresses of everyone involved.

    "Consider it my apology. Also, I''d really appreciate if you let Constable Yehval go home early today. She has gone through a lot today and probably she''d want to share the good news with the rest of her family.

    "It would sadden me greatly if they were to learn about the baby from the interlink."

    "Of course." Jirni''s survival instinct told her that any answer besides "yes" might trigger the extinction level events Leegaain had worked so hard to prevent. "I''ll stay here and make sure to maintain an information ckout for a least a couple of hours."

    "That would be lovely. Bye." Tyris Warped everyone to the Desert, leaving only Jirni, the Guard, and the suspects behind.

    The three Guardians brought the couple to Sark''s dining room, where they assembled the entire Verhen family to avoid repeating the news more than once.

    Tista was on the battlefield as well, fighting for control over another portion of the Nestrar region alongside Bodya, Phloria, and the corps of Awakened that she had trained.

    The dimensional spell Switched the young bright-blue cored Demon with an ancient Golden Dragon. Leegaain had randomly selected one of his firstborns to take her ce and make sure that Tista''s absence didn''t affect the war.

    The Divine Beast was immensely pissed off for getting the short end of the stick and missing the family meeting. He took his fury out on Thrud''s troops, killing hundreds before a few of her generals arrived to even the field yet they died one minuteter.

    But that''s a story for another day.

    In Sark''s pce, everyone was either rejoicing at the news of the baby or was simply too shocked to have any kind of reaction.

    "This is wonderful news! When did it happen?" Elina was among the former, half-smiling and half-crying in joy non-stop.

    "During the very first night Kam got here." Sark replied.

    "That fast?"

    "Yeah, that''s why I gave her the Voidfeather armor and I made sure to take good care of her during her stay in the Desert. The moment I felt one drop of my blood resonating through her body, she was already part of my family." The Guardian said.

    "Is that the reason there were so many Phoenixes on my side of the room during the second wedding?" Kam asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "That''s an even more wonderful news." Elina first hugged Sark, thanking her amid tears, and then moved to Kam who was still frozen in ce. "It means that we''ll give birth around the same time.

    "I can help you along the way and we''ll muddle through the hardest parts together."

    "Thanks, I guess." Kam sounded more scared than happy now.

    After the initial enthusiasm had faded, she had been burdened by her own fears and Lith''s who was still embracing her but had stopped saying a word ever since they had left the Griffon Kingdom.

    "Congrattions, son. Being a father is the most terrifying and amazing experience a man can ever wish for." Raaz grabbed Lith''s shoulders, forcing him to turn around and let Kam go before embracing him. "Why so quiet?"

    "I think I need to sit down." Lith felt weak, needing sheer willpower to not copse to the ground.

    "I''m sorry, Featherling, this is all my fault." Sark said. "Between my anger for the attack on the baby''s life and the joy of being able to finally share the news with you, I didn''t consider that you might need a bit of time alone with your wife to process this.

    "You two take your time and discuss anything thates to your mind. We''ll be here in case you need anything. Also, I''m going to throw a party with all your friends, my children, and Leegaain''s to celebrate."

    "Wait, what?" Kam said, snapping out of her reverie at those words.

    Yet Sark was faster and warped Lith and Kam in their room, leaving a distraught Solus behind. She also was among the frozen ones and it would take her several minutes before getting back to her senses and out of her ring.

    "Isn''t it a bit too soon for a party?" Elina said the moment the room was clear. "The first pregnancy is the most dangerous. I don''t mean to jinx it, but what if after all this Kam loses the baby?

    "Wouldn''t it better to wait at least three months to not give her false hope?"

    "That would be a valid concern if we were talking about a human baby." Tyris said. "A Divine Beast is different. There''s no such thing as miscarriage for those of our blood."

    "That''s a huge relief." Raaz felt a heavy burden lifted from his chest. "By the way, since you knew everything about our baby, can you also tell us already if Lith''s child will be a boy or a girl?"

    "It''s a¡­"

    Meanwhile, in their living quarters, the couple was struggling to wrap their head around thetest revtion.

    Lith couldn''t stop staring at Kam as if she was some kind of unknown monster so he had to walk back blindly to search for the bed where he plunged.

    "We''re safe now. There''s no threat here." He said while appreciating the softness of the mattress and the powerful arrays surrounding the pce that together soothed his nerves.

    Then, he started hyperventting and shifting between his four bodies without control.

    "I know that this is scary, babe, but I need you to talk to me." Kam took his face in her hands, freezing him in the features of Derek McCoy. "I can''t do this alone."

    "I never said I''m not going to help you. It''s just that the timing couldn''t be any worse." Between the war and hearing his old Earth voice, Lith kept seeing shes of his life as a child on boths.

 Chapter 2084 Awakened Problems (Part 2)

    Chapter 2084 Awakened Problems (Part 2)

    Yet he only mixed the worst parts of them both. The cold and the hunger from Mogar along with the fear and the pain from Earth made the simple thought of putting another living being through all that unbearable.

    "I know that during the honeymoon we said that it was better to wait. That having a baby now would have been reckless. But now that they''re here, I want to keep them." Kam took a step back while holding her womb, having misunderstood his words.

    "What?" The shock turned the Abomination into a Voidfeather Dragon. "That''s not what I meant at all. It''s just¡­"

    Lith tried to find a way to express his concerns without mentioning his past lives and failed miserably. He could see how the prolonged silence was only scaring Kam, making her fear that she had to choose between her life with him and that growing inside of her.

    "It''s just that I''m afraid of not being the father that this child deserves." Lith finally managed to say, lowering his gaze. "Look at me. I''m a monster, a murderer, and an oath breaker.

    "All the nice titles and cool names on Mogar won''t ever change that. What if I end up poisoning the baby with all the rage and hate that I carry inside of me? I''m an amazing warrior and an incredible mage, but I''m also a shitty human being.

    "What if I turn out to also be a shitty father?"

    "That''s it?" Kam chuckled in relief. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

    "This is noughing matter. I''m serious. Look at me!" He started shapeshifting again, turning the Dragon into a human and then into the Tiamat form.

    "I''m a grown-up man whereas our baby will have to deal with this since birth. Not to mention how people will react to their appearance or even just to their name. How can you not be scared?"

    "I''m not scared, I''m terrified." Kam replied, standing on the bed on her knees over Lith''sp so that his face was at the level of her abdomen. "The only reason I''m not freaking out is that now I know that you are with me on this.

    "That our baby will have a father who loves them so much that he worries about their happiness before even holding them in his arms. A father who will always stand by their side even if the whole Mogar were to reject them.

    "A father who''ll never make them feel alone, even once they realize that there''s no one else like them. A father who''ll make them feel safe and loved until they are able to face life on their own." She pushed his head against her womb, bringing father and child as close as she could.

    "Do you really think I can do that?" Lith asked, his seven eyes streaming with tears.

    "I don''t think, I know it." She kissed his tears away one eye at a time. "I''ll carry this baby for nine months, but once they are born, your burden will be greater than mine. It will be up to you to teach them everything I can''t and protect them from everything, even from themselves."

    "What if by then the war isn''t over yet and I''m stuck on the battlefront? What if I simply don''t make it out alive?" Lith asked while holding her tight.

    "As a woman and a Constable, I would really like you to be less ruthless and to care about thews of our country." She replied while gently caressing his face with her thumbs. "As your wife and the future mother of your child, however, I don''t give a damn about it.

    "Do everything you have to in order to survive, even use Forbidden Magic. Anything as long as youe back to me. To us."

    "I will." Lithy back on the bed, dragging her with him while wrapping her with his wings.

    Amid his warmth and the feeling of safety that being embraced like that gave to her, Kam started to fall apart. The idea of the danger she had gone through just a few minutes ago hit her like a truck.

    Life had never felt so beautiful yet so frail and the idea of how high the stakes had be made her finally burst into tears.

    ***

    It took the couple hours just to calm down and for their brains to start working properly again. By the time they came out from their living quarters, it was almost dinnertime and the Overlord''s living room had never been so crowded.

    Lith''s friends and family were just a drop in the ocean of guests surrounding them. The descendants of the Guardians had taken human form to save space and kept their wings wrapped around their shoulders like mantles to allow the humans to distinguish between Phoenixes and Dragons.

    "Thank the gods you are here!" Solus was the first to wee them, squeezing them in a hug that was as violent for Lith as it was delicate with Kam. "What took you so long? I almost died with worry."

    "Thanks, Solus." Kam returned the embrace, sighing in relief.

    She had been worried about how Lith''s other important half might take the news and that the baby might break the delicate bnce between the three of them. Seeing that Solus was as scared as they were, moved Kam''s heart.

    "What were you worried about?" Lith whined while struggling to breathe. "That we would pick the name without you?"

    "No, I mean, now that you mention it, it would''ve been really rude of you, but that''s not the issue, yet." Solus was still struggling with the events of that day, but she couldn''t allow herself to freak out until she solved the crisis at hand.

    "What are we going to do to protect the baby? Staying here is dangerous, yet Grandma refused to both listen to me and warn the two of you."

    "Dangerous?" Kam echoed in disbelief. Usually, Sark''s pce was one of the safest ces on Mogar, but with three Guardians and a few brigades of Divine Beasts there, it would have taken a extinction event to put a dent in its defenses.

    Maybe.

    "Protect them from what?" Lith asked.

    "Are you telling me that you still don''t know?" Solus looked at him like an idiot. "The baby is Awakened and so is Kami! Having them over such a powerful mana geyser might harm them."

    "I''m what?" Kam blurted out.

    "Nonsense." Lith said. "I missed the embryo because it''s the size of a small bean, but I check on Kami regrly and until yesterday she was a regr human."

    He activated Demon Grasp to prove Solus she was wrong yet found that Kam''s core had gone from deep to orange and had an amazing mana flow.

    "I''ll be right back." He turned toward the liquor table and then fainted head first on the ground.

    When he returned to his senses, Lith wasying on a couch with a wet towel on his forehead. He was surrounded by several male Phoenixes and Dragons who patted his shoulders and expressed their sympathy.

    "No need to feel embarrassed. The first time is always the hardest. If it''s of any constion, it gets easier with time." A silver-winged Dragon said.

 Chapter 2085 Safely Endangered (Part 1)

    Chapter 2085 Safely Endangered (Part 1)

    "Fainting, though, is a bit extreme. Think of your poor wife." A crystal feathered Phoenix said.

    "That''s exactly who I''m thinking about!" Lith stood up, feeling immediately dizzy as his memory of the most recent revtion returned. He had yet to wrap his head around the idea of having a kid, let alone Awakened.

    "See? He''s back on his feet already." Sark said to Kam while they made their way through the crowd. "I told you there was nothing to worry about."

    "There''s a lot to worry about!" Lith snarled in outrage. "How can you be so calm while a baby Awakened in the womb stands above a mana geyser?"

    His words caused endless gasps and exmations, but no one seemed worried. Quite the contrary, they all broke out in tears, fighting over who''d get to congratte Kam and Lith first.

    "This is not how I would have disclosed the news to the rest of the world, but you''re the father." Sark shrugged.

    "Okay, what am I missing?" Between the worry and the bunch of strangers hugging him from every side, Lith had a splitting headache from suppressing his killing instincts.

    "First off, it''s not my fault if Kam got pregnant nor that you always kept her above or near a mana geyser." Sark said. "Between your mana flow and the power of your bloodline, the baby was bound to Awaken.

    <sub></sub>

    "Second, you are right. Under normal circumstances, this situation would be very dangerous, but Kam is special. She''s perfectly fine." Sark rushed to say once Lith''s family had started to turn pale.

    "I''m special? How?" Kam asked.

    "Because your core is weak ass and until this morning you weren''t even Awakened." The Guardian replied.

    "Can you run that by me one more time please?" Neither Kam nor Lith felt reassured by her words, only confused.

    "It means that while the baby grows and uses the world energy to refine both their core and body, they can safely send the excess energy to you. Lith exined to you what pregnancy does to a mage, didn''t he?" Sark asked.

    "Yes, he did. Basically, the mother and the baby are one so their mana flowsbine into-" Kam''s voice faded as she remembered how oddly energetic she had felttely and how during the battle she had even spewed Origin mes.

    "My point exactly." Sark nodded. "Were your core stronger, the energy from the baby might have caused a deadly breakthrough, but since it''s weak, the energy you received found plenty of impurities to move and frail tissues to refine."

    "How did Kami Awaken and why didn''t she notice?" Lith asked.

    "The mother works akin to a safety valve for the child." Tyris replied. "Before the mana core forms, nothing happens. After that, Kam experienced an invigorating effect instead of the usualplications of pregnancy because of the nature of the child.

    "Then, when her life was at risk, the baby actively contributed to the battle with their own strength. The mana flow through her body increased until her core was forced to Awaken,bining Kam''s own fusion magic with that of the child."

    "Is that why I felt that strong? I thought it was the armor." Kam said.

    "It was also the armor." Sark nodded. "It multiplies your strength so when you used fusion magic, its effect were also enhanced."

    "And you knew it all along?" Lith asked, receiving a nod for an answer. "Why didn''t you say anything?"

    "You already had so many things to worry about, my Featherling, and the two of you had just found each other again. I thought that the news could wait until you had put some order in your life.

    "After everything your family had gone through, you deserved some peace. I wanted you all to enjoy life and mend your wounds without one more thing to worry about." Sark caressed Lith''s face, then Kam, andstly her womb.

    "You have my word that I''ve always upheld my word and made sure that both of them were safe at all times."

    Somewhere on Jiera, Roghar the Fenrir felt a cold shiver running down his spine and whimpered in pain. The wounds of the Guardian of Mana had yet to fully heal and his fur to grow back.

    After pummelling him into aa, the other three Guardians had made sure that he would think twice before defying them again and had also collected plenty of ingredients.

    "Is it safe for Kami to stay here or in the tower, then?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, it is. Just make sure she doesn''t use umtion. This way, as the baby refines their core and body due to the geysers, Kam''s will be refined as well and have the time she needs to adapt to her condition."

    "That will not be a problem since I have no idea how to use any breathing technique." She shrugged. "By the way, which of Lith''s bloodline abilities can I use now and will they stick once the baby is born?"

    "First, What? Second, the fuck? Since when you can use my bloodline abilities?" Lith felt his headache getting worse and worse.

    "I get that this might sound confusing so allow me to make it crystal clear for you." Tyris established a mind link, sharing with him the details of the battle.

    "You can use only those that the baby manages to channel." Sark said while Lith''s expression changed from rage into fear, pride, and terror as the images shed in his mind. "And no, they won''t stick. You are still a human."

    "You kept them safe the whole time my scaly ass!" Lith''s seven eyes and four wings popped out of his human body in outrage. "Why didn''t you step in sooner?"

    "I arrived the moment she was truly in danger." Sark was offended by the allegation. "I couldn''t follow her around 24/7 nor have her followed without intruding on both her and your privacy.

    "Even if I had my children hide themselves in Kam''s shadow, the moment she entered Valeron they would have been exposed and forced to tell the truth. As I said, I wanted you two to have a good life.

    "me Jirni''s training if your wife has be so good that even an Awakened needed to get serious in order to catch her. The armor is programmed to alert me at the first sign of harm, not when she''s the one inflicting it.

    "Also, feel free to vent your anger on those assholes whenever you want. They are still alive in my Pits of Agony, yet believe me when I say that the sweet relief of death is all they can dream of right now."

    "Well, thank you for everything you have done for us today." Lith said, inwardly nning to pay them a visit and exact his revenge in person. "If not for you, things would have gone much worse."

    "There''s no need to worry anymore." Tyris epted his gratitude with a nod of her head. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, we can take turns following Kam whenever she gets out of our Royal Pces."

    "Wait, what?" Kam said.

    "We don''t expect you to stop working nor can we afford to take risks." Tyris replied.

 Chapter 2086 Safely Endangered (Part 2)

    Chapter 2086 Safely Endangered (Part 2)

    "Now, everyone knows about the baby and many will covet the secret of their blood." Tyris said. "One of us will always stay with you and make sure that nothing happens."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Nestrar Region, Golden Griffon academy.

    "Thank the gods I dodged a meteor on that one." The Mad Queen sat on her throne covered in a cold sweat.

    The day had been terrible for her and her invasion n.

    First, the fortress city of Trephius had fallen in a rain of fire without Thrud even understanding what had just happened, and then Leegaain''s firstborn, Gentor the Golden Dragon, had joined the Council''s forces.

    Together, they had pushed her troops back for kilometers before her generals had managed to stop the enemy''s advance.

    She firmly believed that things couldn''t get any worse but she was wrong. When she heard what had happened in Verendi and to the envoys that its Council had sent to capture Kam, she felt like the luckiest woman alive.

    "What do you mean?" Jormun, herpanion, asked.

    <sub></sub>

    "I don''t like how things have turned since Verhen returned." She pointed at the map at the center of the room, where the status of the War of the Griffons was disyed in real-time.

    "His Demons make for a small but powerful army of Awakened. My forces have been pushed back time and time again by him and this Vastor, putting a stop to the momentum of my invasion.

    "To make matters worse, ever since those usurpers made him a Magus, most of the nobles who had contacted me in order to switch sides changed their mind."

    "So what?" The Emerald Dragon shrugged.

    "I chose to attack right after the famine because this way the food reserves would determine the victor without a bloody and dragged-out fight. When winter arrives, whoever has the most supplies will win."

    "Well, guess what? Winter is approaching and I have yet to gain the upper hand. My n was to get rid of Verhen and Vastor by attacking them where it hurts the most. Their hearts." Thrud released a pulse of Spirit Magic that toppled two wooden figures representing her nemeses.

    "You mean their families?" Jormun felt his stomach churn.

    He had felt the fury of his father coursing through the inner fires of Mogar that had made Garlen tremble. He had witnessed the storm conjured by Tyris'' wrath darken the skies and follow her on her way to Verendi.

    She had robbed even the stars of their light to empower her abilities while on the turf of another Guardian. Yet it was Sark''s rage that had upturned the heavens, recing the sun with a mass of living darkness.

    "Exactly. They are too powerful and if there was any way to assassinate them, I would''ve already tried that. The only option I have left is to strike at those close to them and force them to submit." Thrud nodded.

    "How can you even think that?" Jormun said in outrage. "Lith is my little brother! He''s the one who freed me from the Golden Griffon. Without him, we would have never met and this war wouldn''t have even started."

    "He unwittingly freed you." Thrud shook her head, making her long ashen blond hair sparkle like a waterfall under the light. "There was no act of kindness, simply an opportunity that you exploited.

    "I admit that without him I would still be swamped in Jiera, but just because his actions set my n in motion, I can''t give Verhen a free pass for ruining hundreds of years of preparation.

    "My father worked until hisst breath to give me this opportunity and I''m going to do the same to not waste it."

    She walked toward Jormun and took his face between her hands. The Mad Queen''s gaze softened when their eyes met but her determination didn''t waver.

    "No one has ever won a war by being kind, my love, nor by saying please and thank you. Fights are made to be dirty and cowardly. Leave it to the bards toe up with stories about our bravery and honor once victory is ours.

    "Until then, my only priority is to ensure that the sacrifices and madness that my soldiers are enduring in my name aren''t for nothing. Every time they die, they lose a part of themselves. You should know it better than anyone else."

    Jormun stood silent, remembering the five centuries he had been locked inside the Golden Griffon. He had retained his sanity only thanks to the innate mental strength of his Dragon bloodline and to his sturdy body that made him hard to kill.

    Most of the other "students" had long lost their minds and nothing could bring them back anymore. If not for the Unwavering Loyalty array, they would still be less than animals, with no thought but to satisfy their base urges.

    "I know that what I did to you is unforgivable and that my battle is not your own." She said once the silence had dragged for longer than she could stand. "But this is bigger than just you and me.

    "If you don''t want to do this for me or us, do it for our Valeron." She pointed at the infant who was peacefully sleeping in a crib. "Even if I were to give up on my n, I''d be chased until the day I die.

    "Our son would be forced to live in hiding, treated like a monster wherever he goes just because he carries my blood. Is that what you want for Valeron? To not know peace or joy, to be ashamed of his heritage and carry it like a curse for his whole life?"

    "No." Jormun clenched his hands, searching for a way out of that scenario.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s Pce, at the same time.

    "Do you really want to get back to work after what happened today?" Lith stared at Kam in disbelief.

    "Well, yes. I''d die of boredom here, doing nothing all day while you risk your life on the front lines. Besides, the worst thing that can happen to me is being bothered to death." She waved at the Guardians who kept cooing at her belly, talking to it as if she was eight months pregnant instead of less than two.

    "All the more reason for you to stay here and I with you." Lith replied.

    "Have you forgotten our honeymoon?" Kam said with a snort. "It took us just two weeks to be sick of goofing around. Do you really think we can stay still for seven months? On top of that, if you don''t go back, your deal with the Royals will be off.

    "You will lose everything again and no matter who wins the war, you''ll be forever banned from the Kingdom."

    "But-"

    "Why are you making us wait so long?" Elina cut through the crowd, jumping at Lith''s neck and cutting him off. "Thank the Great Mother for your carelessness."

    "You''re wee, but I had no part in this." Tyris said with a polite nod of her head.

    "My baby is finally having a baby! I''m going to be a grandmother." She said amid sobs. "Nowe, your father needs you more than ever. And you."

    Elina turned toward Kam, kissing her cheeks before holding her like she was the most precious and delicate thing on Mogar.

 Chapter 2087 Safely Endangered (Part 3)

    Chapter 2087 Safely Endangered (Part 3)

    "You are the best daughter-inw I could ask for, Kam. May the gods bless you and the baby." Elina said.

    "We can do that, but do you realize that it''s just bullshit?" Sark asked. "Words are just words, it''s our physical presence that matters."

    "Stop ruining this for me!" Elina still had a hard time epting that the gods she had be used to calling upon ever since she was a child were now right in front of her.

    She dragged Lith with her, leaving Kam alone with the crowd.

    For someone with no family, being surrounded by strangers that were all smiles and nice with her was beyond creepy. She had met only a few of the guests on the day of her second marriage ceremony and they had just exchanged pleasantries.

    Now every one of them wanted to congratte her, hold her, and of course, touch her womb to look at the baby with Invigoration.

    Kam tried everything she could to escape the encirclement but the Dragons and Phoenixes gave her no quarter until they had what they had flown across Mogar for.

    "What''s wrong with Dad?" Lith asked, but Elina just kept dragging him toward a huge table filled with beverages of all kinds.

    Raaz was sitting in a chair, holding a drink in one hand while with his other arm he embraced Leegaain. Both man and Guardian were clearly drunk from one toast too many and bawling their eyes out.

    "My baby boy is going to be a father." Raaz repeated in-between hups to anyone who tried to take the ss away from him.

    "I can''t wait for that little love bean to grow." Leegaain said amid tears. "There are so many things that I want to teach them. I''m going to be a grandfather again!"

    "Okay, what the heck is going on?" Lith couldn''t bear his father''s wails whereas the Guardian''s cries were literally bursting his eardrums once he had entered the Hush zone that surrounded the table.

    "I get that Dad has be emotional since he waited years for this moment, but the old lizard? He can''t stand me, he never could. Why is he acting this way?"

    "Because even though he doesn''t think of you as someone of his kind due to the way you acquired his blood, the baby is a different story." Milea Genys, the Magic Empress replied.

    "They are meless, carrying a pure and stable bloodline that branched off Leegaain''s. He couldn''t love them less even if they were his own."

    "Really?" Lith asked in disbelief.

    "Really. The fact that he almost razed the Empire to the ground when the baby was attacked speaks volumes about his feelings." Milea nodded. "Congrattions, by the way. Consider yourself an honorary citizen of the Empire.

    "Our borders will always be open for you and your family."

    "Thanks." Lith offered her his hands, freezing up when she disregarded it and hugged him. "Wait, what?"

    Milea didn''t reply, letting him go just to throw him into Surtr''s arms.

    "I can''t believe you followed my advice so quickly, little brother. Let''s toast to the first of many Demons."

    "I beg your pardon?" The moment Surtr let go of Lith, a ss filled with an amber-colored liquid was shoved in his hand which he was then forced to drink.

    "I''ve waited all day for this moment. Come here!" A burly blonde man over 2 meters (6''7") tall with golden wingsing out of his back squeezed Lith in a bear hug. "I kicked Thrud''s ass for you so the least you can do is share a drink with me."

    "Do I know you?" Lith''s confusion only grew after Gentor instead of replying shoved him to Sinmara, who in turn passed him to Fafnir, and then to the rest of the family.

    "Is this a celebration or some kind of borate form of torture?" He asked while panting after Tista had rescued him from the cheery mob. "With all those toasts, I think I have drunk my body weight in alcohol."

    "How dare youin?" Kam came out of the crowd as well, dragged by Rena.

    Her hair was so disheveled that she seemed to have been rescued from a storm, her clothes werepletely crumpled despite their self-ironing spells, and she was absolutely livid.

    "I swear to the gods, if one more person touches me, I''m going to paint these halls red with blood!" Her oath was weed by the Phoenixes with a cheer and then they toasted to that.

    "Don''t be a sourpuss, lil bro." Tista chuckled but still used a darkness spell to cancel his stinky breath. "We''ve kept the best forst."

    Lith and Kam had been brought to a long table where the rest of the family and their friends had patiently waited for them.

    "Congrattions, Kami!" Zinya walked toward her sister with open arms, remaining offended when Kam stared at them like venomous snakes and refused to get close.

    "Please, no, Zin. I beg you." Kam was moved to tears finally seeing someone she actually cared about and on the verge of a nervous breakdown at the idea of being touched again.

    "Are you telling me that I can''t embrace my only sister on this joyous day?"

    "Define joyous." Kam bought herself some time by drinking a ss of water and straightening her clothes. "Can it wait for a couple of hours? Maybe tomorrow would be be-"

    "Don''t be silly." Zinya ignored her and went for the hug. "After being alone for most of our lives, you should be happy that so many people care for you."

    When she caressed Kam''s womb, her eye twitched and it took her sheer willpower to not punch Zinya in the face. The repressed anger triggered a pulse of Spirit Magic that shattered a few sses.

    "Okay, I''ll let you go now." Seeing her sister being scared of her, made Kam''s rage disappear.

    "I''m sorry, Zin. I''m really happy to have you here after such a long day but right now, every hug is a hug too many. Just give me a minute of rest, please."

    "Don''t worry, I forgive you. This time." Zinya added thest part with a snort. "By the way do you want to know the gender of the baby or do you want it to be a surprise?"

    "How can you possibly know already? Thest time I checked it was this big and that was a few hours ago." Lith''s thumb and index finger were about 2 cm (0,8'') apart.

    "Sark." Zinya replied and the rest of the table nodded.

    "Thanks, I''d rather it to be a surprise." Lith and Kam said in unison but forpletely different reasons.

    ''With my luck, they might actually be twins or triplets. I''ve had enough thrills for today.'' She thought.

    ''If it''s a boy I''d live with the terror of losing him like it happened with Carl. If it''s a girl¡­'' Lith''s mind froze at the memory of all the problems that Tista had gone through as a child and then as a teen.

    "Can we congratte you or are you going to smash something to smithereens as well?" Rena''s voice snapped him out of it and told him that she wasn''t joking.

 Chapter 2088 Safely Endangered (Part 4)

    Chapter 2088 Safely Endangered (Part 4)

    "I''m fine. Unlike Kami no one kissed me or touched my abs. Most people went for a quick hug or a handshake." Lith was actually worn out as well, but he did have it easier than his wife and he knew how important that moment was for them.

    "Come here, then." Rena embraced him. "Kam, if you need advice orpany, I''m here for you. If you ever need a babysitter, feel free to ask Nalrond because I''m done changing diapers for at least a decade."

    "Don''t listen to her." Tista said. "Whenever you need help, you just have to ask."

    "I''m going to be an uncle again!" Aran said. "I can''t wait to teach them magic like you did with me. Even better, we can do it together!

    "Can I please be an aunt this time, uncle Lith? Being a cousin isme and I''m sick of Aran pulling rank on me. I''m old enough to have someone to boss around." Leria asked.

    "It doesn''t work that way, but sure. We can make an exception for you." Lith chuckled making her scream with joy. "But only if you promise to be a kind aunt and take care of them. We don''t need a second Aran."

    "Hey!" Aran pouted.

    "I promise, uncle Lith." She said with a radiant smile before going to Kam and begging for a hug.

    ''Gods if I could use a drink right now.'' She inwardly grumbled.

    "Under any other circumstance I''d offer myself to be your midwife, butpared to Sark and the Great Mother I''m but a novice healer." Faluel shook Lith''s hand and offered Kam an herbal tea, almost moving her to tears.

    "I can''t believe that the day hase when I''m not envious of you for being first at something." Quy chuckled. "I''m so happy for you."

    "If you need a babysitter, you can count on me." Friya said. "Just give me a call and I''ll send Nalrond to you. I have him on speed dial."

    "I''m not your property. You can''t lend my ass around." The Rezar grumbled a bit but even being used like a bargaining chip didn''t ruin his mood. "If you need a babysitter, you can count on me.

    "I''ll drop the baby on Friya and Warp away before she can brag about being the master of space."

    "I''m really happy for you, Lith." Phloria hold his hand tenderly but didn''t move forward. "I feel that even though having a child isn''t part of one of your meticulous ns it''s exactly what you needed.

    "Someone who is exactly like you and who you can love unconditionally."

    She took her hand back and offered it to Kam.

    "You are a lucky woman. Never forget that."

    "I know it and there''s no day that passes without me thanking the gods for their blessings." Kam said, feeling the happiness in Phloria''s mana tainted by sadness and envy.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, a few dayster.

    The news of the future heir of the Supreme Magus shook the Garlen continent almost as much as him receiving the first white robe in the Kingdom. Its political consequences, instead, went over and above Verendi''s borders.

    Very few knew exactly what had happened in the Sazar Mansion and how such events had caused natural disasters. Yet now everyone feared Kam way more than Lith and wondered why she wasn''t sent to the battlefield as well.

    Those who did express such opinion openly, would usually retract it the next day while being diagnosed with a severe stroke. The fact that the Guardians protected the baby didn''t mean that they would allow anyone to put them in danger for something as trivial as a throne.

    Vastor, Xenagrosh, and Zoreth had called Lith after the party was over, apologizing for their absence. The Royals, on the other hand, were pissed off for being the only rulers of Garlen to not be invited.

    Yet that wasn''t the reason Lith and Tista had been summoned to the Royal Pce. Their presence had been required to discuss the future of the war.

    The day of the revtion about the existence of the baby had changed not only Lith''s life, but also the tides of the conflict. Leegaain unexpected intervention had allowed them to recapture the city of Trephius and the food provision it stored without effort.

    Also, after taking Tista''s ce in the Awakened army, Gentor the Golden Dragon had led the advance, piercing through the enemy lines and recovering dozens of acres of fertilend.

    Ever since that day the joint forces of the Council and the Royals had worked together to secure their newfound advantage. Trephius was a fortress easy to defend and hard to conquer that offered them a bridgehead from which to attack the enemy territory.

    On top of that, most of those who had cursed the Royals for granting Lith a full pardon that they considered too cheap for his crimes and had opposed Kam resuming her job had be stalwart supporters of the Crown.

    "It''s not by chance that you can rule the Griffon Kingdom." They would always say. "There must be something in Valeron''s blood that grants his descendants the gift of foresight."

    "Your Majesty." The Verhens said in unison, giving the Royals a bow.

    Lith wore his pristine white Supreme Magus robe over a white shirt and ck pants made of the finest silk on Mogar.

    He had acquired them years ago from an Undead Court after undergoing their Foul Moonbat ritual and he had yet to find clothes of better quality.

    Tista instead wore her deep red Mage robe over a set of baggy clothes more suitable for a hunting cabin than a pce. They consisted of a mottled green shirt, brown cargo pants, and boots.

    She was about to be deployed as a scout when she had been recalled from the front.

    Both of them had their wings resting on their shoulders like a cape as a statement of their pride in their inhuman nature.

    "No need for formalities you can stand tall." Raagu Drerian the human representative of the Council said.

    Even though she coborated with the Royals, she still considered them weaklings who didn''t deserve honorifics that even the Council didn''t require of their members.

    "You have been summoned here to take part in a joint operation that if sessful might further increase our advantage." Raagu had a thin build and looked old enough to be the Queen Dowager but her demeanor exuded an authority in no way inferior to the Royals.

    "The Guardian of the Empire suddenly taking a stand in the conflict has cost Thrud a lot of soldiers while leaving untouched the forces of the Kingdom and the army. For the first time since the beginning of the war, we have the advantage of numbers and a solid foothold in the Mad Queen''s territory.

    "Yet it''s not going tost forever. The moment her generals are fully rejuvenated, we''ll be locked in a stalemate again. We need to act now and get our hands on vital areas that will allow us to keep pushing on the offense in the long run."

    "What''s the n and why us?" Lith asked.

    "The n requires to split our forces and attack multiple targets at the same time." Queen Sylpha activated the arrays of the room, projecting a 3D hologram of the distribution of troops on both sides.

 Chapter 2089 Turning the Tide (Part 1)

    Chapter 2089 Turning the Tide (Part 1)

    "This way, Thrud will be forced to spread her still weakened army thin, making it easier for us to conquer our real targets since she won''t realize that most of the cities that we''ll siege are just a diversion.

    "On top of that, by observing which fortresses she focuses on the most and which she leaves exposed instead, we can catch a glimpse of her long-term strategy. With a bit of luck, we''ll understand where she is going to strike next and prepare in advance.

    "As for the why the two of you have been chosen for this mission, it''s because you''ll represent the Kingdom in the battle for Zehnma." Queen Sylpha pointed at a city in the Nestrar region, located near the new border that Gentor''s charge had created.

    "Just the two of us?" Tista was bbergasted.

    "Don''t sell yourselves short, Mage Verhen." King Meron said. "We know that your abilities synergize with those of Magus Verhen and that very few creatures can match the destructive power of your Cursed mes.

    "The enemy will expect us to try and slip inside the city once the siege starts and take control of the City Gate like usual, but this time things will go differently. You two will enter the city before the battle starts and once inside, your target will be the defensive array system.

    "While Magus Verhen conjures his army of Demons and the Council keeps Thrud''s forces focused on the outside, your duty is to find and neutralize the focal points of the arrays from the inside.

    "Beware though, we want you to temporarily deactivate the magical formations, not to destroy them. This way, once the arrays go down, our army will bypass the walls and storm the city while Magus Verhen''s Demons strike at the enemy''s back.

    "If done properly, the copse of the defensive system will set up for a pincer surprise attack that will grant us full control over Zehnma with minimum losses among the army and the civilians."

    "With just you by his side, Mage Verhen, your brother will be capable of disying the full scope of his abilities without worrying about witnesses. Yourbined strength and that of the Demons should be enough to take care of any non-Divine Beast stationed there."

    "What if it''s not enough?" Lith asked. "What if Thrud has three Divine Beasts stationed in Zehnma if not even a full seven-man unit?"

    "That would be an excellent scenario for us." Raagu replied with a sly smile. "Sure, you wouldn''t have any chance of victory but it would also mean that a lot of the enemy territory is left unguarded.

    "In such a scenario, your duty would turn from conquest into stall for time. By keeping so many Divine Beasts locked in one ce, you would give us the opportunity to adjust our strategy and recapture more than three cities.

    "None of them would be as strategically important as Zehnma but together they would be worth much more. No one asks you to die for the mission. Just hold out as long as you can and Spirit Warp out the moment you feel cornered.

    "We can always make a second attempt at conquering any city whereas there are only two living Demons of Mogar. For now." The human representative''s lips curled up in a little smile that Lith assumed to be Raagu''s way to congratte him.

    That or the hope that the Tiamat would die, leaving behind a baby that would be just as powerful as him if not more but much more easily bent to the Council''s agenda.

    "Who''ll represent the Awakened in this battle?" Tista said.

    "I''m d that you asked." Raagu''s smile went wider while the Royals'' frowned deeply, staring at her in contempt.

    Solus wondered the meaning of that exchange until her mana sense perceived the answer closing in to the Throne Room.

    Phloria Ernas walked through the door without wearing her deep green Great Mage robe nor her uniform as Lieutenant Colonel of the army. Her clothes consisted of a leather jacket over a white shirt and brown linen pants.

    It was the standard attire of the Awakened corps that she had founded and trained herself.

    "Commander Ernas is both a loyal member of the Royal Court and your personal apprentice, Magus Verhen." Raagu said.

    "Her presence will ensure that our Awakened troops will be led by the person who knows their abilities best and someone who has your blind trust.

    "Also, an Ernas on the battlefield guarantees the Council that the Kingdom will do its best to back us up in case something goes wrong instead of using the Awakened as a sacrificial pawn."

    The Royals nodded but they were inwardly cursing the human representative.

    They had chosen to send solely Lith and Tista to showcase the power of their newly appointed Magus while also saving as much strength as they could to attack another target if the opportunity arose.

    This way, if everything went well, even those among the members of the ancient magical households who were still sceptic about the deal with Verhen would be forced to recognize how useful it was.

    By single-handedly solving a mission he would instil hope in their troops, fear in the enemies, maybe even make them defect, and save the noble heirs from being conscripted into the army.

    Phloria stepping in, however, ruined their n. If anything were to happen to her because the Royals had pulled their punches, they would lose the support of the Ernas and with them all their political allies.

    It would have been a disaster of colossal proportions that alone might cost them the war. Ever since Jirni and Orion had married, the Ernas and the Myrok Households acted as one.

    If Phloria were to die in action, it would''ve alienated the Crown two of the only still active members of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom. An event that would throw the Court in disarray and turn the domestic policy into chaos.

    "On top of that, Commander Ernas is the only member of the current Council besides Magus Verhen who knows how to use de Tier spells." Raagu continued, pretending to not have noticed the Royals assigning more troops to Zehnma.

    "Together, they can even take down one of Thrud''s seven-man units of Divine Beasts. In my opinion, this is the perfect set-up for sess."

    Lith red at the human representative no less than the Royals, angered by her attempt to manipte him through Phloria.

    ''I already didn''t like bringing Tista along and now this? The fucking Royals want her presence to make sure that I give my all and Raagu is doing the same. They are just bright blue-cored kids, dammit!'' He thought.

    ''That''s not necessarily true.'' Solus said. ''Remember that Tista needed a Royal Pardon as well and she has to take part in the war per your same deal. By assigning you two work on the same mission, the Royals are allowing you to be her mentor on the field.

    ''As for Phloria, I think your anxiety for the baby is clouding your judgement. Raagu isn''t using her against you. Tiamat is now more than ever the golden boy of the Council. Raagu is using Phloria because she doesn''t trust the Royals.''

 Chapter 2090 Turning the Tide (Part 2)

    Chapter 2090 Turning the Tide (Part 2)

    ''Also, are you seriously calling them kids? They are both older than you and the bright blue core is a dream for most fake mages and the limit that Awakened can reach without enlightenment.''

    Kam''s unexpected pregnancy had thrown a monkey wrench in Lith''s usually clockwork mind. He didn''t want her to go back to work, Sark or not, nor did he want to leave her side.

    To make matters worse, it had also cranked his paranoia and overprotectiveness up to twelve. Lith now saw everyone but himself as weaklings that required the protection of a Guardian.

    "What are the other two targets?" Tista asked, unaware of her brother''s inner turmoil.

    "I''m sorry, Mage Verhen, but that''s a secret." Queen Sylpha shook her head. "The members of each unit only know their own mission so that even if they get captured and tortured, they can only give the enemy useless information."

    "When do we start?" Lith couldn''t find a w in the n and was eager to put it behind himself.

    "As soon as you are finished arranging the final details between the three of you." Raagu replied. "The Warp Gate will lead you to Zehnma where the Awakened troops are already waiting for you disguised as a scouting unit."

    Lith moved to a corner of the room, followed by Tista and Phloria, conjuring spells that would seal them from the outside world.

    "Are you sure you want to do this? Did they threaten you in any way to force you to ept this mission?" He asked.

    "For the hundredth time, lil bro, I''m here of my own will." Tista sighed in exasperation. "I can''t spend my life on the sidelines while you do all the hard work. I epted to take part in the conflict for you, our parents, and most importantly, for myself.

    "There''s no way I''m going to stay idle while everyone and everything I love is in danger because of a mad woman."

    "I appreciate, your concern for me, Lith, but I lived my life as dangerously as you do ever since I graduated from the academy." Phloria crossed her arms. "I''m not doing this for you, but for my soldiers.

    "Even though most of the Awakened I trained are way older than me, they have less battle experience than Tista. Without my leadership, they''ll panic and die at the first hitch. My dream has always been to lead my loyal troops in defense of my country and the Council made ite true.

    "Raagu didn''t force me to do anything, I volunteered for this mission. Stop being paranoid and rx. We''ll have each other''s back, just like old times." She said with a warm smile that turned sad the moment her hand reached for her ne out of habit and found nothing.

    "Onest thing." Lith still carried the golden lily pendant on himself and noticed the gesture but said nothing about it in respect for her choice. He took Tista''s and Phloria''s hands to establish a mind link.

    ''Solus, who do you think will need your help the most? I''m going to stay hidden to control the Demons until the siege starts so your tactical cunning and skills would be wasted on me.''

    ''Excellent question.'' She didn''t like the idea of being separated from Lith one bit, but her priority was to bring them all back alive. ''Phloria, you''ll be fighting on the frontlines and drawing the attention of the enemy while they work on the inside.

    ''A battlefield is a chaotic ce and you could use Menadion''s set whereas Tista has the Mouth.''

    ''Thanks for the offer, but no. Full Guard works almost as well as you do and with my soldiers around me, I''ll have plenty of people watching my back. Between my breathing technique and my spell holding de, I''m nigh-invincible as long as I have a bit of time to prepare.

    ''Tista, instead, will have to navigate through traps and arrays and could use your expertise and the Eyes. You made one good point, though. If you go with Tista, two Mouths are overkill whereas I could use one.''

    Solus'' ring slipped off Lith''s hand while Tista handed Menadion''s artifact to Phloria. She shapeshifted it into a ne with a mask-shaped pendant that filled the void that returning Lith''s gift had left without revealing her feelings.

    "Let''s go then." Lith said after they had convened signals for any contingency they could think of.

    After stepping through the City Gate of Valeron, they found themselves out of the wooden circle that formed the temporary gate. The red dimensional runes contained the coordinates of the artifact and allowed the Gatework of the Kingdom to lock onto them.

    It was one of the few pieces of Royal Forgemastery''s technology that the Council envied the fake mages.

    "Wee back, Commander Ernas." A seemingly young man in his mid-twenties said while giving her the salute with the wrong hand. "The troops are ready and waiting for your orders."

    "Thanks, Lieutenant." Phloria had recreated the army ranks to teach discipline and establish a clear hierarchy without bloodlines or personal ambitions messing with the chain ofmand.

    "Lieutenant Merrik, allow me to introduce you to the Supreme Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen and Mage Tista ''Red Demon'' Verhen. Guys, he''s Rhekan Merrik, my second inmand."

    The Lieutenant was even taller than Lith, almost 1.9 meters (6''3") tall with a broad physique, dark blonde hair, and blue eyes. With his pale skin and finely trimmed beard, he reminded Lith of a modern Viking warrior.

    Merrik''s eyes went wide at those names, staring at Lith in surprise for way longer than it was polite.

    "Do you like what you see, do you want an autograph or what?" Lith said with a scoff.

    "I''m sorry, sir." The Awakened smiled awkwardly in embarrassment. "I heard a lot about you and I''ve watched all of your recorded fights."

    "And?"

    "And you looked so majestic that I expected you to be taller." At those words, Tista and Phloria startedughing, making Merrik think he had said something rude.

    "Never meet your heroes, kid." Lith replied with a shrug while looking at Zehnma.

    The temporary Gate had been set up atop a hill surrounded by tall trees, far away enough from the city to allow scouts to study its surroundings without being visible from the walls.

    Zehnma was an important trading hub where food supplies from all over the western cities would be brought and stored before being moved to Prode, the city considered the granary of the Kingdom.

    Thrud had taken it over after the annual tax collection had started. Due to the famine of the previous year, the local lords had been forced to pay part of their tributes in food.

    The Royals had learned the hard way that, without constant supervision, the regions with the greatest number of cultivated fields would hoard the crops after the harvest and refuse to share them in order to avoid food rationing.

    Half of the Kingdom had almost starved because of that the previous year, causing riots everywhere. By taking a part of the crops before the harvest and sending inspectors to weigh the product, the King had hoped to prevent such things from happening again.

    Instead, he had unwittingly created a perfect opportunity for the Mad Queen.

 Chapter 2091 Undercover (Part 1)

    Chapter 2091 Undercover (Part 1)

    The food stored in Zehnma was a priceless asset and the people of the Nestrar region had happily sided with Thrud since the first day of the War of the Griffons.

    Meron''s policy about fairly sharing and distributing crops had saved millions during the famine, but those he took them from just considered him a cruel tyrant who starved them.

    The city was a fortress with walls of polished stone over 20 meters (70'') high that shone like silver under the sunlight due to the high concentration of Orichalcum dust they contained.

    It helped the defenders by blinding the enemies during daytime and had allowed the Royal mages to cast powerful defensive arrays that no regr rock could withstand.

    "Fuck me sideways." Lith said as Solus showed him the intricatework of concentric magical formations that went from the city walls to the town hall, bing smaller and more powerful the closer they got to the Lord''s office.

    "Don''t worry. Merrik is a cool guy and I''m sure that as soon as he sees you in your Divine Beast form, he''ll change his mind." Phloria said with a chuckle.

    "Ah-ah! That''s the least of my worries. How do we get in?" Lith asked.

    "That''s a question I have no answer for." She sighed. "Even if we use Spirit Magic to fly and the arrays can''t stop it, they would still detect us and the guards shoot us down.

    "Thrud upgraded the standard elemental sealing arrays with high altitude motion sensors so even opening a Steps in mid-air is out of the question."

    "What if we shapeshift and get in from the front door?" Tista said.

    "Pointless. One of the guards is an Awakened and uses Invigoration to check people before letting them in. Even if you use cloaking devices, the moment they touch they''d detect your mana flow and hybrid life force." Phloria replied.

    "How long do we have until they close the city doors?" Lith pensively tormented his chin.

    "Until sundown or until something triggers a lockdown. The area is allegedly safe and Thrud''s citizens need to go in and out at all hours for their trades. Why?"

    "I have the solution, but unless we want to wait all day, we better be quick." He replied. "Tista, follow me."

    They took flight, always remaining under the cover of the trees to avoid detection. Then, Lith searched for the busiest road leading to Zehnma and followed it until he found a caravan of merchants.

    "Did you forget to buy something before we left or what?" Tista asked.

    "Or what. Solus, I want you to enter the carriage on the front, memorize the ce, and then explore the rest of the caravan before it reaches Zehnma." Lith said.

    "I understand the part of your n about me infiltrating the city and opening a Steps for you, but not the carriage stuff. Care to exin?"

    "I could send one of my Demons inside a shadow, but Invigoration would detect them and with sunlight, a shadow moving around won''t be missed. You instead are small and can take any shape you want.

    "Stay in the first carriage until they start searching it. Then Blink in the second and wait for them to be done. Even if they are using Life Vision, such a tiny and short-lived spell will be covered by the magical aura of the merchandise.

    "After that, move back into the first carriage and wait to be inside Zehnma. You know the rest." Lith said.

    "Excellent idea. Mind if I take both of our cloaking rings just to be safe?" Solus asked.

    "Be my guest." Lith gave her his electrum ring and she absorbed it before taking the form of a stone spider and reaching the caravan unnoticed.

    "Question. How do we exin the Steps to my troops? They are Awakened and not stupid." Phloria said.

    "If anyone asks, just say that I conjured a Demon inside the city or something." Lith shrugged. "No one knows what my limits are and I want to keep it that way."

    "No problem." She nodded. "You are lucky I''m the one leading the mission. Any other officer would ask you lots of questions to understand how to best use your skills in future missions and you would have to answer.

    "Or at least make up bullshit that you would beter forced to uphold."

    "I know. Thanks, Phloria."

    "You are wee. Now let''s get back to the base and wait for your ride."

    The caravan reached Zehnma in half an hour and while Lith pretended to be in deep meditation to control his "Demon" from a distance, he was actually using a surveince spell to keep an eye on Solus.

    The guards had the merchants stop too far away from Zehnma for someone to Blink inside while a thick mist made it impossible to see past the city gates. Even a creature with amazing eyesight would just see a blur even from the sky and fail to acquire the dimensional coordinates needed for a Steps.

    ''By my Mom, Thrud really covered all of her bases. The only thing she didn''t consider was a living piece of stone.'' Solus thought.

    Then, the guards cast from a distance a Life Sensing array, checking not only if the number of people and beasts matched that ounted for by the caravan leader, but also that there was no one hidden in the proximity of the checkpoint for an ambush.

    ''Me and my big mouth! Let''s hope that my artifact nature and the rings are enough to hide my presence.'' She sheltered her conscience deep inside the ring, as she had learned to do in order to give Lith some privacy while dating.

    Her hybrid half coupled with her technique allowed her to escape the detection of the spell which perceived only a slight anomaly in the cargo.

    "There''s something weird in there." A woman with the zed eyes characteristic of the Forgotten said while pointing at the first carriage. "We need to perform a thorough scan."

    "Is it really necessary?" The merchant, a chubby man in histe fifties with thick reddish mustaches said. "Searching the merchandise already takes a lot of time and we are on a schedule.

    "If we arrivete, the hotel will cancel our reservation and we''ll have nowhere to spend the night."

    "We need to perform a thorough scan." The woman repeated with a deadpan voice. "That or I can kill you all and destroy your carriages. You have five seconds toply. Five-"

    "Search all you want!" The man shouted in fear, making his double chins wobble. "But you''ll find nothing. It must just be the interference from the enchanted items. I swear it on my life."

    "Your life already belongs to Queen Thrud. Your oath is irrelevant." The Forgotten were students of the Golden Griffon academy who hadpletely lost their minds after centuries of imprisonment, starvation, and resurrection.

    Nothing was left of their original personality, they were just living puppets that the Unwavering Loyalty array forced to enact Thrud''s will.

    She had deployed them as city guards throughout the upied territories because they were all loyal deep violet-core Awakened and because she hoped that social interaction would reignite any spark of humanity the Forgotten had left.

    So far, they behaved no different from a flesh golem.

 Chapter 2092 Undercover (Part 2)

    Chapter 2092 Undercover (Part 2)

    The female Forgotten took a leather glove that hung from her belt and wore it. Then, she ced her left hand on the first carriage and activated the breathing technique of her corps, Clear Mind.

    The glove amplified the effects of Invigoration whose energy flooded the carriage like a wave without losing its cohesion as it moved further away from its caster.

    ''Fuck me sideways! The Kingdom can learn a thing or two from Thrud and so can I. That glove allows anyone to inspect arge surface with Invigoration. I learned how to do it as well, but my technique is neither that quick nor precise.'' Lith thought while observing Solus'' predicament via the surveince spell.

    The moment Invigoration was about to reach her stone form, Solus Blinked to the second carriage, escaping detection. Luckily for her, Lith''s n had given her a way out.

    In order to use the glove and focus on the breathing technique, the Forgotten had been forced to dispel the array.

    "It was just an interference." The woman said amid pants after checking every nook and cranny of the cargo. "You can search the remaining carriages while I rest."

    Solus exploited the time the Forgotten needed to cast the Life Sensing array again to move back to her original hiding ce so that the anomaly seemed to not have moved.

    ''It seems that glove is more a focus than an artifact.'' Lith thought. ''Using it costs a lot of energy and the guard had to use Invigoration to recover from a single use but it''s still worth it.''

    The caravan started moving twenty minutester, but it took Solus almost one hour to find a secluded alley isted enough to open the Steps.

    "We are going in." Lith said as he and Tista shapeshifted into a less conspicuous appearance. "Keep yourmunication amulet at hand. We''ll let you know when to start the attack."

    "Damn, those Demons are terrifying." Merrik and many others said as soon as the dimensional corridor closed. "They could get inside our houses, spy on us when we work, and we wouldn''t even know.

    "I mean, you''ve seen how good Thrud''s security measures are yet none of them worked." Solus and the Demons shared Lith''s energy signature which made it believable that it was one of them opening the Steps.

    "Commander, aren''t you scared of the use Verhen might make of them? He has over a thousand of those things at his service and we don''t know how far away from him they can get.

    "He was here the whole time and the city walls are kilometers away, let alone the outer rim!" The Lieutenant said.

    "No, I''m not scared of Lith." Phloria replied. "At least no more than I''m scared of the Council, the Abominations, the Guardians, and any entity that could end our lives on a whim. You should do the same."

    Once inside Zehnma, Solus slipped back on Tista''s finger.

    ''What''s our next move?'' Tista asked while walking hand in hand with Lith to hide their mind link and help Solus to recover her strength.

    ''We must tour the city and identify the key nodes of the arrays that you have to weaken.'' He replied.

    ''The whole city?'' Tista was bbergasted. ''Even with the Eyes of Menadion, it will take us hours if not days.''

    ''Maybe and maybe not.'' Solus split the artifact into two Monocles and gave one to each of them in order to share the mental burden in three. ''We can''t fly but there should be more than one panoramic restaurant in Zehnma.

    ''Things will go much quicker if we take a good look from above.''

    ''Excellent idea, Solus.'' Lith clicked his tongue at the thought of spending money, but it was better than the alternative.

    Even though he knew that there was a Guardian 24/7 standing right beside Kam, he hated every minute he was forced to spend away and with no opportunity to check that everything was alright.

    ''Guardians are not omnipotent. A meteor could require Grandma''s full attention or an alternative version of myself from a parallel Mogar might endanger the baby''s life.''

    ''You are being ridiculous. That''s beyond paranoia. It''s certified insanity.'' Solus tried to calm him down but her voicecked conviction.

    She was still wrapping her head around the pregnancy.

    On the one hand, it set them further apart. The baby and Kam''s Awakening not only would make their rtionshipst for a very long time, but also made it different from everything Lith had ever had with other women.

    On the other hand, however, Solus knew that she would raise the child as well and spend a lot of time with them. Due to her bond with Lith, his feelings were bound to overflow into Solus, making her love the baby no less than if it was her own.

    She was still so confused about her future and her own feelings that being a parent scared her to death.

    ''You don''t know that.'' Lith replied. ''In Earth''s media, that''s when some random bad guy pops out at thest second and ruins everything.''

    ''That''s fiction and no one in those stories had a frigging Guardian for a nanny!'' Solus said in annoyance, ending the conversation.

    They had reached their destination, the starred restaurant Valeron''s Tower.

    Like the name implied, the establishment took the entirety of thest floor of arge spire. The walls had been reced by reinforced ss and the building was so tall that the gaze of the customers could wander past the city walls.

    To go unnoticed, Tista had shapeshifted into her friend from Lutia, Brina. She had now the appearance of a petite and pretty young woman with golden hair and clear blue eyes.

    As for Lith, he had taken his old appearance as Derek McCoy. He was now a few centimeters shorter, leaner, and had sharper features.

    "By the gods, smile a little." Tista grumbled after asking for a table for two.

    "Whenever you take your Abomination form, you look like someone pissed off at the world and ready to murder the first person who so much bumps into him."

    "You are very perceptive." Lith was amazed by her urate description of his mental state right before his first death. Those feelings still lingered deep in Derek''s soul and became predominant whenever he called upon the remnants of his original life force.

    "It''s not a matter of being perceptive. Anyone with a single working eye could tell you the same. Besides, you''re a lucky man about to dine with his pretty wife so you should y your part better." Tista said with a giggle.

    "I don''t know what''s worse." Lith sighed. "If dining with someone who looks like a younger and chipper version of Jirni or being forced to donate money."

    "What are you talking about? A donation to whom?" She asked.

    "Going out with your own sister is a form of charity since you expect nothing in return." He replied, making the first smile after over two decades appear on Derek''s face.

    "What a jerk! I want a divorce."

    "Not in front of the waiter, dear." Lith chuckled while seeing the awkward expression of the man who was supposed to serve them.

 Chapter 2093 Undercover (Part 3)

    Chapter 2093 Undercover (Part 3)

    Lith and Tista took a table near the ss wall looking out on the city hall and ced their order. Lith had never been to Zehnma so he picked dishes that ording to Soluspedia a local would take, avoiding looking like a tourist.

    "I''ll take your most expensive meal course and wine." Tista said. "Today we are celebrating. We''re having a baby."

    The waiter congratted them and pped his hand, quickly followed by the rest of the room.

    "So much for anonymity." Lith grumbled while looking through the menu to assess the damage. "Who''s we, by the way?"

    "You, Solus, Kami, and the rest of the family. We can''t leave you to raise a little munchkin alone or they''ll grow up grumpy and obnoxious." She said with a chuckle.

    "I don''t know, you seem to have turned out okay to me."

    "Oh, please, you are not my father." She replied with a snort.

    "Indeed, but I was the one who spent the most time with you until you recovered from the Strangler, remember?" Lith said, and this time his smile was sincere. "I still remember how happy you were when I made you the swing and when I brought you your first fur clothes.

    "How during winter I kept youpany whenever your illness resurfaced, telling you stories until you fell asleep."

    "How could I forget?" Tista replied with a nostalgic smile. "Back then you were my hero. A kind brother who took care of me and who gave his all to make my life better."

    "Back then?" Lith furrowed his brows. "What about now?"

    "Now you''re a patronizing jerk who doesn''t give me the time of day unless it''s to scold me." She pouted. "Can you believe that I had toe here to spend a few hours alone with you?"

    Tista wasn''t Phloria, but her words were no less true and hurt the same.

    "I''m sorry. My life has been-"

    "Everybody''s life has been a mess since Meln''s attack on Lutia." She cut him short. "But you were like this since way before that. The only moment you give any of us your attention is when we''re ill, like it happened with Dad.

    "Once we recover, you forget about us and go back to yourtest project."

    An awkward silence fell between them and they spent the time before the waiter''s return staring at the window. The Eyes of Menadion scanned the magical formations surrounding the city hall, identifying the bundles of runes that acted as the bearing walls of Zehnma''s defensive system.

    "With thepliments and congrattions of the chef." The waiter gave Tista a bow, serving her fist and pouring her an abundant ss of fruit juice.

    The wine came only with Lith''s dish and the waiter had the care to put the bottle away from her to avoid any ident.

    "Poetic justice." Lith smacked his lips, appreciating the rich vor of the wine and its fruity aroma. Also, he hoped to move to a less thorny issue. "It''s really worth its price. Too bad you can''t enjoy it. We don''t want to harm the baby."

    "See what I mean? A total jerk." She sighed.

    The food was excellent and the ambiance nice, but they soon became too engrossed by the study of the arrays to keep any conversation. Their silence stuck out amid the chattiness of the room and the waiter came to their table multiple times asking if everything was alright.

    "Damn, the Eyes are still at 60% of the scan and we can''t afford to draw any more attention." Lith said. "What do you want to talk about?"

    "Wow. Would it kill you to ask me how I''m doing with Bodya or how close I am to reaching the violet? You are supposed to know about my life and care about it." She pouted.

    "Fine, how close are you to reaching the violet core?"

    "Are you still pet peeved by my boyfriends?" Tista said with a giggle.

    "Yes. The less I know, the fewer people I have to make disappear. You know me. I''m still pissed off at Senton and the poor guy married Rena years ago. He''s a good man and a better father than I''ll ever be. And yet¡­" Lith sighed deeply.

    "I disagree on both issues but I don''t want to waste any more time arguing so no talking about Bodya as well." Tista leaned a bit forward, to look Lith in the eyes while also keeping watch on the arrays. "I''m slumped on the violet.

    "I remember all of our talks we had back when you were looking for a solution to your bottleneck, yet after over three months since I reached the bright blue core, I feel like I didn''t take a single step forward."

    "Would you like a few tips?" Lith asked.

    "No. The only path you can point me at is yours and I think we are too different for it to suit me as well. What I want from you is some advice about my nature." She replied.

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean that aside from the eyes and the mes our alter egos have nothing inmon." Tista said. "I have only one set of wings, I don''t summon anything, and the more I experiment with my form the less I discover.

    "What if I''ve already peaked? What if this is all I''ll ever be capable of doing? All hail the Fairy Queen of nothing."

    Lith pondered her words for a while before answering.

    "I think that Nana was right about us. To discover my true potential, I really needed to be more loving and learn to forgive myself. You, instead, are still too kind for your own good."

    "Tell that to the people of the Hogum household." Tista shuddered at the memory of the massacre.

    "My point exactly." Lith nodded. "You only went all-out back then because you were influenced by my fury for what those bastards had done to Dad. Don''t forget that Demons are half Phoenixes.

    "We are creatures of emotions and so far, you are suppressing yours. My powers are fueled by my rage, hatred, and pain. They might not sound nice but without them, the souls of the dead wouldn''t empathize with me nor answer my call.

    "I think that you are just like me. You have fully mastered your dragon half but are too scared to let go of yourself and start using your other half." Lith said.

    ''I agree with him.'' Solus nodded. ''Lith never had any qualms getting angry or venting his hatred on his enemies. Otherwise he would have never reached the deep violet. His problem was his inability to open up to positive emotions.

    ''It tainted all of his rtionships and kept him from reaching the light violet''

    ''You, instead, are too calm and controlled under all circumstances. Even with Bodya, it looks more like a low-risk investment than a seriousmitment. You need to loosen up, girl.''

    Tista blushed up a bit and remained silent, knowing it was the truth. Luckily for her, the Eyes reached 100%, saving her from further embarrassment.

    They had learned everything they could from the south side of the city, but it wasn''t enough. To get the full picture of Zehnma''s defensive arrays they needed more data which meant three more panoramic restaurants, one for each remaining side of the city.

 Chapter 2094 Undercover (Part 4)

    Chapter 2094 Undercover (Part 4)

    To save time and take a good look at how the people on Thrud''s side of the conflict fared, they took a stagecoach. While moving through the city blocks, they noticed that life in Zehnma wasn''t much different from that in their half of the Kingdom.

    The streets were bustling with people with worried expressions on their faces and grocery stores had signs hung in front of their entrances reminding the customers of the food rationing.

    The most striking difference was the Forgotten patrolling non-stop the streets from the sky, responding to calls for help, arresting criminals, and healing those in need for free.

    "Wow. The Royals could learn a thing or two from Thrud." Tista said after noticing how the citizens of Zehnma weren''t afraid of leaving their doors open and how clean the streets were.

    "Yeah, right. I wonder why no one ever thought about implementing very and making powerful mages work for free 24/7." Lith said with a scoff. "Also, haven''t you wondered where the beggars and the homeless have gone?

    "Best case scenario, Thrud brought them to the Golden Griffon to force them to learn the trades she is in need of, with no care for what they want. Worst case scenario, after a boot camp she sent them to the battlefield."

    "Good gods, you are probably right." She searched the streets until they reached their destination, yet she failed to see a single street urchin or a small-time thug.

    Once at the restaurant, Tista had learned from her previous mistake and imed to be there on a generic anniversary. She could now enjoy enough wine to forget about what she had just witnessed and keep her mind off her personal issues.

    "Man, Thrud may be a ruthless tyrant, but she is also a true genius." Tista said with a hup after walking out of thest restaurant, a bit tipsy from the wine.

    "She has kept the same arrays that the Kingdom implemented but rearranged their sequence of runes so that instead of just coexisting, they now support each other.

    "Their concentricyout makes it impossible to tamper with the outeryers unless one first deals with the innermost formations that surround the city hall and that''s a frigging fortress."

    "For brilliant she''s brilliant, but I doubt she had the time or the expertise toe up with such an idea." Lith replied.

    "What do you mean?" Tista asked.

    "I faced Thrud twice and neither of herbs had anything like this. Xedros the Wyvern, instead, was an amazing Warden and hisir''s defense system worked exactly like this.

    "ording to the Council, Thrud stole his legacy right after Scarlett killed him, and then Thrud raided thebs of his aplices with the help of the apprentices she ''saved''.

    "I bet that everything we''ve seen today, from the fog at the entrance of Zehnma to that glove,es from the work of the Awakened she killed." Lith replied.

    "Even if that were true, Thrud still managed to use their knowledge to develop tools for her army and adapt true magic to pre-existent permanent arrays. That''s something only a genius can do." Tista said. "In a way, she reminds me a lot of Professor Vastor."

    "That''s what worries me." Lith said. "He has found his bnce, but unlike Thrud and I, everything he has is built on a lie. No matter how majestic a house of cards is, it takes but a single mistake to make it crumble.

    "If that happens, Vastor would turn from one of the Kingdom''s greatest assets into its worst enemy. And believe me, I''d take on Thrud''s army any day if it spared me from facing even just one of his Hybrids."

    "Are they that scary?" Tista asked.

    "Scary doesn''t even start to describe them." Lith shook his head. "They are all centuries if not millennia old beings, worlds apart from the greenhorns that serve the Mad Queen.

    "Each one of Vastor''s hybrids has full mastery over their Divine Beast form and powers. They also possess the abilities of their monster halves with no downside, they can use Chaos Magic freely, and their equipment is forged by the Fourth Ruler of the mes."

    "Good gods, they could conquer the Kingdom in a few days if they wanted." Tista shuddered at the thought.

    She had met Bytra and Zoreth a few times, but due to how friendly andid back they were she had never understood the danger they posed.

    "If they are that powerful, then why don''t they kill Thrud and put an end to this war?" She asked.

    "Two reasons." Lith replied. "One, destroying a cursed object is never easy. Not even big sis Sinmara could kill Dawn and she''s a white core who received Grandma''s teachings.

    "The Golden Griffon is much bigger and maybe even more powerful. Even if the Abominations managed to destroy it bybining their powers, there''s no telling the destruction it would cause. Do you remember Kolga?"

    Tista would never forget the cursed city and not just because it was the ce where she had been forced to kill an innocent in cold blood. After disposing of the Forbidden Sun by stealing the Eye of Kolga, the magic empowering the city had gone haywire.

    The resulting explosion had produced a brilliance visible from the surface and from the nearby underwater city of Zhen.

    "Now imagine what would have happened if Kolga was and city, without thousands of tons of water smothering the heat and the shockwave it released. Kogaluga was just a side effect so the Kingdom didn''t suffer from its fall."

    "O gods, it would raze to the ground an entire region if not more. And that''s without taking into ount the long-term effects of the released energy or the potential chain reaction triggered by mana geysers and mines." Tista became pale as the image of millions of lives disappearing in a sh of light popped into his head.

    "Two, the Hybrids are keeping a low profile to avoid exposing Vastor''s identity." Lith nodded. "They intervened against Night when she attacked our house and then Tezka saved Zinya from Meln.

    "They can''t afford to draw any more attention either from Thrud or the Kingdom."

    "What do you mean?" Tista asked in confusion. "For what they know, the Abominations might work for anyone. Heck, for a long while people believed that they served Tiamat."

    "Yeah, too bad that now everyone knows that''s me. Also, the Abominations didn''t show up during Meln''s second attack nor have been helping me while I worked for the Kingdom." Lith replied.

    "If Vastor is forced to reveal his Abomination powers or if his hybrids keep popping out every time that he or Zinya are in danger, the truth will be obvious. Themon element of all their sudden appearances isn''t me, but Vastor.

    "This way, instead he is just one of the many mages of the Kingdom opposing Thrud''s invasion. As long as she leaves his family out of it, his secret is safe."

    "Why don''t they just take part in the war as members of the Council, then? It would offer them the perfect cover." Tista pointed out.

    "Only the hybrids are part of the Council and as far as I know, there''s just ten of them." Lith shook his head.

 Chapter 2095 City Hall (Part 1)

    Chapter 2095 City Hall (Part 1)

    "The Abomination-hybrids have never stopped working on whatever the Professor''s goal is even during the war, but they have been helping us.

    "Once Thrud has gotten rid of Meln and taken control of the Undead Courts, the Kingdom would have been in dire straits if not for the Abominations. They are dealing with the undead by themselves and even devolving half of the profits they make to the war efforts." Lith replied.

    "Is that why Jirni is focusing on traitorous nobles and the Royals have never fallen behind despite their losing streak?" Tista was bbergasted.

    "Correct. It''s their side of the deal with the Council. The Abominations are fighting half of the war in their spare time, and they are winning."

    They walked for a bit to give Tista the time to digest the four meals she had consumed and for Solus to process the collected data with their help. The Eyes of Menadion exined what they saw, but it was up to their wielder to understand the how and why.

    ''This is a mess, but I have good news.'' Solus said. ''We need to start by deactivating the main array of the city all. After that, not only will disabling the other arrays be much easier, but with eachyer we sabotage, the city defenses will be weaker in a domino effect.''

    ''Okay, what''s the bad news?'' Lith asked.

    ''That Thrud knows it as well. The power of the arrays in the city hall is several folds greater than in the rest of the city and even from the restaurants I could spot an energy mass that can only belong to powerful life forces.'' Solus replied.

    ''On top of that, I noticed several checkpoints on the way there. We can''t even reach the inner rims on foot without being searched with Invigoration or by flight without the arrays spotting us. Aside from that, we''re good to go.''

    ''If I didn''t know you better, I''d call you a smartass.'' Tista inwardly groaned, perceiving Solus'' sincere optimism.

    ''It''s not a big deal.'' Solus shrugged. ''I can sneak past the checkpoints and open a Steps for you.''

    ''No way.'' Tista shook her head. ''Unless you walk all the way to the city hall, you''d need to open one Spirit Warp for each checkpoint and you''d be exhausted before we even start.

    ''Not to mention that to cross such a huge distance without being noticed, it''d take you hours and we can''t afford to reach our destination after dusk.

    ''Finding a secluded ce where to conjure a Warp Steps in a rich neighborhood is hard. It''s not the slums with plenty of back alleys and no illumination. You''d have to watch out for house staff, to not be spotted from a window on an upper floor, and avoid the patrols.''

    The area nearby the city hall was heavily guarded, with Forgotten flying around in irregr patterns and checking the surroundings with Life Vision. After sundown, the cover of darkness would have made things easier for them if not for the curfew.

    With no one on the streets and the entrances closed, Thrud''s Awakened were free to focus solely on protecting the city walls and the innermost rim where the Warp Gate was located.

    Any damage to the arrays would be spotted more quickly and the diversion that Phloria''s Awakened would have caused would be much less effective.

    ''What if I get inside an empty house and you Warp inside?'' Solus said.

    ''Yeah, right. Because a couple of strangersing out of a noble household are bound to go unnoticed.'' Tista said with a sneer.

    ''If you have a better idea, I''m all ears.'' Solus sprouted a few on her stone ring to emphasize how annoyed she was.

    Lith pondered the problem as well, yet found no solution. The attack had to start while the Phloria''s Awakened corps would still cause enoughmotion to force Thrud''s Forgotten to spread thin and allow Tista to finish her job.

    Yet until she dealt with the main array, any disturbance would have made the security around the inner rim tighten and foiled their n. His Tiamat eyes could see far, but not enough to see the city hall from a restaurant and Warp Solus there.

    To make matters worse, the entire city hall was surrounded at all hours by a dome of solid energy that kept anything from getting near the building, even birds. There were sentinels at all corners so that any attempt to Warp in the vicinity of the City Lord''s office would be spotted in a matter of seconds.

    Lith asked Phloria for advice, but she had no clue either.

    "I''m sorry, but I''ve never been inside Zehnma after its capture and my intelligence is too outdated." She said. "If you can''t find a solution, you cane out and use a mind link to share the details so that we can brainstorm the problem with the members of my corps.

    "Worst case scenario, we can postpone the attack to tomorrow. Just get yourself a hotel room so that you have a safe ce from which Warp in and out of the city."

    ''That''s it!'' Solus said via the mind link. ''Phloria is a genius, please thank her for me.''

    "Thank you, Phloria, but it shouldn''t be necessary. You may have just given us the solution." Lith had no idea what Solus was talking about but he trusted her enough to blindly follow her instructions.

    She had them go back to the panoramic restaurant closest to the city hall and take the room on the highest floor that the hotel connected with the establishment had avable.

    From there, Lith used his keen eyesight as a Tiamat to see far away and the Eyes of Menadion to grasp dimensional coordinates. Then, he conjured Trion and used a marble-sized Spirit Steps to move him into the shadow of a chimney.

    The ck chains connecting Lith to his Demons worked like a mind link but they couldn''t be detected with Life Vision or arrays. He used Trion''s eyes to extend his field of vision even further, conjuring and sending Locrias as farther away as he could while the first Demon faded.

    The processsted solely for a second and Lith imbued in the shadow just enough mana to take physical form. By cycling his Demons, he was quickly able to reach the closest and tallest house near the barrier while escaping detection.

    Valia appeared in the shadow of a maid who was hanging out theundry of her noble employers, using the woman''s energy signature to hide her own.

    ''The good thing of being surrounded by so many arrays is that, with all the mana in the air, unless a guard focuses on me it''s hard to notice my presence.'' She used the Eyes of Menadion to check out the city hall from a distance and find an empty room for Solus.

    Life Vision''s range was limited and its readings got less urate the more distant the monitored area was. From that distance, between the barrier, the other arrays, the enchanted items, and the life signatures in the building, even the eyes of a Demon would only see a blurred mess.

    Menadion''s artifact had no such problem, allowing Valia to find an empty office whose windows faced in her direction.

 Chapter 2096 City Hall (Part 2)

    Chapter 2096 City Hall (Part 2)

    By the time the Forgotten patrolling the neighborhood noticed that the maid seemed to have two energy signatures, Valia was already done.

    Returning to Lith''s shadow required no mana and didn''t leave any dimensional energy that arrays could detect. As for the Eyes, she only had to store them back in the pocket dimension to make them disappear without a trace.

    Solus flowed out of a pinhole-sized dimensional door, just to be safe. Thrud knew about Spirit Magic and Solus had already witnessed several anti-Awakened countermeasures throughout the city.

    ''Maybe the Mad Queen invented an array that perceives the stretches in space. Better be safe than sorry.'' She thought while looking around with the Eyes of Menadion.

    During the day, the city hall was bustling with people and noise. The fall of Trephius at Leegaain''s hand had thrown a wrench in the security of the area and the local officers were busy preparing their defenses for the attack they knew would sooner ortere.

    The Eyes perceived that many powerful people were assembled in a room that Solus assumed was the mayor''s office. Clerks ran in and out of the offices non-stop, bringing blueprints of the city, maps of the region, and refreshments.

    The office Solus had Warped into was empty only because its owner was busy in a meeting as well. She made sure to have not triggered any rm before running in her spider from over the desk and checking the documents for anything that might be useful for the mission.

    The room was the standard issue workce for a medium-level bureaucrat.

    It had arge desk with a few chairs in front of it for the guests, cabs for the important documents on either side, and a library filled with folders containing the paperwork of the past years in chronological order.

    The carpet covering the floor of the room was of mediocre quality and so were thendscape paintings hung on the walls.

    After a quick nce, Solus dismissed the documents in the room as irrelevant and searched for a ce near the first array node where she could open a Warp to the hotel room.

    ''My cloaking rings make me invisible to mystical senses and my small form makes me hard to notice when I stay still. I''d better take my time and scout the area to avoid unpleasant surprises once Lith and Tista arrive.'' Luckily for Solus, the security wasxer on the inside.

    There were too many people going around and the guards had barely the time to check the IDs of everyone they met during their patrol to bother looking down on the floor.

    Solus studied the patrol patterns and routes while also taking a mental note of which corridors were frequently used or avoided. The longer she stayed away from Lith the weaker she be and she couldn''t even use the Sage Staff due to the artifact not being cloaked.

    On the other hand, her spider form consumed little energy and she used the Eyes to do most of the work.

    Once she was done scouting the third floor, Solus moved to the safest area she had managed to find. She made sure to memorize its dimensional coordinates before opening a minuscule Warp Steps to the hotel room.

    "Thank the gods you are alright, Solus. You had me worried sick." Lith embraced her stone body the moment he felt their mind link restored. "What took you so long? I was starting to fear that something had happened to you."

    "I was just doing my job." She replied. "Exploring such arge ce takes time, especially if you want to go unnoticed. Let''s go."

    She slipped on Lith''s finger, using a partial mind fusion to share her findings with him. Solus could now rest for a bit while Lith opened a dimensional door.

    ''Why of all ces in a city hall did you pick a broom closet?'' Tista asked via a mind link.

    The room was barely spacious enough for two and the pungent smell of cleaning products made her eyes water.

    ''Because while checking the floor I met clerks, guards, city officials, and nobles but no regr citizens. This means that either all unnecessary staff is forbidden entry until the crisis has been resolved or that the cleaning happens after office hours.

    ''We can stay in here for as long as we want without the risk of being discovered.''

    ''Fair point. Where is the first node?'' Tista said.

    Solus passed the Eyes of Menadion to her. The artifact contained a detailed map of the floor, the real-time position of the guards, and the locations of the key points of the array system.

    ''The good news is that there is only a handful of Forgotten inside and they spend most of the time in the mayor''s office so until the operation starts the probability of meeting one of them is low.

    ''The bad news is that there is a node on each floor for a total of four. Once we start disabling them, the Forgotten are bound toe to check what''s happening. Also, there''s no way you can escape being discovered the moment a patrol spots you.

    ''Each person inside the city hall has a badge containing a sample of their life force. This way, when the guards check it, they can recognize the original from a shapeshifted Awakened.''

    ''Simple but effective.'' Once again Lith cursed Thrud''s ingenuity as a mage. ''Don''t worry, I have a way around it. Just give me a few minutes.''

    He took a deep breath and suddenly the broom closet went dark. Neither the Eyes nor Life Vision could see anything and even the light filtering from the doorframe was swallowed the moment it crossed the threshold.

    ''Call of the Void? So much for going stealth.'' Tista said.

    ''No, that would be stupid. It''s just this ce being damn small.'' Lith replied.

    One after the other, the Demons of the Darkness left the room in the form of two-dimensional shadows that moved from one piece of furniture to another until they found their prey.

    The Demons would enter the shadow of one guard each, crawling under the folds of their armor and clothes, ready to strike at any given moment. They slowly infested the whole city hall, detaching from their targets solely when they approached one of the Fallen and went back stalking their prey as soon as the coast was clear.

    As more and more Demons left the broom closet, the light returned to the room.

    ''I can now hijack the security the moment they spot you, turning the guards into our unwilling aplices.'' Lith said.

    ''Brilliant move but isn''t it dangerous?'' Tista asked. ''I mean what if a Forgotten makes a sweep with Life Vision? Even from the mayor''s office, with so many Demons on the prowl they are bound to notice that something is off.''

    ''No, it''s not. I gave them barely the energy to manifest. Unless someone watches directly at them with Life Vision from up close, they are nigh-invisible.'' Lith replied. ''The problem is that I can''t move from here until we are done.

    ''Controlling so many Demons and watching through their eyes at the same time takes a lot of focus. On top of that, to empower the Demons at the right moment, I''ll need Invigoration. I can''t check on you and my surrounding while also using a breathing technique.''

 Chapter 2097 Twin Flames (Part 1)

    Chapter 2097 Twin mes (Part 1)

    ''Don''t worry, we can do it on our own.'' Tista said. ''Solus?''

    ''I''m already back at my full strength.'' The stone ring switched hands and the Eyes split into two Monocles.

    ''Are you sure you don''t need help? My Golems are too big, but I can still send Locrias and Varegrave with you. They are the strongest of my Demons.'' Lith asked.

    ''No need. Besides if you give them enough power to be stronger than me or powerful equipment, they''ll be visible from a distance by anyone with Life Vision.'' Tista checked the corridor and left the room, looking for the final piece of the puzzle.

    She tracked down a female clerk and sucker-punched her from behind. Then, Tista bound and gagged the unconscious civil servant before shoving her in the broom closet with Lith.

    ''If she wakes up, just knock her down again. Just make sure to not kill her.'' Tista said while stripping the woman of her uniform and badge, putting them inside the Scalewalker armor that turned into a perfect copy of the clothes down to the smallest detail.

    At the same time, Tista used Invigoration to study the clerk''s life force and gradually altered her own until she became an identical twin of the woman.

    ''This way, even if she has amunication amulet, her rune will remain. Also, I can now move freely between the floors without having to hide whenever I meet someone.

    ''You get rid of the guards before they can check my badge and this suit of flesh will do the rest.''

    ''I like your idea, but taking a prisoner is overkill. What are the odds of a civil servant having amunication amulet?'' Solus asked.

    ''During peace times, none. Yet this is war and Thrud has proven to be a sly opponent. In her shoes, I would give an amulet to all the people with clearance to ess key facilities, even janitors.

    ''It''s a small price to pay for making sure that no one has killed them and found a way to tamper with the badges.'' She replied.

    Lith nodded in approval and gave the Demons new orders. In his book, there was no such thing as "too paranoid".

    ''Change of ns. On mymand instead of killing the guards and possessing their bodies, just suck their vitality with Abomination Touch until they faint. Manipte them like puppets and keep them alive until it''s strictly necessary.''

    The Demons grumbled in annoyance. The scarce energy they possessed made them hungry for warmth and life, but they resisted it. Lith had promised them a feast and a fight that would sate their needs.

    Meanwhile, Tista moved along the corridors of the third floor of the city hall and reached the first node of runes.

    ''Elemental magic is sealed and using Spirit Magic would light a beacon that will alert the Forgotten.'' Solus pondered. ''I can guide you step-by-step on how to disable the node with first magic but it will take a long time and-''

    ''Don''t worry. There''s a reason why the Royals requested my presence. While you and Lith were on honeymoon, I worked my ass off with the Phoenixes. Also, I''ve been working with Phloria''s Awakened corps ever since our family got the clearance to return to the Kingdom.'' Tista cut her short.

    ''I was not on honeymoon! I- You know what? I don''t want to talk about it. Let''s focus on our mission.'' Tista could feel Solus''s emotions turning into a chaotic mess through the mind link.

    ''The baby messed you up that bad?'' She asked.

    ''Worse, but now it''s not the time. Eyes on the prize.'' Solus pointed at a couple of guards standing right in front of the node.

    One of them was using a device the size of a remote to scan a male clerk while the other guard kept hermunication amulet in hand ready to call for reinforcements.

    A focused beam of green light hit the badge, quickly spreading to the rest of the clerk''s body in search of anomalies. A single red dot appeared on his shoulder, where a fly was resting its wings and rubbing its legs.

    The guard emitted a small pulse of darkness magic that made the red dot disappear, even stomping on the fly to make sure it was really dead.

    "You, get back to work. You, line up for inspection." The guard said with a tone far from intimidating.

    The man was bored out of his skull, forced to make the same rounds day after day just because the Queen was a paranoid mess. He and his partner scanned the same people every day dozens of times and the worst they had ever discovered was a bad case of head lice.

    Tista swallowed in anxiety, hoping that Lith knew what he was doing. Instead of leaving, the male clerk had just moved a few steps back and taken out a civilianmunication amulet.

    He hoped that for once something exciting would happen and that he would be the first to catch it on camera.

    ''Shit! That clerk is carrying documents.'' Tista thought. ''Even if Lith''s Demon knocks him out before the clerk manages to sound the rm, Lith has no idea where to deliver them. It will be only a matter of minutes before-''

    The eyes of the guard holding the scanner rolled up for a fraction of second, his knees going weak with a shudder as the Demon hidden in his shadow sucked his vitality. The other guard was so bored that she never lifted her eyes from themunicator that she was using to read the news instead of working.

    As for the male clerk, he was too focused on Tista to notice anything. The moment the green beam of light hit her badge without changing color, he groaned and walked away briskly to make up for the lost time.

    "Another day, another copper coin down the gutter." The voice and the intonation were right, but the mouth didn''t move since the Demon used air magic to mimic the phrase she had heard every time a round of scans proved to be just a waste of time.

    "Let''s move on. I ate too much for lunch and if I stand still, I start to get drowsy." The second guard said.

    "Get out of our way or we''ll be forced to take another scan." The Demon ordered Tista with a deadpan voice while walking past her. "Anything new on the interlink?"

    "The usual crap. Loads of pictures of the royal baby, reports from the battlefront, and of course, the umpteenth propaganda about the final weapon the Queen is on the verge ofpleting." The female guard sighed.

    "I was so happy when it was announced for the first time but almost two months have passed and still nothing. At this point, I think it''s just a ruse to keep the morale high."

    Tista''s eyes went wide at the images of the infant Bahamut in all of his forms.

    ''Oh gods, he''s adorable! Look how cute he is while puffing smoke from his nose and those fluffy wings. Do you think Lith''s baby will look like that?'' She asked.

    ''I hope s- I mean who cares about that?'' Solus had a hard time holding her inner turmoil at bay. ''Since when did Thrud have a baby and what weapon are those guys talking about?''

 Chapter 2098 Twin Flames (Part 2)

    Chapter 2098 Twin mes (Part 2)

    ''Respectively I don''t know and probably mage towers since the date of the first announcement dates back to Meln''s capture.'' Tista inwardly shrugged.

    ''If you are that curious ask Lith to read the news from one of the amulets. By the way, I had no idea that you guys had learned how to activate magical items imprinted by others.''

    ''Because we never did. That was just a hologram. The Demon witnessed the sessful scans and just had to mimic one.

    ''Lith can''t active an amulet without killing its owner, but since you were right about every member of the staff having one, that''s out of the question.'' Solus grumbled, hoping that the female guard would read the news but instead she went checking her messages.

    Tista kept walking until the guards turned around the corner and then returned to the node before shapeshifting into her Red Demon form.

    ''Weave your spells.'' She said to Solus. ''It shouldn''t be necessary, but better safe than sorry. Use water and lightning only since if a Forgotten dies, their body will move back to the Golden Griffon and Thrud will know exactly where we are.''

    Tista took a deep breath, guiding half of the world energy towards her lungs and the other half to her heart. Her blue and red eyes lit up together as she breathed a focused stream of True mes the size of a blow torch.

    The Cursed mes ate at the bundle of runes and dispelled the power they held. The array''s node fell apart, weakening the whole structure withoutpromising its integral stability.

    At the same time, the red scales covering Tista''s body and the feathers on her wings became of a bright blue and were quickly covered in ice as the Zero produced along with the Cinder coursed through them.

    Much to Solus'' surprise, the Cursed element was stored in the Red Demon''s body in a stable form that inflicted upon Tista no harm. Quite the contrary, her aura had grown in power and her physique in size, giving her the appearance of a majestic ice elemental.

    Thrud''s Forgotten received a notification of the sudden imbnce in the main array and sent a two-man unit to check the situation. Mobilizing more Awakened would have left the city hall unprotected while sending just one might force them to walk into a trap.

    The now Blue Demon saw the two Warp Steps opening at the same time and apart enough to ensure that at least one of them would have had the time to sound the rm in case something was wrong.

    Tista unleashed one st of Frozen mes from her mouth and another from her wings, hitting both the Forgotten who turned into blocks of ice the moment they stepped through their respective dimensional door.

    Tista had used just enough Zero to bring them to a status of suspended animation without killing them. The protective barriers of their armor had blocked the physical damage but not the cold that had seeped inside their bodies.

    ''Oh, shit!'' She said as half of her body burst into mes while the other half turned into a mass of ice spikes.

    Tista brought her hands together, reuniting the twin elements that had been split apart and reverting them back to their natural state. Regr magic couldn''t hurt its caster so she needed but a thought to dispel them.

    ''What was that?'' Solus asked.

    ''The fruits of mybor.'' Tista replied while pushing the Forgotten into an empty room nearby and hoping that theirrades would wait for at least a couple of minutes before looking for them.

    ''I''ve been working hard on my ming form with the help of the members of the Nest, but I still can''t control that bloodline ability without external help. If someone doesn''t stop me, I keep burning until I pass out from exhaustion.F

    ''On the plus side, all that training helped me find a way to control the Cursed mes and keep them from hurting me.

    ''Once I conjure them in pairs, I can now safely store Cursed mes inside my body by using their conflicting nature to my advantage. Whenever Cinder is about to go wild, I give it a bit of Zero to neutralize the surge and vice versa.''

    ''Interesting.'' Solus said. ''It sounds like an application of Void Magic.''

    ''Because it is.'' Tista inwardly nodded. ''I can''t turn a Cursed element into its opposite but I can still use Domination to keep them under control and their symbiotic rtionship to keep them stable.

    ''The process isn''t perfect, though. I can use this method only for the elements I have the corresponding eyes and I can never use more than two kinds of mes at a time. As long as I''m focused on containing the Cursed mes I can''t breathe more or even use Origin mes.

    ''On top of that, the slightest imbncepromises this technique. The reason my scales froze over after disabling the node is that I consumed a part of the Cinder, tipping the scales enough for the Zero to start taking over.

    ''Once I neutralized the two Forgotten, instead, I consumed so much Frozen mes to neutralize the Forgotten and their equipment that the bnce was lost.''

    ''I see.'' Solus pondered Tista''s new power to incorporate it into her strategies. ''Basically, now you can store your mes and release them in controlled amounts. Yet unless you consume them at the same rate, at some point they go awry and go to waste.''

    ''Not really. I could have released what remained of the True and Frozen mes into energy sts, but this is a cover mission.'' Tista took hermunication amulet and called her allies for help.

    "Lith, Phloria, the first node is gone, I got rid of two of Thrud''s Awakened, and my cover is still intact. I can sabotage the second and maybe even the third node if I don''t meet too many patrols on the way, but as the arrays be weaker someone is bound to notice that something is wrong.

    "I need a diversion."

    "Copy that." Both replied.

    "I''ll start charging Reaver right away. Even though the elemental sealing arrays of the city block most of my spells, I can still use them to conjure my de Tier spell." Phloria said while giving her troops the signal to prepare for battle.

    At the same time, she activated the Mouth of Menadion, using it to cast spells at double the regr speed like only a violet-cored Awakened could.

    "Commence the attack as soon as you can, but call the army before you do." Tista said. "We can fight Thrud''s troops off on our own but we can''t take control of the city with such a few people.

    "Lith, you remain on standby. I want the Forgotten to focus on Phloria and stay out of my way as long as possible. Have your Demons step in only once my position ispromised so that while the enemy is busy dealing with your armies, I can continue my mission with minimal resistance."

    "I can do that." Lith took deep breaths, conjuring huge amounts of darkness and Spirit magic that would allow his Demons of the Darkness to turn into Demons of the Fallen at a moment''s notice.

 Chapter 2099 Plans Coming Together (Part 1)

    Chapter 2099 ns Coming Together (Part 1)

    Lith summoned and spread out all the souls he could handle without the help of his Golems, having the new Demons monitor the strategic points of the city hall. Then, he looked through their eyes to study each corridor, room, and the number and position of the enemy troops.

    Tista reached the second node of runes and neutralized it with True mes as well.

    She also managed to dispose of the Forgotten who came to check on the disturbance without getting caught, but then the nature of the concentric arrays took its course.

    With two nodes out of four down, the strength of the main array plummeted, making it evident for those with high mana perception that someone was tampering with it.

    To make matters worse, the phenomenon quickly spread throughout the magical formations covering the city, weakening them as well and alerting even the Forgotten stationed on the city walls.

    "That''s our cue." Phloria said. "Attack, now!"

    The corps that the Council had put under hermand amounted to a few hundred of rtively young Awakened. None of them had reached the violet core nor had been chosen as their respective master''s heir.

    Individually, they were considered expendable pawns. Yet after being trained together and under the guidance of a capable leader, they had be a force to be reckoned with.

    Phloria split her troops into three groups.

    One group would surround the city and form an offensive Spirit array that would hammer at the city defenses, draining them of their power and reducing the advantage that the city guards still had after Tista''s sabotage.

    The second group wasprised of Emperor Beasts and represented the main attack force. They had been tasked withbining Spirit Spells and their superior mass to upy the city walls and destroy the defensive turrets.

    On the surface, their goal seemed to be opening gates to let the human army in but it was just a diversion. Their role was to draw as much attention as possible and keep Thrud''s soldiers away from the city hall.

    Thest and smaller group wasprised of both humans and Fae. They used the cover of the Emperor Beasts to Spirit Blink inside Zehnma and advance toward the Warp Gate.

    This way, they would give the impression that the Kingdom was following its usual strategy and blocking the reinforcements the moment they stepped out of the dimensional portal.

    Faes were smaller and lighter than Emperor Beasts but they all had bloodline abilities that weren''t hindered by the defensive arrays. Phloria had formed specialized groups for each task that would have an advantage over the units of Forgotten who instead were jacks of all trades but masters of none.

    She was in charge of the first group, leading the assault in the shiest way she could.

    The air, earth, and fire elements were sealed but water and darkness were still avable. Water magic was needed in the everyday life to drink and put out fires while without darkness magic healers couldn''t do their job.

    Phloria had charged Reaver solely with spells that used those two elements to not waste a single iota of her mana. Her estoc was the second piece of the War series that her father Orion had forged.

    The de worked akin to a spell holding ring, allowing its wielder to store inside the pseudo cores spells.

    Yet while regr artifacts would hold a single spell for an unlimited time, Reaver could hold an unlimited number of spells for two minutes. It was a weapon that demonstrated its full prowess whenever there was enough time to charge it up, like during an ambush or a siege.

    The estoc not only relieved Phloria from the mental burden of keeping many spells at the ready, but it also allowed her to unleash them at will and coordinate them with surgical precision.

    As long as Reaver was charged, facing her or an entire toon of mages was the same thing.

    Phloria weaved the tip of her de in the air like an orchestra conductor with a baton, conjuring a hail of ck ice that rained on the soldiers patrolling the walls. At the same time, the water in the moat surrounding the castle froze and rose to the ground level, making it possible for the Kingdom''s foot soldiers to approach the walls.

    Wave after wave of ice covered the windows that the guards stationed inside the walls used to fire their wands at the enemy until the cold started to spread inside the room.

    Water magic alone would have been just an annoyance since Phloria couldn''t keep focused on everything at the same time and a spell without willpower would quickly turn into a natural element that anyone could control.

    The darkness infused in her spells, however, was a different story. It drained life just like the cold drained the heat, making anyone who stood close to the ice for too long faint.

    On top of that, the darkness element ate at anything, even mana, keeping external spells from affecting the ice. A single tier five spell was nothing against the enchanted stone and the arrays that protected the city, but Phloria was unleashing dozens of them at the same time.

    The Forgotten guarding the walls were worried by the intruder in the city hall weakening the arrays, but there was nothing they could do about it. The Emperor Beasts were slowly gaining the upper hand thanks to Tista''s tampering and to the human Awakened soldiers sting with Spirit Magic anyone that moved.

    The regr troops stationed inside the city outnumbered the Council corps 100 to 1, but they were mostly humans and a few fake mages.

    Only an Awakened army could defeat another. It was the reason Thrud had been sessful in her military campaign and she had prioritized the conquest of cities with a Warp Gate.

    She had only a limited number of reserve troops always avable at the Golden Griffon but she could move them around at a moment''s notice thanks to the dimensionalwork.

    Yet the Council''s simultaneous attack forced her to split them on multiple fronts and the few that she dispatched to Zehnma found a bunch of Faes waiting for them, turning the Warp Gate from an advantage into a bottleneck where numbers meant nothing.

    The Forgotten already inside the city, instead, stopped patrolling the sky and converged on the city walls to stop the invasion. They believed that whoever had damaged the arrays was already gone and that the key to the battle would be the Gate.

    The Forgotten were loyal and fearless, but not brilliant. Without a personality or someone giving them instructions, they would just follow the orders they had already received.

    "Stop, dammit!" Xo the Fenrir said to the few Awakened still in the city hall who were about to abandon their position and join either the battle for the walls or that for the Warp Gate.

    There was urgency and worry in her voice, but they merely turned toward her with their usual nk stare.

    "There''s something wrong here. The arrays are still on and the control panel is still intact."

    The moment the power had gone down she had rushed to the core of the city hall to stop the saboteur, finding the room empty and everything in perfect condition.

 Chapter 2100 Plans Coming Together (Part 2)

    Chapter 2100 ns Coming Together (Part 2)

    "This means that someone has attacked at least one of the main nodes. To understand the nature of the Queen''s working and find the keystones, the enemy must have infiltrated the city and studied the arrays for days."

    Xo said mostly to herself since the others had no concept of time or strategy.

    "No one would have invested so much time just to run away after a few minutes. The enemy must still be inside." Xo had no idea that the Eyes of Menadion existed, nor that they could unravel theplex array system from a distance and in a few hours at that.

    "Our security must have beenpromised. Investigate everyone with Invigoration and don''t trust the scanners. The enemy must have found a way around them or we wouldn''t be in this mess."

    The Forgotten nodded and bolted away, flying at high speed tob search the city hall in minutes.

    ''What do I do?'' Xo racked her brain in doubt. ''If the enemy really is here and I go to the Warp Gate, the arrays will go down and the enemy will swarm the city. Yet if I''m wrong and I remain here chasing ghosts, the Gate will fall and the result will be the same.''

    To make her conundrum even worse, she kept receiving reports from the city walls where the siege was quickly taking a turn for the worse. The Spirit Array that the Council had devised formed a barrier around the members of Phloria''s army and healed their wounds.

    ''Damn the Royals! A three-pronged attack!'' The Fenrir cursed her bad luck and called Linnea.

    "I need at least two more Divine Beasts or the city of Zehnma will fall."

    "We don''t have them." The Headmistress pinched her nose in frustration.

    Those that Gentor had killed had yet to regenerate, ten had to be stationed in Belius at all times to keep the Magic Empress from taking over the city, and the rest had been deployed just a few minutes earlier.

    Raagu''s n had forced Thrud to spread her forces thin and taking away a single Divine Beast meant to lose a city.

    "What about the Queen? The King Consort? Protheus? Heck, I''d settle even for that Meln fucker!" Xo said in outrage.

    "Her Majesty is personally defending the capitol of Nestrar. The damn King refuses to leave the baby''s side and Protheus is still getting ustomed to his new powers. As for Meln, not only revealing that the Dead King is still alive would greatly backfire, but we have no way to control him." Linnea replied.

    "Then Zehnma is lost. I can''t do everything by myself." The Fenrir shook her head.

    "Hystar, is there anything you can do?" Linnea asked.

    "Yes." The true Headmaster of the Golden Griffon pushed her through an emergency Spirit Gate after locking on the coordinates of Xo''s amulet. "Time to prove your worth on the field, dear colleague.

    "Fight to your heart content knowing you can''t die. Glory to Arthan."

    Like the Golden Griffon was a perversion of the six great academies, its motto was a perversion of Valeron''s battle cry.

    The First King had valued his people above all whereas even in death the Mad King only cared about himself.

    "I''ll go take care of the walls and the Gate, you search this ce. Be very careful when you order these morons around. The Forgotten take everything to the letter." The Fenrir turned into an anthropomorphic wolf and bolted through a window before Linnea could even reply.

    ''Even though Thrud Awakened and rejuvenated me, I''m still old dammit.'' She thought. ''I''ve been sitting behind a desk for over forty years. A few months of training aren''t enough-''

    Tista had just taken down the third node, halving the power of all the city arrays and making elemental spells avable again. Their power and range would still be limited, but it was enough to put fake mages back to use.

    After the foot soldiers, now the army mages and those of the Association could join Phloria''s attack force, further tipping the scale of the battle.

    The only good news for Linnea was that, due to the patrols making Tista waste time with their scans, by the time she had reached the third node, the Forgotten she had previously frozen had been found and thawed.

    ''Caution to the wind, then.'' The Red Demon thought when following the copse of the magical focus six Spirit Steps opened at the same time instead of the usual two.

    She released the full power of the Frozen and the True mes, respectively through her mouth and wings, sending two Forgotten straight back to the Golden Griffon with their equipment broken beyond repair.

    It would take time and precious mana crystals to Forgemaster them back.

    At the same time, Solus calcted the dimensional coordinates of the fourth node and Warped Tista there before the rest of the Forgotten could surround her. Solus also took care of leaving behind several tier five Light Mastery Spells that detonated in unison.

    They weren''t enough to kill a fully equipped violet cored Awakened with a Spirit Barrier on, but they still sted them off their feet.

    The heat and the shockwaves released from the explosions turned the emerald barriers into pinballs that bounced on the walls, the ceiling, and between them until all the kic energy was dispersed.

    If not for their single-minded nature, the Forgotten would have fainted from a brain concussion. They managed to remain conscious, but the trauma left them blind, deaf, and dizzy.

    "Is everything alright? Do you need help?" A guard who had arrived on the scene asked while the Forgotten puked their guts out.

    The voice and the life force matched that of the city hall personnel, so the Awakened put down their weapons and focused on recovering control over their bodies again.

    "We are fine. We just need a few breaths to recover-" His voice was cut short by an enchanted spear infused to the brim with darkness magic that had just pierced through his lung.

    "We can''t have that." The human soldier had suddenly been swallowed by the Demon hidden in her shadow.

    The creature had taken over her body, her mana core, and was now channeling the power that Lith sent to his Demons to further empower their weapons.

    The Forgotten sted the enemy away with a spell from one of his rings just for three more Demons to take her ce. After Tista had given him the signal, Lith had spread his Demons throughout the city hall, keeping them ready to possess even the clerks.

    Now that Tista''s presence had been exposed, he had activated his shadows that were now flooding the hallways of the city hall and backstabbing Thrud''s forces the moment they turned their heads.

    Linnea reached the fourth node just a second before the Red Demon did. Xo had shared everything she knew with the Headmistress so Linnea knew where the saboteur would be next.

    What she couldn''t predict was that her arrival would have been weed by savage attacks at the hand of the very people she had been sent there to protect. The Demons turned into weapons everything they could find by infusing them with Spirit Magic.

 Chapter 2101 Plans Coming Together (Part 3)

    Chapter 2101 ns Coming Together (Part 3)

    In the hands of the Demons, mops became spears, chair legs turned into short swords, quills into knives, and all of them lunged at Linnea''s Spirit Steps before she could see theming.

    Her Adamant armor kept her from dying on the spot, repelling the physicalponent of the makeshift weapons, but the darkness they were imbued with pierced through metal and opened deep gashes in the flesh underneath.

    Still hiding in the broom closet, Lith held the Sage Staff in his hands, using the ck eye of the Balor to conjure the only tier five necromancy spell he had ever created, Demons of the Fallen, and his own ck eye to amplify the effects of both.

    He used the Balor''s eye as a focus to conjure an endless stream of darkness element while splitting the energy between all the corpses to keep them from turning into greater undead.

    The two eyes also amplified the effect of the Necromantic spell, allowing the ck mana not only to form blood cores that the Demons could feed upon, but also to flood the stolen bodies with darkness element and turn them into deadly weapons.

    It was the first time in a long while that Lith didn''t fight on the frontlines so he could devote his full focus on amplifying the power of his Demons and coordinating their attacks thanks to the hive mind that his chains created.

    Even the souls who had long since lost their sanity fought like cunning warriors under his supervision.

    "What the fuck is she doing here?" Tista thought out loud, shocked by Linnea''s sudden arrival.

    "Do I know you?" The Headmistress replied in confusion, having no idea who the Red Demon was.

    ''I don''t know and I don''t care.'' Solus replied via the mind link. ''Focus on the mission.''

    Linnea conjured an emerald barrier that shoved the Demons away, giving her the time to mend her wounds with a spell from one of her rings and keeping the traitorous guards from inflicting her new wounds.

    Tista had a hard time not hurling a twin st of full powered Cursed mes to get rid of the Headmistress and the node at the same time. The problem was that she had been sent to disable the array, not to destroy it.

    The Red Demon started to hurl a small jet of True mes at the runes when Linnea noticed what was happening.

    "Oh no, you don''t!" A snap of her fingers released the tier five Spirit Spell, Phoenix Smash.

    It generated countless streams of emerald mes capable of disrupting both matter and energy that sent the Demons flying through the corridors like paper amid a storm. The bolts of energy carefully avoided the arrays, leaving them unscathed.

    ''This is bad.'' Solus said. ''Linnea is a deep violet core Awakened while you have just a bright blue core. What''s the n?''

    ''Isn''t that your job?'' Tista asked in a panic.

    ''No. I only give Lith information, finding ways to use it is up to him.''

    ''Time to improvise, then!'' wed Adamant gloves appeared over the Red Demon''s hands, covering her forearms up to the elbow with spiked arm protectors as she shed the air in front of her.

    The enchanted weapon known as Sunder had once belonged to the ck Dragoon Syrook and despite its current appearance it could fit a Divine Beast.

    Even though air magic was sealed inside of Zehnma, Sunder had so much mass and boosted Tista''s strength so much that the simple motion generated ten wind des. The projectiles shed against the protective spells of the walls, producing a cascade of sparks as they approached Linnea.

    Meanwhile, at the city gates, the barrier of solid energy that protected Zehnma had just lost half of its prowess due to the copse of the third node.

    Between the constant onught of spells from the mages of the Kingdom and the Spirit Array of the Awakened corps enveloping the city, the surface of the barrier was now covered in a spiderweb of cracks that were growing in size by the second.

    ''Just a bit more and the Royal army will be able to enter Zehnma. At that point, we only have to capture the Warp Gate to-'' Phloria''s train of thought derailed when she saw a small meteor in the distance that was growing in size as it approached.

    It had started as an anthropomorphic creature and now looked like a wolf so big that it covered her whole field of vision. Its grey fur was alternated with white mana crystals and its maw wasrge enough to swallow even the biggest Emperor Beast of her corps in one gulp.

    ''A Fenrir! Change of ns, I can''t wait one second longer.'' Phloria channeled the energy that Reaver umted with each spell that it cast, adding that mana to her own in order to weave her de Tier Spell, Omnish.

    Conjuring such aplex spell would have usually taken a while, but she had stored it in the Mouth of Menadion and was now using the artifact along with fake and true magic to cast Omnish at record time.

    Reaver emitted a white light that wrapped around Phloria''s body, forming a luminous cocoon of power that boosted both her physical and magical prowess akin to a second mana core.

    She charged at the solid steel double doors that sealed the entrance to the city while lunging with her estoc.

    The thrust produced a white pir of energy that crashed against the Orichalcum studded metal with such strength that the city walls trembled for meters and the noise from the impact burst the eardrums of the nearby guards.

    An overhead diagonal sh cut deep into the metal, quickly followed by a backhand upward horizontal cut along the door''s outlines and by another overhead diagonal sh toward the other side.

    Phloria stood on her feet, shifting her center of gravity to put her full weight behind each sh and moving only her arm and wrist to form a horizontal eight with her motion.

    Omnish made her so quick and exerted such a powerful pressure that it blew the hinges of the doors off while Xo was still halfway through the city.

    Phloria performed a final lunge, putting all the power she had left in one energy st. The pir of white light nailed the still flying metal doors and turned them into a high-speed projectile weighing several tons.

    The Fenrir had yet to decide whether to prioritize the city entrance or the Warp Gate when a distant explosion made her turn her head.

    Her eyes went wide in shock when she saw a gigantic piece of metal the size of her muzzle flying in the wind like a piece of paper. Then, Phloria''s Omnish caught the still barred doors in mid-air, adjusting their course and elerating their flight to the speed of sound.

    Xo started to weave Blink with her body, but even the movement spell was too slow. The door rammed at her hard enough to break her ribs despite the thick fur covering her body that naturally dispersed all kinds of impacts.

    The energy pir pushed her back toward the city hall while its pressure bent the metal into a rough spearhead that dug into Xo''s armor and flesh.

 Chapter 2102 Plans Coming Together (Part 4)

    Chapter 2102 ns Coming Together (Part 4)

    The Fenrir was dragged in the sky for several kilometers until Omnish was too distant from its caster to keep its cohesion and exploded.

    The light generated by the dying de Spell blinded everyone who was looking directly at the st while the shockwave it produced made whole city blocks quake despite the distance and the arrays muffling its power.

    Xo survived only thanks to fusion magic boosting her colossal body, her Adamant armor, and her bloodline ability, Mana Body, that had made her fur nigh-imprable.

    ''Shit, if that thing hit me directly instead of bursting through the enchanted doors first, I would be already dead. No one told me that the Council had someone besides Verhen who can use de Tier spells.

    ''I can''t give them the time to prepare another or I''m dead.'' The Fenrir dispelled Mana Body to weave her spells and used Invigoration to heal while flying toward Phloria as fast as she could.

    "Inbound Divine Beast, I need backup." Unfortunately for Xo, the Commander of the Awakened corps was well aware of her own limits. "My Emperor Beasts are already busy dealing with Thrud''s heavyweights and I have no one who can handle someone of that size."

    "Copy that." Fe the Behemoth replied from hundreds of kilometers away. "We don''t have a seven-man unit of violet cores avable to Annihte it. How long does it take you to fire another shot of Omnish?"

    "Too long." Phloria had already recovered her mana with Invigoration and was double casting thanks to the Mouth of Menadion, but Reaver needed two minutes to fully charge whereas she had seconds at most.

    "Lith?" The Beast representative asked.

    "On my way." From the broom closet, Lith took one final breath of Invigoration before releasing Raptor and Trouble from his pocket dimension.

    Zehnma''s dimensional sealing arrays were still in ce, but his omni pocket only required him to expend a spark of life force to release what it stored in a burst of emerald mes.

    There was no need for words or exnations. The Spirit Crystals in their chests were in synch with their master''s thoughts and learned everything that had happened during their absence as Lith''s mana brought them to full charge.

    The two Golems reduced their size to that of a human and rushed toward the office of the city lord to intercept the Forgotten before they could leave the building.

    At the same time, two floors below, Tista was fighting for her life.

    Linnea had blocked the air des with the same barrier she had used to repel the first wave of Demons of the Fallen and then she had broken it into countless razor-sharp fragments.

    Part of the emerald des spun around her at high speed in a whirlwind, using their edge to tear apart whoever came in too close and their t side to intercept spells and projectiles alike.

    The Headmistress'' mastery over body casting was still amateurish due to having learned Thrud''s method instead of creating her own. The Mad Queen was more skilled and powerful than Linnea had ever been so what was easy for Thrud to grasp was a conundrum for her less talented apprentices.

    The best Linnea could do was to use the cover from the conjured protection to weave spells with her mind and fake magic, relying on body casting solely to weave a few easy runes here and there.

    Tista, however, fared much worse. The physical and magical gap between a bright blue and a deep violet core more thanpensated for Linnea''sck of experience as an Awakened.

    The Red Demon had managed to hold her ground only thanks to Solus reading Linnea''s spell with the Eyes while they were cast, predicting their trajectory, and the Demons of the Fallen piling up on the Headmistress.

    ''I would still have a chance if I could use my bloodline abilities, but if I do that, capturing Zehnma will be an empty victory. Without the arrays, the city will be changing hands more often than a copper coin!'' Tista thought.

    Solus racked her brain for a way to beat the Headmistress, but the Hands of Menadion were useless against someone who used Spirit Magic, and the Mouth stored spells useful for a covert mission, not an uphill fight.

    ''Oh, shit!'' Almost as if she had read Tista''s mind, Linnea had cast a tier five Spirit Spell, Meltdown, that was about to generate and hexaelemental wave of energy that would have killed everyone in the corridor without affecting the node.

    With no way to dodge, Tista dropped the gauntlets to the floor. Just like her hands, the middle fingers were the only ones still up, flipping Linnea off fourfold.

    "Dying with bravado. You are more stupid than you look!"

    "Behind me, Demons!" Tista ignored Linnea and took the deepest breath she could.

    The Fallen had no idea what was happening, but Lith''s final order had been to assist his sister so they obeyed hermand.

    As the emerald avnche approached, Tista activated Sunder''s size-regting spell so that the gloves turned into Adamant walls that blocked the corridor, protecting both her and the Demons.

    The still raised middle fingers pierced through the stone ceiling and anchored the gigantic gloves to their position.

    "Son of a¡­" Linnea had already conjured Meltdown so dispelling it would have wasted the massive amount of mana she had poured into it.

    She finally recognized Tista from Lith''s file and the idea of having been outsmarted by someone so young only fueled her scorching rage further.

    "Since your brother is not here, I''ll have to settle your life!" The Headmistress of the Golden Griffon roared before taking a deep breath of Invigoration to make Meltdown even stronger.

    The entire city hall trembled from the sheer pressure of the spell while the floor and the ceiling respectively below and above Sunder cracked.

    "Push!" Tista ordered as the base of the gloves started to tilt up.

    As Linnea continued to use Invigoration, she had also focused Meltdown into an energy mass dense and powerful enough to lift the non-anchored side of Sunder. If even the equivalent of a breeze were to pass through, only wandering souls would remain.

    The Demons helped Tista to keep the gloves in ce, but soon the metal became so hot that the silvery of the Adamant turned red.

    ''How much mana has she left?'' Tista thought in horror. ''With this spell flooding the corridors, there''s no ce where I can Blink. If I can''t find a solution I''ll fail the mission, lose Sunder, and my own life!''

    She took a deep breath, activating both her red and her blue eyes. The Frozen mes coursed through her body, giving her touch the ability to give Sunder a cold aura that absorbed the iing heat wave and allowed the artifact to slowly cool down.

    "Don''t stand there like idiots. Help me!" Tista gritted her teeth, feeling her body burn.

    The more Frozen mes she consumed, the more the True mes she had conjured ravaged her flesh. With no way to release them, she focused the True mes into her feathers that ignited in a white ze.

    The Demons who until that moment had conjured Lith''s best water magic spell suddenly stopped and abandoned their position.

    "Are you insane? What do you think you are-" Tista''s words died in her mouth when she realized that they weren''t running away but charging straight at her.

 Chapter 2103 Fairy Queen (Part 1)

    Chapter 2103 Fairy Queen (Part 1)

    Or better, The Demons of the Fallen were charging at Tista''s wings.

    They passed through the True mes without getting burned, the white fire bursting out of her feathers shared instead of mindlessly unleashed.

    Strong of their new power, the True Demons Blinked past the protection of Sunder, shielding Tista and the artifact with their own bodies.

    Linnea''s mouth opened in fear as the number of True Demons increased by the second. Soon there were so many of them that bybining their Cursed mes they were not only repelling Meltdown, but they were also slowly advancing.

    ''What the heck is going on?'' Tista could feel the burden from the True mes decreasing as more and more Demons stepped through her wings.

    ''Yes, Tista. I''m alright. Thanks for asking.'' Solus'' voice was supposed to sound sarcastic but it was amazed instead.

    ''Good gods, Solus, I''m so sorry! Ipletely forgot that you were still at my finger and that by conjuring the True mes that way I would put you into danger. Are you sure you are not hurt?'' The Red Demon asked.

    ''I''m not hurt. Quite the contrary.'' The stone ring was aze as well, but just like for the Demons, the Cursed mes were tame.

    ''How the heck is this possible?''

    ''Off the top of my hat, I have no logical exnation. If you believe in superstition, I have one, though. Nana''sst words.'' Solus replied.

    ''What do you mean?'' Tista felt her head spinning.

    ''She called Lith "King of the Spirits" and his power turned out to be about having authority over the souls of the dead who choose to follow him. Nana called you "Fairy Queen", instead, not "Queen of something".

    ''If Nana was right, it means that your power isn''t about controlling others but about bestowing your power upon others, like a Queen when she blesses her knights before sending them to battle.'' Solus said.

    ''It would be amazing! This way conjuring and holding inside my body two kinds of Cursed mes would no longer be dangerous for my life force. I can use the first to attack and the second to empower my allies.

    ''Yet this is odd. How could Nana predict any of this and why I can''t use this power on myself? Also, do you think that Lith has it too since Mogar called him the Father of all Demon?'' Tista asked.

    ''I''m sorry, I''ve forgotten my crystal ball in another ring.'' Solus replied with a snort. ''Focus on the battle. Linnea''s spell is almost spent but so are your bodyguards.''

    Even with the boost from the True mes, the Demons had no way to recover from the damage they had taken from Meltdown whereas Linnea only needed to keep her breathing rhythm steady to recover the mana spent.

    Her body ached from the mana abuse and Invigoration could now restore barely 60% of her strength but the Demons had just 3 eyes left at most. They couldn''t afford to use magic or mes without bing so weak that they would pose no threat to Linnea any longer.

    They were already slow in her eyes, but at least the darkness thatposed their body was still too dense for the Headmistress to just tank the blows. The shards of the barrier floating around her now moved clumsily, her mind and body exhausted from the unrelenting onught.

    The Demons attacked her from every side, deforming their shadow bodies to bypass Linnea''s defenses every time an opening appeared. Tista had immediately joined them, taking another deep breath in order to bestow new power onto the Demons.

    Her vision became blurry and her knees buckled, feeling her heart and lungs throb.

    ''Stop it! Whatever your bloodline ability is, it took a huge toll on you. You didn''t just share your mes with the Demons, you also gave each of them a spark of your life force.

    ''It shielded them at the cost of a crapload of your stamina. Any more and you''ll end up like Lith.'' Solus said.

    ''Why didn''t you tell me sooner?'' Linnea had exploited Tista''s staggering to attack her with a tier three Spirit Spell.

    A Demon jumped in front of the Red Demon, taking the brunt of the damage and giving her the time to raise Sunder to block. The st sent her crashing against a wall and squeezed the air out of her lungs.

    ''Because it''s a new skill! I can''t push the damn pause button during a fight and take my sweet time thinking.'' Solus replied.

    ''What''s a pause button?'' Solus'' word confused Tista and the mana exchange from the mind link was starting to give her a headache.

    Linnea noticed the sluggish movements of the Red Demon and released another spell. With her mind clouded by fatigue, Tista reacted by instinct. She sidestepped the spell and shed with Sunder.

    The emerald shards reassembled themselves in front of Linnea, cracked under the air de, and then shattered under the st of the Spirit Spell in its wake.

    "No fucking way!" It had been just a tier one, but the damage it dealt to the Headmistress'' ego was on par with a de Spell.

    ''What was that?'' Tista felt slightly stronger, taller, and heavier as violet tongues now mixed with her blue aura.

    Solus wanted to congratte her, but she could feel in her weakened state, it would have been enough to make Tista faint from mana poisoning.

    Suddenly, the air in the hallway became so cold that Linnea could see her breath steaming. The Demons who had fought recklessly until a few seconds back became still as their bodies burst with new power.

    Lith had given both the cloaking rings to his sister so there was nothing suppressing his aura as he went all-out two floors above.

    The Headmistress ignored Tista and focused the other spells she had at the ready on the Demons whose aura was suddenly rising to match her own. Luckily for her, the creatures didn''t seem to worry about defending themselves.

    They just relentlessly attacked while releasing a ck fog that blinded her Life Vision.

    ''Damn bastard! Verhen wants me to focus on his minions while the Red Demonpletes her mission. I should have known that little runt would have never left his sister alone.'' Linnea Blinked past the Demons and in front of Tista to stop Lith''s n before it was toote.

    Or at least, what she believed was Lith''s n.

    Linnea was about to unleash the tier five Spirit Spell Mana Storm to get rid of all the enemies at the same time when Lith Switched positions with one of the possessed clerks.

    Finding the dimensional coordinates of a ce was hard in the chaos of the battle so he had ordered the Demons to stand still. As for their aura, it was meant to cover his dimensional spell, not Tista.

    "Hi, Linnea." Even though Lith was in his Tiamat form, even though seven years had passed, he was still exactly as the Headmistress remembered him.

    Someone with cold eyes, no care for the authority, and the expression of someone who didn''t consider her worthy of a second of his time.

    "We finally meet again, you-" A sudden left punch to the gut sent her mming against the ceiling, shattered her ribcage despite the Adamant armor protecting it, and cut her short.

 Chapter 2104 Fairy Queen (Part 2)

    Chapter 2104 Fairy Queen (Part 2)

    "Bye, Linnea." A right hook caught her on the rebound and almost ripped her head off her neck.

    An Linnea was a traitor and a self-righteous person but she was a good judge of character. Lith had no desire to waste his time with her and remembered who she was only because of her shared past with Nana.

    Until that moment, Tista had had trouble facing a superior opponent, but now Linnea was in a much worse situation. Lith''s core was stronger, his body weighed tons, and he moved so quickly that she didn''t have the time to cast her spells.

    The Headmistress bounced off the enchanted walls like a pinball before crashing into the floor and creating a crater. She was bleeding from her mouth, ears, and eyes while her whole body seemed to have been broken into pieces.

    ''I can''t fall like this. Even if I fail my mission, I refuse to let Verhen win without even casting a single-'' As light fusion cleared her blurred vision, Linnea realized that after bidding her goodbye Lith had really left the room.

    "Come back here! I''m not finished yet!" She yelled at the top of her lungs in humiliation, timing her words so that they wouldn''t interrupt Invigoration.

    "Actually, you are." A petite figure stood in front of her, covered in a golden armor and wielding a hammer more suitable for crafting than fighting.

    "How dares Verhen send a child to fight me?" Linnea roared in outrage.

    The Headmistress could see with Life Vision that the fabled Golden Knight had a red core and a feeble life force. If not for her equipment, she would have been invisible.

    The Fury moved in a downward arc, way faster than Linnea had predicted and what her broken body could follow. The Forgemastering hammer crushed her skull open but Solus didn''t stop hitting until the Headmistress'' body disappeared.

    Even though Solus had just a blue core andcked speed, her human form had the strength of a Divine Beast. Linnea had failed to understand the threat that Solus posed due to the cloaking rings she wore.

    Lith had left soon after his arrival not only because Phloria couldn''t afford to wait but also because he knew that Solus could deal with an opponent like Linnea as long as he created an opening for her.

    "I''m not that short, you asshole." Solus grumbled at the sparks of light left behind by the Unwavering Loyalty array.

    "Dammit!" Tista mmed her fist against a wall in anger. "Even with the help of the Demons and Sunder, I wasn''t even remotely her match."

    "I get that you are pissed off, but you did the best that you could against a superior opponent in a tough situation. Even though you didn''t win, you have discovered a new bloodline ability and even taken the first step toward the violet core." Solus pointed at her friend''s double colored aura.

    "I know, but it doesn''t make having my ass handed to me any less unpleasant." Tista sighed deeply. "Now let''s get rid of this thing."

    She adjusted the Monocle on her eye socket and focused on the node of runes in front of her. Tista didn''t have to worry about being discovered anymore but the exhaustion from the battle made her task much harder than before.

    One wrong move and Zehnma''s array field would have gone for good. To make matters worse, all of the Forgotten had reached the deep violet whereas Tista and the Demons were running on fumes.

    She could only hope that Solus would be enough to stall them in the case one or more of the Forgotten arrived.

    ''Why didn''t Lith bring all the Demons to six eyes before leaving?'' Tista asked.

    ''Because there are hundreds of them and one of him. Even if Lith run out of Invigoration, it wouldn''t be enough to create an army of violet cored Demons.'' Solus replied while sending the shadows toward the Forgotten to act as decoys while she kept guard.

    Needing more finesse than speed, Tista used Origin mes to unravel the final node one rune at a time. The procedure seemed tost an eternity to her, but the city arrays were actually losing power with a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ''Gods, no!'' Xo thought while charging toward the city entrance where human soldiers, Forgotten, and Thrud''s Emperor Beasts were giving their all to keep Zehnma from being stormed.

    ''Gods, yes!'' Phloria thought while weaving spells that used other elements from ice and darkness in preparation for the final assault.

    "Stop them at all costs!" The Fenrir yelled while conjuring several arrays that followed her around thanks to her bloodline ability, Elemental Flow. "It''s only a matter of time before reinforcements arrive from the Gate and the city hall."

    "Second squad, mass Disarray!" Phloria yelled in hermunication earpiece. "Don''t let the Divine Beast reach the outer walls or our advantage will be lost."

    Elemental Flow not only allowed a mage to ovee the arrays'' limitation of being stuck in the ce they had been cast, but it also allowed the mage to turn them on and off at will.

    She could recognize a full set of elemental sealing arrays and even a gravity formation. Xo could use them to keep her enemies from using anything but Spirit Magic while her allies would have no such problem.

    Along with the gravity array, it would have been enough to stop Phloria''s troops'' advance and squash like a bug the Royal army that was surrounding Zehnma. While the human soldiers climbed the walls, the fake mages had kept themselves right outside the magical formations, waiting for them to weaken before joining the siege.

    The Awakened squadron followed Phloria''s orders, unleashing a barrage of Disarray spells on the Fenrir.

    Xo could keep her spells from exploding by focusing her willpower to negate the enemies'' but while she had to split her focus on the seven formations, the Awakened only had to target one each.

    Even with the help of her bloodline ability, the Fenrir had to give her all just to take one step forward.

    "My eyes are down here." Phloria''s voice forced Xo to lower her gaze just in time to see a small female darting toward her followed by a volley of tier five spells. A Raging Sun exploded in front of the Fenrir''s eyes, outside the area of effect of her elemental sealing arrays.

    The distance lessened the damage, but the air became so hot that Xo had trouble breathing and the sh had blinded her Life Vision. She didn''t see Phloria Spirit Blink right in front of her muzzle and pierce with Reaver through her eye until the cross-guard struck at her cornea.

    ''If only there weren''t those arrays, I would have released everything I have stored inside my de right inside this asshole.'' Phloria thought while activating the tier five Spirit Spell, Breakdown.

    It conjured an elemental emerald sphere that hit Xo from point nk range, without giving her the opportunity to dodge. Breakdown enveloped its target before imploding on itself.

    The Fenrir was about 20 meters (66'') high at the withers and over 52 (171'') long, but not even the tail escaped from the spell in which Phloria had poured all of her mana.

 Chapter 2105 True Monster (Part 1)

    Chapter 2105 True Monster (Part 1)

    The air and earth elements blocked Xo, respectively by inducing an electric seizure and by trapping her limbs in a prison of rock. Fire and water alternated in pulses, causing a thermal shock that damaged the Fenrir''s equipment and lungs.

    The air was either scorching hot or frozen, making it impossible for her to use her breathing technique to recover.

    Darkness and light constantly damaged and healed her internal organs in a cycle that consumed Xo''s vitality, depriving her body of the nutrients that Invigoration would need to restore her full strength.

    The painbined with the suddenck of oxygen made the Fenrir lose her focus.

    Without her willpower to stop the Disarray spells, the magical formations Xo had conjured exploded right upon her, turning them from a means of protection into a death trap.

    Phloria would have been caught in the congration if not for the Spirit Warp that she had kept at the ready. She had learned the hard way by practicing with Faluel that when facing colossal creatures the range of a Blink would often not be enough to escape their reach.

    "Curse you, human!" Xo emerged from the dust cloud wounded and with several patches of her fur aze, but she was far from dead.

    After losing her focus and with it the spells that she kept at the ready, the Fenrir had activated her bloodline ability, Mana Body, to resist the detonation that she knew was about to happen.

    She had nothing left but her equipment and sheer physical strength, but she was sure that it would''ve been enough to get rid of that pest.

    "Your life is an insignificant prizepared to the loss of Zehnma, but it''ll have to do." The colossal wolf chased Phloria who kept Blinking back to keep her distance, but no matter what kind of spell Reaver dished out, they all washed over the Fenrir with no effect.

    Despite Phloria''s best efforts, Xo managed to close in and opened her maw to swallow the human woman whole. Phloria unleashed every spell she still had stored in her de down the Fenrir''s throat but Mana Body made the inside of her body as impervious as the outside.

    Then, the jaws closed shut abruptly in pain.

    A violet st of Origin mes had enveloped Xo''s side, burning through her flesh, armor, and even the world energy mixed with the life force thatprised her bloodline ability.

    Lith followed up by grabbing Double Edge by the de and using it as a blunt weapon, hammering at the Fenrir''s sturdy armor with the pommel and sending her crashing down on the ground.

    Then, he took a deep breath and released a burst of Void mes from his mouth and another of Blight mes from his feathered wings.

    ''Are you alright?'' He asked via a mind link to not waste time talking.

    ''Aside from my wounded pride, peachy. Gods, you Divine Beasts are such a cheat.'' Phloria replied. ''Size, power, and bloodline abilities. How can a mere humanpare to that?''

    ''Get yourself a white core.'' Lith inwardly shrugged. ''Even better, why don''t you be the first human Guardian while you are at it?''

    ''Smartass, as if it was that easy.''

    Xo''s howls of agony resounded throughout Zehnma as the ck mes ate at her from the outside and the silvery mes from the inside. Yet to the soldiers stationed on the walls and the Forgotten who were still trapped right outside the Warp Gate, it sounded like a cry of war instead of surrender.

    ''I still have one ace in the hole, but I can''t use it as long-'' It was then that Tista disabled the fourth node of the core array.

    The defense system surrounding the city hall crumbled, triggering a domino effect that stripped the power grid that fed the arrays enveloping Zehnma of the energy they needed to work.

    Without them, the Royal army outnumbered and outmatched Thrud''s human forces stationed in the city and nothing stopped them anymore from opening Warp Steps beyond the external walls and storming the fortress.

    Xo''s despair grew, but she could still count on the reinforcements from the Golden Griffon and those from the city hall.

    Or so she thought until Trouble and Raptor came out of the building at the head of hundreds of Demons who struck at the defense forces from the back, making their formation crumble.

    "No! I won''t let this city fall. Not as long as I draw breath!" Xo roared and activated her bloodline ability, Doom Tide.

    It sucked the world energy from the Fenrir''s surroundings, its effects reaching even outside the city of Zehnma where the Royal army and mages were assembled. The city arrays disappeared, the equipment of the soldiers on both sides turned into regr metal, and elemental spells failed their casters.

    Without world energy, a fake mage was no different from an overpaid schr. Awakened could still use Spirit Magic, but their own core and body were all they had now.

    Breathing techniques had be useless and even most bloodline abilities faded into nothing.

    "The battle is over!" Xoughed crazily in triumph. "You can''t beat me. If I lose my focus, the world energy I''m umting will be released in an explosion powerful enough to raze Zehnma to the ground.

    "If the True Queen can''t have this city, then no one will." Her voice echoed throughout Zehnma, instilling dread in soldiers, Awakened, and citizens alike.

    ''Shit, this is bad.'' Phloria said. ''Doom Tide will kill Thrud''s Forgotten as well, but they would just need some time to reform in the Golden Griffon whereas my soldiers would die for good.''

    ''I think she''s bluffing.'' Lith replied. ''Thrud can''t afford to lose so much food nor can she afford to ruin her public image. One of her generals blowing up an entire city and its people would cause mass hysteria throughout her territories.

    ''People wouldn''t see her as a fair ruler and a savior anymore, but as a cruel monster.''

    ''I think that too, but that Fenrir doesn''t need to go that far to win, she just needs to stall for time.'' She looked at the fight below with worry.

    Now only Awakened and soldiers equipped with alchemical tools mattered whereas mages had bembs to the ughter.

    Unlike Forgemastered equipment that required a constant flow of world energy to fuel its abilities, alchemical tools had the power of the elements already stored inside of them along with the spells.

    Wands, potions, and Fire Seeds still worked whereas the rest of Zehnma had gone back to a time before magic, making the siege clumsy and tuning the walls into mere tall piles of stones.

    ''What do you mean?'' Lith asked in confusion. ''My Demons are still here and so are your troops. All we need to do to win is find a way to get that Fenrir out of the city before kicking the crap out of her.''

    ''True, but the same stands for Thrud''s Forgotten and the Warp Gate. It''s fueled by crystals that will keep working for a while even without world energy. Also, it carries from the other side a constant flow of world energy that will allow Thrud''s troops nearby the Gate to regain their strength.''

 Chapter 2106 True Monster (Part 2)

    Chapter 2106 True Monster (Part 2)

    ''Last, but not least, by taking down the arrays Doom Tide has reset them. The moment the world energy returns, the defensive system will go back to its full power and all of our work will be for nothing!'' Phloria racked her brain in search of a solution, but to no avail.

    Physically dragging away a creature the size of the Fenrir was impossible. As for magic, any spell that didn''t kill Xo on the spot might make her release the energy stored by her bloodline ability.

    Losing the city would be a big problem for the Kingdom. Losing the city, two regiments, one battalion of mages, and the entire Awakened corps would be a disaster.

    ''I have a n.'' Lith said while handing Phloria his rail gun, Thundercrash. ''Spirit Magic isn''t the only thing we can use. We also have de Magic.''

    ''Don''t be stupid. Without world energy, the power cores of our equipment are bing weaker by the second. Sure, we could take down a Fenrir in one blow bybining our spells, but only if we had the time to weave them and our gear at full power.'' Phloria replied.

    ''That''s why I need you to get outside Doom Tide''s area of effect, let our equipment recharge, and shoot the Fenrir when I give you the signal. You may not be a marksman as good as Friya, but that thing is a target hard to miss.''

    Lith took off his Voidwalker armor and had it shrunk to human size before handing it to her alongside Double Edge and War.

    ''This is crazy!'' Phloria replied. ''Depowered or not, Adamant is still Adamant. Do you really intend to fight an opponent that big and armed to the teeth while stark naked?''

    ''Do you trust me?'' Lith asked.

    ''With my life.'' She took off, flying high in the sky until she could feel the world energy again.

    Reaver hadn''t lost the spells she had imbued it with yet nor the built-up energy necessary to cast Omnish.

    ''I can finish the preparations safely and cast my de Spell, but how is Lith supposed to do it from down there?'' The answer to her question came in the form of Trion who flew by her side.

    The moment the six-eyed Demon approached, the Voidwalker armor slipped onto him and War into his hands, weaving Ruin.

    "Since when can you cast de Tier spells?" Phloria almost lost her focus in shock.

    Almost.

    "Nice to meet you too, Phloria." Trion replied. "As for your question, since never."

    "Then what are you doing here and how is that possible?" She had no time for niceties and pointed at the crimson runes that wereing out from Lith''s equipment.

    "I am my own person but the power I wield is not mine." He said. "My whole body is made of Lith''s Spirit Magic and darkness. Right now, I''m the piece of equipment fueling the spell and War is the mage."

    Phloria looked at the angry de and at the golden chains that it produced. It was Double Edge''s ability, Gleipnir, that allowed War to link its mana flow with Trion and the rest of Lith''s set, harmonizing the various cores until they merged into one.

    War snarled in fury, hating to be separated from its master and the feel of a foreign hand on its hilt. Yet the energy signature matched that of its true master and the orders were clear so the de focused on its task.

    "The sword is casting magic?" Phloria stared in horror at the edge of the artifact as it turned into small jagged fangs that gnashed non-stop to chant the spell faster and at the shining shackles it produced.

    If not for the color, they would be nigh-identical to those Lith conjured.

    "Yeah. Your father is a monster, but at this point, you should know it already." Trion pointed at Reaver that already stored a powerparable to a violet core and kept bing more powerful despite Phloria having just a bright blue core.

    "Dam right he is." She snapped out of her reverie and pointed Thundercrash down, using Friya''s Scope spell as telescopic sight.

    Xo was too far away even for an Awakened enhanced vision. Thanks to the small dimensional corridor opened in front of the muzzle of the railgun, however, Phloria had a clear sight of the area around the Divine Beasts.

    At the same time, hundreds of meters below, Lith had touched the ground and was walking in front of the Fenrir. Each one of his steps made the city block tremble and opened a crater in the roads.

    Xo arched her back, snarling as she tried to understand the situation.

    ''Verhen is no martyr willing to die for the Kingdom. If he''se to face me, he must have a n.'' She thought, but she couldn''t figure it out for her life.

    The Fenrir still held the power of the Doom Tide inside her body and even though they were depowered, the des on her fangs and jaws were still razor-sharp and her armor sturdy.

    The Tiamat, instead, was both unarmed and unprotected.

    "Whatever you are doing, stop. No matter if I win or not, today you lose." She said.

    "You are too confident for someone so full of it. And when I say ''it'', I mean world energy." Lith spread his arms and a ck tide rose from the streets of Zehnma, covering him from head to toe.

    "What you call a threat is nothing but an all-you-can-eat buffet to us." The Demons of the Fallen reshaped their bodies to form a living armor of flesh and bones.

    Their mana cores formed awork that empowered both the makeshift artifact and its wielder. The Demons who reached Lith''s hands formed lumps of energy that quickly grew into short words.

    ''Oh, shit! Those things are made out of his own mana and now Verhen is taking it back.'' Xo couldn''t afford to stall for time anymore and jumped at Lith''s throat while conjuring a tier five Spirit Spell.

    He sidestepped the attack and executed two quick ripostes that nged against Xo''s armor, opening shallow scratches. Yet the Abomination Touch of the Demons had not only sucked a small part of the Fenrir''s vitality, but also of her Doom Tide.

    ''Cunning son of a Dragon!'' She inwardly cursed. ''The armor, the des, everything is a trap. He can''t possibly drain me quick enough with those mosquito bites so his real goal must be to get close enough and drown me in his Demons.

    ''If that happens, thousands of hands will suck me dry and neutralize the explosion. I can''t afford to let him get close again.''

    Xo activated Life Vision, discovering that not all the Demons had returned to Lith. There were pools of darknessying in an ambush near her, waiting for her to take a misstep to attack.

    To make matters worse, Lith''s makeshift equipment and the pools were resonating with magic. It didn''t take a genius to understand that they were going to trap her inside an array.

    The Fenrir activated a Spirit Flight spell and took the sky to escape the encirclement. At the same time, she unleashed the hexaelemental Spirit Spell, Manastorm, to hit the Tiamat and his Demons at the same time.

 Chapter 2107 The True Enemy (Part 1)

    Chapter 2107 The True Enemy (Part 1)

    Manastorm created a barrage of emerald falling stars that the light and earth elements made as hard as diamond, fire and darkness boosted their destructive power, while water and air increased their maneuverability and speed.

    All together, the six elements also generated a gravitational field that amplified the weight of each bullet one hundred fold.

    Lith had no way out but to use Spirit Blink. The spell moved him at the Fenrir''s back, right where she expected him to appear.

    ''What a moron.'' She thought while looking at the still-opening exit point. ''I need but a thought to adjust Manastorm''s trajectory while I rip his th-''

    An electromaically elerated bullet from Thundercrash pierced her eye and reached Xo''s brain one second before the boom of the shot reached her ears. Manastorm faded and her body fell limp, but without her consciousness, Doom Tide could no longer be contained.

    ''Such a stupid move had to be the signal.'' Phloria thought. ''The question is what now?''

    Lith plunged the twin des inside the Fenrir''s open maw and had his armor slip off him and onto her, using thebined effect of hundreds of Abomination Touch to contain the explosion in case something went wrong.

    The groups of Demons still on the ground were forming an array as Xo had feared, but it was a Warping Formation. The moment Lith had Blinked, he had ordered them to activate the array and move the helpless Fenrir high in the sky above Zehnma.

    Doom Tide released the umted energy in a st visible from space but there was nothing it could damage. Also, it was right above Phloria''s position, far away enough to not be a threat but close enough to be an easy target.

    ''You know that you are insane, right?'' Phloria asked via a mind link as soon as Lith Switched ce with Trion, wearing the armor and wielding War.

    ''Less yapping, more casting.'' Hepleted the final rune for Ruin at the same time Phloria finished weaving Omnish.

    Feeling the world energy and the army of Demons all around her, Xo used Invigoration to recover her strength and Mana Body to keep the Abominations'' touch from killing her.

    She was too busy stopping the small pests from entering her open mouth and wounds to notice the iing st.

    Ruin''s red des and Omnish''s white pir cut through the Adamant and vaporized the flesh, piercing through her barriers and bloodline abilities like they were paper.

    Without their general imparting them orders, the Forgotten kept fighting like machines and lost due to their inability to adapt to the enemy''s switch of battle formations.

    To make matters worse for the defending army, Doom Tide''s explosion had overcharged the Demons, bringing them all to six eyes.

    Outnumbered by the enemies in front of them and overpowered by those at their back, the army protecting Zehnma was quickly wiped out.

    Until a few minutes ago, the citizens would have stood up and fought alongside those they considered their liberators from the tyranny of the Royals. After hearing Xo gambling with their lives, however, they weren''t so certain about what to believe anymore.

    Their heroes had just threatened to destroy Zehnma whereas their oppressors had risked their lives to defend the city. People were too afraid and confused to move a muscle so they hid in their homes and waited for the storm to pass.

    "Nice work, Commander Ernas. We won." Lith hung War to his hip and offered her his hand.

    "I can''t believe you really did that." Phloria ignored it and embraced him, shivering in worry. "What if I missed the shot? What if the Fenrir caught wind of your trick and released the Doom Tide in your face?"

    Lith felt a bit awkward, especially after the conversation they had had at the g, but he still held her in his arms while caressing her shoulders.

    "If I asked you to trust me with your life is because I trust you with mine." He replied. "Otherwise I would''ve never told you everything about Solus, the tower, and my powers.

    "We may not be in love with each other anymore, but I still love you. You are one of my best friends and that''s not going to change, no matter what happens."

    "Really?" She said amid sniffles, while tears veiled her eyes.

    "Yes. Also, the Demons had the order to use the Warping Array to send me away in case something went wrong. I always have one or two contingency ns ready." Lith nodded.

    "What an asshole! You didn''t trust me at all." Phloria pushed him away in anger.

    "No, I just didn''t want to die. Also, Trion would have brought you to safety while Locrias was in charge of Warping Tista and Solus." Lith shrugged. "I couldn''t endanger the lives of my child''s aunts and godmother."

    "Do you really want me to be the godmother?" Her rage disappeared in an instant. "What about Sark, Solus, or Rena? Heck, maybe even Faluel is expecting you to ask her to take care of the baby in case something happens to you."

    "Well, Grandma will be part of the baby''s life anyway and I don''t feel safe entrusting such an important role to someone who is likely to cajole them in her service." Lith shook his head. "Solus would be the perfect choice if it wasn''t for our bond.

    "If something happens to me, even if she survives whatever killed me, her life will go through radical changes Just finding a new partner will be traumatic, let alone getting used to sharing so much of herself with someone else now that she''s be her own woman.

    "As for Rena, she''s no mage nor Awakened. She can''t help the baby understand any of what is going to be a very important part of their life."

    "Wouldn''t Faluel be the best choice then? She''s everything I am and a powerful Emperor Beast." Phloria replied.

    "No. The baby''s nature of Divine Beast will be a part of the problem. If they are anything like me, they''ll have no problem epting their powers but will be at risk of bing drunk on it." Lith said.

    "They''d be a human-Tiamat hybrid until their twenties and I want my child to be raised as a member of both worlds. I hope that you''ll ept and that you''ll be able to help them to not lose their humanity just like you did with me."

    "Is Kam okay with this?" Phloria asked.

    "Sure. I wouldn''t make you this offer otherwise. What do you say?"

    "I say yes." Phloria shook Lith''s hand, too moved by his words to wonder why they hadn''t thought of Zinya.

    The answer was that Kam was afraid of Vastor and that she didn''t like the idea of the baby growing surrounded by millennia old mass murderers.

    Lith and Phloria returned to the ground a few secondster yet the battle was already over.

    After the Demons had cleared the city hall of Thrud''s Forgotten, Tista had no problem reaching the control panel and shutting down both the defensive system and reconnecting the Warp Gate with the Kingdom''s dimensionalwork.

    The Royal Guards from Valeron had made quick work of whatever was left of the resistance while the soldiers arrested those who surrendered.

 Chapter 2108 The True Enemy (Part 2)

    Chapter 2108 The True Enemy (Part 2)

    It had been an amazing victory, but no one rejoiced for it. The conquering army had now to deal with a city filled with traitors who couldn''t be executed or imprisoned without reducing Zehnma to an empty shell.

    The inhabitants of the city, instead, were afraid of the punishment the Crown would inflict upon them for siding with the Mad Queen. They had no care for the brilliant strategies that had been employed or Lith''s white robe.

    The only thing that mattered for them was that Thrud wouldn''t let go of Zehnma so easily and she would try to recapture it before the Kingdom fortified it again. For them, the war had just started.

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, Vastor''s Manor, Inside his undergroundb.

    Lith''s assumptions about the absence of the Abominations from the battlefield were only in part correct. They were indeed fighting the Undead Courts and keeping themselves away from Vastor, but there was much more to that.

    The Organization was the reason the Kingdom nevercked the funds necessary to keep the war machine going despite its defeats. The leaders of the criminal organizations and the ck market were all underlings of the Master.

    It was per his order that they had epted to cooperate with the Kingdom, providing it money and food in exchange for a truce until the war was over.

    As for the Abominations, they had been mobilized to look for intel. Both hybrids and Eldritches were looking for a way to end the War of the Griffons for good. They knew that as long as the lost academy stood, there could be no victory.

    They had faced the Mad Queen more than once and while on her own she was nothing much even with her Guardian-crafted equipment, there was no beating her as soon as she retreated to the Golden Griffon.

    The cursed object would grant her more power, troops, and arrays capable of channeling every ounce of world energy that came out of the mana geyser. Nandi had proven to be incapable of overtaking the geyser while Theseus had discovered the hard way that even his Meneos rejuvenation failed him.

    Headmaster Hystar had such fine control over the world energy nearby Huryole to disable all bloodline abilities, robbing the Divine Beasts of their greatest assets.

    Chaos magic would be negated by a simple darkness sealing arrays and the Abominations had no ess to Spirit Magic, making them sitting ducks against Thrud''s generals.

    "This is bullshit!" Orulm said, mming his ck fist on the table after failing to kill Thrud despite having cornered her.

    He was one of the oldest Eldritches of the Organization, second only to Tezka, and the strongest among the pure Abominations.

    He had yet to find a suitable monster core in order to be a hybrid and the idea that the Suneater had surpassed his strength pissed him off no less than histest defeat.

    "We are the most ancient and some of the most powerful creatures on Mogar. Each one of us has faced bright white cores and lived to tell the tale if not even killed a few of those runts. How can we be helpless against a bunch of stones and mortar?"

    By achieving the white core, an Awakened would reach a physical and magical state close to perfection, yet their minds were still susceptible to the effects of prolonged istion and the madness it caused.

    All the white cores predating Baba Yaga had eithermitted suicide by stopping using their breathing techniques or gone mad, forcing the Council or the Guardians to kill them.

    Abominations, instead, were gued by an insatiable hunger caused by their ck cores that overwhelmed every other emotion. Their constant craving for life and the burning desire to get rid of it allowed them to never lose themselves to despair.

    They still suffered from istion and madness but their constant state of pain kept them focused. On top of that, the fact that Abominations were beings of pure energy made them incapable of self-harm since mana could never hurt its master.

    The only way they had to vent their fury was to take it on others.

    Eldritches were apex predators even among Abominations and some of them predated the Guardians. To be their match, a white-cored Awakened had to be lucky enough to never meet an Eldritch before mastering their powers.

    "Calm down, Orulm." The Master said. "I didn''t call for this meeting to listen to your rantings, but to find a solution to our problem. As you said, in this room there are some of the most ancient and powerful creatures on Mogar, correct?"

    The Eldritch took a deep breath to regain his cool and nodded in reply.

    "Let''s pool our knowledge, then. How many of you have faced or destroyed a cursed item in the past?" Vastor asked, making the room plunge into silence.

    "I think I''m speaking for everyone here when I say that aside from shing with the Horsemen from time to time, the answer is no one." Abthot the Eldritch said. "Normal cursed objects can''t stray from their energy source so they are easy to avoid.

    "On top of that, destroying one always causes a fallout that would kill even one of us. Mogar is big and full of food that can be easily plucked without putting our lives on the line. There was no gain or reason to do such a thing."

    "My point exactly." The Master looked at him like a dumb child. "You are ancient, but you have no knowledge or experience about our current enemy. You are powerful, but only against living things whereas the Golden Griffon''s artifact half is immune to your best weapons.

    "To make matters worse, ever since you''ve be Abominations, you''ve lost the ability to practice Forgemastering so you have no clue about how much the art of crafting has progressed.

    "In this regard, you''re even weaker than the Royal Forgemasters."

    "Well, maybe if you werepetent enough to turn us into hybrids as well, we wouldn''t be facing this hurdle." Orulm replied with a snarl, making the entire room burst into an uproar.

    Vastor''s Chosen went this close from jumping at his neck and so did most of the other Abominations.

    "I''ve tried to match your ck core with all the monster''s species you''ve brought me and even a few rare ones that the Kingdom bestowed upon me as study subjects but your tissues never took root." Vastor''s calm voice roared like thunder above the chaos in the room.

    "I did the same for the rest of the members of the Organization as well and even though I failed, I know that I did my best. If you think you can do better, I''ll dly pass the leadership to you."

    "You know that I don''t have ess to healing magic and that my Forgemastering knowledge is outdated for centuries.

    "Even if I had no such problems, with my body made of Chaos, I would destroy your delicate equipment at the first touch." Orulm hated to admit how helpless he was and hated himself even more for having put himself into a corner.

    "Then stop throwing your tantrums, old fossil. Otherwise I''ll make you." Nandi the Minotaur-Orc said while conjuring his equipment out of his dimensional amulet.

 Chapter 2109 secrets from the Past (Part 1)

    Chapter 2109 secrets from the Past (Part 1)

    Both Nandi''s armor and patas were made of purified Adamant and Forgemastered with modern techniques created by Bytra, the Fourth Ruler of the mes. By showcasing them, Nandi was not only intimidating the opponent, but also reminding the disgruntled members of the Organization of Vastor''s sesses.

    The powerful body and cores of the Minotaur surpassed those of most Eldritches despite him being much younger. On top of that, it proved to them that he could use any kind of tools without the Chaos corrupting them into scraps after a few seconds.

    Such a sight was enough to quell the rage of the other Abominations and made them get back in line.

    "I don''t think that you''ve summoned us here just to scold us, Master." Xenagrosh said. "What''s the n?"

    "As you know, I couldn''t care less about Thrud. I took part in this war for personal reasons." The hybrid-Abominations who shared an empathic link with him grunted in approval.

    They hated Orpal''s guts for killing Manohar and having attempted on Zinya''s life and that of her children time and time again. The rest of the Eldritches just sighed in resignation.

    They had no care for the lives of mortals but they couldn''t deny that under Vastor''s leadership their race had made more progress in thest few decades than the Eldritches had achieved in eons by themselves.

    Thanks to Nandi, they didn''t need to scavenge for food anymore while the Master''s arrays limited their hunger and stabilized their bodies enough for them to have a taste of their old lives.

    The Eldritches would have followed Vastor against Mogar itself if that meant bing one of his hybrids.

    "My goal is to get my hands on Meln Narchat and kill him for good. The problem is that he and Night are held prisoners inside the Golden Griffon. Thrud and her academy are an obstacle in our path but I think to have found a way to get rid of them both."

    Vastor leaned forward, handing copies of ancient documents that he had extracted from the Royal Library to everyone.

    "Abominations aren''t the only beings who were there when Arthan plunged into madness. There are plenty of members of the Undead Courts old enough to remember those events and unlike you, they have always been an integral part of Garlen society.

    "While Abominations have always been mere witnesses, the undead have yed an active role in most major events, and since before mying, they were the only rulers of the criminal underworld.

    "ording to these documents, to escape Tyris'' notice and cover his tracks, Arthan sought help from the undead. He tasked them to find the ingredients he couldn''t take from the Royal Treasury without arousing suspicions and test some of his Forbidden Spells for him."

    "Wait a second." Hushar the Leviathan said, having a hard time believing his own eyes as he read the papers. "Why would the undead bother helping Arthan? His experiments had no value for them and if the Council found out about the Undead Courts using Forbidden Magic, the Awakened would have hunted them down."

    "That''s where you are wrong." Vastor shook his head. "Undead are eternally young, but not immortal. They hoped that the same technology that today allows Thrud''s soldiers to be regenerated inside the Golden Griffon would work for them as well.

    "Had they seeded, the Council would have posed no threat to them anymore. Worst case scenario, even if it didn''t work on the undead, they could still use it to bring back their cattle.

    "Having an endless source of food would have allowed them to grow their numbers until they be Mogar''s master race. Luckily for us, in his madness Arthan was still wise enough to keep that piece of knowledge away from them.

    "I read reports about undead being regenerated while trapped inside the Golden Griffon but the Courts must have never learned its secret or we wouldn''t be having this conversation today.

    "As for the Forbidden Magic, the undead dly followed Arthan in the hope that what would grant him immortality would also fix their blood cores."

    "I see." Hushar the Leviathan nodded. "But how is this knowledge supposed to help us? History proved Arthan wrong and the Golden Griffon is his only achievement. The Madness failed to grant him immortality or even Awakening.

    "On top of that, since the Undead Courts are no different today than they were 700 years ago, we can assume that their deal with Arthan got them nowhere."

    "That''s true but that doesn''t mean that the undead learned nothing about the lost academy''s workings nor that they have no influence in the final oue." The Master said. "Don''t you find it odd that the undead are the only race that can''t be controlled by the Unwavering Loyalty array?

    "That Meln Narchat had no fear sending his Chosen to the Golden Griffon and that the Undead Courts were so quick switching sides after nning for his capture? I bet that the reason for their confidence is that they know something that we don''t. <this chapter="" is="" updated="" by="" freewebn(ove)l=""></this>

    "A hidden card to y the moment the rtionship with the Mad Queen goes sour. Something that in the right hands will cause her downfall." Vastor took a pause to let his words sink and to give everyone the time to read the documents with new eyes.

    "Your theory makes a lot of sense, but I still fail to see how it can help us. We''ve raided and conquered plenty of branches of the Undead Courts but we''ve never found anything about Arthan." Abthot was quick to switch sides when it suited her interests.

    She didn''t care for Orpal, but seeing how much the Master had built from bits and scraps of Arthan''s work, there was no telling what Vastor could achieve if he were to get his hands on the full blueprints.

    By helping him she would help herself. The same thought crossed the mind of the rest of the Abominations who were now full of enthusiasm.

    "That''s because until now we didn''t know what or who to look for." Vastor replied. "Such precious knowledge must be either hidden behind an ancient code written in a long-deadnguage or entrusted to the eldest members of the Courts.

    "The undead are confident that no one can read them anymore, but between all of you, there is more history in this room than in the rest of Garlen. We can beat them at their own game."

    The room mumbled in approval.

    "I''ve already ordered our human associates to look through the documents we have collected during the hostile takeovers and to send over to us anything that makes no sense to them.

    "Who knows, maybe we''re lucky and we''ve already got what we are looking for. In the meantime, we''re going to increase the pressure on the Undead Courts under the pretense of expanding our turf and stealing their resources.

    "In other words, just keep doing what you were doing, but take alive anyone who looks old enough to know about the Golden Griffon.

    "To increase our odds, I''m going to have the Eldritches take care of the Kingdom while the hybrids will focus on the Empire. That''s where I bet that we''ll find the solution to our problem."

 Chapter 2110 Secrets from the Past (Part 2)

    Chapter 2110 Secrets from the Past (Part 2)

    Vastor conjured a holographic map of Leegaain''s turf where the most important branches of the Undead Courts were highlighted.

    "Why the Empire?" Theseus the Meneos-Bastet asked. "The Golden Griffon was built in the Kingdom and it stands to reason that Arthan involved the local Courts in the project."

    "You are right, but I doubt that after the War of the Griffons started, the undead kept the records where Thrud could find them, especially if they were nning to backstab her after defeating the Royals." Vastor replied.

    "In their shoes, I would have moved such an asset out of her reach while also keeping it close enough to be capable of using it the moment the opportunity arose. The Blood Desert is off limits due to Sark''s strictw enforcement and all the free states of Garlen are already under our control.

    "If there was someone or something valuable there, we would have already found it. As for Verendi, it''s too far for the undead since they have limited ess to dimensional magic.

    "The Empire is our best shot for two reasons. First, while Night was the supreme ruler of the Undead Courts after the disappearance of her siblings, she moved there in order to build the reputation of her host.

    "To avoid the scrutiny from Verhen''s allies in the Kingdom while he posed as the Balkor copycat, Meln Narchat established his base of operations in the Empire. I''m ready to bet that before offering an alliance with Thrud, he took away everything and everyone he could use against her."

    "It makes sense." Cyare the Fenrir nodded. "So what''s our next move?"

    "Your question moves us to the second reason I mentioned earlier." The Master replied.

    "I narrowed the most likely position of the intel we are after down to the three cities where Narchat trained his Chosen. Under his rule as the Dead King, the local branches of the Courts have been fortified into strongholds.

    "The only people who had free ess to them were those who carried Night''s prisms and the women Narchat had delivered there. We met just a few times, but it was long enough to understand that someone with a bloated ego like him can''t stop himself from running his mouth.

    "Narchat needs to brag about how strong and smart he thinks he is in order to shut up the little voice inside his head that constantly reminds him of Lith''s achievements.

    "Meln probably said something about his secret weapon even to his victims. After all, he only took fanatics as his Chosen and they wouldn''t betray him even at the cost of their lives.

    "As for the women, the only way they had to get out of their golden prison was feet first."

    "Rules of engagement?" Eycos asked.

    "You are free to go all-out and kill anyone, but only until you uncover the location of the Undead Court." Vastor replied. "Once there, you must keep the damages and the number of casualties to a minimum.

    "We can neither interrogate piles of ashes nor afford to destroy anything that might contain the information we are looking for."

    At those words, the Abomination-hybrids groaned in frustration. They had no problem holding back their strength in order to achieve their goals, but not killing those who attacked them went against everything they believed in.

    "I know, it''s going to be a bother, but it''s our best and only shot." Vastor sighed. "With a bit of luck, we might find some of Narchat''s concubines, one of the elders who he used as advisor, or even Night''s Chosen.

    "Any of them can provide us invaluable intel that would be lost if you pulverized anyone on sight. Feel free to kill the undead who are too weak and young to know anything, but first make sure that they really are who they say they are.

    "If any of Night''s Chosen is still alive, they are probably posing as a low-level grunt to avoid being tortured to death."

    "Because of what they did to their fellow undead?" Theseus naively asked, making everyone else chuckle at his expense.

    "No, for what they know." Tezka shook his head. "Whenever the Night King possessed them, their minds became one which means that they know everything he did.

    "With Narchat imprisoned inside the Golden Griffon, the Chosen must have regained their free will and retained his memories. All of them."

    Seeing that the youngest member of the Organization looked confused, the Suneater continued his exnation.

    "They know the secret of Awakening. They share his knowledge about de Tier Spells and portable towers. If the Undead Courts find them, they won''t deliver the Chosen to Thrud but keep them for themselves.

    "With such knowledge at their disposal, they wouldn''t need her anymore."

    "Okay, you lost me there." The Bastet-Meneos replied. "If the Chosen can''t trust their brethren, why not just run away? Staying within the Undead Courts is a pointless risk."

    "And what''s the alternative?" Hushar asked. "Once outside, they would still be paralyzed during the day, hunted by the forces of the Council and the Empire alike. They would still need to feed and based on their race of origin, an undead can be really picky.

    "The Court offers them a safe haven, free food, and an excellent cover. To live unnoticed among the livings it takes an undead great care to not stick out like a sore thumb whereas in a Court they''re just a face in the crowd. Unless they do something stupid, of course."

    At a snap of Vastor''s fingers, the names of pairs of Abomination appeared under each of the highlighted cities, making most of the hybrids stand up in surprise.

    "What the heck does this mean? Why is Kigan my assigned partner instead of Bytra? Not only is putting two Origin mes users together redundant, but I also can''t stand that asshole!" Zoreth said.

    "Hey, I''m right here, you know?" The Phoenix said in annoyance. "Also, I agree with her. All of my strategies involve Eycos'' Life Maelstrom. No matter how much our respective mothers squabble, Garudas and Phoenixes are a golden duo."

    "No can do." The Master shook his head.

    "I''ve paired you up in order the form the best teams possible from the few hybrids we can afford to deploy. Xenagrosh''s Dragon Eyes are the closest thing to Life Vision we have and will allow you to identify elders and Chosen, no matter how good their disguise is or if they wear cloaking items.

    "As for you, Kigan, your Molting Essence bloodline ability will be the key to destroying arrays without harming people while by studying your Balor Eyes in action Xenagrosh might understand how Domination works."

    "I need Bytra here to keep working on upgrading the Mouth of Menadion, our equipment, and researching on Theseus'' Meneos side. You all have seen the true power of the Guardians when Kam was attacked.

    "Even if we reach the white core, even if the legend about fusing it with a ck core is right, it might still not be enough. If we want to stand a chance against the Guardians, we need mage towers of our own."

    Vastor let go of his Yggdrasill staff and opened his shirt, revealing how his human life force didn''t need the artifact''s aid anymore to keep the Abomination side under control.

 Chapter 2111 Fae Business (Part 1)

    Chapter 2111 Fae Business (Part 1)

    Even without the mystical wood helping Vastor to keep his focus, the light pink of his skin remained the same.

    The only visible sign that there was something wrong with him were his veins which slowly turned ck and bulged a little more with each beat of his heart.

    "We are just one step away from our goal. The only thing that keeps our different natures from merging into one perfect being is the fact that our cores are still apart. After countless hours and experiments, we are now certain that to reach its full potential, one body can only be fully attuned to one core.

    "In my case, the duality is constantly trying to turn my human half into pure energy, inflicting me great pain and reducing the prolonged lifespan that Awakening was supposed to grant me.

    "In your case, instead, the monster cores bnce the ck core, but it also prevents you from Awakening. Once we solve this final conundrum, we''ll be able to share our gift with the rest of Mogar.

    "It will be the dawn of a new world where talented people won''t be forced to bend the knee anymore just to survive. A world where those we deem worthy will enjoy infinite strength and eternal life.

    "With their help and our knowledge, it will be only a matter of time before a golden age for all races begins. We''ll help the humans to reach the next evolutionary step. The Emperor Beasts to be Divine Beasts.

    "The Fae to reach whatever state that their failure at Guardianhood had prevented them from achieving so that they canmunicate with Mogar and tell us what it wants from us.

    "We will stumble no more in the darkness like blind children, but we will march united under the guiding hand of the best of us." Vastor''s eyes veiled with tears as he could almost picture his dreaming true.

    He was aware that eliminating conflicts would be impossible, but in the world that he envisioned, it would be up to the leaders of the various factions to solve disputes without involving armies or harming innocents.

    Those the Master would bestow power upon would take that burden onto themselves. Unlike the current rulers of all countries in Mogar, they would fight their own battles in person instead of delegating the sacrifices to others.

    It would greatly limit the number of conflicts since the leaders of the new world would put their lives on the line only for what they truly believed in instead of for petty or economic reasons.

    Also, no matter who would be the victor, regr people wouldn''t live in fear of losing everything for a cause that had nothing to do with them.

    "Yet the dawn will quickly turn into twilight if the Guardians don''t agree with us. All our efforts, all our sacrifices will be for naught if the strength of our bodies doesn''t match that of our beliefs." Vastor covered himself, his eyes steeling with determination.

    "Hence Bytra stays here and so will Theseus and Nandi. They aren''t the strongest among us but without them, our n has no chance of sess. As for Tezka, I need him to protect my family.

    "I''ve never thought the day woulde when I''d regret reaching the first ce, yet here we are. I''m the biggest thorn in Thrud''s side since I''ve kept stealing her territories even while Lith was away.

    "He and I have recently conquered two of her strongholds and recovered lots of cultivated fields just in time for the harvest. The Mad Queen knows that even if she takes them back, she can hold onto them only until our return.

    "In her shoes, I''ll get rid of myself first because I''m the only realistic target. Lith''s parents are in the Desert. To reach them Thrud would need to gather all of her forces and abandon the Kingdom.

    "As for Kam¡­" Vastor shuddered at the thought as he found himself covered in a cold sweat at the memory of the day of the ck Sun.

    "No one in their sane mind would want to see that again." Xenagroshpleted the phrase for him. "Even if the Mad Queen was that mad, she would never seed. She would just do us a favor."

    "Exactly." Vastor nodded. "Unless someone has objections about Tezka''s assignment, I''m adjourning this meeting."

    No one said anything so Vastor stood up first.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, you have your orders. Time to get to work."

    The Abominations and Eldritchs used Chaos Warps to cross hundreds of kilometers at a time, reaching their respective destinations with just a few steps. As for the Hybrids, once they would have reached the borders with the Empire and then crossed them thanks to their bloodline abilities.

    Now that they had be part of the Council, however, all they needed was a single Chaos Warp to leave Vastor''s secretb and then a few more to reach a distant Regional Lord to enjoy a safe passage straight to the location of their mission.

    They didn''t like using the Warping Arrays of the Essagor Duchy since it was where their main hideout was located, but never contacting the local members of the Council of a specific region would have been as suspicious as always departing from the same ce.

    "Why are you going to the Empire? Business or pleasure?" Orosir the Pixie asked while darting around Xenagrosh and Kigan like a fly on steroids. "If you''re going sightseeing, I''ll dly join you."

    The Fae Lord of the Essagor region might have been easily mistaken for an Emperor Beast.

    She had huge chitinousyered wings covered by thousands upon thousands of colorful leaves and vinesing out of her back that looked exactly like those of an overgrown butterfly and what looked like antennae protruding from her forehead.

    Yet she had only two arms and legs, a lithe human figure covered in green skin, and only two violet eyes that matched her short hair.

    "Strictly business." Xenagrosh threw a mean look at Kigan who returned it in kind.

    "It''s a pity." She fluttered around them, patting their heads like children. "There''s already so few of you. The least you can do is to be nice to each other."

    "I would like that." The Phoenix-Balor shrugged. "But that would require miss perfect here to take the judgemental stick out of her ass and I''m afraid that it has long since reced her spine."

    "I''m not judgemental. I simply can''t stand-" Xenagrosh bit her own tongue in the nick of time.

    There was no Eldritch with a body count inferior to six figures and it was an unwritten rule of the Organization that their respective past was their own. No one was allowed to talk about another member''s crimes without their consent.

    "Nice save." Kigan clicked his tongue, his spite for the Shadow Dragon reaching new heights.

    "Just because you''re an asshole, there''s no need to act like one." Orosir flicked her finger at his forehead and it hurt. "If you ever want to talk about your differences and you need a mediator, you can count on me."

    She then offered to exchange their Kingdom coins with the Empire''s and gave them an introduction letter for the local Fae Lord along with one of her leaves so that he would treat them as friends.

 Chapter 2112 Fae Business (Part 2)

    Chapter 2112 Fae Business (Part 2)

    "Bye!" The Pixie enthusiastically waved her hand while she activated the array, giving the impression they knew each other for a long time instead of a few months.

    Until a while ago, Awakened had to invest a lot of time and resources to keep theirboratories hidden. They had lived for centuries afraid that an Eldritch might barge in and rob them blind and now they had to wee the hybrids inside their homes with open arms.

    Regr Abominations couldn''t practice Forgemastering due to their inability to produce light magic so the only way they had to procure themselves powerful equipment was to steal it from others.

    That and the fact that many Awakened positioned theirbs above mana geysers made them into the equivalent of a full course meal for an Eldritch.

    They would get to steal hundreds of years of magical research, dozens of artifacts, and would get themselves a nice ce to crash until the Council forced them on the move.

    After bing probationary members of the Council, it hadn''t taken long before Vastor''s hybrids decided to use only Fae as liaisons with the Organization. Undead were unavable during the day while humans and beasts held a grudge against them.

    They would make the hybrids enter through secondary entrances and lose lots of time with security sweeps before Warping them to the realb so that the Abominations would have no idea where it was actually located.

    Fae, instead, carried from their nt progenitors an absolute respect for thew of the jungle. The strong feeding upon the weak felt natural to them like the need for breathing so as long as the killing was an act of survival and not of malice, they were okay with that.

    The Fae considered now the hybrids no different from the undead and treated them the same way. They would let the Abomination ess the Council''s Warping Array system without dy and even make small talk.

    They would always ask Bytra for Forgemastering advice Xenagrosh and Kigan for free Origin mes, and all of the hybrids for spicy tales from the ancient past.

    To rapacious creatures like the Eldritchs, Fae came off as dumb and annoying but at the same time, they were a breath of fresh air. They didn''t judge the hybrids for their past actions nor did they tremble in fear like amb meeting a butcher wielding a bloody cleaver.

    Being treated like a person was what every single Abomination-hybrid needed but none of them would have ever admitted it out loud, not even under duress.

    In the blink of an eye, Orosir''s Warping array synchronized with that in their of Cenn the Oberon, bending the space in-between and making the entry and the exit point of the dimensional tunnel ovep.

    The Fae had the appearance of an ever-changing mass of green whose vines turned into flowers, fruits, and saplings with no apparent logic.

    The only constant was that each appendix held a different tier five Spirit Spell that the Oberon reced with a better one the moment his diagnostic arrays provided him a better understanding of his guests'' weak points.

    "Nice to meet you. Orosir sends you her regards." Xenagrosh said with a warm and honest smile while handing him the letter and the leaf.

    She was used to the unpleasant first wee that even Fae would give Abominations. It was the only way they had to make sure that it wasn''t just a ruse to get inside their homes and take their time eating them alive.

    After all, Fae didn''t hold a grudge but they weren''t stupid either.

    The Oberon extended one of his vines, retrieving both objects with a whip-like movement so quick that the hybrids inwardly pped their hands and yet so delicate that neither the paper nor the thin leaf crumpled.

    Cenn ignored the document and focused on the piece of Orosir''s wing. Handwriting could be imitated and even if the letter was authentic, it could have been written under coercion.

    The leaf, instead, was hard proof that the Pixie was still alive since Fae and nt folk didn''t leave a corpse behind. When someone from the nt race died, their body returned to Mogar in the original form they inhabited before gaining sentience.

    It was the reason no nt folk could be turned into an undead without their consent.

    On top of that, since the piece of the wing had been freely given instead of amputated, it still had a link with the main body.

    Cenn couldn''t use it to talk with Orosir, but simply by studying the leaf''s aura, he could determine the Pixie''s physical and mental state at the moment when it had been removed.

    Cenn felt that Orosir had given her leaf willingly while in a good mood and perfect health. The small fragment of her body was still filled with her cheerfulness and joy of living, bearing no sign that anything had endangered her lifetely.

    Only then did the Oberon open the letter and read its content.

    "I''m sorry for earlier but I prefer being a rude host than begging for my life." He said while his body shapeshifted into a humanoid form to put his guests at ease.

    Cenn had learned from experience that while dealing with members of other races, having a definite shape was of paramount importance. Back when he was younger, Scarlett the Scorpicore had spent half her visit speaking to an apple tree before the flowerbed she sat upon had asked her to add more fibers to her diet.

    "I know." Xenagrosh replied with a sigh while throwing a meaningful look at Kigan. "It''s not your fault if our species has a bad name. Besides, it''s well deserved."

    "I mean, with that damn Golden Griffon around and its ve array, there''s no telling if someone is really friendly or under Thrud''s spell until you check their life fo- Wait, what?" The mass of greenery was still shapeshifting, yet its pseudo-face managed to express great confusion.

    Cenn had taken the appearance of a man in his mid-twenties, about 2 meters (6''7") tall, with shoulder-length blonde hair and red eyes. His slightly pointed ears came out of the golden cascade covering his head while his face showed a calm and wisdom that contrasted with his youthful appearance.

    "Are you telling me it''s not us you were afraid of?" Kigan didn''t bother hiding his surprise.

    "Indeed." The Oberon nodded as the remaining foliage shapeshifted into a long-sleeved white and green robe that left only his hands and head exposed, covering even his feet.

    "You came through official channels so I had no reason to doubt you aside from the possibility that you were under the influence of the ve array. Death is scary, but spending your life as a mindless puppet is much worse."

    Seeing the lingering confusion in his guests, Cenn showed them a recent memo of the Council rmending to all its members to always scan the life force of visitors before letting them in.

    Among Thrud''s followers, there were ex-apprentices who knew the location of the dwellings of many Awakened. Now that the war was taking a turn for the better, the Council was afraid that the Mad Queen would try to infiltrate its ranks.

 Chapter 2113 A Frail Alliance (Part 1)

    Chapter 2113 A Frail Alliance (Part 1)

    During the battle of Zehnma Phloria''s Awakened corps had shown its true value and proved that the Council had more tactics at its disposal to capture a city than Thrud. Now that she had been cornered, the Mad Queen was bound to retaliate as hard as she could.

    All that she needed to gain the upper hand again was to nt one of her little ves inside the Awakened''s ranks and leak intel about every attack before it even happened.

    At that point, Thrud would have just to wait for the main forces of the Council to be assembled in the same spot to take them all out in one fell swoop.

    No matter how powerful the Awakened elders were, if caught in an ambush by over thirty Divine Beasts led by the Mad Queen herself, the Council would be done for and the War of the Griffons lost.

    The representatives of the four races could no longer afford to underestimate Thrud.

    After losing so many battles to Thrud, after the death of so many ancient Awakened at the hand of her troops, the Council couldn''t dismiss her as a fleeting threat anymore.

    For the first time since the First Guardian had been born, the Awakened were afraid.

    Afraid to have met an enemy they couldn''t defeat.

    "Why didn''t we get this memo?" Xenagrosh asked while checking her Council amulet.

    "Look in the spam folder." The Oberon replied. "Those old farts send so many of them that I archive them without even opening them. It was attached to the Council''stest war bulletin."

    "Damn, you''re right." Xenagrosh browsed the unwanted messages until she found the memo.

    "Hey, why are my messages in there as well?" Kigan asked.

    "Take a guess." She replied with a sneer. "Was there any failed infiltration attempt already or is it just a precautionary measure?"

    "Thetter. We are at a critical juncture of the war and we can''t afford one single misstep. Is there anything I can do for you before you leave?" At a wave of Cenn''s hand, a sapling sprouted into a wooden table, cups, and fresh fruit.

    "I rmend the herbal tea. I grow the leaves myself."

    He showed them his hand, where a seedling quickly emerged from his green skin, emitting a strong medicinal scent.

    "Thanks, but we have to go. In which direction is the city of Xaanth?" Kigan looked around for the exit from the underground cave.

    "That way." Cenn opened a Warp Steps leading outside and dozens of kilometers in the right direction. "Straight ahead. You can''t miss it."

    "Thank you very much." Xenagrosh handed him a sk filled with bright violet Origin mes. "This is for your trouble."

    "No trouble at all." Despite his words, the Oberon took the sk and put it inside his dimensional amulet, just to avoid take-backs. "This is my contact rune. If you need help or a direct line with the local members of the Council, I''ll be d to assist you."

    The hybrids stepped through the Warp, bidding their host goodbye with a nod of their heads before taking flight. Reaching Xaanth took them less than an hour due to the unfriendlypetition between them.

    Xenagrosh and Kigan couldn''t stand each other and turned everything into a pissing contest.

    "What now?" He asked after their Council IDs granted them ess to the city. "We are looking for a secret base, not just a local branch. There''s no way that we can find it by exploiting the local thugs like usual.

    "The Empress is willing to help the Council, but if she had any clue, she would have already raided the ce herself."

    "Now ites the hard part." Xenagrosh sighed. "We are going to need some legwork to find reliable intel. Let''s split up to cover more ground."

    During the following days, the two hybrids checked with the local authorities in the morning and spent the time until sundown squeezing information from anyone who even remotely smelled of undead.

    They had no ess to Invigoration, but unlike the city guards, they had senses that could pick up the faintest scent of expensive perfume and their respective eyes could discern the presence of a blood core even in thralls.

    Xenagrosh was the best tracker of the Organization and she knew that real undead werepletely different from the stories that parents would tell their kids to make them afraid of going out at night.

    The undead didn''t smell like corpses nor did they all feed on blood. Most of them looked and smelled just like the living until they decided otherwise. What betrayed them was their inability toe out during the day and their love for rare fragrances.

    The Shadow Dragon had learned from experience that the best way to find an undead''s hiding ce was by searching for people who despite their trivial day job smelled too good.

    Those who served the undead would be permeated by the essences that their masters used to freshen the stale air of the underground pces they had to stay until sundown.

    That scent would follow them around the city as they performed the daily chores, spreading to everyone they came in contact with like a disease. Even Emperor Beasts would have a hard time following such a weak scent inside a city.

    The fragrance would weaken with time and soon would be drowned by the smell of people, their pungent sweat, and the aromasing from every establishment serving food or drinks.

    Yet to Xenagrosh''s nose each scent would leave a distinctive trail that with time and a bit of luck she could follow back to its original source.

    During the night, instead, the hybrids infiltrated the houses of the most influential mages of Xaanth under the fake identity of scouts from the Imperial academies.

    Contrary to the bards'' tales, real undead didn''t spend their free time hanging out in the slums, sewers, or sordid brothels. They liked to party, mingle with powerful people, and take part in their sordid vices to be their friends.

    Undead didn''t umte power and riches just to brood in a damp cave, spending their waking hours whining about how cursed their existence was or how lonely they felt.

    They did it to enjoy in undeath all the things that in life they had never been able to afford.

    The best ce where to look for the upper echelons of the Undead Courts was where the people who they perceived as their peers gathered. Xenagrosh and Kigan would have never had such a solid cover if not for the coboration between the Council and the Magic Empress.

    In a country where there was no such thing as nobility and the power of a householdsted only as much as the life of its best mage, scouts from the great academies were always honored guests.

    The two Abomination-hybrids spent a few days like that, identifying and following several thralls, but no matter how hard Kigan and Xenagrosh searched, their leads brought them only to dead ends.

    The hybrids were surprised when they discovered from the local constables that not only the Empire was aware of the true nature of the two Council''s envoys, but it also didn''t put any limit on their stay.

 Chapter 2114 A Frail Alliance (Part 2)

    Chapter 2114 A Frail Alliance (Part 2)

    On paper, the Magic Empress was supporting the Council, granting its members full ess to the cities of the Empire and to the databases of the local authorities. Yet she wasn''t doing it out of the goodness of her heart, but for her own survival.

    Milea was aware that in case the Kingdom fell the Empire would be the next.

    By buying time for the Royals, she was actually buying time for herself. The Empress had put Belius under constant siege not only to expand her borders, but also to force the Mad Queen to reveal her best cards.

    The more desperate both the Griffons were, the more of their respective secrets they had to unveil in order to remain in the game. Milea didn''t care whether her opponent would be Meron Griffon or Thrud Griffon.

    Once the war was over, she nned to exploit the weakened state of the winner to conquer the Kingdom. To do that, she was studying the best strategies of both sides and training her armies to counter them.

    The Empress was afraid of the legacies left by the First and the Mad King and before making her move, she needed a clear picture of their power to increase her odds of sess.

    There was a reason if despite its turbulent history the Kingdom had never been taken by force.

    Every time an invading army had neared the city of Valeron or the academies, they had been wiped out, leaving no testimony of their defeat except for bards'' songs that talked about gods and miracles.

    After her visit to the White Griffon during Nalear''s attack, Milea could hazard a guess of what had really happened and why Thrud had started her attack from the opposing side of the Kingdom.

    The Mad Queen needed to secure a position where to move her Golden Griffon and even the odds in order to start the final battle.

    The Empress could almost see how glorious her future would be. First, she would make the Supreme Magus an offer he couldn''t refuse. Then, with his technology, she would have taken the Kingdom by storm, replicated the academies, and then moved to Jiera.

    Yet to make her visione true, she needed time and opportunity and so far, she had neither. Milea received constant reports about the Abominations and theck of progress in their research in all the three cities of the Empire.

    Seeing creatures so ancient and powerful achieving in hours what usually took her elite corps months was frightening. Reading about their constant failures, instead, made her worry that there was no key to defeating Thrud.

    "Dammit! If the Eldritches can''t find a clue even with the full support of both the Council and the Empire, then no one can." Milea Genys, the Magic Empress and ruler of the Gorgon Empire, said.

    She paced non-stop, going circles in the space between the massive tail and the even more massive head of the ck Dragon curled up in her throne room.

    "I wouldn''t be so sure." Leegaain replied.

    "Nice of you toe back, by the way. How are the babies?" Milea''s voice oozed sarcasm.

    "They are doing great, thanks for asking. Mine is due in a few months while it will take longer for Lith''s." If the Father of all Dragons noticed it, he sure didn''t seem to mind.

    Judging from the excited thumping of his tail, however, Milea could tell how little he cared about her predicament.

    "Do you realize that, if we don''t find a way to get rid of the Golden Griffon, either Thrud''s will conquer two-thirds of Garlen or a huge part of the border regions will be blown away in the detonation ensuing the destruction of the lost academy?" She asked.

    "Of course I know."

    "Then how can you be so rxed? I thought you cared about your turf!" Milea clenched her head in annoyance.

    "I do care about my turf. I just don''t care about the people or who sits on that throne. No offense." Leegaain replied.

    "Much taken." She grumbled. "What about our deal? You promised me your knowledge. Why can''t I find anything about the Golden Griffon in your huge ass library?"

    "First, our deal is still valid. Second, you can''t find anything because I don''t know much about how the lost academy was built. I collect lost knowledge whereas the details about the Golden Griffon are simply hidden." He answered her questions with the same lecturing tone he had used back when the Empress was his apprentice.

    "On top of that, Arthan was very good at operating in secret. He managed to pull a lot of stuff right under Valeron''s and Tyris'' noses. Believe me when I say that old Val was really anal retentive about his life''s work.

    "If both Val and the resident Guardian were in the dark the whole time, how am I supposed to know?"

    "Because you''re the damn god of knowledge, that''s how!" Milea desperately wanted something to work on.

    If she discovered the weak point of the Golden Griffon and shared it with the Kingdom, no matter the oue of the war, she would be the real winner.

    If the Royals won, both the Kingdom and the Council would be deeply indebted to her, if not even weakened enough to be ripe for the taking. If they lost, instead, their failed attempts would be priceless data that Milea would use when it was her turn to deal with the Mad Queen.

    Yet without a starting point, the only difference between her and the Royals would be the date of her defeat.

    "I''m not a god and until a while ago, I had no reason to study the Golden Griffon. It was Tyris'' problem, not mine. I have no knowledge to share, only one piece of advice." Leegaain gently rubbed his snout against her body to calm her down.

    "Shoot." The Empress said with a sigh while leaning against one of his protruding fangs.

    "Are you really sure that you are giving Zoreth your full support?" He asked.

    "What do you want me to do? To go beat the streets with her? I have an entire Empire to rule and a war to n! I''m not-" Milea froze up, her eyes reduced to two slits as she calcted her gains and losses.

    "Fine. Time to bring out the big guns."

    ***

    "Dammit, so far the mission is a total bust." Kigan threw his tailor-made suit on his bed. "Our underlings who run the local underworld failed to find any lead or contact for the secret base and I''ve attended more gs in thest few days than in the previous millennium.

    "The undead we managed to track during the day and spot during the night were all irrelevant pawns. We need to find someone at the top of Xaanth''s Undead Court and fast."

    "Indeed." Xenagrosh nodded. "Our absence is weakening the Kingdom''s battlefront and we can''t employ our Abomination brethren openly in the war. They are already busy dealing with the undead, but that''s not the real issue.

    "As members of the Council, the Royal Pardon extends to us hybrids as well and ensures us that only a handful of people in the Kingdom know about our real identity.

    "The rest of the Eldritches are not included in the deal simply because mentioning their names would be enough to split the Royal Court in two and jeopardize the alliance between humans and Awakened.

 Chapter 2115 A Frail Alliance (Part 3)

    Chapter 2115 A Frail Alliance (Part 3)

    "If the Abominations fight in the open for the Kingdom, the Royals would no longer have usible deniability and their alliance with some of the most wanted mass murderers would be public knowledge.

    "At that point, the households who hold a grudge against an Eldritch would either flock to Thrud''s side or withdraw their support to the Crown. We can afford neither." Xenagrosh said.

    "The worst thing is that the other hybrids aren''t having better luck." Kigan sighed. "Secrecy has always been the undead''s strong suit and after being screwed up by us first and then by Meln, they''ve upped their game.

    "On top of that, this time we cannot follow the money to discover the location of the secret base because there is no money involved. In other words, we are boned."

    "We cannot afford to stay here for more than another few days." Xenagrosh paced around the room. "With all hands on the battlefield, the Organization has been forced to suspend its operations throughout Garlen.

    "Without us, the ck market can''t operate. No ck market means no money for Dad''s experiments and no funds to keep this damn war going."

    She sat on the luxurious king-sized canopy bed that had remained untouched since the day of their arrival, holding her head in frustration.

    "Gods, I wish Bytra was here. She would have loved this ce, the parties, and even though we would still be in the same predicament, at least she would have made my stay in Xaanth feel like a vacation."

    "Me too." Kigan replied, making Xenagrosh''s eyes go wide in surprise. "She and that kid Theseus are the best of us. I''ll never thank you enough for bringing them into our fold. When I''m with them, I can almost forget about who I am and what I did."

    Bing a hybrid meant losing the hunger that gued all kinds of Abominations. It gave them relief, but it also made it harder for them to live with the burden of their past.

    Centuries of ughter had desensitized them and their consciences, if any was left, were a whisper in the wind.

    All ancient Abominations would forget about someone who they had killed just a few minutes after the murder, and the only reason they remembered some of their victims was due to the precious equipment the Eldritches had stolen from them.

    Yet none of the hybrids could forgive themselves or forget about their first murder spree. The one happened after turning into an Abomination, back when they still had a conscience and someone they cared about.

    Be they family or friends, they would be the first victims of a newborn Abomination, leaving a mental scar that only the hunger could repress. In Kigan''s case, it was even worse.

    He was one of Sark''s Firstborn and his cored had shattered while training to be a member of the Nest. It was the reason even Eldritches despised him. Yet no one hated Kigan more than Kigan himself.

    An awkward silence befell between the two hybrids who aside from work had nothing to say to each other. The problem was that their hunt for the night was over and there were still a few hours before sunrise.

    Due to the curfew, there was no thrall around that they could follow.

    Breaking martialw meant days of imprisonment and interrogation. The members of the Undead Courts wouldn''t risk drawing so much attention unless there was an emergency, but such convenient timing only happened in bards'' tales.

    The gazes of both hybrids went nk, lost in their respective thoughts.

    Zoreth listed all the things that she still wanted to do and the ces she wanted to go with her wife while Kigan couldn''t stop seeing the final moments of his brother and all those who had tried to help him after the transformation.

    Young and old Phoenixes had died by the hand of a weak infant Abomination because they had been more worried about him than about themselves. It had been a huge mistake and also theirst.

    Hearing the echoes of the death throes of the children who had called him uncle, reliving the savage joy he had felt while taking their lives, made ck tears stream from his eyes.

    When their Council amulets drew their attention, Kigan snapped out of his reverie first and wiped his tears before Xenagrosh could notice them. Contrary to their expectations, it wasn''t the Master nor the Council.

    The Empress herself was calling them.

    "Are you still in your suite?" Milea had no love for Abominations.

    After bing the ruler of the Empire, she had killed dozens of them and had almost been killed in the process more than once. She tolerated the hybrids in the Council and on her turf because she considered them a necessary evil, but an evil nheless.

    "Yes. Why?" Kigan asked and the Empress hung up the call in reply. "That''s one rude piece of wo-"

    A Spirit Step appeared in the middle of the room, bypassing the multipleyers of protection and without triggering any of the several rms that the hybrids had set.

    Kigan''s and Xenagrosh''s eyes met and for once there was a mutual understanding.

    Even in their hybrid form, they were still Abominations with no connection with the world energy and no ess to Life Vision. Without it, they could be blindsided by a simple dimensional spell.

    They gritted their teeth in annoyance, knowing that the Magic Empress was not only showing them her superiority, but also putting to the test their defenses bying unannounced.

    The Eldritches were too old and wise to be sore losers. It took them but a second to admit defeat and learn from it. Xenagrosh used her Dragon Eyes to study Milea''s spell and understand the ws in their arrays that the Empress had exploited.

    Kigan, instead, neared his hand to the Steps and absorbed part of its energy. The Spirit Magic became one with his mana flow, allowing him to quasi-Awaken his cores. It caused him a pain as great as his gains.

    For a moment, Kigan was capable of using Life Vision with his Balor eyes, seeing Mogar like only Glemos'' Fomors could. There was so much power in him and so much untapped potential that for a moment the Guardians seemed small to him.

    His twin cores spasmed in agony, both unable to circte the foreign power except when they partially ovepped. His life forces squirmed as well, trying and failing to adapt to the energy flow that the quasi-Awakening created.

    Yet amid the agony, the Phoenix-Balor caught a glimpse of how and where he needed to perform the next modifications in his body.

    If Xenagrosh''s eyes could talk, they would have scolded Kigan for the madness of his gesture. Were him to circte too much Spirit Magic or lose control of the spasms, he would have died like any member of the Fallen races when they tried to Awaken.

    If Kigan''s eyes could reply, they would have told Xenagrosh to mind her own business. A stable source of Spirit Magic was too rare an opportunity to not exploit it. Vastor''s was tainted by Chaos from his Eldritch half, making it deadly and unsuitable for any experiment.

 Chapter 2116 A Frail Alliance (Part 4)

    Chapter 2116 A Frail Alliance (Part 4)

    They were so busy in their respective endeavors and throwing mean looks at each other that they almost didn''t notice that it wasn''t one person stepping through the dimensional corridor, but two.

    Almost.

    "What the fuck?" Kigan stepped back in horror.

    There was a young girl near Milea and with his mind still haunted by the memories of the past, the figure of the unknown guest ovepped with that of histe niece.

    "Your security measures arecking, but at least your intuition is amazing." The Empress stared at the Phoenix-Balor in misced respect. "I didn''t expect you to recognize the Red Sun so quickly."

    "Why did you bring him here?" At that name, Xenagrosh''s eyes became two fiery slits of Chaos and Decay mana.

    "To help you, of course." The Empress replied. "While the Bright Day was imprisoned and the ck Night fooled around, the Red Sun has ruled over the Dusk Court.

    "Even though he had no authority over the other Undead Courts, the Red Sun plotted with and against them for centuries. He knows all the key figures in the business and how to find them."

    "I won''t say it''s a pleasure to see you again, Xenagrosh, but there''s no reason to make our reunion unpleasant." The young girl spoke with a manly voice that was cold and controlled, snapping Kigan out of his delusion.

    "Once you are as old as we are, one must learn that a good businessman can''t hold a grudge. It''s just a matter of losses and gains. At the moment, we have everything to lose from fighting and a lot to gain by coborating."

    "If the Empress has you, then what need did she have for us in the first ce?" The Troll-Dragon found the situation suspicious at best. "You are almost as powerful as I currently am and with the knowledge we have shared with the Empress, you should have already found Meln''s secret bases.

    "Why did you waste our time like this, Empress? Was it a ruse to keep us away from the Kingdom and help Thrud to win the war or was it just a way to test our abilities?"

    "I don''t have to exin myself." Milea curled her lips in disgust, seeing how low the daughter of her beloved mentor had fallen. "You two are my guests and you''d better treat me with the respect I deserve as your host, otherwise I might forget my manners as well."

    She radiated no aura nor killing intent, but the fact that she wore the White Armor and that the White Sword was hung at her hip was threat enough. The armor alone wasprised of tons ofpressed Davross, giving her the mass of a full grown Divine Beast

    The White Set wasn''t the old junk that King Elm had used over one thousand years ago against Valeron during the War of the des. Both the armor and the de were brand new and brimming with power.

    Milea''s first act as Magic Empress had been to devolve a lot of time and resources to study the ancient de. Her goal had always been to expand the borders of the Empire in order to upy the fertilend of the south and feed her people.

    Before that, she needed to prepare for the moment when she would sh with Valeron''s descendants and their Royal Set. There were several reasons behind King Elm''s crushing defeat, but they could be summarized in one word.

    Or better, one name. Tyris.

    Valeron had been a white cored Awakened, wearing Guardian-crafted equipment that had been enchanted with the first power cores in history, and the creator of de Magic.

    King Elm had been a Manohar-level genius violet cored fake mage who had unified the Empire and pooled its resources in record time to craft the masterpiece known as the White Set.

    Yet against Valeron, Elm had held his ground no better than a leaf against a storm.

    The descendants of the First King were just violet cored fake Awakened, but the Saefel Set was even more powerful than in the past.

    Tyris hadn''t bothered adding new enchantments, but she always updated the old ones with each magical breakthrough. She took care of Valeron''s gear as if he coulde back at any moment.

    Milea had thoroughly studied the White Set with Invigoration and shared her findings with the best mages of the Empire. Hundreds of people had worked for years on it until they had reached the limits of the current magical knowledge.

    Only then did Milea bring the blueprints and the old set to Leegaain. He had offered her his insight, fixing the ws that everyone else had missed and fine tuning each rune until the artifact had be a work of art.

    The Guardian had offered her to have Sark use Creation Magic to split the Davross from the white crystals, but Milea had refused.

    "The White Set must be a beacon for the people of the Empire. A guiding light that proves what we can achieve, not the Guardians. Destroy the white crystals and purge the old enchantments with your mes while you purify the Davross, please.

    "I don''t ask you more than I would any Dragon." She had said.

    "What about the hints I gave you?" Leegaain had replied, his curiosity piqued as he couldn''t be more proud of her.

    "Those are part of our deal. I asked for your wisdom, not your power, remember? I consider those hints not as the act of mercy of a god but as the help of my most beloved friend and mentor." At those words, Leegaain knew that he had been wrong.

    He could and was more proud of her than ever. Especially when she had emptied the Empire''s treasury to obtain enough purified Davross to make the new White Armor as heavy as the Saefel armor.

    The reborn White Set''s power was between that of the Arthan and the Saefel sets. Not as outdated as the former but not as masterfully crafted as thetter. Milea was certain that being a real Awakened would more than make up for it when she would have faced Sylpha.

    The impasse between the Empress and the hybridssted but a second.

    "You are wrong on both ounts, Xenagrosh. It was neither." Dusk had no intention of letting Leegaain''s daughter and prot¨¦g¨¦ waste time squabbling like children out of the envy they felt for each other.

    "Milea gave you her full support since day one. She hid my presence for reasons you''ll understand once you hear my story."

    He sat down on the nearest chair and gave the Eldritches a quick summary of the events following his defeat at the hand of the Queen''s Corpse.

    "I apologize for my earlier rudeness, Your Majesty." Xenagrosh gave Milea a deep bow. "I can see why you kept your deal with Dusk a secret. In his weakened state, he can''t move on his own and you are the only one who can keep him safe against opponents of our caliber.

    "Also, if the Council or the Royals were to discover about your involvement with the Red Sun, they would ask you to hand him over with the excuse ofpensating them for his past crimes."

 Chapter 2117 Four is a Party (Part 1)

    Chapter 2117 Four is a Party (Part 1)

    "Exactly." Milea nodded. "Yet rather thanpensation, the real goal of the Council and the Royals would be to exploit Dusk''s weakened state to coerce him to share his knowledge with no regard for his current host."

    "You mean the girl is still in there?" Kigan said in surprise, staring at Kelia who hid behind the Empress with remarkable speed.

    "She is not Dusk''s tool, she is his partner. Kelia, these two scary guys are Xenagrosh and Kigan, the two hybrids I told you about. Xenagrosh, Kigan, this is Kelia Sunbry, second year student and rising star of the Red Emperor academy." Milea moved to the side to introduce Kelia, but she followed her like a shadow.

    "Howe she was so brave before and now she''s a scaredy cat?" Xenagrosh chuckled, softening her expression.

    "Because Dusk was in control until a second ago." Milea said trying and failing to get Kelia off her back.

    Convincing the Horseman to join the mission had been easy. After being locked in an academy, listening every day about the most elementary principles of magic while surrounded by youths with more hormones than brains, he craved some action.

    The idea of spending some time with creatures that were mentally his peers, going back to his old life, even if for just one day, and getting the opportunity to study up close the workings of the Master was a dreame true.

    On top of that, Kelia was too used to a sheltered life, relying on either Milea or Dusk for her own protection. After the Empress had discovered their real identity back at the academy, Kelia had stopped believing herself invincible but had also be too meek.

    Getting field experience would teach her how to keep her head cool in battle and how to deal with a world full of creatures more powerful than her who would stop at nothing to get their hands on her powers.

    For those very same reasons, convincing Kelia had required a lot of time and effort instead.

    She had just been promoted to the second year, skipping the first after just one exam. She had her hands full catching up with her studies and working with millennia old mass murderers didn''t sound alluring to her.

    "Kelia has agreed to help us¡­" Milea put emphasis on how they were all on the same boat. But only under precise conditions. First, you must ensure her safety. As any Horseman''s host, she''s very hard to kill but she can be still tortured and kidnapped."

    "What about Baba Yaga?" Kigan asked.

    "Best case scenario, she rescues Kelia and we never see either of them ever again. Worst case scenario, the undead put her under a Sealed Space spell and she''ll suffer a fate worse than death."

    Milea''s answer made Kigan''s eyes twitch and be bloodshot as the image of the final moments of his niece shed in front of him.

    "Second, no one, and I mean no one, outside this room must be allowed to learn about her identity and live to tell the tale. Dusk needs to meet the undead in person because otherwise no one will openly reveal their affiliation wi the Courts but Kelia must remain a secret.

    "If the undead or Thrud discover about her existence, she''d be a target. Even after the end of the War of the Griffons, no one would let such a precious asset in the hands of the Empire.

    "Not after what Narchat did.

    "The Kingdom would be afraid of the advent of another Dead King and the Undead Courts would do everything to have him back to their side just to turn against him the moment they discover that Dusk is a shell of his former self.

    "I would have no choice but to shapeshift Kelia into a new identity and keep her locked inside my pce until the two of them be powerful enough to take care of themselves."

    "Then why do you trust us with this knowledge?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "Because if I don''t, the Golden Griffon will keep being a thorn in everyone''s side. We must discover its weak point while Thrud''s power base is still unstable. If we get rid of the lost academy once she has conquered the Kingdom, it might not be enough to defeat her.

    "Even worse, she might simply convert the six great academies into copies of the Golden Griffon. At that point, stopping the Mad Queen would be much more difficult.

    "The War of the Griffons is our best chance and I''m not going to waste it out of cowardice. The Kingdom has taken its risks by pardoning Verhen and asking me and the Council for help.

    "By revealing their existence to Mogar and stepping inside my domain, the Organization has gambled as well. Now, it''s the Empire''s turn to take some risks."

    "Exactly." Kelia stuttered, the aura of the creatures in the room was almost unbearable for someone as weak as her. The only thing that kept her from fainting on the spot due to the sheer pressure of the hybrids'' aura was the Empress shielding her.

    "I volunteered for this mission because I know what it means to not have a home, to always be hungry, and to live every day at the mercy of someone else. If the Empire goes to war, that''s what will happen to everyone.

    "I don''t want to live like that ever again and I won''t let some Kingdom bitch take my newfound home away from me. If revealing my existence is the price for keeping Thrud away from our borders, I''m happy to pay for it."

    "I wouldn''t have made you this offer without Kelia''s consent." Milea said. "Once you or anyone else learn her energy signature or smell, there is no changing it. Even if she shapeshifts, there will always be the chance of someone recognizing her."

    "Now that she''s made her choice, however, I''m going to respect it. Last, but not least, Leegaain vouched for you, Xenagrosh. He said that if you give us your word, you''ll keep it. Does this answer your question?"

    The Shadow Dragon could feel the lingering challenge in the Empress'' voice.

    ''Milea is reminding me how she can speak with Dad whenever she wants and how close they are. What she''s really asking me is if I''m going to let my father down again.

    ''The Empress is going out on a limb because she trusts Dad, who in turn has never stopped trying to help me. After everything I''ve done, he still believes in me.'' Xenagrosh clenched her fists so hard that they bled.

    "You have my word that I''ll protect Kelia with my life and that I won''t reveal nothing of what you''ve shared with me to anyone, even the other members of the Organization." She said.

    "What about the obvious loophole?" The Empress pointed at Kigan.

    Their deal would mean nothing without his cooperation.

    "There''s no loophole. Xenagrosh''s word is mine. I swear it upon my name and core." Kigan replied.

    Milea just nodded while the Dragon''s eyes went wide in surprise. There was little love between them and even though there was no real consequence to breaking the oath that the Phoenix had undertaken, its meaning was deep.

 Chapter 2118 Four is a Party (Part 2)

    Chapter 2118 Four is a Party (Part 2)

    For a mage, their mana core was more important than their name or any powerful artifact that they may possess. It was a huge part of what they were and they would never swear upon it lightly.

    Xenagrosh''s eyes met Kigan''s in a silent question: why?

    The sadness she found told her everything.

    Kigan was a Phoenix and a member of the nest. Being exiled from his family meant not only that part of his bloodline abilities were now useless but also that no matter what he achieved, he would always feel iplete.

    Kigan would have done everything to return to the flock and receive his mother''s forgiveness. Now that Xenagrosh had gotten that very same opportunity, he couldn''t bear to take it away from her.

    "If we agree upon these terms, then I must ask you to tone down your powers." Milea said, drawing their attention. "Kelia''s core is barely past the deep green and she has no experience fending against such a thick killing intent."

    "Damn. Sorry, kid." Xenagrosh and Kigan were both apex predators, yet the Empress'' simple presence was enough to put them on their toes.

    It took them a series of deep breaths to calm down and a cloaking ring to suppress their auras enough for Kelia to stop shaking like a leaf.

    "Okay, I''ll leave her in your care." Milea patted her shoulder. "Remember that even though they have to follow your instructions, a good leader always listens to her elders."

    The Empress Warped away while the members of the newly formed team studied each other.

    "Okay, boss." Kigan said with a chuckle. "What''s the n."

    ''You always bug me to take control of my body, why have you chosen today to leave me alone?'' Kelia asked via the mind link.

    ''Because they hate me and don''t trust me. And for a good reason at that.'' Dusk replied. ''Also, this is a perfect learning opportunity for you. One day, you will have to lead creatures that are much older than you.

    ''In the Awakenedmunity, even seniority is second to power. With my help, knowledge, and your bloodline, even if you choose to never unseal my abilities, only white and ck cores will stand above you. Maybe.''

    "The n is really simple." Kelia swallowed a lump of saliva. "We''re going to party."

    ***

    Later that same night, the three of them had dressed up for the asion.

    Xenagrosh had kept her human appearance since between her pale skin and sharp features, she looked like someone born in the Empire. Which was actually true except for the detail that back when she was born the Empire had yet to be founded.

    Kigan, instead, had just shapeshifted the raven-ck of his hair into reddish and the bronze of his skin into the paleness typical of the north. He had the appearance of a man in his early thirties, about 1.9 meters (6''3") tall with emerald eyes.

    He had inherited them from Sark and every time he looked at himself in the mirror, he could almost swear to see her disappointed gaze.

    The Phoenix also had his nose turn a bit smaller, his features less handsome, and his body less muscr. His role was that of a medium level bureaucrat, not of a seasoned warrior.

    As for Kelia, much to her dismay, she had shapeshifted into a boy her age. She had really hoped to wear a g dress for once, but the disguise was intended to hide her real nature and made Dusk more recognizable.

    The Red Sun had never taken a female host and they wanted people to keep believing that. She had now ming red hair, freckles on her nose and cheeks, and thenky appearance of a teen whose growth spurt didn''t give the meat the time to develop on their bones.

    "Pants, always damn pants! Wearing a skirt from time to time surely wouldn''t kill me." Kelia said, and somewhere in the Kingdom, Phloria shuddered and Jirni''s ears burned.

    "Believe me, youngdy, if we win this war, the Empire will throw so many parties and you''ll have to wear so many dresses that you''ll be sick of them in no time." Xenagrosh chuckled.

    The Shadow Dragon could almost see her younger self in the girl beside her. So eager to learn, to grow up, and please an ancient fatherly figure whose standards were impossible to meet.

    The ck Phoenix, instead, always kept at a couple of steps of distance. He kept seeing his dead niece and had to struggle between the constant fear of hurting her again and the need to beg for her forgiveness.

    "Gods, I wish you are right." Kelia kept clearing her throat, not used to the deep tone of her voice. "You just y your role while I look around the Banquet Hall. When I found who we are looking for, we move in.

    "If they are not there, we move on to the next house. If I suddenly change the way I speak or move is because Dusk has taken over. You follow his lead and everything will be fine."

    Had those wordse out of the Horseman''s mouth, they would have sounded like an order and the hybrids would have probably kicked his ass. When Kelia said them, instead, they sounded like a kid trying to act all grown-up.

    Kigan and Xenagrosh had a hard time repressing their hrity so they just smiled and nodded.

    Their routine was simple.

    The hybrids still introduced themselves as scouts from the Imperial academies but this time they had brought with them a non-existent raising star of the White Emperor academy who had the tender age of 12 would enroll straight in the fourth year.

    "What wonderful news! Maybe the Empire will finally have its Lith from Lutia." Many mages said after noticing the simrities between the Supreme Magus'' life and Kelia''s cover story.

    It was actually a ruse to make people curious enough toe looking for her instead of forcing Kelia to search every nook and cranny of the enormous households she visited.

    It took them four nights and several tries to find someone useful.

    They had been invited to the dancing party of Archmage Orovis and Kelia even had the honor of opening the dances.

    As she led a young girl''s steps, she had the opportunity to take a good look at the guests assembled in a circle around them, waiting for permission to enter the dancefloor.

    The Ball Room was over thirty meters (100 feet) long and 50 meters (166 feet) wide while the ceiling was 10 meters (33 feet) high. The space was arranged on three levels.

    On the ground floor, people would dance and different orchestras would take turns ying different kinds of bads to give their colleagues time to rest. On the first floor, there was a wide balcony overlooking the dance floor with plenty of chairs and refreshments.

    The guests would go there to rest their feet, mingle, or enjoy the delicacies offered by their host''s house staff. The third floor, instead, was soundproof and split into many closed VIP rooms where the Lord of the house and his guests could discuss important matters without being bothered.

 Chapter 2119 Four is a Party (Part 3)

    Chapter 2119 Four is a Party (Part 3)

    It was of paramount importance for the Eldritches to find their mark before they could reach the Vip Room on the third floor and disappear.

    Kelia had expected to be intimidated by the g, its important guests, and the luxury of the ce, but after her visit to the Kingdom, she found the experience underwhelming.

    In the Empire, where a household was born and died with the mage, people saved as much as they could to allow their future heirs to have everything they needed to practice magic in case they were talented as well.

    House Orovis had nothing of the splendor of the Kingdom''s households, the furniture was remarkable at best, and the floor was made of white polished stone instead of marble.

    Even the dresses were in inparison, making her sigh from time to time in disappointment.

    "How powerful are you, mage Dimrus?" The girl between Kelia''s arms wanted to sound flirty with her question, but she just made Kelia cringe.

    ''Gods, I hope I don''t sound like that.'' She thought.

    ''That would be a huge improvement.'' Dusk reyed in her head how Kelia had acted upon meeting Lith, squealing in embarrassment without forming an intelligible word until he had taken over.

    ''We agreed on never talking about that again!''

    ''No, you asked me to, but I never said I would.'' The Horseman made a loop of her squeals, making Kelia grit her teeth.

    "Very." She replied to the girl, lighting her eyes with a bright cyan light to at least impress someone and regain some face.

    The color of the manaing out of the eyes was the business card of every mage in the Empire and if someone were to be found out to fake their level like Kelia had just done, they would be sentenced to jail.

    "Oh, gods! Already?" The girl''s overexcited voice painfully reminded Kelia of her own. "Do you really think you might be the second Verhen?"

    "No." Kelia said, making the girl''s smile disappear. "I want to be the first Supreme Magus of the Empire and surpass Verhen, not follow in his footsteps."

    Kelia''s confidence and determination made the girl look at her in a way that creeped Kelia out. Not with love or admiration, but with the desire to own her, like she was a thing instead of a person.

    ''Get used to it, kid.'' Dusk sighed. ''The higher you rise, the more often you''ll meet people like her. Finding someone that doesn''t look at you like a sack of gold will be nigh-impossible by the time you leave the academy.''

    Kelia inwardly gritted her teeth at the idea, but she focused on the mission and kept smiling.

    ''Right there! Found him.'' Dusk said to the whole team via the mind link.

    Kelia left the dancefloor the moment the music stopped while the hybrids disengaged from their respective conversations with an excuse and converged on the target.

    The man who Dusk had pointed out to them was a middle-aged gentleman who was currently standing on the edge of the circle of people surrounding the dancers. He had pale blonde hair, a monocle, and wore a tuxedo bearing no family crest.

    His fa?ade was amiable, but he had no interest in the social event.

    The man was just keepingpany to his host who was about to make her son debut in society. The moment the runt went dancing with some magically talented girl, they would be free to move onto the third floor and do business.

    "Your son looks like a promising young man, mdy. Is he magically talented?" Xenagrosh said to buy Kelia a few minutes.

    "Sadly, no. Neither he nor I have inherited my father''s power." The woman said with the shame of someone confessing a crime of passion. "But I''m confident in the next generation.

    "Sothim failed to reach the requirements for the great academies, but he''s been talented enough to join the army as a Spellsoldier." In the Empire, magical talent dictated even the military ranks.

    To join an elite unit or reach a rank above first lieutenant, one needed to at least be capable of performing tier three spells. While regr soldiers were considered barely more than meat shields, Spellsoldiers were the true backbone of the Empire''s army.

    "Oh gods, where are my manners?" The dame said the moment she turned around and recognized Xenagrosh''s uniform. "I''m Lady Graham, daughter of Archmage Graham."

    "Professor Denator, at your service." Xenagrosh kept her busy withpliments while Kigan moved to the back of their mark, ready to intervene in the case something went wrong.

    After a while, the rest of the youths could join Kelia on the dancefloor, but it would have taken a few minutes before she could ditch her partner. Kigan was worried that their mark could get nervous and sniff out the trap, but nothing happened.

    ''What the fuck?'' He thought after getting close enough to the middle-aged gentleman. ''This guy is just a regr human, with no trace of a blood core or of any interaction with the Undead Courts. How can Dusk be certain that this is our man?''

    The answer was that there was nothing in the person of Sakim Caltem that would have raised any g, even if examined with an Awakened''s breathing technique. It was exactly the reason the Undead Courts of Xaanth used him as a middle man for their most important operations.

    If not for the fact that the Red Sun was one of Caltem former employers, he would have no idea of how important such an ordinary-looking man was. While his sisters had neglected their respective Courts until the undead invasion from Jiera, Dusk had guided his eponymous Court for centuries.

    He had dealings with all the most important undead of the Garlen continent, no matter to which Court they belonged, if any.

    Luckily for Xenagrosh''s team, Caltem was in no rush, and getting in the good books of academy staff was too good an opportunity to turn down.

    ''If I get free ess to one of the great academies, I bet that a lot of youths would dly swear their allegiance to us. Once they experience the boost in magical power that the blood core gives them after they be Thralls, they be addicted to it.

    ''Their grades first and then their entire careers rest upon a constant supply of power from their master and at that point, they are our eyes and hands in the Empire, no matter who sits on the throne.'' He thought.

    Kelia arrived soon after the music stopped, yet her pace was calm and controlled, with no sign of sweat from the dance.

    "There''s such a bright moon tonight that it looks like a sun." She said with a warm voice after being formally introduced.

    Caltem furrowed his brows hearing the code word of the upper echelons of the Dusk Court. His brain refused to believe that a runt could have gotten so high on the politicaldder, but he was too prudent a man to dismiss even such an improbable event.

    "Indeed, but thank the gods it isn''t, otherwise I''d have to go back to work. Tonight, I''m here just to have fun." He replied.

    "Me too." Kelia said with Dusk''s voice. "I wish this night never ends."

 Chapter 2120 Four is a Party (Part 4)

    Chapter 2120 Four is a Party (Part 4)

    Caltem froze in a shocked expression for a split second before managing to regain his cool.

    "Lady Graham, do you mind if I speak with mage Dimrus for a minute? As a student of one of the great academies, he can use an honest merchant who''ll provide him with everything he needs for his futurebs." He said.

    "I''ll make him the same deal my father made yours. If he finds anyone else selling magical goods of my same quality at a lower price, I''ll refund him the difference."

    "You are a very lucky man, Mage Dimrus." Lady Graham said with a chuckle. "Mister Caltem may not be very famous, but he''s a man of his word and he can provide you ingredients that most merchants don''t see their entire lives."

    ''That''s because the Undead Courts send him to deal personally only with the families they want to recruit and most of his "goods" are either from the ck market or stolen, you dumb woman.'' Dusk thought.

    ''Remember Kelia, if a deal is too good to be true, it''s a con or a set-up. That or you''ve lucked out and met a moron.''

    "Thanks for your time, Mister Caltem, and for your kind words, Lady Graham. I think I''ll follow your advice." Dusk gave her a small bow and after bidding the woman goodbye he moved to the third floor with Caltem and the hybrids.

    The moment the curtain of the VIP room was shut and the spells confirmed that the area was secure, the merchant fell to his knees with his head stuck on the ground.

    "My Lord, is that really you? I heard you were gone." He asked with a quivering voice. "First that fool Narchat stole your Court and now that madwoman keeps everyone on a tight leash. Where have you been all this time and how could you let that happen?"

    "Yes, it is me, the Red Sun, Caltem." Dusk sat on the nearest chair, leaving the hybrids standing and the man groveling. "I owe no exnation to the likes of you. You''d better keep it in mind during the rest of our conversation, or I''ll make you."

    At a snap of his fingers, the hybrids released a spark of their aura. Dusk couldn''t afford to show how weak he had be but a regr man like Caltem had no way to pinpoint the source of a mana surge.

    All the merchant could feel was its intensity and it was enough to make his heart skip several beats and his lungs stop until they started to burn. To him, Dusk had somehow even gotten stronger than before during his brief absence.

    "Yes, my liege." Caltem said with what breath he had left.

    "Good." The Red Sun nodded and the Abominations reeled in their auras again. "In time, I''ll take over the Dusk Court again, and from there the other two as well. My sister Dawn is no longer interested in her role and Night has proven to be too crazy.

    "If Thrud hadn''t stopped her, I would have done it myself. Yet by besting my mad sister, the even Madder Queen revealed to be a threat that I cannot ignore before rising to power again. Do you understand me, Caltem?"

    "Yes, o Hushed King." The merchant hit the floor with his forehead in submission, using the title that belonged to the founder and only rightful ruler of the Dusk Court.

    "There are rumors about how at the beginning of his reign, the Dead King established three safe houses. The Pleasure Pce, where he would keep his concubines and he would pick his Chosen among the followers.

    "No one but those who had the Dead King''splete trust visited it and lived to tell the tale. It''s supposed to be here, in Xaanth.

    "The second is the Treasure Pce, where he stored all the riches that he received as tributes from the Undead Courts and those that he simply stole from whoever became the target of his envy. It should be located near the city of Rhya."

    ''It''s where Hushar and Cyare are.'' Kigan thought. ''Yet in their reports, they didn''t mention anything about this ce.''

    "Thest is the Wisdom Pce, where-" Hearing the word "wisdom" in a phrase rted to Orpal made the hybrids scoff so loudly that the poor Caltem stopped talking in fear and curled up on the ground. "Please, have mercy, my Lord.

    "Whatever I did to displease you, I beg for your forgiveness."

    ''Wow. Were you that big of an asshole for this poor man to be so scared?'' Kelia asked.

    ''I was way worse than that. Also, calling Sakim Caltem a "poor man" it''s a joke.'' Dusk partially fused their minds, showing her the many dealings of the merchant with the Courts.

    The people he had kidnapped, the Beasts he had helped enve, the things that he had stolen for the undead, no matter the consequences.

    ''Okay, I stand corrected. He''s a piece of shit. You''re going to kill him, right?'' She said.

    ''No.'' The Red Sun inwardly shook his head.

    "Worry not, Caltem. My servants simply expressed their spite for the Dead King. They have nothing against you and you have not disappointed me. Yet. Now continue." Kelia was amazed by how the Horseman could sound warm and reassuring once second and then cold and threatening the next.

    "ording to the rumors, the Wisdom Pce is where the Dead King has built his magicalbs and kept every artifact in his possession. It should be located in Satca." The merchant said in a rush, eager to please his new master.

    The Abominations exchanged a quick look, taking out theirmunication amulets to tell the other hybrids to converge on Satca, Eycos'' and Nelia''s target and the ce where everything they were looking for was supposed to be.

    "Are you telling me that the Dead King was so stupid that he stored his most prized possessions in just one ce?" Dusk didn''t move from his chair, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

    "No, my liege." Caltem''s words made Kigan and Xenagrosh inwardly curse. "If you are looking for his secret weapons against Thrud, you''ll have to visit all three pces.

    "Not even the Dead King was foolish enough to risk that Thrud might take everything from him in the case someone like me was captured and brought to the Golden Griffon for interrogation.

    "An elder who took part in Arthan''s ploy is supposed to live in the Pleasure Pce, disguised as a guard. The blueprints of the lost academy are stored in the Treasure Pce, stored in a precious item that has been enchanted into a dimensional item.

    "Only the Forbidden Spells rted to the Golden Griffon are stored in the Wisdom Pce."

    "That''s fucking great! Now-" Dusk red at Kigan, cutting his annoyed outburst short.

    ''Shut up, you fool. The more you interrupt the conversation the more it seems I have no authority over you.''

    The Phoenix-Balor suddenly fell to the ground, seizing in agony as he bled from his eyes, nose, and ears. Xenagrosh''s eyes darted from her fellow hybrid to Dusk, yet her silent question only met a stone visage.

    "Please, my lord, forgive your loyal servant. I meant no disrespect." Kigan said amid tears as a domineering aura filled the room, making even the Shadow Dragon shiver.

 Chapter 2121 Hidden Palace (Part 1)

    Chapter 2121 Hidden Pce (Part 1)

    It was Kigan''s aura, allowing Xenagrosh to understand the meaning of that y.

    "Continue, Caltem." Dusk said with a cold voice as his alleged minion kept writhing in alleged agony.

    "Yes, yes!" The merchant mmed his head against the ground a few times in apology for the time lost while he tried to remember every single rumor he had heard.

    "Forgive me, o Hushed King, but that''s all I know. I never visited the secret pces nor do I know their location, but I can tell you who does."

    Caltem then gave Dusk the real names, the list of aliases, and the hiding spots of the members of the Undead Courts in the various cities who were more likely to have first-hand information about Orpal''s fortresses.

    "The good news is that the Mad Queen knows nothing about the pces. Even after submitting to her, the elders of the Courts kept them a secret from her. Also, they didn''t move a single gold coin out, afraid that Thrud may be keeping tabs on them.

    "The Courts feared that mobilizing the troops necessary to take down the fortresses wouldn''t have escaped her attention and alerted her of their true intentions in case she managed to infiltrate one of her Generals in the raid."

    "These are all good news, but what do you mean, the necessary troops?" Dusk asked.

    "The Dead King is still alive and his spells are still at full power. Also, there''s no telling how many of his Chosen are guarding the pces. Diverting from the war the necessary forces to beat them would have been something hard to miss." Caltem replied.

    "Let me guess. The names you gave me belong to those tasked with nning the attack on the pces." The Red Sun said, connecting the different pieces of information.

    "You are right, my Lord. The Courts need to be prepared for the moment they decide to rebel. Swiftness is the key so that by the time the Mad Queen understands what''s happening, it will already be toote." The merchant nodded.

    "I couldn''t agree more." Xenagrosh said while pressing several runes on her amulet to contact her brethren and share with them that information. "We must collect the intel that the Courts have gracefully gathered for us and strike at the three pces at the same time."

    "Wrong." Dusk''s tone was that of a general addressing the troops. "We''ll collect the information as you suggested, but then I''ll lead the charge on each pce in person. In the heat of the battle, your siblings wouldn''t recognize a Chosen from a guard or an elder from a concubine.

    "I know every undead worth knowing and those who might have been foolish enough to follow Night in her quest. My presence will allow you hybrids to separate the wheat from the chaff and go all-out on those we don''t need to take alive.

    "As soon as we conquer a pce, I''ll move onto the next one so the raids will be not only much more efficient but also almost as quick. We''ll sort the spoils of the battleter."

    Xenagrosh''s eyes became two fiery slits of mana as she weighed the time that they would save with the Horseman''s help against the dy that waiting for him would cause.

    "You are a cruel bastard. I take back a few things I thought about you in the past." She nodded.

    "What about the kid?" Kigan abruptly interrupted his farce and stood up, worried for Kelia.

    "We are in agreement or I''d never offered my help in the first ce." Dusk said in annoyance.

    "What about him?" Xenagrosh pointed at Caltem.

    "We''ll let him live, for now." The Red Sun replied. "He may have fed us fake information or withheld something to ensure his survival. We''ll dispose of him only after the end of the mission."

    "But, my liege-"

    "You''ve sided with Orpal the moment I was gone and you abandoned him as well when the Courts deposed him. Now, you are betraying them for me. You''ve seen and heard too much." A snap of Dusk''s fingers produced a burst of Spirit Magic that struck at Caltem''s eardrums, making him faint.

    "Do you want us to kill everyone in this mansion as well?" Kigan asked.

    "There''s no need." Dusk shook his head. "They have just seen two academy scouts and a student whereas Caltem knows I''m the Red Sun. If I let him go, the people who have picked Kelia''s scent will memorize it and search for me.

    "With Caltem gone, instead, they''ll start by investigating his enemies inside and outside the Courts. Even if someone survives our raids and manages to escape, by the time rumors about my return spread, people will have forgotten about my alias and his scent."

    ***

    Dusk and the hybrids left the party and shared the newly acquired information with the rest of the Organization. It took them the remaining of the night to cross-reference everything and find where their new marks were hidden.

    The Abominations waited for sunrise to attack, when the undead were at their weakest while Chaos was at its strongest.

    The remaining of the day was spent studying the blueprints about the secret pces collected by the Courts, finding their location, and using their battle ns as a basis for the hybrids''.

    "Fuck, it''s almost sundown, but we can''t afford to wait until the next morning. By then, the Undead Courts will be on our tail." Kigan said as they Chaos Warped at a safe distance from the Pleasure Pce.

    "Day or night would have made no difference." Dusk replied. "Night is still alive and her prisms allow her Chosen to share their bloodline abilities between them. She always picks one undead capable of moving freely during the day so that the strength of her minions isn''t affected by the sun unless they are in the open.

    "Between that and how deep underground this ce is, they wouldn''t suffer from the light element in the air even if it was noon."

    The three worked together to deactivate the most dangerous arrays from the outside before starting the attack. Thanks to their collective knowledge and Dusk''s Spirit Magic, the only limit was the time.

    ''If only I had even a fraction of my powers, I could take control of the hybrid''s Primordial mes and take down the magical formations in a matter of seconds instead of hours.'' He inwardly cursed.

    ''What about Doom Tide?'' Kelia asked.

    ''That would be stupid. After a while, the arrays woulde back online and at some point, I would have to release its energy.

    ''If I were to do it outside the pce, the element of surprise would be lost. If unleash Doom Tide inside, instead, we would have to search through the rubble and there would be no survivors to interrogate.'' Dusk replied.

    After getting rid of the self-destruct mechanisms and the elemental sealing arrays, they moved in. There were still a lot of magical formations left, but even though undead weren''t supposed to have Life Vision, any more and the control system would have perceived their tampering and sounded the rm.

    Knowing Orpal, they had expected the Pleasure Pce to be something tacky and shy like a brothel. Instead, it looked like a small underground fortress.

 Chapter 2122 Hidden Palace (Part 2)

    Chapter 2122 Hidden Pce (Part 2)

    Its structure was that of a castle surrounded by a circr wall that went from the ground to the ceiling, leaving only one way in that was as obvious as it was rigged with traps.

    The Dead King had never shined for originality, but he recognized a good idea when he saw one. Then, he would steal it, improve it, and call it his own creation. He had taken a page out of the Eclipsed Lands'' book and built the pce on the ceiling instead of the ground.

    The cave he had picked was low and the corridors leading there narrow so that flying creatures would have no advantage there and those of great size wouldn''t be capable of using their true form to its true potential.

    ''Is it me, or does this ce looks like designed to counter Verhen?'' Kelia asked.

    ''If it was anyone else we''re talking about, I''d say that the Dead King just built it to hinder any Divine Beast. Knowing Meln, however, you''re probably right.'' Xenagrosh replied.

    ''By the way, congrattions.'' Kelia said.

    ''Congrattions for what?''

    ''I heard about the baby and I know that never before has an Abomination managed to give life. Your kind is supposed only to take it. Isn''t that a big deal for you hybrids?'' The young girl asked.

    ''It means more than you can possibly imagine.'' Xenagrosh gave her a warm smile while wishing that Vastor would be the next. ''Lith was a hybrid just like us, but somehow, he overcame all of our limitations.

    ''If he did it, it means that we can as well. At that point, we''ll be a proper race and in time, our descendants will be treated no differently from those of the Emperor Beasts.''

    ''How was the party? I asked Milea- I mean, the Empress to bring me along but she refused. I heard it was amazing.''

    ''I don''t know since I couldn''t attend either. Sark denied me entrance.'' Xenagrosh sighed. Her only constion was that she had still managed to congratte Lith via the amulet and hear about the party from Zinya.

    Kigan activated his ck Balor eye along with his Phoenix bloodline ability, Shadow Step, to conjure his hybrid ability, Shadow Walk. He fused himself and hispanions with the darkness of the cave and emerged on the other side of the wall.

    A regr Steps would have created dimensional points of ess that would have shined like stars in the darkness of the cave. A Chaos Steps, instead, would have been limited to their line of sight and once they came out, the movement detection arrays would have spotted them.

    Shadow Walk, instead, allowed them to move around while still hidden by the cover of darkness as they searched for the best entry point. Even when they came out of it, they didn''t need to step out of the shadows, making a movement that would be perceived.

    The ckness would simply coalesce into their bodies as if they had always been there.

    ''The information we possess is urate.'' Dusk said, happy that Shadow Walk even covered the lighting out of his eyes due to Life Vision. ''The least enchanted doors are just a trap.

    ''Behind them, there are countless arrays and a solid Orichalcum wall 2 meters (6''7") thick. The moment we enter, a second Orichalcum wall would seal the entrance, leaving us trapped inside the arrays and nowhere to Blink.

    ''To make matters worse, this darkness is not normal. It makes all of my senses fuzzy and I can''t pick up a single dimensional coordinate.''

    ''Same.'' Kigan admitted in embarrassment. ''If not for Shadow Walk, I would have lost control of any dimensional spell the moment we got inside.''

    ''If there''s no way in but the main door, we might as well knock properly.'' As soon as Kigan brought them back in front of the fortress'' gates, Xenagrosh unleashed her tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void.

    A ck beam the size of a small tree pierced through the defensive arrays, the Orichalcum door, and triggered the traps behind it. The inneryers of the magical protections managed to stop it before Howling Void even reached the end of the hallway.

    ''The fuck?'' The Shadow Dragon said in amazement. ''That was supposed to pulverize the door and to clear the way for dozens of meters whereas it just punched a hole in the entrance.''

    ''That''s my fault.'' Dusk said. ''It seems that Night has gotten her hands on my anti-Abomination spells. After ourst fight, I understood how powerful you hybrids are and devised a series of enchantments based on light magic.

    ''This way, whenever one of your Chaos spells hits something imbued with the countermeasures, the light element neutralizes part of the Chaos on impact while the arrays weaken it by the millimeter.''

    ''How do we shut them down?'' Kigan asked.

    ''I have no idea. Life Vision shows me that Night gave my enchantments her own spin. I''d need time to study them and we don''t have any.'' The rm was already ring and several undead armed to the teeth were converging on the entrance.

    ''Fine.'' The Dragon and the Phoenix nodded to each other as they emitted a st of bright violet Origin mes in unison.

    The moment they met, their life forces imbued within the world energy resonated with each other. It allowed the mystical zes tobine their strength instead of canceling each other and turn into Primordial mes.

    The violet became bright white and the pir of fire grew until it filled the entire corridor. The Primordial mes burned everything on their path, leaving behind only charred stones and ashes.

    ''Wait a second.'' Kelia said the moment the white mes disappeared and she could see again with Life Vision. ''How can those two undead be still alive? Even with our equipment, we would have taken quite a beating from something that powerful.''

    While the rest of the soldiers had been vaporized, a couple of humanoid figures had never stopped advancing and were now just a few meters away. Their skin had turned red hot from the heat, but aside from that, they didn''t seem to be injured.

    Kigan and Xenagrosh had no Life Vision and had to rely on their other senses to navigate the darkness of the corridor. The air was filled with the smell of undeath, burned flesh, and overheated metal and stone.

    The creatures advanced with steps so heavy that their body density had to be on par with a medium-sized Emperor Beast.

    ''So did they, it''s just that they don''t care.'' Dusk had to admit that Night and Orpal were quite impressive, when they put their mind to it.

    After the disappearance of the Red Sun, his sister had taken the blueprints of his best golems and had crafted them using her prisms as vessels for the power core. This way, not only were they capable of feeding off the natural darkness element like her, but also her Chosen could wear them as suits of armor.

    The prism of the golem and that inside the Chosenmunicated between them, allowing the undead wearing the construct to move it as their own body. It gave the golems the intelligence and the ability to adapt they usuallycked.

    Also, it gave the undead a protectiveyer of a few tons of Adamant-studded solid stone and several spells they had no need to chant for.

 Chapter 2123 Foolish Genius (Part 1)

    Chapter 2123 Foolish Genius (Part 1)

    Bybining the enchantments and the mass of the golem with the brains and the shared bloodline abilities of her Chosen, Night had managed to grant to the most fanatic among her followers the power of an Awakened Emperor Beast.

    On top of that, the light element filling the air was healing their wounds as fast as the self-repair system of the golems repaired them. Night had never used the constructs in battle because they could only be used for a few minutes at a time.

    Without a recharge pod, they would turn into useless junk the moment they ran out of energy. To make matters worse, both golem and Chosen required a prism each, taking away part of her power and inflicting upon her all the damage they would suffer.

    "I''ll admit that your sister isn''t dumb, but she isn''t smart either." Xenagroshughed as she turned into a human sized Shadow Dragon, spreading her wings to harvest as much energy as she could.

    Night''s n had been to fill the air with so much light element that it would neutralize both the Chaos of the Abomination''s spells and that of their skin that generated the Abomination Touch.

    Yet she had failed to take hybrids into ount. The reason their ck core exceeded the limits of an Eldritch was that their monster core bnced the destructive effects that conjuring too much Chaos caused.

    It could be said that the only thing capping a hybrid''s power was the amount of Chaos the second core could safely neutralize. The light element around them had no effect on the bottomless hunger of the ck core but its effects cumted with that of the monster core.

    Xenagrosh was now free to push her ck core further than ever while also giving her life force the opportunity to experience and adapt to her new heightened state.

    The golems weighed a few tons, but Xenagrosh''s real form was much heavier, andpared to her mass, they were as light as children. She needed but one hand to capture a golem and m it against the floor to keep it from escaping.

    "Are these guys someone you know?" The Shadow Dragon asked with a grunt.

    The two prisms were emitting massive amounts of darkness element that aftering into contact with her Abomination Touch turned into Chaos. It caused Xenagrosh great pain and forced her to constantly regenerate her hands.

    On top of that, the undead were unleashing several tier five spells from the Golems and more that they kept at the ready. Holding the Chosen still without killing them would have been nigh-impossible if not for the Dragon''s superior mass and bloodline abilities.

    She kept taking deep breaths that turned into bursts of light violet Origin mes that she emitted from her body, using them as a protection against the spells. They would still hit Xenagrosh, but their destructive power was reduced enough for her troll half to heal her wounds before they could fully open.

    "No." Dusk shook his head while studying her prisoners with Life Vision. "They look young and their blood core can''t be more than a few decades old. Yet since they are Night''s Chosen, they should know what we are look-"

    Before the Horseman couldplete the sentence, the Shadow Dragon released one Howling Void from each of her hands, aiming for the prisms protruding from the constructs.

    The Chaos spells were quickly weakened by the overabundant light element in the air, but from point-nk range, they had all the power they needed. The prisms, the stone, and the enchanted metal simply disappeared along with the undead they contained, leaving behind a cloud of fine dust.

    A cruel smile appeared on her face at the thought of the pain that Orpal would suffer due to the link between the prisms and Night. Every wound that the Shadow Dragon inflicted upon them, the Horseman would experience as well.

    Xenagrosh was unaware that due to the Sealed Space Orpal was imprisoned in, he was safe from the consequences of the death of his Chosen, just like he couldn''t retrieve the power stored inside them.

    Both of them would keep lingering around the Golden Griffon and return to their owner the moment they found an opening.

    "Why did you do that?" The Horsman and Kigan asked in unison. "We could have interrogated them."

    "No, we couldn''t." A snap of Xenagrosh''s fingers turned part of the light element in the air into visible light, illuminating the corridor. "During one of the Council''s past attempts to eliminate Meln, they discovered that his Chosen share some kind of mind link not only with him, but also between them.

    "It allows them to perfectly coordinate their strategies in battle and to instantly share information. If we told them what we are looking for, we would have alerted the rest of the Chosen in this and the other pces.

    "At that point, our brethren would have lost the advantage of surprise and our enemies would have probably destroyed everything they have on the Golden Griffon."

    "It makes sense." Dusk nodded. "It would have been their bargaining chip and we would have had no way to discern truth from lie. And that if we managed to make them talk.

    "All Horsemen give their Chosen the possibility to detonate their prisms when faced with a destiny worse than death so keeping them prisoners and torturing them isn''t an option."

    "We''d better move then." Kigan said. "If they chose to follow Narchat, these guys can''t be too brilliant but it''s just a matter of time before they realize the reason we are here."

    "Maybe, and maybe not." The Red Sun shapeshifted into his real form.

    His figure grew from that of a kid into that of a man of ethereal beauty 1.9 meters (6''3") tall. His red hair turned blonde, the pink skin became bright red, and his eyes assumed a tinge of orange so clear that they seemed to flicker like mes every time he moved his gaze.

    His g clothes shapeshifted into a full suit of red armor and the twin short des into his great ax. Both the Scorpion armor and Firebrand had been reshaped by Baba Yaga when she had tailored them for Kelia''s needs but Dusk could change their appearance to that of their old form.

    "I''m the Horseman of the Red Sun and Hushed King of the Dusk Court. I''vee to take back what''s mine. Join me or die!" His voice roared through the empty halls, the echo making his words loud and clear even at a great distance.

    ''What was that?'' Xenagrosh asked through their mind link.

    ''A believable cover story.'' Dusk replied. ''Night''s underlings already know to be under attack and now they think to know the reason. My sister took treasures from my Court after my disappearance and I''m here to get them back in spades.''

    ''Brilliant idea.'' Kigan pondered. ''It exins the presence of a Dragon and gives the Chosen hope for survival. The problem is that it exposes your presence. Now all of Night''s Chosen know that you are still alive.''

    ''A problem for another day. Now let''s move.'' Dusk and the hybrids dashed forward, uncaring for the traps and the arrays in front of them.

 Chapter 2124 Foolish Genius (Part 2)

    Chapter 2124 Foolish Genius (Part 2)

    The Horseman''s armor was made of pure Davross and enchanted by Baba Yaga, its power unaffected by Dusk''s weakened state. The same applied to Firebrand that he used to intercept the physical enchanted projectiles that rained upon him from every direction while the defensive spells of his armor took care of the magical traps.

    ''This is a good learning opportunity for you. Do your best and don''t worry. The Scorpion armor can take quite a beating.'' He said while leaving Kelia in control.

    The young girl inwardly yelped in surprise, finding both the great ax and the adult male body hard to control. An external observer might have noticed the movements of the Horseman suddenly bing clumsy and amateurish, if it wasn''t for the Abominations.

    Now that Kigan had also shapeshifted into a humanoid form, it was hard to avert the gaze from him and Xenagrosh. The Phoenix-Balor used his yellow, ck, and red eyes to absorb the elemental energy stored inside the traps, neutralizing them the moment they were triggered.

    Each one of the Evil Eyes would then release the collected power in the form of an elemental pir so focused that it cut through the enchanted stone of the undergroundpound.

    Magical formations needed a precise configuration of runes to work and Kigan erased dozens of them at a time. By the time the beams triggered a trap, they held less destructive power than a firework.

    The Shadow Dragon, instead, released one jet stream of Origin mes after another, burning through spells and arrays alike.

    Whatever device escaped the onught of theirbined attack would be immediately shot down by Kelia''s Spirit Spells, reinforcing the impression that the Horseman was still at his full power.

    As they reached the first intersection, Dusk signaled the hybrids to stop. Now that the corridors were lit, he could see that there was something off with the so-called Pleasure Pce.

    There were no hand-woven carpets, no expensive furniture, none of those tacky artworks depicting Orpal and his perverted fantasies that Dusk had read about in the Council''s reports.

    Both the passages at their left and right were barren. Aside from the arrays in the air and the enchantments on the closed doors, there was nothing that Life Vision could pick up.

    ''This makes no sense.'' He said while double checking the surroundings. ''This ce was supposed to be the yground of my sister''s host but the more we move forward, the more it looks like a in fortress.''

    ''Are you suggesting us to back down?'' Kigan asked.

    ''No, only that we tread with caution.'' The young girl replied while she broke the great axe into the two short swords that she was more familiar with.

    ''Should we split?'' Xenagrosh looked both ways but they offered no clue about where they led.

    ''To what end? We would cover more ground, but with dimensional magic sealed we would have no way to regroup quickly.'' The Horseman shook her head. ''Besides, without us, you''d have no way to know who to spare and who to kill.''

    Xenagrosh could feel from the corridor on the left the smell of human food so they decided to take that direction. It indicated the presence of living beings who maybe could provide them with valuable information.

    The moment they moved past a few of the closed doors, they suddenly opened, revealing the presence of a small army of undead that quickly swarmed both ends of the corridor.

    ''No matter their numbers. Ants are still ants.'' Kigan said while covering Dusk''s back while Xenagrosh covered the front.

    ''I wouldn''t be so sure!'' Kelia could see with Life Vision several arrays that had been inactive until a second backe to life with energy.

    A powerful gravity formation turned the hybrids'' great mass against them, making their knees crack under their own same weight and their spells miss their targets by a wide margin as they fell face first on the ground.

    Kelia managed to keep standing only thanks to the Scorpion armor.

    Not only was the Davross unfazed by the increased gravity, but also the various pieces of the armor had been so masterfully interlocked that it could stand on its own in every position without weighing on its wearer.

    ''Let''s work together to undo the array quickly.'' Kelia said. ''We have no chance against so many undead without our allies.''

    ''And maybe even with them. Shut your ears!'' Dusk managed to warn her in the nick of time.

    Those who had blocked their advance were Banshees who screamed in unison to produce a powerful shockwave while those who kept the intruders from retreating were Wendigos who activated their own bloodline ability, Chilling Wail.

    The Banshees'' voices bounced against the walls and were further amplified by the acoustics of the corridors. What Dusk had mistaken for echo was actually a feature of a section of the fortress, designed to trap and focus sound in a specific location.

    The one they had just stepped over and where the gravity array was centered on.

    The Wendigos, instead, were a countermeasure against Origin mes users like Lith and Tista. Their Chilling Wail drained the humidity from the room and made the temperature drop by the second, quickly reaching -100¡ã C.

    The Banshees produced shockwaves that ravaged the bodies of the invaders while the Wendigos sapped their strength, all the while the pressure from the gravity arrays kept them from moving a muscle.

    Xenagrosh and Kigan tried to take a deep breath multiple times but the frozen air turned the moisture in their throats into ice, making it impossible to draw more than small gasps at a time.

    ''Dammit! That Meln bastard didn''t half-ass things like usual. This ce has a set of defensive measures on par with an ancient magical household or their of an Awakened and we walked into it like morons!''

    The Shadow Dragon tried to use her bloodline ability to reduce the density of her body and escape the increased gravity, but it only made things worse.

    As she turned her body and equipment into an ethereal form, the cold had an easier time seeping past her armor while the shockwaves sted away the wisps of smoke, ripping her apart.

    The Dark Phoenix fared no better. Kigan used his bloodline abilities to merge into his own shadow and escape from the encirclement, but he failed to find a shade big enough to contain his sprawled form.

    ''I can''t believe that your mother is such a good Forgemaster.'' Kelia said in amazement as the Davross Hushed her ears and sealed every opening in the Scorpion armor, keeping it''s inside insted.

    ''She''s also your grandmother now.'' Dusk replied. ''Use her gifts.''

    Kelia activated one of Firebrand''s abilities, Sr re, releasing a burst of red mes from each of her twin des. With her allies groveling on the floor, she had a clear line of sight of both the enemy groups who found themselves engulfed in living fire.

    Not only did the enchantment have uncanny destructive power, but it also released such heat that Sr re made it impossible for its victims to breathe. Or better, the undead could still inhale air to keep their respective bloodline abilities active but doing so destroyed their lungs.

 Chapter 2125 Castle Keep (Part 1)

    Chapter 2125 Castle Keep (Part 1)

    Wendigos and Banshee wouldn''t die of asphyxiation just because their lungs had been destroyed. Yet until their internal organs regenerated, they wouldn''t be able to use their respective bloodline abilities that required their voice.

    The heat from Sr re restored the hybrids'' strength who instead had no problem with the scorching air.

    The moment Kelia''s tier one gravity spell, Feather Weight, allowed them to stand, Xenagrosh and Kigan unleashed respectively the tier five Chaos spells Flood Storm and Howling Hunger.

    The former generated a tidal wave of Chaos that moved with the speed of a freight train, filling the corridor and turning the Banshees into nothingness.

    Thetter conjured a hail of ck bullets that pierced through the Wendigos and riddled them with more holes than Swiss cheese until they turned into several piles of ashes.

    A Wendigo could survive even without their heart or brain and regenerate any part of their body with ease, given time and nourishment. Their only weak point was a piece of the first person they had cannibalized upon their transformation which was bound to remain forever indigested in their intestines.

    ''Are you alright?'' Kelia asked while destroying the focus points of the gravity array that still trapped herpanions. Feather Weight just relieved enough gravity to allow them to move, not to do it quickly.

    ''Peachy.'' Xenagrosh''s Troll core didn''t grant her shy powers like those of a Balor but her regenerative abilities were unmatched. Small tendrils of flesh collected and reassembled the missing pieces of her body before the Horseman was done with the array.

    ''Speak for yourself.'' Kigan replied. ''I need to rest for a bit.''

    His body took fire as he activated his Phoenix bloodline ability, Rebirth mes. It allowed him to convert mana into matter that he could use to heal any wounds and even regenerate whole organs in an instant.

    Unlike healing spells, Rebirth mes didn''t need nutrients nor did it drain stamina or put a strain on the life force of its user.

    ''Our position has already been exposed and we cannot afford to waste a single second.'' Kelia had already used Invigoration several times and hated consuming more for someone else, but she had no choice.

    It took her but the span of a few breaths to restore Kigan''s lost mana.

    ''I meant just the time to feed off the enchantments of the fortress, but this works too. Thanks, kid.''

    ''What? Can you really do that?'' Kelia asked in amazement.

    ''Yes. Abominations can feed off the light element and world energy, including that flowing inside any enchantment.'' Xenagrosh nodded. ''A ce like this is a banquet to us.

    ''The real question is, how can so many undead live here without a regr supply of food? Wendigos are cannibals while Banshees-'' She looked inside the now opened doors and found her answer.

    They opened intorge rooms over 30 meters (100'') long and 50 meters (164'') wide filled with vertical pods containing people of all races, gender, and age. The medical devices kept the victims alive, fed them, and regenerated their wounds.

    The pods were filled with enough nutrients tost for months before needing to be refilled. They offered the undead the possibility to eat to their hearts'' content as long as they left their victim alive and gave them the time necessary to recover.

    The room from where the Wendigos hade out was filled with people missing one or more limbs that were slowly regenerating.

    The fortress wasn''t named Pleasure Pce for what the Dead King did inside its walls, but for the service it offered. To Kelia, it was a nightmare ce where people were farmed, but to the undead, it was just an all-you-can-eat five stars restaurant.

    They needed to capture a limited number of mana-gifted prey to feed upon them and greatly increase the power of their blood cores in a short time.

    ''It seems that more than falling into a trap we were simply unlucky enough to interrupt dinner.'' Kigan said while Kelia puked her guts out.

    Not all Wendigos had managed to finish their meal and the room was filled with leftovers that had yet to be cleaned.

    ''Can''t we free them?'' She asked.

    ''No time for that. After we finish our mission, we just have to inform Milea and she''ll do the rest.'' Dusk replied.

    The group resumed their advance, but this time they had learned their lesson and cast array detecting spells at regr intervals. Whenever they spotted a trap, a well-ced burst of Origin mes weakened the dormant formations enough for Dusk to deactivate them.

    Between his expertise and the information collected by the Undead Courts while researching Orpal''s secret pces, it took him seconds to destroy the mostplex arrays without triggering any security measure.

    Contrary to their expectations, no one tried to stop them. Whenever they found a new door, they discovered it open and there was no one inside except for the unconscious prisoners.

    The group quickly reached the keep at the heart of the castle, finding several surprises waiting for them. The ce had been tastefully furnished to resemble the living room of an ancient noble household.

    Tables and chairs were masterfully crafted, the carpets wereprised of the softest and finest materials money could afford, and every artwork was either an original masterpiece lost to time or a perfect replica.

    Kelia''s eyes went wide in surprise recognizing some paintings that were identical to those in Milea''s office and that even bore a perfect imitation of the scribble that Leegaain called his signature.

    Crystal chandeliers hung to the ceiling, but instead of using oil, candles, or magic crystals to light the ce, they used Sunstones that were allegedly exclusive of the Eclipsed Lands.

    The magic crystals spread a yellow light that also carried warmth and even allowed nts to grow.

    They were one of the First Vampire''s masterpieces, an invention born from the need to let his fellow undead to experience the next best thing to sunlight without dying in the process.

    "I have to apologize for the earlier rude wee, master Dusk." A voice said, making them all snap out of their reverie. "But as you know, anyone can take your appearance, and given your notorious dislike for Abomination, we assumed we were dealing with an imposter."

    The voice belonged to a man apparently in histe forties, about 1.76 (5''9") meters tall wearing a ck livery uniform over a white shirt. He had greying ck hair, clear blue eyes, and a well-groomed beard.

    He gave the Red Sun a deep bow that wentpletely ignored.

    "I would believe you if you hade at the entrance and apologized to me after I got rid of your watchdogs." Dusks'' voice sounded irritated. "Instead, I had to walk here and waste a lot of time dealing with what my stupid little sister calls traps."

    The butler ignored the rudeness of the guest toward him, but his right eye twitched in annoyance once his master was insulted.

    "I apologize again, but I had clear instructions of not letting anyone in until I confirmed their identity. After all, it wasn''t you disposing of our loyal guards but your servants." His attempt to return the favor failed since both Dusk and the hybrids showed no reaction.

 Chapter 2126 Castle Keep (Part 2)

    Chapter 2126 Castle Keep (Part 2)

    "The reason you managed to disarm the arrays so quickly is that master Orpal left some ws that only his siblings could find. After witnessing your Sr re and your mastery over magic, we had no longer doubts about your identity and let you arrive here unimpeded." The butler said.

    "First, that sleazebag is not my sibling. Dawn and Night are." Dusk said with a snarl. "Second, that sounds like one of the excuses that only someone as pathetic as Meln would use to cover for his ipetence."

    "That''s very rude of-" The butler opened his mouth to talk and an uppercut closed it, sending him crashing against the wall.

    "I don''t care what you think. Making me break your defenses was very rude. Forcing me to deal with a bunch of gluttonous idiots was rude. Even talking with you is beneath me, ve. Now, where are my people?"

    The ancient Vampire bared his fangs for an instant in outrage before a second fist knocked him deeper into the wall.

    ''If only the Dead King was here I would never have to suffer such a humiliation.'' He thought. ''But with the Undead Courts, the Mad Queen, and that ursed Organization hunting us down I can''t afford to add another enemy to the roster.''

    To the butler, Dusk seemed to be in possession of his full strength, but only thanks to the physical enhancing spells of the Scorpion armor. Without it, Kelia''s power and mass would not be enough to make him turn his head.

    "Who are you talking about? What people?" He said with a puzzled look on his face.

    "Don''t y dumb with me." The Red Sun grabbed the Vampire by the neck, freeing him from the wall and dropping him on the ground like a bag of dirty clothes. "While mother kept me imprisoned to teach me a lesson, several elders of the Dusk Court have disappeared.

    "With all the mess that Night and Thrud did of the undead society, it took me a while to discover that my followers had been taken by your beloved Dead King. I''m here to take them back."

    "Who are they and why did His Majesty take them?" The butler had no idea of what Dusk was talking about because the whole story was made up.

    "Do you seriously want me to list hundreds of names?" Firebrand poking at the Vampire''s heart emphasized the Horseman''s annoyance. "As for the reason, ask your master the next time you see him. I neither know nor care."

    The lips of the butler curled up in a small smile as he inwardly sighed in relief.

    ''It seems that the so-called wisest among the Horsemen isn''t wise at all. He must have been recently released from Baba Yaga and hasn''t bothered investigating the purpose of this facility.

    ''If Dusk just wants a few of his underlings, I just have to give them to him to send him off. The knowledge about the Golden Griffon is the only bargaining chip we have left with the Mad Queen and the only chance we have to free His Majesty were the negotiations fail.'' The butler thought.

    "I''ll do everything in my power to help you, my lord." He actually said, giving the Red Sun a deep bow. "I''ll have the people from the Dusk Court rounded up and assembled here in no time."

    "Do you take me for an idiot?" The Horseman replied with an icy re. "Why should I trust you? For all I know, you might just bring me the those you have already squeezed for information and keep the others prisoners.

    "You''ll give me a tour of this ce and I''ll make sure that your dear master didn''t take just my elders from me. Some of my artifacts have gone missing as well and I wouldn''t be surprised to find them here."

    The butler gritted his teeth, knowing that Dusk was right.

    After bing the only ruler of the Undead Courts, Orpal and Night had raided the treasuries of their sibling. Some of the stolen items were on open disy while others were kept in the Dead King''s bedchamber.

    Dusk had taken a few wild guesses to have the pretext to look around the Pleasure Pce, but they were all based on his knowledge about Night''s behavior.

    "Can''t we reach apromise?" The butler nervously licked his lips, afraid of the Horseman''s wrath. "The master will skin me alive if I let you inside his private quarters."

    "Apromise sounds good." Dusk nodded. "Here''s my deal. Either you show me everything or I''ll bring down this ce and search the rubble."

    At a snap of his fingers, the hybrids started to conjure massive amounts of mana while also taking deep breaths until their bodies burst with spells and Origin mes.

    The power they emitted was so great that even the ancient Vampire felt like a child meeting a wild beast in the night. On top of that, the mystical fire that filled the room was so strong that the nearby arrays started to unravel, triggering several rms at once.

    "That''s not apromise but an ultimatum!" The butler whimpered.

    "You are wrong, it''s the only form of mercy I''ll offer you today. epting or refusing it is up to you." Dusk ignited his armor, giving the impression that he still had ess to Origin mes.

    The Vampire found himself swallowing even though his undead body had no need for it.

    "You are mostpassionate. Please, follow me."

    The Red Sun followed the butler around the castle keep, using Life Vision the whole time and even Invigoration whenever he suspected that something was off. The rest of the Pleasure Pce was as richly decorated as its hallway, making Kelia gasp in amazement every time they entered a new room.

    The canopy beds had sheets made from the finest silk, the wardrobes were filled with jewels-embroidered clothes of all sizes, and even the bed stands were masterfully iid with scenes from Mogar''s most renewed myths.

    Dusk counted at least six more Chosen and several undead of all races. Contrary to his expectations, barely half of the inhabitants of the Pleasure Pce were women and none of them seemed scared.

    The Red Sun collected both the artifacts that he recognized as his own and the members of his Court, asking them questions about their well-being merely to keep his cover intact.

    Yet none of those he met was old enough to have lived during Arthan''s time nor renowned for their knowledge of history.

    The butler tried to make small talk with Xenagrosh and Kigan, hoping that the servants would let slip their master''s ns for the future. He wanted to free Orpal and Dusk was an ally as valuable as he was a terrible enemy, especially now that he had such powerful creatures under his thumb.

    "Nice to meet you. My name is Lorian Sider." He said with a small bow. "What are you doing with a Horseman? I thought you hybrids belonged with the Organization."

    "We did." Kigan replied, fishing for information as well. "But the Master failed to keep his promises about fixing our bodies so we swore our allegiance to Dusk. He''s the greatest expert on life forces. If he can''t help us, nobody can. What about you?"

 Chapter 2127 The Power of Monster Cores (Part1)

    Chapter 2127 The Power of Monster Cores (Part1)

    "The ck Night recruited me to turn the Dead King into a thrall first and then to help him master his bloodline abilities once he evolved into a Vurdk upon reaching the blue core." Sider replied.

    "Her Ladyship hoped that his powers would work akin to those of a Vampire, but she was wrong. By the time we understood I couldn''t help the Dead King, I knew too much so he turned me into one of his Chosen and bound my destiny to his own.

    "What are your thoughts about the Mad Queen?"

    "She''s going down." Xenagrosh replied. "We are helping Lord Dusk to rebuild his power base to remind the Undead Courts who their true ruler is. Once they submit to the Hushed King, he''s going to make a deal with the Royals.

    "If they epted to pardon the Organization in exchange for help, they will do the same for the Courts. At that point, Thrud will be isted, defeated, and everyone will go back to their old life."

    "I see." Sider inwardly smiled as the situation became more and more favorable.

    ''If Dusk seeds in his endeavor, I can offer him the knowledge about the Golden Griffon in exchange for his help to free the Dead King. With thebined strength of the Kingdom, the Council, the Organization, and the Courts, defeating Thrud is feasible.

    ''If he refuses to help me, instead, I can offer the information about his return and the Courts'' betrayal to the Mad Queen in exchange for Night''s freedom. Either way, I''ll get the Undead Courts off my back and rescue the Dead King.''

    "This is it?" Dusk asked in annoyance after taking a full tour of the keep and even of the soldiers'' barracks without finding the real goal of his research. "Where''s the rest of my people?"

    "Yes, milord, this is everyone. Aside from the private quarters of the Dead King, there''s nothing left for you to see." Sider said with a small bow.

    "Good, then take me there." The Red Sun had bid his time, taking note of the number and kinds of enemies in order to prepare a suitable strategy to get rid of them quickly.

    "As you wish." The butler clenched his teeth, giving the guards silentmands hidden amid his gestures. They had to keep ready in case things went badly.

    Sider led the group to the innermost part of the keep, isted from the rest by two solid wood double doors studded with Adamant and covered by so many runes that their entire surface was blue.

    "As you see, the entrance is locked and only the Dead King''s energy signature can-" Before Sider could finish the phrase, Dusk started conjuring one Forgemastering spell after another.

    He alternated between Disarray and Clean te spells, focusing them respectively on the single runes of a magical formation and a specific enchantment. When the Horseman grabbed the doorknob a couple of secondster, the butler hid behind the hybrids, expecting all hell to break loose.

    Yet nothing happened.

    The door turned open without a creak, the calm scarier than any storm the Vampire had pictured.

    "How?" He managed to mutter in disbelief.

    "It''s just as you said earlier. In her ipetence, my sister left a few ws in her spells that I exploited. After all, we both learned Forgemastering from Mom and Night always had problems keeping her focus.

    "She always ended up copying my notes and spells. What really baffles me is that she has never fixed the mistakes I made as a child when she derived her enchantments from my own." Dusk replied, his voice monotone despite his excitement.

    The room was luxurious to the point of being tacky. Every gemstone etched in the drawers'' handle was bigger than a nut and the decorations on every piece of furniture were made of tinum.

    On the walls, were hung paintings depicting Orpal''s past, future, and made up triumphs.

    They had been lined up so that when walking inside his bedchamber he could see his ideal life unfolding from left to right.

    The first painting of the series portrayed the day when he had fused with Night. Then, the story proceeded until he had unified the Undead Courts under his banner. At some point, he was supposed to make up with his family, but that painting had been torn apart.

    Thest painting on the right depicted Orpal sitting on Valeron''s throne, with Night by his side as the Queen and the Tiamat''s corpse turned into a rugying under their feet.

    ''Good luck with that.'' Kelia inwardly sneered. ''Thest time they fought, Verhen kicked Narchat to the curb and now he''s even stronger. By the way, can they really do that?''

    She pointed at the painting where both Orpal and Night had a body.

    ''More importantly, can we do that?''

    ''Dawn can. Now shut up, child.'' Dusk needed focus to pretend to be disgusted by the room''s opulence and indifferent to its upants.

    The bedroom was bigger than an apartment and had several doors leading to smaller rooms. After hearing the entrance opening after a long time, their inhabitants hade out in the hope of being finally released.

    They were all dressed like butlers and maids, but Dusk recognized them as some of the most ancient members of the three Courts or their greatest masters.

    A petite redhead was actually the best spearman alive while a man who looked like a middle-aged academy professor was one of the few undead who had never given up on Forgemastering.

    Yet who really interested Dusk was a seemingly young man in his early twenties. His name was Termian, born in an age whenst names didn''t exist and predated even the Horsemen.

    He was a Blood Warlock and he had been an important figure in the undead society before Dusk and his siblings had taken the lead and split it into the Courts. Termian had refused to bend the knee to creatures he considered infants and had remained unaffiliated throughout history.

    He had kept an amicable rtionship with the Courts by scouting potential members for them and acting as a middleman with the high society of the Kingdom. If there was anyone who had participated or at least knew about Arthan''s dealings it was him.

    "By the Red Mother, Cyntra, have you been here all along? Do you need food?" The Horseman rushed to the spear master, pretending that Termian was of secondary importance.

    "Respectively yes and no, my lord. Being locked I had no way to consume my strength and I have plenty of humans in my pods. Gods, it''s so good to see you again." She was a member of the Dusk Court and broke into bloody tears while kneeling to kiss his feet.

    "What are you doing and what happened here?" Dusk asked in genuine outrage while forcing her to stand up. "Did that fucker touch you?"

    Cyntra was a proud woman and he had never demanded more than honorifics from his subjects. Crying and submitting were as out of character for her as a Dragon turning spendthrift.

    "No, my lord, don''t worry. It''s just amon misconception born from the name Pleasure Pce." She said.

 Chapter 2128 The Power of Monster Cores (Part2)

    Chapter 2128 The Power of Monster Cores (Part2)

    "The Dead King never used it as a brothel but as a ce to gather all the people who could help him to surpass his brother.

    "I was tasked with teaching him spearsmanship, Rakhan with how to fix his outdated Forgemastery, Termian strategy, and so on. Each one of us had their respective duty and by working together we had to help him understand his bloodline abilities."

    "What the heck did he mean with ''pleasure'', then?" Cyntra''s words made sense, but Dusk didn''t trust Orpal farther than he could bury him.

    "The Dead King kept repeating that ever since he''s met Night, he has never experienced a greater ecstasy than bing stronger and trampling his enemies. He considered us the whetstone with which he sharpened his de.

    "As long as he had use for us, he didn''t dare harm us or force us to turn into his Chosen."

    "Because of his good heart?" The Red Sun furrowed his brows in disbelief.

    "No, because the Dead King had no control over his minions unless he fused his mind with theirs, but doing so meant to erase our personality and knowledge. He often whined about how much he would have loved to just absorb our skills instead of training." Cyntra replied.

    "On top of that, he left us precise instructions. The door to these chambers was supposed to only open either by his hand or upon his death. In thetter case, we had to impart our knowledge to Thrud''s enemies.

    "Were the Dead King to turn us into Chosen, we''d die with him the moment the prism shatters."

    "This leaves me just one question. If you knew all this, why did you agree to help him?"

    "Because he left me no choice." The spear master sighed. "You were gone, the Courts were still at war with the entirety of Garlen, and I had nowhere to run. I remained loyal to the Dusk Court and waited for your return, but you never did."

    Those words struck at the Horseman harder than any blow he had ever taken, making Baba Yaga''s words echo inside his head.

    ''Maybe Mom was right when she said that I''m the one who disappointed her the most. All this time, I never worried about the consequences that my actions had on my people.

    ''First, I forced them to go to war against the living and then I abandoned them in the hands of not one but two madwomen. I left Cyntra and many others to rot without a second thought.''

    ''What''s the point of being sorry? Be better.'' Kelia''s voice snapped him out of it. ''We can save them now and give them a choice. They can either join us and help the Empress or they can go to the Eclipsed Lands.

    ''Whatever they decide to do, it will be on them, not you.''

    ''Thanks, Kelia.'' He inwardly nodded.

    "I hereby release you all from your service under the ck Night." Dusk said. "You are free and under my protection until we leave the pce."

    "This wasn''t the deal!" Sider said. "You are allowed to bring out only those who belong to the Dusk Court."

    "Fine. Who among you wants to join me?" The Red Sun asked with a shrug.

    Not only all of the undead in Orpal''s room raised their hand but also many among the guards.

    "I''m going to uphold my end of the bargain." Dusk''s eyes shone with a red fury that matched his armor and so did his des. "I''m leaving with the members of my Court. Now step aside or I''ll end you."

    "Kill them all!" Sider''s voice had yet to die out when the guards were already attacking, yet Dusk, Xenagrosh, and Kigan were faster.

    The Red Sun plunged the Firebrand in his left hand straight into the butler''s ck prism while throwing the second at a Chosen who wore a golem suit of armor, piercing them both.

    Before the corpses could turn into ashes, the des flickered in a ze of emerald mes, leaving the wounds open and reappearing in Dusk''s hands, ready to strike again.

    The undead guards jumped on the Horseman while he was still unarmed and arrived just in time to impale themselves on his des.

    Those who came too close had to deal with two short words while those who stepped back were cut asunder by the great ax the two pieces of Firebrand merged into.

    As for the Eldritches, they had been absorbing the light element from the arrays the entire time, using it to develop and refine their powers.

    "Stay behind me if you want to live." The Shadow Dragon said while activating her tier three Decay magic spell, Lifespark.

    Five small beams of white energy came out from each of her fingers, striking at the undead who fell to the ground panting.

    The enormous amount of light element they had been exposed to had fixed the imbnce in their blood cores, turning them back into humans. Regr red-cored humans whose bodies were too weak to wield equipment that even a newborn undead would have considered light.

    Bodies that aged at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning youths into old people and then into literal fossils. Even those who managed to dodge Lifespark couldn''t escape its effects.

    The Decay infected the particles of light element released by the arrays, turning them into Decay as well.

    "I''m alive!" Cyntra had tried to take part in the battle but Dusk had stopped her.

    The small particles of Decay had brought her blood core to full red and beyond, temporarily restoring her mortality.

    "Damn, you better take a few steps back then. This is harder than I thought!" Xenagrosh had only recently started to experiment with the magic that her troll core could conjure.

    The enormous mass of light element that her monster core produced was neutralized by her ck core which in turn needed just a slight push to turn it into Decay.

    While regr Eldritchs could only use Chaos safely thanks to their cores feeding off the Decay produced in the process, now Xenagrosh had learned how to do the same with her troll core to control Decay magic.

    Yet like all the Cursed elements, its power was wild and unpredictable. Kigan was safe from it only thanks to his ck core while Dusk due to his armor whose defensive aura sizzled every time a spark of Decay reached him.

    Xenagrosh took a deep breath, hurling a stream of Origin mes that despite her best efforts carried neither Chaos nor Decay.

    "Dammit, why can''t I do it? Lith makes it look so easy!" She said in frustration as the first rows of undead perished.

    "Tell me about it!" Kigan said with a snarl.

    He activated his bloodline ability, Molting Essence, to turn his body into a mass of living mes while also using his Balor''s red eye to strip the fire element away from the world energy.

    Without its twin element, water turned into Zero and so did the ck Phoenix.

    "I''ll take the ones on the left. Xenagrosh, you deal with those on the right. Dusk, make sure that those weaklings stay out of our way!" His words hurt the pride of the ancient undead.

 Chapter 2129 Close but Far (Part 1)

    Chapter 2129 Close but Far (Part 1)

    Cyntra and the other elders had been chosen by Night as her teachers because of their power and skill so they considered themselves more than dignified baggage for the Hushed King''s group.

    Yet their pride gave way to humility the moment Kigan rushed at the enemy lines.

    The Cursed element made the temperature in the room drop by dozens of degrees yet it was nothingpared to what happened to anything that came in contact with it. The bodies of the undead were frozen to the bone, their bodily fluid increasing in volume and making their flesh and bones shatter from the sheer pressure.

    In less than one second, anyone grazed by the living Zero turned into a pile of red crystals and then into ashes.

    Enchanted protections failed, enchanted metal became as brittle as ss, and even the solid stone of the golems melted into ice shards when Phoenix''s Cursed body wed at them.

    Such a bloodline ability would have killed its user in a handful of seconds if it wasn''t for Kigan''s Balor half. Balors had no mana core due to the elemental energy being evenly spread throughout their bodies and mixed with their life force.

    It gave them uncanny physical prowess and resistance to magic. On the other hand, however, it made it impossible for them to Awaken and conjure spells.

    The power of their eyes to control the elemental energies partlypensated for that, but in their Fallen state, they could only have up to three eyes whereas even fake mages could use all six elements.

    Vastor had fused Kigan with a Balor hoping that theck of a core would have solved the duality that affected the other hybrids. He had expected that the mana spread throughout the Balor half would be sucked by the ck core like anything else and be one with it.

    What had actually happened was that the elemental energies had resisted the pull, forming an instingyer around the ck core. The ck eye constantly absorbed the darkness element, making it resistant to the Chaos.

    Also, the light element that the Balor half produced kept the Chaos from spreading by reverting the Cursed element into darkness that the ck eye could control. Kigan was the hybrid with its body closest to perfect bnce and the core farthest from it.

    While the other Abominations had their cores at least partially ovepping, his own were still apart.

    By studying the phenomenon, Kigan had learned how to rece the Chaos coursing through his being with another Cursed element, but just like a Balor, his abilities were limited by his eyes.

    The Chosen recognized the threat at hand thanks to Orpal''s precise instructions. The Dead King had learned how to deal with all kinds of Cursed elements during his fight with Tezka and had trained his soldiers ordingly.

    The undead unleashed waves of fire magic meant to turn the Zero into regr water and then freeze it. Turning into a mass of Cursed ice bestowed upon Kigan their destructive power but also burdened him with their weakness.

    Once his physical form was gone so would his life.

    The yellow eye shone in response to the attack while the red one drained the fire element in the Dark Phoenix''s surroundings, returning him into his natural state. The Zero turned into flesh and blood and then into Choke, smothering the spells that were supposed to kill him.

    The air around him became filled with ozone from the bursts of lightning while the fires disappeared due to the suddenck of oxygen. The Choke ran from the tip of the spells close to the hybrid back to its caster, enveloping them in supercharged clouds of acid.

    A simple touch from the Toxic Essence rearranged theposition of the air to form a magical corrosive mix that carried the bolts of lightning straight into the bodies of the undead.

    The acid liquefied the flesh and turned it into an excellent conductor. It carried the electricity deeper into the undead until it found their weak point and killed them on the spot.

    Toxic and Molten Essence were two of the Dark Phoenix''s hybrid abilities that were made possible by his Balor eyes and body. Once either ability was activated, the elemental energies in the body protected his life force and ck core, allowing Kigan to retain his mind and consciousness.

    At the same time, the elemental eyes of the Balor conjured their opposite Cursed element while also absorbing from the world energy the power necessary to keep it under control.

    By taking away the fire element from his own body, Kigan could turn it into Zero while by constantly feeding off the external fire element he could keep the Cursed element from reaching his core.

    The Dark Phoenix could not only wield the power of Zero and Choke now, but the phenomenon had also proved that living creatures of Cursed elements other than Chaos were possible.

    The downside of Kigan''s new bloodline abilities was that he couldn''t apply either Zero or Choke to his Origin mes, only to his body. On top of that, while in the Cursed Essence form, he couldn''t cast spells, and his Balor eyes were needed to keep his body from self-destructing.

    The Cursed elements were too strong to be controlled by sheer will and the moment they moved even one inch away from the Dark Phoenix they would go out of control and damage even his allies.

    Xenagrosh and Dusk survived only by keeping their distance and thanks to their equipment.

    Between the Shadow Dragon''s Decay magic and the Dark Phoenix''s Cursed Essence, the battle ended less than a minute after its start. Orpal had protected the Pce with arrays designed to neutralize Awakened and Abominations, but they were helpless against the hybrids'' new abilities.

    After the Pleasure Pce fell, Dusk left the rescued undead with Xenagrosh and Kigan to be interrogated while he Warped to the Treasure Pce. Conquering it was even faster and easier since the Red Sun wasn''t looking for someone but something.

    The moment he spotted a guard with Life Vision, the hybrids would kill them from a distance with Chaos Magic.

    After that, it was the Wisdom Pce''s turn. Dusk had kept it forst because knowledge demanded a gentle hand and losing a single page of a book might cripple its usefulness.

    He attacked the Wisdom Pce with the help of all six hybrids while the mages of the Empire took care of collecting the artifacts and interrogating the few lucky undead who had survived the onught on the Treasure Pce.

    By the time the Undead Courts discovered what had happened, the Pces had been cleared of anything useful and Orpal''s minions had been either killed or imprisoned.

    The Organization demanded to take part in examining the loot and made copies of everything rted to Arthan and the Golden Griffon before handing the originals to the Council.

    As for the undead that Dusk had rescued, only a few of them epted to serve under the Empress while the rest moved to the Eclipsed Lands to escape the conflict.

    "Wake up, old lizard, you have work to do." Milea said while mming several tomes on Leegaain''s desk along with maps and blueprints.

 Chapter 2130 Close but Far (Part 2)

    Chapter 2130 Close but Far (Part 2)

    Tesmian the Blood Warlock followed the Empress closely, keeping a safe distance from the Guardian and giving him a deep bow before introducing himself.

    "What''s all this stuff?" The Father of all Dragons flipped through the material, discovering that it was written in different ancient codes that he knew like the back of his hand.

    "Maybe nothing and maybe the key to ending this war. It''s up to you to find out." She replied.

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, City of Lutia, a few dayster.

    Even after Lith had received a full Royal Pardon and the title of Supreme Magus, the members of the Verhen family had preferred not to return to their home in the Kingdom.

    Elina was pregnant, Raaz was mentally unwell, and Lutia had yet to bepletely rebuilt after the attack of the Dead King. The Verhens were afraid of how their fellow citizens might react to their reappearance and how it would affect the peace of mind they so desperately needed.

    Even Rena had seen her inws only via themunication amulet, not wanting to put her parents under unnecessary stress.

    Everything changed after Kam turned out to be pregnant. She had resumed her job a few days after the baby shower and a Guardian always followed her whenever she left Sark''s pce.

    "What do you say if instead of going back and forth from the Desert you stay in Lutia once you''re done working?" Elina asked. "We would join you from the Gate in the barn and Zinya would be able to visit without going through the customs."

    "You have a point." Kam pondered.

    She was actually sick and tired of working until sundown just to find the heat of noon waiting for her in the Desert. It screwed up her body clock and forced her to stay locked inside the pce to not sweat bullets in the few hours she had left before going to bed.

    Kam missed seeing the moon and the stars, the familiar smells and taste of the cuisine of the Kingdom, and most of all, she craved some peace and quiet.

    In the Desert, the house staff kneeled in front of her and refused to get up until she gave them her blessing. Phoenixes, Dragons, and even members of the Council came at all hours to congratte her or discuss the future of the baby when she just wanted to rx.

    "With you there, we could finally eat at our table and sleeps in our beds. It would do wonders for Raaz. On top of that, I think it''s time the people of Lutia start to get used to the idea that we won''t be away forever." Feeling confident, Elina continued with her pitch.

    "After what happened at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant, I don''t trust the Queen''s Corps much. They do their best, but our enemies have proven to be both resourceful and cunning.

    "I understand that Thrud is much worse than Meln, but even she is nothingpared to a Guardian. If youe with us, I wouldn''t be afraid of facing the Mad Queen, let alone an angry mob."

    "Only at a few conditions." Kam replied.

    "Anything you want." Elina said with a warm smile on her face.

    "I''d like you to start cooking after my arrival. I miss the delicate aroma of our homnd''s spices and the smell of fresh ingredients. Also, I could use some make-up cooking lessons.

    "I''ve been served for so long that the only kitchen tool I remember how to use is the fork." Kam said.

    "I thought that you liked it that way." Elina chuckled.

    "Well, yes, but this changes everything." Kam unconsciously touched her womb. "Now it''s not just about preparing Lith''s favorite dishes when he''s feeling down or when it''s my turn cooking.

    "I want to learn how to prepare everything that the baby might like growing up. When I was little, I was raised by the house staff. Kima never prepared dinner for us nor did she spend time with me and my sister except that for lecturing us.

    "Now that''s my turn being a parent, I want to give the baby everything that I missed. I want to be there for them, not just give them the crumbs of my time. I want to be capable of taking care of them and preparing them delicious food without the need to constantly rely on someone else.

    "I want to show them how much I love them with my actions instead of empty words." Her eyes veiled with tears at the memories of how during her childhood she had desperately sought her parents'' affection.

    They would praise her only if she obeyed them and lived up to their expectations but even then, they were just manipting her.

    "On top of that, Lith is already going to be the cool dad who teaches them how to fly and cast magic. If I let him also cook and do the house chores, once our child grows up, they will start wondering what a mom is for."

    "Don''t worry, dear. There''s more to being a mother than cooking and sewing." Elina hugged Kam to make her stop doubting herself.

    "Kam''s notpletely wrong, though." Raaz sighed deeply, making Elina throw him a mean look. "Back when we had Rena and-, I mean, the twins, I spent so much time in the fields while you took care of them that I missed a lot of things.

    "I still remember how, after a long trip to sell the cattle, upon my return home the children looked funny at me. Then, once we sat down for lunch, they asked you who the stinky man was and why he was eating your food."

    Elina, Rena, and Kamughed, but Raaz only grunted harder.

    "It''s not funny when you realize that you spend so little time with your children that it takes them a week to forget who you are." He said with a snort. "Also, have you forgotten when Tista said her first word?"

    "No, I haven''t." Elina stoppedughing and became gloomy.

    "What happened?" Kam asked in confusion.

    "She was our fourth child and we had to work a lot to keep the farm running and have food on our table." Elina blushed in embarrassment. "Raaz and I had to work until sundown and often we didn''t get back home except that for the meals."

    "So?"

    "So we had Rena take care of her younger siblings." Raaz said with a sigh. "When Tista started talking, she called Rena mom and soon Trion started to follow suit."

    "Wasn''t it cute?" Kam said, trying to lighten the mood.

    "No, it was depressing." Elina shook her head. "I had to wait until winter to be called mom as well, but Rena was still Tista''s favorite. I swear to the gods that it''s a miracle that Lith never forgot who we were."

    Kam swallowed a lump of saliva, quickly calcting how much time she would spend with the baby after work andparing it with Lith''s long hours in the tower.

    ''The army has a day-care, but I would still leave the baby with strangers whereas Lith would have just Solus conjure a protected area in theb where the child can rest. What if they think Solus is their mom?'' She thought in horror.

 Chapter 2131 close but Far (Part 3)

    Chapter 2131 close but Far (Part 3)

    "About the conditions to go back to Lutia, I also want no guests in the house except for those I invite there myself. I''m tired of people looking for me and touching my womb." Kam said after snapping out of it.

    "Deal." Elina nodded. "Anything else?"

    "Just one more. Since we are going to live in the same house, we need ground rules. Like no entering a closed door without knocking first and waiting for a reply." Kam blushed a little.

    There was more than one reason why she and Lith had kept the apartment in Belius for so long and rarely spent the night in Lutia. The most important was theck of privacy.

    That was, after all, the Verhen family''s home, and Lith''s parents would often walk into a room unannounced with predictable consequences. Locking the door avoided eye contact but didn''t make the situation any less awkward.

    As for the kids, they would always walk in unannounced and bang on the door when they found it closed. Unless they were outside ying with their magical beasts or already in bed, they seemed to always have the worst possible timing to ask Lith and Kam to read them a story.

    On top of that, there was the issue of the noise.

    If Lith soundproofed the walls, he wouldn''t be able to hear anythinging from the outside nor to answer any question about the dinner unless someone called him on his amulet.

    If he didn''t and just blocked the noise from going out, unless it was the middle of the night there was always enough activity in the house to kill the most romantic of moods.

    The triplets cried for one reason or another, the magical beasts howled for extra food, Senton and Rena argued about whose turn it was to deal with the triplets, and Raaz yelled at everyone to shut the hell up.

    "We can try." Elina shrugged in embarrassment. "Do you want to work on some code? Like a sock on the handle means do not disturb?"

    "Gods, no." Kam, Rena, and even Tista said in unison.

    ''Who the heck would announce to the world they''re having sex?'' They thought.

    After a long discussion, the Verhens finally came to an agreement that would allow the entire family to exploit the Guardians'' protection to go back to Lutia whenever Kam''s duty didn''t require her to be in Valeron.

    "Just one question." Solus asked after she and Lith returned from the battlefield when the terms of the treaty were already settled. "Where am I supposed to sleep? Unless Tista shares her room with me, I''d be forced to stay in the tower alone."

    "We need a bigger house." Raaz sighed. "With the triplets, Solus, and the new babies, it''s time to n for a third floor."

    "Yeah, right, but in the meantime, I demand to have the same personal space as the rest of the grown-ups!" She said.

    "You can stay in my room until you have one of your own." Trion said with a sad voice. "It''s not like I need it anyway."

    "Thanks." Solus replied.

    "Whatever." Lith grunted. "I can''t believe that after working my ass off the whole day I have to listen to this b-"

    His eyes fell on Aran and Leria, managing to hold his tongue at thest second.

    "Bem. Why don''t we just stay in the Desert? We have plenty of space, nice people, and no worry that our neighbors might be mean to us."

    "I know that this sounds like a chore to you, little brother, but I''m with Mom on this." Rena said. "You have epted to go through a lot of hardships to give us our old life back.

    "Sooner orter, we have to return to Lutia and with how the war is going, now is the perfect moment."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Do you realize that this is the first time in a long while that we''ve sat together for dinner?" Rena replied. "Ever since you sealed the deal with the Royals, you and Solus have been off, Tista has been on missions, or Kam has had to pull double shifst.

    "Now that the Kingdom finally has the advantage, we should make the best of this opportunity to go back home and pretend that everything is okay. I believe in you, little brother, and I knew you were destinated for greatness way before you received that white robe.

    "Yet not even you can win this war alone. If something goes wrong, these might be the final days we have in the Kingdom before being forced into exile ."

    Lith opened his mouth to reply, but only a sigh came out.

    ''I don''t have the strength to tell her that the advantage Leegaain gave us is already gone and we are on the back foot again.'' He thought. ''Thrud''s Generals have returned for a couple of weeks now and they haveunched a great counter offensive with the help of the Undead Courts.

    ''The Divine Beasts and her Awakened army attack during the day while the undead arrive at night, preventing our troops from resting. Those damn Blood Witches use their powers to bypass our arrays and unleash their knock-off Doom Tide in the middle of our lines.

    ''The reason why Tista, Solus, and I are back home is that the situation is too chaotic. Our orders are to rest and be ready to attack the moment an opportunity arises. The Council and the Royals simply consider us too valuable assets to be deployed until the situation stabilizes.

    ''I wonder what the heck is going on and why the Undead Courts became so strong all of a sudden.''

    Lith had no idea that Vastor''s hybrids were currently in the Empire nor that it was their absence that had caused such a sudden turn in the tide of battle.

    Abominations and Eldritches couldn''t fight alongside the Kingdom''s forces and had to stick to the shadows.

    They kept being a thorn in the sides of the Undead Courts and attacking their known bases, but once they relocated, the Eldritches needed much longer than a hybrid to track them down.

    Covert missions required finesse and patience whereas Abominations needed sheer willpower just to keep a disguise. Let alone not letting the Chaos run rampant through their bodies and destroy everything they touched.

    To make matters worse, after the Undead Courts had discovered the raid on Orpal''s secret pces, they had stopped holding back and gone all-in. Now that they had lost their best weapons against the Mad Queen, the only choice they had left was to make themselves indispensable to her.

    Otherwise, once the war was over, Thrud might not deem their merits worthy of sitting with her at the table of winners.

    "Fine, let''s go back home." Lith raised his hands in surrender.

    The following day, when Kam finished her shift, she Warped to Lutia instead of the Desert, finding the rest of the family waiting for her.

    "How was your first day?" She noticed that everyone had a tense expression, even the children. "How did the people of Lutia wee you back?"

    "We''ll find out tomorrow." Raaz replied while moving through the house and sliding his fingers on the furniture. "We''ve just gotten here as well and I don''t n to make visits for today."

 Chapter 2132 Close but Far (Part 4)

    Chapter 2132 Close but Far (Part 4)

    Raaz wasn''t checking the dust since the self-cleaning spells of the house had kept it in excellent condition. He was trying to reignite the good memories of his home that made him love it.

    While he had been tortured by Orpal first and then exiled in the Desert, Lutia had been all that he could think of. Raaz had convinced himself that his lost house was a magical ce that would heal his trauma and protect him from the bad things that haunted him.

    He only had to find a way to get there and everything would have been well.

    Or so he had thought until he had finally achieved his dream.

    The house was just a bunch of stones, mortar, and wood that had no effect on his scarred mind. Raaz felt his hope betrayed, wondering if Lutia had ever had any charm that wasn''t just one of Lith''s workings.

    Finding the air in his ancestral house fresh and the pieces of furniture clean made even his own bedroom feel alien to him, like someone else had lived there in his absence.

    Looking at his fields through the window and seeing them in perfect condition made him angry as well.

    ''I was expecting to find a mess. This whole time I have been worrying so much about how badly things would go without my supervision and instead everything it''s fine. No matter how much I suffered, Mogar kept spinning without me and life went on.

    ''Even if I died on that table, no one would have noticed it.'' Raaz''s anger grew as he felt insignificant and stupid.

    Faluel had told him that his farmhands had never abandoned their jobs, knowing that he would return, and that the Royals had made sure to pay them for their job. Brinja had even left guards around the farm to make sure that no one vandalized the fields.

    As a woman, she considered Lith a friend and as the ruler of the Marquisate, she was aware that those crops would save thousands of lives during winter.

    Yet all those attentions made Raaz feel robbed of his ce on Mogar instead of grateful. He would have preferred to see his life''s work destroyed than discover how irrelevant he was.

    "I was thinking of inviting my inws for dinner, if that''s not a problem for you, Kam. The kids could use seeing their grandparents." Rena said while pointing at Aran and Leria.

    The sun was still high enough to see the farm''s surroundings clearly and the weather was warm. Yet instead of going out and ying with the magical beasts of the Trawn woods, the kids kept moving from one window to another like sentinels.

    They still remembered the chaos and fear of the day when Orpal had exposed Lith''s identity as Tiamat. They remembered how their friends and neighbors had turned against them and only Solus'' timely intervention had saved them from being lynched.

    "It''s fine by me. Do you mind if I invite Zin as well?" Kam replied.

    "The more the merrier." Rena said with a sigh. "The kids sure can use somepany."

    "Where are Lith and Solus?" Kam had shapeshifted her uniform into a long-sleeved shirt and baggy pants before wearing an apron.

    "In the tower." Elina had already arranged the cookware on the stove and was now picking the ingredients for the first cooking lesson. "They got here early to check on the kings of the woods, greet Faluel, and help Tista."

    "That''s great." Kam snorted, cutting the vegetables with angry movements. "This is nothing like I had pictured our first day home."

    Not only had she seen a lighter mood at most funerals, but it also was the first time that Lith wasn''t there to wee her back.

    "Once he gets here, I''m going to kick his ass."

    ***

    At the same time, in Faluel''sir.

    "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Tista yelled as she tried and failed to conjure magic with body casting. "What the heck am I doing wrong?"

    Her question was apanied by a fire magic spell that went awry and exploded in her face, turning her hair into a sorry mess.

    "What the fuck? I''ve been trying for hours and this is the closest thing to sess I achieve?" A sudden frost wave covered the floor of the cave and the feet of its upants, making everyone but Solus shiver with cold.

    "Well, since you''ve already gotten so far on your own, there is no harm in giving you a few pointers." The Hydra said while cranking up the heating system that Lith had built for her.

    "As you have learned from my lessons, a violet core can cast magic with simple body movements."

    "I know that." Tista emitted her bright blue aura whose edges now emitted bursts of deep violet light. "Just like I now understand that body casting is just the ability to manipte your own mana flow without the need to focus.

    "If true magic is akin to doing with your mind what fake mages do with words and hand signs, reaching the violet core means making the magical runes be part of your muscle memory. Correct?"

    "Correct." Faluel nodded, her shoulder-length multi-colored hair glistening like precious gems. "The problem is that the way to be one with magic is different for everyone.

    "In my case, I needed to harmonize my mana flow with all of my heads. Otherwise a stray thought or an uncontrolled movement would have messed up with my spells."

    "For me, instead, the problem was that I was so focused on the mana flow that I couldn''t feel it. I needed to rx." Lith said.

    "Well, I can feel my mana flow alright and I have only one head. What''s my problem?" Bolts of lightning sparked from Tista''s hands and sent her in a seizure.

    "I think you''ve already gotten your answer." Solus kept at a safe distance, floating in mid-air with her human body.

    ''Maybe I''m the opposite of Lith.'' Tista thought while straightening her hair. ''Maybe I need to let my emotions run wild. But if I do, spells keep exploding in my face. How the heck am I supposed to lose control with moderation?''

    "Any news from the battlefront?" Lith asked after his sister fell into deep concentration for a few minutes.

    "Same old, same old." Faluel sighed. "We win some and we lose some more. The Undead Courts have be a real pain in the ass, but the real problem is that no matter how many times we beat the main core of Thrud''s forces, they alwayse back.

    "When one of our allies dies, instead, it''s permanent. If we let the war turn into a battle of attrition, we have no way to win. We must either find a way to stop the regeneration chamber of the Golden Griffon or strike so hard that Thrud can''t recover.

    "ording to our intel, she had the Golden Griffon for months, but she wasn''t a threat until she conquered many regions of the Kingdom. If her forces are scattered and the lost academy is on the move, we can''t stop her.

    "If we manage to nail them all in the same ce, however, we can seal the Golden Griffon again and then have the time to find a way to destroy it for good."

 Chapter 2133 Honored Guest (Part 1)

    Chapter 2133 Honored Guest (Part 1)

    "Getting rid of a cursed artifact is easier said than done. The Council failed to get rid of the Golden Griffon for centuries. Even if we trap it again, it''s only a matter of time before Thrud escapes." Lith said.

    "By the way, is it me, or is your cave filled with a lot more riches than I remember from myst visit? Where did the Royals find the money to pay you with the war still ongoing?"

    "Haven''t you been to Lutia, yet?" Faluel giggled, her rainbow-colored eyes throwing him a mischievous look.

    "No, why?"

    "No reason." She suppressed a peal ofughter, making it sound like a snort.

    "Why are you- Fuck me sideways!" Lith looked at his clock and discovered howte it was. "Dammit, time flies while training. Why didn''t Mom call me? I asked her to notify me the moment-"

    Only after patting all of his pockets did he remember to have left themunication amulet in the pocket dimension to not be disturbed while practicing umtion and de Spells.

    "Ladies, it was an honor serving with you." Several runes of the amulet blinked in a frenzy due to the number of missed calls and messages left. "I''m a dead man."

    "How could you be so insensitive?" Solus said in outrage, her waist-long hair whipping furiously through the air as if she was amid a storm. "What if something happened to Kami? Or to the baby?"

    "Please, today was Tyris'' turn." Lith said after quickly consulting his notes. "Thest time someone pissed her off, she sent the whole in a full sr eclipse. I think I''d noticed if something happened and so would have the rest of Mogar.

    "That said, where''s your amulet?".

    "A dress has no pockets. Where do you expect me to keep it?" Solus said in embarrassment.

    "Hello, pot. My name is kettle and I called you to tell you that we''re ck." Lith said with a sneer. "If I have to go down, I''ll bring you all with me."

    "No fair! I''m on the verge of a breakthrough that will literally change my life. Who cares about skipping dinner?" Tista said.

    "Oh, boy. Say that again in front of Mom, please. This way, I''ll have to deal solely with Kami because everyone else will be too busy kicking your ass to remember about mine."

    "They''ll have to get in line because I call dibs!" She replied with a snarl.

    "Solus?" Faluel tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "I noticed that you keep spacing out and that are much less lively than usual. It''s not like you to forget about your family."

    "It''splicated." Solus sighed deeply.

    "If you ever want to talk, remember that I''m here for you and so are Tista, Rena, and all the people who love you." The Hydra gently caressed her head. "You are not alone unless you choose to shut us out of your life."

    "Thanks, I''ll remember your words." Solus forced herself to smile.

    "If you need a quickugh, don''t shapeshift your hair when you go to Lutia." Faluel whispered to her with a wink while Lith was still bickering with Tista.

    "What do you-"

    "Bye!" A p of the Hydra''s hands activated her Warping array, moving her guests in the living room of the Verhen house.

    "Look who''s decided to honor us with his presence." Kam''s voice held the coldness of an ice age. "Did you guys at least have fun at Faluel''s?"

    Only a few people had the authorization to Warp inside the arrays protecting Lith''s house and they were each associated with a colored light that would identify them.

    "I''m really sorry, Kami. I''ve no excuse for beingte." Lith gave her a deep bow. "I''m a jerk."

    "That''s a good start, but you''re still missing something." She kept her arms crossed while her foot tapped the floor.

    "Wee home, Kami. Is everything fine with you and the baby?" He asked.

    "Now it is." She wrapped her arms around Lith''s neck and gave him a sweet kiss. "Is Faluel okay?"

    "Just worried because there''s still no solution to the Golden Griffon. How was your day?" He replied.

    "Wow, you really got him under your thumb, Kam." Tistaughed her ass off at Lith''s expense. "Maybe you should be the Supreme Magus."

    "Ha, ha. Very funny, Tista." Kam red at her in a way that made the Red Demon realize she had fucked up. "Would you have liked Lith to be an ass to both his wife and child? What''s your excuse for beingte, youngdy?"

    "I was busy with my research." Pride made Tista''s mouth move faster than her brain, sealing her fate.

    "Oh, gods!" Elina turned around pointing a wooden spoon dripping with stew at her daughter. "I would like to say that you''re bing like your brother, but that would be unfair to him.

    "At least Lith is married, is about to give me a grandchild, and he knows to be in the wrong. I''m greatly disappointed in you Tista. You knew how important today was for your family yet you chose to put us second anyway."

    Only then did Tista notice the kids standing watch at the windows instead of ying andughing. As she looked around the room, she saw Raaz so lost in his thoughts that he had yet to notice their arrival.

    Even the magical beasts were quiet, trying to cheer Aran and Leria up with gentle bumps of their muzzles instead of begging for food as usual. The sound of Elina''s voice was the only thing breaking the silence that shrouded the house.

    "We''re here for less than an hour and we are already at each other''s throat. Maybeing back has been a mistake." Raaz said once the quarreling woke him up from his trance. "Maybe we should have stayed in Sark''s pce. There''s nothing left for us here."

    "Don''t let sadness get the best of you, my child.

    "Change is painful only if you fight it. You''ve lived in the Desert for so long that the Kingdom now looks dark to you. Yet this is still your home, each one of its stones a part of you like the blood that flows inside your veins.

    "You just have to give your heart the time to see through the recent tragedies that still cloud your memory. Then, you''ll realize that everything you think is lost is exactly where you left it." Tyris appeared out of thin hair, holding Raaz tight like he was a small boy who had just woken up from a nightmare.

    "I''m sorry for intruding in your home uninvited, but I couldn''t stand seeing you suffer any longer."

    "Wait, you were here the whole time?" Lith asked.

    "Of course." The Guardian nodded. "I promised to protect your child and the woman who carries them at all times and that''s what I''ve been doing. I haven''t left Kam''s side since she arrived in the Kingdom this morning."

    "Well, that''s reassuring." Lith sighed in relief, but Elina and Rena not so much.

    The First Queen was a woman of otherworldly beauty and despite the soothing aura she exuded, she wasn''t a motherly figure for the Verhens like Sark.

    Raaz was frozen in her arms, his mindpletely nk.

 Chapter 2134 Honored Guest (Part 2)

    Chapter 2134 Honored Guest (Part 2)

    Raaz was overwhelmed by Tyris'' warmth, the gentleness of her touch, and the softness of her body. Elina could see his neck and ears turning to a bright shade of purple.

    Senton''s jaw had hit the floor upon her arrival and he seemed to have no intention of picking it up anytime soon. That and his unblinking eyes made him look like a dead fish or a young man at his first crush.

    Even Aran looked at the Guardian like a fairy had descended among them.

    "Since I''m already here, would you mind if I give you a hand in the kitchen?" Tyris let go of Raaz the moment she perceived that the darkness in his heart had been lifted. "It''s been a long time since I''ve prepared a meal and I''m curious to put my abilities to the test."

    Raaz plunged onto his chair, too embarrassed to turn around and look his wife in the eyes. His mind and his body hadn''t been at odds like this since his teen years, but experience had been a valuable teacher.

    "Whatever happens, don''t talk nor move until your heart stops trying to break out of your chest. Otherwise you''ll make a fool out of yourself." He said to himself out loud in a loop, without realizing that his throughs wereing out of his mouth.

    "Rena, what about your inws? Kam, what about Zinya?" Elina inhaled sharply at her husband but managed to smile at Tyris nheless.

    "They will be here in a few minutes." Rena nudged at Senton and stomped his feet, but to no avail. She had to put her finger in his mouth and trigger a gag reflex to have his attention again.

    "Same with Zin." Kam was proud of Lith who was the only person in the roompletely unaffected by Tyris'' presence.

    "Then we can definitely use a hand." Elina nodded. "By the way, I''m d to finally have the asion to thank you for what you did in Verendi."

    "It was my pleasure." The Great Mother gave her a small curtsy before shapeshifting her usual court dress into a pale blue cotton shirt and gown that barely differed from the clothes that the women of Lutia wore.

    Her golden hair shortened to shoulder length and she arranged them in a ponytail that left exposed the pearly pink skin of her slender neck. When she fastened her apron, she moved with such a grace that even the magical beasts couldn''t keep her eyes off her in awe.

    "What about me, Mom?" Lith asked. "Don''t you need my help like usual?"

    "No, but thanks for the offer. You can help your father if you want." Elina nodded at her still-muttering husband.

    A quick cold shower and five minutes of self-pity in the bathroomter, Raaz was as good as new.

    "Look at the bright side, Dad. You are too embarrassed to be depressed."

    "This is no joking matter, son. Your mother will kill me. Even worse, she might ask for a divorce." Raaz couldn''t help but think how betrayed he would have felt if their roles were reversed and it was Elina drooling like a fool for another man in front of him.

    "You''re blowing things out of proportion." Lith shook his head. "Mom will surely put you in the doghouse and refuse to speak to you for a while, but I''m certain that she''ll forgive you out of love for my future baby sister."

    "This is no joking matter!"

    "Who''s joking?" Seeing how serious Lith was, Raaz clenched his heart as if his son had stabbed him with a knife.

    After returning to the living room, Lith projected a light-hearted movie for the kids. One of those ridiculously cheesy stories that he hated ever since from Earth where the bad guys were dumb and funny rather than evil and the good guys always won.

    "Can we train a dragon of our own, uncle Lith?" Leria asked while looking in amazement at the protagonists of the movie.

    "That''s just a story. Real dragons are much bigger and smarter than that. It''s more likely for them to take you as their pets instead of the other way around." He shrugged.

    "Maybe a Wyvern, then?" Aran said.

    "Believe me, Wyverns are nasty clients. Besides what about Onyx and Abominus?" Lith pointed at the magical beasts who were staring at the kids with puppy eyes. "What would you feel if they looked for cooler kids to y with?"

    Aran and Leria grabbed the furry neck of their respective friend, begging for their forgiveness.

    "I''m sorry, Onyx. You''re better than any dragon and we''ll be friends forever." The Shyf purred in reply.

    "I''ve never forgotten how you saved me from that undead, Abominus. I wouldn''t give up on you for the world." The Ry licked Leria, his tail thumping with joy.

    When Zinya and her children arrived, it took just a few minutes to introduce Tyris to them and almost half an hour for Tezka to recover from the heart attack that the sight of the Guardian gave him.

    As for Zekell as his wife, things went just as smoothly. The old cksmith had spent enough time with Rena, Tista, and Faluel to be resistant to feminine beauty. Sirma only needed to almost twist his ear off to snap him out of his stupor.

    "I''m happy to finally be able to congratte you in person." He said while shaking Lith''s hand and then Kam''s. "After everything that happened after you left bringing my boy with you, I needed one good news.

    "By the way, who is she?" The cksmith pointed at Tyris.

    "I''m just a maid." She replied with a warm smile. "The Verhens hired me to help them while they get readjusted to living in the Kingdom."

    "Another one? Don''t you guys have Solus already?" Sirma threw a suspicious look at Lith.

    "My duty is to help Elina while Tyris takes care of Kami. She''s specialized in hybrid babies." Solus replied.

    "Then why aren''t you the one cooking?"

    "How is it going in Lutia during my absence, Zekell? I hope that being rted to my family didn''t cause you too much trouble." Lith changed the subject, hoping to stop the questions for which he had no logical answer.

    As he offered the Proudhammers seats, he noticed that the quality of their clothes had improved since thest time they had met.

    "I''m not going to lie to you. It was rough at first, but the gods willing, after Morn''s execution everything went back to normal. After that, my business really took off. And it''s all thanks to you, my son." He said while patting over his chest where an odd pin was.

    It consisted of a ck disk the size of a coin with seven colored stones arranged in the same pattern as Lith''s eyes in his Tiamat form.

    Then after noticing his wife''s re and Senton''s crushed expression, Zekell rushed to add: "I mean, inw. Son-inw, of course."

    "What''s that?" Solus asked after noticing that Sirma wore an identical pin as well.

    "Do you remember when I asked you permission to sell replicas of your Dragon friend, I mean, your Dragon form?" Zekell said, receiving a nod in reply. "Well, the business went so well that I brought it to the next level.

    "Don''t worry, I''ve kept my word and your share of the profits safe."

 Chapter 2135 Revealing Light (Part 1)

    Chapter 2135 Revealing Light (Part 1)

    Lith and Solus exchanged a puzzled look, both finding it odd that so many people in Lutia had started to worship Dragons to generate a revenue big enough to affect the lifestyle of someone as stingy as the cksmith.

    ''This is odd.'' She thought. ''Zekell always reinvests the profits of his business in his own shops or to increase the quality of his house. He and Sirma never cared for expensive clothes except when we gifted them to Rena and the babies.''

    ''Yeah, but at least it''s nothing to worry about. We''ll see it for ourselves tomorrow.'' Lith replied.

    "How is Lutia now?" Just mentioning it made Raaz''s voice shaky as the images of Orpal''s broadcast shed in front of his eyes. "I bet that after what happened back when we escaped, a lot of people have moved somewhere safer.

    "I wouldn''t be surprised if our city went back to being just a big vige." He cleared his throat multiple times until his voice sounded normal.

    "And you''d lose the bet." Zekell patted Raaz''s back, happy to see him in a much better condition than he had expected from Rena''s reports. "It''s livelier than ever and if it keeps up like this, in a few years Lutia will be a medium-sized city."

    "How is it possible?" Elina was bbergasted by the news and by Tyris using magic to cook.

    Water magic washed the ingredients, air magic cut them in cute or funny shapes for the children, and fire magic made the various pots boil in a harmonious choir. The heat of each stove was strong enough to evenly cook everything but not enough to make the food be dry or burn the bottom of the pots.

    Tyris moved between the stoves like a goddess with at least twenty hands. She left Elina and Kam enough to do so that they wouldn''t feel useless while also giving them the time and focus to take part in the conversation.

    "Well, between Lith and Meln, Lutia got a really bad reputation and a lot of people left, but thatsted only until Morn''s execution. The Royals and Brinja did one heck of a job to clean your name during your absence and they seeded." Zekell replied.

    "On top of that, with the war going badly, people finally experienced what your absence meant. The Queen''s Corps left and the magical beasts retreated to the woods, leaving Lutia exposed to the attack of brigands like it didn''t happen before Nana.

    "People are afraid of being conscripted, of starving once winteres, and of what might happen if the battlefront reaches ournd. The crime rate has exploded throughout the country since those without anything to lose are less afraid of thew than of the future.

    "Those ungrateful Lutian bastards had no one to me but themselves and learned the hard way what it means to not have the guardian deity that they had taken for granted.

    "Once the Royals started to negotiate for Lith''s return, however, the Corps returned and the rumors about him bing a Magus started to spread. A lot of people moved to Lutia in search of safety, in the hope that he would live there again.

    "After Lith was crowned Supreme Magus and the battle of Belius was broadcasted, we have three neers for every person who leaves."

    The cksmith winked at Zinya who chuckled in reply.

    The two seemed in much greater confidence than in the past but when Lith asked Kam for an exnation, she knew even less than he did.

    "I''m a bit busy here!" She pointed at the six burners covered by pots and pans. "Gods, why did I invite so many people? I''m already forgetting what goes where."

    She had several spice jars in her hands and no idea what to do with them.

    "Don''t worry, I took the liberty of writing this for you." Tyris handed her what Lith recognized as a cookbook. The ingredients for every dish were listed at the beginning of the recipe, followed by a step-by-step tutorialplete with drawings.

    "Thank the gods for your good heart!" Kam hugged the Guardian who looked at her with a confused expression on her face.

    "Why should I thank myself?" Tyris asked, making Kam giggle.

    "This joke never gets old."

    "What joke?"

    The dinner went smoothly as the Verhens talked about their stay in the Desert, the Proudhammers about life in Lutia, and Zinya about her new life in the Royal Court. The food was beyond delicious and with each mouthful, the mood of both hosts and guests improved.

    Tyris just sat with them, eating and listening, but her presence did wonders for everyone and especially for the kids. She exuded an aura of purity and serenity that made Mogar look like a better ce.

    By the end of the meal, all the bad thoughts had faded like the memories of a nightmare. Zekell and Sirma were tired from the long day at work and left first, asking Lith for a quick Warp home.

    "What do you say if we all take a digestive walk?" Tyris asked once only those who knew about her true identity remained. "You''ve been holed up in the house since your arrival and you could use a bit of movement after eating so much."

    Aran and Leria looked at the door like a monster was about to barge in, Raaz became as pale as a ghost, and Frey and Filia clung to Zinya in fear. Back when Orpal had attacked them, their magical beasts had sacrificed their lives to save them.

    They had nevere back to Lutia since that day, still scared by the sight of the ruins of their old house.

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea." Raaz said, his voice quivering until Elina held his hand. "It''s almost sundown and there''s nothing that we haven''t seen a million times anyway."

    "You are wrong, child." Tyris shook her head. "There''s your whole life out there, waiting for you. I know what you have gone through and I understand your feelings, but your house is supposed to be your castle, not your fortress.

    "If you people don''t find the strength to take back what Narchat stole from you, you''ll live as prisoners even once all of your enemies are dead."

    She stood up, offering her hands to Frey and Filia who took them after a second of hesitation. The Guardian walked in front of the door that opened by itself, letting the fresh air of the evening in along with the familiar smells and sounds of the countryside.

    The wind brushing through the crops reminded Raaz of the countless hours he had spent tending the fields ever since he was a boy. The scent of wet grass aroused the good memories of when he had yed in the woods with his friends and of the time spent watching his children ying.

    He stood up as well, almost without noticing, and followed the Guardian.

    Once Tyris stepped outside, the radiance she exuded and that until that moment they could only feel became visible, illuminating the surroundings of the farm as bright as day.

    "Come, children. This ce is still your home, but only if you stop seeing it as a cage."

 Chapter 2136 Revealing Light (Part 2)

    Chapter 2136 Revealing Light (Part 2)

    "Fear is like all the good medicine. Too much bes poison." Tyris was talking to Aran and Leria yet everyone felt like she was talking to them.

    The group took a long stroll, basking in the light and the warmth of the Guardian. Raaz steered Elina toward the cultivated fields, remembering with her the hard work behind every bountiful harvest and the joy from their property expanding through the years.

    Filia and Frey dragged Tyris near the woods, where they hadst seen their loyal steeds. They took their time mourning them and thanking them for their sacrifice.

    "Is this Volgun''s and Brionac''s resting ce?" Frey asked Lith amid sobs.

    "No, I buried them in the woods after returning them to their families." He replied.

    "Can you show us where? We never got the opportunity to say them goodbye." Filia said, feeling awful for having waited for so long.

    "Sure." Lith nodded and Tyris let go of their hands, always remaining at the center of the group.

    Only after they were far away enough did Tezka join them.

    "I''m not going to lie, kid. I was afraid the whole time that she''d end me, interrogate me, or both." He said while pushing his head under the kids'' hands to reassure them with his presence.

    "Unlikely." Lith replied. "Usually, it''s you protecting the children but here they protect you."

    "The irony of life." The Suneater sighed.

    Meanwhile, Kam and Zinya walked arm in arm, moving towards Selia''s house.

    "Well, now that you''re done with your training to be the mom of the year do you have a few minutes for your sister?"

    "I''m sorry Zin. It''s just that I don''t seem to have a single moment of respite." Even though the baby provided Kam with an apparently endless energy, she felt mentally exhausted.

    "By the way, have you started to think about how to call your child? I''m certain that with so many important rtives and friends, there will be a lot of quarreling even for the initial of the third name."

    "It''s kind of hard to do that without knowing their gender." Kam sighed.

    "Wait, you still don''t know?" Zinya was bbergasted.

    "Wait, you do?" Kam was shocked.

    "Of course. Elina called to give me the good news the moment Sark told her. What the heck are you waiting for?"

    "Honestly, I don''t know. Maybe I''m just afraid that once I know it, things would get real and I''d be too scared to have a normal life. Gods, it seems yesterday that my greatest worry was not letting my personal life interfere with my career and now I''m bing a mom." Kam shook her head in worry.

    "Well, at least you can see and are surrounded by people who would die for you." Zinya patted her shoulder. "It was much scarier for me."

    "Oh gods, I''m so sorry Zin. How did you do it?"

    "Mostly luck." She replied as her eyes veiled with fear and tears. "I envy you so much that sometimes I almost hate you, Kami. I spent my pregnancies terrified at the idea that Fallmug would beat me and kill the baby.

    "Even once they were born, I was allowed to hold my children only to breastfeed them. I didn''t get to see them sleep, to see their first smile, and to watch them grow. Fallmug wouldn''t even allow me tofort them at night after a bad dream.

    "I spent most of my life as a prisoner in my room and a stranger to my own children."

    "I love Filia and Frey with all of my heart yet I didn''t get to really know them until you brought me here. I missed their entire lives whereas you have a loving husband, caring inws, and even the gods protect you."

    Zinya''s words were filled with sorrow one moment and the next with anger. Her hand clenched Kam''s so hard that it hurt.

    "If this is how you feel, why didn''t you tell me about it before?" Kam asked.

    "How could I? You were going through a lot and everything good that came into my life was only thanks to you." Zinya sobbed. "How could I tell my beloved little sister that I''m an ungrateful bitch?"

    "Don''t you dare say that, Zin." Kam hugged her sister, holding her tight. "You''ve endured for years abuse that would have killed me. You have every right to be envious and to be angry at me.

    "Compared to you, I have a perfect life yet I keep dumping my stupid problems on you."

    "They are not stupid and I''m happy that you share them with me." Zinya felt the burden on her chest be lighter as she allowed herself to be honest. "Not once I wished you to be in my shoes.

    "As long as I was blind and at the mercy of our parents, I had nothing to lose whereas you had a real chance to be happy. You have no idea how much it meant to me knowing you were safe and the fact that you''ve never forgotten about me even after joining the army.

    "I''m only angry at myself because I can''t stop dreaming to go back in time and have a life like yours. I keep praying for a child, to experience just once all those moments that Fallmug took away from me, but nothing."

    "I''m so sorry, Zin. Is there anything I can do for you?"

    "Yes." She wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "You can start by asking how I''m doing more often. By the way, are you sure you don''t want to know the gender of the baby?"

    "Positive." Kam nodded. "Just tell me if it''s more than one. Elina had twins and Rena triplets. The thought is keeping me awake at night."

    "Just one, don''t worry."

    "That''s a relief." She said with a sigh. "How is the life of a Duchess married to an Archmage?"

    "Now you ask?" Zinya replied with a chuckle. "It''s a full-time job. I spend every moment when the children are at school or do their homework either studying or at the Royal Court.

    "Nobles aren''t the refined, cultured people we dreamed about when we were little. They are mean, petty assholes whopare Zogar to Lith all day and dare to call them both monsters.

    "I overheard them wondering more than once whether I had seduced Zogar to get my hands on his money and dump my children on him or if he just took advantage of a blind woman."

    "It must be hard." Kam said.

    "No, it''s infuriating. They keep dissing my husband even though they aren''t worthy of kissing the ground where he steps. If it weren''t for Ryssa and Brinja, I would have probably ended up killing someone."

    "Wait, I get Brinja, but Ryssa? You mean the Dryad?" Kam asked.

    "Yes. Since our husbands are both Archmages and work at the White Griffon, we meet often and have be good friends."

    "I thought that she would avoid the Court. Marth alwaysins about how mean they are about her being a nt folk and their child a hybrid." Kam said.

    "They are mean but she''s even meaner. Unlike me, Ryssa isn''t intimidated one bit by the difference in upbringing with the other nobles.

 Chapter 2137 Morning Surprise (Part 1)

    Chapter 2137 Morning Surprise (Part 1)

    "Ryssa always turns every argument into a talent contest that she wins by andslide.

    "Most people don''t evene close to her magical abilities, let alone Marth''s. She enjoys reminding everyone that he''s one of the youngest Headmasters and the leading figure in the rejuvenation field just to ask them about their achievements.

    "Most nobles have nothing besides the name and fortune they inherited and Ryssa has no qualms tormenting them until they run away crying. You''d better learn a thing or two from her, or you won''tst long, Kami." Zinya said.

    "How is the Royal Court my problem?"

    "Oh, please, whatever you think people whisper behind your back, multiply it by 1000 and set it on fire. At that point, you have an idea of what the most polite among those bastards say about you." Zinya clenched her hands in outrage at the memory.

    "Out of hearing, out of mind." Kam replied with a shrug.

    "I''m sorry to burst your bubble, but you are now the wife of a Magus and a noble. Sooner orter, the Royals will invite you to social events you''ll find yourself in my same position.

    "To make matters worse, nobles nder you like me, Zogar, Marth, and Ryssabined and then some. After all, you married an inhuman who is younger than you, out of your league, and are having his hybrid child." Zinya said.

    "Fuck me sideways!"

    "You can say that. Now let''s hope that the children didn''t hear you or it will be up to you to make sure they won''t repeat those words."

    ***

    Spending the time before bed by taking a tour of the area around the farm helped the Verhens to realize how much they had missed Lutia and brought back countless precious memories of the years they had spent there.

    When the sun rose again, it found them in a much better mood and Mogar seemed to have found some of its light again.

    ''I can''t believe I managed to wake up before Lith for once.'' Elina thought with a warm smile on her face. ''I can finally pamper my son a little and prepare him an authentic Kingdom breakfast instead of the usual Desert-''

    "Good morning, child. You take your eggs sunny side up and prefer your bread fresh from the oven rather than toasted, correct?" A deep, tenor voice, refined but shaded weed her in the kitchen.

    "Who the heck are you, what are you doing in my kitchen, and how do you know all that?" Elina needed a mere thought to make the wooden spoon that controlled the defensive system of the house flew into her hand.

    "How can you have already forgotten about me?" The man was about 1.8 meters (5''11") tall, with unruly ck hair and red eyes with vertical pupils. He wore something in between a livery and a tuxedo.

    Yet no matter how well dressed they were, finding a stranger in your house first thing in the morning is never a pleasant experience.

    "As for your other questions, today''s my turn to take care of Kam and I''m always prepared."

    "Leegaain?" She asked in confusion.

    "Who were you expecting? Roghar?" He flipped his hair dramatically, offended by her words.

    "First, I have no idea who that is. Second, I''ve never seen you this tall and handsome. Usually, you are shorter and with a scruffy look. Why so elegant?"

    "Wow, and I''m the one who''s not judging you from your appearance." The Father of all Dragons said with a scoff. "Since yesterday Tyris introduced herself as a maid, it''s only fitting for me to act as your butler for today. I simply dressed for the part."

    "What about my app-" Only then Elina looked at the nearest mirror, noticing her bed hair, the drowsy eyes, and the fact that she was wearing her old, worn-out house clothes that she only used when she wasn''t expecting guests.

    "Don''t worry, you have yet to gain weight from the pregnancy and your breasts won''t get bigger for another mon-"

    "Stop talking about my breasts!" Elina blushed in embarrassment while covering her bosom.

    "Is everything alright, Mom? Why are you yelling so much?" Aran walked out of his room in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes.

    "Do you need help, miss Verhen?" An adorable little girl who was holding his hand asked.

    She looked about the same age as Aran, with ming red hair streaked yellow and blue all over. She had emerald green eyes with a vertical pupil and was wearing one of Aran''s spare pajamas.

    "Go back to sleep, darling. Everything is f-" The words died on Elina''s lips the moment her brain realized that she had no idea who the girl was.

    "Is she one of yours?" She asked Leegaain after noticing how simr their eyes were.

    "Don''t be silly, Mom." Aran said amid yawns. "You''ve known Onyx for years."

    "Good morning, miss Verhen." The clearly Awakened Shyf gave her a clumsy but adorable curtsy.

    "Onyx, right." Elina said with a warm smile while stroking the magical beast''s soft hair.

    She then proceeded to pinch her arm to make sure it wasn''t just her recurring nightmare. Once the pain confirmed that she was wide awake, Elina started yelling at the top of her lungs.

    "What the farm is going on?" Lith bolted out of his room fully dressed and ready for battle.

    He had ignored the earlier noise because knowing that a Guardian was in his house put even his paranoia to rest. Hearing his mother''s terrified scream, however, was something that he couldn''t ignore.

    "Oh, Lith." Elina sobbed, throwing her arms at his neck. "It really happened."

    "Well, Leegaain making us breakfast is unexpected, but a nice gesture nheless. What''s this smell?"

    "Something Tyris brought back from Verendi. It''s a nt that wasn''t there thest time I visited. It produces grains that once toasted and ground, if left to infuse in hot water turn it into a beverage dark and sour just like you."

    "I was thinking about calling it Voidfeather Tea." The Guardian replied with a chuckle.

    "Please, no." Lith cringed at the idea. "What about coffee?"

    "Sounds-"

    "Who cares about the breakfast or the tea?" Elina cut Leegaain short. "I was talking about her!"

    "Hello, little girl." Lith needed but a sniff and a nce with Life Vision to recognize Onyx. "When did this happen?"

    "I don''t know." She scratched her head with a confused look on her face. "I remember that after spending so much time over the mana geysers and following the magic lessons in the Desert with Aran, I started to feel weird.

    "Like every time I used my magic, I was about to understand something important, just to forget it one secondter."

    "Go on." Lith nodded.

    "There''s not much to say. I kept working on it and during the baby shower I asked those kind Divine Beasts tips, but they didn''t make much sense. Then, after basking in the Great Mother''s light yesterday, suddenly everything made sense.

    "Thest thing I remember is that Aran had let me sleep with him on his bed and when I woke up, I was like this." Onyx shrugged.

 Chapter 2138 Morning Surprise (Part 2)

    Chapter 2138 Morning Surprise (Part 2)

    "See, Mom? Nothing to worry about." Aran tried and failed to console his mother.

    "Okay, but why did you take the appearance of a little girl? How old are you?" Elina asked.

    "Because I''m eight this year. I''ve always been just one year older than Aran so in my human form I look like this." Onyx said.

    "But you were so big and strong! How can you be this young?" Elina stuttered every word while Raaz brought her a dressing gown.

    "Magical beasts grow quickly in order to survive. We can''t afford to remain cubs for a long time like you humans do. Also, as a magical beast I was young, but as an Emperor Beast with a life expectancy of 3000 years I''m an infant." Onyx replied.

    "Seriously, Mom, why are making all this fuss?" Lith said as Tista opened and closed the door of her own room after noticing the presence of the Guardian butler.

    She wasn''t as underdressed as Elina but she wouldn''t be seen dead while wearing the sweatpants that she used as pajamas.

    "I mean, Tista and Phloria Awakened because of me. Even the baby Awakened since conception because of me and due to our prolonged stay over mana geysers. Ever since I started teaching Aran and Leria magic, I have been expecting them to Awaken as well, sooner orter.

    "I admit that I didn''t consider that Onyx and Abominus would listen to my lessons and beat them to the punch, but that''s just great news. It means that they can now protect them even better, don''t they?" Lith asked and Elina banged her head against a wall in reply.

    Ever since she had learned that Emperor Beasts could shapeshift from Protector and that magical beasts could talk, she had been afraid of the possibility that the children''s pets could be something more.

    Elina loved Ryman and considered Faluel like a member of her family. As for Sark, after everything the Overlord had done for her husband and children, Elina would die for her without a second thought.

    Yet she had still a hard time epting mixed rtionships. In her mind, Lith and Tista didn''t count since no matter what form her children would take, they would always be the little bundles of love that she had given birth to.

    She didn''t care if Aran and Leria turned out to be Demons as well, but the idea that they would spend so much time with shapeshifted Emperor Beasts had lots of implication.

    They slept, studied, and yed together. In a few years Aran would have started to be interested in girls and based on Onyx''s current appearance she was bound to grow into a lovely girl.

    A pretty, kind, and older girl. If Aran was anything like his big brother, Elina could only see one possible ending.

    "Don''t worry, Mom, Aran is still at the deep green just like me at his age." Lith said.

    "Yes, but you used eleration. What if his cloggings reach his mana core?" She said, her voice quivering from one more worry.

    "It''s actually umtion." Lith sighed. "As for the impurities, at the rate they are moving they''ll reach his core while the Awakening process is still rtively painless."

    "Define rtively." Aran ignored his mother''s gloomy tone and screamed in joy, making her headache go from bad to worse.

    "I can promise you that he''ll be fine, Mom." Lith gestured her to drop the subject and turned to Onyx. "Later you have to show me what kind of Emperor Beast you are so that we can check if you have bloodline abilities.

    "Speaking of checking, I wonder if Abominus Awakened too." Elina had just finished banging her head that she started again.

    Luckily for her, Leria arrived riding a Ry with ming red fur instead of hand in hand with a boy.

    "Thank the gods." Elina sighed hard, slumping her shoulders in relief. "I really had enough surprises for one day."

    "No fair!" Leria didn''t share her opinion. "Abominus is bigger and smarter. You must have cheated."

    "It''s just that cats are naturally better than dogs." Onyx shrugged with a smug grin on her face. "Deal with it, shortie."

    "Don''t listen to her." Abominus yawned, more hungry than impressed. "I''m a year younger than Onyx so my core is still developing. Magic is no sprint, it''s a marathon."

    "Are you telling me that you are just seven years old?" Elina took his muzzle between her hands to look at him in the eyes.

    "Yes, why?" The Ry was as tall as a small horse, butrger and heavier. He could easily bite off the head of an adult man and swallow it.

    "No reason." She plunged in her chair and refused to say a word until the breakfast ended.

    "When are you going to Awaken us, uncle Lith?" Leria asked, making both Elina and Rena spat out their food. "I want to start training with umtion to be as strong as you and help you with the war."

    "Mwe foo." Aran said with the mouth still full of biscuits.

    "I''m going to wait and see if you can do it on your own." Lith replied, making the children moan and the women sigh in relief.

    "If you can''t, I''m going to wait until you turn ten. At that age, you''ll be experienced enough to understand the discipline magic requires and two years should be enough time to get used to your new abilities before going to an academy."

    The children cheered and their moms spat once more.

    "Hey, I worked hard to make that food. Show some respect." Leegaain said with a snort.

    He was having breakfast with them, cooing at Kam''s womb from time to time and sharing with it advanced magical theories.

    "Don''t be in a rush to grow, kids." She said with a sigh. "Ever since I''ve Awakened, I need to take lessons to control Spirit Magic and my strength. It takes a lot of time and effort that I''d rather spend rxing."

    Regr Awakened wouldn''t experience a major increase in their physical abilities until the cyan core, but her case was different. As the Guardians had pointed out more than once, the life force of the baby wasn''t human.

    As they grew bigger, Kam grew stronger, making her akin to a hybrid until the baby was born.

    Between the excellent food and the sun shining in the clear sky, the mood of the Verhens soon recovered from the morning surprises. Leegaain was not only a superb cook, but he had also prepared their respective favourite foods to perfection.

    "I guess we now know who uncle Lith takes his cooking skills." Leria said with a satisfied burp.

    "That would be me." Elina felt a little hurt at those words.

    "That''s what I said!" Leria pouted. "From great-grandpa to grandma and from grandma to uncle Lith. You are all better than Mom." She pointed at them in that order, tracing her imaginary family tree.

    "Hey!" Rena said.

    "You can say that." Leegaain grinned with pride.

    Lith had much to say, but the food was free and that was the first cup of coffee he had in nearly twenty years and it was delicious. He couldn''t risk the Guardian taking away the sack of powdered grains that he had so kindly left in the kitchen.

 Chapter 2139 Hope And Despair (Part 1)

    "By the way, the Royals returned the DoLorean to me. Do we want to take it for a ride or do you want to walk?" Lith asked.

    "Walk." Elina and Raaz said in unison.

    "As Tyris said yesterday, I can''t just move from one cage to another. If I enter the car, I don''t think I''d have the strength to get out once we are surrounded by people." Raaz said.

    "I agree with your father." Elina nodded. "We need to reconnect with our neighbors and using the DoLorean would draw too much attention. It''s better to avoid drawing in a crowd before we see how the Lutians react to our presence."

    The sun was warm and the air fresh, making the walk pleasant. Leegaain walked a few steps behind them still dressed like a butler. Even outside the Gorgon Empire, his breathing technique allowed him to scan his surroundings for hundreds of miles.

    On their way to the city, the Verhens met several of their old friends and of Raaz''s farmhands working the fields. Most of them froze for a second before returning their greetings with an awkward wave of the hand.

    A few, however, ran away screaming.

    "Jerks." Rena said with a scoff. "Based on your father''s words, I expected the city''s outskirts to have expanded. Instead, it seems that nothing has changed, dear."

    "Would it really surprise you if the people of Lutia expanded its borders in every direction except that toward your farm?" Senton replied. "If they think that Lith is a monster or that his enemies might attack again, they will stay as far away as they can."

    "Good point." She nodded. "By the way, Solus, howe you haven''t shapeshifted your hair today?"

    "Because Faluel said that if I go to Lutia with my natural color, something funny will happen and I can use a goodugh." Solus had let the seven colored streaks of her light brown hair visible, simply tying it in a ponytail both at the neck and the waist level.

    Lith thought it was a bad idea, but Lutia was still a backwatermunity and Solus was often depressed so he didn''t feel like pressuring her.

    ''With everything that has happened and it''s going to happen once they see us, I doubt that anyone will give a damn about her hair.'' He thought.

    Soon they reached the fringes of the city and as he feared, people looked at them with their mouths open and pointed their fingers at them.

    "I don''t want trouble, but if anyone attacks, react with extreme prejudice." Lith said, making Tista, Kam, Solus, and the beasts nod.

    Onyx had turned into her Shyf form to allow Aran to ride on her back without scaring the crap out of the Lutians even more. Even a small Emperor Beast was big enough to make a magical beast look like a harmless puppy.

    Elina and Raaz exchanged a worried look and held their hands tight, inwardly bracing for impact. They could almost hear the angry yells and see people throwing stones at them.

    "What''s that?" Rena pointed at the pins with the same pattern as Lith''s eyes that several people had on their chest. "Doesn''t that look like that odd button your father wore yesterday?"

    "It is." Senton nodded. "At least we can expect that those who bought them will be friendly toward-"

    The words died on his lips when most of the Lutians gave them a warm smile while weing them back.

    "What the farm?" Senton looked around, noticing that people seemed excited by their presence instead of scared.

    Many kids wore a ck mask with seven-colored ss eye slits, arranged in the same pattern as Lith''s Tiamat form as they yed.

    "Wow, your father wasn''t exaggerating when he said that he brought the business to the next level. I can''t believe that people actually buy that stuff." Elina was bbergasted noticing that her fellow citizens wore all kinds of essories and jewelry themed after Lith''s different forms.<sub> </sub>

    Some pendants depicted the Voidfeather Dragon, others the Tiamat, and a few even his human appearance. The only thing they had inmon were the seven eyes.

    The further they moved inside Lutia, the more polite the greetings they received be. The smiles turned into deep bows first and then into kneeling. Some even touched the ground with their forehead in submission.

    "Okay this is getting creepy." Lith said after a man had burst into tears of joy simply because Lith had greeted him first. "What the heck is going on?"

    "I think that''s the answer." Solus drew their attention, pointing at an odd building made of ck stones they had never seen before.

    Tall columns supported the sloping roof and surrounded the building from every side, leaving only the space for a main and a back entrance. On the right, there was the statue of a man with seven eyes while on the left there was another depicting a Voidfeather Dragon.

    "It''s the triple god!" A woman said while staring at Lith in awe.

    "The what?" Lith asked while turning toward her, making her faint on the spot from excitement.

    "The All-Father has returned." A middle-aged man cried in joy.

    His words spread to the crowd, being repeated over and over.

    "Wait a minute. Why does this nonsense sound familiar?" Kam said. "Also, I think I''ve seen that statue before, but I can''t put my finger on it."

    "By my Mom, we''ve already met a lot of these guys. Don''t you remember the Church of the Six in Zantia?" Solus said while pointing at the statue of the seven-eyed man.

    "Thanks for blessing us with your presence, o Bright Maiden. Lady Faluel had prophesized your arrival, but we didn''t dare hope for a third Maiden so soon." A young woman threw herself at Solus'' feet, soon followed by many others.

    They cried in joy, begging her to bless them.

    "What the heck is a Bright Maiden and how do they know Faluel?" Solus felt pranked by the Hydra, but the situation was so embarrassing that she didn''t know how to react.

    "Now that I think about it, Zekell yesterday mentioned Faluel, but I thought she had simply gone to the vige from time to time to protect them. Not that she would bring Friya and Solus into whatever this is." Lith said.

    "What does Friya has to do with these nutjobs?" Solus asked.

    "If you are the third, then two ''Maidens'' already came to Lutia in our absence. How many people with seven streaks do you know?" Lith said with a snort.

    "Exactly." Zekell walked out of the temple, wearing a ck robe with the seven-eyes pattern on its chest and wielding a staff whose top had been masterfully carved into three masks that formed a perfect triangle.

    The masks depicted Lith''s human, Voidfeather, and Tiamat faces and they all had seven eyes.

    "The Bright Maidens have been blessed by the All-Father''s light and carry his mark."

    "Is that so? What does it make me, then? An extra?" Kam said with a snarl.

    "Of course not." Zekell said with a solemn tone. "The Bright Maidens are born to keep the darkness of the triple god at bay whereas the Dark Lady walks by his side and tempers his fury."

 Chapter 2140 Hope And Despair (Part 2)

    More people threw themselves on the ground, raising and lowering their arms toward Kam while they chanted some kind of prayer.

    "Oh, gods! This is even worse than the Desert." Kam''s head was spinning and she had now a splitting headache.

    "Zekell, what''s the meaning of this?" Lith asked as his confusion was quickly turning into annoyance.

    Those who lived near the temple didn''t even dare meet his gaze, just praying to him for a miracle or another. He was used to being feared or respected, being worshipped was beyond unsettling.

    "Business." The cksmith whispered in reply. "Also, it''s a nice way to keep Lutia peaceful and friendly. Now follow my lead."

    "As it was prophesized, the All-Father has returned among us. He''s pleased with us and he needs to confer with his high cleric."

    "My/his what now?" The entire family said in unison.

    Zekell gestured them to shut up and follow him, keeping a perfect poker face while he ordered the believers to make way for them to the temple.

    The inside of the shrine consisted of a single huge room, about 30 meters (100'') long and 20 meters (66'') wide. A central corridor separated two rows of wooden benches where people could sit, pray, or meditate.

    At the farthest end of the north side, there was a small altar made of white stone. Behind it, there were two statues. One depicted Tiamat riding on Protector''s Emperor Beast form and the other Friya.

    On the east side, there was a space with candles of seven different colors that the worshippers could light ording to what they were praying for.

    On the west side, instead, there was the closest thing to a souvenir shop that Lith had ever seen since his time back on Earth. One of Zekell''s clerks sold the Tiamat-themed essories that they had seen outside, toys, statues, and tacky knick-knacks.

    "Get out!" Zekell said but no one listened to him.

    Seeing the object of their veneration walk among them made something like a cleric irrelevant. They surrounded Lith, praying for his blessings.

    "I beg you, bring my daughter back as one of your Demons." A woman about his own age said while throwing herself at his feet. "All I want is to hold her one more time and tell her that I''m sorry.

    "I promised her that I would move heaven and earth to make her get better, but I failed her."

    The woman was holding a ck candle and a poorly carved wooden figurine of a young girl.

    "My son lost an arm during a hunting ident and now his life is destroyed. He worked for years to inherit the family business but a tailor without his dominant arm can show only half of his skill in double the time." A man clinging to Lith''s leg said.

    "My little sister is dying from the Strangler, but my family can''t afford to travel to Distar, let alone the treatment. Please, I''ll do anything you want if you save her life." A crying boy said, hitting more than one nerve.

    Tista and Lith exchanged a quick nce before dismissing them all. Only once they were finally alone could Zekell drop the props and the act as high cleric.

    "Okay, what''s going on and how could you afford this building?" Lith asked. "Heck, with the money necessary to build this monstrosity, you could have probably cured a lot of people."<sub> </sub>

    "Do you really think I''d waste my money or time? I didn''t make this, I just exploited it." Zekell replied with augh as soon as he was certain that they were alone. "I told you, things got hard after you left for the Desert.

    "People tried to chase me and my family off Lutia, iming that I was your aplice. Neighbour attacked neighbor, thinking that they might be either a beast or another of Meln''s thralls in disguise.

    "The whole city almost got burned to the ground in the riots that ensued from the attack on the Heavenly Wolf tavern, but that was only the beginning. Things got much worse when the Lutians realized what they had done.

    "They had attacked their friends, hurt their own families, and chased away the only person who could help them fix their mess."

    "What do you mean?" Rena asked.

    "Have you forgotten that after Nana''s death, the vige lost its protector and only real mage? The healer who took over her business was much less experienced and people relied on Tista and Ryman for the important stuff.

    "With your family gone, how could a simple magico deal with so many severely wounded people? He did his best, giving priority to those with the highest chances of survival and letting the others die.

    "Which of course didn''t sit well with their rtives who tried to lynch him, ming the healer for the loss of their loved ones. He saved his skin by flying away, never to return, leaving Lutia with no healer.

    "He also gave us one heck of a reputation so no matter how much money we offered, no one wanted to live in a ce where people treated their healers so badly. From that moment onward, every broken bone could mean bing a cripple.

    "Every illness, even the flu, spread like wildfire, and the only thing the people who couldn''t afford a trip to the nearest haler could do was cross their fingers and hope to survive.

    "To make matters worse, without you or the Queen''s Corps, the city was as rich as it was undefended. For years we had relied on Nana first and then on you for protection, never investing a dime in the local militia.

    "Useless to say, the Lutians paid a high price for their foolishness." Zekell said.

    "Oh, gods, Dad! Why didn''t you tell me that you were going through so many hardships?" Senton grabbed his father, making sure that he was fine.

    "Me? Silly boy! I was never in danger. I spent the whole timeughing my ass off and telling everyone ''I told you so''." Zekell patted Senton''s shoulder moved to see how worried he was for his old man.

    "How, exactly?" Lith asked.

    "Because you have good friends, kid. The magical beasts you left here kept people from harassing me just like they stopped the bandits who tried to raid my shops. The kings of the woods healed my family whenever we needed it.

    "When they thought to not be up to the task, they called Faluel. That''s how I met your Hydrady friend." Zekell said. "Then, after a few weeks since your departure, a bunch of weirdos arrived from the north.

    "They imed to be followers of the All-Father and to havee on pilgrimage to the ce that had given him birth. At first, many scoffed at them and considered them insane.

    "Yet a lot of people had already left Lutia and the city was slowly dying so no one could afford to turn away paying customers. Especially magically gifted customers with ess to tier one and two magic."

    "Wait a second." Solus said. "The Church of the Six forbade the use of magic, iming that it stole the power that Lith- I mean the All-Father needed to be reborn."

 Chapter 2141 Hope And Despair (Part 3)

    "And that changed when the All-Father appeared in front of his believers, exposed the fake clerics, and imed that whoever gives up on their gift for magic is unworthy of living." Zekell replied.

    "Why do you think the followers of the cult changed its name and now embrace magic instead of rejecting it?"

    "I don''t remember saying any of it." Lith shrugged. "It was just a farce to screw up the ringleaders of the cult."

    "In fact, you didn''t." Solus nodded. "More importantly, it was Friya who defeated you during your All-Father act. How did you involve her and howe she''s now a Bright Maiden?"

    "That was Faluel''s idea." Zekell replied. "The cultists were doing a lot of good for Lutia, helping with their magic however they could and clearing your name. She thought that it was best to spin their narrative to our advantage so that upon your return, you wouldn''t find a dying city.

    "She stepped forward, iming that her hair was the sign of her bond with you and that Friya was actually your envoy all along. That she had helped you in order to expose those who were smearing the name of the All-Father."

    "And the people of Lutia believed that?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Not at first. They''ve known you since you were a child and for most of them the idea that you are some kind of primordial god was simply ridiculous." Zekell shook his head.

    "Most of them?" Elina echoed.

    "Just like Trion, many fallen Lutians rose as Demons during Meln''s attack. Some had just been killed by the undead while others were long gone. All of them came back to protect their respective loved ones and had the time to say their goodbyes before fading away." Zekell pointed at the ck candles.

    "The Demons spoke with their families and neighbors, telling them things that no one else could possibly know. Those people were the first to convert to the cult, sharing the miracle they had witnessed.

    "On top of that, Faluel and Friya healed those in critical condition and got rid of most of the bandits in the area. At that point, the people of Lutia wouldn''t have cared even if the cult imed that Lith is the god of destruction.

    "As for the cultists, they would believe anything that puts Lith in a good light. With time, more and more of them arrived and Lutia started to get repopted.

    "Some are fanatics who have seen you in action during your missions for the Kingdom, but most of them are just people who have been driven away from their homes by the war, looking for a safe ce to stay."

    "How did you be the high cleric?" Rena asked.

    "I''m the father-inw of the sister of the All-Father and I had my shop already full of merchandise about Lith." Zekell said with augh.

    "The cultists begged me to teach them about him and I saw an opportunity to clear Lith''s name, revive the city, and finally be able to walk the streets without a detail. It was a win-win deal."

    "If Faluel and Friya are helping, why are there so many desperate people praying in the temple?" Tista asked.

    "Because they don''t stay here the whole day. Theye to Lutia from time to time and heal those in need, but it would take them weeks to treat everyone. Peoplee all over the Lustria County hoping to get their turn." Zekell replied.

    "To get a healer capable of using tier four and five magic, they would have to reach Derios and then pay for the procedure. Not only would most of the patients not survive the trip, but they also don''t have the money.<sub> </sub>

    "Lutia is much closer and when they arrive here, the clerics keep them stable until the ''Maidens'' return. We only ask for a donation."

    "If they can''t afford the cures, where does the money for the temple and that in Faluel''sire from?" Lith asked.

    "Some of your followers have enough money to pay the stonemasons to build the foundations and the magical talent to do the rest on their own with earth magic. As for Faluel, I was happy to share with her the profits of my shop in exchange for her help." Zekell said.

    "Are you telling me that people actually buy that stuff?" Lith pointed at the souvenir shop.

    "It flies off the shelves." Zekell said with augh. "But the real moneyes from my goldsmith shop. After you fought for Belius, I started to receive orders from all over Distar. After you became Supreme Magus, from all over the Kingdom.

    "You are the role model of an entire generation of mages. I wouldn''t be surprised if some of my pieces started to appear even in the Royal Court.

    "On top of that, thanks to the Royal Pardon, the Queen''s Corps returned and with them, the trouble with the bandits ended. The trading routes are open again and Lutia is flourishing again."

    While the rest of his family took a quick tour of the temple, Lith took Leegaain aside for advice.

    "You were once considered a god. What do you think I should do with all this nonsense?" He asked.

    "Based on my experience, it won''t work in the long term." The Guardian shook his head. "The more you give people, the more they want and even I can''t fulfill the egotistical wishes they feel entitled to.

    "In the short term, however, it''s a perfect solution. In desperate times, people need something to believe in in order to have the strength to move forward. What you call ''nonsense'' gives them hope while it buys your family the peace they need.

    "Once everything settles down with the war and Lutia gets a new healer, the Triple God cult will burst like a bubble. In the meantime, those people could really use some help and you need to rebuild your reputation. Two birds with one stone."

    "Fine." Lith said with a sigh.

    After they left the temple, the Verhens were shocked to see the conditions of the rest of Lutia. Many buildings had yet to be rebuilt and whole city blocks were nowprised of empty houses where the refugees squatted.

    Luckily, the center of the city was still the same. Now it was just the old quarter but just a decade ago it was the whole vige of Lutia. Zekell''s house, the bakery, and every ce they knew and loved was still there.

    "Raaz, thank the gods you are back!" Bromann, one of his oldest friends and head of the farmhands, shook Raaz''s hand while patting his back. "The Royals are still paying us for our work in the fields but it''s not the same without you."

    "What are you doing here?" Seeing a familiar face filled Raaz with joy to the point that the physical contact didn''t trigger his trauma from Orpal''s torture.

    "Zekell told us of your return so the boys and I wanted to give you a proper wee." Bromann waved at the crowd behind him. "We were hoping that you would give us a couple of hours off and allow us to offer you a beer, boss."

    Most of Raaz''s friends were there, cheering at Bromann''s words and waiting their turn to wee Raaz back and congratte him for his future grandchild.

 Chapter 2142 Hope And Despair (Part 4)

    "Actually, I''m also expecting another daughter so the first round is on me." More cheers ensued while the small crowd moved toward the oldest tavern in Lutia, asking Raaz lots of questions about his stay in the Desert.

    Seeing her husband happy and surrounded by familiar faces, made Elina smile. Lutia had indeed changed a lot from the time when it was just a small vige, but it was still their home.

    While the Verhens walked through the old district, they passed in front of Nana''s house and felt their hearts sinking. Ever since the old mage had died, no one lived there but until Lith''s banishment, the people of Lutia had maintained it well.

    Even the healer who had taken Nana''s ce had used her old office, keeping her memory alive. Now, however, the door was barred with wooden nks and the windows were dirty with mud and dust.

    After the healer''s escape, the building had been abandoned and no one had taken care of it ever since. Yet that wasn''t all. Lots of people stood in front of the entrance in an orderly line.

    They had heard of Lith''s return and had brought their sick hoping that he would take care of them just like when he was Nana''s apprentice. Elina looked at Tista, remembering all too well the feeling of despair of a parent who had to live with the fear that every day they spent with their child might be theirst.

    "Can''t you give them a hand, please? For old time''s sake?" Elina asked while grabbing Lith''s hand.

    He had no lingering affection towards those people, but he knew that Leegaain was right.

    ''As long as the citizens of Lutia see me as a monster, my parents'' life here can be peaceful due to the protection I can offer them, but they will never be happy. I need to rebuild the trust that Meln destroyed with his schemes.'' He thought.

    Also, it wasn''t just a matter of appeasing his mother. Tista, Solus, Kam, Rena, and even the kids were staring at him with puppy eyes, certain that he would do the right thing.

    "Of course, Mom." He said, feeling no different from a man standing in front of a firing squad.

    "Besides, there''s four of us and we don''t have to hide our skills anymore. It won''t take long."

    "Four?" Tista asked in confusion. "The kids are good with magic, but their mana cores are still too weak and their diagnostic skills are non-existent."

    "I was talking about Grampa." Lith pointed at Leegaain. "He has to protect Kami so he might as well give us a hand."

    All heads turned towards the Father of all Dragons who shrugged in reply.

    "I have lots of work to do, but as long as she stays close to me, I can multi-task."

    Lith removed the wooden nks from the door while Aran and Leria cleaned the outside of the building. Inside, the air was stale and everything was covered in a thickyer of dust, but nothing that a few air and water magic spells couldn''t solve.

    Everything they needed to visit the patients was still there so it took them just a few minutes to make the consulting room operational again. The line was cleared faster than it formed.

    Lith, Tista, Solus, and Leegaain didn''t ask questions or demand payment. They would just touch their patients on the forehead to diagnose their ailments and cure them all in one go.

    Even those who needed to regrow a limb would take a minute.

    Lith would give them tonics to drink while he used Invigoration. The former would provide the nutrients while thetter would give the patient the stamina they needed to endure the rapid cellr growth.<sub> </sub>

    Only those with congenital diseases like the Strangler would need more than one session. Healing them required to permanently alter the life force and the smallest mistake might cause long term side effects.

    Or better, that would have been the case without Leegaain''s help. No matter who was examining the patient, the Guardian only needed a squint of his eyes to fix any disease as if it was just a scraped knee.

    "Thank you very much for healing my sister!" The boy they had met earlier at the temple gave to Tista such a deep bow that his head almost touched the floor. "It was worth bringing her here from Gatra and waiting for your return.

    "I''ll let everyone in my vige know that the rumors about the All-Father are true. You really are our savior."

    "Dude, I didn''t do anything. My sister treated yours." Lith said.

    "But she''s a lesser Demon and her powers derive from yours, right?"

    "It''s way moreplicated than that." Lith shook his head. "Besides, we are just healers. We use light magic like anyone else."

    "If you say so." The boy didn''t seem convinced. "The healer of Gatra told me that it takes six mages and several hours to heal the Strangler whereasdy Tista barely touched P."

    "Yeah." A man who had just recovered from aminuted fracture of the leg said. "It took Nana days to treat the same number of people that you guys healed in the past hour."

    Tista tried to exin that it was because they were Master Healers of the White Griffon, but between the rumors spread by the cult and the miracles they had just witnessed, the people of Lutia found it hard to believe her.

    "What''s your-" Lith choked on in words as the woman from the temple now stood in front of him.

    She was barely twenty, but the grieving, the sleepless nights spent praying and skipping one meal too many made her look much older. Fatigue gave her deep lines and bags under her eyes.

    Her disheveled ck hair hadn''t been washed in weeks and the only light left in her chestnut eyes was that of hope. Despair made them dull like those of a dead fish.

    In her right hand she held a fresh ck candle while in the left there was the wooden figurine. She put them both on the stretcher as an offering before kneeling with her hands joined as she begged to see her little girl again.

    "It doesn''t work this way." Lith tried to dumb it down as much as he could. "I''m not a Necromancer. I don''t force souls to do anything. They must answer my call."

    "Please, give it a try anyway. Her name was Ilka." She handed him the wooden figurine and a lock of light brown hair that she carried in a medallion at her neck.

    "Ilka, if you are here, give me a sign." Lith had no idea what to do. He had never conjured a Demon outside of abat situation.

    He couldn''t feel anythinging from the hair or the figurine, nor the ck chains stirring inside of him. After a while, people started to grumble about the wait, and the woman to lose hope.

    Lith activated Death Vision, to check if it had gained the ability to detect wandering souls, discovering that the woman in front of him was bound to die, but unlike everyone else in that room, old age wasn''t even a possibility.

 Chapter 2143 Marauders Map (Part 1)

    Lith watched the grieving woman die of thirst, alcohol abuse, and all the ailments that theck of self-care might induce. Every one of them disfigured her to the point that he couldn''t recognize the woman in front of him way before she even started rotting.

    "I''m sorry, there''s nothing I can do." Lith handed her back the figurine and the lock of hair.

    The woman took only the lock, holding it like a precious gem. She brought it to her nose, trying to smell the scent of her baby girl as her eyes became lifeless.

    "Can you please kill me?" Her voice was a whisper, but still clear. "I know that you are a healer, but my illness has no cure. Only death can put an end to my suffering."

    "What about your husband? What about your family?"

    "They have moved out of Lutia because they couldn''t stand how everything here reminded us of Ilka. I couldn''t leave my poor daughter alone. Her grave is here and I''ll stay by her side until myst breath." Suddenly, Death Vision showed only one oue.

    The neck of the woman would get suddenly twisted at an unnatural angle by a shadow rope.

    Lith saw it happening over and over, a testament to her determination. Something inside of him twisted as he remembered the days after losing Carl. The loneliness and despair that had apanied him until that fateful night in the warehouse.

    "No." A voiceing from his mouth that wasn''t his own said.

    A voice he hadn''t heard for almost two decades now. Before Lith could realize what was happening, he saw his hand reach for the woman''s head as his body shapeshifted into his Abomination form.

    A ck chain darted from his chest to the woman''s, making a second chaine out.

    ''What are you doing?'' Solus asked via their mind link.

    ''I have no idea.'' He replied as the new chain twirled around the space near the woman''s legs, like a snake circling on its prey.

    "Stay back!" A high-pitched voice said a small hand pped the mystical links to keep them from reaching her.

    "Ilka?" The woman fell to her knees, trying to hug the little girl who couldn''t be more than four years old. Yet her hands passed through Ilka and the chains, grasping only air.

    A shocked silence befell the room as most of those present forgot how to breathe until their lungs started to burn.

    "Please, mister, stop that thing. If it reaches me, then I''d be forced to go away but Mom isn''t ready yet." A wave of Lith''s hand stopped the chain and the edges of the girl''s figure started to fade like mist.

    "What do you mean?" The Abomination asked with a voice that he and Solus recognized as Derek McCoy''s.

    "After I died of fever, Mom was always sad. Every day she visited my grave and every night, she cried herself to sleep calling my name until Dad couldn''t take it anymore. If I go, she''ll be all alone." Ilka replied.

    "Forgive me, Ilka." The woman said amid sobs as her suffering grew with each failed attempt to embrace her daughter failed. "If only I looked after you better, you would still be alive."

    "No, Mommy, it''s not your fault. You did everything you could. I was just unlucky. Please, stop crying. I''ll stay with you as long as you want. I promise."

    "Your daughter is stuck because of you. My chains failed to detect her because she has no will to be here." Derek/Lith said. "She can''t move on unless you let go of your grief. Is this what you want for Ilka? To stay and watch her mother die?

    "To keep talking without being heard, to be a shadow in a world of lights?"<sub> </sub>

    "No." The woman sobbed, seeing her pain reflected on Ilka''s face and all the worry she had caused her daughter. "You can go, my love. Mommy will be alright. I promise."

    She offered Ilka her pinkie and the little girl epted the chain, turning into a small, smiling Demon.

    "Pinkie promise." Ilka said as her mother could finally experience her touch again.

    "I love you, baby girl." The woman grabbed Ilka, caressing her soft hair and losing herself in Ilka''s warmth until she started to fade away.

    "I love you more. Dad''s waiting for you in Ritya. Say goodbye to him for me."

    The woman kept sobbing for a while, but no matter how long the queue became, no one dared to utter a singleint.

    "The cult was wrong." The woman said when she managed to regain her cool yet refused to stand up. "There was a fourth god. The god of death."

    "The god of death." Some echoed.

    "The Lord of Destruction." Others said, yet they all fell to their knees.

    ***

    "That went well." Lith said with a snort once they were finally back home for lunch. "If before only a few people bought the cult''s nonsense, now between Grampa going overboard and whatever my Abomination side did, the rumors about me are going to spread past the borders of Lutia."

    "Which is a good thing." Leegaain showed him an image of the family while also sharing Soul Vision with him.

    The children were ying in the woods, Elina and Raaz were still out to visit the neighbors, and Rena and Senton were at Zekell''s to spend time with the groom''s side of the family.

    They all were smiling and there was no trace of fear left on their faces or shadows. The entire city of Lutia now shone with hope and wonder. Whenever its people looked at the temple or toward the farm, there was no mistrust anymore.

    "What Tyris did yesterday reminded the members of your family of how much this farm means to them. They are now able to see past the recent traumatic events that took ce here and recall the happiness that they enjoyed between these walls.

    "Yet none of it would matter without their link with themunity." Leegaain said.

    "Lutia can be their home only if they feel as safe in the city as they are inside this house. Were the members of your family victims of harassment the moment they leave the safety of their homes, fear would soon poison their hearts again."

    "The ugliness of the present would eclipse the joy of the past and stay here would be nothing but torture. Healing the citizens of Lutia was the first step to mending the gap that separates them from the Verhens.

    "To remind them that your parents were a part of themunity before you were born. That even though their son has be a Magus and turned out to be a Divine Beast, Raaz and Elina are still the same."

    "That sounds too optimistic to me." Lith shook his head. "By showing off ''my powers'' like that, you and my Abomination side hav just emphasized how much Tista and I are different from the rest."

    "Different doesn''t necessarily mean bad." Leegaain replied. "Your ''showing off'' proved to them how desperately they need you. Also, while you and your sister healed your patients, Rena and Elina keptpany to those waiting their turn.

 Chapter 2144 Marauders Map (Part 2)

    "They shared with them their memories of when you suffered from cold and hunger during winter, of how much Tista''s illness affected their lives. It may seem trivial to you, but for those people, it meant stopping seeing your family as a bunch of monsters.

    "It doesn''t make up for how they treated you on the day of the attack nor does it magically erase the fear they feel for you, but it''s a start. A bond of trust goes both ways and today you took the first step. Now you can only wait and see how they respond."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, a few dayster.

    Lith had been expecting a call from the Royals for a while now, yet he would have never imagined that instead of ordering him to return to the battlefield they would just send summon him to the capital.

    "Nice to see you, Magus Verhen." Morn said while Lith gave him a small bow. "I''m d to hear that you''ve moved back to Lutia. I hope there''s no grudge left between the Verhens and their fellow citizens."

    "The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty." Lith replied. "As for Lutia, we are working on it."

    His eyes moved around the Throne Room, noticing that Kam, Tista, the Council''s representatives, Faluel, and even Xenagrosh had been invited as well. Yet his wife stuck out like a sore thumb among such powerful creatures.

    "What''s the meaning of all this?"

    "It will all be clear to you in a few minutes." Sylpha said while conjuring a tendril of Spirit Magic to establish a mind link with Lith.

    The Queen brought him up to speed about the Organization''s mission to retrieve the pieces of intelligence about the Golden Griffon that Orpal had collected in case Garlen became too small to host both the Dead King and the Mad Queen.

    Much to his dismay, Sylpha broke the link right after informing him that each of the three hidden pces had proven to contain a vital piece of information.

    "The reason we have summoned you here is that what we are about to share with you requires utmost confidentiality. We only have one chance at this and we can''t risk any detail leaking outside these walls." She said.

    "From the Pleasure Pce, we rescued Termian, a Blood Warlock who helped Arthan to build the Golden Griffon. Thanks to him, we have learned how to craft cloaking rings that will allow our agents to escape the detection of the lost academy''s defensive system.

    "Thanks to the rings, once inside the only way their presence can be exposed is by being spotted by the guards. Even if that were to happen, as long as they can be kept from sounding the rm, it would take hours for someone to notice their absence.

    "From the Treasure Pce, instead, we have collected an enchanted map of the Golden Griffon." Sylpha handed to Lith a seemingly nk parchment.

    ''If not for Life Vision confirming that this is actually an artifact, I''d think that either this is a joke or that I have to swear to be up to no good to make it work.'' Lith thought, making Solus inwardly giggle.

    "It has already been imprinted and we''ve already checked that its content bes visible only in the proximity of Huryole.

    "Termian exined to us that after the Undead Courts discovered Arthan''s ns to make the academy a maze, they used the enchantments that the Mad King had shared with them to create this map.

    "It''s a tool that, by reading the flow of energy coursing through the various floors of the academy, can show you the position of every room inside the Golden Griffon in real-time.<sub> </sub>

    "Even if our agents were to be spotted and Thrud rearranged theyout of the building to keep them from escaping, the map will allow them to find their way to the exit."

    "What about the Wisdom Pce?" Lith asked. "Did you find the schematics of the power core that will allow us to safely destroy it there?"

    "Sadly, no." Sylpha sighed deeply. "Our Eldritch allies only found a list of the Forbidden Spells the Golden Griffon is enchanted with and Arthan''s blueprints for a more advanced version of the Madness.

    "Sadly, over the centuries the Kingdom''s Rangers have already discovered the hard way most of what the lost academy can do and we have no use for the blueprints."

    ''Speak for yourself.'' Xenagrosh inwardly grinned at those words.

    "Then what''s the point of this meeting?" Lith replied. "Even with the map and the rings, anyone who stays for too long inside the Golden Griffon would fall under its ve spell.

    "There''s no point taking such a risk without knowing the position and the weakness of the power core."

    "You would be correct if we didn''t get ahold of a crucial weakness of the lost academy and the perfect tool to exploit it." Raagu Drerian, the human representative of the Council stepped forward. "The only thing weck is the means to use them both."

    "Maybe it''s because I''m still under 100 years old, but I don''t appreciate cryptic one-liners. Why have you summoned me here and why are you telling me all this?" Lith asked.

    "You have to excuse Raagu." Faluel said with a chuckle. "She has a ir for the dramatic that you seem to be immune to."

    "I was simply trying to make him understand how important this is and how much is at stake." The human representative snarled in annoyance. "Termian also confirmed to us that undead arepletely immune to the Golden Griffon''s Unwavering Loyalty array.

    "They can safely remain within its premises for as long as they want without the risk of being enved. Also, in the Wisdom Pce, we found the schematics of the array and we had the opportunity to check his intel.

    "The Undead Courts really pulled a fast one on the Mad King. ording to Termian, the original n was to conquer the Golden Griffon the moment it was finished and use its regeneration chamber to achieve true immortality with no strings attached.

    "What they failed to consider was that even after Arthan''s death, the academy refused to recognize a new master. It fought and killed those who hade to conquer it and the few survivors remained trapped inside like the rest of the students."

    "Let me guess, you want to put this knowledge to use by sending a recon team of undead inside the Golden Griffon to study its power core on site and learn how to safely destroy it." Lith said.

    "Correct." Raagu nodded.

    "It''s all very interesting, but my questions remain. It just adds one more. Why have you called me here, why are you telling me all this, and what makes you so sure that your recon team can aplish such a difficult task?" Lith asked, making Raagu sigh.

    "The answer to your first two questions is the same." King Meron said. "We want you to be part of the recon team."

    "Me?" Lith was bbergasted. "Thest time that I remained trapped for too long inside the Golden Griffon, you quarantined me for weeks. What makes you think that now things are different?"

 Chapter 2145 Power Struggle (Part 1)

    "Because now not only have your life forces fully merged, but you are also capable of switching between them at will." King Meron replied. "This gives us hope that in your Abomination form you can resist the ve array as well."

    "Hope? As in, you are not sure?"

    "That''s another of the reasons we''ve summoned you here." The King said. "To put your Abomination side to the test. If our suspicions are confirmed, then we''ll reveal to you the rest of our n."

    "Why me? The Council is full of powerful undead. Heck, now that the Abomination hybrids are probatory members, they are your best candidate. Strength, experience, unparalleled destructive power, they have it all." Lith said.

    His words arose no enthusiasm, quite the contrary.

    The members of both the Council and the Royal Court shifted on their feet in uneasiness. Thetest sess of the hybrids in single-handedly collecting priceless intelligence and invading Orpal''s fortresses was a testament to their skills.

    It greatly increased their value as allies but also posed the unsettling question of how to deal with them in case they turned hostile. Neither the Council nor the Royals had an answer to that question and it worried them greatly.

    "Your reasoning is solid, but it has fatal ws." Raagu said. "All undead can''t move or have their strength greatly limited during the day. There''s no telling how long the mission willst and the moment the sun rises, they''d be dead weight.

    "Liches have no such problem but there''s no telling when and where Thrud will relocate the lost academy. If that happens while the recon squad is inside, a Lich would lose most of their strength if not disintegrate on the spot.

    "To prevent that, they should either bring their phctery with them or at least entrust it to someone so that in case the Golden Griffon moves, the phctery would follow. Useless to say, there''s not a single Lich who hasn''t flipped us off.

    "As for the Eldritches-"

    "We have already tested ourselves after recovering the Forbidden Spells and we''ve discovered that we are not immune." Xenagrosh cut Raagu short.

    "Our main goal has always been to make our flesh resistant to the Chaos and our sess turned against us.

    "Our life forces are stable enough to be affected by the ve array so we can''t go. On top of that, we can''t use Spirit Magic so our usefulness would be limited in the exfiltration phase."

    Lith''s eyes met Xenagrosh, asking her several silent questions that she could almost hear. She just shook her head, gesturing they would speakter.

    ''I can''t tell the Council that the reason we''re susceptible to the Unwavering Loyalty array is that Dad''s workings are based on Arthan''s.'' The Shadow Dragon gritted her teeth in annoyance.

    ''Back then, he noticed the w that using the Madness to create our monster half would create and exploited it to develop arrays that guarantee him a way to get rid of untrustworthy Eldritches.

    ''Without such w, any of us might have turned traitor the moment they got what they wanted and the Master would have been powerless to stop them. On the other hand, however, because of the w our life forces offer no resistance to the ve array. Yet.''

    "If this matter is so secret that you can''t disclose it even to the Kingdom''s Supreme Magus then what''s my wife doing here?" Lith asked.<sub> </sub>

    "We haven''t forgotten how aggressive your Abomination half was thest time we met it. We brought Constable Yehval here in hope that she can restrict you, sparing us from using force in case you go wild.

    "Also, she deserves to know what you are risking your life for." Sylpha replied.

    Meron performed a series of hand gestures that conjured a scaled-down version of the Golden Griffon''s Unwavering Loyalty array. Solus recognized its runes with mana sense and remained baffled by the array''splexity.

    ''This is terrifying.'' She said via the mind link. ''Somehow Arthan used his name as a rune. Even those who fall under the effects of this copy would be loyal to the descendants of the Mad King, not to Meron.''

    ''And that''s not all.'' Lith pondered. ''Judging by the King''s disgusted expression and the fact that he''s using fake magic, the Royals didn''t bother converting it into a true spell.''

    Meron''s visage was indeed twisted into a grimace, but Lith failed to grasp the real reason for the King''s behavior until several cows were brought into the Throne Room.

    "Are you telling me that-"

    "This is Forbidden Magic, Lith." Faluel said. "The array allows Arthan''s descendants to control their minions no matter the distance and requires no enchanted item as a medium to keep them enved. Of course it has a heavy price.

    "The cattle''s life force will give us enough time to test the effects on the Unwavering Loyalty array on your Abomination side, but it won''t be powerful enough to have longsting effect on you or the King."

    Meron took out a ceremonial dagger and used it to cut the jugr vein of the cows. The beasts struggled, but their strength was nothingpared to that of a violet cored Awakened.

    The moment the wound was open, the golden light of the array plunged into the flesh of the cows, making them glow from the inside. The Forbidden Magic drained every drop of blood and every ounce of life.

    In a few seconds, it turned the healthy animals weighing several hundred kilos into skeletal creaturesprised of dried up skin and brittle bones. The cows would have already copsed under their own weight if not for the light that kept them standing and alive until it was done sucking them dry.

    After he was done with the cows, Meron cut his own palm, adding his own blood to the circle. The golden light invaded him as well, but he managed to cut off the connection the moment he formted the final runes of the spell.

    ''By my Mom, the life force of the King is diminished! I don''t know if it''s because he''s not Arthan''s descendant or due to the nature of the spell, but I can tell you that casting the Unwavering Loyalty arrays shaved off at least 10 years of his life.'' Solus said.

    Sylpha ran to Meron''s side the moment he was done, helping him to stand up as she healed his wound. The King looked deadly tired, like he hadn''t slept nor eaten in days. Some of his hair had turned white and some fell, his hairline receding.

    "Why did you do that?" Sylpha asked. "We could have had a criminal cast the spell or any other mage of the Queen''s Corps. You''re the King, for Tyris'' sake."

    "It''s because I''m the King that I did that." Meron replied amid pants. "How can I entrust the future of my Kingdom to a criminal? How can I ask one of my loyal servants to pay the price for my choices?

    "How could I ask our Magus to gamble with his life while I remain in the safety of Valeron? I''m the King. I''dy my life for my people. A few years are a small price to pay."

 Chapter 2146 Power Struggle (Part 2)

    Sylpha red at the members of the Council who shrugged in reply. She had no idea that just like Lith''s cracked life forcepromised his lifespan so would the effects of the Forbidden Spell on anyone who didn''t carry Arthan''s blood.

    Meron had lost a decade while the Awakened would have lost hundreds of years, if not their very life. Meron at least carried Valeron''s and Tyris'' blood, making him at least simr to Arthan, whereas the Council representatives had none.

    "I''ll honor your sacrifice, your majesty, but you''ve underestimated the magnitude of what you are asking from me. We''ll discuss it after the test." Lith first shapeshifted into his Tiamat form and then stripped, entrusting everything to Kam.

    "Why did you do that?" Raagu was bbergasted. "We need to check your Abomination side."

    "Of which I have limited experience and control." Lith replied. "I can''t risk damaging my equipment and I''m not showing myself naked."

    "You never trained your Abomination half?" Sylpha turned pale.

    "It''s not like I spent thest few years ying around." The Tiamat snarled. "I got these powers for but a few months and I spent most of them fighting for you. Also, everyone I met told me not to practice Chaos magic so what was the point of training my Abomination form?"

    ''On top of that, after what happened with Ilka, I don''t trust myself with this power.'' He inwardly added.

    "He''s right. I forbade him to." Faluel and Xenagrosh said in unison.

    Lith closed his eyes, focusing on the heavy melody of the Void thatprised his life force. Now it had spread to the red human tendrils and the violet stars of the beast side, but its tune was unmistakable.

    It was full of wrath and fury, more a scream than a song. Lith focused on his past and the pain it carried, shapeshifting into something in between an Eldritch and an Empowered Abomination.

    In that form, Lith still resembled Derek McCoy but only those who had seen his memories of his previous life would be able to recognize him. To anyone else, Kam included, he was just different.

    Long straight horns came out of his forehead while curved horns came out of the base of his skull, covering his neck. His upside-down membranous wings became normal while the feathered wings were absorbed in the ck mass of his body.

    Seven eyes each of a different elemental color opened on his face along with a lipless white maw. His height hadn''t changed and he stood over 2 meters (7'') tall. His mass was also unaffected by the transformation.

    The Abomination form''s full size was smaller than the Tiamat, but the energy it was made of was so dense that it almost had physical substance. The Chaos mixed with darkness drained the light in the room, making his ck ws and talons glisten.

    Solus'' ring slipped on Kam''s finger, shrinking her size until it hurt in worry.

    ''What''s wrong?'' Kam asked through the mind link she knew would be there.

    ''Be on guard. That''s Lith and yet he isn''t.'' Solus remembered well how the Void had attempted to devour Lith in the Hogum Household.

    She also remembered all the times when his Abomination side had run wild and hurt her. It was the only side of Lith she had no hold on. It didn''t scare her, but it hurt her more than she would admit.

    The Void was nothing but the remnants of Derek McCoy that had transcended space. A scarred fragment that lived in the darkest part of Lith''s mind. It was the embodiment of all Derek''s traumas that he had unleashed back on Earth after losing everything.

    He lived with Lith, experiencing everything with him, but his negative feelings were cranked up to eleven.<sub> </sub>

    For a moment, the seven eyes turned white as the elemental power was reced by the Decay that kept the spark of Chaos inside Lith''s darkness body at bay. The Void looked around, recognizing the Royals and the members of the Council.

    It had no love for them and his maw turned up in the savage smile of a predator ready to strike. The Abomination was no Eldritch, yet it exuded a murderous euphoria that made even the ancient Awakened tense up.

    Aside from Kam, Faluel, and Xenagrosh, everyone felt its gaze lingering on their vitals as it searched for the weak spots of their enchanted protections. They returned the gaze, weaving their best spells in case Lith lost himself to the Chaos.

    If that happened, even without equipment and with the gap in their cores it would''ve taken him a single Cursed spell to kill them.

    "Lith, are you alright?" Kam walked in front of him and color returned to his eyes as he regained control of his body.

    "Not really." He replied, his voice shifting between Lith''s and Derek''s. "Please, stay close to me but not enough to be affected by the array."

    While he still had full control over his body, Lith stepped inside the circle and Meron activated its effects. In the test version that Vastor had developed, the spell''s energy was visible and everyone could see its tendrils recognize a prey and charge at it.

    They plunged inside the Void, trying to rewrite its melody ording to Arthan''s will. The Unwavering Loyalty array had never met such aplex life force, but in the end, even a Tiamat was just the sum of the four races.

    The tendrils of light moved toward the Void''s mana core, where the human and the beast side were safely stored inside the ck sphere of the Abomination. Lith felt the energy of the spell altering his essence and reacted with extreme prejudice.

    The darkness ate at the golden light and rearranged itself until it returned back to its original state. The Unwavering Loyalty array kept attacking non-stop, but the Void had learned how to defend himself.

    After a while, the Abomination life force managed to feed off the foreign energy signature and add its power to his own.

    Once the Forbidden Spell faded, the diagnostic arrays in the Throne Room confirmed that Lith''s life force was unscathed and a blue light appeared.

    "What''s the verdict?" The Abomination''s voice now fully belonged to Derek and it felt as alien as his appearance.

    Lith was still in control, but the Void didn''t like their situation one bit.

    "Everything is fine." Sylpha said while helping Meron to sit and drink several tonics. "You can shapeshift back into a human."

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea." Lith replied, the elemental lights in his eyes kept switching on and off as the Void fought him for dominance.

    "I have no idea if keeping this form for long can be dangerous for me or mypanions and I can''t afford to put my limits to the test after the start of the mission."

    "Fair enough." Sylpha nodded while she kept attending to the King''s condition with the help of Faluel and Raagu.

    Kam stared at him with worry, believing that there was something wrong with Lith. His face was supposed to be a ck te as still as ake during a windless day, yet it kept twisting and twitching as if there was an ongoing struggle right below the surface.

    And she was right.

 Chapter 2147 Split (Part 1)

    The Void was furious.

    Its rage had never waned over time, not even after Lith had achieved the violet core. Lith had simply stopped hating himself and addressed the Void''s fury toward those who threatened the people who he had learned how to cherish.

    Now, however, Lith had just be one of them.

    The longer he kept his Abomination form, the more Derek''s echo would w his way out of the ck sphere of the undead life force and break free from the restraints of the other life forces.

    They were sealed deep inside, their energy separated from the ckness to allow physical matter to turn into pure energy, and incapable of restricting the Void.

    To make matters worse for Lith, even though it wasn''t the first time that Kam witnessed the transformation, it had neversted for so long. By looking at the ming hairprised of darkness element, by looking at that face so alien and yet so familiar, she started asking herself questions.

    ''This is odd. I know that Lith can take different forms, but unlike the Voidfeather Dragon, the Abomination looks awfully human. It''s not overly handsome so it can''t be an idealized version of Lith.

    ''Where does his Abomination side''s appearancee from?'' She found herself wondering. ''That thing doesn''t look like a small child so it can''t be rted to Lith''s near-death experience at birth. Undead don''t grow up.

    ''Yet its pain and fury are exactly like those that emerge on Lith''s face whenever he loses control of his emotions. Solus, I remember Phloria and the others often joke about Lith''s re as a kid. Was it anything like that?'' She asked while staring and the Abomination''s eyes as one after the other turned white.

    As soon as the elemental energy was reced by Decay, they stared at everyone but Kam with malice. Four eyes were still under Lith''s control and expressed his difort while trying to keep control of his body.

    The other three belonged to the Void and gauged the rest of the room like enemies, trying to find any opening he could exploit to rip their throats off.

    ''Yes. Sort of.'' Solus replied, not knowing how much she could say without blowing the cover that Lith had painstakingly protected for years.

    ''How is that possible?'' Kam asked

    "This is bullshit." The Abomination clicked his tongue in disgust, saving Solus from the need to reply. "Why should I put everything I have at risk for a bunch of ipetent fools and old fossils?"

    Much to Lith''s horror, the voice came out of his own mind and against his will.

    "What''s wrong with your eyes?" Sylpha had noticed his distress as well, but she had no clue about what was happening. "As for your question, I don''t care what you think of us, you have the duty to uphold your deal with the Kingdom, Magus Verhen."

    ''Shut up and let me do the talking.'' Lith said.

    ''No.'' The Void replied as it gained control of the fourth eye and tipped the bnce further in its own favor. ''You had your chance. You had lots of chances. Now it''s my turn.''

    "Cut the crap, your majesty." Derek''s voice oozed scorn and spite. "Your titles mean nothing to me. They are nothing but a leash and I''m not your dog. As for our ''deal'', it is you who is going back on your word!"

    His wings unfolded, releasing a gust of wind that forced everyone but Kam to nt their feet and raise their arms to not get blown away.

    "You had promised me a full pardon and a ce where to stay in exchange for my help in this stupid war and that''s what I did ever since my return. I took back your insignificant cities. I fought battles that meant nothing to me.<sub> </sub>

    "I wasted what little time I have left on the battlefield instead of spending time with our family. How dare you ask me to go back inside the Golden Griffon knowing that I barely escaped back when its master had yet to return?

    "How dare you think that I would put everything at stake for you?" With each question, the Void''s fury rose. With each question, one more eye fell under his control. "I''ve sacrificed too many things over the years to protect what''s mine and I won''t let you ruin everything!"

    Lith felt his mind be blurry and fuzzy, as if he had had one drink too many after a long day at work. His consciousness was slowly fading, the ckness drowning it into slumber.

    ''What are you talking about? This is just a mission like any other. We have yet to listen to the details and-'' Lith tried to expand the influence of the only eye he still controlled, but it was pointless.

    His meddling only enraged the Void further, cutting him short.

    ''This is nothing like the other missions!'' It roared. ''We are not looking for a way to not resurrect anymore. We are looking for a way to live, you damn idiot! The Golden Griffon is full of Awakened and Divine Beasts and our life force is crippled.

    ''Are you forgetting about our child? Would you abandon them just to fight a battle that doesn''t belong to us?'' All seven eyes were fixated on Kam, moving from her face to her womb.

    The part of their mind that still belonged to Lith froze, incapable of finding a single objection.

    ''On top of that, what about Solus?'' Derek''s voice asked.

    ''What do you mean?'' Between the drowsiness and the confusion, Lith was unable to follow the Abomination''s reasoning.

    ''I mean that if we fail, if anything happens to us, she''d be doomed as well, you moron.'' The waves of fury went from hot to cold. ''If we be enved, so will she. If we die, Solus will be at the mercy of the first idiot who imprints her!

    ''The Golden Griffon is far away from our friends and there''s no telling if Hystar will notice her presence now that the academy is back to its full strength. I don''t care about what happens to us but abandoning the baby? Leaving Solus to rot in Thrud''s hands?''

    "Magus Verhen, is it still you, or is this the Abomination talking?" Sylpha asked.

    The telepathic conversation hadsted barely for a few seconds, giving the impression that Lith had just spaced out for a moment while trying to regain control.

    "It''s none of your business." The Void snarled.

    "Magus Verhen, I''ll overlook your defiance because you are clearly not yourself right now. Know that the Crown wouldn''t ask you something like this lightly. We are aware of your sacrifices and are grateful for them.

    "We have summoned you here because this is our first concrete opportunity to put an end to the war. To put an end to all the battles that keep you away from home. It''s worth the risk." The Queen said.

    "Easy to say for someone who''ll remain in the safety of this castle!" The Void retorted as rage turned his eyes into brimming torches and made his ws grow longer.

    He didn''t miss how despite their rxed stance, those present in the room had started weaving their spells while the Royal Guards were adjusting the grip on their weapons.

 Chapter 2148 Split (Part 2)

    "I would go myself if I could. I find no relief in being forced to entrust such a dangerous task to someone so young." Sylpha''s voice remained calm, but the Sword of Saefel appeared in her hand.

    "The King just sacrificed years of his life because he cares about our people and you are just one of them. Now revert back into your human form so that we can discuss it in a civil manner." The Queen waved at Kam to step forward and help calm Lith down.

    That was her first mistake.

    Kam was the woman Lith loved. She carried their child in her womb and Solus on her finger. The two people he would give his life for without a second thought even to prolong their lives for just one more instant.

    Sylpha had conjured the sword just as a precaution. She knew all too well how dangerous an Abomination was and wanted to be sure that she could restrain Lith without harming him. Yet the Void interpreted her actions as a threat.

    ''What the heck do you think you are doing?'' Lith tried to reason with his old self. ''The Royals can''t force us to ept any mission. Just finish listening to their conditions and then we''ll decide what to do.

    ''Worst case scenario, we''ll just go back to the Desert.''

    ''You always say that, but how many times have you actually refused a mission?'' The Void snarled. ''I''m done listening to you.''

    Then, seeing that Kam didn''t move, Sylpha generated a small tendril of Spirit Magic to draw her closer.

    That was her second andst mistake.

    It was just a gentle push but paranoia twisted the harmless gesture into what Lith would have done in the Queen''s shoes. He had broken countless necks and tortured dozens of people with a tendril like that.

    His wounded mind showed him all the terrible things that Sylpha could do to the three people he loved the most.

    "I won''t let you take away my light!" The Void said to Sylpha and Lith at the same time as he jumped forward.

    War appeared between his hands in a burst of emerald mes. The angry de screeched with fury as it got rid of its blood sheath and cut the tendril of Spirit Magic. War felt the Void''s rage through their bond, responding to the perceived threat in kind.

    Its murderous aura joined the Abomination''s and the magic crystals along the de emitted a violet aura as its many enchantments were powered up, ready to be used at a moment''s notice.

    The Throne room was protected by dimensional sealing arrays, but Lith''s omni pocket was one of the few things that could ignore the restriction and conjure any weapon he possessed.

    The Royals, just like the Council, knew that Lith had one but they still asked him to not carry offensive artifacts with him to keep things from escting. Those who carried weapons were more likely to use them, especially during an argument.

    To make matters worse, Spirit Magic was invisible to the naked eye, so all that the Royal Guards saw was an Abomination breaking thew of the Kingdom and shing toward the Queen.

    They Blinked to Derek''s either side, lunging at him with their ives in an X pattern.

    He watched their exit points forming with Life Vision, taking a step back to both avoid the attack and protect Kam. The membranous wings on his back moved as if they had no bones, wrapping around the weapons like cloth and then pulling them up.<sub> </sub>

    Even in that form, Lith still weighed dozens of tons and so now did the Void. The darkness energy thatprised his body was highlypressed to the point that it could interact with physical matter.

    The Davross ives sizzled as their enchantments and the mystical metal shed against the waves of entropy that tried to consume them.

    The Royal Guards twisted and pulled their respective des to free them from the corrosive grip of the wings, but the Abomination needed just to straighten his shoulders to lift both the ives and those who wielded them.

    The Royal Fortress armor gave its wearer the mass of an Emperor Beast but the Abomination had the strength of a Divine Beast. Not knowing how the Adamant of War would fare against Tyris'' creations, the Void preferred to punch at them at the same time.

    ''I have yet to find a single armor that isn''t weak to blunt attacks, no matter how good it''s enchanted.'' He thought as the darkness and Chaos thatprised his body struck at the Royal Guards with the violence of a freight train.

    It all happened so fast that the two soldiers were still trying to release their weapons when they crashed against the gold veined marble of the wall. Even such a powerful attack couldn''t dent Mogar''s strongest metal but an Abomination had no need for it.

    His body was tangible only as long as he wished so.

    Right where the hearts of the Royal Guards were, a ck mark the size of a human fist marked the point of impact. The Void had tried to phase through the Royal Fortress armor to kill them and only the powerful enchanted barriers of the artifacts had stopped him.

    Energy could fight energy, keeping the darkness limbs from reaching their targets.

    The Abomination roared as he dashed forward to strike at the still-dazzled Guards and finish the job. Sylpha was faster, though, and managed to step in front of him. She pointed the Sword of Saefel at Lith to force him to stop but the Void met it with War.

    The Davross shed with the Adamant for a split second before the much stronger metal and powerful enchantments started to cut through the angry de. War wailed in pain, but like its wielder, it refused to surrender.

    "What the heck are you waiting for? Restrain him!" The Queen yelled at the members of the Council.

    Truth be told, they were still taken aback by the sudden development of the events. To them, it had been Sylpha''s taking the de out first and the Guards attacking Lithter to have sparked the conflict.

    They had seen the Spirit Magic tendril and knew that he had never meant to attack the Queen. To them, his response to the aggression of the Royal Guards was justified. The only reason they had yet to intervene was that they had yet to decide whether to help Lith or Sylpha.

    "How, exactly?" Raagu replied. "I can''t Warp Yehval and the King away because you never allowed us to visit more than one room. In such an enclosed space, a single Spirit Magic spell strong enough to stun Verhen might kill them."

    Those words along with War''s pain pushed the Void to the brink of madness. To his ears, the Queen had once again threatened his whole world and was now hurting his friend.

    War was more than amodity, the de was a trustedpanion and a loyal aide.

    The Abomination strengthened the grip on the hilt, using his bond with War to share with it the darkness and Chaos he was made of.

 Chapter 2149 Nemesis Demons (Part 1)

    The red of War''s de turned ck, increasing its destructive power by several folds and its aura matching the Sword of Saefel''s.

    The Void focused the spark of Chaos coursing through his body on the fringes of the de, using ayer of light and darkness to inste the Adamant from the destructive side effects of the Cursed Element.

    War felt its whole being rejuvenated as the ck aura fixed the cracks on its surface and generated violent sparks at the point of contact between the two swords. A hard-light construct enveloped the Adamant de, allowing it to hold its ground against the Davross of the Royal Sword.

    Everyone stared in awe and horror as Sylpha was now quickly being pushed back.

    ''Dammit, all elements but light and darkness are locked by the Pce''s arrays since otherwise healers wouldn''t be able to do their job. Yet they give an Abomination who''s also a Light Master an advantage I can''t ovee.'' The Queen thought while deactivating the defensive system of the Throne Room to be capable of using magic as well.

    Her eyes brimmed with red and yellow mana as she conjured the tier five battle mage spell, zing Storm. Two of Derek''s white eyes sparked as well, locking not only the des but also their wielders in a battle of will.

    Sylpha recognized Domination and countered with her own, making her hair burst free of her borate do as it was flooded with elemental mana. The ck and white light of the Abomination shed against Sylpha''s multicolored radiance to a standstill.

    Yet even with her enhanced body boosted by the fusion magic of her violet core, the Queen was no match for the raw strength of the Abomination. She activated the elemental crystals embedded in the Saefel Sword to regain control of zing Storm and put an end to the fight.

    The Sword''s power reinforced her Domination while the crystal''s aura eroded the Void''s control over the Chaos and the light construct. War felt the very power that was supposed to protect it switch sides and ate at its metal.

    The angry de was close enough to study the Sword of Saefel and its semi-sentience did the rest. Every time Lith wielded the weapon, it would learn from him and sometimes teach him in return.

    War weaved his Devour, World Mirror, and Counterflow enchantments together to mimic its opponent. Devour allowed the de to absorb part of the enemy''s power, World Mirror granted it mastery over the elements, and Counterflow to overwrite a spell''s energy signature.

    The violet aura of War''s mana crystals turned into the color of the six elements, countering the Sword of Saefel enough for the Void to regain the upper hand. Surprise disrupted the Queen''s focus and created the opening he needed to dispel zing Storm.

    Sylpha was bbergasted by her equipment failing her and so were the member of the Council who had witnessed War''s prowess with Life Vision.

    ''Lith''s eyes might not be colored, but that''s Domination alright.'' Faluel inwardly cursed. ''I need to stop him before someone understands what''s happening.''

    The Hydra shapeshifted into her hybrid form, resembling a humanoid being about three meters (10'') covered in dull green scales with seven long necks and as many heads.

    Faluel''s clothes turned into their armor form but she didn''t take out any weapon. Her aim was to restrain Lith, not kill him.

    All the Void could see, though, was the Royal Guards standing up, the Queen increasing the output of the Saefel Sword to overpower War again, and a friend turning traitor.

    "So be it." A p of his wings plunged the entire Royal castle and most of the city of Valeron into darkness.

    The Call of the Void eclipsed every source of light, be it natural or magical. Not even the midday sun nor the enchanted chandeliers of the Royal pce could pierce the ckness.<sub> </sub>

    Life Vision was blinded as well, forcing the rest of the members of the Council to act.

    ''This is bad. I have no idea what''s going on but if Verhen is truly going berserk, once he''s done with the Royals, we might be the next.'' Raagu said via a mind link while casting a darkness sealing array.

    ''Agreed.'' Lotho the Treant replied while using Earth Vision to find the Abomination via the vibrations of the ground and sharing the information with his peers.

    ''On top of that, we can''t allow the Royals to die. The ensuing chaos and power vacuum until the next ruler is chosen would cripple the Kingdom. Thrud would have an easy time winning the war and we would lose any hope of defeating her.''

    ''I don''t think we have the luxury to worry that far.'' Fe said while shapeshifting into her hybrid form, that of a humanoid feline covered in crimson-colored fur and with a set of violet feathered wingsing out of her back.

    ''Don''t you remember what happened every time Lith uses his bloodline ability? He''s going to fight quality with quantity.''

    The Behemoth was right, but also wrong.

    Usually, when conjuring Call of the Void, Lith would also summon the souls that followed him around and turn them into Demons by infusing them with darkness and Spirit magic.

    The Void, however, was different.

    He wasn''t an Abomination hybrid but the primordial force that Lith called upon every time he needed to use his Tiamat''s bloodline abilities. The Void had spent almost twenty years sealed between the human and the Divine Beast life force.

    During that time, he had practiced a lot. The reason a soul turned into a Demon like Locrias was aware of their newfound abilities wasn''t a supernatural instinct but caused by the link that the chains created between them and the Void.

    ''I have no need for a bunch of mobs and I doubt that goody two shoes like the members of the Queen corps would help me. I need some heavy hitters.'' The Void thought while sending the chainsing out from his chest to plunge into Sylpha and into all those who were turning against him.

    The ck fetters searched among the souls following the powerful Awakened for someone strong and knowledgeable enough to be their match. Someone whose hatred for them rivaled the Void''s and who wouldn''t miss the opportunity for a rematch.

    The moment the chains found a suitable Demon, they infused them with all the power that usually would be split between the legion of souls conjured by the Call of the Void. Only eight Demons of the Darkness received the call, but each one of them had six eyes.

    ''Bah, you worry too much.'' Inxialot, the Lich King replied. ''No matter how many flies he conjures, we can swat dozens of them with but a-''

    His train of thought was caught short when a powerful fist struck at the Lich''s head out of nowhere, releasing the tier five Battle Mage spell, Dark Dimension.

    The darkness of the Call of the Void spread throughout the Throne Room suddenly had be so thick that the Council representatives had a hard time moving even one step forward, as if they were tight-deep into the mud.

    A mud that seeped inside all of their orifices, flooding their bodies with darkness magic and sucking away both their vitality and mana.

 Chapter 2150 Nemesis Demons (Part 2)

    "You''ll pay for what you did to me, Inxialot." An angry voice roared in the darkness.

    "Baragan?" The Lich King ignored both the pain and his cracked skull, more amused than scared. "I remember shattering your phctery. What are you doing here?"

    The Lich-Demon replied with a snarl, charging at his nemesis with the might of a meteor. His steps on the floor allowed Earth Vision to finally perceive his presence and to the Council member to understand what was happening.

    ''Be on your guard! Verhen is calling upon our enemies and having them appear in mid-air. They could be anywhere!'' Raagu said just before the tier five Spirit Spell, sting Furnace hit her at point-nk range.

    It belonged to Meriam, the second-best disciple of herte master Tagath. Raagu had killed Meriam in a duel over 500 years ago to be the heir to Tagath''s magical legacy.

    Dark Dimension weakened her enchanted protections and her enhanced body so much that sting Furnace overpowered Raagu. It sent her crashing against the gold-veined marble wall, her skin charred by the intense heat and her bones cracked by the kic energy that the spell released.

    The surprise and pain broke her focus, dispelling the array that she had nearlypleted and forcing the human representative to start from scratch. To make matters worse, every Demon wore a hard-light full suit of armor and wielded their weapon of choice.

    By also sharing Lith''s Forgemastery skill, they used Spirit Magic to infuse their equipment with runes and give it the enchantments that suited them best.

    On top of that, the Nemesis Demons exploited the darkness from Call of the Void and Lith''s Light Mastery to conjure invisible constructs that sealed the movements of their opponent before hammering at them with their best spells.

    The hard-light both prevent them from dodging physical attacks like had happened to Inxialot and focused the destructive power of the spells without wasting one iota of mana like had happened to Raagu.

    ''Less stating the obvious, more casting Full Guard!'' Fe had started weaving the Mage Knight spell the moment Inxialot had been sucker punched.

    A violet aura spread from her body, filling the entire Throne room and allowing the Behemoth to dodge a knife hand aimed at her spine.

    Meron tried to stand up and help his wife, but his body was still weakened by the Forbidden Magic and that simple effort was enough to make him faint. Hisst thought went to Sylpha, releasing the Saefel Armor from his body so that she could use it instead.

    It saved her life since the Void exploited the Queen''s moment of confusion after bing blind to kick at her chest with all of his strength. Thanks to her rich battle experience, Sylpha had kept the Sword of Saefel against War, so to predict the Abomination''s every move.

    In theory, by controlling the angry de Sylpha could also keep Lith at a distance and guess his position. In practice, the Void had left War in the hands of her just-summoned nemesis and had gone up close and personal.

    He knew that his violet core wouldn''tst long against the Queen''s bright violet even if they were one on one, let alone one against many. Yet he also knew that despite her might and experience, the Queen was just human.

    A Divine Beast weighing dozens of tons like him needed but one hit to snuff her life. The Armor of Saefel blocked the kick, adding its mass to Sylpha''s and turning a deadly hit into a very painful one.

    The Void would have liked to press on and finish the Queen, but for some reason, the ck chains had failed to hit the Hydra who had found him thanks to her own Full Guard. Faluel was upon him and without his equipment, the Void couldn''t allow her tond even one hit.

    ''Why do you keep hindering me? I''m protecting you!''<sub> </sub>

    ''Are you insane? You are destroying my life.'' Lith replied while messing with its abilities. ''Faluel is a friend and you are out of control. She''s trying to help me, not you.''

    The Abomination tried to turn his arm into a spear, but Lith kept it from hardening. The Void cursed as he made his limb open into countless tendrils of darkness that wrapped around the Hydra''s body before mming her against the ground.

    The wings on his back shapeshifted as well, turning into another set of arms that pummelled at Faluel to not give her the time to strike back.

    ''By my Mom!'' Solus was bbergasted. ''The tendrils that came out of Lith''s shoulder back when he lost his arm at the academy, the extra limbs he conjured every time he cast Death Call, it was the Abomination all along.''

    ''What are you talking about?'' Kam was as scared by Lith''s madness as she was confused by Solus'' words.

    For some reason, she could see through the Call of the Void just fine and so did Solus thanks to the mind link.

    ''Aren''t Lith and the Abomination the same thing?''

    ''Yes, but it''splicated.'' Solus had no way to exin Kam where Lith''s undead side came from without also revealing to her about his previous incarnations. ''We must focus to find a way to stop him.

    ''We aren''t affected by any of Lith''s and the Demon''s skills which means that he''s not going to hurt us. The problem is that if any of the Council representatives mistakes us for a Demon, we''re dead.''

    Her words sent a cold shiver down Kam''s spine who remained close to the unconscious King, waiting for an opportunity to appear.

    Inxialot needed but a shrug to conjure enough darkness magic to counter Dark Dimension''s effect and a single swing of his staff to st Baraghan into pieces. Despite all of their power, hard-light constructs were nothingpared with Davross artifacts fueled by elemental crystals.

    "You''d be more of a challenge if Verhen was a bright violet cored Awakened and he poured all of his might into you, old friend. As you are, you are barely an annoyance."

    "Old friend?" The Lich-Demon said in outrage while reconstructing his body with sheer willpower, without letting a single shred of energy to be lost. "You killed me and stole my life''s work!"

    "Don''t sweat on the small stuff." Inxialot replied. "I have fond memories of our rivalry and of your magical legacy. That''s all that matters. On top of that, if I took the trouble of abandoning my own research long enough to kill you, I must have had excellent reasons."

    The Lich King''s conscience was like his memory, clear. He rarely used either of them and anything that wasn''t reported in his diaries was quickly forgotten.

    Raagu conjured a Spirit Barrier around her body, focusing her mana to block Meriam''s onught long enough to finish casting her array. By using Spirit Magic to quickly conjure the runes along with body casting, true and fake magic, it took her but a few seconds toplete the magical formation.

    The darkness sealing array dispelled the Call of the Void, allowing everyone to see again and coordinate their efforts. The Royal Guards were no Awakened and until that moment they had been sitting ducks against their invisible opponents.

 Chapter 2151 Big Guns (Part 1)

    The moment the darkness sealing array activated, the chains connecting the Void with the Nemesis Demons shattered. They still had the energy he had stored inside their bodies but without the chains, they had no longer ess to his abilities.

    All Lith''s notions about modern magic, Light Mastery, and Forgemastery faded like fog under the sun, making the conjured equipment of the Demons crumble along with their teamwork.

    The members of the Council and the Royal Guards quickly dispatched of their respective opponents, turning to help Faluel.

    Each one of her seven heads had cast a tier five spell but they were all frozen in the space between the Abomination and the Hydra as they wrestled for control. Faluel had experience on her side but the ck tendrils sucked her strength and kept mming her against the ground.

    It was a mere battle of Domination, but what everyone saw were seven elemental beamsing out of the Abomination''s eyes fighting against those emitted by the Hydra''s heads.

    On the other side of the room, after Call of the Void had been dispelled, Sylpha had discovered that her opponent wasn''t Lith but Tiennon Zavra. The second Lost Magus of Balkor''s generation had never left the Royal pce after his death and had jumped at the opportunity to get his revenge.

    A normal person would have shivered at the sight of the Lost Magus now wielding Lith''s semi-sentient de but to the Queen it just meant that she had no reason to hold back anymore.

    "Enough!" She deflected War with one hand while releasing a pulse of golden light from the other. It killed the Demon so quickly that Zavra didn''t even manage to curse at her onest time.

    Then Sylpha trapped War inside a Sealed Space to keep it from returning to Lith and activated the seven magical gemstones on the Saefel de, tipping the scale to Faluel''s advantage.

    The seven spells hit the Abomination, each one meant to weaken and restrict him, not kill.

    Light and earth formed a straitjacket that Spirit Magic made harder than a diamond. Bolts of lightning coursed through the construct, inducing spasms. Darkness sapped his strength while frost slowed his movements and fire made the air too hot to breathe, sealing his breathing techniques.

    The darkness Lith''s body was made of ignored the electricity, the cold, and the heat. He roared a jet stream of Void mes, uncaring for the damage his lung took while also hitting the Council representatives with a mix of heat rays and hard light constructs.

    s, he was one against many.

    Each one of his opponents was stronger than him and Kam still held his equipment. A collective Spirit Barrier easily blocked the Cursed mes and Saefel''s de overpowered the Light Mastery spells, turning them against the Abomination.

    "Stop hurting him!" Now that there was no more risk of friendly fire, Kam stepped in front of Lith to protect him from the Council and them from him.

    "We would if he stoppedshing out like a rabid beast." Fe said in exasperation. "Can you convince him to revert to his human form?"

    The moment Solus and Kam had gotten closer, the Void had ceased his attacks to not risk hurting them. Yet at the same time, he was focusing his strength against the restraints to break them.

    "I can try." Kam nodded before turning around and kneeling next to him. "Lith?"

    "Kami?" His voice was weak and slurred as if he had just woken up from a deep slumber.

    "Hi, sweetie." Seeing the frenzied madness that had twisted his features until a second ago disappear made her sigh in relief. "Can you please shapeshift into any other form? You gave us a big scare."

    Her gentle hand caressed his face, allowing him to experience both her and Solus'' touch. She had used the plural intentionally, to let him know that they were both there for him.<sub> </sub>

    Yet all she achieved was to give the Void new strength.

    "Something is wrong." Faluel said. "I can feel the power of my spells being sucked away."

    Abominations fed on the light element, no matter its source, and constructs were no exception. The Void swallowed the straitjacket, adding its power to his own and breaking free.

    "I will protect you!" His whole body swelled as the darkness shapeshifted into new limbs and weapons.

    The Void''s eyes brimmed with mana of the seven elements but before the fight could start anew Xenagrosh Blinked in front of him. She ced the medium and index finger of her right hand on his forehead and those of her left on his core, releasing two small pulses of Chaos magic.

    "I thought you were on my side." The Void said while fainting.

    "I am, little brother, and I always will." Xenagrosh replied while supporting his body to keep it from falling.

    Everyone red at her for staying her hand for so long, but the Shadow Dragon ignored them.

    "Why isn''t he going back to human?" Raagu asked. "Isn''t he supposed to be a Tiamat and the Abomination to be just one of his sides?"

    "Shapeshifting is always shapeshifting." Fe shrugged. "If someone knocks me out while I''m in human form, I stay that way. There are only two ways to return to your natural appearance. Either you do it by your own will or you die."

    Actually, there was a third option. People with great skill in light magic, like Tyris and thete Manohar, could force the shapeshifting in others but it required a degree of mastery that very few achieved and none of those present was even aware of the possibility.

    "So, we have to wait that Verhen wakes up and hope he doesn''t go on a rampage again?" Sylpha said while panting.

    She hadn''t taken much damage and her violet core was already rejuvenating her body, but fighting a creature that powerful had taken its toll on her.

    "What if we are not that lucky? Are you going to step in this time or you''ll just watch again?" The Queen''s voice was stone cold as she red at Xenagrosh.

    "I had no reason to intervene." The Shadow Dragon made sure with her diagnostical spells that Lith was alright before answering. "Your guards attacked him first, he was just defending himself.

    "Also, you heard him. He has never trained his Abomination form and a little squabble was the perfect opportunity to test his powers. If you really want to send Lith inside the Golden Griffon, he''ll need at least his usual level of skill to survive.

    "I considered this nothing but practice. I was ready to step in the moment his life was in danger." No one missed how she had expressed worry solely about Lith''s life and disregarded everyone else''s.

    "Enough with this pointless quarrel we have bigger fish to fry." Faluel reverted to her human form and raised her hands toward both sides to make them lower their voice. "Xenagrosh, you are the expert about Abominations. Do you have any idea why Lith lost his mind?"

    "I''m afraid that''s our fault, little sister." The Shadow Dragon said with a sigh, her words made the Royals look at the Hydra as if she was a traitor. They were unaware that Xenagrosh considered anyone of Dragon bloodline her sibling.

 Chapter 2152 Big Guns (Part 2)

    "What do you mean?"

    "We both advised Lith never to practice Chaos magic and because of that he always avoided turning into his Abomination form. That part of his life force isprised entirely of darkness and Chaos.

    "Even though it''s just a spark, a Cursed Elements affects the body and the mind even of its user. My theory is that the longer Lith retains the Abomination form, the more his mind is twisted by the Chaos until this happens." She waved at the traces of the fight that the self-repairing enchantment of the Throne Room had yet to fix.

    She had no idea that Chaos had nothing to do with Lith''s outburst. The Void and Lith were one and the same, but that side of his personality was akin to the Demons stored in his feathers.

    The Void lived trapped in a loop, reliving non-stop the abuse from his Earth father and the death of his brother, Carl.

    "Are you telling us that all of our efforts, your discoveries, and even my husband''s sacrifice are for nothing? That we just wasted our time?" Sylpha''s eyes burned with bright violet mana as she clenched the Sword of Saefel so hard that her hand turned white.

    The colored crystal on both the armor and the de hummed with power as their enchantments released energy sparks, ready to be unleashed at a moment''s notice.

    She didn''t actually me the Abomination hybrid, but without Lith the War of the Griffons would be almost impossible to win. Meron was still alive, but knowing that now he was likely to die before her, made the Queen already grieve his loss.

    She needed someone to me for that disaster. Anyone would do.

    "No. As I said, it''s just a spark. On top of that, do I look crazy to you? With time, all Abominations learn how to resist the influence of Chaos and regain their sanity." Xenagrosh''s words made everyone sigh in relief.

    "It''s only a matter of surviving long enough and of how many people we kill before that happens." The second part made them turn tense again as if the first had never happened.

    "So, you think that Lith just needs to get used to his Abomination form?" Raagu asked.

    "That''s my hope." Xenagrosh nodded.

    "If that''s the case, Lith can''t stay here." Kam said, caressing his head.

    She had hoped that her touch would make the shadows disappear like usual but this time it didn''t work. The darkness didn''t hurt her but it also held its ground, enveloping Lith like a shroud.

    It had never happened before and it scared both Kam and Solus to the bone.

    "If he sees any of you when he wakes up, he''s going to attack first and talk second. To make him reason, Lith needs to be in a familiar ce and be surrounded by people he trusts."

    "I agree." Xenagrosh nodded. "But we can''t bring him to Lutia. His family isprised of regr humans and if he hurts them, his trauma will only grow worse. We should-"

    "There''s no we." Kam shook her head. "Faluel and I will take care of him in herir."

    "Why the Hydra?" Xenagrosh was bbergasted. "I''m stronger than her. I can protect you much better and help Lith control the Chaos!"

    "I don''t need protection. Even in his frenzy, not one of his spells gazed me." Kam replied. "On top of that, you are the one who knocked him down. He is bound to attack you on sight whereas Faluel is his mentor and friend.

    "As long as she keeps herself at a distance, he won''t feel threatened."

    The Hydra was about to question her ability to hold Lith''s fury without either of them getting hurt when she finally noticed Kam tormenting her stone ring.<sub> </sub>

    "She''s right. Lith trusts me blindly and I''ve developed a few arrays exactly for a contingency like this." Faluel lied through her teeth.

    "Then it''s settled." Xenagrosh had tried to refute that logic but Sylpha shut her up. "Bring him back to Distar and let us know if there''s any chance to proceed with our n, Faluel.

    "If Lith fails to regain control, the mission will go on with a substitute, but the chances of sess will be considerably lower."

    The Hydra nodded, lifting Lith with a Float spell before stepping through the Warp Gate that led directly to herir.

    "Next stop Trawn woods, correct?" She opened a Steps without waiting for Kam''s reply.

    "Yes, thanks. Between the two of us and the tower, Lith will feel safe enough to calm down."

    "Are you sure you don''t need my protection?" Faluel asked.

    "Damn sure. Lith''s Abomination side has never hurt Kam, no matter how upset he was." Solus'' voice was full of confidence and with a tinge of envy since the same couldn''t be said for her.

    "Even if pushes to shove, his magic can''t hurt me since we have the same energy signature and I''m strong enough to subdue him physically. No offence, Faluel, but you are still among those who attacked him. Your presence is a liability."

    "None taken." The Hydra sighed, remembering all too well Lith''s betrayed gaze when she had joined the fray.

    The moment the tower appeared and Solus assumed her human form, she took Lith in a princess carry and brought him inside. She hesitated for a split second before touching him, afraid that the Abomination might hurt her again.

    ''I can''t tell Faluel that when Lith''s Chaos goes rampant like it happened in Jiera and back at the Hogum mansion, not even I am safe otherwise she wouldn''t let us go.'' She thought, sighing in relief when the physical contact caused her no pain.

    Solus remained disappointed when the shadows didn''t withdraw for her either but something unexpected still happened. Her human form started to glow with a golden light where they touched, resembling her energy body even though she was made of flesh and blood.

    "Is that normal?" The Hydra asked while staring at the contrast between the ckness and the light.

    "Sure." Kam and Solus said in unison, lying through their teeth to not get dyed any longer. "We''ll let you know as soon as we make heads or tails of the situation. Bye."

    Faluel had actually a lot of questions but Kam closed the door and Solus Warped the tower away while Faluel had still her mouth opened and her forefinger raised, leaving her to talk to empty air.

    "n omega?" Solus asked.

    "Yeah, time to bring in the big guns."

    ***

    Just as expected, the moment the Void regained his senses he jumped up to his feet while conjuring one spell for each of his fingers and with countless chains slithering out of his chest, ready to conjure his Demons.

    Wary at his bedside, covered in a thin sheathe of blood that both Council members and Royals had donated to seal the angry de again.

    The Abomination''s fury turned into confusion as his eyes ran through the room and then into surprise when he looked outside the window. He wasn''t in Valeron anymore, but in what looked like the bedroom of the guest house of Baron Wyalon.

 Chapter 2153 Chains Of The Past (Part 1)

    The Void would have thought of having been brought to Jambel but thendscape wasn''t that of any city in the north he knew. From the windows, he could see trees and grass as far as the eye could see.

    The house was near ake where squirrels, deer, and many small critters drank or rested with no care for the seven-eyed bbergasted stranger.

    A sudden knock on the door made him turn around, conjuring his magic again.

    "Lith, can Ie in and talk?" Kam asked through the solid and enchanted wood.

    It took the Void a couple of seconds to realize that he actually was in the tower and two more to use the security system. Only after the Sentries reported him that he, Kam, and Solus were the only people for kilometers did he open the door.

    "Where are we? What is this ce?" Fear and fury still painted his seven eyes white, but his voice was calm.

    Even in his frenzied state, the Void didn''t want to scare Kam. Now that there was no enemy to fight, he just needed a few answers to be able to rx.

    "Atop the closest mana geyser to the Flying Griffon resort, on the Rekar mountain range." Solus replied. "We picked it as our next vacation spot since you enjoyed your stay in the hotel with Kami, but you also wanted to be free to Warp away if something bad happened remember?"

    "As for your second question, this is a surprise that we''ve been preparing for a while." Kam said. "You always said that you like Baron Wyalon''s house and that if you ever built one for us, you want to use it as a blueprint.

    "Since you never had the time and I know how stingy you are, I asked Solus to help me. She can shapeshift the space inside the tower at will and I can make all the changes to the original I see fit without spending a dime."

    Her words rang more than one bell. With the baby iing, Lith wanted a ce where he could be with the people he loved the most without being disturbed. The house in Lutia was always crowded and the Verhen Mansion was too ostentatious.

    On top of that, once he hired the necessary house staff, he would have little privacy there. It was the reason he and Solus had started looking for a secluded mana geyser near Lochra Mountain.

    It was a ce surrounded by natural beauty where he had nned to build his dream house. Away from duty and enemies but just a Tower Warp from home.

    Derek turned around, noticing that the room was indeed different from how he remembered it. It was a mix between Wyalon''s guest house, his own bedroom in Lutia, the apartment from Belius, and even his private quarters in the tower.

    The room had his desk and magic books to work on, Kam''s colorful drapes and her favoritendscape paintings, and all of his good memories depicted in holograms framed along the walls.

    "Do you like it?" Kam asked.

    "Very. Why did you bring me here?" The Void toured the house, being surprised from how well she had remembered all of his ideas about how to alter the Baron''s house.

    There were even the first two Orichalcum hammers he had crafted with Solus, crossed and hung above the firece with their first dimensional pebble between them.

    "Because you needed to calm down and we need to talk." Kam had rarely said those words before and they never bode well.

    "There''s nothing to talk about. Whatever bullshit the Royals want from me, they can shove it back where it came from. It''s none of my business."<sub> </sub>

    "How can you say that breaking your oath a second time is none of your business? What about the deal with the Royals? What about your status as the Supreme Magus?" Kam asked.

    "None of it matters." The Void replied. "The only thing I care about is keeping you and Solus safe. I''m not going to lose someone I love again."

    "I know how much you cared about Lark and Mirim. Manohar was your friend and-" Kam noticed the shadows of his face curling up in disgust at those words, his gaze turning colder instead of sad at the mention of those names.

    She turned to Solus for help, but her face was twisted with worry and her eyes pitch-ck. It meant that they were having a parallel conversation via their mind link behind Kam''s back.

    "Who are you talking about and why have you yet to shapeshift?" She asked as doubts crept into her mind.

    "Believe me, you don''t want to know." The Void said with a sigh before giving Lith the wheel.

    His stark-naked human form copsed to the ground, the switch too fast to regain control of his body before he hit the floor.

    "Thank Newton I didn''t kill anyone." He said while shaking his head to clear his vision. "Whatever the Royals want from me, it will have to wait until I learn how to control my Abomination side."

    "Who is Newton and what were you talking about before shapeshifting?" Kam returned him the Voidfeather armor and the rest of his equipment while she helped him to stand up, but she refused to drop the matter.

    "No one. It''s just an idiom I learned during my travels. As for the rest, Chaos was messing with my mind." Lith said, hoping that the distress he still felt could cover his tant lies.

    She cupped his face between her hands forcing him to look her in the eyes.

    "Do you know why I brought you here instead of the Blood Desert''s beach or any other ce where we have shared happy moments together?" She asked, receiving a no for a reply.

    "It''s because of the conversation we had back at the Flying Griffon when you opened up to me about Death Vision and how it affected your rtionships. Do you remember what I told you?"

    "That you were okay with waiting for me to willingly share my secrets with you and that I shouldn''t treat you like an idiot because that''s something you can''t bear." Lith replied, that day still vivid in his memory.

    "After you revealed Solus'' existence to me, you told me that''s was thest big secret you kept from me, but it''s not thest secret, isn''t it?" Kam didn''t wait for his answer and resumed speaking.

    "While we were on that beach with Aran and Leria, during their magical boot camp, you drew the picture of a boy with your magic and refused to tell me who he was. After Lark''s death, when you hurt me by ident, you imed to have be like your father, hurting someone you loved just to feel better about yourself.

    "When you learned I was pregnant, you were terrified. Not of fatherhood, but at the idea of passing something to our child. Lastly, I know how your shapeshifting works. You didn''t pick your Voidfeather Dragon''s appearance more than you choose your Abomination''s.

    "Under these horns and eyes, there''s a man who''s not you who resembles the boy in the sand. None of these things makes sense."

 Chapter 2154 Chains Of The Past (Part 2)

    "in the past, I could afford to wait because it was just about me, but now it''s about us." Kam brought his right hand to her womb.

    "So I started digging up and I discovered that Raaz never raised his hand on you or any member of your family out of rage or pride. Your fear and spite for the word father arepletely groundless.

    "As for the boy, I discovered that until you met Yurial, you''ve never had a male friend. On top of that, back at the academy, you imed to have fought hard to protect your brother and his happiness yet we both know you never gave a shit about Orpal and Trion."

    "Did Phloria tell you?" Lith opened his eyes wide in surprise, feeling betrayed.

    "No, Friya did. Your heartfelt speech left a deep impression since she remembers it after seven years. Friya shared it with me only because she considered it something of the past whereas Phloria imed to know nothing." His pained expression was all Kam needed to know to be onto something.

    She waited for an answer, but Lith remained silent. He didn''t want to lie to her again but telling the truth was out of the question.

    "Does Phloria know?" Her exasperation grew with each passing second, believing that despite everything they had gone through together, Lith still trusted another woman more than her.

    "No, she doesn''t." His words took a burden off her chest, but too small to matter. "Believe me, you don''t want to know. Even if you did, you can''t understand."

    <o>,m "Well, that at least is something you and your Abomination side agree on." Kam said with a sneer. "Try me. After learning that I have to share the man I love with another woman, there''s nothing that can scare me."</o>

    More silence ensued but she didn''t let him go nor allowed him to avert his gaze.

    "Does Solus know?" The guilty grimace on Solus'' face and his silence answered her question better than any word could. "Of course she knows. You two are one and I''m an extra, right?"

    Now it was Kam''s turn to feel betrayed. Her eyes became cold as tears veiled them but her voice didn''t crack.

    "You''ve never been an extra nor you''ll ever be." Lith took her between his arms, his voice was full of sincerity yet it wasn''t enough.

    "Then why can''t you be as honest with me as you are with her?" Kam asked.

    "Because I''m afraid of losing you."

    "Do you think that treating me like an idiot makes anything better? That knowing you still don''t trust me enough to be a full part of your life doesn''t create a gap between us? What in the gods'' name is worse than that?"

    Lith looked at Solus for a second and almost opened their mind link to ask her advice. Almost.

    ''If my eyes turn golden right now, if Kam thinks that before making an important decision about us I have to discuss it with Solus first, no matter what I do, I''ll lose her anyway.'' Lith cursed at himself, gritting his teeth while his eyes moved back to his wife.

    He hated himself for being so weak that he had let so many details of his first life slip from his mouth.

    Almost two decades had passed since his reincarnation, yet his trauma still ran so deep that his Abomination side had gone rampant at the worst possible time and ruined years of hard work.<sub> </sub>

    ''That''s bullshit and I know it.'' He thought. ''It''s not about me being weak and making mistakes, I''m just human. Phloria first and Kamter noticed the inconsistencies about me because they love and care about me.

    ''Even if nothing happened today, she already had too many pieces of the puzzle. It was never a matter of "if" we''d have this conversation, only of when.''

    "Please, don''t hate me." Was all Lith said as he created a mind link between them.

    "I could never h-" The words died on her lips as an alien world filled with alien people filled her mind.

    The moment Derek McCoy looked at his brother Carl, Kam recognized the boy in the sand. When he stood in front of a mirror, it returned to her the image of a scrawny, scared child whose body was filled with old and new bruises.

    There was little resemnce with the Abomination side yet she knew to be staring at Lith. The body was different, the world was different, but the eyes were the same. Filled with determination and the embers of a rage that needed just a little push to turn into a zing inferno.

    She witnessed the daily abuse, the pain, and the feeling of istion from the rest of the world that only the brotherhood between the two boys made bearable. Kam lived each one of the beatings, no matter if from his Earth father or the bullies.

    She experienced with Derek the helplessness turning into a despair that grew with each passing day until hatred became an integral part of him, turning violence from an enemy into an ally.

    At first, Lith had intended to give her only a montage of the most important moments of his lives. Not enough to cause her mana poisoning but enough to understand him and his fear.

    Or so he hoped.

    Then, however, no matter how many images and voices he sent through the mind link, Kam was unaffected. Lith had no idea if it was due to the tower, the baby, or both. He simply didn''t care and exploited the phenomenon to share everything with her.

    She witnessed Derek turning from a boy into a revenge-thirsty teen. She felt every hit he took and dealt. She felt his hesitation warning Ezio about the wet stairs, her lips curling in a cruel smile seeing him tumble down to his death.

    Yet they weren''t his feelings but his own. Derek''s savage joy filled her with horror while hisck of empathy and remorse sent a cold shiver down her spine. If not for what she had already witnessed as a Royal Constable, she would have already fainted.

    Instead, she was forced to see time flow, the teen Derek growing up with no care for the blood on his hands and the violence that he instilled in his own little brother with the excuse of being necessary for self-defense.

    The teens turned into men, their lives now much more peaceful, but still lonely and filled with hardships. Then, Carl was taken away from Derek, ripping his heart out and leaving his body walking the Earth with no sense nor purpose.

    The world had be dull, grey, and cold. Every day was identical to the previous and the next. Then, it came cancer and Derek died a second time. With no heart and no future, there was nothing stopping his hatred anymore.

    It spread faster than the cancer itself, bing stronger and more deeply rooted with every step of his revenge n hepleted. Then, came the warehouse, the timers, and the gun.

    When Derek had taken his own life, he had killed a man already twice dead. His soul trapped inside his already decaying body was finally free.

 Chapter 2155 Failures And Dead Bodies (Part 1)

    Kam couldn''t make sense of the visions. Death was supposed to be the end of life and of a story alike. How could a man who had lived millions of light years away be rted to the one she called husband?

    The answer came as she witnessed Derek''s soul entering another body, this time even more alien than the previous. Pain, istion, and madness were the same, but at least they didn''tst long.

    This time, there was no mercy in his death, making Kam gurgle and spit her saliva in an attempt of clearing the blood that in the shared memory was filling his lungs.

    When she opened her eyes again, she immediately recognized Nana. She had seen the old mage only in holograms and Rememberers back when Lith had shared with Kam about his past, but she knew Nana as well as if they had actually met.

    The truth crept into her mind, but she refused to believe it. At least until she saw a younger version of Raaz, Elina, and their children.

    Only then did reality flood Kam''s brain, crushing all the emotional defenses that she tried to conjure to deny the facts that were staring at her in the eye. She had always believed that Lith was really Lith.

    That somehow, the soul of the newborn had found its way back into his own body. That the Abomination she knew as Lith Verhen had been unaware of his true nature until his meeting with Mogar in Kolga.

    Instead, she was forced to witness his deceptions from the crib, no matter how much she tried to avert her gaze. Her eyes were closed shut, but as long as the mind link remained open, she had to face the truth.

    Lith saw no point in withholding anything, so he showed her his first hunt, his first murder on Mogar, everything that she could''ve never understood without knowing about Derek.

    Kam felt the darkness inside of him crawling back into a corner of his mind as more and more lights entered his life, filling it with warmth and love. Yet it was never truly gone, ready to devour everything the moment one of the lights was threatened.

    Elina, Rena, and Tista first, and then Solus. Raaz came only yearster. Then his friends from the academy, his colleagues, Kam herself, and so many others.

    Kam already knew most of his life, there were just a few nks to fill. Like Lith sharing his secret with Ka before bing a Ranger and meeting Carl again in Kolga, refusing to reunite with his long-lost brother.

    When the mind link was finally cut off, Kam found herself kneeling on the floor. Her legs had given in first, followed by her eyes that had been crying so much that a small pool of tears had formed below her.

    Her hands were still clenching Lith''s as hard as she could in the attempt to push him away and put an end to the telepathic bond.

    She wanted to run away, but her body refused to move. She wanted to scream, but her lips remained sealed as even breathing had suddenly be an arduous task.

    "I''m of two worlds, Kami." Lith answered her silent questions that after being connected to her for so long he still felt lingering in his mind. "This is the third time I''m born, but no matter how hard I try, I can''t stop my past from tainting my present."

    The right half of his face crumbled, turning from flesh and blood of the man into a ck te made of darkness of the Abomination.

    "My first life taught me how painful it is to live while the second how painful it is to die." The ckness spread down his right shoulder and arm. "Even after spending almost two decades here, I still can''t forget everything I did. Everyone I lost.<sub> </sub>

    "Sometimes, the pain is so sharp that I mistake Mogar for Earth. I see my brother dying again and again in front of my eyes. I know that those are just memories, but they are ghosts to me, and they never leave me alone."

    The holograms of Carl, Ezio, his nameless mother, Carl''s killer, and everyone Lith had lost on Mogar appeared behind him as the Abomination side spread down to his right foot.

    The suffering triggered the Chaos that became so intense that it forced the Voidwalker armor to leave the dark half of his body exposed.

    Kam could see Lith''s pain in his human eye and in the Abomination''s, just like he could see her shock just by looking at her face.

    They kept kneeling on the floor, staring at each other for minutes until they turned into hours. Lith had shared with her so many things that he was sick of his own thoughts whereas Kam had lots of things she wanted to say, butcked the strength to spell a single word.

    Hups and sniffling seemed to take all the little energy she had left.

    The silencested for so long that Lith felt forced to break it.

    He had taken the burden off his shoulders just to pass it unto hers. Not only was Kam underserving of such torment, but also while he had almost had 46 years to deal with it, she had been forced to face everything at once.

    "I know what you must be thinking, but please, understand that I''m not a monster. When today the Royals asked me to be an Abomination in order to send me to the Golden Griffon, a part of me just snapped.

    "Back on Earth, I was powerless all my life. First, I was too young to protect Carl. Then, when he died, I had to watch his killer pay his way out of the court while all I could afford was my brother''s funeral.

    "Ever since I arrived on Mogar and discovered magic, I promised myself that I would never allow such a thing to happen again, yet I failed and I keep failing! No matter how powerful I be, I lost Yurial, Lark, and Mirim.

    "Even as a goddamn Tiamat I almost lost my f- Raaz at Orpal''s hands. Even after reaching the violet core, I nearly lost you and our child. I failed both of you and if not for Sark, I would''ve once again lost everything.

    "When the Royals asked me to go to the Golden Griffon, my old self couldn''t take it anymore. He-, I mean, I am not afraid to die. Been there, done that. What I''m terrified of is once again failing the people I love.

    "I can''t stand the thought of leaving Solus stranded alone in the lost academy, at the mercy of the first person who imprints her after my death. She gave me all of her life and yet I gave her so little in return.

    "She deserves the opportunity to be happy, not to spend eternity being passed around like a tool."

    "I can''t stand the thought of abandoning you and our child. Of never seeing your smile again. Of not being there for the two of you when the baby will be born and helping them cope with the Abomination side that I passed onto them.

    "I need to be there for you just like you''ve always been there for me. To do the right thing and leave behind more than just a streak of failures and dead bodies to remember me by."

 Chapter 2156 Failures And Dead Bodies (Part 2)

    Kam kept staring at him without saying a word until she slowly managed to stand up again despite her shaky knees.

    "I''m sorry." Her face was like her voice, cold and emotionless.

    She sounded and moved like a broken automaton as she wobbled toward the door, mming it behind her without ever looking back. The vibrations traveled from the door frame through the pavement, hitting Lith with the strength of a quake.

    He was already kneeling so his legs couldn''t buckle up and fall.

    What remained of his human side, however, shattered like ss. Lith was aware that his happiness had been built upon lies. Now that the truth had been exposed, only the Abomination and the Void that his life was remained.

    After several minutes, when it was clear that Lith had no intention of standing up and Kam of returning, Solus activated their mind link again. It took her a second to discover how much he had shared with Kam and understand the gravity of the situation.

    ''I''m sorry.'' Even though she had used the exact same words as Kam, their meaning couldn''t have been more different.

    Her thoughts and face were filled withpassion, knowing that with eachyer of deception that Lith had lifted he had also been forced to cut open old wounds that had never truly healed.

    Even with all of Solus'' efforts over the years, the best she had achieved was to not make them fester.

    She was now crying no less than Kam, but her tears were caused by the pain and sadness they had shared since the day they had met.

    Solus kneeled in front of Lith, hugging him tight to let him know that no matter what came next, he would never be truly alone. The Void and the Chaos inhabiting him stirred, stinging at her just like they had done to the Voidwalker armor.

    Yet instead of harming Solus, they triggered the golden radiance of her body, making her glow despite being flesh and blood. Light and darkness fought for a few seconds until they seeped into each other.

    The emptiness of the Void became filled with stars while Solus'' radiance became shrouded by darkness, making her look like a dawning sun.

    ''Why did yoush out like that back at Valeron?'' She asked the Void instead of Lith, d to have the opportunity to finally face him after all those years.

    ''I did it for you.'' He replied, bbergasting her.

    ''What do you mean? The Royals and the Council are no friends of ours but they are trustworthy allies. You could have just refused the mission.''

    ''They are our allies only because they aren''t aware of your existence. Otherwise they wouldn''t hesitate one second to kill me in order to get their hands on the tower.'' His thoughts became cold, sounding like a low snarl.

    ''As for the mission, what excuse could I''ve possiblye up with that wouldn''t have led the Royals to use our deal as a leash and force me to do it? Nothing I said would have mattered to them. This way, instead, I exploited their fear of a wild Abomination.

    ''They expected me to lose control and that''s exactly what I gave them.''

    ''Are you telling me that you''ve nned for this ever since the Royals came to visit us in the Desert?'' Solus felt touched by his care for her as much as Lith was shocked by the Void''s deviousness.

    ''Just another contingency n.'' He replied.<sub> </sub>

    ''A contingency n for what, exactly? You''ve still jeopardized your deal with the Royals and I doubt they''ll let this slide. They''ll just ask you to learn to control your Abomination side.''

    ''To buy some time and make sure that nothing happens to you.'' Lith gently caressed her face as he leaned his forehead against hers.

    ''Back when Carl died, he took the world with him. Nothing had sense anymore. I was waiting for death way before I learned about my cancer. Taking my life was the easiest thing I''ve ever done because I knew there would be no consequences.

    ''There was no one left who truly knew me and who would mourn my loss. My brief existence as an alien taught me how frail life is and how sudden death cane, but back then I didn''t care.

    ''The world was still a dull, grey, insignificant mass. Even once I came here to Mogar, life wasn''t something precious. It was just something that I gave and took. Barely a currency.

    ''I liked my new family, but I still put myself first and I was ready to take my life again the moment I discovered that magic wouldn''t give me any edge over mypetition.

    ''Yet everything changed when I met you, Solus. At first, I hated having someone inside my head, reading my thoughts and constantly nagging at me. After a while, though, I noticed that the world wasn''t grey anymore.

    ''There was light, warmth, and beauty even in the most trivial things around me. Before I realized it, I had someone who I liked again. Someone who knew who I really was and who worried about me instead of the mask I wore for the rest of Mogar.

    ''You had be my sun, painting with bright colors even the dullest of things. The more time we spent together, the more I cared for you until I couldn''t imagine my life without you.

    ''Even in my mind, "I" became "we".''

    ''What does this have to do with the Royals?'' Solus sniffled, hugging him tighter.

    ''The moment the Unwavering Loyalty array didn''t work on me, I knew that the Royals would''ve sent me to the Golden Griffon as soon as they were done debriefing me about the rest of the n.

    ''Had I remained silent, you would''ve been forced toe with me and risk remaining trapped there. This way, instead, I can leave you behind if that''s what you want.'' The Void replied.

    ''Did you really put everything you worked so hard for at risk because of me?'' She now mirrored him, cupping his face while caressing it with her thumbs.

    ''Yes. When Nalear managed to split us apart, the pain I felt allowed me to manifest my presence even without the blue core. Back when I thought that the Odi had killed you, I further damaged my life force to avenge you.

    ''There''s nothing that I wouldn''t do for you. I know that I''m your leash just like the deal with the Royals is mine, but I refuse to be the chain that will drag you down this pit with me.

    ''If I have to die, I want to give you the opportunity to be happy. I don''t care who you pick as your next host. Tista, Silverwing, even Grandma will give you everything I never cou-''

    ''Silly man, I can''t imagine my life without you either.'' She pushed his head up to look her in the eyes. ''Otherwise I would have stayed in Kolga, epted aunt Loka''s offer, or simply asked Sark to break our imprint.

    ''I knew that as long as we are bonded, we can''t be together the way I''d like to. Yet I also knew that without that bond, I wouldn''t be capable of being there for you in this crazy rollercoaster that''s your life.''

 Chapter 2157 The Good, The Bad,And The UglyTruth (Part 1)

    ''No sacrifice is too big if it means always having your back and making sure that even in your darkest hour you are never alone. No matter how deep your suffering is, I want to be there to always remind you how loved you are.''

    ''Whatever the Royals want from you, we''ll face it like we did everything else. Together.'' Solus said.

    At those words, the darkness and the light merged further until they became one.

    The tower trembled as it gained several new floors and every room becamerger. The world energy from the geyser was assimted with enough efficiency to turn the stones thatprised the walls into a material as hard as Adamant.

    ''Fuck us sideways.'' The newborn hybrid thought while staring at their four hands.

    After examining their condition with Invigoration, they discovered that Lith''s mana core was now bright violet, Solus'' was bright blue, and the tower''s power core was now capable of converting the world energy into their mana.

    Lith and Solus refused to move anything but their neck and eyes. They could feel their body brimming with great power just like they knew they had no control over it. The slightest gesture would''ve pierced through the tower''s wall while the weakest spell was likely to raze the mountain.

    ''Dammit, I would love to see our reflection in a mirror, but I don''t want to bring a new ice age and kill everyone who lives on this mountain.'' Solus thought.

    Judging from the odd weight on their back and the shift in their center of gravity, there were more than two sets of wings. As for their chest, whatever creature they had be had its body covered in golden and ck scales, both with their edges blood-red from the heat sealed within.

    It also had four arms of which the first set was entirely ck while the second was entirely golden. Each of them was identical to how they were supposed to be when Lith and Solus used their respective body as a base for the fusion.

    ''It makes sense. This time we both have a physical body and neither side is weaker than the other. Whatever this is, it''s supposed to be greater than the sum of the single parts.'' Lith thought.

    ''Big time.'' Solus added after the act of taking a deep breath to calm down caused a shockwave that opened a crater in the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room.

    They both immediately used the tower''s control system to make sure that the damages hadn''t spread to the nearby rooms and checked on Kam''s position.

    ''If anything happened to her, I''ll never forgive myself.'' Luckily for Solus, the effects of her sigh had affected only the bedroom they were in and thanks to the soundproofing spells, Kam had noticed nothing from the kitchen.

    ''How do we split?'' Solus asked. ''Kam is here, but since now she knows about me and our rtionship, it''s not enough to make our minds go out of synch anymore.''

    ''I don''t know.'' Lith''s paranoid mind was panicking, quickly infecting Solus''. ''More importantly, what about our privates? Are they just neighbors or¡­''

    He couldn''t bring himself to finish the sentence, conjuring instead the mental image of creatures capable of having an offspring by themselves.

    ''Are you telling me that once we split, I might have gotten pregnant too?'' Solus started swallowing non-stop as the harmony of their union was disrupted by its possible consequences.

    ''How am I supposed to know? I''ve never fused with anyone else!''

    ''Me neither!'' Lith was terrified at the idea of Kam finding out and asking for a divorce for something outside of his control while Solus didn''t want to pay the ticket for the amusement park just to skip all the rides.

    Long story short, their fusion ended as abruptly as it had started.<sub> </sub>

    ''Are you-''

    ''Unless we visit Grandma, we''ll have to wait about a month to be sure!'' She replied, cutting him short.

    ''I was about to ask you if you were alright, but that works too.'' Lith said while pacing nervously around the room now that he had regained his human form.

    The fusion had solved his inner conflict, setting at peace the different wills imbued in his life forces. At the same time, however, it had added jet fuel to the fire of Lith''s and Solus'' uneasiness about their rtionship.

    She was in her human form as well but she was so flustered that the blushing extended down to her shoulders and she was so red that she seemed to suffer from a heat stroke.

    As for Lith, he couldn''t even bear to look at her. He kept moving around the room, avoiding even to get near the bed where she was sitting.

    Then, his eyes fell on the Camellia on Kam''s bedside stand, making his stomach churn and color drain from his face as he remembered the reason she had left him alone with Solus.

    His pacing resumed and minutes seemed tost hours while he waited for Kam''s return. He couldn''t help but check on her from time to time via the tower''s security system, but he didn''t want to spy on her and just checked her position.

    ording to the logs, she had gone often to the kitchen and the bathroom, staying most of the time in the guest room.

    ''At least she hasn''t made calls.'' He inwardly sighed in relief. ''If she wanted to leave, she would have just needed to call Faluel or any of our friends to pick her up.''

    ''She''s not the type to just run away like a thief.'' Solus replied. ''Kami would face you first and tell you what''s on her mind.''

    Lith recognized the truth in those words, now fearing the idea of Kam''s return as much as of her leaving the tower.

    They kept waiting, and minutes turned into actual hours but aside from them regaining their cool nothing happened.

    ''Do you think I should go talk to her?'' Lith asked when he reached the point that uncertainty had be unbearable.

    He kept picturing scenarios where Kam divorced or worse, she would stay with him only for appearances'' sake until the war was over. In some of them, she allowed him to help her with the baby while in others she just ran away from him, never to return.

    The more time passed, the more he could see things getting worse and worse. When he started picturing Kam telling the truth to his parents before leaving, causing them to abandon him as well, he couldn''t take it anymore.

    He stood up, determined to face her once and for all and face the consequences,e what may.

    ''Absolutely not.'' Solus'' reply shattered his resolve like a stone thrown at a mirror. ''No matter how good your intentions were, you are responsible for this mess. Don''t get me wrong, I''m grateful to you for putting everything at stake for me.

    ''Yet byshing out you forced Kami to face your darkness. She has every reason to be upset and she deserves all the time she needs to make up her mind. If you to her now, you will put even more pressure on her.''

 Chapter 2158 The Good, The Bad,And The UglyTruth (Part 2)

    ''Whatever she''d decide would be a rushed decision that would bring nothing good. Instead of trying to predict what she might do, try walking a mile in her shoes. How would you feel if your roles werereversed?'' Solus asked.

    ''Scared out of my wits, afraid for the baby, but most of all, betrayed.'' Lith replied. ''In a way, the idea that there are other popted worlds out there would be insignificantpared with discovering about my reincarnations.

    ''The other aliens are thousands of light years away whereas I''m right here. On top of that, Kami has just learned that she has married a person different from the one she knew. I just betrayed her trust and turned her world upside-down in a single swoop.

    ''In her shoes, I would have a nervous breakdown and an existential crisis at the same time.''

    ''My point exactly. There''s nothing you can say that won''t make matters worse. Just give her time to-'' Solus'' stomach grumbled, cutting her short.

    ''How can you think about food in a moment like this?'' Lith''s outrage would have sounded more genuine if his own bowels hadn''t just replied in kind.

    ''Are you kidding me? We''ve been here for hours. Not only have we been through a lot, but we have also skipped both lunch and dinner.'' She said after checking her pocket watch.

    ''How long was I out cold?'' Lith''s voice was full of dread as he realized howte it was.

    ''A little over half an hour. Why?''

    ''Because it means that more than half a day has passed since Kami left and she has yet to return. Do you think it''s a good or a bad sign?'' He asked.

    That was one of those rare moments when Solus cursed their bond. She would have loved to tell Lith that it was a good sign and that everything would be well, but she didn''t believe it herself.

    From so close and with the after effects of their fusion, he would immediately expose her white lie and feel even worse.

    ''Only time will tell.'' She replied. ''Do you mind shapeshifting into your Abomination form?''

    ''Why?'' Lith raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    ''Because I have something to tell you and I want to make sure that the crooked man that lives inside your head listens to it as well.''

    Lith nodded, turning his body into a ck te of darkness and Chaos. There was no voice in his head this time, but he could still feel the presence of his old self. After making its point, it simply had nothing more to say.

    Yet the conflict between Lith''s willingness to enter the Golden Griffon and the Void''s reluctance to put Solus'' future at risk remained.

    Soon the Chaos destabilized his form, making the Voidwalker armor sizzle against his skin and forcing Lith to take it off. The stone ring symbolizing his bond with Solus, however, was unaffected.

    ''I want to thank you for everything you have done since the day you picked up my stone form and for all the wonderful things you told me today.'' She took his face between her hands, triggering the golden radiance of her skin again.

    ''I understand that you are worried for me, but this is my life. If you really care about me, you must let me take important decisions without deciding on your own what''s best for me.<sub> </sub>

    ''Going to the Golden Griffon with you is my choice. I''m aware of the risks I''m taking, but as you always say, nothing that''s worth havinges easy. I''ming with you because I want this war to end.

    ''I want to live the rest of my life with you, taking care of our family and discovering together everything that Mogar has to offer. I''ming with you because if anything happens to you, I couldn''t live with myself.

    ''And before you dare say that you can always pretend to be incapable of controlling yourself, think about the consequences. If the mission fails, the war will go on and more importantly, we''ll have to move from one battlefield to another.

    ''I don''t want to live like that. I don''t want to spend my life away from the people I love, always scared about losing you to a stray spell. I''m doing this for myself, to live the life I want.

    ''Yet I can''t fight Thrud without your help. Lith Verhen, Derek McCoy, Tiamat, or whatever you call yourself, would you please be my Abomination again?'' She had already asked his help back in Kolga, to fight against the King of the lost city.

    ''Always.'' Lith''s ckness and her radiance burst forward as they were pulled toward each other.

    ''Gods, not again!'' Solus said in a panic.

    They had tried for years to find a way to fuse at will and achieving it twice in a single day would have been considered a great step forward if not for its now unpredictable side effects.

    Her fear jammed the synch before they could fully merge, turning it into a tight embrace with their faces stuck deep into each other.

    ''I need some personal space.'' Solus Warped to her room, her face red up to her ears and her mind inplete chaos.

    ''That went great.'' Lith''s thought oozed sarcasm. ''Now not only do I feel like a dick, but I''m also alone.''

    After waiting for a while, it was clear that Solus wouldn''t return anytime soon. The problem was that time only made his hunger grow while his Abomination form made it even worse.

    ''The good news is that now I''m almost in control of this form as well. The bad news is that even with a body made of energy I still need to eat. Let''s see if the coast to the kitchen is-'' His train of thought derailed when he checked for Kam''s position and found her right outside his room.

    "We need to talk." She said while walking through the door and taking the chair she had brought with her near the bed where he was sitting, without waiting for a reply.

    ''Fuck me sideways. A chair means putting distance between us and that the conversation is going tost long.'' Lith swallowed even though that form had no saliva.

    He stared at her face, trying to understand what was about to happen. Kam''s hair was messy and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Her face looked tired and tense from stress, making it unreadable.

    "I''m d to see that you are still in your Abomination form, because I don''t know if I would have the strength to say what I have to while looking at Lith''s face." Her words made him swallow again and curse at himself for not shapeshifting back into human form the moment Solus had left the room.

    "It took me a long while to find the right words. Every time I thought to have found my answer, I either needed to eat or go to the bathroom due to the baby. It shattered my resolve and reminded me of how much there is at stake." Kam instinctively brought her hand to her womb, sniffling to hold back a tear.

 Chapter 2159 Father-Child Bond (Part 1)

    "Now I understand why even after we got married there were things you talked about only with Solus. Now I know that many things I thought you had invented because you loved me, like Tuner, the Camellia, and the stroller are just stuff you giarized from Earth.

    "Deep inside of me, I always knew there was something wrong with you. Every time I read your personnel file, I found it incredible that someone so young could act in such a cold and controlled manner." Kam''s anger and frustration grew with every word she spoke.

    "I should have guessed the truth back when you came clear with me about being an Abomination. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense. Your brilliant ideas were just memories from another life just like it''s perfectly normal for a man of your age to be mature."

    She took a long pause, averting her gaze from the Abomination''s face that still resembled Derek instead of Lith and staring at the floor until she managed to calm down again.

    "So let me say it again, Derek McCoy. I''m sorry." She raised her head, looking him in the eyes with a steel gaze. "I''m sorry for all the shit life threw at you back on Earth. I''m sorry that you felt so bad about yourself that you had to punish yourself with a reincarnation curse.

    "I''m sorry that you had to spend your whole life lying to everyone around you, no matter how much they loved you. Yet that''s your problem, not mine. I''m sorry, but I''m not Solus and I''m not going to spend my life coddling your feelings."

    Lith''s stomach twisted into a notch as he clenched his hands so hard that even his energy knuckles popped.

    "If you want me to stay with you, you need to grow up."

    "Wait, what?" Her words both shocked and confused him.

    "You heard me. Grow. Up." She dragged the chair closer until her face was centimeters from Lith''s. "I don''t want to hear that bullshit about being unable to protect me and taking the burden of the whole world on your shoulders ever again.

    "You are now 45 years old. After everything you went through, you should have realized by now that no matter how much you love someone, you can''t protect them from the rest of the world, nor they you.

    "You didn''t fail Carl when he was run over just like I didn''t fail Zinya when Fallmug got his filthy hands on her for years. It''s not your fault if those bastards from Verendi tried to kill me.

    "People die every day on every goddamn and there''s not enough magic in the entire universe that can change that.

    "You can''t wait to have crafted some perfect world free from harm and pain before allowing yourself to be happy. You must learn to appreciate every moment you spend with the people you love in the world as it is, or you''ll infect our daughter with your fear."

    Kam brought his hand to her womb as his eyes went wide in astonishment.

    "Derek McCoy was very unlucky but also one of the bravest men that I''ve ever known. Yet despite all of his sacrifices, despite all he managed to achieve, he died as he lived. In hopeless misery.

    "Lith Verhen is supposed to learn from Derek''s mistakes. To inherit his will but discard his obsessions. Otherwise your third life will end up just like the first. I''m not asking you to blindly ept your fate or disregard my safety.

    "I''m just asking you to keep fighting, to do your best like you did all your three lives. You can turn down the Royals if you think it''s a losing mission, but don''t refuse it just for my sake.

    "It''s dangerous, yes, but I''d rather risk losing you once and put an end to the war than spend the rest of my life away from you, raising our daughter alone while you are forced to fight against Thrud''s forces.<sub> </sub>

    "I want our baby girl to grow up in a peaceful world as we did. To be surrounded by the love of her family as you did. She deserves a father no less than I deserve a husband, not to live in fear of a call from the frontlines announcing your death.

    "Can you do it for her? For us?" Kam leaned her forehead against his, closing her eyes as tears streamed from her eyes.

    Asking the man she loved to risk his life was the hardest thing she had ever done, but she couldn''t afford to be egotistical anymore. She now had to fight for her yet-to-be-born child.

    Lith remained dumbstruck until the word "daughter" hammered its way from his ears to his brain, forcing it to work again.

    He knew for a month that he was going to be a father since, with three Guardians protecting the baby, it was more likely for the sun to disappear than for something to go wrong with the pregnancy.

    Yet it had always been a vague concept.

    A hazy figure he couldn''t picture clearly in his head. Now, however, it wasn''t a nondescript baby any longer. The word "daughter" changed everything, making the mental image of his child so real that Lith could almost see her.

    "Yes, I can and I will." He took Kam''s hands in his own and when she opened her eyes, he was d to see that they were still as kind as he remembered them.

    "Thank you." She gave him one of her dazzling smiles that made Lith feel like the luckiest man alive. Something that he had believed he wouldn''t see ever again after revealing the truth to her.

    Yet the surprise he felt at such a sight was instantly dwarfed by a more astounding development.

    Kam''s hands had turned pitch-ck and so did her face as darkness reced her flesh. Lith could feel the resonance between his Abomination side and that of the child in Kam''s womb as she used the baby girl''s abilities to shapeshift.

    Only the darkness element could interact with itself, allowing what was left of the body of Derek McCoy to experience a real kiss after over twenty years. It made Lith feel loved, no matter what name or appearance he bore.

    It also made the final argument between him and the Void disappear since they both agreed with Kam about their responsibilities toward his daughter.

    "Are you really okay with this?" Lith asked when Kam pulled away to catch her breath. Unlike him, she still had lungs. "Do you really want to stay with an alien body snatcher?"

    "I saw your memories." She replied. "The baby was already dead so you snatched no body. And yes, I''m okay with this. As I already said, Derek McCoy was, or better, is one of the bravest men I''ve ever known.

    "I don''t agree with many things you did, but after seeing your life through your eyes, I understand that even the most despicable act youmitted was due to necessity, not wanton cruelty.

    "In my work as a Constable, I''ve seen enough to know which is which."

    "I really thought that you would have dropped me like a bad habit." Lith sighed in relief.

 Chapter 2160 Father-Child Bond (Part 2)

    "Me too." Kam said, making him choke on his relief. "That''s why I took my time before making my decision. I needed to calm down and remind myself of all the good and bad things we''ve been through together first.

    "I had to remind myself that when I proposed to you, I was aware of the shitstorm I was getting myself into. I took a calcted risk, but gods if I''m bad at math." She said with a chuckle.

    "I''m not going to pretend that this doesn''t change anything between us. This was a revtion as big as Solus'' existence, if not even worse, but we''ll work it through together."

    "Not that I''mining, but thest time it took you months to wrap your head around mytest secret. What''s different this time?" Lith asked.

    "Are you kidding me? Back then I was your girlfriend and I had every right to be upset. Now, instead, I''m your wife and marriage is about respect, duty, and solving together problems that you wouldn''t have alone.

    "Especially when there are kids involved." She replied. "I''m still upset, but our daughter needs you, you need me, and I''m not going to let down either of you."

    "Thanks, Kami. Just tell me what I can do to deserve your forgiveness and I will." Lith hugged her, feeling that even though she didn''t reject his touch she still tensed up.

    "You can start by telling me that this was yourst secret. Because it was, right?"

    "Correct." Lith nodded, letting her go. "That was it. Pandora''s box is finally empty."

    "Who''s Pandora?" A quick mind link and a lesson about Greek mythology answered her question.

    "Speaking of secrets, since when do you know about the gender of the baby and how can you do that?" Lith pointed at her shadow hands and face.

    "At work, at the Desert, and at home, everyone kept nagging at me about the baby''s name, but I couldn''t pick one blind so I asked Elina to share Sark''s readings with me. As for the shapeshifting, I just wanted to learn how to use the baby''s abilities.

    "This way, once she''s born, I''ll be able to help you teach her about controlling her different forms. Also, I was curious to see if we could exploit my current state to give some action to your Abomination side as well." Kam had avoided turning back into a human because otherwise she would''ve been blushing up to her ears.

    "Gods, you really are a pervert." Lith said with a chuckle.

    "It takes one to know one." She shrugged.

    "By the way, I hope you are not mad at me because I spoke about this with Ka and her children."

    "Are you kidding me? I''m d you did. If she didn''t rmend you pick the Ker region for your tour as a Ranger, we would have never met." She replied.

    "Which means that without my meddling, Jakra wouldn''t have escaped Huryole, Thrud wouldn''t have returned to the Griffon Kingdom, and you wouldn''t be in this mess." Lith said.

    "No, it just means that another Ranger would have let Jakra escape and that the Odi would have secretly invaded the Kingdom way before Thrud returned." Kam shook her head.

    "On top of that, my sister would be still blind if not dead at Fallmug''s hand, and I would be alone, fighting this war as an army Lieutenant instead of a Constable and a Captain."

    "I like your version of the story better."

    "Me too." She stood up, shapeshifting back into a human before offering him her hand. "I hope you are hungry because I prepared a small feast."<sub> </sub>

    "You did?" He asked in surprise.

    "Technically, Elina did most of the job, but I helped her with a few dishes and bought a lot more from your favorite restaurants." Kam cleared her throat in embarrassment.

    "With my job and everything I don''t have that much free time, but I still wanted to throw you a surprise party the moment Solus and I decided to reveal to you our dream house. Especially if you needed to be cheered up." She waved as the shapeshifted tower''s room.

    "I guess this qualifies big time." Lith dressed up before turning back into human form. Much to his surprise, now his Abomination side was stable enough to have no adverse effect on the Voidwalker armor.

    "Yeah, too bad that I need cheering up too. Thank the gods for dimensional amulets. Without them, I couldn''t have prepared everything weeks in advance and kept the food in the "fresh out the oven" state. I''m not in the mood for dried food."

    "By the way, have you talked to Solus about the mission?" Kam asked, trying to sound casual.

    She understood that if he died in the Golden Griffon Solus'' fate would''ve been sealed, but Kam also knew that without Solus, the probabilities of Lithing back dropped dramatically.

    "Yeah, we had a long talk during your absence." Lith avoided mentioning the fusion and its possible consequences because his rtionship with Kam was already strained at the moment. Any more weight and it would copse.

    "She scolded me, well the other me, big time for making the decision for her instead of asking what she wanted. Against my better judgment, she has decided toe along to watch my back."

    "Good." Kam sighed in relief. "Let''s get her and go straight to dinner. I''m starving."

    She took his hand, appreciating its warmth as well as the rough patches of skin due to his training with the sword. The memories of all the good times spent together flooded her mind, just to be crushed by thetest revtion about Lith''s past.

    Kam''s first instinct was to let go and take a step aside, but she held his hand tighter instead. She had no idea how their rtionship would change and her mind was a total mess.

    The only thing she was certain about was that she wanted to have enough time with him to discover what the future held for them. She was willing to risk Solus'' freedom if it meant increasing Lith''s chances of returning to her.

    For the same reason, she was ignoring her own inner turmoil and pretending everything was alright in order to give him something toe back to.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Essar Region, Golden Griffon academy.

    Leegaainnded right in front of the main gate before shapeshifting into his human form and stepping forward.

    He looked like an albino man in his mid-thirties, 1,75 meters (5''9") tall, with pitch-ck hair and a couple of days old stubble. His bright red eyes had a vertical pupil and the contrast with his skin made them look like burning torches.

    He was wearing an elegant midnight-blue evening suit and carried a mixed bouquet of flowers. Half of it were blue bellflowers and the other half dandelions. The former was the traditional gift to a couple who had a baby boy and thetter meant to congratte the father.

    Tradition also required to bring red lilies for the mother, but Leegaain didn''t feel like praising Thrud either as a wife or a mother. He knew how her rtionship with his son Jormun had started and of the deep scars that it had left him with.

 Chapter 2161 Bloody Legacy (Part 1)

    "Freeze!" Not even the sight of a Guardian or his peaceful attitude could stop the Forgotten from performing their duty.

    The now Awakened mindless soldiers raised their enchanted spears at the intruder, activating the enchantments and charging them up until the air around them started to crackle.

    Even though they had lost their sanity after thousands of cycles of death and rebirth while trapped inside the Golden Griffon, their bodies still recognized the threat at hand and became covered in cold sweat.

    "Seriously?" Leegaain said with a scoff. "If this was an attack I wouldn''t be walking in my human form and you would be dead."

    The rm resounded throughout the lost academy and many Emperor and Divine Beasts rushed to the main gate. Unlike the Forgotten, the moment they looked at the intruder with Life Vision, they dropped their weapons.

    The only thing that a fight would have achieved was another cycle in the rebirth chamber and the loss of another sliver of their self-awareness. Their survivaly in the lost city being able to stop the Guardian or in the hope that Leegaain wouldn''t dare to destroy it and kill millions of innocents in the aftermath.

    "Finally, someone with a brain. Tell my son that this is a courtesy visit." Leegaain said.

    "Yes, Grandpa." Ufyl had once been a Hydra, but after undergoing Thrud''s treatment he was now a Seven Headed Dragon.

    "Don''t call me that!" Leegaain snarled while his descendant called Jormun via themunication amulet. "You lost that right the day when you sacrificed hundreds of your siblings and exposed yourself to Forbidden Magic just for the sake of power."

    "I did no such thing!" Ufyl said in outrage. Even in his human form, he spoke with seven voices in unison, making him sound like a choir of angry gods. "Xedros killed the members of our kin for his crazy experiments.

    "The True Queen simply took the ambrosia after his death and used it on those like me to enhance our abilities. Throwing it away would have meant wasting their sacrifice. This way, they live inside of me and I carry on their legacy.

    "I''m not doing this for power but to create a better world for everyone!"

    "Do you even listen to yourself? You may not have killed them directly, but their blood is on your hands nheless. That power is cursed and by epting it, you became no better than Xedros." Leegaain replied.

    "History will judge us. Yet while at least I have the guts to do what I believe is right, you keep doing nothing. If you were really worried about your lesser offspring, you would''ve stopped Xedros.

    "His experiments happened inside your turf, under your responsibility. You let him do it so you have no right to judge me!" Ufyl transformed into his real body ready to challenge his forefather.

    "I didn''t let Xedros do anything nor did I consent to his experiments." Leegaain calmly shook his head. "But you are right about one thing. I failed him just like I failed you and all those he sacrificed. And for that, I''m sorry."

    His words struck at Ufyl stronger than any spells could. The shock shapeshifted him back into his human form and made his anger fade.

    "You have nothing to apologize for, Dad." Jormun said. "It was my choice toe to the Golden Griffon centuries ago. It was my hubris that led to my imprisonment and everything that came out of it.

    "In the same way, it was Xedros'' choice to use Forbidden Magic and Ufyl exploited the fruits of such a bloodybor of his own will. Our choices define us and no matter how bad the oue, if you hadn''t allowed us to make them, we would be even worse for it."

    The Emerald Dragon''s human form had the appearance of a handsome man about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with emerald shoulder-length hair and purple eyes with a vertical pupil to look like his father. He wore a white silk shirt, brown pants and shoes.

    "Please,e in." Jormun gave Leegaain a small bow and epted the bouquet with both hands. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"<sub> </sub>

    "I''vee to visit my grandchild. If you''ll allow me, of course." The Guardian said.

    "Really? After this long, I had imagined that you had disowned me and the little Valeron." The Emerald Dragon''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "I''d never disown you!" Leegaain replied in outrage. "I simply disagreed with your choice of siding with¡­ Thrud and I knew that any attempt to talk you out of it would have ended up hurting us both.

    "But you are right about the child. Until a while ago, I refused to consider him as a member of my bloodline."

    Arthan the second had been born with the perfect fusion between the human, the Dragon, and the Griffon bloodlines instead of a hybrid thanks to Thrud using the Madness on him while he was still in her womb.

    It had allowed the child to take the best of the three life forces but at the same time, it made Valeron a product of Forbidden Magic.

    Jormun was aware of that and grateful to Leegaain for referring to his spouse by her name instead of a slur.

    "I didn''t side with Thrud, but with my son. I''m only here to protect Valeron and I took no part in his war. What made you change your mind about him?"

    "Can we talk about this inside and in private?" Leegaain waved at the growing number of soldiers surrounding them.

    "Depends. Do I have your word that this is just a courtesy visit and that you won''t exploit it to study the Golden Griffon?" Jormun asked.

    "I promise you that I won''t search for a way to destroy this ce and that I will share with no one anything I might discover by chance. I can''t turn off my Dragon Eyes and you know it." The Guardian replied.

    "Fair enough. It''s good to see you again, Dad." The Emerald Dragon hugged his father and the two men patted each other on the back.

    "Same. Where is the little rascal?" Jormun replied by snapping his fingers and Warping them in the nursery, where the baby was fast asleep.

    <o>,m "Can I hold him?" Leegaain was of two hearts while looking at the infant.</o>

    On the one hand Valeron the Second was the descendant of the Mad King and potentially the future tyrant of the Griffon Kingdom. On the other hand, he was Leegaain''s flesh and blood.

    "Of course." Jormun gently lifted the child with Spirit Magic, handing him to his grandfather. "Can you tell me now what made you change your mind about my son?"

    Leegaain rocked the baby, talking to him in Dragontongue while a mind link shared with Jormun the vow about protecting Lith''s child and the time he had spent with Kam.

    Valeron the Second instinctively shapeshifted into his Divine Beast form, cooing at Leegaain and burping small puffs of deep red Origin mes.

    ''He''s going to have a daughter? And Awakened in the womb at that?'' For a moment, Jormun was overwhelmed at the idea of their bloodlines merging in the future, but reality snapped him out of it.

 Chapter 2162 Bloody Legacy (Part 2)

    ''Yes, but she''s going to be born as a regr hybrid.'' The Emerald Dragon didn''t miss the underlying usation. ''I''m not going to lie. At first, I resented both children the same way.

    <o>,m ''Mogar took my blood without my consent just like Thrud took yours. Yet my oath bound me. The moment I felt the draconic spark inside Lith''s daughter, though, all my reasonings crumbled in front of a simple, undeniable truth.</o>

    ''She is innocent and she''s part of my family. No ifs or buts can change it. After a while, I realized that Valeron is no different so I came here to make things right.''

    ''Thanks, Dad. It means the world to me.'' Jormun said.

    ''Don''t thank me yet. I''ve alsoe to make you an offer. Can call your w- the Ma- Thrud here, please.'' Leegaain had a hard time epting their rtionship and how it had started, but he did his best to keep his opinion to himself.

    ''One second.'' Jormun knew it, but pretended not to notice.

    "What is he doing here?" Unlike Jormun, the Mad Queen felt no joy in the meeting and unlike his Generals, she had no fear of the Guardian.

    Her deep white core had turned a few shades brighter and burst its aura forward as it channeled the power that the lost academy and the mana geyser below it granted to her.

    The Sword and Armor of Arthan were extensions of her being. Along with the silver lightning of the Life Maelstrom they further amplified the tremendous power she held.

    The Armor opened on her back, letting a set of gold-feathered wings out, her hands turned into talons, and small feathers came out of her skin, forming a sturdy protectiveyer.

    "The white core turned you into a Golden Griffon like Tyris? How can someone like you reach such enlightenment?" Leegaain was bbergasted, doubting for the first time in millennia Mogar''s sanity.

    Even one of his Firstborns would have trembled in front of Thrud, but she was just a speck of dust in front of a Guardian. Yet.

    "Are you insane?" Jormun using that word despite knowing how much she hated it was a huge tell, but him standing between her and the Guardian while pointing at the baby sealed the deal.

    "I surrender." Thrud fell onto her knees, dropping her equipment and shapeshifting into her naked human form. "Do whatever you want with me. Please, just don''t harm my son. He shouldn''t pay for the actions of his mother."

    Normally, she would have fought tooth and nail, but she couldn''t afford to conjure the firepower necessary to harm a Guardian without putting the baby''s life at stake.

    ''Am I the bad guy here?'' Leegaain thought, seeing the Mad Queen willing to throw away hundreds of years of scheming and thousands of lives she had sacrificed just for the sake of protecting her child.

    "By the Great Mother, what the heck are you talking about?" He actually said. "Can''t a grandfather visit his baby boys?"

    "Do I have your word you won''t hurt Valeron or take him away from me?" Thrud refused to stand up until she was certain of the Guardian''s intentions.

    "I swear it on my blood, now stand up and cover yourself, for the gods'' sake!" Leegaain said, half-outraged and half-ashamed of himself. "Do you want to hold the baby or can I keep him for a while longer?"

    The Mad Queen looked at Valeron who had kept sleeping despite the fuss and shapeshifted the Armor into a yellow day dress embroidered with whitece worthy of the Royal Court.<sub> </sub>

    "You can hold him. Even if there is a surprise attack, there would be no ce safer for him than your arms." She considered her son a good judge of character.

    Valeron always cried when someone like Linnea or Hystar came close to his crib.

    "I''ll try to be quick and not overstay my wee." The Guardian said while conjuring a soft tune that he used as a luby for his children. "Here''s my offer. Put an end to this war, depower the Golden Griffon, and in exchange I''ll grant the three of you asylum."

    "Would you really do it?" Jormun asked while looking at Thrud''s expression with hope.

    "Yes. If you ept, Jormun and Valeron will be free toe and go from myir. They have done nothing wrong and they will be free to live their life however they want. As for you, Thrud, you''d have to stay there.

    "You would be forbidden from going outside but I would also keep any of your enemies from finding you and allow you to escape from both the justice of the Kingdom and the Awakened Council."

    "Are you offering me an eternity of very?" Her eyes turned into fiery slits of white mana, but not an ounce of power radiated from her.

    "Not very, just imprisonment." Leegaain shook his head. "Also, it wouldn''t be forever.

    "You are eternally young now whereas even Awakened sooner orter die. In a few millennia, when your name has be but a cautionary tale and everyone who met you is no more, we can discuss your release.

    "I''m confident that with time, meditation, and self-discipline, you can be redeemed. With your power and your genius, there are countless ways you can make up for your crimes with.

    "You have killed thousands to fuel the Madness and your machinations but if you be a Magus, your knowledge will save millions if not billions of lives. Mogar will be better for it and at that point, no one would deny to you your rightful ce."

    "My answer is no." Thrud replied with no hesitation. "I won''t be locked in a prison for taking what''s mine by birthright."

    "Are you sure of your decision?" Leegaain asked. "Myir isn''t a damp cave. I stretched its boundaries with dimensional magic and filled it with biomes whose extension surpasses the Gorgon Empire.

    "You would have an entire new world to explore."

    "No matter how dignified, a prison is still a prison." She shook her head. "I wouldn''t be able to show to my son his own country, exin its story to him, nor could I share with him any wonder Mogar has to offer.

    "Seeing his mother locked up, hearing only what the rest of the world thinks of me, he would grow up ashamed of his heritage and name. That''s a burden that no parent can allow befalling their child."

    "He should be ashamed of his heritage and name." Leegaain''s voice became cold. "Your father was a madman who in his short time killed even more people than you did. He created with Forbidden Magic the monstrosity that surrounds us.

    "He enved countless innocents, robbing them of everything that made them sentient beings and turned them into mindless puppets. Before spouting nonsense think about what your father did to my son. Your husband.

    "Think about how your own son was conceived. Let''s say that you win this damn war. Once he grows up will you tell him the truth about his birth or are you so delusional that you can spin such a horror until it bes a romantic story?"

 Chapter 2163 Real Name (Part 1)

    "Of course I will tell Valeron the truth!" Thud yelled, waking up the baby and making him cry.

    Yet instead of calming her down, the wailing made her angrier as memories from her past shed in front of her eyes. Images from another time, when little boys cried, people screamed, and the world around her burned.

    "Maybe my father was a monster, but so were those who created the ve cors in the Empire and the Royals who allowed the same tragedy that happened to Balkor to befall countless youths whose only crime was to be talented.

    "Yet none of them ended up like him. None of them got their name turned into a swear word. I still remember the day when Tyris stormed the pce. I remember my mother dragging me away to save my life while I cried my father''s name.

    "I was barely a woman, forced to witness my house being set aze while the rest of my family was butchered in front of my eyes. They sacrificed their lives just to buy us the time to escape.

    "Without them, my mother and I would have ended up on the gallows right beside my father. We would have been tortured for days just to sate the bloodthirst of the very people who until a day before worshipped us.

    "If I were to ept your offer, history would remember me only as a madwoman and my mother and my fallen rtives would have lost their lives for nothing. I owe them more than that, just like I owe my son the true freedom that only power can give him.

    "Your deal would make Valeron but a wanderer who has to keep his head down and his name hidden. If I win this war, instead, he''ll have everything that was taken away from me and be a better person than my father or I will ever be!

    "If I win this war, I''ll do everything you just suggested, but I''ll be remembered as a Queen dispensing gifts to her subjects instead of a criminal begging for redemption. I won''t stand for my child to be persecuted just for who he is like it happened to me.

    "Like it happened to Verhen. After everything he did for the Kingdom, he was chased away from his home. How can you ask me to entrust Valeron''s happiness to people like that? He needs his mother and I can''t be with him if I''m locked away."

    "So be it." Leegaain whispered a few words in Dragontongue in the baby''s ear and Valeron fell asleep again. "Yet my offer still stands. If you ever change your mind, Jormun knows how to contact me.

    "Beware, though. If you lose this war, I won''te to your rescue. If you surrender while you still have the upper hand means that you are truly willing to change. If you do it only once everything is lost, it would just be a way to escape from the consequences of your actions."

    The Father of all Dragons handed the small Bahamut to his mother, making sure that she perceived the weight of his life and measured it against her self-serving ambitions.

    Then, he Warped away, holding on to the hope that the day when his lost sons Lith and Jormun collided would nevere.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Rekar mountain range

    After eating dinner, Lith was ready to go back to the Royal Pce, but Kam asked him to spend the night inside the replica of their dream house that Solus had shaped the tower into.

    "We all have gone through a lot during thest few hours and we need some real rest." She said. "On top of that, I''m aware of the risks that going to the Golden Griffon implies and I don''t want ourst memory together to be a squabble.<sub> </sub>

    "I want all of the parts thatprise your life force to know that you have a family waiting for your return. That you are fighting for more than a stupid Kingdom or a pompous title.

    "You are fighting for us."

    Lith froze at those words, feeling more like a monster than he had ever done. The whole truth about him had been finally exposed and he was now free from the burden of lies and deception.

    Yet it also made him feel naked and vulnerable like never before. The secret of his reincarnation was something that Lith hadn''t nned to share with anyone and now that the cat was out of the bag, he had no idea how to deal with it.

    Also, seeing the pain still lingering in her eyes and how she shifted ufortably from one foot to the other made his stomach churn. Jirni had trained Kam to control her emotions, making such ticks beyond unsettling.

    "I know, but I also thought that maybe some distance would make us good." He replied after the silencested long enough to be awkward. "I dropped another fireball on you out of the blue and you need some time to process it.

    ? "If you want, I can drop you by Zinya''s if you needpany or Protector''s if you want someone to talk with. I can spend the night here-"

    "Enough with this nonsense, you silly man." She crossed the distance between them, wrapping him in an embrace. "That''s exactly what I was talking about. You are thinking like we''ve already broke up and you have something to make up for.

    "We are still together and you don''t have to make anything up to me. You didn''t choose toe to Mogar nor to take the body of Elina''s baby."

    "I took Lith''s body, you mean. You don''t have to avoid saying his name to not hurt my feelings. I know who I really am." The man once called Derek McCoy stood still, without returning the embrace, feeling his new name and identity slipping away from him.

    "You''re wrong. You and only you are Lith. Elina chose your name after your birth, to express the joy and happiness she felt after almost losing you. The baby''s name was Strata, after Elina''s father." Kam put his arms around her and embraced him again.

    "Really?" The surprise was so great that all of Lith''s seven eyes opened wide even though he was in his human form.

    "Really. You can ask your mother if you don''t believe me." Kam returned his gaze, allowing his enhanced senses that she was telling the truth.

    From so up close, he could hear her heartbeat, feel the blood flowing through her veins, and even smell the subtle changes in her perspiration.

    "She changed the name at thest minute because she thought it was bad luck. Her father died young and so almost did you. Lith is the name that Elina gave you and she loves you no less than any other of her children. She and Raaz often wondered where your soul came from after learning that you were part Abomination.

    "Yet after a while, they realized they didn''t care. No matter who you are, to them you''ll always be the baby they held into their arms. The baby who they raised to be the loving and caring son they would die for."

 Chapter 2164 Real Name (Part 2)

    "Thank you." Only after hearing those words did Lith return the embrace.

    "You are wee, silly man." Kam snuggled her face on his chest. "You don''t have to worry about me either. I can understand why you kept your origin a secret, but the day I epted to marry you, I also promised to ept every part of your life.

    "Or in your case, lives. If you see me shaken is because I am, but also because I feel confident enough in our rtionship to not be forced to pretend that everything is alright when it''s not.

    "I don''t want to wear a mask and neither should you."

    "Gods, what the heck did I ever do to deserve someone like you in my life?" Lith held Kam tighter, losing himself in the sweet scent of her hair that he had feared lost forever.

    "A lot." She replied. "Don''t get me wrong, you are still a homicidal asshole, but you are my homicidal asshole. You saved your parents from poverty and our respective sisters from illness.

    "Even though you carried a lot of secrets since the day of our first date, now I know that you''ve always been honest about your feelings for me. I will need some time to process today''s events but that doesn''t mean that I''m pushing you away."

    Once again there was no lie in her words.

    Lith remained like that for a while, appreciating that moment without saying anything.

    That night they slept simply hugging and when they woke up, Kam had Solus Warp the tower to Sark''s beach. They watched the sunrise there and spent the rest of the day in the ce where their family had been born, promising to return there.

    Solus was happy to be part of it, but also a little awkward.

    "Are you sure you don''t want some privacy?"

    She asked while they were sunbathing and Lith experimenting on how his Abomination form reacted to water.

    ? "Are you kidding me? I can surely use thepany of my wife." Kam chuckled. "Also, you knew about Lith and Derek all along. I need your expertise now more than ever."

    "About that, I don''t think I can be of much help." Solus replied with a shrug. "To everyone else, they are different people, but to me, there has always been only Lith. I''m not saying that his past as Derek is irrelevant, just that that part of his life had already started to fade by the time I met him.

    "His old self, the one that still inhabits his Abomination side, was a hopeless broken man who cared about no one but himself. Even the four years old Lith worried a lot about his family and worked his ass off for them.

    "He often lied to them, but never to hurt them. He did it to protect them and himself. You must understand that just like you find it hard to ept his previous incarnations, so does Lith.

    "He always worried about how his parents might react if they discovered the truth and he still suffers from some kind of imposter syndrome. The very same lie that allows him to have a second chance at life at the same time keeps him from truly appreciating it."

    Those words conjured the memories that Lith had shared with Kam, making all the times he had called himself a malevolent ghost sh in front of her eyes.

    "Now that you know the truth, Lith is as scared of you as you are of him." Solus said. "You hold a power over him like no one else ever did before. You can tear his life and heart apart at any moment and he knows it."

    "I would never do such a thing!" Kam said in outrage, noticing Solus'' stare at her womb. "But you are right. Knowing Lith, he''s probably picturing some convoluted scenario based on the ghosts in his head right now."

    "Indeed." Solus sighed, staring at her own in worry.<sub> </sub>

    "Thanks, Solus." Kam hugged her. "Thank you for being my rock in this mess and for watching Lith''s back. I know how dangerous the Golden Griffon is for you and I wouldn''t me you if you decided to stay out of it."

    "It''s nothing, Kami." It took her a second to notice that something was off. "Have your breasts gotten bigger already?"

    "A bit, but please don''t tell Lith. I don''t feel like doing more than cuddles right now."

    "Believe me, he knows already." Solus'' serious look made her giggle.

    ***

    They returned to the Kingdom at sunrise. Lith alerted Faluel who in turn contacted the Royals, telling them that the crisis had been resolved.

    Lith found two Royal Guards waiting in front of his house. They raised their hands and conjured a Warp Gate to Valeron that would leave no trace of his passage in the official logs.

    Lith and Kam found themselves in the Throne Room, where the Royals and the Council representatives were waiting for them.

    "Is everything alright now, Magus Verhen?" The King had yet to make a full recovery so Sylpha wore the Saefel Armor and carried the Sword at her hip.

    She had even set light and darkness sealing arrays, just to be safe.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize for my previous behavior" Lith replied, his voice remaining his own as he shapeshifted into his Abomination form. "I don''t think there should be any problem, no matter how long I keep this form."

    To prove his point, he not only kept his equipment on, but he also took a flower from a nearby vase. There was no sizzling on contact nor did the flower wither, proving Lith''s mastery over the Chaos and darkness thatprised his body.

    "You gave us a big scare." The Queen took a good look at the elemental energy in his eyes and at his face, searching for any of the twitches that had preceded the previous outburst.

    "I''m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn''t mean to hurt you. The prolonged exposure to Chaos energy took me by surprise and twisted my mind beyond what I thought possible. Now, however, I know how to deal with it." Lith lied through his teeth.

    The elemental flow was steady, with no trace of Decay, and his face was a ck te so shiny that Sylpha could almost see her own reflection bearing the seven eyes looking back at her.

    For some reason, it creeped her out even more than the funny haircut made of ck mes. She almost felt drawn to her own distorted image, her consciousness pulled by an unknown force.

    Yet her will was strong and just averting her gaze made her snap out of whatever it was.

    "Excellent. I have no intention of pressing charges against you since you warned us about the risks that taking your Abomination form might entail. Our deal is still valid.

    "Yet I''m not so na?ve that I would miss how you deep down probably think most of the things you said while under the influence of Chaos. We have a lot to discuss, but time is of the essence.

    "Since your Abomination form is now stable and we can consider the matter of your outburst settled, it''s time to introduce our secret weapon to you."

 Chapter 2165 More Than Meets The Eyes (Part 1)

    The Queen traced a circle in the air with her finger, conjuring a Spirit Gate.

    "I''m d to have you on board, Scourge." Ka the Wight walked through the dimensional opening, leaving Lith bbergasted. "I''m sorry to drag you into this but you are one of the few people I trust with my life."

    Even though she looked like an undead, she was actually an Emperor Beast whose body had mutated to ept the massive amounts of darkness element that now reced part of her flesh.

    Her height at the withers was over 2.5 two meters (8''3") and her body was as big as a small house. Her skeleton still resembled that of a bear and the white bones glimpsed from time to time under the living shadow her skin wasprised of.

    A white crystal the size of an apple was hung to her neck, its light mixing with the darkness that seeped under the gemstone''s surface from time to time, painting it ck.

    Even though she was alive, her eyes burned with the red light of undeath, marking her as a unique existence. In a way, her condition was simr to Lith''s. It was the reason he had shared with her the secret of his reincarnation and sought her advice.

    By her side, walked dion Dragonborn, the first Vampire and ruler of the Eclipsed Lands of Lightkeep.

    He looked exactly like when he was still alive. A handsome man in his early thirties about 1.87 meters (6''2") tall, with short ck hair, light olive skin, and icy blue eyes that were filled with the warm passion of youth.

    He had the bearing of a general and the build of a soldier. One look was enough to understand that he had earned his stripes in battle, not by pushing papers and licking boots.

    A regr undead would have been turned into ashes by the sunlighting from the windows, but dion had long since reached a full red blood core. He could temporarily give up on his undead nature at any time to turn back into a living being.

    "What do you mean and what are you two doing here?" Lith asked.

    "It''s very simple." The Wight nodded. "I''m the one who requested your presence because I suspected that your Abomination side would make you immune to the Unwavering Loyalty just like my undead side protects me.

    "dion already offered toe with me, but we could use a heavy hitter who is familiar with the Golden Griffon in case we are forced to fight. Also, I know that there''s no one who can synergize with me as well as you do."

    One of her eyes flickered in a wink, followed by another when she noticed that Lith hadn''t caught her drift and then by several more.

    "Is there something wrong with your life force, bear?" Inxialot the Lich King asked. "I had a simr problem as well back when I had started the process of splitting my mana core."

    Only then did Lith activate Life Vision, noticing that the white crystal had not only a mana flow but also a shred of life force.

    "Good gods, Ka, what have you done?"

    "For now, nothing." She replied in annoyance. "I''m still fully alive. What you see is just the progress I made in synching my energy signature with the crystal''s. It will take years toplete the process and I won''t be a Lich before achieving at least the bright blue core."

    Ka spread a blue aura, flexing her energy body to show the progress she had made since thest time they met. Back then, in Lightkeep, the Wight was barely past the deep blue and her homebody physique made her unsuitable to fight even fake mages.<sub> </sub>

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, you can''t be serious." Lith pinched his shadow nose in annoyance. "Ka is as weak as a baby. How can she possibly contribute to the mission? She''s a liability at best."

    The Wight was actually stronger than most mages of the Kingdom, but for Awakened standards, she was unsuited to fight. Even the members of Thrud''s Forgotten corps had at least the bright blue core and many of them had reached the deep violet.

    "I''m very serious." Sylpha''s face was a stone mask but the same couldn''t be said about the rest of the Awakened and even Xenagrosh.

    Lith could see a mix of rage, envy, and greed in their eyes that he couldn''t find an exnation for.

    ''I can''t believe that Ka''s crystal is that precious.'' He thought. ''Inxialot is also a Lich so her undead nature can''t be the issue either.''

    "I agree with you on herck of battle prowess but Lady Ka holds means that are invaluable for this mission. Without her, all of our nning wouldn''t have even started in the first ce." Sylpha said.

    "You see, she''s the one who stepped forward to offer to help our cause with her Eyes of Menadion."

    "She what?" Lith''s Abomination face was supposed to be a featureless ck te yet it still managed to express his astonished surprise.

    He was well aware that Ka possessed the Eyes since he was the one who had given them to her after Scarlett the Sekhmet had left to start her training as a Guardian. What shocked him was the fact that Ka had willingly revealed the existence of the artifact to the rest of the world.

    "I understand your incredulity." Sylphapletely misunderstood his reaction. "I wouldn''t believe it myself if I hadn''t seen such a legendary item with my own eyes. It seems that they are part of the legacy left behind by Scarlett the Scorpicore."

    The Queen kept a calm appearance but her grip on Saefel''s Sword became so strong that it would have bent regr tempered metal.

    ''I can''t believe that the Kingdom had the Eyes of Menadion right under our nose for 100 years and in the White Griffon forest as that! We could have bargained with the Forest Lord for them since Mirim had a great rtionship with the Scorpicore.

    ''Heck, maybe if we treated her better, she wouldn''t have entrusted such a priceless treasure to a mad semi-Lich!'' Sylpha''s frustration knew no bounds and was matched only by that of the members of the Council.

    They had often interacted with the Scorpicore and were now deeply regretting having always dismissed her as a minor yer and a major pain in the ass.

    ''What I''d give to get my hands on the Eyes.'' Xenagrosh thought. ''They would be the perfect gift for Bytra. With them, the Absolution, and the Mouth, it would be just a matter of time before she manages to craft her own mage tower.

    ''After that, with Nandi''s help to make up for the missing Hands, her creations would match those of the Guardians!''

    "I have them right here." Ka put what looked like a golden pince-nez on her snout and its lenses grew to the size of a tea saucer to fit her. "I''m sorry for hiding the Eyes from you Scourge.

    "It''s not that I didn''t trust you, I just didn''t want to involve you in the mess that I knew would have ensued were the existence of the Eyes been revealed."

 Chapter 2166 More Than Meets The Eyes (Part 2)

    Lith could now understand the secrecy behind his summon to the capital and what the n to infiltrate the Golden Griffon entailed. Yet there were still some questions that needed answers.

    "Then why are you even here?" His words made more than one brow furrow and the Royals once again question his loyalty. "Why are you putting yourself in such danger?"

    "Because I''ve seen the horrors of Thrud''s workings." Ka replied. "Because I know that if the Golden Griffon isn''t destroyed, her forces will conquer thends above the ground and then those below.

    "I''m putting my life at stake because I don''t want this war to ravage the Empire nor the Eclipsed Lands that now I consider my adoptive homnd. Also, it''s quite hypocritical of you to question my decision, Scourge.

    "I''m just doing for the first time what you''ve been doing ever since we met in the White Griffon''s forest. Risking my life for people I don''t care about and fighting for an ungrateful country."

    <o>,m The Wight made everyone present flinch.</o>

    Lith, Kam, and Solus because it was exactly what the Void had used Lith of doing just two days back. The others because they realized that Ka was right. Lith had no real obligation toward them.

    He had often put his life on the line for the Kingdom, but he only fought for his family.

    "We are aware that the Eyes are a teaching tool, Lady Ka. If only you entrusted them to any of us, we would dly take your ce and spare you the danger of the Golden Griffon." Inxialot said while giving her a deep bow.

    "Yeah, right, and then I would never see them again!" Ka snorted. "I''m the reason they have dragged you here, Scourge, and I apologize for that. You are the only Abomination who I trust with my life."

    "Meaning?"

    "Only undead and Abominations can get inside the Golden Griffon safely. Yet regr Abominations would be immediately spotted due to their Chaos ravaging the cloaking rings and the floors of the lost academy.

    "Undead, instead, have too many limitations. Even Baba Yaga''s Firstborns like dion have their strength reduced during the day. You, instead, have your body made of darkness, have full control over it, and no weakness.

    "More importantly, if I brought an Eldritch or a Lich with me, I''m afraid that I would have an ''ident'' on our way back from the Golden Griffon and the Eyes would change hands." Ka red at the Lich King and the Shadow Dragon.

    ''Also, bybining the Eyes of Menadion with the Eyes of Solus, the time required to scan even aplex power core like that of an academy would greatly shorten.'' Lith thought. ''Ka has set up everything so to give me usible deniability while also maximizing the odds of sess.

    ''Once we are inside the Golden Griffon, dion can be our heavy hitter thanks to his full red blood core while I can cover them under direct sunlight and ensure them safe passage once the mission is over.''

    "Not disrespect to Lord dion, Lady Ka, but what makes you sure that he won''t do what you are using the Kingdom of?" Sylpha said with an amiable voice. "I''m willing to offer younds, riches, and even a position in the Royal Court if you agree on moving back to the Kingdom."

    "The Queen is right." Fe had a warm motherly smile that gave Lith the creeps. "The Beast Council hereby offers you protection and everything you might ever need for your research. All we ask in exchange is for you to share Menadion''s legacy."

    "Yeah, right. I''ve seen how well that worked out for Scourge." Ka sneered at Sylpha, making her turn pale in shame.<sub> </sub>

    "After working his ass for you for years, after destroying two lost cities and gaining countless merits, your citizens didn''t hesitate one second to turn against him the moment his nature as a Divine Beast was exposed.

    "If that''s what happens to a hero, I can easily imagine what would happen to an undead-Emperor Beast hybrid and her vampire daughter who just mind their own business. Sooner thanter, we''d be hunted, persecuted, and killed."

    Then, she turned toward the Council.

    "As for you, you''ve failed my good friend Scarlett more times than I can count. I was there most of the times she called for your help and I know how slow, ineffectual, and narrow-minded you are.

    "You''re nothing but a joke and I don''t joke on the life of my children nor on the future of my research." Once again, the Awakened Council was reminded of its many failures and shorings that had led them on the losing side of the War of the Griffons despite their millennia old legacies.

    "dion, instead, knows about the Eyes ever since I got them and he never betrayed his vow of hospitality. I trust him with my life and that of my children since the Eclipsed Lands are not gued by the plotting of the surface.

    "The only people I want by my side in this mission are he and Scourge because I know they care more about me than any trinket. The same can''t be said about you." Ka had revealed the existence of the Eyes to the Royals because they had no influence in the Empire and they wouldn''t risk triggering a war.

    As for the Council, it meant just four people plus Xenagrosh. Nandi would cover for her from the Organization side and the representatives wouldn''t share the news about the Eyes to not increase the number of theirpetitors.

    ''Between the secret of Lightkeep''s position, dion, Baba Yaga''s help, and Scarlett''s array that allows undead to fight freely during the day, even if one of these morons founds me, they are in for a surprise.'' The Wight thought.

    Lith looked at Kam who nodded. Then he focused on his stone ring that Solus slightly shrunk in agreement.

    "I''m not letting you go alone, Ka. The Eyes of Menadion are the only thing that can crack the power core of the Golden Griffon and put an end to the war. I''lle with you and dion." Lith had kept his Abomination form all along, proving his control over it to those present.

    "Excellent." The Wight nodded, shapeshifting into her human form.

    She had no care for the appearance but a humongous shadow bear stuck out like a sore thumb for hundreds of meters in any well-lit environment. Her huge bones rearranged themselves in a lithe frame while the darknessprising his body turned into flesh.

    She now looked like a woman in her thirties, about 1.75 meters (5''9") tall, with cold blue eyes, shoulder-length raven ck hair, and who was stark naked. dion handed her a set of mage clothes that she wore with no rush or shame for her condition.

    "Since everything is set, when do we do we leave?" Ka asked.

    "Give it an hour or two." Meron said while activating hismunication amulet.

    The King still looked dead tired and his greyed hair showed no sign of recovery even after being rejuvenated. Meron''s breath was heavy, even talking required effort from him but he refused to stay in bed while others paid the price to save his Kingdom.

 Chapter 2167 Unborn Power (Part 1)

    "We hoped for your agreement, Magus Verhen, and the moment we learned about your return we put our collective armies on stand-by for this exact moment." The King took a deep breath, needing sheer willpower to not make his lips shake as he gave the order.

    "To all Generals, Operation Freedom is a go. I repeat, Operation Freedom is a go." While he spoke to the allied forces, his voice was back to being strong and confident and his face was that of a charismatic leader whose eyes brimmed with determination.

    The moment Meron cut themunication, he slouched on the throne, panting.

    "What''s Operation Freedom?" Lith asked.

    "As I said-" The King tried to answer but the Queen gave him a tonic and her worried look made him focus on preserving what was left of his vigor.

    "As my King said, he won''t just send you to your death." Sylpha said. "To maximize your chances of sess, the Kingdom and the Council willunch a massive joint attack on Thrud''s strategic assets.

    "This way, she''ll be forced to spread her resources thin and empty her garrisons. The moment the battle reaches the apex, the Golden Griffon will be left with a skeleton crew and you will encounter minimum resistance.

    "Even if you get discovered, the Mad Queen will be forced to think twice before recalling her troops. On the one hand, she isn''t aware of the Eyes so she won''t understand the danger she''s in until it''s toote.

    "On the other hand, however, she''s smart enough to realize that the presence of intruders and the attack can''t be a coincidence. Thrud knows that we wouldn''t send troops behind the enemy lines without a good reason.

    "With a bit of luck, indecisiveness will screw her up. You''llplete your mission safely and maybe the Kingdom will also regain some ground."

    Lith reverted to his human form and searched for a ce where to sit. The only thing left to do was wait and he wanted to preserve both his mental and physical strength.

    The Royal Guards brought chairs for everyone and Lith used that time to introduce dion to Kam and catch up with Ka.

    "I haven''t seen you since your visit to the Desert. How are Nyka and Nok?"

    "Both of them are royally pissed off, thanks for asking." The Wight replied. "Nok is tired of training, Nyka is mad at me for leaving her behind again, and both of them are angry with me for bing a semi-Lich."

    "How did you manage to reach this point so fast?" Lith stared at the white crystal with Life Vision, noticing how Ka''s life force and its mana seeped into each other in an endless cycle.

    "Thanks for the excellent question." Her eyes sparked with enthusiasm,pletely missing his worry and reproach. "I''m not going to lie, I wouldn''t have done it without Lightkeep''s vast library and the Eyes of Menadion.

    "The Eyes allowed me to record and ess any page relevant to my research with a thought. Yet their most important feature is that they allowed me to study myself."

    "I beg your pardon?" Kam said in confusion.

    "Instead of blindly altering my life force like the time that Scourge had to save my life, I had the Eyes scan my whole being. Only after thoroughly studying the flow of my own mana and life force did I start looking for a way to harmonize them with the crystal.

    "Before doing that, I also studied the crystal with the Eyes, of course. Byparing andpiling their respective data I achieved what you see now today." Ka pointed at the constant loop of energy.<sub> </sub>

    "The crystal and I are still two separate entities, but we can alreadymunicate on many levels."

    "That wasn''t my question." Lith said with a snort. "I meant, why are you rushing so much? You''ve already almost lost yourself in your studies and neglected your kids for years. Bing a Lich will only make matters worse."

    "There''s too much death going around, Scourge, and if even someone as battle hardened as Scarlett failed to protect Sedra, I have no chance to guarantee Nok''s safety once he leaves Lightkeep." She replied with a sigh.

    "My goal is to acquire the longevity that helping Nyka to reach a full red blood core requires and the strength that protecting my son demands. Once I be a Lich, I don''t n on shutting myself inside myb again.

    "Quite the contrary, I''ll reassure my daughter that she''s not going to lose me anytime soon and I''ll be able to sacrifice myself for Nok as many times as it takes since death won''t stick. Yet none of it matters if we don''t seed in our mission, Scourge.

    "As long as the Golden Griffon stands, the war will never end. We''d both be stranded on the battlefield for years as the life of those we love would slip through our fingers. By the way, congrattions to you two."

    "Congrattions." dion echoed as he looked at Kam with Life Vision.

    Awakening during the attack of Jiera''s Awakened had brought her core to orange and it was already on the verge of the bright orange. The pregnancy, however, gave her a vigorous mana flow that the Firstborn would''ve expected from a green-cored wakened.

    ''Dammit, I wonder how strong would Ilthin be if she were to bear a child from a powerful bloodline. Maybe she would be powerful enough to fix her core without giving up on the might we umted for millennia.'' dion thought in envy, inwardly cursing at Mogar for its unfairness.

    "Can I?" Both Awakened asked while nearing their hands to the womb.

    "Sure." Kam replied with a smile that didn''t extend to her eyes.

    ? She not only now hated being touched, but due to her increasing mastery over her Awakened state, she could feel the foreign energy signatures coursing through her and they gave her the creeps.

    "Magnificent!" dion''s voice was filled with awe, emotion, and pure envy. "Your child is filled with the energy of death, yet instead of harming them-"

    "Her." Kam corrected him, making the Firstborn Vampire choke in even more envy along with the rest of the room.

    The simple idea of a female version of Lith who would inherit his legacy and bloodline plus the ability to reach the best next thing to a white core during pregnancy was enough to make them puke blood.

    Unlike the children of the Royals, Lith''s daughter was already Awakened, making the core she was born with irrelevant. Only her innate talent for magic mattered. Unlike the members of the Council, she would be a Divine Beast with uncanny physical prowess and bloodline abilities.

    The baby wasn''t even born, yet everyone felt like they already had a fierce newpetitor.

    "Instead of harming her, the death energy is nurturing her life force. It''s like a constant drip of poison in her mouth. The dose is never strong enough to cause damage but enough to temper the baby''s constitution against all forms of energy." dion said with an edge in his voice.

    "If it''s such good news, why the edge in your voice?" Lith asked.

 Chapter 2168 Unborn Power (Part 2)

    "Because it''s the exact opposite of what is happening to Radusk, my son." The Firstborn clenched his own hands to keep at bay the rage that transpired from his voice. "His Vampire half literally sucks the life out of him, making him grow thin and sickly."

    Radusk was a naturally born Vampire-human hybrid and the presence of the blood core had turned his hair silvery like that of an old man and his skin as white as an albino''s.

    "I''m so sorry for you." Despite the reassurances, Kam was actually scared for her baby. Yet if there was anything wrong, she had three Guardians to count on whereas dion was alone. "Is there anything you can do to help him?"

    "Feeding helps, but there''s only so much that a few spoons of ''cough medicine'' can do. I don''t have the heart to give so much blood to a little boy. It might scar him for life or even worse, it might trigger his hunger." He replied.

    "Where is Baba Yaga now?" Lith asked, eager to change the topic since as a soon-to-be father he understood dion''s pain.

    "Travelling around. She spends half of her time keeping an eye on Dusk and the other half trying to talk some sense into the Undead Courts." The Firstborn replied. "Even though Mogar asked her to leave Thrud alone, mother hates the Mad Queen''s guts for the events of Lightkeep and doesn''t want her influence to spread over her children."

    "Sounds like a good reason to give us a hand instead of sitting on her thumbs to me." Lith said with a scoff.

    "She-"

    "It''s time." Sylpha cut dion short as the collective power of the Council representatives opened a Warp Gate leading thousands of kilometers away in the Essar region, in a blind spot of the sentinels that stood guard over the Golden Griffon.

    Ka and dion already had their cloaking ring and the map of the lost academy. Sylpha just needed to give Lith his own ring toplete the final preparations.

    "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure that Kam is fine and that no one ys any dirty trick in your absence to get their hands on the Eyes." Tyris appeared out of a dimensional fissure as thin as a hair and hugged Lith.

    "Thanks." He failed to understand the Guardian''s affectionate gesture until the Voidwalker armor signaled to him the presence of a foreign object in one of his pockets.

    Lith''s paranoia had demanded him to make his clothes sensitive to any unwanted gift people might leave on his person. Like trackers, poison sacks, or devices meant to study the secrets of his bloodline from a distance.

    ''By my Mom, Tyris gave us a second cloaking ring!'' Solus said. ''She knows about me and that with only one ring, the Golden Griffon might have spotted our presence, or at least we wouldn''t be able to split if necessary.''

    "Thanks." Lith repeated once more with feeling, this time meaning it and apanying his words with a deep bow.

    "It''s nothing." Tyris'' warm smile, the amount of time she spent at the Verhens'', and Lith''s resemnce to Valeron gave everyone the wrong idea. A cold shiver ran down their spines at the thought of a second baby girl also carrying the blood of a Griffon.

    "This is for you, instead." The Guardian handed dion a small ampoule, holding barely a few drops of an unknown golden liquid. "Give Radusk just one drop per year and he''ll grow up healthy."

    "Thank you, Great Mother." The Firstborn Vampire fell onto his knees, holding her hand with both of his own and bringing it to his forehead in submission. "If there''s anything I can do to repay you for your kindness, just name it.

    "Even my life for that of my son is a small price to pay."

    ''The Eyes! Ask for the Eyes!'' Everyone thought so intensely that Tyris could almost hear them.

    "It wouldn''t be a gift if I asked something in return." Her words made them fall onto their knees as well, but not because they were moved. "Also, you are already putting your life on the line for my Kingdom as well as your own.

    "Your loyalty to your friend and your dedication to protecting your people can''t go unrewarded. Dragonspeed."<sub> </sub>

    dion stood up, giving her a deep bow before turning around and walking through the Gate along with the others.

    "Was that really necessary?" Sylpha asked once the dimensional corridor closed. "The Eclipsednds are already negotiating trade routes with the Empire and have the damned Eyes."

    "Do you know how old dion is, Sylpha?" Tyris sat on Lith''s chair, conjuring a table with a pot of hot tea, cups, and a few steaming sweets for the cravings that Kam was about to have.

    "Millennia." The Queen answered.

    "Good. Do you know how many children he has?"

    "Hundreds, if not thousands."

    "I meant children he sired, not thralls he turned." The Guardian rose an eyebrow in annoyance while stuffing her face no less than Kam and making people inwardly cry in fear.

    "Dozens?" Sylpha needed sheer willpower to not make her voice crack.

    "One." Tyris corrected her. "The Firstborn of the Firstborn Vampire deserved a proper gift."

    "What was in the am-"

    "It''s none of your business." The Guardian cut Raagu short, her voice brooked no more questions.

    "Is death energy really coursing through my baby?" Except for Kam''s, of course.

    "Her life force is part Abomination so yes. You have my word that neither of you is at risk. You can see it for yourself." Tyris ced her hand on Kam''s womb, activating her breathing technique, Mother Earth.

    The fetus was too small to even resemble a humanoid creature but her life force was already definite. The red of the human, the blue of the Divine Beast, and the ck of the Abomination spun together, forming a circle divided into three equal parts.

    The end of each one of the life forces faded where the next one began, fusing together in a white sphere from time to time before splitting up and start spinning anew.

    Kam saw all this via Mother Earth, feeling the strength of her baby girl growing with every cycle.

    "Thank you for your kindness and the hearty breakfast." Now that the Guardian had lifted a huge burden from her chest, all those emotions had made Kam work quite an appetite.

    "No need to thank me, I''ve been in your shoes many times. Eating for two is a tough job, especially when you carry a Divine Beast, but someone has to do it."

    Meanwhile, in the Essar Region, Lith''s group was trying and failing to find a way to get inside the Golden Griffon without being spotted by the sentinels that patrolled both the ground and the walls.

    "Fuck me sideways, this is much worse than I remembered it." Lith said while taking a mental note of all the changes the lost academy had undergone from hisst visit.

    Back then, to an outside observer it had looked like a giant stone dome the size of a stadium with one entrance for every cardinal point of the building. Now, however, the dome was gone and the Golden Griffon had assumed its real form.

 Chapter 2169 Awakened Golden Griffon (Part 1)

    <o>,m </o>

    The Golden Griffon had turned into a huge castle the size of an academyprised of at least seven floors on top of the ground level. There were four towers at each corner of the castle, each one surmounted by a white crystal the size of the Eye of Kolga.

    The castle keep was located in the exact middle of the building and if the Golden Griffon was anything like the White Griffon, it was where the Headmaster''s living quarters were.

    To make matters worse, the academy was surrounded by the Gardens of Madness that now stretched as far as a medium size city and stood between the castle and the external walls.

    "I have bad news as well." Ka tapped the right side of the Eyes, returning to tutorial mode before the sensory overload made her puke. "I hoped we could cheese the mission from outside, but there are too many energy signatures even for the Eyes.

    "We need to get in and close to the power core if we want to get a reading."

    "I can Spirit Warp us as far as I can see, and believe me, it''s a lot. But there''s not a single point that isn''t guarded." Lith said after shapeshifting his eyes from those of a Tiamat to those of the Abomination.

    From his grandma''s side, he had inherited a sight that allowed him to spot the colors of a g half a kilometer (0.31 miles) away.

    "I''ve got good news and bad news." dion said. "The good news is that I have an ability that can bring us to the walls unnoticed. The bad news is that if I turn my red core into a blood core, I won''tst long enough to cover even half the distance."

    Ka used the Eyes to search for a blind spot in the patrols'' pattern, but she found none.

    "I don''t really like this any more than you will, but maybe I have a solution." Lith said. "Just to be clear, it''s the excess light element that makes a Vampire slumber during the day and it''s direct sunlight that hurts you, correct?"

    "Correct on both ounts but I''ve long since learned how to resist the slumber in exchange for part of my strength. The problem is direct sunlight and the fact that in human form I lose ess to my bloodline abilities." dion nodded.

    "That''s great because I don''t know how good of a sr panel I am. Hold these for me." Lith handed the Firstborn his rings.

    "What''s a sr panel and what are you talk-" dion choked on his words as both the Voidwalker and the Abomination turned into a silvery ck tide that engulfed him from head to toe.

    In that form, Lith''s body was made of energy and he could reshape it as he saw fit. In this case, Lith had turned into an exoskeleton for the Vampire.

    "Any time." Lith said. "Believe me, this isn''tfortable for me either."

    "I think I''ve got the short end of the stick anyway." In the Void that surrounded him, dion could see the faces of all of his enemies and the people he had killed during his long life.

    Most of them just wailed in despair, reminding the Firstborn of the atrocities that he had perpetrated during the many wars he had taken part in and making him feel guilty for them.

    Some of them, however, screamed at him from behind the ck surface. Hundreds of white hands and maws wed at the boundary, trying to reach him. All of them were kept at bay by a lonely face with seven white eyes that red at dion.

    It didn''t utter a word but its message was clear.<sub> </sub>

    Make one wrong move and I''ll unleash the Abyss upon you.

    dion nodded for Lith to be ready and for the Void to keep calm, avoiding any sudden movement that might be mistaken for aggression.

    The Firstborn Vampire reverted to his undead state, feeling no pain from sunlight nor the drowsiness that gued him during the day. The Abomination absorbed the light element, leaving only shade on its inside.

    "This is called Blindside." dion exined so that hispanions and the Void knew what was happening. "It''s a mix of darkness and life force that allows a Vampire to go unnoticed even in a crowd.

    "As long as we don''t do anything that can draw attention to us, people will instinctively look away the moment we pass near them. It''s very convenient but against an opponent on guard, getting too close or making a noise will expose us."

    "I see. This is what Kan did back in Othre. I always wondered howe we almost came to blows yet no one made a peep." Lith replied.

    "It''s a basic ability needed for catching and releasing your prey." dion exined. "When a newborn uses it, they can feed upon someone in a busy street making them appear like they had just fainted and use the ensuingmotion as a diversion to get away.

    "When an elder like Kan or I uses it, instead, Blindside covers a wide area that can make entire groups of people move unnoticed. Yet without something to draw attention away from us, its effectiveness is limited. Ka, do exactly what I do."

    The Firstborn Vampire tried to take a step, just to realize that the Abomination wasn''t an exoskeleton so much as a prison. The mass of darkness weighed dozens of tons and pushing against it made his Vampiric Touch sh with the Abomination''s.

    "Lith, I need to move, not stand around like an idiot."

    "Sorry, just tell me where I have to go." The Abomination moved with the lithe grace of a predator, yet from the inside, dion''s body was twisted and pulled with a violence that would have ripped a less powerful man to shreds.

    "Stop right there, you are tearing me apart. We need to coordinate our movements." The Firstborn sighed, wishing to be in a bard''s tale where everything would go smoothly for the good guys for no apparent reason.

    He established a mind link with Lith and regretted it instantly. His tendril of Spirit Magic reached the inside of the darkness, where the Void and the restless souls were still staring at him.

    ''Murderer!'' ''Monster!'' ''Give me my life back!'' ''I don''t know how, but I''m going to kill you!'' Those were just a sample of the countless voices that assaulted dion''s mind, mixing with the words images rted to their death or what they meant to do to the Vampire.

    "Good gods, how can you listen to this chaos without going insane?" He asked while spending more mana to shield his mind from the telepathic onught.

    "What are you talking about?" Lith''s confusionsted until dion shared his perception with him. "Okay, this isn''t good, but I have a solution. Move the mind link to the stone ring on my right hand.

    "It will filter the needless thoughts and unburden your mind." dion did as instructed and the voices immediately stopped.

    ''This is amazing! You managed to craft a Spirit Artifact that acts as a proxy for your mind. Considering that you have never trained your Abomination side, what they say about your paranoia must be true. You covered even for the most unlikely base.''

 Chapter 2170 Awakened Golden Griffon (Part 2)

    ''That''s what I do.'' Lith lied through his brain cells while he opened a backchannel with Solus. ''What voices is he talking about? More importantly, are you okay?''

    ''My guess is that the Void usually takes care of them for you but it doesn''t give a damn about ddy. Don''t worry about me, I''m peachy. The Void likes me so I''m not hearing anything but the thoughts of you two guys.

    ''Now please be quiet. I must study our surroundings, ry your thoughts to dion, and make sure that my voice sounds like yours.'' She replied.

    The mind link allowed the two men to coordinate their movements and so they started their advance toward the Golden Griffon. dion had them take a roundabout route, passing through allndmarks that could hide them even for just a few seconds.

    Blindside wasn''t invisibility and people on active patrol would soon notice that there was something wrong with their perception. If the group remained in the open for too long and a guard focused on them, the bloodline ability would fail to hide them.

    By getting out of sight, dion resetted Blidside''s effectiveness, and the guards immediately forgot about the itch on the back of their skull. At the same time, Ka used the Eyes of Menadion to study the protective arrays of the lost academy and how not to trigger them.

    ''We are lucky that Thrud''s soldiers are solely on the lookout for an invading army or we would''ve already failed our mission.'' dion said once they reached the unmanned main gate of the external walls. ''From so close, an Awakened with Life Vision would spot us anyway.''

    ''It''s not a matter of luck.'' Lith inwardly shook his head to not break dion''s neck. ''The Kingdom''s attack left a skeleton crew and even if it didn''t, without the cloaking rings we''d be discovered in a matter of seconds and enved in hours.

    ''There is simply no need for guards because Thrud can''t n for a weakness she''s not aware of. Speaking of weaknesses and unawareness are we sure that the Golden Griffoncks the mana draining array of the six great academies?

    ''Otherwise we''ll be dead as soon as we cast a spell.'' As an alumnus and an ex-assistant Professor of the White Griffon, Lith knew that the uniform students and staff wore also worked as a security badge.

    Anyone without one inside the academy would be perceived as an enemy and their mana sucked dry to death or captured ording to the Headmaster''s wishes.

    ''Positive.'' Ka handed Lith and dion the Eyes. ''I''m making the arrays of the White Griffon ovep with those of the Golden Griffon to spot any modification to the original blueprint that Thrud might have made.

    ''As you can see, the mana draining array is supposed to rece the Unwavering Loyalty.''

    ''It makes sense.'' dion replied. ''The academies wouldn''t employ Forbidden Magic and if not for the betrayal of the Undead Courts of the past, the two arrays would be just as wless. I wish I could make something like that for Lightkeep.''

    He returned the Eyes to Ka and moved inside the Gardens of Madness, finding them empty. None of their senses, be they regr or mystical, could find any trace of more guards or magical beasts.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Yet the surprises were far from over.

    Mana sense perceived that many flowers, trees, and even fruits surrounding the invading party had already developed a mana flow of their own and were turning into natural treasures at an unnatural speed.

    ''How is this possible? Even a mana geyser isn''t enough to achieve so much in such a little time. Back during ourst visit, this was a regr garden.'' Lith wanted to add that not even the tower''s Greenhouse was so effective, but dion was still part of the link.

    ''This forest is Awakened just like the one surrounding the White Griffon, Scourge.'' Ka replied after sniffing the air. ''Probably you missed it before because the security arrays cut the academy from most of the power of the geyser.

    ''You have no idea how quickly natural resources form there. If not for everyone taking a piece of it, in a year you''d have enough to fill a treasure room.''<sub> </sub>

    ''How?'' Lith refused to believe that any academy could outshine Menadion''s tower.

    ''My guess is that the prolonged exposure to the world energy made every tree, flower, and de of grass partially enchanted.'' Solus replied. ''Just like a mage can pass down their talent for magic so do the nts.

    ''Our Greenhouse has formed only recently and its flora isprised of regr nts, instead. The only magical nts are those we entrusted Raaz and they are creating more, but he started with one of each whereas this is a damn forest.''

    ''It never rains, it pours, huh?'' Lith clicked his tongue in disappointment.

    ''You''ll have the right to makeparisons once the tower umtes a millennium''s worth of world energy as well or at least goes back to its full power, jackass.'' The tower was a part of her so Solus took the offense personally.

    ''No academy has a crystal mine or a source of enchanted metal, yet I don''t hear you belittling the Golden Griffon for that.''

    ''I''m sorry, Solus.'' Lith avoided shifting the me on his draconic side, knowing that she wouldn''t buy it and get even angrier.

    ''You better be.'' She telepathically pouted, looking more adorable than menacing. ''Now let''s go and don''t even think about taking souvenirs. This forest is still part of the academy and even if the rings keep Hystar from feeling our presence, he may still be able to perceive a change in his inventory like I can.''

    ''Thanks, Solus. You are the best.'' Lith had already been eyeing the most promising natural treasures, but her warning snapped him out of it.

    He was greedy, not stupid.

    The Gardens of Madness were now well-tended and extended far beyond what Lith could remember. Being incapable of flight to not get spotted and due to the thickness of the forest, it would take an intruder days just to get out of it.

    If they didn''t have a map, of course.

    ''Let''s see.'' Ka took out the parchment from one of her pockets and unrolled it.

    Now that they were inside, the nk surface of the scroll had be covered in ck lines that outlined the area of the Gardens around them and pointed at its exits. A red dot marked with "You are here" made it easy for them to find their way around.

    ''This is amazing!'' She and dion thought in unison.

    ''This is awful!'' Lith begged to differ. ''The position of the guards is not marked and the only named rooms are those immediately adjacent to the forest. Even worse, there''s no way to browse through the different floors on the map and find the power core.''

    ''What did you expect?'' Ka sneered at him. ''It would take a sentient artifact or at least something with a power core to do that. The Undead Courts did an incredible job considering the magical knowledge of their time.

    ''This is an old ass relic, not a modern artifact.''

 Chapter 2171 Bottom Of The Barrel (Part 1)

    The group resumed moving, following the arrows on the map until they reached a door leading inside. Ka studied it for a few seconds with the Eyes, making sure that opening it wouldn''t trigger a silent rm.

    ''Good gods!'' Lith said at the sight of the empty Main Hall of the Golden Griffon.

    ''For someone with high standards, you are easily impressed.'' dion looked around, finding the room as wide as it was underwhelming.

    There were but a single desk and a chair as furniture. The carpets and drapes bore Thrud''s banner and so did the gs hung to every column.

    It portrayed a prancing Griffon like the one of the Royal family, but Thrud''s was golden. It had two sets of feathered wings instead of one and one of the scepters in the Griffon''s forelegs was reced by Arthan''s Sword.

    ''This is tacky at best.'' The Firstborn had no idea that the banner depicted Thud''s appearance as a Golden Griffon nor that she had achieved the white core.

    ''It''s not that.'' Lith replied. ''This ce is identical to the White Griffon. If theyout of the rooms is the same, I know exactly where we have to go and how to reach it.''

    ''It''s nice seeing you being optimistic for once, Scourge, but hold your Dragons.'' Ka put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. ''Even if the rooms'' cement is the same, it doesn''t mean that the same stands for their content.

    ''On top of that, in every academy you need a ring to move from one floor to another and we have none nor can we use the internal Gate system without giving out our position.''

    ''True.'' Lith nodded. ''I wonder what''s on the first three floors of the Golden Griffon. In my old academy, the ground floor held the administration office, the kitchens, and the living quarters for the non-magical personnel.

    ''From first to third students would be taught the corresponding tiers of magic, but Thrud''s soldiers are either members of the Forgotten Corps or powerful Emperor Beasts. Neither of them needs to learn the basics.''

    ''But they still need a ce where to live.'' dion said.

    ''True, but you have no idea how big each floor is and the Golden Griffon didn''t have that many students to start with.'' Lith replied.

    ''In Thrud''s shoes, I would put newly Awakened on the fourth floor to teach them the basics of Spirit and true magic. On the fifth, I would put elite units to train them to perform coordinated spells and arrays like Silverwing''s Bastion.

    ''Her Divine Beasts are likely to be in the Professors'' quarters and so should be Thrud. Which means that the Forgotten are likely to be on the third floor since they have lost their minds due to the prolonged imprisonment and can''t be trained in borate tactics.''

    ''Why are you worrying so much about who lives where?'' Ka asked.

    ''As an assistant-Professor, I was taught about the secret passages that allow people to move from one floor to another in case the power core is down or the academy is under attack.'' Lith said.

    ''The problem is that while most of the people from the third floor and up are likely to be away to deal with the Kingdom''s attack, the first two floors are likely to be crowded.

    ''Even if the passages I know are located in the same ce as the White Griffon, they only allow you to move up one floor. I''ve no clue what we''ll encounter on the first two floors and there''s nothing scarier than the unknown.''

    Ka and dion nodded, taking a few seconds to study the new ouy shown by the map and ponder Lith''s words.

    ''Thank the gods you are with us, Scourge. Without you, we would have roamed aimlessly for a long time before solving this riddle.'' Ka walked briskly, raising her gaze from the map from time to time to make sure with the Eyes that no one wasing in their direction.

    ''What riddle?'' Ka answered by pointing at the map.<sub> </sub>

    It depicted the end of the corridor they were following and what looked like a ck door with rays of lighting out of it right behind a sealed wall.

    ''Are those stairs?'' Lith asked.

    ''It''s the logical assumption.'' The Wight replied.

    ''Yeah, the problem is if they go up or down. The academy has a dungeon as well.'' Lith said.

    ''Interesting.'' dion stopped them, pondering their next move.

    ''What''s interesting?'' Ka failed to follow his reasoning. ''The Golden Griffon has no need to keep prisoners. After the Unwavering Loyalty array takes hold, they be students.''

    ''Unless it fails!'' Lith said. ''I''ve often met undead while raiding the academy and they won''t obey Thrud. She can''t send them outside nor keep them around without them attacking her soldiers.''

    ''Why not just kill them?'' Ka shrugged.

    ''Because they are still immortal undead with hundreds of years of battle experience.'' dion replied. ''They are the perfect sparring partners for her recruits and also teaching tools to learn how to dispose of different kinds of undead.

    ''If we find one who has retained their sanity, we would gain an ally and priceless information about what''s going on.''

    ''That would be great, but I see many ws in your n.'' Lith replied. ''First, we don''t have the means for feeding them and Thrud is likely to keep them starved. Second, there''s no telling if they won''t just run away at the first opportunity they get.

    ''Third, whatever knowledge they hold is outdated since they can''t move freely for months now. Last, but not least, weck an extra cloaking ring. The moment we get them out of their cells, Hystar will know.''

    ''I''m with Scourge of this.'' Ka said. ''Revealing our presence is a liability. Also, even if we had an extra ring, Hystar is likely to notice the sudden disappearance of one of his prisoners.''

    ''True, but you are underestimating the will and pride of the undead.'' dion replied. ''The Red Mother made us strong in the mind and body. I''m certain that if introduce myself, offer them food, and promise them freedom, they''ll tell us everything they know.

    ''Like who lives on the first two floors, where the power core is, and maybe even where Meln is kept. If you don''t trust my judgment, let me talk with them alone. If shit hits the ceiling, I can Spirit Warp outside and act as a diversion for you.''

    Orpal''s name echoed multiple times in Lith''s mind, making his mouth twist in anticipation of what he would do to his brother once the main mission was over.

    ''Based on what I know, in order to be a student, one had to reach the Headmaster''s office.'' Ka pondered.

    ''That''s what happened to me.'' Lith said.

    ''It''s unlikely for the undead to have actually seen the power core, but they must have been to the resurrection chamber multiple times. Were they to provide us with any detail about its workings, even a temporary sabotage would greatly affect the tides of the war. I say we give dion a chance.''

    ''Agreed.'' Lith didn''t care about that, he was just d to bring Ka over and find Orpal.

 Chapter 2172 Bottom Of The Barrel (Part 2)

    Once the group reached the end of the corridor, even though the secret passage wasn''t in the same position as the White Griffon''s, the activation mechanism worked the same way.

    One of the stone blocks hid a mechanical switch that released the lock and the wall moved with but a gentle push thanks to its well-oiled hinges. Everything was mechanical in nature so that it would work even during a power outage, making it outside Hystar''s senses.

    The stairs turned out to go down, making Lith inwardly curse. Those going up weren''t visible on the map, requiring more time and exploring to find them.

    ''You guys stay here.'' dion said after putting the wall back into ce. ''We can''t afford the undead smelling you or detecting your presence with their senses. If they are as hungry as I expect them to be, the slightest hint could give you off.

    ''If they think that I''m part of a group of undead who hase to take down Thrud, they will be much more cooperative and they''ll have nothing to gain by exposing my presence.''

    ''Okay.'' Lith let the Vampire out of his body and took his rings back.

    The dungeon was devoid of natural light, allowing dion to move freely even without the Abomination''s shell. His strength plummeted slightly above Lith''s level as daytime''s abundant light element messed up with his core, but he was still a force to be reckoned with.

    The Vampire walked downstairs slowly, to get used to his weakened state and his dulled senses.

    The dungeon was nothing like Lith had described it to dion. The ce where the Tiamat had undergone the second exam of the fourth year was awork of caves whereas the basement of the Golden Griffon was built like a prison.

    Either side of the walls had been turned into holding cells, big enough to amodate a single person and give them just enough space to lie down. Much to dion''s surprise, not only was everyone awake and vignt, but they showed no aggression.

    Based on the memories that Lith had shared with dion, he had been expecting a ravenous bunch of mindless creatures who had fallen prey to their hunger. Whaty in front of him, instead, were a bunch of people who stared at him in curiosity.

    "Hees from outside." Said a White Lady with her dress reduced to shreds and almost no flesh between her skin and muscles. "He is well fed and his clothes are nothing I''ve ever seen."

    "It''s more than that." A Wendigo said. He still had the hulking size typical of his bloodline, but most of his fangs were missing and his frost aura was reduced to the point that his breath barely steamed. "He doesn''t work for the Mad Queen.

    "Otherwise he would have either Warped us to our destination or be thrown in a cell to garner ourpassion. Instead, he''s standing there, looking around like an idiot."

    "You are both right." dion replied. "My name is dion Dragonborn, Firstborn Vampire, Son of Baba Yaga, and I''vee here to kill the daughter of Arthan."

    Before anyone could question his identity and motive, dion turned into a human, almost sending the famished undead into a feeding frenzy. Yet itsted barely for one second, enough to prove them the power of his blood core.

    Then, before asking any question, he walked in front of every cell, giving to each of its upants the best nourishment he could. Fresh flesh to the Ghoul, entrails to the Wendigo, blood to Vampire, newborn''s tears to the White Lady, and spells to the Mage yer.

    For most of them, it was the first decent meal in over 700 hundred years. It wasn''t nearly enough to sate their hunger but it still gave them peace of mind and rekindled the hope they had lost way before Thrud''s arrival.<sub> </sub>

    "I''m not going to lie to you. I didn''te to save you nor do I work for the Undead Courts." dion said once they were done eating. "I''m one of the rulers of the Eclipsed Lands and I came here to spare my people from suffering your destiny.

    "Thrud knows that she can''t control us and once she''s done enving the living, she''ll wipe us all out or worse." He waved his hands at them, putting the imprisoned undead to the bottom of the barrel.

    "I want to stop her, but I don''t know how nor how to navigate this ce. I need your help." Then dion asked them about the content of the Golden Griffon''s floors, the position of the power core, Orpal''s whereabouts, and anything that might be of help.

    "Let me get this straight." The White Lady said after weighing her options for a while. "No matter if you seed or fail, we''d still remain trapped here."

    "Correct." dion nodded. "But if I am to seed, when the Golden Griffon is destroyed, you''ll be free to go."

    "Go where?" The Wendigo said with a snort. "After all this time, Mogar is bound to have changed beyond recognition. We''d be lucky if a few of our undead friends are still alive."

    "On top of that, what if the attack takes ce during the day?" A Banshee chimed in. "The moment the walls crumble, sunlight would turn us into a bunch of ashes. What you are offering us is either death or an eternity of solitude."

    "I can offer you a home in the Eclipsed Lands." dion replied. "I can''t make promises about the timing of the attack, but I can give you my word that I''ll do my best to rescue you when the momentes."

    "It''s enough for me." The White Lady stood up, cutting the thin skin of the palm of her hand before offering it to the Firstborn.

    dion did the same before shaking her hand and mixing their blood in a sacred oath of their people.

    "I have no idea who''s on the second or the third floor, but I can tell you that the first floor houses the criminal scum that Thrud''s army arrested in the territories she conquered.

    "I''m often summoned there to break their mind to make it easier for her generals to bend the new recruits to her will."

    "What do you mean?" dion asked. "Isn''t the ve array enough?"

    "The ve array forces them to obey the orders, but it cannot force its victims to execute them at the best of their abilities. Most of the criminals are capable fighters and ruthless people, but they don''t demonstrate even half of their battle prowess if they keep fighting the orders and trying to find loopholes.

    "During our sparring sessions, my duty is to scare them out of their wits and be the bogeyman they have to face if they fail to follow their orders."

    "On top of that, there must be a limit to the number of people that the Golden Griffon can make immortal because before Warping me inside a cell, they order me to not kill the prisoner nor injure them beyond healing."

    "Interesting." dion pondered her words. "It means that every batch of criminals is single-use and that Thrud cannot afford to lose them or the time to properly train them. The Golden Griffon is less powerful than we thought."

 Chapter 2173 Belly Of The Beast (Part 1)

    "You have no idea what you are talking about, Vampire." The Wendigo''sugh sounded like a dry cough. "Each one of those psychos is Awakened. Taken one by one they are ants due to their weak magical powers, but even a small group is damn hard to kill.

    "They receive the best training and equipment, and once the salve array forces them to fall in line, their teamwork is wless."

    The Firstborn red at the Wendigo until he noticed that the undead was also extending his bleeding hand.

    "I don''t get called to train recruits, I''m a frequent customer of the sixth floor." The Wendigo said the moment dion shook it.

    "On that floor there are countless magicalbs where the Mad Queen conducts the experiments she needs to expand her influence to the rest of Garlen. She cuts open those like me to discover the weak points of each species of undead.

    "Also, I''m pretty sure that this Meln you mentioned is kept there. I never meet anyone except for my jailers there, but from time to time they talk about a final weapon.

    "Every time ites up, they turn toward a heavily padded room whose walls are thicker than a Dragon''s finger."

    "What about the power core?" dion asked.

    "It''s located in the Headmaster''s office, hidden behind the wall to the east of his desk." A female Vampire said.

    "How do you know?" The Firstborn noticed the surprise and confusion in the other undead that matched his own.

    The fact that only one person knew its position and exact at that was fishy. Even more since she had asked nothing in return.

    "First things first." She held her bleeding hand out, making dion rx.

    Only once the oath was sealed did she reveal her origin.

    "I''m the only survivor of the first batch of warriors sent by the Undead Courts to take over the Golden Griffon academy right after Arthan''s execution. Back then there were no sealing arrays so we thought it would have been a simple matter.

    "Get in, imprint the power core, and then build our own nation thanks to the power of the living legacy and strong of a truly immortal army. Or at least that was the n. With Arthan''s death, the arrays and trap got turned off so getting in was easy.

    "Too bad that once inside we discovered that he had already assembled the first batch of students. We fought tooth and nail until we reached the Headmaster''s office and that was the beginning of our end.

    "At first, Hystar congratted us for getting so far. Yet once he noticed that the Unwavering Loyalty array had failed to enve us, he got really angry. The Headmaster revealed the power core to expose us to the full power of the magical formation, and when that also failed, he started killing mypanions.

    "He kept alive only one member for each undead race to study us and try to understand how to fix the w in the array."

    "What happened to the members of your group?" dion asked.

    "Don''t you see it?" The Vampire pointed at the other cells. "He killed them the moment a more powerful or skilled member of the same species entered the Golden Griffon.

    "As Caltria said, there''s a limit to the number of people that the academy can keep alive. Undead can''t be ordered around so there''s no reason to have duplicates. Which means that your sess means a great deal to me.<sub> </sub>

    "If you fail, I''ll die and you''d take my ce. Why keep a mere Vampire when you can have the Firstborn?"

    dion thanked them and returned to his allies, sharing with them everything he had learned via a mind link.

    The Void stirred inside Lith at the idea of killing Orpal and Lith let his darkest side linger on the thought for a second. Then, the image of his daughter shed in front of his eyes and Orpal went back to being a secondary mission.

    ''There are no other stairs on the map, we need to explore the ground floor a bit. dion, suit up.'' Ka said as Lith''s wrapped around the Firstborn again.

    Just like the White Griffon, the ground floor was filled with sunlight and had plenty of windows. The non-magical staff would have found it ustrophobic and had a hard time living there otherwise.

    Once back in the open, the Firstborn was forced to use Blindside again. The academy''s staff had woken up and started the morning activities. People moved to and from the administrative office, where the paperwork necessary to run Thrud''s territories was handled.

    The second biggest flow of people came from the kitchen.

    Awakened rarely slept but that meant they needed to eat often to recover their strength. The night shift was done working and enjoyed their meal in the inner garden of the academy, basking in daylight before going to bed.

    Lith was bbergasted noticing that they looked tired but happy with their jobs. They sat at the tables with their families, making small talk with the clerks carrying thetest batch of documents.

    "I still can''t believe that a creature 700 years old is such a terrible cook. How can Hystar handle priceless magical ingredients and then butcher even a broth?" A woman asked while making sure that her children ate the vegetables as well.

    "Beats me." A man replied with a shrug. "But I can''tin. If he didn''t suck so bad with paperwork as well, I wouldn''t have my job."

    Lith had expected the lost academy to be run by shady criminals and people who obeyed Thrud because they were too scared to do otherwise. Yet the ground floor looked like a park''s pic area.

    ''I''m familiar with coteral damage, but the idea that these people will die along with the Golden Griffon still sucks.'' Lith thought while the group stuck against the walls of secondary corridors to avoid someone from identally bumping into them and exposing their presence.

    ''This is war, Scourge.'' dion said. ''We are taught to demonize the opponent. To think of them as evil monsters bent on destruction while we are the good guys. Otherwise, soldiers would realize that their enemies are just like them, obeying orders and trying to make a living.

    ''At that point, aside from zealots, no one would be capable of keep fighting.''

    Once they reached a ce near enough to the stairs to appear on the map, reaching them was easy. The hard part was to wait for a moment when no one was looking while also avoiding being discovered.

    Only after the night shift was done eating did the number of people moving around decrease enough to open the secret passage unnoticed. Once they reached the first floor, Lith could finally slip off dion for good.

    From there up, there would be no windows and the only light would have been of magical origin. Lith recognized the design because it was almost identical to the White Griffon''s.

    The only difference was that while back at his academy each corridor was filled with doors leading into a small apartment for a student to live in, here there were bars instead of doors, and the prisoners were held each in a single room with a bathroom to save space.

 Chapter 2174 Belly Of The Beast (Part 2)

    ''There''s nothing for us to learn here.'' Ka said. ''Based on what the undead said, those on the first floor have yet to be bent to Thrud''s will. They aren''t allowed to move freely and they have been here for too short a time to have heard anything useful.''

    While they moved around the floor, waiting for the stairs mark to appear on the map, Lith noticed how the cells were devoid of anything that the inmates could use to hurt themselves.

    There was a mattress and a pillow but no bedsheets. Each cell had a sink, a toilet, and just enough space to exercise. Most prisoners were so bored that they either practiced umtion or trained with chore magic.

    ''This is weird. Why don''t they talk among themselves?'' dion wondered after noticing that there was no ongoing conversation despite the open bars.

    ''Because they can''t.'' Ka said while sharing the readings of the Eyes. ''Each cell is not only Hushed, but also blinded. They can only see the space immediately in front of their cells, making it no different from solitary confinement.''

    ''It''s inhumane but makes perfect sense.'' The Firstborn replied. ''Istion makes it much more easy to break someone''s will. On top of that, even if a prisoner bes suicidal, they can''t ask the others to kill them.''

    Lith had just found the exit when the worst happened.

    The trio felt a foreign energy signature invading their bodies and immediately turned toward its source.

    "Hello, sweetie. Don''t be shy. Come out and y." The voice belonged to a man and judging by how creepy his tone was, he hadn''t been sane even before his imprisonment. "Guards have no need to hide nor are they undead."

    ''Dammit, this guy must be a genius.'' Lith thought. ''He has already learned how to use Invigoration to scan his surroundings. What do we do?''

    ''Ignore him.'' Ka said. ''Judging from his tone, he''s this close to losing his mind. The guards will never-''

    "I stand corrected." The man thought out loud, cutting her short. "An Emperor Beast, a full red blood core, and¡­ What the heck is a ck sphere? I''ll have to ask my instructors during the morning training."

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' The trio thought in unison. ''No one would have ever listened to the paranoid ramblings about generic intruders. Yet with so many details, there''s no way they won''t believe his story.''

    "There you are. Was it so hard?" The prisoner said when dion stepped inside the area visible from his cell.

    He was an average-looking man, with brown eyes and hair, no older than thirty. Under any other circumstances, the Firstborn would have mistaken him for a meek farmer or a clerk stuck with a menial job.

    Now, however, with no reason to hide his real nature and the creeping madness from the prolonged istion, dion needed but a nce to recognize a monster whose appearance was the only human thing about him.

    His smile went from one ear to another and his eyes were feverish, giving the prisoner the look of a rabid beast.

    "Don''t worry, we are here to free you-" dion extended his hand through the bars just to have it pulled in as the prisoner stabbed at him with a conjured ice knife.<sub> </sub>

    The de was useless against the tough skin of the Vampire and his enchanted protections, but dion didn''t miss how each strike was aimed at his main arteries.

    "You have seen no one. This is just a dream." The Firstborn exploited the physical contact to lock eyes with the prisoner and activate his Mesmerize bloodline ability, mixing it with a mind link.

    Mesmerize made a strand of mana and life force carry dion''s willpower from his eyes to his cheeks, neck, and arm before entering the prisoner''s body and going straight up to his brain.

    There, a tendril of Spirit Magic was reinforcing the nudge from the bloodline ability by poisoning the man''s thoughts with dion''s. Together they had allowed the Firstborn to muddle the memories of countless people in the past.

    "You wish, you fucker!" The man yelled in outrage not because of the attempt to mind control him, but for his inability to make the intruder bleed. "I don''t know who you are, but I''m going to make sure that you get in the cell right next to mine."

    Much to dion''s surprise, between the prisoner''s twisted personality, istion, and the effects of the ve array, both his mind and life force were resistant to his maniptions.

    "m down. We are your friends." The Firstborn changed his approach and doubled the amount of mana and life force he employed. "Keep quiet about our presence and you have my word that once we''re done, we''ll free you from this cell."

    "I have a better idea." The man said with a crazed smile. "You free me now, we go our separate ways, and you pray I don''t get caught on my way out. Because the moment I do, I swear that I''ll tell everyone about you and your friends."

    "I don''t think so." dion knew that taking the man out meant rising a g that would lead the guards to their position so he moved his hand to the prisoner''s neck and started to choke him. "You''ll stay quiet or else-"

    "Or what? You''ll kill me?" The manughed like it was the best joke ever. "Do it! I''ll be finally free and you''ll be fucked. Why do you think they keep us locked alone like animals?

    "To keep us from killing each other and force them to find another sucker and start from scratch. No matter what you do to me, it''s nothingpared to what I''ve already suffered in here.

    "Nothing is worse than the prospect of spending the rest of my life as a ve until I die on the battlefield for that madwoman." The inmate stared dion in the eyes with an unyielding force of will born from desperation. "If I have to die here, the least I can do is to take everyone down with me."

    dion looked at Lith and Ka, not knowing what to do. Killing and freeing the inmate would have sealed the failure of their mission but so would leaving him behind. To make matters worse, it was only a matter of time before he was Warped for training.

    ''Let me give this a try.'' Lith said via the mind link while taking dion''s ce in front of the bars. ''After all, they are trying to break his mind. The guards won''t question their own sess.''

    He could feel the disgust in the Void as he essed the bloodline abilities that derived from his Abomination side, yet he had failed to understand the reason until he was done conjuring the Demons of the Darkness.

    Every one of the souls chasing the inmate belonged to a small child, the older of which couldn''t be over ten years old. The Demons wailed their anger, pinning the man to the ground and ripping him to shreds just to heal his wounds and start again.

    "That''s it? I endured much worse since I''ve been held up in here." Yet instead of screaming out of fear and pain as Lith had expected, the inmateughed it out.

 Chapter 2175 Strike At Dawn (Part 1)

    "Gods, I had almost forgotten how much I love children. Once you are done with them, they don''t leave much of a mess."

    Solus was shocked seeing how the man had no problem staring at his victims in the face. The shock turned into revulsion when she noticed that his excitement was much greater than the pain the small Demons inflicted upon him.

    ''Is he getting off it? Does this remind him of what he considers achievements?'' She thought. ''By my Mom, whatever Thrud did to this guy it''s not enough.''

    ''Agreed.'' The reply crossing Lith''s mind sounded like Derek''s voice. ''Leave him to me.''

    The elemental energy that filled his eyes disappeared, reced by the nk of the Decay. For the first time since the two sides of his mind had met, Lith opposed no resistance.

    The Void had already demonstrated a greater mastery over his Abomination abilities and whatever he wanted to do, Lith had no objections.

    The Demons disappeared and the Abomination squeezed through the bars, standing right in front of the inmate.

    "Why did you send them away? We were just starting to have fun."

    "Look at me." The Void lifted the inmate by the neck so that his reflection appeared on the ck te of the Abomination''s face.

    "I must say, the seven eyes and the maw look better on me than-" The words died on his lips as the creature turned into a six years old boy and the cell into the abandoned field that he would never forget.

    Unlike the Demons before him, the child had a perfectly human appearance and even wore clothes. Yet the color was drained from the face of the inmate and his bravado was reced by fear.

    "This is impossible! You are dead. You have to be. I fucking killed you myself!"

    "Why did you do it, big brother?" The child asked as his clothes became covered in blood and a gash appeared on his neck.

    "How dare you ask why?" The man had broken out into hysterics as he kept stabbing the boy yet no more wounds appeared on his body. "You were too damn perfect. You always did your chores and homework with a smile.

    "It was your fault if Mom didn''t love me anymore and kept nagging at me. That''s why I killed you. Yet even once you finally got out of my hair, she just resented me more. That''s why I kept killing you over and over."

    "That''s stupid. You''re stupid." The small boyughed from the heart, ignoring his older brother''s frenzied attacks.

    "Stopughing at me! Why don''t you just die?" Tears and snot ran down his face as even when his arm started to hurt from the stabbing, the childish giggle didn''t stop.

    "So that''s what happened." The inmate froze as a woman in her mid-twenties looked down at him in disgust.

    "Mom, no. I swear, it''s not how it looks like. I can exin." The inmate knew that the woman couldn''t be his mother. She was now old and bitter whereas the person in front of him was young.

    Yet she was identical down to the smallest detail to his mother on the day he had killed his little brother.

    "There''s nothing to exin. You are the failure I always knew you were. You couldn''t even kill the right son to make your mother happy."

    "Don''t say that, Mom. I''m sorry." He fell to his knees, trying to clench her skirt but she stepped back.

    "Let''s go, Ruthym. Mommy missed you a lot and has prepared your favorite foods." The moment her hand touched the child''s, the wound and the blood disappeared.

    "What about big brother?" He asked with a pensive look on his face.<sub> </sub>

    "Forget about him. Pharam got what he deserves. Let''s go home. Your father too missed you dearly." Then she turned around and walked away.

    "Don''t leave, Mom. Please, not again! Not again!" Yet neither she nor Ruthym seemed to be able to hear him.

    Theyughed as they embraced each other, brimming with joy for being reunited again.

    "Please, I''ll be good! I promise. Look at me, Mom. Look at me!" In a desperate attempt to please his mother, Pharam turned the ice knife against himself, stabbing at his own neck.

    Mana was supposed to be incapable of hurting its owner yet a gash matching Ruthym''s appeared on his body.

    "Look at¡­" He bled out too fast to even finish the sentence.

    "What the heck did you do to him?" dion asked Lith who was still standing in front of the prisoner.

    Right after staring at the Abomination, the man had gone silent. Then, the inmate''s face had turned pale and he had started crying like a baby. After a while, his eyes had rolled back and his mind copsed.

    "I have no idea." Lith answered as the chain that had plunged into Ruthym''s chest disappeared and the elemental energy returned to his eyes.

    "What I can tell you is that ording to my diagnostic spell his body is as fit as a fiddle, yet no matter how much I try, I can''t find a mind to form a link with."

    ''What the heck did you do to him?'' He asked the Void who in that form was always a step away from him, like a passenger in the backseat.

    ''What needed to be done.'' The reply didn''t clear anything but Lith had no time to waste and nopassion for serial killers.

    "Good." Ka nodded, after confirming Lith''s diagnosis with the Eyes. "Now let''s go, this is still the first floor and we have many more to clear before reaching the power core.

    "Let''s hope we don''t encounter any more surprises or all the sacrifices of our allies will be for nothing."

    The group resumed their exploration, following the map while also constantly checking the floor with Life Vision to avoid getting caught again by a bored genius. The rest of the floor was just a copy of the first section they had entered from.

    Corridor after corridor, even sses andboratories had been converted into holding cells where the prisoners were Awakened and then tamed. Theck of sunlight made it impossible for them to keep track of time.

    The istion and the small cells eroded their will, making them eager to meet their trainers just to hear a voice that wasn''t their own. Seeding in a lesson meant more time in the open and better food.

    Those who failed or refused to follow orders, instead, were sent straight back to their cells and would remain there until they had further refined their bodies and eroded their minds.

    Lith only had a vague idea of how Thrud''s system worked, but seeing how most of the prisoners spent their time training their core and body, begging from time to time to take part in another ss, he understood that the criminals were being trained like animals.

    And the worst part was that it seemed to be working like a charm.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Ker Region, City of Belius.

    "Thank the gods you''re here, my Queen." Iata the Sekhmet gave Thrud a deep bow despite the many wounds covering her body, coughing out a mouthful of blood.

 Chapter 2176 Strike At Dawn (Part 2)

    "There no time for pleasantries in war. Just tell me what''s going on and why you have still to heal yourself properly." It wasn''t the first time that the Mad Queen took part in a battle.

    Even with her Divine Beast Generals, there were few of them against hundreds of old monsters and Liches. If not for the power of her deep white core and the Arthan set, they would have lost ground at every battle.

    ? Yet it was the first time that one of her aides called her in desperation to keep one of their best strongholds from falling. Defending from a siege was supposed to be easy, especially in a city like Belius.

    Its enchanted walls were several meters thick and over thirty meters (100'') high. Its arrays could scour the battlefield like a living being, targeting the enemy even from a great distance from the city.

    Last, but not least, the City Gate allowed her soldiers to take the injured back to the Golden Griffon to be treated immediately and rece them with fresh troops.

    Thrud usually fought solely on the frontlines, making sure that the tide of the battle wouldn''t force her troops to retreat too much or leading the charge when they broke through the enemy lines.

    She was supposed to be the spear and the shield that protected the weakest units of her army, not a baby sitter for Divine Beasts.

    "It''s easier if I show you." Iata ced her right index and ring fingers on the Queen''s forehead, activating a mind link.

    Thrud saw the troops of the Council, the Kingdom, and even the Empire strike at Belius at the same time. Iata and the rest of the Generals deployed there had done wonders, keeping the three-pronged attack at bay by sharing their bloodline abilities with the defending army.

    Yet even they had proved to be incapable to stop the fourth yer they had no contingency n against.

    The Bright Day had appeared out of nowhere, leading a regiment of undead who, unlike Thrud''s allies in the Undead Courts, had no problem moving under the sun. The number of unexpected reinforcements was little, but their strength was great.

    Most undead could climb the vertical walls of Belius with the same grace of a spider and the speed of a cheetah. Even the enchanted protections and arrays could do nothing to stop them since they only used bloodline abilities.

    Despite all this, it would have taken any of Thrud''s Generals a single tier five Spirit Spell to wipe them out of the walls if not for Dawn. The vision of the Horseman riding her steed made the Mad Queen swear enough to put a sailor to shame.

    ''I thought that Baba Yaga had taken back the steeds and grounded Dawn or something! What is she doing here?''

    ''That''s not all, my Queen. Keep watching.'' Instead of answering, Iata showed her an image of the Bright Day high in the sky, emitting such a blinding radiance that two suns seemed to shine over Belius.

    In the memory, the Sekhmet charged at the Horseman after infusing herself and her equipment with abundant Life Maelstrom. Thanks to the silver lightning, her physical and magical prowess was increased tenfold.

    The power cores of her equipment had been Forgemastered by Thrud so that not an ounce of Life Maelstrom would be lost. All the artifacts of her Generals had been designed to not be just overcharged by the silver lightning, but to reach their full potential because of it.

    Thrud was not only a Master Forgemaster, she was also a Golden Griffon. She had taken her time studying her bloodline ability before consuming the hundreds of kilos of Adamant necessary to craft an armor big enough to cover a Divine Beast.<sub> </sub>

    Iata''s equipment had almost reached the hardness of Adamant and its power cores had be as strong as those of a small city. Yet the desing out of her pawns had been blocked like toys and the Sekhmet had been shot down the sky with a single lunge.

    ''Fuck!'' Despite the sh havingsted a fraction of a second, Thrud could still see how Dawn wasn''t wearing her usual crystal armor.

    The Horseman was covered in Davross that turned ck when it had to help her absorb sunlight and silvery when it amplified her powers. Her sword, Twilight, was made of the same metal and had elemental crystals of eight colors on its surface.

    White crystals had been embedded on either side of the hilt and the pommel while the rest were arranged in a single line along the de. A red elemental crystal was close to the guard, followed by an orange, a yellow, an emerald green, a blue, a silvery, and a ck crystal.

    Thrud could feel from the memory like Iata had put everything she had behind the blow whereas Dawn''s was the equivalent of swatting an insect.

    ''This doesn''t make sense! If she''s this strong how can Belius still stand? Most importantly, why is she here?'' The Mad Queen was so frustrated that she failed to realize how painful her words were to her loyal servants.

    ''We kept her at bay at a great personal sacrifice.'' Iata lowered her gaze in humiliation. ''I have no clue about her presence, but I can tell you that her main focus is keeping the undead alive.

    ''The Horseman keeps herself out of the fray, using her constructs to protect our enemies and striking at our arrays from a distance. The damn Ranger is still by her side.''

    Most people tended to forget about Ac, the traitorous Ranger who had bonded with Dawn. He had worked in the Ker region for over a decade and knew the weak spots of every city like the back of his hand.

    After conquering Belius, Thrud had rebuilt it in a rush so she had had no time to change itsyout. The arrays'' control center was still in the old ce where Dawn had destroyed them during her previous assault on the city.

    ''Thanks, Iata. You did a great job holding the line until my arrival. Now rest.'' The Mad Queen gave the Sekhmet a powerful tonic and healed her with a single breath of Regal Flow.

    She did the same with all of her Generals, to not let them waste another use of their own breathing technique.

    ''What about you, Your Majesty?'' Orsac had once been a Roc but had now evolved into a Storm Phoenix.

    ''I''m a white-cored Golden Griffon, remember?'' She replied with the warm motherly smile for which her Generals wouldy their lives. ''I heal so fast that I never use it except that for refining my core.''

    ''Please, be careful.'' Ufyl the Seven Headed Dragon said. ''You may be a white core, but she''s a Horseman with her mage tower. This is nothing like that idiot of Night.''

    Thrud nodded and took flight, reaching Dawn in the blink of an eye.

    ''I could take my Griffon form, but against an opponent so small, I''d just offer her a bigger target. On top of that, I trained as a human woman for over 700 years whereas I became a Divine Beast barely a year ago.'' She thought.

 Chapter 2177 Strike At Dawn (Part 3)

    Just like the Saefel set, that of Arthan was capable of changing size along with its wearer and wasprised of several tons of Davross.

    Tyris had crafted it for Valeron, but knowing that one day it would have been passed on to their descendants, she had taken the possibility that they would have chosen their Griffon side in consideration.

    The Guardian would have never thought that while her descendants had discarded it, one of their enemies would have found a way to exploit her kindness against them.

    "Took you long enough." The Horseman had her helm disappear, revealing her visage.

    Her long pitch-ck hair whipped around due to the altitude winds while sunlight reflected on her snow-white skin, painting it with gold. Her golden eyes had no pupil, shining with power like stars.

    "To what do I owe the pleasure of you waiting for me?" Thrud asked while covering her face with the helm instead, the Armor and Sword of Arthan humming with power.

    "What''s the point of conquering Belius just for you to recapture it immediately after?" Dawn''s armor closed shut again as she sucker-punched Thrud with the tower tier spell, Endless Nova.

    The whole sky around Thrud and the Horseman was now filled with meteors made of light, fire, earth, and darkness. Each one of them was as big as a house and together they formed a perfect sphere that encased the two women.

    The humongous size of the spell covered Thrud''s field of vision, making it impossible for her to either Blink or Warp to safety. On top of that, a single meteor was powerful enough to blow Belius'' walls to bits.

    "Fuck!" The Mad Queen infused both herself and her equipment with Life Maelstrom at the same time the Novas exploded.

    The silver lightning boosted the effects of the water element she channeled in the Davross of her armor, creating a protective field capable of splitting the mana from the world energy and lessening the impact.

    With no time to weave her spell, Thrud lit four of the seven gems on Arthan''s Sword, unleashing an also boosted quadra-elemental spell that could fight on par with a tower spell.

    Frozen Griffon conjured an ice wall several meters thick infused with darkness, air, and fire. The ice smothered Dawn''s white mes while the darkness magic of their respective spells kept each other at bay.

    On top of that, the air element of Frozen Griffon deflected the earth projectiles that the shockwaves caused by the exploding Novas threw in every direction at supersonic speed.

    Yet all of that would have never been enough if Thrud hadn''t mixed the air barrier with the fire element, generating timed explosions akin to small Raging Novas. The shockwaves they caused smothered the enemy''s, allowing her to survive.

    At the same time, the conflicting armies had been forced to stop fighting. The light generated by Endless Nova had blinded both mystical and regr senses while the shockwaves unleashed by the spell had forced the foot soldiers to kneel despite the distance.

    Those who had been flying in the sky around Belius, instead, had been blown away and sent crashing against the ground.

    "Not bad. Not bad at all." Dawn said while tracing runes in the air with Twilight.

    "Oh, no you don''t!" Thrud charged forward like a meteor to keep the Horseman frompleting her spell.<sub> </sub>

    Not even the Mad Queen was confident of surviving a tower tier de Spell. Only now that they were very close did she manage to look past the enchanted aura of Dawn''s equipment and study her.

    Life Vision could see Ac''s deep violet core pulsing in perfect synch with the Horseman''s power core, generating a power greater than the sum of its parts. Both cores were further boosted by the crystal horse.

    Sunrise acted simrly to Baba Yaga''s hut, absorbing the world energy from its surroundings even in the absence of a mana geyser. The steed used that energy to fuel its own abilities and those of its masters, working akin to a breathing technique with no side effects.

    Thrud cursed her own arrogance as the Sword of Arthan met the Twilight de. Frozen Griffon had allowed her to survive, but not even the manyyers of Davross covering her could save her from suffering major wounds.

    The Mad Queen''s body was already healing by itself, but until the process wasplete, she would be weakened.

    ''Wait, I expected Dawn to dodge. I''m much heavier than-'' Her train of thought derailed as the enemy''s de moved in a circr motion that pushed her own to the side and opened the path for a lunge with one fluid motion.

    Thrud used her free hand, exploiting her body boosted by fusion magic and Life Maelstrom to safely grab the de''s fuller, stopping the attack.

    "You are not very bright, are you?" The Horseman''s voice sounded like she and Ac spoke in unison as Dawn''s tier four spell, Sunshine, was unleashed from the tip of the de and shot Thrud in the face from point-nk range.

    From so up close, the Mad Queen didn''t have the time to activate her sword''s Domination ability. To make matters worse, the Twilight de amplified Sunshine''s destructive power, bringing it on par with a tier five spell and Sunrise kicked it up another notch.

    A barrage ofser-like rays, each one as big as a truck and as hot as the sun shot Thrud out of the sky and rained upon Belius. Iata managed to recall the elemental sealing arrays from the battlefield and stop the onught before the city was wiped out of the map.

    Despite her timely intervention, Belius'' walls were cracked at several points and many of the soldiers had been gravely injured or killed. Dawn has hidden pure light constructs in the mix, knowing that blocking the light element also meant to disrupt the healers'' work.

    Unluckily for her, after her previous assault, the Royals had added a light sealing array and Thrud had done the same.

    ''Are you sure this is what you want to do, my love?'' Ac asked via their mind link. ''Even with your steed and your ultimate equipment, the gap in mass, mana, and power cores is enormous.

    ''What point has this battle for you? You are just endangering your life.''

    ''First, this isn''t my steed and equipment, but ours. Second, I survived my fight with Sinmara even though she was already a bright white core and all I had was my Adamant gear.'' She replied.

    ''Yeah, at the price of losing your equipment, sacrificing your host, and ending up a prisoner for hundreds of years!'' Ac''s voice was filled with worry about her, not himself which only made Dawn''s choice harder to take.

    ''This time is different. I have you by my side and there''s nothing we can''t do together. If I had even a shadow of a doubt, I wouldn''t have forged my Davross set for you.'' She said while filling their body with the telepathic equivalent of an embrace.

    ''I have no idea why Mom is so worried about dion getting inside the Golden Griffon but I understand why she hasn''t made a move herself. Not only has Mogar suggested leaving Thrud alone, but Mom also worries about the Undead Courts that are still fighting under Thrud''s banner.''

 Chapter 2178 Strike At Dawn (Part 4)

    ''Now that the Eclipsed Lands have joined the fight, no matter which side Mom helps, she would end up killing her children. That''s why I stepped forward to help dion''s soldiers and she didn''t refuse me my steed when I asked her.

    ''This is my way to make up to Mom for disappointing her so many times in the past few years. I''m keeping Thrud away from the Golden Griffon and protecting dion''s followers who offered to join the Kingdom''s diversion.''

    Dawn had no idea that Baba Yaga was also deeply worried about Solus/Elphyn. The Red Mother had stayed her hand because she understood Mogar''s reasoning and because it would have hindered the path of her children.

    dion reaching an agreement with the humans to protect his people was a huge step forward that might have led the two races to stop hating each other. Dawn putting her own agenda aside for someone else''s sake marked a new phase of her growth.

    On top of that, the mission would help Lith to master his Abomination side and mend his rtionship with the Kingdom. If Baba Yaga were to intervene, none of it would have been possible.

    Her actions would have been interpreted akin to a divine intervention and nothing would have changed.

    ''I see.'' Ac replied. ''Your n is to either defeat Thrud or at least weaken her to the point that once she goes back to the Golden Griffon, your cousin can deal with her on his own.''

    ''You are wrong about the second part. I''m not nning to lose and neither should you. Even with my imprisonment, I still have hundreds of years of battle experience against all kinds of Divine Beasts.

    ''I know that I can beat her, but only if you help me and stop second-guessing yourself. Can you do it for me?'' She asked.

    ''Yes.'' Ac''s answercked conviction.

    After theirst defeat at the hands of the Mad Professor and seeing how Dawn was honoring his memory by adding his spells to her arsenal, the ex-Ranger couldn''t help but think that she had chosen the wrong host.

    That just like Lith was likely to be Night''s perfect sword thete Manohar had been Dawn''s.

    ''He was a Light Mastery genius on par with Dawn the likes of which are born once per century if not per millennium. Until someone like Manohar appears again, she''s just stuck with me.'' Ac thought in a deep corner of his mind.

    Meanwhile, on the ground, Thrud was slowly getting up from the meters-deep crater that her fall had created. She took deep breaths without activating her breathing technique, she was just calming herself.

    ''I suspected that something was wrong with the Horseman''s behavior and now I''m sure of it.'' Thrud thought while the energy of her white core fixed both her body and her armor at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ''She waited for my arrival first and now she''s waiting for my return. On top of that, I''ve asked for regr updates from my Generals and so far, this battle doesn''t make sense.''

    Several notifications popped up inside her helm, alerting her of the many cities that were currently under siege.

    ''The Kingdom''s forces are spread evenly, without a real target. They are pushing along the entire frontlines even though they know that this way theyck the strength to actually break through.<sub> </sub>

    ''What really worries me is the Empire and Dawn both giving the Kingdom a hand. There must be a reason if they are putting me under such pressure and the only usible exnation is that they want to keep me here.'' Thrud''s analysis was on point, but she failed to understand the enemy''s ploy because she considered the Golden Griffon impregnable.

    ''Whatever their goal is, I need to take my head out of my ass and stop letting Dawn dictate the rhythm of the battle. No matter how powerful I am, it''s pointless if I fight like an amateur.'' She sighed deeply, knowing that someone was probably recording the battle.

    Thrud had done her best to keep her bloodline abilities hidden until the final battle for the capital, but she knew that there was no way for her to defeat someone with a mage tower otherwise.

    Two sets of golden feathered wings came out of her back, remaining visible for a second before the white of the Davross covered her like a second skin. Her hands turned into talons and the gloves of the armor shapeshifted ordingly to fit her body.

    A single p of her wings brought her back in front of the Horseman while also weaving several of her spells at the same time. The Mad Queen announced her return by swinging the Sword of Arthan and generating countless wind des.

    They were no spells, just the by-product of the pressure that her strength boosted by fusion magic and Life Maelstrom exerted. Yet they each held the power of a tier three spell and she just needed chore magic to further boost their edge.

    The attack was nigh-invisible to Life Vision, the amount of mana they held eclipsed by the one that Thrud''s ascending figure emanated.

    Dawn would have missed them entirely if not for the sudden updraft and her keen battle sense.

    ''Whatever she''s doing, it must be part of a bigger scheme. Also, the fact that so little mana still manages to distort my regr vision means this is some kind of trick.'' The Bright Day thought and she was right.

    Thebined might of the Sword of Arthan and its wielder had generated the air pressure equivalent of a raising avnche that would have swept her away had the Horseman remained still.

    Sunrise answered her telepathic orders, moving like an extension of her body and so fast that the simple act of dodging generated a sonic boom.

    ''Damn, that was supposed to create an opening and maybe even disrupt her focus.'' Thrud clicked her tongue in annoyance as she released her tier five Spirit Spell, Rainstorm.

    It conjured a storm of emerald lightning that bypassed Dawn''s protection by drenching her in water. Even the tiniest drop that seeped inside her armor would use the earth and darkness aspect of Spirit Magic, turning itself into darkness-infused stone spikes that pierced through her body.

    Light constantly healed Dawn''s wounds, sapping her stamina, while the fire aspect turned part of the rain into steam that burned her throat and lungs, sealing her breathing technique and making it impossible for her to use fake magic to hasten the weaving of slow spells like de Magic.

    Rainstorm was already bad news but Thrud had done more than shapeshift into a hybrid form, she had also activated her bloodline ability, Phantom Echo. Any spell that she conjured via body casting resonated through her lungs and her hollow Griffon bones.

    The runes literally generated an echo inside of her, causing an identical copy of the spell they formed to be conjured a split second after the original.

    Dawn was still having trouble dealing with Rainstorm when a second emerald storm hit her like a tidal wave. She could block the pain with darkness fusion but the emerald lightning still caused her seizures, and the silver lightning infused inside both spells almost made her lose control of her abilities.

 Chapter 2179 Fatal Flaw (Part 1)

    Almost.

    Dawn had no Domination, but thanks to her steed, she managed to control the overloading effect of Life Maelstrom and use it to her advantage. She conjured a hard-light construct right above her skin to keep the water and lightning to reach her, stopping the seizures.

    At the same time, Sunrise used its abilities to heal her wounds and replenish her strength while also absorbing part of the silver lightning that was meant to send Dawn''s energy signature in disarray and hurt her.

    Life Maelstrom was still made of world energy and the first ability of any mage tower was to absorb and control it to strengthen their master.

    ''That''s unexpected, but still a pleasant surprise.'' Thrud thought while swinging her de at the Horseman''s crystal. ''All the more reason to keep that moron of Narchat alive and get myself a nice steed.''

    ''Dammit, that''s why Mom rmended us to get undead as our hosts. They feel no pain and they are immune to seizures since it''s not electrical impulses that move their body.'' Dawn''sment was just born out of frustration, but to Ac it sounded like she was belittling him, making him lose even more confidence and feel inadequate.

    The pleasant surprise was followed by another, this time nasty.

    The Twilight de intercepted the Sword of Arthan and contrary to Thrud''s expectations, it didn''t budge of a millimiter.

    "Surprise, bitch!" The Horseman flicked her wrist, pushing the Mad Queen''s de away and thrusting at the eye slit in her armor with a seamless movement.

    ''What the f-'' Thrud could now see with Life Vision that the Bright Day was covered from head to hoof with a tier five Light Mastery spell, Morning Star.

    The construct was infused with so much mana that it gave the spell enough mass topete with that of a Divine Beast, bringing them to equal ground. It was a feat that required a constant expenditure of enormous amounts of mana but Dawn could afford it thanks to Sunrise.

    des and magic shed again and again as the two opponents moved through the air too fast to be seen even by a violet cored Awakened. They each tried to outsmart and outmanouver the other, but neither of them backed down of even one step.

    The fight for Belius below them had yet to resume because the spells the Horseman and the Mad Queen conjured produced so much light that it blinded the soldiers on both sides.

    The noise from their battle was deafening and each time they shed, the sheer pressure they exuded would force even a Divine Beast to kneel.

    "Is there any point for us to be here?" Many people from all the four armies on the battlefield said, no matter their race and size.

    "How the heck can you do this?" Dawn was shocked seeing that none of her attacks had managed to reach the opponent.

    "I''m old as well and unlike you, I spent centuries preparing for this." Thrud replied. "Every time my body experienced a breakthrough, I kept fighting until I got my ass handed to me. I didn''t care about winning, only about finding worthy opponents.

    "Defeat has a bitter taste, but it''s the best teacher one could ask for."

    "Then you''re going to learn a lot today." The Horseman suddenly expanded her construct, using Morning Star''s mass to push the Mad Queen away.

    Matching a Divine Beast''s might drained her mana faster than Sunrise could replenish it, but the mage tower needed but a second of respite to refill its master''s cores.

    s, the same could be said for Thrud''s white core. Her body was filled with so much mana that the boundary between matter and energy was paper thin. It allowed her core to repair any damage her body had taken simply by absorbing the surrounding world energy.<sub> </sub>

    Dawn inwardly cursed as Life Vision showed her that dying any longer would have brought both of them back to square one. With no time to waste, she dashed forward and used her trump card.

    The Mad Queen too didn''t want to drag the fight any longer. Not only had she yet to understand what her enemies'' real goal was but she was also starting to suffer from mana abuse.

    It was the first time that Thrud had gone all-out for so long. The constant healingbined with the toll that using her best spells and bloodline abilities inflicted upon her life force were chipping away her strength.

    To make matters worse, the fight was putting heavy strain on her equipment as well. Channeling an elemental aspect in the Davross increased her offensive and defensive power but it also weakened the Arthan''s set.

    Just like a human body, the only way for the mystical metal to recover its durability was time and rest.

    The only silver lining in that situation was that Dawn wasn''t faring any better. The mage tower supplied her with endless strength, but neither her body nor her equipment would endure it for much longer.

    Davross could channel and amplify insane amounts of mana, but they had both used their best spells from the start, keeping the output of their gear to the maximum the whole time to both inflict and block damage.

    Davross was facing itself and the result was bound to be a draw.

    Thrud''s equipment was outdated, but still the work of a Guardian and weighing several tons. Dawn''s was tailor suited for her and crafted with modern magic, but it weighed barely a few kilos.

    It meant that its little mass had to endure the same stress as Thrud''s at every sh.

    The Mad Queen lit up all the seven gemstones on Arthan''s Sword but activated the violet one first, conjuring the tier five dimensional spell Crashing Warp.

    She moved behind her opponent, but unlike a regr Blink spell, both the exit and entry point detonated in unison while also conjuring a powerful gravity field between them that slowed Dawn down.

    The explosions would not only deal damage, but also blind the Horseman''s Life Vision and propel Thrud like a rocket.

    The Mad Queen moved too fast for Dawn to block or dodge. The Sword of Arthan pierced through Morning Star''s construct, Dawn''s armor, crystal and flesh until the two women''s eyes were just a few centimeters away.

    "Got you, idiot." The Horseman''s body turned into stardust, leaving nothing behind.

    ''Wait a second, Davross can''t just disappear. What about her steed?'' Only then did Thrud notice that Dawn had exploited Morning Star''s aura to hide Ac Blinking away.

    Thanks to their bond, they could now have a body each whenever they want. She had conjured an armor and a sword from her prisms, letting the Mad Queen hit her so that she wouldn''t suspect anything until it was toote.

    Dawn had entrusted Sunrise and their equipment to her partner, buying him the time that he needed to cast her de Tier Spell, Rising Sun.

    "Dammit!" Thrud turned toward the ex-Ranger just before the spell waspleted. She unleashed the full power of Arthan''s sword, fusing it with her tier five Spirit Spell, Royal Griffon.

    A six colored beam of light erupted from her de, further strengthened by Spirit Magic.

 Chapter 2180 Fatal Flaw (Part 2)

    It allowed Thrud to apply kic energy to the spells, giving them mass and backing them with her physical might.

    On top of that, Phantom Echo generated a second beam and Life Maelstrom increased the power of both spells tenfold. It was the best she could do since Thrud had no idea how to cast de Tier spells.

    She had practiced with Arthan''s set for centuries, but it was still a copy of something that Tyris had crafted for Valeron. After refining her body and Awakening both the Guardian''s and the First King''s blood she could now tap into the set''s full potential but they were still a bad match.

    Valeron had been a loving and protecting leader whereas Thrud was driven by rage and ambition.

    Ac unleashed Rising Sun just in time, the de and the Spirit Spell shed just a few meters away from him, but it was enough. Rising Sun was fueled by the ex-Ranger''s deep violet core and Dawn''s power core, both boosted to the next level by their synch.

    The power cores of their equipment and steed more than filled the gap with Thrud''s dull white and the constant flow of world energy from the mage tower made the spell''s destructive power nigh-infinite.

    ''I wish I could''ve dodged and then released Rising Sun but Blinking would have slowed me down. At my level, de Tier spells require a lot of focus. Focus that I might have lost if I allowed that huge ass beam to follow and hit me.'' Ac knew that high-level spells were willpower imbued and capable of chasing their target.

    Unless he Warped a kilometer away, Thrud''s Royal Griffon would have reached him anywhere before Rising Sun could manifest, locking him into a losing battle.

    Thrud immediately felt that despite everything she had, it would take the de Spell just a few seconds to overpower her. The steed drew in world energy faster than her white core and even limited the amount at her disposal.

    On top of that, the two spells were leagues apart. Spirit Magic was considered the sixth tier of magic, but even with Life Maelstrom and Phantom Echo boosting it, a Tower de spell was akin to tier eight.

    "I really pity you, Ac." Thrud said with a grunt, her Griffon voice reverberating over the conflicting spells. "You are just like my husband was. A ve forced to serve with a smile on his face."

    ''Don''t listen to her. You are not my ve, but my partner.'' Dawn''s consciousness had returned to him after losing her body.

    ''Not anymore, you mean.'' Ac''s face twisted at the memory of how she had manipted him, taking control over his life and eroding his mind until he was just a puppet in her hands. ''If not for Verhen''s partner, I wouldn''t be even here anymore.''

    ''How many times do I have to tell you that I''m sorry!'' Dawn could feel their bond weakening. The destruction of her own body had weakened her and her influence on him.

    "Do you know what''s the difference between you two?" Thrud asked. "That the moment I learned what my husband was going through, I let him go. He returned to me by his choice. He doesn''t want to take part in this war and I respect his decision."

    "Shut up, you witch! You know nothing about us!" Dawn said through Ac''s mouth, making him waver further.

    "What about you?" The Mad Queen ignored her, talking only to Ac. "Why are you here?"

    The doubt crept into his mind, making him think that maybe Dawn had manipted him again. Even though she had done everything she could to earn his forgiveness, deep down Ac didn''t trust her.

    Their cores went out of synch, making Rising Sun lose a huge chunk of its power and focus. Before Dawn could even think of a word to reassure Ac, Thrud put everything she had left into Royal Griffon.<sub> </sub>

    The tide of the battle turned in an instant, but the Horseman still managed to escape by activating the mind link with her mother. Baba Yaga Warped both Dawn and the undead from the Eclipsed Lands to the safety of her hut.

    "Excellent thinking, child." The Red Mother said while assuming her Maiden form. "Not only have you greatly weakened Thrud, but also by retreating she can''t afford to leave Belius in case you return."

    "That was no n, I was just desperate." Dawn copsed onto the floor, her body writhing due to mana abuse and Ac resisting her influence.

    "I''m sorry. It''s all my fault. I''m a failure as a host and as a mage." Their visage turned from feminine to virile non-stop, respectively frustrated and desperate. "You should have chosen Manohar, not me."

    "What the heck are you talking about? When did I ever care about that idiot?" Dawn asked and Ac showed her the images of Endless Nova which resembled the Mad Professor''s Supernova while Morning Star resembled Avatar of Light.

    "I admit that I copied Supernova because it was brilliant, but I invented Morning Star centuries ago to fight Divine Beasts." She used a partial mind fusion to show him the truth and dispel his doubts.

    She still couldn''t afford a full fusion without the risk of frying Ac''s brain with the knowledge umted during her existence. The ex-Ranger could now see how different the two spells were and how most of what the Mad Professor had achieved was but a pale imitation of the Horseman''s opus.

    "I failed you once again. If not for me, Thrud would be dead and the War of the Griffons would be over." Ac hated himself so much that he wanted to cry.

    "You are wrong." Dawn spread her warmth in a telepathic embrace. "Thrud would be just back at the Golden Griffon and maybe she would have recovered so fast that she might have discovered about dion.

    "Also, this is not your fault nor did you fail me. This is all on me. Thrud was right about one thing. You never had the opportunity to give me anything because I took everything you had by force.

    "Mom, can you please split us?"

    "Are you abandoning me?" Ac''s voice was broken.

    "Are you sure?" Baba Yaga asked. "You are the first of my Horsemen to ever reach partial fusion with your host. Your bond is the real deal."

    "I''m not abandoning you." Dawn answered Ac first. "I''m not going to even look for another host until I hear your honest answer. Mom, our fusion will never be full until we really trust each other.

    "Back when we- I fought Verhen, I witnessed what real unity between Horseman and host is and this doesn''t evene close. Our bond is as wed as I am."

    Baba Yaga nodded, cing her hand on Ac''s chest and extracting the pulsing white crystal that was Dawn''s real body.

    At first, the ex-Ranger''s mind felt shocked and sad by the silence that suddenly filled it. Then, he started to gasp for air, puking his guts out in a seizure until he lost consciousness.

    With freedom came rity, but also the full weight of his actions. As long as they were bonded, Dawn had protected him from the emotional burden of killing his own betrothed back in Nalrond''s vige and everyone who considered him family.

 Chapter 2181 Final Push (Part 1)

    To make matters worse, Ac had acted driven by petty envy and blind ambition. Back then, he believed that the Rezars, just like the Griffon Kingdom, owed him and that he was just taking what was rightfully his.

    It wasn''t Ac''s fault if the Rezars had tried to stop him from bonding with Dawn and forced him to ughter them. It wasn''t his fault if the Kingdom had failed to recognize his greatness, forcing him to sacrifice innocent merchants to build his reputation as the bane of the undead.

    Or at least, that was what he had always repeated to himself.

    After bonding with him, Dawn had fed his delusions. At first to more easily control him and then she had eased his conscience with her love. Staying together with her had taught him what real genius was and had lifted the veil of his self-serving ego.

    He was now capable of understanding the gravity of what he had done and without her, there was nothing shielding his still frail mind from the truth. Ac''s thoughts were now free from her presence, allowing him to distinguish how much of their actions was entirely his fault.

    The pain, guilt, and regret were more than he could handle.

    "Can you please bring him to the Empire, Mom?" Dawn said. "He is a wanted criminal in the Kingdom and we can''t keep him here. Even if Ac stays in one of your biomes, we would be bound to meet.

    "I want to give him some space in every sense of the word."

    She returned Sunrise to Baba Yaga who stored it in her pocket dimension.

    "Sure. What about your equipment?" The Red Mother asked.

    "He can keep it. I crafted it for him and he''ll need it in case he has to defend himself." The Horseman replied while Warping the Ranger in afortable bed.

    "I''m proud of you, my child." The Maiden''s eyes were veiled with tears. "You fought a battle to defend your kind and help your cousin. You recognized the limits of your bond with Ac and broke it even though it costs you a great deal.

    "Whateveres next, I''ll be there for you."

    She held the crystal to her bosom as if it was a small baby, uncaring for the many witnesses.

    The undead from the Eclipsed Lands were still terrified by the fight with Thrud when they had found themselves in the home of the legendary Red Mother. They refused to take a single step or say a word, afraid that ruining that moment would cost them their lives.

    "Mom, I noticed something weird while battling with the Mad Queen. She was in no way inferior to me with my steed. The only thing that gave me an upper hand was my bond with Ac." Dawn said.

    "What''s weird about it?"

    "That it doesn''t make any sense. I was the one with a mage tower. I was supposed to be much stronger." The Horseman replied.

    "Do you really think you can take me on if I''m outside my hut?" The Maiden asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "No, but you are my mother. You gave me life and know me better than anyone else. Correct?"

    "Wrong." Baba Yaga shook her head. "Child, I''m not going to share the secret of the white core with you, but know this. Those who achieve it barely need their breathing technique.

    "Their bodies constantly draw in all the world energy necessary to refill their mana core and heal even the gravest injuries without putting any strain on their vitality. Also, they gain several unique powers that cannot be replicated or inherited by their descendants."

    "Are you telling me that-"<sub> </sub>

    "Correct. A mage tower is akin to an artificial white core that is crafted instead of achieved and whose abilities are chosen by its maker rather than determined by their nature. On top of that, a tower''s strength is added to that of its master.

    "After spending many years with the Guardians, I understood how simr they are to a white-cored Awakened and crafted myself a tower to reduce the power gap between us." The Maiden said.

    "But, Menadion wasn''t a white core yet she managed to craft her tower nheless." Dawn objected.

    "True, but that just makes her achievement much more amazing." Baba Yaga nodded. "Why do you think mages are considered invincible inside their towers and every Awakened would kill their mother to get one?

    "Having a tower is like having a white core and offers the opportunity to glimpse at the secrets to achieve one."

    "Why do you think Ripha managed to Forgemaster relics beyond the powers of any violet cored mage? It was only thanks to her tower and to the enchantments that she had chosen for it, making her tower the perfect Forgemastering tool."

    "How the heck did Menadion die then?" The Horseman asked.

    "That''s a secret forever lost to time, just like her tower." The Maiden lied through her teeth, hoping that Solus would be fine and Lith with her.

    ***

    Ker Region, City of Belius, right now.

    Thrud descended in the army''s Headquarters panting like a bellow. She had given everything she had in the fight with Dawn and the power cores of her equipment needed time to recharge.

    She tried to remove the stopper from a nutrients potion, but her hand trembled too much and Iata had to help her.

    "Great victory, Your Majesty. You can now sit back and leave the rest to us." The Sekhmet said.

    "Are you kidding me? This was a hollow victory if I''ve ever seen one." Thrud gulped one potion after another. "Had Dawn killed me, she would have revealed her hand while I would have gone back to the Golden Griffon.

    "There I would have quickly recovered my strength thanks to the mana geyser so that by the time the Horseman''s n unfolded, I would have been ready to counter it.

    "Now instead, I am stuck in Belius with a worn-out body and my equipment is in even worse condition." She showed Iata the many cracks in the Arthan''s set and how its many mana crystals had now a dim light.

    Elemental crystals worked simrly to a white core, absorbing world energy at an astounding rate. Just like their master, it wouldn''t take them long to go back at full power, but only if they had the time to rest.

    An event that even the optimistic Sekhmet found unlikely.

    The city walls had been almost pierced by Dawn''s spells, her undead had stormed the first line of defense, leaving it in shambles, and she had taken her time butchering the Divine Beasts guarding the city.

    To survive long enough for Thrud to arrive, they had used Invigoration so many times that it had lost a good chunk of its effectiveness. All that while the enemy side had sustained minimal losses.

    To keep control of Belius it would have taken a miracle, something that only the Mad Queen could perform.

    "Send a distress signal to all of our troops, including those still stationed at the Golden Griffon." Thrud said while using Regal Flow to both refill her mana core and hasten the repairs of her equipment.

 Chapter 2182 Final Push (Part 2)

    "This full-scale attack is nothing but a diversion. I have no idea what the Kingdom''s real goal is, but the moment they make their move, we can''t afford to be caught by surprise.

    "To put everything on the line like this, they must have found a way to tip the scale of the war in their favor. If they seed, we might lose one or more key assets if not even the war itself."

    ***

    Golden Griffon academy, at the same time.

    Lith''s group had reached the second floor for a while, but they were having a hard time navigating it.

    ''So much for a skeleton crew.'' Lith grumbled as they were forced to wait behind a corner for the umpteenth time.

    The second floor hosted just a few living quarters that belonged to the criminals that had been "promoted" from the scum of Mogar to loyal soldiers via various forms of torture and maniption.

    The rest of the floor had been arranged into huge ssrooms where the now willing recruits were taught the basics of magic and military strategy. Due to their role as foot soldiers, their training focused on teamwork,bat drills, and the best timing to use their breathing technique during battle.

    Much to Ka''s surprise, the soldiers had been enved but not made immortal by the lost academy whereas their equipment had been marked for retrieval upon their death.

    The two-bit mages were expendable whereas Thrud couldn''t afford to lose artifacts she had worked hard to craft every time she suffered human losses. Adamant and mana crystals were hard to find whereas the Kingdom was full of prisons.

    The group had easily gotten past the living quarters since they were all empty. The problem was not being noticed while moving around the sses. Hystar had fused several rooms together to give the instructors the space they needed and even removed the walls.

    The sses were open fields that left dion little room for maneuver. Even with Blindside, he couldn''t risk their smell getting caught by one of the Emperor Beasts training the Awakened or being bumped into during a drill.

    Every time they found a ssroom, the Firstborn had to wait for an exercise that would move the students away from his group''s position and that would keep the teachers focused.

    Even though his powers weren''t hindered by daylight thanks to theck of windows inside the Golden Griffon, he couldn''t afford to use his bloodline ability non-stop. Escaping the notice of so many powerful creatures required a lot of energy and they were still on the second floor.

    dion had brought nourishment with him, but using it so soon would have meant to risk of running on fumes once they reached the higher floors or during the exfiltration phase.

    If that happened, discovering how to safely destroy the lost academy would have been meaningless since they would die without sharing the information with anyone.

    They needed to move slowly and carefully, getting close enough to the hidden stairs for the third floor for the map to reveal them. Once they finally reached their destination, they could finally catch their breath.

    The third floor was reserved for the Forgotten corps and it was empty.

    The former students of the Golden Griffon had fought for hundreds of years so they needed no further training.

    Their minds had been broken by centuries of starvation and madness. They offered no resistance to Thrud''s will and followed her everymand. It was the reason the third floor consisted solely of living quarters, the canteen, and several rxation areas.<sub> </sub>

    Thrud had arranged it as a huge rehabilitation center, in the hope to undo the damage that the Golden Griffon had inflicted upon them and give them a normal life once the war was over.

    s, so far her efforts had borne no fruit.

    Lith''s group passed in front of several bars, spas, and gardens. They were perfectly maintained with all kinds of amenities one could wish for. They stopped in a lounge to rest and recover.

    Ka needed to take the Eyes of Menadion off and get rid of the headache that the too many inputs from the artifact caused her. dion could finally take a break from using Blindside and the toll it had taken on his mind.

    Yet Lith was the one in worse shape. He had used no bloodline ability and Solus was still at his finger, using solely mana sense to scout for danger. Despite all that, staying in his Abomination form for so long had pushed him to the verge of insanity.

    The longer he kept that form, the harder keeping the spark of Chaos from corrupting the darkness energyprising his body became. To make matters worse, the hunger typical of the Abominations grew by the second and it couldn''t be sated.

    Even with the help of the Void, eating brought him respite only until he finished sucking the light element out of something. The moment he was done, the hunger would return as strong as before.

    "Damn, I now understand why Abominations either go insane or are always cranky." Lith had returned to his human form and was eating lots of food from his pocket dimension.

    He retained the hunger after shapeshifting, but it could now be sated, resetting the Abomination''s appetite.

    "Please, don''t talk to me. My head is exploding." Between the Eyes and the mana poisoning caused by the prolonged mind link, Ka felt better than him, but not by much.

    "Circte your mana with fusion magic and you''ll feel better soon." dion had no need to eat, but he could use some rest.

    Moving during daytime was vexing and Lith could cover him only until the hunger made the Abomination Touch overpower the Vampire''s. The rest of the time dion had to move on his own or be Lith''s snack.

    Luckily for him, he could afford to turn into a human since there was no one around. The Forgotten were all busy with the war or patrolling the academy. The fourth and fifth floors turned out to be empty as well, allowing them to take a short break again.

    The fourth floor was where Thrud''s disciples lived and trained. It was identical to the one where Lith had studied during the fourth year of the White Griffon, making it the easiest to navigate.

    The space had been evenly split between living quarters and training facilities where the main force of Thrud''s Awakened army could study all specializations and the legacies they had stolen.

    "Why this detour? Do you realize that time is of the essence?" Ka asked as she followed Lith toward the Forgemasteringb.

    They avoided mind links because there was no one around and to spare themselves from more mana poisoning.

    "I do, but this is the best opportunity we have to memorize the dimensional coordinates of any ce we might want toe back to once the main mission is done. Once and if we are found out, our priority will be escaping whereas now we can move freely." Lith replied.

    "ording to the undead, Meln is on the sixth floor along with the secretbs. What could possibly be so valuable here to prolong your hunger this much?" dion said with a scoff.

 Chapter 2183 Good Luck Bad Luck (Part 1)

    "What about a Davross Forge so big that it would weigh dozens of kilos even after purifying it from the Darwen?" Lith''s answer made everyone''s eyes shine with the greed worthy of a Dragon and put an end to the discussion.

    "How do we split it?" The Firstborn asked.

    "Fifty-fifty."

    "Deal." Ka and dion said in unison before realizing to have fallen into a trap.

    "Half for me, and half for the Eclipsed Lands. You two are on the same side whereas I am my own faction. Isn''t it right, Ka?" Lith "casually" showed her his stone ring, reminding her that Solus deserved her share as well.

    "Listen well, you little-"

    "He''s right." Ka cut dion short. "He deserves half of the Davross. If not for him, the mission would have failed on the first floor."

    The Vampire opened and closed his mouth several times, speechless from anger and the betrayal he felt for the Wight siding with the enemy. Then he got tired of his own goldfish impression and just nodded.

    Sadly, the Forgemasteryb turned out to not be the one Lith had found during his previous visit.

    "Fuck me sideways." He said after noticing how the ancient books had been reced by modern tomes. "Either what we are looking for is on the fifth floor or Thrud took the forge for herself."

    Lith would have loved to take a few books as souvenirs. They were filled with teachings that the Mad Queen had derived from her centuries of mastery of magic after thoroughly studying the Awakened legacies she had stolen.

    Yet he couldn''t risk the Headmaster noticing something missing from his inventory. Yet.

    The fifth floor was reserved to Thrud''s generals, with bigger living quarters and individualbs for each one of them. Once again, the hunt for the Davross failed.

    "Damn, if not for this ce being a lost city, it would have been a marvel of magic." dion said while pointing at the arena in the middle of the floor.

    It was so wide and its ceiling was so high that there was plenty of space for the Divine Beasts to spar against each other and experiment on their bloodline abilities.

    "Indeed. The idea of destroying it and killing all of its inhabitants almost pains my heart." Ka said. "Almost."

    Before entering the sixth floor, where in a regr academy the secret specializations would take ce, the group made sure to be at their peak condition. Lith ate to his heart''s content while dion and Ka used their respective breathing techniques to focus their minds.

    ''ording to the imprisoned undead, this is where Thrud experiments on everything she needs to fuel her war machine. Meln, his tower, and even the Davross forge should be here.'' Just the mention of his brother''s name brought Lith''s rage to the point that it eclipsed the Abomination''s hunger.

    ''That and it''s unlikely to be as empty as the previous floors.'' Ka said while scanning with the Eyes past the wall behind which they were hidden. ''Not everyone is suitable for the battlefield and in times of war, research is more important than ever.

    ''A single discovery can turn the tide so the work of the researchers must go on.''

    Lith''s Life Vision and Solus'' mana sense were blinded by the magical auraing from the corridor in front of them. dion''s senses were muddled by the wild energies and odd smells in the air, leaving Ka as their only guide.

    They had to wait until the Eyes managed to separate the energy signatures of the living from those of the experiments, allowing her to mark the position of the enemies on the map.

    ''I hate it when you are always right.'' Lith said while noticing the ever-growing number of light dots. Some were even in ces that had yet to appear on the map.<sub> </sub>

    ''Don''t be a sourpuss.'' Solus said. ''The good news is that they are assembled in groups so no matter how many they are, you can consider them as a single individual. On top of that, any goodb requires instion and istion.

    ''The former means that they wouldn''t notice even if we threw around tier five spells while thetter means no windows to avoid distractions. Unless many people take a bathroom break at the same time, we should be safe.''

    ''That and the guards keeping an eye on Meln.'' Lith thought with a snarl while sharing her estimates with the others.

    ''I agree.'' Ka nodded. ''I''m sorry Scourge, but I don''t think that either your brother or the Davross is worth the risk at this point.''

    dion nodded and after a while, Lith did as well.

    ''Cheer up. I give you my word that once we''re done with the power core, I won''t oppose giving a shot at killing Meln, searching for the Forge, or whatever you want to do. Just first things first.''

    The Vampire meant to be supportive, but his words made the stone ring weigh on his hand, and the image of Kam waiting for him sh in front of his eyes.

    ''Screw that stuff.'' Lith replied. ''None of them is worth my life.''

    The moment the Eyes revealed that the coast was clear they opened the hidden passage and stepped into the sixth floor.

    ''Me and my big mouth!'' Lith inwardly cursed Solus for jinxing it.

    She was right about thebs being perfectly insted from magic.

    It was the aura of their protective arrays that blinded the mystical senses. The magical formations were designed to keep every iota of foreign energy out and work as safety valves, releasing the excess energy in the air around thebs before it overloaded.

    The problem was the top half of the walls of each room wasprised of ss. It wasn''t a security measure, just a way for Thrud and other researchers to spectate the experiments and give their input without crowding ab.

    dion had promptly conjured Blindside, spreading the ck mist around them. s, the corridor was already filled with the wild manaing from the safety arrays.

    The Golden Griffon gave low priority to getting rid of the mana, focusing on the safety of the researchers. The fumes provided Lith''s Abomination form with enough energy to keep his hunger at bay.

    Yet they also reacted with Blindside, generating sparks where the mist born from the Vampire''s life force shed with the multi-colored fumes.

    The phenomenon was as physically harmless as the wild energy, but it drew a lot of attention, defying the purpose of Blindside. A cold shiver ran down Lith''s back as one of the mages in the room in from of them turned around, looking at him through the ss wall.

    Lith''s group started to weave their best spells, preparing for the worse.

    At least until the researcher took his sweet time writing something on the ss. Its mirrored image appeared on the other side, allowing Lith to read a string of runes while the man kept talking with his colleagues.

    ''What the heck? How could he miss us?'' dion thought in amazement.

    ''My guess is that the wall isprised of a one-way mirror.'' Lith replied, sharing with them a scene from a crime series after recing anything that would reveal it taking ce on a different.

 Chapter 2184 Good Luck Bad Luck (Part 2)

    ''Ingenious.'' Ka said. ''Also, a lucky break for us. Yet if we keep still like morons, it will make no difference.''

    She pointed them at the map, where a couple of luminous dots were moving in their direction. Lith and dion nodded, moving along the corridor the get out of the patrol''s line of sight.

    Their scientific curiosity made them nce both at the string of runes and inside theb, but neither made sense to them. The apparatus the mages were working on had a regr brick and a same-shaped red mana crystal ced into adjacent slots.

    ''By the Red Mother!'' Ka froze in front of the mirror as the Eyes exined the nature of the experiment to her, forcing dion to lift the Wight on his shoulder and carry her away.

    ''Stop! You don''t understand-''

    ''And I don''t want to.'' The Firstborn Vampire cut her short. ''If Lith can give up on killing that asshole of Meln, nothing matters. Save the exnations forter and remain on the lookout.''

    Ka ceased her struggle, but she kept staring at the scene until the solid stone reced the ss.

    The followingb proved to be as shocking as it was big.

    There was a stark naked man chained to the wall who looked awfully familiar. He had the silver eyes typical of Tyris'' descendants and light green hair that reminded Lith of Jormun.

    The room was thrice the size of the others, yet aside from the chained man and the mages keeping their backs against the opposing wall, it was empty. No machinery, mana crystals, or furniture.

    The man''s body started to writhe, turning into a small Phoenix, then into a Griffon, and then into a perfect hybrid of the two. His red feathered wings burned with Origin mes while the silver lightning of Life Maelstrom coursed through the leonine body.

    Yet when they met halfway, they shed against each other. The hybrid''s body bloated like an overinted balloon as its life forces battled for dominance. Then, the man exploded in a silvery rain that sttered everywhere.

    ''I knew that Thrud was insane but that''s even worse than I thought.'' dion said. ''Mixing the bloodlines of Guardians is not that easy, otherwise Lith''s existence wouldn''t be such huge news. She-''

    The Firstborn''s jaw fell to the ground when the silvery liquid slithered off the ss and reassembled itself in the form of the green-haired man.

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Lith and Solus thought in unison, not needing the Eyes of Menadion to know what was happening. ''Thrud must have used the ambrosia on that Doppelganger, Protheus.

    ''Now not only is he able to mimic the physical abilities of Divine Beasts, but even their powers!''

    ''Yes and no.'' Ka shook her head. ''His ability to mimic the mana organs is poor at best and theypletely fall apart the moment he tries to mix different life forces.''

    ''Poor or not, I''ve fought against Thrud''s generals.'' Lith replied. ''If the experiment seeds, she''ll have at her beck and call a creature who can use the bloodline abilities of the six original Guardians. What color is his core?''

    ''Deep green, but I still think that Thrud getting mage towers would be much worse. She already has a white core and if she and her Generals get-''

    ''What the heck are you talking about?'' dion could easily imagine the rest so he demanded an exnation about what he failed to understand.

    ''The first room. The one with the brick.'' Ka said while the others kept staring at her like she was mad. ''Those guys were working on making regr stones have a mana flow on par with red crystals.

    ''They are still a long shot from sess but the initial results are promising. You see-''<sub> </sub>

    ''What do bricks have to do with mage towers?'' Lith asked, pissing Kaher off big time.

    The Wight hated to be constantly interrupted.

    ''ording to the Eyes of Menadion, enhancing the mana conductivity of ordinary materials is the first step for tower crafting.''

    ''How do you know that? You''ve spent your life researching Lichhood, not Forgemastery.'' Lith asked, yet Ka knew the question came from Solus.

    ''Indeed, and I would''ve had no clue about it if not for the data being already stored in the Eyes. Their regr imprint must have preserved part if not all of Menadion''s research. I wonder why Scarlett never mentioned it.''

    Somewhere on the Jiera continent, in the depth of the oceans that hid Fenagar''s secretb, the Mother of all Sekhmets suddenly froze in ce.

    "What''s wrong, cat? Bored already? You''re not going to achieve anything if you are even fickler than me. Magical research needs patience and dedication." The Leviathan was her final mentor on Jiera before moving back to Garlen to continue her apprenticeship under Sark.

    Fenagar had been teaching Scarlett how to put the bloodline abilities that she had discovered with Roghar''s help into practice. She could now use Life Maelstrom to enhance all of her senses andbine it with her other abilities to extend her perception of Mogar.

    She was learning how to pierce the veil of the world energy and tap into her full potential.

    "No, this is the most amazing magical research I have ever conducted." She said as a grimace twisted her face, as if she was suddenly experiencing deep shame and regret for no usible reason. "Yet I can''t help but suddenly feel deep shame and regret for no usible reason.

    "I don''t know why, but I feel like the dumbest creature alive."

    "Don''t be ridiculous!" Fenagar said in outrage. "You are one of the few creatures on Mogar who managed to be a Guardian.

    "You''ve reached such an amazing achievement after living for barely more than 300 years whereas most of us had to wait until their second millennia. If you are stupid, then what about the rest of Mogar?

    "It''s not like you had the most amazing knowledge at your fingertips and ignored it the whole time just because you failed to read it." The scenario was so preposterous that the Leviathan started tough out loud.

    "You are right." Scarlettughed as well, but the tears streaming from her eyes were of sadness.

    Meanwhile back in the Golden Griffon, Lith and dion were inwardly cursing themselves for having given away the Eyes instead of keeping them. Their inner grumbling was so loud that Ka could almost hear their thoughts via the mind link.

    That and the gritting of teeth and clenching hands were a big tell.

    ''Dammit, maybe if I kept the Eyes for myself, I would have already discovered the secret of tower crafting and this whole mission would be pointless. Once us Firstborn had our tower, not even Thrud could stand our power.'' dion thought.

    ''Dammit, maybe if I kept the Eyes for myself, I might have learned a lot about the secrets of Solus'' tower and its still missing floors! If the original Eyes also contains records of Menadion''s Forgemastering techniques, I''m going to kick my own ass.'' Lith thought.

    ''Maybe I should have kept thatst bit of information for myself.'' Ka pondered as the faces of herpanions became more twisted than a pretzel.

 Chapter 2185 Life Flames (Part 1)

    ''Probably it''s better if I don''t tell them that Scarlett liberated the Eyes from the hands of a mad Griffon-Lich.

    ''If the artifact also contains his research, I think dion and Lith will have a stroke out of sheer greed.'' The Wight worried about her bad habit of talking too much for almost one full second.

    Then, she realized that the legacy of a fellow Lich would greatly help her research and her mind moved on to more important matters than other people''s feelings.

    ''Don''t worry, Lith, we have lost nothing.'' Solus kept her own disappointment at bay to soothe his spirit. ''Ka is our friend and I''m sure that since she knows that I''m Menadion''s heir, she''ll share with us anything about Mom she might discover.''

    Solus had full trust in the Wight and also wanted to keep Lith calm to prevent the Chaos of his Abomination form to twist his mind.

    ''You are right. Thanks, Solus.'' Lith''s face rxed, going back to being a ck te.

    dion, instead, would take a few hours to finish digesting his own liver.

    ''Guys, not to ruin your inner monologues, but something weird is happening.'' Ka using the word "weird" was a big tell.

    Inside the room where Protheus had reformed his humanoid body, he seemed to be arguing with the mages.

    ''Dammit, if only we could hear what they are saying.'' Lith looked in wonder as the Doppelganger conjured bloodline abilities of all elements before attempting to fuse them with disastrous consequences. ''Can''t any of you read lips?''

    ''Why should someone write on their lips?'' The others replied, making Lith facepalm.

    On Mogar, mute people would simply learn how to speak with air chore magic or get cured with Body Sculpting, if they could afford it.

    "Stop it, Protheus. This is too risky. Instead of recklessly training your new powers, it would be better if you produced an offspring. We need to check if the abilities you gained from the ambrosia can be inherited." In''ya, one of the researchers said.

    "To what point?" The First Doppelganger shook his head. "It would take them days to mature and months before their cores be strong enough to fight. Even at that point, their usefulness would be nigh zero.

    "If I learn how to mix the Guardians'' bloodline abilities and life forces, instead, I would be a one-man army. On top of that, once I spawn more of my kind, I would be able to teach them instead of just making them suffer like I am now."

    "Fine." In''ya said with a sigh. "Then I suggest you turning into a Bahamut. The Crown Prince is already a perfect mix of two bloodlines so by mastering his bloodline abilities, you should also practice your fusions.

    "Also, whatever we discover now we can teach him once hees of age."

    "Excellent idea." Protheus shapeshifted into his Bahamut form by replicating the tissue of Valeron the Second stored inside his body.

    At the same time, the researchers cast their best Body Sculpting diagnostic spells and their breathing techniques to identify the mana organs.

    Lith and the others saw the deep Green of the Origin mes from Protheus'' wings mixing with the silver lightning of Life Maelstrom. The mes turned into a golden color and their intensity grew so much that the mages had to step back even.

    ''The guy isn''t even trying to attack, yet I can feel the intensity of that thing from here.'' Lith thought, wishing he could hear the discussion.<sub> </sub>

    The researchers had just Warped a block of Adamant inside the room when dion pulled Lith''s arm.

    ''Time to move. The patrol was actually mages stretching their legs, but more of them are taking a break and areing this way.'' Lith whined in reply and followed the Firstborn.

    He had recognized the Bahamut form from his previous encounter with Protheus and after Solus had seen the pictures of Valeron the Second on Thrud''s interlink, Lith now knew there was a second perfect hybrid afoot.

    ''I wish I could have kept watching. My bloodline abilities are mixed and I''m part Dragon as well. I could have learned a lot from their experiments.''

    They passed a fewbs where Thrud''s mages were researching Forgemastery and Alchemical techniques, but those were of no importance to Lith''s group so they moved over.

    ''This is bad.'' Ka said. ''Thrud has a fighting army and another made of researchers. To make matters worse, I''ve seen more resources during our stay than in Scarlett''s vault. Between human experimentation and immortality, there''s no limit to what the Mad Queen can achieve.''

    The others nodded, their determination to aplish the mission was reinforced with every room they passed. They avoided even looking at the contents of the variousbs to make haste and avoid wasting more time.

    At least until they found the room that the imprisoned Wendigo had mentioned to them earlier. Lith stopped at the sight of the thick padded door, his eyes lost their elemental energy as Decay reced it.

    dion would have dragged him away if not for the peopleing out of the room and standing in front of the corridor leading to the next flight of stairs to the seventh floor.

    "Please, let me out!" Orpal''s voice was shaken by tears and desperation. "Whatever Thrud is paying you, I''ll triple it. I''ll make you my Chosen and teach you de Magic."

    "Yeah, right." A woman said with a sneer. "We know how that ended for all those stupid enough to follow you. Stop whining and enjoy what time you have left, loser. Once we crack the secret of your tower, the True Queen will kill you."

    At those words, Orpal started to cry harder.

    "By the way, congrattions. Your brother has recently be the first Supreme Magus of the Garlen Continent. I heard that the True Queen wants to recruit him." The male researcher said, sending Orpal into hysterics.

    The two magesughed their asses off in his face before mming the door. The soundproofing made the screams end and the corridor turned silent again.

    "Dude, that was cruel." The woman was stillughing.

    "If you think that was cruel, wait until I tell him about Verhen''s child." The man replied. "I bet next month''s pay that when Meln hears about the Guardians defending mother and child, he''ll crap himself."

    "I''m not taking losing bets." Sheughed even harder at the idea. "Why not tell him right now? You know, striking the iron while it''s still hot?"

    "Nah, another big blow so soon would have a small impact." The man shrugged. "Give it time, let him concoct some ridiculous revenge n, and then, boom. Another bad news and reveal that his n was a waste of time from the beginning.

    "That''s guaranteed to screw him up." The researchers were walking past the corridor behind the corner where Lith and the others were hiding.

    "That bastard''s sole quality is his resilience." The woman said, her voice full of spite. "No matter how much we cut him up, he always heals. On top of that, making his mind crumble is the only way we have to weaken Night and steal her secrets."

 Chapter 2186 Life Flames (Part 2)

    "It''s amazing how even inside a Sealed Space the darkness element keeps seeping inside the prison. I think¡­" The man''s voice faded in the distance and the group resumed their advance.

    Lith regretted not having heard anything relevant about the room''s defense system. Yet hearing Orpal''s voice and learning how he was being tortured both physically and psychologically every day almost made Lith change his mind about killing his brother.

    Almost.

    He took a mental note of the room with his own Eyes and asked Solus to memorize its dimensional coordinates.

    ''We have no chance of breaking in without being surrounded.'' She thought. ''There are too many people here and even with the Eyes, it would take a while to crack the door. I''ll humor Lith just to keep him calm.''

    In a regr academy, the seventh floor was dedicated to the living quarters of the staff and the Golden Griffon was no different. There lived Thrud''s Generals, Linnea, Jormun, and the Mad Queen herself.

    None of the doors was closed since most of the upants of the floor were gone and there was absolute trust between them. No one was supposed to be capable of entering there uninvited.

    Each room was as big as a penthouse and as luxuriously furnished. There were soft carpets covering the floor of every room, and the lobby of every apartment was bigger than Kam''s house in Belius.

    Lith could see that Thrud''s Generals had their own personalbs and research materials right inside their homes. They had all been neglected apprentices and now they had arranged their living quarters better than those of their old masters.

    The Divine Beasts kept their doors open also to keep an ear on the little Valeron, especially while his parents were away. It was the reason Ka and the others heard the cooing and giggling typical of a small child.

    Lith pointed at the source of the noise before passing his thumb over his throat, gaining the reproachful res of dion, Ka, and Solus.

    ''Hey, if we can defeat Thrud and end this war just by taking a child hostage, I have no problem being the bad guy.'' He said via the mind link.

    ''What if it was your child?'' dion asked, filled with outrage.

    ''I would never leave her unguarded like- Oh, shit!'' Lith had peeked around the corner, discovering that Jormun was on his same page.

    He was there, ying with Valeron while several Forgotten guarded all corners of the room and its entrances. To make matter worse, Valeron the Second had two violet-cored Awakened for nannies.

    They were the handmaidens of thete Syrook. Thrud had taken them with her so that Valeron would grow up with someone who could teach him to embrace his human side and understand the struggle of regr people.

    In exchange, the Mad Queen was teaching the handmaidens everything they needed to survive in the outside world.

    ''It''s like he expects someone to Spirit Warp in. The guy is beyond paranoid, he''s mental.'' Lith''s words earned him a second volley of res. ''Let''s move. n A it is.''

    ''It takes one to know one.'' Solus scoffed at him taking mental notes of Jormun''s protection just to enhance them with some of Lith''s own for the baby girl''s future room. ''Valeron is just a little boy. How can you even think of dragging him into the war?''

    ''Because this way my daughter wouldn''t.'' Lith replied. ''Only one of them is going to live happily with their parents and there''s nothing I wouldn''t do to make sure that my baby girl doesn''t end up an orphan.''<sub> </sub>

    They quickly reached the next flight of stairs and arrived on the eighth floor.

    The Headmaster''s office was located atop the castle keep so it took them a while to reach their destination.

    Back when Lith had reached the office for the first time, it was located on the ground floor and the lost academy was still under the effect of the sealing arrays.

    Now, however, being so close to the academy''s power core with the full power of the geyser at its disposal, made climbing the final steps hard for his group. The world energy was collected, umted, and amplified in the keep before being evenly spread to the rest of the academy.

    To make matters worse, the power core was a sentient being. Once the world energy took its energy signature it would also gain the core''s hostility toward anyone but Arthan''s blood.

    Hystar couldn''t perceive the presence of the intruders due to the cloaking rings they wore, but that didn''t relieve the pressure of the malevolent mana that filled the air around them.

    The Headmaster''s office looked nothing like Marth''s at the White Griffon. The whole floor had been turned into a detailed map of the Griffon Kingdom with miniatures representing the fortresses and the position where the troops of both sides were currently deployed.

    A golden throne whose wood had been carved to resemble a prancing Griffon was at the head of the map while several smaller chairs were ced on either side. The walls were filled with reports from the most sessful and disastrous battles.

    Thrud always kept them at hand to learn from them both.

    Hystar''s and Linnea''s desks were lined one against the other and they were both filled with paperwork. Lith browsed the piles of documents, discovering they were updates about the status of every line of research conducted in the academy and the progress of their "recruits".

    Sadly, all the documents were written for someone who already knew the details of each experiment and contained little information about them.

    ''The miniatures by themselves tell us nothing of Thrud''s future ns.'' Ka said after taking a good look at the room with the Eyes of Menadion. ''I can see several inactive arrays filled with notes and strategies, but to read them I would need to activate them.''

    ''Ignore the arrays.'' dion replied. ''If we activate them, Hystar would notice and Thrud would just change her ns after chasing us out. Let''s just focus on the reason we are here.''

    Unluckily, the map didn''t show them the position of the power core nor how to reach it. On the other hand, despite all the changes the office had undergone, the Headmaster''s desk was still there and so was the wall to its east.

    The magic instion was so good that even the Eyes couldn''t perceive the presence of the power core behind the solid stone.

    ''Thank the gods we had a lot of practice finding hidden switches while climbing our way here.'' Ka said. ''Just like the stairs, there should be a mechanism to ess the power core in case there is a ckout or it needs maintenance.''

    Thanks to the information gained from the prisoner Vampire, it took them just a while to release the locks and make the wall slide up, revealing the power core.

    ''By the Great/Red Mother.'' The group thought in unison at the sight of their prize.

    The Golden Griffon''s power core wasprised of a white mana crystal the size of a gym ball encased in a cube of ck Davross. Seven concentric rings of white Davross spun around it, each one moving in a different direction.

 Chapter 2187 Mad Genius (Part 1)

    Every centimeter of the rings was covered in blue, red, silver, and white runes. A massive pir of world energy came from below, focused to the point that it was visible to the naked eye without the need for mystical senses.

    The power core gorged on the energy, turning it into mana that was sent to the rings to be amplified before being redirected where needed. The Headmaster''s office was both the beating heart and the weak point of the academy.

    ''Order and Chaos. That thing holds so much power that if we dared to put a dent in it, the map of the Griffon Kingdom and the Gorgon Empire would be redrawn.'' dion said.

    ''Who cares about that.'' Lith had Solus take her Eyes form and focus solely on the power core. ''What are those runes? Blue are the Forgemastering ones any decent mage knows.

    ''Red are dimensional runes, probably connected with the internal and external Warp system of the academy. I bet that''s also the way those who are made immortal by the academy are brought back here to rebuild their bodies.

    ''What are the silver and the white ones, though?''

    ''No clue.'' The Firstborn was tempted to step forward and use Bloodborne, his breathing technique to study such a marvel of magic, but he was afraid that any interaction might give away their presence.

    ''Let me see.'' Ka activated her own Eyes of Menadion, starting the scan as well.

    The original Eyes and those of the tower resonated and so did their power cores. Lith and Solus could feel the burden on their minds being lessened as the two artifacts split the workload.

    The two Eyes exchanged the information they acquired, avoiding redundant scans and sharing their respective databases to shorten the time that a full scan of such aplex artifact required.

    Lith also took out Solus'' Sage staff from their pocket dimension, using its ability to focus and sharpen the mind of its master in order to hasten things even further.

    ''Too bad that my Eyes have no corrtion to my mind or I could benefit from the Staff as well.'' Ka sighed in envy.

    Her artifact was at the top of its game, but between theck of a mind link and the outdated runes, it would take her a long time to read the full report. The tower''s Eyes were still iplete and their use burdened both Lith''s and Solus'' mind.

    On the other hand, however, the mind link between the tower and Solus allowed her to convert the data collected into instant knowledge. On top of that, the tower''s Eyes were constantly being upgraded, bing more powerful as Solus learned more about magic and the tower regained its prowess.

    ''Okay. I have no idea what the silver runes are. There is no match for them in the Eyes'' database so we''ll have to wait for the scan to beplete.'' Ka said. ''I do know what the white runes are, though.

    ''They are made out of perfectly stabilized Decay.''

    ''What?'' The other three said in unison.

    ''That''s impossible. Cursed elements can''t be stabilized, can''t be used along other Cursed elements, and can''t do anything but destroy.'' Lith said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    ''What do you think Forbidden Magic is for?'' Ka scoffed at their naivety. ''Arthan was a true genius and this exins everything.''

    ''Genius, maybe. Mad, sure. Also, it exins nothing and so do you!'' dion said, more annoyed than ever at the Wight.

    ''Look, since it''s going to take a while, let''s kick things up another notch.'' Ka ignored the Vampire''s snarky remark and turned to Lith. ''Give him a monocle, Scourge. Maybe if we put his brain to use, his mind will shut up and let me finish a sentence.''<sub> </sub>

    ''What the fuck are you talking about?'' Suspense and mystery were giving the Firstborn a hissy fit.

    ''dion, does the vow you made to Tyris apply to anything that will increase our odds of sess?'' Lith asked.

    ''Of course.'' The ampule and its golden liquid in his pocket dimension were worth more than anything to him. ''Even if you use Forbidden Magic, I wouldn''t care. Whatever you do, it will remain between us and I''ll protect your secret with my life.

    ''I swear it on my son.''

    ''Great, then take this.'' Lith gave the Firstborn Vampire a Monocle, sharing part of the burden with him and further elerating the scan.

    ''Son of a Dragon!'' dion cursed as the massive load of information coursed through his brain. ''That''s why Ka wanted your presence. That''s why you didn''t barter for the Eyes back when Scarlett entrusted them to you. You already had your own.''

    ''Sort of.'' Lith replied. ''Mine are kind of faulty and stillck a lot of functions of the original. Ka, how did you know this would happen and what about the Decay runes?''

    ''Baba Yaga told me.'' Her words made dion curse his own mother next for trusting a semi-Lich more than him. ''As for the runes, do you really not get it? How do you think the Golden Griffon can rebuild a dying body before its core starts to fade?

    ''How do you think it can keep all of its students eternally young? The perfect Decay can not only hasten the regeneration of any kind of wound better than a Lich''s phctery but it can also amplify the vitality of its target.

    ''The light element of living beings gets overcharged to the point that aging simply stops. Their cells stop dying because they get constantly rejuvenated so they have no need to burn life force to live despite the passing of time.''

    ''Good gods. Arthan really was a genius.'' Lith said in astonishment. ''He achieved something that not even a white core like Aylen or any Eldritch could. He perfected Mirror Magic into something useful.

    ''Do you think that the same could be done for the other Cursed Elements?''

    ''Sure, if you are willing to sacrifice countless lives for your experiments until you get it right and then more for a cursed artifact like this.'' Ka''s voice shared none of his enthusiasm.

    ''I believe that the Mad King was no less brilliant than thete Manohar. Yet he was also even less scrupulous and unlike your friend, Arthan was terrified of death. Genius and no morals make the perfect recipe for a disaster.''

    Lith was about to argue, but Solus red at him in a way that could have borne a hole through his skull. So, he shut up and just offered the other end of the Sage Staff to dion.

    ''Yggdrasill wood and the Eyes? Kid, I swear to the gods, if it wasn''t for my oath, I would kill you.'' The Firstborn said and his words didn''t sound like a joke.

    ''Remember that everything that happens inside the Golden Griffon, stays inside the Golden Griffon. You swore on your son''s life.'' Lith pointed out just to be sure, making dion curse again.

    ''Don''t worry. I remember it well and I''m already regretting it.'' The Firstborn replied with a snarl.

    ''Why so jealous? I find it hard to think that after having lived for as long as you, someone might not have a single piece of the World Tree.''

 Chapter 2188 Mad Genius (Part 2)

    The honesty in Lith''s voice was the only reason dion answered with words instead of curses.

    ''Until the gue, I was born and lived in Jiera whereas the Tree was here on Garlen. I was too busy and had too many limitations during daylight to cross the ocean just in the hope to find their Fringe, get inside, and somehow obtain a branch.

    ''Very few people get their hands on Yggdrasil wood every century and when they do, they enchant it their own way. Not only getting one would require me to find and kill them, but I''d also end up with something that doesn''t fit me.''

    ''Doesn''t Baba Yaga reset your stuff with Creation Magic if you ask her?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    ''Of course not. Just like Sark, right?''

    ''Yep.'' Lith replied a bit too fast and due to the mind link, dion could almost feel the tant lie.

    ''I hate your guts, kid. Now shut up before I change my mind and break a sacred oath.'' Scanning the Golden Griffon''s power core was a task as boring as it was vexing.

    They had to stare at it while also withstanding the mental pressure that the use of the tower''s Eyes exerted. Thanks to the Monocle form and the tower''s power core acting as an auxiliary brain, the strain was split in four but it was still a heavy burden.

    dion took a few vials of blood out of his pocket dimension and drank them. He wanted to recover the strength he had lost by using Blindside for so long and from moving during daylight in case something happened before their escape.

    Resisting the slumber caused by the abundant light element from the sun required a constant expenditure of the energy stored inside his blood core.

    As for Lith, he shapeshifted into his human form to eat and use a tier one healing spell to speed up his metabolism. This way the food was digested and assimted before the Unwavering Loyalty array could even detect him.

    It quelled the hunger of his Abomination form and restored his stamina.

    Thanks to the resonance between the artifacts and the Sage Staff, scanning the power core would require much less than Lith had initially feared. In a little more than an hour, they had reached over 80% ofpletion.

    ''Gods, it feels like a year.'' If Lith had nds he would have been covered in a cold sweat. ''How long do we have to wait? Thrud or her Generals might return at any moment.''

    ''Rx, Scourge.'' Ka said. ''You''ve been on the frontlines. You know that battles take the whole day and the sun has yet even to start setting. Until that moment, we are rtively safe.''

    s, they had all forgotten that just like its name implied, the Golden Griffon was an academy. The daily routine was dictated solely by the ss schedule and was unaffected by the war.

    Being left with a skeleton crew meant the need for all hands on deck, but both students and professors would take a break for lunch. Thrud had been adamant about giving the students humane hours and regr rest.

    Even the criminals were allowed all the food they needed to endure the training and eight hours of sleep a day to reset Invigoration.

    Headmaster Sevenus Hystar considered her policy an insult to his work during the past 700 years, but the ve spell that Arthan had inflicted upon him didn''t brook any form ofint.

    Whatever the Queen or even her consort ordered, the Headmaster was programmed to smile and obey.<sub> </sub>

    ''I hate teaching these morons!'' Hystar left the advanced Forgemastery ss right after dismissing the students. ''All this coddling and spoon-feeding them is ridiculous. Back in my day, they had to fight even for the right to eat and the losers would be eaten.

    ''I gave birth to the strongest fighters that the Kingdom has ever seen yet instead of being grateful to me, the Queen beats the crap out of me for it. Sure, I robbed my students of their free will and over time they wentpletely insane, but you can''t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

    ''The only silver lining is that Her Majesty is winning the war and that due to her enlightened rule her people love her. Too bad that I''m aplete moron unworthy of licking the ground she steps on-'' The ve spell forbid Hystar even to think badly of Thrud, turning any grievance he had into self-loathe.

    Yet the reason his train of thought derailed was the presence of intruders in his office. The Headmaster had no need to eat or sleep so he would spend his free time in istion to calm his nerves.

    ''Danger at your six!'' Solus warned the rest of the group who was still staring dumbly at the power core.

    They all turned around in unison, weaving their best spells to face the iing threat.

    ''Avoid area of effect spells and bloodline abilities.'' Lith said. ''The Headmaster has limited powers over the academy unless we break its rules or damage it.''

    "Who the heck are you, how did you get in here, and why even though I can see you with my own eyes I can''t still feel your presence?" Hystar was more curious than angry about the break in.

    The Mad Queen had forbidden him to y with the students anymore but she had left him free rein with intruders. The Headmaster had a lot of pent up rage to vent so his greatest worry was to kill them too quickly.

    dion took his Primordial Thirst sword out of his pocket dimension, making his first mistake. Hystar had never met Ka, knew nothing of the Eyes, and very few people had witnessed Lith''s Abomination form.

    Thrud had met and fought dion, though. She had shared the encounter with the Headmaster via a mind link so that he could help her to replicate the tactics and enchantments that she had witnessed.

    Hystar had failed to recognize the Firstborn Vampire but he recognized Primordial Thirst at a nce.

    "By Arthan, if you are undead then this will be even easier than I thought." A snap of his fingers turned the ceiling into ss, letting sunlight fill every corner of the room and setting dion aze.

    ''Fuck me sideways, we need to stop him from sounding the rm.'' Lith was an Abomination and sunlight quelled his hunger, making him stronger. ''Ka, keep scanning. We don''t have a moment to spare.''

    ''On it!'' Solus and Ka replied in unison.

    The Headmaster and the academy were one so even by staring at him the Eyes could keep studying the power core. On top of that, every ability of the academy was coded in the enchantments and they had scanned most of them.

    Between the mana perception of the Eyes of Menadion, the data collected, and the Sage Staff, Lith had the equivalent of Dragon Eyes. He could see the single runes of the spells that Hystar was casting and what enchantments he was about to activate.

    On the other hand, Lith hadn''t missed how the Headmaster had turned younger from theirst meeting and was also much stronger.

 Chapter 2189 Menadions Set (Part 1)

    The brown hair and beard of the Golden Griffon''s Headmaster had lost all trace of grey and its red streaks burned like mes under sunlight.

    Lith took out War and aimed for the head. Hystar pped the de away and then Lith, sending him crashing against the wall.

    "Come on, put in some effort. If you bore me, I''m going to call-" The room went dark as dion conjured a tier one darkness spell that ckened the ceiling and the walls.

    The Firstborn had hidden under Hystar''s desk to escape the cruel bite of the sun and n his counterattack. His wounds closed at a speed visible to the naked eye and he jumped at Hystar while unleashing several spells at the same time.

    The golden robe of the Headmaster pped as he raised his arms and conjured a wall of enchanted stone that blocked the barrage of attacks.

    "That''s it? I was expecting more from one of Baba Yaga''s Firstborns. I heard that you guys are supposed to be stronger than Elder Dragons, but you''re way weaker than that. Either the rumors are exaggerated or daylight weakens you."

    Hystar had the floor go back to its ce and then punched at dion so fast that there was no time to dodge. The Vampire managed to block thanks to his millennia of battle experience but the impact sent him flying toward Ka.

    The Wight managed to Blink away only because she had kept herself at a distance.

    The Headmaster yed with his prey, trying to understand their worth for the human experimentation department and the True Queen.

    ''How can Hystar be this strong? Based on our readings, the Golden Griffon is bonded to a human.'' Lith thought while getting back to his feet with a kip up.

    ''My guess is that he''s like me. He retains part of the mass of his artifact half and he''s empowered by the mana geyser below us.'' Solus replied without ever stopping to work. ''Yet his vessel is still human.''

    Lith nodded and unleashed his tier four Battle Mage spell, Shattered Winter. It generated a shockwave of cold wind that would stiffen the muscles of its victims while also making their bones vibrate.

    Even if the Headmaster felt no pain or used darkness fusion, Shattered Winter would cripple his strength.

    "Smart, but not enough." Hystar''s eyes red up with mana and the academy''s walls came to life, spawning human-sized stone golems.

    The constructs were unaffected by the spells and stood on Lith''s path long enough for Hystar to recover. He intercepted War with his arm, suffering nothing but a shallow wound.

    The edge of the angry de felt like it had struck a block of Adamant.

    "What an amazing artifact! Only the Sword of Arthan has ever managed to hurt me. What else have you got?" Hystar''s flesh and his golden robe healed instantly as he moved on the offense.

    Lith was heavy but the Headmaster was heavier. Every time they shed, he was the one who kept being pushed back. To make matters worse, no matter how many golems War destroyed, more kept spawning.

    "Enough of this!" dion shattered the constructs restricting his movements by flexing his muscles and unleashed the tier five Blood Magic spell, Cursed Life. Awakened undead could use Spirit Magic, but being born from their blood cores it was red instead of emerald green.

    A crimson mist spread throughout the room, working akin to a powerful acid against inanimate objects and like both acid and venom for the living.

    Cursed Life used the water aspect to slip inside every nook and pore of its victims, fire to burn them, earth to tear them apart, air to cut them open, darkness to eat their essence, and light to fasten its own spreading.

    The golem turned into sand and the Headmaster melted, yet they all reformed an instantter.<sub> </sub>

    ''Don''t give up! The moment his body was destroyed, the academy''s power core weakened and its cloaking spells faltered. The scan is going faster.'' Solus said, making dion wonder who the heck the feminine voice talking belonged to.

    "Very good! Yet unless you exin to me why the woman is sitting there like an idiot, I''ll end our ytime." Hystar said, receiving a double stab in reply.

    Lith had pierced his heart while the Vampire his head, but neither of them seemed to bother him.

    "You asked for it. I''m tired of your shenanigans now." Hystar snapped his fingers to activate the rm, yet nothing happened.

    Solus had countered his spell by mixing a few runes from the Sage Staff with those of the surveince arrays, making them short-circuit.

    "This is impossible. How can you-" Agonizing pain cut Hystar short as Lith and dion jumped back, leaving their des inside his body.

    War''s Counterflow ability was negating the Headmaster''s defensive enchantments, allowing Primordial Thirst to unleash all of its spells inside of him without encountering any resistance.

    Lith hurled a jet stream of violet Origin mes while dion activated his bloodline ability, Blood Steal. Hystar started to bleed from every orifice and pore as his blood willingly left his body and entered the Vampire''s.

    The many open wounds made the process faster and easier, filling dion with new mana and vigor.

    The Headmaster''s body crumbled again and the scan of the power core progressed even faster.

    "Enough ying!" When Hystar reappeared, the whole office came to life.

    Lith, dion, and Ka sunk into the floor which trapped their legs like a vice. They tried to Spirit Blink, but the Headmaster had activated a Dimensional Spell that Solus had never seen before so she failed to counter it.

    Static Field didn''t seal an element so much as it used gravity topress the space around its caster, making it hard to bend or deform. Since the spell didn''t affect the world energy but an area, even Spirit Magic was affected by it.

    Usually, the victims of Static Field just had to spend the same amount of mana the caster had employed to weave a single dimensional spell or retrieve something from a dimensional item.

    Hystar, however, had the power of a mana geyser and he used it with extreme prejudice.

    Lith gave up on keeping his identity a secret and conjured Void mes from his body. dion activated his bloodline ability Life Aura to erect a defensive wall of life force and break free.

    Ka used her link with the semi-phctery to add its mana to her own and reach a magical prowess on par with a bright violet core.

    All of them failed as the enchanted stone of the Golden Griffon wrapped around them, using its raw mass and power to overwhelm them.

    "Wee back, Verhen. The Queen wanted to meet you for a long while. You have annoyed her greatly so she''ll be as grateful to me as she''ll be cruel to you." Hystar said while smothering the Void mes.

    "Since we have time before Her Majesty returns, I''ll make sure to break you." A punch to the gut made Lith double over in pain. "This way, she won''t have to stand your pointless bravado and my glory will be even greater."

    A p twisted Lith''s face by over 90 degrees and it would have broken his neck if he still had one.

 Chapter 2190 Menadions Set (Part 2)

    The Abomination snarled as it unleashed the full power of its Touch, sucking the energy from Lith''s surroundings and from Hystar every time he hit the darkness thatprised his body. Yet the difference in power and mass was too big.

    Lith could only partly heal the damage before more kept piling up.

    "Interesting. This is no shapeshifting, you are truly made of darkness. Now I know how to hurt you." The Headmaster conjured a powerful stream of darkness magic that flooded the stone trapping Lith.

    It negated his Abomination Touch and eroded his very essence, causing him pain like never before. Darkness not only hurt his body beyond what fusion magic could stop, but it also triggered his hunger, making it consume him.

    Lith roared in outrage as he felt his sanity slipping away. The hunger kept growing until it was the only feeling he had left.

    "Where are my manners? Maybe if Verhen won''t talk to save his hide, he will to save yours." Hystar waved his hand, sending two flows of darkness toward the rest of his prisoners.

    Soon all three of them screamed in agony, singing a symphony that he had longed for ever since the True Queen had returned.

    s, itsted for barely a second.

    A mean right hook wiped his smile off his face and sent most of it sttering on the floor in a bloody pulp of teeth and flesh.

    "What the-" Hystar had barely the time to turn around when the Sage Staff lunged at his chest with the violence of a copsing mountain.

    The impact blew his ribs, burst his lungs, and squashed his heart. That was just a second before six elemental beams pierced through his body, each leaving behind a hole the size of an orange.

    Solus didn''t waste time talking and hit the Headmaster in the head with a downward swing of her Fury. The shockwave pulverized him and crushed the stone constructs, freeing herpanions.

    "Who the heck are you?" Hystar regenerated once again, striking at Solus with the strength of the power core and the mass of the academy.

    Solus left the Sage Staff floating beside her, intercepting the fist with her opened palm. The Headmaster couldn''t believe his eyes when the petite hand not only stopped the attack, but it also drained his energy.

    ''Good question. Who the heck is she?'' dion asked while using his breathing technique to recover his mana.

    The mysterious woman was short, barely 1.54 meters (5''1") tall. She wore an armor that was identical to Lith''s except that for a few details. The gloves were made of stone instead of Adamant and had seven mana crystals each.

    One per knuckle, one in the middle of the backhand, and thest one on the palm. Also, instead of the ck te of the Tiamat, her helm resembled some kind of stone mask with eight magical gemstones shaped and arranged in front of her mouth to resemble a maw.

    ''A friend.'' Ka replied while resuming the scan of the academy''s power core.

    Hystar''s weakened state more than made up for the lost time and the best thing was that he was getting weaker by the second.

    ''Leave him to me. You just focus on the mission.'' Solus said via the mind link, allowing dion to recognize the voice from earlier.<sub> </sub>

    "What in Arthan''s name are you?" Hystar had never experienced fear before but like every good schr, he was a quick learner.

    He kicked at Solus to get free from her grip, only for her to block his foot with her knee and then extend her leg in a powerful kick to his nuts. The Headmaster had still the body of a man and despite darkness fusion keeping him from feeling pain, he instinctively doubled over.

    It offered his chin on a silver tter for the Fury to strike.

    Solus held the hammer close to its head, making it easy to use in close quarterbat. Hystar''s jaw shattered yet the woman refused to let him go so that the recoil from the blow drew him close again.

    He then conjured another wave of golems to attack her from every side but her cruel hammer wiped them out in a single swing. The Sage Staff granted her rity while the Eyes showed her the runes hidden under the stone surface, highlighting those critical for the constructs to work.

    She used minimum strength and damaged only one rune per golem, yet it was enough to turn them back into a bunch of rocks.

    Then, Hystar tried to activate the defensive arrays of the Golden Griffon but once again Solus used the runes engraved on the Sage Staff and the power of the Mouth of Menadion to either hijack or nullify them.

    The scan of the power core had exceeded 90%, allowing her to know what arrays the Headmaster was going to use the moment mana started to flood them.

    Incapable of escaping her grip, Hystar cut his own arm off out of desperation.

    "I know what you are!" He said while conjuring ten tier five spells that faded under the effect of a full set of elemental sealing arrays. "You are a living legacy just like me. Why are you doing this? I-"

    The words died on his lips as Hystar''s brain managed to resist panic enough to notice with Life Vision that the woman had the same energy signature as Verhen.

    "A Horseman?" He said after recognizing a pattern simr to Dawn''s and Night''s. "This makes no sense! You are no Dusk and there is no such a thing as a fourth Horseman!"

    "Tell that to someone who cares!" Solus conjured the Tower Tier Spell, Nova Eclipse.

    It unleashed upon the Headmaster a violent torrent of ck mes filled with bolts of sma. The spell employed the fire, darkness, light, and air element at the same time, forcing Hystar to drain the power from the rest of the academy to resist the onught.

    Even before obtaining the Hands, Solus had discovered how the tower could take control of the world energy from a partly unused geyser. With the help of the Hands, however, she could now wrestle the world energy out of the control of most artifacts.

    Doing it right from their arrival at the Golden Griffon would have created a power leakage that, once noticed and followed, would have led the Headmaster straight to the group.

    The moment Hystar had found them, she had started to dominate the bits of energy that escaped the grasp of the academy to fuel her tower half. On top of that, she had discovered that the process became much faster every time the Headmaster hit Lith.

    Physical contact allowed her to weaken the Golden Griffon while also empowering her tower half. It was how Solus had conjured enough mass to challenge Hystar physically and even to use the arrays stored in the Heart of the tower to neutralize the spells.

    The problem was that her advantage would onlyst until the Headmaster underestimated her. He still held control over most of the energy from the geyser and until that moment, he had used only bits of strength to notpromise the activities of the academy.

 Chapter 2191 Fates Collide (Part 1)

    ''I don''t care about winning since I can''t destroy this fucker.'' Solus thought. ''I must only focus onsting long enough to finish the scan and get out of here.''

    ''Are you really a Horseman?'' dion''s jaw telepathically hit the floor as he finally made sense of Hystar''s words by noticing that Lith had the same energy signature as Solus.

    ''No. I will exin itter. Now focus only on recovering your strength and looking for an opportunity to help my partner.'' Lith replied.

    The Eyes of Menadion werepleting the scan of the power core while also providing them with urate information about the fight. They could see the sudden power surge flooding Hystar as he shapeshifted into his battle form.

    The golden robe wrapped around his body, turning into a thick armor. His skin turned into stone while a polearm appeared from his right hand and a shield from his left. In the blink of an eye, the Headmaster had transformed into a living golem that closely resembled a stone Royal Fortress armor.

    The constructcked the Davross and its mystical properties but it was connected to the entire power core of the academy and fueled by the mana geyser, making the difference negligible.

    ''Dammit. I have no idea if touching his armor still counts as direct contact to hijack control of the mana geyser.'' Solus thought. ''To make matters worse, I can conjure the arrays stored in the Mouth, but I''d rather keep them as a surprise to escape the moment-''

    "What the heck is going on?" A thundering voice derailed her train of thought and froze everyone into ce.

    It wasn''t just for the power and killing intent infused in it, but also because the words reverberated through the academy walls that amplified both the mana and hostility they held by several folds.

    Jormun the Emerald Dragon burst through the door followed by several of the Forgotten, all armed to the teeth and with several spells at the ready. Being members of Valeron the second''s personal bodyguard, they were the cream of the crop and so was their equipment.

    Lith inwardly cursed and turned toward the new enemies, trying to replicate what the Void had done against the Royals and infusing War with Chaos.

    "Little brother? What are you doing here?" Jormun recognized Lith from his energy signature and ignored the sh of stone against metal in the background.

    "Take a guess." Lith said while Ka moved behind dion, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible.

    If she was forced to fight as well, the scan would stop and there would be no reason to stay there any longer.

    "You havee to try and destroy the Golden Griffon, but you have failed." Jormun said.

    "Yes." Lith lied through his teeth to buy as much time as he could.

    "Hystar, if that woman stops attacking, I order you to stop as well. I want to talk with my little brother without all this noise." The Emerald Dragon''s words made the Headmaster flinch in disgust. "This fight is pointless and I want to avoid pointless bloodshed."

    Even more so when Solus stepped back and his body froze against his will.

    The battle moved from the physical to the mental ne, with Solus trying to steal control of the geyser and Hystar trying to take it back. The good news was that the break allowed her group to focus all Eyes on the power core.

    The bad news was that without the stress from the fight, the cloaking devices of the academy were regaining their strength, slowing down the analysis.

    "Thank you." Unaware of the ongoing secret battle, Jormun gave Solus a small bow. "First of all, congrattions. I heard about your daughter so I know why you are here."

    "Congrattions to you too. I heard about your son and I can understand why you are trying to stop me." Lith nodded. "Yet it doesn''t mean that I''m going to just roll over and die just because you ask me to."

    "You are wrong. I don''t want us to fight." Jormun shook his head. "Look at us, we are just two fathers trying to do what''s best for their child. Our father came here just a few days ago to make me an offer so in respect to him, I''m going to make you an offer as well."

    It took Lith a second of confusion to understand that the Emerald Dragon was referring to Leegaain, not Raaz.

    "Surrender now, join my wife''s side, and I promise you that no harm wille to you."

    "Are you serious?" Lith''s surprise was honest and so was the disbelief in his voice. "Why should I do that?"

    "Because it would give your family a safe ce to stay once Thrud wins. It would give you the revenge you want on Orpal. As soon we are done with him, I''ll let you be the one to kill him." Suddenly Lith felt very interested.

    "On top of that, if you stay here and willingly submit to the Unwavering Loyalty array, it will take you just one visit to the resurrection chamber to fix your life force."

    The Abomination''s eyes went wide in shock and Jormun considered the ensuing silence as his cue to continue.

    "Everyone knows about your condition and during my stay here I found a cure. Arthan was insane but he was also a genius. If you ept my help, this war will end for you. You''ll have the full life span of a Divine Beast and the guarantee to see your daughter grow up.

    "To be with her instead of letting her be an orphan because someone killed you or just because you fought one battle too many for your life force. What do you say?"

    Lith took his time pondering the offer, but not just out of a scheme. He had no love for the Griffon Kingdom and no care for who ruled over it. Jormun''s offer solved all of his problems in one go.

    Peace, longevity, safety. He would have it all.

    Then, as he imagined how his life would have been in the Golden Griffon, he remembered all the horrors that he had witnessed during his visits. He envisioned himself, Kam, and his baby girl as victims of the ve array "for their own good".

    He could almost imagine the fear they would experience being constantly at the mercy of Thrud, with Jormun as their only lifeline. Unless she ordered them to be happy, of course.

    It would have been a full and long life, but also a life of servitude.

    "My answer is no. I''d rather die a free man than live as a ve. If there''s one thing that I want my daughter to learn from me is to never bow her head to anyone." Lith replied.

    "So be it. I respect you too much to underestimate you. Whatever you have learned during your visit, I can''t allow it to get out of these walls, even if it means killing you." Jormun shapeshifted into his hybrid form.

    It resembled a humanoid Dragon covered in brilliant emerald scales, around 2 meters (6''7") tall. The mass was the same as his real body but with a bigger size, he would have had problems fighting inside an enclosed space.

 Chapter 2192 Fates Collide (Part 2)

    His Dragonw bastard sword and his Kingyer armor grew with him, both engraved with mana crystals of seven different colors,cking only the emerald green of Spirit Magic.

    Yet instead of unsheathing his weapon, Jormun extended his hand in an unmistakable gesture and crossed half the distance separating them. Lith hung War to his hip, shapeshifting into a Tiamat as he moved forward as well.

    He had already experienced it once with Xenagrosh and knew what it meant.

    Dragons were creatures of cold intellect and would rarely base their decisions on emotions. It was also the reason they expressed their respective feelings through the contact of their scales rather than words.

    The moment Lith shook Jormun''s hand, they could understand each other''s burden and motivations. How both of them were just doing what they considered best for their respective spouse and child.

    There was no hatred between them, only understanding. The handshakested barely a second, yet it was as if the two of them had just had a long and honest conversation.

    "I''m sorry, little brother. I really wanted to avoid this." Jormun''s eyes became veiled with tears for a brief instant before he managed to regain his cool.

    "So am I." Lith shared none of the family bonds that the Emerald Dragon felt towards him so his eyes just turned white as he went back to being an Abomination.

    At the same time, he remembered well his past meetings with Jormun.

    Even when they had failed to understand each other, Jormun had never tried to harm Lith. After reaching the Headmaster''s office for the first time, if not for the Emerald Dragon''s help Lith would have been entrapped and enved by the Golden Griffon.

    When Orpal had set up a death match for them in his secretir, Jormun had foiled the Dead King''s ns by refusing to fight Lith and giving him the goods that belonged to Orpal. Even then, they had talked it out.

    The only time they had fought it had been when Jormun was still under the ve array and because Thrud had ordered him to.

    "Don''t think that our fight will go the same way as thest." Jormun said while spreading a violet aura. "Back then, I was not Awakened and I was a prisoner of my own mind.

    "This time you are not facing an unwilling ve, but a man with a reason to fight for."

    "I couldn''t have said it any better." Lith''s body exuded a violet-ck aura due that was in no way inferior to the Emerald Dragon''s.

    "Kill them all." The moment the order was given, the Forgotten jumped at the enemy and Hystar resumed his attack.

    "Stay behind me!" dion stepped forward, activating Life Aura again to block the iing volley of spells and not break Ka''s eye contact with the power core.

    The Firstborn Vampire cursed their bad luck.

    ''Why did we have to trip right in front of the finishing line?'' He thought. ''To make matters worse, my equipment is better, my battle experience is superior, but these bastards are many and my blood core is weakened!''

    Each one of dion''s enemies had a violet core as well while his strength was reduced to halfway between violet and bright violet due to the sun. To make matters worse, his defensive options were limited by Static Field which hindered dimensional magic, and by the need to protect Ka.

    A blue cored semi-Lich had no chance of survival against a single opponent of that caliber.

    Then, the situation got better yet worse. The first boom of thunder came with a shockwave that sent the Forgotten and the Firstborn crashing against the wall. The Wight had resisted it due to her timely use of Gravity fusion.

    ''What the heck? Even though my form is human, my blood core bestows me a physical prowess on par with a Divine Beast and some of the Forgotten are Emperor Beasts. How could-''

    The Fury struck at Hystar''s shield again and a second thunder sent them flying again. Both Solus and the Headmaster now weighed like buildings, making even their exchanges dangerous.

    Things only got worse when War shed with the Dragonw, producing one more shockwave. The Abomination and the Emerald Dragon infused themselves with all the elements, achieving a might that further exceeded their simple mass.

    To not lose ground, Lith had Double Edge shrink in size before coating War so that its weight matched Dragonw. With each movement they made, they weaved runes that formed spells.

    Jormun used his Dragon Eyes to anticipate and counter Lith''s magic while the Abomination exploited the Eyes of Menadion to do the same. dion and the Forgotten had a hard time just standing against the storm of magic and shockwaves that made the castle keep quake.

    The only silver lining was that everyone was too busy to even notice Ka''s presence.

    "You are amazing, little brother." Jormun said while effortlessly dodging most of Lith''s attacks and neutralizing his magic with counterspells. "I can''t believe you''ve reached this level in a little less than twenty years."

    Lith could only grunt in reply as his repertoire of feints and attacks was quickly running out. Now that he had be a Divine Beast, the mass gap with Jormun was gone, but that was it.

    The Emerald Dragon was still over 900 years old, 500 of which he had spent inside the Golden Griffon, fighting for his life. Magic, swordsmanship, and control over his bloodline abilities, Jormun had perfected them all during his imprisonment.

    The academy had allowed him to put even the craziest strategy or experiment to the test since death only meant to start over. Despite the countless all-nighters that Lith had pulled,pared to Jormun he was greener than grass.

    The Abomination kept stepping back to escape Dragonw''s edge and no matter how many feints and traps he created, the Emerald Dragons ignored them all. Lith then hurled a st of Void mes, hoping that from point-nk range they wouldn''t miss.

    Jormun knew that Origin mes wouldn''t be enough so he mixed them with more than a spark of his life force. The resulting jet stream of Immortal mes blocked the attack and bbergasted Lith.

    It was his first time witnessing the Spirit Magic equivalent of Origin mes that Jormun had mastered after countless failures inside the Golden Griffon.

    The two mes were one the opposite of the other and their sh would have generated a major explosion if not for the Emerald Dragon using the bare minimum energy necessary.

    Lith exploited the resulting smoke as a cover to lunge at Jormun''s head, but even without the Eyes of Menadion to see through the mystical fog blocking his senses, he managed to block it at thest second.

    He used the mid-part of the Dragonw to wrap around War, pushing its tip outside of his line and stepping in with a thrust. The guard of Jormun''s de protected his hand as he pushed forward against War, shoving it further away from his body.

    The tip of Dragonw snuck between the tes of the Voidwalker armor, piercing deep inside the Abomination. The blow would have been lethal if Lith had been in his Tiamat form whereas his current body was made of darkness andcked vitals.

 Chapter 2193 Hold The Line (Part 1)

    Sensing the Chaos eating at his de, the Emerald Dragon freed it by kicking Lith straight in the chest. The impact sent him back a few meters and squeezed the air out of his body, dispelling the burst of Void mes he had kept at the ready.

    Between the wound and the unstable position, the Abomination was on his back foot, open to another attack.

    "It''s over. Surrender now and I will make this painless." Jormun could see with the Dragon Eyes that Lith had yet toplete a spell and that the hole in his body had yet to close.

    It made him confident and so he pushed forward to not give the enemy the time for a single breath of Invigoration. There was only a tiny opening between the helm and neck guard of the Voidwalker armor yet Dragonw found it.

    Lith''s seven eyes followed the perfect trajectory of the de, all of them refusing to blink. He tried to block it with War, but he was still in a partly crouched position and his footing was awkward.

    With one arm, hecked the necessary leverage to save his life.

    That''s why he used two, and when that turned out to be enough, he used three. War pushed Dragonw away with so much strength that Jormun lost his bnce and almost his grip as well.

    "What? How?" He asked while staring dumbly at the second set of arms that had reced his membranous wings and at the third that came out of his hips, where the feathered wings of the Tiamat form were supposed to be.

    In his Abomination form, Lithcked both the second set of wings and the tail, leaving plenty of Adamant to cover the new limbs. He opposed raw strength to Jormun''s superior technique and moved to the offense with a barrage of left fists.

    Despite his richer battle experience, the Emerald Dragon had only one set of arms and eyes, making it impossible for him to follow all of Lith''s attacks. One hand aimed at Jormun''s side, the palm filled with air and water magic.

    If it were to hit, the Dragon''s body would have been ravaged by cold and vibrations that would have crippled his speed. The second hand was aimed at the side of his chin and was imbued with darkness magic.

    The hit would have caused a concussion that not even darkness fusion could prevent while the darkness element would have messed up his motor coordination. Thest hand was grabbing at Jormun''s arm.

    If it seeded, the Emerald Dragon would have be incapable of either blocking or dodging, taking the other two hits and then War in the heart.

    At the same time, dion had yet to find a way out of his own predicament. The tier five Blood Magic spell, Crimson King had filled the air with air des that attacked on their own and didn''t disappear upon hit.

    His de, Primordial Thirst, kept finding its way past the enchanted protections of the Forgotten, inflicting upon them deep wounds and drinking their blood to empower him.

    At the same time, Life Aura blocked their spells and bloodline abilities alike, shielding Ka from harm.

    Yet none of it was enough.

    Whenever a hit wasn''t lethal, the second and first line of enemies would just switch positions and recover their strength with Invigoration. Whenever a hit was lethal, a tendril woulde out of the Golden Griffon.

    Be it reattaching a severed head or regenerating a punctured heart, it happened so quickly that the Forgotten would resume fighting before their corpses could hit the floor.

    They weren''t fighting in a distantnd but inside the Golden Griffon.

    The resurrection chamber could be ced wherever the Royal Family wanted and since the King consort was fighting in the Headmaster''s office, the safety protocols did everything they could to ensure his survival.

    dion used the power stored inside his blood core to push his physical prowess beyond that of Jormun and could take on a lot of Origin mes before weakening. The few centuries of experience of the Forgotten paled in front of his millennia and theycked both his craftiness and ingenuity.

    Yet they more than made up for it by attacking in waves, with no care for their lives. Even in death, their bodies grabbed at the Firstborn, trying to pin him down. Their des kept cutting at him even without a head guiding them.

    They were empty shells, a living extension of the Golden Griffon that ignored the pain and hunger that came with every resurrection.

    ''Please, tell me that you are almost done.'' dion said when a Hippogriff barged from the door as well, charging hispanions with Life Maelstrom.

    ''92% and counting. Without you and Lith things have slowed down.'' Ka replied.

    As for Solus, she was having a tough time with a taller and heavier opponent who also had superior range. Her arms were already short and the Fury''s handle didn''t extend her reach much further.

    Hystar''s polearm was over two meters (6''7") long and his Royal Fortress form was almost as tall.

    "You might as well tell me who you are, sister." He said while lunging at her and weaving a tier five spell with the same movement. "Once the King is done with your host, I''m going to take my time cracking you in more than one way."

    "I''m not your sister!" Solus first activated the air and earth sealing arrays from the tower''s Heart to neutralize his Bonegrinder spell.

    Then, she used the power of the Yggdrasill wood tobine her spells together and weave the runes of the six elemental sealing arrays stored inside the Mouth into a small tier Five Gravity array, Small Sun.

    Bybining the power of the tower, the Hands, and the staff, she could cast magic beyond what her flimsy blue core could.

    Small Sun generated a high gravity nucleus that drew in anything within a 10 meters radius. The pressure was so strong that rocks, dust, and whatever was caught in the gravity pull would be brought to the center of the spell and turn white-hot from the heat.

    The highlypressed mass generated by the spell looked exactly like a dwarf star.

    "Are you insane? It will burn us both!" Hystar had to use the talons on his boots to w deep into the floor and resist the pull of Small Sun.

    Solus jumped, instead, using gravity to charge at her paralyzed opponent and hit his shield with a dropkick. Hystar''s arm faltered, letting the Fury pass through his guard and hit him straight in the chest.

    The gravity spell also elerated the Davross hammer, giving it the momentum of a meteor. The same happened to all the eight following hammers that Solus had conjured by activating the Furies'' Flight.

    Each hit dragged the Headmaster further back until he almost reached the zing center of Small Sun. s, Solus had to pause the effect of the array to keep the Fury and herself from suffering Hystar''s same fate.

    Gravity magic affected everyone inside its area of effect, even its caster. The silver lining was that having turned Sinmara''s spell into an array, Solus could turn it on and off at will.

 Chapter 2194 Hold The Line (Part 2)

    Solus'' feet touched the floor and the hammer returned to her hand before Hystar could notice that the spell had be inactive and his guard was still lowered.

    "Well yed, but inside an academy, the Headmaster is a god!" Hystar let go of the spear and it bolted on its own against Solus. She tried to dodge but discovered to be ankle deep in the stone floor.

    The spear struck at her chest at the same time when Hystar shield bashed her and a pir of pure Spirit Magic erupted from the exposed power core, hitting her in the back.

    Solus coughed out a mouthful of blood, painting the gemstones of the Mouth red and losing her focus. The spells she had kept at the ready faded, leaving her only with the enchantments of her equipment and of her tower half avable.

    Hystar gave her no quarter and kept attacking her from every side by conjuring several new helpers. Instead of frail golems, this time he had the walls, floors, and even the ceiling take part in the fight.

    If anyone were to look at the Golden Griffon from the outside, they would have seen the castle keep suddenly shrinking. The missing mass had been disced in the Headmaster''s office in the form of countless limbs and weapons.

    Hystar meant to get rid of all the intruders at the same time by exploiting his control over the academy.

    It allowed him to conjure out of his body anything he could think of. Not only did his constructs have as much mass as he could spare while keeping the academy operational, but they also channeled the energy from the power core.

    ''To think that I wouldn''t be able to do this without that witch of Linnea.'' The Headmaster thought.

    ''The Queen managed to rece the outdated runes of the academy with modern ones while pregnant, but it was Linnea who gave me the same enchantments of a modern academy. I must remember to thank her before I kill her for good.''

    Solus was left with no choice and gritted her teeth in frustration. dion was barely holding out and Lith had just gained the upper hand. She couldn''t afford to stall for time anymore without putting their lives and the mission in danger.

    She activated one of the arrays stored in the Heart of the tower, using the portion of the mana geyser she had taken control of to fuel it. A magic circle formed around her and seven stars of different colors took the form of the Big Dipper.

    The spear cracked, the beam was stopped and Hystar managed to step back before his body was crushed only thanks to his shield. His arms had been turned into dust but they were already reforming.

    Too bad that once Solus activated Silverwing''s Annihtion all of his careful nning went into the gutter anyway. The Spirit Array would usually require seven violet cored Awakened to exert its full prowess and Solus had just a bright blue core.

    Yet even a fraction of the power of a mana core as big as the one under the Golden Griffon was enough to fuel the Annihtion.

    Each star emitted a beam of elemental energy that lit the room as if a sun had appeared. Hystar''s form turned into sand and so did all the constructs he had conjured.

    ''I would love to unleash the Annihtion all around me since Lith and I have the same signature and the array can''t hurt him.'' She thought. ''Yet Ka and dion would die, and if I inflict critical damage to the academy''s power core, not even us would survive the st.''

    Solus had to be careful with the energy mass she had umted.

    Destroying the walls would have also let sunlight in, putting dion''s life at stake. She used the Sage Staff to release the energy of the Spirit Array one bit at a time, guiding its flow like a conductor with a melody.

    She split it into three parts to take care of Hystar, the constructs, and the power core at the same time. Every time that the Headmaster died from the Annihtion and his body reformed, the cloaking system of the power core became weaker.

    With the power core itself under attack, part of the energy of the academy was redirected to form a barrier, slowing down the resurrection of the Forgotten killed by dion.

    Last, but not least, by taking care of the constructs Solus had allowed herpanions to keep focusing solely on their respective enemies.

    Lith kept holding War with three arms and exploiting his superior might to pin Jormun''s Dragonw against the ground as his three left arms rained a barrage of spells-imbued fists on him.

    The fight had lost any trace of finesse, degenerating into a slugfest. Every punch left a dent in the Adamant of the Kingyer armor and produced a shockwave so strong that it forced everyone to Hush their ears to not have their eardrums burst.

    Jormun stared once again at Lith in admiration, but respect didn''t make him falter and the battle experience umted through the centuries allowed him to find a counter.

    Two new sets of arms came out of his shoulders and hips as well, mirroring the opponent''s as if the fight had been rehearsed dozens of times. His open right palms blocked Lith''s right fists while his left hands grabbed the hilt of Dragonw, pushing War away.

    Emerald Dragons were the embodiment of life and had unparalleled control over life force. The Dragon Eyes had studied the changes in Lith''s body to sustain the new sets of arms and a simple Body Sculpting spell had done the rest.

    Unlike Lith, Jormun had no experience handling multiple limbs but thanks to his Emerald Flow bloodline ability there was no need for it. Emerald Flow allowed the Dragon to develop the necessary instinct to master every form he took the moment he changed his body.

    Also, Jormun activated another ability, Life Merge, to evenly redistribute the damage he had taken until that moment over all of his body. Life Merge could split a big wound into many smaller ones and share the damage an organ had taken with the healthy ones.

    This way, not only would any crippling wound stop hindering his movements, but it would also make the healing process faster and lessen the burden on his stamina. Light fusion could now close most of his injuries without the need of healing spells.

    Jormun exploited Lith''s surprise to push him away enough to free his right leg and kick the Abomination away. The Abomination would have been sent flying if not for gravity fusion bringing him back to the ground and his talons digging their way, making him stop after just a few meters.

    Jormun had just gotten back to his feet when his little brother did the unthinkable and plunged War inside his own body. The Emerald Dragon had no idea what was going on nor did he care.

    He took a deep breath to both use Invigoration and prepare a new bust of Origin mes, almost choking on them from the surprise. The angry de hade out of Lith''s body and neither of them seemed to be hurt.

 Chapter 2195 Face The Darkness (Part 1)

    The bond between Lith and War had protected the Abomination from the de and the de from the Chaos that was now harmlessly coating it.

    Lith had never learned how to safely wave Chaos spells but he had discovered a few things back in Urgamakka during his battle against Vareen.

    His body was partly made of Chaos and once extracted, he only needed Domination to weave it into any form he wanted. The ck droplets on the surface of the de grew in size and power as Lith''s ck eye lit with purple mana.

    Jormun saw the barrage of tier four Chaos spells, Howling Void, and hurled the Origin mes as fast as he could. The ck spears were as thick as a small tree and as fast as a bullet, piercing through the wall of mystical fire like it was paper.

    They lost part of their power, but they still struck with enough force to lift Jormun off the ground. Regr Adamant equipment would have been turned into Swiss cheese but the Kingyer armor wasprised of tons ofpressed metal.

    Between the hardness of the purified Adamant and the Spirit Barrier imbued in it, the armor held. Several centimeters-deep dents formed on its surface, making Jormun kneel to the ground while coughing out blood.

    The two men stared at each other with respect, the fight was probably the hardest they had ever had. Not just because of the power of the opponent, but because neither of them had any killing intent toward the other.

    There was no grudge between them nor any ill feelings.

    They were both fighting to protect their family and the people they loved. Every time they looked at each other, they saw their own determination shining in the opponent''s eyes, refusing to back down.

    Jormun, Lith, and everyone else in the room could see that they were one the distorted mirror image of the other.

    The emerald aura of the Dragon rose as he took another deep breath just like the ck aura of the Abomination burst forward as he prepared another volley of Chaos spells.

    They were both violet cored Awakened so with every move they made and with every beat of their cores they weaved one spell after the other.

    ''Order and Chaos, Leegaain, what have you done?'' Ka knew how important her role was, especially now that the repeated destruction of Hystar''s body had sped up the Eyes'' scan again.

    Yet she couldn''t help but turn around from time to time. All the fights taking ce in the Headmaster''s office were equally savage but the one between Jormun and Lith reminded her of the conflicting primordial forces.

    The elements of creations backed the Emerald Dragon while those of destruction empowered Lith''s every move. If one incarnated life the other was the embodiment of death.

    ''I would love to add another element to Chaos and try tier five spells, but I can''t afford the risk. Not now!'' Lith could feel Solus'' pain through their bond and knew that it was only a matter of time before the Annihtion ran dry.

    He unleashed more Howling Voids and hurled a jet stream of Void mes. Each one of them was aimed to kill or at least maim. Even though Lith didn''t hate Jormun, he couldn''t afford to let him live either.

    The Emerald Dragon felt the same toward his little brother, but it wasn''t reason enough to hold his punches. Jormun hurled a volley of Immortal mes, hiding them behind his tier five Spirit Spell, Dragon Wall.

    An emerald construct intercepted the ck spears, using its light element to revert Chaos into darkness and then fight it with its own.

    Jormun flooded the surface of the Wall with light element while using the earth aspect to make it sturdy, fire to dissipate the kic energy in heat, and water to neutralize it.

    Dragon Wall wasn''t enough to stop the Chaos, but it bought Jormun the time to unleash the Immortal mes. The emerald mes ate at the weakened spells, destroying the Void mes as well before hunting Lith down.

    They wouldn''t stop chasing their prey until they hit or the energyprising them was dispersed. Lith had barely the time to take another breath and emit Origin mes from all over his body before the emerald tide was upon him.

    The violet and the green mes struggled like angry beasts battling for dominance. The conflictsted solely for a split second before they exploded. Jormun''s Immortal mes had been weakened by the Chaos but his mastery over them was leaps and bounds above Lith''s so the sh ended up in a draw.

    s, Lith was the one surrounded by mystical mes and took the full brunt of the explosion with no defense except for the Spirit Barrier of the Voidwalker armor and by boosting the Adamant with mana.

    His equipment had already taken many blows and his core was weakened by the ever-growing hunger of the Abomination. The barrier shattered and the Voidwalker armor cracked as the st sent him sprawling on the ground.

    "I''m really sorry, little brother." Jormun panted more than spoke, dragging his feet while he walked toward Lith, lifting his de to give him the death blow. "I wish there was another way but there is not. I''m doing this for my son."

    ''Your life force is in disarray and your body is battered.'' The Void said. ''You have done everything you could, now it''s time you let me out.''

    Lith faced Derek in their Mindspace, the time slowing down until Mogar seemed to stop around them.

    This time there was no rage or contempt in Derek''s expression.

    He didn''t mock Lith for his failure nor did the Void belittle his efforts. He was simply resigned to losing everything once again. To turn into an Eldritch if that meant going back to his family and at least telling them goodbye.

    The Void offered Lith his hand in an affectionate gesture and sighed in sadness when he took it.

    ''No. I''m not going to let you out. I''m going to let you in.'' Lith pulled the Void with so much willpower that he fell forward, making the two figures ovep. In the Mindscape, the strength of the muscles was irrelevant, only that of the mind mattered.

    ''I may not know what you or even I exactly are, but one thing I know. I have no multiple personalities. You are just a part of me so I''m going to borrow your power.''

    Lith had already experienced a simr pain before back when he had fought against the Odi in Kh or the Void in the Hogum mansion, but never like this. The Chaos of the Void was now running through his veins, trying to rece the darkness.

    A ck pir erupted from the ground and Lith''s shadow body started to change despite his best efforts. Chaos and darkness fought as the pir expanded. Unlike those that apanied the birth of an Emperor Beast or a Guardian, it contained no world energy nor did it push Jormun away.

    The ck pir wasn''t a sign of Mogar''s blessing but that of a being that was cutting its ties with the. Its color was due to theplete absence of world energy, the Void creating a literal void that demanded to be filled.

 Chapter 2196 Face The Darkness (Part 2)

    Everything inside the ck pir had its energy sucked dry, be it Jormun, his magical equipment, or the Golden Griffon itself. Hystar screamed in pain as Chaos coursed his stone body, further weakening the cloaking devices and hastening the Eyes'' scan.

    "What are you doing?" Jormun had to jump back and use Scalesong to restore his withered legs that had been caught by the pir. "If you turn into an Eldritch you will die, leaving behind a monster!"

    "You are wrong, big brother." Lith focused on Solus'' stone ring, needing sheer willpower to stop the Chaos from reaching it and the pir from fully forming. "I''m already dead and so are you.

    "The only difference between us is that you still don''t know it."

    Lith could feel the ck sphere of the Abomination closing in to the star of the Divine Beast that held the red human life force at its inside. The tethers between them were breaking up one at a time, yet there was still hope.

    The Void had always been surrounded by lights that kept it at bay. The light of Solus, Carl, his family, Kam, and now the baby. Those lights now formed a bastion that slowed down its advance since Lith had yet to give up on both them and life.

    "I''m sorry, too. I would have liked to send you off properly but I have a few seconds at most. Goodbye." Lith walked forward as Jormun walked back to avoid the effect of the still lingering ck pir.

    The speech was just a ruse. Heartfelt and sincere, but a ruse nheless.

    Without the Yggdrasill staff, Lith needed time to select the right souls before activating his Possession bloodline ability.

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' Jormun thought. ''Even if Lith were to be an Eldritch, his newfound powers would amount to nothing without the time necessary to master them.

    ''Quite the contrary, he would be overwhelmed by the hunger and be easy prey. I''ve bested him on every exchange not because he''s weaker than me, but becausepared to me he''s barely an infant who has just learned how to walk.''

    Now that the ck pir was almost gone due to Lith resisting the evolution, the Emerald Dragon stepped forward and lunged with Dragonw. When the Abomination tried to block while backstepping, Jormun needed but a flick of the wrist to slip past Lith''s guard.

    Or so he thought, until War dropped down on Dragonw, sliding along its de to aim at Jormun''s head while also pushing his attack away. The Emerald Dragon sidestepped while flicking Dragonw down and up to free it, but War followed its movements as if they were glued together.

    Despite his three arms, Jormun managed to avoid getting skewered only by taking one step back after another.

    "You should have let me go, Jakra." Half of the Abomination''s face now resembled one of Thrud''s Forgotten and so did his voice. "I know all of your tricks and today I''m going to settle our score once and forever."

    Jormun had no idea that the name of the man was Fogha, nor how he had ended up inside the Golden Griffon. Every time they had met during the past centuries, they had always battled to death without exchanging pleasantries.

    Yet seeing that face, those techniques, and hearing Lith speaking the ancientnguage of the Kingdom, left no space for doubts.

    ''By the Father of all Dragons! That''s why the Forgotten show no sign of improvement no matter what Thrud tries to make them regain their sanity. They are already dead, their souls chained to their bodies and incapable of leaving.''

    The perspective of the Golden Griffon robbing its victims of their humanity until they turned into unliving was terrifying, but Lith borrowing their knowledge was much worse.

    Jormun had fought Fogha countless times in the past and had alwayse on top because of the abyssal gap in mass and physical prowess. The man had trained for centuries to counter Jormun''s techniques and make up for his lighter build but to no avail.

    Now, however, he still retained those techniques and possessed a body as strong as a Dragon''s.

    The two of them had the same amount of battle experience but while Fogha could count on Lith to adapt to his new body, Jormun had no idea how to counter theirbined techniques.

    ''Dammit, my only hope is to hold on until Lith runs out of time and dies.'' The Emerald Dragon thought and he was right.

    After Lith''s life forces had merged, they shared most of their skills but Possession wasn''t among them. Only the Abomination could host wandering souls inside his body but that came at a terrible price.

    Possession opened his body to any soul in the vicinity, giving them the opportunity to attack his mind and try to take over. Even hosting a single soul might have driven Lith insane due to the full fusion that sharing the same body required and now there were dozens of them.

    To make matters worse, Possession caused a lot of strain on him, generating more Chaos than his body could handle. It was the reason he had let the Void in, to obtain the means to withstand the Chaos without further shortening his life span.

    The Void was what Lith would have be if he ever turned into an Abomination and controlling Chaos was second nature to him. The problem was that by fusing with him, there was only so long before the Abomination''s life force became dominant.

    ''This is odd.'' Lith thought. ''I was ready to leave Fogha free reins over my body while I fought the invading souls, but I feel no pressure on my mind. I might as well kick things up a notch.''

    Lith was in charge of one set of arms and weaving spells since Fogha was no Awakened and had no experience with true magic or body casting. It allowed the dead man to focus solely on the swordy and footwork.

    Then, Fogha''s half of the Abomination face split again and another of Jormun''s dead rivals took over the remaining set of arms. The two soulsbined their techniques, switching War from one hand to another in a seamless sequence of attacks and parries.

    Meanwhile, inside the Mindscape, Trion and the other souls that usually resided inside Lith''s Void Sigils were giving their all to keep the invaders at bay.

    They stood their ground right in front of the ck sphere of the Abomination''s life force, beating into a pulp whoever tried to approach them. The light element in Lith''s life force was a beacon for the wandering souls.

    They just needed to take enough of it to form a body of their own ande back to life as independent Abominations. At the same time, losing even a sliver of life force would have shortened the little time that Lith could resist the pull of the ck pir.

    The Demons gave their all, but there were just four of them against dozens of souls.

    "I don''t get why you are here." Trion grunted, the blue light of his soul flickering as his punch pierced through a dark specter. "This is nothing like answering Lith''s call and none of you is truly loyal to him."

 Chapter 2197 Face The Darkness (Part 3)

    "We have no idea what happens to the guys we squash but one thing is for sure. If we fall in here, we''re done for good. There will be no second chance. Lith is my brother and I have lots of amends to make to him. What''s your excuse?" Trion asked.

    "Had you grown as old as I did, kid, you would have learned that loyalty is just purpose over time." Locrias wasn''t new to being outnumbered, but he usually had his equipment with him.

    The only silver lining in that unfair battle was that while the souls of the Demons had their full strength, the ck invaders were mere echoes of their former selves with barely a mind to them.

    One hit was all it took to dispose of them.

    "I am loyal to the Kingdom because of my duty and my family. Now I''m also loyal to Lith for the same reasons. I''m not letting my homnd down against Thrud and there''s no risk I wouldn''t take to see my wife and daughter smile just one more time!"

    Valia and Varegrave nodded as they assumed a square formation around the Abomination''s ck sphere, to cover it from every side. The Demons'' glowing figures were made of energy so they would never tire, no matter how many enemies they fought or for how long.

    s, the same applied to the invading souls and their numbers seemed to increase by the second. Now that Lith had willingly opened the gate that allowed the wandering souls to interact with him, anyone near the scene of the fight could join the onught.

    There was no call to be answered, no mission to fulfill in exchange for a second life, just an open door leading to a free buffet. To make matters worse, the Golden Griffon was filled with restless souls.

    They belonged to the Forgotten, to those who had died inside the lost city without being chosen as students, and many came from the inmates that the "Professors" had trained to death or had died on the battlefield.

    The first wave of invaders had beenprised of just a few souls. The second amounted to a little over a dozen. Then they had be dozens, and then hundreds.

    The Demons swatted several of them with a single strike but the ck souls were so many that they formed a living tide. The only reason the Demons had yet to be destroyed was that the invaders ignored them, focusing on their prize.

    The Demons didn''t hold enough energy to allow a ck soul to turn into an Abomination so whoever killed them would have only lost time. Yet wave after wave, the Demons kept piling up damage.

    Their light had grown dim and they had all lost at least one limb to a counterattack.

    "Fuck it." Trion couldn''t pant out of fatigue but his figure had started to flicker in an out of existence, proving that he was at the end of his line anyway. "I can''t believe that even in death I keep being a failure of a brother.

    "Lith will die because of me and once again, I can''t even say goodbye to my mother."

    "Defeat is an integral part of the life of a warrior, kid. We did our best and I have no regrets." Locrias only had his right leg left. "It was an honor serving with you lot."

    "Same." Valia nodded, never looking away from the iing tide. "Just one question. There are only four of us and those bastards beat us to a pulp more times than I can count. Then howe none of those who got past us has put a dent in Lith''s life force?"

    "The Chaos must work as a barrier, burning all the souls. We must have killed enough of them to take off the b-" The words died in Varegrave''s mouth as a fifth blue figure moved toward them from the ck sphere.

    It was a familiar yet unknown man, dressed in the weirdest clothes the Demons had ever seen. He wore a shirt and pants so tight that they could see every muscle orck thereof under them, underpants over the pants, and a cape.

    On his chest there was something that looked like a big slithering snake, offering no protection and working as a target for the heart. On top of that, he had a single ridiculous lock of curled hair in the middle of his forehead.

    "Nope, it was me." The man shook his head. "You guys are clearly dumb so I''vee to exin to you how this works. We are souls. We don''t fight with our bodies. I mean, do you really think you still have muscles?"

    "We all know we are souls, kid!" Locrias said with a snarl. "That''s why I''m fighting with my willpower. Our bodies are made of energy and we can control them just like we do with our spells."

    "Wrong again." The man shrugged. "We have no way to use mana. Willpower is as useless as brute strength. We are souls, we have neither minds nor bodies."

    "Stop talking in riddles and give us a straight answer!" Valia could see the ck tide approaching, but the man barely cared.

    "Gods, this is why I don''t deal with idiots. I don''t speak stupids, but this time I''ll make an exception." The man rolled his eyes and snorted in annoyance. "We fight with who we are, not with what we have."

    He slowly turned his head around, emitting a beam of red light from his eyes that sted the frontlines of the iing ck souls to shreds.

    "Why do you think I''m dressed like this?" He pointed at his ridiculous clothes. "This is what my favorite childhood hero looked like. As long as I remember about him, how I dreamed about being like him, I am him.

    "You guys are far from gone. Do you want to heal? Remember who you are. Do you want your weapons? Just remember how it felt holding them in your hands. Why do you think you have all those dreams while you are in the Void Sigils?"

    The Demons focused on their good memories and suddenly their bodies were whole again and their light had returned.

    "Why are you doing this?" Trion looked at his old equipment for a second, recing it with a replica of Saefel''s Set. The First King was his childhood hero, yet donning his gear didn''t make Trion feel any stronger.

    "For your same reason. I''m here to save my grampa." The man shrugged.

    "That''s bullshit! Lith''s daughter has yet to be born, how can he have a nephew and a dead one at that?" Locrias said in outrage. "Stop lying to us. Who are you and what do you really want?"

    "He''s expecting a daughter?" The man ignored Locrias questions, his smile brimming with joy like the rest of his body did with new energy.

    He turned toward the enemies, emitting a burst of blue light that spread in every direction and decimated their numbers.

    "How can you be so much stronger than us?" Valia asked while disposing of the few surviving ck souls.

    "How many times do I have to tell you? Fight with who you are!"

 Chapter 2198 Face The Darkness (Part 4)

    "This form is strong because it''s linked to my few happy childhood memories. That burst of light was out of the strong emotions that the good news gave me." The man replied.

    "Those wandering souls have nothing left, that''s why they are so weak. Remember who and what you are fighting for!"

    Locrias had no lungs, yet he took a deep breath.

    He remembered about the day he had been admitted to the Crystal Griffon Academy and then to the Queen''s Corps. About the day he had met his wife and about the day she had proposed to her.

    He thought about the day his daughter was born. Of the first time she had said the words "dada". Then, he dreamed of being there for her on the day of her wedding and walking her to the altar.

    His whole body burst with new energy as the uniform of the Queen''s Corps shapeshifted into an exact replica of the childish portrait that she had drawn for his birthday back when she was five years old.

    A new wave of enemies approached, yet it took Locrias a single swing of his spiky sword to st them into nothingness.

    "You heard the man. Fight with who you are. Strike at them with everything that made your lives worth living!"

    One after the other, the three remaining Demons started to burn bright as well. Five lonely stars tasked with keeping Mogar''s darkness at bay.

    In the real world, their effort paid off, relieving Lith from most of the side effects of Possession. He had no idea why none of the souls that he could feel entering his body were messing with him, yet he had no time to waste with idle thoughts.

    Jormun kept turtling up, generating more limbs to resist the onught until the rampant Chaos inside of Lith consumed himpletely.

    The Abomination was slowly turning into an Eldritch, its horns growing and new sets of wings popping on his back. Lith gritted his teeth and let a third soul fuse with him. A new set of arms appeared floating in mid-air, coordinating with the other three.

    The soul belonged to a female doctor who had studied physiology no less than Jirni.

    Her attacks were all aimed at clusters of nerves and organs. She struck at Jormun with her index and medium finger, exploiting the energy body to extend them when he stepped back and releasing a Chaos arrow if he blocked.

    Dodging was rarely an option since Jormun had to deal with six other Adamant-coated arms and War. Soon he found his back against a wall and the doctor''s fingers found their way to his left eye.

    They pierced their way almost to his brain, releasing jolts of Chaos and lightning in their path.

    "Protect the King!" Hystar said while disengaging from Solus at the cost of being sted once again.

    The safety protocols of the Golden Griffon activated, forcing the Headmaster and the Forgotten topletely ignore their respective opponents.

    ''What do we do?'' dion used the respite to drink a vial filled with blood and restore a part of his strength.

    ''We must help Lith!'' Solus was running on fumes, but she refused to give up.

    ''Indeed we have.'' Ka nodded. ''Start looking at the core, quick!''

    ''I can''t abandon him!'' Solus said in outrage.

    ''And what can you do, exactly?'' Ka showed her an urate yet merciless analysis of the Eyes of Solus'' condition.

    Her core was dry and her body was on the verge of crumbling. If not for the Sage Staff, the Hands, and the constant supply of world energy she had hijacked from the mana geyser, Solus'' body would have already shattered, and with her the tower.

    ''I''ll take care of him, don''t worry.'' dion kept pointing his monocle at Hystar, to keep scanning the core while fighting.

    He bolted forward like a bullet, just to stop abruptly a stepter.

    "Red Mother have mercy!" A sea of floating ck arms was surrounding Lith, each fighting on their own with a mastery that the Firstborn Vampire had rarely witnessed.

    The Forgotten were battling against their own souls who mirrored every one of their movements, countering every spell and attack before they even started.

    "Set us free!" Mouths opened on their palms, yelling at the Headmaster with voices that he well remembered despite the passing of centuries.

    The sea of arms focused on both Hystar and Jormun, ravaging their bodies with Chaos.

    Yet while the Headmaster woulde back a secondter at the expense of the power core, the Emerald Dragon''s life dwindled. Blood gushed out of many opened wounds and Chaos poisoned his mana, smothering the emerald aura of life.

    War found an opening in his guard, slipping past Dragonw and piercing through Jormun''s heart until the hilt of the de nged against his Kingyer armor.

    "You fought well, big brother, but you should have walked away." The Void said, his voice cold and merciless. "There''s a saying from where Ie from. No matter how fast light travels. Wherever it goes, darkness is already there, waiting.

    "Remember it in your next life."

    "I forgive you, brother." Jormun''s eyes were filled with brotherly love like Lith hadn''t seen since Carl''s death. His voice was clear despite the blood gurgling from his mouth. "Please, take care of my son."

    The Headmaster was right there while the Mad Queen was still in Belius yet they both screamed at the top of their lungs at the same time.

    "No, no, no!" Thrud abandoned the battlefield, uncaring for the Kingdom''s troops led by Highmaster Vastor that were swarming the city.

    With the walls cracked, the Divine Beasts weakened, and the Mad Queen exhausted, King Meron had ordered the troops to focus on recapturing the city.

    "My Queen, what''s-" Iata attempted to say, but the tears in Thrud''s eyes and the frenzied madness cut her short.

    "I don''t give a fuck about Belius! My husband needs me." She inputted the dimensional coordinates for the Golden Griffon, ordering her Generals to follow her.

    Meanwhile, at the lost academy, Hystar was doing all he could, focusing the Unwavering Loyalty array on Jormun to keep him alive.

    dion had taken out the Forgotten and this time they stayed dead. With the power core of the academy weakened, the Headmaster couldn''t waste a single iota of energy for them.

    ''We are almost done, Scourge, turn back into a human.'' Ka said, opening a mind link to show him the Eyes'' counter at 99%

    ''Please, Lith, Void, whoever you are,e back to me.'' Solus said amid tears seeing the ck pir on the verge ofpletion.

    ''For you, anything.'' The Void left Lith, going back inside of him to close the gate that allowed the passage of the souls and reconnect himself to the rest of the life forces.

    This time, Lith hadn''t almost fallen because the Void had struggled to break free but because Lith had taken him away. Without the Void, there was no bnce and the other two life forces were bound to die.

    Lith drove out the souls of the Forgotten he had been sharing his body with, but it wasn''t enough. The spirits who had attacked his life force were still there, threatening his existence.

 Chapter 2199 True Love (Part 1)

    ''Let''s see if this works.'' Lith shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form, hiding the Abomination side behind the bright violet light of the stars that formed the constetion of the Divine Beast''s life force.

    Without the Void, the ck souls had no way to ess the Chaos necessary to turn into Abominations, and with the gate closed, their numbers couldn''t increase any longer.

    To make matters worse for them, unlike the Tiamat form, every single scale that covered the body of the Voidfeather Dragon bore a rune on its surface, not just his feathers.

    The red scales burned with the power of the Cursed Elements and drew the souls inside, trapping them.

    ''How do we escape?'' Lith was dead tired.

    Pulling the Void in had saved his life force from harm but had drained most of his energy. He could barely keep his eyes open, let alone stand.

    ''Good question.'' For once, Ka felt no need to babble. ''We can''t Warp away due to thepressed space. dion, what about your bond with Baba Yaga?''

    ''It''s still there. I can feel my mother but not even she can open a Gate from such a distance while under such a powerful array. We need to get away as soon-''

    The Eyes marked the 100%pletion so Lith grabbed the others with his arms and charged at the window.

    ''It''s soon o''clock. Turn into a human or you''ll turn into dandruff.'' Lith knew that despite it looked like ss, the panoramic wall was still a part of the Golden Griffon.

    He took a deep breath, letting the violet light of the Origin mes burst from in between the scales on his chest as it rose up his neck and mouth.

    Then, something weird happened.

    The Cursed mes burning inside his scales and the power stored in their runes joined the violet light, turning it into a silvery color.

    What came out of the Voidfeather Dragon''s mouth was a st of silver fire that vaporized the enchanted wall and pierced through theplex array system surrounding the Golden Griffon.

    The silver mes remained focused for almost a kilometer and moved as fast as a bullet before disappearing.

    ''Isn''t that simr to what Protheus did earlier?'' Solus deeply regretted being looking in front of her with the Eyes instead of at Lith and so did Ka.

    ''No time for questions, our ride is here!'' dion said as a Gate appeared and disappeared along with them so fast that they seemed to have vanished into thin air.

    The Firstborn had never stopped calling the Red Mother and the moment the Dread mes had punctured the barrier, she hade to the rescue.

    "My baby! What have they done to you? Are you alright?" Baba Yaga was in her Mother form as she checked dion''s chest, arms, and face for injuries in a way that reminded Lith and Solus of Elina.

    "I''m better than fine, Mom." dion replied while Baba Yaga shared with him a small spark of her life force.

    She was the one who had turned him into a Vampire so her essence worked better than any breathing technique, bringing his body and core back to their prime.

    "We''ve done it. We havepleted our mission and escaped the Golden Griffon in one piece."

    "Speak for yourself, you moron." Solus used her breathing technique to check on Lith''s condition who was still in his Dragon form. "Malyshka, can you please check on Lith as well? He pulled some crazy shit that might have shortened his life span."

    Hearing that name brought Baba Yaga back to her Maiden form before using Sun and Moon to assess the damage to Lith''s life force.

    "Wait, you two know each other? Mom, why did you never men-"

    "Shut the fuck up!" The Maiden, Solus, and even Ka said in unison.

    Baba Yaga made her breathing technique explore every singleponent of Lith''s life force from head to talon before giving her diagnosis.

    "Lith is fine. He just needs rest, like you."

    "Thank the gods!" Solus left her equipment outside to let their power cores recover and slipped back into the stone ring.

    "Well done, Scourge." Ka gently patted his scaly back. "Now we only need to arrange our discoveries in blueprints and the days of the Golden Griffon will be numbered."

    The enthusiasm in Baba Yaga''s hut wasn''t shared by the people left in the Headmaster''s office.

    "What''s wrong with him? Why is he still like that?" Thrud asked while pointing at the still-open wound in Jormun''s chest.

    "Because, my Queen, you ordered me to never affect your spouse with the Unwavering Loyalty array ever again. The ve and the immortality spell are two sides of the same coin. You can''t have one without the other." The Headmaster had a hard time keeping the edge off his voice.

    He hated being used of ipetence, but he was a ve as well and he couldn''t defy Arthan''s orders or Thrud''s.

    "Then you have my permission! Do anything you can to save him!"

    "I''ve already started using the Unwavering Loyalty array the moment Lord Jormun got injured since the emergency protocols state that protecting the lives of the members of the Royal family supersede all other orders." Hystar said.

    "Then why is he dying?" Thrud''s voice broke, incapable of holding her tears any longer. She could see with Life Vision Jormun''s life and mana core slipping away

    "Because it takes ours to etch the necessary runes on the life force of a human, let alone a Dragon. Not to mention that not even the offspring of Leegaain can survive with their heart pierced. When I managed to regenerate it, his mana core was already broken." Hystar replied.

    "Are you telling me there''s nothing you can do?" Rage reced her pain as she lifted the Headmaster by the neck with one hand.

    "Exactly, Your Majesty." Hystar remained limp, ashamed by his own failure as Arthan''s orders prescribed.

    "Please, don''t waste what little time we have left." Jormun wheezed, feeling weaker by the second. "Bring Valeron here so that we can be together onest time."

    Ophya and V, the two handmaidens that they had rescued from Syrook''sir had stood guard over the child while his father and the Forgotten had gone taking care of the intruders.

    They came immediately and of their own will since Jormun had wanted to spare them from the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty as well.

    "Please, don''t leave me." Thrud fell onto her knees and held his hand against her heart. "I''ve waited for you for over 700 years. Until the moment you appeared at my door, I had been surviving like a wounded wolf.

    "I spent my days licking my wounds and worrying more about the past than the future. I''ve only started living for a few years. You gave me my life back. You gave me a future to look for. You gave me a child.

    "How am I supposed to live without the only person who doesn''t make me feel like the monster I know I am?"

    "You''ll find a way." He brushed his fingers against her cheek, wiping away the tears just for new ones to streak down her face. "Please, reconsider my father''s offer."

 Chapter 2200 True Love (Part 2)

    Thrud tried to reply but Jormun put his forefinger on her lips while Ophya, the blonde handmaiden, put Valeron on his chest. The baby cooed and giggled, unaware of what was happening.

    "Whatever you decide, please, tell our son that his father loved him and remember that I love you." Jormun hugged his child and wife, kissing Valeron on the forehead and Thrud on the lips onest time before his life ended.

    "No, no, no!" Thrud yelled and cried while Hushing Valeron and handing him back to the handmaidens.

    "Please, stay. I beg of you! Turn into an Abomination and I''ll surrender myself to the Master to bring you back. I''ll destroy the Golden Griffon if you ask me to, but don''t leave me. Don''t leave me!" Yet Jormun''s soul was gone and he couldn''t hear her anymore.

    That day the Mad Queen was true to her name, pain and grief driving her insane.

    Her wails were so desperate and her promises so sincere that back in the capital city of Valeron, Tyris shed tears for her. The Guardian knew all too well how painful the loss of true love was.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Court, a few minutes earlier.

    Ever since Lith''s group had left, Queen Sylpha had kept taking care of Meron with the Royal Healer''s help. Quy was doing her best, using both her breathing technique and her tier five Body Sculpting spell, Silver Hand, to ease his symptoms.

    Her studies to find a cure for Lith''s condition had made her an expert in damaged life forces, an interest that the Queen now desperately shared.

    The members of the Awakened Council had spent their time either barking orders in their respective amulets or sucking up to Kam and Tyris. It was the first time for many of them to have an audience with the First Queen while Lith''s wife was just the icing on the cake.

    Getting on good terms with the woman who would not only give birth to the first Demon, if not even a Tiamat, but who also spent most of her days inpany with the Guardians of the Garlen continent couldn''t hurt.

    Kam, instead, had spent her time ignoring them, stress eating, or pacing, sometimes doing all three at once. She kept staring at hermunication amulet where both Lith''s and Solus''munication runes were.

    She still used the one Sark had made for the members of the Verhen family so there was no risk of their calls being tapped or their amulet being tracked.

    Kam had yet to wrap her mind around Lith''s past as Derek, but she couldn''t bear the thought of having sent him to his death nor the idea that herst memory of him would have been that of a quarrel.

    "Calm down, Constable Yehval. At this rate, you''ll open a hole in the marble." Queen Sylpha said.

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, what would you do if it was your husband out there and someone told you to calm down?" Kam managed to keep the edge in her voice low enough to cut just mountains.

    "I''d squeeze the life out of them." The Queen sighed while looking at Meron.

    Even after a few days since he had performed the Forbidden Magic, he still had a fever and sweated profusely. The only reason she wasn''t pacing around was that Sylpha had already resigned to the helplessness of her situation.

    "Calm down, child." Tyris gently took Kam''s hand while lighting her eyes with mana due to her breathing technique, Mother Earth. "They are fine. All of them, I just checked."

    "So they are out of danger, right?" Kam asked, having learned from Jirni how to never underestimate the phrasing of a sentence.

    "No, but they are fine." The Guardian sighed, witnessing the fight between Solus and Hystar first and then Jormun joining the fray.

    "Great! Now I''m really worried."

    "If you need a quiet ce where to spend a bit of time, you can always visit my country house." Inxialot, the Lich King said. "It''s a bit isted, but its beauty is out of this world."

    "Since when do you have a country house?" Raagu, the human representative asked in suspicion.

    "For ages. You cane as well if you want." He tried and failed a flirty wink due to his skeletal figurecking eyelids, among other things.

    "Thanks, but, why me? We''ve never met before." Kam had heard lots of things about Liches and not one of them was good.

    "I''ve been thinking of inviting over your husband several times but s, I keep forgetting about it." Inxialot replied. "After being locked here for hours, I got so bored that I suddenly remembered about it and I decided to speak up before I forget again."

    "Bored?" Kam''s eyes red with bright orange mana. "My husband''s life is at stake, countless people are fighting around the Kingdom to buy him some time, and you are bored?"

    "Very." He missed the rhetorical question and misunderstood her indignation for understanding. "I mean, the conversation here is far from interesting, there''s only so much theoretical work I can do without my notes, and watching a chubby woman working her way to be more chubby gets stale after a while."

    "What?" Kam''s face turned red from rage and embarrassment.

    "Since when pregnancy makes someone deaf? Once the momentes, we need to be careful about your health, dear." Inxialot patted Raagu''s hands, making everyone think that they had already done the deed whereas he had yet to even ask her out.

    "What did you say?" Raagu wanted to kill him, but she had no idea where the phctery was hidden.

    "Are you going deaf too?" Inxialot was bbergasted. "Have you been unfaithful or did old age-"

    A punch to the face cut him off and his head from the neck.

    Before Inxialot could heal from his wounds, the Royal Guards formed a Warp Gate between their arms and Kam held her breath in hope.

    Milea Genys, the Magic Empress of the Gorgon Empire, walked through it, making everyone groan in disappointment.

    "That''s a cold wee for the bearer of good news." She gave Sylpha a small bow and ignored the rest of the room. "Dawn''s attack has created the first real crack in the war front so I''ve sent my own troops to help you recapture Belius.

    "If not for Thrud''s presence, the battle would be already won."

    "Excellent." The Queen nodded. "I''ll send our Highmaster and-"

    A Spirit Warp opened in the middle of the Throne Room, prompting the Royal Guards and the many defensive arrays that the First King hady in the case an Awakened tried to sneak inside the castle.

    "Stand down." Tyris said and both people and magic obeyed.

    dion was the first to walk out of the Steps, followed by Ka''s Wight form who carried Lith''s limp figure.

    "I''m sorry for the entrance but we had no way to enter a city with Lith like that and there''s no time to lose." dion pointed at the human sized Voidfeather Dragon.

    "Did you-"

    "You said they were fine!" Kam said to Tyris with an usatory tone, cutting Sylpha short.

 Chapter 2201 Two Towers (Part 1)

    "They are-" Before the Guardian could reply, Kam turned her back to her and ran to Lith''s side.

    "Quy, do something!"

    The Royal Healer used her best diagnostic tools and understood that Tyris had been sincere.

    Just like Baba Yaga had said a few minutes back, Lith was just tired. Quy turned toward Kam to reassure her, but judging from her panicked expression, words wouldn''t suffice.

    "He''s okay. There''s no further damage to Lith''s life force. He just needs rest." Quy said while using her Injection spell to administer him tonics and nutrients straight into the blood flow.

    Lith didn''t need them, but seeing Quy do something about his condition had a cebo effect on Kam''s nerves.

    "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Kam broke out in tears as Tyris helped her to take him down Ka''s back and made Lith''s head rest on Kam''sp.

    The Guardian made sure with gravity magic that the weight wouldn''t crush her.

    "As I was saying, operation Freedom was a sess." dion cleared his throat in embarrassment. "We have performed aplete scan of the Golden Griffon''s power core with the Eyes and we have already arranged the data."

    He took several copies of the blueprints of the power core out of his pocket dimension, handing them to the Royals, the Council, and even Milea in case the Kingdom failed.

    It would have taken the Council days to sort that much information but there was very little that Baba Yaga couldn''t do while in her tower.

    "Excellent work." Sylpha nodded. "Now we must just find a safe way to make it copse, possibly from a distance, and we are set."

    No one was actually listening to her. Everyone was studying the blueprints for both clues and inspiration for their own magical research. Despite his cursed origin by the hands of the Mad King, the Golden Griffon was still a wonder of magic.

    "Fuck!" The Queen frowned deeply when she recognized the modern runes of the lost academy. They were the same that the rest of the six great academies had used back when Lith was in the fourth year, proving Linnea''s involvement.

    She was about to share the bad news with the others when her army amulet lit up. The upper echelons of the Kingdom knew that she didn''t want to be disturbed so it had to be important.

    "Be quick." She said after pressing General Berion''s rune.

    "We did it!" His voice was barely audible over the booming cheers. Berion''s eyes shone with joy like those of a child during his birthday. "Belius belongs to the Kingdom again!"

    "What? How?" Sylpha sounded incredulous but a wide smile appeared on her face.

    "A while ago Thrud left along with her generals. At that point, the Highmaster and Great Mage Ernas'' Awakened corps managed to break through and take the city!"

    "That''s excellent news! We must let everybody know that-" A desperate wail filled the air of Belius, turning excitement into fear and making silence befall the city. "What the heck was that?"

    "Just another casualty of this war." Tyris said, her eyes shedding sad tears. "Jormun, the one you knew as Jakra the Emerald Dragon, has just died in Thrud''s arms. The me of one of Leegaain''s firstborns has just gone out, making Mogar a darker ce."

    "That''s impossible." Lith turned his head toward her, his voice barely a whisper. "We fought inside the Golden Griffon. He''s supposed to be immortal like everybody else."

    "No, he wasn''t." Tyris shook her head. "He preferred to die as a free man than living like a ve."

    Suddenly Jormun''sst words finally made sense. The realization made Lith clench his hands as hard as he could, yet it amounted to nothing. The feelings he had shared with the Emerald Dragon during the handshake were still vivid in his mind.

    Lith knew that he hadn''t fought a zealot hellbent on conquering Mogar but a father doing his best to protect his child. Jormun had borne no killing intent toward him until the very end, even forgiving Lith for murdering him.

    They had never been friends but they had never been enemies either. In a way, their condition made them very simr and even though they had barely spent any time together, Lith had seen himself in Jormun while he took care of Valeron.

    Solus too felt greatly saddened at the news, feeling responsible for Jormun''s death. He had stood on the wrong side of the war but he had been a good man.

    "Damn. Thrud losing her husband isn''t necessarily a good thing." Sylpha said, drawing on herself the hateful gazes of Lith and Tyris. "Grief can make her sloppy, but it can also make her ruthless.

    "We must tread with caution. If we push too hard now, she might decide to go out with a st after poisoning thends she controls. If that happens, it would take the Kingdom decades to recover and the human losses would be incalcble."

    "Agreed." Milea nodded. "The Empire will help you repair Belius and keep Thrud''s forces in check. You focus on finding the kill switch for the Golden Griffon."

    Kam noticed the fire in Lith''s eyes, his scales, and his throat. She was happy to have him back but still scared of losing him. When he tried to stand up and give the Queen a piece of his mind, Kam gently pushed him down.

    "I don''t know what''s happened but please stay calm. You heard Quy. You need to rest and you are in no shape to antagonize the whole Kingdom." Lith was about to reply when he saw how worried she was.

    ''If I had hesitated, now Jormun would be alive and Kami would be grieving my death. Then why do I feel so guilty for being alive?'' Lith''s outrage faded and fatigue overtook him again.

    "Your Majesty, Empress." dion gave them both a small bow. "No offense but I''m not interested in politics. We all have upheld our end of the bargain and I require safe passage back into mynds."

    "Of course." Tyris nodded, opening a Spirit Gate and making everyone groan.

    Following and ambushing the Firstborn Vampire and the Eyes had just gone from damn hard to suicidal.

    "Thanks for your help, Lord dion." Milea returned the bow. "I hope that the Empire can rely on your coboration in the future as well."

    "We''ll see." He nodded. "I''ve heard too many humans making empty promises. I''ll judge you from your actions and reply in kind to them."

    Then, dion turned to Lith.

    "Do you want to stay here or follow us?"

    "Follow." He panted more than said.

    "Good." Tyris lifted him up from the floor in a princess carry like he weighed nothing. "Let''s go, Kam."

    "Wait, are you really leaving?" Inxialot asked.

    "Of course, I go where the baby goes."

    "Not you, shy woman! I mean Lith. I need his help!"

    "It will have to wait." Tyris rose an eyebrow in confusion. Liches were a mystery even to Guardians.

    "I already invited your wife but I''ll repeat my offer just to be safe. You are both invited to my country house to talk. You can bring your mistress/bodyguard/whatever if it makes you feel safe." His rude words make everyone turn pale in fear but Tyris just chuckled, enjoying the misunderstanding.

 Chapter 2202 Two Towers (Part 2)

    "Why are you looking at me like that?" Inxialot turned toward his audience. "We were all thinking that. I know because you told me via the mind link. Also, it''s pretty clear who wears the trousers in their house."

    Those present facepalmed and Lith''s inaudible response made him worry.

    "It''s no trap, I promise! You won''t regreting! It''s another promise. If I remember making it, of course." Inxialot felt relieved seeing Lith giving him a thumbs up while Tyris carried him over the Gate.

    It was actually the middle finger, but the Lich King wasn''t the kind of man to worry about insignificant details like that.

    On the other side of the dimensional corridor, Kam couldn''t stop looking left and right in a daze.

    She had expected to find herself in an underground cave, not a cozy wooden cottage.

    "Wee back. I hope that everything has gone well." Baba Yaga was waiting for them in her Mother form.

    She was eager to speak with Elphyn since there hadn''t been the time earlier.

    Also, she was excited at the idea of meeting Kam and the baby. The Maiden inspired little respect whereas the Crone was straight creepy, making the Mother the to-go form when she wanted to make a good first impression.

    "It went great, Mother. Thanks for your help." dion plunged onto one of the couches. Physically he was in tip-top condition but his mind had yet to recover from the rollercoaster of emotions.

    The Red and the Great Mother just exchanged a polite nod of the head while conjuring a bed for Lith to rest.

    "Not to be rude, but who are you and where are we?" Kam said after no one bothered to introduce her to their host.

    "Gods, where are my manners?" Ka said. "Kam, this is Baba Yaga, the Mother of the undead. She is very interested in your baby. Baba Yaga, this is Kam Yehval, Lith''s wife. As for the where, I have no clue."

    "What?" With Tyris by her side, Kam felt no fear but the shock still made her sit down as well.

    "Yeah." The Wight nodded. "This is her legendary tower so we might actually be in the Kingdom, the Empire, or even deep in the ocean where sunlight never shines."

    Kam turned pale, forcing Solus toe out of her ring.

    "Good gods, Ka, shut up! You are making this as creepy as possible." Solus closed the Wight''s snout shut before making a proper introduction. "Kami, Baba Yaga is actually my friend Malyshka I told you about.

    "She knew my Mom and despite all the bad things you might have heard about her, Malyshka has been nothing but a good friend to Lith and me." She used a quick mind link to remind Kam of Baba Yaga helping Lith with his breakthroughs and taking part in Solus'' birthday party after the break-up.

    "Yes, of course I remember about her." Embarrassment flushed her cheeks, giving them color back. "I''m sorry for my rudeness, but everything is happening so fast and no one exined anything to me."

    "Don''t worry, child, you are among friends. I''m the one who should apologize for ambushing you this way but as you said, things are moving quickly and I needed to speak with the three of you."

    "Wait, how can my mother know yours? Is there someone else capable of crafting Horsemen I don''t know about?" dion was utterly confused ever since Hystar had exposed Solus'' nature but now he could finally express his concern.

    "Wait, he doesn''t know about you?" Seeing Solus take her human form, Kam had assumed that the Firstborn was aware of her story.

    "Let''s bring them up to speed, dear, or this will take us the whole day." Baba Yaga used a mind link to exin dion everything while Solus shared with Kam the events of the Golden Griffon.

    "You fucker!" The Firstborn felt all the camaraderie and respect they had built until that moment crumble under the weight of the envy burning through his veins. "That''s why you wanted me to swear upon my son!

    "You are in possession of the legendary tower of Menadion and that woman is her daughter!"

    "Guilty as charged." Between the tonics and the abundant world energy in the tower, Lith was recovering quickly. "Hence your oath binds you to silence and non-aggression."

    "As it should be." Baba Yaga red at dion in a way that shoved hisints down his mouth and up his ass. "She is my friend. Make her unhappy and I''ll be unhappy with you. Am I clear?"

    "Crystal." He swallowed several times even though he had no physical need to.

    "I''m so sorry for your loss, babe." Kam ignored them and hugged Lith, her eyes watery after witnessing Jormun''s final moments.

    "Let''s talk about thister." He held her tight, d to feel that she wasn''t upset by his touch. "What can we do for you, Lady Yaga?"

    "Baba Yaga or Nana will do. We are not close enough for you to call me Malyshka." She replied.

    "Baba Yaga it is." To Lith there would always be only one person he would refer to as Nana.

    "More like what I can do for you. Solus, Silverwing asked me to invite you to her house. She wants to check on your recovery and I''m willing toe with you, if it makes you feel safe."

    "It would be perfect." Solus sighed. "We''ve gone through a lot and I can use a bit of rest. Also, aunt Loka had promised to show me Dad''s paintings she owns. I would have contacted her earlier if our rtionship wasn''t that rocky. I''ll take on your offer, Malyshka."

    Silverwing had already given up on splitting Lith and Solus, recognizing that he hadn''t made her into a ve. Yet Solus didn''t trust the First Magus enough to spend time with her without a trusty chaperone.

    "As for you, Lith, is there anything you need?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "Yes. Davross, white crystals, and Creation Magic lessons." He replied.

    "What a cheeky brat!" She said with a snort. "The tower should provide you with plenty of materials and Sark with knowledge. I meant if you need help with your child."

    "I think I got that covered." Lith pointed at Tyris who was still standing there, cid like ake and as dangerous as a city-sized meteor.

    "True, but while the Guardians will only ensure her physical protection, I''m willing to help your daughter learn how to merge her bloodlines if the necessity arises." Baba Yaga said.

    "Let me guess, in exchange you''ll use whatever you learn from her life forces to perfect your children and the undead hybrids like Radusk." Lith replied.

    "Guilty as charged." She shrugged. "Let me ask you something. Are you worried more about what I might do with that knowledge or about your daughter''s well-being?"

    Lith looked at Kam for a second before they replied in unison.

    "Our daughter."

    "Great. Then I hope you won''t mind, dear." Baba Yaga neared her hand to Kam''s womb, waiting for her permission before touching her.

    As she had done earlier with Lith, the Red Mother took her time scanning the baby''s life force, using Sun and Moon to study each nook and cranny of its threeponents.

 Chapter 2203 Future Plans (Part 1)

    Once she was done, Baba Yaga felt the need to sit down and drink something strong. She gulped the first two sses of Red Dragon like it was water, starting to sip at the third.

    Only then did she regain enough of her cool to speak without throwing a tantrum.

    "Gods, I hate you so much." She said while inhaling sharply and holding her temples. "I spent millennia trying and failing to achieve what it took you a single night of passion to make."

    "I''m very sorry. Now, if we are done coddling your ego, is the baby fine or not?" Lith asked and Kam nodded, holding their hands tight.

    "Fine?" Baba Yaga echoed, looking at him like he was insane. "Can you believe it? The jackass dared ask if she''s fine with you standing there right by his side!"

    Tyris just shrugged, showing no sign of whatever made the white cored Awakened upset.

    "She''s more than fine, you numbskull. If it keeps up like this, your daughter might be the first living creature on Mogar who can safely practice Chaos magic!"

    "She would?" Lith and Kam asked with a dumb expression on their faces.

    "Yes!" Baba Yaga gulped more Red Dragon, but her annoyance levels kept raising. "Unlike you, her life forces are in perfect harmony from birth. The living side is growing up nicely with the Abomination side, developing resistance to the effects of Chaos that in the future might be immunity!"

    "Why did no one has ever mentioned this?" Kam asked Tyris.

    "We wanted it to be a surprise. Also, we didn''t want your husband to dabble in Cursed Magic with the excuse of preparing to teach your daughter." Tyris replied.

    "Thanks." Kam gave the Guardian a deep bow before turning to Lith. "You heard her. Do that and I''ll drop you like a bad habit! Chaos is dangerous and I already risk losing you on a daily basis. If you dare endanger yourself, I''m gone."

    "But, babe, if what Baba Yaga said is true, our daughter might use Chaos along with the other elements the moment she learns chore magic. Someone needs to teach her how to control her powers. Also, you''ve seen my memories, it''s not like I have much of a choice." Lith said.

    "What do you mean?" The Red Mother asked, gulping what was left of the bottle for good measure.

    Lith established with Baba Yaga a mind link, showing her how his Voidfeather Dragon''s scales would get covered in Cursed mes and how they had joined the Origin mes to form an unknown bloodline ability.

    "Thrud''s baby and Protheus have shown to be able to use golden mes so my daughter should be able to use the silver mes just like-"

    "Get out!" Rage and envy twisted the Mother''s usually kind face to the point of making her unrecognizable. "Get out of my house now, or I swear to the gods that I''ll kill you myself."

    The door of the hut opened, revealing that during their talk, Baba Yaga had brought the tower in front of Lith''s house in Lutia. She literally kicked him out, sending him sprawling on the bare earth and opening a small crater on impact.

    As for Kam and Solus, the Red Mother just iled her arms at them, shooing them away like pigeons.

    "Sorry for upsetting you, Malyshka." Solus said while leaving. "Please, Ka, tell Nyka that I''d like to visit her or that you two visited me. We need to talk about a lot of things, Eyes included."

    "Don''t worry, Elphyn. It''s none of your fault." Baba Yaga replied, her voice and face reverted to their usual kind, motherly features. "I''m sure that Ka will deliver the message."

    Then, before the Wight could confirm or deny, the Mother''s face twisted into a grimace of anger again.

    "Now get out, before I make you!"

    The approaching hut had terrified Raaz''s farmhands and put the squads of the Queen Corps protecting the house on high alert. Baba Yaga left as quickly as she had arrived, turning the situation into chaos.

    The new Captain yelled orders to reinforce the perimeter while informing the Royals of what had just happened while the poor farmhands who were still conscious fainted the moment they could finally rx.

    No matter if not addressed to them, the killing intent of a white cored Awakened inside her tower was more than any average human could take. Those with the highest mana perception had fallen first while the others had just tensed up too much.

    Now that Baba Yaga was gone, their blood pressure dropped as fast as their bodies.

    "Thank the gods you are alright, son." Raaz said while checking the humanoid Voidfeather Dragon for injuries. "For a moment I failed to recognize you and I thought that Baba Yaga was attacking us."

    He wasn''t the only one. The crater was surrounded by members of the Queen''s Corps pointing their wands and weaving their spells at the semi-conscious Dragon, thinking he was some monster that the Red Mother had unleashed against them.

    "Don''t worry, Dad, she is still our friend. She was just upset. As for me, you have nothing to worry about." His voicecked conviction, sending a cold shiver down Raaz''s spine.

    ''I don''t know if it worse having a Baba Yaga for an enemy or my son''s lifespan getting shorter again.'' He thought.

    "Excellent news. Come inside, we can all use some rest." He actually said, his voice calm and reassuring, his smile warm. "I doubt we''ll get more work done today anyway."

    The moment the members of the Corps recognized Lith, they dropped their wands and provided assistance to the farmhands. Most of them were just unconscious but a few had experienced a mild stroke and were in need of medical assistance.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, on the night of that same day.

    The recapture of Belius meant a lot for the Kingdom, but also for the Ernas Household.

    Phloria had been one of the decisive elements during the all-out attack. She was not only in charge of the Awakened corps she had trained but also one of the few mages who can cast de Spells in the entire army.

    Her soldiers had kept Thrud''s Forgotten busy while she charged up her sword, Reaver. The hail of spells had countered most of the enemies'' and the ensuing Omnish had sted the city gates open.

    As soon as Thrud''s loyalists had been driven out and Belius fortified again with the help of the Empire, Phloria had been recalled to Valeron. The soldiers had no idea why they had risked their lives, the matter of the Golden Griffon''s power core was a state secret.

    To both justify their actions and raise the morale of the citizens, the Royals dered that the recapture of Belius had been their goal all along. Since Vastor''s presence was a secret as well, Phloria received all the credit and received the title of Archmage.

    As for Quy, her efforts on the battlefront as both a Light Master and a Healer had racked her lots of merits. Also, it was only thanks to her treatments that Meron''s life force was getting stable again.

 Chapter 2204 Future Plans (Part 2)

    It was just a matter of days before the King recovered his vigor and even though the damage from the use of Forbidden Magic remained, there was no more risk that his lifespan would shorten further.

    Quy had warned the Queen that she was unlikely to find a way to fix the cracks in the King''s life force, but Sylpha had granted Quy''s research about the matter unlimited funds anyway.

    The idea of wasting mountains of gold was nothingpared to the pain that just the thought of losing her husband caused her.

    Sylpha had also decided to grant Quy the title of Great Mage to reward her for her efforts and to remind her of the gravity of the expectations the Kingdom had for her.

    Getting an Archmage and a Great Mage in a single day was an event that hadn''t happened since the time of Valeron the First, giving the Ernas a lot to celebrate. Yet due to the ongoing war and the food rationing, the party was strictly limited to their closest friends and family members.

    Which still meant a few hundreds of people since the event involved the Ernas and Myrok Households, the White Griffon, and all the colleagues and political allies that the Lords of the house couldn''t afford to offend.

    Lith was not in the mood for partying and celebrating which was the reason Elina had forced him to attend. After her son had shared with her the events of the Golden Griffon, she could understand his pain.

    The fight with Jormun had left both physical and mental scars that she had no idea when or if they would heal. On top of that, she hadn''t missed that there was something wrong with Kam.

    Her daughter-inw was great at keeping her cool and faking her emotions, but there was no way for Elina to miss the sudden awkwardness between Kam and Lith.

    ''I don''t know what happened, but staying cooped up at home won''t help.'' Elina thought. ''Here they can share their friends'' happiness and have someone to speak with if they want to.''

    "I can''t believe that I''m finally a Great Mage!" Quy had never taken off the deep green robe ever since she had received it, unting it around as proud as a peacock.

    Everyone but the two newly appointed High Mages wore luxurious g clothes but no robes in respect for their hosts and to not outshine the achievement of the Ernas Household.

    Quy and Phloria, instead, wore respectively the Royal Healer uniform and the army ceremonial uniform.

    "I told you that you just had to be patient, dear." Jirni said. "You had already quite a few merits from Zeska and Kh, it was only a matter of time before you became a Great Mage."

    "Yeah." Friya said, a bit annoyed for being the only member left of the original group who was still just a Mage. "War is a terrible thing but because of it, merits get handed down like confetti."

    "Don''t be jealous, sister." Phloria puffed her chest out with pride while putting her arm around Friya''s shoulders. "I''m sure that if it wasn''t for Faluel keeping your role in the war and as her Harbinger a secret, you''d be a Great Mage as well by now."

    "I''m so proud of you, my Little Flower." Orion embraced his daughter, d to have her back home safe and sound. "You have now reached the same title as your old man. This is the perfect moment to find you the perfect boyfriend."

    "Dad!" Phloria pushed him away, her cheeks slightly flushed in embarrassment.

    "Don''t you ''dad'' me, youngdy!" Orion threw her a reproachful gaze while waving his finger under her nose. "Do you know how scary war is? How terrible it is to see your children get out in the morning and not know if they''lle back alive for dinner?

    "With great meritses great risks. If before I was willing to give you all the time you needed, now we cannot afford to wait any longer. The Ernas Household needs an heir and while your brothers have already done their part, you girls are still wanting."

    "Dad!" Friya and Quy blushed as well, mostly because they had finally understood why Nalrond and Morok had been invited to the event.

    Until that moment, Friya and Quy had been amazed by their parents'' odd behavior. Jirni had dressed up their respective boyfriends with tailormade clothes bearing the Ernas insignia and Orion had introduced them to the guests with uncharacteristic pride.

    "Don''t you ''dad'' him, youngdies!" Even though Jirni had to look up at them due to the height gap, they were the ones feeling small in front of her scowl. "This is the perfect moment to give us a grandchild each.

    "Look at Kam, she doesn''t have an ounce of your magic talent and now she can run circles around most mage Constables!" Jirni dragged her unwitting trophy in the middle of the quarrel, showcasing both her and her Guardian bodyguard.

    "It''s not true! I have no magical education and I only know chore magic. I swear that I had no idea Lady Ern-"

    Jirni pushed her away, cutting Kam short and resuming the pep talk as if she had said nothing.

    "Think of what you could do with a beautiful baby growing in your womb. Your power and chances to get back home in one piece would increase dramatically. On top of that, starting from the second half of the second trimester you would get a forced leave.

    "War or not, you could spend quality time with your family in the safety of your home."

    "You made an excellent point, Jirni." Elina nodded, nudging at Raaz so that he would join her in ring at Tista which he promptly did.

    The young women blushed, taking big sips from their drinks while searching for a usible excuse.

    ''Dammit. Before Kam got pregnant, I could have revealed Morok''s/Nalrond''s true nature to Mom and Dad and that would have made them back off immediately.'' Quy and Friya thought in unison.

    ''Yet now that my parents have learned how a Beast''s blood would also greatly enhance my physical prowess, it would only strengthen their resolve.''

    "I''m sorry, Lord Ernas, but I don''t think you should pressure your daughter so much." Nalrond stepped forward, making Friya sigh in relief. "We have been dating only for a while now and I have personal circumstances that don''t make me a proper candidate as Friya''s spouse."

    He couldn''t tell them that he was one of the fabled werepeople and that he had no intention of settling down until he had merged his two different natures. His voice was stoic with just a tinge of shame, sealing his fate.

    Orion and Jirni just assumed that Nalrond realized the burden that the Ernas name implied and that he was conscious of his humble origins. All things that showed maturity and humility.

    "That''s for me to decide, young man." Orion said, turning toward him.

    "Actually, that''s up to-" Friya tried to stop her father, but Jirni stopped her instead.

    "Let me ask you a few questions. Are you a powerful Light Master?" Orion asked.

    "Yes, but-"

    "Yes or no is enough. In my experience, everything thates after a ''but'' is bullshit." Lord Ernas cut him short.

 Chapter 2205 Kinslayer (Part 1)

    "Are you physically stronger than a regr man and would it be inherited?" Orion asked.

    "Yes to both, but-"

    "Are you willing to marry into the Ernas family, take our name, and treat Friya with the love, respect, and loyalty she deserves?"

    "Are you serious?" Nalrond was bbergasted.

    "Kid, I''ve already told you to only answer me with a yes or no!" Orion poked at Nalrond chest, their noses millimeters apart.

    His eyes zing with bright violet mana, the massive height gap, and the angry father aura scared the crap out of the Rezar.

    "If she''d had me, I''d marry her tomorrow but-"

    "You are damn perfect!" Orion''s expression turned upside down as he hugged Nalrond and patted his shoulder. "Wee to the family."

    "Don''t I have any saying in this?" Nalrond and Friya said, but her mouth was still gagged by Jirni''s mouth so he was the only one speaking intelligible words.

    "No." Lady Ernas shook her head while letting go of her daughter and embracing her future son-inw as well.

    She forced him to bend down to kiss him on both cheeks before whispering in his ear.

    "If you dare use protection from now on, I''m going to kill you." Jirni''s lovely, motherly smile extended to her eyes and her voice was warm and affectionate, making her threat much more unsettling than it already was.

    "What about me?" Morok cleared his throat until no one could ignore him any longer.

    Orion and Jirni inhaled sharply, exchanging a quick, desperate look as their determination faltered and Quy wished for Mogar to swallow her.

    The sentient ignored her plea along with countless many others and the ground stood still.

    "Hey, that''s beyond offensive! How can you throw a whole parade for such a whiny guy and treat me like I''m crashing the party?" Morok said. "I''d like to remind you that you have invited me here and that I''ve been courting Quy way before mister tall, dark, and handsome crawled in your life."

    His exploits as a Ranger were well-known, just like his streak of social blunders and his relentless courting Quy that bordered on stalking.

    "You don''t get it, son." Orion sounded desperate, his shoulders slouching. "I don''t have to persuade you to marry my daughter since you asked me her hand the first time we met.

    "It''s you who has to give me a usible reason to swallow my pride and expectation and let you in my house."

    "Fine." Morok said with a snort. "First, if you bothered to ask me the same questions you made Nalrond, I''d have replied yes to all of them as well. Aside from the Light Mastery, of course. I know nothing about that."

    "That''s a good start, but it''s not enough." Jirni clicked her tongue. "Continue."

    "Second, unlike Nalrond I''m Awakened as well so Quy will have a partner for life, if she''d had me."

    "This actually sounds like a threat, but go on." Orion sighed, drinking Griffon Fire and its 50% alcohol content like it was water.

    "Third, and you are forcing my hand here, Lith and I are sort of distantly rted. More or less." Knowing that no one would believe his words, Morok turned so that no one but the Ernas could see his face.

    Then, he made his six eyes appear on his face in a pattern simr to Lith''s and had his hands be covered in scales bearing the colors of the elements.

    Itsted for just a few seconds, but it was enough to make the Ernas couple open their eyes wide in surprise, Quy turn pale, Lith facepalm with a boom of thunder, and Kam almostugh her ass off at his grimace.

    "Is it true?" Orion, Jirni, Raaz, and Elina asked Lith in unison forpletely different reasons.

    "It''splicated." He replied while baring his fangs to Morok for embarrassing him in front of his parents.

    "Then make it simple." Elina replied. "I''ve seen you struggling with your condition as a Tiamat for months. If you knew someone in the same situation, why didn''t you ask for his help?

    "Also, why did you never tell us that you have discovered another branch of our family, and does he know about Solus?"

    "You mean the short stuff over there? Of course I know her." Morok pointed at the petite youngdy who was too busy rejecting Tulion''s advances to take part in the conversation.

    "Never mind." The dumb look in his eyes was all Elina needed to understand that Morok knew nothing about Solus.

    "Oh gods! Hold that thought, Lith." Orion left to save his honored guest from the clutches of his phnderer son.

    "I''m so sorry, Lady Verhen. The next time Tulion bothers you, you have my permission to kick him in the gonads." Orion said the moment he brought Solus into the safety of their fold.

    The fact that she had taken Lith''s family name confused him, but very few things about Lith''s life didn''t so Orion had stopped asking himself questions a long time ago.

    "Thanks for your timely rescue, Lord Ernas." Solus gave him a perfect curtsy in her beautiful sky-blue g dress. "I have to turn down your kind offer, though. It would be an unusual and cruel punishment."

    "It sure would." Morok nodded.

    The only time he had addressed her as "short stack", Solus had kicked him so hard that by the time Morok had managed to stand up again, Quy wasn''t mad at him anymore.

    "No, it wouldn''t. Please, Lith, continue."

    "Morok and I don''t share more blood than you and I do, Orion. He has multiple eyes like me because that''s amon trait of evolved humans."

    "You mean he belongs to a Fallen race? It would exin a lot." Jirni looked at Morok with renewed suspicions.

    "No, a sessful evolution." Morok puffed his chest out with pride, trying to ignore the repeated insults.

    "Wow, if that''s evolution, it makes me want to reject modernity and go back to being a primate." Orion said.

    "Dad!" Quy said, her face turning red in embarrassment.

    "If that''s what you''re embarrassed about, then I can assume that you knew about it already and you are okay with it." Jirni looked at Quy in surprise.

    "Of course she knows. I told her everything she needed to know about me before asking her out the first time." Morok replied. "Say what you want about me, but with a bit of luck our children will have your daughter''s looks and brains and my bloodline abilities."

    "At least he''s been honest about it. Also, he does have a point." Orion looked at Jirni, pondering the pros and cons of her daughter''s hypothetical offspring.

    "He indeed does." Jirni nodded. "I still don''t like him, but it''s not like we have the time to find a recement. Also, think about how powerful Quy would be during pregnancy."

    ''I hate it when I''m always right.'' Quy thought as she could feel the scales in her parent''s brains being positively tipped by Morok''s inhuman nature.

    "You pass, but barely. Wee to the family." Orion patted his shoulder with nigh zero enthusiasm.

    Taking in someone as quirky as Manohar but with none of his genius and aplishments didn''t feel like a great deal.

 Chapter 2206 Kinslayer (Part 2)

    "I did it!" Morok clenched his fists in triumph before hugging those he already considered like his inws. "Father, mother, I won''t let you down."

    "Please, don''t call me like that." Orion and Jirni said in unison as their stomachs churned.

    "While we are at it, do you have any rtive who''s still single? My Little Flower can use a hand in choosing her partner." Orion asked both Morok and Nalrond.

    "Dad, stop it!" Phloria became beet red, trying and failing to put an end to the discussion.

    "Sadly, no. I''m thest survivor of my vige." Nalrond said, drawingpassion from the small crowd around him.

    "Thank the gods, no. As far as I know, I''m the only one my father experimented upon. You don''t have to worry about him, I got him killed." Morok said, making Jirni and Orion wonder if it was toote to take back their offer.

    "That''s¡­ unsettling. Exnations are in order but they can wait. I don''t want to ruin this party with morbid topics." Jirni said.

    "Giving your daughters away like cattle is morbid, Mom!" Phloria''s words only earned her a reproachful look.

    "If you had taken better care of your personal lives, you wouldn''t have forced your parents to vet your suitors for you. All three of you." Jirni said to her daughters before turning to Tyris who was still giggling at the family drama.

    Sark was a public figure and Leegaain always introduced himself by his real name. Once Jirni had noticed Constable Griffon shadowing Kam one day out of three, it hadn''t taken Jirni much to figure out the Guardian''s real identity.

    "Your Majesty, I''m afraid that after everything she went through with Lith, my daughter had enough of Dragons and Phoenixes for two lifetimes. Do you have any Griffon you could introduce to her?"

    "Mom!"

    "What? First you, then Kam, then Marth, and now your sister has decided to follow in Valeron''s footsteps in your dating partners. The good thing about it is that you have a wider choice." Jirni shrugged.

    "My sons are too old for Phloria, but I have a few great-grandsons who would be delighted to make her acquaintance." Tyris replied.

    "Great Mother almighty! What did I do to deserve this?" Phloria said while stomping her foot in frustration.

    "That''s a bit of an exaggeration, but thank you." Tyris chuckled, making Phloria realize her blunder. "Gods, this never gets old. As for your question, you are a good person and you deserve all the joy thates your way."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s beach house, a few dayster.

    After the end of the mission, Quy had certified that Lith needed absolute rest to recover. Keeping his Abomination form for a prolonged time had inflicted great strain upon his life force so the Royals had granted him and Kam a few days of leave.

    The Royal Forgemasters and the Awakened Council were still studying the blueprints of the Golden Griffon. Until they devised a spell that would destroy the lost academy without endangering the rest of the Kingdom, they had no need for him.

    Quite the contrary, the Royals wanted Lith to return to the top of his game as soon as possible.

    Kam had been true to her word and had brought him back to the ce where they had spent their honeymoon. They had lots of happy memories there and she hoped that with time, privacy, and Solus'' help they would manage to fill the gap that had formed between them.

    After the Void hadshed out in front of the Royals to protect Solus and Kam had learned about Lith''s past as Derek, she was struggling to keep up the appearances of their rtionship.

    She had gotten over it while he was inside the Golden Griffon, driven by the fear of losing Lith and that their final memory together would be that of an ugly fight. Now that he was back and in the safety of their home, however, Kam found herself back to square one.

    Ever since the day of the revtion, holding hands was the most intimate gesture she could bear. Being alone with him felt awkward so she made sure that they were never alone.

    "Man, I almost had a stroke when I saw that hunting cabin with chicken legs running through my fields." Raaz said, sunbathing while keeping an eye on the children ying on the beach. "For a moment I feared that Baba Yaga hade to avenge Dawn and Night."

    "You aren''t the only one, dear." Elina chuckled while quickly dipping into the ocean to find relief from the Desert''s sun. "The members of the Queen''s Corps had a lot to do and Lith had lots of exnations to give once Baba Yaga left."

    "Yeah." Lith nodded. "Thank the gods I was with dion so her presence was justified. Also, Tyris backing up my story and saying that she had business with the Red Mother made everyone stop asking questions."

    No one in the Royal Court, the army, or even the association dared question the words of the First Queen. The identity of Constable Griffon was still a secret, that was why Tyris had appeared in front of them in her true form.

    At that point, their only worry was to not anger her and be her meal.

    "You are lucky that Tyris takes her vow seriously because under normal circumstances you would have been on your own." Sark was sunbathing as well, eating non-stop from a huge tter that a column of servants made sure never emptied.

    Her swollen belly and her unusual break from work were testimony of how close she was to term.

    The baby was due any moment now and she didn''t want to be caught in the middle of a diplomatic discussion.

    It had already happened in the past and it had been embarrassing even for her.

    "Are you sure you are alright, little brother? You are awfully quiet." Rena was enjoying one of those rare moments when someone else took care of her children and she could spend time with adults. "Usually when you are forced to take a break, youin all the time."

    "I''m physically fine, thank you." Lith replied with a snort. "My problem is that I still feel guilty for Jormun and the fact that everyone looks funny at me doesn''t help."

    He was now this close to getting the Dragonyer title, which for a human, a Fae, or an Emperor Beast would have been among the greatest honor that his kin could bestow upon them.

    Unluckily for Lith, Dragons and Phoenixes called him a Kinyer and there was nothing good in receiving such a bad name. He had killed Xedros the First Wyvern, Syrook the ck Dragon, and now Jormun, the First and probablyst Emerald Dragon on Mogar, wiping out an entire bloodline.

    To make matters worse, Xedros and Jormun were both Leegaain''s Firstborns, just like Sinmara, Surtr, and Gentor the Golden Dragon. When even Sinmara had started to act awkwardly in front of Lith, he knew to be in trouble.

    The only silver lining was that both Leegaain and Sark didn''t seem to care. They continued to follow and protect Kam as if nothing had happened.

 Chapter 2207 Not So Much (Part 1)

    "I''m really sorry, little brother, but I''m sure that the other Divine Beasts will soon understand that you are not responsible for Jormun''s death. You were just doing your job to put an end to the war." Rena said.

    "The same could be said about Jormun." Lith sighed. "Do you mind if we talk about something else?"

    "Sure." Rena nodded. "Do you think that Quy and Friya will really marry or will they defy their parents'' orders?"

    The two women had refused to not have any saying in their own personal lives and had stood their ground to Jirni which had led the Archon to raise the ante. When the party had reached its climax, she had publicly announced the marriage of both her daughters, nailing them to the wall.

    Jirni had set no date, but being officially engaged was a big deal, especially for Quy. Nalrond had dropped his ss at the announcement and had done his best to get out of there unnoticed.

    s, Jirni had a silver spotlight pointed at him and his unwitting fianc¨¦e while a golden spotlight marked Quy and Morok. Nalrond had gotten trapped in a web of handshakes and pats on the shoulders by a swarm of strangers who wanted to know everything about him.

    The Tyrant, instead, had taken the spotlight as his cue to don his deep green Great Mage robe that matched Quy''s, walk to her, and kiss her in front of everyone. The room had burst with cheers and apuses while everyone looked at Nalrond, expecting him to do the same.

    After that, Morok had greeted the guests while dragging Quy along, introducing himself as Morok Eari-Ernas. He moved with such swagger and talked with so much confidence that everyone in the Kingdom now considered the deal closed.

    Quy wanted to beat him to a pulp, but as the Royal Healer and in front of her peers and family members she had a reputation to uphold. Long story short, she had dug her own hole deeper with every forced smile she made and congrattion she epted.

    "Friya can still make it out of the engagement if she ys her cards right. The only way out Quy has left, instead, is to defect the Kingdom and seek asylum in a foreign nation." Lith replied.

    "Good to know." Sark nodded, sending her personal invitation to the youngest of the Ernas to move to the Desert at the earliest convenience.

    "Grandma!" He said in outrage while everyone elseughed. "Quy is my friend and my country is still a hot mess. Cruel much?"

    "You mean generous. I get a new mage and she gets what she wants. Everybody wins." The Overlord shrugged, not deigning him even of ying the pregnancy card.

    Meanwhile, Kam looked at the family scene from one of the tower''s windows, feeling as alien to them as her husband was to Mogar.

    To amodate the entire Verhen family, Lith''s parents and older sister lived in the cottage while Tista, Kam, Solus, and Lith stayed in the tower.

    Usually, Kam didn''t like sleeping there because of Lith''s bond with Solus. While they were so close and inside the tower, they had barely any privacy which now had be a good thing.

    It allowed Kam to stay close enough to him to sort her feelings while also avoiding intimacy and romance.

    "What are you doing here, Kami?" Solus took her by surprise, making her flinch. "You should be on the beach with the others instead of sulking in the shadows. That''s Lith''s thing."

    Neither of them smiled at the joke, making the failure of Solus'' attempt to lighten the mood.

    "Don''t you mean Derek?" Kam replied. "Besides, I could ask you the same thing."

    "How many times do I have to tell you that they are one and the same?" Solus replied with a sigh. "Are you sure you don''t want me to revert the tower to its old appearance?"

    She pointed at the new rooms and furniture that had been shaped ording to their blueprints for Lith''s dream house. It was based on the small mansion of Baron Wyalon in Jambel, a two-storey building made of wood and stone.

    "I''m sure." Kam nodded. "Until we made these changes, I never realized how the tower and Protector''s house being identical to Lith''s home in Lutia made things damn confusing.

    "Every ce looked the same so even when we moved around, I had the impression of always being in Lutia."

    "True that." Solus nodded.

    "By the way don''t think I haven''t noticed how you dodged my question."

    "I could say the same thing about you." Solus repeated Kam''s words hoping to avoid the matter.

    "Fine, I''ll start." Kam sat on the bed and patted the spot nearby to invite Solus to join her. "I can''t wrap my head around the idea of living with an alien from another. My marriage is based on a lie and it makes my whole life feel unreal.

    "I''m sure I still have feelings for Lith, Derek, or whoever he actually is, but every time I touch him, fear takes over. Ever since that day, I feel like I''m living with a stranger.

    "I know nothing about the man whose child I''m carrying and it scares the crap out of me."

    "Let me get this straight." Solus sat right in front of Kam, looking her in the eyes. "You were okay with dating a mysterious hybrid. You had no problems after learning that he was an Awakened first and an Abominationter.

    "Even after Lith lost his humanity, the dealbreaker was my existence, not him turning into a 20 meters (66 feet) tall Tiamat. Correct?"

    "Yes." She nodded.

    "How in my mother''s name can the birthce of the Abomination that you had already epted change anything?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "Because he''s not the person I believed to know!" Kam replied. "I mean, hees from another world, he is older than he appears, and everything that everyone thinks to know about him is a lie. His birthce changes everything."

    "For that matter, I, Sark, and every Awakened on Mogar are older than we appear." Solus said. "I admit that the other world thing is a bit unsettling, but living on a sentient where undead walk among us and Guardians determine the fate of entire continents, not so much."

    "True." Kam nodded. She usually kept things like the existence of Fringes, Abominations, undead, white cores, and Mogar''s consciousness in a corner of her mind, away from her rationality.

    It was her subconscious'' way to protect her from going crazy at the idea of how insignificant the life of the average human was. Now that Solus forced them in the spotlight, they made Kam turn pale and covered her in a cold sweat.

    At the same time, however, they helped her to put things in perspective.

    "That said, Lith''s birthce changes nothing." Solus said. "He''s still the same person who saved my life. Who worked his ass off to give his family food and warm clothes during winter.

    "He''s still the same guy who risked his life over and over for me, you, your sister and everyone he loved. The fact that he was born somewhere else in another time doesn''t make him someone different, it just makes his struggle to live longer and more painful.

 Chapter 2208 Not So Much (Part 2)

    "I can''t force you to ept it, but I can''t pretend that I share your worries either. As I told you thest time we''ve been here, Lith has always been Lith to me. His time as Derek McCoy can help you understand his past, but it doesn''t define his present, nor will it shape his future. That''s for us to make."

    A long silence befell the room while Kam pondered Solus'' words. Itsted so long that Solus brought tea and cookies that they consumed without saying a word, each one mulling over their respective problems.

    "What about you Solus? Why are you sad?" Kam said after she gave up on sorting the mess that her mind had be. "Is it because this situation makes it hard for you to keep your feelings for Lith in check?"

    "Among other things." She sighed. "There''s the matter of the baby, Jormun''s death, aunt Loka''s- Wait, you know?"

    Solus turned to a bright shade of purple and so did the lights inside the tower.

    "Everyone knows, silly." Kam chuckled. "Unless they are blind, deaf, and dumb, of course."

    "And you are fine with it?"

    "Fine is a strong word. Let''s say that I''ve learned to cope with it. I knew about it even before proposing to Lith and I knew what I was getting myself into. I never pegged you for being jealous of our baby, though." Kam looked at Solus with doubt and confusion.

    Solus had been on cloud nine since the day she had learned about the pregnancy and had been nothing but supportive about it. Kam had no idea that the baby Solus was talking about was her alleged own.

    After moving to the Desert, she had shared with Sark the details of the recent fusion. When the Guardian had reassured Solus that merging their bodies had left no consequences, she had felt disappointed instead of relieved.

    She was still struggling to understand that unexpected feeling and the thought that going back into her ring form might reset her body only made things worse.

    "I''m not jealous of your baby, you have my word." Solus said. "Quite the contrary, you have no idea how happy I am that you are here and how at ease my mind feels on the battlefield knowing that you are safe."

    "I beg your pardon?" Kam said, her confusion growing.

    "Because of our bond, I''m incapable of helping Lith to collect the pieces he shatters into every time something really bad happens. That''s something that only you can do since I''m too busy collecting my own.

    "My pain is his pain and vice versa. We love the same people in the same way so when they are in danger, we both get unhinged whereas you can ground him. That''s why I''m jealous of you.

    "That during Lith''s darkest hours your touch heals while mine is poison. And don''t get me started about the baby. Even if you never came to the Desert and now Lith and I were together, my life would be a nightmare.

    "If I were the one pregnant, there wouldn''t be one day when I wouldn''t be terrified that my cracked life force and core might endanger the baby''s life. That every time I step away from a geyser, the tower might cut her off not recognizing her as a part of my body.

    "On top of that, in your shoes, Lith would never allow me to follow him on the battlefield. Every hit I take reflects on the tower,promising my life support system.

    "During the battle against Syrook and then to protect Belius, I took so much damage that I would have lost the baby several times over. Yet if I wasn''t there, he wouldn''t be alive now.

    "As long as I can fight alongside him, watching his back even when he''s surrounded by enemies and make sure that hees back home alive, I don''t care about my feelings.

    "That''s why I''m happy he has you and you have my word that I would never do anything that mightpromise your rtionship. I love you, Kam Yehval Verhen. You have filled a huge void in our lives and given us happiness.

    "You are everything that I can''t be and I''m grateful to have you in my life."

    "That''s what I''m supposed to say, you silly." Kam embraced Solus, moved by her words.

    "What do you mean?" It was now her turn to be utterly confused.

    "I mean that I''m jealous of you as much as you are of me. You are strong, smart, and you share with Lith not only a bond deeper than I''ll ever be able to understand, but also his love for magic.

    "I don''t understand the first thing about it and even if I started today to study magic just to share that aspect of his life, it would take me years just to get the basics. No matter how hard I try, I''ll never be at your level.

    "At the same time, after witnessing Lith''s memories, I know that without your light guiding him, he would have long lost himself to the Void, turning into a monster beyond redemption.

    "I also know how much you''ve sacrificed to let him have a full life and to make our rtionship thrive. Back when I didn''t know about you, I was scared to death every minute of every time he was on a mission.

    "Now, instead, I know that no matter where Lith goes or how bad the situation is, he has always someone who loves him as much as I do but who can fight like I never could.

    "I''m not scared of your presence in our lives, quite the contrary. You make me feel safe when he''s away and you are the only person I can truly open up to because you''ve walked and keep walking many miles in my shoes.

    "I love you, Solus Menadion Verhen, and I wouldn''t want this odd three way marriage any other way. This baby is as much yours as she is mine and I would love it if you allowed her to call you Mom." Kam said.

    "Are you sure?" Solus said amid hups, fighting a losing battle to hold back her tears. "Don''t you think that two moms can be confusing?"

    "Really?" Kam halfughed and half cried. "Do you really think that a baby who''s going to have six grandparents, hundreds of uncles and aunts, and the gods know how many distant rtives can be baffled by two moms?"

    "I admit that it might be a bit unsettling, but when you put it that way, not so much." Solusughed a bit before bursting into tears of joy thatsted for a long while.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Essar Region, Golden Griffon academy.

    When Leegaain and Tyris reached the external gates of the lost city of Huryole, no guard moved forward to stop them. The Forgotten and the Emperor Beast on patrol remained equally silent.

    The only difference between the unliving and the living was that while the formercked any expression thetter wore a grimace of pain.

    No voice resounded through the Gardens of Madness as the Guardians walked through the Awakened forest nor did anyone question their presence there.

 Chapter 2209 Bleeding Heart (Part 1)

    Tyris and Leegaain found a straightforward path to the Throne Room and reached it without encountering any resistance.

    Once they stepped inside the great hall, they froze on the spot. Not because there was a deadly trap or ambush waiting for them. Not because the Mad King had prepared an anti-Guardian array that his daughter had further perfected.

    What made pain run through every fiber of their beings and robbed their eternal bodies of any warmth they had was how familiar the Throne Room was.

    Everything from the throne to the paintings had been reced by copies that looked like the originals but were made entirely of cold, lifeless stone. Thrud sat on her seat and by her side, there was another holding a statue depicting her lost husband.

    Thrud wore Arthan''s Armor and held the Sword of Arthan with both hands. Its tip touched the floor as she used the priceless artifact as a support to not double over due to the unbearable pain she felt.

    Her breath wasbored even though she was doing nothing, steaming in the coldness of the room.

    ''Order and Chaos, this is identical to your house.'' Leegaain said via a mind link. ''Are you sure Thrud has never been there?''

    ''I''m sure. Back when Arthan was chosen as King, there was no test and my life was full of color. I made my throne room that way only after Valeron''s death, one hundred years after Arthan''s execution. By then Thrud was already in the wind.'' Tyris replied.

    ''Then it must be your blood running thick through her veins to have bestowed her a mind so simr to yours.'' Leegaain said.

    ''Indeed.'' Just like Leegaain, Tyris was in her human form and she could appreciate how much the Mad Queen resembled her.

    Tyris'' beauty and Valeron''s noble countenance had found the perfect bnce in Thrud like it hadn''t happened for most of the First King''s daughters.

    Thrud''s Generals couldn''t help but turn their heads dumbly from one woman to another, mistaking them for sisters at best.

    "Well, well, well. Look who we have here. The Guardians of the Garlen continent." Tears streamed non-stop from Thrud''s eyes yet her voice was firm and clear. "Are you here to just gloat or have youe to finally put me out of my misery?"

    "Neither." Leegaain raised his empty hands in a gesture of peace before joining his hands and giving her a deep bow in respect for her grieving. "I''vee to give you my condolences and to renew my offer.

    "Please, think about your son. Now that Jormun is dead, what do you think will happen to Valeron the Second if you lose the war?"

    "What about her?" Thrud nodded at Tyris who had started crying as well.

    She knew Thrud''s pain better than anyone else and felt close to her despite their morals couldn''t be more different.

    "I''vee to offer you my condolences and mypassion, child." Tyris'' voice was calm and soothing despite the suffering that seeing her own reflection in Thrud inflicted upon her. "Know that you are not alone. Not now, nor ever."

    The eyes of the Guardians fell on Protheus who was rocking Valeron in his arms. The Doppelganger had taken Jormun''s appearance and was singing a luby with the voice of the Emerald Dragon.

    Thrud had no intention to rece her husband nor to lie to her son. She just wanted to let Valeron smell his father''s scent, see his face, and hear his voice while he was still too small to understand what had happened.

    Her foolish hope was that it would allow Valeron the Second to remember about Jormun and know how much the Emerald Dragon had loved his son.

    "Your condolences?" Thrud echoed, her face twisting into a grimace of unbridled fury. "You executed my father after torturing him for days and you broadcasted the whole thing throughout the Kingdom to show that not even the Royals were above thew!"

    The Mad Queen red at Tyris while the hologram of Arthan''s sentence being carried out was projected by the academy''s arrays. Thrud had watched it the first time when she was a teen and it had changed her life.

    From that day onward, she had reyed the recording every time her determination started to falter or her rage to fade.

    The Guardian remained silent since Arthan''s suffering was nothing to herpared to what Valeron''s death had caused her. No matter how much she empathized with Thrud, Tyris still considered Arthan the source of her misery.

    "As for you, you are even worse than her!" Thrud stared at Leegaain with hate. "You left your son imprisoned inside the Golden Griffon for 500 years just to teach him a lesson. If you came and rescued him, none of this would have happened.

    "Heck, even if you bothered to wee him back once he escaped, you would have noticed the ve spell on him and stopped Jormun before he came to Jiera. If only you had a fatherly heart, Jormun would have never met me.

    "The War of the Griffons would have never started, I would still be alone and miserable somewhere, but he would still be alive. This is all your fault! My fault! Our Fault!" Tears cracked her voice as the Father of all Dragons understood that the only person Thrud hated as much as him was herself.

    Jormun wasn''t the first child Leegaain had lost and he hadn''t been neglectful in raising the Emerald Dragon, yet her words still struck him much harder than he expected. Not only because Thrud was right, but also because she wasn''t shying from her responsibility.

    It had been Lith''s hand to have snuffed Jormun''s heart but it had been Leegaain first and Thrudter to put the Emerald Dragon in the line of fire.

    "All the more reason to ept my offer." Leegaain said. "You and I both have something to atone for and together-"

    "And let Jormun''s death be as meaningless as my father''s?" Thrud cut him short. "My husband gave his life to protect my dream and our son. I''ll be damned before I let him be a footnote in history as the Mad Dragon who consorted with the Mad Queen!

    "This war will end only with my victory or my death. If you don''t have the guts to reunite me with Jormun, I will as soon as I make sure that my son is ready to take the throne for himself.

    "With the secret of the white core, Arthan, and Saefel sets, his rule will be eternal, if that''s what he wants."

    It was now Tyris'' turn to be affected by the Mad Queen''s words. Her determination to put an end to her life just to make the pain stop matched that of Valeron the First, bringing endless pain to the Guardian.

    "I respect your decision." Leegaain nodded. "But what if you lose? What will be of your son, then?"

    "If I fail and if you ever had a shred of love for Jormun, the only thing I ask from you is to save your grandson before something bad happens to him." Thrud replied, her voice firm and cold as the statue of her husband again.

 Chapter 2210 Bleeding Heart (Part 2)

    "You have my word. I''ll bring Valeron the Second to my home and raise him as if he was my own."

    "Are you the Guardian of Wisdom or of Deafness? Haven''t you heard what I said just a second ago?" Thrud''s voice oozed with so much spite that the rest of Mogar had run dry. "You are a horrible father. A monster no better than I am.

    "Just like the Great Mother here." She nodded at Tyris, making the image of Arthan''s suffering reappear. "Both of you knew what was happening and could have saved Jormun''s life yet you did nothing.

    "I have no reason to believe that you would act any different for my son."

    "What then? Sark?" Leegaain asked.

    "I trust no Guardian." The Mad Queen shook her head. "After you rescue Valeron, I want you to entrust him to Lith Tiamat Verhen''s care. It was my husband''s dying wish and I intend to honor it."

    "I''m proud of you, child. Forgiveness is a sign of great strength." Tyris said, yet her kind words were met by a burst of derangedughter.

    "Forgiveness? Not even I''m that mad. I''ll never forgive nor forget what he did. If I die, my son will live with the Supreme Magus. Valeron will grow with other members of a new and unique race who will help him master his powers.

    "If I lose, I''m going to save Verhen forst, killing him only after putting him through so much suffering that my own will pale inparison!"

    As herughter rose in intensity and pitch, the Guardians stared at Thrud with Soul Vision, the ultimate mystical sense that allowed them to peek at the true nature of things and living beings alike.

    What they saw was a rampaging Golden Griffon. It was mad with fury and its heart had been brutally ripped off its chest. No matter how much it bled, the Griffon refused to both die and stop.

    Aside from the madness, it was identical to what Soul Vision had shown about Tyris after Valeron''s death.

    It made the Guardians pity her even more, but it also made clear that her words were no empty promise.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s beach house, a bitter.

    Solus and Kam were still hugging and crying when Elina walked through the door. The scene clenched her heart, making her stomach churn in worry.

    "By the Great Mother are you two alright? What happened?"

    "It''s nothing Elina, don''t worry." Kam said amid sniffles as Solus conjured enough tissues for both of them.

    "I''m worried alright, dear, and I will be until you exin to me why you two have disappeared for so long. Is everything okay with the baby?" It was a stupid question since Sark was less than 100 meters (330'') away and all three Guardians of Garlen had sworn to protect the child.

    Yet Elina was pregnant as well and to her, that was the most likely answer.

    "She''s fine. We are both fine." Kam pointed at herself and her own womb. "It''s just that between Lithshing out at the Royals and thisst mission, things got a bit rough and I got emotional."

    "This doesn''t exin m-"

    "Great Mother almighty!" Sark''s pained shriek cut Elina short and drew the attention of any living creature in a kilometer and a half (one mile) radius. "The time hase. Call that moron of Leegaain. If he misses the birth of our child, I''m going to kill him!"

    Sinmara helped the Guardian whose water had broken to stand up before Spirit Warping everyone back to Sark''s pce. Her attendants made lots of calls, summoning the Phoenixes from the nest and every single Dragon who had expressed interest in the event.

    Before Lith had even realized what had happened, he found himself in a waiting room as big as a theatre that was almost full to the brim.

    "Hi, Lith. How are you?" Surtr, the Dragon of Light, sounded awkward as he extended his hand to a Kinyer.

    "It could go much better, but also much worse." Lith assumed his Tiamat form, letting their scalese in contact and sharing his trouble with Surtr without saying a word.

    "Oh, gods, brother. I''m so sorry for you. I hope that things will get better soon." Surtr hugged him, almost as worried for Lith as he was for theirtest brother.

    "Thank the gods Sark has provided plenty of seats. This might take a while." Elina sat down, inviting Kam and Solus to do the same.

    "How long, exactly?" Knowing that it was only a matter of time before her turn came, Kam decided to use it as a learning experience.

    "It depends. Sometimes minutes, other hours. First deliveries can be even slower, though." Elina said, making Kam swallow a lump of saliva. "Don''t worry, dear, I''m sure you''ll be fine.

    "How is it going with the morning sickness and the mood swings?" Elina held her hand.

    They heard each other a lot but due to Kam''s work, they didn''t spend much time together, especially if Lith needed her.

    "Actually, I''ve experienced no such thing." Kam shrugged. "You and Zinya warned me about a lot of things, but aside from my appetite, nothing has changed. Maybe it''s because of Lith''s beast blood."

    "No way." Selia looked cranky, hungry, and angry. "I''m going next after Sark and I can assure you that I went through the whole package every single time."

    The huntress had been invited to stay in the Desert along with Lith''s parents to keep thempany and her safe until the end of the War of the Griffons. Her belly was swollen, her ankles had doubled their usual size, and her feet hurt.

    "That''s because Divine Beasts gift the mother with more strength than the pregnancy takes. Also, Kam is now Awakened and with the baby refining both their cores and bodies, the impurities won''t bother her much." Rethia, the Wind Griffon and Surtr''s wife said.

    She looked like a woman of unworldly beauty and endless grace who made all the women around her clench their teeth in envy.

    "Are you telling me that Kam won''t get this, this, or this?" Selia pointed at her own legs, hips, and stomach.

    "Well, you''ve seen Sark. It should go like that, more or less." Rethia replied.

    "Don''t take this the wrong way, dear, but I hate you so much right now." Elina said and Selia nodded.

    "And what''s the right way to take it, exactly?" Kam said with a sneer, feeling relieved by the news and annoyed by the scorn she received.

    Meanwhile, Leegaain and Tyris had returned from the Golden Griffon the moment Sark''s pain had reached them via the mind link they shared.

    The Father of All Dragons still looked like an albino man and he still felt as if two football teams had used him instead of a ball for a championship match.

    The intense feelings shared by Lith and Surtr acted as a beacon to his distraught mind so he appeared right next to them, making the situation even more awkward.

    The room turned silent as everyone struggled between the desire to give Leegaain both their congrattions and condolences and the curiosity to see how his meeting with a Kinyer would unfold.

 Chapter 2211 Dragon Dance (Part 1)

    "I''m sorry for your loss." Lith said after a while. "I swear that I was certain that Jormun was still under the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array. I had no idea he would have died.

    "You have no idea how ashamed I am that my final words to him were of taunt whereas he forgave me with hisst breath."

    "Don''t worry, Lith. I don''t me you for Jormun''s death." Leegaain said, making eyes go wide and mouths agape, but no one said a word. "He was my son, but he was also an adult Dragon over 900 years old.

    "It was by his choice that he returned to Thrud''s side, refused my offer to get away with his child, and faced you in a battle to the death. We can say whatever we want, but it''s our choices that define us and the actions that follow such choices are what determine our fate.

    "Jormun made many wrong choices which lead to his death and none of them is your responsibility. He was my son and his death bears on my shoulders. My only wish is that I could receive his forgiveness as well."

    The Father of all Dragons sighed, feeling his heart torn by grief from the death of one son and by the joy from the other who was about to be born.

    "Thanks. Your words mean a lot to me." Lith offered him his hand which Leegaain promptly shook, realizing how heavy the Tiamat''s burden was.

    "I''m very sorry to add even more to your te, but I have to ask." The Guardian said. "Jormun wanted you to raise Valeron the Second in case of Thrud''s death and when I visited her, she expressed the same desire. What are your intentions?"

    "What a smart son of a Dragon." Lith inhaled sharply as the memory popped through the mist of worry about his marriage that clouded his mind. "He wants our children to grow together so that they learn from each other and benefit from the Guardian''s protection."

    "Wanted." Leegaain corrected Lith even though he was happy with the slip of the tongue. "Also, I think Jormun knew that someone who went through so much shit as you would empathize with a child destined to be hated for who he is and not for what he has done.

    "He probably wanted Valeron to be raised with love."

    "Why the farm does everyone always want to entrust their children to me?" Lith''s felt his eyes be watery but kept his mouth in check since the children were there. "First Protector, then Ka, dion, and now Jormun.

    "I must ask my wife and Solus first, but I can tell you even now that no matter their choice, I''ll do my best to make sure that Valeron the Second doesn''t have to suffer for the crimes of his mother."

    "Thank you so much." Leegaain embraced the Tiamat, making the awkwardness in the room fade away and everyone forget about the Kinyer title.

    Dragons and Phoenixes approached both men to congratte them when Sark pulled up the curtain and walked toward Leegaain while holding a baby wrapped in a thick cloth.

    "Congrattions, dear. It''s a boy." The room literally almost came down from the booming cheers, apuses, and stomps. Yet Sark''s pce quickly countered the shockwaves, stopping them before they caused a quake.

    "Already? We barely got here!" Kam turned toward Elina with a bbergasted look on her face, finding that their expressions matched.

    They had arrived for barely a couple of minutes and Sark was already on her feet and the baby clean and wrapped. It meant that the delivery had taken a minute if not less.

    "I''m a Guardian, kid." The Mother of All Phoenixes replied. "If after having so many children I hadn''t developed a foolproof method, I should be ashamed of myself."

    Before Selia, Elina, and Kam could ask her to employ such a wonderful method on them when their time came, Sark ignored them and walked forward to Leegaain. She offered him the baby that still looked human due to his mother''s shapeshifting.

    Leegaain took him with infinite care and tenderness as if it was the first time, his heart torn more than ever.

    "Hello, little one. Let''s see what we have." Leegaain turned into a human-sized Dragon and Sark into a Phoenix, letting their blood resonate with the baby''s.

    The shapeshifting came undone and the baby boy was reced by a featherless chick bigger than an adult vulture. Leegaain gently caressed his beak, triggering the transformation into a Dragon whelp covered in ck scales.

    ''Not to be that guy, but is that a ck Dragon like Syrook or a Shadow Dragon like Zoreth? Also, what about the Phoenix''s side?'' Lith asked Surtr via a mind link to not ruin the moment for everyone except the Dragon of Light.

    ''He''s neither.'' Surtr didn''t appreciate picking the short end of the stick and his thoughts didn''t hide one bit of his annoyance. ''The Firstborn of a Guardian always inherits their traits until the blue core.

    ''The ck scalese from Dad, just like once the feathers grow, they will be red. The baby will be "just a Phoenix" until the blue and get the full scope of his bloodline abilities on violet.

    ''His children, instead, will be born with the same color of scales or feathers as our little brother, depending on which side of his life force he chooses, of course.''

    "I don''t care what you are going to be, little one." Leegaain gently rocked the small Dragon. "Daddy promises to raise you right and to make sure that nothing bad happens to you.

    "You''ve lost two brothers already, Xedros and Jormun, because I failed them. They grew distant from me until they lost themselves. I''m not going to let it happen to you as well.

    "This time, I will be with you until you feel you don''t need me anymore and even then, I''ll always watch over you." The oath of a Guardian held a lot of weight, but Leegaain''s heart was even heavier that day and he didn''t mind.

    The little Dragon cooed before shapeshifting back into the chick and chirping.

    "I can''t believe what an amazing job you did, Sark. He''s perf-" Then, it happened.

    The chick shapeshifted again, growing arms as the wings moved to his back and the bird feet grew into legs. It was still featherless and so were his wings, but his muzzle was that of a Dragon and a stumpy tail came from his back.

    Leegaain couldn''t believe his own Dragon Eyes until he used his breathing technique, Worldkeeper.

    The child had two life forces, just like any hybrid, yet they danced together, merging into another perfect life force whenever they met instead of shing.

    Leegaain clenched his teeth as his eyes became watery. The joy eclipsed the grief to the point that he allowed himself to hope that Jormun''s soul wasn''t lost and he had just found his way back to Mogar somewhere.

    "You did it, noisy sparrow. You really did it." The Father of All Dragons plus one felt his heart swelling and so did his body.

    "We did it, old lizard. Practice makes perfect, remember?" Sark hugged him from behind, soothing his spirit.

 Chapter 2212 Dragon Dance (Part 2)

    The cold logic of the Dragon was overwhelmed by the me of his emotions. His body grew and changed into a majestic creature 50 meters (166'') tall covered in ck scales while the pce rearranged itself to give the Guardian the space he needed.

    His hands cupped around the small infant, hiding him from the rest of Mogar and holding him against his heart. Leegaain roared in joy and hope but also in fear that something could take it away from him.

    His fear turned into rage as his thunderous voice screamed at the whole Mogar, challenging it. The ck scales covering his body lit up with the seven colors of the elements and started resonating with everyone who shared his blood.

    It started as a small quake in the Desert and quickly spread to the rest of the.

    "Fuck! There goes all my hard work to repair myb." Aylen, the First Lich said while watching the blue and green of Mogar light up with thousands of different colors.

    She was still in her son''s secretb on the moon, waiting for her house to be repaired after the fury of the Father of All Dragons had destroyed it.

    "The only silver lining is that whoever pissed Leegaain off, this time I''m at a safe distance." She stared at the in annoyance, until something unexpected happened. "Come here, Inxi. You''re in for the first Dragon Dance of your life."

    "My what now?" The Lich King turned his gaze to Mogar just in time to see it set aze in a storm of multi-colored Origin mes.

    Even Dragons who had never met Leegaain or who had fallen into a long slumber to prolong their lives until more interesting times had suddenly awoken, roaring in fury.

    Those who had turned into Liches found themselves back into flesh and blood, craving food, sleep, and affection. Those who had lost their mind to madness found their way back and emerged from their resting ces.

    For all Dragonkind it was a glorious day that they spent in the open, soaring the skies and singing songs of freedom. For the rest of Mogar, it was the day when wars stopped and people remained hidden in the deepest hole they could find, waiting for the terror to end.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s beach house, the morning after.

    Lith and Tista had been caught in the Dragon frenzy like everyone else, including lesser Dragons and even Valeron the Second.

    Yet while there was little that a small child could do, Lith had let himself go, sharing the sky and the fire with his siblings.

    Even after the sun had set, the entire Garlen continent was still as bright as day due to the multi-colored fires that engulfed Phoenixes, Dragons, and everything in between.

    Sark would have celebrated with the members of her nest anyway, but in a much less shy and localized fashion. Yet she couldn''t pass on the opportunity to take part in a rare event like a Dragon Dance, no matter how tacky she considered it.

    Only once Leegaain was exhausted from the resonance with the members of his blood and Sark managed to get him to let her hold the baby again did Lith manage to snap out of it and return home.

    He felt better and worse at the same time, having experienced the next best thing to fatherhood and the fear it brought. While everyone was having breakfast, Lith was still mulling over the revtion.

    His mind was now clear about what to do next, yet he waited for Kam to look for him, giving her all the time and space that she needed.

    ''She may be no Dragon, but I bet that yesterday''s events gave her a lot to think about as well.'' He thought with a sigh. ''I''m a bit disappointed that Mom, Rena, Aran, and Leria haven''t been affected one bit.

    ''It would have been nice if the Dragon Dance had awakened their Dragon blood. It would have also lifted a huge weight off my chest. If Mom turns into a Dragon, I don''t care what color her core is, I pity the idiot who dares stand in her path.''

    Truth be told, Elina and the rest of the family were disappointed as well, especially the children.

    "Bummer! I wanted to fly with my own wings." Leria pouted.

    Not even her chocte milk and chocte-dipped cookies could sweeten how sour she felt.

    "Tell me about it!" Aran grumbled even harder. "You at least have the excuse that you are a girl and a quarter Dragon blood at best. Your heard Grandma Sark. Boys always take from their mothers and I''m a half-blood yet nothing."

    "What do you mean?" Leria red at him with fury.

    "Girls take from their fathers so there''s nothing wrong with you being a dud." He replied with the seriousness of an angry and overlypetitive almost seven years old boy.

    "Did you just call me a dud?"

    "More like a Dragon dud." Aran nodded. "I mean, my father is a Phoenix and my mother is a Dragon¡­"

    "Debatable." Onyx said, but since her usually valued opinion didn''t fit the current bragging narrative, Aran ignored her.

    "¡­Whereas your Mom is just my sister and your father is soft." The young boy poked at Senton''s belly to prove his point.

    "My Dad is cooler than any Phoenix!" Leria yelled in outrage.

    "Hey, I do exercise and Rena put me on a diet, but I still have a life and a full-time job!" Senton whined and the magical beasts echoed his pain, making him sound more like a sad puppy than a cool man.

    "Who have you just called, ''just my sister'', young man?" Rena red at Aran with an expression that was half angry older sister and half angry mother.

    Neither of them bode well.

    "Mom, Rena is being mean to me!" With no way to counter her offensive, Aran preferred a dishonorable retreat to an honorable defeat and ran behind Elina''s legs.

    "For the gods'' sake, where''s Lith?" Elina groaned.

    The childish rivalry about who between Aran and Leria would awaken their bloodline sooner and the quarrel about who''s going to be stronger had be somon that the family had dubbed it the "blood war."

    Ever since Kam had shown her baby''s shapeshifting abilities, the conflict had be even worse and Lith was the only one who managed to make the kids stop.

    He didn''t say or do anything different from Elina, it was just his words having a different weight due to being the cool uncle/brother.

    "I have no idea." Raaz said while ignoring the children''s attempts to drag him to their respective sides. "I haven''t seen him all morning. I''m a bit worried though. He has never missed family breakfast."

    "He''s at the tower." Solus hid behind Raaz, trying to avoid the inevitable. "

    "See? Aunt Solus is soft as well but she''s as cool as Uncle Lith." Leria squeezed Solus'' stomach, just as she had feared.

    "That doesn''t count!" Aran rebuked. "Aunt Solus is half a tower, that''s why she weighs so much! She''s a cool hybrid like us whereas your Dad is just fat. Tell her, Auntie."

 Chapter 2213 Dormant Power (Part 1)

    "Why don''t you go fetch Lith, Kami?" Solus became beet red and ignored the court summons.

    "Yes, dear, why don''t you go check on him? Maybe he''s really tired and still asleep." Elina knew that Solus was able to call Lith with their mind link and that she had to have a good reason to send Kam.

    Elina had no idea what was wrong with their rtionship, but she could spot an attempt to fix it when she saw one.

    "Okay." When Kam stood up and went to the tower instead of pointing out the obvious, Elina really started to worry.

    "Tell him, Grandma!"

    "Yes, tell her, Mom!" At least until the Blood War reached her borders.

    Remaining a neutral state during a conflict was always hard, especially when the leaders of both factions tugged at her legs and whatever she would say would end up hurting one of them.

    "Double time!" Elina yelled before trying to invoke a truce with ice cream.

    "Okay, okay." Kam chuckled, speeding up for two steps before resuming her regr stride.

    Once she had found the children''s squabbles noisy and obnoxious but now they made her smile.

    ''I wonder if I will keep finding them so funny once I''ll be the one involved in a make-believe argument every other hour.'' She inwardly sighed while thinking about the possible quarrels between her unborn daughter, Elina''s unborn child, Sark''s newborn, and maybe even Valeron the Second.

    ''Lith having a new sibling isn''t a problem so much as everyonepeting for his attention. Also, I still don''t know what to do about Thrud''s son.'' Kam pondered. ''I understand that Lith feels guilty for killing Jormun, but starting with two children is-''

    She froze in front of the tower''s entrance when she noticed that she was thinking about raising her daughter with Lith without any worry. It was the first time since Kam had learned about Derek''s life on Earth that the thought didn''t freak her out.

    Her only real concern was about adopting the Bahamut.

    ''I really don''t know what to do with Lith.'' She walked through the door and conjured the tower''s control panel to find Lith. ''After the scare from the Golden Griffon, talking with Solus, and witnessing the Dragon Dance, my mind is a mess.''

    The system pinpointed Lith on the second floor of the prototype house. It was actually still part of the ground floor that had been split into two to follow the blueprints of Baron Wyalon''s house.

    Kam noticed that the room was a new one that Lith had created that very morning. She could have used her ess privileges to Warp there, but she preferred to walk and use that time to think.

    ''What Solus said makes a lot of sense and hearing from Leegaain how much Thrud is suffering from Jormun''s death makes me feel terrible. What if I''m being stupid? What if I''m wasting the little time we have left with recriminations?''

    "Lith, everybody is waiting for you to have break-" Surprise cut her off the moment she walked through the door.

    The new room was a nursery whose walls were painted sky-blue and filled with puffy clouds where magical creatures of all kinds soared the sky. The ceiling was blue as well and the light source was round and big to resemble the sun.

    The floor was grass green and there was a crib in the middle. From there, in the hypothetical baby''s line of sight, the walls had been decorated with pictures of knights, mages, towers, and Constables wielding their badges.

    Everything was drawn with a cartoonish style, to make them look funny instead of scary. Kam chuckled when she noticed that the word "Warrant" was visible on the papers that the Constables carried under their arms.

    Lith was standing in front of a baby-changing table, practicing how to wrap cloth diapers on a life-like doll.

    "I''m sorry. You know how I am. I always lose track of time when I work and I swear that this is way harder than it looks." Lith sighed at the sight of the poor result of his efforts.

    "What are you doing?" She asked.

    "Isn''t it obvious?"

    "I mean, why right now?"

    "Because ording to Grandma, I still need rest. The Dragon Dance filled me with energy but the aftereffects are worse than any hangover I ever had. Since I had free time, I realized that I could use it to practice the only chore I always avoided." He replied.

    "Are you telling me that you never changed a diaper?" Kam was bbergasted.

    "Well, Carl was just a few years younger than me. Aran and Leria were born back when I was still at the academy so I was rarely there for them. By the time Rena had the triplets, she already had Nalrond and Mom to help her.

    "The few times I baby-sat the children, I cheated my way with magic, like I always do." Lith said.

    "Then why change it if it isn''t broken?"

    "Are you kidding me? This time isn''t about getting the maximum result with minimum effort. This is about our daughter. I want her to learn to recognize my touch and smell and be reassured by them.

    "I want her to feel her father''s presence, not the cold effects of magic from a man who doesn''t want to dirty his hands. On top of that, once the baby is born, you won''t be immune to her powers anymore.

    "If she uses Abomination Touch, your life would be in danger and I would be the only one who can safely change her. It''s a big deal." Lith unwrapped the diaper, starting over.

    Kam could sense that an instruction manual had been stored in the tower''s Library and that Lith was following the step-by-step illustrations. When she focused her consciousness more, she found dozens of books about human babies, Dragon whelps, and Phoenix hatchlings.

    She had seen Lith prepare for many fights and watched him battle a few times, but this was both the bravest and the most wholesome of them all. A warm smile appeared on her face as Solus'' words made more and more sense.

    Kam could almost see Leegaain''s tender father figure from the day back ovep with Lith''s.

    "Let me show you how it''s done, silly." She stepped by his side, pushing him away enough to have the center of the table but also so that they would touch every time they moved.

    Once Kam was done, she lifted the doll to check the knots and the diaper fell t on the table. At her second attempt, it had so manyyers that it looked like a turban for the crotch while the third was hard to define.

    "I don''t think a diaper is supposed to be worn like a straitjacket." Lith had a hard time repressing hisughter.

    "I know it as well, smartass!" Kam blushed in embarrassment.

    "So much for showing me how it''s done."

    "First, Fallmug didn''t let me visit Zinya, let alone the children. Second, you are right. This is harder than it looks." She said with a sigh.

    "By the way, before we go, there''s something I need to tell you." Lith said. "You know, Grandma having a baby and Leegaain freaking out like that gave me a lot to think about."

 Chapter 2214 Dormant Power (Part 2)

    "Me too." Lith avoiding the "We need to talk" conversation starter reassured Kam, but not so much.

    "Jormun didn''t care one bit for the war. He was just there for his wife and son yet he died anyway. I know that you are protected by the three Guardians of Garlen but I don''t want the same to happen to you.

    "Now that Thrud hates my guts, I think it''s best if once you are done with your work, youe back here to the Desert with Mom while I stay in Lutia with Dad and Solus." Lith said.

    "What? Why?"

    "Because safety and prudence aren''t mutually exclusive. Sure, nothing can physically hurt you but you can still be traumatized and the people around you wounded. Also, I think it would give you the time and peace of mind you need to make your decision about me." He replied.

    "What are you talking about?" His concern moved her yet his words wounded her, tearing Kam''s heart in two.

    "I don''t know if you still want to be my wife but I can promise you that whatever you decide, I''ll be there for both you and the baby. I''m willing to raise her on my own if that''s what you want." Lith stared into her eyes to show her how serious he was.

    "Do you really think I would abandon our daughter?" Kam''s voice was full of outrage and fury.

    "Morok''s mother did and I can''t me her. Nor could I you." Lith shrugged, his tone calm. "You both got tricked by a man who got close to you under a fake identity. I''m afraid that seeing the baby might be painful for you.

    "A constant reminder of my deception that might fuel your fear that our daughter is as alien as me. You don''t deserve it while the baby deserves to be raised with love. I''m just willing to take care of her so nobody gets hurt."

    Kam opened her mouth to reply with harsh words that she would never use in the presence of the children, yet no sound came out. Her righteous fury died when she realized that he was right and that she had never thought about how Derek''s past might affect their daughter.

    ***

    While a shocked silence filled the nursery, mayhem and yells echoed through Sark''s dining room.

    The Blood War had reached its apex when Aran had called Leria a "Lesser Verhen", making her cry.

    "What in my own name is this chaos?" Sark entered the room while holding the small Shargein.

    Since neither parent was actually human, the baby was already able to eat semi-solid foods, but the Guardian preferred breastfeeding since her human form would undergo all changes of a normal pregnancy.

    "Aran is mean!" Leria cried in shame and outrage.

    "Leria is a bully!" Aran pointed at the chore spell marks Leria had used when she had realized she couldn''t win with reason.

    "I was asking your parents." Sark said with a sigh.

    It took Senton a minute to exin the ridiculous cause of the dramatic conflict.

    "Good gods, usually they say it takes a vige to raise children, but yours need a damn Guardian." Her words made everyone turn red and lower their gaze in embarrassment.

    "I''m sorry, Grandma." Aran said.

    "Me too." Leria quickly followed.

    Neither of them really meant it. Sark was the cool Grandma just like Lith was the cool brother so they didn''t want her to think badly of them.

    "You should tell that to each other, not me." She threw them a reproachful look. "Scratch that, you owe me an apology. I was still grieving the loss of my powers that you dragged me here."

    Having a baby, even an unknown hybrid, was no big deal to Sark.

    She didn''t need to rest and being a mother was second nature to her. Going back to her regr strength after having enjoyed double the power of a Guardian, however, was hard to ept.

    "I''m really sorry, Mother." Raaz had to call her that or she would pretend to not hear him. "Usually Lith is the one dealing with these shenanigans. Kam has gone pick him up but she has yet to return."

    "Don''t bother them. They have a lot to talk about." Sark couldn''t see them nor hear what they were saying, but from so close she could perceive their distress without even trying. "I''ll take care of this once and for all."

    "How?" Parents and children asked in unison with a helpless shrug.

    "It''s actually easy. After all, the problem lies in Aran bragging about his potential and Leria being insecure about her own. All we have to do is to see it for ourselves." The Guardian took a deep breath, activating her bloodline ability, Blood Imprint.

    Akin to what Leegaain had done the day back, the power of her blood started to resonate with that of everyone who shared her bloodline. Unlike the Dragon Dance, Blood imprint could trigger even the mosttent trace of Sark''s essence as long as she willed it to.

    Blue-veined ck feathers popped out of Aran''s skin while red-veined silver feathers appeared on Leria. Raaz too found himself covered in ck feathers while Rena''s were gold-veined.

    Even the triplets burst with respectively, ck, silver, and blue feathers. Shargein was too small so he was unaffected.

    "There, happy now?" Sark said with a snort. "Case closed. If you work hard and don''t bother your parents, all of you have the potential of awakening your bloodline."

    "Okay, but who is going to be strongest among-" Aran tried to say, but the Guardian''s re shut him up.

    "I said case closed, young man. In the Desert, I''m thew. In these halls, I''m god. At this table, no dessert is served without my permission. Did I make myself clear?"

    "Crystal, Grandma." He swallowed a lump of saliva.

    Aran had failed the grasp the first part, founding it more cool than threatening. Once Sark had gotten to the dessert line, he had gotten the message loud and clear.

    "Good. Then apologize to Leria. Or do you think that''s how Lith would treat his niece? Or his nephew?" Sark pointed at Shargein who actually was Lith''s lots-of-greats uncle.

    Yet when talking with kids, she preferred to keep the family tree simple. Especially since due to the age gap Lith would be a parental figure to look up to, not someone to take care of.

    "I''m sorry, Leria. I was rude and mean to you." Aran gave her a deep bow, sniffling due to how guilty he now felt for his earlier behavior.

    "I''m sorry, too, Aran." Leria didn''t need one more word to catch Sark''s drift, her re already spoke volumes. "Violence is never the answer."

    "Excellent! Now if we are done, I''d dly go back to my room and whine like a spoiled brat who has lost her favorite toy. With the difference that I''ll do it in my private quarters where no one will witness my tantrum and it will bother no one."

    The children nodded in agreement, yet their parents would have preferred that Sark had taught them how to ept disappointment with dignity instead of just hiding their childish behavior.

 Chapter 2215 Real Strength (Part 1)

    "Wait a second. What about me?" Elina asked.

    "What about you?" Sark replied with a snort.

    "I kind of feel left out." Everyone but her and Senton were still fully human.

    "I guess you don''t want to be the Senton of the situation." Rena''s husband sighed deeply.

    "Oh, no sweetie, that''s not what I meant."

    "Please, covering it up just makes it worse. There''s no need to worry about me. I''ve long since gotten used to being constantly in the middle of a storm I don''t even understand and against which I''m more helpless than my baby girl."

    Yet his voice and words didn''t match as he kept sighing like a bellows. The idea that Leria''s magic could already wipe the floor with him and that her steed could eat him in one gulp were both huge blows to his father''s pride.

    The bright-colored feathers that now decorated her skin were just the fire on the literal Phoenix.

    "You are a Red Dragon, child, and I''m no Dragon." Sark shrugged.

    "Thanks anyway." Elina sighed.

    "That''s not what I meant. I''m far from the Senton of the situation." The Guardian replied.

    "Hey, I resent that!" Rena and Senton said in unison.

    "Come on, Shargein. Be a dear and say Dad. Say Dad." Sark ignored them and focused her eyes on the adorable muzzle of the wyrmling.

    "Da." Of course, a one-day old creature couldn''t talk yet a single syble was more than enough to summon an overprotective father.

    "You heard him! He said Dad! That was his first word!" Leegaain appeared out of thin air, snatching the child from Sark''s arms and replying to his cooing in Dragontongue.

    "Sure, that was definitely a word and not an attempt to mimic my voice." The Overlord said with a sneer. "Your daughter here feels left out."

    Leegaain looked at Sark as if she was mad until he followed her finger pointing at Elina. Then, since he still looked baffled, the Overlord forced him to take his eyes off Shargein and look at the rest of the room.

    "I see." Leegaain had to cover his hand in scales and touch Elina''s face to find and trigger her dormant bloodline with his breathing technique, Worldkeeper.

    Several red and yellow-veined orange scales appeared over one-third of her skin, making her gasp in surprise.

    "I thought I was a Red Dragon or something." She pointed at the orange scales.

    "You are." Leegaain nodded. "The red ones are yours while the rest belongs to your baby girl."

    The room exploded into cheers and apuses before the Father of all Dragons could finish congratting Elina.

    "Oh gods, another girl!" Raaz said. Leegaain confirming Sark''s prediction left no room for error.

    "What do you mean, another?" His wife snarled at him. "Aside from Lith, our sons were a handful and we have three of them. We had only two daughters and they are all wonderful. This is just evening the score."

    "I don''t want to be the Trion of the situation!" Aran pouted, considering himself a paragon of virtue just a step below his favorite brother.

    "Don''t you dare repeat those words ever again, young man! Trion went through a lot and it''s a miracle having him with us again." Raaz said before turning toward Elina. "You know what, thank the gods it''s another girl."

    ***

    Lith and Kam were still staring at each other in silence when suddenly red-veined ck feathers popped out of their skin, turning their worried expressions in the adorable stare of a big, fluffy creature.

    "What the heck is that?" Kam burst into a peal ofughter while pointing her finger at Lith. The crown of feathers on his head only made his dumbfounded face moreical.

    "I could ask you the same question. You should look at your face." Lithughed as well while conjuring a mirror from the tower and handing it to her.

    "Good gods, I look like a plushie." She started tough harder.

    The feathers disappeared after a while, but it took them even longer to stopughing.

    "What do you think happened?" Kam asked.

    "Off the top of my head, I think that Grandma must have activated Blood Imprint for some reason and we got caught in the middle." He shrugged.

    "But I''m not a- The baby! She''s like you. Fire and darkness affinities." She said in amazement.

    "Well, for now. I mean, she''s just a little over two months old. She might gain more growing up and end up like Friya." Lith noticed that Kam didn''t seem scared by the experience or by the revtion and he wanted to keep things that way.

    "By the way, we should really start thinking about a name. We can''t keep calling her ''her, our daughter, the baby'' and so on. It makes her feel less than a person." He quickly changed the topic to give Kam the opportunity to take a step back from the conversation and take her time to think.

    "On that note. We should better go get breakfast. By now the others must be as worried as hungry."

    Lith turned around, opening a Gate that would lead them right in front of the dining room''s door when Kam grabbed his arm.

    "Wait a second, I also have something to tell you."

    ''Fuck me sideways. The fact that she didn''t say "we need to talk" is a good sign, but not by much.'' He thought while dispelling the portal and turning to face her.

    "Do you remember what I told you a few days ago, when I asked you to take part in the mission to infiltrate the Golden Griffon?" Kam asked.

    "Yes. Word by word." He nodded.

    "Really? With that Lich-like memory of yours?" Seeing her joking and chuckling lifted his spirit.

    "Yes, even with this Lich-like memory of mine." Lith used a mind link to rey the whole conversation.

    "Well, this makes things easier for me." She sighed in relief and then tensed up again, clenching her hands in a way that made Lith think to have jinxed everything. "I know that not much time has passed but I''ve made my decision."

    There was no warmth in her gaze or expression anymore, making Lith curse Jirni for having trained Kam so well. He gritted his teeth and waited for the blow.

    "While I was waiting for you and Solus in the capital and during our stay in the Desert, I spent most of the time thinking about how to make sense of who you are and if I could bring myself to look at you like I did before discovering that youe from Earth.

    "I would like to say that the birth of Sark''s baby and the Dragon Dance helped, but they made things just more confusing for me. I''m not going to lie, until this morning, until we had this very conversation, I was still at square one.

    "Only now have I realized that Solus was right and more importantly, that I was right all along." Lith had no idea what Solus had to do with their situation, but he kept his mouth shut and swallowed his questions, still hoping for a happy ending.

    "No matter if your name is Derek McCoy or Lith Verhen, you truly are the bravest man that I know."

 Chapter 2216 Real Strength (Part 2)

    "Not because of the monsters that you fight out there, but for those you battle here and here." Kam came close to him, putting her hand on his head and then over his heart.

    "No matter if they are born from your past traumas or just self-made, you''ve never stopped fighting against yourself, trying to be better.

    "Creating this room, being capable to open up, and putting me in front of struggles I hadn''t even thought about despite the already precarious state of our rtionship, that''s real courage and strength.

    "Seeing you in here, practicing with diapers made me realize that I love you even if your identity makes no sense.

    "When a few seconds ago you put yourself on the line of fire again to spare me and the baby from pain, I understood that even though Mogar and Earth may be at the opposite corners of space, you are still the man I fell in love with and who I chose to marry."

    Kam stood up on her tiptoes, emphasizing her point with a slow, sweet kiss. Her arms wrapped around Lith''s body and his wings popped out of his back, returning the embrace.

    Lith could feel that this time there was no trace of hesitation or fear in her bodynguage. She was no different from before discovering the truth about his origins.

    While he was still as rigid as a piece of wood from surprise, Kam telepathically essed the tower''s system to Warp them in the bedroom. Then, she stepped away from him and slowly started to undress.

    "I think it''s time that we make up for the lost time and give this room the housewarming it deserves." Her shirt fell to the floor and then she loosened her bra. "I want you to know that-"

    She sat on the bed, gently pulling Lith towards her. Her mouth formed the sweetest smile he had ever seen as she kept talking.

    "¡­"

    "Hold that thought." Lith pulled the bedsheet, covering her up as he took a step back and a deep breath.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean toe in too strong. If you need more time to think, we can wait. It was stupid of me." Her smile disappeared and she lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "It''s not what you think. I have a small confession to make." Although embarrassing, Lith couldn''t stand seeing her sad because of him.

    "Another one?" Kam looked him in the eyes, turning pale from fear until she noticed that there were seven of them and only two were looking at her face.

    "As I said, it''s not what you think. Even in the past, I had a really hard time listening to whatever you said the moment you took your clothes off. Now, however, I couldn''t hear a word you said."

    Lith pointed at her chest area that pregnancy had made shapelier and more generous.

    "I''m afraid you have developed noise-canceling breasts."

    "And you stopped me for this?" She burst into a peal of silveryughter, feeling all of her tension disappear.

    "Well, we were clearly having a moment, and it seemed really rude of me to not have any memory of it. This is as important for me as it is for you and-"

    Kam pulled him down by the shirt, kissing him again while also keeping her bosom covered.

    "I was saying that I talked with Grandma. She told me that sex won''t trouble the baby as long as you are gentle and that I can''t get more pregnant, so we are safe." She started to undress him. "I don''t feel ready for twins, let alone triplets."

    "Anything else I should know before I turn deaf again?" With her hands on him, it was only a matter of time before the bedsheet fell off.

    "Yes. Let''s start with something slow and romantic. Then, I want to give your Abomination side a go." Her face turned into a ck te with two white fissures for eyes.

    As they kissed, Lith could feel her hunger but it belonged to a kind that he had all the means and the willingness to satisfy.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Lith''s tower, in the bedroom, a few hourster.

    "That was definitely something we have to do again. The extra arms really spice things up." Kam rolled over to her side of the bed, panting.

    The moment she shapeshifted from Abomination into her human form, her body turned out to be glistening from the sweat. Judging by her smile and from how her eyes sparkled, she had enjoyed the intense recreational activity as much as Lith.

    "I swear to the gods, you are one of the least romantic women I know." Lith shapeshifted back as well. He was not tired but he was beet red in embarrassment.

    "First, you are a Divine Beast in bed. Second, is this really the first thing you want to tell me after we made up? Is this the story you want to tell our daughter?"

    "Since I''m a Divine Beast, then pet me and bring me food. I''ve skipped breakfast and lunch. I''m starving." She snuggled against him while emitting a low purring sound, almost making him not regret having shared inte memes with her.

    Almost.

    "As for our daughter, I was thinking about making the scene fade to ck the moment I opened the Warp Steps. She has no need to know about her Mom''s noise-canceling breasts or how perverted her Dad is."

    "Since when I''m the perverted one?" Lith asked in mock outrage. "Do I need to remind you what you did to me until a moment ago?"

    "It''s easier and quicker if you just say what I didn''t do to you." She chuckled. "Seriously, though, I''m starving. We are starving."

    Kam gently caressed her womb, faking worry.

    It was super effective, making Lith go ande back from Sark''s kitchen in the blink of an eye. Upon his return, he brought two carts filled with delicacies from the Desert, the Kingdom, and the Empire.

    "Don''t think that I''ve forgotten about the name issue." Kam said after devouring a full te of mushroom risotto before moving on to a T-bone steak. "You are right, we can''t keep calling her pronouns and neutral words, it feels weird."

    "Any ideas?" Lith had started with a vegetable soup for fibers before throwing himself at a full roasted chicken with potatoes.

    "Yes." She nodded. "I was thinking about naming her after Elina. She''s the most amazing woman I know and her name will bring good luck to our baby. Also, I bet Elina will have a stroke out of joy and that''s the only kind of stroke she deserves."

    Lith stared at her in amazement, his hands trembling.

    "I was thinking the same thing. Not only because whenever I meet Mogar she takes her form, but also to thank her for everything she did for me. I''ve had two mothers but only one Mom.

    "One made me into a monster, the other into a man."

    "Aww, you''re so cute when you drop the mask and act like the mama''s boy you are." Kam chuckled.

    "Let''s take our time to think about a good name." Lith said, eager to change the topic.

 Chapter 2217 Fires Of Revenge (Part 1)

    "I''d like to keep the ''El-'' root and then something different, otherwise it will cause a lot of confusion whenever they are in the same room." Lith cleared his throat, trying to sound casual.

    "That said, I thought that you didn''t want to have sex in the tower because it''s part of Solus and you find it unsettling."

    Kam was no one''s fool and giggled at his attempts for a while before answering.

    "We make love, not sex." She punched Lith''s arm, pouting. "Also, you are right, I find it unsettling but I also decided it was time to take the stick out of my ass. The tower is an important ce for you two hence it''s important for me too.

    "Solus and I have gone to great lengths to make it into our dream house and it''s only right that we start living it as such. And when I say we, I mean the three of us."

    "I swear to the gods, exining how I ended up on Mogar is much easier than understanding what good did I do to end up with you. You are the best, Kami." Lith said.

    "Never forget that." Her kiss tasted like steak.

    Then, she washed her mouth with a ss of Sark''s special juice since she couldn''t drink wine, and moved on to the dessert. Three of them, actually.

    "Since we have the time, what do you want to do first? Visiting Silverwing or that asshole Lich of Inxialot?" She asked while wolfing down a Triple Threat.

    It was a chocte cake filled with twoyers of chocte cream and covered in chocte powder and sprinkles. Lith had created it for Solus and she had named it like that because of what the cake represented to her diet.

    "Do you really think we should visit them? I mean, Silverwing I can understand. We have achieved more or less a truce and she''s an important part of Solus'' past. But Inxialot?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "I think it''s for the best." Kam nodded and moved on to a te of cinnamon rolls. "As long as I''m in this state, no one will dare mess with you two."

    "Do you want toe along?"

    "Of course I do. How many opportunities do you think I''ll have to safely meet the First Magus and the secretb of the son of the Maker of all Liches?" She replied. "Not to brag, but they are both stronger than you and you need my protection, sweetheart."

    Lith red at her, looking as dangerous as an angry puppy to her.

    Yet once again, it wasn''t for the reason Kam thought. Lith had no blind pride nor did he feel threatened admitting that he could use the help of her Guardians bodyguards.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I have Hydra shbacks again.'' He thought as Kam stuffed a whole cream puff in her mouth.

    "From who do you want to start?" He actually said, trying to smile despite the unsettling show.

    Kam frowned at those words. She munched furiously, swallowing and gulping down a ss of milk before saying:

    "Did you already forget what we said a few minutes ago?" To Lith''s defense, time seemed to dte when he watched her eat like that. "This is an important decision that we must take together. And when I say we, I mean also Solus.

    "Clean up the mess you made while I take a shower. We can''t let her see the room while it looks like a pigsty."

    Lith tried to argue that she had eaten as much as him but in a much less refined manner, spreading crumbs and bits of food everywhere. He was also going to point out how important the role she had earlier yed in the bed was.

    s, when Kam stood uppletely naked in front of him, many thoughts crossed his mind, but none of them was about the state of the room.

    "If you keep your mouth opened like that, you''ll swallow a fly." She closed his jaw shut, giggling. She felt ttered by his obvious admiration and feelings.

    Only when she closed the bathroom door did the blood flow back to his brain.

    Damn! Noise-canceling breasts and mute bottoms are too powerful. Please, nerf.'' Lith thought with a sigh.

    Luckily for him, the entire tower was filled with powerful enchantments that answered his everymand so it took him but a thought to repair the bedsheet, the mattress, and erase every trace of the events of thest few hours.

    ''Now, let''s delete the browser history.'' With a wave of his hand, Lith erased from the tower''s log the details of the cleanup.

    After double-checking the room to make sure to not have forgotten anything, Lith joined Kam in the shower.

    "Done already?" She asked in surprise.

    "Whatever you said now and earlier, I didn''t hear it." Closing his eyes long enough to speak was a mammoth task, but he managed to.

    "Gods, you are such an idiot. Again with that nonsense?" She chuckled, at least until she realized from his dumb expression that he was serious. "Look at that. Now I''ve got bloodline abilities as well."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Essar Region, Golden Griffon academy, that same day.

    The Dragon Dance had forced all armies on Mogar to cease hostilities and bought the Kingdom a few days of peace.

    If a stray spell hit a Dragon, it would trigger their fury that would spread like wildfire through the rest of the flight of Wyrms. Angering a Dragon was always a bad move. Angering lots of them and the Phoenixes apanying them was the opening move to extinction.

    The few countries that didn''t know their ce were erased from the maps and their neighbors had to wait until the Primordial mes stopped burning before starting to split the now free territories among them.

    Diplomacy worked like a charm when everyone was too scared of waking the Dragons again to argue.

    To the Mad Queen, however, the Dragon Dance only exacerbated her pain.

    When Valeron the Second had started to glow, his blood resonating with Leegaain''s, it had reminded Thrud of her loss and made the hole in her heart deeper. She knew that the joy he felt now would only make the void left by his father''s absence worse.

    Her Generals and even the Lesser Dragons among her elite soldiers had been affected by themunion. They had also been banned from appearing in front of her until further notice.

    Every time she saw the flying Dragons and their colored mes through the windows, every time she heard their cavernous voices singing songs in Dragontongue, it was like someone was driving a stake in her heart.

    "I''m so sorry, Your Majesty. This is all our fault." Iata the Sekhmet said, her voice cracked as she tried to hold back her tears. "If only we were stronger, you wouldn''t have been forced to leave the Golden Griffon and King consort Jormun would still be alive."

    "Enough talking about that, Iata. I can already feel my sanity slipping away and it takes everything I have to stay focused." Thrud pointed at Valeron first and then at the map of the Griffon Kingdom that had been updated after Lith''s mission.

 Chapter 2218 Fires Of Revenge (Part 2)

    Thrud''s voice was awfully cold and calm, yet her eyes had never stopped shedding tears since the day her husband had passed away.

    "Give me a status report of the frontlines and of the main yers on the field."

    "As you wish, my liege." Iata steeled up and pointed to the city of Belius which was now red-colored after falling into the enemy''s hands. "Even with the help of the Empire, our first lines held throughout the Kingdom.

    "We have lost ground in a few areas but we have also further advanced in others, especially while the Royal army focused on taking Belius." A few miniatures retreated on the map and a few more moved forward as she spoke.

    "We have lost way more than we have gained, but all things considered, it''s a sess. I''m referring solely to the frontlines, Your Majesty. I would never dare belie your tragedy and I''d give half of our territories to have my King back."

    "No need to apologize, Iata. I''m not that mad, yet." Thrud inhaled deeply, keeping the silver bolts of lightning bursting from her body at bay.

    "The major yers in taking down Belius were the Highmaster Zogar Vastor and the Awakened Corps led by Great Mage Phloria Ernas." The Sekhmet continued. "If that man is insignificant, then I''m a cat.

    "Alone he ughtered your Generals like pigs and mowed down our soldiers without ever slowing down his advance. We were weakened from our fight with Dawn, but we attacked Vastor in a group and lost anyway.

    "The Awakened Corps, instead, kept the Forgotten from interfering in the battle between infantries. Without them, the numerical disadvantage was too much to ovee.

    "On top of that, Great Mage Ernas alone is worth dozens of mages thanks to her sword. Hundreds, once she activated her de Tier spell."

    "I know these names. I''ve heard them before." Thrud''s voice was a whisper, her energy drained by the effort of withstanding the battle between her fury and madness.

    "You are right, Your Majesty." Sevenus Hystar, the Headmaster of the Golden Griffon said.

    He kept his wounds from the fight with Solus open and his bones broken in penitence for his failure. The Mad Queen had given him no such order, but Arthan did.

    "They are both known associates of Verhen. They are respectively his academy professor and mate. Vastor is married to the sister of Verhen''s spouse, Zinya, while the entire Ernas Household is in a close rtionship with the Verhens."

    "Verhen." The Mad Queen gasped.

    Hearing that word gave her fits of rage that its repetition only made worse.

    "The same can be said about the group of intruders." Hystar projected their holograms. "Ka the Wight is a semi-Lich who lives in the Empire. She''s a citizen of the Eclipsed Lands ruled by dion Dragonborn.

    "We already know the location of Lightkeep and I have a strike team at the ready in case you want to return their invasion in kind."

    "I appreciate the thought, but no." Thrud shook her head. "After my previous raids, the security of the Eclipsed Lands has been improved by leaps and bounds by Baba Yaga herself.

    "A proper attack would mean leaving behind the bulk of my forces while also taking so many Awakened with me that it wouldpromise the War of the Griffons. Even if I was willing to pay such a price, I''m bound to fail.

    "All Firstborns can call the Red Mother and I''m pretty sure that after what I did to her, Baba Yaga will happily go out of her way to take a shot at me. I almost lost to Dawn and she''s nothingpared to her mother.

    "Even without her tower, even if I already had reached the bright white core, I would still be an infantpared to Baba Yaga. She would capture me, break my bond with the academy, and then kill me.

    "Death is indeed alluring, but I can''t afford it until Valeron is old enough to fend for himself and I''ve taught him everything he needs. My reckoning will have to wait." Thrud stared at the baby, using it as her anchor against the storm that ravaged her mind.

    "I''d rather focus on targets at hand,bining business and pleasure." She stood up from her stone throne, caressing the statue of her husband before moving to the crib.

    She held Valeron the Second tight, singing him the lubies that Leegaain had sung for Jormun and that in turn Jormun had taught her. Once the baby was happy and asleep, she entrusted him to Iata and the handmaidens.

    "As for Baba Yaga, I still have a way to make her suffer without the need to take a single step outside the Golden Griffon." Thrud Warped straight into the maximum-security cell where the Horseman of Night was kept.

    "Hello, Orpal Verhen." Her smile was warm and vibrant as she let the world energy fill the room to the brim, allowing Night to go back to her full power.

    Thrud''s eyes, instead, were feverish and lit by the boundless rage she had no more reason to control. She even used Invigoration on Orpal, healing all of his wounds and filling his blue core with mana.

    "What''s the meaning of this? You''ve never visited me even once." His pride forced him to stand tall despite the fear gripping his heart.

    Whenever someone entered the cell, it was either to torture him or to experiment on him. Sometimes both.

    "I''m here to share good news with you." She giggled like a little girl on her first crush. "My husband died and your brother murdered him."

    "That damn Leech!" Orpal did his best to feign grief, especially when Thrud returned him his equipment. "I''m so sorry for Jormun, but I''ve warned you many times. Leech is a monster and if we want to put him down, we need to join our forces."

    "I don''t think so." Thrud''s giggle turned into a cackle and then burst into maniacalughter.

    Orpal tried to Spirit Warp Away but the academy''s Static Field arraypressed the surrounding space.

    "Gods, you are so stupid." She doubled over in hrity, gasping for air. "How could you think that I woulde here for help?"

    "Then why are you here?" Orpal dragged the conversation to weave his spells with mind and body casting as he moved to the center of the room to have space of maneuver.

    "Oh, right. I forgot to tell you that dion helped your brother to get inside the Golden Griffon and that Baba Yaga got them out. You are a Verhen fused with one of the Red Mother''s children. Who better than you to vent my anger?" The Mad Queen let himplete his preparations, her crazed smile went from one ear to the other.

    Her eyes lit up with white mana and her gaze held promises of infinite pain.

    "That''s nonsense! My family disowned me twice. Even if you kill me and send them a video, you''ll only make Leech happy. As for Night, she''s disowned as well and Baba Yaga wants her dead." Orpal replied, needing sheer willpower to withstand her killing intent.

    "The fact that you call yourself the Verhen family name is just the icing on the cake. I won''t send any videos to your brother. I''m going to torture you because this is all your fault!" Thrud couldn''t wait any longer and charged forward.

 Chapter 2219 Cornered Prey (Part 1)

    Thrud was enveloped by so much Life Maelstrom that her golden hair turned silvery and her skin became white as bolts of lightning crackled around her body.

    "My n was to leave Verhen alone!" She lunged with the Arthan''s Sword and Orpal sidestepped, exploiting the superior range of his spear, Thorn, to keep her at bay.

    "I knew that he has destroyed two lost cities and I didn''t want the Golden Griffon to be the third!" s, the Mad Queen grabbed the head of the spear with her off-hand, Davross screeching against Davross.

    Then, she pulled him and impaled Orpal on her sword, lifting him from the floor to look him in the eyes while she bathed in his blood.

    "It was you who convinced me to expose your brother''s identity as a Tiamat!" Thrud kicked Orpal in the chest, leaving her footprint on his breastte and sending him crashing against the wall.

    "If it wasn''t for you, the Royals wouldn''t know about his Abomination side. If it wasn''t for you, they would have never had the leverage to force him to take such a dangerous mission." The Dead King coughed out blood non-stop and the concussion made everything worse.

    Even with darkness fusion blocking the pain, his sense of bnce was gone.

    He trembled as he saw the Mad Queen extending her hand toward him. Fear turned into terror when instead of squashing Orpal''s head, she healed him again with her breathing technique.

    "Your stupid n is the reason my husband died. Your insignificant existence is the reason Verhen refused to join my side. My son has be an orphan because of you." Her voice was stone cold as she forced him to stand, handed him Thorn again, and threw away Arthan''s Sword.

    Orpal trembled from head to toe, experiencing what Dawn had learned the hard way just a few days back. His problem was that he didn''t have Ac''s violet core and Orpal and Night had no idea how to fuse.

    On top of that, Thrud had given him everything but his steed. Without Moonlight, the gap in their cores, mass, and the weight of their equipment was simply too much.

    "Now give me a decent fight, you pathetic excuse of a man. Meln Narchat, the shame of the Verhens." Seeing that Orpal refused to fight, the Mad Queen taunted him. "You know what, maybe I will send a video.

    "I''ve many of them where you piss yourself and cry like a little bitch. I''m sure that once the Kingdom witnesses the true you, no one will ever respect the Horseman of Night. Everyone willpare your videos with Lith''s and understand that you aren''t even worthy of licking his boots."

    "Don''t you dare!" Orpal switched with Night who bolted forward in a flurry of attacks, her spearsmanship perfected through the centuries.

    None of them reached the Mad Queen. She didn''t budge from her position, using the Arthan''s Armor heavy gloves to deflect every one of them. She caught and released Thorn many times before getting tired of that game.

    "Nice to see you again, Night. I was looking forward to talking to you as well." She stepped inside the Horseman''s guard so quickly that not even Full Guard allowed Night to react in time.

    Thrud grabbed Thorn with her right while hammering Night''s side with a barrage of body blows.

    "I know what your mother said, but I''m a mother as well. No matter how much you disappointed her, she doesn''t hate you." The Mad Queen''s voice was calm and rxed as the Horseman puked blood and bile.

    "She just realized the monster you are and wants to put you down. Yet she wants to do it in a humane and painless way whereas I don''t." Night''s numbed hands dropped Thorn and Thrud switched to a double-handed barrage.

    "I get to break the man responsible for my husband''s death and to send this video to Baba Yaga, because she will suffer. She still loves you and she will feel as helpless and miserable as I am, knowing that your fate is sealed!"

    The hits lifted the Horseman in mid-air and moved her back until she was nailed to the wall. It took Thrud a handful of seconds to st through the ck Rose armor, severing the torso from the legs with the raw strength of her punches.

    "Fuck this, I''m out." Night returned to her crystal, leaving Orpal alone.

    "Please, no. I beg of you. Stop." He said amid tears.

    Thrud was taking off the Arthan''s Armor, which hurt him more than any hit could. She was so bored that she was willing to give him even more advantage in the hope that Orpal could hold his ground for a second.

    "Don''t send the video to the Kingdom. I''ll do anything you want. Anything."

    "Just as I predicted." Thrud''s knuckles popped and her smile became more savage than ever. "Like a little bitch."

    Yet she didn''t stop. There was no mercy in her heart, only hate. She kept beating Orpal even after he stopped resisting and stopped only once she couldn''t almost resist the temptation to kill him for good.

    Thrud still needed Moonlight for her ns and no matter the madness that ravaged her mind, there was no sacrifice too big to ensure Valeron the Second''s eternal rule. Even if it meant letting Orpal live a bit longer.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Lith''s tower, in the bedroom, at the same time.

    "I''m so happy that you two have finally made up." Solus brimmed with joy, her smile so radiant that it could light a city. "I want to know everything and while you are at it, can I have dessert as well?"

    She was surprised to see so many carts of food in their room just like Lith was surprised to see her so happy. Even more astonishing was Kam''s decision to have that conversation in the bedroom instead of the living room.

    "Didn''t you have dessert already?" Lith asked.

    "No. I was so on edge that I barely touched any food. Between that and the nervous stress I''ve worked up quite an appetite." Solus'' watering mouth and her eyes staring at the sweets made him doubt her words.

    "What about your die-"

    "Here, take this. It''s delicious." Kam cut him off and offered Solus a big slice of Triple Threat while cutting another for herself.

    "I know. It''s my favorite. Yet it''s also really high-calorie and I''m on a diet." Solus touched her belly with a guilty look.

    "Nonsense, you look amazing. Also, with everything you went through at the Golden Griffon you deserve a break." Kam said, unaware that Solus had already taken several breaks at breakfast and lunch.

    "Don''t mind if I do!"

    "Okay, this is wrong. Since when do you two get along like this? I mean, the room, the pleasantries, the food sisterhood." Lith pointed at the two women eating like wolves while sharing details that were supposed to be intimate.

    "That''s mean of you to say." Solus said after gulping a ss of milk. "We get along since your honeymoon."

    "Indeed." Kam nodded. "How can you threat like that the mothers of your child?"

    "What?" Lith stared at them in horror as the memory of histest fusion with Solus and its possible consequences shed in front of his eyes. "Mothers? As in plural?"

 Chapter 2220 Cornered Prey (Part 2)

    "Yes, I''ve asked Solus to be my partner as well in raising our daughter and she epted." Kam said.

    "What?" Lith was aware that he sounded like a broken record, but he was too scared and confused to care.

    "Kami, without a mind link, this will take us all day. Mind if I bring him up to speed?" Solus asked.

    "Sure." This time, when Solus'' eyes turned ck and Lith''s golden, Kam didn''t seem to mind.

    "I need some air." Lith felt suffocating.

    He was relieved that the fusion hadn''t caused another pregnancy and terrified by the new bond between the two women. Lith couldn''t hide anything from Solus and Kam yed him like a fiddle.

    If they worked together, his stone ring was no different from a ve item.

    "Okay." A snap of Solus'' fingers created ample windows and even a balcony.

    "That''s not what I m- Never mind." While he covered his face with his hands, whining, Kam told Solus everything up to the Warp Steps.

    "So he made a nursery and even practiced changing diapers! That''s so romantic." Solus sighed as if she had just watched a rom.

    "Then we moved here and you can imagine the rest." Kam said, blushing a little while Solus blushed as well.

    She had the memories of her own past deeds plus Lith''s from the fusion so her imagination ran wild.

    While Lith was still shocked by Kam sharing such unnecessary details and by the words the two women had exchanged in the tower acquiring a new whole meaning, Kam told Solus about their ns for the immediate future.

    "Thanks for involving me in the decision, Kami. It means the world to me." Solus hugged Kam gently, holding her like the most precious crystal on Mogar.

    "No need to thank me. As I had to repeat multiple times to Lith to hammer it through that thick skull of his, this is our life. We are going to take this kind of decision together." Kam said.

    Never before "we" had had such a terrifying ring to it. Lith wanted to cry but no one seemed to notice his distress.

    ''I bet they do. They just don''t care.'' He inwardly sighed.

    "I agree with naming the child after Elina. Mom deserves all the happiness on Mogar. As for the visits, I''d like to start from Inxialot." Solus said.

    "Meeting Aunt Loka might be unpleasant. Either I recover new sad memories or she acts up, it would be very depressing. On top of that, Malyshka will be there as well for our protection and she''s pissed off at you.

    "Liches instead are funny and I''m really curious about Inxialot''s country house."

    "Liches are funny?" Lith echoed. "Have you hit your head or what?"

    "They are when you are certain that they can''t do you any harm." Solus shrugged. "Also, I really hope we get to meet Zolgrish and Ratpack again since our Lich associate is Inxialot''s apprentice."

    Kam furrowed her brows at Solus, sharing Lith''s concerns. At least until Solus showed her all their previous encounters via a mind link. After that, Kam had a fit of a bellyugh, crying in hrity.

    "I''m with Solus. They do seem funny, Scrooge. Can you show me the secret Lich handshake, please?"

    "No. It''s embarrassing!" Lith said.

    "Pretty please? I can use a goodugh after worrying so much." Kam looked at him with loving eyes, her hand instinctively moving on her womb.

    "Fine!" Lith''s determination shattered and he conjured a hard-light construct of Zolgrish.

    ''I wonder if this is how my life is going to be from now on.'' He inwardly griped. ''Fuck me sideways! Once the baby is born, I''ll have three girls looking at me like that. I''m screwed.''

    His grimace made everything funnier, making Kamugh the whole time and giving him apuse once the performance was over.

    "Now that everything is settled, let''s go visit the little Shargein." Solus stood up from the bed. "You still have to introduce yourself to your little uncle and this is the perfect asion to bond with Grampa.

    "After that, we have to reassure the rest family that you are alright. Dad and the kids need you more than ever."

    "Agreed." Kam held Lith by his left arm and Solus by the right.

    They dragged him away without bothering to ask for his opinion on the matter.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Tribe, Sark''s dining room, a few dayster.

    Setting up the appointment with Inxialot had taken longer than Lith had expected. The Lich King had answered the call immediately but for some reason, he kept postponing the meeting to the next day.

    "Usually, reaching Inxialot''s country house is a hassle but lucky for you, you have me." Leegaain wasn''t scheduled as the Guardian of the day but he had switched with Tyris for the asion.

    He held the little Shargein wrapped in a thick cloth made of Phoenix feathers woven together and the baby was in his hybrid form, cooing. Splitting the Father of All Dragons from histest newborn was a hard task.

    Sark had to battle fiercely against him even to get to hold her baby.

    "Do you really think that the secretb of a mad Lich is a ce suitable for a baby?" Kam said while pointing at the whelp.

    "I could ask you the same thing." Leegaain pointed at her womb in return. "Besides, I''m not bringing him there. I''m going to leave Shargein in my secretb!"

    "Exactly." Sark said with a snarl as she walked through the door.

    "Are youing along, Grandma?" Lith asked.

    "Yes. Your Grandfather insisted to share this moment with me and I couldn''t refuse since he also offered to let me spend some time with my son without having to fight for it for once." The Overlord had regained her figure the day after giving birth but her temper had be much worse.

    "Women. Am I right?" Leegaain held Shargein tighter as if Sark was a thief and winked at Lith.

    "Help." Was all he could say since he had Kam at his right, Solus at his left, and Sark in front of him. All of them ring.

    "Don''t worry, rtionships get better with time. Or so I''m told since my experience begs to differ." Leegaain said.

    "Help." Lith replied.

    "Here is our cue." A snap of the Guardian''s fingersbined his powers with the mana geyser under Sark''s pce to open a Warp Gate straight to their destination.

    They found themselves inside a Forgemasteryb equipped with a mix of magic and technology. Lith was bbergasted seeing severalputers working to solveplex equations meant to find new runes of power or to devise perfect magical circles.

    The Forge in the middle of theb was made of Davross and so was the enchanted hammer resting on it that closely resembled Sark''s. A fiery pit filled with magma and cosmic radiations fueled the smithy where Leegaain gave shape to his creations.

    "By the Great Mother." He and Solus said in amazement.

    The terminals wereprised each of a single memory crystal the size of an apple that generated a holographic screen and keyboard. Along the side walls, were lined multiple levels of shelves.

 Chapter 2221 To The Moon And Back (Part 1)

    Each one of the shelves was filled with ingredients that went from rare to unique. Some of them Lith had only seen in the illustrated children''s books he read Aran and Leria.

    He had always considered them the McGuffin bards used to justify unusible twists, but now he was staring at them and they stared back.

    "What even is this stuff?" Kam asked Sark who was the only one as unimpressed as she was.

    Lith and Solus, instead, behaved like children in a toy shop.

    "Work stuff. Boring stuff." The Overlord rolled her eyes in annoyance. "If this is what you wanted to share with me, you could have just sent me a picture."

    "I know that myb is nothing special by your standards but-"

    "How did you do that?" Lith had just discovered that Leegaain''s PC didn''t need a mouse.

    All he had to do was touch the mana crystal and think about what he wanted to search and browse for it toply. It had simple programs for writing, drawing, several games, and even an internal library.

    "This is exactly what I nned of sharing with the Kingdom, just 1,000 times better. It requires no amulet nor anything."

    "Memory crystals are aplex tool that if properly mastered, can be taught how to learn and self-upgrade." The Father of All Dragons puffed his chest out in pride. Like all artists, he loved answering the questions of his fans.

    "How is it possible?" Solus asked. "I know about mana crystals, but there''s only so much space in theirttice to store information. How did you solve such an issue?"

    "Easy." Leegaain replied with a smug grin on his face. "The trick is to not cut the crystals and leave them in their natural state as the Orcs do. By doing this and providing them with a sufficient flow of world energy, the raw crystals can keep growing indefinitely.

    "This way, the expandingttice can store the newly acquired information as it develops, saving you the hassle to input the data manually. Always remember, only idiots cut the crystals early, and with them, they cut their own legs."

    "You are a genius, Grampa." Solus ran from one terminal to another, checking them with her breathing technique and discovering that the Guardian was telling the truth.

    "How did you acquire such a vigorous and steady flow of world energy? Keeping up a wholework of growing memory crystals thatmunicate with each other, sharing their discoveries in attice-mind requires insane amounts of powers."

    "Thank you, sweetie." Leegaain patted her head, snapping his fingers again to raise a cloaking field that closed the Eyes of Menadion shut. "No peeking, though."

    "Grandma! He''s being mean!" Solus grabbed Sark''s skirt, pointing at Leegaain in a way that reminded the Guardians of Aran and Leria.

    "There, there." The Overlord caressed Solus'' hair. "Grampa has every right to preserve his secrets just like you guys yours. If you join his brood, though, I''m certain he''ll help you."

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Lith and Solus said in unison.

    "Now, to answer Grumpy''s objection and Solus'' question, please, follow me." Leegaain opened the door ushering them out of theb.

    "I''m not grumpy!" Sark objected. "Scratch that, I am. Not only do you have yet to let me hold my son, you also dragged me- Great Mother almighty!"

    She took the words out of the minds of everyone as they stared through the windows of the magnificent mansion and found themselves staring at Mogar. From space, the looked like a blue jewel with brown and green spots.

    "Is this the moon?" Lith asked.

    "Yes." Leegaain nodded.

    "How can there possibly be an atmosphere here?" Solus asked.

    "Look around. There''s plenty of vegetation." Leegaain pointed at the silvery grass and silvery foiled trees that covered thend as far as the eye could see. "Mogar isn''t like others out there.

    "The moon is just a part of it and shares its mystical properties. Even here there is a powerful flow of world energy that makes life bloom and gravity strong enough to keep air and water in."

    "Why is everything silvery?" Sark''s eyes dazzled like stars at the scenery, feeling Mogar''s joyous song in her bones while also being finally free from all the voices in her head.

    She had no need to hold them back or to spend focus keeping them in a separate space of her consciousness. The voices were just gone.

    "My hypothesis is that the moon uses Life Maelstrom to keep its gravity field which in turn gives the vegetation its peculiar silvery color." Leegaain replied.

    "I have only one question." Kam hugged the Father of All Dragons, moved to tears from the stark contrast between the emptiness of space and the brilliance of the sun and Mogar. "How could you be such a jerk to hide all this from your wife until now?"

    "Well said, darling. How could you?" Sark snapped out of it, ring at Leegaain along with Kam and Solus.

    "First, she''s not my wife." Leegaain shrugged everything off with a confidence that made Lith envious. "Second, a man without a secret is a boring man. Am I right?" He said with a wink and this time, Lith winked back.

    "Okay, what made you change your mind, then?" Sark asked, nodding in approval.

    "As I said back on Mogar, I wanted to share this with Shargein and with you." Leegaain handed her the whelp who shapeshifted into a chick and then into a baby upon touching Sark''s skin.

    "Our son can use a breath of fresh air enriched with world energy and you deserved a break from your daily worries. I know that even though you always act though, your burden is far greater than mine and Tyris'', especially now that we have a child."

    Away from her duties, her Desert, and without the voices of an entire filling her head, the Overlord felt at peace like it hadn''t happened ever since she had be a Guardian.

    Between the cooing of Shargein wanting her attention and the breathtaking view, love was the only emotion she could feel.

    "I swear that if you do or say something this romantic again, we are going to get married." She said with a sniffle, her eyes veiled by tears.

    "Don''t you mean that you are going to propose first?" Kam asked.

    "Hispliance is optional." Sark blew her nose in a handkerchief, managing to sound as creepy as the moment was tender.

    "Not to ruin this moment, but why did you bring us here if you don''t want to share your knowledge with us?" Lith asked Leegaain who was now hiding behind him and had lost his respect.

    "Because Inxialot''s house is that way and Fenagar''s is that way." The Guardian pointed at the horizon. "We are the only inhabitants of the moon and have set our respectivebs so to be as far away as possible from each other."

    "Are you insane? You should have told us! What if either of them spotted me? My existence is a secret and I want to keep things that way." Solus said.

    "Oh, please." Leegaain replied with a snort.

 Chapter 2222 To The Moon And Back (Part 2)

    "Fenagar knows about you ever since your trip to Jiera while Inxialot is more likely to die for good that to take a walk. Even if he did, I bet white crystals against beans that he''d forget about you the moment he takes his eyes off you."

    "Makes sense." Lith nodded. "I have a favor to ask."

    "Already?" The Guardian red a bit until Lith whispered something in his ear that Leegaain Hushed with a Guardian tier spell.

    "By the gods, I''d steal your idea right now if not for my precarious situation. Follow me." The two men disappeared inside theb again, leaving the three women alone.

    "What did they say?" Kam asked Sark.

    "Beats me. The bastard is good. Solus?"

    "I don''t peek into Lith''s mind like that!" She blushed in outrage. "Also, he would instantly notice."

    "La." Shargein caught a lock of Sark''s hair and started sucking it.

    Lith and Leegaain returned less than ten minutester, feeling the palpable curiosity in the air.

    "This is for you, Solus. A star that actually came from space and whose light traveled a long distance just to guide me in my darkest hour." Lith gave her a star-shaped pendant made of silver extracted from an asteroid.

    "Thank you! It''s beautiful." Solus squealed with joy and hugged him with enough strength to crack his ribs.

    Then, she turned around and moved aside her long hair, exposing her slender neck so that Lith could put the lock on her.

    "Kami, this is for you, instead. To always remind you that I really love you to the moon and back." Lith showed her a moon-shaped silver pendant, making her squeal as well and wiping out the scowl from her face.

    "Nice save, jackass." She gave him a sweet kiss and a p on the forehead. "You got me real jealous for a second."

    She turned around and exposed her neck as well, demanding the same treatment.

    "I''m not done yet." He handed her a small jewelry box that turned out to contain a small sun-shaped silver pendant. "This is for our daughter and I want you to keep it until she''s born. The day when she''ll light our lives just like the sun."

    Solus and Kam squealed even harder than when they had received their own gift, hugging Lith while drowning him in sweet words andpliments about his romantic gesture.

    Sark, instead, red at Leegaain.

    "Well?"

    "Well, what?" He feigned ignorance.

    "What about me?" She asked.

    "What about you?" He furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "Don''t y smart with me! Where''s my gift? Where''s the gift for our son?" She was furious, but her voice was low and sweet to not scare Shargein.

    "Is this a trick question?" He replied. "If you want to propose, woman, just do it. I don''t see why I have to do all the job."

    Sark pointed at Shargein and made the hologram of the number nine appear in the air as she pointed at her womb. Then, she slowly passed her thumb along her neck slowly while pointing at Leegaain.

    "Point taken." The Father of all Dragons disappeared inside hisb for a minute, emerging from it with a beautiful ne with several pendants. At the center, there was a miniature full figure of Sark and by either side small sr systems.

    "What does this even mean?"

    "That you are the center of my universe." Leegaain scratched his head in embarrassment for being so cheesy.

    Sark squealed in joy while Shargein squealed because he liked that kind of noise and wanted to join the conversation.

    Luckily, the child prevented her from disying her affection and Leegaain had another move ready to change the topic before it was toote.

    "I also have a gift for you, Lith. Since everyone thinks you are my son and shit pours on you on a regr basis, I thought you deserve as much." He Warped them to a secluded area where akey at the feet of a mountain range.

    A in, tall building was right beside theke, surrounded by the silver grass and trees inhabited by small critters.

    Leegaain opened the door, showing that the building was empty.

    "Here you can put your tower and no one will ever notice. I cloaked the ce myself."

    "Wait, what about the geyser?" Lith asked.

    "In case you didn''t notice, the whole moon is a geyser. It will give you peace and Solus more power to recover." Leegaain replied.

    "What about the others?" Solus asked.

    "I''ve already informed them and we have moved ourboratories so that we just went from a triangle to a square. Inxialot was actually happier than Fenagar at the idea. His OCD likes that now we each cover one of the four corners of the globe." Leegaain replied.

    "Thank you, Grampa. You are the best!" Solus hugged him with joy, making the tower appear from the ground and even checking if she could travel from Mogar and back at will.

    "Dammit, Tower Warp doesn''t work!" She said.

    "You have to align one of Mogar''s geysers with this one, otherwise you don''t have a clear path. You can bend it a little, but not too much. If it makes you feel better, Inxialot has the same issue. Only Guardians can Warp this far." Leegaain replied.

    "At the cost of sounding like an echo, what about me?" Sark asked. "On the one hand, I''m happy that you are finally doing something for Lith instead of just lecturing him, but on the other I''m jea-" Leegaain put a key in her hand, cutting her short.

    "That''s to ess myb whenever you want. This way, we can spend time together on neutral ground and-" The Overlord gently passed Shargein to Lith and then swept Leegaain off his feet, kissing him with the passion of a Phoenix.

    "If you wanted to propose, old lizard, there was no need to beat around the bush so much." She said once both of them had run out of breath and the others had turned around in embarrassment.

    "Help!" Leegaain said with his first breath. "I mean, not in front of the kids."

    "You are right." Sark suddenly remembered about the witnesses and dropped the Father of All Dragons like a bad habit. "We''ll continue this conversationter."

    Sark fixed her clothes while Leegaain repaired his own that she had almost torn to shreds.

    "Indeed. We''ll resume this conversation never." He panted more than saying.

    Solus decided to leave the tower active, to fuel its power core even while she was in her human form.

    "I suggest you to mark geysers in every continent of Mogar so that by Warping along with the moon''s orbit you can get here anytime you want." Sark said, trying to act like nothing had happened and failing big time.

    "Thanks, Grandma." Solus was still flushed up to her ears incapable of looking either Guardian in the eyes.

    "It''s almost time for your appointment with Inxialot." Leegaain said. "Solus, you have to choose whether to keep your human form or go back in your ring."

    "I''ll keep the tower and get back in the ring." She replied. "Inxialot didn''t invite me and I want to avoid questions. On top of that, as a ring, I can use the Eyes to study everything I want without him noticing."

 Chapter 2223 Space And Time (Part 1)

    Leegaain waited for Solus to disappear before Warping them to their destination.

    "Why did you follow us? I thought you would stay in myb with Shargein." He asked Sark who was still right beside him.

    "I changed my mind. I want to meet our neighbors." The word "our" had never been so scary yet Leegaain feigned ignorance and led the way.

    From the outside, Inxialot''s moonb looked like a three-story house made of stone with a wooden sloped roof. It even had a chimney that was puffing smoke. It was a cozy ce suitable for romantic getaways rather than magical research.

    "Before I forget, are there seasons on the moon?" Lith asked, his mind prompted by the sloping roof.

    "Yes. As I told you, the moon and Mogar are one and the same. The seasons follow the same timing and cycle both here and there." Leegaain replied.

    The door of the cottage was mmed open, letting the lord of the house out.

    "It''s a nice surprise seeing you, Leggie." Inxialot the Lich King looked like a desated corpse that had lost most of his flesh to the rot and retained only enough to express his emotional state.

    His once luxurious mage robe was not in tatters, the grey of the dust covering the gold and red of what was left of the cloth. The gaping holes in the mage robe were filled with spiderwebs and those who had weaved them.

    "Fancy a game of chess? I''ve trained hard and I''ve be really good at it." Inxialot asked.

    "Maybeter. What about Lith?" The Guardian pointed at the youth.

    "What about him? Why have you brought so many people here?" The Lich squinted his eyes in annoyance.

    "You invited him and his wife here! I''m just their chaperone. Sark followed us on her own." Leegaain said.

    "Oh, yes! I forgot. Come in, please." Inxialot looked funny at Lith and Leegaain, making Kam d that they had plenty of protection.

    The inside of the house was as cozy as the outside, with stone walls and thick carpets covering the wooden floor. The redwood furniture was elegant and in mint condition, unlike its master.

    The door led directly to a dining room that was furnished with a stove, pantry, and a rectangr table filled with people.

    At the head of the table sat a woman who looked to be in her early forties, about 1.60 meters (5''3") tall with seven streaks of different colors almost entirely covering her light brown hair.

    Her dark brown eyes and features were human, but that was it. Her demeanor, aura, and the raw power she emitted were out of this world. Lith recognized her as Aylen Nagaar, the First Lich, Maker of all Liches, and Inxialot''s mother.

    At her right, there was Zolgrish, then Ratpack, and then a series of cats of different colors sitting on high barstools that brought them to the table level. Just like Aylen, they were holding pen and paper, ying the same game as the undead.

    They all nodded and meowled at the guests for a second before focusing on their respective piles of cards.

    ? At Aylen''s left, sat a creature made of pure Chaos whose upper body resembled that of a human while the lower half shapeshifted from legs into a snake tail non-stop. His features were human, but scales popped in and out of his skin as well, giving the creature an eerie look.

    "Hello. I''m Apep the Eldritch Apophis and I am¡­" The Eldritch rolled what Lith recognized as a d20 made of Adamant, even checking a reference table for the result. "Nice to meet you."

    "I''m sorry if it took so long to set up a date for your visit, but Apep here rolls for his mood every day and I couldn''t bring you here while he was under the effects of confusion or berserker rage." Inxialot said as it exined everything yet it only made his guests more confused.

    Aside for Lith, of course.

    ''Is that...?'' Solus asked via a mind link while Lith squeezed Kam''s hand and shared with her the information she needed.

    ''Fuck me sideways, yes! Dungeons & Looting. They are all ying it.'' Lith recognized the characters sheets each participant had in front of them and the skill cards they were studying to get ustomed to their ss.

    ''Isn''t that an Earth game?'' Kam was bbergasted. ''Doesn''t that mean that this Apep guyes from Earth just like you?''

    ''I''m afraid so.'' Lith replied. ''Be careful about what you say or it might guess my identity. Thest thing I need is even more trouble than I already have.''

    "Aylen, what are you doing here?" Sark had no time for pleasantries and questioned the Lich who kept piging her Desert.

    "You''ve got some nerve asking me that! You guys destroyed myb during your hissy fit a while ago and the Dragon Dance ruined all the repairs I had made. I should ask you forpensation, big fe." Aylen poked at Leegaain''s chest and immediately regretted it.

    "Are you telling me that the life of my child is less important than your insignificantb?" His voice was a whisper, but the gust of wind it produced almost blew her away. "How dare you tell me what I can and cannot do to protect my children?"

    He reverted to his full size, that of a ck Dragon 50 meters (164'') tall and with a tail half as long while the house erged to fit him. The Father of All Dragons roared his fury and challenge at the First Lich, exuding a Dragon Fear that made the moon tremble.

    Aylen''s body shattered into smithereens and her phctery failed to reform it.

    It had actually been the attack on Lith''s daughter that had caused the copse of Aylen''sb and Shargein''s birth to ruin the repairs, but Leegaain was too furious to care about the details.

    Once in father mode, the aloof and peaceful Guardian turned into a frenzied beast who would exterminate first and talkter.

    "Calm down, dear. That''s not what she meant. Think of the children." Sark caressed his scales, pointing at the felines who stood in front of Aylen to protect her.

    "Who wants some tea?" Inxialot asked without a care in the moon. "I also have cookies."

    "I swear to the gods that I''m going to kill you!" Aylen said, but to her son. "How can you stand there and do nothing while my life is at risk? Even my fur babies tried to protect me and they are weaklingspared to you."

    Between her white core and phctery, she had regenerated in just a few seconds.

    "Sooner orter, everyone dies." The Lich King shrugged. "As long as it''s not me, it''s not my problem."

    "Nice to meet you, guys." Zolgrish the Lich stood up, offering his skeletal hand. "My name is Zolgrish and Ie in peace. Is it the first time for you earthlings on the moon?"

    "May Red Mother have mercy, master! You know them already." Ratpack whined in frustration.

    "They Scourge, Bright Lady, Scourge''s wife¡­" Ratpack projected from hismunication amulet the hologram of Kam from the public pictures of the marriage. "And Guardians!"

 Chapter 2224 Space And Time (Part 2)

    "I''m pretty sure I never had the pleasure of meeting these gentlemen." Zolgrish scratched his chin, his face a mask of sheer focus as he tried to jog his memory. "Besides, Scourge looks nothing like this."

    The Lich conjured from his staff the hologram of a beautiful woman who was slowly taking off her skimpy clothes.

    "That''s your private folder!" Ratpack facepalmed. "Look under associates."

    "Damn, you are right. Just a second." The holograms of more women and men appeared as Zolgrish browsed through his files and all of them were of the same kind as the first. "It''s not what you think. It''s all research material rted to your visit."

    Finally, a hologram of Lith with his name written in big letters both above and below appeared. It shapeshifted into all of his known forms while the letters now formed the words "It''s always the same guy."

    "See, Ratpack? I told you that this is Scourge, you damn airhead. How could you fail to recognize him?" The Lich''s flimsy memory had already rearranged the events in a more ttering way.

    Too bad the others didn''t share his delusions.

    "Nice to meet you again, Ratpack." Lith bent down to get at the small undead''s eye level. "Can you please tell me what you see when you look at us?"

    Back when they had met for the first time in Zolgrish''sb, Ratpack had been able to see Solus'' real form. The undead hybrid was gifted with Soul Vision thanks to his elf half, but Lith had no idea of it nor of the existence of Soul Vision.

    "Nice be treated like person for once." Ratpack sighed. "You monster while Bright Lady almost done with secondst thin chain. Big chain got bigger instead."

    The small undead saw Solus'' figure hammering at one of the chains restricting her that was close to falling apart. Also, the chain that connected her to Lith had almost doubled its size.

    "When you say monster, do you mean that I''m ugly or what? What about my wife?" Lith asked, knowing that Ratpack used himself as a standard, making everyone else ugly to him.

    "You ugly and monster now. Different. Scary. She just ugly instead." Ratpack pointed at Kam who despite being forewarned was offended by his words. "This, however¡­"

    Ratpack pointed at her womb, licking his lips several times as he tried and failed to describe the thing that was staring him in the eyes.

    "Damn, where are my manners?" Inxialot gasped in embarrassment when he finally remembered the difference between host and guests.

    "I could tell you where I''m going to shove them along with my staff, but not in the presence of a child." Aylen snarled, pointing at Shargein.

    "Dear Lith, Constable, and Guardians, allow me to introduce my housemates to you." The Lich King ignored her and continued. "You already know my mother, Aylen."

    "It''s a pleasure." She offered her hand to everyone in turn and they shook it.

    "You are also already acquainted with my apprentice Zolgrish and his minion, Ratpack."

    The two undead just waved their hands, then Zolgrish asked Ratpack who those people were and when they had entered the room.

    "The furballs belong to my mother. They are respectively Fluffy, Fiery, cky, Warmy, Purry, Princess, General Paws, and of course, Inxialot Junior!" The Lich''s voice turned cold at thest name.

    The cat showed the Lich King his paw in reply, extending solely the middle w in an unmistakable rude gesture.

    "The ck cat is mine and he''s called Nero. Last but not least, this is the Eldritch Apep. He actually has another name, but I can''t pronounce it for the life of me.

    "Hees from a very distantnd called Eearth [AN: freely adapted from Mogarian]. It''s a ce filled with magical wonders like the one you see on the table and many others that I helped Apep to recreate."

    "What''s with him and the dice?" Lith asked.

    "ording to what he said to me, he died on Eearth, came on Mogar in the body of a powerful Divine Beast, and then died again, turning into an Abomination. After falling into an Eldritch, millennia of hunger and istion have driven him insane."

    ''Millennia? Dungeons & Looting isn''t that old.'' Lith thought in amazement.

    ''What does that mean?'' Kam asked.

    ''Either that madness has made Apep lose his sense of time or that the reincarnation process leads at different points in both space and time.'' Solus replied.

    "If you ask me, it exins the bullshit about dying twice but there''s no point upsetting the guy. He''s crazy good at what he does." Inxialot whispered thest part or at least he tried. Too bad that from up close it was impossible to not overhear him.

    "That''s¡­" Apep rolled the d20 again. "Rude of you."

    "I''m sorry, my friend. We are lucky he passed the temper check or we''d have squabbled for a whole turn until he could roll again to regain control." The apology earned the Lich King a nod, the rest of the phrase, a snarl.

    "Bottom line, he uses the dice and reference tables as a crutch to keep his mind rooted to his memories of both Eaarth and Mogar. The dice holds the Chaos of his mind and the table gives him the Order hecks."

    "It''s a pleasure meeting you, sir Apep. Howe have moved on the moon?" Kam felt deeppassion for the Eldritch, knowing that her husband might have ended in the very same way, had his life been different.

    Without Elina, Solus, Selia, and everyone who had helped Lith retain his humanity, he would have turned into a monster as well. Kam didn''t find it polite to keep talking about the Apophis like he wasn''t there so she asked him directly.

    Apep rolled a 9, but between her smile and calling him sir, she passed with flying colors.

    "I''m hungry. Always. The moon is full of world energy to the point that, wherever I am, I can sustain my existence without the hunger messing with my mind. Too much. This is the only ce where I can safely touch things and people."

    "I''m really happy for you, but I meant why are you here? In this house." Kam gave him a small bow that brought a small smile to his reptile face.

    "I work with Inxialot. Please, exin." His hand was moving toward the dice again and Apep was afraid of hurting the kind woman if he rolled badly.

    "You see, that old hag of my mother has refused to share with me the secret of the white core-"

    "I''m right here, jackass." Aylen said with a sneer, pping him on the forehead.

    "I''m sorry, Mom. As I was saying, this old hag of my mother¡­" Inxialot said while pointing at the First Lich. "¡­has refused to share with me the secret of the white core.

    "I firmly believe that the ck and the white core are just like light and darkness, two sides of the same coin. Also, I believe that just like the legends say, bybining them one can obtain the power to surpass the white cores and the Eldritches and reach the Guardians."

 Chapter 2225 Expert Advice (Part 1)

    "This is the reason Apep and I are coborating to find a way to reach the white by studying his condition." Inxialot said.

    The Guardians exchanged a worried look but said nothing.

    "Were we to seed, I would finally be strong enough to tell my mother off while Apep would get back to life and get rid of his madness. Hopefully." The Lich King said, making the Apophis snarl.

    "Wait a second. Are you telling me that you built ab on the moon and brought an Eldritch here just to give your mother the finger?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "It''s the noblest endeavor, I know." Inxialot nodded. "You have no idea how hard it is for an old, bitter, lonely woman who fills her life with cats to let go of her beautiful baby boy."

    "Again, I''m right here, you damn son of a bastard." Aylen snarled in his ear. "Have you gone blind on top of mad?"

    "We are both immortal and powerful so the only way I have to not be afraid of her any- I mean, to leave the nest is to be stronger than her." Once again, her words fell on deaf ears.

    "Let me guess. You asked me toe here to study my life force and see if you can find a clue about how to mix living tissues with those of an Abomination since you have no idea how your phctery will react with your future ck core." Lith said.

    "That''s brilliant!" The Lich King gasped in amazement. "After all, you are the only Abomination who managed to truly resurrect. This is much better than the reason I invited you here."

    "Wait, what?" Lith said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    Even the Guardians were taken aback in confusion.

    "Actually, I need your help with a very personal and embarrassing matter, Lith. You see, in the past few years, I''ve been thinking and forgetting about asking Raagu out. A while ago, when I finally made my move, she didn''t even notice.

    "I''m afraid that I''m doing something wrong or that my people skills have gotten rusty." Inxialot said.

    "Knowing you, it''s both." Aylen clicked her tongue, receiving several meows of approval.

    "You are the greatest expert I know about seduction, Lith, and I''d like you to help me." The Lich King red at his mother but ignored her nheless.

    "Me?" Lith pointed at himself with a shocked expression. "Why not ask a Banshee or something? I''ve had a few flings, but my actual rtionships amount to two."

    "No need to be coy with me. I did my homework and I know that not only have you sessfully seduced all kinds of women, but you also managed to remain friends with all of them." Inxialot patted Lith''s shoulders in admiration.

    "Banshees leave a trail of broken hearts and corpses whereas you kept them friendly and ready for the picking."

    "You did?" Kam frowned at Lith for a second, but sensing that Solus seemed oblivious of whatever the Lich was talking about, she was more confused than angry.

    "Of course he did, mydy. He''s a real yer!" At a snap of Inxialot''s finger, the arrays of his home projected a hologram of Lith''s past flings.

    Then, of the three Ernas sisters and Jirni. Then Fe, Faluel, Sinmara, Sark, and even Tyris. Last, but not least, Solus, Tista and Elina.

    At that point, Lith understood why the Lich had looked funny at him and Leegaain earlier. At the same time, Kam and Sark were having a goodugh at his expense and so did Solus, but from inside her ring.

    The Father of All Dragons seemed annoyed but he didn''t say anything. Lith, instead, pped his forehead in great irritation.

    "That''s my mother, you jackass! How dare you spread such rumors?" He pointed at Elina''s still lingering hologram in fury.

    "Not cool, man." Inxialot looked revulsed at the revtion. "I have no idea how the customs of the Kingdom have changed in my absence or what kind of backwater vige youe from, but you shouldn''t let people know your disgusting habits.

    "I''ve heard that you like older women but I''d never thought that-" Then he looked at Aylen and suddenly hugged her, putting his body in front of her as a shield. "And she''s off limits, pal. Look at my mother the wrong way and I''ll kill you!"

    "I''m sorry, Mom. I swear I didn''t know. I won''t let him exploit your pathological loneliness and the pathetic state of your social life. Go to your room while I deal with this scumbag."

    "Aww, thanks, dear." Aylen''s eyes sweetened as she caressed his head. "But that''s not what he meant."

    A quick mind link was worth the 10,000 words necessary to unravel the misunderstanding and was much quicker.

    "Oh." Inxialot mulled over the revtion.

    "Oh, indeed. Otherwise why do you think they are stillughing?" The First Lich pointed at Kam and Sark who had been forced to sit down, gasping for air.

    "You are gullible, Mom, and that woman married him so she''s unreliable. But I guess I can trust a Guardian." Inxialot said, getting a punch from Aylen and a re from Kam while Sarkughed harder.

    "Let''s get back to the topic, Lith what should I do?" He dropped his mother like a bad habit and resumed their conversation as if nothing had happened.

    "I told this moron countless times. Flesh up, dress up, ask her out, and suck the rejection up, but he never listens." The First Lich said with a sigh.

    "It''s a mystery why I refuse to take suggestions from a millennia old being whosest rtionship dates back to my birth." His voice oozed sarcasm. "Over twenty years and hundreds of catster, she''s still single."

    Aylen blushed in embarrassment. It had actually been over nine hundred years, but for once she had no desire to correct her deranged son.

    "If I help you with this, you''ll owe me, right?" Lith didn''t want to waste the trip to the moon nor have the Lich chase him ever again.

    "You have my word. But my Mom and my research are off the table." Inxialot nodded.

    "I don''t want your mother!"

    "Why? Is she not enough for you? How dare you say that about my mother?" The Lich roared.

    "Enough talking about me!" Embarrassment was driving Aylen crazy. Sark had been filming everything for a while and Sinmara wasughing her ass off live as the reputation of the Maker of all Liches was being dragged in the mud.

    "Fine, I''ll help you." Lith sighed. "The first step is to wear some clean clothes woven in this century. No holes, no dust, no spiders allowed."

    "Got it." Inxialot wore a magnificent ceremonial robe embroidered in Adamant and embedded with several elemental crystals.

    At the same time, he activated his personal stenographer to not miss a thing or forget about itter.

    The device was built from an undead small spider whose poisonous nds had been reced with inkwells. The creature ran along the empty pages of the notebook, writing down everything it heard, no matter how senseless.

    "Not that! It would be overdressing and you''d freak her out. You need casual clothes that you''d wear in everyday life." Lith said.

 Chapter 2226 Expert Advice (Part 2)

    "Okay." It took the Lich King several tries to find something that his audience approved.

    "Then, you can''t go around looking like a corpse. You need a human appearance." Lith had just finished talking that Inxialot had gone from a mangled body to his real form.

    He was now a good-looking man in his fifties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with greying brown hair streaked blue, red, and ck all over.

    "Gods, I''m starving, thirsty, and my stomach is going to blow!" He hadn''t worn his flesh since Urgamakka so his body unleashed the needs it had umted for over one year at once.

    He needed a full course meal and a long bathroom break before resuming the conversation. Even worse, he had forgotten how to eat, drink, and relieve his bowels. Aylen had to help him at every step, from chewing his food to taking down his pants.

    Compared to him, Shargein looked like a mature, independent man.

    "What''s next?" Inxialot had yet to take a step out of his house but he already looked exhausted.

    "Now ites the hard part." Lith said. "At the next Council meeting, war meeting, or whatever usible asion you have to talk to Raagu, you tell her that you''d like to continue the discussion over dinner."

    "That''s it? No flowers, no gifts, no mating dance, nothing?"

    "No. She only knows you as an annoying prick and if youe in too strong, it''s bound to backfire." Lith replied.

    "Yeah, you would look creepy." Kam said.

    "More like desperate." Aylen said.

    "On top of that, Raagu has been focused on her political agenda and research for centuries. Move too fast and she''ll perceive it as a threat to her routine and not give you the time of day." Sark said.

    "Makes sense." Inxialot had the stenographer made copies and pinned everything on the walls of every room to not forget.

    "In the off chance she epts-"

    "When she epts!" The Lich King cut Lith short.

    "Yeah, right. I want to believe!" Lith said with a scoff.

    "The truth is out there." Apep''sugh was dry like a grindstone, but made Lith smile as well.

    At least until both creatures looked at each other in surprise.

    "What does that mean?" Lith lied through his teeth while the opening theme of the Z-files still yed in his head.

    Apep rolled a persuasion check and when Lith seeded, the Eldritch was forced to believe him, dismissing the exchange like a mere coincidence.

    "Nothing."

    "If she epts, here''s a pro tip." Lith changed the topic before someone could ask the Apophis for an exnation. "When talking business, try to speak about yourself without being needy."

    "Meaning?" Inxialot asked in confusion.

    "For example, you are always on the battlefront and have fought Thrud more often than anyone else, right?"

    "Yes. I''m one of the strongest Council representatives and just like Thrud, I can''t die." The Lich nodded. "Also, by fighting with her, I can learn a lot-"

    "Don''t mention thisst past." Lith cut him short. "Just point out your hard work without bragging and mention how painful it is dying over and over again."

    "Why should I? I forget about the pain the moment my wounds heal. Literally."

    "Because it emphasizes your sacrifice and subtly reminds Raagu that even though you are a Lich, you still have feelings. It will make it harder for her to refuse a second date." Lith exined.

    "Sweet! Do you think it will work?" Inxialot smiled from ear to ear.

    "It worked for me." He pointed at Kam.

    "Hey!" She was aware of his subtle maniptions during their rtionship, but publicly admitting to having fallen for it bait, line, and sinker was embarrassing anyway.

    "It did work!" Her reaction only made Inxialot happier. "Now, before you leave, fancy a game? Weck a healer and you would be perfect for the role."

    "Wait, do you really y as a necromancer named Wuxialot?" Kam read his character sheet. "You are a real Lich with real magic powers!"

    "Well, yes, but while in the real world I have to mind politics, keep my secrets, and hide my experiments on unwilling living subjects, here I can do whatever I want and brag about it, screw the consequences." He replied.

    "Gods, you really are insane." Kam didn''t know what was worse, if the game or the Lich confessing his crimes.

    "Certified." Nero nodded.

    "Did the cat just talk?" Suddenly she felt the need to sit again.

    "Yes, and he''s right. I had my son tested several times." Aylen showed Kam the medical reports that diagnosed the Lich King as "nuttier than a fruitcake". "By the way, I just had a litter. Would you like a kitten for your baby?"

    The First Lich warped a basket full of meowing little furballs in front of Kam. Too bad that some had membranous or feathered wings, scorpion or serpent tails, and many other traits that betrayed them as Emperor Beasts.

    "No, I mean yes, I mean, that''s a bigmitment. Can we talk about it again once she''s born?" There were already a lot of people in Kam''s life. She didn''t want to add more but offending a white core was an even worse idea.

    "Excellent thinking." Aylen nodded. "The bond will be stronger if they grow together."

    "I would love to y. Kami?" Lith came to the rescue as the miniatures and dice reminded him of the times when he and Carl had no friends and spent their Saturday evenings building worlds together.

    "Sure. How long does it take for a game?" She replied.

    "Depends. It could take a while." The entire table replied in unison.

    A cold shiver ran down her spine. When Liches, Guardians, and cats agreed on something it had to be a bad omen.

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, Zogar Vastor''s home.

    The Master sat behind the desk in his study. Aside from the huge holographic map of the Garlen continent that he was examining, the room was dark.

    As the leader of the Organization, his interests and goals went beyond the scope of the War of the Griffons. He had to oversee operations in the Blood Desert, rule the underworld of the Gorgon Empire, and fight the Undead Courts wherever they hid.

    Not even the free countries at the borders of the three great countries were safe from his grasp that was slowly closing in to the Verendi continent. Usually, Zoreth or Nelia would take care of it but they were both otherwise busy.

    The Shadow Dragon was the only one who could purify the materials necessary for Bytra''s prototypes of the modern Mouth of Menadion. The Frost Griffon was working with the Fourth Ruler of the mes as well, in the attempt of creating a power core permanently boosted by the effects of Life Maelstrom.

    "What are you doing here, Zogar? It''s been hours that you''ve remained alone in the dark." His wife Zinya turned on the lights, forcing him to shield his eyes. "You have every right to be angry with the Kingdom, but isting yourself will only make things worse.

    "The kids miss you a lot and I miss you even more."

    She was a woman in her mid-thirties, but due to Rejuvenation and Invigoration, it was hard to think her past 25.

 Chapter 2227 Monster And Hero (Part 1)

    Zinya had waist-long ck hair and a sweet smile. She was a bit shorter than Kam but she had always been prettier than her younger sister.

    "I beg your pardon? Why should I be angry with the Kingdom?" The sight of her beauty and of the love in her eyes never failed to surprise Vastor.

    "I know that no one worked harder than you to recapture Belius. That without you they would have failed." She projected from her amulet the images of the short armored warrior carrying a wooden staff that she knew was her husband.

    "Yet once again someone else younger and allegedly more talented hogged all the glory and solely Phloria Ernas'' name has been recorded in the Royal Chronicles. I understand that you are sad, but feeling you so distant even on the rare asions you are home hurts."

    "That''s not the problem." He shook his head. "I''m already an Archmage. Even if everything I did became public, I would still not be a Magus. That requires sharing knowledge that I don''t possess.

    "Believe me, I''m not envious of the Ernas sisters. Quite the contrary, I''m proud of them. They are my students and they are finally getting the recognition they deserve."

    "Then why are you here instead of in our room with me, Zogar?" Zinya asked.

    "It''splicated." He sighed, hoping that she would drop the matter.

    "Then make it simple." She closed the door and dragged a chair near his desk to sit in front of him. "I want to be a part of your life, not a side project."

    "I can''t. I don''t want to hurt you." The Master averted his eyes, knowing that if he didn''t, he would fall apart.

    No torture would make him talk, but his wife would seed. Her love was real and her questions were reasonable. Yet Vastor was afraid of driving Zinya away were she to discover the truth, and even more scared if she decided to stay anyway.

    It would make her his aplice and taint her with a guilt that she didn''t deserve.

    "Is this because I can''t have children?" Zinya took his hand, her voice pained but steady. "Is it because you have another woman that you can''t even look me in the eyes?"

    "What?" Vastor turned around in outrage. "How can you even think that? What kind of man do you think I a-" Then he remembered about his crimes and hecked the strength to finish the word.

    "Then why do you act like this and why do you hate yourself so much?" She cupped his face in her hands, forcing the Master to look up. "I can''t help you if you don''t tell me what''s wrong with you."

    "Believe me. You don''t want to know and you wouldn''t understand." He replied, breaking free from her touch.

    "What I don''t want to know? That you are a Highmaster who killed thousands whenever the Crown wanted to clean up without getting dirty?" Zinya took out a conspiracy theory book about the secret specializations.

    There were pictures of ck armors that closely resembled the one Vastor wore in the few frames of his fights avable to the public. Frames that Zinya''s amulet was now projecting.

    "What I wouldn''t understand? That your ''children'' are actually old monsters from the past?" She took more tomes out of her dimensional amulet.

    One was a lore book depicting the infamous Tezka the Suneater while the other was a Forgemastery book where Bytra''s face was portrayed along with her title as the Rune Magus.

    Yet while the Raiju still looked the same, Tezka''s current form was adorablepared to the monster depicted in the book. He was portrayed as a colossal creature whose presence darkened the sun and whose shadow killed everyone on its path.

    "Where did you find those?" Vastor turned pale in shock.

    "These two were easy." She pointed at thest two books. "Tezka introduced himself when he saved us from Meln while Bytra is hard to forget. All I had to do was to input their names in the Royal Library''s database.

    "This one was really tricky." Zinya held the conspiracy book. "It''s filled with so much crap that I had to search every page with a sieve just to find a sliver of truth. At first, I didn''t want to believe it, but then I saw you recapturing Belius in that ck armor and everything made sense."

    "Zin, I-"

    "Don''t you dare! Don''t you dare treat me like an idiot." She clenched his hand, her voice hurt rather than angry. "That''s you. I''d recognize how you move and how you fight among thousands.

    "I''ve lived with you for months now and I''ve seen you battle to the death twice. Maybe it was nothing much to you, but I''ll remember it until the day I die."

    "It''s all true, Zin." Vastor slouched his shoulders, feeling something inside of him die. "I''m a mass murderer who has recruited ancient monsters."

    "See? Was it so hard?" Instead of running away, she was still there, smiling.

    "It is, because you don''t understand." He hated to kill the love that lit her eyes, but there was no way to stop the avnche once the first stone had started to roll.

    "What''s to understand? You are like Lith. Your country tasked you to do bad stuff for the right reason and you are friends with inhuman creatures." Zinya shrugged.

    "I''m nothing like him!" Vastor stood up taking out his military amulet and pulling out the details of Lith''s missions known to the public. "Do you know what these are?"

    He pointed at the numbers at the end of every report.

    "Confirmed kills means the enemy soldiers Lith fell while coteral damage¡­" The first number was big and heavy but even though the second was much smaller, it was also heavier.

    "It shows the number of innocents who died either by his hand or by the scouts to ensure the sess of the mission." Vastorpleted the phrase since his wife couldn''t find the strength to do it herself.

    "This is the report for the conquest of a single city, Zin. Now multiply it by the number of cities I''ve taken. And then multiply it again by the number of years of my service.

    "Lith has worked part time for the Kingdom for almost 4 years, whereas I''m working full time for almost 40. I know you can do the math but do you want to? Can you live with those numbers?"

    "I can''t." Zinya dispelled the hologram, her brain and heart rejecting reality. "How can the Royals ask you to do such things? How can you bring yourself to follow their orders?"

    "Because if I don''t, someone else will and if no one does, much more people will die." The Master''s voice became as cold as his eyes.

    She could almost see mountains of bodies piled up in them, almost smell the rivers of blood he had shed.

    "Is that how you met your ''children''? Are they also victims of the Kingdom?" She asked.

    "No." Vastor shook his head, moving his chair back to give her space. "After years on the job, I became a monster. "

 Chapter 2228 Monster And Hero (Part 2)

    "A ruthless killer who would do anything to further his agenda and who searched Mogar for peers. People who understood the importance of his job andcked any morality. I''m not going to lie to you, I brought together a whole bunch of mass murderers but I did it for the greater good."

    "And what would that be?" Zinya sniffled.

    On the one hand, she couldn''t believe that Vastor had no problem entrusting her children to a legendary monster like Tezka. On the other hand, however, after spending so much time with the Fylgja, Zoreth, and Bytra, she couldn''t picture them as anything but loving friends.

    "I know that you have no reason to believe me, Zin, but the truth is that at my very core I''m still a healer. I''ve traveled throughout the Kingdom and seen with my own eyes the symptoms caused by greed, corruption, ipetence, and petty politics.

    "People consider them part of human nature, but they are gues that kill thousands if not millions every year yet everyone looks the other way, considering it normal. Everyone but me and I''ve found a cure." Vastor said.

    "You did?" It was hard to believe, but after everything she had already learned, it was far from incredible.

    "It''s still experimental, but we are making progress every day." He showed her his right hand letting his Abomination side take over up to the forearm. "This is what I do whenever I disappear without giving you an exnation.

    "This is why you can''t bear my child. It''s my fault, not yours. Do you want me to continue?"

    "No." She shook her head.

    "No?" Vastor echoed in disbelief. "Don''t you want to see theb? See the real form of my associates? Anything?"

    "No." She stood up, closing in to him and holding him to her chest. "All I wanted was for you to be honest with me and you did. The Kingdom may have forced you to do monstrous things but I refuse to consider you a monster.

    "If you say that you are trying to heal this world, I believe you." She kissed his head before forcing him to look up at her.

    "You do?" Vastor''s voice cracked.

    Those were the things he told himself to justify his actions but he himself found them hard to believe.

    "I don''t care about the details, Zogar." She looked him in the eyes, her feelings unchanged. "I don''t care how the rest of Mogar sees you, you are my hero. Never forget that."

    On that day, while he embraced his wife, Zogar Vastor and the Master became one. He swore to himself to make her proud, no matter the cost. He also swore that whoever dared harm a single hair on her head, would face a wrath that would make the Guardians pale inparison.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Ker Region, City of Jambel.

    "I don''t care what any of those pompous noble idiots say, it''s a pleasure to have you back here, Lord Verhen." Baron Eiros Wyalon looked tired from the ongoing war, but it hadn''t affected either his muscr body or his friendly attitude.

    "Please, Lord Verhen is my son. I am mister Verhen at best." Raaz said in embarrassment at those words and the honor guard saluting him.

    "You are kidding, right? Your son is Supreme Magus Verhen." The Baron replied. "Gods, no matter how many times I say it, your title still sounds pretentious and overbearing. Do you mind if I call you Magus Verhen for short?"

    "Supreme Magus Verhen allows that." Lith said with a disgusted face and an arrogant voice before bursting intoughter along with the two other men.

    "Gods, you almost had me with that talking about yourself in the third person." Wyalon said.

    ''Gods, how is it possible to love and hate the same person at the same time?'' Baroness Mirias thought while she held her breath at Lith''s reaction and rolled her eyes at her husband. ''How can this idiot talk to a Magus Divine Beast like he''s just another of his army buddies?''

    "Jokes aside, I''m honored that Lord Verhen chose my humble city as his first visit to the north after your forced exile in the Desert." The Baron said. "I''m really sorry for what Hogum did to you and I apologize on behalf of all nobles who have a shred of conscience."

    He gave Raaz a deep bow that nomoner had ever received from a noble and was likely to never happen again.

    "If there''s anything I can do to make your stay more pleasant, you just have to ask."

    "Thanks for your offer, Baron, but we are just passing by." Lith pointed at the DoLorean behind them which was the object of admiration and curiosity of everyone, Mirias included.

    "My father wanted me to show him the north after Belius'' recapture and we''ve turned it into a father-son road trip. I just came to thank you in person for rallying the north in my favor while I was in exile."

    ''That and check on my silver mines before hitting the road again.'' He inwardly added.

    "I understand." Wyalon sighed in disappointment. "I guess there''s no chance to have you for lunch and then maybe get a ride. I heard a lot about the DoLorean and I would love to give it a try."

    "I''m sorry, but we aren''t going to stay." Raaz had turned slightly pale from the crowd and needed sheer willpower to not quiver. "After what happened in Lutia, I have trouble readapting to my old life.

    "We came to Jambel because I have fond memories of your city and my son has business here. I''m d to see that nothing has changed after the revtion about Lith''s nature."

    "And I''m d you remembered us." The Baron replied. "Don''t worry about the rest of the Kingdom, you''ll always be wee here. Your son is a hero to the north and my people don''t forget their debts just for a few scales."

    "Thanks for your kind words." Raaz gave him a small bow. "I''m sorry we have to take a rain check on your lunch offer, but I promise you that on our next visit we''ll be honored to be your guests and let you drive the DoLorean."

    The people of Jambel gasped in surprise. They expected their Lord to maybe get a ride, but being entrusted with such a legendary magical artifact proved how deep the Baron''s friendship with the Verhens was.

    "Don''t make me wait too long, though. War is a cruel mistress." Wyalon smiled dryly, hoping to live long enough to uphold his end of the bargain.

    The War of the Griffons was also the reason they were taking that road trip. Between Lith fighting on the frontlines, the secret missions, and the baby, Raaz wanted to spend a bit of time with his son while also putting his nerves to the test.

    Two birds with one stone.

    "I''d say everything is checked and ounted for." A wave of Lith''s hand made the crates holding hundreds of kilograms of raw silver disappear into his pocket dimension.

    From the Desert, Solus put them in the Crucible and started the refining process.

 Chapter 2229 A Fathers Job (Part 1)

    Lith put the ledger from Zolgrish and the one from the Baron in Soluspedia, double-checking the numbers for good measure.

    Father and son took a short walk through Jambel, apanied by the Baron.

    They bought local sweets and dishes that Elina and Kam had asked from them. Their cravings were odd and Lith had no way to turn them down since he could Tower Warp around.

    Once they stepped back into the car and left, Raaz could finally sigh in relief.

    "Thanks for yourpany, son." He said. "I''m still scared shitless by unfamiliar faces and crowds. I wouldn''t have been able to do this trip without you."

    Lith''s presence and aura of power reassured Raaz. Also, his son had chosen as their destinations only ces where people would treat them nicely. Hence hostile cities like Maekosh were not part of the itinerary.

    "Don''t mention it, Dad. I''m happy to have the opportunity to spend some time together. Thest time was when I was what? Sixteen?"

    "Twelve." Raaz said with a sigh. "It was right before you started the fourth year of the White Griffon and only because it was winter. Even then, you lived your own life and stayed home even when the weather was good only because your mother forced you to."

    "I''m sorry, Dad." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment.

    "Don''t be. You were working your ass off to practice your magic and bring money and food for our family. You were just a kid, yet ever since you were four, you''ve been the breadwinner of the family.

    "I''m the one who should apologize for being such a poor excuse of a father."

    "That''s not true, Dad. You always did the best you could and it''s only thanks to your hard work that we had a roof over our heads. It''s only because of your many sacrifices that Tista lived long enough for me to find a cure." Lith replied.

    "Thanks, son, but that''s no excuse." Raaz stopped the DoLorean on top of a hill, to watch the sunset with Lith and have the opportunity to look him in the eyes.

    "You know, right after you''ve been born, I never spent much time with you, thinking that I''d have the opportunity to catch upter. Yet as soon as you managed to walk around on your own, you have been a constant source of pride and pain for me.

    "Pride because you were smart, kind, and more capable than your oldest siblings. Pain because the more of your talent you revealed, the more I understood that you had no need of me.

    "A father''s duty is to be there to help and teach his children, yet you learned everything on your own and it was you helping me. First with the food, then with Tista''s medical treatments, and then with the bills." Lith tried to speak but Raaz gestured for him to let him finish.

    "Let''s be honest, you''ve needed me only twice in your whole life. The first time was on the day that Meln had his friends ambush you and the second was after Protector faked his death.

    "Those are the only two moments when I saw you acting like a normal child needing his father''s protection. Everything else, you''ve faced on your own. Solus, Awakening, even your hybrid nature, you carried those burdens alone.

    "After all, what good could possibly do to you a farmer whose greatest endeavor as a father is teaching you how to whittle?" Raaz remembered fondly those winters spent in front of the firece.

    It was the only time of the year that he knew Lith was safe and sound at all hours.

    Raaz had taught him whittling earlierpared to his other sons, drawing their envy. Yet back then he was too happy being for once a role model to care about Trion''s and Orpal''s feelings.

    "I''m sorry for having kept so many secrets from you, Dad. I just wanted to keep you guys safe." Lith lowered his head, not knowing what to say.

    "And you did. You saved your sister, you drove away that madman of Meln, and saved me from his clutches." Raaz looked at his son in confusion until he reyed his own words in his head and put himself in Lith''s shoes.

    "Gods, I''m sorry. I wasn''t trying to guilt trip you. Since I clearly suck with words, I''ll go straight to the point. I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done. To tell you how proud I am of being your father and offer you my help."

    "Help with what?" Now it was Lith''s turn to be confused.

    "But with the baby, of course. When I became a father, I was even younger than you and I know how difficult it can be and the strain it can put on a rtionship." Raaz was referring to the awkwardness between Kam and Lith, unaware of its cause and even that it had already been resolved.

    "If you need help or advice, I want you to know that you can count on me. I may be just human, but I doubt that being a father is any different for a Divine Beast. Dealing with children is one of the few things your old man is leagues above you." Raaz chuckled.

    "Thanks, Dad. Any beginner''s advice?" Lith asked.

    "Actually, plenty." Raaz nodded. "For starters, it''s easy to be swallowed by the responsibilities once the baby is born. Between work and raising them, you are so tired that it''s very easy to let the spark with your wife die.

    "At some point, you be more colleagues than lovers. To avoid that, you need to learn how to pace yourselves and take a break from parenting from time to time. We couldn''t because we had no family, but you can.

    "If you ever want to take a night out with Kam, even just to eat and sleep without worrying about diapers, I''d be honored to be your to-go babysitter."

    "I could definitely use a few lessons about those damn cloth diapers. I can''t set them right for the life of me." Lith showed Raaz a hologram of the nursery in the tower and of his failed attempts with the doll.

    "Will do. Damn, I wish I had enough space for a nursery when I was your age." Raaz sighed. "You have to give me another tour of the tower once we go back. By the way, have you already thought about a name for the baby?"

    "Yeah, we were thinking about calling her after Mom and we could need help. I''m terrible with names and Kami has no imagination either." Lith''s words made Raaz burst with joy.

    He had feared that they would name her after Sark or Faluel as a thank-you for everything they had done for them.

    "That''s wonderful news! I can''t wait to tell your mother." Raaz said.

    "Actually, I think Kami and Solus will tell her during our absence. We are not the only ones who are using this break from the war for a little parent-child bonding." Lith replied.

    "What has Solus to do with this?"

    Then, Lith exined to Raaz the agreement between Kam and Solus about the baby. Raaz was so dumbfounded that they barely talked until they reached Belius.

 Chapter 2230 A Fathers Job (Part 2)

    The city was still being rebuilt and the security was as tight as a drum but they let the DoLorean pass.

    Seeing every single soldier give Lith the salute and even every civilian they passed wave at them, filled Raaz with pride and joy. As Baron Wyalon had said, Lith was always a hero to the north.

    Even after his real nature as a Divine Beast had been revealed, to them, he was still the Ranger who had taken down two lost cities and the man who had put his life on the line to protect their beloved city.

    Lith had him stop in front of Kam''s condo and stored the car inside the pocket dimension.

    The sight of the apartment that he had seen so many times in the holograms in the past moved Raaz. Lith''s second home was filled with pictures of his family and Kam''s.

    The building had been spared from Thrud''s magical storm and no one had lived there after the city had been seized. Everything was as Lith and Kam had left it. On the walls, she had framed the articles of his exploits after having them printed.

    "I''m not going to lie, son. Your life keeps getting weirder, but I''m proud to be part of it." Raaz hugged Lith, hoping that the war would never resume.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, Solus'' Tower.

    "Please, dear, don''t tell Lith that Sark''s DoLorean is much better than the one he crafted for us. It would break his heart." Elina said while adrenaline still coursed through her veins.

    The Overlord had her artifact shaped like a muscle car, giving it a much cooler and leaner appearance. On top of that, after fiddling with it with Creation and Dimensional Magic, its inside was much bigger and morefortable than the original.

    Unlike the men of the family who were bound to Warp Gates, Elina, Rena, Tista, Solus, and Kam had used the tower to Warp around Mogar and then driven the DoLorean to reach their destination.

    They had breakfast in Jiera, lunch on top of Lochra Mountain after hiking until they were too tired, and then they had moved back to the beach house to enjoy the chilly breeze of the ocean on the veranda where they were dining.

    "I won''t, but you have to admit that there''s noparison between the work of a mage and that of a Guardian. Grandma cheats even more than Lith does." Kam said.

    "True, but that doesn''t make it any less amazing." Rena replied. "I can''t believe we outrun even Emperor Beasts."

    They had taken turns driving, exploiting empty areas to try out the DoLorean''s full speed and harassing all the creatures they found on their path. Humans and beasts had crapped themselves in surprise more than once.

    "I get that Mom and Kami are pregnant and have cravings, but what''s your excuse?" Tista pointed at Solus and Rena who were stuffing their faces no less than the other women.

    They had exploited the family trip to visit their favorite establishments and stock on dishes and sweets from two continents.

    "I''m a big girl and I need food to keep my strength." Solus pointed at the tower to avoid shortie counter-jokes.

    "While you had fun with your magic, I''ve spent most of my life holed up in Lutia." Rena replied. "Don''t you dare ruin my first adventure, youngdy! I never get to do cool stuff and visit nice ces so back off."

    Tista whimpered in reply. Rena had no magical power but she was a second mother to Tista. Whenever Rena called her sister "youngdy", Tista felt like a child.

    "Thank you for the wonderful trip, Kam." Rena said. "I''ve seen more things in a single day than in the rest of my life. On top of that, thanks to your Guardian bodyguard, I could enjoy myself without the worry that something bad would happen."

    The memory of the family vacation in Jambel was tainted by the scare of the raiders that had attacked the city during the final days of their stay.

    "Don''t thank me yet. Tomorrow we''ll travel again and we''ll keep doing it until Baba Yaga contacts Solus." Kam replied.

    They had agreed on visiting Lochra Silverwing and were waiting for a reply. The Red Mother had offered to chaperone them and Solus didn''t trust the First Magus much so they were waiting for the schedules of the three of them to align.

    "I really envy you guys." Elina said with a sigh. "You can go with the tower everywhere you want whereas no matter if we stay in Lutia or in the Desert, I''m always stuck in the same ce."

    "That''s actually your fault, Mom." Solus shrugged. "With the Warp Gates and the DoLorean, you can freely travel two-thirds of the whole Garlen continent. If you wanted bodyguards, all you had to do was ask.

    "Either Sark or the Beast Council would have been happy to help."

    "You are right." Elina slouched a little. "It''s just that listening to Lith recounting his adventures is exciting. Living them, not so much. After Night''s attacks on Lutia and what happened to your father, I''ve just been too scared to travel.

    "Now, however, with most of the kids all grown up and with a big family to help me, I can afford to travel Mogar, but only if I find the courage." It wasn''t just Sinmara and Surtr befriending the Verhens anymore.

    After the conversation between Leegaain and Lith, Shargein''s birth, and the Father of All Dragons temporarily awakening the bloodline of Elina and her unborn child, the Dragon side of the family was warming to them as well.

    They had offered Elina hospitality and protection, were she to visit them.

    After a hearty meal and a heartier dessert based on Triple Threat with ice cream toppings, Solus and Kam gave the others a tour of the new living quarters of the tower, starting from the nursery.

    "Did Lith really do this?" Elina looked at the decorations, the holograms, and the switches that triggered different soft tunes.

    "Yep, all by himself. Especially this." Solus pointed at the changing table, where a baby-shaped dolly.

    "He''s practicing for the baby already?" Rena said in disbelief. "How kind of someone who never offered to help her poor sister with her own children."

    "Why is the doll wearing a turban on its ass?" Elina pointed at the baggy underwear.

    "It was supposed to be a diaper, but Lith sucks at wrapping cloth." Kam blushed a little and lied through her teeth. That was hertest failure but she was too ashamed to admit it.

    "It''s not that hard." Elina shrugged. "At least as long as the baby doesn''t struggle or pees you in the face. You do it like this."

    She unwrapped the turban, turning it into a proper diaper with just a few moves.

    "Can you do that again but slower?" Kam asked while Solus wore the Eyes of Menadion to not miss a single detail of that miracle.

    "Okay, now slower." Kam asked once Elina was done.

    "Again. This time slow things another notch, please."

    "Are you sure that''s Lith the one who sucks at this?" Elina said while folding the cloth so slowly that she felt like she was drawing a painting.

 Chapter 2231 Silverwings Palace (Part 1)

    "I might not be that good with diapers either and neither is Solus." Kam lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "It''s really kind of you to help them, Solus." Rena said. "If you stretch the table and make another doll, I can teach you."

    "Really? Thanks." Solus did as instructed and Rena stood behind her, guiding her hands step-by-step. "By the way, we were thinking about naming the baby after you, Mom. Lith and I suck at names and Kami has no ideas so we could use some help for that too."

    "Really? It would be my honor!" Elina jumped with joy, forcing Kam to turn around before hugging her.

    "We were thinking about keeping the El- root and changing the rest, to avoid confusion when you two are in the same room." Kam said.

    "Asking for help was a smart move." Tista sighed. "Red Demon. How can someone be so unimaginative? The only worst thing thates to mind is She-Tiamat."

    She clicked her tongue in disapproval.

    "If you don''t like it, why didn''t you pick another name?" Solus asked.

    "Because I suck at names too! I was thinking about something Phoenix rted, but everything that came to my mind sounded either childish or cringe. Gods, I wish Mogar had picked my name for me as well.

    "This way, worse case scenario, I''d know who to me."

    Everyoneughed, wishing that all their misfortunes would be like that.

    After a few tries, Kam had gotten the hang of it enough to allow Elina to step back and just watch.

    After they were done with that, the tour of the house continued. Some tapestries depicted Lith''s and Solus'' life together while others recounted the story of his rtionship with Kam.

    Family paintings depicting Menadion, Threin, and the Verhens decorated the rooms along with many of Lith''s crafts. There was the first dimensional pebble he and Solus had made together framed above the firece, right in the middle of their first Forgemastering hammers.

    The Camellia rested in a vase at the centerpiece of the dining table while the Tuner had been ced in the living room along with bookshelves filled with tomes about magic.

    The sight of the lives of the three of them woven together jogged Elina''s memory about a few things that she had earlier dismissed as irrelevant.

    "Wait a second. Howe Solus is involved in the choice of the name of the baby and why is there so much of her stuff in your dream house?" She asked.

    "Even if they wanted to, Lith and Solus can''t stay away from each other for long without endangering the tower and her life force." Kam shrugged. "She''s going to live with us so it''s her house as well.

    "On top of that, once I resume working as a Constable, Lith will conduct most of his research in the tower. He''s going to take care of the baby and Solus is going to spend a lot of time with them.

    "That''s why I asked her to be our child''s second mother and help us with everything."

    "Are you serious?" Elina said with a voice too bbergasted to her own liking, hurting Solus. "No offense, Solus, but this is a hugemitment. Mom is more than a word, it will mean everything to the baby

    "Kam, are you sure you want to share it with another woman?"

    "I know that it may sound odd of me, but if you think about it, it''s not." Kam replied. "Solus has always been and still is an important part of Lith''s life and once our daughter is born, Solus will be an important part of her life as well.

    "Solus is going to teach her magic, protect her, help us raise her properly, and babysit her whenever we work or need to take a short vacation for ourselves. On top of that, thanks to the tower Solus cane to us whenever we miss our sweetie pie and leave just as quickly."

    "Hey! That wasn''t part of our pact." Solus snarled.

    "No, that was THE pact." Kam shook her head. "As Elina said, Mom is a word that holds great weight and responsibility. I''m just asking you to do your part. I won''t allow you to be the cool aunt who just spoils her.

    "You''ll get to be the bad guy as well, especially about magic. The baby needs discipline or the gods know what might happen in case Baba Yaga''s prediction turns out to be true."

    "It makes sense." Solus grumbled while Elina still looked unconvinced.

    "Also, Elina, put yourself in my shoes. How are we going to exin to a baby girl the bond between Dad and Auntie? What can we possibly say to help her understand why Solus lives under our roof and spends as much time with her as I do?

    "That their eyes glow in unison, that shees out from Daddy''s ring, and all the creepy stuff that is their bread and butter? I''m not going to make my baby''s lifeplicated from the start by introducing concepts like mage towers, cursed artifacts, and death early in her life.

    "If Solus is also her Mom, instead, everything will be perfectly normal for the child, even things that are not. On top of that, I''ll have a good helper and I''ll avoid a stroke once the baby starts to call Solus ''Mom''.

    "Because you and I both know it''s going to happen. My only hope is at least the first time she says it is to me." Kam sighed.

    "It makes sense." Elina remembered all too well how Trion and Tista had called Rena "Mom" instead of her for a long time due to the fact that their older sister took care of them while their mother worked in the fields.

    Kam''s case was even worse since Solus was an adult, not a child, and she and Lith would take care of the baby whenever it was entrusted to them.

    "No fair!" Solus pouted as she realized that her responsibilities would be more than cuddling the baby and changing the asional diaper.

    "Don''t worry, Solus, I''m certain that you''ll make an excellent mother." Elina hugged her. "Consider it practice for when you''ll get free from the tower and will have a kid of your own.

    "Then, you''d have the opportunity to ask Lith and Kam to return you the favor."

    At those words, Solus blushed a little. Then the reality of her situation hit her and she frowned.

    "If I get free from the tower, Mom." She said with a sigh.

    "When." Elina held her tighter. "You have already gone from a voice in Lith''s head to a beautiful youngdy. I have faith in your mother and so should you. Menadion wouldn''t have endangered her own life chasing Bytra if she wasn''t certain that you''d live.

    "I know it because that''s what I would have done. You just have to be patient and trust your legacy. Maybe, when you go visit Silverwing, she might give you a better insight into your condition.

    "She was your mother''s friend and your godmother. If there''s someone that knows what''s happening, that''s her."

    "Thank you, Mom." Solus returned the embrace, losing herself in Elina''s gentle warmth.

 Chapter 2232 Silverwings Palace (Part 2)

    "If you really want to thank me, I could use some help with my own little girl." Elina chuckled. "She''s going to be born about the same time as Lith''s but unlike him, I have no fancy powers."

    "Fine." Solus grumbled without letting Elina go. "But I get to be the cool aunt, right?"

    "Of course, but only because I don''t want you under my roof after sundown. There are not enough biscuits in the house for the two of us."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Eskar Region, Mirena teau, two dayster.

    Baba Yaga had contacted Sark via an embassy that in turn had ryed the message to Solus. The Red Mother and the First Magus had finally agreed on a date for the visit and Baba Yaga needed to arrange a pick-up spot.

    The hut reached the Heavenly Plume pce running at breakneck speed and stopped abruptly yet without lifting a single grain of sand. The chicken legsing out from the floor bent as if a creature was sitting down, bringing the entrance to the ground level.

    "Are theying as well?" Baba Yaga pointed at Kam, Leegaain, and Lith, clicking her tongue as her finger reached thetter.

    "Yes. I need Lith to tap into my true power and I don''t trust Aunt Loka much." Solus nodded.

    "And I''m not letting my husband alone to meet the crazy woman who tried to kill him once and then treated him like crap." Kam said.

    "And I go wherever the baby goes. Isn''t it right, buddy?" Leegaain said to Shargein who was hanging to his chest from a baby carrier.

    The wyrmling cooed and chirped in excitement, staring at Baba Yaga with his big round eyes and extending the little arms of his hybrid form to her.

    "Oh, gods, he''s adorable!" The Mother''s scowl disappeared as she started to make baby noise and asked Leegaain if she could hold him.

    The Father of All Dragons frowned, his eyes turning cold as his lips curled up to expose a row of deadly fangs and white mes.

    "Fine." He reluctantly undid the harness and his voice sounded as if she was kidnapping the baby.

    "Are you still angry with me?" Lith asked.

    "Of course I am." The Mother replied with a huge smile on her face and a sweet voice to not scare Shargein. "You are still the meanie who threw into the gutter millennia of my hard work. Now sit tight. It won''t take long."

    Baba Yaga had her tower draw the energy from the local geyser to Warp to another she knew, using them to cross through the Desert and the Kingdom in a matter of seconds.

    ''Interesting. Unlike our tower, Malyshka''s can''t just move to her destination. She uses the geysers simply to open long distance Warps and refuel the tower with world energy in between Steps.'' Solus thought.

    Once they arrived close to Silverwing''s hideout, the tower stood up and crossed the final distance on chicken legs. Yet Baba Yaga''s guests wouldn''t have noticed the difference if not for the change in the view from the windows.

    They were no longer at the ground level but there was no sign of movement. To them, it was like they were still and Mogar moved around them.

    "Here we are. You can get off." The Mother returned Shargein to Leegaain and opened the hut''s door.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Lith and Solus said in unison at the sight of their host''s home.

    They had expected an undergroundwork of tunnels ced right above a powerful mana geyser or a cozy country cottage that had been stretched with dimensional magic to be bigger on the inside.

    Either way, it was supposed to be something small and inconspicuous, worthy of a Magus'' secretb.

    Aside from the geyser, it turned out that they had gotten everything else wrong.

    Silverwing''s ce was a small castleprised of pure white stones that shone under sunlight like gems. It was surrounded by high circr walls and six towers, one for each element.

    They were each surmounted by a different huge elemental crystal and had been painted of its matching color. The castle keep bore the seventh tower that was emerald in color just like the elemental crystal on its top.

    Lith didn''t need the Eyes of Menadion to know that the entire fortress was a magic circle that could probably be employed to fuel Silverwing''s spells like the Hexagram, the Annihtion, and the Bastion.

    "Yep." Baba Yaga said, seeming to have read his mind. "From here Lochra can take on even a Guardian. The mana geyser grants her endless strength and she can rearrange the magic circle however she wants with but a thought."

    "How the heck did this monstrosity go unnoticed for so long?" Solus asked in disbelief.

    "Cloaking spells, light bending spells, fear spells." A silvery voice replied. "Baba Yaga isn''t the only one who studied under the Guardians and even though my version of Dragon Fear isn''t as good as the original, it still does the trick."

    Lochra Silverwing had appeared right in front of them and like all white-cored Awakened, she hadn''t aged a day since Solus'' birthday. She looked like in her mid-twenties, but she was actually over one thousand years old.

    Kam gasped in surprise at the First Magus'' sight who looked younger than her and even than Solus. She had always imagined Silverwing to be a towering giant of might and magic yet with her 1.68 meters (5''6"), Lochra was shorter than Kam.

    The First Magus'' body was lithe instead of burly, with shoulder-length light blond hair streaked all over with the seven colors of the elements.

    Kam would have mistaken Lochra for someone who had just graduated from one of the great academies if not for the centuries-old wisdom that shone through her chestnut eyes.

    She wore a working overall and a white shirt. Her face, hands, and arms were covered with grease and soothe.

    "Thank you for the invite, Aunt Loka." Solus gave her a curtsy that made the First Magus'' smile turn upside down.

    "Are you still angry with me?"

    "Angry is a strong word. More like I don''t know how to feel about you." Solus shook her head.

    "The first two times we have met you''ve been violent and rude. Sure, you behaved nicely at my birthday but I have no clue if it was due to an honest change of heart or because my guests could end you in a snap."

    "I guess you are right." Silverwing sighed, her shoulders slouching. "I can''t me you for bringing backup, but why Leegaain? Among the Guardians he''s the-"

    The moment she stepped closer, the baby in Kam''s womb reacted to her mother''s stress. In turn, it resonated with Shargein who started to cry.

    The word "meekest" died on Silverwing''s lips as Leegaain opened his Dragon Eyes and roared in fury. The resulting shockwave sent her tumbling on the ground instead of ripping her to shreds only thanks to the pce''s defensive system.

    Silverwing could feel the Guardian''s gaze piercing through her and learning more things about her than she knew.

    "The most violent and savage." Soluspleted the phrase for her. "I saw him turn Aylen into dust with a snort and she''s way older than you. For your own good, no funny business, Aunt Loka."

 Chapter 2233 Silverwings Tower (Part 1)

    "You have my word that my intentions are pure and honest. This is not trap." Lochra stood up while dusting off her clothes.

    "They better be, because if my baby cries again, I''ll end you." Sark''s hand choked her neck from behind for a second before Warping back to the Desert.

    The enchantments of Silverwing''s pce could protect her against one Guardian, but not two of them at the same time, leaving her exposed to the Overlord''s sneak attack.

    "Good gods! Everyone calm down." Silverwing said amid coughs as the hand-shaped bruise healed much slower than it was supposed to. "I have no hidden agenda. I swear it on my love for Ripha and Elphyn."

    "Then why did you ask me to meet you in your own fortress in the middle of nowhere?" Solus pointed at the small castle.

    "It''s not a fortress, it''s my home! Do you really have no memory of it?" The First Magus sounded hurt. "You spent a lot of time here. You came to visit me every time you argue with Ripha."

    "I''m sorry, no." Solus suddenly felt like a jerk.

    Silverwing''s words didn''t ring any bell but now that Solus had taken her paranoia hat off, she found the castle both familiar and reassuring.

    "Let''s take a deep breath, shall we?" Silverwing said, turning toward the rest of her guests. "I know that my words and actions toward you on the day we met are inexcusable, Lith.

    "I thought that my beloved godchild needed to be rescued and instead I made an enemy out of both of you. The reason I called Elphyn-"

    "Solus." Solus corrected her.

    "Solus here is because I want to start over. I want to wee her back like I should have done in Jiera. I want to share with her everything I have left of her old life and, if she''s willing to allow me, part of my life as well.

    "My name is Lochra Silverwing, but I''m also known as the First Magus. Nice to meet you." She cleaned herself with darkness magic before offering them her hand in turns.

    Silverwing gave every one of them a deep bow, even to Shargein who cooed at her, trying to grasp her shiny hair.

    "Fair warning. He''s a sucker for hair. Literally." Leegaain said after shaking her hand.

    Silverwing neared her head to the wyrmling who grabbed a lock of her hair and brought it to his mouth, sucking and munching at it for a while.

    "Now that the introductions are done, allow me to show you around my mage-cave." The First Magus led them through the opened gates and inside the castle. Like a city, it had a Gatework to move quickly from one room to another without walking.

    Lith recognized the stones in the walls as gold-veined white marble, one of the toughest materials on Mogar known to be resistant to magic. The hallway was furnished with a long white and red carpet in the middle of the corridor and small tables were lined up against the walls.

    Vases filled with fresh flowers were ced on the tables, spreading a sweet, delicate scent.

    "Where did you get so much white marble?" Lith asked with the greed typical of a Dragon.

    "There''s a cave nearby." Lochra replied with a shrug while she operated a control panel. "I mined what I needed for my home just like Ripha did for her tower."

    "Say what now?" Solus said in amazement.

    "You heard me. Back when the tower was at its prime, every single one of those gloomy grey stones was actually gold-veined white marble." Lochra nodded. "Don''t worry, Elp- Solus.

    "As soon as the tower finishes repairing the missing floors, it will convey the world energy to refine the materials that you have randomly used as a base into marble. It works just like your body.

    "The tower knows how it''s made and can repair it on a molecr level. It just needs time."

    Then, Silverwing opened the Gate and gave them a tour of her house. Every room was furnished with taste and high-end materials without being ostentatious. There was no trace of the frills or the pointless luxury items typical of a noble house.

    Silverwing''s home was true to its name, a ce where tofortably live and to share with her friends and family. Not something to brag about or make her guest grit their teeth in envy.

    "Is this my old room?" Solus asked as the First Magus showed them the guests'' quarters.

    Solus could feel an itch in the back of her head as her memories fluttered through her brain like crazed butterflies.

    "Yes." Silverwing nodded with a serious look on her face.

    "Can I see it?"

    "Yes, but beware. I left it in the state it was after you disappeared." Silverwing nodded at the rest of the group while clearing her throat.

    Thinking back at her wild youth and Lochra''s worried gaze, Solus blushed in embarrassment at the thought of what kind of posters she might have hung on the walls and the private objects that she had left behind.

    "Be right back. This is a monster I have to face alone." She slipped past the door before anyone could ask her a single question, forming an audio-only mind link with Lith just to be safe.

    "By my Mom! What have I done?" Solus turned pale as her eyes scoured the room, jogging her memory.

    It wasn''t as embarrassing as she had pictured it, it was much worse.

    The room was a pigsty with clean and dirty clothes thrown around that covered most of the floor. Decades old dirty tes were visible under the bed, on the bedstand, and everywhere there was a free spot amid the clothes.

    There was no poster on the walls, just one of Elphyn''s first Forgemastering hammers. Centuries away from its masters had erased the enchantments for good, but it was still hanging head first where she had thrown it.

    It was surrounded by the cracks created by the impact and right below there was written: "Modern art by Elphyn Menadion. Love it or suck it, I don''t care which."

    The worst part, however, was her library. It was filled with sos she hadposed that sang about how hard life was for a brilliant and unappreciated genius with a dumb mother.

    Every one of her books was a self-insertion power fantasy where Mogar was in danger and every single character past 20 was braindead. Only the protagonist, a silent but strong teen could rally other teens and save the world while the adults just sat around fiddling their thumbs.

    ''Oh gods, the cringe is above 9,000!'' She screamed so loudly that even Kam felt it through her mind link with Lith.

    ''What does that even mean?'' She asked, receiving a telepathic image in reply that made her chuckle.

    Meanwhile, Solus used her powers to clean the room and put the clothes back in their ce quicker than any apprentice sorcerer ever had. Only once the room was cleaned, the dishes orderly piled up, and the books hidden behind a heavy drape did she open the door.

    "Please,e in." She half said and half panted.

 Chapter 2234 Silverwings Tower (Part 2)

    "I don''t see anything wrong with-" The words died on Kam''s lips when she turned around and noticed how shocked both Silverwing and Malyshka were.

    They looked around the room with their eyes wide, having trouble recognizing the now unfamiliar ce.

    "What''s with the hammer and why there''s a piece of paper glued right below it?" Lith asked while pointing at the engraving that had been hastily covered.

    "Don''t ask and don''t you dare tell him!" Solus blushed wildly as she tried to sound threatening, only making her old mentorsugh.

    "I won''t, but only because I''m trying to rebuild our rtionship." Silverwing saidughing.

    "I have no such problem, but I''ll keep it as ckmail material." Baba Yaga gasped for air in hrity.

    "Can I see your books?" Lith asked while pointing at the curtains.

    "No, they are full of porn. Can we please go somewhere else?" Solus asked.

    "Sure." Silverwing opened the Gate in Solus'' room, leading straight to the main Forgemasteryb. "Before having lunch, there''s something I would like to share with all of you."

    The room was as big as a warehouse and most of the power from the underground mana geyser was channeled there. Huge blocks of gold-veined marbley on the ground and were constantly infused with world energy.

    Lith tried to activate Life Vision, but he was immediately blinded by the pent-up power and so were the Eyes.

    "Is this what I think it is?" He asked.

    "Correct. I''m working on my own tower." Silverwing nodded. "I''m still at the preparatory phase but once I''m done with it, the rest will be rtively quick."

    Kam rarely remembered being an Awakened but seeing Lith''s eyes ring jogged her memory. She tried to peek at the tower, but she had no luck either.

    "Fuck Life Vision. Why didn''t you warn me?" Her eyes were teary as if she had stared at the sun.

    "I''m sorry, Kami. You never use magic so I didn''t think about it." Lith replied.

    "Wait. Howe she''s Awakened?" Silverwing asked in confusion.

    "Long story short." Baba Yaga grabbed her hand, using a mind link to share the details that had yet to go public.

    "Son of a Dragon!"

    "Language. I''m right here." Leegaain pointed at the wyrmling who had woken up from the yelling.

    "Never mind that, Aunt Loka." Solus drew her attention before Malyshka could rekindle Silverwing''s resentment. "Howe you are building yourself a tower and why are you showing us?"

    "Too many things have happened recently that have drawn Mogar''s attention and in turn mine." The First Magus replied with a sigh. "First Scarlett, then Lith, then Thrud, and even the Master.

    "I hate feeling powerless despite my centuries of knowledge. Even if I were to decide to fight Thrud, the Master, or even Meln, I don''t know if I could beat them. The Mad Queen has her academy, Meln has his tower, and the Master has those crazy Eldritches.

    "As I am now, I can''t stand my ground against any of them. Yet everything will change once I have a tower as well. I''m showing this to you to prove my sincerity and share with you what I know of your mother''s technique."

    "Do you know the entire procedure Menadion used to build her tower?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "No, but I helped Ripha collect the materials and she discussed with me several steps while perfecting her crafting method. I was her mentor and friend, there was little that she wouldn''t share with me." Silverwing shook her head.

    "I''m justbining what I learned from Ripha, you, and my own original creations in order to devise my own tower-crafting method."

    "What can you tell me about Mom''s workings?" Solus walked among the marble blocks, barely holding her hands from touching them and use her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, to uncover their secrets.

    "As I told you thest time we met, I''m willing to teach you everything Ripha shared with me. It''s what she would have done herself were she still with us." Silverwing replied with a sad sigh.

    "Yet I''m not going to share with you my own methods and how I improved your mother''s teachings. Such things belong to my legacy and I have no need for an heir. On top of that, we are starting over from scratch and you can''t ask me to be so open with someone I don''t trust who also doesn''t trust me."

    She pointed at the many bodyguards Solus had brought along for what was supposed to be a get-together between old friends.

    "Sounds fair." Solus nodded. "How does this work?"

    "You see, one of the first challenges that Ripha had to ovee in order to build her tower was finding a way to increase the mana conductivity of raw materials. Stuff like rocks and wood can withstand only a limited amount of mana before crumbling.

    "Stuff like Darwen has no mana conductivity at all and it''s extremely fragile whereas gold-veined white marble possesses both great durability and resistance to magic. The problem is that both of them are incredibly hard to enchant."

    "How did Mom solve the issue?" Solus asked.

    "Well, first she tried with Darwen, but shecked a sufficientlyrge amount to make a tower and even failed to find a way to enchant it. Gold-veined white marble proved to be a little less tough nut to crack.

    "The first step of the process consists in exposing the refined materials to a powerful source of world energy." Silverwing waved at the marble blocksying on the floor. "This way, the mana geyser acts like a mage, infusing the marble with enormous amounts of magical energy that simte powerful enchantments.

    "At the same time, however, since the world energy is no spell, failure bears no consequence. The marble experiences the same mana flow as if it was enchanted over and over, wearing down its resistance to magic bit by bit."

    "Wait a second. Doesn''t that also mean that it loses part of its durability and defensive value?" Lith asked.

    "Not at all." Silverwing shook her head. "You see, the world energy seeks the path of least resistance and digs solely through the naturally weak spots inside the marble. Once they be big enough for a breathing technique to sense them, you use Infusion."

    It was a Forgemastering spell meant to reopen the mana channels of organic materials and coat them with magical metals in order to keep them open even after the spell was over.

    "The Adamant works both as a foundation for your mana flow and as an amplifier that lessens the marble''s resistance to your spells."

    "Gods, that''s brilliant!" Solus said in amazement.

    "If you think that''s impressing, wait to hear the rest." The First Magus said with a sad smile, thinking back about the moment when Ripha hade to her with those very same notions, jumping with joy like a child with a new toy.

    "The second step consists in bestowing upon each of the stones a pseudo core and before you scoff at me, know this. Ripha found a way to achieve it not in the Forgemastering step, but in the preparatory phase."

    "What?" Lith and Solus were the only ones surprised.

 Chapter 2235 Silverwings Tower (Part 3)

    Leegaain and Baba Yaga already knew the magical principles behind tower crafting while Kam and Shargein had the same level of understanding about Forgemastery.

    "You heard me. Take a look at the blocks on the right side of the room with your breathing technique. I''ve already enchanted them." Silverwing said and theyplied.

    Not only did the gold-veined white marble have thin veins of Adamant spread throughout its structure, creating a homogeneous mana flow, but it also had a simple yet powerful pseudo-core.

    ? "How did you achieve it?" Lith asked.

    "For the Adamant, the trick is to keep the marble over the geyser after the first Infusion. It strengthens the flow and opens new channels that you can coat with more Adamant. Rinse and repeat until you are done." Silverwing replied.

    "As for the pseudo core, I''m sorry but that''s my own method and I''m going to keep it that way. Ripha only told me her idea just like I''ve done with you and I worked my ass off to achieve pseudo core crafting during the preparatory step."

    "Oh. Too bad." Solus didn''t even bother hiding how disappointed she felt. "What''s the third step?"

    "Good question." The First Magus sighed sharply. "When I discover it, I won''t reveal that to you either. It''s where I''m stuck. ording to Ripha, the third step is about merging the marble blocks together so that their enchantments flow into each other.

    "The order you connect them matters and so does the kinds of enchantments you imbue the different sections of the tower. That''s all I know and one of the reasons I allowed Baba Yaga toe along with you.

    "I could use a fresh start." Silverwing waved at the already enchanted blocks and at what now her audience could recognize as failed attempts at assembling the tower core.

    The Mother weaved her Creation Magic, undoing Lochra''s spells and restoring the precious and rare ingredients that would have otherwise been wasted. Once she was done, the marble was still Infused with Adamant and ready to be enchanted again.

    "Did you help my mother as well, Malyshka?" Solus asked.

    "Yes." Baba Yaga nodded. "By now you must have learned that in order to seed, you have to fail a lot first. It''s the reason I worked my ass off to learn Creation Magic and Ripha asked my assistance so often that for a while I moved in with you.

    "Your mother needed not only my advice about her theories but also my help to not turn every single failure into a dramatic loss that would have set back her research of months.

    "Can you imagine having to mine marble, infusing it with world energy and Adamant, just to waste powerful ingredients every time you think to have found a solution?"

    "The horror!" The entire audience but Kam and Shargein said in unison, a cold shiver running down their spines.

    "Aunt Loka, how did-"

    "No offense, Solus, but I invited you here because I wanted to mend our rtionship, not to spend the whole day imparting you magical lessons." Silverwing lowered her head, tormenting her fingers.

    "I wanted to show you everything I should have shared with you on our first meeting. Tell you all the things Ripha had entrusted me for you. Help you to find back your way to your memories and your old life.

    "Instead, I treated you like a fool in need to be rescued and I almost lost you for a second time. Do you mind saving those questions for another visit? I would love for you toe here again, even if you want to talk solely about magic."

    Solus blushed a little and felt like a jerk.

    ''Damn, I did it again. Grandma Sark oftenins that I only think about work and that''s what I''m doing right now. Aunt Loka is doing her best to make me feel wee yet I''m trampling over her feelings.

    ''She clearly has prepared a lot yet the only thing I''m showing any interest in is her magic, not her as a person. I haven''t asked her a single question about our shared past.'' Solus thought.

    "Sure. Better save something for our next meeting. Sorry, Aunt Loka." She gave Lochra a small bow to which she replied with a warm smile.

    "No problem." Silverwing caressed Solus'' hair, happy that her goddaughter already nned to return there in the near future. "Nowe. It''s almost lunchtime and I''ve prepared a feast with your favorite dishes."

    The dining room was barely bigger than the one in Lith''s house in Lutia. It was cozy and intimate, furnished with a cherrywood rectangr table and chairs. The table had been set just for four since Leegaain, Kam, and Shargein were unexpected guests.

    A wave of Silverwing''s hand made three more sets of silverware appear and filled the tes with steaming food.

    "Wait, is it safe to do that?" Kam asked Leegaain as he used a spoon to eat the stew and another to feed the wyrmling.

    "Shargein is not a human baby. He was supposed to be born from an egg." The Guardian exined. "Hatchlings are weaned from birth and can eat cooked food with ease."

    "But I''ve seen Sark breastfeeding him."

    "The fact that she can doesn''t mean that she has to." Leegaain focused on the wyrmling taking care that Shargein didn''t try and get a taste of the tableware.

    "By the way, Silverwing..." Lith attempted to say.

    "Please call me Lochra." She cut him short. "Silverwing it''s too impersonal for a friend of Elphyn while Loka is too intimate so bear it in mind."

    "Okay, Lochra. If you are trying to make your own tower, I must assume that those of this castle are not up to the task, correct?"

    "Wrong, they are the perfect means of offense and defense. By channeling all the elements at the same time non-stop, I can weave hundreds of spells without burdening my body and without spending one iota of mana.

    "The same happens when I craft something, perform magical research, and even when I cook. As Baba Yaga said earlier, here I''m at my peak. On the other hand, however, away from here I''m just an average white-cored Awakened.

    "The castle cannot move and if discovered, my life would be a nightmare. The Council would siege me and I would be forced to trigger the self-destruct mechanism to keep my secrets from falling into their hands.

    "I would lose my home and all the sacrifices I made to build this ce would go to waste."

    Everyone understood the real meaning of her words.

    By inviting them into her home, Silverwing had made herself vulnerable. If any of them exposed the location of the fortress to the Council, sooner orter she would be forced on the run.

    Sure, the fortress was powerful, but far from impregnable. The elders of the Council would take their sweet time studying her arrays and defenses until they found a way around them.

    Then, they would swarm Silverwing after sealing the space to keep her from running away.

    To make matters worse, if by then the First Magus had yet toplete her tower, she would be in the same situation as a rogue Awakened. With no safe haven or friend.

 Chapter 2236 Silverwings Tower (Part 4)

    ''Aunt Loka didn''t call us here to intimidate us or show off, quite the contrary. She is putting herself in my hands as much as I''m in hers.'' Solus clenched her hand under the table, moved by the gesture.

    "How are you liking your food, Elp- I mean Solus?" Silverwing asked.

    "It''s delicious, thank you." Solus gave Lochra the first honest smile since the day she had attacked Lith on his sickbed. "You are a great cook, Loka, but I''m afraid my taste has changed."

    "You have eaten Lith''s food until now so it''s normal." The First Magus shrugged. "Any new memory?"

    "Sadly, no. What''s for dessert?" The smell and taste of the food seemed familiar, yet aside a few short d¨¦j¨¤ vu, Solus'' mind was nk.

    "Your favorite." A snap of Silverwing''s fingers cleaned the tes and made a big slice of sponge cake frosted with whipped cream and powdered sugar appear.

    "By my Mom! This is the cake that Dad always prepared for their anniversary and for special asions."

    "Prepared is a strong word." Silverwing chuckled. "More like bought. Did it juste to your mind or¡­"

    "Sorry, no. I recovered those memories for a while now." Solus took Lochra''s hand, using a mind link to share with her the fragments of her past life she had regained.

    The First Magus'' eyes teared up as the images shed in front of them. She went from crying in joy to crying in sadness without a break until the stream of consciousness ended.

    "Gods. I miss Ripha and Threin so much. It seems like yesterday when we still ate together." She blew her nose in a handkerchief, trying and failing to stop the hups.

    "It''s one of the curses of longevity, child." Baba Yaga said. "For the rest of Mogar, time never stops moving and takes away everything we love. Yet for us, time stands still and our pain lives on."

    "Enough with the creepy stuff." Silverwing noticed how gloomy the mood in the room had be and regained her cool. "Do you like the cake?"

    "It''s delicious. Can I have seconds?" Kam asked.

    "It''s good, but it can be improved." Lith cut it in two, filling it with coffee cream and adding a bit of ice cream as a topping.

    Then, he handed it to Silverwing along with a slice of Triple Threat.

    "Gods, this is amazing. It''s no wonder that Elphyn has so much trouble getting into shape."

    "Hey! I thought you wanted to mend our rtionship, not make it sourer." Solus blushed in embarrassment.

    If even white cores worried about her gluttony, it had to be a bad sign.

    "Hey! I''m the one pregnant. Where''s my share?" Kam shoved her already empty te in front of him.

    "A bit for Shargein, if you don''t mind." Leegaain discretely activated Dragon Eyes to steal the recipe.

    "Can he really eat so much sugar?" Lith asked in worry.

    "He''s a Dragon! Look." The Guardian offered the wyrmling a silver spoon that Shargein munched into bits.

    Then, dull red mes melted the silver scraps and the wyrmling gulped them down, licking his snout and asking for more.

    "He can eat rocks and be fine."

    "Well, that''s convenient." Kam pondered about how reassuring had to be not having to worry that your baby might choke on something they picked from the floor. "Do you think my baby will be able to do the same?"

    "It''s too soon to tell. We have to wait until she develops enough. Ask me again in a few months." Leegaain replied.

    After everyone ate a second serving of dessert, Silverwing showed them the rest of the fortress, including her private quarters. After visiting noble households, the Royal Pce, and Baba Yaga''s tower, it was far from impressive.

    The First Magus had kept things simple, making the ce no different from a regr home. The only ces where she had invested all of her talent and effort were her magicalbs.

    Yet after visiting Leegaain''s research facility on the moon, the guests found thebsckluster as well.

    "I''ve saved the best forst." Silverwing''s hand holding the doorknob trembled with excitement. "This is the gallery where I keep all the mementos from my past rtionships, including your father''s paintings.

    "Some are just copies I made from memory others are originals. You can take whatever you want."

    Once she opened the door, the Gallery turned out to be a long corridor. On either side were lined up showcases made of wood and ss.

    Each one bore a golden tag with the date the rtionship had started and finished, thetter often coinciding with the death of her friends and lovers.

    The showcases held one or more paintings of Silverwing''s loved ones and the gifts she had received from them. Contrary to Solus'' expectations, Menadion''s wasn''t the biggest.

    The two Magi had known each other for a little over 350 years, apse of time irrelevantpared with millennium-long friendships like the one with Baba Yaga, Tyris, and other Awakened.

    The gallery was quite long and every centimeter of the ce was taken, proving that she had a busy social life and a few children throughout the centuries. No one dared ask her what had be of them to not ruin the mood again.

    Menadion''s showcase contained several prototypes, some sessful and some failures, a couple of old-looking Forgemastering hammers, and lots of paintings. Solus recognized Springtime and a few family portraits that she had already copied from Aerth the Blue Phoenix.

    The rest were original pieces of which she had no recollection and that triggered no lost memory on sight. Aside from the family pictures, Menadion was the main subject of Threin''s works.

    He had drawn her working, reading a book, taking care of baby Solus, andying on her side on a couch, wearing nothing but a smile and a scarf to cover the important parts.

    "Are all Awakened this bold or was Menadion a special case?" Kam moved her gaze from the painting to Solus, amazed by the striking resemnce between the two women.

    "Neither. This is a piece that Threin made for his public gallery and that Ripha entrusted to me as soon as she discovered its existence. She never posed for the portrait, Threin made it by memory and imagination." Silverwing shook her head.

    "I guess she wasn''t happy with it." Lith asked.

    "Of a picture of herself naked hung in the middle of the living room where their guest and Solus could see it? You bet. She gave Threin one of the biggest earfuls of his life and made him promise to never do that again." The First Magus replied.

    "Painting her naked?" Solus crossed her fingers, hoping that no more monstrosities like that existed.

    "No, putting them on disy. Your father had a whole collection in his private g-"

    "Dad, why?" Solus whimpered at the idea of how many people could now look at her mother in her birthday suit and, in a way, at her as well.

    "Hey, what''s that?" Her teary eyes fell into a dark corner of the exhibit, where there was a painting much smaller than the others.

    It was painted in dark and red colors, with just enough light to distinguish that there were actually three subjects. Two of them were big shadows that reminded Solus of Abominations.

 Chapter 2237 Monsters (Part 1)

    The two battling creatures had white eyes and opened maws, long ck ws pointed at each other, and their fight took most of the painting. Between them, in a small cone of light, there was the blurred figure of a child crying.

    The title of the painting was "Monsters".

    Solus had seen enough of her father''s works to know that there was no trace of the usual joy and enthusiasm that he put in his brushstrokes. All she could feel was shame, pain, and remorse.

    Even the size of the picture spoke volumes of Threin''s feelings. The painting was something he wanted to hide forever but that he had kept as a reminder instead.

    "That''s-"

    Solus'' eyes rolled up and she fell back as violent emotions swallowed her. Silverwing screamed at her, but Solus couldn''t hear her godmother anymore. The bright white stones of the gallery disappeared, reced by a familiar ce.

    Solus was back being a small Elphyn Menadion and she was standing in the living room of her home. She knew to be a little over five years old because she felt small, insignificant, and most of all, guilty.

    Unlike the memories that she had regained up to that point, there was noughter or quiet. The young Elphyn wasn''t being clueless or adorable while messing with her parents'' life.

    She was frozen in a corner of the room, biting her lips and clenching her small hands to not make a peep. Her parents were arguing, yelling things that hurt the other as much as they hurt Elphyn.

    Ripha and Threin were throwing at each other''s face every single mistake they had made, every grudge they had kept over their marriage, and it was all Elphyn''s fault. They were fighting because of her.

    ''What the heck is going on? No one ever mentioned this to me and I''m pretty sure that my parents loved me and each other. What can I have possibly-'' Solus didn''t share the memories of her old self and could only see the events as they unfolded in front of her.

    Yet she also remembered Silverwing''s words back in Jiera.

    ''Aunt Loka told me that Mom Awakened me when I was around six years old and here I am about five and a half years. They are fighting because of me. They are fighting about my Awakening!''

    "What do you want me to do, you egotistical jerk?" Ripha said after she was done recriminating the past. "Epphy is already five years old and she already has a bright yellow mana core. Do you know how rare that is?"

    "I want you to wait, you maniac! Epphy is just five years old." Threin''s fury matched Menadion''s. He knew that she might have wiped the floor with him with one finger but he didn''t care. "She''s too young to make a decision that will change her life forever."

    "Too young?" Ripha replied with a scoff. "Once she gets the green core, Awakening her will cause her great pain, she might even die. Don''t get me started about what might happen if we wait until the cyan.

    "This is the perfect moment to Awaken Epphy. Her core is still weak and if we do it now, her body will have the time it needs to adapt to the mana flow and make theter breakthroughs safer.

    "I''m thinking solely about her well-being whereas you are thinking solely about yourself, as usual!"

    "How dare you call me egotistical?" Threin snarled and waved his finger right under his wife''s nose. "You are the one who wants to endanger our daughter''s life for your own agenda.

    "You know that I always refused to be Awakened because I don''t care about living a long life nor about your Council''s shenanigans. I only wanted a happy life for us, it''s you who always wanted to drag me into your crazy world!

    "This is just the perfect opportunity to bind Epphy and me to you for 100 years. You are not doing this for us but for yourself. It''s you who only cares about her own happiness!"

    Menadion took a step back as if Threin had just pped her. Her expression was both hurt and confused, but itsted only for one instant. Then, her fury returned stronger than ever.

    "No one is forcing you to do anything. Epphy wants to learn magic from me, Awakening is her choice. If you don''t like it, you can remain a regr human. You have my blessing. Happy now?"

    "Her choice? Tell me another!" Threinughed dryly in her face. "You have brainwashed Epphy with your magic babble for years and the little time she got to spend with her mother was always in your damn Forge.

    "Of course she wants to be Awakened, but it''s not a choice so much as a desperate call for attention."

    "How can you even say that?" Once again, his words hurt not because they were true but because they expressed out loud Ripha''s own fears.

    "I can because you are giving both of us an ultimatum." Threin replied. "Just like Epphy has to choose whether to keep spending time with her mother or get cut off from your life, I have to choose between my daughter and my humanity.

    "If Epphy Awakens, she''s bound to lose control of her powers for a while and without magic of my own, just staying near to her would be dangerous to me. Once she masters her powers, things will get even worse.

    "She''ll Warp and fly around, using spells to do anything whereas I can''t even prepare myself a cup of tea. The same magic that would bond Epphy to you would cut me off from her life since I couldn''t share any interest with her."

    "Then Awaken, dammit!" Ripha mmed her fist on the nearest wall, making the house tremble.

    "Yeah, right. So you would have a servant instead of a husband and an apprentice instead of a daughter. If I Awaken, this will be ourst argument because your word will be ourw.

    "Wouldn''t it be amazing for the First Control-Freak of the mes? The people in her life would finally behave like the tools in her Forge, mindlessly obeying her everymand!" Threin said.

    "You are a hypocrite and you know it!" Riphashed out, pointing at her husband. "You had nothing against magic when it prepared our meals, kept our house clean, and ensured our safety.

    "Magic is the reason we have such a nice house and we don''t have to worry about money. Or are you so delusional that you think that we could afford freedom and all of this with your measly earnings as a painter?

    "I won''t let you clip our daughter''s wings just because you are scared nor will I let Epphy give up on her dreams just to coddle your feelings. If you don''t like it here, that''s the door.

    "This is my house. You can go back to your ce and die in a few years like the idiot you are!"

    "You''d love that you- Not now, Epphy. The adults are talking." Threin felt his pants tugged and red at the small child, his face twisted in an angry grimace.

 Chapter 2238 Monsters (Part 2)

    Then, he noticed Elphyn''s watery eyes, her small face full of sorrow, and the fact that she had thrown her diaries, books of magic, and grimoires in the lit firece.

    "I''m sorry, Daddy. I don''t want to learn magic anymore. Please stop yelling at Mom." She said amid hups, sniffling as tears and snot ran down her face. "I''m sorry, Mommy, I changed my mind.

    "I love Dad more than I love magic. I beg you, please don''t send him away. I don''t want Dad to die." Just saying it out loud made Solus burst into tears.

    Her short legs buckled as she clung to Threin''s legs, begging him to not abandon her over and over. Her words soon turned into a sorry mess, just like her, barely understandable.

    "Oh gods, look what have you done, Ripha!" Threin kneeled down, hugging Elphyn in the attempt to reassure her that he was fine and that he wasn''t going anywhere.

    "You mean what we have done." She replied, kneeling down as well and joining the embrace to show Solus that she wasn''t angry with either of them.

    "You are right. What we have done. We are a couple of red crystals." He sighed.

    "Don''t say that, Dad. Mom doesn''t like it. She''ll get angry again." Elphyn said while looking at her mother who smiled at her.

    "No, he''s right. Because red crystals are crap, orange are farts, and yellow are piss." She repeated her rankings about mana crystals with a chuckle. "Daddy and Mommy have been really bad. Like two poopheads."

    "Can I say that?" Elphyn sniffled.

    "Please, no. That''s a bad word that only bad adults use." Ripha shook her head.

    "And the crystals?"

    "Only to offend bad people, like Dad did. Okay?"

    "Okay." Solus kept hugging her parents, afraid that the moment she let them go, the yelling would resume.

    Threin and Menadion rarely argued which made their quarrels much scarier for a little girl who was used to living with a loving family.

    "I''m really sorry, Epphy. I''m sorry, Ripha." Threin said. "I didn''t mean any of those things. I''m not going anywhere. I promise that I''ll stay with you two for the rest of your life."

    "Pinkie promise?" Elphyn offered him her small finger.

    "Pinkie promise." Threin held the pinkie gently with his own and then Ripha''s who had mimicked their daughter.

    "Always remember that you can''t die without my permission." She said. "I hereby order you to always be healthy and safe."

    Solus nodded in agreement, rxing only after Threin sealed his second promise as well.

    "I''m sorry we lost our temper, Ripha. Do you have copies of Epphy''s books?" He pointed at the still-burning mes of the firece.

    "No, I''m the one who''s sorry, Threin. We shouldn''t have acted like that to each other, especially in front of Epphy. As for the books, you don''t have to worry about them." A wave of her hand retrieved the tomes that turned out to be unscathed.

    "You know how messy Epphy is. I made them fireproof, crayon-proof, waterproof, and lots of proofs."

    The little girl squealed in joy when Menadion handed her the treasures that she had believed lost forever. Then, she paled in fear and looked at Threin''s reaction.

    His father smiled at her, kissing her forehead.

    "I''d say we had enough of magic for today." He said.

    "Indeed. We''ll resume this conversationter and in a more civilized manner. Who wants cake?" Ripha asked, obtaining an embarrassed silence in reply. "I mean we go out for dinner and buy it. I''m not cooking one."

    "Yay!" Elphyn tried to stand up and run back to her room to change into better clothes but Threin stopped her.

    He cleaned her face with a handkerchief before lifting her up and carrying her to the bathroom to wash her good.

    "Damn, I really need to learn how to cook." Ripha scratched her head in embarrassment.

    Menadion was still grumbling about how bad her cakes were to scare even a traumatized child when the vision started to speed up. Solus saw the family go out for dinner and spend the evening at a petting zoo.

    It was actually the den of a family of Shyfs who were friends with Menadion and had just had a litter. Elphyn yed with the kittens and caressed the soft fur of the parents until she fell asleep.

    Solus saw herself waking in the middle of the night, discovering that her parents had brought her to their bed and that she was sleeping between them. The vision moved to the following days, when Threin and Ripha kept discussing the matter of her Awakening.

    Whenever they got angry or reached an impasse, they adjourned the session. Elphyn was always there, to both speak her mind and act as an indicator of how heated they were bing.

    After a few weeks, Threin had agreed and Ripha had Awakened him and Elphyn on the same day. Solus woke up sobbing, aware that it marked the beginning of the end for her father.

    She found herself between Lith and Kam, who were hugging her from either side. Lith used their bond to soothe her nerves while both of them used their warmth to help Solus face whatever nightmare had emerged from her past.

    "Gods, you two have dodged one heck of a fireball." Solus used a mind link to share with them the memory she had just recovered.

    "I''m sorry that you had to see that, Epphy." Silverwing offered her a wet towel and a handkerchief. "That was one of the few memories that I hoped you would never remember."

    "It''s okay." Solus cleaned her face with the towel before conjuring water to wash. "It''s in the past now. What hurt the most is that I have never seen them fighting before. I thought they were a perfect couple."

    "There''s no such thing." Baba Yaga shook her head. "Yet their good moments far outweighed the bad ones so I''d say they made a great couple anyway."

    "Good gods." Kam turned pale both because she felt sorry for Solus and because she could easily see an identical quarrel happening between her and Lith the moment their daughter was old enough. "Was Threin right? Servant and apprentice?"

    "Technically, yes." Lith nodded. "But if I, or Menadion for that matter, ever dared to do that, it would mean the end of our rtionship. As it is, instead, you are a self-Awakened and so is our baby.

    "I''m not your master more than you are mine. Scratch that, you are bossy as heck!" He said in mock outrage, making both Kam and Solus chuckle.

    "Is there any painting you want, Solus?" Silverwing asked, d to see how quickly her goddaughter was recovering from the shock.

    "No, thanks. Or better, I''m still too shaken to think clearly. We''ll talk about it on my next visit. Thanks for everything, Aunt Loka." Solus stood up on her own, giving the First Magus a deep bow.

    "Don''t mention it." Silverwing forced Solus to straighten up before hugging her. "You will be always wee here. This is your home as well. Whenever you want to talk or just stay alone, you''ll find your room ready."

 Chapter 2239 From Square One (Part 1)

    Silverwing let her goddaughter go before giving Lith a deep bow.

    "Thanks for everything you have done for Epphy. I''ve never been so happy to bepletely wrong about someone. For that, I renew my apologies for how I treated you during our first meetings.

    "Bonding with you saved Elp- I mean, Solus'' life and it even gave her Ripha''s seven streaks." Silverwing gently caressed Solus'' head, passing her open hand through Solus'' hair like ab. "It''s almost as if Ripha is still alive and she''s staring at me.

    "It makes our bond even stronger." She leaned her head against Solus'', letting their multi-colored hair mix.

    "Don''t mention it." Lith replied. "Bonding with Solus saved my life as well. She owes me nothing. We are equal partners in our crazy rtionship."

    "I''m d to hear it." Silverwing nodded, before standing in front of Kam. "Please, take good care of them, of your child, and yourself. I beg you, don''t repeat Threin''s mistake."

    "Respectively I will and I won''t." Kam swallowed a lump of saliva. "I''m no painter. I keep myself fit and train with magic for my work."

    "I have faith in your judgment and in that of the Guardians, but I would still like to make sure." The First Magus said nearing her hand to Kam''s shoulder without making contact.

    "Sure. I could use a one-hundredth opinion." She replied with a sigh.

    She had been scanned by so many Guardians, Dragons, Phoenixes, and Awakened that she had actually lost count.

    "Son of a Dragon!" Silverwing snarled at Lith after seeing the baby''s life hybrid force.

    "Yeah, yeah. I''m a lucky bastard, my daughter might be able to use Chaos if not all Cursed Elements, the perfect harmony of life and death, and so on. Am I forgetting something?" He said in annoyance.

    He had heard the same things from so many Guardians, Dragons, Phoenixes, and Awakened that he had lost count.

    ***

    Mogar''s moon, Lith''s tower, a few dayster.

    After enough time had passed, Lith had fully recovered his magical prowess and his life force was back to the peak of its strength. There was no risk that a sudden strain mightpromise his lifespan anymore.

    It was the reason he had attempted his first trip to his secret moon base and brought along family and friends.

    "Good gods!" Quy said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    The silver ins in front of her extended as far as the eye could see. That, the nearbyke, and the many wildflowers growing around the tower made it look like out of a fairy tale.

    "Can we please tell Morok about your tower? It''s a shame that I can''t share any of this with him." She said.

    "Tell me about it." Kam said with a sigh. "I would love to bring Zin here just like I know she would love this ce. Yet I don''t want to force her to choose between keeping my secret and keeping a secret from Vastor."

    Yet she spoke while begging Lith with her eyes in a silent plea.

    "I''m really sorry, Quy, but you know how big Solus'' secret is. Telling Morok and Zinya meanspromising Solus'' safety. I''m certain that they love you, but a simple slip of the tongue, especially during a quarrel, could spell disaster for us." Lith replied.

    "I know." Quy said with a sigh while Kam just sighed.

    "I swear to the gods, son, every time I think I''ve seen them all, you outdo yourself, son." Raaz slid his fingers through the grass and mud, almost sharing with them the beneficial effects of the Life Maelstrom coursing through the moon.

    There was a silence and an emptiness that made his social anxiety shut up. Even his trauma seemed to have been knocked out and locked away somewhere in his mind.

    "d that you like it, Dad. See youter." Lith nodded as his parents got in the DoLorean with a pic basket and drove away.

    "Can we explore around, Uncle Lith?" Leria asked while riding on top of Abominus while Aran rode Onyx.

    "Sure thing. You can go wherever you want, but don''t get close to another home unless is this one." He projected for them a hologram of Leegaain''sb. "Bad people live there. Manohar-like people."

    The kids nodded and ran away along with Lilia and Leria, Protector''s kids.

    "I''ve got to tell you, kid. You have amazing taste in date spots." The huntress stared at the green and blue floating in the sky in awe. "Unlike some wolfhead I know."

    "Are you really ming me for not having a means of transportation to the moon?" Protector said with a snort, his red hair seemed living fire under the sun and starlight.

    "No, but what about the cooking, the music, and all the thought that Lith puts in every one of his dates?" Selia snorted back. "He''s married too but his idea of a romantic evening doesn''t stop at a home-cooked meal I prepare and some flowers."

    "I''m sorry." Protector whimpered, aware of how unimaginative he was.

    "Don''t be sorry. Be better. And always remember that I love you." She gave him a soft kiss to lighten his mood.

    "You heard the woman, jackass." Friya said while pocking Nalrond''s chest. "Put some effort when it''s your turn to n our dates."

    "Do I have to consider all of Selia''s speech? Because if so, that''s the worst way you could find to tell me for the first time that you love me." The Rezar had a smug grin on his face when Friya realized the implication of her words and blushed.

    "Dream on, pretty boy." She punched his shoulder in embarrassment. "I just meant to say that since my parents are forcing us to hang together, you should start pulling your weight."

    "Please, it''s not by my choice that we are engaged. Your father proposed to me on your behalf so the least you can do is be as romantic as you can to keep me around. Unless you want to end up like your sister, of course." Nalrond replied.

    "Please, don''t." Phloria turned pale at the thought. "It''s toote for me, but you can still save yourself."

    Jirni and Orion had sent her on more dates in the past few days than she had in months. They didn''t care if her suitors were human, Emperor Beasts, Divine Beasts, or nt folk.

    As long as they epted to marry in the Ernas household and had great magical powers, everything was okay as soon as Phloria gave the green light.

    "I know that this is supposed to be an outing for couples but I''m still thankful for your invite, Lith. I needed a break from that madness. My life has be so hectic since I became an Archmage that I''m almost regretting the stop of the War of the Griffons.

    "Almost, though. I''m not that crazy."

    "Don''t sweat it, Phloria." Lith replied. "I''ve also invited Faluel so if you don''t want to stay alone you can either hang with her or with Solus, Tista, and Nyka."

    "Don''t get me wrong, but how did you get the idea for such an event?" Tyris asked since it was her turn to keep an eye on the baby.

 Chapter 2240 From Square One (Part 2)

    "Well, after learning that the original Eyes of Menadion can resonate with the tower''s, I thought about having all the pieces of Menadion''s set assembled and checking if they have other properties that can be unlocked.

    "My n is to use both sets of Menadion to redo my equipment from scratch and boost its performance before the war resumes." Lith replied.

    "I stand corrected. He''s not romantic." Selia rolled her eyes, sighing.

    "Also, Kam couldn''t stop telling everyone the story behind her moon pendant so they all started nagging at me to bring them here. I thought that everyone deserved a little break so here we are." Lith said.

    "How thoughtful of you." Tyris chuckled. "If anything happens to Garlen, it will be your fault then."

    "Meaning?" Kam asked.

    "I''m here and so are Leegaain and Sark. They have liked your idea and have followed us. There are no Guardians left on Garlen." She pointed at the couple that was arranging their own table in the tower''s dining room.

    Lith could change the shape and size of every floor at will sobining his favorite restaurants to create the perfect ambiance was child''s y. The food, instead, had to be manually prepared but everyone had faith in his cooking skills.

    "By the way, where''s Tista?" Just like Phloria, Quy had no intention of having a big serving of her own liver for lunch.

    Seeing the happy couples irked her so she had packed some food and now neededpany.

    "On the dark side of the moon, with Nyka and Tista." Lith replied. "They had to talk about something and they needed a ce where sunlight wouldn''t send a Vampire into slumber."

    "Then we''d better not disturb them." Faluel said. "Quy, Phloria, let''s find our own ce. What do you say about that mountain range?"

    "Fine by me." Phloria shrugged, using the Mirror Hall of the tower to reach their destination in one step.

    Meanwhile on the dark side of the moon, Nyka the Vampire couldn''t stop gawking at the starry sky.

    "By the Red Mother, this ce is amazing. Even the grass is so filled with world energy and vitality that it amounts to a half-decent meal." She said as a small patch of greenery withered at her touch.

    "I''m d that you like it." Solus said with a warm smile. "I missed you guys a lot, especially during the mission at the Golden Griffon. dion was so angry at us once he discovered the truth about Lith and me that if he was still alive, he would have had a stroke."

    "I''m sorry about that." Nyka said with a sigh. "I would have loved toe with you guys, but I''m nowhere near a full-red blood core and I have no idea how to move during the day.

    "I could have cast Aunt Scar''s Eternal Dusk array, but it might have been easily turned against us."

    "Same here." Tista slouched her shoulders. "I''m getting closer to the deep violet by the day, but without an Abomination side, Hystar would have turned me against you way before you reached the Headmaster''s office."

    "Speaking of violet, do you mind storing as much of your blood as you can?" Nyka asked. "Once you turn into whatever your merged life forces will be, your blood might be as toxic as Lith''s to me.

    "Without you guys, I have no steady supply of nourishment for my blood core."

    Nyka was young, but having a diet based mostly on powerful Awakened''s blood she was much stronger and progressed faster than her peers. Awakening had sped up the development of her blood core even further.

    "Sure." Tista nodded. "Enough talking about work, though. Why did you want to talk to us away from the tower, Solus?"

    "I have good news and secret news so keep your lips tight. This is for your minds only." Solus created a mind link with them, sharing the recent events.

    The good news was about Kam asking her to be a Mom for the baby girl, the memories she had recovered from the painting, and the fixing of her rtionship with Silverwing.

    The secret news was about the consequences that future fusions with Lith might have and the fact that one had already happened without Kam''s knowledge.

    "That''s amazing! I''m so happy for you sister." Nyka said while hugging Solus. "Even though your body can''t have children yet, you are going to be a mother."

    She still considered her friend to be a fellow Vampire due to the condition of Solus'' life force and the need to feed upon someone else''s essence to prolong her existence.

    "I honestly don''t know what to say." Tista tormented her lower lip for a while before finding the right words.

    "Look, I''m happy that you and Kam have be so fond of each other that you don''t feel threatened anymore by the role that the other ys in Lith''s life. On the other hand, I don''t know if taking such a huge responsibility is the right thing to do.

    "You''ve been struggling for a long time now to find your own ce in the world. To be your own person and make a life for yourself. Taking care of the baby sounds awfully like going back to square one."

    "I see your point, but there''s something you don''t know. Something I didn''t share with the mind link." Solus lowered her eyes, scribbling in the dirt with her finger.

    "And why did you do that?" Nyka asked in confusion. "There is just us here. The whole point of getting away from the tower is to have some privacy. If you don''t feel safe opening up with us and half a away from Lith, you never will."

    "A satellite." Solus mumbled, trying to avoid the topic.

    "I beg your pardon?" Tista asked.

    "The moon is a satellite.s are bigger. If it was even smaller it would just be an asteroid like that one." She pointed at a flying piece of rock about to enter Mogar''s atmosphere.

    "For someone supposed to be a genius, sometimes you act really dumb." Tista grabbed her hand, showing Solus how dirty it had be and the mess she had made out of nervousness. "If you don''t want to talk about it, just say it.

    "I''m sorry. It''s just that''s really embarrassing and confusing." Solus'' cheeks flushed.

    "You mean more than usual?" Nyka asked in disbelief.

    Solus was an ancient being, fused with a legendary magic tower, who also shared her life and body with another person of even more confusing origins. Life could hardly get more confusing than that.

    "So much that I have trouble even admitting it to myself." Solus nodded. "I haven''t talked about it even to Lith, let alone Kami."

    "Okay, now you are making me worry." Tista said. "Is there something wrong with the tower?"

    "Yes, I mean, no. I mean, maybe." Solus clenched her gown in frustration.

    Her eyes wandered to the magnificentndscape surrounding them. Starlight reflected on the silver grass, making the dew sparkle like crystals and the flowers like gems, yet she found no beauty in it.

    Solus knew that once she said those words out loud, they would be more than just stray thoughts that she could ignore. Things would get real and so would their consequences.

 Chapter 2241 Matching Sets (Part 1)

    "The truth is that after the fusion, once Grandma told me that I wasn''t pregnant, I felt sad when I was supposed to be relieved. It would have messed my life and Lith''s marriage big time, yet despite all my logic that''s what I truly wanted." Solus finally said.

    An awkward silence fell between them as Solus searched for the words to express her feelings and the others blinked dumbly at her.

    "I think that deep down I''m really scared of losing Lith. That now that Kam knows everything, our bond will weaken and we''ll grow distant.

    "Maybe, in a dark corner of my head, I thought that a baby would have strengthened our bond again and given me a part of Lith that would only belong to me." Solus'' voice was a whisper as if she feared someone might overhear her.

    "Wait a second." Tista said. "What do you mean, now that Kam knows everything? She already knew about all of my brother''s secrets from the day she broke up with him. Also, why did neither you nor Lith tell her about the fusion and what it might cause in the future?"

    "Kami knew almost everything. Now the ''almost'' is gone and there''s no part of Lith''s life that belongs only to me." Unlike Tista, Nyka knew about Derek and caught Solus'' drift. "As for the fusion, we didn''t tell her because their rtionship was already a mess.

    "Any more and it would have crumbled apart. The fusion might save our lives in the future, but if we tell Kami, she would live in fear of it and constantly put a strain on their marriage. I don''t want them to break up, especially not because of me. Again.

    "My problem is that my mind knows howplicated and toxic my rtionship with Lith would be but my heart doesn''t give a damn. I''m stuck between a rock and a crazy ce."

    "I see." Tista had noticed that until recently Lith and Kam had been awkward about each other and even though she was curious, she decided to respect the privacy of the three of them.

    "Well, my only suggestion is to hope that the War of the Griffons ends soon and to use the time before the baby is born wisely."

    "What do you mean?" Solus asked.

    "Do you remember the trip we had nned before all this mess started?" Tista said, receiving a nod in reply. "I think that as soon as Lith''s life isn''t in danger anymore, you should take your time away from him.

    "Seeing ces, meeting people, and discovering what you want from life. This way, you can put some distance between the two of you, get him out of your mind, and decide if you really want to go on with being a mom.

    "Once the baby is born, there will be no backing out."

    "What if I don''t change my mind? What if this is what I truly want?" Both answers to Solus'' questions scared her out of her wits.

    On the one hand, her feelings for Lith and Kam were so strong that even the idea of going away hurt. On the other hand, she was terrified of being demoted from partner to sidekick and only living a half-life.

    "We''ll worry about that when the timees." Nyka replied. "Yet this puts me in a difficult position."

    "What the heck do you have to do in this mess?" Tista asked.

    "Well, I can''t let you go alone but I can''t move during the day either." Nyka pondered. "I doubt that I can reach the full red blood core anytime soon even if Tista lets me drink from her daily. Which means that I have to ask Dawn a favor."

    "Wait, since when do you know Dawn?" Solus asked in surprise.

    Nyka used a mind link to share with them the events following the Horseman''s defeat at Thrud''s hands. After being split from Ac, Dawn now lived half the time with Baba Yaga and the other half at Lightkeep.

    The former helped her in her research to find a way to make the undead absorb knowledge along with the life essence they fed upon. In the Eclipsed Lands, instead, Dawn taught the undead how to use light magic with minimum strain on their blood cores.

    "She needs a host and I need a way to move during the day." Nyka said with a smug grin that the other two found dumb at best. "Worst case scenario, I can settle for one of her prisms. Her Chosen can move freely anyway."

    "Are you insane?" Solus blurted out in surprise. "It''s a frigging Horseman! You know what she has done to Nalrond''s vige, to Ac, and to countless undead. How can you trust her with your life?"

    "I can because she reminds me of you." Nyka said, her smile never faltering.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Well, her mother turned her into an artifact, she bonded with a crazy man she''s in love with, and she''s trying to make the right thing even if ites at great personal cost." Nyka shrugged.

    "Sure, she has done a lot of bad things in the past, but I''m pretty sure that you too would have done the same if you bonded with the wrong person. For the rest of Mogar Lith is a piece of work, but he always put you first and treated you as a person even when you were reduced to a piece of rock.

    "In your misfortune, you have been damn lucky. Losing your memory gave you a real fresh start and you found not a perfect man, but the perfect host."

    "When you put it that way, it makes sense." Solus pondered.

    "On top of that, it''s not meant to be permanent." Nyka said. "Baba Yaga can split us like she did with Ac anytime we want. At the same time, it would give me my own Solus and I could get to walk a mile in Lith''s shoes."

    "In theory, it''s a good idea, but there''s a catch. What if Dawn triggers a mind fusion and finds out about Solus?" Tista said.

    "Oh, crap! I didn''t think about it. I have to ask Baba Yaga. Even better, you could ask her, Solus." Nyka said.

    "We''ll see. Until the War of the Griffons ends, this is just wishful thinking." Solus sounded dispirited but she was inwardly intrigued at the idea.

    Just like Nyka had pointed out, Dawn and Solus were two peas in a pod. On top of that, Dawn would be the first person who could fully understand Solus and her struggles.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the tower''s restaurant, the various couples were enjoying an excellent meal without anyone bothering them. The Alchemicalb and the Factory could produce by themselves anything Lith could as long as it didn''t require a mana core above the blue.

    It allowed him to delegate the cooking and the guests to ask for as many seconds as they wanted. Also, a simple Hush spell for each table kept the conversations from being overheard.

    Lith had moved the dining room to the top floor of the tower and turned the walls and ceiling into ss, obtaining a panoramic restaurant like no other.

 Chapter 2242 Matching Sets (Part 2)

    "Gods, the view is amazing, the food is delicious, and I can finally sit back without worrying about the kids or the war." Selia had worn a red cocktail dress for the asion that emphasized her tanned skin and lithe limbs.

    "Yet there''s still something that irks me to no end."

    "What is it?" Protector asked while wolfing down his meal.

    "That I got the dress from Kam and we are eating Lith''s food in his tower. I feel like a cheapskate whose husband puts no effort into their dates. Heck, ever since we''ve sat down, you have stuffed your mouth without saying a word." She grumbled.

    "I''m really sorry, dear." Protector put down the silverware. "It''s just that none of this seems real and I didn''t want to ruin this date for you."

    "What do you mean?" Selia asked.

    "War is terrifying. I''ve never been in one before and I hope never to be part of one again." Ryman replied. "Don''t get me wrong, I fought to the death countless times as both a magical and an Emperor Beast.

    "Until now, however, it was always against an enemy who wanted my turf, my food, or something I possessed and they didn''t. I could understand their motivations and more importantly, once I defeated them the matter was over.

    "In this war, instead, I''m fighting for reasons I don''t understand against people who don''t want to take away what''s mine, they just want the right to have the same things. To make matters worse, winning a battle means nothing.

    "I just get sent to another ce and it all starts again. I''m always scared of dying in a farawaynd. Of never seeing you and the kids again. I''ve be so used to being afraid that this¡­" He circled his forefinger, epassing the silence and the peace around them.

    "Feels like a bad dream."

    "Why a bad dream?" Selia''s stomach turned into a knot.

    Ever since Protector had been forced to follow Faluel on the battlefield as her apprentice, Selia had lived in fear as well. Seeing Ryman''s smile every time he came back home gave her the strength to pretend that everything was alright.

    "Because I''m afraid to wake up and discover that this is just an illusion. Something that my brain has conjured to give me peace until the madness of the war starts again."

    "This is not a dream." Selia took his hand, holding it tight. "You are here and so am I. I''d rather talk of whatever demons trouble your mind than see my husband so close yet so distant."

    "Thanks, Selia." Ryman smiled, returning her soft grip. "Did I tell you how beautiful you are tonight?"

    "Not, yet jackass. Also, it''s daytime on the m-" A sudden music pierced through the Hush zone, taking Selia by surprise.

    It was a soft and slow music song by a man who swore to the woman she loved he would fly to the moon and back for her.

    "How fitting." Selia turned around, noticing that Lith had cleared the area in the middle of the room and was dancing with Kam. "Of course, he wrote a song for her whereas you just burped your love for me. Story of my life."

    "I didn''t burp!" Ryman said in outrage.

    ''Gods, I hate it when Lith shows off so much. I can''t even tell Selia that he wrote squat. This song is part of his memories from Earth.'' He actually thought.

    "You might as well." She said with a snort. "Now stand up and dance with me. We can resume eatingter."

    "I''m with Selia." Sark snarled on the other side of the room. "Couldn''t you put a bit of effort as well? Look what our son did for his wife while you just crashed the party.

    "You should be ashamed of yourself."

    "First, you are not my wife." Leegaain replied. "Second, just a few days ago I gave you some nice gifts and you almost jumped me in public. I''m not in the mood to repeat the experience.

    "Last, but not least, I wrote dozens of songs for you, woman!"

    "In the past, though. The most recent pre-dates the Empire!" She stood up, forcing him to follow her on the dance floor where Selia was congratting Lith and ring at Ryman.

    "Thanks, but this song isn''t mine. I just fixed it a bit and yed it by memory." Lith replied while sharing the original with Kam via a mind link.

    "See?" Leegaain and Ryman said in unison.

    "I still love him for being honest about it and for dedicating such a beautiful song to me. It''s just perfect." Kam replied while fiddling with the moon pendant on her neck. "Lith really did fly to the moon for me and gifted me a piece of it."

    "You know what, old lizard? I agree with Kam." She caressed her own ne with pride before kissing him.

    "Can I borrow yourb for a bit?" Protector whimpered while Selia red at him with an intensity that could bore a hole in a mountain.

    He knew to be the one with the short end of the stick and had to get rid of it before he got burned.

    "Sure." Lith nodded.

    "Can you give me a piece of moon silver, please?" Protector asked Leegaain.

    "No problem."

    "Sweet. Be right-" He tried to move away but Selia stopped him.

    "Let''s finish the dance first, you insensitive jerk. Also, try to be creative for once. Kam has the moon, Solus the star, and the baby the sun. I don''t want a copy of something made for another woman."

    "Sure." Ryman swallowed a lump of saliva, hoping for the music tost forever.

    It was just the right amount of time he needed.

    ***

    Once everyone was done eating, dancing, and Protector had begged everyone for suggestions, the group took a long stroll on Lith''s quarter of the moon.

    Later in the afternoon, he summoned everyone in the Forge while the non-mages took a nap and the Guardians returned to Garlen.

    "Let''s see if we can trigger a resonance between the tower''s set of Menadion and the originals." Lith said.

    Tista had the Mouth appear in her hand while Faluel conjured the Hands and Nyka the Eyes.

    "Are you sure this will be enough?" Tista asked. "I mean, the Eyes may be a teaching tool but I doubt that someone other than its master can tap into its full power. Even if Ka granted Nyka ess, we still need to go pick her up."

    "You are right." Nyka replied. "It''s the reason my mother asked Baba Yaga to undo her imprint. Until I go back to Lightkeep, I''m the owner of the Eyes."

    "Why did she do that?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "Because once she learned about your new moon base, she was on cloud nine. Can you imagine how excited she was about the opportunity of meeting the Maker of all Liches and her son?

    "Just byparing notes, her research would progress by leaps and bounds. She might even learn how to turn into a Lich or at least have some solid leads." Nyka chuckled.

    "I''m sorry, but the more you say the less sense it makes." Lith shrugged in confusion. "Why isn''t she here?"

 Chapter 2243 Valerons Legacy (Part 1)

    "Because as Baba Yaga kindly pointed out to Ka, now everyone knows that my mother has the Eyes and unlike you, she has no Guardian covering her bony ass. Can you imagine how dejected she was?" The Vampire burst into a bellyugh.

    "That''s mean of you, Nyka." Solus said.

    "Egotistical? Yes. Mean? No. I don''t want Mom to be a Lich and what she calls progress is the stuff of my nightmares. Long story short, she gave me the Eyes because she knew that if she came here, she wouldn''t resist the temptation." Nyka said.

    "Fair enough." Lith nodded and asked her to activate the synchronization between the two sets of Eyes.

    Nyka tapped the left, up, and down side of the left lens of her artifact, making the golden pince-nez emit a light glow.

    "Excellent. My hope is that with a mana geyser supporting the tower, we can copy the database of the original." Lith said. "In the meantime, I''d like to perform a few experiments."

    "Like what?" Faluel asked. "We already tried and failed to activate the synch between the Hands and Mouths of Menadion."

    "Indeed, but that was before we had aplete version of the Eyes with a working database." Solus pointed the Eyes and the Hydra to Nyka who nodded in reply.

    "I see. You want to check if the Eyes contains clues about the rest of the set, but why me? You could have done it yourself." Faluel wore the artifact that changed its size to fit her to perfection.

    "Because you are the only one who can make a decentparison between Ka''s and Solus'' Eyes. I need your seven heads, please." Lith handed her another pair of sses and activated the Armory, sharing with everyone present the effects of the Sage Staff.

    Thanks to the Yggdrasill wood, their minds reached a degree of rity and focus that bordered on genius. The Staff wiped away any stray thoughts and pushed their brains to their limits.

    "Gods if I hate you." The Hydra grumbled and the others nodded. "Data not found."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Look for yourself." Faluel looked at the Hands and the Mouths, obtaining "Data not found" for both and the scan started from 0%.

    "How is this possible?" Lith blurted out in surprise. "How could Menadion know squat about her own stuff?"

    "If I may." Tyris politely raised her hand and Solus nodded for her to continue. "The tower had its memory wiped clean while the artifacts, despite their name, never belonged to Ripha.

    "She gifted them to her apprentices and took care they never used them to uncover her secrets."

    "Fuck me sideways. You are right!" No matter how long Lith stared at the artifacts, the scan was stuck at 0%. "Menadion must have imnted safeguards. Faluel?"

    "You bet she did. My mother was a damn genius, not a moron." Solus puffed her chest out with pride.

    "Confirmed." The Hydra had shapeshifted into her seven-headed hybrid form to share the burden of the tower''s Eyes with her seven brains. "The new scan started at 0% as well but it''s progressing."

    "Excellent." Lith split the Eyes in Monocles so that between his brain and the tower core, the artifact could split the work into two more shares.

    It lessened the strain on Faluel''s mind and sped up the scan further.

    "There''s more.

    "I can already tell you that despite their crippled state, your Eyes are better than the original. Neither the Staff nor my seven heads had any effects on Ka''s Eyes of Menadion whereas yours can stack its effects with those of other artifacts.

    "On top of that, thanks to the mind link, the Staff, and the Library, these Eyes are as good as Dragon Eyes." The Hydra said, making everyone cheer and then groan in envy.

    Only Lith and Solus kept cheering.

    "Let''s wait for the scans to finish and then we can start working on my equipment. My core and Solus'' have made little progress but with two sets of Menadion the result will be better than the previous version anyway." Lith counted those present.

    There were Tista, Protector, Faluel, Friya, Quy, and Phloria which meant six helpers plus Lith for a total of seven. The Fury could split into nine copies so once taken Solus in ount there was one copy left.

    "I know that you have no obligation to help me, Lady Tyris. Yet since you are already here, would you mind joining us in our endeavor?" Lith offered her thest Fury.

    "Please, call me Tyris. There''s no need for formalities" She replied with a chuckle. "I have already spent more time with you than with most of Valeron''s descendants and we''ll spend a lot more until the baby is born.

    "As for your request, why should I agree? You call Grandma the God of Forgemastery and Grandpa the God of Wisdom. You should ask them. I have no reason to help you."

    "Grandma already does a lot for me on a daily basis. She recycled my stuff with Creation Magic and has even left body doubles of my family in her Pce. This way, no one will wonder where everybody has disappeared.

    "If I ask her more, I might as well join the nest. As for Grampa, he''s more like Grumpy." Lith replied.

    "I resent that!" Leegaain''s voice echoed in the tower even though he was in the Empire.

    "I''m stealing that!" Sark''sughter resounded from the Desert just as clearly.

    "As for you, I''m thankful for your help with the baby, but that''s something you decided on your own the day you took the oath to protect my children. I didn''t ask you for it so I owe you nothing whereas you are indebted to me." Lith ignored the other two Guardians.

    "How so?" Tyris tilted her head in curiosity, her smile never faltering.

    "You created the Saefel set that Arthan copied. It''s only because of you that Thrud has ess to Guardian-level equipment. On top of that, even though she''s incapable of crafting more, she used the Arthan set as the foundation for her work." Lith replied.

    "From her Generals to thest of her foot soldiers, her whole army is equipped with enchanted items that she has derived from your work.

    "Sure, they are nothingpared to the original but Thrud updated the old runes andbined her expertise, Linnea''s Royal Forgemastery, and dozens of Awakened Legacies to make up for it.

    "It''s because of you if a poor almost 20 years old Tiamat has to face enemies wearing such powerful equipment. I say that giving me a hand is the least you can do. I''m fighting for your Kingdom after all."

    "Before I give you my answer, I need to know if you are going to share your Forgemastery techniques with the Kingdom. After all, you are a Magus and I''m the First Queen. Once you show me your magic, why should I keep it a secret?" Tyris epted the Fury, testing its grip and appreciating its bnce.

    "No, I''m not." Lith shrugged. "I got my title by sharing other knowledge and per thew you and your husband wrote, not even the First Queen can force a mage to reveal the fruits of his hard work.

 Chapter 2244 Valerons Legacy (Part 2)

    "On top of that, I''m not asking the help of the First Queen, but of Tyris, the Guardian who crafted the Saefel set before the Kingdom was even founded. You promised to protect my child and yet you put her father in danger. As I see it, you owe me and her." Lith said.

    "Order and Chaos, you are as sly as you are cocky." Tyris broke in a peal of silveryughter thatplemented her beauty like a clear sky does the sun. "Sometimes I wish that Valeron was more like you and less like himself.

    "More down to Mogar and less righteous." She sighed in nostalgia as images of herte husband filled her mind, yet there was no grief or pain in her voice.

    It had taken the Guardian a long time, but she had finally moved on with her life and epted the death of Valeron the First.

    "Fine, I''ll help you." Tyris nodded.

    "Great. We could use Life Maelstrom to-"

    "Don''t push it, kid." Tyris'' voice turned cold, snuffing the light of greed from Lith''s eyes and cutting him short.

    "You misunderstand, I was talking to Solus." Lith lied through his teeth, making the Guardianugh again. "The moon is full of Life Maelstrom. Can you tap into it with the tower, Solus?"

    "You wish." She said with a sigh. "I tried and failed countless times. The silver lining is that the moon has a much greater density of world energy than Mogar. It should give us a significant boost in the crafting process."

    "While we are at it, I never visited the tower since its reappearance." Tyris said. "Do you mind giving me a tour after we are done? I''m curious to see what changes the tower has undergone after bonding with the two of you."

    Lith and Solus exchanged a dubious gaze for a split second before turning around.

    "Sure, why not." They said in unison as her eyes turned ck and his became golden, indicating that the decision had not been easy to make.

    "That was creepy and rude." The Guardian said and everyone nodded. "Yet I appreciate your kind gesture. I won''t use my bloodline abilities for you but I won''t hold back either."

    Tyris held the Fury by the end of the grip with her left hand while she passed the index and middle finger of her right over the whole length of the hammer, as if she was caressing it.

    Except she wasn''t.

    The Fury answered her touch by humming with power and the countless runes that Sark had engraved on its surface became visible again. The enchantment formed several concentric magic circles around the Fury, both amplifying and holding the energy that crackled along the hammer.

    "What the heck did you just do?" Lith asked in amazement.

    The Guardian had yet to emit a single spark of mana yet the Fury was bursting with power like never before.

    "I Awakened the power core." She shrugged at the question.

    "You can do that?" Solus had to collect her own jaw from the floor.

    "Anyone can." Tyris shrugged again. "I mean, the difference between a mana core and a power core is paper thin. Take a look at my Fury with your Eyes."

    "Don''t mind if I do." Faluel used the tower''s artifact to study the phenomenon.

    She discovered that now the Fury had a vigorous mana flow that started from the power core and spread throughout the hammer. Tyris'' Fury was identical to the other copies but the difference between them was the same as that between fake mages and Awakened.

    "Judging from your reaction, I guess that Sark never showed you this." The Guardian snapped her fingers and the artifact returned to normal.

    "No." Solus shook her head. "Should she?"

    "Yes and no." Tyris'' reply confused them even more. "Yes, because Ripha used this technique. No, because it didn''t belong to her. This is something that Valeron the First discovered after I gifted him the Saefel set."

    Seeing that everyone was staring at her with their mouth open, she chuckled.

    "Come on, it''s the natural development of de Magic. Once you learn how to use power cores like your own core, what stops you from Awakening them as well?"

    "She has a point." Faluel tormented her lower lip. "Yet I''ve never heard of Awakened weapons, not even from my mother. And she was one of Valeron''spanions. What''s the catch?"

    "First, Awakening a weapon requires to have it fully purified from impurities or it would act no different from a living body and explode." Tyris said. "Second, an Awakened weapon receives a boost in power at the price of shortening the duration of its energy reserves.

    "Unlike a real Awakened, an artifact has no breathing technique to recover the power lost by going all-out. That''s why Davross and Elemental Crystals are so important. Even Adamant and white crystals need quite some time to recover, just like you rest to reset Invigoration''s effects."

    "So what you are telling us is that Awakening a weapon is of little use in battle." Quy said after pondering the Guardian''s words.

    "Exactly." Tyris nodded. "Awakening your weapon can give you the upper hand, but if your enemy retreats or buys time, you risk reducing your equipment to an empty shell when you need it the most.

    "In the Forge, instead, you can take your time between the various preparatory steps to recharge the hammer and Awaken it only during the crucial steps of the Forgemastering process.

    "There is only one instance when it''s worthy Awakening your weapon in battle."

    "While casting de Tier magic." Lith said, receiving a gentle smile and a nod of approval in reply. "Because you are going to deplete the energy of your equipment anyway so the final result doesn''t change and Awakening empowers your spell."

    "The question is, how do you do that?" Phloria, Lith, and Solus were capable of using de Magic so they tried to Awaken their weapons but to no avail.

    "That''s for you to find out. As I said, I''m not going to hold back and you are free to study my technique, but I''m not going to teach you. I''d say that between helping you to reforge your equipment and revealing to you the existence of weapon Awakening, I''m doing enough already."

    Lith cursed his inability to dismantle War and so did everyone whose equipment had been forged by Orion or other means.

    Sure, they could ask Sark to recycle the raw materials with Creation Magic, but to receive Tyris'' help they should also share their respective secrets. Faluel wouldn''t darepromise the Hydra bloodline legacy and Lith would never show the tower to Orion.

    Hence, Lith, Tista, and Solus were the only ones benefitting from the Guardian''s presence.

    Lith crafted anew his Golems, the Voidfeather armors, the Sage Staff, Double Edge, and the equipment for Trion and the former members of the Queen''s Corps who resided inside the Void Sigils.

    Once they were done with the Forgemastering, Tyris get to visit every floor of the tower. Lith didn''t hide anything from her and exined Tyris how each floor worked based on his limited understanding of Menadion''s legacy.

    "This is really nice. Now I get why Sark has decided to make herself a tower." The Guardian said at the end of the tour.

 Chapter 2245 Fog Of War (Part 1)

    Tyris liked everything about the tower, but the Crucible, the Mines, the Greenhouse, and the Workshop had a special ce in her heart.

    Collecting resources at an enhanced speed and not wasting any of them during her experiments was a dreame true. Especially since it would limit her dependence on Sark and her Creation Magic.

    "I''m going to offer Sark my help in exchange for hers in crafting my tower. This is a joyous asion. Millennia have passed since thest time the three Guardians of Garlen worked together."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, a few dayster.

    Lith was still waiting for the call from the Royals so the moment his body recovered from the strain caused by the mission at the Golden Griffon, he resumed his work in the tower.

    His parents spent most of their time with him in Lutia, using the DoLorean to visit their friends like Lark and Brinja, or just to take joy rides alone. Kam had gone back to work right after the forced truce caused by the Dragon Dance had ended.

    Neither Lith nor Solus liked having Kam away but knowing that there was always at least one Guardian protecting her put their minds at ease.

    They were working on Awakening their weapons and training de Magic when they were summoned to the Overlord''s pce for a family dinner.

    "Again?" Lith rolled his eyes in annoyance.

    "Don''t be a sourpuss." Solus scolded him. "Grandma wants you to spend time with Shargein and to bond with Grampa. You should be happy that she cares so much about making you part of the life of the baby."

    "That or she''s setting my baby up for an arranged marriage." He replied with a snort.

    "You can''t be serious." Solus was bbergasted.

    "I''m dead serious. New race meets new race. Heck, I''m surprised that Tyris hasn''t mentioned anything yet. Maybe she''s waiting to see if I end up adopting Valeron the Second. You know, to add Griffon blood to the mix." Lith shrugged.

    Solus swallowed a lump of saliva and said nothing. Lith''s rampant paranoia infected her mind and spread like wildfire.

    Yet when they arrived at the Overlord''s Pce, they found several unexpected guests.

    Not only was the whole Verhen family assembled, but also the Royals, Jirni, Jiza, and the representatives of Garlen''s Awakened Council.

    "What the heck does this mean?" Lith asked, noticing that everyone was on edge.

    "I''m sorry for the ambush, Magus Verhen, but this is a matter of national security that involves your family as well." King Meron said. "Summoning the Verhens at the Royal Pce would have raised too many questions whereas you visiting Sark is hardly a novelty."

    Lith nodded and took a good look at the King while giving him a small bow.

    Meron seemed to have made a full recovery from his use of the Forbidden Array. The only traces left were the locks of grey hair and the age lines under his eyes.

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, I don''t understand the reason you need the presence of my family. They are not involved in the war¡­ Did Thrud threaten them?" The thought that the Mad Queen might have put a target on their back to avenge Jormun''s death sent a shiver down his spine.

    "No, but the news we''ve received involves them as well." Sylpha replied. "It''s only a matter of time before Thrud''s message gets disclosed to the public so we wanted you to hear it from us first. There''s much to discuss."

    "What about Lady Gernoff and Jirni?" Lith asked.

    "They are our strategists. We need their advice in order to decide our next move." Meron said. "You''ll understand everything once you see the message."

    Sark took care of making Elina and Raaz sit first, serving them a blend of tea with powerful nerve-soothing effects. Then, once everyone was ready, the Queen put hermunication amulet at the center of the table.

    The blue gemstone conjured the hologram of Thrud torturing the Dead King to her heart''s content. Orpal and Night were fully equipped and fought tooth and nail against the Mad Queen who only wore a shirt and pants.

    Yet their body would be ripped apart over and over. Whenever Night failed to regenerate their form quickly enough, Thrud used Baba Yaga''s spell to attack the crystal''s very core.

    She brought the Horseman one inch from death before allowing them to recover. Orpal cried and begged but Thrud was relentless.

    Elina turned pale at the gruesome show whereas Raaz grinned from ear to ear, biting his lips to not burst into cheers. Elina was no different from Baba Yaga. She knew that Orpal was a monster and wanted him to be put down.

    Yet seeing him tortured like that still brought her great pain. Orpal was her son and she felt responsible for his crimes. As for Raaz, he considered his firstborn dead and regretted only the fact that Thrud never delivered the finishing blow.

    Yet he loved Elina and respected her pain too much to let his own savagery hurt her more.

    "You''ve got the gist of it." Raagu said while fast-forwarding the several-hour-long video to the ending.

    "Baba Yaga. Verhen." Thrud looked straight into the camera. "You have taken a lot from me and I''m going to return the favor. I''ll start with the Mother of all Undead and keep Tiamat forst, but make no mistake. Sooner orter you are both going to suffer."

    The message ended like that, leaving everyone wondering what her next move would be.

    "Was this really necessary?" Lith pointed at Elina who was as pale as a ghost, her eyes veiled with tears. "If Thrud''s goal was to make my mother suffer, you have just helped her."

    "Yes, it was." Meron nodded. "We ryed this message to the Empress as well since there''s no telling what Thrud''s words really mean. Even if we assume that she''s going to attack you directly, I doubt that''s going to happen anytime soon.

    "You are a powerful Awakened and Baba Yaga is a legendary being. On top of that, she wants you to suffer before you die. Thrud is likely to target your mother since your spouse if off limits even for her.

    "In the same way, the Mad Queen is likely to strike at Baba Yaga''s Firstborns who are much weaker and easier to find than her. We summoned you here to make you aware of the threat and establish a joint protection detail."

    Meron had no idea that, after seeing the message, Milea had alerted both dion and Kelia. The Empress feared that if Thrud learned about Dusk''s weakened state, he would be her next target.

    In turn, dion had warned the Red Mother who now never left Dawn''s side.

    "This is ridiculous." Baba Yaga had said upon reviewing the footage, barely holding back her tears. "My three Horsemen are supposed to be second only to white cores and now they are all weaker than a kitten.

    "I released the ns of Night''s crystal core to stop her before she caused any further massacre but this is too much."

    "Why don''t you unseal Dusk, then?" Dawn had asked, seriously considering Nyka''s offer to be her temporary host.

 Chapter 2246 Fog Of Wwar (Part 2)

    "Because he''s finally learning his lesson. He''s nurturing Kelia into his partner and equal. If Dusk gets his powers back, the bnce in their rtionship will shift and he''s bound to fall back into his old habits.

    "As long as his survival is bound to Kelia''s, he can empathize with her struggles. If he bes all-powerful, best case scenario she''d be his pet. Worst case scenario, she''d end up like his previous host."

    After that conversation, Baba Yaga had forbidden dion to leave Lightkeep, fearing that Thrud might kill his wife to inflict him the same suffering Mad Queen felt.

    "It makes sense." Lith nodded. "If Thrud wants to hurt me, she can only target my family. Yet there''s something that feels off. Since when does the Council care about me and why are you so determined to keep this video private?

    "If you revealed it to the public, it would prove that Thrud lied to her subjects when she faked Orpal''s execution. Her reputation would take a huge hit and keeping the territories she has upied would be much harder for her retainers.

    "We would force her to split her focus and weaken her army."

    "I wish it was that simple." Sylpha sighed. "The Council has agreed to help us because Baba Yaga can fend for herself and ording to our intel, she''s somewhere in the Gorgon Empire with Dawn and Dusk.

    "This will force Thrud to split her focus anyway. On top of that, by securing your family, we can make her next move predictable. If we know where she will strike, it bes much easier to counter her ns."

    The Council representatives nodded in agreement. Only Inxialot and Fe gave Lith an apologetic look. The Behemoth because she felt like she had let down one of her own. The Lich King because he didn''t want to lose his wingman.

    Nero had reminded him that people reacted badly to death and Inxialot wanted to keep Lith focused on what really mattered: Inxialot''s needs.

    "As for the video, you would be right, if not for how precarious Thrud''s mental state is right now." Jiza tapped on themunication amulet, extracting precise frames of the recording.

    From them, one could see the Mad Queen''s feverish look, her maniacal smile, and the never-ending stream of tearsing from her eyes.

    "Jormun''s death sent her to the brink of insanity. One small push is all that would take to push her over the edge. If that happens, she''d be unpredictably dangerous."

    "Meaning?" Lith asked in confusion.

    To him, a crazed beast was much easier to put downpared to a smart predator.

    "Until now, she has treated the upied territories as her own and the citizens as her loyal subjects. If they rebel and she perceives it as treason, there''s no telling what Thrud might do." Jirni exined.

    "She might kill everyone, and once she realizes that she has no longer hope to conquer the Kingdom, Thrud might poison the wells and corrupt thends. At that point, even if we defeat her, half the Kingdom would be barren for decades.

    "Half of our poption would starve and we''d be subject to assaults from the other countries, even the small ones we usually ignore. To make matters worse, don''t forget that she might always detonate the Golden Griffon as her final parting gift.

    "It would cause untold destruction and ruin all of our work and your sacrifices."

    "Speaking of the Golden Griffon, where are we with the blueprints of the power core?" Lith nodded in agreement.

    Thrud only had Valeron the Second and her dream to gift him the Griffon Kingdom keeping her stable. If she lost either of them, she would have nothing to lose anymore and be more dangerous than ever.

    "That''s another of the reasons we havee to you." Inxialot said. "Thanks to that damn bear and the Eyes of Menadion, we have managed to devise a way to safely destroy the Golden Griffon."

    He handed Lith and Tista a copy of the Forgemastery spell that would put an end to the lost academy.

    "The problem is that it doesn''t work from a distance. Someone needs to get inside the Headmaster''s office and cast it in front of the power core."

    "I hope you are not thinking about sending my son again." Elina jumped on her feet, ring at both Royals and Awakened.

    Inside Sark''s pce, she didn''t fear them or the consequences of her defiance.

    "Technically yes, but actually no." Inxialot shrugged. "After Jormun''s death, the Golden Griffon has been moved and we have no idea where. Our scouts are searching the entire Kingdom, but so far, we had no luck.

    "We have to wait for Thrud to reappear or force her to show her ugly face. Before an offensive, she always moves the Golden Griffon near her target. If she decides to stall, however, me might need to use your son as bait.

    "I''m really sorry, ma''am. I wish there was another way." The sincere honesty in his words calmed Elina and baffled everyone else.

    "I understand." She sat down again, taking Raaz''s hand. "So, what''s the n?"

    "The n is to keep most of your family in the safety of the Desert and have the rest go on with their lives as if nothing has happened." The Lich King replied. "This way, Thrud will proceed with whatever her n is while we set up our trap.

    "Don''t worry, ma''am, I''ll personally take part in the detail and make sure that nothing happens to any of you."

    "Really?" Lith asked in disbelief, quickly followed by everyone else.

    "Yeah, really." Inxialot looked at Lith like he was an idiot.

    ''Why is Scourge acting so surprised? He was the one who suggested I pretend I give a damn about others and make seemingly heroic efforts in the war.''

    After their meeting on the moon, the Lich King had performed a quick survey to check on the public perception of his personality.

    "You are an asshole." Nero, his house cat, had said.

    "Definitely an asshole." Zolgrish had stared nkly for a while before understanding who they were talking about yet Ratpack had instantly nodded in agreement.

    "You are¡­" Apep had rolled his politeness check, failing it. "An insufferable piece of shit. If I didn''t need your help, I would have killed you a thousand times over."

    "You are a good kid. Now go ying and let mommy work in peace." Aylen had patted his head before turning around and resuming her experiments in theb.

    "This can''t be right!" Inxialot had said in horror. "I''ve always behaved like an upstanding man and a genius mage. How could people have such a bad opinion of me?"

    "What about me?" Aylen asked.

    "You are my mother. It''s your duty to like me and tell me nice things." He replied with a scoff. "I asked your opinion solely to make sure that a positive response in my experiment is possible and that the parameters set are correct."

    "What if I answered like the others?"

    "Then it would have meant that I had ended up in a parallel dimension where everything is mirrored. Good is bad, nice is obnoxious and so on. It would have been exciting since it would have proved my multiverse theory." Inxialot sighed.

 Chapter 2247 First Strike (Part 1)

    "Now, for the real deal." Inxialot had pressed Raagu''s rune which had blinked for several seconds. Only when the human representative was certain that the gods had ignored her plea and that it wasn''t a butt call had she answered.

    "What do you want, asshole? I''m busy."

    "Oh, dear." Inxialot had hung up the call in shock, realizing that he had work to do and for once, not in theb.

    ''The good thing about having such a terrible reputation is that it doesn''t take much to make it better.'' He thought while studying Elina''s reaction along with that of the other Council representatives.

    "I''m okay with the n." Lith''s face was twisted to the point that he seemed to be puking each word. "Yet I demand Royal Guards, Council elders, and at least three emergency Warps avable at all times.

    "If anything happens to my family, I won''t need my deal with the Kingdom anymore. At that point, I''d rather move to the Desert and help Overlord Sark to get rid of Thrud the moment she is done wiping you out."

    Sark nodded in agreement and the others flinched.

    The Tiamat''s importance in the war was nothing much. He could only be in one ce at a time and the Council was full of people who fought better than him and had much more experience in every field of magic.

    At the same time, his presence was of paramount importance in order to get rid of the Golden Griffon. He was the only free man who had reached the Headmaster''s office twice and lived to tell the tale.

    On top of that, based on dion''s report, Lith''s Abomination side had been crucial in both reaching the power core of the academy unnoticed and dealing with Thrud''s forces.

    The Firstborn Vampire couldn''t mention Solus'' contribution so he had given Lith all the credit for subduing Hystar and killing Jormun.

    "Then, we have a deal." King Meron shook Lith''s hand, followed by the Council representatives.

    They were aware that without his help, even if the Mad Queen fell into their trap, they wouldn''t have anyone capable to deal the finishing blow. If anything happened to Verhen''s family, the War of the Griffons would only end with their defeat.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Capital city of Valeron, a weekter.

    Much to everyone''s surprise, even after the resuming of hostilities there was no trace of either the Mad Queen or the Golden Griffon.

    Lith had resumed his job on the frontlines, recapturing border cities alone and easing the pressure on the regr army. He and Vastor had dealt several blows to Thrud''s forces and for once the Kingdom was gaining more ground than they were losing.

    Yet it wasn''t duty that had brought Lith to the capital of the Kingdom. He had gone there to celebrate histest victory with a friend and catch up with him.

    "Lith, my boy, I''m really proud of you." Professor Vastor toasted at their respective victories and Lith''stest deal with the Royals. "You have managed to make both Griffons sweat. They have learned the hard way to fear and respect you."

    They were having lunch at the Griffon Peak, one of the best restaurants in Valeron. It was located atop one of the highest buildings in the city and it was famous for its excellent food and the panoramic veranda.

    "Thanks, Vastor, but I can feel that something is off." Lith replied while clinking their sses. "I understand grief, but Thrud has always proven to be a pragmatic leader.

    "She has no idea of the reason we infiltrated her headquarters nor of what we gained from it. Disappearing for so long is a dumb move andpletely out of character."

    "I hear you." The Master nodded. "During mytest trips, I noticed a distinctck of Divine Beasts. Even once the rm resounded, they never sent more than one instead of the usual three-"

    "Can we please move to a less disturbing topic?" Zinya grabbed his shoulder, cutting him short. "It''s the first time in a long while that I get to have the four of us in the same room and I''m sick of hearing about the war."

    "I''m sorry, darling, but it''s not my fault. Lith always stays in the Desert or has a Guardian joined at his hip. Either way, it''s not the kind ofpany that I can afford withoutpromising my line of work." Vastor replied.

    Thanks to the many arrays that the Griffon Peak employed to ensure the privacy of their customers and those Vastor had ced himself, there was no risk of being overheard.

    "Wait a second. Does Zin know about your side job?" Kam asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

    "Not everything." Vastor shifted ufortably on his chair. "I told her about Jirni''s research group, my children, and our goals."

    "And that''s more than enough for me." Zinya said with a warm smile. "Zogar has the right to his privacy. Our marriage is recent whereas he''s been working on the project for decades.

    "Whatever it is, I trust him enough to know that it can''t be anything nefarious. I hope that sooner orter he''ll trust me enough to share the details with me, but I''m not going to pressure him into it.

    "All that matters to me is that he''s happy, does a job he loves, and that he doesn''t cheat on me."

    At those words, the Master choked on his food.

    He hated his job for the Kingdom and doubted that Zinya would find the strength to forgive him were she to learn the extent of his experiments. He had killed thousands as the Master and his future ns required him to kill more.

    "Then you know more than I do." Kam shrugged.

    "And that''s another topic that I''d like us to avoid." Zinya replied. "I get that you are a Constable, but this is a family lunch, not one of your questionings, Kami. I invited you here to spend time with your sister and brother-inw, not to grill my husband."

    "I''m sorry, Zin." Kam blushed in embarrassment. "How are the kids these days? Thest time I saw them, they seemed to havepletely recovered from Meln''s attack."

    "It doesn''t just seem like they overcame their trauma, they actually did it!" Zinya beamed with joy. "Frey and Filia haven''t had a nightmare in weeks. They are making plenty of friends at their school. Also, they have fallen in love with their new house, their new rtives, and most importantly, their new Dad.

    "They love spending time with Zogar and every time he''s out for work they are more worried about him than I am. That''s why I forbade Zogar to tell me anything more at least until the end of the war.

    "Every moment we spend together might be thest and I don''t want to waste them with stupid quarrels."

    The Master choked on his food again, feeling guilty for his deception. Zinya was his second chance to be a good man just like her children were his second chance at being a good father.

    He loved them but at the same time, he was terrified of losing them the moment his secret came into the open.

 Chapter 2248 First Strike (Part 2)

    "That''s great to hear." Lith nodded. "Aran and Leria went through much less yet they have only recently recovered. I doubt they would have made it without Grandma so what''s your secret?"

    "It''s all thanks to Zogar." Zinya puffed her chest out with pride. "His ''children'' spent a lot of time with Filia and Frey, never leaving them alone. In their human form, they made the kids feel protected and part of the family.

    "Whenever they had to shapeshift, Zoreth and the others always assumed an adorable-looking form that seemed out of a children''s book. Having powerful creatures that looked like giant fluffy pets made wonders for their nerves, especially Tezka.

    "He never leaves their side, even when they go to school. It''s only thanks to him that I can sit herefortably, knowing that wherever they are, my little ones are safe."

    ***

    Ernas Arch Duchy, at the same time.

    Phloria Ernas had just finished dining at the Phoenix''s Nest with her date and they were taking a digestive walk in the gardens of Assar, the capital of the Ernas region. It wasn''t exotic, but being so close to home made her feel safe.

    Since the War of the Griffon had resumed, her dating schedule had only gotten worse. On the one hand, her parents were eager to find a suitable mate for her. On the other, Phloria had grown sick and tired of being alone.

    She would spend her days going from the battlefield to the tower or Faluel''sir to train. Whenever she was on leave and Invigoration had lost most of its effectiveness, Phloria liked to go out and have somepany.

    No matter how much her sistersined about their respective partners, she could see how happy they were. The pic on the moon had been the final straw that had broken the camel''s back.

    Phloria had found the strength to let go of her feelings and search for someone who could make herugh like Morok did to Quy, someone who could understand her struggles like Nalrond did for Friya, or maybe someone whose kindness would warm her heart like Kam did for Lith.

    Phloria loved her magical powers just like she loved her work as a military officer. Yet the more time passed, the more she realized they weren''t enough for her anymore.

    ''I don''t want to spend the rest of my life working my ass just to be forgotten the moment I die like it happened to Menadion or Manohar. I watched many people die in this war and none of them in their final moments regretted not having trained or worked one more hour.'' She thought.

    ''They all regretted the things they didn''t do and having ignored the people in their lives, always thinking they could make up for itter. I want more in my life than work, train, sleep, rinse and repeat.'' She thought.

    "A copper coin for your thoughts." Celbas the Griffon said after the silencested long enough to be awkward.

    He looked like a handsome man in his mid-twenties, about 1.84 meters (6'') tall with short blond hair and silver eyes.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to space out." Phloria replied with a sigh. "I''m just really tired."

    "I can see that." Life Vision showed Celbas how mana abuse would make it pointless to use his breathing technique on her. "Do you want to take a rain check and get some rest?"

    "And spent the rest of the day staring at the ceiling while my damn brain keeps me hostage? Thanks, but no thanks." She said. "By the way, I''m curious. Isn''t a 23 years old woman a little too young for a Divine Beast like you?"

    "She would, if I wasn''t 25 years old and a hybrid at that." He replied.

    "Really? Are you still a hybrid at your age?" Phloria was amazed. Usually the conflicting life forces of a hybrid forced them to pick one around the time the natural growth of their mana core stopped.

    If Celbas was an exception, it meant that maybe he could be a new species like Shargein or Lith.

    "I wish." He exhaled sharply. "I meant that until a few years ago I was half-human. My body and mind developed no differently from yours. I''m still used to measuring time in days and weeks, not decades or centuries.

    "To me dating a woman over one hundred years old would be like dating my grandmother."

    "I hear you." Phloria chuckled. "Elder Awakened consider me an ignorant runt just like I find them to be boring old coots."

    "You and me both." Celbas said. "By the way, I hope you don''t mind me giving up on my human half. I don''t consider humans inferior or bad, it''s just that forfeiting the Griffon''s bloodline abilities felt pointless and stupid.

    "Even if my mother Awakens my father, he''d still die way before me and if I stayed a human, I would have needed to join the Council. As a Griffon, instead, I can be independent and avoid all that politics crap."

    "Don''t worry, I don''t mind dating a Griffon. I''ve met enough assholes like Kallion to know that race doesn''t make a man good or bad, just different." She replied.

    "d to hear. What do you say if-" A Warping array that had been inactive and invisible to Life Vision until a second before moved the couple hundreds of kilometers away from the safety of Assar''s magical formations and city guards.

    The dimensional sealing arrays enveloping the city couldn''t stop a Spirit Array.

    "Shit!" Phloria said as she tried to use hermunication amulet but found herself inside the tier five Sealed Space spell.

    The assants were arranged in a square formation, keeping themselves right outside the Sealed Space until their prey were in position.

    Each one of them was armed to the teeth, covered in Adamant, and infused with Life Maelstrom.

    "Stay behind me!" Celbas shapeshifted into his real form while boosting himself and Phloria with Life Maelstrom to even the field.

    Unlike most bloodline abilities, the silver lightning was stored inside his body and was unaffected by the dimensional spell.

    The Griffon used his sheer size to escape the Sealed Space and wed with his forelegs at the two assassinsing from the front. Celbas was his mother''s heir and had learned from her both the secret of Awakening and the violet core.

    He had already ess to body casting so as he changed form, he had also weaved several spells along with several hard-light constructs. A golden armor infused with silver lightning covered both him and Phloria while also coating their weapons.

    ''Good thinking.'' She said via a mind link she had established to coordinate their attacks without wasting time. ''My weapon is a masterpiece but right now it''s just a piece of sharp metal. I need time to weave spells and-''

    Her train of thought derailed when the two assants from the front blocked Celbas'' attack with ease while those from the back moved so fast that even with Full Guard warning her, Phloria failed to react in time.

    She was still stuck at the bright blue core whereas their enemies released a violet aura.

 Chapter 2249 Second Strike (Part 1)

    Not only were the assants faster and stronger than Phloria, but their casting speed was leagues above her own.

    At Phloria''s level, she was still learning how to weave tier three spells with her body. To make matters worse, Reaver was unparalleled when ambushing someone and terrible when its master was the victim of the ambush.

    The assant on her right blocked Phloria''s sh with his Adamant-coated right hand while punching her in the side with the left. Years of experience told her the moment they made contact that the enemy wasn''t human.

    Yet it was already toote.

    The hand on her de weighed like a mountain while the punch was so heavy that it bent the Adamant of her Featherwalker armor. The impact broke her ribs and punctured her lung, sealing her breathing technique.

    The shapeshifted creature took no risks and punched her left side as well.

    Even though she had a healing spell in her magic holding ring, Phloria had taken so much damage that when she activated it, she fainted from exhaustion before her lungs recovered enough to use Invigoration.

    At the same time, the assant blocking Celbas'' right arm grew in size, turning out to be a Seven Headed Dragon.

    "Nothing personal, kid." Ufyl breathed Origin mes from all of his mouths, burning the Griffon''s body, mana, and the Life Maelstrom empowering him.

    At the same time, the assant blocking the left arm transformed into a Sekhmet, stinging Celbas'' back with her tail. The acid dug a hole through the Adamant armor protecting the Griffon and reached his spine.

    Celbas fell to the ground, his body paralyzed from the waist down as he screamed in agony from the violet mes that now ate at him inside and out.

    "Target E acquired. I repeat, target E acquired." The creature holding Phloria''s limp body said in amunicator amulet.

    "Copy that." Thrud''s voice replied. "One of you bring the package to the nest. The rest will remain on standby. Target V has yet to be acquired."

    "What about him? Do we kill him?" Ufyl pointed at the agonizing Griffon who was still struggling to survive.

    "And risk antagonizing an entire Griffon bloodline?" Iata replied with a sneer. "We already have trouble facing the joined forces of the Kingdom and the Council. The True Queen has no need for more enemies."

    A wave of her paw extinguished the Origin mes and healed Celbas enough to ensure his survival but not enough to resume the fight.

    "I''m sorry, kid, but this is war. Unless you think that a woman you barely know is worth the risk, you''d better stay out of it." Then, she healed the Griffonpletely and exhaustion made him faint.

    "What if he''s a romantic idiot and gets involved in the war anyway?" Ufyl hated leaving a witness alive but Iata outranked him.

    "If he does, then it will be him attacking us and if we kill him, it will be out of self-defense." Iata sighed at the Dragon''s hot-headed naivety. "This time he was an innocent bystander. If we killed him, his bloodline would have hunted us down.

    "If he looks for trouble and dies in the process, instead, no one will care. War is a dirty business, Ufyl, but that doesn''t mean we have to make it even dirtier."

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, outside the Yrfal school, on the way to Zogar Vastor''s home.

    Life at school was difficult for Zinya''s children but especially for Filia.

    She was older than Frey and she had always attended schools formoners.

    Compared to her schoolmates she was uneducated, crude, and painfully oblivious to many things that were supposed to be second nature to noble kids.

    Filia had reached twelve years of age, the moment when a youth with great magical powers would enroll in one of the six great academies. Noble children with mediocre talent would get admitted into a minor academy but with her orange core, Filia couldn''t do that either.

    To make matters worse, she was Vastor''s stepdaughter.

    Everyone knew that her real father was an executed criminal and her mother an alleged gold digger. With no parent to be proud of and her familycking a single speck of magic or blue blood, Filia was the perfect target for bullies.

    At least until they met her pet, an odd red hybrid between a wolf and a fox. The creature was as big as a pony, but what terrified any sane person with a shred of survival instinct was his smile.

    After looking Tezka in the fangs, no one wanted to repeat the experience. He had no need to talk or make threats. Anyone looking in his big, round eyes could see a whole graveyard filled with his dead enemies and a freshly dug hole ready to amodate a new guest.

    Vastor had gotten permission for the pets to follow Frey and Filia everywhere and take part in the lessons. The Headmaster wasn''t really happy with it, but refusing a favor to the Archmage who was also the ruler of thend usually led to early retirement.

    No noble or mage wanted to make an enemy of the Professor in charge of the Light Magic department of the White Griffon. Quite the contrary, they did everything they could to curry his favor, protecting his interests without him even asking.

    Still, the parents still talked badly of Zinya in front of their children, which made the youths feel entitled to mistreat the social climbers. Tezka kept the bullies away, but the kids barely had any friends.

    Istion and loneliness were something even an Eldritch was helpless against. It was the reason the servants always brought Filia and Frey to their favorite bakery for sweets at the end of the school day.

    It made their routine easier to tolerate but also predictable.

    The Warping array hit them right in front of the bakery and the four Divine Beasts waiting on the ambush spot ughtered the four servants apanying them before they could even understand what had happened.

    "I don''t want to kill fellow beasts unless it''s strictly necessary." Leari the Thunderborne said, her body bursting with bolts of silver lightning. "Give us the kids and no one will get hurt."

    She was confident in her victory, yet pissed off for being forced to switch from the primary to the secondary target. The initial orders had been to kidnap Zinya, but she would rarely leave the Vastor mansion without her husband.

    When she did, whoever came close to her, even the Forgotten, would find themselves paralyzed in abject terror. Thrud had conducted a full background check that confirmed the readings acquired with Life Vision by her field agents.

    Zinya Yehval-Vastor was a human woman with an orange core and no magical training. She wore no cloaking devices and the only enchanted items she possessed were means for self-defense.

    Everything from her backstory to her bearing fit the bill of a helpless woman until it didn''t. Emperor Beasts, Divine Beasts, and mindless ves alike would freeze the moment they tried to touch her and use Invigoration to study her.

    After even Iata had copsed in fear during a recon mission, the Mad Queen had been forced to kidnap her children instead.

 Chapter 2250 Second Strike (Part 2)

    It was a huge gamble since there was no way to tell if Highmaster Vastor cared enough for them to fall into her trap. Yet it was all Thrud had and it had to do.

    "You want my children, kid?" It was posed as a question but Tezka''s voice sounded like a threat. "I''ll make you a counteroffer. You guys give me your equipment aspensation for scaring my pups, put your heads on the ground, and I''ll kill you swiftly."

    "You are in no position to make threats. There are four Divine Beasts and just two of you magical beasts imprisoned inside a Sealed Space. We can summon reinforcements at any time whereas you are alone." Leari acted confident, but there was something terribly wrong with that scenario.

    The fox-wolves'' cockiness was weird, but a wise creature might have been trying to bluff their way out. The kids, however, made no sense. They were nervous, but not scared one bit.

    After being kidnapped and watching their loyal servants die in front of their eyes, a twelve years old girl and a ten years old boy were supposed to cry for their mother, piss themselves, faint, or maybe do all those things at once.

    Yet all that Fey and Filia did was to look from the surroundings to their steeds.

    The red Tezka started to chuckle, quickly followed by the blue one.

    "Hey, kids, do you want to see something cool?" They said in unison, making Thrud''s Generals realize that the two creatures didn''t just look simr.

    They were identical and spoke with the same voice.

    "Yes, uncle Tezka." Filia dismounted and helped her brother to do the same while the corpses of the servants burst out of their clothes, turning out to be tails shapeshifted to look like humans.

    The tails quickly wrapped around the two fox-wolves that merged into one tall figure. Tezka looked like a humanoid wolf almost 2.5 meters (8''2") tall covered by pitch-ck thick fur and with rainbow-colored eyes.

    He had shoulders as broad as a door with ten tailsing out of his back. Nine of them were four meters (13 feet) long while the tenth was atrophied, barely reaching 1.5 meters (5 feet).

    By splitting himself into two magical beasts and four human servants, he had reduced his aura enough for multiple cloaking devices to fool Life Vision. Now he was back in one piece and there was no mistaking his power.

    ''Great Mother almighty.'' Sealed Space blocked the Eldritch''s aura but Leari was covered in a cold sweat nheless. ''That was a trap. If any of us tried to move past the corpses, those things would have ripped us to shreds.''

    ''Tezka?'' Orsat asked, even her thoughts trembled through the mind link. ''The Suneater? That Tezka? And those kids are actually his offspring?''

    ''Nonsense.'' Leari replied. ''We took our time scouting the kids'' pets and they were nowhere near the level of an Eldritch. Anyone can shapeshift and pose for-''

    "Using dimensional magic against me, how cute. Like I wasn''t the one who invented it." Tezka knocked at the emerald wall with his fingers, unaware of their conversation.

    Then, he released his aura, producing a burst of ck and golden light respectively from his ck and Warg core. The raw pressure they exerted on Sealed Space cracked the spell in several points, forcing the Divine Beasts to fix it.

    s, Tezka really was the inventor of dimensional magic and he pre-dated the Guardians. His aura attacked the focal points of the spell, making it crumble in spite of thebined efforts of Thrud''s generals.

    Sealed Space fell apart and the ck-golden aura reached the Divine Beasts. The Tezka clone-hybrid Lith had fought in Maekosh was a newborn who could barely match a blue core.

    Back when the Fylgja had fought Orpal, his body had yet to stabilize, bringing him barely past the bright violet. After months of training and undergoing the Master''s experiments, he had finally regained his full power.

    The golden light was now capable of countering the ck core to perfection, allowing Tezka to unleash the full power of Chaos without harming his body.

    ''Don''t falter!'' Leari could see herpanions trembling now that they knew the identity of their enemy. ''He''s just magically stronger than us. We are physically leagues above him. Also, he can''t leave the children.''

    The other three Divine Beasts nodded, weaving their respective bloodline abilities to ensure their victory. Orsat shapeshifted into a Red Griffon and unleashed a burst of Life Maelstrom to increase the strength of their cores, bodies, and equipment tenfold.

    Ophius assumed his Quetzalcoatl form that resembled a snake over 50 meters (165'') long. He was covered with sky-blue feathers instead of scales and had a set of feathered wingsing out of the middle of his spine.

    He used Doom Tide to strip the world energy from their surroundings, neutralizing elemental spells and leaving any creature incapable of using Spirit Magic helpless.

    With the magical gap gone and the physical gap dramatically in their favor, the four Divine Beasts moved on to the offense. Leari and Orsat charged at Tezka while Ophius and Rimo the Fire Dragon aimed at the kids.

    "Nice trick. Now it''s my turn." Tezka snapped his fingers, making the Davross of the Suneater armor coat him and the Endless Night de appear in his hand.

    At the same time, six of his nine tails started to spin around the children and their tips opened, releasing the spells they contained. Only the atrophied Spirit Tail was useless, but the others were enough.

    Suddenly Filia and Frey were enveloped in a living tornado of fur and magic. Ophius and Rimo failed to stop in time and the part of their colossal bodies that had entered the storm burned, froze, rotted, and fell apart at the same time.

    ''This is impossible!'' The Fire Dragon thought. ''Cursed Elements are supposed to be incapable of being used together. Also, where the heck did he take the elemental energy necessary to cast six tier five spells?''

    Even Dragon Eyes couldn''t answer his questions since both phenomenons involved bloodline abilities Rimo knew nothing about. A Fylgja could hold one elemental spell inside each one of their tails, no matter the tier or for how long.

    Tezka didn''t need world energy because just like a Griffon''s Life Maelstrom, he kept what he needed stored inside of himself. On top of that, after fusing with his Warg half, he had learned how to imbue his body with the Cursed Elements, releasing them one bit at a time.

    The six spells were now a part of his tails and his own mana couldn''t hurt Tezka. The flesh worked as an insnt, protecting the Cursed Spells from each other every time they came in contact and allowing them to work together.

    Leari cursed whatever trick Tezka had used and unleashed her bloodline ability, Stormlight. A white bolt of incandescent sma struck the Eldritch from point-nk range, bypassing the enchanted protection of his armor and sending him into a spasm.

    Orsat punched him with all the strength of a Griffon, the mightiest among the Divine Beasts. Once again, Tezka couldn''t dodge without endangering Filia and Frey so he took the attack in full.

 Chapter 2251 The Suneater (Part 1)

    Orsat''s punch shattered the Spirit Barrier that the Master had imbued in the Suneater armor, bent the Davross like an empty soda can, and sent pieces of the Eldritch flying everywhere.

    Yet no yelp came from the children who just squatted on the ground with their eyes closed and ears covered. The tails imbued with the Cursed Spells kept spinning in an elemental tornado, keeping the Divine Beasts away from Filia and Frey.

    "That''s it?" Tezka''s body reformed at a speed visible to the naked eye and his maw grew in size until it overshadowed the Griffon''s beak.

    A bite and a twist of his disproportionate neck ripped Orsat''s head off, making her body copse on the ground before the Golden Griffon recalled it to the rebirth chamber.

    Shock froze Leari, but she managed to dodge the second bite aimed at her and save her life.

    ''He''s still a frigging Emperor Beast. Rimo, where does the extra masse from?'' She asked.

    ''I don''t know!'' Those three words were always the scariest thing that a Dragon could say.

    "Open up your eyes, kids. I''m about to show you the reason people call me the Suneater." Filia and Frey stood up, ignoring the three titans around them, and followed Tezka''s finger that was pointing at the sky.

    At first, they thought it was an eclipse. Then, they realized that it was nothing like the natural phenomenon that they had studied in school.

    A sr eclipse was supposed to take ce when the moon moved in front of the sun, covering a part or all of it based on the observer''s position.

    What was happening, instead, was that a ck blot had appeared in the middle of the sun and was quickly spreading toward the borders.

    "Great Mother protect us." Leari and the rest of the Divine Beast had reacted no differently from the kids, staring dumbly at the sky as their bodies refused to move.

    "I''m sorry to break it to you, but I doubt Tyris will listen to your prayers." Tezka said with a chuckle. "She hates those who try and harm children."

    As he spoke, his body started to grow to colossal proportions.

    Right after shattering the Sealed Space, he had used the cover from his aura burst to activate his Eldritch Tier spell, Suneater.

    Abominations were nothing like living beings. They were souls refusing to die who possessed a mass of Chaos as their bodies. The energy retained their consciousness and abilities as long as it was properly fed.

    Suneater simply used a burst of Chaos magic to bring a piece of Tezka out of Mogar''s atmosphere. From there, it would grow and spread like an umbre, absorbing both the light energy from the sun and the cosmic radiation.

    Then, Suneater fed that power straight into Tezka''s body.

    Eldritches were made of energy and their ck core was a bottomless pit. Their capacity to hold and control mana was endless, there was no such a thing as mana abuse for them.

    Suneater was the reason behind Tezka''s call sign. The reason people believed sr eclipses to be the omen of misfortune. The reason he had fought to a standstill against Sark when she was still a young Guardian.

    Back when he had fought Orpal pretending to be Fallmug, Tezka had been unable to conjure the spell. His Abomination and Warg side had yet to fully merge, limiting his strength.

    Had he employed Suneater, the Chaos would have overstepped the boundary between matter and energy, devouring his flesh. Best case scenario, Tezka would have gone back to being an Eldritch and ruined Vastor''s work.

    Worst case scenario, he might have died for good.

    Now, however, the Warg and the ck core worked in synergy, converting flesh into Chaos and vice versa in a loop that allowed the Fylgja to ovee the limits of his physical form again.

    Each one of them produced a steady flow of mana and Tezka harnessed them both without the need to consume part of the energy to keep them in bnce.

    Tezka''s body quickly reached 20 meters (66'') of height, then 30 (100''), and finally 50 meters (164''). He could have grown more, but he preferred to keep the mana and turn it into elemental power.

    The Fylgja had be identical to the image depicted in Zinya''s book. His figure was that of the monster that all magical creatures used to scare their unruly children. Tezka was the legendary beast who devoured the sun and whose shadow killed everything it touched.

    "Reinforcements! We need reinf-" Leari yelled in hermunication amulet as Tezka raised his right hand, unleashing a tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void, the size of a mountain.

    The entropic energies swallowed both the Thunderborne and the tons of Adamant protecting her, leaving behind only sparkles of light and silver.

    From the top of Tezka''s head, Filia and Frey cheered at him.

    Like in the fairy tales Vastor read to them, the bad guys were losing, the good guys were winning, and not a drop of blood was being spilled.

    "Do you really think reinforcements can help you at this point?" A mass of Chaos-infused dimensional magic wrapped around Endless Night, using it as a scaffold to form a de the size of Tezka''s new body.

    A single sh cut through the air and then the forces keeping together the atoms of Rimo''s armor, flesh, and bones. The Dragon had blocked with his Adamant shield, Scatterst, but the dark de had phased through the enchanted metal.

    Then, his body had simply copsed on the floor in a lump of flesh covered in Adamant.

    "What about you?" Tezka extended his open hand toward Ophius, sending the Quetzalcoatl into a panic.

    He unleashed the power of the world energy he had sealed inside his body in a powerful burst of Doom Tide that would have ttened a forest. Yet Doom Tide was still just world energy infused with his life force.

    All kinds of energy were just food for an Eldritch.

    The blue sphere of Doom Tide expanded from Ophius'' body until it reached Tezka''s palm. Then, the ck mass of Chaos acted as a drain, sucking the Blood Tide dry faster than the Quetzalcoatl could conjure it.

    "You are too kind, but I can''t hog such a feast all by myself. Here, have some." The blue sphere turned ck, wrapping around Ophius before copsing on itself.

    The 50 meters (164'') long Quetzalcoatl disappeared into thin air as if he had never been there in the first ce, leaving only a spherical hole in the ground as proof of his existence.

    "Look at that, they really are sending reinforcements. Tezka pointed at the dimensional corridors that he could feel via Endless Night were being opened. "Do you want to see another magical trick?"

    Filia and Frey nodded enthusiastically as Tezka chanted for them. The kids loved hearing him weaving spells because they sounded like music.

    "I call this Chaos Dimension!" The space around them filled with cracks, as if reality was a mirror and someone had just thrown a rock at it.

    The cracks spread outwards, reaching the dimensional gates while they were still opening. Iata and the other two members of her team were the first to respond, but more wereing.

 Chapter 2252 The Suneater (Part 2)

    "Where the heck are Leari and the others?" The Sekhmet blurted out in surprise.

    "Either dead or back home. Just like you." Tezka extended his open hand before closing it into a fist and giving it a small twist.

    The cracks in space surrounded the neers, trapping them inside a dimensional fissure that closed shut and squashed them like bugs.

    "Uncle Tezka, this is really cool, but if we get homete Mom will worry." Frey said while pulling at the Fylgja''s fur to get his attention.

    "Damn, you are right. Time to wrap things up." At a flick of Tezka''s fingers, the cracks seeped inside the dimensional doors, keeping them from closing and reaching the other side.

    "He found us! Quick, cast the Restoration spell and move the Golden Griffon, we can''t let our position be exposed!" Thrud ordered and Hystarplied.

    Chaos Dimension was already spreading throughout the lost academy like a disease. The distorted space killed anything it touched, made matter copse, and exploded like a tier four spell at the slightest attempt to stop its advance.

    While her soldiers cast Restoration to rx the space and stop Chaos Dimension from spreading further, the Headmaster activated the Static Field array topress space and cut the infection at the root.

    Thrud used the Domination powers of Arthan''s Sword to cross the Warp Gate safely and see if there was something she could do to salvage the mission.

    "Make it quick. I''m on the clock." Tezka beckoned at her, uncaring for her white aura and her Davross equipment.

    Thrud pursed her lips, her face twisted in rage and pain at the sight of Frey and Filiaughing happily as if nothing bad had happened.

    "Why, Mogar? Why is my son the only child with no one to protect his happiness?" She asked yet the remained silent.

    The Mad Queen would have loved to vent her anger and grief on a worthy opponent, but she knew to be outmatched. The ck sun and Tezka''s reputation were enough to make her know that she was already beaten.

    She could feel that somehow, the ancient Eldritch had crossed over the limits of both white and ck cores, bing something different.

    Something new against which she had no hope of victory.

    Thrud turned around and left, hoping that the capture of Archmage Ernas would be enough to enact her revenge on the Kingdom for taking Jormun''s life.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Capital city of Valeron, Griffon Peak restaurant.

    "You have no idea how happy I am that our families are now bound by both blood andw." Zinya chuckled. "Once the War of the Griffon is over, I won''t hesitate to consider my life perfect if we manage to spend more time all together, Kami."

    "Me too, Zin." Kam nodded. "I really missed-" They had yet to finish dessert when everyone''smunication amulets lit up like Christmas trees.

    "What the heck?" Lith and Vastor said in unison as their army amulets turned on and conjured the hologram of the Queen, answering the call without their consent.

    It could mean only one thing. The situation had suddenly turned dire enough to require the Royal Override code.

    "Come back to the Royal Pce immediately. The Mad Queen made her move and we werepletely wrong about her goal. Sylpha out."

    "What about my father? What about Rena and-" Lith asked but the hologram had already faded.

    Raaz, Rena, and her family were the only ones who hade back to Lutia. They had followed the n, pretending to be unaware of the Mad Queen''s threat and keeping the illusion that nothing had changed.

    Lith cursed at the Royal bloodline down to Valeron as he pressed the runes of all the members of his family at once.

    "Good gods." Kam grabbed his arm, showing him the red alert that had caused her amulet to go off. "They have taken Phloria."

    "And my children!" Zinya jumped on her feet in terror as reports from the Essagor Duchy about the kidnapping kept popping up on her amulet.

    "They who? What the heck is going on?" Vastor clenched his Yggdrasill Staff, hoping it would help him make sense of that chaos.

    "I don''t know." Kam replied. "I guess there''s only one way to know. We must go to the Royal Pce."

    "Screw the Royals!" Zinya yelled, making the other customers turn toward their table. "Zogar, we must go back to Essagor and find Filia and Frey. Phloria can take care of herself whereas they are just children!"

    Vastor was about to tell her to calm down but the fear in her eyes told him that he had to tread with caution. One wrong word and Zinya would have ditched him, running alone in what was likely the next step of the enemy trap.

    "Agreed." He stood up while taking her hand. "Just remember that they are not alone. Tezka is always with our children."

    Mentioning the Eldritch made Zinya''s heart skip a beat with hope. Vastor using the word "our" made her thank the gods for having blessed her with such a good man.

    "You are right." She took a deep breath to calm down. "Let''s call him first. If Tezka doesn''t answer-"

    "Hi, Mommy! Hi, Father." The hologram of Filia answering the Fylgja''s amulet cut Zinya short and made her knees buckle in relief.

    Luckily, she was still at the table so she just fell of a few centimeters before hitting the chair. Zinya wanted to cry and ask the kids if they were fine but she needed sheer willpower just to keep breathing.

    "Are you alright? Is everything fine?" Vastor held her hand tighter and took the questions out of her mind.

    "Yes, Father." Frey widened the hologram, showing that they were back in their room.

    Tezka was back in his magical beasts form and the kids were feeding both his bodies with tasty treats.

    "Some bad people wanted to take us away, but uncle Tezka kicked their butts. You should have been there, Mom. It was awesome!" Zinya couldn''t disagree more with Frey''s definition of awesome, but seeing her kids safe, sound, and happy was everything she had just prayed to the gods for.

    She just nodded, looking at the Eldritch with the love and devotion of a believer witnessing a miracle.

    "Thanks, Zogar." Her voice cracked and her eyes became veiled with tears but Filia and Frey were too busy grooming their steeds'' fur to notice.

    "Don''t thank me. It''s likely that our children got attacked because Thrud wanted to get back at me." He replied.

    "Or me." Lith said. "Kami is off limits and Zinya is her only rtive."

    "Only one way to find out." Vastor sighed. "I''m really sorry, Zin, but now I have no excuse to ignore a Royal Summon. I have to go."

    "Don''t worry, I''ll be fine on my own. I just need a few moments to collect myself before calling for a coach." She said,

    "Nonsense. You are not going to spend a single second longer than necessary away from our children." Vastor lifted her in a princess carry, showing that he was much stronger than he looked.

    Then, everyone apanied Zinya on the ride to the nearest Warp Gate.

 Chapter 2253 Security Nightmare (Part 1)

    Only once Vastor saw Zinya step through the dimensional corridor and into the arms of her children in the safety of his house did he leave her side.

    The moment the passage closed, the clerk opened a new one, this time leading to the Royal Pce.

    s, there was no more good news waiting for them.

    The Gate led to the Throne Room, where the Royals and the Ernas couple were respectively issuing orders tob search the Ernas region for any trace of Phloria and calling the rest of their children to make sure they were alright.

    Orion was wearing the Royal Fortress armor that belonged to his Household, ready to Warp away at the flimsiest clue that might lead him to his lost daughter and to fight to the death.

    His face was pale and his expression tense. Orion''s eyes were feverishly staring at Phloria''s rune, its sight the only thing tethering him to sanity.

    Jirni instead was calm and collected, showing no sign of impatience while the field assistants kept her on hold. Friya and Gunyin had yet to respond because they were busy and couldn''t be disturbed.

    She wore a Royal Fortress armor as well, but her visage was a stone mask.

    The only signs of worry were the unusual pallor of her cheeks and a slight twitch in her lips. Jirni had called every single person that owed her a favor, hoping that at least one of them could help her locate Phloria.

    "You bastard!" Orion jumped at Lith''s neck the moment their eyes met. "It''s all your fault! You killed Jormun and angered Thrud! She has attacked my Little Flower only to get even with you. I wish you two never met!"

    Those words held enough truth to make Lith freeze in guilt long enough to fail to dodge the punch that followed them.

    Lith weighed tons even in his human form but so did the Royal Fortress armor. On top of that, the solid Adamant the armor was made of more than made up for the gap in mass. The Tiamat fell to the floor but Orion didn''t stop.

    He moved so fast to be a blur, pulling Lith up by the cor of the shirt while raising his fist again.

    "Enough of this madness, Archmage Ernas." King Meron moved just as fast, grabbing Orion''s right shoulder and wrist to stop him. "Magus Verhen isn''t responsible for this. If you want to me someone, me the Crown."

    Jirni cursed her shaken nerves and moved one split second toote. She grabbed Orion''s left shoulder to calm him with her touch and be ready to intervene in case her grief-stricken husband attacked the King as well.

    "What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Her voice was cold but she stressed Meron''s title on purpose to remind Orion where they were and who they were talking to.

    "Think about it. Thrud said it in her message. She is going to deal with Baba Yaga first, and she did it by torturing Night. She promised to leave Magus Verhen forst. She isn''t a coward like Meln, this is no deception." Meron said.

    "Otherwise Thrud would have attacked the members of the Verhen household who are still in Lutia and apparently under standard levels of security. Even if this was an attack aimed at Magus Verhen, why kidnap Archmage Phloria Ernas and Archmage Vastor''s stepchildren?

    "He and Phloria have broken up for years while his rtionship with Filia and Frey is even flimsier."

    "Because my daughter is still Lith''s friend and through the kids, Thrud can target Zinya and in turn Kam, his wife!" Orion snarled with fury yet he stayed his hand.

    "Are you listening to yourself?" The Queen stepped forward. "That makes no sense. Magus Verhen has plenty of friends who would have been much easier to kidnap like the huntress and the man from the Desert.

    "As for the children, if something happens to them, the rtionship between Constable Verhen and Duchess Vastor just goes sour whereas Archmage Vastor''s marriage is bound to fall apart."

    Orion took deep breaths to calm down enough to ponder those words.

    "Are you telling me that my Little Flower and Vastor were the real targets all along?" He asked.

    "Indeed." The King nodded while activating the arrays of the Throne Room.

    They projected the hologram of the recapture of Belius that had been broadcasted multiple times throughout the Kingdom.

    "Archmage Phloria Ernas and Vastor are the reason Thrud couldn''t leave Belius after defeating Dawn.

    It was Phloria''s face that had been posted in every city of the Kingdom, celebrating her as the hero who has rescued Belius.

    "By making her an Archmage, I''m afraid we also made her into a target.

    "Taking her down means getting rid of the new hero of the Kingdom, learning the military secrets Phloria knows, and bringing to Thrud''s side the only person besides Magus Verhen who can use de Magic.

    "With a single move, the Mad Queen has destroyed our reputation, gained ess to our intel, and obtained a powerful weapon. Phloria being Lith''s friend is just the icing on the cake."

    "What about Vastor? His role as a Highmaster is a secret and he has never been mentioned in the news." Orion replied, his mind still trying to find someone to me for what had happened.

    "Plenty of nobles have betrayed us for Thrud or were devoured by her Skinwalkers." The Queen replied. "If even one of them knew about Vastor, she knows as well."

    "I think there''s an easier exnation." The Master sighed, knowing that there was a storm approaching and that he had no way to avoid it. "When I fought Night in front of Belius'' gates, she knew who I was despite my Highmaster armor.

    "It''s likely that she shared my secret with Thrud to exin her defeat." Everyone nodded and even Orion had to admit that Lith wasn''t to me. "One more thing."

    Vastor took a pause, his brain spinning at top gear while all eyes were on him. Yet even with the help of the Yggdrasill staff, he failed to find a usible exnation and resorted to the next best thing.

    "My children are safe. They have been rescued and brought back home already. You can stop wasting manpower to look for them and focus on finding Archmage Ernas." People had witnessed the kidnapping of Filia and Frey just like the servants of the Vastor household had witnessed their return.

    It was only a matter of time before the Royals found out and there was no point in hiding it.

    "How is that possible? They are just kids whereas Archmage Phloria Ernas is a powerful Awakened and was apanied by a Griffon." The Queen furrowed her brows in disbelief.

    "The Mad Queen sent just a small force and the kids were lucky. A powerful beast witnessed the kidnapping and rescued them." Vastor would have preferred to downy even more Tezka''s role, but he couldn''t risk lying that much.

    If Thrud had a video of the fight and shared it with the Royals to ruin his reputation, Vastor would have just dug a deeper hole for himself. To make matters worse, Suneater Tezka was hard to miss and even harder to exin.

 Chapter 2254 Security Nightmare (Part 2)

    "Lucky is an understatement. A beast passed by chance near a secluded spot chosen for an ambush and bothered helping strangers. I''d call it a miracle but there''s no point looking the gifted horse in the mouth." Sylpha had many doubts, but she couldn''t afford to express them.

    Vastor was one of the Kingdom''s greatest assets in the War of the Griffons. The Crown couldn''t afford to lose him. The truth would have to wait.

    While Orion was still staring at Vastor in envy, another Warp Gate opened.

    Two Royal Guards had found the site of the ambush and brought Celbas the Griffon with them after applying first aid. They had given him plenty of tonics before finishing to heal his wounds, yet he was still drowsy.

    "You bastard!" Orion escaped the King''s grip and punched Celbas in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. "I had entrusted my Little Flower to you. What kind of man can''t even protect the woman he''s dating? You''re no Divine Beast, just Divine Scum!

    "Howe she''s gone whereas you are in one piece? Did you abandon my daughter to save your miserable hide?"

    The Royals, Lith, and Jirni tackled Orion. They pinned his face on the floor, more eager to learn any clue that might help rescue Phloria than pointing fingers.

    "I admit that I failed to protect Phloria, but I didn''t abandon her. We were outnumbered and outmatched." Knowing how cheap words were Celbas used a mind link to share his memory of the events.

    He didn''t hide anything, without even attempting to cover for his wounded pride. Everyone saw him being put down like a puppy. How helpless he had been despite his mighty body and Tyris'' blood coursing through his veins.

    "To answer your question, the one called Iata was right. Had they killed me, my mother would have sought revenge, and with her every member of the family who cares for either me or her." The Griffon said.

    "Now, instead, even if I die in the attempt to save Phloria, no one will care. It would be my choice and my death would be a consequence of my weakness and stupidity."

    With no hope left nor someone to me, Orion ceased his struggle and broke into tears.

    "Please, Jirni, I beg of you. Be honest with me and tell me that this is just another of your sick ploys. I promise that I won''t get mad at you. Just tell me that my Little Flower is alright and I''ll forgive you." He looked at her with desperate eyes, hoping that once again he was the victim of his wife''s deception.

    "I''d love to tell you that you are right but it would be a lie." Jirni clenched her fists to find the strength to shatter Orion''s delusion. "I yed no role in all this. Phloria is really gone and I have no idea where she is."

    "I see." Orion replied and everyone saw his eyes be empty and dull.

    Jirni was afraid that grief would get the best of him yet his eyes steeled and he regained his cool instead.

    "Then there''s no time to waste. I''ll join the recon teams in the search for the Golden Griffon. We must find it before the Unwavering Array takes root. Thrud won''t dare kill Phloria before she spills everything she knows." Orion''s words reassured everyone but Lith.

    Phloria knew about the tower, about Solus, and even about what each floor did. Her capture was a security nightmare for the Kingdom but for Lith, it was even worse.

    "Are you going to help us, Celbas?" Orion asked, obtaining a nod in reply.

    "I''m going to do better than that. I''m going to ask my mother for help." The Griffon said.

    "What about you Lith? Do you think you can pull off another of your miracles?" Orion asked. "You have rescued my Little Flower at the academy, in Kh, and the Feymar mines. I know you can do it again."

    "I''ll do everything in my power to find and rescue her, you have my word." Lith nodded. "I''m going to ask my Dragon and Phoenix brethren for help and then I''m personally going out to look for her."

    He and Celbas Spirit Warped away while the Royals informed the Council of thetest developments and asked them to join the search.

    ***

    Hessar Region, Golden Griffon academy, at the same time.

    Phloria had regained her senses for a while, finding herself in one piece and wearing no restraints. Her wounds had been healed and she had beenid to rest in afortable bed.

    "Where am I and what did you do to me?" She asked the moment she realized she wasn''t alone and that her equipment was gone.

    The nightgown she wore was nothing more than a thin piece of fabric.

    "This is the Throne Room of the Golden Griffon." Thrud nodded her head at her guest in wee. "You have my word that no harm was done to you while you were unconscious. We just took your equipment to study it."

    The Mad Queen was holding Reaver, Phloria''s estoc, from both ends while casting her best Forgemastering spells to study it. Her best Forgemasters were helping her and Linnea was among them.

    "Your father is both a genius and a very meticulous man. Not only is your de cloaked so well that it might take months to learn its secrets, but it has also been crafted so that the moment your imprint is lost it will self-destruct."

    It was one of the few properties that all weapons of Orion''s War series shared, but Phloria felt no need to let Thrud know. Yet.

    ''I must find a way to get out of here. Otherwise the moment the Unwavering Loyalty array takes hold, I''ll spill every single secret anyone ever entrusted to me.'' Phloria looked around in a panic, but the room had no door or window.

    She didn''t want to betray Faluel''s secrets like the fact that she possessed the Hands of Menadion. Nor did Phloria want to risk exposing Friya''s rtionship with the Hydra and the Rezar.

    Nalrond was an apprentice of Dawn, one of the few people who could teach Light Mastery to anyone. On top of that, his knowledge of the Fringes might have helped Thrud in her conquest ns, were she to ess one.

    Most of all, Phloria was terrified at the idea of sharing with Thrud about Solus'' existence and how much of Menadion''s legacy Lith had recovered in secret.

    It would have made Lith a priority. Whoever possessed the tower possessed Solus. If Thrud killed or captured him, she would get her hands on a second tower and enve Solus in a single swoop.

    ''I''d rather die than put Lith''s life at risk.'' She thought.

    "You can stop looking around. I assure you that there''s no way out nor anything you might use to kill yourself. I made sure of it." Thrud took the words out of Phloria''s mind who then noticed how bare the room was.

    There were two thrones, one holding Jormun''s statue, the bed she had been resting upon, and nothing else. The other people in the room wore armor but carried no weapons.

 Chapter 2255 Phlorias Worth (Part 1)

    Life Vision revealed to Phloria that the bed was made ofmon materials that would shatter against her enhanced skin.

    "Since it will take a while before the Golden Griffon turns you into one of its students, I have the time to exin to you the secret of the violet core." The Mad Queen said, making Phloria flinch.

    "What?"

    "You heard me. I checked your condition. I know that you have a bright blue core and that your body is ready for the next breakthrough. Reaching the violet core will make you into a much more useful soldier and boost your prowess.

    "I''m eager to see how it will affect your de Spell and to teach you the secrets of the Ernas bloodline." Thrud looked at Phloria with a dry smile. "My father ruled for over one century. He knew about the Ernas'' and the Gernoff''s hidden skills and passed them onto me."

    "What the heck are you talking about?" Phloria yelled in outrage and confusion, infusing herself with all elements while she struck at the Mad Queen''s exposed neck.

    "Interesting. You really don''t know." Thrud stopped the knife-hand with the ease of an adult blocking a child. "It doesn''t matter, I''ll exin everything to you while we spar."

    A fist as quick as a bolt of lightning struck Phloria''s gut, sending her flying.

    She managed to perform a somersault in mid-air andnd on her feet. Thrud was holding back just enough to not make her apprentice faint so Phloria found herself coughing, gasping for air.

    "By the Great Mother, what have you done to me?" Alien thoughts crossed her mind along with notions that she had never learned.

    "I''m just keeping my word." Thrud stood up from her throne. "Words are slow and hard to convey during a fight. A mind link, instead, is easy to understand and can be transmitted with each blow.

    "You better be serious or by the time the academy enves you, you''ll be ripe for the breakthrough. At that point, I''ll just give you the time to get acquainted with your new condition before sending you out there to kill the very people you have sworn to protect."

    "You are a mon-" The Mad Queen performed a series of quick strikes that cut Phloria short and tested her reaction speed.

    Every sessful attack carried a portion of Thrud''s technique to achieve the violet core. Blocking an attack worked as well, forcing Phloria to focus on dodging.

    Yet Thrud was just ying with her to make sure that no hit could endanger her life. Before Phloria could understand what was happening, she had already learned half of the technique.

    To make matters worse, by dodging and blocking the onught she was also unwittingly practicing a footwork technique that Thrud taught by experience to all of her generals.

    Phloria was no Divine Beast but between her sword that granted her the power of a battalion of mages and her de Tier spell, she was going to be no weaker than them.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, Mount Light volcano, house of Surtr.

    "I''m d about your visit and a little worried by the urgency of your request, little brother." The Dragon of Light offered Lith a seat and tea. "Also, why did you ask me to call here that party pooper of my twin?"

    "Hey, I''m right here, jackass." Sinmara said.

    "I know, that''s why I''m ignoring you."

    "As much as I''d love to listen to a sibling''s quarrel, please shut up and let me talk." Lith raised his hand to keep them from interrupting him. "I''m in a pinch and I called you two because you can vouch for me to the rest of my bloodlines."

    Then, he told them about Phloria''s kidnapping and how dangerous it would be for him once Thrud learned about Solus.

    "I''m really sorry to hear, little brother, but my answer is no. I can''t help you." Surtr shook his head and Sinmara did the same.

    "What? Why?" Lith and Celbas were having the same conversation with their respective rtives and receiving the same answers.

    "Because this Ernas girl is just a woman and she''s not worth the trouble that our intervention is bound to cause." Prasyn the Red Griffon and Celbas'' mother replied.

    "She got kidnapped right in front of my eyes and I got beaten to a pulp!" Celbas replied in outrage.

    "You are still alive and they didn''t torture you so no harm, no foul." Prasyn shook her head. "I was going to wait until you were at least a few centuries old before schooling you in the ways of the Divine Beasts but I can''t no longer dy this talk.

    "Listen to me, child, and listen well. If Guardians are to be considered akin to gods, then their descendants are akin to natural disasters. We live for too long and are too powerful to willy-nilly mess with the other races.

    "Have you ever wondered why even though there''s plenty of us on Mogar people consider us myths and most of them never see one of our kind their whole life?"

    "No." Lith scratched his head in confusion. "Now that I think about it, before the Council summoned me and I met Leegaain, I too believed Divine Beast to be the stuff of legends."

    "Well, that''s because we prefer not to dabble in other''s affairs. The older we get, the stronger we be and the more rooted our personal beliefs. A single interaction leads to another in a domino effect that can only end in two ways.

    "Number one, in the attempt to impose what we perceive as right upon others, we cause them to rally together until they be strong enough to fight and kill us. Number two, we crush the opposition and be tyrants.

    "History is full of stories of Divine Beasts who went out of their way to help a friend and ended up either dead or on a throne. Even worse, once they got a taste of power, they started to expand their dominion until they met another Divine Beast with enough power and strength of character to stand up to them.

    "The conflict only ends with the death of one of them so no matter how you see it, one of us dies for a stupid reason and their entire kin gets branded as cruel monsters."

    "What about Tyris? What about Sark? Heck, what about Thrud and her Generals?" Celbas asked.

    "Tyris never intervened directly. Valeron was defeated more than once and in the end, he died. Sark is a Guardian. She rules because she''s the strongest in her turf and her children only enact her will, not their own.

    "As for the Mad Queen and her Court of runts, they are single individuals with no bloodline to drag in their mess. They all have made their choice and again, it will end with their death." Prasyn replied.

    "If you want to follow in their foolish path I won''t stop you, but I won''t help you either."

    "In the gods'' name, why?" Lith yelled in frustration. "Both of you have offered me your help in the past and I''ve never abused your generosity. Were yours just empty words?"

 Chapter 2256 Phlorias Worth (Part 2)

    "Our words were sincere." Sinmara replied. "We would have dly helped you with your research, your broken life force, anything you want as long as you joined us. Yet you are not asking us to help you, you are asking us to get involved in a war we don''t care about.

    "If we win, we get nothing. If we lose, our families would be dragged into your mess. What do you think would happen if Surtr died? His wife, his children, and everyone who loves him would never let it slide.

    "They would fight Thrud''s immortal troops, more of us would die and for what? To destroy the Golden Griffon and poison thend? Does this make sense to you?"

    "Surtr is a white cored Awakened. He is tough to kill." The moment he said it, Lith sounded dumb even to himself.

    "Indeed, but I can still die." Prasyn replied. "Never forget that Thrud has reached the white core that Ick. She has an academy backing her and the moment her troops reach the bright violet, they are likely to reach the white as well.

    "Sure, the war is likely to be over long before that happens, but that''s still testament of the devotion of her troops and of the faith she has in either them or the ve array. Do you really want to stand against such a person?

    "Do you realize that as long as the Golden Griffon stands the death of the members of our family would be for nothing? Thrud can kill us, her Divine Beasts can kill us, and so can her Fae and Emperor Beasts.

    "That without considering the academy itself or the human Forgotten who can deploy Silverwing''s spells."

    The Griffon took a long pause to let her words sink into Celbas'' mind before asking the final question.

    "Be honest with me, do you really believe that a single woman you barely know is worth the life of a single Divine Beast? Your life?"

    "No." Celbas replied, lowering his gaze after understanding his mother''s point of view.

    Thrud was a powerful enemy, but her goal was dominion over the humans, not the Divine Beasts. As long as she left his kind alone, they wouldn''t bother fighting her because it would cause mutual destruction.

    Thrud attacking them would trigger a violent response that would lead to the destruction of the Golden Griffon and the loss of millions of lives. Divine Beasts were living weapons of mass destruction and were they to go to war, the Griffon Kingdom might disappear.

    "Yes!" Lith replied, holding the golden lily pendant that he had gifted Phloria seven years ago for her birthday and that she had returned him during the Magus ceremony. "Phloria is a wonderful woman who never turned her back on anyone, no matter the circumstances.

    "When amoner and the daughter of a traitor entered her house, she never abused her position. She weed them as her sisters and did everything she could to help them to adjust to their new life.

    "Phloria protected Friya and Quy from those who tried to exploited them, even from her own mother. She epted my hybrid nature even when I failed to do it myself and she never betrayed my trust."

    "She stood by my side during one of the darkest moments of my life, never asking me a single question even though she had every right to. Phloria taught me how to be human and proved to me that even a monster can be loved."

    Lith stared at Surtr, his seven eyes burning with rage and multi-colored mana as he resumed to speak.

    "What you said is right, but the conclusion you draw is short-sighted. Once Thrud wins the war and her Generals be white cores, the situation will escte quickly. She has to be stopped now, before her rule bes eternal."

    "If what you said was true, the Guardians would-"

    "The Guardians have let the worst shit happen for decades before moving their asses!" Lith cut Sinmara short. "They don''t perceive time nor do they live like us. Maybe for them spending a few centuries in a war is a great lesson for the four races.

    "Maybe they want to put the wisdom and foresight of the Divine Beasts to the test. I don''t know and I don''t care! I''m not going to waste what''s left on my life on the battlefield hoping for some god to fix this mess.

    "Whether I''m right or wrong about this, I''m going to fight. All the wisdom on Mogar is worth nothing unless you get off your high horse and use your knowledge to change things yourself."

    Lith Warped away without waiting for a reply, activating hismunication amulet instead. He joined the search for the Golden Griffon and conjured the Call of the Void to spread his Demons throughout the sector assigned to him.

    His only hope was to find the lost academy before all was lost.

    ***

    Hessar Region, Golden Griffon academy, a few hourster.

    Phloria was crouched on all fours while panting, her body ck and blue. Her nightgown was reduced to shreds, her hair was caked in dry blood like most of her skin, and her eyes were so swollen that she could barely see.

    She was tired, beaten, and battered yet she refused to submit.

    "You are pathetically weak, but that can be fixed. On the contrary, a warrior with a spirit like yours is one in a million." Thrud pped her hands, creating an echo in the empty Throne Room.

    As the fight went on, people had lost interest and returned to their stations. The Mad Queen had remained alone with Phloria on purpose, to give her the illusion that she had to deal with a single enemy while looking for a way out.

    "Fuck you." Phloria panted as she used her breathing technique to recover.

    She knew that time was running out. The more of Thrud''s hits reached her, the more knowledge she imparted Phloria. Military strategy, the disposition of her troops, and even the trajectory of the attacks Thrud was about to unleash upon her.

    Phloria had only two choices. She could either use that knowledge to avoid further hits or ignore it and learn even more things that would shorten her stay in the Golden Griffon in the case she was turned.

    The Mad Queen wasn''t wasting time teaching herplex magic or techniques. Only things that for a trained soldier and an Awakened were second nature to assimte.

    "Cursing is a sign of weakness, instead, but I allow it." Thrud nodded like a Queen toward a loyal subject. "It''s easy being cocky when you are in a superior position. Not so much when you are weak and trapped. Then it takes guts and pride.

    "That or sheer stupidity. We''ll see what you are really made of once the Unwavering Loyalty arrays kicks in. Then, the mask will fall off and you''ll show me your true nature."

    Phloria roared her fury, unleashing a barrage of fists that Thrud easily dodged and blocked. Yet that was exactly the n. Phloria was finally close to a wall while at the top of her game.

 Chapter 2257 Secrets (Part 1)

    Phloria released a dozen of tier five Spirit Spells at the same time, keeping a Spirit Warp at the ready for the moment she grasped the dimensional coordinates of the farthest ce she would see.

    The Golden Griffon was sturdy but not enough to hold against a bright blue core pouring every bit of her mana against a small section of a single stone block. A small hole opened in the wall, big enough to see outside.

    Big enough to see just another grey wall.

    "Brilliant move, but predictable." Thrud pped her hands again. "There''s another room around this one. And then another. And one more after that."

    Phloria''s knees buckled in exhaustion and desperation, but itsted only for one moment. With her next breath, she was already standing and her mana core recovering.

    "My Queen." Hystar appeared right beside her, his mangled figure had yet to heal from the injuries left by his fight with Solus. "The time hase."

    "Excellent. General Ernas!" Thrud said and Phloria found herself standing on attention.

    "At your orders, my Queen." Her body moved against her will and gave Thrud the salute. Her mind registered her rebellious thoughts just to ignore them.

    "You know what to do."

    "Yes, my Liege." Phloria kneeled to the Mad Queen while putting into practice the technique for the violet core that she had been forced to learn during her captivity.

    Her body was surrounded by deep violet light as instinct and willpower triggered her final act of free will.

    Phloria''s hand reached for her golden lily pendant in search of the sce of its familiar weight, yet it found nothing. It was only then that Phloria allowed herself to cry.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, city of Valeron, Throne room, a few hourster.

    "It''s over." Orion fell to his knees as his determination turned into desperation. "My daughter has now be a ve to the Mad Queen."

    The Davross of the Royal Fortress armor emitted a silvery sound as it nged against the gold-veined white marble of the floor.

    Jirni walked to his side and ced her hand on his shoulder. Her face was the usual calm expression, yet when she opened her mouth to say something to console her husband, nothing came out.

    Every lie she could think of, every good word and n she devised were crushed by the feeling of helplessness that was ravaging her mind and heart. Jirni knew that fear couldn''t do her any good, but the idea of not seeing her daughter ever again filled her with dread anyway.

    "Not yet." Lith''s face was a stone mask of determination. "Even though Phloria has most certainly fallen prey to the Unwavering Loyalty array, there''s still time."

    "What do you mean?" King Meron asked, puzzled by those words.

    Orion looked at Lith with a mix of hope and fear. Hope that Lith could really pull another of his miracles and fear that, whatever his n was, it would be another failure.

    "I spent thesest few hours thinking what I''d do in Thrud shoes." Lith replied. "First, I''d force Phloria to gain the violet core. Then, I''d let her get ustomed to her new condition and teach her about my techniques.

    "Yet only after learning from her everything she knows and testing how her de Spell works would I send her back to the battlefield. To be turned into the perfect weapon, Phloria needs to know everything about Thrud''s army and Thrud needs to know everything about Phloria.

    "Even with mind links, it will take days."

    "It makes sense." Sylpha nodded. "Yet if we failed to find the Golden Griffon until now, what makes you think this will be any different, Magus Verhen?"

    "It''s different because Phloria knows my secrets and so now does Thrud." Lith replied. "Things that I nned to use for my own benefit and the Kingdom''s, but without neither sharing nor revealing them.

    "There''s no point in hiding them anymore. I won''t share them but I''m now free to unleash them all and lure Thrud out of hiding."

    "Would this really be enough to save my daughter?" It took Jirni but a spark of light to see countless paths open in front of her eyes. Her mind was already spinning at top gear, devising ns and contingency ns for contingency ns.

    "I don''t know." Lith shrugged, unwilling to make promises he wasn''t certain he could uphold. "What I know is that I''m going to hit Thrud so hard that she is going to take personal action and bring the Golden Griffon with her.

    "Yet I can''t do this alone."

    "Name anything you need and I''ll give it to you." Orion stood up, willing to bet everything he had on the only person who had never let his family down.

    "Thanks for the offer, Orion, but I meant the Royals and the Awakened Council." Lith replied.

    "What do you require from us?" Meron and Raagu asked.

    "I need to have absolute control over the army." Lith said.

    "You want to be the General of the Army and lead the troops?" They furrowed their brows, without even bothering to hide how stupid they considered the idea.

    "No. I''m no leader and that''s not going to change by miracle anytime soon." He shook his head. "What I meant is that since in order to protect my secrets I can''t exin how my abilities work, I need people to do what I say the moment I say it, no questions asked.

    "If I say run, they must run. If I say attack, they must attack. No matter how weird the order might sound."

    "It can be done." Raagu nodded first and the Queen quickly followed suit.

    They both had many questions about the new batch of Lith''s secrets, but they were in no rush. If he was going to show them, they were likely to understand how they worked simply by observation.

    Were that to fail, best case scenario they might always learn them from Thrud''s generals after the Golden Griffon was destroyed and the Mad Queen killed. Worst case scenario, Thrud won and killed them all.

    At that point, learning Lith''s secrets would have been utterly pointless.

    ***

    Hessar Region, Golden Griffon academy, at the same time.

    After achieving the violet core, Phloria had fainted from exhaustion. Between the injuries she had sustained and the burden that a breakthrough inflicted upon an Awakened, she needed time to recover.

    Thrud had brought her into the Headmaster''s office so that the Unwavering Loyalty arrays worked at full capacity while the energy from the mana geyser focused on Phloria, speeding up her recovery.

    On top of that, the Mad Queen wanted to interrogate Phloria alone with Hystar.

    She trusted her Generals with her life, but she was afraid that were she to learn something about Lith that would make him easy to kill, the Divine Beasts would ignore her orders and try to avenge Jormun.

    ''No one wants Verhen dead more than I do, but not until the time is right.'' Thrud thought. ''Whatever his secrets are, if they are spilled before the war ends, he will be in danger.

    ''If anything happens to Verhen and I lose the war, my baby will be alone in a world of people who hate him.''

 Chapter 2258 Secrets (Part 2)

    ''What those blockheads fail to understand is that I''m not leaving Verhenst out of mercy but as a precaution. He''s my contingency n and the only way I have to fulfill Jormun''s dying wish.'' Just thinking that name brought tears to her eyes.

    "Do you feel well enough to talk?" Thrud asked and Phloria nodded. "Then tell me everything I should know in order to win the War of the Griffons. Start from the most important secrets you know."

    "As youmand, my Queen." Phloria fell onto her right knee, appreciating the soft fabric of her new uniform that fit her like a glove. "Back when Magus Verhen was four years old, he found a stone in the Trawn woods-"

    "That''s what you consider a secret worthy of winning a war?" Thrud cut her short in disbelief, finding the anecdote as boring as it was stupid. "Hystar, is the array working properly?"

    ? "Yes, my Liege. Everything is in order." The Headmaster scratched his head in embarrassment while Phloria inwardly screamed and struggled with all of her strength.

    "If you let me continue, you''ll soon understand I''m right, Your Highness." Yet her body ignored her, the ve spell overriding her body and feelings.

    Her lips curled up in a smile, happy at the idea of being useful to the person she loved the most and for whom she wouldn''t hesitate to sacrifice her life. No matter what Phloria wanted, her body and mind considered Thrud their everything.

    Every feeling of love, loyalty, friendship, and admiration she had ever had was now focused solely on the Mad Queen. To Phloria, Thrud was her parents, her lover, her best friend, and her mentor.

    There was nothing she wouldn''t do to make Thrud happy.

    "Then continue."

    Phloria nodded and resumed her story, skipping to the part where the stone turned out to be Solus and then to the part where Solus turned out to be both Menadion''s tower and her daughter.

    At that point. Thrud stopped Phloria, remaining in a daze for a few minutes until she digested the full implications of such news. The Mad Queen ordered Phloria to start over from the beginning without leaving out anything, no matter how irrelevant it might seem.

    Hours and several sses of waterter, Phloria''s throat was parched and raspy from all that talking. Thrud now knew as much as Phloria about Lith and her happiness was Phloria''s happiness.

    "That exins who that girl was and why I''ve never heard about the fourth Horseman." Hystar was bbergasted by the revtions about Solus.

    "Screw Moonlight. That crap is good for my Generals, but for my son, I want something on par with Menadion''s tower." Thrud said. "The Eyes, the Mouth, and the Hands will make him invincible once he reaches the white core, let alone if we get our hands on the Ears as well."

    "Don''t forget about the Mines and the Crucible." The Headmaster said. "With them, you''ll never againck resources and your army would always be properly equipped."

    "Indeed, but let''s not count our chickens before they hatch." Thrud nodded. "I don''t want anyone to learn about any of this outside the three of us. Valeron''s safetyes first.

    "On top of that, greed makes people unpredictable. I don''t want to risk one of my Generals taking a shot at the tower the moment I release them from the Unwavering Loyalty. Our bond of truste f-"

    Only then did Thrud notice that even though Phloria''s face and mouth were smiling, her eyes were crying. People under the effects of a ve spell could still shed a tear or twitch an involuntary muscle if they had a will strong enough.

    Such a reaction was unheard of.

    "Again? Is the Unwavering Loyalty array malfunctioning or what?" Thrud asked.

    "Again, everything is in order, my Liege." Hystar stared at Phloria in annoyance but his orders kept him from disciplining her for making him lose face in front of Arthan''s heir.

    "Why are you crying?" Thrud turned to her newest General, hoping to learn another juicy secret.

    "I don''t know, my Queen." Phloria wiped off the tears just for new ones toe out. "I''ve never been happier in my life. Serving you fills me with joy yet after telling everything Magus Verhen confided to me, I also feel as if someone is ripping my heart from my chest."

    "Do you love him?" Thrud knew the feeling all too well and knew the pain it brought.

    "Yes." The Unwavering Loyalty arrayspelled Phloria to tell the truth, no matter how deep she buried it or how long she had ignored it.

    No one was most shocked than her when she heard those wordsing out of her mouth. She had always assumed to have moved on with her life and to have burned that bridge.

    "After all this time since your break up? Even though he''s now married to another woman who carries his child?" The Mad Queen could almost feel Phloria''s pain resonating with her own, bringing her to tears as well.

    "Yes." Even though the ve array forced Phloria to experience only bliss while obeying her master, Phloria''s voice cracked up. "I don''t regret breaking up with him, though. What I really regret is not having the courage to step up again once he was single again.

    "I was so scared at the idea of what might have happened were things going to go bad while I was his disciple that I wasted every opportunity I had. Now it''s toote and there''s no more space for me in his life."

    "Shush, child. It''s never toote." Thrud hugged Phloria who started to sob uncontrobly. "You have my word that once I win this war, I''ll make sure that you two will be together forever."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, Lith''s tower.

    Lith had spent the rest of the day informing his wife and family of his decision and the rest of the time fine-tuning his equipment. Everything he had, had been crafted with Phloria''s help and he was afraid that they would also be thest things he would have left of her.

    Friya and Quy were both worried sick, but only Friya could take part in the search and rescue mission. As the Royal Healer and aspiring god of healing, Quy couldn''t leave the Royal pce without a good reason.

    Meron''s health was still shaky and it was her duty to make sure that his condition remained stable.

    That hadn''t stopped her from calling Lith as soon as she heard the news and beg him to do everything he could to bring Phloria back alive.

    "Are you sure this is the best course of action?" Kam asked once the only thing left to do was sleep for eight hours straight and reset Invigoration''s effects.

    "I''m sure." Lith turned his head to look at her. "This will kick the mother of all hos'' nests. A lot of people will be angry, while as many will be curious. All of them will be terrified and I need you to be ready for the worse."

    She wasying on her left side, her hand under her head. Lith could see her eyes full of love and worry moving non-stop from him to the golden lily pendant on his bedstand.

 Chapter 2259 Black Star Of The Desert (Part 1)

    To Lith, the lily pendant was a memento of his oath to Phloria and of his determination to save her.

    To Kam, instead, it was a memento of his past rtionship and of all the risks that saving Phloria implied.

    "I have three Guardians watching over my womb. I''m thest person on Mogar you should worry about." She said with a thin smile. "I meant that if you execute your n, people will start asking questions. At first to themselves and then to you."

    "What choice do I have?" Lith shrugged. "Thrud already knows everything. If she wanted to ruin my life, she would have already told the whole Mogar about Solus and Menadion''s tower.

    "She''s going to instruct her army ording to the information she has and if I keep ying dumb, they''ll kill me in a jiffy. Holding anything back is pointless. I might as well go all-out and do everything I can to make sure that Thrud dies bringing my secrets with her.

    "This is not only about saving Phloria, but also you, me, and the rest of my family."

    "What about that, then?" Kam pointed at the pendant.

    "I''ve spoken with Quy and Jirni about the effects of ve items. The victim can''t break free from the spell, but they can fight it. My hope is that there''s still enough of Phloria to react to the lily and make her hesitate.

    "I need but one second to knock her unconscious and with a bit of luck, the pendant will do the trick." Lith replied. "I''ve lost so many people already. Carl, Yurial, Trequill, Mirim, and Manohar.

    "I don''t want to lose Phloria. I don''t want to lose anyone anymore. Never again. That''s what I promised myself."

    "Never again." Kam nodded, giving him a short kiss. "I believe in you."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Nestrar Region, outside the city of Zeska, the day after.

    The entire region had fallen into Thrud''s hands right after the death of Krishna Manohar, the Mad Professor, yet the city of Zeska held a special significance to Lith.

    It was the ce where his friend and colleague had died. Taking it back meant not only weakening Thrud''s hold, but also avenging Manohar and honoring his memory.

    "I finally get to meet you again, kid." Crank the Hyperion was in his honey badger form, trotting toward Lith the moment he had recognized his smell. "Your damn trips to the Desert make you hard to find and no one wanted to give me your rune or address.

    "Don''t think that I''ve forgotten your promise. You still have to teach me how to conjure holograms with Light Mastery."

    Crank was expecting a snarky remark or to be just sent off.

    He was aware of how the kidnapping of Archmage Ernas personally affected Lith. Also, thanks to the authority bestowed upon him by the Council and the Royals, the Tiamat could have ordered Crank to go fuck himself and he would have been forced to obey.

    ''I don''t know when we''ll meet again and I must remind him of what he owes me. I did my job and deserve my pay.'' Hyperions were stubborn and daring creatures, traits inherited from their primordial ancestor.

    "Fine." Much to Crank''s surprise, Lith stopped and took hismunicator amulet out, offering to exchange his rune. "I don''t have the time now, but we can set an appointment for ater date."

    "Sure, mister¡­" The Hyperion didn''t waste time looking the gifted horse in the mouth and took out his own amulet.

    "Do you really not remember my name? It''s Lith Verhen."

    ''The pot calling the kettle ck.'' Solus said with a sneer after reminding him who Crank was and when they had met him.

    "Kid, I mean, Lith, I meet hundreds of people on every battlefield. Remembering them all is impossible." Crank wrote down the name on an IOU note that he stored in his dimensional item along with themunicator.

    "Fair enough. If you are interested, I have another offer for you." Lith nodded.

    "State the request and the reward. In that order." This way the Hyperion could assess the threat level before being blinded by greed from a great yet not-worth-the-risk prize.

    "If you ever meet Phloria Ernas on the battlefield and you capture her alive, bring her to me. If you seed, I''ll make you a weapon suitable for you to learn de Magic." Lith replied.

    "What?" Crank burst out in surprise drawing the attention of every Awakened present.

    "You heard me. Bring me my friend and I''ll make sure you can learn de Magic. This offer is extended to everyone. Firste, first served." Lith''s voice resounded through the camp thanks to air magic.

    "Can you really do it? de Tier weapons are the stuff of Rulers of the mes." Crank squinted his eyes and crossed his small forearms in disbelief.

    "I can''t do it quickly nor can I guarantee a weapon that will 100% support your mana flow, but yes. I can craft you a suitable training tool."

    "What do you mean, training tool?" Qunkor the Wyvern, one of the Council elders asked.

    "Do you really expect me to give you an Emperor Beast-sized or bigger weapon for free? To consume my ingredients and crystals?" Lith replied.

    "What I''m offering is a human-sized weapon that can be used as a temte to both learn de Tier spells and choose what kind of enchantments you want.

    "Then, it''s up to you to find a Forgemaster and provide them with the necessary ingredients to craft the real deal. Take it or leave it."

    "I''ll take it." Crank and Qunkor said in unison, quickly followed by others as those same words spread like wildfire.

    Forging a powerful weapon was something any Forgemaster worthy of their name could do. Finding a pattern for the power core and the mana circtory system suitable to learn de Magic was a needle in a forest fire.

    Lith kept walking toward the tent where themanding officers of the Council and the army had set up the headquarters. The battle for Zeska couldn''t start without his authorization and he had a few instructions to impart.

    The Generals and the Council elders didn''t like the idea of taking orders from a youth not even twenty years old. To humans, Lith was a young man but to Awakened, he was a toddler.

    Yet both of them had their orders and were curious to see what cards the Supreme Magus kept hidden in his sleeves.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I''ll go straight to the point." Lith said after giving them a brief salute. "I know little about the art of war and even less of how to conduct a siege.

    "I''m just going to tell you what to do and trust you to determine the best course of action. Is that clear?" Lith asked and the officials nodded for him to continue.

    "My n consists of three phases. The first phase requires you to go all out from the very beginning. No holds barred." Many brows furrowed but no one rose objections. "The second phase will start on my mark.

    "The moment I give you the signal, shift all of your troops to a defensive position."

 Chapter 2260 Black Star Of The Desert (Part 2)

    "I need you to make sure that nothinges out of Zeska to disturb me." Lith said.

    "With all due respect, Supreme Magus Verhen, as you so kindly pointed out earlier, this is a siege. Why should the enemiese out of the protection of their enchanted walls and arrays?" Brigadier General Vorgh asked.

    "I''m sorry, but I don''t owe you any exnation." Lith shook his head, ignoring the Master Warden''s request. "I can''t risk an information leak ruining everything. You''ll have to trust me and follow your orders."

    "Fair enough. Please, continue." Vorgh sighed, hoping that the worry for his ex and the underserved power hadn''t clouded Lith''s mind.

    "At the end of the second phase, I''ll give you another signal. It will mark the beginning of the third and final step of my n. Switch to the offensive again and take the city." Lith said.

    "That''s it?" Elder Sylvana of the Fae asked in disbelief.

    "Yes, you know the drill. Aim for the Warp Gate, the arrays'' control center, whatever you think works best." Lith nodded. "I n on conquering at least two more cities before noon so let''s make this quick."

    Sylvana was about to scoff and question his sanity when a firm clenched her shoulder. Lotho the Treant was there as well and the nt representative was eager to see what kind of fire burned under all that smoke.

    The troops followed their orders the moment they received them, surrounding Zeska andmencing the attack. Much to everyone''s surprise, Lith wasn''t ying his role as the Spear like usual.

    He wasn''t even on the battlefield.

    After turning into his Tiamat form, Lith had moved back several hundred meters from the city, atop a small hill.

    The army officials issuedints through the chain ofmand just to be reprimanded and admonished.

    "If Verhen tells you to jump into a fire, you do it. No matter your rank, every one of you is a soldier. If you don''t like taking orders, you''ve picked the wrong job. Now go back to fight or I''lle personally there to execute you for treason!" Orion yelled so much that he almost burst their eardrums.

    If Lith acted like a crazy man, Orion sounded like a raving lunatic. s, one was the Supreme Magus and the other the General of the Army. Comining about one of them was dangerous butining about both was suicidal.

    The Generals swallowed their doubts and kept following their orders.

    From the hill, Lith''s seven eyes studied the magical formations of Zeska thanks to the Eyes of Menadion. He took his time to find the focus points of the various arrays and where their runes ovepped, creating structural instabilities.

    The all-out attack put great strain on the magical formations, highlighting to the Eyes where the energy from the underground mana geyser that fueled them got clogged under stress.

    Once Lith was done with the Eyes, he put them away and conjured the Hands of Menadion. The silvery gloves fused with his Voidwalker armor as Double Edge reshaped itself, bing a replica of the smaller War.

    The angry de weaved mystical runes through the air on its passage while the Hands drew in every free iota of world energy from the nearby geyser to fuel the de Spell.

    It was hard to see from such a distance, but on top of the Tiamat''s head stood a petite golden-d figure. Solus wielded her Fury, mimicking Lith''s every movement. She had a hard-light construct shaped like War epassing her hammer so that she could wield it like a sword.

    The Sage Staff rested on her back, enhancing their focus and drawing even more of the world energy thanks to thebination of elemental crystals and Evil Eyes.

    A de Tier Spell allowed the mage to add the energy from the power cores of his equipment to that of his mana core, generating a destructive force far greater than the sum of the single parts.

    Lith and Solus, however, were different.

    They had the same energy signature and one mind focused on rescuing their friend.

    Together, they had synchronized their respective armor, weapons, rings, and the tower core to generate a version of Ruin that made use of everything they both had. Despite the distance from the battlefield, the result was breathtaking.

    Once Ruin reached half of itspletion, a red and ck light started to exude from the Tiamat''s body. By the time it was visible from Zeska, jolts of elemental energy and mana had enveloped both Lith and War.

    Both sides of the battlefield stopped for a moment feeling the power of the de Spell crawling along their spines and making their body hair stand. Everyone knew Lith''s nickname as the ck Star of the Desert, but until that moment no one had understood the reason those who had witnessed Ruin called him like that.

    "What the fuck are you waiting for?" Xondar the Garuda yelled as he used Life Maelstrom to empower himself, his equipment, and his personal troops. "Stop him at all costs!"

    Yet it was toote.

    "Now!" Lith yelled and the Kingdom armies retreated, switching to a defensive stance and getting out of the de Spell''s area of effect.

    Lith swung his de in a lunge, releasing a pir of ck and red mana bigger than himself. Ruin generated a focused st of energy and countless smaller des that crashed against Zeska''s defensive barriers at the same time.

    The pir put the barrier under great strain and caused the world energy to clog the focus points of the arrays. The energy des struck at them non-stop, bringing the energy masses to their breaking point.

    Cracks appeared all over the spherical barrier that protected the city, spreading faster and bing wider by the second.

    "Fuck!" Xondar yelled as the very same tactics that until a second back had kept the enemy out now kept him in. "Turn off the arrays! Any more and they will crumble. Luckily, the de Spell is aimed high. It will safely pass right over the-"

    The Forgotten stationed in the City Hall had just executed his order when the Garuda realized that it was too convenient to be a coincidence.

    "Phase three!" A wave of Lith''s hand had Trouble and Raptor Warp right in the middle of Zeska, where they started to summon an army of Demons of the Darkness behind the enemy lines.

    While Solus focused the Hands and the Staff to recover their strength, Lith channeled his power into the Demons. Soon, the weakest of them had four eyes and counting.

    Thrud''s forces stationed in Zeska found themselves the victim of a pincer attack and their formations started to crumble.

    Between their elemental crystals and Adamant bodies, Lith''s golems had the prowess of a bright violet-cored Awakened Emperor Beast. The magical metal boosted both their weight and destructive power, but that wasn''t the worst part.

    Like the Demons, they felt no pain and they wouldn''t grow tired. Unlike undead, sunlight didn''t bother them, it just made them stronger. As long as Lith kept fueling them, they wouldn''t stopying waste on everything in their path.

    ''I must stop Verhen before he casts a second de Spell.'' Xondar abandoned his position, knowing that any other move would have just dyed the inevitable.

 Chapter 2261 Natural Enemy (Part 1)

    ''If I take Verhen down, the Demons will fade and the Golems will stop. It alles down to him and me again, but this time no Guardian will interrupt us.''

    The Garuda used the speed from his wings and the Life Maelstrom to move too fast for the Awakened forces to stop him amid the chaos of battle.

    Xondar was confident in taking down the Tiamat because Garudas were considered the closest thing to a Dragon''s natural enemy.

    They were capable of flight, had four prehensile limbs, were physically stronger, and were talented in close-quarterbat. Dragon Eyes could do nothing against raw physical might and Life Maelstrom made the gap even wider.

    When a Dragon and a Garuda met, it was all about distances. If the Dragon managed to keep the Garuda away, they could win. If the Garuda came close, the battle would be over in seconds.

    Despite his unusual appearance and odd bloodline powers, the Tiamat was still considered a Dragon by the Awakenedmunity.

    Lith was too busy weaving the second Ruin to cast other spells so Xondar''s arrival caught him unprepared. One second the Garuda had been behind Bima''s walls and the next he was in front of Lith.

    Xondar lunged his spear at the Tiamat''s head, forcing him to dispel Ruin and block. The charge was too quick and strong for Lith to stop it but he still managed to thrust forward with War.

    The de slid along the haft of the spear, pushing it aside and dispersing the force of the blow.

    The Garuda sighed in relief as his n seeded.

    With no time to waste, he had opted for a simple attack, easy to predict but strong enough to kill. Xondar couldn''t risk performing aplex maneuver and give Lith the time toplete the de Tier spell.

    ''I''m in the air and he''s on the ground. I have Life Maelstrom and he''s weakened. This is already over.'' The Garuda thought until something strange happened.

    He was about to push War''s tip away to disrupt Lith''s guard when something came out of it. Life Vision didn''t show him any dimensional opening, yet a golden figure was popping into existence right in front of his face.

    Solus had traveled through War which Lith''s lounge had brought meters away from her target. She held a Fury in each hand, hammering with both in the face of the still-bbergasted Garuda.

    ''What''s the point? She''s so sm-'' Despite her size, Solus had the mass of a Divine Beast, and her Furies'' heads were made of purified Davross.

    Xondar felt as if a mountain had dropped on his head while the blow threw him off bnce. With no more obstacles in its path, War severed the Garuda''s neck in one swing.

    Solus squashed the head with her hammers while Lith pierced through the Garuda''s heart until War''s hilt struck the armor. Xondar''s body disappeared, recalled by the Golden Griffon before it turned into a corpse and the mana core cracked.

    "That was amazing!" From her Throne Room, Thrud gave the Tiamat a standing ovation. "Verhen killed a violet-cored Divine Beast in seconds. How was that possible?"

    "That''s Solus, my Liege." Phloria exined. "No matter where he goes or how bad a situation is. Lith is never alone. They are one in mind, body, and core. You can''t face one without the other."

    Despite the ve spell, Phloria was cheering for him as well. Thrud could see her new servant smile with a mix of pride, joy, and sadness.

    "Really? What does his wife think about her?"

    "Thest time we talked, Kam told me that she''s happy to have Solus in her life." Phloria''s face darkened as her enved persona med Solus for all the bumps in her rtionship with Lith.

    "Kam says that knowing that Solus is always watching Lith''s back puts her heart at rest."

    "Damn right she is." Thrud clenched her hands in anger. "I wish that Jormun had his own Solus. This way, he would still be alive."

    The Mad Queen took notes of every ability that Lith used and Phloria exined, passing them to her Generals in a way that would keep the secret of the tower hidden. Luckily for her, everyone already knew that Lith was some kind of Horseman.

    The fight between Solus and Hystar was yesterday''s news. Everyone thought that Lith was like Ac, no more and no less.

    Meanwhile, in Zeska, the Kingdom''s army had taken the city by storm.

    After the fall of the arrays, reaching and taking control of the Warp Gate had been child''s y. Everything had happened so fast that the defending army had failed to grasp the situation and react in time.

    Truth be told, even though the attackers knew Lith''s n, they had been taken aback as well. If not for Orion yelling until the Generals had snapped out of their stupor and the Golems leading the battle, things wouldn''t have gone so smoothly.

    "Good gods, what was that?" Lotho the Treant asked Lith as soon as he came to retrieve Raptor and Trouble.

    "Is that a trick question? Anyway, I don''t have time to waste. Just tell me if the troops have reached the city of Phogia as nned. There''s no point for me taking down the defense system if there''s no one to take control of the city."

    "Slow down, kid." Lotho said. "I can''t cast de Spells, but I know how they work. They take a huge toll on both mana and power cores. You need time to rest."

    "No, I don''t." Lith shook his head. "I used Invigoration only once to charge my Golems so I''m still full of energy."

    As he spoke, Trouble and Raptor dispelled the Demons and entered standby mode. By standing next to Lith, they would slowly recharge thanks to the runes and the elemental crystals absorbing the world energy from the geyser below Zeska.

    "How is that possible?" Crank was back in his honey badger form, scratching his head and butt in confusion.

    "I may have not Forgemastered War, but these two babies are all me." Lith showed them the Sage Staff and Double Edge.

    The former was drawing in the world energy, greatly enhancing his recovery speed. Thetter worked in unison with War, sharing its burden and fueling its pseudo cores.

    "Now it makes sense." Lotho''s eyes shone with envy at the sight of the artifacts. "They have changed again since thest time I saw them. It must be one of the benefits you enjoy from Sark''s friendship."

    ording to the rumors going around in the Awakenedmunity, War was the gift of Faluel, Sark, or both. The other two artifacts weren''t as good but they confirmed Lith''s ims about his ability to craft tools for studying de Magic.

    "Indeed." Lith nodded, d to use the Guardian to cover for the existence of his tower. "Her Creation Magic made my Forgemastery progress by leaps and bounds while my siblings helped in my crafts."

    "Feel free to go to Phogia. They are waiting for you beforepleting the encirclement." Lotho sent Lith away before taking out hismunication amulet.

    He pressed the runes of all of his disciples at the same time in order to not have to repeat himself.

 Chapter 2262 Natural Enemy (Part 2)

    "Change of ns. I want you in the field, but your priority is finding and capturing Phloria Ernas. Whoever seeds and brings her to me will be my heir. Hand her to Verhen yourself and I''ll have your head. Lotho out."

    The nt representative couldn''t miss the opportunity to be the first among his peers to learn de Magic. It would strengthen his faction and give him the edge that nt folk needed toe out of the beasts'' shadow.

    ***

    Golden Griffon, at the same time.

    Thrud was studying the map around Phogia, trying to predict Lith''s strategy and foil his n.

    The city hadn''t been built over a nearby geyser because the closest one was located on the cliff of a deep canyon and too distant from solid ground to be essible from the trading routes.

    "You are the one who knows Verhen the best. What do you think he will do?" Thrud asked.

    "He only possesses a basic understanding of military tactics. Between the two of them, Solus is the smart one but she never cared to study strategy. She''s a magic enthusiast who knows very little about anything outside of her Forge." Phloria pondered.

    "Taking that into ount along with Lith''s paranoia and the fact he knows I''m your prisoner, he''s just going to repeat the previous strategy. The geyser will fuel the tower which in turn will fuel his de Spell.

    "This way, he gets to keep ying the rest of his cards close to the vest and to test how you react to his disy of force. He knows that you know so he can y around that."

    "It''s damn convoluted but makes sense." Thrud scratched her chin.

    "That''s Lith in a nutshell." Phloria replied with a smile. "My advice is to have your Generals ambush him near the geyser. de Tier spells are slow and if you mess with that, there''s not much that Lith can do from such a distance."

    "My thoughts exactly." The Mad Queen nodded, appreciating Phloria''s input and the Unwavering Loyalty array''s prowess.

    Phloria''s face twitched and her eyes cried, yet she kept helping Thrud to the best of her abilities.

    ***

    Outskirts of the city of Phogia, a few minutester.

    Just like Phloria had predicted, Lithnded right on top of the mana geyser.

    He had nned his attack path so to exploit the natural sources of world energy. They allowed him to recover his strength quickly and use strategies that only someone who possessed a tower could employ.

    ''What a damn freak of nature.'' He inwardly cursed as the ground slipped under the back of his feet.

    Half of the mana geyser was almost one hundred meters (328'') below, in the middle of the gorge while the other half flowed through the ridge right under Lith.

    It was the reason even Wardens had given up on building Phogia there. They would have needed to move thousands of tons of rocks to fill the canyon and then perform a miracle of magic to keep everything stable.

    ''Yeah, but look at the bright side. If this wasn''t so bad, we wouldn''t have the geyser all for ourselves.'' Solus replied.

    ''Look at the dark side. We can''t materialize the tower here nor use it for a Tower Warp.'' Lith replied. ''As it is, we can still gain full control over the flow of world energy thanks to your tower half, but the moment we take a step away, we lose the geyser.''

    ''True.'' Solus sighed. ''We need to make it do. No, we must make it do. Phloria is the first true friend we made at the academy and we are not going to give up on her. Even if we have to go knocking on the gates of the Golden Griffon to get her back.''

    ''Knock? You mean st away.'' Lith said.

    It was one of those rare times when they agreed down to a t. Solus was too angry to care about coteral damage otherwise she wouldn''t have agreed to such ns.

    The Hands of Menadion fused with the gloves of Lith''s armor, absorbing matter for the ground to grow up and fit the full size of the Tiamat form. In his right hand, Lith held Double Edge which had turned into a perfect replica of War after merging with the angry de.

    In his left, he held the Sage Staff,bining its power with the Hands to draw in and manipte even the world energy that exceeded the tower''s capacity.

    Xo the Fenrir and Ufyl the Seven Headed Dragon were staring at him from a distance. They were both in their human form and equipped with several cloaking devices in order to escape physical and mystical detection.

    The Fenrir had the role to use Doom Tide to mess up with Lith''s control over the world energy at the critical moment. Ufyl, instead, had been tasked to use his seven pairs of Dragon Eyes to study the Tiamat''s technique and equipment.

    Thrud had ordered them to wait until he was focused on casting the de Tier spell before attacking him. This way, she would have the opportunity to better understand Solus'' role and maybe even learn from Lith the secret of de Magic.

    That or at least how to craft suitable teaching props for it. The news of Lith''s promise had spread throughout the Council and beyond, reaching even the Mad Queen''s ears.

    "So far so good." Thrud used a mind link to spectate at the events via the eyes of her Generals. "Verhen has reached the geyser and is wielding his de as you predicted. The question is: where is Solus and why has he yet to start casting?"

    "I don''t know." Phloria shrugged.

    ? This time there was no trace of the golden knight on his head and Lith had remained still since his arrival. To make matters even more baffling, the invading army seemed to have no intention of following the previous n.

    The allied forces of the Kingdom and the Council were keeping their distance from Phogia, standing right outside the range of tier five spells.

    "The first phase of the n requires a full-scale attack. Why are they standing there and doing nothing?" Thrud looked at Phloria who shrugged again.

    "This isn''t part of any military strategy I''m aware of- Wait, what is that? My Queen, look!" She was pointing at severalyers of arrays that enveloped the allied forces.

    They wereprised of energy barriers and all six elemental sealing arrays.

    ''Phase one isplete.'' Solus said after receiving the message from the army. ''Phase two is a go.''

    Lith spread his four wings wide as if he was about to take flight and took a deep breath. Then, another, and then one more as the sunlight became dimmer. ckness spread from both sets of wings, forming what looked like the wall of a dome.

    "Call of the Void?" Thrud asked.

    "No, it wouldn''t make sense." Phloria shook her head. "He''s too far from Phogia for that to work and your Generals wouldn''t be able to see if that was the case. Call of the Void has Lith as its center and expands outward."

    The ckness kept growing until it filled the space behind Lith for hundreds of meters yet it never advanced.

 Chapter 2263 Burn It Down (Part 1)

    Only when the mass of shadows started to split, growing arms, legs, heads, and wings did Thrud understand what was happening.

    "How many Demons of the Darkness has he conjured?"

    "256, now 512 and counting." Ufyl replied as his Dragon Eyes allowed him to quickly estimate the enemy numbers as the ckness spread. "One thousand, two thousand, the fuckers grow geometrically in number! If it keeps like this, they-

    "Never mind. Thank the gods it stopped at three thousand."

    "What the fuck are you sighing in relief for?" Xo said. "That''s still 3,000 soldiers for free and it gets worse. Look!"

    Even with the help of his Golems and the geyser, there were only so many souls that Lith could conjure at the same time. Yet he didn''t n to start attacking until quality matched quantity.

    What the Fenrir was staring at in horror was the number of eyes of the Demons going from one to six in the span of a few seconds.

    In the blink of an eye, the sky in front of Phogia had be filled with 3,000 immortal creatures, each one with the power of the violet core and the bloodline abilities of a Tiamat.

    "Phase three is a go!" Lith''s voice sounded like the wind howling out from an abyss that somehow had learned how to speak, yet it was clear as it resounded throughout the air and reached the allied army.

    "What the heck is he doing?" Thrud mmed on the armrest of her throne, shattering it in frustration.

    "I don''t know!" Phloria had no advice to offer, feeling as baffled as her liege.

    "If we don''t step in now, there will be no way to stop Verhenter." Xo said via themunication amulet.

    "And what exactly can you do against a whole army of Demons who can use Spirit Magic and have a mana core as strong as yours?" The Mad Queen said with a snort. "Wait for an opening. If there isn''t any, just hold your position.

    "If you get killed, it will take days for you to reform."

    Lith had just finished yelling when he took a deep breath, and with him the Demons. At his feet, Trouble and Raptor were inhaling as well, the silver of their Adamant skin covered by a thickyer of ckness.

    Vgros and Valia had be Demons right after their death, gaining the opportunity to retain their original body. Necromancy kept the corpses perfectly preserved and Lith would take them out of his dimensional pocket before every battle.

    It granted the two former members of the Queen''s Corps to be always reborn straight into Demons of the Fallen, without the need to find a host body. Trion and Vgros weren''t so lucky so they had to make do with the Golems.

    Merging a Demon with the constructs granted the souls a physical body and to use the power core in addition to the ck core they were reborn with. Also, it gave the Golems a brain and the full scope of Lith''s bloodline abilities.

    Vgros was the oldest of his Demons so Lith had entrusted him with Trouble. The Balor had a humanoid body and Lith hoped that the three elemental crystals that reced its Evil Eyes might synergize with the Vgros'' Tiamat Eyes.

    ''Great Mother almighty, Verhen was right.'' The former Captain of the Queen''s Corps thought as the Balor''s body weed the six eyes as if they were its own. Circting their power was second nature to it.

    ''A Balor is still an evolved human and even though I''m dead, in my Demon form I''m one as well. If only I could understand what the heck is happening.'' The three elemental crystals sparked with power, splitting their energy between the corresponding pairs of allegedly opposite elements.

    The red crystal fed the fire and air eyes, the ck crystal the light and darkness eyes, and the blue crystal fueled the water and the earth eyes. Vgros could see many things through his newfound mana organs, but failed to make sense of them.

    A ck light spread through the scales that covered Lith''s body, starting from his face and then moving down his neck, lungs, and heart. Then, his face mask opened, revealing a maw filled with white fangs and ck-violet mes.

    The mouths of the 3,000 Demons followed their master''s lead and opened in unison.

    Theirbined light painted the area surrounding Phogia purple while the sheer number of the Demons blotted the sun out of the sky.

    Thrud had yet to finish issuing her order when Lith and his Demons breathed a burst of Void mes. They were all aimed at the same point a few dozen meters in front of the Tiamat, where they coalesced into a sphere.

    The Thousand mes had the same energy signature which allowed them to stack up their power without encountering any resistance. The moment thest drop of Void mes reached the sphere, it burst forward too fast to be followed even by the Dragon Eyes.

    The pir of ck-violet mes struck at the arrays protecting Phogia in a single point, forcing the defensive forces stationed there to use the spells they had prepared to resist the invasion just to keep the barrier from crumbling.

    Even though the protective barrier held, the heat the Thousand mes carried was enough to make the air inside Phogia scorching. The people on the city walls copsed on the ground, their lungs burning with each breath they took, their skin covered in blisters.

    The Awakened couldn''t use their breathing technique to recover their strength so they had to use whatever mana they had left just to lower the temperature around them.

    Outside the city, the grass caught fire wherever the sparks of Void mes reflected by the barrier fell.

    The biggest bits of Cursed mes caused the rock to melt and the ground to turn into zingva.

    The allied forces came out unscathed only thanks to the barriers stopping the rebound and the elemental sealing arrays neutralizing the mes as soon as they formed.

    "Phase four is a go!" Lith roared as ming ck armors enveloped the Demons and red des appeared in their hands.

    While Lith controlled the Void mes, Solus had used the Mouth of Menadion to cast the de Tier spell, Ruin, and then split its power into hard-light constructs that she had used to equip the Demons.

    The ck army swarmed the sky, reaching the city while the effects of the Thousand mes were stillying waste to Phogia.

    "What about now? Verhen is alone." Xo asked.

    "No way." Ufyl grabbed her to keep her still. "He''s alone, yes, but he''s packing several Spirit Spells of ridiculous power. Your Doom Tide can''t do anything about them and the moment he spots us, we''re dead."

    Lith didn''t move from the geyser, channeling new power and the spells to the Demons who used the Tower Tier Spirit magic to ughter anyone standing in their path.

    The condensed power of the de Tier spell could temporarily match purified Orichalcum equipment. The Demons healed from any wound they sustained in a matter of seconds, their power never decreasing.

    The allied forces moved along with the Demons, taking down the city walls with ease since Thrud''s Awakened were too busy saving their own lives.

 Chapter 2264 Burn It Down (Part 2)

    Phogia fell so quickly that it didn''t seem real to either side of the war.

    "Great Mother protect us." King Meron said while scratching his red beard in shock. "I always knew that Verhen had the power of a Magus way before turning into a Divine Beast, but this? This is too much!

    "How the heck are you supposed to stop that?"

    Queen Sylpha held his hand tight, trying to calm him down. She was afraid that the stress might make his health worsen.

    "Does anyone know about something called the ck Throne?" She asked the member of the Awakened Council who coordinated the attack from there.

    Lotho was still in Zeska, Inxialot was protecting Lith''s family in Lutia, and Raagu was just entering Phogia.

    "I''ve heard about it, but it''s just a legend." Fe the Behemoth couldn''t muster enough focus to look away from the hologram, her eyes filled with a mix of awe and horror.

    "We''ll talk about thister, then." Sylpha remembered well Tyris'' warning and suddenly she felt the need to find something that could match the power of their Supreme Magus or at least keep him from obtaining whatever the ck Throne was.

    Meanwhile, in the Throne Room of the Golden Griffon, Thrud didn''t share their worries one bit.

    "Retreat now and prepare to join your brethren at Verhen''s next stop. Phogia has fallen and there''s no point in dying the inevitable." The moment the two Divine Beasts Warped away, the Mad Queen burst into excitedughter.

    For the first time since Jormun''s death, her eyes shed tears of joy instead of pain, and her body brimmed with adrenaline.

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, are you feeling well?" Sevenus Hystar, the Headmaster of the Golden Griffon, was afraid that Lith''s disy of power had caused Thrud more despair than her cracked mind could take.

    Hystar feared that once her descent into madness wasplete, there would be no one carrying the torch of Arthan''s dream. Valeron the Second would need at least two decades before bing strong enough to rece his mother and none of the Generals couldmand the Golden Griffon.

    Without her, there was no war, only a slow and agonizing defeat.

    "No, Hystar, I don''t feel well. I feel amazing!" Thrud conjured three sses of wine and made a toast to Phogia''s fall.

    Phloria and Hystar were the only ones allowed into Thrud''s private quarters and the only ones who knew about Lith''s tower. They despised each other greatly but their loyalty to the Mad Queen was identical.

    They exchanged a worried look before asking:

    "What do you mean, amazing? You should be angry, My Queen." Phloria actually was as happy as Thrud, but to her enved persona those feelings only caused more worry. "You have just lost two cities in the span of a few hours."

    "Oh no, dear. You misunderstand me." Thrud shook her head, realizing the source of their bewilderment. "I was angry before, when I thought that a miserable runt had killed my husband.

    "The idea that an insignificant weakling had taken my Jormun away from me made me furious, but this changes everything." She had the Golden Griffon rey the highlights of the sieges.

    "He has outsmarted us and overpowered my forces. That''s someone I can acknowledge as worthy of defeating my husband. Mind you, it''s still an unforgivable crime but at least now my mind is at ease.

    "Jormun was felled by a worthy opponent, someone who once I''m done with the Royals, will join you at my service." Thrud''s words reassured Phloria, the Mad Queen hadn''t forgotten about her promise.

    "Someone who in case of my defeat, will take care of my child. Losing two cities is a grave matter, yet the way it happened gives me more reasons to rejoice than to worry."

    Meanwhile, outside Phogia, Lith didn''t bother entering the captured city this time either. The moment his help was no longer needed, he dispelled the Demons and recalled the Golems to his side.

    He kept standing above the geyser, using the flow of world energy to quickly recover his strength and recharge the power cores of the constructs and of his equipment. He hadn''t used Invigoration at all to capture Phogia, but his life force was strained from the effort.

    Using so many Demons, de Magic, and several Tower Tier Spirit spells had brought him on the verge of mana abuse. Only time could relieve the strain on his core and life force, but thanks to the tower it wouldn''t take long.

    ''How long, exactly?'' The city still had to be fully purged of Thrud''s forces yet Lith couldn''t wait to leave and move on to the next target.

    ''More than a few seconds, dammit. Cool your jets.'' Solus said while studying his condition to estimate how much rest he needed. ''There''s no point reaching another city if there''s no one to capture it.

    ''In our n, our role is that of a battering ram. We open the gates and leave the rest to the Royals and the Council. If we just leave, Thrud would take the cities back in a jiffy and all our effort would be for nothing.''

    ''You are right and I''m wrong. I''m sorry.'' Lith took a series of deep breaths to calm down. ''I need time to recover and you to overcharge the tower. Unless we both are at the peak of our game, none of my ns can work.''

    Even though the tower couldn''t take form, Lith could still ess the powers of its floors as long as he had the necessary energy to fuel them. He activated the Watchtower, spreading the effects of his breathing technique for kilometers.

    After he was certain that there was no enemy hiding in the vicinities nor any magical resource he could apply to exploit, Lith sat on the ground and took lots of food out of his pocket dimension.

    Mana was still energy and it couldn''t be created out of thin air. Lith needed food to repair his body and to provide his mana core with the nutrients it required to fuel its abilities.

    "That was damn impressing." Raagu walked up to him, her surprise growing stronger as she noticed how good his condition was. "Such a magnificent disy of power and you haven''t even broken a sweat.

    "How did you do that?"

    "The mana geyser." Lith stopped eating for a second to point down with his fork. "I used it along with Invigoration to overcharge my body with mana and my equipment with world energy.

    "My de Spell allows me to draw in the outside energy and refill the power cores the moment they get depleted. The problem is that usually the world energy is too thin to make a difference."

    "Brilliant." Raagu nodded, falling for his lie hook, line, and sinker.

    The human representative had no idea how a de Spell worked, especially when employed by a Divine Beast. The offspring of the Guardians were considered creatures who defiedmon logic and Lith was no exception.

    On top of that, no one had a clue about the Tiamat bloodline''s abilities. Lith was exploiting his unknown bloodline and unique origin to cover up for the tower.

 Chapter 2265 Burn It Down (Part 3)

    Only another Tiamat or a Guardian might have called Lith out on his lies.

    s, Guardians didn''t meddle in trifling matters and Lith was the only Tiamat on Mogar. Raagu took his words at face value, regretting one time too many the times when she had missed the opportunity to make him an offer too good for him to turn down.

    ''Even though in the end Verhen became a Divine Beast, part of him is still an evolved human. It might be a path unique to his species, but maybe it''s something he could share or at least other humans could learn from.'' She inwardly sighed.

    ''As it is, he has no reason to help us. All of his notable allies are beasts whereas my race only antagonized him on multiple asions. Asking his family for help would be a waste of time. Maybe his wife could be easier to reason-''

    Then, Raagu remembered the day of the ck Sun and that there was always a Guardian watching the baby. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she dismissed the thought of approaching Kam.

    Upsetting her would have been an extremely convoluted and painful form of suicide.

    "Why are you here?" Lith asked, snapping Raagu out of her waking nightmare.

    "Just to check on you and inform you that everything is fine. Also, our work in Phogia is almost done. Just a bit longer and the arrays will be back online." Her first phrase referred to the status of his family in Lutia.

    After Phloria''s kidnapping, the security of the Verhens had be even tighter but there was no telling what Thrud might attempt.

    "Thanks." Lith nodded. "There''s no rush. I need time to fully recover."

    "How long?" She asked with more curiosity than worry.

    "If no one disturbs my rest and I avoid any further exertion, one hour. More or less." Lith''s answer was supposed to be reassuring, but Raagu actually swallowed a lump of saliva.

    One hour was a long time in battle, but only if you knew the position of your enemy. The council representative couldn''t stop worrying about what would have happened if Thrud had kidnapped Lith instead of Phloria.

    Or worse, if one day he decided he was fed up with the Council and its rules.

    "I''ll leave you at it, then." Raagu turned around and left, cursing herself for her stupidity.

    She quickly cast a Hush spell and put all of her disciples on Phloria''s tail as well. Learning de Magic had just turned from a matter of power and prestige to a matter of survival of the human Council.

    ***

    It took Lith more than one hour toplete his preparations but no one noticed because it took the joint army much longer to reach its destination. The series of attacks were cutting deep inside Thrud''s lines but the further in the troops got, the more cautious they had to be.

    The Crown had been cut out from those regions for months and they had no intel on its security and the position of Thrud''s reserve troops. If the army moved too quickly, they risked being surrounded and wiped out.

    Too slowly and their next target would be obvious, giving the Mad Queen the time to take away the advantage of surprise.

    "Where should he go next?" Thrud stared at the map, pondering what she would have done in Lith''s shoes. "There are no more free geysers for hundreds of kilometers. Reaching one would mean fighting alone whereas, without a power source for the tower, Verhen is just another Divine Beast fighting for the army."

    "The most reasonable course of action is targeting another city like Zeska that has been built over a mana geyser." Phloria pointed out. "This way, Lith would just need to repeat the first strategy he employed today and ensure the Royals a foothold in the Nestrar region."

    "It makes sense." Thrud nodded. "That''s why I''m certain that Verhen is not going to do that. Reason has nothing to do with this. He is challenging me so he''s going to strike where it hurts the most, just like I did."

    "What do you think he''ll do then?" Even though Phloria was worried about losing a third city as well, she was smiling. The Mad Queen''s words ttered her beyond even what her real personality thought possible.

    "I have no clue." Thrud shrugged. "Ufyl, Xo, just follow Verhen while being careful not to be discovered. If he follows a strategy simr to those he already employed today, he''s going to move to an isted spot. If that happens, strike him down with everything you''ve got.

    "Don''t give Verhen the time to prepare spells or conjure his Demons. His show stopped being entertaining and I can''t afford another loss."

    "Are you sure?" Ufyl asked. "What if he dies?"

    "It''s a risk I''m willing to take." Her answer made Phloria''s heart skip a beat. "I''m not going to pull my punches, I''m just not actively seeking to kill him. If he stands on my path, however, that''s his problem."

    "What if you are wrong and he doesn''t get away from the army?" Xo asked, grinning from ear to ear at the idea of avenging her defeat in Zehnma.

    "I''m no fortune teller." Thrud loved having loyal followers, yet she would have liked them to have more initiative. "If Verhen changes strategy again, just Warp inside the sieged city and do your best to keep him out until reinforcements arrive."

    "It shall be done." Ufyl nodded and ended themunication.

    They had been following Lith ever since he had left Phogia. He was flying east northeast at cruising speed to not reach his destination before the army and expose their n.

    The two Divine Beasts would have liked to take him out here and now, but a fight in the sky was different from one on the ground.

    There was nowhere to hide and no way to keep Lith from Warping away.

    Unless he had something to protect or to fight for, the moment he spotted them or they cast the first spell, he would have no reason to stay. On top of that, for a Divine Beast, cruising speed meant flying at over Mach 1.

    Lith was outside the range of most spells unless Xo and Ufyl closed in, but that would reveal their presence.

    If they lost him, the battle for the next city would start without them, and if it ended as quickly as the other two, by the time they caught up with Lith everything would be already over.

    ''Wait, what the heck is he doing?'' Ufyl asked via a mind link since talking at such speed was impossible.

    ''Beats me, better report the situation.'' Xo stopped as Lith performed a sharp 90 degrees turn up and disappeared through the clouds. ''You keep your Dragon Eyes open for traps. Our position might bepromised.''

    "This makes no sense, but apparently the city of Bima is Verhen''s next target." Thrud said while consulting the map. "The ce holds no significant food reserves and has no geyser yet it holds strategical importance.

    "Bima is connected to the main trading routes of the Nestrar region, making it a great bridgehead for an invading army."

 Chapter 2266 Burn It Down (Part 4)

    "No offence, Your Majesty, but how can you be so sure this is the right ce?" Ufyl asked.

    "Because I just got reports of the Kingdom''s army stopping in front of Bima." Thrud replied.

    "You mean surrounding Bima."

    "You heard me. This time they aren''t even pretending to siege it. Move your asses and get down. I''m sending reinforcements right now, but Bima is just a medium-sized city of secondary importance so it has no Warp Gate." The Mad Queen said.

    The two Divine Beasts cursed their bad luck and obeyed her orders.

    Lith had escaped their range of detection so they had no idea where he was or what he was doing. That changed the moment Thrud hung up the call.

    They were about to fly down when a zing meteor fell down the sky.

    A meteor the size of a Divine Beast.

    Lith had reached the limit of Mogar''s atmosphere before taking a dive down, adding gravitational eleration to his own. He had infused his body with the power of the elements and each p of his wings produced a boom of thunder.

    At the same time, he had created a wind de in front of him to reduce air friction and generate a slipstream effect that further increased his speed. Gravity fusion added the final touch, increasing his weight tenfold and everything that came with it.

    Even though he used the air de as a shield, at his speed the air friction was still enough to set the air around him aze and heat the ck Voidwalker armor he wore to the point of painting it red.

    Lith''s descending trajectory was diagonal to have the time to both garner more speed and correct his course as he came closer to the ground. He could have hit Bima from above, but that would have been pointless.

    The arrays would have immediately closed and the civilian casualties would have been uncountable. He would have found himself surrounded and the army would still be locked out.

    It was the reason he was slowly steering up, using the air currents under his wings and bursts of heat rays from his hands and feet to turn his descent from a nosedive to an almost horizontal path by the time he reached the city''s level.

    The Royal army was deployed at a safe distance from Bima, on either side of the main road leading to the city gates. The moment they saw the ck meteor closing in in a trail of fire, they raised their energy shields and braced for impact.

    Lith emitted jet-bursts of light and fire from his limbs to further elerate in the final stretch as the tower coated him in a secondyer of armor, doubling his weight.

    Even without a mana geyser, Solus could still assume her tower form, but it came at the cost of her energy. On top of that, it would just be a stone building since her weak core didn''t have the power to support the tower''s enchantments.

    It was the reason Lith had rested for so long on the mana geyser outside Phogia and departed only at thest minute. This way, Solus had the time to recover and overcharge both her mana and power core.

    Thanks to that and by squeezing out the world energy stored in the Mine and Crucible, the tower would be fully operational for a handful of seconds. Which was all the time Lith needed.

    He had chosen Bima as his third target not only because of its strategic importance but also because itcked a mana geyser. Without it, the defensive arrays had to be fueled by crystals spread throughout the city blocks.

    Crystals that, once depleted, had to be reced with new ones while they recharged. Yet, if all of them became exhausted at the same time, there would be no time to substitute them and the arrays would disappear until a new power source was provided.

    The impact between the tower-armored Tiamat and the city gates of Bima produced a shockwave that killed everything in five hundred meters (1,640'') radius. The city walls quaked and cracked as the guards stationed on the battlements were sent flying.

    Even shapeshifted Emperor Beast couldn''t hold the sudden st and fell down. The only difference was that they survived. The Orichalcum-studded solid wood doors of the city were ripped off their hinges and turned into deadly projectiles.

    They went in different directions, bouncing several times before stopping and destroying everything they touched on their passage. Some houses just lost a wall, some a floor, others werepletely crushed.

    Hundreds of lives were lost just because of the opening salvo while the Royal army had yet to set a single step inside Bima.

    The arrays consumed all their power to cancel Lith''s speed and neutralize the shockwave that would have otherwise turned the outer rim of the city into a ming crater.

    The allied forces took it as their cue and orderly marched toward the open gates, the paved road below them a red carpet weing them.

    Meanwhile, Lith had released Trouble and Raptor on impact, so that they would carry his kic energy and burst through the open doors like Adamant bullets. The Golems had aimed for the still-stunned guards, conjuring the Demons as they killed Thrud''s Awakened before they could recover.

    ''Fuck! There''s no time to lose, let''s Warp!'' Ufyl and Xo opened a dimensional corridor in front of Lith and another behind him, to catch him in a pincer attack.

    He had taken a huge blow as well and was supposed to be shaken, if not even under the effects of a severe concussion. As long as they didn''t give him the time to use Invigoration, he was easy prey.

    The Tiamat was still rolling his way through the houses to break his fall when the two Divine Beasts charged at him from opposite directions. Xo had no time for spells so she infused herself with Mana Body, bing impervious to physical and magical attacks.

    Ufyl, instead, kept his seven pairs of Dragon Eyes on Lith to anticipate his moves as he opened his seven mouths to unleash a burst of Origin mes from each one of them.

    Lith''s right hand caught the Fenrir by the throat, lifting her in the air before mming her against the ground and using her to cushion his fall. His left hand opened, releasing seven spells at the same time down Ufyl''s throats.

    ''We weigh the same and I have Mana Body. How can he be this strong?'' Xo thought as her neck snapped from the sheer pressure of Lith''s grip.

    With no healing spells and no way to use Invigoration, her body was recalled to the Golden Griffon before her eyes dulled. As for Ufyl, all of his heads exploded in unison, and his long necks turned into zing torches by the very Origin mes they carried.

    ''Moron.'' Lith thought. ''Bloodline abilities can hurt even the one who conjures them. Using mes from so up close was a terrible mistake. s, it won''t be hisst.''

    The Seven Headed Dragon disappeared as well while his core was still intact and his heart beating.

 Chapter 2267 The Final Result (Part 1)

    ''Not really.'' Solus replied. ''That Dragon had no idea that you are wearing a mage tower filled with the spells from the Heart ready to be used. Consider that if I didn''t use the Immortal Body array on you right after the impact, you would have turned into a sorry mess.''

    ''True. Without the mass and the power of the tower, killing a Fenrir wouldn''t have been so easy either.'' Lith had his stone armor disappear before it drained too much energy andpromised the tower''s integrity.

    "Thrud Griffon, face me if you dare!" The Tiamat roared as a burst of Void mes from his mouth and another of Blight mes from his wings cut through the troops rushing to defend Bima from the invader.

    Each swing of his de generated enough pressure to make houses tremble and cut apart anyone too close, no matter if soldier or civilian.

    Thrud''s Forgotten didn''t surrender and Lith''s Demons didn''t stop until thest enemy was killed a few minutester.

    ***

    From the Throne Room in the Golden Griffon, Thrud clicked her tongue in annoyance before summoning her Generals to decide their next course of action. Phloria sat to her right while Hystar was to her left while she exined her strategy.

    Everyone was stunned by her calm. The loss of three cities in the span of a few hours seemed to be of no importance to her.

    "Are you sure you don''t want us to move and recapture them right away?" Iata the Sekhmet asked. "With that kind of damage, their defenses will be low and with so many casualties, we''ll have the support of the citizens."

    "I''m sure." Thrud nodded. "Let them dig their own grave. We''ll wait for the repairs to be almost done and the people unrestful before making our move. Don''t worry, it''s not as bad as it seems.

    "Sometimes, you have to take one step back before taking ten forward. This situation can turn into an opportunity to start the final phase of my n if we y our cards right and the opponents fail to read our moves."

    ***

    "What do you mean, I have to stop?" Lith snarled at General Berion through hismunication amulet. "This was just the morning course. I''ve still more cities to take until sundown."

    He was about to leave Bima and move to the closest mana geyser to recharge when he had received the order to cease the advance.

    "More?" Berion turned pale in terror, his throat too parched to emit a word.

    "Move, you idiot." Orion''s hologram reced the General''s.

    He looked as angry as Lith but he was also dejected and resigned.

    "As much as I''d love to unleash you until we cut Thrud''s regions asunder, you have to stop. Our forces are stretched thin throughout the upied territories. We need to fortify our positions, secure our supply routes, and repair the damages.

    "Otherwise everything you achieved today will disappear by tomorrow at this hour. Any further advance is impossible. Even if we had the troops, which we don''t, Bima has no Warp Gate. Getting repair materials and reinforcements will take time. You are done for today. Go home."

    "What about the Golden Griffon? What about Phloria?" Lith asked in outrage.

    "As a father, you have my gratitude and your fury is my own. Thanks for what you have done for my Little Flower, Lith. I''ll never forget this for as long as I live. As the General of the Army, however, I can''t support you.

    "This is the best way to pressure Thrud. Doing otherwise would just mean a waste of time and resources we don''t have. Go home. Please."

    Lith could see that Orion was torn inside and that hecked the strength to repeat the order a third time.

    "I''m going home, then. Supreme Magus Verhen, over." Lith left themunication open, giving Orion the time to nod in agreement and the final choice.

    It was the General of the Army to end the call and rein in the Tiamat. Lith took flight, going straight for the nearest mana geyser. As soon as the tower and Solus recovered their strength, he would Warp back to the Trawn wood and the warmth of his house.

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Lith''s house, a few minutester.

    Much to Orion''s surprise, he arrived there through the Gate in the barn first. The army had no need for him as well since fortifying cities was a job for Wardens and engineers, not Generals.

    Orion had gone to Lutia instead of the Ernas household because his whole family was there. Jirni was an Archon and a regr human, there was no ce for her on the battlefield.

    Since she couldn''t fight for her daughter, Jirni had moved to the Verhens'' house to watch the battles with them. She could just cheer but it was still better than nothing.

    Friya, Quy, Tulion, and Gunyin were there as well to support their parents in their darkest hour.

    "Gods, I still can''t believe what I just saw." Quy was still pale from the carnage she had witnessed.

    She had never gone to war and until that moment, most battles had involved only armed fighters, not civilians.

    "Me too. Stopping the attack after only half a day is outrageous." Jirni said with a sigh. "Yet your father made the right decision. Advancing further would have just been senseless murder."

    Elina and Rena were in the children''s room to make sure they didn''t see or hear anything. Raaz, instead, was in the living room with the others, spectating at the images projected live by Jirni''s amulet.

    ''Good gods, what have I done? Did I just sell my son''s soul in order to get my old life back? I''ve never seen Lith fight like- Scratch that, I never saw him fight for real. If I didn''t know that he''s my son, I would be crapping my own pants.'' Raaz hands kept tormenting his neck and beard in frustration.

    He would have loved to fall to his knees and pray to the Great Mother for guidance but Tyris was right there in the kitchen preparing dinner. Instead of making himself ridiculous, it was better to just go and talk to her.

    "Don''t worry, Jirni." Zinya was there as well to keep Kampany.

    "You''ve seen how strong Lith is. I''m sure that he''ll bring your daughter home safe and sound."

    During Kam''s absence, Lady Ernas had protected Zinya just like she had been Kam''s wall once she had resumed her job as a Constable. During the months spent together at the Royal Court, Jirni and Zinya had be intimate enough to drop etiquette and speak on a first-name basis.

    "The gods know if I hope you are right." Only when Orion sat by her side and took her hands between his did Jirni unclench her fists, revealing her bleeding palms.

    ? Her husband cleaned the wounds and healed them until the nail marks disappeared. Due to her work as an Archon, Jirni kept her hands manicured but her nails were short to not bother her and her palms callous from the training.

    Despite all that, she had still managed to hurt herself in stress.

    Kam sat aside, not knowing what to say.

 Chapter 2268 The Final Result (Part 2)

    On the one hand, Kam was worried sick about her mentor''s daughter who was also one of her husband''s closest friends. On the other hand, seeing Lith capture three cities and its cost in human lives made her stomach churn.

    She would have left the room together with Elina if Tyris hadn''t guaranteed her that miscarriage was impossible for a Divine Beast, even though the baby girl was a hybrid.

    "Don''t worry, Mom." Quy said, holding Jirni''s shoulders. "Phloria is too precious for Thrud. She wouldn''t dare harm her. Also, no matter what happens, as long as Lith captures her alive, there''s no wound that we can''t heal."

    "That''s true, but it''s the ''alive'' part that worries me." Baba Yaga was there as well in her Mother form.

    Even though Jirni, Orion, and Zinya weren''t aware of Solus'' true identity, after meeting the Guardians they had stopped asking themselves why legendary people hung around the Verhens.

    The presence of Baba Yaga had surprised them for less than a minute before dismissing it as the usual unusual.

    She hade as soon as she had learned that Elphyn would have taken an active role in the war. Baba Yaga was worried about Solus, but not because of physical danger. She was one with Lith and the tower was programmed to sacrifice everything in order to keep her safe.

    Lith was a tough nut to crack as well and his life force guaranteed that no permanent damage could befall Solus. What truly worried the Mother of all Undead was the damage to her psyche.

    Elphyn had always been a gentle soul and that hadn''t changed even after being reborn as Solus. Things like necessary sacrifices and coteral damage were bound to scar her, especially if it was by her hand that people died.

    "What do you mean?" Jirni turned around, her face the usual stone mask.

    The others, however, red at the Mother, silently ordering her to shut up.

    "I was there when Lith took the first step of his ascension, child. Mogar didn''t call him the Maker or the Lifebringer. If there''s one thing that today''s events have confirmed, is that Lith is the Destroyer.

    "I''m afraid that Thrud is unwittingly pushing him along a dangerous path." Baba Yaga conjured the images of specific frames in quick session. First, Lith''s de Tier spell cracking the arrays of Zeska.

    Then, the Thousand mes bringing the whole Phogia to its knees and burning its citizens despite the barrier. Last, she showed them the images of the doors of Bima flying around, followed by the destruction that had ensued Lith''s fight with Xo and Ufyl.

    Kam swallowed more than once and even Lith''s friends had to admit that there was nothing great or majestic in those pictures. No matter how brilliant the strategy or how awesome a spell was, the final result was always the same.

    People died by the hundreds and buildings turned into ruins.

    And that was when Lith remained outside the first two cities, leaving the clean-up to the army. When he had entered Bima, the streets had been painted red with blood and entrails had ended up decorating the roofs.

    The only word conjured by the spectacle was "ughterhouse".

    "That''s not true." Kam said, her voice hoarse and her forehead covered in a cold sweat. "Lith has been sent to the battlefield before and this has never happened."

    Yet Zinya still remembered the numbers in Vastor''s reports and would have begged to differ. She remained silent solely in respect for her sister.

    "True, but that was because back then the Royals had sent him to take things. Now they have asked him to kill people." Baba Yaga said with a sigh.

    "So what?" Zinya snarled with a fervor that surprised Kam. "War makes no one a hero. That''s something that happens only in the bards'' tales. The best you can hope for in a war is to have a good man instead of a soldier.

    "Someone who does what he believes to be the right thing instead of just following orders. Someone like Lith and Zogar."

    The Mother looked Zinya in the eyes, wondering if she was trying to convince others of her words or just herself. Baba Yaga remained silent, knowing that sometimes ignorance was bliss and wisdom brought only pain.

    Kam clenched her hands and so did Raaz who had just finished expressing his worries about Lith to Tyris. The Guardian read the room, finding only anxiety, worry, and fear.

    "Both of you are right, Malyshka." Tyris said. "Lith may indeed be on a dangerous path yet that''s not enough to make anyone a monster. The difference between a healer and a Destroyer lies in their heart.

    "One takes life only because it is rotten, purging the infection before it spreads. The other takes life simply because he can and he likes it. It''s up to us to nurture those hearts and make sure they never forget the difference."

    Kam and Zinya nodded, hoping that their husbands were on the healer side of a line so thin that they couldn''t see it.

    "You are probably right and I''m just an old fool, Tyris." Baba Yaga gave the Guardian a deep bow.

    Everyone pondered Tyris'' words finding them true yet no way to put them into practice. Zinya had no idea how to help Vastor while Lith''s friends and family found themselves in the same situation.

    "I''m going to call Elina and let the children out." Raaz said after his wife called him for updates. "Take that pictures away and please let''s not talk about what we have witnessed anymore. I think we had enough for today."

    The rest of the room nodded and Raaz opened the children bedroom''s door, letting the rest of the family out. Seeing their gloomy faces and the silence that weed her was enough for Elina to understand there was no good news.

    Even though she had no direct experience, Elina knew how bloody a war was and was scared of its consequences.

    "Where''s Lith, Orion?" She asked without wasting time in pleasantries. "Howe the General of the Army arrived first despite the paperwork and the meetings whereas my son is missing? Are you sure that nothing bad happened to him?"

    "I''m pretty sure that he''s okay." Orion replied, doing his best to sound confident. "There''s nothing to worry about, Elina. Soldiers usually don''t get back straight home after a tough mission.

    "They need time to unwind and make sense of their actions. The best way to do that is to goof around, drink, and talk with yourrades."

    "Why?" She asked in confusion. "Isn''t it better to seek sce in the peace of your home and in the warmth of the people who love you?"

    "I wish it was that simple." Orion sighed, knowing the feeling all too well. "There can be no peace in a home when you walk on eggshells around everyone to not burden them with your demons.

    "No matter how much a civilian loves you, they have no idea what it is to take so many lives. To walk through the enemy fire and explosions. You have no idea how the chaos of the battlefield keeps haunting a soldier even after the mission is over."

 Chapter 2269 The Fourth (Part 1)

    "Right now, Lith is probably in a ce where he can shrug off the madness that has infected him without having to deal with judgemental gazes and the burden of the questions that he knows you want but can''t ask."

    "Since there''s no one like Lith, my guess is that he is taking his time talking with Trion and the other Demons. Veterans are the best support group he could ask for. They know his burden because they not only faced the same issues in the past, but they also fought at his side today."

    Orion''s words further increased Zinya''s worries. They made it clear to her why Vastor spoke so little about his work and why he had sought thepany of the Abominations.

    Neither she nor Raaz had a clue about how to help their respective loved ones, feeling helpless in front of a divide that could only grow wider the longer the War of the Griffons went on.

    ***

    Ker region, underground Odi facility in the Serpent Tongue Mountain range.

    Orion''s prediction was spot on.

    After leaving Bima, Lith had Warped in random directions to lose possible tails and then had tower Warped to one of the most secluded mana geysers he knew.

    After the Kingdom was done sweeping the remains of Dawn''sb and the Odi machinery, they had left no surveince device behind. With no magical resources and nothing left inside the caves, it would have been a waste of time.

    Lith had picked that spot because it was close, putting little stress on the tower''s weakened core. He would have gone to either Jiera or the moon otherwise.

    He and Solus sat on a thick, soft fur carpet in front of the firece of their dream house. The wood popped and crackled as the mes spread their warmth.

    Solus held a cup of hot chocte in her hands and a te of steaming cookies beside her legs, yet she had yet to touch either. Lith''s arms wrapped around her from behind and both of them were covered by a thick nket.

    Yet none of it mattered.

    Despite their bond soothing her nerves and the many sources of heat around her, Solus was trembling from head to toe. Her face was deathly pale and her hands kept shaking, spilling the hot chocte that the self-cleaning enchantments cleansed.

    As for Lith, his face was a stone mask and his body steady. Only the shadows on the walls betrayed his inner turmoil. They writhed in apparent agony, their shape and size changing non-stop as they depicted images from the recent battles.

    Were Lith to turn around, he would see the silhouettes of people choking to their death due to burned lungs and those of ming ruins. His Demons would put the shadow people out of their misery just for the scenario to start over again.

    It wasn''t the first time they had killed, but never so many. Never before had they brought whole cities to their knees and consequences be damned.

    "Do you think we did the right thing or are we the bad guys?" Solus put the cup down and wrapped Lith''s arms tighter around her, searching for warmth.

    The cup was almost empty, its content spilled instead of drunk. The room was as hot as a sunny summer day, but she couldn''t stop shivering.

    "I have no idea if we did the right thing. That''s something history will decide. What really matters is that we did what was necessary and that''s enough for me." Lith replied.

    "Are you sure?" She turned around to look into his empty, dull eyes that reminded her of a shark. "I mean, I love Phloria as well, but is it really worth bringing so much death and destruction for a single person?

    "To sacrifice so many lives for maybe saving one?"

    "Yours is an excellent question, but to understand my answer, let me rephrase it for you." Lith''s eyes went back to life, staring at her with a cold gaze. "What point has saving Mogar if in exchange you have to lose everyone who makes your life worth living?

    "Why should you be the only one making sacrifices so that a bunch of strangers you''ll never meet nor care about can be happy? I don''t know you, but I''m no saint. If I had to choose between my happiness and the rest of Mogar''s, I''d pick mine in a snap."

    "Are you telling me that if you had to choose between me and Mogar, you''d sacrifice an entire just to save me?" Solus didn''t know whether to be ttered or terrified at the idea.

    "That''s a bit of an exaggeration." Lith shrugged. "Saving you would be pointless if we didn''t have a ce where to live but I''ll answer anyway for argument''s sake. First, I''d save you no matter the cost. Then, I''d salvage whatever I can of Mogar.

    "I don''t care about others. I would just rescue my family, the Ernas, the Fastarrow, and the Vastors. We would all live in the corner of paradise I protected and from there we''d just have to repopte the.

    "Worst case scenario, we move to the moon."

    "How can you say that?" Solus was shocked, but kept clinging to his arms. "What about the hypothetical people who just died because of your actions? What about the real people who died today when you issued your challenge?"

    "Again, let me rephrase." Lith''s tone was now full of contempt, but it wasn''t aimed at her. "What about the Guardians, the Divine Beasts, and even Thrud''s citizens? They knew what was about to happen and that I won''t stop at anything to get Phloria back, yet they did nothing.

    "Those hypothetical people should have moved their asses and protected what was theirs instead of hoping for my mercy. Those real people should have either surrendered or begged their Queen to release the hostage.

    "They choose to fight and lost. Always remember Solus. There are billions of people on Mogar. If there was even a single scenario where the fate of the world rested on the shoulders of a single person, then it would be a not worth saving."

    Lith took a pause to let his words sink into her head and bury his face in her shoulder.

    The warmth of her body and the sweet scent of her hair were everything he needed to remind himself about who and what he was fighting for.

    "I''ve already lost too many people. I''d rather die than lose another one." He said after a while.

    "Me too." She turned around, wrapping her arms around him.

    The thought of living in a world without Lith, Tista, and the others, of being once again alone for hundreds of years, scared her so much that Solus would sacrifice Mogar itself to keep it from happening.

    ***

    Lith and Solus arrived in Lutia a few hours after Orion. He conjured Valia and Locrias, sending them back to their families. Ever since Lith''s return to Lutia, the Royals had upheld their word and built houses for the families of his Demons who now were his neighbors.

    When Lith and Solus walked through the door, there was no trace of the shock from their own actions.

 Chapter 2270 The Fourth (Part 2)

    They were nowhere close to getting over it but they had regained enough of their cool to act normal.

    "Solus!" Baba Yaga rushed to her while Elina shoved people away to reach Lith first. "Are you alright? Is everything okay?"

    "I''m fine, thanks." They both replied after Elina was done checking Lith''s hands, chest, and face for injuries.

    "I''m sorry for beingte, but we lost track of time." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment as an awkward silence befell the room just like Orion had predicted.

    The members of Lith''s family could only think of questions that would either sound stupid or risk reopening their wounds. They had no idea how to help Lith and Solus cope with their actions.

    Only empty words came to their mind, making them walk on eggshells in fear of making things worse.

    Yet itsted only for a second because Jirni stood up from the couch and walked in front of them.

    "Thank you very much, Lith. I''ll never forget what you''ve done for my daughter''s sake today. House Ernas will forever be indebted to you. If there is anything I can do to relieve your burden, you just have to ask." She took his hands in her own and kissed his palms.

    "Don''t mention it, Jirni." Lith held her fingers in a soft grip. "Phloria is my best friend. I would have done the same even if she was amoner."

    "I know, and that makes my debt even greater." Jirni nodded. "You''ve fought no less fiercely than I would, lending me the strength Ick and shouldering the consequences in my stead.

    "I don''t care what the rest of the Kingdom says about you. To me, you are part of House Ernas and I''ll support you as one of our own. The only promise I ask from you is to do your best to bring back my baby girl."

    "You have my word." Lith clenched her hands onest time before letting them go.

    "Jirni''s word is my own and so is her offer." Orion offered Lith his hand. "House Ernas is at your disposal. Whether you need magic, money, or just someone to talk to, you can count on me."

    "Don''t worry, uncle Orion. My brother is a hero and heroes always win." Aran puffed his chest out with pride. "He''ll rescue the damsel in distress and everyone will live happily ever after."

    "You are right, little man. Thanks." Orion smiled, caressing the head of the boy.

    "Why is everyone so glum? Uncle Lith won, right?" Leria was puzzled as well.

    She also considered the war like a fairy tale so the death of the bad guys didn''t matter to her nor did she doubt the happy ending.

    "Right. Big victory today. Three to be precise." Lith lifted her in his arms while Leria yelled in enthusiasm and cheered for him.

    The children''s pets started to bump people for food and soon the mood in the room became lighter.

    Lith''s parents and sisters, however, felt helpless. Orion and Jirni were now closer to Lith than them while Friya and Quy could share with him doctored tales from the front.

    The Verhens felt cut out, guests in their own house.

    After pondering Tyris'' words and seeing how tense Lith and Solus were, Kam needed to talk with them, but it had to wait. Baba Yaga had brought Solus to another room to speak with her in private.

    "You can drop the mask, Epphy. There is only you and I here. You don''t need to act strong." She said after Hushing the room.

    "Thank you for your concern, Malyshka, but I''m fine. As fine as someone in my situation can be." Solus sighed, plunging onto the bed as her expression turned sad.

    "Then, if you have nothing to say, you should listen." The Mother took Solus'' hands, sharing with her the worries about Lith''s path and Phloria''s fate.

    She reyed everything from her own speech to Tyris'', using the images from the onught to prove their respective points. Under any other circumstance, Solus would have been outraged, but Lith''s words still echoed in her mind.

    His willingness to burn Mogar and Baba Yaga''s theory about the Destroyer aligned, making Solus swallow a lump of saliva.

    "Let''s say that you are right. What am I supposed to do?" She asked.

    "If I knew, I would have given you precise instructions." The Mother sighed. "All I can do is ask you these questions and hope you find the answers. You are the only person who can find a solution because you are half of the problem."

    "What do you mean?" Solus blinked in confusion.

    "I''m afraid that what Hystar said when you faced him at the Golden Griffon might be true. Maybe you are the fourth Horseman. Your mother used my technology to alter her tower and turn you into a version of my children that I don''t understand for the life of me." Baba Yaga replied.

    "How is that a bad thing?" The more she heard, the less Solus understood.

    "Because I split my children into three on purpose. I separated them from their steeds to limit their powers. People always forget that I never meant to create a master race and that''s why undead have been universally epted as the fourth race.

    "They contribute to the bnce and pose no threat to it.

    "Your mother, instead, couldn''t care less about the consequences of her actions. She only wanted to keep you alive, no matter the cost. You areplete. You are at one with your tower.

    "You are at one with the Destroyer." Baba Yaga took a lock of Solus'' hair, making the seven streaks manifest to prove her point. "The problem is that, as it happens for my children, there''s nothing to fix in your host.

    "So instead of you changing Lith, he is changing you. The hair, the tribtions. Do you really think it''s just a coincidence?"

    "No." Solus shook her head. "I''ve reached the same conclusion for a while now. What''s the problem with a fourth Horseman, though?"

    "That if I''m right, he''s the Horseman of the Void and wherever he walks, the Abyss rides behind him." The Mother conjured the image of the thousands of Demons who Lith had conjured that day.

    How they hadbined their strength to take down Phogia''s arrays and then butchered everyone in their path, feeding upon the corpses to grow their strength.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the living room, Elina was setting the table while Tyris cooked. Space wasn''t a problem since the Guardian had stretched the room with dimensional magic.

    Between the children running around, the beasts yapping in hunger, and the popping firece the mood had greatly improved. Everyone did their best to pretend that it was just a day like any other and they almost believed it themselves.

    "We need to talk." Kam said the moment she managed to have a moment with Lith alone.

    "Please, tell me it''s not about something I did or said." He exhaled sharply.

    "No, silly man. Quite the opposite." She wrapped his arms around her before hugging him.

    "I swear, I''m not in the mood for riddles or lectures. Can''t it wait until tomorrow?" Lith whined, yet her warmth made him feel better.

 Chapter 2271 Mogars Serpent (Part 1)

    "No, our talk can''t wait that long." Kam replied. "Tomorrow you might leave again and when you get back, things would be even worse than they already are. As absurd as it sounds, this is the perfect moment."

    "I guess you are right." Lith sighed. "Do you want to do it here or in my room?"

    "Neither. I want to speak with Solus as well and I don''t want to take you away from your family. I can wait until after everyone has gone to b-"

    A booming sound and the house shaking cut her short.

    Lith raised the shields to the max, knowing that whatever was going on it couldn''t be simple. The arrays that surrounded his house were supposed to protect it from anything short of a natural disaster or a Divine Beast on a rampage.

    "What the heck is going on?" Raaz opened one of the windows facing toward the Trawn woods since the noise came from that direction.

    The sun was slowly disappearing on the horizon but there was still enough light to clearly see the source of themotion.

    Or better, the sources.

    "Farm me sideways, I hate being always right!" Just as Lith had predicted, there was a Divine Beast on a rampage fighting against a natural disaster.

    The colossal figure of Crank the Hyperion was perfectly visible despite the distance.

    In his real form, he resembled a colossal pitch-ck bear, 30 meters (100'') tall at the withers with a white streak running from his head to the tip of his long, armored tail.

    The white streak wasn''t made of fur, but of a crystal-like substance that crackled with the power of the elements. On the sides of his mouth, there were curved tusks that Hyperions used to hook or maul their victims ording to the circumstances.

    Crank''s figure shone with the golden light from the Mana Body bloodline ability that made him impervious to both physical and magical damage. It was the only reason he was still alive.

    His opponent was much smaller but also much deadlier. It emitted ck bursts of Chaos that pierced through the golden aura and burned the thick defensive fur of the Hyperion, leaving huge patches of bald skin.

    While his parents only saw the Chaos spells and their effects, Lith''s Tiamat eyes could easily spot the figure of Apep the Apophis. The Eldritch wasughing his ass off while he toyed with his prey.

    "Everybody, stay here. There''s nothing to worry about." Lith lied through his teeth. "Tyris? Baba Yaga?"

    The Red Mother and Solus had returned to the living room when the tremors had started. Tyris shook her head with a sad smile, not wanting to be dragged in Lith''s personal mess.

    "Count on me, kid." The Mother said while looking at Solus. "I''m no Guardian and I''m not letting a crazy idiot mess with my people."

    "You can count on me too, kid." Tezka said. "I''m still pissed off from the kidnapping attempt and I''d love to have the opportunity to stretch my legs."

    "Great, but let me do the talking, please. This might just be a huge misunderstanding. Maybe even a bad roll of the dice." Lith inwardly sighed in relief.

    A white core and an Eldritch hybrid were no Guardian, but together they were the next best thing.

    "Don''t worry about us. I''ll stay here with the others." Kam knew that Tyris was bound to protect her and had no qualms about exploiting the Guardian''s vow.

    A snap of Lith''s fingers Warped the four of them near the area of the fight. At the same time, the members of the Queen''s Corps protecting his house called for reinforcements and applied in droves for a transfer to a less dangerous job.

    Like fighting on the frontlines or hunting Abominations.

    "What the heck is wrong with the two of you? Cease this madness immediately!" Lith yelled at the top of his lungs, drawing the attention of the contenders.

    "Quit yapping and unleash your wife." Crank panted, using his breathing technique to regain his strength and make the lost fur regrow. "Otherwise we are all dead."

    "My wife?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "The female with angry Guardians for bodyguards, you numbnuts! We are no match for Mogar''s Serpent." Much to the Hyperion''s surprise, the mention of Kam made the Apophis dispel the spheres of Chaos he had kept at the ready.

    Apep fondly remembered the nice woman and didn''t want to put her in danger.

    "Sorry, it doesn''t work this way." Lith shrugged. "What are you two doing here? There''s no enmity between us."

    "There better not be, kid. Or you and I are going to have a problem." Tezka reverted to his true appearance, skewing the odds to the point that the Apophis didn''t need to roll the dice to decide his course of action.

    He knew about Tezka. The Suneater was already old back when Apep had just arrived on Mogar. The stories about him were just the tip of a deadly iceberg the Apophis had no intention to crash into.

    No dice roll would change the oue of their encounter. He could either talk or die.

    "There is no enmity between Verhen and I. I came here in peace when this furred jackass attacked me out of the blue!" The Apophis pointed at Crank, his voice a mix of snarls and hisses.

    "Peace my itchy ass!" The Hyperion gave his left cheek a good scratch while pointing fingers as well. "I know what kind of a bad day you had, Scourge, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to talk about my Light Mastery lessons.

    "I was looking for a nice spot where to spend the night when I saw that scaly bastard slithering toward your home. I had to protect my inve- I mean, I couldn''t let a psychotic serial killer ambush a hero of the Kingdom."

    "Long story short, you attacked Apep to defend me and he attacked you in self-defense." Lith said while holding his temples in frustration.

    "Yes." They answered while ring at each other.

    "What do you want Apep? I''m not in the mood for games and I''m pretty sure that whatever I can do, Inxialot can do it better." Lith asked.

    "You are almost correct. There is one thing you can do and he can''t." A white line opened in the ckness of the Apophis'' face, forming a predatory smile filled with fangs and a forked tongue.

    "I came here to ask you one question. Is your offer open to everyone? The girl for the tool?"

    "Correct." Lith nodded. "Eldritch, Divine Beast, human, I don''t care who brings me Phloria Ernas. I want her alive, though."

    "Then our business is over. For now." The Eldritchughed, emitting a sound simr to a raspy cough.

    "Wait a second. What use do you have for de Spells? You can''t handle artifacts." Lith asked.

    "I can''t handle them here but up there my hunger is contained."Apep pointed at the sky. "Soon I''ll find a way to get my body back. In the meantime, I could use learning de Magic.

    "Bybining it with the power of the ck and the white core, I''ll be unstoppable." The Apophis opened a Chaos Steps and Warped away to not waste any more time with idle chatter.

 Chapter 2272 Mogars Serpent (Part 2)

    Apep needed to go back to the moon before the geyser in the Trawn woods and Inxialot''sb misaligned.

    The news of the Lich King protecting Lith''s family during his absence had angered Apep, but only until receiving the information about the deal the Tiamat had offered Lotho and Crank.

    After learning that, the Apophis only needed to verify the rumor to turn an annoyance into an opportunity. While Inxialot was on the moon, they would keep researching the secret of the white core.

    While he was on a mission, Apep would be free to roam Mogar again and hunt Phloria down. Two birds with no second wasted.

    "Thank the gods." Only after there was no trace of the presence of the Eldritch did Crank manage to rx enough to revert to his honey-badger form. "Or not."

    He was now much smaller and the figure of the ten-tailed fox was hard to miss.

    Tezka was much more famous than Apep, a living legend. ording to the lore, meeting him meant death. The Hyperion emitted a low-pitched sound that slowly rose in intensity until it turned into a high-pitched scream, reminding Lith of a teakettle.

    "FuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU¡­"

    "Calm down. Tezka is an ally. He''s not going to hurt you." Lith said, but Crank kept yelling at the top of his lungs.

    "UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

    "Don''t worry, kid. I''ll protect you." Baba Yaga was a legend as well, but if a fight between such powerful beings broke out, the Hyperion would have been as safe as a snowke on a firece, so Crank kept screaming.

    "I swear to the gods, make another sound and I''ll kill you." Tezka said in annoyance.

    "¡­UUuck. Yessir." The Hyperion gave him a deep bow before shutting up for good.

    "Thanks, Tezka." Lith said.

    "No problem."

    "About our deal, there will be no lessons today. I''m tired and my mind is a mess so we''ll set it to ater date. Are you okay with that?" Lith asked and Crank shut his own mouth with his paws while nodding.

    "Still, I want to thank you for your bravery. You knew to be no match for Apep, yet you didn''t hesitate to put your life on the line to help my family. The least I can do is offer you food and shelter. Come with me."

    Lith moved toward his home and Tezka walked beside him while shapeshifting back into his wolf-fox form.

    Thest ce on Mogar the Hyperion wanted to be was wherever an Eldritch was, but a simple re from the Fylgja made Crank trot obediently after them.

    "By the way, what was that stuff about Mogar''s Serpent about?" Lith asked, receiving no reply.

    "For the gods'' sake, you can talk. But only as long as you are not annoying." Tezka snorted.

    "Yessir." Crank nodded. "The Apophis bloodline belongs to Verendi, just like mine. ording to the lore, the Guardian started as a water snake, and even afterpleting her evolution, she still likes water more than solid ground.

    "She lives in the ocean ever since and her turf isprised of the waters that surround the entire continent and a few shores. Apep is one of her sons and back when he still had his physical body, he was obsessed with strength.

    "In the attempt to exceed the limits of the bright violet core, he discovered ways to increase his size. His theory was that the mana core would grow with the body and give him insight into the white core.

    "Legends say that at some point he became even bigger than his mother. Some even say that his body had grown so long that by biting his own tail and forming a ring, he could epass the whole Mogar, hence the nickname."

    "Is it true?" Lith asked Tezka and Baba Yaga in disbelief.

    "He wishes." The Mother said with a scoff. "Apep''s body grew until he wasn''t able to move a muscle anymore. Then, he tried to expand his core. You can imagine the rest."

    "He was the first creature to turn into an Abomination not because his body couldn''t hold the power of his core but because his body sucked the core dry." Tezka said with a dryugh. "Never trust the origin story of an Abomination.

    "We all like to embellish them to look wise and majestic instead of the miserable wretches we were."

    A snap of Lith''s finger brought everyone back home, where family and guests were waiting for them with bated breath.

    "Is everything alright, uncle Lith?" Filia and Frey were the most scared.

    They had no concept of a Guardian so Tyris'' presence didn''t do much to keep them calm. On top of that, they were so used to having Tezka around that his absence during a crisis was terrifying to them.

    Seeing their uncle-inw and their pet allowed them to sigh in relief.

    "Yeah, it was just a misunderstanding. There was no bad guy, little girl." Lith ruffled her hair, making her giggle. "Also, I brought a present."

    He grabbed the honey badger from the sides and shoved him in front of the kids who squealed in joy and amazement. They started to pet Crank and teach him tricks, which of course angered him big time.

    "This is preposterous! I''m not a pet, I''m a proud warrior and a Divine Beast." He said, making them even happier.

    "He talks, too! A new friend." Aran started to y with the badger''s tail, pissing him off further.

    "Of course I talk you little-" Only then did Crank notice that Tezka wasying on his belly, his head on Filia''sp who was caressing it.

    The tenderness of the Fylgja''s gaze while looking at her was only matched by the coldness he exuded while looking at the Hyperion.

    "Am I the bad guy here?" Crank asked.

    "Yes." Tyris, Baba Yaga, and Tezka said in unison.

    ''Dammit, when a Guardian, an Eldritch, and a white core agree on something, only a crazy bastard would do otherwise.'' Crank resigned to his destiny and offered his soft belly.

    "Are you strong?" Frey asked while scratching the badger''s chin and making him groan in pleasure.

    "Yes, very."

    "Do you want a cookie?" Leria asked.

    "Is that honey?" The sweet scent from the jar made his eyes go wide.

    "Poor thing. It must be starving." Filia patted Crank while he wolfed down the honey-dipped sweets like there was no tomorrow.

    ''Best decision ever.'' He thought while the kidspeted at who stuffed the honey badger more.

    The dinner went smoothly and soon everyone forgot about the attack.

    They spent most of the time in silence due to Orion and Jirni being worried about Phloria, Raaz and Elina searching for something to say to Lith, and everyone else finding it hard to forget the images from the three reconquered cities.

    Small talk sounded stupid and empty so it would neverst long.

    Only the kids would talk, y, and n severalpetitions among their pets to put the neer to the test. Crank couldn''t care less about the pecking order, but eating homemade food in front of the firece instead of the usual raw bushmeat while freezing his ass in the wilds was a pleasant change.

    Soon he fell asleep with a satisfied burp that the kids found hrious.

 Chapter 2273 More Than A Word (Part 1)

    "When are you going back to the battlefield, little brother?" Rena asked after Hushing the children.

    Between the scare, the food, and the warm fur of their pets, they had started snoring right after eating their dessert.

    "Good question. When am I going back to the battlefield, Orion?" Lith passed the question on to the General of the army.

    "Were it up to me, I''d send you out again tomorrow at the first lights and wouldn''t make you stop until sundown." Orion turned to Elina and Raaz, giving them a small bow. "I''m sorry for putting your son in danger."

    "Don''t worry. We know how you feel." They replied, yet their grimaces begged to differ.

    "s, it would ease my fatherly heart and be a disaster for the Kingdom." Orion sighed. "Before resuming our advance, we must establish a solid foothold in Thrud''s territories. A fortress with mud foundations would copse at the first attack.

    "We might require your presence, but only as a deterrent to keep the enemies at bay and the citizens from rioting. I''m not going to lie, no one expected such clean and quick victories.

    "You took both your allies and enemies by surprise. That''s why we also need to see how Thrud answers to our offensive before wemit more troops to the invasion."

    "It makes sense." Lith nodded.

    "Can he take a couple of days off? Can I as well?" Kam asked.

    "Unless we get attacked, yes. What about you, dear?" Orion had no authority over constables.

    "Three cities mean hundreds of traitors to investigate and put to trial, but yes. Take as long as you need." Jirni nodded. "Until I get my baby girl back, I''m not going to rest. If necessary, I''ll do your work as well if it means increasing Lith''s odds of sess."

    "Thanks, Jirni. I hope-" A powerful roar followed by a slight tremor in the ground cut Kam short. "Great Mother almighty! Will this day ever end?"

    "I''m right here." Tyris waved her hand, sick of people looking at the sky while talking to her. "Also, there''s nothing to worry about. Just a guest."

    Unfortunately for the Queen''s Corps, they had no way to hear Tyris and be reassured by her words. When they saw the colossal figure of the Shadow Dragon close in and thennd right in front of the doorstep, they went this close to burst into tears.

    "What''s wrong with this ce? Is it cursed?" The new captain of the Corps called for reinforcements again, praying that they would not need them.

    He renewed his request for transfer and so did many other members of the units.

    The moment Lith opened the door, the tension inside the house disappeared.

    Zoreth was one of the Master''s most loyal followers. An ancient Eldritch who through the millennia had murdered millions to achieve her goals. Yet to them, she was a dear friend who had helped Lith several times.

    "Hi, big sister. Do you want toe in?" Lith was surprised to see her keeping her Dragon form.

    "Yes, but first I need the permission of both of you since I''m not alone." Despite Zoreth''s size, her voice was barely a whisper to not scare the children or the animals.

    The figure of a ck Raiju galloped down her spine. White bolts of lightning crackled around Bytra''s horns as she reached the ground.

    "I''m here as well and I don''t want to burden Solus with my presence unless she allows me to. We are not friends and I''ve still a lot to make up to her for." She said.

    "You!" The Mother''s eyes zed with bright white mana when she recognized the Fourth Ruler of the mes and Menadion''s killer. "You have changed."

    Even from a distance, she could tell via Life Vision that the Bytra in front of her was nothing like the one she knew. Baba Yaga felt the Raiju exuding shame, remorse, andpassion whereas the old Bytra had smelled of ambition, pride, and indifference.

    "Don''t worry, Malyshka. Bytra is a clone of the original. She yed no part in killing me and my mother. As she said, we are not friends but she has proven her will to redeem herself enough times to earn my trust." Solus said.

    "Please,e in. Both of you." She tried to sound confident, but her palms sweated and her knees trembled slightly.

    Even after the events of Verendi, Solus couldn''t bear the sight of Bytra''s horn without reliving the feeling of her heart being pierced.

    Both Eldritch hybrids shrunk their size to fit through the door and shapeshifted into their human form only after Lith closed it behind them. Bytra and Zoreth used their real appearance while posing as Vastor''s nieces and they couldn''t afford to be identified as Eldritches.

    "Thank you for your hospitality. If my presence bothers you in any way, just tell me and I''ll leave. There are things that I would like to tell you in person, but your peace of mindes first.

    "We can talk through the amulet if you want." Bytra said.

    The moment the white lightning and the horns disappeared, Solus managed to rx and smiled at the Raiju from the heart.

    "Thanks for your concern, but there''s no need to. We can speak here. Would you like tea, coffee, or ice cream?" She asked.

    "I''d like some tea, thank you. Chocte and hazelnut ice cream for me." Bytra said while giving a bow to her hosts.

    "I''ll have coffee for both. I take the drink ck and the ice cream with whipped cream." Zoreth said. "If you don''t mind, Guardian, we''d like some privacy."

    Tyris looked at Lith who nodded and then she disappeared. Lith knew that the Eldritches avoided the Royal Court but Jirni and Orion, however, had met them at Vastor''s wedding.

    If they recognized Zoreth, it would have taken a single word to betray the identity of the Master.

    Crank opened his eyes and his body froze in terror when Life Vision gave him an estimate of the neers'' power level.

    ''I don''t care. I''m just crashing here.'' Seeing that the kids kept sleeping, he followed suit.

    Zinya knew the truth already and weed both women with a big smile and a hug.

    Jirni and Orion flinched, but they knew Lith for long enough to know when not to ask questions and just wait for answers.

    After everyone sat on the couches in front of the firece, Solus broke the silence.

    "No offense, but this was a very long day. Do you mind cutting to the chase and telling us why you are here?"

    "None taken. I know the feeling." Zoreth replied. "As for your question, we are here to help."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    "Let me guess, you asked our rtives for help and they turned you down, spouting loads of nonsense about bnce and stuff." The Shadow Dragon said with a snort, emitting puffs of smoke from her nostrils.

    "Nailed it in one." Lith sighed. "How do you know?"

    "Because they said the same things to me back before my fall, when I asked them for help as well." Zoreth''s eyes burned with Chaos and Decay.

 Chapter 2274 More Than A Word (Part 2)

    "I''m not one of them. I don''t care about their stupid rules. As I told you in Verendi, we follow the Abomination way. We don''t hide. We don''t cower. Most importantly, we don''t turn our back on our own." Zoreth put her cup and the te down before she crushed them with her grip.

    "Are you telling me that you want to help me rescue Phloria?" Lith asked while Jirni and Orion held their breath.

    "She''s important to you so she''s important to me as well." Zoreth nodded. "If you need help teaching Thrud''s cowardly Divine Runts a lesson andying waste to her army, you just need to ask.

    "When I call you my brother, it''s more than a word to me. I''m with you."

    "We both are, if you''d have me." Bytra stared at the ground. "I''m not as good as Zor at breaking stuff, but Solus and I make a great duo. My speedplements her strength and vice versa. Also, my assistants would help us."

    "What assistants?" Solus asked.

    "I work mostly in theb, not in the field. Nandi and Theseus are my assistants so they go where I go. I already asked them, and they agreed to help us. Nandi because he cares about Baba Yaga and Theseus to thank you for your help."

    Lith''s lips curled in a cruel smile at the thought of four monster-Eldritch hybrids fighting by his side. Zoreth would more than double his destructive power, Bytra would be Solus'' legs, and Nandi would allow them to use the full power of the tower even in the absence of a mana geyser.

    As for Theseus, if he had finally gotten the blood madness under control and mastered his Meneos side, there was no telling how powerful he might have be. Yet something was off.

    Zoreth was one of the most powerful creatures he had ever met, yet Lith could smell her worry.

    "I can''t speak for Solus, but I don''t need time to think. I''m grateful for your offer and I ept it." Lith replied.

    "Me too." Solus nodded. "I don''t know if we''ll ever be friends, Bytra, but I''ve already forgiven you. Being close is still awkward for me, but I don''t want to spend the rest of my life in fear. I must face my demons, just like you."

    "Not so fast." Zoreth raised her hand, asking them to let her speak. "There are two things that I need to make clear before sealing our alliance. First, even though there''s nothing that I''d love more than be your shadow and fight this war until the end, I have a job to do.

    "I can''t go down into the details but just know that if not for me, the Undead Courts would have screwed the Kingdom already. There''s no point in winning a few battles together just to lose more ground than we gain.

    "I''ll be there for you whenever I''m free and if you call me when I''m not, I''ll do my best to reach you as fast as I can."

    Lith understood her position and nodded for her to continue.

    "Second, you must realize the consequences of your choice. Until this moment, I''ve always operated in the shadows. The Kingdom has no idea who the mysterious Shadow Dragon is because my only public appearance was back when Night attacked Zinya.

    "Once I be a constant presence on the battlefield, it will only be a matter of time before someone recognizes my real form. At that point, you won''t be the Supreme Magus calling upon a mystical Dragon.

    "You''d be a crazy man who sides with an infamous butcher. If people saw you acting all friendly towards an Eldritch, they''ll consider you just as bad. Your reputation might go down the drain and with it the respect you worked so hard to gain back.

    "Are you sure this is what you want?" Zoreth asked.

    "Three years ago, I made Phloria a promise." Lith replied. "I told her that the moment she needed me, I''d discard my duty and my honor if it was what I needed to do in order to be by her side in her time of need.

    "I intend to uphold that promise. I don''t give a damn about my reputation or about what a bunch of strangers thinks about me. I can rebuild my reputation, but I can''t bring back a dead friend.

    "I ept your help." Lith offered the Eldritches his hand and they shook it. "Just one question, what about your father?"

    The whole conversation had happened in front of Jirni and Orion. They had met Zoreth several times at Vastor''s home.

    "Don''t worry, Dad gave us his blessing. He is so enraged for the kidnapping of a student of the White Griffon who''s also your apprentice that he would join us if only he could." The Shadow Dragon said.

    "As for your friends here, they are his friends too. Dad said that Jirni has been poking around to discover the source of his strength for a while now and that it''s only a matter of time before she finds out.

    "Well, Lady Ernas, now you know. We are the answer you have been looking for." She pointed at herself, Bytra, and Tezka.

    Suddenly the return of the Suneater and his care for Zinya''s children made sense. Jirni dug up in her memory, recognizing the Fourth Ruler of the mes and Rune Magus.

    Despite her years of training, her knees would have buckled at the idea of sharing the room with so many legends at the same time. Luckily for Jirni, she was already sitting so her reaction looked as stoic as her face.

    "Tell your father that I won''t betray his secret as long as he doesn''t betray mine." Jirni nodded. "I don''t even care if I turn into his aplice. Just bring my daughter back."

    "We will do our best." Bytra said. "We''ll break every singlew of the Kingdom if we have to."

    "Thank you." Orion shook their hands. "I''ll be forever in your debt."

    He didn''t care about his honor or the nature of his unexpected benefactors either. A trifling thing like morals could wait.

    "Well then, you have my rune." Zoreth stood up and moved toward the door. "Sorry for leaving like this but the more work I do now, the more free time I''ll have once you need me, Lith."

    "Same." Bytra shapeshifted into a humanoid Raiju while her wife turned into a Dragon.

    They left the house in the same way they had arrived to not raise suspicions about what had happened inside.

    "Thank you very much, Lith." Jirni said once she found the strength to stand up and sit at his side. "What that woman said is true. Your reputation might take a huge blow yet you didn''t hesitate to put it on the line for my Little Flower.

    "I''ll never forget what you did today. The promise you made to Phloria I now make it to you. Whenever you need me, whatever you need, just call me and I''lle."

    "And so will I." Orion nodded while inwardly gritting his teeth.

    ''Gods, I hate myself. Maybe if I didn''t nag at Lith and Phloria so much, maybe today things would be different.'' Orion thought while looking at Kam.

 Chapter 2275 Bloody Path (Part 1)

    ''If something happened between him and Phloria back in Kh, now she would be safe.

    ''Sure, it would make Lith a two-timing bastard and I''d hate his guts, but I''d be willing to forgive anything if that meant that my daughter was protected by the Guardians as well and with me at home.'' Orion thought.

    ***

    The next morning the sky was clear and the sun was bright, yet it brought Lith and Solus littlefort. Mogar seemed to have turned one shade darker and even after a good night of sleep, they were still troubled.

    They were worried about Phloria and whatever Thrud might be doing to her just to get even with Lith for Jormun''s death. The idea of receiving another video but with Phloria as the victim instead of Orpal had kept Lith awake untilte.

    They were also afraid that at any moment Thrud might reveal the existence of the tower to break the alliance between the Kingdom and Lith, ruining their lives for good. On top of that, there was the guilt for the massacre.

    Lith and Solus felt no pride in having killed so many innocent people in their attacks. They had done what was needed to challenge Thrud and hopefully force her to reveal the position of the Golden Griffon, but that didn''t make their hands any less bloody.

    They got up with their minds still clouded by sleep and stress, finding a pleasant surprise waiting for them.

    Jirni had kept her word so even though the sun was already up, Kam was still there and had made them breakfast.

    "Good morning. How do you feel today?" She asked.

    "I''m okay." Lith replied with a yawn to hide his mouth and face with a hand, hoping to fool her.

    "Much better, thank you." Solus replied with a thin smile that didn''t extend to her eyes.

    "I''m sorry you still feel like crap." Kam nodded. "All the more reason you have a hearty breakfast. Life always looks better on a full stomach and you need your energy. Today is going to be a busy day."

    "I''m not hungry and I don''t want to go anywhere." Lith grumpily said while sitting down. "I''m tired. All I need is a little peace and quiet."

    "Yeah, right. Because fasting does wonders for the mood and spending your time looking at the ceiling is such a great idea." Kam clicked her tongue. "What about you, Solus?"

    "I don''t know." She scratched her messy hair in an attempt to jump-start her jammed brain. "Maybe another trip to the moon?"

    "Are you asking me or are you telling me?" Kam asked.

    "Uhm¡­"

    "Great. Since neither of you has ns for the day, you''ll follow mine." Kam filled their tes with pancakes and drowned them in syrup. Then she poured Lith a cup of coffee with a drop of milk.

    For Solus, instead, Kam prepared a cup of hot chocte with sugar, whipped cream, and lots of chocte biscuits dipped in it. It was sweet enough to give diabetes, just like Solus liked it.

    Solus was in a bad mood, but the smell of her favorite food made her squeal with joy anyway. Her fork moved faster than her brain and once the sweet vor filled her mouth, her grey matter lost authority over her body.

    Lith, however, was of a different mettle.

    "I''m not hungry."

    "And I worked hard to put food on your te." She brought a dish filled with freshly baked cookies to the table, making Solus squeal harder and Lith groan louder. "Yet you don''t hear me bitching about it. Now eat."

    Lith sighed, sipping his coffee to buy himself some time. The milk lessened the sourness of the drink and his mood. At the same time, it reminded his stomach of how hungry he was so it demanded its due.

    Lith started taking nibbles of his food just to keep his stomach from grumbling. He didn''t want Kam to realize that she was right and that he was just brooding. s, before he noticed, the pancakes were gone and he had also eaten a few biscuits.

    "Good boy." Kam ruffled his hair and gave them a second serving of pancakes.

    "This time I want them with chocte syrup!" Solus begged.

    "Me too." Lith grumbled along with his stomach, tired of fighting a losing battle.

    "Same here." Crank tugged at Kam''s legs in a knelt position, resembling a small furred knight.

    "Why are you still here and what are you doing?" Lith asked.

    "The kids kept hugging me the whole night. I couldn''t leave without waking them up. That and your beds are really soft." The Hyperion shrugged. "About your second question, I''m paying respect to my host."

    "This is my house." Lith snorted.

    "And you obey your wife, the Guardians protect her, and even Mogar''s Serpent dropped his spells at her mention." Crank snorted back. "The pecking order here couldn''t be more obvious."

    "Aww, thanks. You''re adorable." Kam said.

    Hyperions were proud warriors and didn''t like being referred to as "adorable". Yet she had just handed him a te full of steaming sweets and a whole jar of honey. As any practical creature, Crank had his priorities straight.

    He gave her a small bow before dropping the content of the jar on the pancakes and eating them in big mouthfuls.

    "Wait a second. Where are the others?" Lith asked.

    "Zinya has already gone home, your parents went to the Desert, and the kids to school. Valia and Locrias are still with their families. Please, before we leave, warn them in advance and give them the time to say their goodbyes." Kam replied.

    Seeing Solus happy and feeling much better himself, Lith just nodded.

    ''There''s no point in ruining the day for everyone. Whatever Kami has in mind, I better suck it up and smile.'' He thought while his mind drew an untteringparison between the two messy eaters.

    Solus and Crank both had their hands and mouths dirty, but while the honey badger looked cute, Solus looked like a starving hobo.

    "Do you mind if I stay here?" Crank said at the end of the breakfast. "I can use a ce to crash. This way, I can hold the fort while you are away and the moment you are free, we can start our lessons."

    "Yes, I do mind." Lith answered.

    "No problem. You are wee to stay as long as you want." Kam said. "The kids can use a new ymate and a Divine Beast bodyguard while I''m away at work."

    "It will be my honor." Crank ignored the former and gave thetter a deep bow.

    Lith and Kam red at each other for a couple of seconds before he slouched his shoulders in surrender.

    "Pecking order!" The Hyperionughed his ass off as he trotted back to the kids'' room and their bed.

    "Where to, master?" Lith said, his voice oozing sarcasm.

    "Trawn woods, Jeeves. And make it quick." Kam straightened her back, using a stuck-up tone that held as much mockery as her husband''s.

    Solus was nowughing her ass off as well, making Lith feel dumber by the second.

    "Yes, my liege." Solus stood on attention and gave Kam the salute before opening a series of Steps in order to lose any potential tail before reaching their destination.

 Chapter 2276 Bloody Path (Part 2)

    "What''s next?" Solus asked after the tower had taken form and they had walked in.

    "To our spot, please."

    Kam referred to the mana geyser nearest to Lochra Mountain and the Flying Griffon resort, where they had brought Lith after his Abomination side had gone wild.

    It was a quiet ce in the middle of nowhere that only the three of them knew.

    It was surrounded by luscious green and there was a mountainke nearby. Several wild animals lived there and having no contact with humans, they weren''t scared of neers.

    "Wow. I had almost forgotten how beautiful this ce is." Solus had just opened one of the tower''s windows when a blue songbirdnded on the windowsill to investigate the building.

    "Yeah, that''s why I was thinking about giving up on building our dream house and just moving the tower here whenever we want." Kam nodded. "Bringing builders means that other people would know about this ce and sooner orter we might lose our haven."

    The shining sun, the noise from the woods, and the natural beauty of the mountain relieved Lith from his burden. For a moment, he dreamed about defecting from the Kingdom and spending the rest of his life there.

    Then, the moment passed and he remembered his promise to Phloria and how much Lutia meant to his family. The grey clouds covering his mind returned as fast as they had gone.

    "Yeah, this ce is amazing, but I don''t see the difference with Lutia. If you wanted to avoid people, we might have just stayed in the Trawn woods." Lith replied.

    "There''s a big difference." Kam replied. "Lutia holds lots of good memories but also a lot of bad ones. Also, the Trawn woods is the ce where you hole up when you need to work so it''s no good either.

    "This mountain, instead, only holds good memories. Here you opened up about your past life to me. Even though things got messy for it, we came out of it stronger than ever.

    "It''s the ce where we fought and won a tough battle so it''s auspicious for the next one as well."

    "What are you talking about?" Solus tilted her head in confusion.

    "It''s easier to show than to tell." Kam offered one hand to each of them and established a mind link when they took it.

    She shared with them the discussion between Baba Yaga and Tyris about the consequences that the change of pace in the War of the Griffons might have on Lith.

    Solus swallowed a lump of saliva, finally understanding why Malyshka had been so worried about her the previous day.

    ''I''ve got something to add to this conversation.'' Solus shared her private exchange with Baba Yaga, making Lith furrow his brows in concern and steeling Kam''s determination.

    "Thanks, Solus." She said. "I needed to hear that."

    "I agree with both Baba Yaga and Tyris, but I still don''t have a clue about the reason you brought us here." Lith said.

    "Yesterday I had a lot of time to think while I waited for your return from the battlefield first and while you kept turning in bedter." Kam replied. "I can see from your faces that Baba Yaga''s worries are well-founded.

    "You have fought for half a day yet I feel like you are about to lose a part of yourselves. If we go on pretending there''s nothing wrong, sooner orter that part of you will be lost for good and another will be chipped away.

    "And then another and one more until this damn war isn''t over."

    "You may be right but I doubt that two days of vacation in the mountains can make it any better." Lith shrugged, remembering how Solus had trembled and his heart had withered while they rested in the tower after the battle.

    "This isn''t a vacation, silly man. I brought you here to give all of us peace of mind. We''ll need it when you share yesterday''s events with me with a mind link." Kam never let go of their hands even when they tried to pull them away.

    "Are you insane, Kami?" Lith said. "Witnessing those horrors already scarred me. I have no desire to relive them nor to drag you in the mud with me."

    "I''m with Lith, Kami." Solus nodded. "We are fighting so that people like you don''t have to. We are dirtying our hands to keep our family safe. I am your wall against the war, not your window on it."

    "Thanks to both of you, but that''s exactly the reason you have to use the mind link." Kam replied. "Lith, Solus, I know how strong you are but as you have just said, you are deep in the mud and your hands are dirty with blood.

    "I can''t leave you there alone and hope for the best. Baba Yaga is right. If you just keep taking lives, no matter how good your reasons are, sooner orter you''ll be desensitized to it.

    "In order to survive, you''ll change and I''ll lose two people I love. Maybe for a while, maybe forever. I don''t know and I''m not willing to find out. Lith, as Baba Yaga said, Thrud is pushing you on a difficult path.

    "If you keep walking on it alone, that path will lead you away from me. As Orion said, Solus, I can''t understand your feelings because I''ve never been on the battlefield.

    "Both those things are going to create a divide between us that will growrger with time. Even though I''m too weak to fight by your side, I can still walk by your side and share your burden, but only if you allow me to."

    Kam took a pause to let her words sink.

    "Please, I don''t want to lose you. What I ask of you is no big deal. All I have to do is shoulder the images of the things you force yourselves to do. You are willing to scar yourselves for me and I''m not afraid of second-hand blood.

    "I won''t stand idly while you fight the enemy on the battlefield and your inner demons once you get back home. I want to be there for you. To be able to understand your pain. If we are all dirty, you don''t have to be ashamed of whatever stains you carry."

    From so up close, Lith and Solus could feel Kam''s heartbeat, notice the smallest movement of her eyes, and even detect the changes of smell in her perspiration. She was terrified but every single one of her words was true.

    Kam was determined to share their burden, not just throwing empty words to feel better about herself and hope that they would refuse her request. Her fear was born out of sanity, not cowardice.

    Only a fool wouldn''t be scared knowing what she was signing up for.

    "By my Mom, we don''t deserve you, Kami." Solus said amid hups.

    "Indeed. Are you ready?" Lith had believed that after epting his past as Derek, Kam couldn''t give him bigger proof of her love. She had proven him wrong and he was happy about it.

    "No, and I''ll never be so let''s get this over with." Kam clenched their hands and gritted her teeth as the memories started to flow.

 Chapter 2277 Magic Lesson (Part 1)

    Kam knew that the blow wouldn''t be physical but her body acted on instinct, reading for the fight.

    The mind linksted for just a few minutes, but she lived every second of the battle for the three cities. She felt the weight of War and of the Fury in her hands, the resistance that the flesh of the enemy offered to the weapons as well as their death throes.

    Kam shared the same pain that Lith experienced every time he conjured the Demons, reliving their lives and deaths. She also shared the inner conflict that Solus struggled against every time she nned their next move.

    Her goal was to inflict the most damage with the minimum risk for her and Lith, but efficiency came with a price tag that was paid in human lives. Solus was aware of the weight of her decisions and so was now Kam.

    On one scale, there were the lives of the people they saved, and on the other, those of the people they sacrificed to do it. Lith and Solus experienced the burden of both the general and the soldier, sitting on thrones of bones built over a river formed by the blood of their victims.

    Lith and Solus were close yet far, their respective thrones separated by the river.

    The feeling of istion only made their guilt deeper and their pain more intense.

    Then, a third throne appeared between them, taking bones away from the other two and draining the river. Kam sat there, her burden was inferior to theirs so her throne was smaller and there was less blood on her clothes.

    Yet she was close enough to reach them both and break their istion.

    When the three of them opened their eyes, they found themselves hugging in a tight embrace. Solus and Kam were crying while Lith was too happy to have them in his life to think about anything else.

    "Gods, I''m so sorry. I can''t believe you had to shoulder such a thing alone." Kam said amid sobs, using their warmth to keep the dreadful cold from those images at bay.

    "Thanks for witnessing the memories of both of us, Kami." Hups broke Solus'' voice, making it nigh-iprehensible. "You have no idea what this means to me."

    "I''m sorry for dragging you both into my mess. I didn''t realize how bad making such decisions made you feel, Solus." Lith said, receiving a punch on either side.

    "Shut up and hug, asshole." Kam sniffled.

    "What she said." Solus half cried and half chuckled. "Pecking order."

    "Not you too!" Lith groaned, making them bothugh.

    They stayed like that for a long while, appreciating each other''s warmth as well as that brought by sunlight.

    They were still worried about Phloria and afraid of the toll that fighting in the War of the Griffons might take on them, but Mogar seemed to have turned one shade brighter.

    ***

    "I''m telling you, I''m not tired!" Lith sounded like a petnt child and he knew it.

    "And I believe you." Kam said with a warm smile, yet her words couldn''t fool anyone unless they were blind, deaf, and dumb. "Just do me a favor and close your eyes for a second."

    After sharing their minds, she had forced him into bed. Kam had just witnessed how great a toll the previous day had taken on him and knew how little he had slept during the night.

    Even though Lith had only gotten up for a while, reliving those memories had piled up more mental fatigue on top of the physical exhaustion from which he had yet to recover.

    "I''ve been awake for not even two hours. This is as dumb as¡­" Solus closed the curtains while Kam never stopped caressing his hair until the words died out.

    ''I guess we''ll never know how dumb this is.'' Solus said via the mind link as Lith''s voice was reced by peaceful snoring.

    ''You can say that.'' Kam replied with a chuckle while giving him onest caress before slowly closing the door.

    "We can speak now. The room is soundproof and equipped with a baby monitor." Solus made a small walkie-talkie appear in her hand.

    They could hear Lith''s breathing bing slow and regr as he fell into a deep sleep.

    "More interesting stuff from Earth." Kam said while studying the baby monitor. "Do you n on selling it?"

    "Gods, you see a marvel of magic and the first thing you think about is making money out of it? No wonder you two are married." Solus replied with mock indignance. "Seriously, though, you have no idea how happy I am that we can speak freely about things like this."

    "Me too." Kam nodded. "I was thinking about learning English. This way we''d have our secretnguage and we can teach it to our baby girl."

    "Yes! Yes to all!" Solus jumped in excitement. "Please, marry me."

    "Toote, sweetheart, I already own your ass. I married Lith when he was on promotion. Two for the price of one." Kam said with augh as she pointed at his betrothal gift to prove her point.

    "By the way, are you sure you don''t need to sleep as well? I''m only fine thanks to the baby.

    "She pumps me with so much energy that I barely need any sleep to recover. I swear to the gods that sometimes I think she''s using a breathing technique in my womb and I get the side effects."

    It was meant as a joke but neither of themughed.

    If the baby girl was anything like her father, being a hard worker would be hardly a surprise. The two women stared at Kam''s belly for a while before the thought started to creep them out.

    "I''m fine, thanks." Solus sighed. "I stuffed myself with warm milk and cookies before bed. That and Malyshka''spany made me sleep like a log."

    "That''s great." Kam nodded. "While we wait for the sleeping beauty, I have a favor to ask you."

    "Anything for my wife and master." Solus gave her a mocking bow.

    "Please don''t say that. It''s funny when people call me Lith master because he''s much more powerful than me yet I''m free to boss him around. With your condition, instead, being called your master makes me feel like a jerk." Kam replied.

    "Point taken." Solus nodded. "What can I do for you?"

    "I''d like to learn more about magic." Kam produced a burst of bright orange aura with specks of yellow all over.

    "Already?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "Well, we are always above a geyser. The baby keeps growing and so does her strength. I''m afraid that in a while I could achieve the deep yellow and I can''t get Silverwing''s plea out of my head." Kam said.

    The First Magus had begged Kam to take care of Lith and Solus and to never forget to practice magic. The mana core growing faster than the body was the cause of death of many Awakened, Solus'' father included.

    "Sure thing. Any preference?" Solus asked.

    "Not really. I''m proficient in tier zero due to my job, but I suck at Spirit Magic. I know nothing about the rest. My core was too weak even for tier one magic." Kam said.

 Chapter 2278 Magic Lesson (Part 2)

    "We can work on your foundations." Solus used her breathing technique, Sky Blessing to check on Kam''s condition and how much the impurities in her body had shifted.

    "The good thing about Spirit Magic is that it contains all elements. Everything you learn about it can be applied to elemental magic."

    "Good to know." Kam nodded. "Do you think I can learn Light Mastery while we are at it?"

    "Holograms? Sure. It''s too early for constructs, though. Also, we have to ask Nalrond''s permission first. We promised him not to share his tribe''s legacy." Solus said.

    "I''m in no rush. It can wait. How much can you teach me?" Kam asked.

    "In a day? Depends on your talent, unless you mean based on your core. In that case, the best you can do is cast the weakest among tier two spells. Not going to lie. Like my mother used to say, orange is a fart." Solus smiled at the memory of Menadion''s ranking for mana crystals.

    "Let''s start from tier zero, then. Teach me like Lith did for the kids." Kam smiled at the memory as well.

    "Speaking of that, why are you asking me and not Lith?"

    "Because I want to surprise him and because he''d make a mission out of it. I want slow-paced magic lessons, not an improvised boot camp." Kam projected via a mind link the image of a Lith with a stern expression.

    "Train like your life depends on it because one day it might!" He said to a panting Kam who failed to conjure the elements because short on mana.

    "Gods, that''s him down to a t." Solus burst into a bellyugh while Kam snorted.

    "We''ll see if you still find it funny when he''ll work you to the bone to lose weight." She poked at Solus'' belly, making her hrity disappear.

    "He must never know about this conversation. I''m working on it, but at my own pace. If Lith gets involved with my diet, it would be a grind." Solus suddenly empathized with Kam''s situation.

    "My problem exactly." She nodded. "Now, what about those lessons? There''s not much time before Lith wakes up."

    "Sure thing. Just one question. Do you want the spoon-fed method or Faluel''s?" A quick mind link exined to Kam the difference between the two.

    One would give the student a step-by-step exnation of the rules of magic, asking her questions that would be quickly followed by the mostmon wrong answers and then by the correct one.

    The other, instead, would just teach her the basics and entrust her to find the correct answer by trial and error and deep thinking.

    "Spoon-feeding sounds right to me." Kam replied. "I don''t want to be a great mage or work in any field of research. I just want to learn enough to train my core and follow my daughter wherever she goes."

    "Sweet! I''ve never used this method. I''m curious to see how you''ll turn out." Solus established a mind link and started to revise with Kam the contents of Silverwing''s book, the Basics of Magic.

    After each chapter, Solus would conjure the corresponding element and Kam would mirror Solus to the best of her abilities. Solus further improved Silverwing''s methods by applying Lith''s school of magic.

    She divided the elements into three branches. Equilibrium (air and water), Creation (light and earth), and Destruction (fire and darkness), teaching them in this order just like Lith had done with the kids.

    Kam already had excellent foundations thanks to Jirni''s lessons and her constant training as a Constable. People with a weak mana core like her focused on finesse rather than raw strength so she had a great degree of mana control already.

    Solus'' lesson went smoothly, deepening Kam''s understanding of every element before moving on to Spirit Magic that epassed them all.

    "I swear on my Mom, you make no sense." Solus said while checking Kam''s hair for the umpteenth time. "Even though you have Awakened, you have no streak. Which means you are like Lith and nothing like Friya. You have no affinities.

    "Then howe you can manipte the elements with such ease?"

    "I don''t know." Kam shrugged. "You are the teacher so it''s up to you to exin to me stuff."

    She sucked hard at air magic yet was amazing at water.

    In the same way, Kam struggled with earth and had an easy time with light. To make things even more absurd, she mastered fire and darkness like they were second nature to her even though they were supposed to be the hardest to control.

    The elements of destruction didn''t just answer hermands, they danced in her palms, shaping themselves however she wanted.

    "Wild guess, can it be the baby?" Kam pointed at her womb. "Back when Sark used Blood Imprint on the family, I got covered in red-veined ck feathers."

    ? "Daughter of a Dragon!" Solus pointed her finger at Kam, her tone angry. "Of course it''s because of the baby. She isn''t like Lith who was reborn fully human until the blue core. Her Divine Beast side is perfect so she has elemental affinities.

    "Now I understand what Protector and Nalrond meant when they said that their innate elements feel like a part of their own body."

    "Makes sense, unlike your anger." Kam tilted her head in confusion.

    "Because no one I know, or at least I remember of, ever had such an easy time mastering four frigging elements! By the way, why four? They are supposed to be two." Solus pouted in envy.

    "Another wild guess. Void Magic." Kam tormented her lower lip while in deep thought.

    "How do you even know about that?" Solus asked in frustration.

    "Because Lith often speaks about his work and I try to learn and understand everything I can to keep the conversation going. We both get interested in what the other does or with nothing inmon, we''d get bored.

    "In my case, he''d rather spend more time with you than with me." Kam said with a snort, that made Solus'' anger take several steps back.

    "Definitely Void Magic." Solus nodded. "You are on a roll, sister. This is very interesting. It proves that if Emperor Beasts and Fae are taught Void Magic, they can use it to partially extend their affinities to theplementary element."

    She was eager to change the topic and resume the lesson.

    After over three hours of relentless practice, Kam was covered in sweat. Her breath wasbored and every inch of her body ached from the mana flow. She also had learned how to conjure simple holograms like a rock or a piece of nk paper.

    Spoon-feeding knowledge allowed her to learn at a fast pace and thanks to the mind link, hours-long exnations and demonstrations were condensed into a few minutes.

    "So much for a gentle pace." Kam drank water in-between wheezes and felt hungrier than ever. "I might as well have asked Lith."

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to work you so hard." Solus conjured a tonic and a full roasted chicken from her pocket dimension. "I just wanted to make the best of the time we had before the mind link caused you mana poisoning.

    "I am as surprised as you are that it didn''t happen. At all."

 Chapter 2279 Ground Rules (Part 1)

    Kam wolfed down the chicken and gulped down the entire bottle of tonic before replying.

    "I''m not surprised, dumbass. Don''t you remember what happened back when Lith showed me his past life as Derek? No mana poisoning there either."

    "No need to be cranky!" Solus said, receiving a hungry snarl in reply that she countered with a te of steaming roasted potatoes. "This is actually pretty great news. It means that until the baby girl is born, teaching you will be a cakewalk.

    "Even better, if the baby keeps this ability even out of your womb, there''s no telling how quickly she will master evenplex disciplines like Dimensional Magic or Light Mastery."

    At those words, Kam choked on her food and stopped eating. Judging from the mean look she threw at Solus while cleaning herself and swallowing what was left in her mouth, Kam didn''t share Solus'' optimism one bit.

    "Look, if we want to make our rtionship work, you can''t do this. Like ever." Kam said. "Otherwise I''ll kick your ass or die trying."

    "What did I do wrong?" Solus was puzzled.

    "You bragged about something you can do and I can''t. Something that will bring you closer to my child than I will be." Kam said, her voice bearing just a tinge of annoyance after recognizing the honest mistake.

    "This is going to be hard anyway but if you turn it into apetition, our rtionship will turn sour beyond salvation."

    "I''m sorry, I really don''t follow you." Solus had no idea what she had done wrong yet she felt guilty nheless.

    "Solus, you just said that you and Lith might be able to have with our daughter the same privileged channel you two share. That no matter how long a mind linksts, the baby won''t suffer from mana poisoning whereas I will." Kam replied, making Solus turn pale.

    "I''m so sorry. I wasn''t brag-" Kam raised her hand, asking Solus to let her continue.

    "It means that, again, your bond with Lith puts you in a privileged positionpared to me. That our daughter might consider you her Mom more than me. Can you understand how painful it is for me?"

    "Yes." Solus clenched the frills of her dress, feeling the dumbest genius ever.

    "On top of that, I don''t want the baby to learn magic faster than me. What will I do if she Warps around before I master dimensional magic? How am I supposed to protect her if she flies around faster than me thanks to some Light Mastery trick?" Kam said.

    "I''m no different from Threin, Solus.

    "I''m not learning magic because I care for it, only because I don''t want to be cut off from my daughter''s life. I want to be able to teach her how to control her powers, follow her around, and catch her when she runs away in a tantrum.

    "All things that you''ll be able to do whereas I won''t unless we set ground rules from now on. I need your help, or I won''t be able to spend time alone with my daughter. Do you understand?"

    "Yes." Solus replied.

    ''How can I be so bright and yet so dumb?'' She actually thought. ''The baby is still unborn yet Kam already thinks like a mother whereas I''m no different from Ripha, thinking only about magic.''

    "Now, if we don''t want our mother-daughter rtionship to be skewed in your favor, I need you to think deeply about how you act and speak, sister Star." Kam pointed at Solus'' pendant. "Because even words hurt and children learn our bad habits fast."

    "Then I''ll need your help as well, sister Moon." Solus gave her a thin smile. "Because when I get lost in magic, I suck at everything else. I need you to ground me when I fly too high."

    "I can do that." Kam nodded. "As a rule of thumb, never teach our daughter anything I don''t know already. This way, I can be her mentor as well and she can''t fool me with her magic. Okay?"

    "Okay." Solus too nodded. "By the way, will her moniker be sister Sun? You know, because of the pendant?"

    "Heck, no!" Kam''s stern tone made Solus take a step back, making her feel like a child being scolded. "Do you have any memory of Menadion, Elina, Rena, or even Selia trying to be their children''s friend?"

    "No." Solus pondered. "They are loving but strict. They demand obedience and often force the children to do or eat things they don''t like."

    "My point exactly." Kam said. "A parent is like a teacher. You need to respect them and understand that they know more than you do. If a child thinks of you as their equal, they won''t listen to a word you say.

    "Hence our daughter will call us mother Moon and Star while she will be our baby Sun. You can call me sister, not her."

    "Wow. I''m supposed to be your teacher, but I''m learning a lot today as well." Solus pondered those words, taking them to heart.

    "That''s because I respect you as a mage just as you respect me as a mother." Kam replied. "That''s all we need to teach and learn from each other."

    "Thanks, Moon." Solus hugged Kam.

    "Don''t mention it, Star." She returned the embrace.

    "Do you want to continue the lesson? Lith can use one more hour of sleep."

    "Nah. I need a warm bath, lots of food, and rest. In that order. Or by the time Lith wakes up, I''ll be smelly, hungry, and cranky."

    ''Toote for all that, sister.'' Solus thought.

    "Also, I don''t want to spend these two days practicing magic. I want to enjoy yourpany." Kam said.

    "Agreed. Sorry for being a Lith." Solus said, making them bothugh. "Once you are done with the bath, I can give you a mud bath, a hot stone massage, or whatever you want. I visited several spas and I can replicate everything they had."

    "Good to know." Kam ate the remaining potatoes before standing up. "Mind joining me? This way, you can regte the water temperature, conjure facilities, food and drinks while we get to know each other better."

    "Are you sure?" Solus blushed a little.

    "I meant separate tubs!" Kam turned to a bright shade of purple. "Gods, Lith must have infected you with his dirty mind."

    Solus blushed even more in embarrassment, knowing that no matter what she said, it would only make matters worse.

    "Would you like aromatic candles for the bath?" With no excuse to offer, she could only change the topic. "Also, do you want more hot food or you''d rather have sweets now? ording to Sinmara ice cream in a hot tub is the best."

    "Candles and ice cream, please." Kam sighed.

    She could already imagine what Lith would think when he and Solus fused next and he learned about that conversation.

    ***

    After Lith woke up for lunch, Kam had worked up such an appetite that he didn''t suspect she had already eaten a few times. They spent the afternoon on the mountain, hiking and taking a pic.

    They returned to the Desert for dinner, to eat with the rest of the family, and make projects for the day after.

 Chapter 2280 Ground Rules (Part 2)

    "What do you say if we go visiting Baron Wyalon, son?" Raaz asked. "He deserves that ride on the DoLorean you promised him."

    "I don''t know, Dad. I''ve already gotten an invitation from my old sergeant, Tepper. I was thinking to turn him down, but Morok has been invited as well. We''ve never been really close, but he''s Quy''s betrothed now.

    "After what happened to Phloria, she needs us more than ever."

    "How long would that take?" Kam asked.

    "An hour. Maybe less. Hardly more. The invite is about showing me off to the new recruits and giving them some kind of speech. Boot camps have no time to waste, believe me.

    "Whatever rest those poor boys get while I talk, they are going to pay dearly for it in sweat."

    "Your camp was in the north and so is Jambel." Solus pointed out. "What if we pick up Wyalon and then ride to Grimatros? This way you can act all cocky in front of your family and friends. Also, we can move out the moment you are done."

    "Sounds like a n." Lith nodded. "By the way, any thought about the V issue?"

    "No. I''m still swamped." Kam replied.

    "No clue, sorry." Solus cleared her throat.

    "Good, because I feel the same." Lith had yet to give Leegaain an answer about the adoption of Valeron the Second in case of Thrud''s death.

    It was a decision that needed both Kam''s and Solus'' approval. Before Phloria''s kidnapping, Lith already resented the Mad Queen but now he was out for her blood. Making her a favor, even after killing her, made his blood flow backward in outrage.

    ***

    Ker Region, city of Jambel, the following day.

    Lith and the rest of his family reached the city on Sark''s DoLorean. Elina was driving, to get used to it and muster the courage to go on trips and adventures on her own.

    Raaz was doing his meditation exercises to prepare himself to be near people and keep his social anxiety under control. Every bad news he received was a huge blow to his morale but with a daughter and a granddaughter iing, he didn''t cut himself any ck.

    ''I want to be there for them and be someone they can look up to for guidance. Not a broken mess who will only teach them to be afraid of their own shadow.'' Even after witnessing the massacre of the three cities, the thought of the baby girls gave him strength.

    "Wow! Show off much?" Rena lowered her window, pointing at the banners flying all over Jambel. "You could have at least told us that you have changed the family emblem, little brother."

    "I did no such thi- Oh, farm me sideways!" The banners were red and ck, depicting a Voidfeather Dragon coiled up around a white tower, the sword had been reced by War and the staff by the Sage Staff.

    Solus squealed in joy from her ring while Kam''s snarl was mild but perfectly clear.

    They shared half the banner each, making their partnership official and Kam jealous.

    "I''m sorry. It''s not my idea!" Lith apologized despite being innocent.

    "It''s true Kami. No one asked our permission for that." Solus said.

    She was the only one besides Lith using that moniker in the family, making them wonder when she''d notice how weird it sounded.

    "I''m not angry." Yet she clearly was. "Just remember what I told you yesterday, Solus. Do not skew things."

    "I won''t."

    ''Poor Kami.'' Solus thought. ''Just as she feared, I''m taking her space. Better think in advance how to exin to the baby girl why only Dad and one Mom are part of the family insignia.''

    "What''s the meaning of the banners?" Lith asked while shaking Wyalon''s hand without even greeting him first.

    The Baron had prepared an honor guard for them. A long ck and red carpet was below their feet and every soldier held a gpole flying a banner.

    "You mean your new family crest?" Wyalon said with augh. "Leegaain, the Divine Dragon of the Empire drew it himself and the Empress gifted it to the Royals. You can imagine the rest."

    "Father of all Dragons!" It was supposed to be an honor title but Lith said it like a swear word.

    "Yeah, I''m sorry but I''m with him on this. Your Tiamat form is creepy as heck, especially after you-know-what." The Baron shuddered at the memory of the Demons shrouding the sun.

    "Never mind that. We have business to discuss." Lith exined Wyalon the reason he couldn''t stay long.

    "Ah." The Baron looked dejected, all that his preparations had achieved was to embarrass his guest.

    "Where''s your family?" Lith looked for Mirias and their children but couldn''t find them.

    "I couldn''t bother you with a family trip." Wyalon replied. "It''s already an honor for me to ride with you. Besides, I doubt there''s enough space for everyone."

    He pointed at the muscle car, wondering how could the whole Verhen family fit into such a small vehicle.

    "Actually, there''s more space than you think." Lith sighed deeply, being forced to admit that his DoLorean looked terriblepared with Sark''s. "But that''s not the point. Why should your family miss your first trip with your DoLorean?"

    Lith took another car out of his pocket dimension, handing the Baron a magic crystal that would work as an ignition key.

    "I beg your pardon?" Wyalon froze in stupor.

    "I received the authorization to craft one for myte friend, Count Lark, but he is no more and his children say it''s painful to watch for them.

    "Since you like it, I wanted to give you a DoLorean to thank you for your hospitality, your help with my silver mines, and for fighting on my behalf in the Royal Court." Lith said.

    "I assure you that it''s faster than any horse and if you bring it with you during battle, your survival chances will increase dramatically."

    The gift DoLorean looked like a minivan and was far from cool but the Baron''s face flushed with emotion as his eyes turned watery. It took him a single deep breath to regain his cool.

    "I can''t ept-"

    "You are offending me." Lith cut him short.

    "I dly ept it, then." The Baron received the crystal with both hands, needing sheer willpower to not jump with joy. "I can''t wait for Mirias to see it!"

    "Why wait?" Lith stopped Wyalon from calling for his horse and opened a Steps straight to the Baron''s house.

    "Be right back!" Wyalon said and he was true to his word.

    He returned a few secondster, dragging his children by the hands and carrying his fierce wife like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder.

    "Put me down you damn oaf! I''m going to kill you in your sleep and-" Mirias''s face was red with anger and her clothes crumpled. "It''s an honor to meet you again, Supreme Magus Verhen. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

    The moment the Baron put his wife down and she saw Lith, Mirias adjusted her behavior ordingly. Her expression turned kind and even her skin reverted to its usual pallor.

    She gave him a perfect curtsy while straightening her clothes in a single fluid movement.

 Chapter 2281 M Rank (Part 1)

    "I''m sorry for messing with your busy schedule, dear Baroness, but I wanted to invite you, Kotu, and Iriel on a trip with my family. On your DoLorean." Lith pointed at the car, making the twins gasp in amazement.

    "Our DoLorean?" Mirias echoed, her face turning even paler.

    "Your DoLorean." Lith nodded.

    "Our DoLorean!" Wyalon showed her the crystal with pride, putting it into her hands.

    Nothing in her etiquette lessons and manuals covered what a country noble had to do when receiving a priceless gift from a Magus so her brain froze and Mirias fainted on the spot.

    The Baron caught her on the fly, using ammonium salts to make her recover.

    "I swear to the gods, Eiros, I had the strangest dream-" She said upon regaining consciousness, just to freeze again once reality pped her in the face.

    "I never thought that the day woulde where it would be my turn saying this, dear, but you are embarrassing me." The Baron said with the sweetest voice and smile, trying to lighten the mood.

    Yet his words worked like a charm, poking at her pride and honor.

    ''If nothing makes sense, just go with the flow.'' Mirias thought while getting back on her feet.

    "I apologize for the inconvenience. Let''s go." She actually said.

    "I haven''t even told you our destination, dear." The Baron found the experience of being the polite one oddly amusing.

    "You are right. Where to?"

    "Magus Verhen''s boot camp, Grimatros." Wyalon said and Mirias walked to the car, waiting for her husband to imprint the artifact.

    "You still have the key, dear. I can''t open it without the crystal."

    "You are right." She had never said those words to her husband so many times in a week, let alone a few minutes. Her face flushed as the Baroness handed the crystal back to the Baron.

    "Since it''s your first time, it would be better if you three go to the backseat and I sit in the front. Just until the Baron learns the ropes." Lith said.

    Mirias and her children followed his instruction to avoid further embarrassment.

    "Follow us, mother." Lith said and Elina gave him thumbs up.

    The DoLorean was responsive and the controls intuitive so it took the Baron a few minutes to go from trembling rookie to driving enthusiast.

    Once the tension from the novelty faded, Mirias and the twins took turns driving. Lith inwardly sighed, but he considered it as experience for his own daughter''s driving lessons.

    An hour and a Warp Gateter, they reached Grimatros.

    "Not again!" Lith whined. He could swear to have heard Kam''s snarl from the other DoLorean despite the distance separating the two vehicles.

    The whole camp was painted red and ck with his family insignia flying right below the g of the country.

    Another honor guard holding more gpoles flying his banner waited for them, making it Jambel all over again.

    More than one surprise waited for him.

    Drill Sergeant Tepper was waiting for him, along with Brigadier General Berion, Great Mage Eari-Ernas, and Drill Sergeant Vipli.

    Lith took a deep breath, inwardly swearing like a drunken sailor while his clothes shapeshifted into the uniform of a Major of the army.

    "Thanks foring, Major Verhen. It''s nice to be back where everything started." Berion outranked him in the army but he gave Lith the salute first since a Magus outranked anyone in the Kingdom but the Royals.

    A Supreme Magus was even above that which had put the Royal Chambein in a tough spot. He was still trying to find a way to fit Lith''s new custom title in the Kingdom''s hierarchy without also making him the monarch.

    "It''s my pleasure." Lith returned them the salute before offering them his hand in turn. "Why is Vipli here and why wasn''t Nalrond of the Desert invited as well?"

    He could only assume that Morok had been invited due to his newfound rtionship with the Ernas and because he was involved in Phloria''s search as well. Yet if that was true, the Rezar too should have been there.

    ''By my Mom, I''m moved!'' Solus couldn''t believe her ears.

    For once Lith remembered someone from their past without jumbling up their name or needing her help.

    "No offense to house Ernas, but this event has nothing to do with the tragedy that has befallen them." Berion cleared his throat, embarrassed that theck ofmunication had caused a misunderstanding.

    "This is a reunion for the members of the King''s army and there''s no ce for a civilian and a foreigner at that. You and Captain Eari are the only two Monster-ranked soldiers of your generation that graduated from the north.

    "We have called you here to present you to thetest batch of cadets to inspire them and to be their role models."

    "Yet some roles are more models than others." Morok pointed at the banners with a disgruntled expression. "I see no banner of the Ernas nor of the Eari households."

    "For the hundredth time, Captain Eari, drop this matter." Berion''s dted nostrils were the only sign of his distress. "There is no such thing as an Eari household hence no banner. You had no rtionship with the Ernas during your service so no to their banner as well."

    "I do have a banner!" Morok pulled out a yellow g depicting him shirtless and with the body of a Greek god. He was portrayed sitting while in deep meditation, with a small Mogar floating above his open palm. "I made it myself."

    "Even a child can do that." Berion exhaled sharply. "A real banner needs the Royal Seal to be official otherwise it''s just a piece of cloth. Now, put it away or I''ll have you court-martialled for tr- I mean, I''ll call Lady Ernas."

    "Gods, no!" Morok had no idea if the General was talking about Jirni or Quy, but either of them might have called off the engagement. "I apologize, sir. I promise I''ll behave from now on. Sir."

    ''Should have done this hours ago.'' Berion inwardly grumbled.

    "As for Staff Sergeant Vipli, today he gets his first ss of recruits and I thought it would be nice of you to give him a hand." He actually said, patting the young man''s shoulders with pride.

    "Wow, I''m impressed." Lith shook Vipli''s hand with a firm but friendly grip. "Corporal right from the boot camp and now Staff Sergeant in a little less than four years. You''vee a long way from being an annoying piece of work."

    "Thanks, but there''s no need for ttery. I''m content with you not holding a grudge." Vipli said with a sigh.

    Magus Verhen''s tone was friendly and his words nice, but theparison between the two men made thepliments sound like mockery. The two of them had the same age and had graduated from the same ss in the same camp.

    Yet Lith was already a Major and a Supreme Magus. He was married to a beautiful woman and had a baby girl on the way. Kam was a Constable and a Captain, outranking Vipli as well.

    "Why ttery?" Lith furrowed a brow. "I got my officer stripes only because I''m a mage."

 Chapter 2282 M Rank (Part 2)

    "I was never a leader and my current rank is only meant to give me authority. You, instead, started from nothing. You''ve made an outstanding career and the army trusts you so much that they are going to put countless lives in your hands.

    "Sergeant Tepper thinks you capable of teaching others how to protect their lives and those of the civilians and so do I.

    "You should be proud of yourself. Just don''t let it go to your head. Every life your cadets will save will be on you, but so are also those they''ll lose." Lith said.

    "Thanks." Vipli straightened his shoulders.

    Lith''s words were more thanpliments. Hearing Vipli''s own aplishments from a brother-in-arms allowed him to put things in perspective. Lith was indeed more sessful than him, but that didn''t take anything away from Vipli.

    "Save the speeches for the recruits, cadet 1416." Tepper said with a grunt, calling Lith with his recruit identification number. "They are going to need it."

    "With all due respect, Sergeant, introductions are due." Kam outranked Tepper but she gave him the salute first since she was a guest in his base. "I only know General Berion and Captain Eari and so does the rest of your guests."

    "You''re right, I''m sorry." Lith said. "Tepper was my Drill Sergeant during my boot camp and Vipli was one of my barrack mates. He was the second-best scout in our unit. He and Nhilo were the only two to be nonmissioned officers right after graduation."

    "With all due respect, Captain, your husband was a Major even back then. A major pain in the neck. He used teamwork for toilet paper and made my training sessions a nightmare for everyone else." Tepper returned her salute and then stood on attention.

    "My attempts to break him and make him fall in line almost killed the unit more than once."

    "I know." Kam smiled. "I read Lith''s file several times and after meeting him in person for the first time I experienced how¡­ intense he could be."

    "What Lith forgets to say, ma''am, is that everyone in the barrack hated his guts." Vipli said while giving her the salute as well. "We tried making him a practical joke only once because his retort was¡­ merciless.

    "I was the second-best scout, but leagues behind him and he became Lieutenant right off the bat."

    "Tell me about it. It took me a decade to reach the same rank of a freshly graduated recruit." Her silveryughter made Vipli demote Lith''s Magus title to the second thing he was envious of the most.

    "Let''s get moving, or this will take us all day." Tepper said, Leading them to the training grounds.

    Lith crossed the familiar paved walkways of the camp reserved for the officials. The recruits, instead, had to walk through the mud, earning demerits whenever they didn''t clean their boots and pants properly.

    A boot camp was a ce filled with yells and people wearing tense expressions even during times of peace, but during war, it was much worse. The Sergeants said things that would have made a sailor cry but the recruits just gritted their teeth and nodded.

    Death was no longer a remote possibility but a cold reality. Every mistake they made in the camp would have led to one or more funerals in the field. Anyone who messed up during mock battles knew that they had just killed their entire unit.

    The cadets didn''t resent the Drill instructors for being harsh because it would save their lives in the future. They thanked the gods for those battles being just a simtion and for having a second chance to fix their mistakes.

    Vipli''s ss consisted of five lines of twenty people each. They were all sixteen years old youths who had volunteered to protect their country. Their expressions were either stoic or desperate as if they were attending their own funeral.

    Not all of them would be entrusted to Vipli. Berion had simply put together as many cadets as he could to take part in the event without it bing a mess.

    "Listen well, maggots." Tepper took the lead, addressing the troops. "For some of you, this is your first month here while others have been in the camp for a while. The only thing you have inmon is that you are all a disgrace for the uniform you wear.

    "You haven''t been chosen because we think you are special so get off your high horse and wipe those stupid grins off your faces. You have been selected because you are the worst of the worst. The scum of Grimatros.

    "My hope is that meeting two real soldiers, someone who fights for the Kingdom and has reached the highest honors, might straighten you up. Pay close attention to what they have to tell you because one day it might make the difference between life and death.

    "They are bothmoners, with no noble mommy or daddy pushing them up thedder. They both worked their asses off, bing two M-ranked graduates and Rangers as that.

    "I introduce you Captain and Great Mage Morok Eari-Ernas and Major and Supreme Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen." At those words, the recruits went pale and their eyes focused on Lith, looking for signs of his inhuman nature.

    Every one of them had something to say, their faces twitching from the strain of keeping their mouths shut.

    "What''s the matter, princesses? Did your fairy godmother shove her wand up your ass before sending you to the ball? Because that''s the only possible exnation for your pathetic disy of self-control." Tepper said with a snarl to the recruits in the first line, his voice loud enough to deafen them.

    "Cadet 2483, speak freely."

    "Thank you, sir! Magus Verhen is not just an M rank. He''s an actual monster, sir. There''s nothing we can learn from him, sir. We are humans." A young man said and the rest of the cadets nodded.

    "As always, you are wrong, cadet 2483." Tepper replied, without ever lowering his voice even though their noses were millimeters away. "Magus Verhen is a Divine Beast, not a monster. And that''s now. Back when I trained him, he was painfully human."

    Tepper pressed a button on hismunication amulet, projecting videos of Lith being taught hand to handbat and swordsmanship by the army instructors. The montage focused on all the times he had been disarmed, tackled, or swept off his feet by a good kick.

    "I know I''m good, but not enough to lift dozens of tons off the ground." Tepper continued. "Back then he was no different from you so don''t try to use the race card to justify your shorings."

    "It''s true." Lith took a step forward taking a mental note of how the average person looked at him "During my boot camp I was half-human. I weighed just like you and my strength was nothing like today."

    "If you want an excuse to chicken out of here, you are out of luck." Morok stepped forward as well. "I got my M rank fair and square. I''m no Divine Beast and had no special powers to cheat my way to sess, yet here I am."

 Chapter 2283 Ebbing Tide (Part 1)

    While Lith had chosen his words carefully to avoid mentioning his Awakening without lying, Morok was honest. Back during his boot camp, he was still a regr human.

    His Tyrant half had given him no edge over thepetition and he had Awakened yearster.

    The recruits would have loved to turn around and discuss the matter among themselves but discipline and the Drill Sergeants ring at them demanded they remained still and silent.

    "I''m Staff Sergeant Vipli from Senma and I''m going to be the drill instructor for a few of you." Vipli stepped in front of the two Rangers. "I was a bunkmate of Magus Verhen and I can assure you that he was obnoxious but human.

    "He ate as much as we did, sweated like we did, and bled like we did. I have no idea if he already had special powers but if he did, don''t think that he just used them to show off. He was the one the Sergeant was the strictest to.

    "He was the one who took the me every time the unit failed or underperformed. He was the one who stayed behind against a tribe of orcs to allow the rest of us to get out alive." Vipli projected footage of how hard fighting an orc was.

    "Even if you had his magical powers, do you think you could do the same? Because I know I wouldn''t. If I had Major Verhen''s talent, I would have chosen to stay home and get rich instead of putting my life on the line in one of the hardest jobs of the Kingdom.

    "That could be said of all Rangers. Do you think you are Ranger material? Do you?" Vipli''s question received no answer.

    Very few among the cadets had decent magical powers and none of them would be there if it had been enough to enroll in one of the six great academies.

    "I know that I''m supposed to give a speech, but as you probably know, I''m no leader." Lith said. "You think that I have no idea of your struggles because as you said, I''m a monster. Everything I say would sound like hot air to you."

    "That''s why I''ll do what only people in power can afford to do. I''ll delegate to someone better than me. Allow me to introduce you my brother, Sergeant First ss Trion Verhen."

    A flick of Lith''s hand made his shadow grow in size, giving Trion a body to inhabit. Light Mastery gave him the appearance he had in life and the pocket dimension his uniform.

    The cadets gasped seeing a personing out of thin air. They broke the line to assume a defensive stance.

    "Ten-hut!" Berion said, making them snap out of their fear and stand back at attention.

    "In life, my brother was a Drill Sergeant as well. He spent his career in the army and was as human as you are. Now, he has chosen to follow me as one of my Demons. He is one of my generals and second inmand."

    Elina''s eyes turned watery seeing her two boys standing side by side despite their past grudges. Lith''s words sounded like nothing much to the others, but to her, sharing his family name was the highest praise that Lith could give Trion.

    "It''s true." Trion looked at the muddy ground, the clear sky, and the recruits scared shitless, feeling back in his natural element. "I was just like you. A magicless boy just turned into a man with a chip on his shoulder.

    "I hated my brother''s guts just like you do. I wasn''t as tall, strong, or fast as him and I was such a powerful mage that I could prepare two full cups of tea before needing a nap." The cadets could rte to his words and many smiled at the joke.

    "I abandoned my home to escape from his shadow and gave it my all in the army to prove to the Kingdom that I was special as well. Too bad that my instructors didn''t agree with my ego and gave me a B rank." Trion sighed.

    "I was furious and felt insulted. All things that I took care of saying in the face of my Sergeant before leaving the camp, thinking I had no reason to be afraid of him anymore. Boy if I was wrong.

    "He told me that he considered me an A-rank soldier, but that as long as I didn''t take my rage out of my ass and channeled it into something more than being a whiny bitch, I was destined for mediocrity.

    "I would like to tell you that I was mature enough to thank him for his words and learn my lesson, but I was just a boy. Most of the good decisions I made back then were out of pure luck. It took me months and lots of demerits to understand what the sergeant meant.

    "And it wouldn''t have been enough if not for my brothers in arms. Talking with those who had sess, I discovered that they weren''t luckier or more talented than me. They just used their energy to be better instead of whining about their misfortune.

    "After understanding that, I rose through the army ranks, made friends, and found a new family for me. Yet I was still an idiot with a chip on his shoulder. I refused the Verhen family name and bought one for myself.

    "I was Trion ''Proudstar''. Gods, if it sounds embarrassing." Trionughed at himself and the cadets had to bite their lips to not do the same. "I believed to have cut all ties with my past, yet the slightest mention of my brother was enough to drive me insane.

    "I put my career at risk several times just to settle a score only I kept and prove to Mogar how good I was. I spent my life hiding my identity from my friends and running away from my family, no matter how much they loved me." Trion pointed at Elina and Raaz.

    "I disowned my parents and my newborn little brother grew up without knowing me. The army creates camaraderie and friendship, but there''s only so much it can do when you keep people at an arm''s length to protect your stupid secrets.

    "So, when Night came, I was alone. I ditched my army buddies to drown in self-pity as usual and rejected the Verhen name that would have saved my life. I died like an idiot and when Night staged my suicide, everyone bought her act.

    "I wore my heart on my sleeve, everyone knew how bitter I was and how I took every one of my brother''s sesses as a personal offense. After I returned as a Demon, I discovered how stupid I had been.

    "I carried my brother''s same blood, something that even scum like Meln managed to tap into. If only I had worked harder, if only I didn''t waste my time cursing at my brother just because he existed, I might have awakened the same power you envy.

    "What I''m trying to say is that today you are presented with a choice. You can follow my footsteps and whine about how unfair life is until the bitter end, or you can do like those two men." Trion pointed at Lith and Morok.

 Chapter 2284 Ebbing Tide (Part 2)

    "M rank soldiers aren''t born. They are forged every day in boot camps like this one. If you want to be like them, stop finding excuses for what youck and work hard to ovee your limits.

    "Stop chasing someone else''s dream and find your own. If you really want to achieve greatness, discover your talents and use them to climb to the top of your own mountain instead of wasting time on a path that doesn''t belong to you.

    "I had to die to learn this lesson. Be better than me or join me, I don''t care which.

    There''s plenty of room for new members in the Demon legion." Trion turned around giving Lith a nod as a thank you before disappearing back into his shadow.

    "Well, that covers pretty much everything." Morok was the only one who hadn''t been moved by the speech. "Unless you want us to kick some ass to teach these newbies a lesson, I''d say we are done here."

    Tepper red at Morok for one second before taking a deep breath to rx.

    ''I''d kick myself in the butt for calling Eari here. Berion warned me. Sergeant Earthman warned me. Heck, even Eari himself warned me.'' He thought.

    "Some ass-kicking would be perfect, cadet 2978." Tepper actually said. "Today you maggots will have the honor to have a Drill Captain along with your Sergeants."

    The troops widened their eyes a bit which was the army equivalent of a desperate groan.

    "Do whatever you want as long as they sustain no crippling injury. It''s too early for a pleasant vacation in the infirmary." The Sergeant turned around, giving Lith the salute. "Thanks for keeping our brothers and sister alive and giving them one more chance to fight the good fight."

    Then, he lowered his gaze, giving Lith''s shadow the salute.

    "Thanks for your service, Sergeant Verhen. If one of those idiots survives their first mission, it will be thanks to your speech. With your permission, I''m going to steal it."

    Lith''s eyes turned white as he returned the salute and spoke with Trion''s voice.

    "By all means, Sergeant Tepper. Feel free to paint me as idiotic as you need. My reputation is a small price to pay if it allows the kids to learn from my mistakes. Turn me into a cautionary tale if you have to."

    "As a man, you have indeed been an idiot. In death, however, you have transcended into a hero and a legend. That''s how intend to paint you, Sergeant."

    The white light disappeared from Lith''s eyes as Trion went back to his slumber in the Void Sigil. Lith nodded at Tepper as a thank you before bidding Berion, Vipli, and Morok goodbye.

    "Let''s go, Dad. You better drive. Mom seems to feel unwell." Lith gave Elina a brief hug and plenty of handkerchiefs.

    She was seconds away from bursting into tears and was holding herself together only because she was surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

    "Sure thing. I''m taking the lead, Baron Wyalon. Please, follow me." Raaz said.

    "There''s no rush, Lord Verhen. Lady Verhen." The Baron gave them both a deep bow knowing there was no ce for him in the pain they were experiencing.

    It took a while to reach their destination because Raaz kept driving in circles until Elina ran out of tears and managed to regain her cool.

    When she came out of the DoLorean, she had already washed her face and managed to act as if nothing had happened. They spent the rest of the morning with the Baron and his family.

    After lunch, they split up and the Verhens went back to the Desert with a Tower Warp. Only then did Elina ask Lith to summon Trion again. She spent the rest of the day with her boys, enjoying theirpany.

    The following day they would both go back to the battlefield and if anything happened to Lith, she would lose them both.

    ***

    No matter how far and wide everyone looked, there was no sign of the Golden Griffon. Not even the apprentices of the Council representative nor Mogar''s Serpent managed to find a single clue.

    Lith''s stay on the frontlines could onlyst as long as the army could support his advance. Bytra''s and Xenagrosh''s help made even the most fortified cities fall like houses of cards.

    They were nowhere near Tezka in terms of prowess, but that didn''t mean much. Once the Shadow Dragon and the Tiamat joined their forces, there was nothing they couldn''t destroy.

    Cities couldn''t Blink to safety. Cursed mes and Spells always hit their mark with obvious results.

    As for Solus, now that Nandi fueled her powers and with Bytra as her steed, she could take on Divine Beasts with ease. The Golden Knight and her ck Raiju soon became legends among the soldiers.

    The invasion proceeded slowly but steadily, with Lith creating bridgeheads in Thrud''s territories that the Council and the Kingdomter expanded on their own. Establishing supply lines and moving troops took time, which was a double-edged de.

    On the one hand, it limited the Kingdom''s advance since the Royals demanded a secure foothold before pushing forward and putting countless lives at risk. On the other hand, it gave Lith enough free time to recover.

    During the stabilization phase, he was mostly called to scare the rebels and keep the riots down simply by making an appearance. No one who had witnessed the Supreme Magus on the battlefield wanted to see him unsheathe War again.

    Worst case scenario, he turned into his Tiamat form and even the angriest mob fell to their knees and begged for mercy.

    Every time Lith and Solus went back home, they would share their memories of the battles with Kam. It allowed her to shoulder part of their burden and empathize with their feelings.

    It kept Lith and Solus from isting themselves and the three of them formed a small but tight support group.

    Everything was going well, but Lith grew more nervous with each passing day and he wasn''t the only one.

    "This makes no sense!" Orion mmed his Davross-coated fist on the holographic table of the War Room in the Royal Pce. "This is our biggest counter-offensive since the start of the War of the Griffons.

    "We are crippling one upied region after another, yet the Mad Queen has yet to make a move. On top of that, there''s once again a distinctck of Divine Beasts among the defense forces and we all know what it means."

    The Royals, the upper echelons of the army, and the Council representatives nodded in unison. Thest time it had happened, Thrud had exploited the fog of war to kidnap Phloria and attempt to take Zinya''s children as well.

    There were just a few people who could be her next target and their security had been increased to the point that they couldn''t go in a bathroom stall alone. They were Jirni, Orion, Zinya, Berion, and Faluel.

    Jirni and Orion were respectively the Head Strategist and the General of the Army. Their capture would havepromised every single frontline. They knew every defensive and offensive tactic the army would employ along with the position of all troops deployed.

 Chapter 2285 Dragon Knight (Part 1)

    Zinya''s kidnapping would have put Vastor out of the game which the Royals couldn''t afford. He was their only Highmaster and the heaviest hitter the Kingdom had aside from the Queen''s Corpse.

    Berion was in charge of the detail of Lith''s family. Kidnapping him meant throwing into the gutter countless traps and preparations. As for Faluel, no one knew why, but Lith had demanded a detail for her and the allied forces had been forced toply.

    Their deal still gave him absolute control over the joint armies and Lith couldn''t risk Thrud getting control over the Hydra and with her the Hands of Menadion.

    "At this point, Thrud should have finished instructing Phloria and learned from her everything relevant to her goals." Lith pondered in the tower with his own War Council. "Yet there is no trace of her nor of the Golden Griffon. Why?"

    "More kidnappings?" Friya asked with a shrug.

    "No, there''s nothing more she can obtain from us. Phloria gave out our secrets and Iata taught her troops Light Mastery. What need does Thrud have for another prisoner?" Quy replied. "They would have already taken Zinya if they could and I doubt Thrud wants to face Tezka again."

    They had no video of the battle, but the reports from the witnesses spoke of a one-sided massacre. That and the kids going back home in time despite the kidnapping, proved that the team of Divine Beasts ambushing them had failed even to slow them.

    "I have no idea about what Thrud''s cooking, but I bet it''s going to be nasty." Faluel said. "Always keep your guard up and be ready for the worst. Maybe the Mad Queen really doesn''t need more hostages but maybe she''s going to use Phloria as bait."

    "Agreed." Solus nodded. "Phloria is our weak point since we want her alive whereas the ve array will make her go for the kill. Thrud can exploit our bond to capture or kill us one by one."

    "Whatever you do, please, let''s avoid another Yurial." Quy clenched her fist, her face turning pale as she vividly remembered the sensation of the knife slitting her friend''s throat. "If Phloria kills one of us, she''ll never forgive herself."

    ***

    Grand Duchy of Deirus, the day after.

    When the members of Lith''s group heard the news, no one said it, but everyone thought to have jinxed the war by talking about theirte friend.

    Thrud''s army had reappeared at the borders of the former Grand Duchy where Yurial had lived. After Vn''s death, there was no time to find a suitable recement and the second mostpetent noble of the region had be ruler ad interim.

    s, Deirus had already started splitting the territories before his death and those who had received them didn''t like losing their newfound authority so fast. It was Night''s and Vn Deirus'' parting gift.

    The Grand Duchy was internally divided and its military force weakened. Not even the war had made the various nobles see reason. The frontlines were far away enough to make the nobles consider all matters rted to the war someone else''s problem.

    Or so they thought until they found their own main hubs sieged.

    Thrud''s army had cut through the bordering Remana region like a hot knife through butter, reaching Deirus in the space of a single night.

    "Idiots." Thrud said with a smile from her Throne room. "I''m done with the strategy of attrition. That had never been my real goal. It was just the means to stall for time while Ipleted my preparations.

    "I needed to finish turning my Generals into Divine Beasts and then I needed them to master their new bodies in actualbat. No matter how much I trained them, they were still green and used to fight as mere Emperor Beasts.

    "I had them exploit the immortality granted by the Unwavering Loyalty array to practice against opponents of increasing difficulty while those with Dragon Eyes collected stole spells and strategies.

    "This has never been a war so much as a boot camp. Now that my followers and I have learned everything we needed about ourselves and our enemies, it''s time to pull the curtains off this farce."

    "I already have a superior force. My immortal army of Awakened and my Divine Beasts put me above the Council and the Royals. I only have two final obstacles, the academies and the relics left by Valeron the First.

    "Today, we''ll take care of those damn academies."

    Meanwhile, on the battlefront, Phloria rode the Seven Headed Dragon Ufyl. She wore a brand-new Adamant uniform and Ufyl had even shapeshifted his armor to give her a saddle.

    It was a bit humiliating for him, but Thrud''s army needed its own legends to keep the morale up. If the Kingdom had the Supreme Magus and the Golden Knight, the True Queen now had Phloria, the Dragon Knight.

    A mind link made them in one mind and one body. Or better, eight minds, one body, and Reaver.

    Each one of the seven heads of the Divine Beast had Dragon Eyes and they all shared and analyzed the acquired information with Phloria. Her de allowed her to store two minutes'' worth of spells of any tier except for Spirit Spells.

    Together, they were a one Dragon Knight army. The Dragon Eyes scanned the defensive formations, identifying their weak spots that Phloria''s spells and Ufyl''s Origin mes targeted with surgical precision.

    No siege was needed to take cities down.

    Thrud''s army waitedfortably at a safe distance until they cracked the current target open as a nut. Once the defensive arrays were weakened, Phloria used her de Tier spell, Omnish to st through the city gates.

    At that point, the still fresh and rested army walked in. Walls and protections were pointless and the elemental sealing arrays didn''t trouble the Forgotten''s Spirit Magic. Phloria and Ufyl had cleared the path to Deirus in a single night this way.

    Thrud''s troops seemed to be endless, securing the newly seized cities while the Dragon Knight moved forward.

    "Idiots." Thrudughed out loud, her eyes not crying for the first time since Jormun''s death. "The Royals had no problem taking mynds in the north because I let them. The moment I understood that I couldn''t stop Verhen, I decided to exploit him as a cover.

    "Instead of wasting my forces in a losing battle, I had them relocating and readying for the next phase of my n. Those regions never had any real importance. While the Royals waste time and manpower to keep them secure, I''ll strike to their heart."

    "The word brilliant isn''t enough to describe your genius, Your Majesty." Iata, the Generals, and the finally healed Hystar gave her a round of apuse.

    Thrud couldn''t afford to have the Headmaster injured when she needed the Golden Griffon the most.

    "We have suffered a lot, but the end of the war is now in sight. It was worth it." The Sekhmet said.

    "Still, I can''t believe that a single person could make this much of a difference." Linnea pointed at the hologram of the Dragon Knight.

    "Really?" Thrud replied with a sneer. "Why do you think I invested so much into kidnapping her and Vastor?"

 Chapter 2286 Dragon Knight (Part 2)

    "Without them and Verhen, this war would have already ended the moment I turned my apprentices into Divine Beasts with the Ambrosia. Those three people are the backbone of the Kingdom.

    "The Highmaster and the two de Mages are each worth an army. Tactics and strategy can only do so much when the other side has overwhelming power."

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the couple that formed the Dragon Knight was starting to know each other better.

    "I''m really sorry, Phloria. I was merely an apprentice when the True Queen found me so I have no idea how a Harbinger is made. Otherwise it would be my honor to take you in." Ufyl said.

    "It would give you Dragon Eyes, Origin mes, and seven heads. On top of that, thanks to our bond, there would be no need for the ve array. I''m certain that if you could witness Thrud''s greatness through my eyes, you would fight with us of your own will."

    "Yeah." Phloria replied with a sigh. "It would also strengthen me enough to kick Verhen''s butt without your help. Out of curiosity, does your mother even know how to make a Harbinger?

    "I mean, you started as a Hydra, and based on what Faluel told me, no Lesser species ever had a Harbinger. No offense."

    "None taken." Ufyl replied. "And yes, she does know. Everything that our forefather passed onto us is considered a priceless legacy and preserved with the utmost care.

    "Enough with the chit-chat. We''ve recovered enough."

    They had been resting atop a mana geyser to hasten the recharge of both their mana and power cores. Thrud had nned her advance by following the natural sources of world energy as well.

    They were even more of paramount importance for her than for Lith.

    "The next city is the capital of Deirus." Orsat the Red Griffon had been sent to help them. "It''s built over a powerful mana geyser and its arrays are state-of-the-art. You''ll need another boost to take them down."

    "Are you going to fight with us this time?" Phloria asked.

    "I wish. The True Queen demands the legend of the Dragon Knight to match the Supreme Magus''. I''m just a delivery girl. Whenever you are ready."

    The moment Phloria finished charging Reaver, Ufyl gave a sign and the Red Griffon released a bolt of Life Maelstrom before leaving.

    Now, every single spell stored inside Phloria''s de had its power increased tenfold and so would the de Tier spell they would produce. Ufyl''s mes were strengthened as well, giving him the power to tten mountains.

    The city of Ne''sra fell so quickly that by the time the Royals were informed of the attack, Thrud''s troops were already swarming the capital of the Deirus region.

    ***

    "What the fuck?" Lith said when Orion informed him about the developments of the war. "Two regions in less than a day? How is that even possible?"

    "Easy, we have been wasting our troops, readying for an ambush or a counteroffensive while Thrud simply moved hers away." The General of the army replied. "Yet not even that is enough to exin how fast she is moving.

    "Somehow, Thrud can deploy her troops like she has City Gates everywhere. They shift position wherever she needs them the moment she needs reinforcements. We tried recapturing the cities, but we got overpowered."

    "What should I do?" Lith asked.

    Thrud had made sure to cause amunication ckout thatsted until Verhen had already started attacking his next target. With the Royal army deployed and the battle still ongoing, leaving so suddenly would have been a huge gamble.

    "Finish what you are doing." Orion clenched his fist, only the Davross of his armor kept him from bleeding. "Remember that this is a trap. The key element in our and Thrud''s advance is that our respective champion can take their time preparing for the strike.

    "Cities can''t dodge and with the army covering up for you, you had all the advantages. Now the situation is reversed. If you go there alone, we''ll lose this battle and you''ll have to face the Dragon Knight and her army."

    "And that only if Thrud or more of her Generals is notying in ambush." Jirni said, proud of her husband for keeping his head cool despite the circumstances. "Saying this makes my heart bleed, but Phloria has to wait.

    "Only once you have conquered Tremana, have recovered your strength, and have a proper backup can you go save my Little Flower. Otherwise we are going to lose you and every hope to get our daughter back."

    "Copy that. Verhen out." Lith said. "Solus, contact Zoreth and ask her for help."

    "Way ahead of you." Solus'' dejected tone didn''t bode well. "She''s busy and can''te anytime soon. That daughter of a bastard of Thrud lured Zoreth away by striking with the Undead Courts.

    "Orion is right, this is a damn trap. Thrud made sure that while she made her move, we were weakened and alone. Calling her the Mad Queen is a dumb nder, they should call her the Sly Queen."

    "Solus, forgive me because I''m going to make this quick." Lith knew that to save more time he would sacrifice more lives, yet it wasn''t a decision he could take alone.

    "Do it." Solus replied while using the Eyes of Menadion to find the path of least resistance in spite of the casualties needed.

    "One more thing." Lith said. "Please, call Friya and Quy. Make sure they don''t do anything stupid until our arrival."

    "No problem. I''m already- fuck! Their amulets are not avable. Do you know what this means?" Solus asked.

    "That they are most likely to be there already."

    ***

    Grand Duchy of Deirus, city of Ne''sra, at the same time.

    The invading and the defending army were still battling to the death while two lonely figures sat inside the Blue Mermaid tavern. The door of the establishment had been barred until a few minutes ago, but wooden nks and nails couldn''t stop an Awakened.

    Phloria and a human-sized Ufyl had made their way inside, needing a quiet ce where to rest. There wasn''t much that Invigoration could do for mana abuse and the power cores of their equipment were running on fumes.

    Even with the powerful mana geyser below Ne''sra, it would take them a while to recover. The Dragon Knight and her steed sat at a round redwood table, drinking delicious draft beer from Maekosh and eating lots of food from their respective dimensional amulets.

    Only rest and nourishment could repair their bodies and replenish their mana organs.

    "Wow, I wouldn''t have ever thought that such a rathole could offer such a fine selection of beers." Ufyl''s seven heads were drinking each a different brand of ale, arguing which one was the best.

    "I discovered this ce while nning a date with Lith." Phloria replied while wolfing down a T-bone steak. "He loves Maekosh''s beers as much as he hates the people who brew them."

    "Speaking of the Tiamat, do you think he''lle?" The Seven Headed Dragon asked, gulping down a whole roasted pig.

    "I''d love to say yes, but Lith''s too smart for that." She sighed deeply.

 Chapter 2287 Dragon Knight (Part 3)

    "Even when we were still together, Lith would never charge in blindly. When he saved me at the Feymar mines, he took his time setting the stage." Phloria said.

    "He knew there was no point rescuing me if he couldn''t keep me alive and this time is no different. Except he knows that I only have to kill myself to escape. I can roughly predict what he''s nning to do and the True Queen helped me y around it."

    "Neat." Ufyl nodded. "By the way, we havepany."

    The Seven Headed Dragon and Phloria jumped to their feet while unsheathing their weapons. Phloria used a mix of body casting, true, and fake magic to fill Reaver as fast as she could.

    At the same time, Ufyl used Invigoration with one head while the others took a deep breath, ready to unleash Origin mes. The breathing technique not only replenished their mana and stamina but also elerated the digestive process, flooding their bodies with nutrients.

    The seven pairs of Dragon Eyes could read every magic rune in the air and the seven brains of the former Hydra processed them before sharing the essential information with Phloria via a mind link.

    By the time Friya and Quy Blinked inside the Blue Mermaid, the Dragon Knight already knew their position and what spells they had at the ready.

    "Look who''s here! The crybaby and the slutty one-trick pony." Phloria lunged at the exit point of the Blink, discovering it was just a diversion.

    Friya''s Dimensional Ruler spell gave her absolute control of the space around her and after she had upgraded it to a Spirit Spell, not even dimensional sealing arrays bothered her.

    "You have to do better than that if you want to hurt our feelings, Thrud. We''ve both heard much worse from people we care much more about." Friya appeared out of a bunch of sparkles of light that coalesced enough to let her through.

    At the same time, Quy''s Bloodbind burst from below the floor. The Adamant chains wrapped around Ufyl, discharging several spells at the same time right inside his armor.

    He still had the mass of a Divine Beast but Bloodbind''s strength was fueled by Quy''s mana and her core was close to reaching the bright violet. On top of that, after studying Lith''s life force for years, she considered herself an expert on Dragons.

    The tier five spell Ice Coffin covered Ufyl in ck ice that sapped both his heat and vitality. Bolts of lightning from Stormfront made his throats spasm, losing control over the Origin mes that burned him from the inside.

    Unfortunately, he survived. After being killed in one shot by Lith, Ufyl had learned never to fully conjure mes from so up close to an opponent.

    Friya''s rapier, Dreadnaught, and Phloria''s estoc, Reaver shed several times in a fraction of a second. They knew each other''s style by heart because they had practiced together ever since the academy and because Orion had taught them both.

    ''Usually, I wouldn''t risk a frontal assault but Mom was right, there''s still hope. Phloria is still in there.'' Friya thought, noticing that her sister''s body showed all the tells that Phloria had worked hard to get rid of over the years.

    Her shoulder raised a bit before a lunge, her front foot twisted before a sh, and her eye squinted during a feint. Phloria no longer had any tell but she was exposing them on purpose.

    It was an act of free will from the part of her that had yet to surrender to the ve array.

    "Do you really think that the True Queen has time to waste inventing quips about a nobody like you?" Phloria said with a burst of derangedughter as she pressed her sister into a corner. "I may be enved, but these thoughts have toe from somewhere.

    "I mean, Quy is nothing but a petnt child who killed one person and cried a river for years. As for you, Friya, the only thing that makes you better than Tulion is that you know how to use birth control."

    "I can believe that Phloria thought these things when she was angry, but I know she never believed any of it." Friya said with a snarl.

    Enved or not, those insults still came with Phloria''s voice and they held enough of Friya''s insecurities to hurt.

    "Get over here!" Ufyl yelled as he grabbed Bloodbind and pulled at it with all the strength he had.

    Yet instead of making Quy''s body crash through the floorboards, he only got more chains.

    "What the f-" Bloodbind wrapped around him, the links positioning themselves so to press over his nerve bundles and ribcage.

    When the Seven Headed Dragon tried to brute strength his way out, the chains kept his lungs from expanding, sealing his breathing. Also, the pressure on the nerves sent his body into spasms despite darkness fusion shutting down the pain receptors.

    "I may be a crybaby, but you don''t deserve to be a Dragon. You are dumb as bricks whereas Dragons are supposed to be wise." Quy''s voice came from the holes in the floor since she had no intention of getting close to a Divine Beast.

    "We''ll see about that!" Ufyl Blinked away, knowing that the dimensional fissure would cut through the Adamant, freeing him and destroying the enemy weapon with a single spell.

    And he would have been right if not for Dimensional Ruler. Friya hijacked the space, making the entry point st into the Dragon''s face.

    "As I said, dumb as bricks." Quy said as Friya escaped with a timely Blink before her sister nailed her to the wall.

    Phloria could see the exit point but attempting to Blink to exploit it would end no different than Ufyl''s spell.

    "Damn lizards. They are all so needy." Instead of wasting time with a chase, she struck Bloodbind with a powerful lightning. It hurt both Ufyl and Quy but Phloria had used enough power to mortally wound solely a human.

    For a Divine Beast of Ufyl''s mass, it was barely a tickle.

    Quy screamed in pain and was forced to retract the chains due to Phloria pumping more electricity by the second.

    "Get up, dumbass. If they want us, let''s y hard to get." She dragged the Seven Headed Dragon away, Blinking the moment she escaped Dimensional Ruler''s area of effect.

    ''Dammit! Enved or not, Phloria knows all of our tricks and habits.'' Friya inwardly cursed via the mind link.

    ''It''s worse than that. She knows all of our weak points because we worked together to ovee them.'' Quy replied while using Invigoration to heal her wounds and recover her mana.

    Outside, Phloria kept Blinking as far as she could, her body aching from mana abuse and exhaustion.

    ''That runt is smaller than one of my ws but she bites like a damn Dragon.'' Ufyl used Invigoration as well to recover from the beatdown, but it restored less than 70% of his full power.

    ''Never underestimate my sisters just because they are humans.'' Phloria reprimanded him. ''They have fought opponents stronger than themselves their whole lives. They''ve seen shit that someone like you who spent most of his time in ab can''t even imagine.''

 Chapter 2288 Dragon Knight (Part 4)

    ''Yet they are still alive while our enemies are dead and buried. Fight them as if they are Divine Beast or you''ll go back to the Golden Griffon and I''ll have to fight them alone. If we fail, it''s with you that the True Queen will be angry.''

    The Seven Headed Dragon swallowed a lump of saliva and telepathically nodded. There was a lot riding on the conquest of Ne''sra and he didn''t want to be the one ruining Thrud''s ns.

    ''You shouldn''t have disengaged Phloria with that Blink.'' Quy said while adjusting their strategy inside the Blue Mermaid before starting the chase. ''We have less than two minutes to capture her.

    ''After that, even if we keep her from using Omnish, the Give and Take ability of Reaver will be enough to overpower us. We have waited until now exactly to exploit her weakened state and not give her the time to cast spells.

    ''Yet the more time we lose, the more our advantage will decrease.''

    ''Are you kidding me?'' Friya replied with a scoff. ''She has now a deep violet core whereas I''m stuck at bright blue. She was faster and stronger than me even back when we were both non-Awakened.

    ''Now with her superior physique and core, I needed to give my all to not get destroyed. To make matters worse, she has perfect body casting and I''m stuck at tier three.

    ''If not for the ambush and having my spells at the ready, I would be already dead. We can switch opponents if you want. You have a violet core superior to Phloria''s and that Dragon looked a much easier opponent.''

    ''Deal.'' Quy nodded and they resumed the chase in the space of the two breaths they had needed to return to their peak strength.

    Dimensional Ruler could conjure all kinds of dimensional spells without further casting so Friya only needed to search for the residual traces of Phloria''s Blink with Life Vision to Warp straight to her.

    ''What the fuck?'' Ufyl''s seven pairs of eyes went wide when the dimensional door from which they had just walked out opened again, letting the Ernas sisters reunite again.

    ''My sister is the master of space, that''s what!'' Phloria pped one of his heads to snap him out of it. ''The seven streaks in her hair are not for show. I have no idea what Silverwing is good at, but imagine Friya as talented for dimensional magic as Menadion was at Forgemastery.

    ''If you don''t rx the space after every dimensional spell you use, Friya can reopen it at will, you moron. I told you everything you need to beat her, but you continue to not see past her human body.

    ''First Faluel kicked your ass and then Lith. Unless you are nning to add Friya to your losing streak, take your heads out of your ass and fight with everything you have. No holds barred.''

    Losing to Lith didn''t mean much to Ufyl. The little monster had defeated Iata, the strongest among the Generals, and then had wiped the floor with many other of his brothers in arms.

    Even the True Queen held the Tiamat in high regard and considered him a worthy opponent so there was no dishonor in their disastrous previous encounter.

    Being defeated by a Hydra despite having ascended into a Divine Beast, instead, was Ufyl''s greatest humiliation. He could do everything that Faluel could and so much more, yet she had killed him and almost ruined the n to conquer Belius.

    The idea of suffering the same fate at the hands of a lowly human filled the Seven Headed Dragon with rage, making him shift to top gear. Now that he was in the open, he increased his size to five meters (16'') of height and took out his de.

    ''She can be the master of space, but with my superior strength, core, and reach, I''ll kill her in a jiffy.'' He thought.

    Too bad that the moment Friya walked out the Warp Steps, the sparkles of Dimensional Ruler spread everywhere. Then, she performed a series of fast lunges despite the distance still separating them.

    ''The hairless monkey is insane. She''s no True Queen, her movements can''t produce air des or shockw-'' The words died in his brain as Dreadnaught hit him from every direction, not one lunge missing its target.

    The tip of the rapier disappeared into a sparkle of light and was Warped at point-nk range from him. Even though they were all in front of Friya, different sparks lead to different ces, making their trajectory unpredictable.

    To make matters worse, Dreadnaught could conjure on its own any spell up to tier three with no cast time or mana expense on Friya''s side. Whenever the sword bit into his flesh or nged against his armor, it would always leave behind a tier three Frostbite.

    Dragons were naturally weak to cold and Hydras had it even worse. Even after turning into a Divine Beast, Ufyl had carried over his enhanced weakness. The wounds hurt his already battered body but the cold crippled his strength.

    "You bastard!" He roared while unleashing a burst of Origin mes with one head, using another head to warm himself, and another to heal. Three heads cast a spell each while the seventh focused on the swordy and shed at Friya.

    "My sister was wrong. You are not dumb as bricks. You are braindead." Friya took a deep breath of Invigoration, flooding Dimensional Ruler with more mana.

    The sparkles of light coalesced in front of her, letting the Origin mes through and striking the Seven Headed Dragon in the back. In the same way, Ufyl''s spells were redirected against Phloria and his sword cut deeply into his own flesh.

    ''You useless lizard!'' Phloria cursed as she was forced to a halt and Quy reached her.

    ''Let me get this straight. I can''t use Origin mes, dimensional magic, spells, or physical attacks against your sister. How do you even fight against a monster like that?'' Friya''s size was unchanged, but she now looked like a terrifying beast to Ufyl.

    ''You can do everything you just said, you moron, but only from close-quarterbat!'' Phloria replied. ''That''s why I told you to keep a human size. As you are now, you are just a big target. Don''t give her the time to adjust her Gates!''

    "Don''t worry, sis. I''m bringing you home." Quy unleashed Bloodbind from the sleeves of her deep green Great Mage robe, trying to restrain Phloria.

    Reaver released the lightning spells stored in its pseudo core against the chains, but to no avail. This time Quy had coated her weapon with a hard-light construct that acted as an instor.

    "You have already learned your lesson and found a way to ovee your weakness. I''m impressed, sister. I wish that my partner was half as smart as you." Phloria released a burst of deep violet aura that reminded Quy of Full Guard, but it was different.

    Full Guard was supposed to be blue and not have physical substance. Whatever Phloria had cast, it pushed Bloodbind away long enough for her to escape the encirclement.

    "Too bad that you are a pathological coward and a wimp. Otherwise you''d be an unparalleled warrior."

 Chapter 2289 Bloodline Secrets (Part 1)

    Phloria followed her own advice, pushing forward into close-quarterbat instead of keeping the distance that would give Quy the advantage.

    "Back at the academy, you were so afraid of making your move on Lith that I beat you to the punch despite you had three months over me. Then, you were so desperate for love that you epted the ve ring like an idiot and killed Yurial!"

    Her de moved in a seamless stream of lunges that turned into backhand and overhand shes with but a flick of the wrist. Between the real Phloria telegraphing her moves, Quy''s superior core, and Bloodbind''s great area of effect, no attack reached its mark.

    Yet Phloria''s words cut deep, making Quy stagger.

    "You killed one of your best friends, our friend, because you were weak. Even after I epted you parasites in my home because your parents abandoned you like dogs, you dared stab my mother in the heart!" With each word, the violence of her attacks increased and Quy''s defense weakened.

    "After all the pain you caused everyone, you had the audacity to y the victim and whine like a baby. After I broke up with Lith, you still didn''t have the guts to make your move and ended up with the knock-off version!

    "Yet the reason I hate you the most is that you ruined my career!" Phloriashed out, releasing all the spells that she had umted inside Reaver at the same time. "It''s because of you that Vn staged the trial that destroyed my life.

    "It''s because of you that Yurial died and I lost everything I''ve worked for. Everything for which I have sacrificed my happiness!"

    As Quy expected, Phloria had prepared mostly tier three and four spells with body casting. She had been caught by surprise and the more powerful a spell, the more time it took to conjure it.

    Quy used Bloodbind and several hard-light shields to block the onught, but Phloria''s spells changed their direction and dodged her protections.

    Thrud had taught her Ernas'' Full Guard that granted Phloria a space awareness on par with Friya and the ability to imbue her spells with willpower, no matter their tier.

    Quy activated the barrier of her armor and closed her shields onto her, but it was toote. From so up close, a split second of hesitation due to surprise was a split second too much.

    She took over half of the barrage and then Phloria started to pummel her with punches and kicks. Reaver was hung to her side while a flurry of attacks painted Quy ck and blue.

    "I''m not dumb, little sister. I remember well that after what you did to Mom, Dad made sure that no Ernas weapon can hurt a member of the household, even adopted mutts like you!" Phloria''s savageughter almost hurt more than her hits.

    Almost.

    Quy''s eyes were veiled with tears from the insults and the frustration. She had done everything she could to have the upper hand yet in the end, it had amounted to nothing.

    Quy was near the bright violet whereas Phloria was deep violet, but once in closebat, they were akin to a child against an adult. Phloria had fought all of her life and had mastered severalbat styles way before joining the army.

    Quy, instead, had been a bookworm until the day she had joined Lith in his apprenticeship under Faluel. The gap between the two sisters was like heaven and earth.

    "Quy!" Friya unleashed her tier five Gravity spell, ck Hole, on Ufyl and went to the rescue.

    ck Hole increased the gravity on its area of effect one hundred times and changed its direction several times per second. Ufyl was so big that she had no problembing the Gravity spell with a dimensional magic cantrip to limit ck Hole''s area of effect to the Dragon.

    His body copsed, bloated, and stretched non-stop, being thorn into shreds under its own weight. The hundreds of kilos of Adamant scales that were supposed to protect him turned into cruel des that cut him apart.

    ''How is that a human? I''m Dragon, I should have won. She''s a monst-'' Ufyl cried in frustration.

    Not only had he been helpless the whole time, but he had also learned nothing from the exchange. Friya''s dimensional magic was beyond his understanding and so was Gravity magic.

    Dragon Eyes had barely started to crack her secrets and he was already dead.

    Phloria kicked Quy in the chest, breaking her ribs and sending her away. It would seal Invigoration and slow down her recovery. Reaver jumped back in her hand, blocking Dreadnaught and conjuring a darkness aura to block the spell she knew was iing.

    "This brings back memories, huh?" Phloria effortlessly blocked the lunge and Reaver''s darkness spell countered Dreadnought''s with a sizzle. "I will never forget our fight at the ceremonial tourney for our graduation."

    She didn''t waste time with offensive spells that Friya could turn against her and kept their des locked by pushing forward.

    "Back then, you defeated me. Let''s see if you can do it again." s, this time Phloria wasn''t holding back.

    During the tourney, shecked any killing intent and her mind was muddled by the imminent breakup. Now instead, she was giving her all, as Thrud had ordered her. Between the gap in experience and strength, Friya soon found herself on the back foot.

    "You are just as disgusting as Quy! After your mother abandoned you, my parents gave you everything, yet how did you repay them? You became a mercenary selling your talents in dirty taverns like you sold your body in exchange forpany.

    "Then, when your pathetic endeavor failed, you threw away the life that my mother saved and sold yourself to Faluel just to make up for yourck of talent. You were nothing without your looks and dimensional magic and you still are.

    "At least Quy self-Awakened like me. You couldn''t even do that. You can''t do anything by yourself, not even saving your sister!" Phloria''s eyes shed tears at those cruel words, clouding her vision.

    Friya instead recognized them for what they truly were and steeled her determination, putting every ounce of strength and mana she had left into her next move.

    ''Phloria is begging me to save her. Those words don''te from her but from the Unwavering Loyalty array. If she meant them, her tells wouldn''t show and she wouldn''t cry in the middle of a fight.

    ''Phloria didn''t cry even when Yurial died and Mom was bleeding out at her feet. She''s a warrior and she''s fighting by my side however she can. With those tears, she''s clouding her own vision!'' Friya thought as the power of Dreadnought and Dimensional Rulerbined.

    The estoc fired spells non-stop in every direction while the golden aura enveloped the two women in a sphere. Bolts of ice, lightning, and darkness disappeared the moment they touched Dimensional Ruler''s boundaries.

    Then, they reappeared from a different angle and direction. The spells aimed at Phloria were meant to blind her Life Vision, but Ernas'' Full Guard gave her perfect awareness of her surroundings at 360 degrees.

    She managed to block thoseing from Dreadnought and her back thanks to Reaver, but Friya outsmarted her.

 Chapter 2290 Bloodline Secrets (Part 2)

    Mana couldn''t hurt its user so her spells phased through her body, catching Phloria by surprise. Being close to Friya had turned into a mistake because she was now a conduit for the elements.

    Quy had just finished healing herself and moved to Phloria''s back, having the care to remain outside Full Guard''s area of effect.

    ''Going to battle with a full stomach is a dumb move unless you gorged on nutrients.'' The healing spells would have made her faint if not for that.

    Phloria cursed and activated the Give and Take ability of Reaver. It converted part of the mana from the spells stored and cast by the de into a flow of energy that empowered its master''s physical prowess.

    Give and Take was the secret behind Phloria mastering de Spells since it allowed her to exchange energy with her weapon at will. It was a happy side effect whereas now she was using it as intended.

    Between Give and Take and her deep violet core, a simple punch sent Friya flying. She had used Full Guard as well, but from so close she had failed to react in time due to the gap in their speed.

    "I need help!" Phloria knew that two against one she wouldn''t hold for long.

    "Wow, Ufyl sucks. As soon as he gets out of the rebirth chamber, I''m going to retrain him from scratch." Iata the Sekhmet came out of her hiding ce from which she had been spectating the fight all along.

    "Nheless, you were right, General Ernas. Your sisters may not be as good as your father, but they will make a fine addition to the True Queen''s army."

    Five meters (16'') thick cubes of light appeared from thin air, trapping Friya and Quy at their inside.

    They were surrounded by a Sealed Space that made it impossible for them to escape.

    To make matters worse, Iata used a bit of Life Maelstrom to further empower the constructs.

    "Everything went as nned." Phloria said with a smug grin. "Aside Ufyl''s defeat, of course. I knew that, with Lith out of the picture, someone would''ve tried to y the hero. I underestimated my father''s brain and overestimated my sisters'', though."

    "Are you sure of that?" Faluel''s voice said as seven tier five Spirit Spells blindsided Iata and Domination turned the cages into light des that impaled the Sekhmet. "I''m not scared of a cat, no matter how big."

    The Hydra was in her true form, that of a stumpy yet sturdy body carrying seven serpentine necks and as many heads. Her long tail whipped the air in fury and a thick Adamant armor covered her from heads to toes.

    She wore seven crown-looking artifacts and the eyes of each head shone with a different elemental light.

    If not for the Life Maelstrom empowering both Iata and her armor, her body would have been blown to bits and she would have been sent back to the Golden Griffon as well.

    "And there she is." Xo the Fenrir appeared from a dimensional Gate along with Rimo the Fire Dragon and Rayne the Storm Phoenix. "The little Faluel. How nice of you to deliver us the Hands of Menadion."

    She pointed at the crowns that the Hydra wore.

    "I wouldn''t try anything funny if I were you. I''m already boosted by Life Maelstrom and once I activate Doom Tide, there will be no world energy for you to manipte. Without the Hands and the element of surprise, you''re just a puny Lesser Beast."

    "Don''t listen to her. Go ahead and use Domination or something. I''m dying to learn how to use it." Rimo said with a chuckle.

    "Wow. You are way smarter than I thought you to be, kid." Faluel said with a sigh.

    She was outnumbered, outmatched and she knew it.

    "There''s no pride in this." Phloria shook her head. "You are too kind for your own good. I knew that even though I''m not really your apprentice, your bleeding heart would have forced you to rescue me.

    "I doubted you would follow my father, but the moment I saw Friya, I was certain you couldn''t be far. You would never let your precious Harbinger at risk and with her the secrets of your bloodline."

    "You are right." Faluel nodded. "Too bad you didn''t follow your own reasoning to its very end."

    "What do you-" Seven more Spirit Spells of untold power sted the Divine Beasts off the sky and cut Phloria short.

    A Davross-coated fist grabbed the still-stunned Rimo''s head and squashed it with a wet pop.

    "No peeking at ady''s secrets, child. That''s beyond rude." Fyrwal the Hydra looked very simr to her daughter.

    The main differences were that she reached 25 meters (82'') of height and she opted for a humanoid form. That and the Royal Fortress armor she wore. Fyrwal was one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom and had her own Guardian-crafted artifact.

    "My name is Fyrwal Aurea Verena Nyxdra. Mother of Faluel. Rainbow Dragon. Godmother of the descendants of Juria and Oghrom. Follower of King Valeron, the only man I ever called friend." She walked into the open with the bearing of an Empress.

    "If you think you can beat me with your newfound toys, children,e forward and I''ll prove you how wrong you are."

    "I suspected you mighte, Fyrwal. After all, your daughter''s secrets are your own." Thrud camest, pping her two sets of golden wings while sunlight reflected on the Arthan''s armor, making her look like a sun god.

    "They even called you the Rainbow Dragon even though you are just a Hydra. It''s a testament to your power and of the might of your Domination abilities."

    At a wave of her hand, more Divine Beasts appeared and her dull white aura spread around, forcing Friya and Quy on their knees with its sheer killing intent.

    "I don''t want to fight you, Lady Fyrwal." Thrud kept her hand raised in a fist, signaling her Generals to stay put. "You helped Valeron the First to build the Kingdom. Help me to build mine.

    "I promise you that the new Griffon Kingdom will be nothing like this corrupt pile of trash. With your help and your wisdom, we can turn the First King''s dream into reality."

    "Well said." Fyrwal nodded. "I hate humans and I despise Valeron''s descendants who over the centuries twisted his opus. The Kingdom has be something so abhorrent that not even he would recognize it anymore.

    "Yet your words are as empty as your soul, kid.

    "You speak of Valeron''s dream, yet you wear the armor of the madman who killed my friend. You taint hisnds with Arthan''s academy. You dare to enve the descendant of mypanions.

    "I''m angry beyond what words can express, yet I''m merciful. Release Phloria Ernas-Gernoff, let my daughter and her hatchlings go, and I''ll walk away. I don''t care who sits on the throne nor do I have any love left for the Kingdom.

    "You have my permission to do with it whatever you want as long as you don''t bother me."

    "I don''t see why I should agree." Thrud shrugged. "It''s you who interfered in a fight between kids. Us old farts should let them y and may the best Awakened win."

 Chapter 2291 Old Monsters (Part 1)

    "On top of that, my equipment is on par with Valeron''s, I''m a Golden Griffon like Tyris, and I have achieved the white core. Save your mercy for someone who needs it. I''m stronger than you''ll ever be and you are surrounded.

    "Think again about my offer because if you refuse it again, I''ll beat you unconscious and drag you to the Golden Griffon along with the others. Then, yourpliance would be no longer of any relevance." Thrud said.

    "I refuse your offer and I renew, no, I beg you to ept my conditions." Yet Fyrwal''s prideful tone didn''t sound like she was begging. "I''m doing this in respect for the blood of Valeron that flows inside your veins.

    "It''s so thick that I can smell it from here and it would cause me great pain to spill it. I don''t want to fight you. Release Phloria, turn around, and leave. If not for me or your ancestor, do it for your soldiers and citizens.

    "You want to be a good ruler and im to love them, but if we fight, there will be nothing left for you. Please, don''t force my hand. You have no idea of the powers you are ying with."

    "Get them!" Thrud yelled while pointing the Sword of Arthan at Fyrwal. "Beat them an inch to their lives. I don''t care how many pieces you have to cut them in, as long as they are still breathing."

    "I''m sorry, Valeron. I really tried." The Divine Beasts activated their bloodline abilities in unison,bining them to be bigger than the sum of the single parts when Fyrwal snapped her fingers.

    Then, what looked like a human-sized meteor blew Thrud out of the sky, making her crash onto the ground and ttening an entire city block.

    Seven tier five Spirit Magic spells of rare power exploded in sequence, their effect chained so that the previous would boost the next in an endless cycle. The air became so hot to be unbreathable and the shockwave released made it impossible even for a Divine Beast to step close.

    Thrud felt her bones breaking and her organs copse. If not for the regenerative abilities of her white core and the tons of Davross she wore, she would have already been sent back to the Golden Griffon.

    Instead, she managed to conjure the Spirit Barrier of her armor while reverting to her true size, that of a Golden Griffon 30 meters (100'') tall. The sudden expansion of her body and barrier caused the neer to be bounced away, yet the price was the life of one of her Generals and another city block.

    "You!" Thrud recognized the woman in front of her from the bedtime stories that her father had read her as a child. "I thought you had washed your hands of the Kingdom centuries ago. You shouldn''t be here, Bewitching Demon."

    Lith was the first Tiamat, but several creatures had been called Demons throughout Mogar''s history. Like Roghar the Fenrir, who the Fallen races med for their own foolishness. Or Abominations like Theseus, who had imed countless victims.

    Before Lith, Demon was just a term used to refer to a creature so cruel that it made all the other monsters cower or run away in fear.

    Tessa the Titania was one of them. Unlike Oghrom Gernoff who had been no better, she didn''t act from the shadows. During the War of the Kingdom, she had massacred everyone who stood on her path even after their surrender.

    She had poisoned thend and water sources. She had caused famines and draughts. Anything she thought would shorten the War by even one day, with no care for the number of casualties among soldiers and civilians.

    "I haven''t been called like that in a long while. Thank you." Like her name suggested, Tessa''s ruthlessness was matched only by her beauty.

    She had shiny green hair and purple eyes. Her skin was pearly pink and so smooth that it shone under the sunlight. Her smile was so dazzling that it took anyone who met her several seconds to lower their gaze and notice her soft curves.

    "As for your question, the bards exaggerated things a bit." The Davross of her Royal Fortress armor switched from white to ck non-stop, as if to highlight the living dichotomy she was.

    A Fae, an avatar of life whose talenty in killing.

    "I retired because I didn''t give a shit about the Kingdom. Valeron wanted to see it thrive so I took a walk to not ruin his work. Yet once one of my oldrades calls me, I''m always happy to help. Isn''t it right, Fylly?" Tessa said.

    "Shut up. I''m already regretting asking you for help." Fyrwal sighed deeply. "Girls, clench your teeth. This is going to hurt."

    Iata jumped at the Hydra, unleashing a tier five Light Mastery spell while keeping her scorpion stinger at the ready. Yet Fyrwal only needed a p of her hand to send the Sekhmet flying and conjure a hard-light construct of her own to defend from Iata''s.

    "What? Valeron knew no Light Mastery. I''m sure of it!" Iata said in outrage as one of the rarest and most sacred branches of magic was used against her.

    "She''s right. Where does thate from?" Thrud could feel that something was wrong. Something outside her calctions.

    She had nned everything to lure either Orion or Friya to rescue Phloria.

    Orion was the best Forgemaster of the Kingdom and the General of the Army. He possessed the Ernas legacy, the cutting-edge Royal Forgemastery, and had developed Forgemastery techniques only he knew.

    On top of that, Orion was posted about all of the Kingdom''s strategies and troops'' locations. Once captured, winning the War of the Griffons would have been easy.

    As for Friya, she was just the key to getting Faluel. The Hydra would have given the Mad Queen ess to the Hands of Menadion, the Hydra bloodline legacy, and an entry point for her army straight into Distar.

    Thrud wouldn''t need to conquer the region to reach and destroy the Lightning and the White Griffon, but merely a Warp.

    Thrud had kept herself free in the case Fyrwal foresaw her n and acted ordingly. The Mad Queen was more than ready to take on one of Valeron''spanions, but she had never thought to meet the most infamous member among the First King''s aides.

    Actually, Oghrom had been as bad as Tessa, just less showy, but this is a story for another day.

    "Forget the Rainbow Dragon! Take the humans!" Rayne the Storm Phoenix said while plunging at the still-shocked Quy.

    Great was her surprise when the small woman stopped the charge with one hand, her feet not even budging from the ground when she pushed Rayne back.

    Quy started to scream while Friya yelled even harder. Her sister was already close to the bright violet, making things easier for her whereas Friya was merely a bright blue core. So when it turned deep violet it hurt.

    Then, when it reached the violet a secondter, it felt as if her core had turned into a scorching sun. At the bright violet, Friya was in so much pain that she would kill to make it stop so she did.

 Chapter 2292 Old Monsters (Part 2)

    Friya jumped at Xo the Fenrir with the speed of a bullet and punched her with enough strength to make the Divine Beast stumble and fall.

    "Are you really asking me what I did?" Tessa''s silveryughter didn''t match her savage smile or her cruel gaze. "Didn''t that crazy bastard of your father teach you anything about me?"

    Six serpentine heads erupted from her back and the same happened to Quy and Friya. Yet while Quy''s had silvery scales and each head had eyes of a different elemental color, Friya''s had scales of seven colors.

    As the girls screamed in pain, several green vines burst out of their skin and plunged into the ground. They absorbed the water and the nutrients needed to bring Friya and Quy back to their peak strength.

    At the same time, the vines grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, bing one with their flesh and increasing their mass.

    "Mogar''s almighty. When All Are One." Thrud knew of the legendary Spirit Array but she had never thought of witnessing its effect, let alone fighting against it.

    "Nailed it in one. Here''s your prize." Tessa Warped right in front of Thrud in a cascade of golden sparkles, her fist heavy enough to twist the Golden Griffon''s head.

    A mace-shaped construct the size of a building appeared in Tessa''s hands and she mmed it into Thrud''s helm while unleashing a heat ray that ckened her feathers.

    The Mad Queen tried to Spirit Blink away in confusion as reality hit her harder than any weapon. Yet the dimensional door exploded in her face, throwing her at the crazed Titania who exploited the rebound for a six-armed cross counter.

    "The kids might not be on par with my oldpanions, but it''s my first time sharing the abilities of a dimensional mage and a Light Master." Tessa said whileughing. "You can do pretty things with them."

    Thrud was bigger, heavier, and more powerful than the Titania and so was supposed to be her armor. Yet while the Arthan set was 700 years old, Tyris kept updating all artifacts rted to Valeron.

    On top of that, the When All Are One array gave Tessa the mass of the 25 meters (82'') tall Hydra, and even in her natural state a Titania was as strong as a Griffon. She also got Quy''s Light Mastery and Friya''s dimensional awareness, including Dimensional Ruler.

    Thanks to the six extra heads, Tessa could conjure six spells at the same time while the seventh head kept using Invigoration. Between that and the natural regenerative abilities of the Fae, the difference between her and the white-cored Thrud was paper thin.

    As for the girls, they got the mass of an Elder Hydra, the physical prowess of a Titania, the six heads, the power of the bright violet core, and each other''s masteries over weapons and magic.

    "Shit, we need to stop them!" Xo the Fenrir conjured her Doom Tide bloodline ability.

    Without world energy, breathing techniques would be useless and Tessa would be incapable of matching the True Queen''s strength. The raw strength of the white core would have been enough to seal the deal.

    Except that Doom Tide failed.

    Six elemental arrays now bounded the Fenrir, isting her from the surrounding world energy like a Sealed Space spell.

    "Have you already forgotten about my Hands of Menadion?" The gems on Faluel''s crowns shone with power as she used the artifact to take hold of the elemental energy and restrict Xo''s influence.

    "Yours is a nice trick, but it''s not enough!" Thrud shrunk back to her human size to not offer an easy target and activated her bloodline ability, Phantom Echo.

    Now every one of her spells generated a double that cost her no mana to conjure or focus to control. At the same time, she empowered herself with Life Maelstrom, increasing the power of her body, core, and equipment tenfold.

    A few swings of Arthan''s Sword chopped off Tessa''s regr and extra limbs, the Titania now moved too slowly to dodge.

    "Your dimensional magic is worth shit if I don''t give you the space the Blink. You would just carry me around and nothing would change!" Thrud roared, her de piercing through the Titania''s Royal Fortress armor.

    Killing a Fae was hard. Even with their heart and head crushed, they would survive.

    "Ignoring me is rude, kid." Fyrwal''s mace struck Thrud''s exposed side, shattering her ribs and bursting her lung. "There''s two of us. Also, did you know that Domination stacks?"

    The Mad Queen was sent flying, coughing out a mouthful of blood, but her body healed too quickly for it to matter. Yet it wasn''t the injury that worried her.

    "Gods, no!" She said in horror.

    "Gods, yes." Fyrwal''s eyes were stone cold as she channeled the Life Maelstrom that her mace had stolen and shared it with Tessa. "This wouldn''t be possible if three out of five of us weren''t skilled Dominators."

    "Don''t be surprised yet, kid. Fylly and I have still a lot of lost ytime to make up for." The Titania and her equipment healed in the blink of an eye thanks to the silver lightning boosting them both.

    She jumped back to her feet, hammering at Thrud with six Davross-coated fists. Fyrwal did the same, two more sets of arms had appeared on her body as well and she mirrored Tessa''s every move while keeping herself on the opposite side of the Mad Queen.

    Thrud was still faster, stronger, and better equipped but Fyrwal''s and Tessa''s wless teamwork made the gap disappear.

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' Thrud thought while using her sword, off hand, and even her wings to resist the onught. ''Hydras are two-bit fighters. I had to work Ufyl to the bone since hecked even the basics.''

    Thrud was right. In their natural form, Hydras had no arms or prehensile limbs. They couldn''t use tools and even if they practiced, it always felt off to them. The best they could do was scratch at an enemy from up close or bite with their poisonous fangs.

    Yet those werest resort means since Hydra''s preferred to keep a distance and employ their multiple heads to unleash non-stop volleys of spells.

    Titanias, on the other hand, loved to put their tremendous strength to use. Fae didn''t have a set number of limbs so they could grow as many as they wanted and get used to them with practice.

    Fyrwal had exploited her bloodline talents to be the first War Mage and Battle Mage, making up for hercking physical prowess with the quality and quantity of her spells.

    In the same way, Tessa had exploited her bloodline abilities to be the first Warden and Highmaster. Body casting meant that the more limb she had, the more runes she could conjure while pummelling her opponents.

    Arrays had a slow cast time, but not for a battle-crazed violet core.

    Tessa exploited the arrays'' huge areas of effect to st everyone around her since her regenerative abilities would get rid of the damage while the members of the other races would remain crippled.

    The two women couldn''t be more different which made them the perfect dance partners.

 Chapter 2293 Demon In A Bottle (Part 1)

    The When All Are One array worked even better than a mind link. It allowed its participants to gain full ess to each other''s body as long as they received permission and full trust.

    Fyrwal was letting Tessa use her body as her own, taking control of the footwork and timing the blows to perfection. At the same time, Tessa was giving Fyrwal full ess to her six extra heads.

    A Titaniacked in masspared to a Divine Beast while a Hydracked in strength. Together, they covered each other''s weaknesses. It was like Thrud was fighting against two Hydras and two Titanias at the same time.

    The Royal Fortress armor wasn''t as heavy as the Arthan armor, but it was still made of Davross and the modern magic partly bridged the gap. On top of that, the Mad Queen couldn''t use any spell in fear that Domination would turn it against her.

    Yet her situation quickly got even worse.

    Tessa didn''t use her extra heads, but her body was still under her control and so was Fyrwal''s. She used them both to body cast several arrays that struck at Thrud''s soldiers, Ne''sra citizens, and even Phloria.

    Thrud had sent her away to use her as bait in the hope that Faluel would do something stupid or use Phlroia as a hostage if needed.

    If not for Orsat the Red Griffon swooping down to the rescue, Phloria would have been caught in the crossfire.

    "Are you insane?" Thrud couldn''t make heads or tails of that senseless ughter.

    "No. What about you?" Tessa sent her vines to feed on the corpses to make up for the nutrients lost.

    Even though Tessa and Fyrwal were winning, Thrud kept injuring them and there was nothing like meat to heal from a grievous wound.

    "Why are you looking at me like that?" The Titaniaughed. "You are attacking the city so no matter who wins, you''ll get med for this destruction. I bet that you won''t have an easy time controlling Ne''sra after killing so many civilians."

    "What about Phloria?" Thrud could already foresee Tessa''s heartless ploy bearing poisonous fruits that would screw her ns.

    "What *about* her?" Tessa shrugged. "I''ve been called to kill you. I don''t do rescues. Besides, Phloria is no Juria or Oghrom, just one of their many descendants. Her parents are still alive and can make another daughter. No biggie."

    Thrud clenched her teeth as her whole strategy fell apart.

    If Phloria died, no more Dragon Knight for days. No way to torture Lith or to lure him in the open until she was out of the rebirth chamber. Even worse, her invasion ns would be brought to a halt.

    ''Fucking Fae! They are all psychopaths. Using a hostage against them is like using a pillow to hit a bull.'' The Mad Queen released all the Life Maelstrom she had left.

    She used her bloodline abilities at the same time to push Tessa and Fyrwal away while activating the full power of Arthan''s Sword.

    "Not so fast!" Even from a distance, Fyrwal used her Domination to wrestle the silver lightning away from Thrud and even mess with the sword.

    "If you like toys so much, do you want to see mine?" A Yggdrasill staff with a round head and seven elemental crystals etched on it appeared in Tessa''s hand, generating an unknown array.

    In the meantime, Quy was fighting one on one against a Phoenix, and she was winning. She used Dimensional Ruler to Warp behind the enemy whenever Rayne focused on the attack.

    Her fists and kicks made the Divine Beast stagger and everysh of Bloodbind had enough strength to pluck out feathers and cut through the flesh. The five of the six serpentine heads on Quy''s shoulders cast spells while thest used Invigoration.

    Seven brains also meant boosting her intellect seven times, her mind worked so fast that even her bright violet-cored body struggled to follow.

    As for Friya, she was going all-out against Xo. The Fenrir had activated Mana Body right off the bat and that was the only reason she was still alive.

    Friya used hard-light constructs to expand the size and range of her rapier at will,bining Dimensional Ruler with Light Mastery to turn the golden sparks of dimensional energy into knives the size of a car.

    Whenever the constructs struck, they Blinked away and carried Xo''s flesh and fur with them. Not even Mana Body could resist a dimensional de that cut through space.

    The Fenrir had tried moving to close-quarterbat, but it was even worse. Friya didn''t bother to defend herself, focusing only on the attack. Hard-light constructs the size of a truck covered her fists and feet, giving her even more mass.

    Friya''s Fae body healed instantly from any wound and her Hydra head used Invigoration the moment her stamina started to dwindle.

    The one time that Xo had severed Friya''s arm, a vine had reconnected her shoulder with the limb and Friya had used it as a whip, further increasing her range until the wound had closed.

    ''Is this the power of a Divine Beast?'' Quy and Friya were so drunk on When All Are One that they could barely remember about their sister.

    Faluel was busy dealing with Leari and Iata at the same time, but she still had time to worry about her apprentices.

    "Take cover! For the love of the gods, duck!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

    They were winning yet there was panic in her voice. So much that Iata and Leari jumped back to look in the direction at which one of the Hydra''s heads was staring.

    "Great Mother protect us." Thest time Iata had wet herself was back when she was a few days old cubs, yet she felt no shame in doing it as an adult.

    "You are a monster!" Thrud stared in horror at the sky as well.

    Tessa''s array had spread all over Ne''sra, its humongous size was possible only thanks to its basic effect. The Eternal Kingdom array simply extended Domination''s area of effect.

    It had allowed the Titania to hijack every single spell cast inside the capital of Deirus, no matter if it belonged to the Kingdom''s army or Thrud''s. An entire warzone''s worth of spells were all converging toward Tessa, blotting out the sky in a storm of mana.

    "I did warn you child." Fyrwal prayed to Mogar that none of those spells had been meant to save lives, yet she knew better. "Once you unleash a Demon, there''s no way to send her back into the bottle until the wish has been granted."

    "Run! Run for your lives!" Thrud yelled inside hermunication amulet to save as much of her forces as she could.

    Phloria had kept herself far away from the battle zone with Orsat the Red Griffon as her bodyguard. They used Life Maelstrom to fly away as fast as they could, opening a Warp Steps only once Life Vision assured them to be outside of Dimensional Ruler''s area of effect.

    "Phloria!" Friya yelled and Warped to the chase, but Faluel Dominated her spell to bring her back.

    ''Stay here, you idiot!'' The Hydra chided her apprentice via a mind link.

 Chapter 2294 Demon In A Bottle (Part 2)

    ''Why do you think no one tried to catch your sister? When All Are One requires its members to stay close. If you break the formation, the array will disappear and we''ll all die!

    ''It''s your Dimensional Ruler spell that seals the enemy''s dimensional magic just like it''s Tessa''s healing abilities that keep us alive. ''How long do you thing Quy wouldst without all that and the six extra heads?

    ''You have one more sister to worry about.'' Faluel said pointedly.

    "Filly did warn you, sweetie. I thrive during wars. Corpses are just food and spells are just presents. Am I right?" Tessa''s vines kept feeding off the bodies of the dead citizens to make up for the lost energy as the magical storm approached.

    Everyone had just the time to follow Faluel''s advice when the massprised of hundreds of spells plunged down on Thrud.

    Domination made it so that the spells had Tessa''s energy signature and thanks to the When All Are One array, it was shared by the rest of her group. Friya, Faluel, Quy, and Fyrwal came out unscathed.

    Thrud, her Divine Beasts, and a good portion of Ne''sra, instead, were smashed into oblivion.

    The Arthan set and the magical equipment of the Generals disappearedst, recalled by the Golden Griffon and in dire need of repair.

    "Aww, bummer!" Tessa pouted with a lovely expression that was in stark contrast with the blood and entrails in which she was covered. "No corpse. That damn Golden Griffon works like a charm.

    "Oh, well. There''s always next time." She shrugged.

    "Oh, well?" Friya echoed in outrage. "How dare you ''oh, well'' me? I-"

    "Hold that thought." Tessa Hushed Friya''s mouth and then conjured a Warping Array to get them at a great distance from Ne''sra.

    "Now we have usible deniability for the massacre and the wanton destruction.

    "Thrud is going to have a hard time exining to her subjects why she killed so many people during the invasion." The Titania chuckled, treating the matter as a joke. "Now you can rant all you like without forcing me to kill more potential witnesses."

    A snap of her fingers dispelled the Hush and the When All Are One array.

    "You rude bitch! I''m going to-" Friya''s strength faded along with the Spirit Array.

    Her mana core was back to being bright blue, her body weighed like that of an athlete again, and the vines nourishing her body were gone.

    "What you are going to do is faint, monkey." Tessaughed at Friya''s distress and fatigue. "Gods, this is hysterical. I have spent so much time away from pompous, self-righteous humans that now I find their idiocy funny."

    "Tessa, they may be humans, but they are still my daughter''s hatchlings." Fyrwal red at the Titania.

    "Don''t tell me that you care for them, Fylly?" There was no trace of hrity on the Titania''s, face, only shock.

    "Don''t be ridiculous. Of course not!" The Elder Hydra replied in outrage. "Yet you are embarrassing me in front of my daughter."

    "Oh, gods, Fanny, I''m so sorry." Tessa''s voice was full of remorse, sounding sincere. "I''m being rude with your pets. I swear, I hadpletely forgotten that they belonged to you. Your mother is innocent, if you want to me someone, me me."

    ''Great.'' Faluel rolled her eyes. ''Racism, contempt, and now she''s speaking about Friya and Quy like they are not even here. Scratch that, she''s treating them as dumb creatures who look at Mogar with uprehending eyes.''

    "Don''t worry, aunt Tessa. Just be better from now on, okay?" She actually said.

    "Okay." The Titania nodded, her demeanor all smiles again.

    Valeron''spanions had lived long enough to despise the humans, the Awakened Council, but most of all, the Kingdom. Even before joining Valeron, Tessa and Fyrwal had a dim opinion of all the above due to how people had treated them their whole life.

    Yet they had fought tooth and nail alongside the First King, believing in his dream. They had put their lives at stake countless times for thends that now were called the Griffon Kingdom and the people who lived there.

    In hindsight, they considered Valeron''s opus a colossal waste of time. First Arthan, then the political corruption, andstly the ipetence of the past rulers that had caused the Kingdom to lose territories made them want to puke.

    To make matters worse, the death of Valeron, Juria, and Oghrom, had only made the Hydra and the Titania more resentful and sourer. They had fought for a dream that had turned into a mediocre oue and for people who had willingly abandoned them.

    Thete members of Valeron''s party had chosen to die, something for which Fyrwal and Tessa resented theirte friends even after 700 years.

    "Valeron''spanion or not, you are an asshole!" Quy used her spell, Injection, to pump tonics and nutrients inside both her and Friya''s bloodstream. "You killed innocent people for shit and giggles. You destroyed houses that meant the world to their owners.

    "You tried to kill our sister, yet here you are,ughing and going ''oh, well'' like this is all a sick joke to you. I wanted to thank you for rescuing us, but you don''t deserve any gratitude. Only a solid ass-kicking."

    "I''d like to see you try, monkey." Tessa moved so fast that she was a blur, lifting Quy by the neck with one hand. "I don''t need your gratitude because I didn''t save you, I just needed five people for my array.

    "You and your sister having a shred of talent was just a happy coincidence. As for the city, nothing I did was for ''shit and giggles''. Wars are fought on multiple levels, not only on the battlefield.

    "My actions raised the morale of the Kingdom, lowered Thrud''s, and they will make it much harder for her to keep her reputation as a savior. Today, I defeated the Mad Queen three times

    "Tell me, monkey. What did you achieve today aside from throwing a tantrum?"

    Quy had many things to say, but her nigh-crushed throat kept her from emitting more than squeaks.

    "Aunt Tessa!" Faluel said.

    "I''m sorry, bad habits die hard." The Titania said while letting Quy go. "Unlike monkeys." She mumbled under her breath.

    "What about Phloria?" Friya asked, now capable of speaking after using Invigoration and consuming lots of potions.

    "I beg your pardon?" The Titania tilted her head in confusion.

    "You have an exnation for everything." Friya wheezed, her eyes droopy but she refused to faint. "Then please, tell me the reason you tried to kill my sister."

    "I was proving a point." Tessa became serious. "I wanted to show Arthan''s daughter that she has no hold over me. That her hostage strategy is pointless. This way, I made sure that she actually cares for Phloria.

    "Were she just a pawn, Thrud would have not hesitated to have Phloria die by my hand. Instead, Thrud had Phloria fly away and even gave her a bodyguard. It means that Thrud is smarter than I thought and that Phloria has yet to fulfill whatever her role is in the Mad Queen''s ns.

    "Your sister is safe. For now. That''s the only reason you should thank me."

 Chapter 2295 Wrong Bloodline (Part 1)

    "I appreciate that." Friya gave the Titania a deep bow. "Now my parents can rest easy. With your help, it''s only a matter of time before-"

    "Slow down, kid." Tessa cut her off. "I''m done helping you. If there''s anything today''s events proved is that you two can''t fight a Divine Beast. The next time Phloriaes out, it will be another trap and you twock the means to turn it around.

    "Leave the rescue to the professionals. Fylly and I will do whatever is necessary. You just go home and rest."

    "With all due respect, why?" Quy had noticed how the Titania had upended her attitude after Friya had politely addressed her so she did the same. "I''m a Light Master and my sister is a seven-streaked dimensional mage.

    "We can f- I mean, we can be useful to you. Please."

    Tessa''s face twisted and twitched. She was deeply conflicted between her spite for humans and the pride of never having stooped down to their level. At least when they behaved. It would mean being even worse than them.

    "Because you are weak, child." She huffed out. "Yes, you two are talented. Yes, you two have some nice tricks, but that''s it. I could have done almost everything you two provided to our team with either Domination or Spirit Magic.

    "I could have used When All Are One on anyone and the result for me would have been the same. If I really have to choose a party member, I''d rather pick a Divine Beast like your friend Lith.

    "He too has Domination, Light Mastery, and we could use a few bloodline abilities. Abilities that humansck. Do you understand what I''m saying?"

    "Yes." Quy and Friya clenched their hands in frustration.

    "Good." Tessa nodded. "Two more things. Following us would put you in danger and if that happens, we''d not rescue you. Bear in mind that I wouldn''t be here if Fylly hadn''t asked me and Phloria wasn''t a descendant of both Juria and Oghrom.

    "No offense, but you girls don''t have a drop of my friends'' blood. You are Ernas in name only."

    When even Fyrwal nodded, the two girls just wanted to cry, hating their bodies for belonging to the wrong bloodline.

    "Don''t despair, child, there''s always a silver lining." The Titania patted Friya''s shoulder. "There''s still the second point. Also, you are wee."

    The physical contact triggered a burst of aura from Friya''s body.

    A burst of bright blue mana whose edges burned with a deep violet light.

    "Congrattions." Fyrwal gave her a small bow. "Keep working hard and one day you might be as good as Juria."

    The two elder women Warped away, leaving the others in deep thought. Despite Friya''s breakthrough and Thrud''s defeat, no one felt in the mood for celebrations.

    ***

    City of Lutia, Lith''s house,ter that day.

    By the time Lith had finished his first mission, there was no trace of Phloria or the Golden Griffon so he hadn''t returned home until he was done reconquering Thrud''s upied regions.

    Kam was there, weing him home. The Ernas family was there as well, waiting to share thetest developments with him via a mind link.

    "I''m sorry, girls. I wish I was there with you." Lith couldn''t think of anything else to say.

    "The mission was a total bust." Friya sighed. "Phloria ran away and no one witnessed Thrud''s defeat so it''s like it never happened. Fyrwal grounded Faluel who in turn grounded us and my parents scolded us until our ears bled."

    "You should thank the gods this isn''t our house, youngdy!" Orion brimmed with barely contained fury, his voice reduced to a snarl. "Your stunt almost cost you your free will. If it wasn''t for Fyrwal and Tessa, you''d be fighting by Phloria''s side by now.

    "Phloria''s situation is already driving me crazy. If you two were to join her, I don''t think I could keep on living."

    "You father is right." Jirni held his hand tight as Orion''s outrage turned into despair. "What you did was reckless, and like Tessa said, pointless. I won''t allow you to put yourself into danger again without a n worthy of its name."

    "Dear!" Orion blurted out in surprise.

    "Don''t you ''dear'' me, dear." Jirni replied. "Our girls love our Phloria as much as we do. It would be hypocritical of us to try to stop them. In the same way, it would be stupid of them not to learn their lesson!"

    She red at their daughters who lowered their gazes in embarrassment.

    "It''s all my fault." Faluel gave Jirni and Orion a deep bow. "I believed that between ourbined strength and careful nning, we could rescue Phloria. I underestimated Thrud and the importance she puts on your daughter."

    "No need, to apologize, Lady Nyxdra." Orion shook his head. "We are not our ancestors, but the bond between the four founding pirs of the Kingdom transcends time. We are all friends and I''m grateful for what you tried to do.

    "Tell your mother that I''m forever in her debt. She protected my little girls and even brought the Bewitching Demon with her. With those two on Thrud''s tail, I believe we have a chance at rescuing Phloria."

    "I''ll let her know." Faluel replied.

    "Also, the situation is actually better than you thought." Lith chimed in the moment he was sure he wouldn''t meddle in family matters. "Today we have achieved two important goals.

    "Thrud''s defeat means that for a while she''s out of the picture. To keep advancing at this speed, her army will need the Golden Griffon. The moment we learn about its position, I can sneak inside and either kidnap Phloria or attempt to destroy the power core.

    "Until Thrud and her generals fully regenerate, there will be no one capable of stopping me. Last, but not least, Friya took her first step into the violet core by herself. I think congrattions are in order."

    "Not really by myself." She blushed in embarrassment. "The When All Are One array temporarily granted me a bright violet core and the possibility to experience body casting.

    "Once its effects faded, I discovered that I still remembered the enlightenment the array brought me."

    "Just like merging with my Demons did for me in Kolga." Lith shrugged. "Considering that you are an Awakened only for a short while, it''s still damn impressing."

    "Yeah." Tista tried her best not pouting, but failed nheless. "Everyone cheats their way to violet but me. Lith with his Demons, Quy with her natural violet core, and now Friya with a legendary array.

    ? "I can''t believe that I started first and I''m deadst."

    "If it''s of any constion, I think that if you were in Friya''s ce today, you''d have stepped right into the violet. She was clueless whereas you have already found your path." Faluel said.

    ''It doesn''t help at all.'' Tista thought. ''On the contrary, it makes me even more envious. Yet there''s no point acting like a child. Phloria is still in danger and her family is distraught. Compared to that, my problems are irrelevant.''

    "Thanks, Faluel." She actually said. "What''s our next move?"

    "We keep attacking." Lith replied. "By taking her old regions we are cutting Thrud''s retreat path."

 Chapter 2296 Wrong Bloodline (Part 2)

    "If she can only move forward, she''ll be forced to expose the Golden Griffon and reveal her n.

    "At that point, we can strike while she''s at her weakest and take Phloria back. Then, we blow the lost academy and her sorry ass in one fell swoop."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, a few dayster.

    Tessa and Fyrwal kept looking for Phloria, but had no luck.

    The missing Ernas had just switched to a different partner and her fame as the Dragon Knight kept growing. Ne''sra, the capital of the Deirus Grand Duchy had held out just to fall the day after Valeron''spanions left.

    There was no trace of Thrud, yet her army kept advancing and no one knew how.

    On top of that, reconquering the north was taking much longer and was harder than Lith had expected from the reports. Even with the Warp Gatework, moving troops and supplies took time.

    To make matters worse, Thrud abandoning her outposts had only been a ruse.

    The moment the army had lowered their guard and the cities rxed their security, thinking that the Mad Queen''s focus was now in the south, they had been taken by storm.

    Fresh troops and Forgotten had attacked in great numbers, ruining in a few hours days of hard work and even recapturing a few cities.

    "I swear to the gods, this makes no sense." King Meron''s frustration and stress worsened his health. "Even if the Golden Griffon were a perfect academy, this shouldn''t be happening.

    "We have a precise estimate of Thrud''s troops yet these numbers don''t add up. If she had this many Awakened, she should have already won during Verhen''s honeymoon. The only usible exnation is that she can somehow move her troops quickly and recharges them with Invigoration."

    "Maybe, if you told us what an academy can do, we could help you figure out a solution." Raagu said, barely holding the curiosity in her voice.

    "Yeah, right." Sylpha said with a snarl. "So that you can add more crazy demands or request the blueprints of an academy for ''research purposes.'' Thanks, but no thanks. Only the Royals know the secrets of the academies, and for a good reason."

    "Not even the Headmasters?" Lotho was bbergasted.

    "Too dangerous." Meron dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "It would make their retirement equal death or the risk of the secrets of the First King being exposed."

    "I see." Fe nodded in understanding, yet now her curiosity now burned even stronger and the same happened to her peers. "Can you at least tell us what you think Thrud''s goal is? The attack on Deirus is surgical, it can''t be a coincidence."

    "It''s not." Sylpha replied. "The Fire and the ck Griffon are there. We can assume Thrud is going to destroy them, starting from the Fire Griffon."

    The arrays of the War Room projected a map of the region and how Phloria''s attacks were moving along an invisible line that connected the known mana geysers and led to the Fire Griffon.

    The ck Griffon had only been recently acquired by the Deirus household after foiling the civil war so it was at the edges of the region on the hintend.

    "We can anticipate her movements and set our defense forces on her path." Meron said. "This way, when she reaches our academy, Thrud''s resources will be spent and she''ll find us ready."

    ***

    Nestrar Region, at the same time.

    "Dammit, not only are we going to conquer these cities a second time, but if it keeps up like this, in a while Thrud will be back and everything Tessa has achieved will be for naught." Lith grumbled as his appearance was enough to make a city militia surrender.

    "Think positive, little brother." Xenagrosh replied. "I''ve taken a few free days exactly to be by your side and strike together as soon as we learn the position of the Golden Griffon."

    Seeing the two Divine Beasts fly side by side with the Golden Knight in the middle made the Kingdom''s soldiers bust into cheers and the rebels despair. No matter what strategy they tried or how many of her Generals Thrud sent, any city they attacked would fall in the space of a minute.

    The de Spells, the Cursed mes, and the Eldritches'' Chaos Magic needed but one hit to take down the strongest barrier.

    The Divine Beasts fighting for the Mad Queen used teamwork tobine their bloodline abilities, but with their 25 meters (82'') of height, they looked like children in front of Xenagrosh who stood 35 meters (115'') tall.

    On top of the extra mass, she also had two cores that fueled respectively Chaos and Decay.

    Her millennia-long battle experience allowed the Shadow Dragon to make the best of her superior magical and physical prowess, taking out opponents infused with Life Maelstrom in a few exchanges.

    Bytra wasn''t as powerful, but she was much faster. One hit from Solus'' Fury while at the Raiju''s top speed was enough to rip a Divine Beast''s head off their spine, let alone when Solus used both the Fury and the Absolution.

    To make matters easier, Nandi fueled everyone with the world energy equivalent of a mana geyser, bestowing upon Solus the full prowess of the tower and to Lith the boost of his abilities that came with that.

    Theseus the Bastet was there as well, but he kept himself at a distance. His allies had plenty of destructive power already so he preferred to keep an eye on their surroundings and watch out for any nasty surprise Thrud''s army might have prepared.

    When it happened, hebined his Mana Body bloodline ability with his Meneos regenerative powers to take even a Silverwing''s Annihtion without so much as a scratch.

    "Not to be a sourpuss, but I''m afraid it''s already toote." Bytra sighed. "White cores have uncanny recovery abilities so I bet that the moment Thrud got back to the Golden Griffon, she got her body back before sundown."

    "Way to be the Lith of the situation, Bytra." Solus said. "Is she always this optimistic? Because if that''s the case she and Lith can start a whine club."

    "That''s hysterical! I''m stealing that." The Shadow Dragonughed her ass off while her wife''s horns turned from white to red. "I don''t know about Lith but Byt is one of the hardest to please people I''ve ever met.

    "She always has something toin about. Her work, her social life, her work, her original self''s atrocities, her work, and everything that doesn''t go exactly as she hoped."

    "That''s Lith down to a t." Solusughed as well. "Just rece the original self with any mistake he made in the past. By the way, is it me or did you say ''her work'' three times?"

    "You heard me." Zoreth nodded. "When ites to Forgemastery, Byt whines about everything. She wasted too many ingredients, the artifact is not as powerful as she hoped, more powerful than she hoped hence harder to control, or too average powered.

    "Nothing is ever okay and she goes on and about like that for days after a failed experiment. Don''t get me started about what happens when she seeds."

 Chapter 2297 Fated Meeting (Part 1)

    "Then Bytra starts nit-picking in hindsight everything she could have done better and whines about the materials and the time she wasted for such a ''mediocre'' result. Waah! Waah!" The giant Dragon rubbed her eyes in mock weeping.

    "I should be called the Failure of the mes or the Big Baby Magus." Zoreth said while doing her best Bytra impression. "I''m so useless. No one will ever recognize my talent."

    "By my Mom!" Solusughed so hard that she fell off the Raiju''s back who was forced to dive down despite her embarrassment and rescue Solus. "You must have Dragon and Phoenix blood, Bytra, because at this point I''m convinced that you and Lith are lost twins."

    "That''s not funny!" The Tiamat and the Raiju said in unison.

    "Twins! You got that right!" Zoreth started crying for real, but fromughter.

    "I know!" Solus clenched her stomach, gasping for air.

    "Stopughing!" No matter how outraged Lith and Bytra sounded, the Dolby surround effect they produced only amplified their respectivepanion''s hrity.

    Theseus and Nandi following the conversation on their amulets andughing as well only made matters worse.

    It took them a few minutes to regain their cool and start the remation of Bima. They had just delivered the opening salvo when Lith''s army amulet opened amunication on its own.

    "Magus Verhen, we have spotted the Golden Griffon." Sylpha''s face was pale and her voice dry. "I''m sending you the coordinates. You have the Royal Authorization to abandon your current mission and relocate."

    Lith didn''t like it one bit. It was excellent news and with all the preparations the Kingdom had made, it was a golden opportunity to take Thrud down yet the Queen seemed scared to death.

    "Acknowledged." He nodded.

    "Excellent. Don''t drop your guard and prepare for the worse. If the situation is beyond your control, I order you to retreat. I want a Magus alive who can fight another day, not to attend the funeral of a Magus who died a hero. Did I make myself clear?"

    "Crystal." Lith replied, more worried by the second.

    "Good. Aside from the position of the Golden Griffon, we have nothing. Thrud''s path is way off the one we predicted and she''s moving nowhere near the Fire Griffon. Also, she has somehow triggered an information ckout.

    "I have no idea about what her goal is or the number of enemy troops you should expect. I''m sending you into a nightmare scenario so I want you to prioritize your safety.

    "Know that as far as we know there''s no strategic asset or magical resource in that direction. I''m sending you there only in the hope that can you rescue Phloria or infiltrate the Golden Griffon and destroy it.

    "If neither is possible, just report the situation to me. Queen Sylpha out."

    After hanging up the call, she turned around, addressing the members of the army, the Mage Association, and the Council who were assembled in the Throne Room.

    "Whatever detail we''ve put on Verhen''s family, triple it. I don''t care about how much it costs or how tight we are on troops, just do it."

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, are you sure?" General Vorgh asked. "It''s a significantmitment in our current situation."

    "You are wrong. Doing otherwise would be a risk we can''t afford." Sylpha noticed from their dumb looks that aside from the Council representatives, no one else seemed to follow her reasoning.

    "All this time, we got it backward." The Queen sat down, feeling tired from having to deal with a bunch of adults acting like children. "We thought that his family was his leash whereas it''s our safety cage.

    "Look at what Verhen has done once he took the gloves off." She projected the images of the cities Lith had conquered and of the Divine Beasts he had felled. "Look at who fights by his side."

    Another touch of Sylpha''s hand conjured the images of Bytra, Xenagrosh, Nandi, and Theseus. Each picture was followed by a long file listing their past crimes and known achievements.

    "Well, that''s actually good news." Berion shrugged. "If we release this information to the public, we can destroy his reputation and force Verhen to rely on our help for his survival."

    "Are you insane?" King Meron put as much scorn in his voice as his health allowed him to. "Then what? What if someone attacks or kidnaps a member of Verhen''s family again and this time they seed?

    "Watch at those pictures again and answer me this: how do you stop him if once he breaches a city''s defenses he keeps ughtering everyone inside? How do you stop a de Spell aimed at the city level instead of the protective dome?

    "How do you stop millennia-old monsters that make the legends we have about them look like fairy tales whenparing them to what we see them do now?" Now the images shifted to the Eldritchesying waste to everything on their path.

    Walking natural disasters against which there was no defense. One could only run away or wait for them to pass.

    "I have no clue, but-"

    "No buts!" Sylpha swept the air with her hand. "I don''t want to make an enemy out of Verhen while Thrud is out there. Even once this war is over, I have no desire to lose countless resources and lives to fight another.

    "This is the reason we are going to triple Verhen''s detail and we have found legendary heroic figures who resemble the Eldritches. We''ll spin the truth so that no one outside this room will ever know who they really are.

    "To the rest of the Kingdom, those aren''t four mass murderers but merciful creatures who answered Verhen''s call. They are wise Elder Beasts who are fighting for our cause out of the goodness of their hearts. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal." The rest of the room replied in unison, finding themselves covered in a cold sweat.

    ''The most incredible thing about this development is that Inxialot predicted it.'' Raagu thought. ''Otherwise he would have never volunteered to protect Verhen''s family even at the cost of neglecting his research.

    ''In hindsight, it''s pretty obvious. Verhen made no mystery of knowing de Magic and the Organization favored him ever since Xenagrosh met Verhen during his trial. Maybe I should ept Inxialot''s invitation to dinner and listen to what he has to say.

    ''There''s method in his madness.''

    There was a method indeed, but not the way she believed. Inxialot had predicted nothing and couldn''t care less about politics. Every one of his moves was meant to look chivalrous and keep Lith''s mind focused on Inxialot''s problems.

    Were he to learn that his n had just seeded, the Lich King would have had a heart attack out of joy and then be resurrected by his phctery a minuteter.

    Meanwhile, in the skies of the Nestrar Region, Lith was searching for the quickest way back to Deirus without revealing the tower''s existence.

    "I''m proud of you, little brother." Zoreth had regained her cool and there was no trace of the previous mockery in her tone. "You''ve taught both your enemies and allies to respect you. The Queen genuinely cares about your well-being."

 Chapter 2298 Fated Meeting (Part 2)

    "More like she doesn''t want to lose another weapon to the enemy." Lith grunted. "Any idea how to get to Deirus'' Grand Duchy before it''s toote?"

    "Give me a moment." The Shadow Dragon contacted her siblings from the Organization, checking on their current position.

    "I''m the closest to your destination and I''m getting closer by the second." Nelia the Frost Griffon was using Chaos Steps to pierce through space and Life Maelstrom to further extend the range of her spells.

    Each Steps allowed her to cross hundreds of kilometers at once, crossing two regions in a few seconds.

    "Ready when you are." She said while conjuring the Eldritch melody and the ck pir that came with it.

    "Iing." Zoreth did the same and the other three hybrids followed suit.

    Their pirs resonated with each other, detecting Nelia''s signal and using it to pinpoint her dimensional coordinates. A hole in space appeared, its edges pitch-ck and spinning like a buzzsaw, releasing sparks as they moved.

    "Get in." The Shadow Dragon said and Lithplied, crossing half the Kingdom in one step.

    "Whoever you are, thank you." Lith gave Nelia a deep bow. "Are youing with us? We could use a Griffon and your Life Maelstrom."

    "I can, if you don''t mind the Distar region falling under the Undead Courts." The Eldritch cocked her head to a side. "Your friend Brinja has sent so many members of the Corps away that there are few guarding her.

    "If the Courts get their hands on her private Gate and the amulet that activates it¡­"

    "They could go anywhere!" Lithpleted the phrase in horror.

    "Yeah. It''s a huge power move meant as a distraction, if you ask me. Compromise your home to force you to choose between duty and family. That or Thrud really doesn''t want to be disturbed." Nelia said.

    "Do you need reinforcements?" He asked, making herugh.

    "How precious of you." Nelia caressed Lith''s head. "Thanks, but no thanks. The presence of others would just limit the strength I can safely employ. I could use a good meal, though. Traveling so much made me work quite an appetite."

    "You got it." Nandi nodded and conjured the surrounding world energy before feeding it to the Frost Griffon.

    It worked akin to Invigoration, making her recover all the lost mana and stamina.

    "That hit the spot. Thanks, Nandi. Before you go¡­" Nelia released several small bolts of silver lightning, powering everyone up. "Sorry I can''t do more, but recharging Life Maelstrom takes time and I must save enough to ensure the sess of my mission."

    "Thank you so much." Solus gave her a deep bow.

    "You don''t even know me yet you boosted me no less than the others."

    "Don''t mention it, kid. You are important to Lith and Lith is important to Father. It''s more than enough for me. Dragonspeed." Nelia said before turning around.

    "Dragonspeed to you too!" Solus managed to say before the Griffon disappeared at the horizon.

    "Let''s move before the Life Maelstrom fades out." Zoreth bolted forward while being careful not to exceed her normal speed in order to preserve the precious silver lightning.

    ''Solus?'' Lith asked.

    ''Agreed.'' They both used Spirit Domination to stabilize the Life Maelstrom and keep the Abomination''s ck cores from feeding on it during the rest of the flight.

    ''Nice move. Can you teach it to me?'' Zoreth asked via a mind link.

    ''Sorry, Hydra bloodline secret.''

    ''Never mind, then.'' The Shadow Dragon shrugged but used her Dragon Eyes in an attempt to crack the mystery anyway.

    Lith held hismunication amulet in his palm, using its map to find thest known position of the Golden Griffon. They flew at high speed so it wasn''t supposed to take them long to find it.

    s, they seeded way before they thought.

    ''Guys?'' Theseus asked from the backline. ''Is it me or there''s something on the horizon?''

    ''It''s no hallucination, I see it as well.'' Zoreth focused her eyes forward instead of on Lith. ''Yet it''s weird. I''ve been here several times in the past and this is supposed to be part of a huge forest. There have never been buildings here-''

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith stopped abruptly, forcing the entire group to a halt.

    ''What''s the problem? What do you see?'' Bytra knew that few creatures had better eyesight than Phoenixes and that Lith had inherited that trait from Sark.

    ''That!'' There were no words to describe it so he just shared his vision via the mind link.

    What to the others looked like a thin mountain or a tall building was actually the Golden Griffon. Except that its form was no longer that of a castle.

    It looked like a colossal Royal Fortress armor that reached 100 meters (328'') of height. Every part of its body was dozens of meters thick and shone like gold under the sunlight.

    It carried a feathered mantle on its back that Lith knew from experience had to be a pair of folded wings. To make matters worse, the Golden Griffon was walking forward, crossing great distances and causing a small quake with every step it took.

    ''Father of All Dragons protect us.'' Zoreth froze on the spot, feeling like a puny insect for the first time in her life.

    ''How can something that big even move?'' Solus asked in disbelief, doubting her own eyes.

    ''Tower magic.'' Bytra''s reply sent a shiver down everyone''s spine. ''Can''t you feel it? The world energy is way thinner than usual even at this distance.''

    ''She''s right.'' Nandi tried and failed to conjure the elemental power via the bio-crystals in his hands, chest, and forehead. ''That thing is sucking everything in its surroundings for kilometers.''

    ''Is this the reason Thrud''s troops are everywhere? Did she empty her barracks to relocate the academy?'' Solus asked and she couldn''t have been more wrong.

    The people who lived inside the Golden Griffon were still there and experienced no difort from the movement. Quite the contrary, they were a keyponent to the cursed artifact''s might.

    The power core of the academy sucked the world energy, but that would have never been enough to fuel such a titan away from a mana geyser. The academy channeled whatever energy it had through its body, using the people inside to amplify it.

    As Tyris had exined to Lith, the difference between a mana and a power core was paper thin. The effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array made even that boundary disappear.

    By altering the life force of its students, the Golden Griffon could use them as auxiliary cores that fueled its abilities no matter the form the academy took. Thrud''s white core, her Generals'' violet cores, and even the blood cores of her undead prisoners were at its disposal.

    The trick that allowed Thrud to relocate her troops at will came from the tower-like nature of the Golden Griffon that Bytra had recognized. After imprinting a mana geyser once, Thrud could use them as ry points for the academy''s Gatework.

    This way, she could send and retrieve troops not only from a Warp Gate, but also from every mana geyser she had ever upied while conquering the different regions of the Griffon Kingdom.

 Chapter 2299 Golden Knights (Part 1)

    The tower-like powers of the Golden Griffon were also the secret behind the quick advance of Thrud''s army and the fact that no one survived the encounter.

    The titan couldn''t just move, but also cast spells and attack. A single stomp was enough to turn an army into a crater and then the students cleared the survivors on the ground and erased any trace of its passage.

    Those stupid enough to take flight were massacred by the automated crystal turrets.

    ''What can we do against something like that? It''s just too big!'' Theseus said.

    ''Maybe, but we aren''t small either.'' Lith replied. ''Besides, with no geyser, the academy can''t move nimbly. I say that we hammer at it from a distance and bring the Golden Griffon to its knees. Then gravity will do the rest of the work for us.''

    ''Sounds like a n. Let''s give it a go.'' Zoreth nodded while weaving her best spells and taking a deep breath of Origin mes.

    Solus jumped on Lith''s head, mirroring his movements to conjure the de Spell Ruin with him.

    ''Do we pour everything we have, Life Maelstrom included?'' She was skeptical of Lith''s n, but she didn''t want to run away without a fight.

    ''I wish, but there are too many unknowns.'' Lith replied. ''We have no clue about what an academy can do. If it has some kind of one-time barrier, we risk running out of steam before we can gauge its capabilities.

    ''Let''s save the Life Maelstrom for a backup n.''

    The Eldritches just nodded but they actually had many objections.

    Their opponent was double the size of a Guardian and its abilities were unknown. Zoreth and the others could think of several ns, but none of them could achieve more than probe the enemy''s capabilities, let alone defeat it.

    Unless the academy was much weaker than it appeared, of course.

    The Eldritches remained silent because they had no advice to offer. The few things that came to their mind would just demoralize Lith and make his valiant effort look foolish.

    ''Now!'' Lith unleashed Ruin, a burst of Void mes from his mouth, and another of Blight mes from his wings.

    At the same time, Zoreth activated the tier five Chaos spell Devouring st and the tier five Decay spell Cruel Light.

    Not being able to use Cursed Elements other than Chaos, Bytra, Theseus, and Nandi preferred to employ a Chaos Annihtion each. It was a modified version of Silverwing''s Annihtion that the Master had devised for the Eldritches.

    Theycked Spirit Magic so they had to make up for the missing element with the destructive power of Chaos. Even though such a spell would usually require seven bright violet-cored Awakened to be cast, a single Eldritch was more than enough to conjure Chaos Annihtion.

    On top of that, they all put every ounce of Life Maelstrom they had inside their respective spell and aimed for the Golden Griffon''s right knee.

    ''Why did you do that?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    ''Because we have already attacked the Golden Griffon in its academy form several times in the past, little brother.'' Zoreth replied. ''Remember that we can''t use Spirit Magic and Chaos is no different from darkness.

    ''Once they spot us, a simple elemental sealing array will cripple our strength. The first shot is our best shot. After that, it will be an uphill fight. Origin mes can be used only from up close and without the Chaos, our bodies are our best weapon.''

    Lith inwardly cursed yet had to admit that she was right.

    ''Solus, any chance we can turn the table with your tower?'' He asked.

    ''I''m sorry, no. Even bybining the tower, the Hands, and the Sage Staff, there''s simply not enough world energy to manipte. The Golden Griffon was here before us and it had the time to establish full control over the avable energy.

    ''Otheriwse Nandi would have already hijacked it.''

    The barrage of spells reached their target, causing an explosion so big and powerful that it pushed the titan off bnce. Trees burned for hundreds of meters and the area under the colossus'' foot turned into a crater.

    The golden armored kneecap now bore a deep hole and was incapable of supporting its own weight. The Golden Griffon fell onto its knees, using its hands to break the fall and causing a shockwave that reached Lith''s group despite the distance.

    Everything in the surroundings of the lost academy experienced an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale.

    "Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" The Griffon-shaped helmet turned in the direction the attacks hade from and the voiceing out of it belonged to Sevenus Hystar, the Headmaster.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen, his Golden Knight, and the lost sons of Arthan!" He said with augh while the fallen pieces of his armor flew back into ce and started reattaching themselves. "That was a good shot indeed, but can you make another without a geyser?"

    The lost academy readjusted its weight, raising an arm to conjure a massive light and darkness sealing array.

    ''And there go our best weapons.'' Zoreth inwardly cursed. ''Lith, you keep attacking from a distance. Bytra and I will switch to close-quarterbat. Don''t waste elemental spells since the academy can use all kinds of sealing arrays.''

    The Shadow Dragon charged forward while the Raiju galloped even faster. By the time the first burst of Origin mes hit the still-damaged knee, Solus had hammered at it dozens of times.

    The Absolution in her left hand and the Fury in her right moved non-stop in a flurry while Bytra circled around the Golden Griffon''s legs too fast for the giant to follow.

    ''Why are you two still here?'' Lith asked Nandi but especially Theseus who was a bulky Divine Beast.

    ''For backup, kid.'' The Minotaur replied. ''If something goes wrong, I tag in for Bytra and crybaby here for Xenagrosh. If we go all in, we are all equally screwed the moment Hystar pulls something out of his ass.''

    ''I resent the crybaby but I agree on the rest.'' Theseus red at Nandi. ''I can take a lot of punishment which means I''m the most suited to buy time in case we need to retreat.''

    ''Okay, thanks.'' Lith shared the Life Maelstrom with his equipment to help the power cores to recover quickly before joining the assault.

    Nandi was doing his best to collect the thin world energy and feed it to hispanions to keep their bloodline abilities working at full power. In Lith''s case, it even helped to replenish the power cores.

    ''Damn, Vastor''s hybrids are always so friendly that I often forget how old and powerful they are. Compared to them, I''m just a baby. I''m d that they listen to my "brilliant" ns instead of shoving a pacifier in my mouth.'' He thought.

    Lith envied the Eldritches'' cunning that kept them at least three steps ahead of him at everything. He turned toward the academy putting aside every stray thought and focusing only on his goal.

    ''A big target who''s also paralyzed. It''s time to Warp the trash out.'' No matter how sturdy a material was, dimensional magic would cut space itself.

 Chapter 2300 Golden Knights (Part 2)

    Lith''s n was to quickly open and close a Spirit Warp to maim the Golden Griffon. It was a n as good as it was predictable.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' He could recognize the familiar feeling of the Static Field array.

    It kept the space around the lost academypressed and negated the effects of dimensional magic unless one could afford as much mana as that poured in Static Field.

    ''This is really bad. Solus has no quick way to retreat and I can''t get inside the Golden Griffon even if I manage to peek at useful dimensional coordinates. Hystar has thought of everything.''

    Lith kept using pairs of Cursed mes from his mouth and wings, trying them all and hoping to find one against which the Golden Griffon was weak.

    He found none and soon his life force started to hurt from exertion.

    Cursed mes had a destructive power and speed on par with Cursed Elements but what the Tiamat could produce was so smallpared to the titan that the damage dealt was irrelevant.

    Or better, the small holes would have piled up into a crippling wound if not for the Golden Griffon self-repair mechanism. Even if Lith managed to always hit the same spot, it wouldn''t have been fast enough.

    Lith hit the leg with Double Edge, but it felt like he was a regr man trying to cut down a boulder. Zoreth was stronger than him and her Sky Piercer ws were imbued with the power of Chaos but she wasn''t faring any better.

    Her blows cut as deep as they could, but for something that size it was but a scratch. A scratch that healed.

    "Oh my! You are an impressive little bunch. Let''s kick things up a notch." The fact that Hystar keptughing didn''t bode well.

    Then, when the tes of Golden Griffon''s armor opened, everything became clear.

    The academy unleashed a volley of Tower Tier Spirit spells that exploded in unison. Their firepower and wide area of effect made them impossible to dodge without dimensional magic.

    Bytra was the fastest, but even she couldn''t outrun the energy shockwave. She and Solus were blown out of the sky and crashed on the ground, opening a meters-deep crater.

    Lith managed to survive only because he had kept himself at a distance, alternating Cursed mes and Spirit Spells.

    Zoreth, instead, took the full brunt of the damage.

    Once the dust settled, the biggest piece of her left was the size of a car. Her troll core kicked in, using tendrils of flesh to reconnect what was left of her body and rebuild it from scratch.

    Trolls had no shy powers but they could survive as long as a single piece of their body remained.

    In the blink of an eye, the Shadow Dragon was back. Smaller, thinner, and starving, but back nheless.

    "I hunger!" Zoreth roared as she plunged her maw and ws deep inside the Golden Griffon.

    This time, however, she didn''t let go and consumed both matter and energy.

    Her Eldritch side feasted upon both while her troll side converted the acquired energy into matter, returning Zoreth to her original size.

    "No dine and dash, child. You are going to pay for what you ate." Hystar said as golden tendrils came out of his leg and seeped inside Zoreth''s body. "I learned from our previous encounters that you Eldritch-monster hybrids are born out of Arthan''s genius.

    "As every one of his creations, you are bound to serve his will."

    ''Get away!'' Lith yelled telepathically at Zoreth, Solus, and Bytra. ''They found a way to extend the Unwavering Loyalty array outside the academy. If you get caught-''

    Zoreth cut him short with a roar, her eyes turning golden and staring at him in hatred.

    ''What the heck? It takes hours to enve someone, not seconds!''

    ''I''m different. We are different.'' Zoreth replied. ''Dad made us susceptible to the ve array on purpose in order to control us. I don''t know how long can I resist. I beg of you, little brother, run!''

    Lith was torn between the survival instinct and the feeling of guilt. After Phloria, now Zoreth had fallen into Thrud''s hands as well and it was all his fault.

    "You know, little Horseman, I was really annoyed when the enemy soldiers gave you the nickname of Golden Knight and chanted your name on the battlefield because that''s my call sign." Hystar was getting back to his feet, his voice confident of his victory.

    "I would love to stay here and have a rematch with you. It would prove who''s the best cursed artifact and who between us truly deserves the name of Golden Knight. s, duty calls so I have to find a recement."

    More tendrils of golden energy erupted from the academy''s foot, moving toward the still-stunned Bytra and Solus. The shockwave had inflicted upon them little damage whereas crashing against the ground at slightly subsonic speed had given them a concussion.

    "Since during your previous visit you''ve taken away someone from me, it''s only fair that I return the favor!"

    ''Bytra, no!'' Solus attempted to Blink them both away but the Static Field array made her spell fizzle.

    The energy tendrils reached the Raiju and wrapped around her, painting her eyes golden.

    ''For the gods'' sake, Elphyn, run!'' Bytra''s body writhed in pain as she gave everything she had to resist the Unwavering Loyalty array. ''I don''t want to hurt you. Not again!''

    She neighed in despair, unleashing a burst of Chaos inside her body to stop the ve array but she only managed to slow down the inevitable.

    ''I can''t leave you here. We still can-'' The Absolution pulled Solus toward Bytra''s horn so hard that she had to let the hammer go.

    The mystical weapon didn''t slow down as it approached its true owner. The Absolution reached the Raiju''s muzzle and fused with it. The hilt turned into a protective headpiece while the metal head merged with the main horn of the Raiju.

    Solus froze in terror as the thing of her nightmares had just be coated in Davross and hundreds of times deadlier. Bytra had just turned into the living embodiment of Solus'' worst fears.

    White bolts of lightning crackled around the Raiju who emitted a killing intent so thick that it made it hard for Solus to breathe. The front hoof rasped the ground in fury as the thick muscles of the legs prepared to charge.

    "Fuck. What do we do?" Theseus asked while keeping an eye on the golden tendrils and trying to figure out their reach.

    "We stay put." Nandi replied. "If we step in, we be more fodder for the ve array. I have several ns, but right now none of them has a decent chance of sess. You?"

    "Same. Neither of us can outspeed Bytra and Xenagrosh is too strong. There''s no way to pull them out fast enough to not be ves ourselves. On top of that, even if we did, there''s the possibility that the Golden Griffon would keep controlling them.

    "Even a single hybrid switching sides would be enough topromise all of our operations, the Master''s identity, and the fate of the war. We have to tread lightly."

 Chapter 2301 Glimmer Of Hope (Part 1)

    Theseus clenched his fists in frustration, but he didn''t move.

    Meanwhile, Lith was paralyzed by uncertainty as well.

    He knew that getting away from the Shadow Dragon was the smartest thing he could do but his body refused to obey.

    Even though they didn''t know each other very well, Zoreth was the closest thing to an older sibling Lith had ever had. She had protected him ever since their first meeting, when the Council had put him on trial just for existing.

    Back then she knew nothing but his name and that he carried Dragon blood, but it had been enough for Zoreth to call him little brother and stand by his side. She had helped him to protect his family from Night.

    She had shared with Lith all the knowledge about Chaos and Origin mes she had.

    Zoreth had introduced him to Sinmara and apanied him in Verendi. During the trip, she had always looked after Lith and taught him the customs of the unknown continent.

    She had helped him to retrieve the Mouth of Menadion from the local Awakened Council and even fought for him against her fellow members of the Organization. When the rest of his so-called siblings from the Dragon and Phoenix bloodlines had turned their back on him, Zoreth had volunteered to help him rescue Phloria.

    Even then, she had put him first, warning Lith of the dangers that associating himself in public with an Eldritch would imply. The only reason Zoreth was there that day was him.

    ''This isn''t her battle but mine.'' Lith''s hand clenched Double Edge''s hilt. ''The Unwavering Loyalty array is ravaging her mind yet the only thing Zoreth is worried about is my safety.

    ''She didn''t beg me to save her but to save myself. I''ll be damned before I let Thrud take someone else from me. I''ll save Zoreth now and then Phloria. I''m not going to lose someone ever again.''

    The Shadow Dragon roared her challenge and charged at the Tiamat, her Sky Piercer brimming with Chaos energy.

    The Tiamat stood still until thest second before stepping aside with a small p of his wings and using War to bind the enchanted ws.

    Zoreth was over 35 meters (115'') tall whereas he was just 25 meters (82'') tall.

    The weight gap between them measured tons and she had two cores instead of one. Her lips curled in annoyance at his hubris while her mind inwardly screamed in an attempt to stop her own arm.

    Sky Piercer shed against Double Edge, the Chaos eating at the Adamant as the ws extended forward, aiming at Lith''s head, lungs, and heart at the same time.

    Much to Zoreth''s surprise, Chaos was met by light which turned it into darkness and by darkness of Lith''s own. The two energies fought on par, just like their arms. Lith let Sky Piercer extend, keeping War close to the ws'' tips to maximize the leverage.

    Then, he pushed the ws aside and plunged the angry de right into her chest.

    ''Thank the gods! I had forgotten that Lith hasn''t used Nelia''s Life Maelstrom.'' Zoreth inwardly sighed in relief. ''It should be enough to fight me on equal footing yet it''s still stupid of him. What does he hope to achieve?''

    "Wake up, big sister! Fight the array with me." Lith knew that killing a troll was hard just like he knew War''s powers like the back of his hand.

    The Counter Flow ability hijacked the mana of the Golden Griffon, fighting its effect in a tug of war.

    "Nice trick." Zoreth managed to say while keeping herself still. "Yet I don''t think it will work."

    "Can you move away?" Lith asked.

    "No. It''s taking sheer willpower just to disobey. Watch out!" Zoreth pushed Lith away before a st of energy turned him into dust.

    "That''s not nice." Hystar said. "I felt a disturbance in my array, but it''s nothing much. Your flimsy sword can''tpare to an academy, Verhen!"

    Lith inwardly cursed and smiled at the same time.

    On the one hand, Hystar was right. The difference in output between the two artifacts was like heaven and earth. On the other hand, the fact that War''s abilities worked gave him hope to rescue Phloria after luring her away from the academy.

    Unbeknownst to him, it also gave his allies the final piece of the puzzle they needed.

    "Did you see that?" Nandi said.

    "Yeah, the biggest problem is solved. The main problem still remains, though. How do we pull them out of there?" Theseus asked.

    "Leave that to me." The Minotaur started to keep the world energy he collected to himself. "Just make sure that no one dies until I''m ready."

    ''Run, Solus. Run!'' Bytra moved so fast that even with Life Maelstrom, all Solus could see was a ck-and-white blur.

    She used Full Guard to perceive the Raiju the moment she entered the spell''s area of effect and activate the Spirit Barrier of the Voidwalker armor, yet it wasn''t enough.

    The barrier didn''t have the time to fully form when the Davross'' coated horn pierced through and hit Solus with the energy of a freight train. Despite her superior mass Solus was sent spinning and a deep gash opened in her armor.

    The next strike woulde before she managed to readjust her footing, making her feel like a pinball stuck between bumpers. The only time she managed to block, Solus lost her grip on the Fury.

    Only thanks to the spell that bound it to her did she manage to keep the hammer from flying away.

    ''Why didn''t you run when I begged you?'' Bytra asked amid tears.

    ''Because I''m a snailpared to you and I didn''t want to be impaled in the back again!'' Solus was too torn between worry and fear to worry about the Raiju''s feelings.

    Those words struck a chord deep inside Bytra that allowed her to make one of her muscles spasm. It was supposed to be just a twitch, but at her speed, it was enough to make her miss her footing and tumble like an avnche.

    Solus realized what had happened and inwardly thanked the Raiju before flying away as fast as she could.

    ''No matter how strong the Golden Griffon is, the array must have a limited range. If I manage to escape it, the effects of the ve spell should fade as fast as they took root.'' She thought while focusing the Life Maelstrom in her flight spell.

    s, the Eldritch''s body recovered quickly and she resumed the chase even more quickly. Bytra''s cores exceeded the bright violet whereas Solus had just a blue core. Even with its power increased tenfold by the silver lightning, the gap was still abyssal.

    The Raiju caught her less than a secondter, mming her out of the sky with a single blow of the Absolution. Solus had just crashed onto the ground when Full Guard warned her of the impending threat.

    The horn wasing down fast and it was aimed at her heart.

    Panic gave both of them strength, allowing Bytra to wrestle against the ve spell and slow herself while giving Solus the time to react and grab the horn with both hands.

 Chapter 2302 Glimmer Of Hope (Part 2)

    ''Please, kill me. I don''t want to hurt you.'' The Raiju cried non-stop, her muzzle twisting due to her inner conflict yet the horn never stopped.

    ''And I don''t want to hurt you either!'' Solus said. ''This is not you, Bytra. Fight it!''

    She actually had no way to damage the Raiju from that position, but such a cynical statement would have onlypromised Bytra''s focus.

    ''Maybe you can''t but I can. Never again!'' Bytra felt the Adamant of the Voidwalker give way to her horn and then the piercing through Solus'' flesh.

    The smell of blood and the sight of the wound gave the Raiju a fit of blood madness that the Unwavering Loyalty array tried to suppress whereas Bytra fanned its mes.

    The shock put her two cores at odds as they rejected each other, undoing Vastor''s hard work.

    ''Bytra, no!'' Solus could feel the energy inside the Raiju going haywire, her body bloating and contracting in the effort to repress the wild energies.

    Solus managed to slip away from the horn, but she couldn''t abandon Bytra.

    At the same time, Lith was taking quite a beating. Even with the Life Maelstrom boosting him, the gap in experience between him and Zoreth was enormous. The silver lightning put them physically and magically on par, but it wasn''t enough.

    The Shadow Dragon''s every limb was a lethal weapon that she used with surgical precision and ruthless cunning. She fought with her weapon, fists, legs, tail, and fangs whereas Lith had trouble even coordinating War with his tail while flying.

    ''On the ground I could use my wings to fight back, but in the air, I''m an infantpared to her.'' He inwardly cursed as a huge fist slipped past his guard and left a huge dent in his armor.

    It also knocked the air out of him, neutralizing the burst of Origin mes he kept at the ready.

    ''From below! The left hook is a feint that will turn into an uppercut! Sky Piercer is going to extend the ring and index finger, keeping the middle to stab after shifting your guard!'' Zoreth said via the mind link.

    If not for the Shadow Dragon exining her attacks before her body threw them, Lith would have already died 100 times.

    "I would love to stay here and witness your death, but sadly I have more important things to do. Glory to Arthan!" Hystar started to walk away as soon as Lith and Solus seemed to be about to die.

    A corned or Lith''s mind wondered why the academy was in the middle of nowhere and what might be so important to ignore them. Then, the answer to his second question dawned on him.

    In the grand scheme of Thrud''s ns, his death was of little relevance. Either she didn''t consider him a threat or she was keeping him alive to entrust Valeron the Second to him in case of her defeat.

    "Everything is set. Are you ready, Theseus?" Nandi asked.

    "I am." The Bastet nodded. "Start with Bytra. She''s about to blow!"

    The Minotaur used the world energy he had collected to open a Warp Steps just big enough for the Raiju to fit.

    Static Field didn''t seal elemental magic, it just made dimensional spells require insane amounts of mana to ovee the array''s interference.

    The Minotaur had simply gathered enough power to counter Static Field. Theseus''s vines bolted inside the dimensional door, dragging the Raiju near herpanions and away from the Golden Griffon.

    The Warp closed shut, cutting the golden tendrils of the Unwavering Loyalty array.

    "Solus is safe, Bytra! You can save yourself now. We''ll keep you still." Theseus bound her with his vines until she couldn''t move a muscle.

    Only then did the Raiju stop overloading her cores on purpose. Usually it wouldn''t have been enough to save her life, but between the Bastet''s mastery over life forces and the ve array''s healing properties, soon Bytra was stable again.

    "Ready?" Nandi asked.

    "Ready!" Theseus unleashed a second volley of vines through the portal that Nandi opened.

    This time it was much bigger since Zoreth was a Divine Beast, but the further the Golden Griffon went, the more world energy the Minotaur could muster and the weaker the effects of Static Field.

    "Insolent fool!" Zoreth unleashed a burst of Origin mes from all over her body, burning the vines and freeing herself before Theseus could immobilize her.

    It was the reason he replied with a st of Origin mes of his own as he punched her in the face.

    Two against one created an opening in her seamless defense that Lith exploited to stab her again. Counter Flow fought the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array and the Tiamat pushed Zoreth past the Steps.

    "Excellent thinking, guys." After the dimensional passage closed and cut off the golden tendrils, Zoreth could feel the influence of the ve spell weakening. "Keep me still, please."

    She conjured the Chaos from her ck core and flooded her body with it. It devoured the foreign energy of the Unwavering Loyalty array until no trace of its runes remained in her life force.

    Then, she conjured the Decay from her troll core, using it to heal the wounds left by the Chaos. Bybining the Cursed Elements Zoreth had achieved the same effects of the passing of several weeks in just a few seconds, cleansing every lingering trace of the ve array.

    "Take your sword out, little brother, and stab Bytra now." Zoreth said after both diagnostic spells and Invigoration confirmed her full recovery.

    "Where? She''s no troll and I don''t want to kill her." Lith asked.

    "Struck it in that big ass of hers. It''ll be painful but far from lethal." The Shadow Dragon replied.

    "You heard her. If you have to, take it on your wife." Lith said while taking War out of Double Edge and plunging it into Bytra''s side.

    "Lith, no!" Solus had just reached them by flight. "She risked her life to protect me. How could you do that and how could you guys let him?"

    "It''s for her own good. Look closely." Zoreth pointed at the bleeding gluteus. "Lith, mind link us, please."

    While War suppressed the effects of the ve array, the Shadow Dragon instructed Bytra about how to remove the runes infecting her life force. The Raiju''s conditions were still critical so they needed to take things nice and slowly.

    First Zoreth fed Bytra with the Decay from her troll core.

    The Cursed Light both sated the Chaos'' hunger while also giving the Goblin side the energy to recover. Once the two cores and life forces were perfectly bnced again, the Raiju could safely use the Chaos on herself again.

    Her Abomination side devoured the runes left on it by the ve array. What remained on the goblin side wasn''t enough to control her anymore, restoring her free will. Lith used War''s Counter Flow ability to exploit the weakened state of the residual ve spell to shatter it.

    The runes would still be there for at least a week but in their broken and smudged state, the precise series of instructions required to control a living being was reduced to a bunch of meaningless words.

 Chapter 2303 Arthans Genius (Part 1)

    "I''m sorry, Solus. I''m so sorry." Bytra said amid tears once she could speak again. "I didn''t mean to hurt you. I swear. It wasn''t me."

    "I believe you." Solus said. "That wasn''t your fault but mine. If you didn''t shield me with your body, the Unwavering Loyalty array would have never caught you. Thank you, Bytra."

    "I''m so sorry!" The Raiju kept weeping as if Solus had pped her in the face. "I''m a monster, Zor. No matter how hard I try, I''m still a monster!"

    The Shadow Dragon gestured to Lith for a mind link and heplied.

    ''Damn, between the blood madness and the ve array, I''m afraid that Bytra''s trauma has been reopened in the most painful way possible.'' She said to Lith who ryed it to Solus.

    ''I don''t think her mind ispletely here. She''s still lost in her worst nightmare. Please, tell Solus this for me.''

    Solus caressed the Raiju''s muzzle, using a handkerchief to wipe off her tears.

    "It''s okay, Bytra. I forgive you. The past is in the past. You can sleep now."

    "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I''ve longed to hear those words for so long." Lith took War out of Bytra''s body and she shapeshifted into her human form again, holding Solus'' hands. "I will¡­ I am¡­ I feel¡­ So tired."

    The Eldritch lost consciousness yet her hands still clung to Solus. Even in her sleep, Bytra kept crying and apologizing.

    "Now what?" Lith asked.

    "Bytra is broken. She needs peace and rest. As for the Golden Griffon- What the heck is it doing?" Xenagrosh had turned around to follow the lost academy''s advance and noticed that it had stopped.

    The Golden Griffon stood tall with his arms raised toward the sky.

    "Is it praying?" Solus asked.

    "More like casting a spell." Lith tried to use Life Vision, but the academy was too far even for the Eyes of Menadion.

    "No, if it was a spell, I would see it with mana sense." Solus shook her head.

    "Wait, I feel something and I''m not supposed to feel anything." Nandi clenched the gem on his head and the one on his chest, feeling them burn just like those on his hands that he couldn''t reach.

    "The world energy is thin due to the Golden Griffon siphoning it yet I can hear it screaming."

    "Like when you guys use your Abomination resonance, song, whatever?" Lith asked.

    "No. When we do that, what you feel is Mogar resonating with our essence. This is more like an agonizing scream." Nandi said, feeling pangs throughout his body as the world energy coursed through it.

    Then, something appeared between the Golden Griffon''s hands.

    At first, it was hazy, and visible only under its palms. As the lost academy stood still, the world energy became visible to the naked eye, forming a strand that went from one hand to the other.

    After a few seconds, the strand grew in size and its reach expanded as far as the eye could see in two directions until it disappeared at the horizon.

    "What the fuck?" Lith said, taking the words from everyone''s mind. "Is that a magic circle?"

    The strand was just a small portion of an array so big that it filled the sky in front of them. With every passing second, more lines and runes of power appeared, making part of its structure visible.

    "Indeed." Nandi said amid spasms. "A dormant array that''s being forcefully activated, to be precise."

    "Time to call for backup." Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension and pressed the Queen''s rune.

    "Your Majesty, I''m afraid we are in huge trouble." He said while sharing his view with her.

    "Why didn''t you call me earlier?" She turned pale as the Council representatives stood up from their seats to take a better look at the colossal monstrosity.

    "Because it would have been pointless." Lith replied. "Your forces are already stretched thin and there''s a powerful array that negates dimensional magic. I used a de Tier spell while supported by five ancient creatures and nothing worked.

    "I didn''t call you because I expect you to do any better but to understand what''s going on."

    "Arthan was a genius, Thrud is a deceitful fox, and we are screwed. That''s what''s going on." Sylpha said while pressing the runes on her amulet belonging to the Headmasters of the six great academies, using the Royal Override code to have their immediate attention.

    "Turn off the academy''s power core! I repeat, turn off the academy''s power core! This is not a drill. Do it and do it now!"

    Marth, Distar, and the other Headmasters used their respective ring to have the east wall of their office open, revealing the power core and starting the emergency shutdown procedures.

    "Your Majesty, with all due respect, maybe I can help." Inxialot said. "Liches like me can reach the Golden Griffon quickly and fight it safely. We might be able to buy you some time and maybe even put its capabilities to the test."

    Hearing a selfless and sensible proposal from a Lich would have been shocking under any other circumstance, but the Queen was too desperate to afford to be astonished.

    "Don''t ask, just do whatever you need!"

    "You heard her, boys! One keeps the phcteries safe while the others go to battle!" Inxialot closed themunication before Sylpha could hear them arguing about who''d be forced to stay behind.

    Usually, Liches hated to take risks, but this was about getting first-hand experience with a legendary artifact. Each one of them would kill their mother for the opportunity.

    The King of Liches had now learned that the key to a woman''s heart seemed to be the ability to look cool while pursuing his own interests.

    "At this point, keeping secrets isn''t going to do you any good, Your Majesty." Raagu said. "What is happening and why are you so worried? Even though the Golden Griffon is a huge golem, it''s nothing we can''t take down with ease."

    "You are right, Raagu." Sylpha said with a sigh, sitting on her throne. "Even if I keep remaining silent, soon you''ll learn the truth by yourselves. To answer your questions, the problem is that an academy isn''t just a huge golem but a mage tower."

    "What?" The Council representatives jumped to their feet, screaming into an uproar.

    "How can the Royals know the secret of mage towers and not have crafted one for themselves even after a millennium?" Lotho asked.

    "If the academies are this strong, how could you lose territories during the past wars?" Fe started to pace around.

    "If you knew what the Golden Griffon was capable of, why didn''t you predict Thrud''s strategy?" Raagu asked.

    "One at a time." Meron said amid fits of cough. "It''s not as simple as you think."

    Only once the room calmed down did Sylpha exin the situation to them.

    "We have no idea how to build a mage tower, Lotho. I used that term because it describes the situation the best. We didn''t craft another academy because the method entrusted to us by Menadion is as demanding as it''splex.

    "It requires to build six academies at the same time and arrange them in a specific order and position."

 Chapter 2304 Arthans Genius (Part 2)

    The arrays of the Throne Room conjured a hologram of the Kingdom, highlighting the six great academies.

    At a weave of Sylpha''s hand, the hologram revealed the position of one mana geyser under each building and many others among them. A ray of light joined the academies to the geysers and each other, forming a magic circle of colossal proportions.

    "No mage tower is that big nor does it require so many enchantments. Hence to make them work it takes an insane amount of power that can only be achieved by the array transmitting the power of multiple geysers to all academies at the same time.

    "We lost territories during the past wars, Fe, because even though our academies can move as well, in order to function they must keep the formation and the circle intact.

    "They can''t get far away from where they were built and can do it only if they all move together. Useless to say, such a move would leave the Kingdom exposed and leave a trail of destruction in its wake.

    "Not to mention that it would also mean stopping all sses and having no new mages until the end of a conflict. Always remember that the Forgemaster Magus intended the academies as a ce of knowledge, not weapons of mass destruction.

    "Menadion gave them the ability to fight only in order to protect the youths they host and only after Valeron begged her for it. If you also consider the number of resources that it takes to update them with the passing of time and the development of magic, it shouldn''t surprise you we didn''t make more."

    "Wait a second." Fe asked. "If they are so powerful, why didn''t you use them against Balkor during his final attack?"

    "Because at that point his creatures were immune to the academies'' arrays." Sylpha said with a sigh. "Once Balkor''s undead got inside, the students would have been trapped with them.

    "On top of that, we couldn''t afford to reveal such a secret with a cold civil war ongoing. One or more traitorous Headmasters might have activated their academy and turned it against the Crown."

    "You still haven''t answered Fe''s question." Raagu said. "How could you fail to predict Thrud''s n?"

    "First, we still have no idea what her n is." Meron chimed in to defend his wife. "Second, as Sylpha just told you, academies are supposed to be built in sets of six and unable to move like that.

    "We just thought that the Golden Griffon was capable of Warping from one geyser to another under the right circumstances as all cursed objects do. What we are seeing from Verhen''s amulet, instead, proves that it can move freely even in absence of an energy source.

    "On top of that, the Royal Array should have remained dormant unless activated by the six great academies at the same time. The Golden Griffon conjuring and interacting with it is supposed to be an impossible feat."

    The Council representatives had to admit that Meron''s words made sense. The ck Star, Kogaluga, and all the known cursed objects were capable of expanding or moving their influence from one geyser to another.

    "Also, please consider this." Meron continued. "Thrud started the war from the north, attacking our food reserves. She kept the Golden Griffon out of the battlefield and well-hidden so we assumed she was protecting it, just like you did."

    "How can the lost academy move like that, then?" Raagu asked.

    "The most likely answer is Forbidden Magic and Arthan''s genius." Meron said. "The power core of the Golden Griffon is fueled by stabilized Decay and it''s different from those of the rest of the academies.

    "You have a copy of its blueprints as well yet you couldn''t figure out its properties either."

    "This leaves me only one question." Lotho pondered, trying to make sense of that madness. "If the academies were Thrud''s goal from the beginning, why is she attacking them only now?"

    "Because if she had entered the Royal Array, we would have easily beaten her bybining our forces." Sylpha replied. "If we deployed the army, the Association, and the academies, we would have taken down the Golden Griffon in a snap.

    "Even if she seeded, Thrud would have found herself surrounded from all sides and with no allies. This way, instead, she has conquered her own territory. She has used this time to evolve her Generals into Divine Beasts.

    "She has given her soldiers the time to grow and learn from their battles with us thanks to the immortality that the Golden Griffon grants them. Last, but not least, she has forced us to spread our forces thin and exploited the fog of war to strike before we could even suspect what her goal was."

    ***

    Deirus region, at the same time.

    Zoreth was torn between the desire to bring Bytra to safety and not abandoning Lith. One Eldritch was already down and with the Shadow Dragon gone as well, there wouldn''t be much they could do.

    ''It''s not like there''s much we can do now either.'' She thought while looking at the Golden Griffon and the giant array that was appearing amid its hands.

    "Any idea what is it doing?" Lith asked.

    "It''s sucking the energy away." Nandi replied. "The Golden Griffon is forcing its way in as the seventh point of the array in order to hijack the power it carries."

    "It''s more than that." Solus could feel the Hands and Eyes of Menadion resonate with her tower half, shivering in disgust. "The Golden Griffon is like a parasite who''s sucking the life out of the other academies."

    She conjured a hologram depicting their current position, the shape of the visible array, and how by extending the lines they formed a circle that epassed all the six great academies.

    "How do we stop it?" Lith asked.

    "We can''t get close and our best shots didn''t work already." Nandi replied.

    "I''m spent." Lith had consumed the Life Maelstrom to survive his battle with Zoreth and his equipment had yet to recover from the de Spell.

    "I''d say we are screwed." Theseus shrugged.

    Inside the White Griffon, Headmaster Marth couldn''t agree more.

    The lights inside the academy kept flickering even though the mana geyser below was supposed to provide the building with endless energy. The power core had already received the shutdownmand, but it kept short-circuiting.

    Every single floor of the White Griffon was shaking, the bearing walls screeching as they twisted and deformed in what were supposed to be impossible shapes.

    ''I feel like I''m trapped in the belly of an agonizing beast, but that''s impossible. An academy is just a bunch of stones of magic, not a living being.'' Yet only once his best diagnostic spell confirmed Marth that the White Griffon had no life force was he certain of not being inside a cursed artifact.

    Headmaster Distar and the rest of Marth''s colleagues were in the same situation. The arrays of the ssrooms failed and the academies trembled so much that students and Professors needed to hug their desks to not fall on the ground.

    Yet the forests surrounding the academies were unaffected by the strange phenomenon.

 Chapter 2305 Out Of Options (Part 1)

    Dozens of Liches appeared at the dimensional coordinates Lith had provided, outside the Static Field array''s area of effect.

    They were split into seven-man units and they all held one or moreplex magical tools.

    "How did you get here so fast?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "The speed of a Lich is directly proportional to her own interests, kid." Rhan the Naga Lich said. "You better get at a safe distance from here. We seem to be boned beyond salvation already. Pun intended."

    She rattled her skeletal body to highlight the concept, annoyed that he wasn''tughing at her brilliant joke.

    Each group of undead unleashed one Silverwing''s Annihtion with body casting while they used their diagnostic instruments to collect as much data possible on the Golden Griffon in the hope to replicate it.

    The seven pirs of energy of a single Annihtion held the same power of a de Spell and couldn''t be countered by elemental sealing arrays. The Golden Griffon was an easy target and had no way to dodge.

    The volley of attacks opened deep holes in its armor, hitting the academy with enough strength to make it falter.

    "You are toote, maggots." Hystar said. "I don''t have the time to y with you anymore so I''m going to be quick and merciless."

    Several Silverwing''s Bastions appeared all over the Golden Griffon, blocking the Annihtions. The Forgotten inside the academy were channeling their power that the academy further boosted, bringing them on par with the violet cores.

    Then, several small doors opened in the Golden Griffon''s armor, letting out Thrud''s generals. Each Divine Beast was infused with Life Maelstrom and covered by the goldenyer of Mana Body.

    "Hey, guys." A human male Lich said. "Is it me or are those kids way stronger than they are supposed to be?"

    "It''s not you." A Hydra Lich replied. "My sensors detect a flow of energying from the academy going into the Divine Beasts. ording to our update, the Golden Griffon should work in a simr fashion to a mage tower.

    "My guess is that by sucking the power of the Royal Array the lost academy has now enough juice to boost its champions as well."

    Thrud''s Generals couldn''t use Origin mes or Doom Tide due to theck of world energy so they exploited their raw physical might.

    The Liches just turned the Annihtion into a Bastion, forcing the Beasts to a halt before pummelling them into oblivion.

    "Either we avoided our war duties too much and these guys have no experience against Liches or they are green." Rhan said. "I mean, the only thing worse than touching a Lich is touching an Abomination."

    Direct contact allowed the undead to drain life and energy from their victims, making them their own.

    "Kids. What can you do?" The Bastion shifted into an Annihtion again, killing the Divine Beast the moment the Liches had drained him of both the Life Maelstrom and the Mana Body. "I guess that the term anti-Guardian spells is too big a word for them."

    With the Divine Beasts falling and the array between the Golden Griffon''s hands fading due to the Liches'' interference, Lith allowed himself to hope. Nandi was fueling both Solus and his equipment so they were both recovering their strength.

    Soon he would be able to join the fray as well.

    s, soon never came.

    "Don''t get drunk on our newfound power or forget your training, idiots!" The voice of Iata the Sekhmet snapped the Divine Beasts out of their bloodlust. "Form groups of seven and fight like a unit!"

    The battle instantly became bnced, with Bastion shing against Annihtion and with no more stray shots reaching the Golden Griffon. The lost academy resumed attacking the Royal Array unimpeded, making up for the lost time.

    "This doesn''t bode well." Rhan said, pointing at the female figure riding the Sekhmet.

    Phloria was there,bining Omnish with Iata''s Annihtion to kill seven Liches in one shot. She had been charged with Life Maelstrom as well and had put it all behind her best shot.

    The more Liches were destroyed, the more seven-man units of Divine Beasts could focus on a single target. A single bastion couldn''t stop two Annihtions and soon the Liches started to drop like flies.

    Yet they fought bravely until the very end, squeezing every second to collect data for their personal research.

    "Finally!" Hystar burst into maniacalughter. "My unworthy siblings are no more. Nothing will stop the advance of the True King. Glory to Arthan!"

    The array connecting the six great academies hadpletely formed. The closed circuit that was supposed to fuel them was being drained by the Golden Griffon and its energy twisted against itself.

    Hystar clenched his fists while twisting his wrists, shattering the array like ss. The damage looked small and insignificantpared to the size of the array until it didn''t.

    Even after the Golden Griffon let go of the Royal Array, the energy circle hadn''t disappeared. With part of its runes gone and another part damaged, the array fell apart from both extremities.

    The more runes crumbled the more quickly the magical formation copsed.

    "It''s over." Tyris said while warm tears streaked down her eyes. "The Royal Array was one of thest things I have left from Valeron. I still remember the day when we weaved it together.

    "He was so happy and proud of himself. Valeron, Ripha, Silverwing, and I had given our all to make sure that no matter what happened to the Kingdom, our children would always have a safe ce where to stay.

    "It was supposed to preserve our legacies forever and now it''s gone."

    "I''m really sorry for you, loving finch." Sark wrapped Tyris'' slender shoulders with her arm, offering her to hold the little Shargein.

    "Thank you, noisy sparrow." Tyris took the little whelp, holding him against her bosom. "You have no idea how painful it is to have your own blood turn against you. To see talented people like Arthan or Thrud abuse their gifts."

    "Trust me, I know." Sark nodded. "The old lizard knows better, though."

    Balkor was there as well, the only human to witness the loss of Valeron''s legacy and to understand the magnitude of the events in front of him. Yet he remained silent, his heart split between the two rulers and their countries.

    The god of death now lived in the Desert, but he still loved the ck Griffon. It was his old academy and, in a way, his birthce.

    At the same time, before Lith could finish weaving Ruin, the six great academies had lost their energy source, turning into regr castles.

    "You came all this way to save me, but who''s going to save you now, sweetheart?" Phloria''s crazyughter sent shivers down his spine.

    Lith could see with the Eyes of Menadion that not only had Iata infused Phloria with another bolt of Life Maelstrom but also that the Golden Griffon was flooding her with world energy.

    "If we are going to get back together, we have to get rid of the third wheel first!" Phloria aimed her estoc at Solus and unleashed Omnish.

    Lith countered it with Ruin and for a moment, they were equally matched.

 Chapter 2306 Out Of Options (Part 2)

    War and Reaver started to cry in pain, making their respective masters shiver. The twin des didn''t want to fight, but they had no choice.

    "Time to go. There''s nothing we can do now." Nandi opened a Chaos Steps leading as far away as possible and dragged everyone inside.

    Thebined strength of Lith and Solus could hold only for so long against a Tower de spell infused with Life Maelstrom. On top of that, Iata''s squad was close topleting another Annihtion.

    Lith twisted his de Spell so that the sudden explosion stopped Omnish and clouded Life Vision long enough for them to escape.

    Once on the other side of the Steps, they rxed the space to make it impossible for Thrud to follow them.

    "Now what?" Lith contacted the Royals, hoping that they had a n.

    "Now we wait." Sylpha replied. "With the academies gone the only thing standing in Thrud''s way is the Royal artifacts. Yet she''s not the type to go for a straightforward attack.

    "Beforemitting our forces to any strategy, we must first understand her motive. So far, she has yed us like a fiddle and has gained a significant advantage over us. Go home, Magus Verhen, and prepare for the fight of your life.

    "Because it doesn''t matter who screws up this time, our next mistake will also be ourst."

    ***

    Distar Region, Vige of Lutia, Lith''s home.

    The Eldritches had already returned to their hideout to take care of Bytra so Lith and Solus were alone when they reached Lutia.

    Thrud had showcased her victory, broadcasting videos of the fall of the academies in all the major cities of the Kingdom. Between the appearance of the colossal Golden Knight and the defeat of their Supreme Magus, the citizens were too terrified to even riot.

    The atmosphere in Lith''s house was no better.

    His parents wee him back and made sure that he was alright but after that, a scared silence befall the house. Even the kids didn''t feel confident in their favorite uncle/brother anymore.

    Yet none of them had it worse than Jirni and Orion.

    Their daughter was now an infamous traitor who had joined the Mad Queen''s armies, leading them to victory. She was the Dragon Knight who had fought and bested even the Supreme Magus.

    "I''m so sorry, Lith." Orion said, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles popped. "If it wasn''t for that damn sword of mine, none of this would have happened. Without Reaver, Thrud would have left Phloria alone, or at least rescuing her would have been much easier."

    "Stop ming yourself, dear." Jirni said. "You made that sword to protect our Little Flower and make her the best at her job. You had no way to know that one day her job would make her turn against her family."

    "Yet here we are." Orion sighed. "Be honest with me, Lith. What are the chances of rescuing Phloria. Give me the cold truth, please."

    "It''s going to be nigh impossible." Lith pursed his lips in frustration. "If Phloria keeps riding a Divine Beast who grants her Life Maelstrom, getting close without dying is already hard.

    "Consider that even if somehow I overpower her while pulling my punches, Phloria''s partner can always send her back to the Golden Griffon with one spell. On top of that, now I also have to deal with the power boost from the academy!"

    "Does this mean that you are giving up on her?" Jirni asked.

    "No way!" Lith swept the air with his hand.

    "Then neither will we. If there is no way to rescue her, we just have to make one." Jirni said.

    "How, exactly?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "For starters, you could use some powerful allies." Jirni replied.

    "More powerful than the Eldritches? More powerful than me?" Lith said in disbelief. "If you have Tessa''s and Fyrwal''s contact rune, sure, but if they wanted my help, by now they would have visited me already."

    "I was talking about Orion and I." She looked Lith straight in the eyes. "You have Awakened Friya, Quy, and Phloria. If you Awaken us as well, we''d stand a chance against Thrud goons. We have our own Royal Fortress armor."

    "But-"

    "I know about the 100 years of servitude rule and I don''t care about it." Orion cut Lith short. "Make me your apprentice, your dog, whatever. I can''t stand sitting on the sidelines and praying anymore."

    "That''s not what I''m worried about!" Lith raised his hand to stop them. "Awakening isn''t some problem-solving miracle. Also, I only helped Quy and Phloria to Awaken. Faluel took care of Friya."

    "What difference does it make?" Jirni asked.

    "A lot! They were already powerful mages with a powerful core whereas you, Jirni, don''t even qualify as a magica. I can Awaken you, sure, but it would take you years to reach the blue core and more to learn magic properly." Lith said.

    "Until that moment, Awakening would make little to no difference."

    "Point taken." Orion nodded, d at the idea that his wife would be safe. "What about me? I''m a powerful mage and have a lot of experience in the field."

    "Your problem ispletely different, Dad." Quy said. "You are too powerful to Awaken. If you do, you''ll die."

    "But, you were a dumb violet and survived!"

    "Dull violet and yes, that was the key." Quy sighed. "I had my core poisoned down to the cyan and then Lith helped me Awakening. In your case, the poisoning would be much worse. You are likely to die before the process even starts."

    "It''s a risk I''m willing to take." Orion''s eyes showed no hesitation.

    "But I''m not." Lith shook his head. "Because the odds of sess aren''t low, they are zero. Quy trained her physique for years to withstand the mana flow and became the first human true mage in Mogar''s history.

    "If not for that, I wouldn''t have helped her either. Orion, your body has zero tolerance for mana flow and the strongest natural core a person can achieve. One of these problems I could work around, but two are impossible to ovee."

    "Is there really no solution?"

    "You can train like Quy did, but again, it would take months, maybe years. We have weeks at best before the war ends." Lith replied.

    "What about Balkor? He survived!" Orion refused to give up.

    "Sark helped him. If there''s something impossible for a Guardian, I''ve yet to discover it."

    "There is no hope then." Orion''s voice cracked as he lowered his eyes.

    "What ifmit suicide?" Jirni said with a casual tone, making her family gasp in horror. "What if my soul sticks around and you turn me into one of your Demons?"

    "Mom!" Quy and Friya said in unison.

    "Are you insane?" Orion turned pale as a ghost.

    "In that case, your core and body would be irrelevant." Lith replied. "You would draw your strength and knowledge from me, achieving a power on par with the violet core in one breath of Invigoration."

    "Sounds like a n." Jirni narrowed her eyes, her face a stone mask.

    "Mom, if you kill yourself to rescue Phloria, she would never forgive herself!" Friya said.

 Chapter 2307 Orionâ€˜s Choice (Part 1)

    "What about us?" Quy asked. "Are you really willing to abandon us forever?"

    On the one hand, Orion wanted to stop Jirni as much as his daughters. On the other hand, he couldn''t forgive himself for not having thought about bing a Demon first.

    "She would forgive herself and I wouldn''t abandon you." Jirni shook her head. "I would just be like Trion and we could still see and talk to each other."

    "It''s not that simple." Trion would have liked to stay out of it, but Jirni had brought him up and he didn''t want to see another family suffer. "You would be bound to Lith in Lutia. You wouldn''t experience taste, sounds, and even light like you do now.

    "Your skin would be cold and you''d never get tired or hungry. You would spend most of your time in a Void Sigil, regretting all the mistakes you''ve made and missing all the things you love.

    "Like spending time with your husband. Talking to your children and being there for them when they need you instead of just when Lith happens to visit them. Are you willing to forfeit all this?"

    Jirni gritted her teeth, torn between her feelings for Phloria and those for the rest of her family. For the first time in her life, there was no clear answer or devious n to get what she wanted.

    No matter what Jirni chose, she had to sacrifice something that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

    "No, I''m not." Jirni turned pale as she spoke. "I can''t give up on my life without the certainty of saving Phloria. If we fail, I''d lose everything and my family would grieve twice as much."

    Everyone considered the possibility of losing Phloria terrifying, but they managed to keep it in a dark corner of their minds where they never looked. Hearing someone as strong-willed as Jirni say it out loud was the stuff of their worst nightmares.

    She would never stop thinking and scheming until she found a way to make the impossible possible yet this time her despair was sincere. It wasn''t just a part of her deception or a small step in a bigger scheme, Jirni really was helpless.

    "Mom, Dad, the Royal Fortress armor could still help us big time. What do Quy and I have to do in order to wear them?" Friya asked.

    "I''m sorry, pumpkin, but you can''t." Orion sighed. "Just like only Valeron''s descendants can be rulers of the Kingdom, only those who carry the blood of the four finding pirs can wear the Royal Fortress armor of our households."

    "Are you telling me that just because we are adopted, we are not real members of the family?" Quy''s eyes teared up.

    First Tessa and now Tyris'' artifacts judged hercking because of her humble origins.

    "It''s moreplicated than that, dear." Jirni hugged, Quy, trying to calm her down. "Tyris gave those artifacts to Valeron''spanions to ensure that their bloodline would survive.

    "Without such a safeguard, someone might have forced their way into the family and taken them away. The First Queen designed them so that if one of our households disappears for whatever reason, her gift would disappear along with our bond with Valeron."

    "What about the Queen? She''s no descendant of Valeron or the four founding pirs yet she can use the Saefel set." Quy asked.

    "That''s because she''s married to Meron. The King imprinted the set first and that allowed Sylpha to share his imprint. If Meron were to die, Sylpha''s imprint would fade away as well." Jirni said.

    "I understand." Friya''s words and tone didn''t match.

    She was livid, her body stiff from outrage.

    "Faluel, if I were to be your Harbinger, wouldn''t that make me a member of the four finding pirs?" She asked, making everyone go even paler.

    "Yes, but you''d be a member of the Nyxdra family. Not the Ernas nor the Myrok. You could wear our Royal Fortress armor, but my mother is currently using it and I doubt she''s going to return it any soon." The Hydra replied.

    "It''s amazing. The fairy tales were right all along." Friya smashed the table with her fist and then kicked a chair, sending it to crash against the wall and turning it into splinters. "Only the chosen ones can do something.

    "Everyone who doesn''t carries the blood of a hero or whoseing isn''t hailed by a prophecy can''t do shit!" She punched the wall, opening a deep hole that the enchantments of the house started to repair.

    "That''s not true, pumpkin." Orion held her tight. "The Royals are as helpless as you and I''m no better. What kind of a hero can''t save the person he loves even with the help of an artifact crafted by Guardian?"

    Friya struggled to get free, kicking and punching at Orion in a way that reminded both of them of their encounter after the second exam of the White Griffon. Back then, Friya had killed her first human being.

    After Duchess Solivar had betrayed the Kingdom and the Ernas had forced Friya into adoption, her mind was already a mess. Committing cold blood murder just because she thought it would please her step-parents had nearly broken her for good.

    "That''s it, little one. Beat me, yell at me, do whatever you want. Dad is here for you." He said while caressing her head.

    Hearing those familiar words made Friya freeze and stop her tantrum.

    "I''m so sorry, Dad. It''s just that being so helpless hurts. Knowing that I could help Phloria if only I was your real daughter hurts. Discovering that even if I give up on my life to be a Harbinger is pointless hurts." She returned his embrace, falling apart simply because there was no point fighting anymore.

    "Don''t you dare say that." Orion replied. "No matter your blood, you and Quy are my daughters no less than Phloria, and today, you have taught me a lesson."

    Listening to his wife considering trading her own life for power and to her daughter being willing to forfeit her free will to rescue Phloria had been a p in Orion''s face.

    They were ready to do anything to bring back his Little Flower whereas he still had a card that until that moment he had been too scared to y.

    Not anymore.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, an hourter.

    After leaving Lith''s house, it had taken Orion a while to make a few calls and ensure that every member of his family had usible deniability for what he was about to perpetrate.

    After that, it had only been a matter of waiting.

    "You are thest person I expected to hear from, especially now." Balkor, the god of death, had reached Orion at the borders with the Desert, using a Spirit Warping array to bring the god of the forge in without passing through official channels.

    "Desperate times require desperate measures, Ilyum. You should know that better than anyone." Orion grunted.

    "I do and I''m sorry for your daughter. I wish there was something I could do for you, but my duty bounds me." Balkor replied, making Orion think of the irony of life.

 Chapter 2308 Orionâ€˜s Choice (Part 2)

    A few years ago, the god of death hade close to destroying the Kingdom and killing his daughters. Now Balkor was abetting Orion tomit high treason.

    "We''ll see. Things may change in a while." Orion shrugged. "Wish me luck."

    "Break a leg." Balkor escorted Orion through the city, vouching for him every time they were stopped by the guards.

    The presence of the Overlord didn''t make the securityxer. Quite the contrary, it made her loyal soldiers do their best in the hope to catch Sark''s eye and receive her blessings.

    "This is an unexpected surprise." The Guardian was sitting on a golden throne raised by a dais over one meter (3'') from the floor. "With everything that''s happening in the Kingdom, I thought you were busy Forgemastering something to save your daughter."

    She wore her long ck hair down in a cascade that reached the floor. The pristine white of Sark''s desert robes emphasized her bronze skin and her emerald eyes.

    Her beauty was otherworldly yet it was easy to miss due to the regal aura of power she emitted. From her bearing to the tone of her voice, everything about Sark exuded a charisma that made her guests want to bend the knee without her asking.

    The only thing ruining the gravity of her presence was the small Shargein sitting on herp and munching her hair while the Overlord held him between her arms. The young Featherling looked at the neer with interest for a whole second before yawning and falling asleep.

    Sark had made his head rest on her bosom, and the sound of her heart had done the rest. To Shargein, it was the best luby on Mogar.

    "I would, if there was something capable of performing such a miracle." Orion couldn''t stop looking at the baby, wondering if Lith''s children would look like that. "That''s why I am here."

    "I don''t follow." Sark actually had a clear idea of the reasons behind hising.

    The grief and despair Orion emitted were almost palpable.

    "For years you have pestered me to abandon the Kingdom and join you. You sent me so many letters that I''ve stopped reading them and started using them to light my firece.

    "Today, I''vee to ept your offer." He felt dirty inside speaking those words but neither his tone nor his determination faltered.

    "Really?" Sark raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "Really." Orion nodded, knowing that herck of enthusiasm was probably due to the terms of his surrender. "I''m willing to betray my country. To be one of your Forgemasters and share with you everything I know.

    "My personal techniques, the Ernas legacy, and even the Royal Forgemastering are going to be yours if you''d have me."

    "A tempting offer. Too bad that I feel a ''but'' iing." Sark leaned back while wrapping Shargein in a cloth made of Phoenix feathers woven together.

    "But only at one condition." Orion clenched his fists. "I want you to Awaken me for real. I don''t want to be one of your half-assed Feathers but a full-blown Awakened with breathing techniques.

    "I don''t ask you to help me in rescuing my daughter, only to give me the means to do it myself. It''s a fair deal, if you ask me."

    "Let me get this straight." Sark cocked her head in a bird-like manner. "I Awaken you, then you get back to the Kingdom, do whatever you have to do, and then youe back to the Desert?"

    "Correct." Orion nodded. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I''m willing to give you my word and leave here my entire research as coteral."

    At a wave of his hand, tomes started to pour out of his dimensional amulet. There were so many that they soon reached Orion''s hips and more kepting.

    "If you don''t believe me, look at this." He handed Sark a thick book with a white cover. "It contains the blueprints for the War series of des and all my experiments to rece the pseudo cores with a real power core.

    "This alone makes me a traitor of the Kingdom. That book is supposed to not exist. It proves that I''m the one who made War in open defiance to a Royal Order. Now that you have it, my life is in your hands."

    "You are misunderstanding my words." Sark didn''t even open the book before returning it to Orion. "I trust you. I haveplete faith in your skill and honor otherwise I would have never offered you the job as my Head Forgemaster.

    "What I don''t trust are your motivations." A snap of her fingers made all the tomes go back into his dimensional amulet.

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean that I made you my offer when you were a free man. When the only thing influencing your choice was your own will. Had you switched sides back then, I wouldn''t have considered you a traitor even if the Kingdom did." Sark replied.

    "I wouldn''t have forced you to share anything you weren''t willing to and I would have just been content to enjoy the future fruits of your genius. Now, instead, you are a man with a knife at his throat.

    "You didn''te here of your own will but only because you are desperate. Otherwise you would have never offered me things that I didn''t request nor said words that sullied your honor.

    "By offering me the Ernas legacy and the Royal Forgemastering, you have be a traitor both in the eyes of the Kingdom and mine. And I don''t work with traitors."

    "Are you insane? I''m offering you, an almighty Guardian, a treasure of knowledge that even the Awakened Council envies the Kingdom and all I ask you in return is something you''ve given away many times already." Orion replied.

    "Are you really putting something as insignificant as honor above my daughter''s life? Wouldn''t you do the same were our positions reversed?"

    "Respectively, no and yes. Which is why I can''t ept your offer." Sark said with a sigh. "I''m a parent as well. I know what you feel because I feel the same way every time I risk losing one of my hatchlings."

    She held Shargein tight as if he could disappear at any moment.

    "I respect you and your pain so I''ll pretend that thest five minutes never happened. Go away. There''s nothing for you here."

    "In the gods'' names why? Why won''t you help me?" Orion could feel Mogar splitting under his feet and plunging him into a bottomless pit of despair.

    "Because I would be taking advantage of a cornered man and your loyalty wouldst only until the next crisis." Sark replied. "If in the future one of your children in the Kingdom were to be in danger, you would just betray me as well.

    "Sure, I could hunt you down and kill you, but then what? Mogar would just lose one of its best Forgemasters and I would set a very dangerous precedent. The Kingdom would hate me. Your family would hate me.

    "Heck, even my children would hate me. I''m sorry, Orion Ernas, but I''m not going to let you destroy your legacy in a moment of weakness."

 Chapter 2309 Catching Up (Part 1)

    "You are better than this, Orion. If you turn your back on your household, you''ll lose more than your daughter, you''ll lose yourself. And you would regret it your whole life." Sark shook her head.

    "Just like I''d regret not trying everything I can to save my Little Flower. I would give my life for her without a second thought. A father shouldn''t survive her daughter!" Orion said in outrage.

    "Your words haven''t fallen on deaf ears." Sark nodded. "I refuse your offer. I refuse your loyalty until it is given freely. As a Guardian and the Overlord, I can''t help you. As a mother, however, I can bend the rules a little."

    "What do you mean?" Orion was dumbfounded.

    "When I said that your words haven''t fallen on deaf ears, I wasn''t referring to mine." Sark pointed behind him where she had forcefully Warped Tessa and Fyrwal.

    "Well said, kid. Juria would be proud of you." Tessa the Titania wrapped her arms around Orion''s neck, her eyes tearing up.

    "What are you taking about? The First Ernas was the shield of the King. She would have never betrayed him, no matter the cost. Juria Ernas was better than I will ever be." Orion felt deep shame whileparing himself to his foremother.

    "Are you kidding me?" Fyrwal joined the embrace. "Juria served another lord before Valeron. A cruel bastard who abused his power and exploited the loyalty of his knights to do his dirty work.

    "Juria switched sides in the middle of the war and helped Valeron to conquer the kingdom she had sworn to protect."

    "That''spletely different!" Orion blurted out. "She turned her back to a vicious tyrant whereas I was willing to break a sacred oath to save my daughter."

    "Different how?" Tessa said with a scoff. "Why do you think that Juria changed her mind? She did it because the bastard had daredy his eyes on her sister. Breaking her oath crushed her twice.

    "The first time because it sullied her honor as a knight and the second because she was ridden with the guilt from having stood idly until the problem had be personal. No one''s perfect, kid."

    The revtion shocked Orion, but time was a luxury he didn''t have.

    "Does this mean that you are going to help me?" He asked.

    "Of course." Fyrwal nodded. "The four founding pirs must stick together. We were going to act on our own because we despise the Kingdom but we''ll make an exception for you."

    "I swear, looking at you throwing those books at Sark''s feet reminded me of Juria giving Valeron the map of the secret passages of the castle and the position of the guards after handing herself over." Tessa patted his shoulders.

    "She bartered her life in exchange for her sister''s safety. Juria entered Valeron''s encampment as a prisoner, thinking that he would have her executed for treason after getting what he needed.

    "She knew that she deserved to die but Valeron begged to differ. He thought that she deserved a second chance, just like the one Sark offered you. Gods, it feels like she''s back with us."

    "Thanks, I guess." Orion replied.

    "Don''t be glum and look at the bright side." Fyrwal cupped his face, seeing her old friend in him. "Even if Sark Awakened you, it would have taken you a long time to learn true magic and body casting.

    "We, instead, have mastered them both centuries ago and we''ll fight in your stead."

    The Titania and the Hydra thumped at their own chest with a closed fist, making the Davross of their Royal Fortress armor ng.

    "Even better, we are willing to work with your Tiamat friend and your little runts." The Bewitching Demon said. "Believe me when I say that if we can''t do it after joining our forces, then no one can."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Distar Marquisate, Lith''s house.

    Going back was much quicker since the Gate in Lith''s barn had privileged ess to the Desert and Sark was free to open it from her side.

    "Go home." Fyrwal said. "You need to rest and we need to talk with the runts in private."

    "Are you sure?" Orion asked. "Lith is a full-blown paranoid and without a proper introduction, things might escte quickly."

    "Please, he may be a Divine Beast, but we gave Thrud a run for her money. How tough can he be?" Tessa said with a sneer.

    "Like a Divine Beast in his own home, surrounded by his arrays, and with Guardians watching over his wife who won''t hesitate to turn you into oatmeal." He replied.

    Tessa used her personal array detection spell, Unravel, to discover enough magical formations to suppress a Dragon.

    "Point taken. You weren''t joking about his paranoia. How can someone so young have built something like this?" The Titania asked.

    "Lith is Lith." Orion had no exnation to offer. "That and he had the Royals fund his home defense system ever since he was twelve."

    "Let me call Fanny. You Warp him back home." Fyrwal took out her dimensional amulet. "Better not make anyone wonder how Orion went from his house to Verhen''s and back without going through official channels and after a Gate from the Desert was ''conveniently'' opened."

    "While we are at it, please, don''t tell my daughters what I was about to do." He gave them a bow, his shoulders slouching in shame.

    "I bet they would be proud of you. Or at least, I would. A father willing to put everything he has on the line for his children is a rare thing." Tessa patted his shoulder before sending him away.

    "Go home. You need rest." She imitated Fyrwal''s voice making it sound high-pitched and dumb. "Seriously? Couldn''t you think of a better excuse?"

    "It was no excuse. The man is exhausted and we needed to get rid of him. I just didn''t expect Verhen to be such a pain in the ass and neither did you." The Hydra shrugged. "Remember to behave. They are all my daughter''s apprentices."

    "Fine." Tessa pouted.

    "I''m serious. Don''t embarrass me. Keep your racistments for yourself and your hands in your pockets, no matter how angry you get. If a Guardian kills you, I''ll be left alone." Fyrwal took out a Rememberer that projected an image of their old group.

    Three out of five were grey, dead before their time.

    "Fine." Tessa huffed out. "You have my word that I won''t let you and Juria''s bloodline down."

    "Hi, Mom. How did you get- Oh, gods, no!" Faluel pointed at the Titania, aghast at her presence.

    "It''s nice to see you too, Fanny." Tessa clicked her tongue in annoyance. "You have nothing to worry about. We havee to help. Be a dear and introduce us to your friends."

    "Really?" Faluel looked at both women in suspicion. "I thought thatment about adding Lith to the When All Are One array was a joke. You''ve known about him for a while and you''ve never contacted him. What made you change your mind?"

    "It was a joke." Fyrwal replied. "As for your question, desperation changed our minds."

    The Elder Hydra felt no need to specify whose desperation she was referring to.

 Chapter 2310 Catching Up (Part 2)

    "We could use an ally and I''m eager to meet Elphyn." Fyrwal said.

    "Wait, you knew?" Faluel was bbergasted.

    "I''m no fool, dear. I saw Verhen''s videos like everyone else and I''m pretty certain that despite the few changes it has undergone, the Golden Knight who fought by his side was wielding Menadion''s Fury." Fyrwal replied.

    "I had my suspicions ever since you asked my help with the Hands and refused to introduce me to your boy wonder. At that point, too many things didn''t add up. Like how Verhen can be such a genius Forgemaster despite having no bloodline legacy or how he uses mana geysers like no one else.

    "Or better, like he has a tower?" Faluel turning pale at the allegation answered her question even though the Hydra remained silent.

    "Promise me neither of you will try something funny." Faluel said.

    "I promise." Both women said.

    Faluel went to the front door, knocking politely.

    "Back so soon? I thought you were busy with Council duties. Is everything alright?" Elina asked.

    She could swear to know one of Faluel''s guests while the other just sent a shiver down her spine. The green-haired woman was beautiful but there was no warmth in her. Elina felt like she was staring at a majestic yet deadly predator.

    "I''m fine, thanks. I hope you remember my mother, Fyrwal." The Hydra waved at the other woman with seven colored streaks amid her hair.

    "But of course! Please,e in. It''s so nice seeing you again Lady Fyrwal." Elina had met the Elder Hydra during Lith''s ascension ceremony to Magus.

    Even though Fyrwal back then had acted a bit cold, Elina had no reason to suspect either Hydra of foul y.

    "Please, just Fyrwal. I gave up on pretentious titles a long time ago." Her grip was firm and delicate when she shook Elina''s hand.

    "Who''s this charmingdy? A rtive of yours?"

    "In a way." Faluel tensed up. "Elina, allow me to introduce you to the fourth founding pir of the Griffon Kingdom. Lady Tessa Titania Sempre Erebia."

    "The Bewitching Demon?" Elina froze up.

    Everyone in the Kingdom knew who Tessa was.

    She had many unttering nicknames like the Darkest Page of History, Valeron''s Poison, or the Gravedigger. After the unification of the Kingdom, the nobles had tried to forget about the Titania while themoners feared her.

    "Also that." Faluel sighed. "Please, don''t use that name. Only the enemies and the critics of Aunt Tessa call her like that."

    "I''m sorry, Lady Tessa, I didn''t know that." Elina gave her a deep bow, trembling like a leaf.

    "No need to apologize, Lady Verhen. The historical reports about my actions are unttering but urate. I can''t me you for using a nickname I deserved. Please, call me Tessa." The Titania gave her host a deep bow.

    She found Elina''s clumsy manners adorable.

    "Is everything okay, Mom?" Solus had heard Faluel''s voice and hade to greet her mentor when she noticed Elina''s distress.

    "Epphy!" Fyrwal wrapped her in an embrace and lifted Solus with no effort. "Thank the gods you are alright. You had me worried sick for over 700 years. Why didn''t youe looking for me?"

    "I beg your pardon?" Solus asked in confusion.

    She remembered the Elder Hydra from the Magus ceremony but that was it. In the past, Faluel had mentioned that Fyrwal was one of Menadion''s apprentices but hearing her use Solus'' old name still sounded weird.

    "She''s asking you where have you disappeared until now, jackass. I''m more interested in knowing why you call Lady Verhen ''Mom''. Have you already forgotten about your real mother?

    "The poor Ripha gave you life whereas you took hers!" Tessa said with a snarl, emitting a burst of bright violet aura.

    Solus was so shocked by the usation that she turned pale. She felt responsible for her mother''s death, which along with the Titania''s killing intent sealed her mouth.

    "See? She''s not answering because she knows I''m right!" Tessa misunderstood Solus'' silence as an admission of guilt. "I knew that no one could possibly kill Ripha inside her tower unless they had Elphyn''s help.

    "Just tell me this. Did you lure Ripha outside the tower on purpose or did you just get tricked like the idiot you are? Did Ripha die at your hand or because of your stupidity?"

    Since Solus kept not moving or answering, Tessa stepped forward and lifted her from the cor of her shirt. The Titania looked Solus in the eyes with a violent hate the like only Lith''s enemies had ever seen before.

    "Hey, you!" Raaz put himself between them, pping Tessa''s hand away.

    His strength was insignificant, which made the shock from his defiance big enough to make the Titania lose her grip.

    "I don''t care who you are. Treat my daughter like that in my home and you and I are going to have a problem." Raaz was weak and scared, yet there was no hesitation in his eyes.

    He was really ready to fight. No matter the odds, Raaz wouldn''t let anyone hurt his family without a fight. Not again.

    Tessa took a step back, suddenly remembering where she was and why they hade there.

    "And if youy a finger on my father, you and I are going to have a huge problem." Lith opened his seven eyes, each one brimming with mana of a different elemental color, while ck mes burst from his mouth.

    "And if anything you do so much as scares my granddaughter, I''m going to murder you. I''ll bring you away from here so that I can take my time doing it as slowly and painfully as I can." Leegaain closed the matter for anyone.

    The Guardian was in the kitchen, dressed like a butler as usual. He was preparing dinner along with several high-nutrition low-fat delicious sweets for Kam. The recipe was one of his most coveted secrets.

    Yet the apron, the clothes, and the wooden spoon in his hand didn''t make him any less terrifying. His eyes were pitch-ck and so was the aura he was emitting that threatened to swallow the Titania whole.

    Tessa raised her hands while she took a few steps back, her palms raised in surrender.

    "Thank you, Grampa, but I think that rather than killing precious allies, it would be better to de-escte the situation." Kam said. "Can you please call Tyris?"

    "Of course, I can, sweetie pie." He said while talking to her womb and then repeating everything in Dragontongue. "Who''s Grampa''s genius girl? You are."

    A quick mind link and another Guardian appeared in the Verhens'' kitchen.

    "I really hoped that we wouldn''t meet again like this, Tessa." Tyris said with a sigh.

    "Oh gods, Saefel!" The Titania and the Elder Hydra bothpletely forgot about Elphyn and rushed to the Guardian, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "I missed you so much."

    "You know where I live." Tyris said while returning the embrace and shedding a warm tear. "You could have visited me at any time and I would have weed you with open arms."

    "Are you kidding me?" Fyrwal sniffled. "I couldn''t stand seeing you cry. I couldn''t bear the thought that my presence would stir the memory of Valeron and cause you even more suffering than you were already going through."

 Chapter 2311 The Bond Of The Covenant (Part 1)

    "I kept my distance hoping it would allow you to process your grief faster or at least not be a constant reminder of your loss." Fyrwal shook her head.

    "Same here." Tessa nodded. "I know that my pain for Valeron''s death is nothingpared to yours yet I was devastated nheless. How are you doing now?"

    "Much better, thanks." Tyris gave them a warm smile like when the old gang was still alive. "Now, sit down and tell me what''s going on here."

    "I think there is some kind of huge misunderstanding about Solus'' survival." Lith pointed at her. "They knew her as Elphyn and know nothing about what she''s gone through."

    ''Based on what we know, Elphyn was a great Forgemaster but also a shitty person so their suspicions are understandable. Yet if I say it out loud, it would hurt Solus. Like Bytra, she''s a new person and has to face the burden of her past self.'' He thought.

    "Who''s Solus?" Tessa and Fyrwal asked in unison.

    "My partner." Lith showed them his stone ring before pointing at the seven streaks in Solus'' hair. "Notice something different?"

    The two Elder women gaped as the realization suddenly struck them. Elphyn was supposed to be decrepit whereas the woman in front of them hadn''t aged a day since thest time they had seen her.

    On top of that, if Elphyn had helped the killer, the tower would have been hers. Same if she wasn''t involved in Menadion''s death. Lith owning the tower made no sense at all.

    He couldn''t be involved for sure since he was too young. Their knees buckled as their minds turned into a fuzzy mess. They would have fallen butt-first on the floor if not for Faluel putting chairs behind them.

    "Did you know me? I mean, the old me?" Solus said the moment shock and guilt faded enough for her to talk.

    "I don''t know what you mean with ''the old you'' but yes, I did." Tessa replied. "You were a self-centered, arrogant jackass who never cared for Ripha''s suffering or the pain you caused her.

    "You prattled on and on about how cruel she was and how Threin''s death had scarred you with anyone who was willing to listen to you. You never stopped considering how your father''s death and the rumors you spread around affected your mother.

    "You were a piece of shit who trampled on Ripha''s feelings whereas she would have given her life just to keep you from shedding a single tear. Does this answer your question?"

    Solus gasped, needing a chair as well to not fall onto the ground. Until that moment, the people of her past had told her mostly good things about Elphyn. She knew that her old self was far from perfect, but Tessa''s words were as harsh as her voice.

    "Is that true?" Solus asked Fyrwal. "Was I that bad?"

    The Elder Hydra had acted friendly upon recognizing Solus so she assumed that being also a friend of Tessa, Fyrwal wouldn''t sugarcoat the truth. Too much.

    "Did you lose your memory or something?" The Hydra asked in confusion. "Never mind, you can exin yourselfter. As for your question, let''s say you were never a daughter-of-the-year candidate.

    "After Threin''s death, your rtionship with Ripha crumbled and it never really recovered. Mind me, not forck of trying on Ripha''s part. Your rebellious phase hurt her exactly as you intended and once you grew out of it, things didn''t get much better.

    "You loved her and respected her as a mentor, but you never forgave her as a mother. Your life goal was to prove to everyone that you were better than Ripha, especially to Ripha.

    "You had a few lovers, even fewer friends, and treated with contempt anyone who didn''t fit your standards. I''d define you as a troubled young woman, to be polite. Living in the shadow of someone as great as Ripha would have been hard for anyone, but it was Threin''s ghost who really poisoned your life."

    "I think they deserve to know the truth." Lith patted her shoulder, using the contact to establish an invisible mind link.

    ''Keep Bytra out of your story. Tessa seems even worse than what Quy and Friya told us. We don''t have the time to calm her down and we can''t afford our allies fighting to the death among themselves.'' He said and she telepathically nodded in reply.

    Solus took Tessa''s and Fyrwal''s hands, using a mind link to show them everything she remembered of her final days while also keeping Bytra''s figure shrouded. Then, she shared with them her life until she had been found by Lith and ended it there.

    They may know Solus, but she had no memory of them nor reason to trust them. Especially after how strained her rtionship with Tessa seemed to be.

    She just showed them part of the past encounters with both Baba Yaga and Silverwing. It made clear that they both were aware of Solus'' rtionship with Lith and were fine with it, relieving any possible worry Tessa and Fyrwal might have about her free will.

    "Filthy bastard!" The Titania jumped to her feet in outrage. "They killed you to get to Ripha, just like I always feared."

    "Language." Leegaain''s eyes red with power. "Who are you calling a b-word?"

    "The killer, obviously." Tessa calmed down as fast as she had gotten angry. "I told Ripha countless times that marrying Threin was a mistake. He and Elphyn were her weak spot. It was only a matter of time before they also became her cause of death."

    "I apologize on behalf of my friend." Fyrwal had her eyes veiled with tears and her heart full ofpassion for Solus'' hardships. "Fae have only three feelings. Deep love, burning hate, and absolute indifference.

    "Tessa means well but she never liked you Elphyn. She always saw you and your father like some kind of package deal with your mother."

    "I can vouch for that." Tyris sighed. "Tessa likes very few people. There''s no shame in being left out from her VIP list."

    "Onest thing. Saefel, is Elphyn really free? Because I don''t know this guy and whatever she has shown me with the mind link might be just a memory he imnted into her." The Titania said.

    "I don''t like Elphyn, but I honor Ripha''s memory. I won''t leave her legacy and daughter in the hands of a maniac."

    "You have my word." The Guardian nodded.

    "Then it''s fine by me." Tessa nodded.

    "Me too. Elphyn, do you have any questions for us?" Fyrwal asked.

    ''I wish Tyris was there when we first met Silverwing. It would have made things so much easier.'' Lith inwardly griped.

    "My name is Solus."

    "I''m sorry, Solus. It will take a while to get used to it." The Hydra fiddled with her hair in embarrassment.

    "Actually, a lot, but none that can''t wait." Solus replied. "We are in a pinch and have no idea how to rescue our friend, Phloria Ernas. Are you here to help or just to talk about the past?"

    "To help." Tessa nodded, liking the new Elphyn more than the old one already.

    The Elphyn she knew would have wasted their time whining about her wounded feelings and demanding an apology. Solus was putting her friend first, instead.

 Chapter 2312 The Bond Of The Covenant (Part 2)

    "Meeting you was just the icing on the cake. We are here on behalf of Juria, I mean Orion. He begged us to save his daughters and we epted." Tessa said.

    "Do you have a n? Because just looking around randomly for Phloria so far didn''t pan out for us. By the time we get wind of her position, the Dragon Knight has already moved out."

    "Now I do." Lith nodded while offering them his hands for another mind link.

    He shared with them part of his past with Phloria, the golden lily pendant, and War''s ability to mess with the ve array. Then, he showed them his fight against the Golden Griffon.

    "My problem isn''t dealing with the Unwavering Loyalty array but creating an opportunity to rescue Phloria. I can''t safely restrict her while also dealing with the academy, the Divine Beasts, and the Forgotten."

    "Until now." Tessa nodded. "I like you, kid. You put together by yourself all the pieces of the puzzle you could and you didn''t hesitate to share with us a few of your secrets in order to maximize your odds of sess. I respect your dedication to your cause."

    "Thanks." Lith nodded.

    ''I bet that Sark is already regretting having turned down the secrets of the War series.'' She said to Fyrwal via a mind link and the Hydra nodded.

    "I like you too, Lith, but for a different reason." Fyrwal patted his shoulder. "You have protected Elph- Solus and Menadion''s legacy. Also, I thank you for bringing the old gang together and creating a bond between our new generations."

    "As I see it, the situation is dire but not impossible." The Titania started pacing around the house while filling in the nks in Lith''s n. "You have powerful allies that we can use to create an opening.

    "Those Eldritches will be of great use to us and they''ll be safe as long as they stay away from the Golden Griffon. If we add you to the When All Are One array, we get Light Mastery, bloodline abilities, and Domination.

    "We stillck two members, though."

    "What about me?" Faluel said.

    "No offense, Fanny, but you are weak." Tessa shook her head. "If you give the Hands to Filly, she can use them better than you."

    "What about me?" Solus said.

    "You are even weaker and we have no idea if my array can even bring you to violet." The Titania snorted. "Anyway, you''ll take Lith''s ce once he takes care of Phloria so we stillck two people."

    "What do you mean, rece Lith?" Solus asked.

    "You can''t be so dumb that you expect him to capture Phloria in the middle of a warzone! The first step of my n is to hit Thrud''s army so hard that she will be forced to deploy Phloria.

    "At that point, Lith takes her away to a safe location while we buy time for him." Tessa replied.

    "It makes sense." Solus whimpered, making herself small on her chair.

    "I was thinking about Friya." Fyrwal patted Solus'' head to cheer her up. "Her Dimensional Ruler spell was really good and it would avoid the risk of the enemy learning Domination. Also, her Gravity Magic was amazing."

    "But, Mom, she''s my apprentice and a youngling at that. How can you pick her instead of me?" Faluel asked.

    "Because of When All Are One, child." The Elder Hydra replied. "I want you with us on the battlefield, but not in the array. You are just like me but weaker. You add nothing to the formation. I''m sorry, sweetie."

    "I see." Faluel clenched her teeth but said nothing more.

    ''If Faluel got turned down, I''ve got no chance.'' Tista though. ''I have no control over most of my bloodline abilities and I''d only risk putting everyone in danger.''

    "We need as many bloodline abilities as we can." Tessa pondered. "Do you know a Divine Beast who''s willing to help us?"

    "I wish- Be right back." Lith bolted into the children''s room, returning a few secondster with a honey badger in his arms.

    "Rude! I was having a- Hello, there." Crank''s annoyed attitude changed the moment he saw the two guests.

    They had a bright violet core like him and were old enough to be interesting. He cleaned himself with a quick darkness spell and started licking his fur straight.

    "A Hyperion." Fyrwal nodded. "I would have preferred Life Maelstrom, but Mana Body works just fine."

    "There''s so much more than mana in this body, sweetheart." He stood on his hind legs, leaning against her knee. "Before I shoot myself in the foot, what is the topic at hand exactly?"

    "Help us and I''ll rock your world." The Titania gave him her best seductive smile while offering her hand.

    "Whatever it is, I''m in!" Crank shook it with both paws, his blood flowing to the wrong brain as he enthusiastically shot himself in the foot.

    "Then we have a deal. You face Thrud army with us and if we manage to rescue Phloria Ernas I''m all yours for one hour." Tessa nodded.

    "Oh farm! Farm! Farm!" The Hyperion''s family-friendly cursing made those presentugh. "I epted the terms and conditions without knowing the mission. And the reward is one flimsy hour!"

    The handshake was a sacred covenant between all kinds of beasts. Going back on his word would have destroyed Crank''s reputation and made all deals people stipted with him invalid.

    "Five minutes seemed more than enough, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt." Tessa shrugged.

    "Ha-ha! Very funny. Don''t add insult to injury, Fae!"

    "Or what, Divine Beast?" The Titania crossed her arms.

    "Or nothing! I''m screwed and we both know it. Learn to win with dignity."

    He sat down on the floor, pouting.

    "Okay, the When All Are One Array isplete." Fyrwal said.

    "Maybe not." Solus chimed in. "I think I should go with Lith. Together we can more easily restrain Phloria and I''m the only one who can follow him unnoticed."

    Thanks to the previous mind links, Fyrwal and Tessa knew who had been entrusted with Solus'' secret and who, like Crank, wasn''t made part of it.

    "Yeah, but you heard what Phloria told us and Quy. She considers you the third wheel in our past rtionship. If she sees you or suspects your presence, the lily pendant might not work.

    "Anything I say would be poisoned by the doubts that we know Phloria has about your influence on me."

    "Never mind. The When All Are One array isplete, then." Solus sighed.

    "Hold your Dragons!" Crank snapped out of his self-pity trip. "When you say When All Are One array do you mean the legendary magical formation that kicked so many Council asses that it established the borders of the continents even to Awakened?"

    "Yes." Tessa nodded.

    "And I''m going to be part of it?"

    "Yes." Tessa nodded again. "I''ll be the Highmaster, Fyrwal the Tower, Lith the Spear, Friya the Shadow, and you the Shield. You should be honored to y the same role as Juria. She-"

    "And you invented it?" The Hyperion cut her short, not caring one bit about lore.

    "Yes." The Titania snorted in annoyance.

 Chapter 2313 Rescue Operation (Part 1)

    "Damn. It''s not such a bad deal, after all. If I y my cards right during that hour, I can get you to teach me more than kinky Fae stuff." Crank steepled his paws while nning his next move with great caution.

    "Do you realize that you said everything out loud?" Tessa asked.

    ? "I don''t like lying." The Hyperion puffed out his chest with pride. "It involves remembering the nonsense you say and acting upon it. The truth is easier to remember and it allows me to do whatever I want."

    "A fair point." The Titania nodded. "Filly?"

    "Now that we have our tactical formation ready, what we need is a foolproof n." Fyrwal got her cue. "The problem the Royals have had from the beginning of the War of the Griffons is the same we are experiencing now.

    "Thrud strikes first, with her opponents moving blindly without any idea of what her goal is except for the one she lets them believe. She acts and we react. It sounds reasonable until you realize that if we keep it like this, we''ll never take the initiative.

    "Even worse, we''d just keep dancing in her palm, and sooner orter we''d be defeated or enved."

    "I know, but I''m out of options. I tried conquering hernds and even striking terror with the Eldritches, but Thrud never took the bait." Lith pointed out.

    "Indeed, but things are different now." Fyrwal used her contact amulet to conjure a map of the Kingdom. "If before the yfield was wide and Thrud had several possible targets, now she has only one final step left before conquering the Kingdom. The city of Valeron."

    "Wrong, she has two." Lith shook his head. "One is me and the other is the capital. Thrud swore to leave me forst but at this point, she might as well take a swing at me."

    "Fair enough." Fyrwal nodded. "What I meant is that now we can finally anticipate her moves and be the one who makes the first move. Sure, thanks to Phloria Thrud knows most of your secrets but so do we now.

    "We can y around everything she throws at us because the rest of her path is straightforward and she has already revealed all the cards in her hand. Here is my n."

    The Elder Hydra proceeded to list a series of ploys and maneuvers, some of which would require weapons Forgemastered for a specific purpose. Her strategies would make use of Lith''s control over the army and the Council, his Eldritch allies, and make them both revolve around Tessa''s array.

    "I like your n and I think I might kick things up another notch." Lith said while taking out hismunication amulet.

    Inxialot the King of Liches answered immediately, but he wasn''t the one Lith was looking for.

    "What do you want? I''m busy." The Apophis used Inxialot''s same greeting.

    "I want to make you an offer." Lith shared the bare minimum of Fyrwal''s n to let Apep understand what he would be getting himself into. "If you ept and we seed, I''ll consider our deal fulfilled and deliver you my part."

    "Hold on. What about me?" Crank asked as the Apophis hissed in surprise and excitement.

    "Same thing. I''m willing to deliver a training tool for de Magic to you, Apep, Fyrwal, and Tessa. My offer was addressed to whoever brought Phloria alive to me and if this n seeds, I''ll consider it done."

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Tessa said. "I''m not doing this for glory or for a flimsy reward. I''m doing this in memory of mypanions. I appreciated your offer, but you can keep your reward."

    "Same here." Fyrwal nodded.

    "I''m doing this for myself." Crank looked Lith in the eyes. "You got yourself a deal, kid."

    "Same here." Apep nodded. "As long as you pay me, I''ll see the job through. Send me the details and I''lle. Apep out."

    ***

    Deirus Grand Duchy, a few dayster.

    In the end, Lith, the Royals, and Fyrwal turned out to be all equally wrong.

    The Golden Griffon reappeared near itsst known position, at the borders between the Deirus region and the Werean region. Judging from its path, the lost academy seemed to be moving toward the Distar region but in the opposite direction from Lustria.

    The answer to that mystery came from an unexpected source.

    "I think I know what Thrud''s goal is." Vastor said. "She''s about to settle her score with me."

    "What do you mean? She''s nowhere near the Essagor region." Lith replied.

    "Think about it. Thrud knows I''m the Highmaster who kept her away from her dying husband. She knows about Tezka. She knows I''m the Master. In her shoes, would you really walk into my home?"

    "No." Lith had to admit.

    "Exactly! She''s afraid of Tezka and has no idea what I can do. Thrud is afraid that if she forces me to drop my mask, not only she might lose but also turn me into a hero and get my crimes pardoned." Vastor said.

    "Indeed." Lith nodded. "I told Phloria of your powers and how you could hold your own against Baba Yaga. She knows that you are the first artificial human-Abomination hybrid and that just like your Eldritches, your strength is growing over time."

    "My point exactly." Vastor nodded. "Phloria has probably told everything to Thrud so she has every reason to be cautious. I have no monster core so her ve array does nothing to me.

    "My Organization is full of old Abominations and Eldritches that if unleashed would ughter her army. The Mad Queen isn''t keeping my secret out of the goodness of her heart but to keep me on the leash."

    "Do you have anyone on par with Tezka that could lend us a hand?" Lith asked.

    "Sadly, no. I have Orulm, Abthot, and a few more heavy hitters in the Fusion Chamber, or as I like to call it, Vastor''s Madness. Yet it will take days for the process to beplete and even longer for the newborn hybrids to adapt to their bodies."

    The Master had finally managed to find a proper monster core for some of his strongest followers yet there was no pride in it. His voice sounded bitter and regretful.

    "The best I can offer you along with the usual team is myself."

    "Thanks, but no thanks, Vastor." Lith shook his head. "I need you to stay put."

    "To what end?" The Master shrugged. "Even if I die, everything is in order. Zinya will inherit my wealth and you my research. Thrud is scared of me. If you want to force her to send Phloria out, I''m your man."

    "That''s exactly the reason I can''t have you involved." Lith countered soberly. "The Golden Griffon is still away from the White Griffon and Thrud is unaware that we know her target. That means that even if this n fails, we still have a second shot.

    "If youe with us and reveal your full power now, you won''t be an unknown variable to her anymore. Thrud would know exactly what you can do and how far you are willing to expose your powers.

    "At that point, she would have no more reason to keep your secret."

 Chapter 2314 Rescue Operation (Part 2)

    "Once revealed, there''s no telling how the Royals, the Council, and maybe even the Guardians will react." Lith said.

    "I know that I''m asking a lot from you, but I need you to sit there and do nothing. The looming threat that your absence poses is much worse than anything you could do on the battlefield.

    "If Thrud is anything like me, she hates unknowns and you are one as big as dangerous. With you allegedlyying in ambush, she can''t deploy all of her forces at once without the risk of falling into an alleged trap."

    "It makes sense." Vastor nodded, yet he didn''t like the situation one bit. "Phloria never attended the Light department, but I took care of her ever since Balkor''s anniversary.

    "She''s your friend, the sister of my precious students, and the daughter of my dear friends. If you think this is the best for her, I''ll follow you obediently."

    "Don''t worry, Vastor. Worst case scenario, the attack will allow me to get used to the When All Are One array and probe the Golden Griffon''s defenses. This way, in the following battle for the White Griffon, it should be a piece of cake taking Thrud down." Lith replied.

    "Ah!" Bitterness left Vastor''s eyes and was quickly reced by wonder. That and a sprinkle of envy. "Gods what I wouldn''t give to be in your shoes. There''s no boy or man in the Kingdom who hasn''t dreamed of one day bing like Valeron."

    "That''s a huge stretch." Lith dismissed such thoughts with a wave of his hand.

    "Think what you want, kid, but believe me. Today lots of people are going to have a stroke. Some out of wonder, a few out of admiration, but most out of bitter envy." Vastor replied.

    ***

    Werean region, Medaka ins,ter that day.

    Lith received the update about the Golden Griffon''s position along with the order to join the allied force in the attempt to take the lost academy down. The Kingdom had put on hold the operations to reim Thrud''s territories in the north in order to muster enough troops.

    The Council had followed suit, using the first batch of data collected by the Liches to prepare the offensive. The hardest part had been to force the undead to part from what they considered "their precious" and were unwilling to share.

    Once again, Inxialot had saved the day with an unexpected burst ofmon sense.

    "My heart is with you and just like my phctery, it''s ready to bolt the moment things go south." He had said in front of a room full of Awakened Liches as powerful as they were deranged.

    "I know that you think there''s no reason to share your data and cooperate with these morons, but you are wrong. You are blinded by your arrogance and fail to see there''s a greater good out there."

    The auditorium had almoste down fromughter as half the room considered Inxialot batshit crazy and the other half thought his words a joke.

    "Will you still beughing when Thrud wins? When she enters yourbs and steals your research?" The Liches turned silent. The few stillughing were pummelled into bone splinters that quickly regenerated.

    "Moving away our books and bodies is easy, but what about the ingredients? The stuff you have hidden over the centuries? The scribbles you have left all over yourbs when you couldn''t find a damn piece of paper?

    "Are you really willing to leave her such a treasure?" Inxialot asked.

    "No!" The Liches roared as one.

    "Are you willing to lose months before finding a new ce suitable for yourbs and years to set them up properly? To arrange your stuff in a way that won''t force you to memorize what is where again?"

    "No!" The crowd grew more restless as they remembered how they would often get lost inside their own homes despite living there for centuries, let alone inside a new ce.

    "How can a few pieces of data be more important than your life''s work? Isn''t sharing a few readings a small sacrifice for the greater good?" Now that the greater good had a name, coordinates, and severalbels, the Liches had changed their minds.

    The Council had shared that information with the Kingdom, just like they were sharing their Warping Arrays to move troops from every corner of the Kingdom to the Medaka ins.

    Lith had brought most of his friends who had volunteered to help and rescue Phloria. For once Morok didn''t say anything insensitive. He just stood beside Quy, checking his own gear to make sure to not have forgotten anything.

    Nalrond was with Friya, sharing a few words of encouragement before the battle.

    "I''m really proud and envious of you." He said while caressing her hair. "Among all the Awakened of Garlen, the Bewitching Demon choose you to rece Gernoff, the god of shadows. Today you are bing a legend."

    "Yeah, and she dared call me a runt." She acted aloof but her voice held ill-concealed pride.

    "Stop bragging, damn you!" Quy pouted. "Seven streaks and now you fight along Valeron''spanions. If not for Phloria, I would have kicked your ass. Even better, I''ll ask her help to kick your ass once we save her."

    "I''ll dly take the ass-kicking." Friya sighed

    Protector and Faluel, instead were talking to Fyrwal about their previous visit to her home and offering to return the hospitality.

    Solus hade out from her ring to thank Bytra for being there and helping her keep her cool. The Raiju had yet to recover from her trauma, but she refused to leave Solus alone in the moment of her need.

    "I might be a broken, mess, but I can still be your legs." She said while shaking from head to toe despite Zoreth''s embrace.

    "I wish Tezka was here." Theseus the Bastet said. "The old fox is creepy as fuck but damn if he makes you feel safe."

    "I wish Nelia was here." Nandi the Minotaur said. "We need some Life Maelstrom. Also, she''s hot."

    "Not the time, Nandi!" Zoreth chided him.

    "I could be dead in an hour. This is the perfect time." He snorted.

    Everybody had someone but Lith and Tessa who sat near each other while triple-checking the details of their n. They were both paranoid control freaks and the stakes had never been so high.

    Crank alternated between eating and drinking, bored to death.

    "It''s time." Nandi, Fyrwal, and Solus could feel the disturbance in the world energy respectively through his bio-crystals and the Hands of Menadion.

    The Golden Griffon appeared as a looming shadow on the horizon at first, but it took only a few minutes for it to be perfectly visible despite the distance. The lost academy had be faster after stealing part of the power of the six great academies.

    It still couldn''t afford to fly without wasting lots of power that it might need in a fight so the feathered wings were always folded around the shoulders, forming a protective mantle.

    "When do we start the attack?" Fe asked.

    She and Lotho had taken charge of the Awakened troops in Phloria''s absence.

    "Wait until the Golden Griffon is in range of my de Spell." Lith replied.

 Chapter 2315 Lntended Flaw (Part 1)

    "The effect of surprise willst only for a few seconds. During that time we must deal as much damage as possible." Lith said.

    "Arrange your troops however you want as long as they encircle the Golden Griffon and are in a position suitable to take advantage of its weakened state."

    "Will do." General Vorgh replied.

    The Kingdom considered it pointless to send regr soldiers against an academy so their troops consisted solely of War Mages and Wardens. Their spells were the only ones that might affect something that big.

    "Clench your teeth, kids. This is going to hurt." Tessa said after weaving the final rune of her legendary array.

    Lith nodded and Friya braced for impact, the pain of the previous experience still vivid in her mind.

    Contrary to everyone''s surprise, Lith screamed no less than her.

    A silver pir descended from the sky while a ck one came from the ground, mixing into a shadowy silver yet they went no further. Lith could feel his core grow stronger, yet his life force resisted the sudden influx of new power.

    The three sides thatprised Lith''s life force didn''t change and their current configuration had trouble wielding the energy of the bright violet. His human, Beast, and Abomination side managed to channel it after a while, but the pain the When All Are One array caused Lith was great.

    ''Fuck me sideways! I should have known that with my weird-ass life force, there had to be some weird-ass condition for the bright violet. A condition I don''t meet yet!'' Lith thought.

    His body had reached 30 meters of height, yet there was no visible change in his appearance. Lith felt like his body was an inted balloon filled with too much helium.

    ''Shrink down, moron!'' Tessa scolded him. ''We don''t want Thrud to notice you. Also, you are ruining the overall effect.''

    ''What do you mean?'' Lith asked while the Titania took out her Yggdrasil staff, Morning Dew, and Fyrwal her mace, Dreamweaver.

    ''You are taking Valeron''s ce and he was a human.'' The Elder Hydra replied. ''Not once did I fight in my true form while he was with us. No one was allowed to stand taller than the King.''

    ''I''m no King.'' Lith used the power of his newfound core and his Golems to conjure as many Demons of Darkness as she could.

    ''Tell that to them!'' Tessa replied as she conjured more Demons and so did the rest of the group.

    In the blink of an eye, there were so many that even Nandi had trouble fueling them all to six eyes.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith and Solus thought in unison as the sheer number of Demons painted the green of the forest ck.

    Thousands and thousands of them snarled and roared as far as the eye could see.

    ''What did you expect?'' Fyrwal said. ''It''s a legendary array and now there are five of you with a bright violet core.''

    ''Way ahead of you.'' Solus said via a private channel. ''I''m trying to crack When All Are One with the Eyes.''

    ''This is so cool!'' Crank said. ''If I knew it, I would have paid you to let me do this.''

    ''You can always give up on your rewards.'' Tessa said.

    ''Sorry, sweetheart, I''m excitable, not a moron.''

    "On my mark!" Lith roared in hismunication amulet as ck and red runes built up around War.

    He was halfway through weaving his de Spell when he noticed more runes all around him.

    The others had a replica of War made of Spirit Magic wrap around their respective weapons and were mirroring every one of his movements.

    ''Again, as long as you are part of the array, we are one.'' Tessa replied to his silent disbelief.

    "Now!" Five Ruins departed from Lith''s group, followed by a hail of multi-colored shooting stars.

    Everyone now had seven heads and a pair of feathered wings and they all emitted eight bursts of Cursed mes. The snakesing out of Lith''s shoulders had no trouble withstanding his bloodline ability and working in pairs akin to his mouth and wings.

    The de Tier spells struck the Golden Griffon''s right knee whereas the Cursed mes struck the left. At the same time, the Kingdom''s army and the Mage Association unleashed countless gravity arrays while the Awakened seven-man units released waves of Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    The Eldritches joined them, but instead of targeting the Golden Griffon''s escape hatches they focused their Chaos Annihtions on the elbows. They hoped to cripple Hystar''s ability to position the defensive arrays and keep him from softening thending.

    Solus and Bytra followed suit with the Golden Knight throwing a Furies'' Flight followed by Tower Tier spells thanks to Nandi fueling her. The Raiju neighed in outrage at the sight of the titan, firing a Chaos Annihtion non-stop from her horn.

    The lost academy''s defensive systems reacted as soon as they perceived the attack, conjuring several Bastions at the same time. Yet it was toote.

    The kneecaps shattered, the elbows crumbled, and the increased gravity made the titan copse under its own weight. The Bastions could block a few Annihtions, but not all of them.

    The Cursed mes exploded as soon as they came in contact with each other and spread along the left leg above and below the point of impact. The golden armor of the academy seemed to develop dull polka dots as the holes created by the spells grew in size.

    "Attack!" The people under the effects of When All Are One said in unison and the Demons obeyed.

    It all happened so fast that for a moment the people on both sides forgot about what was at stake and the horrors of the war. They only focused on the majestic sight of thebined de Spell and the swarm of Demons blotting out the sky.

    With only three exceptions.

    "Great Mother protect us." King Meron gripped his wife''s hand. "Verhen has gathered under his banner the four finding pirs of the Kingdom. Something that hasn''t happened since Valeron the First."

    "It''s worse than that." Sylpha sighed. "He''s alsomanding our army and the Council''s. No matter how bad a leader he is and how important the role of our generals is.

    "All the people will see from today''s recordings is a second Valeron bringing down a monster. Today''s victory will belong to him and everyone else will disappear in the background.

    "We might win the war, but the Kingdom wouldn''t look up to us anymore."

    The third exception was the Mad Queen who was almost driven insane by Lith''s making a fool of her whole bloodline.

    "That fucker dared to take Valeron''s ce as the Spear in the When All Are One array! That''s something that should have belonged to my father! That belongs to me! How dares that filthy Titania sully MY legacy?

    "She and her stupid array belong with my son, Valeron the Second, not with the wretched son of a farmer! We carry the same blood of the man Tessa and Fyrwal called King, yet they are once again siding against us.

    "I will not stand for this! Hystar, send out all troops and set the power core to overdrive. Time to teach these ants a lesson." Thrud said with a snarl.

 Chapter 2316 Intended Flaw (Part 2)

    "At yourmand, my Queen. Glory to Arthan!" The Golden Griffon opened the scales of its armor, allowing the army to leave in force from multiple points without offering an easy target.

    At the same time, it drained the surrounding world energy, making the gravity arrays falter and reducing the power of elemental magic to one-tenth of its effectiveness. The army mages left their arrays behind but promptly retreated behind their Awakened colleagues.

    The lost academy was bent, but not broken. The damage had started to repair the moment after it was dealt and with the Divine Beasts iing, even the Awakened had to switch to a defensive position.

    Invigoration was off the table and the enemies were all boosted by both Life Maelstrom and the academy, making up for the ambush.

    Nandi, Fyrwal, and Solus, however, hade early to the battlefield and gained control of the world energy. They manipted its flow, trying to negate Hystar''s influence and fighting him for dominance.

    "Let''s see if you''ve learned your lesson!" Hystar said as golden tendrils moved out of the academy and toward Bytra.

    "They sure did, sweet child!" Apep the Apophis Chaos Warped in front of the Unwavering Loyalty array.

    There was no life force that could be manipted, his body wasprised solely of Chaos and his ck core was gued by an insatiable hunger. It devoured the golden tendrils, using them as straws to suck at the nectar held by the academy''s power core.

    "Damn undead!" The Headmaster tried and failed to retract the energy. The only way he found to stop the bleeding was to turn off the array entirely.

    "Give it back!" The Apophis unleashed a volley of Howling Void spells, each the size of a train car.

    Between their speed and the academy being on all fours, Hystar took the full brunt of the damage and the shockwaves reached even the inner chambers where the students were kept.

    "Hey, fucker, pick on someone your own size!" Xo the Fenrir used Doom Tide topletely drain the world energy and make the ck spears fade.

    She charged at Apep with her body shining with golden light from her Mana Body bloodline ability and ck from the mass of darkness she had infused herself with.

    Her speed caught the Mogar''s Serpent by surprise and his Chaos Blink failed as well. Xo rammed at him, bringing the Apophis away without suffering a scratch from the prolonged contact.

    Mana Body made her impervious and the darkness countered the Chaos while also consuming Apep''s energy reserves.

    "Nice trick. I''ve got no Spirit Magic and with darkness magic sealed, I''m a sitting duck." He nodded. "Or am I?"

    His limbs grew in size and length, turning into dozen meters-long spears, swords, spikes, and anything he needed the moment Xo switched from ranged to close-quartersbat.

    Then, she and other Divine Beasts released their own Doom Tide, filling the air with world energy again. Hystar exploited that moment to suck the world energy in and unleash a volley of Tower Tier spells against anyone who hade too close forfort.

    "Things are still a mess." Now that Thrud had regained her cool, she was studying the situation from the Throne Room. "We can still win, but to do that we must break the When All Are One array."

    The members of Lith''s group could all produce eight Cursed mes at the same time. They moved as fast as bullets, ignored most protections, and traveled for hundreds of meters before losing cohesion.

    Friya''s Dimensional Ruler replicated the effects of the Static Field arrays, but much worse. Her allies among the humans and the Awakened could freely use dimensional magic whereas Thrud''s soldiers found themselves trapped the moment they got too close.

    The Hyperion''s Mana Body shielded them all, making them immune even to spells infused with Life Maelstrom unless one would get close enough. Close enough to be squashed by the Titania''s fists or array.

    The Hydra weaved spells non-stop, using the Hands to recharge the power cores of their weapons and prepare a second volley of Ruin.

    Then, there were the Demons.

    They were everywhere, fighting with no fear of death and unlike Thrud''s soldiers, it would only take one breath from Lith to resurrect them immediately.

    "Smart. Very smart." The Mad Queen drummed her fingers on the armrest. "This is all a ruse. They have set for me a single path of victory.

    "If I make Verhen leave the array, the Demons will stop resurrecting and no more de Spells or Cursed mes. They put a w in their n for me to find it. Either I send Phloria Ernas out and use her to ''lure'' Verhen away or I lose.

    "Or so they think. There is more than one way to skin a cat, but I feel generous today and I''m willing to y along. I''m really curious to see if Verhen will surprise me again or if he''ll just entertain me.

    "General Ernas!"

    "Yes, My Queen?" Phloria appeared out of one of the internal Gates, kneeling.

    "Time to take your boyfriend out and bring him to our side. You know what to do." Thrud replied.

    "It will be my pleasure.

    Who do I take as my ride?" Phloria said with the happy smile of a girl in love.

    "Ufyl has seven heads but so far, he has disappointed me. Rimo is no better either. Take Orsat with you. Between her Life Maelstrom and her physical prowess, you two can take Verhen down." The Mad Queen pondered.

    "I''m excited. It''s my first time being a Griffon Knight." Phloria gave Thrud a salute while clicking her heels and Warped out with the Red Griffon.

    Only when the Mad Queen saw Phloria flying toward the battlefield did a cruel smile appear on her face.

    ***

    Phloria had wasted no time, conjuring one spell after the other the moment the ambush had started. Shebined fake and true magic with body casting to weave three spells at the same time.

    Orsat had charged herself and Phloria with Life Maelstrom, turning them into an unstoppable war machine. The Red Griffon had conjured several hard-light constructs of every size and shape that, after being imbued with silver lightning, could withstand most tier five spells.

    The Red Griffon used them to protect her partner so that Phloria was free to keep triple casting and unleash a relentless volley of spells from her sword. At the same time, Orsat sted through the enemy lines like a living battering ram.

    The unparalleled physical strength of the Griffon was also boosted by both fusion magic and Life Maelstrom, granting her the ability to overpower anyone in a handful of seconds.

    Whenever they got surrounded, Orsat used her Red Lightning Body bloodline ability to turn them both into living sma and escape the encirclement. Together they wiped out hundreds of Demons and Omnish cut deep through the enemy formation.

    "Dammit!" Apep the Apophis had turned Xo into mincemeat for a while now and was chasing the Griffon Knight to the best of his abilities.

    The Griffon was strong, but not strong enough to be a threat to him. The problem was that he needed Phloria alive.

 Chapter 2317 Perfect Plan, Perfect Execution(Part 1)

    Killing Phloria would achieve nothing but a trip to the resurrection chamber, leaving the Apophis empty-handed.

    She, instead, had no problem hammering him with darkness spells aimed to kill. The mind link with Orsat and Ernas'' Full Guard allowed the Griffon Knight to perfectly harmonize with her partner and her spells to never miss their target.

    "Remember the n!" The Red Griffon said. "The goal is to take out Verhen and kill as many members of the Council as we can."

    "And you remember my deal with the True Queen!" Phloria replied. "She promised me that Lith and I would be reunited so we need to take him alive."

    Meanwhile, Lith had taken it easy after the first Ruin in order to regain his strength. He had followed Phloria with his eyes ever since her appearance on the battlefield and had noticed how the Griffon Knight kept herself on the opposite side.

    "Thrud seems to have taken the bait." Tessa said. "We baited her for Phloria and she is baiting you to leave the formation. I doubt that it''s going to be simple. Remember that she knows our n.

    "Our intentions are as obvious as hers are devious. Never drop your guard."

    "Thanks, Tessa." Lith nodded and recalled Solus via the mind link.

    His leaving would have stopped the Demons from regenerating and caused the group to lose his mes, but that was it. Solus would provide the Light Mastery, Crank the mass and weight, and maybe the tower would have reserved a nice surprise.

    "Here I am!" Solus arrived in a white bolt of lightning, Bytra moved so fast that she was just a streak on the battlefield. "Dragonspeed, Lith!"

    "You too. And clench your teeth!" He said as Tessa moved the tendrils of the When All Are One array to Solus.

    "Dammit, I knew it!" She said after a few seconds when her core was still blue. "This thing doesn''t work on me due to my hybrid nature. We need to find a recement and quick!"

    Then she felt the power surging inside herself. Her body was already perfect and made to host a bright violet core so the sudden mana flow caused her no difort. Solus already weighed tons so there was little that the vines had to do to bring her to Crank''s level.

    "What were you saying?" Fyrwal said with a smug grin as she used the Hands of Menadion to pump world energy in Solus'' tower half.

    "Then it''s time to go all out!" Thanks to thebined effect of the Sage Staff, two sets of Hands, and Nandi, the tower was over 60% efficiency.

    Solus extended her arms toward the Golden Griffon and a seven-pointed star formed between them. The Tower Tier Annihtion burst forward, painting the day emerald as it crashed against the lost academy.

    Hystar summoned a Bastion, but it wasn''t enough. The barrier was pierced and another huge hole appeared in his armor.

    "Whoa! What''s this?" Crank could feel both the effects of the Staff and of the tower filling his body with new strength.

    "My contribution to the array." Solus replied.

    At the same time, Lith soared in the sky with such speed that he had be a ming red meteor.

    Apep was still fighting the Griffon Knight and he was losing. Phloria had led him by the nose over her troops and the Apophis had suffered from countless darkness spells already.

    By hovering over the battlefront, she made sure to change their position so to not draw away the focus of her allies for long while also exploiting the spells of her enemies.

    Unlike her, Apep had no eyes behind his back and by lining them up, Phloria had already had him take many spells that had been aimed at her.

    "Took you long enough!" Apep said with a snarl once Lith appeared by his side.

    ? "I promised you a tool, not an easy job." Lith chided him. "ytime is over."

    "Finally!" The Apophis roared as he unleashed his true power and charged at the Griffon.

    Lith, instead, charged at Phloria, his goal to split her from her partner and get some time alone with her.

    "Please, I saw thising from a mile away." She said with a peal of crazedughter. "This isn''t even your n anymore. It''s mine!"

    Lith didn''t bother to reply, countering every one of her spells with his own and crossing War against Reaver. The two des screeched and cried in pain. Adamant couldn''t feel, but the twin des were not supposed to fight.

    They had been forged on the same day, in the same Forge, with the same purpose. To help Phloria. War''s task was to kill her enemies while Revear''s was to protect her in the line of duty.

    Their masters could feel the des twisting in the attempt to avoid contact, they could hear their desperate cries, but they kept fighting nheless.

    "Do you really think you can take me down in your pathetic state, old man?" Orsat said, the silver lightning turning red as she charged it with the fire element.

    "Do you really think I lived this long with such mediocre skills, runt?" Apep replied with a serpentine smile on his face. "I was holding back, but not anymore."

    His body suddenly grew in length and width, bing over 40 meters (130 feet) long. The snake tail wrapped around the Griffon, mming her against the ground and literally sucking the life out of her.

    "I have no need to save my strength when there''s such a hearty meal in front of me. Time to dig in!" The Abomination Touch countered her physical strength, her spells, Life Maelstrom, and even Lightning Body.

    They were all forms of energy and energy was food to an Eldritch.

    "Shit!" While she was falling down, Orsat managed to release half of the Life Maelstrom she had left and pass it on to Phloria.

    The now Griffonless Knight had also lost her partner and her footing in one fell swoop. She had to quickly switch to a flight spell, wasting a single second that Lith exploited to tackle her.

    He was far away enough from the Golden Griffon to avoid most of the effects of the Static Field array and could open a Spirit Steps to a location of his choosing. s, Phloria didn''t just sit and let him.

    She activated the Give and Take ability from Reaver to boost her prowess and coupled it with the silver lightning to pincer him between a knee and elbow strike.

    The former hit Lith in the guts, knocking the air out of him, while thetter struck the back of his head, making him dizzy.

    He lost his grip as they tumbled on the ground and Phloria kicked him away, sending him through a Warp Steps that brought them to another location.

    "I told you that this is my n, jackass." A location where Lith had no allies and he had no idea where he was. "I have all the spells at the ready I need to fuck up whatever you have prepared!"

    Lith cursed under his breath as he used Life Vision to make sure to have not fallen into a trap. ording to his Tiamat eyes, there was no one around for a kilometer.

 Chapter 2318 Perfect Plan, Perfect Execution(Part 2)

    ''Damn my paranoia!'' Lith thought while Phloria exploited his distraction to unleash a flurry of lunges. ''The Golden Griffon was just passing from here and Thrud had no idea I was going to ambush her.

    ''It''s obvious that this is just a change of field, not a trap. There was no time to set it. Phloria must have brought me to the first ce she spotted while looking at the area surrounding the lost academy.''

    Phloria''s deep violet aura was filled with white streaks from Give and Take and silver bolts of lightning. She was smaller and much lighter than Lith but with her strength increased by several folds even her physical attacks hurt.

    As for Reaver, it was still plenty deadly.

    Phloria was a much better swordsman than him and Lith wanted her alive. Much to his surprise, she didn''t bother with defending herself, focusing solely on offense.

    "I know what you are thinking and no, this isn''t a mistake on my part but yours." She said with a savage grin.

    Reaver cut and pierced through both the Voidwalker armor and his flesh whereas War was much less effective. It cut through her armor, but it phased through Phloria''s body like it was a hologram.

    "Did you forget it? My father made War and all of his des so that they can''t hurt an Ernas. They can hurt you, though." She solely sidestepped or deflected his attacks in order to avoid being stabbed square in the chest.

    As long as War only brushed her, Counter Flow couldn''t jam the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array. On the other hand, her strikes dealt plenty of damage.

    "I''m not an idiot." Lith grunted, taking a parrying dagger out of his pocket dimension.

    It had a long U-shaped guard meant to trap the enemy de, rip it off their hands, or even break it if the opportunity arose.

    "It''s you who has forgotten who I am!" A deep breath and a burst of ck mes erupted from Lith''s body, eating at the Life Maelstrom that coursed through Phloria.

    She took several steps back to escape and consumed more silver lightning to restore her boosted physique.

    Lith didn''t follow her, moving to the next step of his n.

    "I know you are in there, Phloria." The Voidwalker armor turned into liquid, letting the golden lily pendant Lith wore at his necke out. "I''vee to rescue you."

    "Shut up, shut up!" Sunlight reflected on the surface of the metal flower, reaching the innermost and darkest corners of her mind. "You have no right to be here. You abandoned me like trash!"

    "I never did and the real Phloria knows it." Lith stepped forward. "I still remember my promise. Just call my name and I''lle to fight by your side."

    "I said shut up!" Phloria''s face twisted and twitched as her real self and her enved persona tore each other apart. "You threw me out of your life! You have no right to y hero with me!"

    Her form was frenzied but also sloppier than before. Phloria was now showing all the tells that she had taught him back at the academy.

    "Thank you, Phloria." Lith ignored her words and paid attention solely to her actions. "Keep fighting. Together we can win!"

    Dual wielding made up for Lith''scking skills. The dagger blocked half the attacks and when War parried, the quicker and shorter weapon allowed Lith to counter with all of his strength.

    He had taken a page from the traitorous professor Nalear. The parrying dagger was imbued solely with defensive and healing spells. Its de was too short to kill but wide enough to openrge wounds that light magic closed as soon as the dagger struck.

    It sapped Phloria''s vitality and nutrients, forcing her to use Invigoration to recover her stamina. Even that wouldn''tst for long. Without eating, her body would soon cannibalize itself to heal and no boost could make up for a weakened state.

    They kept exchanging blows and spells with Lith taking more than he dealt. Yet he was stronger and his advantage kept increasing. Phloria''s eyes seemed to be incapable of leaving the golden pendant at his neck, shifting her focus.

    The dagger hit more and more often, draining her vitality. Lith gave her no quarter nor opportunity to use Invigoration, making the gap between them growrger.

    ''Finally!'' Lith thought after noticing that her breath had be ragged and her knees unstable.

    He blocked a lunge with the dagger, twisting it to trap Reaver and pulling the estoc away from her body.

    Then, he performed a lunge of his own aimed at her chest with War. The de couldn''t hurt her so Lith had to make sure to leave it in contact with Phloria long enough to disrupt the ve spell.

    His de encountered no resistance upon reaching her armor and neither did the hilt. Lith had no idea what had happened, the only thing he knew was the horrible reality in front of his eyes.

    His whole arm had pierced through Phloria''s chest and was covered in her blood. A fountain of blood and pieces of her heart spurted from her back and mouth.

    "No." Lith froze in shock but War''s desperate cries snapped him out of it a fraction of a secondter.

    "This is wrong. I calcted everything." Lith felt like he was going insane but he had no time to lose.

    While keeping his arm inside of her as a plug, he used healing magic, Body Sculpting, and Invigoration to regenerate her heart and lungs as fast as he could.

    Phloria''s eyes were now free from the influence of the Golden Griffon and looked at him with love. Her mouth twitched with pain, yet she managed to smile.

    "This is not supposed to happen!" Lith double-checked every one of his actions from start to finish, finding no mistakes.

    For all he knew, physics had stopped working on Mogar or maybe it was just a nightmare. Whatever the answer, Phloria was dying in front of him.

    A final spasm caused her to gurgle blood from her mouth. Then, her eyes lost their light and Reaver disappeared in silvery dust.

    "No!" It was a single word that roared for hundreds of meters around him.

    It was a desperate cry that uprooted trees and tore the grass, yet Phloria''s corpse kept turning colder.

    "No." Tears started streaming from Solus'' eyes as she experienced Lith''s pain through their mind link. "This is wrong. This is not fair!"

    The When All Are One array shared her feelings with the others, making the entire group copse on the ground, unwilling to fight any longer.

    "Phloria!" Friya started to sob uncontrobly, her spells fading like mist. "I''m so sorry. I failed you once again."

    ? "What''s wrong?" Quy knew it already, but she refused to believe that Phloria was dead.

    Until someone said it out loud, there was still hope.

    "Phloria is dead." Tessa felt her strength abandoning her. "We have failed. I have failed. Oghrom, Juria, forgive me!"

    The Titania and the Hydra experienced despair like never before. It was their first defeat since the War for the Kingdom and the first time they lost someone not because of their own choice.

 Chapter 2319 One Step (Part 1)

    Fyrwal fell to the ground, sobbing. The hole she felt in her chest was no smaller than Phloria''s. It shed no blood but it made her feel empty as the pain from losing her friends rose anew.

    Inside the Golden Griffon, Thrud burst into a bellyugh while dancing through the Throne Room with the small Valeron the Second in her arms.

    "Idiots! All of them, even the Ernas girl. I told her that I''d reunite her with Verhen by the end of the war and I''m going to keep my word. Once I kill him, I''ll bury them together!

    "I mean, seriously? What kind of forever did she expect? With the academies down, I no longer need her. Phloria''s stupid friends should have learned their lesson by now.

    "Once I can''t keep something, I have no qualms about discarding it. Just like I couldn''t stop Verhen from taking my cities, I couldn''t stop him from rescuing Phloria. So, I just tossed them away!

    "I would never betray Verhen''s secret because I can''t risk someone killing him first and taking that priceless tower for themselves. I can''t have him living either, because his life will be mypensation for Jormun''s death while his tower will be Valeron''s."

    "Best of all, now Verhen knows my pain. He has killed a woman who he had loved and who loved him with all of her heart in the same way he killed my husband." Thrud kept dancing and spinning while Valeron giggled, unaware of the tragedy orchestrated by his mother.

    ***

    Lith was still in front of Phloria''s corpse, bawling his eyes out. He didn''t want to cry nor could he afford the time to. A few kilometers from there, the two armies were still fighting and dying.

    Among them, there were the few people he treasured and who he called friends. They needed him yet he couldn''t muster the strength to stand up.

    His mistake had been to conjure a drape from his pocket dimension and use it to wrap Phloria and cover the gaping hole in her chest. It was then that it had happened.

    The figure of Phloria lying on the ground had ovepped with that of Carl lying on the obituary table. Both cold, their skin paled from death, and covered from the neck down to make them presentable.

    Yet this time it was much worse.

    This time it wasn''t a stranger or an enemy to have taken Lith''s loved one away. Phloria had died by his own hand and guilt was tearing him apart.

    He had failed his best friend in the most horrible way possible. He hade to rescue her and had ended up killing her instead. His mind kept spinning, reying the fight from start to finish and finding no mistake.

    Yet the result of his perfect n that he had perfectly executed was right in front of him, dead.

    Phloria''s rune was gone and so was her sword.

    ''How could I mess up like this? What will I say to Jirni and Orion? How can I exin to them that everything went fine yet Phloria died anyway?'' Lith thought over and over, his agonizing wails audible for kilometers.

    Wary by his side, wailing with him. The grieving de mourned the loss of its twin and of the person it had been crafted to protect. It refused to use Phloria''s blood to form a scabbard and to be put away as well.

    War had no idea who, but someone had to pay. The edges of the de turned into small spikes, cking in anger and gnawing at the ground. s, it found no relief in the wanton destruction.

    "It''s not your fault, Lith. You can stop crying." Phloria''s Demon took form right above her corpse, floating down until they were at eye level.

    She cupped his face, forcing him to open his eyes and look at her.

    "It was all part of Thrud''s n. My enved self had no memory of it because Thrud ordered me to forget about it, but now I remember. At thest moment, I had the order to step forward and undo my protections.

    "I had my armor slip away, I dropped fusion magic, Life Maelstrom, and Give and Take. You didn''t kill me, I threw myself at your fist. Thrud knew how strong you are and how delicate you can be so she used both against you.

    "You encountered no resistance because there was none." She caressed his cheeks, wiping his tears away but new ones were instantly shed.

    The coldness of her touch and her Demon form were two proofs too many that Phloria was really gone forever.

    "Don''t cry. No one could save me. Not even Tessa and Fyrwal would have seeded. I was dead the moment I was captured. You guys just pretended to not know it." She said.

    "Not all is lost." Lith said amid sniffles while he regained his cool. "I can keep you as my Demon and maybe Vastor can turn you into one of his hybrids. Together we can find a way to bring you back."

    "I''m sorry, Lith, but I''m not staying." Phloria let go of him, lowering her eyes. "I was already halfway gone when I heard you cry. I came back only because I couldn''t rest in peace knowing you med yourself for my death.

    "I let your chain reach me only to let you know the truth and tell you that I don''t resent you. You are my best friend and you did everything you could to save me. You did more than I could ever hope for the sake of upholding your word."

    "Please, don''t leave me." Lith''s voice cracked again.

    "Please, don''t make this any more difficult than it already is. I told you, I''m not staying. I had a short life and it didn''t go as I wanted, but it was full and happy nheless.

    "My parents loved me, I found wonderful friends and sisters, and I''ve traveled through two continents! How many people can say the same? I was lucky and now my time is over.

    "I''m too tired to keep living. Too tired to keep fighting. I''ve done enough." Phloria said as silent tears streamed down Lith''s cheeks.

    "Please, don''t leave me." He grabbed her hand, sharing with her everything about his past on Earth. "I''ve lost so many people already. I can''t lose you as well."

    "Gods, I can''t believe it." Phloria said with a peal of silveryughter that tore his heart to shreds. "You always open up to me when it''s toote. I can''t stay, Lith. There is no more time for me on Mogar nor space in your life anyway.

    "Please, tell Mom and Dad that I love them and that I couldn''t wish for better parents. Tell Tulion to straighten up for them. Our parents will need him. Tell Gunyin that he is the best older brother in the world.

    "Tell Friya and Quy that we may not be bound by blood, but they are my sisters and they will always be.

    "As for you, Derek McCoy/Lith Verhen, please always remember me. I loved you and I would have kept loving you even if you told me the truth."

 Chapter 2320 One Step (Part 2)

    "As long as you remember me, a part of me will always live inside of you and a part of you will always be with me." Phloria said.

    "No." Lith shook his head. "I''ve gone through this already and I know how it ends. The moment you die, that part of me will die with you. Forever."

    "Thank you for being here with me in my final moments." Phloria cupped his face again. "I''m d that you''ve been my first boyfriend and, in a way, also thest. Goodbye, my beloved master."

    She chuckled at the 100-year servitude the Council had imposed on her and then she kissed him.

    It was merely a peck, but it conveyed all the feelings she still felt and the warmth of her soul.

    Her body faded away, starting from the feet, leaving the lips forst.

    Leaving Lith alone.

    The Void stood beside him, bearing the same appearance that Derek McCoy had in life. Only the pitch-ck skin and the white eyes betrayed his undead state.

    The Void gently clenched Lith''s shoulder in a caress, yet his face seemed made of stone and his gaze was cold. Lith was still weeping Phloria''s loss whereas the Void was shedding no tear.

    Quite the contrary, the edges of his mouth were twisted upwards in a cruel and savage smile.

    ''Don''t you dare me Phloria for her own death!'' Lith knew that it was all happening inside the Mindscape and that the Void was just a part of himself, yet he hated the Void nheless.

    ''Don''t you dare to say things like she was too weak and deserved to die or I swear on Carl''s name-''

    ''I won''t do anything like that.'' The Void cut him short, his voice deep and guttural like wind wailing through an abyss. ''Nor will I try to take over your body or me you for our failure. I''ve grown past that. We have grown past that.

    ''Know that you''ve done everything I would. Even in hindsight, there''s nothing I can me you for.''

    ''Then what are you smiling about? If you have no snarky remark to make, why the fuck are youughing?'' Lith replied in outrage.

    ''Because Phloria didn''t die. She was murdered. She was taken away from us and it wasn''t our fault.'' The Void clenched his teeth in a furious snarl, his eyes ring with Decay. ''We know who''s responsible and we can make Thrud pay.''

    Lith remained stunned for a second. Then, his grief started to turn into rage.

    Slowly at first but quicker by the second, like a snowball thrown from a mountain peak turning into an avnche.

    ''I promised myself I would never again lose someone I love, yet I failed.'' Lith now was gritting his teeth, his eyes white in a mirror image of the Void. ''I can''t bring the dead back, but I can at least avenge them.''

    ''Indeed.'' The Void nodded. ''I was smiling because this is no different from Carl''s demise. The situation is terrible, but it''s something we''ve already dealt with in the past. I was smiling because we know what to do.''

    Images from Tyris'' and Baba Yaga''s speech flooded Lith''s mind, reminding him about how dangerous was the path onto which Thrud was pushing him. Then, he remembered about Solus'' first meeting with Mogar.

    ''If Thrud wants the Destroyer, I''ll give it to her. If Mogar wants a Lord of Destruction, so be it!''

    As an answer to his fury, clouds started to gather and the ground to shake with growing intensity.

    ***

    The area around the Golden Griffon, a few seconds before.

    "Dammit, where the heck did Phloria take Verhen?" Iata the Sekhmet was scouring thend in search of the two fighters. "Things should be wrapping up in-"

    An inhuman wail of pain caught her attention and that of the Divine Beasts apanying her.

    "There we go. Remember the n. Quick and efficient. No banter, no bravado. We kill him and take the body to the Golden Griffon, are we clear?" She asked.

    "Crystal." The others nodded in unison, with one exception.

    Ufyl, the Seven Headed Dragon, couldn''t hide the disgust and shame he felt on any of his many faces. He had been Phloria''s partner for most of her brief career as Thrud''s General and had grown attached to her.

    "Man, the True Queen is a damn genius." Xondar the Garuda said with augh. "She knows how strong Verhen is in the mind and body so she struck him in his only weak spot, the heart."

    "Indeed." Ophius the Quetzalcoatl nodded. "The only things he cares about are his friends and family. We already know how weak he gets when one of them gets hurt. Like when his father was kidnapped or his mother attacked.

    "It''s only in moments like that that he makes huge mistakes. Now that he''s grieving, it''s the perfect opportunity to take him out."

    "Was it really necessary?" Ufyl felt like he wanted to puke. He failed to recognize the people he called siblings in those heartless monsters. "Phloria was a great general and a mage capable of using de Magic.

    "Killing her like that was a fucking waste of talent."

    "You are right, Ufyl, but it was necessary." Iata patted his scaly back, feeling his grief. "She didn''t share our cause and we had no way to keep her in our ranks. Verhen, Fyrwal, or Tessa would have sooner orter rescued her.

    "Then imagine what would have happened once Phloria joined the When All Are One array as well. Imagine the destructive power she would have contributed to unleashing against our Queen. I''m sorry for Phloria, but killing her was the right thing to do.

    "She was too powerful a weapon to let her fall into the enemy''s hands. Especially after the Queen had personally trained her and shared so many of our secrets with her."

    "Phloria isn''t a weapon! She is- was a person! A good person! She was my friend." Ufyl''s rage red up and then sadness overpowered it once he was forced to ept that Phloria was dead.

    "I know and I''m sorry for your loss." Iata red at Ophius and Xondar who were sniggering at the Dragon. "Sadly, in war sacrifices are necessary. We are soldiers, Ufyl, and we have our orders. Can I count on you?"

    "Yes, you can." Ufyl threw a mean look at his otherpanions and said nothing else as they descended to the ground.

    Finding Lith was easy, all they had to do was to follow the wails and sobs. That and the shaking trees and the quaking ground.

    The Divine Beasts shapeshifted into their human forms andbined their bloodline abilities. Iata infused them all with Life Maelstrom while Ophius used the Mana Aura ability to share his Mana Body with the others.

    ''Let''s be quick and surgical.'' Iata said via a mind link while making the group stop at a safe distance that would prevent Lith''s sense from perceiving their arrival. ''You know the n. Who wants to deal the killing blow?''

    Ufyl couldn''t take his eyes off Phloria''s shrouded corpse, sending only white noise in reply.

    ''I''ll do it.'' Xondar the Garuda said.

 Chapter 2321 The Monster You Create (Part 1)

    ''I have your Life Maelstrom and my own reserve is full. Even if Verhen pulls some dirty trick out of his ass, I have everything I need to turn him into mincemeat in a split second.''

    Xondar shapeshifted his hand into a hybrid form ending with razor-sharp talons and had his Adamant weapon coat them. The Garuda used air magic to float a centimeter above the ground and darkness magic to cancel his presence.

    He closed in slowly until all he needed to strike was one move.

    ''I wonder why Verhen is conjuring clouds. His Demons get stronger with sunlight, not without.'' He mistook the storm for Lith''s doing and the small pebbles bouncing around for the Golden Griffon stomping the ground.

    Xondar had been a ruthless and methodical predator even when he was still a Lesser Garuda. Evolution had made him much deadlier.

    In a single step as quick as lightning he covered the dozens of meters separating him from Lith. He twisted his arm, wrist, and knife hand as it struck Lith''s back, extending his Adamant-coated talons in a makeshift yet effective drill.

    Lith weighed tons, but so did the Garuda. His armor was sturdy and heavy, but not only did Xondar have equipment of the same quality, but he had also attacked from a blind spot.

    His arm entered from Lith''s back and came out from the chest, piercing through Adamant, Dragon bones, and Lith''s body in one fluid movement. A dark liquid gushed everywhere, covering the grass around Phloria''s body.

    The Garuda''s open hand held Lith''s ck heart which he squashed while clenching his fist in victory.

    "Isn''t this romantic? Dying in the same way as your girlfriend must have healed your broken heart. At least until I broke it for real." Xondar said with augh while a Life Maelstrom-infused hard-light cube and a Sealed Space surrounded Lith''s still-standing corpse.

    Thrud had given precise instructions to make sure that Solus'' ring had no way to escape her minions without having to exin them the reason.

    "It was fun knowing you, Verhen. We finally settled our score even though I have to admit that I''d have preferred a fair f-" Xondar''s voice died when Lith''s head turned around to watch him in the eyes.

    No neck was supposed to turn a full 180 degrees nor the eyes to be fully white already. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks, but they were pitch-ck.

    "You have taken Phloria away from me and now you want Solus as well?" His voice was cold. "You are no Thrud, but you''re good enough to send her a message for me."

    Xondar tried to pull his arm free, but it was stuck. He struck at Lith with his free hand, but from such a close distance, it was an awkward punch that the Tiamat had no problem blocking.

    ''What kind of muscles can he have in his chest so strong that-'' Only then did the Garuda notice that the blood on his arm was also ck.

    At first, he had dismissed it as an oddity of the Tiamat bloodline, but now the blood was slithering back into ce, wrapping around his arm and seeping under his armor.

    "My message is simple. You take from me, I kill everything and everyone you have." Lith embraced Xondar, locking him into ce while War rose through the air.

    The grieving de wailed its pain and impaled them both.

    "Not so funny when it''s you who has a hole in the chest, isn''t it?" Lith said while blood gurgled from Xondar''s mouth. "Don''t worry. We''ll both heal, which means I get to kill you over and over."

    The Void ate at the Garuda from the inside while War crushed his heart and used its abilities to keep Xondar from escaping. The construct and the Sealed Space that were meant to trap Lith now trapped the Garuda as well and Iata couldn''t afford to drop either or he would escape.

    Xondar''s body disappeared inside Lith''s. The Void devoured him whole to recover the strength and mana consumed during the failed attempt to rescue Phloria. Yet that was only the beginning.

    "Thanks for the meal." Lith stood up slowly and took War out of his chest that was now healed. "Thanks for all three of them."

    The angry de was bursting with the ckness of Chaos and silver bolts of lightning crackled from its pommel to the tip.

    Lith shapeshifted from his Abomination into his Tiamat form before its endless hunger could feed upon the Life Maelstrom he had stolen from the Garuda. Everything that Iata had given Xondar and that was stored inside his mana organ now belonged to Lith.

    He used his Spirit Eye to bend the silver lightning to his will and his yellow eye to boost it. At the same time, he had Double Edge fuse with War to increase its mass and power.

    ''ording to Solus, Life Maelstrom isprised of air element and life force so my yellow eye should have some sort of interaction with it.'' He thought as a single lunge of War shattered the spells encasing him.

    ''Fuck, Xondar is gone and somehow Verhen is overcharged. Yet he''s still alone and there''s four of us.'' Iata signaled the others to attack while she called for reinforcements.

    With the advantage from Life Maelstrom down the gutter, they needed three more people to cast Silverwing''s spells and keep Lith from using his de Magic.

    Ophius the Quetzalcoatl whipped at Lith with his tail.

    The offspring of Fenagarcked limbs, but the length of their bodies made up for it. His armor was equipped with des all along its surface so that he could cut through his prey after wrapping around them.

    Also, at the end of Ophius'' tail, there was a heavy mace that could be further stretched by a chain into a morning star. War burst with silver and ck light, cutting through the Adamant in a single sh.

    The mace, the chain, and the end of the Quetzalcoatl''s'' tail were cut asunder at the same time, spurting a fountain of blood.

    ''Retreat and heal!'' Iata ordered him as she took point and conjured several hard-light constructs to both attack and defend. ''Ufyl, what are you doing? We need you?''

    The Seven Headed Dragon was staring at the small corpse that Lith stood to defend, his eyes wet with tears.

    ''I''m with you.'' Ufyl snapped out of his grief and used his polearm to keep Lith away.

    He took a deep breath, unleashing a burst of Origin mes boosted by Life Maelstrom.

    Lith sidestepped the spearhead and blocked the mes with his bare off-hand. The Mana Aura he had stolen bought him enough time to take over a third bloodline ability as well before it could deal him any damage.

    Then, he threw it back along with a jet stream of his own.

    The two Origin mes merged into Primordial mes, painting the forest white with the blinding explosion that followed.

    ''Good gods, what was that?'' Ufyl thought. ''If not for Dregham''s Mana Body and the constructs, we would be dead now.''

    ''Stay behind me!'' Ophius used the Elemental Flow bloodline ability to encase Lith in a full set of elemental sealing arrays, leaving him only Spirit Magic.

 Chapter 2322 The Monster You Create (Part 2)

    The Quetzalcoatl and hispanions, instead, could turn the magical formations on and off at will and use all kinds of magic.

    "Here we are!" Three more Divine Beasts joined the fray and started conjuring Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    Iata conjured more and more constructs around Lith, Dregham the Fenrirpressed the space to keep him from Blinking, and the others focused solely on the spell.

    ''I''ll never finish casting Ruin in time. There''s seven of them and one of me.'' Yet Lith never stopped the de.

    He simply shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form and took a breath as deep as he could. The silver lightning now filled to the brim not only his seven eyes, but also his red scales and the Cursed mes that burned within.

    The violet light from the Origin mes shone through his body, going down his neck and to his heart. There the conjured world energy was surrounded by the Cursed Elements that stripped it of their respective counterparts.

    Air became Choke, darkness turned into Chaos, light into Decay, earth became Corruption, fire became Cinder, and water turned into Zero. The six cursed elements were gathered into Lith''s heart, dominated by his eyes, and boosted by Life Maelstrom.

    The violet light shining through his scales became white and then silvery. At the same time, thanks to the power absorbed from the world energy, the Cursed mes burning inside his red scales grew in size and power.

    Each one of them turned of the color of their respective Cursed Element.

    Lith could almost feel his throat explode under the sheer pressure of the Dread mes that refused to fully coalesce from the Cursed Elements and submit. At least until he took the finalponent of the world energy, Mogar''s will, and merged it with his own.

    ''Now!'' Iata lowered the constructs as the seven pirs of elemental energy from Silverwing''s Annihtion crashed against Lith.

    With no ce to run and dimensional magic off the table, the Voidfeather Dragon nted his feet against the ground and had the mes of his scales burst forward.

    They turned into a six-colored barrier that spun around him, each neutralizing their opposing element. Which of course, meant that there was nothing to stop the final and emerald pir of Spirit Magic.

    The Voidfeather Dragon opened his mouth, unleashing a silvery burst of Dread mes that ate at the Spirit Pir, crushing their way until they reached its source.

    Iata the Sekhmet was struck in full and her body evaporated along with her equipment.

    Yet Lith still had plenty of Dread mes.

    He waved his long neck left and right, showering the rest of the Divine Beasts with his silvery fire and killing a Leviathan whocked Mana Aura to protect her.

    The Voidfeather Dragon walked toward the survivors slowly, even giving them the time to use Invigoration. Lith didn''t care if they chose to fight or flee. Since he couldn''t kill them, the only thing that mattered was making them suffer.

    "There''s five of us and that power must have a side effect!" Dregham the Fenrir jumped at Lith while baring his fangs, his body enveloped with the golden light of Mana Body.

    "Indeed it does." Lith unleashed a burst of Life Maelstrom while activating the powers of his yellow and ck eye to add darkness to it.

    He remembered well the ck Lightning bloodline ability of the Jotunn. He had suffered it in Verendi and finally had the means to reproduce it.

    The ck Lightning struck at the Divine Beasts, stripping them of Life Maelstrom, Mana Body, fusion magic, and even erasing the spells they had kept at the ready.

    "What the f-" War cut the Fenrir asunder and his voice short.

    Lith was worn and torn, but he was the only one with Life Maelstrom and spells at the ready.

    Five Divine Beasts were now down to four and whatever power Lith had left was amplified tenfold.

    The Voidfeather Dragon kept stepping forward slowly, his seven eyes brimming with power and ready to shut down a dimensional opening at a moment''s notice.

    Ophius, Rayne, and than the Garuda were still standing whereas Ufyl was kneeling on the ground. With Iata gone and Phloria dead, he had no reason to fight.

    "Get up, you damn lizard! We have a mission and you are letting us down as usual." than said while charging forward, hoping that his four limbs wielding style would give him an edge over the exhausted enemy.

    Lith let the blows rain upon him without a care. Life Maelstrom empowered his Voidwalker armor and Mana Aura further raised his defense, making him into a living block of Adamant.

    At the first blow heavy enough to put than off bnce, War bolted at his neck in a thrust. The Garuda crossed the des on his prehensile feet to execute a pincer block but the grieving de was imbued with fury and Chaos.

    It cut through the Adamant swords and then through the flesh and bones, severing than''s head from his shoulders.

    "Fuck, I really didn''t want to do this. Take cover!" Ophius activated his Doom Tide bloodline ability and sucked every bit of world energy around him for a kilometer.

    Then, he added his life force to it and had it detonate. The Doom Tide radiated from his skin, leaving the Quetzalcoatl unscathed and attacking everyone else around him.

    Rayne took flight whereas Ufyl didn''t bother moving from his spot, just like Lith.

    He shapeshifted into his Abomination form and pushed his palms against the expanding energy dome. Doom Tide was still made of world energy and life force and both were just nourishment for the ck sphere of the Abomination.

    Yet there was too much and Doom Tide was too close for Lith to absorb it, especially with his limited mastery over that side of his life force.

    What he did was use the Abomination Touch to buy time while his Spirit Eye fought against Ophius'' will for dominance over the Doom Tide.

    The energy dome expanded and contracted based on how the tug of war shifted. From Rayne''s point of view, it seemed like the Abomination was using raw strength to push the Doom Tide back to the Quetzalcoatl.

    "What kind of monster are you? You are supposed to be dead!" Ophius yelled as he poured everything he had into a final burst of willpower.

    "The one you created." Lith''s voice was a whisper yet it was perfectly clear.

    He clenched his hands, flooding his Spirit and Water Eyes with Life Maelstrom.

    The energy dome imploded on itself, crushing Ophius with the same power he had so desperately conjured.

    "Fuck, I''d better get ou-" Rayne gurgled blood, her expression dumbfounded as she lowered her eyes and noticed War sticking out of her chest. "Verhen was using two hands against Ophius! How could I miss that?"

    War wailed in reply, using the Counter Flow ability to turn her Origin mes against the Phoenix and flooding her body with Chaos. She tried to activate her bloodline ability, Molting Essence, to turn into a mass of living mes but War hijacked them too.

    With the de''s energy ravaging her insides, the battle of wills was lost as soon as it started.

 Chapter 2323 Not Enough (Part 1)

    Rayne disappeared in a burst of ck mes and War returned to Lith''s hand right when he was walking in front of Ufyl.

    "Nost stand? No quips or insults?" The Tiamat asked.

    "Why should I?" Ufyl never stopped looking at the shroud and the body it contained. "I''m loyal to the True Queen but I''m no zealot. Today she betrayed our trust. Phloria''s and mine.

    "Today I have no reason to fight against you. Just get over with it."

    Lith nodded, decapitating Ufyl''s seven heads and piercing his heart in one seamless move.

    Unlike the others, he made sure the Dragon wouldn''t feel fear or pain. Ufyl was bound to feel plenty of that on his own the moment he came out of the rebirth chamber.

    Best case scenario, Thrud would demote him for his betrayal and he would be a pariah among her Divine Beasts. Worst case scenario, she would strip Ufyl of his free will and turn him into a puppet. His fate was already sealed.

    Lith respected the Dragon''s grief and how he had chosen defiance to protest against orders he deemed unfair.

    The moment he was alone, the Tiamat fell onto the ground, panting. His body trembled from exertion, his muscles strained from wielding for so long a power that didn''t belong to him.

    Not only had he been fighting non-stop, but his mana organs were under great stress due to the use of so many foreign bloodline abilities at the same time.

    ''The silvery mes are incredibly powerful but also unstable. Without my Voidfeather Dragon form and Life Maelstrom, I would''ve never managed to conjure them. Even worse, without Mana Aura, I would have taken part of the damage.

    ''I need to rest and recover. Not even Invigoration can fix such a mess.'' He thought as his eyes fell onto Phloria''s corpse.

    The Void was standing right beside her with his eyes closed.

    ''Phloria Ernas, you''ve been the first one to ept me. You had every reason to be afraid of me and instead, you gave me a home. I''ll never forget that.'' He said.

    ''What would you do in my shoes?'' Lith asked amid pants.

    ''The same thing I''ve done once that bastard took Carl away from me. I''d hunt the one responsible until myst breath.'' The Void replied.

    ''I couldn''t have said it better.'' Lith turned into his Abomination form, using the energy he had stolen, Life Maelstrom, and Invigoration to fix his energy body so that the changes would be passed onto his flesh and blood once he shapeshifted again.

    ''That''s because you are me. Yet I''m not the one we need now.'' The Void pointed at the blue dot in the Mindspace where the Voidfeather Dragon was bawling his eyes out. ''He''s a crybaby but unlike me, he''s true to his emotions.

    ''Let him grieve. Let him share his pain with the rest of Mogar.''

    ***

    A few kilometers from there, on the battlefield for the Golden Griffon, things were slowly but steadily taking a turn for the worse.

    Attacking the lost academy from a distance was possible, but it meant giving Hystar the time to conjure his countermeasures and fix the damage he had sustained from the opening salvo during the ambush.

    Getting close, however, had turned out to be suicidal even for Divine Beasts.

    The Static Field array sealed even Spirit Dimensional Magic, cutting off every quick retreat path. The Golden Griffon shot Tower Tier spells like they were confetti and even being grazed by them caused crippling wounds.

    To make matters even worse, the closer one got to the lost academy, the thinner the world energy and the strongest the boosting effect of the Golden Griffon over its students.

    Awakened had their bloodline abilities and breathing techniques rendered useless whereas Thrud''s soldiers had no such problem. The aura with which the lost academy shrouded them allowed them to fight at their full prowess.

    The allied forces of the Kingdom and the Council were slowly being driven back, lowering the pressure on the Golden Griffon and hastening its recovery process.

    "This is not fucking over!" Tessa jumped back to her feet with a snarl. "If we bring that fucker down and seal the academy inside an array, we can starve it enough to get in and destroy it."

    Fyrwal knew that it was a n as desperate as it was unlikely to seed.

    The battle was still ongoing and Thrud had yet toe out. Even if they brought the Golden Griffon down, the Mad Queen wouldn''t just sit there and let them weave an array of such magnitude.

    "Let''s do this." She actually said. "For Phloria."

    "Must we?" Crank sat down as well, as sad as the others.

    Both his deal with Lith and Tessa were blown. He would get no tool to practice de Magic nor a hot date. He didn''t feel like fighting, more like moving to a different country and drinking until he wouldn''t remember his own name.

    "Yes, you fucking furball!" Solus pped him so hard that the Hyperion felt his jaw loosening. "Crack another joke and I swear to the gods that I''ll crack your skull open!"

    A dimensional ring appeared around his neck as Friya stared at the Hyperion in hatred.

    "I dare you. Give me one reason. It doesn''t have to be a good one." If she closed it, it would decapitate him.

    ''I''d better keep my mouth shut and not tell them that I wasn''t joking. This battle is as good as over for me. Yet I''m afraid that if I say something now, they''ll kill me and turn my corpse into a toilet brush.'' Crank thought.

    "I''m sorry for your loss and I apologize for my rudeness." He gave them a deep bow. "Let''s kick Thrud''s ass."

    "Well said." Tessa hadn''t bothered with the Hyperion and had been waving her Morning Dew Staff around.

    Golden and green runes came out of the Yggdrasil wood shrouding her from head to toe.

    "Let''s follow her lead!" Fyrwal used the When All Are One array''s mind link to share the Titania''s de Spell.

    Everyone''s weapon was not encased in a hard-light construct resembling a staff and was weaving runes as well.

    "What the fuck?" Crank said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    "Valeron taught us de Magic, runt." Tessa exined. "Filly and I have our own spells."

    "Then why did we use Lith''s before?" Solus asked.

    "What''s the point of using three different spells?" Tessa shrugged. "The destructive power is in the ballpark and our weapons would need time to recharge anyway. Now shut up and focus!"

    Quy used her Injection spell to flood their bodies with tonics and nutrients, yet her eyes kept weeping. Hermunication amulety on the ground with an empty space where until a few minutes ago Phloria''s rune had been.

    ''I have no idea what happened but I''m going to make Thrud pay for this!'' She thought.

    In her Throne Room, the Mad Queen sighed sharply as her happy dance came to an end.

    "All of my Generals are back after failing their mission." She sat back on her throne with Valeron the Second between her arms. "I don''t know what''s worse. If so many Divine Beasts failing to kill Verhen or Ufyl''s betrayal."

 Chapter 2324 Not Enough (Part 2)

    "Disloyalty can be easily fixed, Your Majesty." Hystar replied. "Ipetence, instead, takes time and effort to be rooted out."

    "How are things going out there?" She asked while conjuring the images from the external surveince mirrors again.

    "Not good. Can I go all out now?"

    "I wanted to kill Phloria and secure Verhen''s corpse. Only after destroying the enemy morale and ughtering the champions of the pretenders was I nning to turn their despair into terror." Thrud said with a sigh.

    "At this point, I''ll take what I can. Do it."

    Hystar bellowed inughter as the power core of the lost academy went to full power. The world energy circted through every one of its inhabitants, Thrud included. The blood of Arthan, Tyris, and Valeron was the best tonic the Golden Griffon could feed upon.

    The wings on the back of the titan unfolded and closed again, reaching Hystar''s hands. Two handles formed at the same time when the massive wings detached themselves from the shoulder des.

    They quickly shapeshifted respectively into a shield and broad sword that Hystar wielded with one hand.

    When Tessa''s group unleashed five copies of her de Tier spell, Root of Destruction, none of them reached their mark.

    The massive shield was shrouded by an emerald coatingprised of dozens of Silverwing''s Bastions spread all over its surface. Hystar masterfully moved the shield around, blocking the strongest spells with ease while the swordy waste to the battlefield.

    It contained countless spells among which there were several Annihtions. He aimed his strikes at the positions where the battle was most fierce, ughtering both enemies and allies.

    The followers of the Royals would stay dead whereas Thrud''s loyalists started being reborn the moment after their death.

    "Retreat!" Raagu ordered once she understood that there was nothing they could do anymore.

    The Golden Griffon was simply too big and powerful. They were just a bunch of Awakened ants fighting against an Awakened man who also wore a full set of equipment.

    Hystar''s Tower spells eclipsed their magic, his mass overshadowed even Divine Beasts, and every one of his strikes killed hundreds.

    ? "I''m not retreating!" Tessa clenched her teeth in fury.

    "Yes, we are!" Fyrwal pped her to make the Titania snap out of it. "I''ve already failed Oghrom and Juria today by letting their descendant die. I''m not also going to cause Orion and Jirni more grief by getting two more of their children killed."

    "But¡­" Tessa wanted to counter, but she had no argument.

    "It pisses me off as well, but there''s nothing we can do." The Elder Hydra said. "We could have taken down the Golden Griffon, Thrud, or her army. All three of them at the same time is impossible. We simply don''t have the means."

    She waved at the allied forces still battling with Thrud''s, incapable of focusing on the lost academy. The Mad Queen''s Divine Beasts fought with no fear of death and the Golden Griffon empowered them all.

    "What about Lith?" Quy asked.

    "There!" Friya pointed at a multi-colored meteor that was approaching the golden titan at breakneck speed.

    The Voidfeather Dragon put everything he had into one final bust of Dread mes. The Life Maelstrom and the Mana Aura that the Abomination had stolen would be lost in a few exchanges and then he would have to consume his own life force.

    Lith roared as he opened his maw and unleashed a humongous burst of silvery mes. They covered the distance with the Golden Griffon in an instant, catching Hystar by surprise while he was blocking a volley of Annihtions.

    The st wasn''t strong enough to make him even budge, but the Dread mes opened arge hole in his armor and dug deep. They ate at the enchanted stone and metal, slowing down only because consuming so much mass weakened them by the centimeter.

    Hystar conjured a few Bastions and the silvery mes died out.

    "Anything else, kid?" The Golden Griffon banged on his shield with the sword, taunting Lith to attack.

    He didn''t have to ask twice.

    The Voidfeather Dragon focused the Cursed mes in his scales and boosted them again in a six-colored sphere around him. Yet instead of using them as a barrier to defend against Hystar''s attack, he dodged the sword and used the sphere as a ram.

    Hystar moved quickly despite his size and managed to stop Lith and the hail of Spirit Spells apanying him with the shield.

    The impact produced a boom that echoed for kilometers and an explosion visible from all over the battlefield. Yet the shield was unscathed whereas the sorry figure of the Voidfeather Dragon was falling down in an arc emphasized by the trail of smoke following him.

    The clouds dispersed and the ground stopped quaking as the potential tribtion faded along with Lith''s consciousness.

    "Nice try, little fly. Maybe if you were bigger and stronger, I would have felt something more than a mosquito bite." Hystarughed as his de moved in a descending arc to cut the Dragon asunder.

    At the same time, his shield hand conjured several Tower tier spells, just to be safe.

    A ck figure crossed the sky in a ze of white light, dodging the spells as if they moved in slow motion. Bytra reached Lith, conjuring both a Gravity spell and Corrupted Bastion.

    The former made Lith light enough for her to carry while thetter slowed down the de. She also used the push against her barrier to further hasten her movements. By the time the sword struck the ground, Bytra was long gone and Hystar had no idea what had just happened.

    "Thank the gods you are here, Bytra." Solus said once the Raiju dropped the Voidfeather Dragon and she could assess how dire his situation was.

    "I''m not that good at breaking stuff, but there''s more than one way to use speed." Bytra nodded. "Let''s get out of here."

    "First things first." Quy and Faluel used Injection on Lith while Solus used their bond to force him to shrink to human size.

    The Golden Griffon was moving toward them but the retreating army of the Kingdom would still buy them time.

    Once they patched up the Voidfeather Dragon to the best of their abilities, they opened a Warp Steps and escaped.

    "I''m sorry." It was the first thing that Lith said the moment he mustered the strength to speak. "I tried to save Phloria. I swear. I really tried, but-"

    "Save it forter. We don''t need to lose another friend today." Friya said amid tears.

    The healers of the group were doing their best to keep his life span from shortening. The Dread mes, the fight, and Lith''s injuries had put him in critical condition. If not properly treated, his life force would soon bleed out.

    Tessa and Fyrwal were working as hard as they could.

    "We need a geyser." Solus said.

    "What for?" Crank asked while eating.

    "I''m sorry. I almost forgot." A wave of Friya''s hand Warped the Hyperion far away, leaving only those who knew about Solus'' secret there.

    "Let me check." Fyrwal had a map of the Kingdom where she had marked all the mana geysers she had met during her travels.

 Chapter 2325 Unspoken Words (Part 1)

    It took them a few minutes to reach the nearest mana geyser and a few seconds for the tower to appear.

    Solus took no risks and Warped straight to the Desert where Sark worked her Rebirth Magic on Lith while cursing like a sailor.

    She had many things to say and would have reprimanded them all harshly, but from so up close she could feel Lith''s grief via the Blood Imprint they shared. Sark needed sheer willpower just to not burst into tears from the empathic bond.

    Once she was done with him, the Guardian also took care of Friya and Solus. The legendary array had empowered them but had also pushed their cores and bodies to the limit.

    They all needed rest and food to recover.

    s, there was no time.

    "How bad is it?" Lith asked while his bond with the tower allowed him to absorb the energy from the mana geyser and recover his strength.

    "You went this close to shortening your life span even further, you idiot." Sark flicked at his forehead with a finger. It was the harshest scolding he could endure. "Luckily, all the extra power and mass from the Garuda took the brunt of the damage.

    "This time you were lucky but if you keep going beyond your limits, you are going to pay the price."

    "Lucky is thest word I''d use to describe myself right now." Lith said with a sigh, a tear streaming down his face now that the adrenaline was gone.

    With no fury or strength to support him, only despair remained.

    The moment Solus was certain that he was alright, she hugged him. She hid her face in Lith''s chest, d that he was fine and that the time they had left hadn''t dwindled again.

    It started as a hup. Then, she started to shed tears as well. A few secondster, Solus fell apart, the feeling of joy turning into guilt that further amplified the pain from the loss of their friend.

    Phloria was gone and there was nothing keeping the realization at bay anymore.

    Friya, Tista, and Quy were already crying, but they had Hushed themselves to not disturb Sark''s work. Fyrwal and Tessa were more discreet, emitting no sound but shedding plenty of tears.

    They weren''t new to loss and failure but the death of their goddaughter still broke their hearts.

    "Thanks, Grandma." Lith hugged Sark who returned the embrace.

    She wanted to wrap him with her wings and warm his heart with her mes but she knew it was a losing battle. Nothing could make him feel better. Only time would heal his wounds yet there was no telling if he had any.

    The Kingdom was bound to fall and with it Lith would lose even more pieces of his heart.

    "Now, I have to go." Lith stood up from the bed, his legs unsteady and his breath ragged.

    "You need to rest." Sark said yet making no attempt to stop him.

    "I can restter." He panted. "Phloria''s parents deserve to know what happened. I''m the only one who can answer their questions and give them Phloria''s corpse."

    Just saying her name sent pangs throughout his chest and made Lith shed another tear. Her body stored in the pocket dimension seemed to weigh tons and its presence to make the tower''s storage burn.

    "Do you want me toe with you?" The Guardian asked.

    "I would appreciate it if you waited for me at home. My whole family is going to need your help." Lith gave her a deep bow and a final quick hug before Warping the tower back to the Kingdom.

    "Where to?" He asked Friya.

    "The Ernas Mansion." She replied in a choked voice. "Mom and Dad are waiting for us there with the rest of the family."

    When they arrived, the massive gates of the Ernas household were open. Its white crystal wall had been painted ck in mourning. The guards stood on attention, their faces as impable as their posture, yet their eyes cried in silence.

    Jirni and Orion were waiting at the door, their faces pale and their eyes red from the crying. Behind them, there were Tulion, Gunyin, Jirni''s cousin Dyta, and even Jiza Gernoff.

    Lith walked in front of the funeral procession, holding Phloria''s shrouded corpse in a princess carry. Fyrwal and Tessa walked one step back by his side while Friya and Quy were right behind him.

    "I''m sorry." Lith''s voice trembled as he spoke. "She''s-"

    "I know the what." Jirni was holding Phloria''s clothes which had now lost their imprint. "The only thing I want to know is how."

    "There''s much you have to know." Lith''s throat felt constricted, he needed to swallow hard to make words. "Also, Phloria entrusted me with a message for all of you. Please,e close, because I don''t know if I''ll have the strength to repeat it more than once."

    Lith established a mind link, sharing with the Ernas everything he could. He showed them his ns and preparations. How everyone had pitched in toe up with the tools for a foolproof rescue operation.

    He shared with them the whole fight with Phloria, what she had said to him while enved, and the words she had entrusted to him in her brief time as a Demon. Lastly, he showed them his fight with Thrud''s Divine Beasts and his crazed attempt to avenge Phloria.

    Once he was done, Lith needed a deep breath just to not fall apart and burst into tears. He had been forced to tear his wounds open again and to him, Phloria had just died a second time in front of his eyes.

    "Thank you." Jirni said, effortlessly taking the corpse from his arms into her own.

    The rest of the Ernas broke into tears one after the other, each mumbling Phloria''s final words to them. Tulion hyperventted, needing to lean against the doorframe to not fall.

    Gunyin stood motionless like his mother, but his throat was so tight that he could barely breathe and his eyes cried a river. Orion bit his lips and clenched his hands until they bled, yet he stood beside Jirni as stoic as she was.

    "Thank you for being such a good friend to my Little Flower even after herst breath." Jirni''s voice was warm and kind, as if Phloria was just asleep and Jirni was lulling her. "Thank you for trying everything you could to keep her here as a Demon.

    "Thank you for your honest offer to give your all and find a way to give her a new body. Don''t take her refusal personally. You know how stubborn my daughter is. For what it''s worth, you have my gratitude.

    "You promised me to do your best and I know you did. Thank you for bringing my Little Flower''s body back. It''s not the ending I hoped for, but at least she will be buried with her ancestors and in time, I''ll join her."

    Jirni gave Lith a slight nod, turning sideways.

    "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I''d like to remain alone with Phloria. There are so many things that I wanted to tell her yet I never did. Now, the time has finallye."

 Chapter 2326 Unspoken Words (Part 2)

    "I''m going to tell Phloria how a married woman can juggle between family and career. I''m going to teach her how tomunicate with her husband so that their quarrels don''t fester over time.

    "I''m going to share with her all the tricks I learned to keep working during pregnancy and how to deal with babies. Gods, there''s so much that we have to talk about." Jirni sniffled, her eyes misted by tears.

    "There''s no rush." Orion grabbed Jirni by the shoulder. "You can take your time and grieve her. Our Little Flower can wait whereas you are in dire need to rest."

    His voice was colder than he wanted, but if Orion let even one shred of emotion out, he knew that his heart would explode. He couldn''t let his care transpire without griefing along.

    Orion couldn''t express his love for his wife without the pain of the loss of his daughter trampling everything else.

    "You are wrong, dear. I have no time and neither have you." Jirni shook her head, her voice adamant. "If we don''t tell Phloria everything we kept for ourselves during all these years, if we don''t share with her all the love we feel for her, we''ll never be able to say goodbye to her.

    "I need to fulfill all the promises I made my Little Flower back when she was a baby before I can start grieving her. Otherwise she''d be always alive in my heart and the pain will never stop."

    Jirni''s voice cracked and tears started to stream down her face. The Ernas bloodline would live on, but she would never hold her baby girl again, nor would she ever experience the joy of holding Phloria''s children.

    "You are right." Orion nodded, bringing her inside before she fell apart. "Please, excuse us."

    The double door of the Ernas'' mansion was mmed in front of Lith without malice. He was a good friend of the family, but their pain was private and they wanted to share it only among themselves.

    Lith stood there for a while with Solus holding his hand and doing her best to be strong for him. Yet she and Tista couldn''t stop sobbing, their knees shaking as the realization of Phloria''s death burrowed its way through their denial.

    "Let us bring you home, kid." Tessa said, her voice firm despite the tears. "You''ve been through a lot as well. You have suffered much and you need your family."

    Lith nodded and turned around when he recognized Lucky''s barkinging from inside the door. The fluffy Ry was weing his mom back with joy until the smell of death reached his nose.

    Lucky was a magical beast and as such, he knew how to speak. He chose to howl nheless, to cry out his pain in the most primordial and honest way he could.

    Lith fell onto his knees, the pain of the Ry echoing through his bones beyond what he could take.

    He howled back in a roar that rmed the guards and made Lucky howl harder until Fyrwal conjured a Warping array and brought him away.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, a few dayster.

    Maybe it was because the death of so many Divine Beasts had forced Thrud to take a step back and wait for their resurrection. Or maybe it was because the Mad Queen wanted her enemies to savor their pain in full before the next blow came.

    Whatever the answer was, the Golden Griffon was nowhere to be seen.

    Lith and his family had been devastated by Phloria''s death.

    To Elina and Raaz, Phloria was Lith''s first girlfriend and the only other woman they had ever dreamed about marrying their son. They had known her for almost eight years and they had always considered her a member of the family.

    Lith''s parents were devastated and heartbroken. Raaz felt helpless and his trauma regressed, but he tried to act strong for his son. Elina did her best to keep in touch with Jirni, but none of her calls was returned.

    Elina knew the pain of losing a child.

    First Meln and then Trion. In her case, at least Meln had turned out to be a monster while Trion had returned as a Demon. Jirni wouldn''t have either constion and Elina knew it.

    Aran and Leria couldn''t stop crying at the idea that one of their aunties would never visit them again. It was the first death that afflicted them personally and they had no way to deal with it.

    Nor with the sudden realization that Lith wasn''t a god.

    In times of war, funerals weren''t long nor pompous, no matter how blue-blooded or loved the deceased was. Phloria''s ceremony was heartfelt but simple. Her body was exposed in an open casket in front of which her family and friends stepped to say a few words about her.

    Marth and Vastor came with their respective wives. Professor Thorman, Phloria''s Mage Knight specialization professor, hade as well to pay his respects to one of his most talented students.

    The Royals came there in person despite their busy schedule and Thrud''s looming threat, feeling somewhat responsible for what had happened. On top of that, it was better not to anger all the four founding pirs of the Kingdom at the same time.

    The Ernas and the Myrok were grief-stricken, just like the Nyxdra household and Tessa. Phloria''s funeral had a monumental political value since one false step might anger the Kingdom''s most valiant champions and alienate them.

    Morok and Nalrond were there as well, yet they said nothing. They had never spent much time with Phloria so they had known her little. But, they could see how deep the pain of their respective girlfriend was.

    In moments like that, there were no magic words that could make them feel better. There was nothing the two men could do to relieve Phloria''s sisters from their pain but be there for them.

    Morok was properly dressed, acted with perfect etiquette, and talked only when spoken to, limiting himself to a few words each time.

    Lith wanted to give Phloria a eulogy, but he failed to muster the necessary strength.

    He could still see her mouth gurgling with blood, feel the life slipping out of her body. No matter how many times he had showered, his right arm kept glistening with blood whose scent filled his nose.

    Lith had thought more than once about amputating and regrowing it, but he knew that the problem didn''ty in the limb but in himself.

    ''Phloria may have forgiven me and Jirni may not resent me, but until I find a way to forgive myself, none of it matters.'' He thought while looking at Phloria''s armor, under which he could still see the gaping hole even though it had been closed with necromancy.

    She was about to be buried with Orion''stest Featherwalker armor and a replica of Reaver.

    Lith wanted to speak, to tell everybody the story of how they had met during the mock exam of the first trimester at the White Griffon and how she had asked him out after the second exam.

    He wanted to share with them how luminous Phloria''s soul had been and how happy they had been together in everyday life.

 Chapter 2327 Survivors Guilt (Part 1)

    Lith wanted to conjure the images of the g at Distar''s, when he and Phloria had danced on the ceiling with Gravity magic.

    Yet all those good memories gave him joy at first, then the pain of the loss, andstly everything turned into guilt. No matter what everyone said or how cunning Thrud''s n had been, Lith had killed Phloria and nothing could change that fact.

    Every time he tried to speak, guilt tightened his throat and tears veiled his eyes. Even breathing was hard, knowing that he was about to tell Phloria goodbye and that once the casket was closed, he would never see her again.

    Solus and Kam stood by either side but said nothing.

    Solus was lost in her own pain and guilt, regretting not being there with Lith during the final confrontation and wondering if there was something that she could have done.

    Kam, instead, had no such burden. She considered Phloria Lith''s good friend and the beloved daughter of Jirni, but due to the past rtionship with Lith the two women had never been close.

    Yet the reason she remained silent wasn''t that Phloria''s death didn''t touch her, but because she understood and respected Jirni''s and Lith''s pain. There was no point in spouting clich¨¦s about time healing all wounds or death being a part of life.

    It was their grief and there was no way for Kam to ease their burden. The only thing she could do was to be there for them and help them to stand up when they found the strength to move on.

    The moment they sought herfort andpany, Kam would do everything she could but until then, she would give them the time and space they needed to mourn.

    Once everyone was done with the eulogies, the casket was closed and brought to the Ernas mausoleum, where Phloria was buried with Juria Ernas and the rest of her ancestors.

    The enchanted metal gate closed, and with it died every hope Lith had that some merciful god would descend from the sky and bring Phloria back to life. She was now gone and buried, just like the chunk of his heart she had taken with her.

    "We are really sorry for your loss." King Meron was wearing his high uniform and the fur-lined heavy cloak of Valeron. "I would love to tell you that you can take all the time you want, but sadly the Kingdom needs you.

    "As soon as Thrud reappears, we are going to need our head strategist and the General of the Army."

    "I''ll do what I can, but I make no promises about my efficiency." Jirni gave the Royals a deep bow. "I''ll resume my duty the moment youmand me to, but I can''t guarantee on my mental faculties.

    "A part of me died, Your Majesty, and I''m still fighting to find my bnce. Scratch that, I''m struggling to find a reason to keep fighting."

    The Royals turned a little pale but nodded. Pressuring a grieving parent would only backfire. The Crown would look insensitive and ungrateful, making its most loyal subjects walk away from the war.

    "I''m ashamed of myself for saying this, but I fare no better." Orion cleared his throat a few times to keep the pain froming out. "I gave my best as a general, a father, and a Forgemaster, yet I failed.

    "My loyalty still lies with the Kingdom, but my soul is broken. If you need me, I''lle but I don''t know if my presence will do you any good."

    "Don''t count on us." Fyrwal said after giving the Ernas a quick hug each. "We are done with the War of the Griffons. We are going back to our self-imposed exile."

    "What? Why?" Friya asked in outrage.

    Her parents were shocked as well, but they just nodded at the Elder Hydra. They inwardly envied her for her freedom to wash her hands of the war.

    "Thrud is still alive! She has killed my sister! How can you bail out like this? Is this what the loyalty among the four founding pirs of the Kingdom amounts to?"

    The Royals turned pale and just nodded at Friya''s words, supporting her position.

    "I know that, child." Fyrwal said with the saddest voice. "But there''s nothing I can do about that. Thanks to the Golden Griffon, Thrud is a truly immortal white core and even if we were to find a way to kill her, Phloria would stay dead."

    "Is this it, then?" Quy clenched her hands but acted as politely as she could, remembering how badly the Titania reacted to rudeness. "Are you just giving up and letting Thrud win?"

    "I understand your pain, child. I really do." Tessa replied. "Once you live as long as us, however, you''ll realize that Thrud has already built the foundations of her ruin and misery.

    "She''s going to win the War, but then what? She''ll be the ruler of the Griffon Kingdom for 70 years tops before Valeron the Second seeds her. Thrud has already lost her husband and at that point, she''ll also lose her Kingdom.

    "I''ll let her suffer for a few months before taking away her son as well."

    "How do you n on killing a white-cored Divine Beast now armed with the Saefel Set Thrud will obtain after killing the Royals?" Friya asked with a sneer.

    "I won''t, silly child." Tessa shook her head. "I''m simply going to visit Valeron the Second and show him the atrocities that his mother perpetrated in his name."

    The Titania pointed at the mausoleum.

    "At that point, Valeron will ask Thrud the questions she will have spent her reign fearing. Whether she lies or is honest, her son will discover the truth. The truth about how his father died because of her mother''s stubbornness and all the lives lost in her cruel schemes.

    "Valeron will reject her and Thrud''s life will be more empty and painful than you can possibly imagine. Valeron the First couldn''t live 100 years after Arthan''s execution, I bet that Thrud willmit suicide even sooner.

    "Without her son''s love, without her legacy, she''s nothing."

    "Sounds good, but how many people are going to die in the War of the Griffons and during the 70 years of Thrud''s rule? Are you really going to forfeit your duty?" Quy asked amid tears.

    "People die every day, child." Fyrwal said. "Even if we won the War of the Griffons, people would still die for it and in the 70 years following our victory. As for our duty, we have none.

    "The Kingdom betrayed us first and we walked away. We came back only to honor our promise to Juria and Oghrom. We failed and we are sorry for that, but there''s nothing more we can do.

    "My advice is to go away. Without the academies, there''s no way to stop the Golden Griffon. You''ve seen it in action. The lost academy is too big and powerful. We tried our best spells yet they amounted to nothing.

    "To not fight a cause you believe in is for cowards, but to fight a battle where there can be no victory is for idiots. Goodbye." The two elder women Warped away, leaving the Ernas sisters gaping and crying.

 Chapter 2328 Survivors Guilt (Part 2)

    "Magus Verhen?" The Queen asked.

    He had remained silent the whole time but Sylpha could almost hear his inner wails of pain. The fire in his eyes was gone, his hands twitching in remorse.

    "I don''t know what I''ll do. I really don''t know." Lith said.

    The Royals nodded and avoided any attempt to cajole him. They knew how deep the rtionship between Phloria and Lith had been because they had tried more than once to get them back together.

    Jirni and Orion turned toward their home, followed by their children and family members. Lith, instead, remained in front of the mausoleum, refusing to move a single step.

    "Stay as long as you need." Jirni said. "I''ve already instructed the guards. No one will disturb you."

    Elina, Raaz, Kam, Tista, and Rena followed the Ernas, needing the mansion''s Warp Gate to go back to their homes. Leaving Lith there pained their hearts but intruding in his grief would achieve nothing.

    Besides, he wasn''t alone.

    Solus was still by his side, holding his hand in silence.

    After a few minutes, when Lith was certain that no one was around, he fell onto his knees and Solus hugged him from behind. Together, they reminisced all the memories with Phloria that belonged solely to them.

    The first meet, the first date, and the first kiss. The academy exams, the fight against Nalear, Yurial''s funeral, and then the fifth year of the White Griffon until Phloria had broken up with him.

    Lith''s eyes were dry but his heart was bleeding. He still carried on his neck the golden lily pendant that he had gifted Phloria for her sixteenth birthday, the moment when a girl became a woman on Mogar.

    The same pendant that Phloria had carried until the Magus ceremony and that he had used to stir her free will during their fight. The enchanted gold weighed a few grams but they felt like tons of scorchingva, burning through his flesh.

    Lith wanted to take the pendant off and bury it with Phloria, but he couldn''t find the will to part with it. The ne was thest piece of her he had left and he felt like he deserved that pain.

    After a few hours, when Solus couldn''t keep her human form anymore, she went back into her ring and Kam took her ce.

    She hugged him while saying nothing. The warmth of her body fought the cold of death of the Ernas cemetery while the sound of her heart reminded Lith that despite how he felt, he was still alive.

    ***

    Inside the Ernas Mansion, Quy''s room.

    Morok was sitting in a corner chair while Quy paced around her room like a tormented soul. After the funeral, he had been there in silence the whole time, leaving only for the bathroom, eating, and drinking.

    Every time he came back, he brought her a hot tea and some warm food that Quy ignored. Once they got cold, he would simply store them in a dimensional amulet without saying anything.

    "I can''t believe that Fyrwal and Tessa are willing to wait 70 years for their revenge. Can you?" She asked once she was done crying and punching pillows.

    "No, I can''t." Morok shook his head.

    "They are a couple of ipetent idiots! Phloria is dead, my parents are barely holding out, and those hags dare spout such bullshit at the funeral!" She stomped her foot, leaving a mark on the marble floor that the house promptly repaired.

    "Indeed." Morok nodded.

    "Worrying about those fuckers isn''t going to do us any good." Quy sighed, her shoulders slouching. "Our priority must be taking care of Mom and Dad. With Phloria gone, we can''t allow them to lose the will to live.

    "I know them. They can act strong as much as they want but they are seconds away from barging out the door. If we don''t do something, they are going to kill Thrud or die trying. Most likely dying."

    "I know how they feel." Morok said. "I felt the same when I believed that Deirus had killed you. Yet I also know that there''s nothing we can do."

    "As usual, you are wrong." Quy shook her head. "There''s something I can do, but only with your help."

    "Anything you want. You just need to ask." Morok stepped forward, d to see her stop moving for the first time in hours.

    He took her hands and she didn''t push him away. He wiped the trace of thetest tear on her cheek and she brushed it against his hand.

    "I need to get pregnant." Quy said with the sweetest voice that sounded raving mad to Morok.

    "I beg your pardon?" He froze on the spot, refusing to believe his own ears.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" She squinted her eyes in annoyance. "If I get pregnant, I''ll give the Ernas an heir, my parents a grandchild, and most importantly, a reason to live. I don''t expect anyone to take Phloria''s ce, but Mom and Dad need something good in their lives."

    "How is a pregnancy in the middle of a war something good?" Morok took a step back in shock.

    "Easy. It will make me stronger and it will give my parents someone to love." Quy replied. "Maybe in a few months, I''ll be like Kam and able to conjure the baby''s eyes.

    "Maybe, between my talent and ourbined genius, we could discover how Glemos altered your life force and the hidden abilities of your bloodline."

    "Are you kidding me?" His eyes went wide, there was no warmth in his voice anymore.

    "That''s my line, jackass!" Quy pocked at his chest with her finger with enough strength to hurt him. "It''s you who pestered me to go out with you. It''s you who proposed to me every other day. It''s you who wanted me to give you babies.

    "How can you turn your back to me right when I''m willing to give you everything you wanted?"

    "Because this is not how I wanted it!" Morok replied. "I wanted to go out with you to understand if I loved you, and I do, and see if you would return those feelings. I proposed because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and that hasn''t changed.

    "I want you to have my babies because I love you and because I''d give an arm and a leg to be a father. But solely in order to give our children the love they deserve and the happiness I never had.

    "I don''t want to give them life out of duty or for them to be treated like some kind of remedial tool. My- Our children deserve to be loved for who they are, not to live in the shadow of your dead sister.

    "Phloria would never allow it. Were she here, she would scold you until your ears bled."

    "Yet she isn''t because she''s dead!" Quy replied. "How dare you speak of her when you didn''t bother to remember her name for months?"

    "I always knew her name. I just pretended not to. I did it for you." Morok said.

    "What do you mean?" Quy was bbergasted at the revtion.

 Chapter 2329 Survivors Guilt (Part 3)

    "Friya and Phloria are your sisters so I knew that you cared about them. I also knew that there had to be some level of sisterlypetition among you so I figured that by ''remembering'' only your name I would make you feel special." The Tyrant replied.

    "You sure did." Quy sat on her bed, not knowing if being more hurt from Morok making sense or hearing Phloria''s name. "So, it''s a no on a child?"

    "It''s a no if you want one because your sister died. It''s a yes if you want one because you want one." He knelt in front of her, taking her hands. "Do you realize that for at least two months you''d be no more powerful than you are now and the baby would be at high risk on the battlefield?

    "Do you want to make a child as an act of love or just forge a weapon of revenge? Before answering me, please think of what kind of story you want to tell our kid once they are old enough."

    Quy kept her gaze low, pondering his words while Morok caressed her fingers.

    The more she thought about her so-called brilliant n, the more it unraveled into a nonsensical mess. Getting pregnant would keep her away from the War of the Griffons without giving her an edge for months.

    If something were to happen to Quy or the baby, her parents would be devastated. To make matters worse, Quy couldn''t imagine telling her hypothetical child that the only reason they were born was to get even at Thrud.

    "You are right." She said with a sharp sigh after a while. "I don''t want to get married in the middle of a war, let alone make a child. What was I thinking? Am I such a mean person or am I just that stupid?"

    A hup escaped her throat as shame and embarrassment piled up on the grief that already burdened her.

    "Neither. You have just buried your sister." Morok shook his head. "You are allowed to be angry and say stupid stuff, but only for a while and only with moderation. You are supposed to be the smart one.

    "If you take away the ridiculous crap and the dumb jokes from me, what can I possibly bring into this rtionship?"

    "You bring a lot." She said with a thin smile. "You are wiser and kinder than you look."

    Quy hadn''tughed but she hadn''t cried either which was enough for Morok.

    "Let''s put a pin on that for the next time I do or say something stupid." He replied. "Would you like something to eat? If you are going back on the battlefield, you are going to need your strength."

    "I would love some hot stew and bread. Thank you." Quy actually didn''t feel hungry, but he was once again right.

    If by the time Thrud returned Quy''s stomach was as empty as her heart, she wouldn''t offer a decent challenge to the Forgotten. Phloria was gone and as Tessa had pointed out, nothing would bring her back.

    Quy''s priority was survival to not make her parents grieve another daughter. Revenge came a close second, but a second nheless.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, Friya''s room.

    There had been no arguing or even talking between Friya and Nalrond. Theyy together on her bed, cuddling in silence ever since the end of the funeral.

    Friya couldn''t stop clenching her heart, feeling the pain from the death of her sister and from the cruel words Phloria had told Friya during their final meeting.

    "Can you believe it?" She said after a while. "With her dying breath, Phloria called me a slut and a one-trick pony. She called me a parasite that has crawled inside her house. She considered me an ungrateful bitch who sold her services and her body."

    "That wasn''t you sister but the Unwavering Loyalty array." Nalrond stopped caressing her hair and held her tight. "Phloria''s dying breath was about how much she loved you and the fact that she always considered you her sister."

    "How do you know? What makes you so sure of that?" She turned around to look him in the eyes.

    "I know because that''s what you told me after you two shed in Ne''sra. I''m sure of it because you shared with me Phloria''s final moments as a Demon." He replied. "I wasn''t there either time but I trust you and I trust Lith.

    "Why can''t you do the same?"

    "Because I''m angry! I hate the fact that Lith got to talk with her onest time whereas all I got are insults are recriminations. She was my sister. He killed her and even took myst chance to talk with her away from me!" Friya said with a snarl.

    ''I would like to point out that Lith is faring much worse than her, but there''s no ce for logic in moments like this one.'' Nalrond thought.

    "I''m sorry, babe. I wish you were there as well." He actually said.

    "Do you think she was right?" Friya asked after a few seconds.

    "Who was right about what?" Nalrond said in confusion.

    "Phloria." Friya hid her face in Nalrond''s chest. "Am I really a parasite? After all, she''s dead and now I''m about to take her ce. I''m going to steal her clothes, her equipment, and even her ce in our parents'' hearts.

    "I''m a monster." She said with a hup.

    "You are not a parasite and you are not going to steal anything." Nalrond wrapped her in an embrace. "You didn''te here with the goal to rece Phloria, you just wanted a family.

    "You yed no part in her death. Quite the contrary, you did everything you could to rescue Phloria. Your parents know that, just like you know that Phloria won''t ever be forgotten or reced.

    "The voice in your head that keeps berating you doesn''t belong to Phloria but to you. It''s survival guilt."

    Friya stopped crying and remembered how Nalrond was the only survivor of his own vige. He had probably lost more during that single day when Dawn had escaped than Friya in her entire life, yet he was the one consoling her.

    "Did you have siblings?" She asked.

    "Yes. A brother and a sister." Nalrond replied.

    "Does the pain disappear with time?"

    "No, it just hurts less every day until you discover that you can think back at the good moments you shared with your loved ones with an honest smile on your face." He said with a sigh.

    "For a long while, every memory you have of your sister will be a sad one. Yet don''t despair. No one can take the happy times you''ve lived with Phloria away from you. In time, remembering her smile will make you smile as well instead of cry."

    Friya looked Nalrond in the eyes, detaching from her own grief enough to appreciate him not mentioning his past or trying topare their respective situations. It would have belittled her loss and made her feel stupid.

    "Will you be here with me until that moment?" She asked.

    "If you want, yes." He nodded. "I only wish I was stronger. You''ve already surpassed me in every aspect and the next time you fight Thrud, I won''t be able to follow you.

 Chapter 2330 Survivors Guilt (Part 4)

    "I would just be a hindrance to you. Gods, this is so frustrating." Nalrond said.

    "Don''t worry, this is more than enough." Friya gave him a short kiss to stop Nalrond from pitying himself. "Thank the gods Lith wasn''t here to listen to my rant. He didn''t kill my sister and if he were to even think that I consider him responsible, I would never forgive myself."

    "What rant?" The Rezar shrugged, pretending to have forgotten all about it.

    "Thanks." She nodded. "Gods, I don''t know what I''d do if you weren''t with me today."

    ''This would be a good moment to tell him/her that I love him/her.'' They thought almost at the same time. ''Yet if there''s something I learned from Lith is to not make important decisions under emotional distress.

    ''Let''s just hope I don''t end like Lith. He didn''t tell Kam that he loved her for years until she broke up with him.''

    Friya just pulled the bedsheets to cover them as she snuggled up to Nalrond. That day Mogar was dark and cold but she was lucky and had still some warmth in her life.

    ***

    Outside the Ernas Mansion, in front of the mausoleum.

    Lith stood in the same position for hours after Kam''s arrival. Only after the sunpletely disappeared at the horizon did he find the strength to get up.

    "Let''s go home, Kami." His voice was husky and deeper due to dehydration and his throat being still tightened by grief.

    "Are you sure?" Kam asked. "We can stay for as long as you want. My Voidfeather armor keeps me warm and I had plenty of rest earlier."

    "I''m sure." Lith grabbed her hand resting on his shoulder and kissed it lightly. "I know that I''m not responsible for Phloria''s death. I know that both she and I are victims of Thrud''s ploy.

    "The only difference between us is that the Mad Queen isn''t done with me. Yet knowing the truth will do me no good if I keep staying here. I need to ept that Phloria is gone or like Jirni said, I''ll never be able to tell her goodbye for good."

    Lith took the golden lily pendant that he still carried at his neck and handed it to Kam.

    "Do you want me to bring it inside the mausoleum?" She asked.

    "No. I want you to keep it for me. I''m not ready to let it go but I can''t keep it on me either." Lith looked into Kam''s eyes, finding worry and pain. "Please, Kami. I need this."

    "Okay, then," She nodded.

    On the one hand, she found it unhealthy for Lith to keep the memento so close to himself. It was bound to bring him memories and with them even more pain. Kam was afraid that as long as Lith didn''t get rid of the pendant, he would never heal.

    On the other hand, she was jealous of the golden lily. She had witnessed Phloria''s final message to him and was now afraid that the ghost of their past rtionship would now haunt him.

    A living person would never stand a chance against the idealized memory of a deceased.

    She had every reason to refuse yet she decided to trust Lith and give him his space. She took the lily pendant and stored it inside her dimensional amulet.

    "Are you hungry? I can prepare anything you want. Just ask." She said.

    "No, but I need to eat. Anything warm will do. Thank you." Lith weaved a Warp Steps that would lead them to the nearest mana geyser.

    He could have used the Ernas'' Gate but just the idea of stepping inside Phloria''s house and seeing the corridors they had walked together so many times made his stomach churn.

    ''On top of that, I can''t risk meeting Lucky. It would destroy me.'' Lith gritted his teeth at the memories of him and Phloria ying with the fat furball.

    "Do you want to go home or stay at the tower?" Kam asked while they crossed one Steps after the other.

    "We''ll go home to reassure the others that I''m okay, but I''m not nning on staying there. I need some time alone with you. There are a few things we need to discuss." Lith replied and she nodded.

    Kam walked abreast of him in silence, holding his hand while keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Lith would stagger from time to time, his mind spacing out made him miss his footing.

    That way, she was able to support him and keep him from falling onto the ground. Lith was grateful to her for that because he didn''t know if he would manage to stand up again.

    He was so tired and everything seemed pointless. Even putting one foot in front of the other was a struggle that took him sheer willpower.

    "Thank the gods you are back." Rena opened the door and hugged him. "Are you alright? You are freezing."

    Rena guided him toward the firece while holding his hand. She rubbed it vigorously and breathed on it like she used to do during winter back when they were children.

    "Do you want something to eat? Do you need to sit down?" Elina''s eyes were still watery but she managed to speak normally. She checked Lith''s hands, arms, and face like usual before wrapping him with a heavy nket.

    "I''m alright, thank you Rena." Lith nodded, refusing the armchair in front of the firece. "Yes to both, Mom, but not here. Everybody is suffering and I don''t want you to walk on eggshells because of me.

    "I''ve just stopped by to reassure you of my well-being and tell you not to worry about me. I''ll spend the night in the tower with Kami and I don''t know where we''ll go. Unless something bad happens, please, don''t contact me."

    Rena had gone to the stove and now handed him a bowl of hot broth that Lith gulped down.

    "Of course, dear. Just remember that if you need something, anything, we are here for you." Elina caressed his face.

    "I know it, Mom. Thank you. But I also know that this doesn''t affect only me. How do you feel, Dad?"

    "Terrible." Raaz was slumped on a chair, his eyes dark and empty. "I loved that girl. If I feel like this, I can''t even fathom what Orion must be going through. Losing his baby girl¡­"

    His eyes wandered to Tista, Rena, and then to Elina''s womb. Raaz felt desperate and dejected. Desperate because if even someone as strong as Phloria could die, no one was safe.

    Dejected because no matter how much he struggled, Mogar seemed to be an unfair and cold ce where bad things kept happening to good people.

    "You''d better go. Your mother is probably going to have her hands full with me. I''m a failure of a father and a big baby trapped in a man''s body." Raaz said with a snarl, hating himself for being once again a burden when his family needed him the most.

    "You''re wrong, Dad. You are just a broken man. Something I''m an expert myself." Lith clenched Raaz''s shoulder. "See you in the morning.

    Tista wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be alright, but she couldn''t.

 Chapter 2331 Night Into Day (Part 1)

    Tista was the person who had spent the most time with Phloria after her Awakening.

    First Tista had taught her true and Spirit Magic andter they had worked together with the Awakened corps that Phloria had founded. To make matters worse, Tista wasn''t faring much better than the kids.

    Lith was her hero. Even though she knew he was just human, in her heart he''d always been a demigod capable of saving the day, no matter how impossible the situation looked.

    His failure to save Phloria had shattered Tista''s childish belief and undermined the foundations of her world. Tista didn''t me Lith for the death of their friend, but she also knew that if she talked to him, she would end up increasing his burden.

    Lith entered the kids'' room, discovering that they were already in bed. Aran and Leria hugged their furred friends, whimpering even in their sleep.

    He gave them a kiss on the forehead and caressed their hair before leaving. A single Steps moved him and Kam to the Trawn woods where Solus conjured the tower. A single Warp brought them to the geyser near Sark''s beach house.

    "Why here?" Lith said as sunlight flooded the open windows and forced him to shield his eyes with a hand.

    "Because we can all use a little warmth after such a dark day." Solus replied.

    The air of the Desert was much hotter than the Kingdom''s and the sun was still high there.

    "Go get some air while I prepare dinner." Kam pushed him out of the door. "Solus, do you mind giving me a hand?"

    "Sure thing." She gave Lith a strong push, sending him face-first onto the sand.

    "I meant in the kitchen."

    "My bad." Solus mmed the door while Lith was still getting up.

    There was a thin smile on his face and he was happy that there was no one to witness it. Every trace of happiness made him feel dirty. He had no right to be happy. Not after Phloria''s death. Not after being an integral part of her demise.

    Lith took a few deep breaths to calm down as his body started to shudder despite the heat.

    ''Fuck Thrud. She knew that taking away someone I loved was the best way to make me suffer and she even found a way to make me do it myself.'' Lith looked at his right arm.

    The sunlight highlighted the white of his Magus robe yet he kept seeing the red of Phloria''s blood.

    He walked into the ocean, dipping up to his hair in an attempt to wash away that sticky feeling that despite the passing of days still haunted him. Once Lith returned ashore, he inwardly thanked Solus for her thoughtfulness.

    ''There''s nothing here that reminds me of Phloria and the sun almost makes the past few days look like a bad dream.'' He thought. ''If only.''

    His human form didn''t suffer from water and cold yet hey down on a deckchair and let the sun dry him. It took the time of a deep breath for Lith to fall into a dreamless sleep, waking up only when Kam put a skewer of grilled fish under his nose.

    The delicious smell first made his stomach gurgle in his sleep. Then, it twisted his dream into a banquet that never sated him, no matter how much he ate. Only after he screamed in frustration in his dream did he finally wake up.

    "I hope you are hungry because we prepared you a feast." Kam said while Lith looked around in confusion, trying to sort imagination from reality.

    A loud grumble from his abdomen settled which was which in one second.

    "I''m starving." He stretched his limbs while standing up.

    The sweet relief from sleep was soon crushed by the memory of the recent events flooding his brain.

    "Wow. Did you do this in just a few minutes?" Lith asked in amazement at the sight of the full-course meal waiting for him on the table.

    "Actually, you slept for over one hour." Solus replied. "Magic made things faster and easier."

    "Solus helped me a lot." Kam helped him sit at the table, opening with tortellini in a steaming broth to warm him up.

    "Yeah, I washed the vegetables, I cut the vegetables, and I even stirred the pots." Solus grumbled.

    "It''s not my fault if every time you cook something ites out burnt, frozen, or both." Kam shrugged apologetically.

    "I''m not angry with you, I''m angry with myself."

    After the broth came a fish dish with spiced potatoes, deep-fried breaded shrimps and cuttlefish. Everything was served with abundant Maekosh beer that the tower kept nigh its freezing point.

    The contrast between the cold beer and the steaming food made everything even more delicious. When Lith was done eating, not a single crumb remained on his tes.

    "Thanks for the meal. I''ll do the dishes." He said.

    "No need." A snap of Solus'' fingers made both pans and tableware disappear, leaving behind only the scraps that she fed to the beach animals.

    A second snap conjured a new set of everything in mint state.

    "That''s some cheating if ever I saw it." Lith said.

    "Thanks, I learned from the best." Solus said with a warm smile.

    "Do you want to talk now or do you want to take another nap?" Kam asked.

    "I''d like to talk now, thanks. Napping can wait." He replied.

    "Good, but before you say anything, there is something you need to hear." Kam nodded.

    "I''m all ears." Lith sighed.

    "Not here." Solus dragged him to the living room and forced him to sit on the couch in front of the firece before Warping the tower to the Rekar mountain range.

    "Why did we move?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "A lit firece in the Desert during the day is beyond stupid and this is for ambiance." She pointed at the starred sky now visible from the windows.

    "Okay, I give up. You talk and I listen." He raised his hands with his palms out, hoping that the situation would make sense sooner thanter.

    Kam sat down by his side and pulled her shirt up enough to expose her belly. Solus put her hands on Kam''s skin and weaved a spell.

    Suddenly, a faint and rapid thumping filled the room, growing in volume as Solus'' spell closed in to the source of the noise.

    "Is this¡­" Lith asked, his eyes wide with awe.

    "Our baby''s heartbeat, yes." Kam nodded, bringing his hand to her womb as well. "The moment Solus told me about Earth''s fetal dopplers I fell in love with the idea. Since Mogarcks the necessary technology, we had to make up for it with magic.

    "I was saving this to celebrate a happy moment, but I think that you need to hear it now. I want you to remember that no matter how dark Mogar might look, there''s always a light waiting for you at home."

    Kam took a pause, letting her words sink as the baby girl''s heartbeat pounded them into Lith''s brain.

    "No matter what Mogar and Baba Yaga say. Even if you really turn out to be the Lord of Destruction, you can still create life."

 Chapter 2332 Night Into Day (Part 2)

    "With my help, of course." Kam said with one of her smiles that could turn night into day.

    The quick-paced heartbeat was the best music Lith had ever heard, washing away all of his worries and grief. It reminded him that even in his darkest hour there was someone who needed him. Someone to fight for.

    "Thanks, Kami. Thanks, Solus." Lith sniffled, this time out of joy and he didn''t feel bad for it.

    "You are wee." They said in unison. "Have you thought about a name for the baby girl yet?"

    "No. You?" Lith asked.

    "I''ve no idea about the first name but what do you think of Phloria as her second name?" Kam replied.

    "It would be perfect. Thank you." Lith needed sheer willpower to not cry and a handkerchief to blow his nose before snot covered his face.

    "Now that''s settled, what did you want to talk about?" Solus took her hands off Kam but left the spell in ce so that the heartbeat would remain in the background.

    "A few things." Lith replied. "First, I don''t care what the others think or do, I''m not giving up on this fight. Tessa is right, there''s no way for us to defeat the Golden Griffon, but if the opportunity arises, I want to be there.

    "I''m the only one who can get inside the lost academy and destroy it for good. If before the war was just a matter of upholding my deal with the Royals, now it''s personal. I''m not going to let Thrud win."

    "I understand." Kam nodded. "Do what you think is right. I''m 100% with you, just be careful."

    She clenched his hand, pressing it against her womb to remind him how much was at stake.

    "Don''t worry, Kami. I''ll watch his back and bring him home in one piece." Solus held her other hand.

    "Thank you, Solus." Kam returned the hold, thanking once again the gods for her odd yet functional marriage.

    "One more thing. With Phloria gone, we need to pick another godparent for the baby." Lith said while lowering his gaze.

    "Isn''t that a bit too soon?" Kam clenched both Solus'' and Lith''s hand. "We can take our time and wait until we feel better. Doing it right now feels like spitting on Phloria''s grave."

    "I would agree with you if not for what we have just said." Lith sighed. "If something goes wrong, I want someone I trust to take care of the baby and you in my stead. I can''t afford to wait."

    Solus opened her mouth to object, but she closed it just as quickly without saying a word. Her full focus was now devoted to clenching her teeth and not squashing Kam''s hand in worry.

    "Do the old requirements still apply?" Kam turned a little pale but otherwise managed to act natural.

    "Yes. I''d like a human to help her appreciate her mother''s side. A mage so that they can share with the baby the wonders of magic. Last but not least, an Awakened so that they can understand the care that raising an Awakened child takes." Lith replied.

    "What about Solus?" Kam asked.

    "Mother and godmother? Thanks, but no thanks. If anything happens to Lith, I''ll be the one needing someone to take care of me." Solus shook her head. "What about Tista?"

    "Once she hits the violet, she''ll be in my same situation so no can do." Lith shrugged.

    "Friya and Quy are off the table. They would never ept taking Phloria''s role so soon, especially once they learn the baby''s second name." Kam pondered.

    "Zinya and Rena are not an option either. No magical power of sorts. Rena is already lost with Leria, let alone with a hybrid child." Solus tormented her hair.

    "Yeah. The same reason I can''t involve Selia or Zekell." Lith thought out loud.

    "What do you think of Tyris?" Solus said.

    "That she''s going to see it as an attempt to manipte her." Lith replied. "Also, I don''t trust Guardians that much. I mean look at how their own children ended up. Think of Arthan. I want someone who has no problem going all-out and ying dirty when necessary."

    "Then what about Zoreth?" Kam asked. "She was a hybrid who discarded her nature as a Dragon, so she knows both sides very well. She was also an Awakened and now has regained her Dragon bloodline.

    "She''s an Abomination hybrid as well. She possesses the Dragon, the human, and the undead side just like our baby. Last but not least, she didn''t hesitate to help you with Phloria."

    "Do you realize that she''s an ancient mass murderer?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "The same could be said of all Guardians and most elder Awakened like Tessa." Kam shrugged. "The difference is that Zoreth is willing to give her life for you, her wife, Zin, and her children. That''s enough for me."

    "I''m with Kami." Solus nodded. "I''m notpletely fine at the idea of spending too much time with Bytra, but you have to admit that having the Fourth Ruler of the mes looking after our child has its charm."

    Bytra was Zoreth''s wife so if the Shadow Dragon were to take care of the baby, Bytra would be part of a package deal.

    "Then it''s settled." Lith took out hismunication amulet. "Do you mind if I ask her right now?"

    Two thumbs up and one pressed rer, Zoreth''s hologram appeared in the middle of the living room.

    "Is everything alright? Do you need reinforcements?" The Shadow Dragon was in her human form and wore an elegant evening dress.

    Her face was even paler than usual as Zoreth looked around the room for enemies.

    "No, it''s not but not because my life is at risk. I''m just grieving, there''s no need for reinforcements but thank you for your offer." Lith replied.

    "I''m sorry for your loss, little brother. Father told me how deep a bond you and Phloria shared. If there''s anything you need, I''m here. You only need to- What''s this noise? It sounds like a heartbeat."

    "Because it is." A thin smile appeared on Lith''s face. "It''s the heartbeat of my baby girl. Solus invented a spell to allow us to listen to it."

    "That''s wonderful! Byt,e here and listen!" A clicking of shoes and a secondter Bytra''s hologram joined the room.

    "This is amazing! Can you really hear a baby''s heart so soon?" She asked.

    "Yes. About your offer¡­" Lith left the words hanging until Zoreth nodded for him to continue.

    "The War of the Griffons is still ongoing and I''m going to see it until the end. That''s why I would feel much morefortable while I fight on the frontlines if you epted to take care of my wife and child for me, Zoreth.

    "Would you like to be her godmother?"

    The Shadow Dragon''s eyes went wide and her skin became so pale that Bytra thought she was about to faint. And the Raiju was right.

    Bytra caught her wife before she copsed and handed Zoreth the leather bag that Bytra used when a fit of blood madness sent her into hyperventtion.

    "Breathe in here, dear. It will pass soon." The Raiju found being on the caregiving side for once a fulfilling experience.

 Chapter 2333 Dark Dealings (Part 1)

    "Are you sure?" Zoreth repeated Lith''s same objections and more in between breathing in the bag.

    "Yes, I''m sure. Or better, we are sure." Lith, Kam, and Solus nodded.

    "Yes! Absolutely yes. It would be my honor." Zoreth started sobbing, her words bing more and more fragmented. "I promise that you won''t regret it. I won''t let you down. I''m going to kill them all."

    "Kill who, dear?" Bytra tried to make her reason.

    "Whoever evenes near to the baby." The Shadow Dragon burst into tears and her knees buckled.

    Bytra needed Gravity magic to keep her from falling.

    "That''s a bit too much." Lith cleared his throat. "My daughter is going to have a big family and I''d like the people who love her to be free to visit without having to face a Dragon''s ordeal just to get to the door."

    "I''m sorry, I''ll have Zor call youter as soon as she calms down." Bytra had to yell to be heard over Zoreth''s bawling. "Thank you very much. You have no idea how much this means to her. To us."

    "I think I''m getting the picture of it." Lith chuckled as a Dragon''s roar made the hologram and Vastor''s home tremble.

    Bytra hung up the call before activating the arrays that Vastor had prepared in case one of the hybrids went on a rampage. It took her quite some effort to stop Zoreth without hurting her and then forcing her to drink a narcotic derived from the Red Dragon liquor.

    It was actually just a very concentrated version of the beverage meant to intoxicate the patient quickly. Zoreth lost her strength after a few drops and the house stopped trembling.

    "A baby, Byt. We''re having a baby. Can you believe it" She repeated over and over as she cried while falling asleep.

    "Yes, I can, my love. Now rest easy. We have lots of things to do, right? For the baby. You need your strength." The Raiju said while caressing Zoreth''s hair.

    The Shadow Dragon mumbled a bit of gibberish, nodded, and then fell asleep.

    Bytra still felt terrible for hurting Solus while under the effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array. Also, even though she had never met Phloria, her death still shook the Raiju deeply.

    Bytra knew that thete Ernas was Solus'' friend and one of the Master''s beloved students.

    Yet all those things faded as the idea of Zoreth bing a godmother sunk in.

    ''Elphyn would have never asked Zor to do that if she held a grudge against me. Elphyn wasn''t lying for my sake back then. She did forgive me for real!'' The Raiju could feel a huge burden lifted from her chest which along with her wife''s happiness gave her hope for the future.

    Back in the tower, everyone was still chuckling at Zoreth freaking out in enthusiasm.

    "Gods, our baby girl is amazing." Kam said with a warm smile while caressing her stomach. "Awakened at birth, six grandparents, and now she has vanquished a Dragon while still in the womb."

    "Zor wasn''t really beaten, more like overwhelmed, but I see your point." Lith nodded.

    "What''s the next item on our agenda?" Solus'' smile was the first to disappear.

    She looked at the stars, worrying that as the sun came out, that peace might shatter and she and Lith would be forced to leave again. The night didn''t look romantic anymore and gave her a sense of urgency.

    "I''m not in the mood to watch a movie or make small talk. I''ll take that nap if that''s okay with you." Lith sighed as sadness flooded him along with the memory of Phloria''s death.

    "No napping for you. You need eight hours of rest to reset Invigoration." Kam said. "You may not have to leave tomorrow, but you need to get back in shape both physically and mentally."

    "Agreed." Lith nodded and moved to the bedroom, wishing that warmth and cuddles would give his conscience the relief it needed.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, at the same time.

    While Lith fell asleep inside the tower, the lords of House Ernas found no sce among the walls of their home. Jirni and Orion had barely talked to each other during dinner, stealing nces in the direction of the mausoleum every time they thought the other wasn''t looking.

    "I can''t believe that Lith stood out there for so long." Orion said while hugging Lucky. "He isn''t responsible for Phloria''s death. We saw it clearly from his memories."

    The huge Ry had refused to eat until fed from his hand and had bawled his eyes out no less than any other member of the family. Owner and pet clung to each other, Orion findingfort in Lucky''s soft fur and the Ry in Orion''s beating heart.

    "I know, yet I appreciate his gesture nheless." Jirni nodded. "I''m honestly d that it was him getting caught in Thrud''s trap. If it was any of us, we would have never learned the truth and would have probably killed ourselves in remorse."

    Orion had to agree.

    Lith''s ability to conjure the dead didn''t always work but at least it gave the departed a chance to leave a message. If it had been Orion ripping Phloria''s heart out, his own would have quickly followed.

    Judging from how Jirni clenched her hands and the feverish look in her eyes, she was still weighing her options on the matter.

    "What do we do now?" Orion sighed as small tears streamed from his eyes due to Lucky who kept begging Orion to not abandon him as well.

    "What we must." Jirni turned around, the orange light of her mana burned in her eyes like a me. "Or at least, what I must do."

    A sudden knock on the door stopped Orion before he could ask her what she meant and angered him greatly.

    "I told you that I don''t want to be disturbed! No exceptions!" He yelled in outrage, almost choking the hapless butler with the sheer pressure of his killing intent.

    "I''m sorry, my lord, but I''m following Lady Ernas'' orders." The butler whimpered and cried.

    "Let the poor man go, dear. My guest has finally arrived." Jirni waved her hand and the pressure stopped as if it had been her causing it all along.

    "A guest?" Orion echoed in amazement, which only grew when he saw Professor Zogar Vastor walk through the door.

    "I''m sorry for beingte. I came as soon as I could." The Master had started losing weight ever since Thrud had dared to attempt kidnapping Zinya.

    Until that moment, he had never cared much about his physical appearance but now things were different. Vastor wanted to be at his peak condition to protect his wife, and avenge his student and his friend, Manohar.

    Turning into a human-Abomination hybrid had restored most of the hair on his head that was now pitch ck. Vastor had no qualms about cheating with light magic to elerate his metabolism and with Invigoration to replenish his stamina.

    The former made the fat burn and the muscles grow right after a grueling session of training. Thetter gave Vastor the strength to perform more sessions in a row without the need to rest.

 Chapter 2334 Dark Dealings (Part 2)

    Vastor was still overweight, but no one would mistake him for an egge to life anymore. His belly was reduced to the size typical of a beer enthusiast but his limbs and eyes brimmed with vigor.

    "What can I do for you?" He asked.

    "Leave us, Lomar, and inform the rest of the staff that we don''t want to be disturbed." Jirni ordered the butler. "Whoever gets in here will leave this house in the morning. Feet first."

    Lomar had often seen thedy of the house annoyed or angry, but she had never threatened a member of the staff. Jirni was a woman of thought and action. She spoke little and the few words she said held great weight.

    He gave her a deep bow and closed the door, activating from the outside the lockdown arrays that could be only undone by the masters of the house.

    "I have no use for you, Zogar." Jirni''s cold eyes were in stark contrast with the zing mana they emitted. "You are a failure. You couldn''t stop Balkor from ughtering your precious students.

    "You were oblivious to Nalear''s betrayal and stood helpless like an idiot while she killed Linjos and orchestrated Yurial''s death." Jirni stepped closer to him, her voice dripping venom and rage.

    Yet none of those words could hurt Vastor.

    He had long since epted his past mistakes and had worked hard to never again repeat them. He just felt curious because he knew Jirni better and waited for the delivery of her speech.

    "You couldn''t help Phloria with her trial nor Lith with his treason charges. Despite all of your powers, you left Phloria alone like I did, and we let her die with our ipetence." Only when their noses were centimeters apart did Jirni stop.

    "I need the Master. The man who made the whole Garlen continent piss its pants. The man who haunts Thrud''s dreams and whose power threatens even the Guardians. The Master has risen to a level of skill that puts him on par with Manohar and Balkor.

    "He seeded in saving Zinya and protecting his children from unstoppable monsters. He''s the one I called here in search of help."

    "Then let me ask you again. What can the Master do for you?" Vastor asked.

    "I need you to Awaken me and my husband without anyone knowing." She replied.

    "It''s feasible, but why me?" The Master tormented his waxed handlebar mustache while Orion was too shocked to utter a word. "Lith is Awakened. Your daughters are Awakened. Heck, the Gernoff household is filled with Awakened. You have no need for my help."

    "I sure do." Jirni gritted her teeth. "Lith has no idea how to Awaken Orion and even if he did, we would be under his service for 100 years. Our daughters would never Awaken us. They fear both what we might do in our grief and the authority they''d hold over us.

    "As for the Gernoff, I already asked them and they turned me down! They said that my forefather Oghrom left precise instructions not to Awaken people like him to which they abide to this day."

    "Shouldn''t that make you think?" Orion said.

    "Please, that fucker killed himself with no care for his descendants. Oghrom loved Valeron more than his own family. It''s his fault if no one was left to keep the Kingdom in check.

    "They both abandoned us in Arthan''s hands and today''s situation is the result of their foolishness. If I could meet Oghrom today, I would kill him first."

    "The Master, instead, is not affiliated with the Council and has no scruples. You can Awaken us and leave us free to do whatever we want as rogue Awakened."

    "I see." The Master nodded. "Mind if I check you up?"

    Jirni shook her head and Vastor activated his breathing technique, Beyonder''s Eye. He took a deep scan of Jirni before giving her the diagnosis.

    "Orange core, perfect physique, and a little number of impurities already have been extracted by Lith''s treatments. I can Awaken you right now and there would be no adverse effect. As for your husband¡­"

    Orion looked at Vastor approaching as if the Professor was going to kill him but the pleading look in Jirni''s eyes kept him from raising an objection.

    "Orion is a mess. His body is great for his age but his core is so overloaded that the slightest mana flow would kill him on the spot. Natural violets are a miracle of nature."

    "It''s a no, then." Jirni twisted her fingers in frustration.

    "More like it''s going to be hard." The Master sighed. "His body needs to be tempered through fusion magic and true magic while his impurities need to be anchored so that they won''t move a millimeter until Orion is ready to be Awakened.

    "If Ibine my resources with Balkor''s and Manohar''s research, I''m confident I can pull it off. If I use Forbidden Magic, I''m certain of it."

    "Forbidden Magic?" Orion echoed, his face turning pale. "Do you realize that even talking about it is high treason? I should kill you where you stand."

    "You are free to try." Vastor unleashed a bright violet-ck aura that made the lights and the arrays in the room flicker.

    "Enough!" Jirni stepped between them to stop that madness. "Orion, I called the Master here for help, not to fight. Vastor, I can''t speak for my husband, but I want you to Awaken me now. Please."

    "As you wish." The Master conjured a great amount of world energy and then used his breathing technique.

    Jirni followed his instructions by the letter, demonstrating a level of discipline and understanding rare for someone with only basic knowledge about magic. Vastor doubted that any grieving person could seed like Jirni on her first try.

    Her body emitted a pop as her mana core generated a timid flow strong enough to drive out solely the most superficial impurities.

    "I''ve reached the bright orange. What now?" Jirni asked, feeling both strong and weak at the same time.

    Strong because fusion magic was intoxicating and so was the power that she felt flowing through her veins. Weak because Jirni was aware of being at the same level as an Awakened baby.

    "Now I''m going to teach you both Invigoration and umtion. Invigoration you can use freely since it has no side effects. As for umtion, beware. Every breakthrough will be more dangerous and painful than the previous.

    "If you don''t temper your body and train your core, you''ll die at the green. If you keep using umtion even when it starts to hurt, you''ll die at any level. Always listen to your body and not rush things."

    "I understand." Jirni nodded. "Can you teach me true magic?"

    "Either I or one of my children wille here whenever we can." Vastor nodded. "What about Orion?"

    "He and I need to talk. I''ll call you again as soon as we decide what to do. Thanks, Zogar. The Master may be my most powerful ally but you are a true friend."

    "Don''t mention it." His gaze became cold and furious like hers had been until a while ago. "Thrud took your daughter and I can''t even imagine how you feel. I don''t know what I''d do if anything happened to Zin and the kids."

 Chapter 2335 Battle At Dawn (Part 1)

    "I promise that I''m going to make Thrud pay. If the Kingdom falls, I have no reason to keep my identity a secret. I''ll move to a different country and live openly as the Master. You guys will be always wee to join me."

    A snap of his fingers and Vastor Spirit Warped away.

    "What have you done?" Now that they were alone Orion managed to clear his head.

    "I told you already. What needed to be done." Jirni replied.

    "Don''t you remember what Lith said about Awakening? It will take you months to get stronger and years to learn magic properly. What point does this have?" He asked in bewilderment.

    The room had started to spin like a top, but he couldn''t stand still anymore.

    "The point is that even though I''m still powerless, at least now I can grow stronger." She replied. "Our daughters are Awakened, Orion. I didn''t care for magic because I thought I could always protect them.

    "Yet what can our money and political power do when something like this happens?" Jirni clenched her hands while grief tightened her throat until her voice was reduced to a whisper. "What will we do when another monster walks up to our door and takes another of our children?

    "I''m not going to stand still and beg someone else to do the dirty work for me. Not again! I can''t live like this one second longer. When our babies need us, I want to be more than a meat shield. I want revenge!"

    "And so do I." Orion sighed. "But again, it will take us years. It''s pointless."

    "No, it will take me years whereas you need to strengthen your body enough to Awaken. You heard Quy, you can retain the power of your violet core. On top of that, you already are a skilled mage.

    "I''m sure that it wouldn''t take you long to get used to true magic, Spirit Magic, and body casting."

    "Even if the cost is Forbidden Magic?" He asked.

    "How is it different from selling yourself to Sark?" Jirni replied with a snort.

    "You knew?"

    "Of course I did. I didn''t miss your disappearance nor that of your entire life''s work. There''s no other reason to take so many tomes away with you. I don''t know why she turned you down but I''m certain that at the next crisis, her answer will be the same."

    "Are you sure you want to do this?" Orion looked her in the eyes while holding her hands.

    "I''m not going to ask you anything, dear, but I have to do this. I can feel the madness creeping inside my head already. The next time something like this happens, I''ll die if I stay like I am." Jirni replied.

    "Also, there''s another reason I wanted to Awaken."

    "Which is?" Orion asked.

    "I want us to have another baby." Jirni was in her early forties and even though still possible, a pregnancy would have been difficult to achieve and risky. "Awakened keep their fertility until they die. Think of Fyrwal or Tyris."

    "This is insane!" Orion said in shock. "First, there''s no guarantee of the gender of the baby. Even if it is a girl, she could never rece Phloria. This is just the grief talking."

    "No, it''s not." Jirni shook her head. "I don''t want to rece Phloria nor am I fixated on having another girl. I just want a second chance. I want to give this baby everything I failed to give our Little Flower.

    "On top of that, I need this. I need an anchor to this life. Without someone who really needs me, I don''t know if I can keep going on. Our other children are all grown up and ready to settle down.

    "Awakening will allow me to have the energy to be a good parent and give me the time to see them happy. That and the power to protect everyone. I don''t n to live forever, I''ll die right after thest of our children."

    "Then so will I." Orion hugged her, understanding all too well how Jirni felt. He was a natural violet-cored Archmage. The god of the forge. A Royal Forgemaster and the Commander of the Knight''s Guard. Yet all those titles amounted to nothing. When push came to shove, he was no different from any grieving father.

    "Never again will I let someone get away with killing one of our children. It may take me years, maybe even centuries, but I swear to you that if Thrud wins, I''ll bide my time and kill her son when she least expects it." Orion said.

    "And I will be there with you, dear. Do you want me to call Vastor?" She asked.

    "Yes, but no Forbidden Magic. I want our old and new children to have a father they can be proud of."

    ***

    The following morning, Lith woke up with Solus hugging him from the left side and Kam from the right.

    ''Damn, thest thing I remember is that we moved here to lie down while listening to the baby''s heartbeat. We must have dozed off almost at the same time. That or Kami didn''t object to Solus staying.

    ''Yesterday was a nightmare and Solus neededpany as much as I did.'' He thought while making breakfast for everyone.

    Maybe it was because of the nap on the beach, or maybe because the Desert''s sun had filled his Abomination side with energy. Whatever the answer, Lith felt full of vigor yet no less depressed than the previous day.

    He prepared a triple serving of waffles for everyone, tea, coffee, and a Triple Threat cake.

    Thetter received such a warm wee that by the end of the breakfast, only two slices were left even though Lith had barely touched the cake.

    "Let''s save them forter." Kam said, taking her tea in in a whimsical attempt to make up for what she had eaten.

    "In case we have guests?" Lith''s voice dripped with sarcasm.

    "No, silly, in case we get hungry." Solus replied and Kam nodded.

    He was about to say something very rude that would have put him into trouble with both women when hismunication amulet lit up and opened themunication on its own.

    It meant that the situation was so dire that the Crown had deemed it necessary to use the Royal Override code to have his attention.

    "Magus Verhen, is this a bad moment?" King Meron asked.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. I''m not even done with breakfast." Lith replied.

    "Then you better sit down because it''s about to get much worse." A wave of Meron''s hand made a map pop out of the blue gem of the army amulet.

    It depicted the Distar region and an ominous red dot was advancing toward the White Griffon academy.

    "Is that Thrud?" Lith asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Why is she still going there? The academies are down and the only threat left to her army are the Royal artifacts in Valeron.

    "I expected her to try and reach the capital of the Kingdom as stealthily as possible."

    "We believed the same and guess what, we were both wrong." Meron sighed. "Did you sit down?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty." Lith hastily pulled a chair, bracing for impact.

 Chapter 2336 Battle At Dawn (Part 2)

    "To answer your question, Thrud is going to the White Griffon because that way she can get rid of all the Royal artifacts and so much more." Meron said. "I''m sorry, I don''t follow." Lith said while Kam poured him some coffee.

    "Understandable. I''d be as confused as you are if we hadn''t just finished deciphering the blueprints of the Golden Griffon''s power core." Meron pulled out the documents that Lith and dion had provided after their raid of the lost academy.

    "You see, we have finally understood what those unknown runes do. Their purpose is not only to allow the Golden Griffon to interact with the Royal Array that connected the six great academies, but also to rebuild it after taking the White Griffon''s ce."

    "Wait. Are you telling me that destroying the White Griffon isn''t a mere act of spite toward me and Vastor?" Lith spat out his coffee. "Weren''t those runes simply meant to grant the Golden Griffon the ability to move on its own?"

    "No to both." Meron replied. "Their purpose is to create a new Royal Array based on the Unwavering Loyalty array. Once the White Griffon is eradicated and the Golden Griffon takes its ce, Arthan''s Royal Array will epass the other five great academies.

    "Thrud will be their master as well and with five more mage towers at her service, she''ll have all the power she needs to conquer Valeron and kill whoever stands on her path. This is ourst asion to stop her.

    "Failure means death or envement, there is no third option. Can the Crown count on its Supreme Magus?" For the first time since their deal, Meron was asking instead of ordering Lith.

    The King knew that no one could stop Lith from running away to the Desert or the Empire but Lith himself.

    "You can." Lith nodded. "Just one question. Are we going to merely slow Thrud down or do we have a chance of victory?"

    "I''m sending my wife there as we speak. I''de as well but with my health, I''d just be a burden for her. Does this answer your question?" Meron replied.

    "It does. I''ll be there shortly."

    "Take your time to say your goodbyes, but do not dy. Meron out." The King turned off the amulet and looked at Queen Sylpha.

    She was wearing the Saefel Armor while the Saefel Sword was hanging from her hip.

    "I''m so sorry. That should be me inside the armor."

    "Don''t be foolish." She couldn''t risk her long hair bothering her during the fight so she fixed them into a tight bun secured by an enchanted pin. "If we have a chance at destroying the lost academy it''s thanks to your sacrifice.

    "You paid dearly to ensure Verhen''s immunity to the ve array. Now it''s my turn."

    "But only I carry Valeron''s blood! Your imprint is secondary. What if the Saefel set doesn''t activate for you?" Meron asked.

    "I refuse to believe that Valeron and Saefel were this stupid." Sylpha shook her head. "I may not carry Valeron''s blood, but I carry his will. It has to be enough."

    She thumped her fist on the armor''s breastte, right on the heart.

    "Maybe and maybe not." Meron took the small knife that he carried on his waist and cut deeply into his palm.

    It bled profusely and the King spread it over the helm, the breastte, and along the entire length of the de. It was the ancient Ritual of Blood, dating back to the King who had seeded Valeron.

    ording to the legend, the First King had created the Ritual in order to allow the spouses of his descendants to tap into the true power of the Saefel set. The problem was that until that moment, no King or Queen had ever fallen ill.

    Valeron''s descendants would always face a threat themselves so the Ritual had never been put into practice and its workings were unknown.

    "Are you insane? You are still weak! You need to rest and recover." Sylpha tried to stop him but he refused.

    "Please, maybe I''m really going crazy but I can''t stand the thought of sending you to die in Distar while I stay here in the safety of the castle. Let me be there with you however I can." Meron said.

    "If anything happens to me, just run. I don''t care if you give the Small World and the Spell Hoarding Cube to the Empress or the Overlord. The only thing that matters is to keep Thrud from getting her hands on them." Sylpha took the helm off, letting him smear his blood under her eyes and on her lips.

    "I will. Always remember that I love you." The King said.

    "I love you more." Sylpha leaned her forehead against his for a brief moment and then Warped to the White Griffon.

    ***

    Rekar mountain range, Solus'' tower.

    "What are you going to do?" Even though she knew it was impossible, Kam felt her stomach churn as if the baby was kicking every piece of food she had just eaten up her esophagus.

    "You heard the King, I''m going to say my goodbyes." A snap of Lith''s fingers Warped the tower to the geyser in the Trawn woods.

    "Dammit, I almost forgot." He took hismunication amulet and pressed dion''s rune. "The Golden Griffon has reappeared near the White Griffon and the Royals have requested my presence there.

    "I''m calling you because I remember your promise to the undead trapped in the dungeon of the lost academy. I have no idea what the Royals are nning, but this is the only chance you''ll get to uphold your word.

    "If the opportunity arises, I''ll sneak inside the Golden Griffon to destroy it while you rescue your brethren."

    "Thanks for the heads up." The Firstborn Vampire gave him a polite nod. "I''m on good terms with the Empress but it seems that she''s been left out of the loop as well. I''ll join you as soon as I can, but first¡­"

    "Join me how?" Lith furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don''t know where you are, but here in Distar the sun is high."

    "Say thank you to uncle Lith." dion ignored the questions and lifted a small boy who had dion''s raven-ck hair and Lysa''s blue eyes.

    "Thank you, uncle Lith." The boy''s skin looked a bit gaunt but it was also rosy and healthy.

    "Oh gods, is that Radusk?" Solus asked.

    "Yeah. Even I have trouble recognizing my little man sometimes." dion said with a warm smile while ruffling Radusk''s hair. "Is Tyris with you? I wanted to thank her as well."

    "I hope not." Lith mumbled.

    He had almost forgotten that one Guardian allegedly followed Kam at all times.

    ''I hope no one was here yesterday. I''m cool with protection, but I''d also like to have some damn privacy.'' He thought.

    "Why are you thanking me? I didn''t do anything." Lith actually said.

    "If it wasn''t for you, I wouldn''t have met your wife and she wouldn''t have been in Tyris''pany. If not for you, the Great Mother would have never granted me an audience and my son would still be ''ill''.

    "For that, you have my gratitude, Lady Verhen." dion gave Kam a deep bow and hung up the call before she could answer.

 Chapter 2337 Torn Apart (Part 1)

    "That was weird but at least dion didn''t call me Lady Magus." Kam sighed.

    From the Trawn woods, the Warping Mirror allowed them to reach Lith''s living room in a single step.

    Much to Lith''s surprise, several people were waiting for him. Faluel, Quy, Morok, Friya, Nalrond, Protector, Selia, Vastor, Zinya, and the kids were all inside Lith''s house in Lutia.

    "Lith, thank the gods you are here." Elina ran to him, checking that he was alright. "No one wants to tell me what''s going on and I''m starting to get scared."

    "They probably wanted to let me break the news to you." Lith hugged her and shared with the whole family what he had learned from the King via a mind link. "I''vee here to bid you goodbye and send you all to the Desert.

    "If I know that you are waiting for me in the safety of Grandma''s Pce, my heart will be at peace when I fight against Thrud''s forces."

    "It''s the same reason we''vee here." Quy sighed. "The Royals have relieved us from duty and ordered us to evacuate the Kingdom. They say there''s no ce for us in the ensuing battle and that they want to preserve the lives of members of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom.

    "Mother and Father sent us here to go to the Desert with your family."

    "What about Jirni and Orion?" Raaz asked.

    "They have refused to move from the Ernas mausoleum." Friya hupped, needing sheer willpower to not break into tears. "They are going to watch Phloria''s grave and wait for the oue of the battle.

    "If the Kingdom loses, they''ll buy the time necessary to unearth our ancestors and bring their corpses to safety. They say that they won''t let Thrud disturb Phloria''s rest at any cost."

    "I''m here to summon Lith on behalf of the Council and because I''m going to take part in the battle as well." Faluel said. "I''m sorry Selia, but your husband has toe with me. A powerful Emperor Beast like him can make the difference."

    At those words, Quy and Friya clenched their teeth until their jaws popped, but they said nothing.

    "I understand." Selia nodded as a silent tear streaked along her cheek and she wiped it off. "What about your mother and Tessa? You could use their help."

    "I''m sorry, but they left the Kingdom the day Phloria died." The Hydra sighed. "Mother is back in the Empire and Tessa is wherever she lives. They said that they have no reason to fight such a desperate battle.

    "They have suffered so much that at this point they just don''t care."

    "Fucking bastards!" Selia cursed every member of Valeron''s party, including the First King.

    Vastor remained silent the whole time, no matter how much Zinya begged and nudged him.

    "Tell him, dear. He has the right to know." Zinya''s voice was broken.

    She was trying and failing to hold her tears.

    "Tell me what?" Lith asked.

    "The Royals relieved me from duty as well." Vastor said with a sigh. "They say that I''ve done enough. They thanked me for my years of service and said that I don''t deserve to die like a dog.

    "The King himself awarded me with the greatest honors and wished me and my family a safe and happy life wherever we want to move." Vastor showed a document that allowed his family to cross the borders of the Kingdom to every other country.

    "Then why are you crying, Zin?" Kam hugged her sister, failing to understand the source of her distress.

    "Because Zogar is staying!" She yelled. "Even with the blessing of the Royals, he came here solely to send me and the kids to the Desert with you, Kami."

    "Wait, what?" Lith blurted out in surprise.

    "You heard her." The Master nodded. "I''m sending Tezka with Zinya but the rest of the kids and I are going to fight by your side, Lith. I''m too old to run away and I''m not going to let my heir die after struggling so much to find you."

    He tried to sound casual, but the warmth in his voice and eyes reminded Lith of how Raaz looked at him as a child.

    "I''ve already done enough. I''ve lived way too long and found way more happiness than I deserve. An old coot dying to protect a young man isn''t only fair but also the natural order of things." Vastor said.

    "You have a wife and a daughter who need you whereas I have just a bunch of bloody secrets and too many regrets. Mogar would gain a lot in the exchange."

    "That''s not true! You have a wife as well." Zinya grabbed him from the back, bawling her eyes out, yet he didn''t flinch.

    Vastor was aware that a good chunk of her love was built on a lie. Were the truth toe out after his death, it would soften the blow of his betrayal and give her a fresh start as a rich woman.

    "Don''t go, Dad. Please don''t leave us." Filia and Frey clung to his legs. "We are not your real children, but we love you a lot. You are the only Dad we ever had."

    Vastor''s throat clenched and his determination wavered. It was the first time in a long while that a child had called him dad and it made him prouder than he would have believed possible.

    ''I thought they just pretended to like me for Zinya''s sake yet their affection was sincere.'' The Master thought as emotion blurred his vision. ''Seeing two innocent beings crying like that for a ruthless monster like me means that at least I''ve done one good thing in this life.''

    "And you are my children." He caressed their heads. "You may not carry my blood, but I''ve always considered you mine even before I married your mom. That''s why Daddy has to stay.

    "It''s a father''s duty to fight for his children and ensure them a better life than he had. Don''t you like your house? Your friends? Your school?"

    Frey and Filia nodded, but kept clinging to him.

    "I''m going to make sure that you don''t have to give up on any of them. To give you the safety and the happiness you deserve. Thrud is a bad woman and if she wins, she''lle for you next.

    "Dad is going to make sure that she never gets the opportunity or at least he''ll die trying."

    "I don''t care for a big house. Please, stay." Frey said.

    "Frey and I can share a little room together. We are used to it. You don''t have to go." Filia sobbed.

    "Yes, I do." Vastor knelt down, kissing their foreheads and wiping off their tears. "I''m going to protect your mom, aunt, uncle, and even your cousin."

    The children turned to look at Kam''s womb.

    "If something happens to me, it''s your duty to take care of them. Can I trust you with it, my children?"

    "Yes, Dad." They nodded in unison.

    Raaz clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. His trauma had been reopened by Phloria''s death but it couldn''t hold a candle to the rage he felt.

 Chapter 2338 Torn Apart (Part 2)

    Rage for being once again helpless and useless. Rage for being sent away like a child while his son fought to the death for those stupid fields and house Raaz had whined about for months to get them back.

    Pushing Frey and Filia away was the hardest thing Vastor had done in his whole life. Every time they clung to him again, his determination faltered. Yet with every tear they shed, it grew strong again.

    ''I''m a relic of the past. I have to ensure them a future worth living.'' He thought while entrusting them to Zinya.

    "Do you really have to go?" Elina felt like dying inside yet she stood strong.

    It wasn''t the first time that Lith risked his life but it was the first time she was painfully aware that he might note back to her. Even when the Royals had sent him to recapture cities in the past, retreat was always an option.

    On top of that, there were few creatures on Mogar that could kill Lith and he was smart enough to avoid them or fight them only on his own terms. This time, instead, he was about to face a white-cored Awakened and a cursed monstrosity on their field.

    To y a game by their own rules.

    Elina was aware that Lith''s death would mean losing Trion and Solus as well. The soul of her lost son would fade away while her adoptive daughter would fall into the hands of the enemy and be turned into a weapon.

    "I have to, Mom. I owe it to you guys, to Phloria, to Kami, and to our daughter. You''ve seen how cruel Thrud is. She''s never going to leave me alone after I killed Jormun. If I don''t get rid of her now, she''ll be unstoppable." Lith replied.

    Elina hugged him first, then Solus, and then Trion, blessing them and begging them to do everything they could toe back to her.

    "I know we never spoke much, but I know who you are." Raaz said while looking Vastor in the eyes who promptly Hushed them. "I mean who you really are. I recognized Bytra and Zoreth."

    "So what?" The Master clenched his hands, worrying about how much Lith might have shared with his family about Vastor''s crimes.

    "I just want to thank you for everything you did for Lith so far and beg you to protect him." Raaz said, making the Master gape at him. "I''m his father. I''m supposed to protect and help him but it has been the other way around my whole life.

    "Please, take care of my son like I would. Be the father I would have been if I wasn''t born a helpless simpleton."

    Raaz fell on his knees, begging Vastor with all his heart.

    "Stand up, Raaz." The Master patted his back and forced him to straighten up. "There''s no shame in being weak, only in giving up. I''ve done terrible things because I refused to give up on chasing Manohar and my dreams, but it''s thanks to those acts that I now have this strength."

    "I would do anything if it meant that now I could follow my son on the battlefield." Raaz said. "I''d rather Lith hate me and curse at my memory than be helpless while he walks toward his death."

    "Don''t rush to judgment. Only time will tell which one of us made the right decision." Vastor replied. "I''ll do what you asked. Now be strong, our families need you."

    Aran and Leria were crying their eyes out, afraid to not see their brother/uncle ever again.

    "Don''t worry, kids. I''ll be back." Lith said.

    "You said the same about Aunt Phloria. Please, don''t go." Aran sobbed.

    "There can be no victory without a fight, only defeat." Lith patted his head. "You''ve lived seven years of peace and I''m going to make sure that the rest of your life will be peaceful as well."

    "Grandma can protect us all. Come with us to the Desert!" Leria tugged at his pants as hard as she could.

    "If I do that, then Grandma will have to fight and I with her. You can''t run away from your problems, Leria, only face them. Otherwise no matter how far you run, they''ll stalk you like your own shadow."

    Rena and Tista helped him to get free from the children before hugging him.

    "Please, don''t y hero and run away the moment you think the fight is lost." His older sister held him tight, pressing his head against her shoulder and lulling Lith like Rena did back when he was a baby.

    Tista said nothing. She just cried in silence while she moved her eyes from her brother to the rest of their family.

    One after another, they all walked through the Warp Gate leading to Sark''s pce. Then, once she was the only one left, Tista shut down the dimensional tunnel and disconnected the mana cable fueling it.

    "Why did you do that?" Lith asked.

    "Because I''m not leaving you alone and I didn''t want to argue with our parents." She replied. "I don''t care if I''m just a bright blue cored Awakened. I''m still a Demon and more importantly, I''m your sister.

    "I''m not letting my siblings fight this war alone." Tista hugged Lith, Trion, and then Solus.

    "I''d say we are done." At a wave of Vastor''s hand, a Chaos Gate appeared.

    It led to the space above the forest that surrounded the White Griffon.

    "How is this possible?" Tista asked in amazement.

    "It''s thanks to us, kid." Kigan and Zoreth came out of Lith''s shadow as the Balor-Phoenix dispelled his Shadow Steps bloodline ability.

    "And to us." Nandi, Bytra, Nelia, Eycos, Cyare, Hushar, and Theseus were on the other side, acting as dimensional beacons. "The whole family is back together for this. We have all volunteered to be here."

    "The White Griffon is a second home to us and we are not going to let it fall without a fight." Nelia the Frost Griffon said.

    The academy actually only meant a lot to Vastor, but the Eldritches couldn''t say it out loud in presence of witnesses.

    "I couldn''t tell it to Zin and the others because it''s supposed to be a secret, but even after the Golden Griffon took down the Royal Array, the lessons continued." Vastor said. "Students, Professors, and even non-magical staff are still there.

    "I don''t know you, but I can''t abandon my adoptive family."

    "How do you know that?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "Marth told me. ording to him, the Headmasters were ordered to keep their position and keep working as if nothing had happened." The Master replied.

    "Enough yapping! Start preparing your spells!" Faluel pointed at the horizon, where a golden dot had appeared and was approaching quickly.

    The Golden Griffon could suck the abundant world energy from the Awakened Forest as if it was its own and use Mogar''s essence to fuel the lost academy''s power core.

    Tista shapeshifted into her Red Demon form and wore the Mouth of Menadion that she had infused with her best spells. Faluel put on the Hands of Menadion and used the world energy to conjure a Warping Array that allowed the members of the Council to join them.

 Chapter 2339 Legacies At War (Part 1)

    Hundreds and hundreds of Awakened filled the sky as thoseing out from Faluel''s Warp opened more of their own, butpared to the nearing titan they were but a swarm of mosquitos.

    "d to see you here." Sylpha said, the wings of the Saefel''s Armor pping.

    "d to be here." Raagu nodded.

    She had brought her best artifacts and apprentices and so had the rest of the Council representatives.

    "Just one question. I''ve seen the blueprints of the Golden Griffon, but not even the collective wisdom of the Garlen Council could find a path to victory. So why have you summoned us here?"

    "Because I do have a path to victory." The Queen replied, making everyone''s eyes go wide in surprise. "The Royals have kept their secrets for a long time, but that doesn''t mean that we stood idle and pretended everything was alright.

    "The Crown has studied the lost cities for almost a thousand years and has worked hard to prepare for every possible contingency, even the most unusible one. The Golden Griffon is no different.

    "The moment we discovered Arthan''s ns and the existence of his academy, we simply added it to the to-do list. We had 700 years to prepare for this moment and we can only hope that the efforts of our predecessors weren''t for naught.

    "Queen Sylpha to King Meron. Everyone is in position. Over."

    "This is King Meron. I proceed to release the Royal Seal. Over." The King pressed the six runes on hismunication amulet that belonged to the six Headmasters of the great academies.

    "This is an order. Expose the power core of your academy, now!"

    Marth had no idea what was happening, but he obeyed nheless. He had already sent Ryssa and Manohar the Second away so at least his heart was at peace.

    He pressed the switch on the wall on the east side of his desk, making it slide over the hinges.

    At the same time, Headmaster Distar did the same in the ck Griffon, his eyes burning with determination.

    ''Stupid Brinja. She refused to leave the Distar Household even though she''s pregnant with our child. If Thrud doesn''t kill her, I will.'' He thought.

    The power core was still brimming with mana, but after the destruction of the Royal Array, there was just enough energy to keep the protective arrays working and keep the students safe.

    "Good, now take off your Headmaster ring and point it at the power core." Meron said. "Repeat after me. In the name of Valeron, heed my voice."

    "In the name of Valeron, heed my voice." Archmage Lema, the Headmaster of the Fire Griffon echoed, worrying that even Meron''s mental health had deteriorated.

    ''This is no spell and real life is no fairy tale. What point is there in talking to a piece of enchanted crystal and metal?'' She thought.

    "Rise, my champion." The King said and the Headmasters followed.

    The rings slipped out of their respective Headmasters and floated halfway between them and the power core. The energy from the mana geyser below each academy gushed through the stone and into the power cores, bringing them back to full strength.

    The world energy turned into mana that flowed into the rings and then into the Headmasters. Marth, Distar, Lema, and the others started to float as well now that the circuit wasplete.

    The rings became one with the Headmasters and then fused with the power core of their respective academy. The rings gave the buildings a mind while also preventing the humans from being swallowed by the power core and bing cursed objects.

    A pir of elemental energy of a different color erupted from each of the six great academies and then spread from one to the other, forming once again the Royal Array.

    Once the circle wasplete, each academy became the point of a star, drawing more lines and filling the air with countless runes.

    ''Great mother almighty!'' Marth thought as he could now feel every stone and room of the White Griffon like it was a part of his body.

    The mana moved from the power core to the students and the Professors, their mana cores acting as the auxiliary cores of an Awakened and boosting the mana flow that coursed throughout the academy.

    Yet that wasn''t all.

    Unlike the Golden Griffon, the White Griffon hadin dormant for centuries but it had never stopped feeding. Every time one of its students had cast a spell, a small part of their mana had be engraved in the white stones of its walls and corridors.

    Every time a Professor had given a lesson or demonstrated a spell, it had left an echo. Marth could feel the mana of all those who lived or had lived inside the White Griffon flow through his body.

    He cried feeling Manohar''s obnoxious energy and his condescending attitude toward anyone who wasn''t Manohar. He clenched his fists finding Phloria''s Full Guard and her determination while holding her estoc.

    Lith''s rage, Vastor''s envy, Rudd''s obsession with hierarchy, and many other personality traits belonging to past students and Professors were still there and called upon Marth to fight.

    The White Griffon started to shake from its foundations.

    Towers, walls, and buildings rearranged themselves in a different form. Lith could believe neither his eyes nor ears while abination of spells, clicking, and turning of gears caused an unbelievable transformation.

    "Primus almighty." He said while listening to a familiar whirring and watching the White Knight stand up per order of the First King.

    It was identical to the Golden Knight in front of it, except for the color and the open helm. The White Knight had a generic yet definite human face and it stared at its twin in hatred.

    "Nice to see you, old man!" Hystar said with a burst ofughter. "I was expecting to take you out without a fight, but this works too. You are outdated. There''s no point in your healing arts when I can grant true immortality to anyone of my choosing!

    "Soon you''ll be reduced to a bunch of ruins and I will take your ce just like King Arthan intended. He was the only true god of healing of the Griffon Kingdom and he predicted both this day and its end."

    "Silence, you abomination!" The White Griffon spoke with a voice that belonged to Marth and all of its students at the same time. "You are a threat to the bnce. Immortality is an aberration that leads to madness and stagnation.

    "Without the fear of death there is no progress, only conceit. Without getting rid of the old there is no space for the new. What you offer isn''t eternal life but the torment of a soul that can''t die even if they want to.

    "Arthan was a Mad King and you are his worthy creation. I will wipe you out in Valeron''s name."

    "You and what army?" Thrud came out of the Golden Griffon, her appearance almost mirroring Sylpha''s.

    The main differences were her dull white aura and two sets of feathered wings instead of a bright violet aura and a single set of wings.

    "Once I would have seen this as a showdown between the past and the present."

 Chapter 2340 Legacies At War (Part 2)

    A wave of the Mad Queen''s hand highlighted how outdated the look of her armor and academy were whenpared to Sylpha''s.

    "Now, however, we''ve exchanged positions and this has be the pathetic struggle of an even more pathetic present that refuses to turn into the past. I am the future, Fake Queen.

    "My academy, its students, and my Generals, are the harbingers of a new dawn for the Griffon Kingdom! You and your pathetic followers can struggle all you want, Fake Queen, but you can''t win."

    Another burst of power highlighted the difference between the two women. The contrast between their auras, the mass, and the raw power they emitted made Sylpha pale inparison with Thrud.

    "Your only true achievement is this final surprise. I wasn''t aware of this particr piece of Valeron''s legacy even though my father took his sweet time studying the Royal Archives. How did you do that?" She pointed at the new Royal Array.

    "It''s easy once you think about it." Sylpha was d to stall for time.

    It allowed her to activate her Mother Earth, nutrients, and tonic tattoos. Derived from Hatorne''s research, they allowed the alchemical potions to reach her bloodstream without wasting time drinking them.

    The Mother Earth potion granted Sylpha Tyris'' breathing technique while the other two would provide her with everything she needed to heal during a fight. She wasn''t a white core andcked Thrud''s regenerative abilities but this way Sylpha had achieved the next best thing.

    "After Arthan''s execution, the new King failed to capture you and discovered the whereabouts of the Golden Griffon. He knew that one day you or one of your descendants might return and that the lost academy had to be another of Arthan''s monstrosities.

    "On top of that, no secret can be kept forever. The Royal Array is powerful, but once discovered it was only a matter of time before an enemy of the Kingdom found a way to destroy it.

    "Hence he started to modify the power cores of the six great academies in a process that has continued up to this day. After all, you have destroyed the Royal Array, but the geysers fueling it are still in ce and so are its focal points.

    "The Crown made sure that in case something like this happened, the six great academies each held a portion of the Royal Array and that they could conjure it by themselves whenever it''s necessary."

    "Brilliant." Thrud nodded. "It will help me greatly in taking down the city of Valeron first and then in invading the other two great countries. You see, the new Royal Array is fantastic news for me since my academy can tap into it as well.

    "Linnea modified the power core into a replica of yours so the Royal Array gives you no advantage. Sure, my armor is outdated, but I''m a white-cored Golden Griffon whereas you are just a fake Awakened human, Fake Queen.

    "On top of that, the students inside your academy are nothing but fake mages. Mine are powerful Awakened who can use the seven elements of magic and even Silverwing''s spells.

    "Thanks to the Unwavering Loyalty array, I could afford to Awaken everyone, even the clerical staff without the worry that they might betray me. You, instead, had to keep your people weak to cover for your stupid secrets.

    "This isn''t even a fight. Stop this pointless struggle and I''ll grant you, your husband, and your children a painless death. I''m not like Tyris. I won''t make them suffer like she did to my father. Unless you force my hand, Fake Queen."

    "You shouldn''t have threatened my family, Mad Queen." Sylpha''s voice was ice cold, her fury transmitted to the Saefel''s Set which started to hum with power and silver bolts of lightning.

    "I would have never stopped or surrendered anyway, but while before I would have offered your followers the possibility to surrender after I kill you, now that''s off the table.

    "You can b all you want but all I hear are the ravings of Arthan''s worthy daughter. I''m sick of hearing your voice calling me a ''Fake Queen''. We are both Queens but there''s only one Kingdom.

    "This battle, not your ramblings, will prove which one of us deserves the throne and which one instead will be remembered as a power-hungry tyrant."

    "I couldn''t agree more." Thrud nodded. "Here stand two Queens and two Griffons where there can be only one. By the end of this day, one shall stand¡­"

    "And one shall fall!" Sylpha closed her helmet shut and the White Griffon followed suit.

    Two stone ques came out from the sides of its mouth, meeting in the middle. There they extended further, forming a beak and turning the human face into a Griffon''s head.

    ''A face mask! The White Griffon has a face mask just like me.'' Lith remained frozen for a second in amazement while the two colossi and the two Davross-d Queens shed.

    ''Reel in your inner fanboy and focus!'' Solus'' voice snapped him out of it. ''Iing!''

    Thrud wasn''t afraid of the assembled Council because she had brought an Awakened army of her own. Many ques of the Golden Griffon opened, letting out every single Forgotten, Emperor Beast, Fae, and Divine Beast at her disposal.

    "Why waste time and manpower holding a few cities when I can get them all? Once the White Griffon is destroyed, I''ll have six Golden Griffons and no one will be capable of standing in my way!" Thrud''s de was as heavy as Sylpha''s but the gap in the strength of the hand holding them was abyssal.

    Even during the first exchange, the Queen had been pushed back of dozens of meters. Both she and the Mad Queen were used to aerial fighting so no matter how much Sylpha flew back, Thrud followed.

    Without distance, strength and speed became of paramount importance and Thrud was above Sylpha by several notches.

    "I can''t believe it has reallye to this point." Tyris said, her eyes watery as she witnessed the sh between the two armies.

    No matter to what faction they belonged, she considered them her children and she felt like she had let them all down.

    "I can''t believe we had toe to this very spot a second time." Sark said, reminiscing the day Tyris had called them to witness the fate of Nalear''s plot to trigger a civil war.

    "History tends to repeat itself when people fail to learn from it." Leegaain patted Tyris'' shoulder to console her.

    "I can''t believe no one has ever seen thising!" Milea Genys, the Magic Empress pointed at the battling academies while she held the little Shargein in her other arm. "I''m nowhere nearpleting my academies.

    "How could the Kingdom have six of them since its foundation?"

    "Easy." Leegaain shrugged. "For a time, there were three Magi - Lochra, Menadion, and Bytra - and two white-cored Awakened, Valeron and Lochra. Bybining their power and wisdom, everything was possible back then."

    "I see." Milea grumbled. "There have been two Magi at the same time during the history of the Empire, but never three, and none of them was a white core."

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Lith was giving his all just to stay alive.

 Chapter 2341 A Queens Stand (Part 1)

    Most of the Forgotten were humans trapped centuries ago by Arthan as the first batch of his students, and they fought in seven-man units with wless teamwork. Each squad used solely Silverwing''s Bastion to defend andbined their tier five spells to attack.

    Each one of them had a violet core like Lith and they also received the power boost from the lost academy. Thrud had only thirty Divine Beasts, but they worked in seven-man units as well and used Silverwing''s spells on top of their bloodline abilities.

    The Golden Griffon empowered both Forgotten and Divine Beasts, making even the elders of the Council not a match for Thrud''s Generals.

    "Dammit!" Even Xenagrosh was having trouble fighting them.

    There were only nine Eldritch-monster hybrids and forming a seven-man unit was the same as reducing their numbers to three. Bytra was acting as Solus'' legs, running through the battlefield and dodging stray spellsing from every direction.

    Nandi was too busy defending himself to provide the rest of his siblings with world energy which further limited their strength. Usually, the Minotaur-Orc would have had no problem hogging the elemental energy but now he was against two literal titans.

    Both the Golden and the White Griffon sucked most of the avable world energy to the point that everyoneing close to them could only rely on Spirit Magic.

    Bloodline abilities like Origin mes wouldn''t work either, screwing up most of the Eldritches usual tactics.

    They had no ess to Spirit Magic and without their bloodline abilities, they were just cunning and lethal giant brutes. Yet it didn''t matter against an enemy that would keep themselves at a distance and Spirit Blink away the moment the Eldritches approached.

    To make matters worse, without Nandi recharging them, it was only a matter of time before theck of a breathing technique became an insurmountable obstacle.

    Thrud''s soldiers had no such problems since the Golden Griffon encased them with a thick aura of world energy wherever they went, further tipping the bnce in their favor.

    ''Any idea what to do?'' Lith asked Faluel via a mind link.

    The two of them fought back-to-back, with the Hydra providing him cover fire with her spells and world energy via the Hands while Lith took care of the physical aspect of thebat.

    ''None.'' Faluel replied while Double Edge saved one of her necks. ''There''s me, you, Vastor, and Tista here, but we can''t cast Silverwing''s spells on our own. Tista is too weak so weck four and a half people.

    ''How is Ruin going?''

    ''I''m weaving it with the Mouth so it''s faster than usual, but it still takes time.'' Lith focused solely on defense, using every block and parry to conjure more runes while looking for an opportunity to counter.

    "We meet again, Verhen!" Xondar the Garudaughed as his seven-man unit unleashed an Annihtion at Lith, forcing him to Blink away with Faluel.

    s, the spell was far from wasted. The seven Divine Beasts simply changed their target, blindsiding a unit of Council elders that had counted on Lith''s protection while dealing with the Forgotten.

    Two Annihtion against one Bastion made short work of the barrier and scattered the elders to the wind. The Awakened managed to save themselves only thanks to their rich battle experience and a Blink kept at the ready.

    "Run as much as you want but this time things are going to go differently! No Guardian to help you, no mana geyser for you to cheat, and your army of Demons is useless against true Awakened!"

    Lith had already conjured his Golems and as many Demons as he could before the start of the battle, but they were being quickly wiped out. The Demonscked in equipment and energypared to the Forgotten who also were constantly boosted.

    The Demons, instead, were stuck with the energy they had received at the beginning of the fight and Lith had no time to provide them more.

    "Come on! Fight me and let''s discover once and for all if Dragons really are the natural snack of Garudas!" Xondar keep taunting Lith who in turn kept focusing on his de spell.

    "What''s the matter, Supreme Magus Verhen, are you still mad at me for your girlfriend? Come here and I''ll rejoin the two of you forever just like the True Queen promised Phloria."

    Lith snarled, clenching his sword hard for a second, but he didn''t bite.

    "Don''t you dare say her name!" Vastor roared as he unleashed his tier five Chaos spell, Howling Hunger.

    The st struck at the Bastion so hard that the seven Divine Beasts were pushed off their course in surprise.

    "Phloria was a good kid and you fuckers killed her! I''m going to choke you with your own entrails! Lith, Faluel, Tista, with me!" A ck-bright violet aura burst out from the Master''s body and Lith finally realized why the Professor had taken an unusual appearance.

    His Dominator armor had been shaped to look like a man 1.78 meters (5''10") tall and d in a golden armor, cloaking even his voice. Vastor didn''t want to appear in front of the Royals along with his Eldritches in order to protect his identity as the Master.

    ''Yet by doing this he is exposing himself to Faluel!'' Lith thought. ''She was with us in the barn and knows his real identity.''

    The aura of the Master kept growing, far exceeding that of bright violet-cored Awakened. The Hydra, the Tiamat, and the Red Demon only had to conjure a single element to cast Silverwing''s Annihtion while Vastor did everything else by himself.

    Tista failed to fully control her part, but the Master managed to help her topensate for that too.

    The sudden burst of seven pirs of elemental energy caught Xondar''s unit by surprise, pushing the already weakened Bastion to its limits.

    Then, Lith unleashed Ruin before they could recover from the impact.

    ? The Bastion shattered and the Divine Beasts cursed their bad luck. Theybined the Spirit Barriers from their armor, the Life Maelstrom the Garuda had infused them with, and the power from the Golden Griffon to survive.

    Yet their bodies were now weakened and battered, missing one or more limbs.

    At the same time, the members of Vastor''s group were already using their respective breathing techniques to recover the lost mana. They would soon be back to the peak of their strength whereas the Divine Beasts were in dire need of food.

    Otherwise even once they fully healed, their bodies wouldck the strength to fight and hunger would cripple their focus.

    "Kigan, it''s our time to shine!" Eycos the Garuda said as bolts of silver lightning covered his whole body.

    "On it, brother!" The ck Phoenix activated his bloodline ability, Molting Essence, turning into a living mass of Origin mes as he charged at the crackling Garuda.

    The two Divine Beasts were separated only by a few meters, the energy of one seeping into the other. The silver bolts of lightning turned red while the edges of the Origin mes burned white, slowly merging into one.

    The Life Maelstrom and the Origin mes fused, turning both the Phoenix and the Garuda into a mass of living sma.

 Chapter 2342 A Queens Stand (Part 2)

    Kigan and Eycos rammed against the members of Xondar''s unit and every group of enemies they met, bouncing like a destructive pinball that left a trail of ozone and charred meat on its passage.

    "This is impossible! That''s supposed something that only a lost bloodline like mine can do!" Leari the Thunderborne said before being turned into cinders by Volting Essence.

    "What an idiot." Kigan scoffed at the Thunderborne''s naivety. "Her bloodline was lost because our foremother understood that by not picking a single side, she didn''t get them both but only bits from each."

    "Indeed." Eycos nodded. "It''s one of the cases when the result ends up being less than the sum of the single parts."

    "That''s where you had disappeared, Kigan!" Sark clenched her fists in fury at the memory of the ck sheep of her nest. "Zagran, you have to see this."

    She opened a mind link that crossed two continents and an ocean to reach the Mother of all Garudas.

    "Eycos, my baby! What have you done?" Zagran stared in horror at how her gifts had been twisted by the ck core first and then by the Master. "Can Ie there? Please, I beg you."

    "Ask Tyris, not me. This is her turf." Sark replied.

    "You cane, but only to watch. No interference is allowed during or after the fight that will determine the future of my Kingdom." The Great Mother anticipated the question. "I don''t care how you feel about your lost son.

    "You threw Eycos away and he made his own destiny. You have no right to mess with him in hindsight. It would only be a hypocritical gesture out of guilt."

    "Fine!" Zagran snarled in submission and opened a Gate that brought her next to the other three Guardians. "Do you want to warn Fenagar and Roghar as well?"

    "Like they would care." Tyris clicked her tongue, her face a disgusted grimace. "They would both consider their children''s fate as one of their sick experiments. I''m not going to enable their obsessions."

    "I''m sorry, you are right." Zagran gave her a deep bow while clenching her hands.

    She was torn between the desire to protect her baby and kick his ass into oblivion.

    "Dammit, one Annihtion, one Ruin, and that thing just to kill a single Divine Beast?" Lith cursed their bad luck.

    "Less yapping, more fighting." Vastor chided him. "Let''s finish off those bastards before they regroup. There''s only six of them and they are weak now!"

    "Keep dreaming, ant!" Iata the Sekhmet threw barrels of nutrients to herpanions while conjuring a spherical hard-light construct imbued with Life Maelstrom. "Your Council stands no chance against us because you are only strong as individuals.

    "While you wasted your time hiding your secrets from each other, we shared everything we had. We trained countless times for this moment, and not by performing stupid drills but by real battles to the death!

    "We learned how to fight even when outmatched and outnumbered. How to defeat a much stronger opponent thanks to teamwork. Unlike you, we are strong as individuals and even stronger as a unit. Glory to the Queen!"

    s, Iata was right.

    Having over thirty Divine Beasts meant having four seven-man units and a few Generals to spare in case one of them died. On top of that, aside from Silverwing''s spells, the Council elders had no training in cooperating.

    They used their bloodline abilities only for themselves, often messing with each other''s strategy.

    Also, the battle between the two academies wasn''t going well for Marth. He had fused with the White Griffon for barely one minute whereas the Golden Griffon was Hystar''s true body.

    They had both turned their wings into a sword and a shield, but while their physical prowess was equal, there was a gap in their magical abilities.

    Hystar could freely use Silverwing''s spells and Decay magic whereas Marth''s limit was the tier five spells he knew.

    "You don''t have to feel bad, brother. The new recing the old is the way of life." The Cursed Headmaster said with augh while unleashing a barrage of Decay rays from his fingertips that opened deep holes in the White Griffon.

    "Valeron the Fool could have never defeated Arthan the Genius and the same stands for their respective creations. You are made of rainbows and happy thoughts whereas I was bred for war!"

    Contrary to everyone''s expectations, Queen Sylpha was the only one faring well in her fight.

    "How is this even possible?" Thrud delivered another barrage of feints, blows, and spells that Sylpha seemed to read like a book, ignoring the first, parrying the second, and countering the third with surgical precision.

    The Queen''s spells were weaker, but she aimed them at the focus points of Thrud''s spells before they could fully form. The resulting explosion couldn''t hurt the Mad Queen since it was mostlyprised of her mana, but from that distance, it couldn''t hurt Sylpha either.

    "The blood of Tyris and Valeron runs thick through my veins. I''m one of the only two Golden Griffons on Mogar whereas you are a human woman. How can you still be alive?"

    "You talk too much." Sylpha grunted as she wrapped Saefel''s Sword around Arthan''s, pushing it aside before moving on to the offense.

    Both Queens employed the Royal de style and with the gap in their physical prowess, Thrud was supposed to win by andslide even without using a single one of her bloodline abilities.

    Yet not only had every one of her assaults failed, but Sylpha was also slowly overwhelming Thrud with sheer technique. The Saefel Sword moved like a snake, whipping from one point to the next in a continuous, fluid, and unpredictable motion.

    Whenever Thrud blocked, Sylpha changed the angle of her own de so that the momentum of the impact would be carried on and elerate her next move. The Saefel Sword became faster and heavier with every exchange until it exceeded the alleged limits of a bright violet core.

    "You are nothing but a fool." Sylpha said to throw Thrud off her game now that the Mad Queen was on her back foot. "We practice the same style, but while you ran like the rat you are around Mogar for centuries, the Royal Family kept practicing.

    "The Kings and Queens before me improved the Royal de style until what you learned as a kid became obsolete. As for me, I didn''t spend my time demanding to be treated like a Queen and crying like a baby.

    "I spent thest few decades training, not against Dragons, Phoenixes, or Griffons. Every day since my coronation I''ve fought against the Mother of all Griffons until my limbs gave out.

    "When I fight Tyris, I always feel small and insignificant, but I never gave up. Against you, instead, I feel nothing. I''m not afraid of you Thrud Griffon. I can see victory smiling upon me already!"

    "Shut up!" The Mad Griffon cried in outrage and unleashed her tier five Spirit Spell Rainstorm.

    An emerald tide filled the air between the Queens, ready to swallow Sylpha in an hexaelemental avnche.

    "Begone!" Sylpha raised her right hand and activated the emerald streak amid her hair, Dominating the iing spell.

 Chapter 2343 Vastors Worth (Part 1)

    Thrud tried to counter Sylpha''s Domination with the powers of the Arthan Sword, but they were nullified and overpowered by the modern spells of the Saefel Sword. Before she could do anything, the Mad Queen fell victim to her own spell.

    The storm of emerald lightning bypassed Arthan''s Armor by drenching Thrud in water.

    Every single drop that seeped inside the Davross switched to the earth and darkness elements of Spirit Magic, turning itself into darkness-infused stone spikes that pierced through her body.

    Light constantly healed Thrud''s wounds, sapping her stamina, while the fire aspect turned part of the rain into steam that burned her throat and lungs. Fueled by Sylpha''s will and reinforced by her mana, Rainstorm turned the Arthan Armor into a pressure cooker inside which Thrud was trapped.

    "Curse you, Fake Queen!" Thrud had her armor open for a split second to get rid of the steam and relieve the pressure that was boiling her alive as she turned into her real form, that of a Golden Griffon 30 meters (100 feet) tall.

    The Arthan Armor grew in size with her, covering Thrud while she used Life Maelstrom to boost her regenerative abilities and then shapeshifted into a humanoid Griffon who could wield the Sword of Arthan after it had adjusted its size as well.

    "Cry like the child you are!" Sylpha rebuked while weaving her own spells and conjuring Life Maelstrom from her armor. "I may not share a single drop of Valeron''s blood, but I''m more simr to him than any Madness will ever turn you into.

    "He was just a man, with no bloodline but his own just like me! He built his legend whereas you stole it."

    Thrud activated her bloodline ability, Phantom Echo, to create a double of every spell she cast.

    Also, she activated Light Raider. The bloodline ability turned the light element from Thrud''s spells into magical runes that she could freely rearrange to form arrays, Light Mastery spells, and more.

    She achieved that by mixing the light element of the world energy with her life force, binding it to her will.

    The runes of light now shrouded the two Queens, forming healing spells for Thrud, hard-light shields to block Sylpha''s attacks, and Tower Tier spells of all elements.

    To convert light into another element, the runes produced by Light Rider simply had to sacrifice themselves to conjure what they needed from the remaining part of the world energy they came from.

    "Nice try, but it''s not enough!" Sylpha had no bloodline ability aside from Domination, yet she refused to back down.

    ''What was the King thinking when he had me activate the White Griffon?'' Marth thought as his battle went from downhill to losing. ''If the other five academies converged on my position, we''d have a chance but as it is, this fight is hopeless.

    ''Nothing I do works whereas I have no defense against Hystar''s attacks!''

    Marth had activated Full Guard first, using the dimensional awareness that the spell bestowed upon him to quickly get used to his new body and better follow the enemy''s movements.

    Yet that was the only one of his strategies that had worked so far.

    The Headmaster was a fake mage and even with the academy boosting his spells to Tower Tier, they were still regr spells that belonged to the magical specializations he knew.

    The White Griffon also possessed several arrays that he could use akin to true magic to both attack and defend but that wasn''t enough.

    Hystar mixed Spirit Spells with his swordy and every one of them reached its target. Elemental sealing arrays were useless, only the White Griffon''s shield could block them but it came at the cost of shifting his defense from the sword.

    Regr barrier arrays were no match for Tower Tier Spirit spells, let alone for Silverwing''s.

    Hystar used the Annihtions from his students to coat his sword and overpower Marth''s and the Bastions to coat every part of his body that was about to be hit by a spell against which he had failed to defend.

    After Manohar''s death, Marth had rejuvenated his body and trained like a madman until it had returned to the peak of his youth in order to avenge his fallen friend. It brought his swordy above and beyond that of a brute like Hystar.

    The Cursed Headmaster had been stuck in his academy form for 700 years and Thrud had rarely allowed him to turn into the Golden Knight. Even then, no enemy had been capable of forcing him to use his weapons.

    Hystar was a poor swordsman due to hisck of training, but his magic shot down Marth every time he managed to create an opening. Also, the power core of the Golden Griffon was imbued with Decay that Hystar unleashed from point-nk range.

    The Cursed Element was quick, incredibly destructive, and Marth had no defense against it. A light sealing array could block it, but Hystar neutralized it with his own magical formations.

    On top of that, being the one taking most of the damage, Marth needed healing magic to cure and protect his precious students.

    ''The students and Professors aren''t just the fuel for my spells, they are the people I''ve sworn to protect at every cost. Even if the Great Mother has turned her back on them, I won''t. Also, inside the Golden Griffon there''s the bastard who killed Manohar.

    ''On the day of his death, I swore to kill Meln and this is my opportunity to do it!'' The Headmaster''s heart was in the right ce, but his academy seemed tock the strength of his convictions.

    Hystar blocked a lunge with his shield, bashing Marth''s de to the side as the Golden Griffonunched an all-out attack. A barrage of Spirit and Decay spells struck at the exposed White Griffon.

    Thrown out of bnce by the Tower Tier spells, Marth took the attack on his neck in full. Were his body made of flesh and blood, it would have been lethal but the White Griffon wasprised of magic and stone.

    Marth felt great pain and fell to his knees but he was still alive. A situation that Hystar''s descending sword was about to correct.

    At the same time, on the battlefield, Vastor stared at the charge of Thrud''s seven Divine Beasts in defiance, refusing to move.

    "Lith, Tista, Faluel, stay close to me." He suddenly released a pir of ck energy. "Xenagrosh, Kigan, Nandi to me!"

    The two Eldritches produced a simr pir, Warping out of the blue right beside the Master in a way that neither Life Vision nor Dragon Eyes could predict.

    "On it!" They said in unison as the Phoenix and the Dragon took a deep breath while the Minotaur pped his hands in a boom of thunder.

    The bio-crystals over his body released the world energy they had umted, creating a density so great that Solus'' tower became fully operational. Violet light erupted in-between Zoreth''s scales and Kigan''s feathers.

    It moved from their mouth to their neck, then to their chest, and respectively to her lungs and his heart. Xenagrosh hurled a st of bright violet Origin mes while Kigan released another with a p of his wings.

 Chapter 2344 Vastors Worth (Part 2)

    The two mes devoured the world energy conjured by Nandi and fused into a white mass of Primordial mes three times the size of the original.

    "What the fuck?" Iata and her group were flying close in order to cast Silverwing''s spells so they were all inside the Primordial mes'' area of effect.

    They conjured the Bastion they had at the ready just for it to be punctured by the white mes and their bodies to be drowned in a fiery inferno.

    ''That''s impossible, we are all boosted by my Life Mael-'' Only then did the Sekhmet notice that bolts of silver lightning coursed through her enemies as well.

    "So you are strong as a team? What a coincidence, so are we." The Master unleashed a barrage of Howling Void that pierced through the Divine Beasts'' armor, killing two more and severely injuring the others.

    "Nelia, Cyare!" Another ck pir burst from Vastor''s body and the pattern repeated itself but this time it was the Fenrir''s and the Griffon''s turn.

    The Fenrirnded on the Griffon''s back and activated Doom Tide, drawing in all the world energy remaining from Xenagrosh''s and Kigan''sbined attack.

    Yet instead of emitting it in every direction and hurting her allies, Cyare passed it onto Nelia. The Griffon used the Life Maelstrom stored in her body to beat the Doom Tide into submission and channeled it to her mouth.

    Then, Neliabined the Doom Tide with her Light Raider bloodline ability to conjure a Doom st. The energy was the same as the Doom Tide but focused in a single beampressed by a hard-light construct that spun at high speed, giving both of them great piercing power.

    The Doom st struck Hystar''s leg with enough strength to shatter his kneecap and foil the finishing blow on the White Griffon.

    "What? How?" The four Guardians hadn''t been so bbergasted since the day Mogar had summoned them to witness Lith beginning his ascension.

    "The bloodline abilities of a Phoenix can only be used with other members of my species thanks to our blood bond. My Origin mes aren''t supposed to mix with Zagran''s Life Maelstrom.

    "Abined bloodline ability is supposed to be impossible!" Sark said.

    "What she said." The Mother of All Garudas gaped at her lost child, her brain just as lost from the shock.

    "A Griffon and a Fenrir can do that?" Tyris had stopped crying from amazement. "Since when?"

    "I guess the same way a Phoenix and a Dragon are supposed to conjure Primordial mes solely with other members of their respective kin." Leegaain''s Eyes were in their true form, yet even with their help the Father of All Dragons had no exnation for what he was witnessing.

    "I guess that Mogar was right in asking us to leave the Master alone. Our species are always fighting and despising each other due to either their territorial nature or the grudges of their progenitors.

    "Thousands of years have passed since ouring yet we had no idea that our bloodlines could achieve so much. Our lost children are the ck sheep of their respective species but that allowed the Master to bring them together.

    "Their misfortune and pain turned them into a makeshift brotherhood, allowing them to be the first of their kind to open up to another Divine Beast. It pains me to say it, but the Master may be a better leader and mentor than us."

    Vastor had no way to listen to Leegaain''s words, but to the Father of all Dragons, it seemed like the small man was determined to keep pping him in the face.

    "Marth, you idiot, what are you doing?" The Master yelled in hismunication amulet while Hushar the Leviathan and Xenagrosh produced abined attack as well thaty waste to the enemy lines.

    "I''m sorry, Zogar. He''s too strong." Marth''s voice was filled with self-loathing and frustration. "If only my students and I were also Awakened we-"

    "Who the fuck cares about Awakening? Did that ever stop us from kicking the butts of Emperor Beasts? Did it stop Manohar, Linjos, or Rudd?" Vastor cut him short.

    "But Decay-"

    "It''s just light magic and light and darkness are but two sides of the same coin! Didn''t you learn anything from Manohar? Are you really letting his whole life work be destroyed by an imbecile who didn''t study a single day of his life?" The Master replied.

    "Manohar¡­" Marth echoed the name of thete god of healing, wishing he was able to pull one of the Mad Professor''s miracles just as easily.

    It was then that the power core of the White Griffon answered his call and revealed the true difference between Arthan''s opus and Valeron''s.

    Manohar''s mana was still there, flowing like blood through the academy. All of his research, his spells, and his personal breakthroughs had left a deep imprint in the White Griffon.

    An imprint that now answered Marth''s call, flowing through him as well.

    Hystar emitted a st of Decay to not lose the advantage and keep the enemy on his back foot but Marth raised his hand, conjuring a curtain of darkness that shrouded him from head to toe.

    The Decay feasted on the darkness element, turning back into harmless light. A light that joined Marth''s darkness thanks to the White Griffon''s arrays and then the Headmaster turned them both into a huge hard-light construct that mmed in Hystar''s face, sending him flying.

    The construct then switched into a mass of darkness magic that flooded the Golden Griffon before he had the time to recover from the surprise.

    "What the?" Hystar raised his shield to block the iing attack and coated his sword with several Silverwing''s Annihtions to boost its destructive power.

    "Not a chance." Marth called upon Thorman''s mana and conjured his st Guard Magic Knight spell.

    A ming sphere deviated Hystar''s lunge enough for Marth''s shield to push it away, leaving the Golden Griffon exposed from head to waist. Hystar took a step back and raised his own shield just for Marth to Blink.

    Static Field didn''t affect the elements, it simply increased the mana cost of dimensional spells. s, the Golden and the White Griffon had the same power source, making the array pointless.

    Marth appeared behind the enemy''s back, hitting him with a diagonal sh that cut him from the left shoulder to the right hip.

    "How is this possible? You are a fake mage. You need hands and chants to use spells!" Hystar cried in outrage.

    "Tell that to Khavos Rudd." The old Professor had mastered dimensional magic to the point that his hands and mouth couldplete any spell faster than anyone else.

    He was so quick that during the first lesson of dimensional magic, Lith had thought Rudd employed true magic.

    Hystar turned around and Marth Blinked again. The Cursed Headmaster could see the exit point with Life Vision and struck at it with his Tower Spirit Spell, Execution. Marth replied by conjuring the Tower Tier version of Vastor''s Tetrastrophe.

    The first spell intercepted Hystar''s, making it explode at a safe distance. The other three struck at him from below, where he wasn''t covered by his elemental sealing arrays.

    The true power of the six great academiesy in their purpose and their slumber.

 Chapter 2345 Lnherited Will (Part 1)

    Unlike the Golden Griffon who was always active and needed a steady flow of energy to survive, the White Griffon had enjoyed a long peace.

    During that time, it had nurtured countless geniuses, taking in their mana as students first and as Professorster. They had be a part of the academy which could use their skills to fight just like they would.

    While the Golden Griffon conquered and enved the other Griffons nurtured and protected. Like every teacher, they learned from their own students and became better for it.

    Valeron knew that there might have never been an Awakened Headmaster, but he had made sure that whoever was in charge, would be like a King. The people behind the Headmaster would be the source of their strength and they all would fight as one.

    "This is great news, but we are still deep in the mud!" Lith had trouble dealing with a single seven-man unit of Forgotten by himself and Vastor''s strategy had barely lessened the pressure.

    The mindless Awakened were boosted by the Golden Griffon and exploited Silverwing''s spells to make up for the mass gap with the Tiamat.

    To make matters worse, Lith had consumed the spells he had at the ready to deal with the Divine Beasts whereas the Forgotten could safely retreat inside the Golden Griffon the moment they needed rest.

    "Hope you don''t mind a hand then!" dion Dragonborn Spirit Blinked inside Silverwing''s Bastion, decapitating three Forgotten at once with his Primordial Thirst de.

    "Hello, handsome." Ilthin the Firstborn Banshee Charmed the survivors into a stupor that allowed Lith to kill them without encountering any resistance. "Did your wife ever make up her mind about that threesome?"

    "What threesome and how can you be here during the day?" Lith could see with Life Vision that Baba Yaga''s Firstborns had a power above the bright violet and that sunlight didn''t bother them in the least.

    "Ask your wife. As for your second answer, look up." Ilthin replied, bringing even Thrud to a halt to look in the direction of the Banshee''s finger.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Solus had no problem recognizing the Horsemen of Dawn and Dusk.

    They rode upon their crystal steeds, one pristine white and the other blood red. Dawn wore a simple crystal armor and wielded a sword made from her prisms whereas Dusk wore his full Adamant set.

    The Horsemen were crossing their des, allowing their energies to flow into each other before sending them to the undead.

    It wasn''t just Ilthin and dion to havee, but also the Firstborn Ghoul, Wendigo, and Mage yer.

    "Sit down, you cat!" dion hurled a jet stream of blood-red Origin mes that along with the silver lightning crackling all over his body took Iata by surprise.

    "Hi, Solus!" Dawn took off her helm and under the waterfall of raven-ck hair, there was Nyka''s face. "I couldn''t leave you alone again. Not after what these fuckers did to your friend Phloria. Dusk!"

    "On it!" The Red Sun unleashed a burst of Life Maelstrom that empowered both Solus and Bytra.

    "Thanks, Nyka!" Bytra bolted forward with unbelievable speed, bringing Solus away to the rescue of several Council elders.

    "Wait, where''s Tista?" Nyka asked.

    The Red Demon had been swept away by another seven-man unit of Forgotten that had exploited a moment of distraction while Vastor was talking with Marth for a sneak attack.

    Phloria had revealed to Thrud that Tista owned the Mouth of Menadion and the Mad Queen had put Tista among her priority targets right next to Faluel. Yet while the Hydra had a bright violet core and the mass of a 20 meters (66'') tall Emperor Beast, Tista was just a bright blue-cored Awakened.

    Her Cursed mes had bought her some time but her defeat was written in stone. Even with the Mouth casting the best tier five Spirit Spells at her disposal, Tista was still no match for seven violet-cored Awakened who had wless teamwork.

    "We meet again, kid." Headmistress Linnea couldn''t wait to make up for their previous humiliating encounter. "This time there are no Demons to help you and your brother is very busy. I made sure of it!"

    Linnea had no doubt that Thrud would win, but she wanted to get her hands on the Mouth first, just to be safe. This way, even in the worst case scenario, she would walk away with a priceless artifact and the secret of Awakening as a retirement bonus.

    "Seven against one? You are a coward!" Tista Spirit Blinked, gaining but one moment of respite.

    "Honor is for the living. The dead are just dead. You have no use for it." The Headmistress burst intoughter.

    "I couldn''t have said it better." A silver-d figure protected Tista with a hard-light construct while striking at the Bastion with his sword.

    Linnea paid no heed to him and that was her first mistake.

    The eight mana crystals aligned along either side of the fuller lit with power, turning the defensive barrier into a pinball that went crashing against the nearby units, disrupting their formation.

    "Come on, kid. That attack worked because I took her by surprise but we can''t win by ourselves. Where are your allies?" He asked.

    "That way, mister¡­"

    "I''m no one. Call me however you like." The silver-d man shook his head.

    "Wow, whiny much?" Tista rose an eyebrow in mockery. "Brooding is overrated and far from sexy. Let''s go, Whiny."

    Zepho Ac, Dawn''s ex-host smiled at his new and unttering call sign. It wasn''t the first time that someone hadn''t taken him seriously or forgotten to thank him, but he didn''t mind it.

    He had spent a lot of time in the Empire, drowning in self-pity while reying Dawn''s parting words in his mind over and over again. It had taken Ac days to really listen to them and weeks to understand their meaning.

    The Bright Day had left him not because she had found him wanting but because their bond had reached a point where her presence hindered Ac''s growth instead of nurturing it.

    The former Ranger of the Ker region had always been a petty man whose ego far surpassed his real capabilities. He was an excellent soldier and a powerful mage but his ambitions demanded far more than he could reach.

    After fusing with Dawn, he had be her ve until she stopped manipting him and turned him into her partner. The problem was that after witnessing her genius, seeing what a really talented mage could achieve, he had gone from one extreme to the other.

    He had relinquished his thirst for glory and recognition, relegating himself to the role of Dawn''s plus one. Whatever she taught him and the marvels they shared made him feel insignificant instead of furthering his personal growth.

    Ac had spent thest few years of his life following Dawn like a dog, never asking a question or raising an objection.

    ''Dawn abandoned me because of my ego. Everything we achieved I considered solely her doing whereas I pinned our failures on myself. Our rtionship started toxic but I''m the one who let it fester.'' Ac thought.

    ''Had she not left me, I would still be waiting for my problems to magically disappear.''

 Chapter 2346 Inherited Will (Part 2)

    ''This time, instead, I''m here by my own will. I came back to the Kingdom because I want to make up for failing to defeat Thrud instead of whining and letting others fix my mistakes.

    ''I had my sword and armor shapeshift into a generic form because I don''t want to be recognized. I ruined my entire life chasing after power and honors. It''s worth trying to fight just for myself for once.'' Ac thought.

    "By the way, thank you, Whiny." Tista said while they flew toward Lith.

    "Don''t mention it." Ac nodded in reply and then steered away before entering Life Vision''s area of effect.

    ''Verhen is bound to recognize me and I don''t want that.'' He thought, staring at Dawn for an instant before going to help others in need. ''I wonder if that''s her new host or just a flesh suit to help the Firstborns.

    ''Whatever it is, I wish her the best. If we ever go back together, we must be like Verhen and his partner. Two different people who choose to walk side by side, not just because one is scared that the other might think less of them.''

    "Are you alright, Tista?" Lith asked.

    "For now." She looked left and right, activating Full Guard to avoid getting caught by surprise again. "What can we do?"

    "This is war, Tista. You can''t win it by yourself. You can only try and beat as many opponents as you can as fast as you can." Lith took a deep breath, sending a wave of new energy that revitalized the wounded and destroyed Demons.

    "You are not going anywhere, you murderer!" A creature as big as Lith said while charging at him with a speed boosted by both Fusion Magic and Life Maelstrom.

    His body was a patchwork of several Divine Beasts. He had the body of a Griffon, the wings of a Phoenix, and the limbs of a Dragon.

    "I''ll make you pay for killing my father!" Protheus had barely a green core, but between the mass he had stored, the boost from the Golden Griffon, and the bloodline abilities he had collected, he felt to have a chance at victory.

    "Protheus!" Lith could see with Life Vision that despite his pitiful mana core, the Doppelganger had a vitality on par with his own.

    ''Since body refining is out of the question, it means that his mass surpasses mine and that he is keeping apact form in the hope to deceive me.'' He actually thought, dodging the attack instead of blocking as Protheus wanted.

    "Come here and fight, you coward!" His right hand turned into a Nidhogg''s mouth and spat a river of acid while a deep breath conjured a st of green Origin mes.

    Lith replied by hurling a st of Void mes that reached the Doppelganger''s mes almost right outside Protheus'' mouth, causing a concussive st that clouded his vision and destroyed half of his head.

    s, for a Doppelganger there was no such a thing as a wound. His mass was not damaged, simply misced. The shattered head quickly turned into a silvery jelly before returning to its original shape.

    ''I can''t charge in recklessly. He can easily turn any of his limbs into a Scorpicore''s tail like his siblings did in Zeska against Orion. Even cutting off his head is pointless. I need to get creative.'' Lith thought while his brain spun at full gear.

    The Tiamat kept mixing footwork with flight spells to always stay out of Protheus'' range while trying different tactics.

    Even Spirit Spells dealt no damage. No matter how powerful they were, they would just split the Doppelganger into many pieces that would get back together a secondter.

    ''As dumb as it seems, Cursed mes are the worst in this case. Theirser-like focus opens a small wound and allows Protheus to just cut off the burning parts to escape the aftereffects. Origin mes will work better. That and this!''

    Lith unleashed his tier four War Mage spell, gue Storm, mixing it with Spirit Magic. The spell produced a hail of darkness bullets that thanks to Lith''s mana were also imbued with kic energy and chased their target.

    Darkness spells usually were slow, but once turned into Spirit Spells, they lost their only weakness.

    The Doppelganger cursed as the ck swarm surrounded him from every side like a school of angry piranhas. Darkness magic was the bane of both living and unliving creatures because its entropic energy disrupted order on a molecr level.

    No matter how small the pieces into which Protheus divided his body were, they would be corrupted until they turned into irredeemably rotten flesh. He tried to Blink away, but Lith saw his exit point and willed the gue Storm to chase after him.

    "You have so much whereas I have so little. Why do you stubbornly try to take the people I love away from me?" Protheus abandoned his Chimeric Form and shapeshifted into a Bahamut.

    He took a deep breath and unleashed a sphere of Origin mes from all over his body, dispelling gue Storm and buying himself the time he needed to recover.

    "*I* have taken people away from you?" Lith roared in outrage. "Your damn Queen invaded my country! She had Manohar killed! She had my father kidnapped and tortured. He''s alive by a miracle!

    "She drove me away from my home! She targeted innocent children and my friend Phloria just to have them killed! You guys took everything away from me!"

    "Liar!" Protheus Blinked several times in quick session, opening multiple decoy exit points and charging at Lith from one of them at random. "Mother didn''t kill Phloria, you did."

    The Doppelganger-Bahamut tackled the Tiamat while taking a deep breath. The silver lightning from Life Maelstrom fused with the green Origin mes from his lungs, forming the golden Life mes.

    "You are a monster who killed thousands of innocents just to follow the orders of the pretenders to the throne! You didn''t hesitate to kill women, the elderly, and children in your rampage. Do you really think I would believe a word you said?"

    Not knowing what to do, Lith shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form. Its scales burned with the power of the Cursed Elements and his hope was that, under stress, he might manage to produce the silvery Dread mes.

    He took a deep breath as well, generating a jet stream of Void mes from his mouth and of Blight mes from his wings. The twin sts fought and lost against the Life mes, but the interaction generated a powerful explosion before the golden fire could reach Lith.

    On top of that, even though his Cursed mes had lost and the congration hit him the most along with the remaining Life mes, Protheus was just a green-cored Awakened.

    The golden fire burned at Lith''s life force, equipment, and mana, but the Cursed mes from his scales quickly snuffed them out.

    The Voidfeather Dragon roared as it bit deeply into the Bahamut''s flesh, piercing through the silver scales and tough bones.

    ''What an idiot.'' Protheus thought. ''My body looks solid, but I decide how dense it has to be. I''ll eat Verhen from inside out!''

 Chapter 2347 Lnherited Will (Part 3)

    A gtinous chunk of the Bahamut-form detached rather than being ripped off by Lith''s fangs and threw itself down his throat. The Doppelganger''s goal was to burn with his acid the Wyrm''s windpipe first and then his lungs.

    ? Unfortunately for Protheus, the Voidfeather Dragon had already drawn another breath and the fragment of the Doppelganger''s conscience found a ck furnace waiting for him.

    The Void mes swallowed the gtine but took care not to kill it. The chunk was still connected to the main body and its suffering was Protheus'' suffering. At the same time, Lith activated his Abomination Touch.

    The Doppelganger felt his strength slipping away while Lith''s recovered. Protheus struggled to get free but the searing pain from the trapped fragment of his body made it hard for him to think.

    They were physically on par, but Lith''s fury made him stronger.

    "You asked me why you should believe me. Because Phloria is dead, that''s why!" Lith roared

    The Doppelganger conjured several spells he had kept at the ready but it took just a glimpse of Domination from the Voidfeather Dragon''s eyes to turn them against their caster.

    From so up close, Protheus didn''t have the time to understand what was happening, the demonic features of the Wyrm now were the only thing he could think of.

    "Unlike your Queen, I never targeted innocents. Sure, I killed them, but never on purpose. They were just in the wrong ce and at the wrong time. I bloodied myself for Phloria! I ughtered thousands! How can you think that I would kill her?"

    "How is that any different from what you say Mother did? Say what you want, you are a monster and you just admitted it yourself!" Protheus gave up on his Bahamut form, turning back into a gtinous mass to escape from the hold.

    He also let the trapped fragment die by retrieving his consciousness to make the blinding pain stop.

    "I am a monster and I''ve never tried to deny it yet this war made me into something even worse.

    "I sacrificed those people, I gave up on my humanity, and for what? Your Queen killed Phloria just to make me suffer. All those people died for nothing and it''s all my fault!" Lith replied, his fury growing with every word he said.

    Protheus turned into a Seven Headed Dragon and used the multiple heads to produce multiple sts of Origin mes at the same time.

    "I refuse to believe you! Mother would never do such a thing. Not after what happened to Father." Yet even he had a hard time believing his own words.

    Verhen''s fury was genuine and the fact that he didn''t shy from his responsibilities made Protheus'' doubt grow.

    ''I''ve seen the records. Verhen and Father respected each other. Also, I can''t deny what he''s saying. Had Mother been kidnapped I too would have sacrificed Mogar for her.

    ''If Phloria loved Verhen and he cared so much about her, why would he kill her? Why promise so many treasures and call upon so many allies in order to rescue her when he could have just waited to meet her on the battlefield.'' Protheus thought.

    "Do you really think that Jormun would have entrusted his son to someone capable of killing those he loves? Are you insane?" Lith was so angry, his guilt for unwittingly killing Phloria that his right arm felt once again bloody and sticky.

    The Voidfeather Dragon cried in pain and breathed out a torrent of fire. The fire started ck, then became white, then orange, yellow, blue, and finally red. The st wasprised of all the Cursed mes but he had failed to merge them.

    The fire inside the scales of the Voidfeather Dragon grew dim as the corresponding Cursed Fire was needed, but Lith didn''t care. They were nowhere near Dread mes but the multi-colored volley destroyed Protheus'' seven mes and necks alike.

    The fire spread to the rest of his body as if it was covered in gasoline and seeped through the open wounds. Protheus tried all the forms at his disposal but the Cursed mes burned them all, trapping him in a searing agony.

    ''Verhen is right. Dad entrusted Valeron the Second not to me or one of Mom''s Divine Beasts, but to Verhen. Dad wouldn''t have done it unless he thought that Verhen would have taken good care of my little brother.

    ''Was I wrong all along? What am I supposed to do, Dad? Has Mom really gone insane?'' Crippled by pain and doubt, Protheus let himself burn.

    With his fury gone and his love for Thrud cracked, he had lost his will to fight and with it, his reason to live. The Father of all Doppelgangers was scared of losing and terrified of winning. Thrud was all he had and her truth the only thing he knew.

    Without her and the mission, he was no better than an ordinary slime.

    Not far away, Ufyl stared at the fight. He could have saved Protheus by pointing out the Doppelganger''s situation and the fact that Verhen seemed tired to his squad, yet he said nothing.

    The Seven Headed Dragon hadn''t been punished for his defiance, but he had lost his will to fight anyway. He was there at the frontline simply because he had no other choice.

    ''If I run away, I''ll be left with nothing. Thrud is like a mother to me and the other Divine Beasts are closer to me than my real siblings have ever been. If I turn my back on them, the Council will kill me.

    ''Even if the Council lets me live, if Thrud wins she''ll punish my betrayal with eternal very. Like Leegaain said on the day we met, my hands are bloody with Forbidden Magic no less than hers. I''m in too deep. I bet too much on this war. My only path is forward.''

    Like a gambler full of debts, Ufyl was driven solely by desperation. He didn''t care about the War of the Griffons anymore, he just wanted to live.

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Tista had gotten stranded again in the mayhem of the fight and Linnea exploited the opportunity to fight her one-against-seven again. The Headmistress of the Golden Griffon didn''t care for trifling matters like honor.

    She liked trampling over her enemies and enjoying their despair. Everything else was irrelevant.

    "Come here, lesser Verhen! With you dead, your brother will do something stupid out of grief again. At that point, taking him out will be easy. I''ll get to wipe out Nerea''s legacy in one fell swoop.

    "I''ll erase the humiliation that your brother inflicted upon me eight years ago and it will be only thanks to you, child!" Linnea had no qualms about sharing her n simply because Tista had no way out.

    Static Field blocked dimensional magic and even though the Red Demon was a powerful bright blue-cored Awakened, she was nothingpared to seven violet cores ready to deploy Silverwing''s spells.

    Tista managed to stay alive only thanks to the Mouth of Menadion. The artifact made up for herck of body casting and left her free to use her Cursed mes and breathing technique at every opportunity she got.

 Chapter 2348 Lnherited Will (Part 4)

    "Once I kill you, the Mouth of Menadion will be mine!" Linnea said upon recognizing the artifact from Phloria''s drawings. "The True Queen thanks you for your contribution to our cause."

    ''Dammit, what do I do?'' Tista knew to be outmatched and outnumbered so instead of wasting time fighting, she kept retreating.

    The Static Field array sealed Linnea''s dimensional magic as well so the seven-man unit could only fly, just like Tista. The wings of the Red Demon gave her superior speed and maneuverability that she used to keep her distance.

    Two of her four eyes followed Linnea''s unit every movement while the other two searched her surroundings for the nearest ally. Yet the Headmistress kept getting closer, sending Tista into a panic.

    A sudden st of True mes missed its target by a wide margin and the Red Demon escaped the next charge only thanks to the Frozen mes from her wings. They covered the Bastion with such a thickyer of ice that Linnea''s physical and mystical senses were blinded.

    "You can run, but you can''t hide!" Or so she thought.

    The Cursed mes reached their target and lit the sky like a re.

    "Crap, that''s our convened signal." Nyka said. "Tista needs my help. Can you keep fighting without me, Dusk?"

    "No. If not for ourmunion, I wouldn''t be able to ovee Mother''s seal." He pointed at their respective weapons that were still crossed. "Without Life Maelstrom, Origin mes, and Doom Tide, the Firstborns will be unable to fight against the seven-man units."

    "Then follow me!" The Horseman of Dawn nosedived toward Tista''sst known position and Kelia rode by her side.

    They both hade to the White Griffon to protect their respective homes and Baba Yaga''s children.

    "Do your worst, lesser Verhen!" Linnea said. "You are just like Nerea. You are out of your length, width, and depth! I''ll kill you just like I should have killed her decades ago."

    Tista ignored Linnea and focused on body casting. The Red Demon was still limited to tier three spells, but Linnea''s constant mentioning of Lith had given her an idea.

    ''Here goes everything!'' With onest deep breath, her whole body turned into a living mass of Origin mes.

    No longer limited by her physical form, the magical runes flowed freely through her body. The Red Demon mmed helplessly against the Bastion, her rain of spells rolling off the emerald sphere without leaving a scratch.

    "Do you really think you can overpower seven Awakened with that puny body of yours?" Linnea unleashed an Annihtion at Tista from too close for her to dodge.

    The Red Demon had her body split into several smaller mes that avoided the emerald st and then reformed a split secondter before ramming at Linnea again.

    This time, however, the Bastion was forced to a halt by the impact. The Headmistress was confused but she didn''t lose focus and kept attacking. Tista split her body and struck again, making the Bastion stop and tremble.

    "What the fuck?" Linnea saw cracks as thin as a hair in the barrier in front of her, but cracks nheless.

    ''I''m no different from Lith. Even if I''m not going to achieve the violet here, the closer I get to it, the more my mass approaches that of a Divine Beast.'' Tista used body casting non-stop not for the spells but to bring her life forces closer.

    Linnea had failed to notice it because the Red Demon had willingly kept the mes thatprised her bodypact and dense to the extreme. It allowed her to both hide her strategy and focus her attacks on a single point.

    Were Tista still flesh and blood, her body would have already surpassed 10 meters (33'') in height and her weight reached the tons. Thatbined with the Origin mes burning at the very essence of the Bastion dealt huge damage at each sh.

    "Stop running away! I know of your weakness. Phloria told us that once you turn into Ethereal Aegis you don''t know how to undo it. It''s only a matter of time before you copse!" Linnea yelled, hoping that desperation would mess up with Tista''s mind.

    Only a few of the dozens of spells that the Headmistress and her Forgotten cast reached the target, but with every hit, Tista''s life force burned faster.

    She replied by taking a deep breath, the mes of her body turning from bright blue into a mix of red fire and blue ice. When she shed with the Bastion, its surface froze and those inside had their sweat turn into ice.

    The cold stiffened their bodies and slowed their minds.

    Another sh and the ice was gone and with it every drop of humidity in the air. Their throats were parched, the air unbreathable, their tongues so swollen that they clogged the seven Awakened''s mouths.

    "I''m proud of being like Nana and even prouder of having learned from her mistakes." Tista said. "You managed to destroy her life only because she was alone whereas I''m not!"

    Dusk and Dawn galloped through her left wing while Bytra and Solus through the right. Tista and Nyka had often trained with Solus and all of their strategies involved all three of them.

    The re of True mes was a signal to regroup and converge.

    Cursed Blessing bestowed upon them the full power of the Frozen mes that wrapped around them from head to hoof. The Horsemen struck in unison, shattering the left side of the Bastion and killing two Forgotten.

    Solus focused the Blessing on her Hammers, unleashing the Furies'' Flight from the Fury and Ruination from the Absolution. Eighteen Davross hammers coated in Frozen mes destroyed the right side and pummelled at everyone inside.

    Tista''s body was nowprised solely of True mes and she released them as well before being consumed by them. Slowed by the cold, dehydrated from the heat, and beaten by the hammers, Linnea had barely the time to notice the iing st before being turned into cinders.

    "Help." Tista managed to say before fainting from exhaustion.

    Solus caught her on the fly and Bytra carried them out of the fight zone.

    "Remarkable. A bright blue dealing with violets is nothing to scoff at." The Raiju said.

    "Yeah, but it will be all for nothing if we don''t find a way to get inside the Golden Griffon." Solus nodded while leaving the unconscious Red Demon in a hopefully safe area.

    "Why have you brought us here, Saefel?" Tessa the Titania asked.

    "To show you the fight you have abandoned." Tyris replied.

    "We abandoned nothing." Fyrwal shook her head. "We came for Phloria and failed. Our fight is over."

    "Really?" The Guardian rose an eyebrow in disbelief. "Can''t you see what''s in front of you? The fight is not over. The members of every race are fighting to protect Valeron''s legacy. Those who married into his family."

    She pointed at Sylpha who was no match for a Divine Beast with her same equipment yet she refused to surrender.

    "Humans, beasts, nts, Awakened, Eldritches, Undead, Guardian candidates, and even traitors are giving their all." Tyris pointed at the Council''s army, Vastor''s hybrids, the Firstborns and the Horsemen, Lith and Solus, and Ac.

 Chapter 2349 Saefels Shield (Part 1)

    The traitorous Ranger had been deeply wounded more than once and would have died if not for Dawn''s Davross equipment yet he kept fighting. Not for glory or to be forgiven, but for himself.

    To see if there was still something of Zepho Ac under the rubble of Dawn''s host. To see if there was still a fire burning under the self-pity he had used to justify his shorings his whole life.

    "Even those who don''t amount to one of your fingers are giving their all to protect the people they love. Everyone but you." Lastly, Tyris pointed at Sentar the Thunderbird who empowered by the Awakened Forest fought by Marth''s side.

    "Get your filthy hands off my husband, you stupid piece of rock!" From below, Ryssa had rallied the nt folk of the forest and they were using their bloodline abilities to pull the ground off the Golden Knight''s feet.

    Vines and trees tried to hinder its movements while hills and cracks formed non-stop, but none was fast enough to impede the titan in his fight against the White Knight. Hystar needed but a stomp to ruin their work and crush them into bits.

    "Ryssa!" Waves of fear shook Marth''s very being at the thought that he might have just lost his wife and their son his mother.

    Luckily for him, nt folk were naturally hard to kill and Ryssa had the home advantage. The forest of the White Griffon found the bits of the nt folk and provided them with the nutrients and energy they needed to regenerate.

    "What do you expect us to do, exactly?" Fyrwal asked. "We have already tried and failed to fight that monster when we had armies at ourmand and several powerful bloodline abilities.

    "There''s so much chaos that finding three more people for the When All Are One array is impossible. Your Queen is fighting alone in the sky and without our trump card we have no chance of victory." Thrud''s Golden Griffon form was d in Davross and she used one bloodline ability after the other.

    To make matters worse, the lost academy was fueling her with a constant stream of power that made any wound she sustainedst but one second and have no consequence.

    Sylpha was doing her best, but with her size, she couldn''t open a wound deeper than a scratch.

    "I''m not asking you to win since even I don''t know if that''s possible. I''m asking you to fight for yourselves. For your legacy and Valeron''s." Tyris replied.

    "Why do you care? Sylpha is not of your blood. She''s no one." Tessa said.

    "And so was Valeron before meeting me. Before meeting you. Everyone knows him for who he became and yet they forget how he started. Now tell me, what would he do now?"

    Tessa gritted her teeth, seeing herself in the pointless struggle of the young Dryad below. Many she had loved and all she had lost before turning into the monster known as the Bewitching Demon.

    "Give up, you idiot." She mumbled under her breath, praying for Sylpha to admit defeat and run away from the unwinnable battle.

    Yet the Queen endured.

    A tiny little woman against a beast the like legends sang about.

    "Damn you, Saefel. I''m in." Fyrwal said.

    "Me too. We need two more people to help Valeron, but who do we pick?" Tessa''s slip of the tongue made Tyris'' happy but she said no more.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, city of Valeron, at the same time.

    From his surveince mirror, Meron could follow the fight from many angles thanks to the magical cameras all over the White Griffon. The only thing he could do with his weakened body was tomand the army from the safety of the capital.

    He had the War Mages and the Wardens keep away from the elemental sealing arrays of the Golden Griffon and support the Awakened troops from a distance. The Royal Array provided plenty of world energy that the mages of the Kingdom used to buy their allies the time they needed to use Invigoration.

    Despite that chaos, he never lost sight of Sylpha, praying in-between orders that she found a way to win. His hopested only until Thrud turned into a Golden Griffon. Then, the Queen''s mastery of the Royal de style became useless.

    Her Domination failed to override some of the spells now that Thrud imbued them with willpower. Her equipment was superior to the Mad Queen''s but not enough to make up for the bloodline abilities and the gap in their raw strength.

    Despite her considerable strength, Sylpha was a human whereas Thrud had be a Griffon, the mightiest of the Divine Beasts.

    "Dammit! Why hasn''t the Saefel Armor activated yet?" Meron felt a fit of cough raising but sheer willpower kept it at bay. "Damn you, Valeron! How could you be so stupid that you left us in a mess of your creation without giving us the means to face it?"

    The King mmed his fist against the armrest of the Royal Throne as hard as he could, but the enchantments of the room kept it unscathed. Meron kept hitting the relic of the First King, wishing to break it in an act of defiance.

    "I''m too weak to fight! I gave my life for that damn Forbidden Array. I sacrificed everything to protect your Kingdom! Then why isn''t that piece of shit activating? What more do you want from me?" The final strike didn''t break the throne, only Meron''s hand.

    His blood dripped from the skin of his knuckles, painting the armrest red.

    "What the fuck?" Meron stared at the droplets disappearing into what was supposed to be just gold-painted wood without leaving a trace. "Good gods! How stupid could Valeron''s descendants possibly be?

    "This crown, the lights, even this cursed throne, they all belonged to him and he was an Awakened. Now I understand the true meaning of the ritual of Blood! The reason we have only six academies even though Valeron knew there are seven elements!"

    Meron unsheathed the knife at his waist and cut his palm open like he had done just a few minutes ago for the ritual. This time, however, instead of spilling his blood on his own throne, he poured it on the Queen''s.

    An emerald pir burst out of the Royal Pce, finally bringing the Royal Array topletion.

    ***

    "What the heck?" The six Headmasters, Thrud, and Sylpha said in unison as the White Griffon burst again with a pir of white light.

    Each one of the remaining five great academies did the same and the six rays joined the oneing from the Royal Pce before plunging into the Saefel Armor. The blooding from Sylpha''s wounds mixed with the blood that Meron had smeared on the Saefel set, allowing the relic to recognize her as Valeron''s heir.

    The silvery ck of the Davross turned emerald and in the blink of an eye, Sylpha''s size matched Thrud. Just like the academies were linked to the Headmasters, the Saefel armor had reached its full size while allowing its master to control it like her own body.

    On top of that, the Royal Array fueled Sylpha with a constant stream of mana and elemental power that brought the Queen back to her peak condition.

 Chapter 2350 Saefels Shield (Part 2)

    "How can you be the Emerald Knight? We wear the same armor but only I carry the blood of Valeron!" Thrud said in outrage.

    "Because despite your pompous self-appointed title, you are no Queen." Sylpha replied. "You weren''t crowned in Valeron nor did you imprint the Royal Array and everything left by the First King.

    "I did, just like I imprinted the power cores of the six great academies the day after my wedding. All you have is your stolen set of equipment and the cursed academy that you imprinted.

    "Too bad that while Arthan was a coward and made it so that the power of the Golden Griffon would be split between him and his meat shields, Valeron was a true King! He fought his battles first-hand, never delegating or putting others into danger for his own ambitions."

    "Are you telling me that¡­" Thrud tried and failed toplete the sentence.

    Rarely would a Griffon experience despair but when they reached the white core, it would be a unique event. Yet that was how the Mad Queen felt and her throat was too tight to emit a single word.

    "Exactly. The power that the Golden Knight pours into you and your army, every single Knight pours it only into me. And that''s not all." An emerald sphere appeared in Sylpha''s left palm and when she clenched her fist, the sphere turned into a shield.

    An emerald shield made of pure Spirit Magic so dense that it had taken physical form.

    "There''s no such a thing as Saefel''s Shield because the Royals are the shield of the Kingdom. The Emerald Knight is supported by his six elemental Knights and in turn, they are the Saefel Shield of the Royal family!"

    The Queen moved on to the offensive, her body empowered to the point that the gap between her and the Mad Queen was gone. The six academies and the Royal Array they formed worked in a simr fashion to Silverwing''s fortress.

    Each one of them provided Sylpha with a constant stream of elemental energy that answered her will and was mixed with her mana, turning into Spirit Spells. Not only were they all Tower Tier, but the Queen could also instantly cast them as if they were bloodline abilities.

    With the Saefel Sword now matching Arthan''s and enveloped into a thickyer of Silverwing''s Annihtion, Sylpha''s mastery of the Royal de style immediately turned the tide of battle.

    "How can this be?" Tessa was bbergasted. "Howe not even I have ever heard about this?"

    "Because as long as Valeron had you guys, you were the only Royal Knights he needed." Tyris replied with a sad smile. "Valeron never intended to use the Royal Array himself. He was a true Awakened and a bright white core.

    "Yet he knew that he wouldn''t be there forever and that sooner orter his descendants should learn how to defend themselves. Valeron never meant to treat his children like helpless babies who needed his protection.

    "Before abdicating the throne, he left everything they might need, but none of it would work if they were cowardly or neglected their training. Were Sylpha a mediocre mage, the influx of power would have already killed her.

    "That''s the real point of the Royal Ordeal. That''s why only those I deem worthy can ascend to the throne."

    "Thanks for the history lesson." Fyrwal nodded. "Valeron, I mean the Queen doesn''t need us anymore but the kids do. I say we bring the When All Are One array topletion and bring in one member of each race."

    "I like how you think." The Titania nodded and Warped them both below.

    "We need three people. Care to join us?" She said to Vastor, Dawn, and Dusk.

    "Me? A hero? I thought I''d be damned before it happened. After Lith, I get to be Valeron as well." The Masterughed in disbelief.

    "Sure." The Horsemen said, yet they shuddered at the memory of Valeron''s de Spell cutting Dawn''s crystal asunder and almost killing her.

    "You? A hero?" Fyrwal said with a scoff. "Aside from Valeron, no one in our group has ever been one. We are a bunch of war criminals."

    "Then I''ll fit right in." Vastor nodded, yet his voice was still filled with pride at the idea of telling Zinya and the children how he had taken the First King''s ce in the legendary array.

    "Finally!" Lith sted away a Divine Beast and reached Bytra. "I can destroy the Golden Griffon, but only with your help."

    "Mind link." The Raiju nodded, not wishing to waste a single second.

    Lith shrunk to his human size, jumping on her back while pressing several runes on his contact amulet.

    "Marth, Vastor, dion. Here''s my n." He was still talking when Bytra bolted forward, moving so fast that only a trail of lightning marked her passage.

    "You heard the man!" Vastor yelled more orders in hismunication amulet as the When All Are One array took form.

    Thanks to the power of the Master''s cores, everyone exceeded the bright violet and had free ess to Chaos Magic. Dawn bestowed upon the group Light Mastery on a level unthinkable even for Manohar while Dusk was nowpletely free from his shackles.

    The When All Are One array now coursed with Life Maelstrom, Origin mes, and Doom Tide, making its members unstoppable war machines.

    They moved as one, keeping the formation tight and wiping Thrud''s troops out of the sky so that no one could disturb Lith''s search.

    ''Your Majesty, Verhen needs your help as well!'' Marth said via a mind link.

    The Royal Array transmitted not only the power of the White Knight but also his thoughts.

    "Glory to the Kingdom!" Sylpha charged at Thrud in response, using her shield to block both the spells conjured from Light Raider and those that were doubled by Phantom Echo.

    The Saefel''s Shield shattered and the Queen took considerable damage, but she could afford it. The six great academies empowered her and most importantly, without destroying the Golden Griffon there could be no victory.

    Thrud was pushed far and away, deeming Sylpha stupid for giving up on her advantage. She failed to notice that now the Queen stood between her and the lost academy, blocking her vision.

    "Don''t gloat yet. Energy cannot be destroyed, you know?" The Saefel''s Shield reformed in Sylpha''s left hand while with her right she performed a series of feints.

    Thrud failed to understand why no attack followed theplex maneuvers until she saw that each deceitful spin of the de generated a Tower Spirit spell.

    She activated the gems on the Arthan Sword to conjure counter-spells but Sylpha did the same, bringing them back to square one.

    At the same time, Bytra was running around the Golden Griffon in a spiral pattern while making sure to stay away from the tendrils of the Unwavering Loyalty array.

    ''Where next?'' She asked after moving past the Knight''s huge bottom.

    ''Sorry for the long shot, but that''s where I would have hidden the power core.'' Lith replied while holding the map of the Golden Griffon crafted 700 years ago by the Undead Courts.

    It only needed its master to be near the lost academy to show him everything past the walls and armor.

 Chapter 2351 Combined Assault (Part 1)

    ''A normal person would put the power core in the chest. It''s thergest and the best-protected part of the academy. Only an idiot would put it in the head. It''s exposed and if decapitated, the Golden Griffon would be a sitting duck.'' Lith said.

    ''So next stop the head.'' Bytra understood Lith''s reasoning.

    ''Yeah. Thrud isn''t dumb but she is cunning. She may have chosen a dumb spot to make it hard to predict.'' He replied.

    ''What the heck is Verhen doing?'' The security system showed Lith''s path to Hystar, but the Raiju moved so fast that by the time she was pinpointed, Bytra was already hundreds of meters away.

    On top of that, the Cursed Headmaster couldn''t focus on the mystery. Marth was attacking with everything he had and it was more than Hystar could take.

    ''If Lith seeds, there''s no point in saving my strength. I''ll make this fucker pay for attacking my wife!'' Marth snarled as his de locked the opponent''s, his shield pushed away Hystar''s, and his right leg bolted up like a whip.

    Marth''s kick struck the Golden Knight in the chin with his heel, the impact snapping the head up.

    Hystar staggered for a second, long enough for Marth to Blink behind him and perform a shoulder bash that sent the lost academy sprawling on the forest.

    "Tryughing now, you bastard!" Manohar''s spell, Supernova, appeared out of thin air.

    Yet instead of surrounding the fighters, the hard-light spheres encased the Golden Knight in a concentric formation. At a snap of Marth''s fingers, they imploded in unison, leaving Lith unscathed even though he was just centimeters away.

    Hystar, however, couldn''t say the same. The Mad Professor had developed several versions of Supernova and this one was designed for indoor fights while protecting his students.

    Casting Supernova in this form reduced its power while focusing it on a single opponent. Not a single iota of energy was lost, filling the Golden Griffon''s armor with thin cracks.

    Cracks that started to heal the moment Hystar regained his footing.

    "Idiot! Struggle all you want, we are both fueled by the Royal Array. Soon you''ll run out of energy and then I''ll destroy you!" The Cursed Headmaster roared.

    At the same time, Lith had finished scanning the head of the Golden Griffon, finding it empty.

    ''Chest it is.'' He said and Bytra followed his directions.

    For once luck didn''tugh in his face and he found the power core after scanning about 50% of the chest.

    ''There!'' Lith had the image of a huge X appear in front of Bytra''s eyes thanks to the mind link.

    The Headmaster''s office wasn''t in the ce of the heart but of the left lung.

    ''Copy that!'' The Raiju consumed most of the Life Maelstrom she had received from Nelia to cast a powerful Chaos Annihtion.

    She moved her head in a diagonal trajectory from down left to up and right, then all to the left and down again to the right.

    The X that Lith had telepathically shown her was now visible to everyone, carved in the armor by the Chaos spell.

    "That''s our cue!" Zoreth said as the fallen descendants of the six originals gods of magic assumed a formation that resembled the Big Dipper.

    It was centered around Vastor who acted as the seventh star.

    ''Gods if I''d love to call this Vastor''s Annihtion, but even I find it pretentious.'' He thought as they unleashed the Mirror World spell.

    Vastor had derived it from Silverwing''s legacy and just like the Hexagram, it was a hybrid between a spell and an array. Each Eldritch conjured a different Cursed Element while only the Master provided Spirit Magic.

    The seven pirs couldn''tbine due to the nature of Mirror Magic, but they still held tremendous power. They struck the same point in unison so that their chaotic and violent conflict would be focused on a single point.

    The st opened a hole in the armor of the Golden Griffon deep enough to reveal the academy inside. Lith didn''t waste time and jumped in, quickly followed by the Firstborns who had Spirit Warped behind him on his cue.

    "Magnificent!" Tessa said with an enraptured voice while looking at Vastor with new eyes.

    "Thanks, but I''m a married man." The When All Are One array carried the thoughts of its members, creeping Kelia and Nyka out but leaving the others indifferent.

    "Too bad." She shrugged and moved past the fleeting excitement.

    To nt folk and Fae, power was the greatest allure and the Master had proven to be a most charming man. Yet those feelings would fade as fast as they came unless nurtured.

    ''My Queen, Verhen is inside and so are Baba Yaga''s Firstborns. Something is wrong!'' Hystar tried to follow Lith, but Marth almost cut his armed limb off, forcing him to focus on the battler.

    "What do you think you are doing?" Thrud locked Sylpha''s sword, the Davross of the des screeching as it bent due to the massive pressure both sides exerted.

    "If you sit down and wait, I''ll dly exin everything to you." The Queen replied with a smirk, pushing the des to a side and shoving Thrud away with a shoulder bash.

    ''The Dungeon is that way. I have to go this way, instead.'' Lith said via a mind link.

    He couldn''t afford the risk of Hystar relocating the power core so he had to keep the map while dion would follow it via the telepathic channel. Luckily for dion, Lith had found the dungeon almost immediately during the scan so it was visible on the map as well.

    ''Solus?''

    ''Almost done.'' She had started adding the self-destruction spell for the academy inside the Mouth of Menadion the moment Lith had spotted the Headmaster''s office.

    Until that moment, she had kept one slot ready for a Disarray in case Bytra was caught in the Unwavering Loyalty array and Ruin in the other slot because why not.

    The hole they had entered from was already closing and the walls of the academy were shrinking in the attempt to squash Lith like a bug.

    Unfortunately for Hystar, the Tiamat wasn''t Bytra but he was still incredibly fast. On top of that, he was free to focus on the path ahead whereas the Cursed Headmaster was beaten up every time he got distracted in the attempt to block Lith.

    Marth was relentless, burning the entire energy reserve of the White Griffon in a seamless onught. On top of that, his strikes were aimed at the joints and he came close to severing the arms of the Golden Griffon more than once.

    ''Dammit! If I don''t stop Verhen, he''ll reach the power core of the academy. On the other hand, if I don''t stop Marth, he''ll cut off my limbs.

    ''Once Iy defenseless on the ground, all he has to do is to sever the Headmaster''s office from the Golden Griffon to turn the entire academy into a sitting duck!'' Hystar thought and he was right.

    He had understood Lith''s n to perfection when it was toote to stop him. Sylpha blocked Thrud, while Marth kept Hystar on his toes, leaving Lith free to advance.

 Chapter 2352 Combined Assault (Part 2)

    Or rather, that was how things were supposed to go.

    Hystar shared not only a tower-like bond with Thrud''s Generals, but also a mind link. In the face of defeat, he had turned off the Static Field array and sent to the Divine Beasts the dimensional coordinates of the power core along with an SOS.

    When Lith burst the door of the office open, he found several Divine Beasts waiting for him, though they were beaten and battered. The fight with the Council first and then with Vastor had drained their strength to the point that even Invigoration had a limited effect.

    Yet they were all back to their best condition possible and coursing with the little Life Maelstrom they had left.

    ''For Phloria.'' Lith and Solus thought in unison.

    The limited space actually yed to their advantage, making the enemy''s numerical advantage of little relevance. Solus activated the Mouth which started to weave the academy-destruction spell on its own, requiring no focus on her side.

    The runes formed as if someone was reading them from a parchment without even bothering to understand their meaning. At the same time, she unleashed the Furies'' Flight while Lith cast Ruin all around himself.

    He and Solus had the same energy signature so their respective spells didn''t bother them or each other.

    The Divine Beasts, however, weren''t so lucky. Even with the Golden Griffon raising its floor and lowering the ceiling to protect them, the red-ck fire still bit deep into their flesh.

    The nine hammers of the Furies rode Ruin''s storm, using its momentum to st through the enchanted stone and pummel at the Generals.

    Origin mes shed against Origin mes into violent explosions, but while Solus only had to get back into her ring to escape the congration, the other Divine Beasts could only suffer more damage.

    From there, Solus kept focusing on the Mouth and healing Lith so that once the smoke dissipated, he was back at full strength while the others were still shaken by the st.

    "I admit that you are full of tricks, but that''s not enough. There''s strength in numbers!" Iata said while conjuring hard-light constructs to both shield and heal her allies.

    She moved into close quarters, using her ws and scorpion tail to perform attacks from opposite directions at the same time.

    "I couldn''t agree more." Trion came out of his Void Sigil, stabbing at the Sekhmet''s side with a poison-coated healing dagger.

    The light magic imbued in the de closed the wound, draining Iata''s stamina and spreading the poison through her system. It was a neurotoxin that blocked her nerves, paralyzing her.

    For a Divine Beast who was a Light Master, it would take a few seconds with light fusion to cleanse the poison, but during those seconds she was slow and clumsy.

    War had never forgiven nor forgotten the day of Phloria''s death. The mourning de hated every single one of Thrud''s soldiers with a vengeance and expressed that hate through its edge.

    It turned into many small des that spun like a buzzsaw, cutting through the armor and ripping Iata''s flesh off, leaving behind a hole so big that not even Invigoration could close it.

    Many Divine Beasts tried to stop Lith but one of his Demons emerged from a Sigil, poisoning them every time. War needed but one small opening to cut down their heads and numbers.

    When they were about to surround him, Solus emerged as well, sucker-punching them from impossible angles or dishing out spells that not even Life Vision could predict.

    "Just keep him away!" They raised a Spirit Wall that sealed Lith on the opposite side from the power core.

    ''Fine by me.'' Lith thought while his mouth chanted the next string of runes.

    Solus was already triple casting from her ring whenever she could to speed up the destruction spell stored inside the Mouth. A physical copy was also stored inside Soluspedia so that she had no need to memorize the runes.

    Lith joined her, bringing it to heptacasting.

    "What is he doing?" A Fenrir asked.

    The Generals joined their forces and created severalyers of barriers to keep the Tiamat at bay, but he didn''t seem to mind.

    "Who cares! We just need to buy time until the White Griffon runs out of steam. At that point-" Rayne choked on her words when the lost academy started to tremble with such violence that she thought the fight had reached its apex.

    What was happening, instead, was the destruction spell reaching its second half.

    Hystar wailed in pain, feeling the flow of world energy from the mana geysers and the Royal Array turning into poison that coursed through his system and flooded every stone of the Golden Griffon.

    The walls, floor, and ceiling started to crack open yet there was no trace of the self-repair spell that had protected the lost academy from the passing of time and enemy strikes alike.

    "Good gods, it''s a Forgemastering spell!" Rimo the Fire Dragon said after his Eyes read enough runes to understand what Lith was weaving. "Verhen''s previous raid didn''t fail. He knows how to destroy the academy.

    "We need to stop him!"

    s, Marth waited for no one. The more the spell nearedpletion, the slower Hystar be. The Headmaster of the White Griffon had fallen into a controlled frenzy that allowed him to strike as precisely as violently.

    The shield-bearing arm of the Golden Knight fell first, followed by the hand holding the de. Then Marth conjured dozens of Tower Tier spells aimed at every part of the lost academy but the Headmaster''s office.

    The quake became so intense that the Divine Beasts couldn''t even stand so they had to fly. They bolted at Lith, tearing down the defenses they had painstakingly built. Or at least, they tried.

    Reality and Domination hit them in the face, locking them in the wrong half of the room.

    ''Learn Domination all you want. Your resurrection chamber is not going to work this time.'' Lith thought as his Spirit Eye and Solus'' emerald streakbined their strength to force the barrier to submit to their will.

    ''No, this can''t be right. I''m supposed to be eternal!'' With thest of his strength, Hystar Warped Meln Narchat, his equipment, and his steed as far as he could. ''If Verhen is going to be the Scourge of the True Queen, then may Narchat be the Curse of his existence!''

    A few secondster, Lith was done and the spell wasplete.

    The power core of the Golden Griffon imploded on itself and then exploded. The st killed all the Divine Beasts in the Headmaster''s office and it would have threatened Lith''s life as well if not for the thick Spirit Barriers that now were under his control.

    He focused on holding them together while Solus quickly weaved a Warp Steps leading back to their original position.

    He stepped through the dimensional door in time to see the Golden Knight disappear in a burst of mes and stones. Hundreds of lights came out of the rubble and darted toward the sky.

    The souls of the Forgotten had been locked out of their bodies and trapped inside the lost academy for centuries but they were finally free.

 Chapter 2353 Victors And Spoils (Part 1)

    ''Never again.''

    ''I beg you.''

    Free atst''.''

    A choir of voices prayed for the living to learn from the mistakes of the past as they faded away, free to move on.

    "No, no, no!" Thrud yelled in despair as the destruction of the Golden Griffon was apanied by the disappearance of the flow of world energy that empowered her and her army.

    Without the resurrection chamber, she was no longer immortal and every fallen soldier would stay dead.

    "Cry me a river, bitch!" Sylpha cut the Mad Queen''s head off, her prowess now leagues above her enemy''s.

    "Please, let me at least check that my son is alright." The regenerative powers of the white core allowed Thrud to reattach her head to the neck and beg for the sake of Valeron the Second.

    "You never cared for the children of others. This is for Phloria Ernas!" A st of emerald energy destroyed the Arthan Set and most of the Mad Queen''s body, killing her on the spot.

    The Davross of her equipment, however, quickly reformed thanks to the self-repairing properties of the magical metal. Thrud, instead, remained dead.

    "It''s over. Surrender or die!" Sylpha''s voice echoed throughout the battlefield putting an end to the War of the Griffons.

    The Forgotten had died along with the Golden Griffon, leaving behind only the Awakened who had willingly joined Thrud.

    They fell onto their knees and dropped their weapons, knowing that all was lost. Without the True Queen and her academy, defiance would only put Valeron the Second''s life in danger.

    "Seriously, what about the baby?" Sylpha asked Lith who shrugged in reply.

    "We can ask Leegaain." He pointed at the group of Guardians who were still watching the events.

    "Valeron the Second is safe." The Father of all Dragons said. "He is my grandchild and he isn''t responsible for any of this. He''s under my protection."

    "But-"

    "I allow that." Tyris said, cutting Sylpha short.

    "Also, I''m going to take this as well." Leegaain picked up the Arthan set and had it float by his side. "This child is doomed to be haunted by the crimes of his ancestors. Valeron has already lost both of his parents and once he grows up, the entire Garlen will be his enemy.

    "I won''t allow him to lose the only thing he has left of his mother, no matter how bad she was."

    "I agree." Tyris nodded again. "The Arthan set is a miracle of magic and it''s neither good nor bad by itself. I hope that one day, Valeron the Second will prove to be worthy of the name he carries and find a way to redeem the mad blood that flows through his veins."

    Lith and Sylpha didn''t like the idea of losing such a prize one bit, especially Lith. The Arthan set consisted of tons of purified Davross that Sark could recycle for him. s, arguing with the Guardians was a waste of time.

    ''Grandma is nodding as well. If I piss her off, I can kiss my Creation Magic lessons goodbye.'' Lith thought.

    "My Queen, there''s more." General Vorgh said.

    "Good or bad news?" Sylpha panted like a bellows despite the Mother Earth potion and the Royal Array still being active.

    "That''s for you to decide." His white beard was caked with blood and sweat, but his blue eyes had lost none of their vigor during the battle.

    The Queen waved at Lith to follow her. Her intention was to share with him the glory of the victory since his allies had yed a huge role in the battle yet had already left. The Master and his hybrids had Warped away in order to keep their identity a secret.

    A short flight brought them to a group of Council elders surrounding the kneeling figure of a human-sized Seven Headed Dragon.

    "This guy surrendered to us even before Thrud''s death." Fe the Behemoth said. "The moment his unit scattered due to our Annihtion, he dropped his equipment and turned himself in.

    "He even helped us a bit during the final phase of the battle."

    "Exin yourself, creature." Sylpha took off her helm to look Ufyl in one pair of eyes.

    "There''s not much to exin. Phloria''s death opened my eyes. I understood that despite all her superficial kindness, Thrud had experimented on us no differently than Xedros. She had us trapped in a nice lie, but a lie nheless." The Dragon replied.

    "I kept fighting on her side solely because if I were to voice my doubts, she would have just enved me. As soon as I found a way out, I took it. I''d rather die a free Dragon by your hand than live forever like a mindless pawn at Thrud''s service."

    "A wise decision." Sylpha nodded. "Nheless, you aided and abetted Thrud-"

    "I invoke the treaty between the Kingdom and the Council." Ufyl cut her short. "I was once a Hydra who abandoned his bloodline because they abandoned me first. I ask my kin for asylum and offer my services in exchange for sparing my life."

    "That''s not up to you to decide!" The Queen snarled. "You''ll be trialed like everyone else. Saying ''I''m sorry'' changes nothing. You have to answer for the people you killed and the property you destroyed."

    "Yet it''s up to us." Fe stood between Ufyl and Sylpha. "Elder Fyrwal Nyxdra. This is a controversy between the Kingdom and the Council and you are the best-suited person among us to determine its oue.

    "Elder Nyxdra belongs to the Hydra bloodline, the Awakened Council, and is also one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom. Queen Sylpha, do you agree?"

    "I do, Representative Fe." Sylpha swallowed her pride, knowing that she couldn''t afford to make an enemy of both the Council and the founding pirs in such a delicate moment of the Kingdom.

    "Know that your service mightst decades. Maybe centuries if not even until your death of old age. Do you still ept?" Fyrwal came down from the sky apanied by Faluel and Tessa.

    "I do." Ufyl nodded. "Today I was supposed to die. Every day will be a gift but one that I can easily refuse the moment I change my mind. Until that moment, I need time to think about what I''ve done and what I can do to make amends for it."

    "Then I hereby ept his offer." The Elder Hydra nodded.

    "Are you sure?" Sylpha frowned in annoyance. "A traitor is still a traitor and I think he''s getting away too easily."

    "There''s nothing easy in Ufyl''s life. He was abused and experimented upon by his Awakened master. Then manipted by Thrud. His actions are inexcusable but understandable." Fyrwal replied.

    "On top of that, by studying his condition, we might discover a way to further our own evolution. What Thrud achieved with Forbidden Magic means that there is a path still avable to Hydras to be Dragons.

    "Her Madness demanded a terrible price to take the easy way, but there must also be a hard way. The right way. Something that maybe only the most talented or lucky among Hydras can achieve, but it would still be better than nothing.

    "Stand up, Ufyl the Hydra, and wee back to the family."

    Fyrwal helped him to get up and hugged him while turning her skin into scales.

 Chapter 2354 Victors And Spoils (Part 2)

    Hydras could share emotions just like Dragons, but only among the members of their race.

    Ufyl broke into tears, crying in joy at the idea that he wouldn''t die that day.

    "The Beast Council approves." Fe nodded.

    "The Human Council approves." Raagu followed suit.

    Thrud had found a way to evolve herself along with the Emperor Beasts. Raagu''s hope was that by studying Ufyl''s condition, humans could learn how to evolve as well.

    "She epted to go out with me. What she said." Inxialot beamed with joy.

    "The nt Council approves." Lotho actually didn''t, but he was already outvoted, and voicing his grievances would have gained him nothing.

    Emperor Beasts learning how to be Divine Beasts would further skew the Council''s bnce in their favor, yet Lotho could only suck it up and smile.

    "Anything else?" Sylpha asked, her patience running thin.

    ''I need to call Meron and make sure that the emerald pir didn''t originate from him. What if his life span shortened again? Good gods, how can Verhen and his wife live with this?'' She turned to Lith, empathizing with his condition.

    "Yes." Vorgh nodded. "This is good news for sure. We searched through the rubble of the Golden Griffon for something useful and we found this!"

    The old and short General took a block of Davross out of his dimensional amulet.

    Lith recognized it immediately as the one he had found during one of his trips in Huryole as a Ranger.

    "That''s it? It''s not even purified." The Queen sighed.

    "It''s still Davross and lots of it." Vorgh blinked several times in confusion.

    "I appreciate your concern, Brigadier General, but the Royal Treasury is not that desperate for resources and the Kingdom has plenty of mines." Sylpha shook her head. "Supreme Magus Verhen, it''s yours if you want it."

    "You found and reported that Davross forge first. You raided the lost academy twice and brought it down. This treasure belongs to you."

    "I gracefully ept your gratitude, Your Majesty." Lith enthusiastically rapped his breastte and gave her a deep bow as the Davross block disappeared in his pocket dimension.

    "That''s just the beginning." Sylpha shook her head. "With the War of the Griffons over, there''s no more reason to dy our respective promises. You are going to help us to create trains, Tablets, and write down the principles of Void Magic in a way that anyone can learn it.

    "The Crown will finish building your mansion and see you properlypensated for your efforts. Go home, Supreme Magus Verhen. You''ve earned it."

    "Wait a second. Where''s dion? Where''s my sister?" Lith turned around left and right, searching for them in the crowd.

    "Right here." Nyka came forward while carrying the still unconscious Tista in a princess carry.

    A fifth eye was open on Tista''s left cheek, shining with the power of the air element.

    dion walked by the young Vampire''s side and was followed by several undead.

    "How can you walk under the daylight?" Sylpha said in shock.

    "Thanks to me." Nyka''s features shifted into Dawn''s for a split second and her crystal protruded from her chest. "I''m the Horseman of Dawn."

    "I''m sorry, Lith." dion ignored the Queen''s ensuing barrage of questions. His allegiancey solely with the Eclipsed Lands and his deal with the Empress gave him diplomatic immunity.

    "I tried searching for your brother, but the Golden Griffon exploded before we could find him."

    "Search for Meln Narchat, now!" Sylpha turned pale and focused on real problems. "He''s still alive and must be somewhere around here. Keep the kill scrolls at hand."

    "Thanks, dion." Lith was very tired and with the full force of the Kingdom and the Council already searching for Orpal, he knew there wasn''t much he could do. "What now?"

    ''If Meln is still alive he''s either unconscious and they''ll find him, or he has already Warped away under the cover of the chaos of battle.'' Lith''s pessimistic nature told him it was thetter. ''The explosion was nowhere strong enough to kill a Horseman.

    ''Worst case scenario, the moment Night got reconnected to her steed, she Warped thousands of kilometers from here.''

    "I upheld my word to my fellow undead and the threat to the Eclipsed Lands is over. Now it''s time for me to go home. I suggest you to do the same." The Firstborn Vampire said.

    "Except Lith isn''t done." Leegaain descended from the sky with Milea, Sark, and two stunningly beautiful handmaidens by his side.

    The Mother of All Phoenixes carried Shargein while the Father of All Dragons carried Valeron the Second.

    "I''m sorry to rush you but I need to hear your answer now."

    Lith shuddered at the sight of the baby. His smell reminded the Tiamat of Jormun and Thrud. Neither was pleasant.

    The first conjured the illusion of the blood of the Emerald Dragon drenching his right hand while thetter triggered his recent trauma, making his whole arm feel sticky and wet from Phloria''s blood.

    Lith stepped close to the Guardian and tried to caress the baby.

    His hand started to shake and his stomach to churn, forcing him to move back or puke his guts out.

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t. Phloria died a few days ago and I''m still haunted by the memory of what Thrud made me do. If I take Valeron, I would do wrong to both of us.

    "He deserves loving parents who will love him like every child needs, not a reluctant stepfather who would make him feel unwanted." Lith shook his head. "If I may, I have a request."

    "Name it." Leegaain nodded. "Jormun entrusted Valeron to you. Yours is the final word."

    "I want you and Grandma to take care of him for me until I will be ready." Lith turned toward Sark. "One of you might repeat the mistakes of the past, but I''m sure that together you''ll do a great job.

    "Also, Shargein can use a ymate and someone who can understand his struggles."

    "I ept as well." Sark nodded. "What about the handmaidens?"

    "Valeron will need humans to appreciate his mother''s side and someone he knows to not be shocked by the sudden changes in his life. Please, my Queen, spare them as well." Lith said to Sylpha.

    She was being red at by four Guardians which was the closest thing to Death hugging her and giving her a business card.

    "The Crown approves." Sylpha nodded like a frenzied parrot.

    "You are wee to visit at all times, loving finch." The Overlord said. "Valeron the Second may be my stepson, but he''s also your grandchild. Gods, our family tree has just gotten even more messed up."

    "Thanks, noisy sparrow." Tyris took the small Bahamut in her arms and he cooed in joy, mistaking her for his mother. "I''ll always be there for you, little one. I promise."

    The baby biologically was her grandchild and smelled no different from a Griffon. He also smelled of Valeron the like she hadn''t experienced in 700 years.

    "Is there anything else? I really want to go home and kiss my wife." Lith sighed as the adrenaline of battle started to fade and exhaustion to kick in.

    Sylpha turned to Vorgh who shook his head before joining the search party for the Dead King.

 Chapter 2355 Unbreakable (Part 1)

    "Do you need a ride?" Sark asked, beaming with joy for the trust that Lith put in her and the new member of the family.

    "Thank you, Grandma." Lith embraced her.

    He felt so tired and disgusted from all the bloodshed that even the thought of looking for a geyser made him want to puke. He felt cold and dark whereas Sark was warm and bright.

    Lith felt terrible at the idea of all the people who had lived inside the Golden Griffon. The people he had killed along with Hystar.

    "I have something to do in the Empire." Leegaain said. "You go first. I''ll join you as soon as I can."

    A Warp brought him, Milea, Tyris, and Valeron right inside his secretir.

    There, Leari the Thunderborne, Protheus the Doppelganger, and every one of Thrud''s unique creations were waiting for the Guardian of Knowledge.

    "What the fuck?" Milea said in shock. "How could these bastards escape from the Kingdom and reach the Empire so quickly?"

    "They didn''t. I brought them here." Leegaain replied.

    "He''s the world''s keeper, child." Tyris answered her silent question. "Leegaain''s duty is to preserve the knowledge that would otherwise be lost and the creatures that Mogar''s people aren''t ready to ept."

    "Let me get this straight. If Fyrwal showed no mercy, you would have saved Ufyl too, correct?" The Empress asked.

    "That''s right." Leegaain nodded. "They are unique beings and have no fault in the way they were born. They have been lied to and manipted their whole life. I am going to let them live but they''ll have to earn their freedom.

    "Until I''m certain that Thrud''s brainwashing is gone and that they have paid for their crimes, they are not going anywhere."

    "There''s no point in keeping me alive. Just kill me already." Protheus sobbed. He had no heart, but Thrud''s death seemed to hurt as if someone was ripping it out of his chest anyway.

    "Really? Would you abandon your brother?" Leegaain showed him the small Valeron who giggled at him.

    "My liege!" The Divine Beasts said in unison.

    "Brother!" The Doppelganger jumped up and hugged the baby, his tears now of joy.

    "Don''t be so quick to give up on life. You are a baby as well, barely older than Valeron." Leegaain patted Protheus'' head. "You''ve known nothing but Thrud''s teachings. She may have been a good mother to you, but she was a bad person.

    "Her rage and madness infected you for so long that you consider them normal. You and your children need time to see Mogar with your own eyes. To lift the veil with which Arthan''s daughter clouded your judgement."

    "My children?" Protheus echoed in disbelief.

    Then, he saw them. The other Doppelgangers who had been born from him were all there, rescued from the ruins of the Golden Griffon as well.

    They screamed in joy and relief seeing both their father and their uncle alive and well.

    "I wouldn''t doom a race like that." Leegaain shook his head. "Wee home, children."

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Essar Region, Orpal kept crying on the ground.

    "Enough torture. I beg of you. Make it stop." It wasn''t the first time that Thrud created aplex illusion to fool him into believing to be free.

    Then, she would appear when he was at the peak of his happiness and beat him into a pulp until he lost his mind in despair.

    "This is no illusion, you cretin!" Night took over, using the abundant darkness energy to recover her strength and Moonlight to regenerate their body. "We are free. Truly free! I can even hear the call of my mother and siblings!"

    ''I don''t care. Please, let me die.'' Orpal moaned.

    ''Dammit, Thrud broke him for good.'' The Horseman thought. ''To make matters worse, he''s been stuck at the deep blue until now. During our imprisonment, Lith has be so strong that in the final moments of the Golden Griffon, I could feel his power despite the seals on our cell.

    ''I no longer have my Undead Court, my resources are gone, and my host is a hot mess. Yet I''m free and time is the only thing I have plenty of.''

    ***

    Heavenly Plume Pce, Blood Desert, at the same time.

    Sark Warped in her living room, where Lith''s friends and family were waiting for him, Solus, and Tista to return.

    "We won." Was all that Lith said and it was enough to make the room almoste down from cheers and stomping.

    "My babies! My beautiful babies." Elina rushed forward, checking Lith, the still unconscious Tista, and Trion for injuries. "Are you alright?"

    "I''m just tired, Mom." Lith sat down, his eyes drooping.

    "Where''s Solus?" Raaz asked.

    "Right here." Lith raised his hand and showed the stone ring. "She''s tired as well and without a geyser, she can''t take human form."

    "Do you mind some help?" Sark offered her hand and he gave her the ring.

    A secondter, the ring was above a powerful geyser and after another second the tower took form. Solus was in her bedroom, already asleep.

    "There you are!" Kam rushed to Lith, jumping into his arms before kissing him. "I was worried sick. You should have called me as soon as the battle was over."

    "I know, I''m sorry. Where have you been?" He asked.

    "I was busting my ass, just like you." She showed him one of the many books about names that she had been consulting in his absence. "I think I''ve found a name for our daughter.

    "Elysia. It belongs to a legendary goddess of the Desert and means ''sunshine''. Just like our baby and her pendant. What do you say?"

    "Elysia Phloria Verhen." Lith said while moving his gaze from his mother to Sark.

    The room burst into cheers and his parents were honored by the baby being named after Elina. Sark was honored as well because it wasn''t just a name that belonged to her country, it was also one of her old alter egos. But that''s a story for another day.

    As for Lith, just saying Phloria''s name sent a pang through his chest yet it quickly faded. She was gone, but she would never be forgotten. Her memory would live on with his daughter.

    "Most fitting. You''ve done a great job so far, Kami. I can''t wait to meet the final result of your opus." Lith gently caressed Kam''s womb before giving her a sweet kiss.

    "Me too." She gave him a soft smile. "Do you need help to get to bed? You can use some rest."

    "I need help, but not for that. Please, wake up Solus for me." Lith suddenly turned dark, his face twisted by pain.

    Even with Nandi fueling her and the Life Maelstrom, Solus was still a blue core. Fighting for so long had taken a huge toll on her body just like killing so many innocents weighed on her mind.

    "Whatever this is, can''t it wait?" Solus'' frown turned upside down the moment her family embraced her and weed her back.

    "No, it can''t. We can''t." Lith shook his head. "Kami, the lily pendant, please."

    "Are you sure? Do you want to do it now?" She took the golden ne out of her dimensional amulet and put it on his palm.

 Chapter 2356 Unbreakable (Part 2)

    "It''s not that I want to. I have to. I failed my vow by not saving Phloria but now I have fulfilled it by avenging her. Thrud took Phloria away from us and I took away everything she had. It won''t bring Phloria back, but it''s the best trade I could get.

    "I''m now at peace with myself and ready to bid her goodbye. If I don''t, the hole in my heart left by her death will never start to heal." Lith said.

    "About that, where''s Valeron the Second?" Kam''s tone sounded casual but she was inwardly worried about the baby and how he would upend the life as they knew it.

    "I''m sorry for deciding it by myself, Kami, but I had to." Lith took her hand and shared the recent events with a mind link.

    "You did the right thing. I''m proud of you." She clenched his hand, helping him to stand up.

    Sark opened a Gate for them that led directly inside the Ernas Mansion and outside the Mausoleum where Jirni and Orion stood guard in their Royal Fortress armor. Tyris herself was there, keeping thempany in silence.

    They raised their weapons at the Gate and quickly lowered them as soon as Jirni and Orion recognized their friends. They nodded at Kam and Solus, but Lith was the one they were staring at.

    ''I wish I could tell them how sorry I am.'' Solus thought while clenching her hands. ''I wish I could open my heart about how much Phloria meant to me and how many moments we have shared together since the academy, but that would raise questions I can''t answer.''

    She had not been able to give a eulogy during the funeral and even now Solus was forced to hide her own grief. She knew and cared about Jirni and Orion as much as Lith, yet to them, she was still a stranger.

    "It''s done." Lith answered their gazes. "Thrud is dead and so is everyone involved in Phloria''s kidnapping. The Golden Griffon is destroyed and the Kingdom is now at peace."

    He opened his hand, showing them the golden lily pendant.

    "I gifted it to Phloria back when we were together and she gave it back to me after my marriage. Yet I feel that it doesn''t belong to me. Even when Phloria was enved by the Unwavering Loyalty array, she kept looking at it.

    "When she turned into a Demon, I could feel that she longed for it. This pendant isprised of a few grams of gold and some of the happiest memories of my life. I want Phloria to have it.

    "I don''t want to risk that her spirit might linger instead of finding peace."

    "Thank you." Orion said, his eyes tearing up and his voice cracking. "Thank you for avenging my Little Flower."

    Itsted only for a moment. Then, he remembered that he still had several children and that they might be the next. Orion''s heart hardened again and his determination to Awaken became stronger.

    "I don''t want to sound ungrateful but before putting the pendant in Phloria''s tomb, I''d like you to try and summon her." Jirni didn''t falter.

    Her face showed no emotion for Thrud''s defeat nor hope for the summon.

    "Sure." Lith shapeshifted into his Abomination form, letting the Void take the wheel. "Phloria Ernas, if you can hear me, please answer my call!"

    His voice sounded like a guttural howl yet it was filled with pain and grief. Countless chains burst from his body and scoured Mogar for a trace of Phloria''s soul. Out of the blue, one of the chains plunged inside Tyris'' chest and then into Orion''s.

    From there, it bolted toward one of the tombs inside the mausoleum, yet it wasn''t Phloria''s.

    Juria Ernas came out of the darkness, her white eyes crying tears of Decay that turned into sparkles of light the moment they rolled off her cheek.

    "It''s nice to see you again, Saefel. Orion, my child, you have my deepest condolences for your loss." The founder of house Ernas fell onto her knees and mmed her head against the ground in penance. "It''s all my fault.

    "In my ipetence, I thought that by keeping my descendants out of the Awakenedmunity I also would keep them safe. If it wasn''t for me, your ancestors would have reached their true potential and you would now have the power to save the members of our family."

    The Void went pale, having no clue what was happening and Tyris managed to get even paler.

    "Juria?" The Guardian stuttered the name. "Is that really you?"

    "Juria the Unbreakable?" Orion fell onto the ground, his knees too weak to stand.

    "Yes. I''vee because Phloria couldn''t make it. She is still troubled by her new condition anding back might have broken her. Yet your grief causes her great pain and she was willing to risk everything to deliver you one final message." Juria replied.

    "Yet I couldn''t allow it. I''m the Matriarch of the Ernas. The death of every one of you is my failure so I came here in her stead."

    The spirit of Juria was unstable, flickering in and out of existence. Lith could feel through the chain that every second cost her great pain, both physical and psychological.

    "What do you mean?" Jirni asked.

    "This world is beautiful but terrible. Once you get here, you remember all the pain and the struggle that living demands. If Phloria came back, her bonds might have forced her to stay, maybe even for millennia, before she managed to find her way again." Juria said.

    "Now please, take my hand and receive her message."

    Orion and Jirni exchanged a quick look and thenplied.

    The mind link didn''t transmit words but feelings and images. Wherever Phloria was, she wasn''t alone. She was at peace, the only source of distress was the grief of her parents and siblings.

    In the message, Phloria expressed all the love that she had failed to convey to them during her life.

    All the words she had never found the courage to say. Jirni and Orion cried as they now knew for certain how much their daughter loved them and how thankful she was for having them in her life.

    "I love you too, baby girl." Jirni sobbed. "You don''t have to worry about me anymore. Mommy will live strong and will protect your siblings."

    "Goodbye, my Little Flower." Orion said amid hups. "I''m sorry for losing you so soon, but every single moment we spent together lit my life with joy. Even if I could turn back time, even if I knew there was no way to avoid your death, I would do everything all over again.

    "Rest in peace and don''t worry about Lucky. I''ll take care of him for you."

    "Thank you." Juria said. "I''ll give her your message just like I gave you hers. Goodbye. You have my blessing."

    The Demon cut the chain connecting her to Lith and faded away.

    "It''s unlikely to seed, but since Juria answered my call, do you want me to try and conjure Valeron?" Lith asked with the Void''s voice.

    Tyris'' heart was torn between the desire to see her beloved again and the wish for him to be at peace wherever he was.

 Chapter 2357 Goodbye, Good Night (Part 1)

    Tyris had a hard choice to make, yet the answer came unexpectedly easy.

    "Thank you, Lith, but no." She shook her head. "You''ve seen how much Juria suffered by being here. I''ve probably worried Valeron for centuries by never letting go of him.

    "Forcing him toe back would be as cruel as dangerous."

    "What do you mean, dangerous?" Lith said.

    "Valeron was a white core and bing one of your Demons would give him a ck core." Tyris replied. "If he manages to fuse them, he might not need your assistance to stay here anymore."

    "Really?" Lith''s eyes went wide in disbelief.

    "It''s a risk I''m not going to take." Tyris nodded. "The pain from being back to life and his love for me might also drive him insane. Saefel''s Set or not, you don''t want to have Valeron as an enemy.

    "The form he acquired after achieving the white core was truly powerful. Worthy of the King of mankind."

    "What are you talking about?" Lith projected an image of Valeron from the historical archives that looked no different from a normal man.

    "Silly child." The Great Mother giggled. "Thrud evolved into a Golden Griffon upon reaching the white. Baba Yaga evolved from an Odi into a Sun Weaver. Why does no one ever wonder what Valeron and Lochra have be?"

    "What did Valeron be?" Lith echoed.

    "A better man. That was his hope and how he called his form." Tyris said with a sigh. "In a way, he looked like you, just not so gloomy."

    "Like this?" Lith waved at his Abomination form in amazement.

    "Gods, sometimes I wish you really belonged to my bloodline instead of Sark''s."

    "Because it would give you someone of Valeron''s blood who can understand you and be close to you? Lith asked.

    "No, because it would make everyone crap their pants at the idea of you bing King. It would be hrious." Tyris chuckled. "Valeron too wouldugh his ass off if he were still alive.

    "The rumors about the two of us sleeping together, however, would greatly anger him."

    "Well, I''m no King material, that''s for sure." Lith shrugged.

    "And neither was Valeron. He just pointed the way and hoped for the others to follow him." She replied.

    "Yeah, but at what price?" Lith shapeshifted into his human form, lowering his eyes to the golden lily pendant in his hand. "I''m sorry, but now I have to do this."

    Lith stepped through the door of the mausoleum, walking for the first andst time in front of Phloria''s tomb. There were candles lit for her and a small stone tray for offerings.

    He left the pendant there, closing his eyes and remembering the day he had gifted it to Phloria and how happy it had made her. Even after the breakup, she had never taken the lily pendant off.

    Until her final moment, Phloria had never stopped to believe in Lith and him in her.

    "Goodbye, Phloria Ernas. Goodnight, my Little Flower." Lith allowed a single tear to stream down his eyes, leaving it along with the pendant as his tribute to her memory.

    ***

    Inside Leegaain''s biome, at the same time.

    It hadn''t taken long for the Divine Beasts'' relief at being alive to turn into rage for the defeat of Thrud''s army and scorn for those who, like Ufyl, had surrendered. Or better, that was what Leari the Thunderborne felt and she expected her brethren to do the same.

    Yet they just sat aroundzily, their eyes devoid of any emotion.

    "How can you be like that? Valeron the Second is still alive. We can still fight for the true heir to the throne and fulfill Thrud''s dream!" She said at Ophius the Quetzalcoatl who didn''t even bother to look her in the eyes until she forced him.

    "What dream? It''s over, Leari. The sooner you ept it, the better. Keep up like this and you''ll be a prisoner here forever." He sighed in despair while staring at something on the feathers of his wings that only he could see.

    "What do you mean over? We are still alive and have our equipment. We can always-"

    "What do you know of the battle?" His sudden fury took Leari by surprise, cutting her short. "You werefortably sitting in the resurrection chamber when Leegaain rescued you. You weren''t there to see Mogar fall apart. Here, let me show you!"

    Ophius'' left wing touched her right temple, establishing a mind link that brought the final moments of the Battle for the White Griffon to life.

    In the images, Lith had justpleted the destruction spell for the power core and the Golden Griffon had been blown to bits. The explosion had been controlled to not affect the allied forces of the Kingdom and the Council, but for Thrud''s troops, it had been the equivalent of a nuclear bomb.

    The souls of the Forgotten were now free and their bodies dissolved at once into piles of ashes. A downpour of Adamant had rained upon Ophius as the Forgotten''s armor and weapons fell toward the ground.

    Leari experienced his fear when he realized that without the students of the Golden Griffon, the Council forces outnumbered them ten to one. The fear turned into horror a secondter when Ophius and everyone else thought Valeron the Second had died in the congration.

    Then, the horror turned into a panic when the flow of world energy from the Golden Griffon disappeared. Thrud''s soldiers were already tired from the prolonged fight and suddenly their bodies felt heavy and their mana failed them.

    To make matters worse, their opponents were now free to use their bloodline abilities again, and without the sealing arrays of the lost academy to hinder the fake mages, the army had joined the fray as well.

    Ophius'' Bastion had shattered under the Council elders'' Annihtion that also sted away half of Orsat the Griffon''s body. Yet this time she and her equipment hadn''t disappeared in a cascade of light.

    Her eyes had gone dull, her body was in a freefall, and her blood and entrails sprayed over the surviving members of the seven-man unit. It was then that Ophius and the others had realized that their next death would stick.

    Every one of Thrud''s followers had always fought fearlessly because the Unwavering Loyalty array made them immortal. Once they got out of the rebirth chamber, they joked andpared notes about their demises, considering it a joke.

    Now, however, they had reached the punchline.

    Thrud''s Awakened formations had fallen into disarray, everyone worried solely about survival and looked for a way out.

    Even the most loyal among them knew that Thrud would never leave before making sure that Valeron was alright which also meant that they considered her dead even before Sylpha had vaporized her body.

    Now that Marth''s opponent was down, the White Knight was free to focus on the surviving forces of the Mad Queen''s army, killing dozens of them with a single swing of his sword.

    The Headmaster rained Tower Tier spells to cut their escape routes while the five monsters in the When All Are One array moved from one seven-man unit to another, mowing them down like ripe wheat.

 Chapter 2358 Goodbye, Good Night (Part 2)

    Last, but not least, Nandi had gained full dominion over the world energy and used it to feed his fellow Eldritches.

    Between their Mirror Magic and the might of their bodies, not even Divine Beasts could slow them down as they butchered their way through the battlefield.

    The moment Thrud had died, thest shred of hope had followed her.

    None of her soldiers was a leader, they were followers of her dreams and ambitions. With Valeron the Second allegedly dead and the True Queen in, they had no will to fight anymore.

    By the time Sylpha had offered them a truce, they had already been decimated.

    "Now you know." Ophius wiped the tears that were streaking down Leari''s cheeks. "There''s no such thing as Thrud''s army anymore. What you see here is what''s left. Of her 32 Divine Beasts, Leegaain only saved those like you and me.

    "The eight of us are alive because we are unique existences, not because he felt pity for us."

    "Eight?" Leari''s echoed, her voice deadpan from the shock.

    "Including Protheus and Ufyl, yeah." Ophius nodded. "I guess that a few of our fellow disciples have been captured, but there were just a few hundred of us to begin with. Even if all those who surrendered were spared despite the frenzy of the battle, I doubt they reach the double digits."

    "It''s over. It''s really over." The Thunderborne''s knees buckled and her expression was now no different from that of the other new inhabitants of the biome.

    The War of the Griffons had gued the Kingdom for months yet it ended in the Empire. The moment Leari let go of her weapon there were no soldiers of the Mad Queen left, only survivors.

    ***

    White Griffon Academy, at the same time.

    Right after all the members of Thrud''s army had been captured or killed, the White Knight had gone back to its academy form and the Royal Array had been deactivated.

    Sylpha was still there to supervise the cleaning of the rubble and the collecting of the equipment of fallen soldiers and Divine Beasts. To make sure that Meron was alright, she had to settle for a call and arrange with him the finishing touches.

    No one would ever know about the true form of the White Griffon thanks to Thrud''s information ckout and the fact that only mages from the army and members of the Council had taken part in the battle.

    "What''s the casualty rate for our side?" The Queen asked.

    "We were lucky, Your Majesty." General Vorgh replied. "Since the army only fought from the backlines and our main task was buying time for the Awakened, we have lost just a few hundred mages."

    "A few hundred mages." Sylpha''s bitterly echoed.

    They had all been veterans and loyal subjects to the Kingdom. Very few mages had the talent and the will to pursue such a career instead of their own interests. A few hundred would have been a small number for regr people, but for mages, it was a huge blow.

    "Better than thousands." Vorgh shrugged. "Better thanplete annihtion."

    "Point taken." Sylpha nodded. "What about the Council?"

    "It was a bloody massacre." Raagu was barely containing her fury as she checked the number of missing runes from her amulet. "We have lost over one hundred elders and a few hundred members.

    "We have lost millennia of history and knowledge, maybe forever. Our only hope is that before joining the battle they chose their heirs and arranged their legacies so that they can be mastered even without a mentor."

    "Is there anything that the Kingdom can do to ease your losses?" The Queen asked.

    "For starters, keep your word." The Human representative snarled. "Try to pull anything funny and you''ll have another war at hand. Second, we are taking half of the collected equipment.

    "The Royal Forgemasters can learn a lot by studying Thrud''s enchantments but so can the Council."

    "It''s a fair request." Sylpha nodded.

    "My advice is to keep one piece per type for study and have someone melt the rest into Adamant. Losing the ingredients and the crystals employed to Forgemaster them is a waste, but keeping enchantments tailor-made for someone else would be even worse." Raagu said before walking away.

    "Headmaster Marth, how are things on your side?" The Queen asked via themunication amulet.

    "Peachy. The students and the staff have no idea what happened since the White Knight kept them inside gyrostabilized panic rooms. I''m already reassuring them that the war is over and that I''ll free them as soon as our frontwn is clear." Marth replied.

    "Perfect. What about you?"

    "It''s hard to tell." The moment the power core had gone back to standby mode it had expelled Marth and the Headmaster''s ring. "I''ve never been so powerful so now I feel as weak as a kitten.

    "I have no idea if it''s because of the battle or if I just miss my powers already."

    "Feel free to consult a specialist if you think you are suffering from withdrawal symptoms." Sylpha said. "Even if it was just for a while, you were no different from a cursed object and there''s no telling what the side effects might be."

    "I will follow your advice, your Majesty." Marth nodded.

    "One more thing." Sylpha pressed the runes of the rest of the Headmasters, having them join the conversation. "Take care of your students, because they are our most valuable currency.

    "Today, hundreds of loyal mages have died and we have yet to deal with hundreds of traitorous mages. The fate of the Kingdom now rests on your shoulders as well as on the Royals''. Those kids are our future. Think about it before doing something stupid."

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, in front of the mausoleum, a few minutester.

    Tyris wanted to spend time with Valeron the Second and Lith couldn''t stand being there one second longer so the Guardian had opened a Warp Gate leading to the Desert.

    Orion and Jirni still stood in front of the stone gate, but their expression was now rxed. Relief and sadness were mixed together, twisting their faces non-stop.

    "It''s finally over." Orion sighed. "There''s nothing more we can do. It''s time to say goodbye to Phloria as well and move on with our lives."

    "If only it was that simple." Jirni sighed as well. "But you are right. We have to at least try."

    A long silence fell between them and it took them a few minutes to find the strength to enter the mausoleum and bid their daughter goodbye. The stone gates weighed nothing thanks to the Royal Fortress armor but closing them felt harder than shifting Mogar''s orbit.

    "The War of the Griffons is over, but we are far from done." Jirni said. "I now have to train my magic and mana core while you need to find a way to Awaken. On top of that, there''s the matter of making a new child."

    "Not today." Orion shook his head. "I don''t want to create another life out of grief or as a part of one of your schemes. If we are going to do this, it must be an act of love like for all of our children."

 Chapter 2359 Face The Future (Part 1)

    "I don''t feel like celebrating the end of the war, but our family can use a little happiness or at least an opportunity to take our minds off the grieving. Let''s spend the rest of the day with our family. Everything else can wait until tomorrow." Orion said.

    "Maybe even for a bit longer." Jirni nodded.

    With Thrud dead, Jirni''s rage was gone. Without her rage, she was empty, ready to be filled with more pain from Phloria''s absence. Jirni still had lots of ns and schemes, but no will to enact a single step of any of them.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, Quy''s room,ter that afternoon.

    The lunch had been an utter failure. No one felt like rejoicing for the end of the war and no one was in the mood to chat. The long silence and brooding faces made the Dining Room look like a funeral vigil.

    Lucky sat at Orion''s feet the whole time, eating only the fooding from his hand.

    "Thanks for dragging me away. I was about to burst into tears again." Quy said to Morok who had gotten them out with an excuse.

    "Yeah, the mood was really heavy. Any longer and it would have crushed me." The Tyrant sighed in relief, plunging onto one of thefortable padded chairs of her living room.

    Quy followed suit and several minutes had to pass before either of them spoke again.

    "This doesn''t feel real. The War of the Griffonsted for so long and now it''s over. I lived with Phloria for years and now she''s gone. Everything happened so suddenly that it all seems like a sick joke!" Quy said.

    "That''s life." Morok shrugged. "Stuff just happens without any notice. We can only hope to receive a gift from a friend instead of a kick in the nuts."

    "I could really use a gift right now." Quy turned to look at the mausoleum through the window of her living quarters. "I''m tired of kicks in the nuts and I don''t even have gonads."

    "About that¡­" Morok produced a thud that snapped her out of it.

    He was now kneeling in front of her, holding with two hands the deep violet robe of a Magus.

    "Now that the war is over and Thrud is dead, you can make this decision without revenge clouding your judgment. I would love to wait until you have ovee your grief, but in my experience, pain doesn''te with an expiration date."

    The robe was tied in the middle with amon string forming aplex knot that was impossible to unravel. The knot of betrothal gifts.

    "Quy Nimea Daphne Ernas, would you marry me?" Morok followed tradition to the letter, using her middle names in the proper order.

    "Wait what?" She froze on her chair without knowing what to say.

    "I said, Quy Nimea Daphne Ernas, would you marry me?" Morok replied. "Also, I really want to have children so if you are not with me on this, you''d better tell me now and I''ll get out of your hair."

    "A marriage proposal with a side of ckmail?" She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Threatening to dump me right after my sister''s funeral?"

    "Well, yes but actually no. I mean to cheer you up and let you know how much you mean to me." Morok shook his head. "Yet even if you are stronger than me, smarter than me, and richer than me, I''m not going to be your doormat.

    "I have dreams that I will follow and goals that I want to achieve. I don''t want to hinder your career but I won''t allow it to mess with my life either. If we can''t make each other happy, we deserve to find someone who will."

    "Gods, you are so wise and yet so rude." Quy''s frown disappeared, reced by a peal of silveryughter. "Pray tell, smart-ass, what does that thing mean? Only the Royals can make someone a Magus.

    "Without their approval, it''s just a violet robe. Also, how am I supposed to wear it with that knot? If I cut it after epting your gift, we''d be the first couple on Mogar to have divorced before the marriage ceremony."

    "This robe symbolizes my wish for you to achieve your dreams and my will to support you in whatever endeavor you''ll undertake. As for the knot¡­" The soft fabric of the robe needed but a gentle pull toe out of the long piece of string.

    "Gods, you act so dumb yet you are actually smart and thoughtful. That''s the reason I love you." Quy said.

    "Yeah, I-" Morok froze and his jaw fell to the floor.

    He stared at her for a while, showing no intention to pick it up any sooner.

    Quy wore the violet robe and put the knot on her wrist like it was a bracelet.

    "I love you, Morok Eari, and marrying you will make me the happiest woman on Mogar so yes. Yes, I will marry you." She said amid sniffles and with eyes veiled with tears.

    "This is the moment when you stand up, tell me that you love me too, and then we kiss, jackass!" She said after he remained frozen in the same position. "This is not funny, you idiot! You''re ruining this for- Are his pupils really dted?"

    Quy tried moving around, but Morok''s eyes didn''t follow her. She put two fingers on his neck, checking his pulse and casting a diagnostic spell.

    "I can''t believe it! This idiot really fainted with his eyes wide open." She burst intoughter, taking an empty Rememberer from her desk. "I need to record this, or no one will ever believe me."

    She made the device start recording and then she gently pushed Morok, making him fall on the floor with his eyes and mouth still wide open.

    "Mom! Dad! Guys! You have to see this!" Once Quy was sure to have collected every piece of evidence she wouldter need to prove the story of her marriage proposal, she opened the door and yelled at the top of her lungs.

    The entire Ernas family came in a rush, armed to their teeth and spells ready to fly.

    When they saw Morok unconscious on the floor, they looked around the room for an assant. Only then did they notice Quy wearing a violet robe andughing her ass off to the point of crying.

    Once they managed to make her share what had happened with a mind link, they cried as well, their joy no less than hers.

    ***

    Ernas Mansion, Friya''s room,ter that evening.

    "On the bright side, we got to witness Morok''s reaction when he finally realized that Quy had said yes. On the even brighter side, his sprawled body on the floor was hrious." Friya said.

    "We needed a goodugh. Ever since Phloria died, no one could so much as smile. The end of the War of the Griffons is supposed to be good news, but it actually feels empty. Quy''s marriage, instead, feels like one real good news."

    "Yeah, about that¡­" Nalrond scratched his head in embarrassment.

    "Don''t tell me that you want to propose to me?" She said in surprise.

 Chapter 2360 Face The Future (Part 2)

    "Absolutely not! Even in the off chance I wanted to, now I''d have to wait for another opportunity since today your family had plenty of emotions already."

    "Ah." Friya replied.

    It was a single word, yet it carried the cold of an ice age and all of her scorn and disappointment.

    "I see. I''m sorry for interrupting you. What were you saying?"

    Nalrond wasn''t the most sensitive of men but the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped by dozens of degrees and Friya''s re seemed to be trying to choke him with the power of her mind.

    "That with the end of the War of the Griffons, your parents should have no reason to be scared about your future anymore." He cautiously said while offering her tea and cookies that Friya didn''t even nce at.

    "I say that we let a few days pass, maybe a couple of weeks, and then we can safely break the engagement."

    "You want to break the engagement?" She replied in shock.

    "Well, yeah." He shrugged. "Your father proposed on your behalf because of the war. This is something your parents wanted, not us. Also, let''s be honest. We don''t have a future. I can''t Awaken whereas you''ll live for a thousand years.

    "Three thousand, if you be a Harbinger. I''m stuck as a hybrid and I still have no clue about how to merge my two life forces. Our children would be born as forced hybrids without even the choice to pick your side and-"

    "Is this because my survival is bound to bing Faluel''s Harbinger?" Friya cut him off. "Because I might lose my free will and a good chunk of my privacy?"

    "No." He shook his head. "Faluel is a wonderful person and I''m sure that she''d treat her Harbinger as a partner, not as a ve. I believe that you are in good hands."

    "Then is this because you don''t feel anything for me? Was this only sex for you? Did meeting my family and living together never mean anything to you?" She said in outrage, clenching her hands so hard that they popped.

    "Gods, no! How can you even think that?" Nalrond was as outraged as her, but the pain in Friya''s eyes made him realize how bad his words had to sound to her ears.

    He gently grabbed her shoulders, taking a deep breath to calm down before speaking.

    "Look, I''m not going to beat around the bush any longer. I love you, but I''m not the right guy for you. You need-" A p to his face cut him short again.

    "How can you say that you love me and drop me like a bad habit?" Friya said with eyes veiled with tears.

    "I told you already. I''m going to be a decrepit old man before a single of your hair turns grey and I''d pass my hybrid nature on to my children. You deserve-"

    A second p hit him. Just like the previous, it was just as strong as one from a regr woman, showing that even in her fury she didn''t want to hurt him.

    "I decide who I deserve, jackass! You don''t get to choose that for me." She stood right in front of him, grabbing Nalrond from the cor of his shirt.

    Friya forced him to bend down and look her in the eyes.

    "Yes, I do because it wouldn''t be fair to you or your family. They don''t need to know the truth about me and there''s no point telling them. I''m doing this because I love you and I want to spare you the suffering of seeing me die.

    "Of being forced to choose between not having children or watching them die as well. You-"

    ? "I love you too, jackass!" She said with a snarl, never averting her gaze.

    "Oh." Nalrond said, suddenly feeling like the biggest idiot on Mogar.

    "Oh, indeed." Friya let him go, turning around in anger. "Congrattions. You''ve managed to pull the least romantic love confession in Mogar''s history. This will be really hard to beat."

    The Rezar tried to find the words to patch things up, but his brain refused to work.

    "Do you really love me?" He asked with a dumb expression on his face.

    "Yes, I do. And I really hoped you would propose to me earlier." She half turned toward him, still giving him the back but also showing him her lips twirled up in anger.

    "Well¡­"

    "Don''t you dare do it now!" She said after noticing that he was about to kneel. "You''ve ruined it. You''ve ruined everything and I''m leaving."

    Friya walked through the door of her room, mming it with enough force to make the wall tremble.

    "Stupid idiot!" Nalrond said to himself. "Years spent mocking Morok and then you act like such a fool that inparison he''s Valeron himself. The only way I could have made things even worse was to joke about the fact that since Faluel has to be a big part of our life, we might as well invite her to a threes-"

    "Why the fuck aren''t you chasing after me?" Friya''s voice came through the closed door.

    "I fucked up so much. She''ll never let me hear the end of this. Even if I Awaken, she''ll throw this in my face on her deathbed."

    "Are youing or not?" Friya yelled again.

    "I''m sorry! I mean it. I''m worse than a Morok!" Nalrond bolted forward, praying for the Great Mother to give him a third brain since both of his human and Rezar brains seemed to bepletely useless.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce, right after Lith departed from the Ernas Mansion.

    Thanks to Tyris, they had no need for geysers or the Kingdom''s Gate Network. They reached their destination in a single step yet it was one step too many.

    Lith was already exhausted from the final battle against Thrud and the destruction of the Golden Griffon. Visiting Phloria''s resting ce had put a burden on his psyche as big as the one that summoning Juria had put on his body.

    He copsed the moment the presence of Sark''s pce and of his family made Lith feel safe. If not for Tyris catching him on the fly, he would have fallen face-first on the floor.

    "We have to stop meeting like this." She chuckled while lifting him in a princess carry before putting him down on an armchair.

    "Very funny." He mumbled, his voice barely audible.

    "Is he alright?" Elina rushed to his side in fear that another fight might have broken out.

    Bad luck seemed to follow her son like his own shadow. No matter how much she prayed for him, Lith seemed to never catch a break.

    "I''m fine, Mom. I''m just tired." Lith felt his eyes drooping, talking required sheer willpower.

    "You should have seen him, Elina. I''m really proud of him." Kam caressed his hair and used a mind link of her own to share the events with the rest of the family and spare Lith from the effort. "He gave Orion and Jirni closure.

    "Lith summoned the spirit of Juria Ernas and despite how weak he already was, he offered to help Tyris as well."

 Chapter 2361 Embers Of War (Part 1)

    "The Royals may call Lith a hero for the feats he has achieved as a Magus, but it''s for the things he does as a man that I love him." Kam said.

    Elina sniffled a bit but said nothing. She kissed Lith on the forehead and ordered a huge meal from one of the many valets.

    "How do you feel, Solus?" Raaz asked.

    "I''m almost as tired as Lith." She clenched her hands to find the strength to not fall apart.

    Speaking with Juria and saying goodbye to Phloria had brought her great pain, but she didn''t want to burden Lith or make the rest of the family worry.

    "I''ll be right back. I just need to put the tower in ce so that Lith and I can recover our strength faster."

    "Do you mind somepany?" Raaz noticed her distress and didn''t want her to be alone.

    "Thanks, Dad. That would be terrific." Solus did reach the mana geyser and summoned the tower but then she hugged Raaz and let herself go.

    "You should have seen them, Dad. Jirni and Orion were suffering so much and I couldn''t even console them. Phloria was one of my best friends as well, but I couldn''t exin to them how we met nor tell them how much she meant to me."

    "I know, sweetie. I know." He held her tight, gently caressing her head.

    "I don''t get it, Dad. Thrud is dead, but I still hate her so much that I wish she was alive just to torture her more. Why don''t I feel any better even after we avenged Phloria? Why do I still miss her so much?" Solus sobbed.

    "Because she was a precious friend. Even though hatred may give you strength, none of it makes up for your loss. To make matters worse, once you get your revenge and the hate fades away, the void in your heart is bound to grow colder." Raaz replied.

    "What can I do, Dad?"

    "The only thing anyone can. Live on while remembering how Phloria lived instead of focusing on the moment when she died. I know that right now it seems impossible but in time, you''ll be able to do it."

    Meanwhile, between the tower and a hearty meal, Lith was quickly regaining his strength. His Awakened nature allowed him to recover simply by resting and assimting the abundant world energy in his surroundings.

    "I swear to the gods, Mom, I can cut the steak by myself!" Yet no matter how powerful a Divine Beast he was, to his mother Lith was still her baby.

    "I know, but this way you can focus on eating. You are deathly pale, dear. The sooner you put some meat on those bones, the sooner you can go to rest." Elina replied while ignoring his grievances and making the rest of the familyugh.

    "Do you want to go back home? Now Lutia is safe. No one will make an attempt on our lives anymore." Lith asked, his palms out in surrender and happy that at least she wasn''t trying to spoon-feed him.

    "Not today." Elina shook her head. "First you need to eat, then rest. Then I want you to keep doing that until you feel better. I love Lutia and our home, but this is the only ce where I know that nothing bad can happen."

    "Agreed." Rena nodded, d to not need a security detail anymore.

    "Grandma is the best." Aran and Leria nodded while ying with Shargein who in his wyrmling form had already reached their size.

    "Thank you, sweetie pies. Tyris, Kam, with me, please." The Overlord gestured for them to follow her into the adjacent room.

    "What do you- Oh gods! Is this Valeron the Second?" Kam pointed at a small baby boy less than six months old who kept shapeshifting from human into a Wyrmling and back.

    "Yes, he is. He''s also the next best thing to how your daughter will look and behave." Sark nodded. "Lith can barely stand the sight of Valeron, but I thought you might want to meet him and maybe hold him a bit."

    Valeron the Second looked at Kam with his big violet eyes, emitting the same noise that any baby would.

    "He''s so little and cute. I can''t believe that a monster like Thrud could make something so beautiful." Kam said while taking the baby in her arms and triggering his shapeshifting.

    In his Bahamut form, Valeron had the head, the hands, and the tail of a Griffon. Everything else resembled the body of a Dragon and was covered with white scales as big as a stamp.

    A set of golden feathered wings emerged from his back while a second set of membranous white wings came out of his hips.

    The ws and beak didn''t hurt Kam, yet he tried to reach for her breasts in search of milk, making her flinch for a second.

    "Thrud wasn''t a monster." Tyris sighed. "She was just a misguided woman who never managed to escape from the shadow of her Mad Father. As long as Thrud had Jormun by her side, I had hopes for her redemption.

    "After his death, however, the loving mother and wife were gone and all that was left was Arthan''s daughter." Tyris took the baby from Kam and fed him from a bottle. "If only she had epted Leegaain''s offer, we all would have been spared a lot of pain and Valeron would still have his parents."

    Kam looked funny at Tyris and then at Sark long enough for them to notice.

    "I don''tctate at will. Or rather, I can, but it would bring also a lot of side effects like maternal instinct." Tyris said with a sigh.

    "Still feels weird seeing someone called the Great Mother using a bottle." Kam pointed out.

    "He''s still Thrud''s son and there''s little we know about his abilities and squat about his character." Sark shrugged. "We are not getting attached to him until we are sure Valeron the Second won''t follow in his grandfather''s footsteps."

    "And how do you think to stop that if he grows up feeling that people are scared of him? If no one loves him?" Kam asked. "Valeron is still your grandchild and you are the only rtive he has left."

    Tyris and Sark exchanged a quick nce before answering.

    "Point taken." Tyris held the baby close to her chest, singing him a Griffon song like she would for one of her own.

    Valeron the Second gulped down the bottle, asking for another, and another, and another. After the second, Kam asked to be the one feeding the baby. She wanted to get used to Valeron in case they adopted him and also make practice.

    "Now that I think about it, is Elysia going to be a glutton too? I mean, now I eat really a lot, but once she''s born, if she keeps needing so much food, I doubt I can keep up with this kind of appetite." She asked once Valeron the Second reached the fourth bottle and seemed to have no intention to stop.

    "Don''t worry. Elysia will be a hybrid and her human mass will limit her food intake. Valeron, instead, is already a perfect Divine Beast. That''s why he eats so much."

 Chapter 2362 Embers Of War (Part 2)

    "Valeron is used to the nutrients that his mother, a Golden Griffon, provided him." Tyris replied.

    After taking care of the baby, they left him with the handmaidens that Leegaain had also saved from the copse of the lost academy. Ophya and V were part of Valeron''s life and thest bits of his family who were officially still alive.

    Kam had none of Lith''s hard feelings for Thrud and her heart clenched at the thought of the hardships that Valeron would have to face alone growing up. Yet she cared more about her husband and decided to make no mention of the baby''s presence in the pce.

    When they returned to the dining room, Lith was done eating and Solus had returned.

    "Is everything okay?" Lith asked after noticing Kam''s inner turmoil.

    "Peachy. Nothing that you have to worry about, I swear." She said with a sweet smile. "How do you feel, Solus?"

    "How long do you have?" She sighed. "I only want to go to sleep and forget-"

    Suddenly, most of themunication amulets lit up in unison, even Sark''s and Tyris''. As for Lith, his military amulet turned on by itself due to a Royal Override.

    "What is it now? More enemies? Explosive devices left by Thrud as a contingency n in case of her defeat?" He asked in frustration.

    "Sort of." Queen Sylpha replied. "I used the Royal Override to make sure to reach you before any member of your family answered their amulet. Believe me, your parents don''t want to see Thrud''s final message."

    Raaz looked at the amulet, noticing that the blinking rune belonged to the Kingdom''s informationwork. It was used for important updates and news relevant to the survival of people.

    Draughts, famines, and all kinds of political and natural phenomena that couldpromise the livelihood of the citizens of the Kingdom were reported through the channel.

    "What is it about?" Sark asked.

    "Nothing much. Just aption of Meln Narchat being tortured, pissing himself, begging, and all the most humiliating things he did while Thrud held him prisoner." The Queen replied.

    "In her message, Thrud says that she made sure that even if he escaped, his reputation would be destroyed.

    "After seeing that video, no one will ever respect Narchat. The Undead Courts, the Criminal underworld, and even regr citizens now consider him a joke. The fearsome Dead King has be aughingstock. The bad news is that he''s clearly alive.

    "Thrud wouldn''t taunt a dead man. The good news is that he''s alone. No one will help him in his quest for revenge and without Baba Yaga''s support, it''s only a matter of time before we find him."

    She took a pause to let the news sink in before moving on to a different topic.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen, the Kingdom thanks you for your help and contributions in ending the War of the Griffons. Yet this is far from over. The Kingdom is still split in two. There is a lot to rebuild and millions of people to bridge back to our side.

    "The Crown still needs your help. It won''t be tomorrow or next week, but I''ll summon you again and I expect you to answer. I know it may sound of bad taste, but there will soon be a g.

    "If we don''t celebrate our victory, if we don''t show to the citizens of our country that the War is over, they''ll never believe it. I hate the idea of dancing while the corpses of so many friends are still warm, but life is for the living. Queen Sylpha out."

    Everyone deactivated the blinking rune but Raaz. He needed sheer willpower to not grin from ear to ear.

    ''As soon as Elina falls asleep, I''m going to watch that video until my eyes give out. Giving me the chance to see that fucker get his due is the only good thing Thrud did.'' Raaz thought.

    "I was afraid of this." Lith sighed. "Meln is still alive. Yet as the Queen said, he''s a much lesser threat now. If Thrud did to him what I think she did, his mind and body are in ruin. While he was trapped and his power sealed, mine kept growing.

    "He can only rely on himself and we all know how Meln is his own worst enemy. We''ll deal with him, but not today. Now I only want to rest."

    Lith stood up, still needing help from Kam to walk, and slept until dinner time in the Kingdom.

    ***

    Vastor Mansion, the Master''s private quarters, right after the end of the battle.

    Vastor and the monster-Eldritch hybrids returned home in dire need of rest and food. They were exhausted but happy. Not one of them had died and when pushed to their limits, their newfound powers had surpassed the Eldritches'' highest expectations.

    Even better, they had learned from the fight how to further improve and merge their life forces. Now that the War of the Griffons was finally over, they could afford the time to take turns in the new and perfected Madness.

    Vastor had thoroughly studied the blueprints they had acquired from the Wisdom Pce and created what he believed to be a masterpiece.

    Until that moment, his version of the Madness was based on the few fragments left for study in the Royal Archives and the device he had barely nced at in Thrud''sb in Othre.

    Now, instead, he had the schematics of every single spell and iron bolt.

    Yet it would have to wait for another day.

    "Daddy!" The moment Filia and Frey used that word to wee the Master back, all of his ns to cure Mogar and further mankind''s evolution took the backseat.

    The children didn''t say much, just calling him dad and crying non-stop, but it was the best speech Vastor had ever heard. It made him feel at home, loved, and needed.

    "Don''t worry, kids. Dad is alright." He hugged them, lifting them off the ground with ease. "We kicked the bad guys'' butts and no one got hurt. You should have seen us. Your Aunties and Uncles were the real heroes today."

    "Don''t listen to him." Nelia assumed her human form, that of a stunning redhead with silver eyes. "Dad was the best. Look with your own eyes if you don''t believe me. He even worked with Valeron''spanions and took his ce in the legendary When All Are One array."

    She projected a doctored hologram of the battle that was kept family-friendly from start to finish. The children yelled, cried, and chanted their father''s name all the time.

    "I''m proud of you, Zogar." Zinya came close to him second, letting the children experience for the first time in their lives the feeling of having a father they loved and of whom they could be proud.

    "I told you that you aren''t a monster. You should stop beating yourself so much and believe in yourself." Her kiss and embrace were as sweet as honey yet they tasted like poison.

    The Master felt guilty for the lives he had taken and those he was already nning to take in order to further his ns. The new Madness couldn''t be fueled by rainbows and happy thoughts. It needed live sacrifices and hundreds of them.

 Chapter 2363 A Long Path (Part 1)

    Yet how and where to procure the fodder to fuel Vastor''s Madness would also have to wait for another day, because another unexpected storm was iing.

    "I can''t wait to rub this in the face of all those stuck-up nobles who always badmouth you in the Royal Court, Zogar." Zinya chuckled. "Between your achievement and your new training schedule, I''ll have to fight to keep other women''s hands off you."

    "I''m sorry, Zin, but that won''t be a problem." He hugged her, losing himself in her warmth.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Zogar Vastor was sent off with you. I fought as the Master. No one will ever know of my involvement. It would expose my real strength and my affiliation with the Eldritches." He replied.

    "Let me get this straight." She pushed him away to look him straight in the eyes. "You put your life on the line and reced Valeron in the array. I risked losing my husband and my children their father, yet no one will ever know?

    "Are you telling me that Lith, the Queen, and Marth will once again hog all the glory? That after everything you have done, your name will be kept off the records? That those idiots in the Royal Court will mock you thinking that you cowardly abandoned the Kingdom before the final battle?"

    Zinya''s voice was cold and filled with outrage, but not toward her husband. It was the Kingdom she resented and its people she despised. Zinya found them ungrateful and cruel, wishing them the worst.

    "Yes, but you and the kids know. That''s the only thing that matters to me." Vastor shrugged. "I have your love, your respect, and for one day, I stood equal to the First King. I don''t care for the glory, no one can take this away from me."

    "Oh, Zogar. You are too kind for your own good. Those people don''t deserve you." Zinya hugged him, sniffling.

    She needed sheer willpower to not cry at the injustice and curse the whole Kingdom. She didn''t want to ruin that moment for her husband or the kids. Despite her good intentions, Zinya managed to make Vastor feel even worse.

    "There, there. We need to celebrate. I need a bath, a meal, and after that, we can do whatever we want." He caressed her back. "I know that you kids are all grown up, but since today I gave you such a scare, what do you say if tonight we all sleep together?"

    Filia and Frey looked at him in confusion, taking a step back.

    "What''s with that face?" Vastor was even more confused. "If you don''t want to, just say it."

    "They''ve never slept with their parents, Zogar." Zinya rushed to exin.

    "What?"

    "Fallmug didn''t allow me to stay close to the children nor them to bother him at night." She replied.

    "What if they had a nightmare? What if they had a fever?" He asked in disbelief.

    "He would either lock them in their room or order a servant to look after them." Zinya clenched her fists.

    ''Gods, I wish I knew it back then.'' Vastor thought in outrage. ''I would have made sure that Fallmug suffered for much, much longer before his execution.''

    "Okay. So do you want to sleep with Mom and Dad? Yes or no?" He actually said, smiling.

    "Can we?" They looked at Zinya, afraid to be a bother to them.

    "Of course you can." Zinya nodded. "Thank you, Zogar." She whispered in his ear.

    "We need to talk. How could you not tell me such a thing sooner?" He whispered back, making her stiffen for a second.

    She would have never expected that their first quarrel wouldn''t be triggered by Vastor''s secrets or her jealousy, but by his wounded fatherly pride. Zinya not involving him wholly in Frey''s and Filia''s life had made Vastor feel left out.

    Zinya just smiled, looking at her children''s happy faces and thanking the gods for blessing her with the perfect man. Her only wish was for that happiness to never end.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Pce. Sundown for the Kingdom but dawn for the Desert.

    Lith had felt weird having lunch when it was dinnertime for him and even weirder going to sleep when the sun had started to rise on the horizon. Yet his biological clock was set to the Kingdom and his body was in dire need of rest.

    "I can''t believe it." He said while looking at the ceiling of the bedroom of the dream house in the tower. "In one day, the War of the Griffon is over, I said goodbye to Phloria, Quy is choosing the date for her marriage, and Friya is single again."

    "How can you me her?" Kam chuckled. "Nalrond was such a jackass that in her shoes I would have sicked Orion, Jirni, and the whole Ernas guard at him. Don''t you ever do something so insensitive to me, are we clear?"

    "Crystal." Lith nodded. "Do you mind if we just sleep? I''m really tired."

    "What do you mean, if I mind?" She blinked several times in confusion.

    "Well, I know that you are a pervert and that you have your needs. I really love that you can''t keep your hands off me, but right now I''m in dire need of sleep." Lith used a dramatic tone, speaking as if he was usually forced to indulge her in their amorous ys.

    "I''m the pervert? Since when?" Kam punched his shoulder.

    "Then what''s that?" Lith pointed at the white silk roman toga that he could see in her closet.

    It had a deep neckline and side slits on either side that would leave most of her legs exposed at every step she took.

    "The standard uniform of a Dragon''s maiden." She blushed a little in embarrassment. "You are also a Dragon and I thought that maybe we could make a historically urate re-enactment of their master-apprentice rtionship some time."

    "Where did you even get the idea?"

    "Today I''ve met Valeron the Second''s handmaidens. One thing led to another and I had Grandma make one for me." She glossed over the part about the baby being there as well and the uniform of her choosing being the most demure in Sark''s closet.

    "As I said, a pervert." Lith chuckled.

    Kam blushed harder, d that she had yet to procure the rest of the material for their romantic evening. It would have just proved his point further.

    "Thank you, Kami." He said after a while.

    "For the dress?" She snapped out of it.

    "For always being there for me when I''m weak. For loving even the parts of me I struggle to ept. For helping me to collect my pieces when I fall apart. I will never thank you enough for asking me to marry you and giving me a daughter." Lith drew her close in a tender embrace.

    "Silly man." She returned the embrace. "I''ll remember these words when it''s your turn to take care of the baby and you try to dump your chores on me."

    "I call bullshit." Lith looked her in the eyes. "I can promise you right now that if that''s what you want, I''ll take care of Elysia on my own."

 Chapter 2364 A Long Path (Part 2)

    "Of course, Solus would help me and she''d spend much more time with our daughter than you, but who keeps count of stuff like that?"

    "Son of a Dragon!" She replied in mock outrage. "I walked straight into that. By the way, where''s Solus? After everything you guys went through today, I expected her to spend some time with us before going to bed."

    ***

    Solus''s room, at the same time.

    "Thanks for keeping mepany, Tista." Solus said. "I really didn''t want to stay alone but at the same time, I don''t want to bother Lith and Kami."

    "Don''t mention it." Tista sighed. "I needpany too, but with Bodya still on the frontlines to recapture Thrud''s cities you are the best I got."

    "Wow! So kind of you. You are making me blush." Solus replied with a sneer.

    "As I said, don''t mention it." Tista yawned, too tired from the long day to care about sarcasm between friends. "By the way, you never answered Kam when she asked you how you feel."

    "Because I was waiting for this moment. I need to speak with both you and Nyka." Solus replied.

    "Nyka!" Tista sat up abruptly. "How could I forget about her until now? She fused with Dawn to help us. What if now the Horseman knows everything about you?"

    "Only one way to find out." Solus pushed the rune of the Vampire on hermunication amulet.

    "Solus!" Nyka answered immediately. "You sure took your sweet time. I was starting to get worried sick."

    "I''m sorry, Nyka, but first things first." Solus raised her palm out to stop the barrage of questions about her side of the fight. "Is Dawn still with you?"

    "Yes." Nyka slightly opened her shirt, revealing a white crystal amid her bosom.

    "How much does she know about me?"

    "Only that you and Lith are bonded like a Horseman and her host. She also knows you are some kind of powerful relic, of course." Nyka replied. "Before bonding with her, I asked Baba Yaga to seal off the mind fusion.

    "Neither of us can ess the other''s mind without explicit consent. When Dawn wants to know something, she has to ask me and I have to agree. We still have both our free will and personality.

    "Like this, we can both see and hear what''s around me." She pointed at the exposed crystal. "Now, instead, Dawn is locked inside her real body."

    The crystal disappeared under Nyka''s skin and then her entire body shapeshifted into Dawn''s.

    "This is the way I can protect my secrets." Her voice was melodious and sweet, but also much wiser and detached than the Vampire''s. "I''m d to make your acquaintance, Solus Verhen, but I don''t n on sharing much with any of you."

    "And neither do I with you." Solus replied. "Do you mind bringing Nyka back? There''s something I have to say to both of you."

    The white crystal emerged from Dawn''s flesh, making her snowy skin sparkle like silver.

    "I meant to switch bodies. No offense, you still creep me out." Solus said.

    Dawn curled her lips in annoyance but shapeshifted without saying a word.

    "As you know, I have a special rtionship with my host, but not as deep as the one between Dawn and Ac." Solus said and the other two women nodded.

    "I often wondered about taking my time and space to understand how much of my feelings for him are due to our bond. Until now, there''s always been a crisis or another that kept me from leaving Lith''s side.

    "With the end of the War of the Griffons, however, I can finally travel Mogar on my own. To be honest, I''m scared and excited at the same time. I''ve never stayed away from Lith for long, yet if I don''t do this before the baby is born, I''ll just be swallowed in our rtionship.

    "I want him out of my head and sight until I''m sure of what I want and what I like. I need to discover my ce in this world without worrying about what he thinks."

    "A wise decision indeed." A white light appeared in Nyka''s eyes and she spoke with Dawn''s voice while nodding. "Your situation is no different from Zepho''s. I sent him away for the same reasons you are taking this journey."

    "Thank you." Solus gave her a small bow. "Yet to do that, I need both Tista and Nyka. I''ve never been alone and I know I couldn''t make it on my own. As for you, Dawn, I haven''t forgotten about how we met.

    "Yet I would appreciate if we could be civil toward each other andpare notes about living with our respective hosts."

    "Can I ask you a question?" It was Dawn''s voiceing out of Nyka''s mouth and Solus nodded for her to continue.

    "How did you get your own body so quickly? I lived for over a millennium, yet the only way I found to not be in the backseat was to take over my host. Until Ac, there was no us, either me or them."

    "It was far from quick but it''s thanks to my nature being simr to that of a Horseman." Solus lied through her teeth. "Why? How was your life before Ac?"

    "I could talk with my hosts, of course. I could share their senses, but the food never tasted as good as when I used my own mouth. A flower didn''t have the same fragrance, and even daylight felt dull." Dawn replied.

    "Couldn''t you just switch bodies?" Solus asked.

    "Who would give their body away freely? Who would let someone else wear their skin and live their life?" Dawn said with a snort. "I had hundreds of hosts and every single one of them only looked at me like a source of power and knowledge.

    "I was a thing. Their thing. They felt entitled to tell me what to do or not. To shut me up whenever they found my thoughts noisy or my advice unwanted. After a while, I learned to just return the favor and turn them into my things.

    "Why do you think Mother made sure that only I could conjure my true form and only a bond like the one I had with Ac could give me a body of my own? Otherwise taking a male host would have meant being taken in more than one way."

    Solus shuddered at the thought of someone looking at her just like a piece of meat. Someone who despite knowing all of her most intimate thoughts and fears would only consider her as a ything.

    "My senses have been dulled too until I got my own body so I understand what you mean." Solus nodded. "I hope that the two of us will get along. Lith is my first host so I could use your experience on the matter."

    "The first? How lucky of you." Dawn didn''t bother to hide her envy.

    Solus'' eyes were too clear and her way of thinking too innocent to have experienced much about the cruelty of human nature.

    "If your type is tall, dark, and workaholic, I could introduce you to Dusk. Too bad that he''s too busy with school or he could join us. His host needs friends and badly."

 Chapter 2365 Paternal Pride (Part 1)

    "No offense to Kelia but I want friends my age. Also, I already met Dusk and he looks nice, but I don''t trust him more than I trust you, Dawn. On top of that, if I was interested in babysitting, I wouldn''t be taking this trip." Solus replied.

    "Fair enough." The light of Dawn disappeared from Nyka''s eyes as she spoke with her own voice again. "How long until we leave?"

    "Just long enough to make sure that everything is alright and Lutia is safe. I''m not going to waste a single second more than necessary." Solus said.

    The four women continued to talk until Solus was too tired to continue. Yet after ending the call, sleep eluded her. Solus was still haunted by Phloria''s death, happy for the end of the war, and terrified at the idea of moving on with her life.

    ***

    When Lith woke up, it was the middle of the night in the Desert. He slept until the tower returned his body to its peak condition and rest eased the burden that still weighed on his mind.

    "Good morning, sleepyhead." Kam kissed him as soon as he stirred up. "Are you ready to go back to Lutia?"

    "Good morning, Kami. Good morning, Elysia." He chuckled, kissing her on the lips first and then on the stomach. "As for your question, I''m not ready. Yet if I don''t go now, it makes things harder for everyone."

    Lith took his time dressing, wearing his clothes normally instead of just making the Voidwalker armor cover him up. He also went to check the Dragon Maiden dress in Kam''s wardrobe.

    "What are you doing?" She asked while he tested whether the toga was see-through or not and how to take it off in the heat of passion without damaging the expensive silk.

    "Collecting information." He replied with an expression deep in thought that Kam knew was actually his perverted face. "Knowledge is power in every world I''ve lived."

    "Stop it!" She chuckled, giving him a p on the forehead. "There''s no time for whatever kinky stuff you are thinking about. Everyone is getting up for breakfast and we can''t make them wait."

    "I was nning no such thing. It''s not my fault if you have a dirty mind and think everyone is like you." Lith tantly lied, making herugh harder.

    Once they reached the dining room, Elina and Raaz were already there and so were Solus and Tista. Protector, Selia, Rena, Senton, and the kids came fashionablyte. The mood during breakfast was better than the previous day but there was still too much silence.

    "I''d like to go back to Lutia, now." Lith said once he was done eating. "Until we start living as we did before the War of the Griffons, peace will never feel real. I want everyone to go back to their old lives without having to worry anymore about Thrud or Meln."

    "Thank you, dear." Elina nodded. "There''s nothing I''d like more than seeing your father work in the fields with his friends again. I can''t wait to go back to taking care of the animals and managing our finances, yet as I said yesterday, it will have to wait."

    "Why? What''s wrong?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "Nothing." Raaz shook his head. "It''s just that the war ended yesterday and you are already putting us first. Your mother and I discussed this and we''ve decided that it''s time that you let us be your parents for once.

    "Let us worry and take care of you, son."

    "But, Dad-"

    "No buts." Raaz cut Lith short with a wave of his hand. "Your mother is right. This is the only ce where nothing bad can happen. I want you to take your time to recover from Phloria''s death and the atrocities of war without having to worry about us.

    "If I have to take care of my fields, I can''t take care of my son. You are my priority, Lith, and my decision is final."

    Raaz stood up and walked to Lith''s side of the table, full of paternal pride as he squeezed Lith''s shoulder.

    "Thank you, Dad." Lith nodded, understanding how important it was to Raaz and d to be loved so much. "Thank you, Mom. Grandma, if you are done eating as well, there''s something I would like to share with you all. Can you please call Leegaain?"

    "You mean Grandfather?" The Overlord frowned in a re.

    "No, I mean-"

    "You mean Grandfather, right?"

    "Yes. Can you please call Grandfather?" Lith recognized Sark''s "there''s only one right answer, young man" tone and gave up.

    ''That''s one skill I''d better have picked up by the time the baby is born.'' He thought.

    "Is everything alright?" Leegaain appeared from a Warp Gate, a bit annoyed for being disturbed during the ydate between Shargein and Valeron the Second.

    "Better than alright." Lith nodded. "Please, sit down."

    He gestured for Kam to expose her womb and he used the spell that Solus had created to let everyone hear the baby''s heartbeat.

    "Is this what I think it is?" Elina''s eyes became veiled with tears.

    "Elysia''s heartbeat, yes." Kam nodded.

    "Oh, gods." Raaz was d to be already sitting because his knees had suddenly given out.

    He already knew that Kam was pregnant, but hearing that rhythmic thump turned a mere notion into reality. There was life inside of her. Even though Raaz couldn''t see Elysia, his granddaughter was actually sitting just a few meters from him.

    "This is as wonderful as it is upsetting!" Sark said, leaving the rest of the table bbergasted.

    At least until Elina and Selia nodded with an equally stern frown on their faces.

    "All this time you had this wonderful spell and you never bothered sharing it with us?" The Overlord sounded upset. "I was pregnant until a while ago, yet the thought of using it on me never crossed your mind."

    "You are in goodpany, Grandma." Elina grunted.

    "Way to make me feel part of the family." Selia snorted.

    "I didn''t know it even existed until a few days ago. Solus created it." Lith had no qualms about throwing her under the bus to save himself.

    "Ah, really?" The three women turned in unison toward Solus, ring at her with the harshness of a perennial winter.

    "Well, yes." Solus inwardly cursed Lith and herself for not having shifted the me first. "I kept it a secret to surprise Lith in case anything bad happened. He was always on the frontlines and I thought he might need to be cheered up.

    "I wish I was wrong." She sighed and lowered her gaze, making the memory of Phloria''s death resurface.

    "I could argue that you could have shared the secret with us and kept Lith in the dark, but there''s no point crying over spilled milk." Elina said. "Thank you for taking good care of my son, Solus, but if you want me to forgive you, you''d better use that spell on me too. And fast."

    Solus bolted to Elina''s side, using her magic to let a second thumping fill the air of the dining room.

    "Can you hear it? This is our baby girl." Elina said amid sniffles.

 Chapter 2366 Paternal Pride (Part 2)

    "Gods, we need to start thinking about a name. Something starting with an S." While Elina looked at Sark who felt deeply moved, Raaz froze to the point that he forgot how to breathe.

    The second heartbeat belonged to his unborn daughter who had now be as real as Rena and Tista. His whole being crumbled and he felt like falling onto his knees and crying with joy.

    Then, the pieces reassembled themselves as Raaz remembered the time back when he was still barely a man and Elina had told him she was pregnant for the first time. He had been happy and terrified at the same time, but he hadn''t let those emotions overwhelm him.

    Raaz knew how big of a challenge raising a baby would have been so he had steeled up and worked twice as hard. Now, he had no need to work, but he was nothing like his old self.

    He was weak and wounded, something he couldn''t tolerate anymore. Raaz wanted to be strong and go back to being someone his wife could rely upon instead of just being another person she had to take care of.

    The heartbeat of the baby gave him the strength and the will to fight his inner demons like the man he wanted to be.

    "It''s beautiful." He walked behind Elina, caressing her face and then her womb. "Thank you, dear. I thought I''d never been happier yet you proved me wrong."

    After that, it was Selia''s turn and Protector howled in joy, quickly followed by Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir. The baby''s heartbeat elerated, matching their rhythm as if they were answering the call.

    "Stop it, you wolfheads." Selia said with a broken voice. "If the babyes out before the right time, it would be your fault."

    The pack went mute in a second, rushing to reassure her baby bump that everything was alright.

    "It''s beautiful indeed." Leegaain nodded. "Do you n on sharing it?"

    "Don''t ask me. It belongs to Solus." Lith gave her full credit along with the me.

    "Thanks, farmbutt." She snarled. "Honestly, I haven''t thought about that but I think I will. It''s no secret and requires little skill. Kami?"

    "Why do you ask me?" She replied.

    "Because you helped me develop it. I consider the spell yours as well." Solus said.

    "I''d be happy to share it. It can''t be used to do harm and will only bring joy to the people of the Kingdom. They need it." Kam nodded.

    "And not only them." Sinmara and Surtr walked inside the room but remained outside the door, not wanting to intrude in case their presence wasn''t wee.

    "Every mother on Mogar would pay gold to hear their baby. Rethia sure would." The Dragon of Light cleared his throat, feeling awkward from Lith''s re.

    "What are you doing here?" Lith didn''t care to hide the edge in his voice or the irritation he felt.

    "We wanted to offer you our condolences and let you know that we are here for you." Sinmara said, tormenting her fingers.

    "I don''t want any of your condolences." Lith stood up. "Keep your offers for someone who doesn''t know you because I remember well that when I really needed you, you turned your back on me."

    "I''m sorry for that but my family-"

    "Comes before mine." Lith ended the phrase for Surtr and nodded. "I understand that but it doesn''t change the oue. I have no idea if I could have saved Phloria with your help. What I know for certain is that you weren''t there and she died.

    "I''m not going to point fingers but I have no need for someone as unreliable as you."

    "Now you are being unfair." Sinmara took a single step forward. "If it was about Kam or Elysia, we would have helped you, no matter the cost. Yet it was just a human woman and the price was fighting a war."

    "That ''human woman'' was my best friend." Lith''s voice dripped scorn. "Phloria, that was her name, was my daughter''s godmother. Speaking of that, I have a second announcement to make."

    Kam noticed Lith''s lips curling up in a cruel smile and she hated him for that.

    ''He shouldn''t drag Elysia in his petty revenge. I understand how he feels but this is just wrong.'' She thought.

    "With Phloria ''just a human woman'' Ernas dead, Elysia needed a new godparent. Kami, Solus, and I have unanimously decided that there is no better person than Zoreth to take that mantle." Lith said, making the entire room burst into an uproar.

    "Grandma and Grandpa are already bound by their vow and I didn''t want to burden them further. Especially now that they have to take care of Shargein and Valeron the Second." Lith raised his hands to quiet them down and let him exin.

    "Zoreth is the best choice. She''s a human-Dragon-Abomination hybrid, so she knows exactly how Elysia will feel and she experienced the same struggles that my daughter will face.

    "She is also an Awakened mage. Zoreth will be able to teach Elysia everything she needs and follow her when she throws a tantrum. More importantly, Zoreth had no qualms about risking her life and that of her wife to aid me in the war.

    "If she did so much for me, I''m certain that she''ll do the same for Elysia. When her goddaughter needs her, Zoreth will overturn the heavens and earth instead of exining Elysia why she can''t intervene." Lith stared Surtr and Sinmara in the eyes during thest part.

    "I approve of your choice." Sark nodded. "I don''t like her but, in your shoes, I would do the same."

    "Thank you, Lith." Leegaain shivered lightly in emotion. "It means a lot to me. Maybe, if we work together, we can bring my baby girl back to life in full, like you."

    "Well, congrattions." The twins clicked their tongues in unison.

    The decision was already made and arguing was pointless.

    "Still, I think you are being unfair to us." Surtr said. "Mother and Father didn''t help you either, yet your feelings for them are unchanged."

    "They are worlds apart from you." Lith shook his head. "I couldn''t ask Grandpa to choose between Jormun and me just like I couldn''t ask Grandma to put the Desert at risk for me.

    "They are Guardians whereas I''m just a Tiamat. I can''t even begin to understand what they see when they look at the world around them, but I can sense their burden. They didn''t stand idly out of selfishness but because they can see the ripples of every action we take.

    "Grandma healed me more than once, helped me with my Forgemastery, and kept my family safe. I couldn''t ask more from her without feeling the need to swear my allegiance to her.

    "Grandpa didn''t do much aside from protecting Kami, but that''s fair as well. We never cared or liked each other much so I didn''t expect him to go out of his way to help me. He was honest with me and I''m grateful for that because I made no illusions about our rtionship.

    "You, instead, called me your sibling. You offered me your hands and then when I tried to hold on to them in a moment of desperation, you took your hands back."

 Chapter 2367 Festering Scar (Part 1)

    Lith closed his eyes and took a deep breath to quell his anger and not ruin the mood.

    "So yes, you can visit and are free to be part of my daughter''s life. Yet don''t ask me to give a damn about what you think or how you feel when I make a decision."

    Sinmara and Surtr lowered their eyes in embarrassment.

    Lith wasn''tpletely right but he wasn''t wrong either. In the end, they had remained on the sidelines whereas Zoreth had risked her life and free will for him. There was no logic, no matter how sound, that could make up for that.

    "That said, Grandma, I would like to keeping here in the future¡­" Lith said.

    "Granted." The Overlord nodded.

    "Which means that I''d like you to allow Zoreth and Bytra ess to your pce. At least while I''m here and they want to visit Elysia." He rushed to add once he noticed Sark''s frown.

    "Granted." She echoed dryly. "Leegaain, tell your daughter that if she makes one wrong move, I''ll end her. I''ll suspend my judgment, but if she dares to break one of myws she''ll be punished ordingly."

    It took Lith, Kam, and Solus a bit to exin the reasons for their choice and the fact that Zoreth had already epted their offer.

    "Do you mind if I invite her here?" Lith asked.

    "Be my guest." The Overlord grumbled while massaging her temples.

    A quick call and a few warningster, Zoreth and Bytra stepped out of the Desert''s Gate after entering from Lith''s barn.

    "Hi, guys. Do you remember my wife, Byt? I mean Bytra." Zoreth was wearingfortable brown linen pants and a white shirt.

    "Wee and congrattions!" The Verhens hugged the Shadow Dragon in turns, thanking her for everything she had done for Lith and Solus and for bringing them back home alive.

    "Can I call you Zoreth or do you prefer Xenagrosh?" Kam extended her hand.

    "You are doing me the honor of being your baby''s godmother. You could call me names and I wouldn''t care." Zoreth shook her head.

    "Then wee to the family, Zoreth. Please, take good care of Elysia." Kam had ck scales covering her arms and hands as she hugged the Shadow Dragon.

    "Elysia. What a wonderful name." Zoreth shapeshifted her skin without thinking, allowing the scales to share their respective feelings better than any word could. "Oh gods, thank you."

    "No, thank you." Kam replied.

    While Zoreth had felt Kam''s sincerity, Kam had experienced how honored Zoreth felt and how there was nothing she wouldn''t do to protect the baby. Literally nothing.

    Under any other circumstance, Kam would have been scared to death by the unbridled fury and merciless cruelty the Shadow Dragon exuded. Yet those feelings were addressed toward those who would try to harm Elysia and Kam would do even worse to them, given the chance.

    After a few toasts, Zoreth asked to listen to the baby''s heartbeat in person and when Solus granted her request, the Shadow Dragon needed her father to not fall apart.

    "She''s one of us." Zoreth bawled her eyes out. "She''s really one of us. There is hope for my kind."

    "The melody of her life force is simr to our own but Mogar is embracing Elysia instead of rejecting her." Bytra exined.

    "That''s wonderful news!" Leegaain said whereas Sark, Surtr, and Sinmara didn''t share his enthusiasm. "This proves that there is a path for you to be once again part of the world energy. We just need to find it."

    "I have an announcement to make as well." Solus said after congratting the hybrids and thanking them. Their presence would ensure that nothing bad would happen during her absence.

    "I''m nning to take that long journey with Tista and Nyka I''ve often talked about. I want to travel Mogar and find myself. Now that there is no enemy or looming threat at our door, I want to stay on my own for a while."

    "How long?" Kam asked.

    "I''ll depart as soon I''m certain Lith won''t need my help and return before Elysia is born. I gave you my word and I wouldn''t take it back for the world but that''s all I can say." Solus replied.

    "Take all the time you need. You deserve it." Kam embraced her.

    "Never forget that you''ll always have a home in Lutia." Elina stood up and hugged Solus as well. "Whatever you decide, you''ll always be a part of this family. You''ll always be my daughter."

    "Thanks, Mom." That word meant the world to Solus.

    The more she remembered about her old self, the more she realized how much time she had wasted on recriminations. Solus knew from her lingering visions how much Elphyn had loved Menadion, yet after Threin''s death, she had never expressed those feelings.

    Ripha had med herself for his death and being a child, Elphyn had believed her. The guilt from the mother and resentment from the daughter had created a vicious cycle that neither could find a way to break even after Elphyn reached adulthood.

    In time, Elphyn had understood that Ripha wasn''t to me for Threin''s demise but by then the old wounds had left a festering scar.

    Like most Awakened, Elphyn had assumed that she and Ripha would live for centuries and that there would be time to patch things up between them. Solus, instead, was painfully aware of how frail life was even for a powerful Awakened like Phloria.

    "I promise that I''lle to visit you every time we find a geyser or a Gate and not just to get a recharge. I''m not going to be a Lith, Mom. I want to spend time with you, Dad, and your baby as she grows." Solus said.

    "Thanks, dear." Elina kissed her head and caressed her hair.

    "Hey, I resent that." Lith grunted.

    "Resent what you want. She''s telling the truth." Raaz shrugged. "I love you, son, but you aren''t very present unless there''s a crisis. I''m your father and I can ept that, but if you dare do the same to your daughter, I''ll kick your ass."

    "Me too." Zoreth raised her hand and unlike Raaz, her tone was serious.

    "Jokes aside, I''m going to miss you, Solus." Lith hugged her, d to see that she was moving her first steps forward. "Before you go, we have to organize the material I have to share with the Royals.

    "Once we are done, you don''t have to worry about me. To be honest, the next few months would have been terribly dull for you if you stayed. Traveling is the best thing you could do."

    "What do you mean, dull?" Kam asked. "She could have helped you with your research, like usual."

    "Not really." Lith scratched his stubble. "I have to go to the Royal pce to show the blueprints of our creations to the Royal Forgemasters and then present the books about Void Magic to the Headmasters of the six great academies.

    "I''ll be forced to spend a lot of time in Valeron in order to answer their questions and rewrite chapters in case I need to be more clear or specific. Since I can do most of that stuff and theoretical research from any desk, I''ve asked to be assigned to you as your bodyguard."

 Chapter 2368 Festering Scar (Part 2)

    "I beg your pardon?" Kam spat the final sip of her tea.

    "You know that I''ve never wanted to leave your side during the pregnancy. Now that the war is over, I can stay with you and make sure that you are safe." Lith said with a warm and kind smile that made it hard for her to tell him that she liked having some personal space.

    "Soon the pregnancy will start showing and someone must make sure you don''t exert yourself."

    Kam looked around the room like a trapped animal, looking forfort, advice, or a way out.

    "Stop looking for a way out." Elina shrugged. "In my experience, there are only two kinds of first-time fathers. Those who are overprotective, overbearing, and will shadow you to the point you''ll wish to kill them in their sleep.

    "Then, there are those who don''t give a damn about your condition and treat you like nothing is happening. Which one do you prefer?"

    Selia, Rena, and even Sark nodded, making Kam sigh deeply.

    "Isn''t there a middle ground or something?" She asked.

    "Would you like for your husband to be halfway good? Or for your food to be halfway tasty?" Sark said. "Do you know what the word is for stuff in the middle ground?"

    "Mediocre. Average at best." Kam replied.

    "My point exactly." The Guardian nodded.

    "Why are you acting like that? We''ll embark on this journey together. If you can''t drink alcohol, neither will I." Lith said to prove his goodwill.

    "Good gods, how do you deal with that?" Kam asked Sark, ignoring him.

    "I love Leegaain but he really was too clingy as well. When you want to be left alone, either you get Lith drunk or you give me a call and I''ll knock him out without him even noticing."

    "Hey!" Lith and Leegaain said in unison, thetter suddenly understanding why he was "fainting prone" while taking care of Sark and their babies.

    ***

    The Verhens remained in the Blood Desert for over a week.

    During that time, Lith performed one of the most incredible feats that his family had ever seen him do. He slept a lot and took the time to enjoy the little things in life.

    He worked in the tower with Solus only to arrange the material he wouldter need in Valeron. This way, he would be ready and there would be no reason to bother her during her travels.

    Solus kept teaching Kam magic in their free time, letting her learn at her own pace and answering the questions that Kam raised in-between lessons as she practiced on her own.

    Lith and Kam would also often go back to the Kingdom to visit the Ernas.

    They also went on double dates with Quy and Morok or Vastor and Zinya. The first couple was now living together to test-run things before the marriage while the second could finally afford the time for a proper honeymoon.

    Zinya was proud of Zogar for what he had done during the Battle for the White Griffon and for how good a father he was. Since the rest of the Kingdom seemed to ignore his achievements, she did everything she could to make him feel appreciated.

    It was during one of the visits to the Ernas household that Jirni gave them the news.

    "Don''t worry about your job. I''ve made sure that despite the insane workload the Constable office is going through, no one will disturb you. You deserve it, Kam. You both deserve it." She said with a sigh.

    Lith had expected to find Jirni disheveled and marked by grief, yet she had never looked better.

    Even without make-up, her skin looked younger and her hair silky. She had always had the sensual grace of a predator but now her movements were even nimbler and more delicate.

    "Thanks, Jirni. I can''t even imagine how hard it must be for you to deal with both your duties as an Archon and the aftermath of the war on your family." Kam avoided mentioning Phloria''s death, afraid to tear the wound open.

    "We are all still forlorn from my Little Flower''s untimely passing, but I can assure you that work isn''t a problem." Jirni shook her head.

    "Sure." Kam nodded, incapable of hiding her disbelief despite her rigid training as a Constable.

    "I''m not acting strong. Work really isn''t a problem because I''ve taken a sabbatical." Jirni would have liked to wait a bit more before sharing that piece of news, but she could see the worry on her apprentice''s face.

    "A sabbatical?" Kam echoed in disbelief. "Are you really going to be away for a whole year?"

    Lith said nothing but clenched his hands. Jirni was Kam''s fortress and army at work. Many people had yet to forget about her and Lith being oath breakers. His inhuman nature and her carrying his child made things even worse.

    Without Jirni''s protection, things could get really nasty really fast.

    "Maybe more, maybe less. The only thing I know for sure is that I''m not going to work until after Quy''s marriage." Jirni replied. "Right now, I wouldn''t be able to be a good Archon and my family needs me more than ever.

    "I''ve lost so many things and I don''t want to miss a single moment of my Little One turning from a beautiful woman into a wonderful bride." She sniffled on cue, fooling everyone.

    Jirni did want to help Quy with the wedding nning and take care of his grieving family, but she also had an agenda that demanded no witnesses. She had to get ustomed to her new body and learn all kinds of elemental and Spirit Magic.

    As her core grew stronger, she needed to give Vastor and Orion the time to develop a new kind of cloaking device that would fool even Awakened like Lith and keep her newfound powers a secret.

    ''Once Quy is married and I''ve mastered everything I can about my core''s current power output, I can safely go back to work.'' Jirni actually thought. ''Right now, I''m limited to tier one spells and it will take me months to get the yellow.

    ''There''s no point wasting time at home. Not when I can use my powers on the job as well and get real experience instead of mere training.''

    "I''m so sorry, Jirni. Take all the time you want." Lith said. "I''ve already applied to be Kam''s bodyguard whenever I can and there''s always a Guardian with her. She should be safe."

    "Physically, maybe, but no Guardian ever bothered moving their ass when she was hazed." Jirni countered pointedly. "That''s why I took care of handpicking the Archon Kam will work with and arranged for a proper introduction."

    "Thank you again, Jirni. If there''s anything I can do for you, you just need to ask." Kam grabbed her hands when the door of the tea room opened, letting Quy and Friya in.

    "Mom! What''s this story about sending me away? How can- Oh, hi guys." Quy charged like a bull and stopped abruptly when she noticed the guests.

    "Hi, Little One. Congrattions again." Lith stood up and hugged her.

    "Gods, I hate you so much." She said with a sweet voice while returning the embrace.

 Chapter 2369 Tough Choices (Part 1)

    ?

    "That damn moniker of yours turned out to be catchy and now everyone in the family calls me that." Quy said.

    "How is single life treating you, Friya?" Lith asked while extending his hand that she refused and hugged him instead.

    "Great. Nalrond is courting me like crazy and he''s pestering everyone to know if I''m already seeing someone else." She replied with a snort.

    "That''s cruel, Friya." Kam giggled, agreeing with the punishment in full despite her words. "When are you going to let that poor soul off the hook?"

    "As soon as he learns his lesson." Friya replied. "Being a Morok is fine. Being a self-centered jerk is not. On top of that, because of him, now I''m deadst again. Quy beat me to marriage as well."

    "It''s nopetition, dear." Jirni had no problem saying such words, but only because her daughter already had a suitor she was willing to marry. It wasn''t a matter of if anymore, only of when.

    "You are saying that now only because I already have a suitor who I''m willing to marry." Friya called on Jirni''s bluff, making her choke on her tea. "Back when I had no one, your opinion was wildly different."

    "What were you saying, Little One?" Jirni had long since learned that as long as she changed the battlefield on time, where there could not be victory there could also be no defeat.

    "I''ve heard the house staff discussing my new apartments out of the house. Are you really nning to send me away?" Quy felt hurt and afraid to have somehow disappointed her mother.

    "Yes, I''m having one of our best country houses prepared for you and no, I''m not sending you away." Jirni stood up and took Quy''s hands in her own. "I know I can be difficult and the first times living together with Morok are bound to be rough.

    "You two need to find your new bnce and I don''t want to make things harder for you with my presence. If you stay here, everything you see will remind you of Phloria.

    "Your husband would sh with your father and I whenever he does or says something stupid. I just want you to be happy and not worry about anyone but yourself. You will always be wee here.

    "This is your home and you can hide here from Morok anytime you want, but you need your own ce. A house where you are the only Lady Ernas and not Lady Ernas'' daughter."

    "Thank you, Mom." Quy sniffled, moved by Jirni''s care.

    "Don''t mention it." Jirni caressed Quy''s face. "Since we are all here and in thepany of our friends, I have a question to ask you. Would you like to have another sibling?"

    Lith spat out his tea, knowing all too well that such a question was merely rhetorical.

    "I would love to have one, but are you sure? Have you thought this through?" Quy bit her lower lip in stress, wondering if it was an act of love or of desperation, like the one she had almost made a few days ago.

    "Of course I did. We did. Your father agrees with me and I want to reassure you that we aren''t going to rece Phloria. Boy or girl, it doesn''t matter. I just want to be the parent I never was for my Little Flower or any of you." Jirni clenched the hems of her day dress.

    "Do you need a healer?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, but don''t worry. I know how busy you are going to be so I''ve already asked Vastor and he epted. He''s an expert inte pregnancies and will follow us step by step."

    This way, Vastor and his Eldritches disguised as his assistants would have an excellent excuse to visit often and the alleged medical procedures would exin the time Jirni would spend with them learning magic.

    "You could have asked us, Mom." Friya was slightly offended for not having been even consulted about the matter.

    "It''s time for you to move on with your life, dear. I want you to focus on that." Jirni took her hands, caressing them gently. "Now, why don''t you sit down and keep uspany for a while? It''s nice having everyone around for once."

    With a sleight of hand, Jirni pressed one of the runes on her dress, signaling her husband that Quy''s room was empty and their daughter busy.

    Orion knew about Quy''s research to reach Awakening from back when she was a violet-cored fake mage. A condition simr to his own that Orion needed to ovee without dying or resorting to Forbidden Magic.

    In the past, he had often seen her diaries open on her desk without understanding what those unknown runes were about.

    Quy was a brilliant mage living inside one of the most secure households of the Kingdom so she felt no need to write things down in code, especially since to most people Awakening was just a myth and without solid basis, true magic made no sense.

    She had jotted down her entire research about the runes needed to cast true magic and conjure fusion magic. The procedure that she had used to be a true mage was described step-by-step along with her thoughts and suggestions that she had added in hindsight after seeding.

    Orion felt like a thief while searching through his daughter''s room and like the scum of Mogar for abusing Quy''s trust and stealing her research.

    ''I''m sorry, Little One. I really am.'' He thought. ''But if I told you the truth, you''d never ept to help me and I''m not going to leave your mother alone. Also, if anything were to happen to you, I don''t want to feel helpless ever again!''

    To make matters worse, Orion had to find and copy everything before Quy moved to her own house.

    He swallowed his pride and used one of his Knight Guard''s devices to take scans of the room before searching it so as to be capable of putting everything back into ce before leaving.

    Once he found one of Quy''s grimoires, Orion would just scan it with another device, obtaining a 3D digital copy in a matter of seconds. Every search required making sure that no one would barge in, keeping both the house staff and Morok busy.

    "What about me?" Friya asked in the tea room. "Are you going to send me away as well if I get married?"

    "It depends. Do you want to keep living with your parents your whole life?" Jirni replied.

    "Gods, no."

    "Do you want to live with your sister?" Jirni pointed at Quy.

    "Gods, no!" The idea of meeting Morok first thing in the morning and having another contest about who had spent the wildest night in bed made her stomach churn.

    "Hey, I resent that!" Quy had noticed her sister''s tone going from displeased to terrified.

    "Then you have your answer." Jirni chuckled. "Of course I''m having another country house prepared for you. It''s no less big or magnificent than Quy''s but I''m just arranging it with the bare minimum.

    "They are going to be your respective homes and you have to make them a reflection of your own family, not mine."

 Chapter 2370 Tough Choices (Part 2)

    "Thanks, Mom." Friya hugged Jirni as well. "Speaking of mansions, Lith, what about yours?"

    "I''m in your same situation." He sighed. "The Queen is having it finished at record speed but she also will set the bare minimum. She wants me to decide stuff like drapes, the style of the furniture, the art pieces, and all that crap!"

    "Is he whining because he hates decorating or because he has to pay for the furniture out of his own pocket?" Quy asked Kam.

    "Hey!" Lith didn''t like the allegation.

    "He''s whining because everything looks the same to him and he has trouble seeing more than 16 colors." Kam replied with a giggle. "The Royals are paying for everything or you''d see him cry blood."

    "Kami!"

    "Did I say something wrong or inurate?" She asked.

    "No, but not in front of our friends!" He said in embarrassment.

    "No need to be embarrassed." Jirni shook her head. "You have yet to buy Kam a single gift worthy of its name. Everything she has you crafted yourself. It''s very romantic but also very cheap."

    "Yeah, even her Voidfeather armores from Sark." Friya nodded.

    "You are the Supreme Miser, everyone knows it." Quy shrugged. "Buy your wife something nice for once. She''s going to need it."

    "What do you mean?" Lith and Kam asked in unison.

    "Well, in a while she is going to attend to Court summons, the G for the end of the war, Court life, and my marriage minimum. Do you know that wearing the same dress twice is considered terrible manners?" Quy replied.

    "Are you kidding me?" Lith clenched in pain the stone ring where his wallet was stored.

    "Why do you think I have so many dresses?" Jirni rose an eyebrow in disbelief. "You have to wait at least one month before wearing the same outfit can be considered proper. Then, you must also consider the current fashion or be frowned upon as outdated.

    "You also need to take into ount that a party can be themed and you must fit in. Last, but not least, you need suitable jewels for your outfit. Women are not like you who can wear your damn uniform and robe and be always fine. We need to shine."

    "Oh, gods." Lith whimpered, making everyoneugh.

    "I''m sorry, babe. I can borrow what I need until-" Kam''s worry was the final straw that broke the camel''s back.

    Lith felt like a heartless jerk, not only because he had never bothered learning all those things, but also because she was feeling sorry for him. Kam lived on a military sry whereas he was a Baron, a Magus, a Supreme Magus, and the owner of silver mines.

    Plural.

    "No, you won''t." Lith shook his head. "Can you girls please help Kami get herself a good wardrobe? I''m terrible at it and I don''t want to scare clerks and tailors with the grimaces I know I''d make if I were present."

    "It will be our pleasure." Jirni nodded. "Any request in particr?"

    "Just make sure she and the baby arefortable. I don''t care if you have to buy every dress in multiple sizes." Lith said, making the women aww.

    "Remember those words and throw them in your respective husband''s face if necessary." Jirni said to her daughters. "If even someone like Lith can be so thoughtful, Nalrond and Morok must be ashamed of themselves if they do any worse."

    "Hey!" Lith was tired of being insulted. Sure, everything they said was true, but it didn''t make it pleasant to hear.

    ***

    Duchy of Essagor, inside the Yrfal school, at the same time.

    Lith was on special leave due to his contribution to the war efforts and Jirni was on sabbatical whereas the life of the Master had resumed the day after Thrud''s death like nothing had happened.

    The White Griffon was already fully operational and the permanent new Royal Array was just a few days away from beingpleted. As vice-Headmaster, Vastor had to help Marth with the mountain of paperwork necessary to run the academy and prepare the lessons for the fourth and fifth years.

    Actually, something had changed in Zogar Vastor''s life.

    Marth had told everyone how he had managed to tap into the White Knight''s true power only thanks to the support of the old Professor. Marth imed that Vastor had helped him from the outside first and then had joined him in the cockpit.

    "As the vice-Headmaster, the Headmaster''s ring bears Vastor''s secondary imprint." Marth said to everyone willing to listen. "It allowed us to join our forces and beat the Golden Griffon into submission."

    Ryssa and the nt folk from the White Griffon''s Forest also vouched for Vastor. They hadn''t actually seen him, but Marth knew Vastor had to be there somewhere and that was more than enough for the nt folk.

    Marth had unwittingly helped to further split Vastor from his Master persona in the public opinion, giving him an alibi. The words of the Headmaster had also brought Vastor a little share of glory and fame since now everyone knew that he hadn''t run away even when given the chance.

    Also, after learning from Zinya about the true life of Filia and Frey in their school, Vastor had started to apany them in person every morning.

    Once not even that had proven to be enough, he had demanded from the Yrfal school''s headmaster to arrange a "bring your parents to school" day.

    Useless to say, Vastor attended the event while donning his deep blue Archmage robe over his high uniform and wielding his Yggdrasill staff, Grimbark.

    His Spellbreaker pin, the Queen''s Corps badge, the Royal Forgemaster''s stripes, and the White Griffon insignia identifying him as the head of the light magic department were pinned on his breast pocket as well and impossible to miss.

    The noble parents swallowed non-stop and the bullies were covered in a cold sweat even thicker than their parents''. The rest of the ss was simply in awe. The children gawked at the sight of Vastor, each pointing at their respective favorite symbol of power.

    ''Good gods. What have I done?'' Every single one of those who badmouthed Zinya and her children thought. They each used slightly different words but the fear was the same.

    Seeing the meek and round Professor with his usual white robes, it was easy to forget who Vastor really was. It was the reason he was reminding everyone of the consequences of standing against him or those he loved.

    He was an old coot, but an old coot who ruled over the Essagor Duchy and who held in a single one of his fingers the power to raze their households to the ground. Vastor didn''t need to say a word or emit a shred of killing intent to deliver his message.

    He was displeased with his retainers and was showcasing his will to go to war against them now that he was done with the Mad Queen.

    "Thank you everyone for attending." Headmaster Nanth couldn''t take her eyes off Vastor, thanking the gods for having always taken care not to anger him. "This is a special asion that I hope we can turn into a regr event. If you''ll like it of course."

    Vastor nodded, and everyone followed suit like a flock of hysterical birds.

 Chapter 2371 Fear Tactics (Part 1)

    "Before starting the regr lessons, I''d like for the parents to introduce themselves to the rest of the ss just like your children did on their first day in our school. Who wants to go first?" Nanth asked.

    Vastor stood up before the Headmaster was done talking. The event was his idea and so was the speech.

    He had Filia''s and Frey''s sses "conveniently" merge for the day so that he didn''t have to repeat himself.

    "Hi, everyone. I''m Archmage Zogar Vastor, vice-Headmaster of the White Griffon and Head of its light department. These are my children, Filia and Frey. I hope we''ll get along well." He wore a warm smile and his tone was that of the average man.

    Yet from that day onward, those who still dared badmouth Zinya did it in the secret of their chambers, whispering like conspirators afraid of being charged with treason. Their children were instructed to behave and those slow on the uptake learned the hard way that disrespect would be no longer tolerated.

    Vastor would hit the parents of the bullies where it hurt the most. Their reputation, their business, and any chance they had to even get an audience from one of the six great academies crumbled like sandcastles facing high tide.

    The parents, in turn, spared no effort in disciplining their unruly heirs and showing the lord of thend how sorry they were.

    Life became quite boring for Tezka, but the many smiles and friends that Frey and Filia made in the following days were the best reward the ancient monster could ask for.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, Royal Pce.

    The destruction of the Golden Griffon had done more than keep Thrud''s army from resurrecting. With the lost academy gone, the Unwavering Loyalty array had disappeared and its effects had quickly faded.

    In order to gain the trust of the citizens of the regions she had upied, Thrud had used Skinwalkers to rece the most respected and influential nobles of each district. The members of that particr Fallen Race could copy everything about theirtest victim.

    From their physical appearance to their gait, their manner of speaking, and even their memories. A Skinwalker could y his part to perfection, recollecting distant events down to the most insignificant detail as if he had actually taken part in them.

    That was until a Skinwalker got peckish.

    Then he would fall prey to his own hunger and devour someone else, no matter the who or where. The Unwavering Loyalty array was the only reason Thrud''s Skinwalkers could keep their base urges in check during the war.

    Once the ve spell was gone, it took the monsters less than one day to reveal their true nature to their loyal subjects.

    On top of that, before bringing the Doppelgangers to hisir, Leegaain made sure that each one of them would "betray" its nature and run away in front of plenty of witnesses.

    The Father of All Dragons had granted Protheus'' children safe haven, but demanded for them to take full responsibility for their actions and make up for them to the best of their ability.

    The Skinwalkers, the Doppelgangers, and Thrud''s final video revealing that Orpal had been alive all along made the united front of the traitorous regions fall apart in the span of hours.

    They all promised each other to fight until thest breath like brothers, swearing oaths of undying loyalty.

    The moment the meeting was over, however, each one of them rushed to contact the Royals and discuss the terms of their surrender. Without the Mad Queen and her army, there was no hope of victory.

    The rulers of the renegade regions knew that the first one of them to switch sides would get the best deal in exchange for their help against their associates. No one among the rulers had a single doubt that the others were already trying to sell their skin as bargaining chips.

    In politics, guilty or innocent didn''t matter as much as how useful you could be.

    The Royals had no qualms about ying their best cards.

    They reminded the traitorous lords how the Crown still had the support of the Awakened Council and that the elders of the Council would love to rece the useless nobles.

    When the negotiations failed or someone dared y too hard to get, the King would say a single phrase and make it public on the interlink.

    "I''m sending Supreme Magus Verhen there."

    At that point, one of two things would happen. Either the lord of the region called back and begged for their life, or the people of their region would riot and offer the lord''s head to the Crown as a peace offering.

    Everyone had watched the videos of the Tiamat''s rampage and no one wanted to experience it on their own skin. ording to the rumors, Phogia was still burning from the Thousand mes and Bima was still scarred by the destruction that Lith had caused by bursting its gates open.

    On the one hand, no blood was spilled and no more battles were waged to reunify the Kingdom. Diplomacy was more than enough to bring everything back to how it was supposed to be.

    On the other hand, however, it was a hollow victory. While on the maps it took a few days to make the Griffon Kingdom whole again, in reality, the borders past Thrud''s former domain might as well lead to another.

    There were thousands of traitors to apprehend, trial, and sentence. Half the people of the Kingdom were terrified of the Royal Army and panic made peace but an empty word.

    One side rejoiced while the other trembled in fear, yet neither of them could thrive without the other.

    Such a situation made the justice system of utmost importance.

    The actions of every single guard, Constable, and Archon had to be beyond any suspicion. The Crown couldn''t let anyone think that thew was being used as a cudgel to beat the losing half of the Kingdom into submission.

    Every sentence and document provided as proof didn''t just have to be impartial, it also had to seem as such. There could be no lingering doubt of nted evidence or rigged trial.

    Archon Jenma Griffon knew that never before had her role been so vital for the Kingdom. Based on her performance and that of her fellow Archons and Constables, the peace so painstakingly achieved would endure or crumble.

    Also, never before had she been summoned to the Throne Room to receive an assignment. Usually, she would receive confidential orders through the secure channel of her amulet or she would be summoned in the privacy of the office of a minister in case state secrets were involved.

    Jenma was a branch member of the Royal Family and although she had the right to undergo Valeron''s trial, she had never desired to rule.

    The royal blood in her veins and her silver eyes had granted her the opportunity to rise to the role of Archon and it was more than enough for her. Sometimes, she found it to be too much.

    Being at the top meant being responsible for everything that went wrong in her department.

 Chapter 2372 Fear Tactics (Part 2)

    Every one of her decisions had to be weighed and pondered since a mistake from one of her Constables would snowball up instead of down and trample her.

    "Jenma, it''s so nice to see you." Queen Sylpha''s smile sent a shiver down the Archon''s spine.

    Jenma knew that the Queen had no love for the Royal Family, only a deep-seated disdain that Sylpha had never bothered to hide even back when she had just graduated from the Crystal Griffon.

    The youngest Great Mage of her generation had considered Valeron''s descendants nothing more than a bunch of fossils who had squandered the legacy of the First King and turned his Kingdom into a rotting corpse.

    It was the reason the future King Meron had approached her. Not only did she have an amazing magical talent, but she also was the perfect candidate to finally start changing the outdated system.

    Sylpha had no interest in the status quo which she openly despised.

    Her family belonged to a young magical household that was struggling to thrive despite the merits of its members due to red tape and bureaucrats defending the interests of their own ipetent families.

    After marrying Meron and discovering how widespread the corruption was, Sylpha''s spite for the Royal family had turned into bloodlust.

    After thete General Morn hadpromised the War of the Griffons by exposing Lith''s identity for his personal agenda, Sylpha had expelled from the Royal Court anyone who wasn''t worth the trouble they caused.

    "How are you, cousin?" King Meron asked.

    His condition seemed to have greatly improved after the end of the war. The cough was gone and most of the age lines caused by the forbidden ritual had be shallower.

    "That should be my question, My King." Archon Jenma Griffon fell onto her right knee and bowed her head. "My life for the Kingdom."

    "I should be that lucky." Sylpha snarled, her gaze not bothering to hide the wish to perform one more forbidden ritual to extend Meron''s lifespan and get rid of some useless trash at the same time.

    Jenma stood still and said nothing, knowing that she was that trash.

    "Please, forgive Sylpha''s manners, dear cousin. She''s very tired from taking care of me and of everything the Kingdom needs to put the final nails in the coffin of Thrud''s rebellion." Meron held his wife''s hand gently and the Queen''s gaze softened again.

    Even though their marriage was political, they had ended up bing friends first and loverster. Sylpha loved her husband and their children. Everyone else in Valeron''s bloodline might as well disappear for all she cared.

    "There''s nothing to forgive, My King. You paid a great personal price to vanquish the Mad Queen and Queen Sylpha risked her life on the battlefield for all of us. She has every right to be angry with those of us who have been useless." Jenma replied.

    "Don''t be so harsh on yourself, Jenma." Meron shook his head. "Sylpha has great expectations for you and so does Archon Ernas. They have personally selected you among the Archons'' ranks for an important task."

    Jenma raised her head just enough to see the King''s honest demeanor and the Queen''s lips curled up, her teeth exposed in something too feral to be called a smile.

    "As you know, due to the recent loss of her daughter, Archon Ernas has taken a sabbatical. Among her duties, Archon Ernas was in charge of supervising an important member of the justice department.

    "A role that you have been selected to serve in her absence. Allow me to introduce you Constable Kam Torchbearer-Yehval." At a wave of Meron''s hand, the door of the Throne Room opened and Kam walked in, wearing her uniform.

    As she crossed the red carpet separating her from the dais, a chair appeared near Archon Griffon. Sitting in the Throne Room was something that ording to protocol only the current Royals could do.

    Giving a chair to a guest was the highest honor they could receive and it could be granted only under precise circumstances.

    The guest had to be vital for the Kingdom and pregnant. Women who carried fresh and powerful blood couldn''t stand for long and unlike any other condition, theirs couldn''t be cured.

    When Kam arrived in front of the throne, Sylpha waved her hand when Kam was about to kneel, sparing her from the formalities, and offered her the chair that Kam politely refused.

    "You probably know her as Baroness Verhen or, as many like to call her, the Lady Magus." Sylpha said, her smile honest again as she wondered how much life force could be extracted from Jenma.

    "Threest names?" Archon Griffon was bbergasted.

    Even nobles could only have multiple second names, but more than twost names was unheard of.

    "I understand your confusion." Meron said. "Captain Yehval received the Torchbearer name from Overlord Sark herself on the day of her marriage. Captain Yehval is not only a loyal officer of the Kingdom but also an honorary citizen of the Blood Desert."

    "The Overlord?" Jenma felt her throat be parched as she understood how dire her situation was.

    "Yes." Sylpha nodded. "It''s a funny story. I''m certain that Captain Yehval will be happy to tell you about it. Or you can ask the Overlord herself when shees to visit. Lady Sark is very fond of Captain Yehval and of the child she carries."

    Jenma cursed under her breath, understanding the threat she was under. Kam was a political hot potato that the Royals couldn''t afford to drop. She was an oath breaker, a half-citizen of the Desert, but also the tether between Verhen and the Kingdom.

    The same Verhen who embodied the fear that along with gum and spit kept the peace together. If something were to happen to Kam, the Royals would sacrifice Jenma to appease his anger.

    Literally.

    The use of Forbidden Magic was allowed solely on death row inmates since they were considered already dead and the way they were executed was irrelevant. Jirni had chosen Jenma to make sure that nothing would happen to Kam.

    Were anything to go wrong, Archon Griffon would find herself in prison and Sylpha would have someonepatible with Meron''s life force to experiment upon.

    "Nice to meet you, Archon Griffon. I''ll be in your care." Judging from her tense smile, Constable Yehval had no idea that the hand she was offering was actually a sword aimed at Jenma''s heart.

    "And I in yours." Archon Griffon nodded while keeping her best poker face. "When are you due toe back to work? I need to prepare you a suitable office."

    "After the Royal G." Meron answered for her. "The War of the Griffons has taken a huge toll on the Verhens as well and the Crown has decided to give them a special leave to reward them for their sacrifices."

    Jenma inwardly sighed in relief. She had the time to purge her staff from problematic elements and make sure that they understood that if her head were to roll, theirs would all follow.

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Forgemastery Department, at the same time.

    Since Kam had been summoned to meet her new boss, Lith had decided to apany her and deliver the first batch of documents he had prepared in ordance with his deal with the Royals.

 Chapter 2373 Under The Spotlight (Part 1)

    "Why do you think Kami rolled her eyes when I told her that I wasing to Valeron as well?" Lith asked.

    "Maybe because you don''t allow her to walk up a single flight of stairs and open a Steps for her? Because you move her chair for her every time and carry her suitcase for her?" Solus said with a sneer. "She''s pregnant, not crippled."

    "She''s in the third month!" Lith said in outrage. "What if she exerts herself? What if she or the baby gets hurt?"

    "Never mind." Solus rolled her eyes and gave up after remembering Elina''s words.

    "Curb your worry, Lith. Women got pregnant in the past and they survived even when neither they nor their husbands had a shred of magical power." Orion ignored Lith''s hand and gave him a brief embrace, patting his shoulder.

    "Really? Were you calm when Jirni was pregnant with Gunyin?" Lith was surprised to see Orion there, let alone back to work and wearing all the insignia of his rank.

    "Are you kidding me? I princess carried her everywhere, even from bed to the breakfast table." Orion said with an embarrassedugh. "I can''t prove it, but I''m certain that at one point she started to drug me to get me out of her hair and move around freely for a few hours."

    "Then what''s the point of your words?" Lith furrowed a brow.

    "To tell you not to worry and that everything will be much simpler with the second child." Orion shrugged.

    "Really?"

    "Yes." Orion nodded. "I got drugged only once or twice then. At the third child, I had learned to keep my nerves in check."

    "Howe you are here, Orion?" Solus asked in worry.

    "Jirni is staying home and I can''t afford to take a sabbatical at the same time. The reputation of House Ernas is already bad due to¡­" Orion took a deep breath and clenched his hands. "Phloria''s betrayal. We need to show our loyalty to the Kingdom.

    "On top of that, if I stay home one more day, I''ll go insane. I''m terrible with marriage preparations and just choosing the doilies for the centerpieces makes me want to rip my hair out."

    "You and me both." Lith sighed at the memory of his own ceremony.

    "Also, Jirni needs her space and so do I. We''ve gotten to the point that staring at each other''s face all day just reminds us of our loss and makes the pain worse." Orion sighed.

    "Since we are at it, why are you here, Solus? Even better, how did you get past the security?"

    "I brought her here for the same reason I called Friya." Lith pointed behind Orion and at his daughter who had just appeared from around a corner. "They are both part of the DoLorean project and I want to give them the recognition they deserve."

    "Hi, Dad." Friya waved her hand as Orion gawked at her.

    Her hair was in its natural state, showing the seven elemental streaks.

    "What does this mean?" When he managed to speak, his voice was reduced to a whisper.

    "Friya is the only dimensional mage I know and I couldn''t make Warping runes on my own. Solus, instead, is a Light Master better than I am. I devised the DoLorean but they each made one of the three pseudo cores required.

    "I didn''t mention their contribution until now because Solus'' magical prowess was a secret and because I didn''t want to force Friya to choose between her duty toward her family and our friendship.

    "Now, however, everyone knows about the Golden Knight and since I''m sharing the blueprints for the DoLorean, Friya is no longer between a rock and a hard ce." Lith replied.

    "I was talking about this!" Orion pointed at her hair, even using a diagnostic spell to make sure it wasn''t just a dye or Body Sculpting.

    "I got them with my Awakening, Dad." Friya replied. "With the existence of the Awakened Council known to the upper echelons of the Kingdom and their alliance with the Crown, I don''t have to hide my status anymore."

    "Why didn''t you tell us?" Orion sounded hurt.

    "Because exining the appearance of seven streaks where until a day before there was none would have also meant revealing to you the existence of the Awakened and my deal with Faluel." Friya lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    "As Lith said, now you already know about that stuff so I don''t have to hide anymore."

    "Damn, kid. I''m so sorry." Orion gave her a deep bow.

    "You are sorry? For what?" Friya tried to make her father stand tall but he didn''t budge.

    "For being such a crappy father that you didn''t trust me enough to share your secrets with me." Orion replied. "Now I can tell Raaz that I know how walking a mile in his shoes feels."

    Friya opened her mouth, but no usible exnation came to her mind, leaving it hanging.

    "I''m sorry too, Dad. I should have trusted you."

    "Damn right you are." Orion hugged her, forcing her to straighten up. "I can''t believe it. My Little Rainbow is Magus material and as talented as Silverwing. I''m proud of you, sweetie."

    "Dad, no!" Friya blushed in embarrassment at both the public disy of affection and her new unwanted moniker.

    "Little Rainbow. It sounds nice." Lith grinned at Solus.

    ''Thank the gods I kept my own streaks hidden.'' She thought.

    "It sounds adorable." Solus actually said.

    After letting Friya go, Orion led them to the main office of the Royal Forgemastery department.

    It was arge circr room with a diameter of about 40 meters (130''). At its center, there was a huge Forge-shaped round table and at least fifty chairs. Lined up against the walls were cabs filled with documents and apprentices ready to provide their mentors with anything they might need.

    Lith could feel the hair on his neck stand up due to the massive amount of mana in the air. Every single piece of furniture and paper was heavily enchanted. There were more spells in the room than in one floor of the tower. Yet.

    Solus and Lith were surprised to notice that among those present there was Archmage Kwart, former Headmistress Onia, and all the Council representatives of the four races.

    "In ordance with our deal with the Royals, we''ll take a look at your Void Magic and work to convert it into true magic." Lotho''s words made every human in the room twist their face in an angry grimace. "The Council praises you, Magus Verhen."

    "Why those long faces?" Inxialot tormented a piece of rotten flesh hanging from his chin, making the Royal Forgemasters emit retching sounds. "You should be happy. I mean, despite being fake mages who have to babble runes and wave your arms like idiots, you are gaining a lot."

    "We aren''t fake mages!" Headmaster Lema of the Fire Griffon said with a snarl. "We are mages. Period."

    "Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that." Inxialotughed his ass off, drawing even the res from his peers in the Council.

    "Enough!" Raagu said. "Magus Verhen, if you please."

    She used Lith''s human title in respect for her hosts.

 Chapter 2374 Under The Spotlight (Part 2)

    Awakened only cared for Rulers of the mes because they shared their wisdom just like a Magus but their work also widened the gap between fake and true mages. Spirit Magic was always required to tap into the full potential of their opus and only Awakened could use the seventh element of magic.

    "These are the DoLorean blueprints while these are the books about Void Magic. They cover tiers from zero to three." Lith handed Orion one parchment and several tomes.

    "What about tiers four and five?" Fe asked.

    "When I get there, you''ll be the first to know." Lith shrugged.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, the DoLorean is exclusive to the Kingdom." Orion said. "Void Magic, instead, we can share."

    He pushed the books toward the center of the table and an array did the rest.

    They were brought to the middle of the Forge where a pir of light engulfed them. The magical formation conjured one virtual copy of the tomes for every chair around the table while another array sshed empty books with ink.

    The liquid moved from one page to another, copying the original down to the smallest detail.

    "Let''s give them all a read first and then discuss it amongst ourselves." Orion proposed and the others nodded.

    "We use the same First Magic so Mages and Awakened can benefit fromparing their respective notes." Raagu nodded.

    The copies were ready way before the assembly of mages was done arguing about their respective theories on how to improve Lith''s Void Magic. The Awakened gave a significant contribution but they also were shocked by their fake counterparts.

    The Royal Mages demonstrated an understanding of magic almost as deep as their own and a few of them even offered brilliant suggestions. Raagu took a mental note of their names.

    ''Marth, Distar, Ernas, Rudd, and Vastor. I have to keep an eye on these five.'' She thought.

    Only once the Awakened took their leave, did Orion put the blueprints of the DoLorean on the table and shared the news about Friya''s and Solus'' contributions with his fellow Royal Mages.

    Everyone gasped, remaining frozen for a few seconds before the room burst into an uproar. Everyone congratted Orion and Friya, especially her old Professors from the White Griffon.

    "I knew that you were special since day one!" Professor Rudd, the teacher of dimensional magic, was almost moved to tears. "Finally a dimensional mage is going to get the recognition our profession deserves.

    "These seven streaks are a blessing for us all yet if you want to make this old man happy, you must be a Magus before I croak."

    ''From day one my ass!'' Friya thought. ''You treated me like crap until I ran circles around the rest of the ss just because I didn''t belong to a magical bloodline.''

    "Thanks, Professor Rudd." She actually said. "I''m certain that were you to Awaken, you''d have the same streaks."

    It seemed like apliment but it was meant to make Rudd eat his liver. It worked.

    "Thank you for your kind words." The old Professor wore the joyful expression of someone who had just learned to have lost everything in a fire.

    "Are you really the Golden Knight?" Marth asked in surprise.

    "Yes, why?" Solus was offended by the allegation.

    "No offense, it''s just that I saw you fight in the videos. You were so strong and majestic that I had pictured you a bit taller and fiercer." Marth needed sheer willpower to not mention how petite and lovely she looked.

    "I''m not short, it''s Lith who is a beanpole!" Solus replied.

    "Actually¡­" Orion pointed at his colleagues, highlighting with a raised hand how she was even shorter than Vastor.

    "Fine!" Solus conjured several hard-light constructs to prove her mastery of magic.

    "Remarkable!" Archmage Kwart said. "From what academy did you graduate?"

    "Are you a beast or a human?" Headmaster Lema asked.

    "Are you single?" Several people asked, each one of them one too many for Solus''fort.

    "I studied under Gr- I mean, Overlord Sark. I''m a human and I''m happily single. Can we talk about magic now?" She answered in a rush to make them back down but it only made matters much worse.

    A human disciple of the Overlord would have exined how both she and Verhen had learned Light Mastery. It meant that Solus had strong connections with the Overlord and through Verhen, also with the Kingdom.

    Such a powerful and influential single woman was a unique catch, especially after having witnessed her prowess on the war records. Before Orion could manage to make the session resume, Solus had enough contact runes in her hand to build a house of cards.

    The Archmages would have approached Friya as well, but even though she had broken her engagement they didn''t want to pressure Orion after his recent loss.

    ''Good gods, is this how it feels when people want a piece of you not for who you are but for what you can do?'' Solus asked via the mind link while covered in a cold sweat.

    ''Yeah, get used to it.'' Lith inwardly nodded. ''I''m sorry I can''t give you half the credit for Void Magic. It would mean raising questions we don''t want to answer and exining the reason we are so close.''

    ''Are you kidding me?'' Solus replied. ''If this is what I get for revealing the crumbs of my work, it''s no surprise that Mom lived like a hermit in her tower.''

    After a while, once she finally managed to calm down, Solus added:

    ''Thank you, Lith. No matter how scary it is, walking through the Royal Pce with my own legs and being recognized for my talent is still a wonderful experience.''

    ''Please, this is the least I could do.'' He replied.

    After a brief questions and answers session about the mostplex runes of the DoLorean''s power core, the assembly was adjourned to give everyone the time to revise the material in detail.

    Lith was surprised when Archmage Kwart approached him and offered him a hand.

    "I want you to know that I had no idea that Deirus was consorting with Night and that I''m truly sorry for what happened to Phloria Ernas." Kwart said while shaking hands.

    "Let''s say I believe you. What do you want from me?" Lith didn''t buy either the change of heart or the condolences.

    Kwart hadn''t attended Phloria''s funeral which spoke volumes about his feelings.

    "Nothing." The Head of the Mage Association sighed. "I want to thank you because what you shared with us today will give the Association a bit of respite until we find a way to redeem ourselves."

    "I don''t follow you." Lith tilted his head.

    "Your contribution counts as that of an individual, not as a member of the army. A Magus and even a Supreme Magus are titles that belong to the Association and give it luster." Kwart replied.

    "Until this moment, the only reason the army has yet to swallow the Association is that the Royals are wary of what would happen if too much power were to end up in too few hands.

    "It would give the army an authority too close to the Crown''s forfort and make it hard to control in case another Morn pops out."

 Chapter 2375 Teachers And Students (Part 1)

    "Now, instead, with your ascension to Supreme Magus the Royals can put a halt to the ambitions of the upper echelons of the army because a merger would give them credit for your achievement. I doubt that it would sit well with you, especially after what Morn did." Kwart said.

    "You can say that." Lith nodded.

    "Also, thanks to you revealing the contribution of Friya Ernas to your opus, you have proven that albeit wed, the Association works. We are not like the army. We give our members the freedom to do and share what they want.

    "Some of them abuse this privilege, but all things considered the good still exceeds the bad. Were Friya Ernas in the army, she would be court-martialled now. Since she was in the Association, instead, she''ll face no repercussion."

    Lith clicked his tongue, nothing Kwart said sounded like good news to him.

    "You can go home now." Orion stepped between the two men. "We''ll call you as soon as we are done with our tests and have practiced Void Magic enough to figure out how far we can learn it on our own.

    "Your book exins the basics clearly, but there''s no telling if it''s enough to master Void Magic until we do a few test runs."

    "Would you be interested in giving sses about Void Magic?" Marth asked, quickly followed by the rest of the Headmasters. "It will take us a while to study your book, let alone find the best way to teach its contents to others.

    "You, instead, as the inventor could give elective sses and try different approaches in order to find which one works best."

    "I''ll think about it." Lith replied. "When do you need the blueprints about the Tablets?"

    "One thing at a time, Lith." Orion shook his head. "We Royal Forgemasters will focus on the DoLorean and the Headmasters on Void Magic. Tablets require us both and the supervision of the Royals.

    "Before changing Mogar forever, we must make sure it''s for the better. Once this technology is released, there will be no turning back."

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, outside Lith''s house, a few hourster.

    Solus and Kam couldn''t stop talking about what a wonderful morning they had respectively had while taking a stroll in the woods.

    Solus had finally taken her first step out of Lith''s shadow and had been recognized for her own talent.

    Kam, instead, had spent a pleasant time knowing her new supervisor and in thepany of people who didn''t make her feel like an overgrown baby. Walking with her legs and carrying her own briefcase was a pleasant change.

    "You should have seen how proud Orion was when everyone hailed Friya as the new Silverwing." Solus said.

    "You should have also seen how embarrassed Friya was and how she swore thating clean was the worst mistake of her life. Everyone now expects her to be a Magus and is putting her under an insane amount of pressure." Lith added.

    "Really?" Kam asked while taking care of keeping Solus between them and using her as a human shield against Lith''s unwanted attention.

    "Well, she is an Awakened with seven streaks and one of the makers of the DoLorean. She''s also a member of the noble House Ernas who''s getting trained by House Nyxdra. Do I need to say more?" Lith shrugged.

    "Poor Friya." Kam nodded.

    "Poor Friya my scaly ass." Lith said. "She always grumbled about being the only Ernas whose talent didn''t get recognition and being stuck as a Mage of the Kingdom. Now that the cat is finally out of the bag, she should be happy.

    "Her dream has juste true yet she just keeps whining."

    "Really? Would you feel the same way if I said ''poor me''? Because I''ve been walking a few miles in Friya''s shoes. Or rather, she''s now walking a mile in mine." Kam replied.

    "What do you mean?" Lith blinked a few times in confusion.

    "Look at me." She waved at her figure from head to toe. "A bit more than three years ago, I was an army lieutenant with a few friends, a disowned family, and a sister kept prisoner by a monster of a man.

    "I had passed the marrying age and had nothing to offer. Back then, I would fall asleep while staring at the ceiling, always afraid that I would die alone. That I would be a captain maybe at retirement and that my sister might die at any moment and her husband go unpunished.

    "Now, I have a family, a wonderful, husband, and I''m carrying the most beautiful baby girl on Mogar. Don''t get me started about how happy and safe Zinya is or the marvels of magic you have shared with me.

    "I''m supposed to be on cloud nine, as happy as a m, with all my dreamse true." She sighed. "Yet it came at a price. People still consider me an oath breaker and my career might never progress because of it.

    "I lost all my friends on the job and my colleagues either consider me a pervert or a gold digger.

    "Also, based on how the Queen behaved today, I''m pretty sure that I''m the pawn in some scheme that she and Jirni are weaving. Archon Griffon is scared shitless by them and you. Every time I mentioned your name, I could see the blood drain from her face."

    "I''m so sorry, babe. I-"

    Kam raised a hand, asking to let her finish.

    "Please, there''s no need to apologize. You didn''t do anything wrong. I''m an adult and I''ve made my own decisions. I''d pay that price ten times over and it would still be cheappared to the amazing life I got.

    "I''m just trying to say that even when a dream doese true, bad stuff stilles with it. Real life is no fairy tale. There''s no perfect happy ending, just a betterpromise. So yeah, poor Friya."

    "Poor Kami." Lith drew her close and give her a sweet kiss.

    "Poor is a strong word, but stingy does fit her husband like a glove." She chuckled.

    "About that, how much am I allowed to spend during my travels?" Solus asked.

    "Half of what I have is yours." Lith shrugged, tired of being called a scrooge. "Spend it as you like."

    "Thank you!" Solus joined the embrace. "I''m not going to lie, Kami, it hurt when you left me out of your list."

    "Which one?" Kam tilted her head in mock focus.

    "The amazing life one! If you dare put me on the bad list, I''m going to make you breakfast every day until I leave." Solus pouted in mock outrage.

    "Please, no. I like my teeth as they are." Kam giggled and Solus followed suit.

    The sudden clearing of a throat that didn''t belong to any of them drew their attention and ruined the moment.

    "Can we talk or am I interrupting something?" Crank the Hyperion was looking at the scene with a confused expression.

    Lith was surprised to find the Hyperion near his home and even more from his attire. The Divine Beast was in his honey badger form, yet he wore a waistcoat over a doublet and a beret with a single long feather.

 Chapter 2376 Teachers And Students (Part 2)

    "We can talk, but my time is precious so let''s cut to the chase." Lith replied with a re that brooked no questions about his personal life. "What are you doing here, Crank?"

    "It''s Baron Crank Zaseer of Mirana, now." The Hyperion gave them a small bow. "Even after you dropped me like garbage, I still fought my fair share of Thrud''s goons and cashed my reward."

    "Please, tell me that we aren''t neighbors." Lith had no clue where Mirana was since he had taken the maps of Lustria out of Soluspedia from the day he had enrolled in the White Griffon.

    "Gods, no!" Crank seemed to be even more revulsed than Lith at the idea. "I''ve taken a fief in the west, in one of Thrud''s upied regions. The Royals are in dire need of new and trustworthy nobles and I of subjects used to working for beasts.

    "Everybody wins."

    "Then if it''s not a courtesy visit, why are you here?" Solus red at the Hyperion, still remembering his insensitivements after Phloria''s death.

    "Because your husband still owes me my Light Mastery lessons, youngdy. I didn''te earlier because I didn''t want to intrude on your grief." Crank''s reply was only half true.

    The other half was him remembering his ownments as well and how badly they had been received. The Hyperion had waited a bit to make sure that the storm would pass and heads would cool down.

    Otherwise his own might have gotten cut off.

    "And for that, you have my thanks." Lith nodded. "Follow me. You''ll be my guest for lunch and we''ll start the lessons first thing in the afternoon."

    "Really?" Crank and Solus asked together, respectively with a smile and a frown.

    Spending the time she had left with Lith teaching the nasty furball was not on the list of things Solus wanted to do.

    "Really." Lith echoed, walking them home where they all received a warm wee.

    Elina and Raaz were proud of Solus. They wanted to hear everything about how the magicalmunity of the Kingdom had reacted to her presence. Rena and Tista asked Kam about her new boss and tried to understand the Queen''s endgame.

    Crank, instead, was grabbed and pinned down by the children.

    A talking pet was already amazing, but a pet who was willing to wear clothes was even better. They put outfits taken from their toys on him and Crank ended up dressed as a soldier, a mage, and then like a princess.

    The long and frilly pink gown from one of Leria''s dolls was itchy and ufortable. The Hyperion had lots of mean things to say, but that day Sark was on shift and her re was enough to not make him utter a word when a small blonde wig was put on his head.

    The food was amazing and the servings were so hearty that they made up for the earlier annoyance.

    Crank stuffed himself so much that when he woke up, he discovered that he had taken an afternoon nap with the kids.

    "Good, you are up. Follow me." Lith beckoned at him yet Aran and Leria followed as well.

    "He''s talking to me!" Crank took the toy clothes off in annoyance, eager to regain a shred of dignity.

    "No, I''m talking to all of you. Now move." Lith shook his head.

    "Wait, what?" Crank''s annoyance grew when Abominus and Onyx trotted behind them.

    "I''m going to kill two birds with one stone." Lith replied. "Aran and Leria will teach you Light Mastery so that I fulfill my part of our deal and they deepen their understanding of magic.

    "It will also serve as practice for when my daughter and my little sister are born."

    "So I''m going to be their science project?" Crank said in outrage.

    "They are skilled with holograms and can teach you everything I can. Also, I''ll be at home so whenever they fail to exin something clearly, you can always ask me for help." Lith said.

    "By the way, do you want the spoon-fed method or not?"

    "No spoon feeding." Crank shook his head. "If I just learn by rote, I''ll never move past the holograms. I need to figure out problems by myself as much as I can if I want to learn how to conjure hard-light constructs."

    "Excellent choice." Lith turned to Aran and Leria. "This is not a game so take it seriously. Teach him as I did with you and by answering his questions you''ll realize what your own magic iscking. Do not hesitate to ask my advice if you or Crank feel slumped."

    "Can we teach Abominus and Onyx as well?" Leria asked, hoping that her steed would soon evolve and catch up with Onyx.

    "Sure." Lith''s reply made Crank groan.

    "Great, I risked my life for something that these pups get for free!"

    "They are our friends and risked their lives for us countless times." Aran said, noticing that the more honey badger spoke the less cute he seemed to be.

    "Fine, kid." The Hyperion sighed. "Can you really create holograms?"

    Aran and Leria didn''t like his tone so they conjured the mostplex images they could control. A starry night from Aran and a small Voidfeather Dragon from Leria. Yet the kids had not learned how to add colors so the holograms were in ck and white.

    "It''s better than nothing. Please, start." Crank nodded.

    "Elemental magic can be divided into three branches. The elements of bnce-"

    "I know magic, kid!" Crank cut Aran off. "I''ve practiced it since before your family moved to Lutia so quit with the lecture and go straight to the juicy part."

    "But if you don''t learn the basics, you''ll never understand the principles of Light Mastery." Leria said.

    "Please, kid. I''m an Awakened Divine Beast over 500 years old. First Magic is the foundation of true magic. If some non-Awakened runts can do it, it can''t be that hard." The honey badger said with a sneer that wasn''t cute at all.

    "Fine!" While Leria exined everything from the start to Abominus and Onyx, Aran taught Crank the basics of Light Mastery.

    One hour and several questionster, the Hyperion still failed to have the sparkles of light coalesce into any form but a sphere. Two hourster, the situation was still the same.

    "Okay, kid, clearly you are forgetting something important." Crank snarled.

    The only silver lining was that Abominus and Onyx fared even worse, wasting their time ying with the air and water elements for some reason.

    "I didn''t forget anything because there''s nothing to forget. You just have to think of the air as solid matter and make the light element give it shape ording to your imagination." Aran opened his palm, conjuring a replica of the honey badger.

    "You''ve been telling me that for hours yet I keep failing. It means you are not teaching me right." Crank replied.

    "No, it means that you are not listening." Leria said, creating a second honey badger hologram.

    "Call Lith right now! I''m done ying with a bunch of stupid hairless monkeys who waste my time and-" Crank yelled at the top of his lungs, emitting a bright violet aura that terrified the children and made them cry.

 Chapter 2377 Kid Gloves (Part 1)

    "Say that again." Sark appeared out of thin air, cutting Crank short. "Say that again to my face if you dare."

    "I-"

    "You dare threaten my blood under my roof?" A violent white aura engulfed the children, protecting them from the Hyperion''s killing intent and snuffing his own aura.

    "Technically, this is the Kingdom and the house belongs to Lith." Crank managed to say in a whimper.

    "You idiot. I''m the Blood Desert. Wherever I go that''s the capital of my domain!" Then, Sark turned to Aran and Leria with the sweetest smile. "Go inside, kids, and warn the others that no one has toe out until I''m done."

    "Yes, Grandma." The kids sniffled, hugging her leg forfort and extending Crank''s sentence further.

    "Now you can start praying." Once Aran and Leria closed the door, the Overlord stretched her hands and neck, making them pop.

    "Are you telling me that I can sweet talk my way out of this?" Crank tried to Warp but the space was sealed. He tried to move, but his body was frozen in terror.

    "I said praying, not begging. There''s always the chance that a god might really exist ande to your rescue." Sark replied. "Let''s find out together."

    ***

    Lith''s house, a few hourster, right before dinnertime.

    "You did nothing wrong." Lith said to cheer Aran and Leria up. "Sure, you could have been clearer, but look at Abominus and Onyx."

    The two beasts were finally managing to conjure small holograms with elementary forms. They wouldst just a few seconds before losing cohesion, but it was a start.

    "Crank is mean." Leria pouted. "Can''t you kick him out?"

    "No. Our deal stands." Lith shook his head. "Also, life is full of mean people. You have to learn to deal with them."

    "They are seven years old, for the gods'' sake!" Rena said. "They should just y and have fun."

    "In five years, they might go to an academy." Lith replied. "We can''t follow them there. They need to stand up for themselves."

    Elina''s and Rena''s hearts clenched at those words. To them, it was just yesterday that the kids had been born and the two women felt like their babies would leave the day after.

    "Come to mommy, Leria." Rena wanted her daughter to be happy, yet also to never grow.

    Elina was hugging Aran while Kam was nning to have a word with Lith about using a softer approach to raise Elysia when Sark walked through the back door.

    "We are done talking." And by talking she meant a non-stop beating with just enough breaks to shove food down Crank''s throat to make sure he wouldn''t die nor grow insensitive to the pain. "Baron Crank has something to say to you."

    The honey badger was in perfect health. The Guardian had taken care to heal him properly and fix his noble clothes before bringing him in.

    "I''m very sorry." He fell to his knees, his tone cracked by regret. "I shouldn''t have raised my voice. I''ve been a jerk. Please, forgive me."

    He wanted to cry, but Sark had warned him not to and showed him her Pits of Agony.

    The Awakened from Verendi who had attacked Kam were still there. They couldn''t be called alive and death was a dream to them. The vision of what waited for him were he to defy her orders had made the Hyperion puke his guts out.

    "I''m sorry too." Aran said. "I should have called Lith once I noticed that you weren''t making any progress. I enjoyed seeing you fail because you were rude to us but that was mean of me."

    "Can you forgive me?" Crank asked.

    "Yes. Friends argue but they can always make up." Leria offered him her hand which the Hyperion kissed instead of shaking.

    "Thank you, master. I will never forgive your generosity." The honey badger started to whimper and cry.

    The kids hugged him, forgetting about his earlier outburst.

    "Thank you for clearing things up for us, Grandma." Aran had no idea what had happened and had taken Sark''s words at face value. He really believed she and Crank had just talked like his parents did after he argued with one of his friends.

    "Anytime, kids." She caressed their hair before turning to Crank and her tone became stone cold. "Anytime."

    ***

    A few dayster, Crank had epted taking the course from the beginning and he had quickly learned how to conjure simple holograms. Lith estimated that in a week tops the Hyperion would have mastered tier zero Light Mastery and gone back to his fief.

    Every time Sark was on shift, however, the Hyperion practiced like his life depended on it and he progressed by leaps and bounds.

    ''I''m starting to think that Grandma "talked" the shit out of him. Crank has lost all of his sass with the kids and worships Kam just to be safe. I must ask Grandma to teach me how she did it.'' Lith thought.

    "How do I look?" Kam asked.

    She was wearing one of the new evening dresses that Lith had bought for her. It was ming red, with cap sleeves that left her neck, shoulders, and arms exposed. It had a keyhole neckline and a hoop skirt that would keep her from tripping while they danced.

    It was decorated with whitece and several small emeralds that formed a flowery pattern, giving the impression she was wearing a bunch of Camellias woven together.

    "You look amazing." Lith said while staring at her still-growing breasts.

    "Stop talking to my breasts. My eyes are up here." She snorted since he had yet toment about her hairdo, the make-up, and all the details that had taken her hours to make.

    "I''m sorry, Kami, but I stand by my words. You look and smell amazing. That white gold tiara really brings out the ck of your hair." He said while only one pair of eyes moved to the rest of her figure.

    "Eyes up here. All of them, smartass."

    "Fine." He sighed.

    "You have no idea how lucky you are." She grunted. "You just put your white Supreme Magus robe over your high uniform and you are done. I spent the whole evening getting ready so I''d like a bit more enthusiasm and a little less leering."

    "I tried to show you my enthusiasm earlier but you flipped me off!" Lith replied.

    "Yeah, because I didn''t want to start over from the shower. I want you to appreciate my efforts, not ruin them." Kam clicked her tongue.

    "I''m sorry." His voice dripped sarcasm. "I must be a pig for being in love with my wife who also is the most beautiful woman on Mogar."

    "Say that again, but this time look me in the eyes." She cupped his face, covering all eyes but two.

    "I said that I love you and that you are the most beautiful woman I''ve ever seen." Lith had met lots of Awakened yet she could see that he wasn''t just attempting to butter her up.

    "Say that one more time and once we get back from the g, you will see how I look in that Dragon Maiden dress."

    Lith did as bidden and then they came out from his room. The rest of his family was already waiting for them in the living room.

 Chapter 2378 Kid Gloves (Part 2)

    "How do I look?" Solus was dazzling in her sky-blue g dress that emphasized her pale skin and light brown hair. It had a square neckline and left her arms exposed that she covered with evening gloves.

    She had made sure to hide the seven streaks in her hair, leaving visible only the elements of creation. She wore a parureprised of gold earrings and a ne with several small diamonds.

    "You look great." Lith nodded. "I''m afraid that if the next time you don''t find yourself a date, you''ll startpeting with Tista for who has more suitors."

    "Thank you." Solus gave him a perfect courtesy.

    The rest of the family was also dressed up and high-strung. It was the first time that Aran and Leria came to the Royal Court and their respective parents were afraid they would embarrass the family.

    Usually, they would be left home, but the ceremony would award Lith''s and Tista''s war efforts so the kids had insisted oning. Also, the Royals had been adamant about having all the Verhens as their guests which made it impossible to refuse.

    "I hate saying this, but the Queen was right about the need for a Verhen Mansion." Elina sighed. "With the Warp Gate in the barn, I''m always terrified at the idea that hay might get stuck to our clothes or shoes and we don''t notice it until it''s toote."

    "Don''t worry, Mom. Even if that happened, you look so gorgeous that people would think the hay is a fashion statement." Lith shrugged.

    "Thank you, dear." Elina chuckled at thepliment.

    "What about me?" Tista grumbled.

    "Complimenting my mother is natural. If I said that to you, I would feel like a creep."

    "Point taken." Tista sighed.

    Her dress was the most demure since she had no date either and wanted to avoid attention. Raaz and Trion had it easy, wearing respectively a white tie suit and his high uniform.

    Aran hated the frills of his suit, but he sucked it up and tried to mimic Lith''s posture and expression. s, the harder he tried to look aloof cool, the moreical the effect.

    "Mom, Aran is constipated." Leria pointed at his allegedly stern expression. "If you smell something funny, it''s his fault."

    "I''m not constipated! I''m¡­" He ran to the vocabry, looking for his word of the day. "Intense."

    "Yeah, right." Leria said with a scoff. "Tell me another."

    "Kids, remember what I taught you about Royal Gs!" Rena stepped in before the situation escted. "You can speak only when¡­"

    "Spoken to." The kids answered in unison.

    "You can quarrel¡­"

    "Once we get back home."

    "You must keep¡­"

    "Our buttons up and the fancy clothes on. No shapeshifting them into something morefortable."

    "Am I forgetting anything?" Rena asked the rest of the family.

    "Yes." Lith stepped in. "No magic without the supervision of a grown-up, even if some stuck-up brat taunts you. Okay?"

    "Okay." Aran and Leria sighed, thinking that most of the fun of the evening was already gone.

    "Perfect. Now follow my lead." Lith Warped everyone in front of the Gate and used his Supreme Magus ID to connect it with the one in Valeron, right outside the Throne Room.

    "Aunt Tyris'' cookies!" Aran''s jaw fell to the ground as he looked at the lounge where the guests were assembled, waiting for the Royal Guards to check their identities and search them for hidden weapons.

    Suddenly, he did feel constipated.

    There was more gold around him than in any ce Aran had ever been. Sark''s pce was luxurious as well, but during the Verhens'' stay, she had kept things to a minimum to put them at ease.

    Even the chairs looked so expensive that even a child like him could easily guess they were worth more than his house. The paintings, the walls, and the many pieces of art that furnished the lounge were all masterpieces that made him gawk.

    The worst thing, however, was the other guests. They were all well-dressed and shone under the lights due to the many jewels they wore.

    The other kids pointed fingers at the country bumpkin who stared at everything like a ck-jawed idiot and sneered. Their parents pretended to scold them while actuallymenting on the poor education that Aran must have received.

    Leria whimpered, turning white from fear and hiding behind Rena. She suddenly felt dirty and stupid. Her dress was the ugliest in the room and people had every right to make fun of her.

    She was on the verge of tears, wishing for Mogar to swallow her up when Lith walked through the Gate. He came inst to put the security measures into ce and ensure that no one could open the dimensional fissure from either side.

    "What''s the matter, princess?" Lith asked while ring at the nobles in a way that made them turn their heads in a rush.

    "I want to go home, Uncle Lith." Leria sniffled. "I''m scared."

    "There''s nothing to be afraid of. Just look up to your mom and follow her lead." He nodded at Rena who was unfazed by both the opulence of the room and the polite mockery of the guests.

    "Lith is right." She nodded. "The first time at the Royal Pce is always scary but as soon as you get over the splendor of this ce, you realize it''s just a home filled with guests like every other party we have ever attended.

    "Also, since none of these people are our friends and only a few of them are decent, you don''t have to worry about what they think of us."

    Rena''s words made the convened nobles clench their mouths and re at her but since she had used their same kind of polite rudeness, there was nothing they could openly say.

    Especially with Verhen so close. Even with his wings and his other bestial features hidden, he looked to have grown even taller and there was a coldness surrounding him that made them shiver.

    Both, however, were just illusions projected by the minds of the nobles. They all had watched the videos of Lith conquering Thrud''s regions and helping the Queen in taking down the Golden Griffon.

    The de Magic, the army of Demons, the barrage of deadly bloodline abilities, and the powerful spells he had showcased had left a deep trauma in the hostile noble households.

    Every n they had concocted to get rid of him, either politically or physically, had crumbled. Every hope they had of surpassing him or at least having their heirs match Lith''s achievements had faded.

    In their eyes, Lith Verhen wasn''t a monster because he could shapeshift into a Divine Beast but because he was the son of a humble farmer who had reached in less than a generation a status second only to the King.

    Some even said that Verhen''s authority was actually higher but he wouldn''t be bothered with politics, leaving everything in Meron''s hands. Others that after being recognized by Valeron''s teammates as the true heir of the First King, Verhen was just biding his time.

    "Come here." Lith lifted Aran and Leria, making them sit on either of his shoulders to give them a clear vision of the room from above.

 Chapter 2379 Society Debut (Part 1)

    Holding a child older than a toddler was highly unorthodox, but no one dared to question Lith.

    "Take it all in now. The Banquet Hall is even more beautiful so you need to get used to this kind of splendor now if you don''t want to stumble in excitement while we walk the red carpet." Lith pointed at several paintings. "Those are the acts that our King Meron performed to be worthy of the throne."

    Much to the children''s disappointment, there were no great battles nor vanquished monsters. As a Prince, Meron had settled with diplomacy centuries old disputes. He had prevented floods by pushing for a bill to temporarily reinforce river banks before the rain season and devising Warden Spells to do it.

    He had also kept famines from harvesting thousands of lives by enforcing food rationing and sharing and by developing spells that allowed to grow crops faster without causing irreversible soil exhaustion.

    Most of Meron''s achievements gave him no honor as a warrior, but had changed the lives of millions and millions of his subjects for the better.

    "That''s our Queen, Sylpha, and how she defeated Thrud." An animated painting depicted a great battle between the True and the Mad Queen with both Lith and the fighting Headmasters in the background.

    Thrud was depicted as bigger and more intimidating than Sylpha in order to highlight Thrud''s prowess and make Sylpha''s victory even more outstanding. The White Knight had the semnce of a Royal Fortress armor but with Marth''s face.

    This way, the true nature of the six great academies would remain hidden and the Headmaster would get his fair share of honor. As for Lith, he was depicted in his human form but with his wings out, the seven eyes open, and the horns.

    By adding the Supreme Magus in his hybrid form to the Royal Gallery, the Crown had sealed their alliance with Verhen and made public their eptance of his true nature.

    Now, anyone badmouthing Lith for being a Divine Beast and anyone carrying his blood would also insult the Royals.

    Lith made his current appearance match that in the painting to impress the children and silence the murmuring crowd.

    "That''s also your favorite uncle/brother." There was a painting depicting a seven-eyed shadowprised of purple-ck mes that engulfed the cities of Bima, Phogia, and others, turning them into ashes in the final frames.

    A warning to the nobles of what might happen were the alliance to be broken.

    "Cool!" The kids said in unison, incapable of noticing any of the subtext of each painting, their na?ve eyes just perceived everything like an illustrated fairy tale.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen, if I may, I need to finish the ID check." A Royal Guard said with an embarrassed tone.

    "I apologize for the inconvenience." Lith gave him a small nod and the Guard resumed his scan.

    The white and golden robe Lith wore was unique. As the first and so far only Supreme Magus, the robe granted him the same privileges of a Royal Fortress armor, making him immune to most arrays of the pce and granting him the highest level of clearance.

    Soon the whole family was cleared for ess, only Solus requiring a double-check. She carried a pin made from a single ruby that was shaped like a Phoenix, the mark of an envoy of the Desert''s Overlord.

    Solus'' cover was that of a distant rtive of Lith who had studied under Sark before fate had reunited her with her ancestral family. Also, Leegaain had gifted Solus with a ring that would make her energy signature different from Lith''s and hide her nature.

    The Griffon-shaped helm hid the horror of the guard as even the third check gave him the same result. ording to the magical device, the lovely, petite woman in front of him had been marked as Sark''s blood.

    Any injury, offense, or even tripping on a carpet would be interpreted as an act of war toward the Desert.

    "You can go, Lady Verhen. Please, enjoy your stay and let us know if there''s anything we can do to make it pleasant." He gave her a deep bow before sharing the results of the scan with every guard, soldier, and valet who would take part in the event.

    Solus had no idea what was happening and thought the chivalrous gesture was born from passion.

    "Thank you, I will." She giggled, blushing a little for being courted so soon since her arrival.

    Once Lith put Aran and Leria down, their fear was gone and they couldn''t wait to meet the Royals.

    "Why are those people getting first in line?" Leria asked. "It''s not fair, we got here before them."

    "It''s Court etiquette." Elina exined. "The most important guests enterst so that when the valet at the door announces them, everyone can look at their faces. This way it''s those who were already inside that have to introduce themselves over and over."

    "Neat! So those guys are all small fries, right?" Aran pointed at the crowd in front of them, puffing his chest out with pride as if it was somehow his own achievement.

    "Right." Lith nodded, making those who had turned around to re at those rude words turn back just as quickly.

    When their turn finally arrived, Aran and Leria walked abreast like their respective parents. This time they found no reason to quarrel, too intimidated by the magnificence of the Banquet Hall.

    The room in front of her was more than forty meters (133 feet) long and over thirty meters (100 feet) wide.

    It was taller than a three-floor building, with balconies on the upper levels where people not important enough to stand near the Royals would still be able to spectate at the ceremony.

    They were the less coveted spot since from there it was impossible to mingle with the other nobles and to take part in pce gossip, but that day even the corridors leading to the opera boxes were crowded, splitting the Royal Court into four levels based on their importance.

    A single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges stretched from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the dais for the royal family.

    That way, even while sitting on their golden thrones, the rulers of the Kingdom would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming their status and authority.

    Every corner and box of the Banquet Hall was lit by crystal chandeliers fueled by mana crystals dating back to Valeron himself. The First King had hoped that by sharing their eternal light with his descendants, they would also inherit his vision for the country he had built.

    Both the floor and the pirs were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material avable in the Griffon Kingdom. The kids gaped at everything, clenching each other''s hands to find to courage to keep walking and remember not to stare.

    "Supreme Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen and his wife, Captain Kam Torchbearer-Verhen. Mage Tista Verhen and Sergeant First ss Trion Verhen. Lord Raaz Verhen and Lady Elina Verhen. Lady Rena Verhen and her husband Senton."

 Chapter 2380 Society Debut (Part 2)

    "Lady Leria Verhen and Lord Aran Verhen. Lady Solus Verhen." The Royal Valet announced them in their order of entrance."

    "He called me a Lady in front of the whole Court!" Leria squealed a bit too loud. "Does that make me a princess?"

    "It sure makes me embarrassed." Aran replied as he needed sheer willpower to not make his legs be jelly like they seemed adamant to.

    "That''s great. Even my daughter is a Lady whereas I''m just your husband. I may not be worthy of the Verhen name, but I''m still a Proudhammer. Too bad that nobody seems to care." Senton snarled from the corner of his mouth close to Rena.

    "After all, why bother with the humble son of a cksmith with no magical power?"

    "Hush, dear. I''m sorry for the treatment you received." She whispered back. "You deserve better, but right now there''s nothing we can do."

    The Verhens couples reached the base of the dais where the Royals sat, giving them a deep bow before moving to the right side of the room. Empty chairs had been engraved with their names and their friends were already there, waiting for them.

    Marchioness Distar, Professor Marth, Professor Vastor, General Vorgh, General Berion, Baron Wyalon from Jambel, and the entire Ernas Household. Everyone hade with their respective spouse or betrothed which left Friya alone.

    "Are they your young ones, Supreme Magus Verhen?" King Meron asked with a warm smile to break the ice and reassure the scared children.

    "Yes, My Liege." Lith gave him a deep bow, instantly followed by the kids. "They carry the full power and talent of my blood. I hope that in time, they''ll earn their ce in the White Griffon."

    "It''s an honor, Your Majesty." Aran fell on his right knee too fast, hurting himself in the process.

    He bit his cheek to ignore the pain and conjured a life-sized hologram of the King. It was in ck and white but urate in every aspect.

    "Wonderful. You managed to notice so many details in so little time, young Mage. The Kingdom praises you." Having called a kid with the title of Mage was a huge honor and so was thepliment following it.

    "Thank you for your sacrifice and for saving the Kingdom, My Queen." Leria kneeled as well, conjuring a hologram of Sylpha wearing the Saefel Set that was way better looking than the original.

    "Magnificent." The Queen could see from the glowing eyes full of admiration of the young girl that it wasn''t an attempt to tter her. Leria''s spell was simply showing how the Queen appeared in the young girl''s eyes.

    "You make us proud of thest name we bestowed upon your family, young Mage. The Crown praises you." Sylpha''s gloating tone and the meaningful variation on the customary closing phrase made even Meron knit his eyebrows in surprise.

    Those few words spoke volumes of the horrors that waited for anyone who''d dare topare the kids'' performances and point out theck of uracy of Sylpha''s hologrampared to the King''s.

    Sylpha had praised Leria personally, hence every critique of her Light Mastery would be a direct offense to the Queen.

    The same Queen who had in Thrud and was caressing the pommel of the Saefel Sword.

    "You can stand and join your peers." Meron said, yet the kids kept kneeling.

    "I can''t." Aran said with a whimper, his legs having given out from the emotion.

    Lith gave the Royals one more bow before stepping between Aran and Leria and taking their hands. He helped them to stand up and walk to the side while the Royals chuckled.

    "Well done, little imp." Orion ruffled Aran''s hair.

    "Yeah, right." He grumbled, his eyes veiled with tears. "I looked like an idiot."

    "Not quite." Jirni pointed at the faces of many nobles who seemed to suffer from constipation for days.

    "Very few kids get introduced to the Royals at your age. Even less can showcase the talent you demonstrated and almost none have ever received your same praise."

    "Really?" Leria was still trembling from head to toe.

    The adrenaline rush from the Court, meeting the Royals, and beingmended needed both her parents to keep her still.

    "Really." Lith said. "I didn''t meet the Royals until I was thirteen and graduated from the White Griffon."

    Once the Royal Valet mmed his golden staff on the ground, signaling that no more guests were expected, the doors of the Banquet Hall closed and the corridors leading from the balconies to the ground floor opened.

    The G''s purpose was to celebrate the end of the War of the Griffons. It was a joyous event where nobles from all over the Kingdom, even Thrud''s former regions, had been invited to mingle and forge bonds of friendship.

    Now that the security measures were in ce and no one could get in or out, the chairs disappeared the moment a guest stood up. In their ce, long rectangr tables appeared lined up against the walls that the valets quickly set.

    The staff entered from side passages, filling the tables with all kinds of foods and drinks while setting vases filled with sweet-smelling exotic flowers behind every column.

    "The evening will proceed as follows." Meron''s voice boomed throughout the room with no need for spells in order to showcase his vigor and returning health.

    "First, we will eat and drink to our heart''s content to rejoice for the peace. Once our bellies are full and our mood is high, we''ll proceed to award the heroes of the War of the Griffons. Then, we''ll move on to the dancefloor.

    "Tonight, I only have one order for you. Have a good time." The King pped his hands, giving everyone permission to move around and cuing the non-necessary staff to leave.

    "Congrattions, Raaz and Elina. Congrattions, Senton and Rena. You must be proud of your children." Baron Wyalon shook their hands, quickly followed by the rest of their friends.

    "Thanks. It''s nice for someone to remember I exist." Senton whined.

    "Don''t ruin Leria''s debut in the Royal Court." Rena nudged him. "Your grievances can wait until we get back home."

    "I''m sorry. It''s just that being considered just your plus one is painful." Senton whispered with a forced smile on his face. "I would have preferred not toe to the G, but I couldn''t miss our baby girl''s debut nor let any of these nobles hit on you."

    "Thank you, my king." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek that greatly improved his mood.

    "This is really cruel of you, Friya." Solus moved to her side, right next to Orion where no one dared to venture. "How could you leave Nalrond home?"

    Receiving so much attention was nice. Being short, however, allowed anyone to have a good look down her neckline and it wasn''t nice at all.

    "The kicked ass teaches best." Friya snarled. "I''m single and I''m going to enjoy this night as such. Care to join me, Lady Verhen? You seem to be missing a date as well."

    "dly, Lady Ernas." Solus chuckled and took Friya''s arm, making many young bachelors groan in disappointment.

    "Too bad you have covered your streaks. We might have given a lot of people a stroke." Friya said.

 Chapter 2381 War Gala (Part 1)

    "Congrattions, Rena. Congrattions, Elina." Jadon Lark said. "Dad would have loved to meet Aran and Leria. He always loved magic and seeing such talented youths would have made him monocle pop until he broke."

    "Thanks, Count Lark." Aran gave him a deep bow, not understanding why despite the ruler of the Lustria county and a dear friend of the family hadplimented him, everyone looked so sad.

    "Tell me, Leria." Kelya Lark said. "Is Aran a little imp like your Uncle Lith at his age?"

    "Uncle Lith is no imp!" Leria said in outrage. "He''s my hero whereas Aran is¡­" She was about to say something mean when she noticed that everyone was staring at her.

    "Stillcking under many aspects. He''s an imp and a short one at that." She used a hand to highlight how even if by a short margin, she was taller.

    Aran was about to rebuke when Leria nodded to the side. Aran noticed it and simply gave her a bow. They were fierce rivals, but neither of them would ever allow anyone to badmouth the other but themselves.

    "Thank you for what you have done for Zogar, Duke. The ungratefulness of the Crown was driving me insane." Zinya tried to give him a curtsy but Ryssa stopped her.

    "Please, Zin, we are all friends here. There''s no need for thanks." The blonde Dryad''s light green skin was emphasized by her golden dress that fit her soft curves like a glove. "Kami, if anyone bothers you, you call me right away."

    "Zin? Kami?" Kam was bbergasted by Ryssa''s familiarity.

    "Call me first, please." Jirni''s eyes brimmed with bloodlust. "I have a lot of pent-up stress."

    "Do you miss working so much or are the marriage preparations stressful?" Kam was afraid that Phloria''s death still weighed on the Ernas but mentioning her would have only ruined the evening for them.

    "No. Just Morok." Jirni snarled while looking at Quy''s fianc¨¦ who shrugged.

    "I don''t fear you anymore, demon. Quy loves me!" The dumb smile on his face and his child-like joy made Quy giggle and Jirni''s shoulders slouch.

    "Ryssa helped me a lot getting adjusted to my new status and when she heard about our monikers, she fell in love with them." Zinya changed the topic, saving Jirni from defeat.

    "If it bothers you, just tell me." Ryssa gave Kam a small nod, embarrassing her even further.

    ''Gods, she''s a good friend of Zin, Marth is a good friend of Zogar and Lith, and our children will probably grow together. I have no way to refuse withouting out as a jerk.'' Kam thought.

    "It''s no bother at all. I''ll be in your care, Ryssa. If half of what Zin told me about the Court is true, I''m going to need it." She actually said.

    "It''s nice to finally get the opportunity to know you. I''m Marchioness Brinja Distar." The noblewoman in front of Kam had a waterfall of long blond hair and sky-blue eyes.

    Her g dress was loose, to easily amodate her swollen belly. She was one of the few guests with her chair left.

    "The pleasure is all mine." Kam shook her hand. "Lith told me a lot about you and your mother."

    "d to hear it. About our promise¡­" Brinja turned toward Lith, her eyes going cold.

    "I haven''t forgotten." Lith''s voice became a low growl as he inwardly cursed Orpal''s escape during the destruction of the Golden Griffon.

    "Excellent." Brinja became all smiles again and looked at Kam. "I''m due in a few months. What about you?"

    "Elysia should be born a couple of months after Lith''s birthday."

    "You have already picked the name." Brinja sighed in envy. "Well, I hope our kids will be good friends as well. If you ever need a babysitter, Ryssa and I can help you."

    "Thank you for your offer, but we are already covered." Kam chuckled. "Between Grandma, Grandpa, and all of Lith''s rtives, I could organize a tourney and put babysitting as the prize."

    "When you say Grandma, do you refer to Overlord Sark or to Elina?" Brinja raised an eyebrow.

    "Sark. Grampa is Leegaain, and the rtives are their descendants." Kam exined their odd family tree.

    "Then I hope I can count on them for keeping my child as well." Brinja said with a huge grin on her face. "True safety is a raremodity and if our children have even a shred of magical talent, they can use such powerful mentors."

    "Me too!" Ryssa said. "Manohar the Second is a handful. I could use a bit of free time."

    "Please, call him Dhiral." Marth whined while passing a hand from his hair to his chin. "Whenever I hear his second name it gives me the creeps."

    While the Headmaster of the White Griffon told everyone about Manohar the Second''s escape attempts from the nursery via his bloodline abilities, making themugh, Zinya couldn''t help but feel excluded.

    ''I''ve never seen a crib nor will I ever be blessed with such problems. I have regained my sight and freedom when it was toote. The best I can do is be a good Aunt and be there for Kami.'' She clenched her fist but kept smiling to not ruin the moment for the others.

    "Thank you for the DoLorean, Lith." Baron Wyalon shook his hand with vigor. "My whole family loves it like a son and it saved my life!"

    "Really?" Lith asked.

    "Really." Wyalon nodded. "During a campaign in the north, my battalion got overwhelmed by Thrud''s Forgotten. Luckily, I followed your advice and kept the DoLorean in my dimensional amulet.

    "When we received the retreat order, I took it out, got in as many people as I could, and then ran like the wind. I have myrades'' thank you cards with me."

    Wyalon handed Lith several letters each signed by one of the soldiers the Baron had saved and their respective families.

    "d to be of-" Lith''s enhanced hearing caught a few words poisonous enough to cut him short.

    "Can you believe it?" A Duchess who Death Vision showed dying with her head crushed by his hand said. "We had to endure that Mad Griffon woman for so long and to get rid of her we now have to suffer a lizard in a suit."

    "Sadly, I can." A Marquess set aze by Origin mes sighed. "I mean, I can condone paying the piper and pardoning an oath breaker. The necessary evil and all that. But that woman? Just shameless.

    "I mean, another oath breaker so hungry for power that she epted to lie with that thing and have its offspring. How could the Royals pardon her as well? That''s beyond me."

    "Maybe they came as a package deal." A Grand Duchess hanging from her own entrails said. "You know, they took in the beast and its chew toy. Maybe it''s not such a bad decision."

    "How can you say that?" The Duchess said with a disgusted expression on her face.

    "Maybe the little mongrel will be tamer and easier to leash than her father." The Grand Duchess shrugged. "After all, even rabid hounds are useful when you can sic them on your enemies."

    She burst into a peal of silveryughter, quickly followed by her peers and as quickly brought to a halt.

 Chapter 2382 War Gala (Part 2)

    "What did you dare say about my daughter?" Kam had also gained enhanced hearing due to Awakening and Elysia''s growing strength.

    "The truth, Baroness Verhen." The Grand Duchess said with the condescending smile she used to address the dumbest members of her house staff. "Can you deny being an oath breaker? That the child you carry is a hybrid? I don''t think so."

    "I can''t." Kam nodded. "Just like you can''t deny that one of your sons needed a Royal Pardon to get out with his skin from those rape charges. Or that one of your cousins has been caught for embezzlement and fraud. Do you want me to continue?"

    The Grand Duchess went pale, losing her hrity. The bigger and older a noble family was, the more dirt they had. Kam was a Constable and could have gone on for an hour about the crimes of her rtives.

    "I guess that an apple doesn''t fall far from the tree, or in your case, the whole tree is rotten. As for you, dear Marquess¡­" Her lips were curled up and her teeth exposed, but the thing on Kam''s face was no smile. "I heard you are under investigation for high treason.

    "Rumors say that after Thrud disabled the six great academies, you went this close to switching sides. Did you fall in love with one of the Mad Queen''s Emperor Beasts or are you just an opportunistic coward?"

    "How dare you?" The Marquees said while straightening his back to tower over Kam. "The Grand Duchess'' son received a Royal Pardon so his crime is like it never happened. As for me, I did no such thing as treason!"

    "Well, I got pardoned as well but you didn''t seem to care." Kam clicked her tongue in disgust. "As for your crimes, I''d wait until the end of the trial before showing my face in public if I were you."

    "Watch your tongue, child." The Duchess said. "Your ignorance of Court etiquette is excusable, but only up to a certain point. You shouldn''t speak of what you don''t know."

    "What I know is that while my husband was risking his life for us all, all of you so-called nobles and your families were hiding like rats in the farthest corners of the Kingdom from the conflict.

    "The Verhen Household sent every single Mage they had to fight the Mad Queen and her army. Lith, Tista, and Solus have stood by Sylpha''s side until the end. What about you?

    "How many Mages have you sent? How many members of your families volunteered for the battle and how many have relinquished their duties leaving a coward''s brown trail in their wake instead?" Kam replied, putting way more than those three noble Households to shame.

    "If you can''t take a blow, dear, Grand Duchess, you''d better not start a fight because I''m not going to let you and your friends run your mouths wild."

    "You''d better apologize or-"

    "Or what?" Kam cut the Grand Duchess short. "Do you dare vite the peace of the King''s Court and threaten me? Or maybe you want to hit me? Because I''d love to see how that goes."

    Grand Duchess Cranst had already opened her palm for a p when Kam''s words reminded her of the day of the ck Sun. The details of the attempt on Baroness Verhen''s life were a state secret, but its consequences were public knowledge.

    The quakes, the blotted sun, and the storms were still vivid in the minds of everyone who lived in Garlen.

    "And so would I." Lith stepped forward, putting himself between Kam and the Grand Duchess.

    He took off one of his white gloves and pped the noblewoman in the face as gently as he could.

    "This woman has ndered my name, my wife, and my child. Therefore, I demand justice. I invoke the right of Blood Judgment." Lith said.

    It was an ancient trial bybat established by the First King himself in order to allow nobles to settle disputes without the need for wars or getting the Crown involved.

    Each side would pick a champion who would fight until the first blood was shed or the opponent surrendered.

    The ritual forbade the use of any kind of magic, even chore magic, and artifacts. It allowed households whocked the talent or the money to have a powerful mage among their ranks to defend themselves and also to avoid casualties.

    To avoid one challenge triggering another, Valeron had decreed that killing the opponent resulted in a defeat and that to issue a Blood Judgment, the offended party had to provide solid evidence of the damage suffered.

    All those near the Grand Duchess and her group had heard her words first and then the quarrel with Kam. Lith was among them and so was the King who was ring at the three nobles in contempt.

    ''Dammit, we should have been more careful.'' Marquess Lamonia thought. ''Even if the rest of the room sided with us and imed to not have heard anything, they will never risk calling Meron a liar.

    ''The fate of Grand Duchess Cranst and that of her householdsy in the King''s hands. Let''s hope that after suffering so much from his health and the war he has softened up and doesn''t want to ruin the G with a duel.''

    The Marquess had every reason to be worried.

    Losing a Blood Judgment meant not only being forced to publicly apologize to the winner, but also being banned from all kinds of social events for a year and paying half of the household''s annual ie aspensation.

    Bing a social pariah would cause the loser to remain out of the loop and to be cut out of the major business enterprises. It would cripple both the loser''s wealth and influence in the long run.

    Even worse, it would mean being kicked out of that very G in front of everyone and also being excluded from the government procurements for rebuilding the areas of the Kingdom involved in the war.

    There was a river of money to be made and dozens of cities to repair yet if the Grand Duchess were to lose the Judgment, the ban from social events would make her and in turn all of her associates into ck sheep.

    At that point, no one would do business with the three noble Households to not taint their own name as well.

    On top of that, the Crown would pay the penalty up front, so that the defeated party would not be indebted to the winner, but to the Royals. Not paying a gambling debt would worst-case scenario incur reproach, whereas not paying what was akin to taxes meant having their assets seized.

    Valeron had devised Blood Judgment to be as unpleasant as possible so that no one would invoke it without a very good reason. The deeper the pockets of a noble were, the less inclined they would be to put their wealth at stake on a whim.

    "I allow it." Meron said only three words yet they silenced the room and made even the bands of musicians freeze.

    "Your Majesty, I may have used blunt words, but nothing I said was a lie or nderous. Even Baroness Verhen admitted-"

 Chapter 2383 Peace At Last (Part 1)

    "Silence!" The King hadn''t even yelled, yet his voice carried such an authority that the Grand Duchess took a step back and stopped talking as if he had pped her. "I allow the Blood Judgment. "House Verhen has hereby challenged Houses Lamonia, Turhat, and Cranst.

    Lith was amazed as well. ording to the customs, he could only challenge the Grand Duchess since the other two nobles had said too little to be held ountable for defamation. Yet Meron''s judgment superseded customs.

    He was not only a witness of the events but also the King and he had ruled the Duchess and the Marquees guilty by association.

    "Each one of you should pick their respective champion but since this is a G and I don''t want to waste time, I allow the three Households to pool their resources and determine their fate in a single fight if they agree." Meron said.

    "All three of us?" Duchess Turhat felt fear gripping her heart and wallet. "But I said just a few words and didn''t even talk with Baroness Verhen. I merely stated my opinion. Isn''t there freedom of speech in the Kingdom?"

    "Freedom of speech, yes, dear Duchess. nder, however, is a crime and what little you said qualifies aplenty." The King towered over the smaller woman, exuding an aura that made every rumor about his poor health seem hot air.

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, this G is meant to celebrate the renewed peace. Is it really necessary to dirt these halls with blood on such an asion?" The Grand Duchess said.

    "This is indeed an extraordinary day. The King''s order has been defied not once, but thrice. Inside my home. In front of my Court." Meron''sugh was dry of humor and joy, sending a cold shiver down everyone''s spine.

    His fury was palpable whereas his mercy seemed to have taken the day off.

    "You should have thought about peace before running your mouth, Grand Duchess Cranst." Meron lowered his voice to growl while also keeping it perfectly audible. "You dirtied these halls with your allegations against a hero of the Kingdom.

    "Even if Supreme Magus Verhen hadn''t destroyed the Golden Griffon, which he did, I wouldn''t let your insults pass anyway. We won this war only thanks to our allies in the Council and those among the nt and the beast folk, yet here you are, sowing discord.

    "I had enough of people mocking and hazing Headmaster Marth''s wife and child." Meron mmed a thick pile of documents that came out of his dimensional amulet.

    Ryssa did more than return in kind everything she suffered, she also submitted a formalint detailed with words, actions, and the names of the witnesses to the hazing every time.

    "I''m sick and tired of hearing reports about the treatment that Duchess Vastor and Professor Vastor''s stepchildren have to endure." Another pile of documents appeared. "You lot don''t likemoners, despise nt folk, and would put a leash on beasts.

    "Yet when your homnd was in danger, when your Queen put her life on the line, you deserted us whereas they stood by our side. How dare you talk about peace when you did nothing to build it and even now work to destroy it?

    "How dare you offend the heroes of this country in front of my Court? Be thankful that Supreme Magus Verhen called the Blood Judgment first because I was about to do the same and the Queen would have been my champion." The King pointed at Sylpha who smiled with the grace of a maiden and the savagery of a predator.

    The Queen caressed the hilt of the Saefel Sword, making the elemental crystals on the hilt hum with power in answer to her touch. Those on the de shone so brightly that their light was visible even through the thick scabbard.

    "You can pick me as your champion as well, Supreme Magus Verhen."

    At those words, the three nobles shuddered in horror.

    Even if they were to somehow pick a god to fight for them and they won the trial bybat, harming the Queen would have meant bing an enemy of the Royal Family.

    They would survive the Blood Judgment just to die a few dayster in an "ident".

    Money came and went whereas they had only one life.

    "Thank you for your offer, Your Majesty, but this is personal." Lith gave Sylpha a deep bow. "I pick myself as the champion. Your turn."

    "How can a human fight a Divine Beast? This is unfair!" Marquess Lamonia''s voice was high-pitched.

    "A fair point." Meron shrugged. "I''ll allow for the duel to be a contest of magic, like the one Supreme Magus Verhen and Archmage Kwart performed a year ago."

    Grand Duchess Cranst desperately looked around the room, but every Archmage and Headmaster in the room took a cautious step back, pretending to be busy in conversation.

    Kwart made several hand signs that passed to every mage in the Banquet Hall a simple message.

    "He got much stronger from thest time."

    No Archmage wanted to suffer a grievous defeat and make an enemy of Verhen. Not when he was about to disclose Void Magic, trains, and Tablets. Even on the off chance they won, they would lose much and gain nothing.

    "I''m waiting." Lith said after a few minutes had passed and none of the three nobles said a word.

    The Grand Duchess turned toward Verhen, noticing that his wings were out and so were his seven eyes and horns. His stature grew to three meters (10''), then ten (33''), thirty (100''), and suddenly he was so big that he eclipsed the rest of the room.

    Cranst found herself standing above a massive palm, gawking at the Tiamat''s seven eyes while the ckness of his body became filled with stars, nebe, andets. The Void of the cosmos swallowed her, making her skin freeze while the cosmic radiation seeped inside her body and burned her innards.

    "Grand Duchess Cranst. You have one more minute before you lose by forfeit." King Meron''s voice snapped her out of it and she found herself standing on the gold-veined white marble of the Banquet Hall covered in a cold sweat and her knees shaking.

    Lith had never changed his size or form nor had he released any killing intent. What the Grand Duchess had experienced was simply the fear of a mouse who had woken up a Dragon and found itself staring into his eye.

    "Marquess Lamonia, Duchess Turhat. We are still waiting." Meron pped his hands to have their attention, making the three nobles faint on the spot from the shock.

    They still recovering from the hallucination and the sudden noise made them think that Verhen had struck. Their mind assumed they were dead and their bodies reacted ordingly.

    "The Blood Judgment is over." The King decreed. "House Verhen is the winner. Houses Lamonia, Turhat, and Cranst are found guilty of nder and will answer for their crime. Bring those three and every member of their Households out of the Royal Pce."

    No one said a word nor did any of the convicted nobles try to protest. In less than a minute they were all back at their respective houses and the Banquet Hall had a bit more free space.

 Chapter 2384 Peace At Last (Part 2)

    "I''m very sorry for the cruel words you had to endure, Baroness Verhen." King Meron cupped Kam''s right hand. "Know that the Crown shares no such thought and that we consider both you and your daughter precious members of this Court.

    "No one will be allowed to harass either of you without paying the price. You have my word."

    "Thanks, Your Majesty." Kam gave him a deep bow while bringing his fingers to her forehead.

    The G resumed and those who had offended Ryssa or Zinya in the past now took care to keep their mouths shut and make themselves invisible. They were afraid that Marth or Vastor, if not both, would call for another Blood Judgment now that the Crown had made its standing on the matter clear.

    "Way to go, Kami." Zinya said. "I didn''t think you had it in you."

    "Me neither." She blushed in embarrassment now that the adrenaline rush was over and she realized the full scope of themotion she had caused. "I wanted to die in shame when they said those things about me, but when they started to disparage Elysia, I just saw red."

    "It must be the Phoenix blood of the little one running through your veins." Ryssa chuckled.

    "Or maybe the Dragon blood." Kam pondered. "Once you see Leegaain angry, you start to wonder if the two species really are so different after all."

    The rest of the event went smoothly and soon it came the time for the awards to the war heroes.

    Lith and Marth went first since Sylpha had in Thrud but as the Queen, there was nothing the Crown could offer her. The Pce was already hers and every praise from the Crown to itself would have been distasteful.

    "Thank you, Supreme Magus Verhen." King Meron said. "With the Golden Griffon, you have now brought down three lost cities. Not only was your contribution to the war of paramount importance, but also the Ker region will flourish like never before.

    "You have cleansed Arthan''s horror and two more abominations born from Forbidden Magic. What makes your feat so impressive is that we inherited those monstrosities from our ancestors and even the First King was helpless against them.

    "s, you are our Supreme Magus already so there''s very little we can offer you in reward. I hereby invest you with the title of Count and the annuities thate from it. I won''t assign younds since I know you have no interest in administrating them.

    "If you ever change your mind, you just need to say it and Lustria County will be your starting fief. For your contributions to the war, I also promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the army and assign you a share of the spoils we collected from Thrud''s fallen soldiers.

    "Fifty suits of Adamant armor and weapons will be given to you at the end of the G. You are free to do with them what you want, be it gift them or turn them into raw materials for your research."

    Thest bit dripped envy since Meron knew that Lith would take a trip to the Desert and salvage the mana crystals as well whereas the Origin mes that the Kingdom had purchased would spare only the enchanted metal.

    "Soon your mansion will beplete and when that happens, I expect you to throw a housewarming G worthy of the Royal Court."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty." Lith almost whimpered in pain at those words.

    Just thinking about the expenses for the house staff, the food, and the decorations made his front pocket feel lighter already.

    "Headmaster Marth, thank you for your valiant efforts against the Golden Griffon. Without you, neither Supreme Magus Verhen nor the Queen would be here today. I apologize on behalf of the Court for what your family had to endure until today.

    "You are a beacon of hope for us. The living proof that humans and nt folk can thrive together. In the future, our survival will be linked to our ability to care more about what we have inmon rather than what makes us different.

    "Now that the War of the Griffons is over, the Crown will make sure to right all the wrongs that so far we were forced to ignore. Due to your status, however, there''s very little with which the Kingdom can reward you as well.

    "Are you interested in a noble title andnds?" Meron asked.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty, but I have barely any free time as it is. Were I to be a Lord, I would end up neglecting my duties as a Headmaster and a father so I have to refuse."

    "So be it." The King nodded. "If there''s anything you want, even just more funds for your academy, you just have to ask."

    The spectators thought the ceremony to be over, yet the arrays were still in ce and no one was allowed to move nor make a peep.

    "Mage Tista Verhen, Mage Friya Teleta Aelia Ernas, Professor Zogar Rankar Japtos Vastor, and Mage Solus Verhen, step forward." Queen Sylpha said, making everyone gasp in surprise, including those she had just summoned.

    Friya and Vastor inwardly shuddered at their own second names, especially the Professor. He had worked hard to keep them hidden even from his wife who now only the magical formations were preventing from giggling at his expense.

    "Mage Tista Verhen, you have collected several merits by fighting Thrud''s hordes in Othre back when the Mad Queen made her first appearance. You helped your brother to destroy the lost city of Kogaluga.

    "You have also aided him in recapturing several cities and have been a vital element of the army during the war."

    ''Oh gods, I can''t believe this.'' While kneeling, Tista could feel her eyes being misted by tears. ''For the first time in my life, I''m not being referred to as Lith''s sister but him as my brother. The King really said that.''

    "We are grateful to you for your past contributions yet all of them pale inparison with your most recent feat. You have defeated and executed the traitorous former Headmaster of the Lightning Griffon, An Linnea.

    "It''s something that this Court failed to do for years and that puts our hearts as ease. Linnea knew the secrets of the academies and their power cores. Were she still alive, the peace we have just earned would have mud foundations.

    "Thanks to you, one of the greatest threats to our country has been vanquished. For that, I bestow upon you the title of Great Mage of the Griffon Kingdom." The King said while tapping the t side of the Saefel Sword on Tista''s left shoulder, then the right one, andstly the top of her head.

    Two Royal Guards walked by her side and helped her don a deep green mage robe.

    "I also grant you the title of Spellbreaker with all the privileges and annuities that it carries." The Royal Guard on her right pinned over the mage robes a silver pin depicting a Silverwing''s Hexagram whose lines connecting the six dots were broken in multiple points.

    The King pped his hands, quickly followed by the Queen and the rest of the guests who gave Tista a standing ovation.

 Chapter 2385 Peace At Last (Part 3)

    Tista''s family pped the loudest and the Royals let her bathe in the first glory of her own until even Elina''s and Raaz''s hands gave out.

    "Mage Ernas, you have long performed your duty in the secrecy that the Council required from you, living in the shadow of your sisters. Now, however, that''s no longer necessary and your mentor, Lady Faluel Nyxdra, has shared your achievements with us.

    "Also, Magus Verhen backed her ims about your talents and there''s no better proof of that than the blueprints of the power core of the DoLorean which also bear your signature.

    "For any of those who find these words hard to believe, I invite you to speak to Professor Rudd who taught Mage Ernas dimensional magic, or to just look at her hair. The seven streaks are something that only people like the First Magus, the Forgemaster Magus, and our dear Queen share.

    "Based on the mastery Mage Ernas proved with the DoLorean and her contributions to the War of the Griffons, we can hope that she''ll rise to their same heights. I wish you''ll be a Magus in the future, but for now, I can only appoint you Great Mage."

    The King repeated the ceremony for Friya and the Royal Guards brought her a deep green mage robe as well. Once the Royals started pping their hands, the Banquet Hall almost came down from the booming apuses.

    Jirni and Orion exchanged a look, leaning against each other since their hands were busy, both inwardly wishing that Phloria could be with them on that day.

    "Professor Vastor." The Queen took a long pause after drawing everyone''s attention. "It feels weird to me calling you Professor when I know you are far more than a mere academic. You are a former member of the Queen''s Corps.

    "A Spellbreaker. A Master Warden. A Colonel of the army. The Duke of Essagor. You were once the candidate for the title of god of healing and your achievements are far too many to list in a single day.

    "It pains me to admit that when we relieved you from your duty during the Battle for the White Griffon, we believed your talents to not be up for the task. Yet we were wrong. You proved us wrong.

    "Even when we lost faith in you, your loyalty to the Kingdom didn''t falter.

    "You came back for us, protecting Supreme Magus Verhen with your life. Then, when your body couldn''t stand the battle anymore, you helped Headmaster Marth with your wits, allowing him to tap into the true power of the academy."

    Vastor''s eyes went wide in surprise and he tilted his head just enough to see from the corner of his eye that both Marth and Lith winked at him. They had agreed upon their version of the battle in order to not leave their friend in the shadows.

    Marth and Lith both knew that Vastor had been there, yet only Lith knew the full scope of Vastor''s contribution and why it had to remain hidden. Marth didn''t care about the details, only the fact that Vastor had helped him and had saved their students mattered.

    "For that, you have our eternal gratitude. s, we can''t promote you to the rank of Brigadier General, unless you are willing to resume active duty in the army." Vastor shook his head and the Queen nodded in agreement.

    "We can''t make you a Magus either unless you have knowledge to share with us along with the magical prowess you used to defend the Kingdom." Vastor shook his head again so Sylpha resumed speaking.

    "What we can do, however, is to promote the Duchy of Essagor to a Grand Duchy. It will increase the funds you have at your disposal each year for the development of yournds, the number of Warp Gates that can be built, and the glory of the Vastor bloodline."

    The audience pped their hands, but Sylpha raised her hand with the palm out to silence them.

    "We can also offer you the seat of the Chairman of the Mage Association. It is in dire need of a new guiding hand that will hopefully bring to Association to its former glory."

    Vastor couldn''t believe his own ears and neither could Kwart. Bing the Chairman of the Association meant wielding a power second only to the Royals and alsoing out of Marth''s and Manohar''s shadow.

    For Kwart, however, it meant that he had lost the trust of the Royals and that his policies had been found wanting.

    ''Dammit! If they waited until now for the announcement, it means that if not for the war, they would have reced me already. Peace means change, but for me, it marks the end of my career.'' He thought.

    "I thank you for your generous offer, Your Majesty, but I have to refuse. Bing the Chairman would mean having even more responsibilities and subordinates than I already have as Head of the Light Department.

    "I''ve been a Professor all my life and I''ve grown ustomed to my role. Nurturing the new generations of mages is what I love doing and I''d like to keep doing it."

    The offer of the Royals was indeed generous, but too little and toote. Had they offered him the position ten years ago, Vastor would have disbanded the Organization before they achieved any significant sess.

    Back then, the number of victims that his experiments required was small and he took them solely from the criminal underworld. Vastor had long since crossed the point of no return, sacrificing so many lives that they had weighed on his conscience until it had been crushed.

    He knew the exact number and some nights it haunted his dreams, but he didn''t care anymore. That same weight pushed the Master forward since stopping would have meant that those deaths would have been for nothing.

    Vastor had made too many breakthroughs, giving the Eldritches new bodies and permanently altering his own. He couldn''t let them nor Zinya down. She just wanted to experience motherhood, and to Vastor, he had denied her that joy just like Fallmug.

    A wrong that the Master was hell-bent on righting.

    The Royals looked at each other before replying.

    "It''s a wise choice indeed. Manohar, Marth, the Verhens, and even the youngest of the Ernas have all received your guidance. You have given us a Magus and several Archmages. We approve of your decision and hope you''ll nurture more for us." Meron said.

    "Is there anything you desire that the Crown can give you?"

    "Yes, there is, my King." Vastor nodded. "Many people say that Zinya Yehval is a gold digger without a drop of blue blood who clings to me only for what I have. I ask you to rectify this situation by giving her something that will belong only to her."

    ''This way, even if my crimes are exposed and the entire Vastor''s fortune is seized, Zinya and her children will be safe.'' He thought. ''I just need to make sure they are not caught up in my schemes.''

    "Well said, Grand Duke Vastor." Meron nodded. "Let''s see what those people dare to say now that you are married to Baroness Zinya Yehval."

 Chapter 2386 Peace At Last (Part 4)

    "Hernds will be selected from those of the Grand Duchy of Essagor to further strengthen your bond and her family name will be inscribed among those granted by the Crown."

    Despite the arrays, Zinya fell to her knees sobbing and needed the help of the Royal Guards to stand up since no one but them could move.

    She didn''t care for the rumors or the barony. Zinya had no interest in the now Royal-conferredst name.

    The reason she was crying out of joy was that the Kingdom was finally acknowledging her husband''s efforts and sacrifices. For once, he wasn''t standing out of the spotlight, letting others take all the credit.

    This time, he was at center stage, and even though the wonderful words that the King had said about Vastor couldn''t make up for the years he had been ignored and treated as a joke, it was an excellent start.

    ''I can''t believe that these stupid people finally see you as the wonderful man you are, Zogar.'' She thought. ''Yet what''s truly amazing is that even while you were having your moment, when after years of anonymity you had every right to think solely of yourself, you chose to share it with me.

    ''When the King asked you what you wanted, you put me first again. Gods, please, don''t let anything bad ever happen to him.''

    Despite the Royal Guards'' best efforts and Lith''s help, Zinya was crying so hard that they had to conjure a chair for her as well. The white and golden robe gave Lith the same authority as a Royal Fortress armor and he used it to bring Kam next to her sister.

    Kam nodded at him in a thank you, doing her best to calm Zinya down.

    Once the apuse for Vastor ended, the King turned to thest member of the unexpected group of heroes.

    "Mage Solus Verhen, we''ve never been properly introduced but the people of the Kingdom know you well. During Magus Verhen''s stay in the Desert, you helped him to craft the DoLorean and then to develop Void Magic and the Tablets.

    "ording to what he told me, you''ve agreed to share your contribution as well and for that, you have our thanks. Once the War of the Griffons started, you joined our ranks as the Golden Knight even though you had no reason to.

    "You were born and raised in the Blood Desert, yet you shed your blood and sweat for a foreign country. You have protected the innocent citizens from Thrud''s soldiers and you have risked your life along with our best mages to stop the Golden Griffon.

    "Ever since you moved in with the Verhens after reuniting with your long-lost rtives, you have blessed us with your knowledge, strength, and friendship. For all this, you have our sincere gratitude.

    "Mere words aren''t enough so I hereby make you an honorary citizen of the Kingdom." A full set of IDs and a contact amulet appeared in front of Solus, yet it was what was written on the papers that truly shocked her.

    "Now you are not a guest anymore and this can be your home as well, if you choose so. Also, the Crown cannot ignore either your talent or your achievements, Great Mage Solus Verhen."

    The title was already engraved in her documents and Solus was still staring at those words.

    The Royal Guards helped her to don her deep green robe, something that was awkward to look at since in her daze Solus didn''t cooperate, and moving someone as heavy as her was no easy feat.

    "Please, keep blessing us with your presence. You have my word that we''ll put your gifts to good use."

    The crowd was stunned as well so the apuse started small. Aside from Lith, his family, the Ernas, and the Queen, everyone else was too dumbfounded to move a muscle.

    They had heard of the Golden Knight, but they had expected a Tiamat-like monster, not a petite youngdy. Picturing her riding on top of a Raiju fighting against Divine Beasts dozens of times bigger than her was something that seemed out of a fairy tale.

    On top of that, Solus'' contribution to Lith''s opus was amazing, no matter how small a role she had yed.

    ? She had been officially recognized as someone who not only had proven to be worthy of the trust of the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom, but also who had been able to understand and improve his research.

    The noise snapped the nobles out of their stupor and once they noticed who was pping, they rushed to join the bandwagon. The apuse rose like a wave, starting from those near the Verhen and spreading throughout the Banquet Hall until it became deafening.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty." Solus wanted but failed to say more.

    Her eyes were teary and her voice was close to cracking.

    ''I was content with being the Verhens'' guest. I expected to be treated as Lith''s plus one as always. Instead, I''ve been recognized for *my* work. People are praising me for what *I* did.

    ''I don''t care for the Great Mage title as much as for the IDs. Now I can use the Warp Gatework of the Kingdom by myself. I don''t need anyone vouching for me or making up some lie to cover up my existence. I''m my own person.'' She thought.

    Solus had no interest in glory or fame, what truly mattered to her was being finally seen as an individual. Her life was being acknowledged as something more than just Lith''s stone ring or Menadion''s tower and it meant a lot to Solus.

    Much more than she would have ever believed.

    The Queen dismissed them and called more people to receive their prizes. One member of the army and another of the Mage Association each stepped forward.

    They represented their respective organizations and were tasked with receiving the praise and the rewards for the contributions of all their colleagues.

    Master Warden Vorgh had been chosen from the army ranks while Kwart from the Association.

    Yet after his seat had been just offered to someone else, the Archmage knew that those nice words weren''t addressed to him, and every gold coin the Queen awarded him with just made his feeling of loss grow stronger.

    Once the Royals were done with the awards, the people in the Banquet Hall were free to move and mingle again.

    "Congrattions, Friya." Morok shook her hand. "You bing a Great Mage was long overdue. Too bad that Nalrond had to miss this moment. I''m sure that he would have loved to share it with you."

    "Thanks." Friya smiled at first and then sighed heavily, admitting that the Tyrant was right. "I guess I can''t be angry with him anymore. Poor Nalrond, he deserved a kick in the ass, but not one this big. Gods, I miss him."

    She clenched her deep green mage robe, feeling it heavy with remorse. Her family and friends were there to share that joy with her, yet she had left out from one of the happiest moments of her life the man who had never abandoned her during her darkest hours.

    It put a chink in her achievement and made the grudge she had against the Rezar pop like a bubble.

 Chapter 2387 Promises (Part 1)

    ''That oaf Nalrond owes me big time.'' Morok thought. ''Thank the gods I have Master Ajatar by my side. Lizards may be perverted, but they sure know their way around women.''

    The Tyrant had been in the doghouse for so long and so often that he empathized with Nalrond whom Morok considered a fellow victim of feminine cruelty in need of help.

    Morok had asked Ajatar''s help in choosing the betrothal gift and how to propose and before the G, he had sought the Drake''s advice to smooth things over between the Rezar and Friya.

    "If only you put this much thought into your training, you would have already reached the violet and discovered your unique bloodline abilities!" Ajatar had earlierined about his apprentice''s odd priorities.

    He was right, but this is a story for another day.

    "Congrattions, Solus. This will be a huge help during your future travels." Lith was the first to reach and praise her. "You can now move freely in all three Great Countries."

    "Like you didn''t know it already, jackass." Solus hugged him with all of her strength, sniffling a little. "Thank you. You didn''t have to tell them about the Tablets as well. What if people now start to doubt your achievements?"

    "Of course I had to tell them." Lith returned the embrace. "You worked as hard as I did and you risked your life on the battlefield with me. You shouldn''t thank me, it''s me who has to apologize for not disclosing your merits in full.

    "As for what people think, I don''t give a damn about it. I was sincere when I told you during my ascension ceremony that we are the Supreme Magus, Solus. Never forget that."

    Solus''s sniffling was about to turn into tears when he handed her his dance card. It was longer than her arm and filled with the names of the most powerful women in the Kingdom.

    "Way to ruin this for me, jackass. There was no need to unt your-" She was reading it from bottom to top so it had taken her a second to notice that her name was the first in line.

    "Ever since the academy, you wanted to dance with me at a G. I made sure that this time you don''t need any proxy."

    "Thank you." She nuzzled her face against his chest for a moment before rushing to the nearest restroom.

    ''If I burst into tears while hugging him, there''s no telling what rumors people will spread.'' She thought.

    Once Solus returned, the rest of the family congratted her.

    "We got our Great Mage robe on the same day!" Tista was on cloud nine.

    The Ernas and the Verhens were still celebrating their respective family members when the Queen announced the beginning of the dances and the Royals opened them by going first.

    Lith''s first partner was Kam since as his wife, she had no need to sign for the dance card. Then, it was Solus'' turn.

    She flinched a bit when Lith threaded his fingers into hers and put his other hand on her waist. It wasn''t the first time that they danced together, but never while dressed like that or in front of others.

    They didn''t need a mind link or a single word to move in perfect synch as if they had rehearsed for that moment all their lives. Solus and Lith kept their eyes locked the whole time, needing but a nce and a smile to express how they felt.

    Solus glided on the dancefloor with such grace that, due to the gown hiding her feet, she seemed to float, reinforcing the impression that she was a noble from the Desert and Sark''s apprentice.

    When the music stopped, her face was red and her heart pounded in her chest, but not out of the effort. Leaving Lith''s hand felt painful but she did it without hesitation, knowing that every dream had to end at dawn.

    After that, Lith danced with Tista, Elina, and Rena.

    That day, the Queen danced with no one but the King, to make sure that he was fine at all times.

    Lith was expecting one of the Ernas next, so he was surprised when Quy let Zinya take her ce.

    "Shouldn''t we do thister?" Lith pointed at the dance card where her name was after his family and friends.

    "Yes, but I didn''t want to wait that much." Zinya took position, locking both their hands and eyes. "I didn''t want to ruin the moment with your family just to thank you for what you did for mine or I would have asked Elina to trade ces with me."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "Thank you, Lith." She replied. "Thank you for pulling Zogar out of the shadows. You have no idea how much this means to him and me. He''s a good man, but sometimes I feel like he''s drifting away to somece so cold and dark that I can''t reach him.

    "Today, you gave me hope that if we work together, we can stop whatever he''s trying to pull before is toote."

    "You are wee." Lith didn''t know what else to say. "I''ll do everything I can."

    He knew enough about the Master to be worried about him as well, but unless Vastor opened up to Zinya, there was nothing Lith could say without destroying their rtionship.

    "It''s not enough." Zinya shook her head. "Promise me that if he goes too far, you''ll stop Zogar without hurting him."

    "Zin, you are blowing this out of proportion. Zogar¡­" Lith tried to say something to ease her worries but it felt like a lie and Zinya kept staring at him. "I promise."

    "Thank you." She nodded. "I have a second favor to ask. This is Kami''s first pregnancy and also what may be my only opportunity to truly experience motherhood, even if just second-hand.

    "I''m afraid that I might act too clingy and overprotective. I need you to stop me if I go overboard."

    "Dammit!" Lith cursed loud enough to be heard by their dance neighbors.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t want to bother you. It''s just-"

    "No, you misunderstood. That was supposed to be my line. Kami is already nagging at me for treating her like she has a terminal disease. I was about to ask you to keep me under control." Lith replied.

    "Well, it seems Kami''s screwed then." Zinya chuckled.

    ***

    At the end of the Royal G, the Verhens returned to Lutia, making a quick stop in the Trawn woods to allow Solus to recharge her human body for the night.

    After spending so much time in the Desert with Lith and with the tower feeding off a mana geyser 24/7, she couldst for several hours even away from an energy source as long as she wore the Sage Staff around her neck.

    Yet she still needed both Lith and a geyser to reset the time she could spend in her human form. Once she was done, they went back home.

    "The King himself praised me, Dad!" Aran puffed out his chest, clinging to Raaz''s leg.

    "I''m proud of you, my son." Raaz said while preparing some warm milk in the hope to calm him down.

 Chapter 2388 Promises (Part 2)

    "The Queen was very nice to me, Mom. She even taught me how to dance." Leria was on cloud nine ever since the Royals had let her step on their feet to show her the basic moves.

    "You deserve that, sweetie pie." Rena ruffled Leria''s hair.

    "Now our family has a Magus and two Great Mages. Ancient households with dozens of members can''t say the same. The Verhens are now officially a magical bloodline."

    "And I''m still an extra whosest name isn''t even worth remembering." Senton puffed out his chest in mock pride. "What? We are back home, now. I''m allowed toint."

    Rena was ring at him, prompting his defense and starting a quarrel that quickly forced them to move into her room to not ruin the evening for everyone.

    "Don''t worry Leria. Even if you are just a member of the branch family of the Verhen Household, you''ll always be my favorite niece." Aran used a grave tone to banter about him belonging to the main bloodline.

    "Please, you are younger than me. You are not my uncle, more like a little, dumb brother." Leria exploited her seniority and being taller to pat his head like a dog and look down on him.

    "Mom, Leria is being mean again!"

    "Mom, Aran is talking smack about Dad again!"

    "Gods, how long for that milk?" Elina asked. "What if they go on like this the whole night?"

    "Unlikely." Raaz chuckled while pointing behind her.

    The kids had sat on a couch to rest their feet and had instantly fallen asleep. They weren''t used to staying up sote and the many emotions of the night had overwhelmed them the moment they had allowed themselves to rx.

    "I don''t think you n to wake them up so who''s that milk for?" Elina asked.

    "For me, dear. I don''t think I''ll be able to catch a wink otherwise. Gods, I''m so proud of our children and granddaughter that my hands are still shaking." Raaz showed his fingers to her, yet they were as steady as a rock.

    Also, he kept yawning while moving through the kitchen. The g hadsted long enough for Raaz to digest the news and the social interactions had worn out his still-recovering nerves.

    Elina knew that he was bound to copse any moment now so she rushed to put Aran into bed with both the suit and the shoes still on. They were all part of his own Scalewalker armor and she couldn''t make it shapeshift.

    "I missed you, Aran." Onyx nuzzled her snout against his face, making him hug her and turn his clothes into pajamas in his sleep.

    "Aww, they are so cute, dear." Elina said, yet only bubbling and snoring answered her.

    The milk was now boiling and Raaz had fallen asleep on a chair as well.

    "Dammit! I was too slow. Tista be a dear and help me carry your father into our room."

    "What about Lith?" Tista asked and Elina pointed at the already closed door of the master bedroom.

    "Your brother must be dead tired as well and he has a pregnant wife to take care of. Cut him some ck and help your poor pregnant mother." Elina made a dramatic gesture that made Tista chuckle as she moved her father to bed in a princess carry.

    Meanwhile, in Lith''s room, he was sighing in relief while brushing his teeth with a finger and cleaning them with darkness magic from food residues, que, and tartar. The tier zero spell also cleansed his breath from any lingering smell.

    "Why did we rush in here?" Kam chuckled from behind the closed bathroom door.

    "Because I can predict how it will go. Aran and Leria will quarrel, driving everyone crazy until they fall asleep. Then the adults will start congratting each other, have a nightcap or a ss of warm milk in Mom''s case, and then fall asleep without even noticing."

    Outside, Solus had taken care of the milk and was now snoring on the couch. No one was strong enough to lift her so they covered her with her deep green mage robe and several nkets.

    "I would spend the next few hours carrying them to bed in turns and I''m too tired for that. Today was a big day for me and the thought that Solus might leave tomorrow makes me uneasy. I need some peace and quiet."

    Kam peeked through the door, discovering that the prophecy was slowly being fulfilled. The excitement from the G was starting to fade and the members of the family yawned more and more often.

    "Your wish is mymand, master." She replied while closing and locking the door.

    "What do you- Father of all Dragons!" Lith''s jaw hit the floor at the sight of the figure waiting for him in front of the bed.

    Kam was wearing the Dragon Maiden uniform, her long raven-ck hair down in a waterfall that reached the small of her back. There was a thin choker made of blue silk around her neck bound to a silk string of the same color that she put into Lith''s hands after stepping close to him.

    Judging by how the dress and her body moved, aside from a drop of perfume on her hair, wrist, and neck, she wore nothing else.

    "I haven''t forgotten my promise and I was thinking that maybe we could mix history and fiction a bit. You know, re-enacting one of those stories where an evil Dragon kidnaps a maiden to do his dirty, dirty business." She gave him a long, deep kiss that left him breathless and a bit dizzy.

    "Let me get this straight. You don''t want me to turn into a Dragon, right?" Lith asked while needing sheer willpower to not be overwhelmed by the softness of her body and the passion of her touch.

    "No. That would be really too much for me. But we could go for something fun.

    Why don''t you take on just a few draconic features like Leegaain does? Like the eyes, maybe some ws, and a few scales here and there."

    "Wait, you don''t want me to look like him, right?" Lith pulled back, afraid of the answer.

    "No, silly." She giggled. "I want you to look like you with just a sprinkle of Dragon to make things kinky. No tail, though."

    In his enthusiasm, Lith had taken out both the wings and the tail of the Voidfeather Dragon which was whipping the air in excitement.

    "And put the wings away as well. All those feathers are ticklish."

    "How dare you order me around, woman?" Lith pulled her by the string, drawing her into an embrace to which she opposed a perfunctory resistance before arching her back in pleasure as his hands explored the slits of her dress.

    "Forgive, master. It was just a suggestion." She moaned as he made wings and tail disappear.

    "Denied. You will learn- What is that?" Another unexpected vision from her open closet managed to break the immersion of their role y.

    "An authentic uniform of the White Griffon academy." Kam panted, eager to resume their conversation. "I noticed that you still have your Professor robe and I''m nning to be a really naughty student."

 Chapter 2389 Rotting Land (Part 1)

    "And you dare say I''m the perverted lizard." Lith chuckled, noticing that alongside the regr uniform, there was another with a mini skirt instead of pants and whose buttonless blouse had a deep neckline. "Where did you even get those?"

    "Zinya gave me a couple of her spare student outfits. Do I need to say more?" She pouted at the prolonged pause in their effusions.

    "Gods no." Lith shook his head while shuddering to shrug off any thought about what Vastor might do in his bedroom. "Where were we?"

    "You had just refused to forgive me for my defiance and-"

    "I remember now." Lith grabbed her by the waist and picked up from he left off a few seconds ago.

    ***

    Jiera continent, at the same time.

    Thanks to the G broadcasted throughout the Kingdom to celebrate the victory of the Royals, the fires of the War of the Griffons were now dying out in Garlen. All the Royals had left to do was deal with the embers of Thrud''s rebellion.

    The Blood Desert and the Gorgon Empire could finally sigh in relief, their borders safe from the Mad Queen and her cursed academy.

    As for Jiera, it was rotting away.

    Both figuratively and literally.

    After the gue spread from the Torin Kingdom had brought the human race on that side of the ocean to the brink of extinction, things seemed to have found a new bnce for a while.

    nts and beasts had moved together, forming the first new megalopolises of Jiera. Once they were connected to each other thanks to a Warping Arraywork, the single cities had joined their resources and formed a central governing body, establishing the Wild Empire.

    Aside from the Liches, the members of the undead race had lost their only reliable source of nourishment and had migrated to the other continents. Some had found asylum. Others a new home.

    Most of them had found eternal death by the hand of the living or their fellow undead who didn''t want to share the resources and safety they had worked hard for centuries to secure.

    The humans of the entire continent, instead, had joined their forces and scoured thend as quickly as they could in search of survivors. Capable healers, Awakened, and people who were lucky enough to be naturally immune to the disease were still alive.

    Some of them had even managed to save their own families and their friends as well.

    Yet even an Awakened wouldn''t survive for long alone. It wasn''t a matter of not knowing how to grow food or butcher animals now that money had be irrelevant. Nor how to get clothes and shoes.

    Or rather, those were huge problems, but they rarely were also deadly.

    The same couldn''t be said about the Abominations and Eldritches who now had no need to hide and nothing to fear. They could now attack the houses of powerful mages who had died to the gue in order to steal their secrets and best equipment before moving on to Awakened.

    In a simr fashion, now that beasts and nt folks had formed their cities, there was no one keeping the monster poption in check. The corpses of hundreds of millions of humans were an endless source of food for such creatures.

    Some races of monsters knew how to preserve the precious meat while others had no problem feeding off rotting flesh. Both kinds of monsters had found a nigh-infinite supply of food that had allowed them to grow their numbers exponentially.

    If on Garlen a monster horde was considered a threat, on Jiera several monster hordes had banded together under an Abomination or a particrly cunning monster, forming monster tides.

    They moved from one corner of the continent to another, devouring anything in their wake and their own members when the natural resources weren''t enough. Cannibalism thinned their numbers but it more than made up for it by letting only the strongest, the smartest, and the most ruthless of them thrive.

    After every culling, qualitypensated for theck of quantity until the surviving apex monsters found new prey and their numbers swelled again.

    Even the Awakened fortresses of humans and the underground cities of the newborn Wild Empire had almost fallen more than once to the monster tides. They had survived only thanks to their mastery over magic and careful nning.

    Victory however didn''t mean much when every fallen warrior among their ranks meant the loss of dozens if not hundreds of years of experience. The monsters, instead, had no such problem.

    The corpses of their fallen were a great source of nourishment and their younglings needed but days to reach maturity. No matter how many monsters the Awakened killed, they would alwayse back like nothing had happened.

    Last, but not least, there was the problem of the lost cities.

    Throughout Mogar''s history, all of its continents had given birth to their fair share of powerful mages obsessed with conquest, immortality, or reckless ambition. Each one of them had used Forbidden Magic to create sentient monstrosities that gued Mogar and Jiera was no exception.

    The lost cities were eternal scars in thend that couldn''t be healed nor cauterized, only kept from spreading to the healthy tissues.

    After the fall of mankind, beasts and nt folk had asked for the help of the Awakened Council to collect all the information necessary for the maintenance of the arrays that kept the living legacies trapped.

    The Council had spared no effort to help them, sharing with them everything they knew about the lost cities, how to weaken them, and what to do to keep them sealed indefinitely.

    Awakened had a very long lifespan and no desire to babysit a whole continent so they had done everything they could to pin that hassle on someone else.

    At first, everything had gone well. The Awakened humans only had to worry about how to repopte Jiera. The beasts, instead, focused on expanding the borders of the Wild Empire, bringing order and help to the small settlements of survivors they encountered, no matter their race.

    Then, the monster hordes started appearing with increasing frequency until even the Awakened Council had be involved with the matter, afraid that it would blow up in their face.

    s, they were more than right, they were also toote.

    There was a small number of lost cities spread throughout Jiera, but that number had been irrelevant only because there were plenty of people keeping an eye on them and ready to intervene.

    Before the gues, reaching any of the lost cities was a matter of minutes, and dealing with the problem took a single Ranger hours.

    Now, however, Jiera''s poption had been reduced to the point that vast portions of the continent werepletely uninhabited. The birth of the Wild Empire had brought magical and Emperor Beast together in their underground cities, leaving most of the wilds to regr animals.

    nt folk had soon followed them, looking for thatpany and inspiration that only creatures with a wide emotional spectrum could give them.

    The final result had been that more and more monster tribes had escaped the beasts'' detection despite their regr patrols and had found plenty of resources to grow their numbers over time until they had be uncontroble.

 Chapter 2390 Rotting Land (Part 2)

    Keeping the monster hordes at bay first and then the monster tides had progressively drained the resources of the Wild Empire and of the Union of the Awakened human cities, drawing their attention away from the lost cities.

    Despite their joint efforts, the situation had kept escting. The monster tides could now only be contained and lost cities were almost to the brink of escaping from their ancient prisons.

    It had been only a matter of time before theck of manpowerbined with bad luck in the timing of the attacks of the monster tides had led a few living legacies to break free.

    A few immortal entities of the caliber of the ck Star were now moving freely through Jiera, spreading their blight and growing stronger for it.

    It was the reason the Awakened Council of Jiera had assembled for the first time since the gue and the four Guardians of Jiera had answered the call together. Fenagar was the appointed Guardian for that cycle, but he knew that his strength wasn''t enough.

    Having Scarlett the Sekhmet among their ranks was the only silver lining in the glum of their situation. She was a young Guardian who had nearlypleted her training with four of her six mentors, but her power was already above that of a bright white cored Awakened.

    "This is all the humans'' fault!" Aren Dolm the J?rmungrandr, the representative of the Beast Council, said. "It''s you idiots who built the lost cities and it was your duty to keep an eye on them. First the gue and now this.

    "You cause nothing but trouble with your ipetence. Maybe you should take the final step in the disaster that is your existence and go extinct for good!" The light-blonde hair of his human form jolted as he punched the table.

    Fury twisted his usually gentle features, bringing to the surface his bestial nature and covering his skin with blue scales.

    "We have nothing to do with this!" Gyrwin Isaar, the human representative countered with equal fury. "The lost cities were built before any of us was even born and the entire Council is responsible for keeping Forbidden Magic in check.

    "Hence if you consider them our failure, then they are your failure as well." Too many sleepless nights and plenty of mana abuse had worn her down, giving her a frail and old appearance yet the strength in her voice held still.

    "You Beasts have it much easier since the gue didn''t affect you and whenever one of your females gets pregnant, she can give birth to a litter whereas a woman can have two children at a time, three tops.

    "By now you and the nt folk should have already repopted Jiera and taken the lead as the dominant races. The monster hordes appeared because you cked off. As I see it, you are no better than the humans you have reced.

    "All you can do is whine and me others for your ipetence!" She mmed her fists on the table, her body trembling from the effort to produce a boom on par with Aren''s.

    The shockwave made the bun into which her hair was arranged pop, sending her dirty white hair streaked blue, yellow, and orange all over her face. For a moment, rage made enough blood flow to her face and eased the age lines that fatigue made deep.

    "Your im is preposterous!" Lur the Redcap said, her voice low andposed, her tone oozing scorn. "nt folk and Fae don''t reproduce quickly if at all. We have no feelings of attachment unlike you humans and finding a partner worth the hassle of having an offspring is no easy feat.

    "Also, I agree with Aren. This is your fault and you are once again trying to dump your responsibilities on us. The human Council was an integral part of all the kingdoms, democracies, and the other warring forms of government that your non-Awakened counterpart had established.

    "It was your duty to keep the human leaders and their foolish ambitions in check.

    "If you had done your job properly, the gue would have never spread in the first ce and we wouldn''t be here now!" Her full lips curled up in a snarl and her ruby-red eyes lit up with mana and indignance.

    "I second Lur''s words." Aren nodded. "Allow me to remind you, dear Gyrwin, that Emperor Beasts don''t reproduce quickly either. On top of that, we have not stayed idle for a single day as the human-borne cmity was unleashed.

    "We have rescued all the survivors we found, explored thends around our cities and cultivated the fields to feed them, and kept the monsters in check for as long as we could.

    "If we didn''t have to babysit the non-Awakened humans and could focus solely on our kin, we''d have no use for your help." The J?rmungrandr''s words stung hard at the human representative''s pride but she hid her shame to perfection.

    ''He''s right.'' Gyrwin inwardly admitted. ''There are not enough of us to take care of all the survivors from the gue. If it wasn''t for the beasts'' help, our cities would have copsed and the human race would be one step closer to extinction instead of recovery.

    ''Why did this have to happen now? We just needed a couple of generations to increase our numbers, teach Awakening to those worthy, and then the human race would have started to rise back to its former glory on Jiera.''

    "Ladies and gentlemen, as much as I like a good scuffle, this is not the time or ce to point fingers." Breganoth the King of Liches of Jiera and undead representative said. "We need to invest our energy to find a solution or Jiera will be no more.

    "My colleague in the Zima Council has warned me that they are already preparing to deal with the monster tides with extinction-level spells."

    The ancient Lich was in his full human form, resembling a man in his mid-twenties at the peak of his power and youth. Breganoth''s handsome face was clean-shaved and his chestnut eyes were focused on the meeting instead of lost in the mental recollection of his experiments like usual.

    Even his luxurious clothes were clean, shining with the silver and blue of the fallen Mage Theocracy of Rempa, instead of the dusty tatters he usually wore.

    "What?" The other four representatives reacted in unison.

    Up to that point, they had ignored the Lich since he rarely had something to add aside from urging them to get the meeting over with. Also, after the gue, most of the Awakened undead had left Jiera so their seat was held out of tradition rather than relevance.

    "This is insane! Their Guardians will never allow such a thing." Arlen cut the air with his hand.

    "The proposal came from them." Breganoth stared into Aren''s eyes, the red light of undeath backed by a will so powerful that the J?rmungrandr couldn''t stand them for long. "They think that if Jiera is doomed, it might as well disappear along with its trouble.

    "Killing everyone here is a much better option than letting the monster tides and the lost cities reach Zima."

 Chapter 2391 Wasted Opportunity (Part 1)

    "By that point, the monster tides and the lost cities born on Jiera would be a problem of our fellow Awakened in Zima and they would fare against such threats no better than us.

    "This way, instead, they can unleash their spells on a doomednd and even if the cursed artifacts'' destruction causes longsting damage, no one would notice the difference.

    "Quite the contrary, it would help Zima''s Council to decimate the monsters and the resulting barrennds would bring no nourishment to those who escaped the congration. Where spells fail, hunger will deal the finishing blow."

    "This is a well-thought n." Fenagar the Leviathan nodded. "One I would approve of, were I in my fellow Guardians'' shoes."

    "Is this why you are here today, Breganoth? To save your own skin?" Aren threw a spiteful look at his forefather but focused on the Lich King.

    "Correct." The undead representative nodded. "The monsters have found myb and those of several other Liches. ughtering them is not hard. I have prepared traps for centuries and their limited magical abilities and intellect make them easy prey.

    "Yet their numbers would allow them to reach my home if they put their mind to it. I can''t leave for Zima and neither can the Liches I represent. We have already asked for asylum and we''ve been all turned down.

    "Some nonsense about not wanting to share their resources with us and more Liches being only a source of problems." Breganoth red his nostrils in annoyance as the other representatives agreed to those words with smug grins on their faces.

    Truth be told, Liches only took resources from the Council. They only contributed to solving problems when there was something in it for them. Their seat on the Council was the proof of their strength that alone could keep the rest of the undead in check.

    The other races considered it a small price to pay but maddening nheless.

    "For this reason, I took a break from my experiments and I''ve focused on convincing my fellow Liches to do the same. Until the crisis is solved, you can count on us. Just tell us what to do." He cleared his voice before adding:

    "And please, be very specific when giving a Lich instructions. Some of us have trouble even remembering how to breathe. All that drink, eat, and sleep stuff is kind of obscure to us."

    "We''ll keep it in mind." Gyrwin nodded. "With the help of the Liches, we should be able to ease the pressure on our settlements for a while. If the Guardians help us as well, however, the situation will be easily solved."

    "We are already doing our thing." Zagran the Garuda said. "We are culling the bigger monster tides and keeping the freed lost cities away from popted areas, but this is as far as we can go."

    The Guardian of Might crossed her muscr arms in front of her chest, challenging the Council Members to question her.

    In her human form, Zagran looked like a bulky woman in her mid-twenties, over 1.8 meters (6'') tall, with shoulder-length blue hair, brown skin, and purple eyes. Her sleeveless monk''s clothes left her many scars visible.

    She could have easily healed them, but the Garuda considered them badges of her warrior honor and hid them only while looking for a romantic partner.

    Much to her surprise, the challenge was epted.

    "That''s it?" Aren blurted out in surprise. "You should wipe out the monster tides and destroy the lost cities. Are you abandoning us or what?"

    His words were followed by the nodding of his fellow representatives who red at the Guardians in demand of an exnation.

    "We should?" Roghar the Fenrir echoed while clicking his tongue. "This is none of our fault. We didn''t build any cursed item nor did we help the monsters in any way."

    In his human form, the Guardian of Mana was supposed to look like a handsome man in his early thirties, with long ck hair and clear blue eyes. s, he was still recovering from the beating he had taken from the Garlen Guardians.

    His skin was ck and blue, the fingers of his right hand were splintered and he wore a cast on his left leg. Tyris had messed up his life force so that only time could heal his wounds and his Guardian essence at the same time.

    Even Guardian Tier healing spells didn''t work on him.

    "That''s riching from you!" Breganoth said. "If not for your crazy experiments, most of the fallen races wouldn''t exist in the first ce. You are the root of this problem."

    Roghar didn''t know what was worse, a Lich calling someone else''s experiments crazy or the fact that he was partly right.

    "I didn''t force them to do anything just like I didn''t help anyone to build the lost cities. The Guardian of Mana replied. "The fallen races chose their own path just like the humans chose to unleash the gue on Jiera.

    "I can treat you all like pets if that''s what you want, but then I expect you to live as such. You''ll obey every one of my orders and do only what I allow you to do, living your lives as *I* see best. Do we have a deal?"

    "No." The Council members shook their heads and refused his extended hand.

    "Then you''ll have to make do with this much." Fenagar sighed. "You are right, we could intervene and solve everything for you, but then what? It would teach you nothing and these very same problems would arise againter.

    "Just like there were dozens of gues being developed by the various countries and only one being actually unleashed allowed them to understand the foolishness of their ways.

    "Also, you have dealt with this crisis with a short-sighted approach. You have split instead of uniting and haven''t seized the opportunity that having so much freend has offered you. Even now you pretend not to see it."

    "What opportunity?" Lur the Redcap widened her crystal-blue eyes in confusion, making her luscious red hair cover her face as she tilted her head.

    "Only the five dominant races have a seat in the Council, but they are not the only races on Mogar." Zagran said with an exasperated sigh. "The merfolk have long since longed to get a ce of their own on the surface and elves resent their imposed exile for even longer.

    "If you can''t repopte Jiera fast enough, you might as well ask for their help. Their numbers would make up for your fallen and with their contribution, your burden would be greatly eased."

    "That''s easier said than done." The Redcap replied. "Elves hate humans and resent us and the beasts. As for the merfolk, they are terrified of the surface world. Their magical abilities arecking and to them, our world is blinding and noisy."

    "Indeed." Fenagar nodded. "It would take years of diplomacy and mutual support to bring elves and merfolk on Jiera. Years that you had and squandered! Don''t y innocent with me.

    "I know that you all considered the idea yet discarded it because afraid that when your respective races had regained their strength, you wouldn''t be able to take thends you''ve given them back.

 Chapter 2392 Wasted Opportunity (Part 2)

    "You wanted them only as tenants, not neighbors. You didn''t even try to reach out to them because you knew that they''d demand to own what they build. That they will fight to the death rather than give away the fruits of theirbor the moment you are back on your feet."

    Everyone but Breganoth lowered their eyes in shame. Once again, the crux of the matter wasn''t theck of a solution, but the unwillingness to share the magical resources of Jiera.

    The Council had hoped that between the ocean separating them from Garlen and Thrud Griffon''s invasion, they would have the time to slowly grow their strength and prevent the colonization of their continent.

    Now, however, they found themselves in the position of being nearly forced to beg for help and pay anything their newfound allies might demand aspensation. Colonization had a nasty ring to it but sounded like musicpared to the annihtion they would face if Zima attacked.

    "Can''t you at least destroy the escaped cursed artifacts, Grandfather?" Arlen hoped that by reminding the Guardian of Discovery of the blood they shared Fenagar would soften his position.

    "I thought about that, but I can''t." The Father of all Leviathan shrugged, making the Council representative''s shoulders slouch. "I don''t have the blueprints of their power cores nor any idea of how safely destroy them.

    "I tried hurling them into space but they have been bound to Mogar. The moment I let them go, they Warp onto the mana geyser upon which they were built."

    "And I tried almost destroying them." Zagran hated admitting her helplessness and clenched her teeth. "They recover in a matter of days and any damage to their power core causes a chain reaction."

    "What hope do we have, then?" Gyrwin fell onto her chair, holding her head in despair.

    "We can wait until a lost city is away from a mana geyser." Zagran replied, making the Council representatives look at her with hope. "Then I deal with it and you seal it again while in a weakened state.

    "Beware though. Theck of a mana geyser will make it easier to subjugate the cursed artifact but the barrier to hold it will also require many resources and constant care. The final decision is yours and so is the responsibility. Choose wisely."

    "Thank you, Master Zagran." The representatives gave her a deep bow. With her help, they had at least gained a bit more time to fix their mess.

    The recent events in Garlen had deeply affected the usually uncaring Guardian of Might.

    Shargein''s birth, meeting Valeron the Second, but most importantly, witnessing the fate of Eycos had made her second guess some of her past choices.

    Zagran felt guilty for abandoning the ck sheep of her nest and the heights Eycos had been able to reach under the guidance of the Master were proof of her failure as a teacher.

    What she had thrown away, the Master had picked up. Zagran had turned her back to her son, considering him as good as dead yet the Master had found a way to bring Eycos back and make him better than she ever could.

    "I''ll try to understand how the lost cities work, but sadly I''m the Guardian of Discovery, not of Knowledge. Their technology is ancient and lost but maybe Leegaain knows something." Fenagar hated feeling inferior to his old rival, but if he could keep his turf with Leegaain''s help, it would be worth it.

    There was no humiliation that wouldn''t fade over centuries and millennia wouldn''t erase from history.

    "I''d love to help, but in my current condition any direct involvement on my side might bring Jiera''s Guardians down to two." Roghar sighed. "Feel free to ask me for advice whenever you need it."

    Breganoth stared at the Fenrir like he was insane. Roghar was a respected and powerful Guardian but those who had asked his counsel in the past had ended up joining the ranks of the fallen races.

    Even Liches used the Fenrir as a cautionary tale about not pushing their experiments too far.

    "What about you?" Lur asked Scarlett.

    "I''m the Guardian of Children, I have no idea how to destroy a lost city and I wouldn''t know where to start to negotiate with merfolk and elves. I can help you keep the monster swarms at bay, though.

    "I can use a bit of practice in real fights after being holed up for so long." The Sekhmet was eager to put the limits of her new body to the test and identify her weak points that she wouldpensate for with proper equipment.

    She instinctively brought her hand to her nose, in search of the familiar weight of the Eyes of Menadion. Only when she found nothing did Scarlett remember to have gifted them to Ka.

    ''I don''t need the Eyes anymore since my Guardian senses are much better, but I still miss both them and my friend. I wonder how Ka is faring. I hope that she gave up on bing a Lich-''

    With the memory of theirst meeting, the circumstances of her final tribtion also came to her mind.

    "Now that I think about it, there is no Guardian of Destruction, but I know a guy who''s the next best thing." She said.

    "You mean the Tiamat?" Aren pursed his lips in annoyance. "Thanks, but no thanks. He was of great help in dealing with Kolga, but only because we paid him. I''ve heard that he''s helping the Griffon Kingdom with their ns to colonize Jiera.

    "I know him well enough to know that he is not going to help us unless we fill the purse he has instead of a heart. If we call him, he''ll demand a foothold for the Kingdom if not even for the Garlen Council. I''m not so desperate to open my door to a potential enemy."

    "Yet." Scarlett said, drawing on herself the res of everyone present but Zagran.

    "I agree with the beast representative." Fenagar still remembered Tyris'' beating and med Lith for that. "I don''t want him anywhere near my turf."

    "Seconded." Roghar''s wounds ached just at the mention of the Tiamat''s name. He was terrified at the idea of what might happen if Lith brought his wife along and with her the Guardians of Garlen.

    Sark wasn''t pregnant any longer and she never forgot her grudges. Roghar had invaded her turf and defied her authority. Even with the home advantage, the Fenrir was aware that with his wounds he was no match for her.

    "All in favor of not calling Verhen." Gyrwin raised her hand and so did Breganoth and Lur. "The majority wins."

    Zagran raised neither her hand nor objections but she deemed them foolish nheless.

    ''Still clinging to their pride when the world around them burns. Great Mother almighty, how can they be so stupid? How could I be so stupid in the past?'' She thought, hoping to be wrong, and that her bad feeling would nevere to pass.

    ***

    Garlen Continent, City of Lutia, Lith''s house.

    The following morning, Tista woke up in one of the armchairs of the living room and discovered to be in goodpany.

 Chapter 2393 Feeling Used (Part 1)

    Aside from the kids and Raaz, everyone had just rested their eyes for a second before alcohol and tiredness knocked them out.

    "Gods, my back is killing me." Elina had spent the night with her face on the table while sitting on one of the wooden chairs and was now paying the price.

    "Why didn''t you go to bed, Mom?" Tista asked.

    "That was my intention. Thest thing I remember is that I was about to wake you up. I must have fallen asleep without even noticing." Elina replied.

    "Five more minutes." Solus grumbled, mistaking those words for the morning call while she curled up and hid under the nkets to shield herself from sunlight.

    Tista checked Rena''s room, discovering that Senton had slept there alone while his wife had spent the night in Tista''s room. Tista sighed, hoping that a good night''s sleep and breakfast would defuse the quarrel of the previous night.

    Seeing his whole family stepping up the socialdder while he remained a cksmith had gotten under Senton''s skin. As far as Tista remembered, she had heard them arguing through the door until she had lost consciousness.

    Senton wasn''t angry with his wife or with her family. He was just pissed off for the treatment he had received at the Royal Court and afraid that his daughter might grow distant as her magic powers developed.

    ''Poor Senton. Yesterday must have been a huge blow to his pride. Everyone knows Rena, Leria, and even the triplets whereas no one bothers remembering his name.'' Tista took her Great Mage robe off and walked out of the door in the still-chilly air of the night.

    It was a habit she had picked up right after Lith had cured her from the symptoms of the Strangler for good. Back then, the cold bit at her skin whereas now her Awakened body barely registered it.

    She took long and deep breaths, appreciating how her lungs effortlessly filled with air. The freshness of the air and theck of coughing still gave her euphoria, no matter how many years had passed since thest fit.

    ''I am free now. My body is no longer my prison.'' Tista spread her arms, waiting for the sun to dawn on the horizon.

    At the thin border between light and darkness where every Phoenix lived, while it was still neither day nor night, she shapeshifted into her Red Demon form. Her whole body turned from flesh and blood into a mass of deep-red living mes.

    Their temperature rose with the sun, turning orange first and then all the way up to a faint deep violet. The moment the indigo of the sky turned red, light overcame darkness and the mes went out, leaving Tista in her human form.

    ''Dammit! I failed once again to keep whatever the Ethereal Aegis bloodline ability is under control.'' She inwardly cursed.

    Immediately before sunrise and after sundown were the only moments when Tista could exploit the natural bnce of the elements to safely conjure her powers. It was an exercise that she had learned in the Desert from the Phoenixes of Sark''s nest.

    It was a trick that all Featherlings used to get a feel of their bloodline abilities without endangering their life force. Luckily, it worked for Tista as well. Unluckily, it didn''tst long nor did it work for Lith due to his dominant Dragon blood.

    She looked around to make sure that no one had witnessed her training and went back inside the home. The farmhands would be there any moment now and Tista had no desire to scare them or have them start a cult of her own.

    "Be a dear and fix me up." Elina had juste out of the bathroom where she had removed the make-up and jewels after shapeshifting the g dress into her working clothes. "I can''t stop yawning and someone has to prepare breakfast."

    They had all slept too little and Elina was just human.

    She was aching from the ufortable sleeping position in ces she had no idea could hurt and she could barely keep her eyes open.

    "Do you want me to call Lith?" Tista asked while using Invigoration to make the pain go away and fill Elina with energy.

    "Let him sleep. He needs some peace." Elina looked at the bundle of nkets under which Solus was hidden and sighed. "Today is theirst day together after being joined to the hip for sixteen years. It''s going to be hard on both of them."

    "Don''t talk like that, Mom. It''s not like Solus is going to disappear. We''ll have toe back at least once a day if the city where we stay has no geyser. Worst case scenario, they won''t see each other for a few days at a time." Tista replied.

    "Still, it''s going to be painful and you know it." Elina said.

    Solus'' peaceful sleepsted only until Aran and Leria were woken up by the delicious smell of breakfast.

    "Aunt Solus, it''s too soon for hibernating. Are you a Hydra as well?" Aran dug her out to check on her condition.

    "Let her sleep, you peasant. More biscuits for us." Leria walked out of her room still wearing her full G attire and acting like a princess.

    "Take that off or you are going to dirt it." Elina said.

    "Don''t be silly, Grandma. It can self-clean." Leria giggled.

    "Biscuits!" Aran and Solus said in unison as the sweet smell of freshly baked goods reached their nostrils.

    "Dammit, you woke her up!" Leria chided Aran. "Well done, runt."

    "Isn''t it too early for your daily quarrels?" Solus yawned while taking her ce at the table. "Also, don''t you feel ridiculous dressing like that at home?"

    "Hello, pot. My name is kettle and you are ck." Leria pointed at Solus'' g dress and jewelry.

    "Thank you! That''s why I felt so weird." A wave of her hand and the parure disappeared in the pocket dimension.

    Darkness magic wiped every foreign substance off her face and the dress shapeshifted into regr clothes. Leria pouted and kept her sophisticated attire.

    At least until everyone sat down for breakfast dressed normally.

    "Your majesty, do you mind passing me the butter?" Lith gave her a small bow that made everyoneugh.

    "Uncle Lith!" Leria red at him, pouting as she handed him the butter.

    Between the jokes and the stark contrast with the rest of the family, she went from feeling like a princess to just ridiculous very quickly. Leria changed as well when even Abominus gave her a small bow.

    "When are you two leaving?" Lith asked, making it sound as casual as he could.

    "Tomorrow first thing in the morning." Solus replied. "Today I''d like to spend it with everyone while we stay at Grandma''s. I want to be at the top of my game and make sure we aren''t forgetting anything."

    Sleeping outside the tower didn''t restore much of her strength and Solus felt her energy dwindling already despite being close to Lith and wearing the Sage Staff at her neck.

    ''No matter how ufortable being away from Lith is, I need to get used to it. Otherwise I''ll end up spending more time home than traveling.''

 Chapter 2394 Feeling Used (Part 2)

    ''On top of that, the only quick way back to Lutia is the Tower Warp but if I use it too often, Dawn is going to start wondering why I get better every time Nyka shuts her down.'' Solus thought.

    "If that''s okay with you all, of course." She actually said.

    "No problem." Kam shrugged while eating her third serving of eggs with sausages.

    Between the intense nocturnal activity and the growing baby, she had worked up a huge appetite.

    "I''m not going back to work for a few days so we can stay together until that moment if you want."

    "Thanks, but no." Solus shook her head. "I want to leave while it''s still my choice instead of because I have to."

    After finishing breakfast, they moved to the Desert where the sun had yet to rise.

    "Sweet! After we start traveling together, we can exploit time zones to watch sunrise multiple times a day." Tista said. "Who knows, I might finally master Ethereal Aegis or even reach the violet this way."

    "No way." Solus snorted. "I want to travel, not to help you train. If I have to bring a Lith along, I might as well take the original."

    The moment the tower had taken form, tiredness had left Solus'' body and she was now full of vigor.

    ''I hate this. I hate always feeling iplete. When will I be finally free from these shackles?'' She thought while using her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, to study her mana core and life force.

    They were still both cracked and kept slowly leaking energy. Taking her human form put a huge strain on both and while Lith''s presence plugged her life force, the tower fixed her mana core.

    Without one of them, she was like a candle slowly burning out. Without either of them, she felt as ephemeral as a match.

    "Is anything wrong, dear?" Elina''s voice snapped Solus out of it.

    "I''ming!"

    "Well, look what the Dragon dragged in." Sark appeared in front of the tower to wee them.

    She was congratting Lith and Tista for their achievements, moving on to Solus as soon as she joined the rest of the family.

    The day passed slowly, with everyone spending time with Solus and talking about her ns for the trip.

    "Are you sure you have taken everything you need?" She asked Lith while they were checking the tower''s Library.

    "Don''t worry. I have moved the blueprints of the Tablet to the pocket dimension and I can ess it even when you are away." Lith replied. "On top of that, in case of emergency, we can alwaysmunicate via Soluspedia as we did during my lockup in Valeron.

    "I can call upon you via the tower and you can do the same as long as we are above a mana geyser. Between that and themunication amulets, we are always going to be just a call away."

    "Yeah, I almost forgot you use the tower without me." Solus sighed. "I guess you won''t miss me that much."

    "Don''t be silly, Solus." Lith put the book he was consulting away and walked in front of her. "I''m acting aloof and confident but I''m actually terrified. I''ve heard your voice in my head every day for sixteen years.

    "Every time you weren''t there, it was one of the worst moments of my life. When Nalear broke our bond. When I thought you were dead and when I got quarantined due to the Golden Griffon''s ve array."

    "What about your honeymoon?" She raised her eyebrows in doubt.

    "That was different! First, we were separate for barely a couple of days and second, I could get you back at any time. Now, instead, I''m going to see you only when you need your battery charger and the thought hurts." Lith slouched his shoulders.

    "The truth is that I miss you already, Solus."

    "I miss you too, silly." She hugged him. "Thanks for telling me those things. I needed to hear them."

    "But you are going anyway, right? If you stay because of me, I will never forgive m-"

    "Yeah, I''m still going." Solus put her hand on his mouth to shut him up. "Sometimes I worry that you might consider me just amodity and knowing that you feel the same means a lot to me."

    The following day, Solus and Tista left right after her morning exercises, leaving the rest of the family in the Trawn woods.

    "What now?" Tista asked. "We have never discussed where to pick up Nyka. She can''t use the Warp Gates without being spotted as an undead the moment they check her body."

    "Don''t worry, I''ve got that covered. We are going to start our travel in Lightkeep." A snap of Solus'' fingers and the tower moved to the belly of the Empire.

    dion had prepared a space for the tower and Baba Yaga had altered the dimensional sealing arrays so that they would make an exception for Solus'' energy signature.

    The powerful mana geyser that fueled Lightkeep''s magical formations would also fuel the tower and preserve Solus'' strength during her stay.

    "Wee to my humble home." dion Dragonborn, the First Vampire, gave them a deep bow.

    "It''s nice seeing you again, kids." Ka the Wight stood beside him, her huge skeletal body covered by an ever-shifting mass of darkness.

    She wore the original Eyes of Menadion on her snout and a perfectly cut white crystal the size of an apple on her neck.

    "Still bent on bing a Lich?" Solus asked, noticing that the semi-phctery now held a spark of Ka''s life force and mana.

    "Thrud''s death changes nothing." The Wight shook her massive head. "Quite the contrary, now that the Council knows about the Eyes, I need to be immortal more than ever or they might target my children to get to me.

    "But let''s not ruin your journey with depressing thoughts before it even starts. Follow me, there are a few people who want to meet you before you leave."

    "Why isn''t Nyka with you?" Tista asked.

    "Because she doesn''t want to shut Dawn down from the start and have her question the secrecy about your arrival. The cover story is that Mother picked you up." dion pointed at the hunting cabin that was right beside the tower.

    Solus had the tower burrow underground to hide it from sight and activated the cloaking arrays to shield its presence.

    "Isn''t it pointless? Baba Yaga can''t follow us around and Nyka can''t even use Warp Gates. Now that I think about it, why didn''t shee to us instead? It would have made things much simpler." Tista pondered.

    "Because you''ve never been to Lightkeep, Tista, and Nyka wants to show you our house and the fruits of her efforts." dion replied.

    The house of the Firstborn Vampire was a magnificent three-story manor built with a style that resembled a European abbey from the 1600s. Every room and corridor were richly decorated with frescoes, paintings, and its furniture would have looked good even in the Ernas household.

    Everything was made of high-end materials and finely crafted but their beauty was understated instead of unted like at the Royal Court. Plenty of light came from the windows and theck of humidity in the air made Tista think they were pulling a prank on her.

 Chapter 2395 Ripples Through Mogar (Part 1)

    "Are we really underground? Because something doesn''t add up. This ce is amazing and- Good gods!" Only when she looked outside the nearest window did Tista notice that the light didn''te from the sun but from some yellow crystals hanging to the ceiling of the cave.

    Lightkeep had been built on both the ground and the ceiling of a huge natural formation below Mogar''s surface. Most undead could walk on walls like insects or fly thanks to their bloodline abilities so they had no problem moving from the lower to the upper level of the city.

    The ceiling had been painted blue and white to resemble a cloudy sky while the ground was rich in gardens and parks, making it no different from a surface dwelling. People of all races and ages walked along the streets and only a few of them were undead.

    "Yes, we are." dion chuckled. "My sunstones produce heat and light in a simr fashion to the sun but pose no danger to the undead. They are one of my most prized achievements, second only to my son."

    "Who are those people?" Tista pointed at the short line of undead standing in front of the main gate of the Firstborn''s mansion.

    "One of the reasons you are here. I''ll let Nyka exin it to you." Ka led them to a living room with golden-painted decorations covering its white walls.

    In the middle of the room, there was a long oval table surrounded by padded cherrywood chairs. A few people were sitting there, Baba Yaga in her Maiden form, Ilthin, and Nyka were among them.

    A single chandelier enchanted with light magic illuminated the ce thanks to the pristine walls spreading the light evenly like mirrors.

    "It''s so good to see you, Solus." The Maiden said while walking toward her.

    Baba Yaga was the oldest white core still alive on Mogar, yet in that form, she looked barely sixteen. Her silvery voice brimmed with joy and innocence while her lithe body moved with the overeager energy of youth

    "I''ve been worrying for you every time you went to the battlefield. I''m d that you came out of it in one piece." The Maiden''s clear blue eyes sized Solus up, checking on the status of her life force and mana core.

    "It''s good to see you too, Malyshka." Solus hugged her friend, resting her head on the Maiden''s shoulder. "We wouldn''t have done it without your help. Thank you for sending Dawn and Dusk to our aid."

    Between the small height gap and their waist-long almost matching hair, they looked like sisters.

    "Aren''t thou, I mean you forgetting someone?" A blonde man with a finely trimmed beard said while raising his green eyes from the book he was reading. "The Horsemen weren''t alone. Us Firstborns did our part as well."

    He had a thick ent that belonged to a different time, when Tyris'' universalnguage was spoken by nobles in a different way frommoners. Back then, it was meant to represent the social and educational divide between them.

    In the present day, however, it just sounded pretentious.

    "Do I know you?" Solus was puzzled.

    Aside from dion, there were two men and a woman in the room but she couldn''t recognize any of them. Once a Firstborn assumed human form, their body came back to life and their energy signature changed as well.

    "Seriously? How hard is it to recognize a Knight amid rogues?" He pointed at his shiny white armor and then at his brethren.

    The woman had reddish bronze skin like Solus had never seen before and wore foreign clothes. The other man, instead, had reddish hair and an anonymous look. If not for his fine clothes, Solus would have mistaken him for a member of the house staff.

    "Fine! Since no one bothers introducing us like it should be proper, I''ll do it myself." The man snorted, turning his whole body into an orange mist. "I am Sir Essian Lormon, Firstborn Mage yer. At your service."

    The armor gave them a perfect bow, worthy of the Royal Court.

    "Don''t touch him while he''s like that, or he will suck you dry." The woman had clear chestnut eyes and hair so ck that they looked almost blue. "I''m Ahote, Firstborn Wendigo. Nice to meet you."

    "You are a Wendigo?" Solus shook the hand that was being offered to her, almost refusing to believe her eyes.

    That particr species of undead wereprised of cannibalistic monsters covered in thick white fur whose mouth was filled with fangs the size of a short knife. Not only was Ahote graceful, but also her touch was warm, without any trace of the cold aura typical of Wendigos.

    "Not by choice." She sighed. "My people are used to a warm climate so when a long and harsh winter trapped us inside our homes, we didn''t have much of a choice. To not starve we had to make a terrible choice and when the other tribes discovered what we had done, they killed us like rabid animals.

    "I''m the only survivor and only because the Red Mother found me in time."

    "What about him?" Solus pointed at Lormont, eager to change the topic.

    "His story is almost as tragic as mine or Ilthin''s." Ahote''s voice dripped sarcasm and the other Firstbornsughed. "He was once a noble Knight. His ego was so great that he thought himself capable of besting anyone with his sword, even mages."

    "And?" Tista tilted her head while the orange mist turned beet red.

    "And he was wrong. The end." The Wendigo shrugged.

    "That''s it?" Solus said in disbelief.

    "Yeah." Baba Yaga nodded. "Why do you think the only things he has left are his heart and sword? Because they are the only things a true knight needs."

    She said with a pompous voice, making her childrenugh harder.

    "Which makes you the Firstborn Ghoul, correct?" Tista asked.

    "Indeed. My name is Bogdan. Nice to meet you." He offered the girls his hand and they shook it.

    "What''s your story?" Solus asked.

    "Nothing much." He shrugged as a cold light passed behind his eyes. "I was a doctor and spent my days dissecting corpses trying to understand what had killed them and how to save those suffering from the same afflictions.

    "Too bad that superstitious idiots took me for a Necromancer bent on spreading gues and buried me alive. I starved and thirsted for days until Mother found me, but it was toote."

    "After turning him, I warned him that his first meal would also be the only source of nourishment he would have." Baba Yaga sighed. "Sadly, in his rage Bogdan decided to settle the score and sate his hunger, killing two birds with one stone."

    "What do you¡­ oh!" Tista said.

    "Poetic justice, if you ask me." The Ghoul snarled.

    "Why did you have use here, Nyka?" Solus asked, still not understanding the reason behind her friend''s request.

    "Because I wanted to give people onest gift before Baba Yaga takes my prisms away." The young Vampire replied.

    "Prisms? As in plural?"

    "Yeah." dion opened the first buttons of his shirt, showing the gem-shaped crystal in his chest.

 Chapter 2396 Ripples Through Mogar (Part 2)

    "If not for the prism, I would have never been able to spend some time on the surface with my wife and child during the day while being able to protect them. For this, you have my thanks, Lady Dawn."

    "You are wee." The Horseman''s voice came out of Nyka''s mouth as the Firstborns gave her a deep bow.

    "For me, it meant going back to my people for the first time in millennia." Ilthin said. "Reaching a Fringe is already hard but the moment the other Elves were to notice myck of magic, they would have burned me like an abomination.

    "All Elves are born as true mages and develop a blue core. No matter if my intentions are sincere, without my powers it takes a single zealot to kill me."

    "To me, it just meant walking under the sun without being afraid of being a victim again yet I loved every moment of it." Bogdan said.

    "Same for me." The Wendigo said.

    "You gave me and countless others hope. Thank you, Dawn." Nyka said while apparently talking to her blouse.

    "What are you talking about?" Solus asked.

    "I think you are forgetting something important about me." Nyka chuckled. "I''m not a human turned into a Vampire. I''m a corpse that Mom raised as a Vampire with a spell.

    "I never had the opportunity to look at the sun without dying for good nor do I have any memory of how living during the day feels. After bonding with Dawn to help you, however, I could finally experience what you guys take for granted and what the undead strive for.

    "I was so happy after witnessing my first sunrise and found so much joy in seeing how different Mogar looks during the day that I decided to share such a gift with as many people as I could.

    "Sunstones are great, but their light on the humidity that forms on our nts is nothingpared to the spectacle of sunlight sparkling on the morning dew. The flowers, the grass, heck, even the mud looks more vivid." Nyka''s eyes shone with wonder at the memory.

    "Yet every prism that Dawn makes weakens her and Chosen are supposed to be forever. Yet thanks to Baba Yaga, I could recover the prisms and use them on different undead every day.

    "Once I''m on the road, however, I''m going to need my strength so I have to recover all of the prisms before we move out. That''s why I asked you toe here. I want to gift those people lined up in front of dion''s door onest dawn."

    "And you are okay with that?" Solus moved her eyes from the crystal protruding from Nyka''s chest to Baba Yaga.

    "I admit that at first, I considered Nyka''s request the most stupid thing I''ve ever heard." Dawn replied. "None of my previous hosts has ever considered me a gift nor did they ever think to share it with others.

    "My prisms are a tool intended to give me the knowledge I need for the task that Mother assigned me and obedient servants that won''t betray me. Nyka''s idea of making so many Chosen, of leaving me weakened and them with their free will sounded idiotic at best.

    "Yet after doing it once, it made me think. It reminded me of the importance of my mission and the people I''m supposed to fight for. It was¡­ enlightening."

    "Tista, you do your exercises at sunrise, right?" Nyka asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Come on then, follow me."

    The young Vampire reached the entrance and started to produce one prism after the other, handing them to Baba Yaga so that she could seal their mind-controlling ability.

    The Red Mother left a small channel open so that even though the Bright Day couldn''t read the thoughts of her temporary Chosen, she could still share their emotions. Once Dawn was too weakened to produce more prisms, the Maiden Spirit Warped everyone on the surface.

    "I''m proud of you, sweetie." Ka rubbed her snout against Nyka''s shoulder while the undead spread out, looking for the perfect spot from which to watch the sunrise.

    "Thanks, Mom." The Vampire hugged her. "I''m going to miss you."

    "Silly child, I''m not going anywhere." The Wight looked at her in confusion.

    "But I am!" Nyka said in outrage. "Don''t tell me that you''ve already forgotten about my trip?"

    "What trip?" Ka blurted out, making the Eyes jolt off her snout and triggering a ferocious quarrel as the blue of the horizon turned orange.

    "Thank you, Epphy." The Maiden said after Hushing mother and daughter. "Dawn needed someone like Nyka. After so many power-hungry mages and blood-thirsty undead, a host as innocent as a child is what my daughter needed to have a fresh start.

    "To look at Mogar with eyes that aren''t clouded by greed and can appreciate the wonders of the simple things in life."

    "No need to thank me. You should thank Nyka instead." Solus pondered those words, finding one more analogy between her and Dawn.

    The rtionship the Bright Day had with the Vampire was very simr to that between Lith and Solus back when he had just found her. He was bitter, cruel, and broken whereas she was na?ve and pure.

    "I already did." Baba Yaga replied. "Yet I consider this as your achievement as well. It was you who befriended Nyka. You have nned this moment for years and she offered herself as Dawn''s host to be capable of apanying you.

    "To protect you during the War of the Griffon. Also, it was you who showed my daughter how the rtionship between a Horseman and their host is supposed to be. If it wasn''t for you, she would still be bonded to Ac and he would be nothing more than a mindless ve."

    The Maiden turned around, feeling through her bond with Dawn how baffled the Horseman was at Nyka treating Ka like a mother instead of a master. It brought back ancient memories that softened her heart hardened by the centuries.

    "Even though you and Lith are just Guardian candidates, your actions are causing ripples that are affecting Mogar. You changed my children, Solus, while Lith''s existence reconnected the Guardians of Garlen.

    "Tyris has never spent so much time outside and she even helped the Royals by summoning Valeron''spanions during the Battle for the White Griffon. As for Sark and Leegaain, they wouldn''t be so close nor Shargein would have been born.

    "Yet it''s too soon to tell if these changes will be for the better or worse. Only time will tell." She sighed, her mind wondering about Night and Orpal.

    They were the result of those ripples and one of the biggest mistakes of Baba Yaga''s life. A mistake she was determined to correct despite the pain it was going to cause her.

    Tista joined them as soon as the sun was high enough to disrupt the delicate equilibrium between the light and darkness element.

    "Are we going to stay in the Empire?" She looked at dion who was having a breakfast pic with his family on the surface while the other undead were simply bathing in the sunlight.

 Chapter 2397 Deep Scars (Part 1)

    "No. As soon as Nyka is done, we are going to Zeska." Solus replied.

    "Isn''t it one of the cities upied by Thrud''s army?" Tista tried to sound casual but Solus could hear the eggshells creaking under her feet.

    "Yes, it''s one of the cities Lith and I stormed in the attempt to rescue Phloria. It''s the reason we are going there. I want to see how things are and make up for the destruction we caused. I owe it to all the people I''ve killed."

    "Are you sure? It doesn''t sound like a vacation to me." Tista countered soberly.

    "I never said that this is a vacation." Solus shook her head. "This is a trip to learn who I am and what I want. The first step to do that is to take responsibility for what I did and face the consequences."

    "Why didn''t you do this with Lith? I mean, he''s responsible as much as you." Tista asked.

    "Because we carry our respective burdens in different ways." Solus replied. "This is my choice and my opportunity to find relief from my sense of guilt without making his own worse.

    "Lith may act like he doesn''t care, but it''s not like that. He took many lives in the attempt to save Phloria yet it was all for nothing. Since the day she died, the blood of Lith''s victims dirties his right arm no less than hers.

    "If I brought him to Zeska with me, the pain would overwhelm him. He can''t forgive himself for failing to save Phloria nor for butchering so many people."

    "What about you?" Nyka asked.

    "At least I didn''t kill Phloria. I wasn''t there when she died. Her blood is not on my hands. Despite our bond, that''s a pain we don''t share and one of the reasons I couldn''t take this trip with Lith." Solus replied.

    One hourter, dion and his family were done with breakfast and the clearing had lost most of its allure to the undead. Mogar looked brand new and amazing, but they couldn''t afford to explore it.

    It would take much more time than Dawn could give them.

    Baba Yaga Warped everyone back to Lightkeep before they got too used to sunlight.

    Otherwise after a few days, the joy from the experience would have turned into a scar, reminding her children of everything they had lost instead of giving them the strength to strive for the full-red blood core and sacrifice it to have a second life.

    Then, she took Dawn''s prisms out of their bodies and returned them to the Horseman, restoring her full strength.

    "I''ll miss this trinket." The Firstborn Wendigo said with a sigh. "I have no longer a reason to stay here. Farewell, my siblings. If you ever need my help again, Dawn, you know my price."

    The Firstborns left Lightkeep one after the other, their faces filled with sadness while they watched the prisms disappear inside the white crystal. Bing a Chosen of the Bright Day did more than allow an undead to walk under sunlight.

    It also freed them from their hunger since all kinds of undead could feed on the light energy that the prism produced. In a way, it was the thing that made them feel alive the most.

    Without the need to feed on what had been the source of their obsession in life, they could almost forget the tragic events that had brought them to be undead and that their condition was supposed to help them ovee.

    "Are you sure you want to go to Zeska?" The Maiden asked.

    "Yes. Why?" Solus replied.

    "Let me give you a ride. I can''t stay with you but at least I can bring you back to the Kingdom and avoid lots of unpleasant questions." Baba Yaga was talking about Dawn, but thanks to the ambiguous wording the Horseman thought the Maiden was referring to the border customs.

    The hut Warped from geyser to geyser, preserving Solus'' strength and covering the distance with their destination in a matter of minutes. Baba Yaga stopped in an isted clearing far away enough from Zeska to escape the patrols'' notice.

    "Thank you, Malyshka. I hope to see you soon." Solus waved her hand while her friend stayed at the door.

    "That''s up to you, sister." The Maiden snorted. "As far as I know, you are now free from your duty and I got myself an amulet just to talk with you. Whenever you want, I''m just a call away and so is Lochra. Don''t forget about her as well. Goodbye."

    As the hut ran away, disappearing at the horizon at breakneck speed, Nyka shapeshifted into Dawn and looked at Solus while squinting her golden eyes.

    "Let me get this straight. You are a cursed object akin to a Horseman who hasn''t been made by Mother yet she knows and respects you to the point that she has forbidden me to hurt you in any way.

    "You also know Silverwing and she doesn''t see you as a threat either. Who are you, exactly?"

    ''You and your big mouth, Malyshka!'' Solus inwardly cursed.

    "Don''t answer. We don''t trust each other and you have no reason to open up to me." Dawn disappeared before Solus could think of a usible excuse.

    "Sorry about that." Nyka scratched her head in embarrassment. "She caught me by surprise. I''m still new to this host gig. Let''s go."

    Tista needed a couple Warp Steps to reach Zeska''s outer walls and the sight of the city was far worse than anything Solus remembered.

    Most of the battlements were broken and several cracks of different sizes were open along the entire length of the walls. The Orichalcum studded steel doors that once sealed the gates had been reced by thin wooden boards that could barely keep the wind out.

    There was little traffic going in and out of Zeska and even from a distance, Solus could see that lots of buildings in the outer rim of the city were in dire need of repairs. And those were the lucky ones.

    "What in Valeron''s name happened here?" Solus donned her Great Mage robe and showed her ID to the guards.

    "Lady Verhen!" A young man about the same age as Lith yelled in shock, making her name echo throughout the walls and Solus take a step back. "The Golden Knight is here!"

    Her name was repeated over and over along with her call sign, making her fear the worst.

    "I told you that showing your face was a bad idea!" Tista wore her robe as well and took a deep breath, ready to unleash a twin burst of Cursed mes at a moment''s notice.

    Then, the guard kneeled and brought Solus'' hand to his lips.

    "Wait, what?" She asked in confusion as the guards chanted her name and abandoned their posts to wee her.

    "Thank you so much, Lady Verhen. You saved my life. My unit had been tasked with a suicide mission when you put an end to the war." The guard said.

    "If not for you, my hometown would have been destroyed." Another guard kneeled at her feet, grabbing the hem of her robe and kissing it. "The frontlines kept moving forward and Thrud''s army was about to invade us."

 Chapter 2398 Deep Scars (Part 2)

    "Wait a second." Solus raised her hands to put an end to the stream of thanks and to stop the soldiers before they surrounded her. "What do you mean I saved your life and your hometown? Why would Thrud do such a thing to her followers?"

    At those words, everyone looked at Solus like she was mad until they realized the source of the misunderstanding.

    "We aren''t part of the Mad Queen''s ex-army, Lady Verhen. You don''t put the fox to guard the henhouse. All the members of the city guards and local militia are being detained for interrogation." The young soldier said.

    "Until the enforcers of Thrud''s former territories are cleared from the suspicion ofmitting war crimes and/or embezzling, they will be reced by members of the regr army." Then, noticing that Solus was still confused he added. "The Crown''s army."

    "Oh." Solus nodded, finally understanding why everyone was so happy to see her instead of angry. "What about Zeska? I was here the day Supreme Magus Verhen conquered the city and we left it in good shape."

    She pointed at the ruined buildings and the cracked walls.

    "You did but during your raid, you also took down most of Zeska''s defensive systems. When Thrud''s Forgotten came to recapture the city, the battle was long and bloody.

    "Then, when the Mad Queen recalled her troops for the final invasion, the army took back the city, but it came at a great price. I''m sorry to tell you, but Zeska is actually one of the cities which has suffered the least damage.

    "Also, once you get inside, you''ll have to face a lot of rage and discontent. To us, you are a hero, but to the citizens of Zeska, you are a bloodthirsty monster."

    "I know and that''s why I''m here." Solus said. "I''vee to help the wounded and aid to rebuild. This is my mess and I''m going to clean it."

    "The citizens won''t see it that way." A middle-aged man with red hair and the stripes of a captain said. "They''ll treat you like a conqueror who hase to gloat over the lives she has destroyed. No matter what you do, they''ll show you no gratitude."

    "I''m not doing this for them so I don''t care." Solus replied.

    "Very well." The captain nodded while giving her the salute. "Allow me to at least assign you an honor guard to guide you."

    Two Great Mages could have easily razed Zeska in the defenseless state it was in so the captain knew that Solus had no need for a protective detail. The honor guard was meant to protect the citizens from them, not the other way around.

    He chose the biggest, meanest, and strongest people from the garrison. Each man was a skilled soldier who could use tier two magic in case the crowd went wild and needed to be forced to disperse.

    Five soldiers walked by either side of the group, guiding them where the slums of the city had once been. In ce of run-down buildings and dirty streets, there was now arge and luscious green area.

    Several tents had been set up to form a field hospital whose size rivaled the one in Kandria during the gue.

    "This is amazing." Nyka said with eyes full of wonder as she looked around. "The Kingdom must be a much better ce than I expected if even right after a war the city is so clean and the army managed to do so much in so little time."

    Solus had traveled a lot during Lith''s tours as a Ranger while Tista had infiltrated more than one upied city so they both knew that the truth was much more unpleasant.

    Even the guards furrowed their brows at the Vampire''sment but said nothing to not offend their honored guest.

    The captain led them inside one of the smallest tents and introduced them to the Healer in charge of the camp.

    "Mage Barma, allow me to introduce you to Great Mage Solus Verhen and¡­" Only then did he realize to have never checked the identity of the other two women or even bother asking their names.

    "Great Mage Tista Verhen." She showed her own ID while unfolding her wings and opening the three extra eyes.

    "Mage Nyka Dragonborn from the Empire. We are all excellent healers and at your service." The Vampire offered her ID and gave her hosts a small bow.

    Barma and the captain were bbergasted by her origin as much as her friends were by her words.

    ''How can you be a healer?'' Solus asked via a mind link. ''Undead consume a lot of power to conjure the light element and your kind doesn''t even get ill.''

    ''I''m not, but Dawn is.'' Nyka replied. ''Give her a chance, she would put Manohar to shame.''

    "I''m d to have you all here but for the love of the gods put those things away if you don''t want to cause a riot." Barma had a kind face, yet not even that was enough to hide the fear and disgust he felt at Tista''s inhuman features.

    "For these people, Lith Verhen is the bogeyman. If they see another monster with multiple eyes, the citizens of Zeska will-"

    "My brother is Supreme Magus Verhen for you." Tista''s eyes zed with mana while her wings with fire. "Call him or me a monster again and I''ll file a report. I can understand the resentment of the citizens of Zeska, but we are supposed to be allies."

    "Apologies, Great Mage Verhen." Barma gave her a bow as shallow as his words. "What can I do for you?"

    Tista shapeshifted back into a regr human, not wanting to cause amotion.

    "Nothing. I came here because I want to help you. Do you have enough healers?" Solus asked.

    "I wouldn''t have enough even if every soldier was a mage." Barma sat heavily on his ufortable wooden chair, the wrinkles on his face became deeper. "We have yet to finish treating all those injured during the War of the Griffons.

    "On top of that, there''s always someone who gets ill or hurt. There are riots almost on a daily basis due to people demanding more food, better amodations, and the release of their family members who have been arrested."

    "Don''t forget about the instigators who im we are pocketing their rations and the conspiracy theorists who say that Thrud was just a puppet of the Royals to invade Nestrar and revoke their civil rights." The captain sighed, wishing he had a seat as well.

    "Bottom line, the citizens fight among themselves and against us. For every ten people we treat, nine walk into the hospital. If you really want to help, pick a tent and knock yourself out." The Healer waved his hand, eager to get the non-human out of his hair.

    ? The fact that a beast could hide under such a beautiful guise made Tista even more disturbing.

    "If I may give you a suggestion, dear Great Mages, take those robes off." Barma''s voice was cold and devoid of respect. "Here your rank will garner you no respect, just more trouble."

    Tista snorted, but she followed his advice and so did Solus.

 Chapter 2399 Mutual Destruction (Part 1)

    They left the Head Healer''s office and moved to the Intensive Care Unit of the field hospital. Patients in critical condition couldn''t make arguments and treating them was the best way to earn if not the people''s respect at least their eptance.

    "Thank the gods you are here." A young girl who couldn''t be older than sixteen and wearing the uniform of the White Griffon said. "My shift ended an hour ago and I was about to copse.

    "What was I thinking when I decided to pick this as my first assignment for the Code of Practice?" She plunged to the nearest empty spot on the ground, gulping down tonics from her dimensional amulet while pointing at a woman on a stretcher.

    Her hand emitted a foul stench and her fingertips were ck.

    "Code of Practice? Are you a fifth-year student?" Tista asked while stabilizing the patient and turning the gangrenous tissues healthy.

    "Most of us are." She panted while pointing at several youths in the tent. "Not only does this assignment give you lots of points, but it can also be taken as many times as you want during the week."

    While Tista, Nyka, and Solus cleared the Ward and reced the sacks of nutrients in the IVs, the young Healer''s brain started to work its way through the fog of exhaustion.

    "Wait a second. How do you know the Code of Practice and how can you heal people that fast without taking a break?" She asked while noticing that they were using the same protocols that had been drilled into her since she had started the Healer specialization. "Are you alumni of the White Griffon?"

    "Yes." Tista and Solus replied in unison while Nyka nodded because why not.

    "What an honor! My name is Aridia Iren, at your service." She offered them her hand and they shook it. "You are so good that I bet you must be famous."

    "My name is Solus Verhen and these are my cousin Tista and our friend Nyka." Solus said with a whisper to not be overheard.

    "Oh gods! Guys, we have the Golden Knight and the Fire Goddess among us! Can I have your autograph?" Aridia''s yell was so shrill that it would have burst a few eardrums if Tista hadn''t Hushed her in time.

    "Yes to the autograph, but only if you keep quiet." Tista said. "These people don''t love us and if they discover who we are, we are going to heal them right after knocking them out."

    "I''m sorry." Aridia nodded. "I forgot we are behind enemy lines."

    "The war is over." Solus shook her head. "There are no enemies, only citizens of the Kingdom."

    "If you say so." Aridia''s voice was full of contempt. "These bastards followed the Mad Queen and cheered when her army ughtered our fellow mages. My brother died in the attempt to protect these traitorous scum.

    "You are heroes and the citizens of Zeska should kiss the ground where you walk just for letting them live. If I were you, I would scream my name and kill whoever dares raise their hand.

    "If I didn''t need the extra points and my final exam wasn''t around the corner, I would''ve nevere here. Most of our fourth year students prefer a lower ranking than waste their talent on murderers."

    She hawked and was about to spit on the ground when she thought about what Vastor would do if he discovered that one of his Healers had dirtied a ward. She swallowed the snot in disgust, but said nothing more.

    The three women worked for hours, taking care of the critical patients and resting only long enough to drink tonics and not betray their nature as Awakened. They saw students from all the six great academies and all of them hated being there.

    The people of Zeska and the young mages made no effort to hide how much they despised each other.

    The citizens considered the young Healers invaders whereas the students considered their patients rabid animals that would have been better to put down before they bit their master''s hand again.

    "Peace my ass. The war is still ongoing here." Tista said amid pants. "By the way, Solus, are you sure you can go on like this?"

    "Yeah, don''t worry. No arrays means that the mana geyser below us is up for the taking. Between the boost it gives me and my breathing technique, I can still work for a while."

    "Is it me or is there something wrong here?" The more time they spent in the field hospital, the more strange things Nyka noticed. "Howe everyone here is well-fed and wears nice clothes?

    "I mean, if not for the state of the city and the number of patients, I would never believe that there was a war here until just a few days ago."

    Solus sighed deeply. She was a citizen of the Kingdom and its shame was her own.

    "It''s not you, Nyka. You see-"

    A fight broke out between a student of the Lightning Griffon and a woman, cutting Solus short.

    "What do you mean, we have to wait our turn? We have been here for hours!" The woman was clearly a noble and judging from her vigour she wasn''t the patient. "While you runts dally around my son is suffering!"

    Her hand full of precious rings pointed at a baby boy, carried by a wet nurse, who started crying due to the noise.

    "Your son has been visited and he has just a mild fever, ma''am. We have other patients who are-" The boy had a re no less fierce but he was shorter and much more tired.

    "It''s Duchess Jinhan to you!" She cut him short, the frills of her elegant day dress iling around along with her arms. "I don''t care about your so-called patients, I want my son to get treated so that we can go home.

    "Gods, you parasites from the east are simply shameless. If it wasn''t for you stealing our food instead of growing your own, this war would have never started in the first ce! Screw that, Thrud was the best thing that ever happened to Nestrar.

    "She stopped you thieves, she cleaned our cities, and when any of us got so much as a scratch, we would receive immediate andpetent care. The Royals not only have destroyed our city and stolen our resources, but they even have the gall to send a bunch of wannabe mages to fix the mess they made!"

    The people stuck in the queue and those in bed with enough strength toin joined her protest.

    "I''ve been bleeding here for hours! Thrud''s Forgotten would have healed me in a jiffy!" A farmer with a wounded foot said.

    "At least you injured yourself!" Another man cried. "Those fucking guards broke my arm and these so-called Healers can''t even fix it right. It''s the second time I have toe here this week!"

    "You heard them, boy." Duchess Jinhan poked at the young mage''s chest with her finger, her eyes reduced to slits. "Stop talking and start working or I swear to the gods-"

    "Enough!" A bolt of lightning erupted from the student''s hand, sending the noblewoman sprawling on the ground in a seizure.

 Chapter 2400 Mutual Destruction (Part 2)

    "How dare you threaten me, you cow? Because of people like you, my whole vige starved. A lot of people I know didn''t make it whereas you traitors keep breathing!" The young mage kept hurling bolts of lightning even after the Duchess fainted.

    The injured farmer grabbed a metal tray and tried to bash the Healer in the head from behind, but the boy just had to cut the air with his hand to wound the farmer''s good foot. The man fell to the ground crying but no Healer stepped forward.

    "Does your fracture still hurt? This is for the pain!" A bolt of frozen air struck the builder with an injured arm, sealing it inside a block of ice that stopped the pain but also almost killed the man of shock.

    "You scum are entitled to nothing! You took the resources from my region and enjoyed the protection that the soldiers of the north ensure you, yet when asked to do your part you backed out!" The young mage said while he kept electrocuting the Duchess.

    The light blue fabric of his uniform turned dark as it amplified the air element coursing through the student''s body. The cloudy sky it represented swirled into a storm and the yellow embroideries channeled the bolts of lightning, making sure that not an iota of elemental energy went to waste.

    Every academy added visual effects to the enchanted fabric to remind everyone how dangerous even an apprentice mage was. The boy was using first magic and he was already exhausted, yet he could have killed everyone in the room by himself.

    With the bolts of lightning coursing through his body, the wind des surrounding him, and the chilly air at his fingertips, even a young man looked like a god of thunder.

    "Enough." Solus grabbed his wrist, squeezing it hard enough to stop the spells. "No matter how misguided and ungrateful these people are, they have every right to be angry.

    "The Kingdom experienced two famines in a row. If you were in their shoes, seeing the food you had worked hard to grow being taken away to feed a bunch of strangers while you lived off rations, you would feel robbed as well.

    "Look around. Their city has been destroyed first and now is invaded by strangers who follow their every move, treating them like criminals. Many of them have lost their house and winter is approaching. Can you really me them?"

    "No." The student grunted in pain but he refused to let his spells fade. "But that doesn''t mean that I''m willing to let them treat me like their servant. I''m a mage!"

    "No, you are a Healer and those are the people you have sworn to protect." Solus locked her eyes into his, seeing a young Lith in him. Someone full of rage, pain, and proud of the chip on his shoulder.

    "I don''t me you for defending yourself but there''s a big difference between that and torture." She pointed at the noblewoman who was having a heart attack. "If she dies, there will be a riot and then you''ll have to cure the injured from both factions."

    "Says who?" He snarled.

    "Your Headmaster and if he doesn''t, the Royals will." Solus kept her tone calm and let him go the moment he dispelled his attacks in shock. "Kid, I don''t me you for resenting them, but you are acting like an idiot.

    "Right now, they aren''t the enemy, you are."

    "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.

    "Easy, if there are riots, there will be no way to harvest. Heck, make people desperate enough and they''ll burn the crops rather than give them away. At that point, they will die, sure, but everybody else will starve as well. Are they worth it?" Solus replied.

    "No." The young mage plunged onto the nearest chair, suddenly feeling too tired even to be angry.

    "As for you, who act all smug and prideful, you should be ashamed of yourself." Solus turned toward the citizens of Zeska, pointing her finger at them. "Your greed is the root of the War of the Griffons.

    "What you talk about as if it was a golden age is one of the darkest pages of the Kingdom''s history. The reason you had so much food even after feeding Thrud''s army is that she enved all those she deemed unworthy and sent them to die on the battlefield.

    "The reason Zeska''s slums have been reced by such a huge green area is that the Mad Queen got rid of the less fortunate. The food that filled your belly was seasoned with innocent blood and your riches came at the expense of countless lives.

    "Even the Forgotten you remember so fondly were nothing but ves. People who had been robbed of their free will and forced into servitude. Would you still approve of such a thing if you were the ones wearing a ve cor?

    "What you did to them and the way you treat these Healers is no different from what the Empire did in the past. Is that what you want? To be ughtered by mages sick and tired to be treated like cattle?" Solus took a pause to let her words sink.

    Themoners went pale as they were forced to face reality. They had done their best to avert their gaze and not ask questions about the fate of those that Thrud''s Forgotten had arrested in broad daylight.

    After all, beggars and petty thieves were a stain on Zeska and a threat to the safety of its honest citizens. Some of those missing were their less fortunate friends but until that moment, the citizens of Zeska had deluded themselves that Thrud had simply moved them away after giving them a new job in the conquered cities.

    As for the nobles, it was much worse. They knew the truth from the start but the idea of ending up like the Empire and losing their noble titles was a destiny worse than death. It would destroy not only their lives but also those of their descendants.

    "Believe it or not, we are all in the same boat." Solus said. "No matter how little we like each other, the Kingdom won''t survive unless we set our grudges aside and make it whole again.

    "Otherwise the War of the Griffons will never be over and the only change will be in the way it is fought."

    Solus hated giving speeches. She was no leader and she didn''t care for any of those people. Yet she couldn''t let that young mage turn into another Lith and blood his hands at such a young age.

    She couldn''t just turn her back to the suffering of the people of Zeska. Some of them were jerks but most of them were just victims of Thrud and her propaganda.

    ''I don''t want to be like my mother.'' She thought. ''Mom had no care for the consequences of the knowledge she shared. My creations and my actions have shaped the lives of these people for the worse so it''s my responsibility to do everything I can to set things right.''

    The rest of the shift passed peacefully, with the Healers keeping silent while the citizens of Zeska looked and asked around for their missing friends.

    Once Solus was too tired to continue, she asked a guard for information.

 Chapter 2401 Past Mistakes (Part 1)

    "I''m in dire need of a bath, a good meal, and afortable bed. Where can I find all those things?" Solus asked one of the soldiers guarding the field hospital.

    "Go to the Association office and take the Gate to Valeron." He said while clearing his throat in embarrassment.

    "What do you mean?" Tista asked with a confused expression on her face.

    "As your friend said, the Kingdom has gone through two consecutive famines. On top of that, as soon as the Nestrar and the other traitorous regions surrendered, the Royals took away most of the food reserves.

    "The Crown couldn''t afford to have the remaining crops stolen, poisoned, or destroyed during the change of government. People now live off dried food and establishments are closed. You won''t find one drop of beer or a bite of fresh bread in the whole Zeska."

    The guard tormented his chin until his stomach grumbled and he covered it in shame.

    "The good news is that the time for the harvest is near. Once the wheat is ripe, there will be enough to feed everyone and life will return to normal. The famine will be over for good and the unrest should be quelled." The young guard said with a sigh.

    "If there''s only good news, why the long face?" Nyka asked.

    "Because it''s all ''thanks'' to Thrud." He lowered his voice before answering. "She emptied the prisons and got rid of all those who lived in the slums of the territories she upied.

    "We nted enough crops for everyone but now there are much fewer mouths to feed than expected. Sure, the extra food will keep our granaries full and do wonders for business, but such abundancees at the price of countless lives.

    "It will be no different from Forbidden Magic."

    "Thank you for your honesty." Solus nodded and left the field hospital along with Tista and Nyka.

    "What do we do now? I need a geyser or I''ll have to go straight back to Lutia but I also need food or my body will crumble anyway."

    "Don''t you have something good stored in your pocket dimension?" Tista asked.

    "Sure. I have plenty of ingredients. The rest are just sweets. If any of you knows how to cook¡­" Solus looked at her friends who both shook their heads.

    "I''ve never learned, sorry. Too ill as a kid, too busy as a healerter." Tista said.

    "Everything tastes like crap to me. Learning would have been pointless." A wave of Nyka''s hand brought them to the Association branch. "Valeron for three, please."

    She put her ID on the table and the clerk scanned her for a blood core before Solus and Tista could question her sanity.

    The scan turned out clear and the clerk asked to see the others'' IDs before opening the Gate.

    "How did you do that? Diplomatic immunity?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "No, I did." Nyka replied with Dawn''s voice. "I flooded her blood core with light element, turning it into a red mana core for the duration of the scan."

    The girls were shocked anyway but too tired and hungry to say a word. They went to the Phoenix''s Nest where they booked a suite and ordered room service. This way, Tista had the time to draw her blood and Nyka could eat with them without hiding.

    "How did your first day feel, Solus?" She asked while taking a sip.

    "Amazing. Sad. Terrible." Solus replied.

    "Because of what we witnessed?" Tista tilted her head.

    "That and because of the void in my head where Lith''s presence usually is." Solus sighed. "You have no idea how many times I asked his opinion and sought hisfort before realizing that I''m alone."

    "Hey, I resent that. What about us?" Nyka said in outrage.

    "It''s different. You are not in here." Solus tapped her head with a finger. "Every thing I do and think feels like hopping on one leg because the other is missing."

    "Do you want to go back home?" Tista asked.

    "No, this is exactly what I wanted." Solus shook her head. "To see what kind of person I am without Lith''s influencing my decisions. To live my life as Solus Menadion Verhen instead of just looking from the sidelines."

    "How long can you hold out?" The room service had arrived so Nyka took the food cart and gave the waiter a generous tip.

    "Well, I still have my breathing technique and I had a mana geyser below my feet the whole time." Solus pondered. "I should have another half a day. Maybe more."

    The following day they returned to Zeska and kept serving as Healers. The mood was still tense but both students and citizens had heard about Solus and were now mulling her words.

    She didn''t speak much but her smile and bedside manners soothed the spirit of her patients as much as her spells healed their bodies. By lunchtime, Solus started to feel the first signs of her body falling apart and left the field hospital.

    "You shouldn''t have waited so long!" Nyka chided her.

    "Every second away from Lith matters, Nyka. Every life I saved matters." Solus took out hermunication amulet to check on Lith''s position.

    "Give these coordinates to the clerk. We aren''t in Lutia at the moment but you are free to join us if you dare. A fair warning, though, I''ve just reced one battlefront with another." He replied.

    "What does this even mean?" Solus pinched her nose in frustration. "Who''s we and what battlefront are you talking about?"

    All of her questions were answered the moment she stepped through the Warp Gate and found herself in the Verhen Mansion. Not only there was still a geyser below her feet but she could also set the tower without Dawn noticing since the ce already bore Solus'' imprint.

    From so up close she needed no directions to find Lith, their bond guided her like a beacon and filled her with more strength the closer they got. The Verhen Mansion consisted solely of the main building, a two-storey house with each floor covering 500 square meters (17,660 square feet).

    It stillcked the servant''s quarters and there was still plenty of space left to build two wings, one on either side of the main building. The property was surrounded by an enchanted wall and extended far enough to grant direct ess to the east side of the Trawn woods.

    The garden was wide enough to host several packs of magical beasts but aside from a few benches and flower beds, there was little difference with the woods. The kids loved it and were currently ying outside with their steeds, exploring their future domain.

    It took Solus a few seconds to reach the living room from the Warp Gate and what she found left her gawking. The space had been filled with couches and armchairs of different styles.

    Each window had at least three different drapes per side, each of a different color. The overall impression was that either the Queen had hired a drunk Harlequin to decorate the ce or that a pandemic or color blindness had struck the Kingdom.

    "Wee back, sweetie!" Before Solus could ask a single question Elina checked her hands and arms for injuries and then her face for signs of malnutrition.

 Chapter 2402 Past Mistakes (Part 2)

    "We missed you a lot. Where have you been?"

    "I''ve been away for barely a day and a half, Mom." Solus chuckled, finding it funny to receive the same check-up that Elina gave Lith every time he returned home. "I''ve been to Zeska to help with the rebuilding. What are you guys doing here?"

    "Kam won''t go back to work for a few more days so we decided to move into the Mansion and work to make it look like a real home." Elina replied while checking Tista next. "The Warp Gate truly is a wonderful device.

    "We contacted artisans and upholsterers from all over the Kingdom and they brought their best pieces straight to us so that we could we could see which one suits our taste the best."

    "I warned you." Lith groaned as Kam asked him to choose among three different shades of brown that looked identical to him for the couch.

    "I can see that, Mom. I mean, why right now?" Solus asked.

    "Because Kam and I were getting bored staying at home all day doing nothing and because I knew that you would soone back to recover your strength." Elina replied. "This way, you have Lith and a geyser avable at the same time and we can spend a bit of time together before you have to leave again."

    "Are you doing this for me?"

    "Of course, dear." Elina embraced Solus. "It''s my duty to take care of you just like I take care of Lith. We stayed in the Desert for him and now we are going to stay here for you until you get back."

    Elina chose her words carefully to not give Dawn any hint about Solus'' true nature, but her gesture moved Solus deeply.

    ''If they had stayed in Lutia, Lith and I would have had to meet in the Trawn woods away from the family and leave Nyka behind. This way, instead, Dawn won''t suspect a thing and I need just a few minutes to regain my strength.''

    Solus felt rejuvenated as Lith''s life force nurtured her own while the mana geyser fed both her mana core and the tower core. The world seemed to have be brighter and a burden had been lifted from her chest.

    It was as if Solus had been underwater for the past day and now she could finallye to the surface and breathe.

    "Thank you, Mom. What is this delicious smell? She asked with a warm smile.

    "Since we are going to live here for a while, I''m giving the kitchen a test run as well. Do you want to stay for lunch or do you have to go already?"

    On the one hand, Solus was eager to leave before the bond with Lith was fully restored and made it painful for her to cut it off again. On the other hand, she had learned enough from Elphyn''s memories to not repeat her same mistakes.

    Elphyn had taken Menadion for granted, losing her before they could mend their rtionship. She had loved her mother deeply yet Elphyn had never expressed her feelings until it was toote.

    Ripha Menadion had been a powerful bright violet-cored Awakened whereas Elina Verhen was just a human woman. Solus had no idea how much time they had left together and decided to enjoy it in full.

    "I''m starving and there''s nothing better than your food, Mom." She replied.

    While they set up the table for three more people, the Verhens chatted about their respective day. Solus told them everything about the situation in Zeska and how the city was split in two in a simr fashion to the Kingdom.

    The militia had been reced by the army and the local nobles stripped of their authority until the investigation on their respective households was over. No one liked having so many foreigners around but also having them in charge was even worse.

    "Now that I think about it, howe even though the food is still rationed everywhere, we''ve never had such a problem ever after we got back to Lutia?" Solus asked.

    "Because we spent most of our time in the Desert and in the Overlord''s Pce at that." Raaz replied. "The famine in the Kingdom doesn''t affect Mother''s turf, let alone her own home. As for Lutia, we produce our own food.

    "A famine means that a part of the taxes has to be paid in crops instead of money, but we get to keep the rest. Farmers may not have ess to fancy cuisine but no ruler is so dumb that they don''t leave them enough to feed their families and sow the fields.

    "Without people like me, even the Royals would starve."

    Solus, Tista, and Nyka spent a few hours in the Mansion, helping Elina with choosing among the different styles of tapestry and picking the furniture for their respective rooms.

    Solus gave Elina and her baby a check-up and listened to her mother''s obvious but heartfelt travel advice. Before leaving, Solus asked Lith to speak in private and Elina exploited it to have a chat with Nyka with the pretense to show her a guest room.

    The Vampire was a bit confused since after clearing Elina''s initial doubts, Tista''s mother had never mistreated her or acted on superstition. Yet it didn''t take the supernatural senses of an undead to recognize the coldness in Elina''s voice or the stiffness of her posture.

    "We need to talk." Elina said once they were alone.

    "Is it something wrong? If I offended you in any way, I apologize." Nyka was still socially awkward, especially in presence of humans.

    "Gods, no, dear. You did nothing wrong and have been a wonderful friend like always." Elina gave her a motherly smile, returning for an instant to be the warm and kind woman Nyka was used to. "I was talking to the other you. Dawn."

    The name was more spat than spoken and Elina''s face became a stone mask so quickly that it sent a shiver down Nyka''s spine.

    "Do you want me to leave you two alone?"

    "Thank you but no. I don''t trust her one bit and I would feel much safer if you bear witness." Elina shook her head and Nyka''s features shapeshifted into Dawn''s.

    The Bright Day''s physical appearance was that of a young woman in her twenties, yet there was something in her eyes and expression that made it impossible to guess her age.

    She was 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with golden eyes without pupils that painfully reminded Elina of Solus'' energy body and made that confrontation even harder and more necessary.

    Her skin was as white as milk while her waist-long hair was pitch-ck. The two conflicting futures together with the luminescence that spread from the crystal in her chest throughout her body, made her a majestic figure that embodied sunrise.

    "What do you want to talk about, Lady Verhen?" Dawn''s voice was calm, her tone polite and proper for a guest addressing her host.

    Despite that, the aura of power she exuded was enough to freeze Elina in awe, making her feel like she was staring at the sun.

    "I know who you are and what you did." She had to swallow several times to find the strength to talk and even when she did, her hands and voice kept shaking.

 Chapter 2403 Looking In The Mirror (Part 1)

    "You tried to kill my son in the past and I''m pretty sure that you''ve helped Night to some degree." Elina said.

    "I''m thankful for what you did to help my children during the War and for what you are doing now for Solus, but that doesn''t mean that I have forgotten nor that I trust you. Whatever your agenda is, I''m warning you. Touch even one of my daughter''s hair and I¡­"

    "You what?" Dawn said after the silencested for a while.

    Elina was looking for an answer but nothing came to her mind. Every threat sounded empty and childish even to her, killing her speech right on the delivery.

    "There''s nothing you can do." Dawn took the words right out of her mind. "You are just a small, magicless woman who''ll die in a few decades. Your existence will be recorded in history books as a footnote, your only achievement to have given birth to the forefather of a new race of murdering monsters.

    "I''m not going to deny my past actions or make excuses for them. Just know that your son and I are no different. We both do what we believe is best for our family and we don''t give a damn about the rest of Mogar.

    "The only difference between your son and I is that I''m much older. If you don''t believe me, take a tour of the cities that Verhen raided. You''d discover that many mothers consider him no better than you do me."

    "Maybe you are right." Elina shivered harder but refused to step back. "But Lith, Tista, and Solus are my children and if you do anything to them, I''ll find a way to make you pay even if it cost me my life."

    "What you consider a threat is only strengthening my resolve." Dawn replied. "You are reminding me of the reason I do what I do. It''s because my mother needs me. In a way, you two are very simr as well.

    "I won''t deny that I have an agenda for following Solus, but it''s not what you think. I want to learn from her how she deals with her condition and discover if there''s a better way to coexist with a host than the one I used my whole existence.

    "Everything else is irrelevant. I admit that I would love to peer into Solus'' secrets and understand how she can be so simr and yet so different from a Horseman but my mother asked me otherwise.

    "And just like your son, I value my mother''s opinion too much to endanger our rtionship for something so trivial." Dawn took a pause, noticing that Elina was covered in a cold sweat.

    "You are a brave woman and have my respect, but be careful. There''s a thin line between bravery and stupidity while facing an opponent much stronger than yourself and today you almost crossed it."

    The Bright Day shapeshifted back into Nyka and Elina felt like a huge pressure had been taken off her. She could finally breathe, her lungs burning and her heart thumping so hard that it seemed to be seconds away from bursting out of her chest.

    "Good gods, you''d better sit down." Nyka brought Elina a chair and helped her to sit down.

    "Thank you." Elina had just stood up for a while yet she was panting and felt more tired than after working the whole day in the fields. "How could you do that?"

    "Do what?" The Vampire asked.

    "Bonding with Dawn." Elina replied. "You are a sweet child, Nyka, but if anything happens to Solus or Dawn uses anything that she''s learning now against Lith in the future, it will be on you."

    "What?" Nyka took a step back as if she had been pped.

    "If you really care about Solus, you should have thought more about her and less about yourself. You should have let her and Tista travel alone."

    Nyka wanted to point out many things like the fact that Solus could learn from Dawn as well but she realized that nothing she could say mattered.

    At the same time, Solus was showing Lith the room she had chosen for herself and using hard-light holograms to arrange the furniture in several different dispositions until she found one of her liking.

    "I must admit that finding you here was a bit of a surprise to me." She said after they ran out of small talk.

    "Why, is it something so thoughtful of me that it''s out of character?" Lith asked.

    "No, that''s in character." Solus chuckled. "The surprise was you taking an active role in picking furniture andparing colors instead of finding yourself a corner and doing some magical research. I know how much you hate this stuff."

    "I do hate it, but it''s better than the alternative." Lith sighed.

    "What do you mean?" She tilted her head in confusion.

    "I mean that I''m not ready to go back to work without you. Every time I have a doubt or I think I''ve devised the perfect solution to a problem, I find myself asking for your opinion. I''m not used to the silence that follows and it makes me even more painfully aware of your absence." He replied.

    Solus experienced the same when she had dealt with a difficult patient and before making her speech. In their rtionship, Lith led and she followed. It had be so natural to her that making the simplest of decisions was heart-wrenching.

    "How is that any different from your honeymoon?" She asked.

    "This ispletely different." Lith shook his head. "Back then I was just trying to rx. Taking a break from the chaos that my life had be in a simr way to when we split up for my dates with Kami.

    "If I wanted you back, all I had to do was to make a call. Now, instead, you have walked away from me and if I want you back, I have to suck it up." Lith shrugged.

    "I''m doing this because I''m having trouble adjusting to living without you and because I prefer learning all about the 100 shades of red that exist on Mogar rather than facing the silence in my head."

    "Do you want me to postpone my trip?" The words came out of Solus'' mouth before her brain even registered them as a thought.

    "No. You are right, like always. This is the perfect moment for you to experience Mogar on your own and for me to learn and be less reliant on you." Lith had promised himself that he wouldn''t do it, but he stepped close and embraced her anyway.

    "I don''t want you to be trapped in a life where you can''t be as happy as I am but at the same time, living without you is damn hard, Solus."

    "Do you miss the tower that much?" She joked to not make her voice crack while she returned the embrace.

    "I don''t care about the tower. If once you recover your body the tower bes fully yours and you start living on your own, it''s not the awesome powers and facilities that I''d miss but my better half."

    "I''d miss you too." Solus clung to him for one more second before letting him go.

 Chapter 2404 Looking In The Mirror (Part 2)

    With her body now full of energy and her mind more messed up than ever, she knew she had to put some distance between them.

    ***

    "Where''s next?" Tista had noticed that both Solus and Tista were distraught but she preferred to wait until they decided to open up.

    "I would like to go to Phogia and Bima. The problem is that Phogia has no mana geyser and Bima doesn''t even have a Warp Gate." Solus replied. "I won''tst long in either of them and reaching Bima will not be easy."

    "I don''t understand." Dawn spoke from Nyka''s mouth, making Elina''s words echo in the Vampire''s mind. "What need do you have for geysers? As long as you carry your true body, you should have all the energy you need."

    "It''s a side effect of the long distance from Lith." Solus was a good liar but not that good. "Keeping my own body away from his demands a lot of energy and mana geysers make up for it."

    "I see." Dawn replied, but Nyka had spotted the lie and she doubted that the Horseman had been fooled.

    Phogia turned out to be better and worse than Solus had expected. The people burned by the Thousand mes had already been healed or had died in the days following the attack.

    Simple earth magic spells had removed the ck from the mes while light magic made the grass regrow. Yet judging from the few people they met on the streets and theck of a field hospital, it was clear that either thousands had died during the attack or had moved out after.

    "Actually, it''s both." A guard replied when Solus found the courage to ask for an exnation. "Ever since the day Supreme Magus Verhen stormed Phogia, the smell of burned meat has be an integral part of the city.

    "It makes foreigners hungry because it reminds them of barbecue. Yet to those who live here, it''s a constant reminder of the friends they have lost and of their own flesh burning from the heat of the Thousand mes."

    "What about using darkness magic to cleanse the air?" Tista asked.

    "It worked for some, but not for all." The man inhaled deeply. "There are people who even with their nose plugged keep smelling it. It''s gone to their head and there''s no way to take it out.

    "Don''t get me started on how many of them react when they hear the sizzling of meat on a pan. We had many riots near the restaurants and not because the people were hungry."

    After Phogia, they moved to Bima, discovering that it was scarred in a different way.

    The crater that Lith had opened while bursting through the city gates had been fixed, but the outer rim of the city was still a wreck. Some houses had to be rebuilt from the foundations, others were missing an entire floor, and many had huge cracks in their walls.

    The city needed builders more than Healers but Solus found a way to help.

    She would cut stones with earth magic in shapes that fitted the cracks. Then, she altered the density of both the walls and the patch so that they would mix into a homogeneous substance before hardening them again.

    The people of the outer rim couldn''t believe their own eyes and seeing their homes repaired so quickly filled them with joy. The damage was akin to a scar that constantly reminded them of what they had lost and of the harsh future waiting for them.

    Fixing their homes also healed their wounds and helped the citizens of Bima to pretend to have gone back to their old lives.

    Without a mana geyser, Solus had to go back to the Verhen Mansion at the end of each day, but now she took care to not remain alone with Lith again while Nyka avoided Elina''s gaze as best as she could.

    ''I''m used to people being angry at me the moment they discover I''m a Vampire but this is the first time I''m judged guilty by association.'' She thought while taking a stroll in the park.

    ''How can you be surprised?'' Dawn replied. ''It''s the same feeling that Solus is experiencing and the reason behind this trip. Even when she didn''t deal a single blow, none of those cities would have fallen without her help.

    ''In the same way, by carrying me you are also carrying the burden of my past actions.''

    ''That''s not true. I chose to bond with you because I wanted to protect the Eclipsed Lands and give Uncle dion the chance to uphold his word. Even now I''m not doing this for myself. I''m doing it for Solus!''

    ''How noble of you.'' Dawn sneered, projecting telepathic images of all the things that Nyka had done once she had be able to walk under the sunlight. ''Let''s say you are such a generous soul. Do you think the Rezar called Nalrond would give a damn about it?

    ''Do you think that any of my past victims would?''

    Nyka''s mind became nk and suddenly bonding with Dawn didn''t seem such a good idea anymore.

    ''I swear to the gods, if you do anything to Solus, I will¡­''

    ''You''ll do nothing.'' Dawn withdrew her light energy and suddenly Nyka fell into the daytime slumber typical of undead. ''I''m sick and tired of being threatened. You are nothing like Elina.

    ''She recognized me for what I am and challenged me out of genuine worry whereas you have allowed your petty interests to blind you until I put you in front of a mirror. Your defiance is born from shame and guilt.''

    Dawn withdrew more of her power and Nyka felt her skin starting to burn under the direct sunlight.

    ''If I really wanted to hurt you, I could have killed you or beaten you into submission a hundred times over.'' The Horseman released her powers and Nyka healed as she could move her body again.

    ''Instead of worrying about me or your friend, you should worry about yourself, child. You are too na?ve for your own good and are ying with powers beyond your understanding.''

    ''Are you telling me to go back to Lightkeep and ask Baba Yaga to split us?'' Nyka asked.

    ''Do it, if that''s what you want.'' Dawn shrugged. ''I just wanted to remind you that I''m not a tool and that as long as we are bonded you carry my burden. I think that both you and Solus need me to fix your childish mentality but the final choice is up to you.''

    The Vampire was now aware of how helpless she was and that Dawn could have easily taken her body over any time she wanted. So without thinking, she hid the crystal inside her chest and cut off the Horseman''s influence over her.

    ''I hate to admit it, but Dawn is right. I''ve been foolish to think that people would separate her from me just because I''m her new host. Dawn''s burden is now my own as much as Lith''s burden weighs on Solus.

    ''I need Dawn to walk a mile in Solus'' shoes while Solus needs her to have someone to talk to. No matter how much I care for her, I''m too young and have no idea how to help her.''

 Chapter 2405 Different Bonds (Part 1)

    A weekter, Solus was almost done visiting the cities that she and Lith had attacked in the attempt to lure Thrud into the open. No matter how many people she healed and how many buildings she fixed, all of her efforts amounted to just one drop in the ocean and she knew it.

    It was the reason Solus never remained in the same ce for more than one day. Unlike destruction, rebuilding needed time and patience and she couldn''t afford to stay too long without the risk of someone recognizing her.

    Solus already felt terrible by looking at the consequences of her actions. Facing the grieving rtives of the people she had killed or who had died in the aftermath of her ns was thest thing she needed.

    They had moved to the city Ne''sra, the former capital of the Deirus Grand Duchy. There was a lot to rebuild, countless people in need of a Healer, and the fact that Solus had yed no part in its destruction eased her conscience.

    The presence of a powerful mana geyser below the city and the fact that no one there had seen her in person allowed her to prolong her stay for as long as she wanted.

    Whole city blocks had been razed during the fight between the Mad Queen and the still-livingpanions of the First King. Tessa the Titania hadid waste to Ne''sra in a failed attempt to rescue Phloria and then pinned the me on Thrud to ensure that she would have no easy time controlling it.

    The second part of Tessa''s n had worked like a charm. The citizens of the capital of Deirus had never surrendered nor did they ept the rule of the Mad Queen. Ne''sra weed the army members like saviors and every Healer like a saint.

    There were many construction sites and even more field hospitals but the mood was much better than in the western side of the Kingdom. The people were still mourning their dead yet they also enjoyed the sweet taste of victory.

    All that Solus received aspensation for her treatments were smiles and nice words which were plenty enough for her. After being called names, spat upon, and incapable of moving around without a security detail or a spell on her fingertips, Ne''sra was heaven.

    "How do you cope with the constant void in your mind where Ac once was?" Solus asked while they were consuming a hearty meal after a hard day''s work. "I''ve been away from Lith for over a week now yet thest thing I do every night is wish him goodnight and good morning as soon as I wake up."

    "It''s actually pretty easy." Dawn replied, scaring Nyka quite a bit.

    Ever since their argument in the park of the Verhen mansion, the Vampire had be self-conscious of the threat that Dawn posed and how easy it would be for her to take over Nyka''s body.

    "I learned this trick as soon as I realized what kind of piece of work my first host was. Do you know how to shroud your mind so that your host can''t perceive your thoughts?" Solus nodded for her to continue.

    "You must do the same now and get used to keeping your mind isted at all times even once you reunite with Verhen. It will allow you to keep your personality distinct from his own and set healthy boundaries."

    "I see." Solus nodded. "How long did it take you to master this technique? Because even with Lith out of the range of our telepathic link I still feel no better than the first day we left."

    ? "A few years." One of the perks of switching bodies was that Dawn''s form could eat and appreciate the food whereas Nyka would have to just pretend to.

    Not only did it remove the risk of someone noticing her grimaces every time she put something in her mouth, but it also allowed her to taste something other than blood by sharing Dawn''s senses.

    Nyka had never been alive so she had also never eaten human food either. Despite her fears, she found the experience of letting the Horseman at the wheel to be rewarding.

    "A few years?" Solus blurted out so loudly that everyone turned toward their table.

    To partlypensate for the damage sustained during the War of the Griffons, Ne''sra had been exempted from the food rationing so the restaurants were still open and the three women were eating in one of the best establishments, the Cook & Dagger.

    Or rather, that was the official version. The truth was that the food was still rationed but due to the many deaths incurred during the battle between Tessa and Thrud, the citizens of Ne''sra were eating the dead people''s share.

    "Yeah, but I bet it will take you much longer." Dawn nodded, giving a smile and a wave to the curious to reassure them that everything was alright. "I mean, I barely knew that bitch.

    "You have spent thest twenty years with Lith and clearly there''s very little you two didn''t share. If you think you can get over something like that in a week you are out of your mind."

    ''It''s sixteen years and we''ve never shared the naughty stuff.'' Solus blushed up to her ears yet she couldn''t bring herself to say those words out loud. ''Except maybe the kisses, a few first bases, and the one-night- By my Mom what have I done?''

    Solus had always been careful giving Lith his privacy with Phloria and Kam once the things between them had gotten serious, but not with the women he considered as flings.

    Lith was paranoid and always kept Solus ready to step in in the case it was a honey trap. It had never happened but it had still given her plenty of hindsight about what he liked and disliked. Also, Lith''s body had never been a mystery to her.

    "What is she doing?" Dawn asked after Solus went from tomato red to heatstroke red.

    "That''s her perverted face so you must be on to something about the sharing." Tista replied.

    "I don''t have a perverted face!" Solus said with a voice too high-pitched to be believable.

    "Yeah, right." Tista snorted. "So I guess that every time you stare at a sweet ass with your furrowed brows and biting your lips you are actually pondering a new magical breakthrough."

    "I''m sorry, Solus, but you know what they say. The more you stir it, the more it stinks." Nyka said.

    "I need your advice as well, Solus." Dawn was too old to find any enjoyment in the embarrassment of a kid and had no care for gossip. "I tried everything I could to get Zepho to trust me but nothing I say or do is ever enough.

    "I know that after what I did to him, Zepho has every right to be suspicious of my actions but he shouldn''t doubt my feelings. How did you manage to have Lith''s utmost confidence?

    "I mean, I know that your past is much cleaner than mine butpared to him Zepho is as guileless as a child."

    "I know what you mean." Solus sighed, d to catch a break.

 Chapter 2406 Different Bonds (Part 2)

    "At first Lith wouldn''t believe me even if I told him that the sky was blue unless he first looked up himself."

    "Really? Was my little brother such a bitter prick even as a child?" Were those wordsing from anyone else, Tista would have dismissed them as an insult and taught the liar a lesson. "As I remember it, Lith was sweet and caring to a fault.

    "He woke up first to let us find the house warm for breakfast and helped Mom with the chores. Lith always took care of me and started working from a tender age to help the family make ends meet."

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Solus inwardly cursed her own big mouth. ''Tista has no idea that Lith was never a child or that what she experienced was just a mask. I''m so used to talking with Kami about everything that I forgot no one else knows about Derek.''

    To add insult to injury, Tista was staring at Solus with eyes full of pain. Tista knew how deep the bond between them was and if Solus was ndering Lith and betraying his trust, then maybe she had led him by the nose all along.

    If Solus was telling the truth, it meant that her brother wasn''t the wonderful person Tista believed and that would have been much worse.

    "He indeed was kind and caring." Solus nodded. "But put yourself in his shoes. He was just a boy who had found a mystical talking stone that asked him to keep her existence a secret.

    "Lith was torn between the need to hide the truth from you guys and the fear that I might not be a good fairy like the one in the bedtime stories.

    "It just took us a while to know each other better and develop trust." Luckily for Solus, the years spent with Lith had deeply ingrained into her the ability to spout lies off the top of her head and tell them with her best straight face.

    The only problem was that shecked the necessary practice to also be at his level. Tista wanted to believe Solus so she didn''t notice the many clues about her deception while Dawn had no intention of nailing Solus and ruining their rtionship.

    "It makes sense." Tista nodded. "Now that I think about it, Lith had to be an odd fellow since he was little. Had I been the one to find you, I would have told Rena and asked her to keep it a secret.

    "Of course she would have told Mom the moment I turned my back and in the blink of an eye the entire family would have known."

    "And I would have been there with you and begged you not to every time you were about to talk, just like I did it with Lith." Solus replied.

    "What were you saying about Lith not trusting a talking stone?" Dawn helped her to change the subject, already d to have confirmed that Solus'' real body was that of a stone.

    "That it took us a long time and lots of mind fusions to trust each other." Solus was so d of the help that she didn''t even notice her own slip of the tongue.

    "Mind fusions?" Tista and Dawn said in unison.

    Nyka''s eyes were wide and her mouth agape as well, but from inside Dawn''s mind nobody noticed.

    "Yeah. We did it a lot back then. Sometimes even dozens of times a day." Solus nodded. "By fusing our minds Lith could check that I wasn''t trying to manipte him and that I had no hidden agenda."

    "Shouldn''t that have fried his brain?" Dawn was bbergasted. "If you really are like a Horseman, the load of information from an ancient being is too much for the mind of a child."

    "Not really." Solus shrugged. "I had lost most of my memories so my mind was nk. I learned more from Lith than he from me. Anyway, after a few months of that-"

    "A few months?" Dawn spat out her food, making a mess and drawing once again the attention of the other patrons.

    "Yes." Solus started to feel embarrassed even though she had no idea why. "At that point, we had grown close enough to not need full fusions and limit ourselves to partial fusions-"

    "Are you making this up?" Dawn spat another mouthful out and then put down her fork, tired of wasting good food and making a mess of their table.

    "Can I please finish a damn sentence?" Solus snorted and Dawn nodded for her to continue. "Yes, partial fusions are a thing. You just need to think about a specific memory you want to share, focus on it, and then start a mind fusion.

    "This way that particr memory gets shared first and you can safely cut off the link. That said, after a bit more time, even partial fusions became a rarity. We took each other''s words at face value and used them only if we argued or to share a veryplex subject.

    "The good thing about partial fusions is that it allows you to share not only your knowledge, but also your impressions and theories at the same time. This way Lith could literally look at things from my perspective and I from his without wasting time with mind links."

    "Good gods, no wonder you are so messed up." Dawn passed a hand over her forehead and Tista nodded. "If you two fused your minds so often it means that you know everything about him and he knows everything about you.

    "And I don''t mean things like what''s your favorite breakfast but your innermost thoughts and feelings. It also means that the boundary between your minds is paper thin. That your thoughts freely flow from one to the other."

    "Correct." Solus nodded. "Why are you so surprised? Isn''t the same for you Horsemen?"

    "Absolutely not!" Dawn cut the air with her hand. "Mind fusion is ast resort to teach something to our hosts quickly or bring them up to speed about our projects. If I had used mind fusion so often on any of my previous hosts, I would have either hated their guts or fallen in- Fuck. This sure exins a lot."

    "Wow, you are pretty dumb for someone so ancient." Tista shrugged.

    "Is that so obvious?" Solus whimpered as her cheeks flushed.

    "Yes." Tista replied. "Everyone in the family got that after the mind link about your origins. That and the fact that Kam broke up with Lith because of you made things straightforward."

    "Say what you want about me, but I think this is the solution to Dawn''s problem." Solus cleared her throat. "If you fuse your mind with Zepho, he won''t be able to deny the truth anymore. If you want your feelings to reach him, you have to do it."

    "Do you realize what you are asking from me?" The Horseman sighed. "It''s a very intimate connection that shares your weaknesses, self-doubts¡­. And I almost forgot who I am talking to."

    Solus realized how her rtionship with Lith was weird even for cursed objects'' standards and blushed even harder.

    The realization killed the conversation and they spent the rest of the lunch in silence.

 Chapter 2407 Internal Threat (Part 1)

    Dawn pondered if fusing their minds could really be the solution to Ac''s trust issues while Tista and Nyka pondered if a few decades would be enough for Solus to learn the telepathic boundary technique.

    A few dayster, they were still in Ne''sra when the city guard''s bell resounded.

    It started from the walls and was quickly ryed throughout the city by the observation towers. The citizens of Ne''sra stopped their daily activities and orderly went back to their homes or to the nearest public building.

    "What''s happening?" Tista had never heard a bell sound and thought they were only used for public ceremonies.

    "That''s the sound of a monster horde." Solus, instead, had heard it countless times during Lith''s tour as a Ranger. "It''s a signal for all the guards to assemble on the walls and for the resident mages to report to the city lord."

    While they were talking, the Head Healer assigned a little more of the bare necessary number of mages to take care of the still critically injured patients and keep the rest stable before moving out.

    "Great Mages Verhen, please help us." Head Healer Wyrvan Par was a chubby woman in herte fifties, with most of her hair grey which highlighted her blue streaks. "Ne''sra isn''t your city and you have no duty that forces you to put your lives on the line but if you don''t intervene, countless people will die."

    She gave them a deep bow while keeping her chestnut eyes on Nyka.

    Openly asking a foreigner for help would have been a sign of weakness. The Head Healer was already humiliated by begging someone so much younger than her and couldn''t bring herself to stoop lower.

    "Please, stood up, Mage Par. We''ll do everything we can, right Nyka?" Solus said, receiving a nod in reply.

    "Thank you, Great Mage Verhen." The Head Healer knew that Solus was addressing her with respect, but her words still remarked their difference in rank and it stung her pride.

    Par''s eyes lingered on the deep green robes and she gnashed her teeth in frustration.

    "Is anyone familiar with monster hordes?" Solus asked, making everyone blink dumbly at her.

    "No, this is a regional capital. Monsters never arrive this close to our walls. We perform regr drills but this is the first time we actually face a horde." The Head Healer replied.

    "Dammit, then there''s not a moment to lose. We must reach the walls and quickly!" Solus said.

    "Indeed." Par nodded. "The repairs are far from beingpleted. We need to set up at least one mage for every crack to keep the monsters from entering Ne''sra."

    "If we get to that point, it will be a massacre! We-" Solus noticed that between the envy for her green robe and her young age, none of the mages in the field hospital seemed to take her seriously.

    They just wanted her help, not to follow her lead.

    "Look, I''ve served as a Ranger in the Desert so I know what I''m talking about." She said.

    "Really?" Par''s eyes went wide. Being a Ranger in any country was a much bigger deal than a green robe.

    "Really." Solus nodded. "Now follow me and don''t ask questions or we will never make it in time!"

    The bells kept resounding faster and faster, giving a measure of both the approaching of the horde and the panic of the guards.

    Solus took flight, soon followed by the rest of the Healers as they moved toward the source of the rm. Once they reached the south wall, Par gestured Solus toe down on the battlements but she instead had the mages follow her higher in the sky.

    "Great Mother have mercy." The Head Healer lost her color as her cheeks wobbled in fear.

    She had expected a few bands of monsters, a few dozens of them tops. In front of her eyes, instead, there was a swarm of hundreds of creatures so thick that she couldn''t see the ground below them.

    The main force moved following the paved road that connected Ne''sra to the rural settlements while the rest followed from either side, toppling trees and eating every living creature they found on their path.

    "That''s what a monster horde looks like." Solus pointed at the living tide that was quickly approaching. "If they reach the walls, it will be toote. We must stop them before that happens."

    "In the gods'' name, how?" A young Healer panicked to the point that he lost control of his flight spell and plummeted toward the ground, needing to be rescued.

    "It''s easier than it looks like." Solus pped her hands to have the mages stop gawking at the iing horde in terror and focus on her. "They have the numbers, but we have flight and magic.

    "Prepare your best spells,e down long enough to fire them, and get back to the safety of the sky. Rinse and repeat carefully and nobody dies today. Tista, can you see what we are dealing with?"

    "This is weird." She shapeshifted only her eyes. "They seem to be mostly trolls, but I can also see goblins and a few Wargs."

    "A mixed horde? Then there must be a leader!" Par said in surprise.

    "Yes, but that''s not the weird part." Tista shook her head. "Trolls are not discreet in their feeding frenzy. They raze entire forests to the ground and attack human outposts. How could you miss something like that?"

    "I admit that the War of the Griffons forced the army to relinquish their duty in the wilds but this is indeed too much." The Head Healer nodded. "The magical beasts should have kept the monsters'' poption in check and if they failed, we should have noticed before the situation escted so much."

    "The good news is that Trolls are weak against fire. Hit them with it and they''ll burn like dead leaves." Solus said. "Be careful of the Wargs because they can pass their wounds and if there''s enough of them, they can also boost their magical prowess.

    "Goblins should just be meat shields and snacks for the Trolls. We''ll split as follow. The Healers will carpet bomb the enemy''s middle ranks. This way, the efficiency of area of effect spells will be maximized.

    "Nyka, you hit them hard from the back while Tista strikes at them from the front. I''ll stay here as thest line of defense in case something goes wrong." Solus would have loved to follow her friends on the battlefield.

    Yet she had already consumed a lot of mana that day and there wasn''t enough time to go back to Lith to recharge. On top of that, if Solus left the mana geyser of Ne''sra, her energy reserves would plummet so fast that she would be a liability.

    "Excellent n." Nyka nodded, but from the white light that shone behind her eyes, it was clear that it was Dawn talking. "Keep away from Tista and me. Better to avoid the risk of friendly fire."

    Solus nodded and turned toward the captain of the city guards.

    "We should be able to deal with the monsters on our own but we could use some help in case something goes wrong."

 Chapter 2408 Internal Threat (Part 2)

    "I''m sorry." The man gave her a deep bow. "I contacted centralmand for reinforcements the moment the sentinel spotted the monsters, but the army is spread thin.

    "The situation in Thrud''s former regions is highly vtile and we can''t afford to withdraw troops. We have just a skeleton crew in Ne''sra because it''s supposed to be a safe area. By the time the reserve troops get here from Valeron, it will be toote."

    "Then we''ll have to make do." Solus nodded. "Mage Par, please go ry my instructions to the city guards and the rest of the mages. They won''t trust me whereas, with your seniority and reputation, they will listen to you."

    The Head Healer nodded, d that the young mage had asked instead of ordering her. It saved Par a lot of face and made her role seem much more important than it actually was.

    "Thanks, Great Mage Verhen." The Healer gave Solus a deep bow. "You heard her, mages of the Kingdom. I order you to perform your duty and I forbid you to die. We already have too much to do in the field hospital and if you dump your work on me, I''ll kick your ass!"

    Some of the veteran mages chuckled, others just smiled at the joke, while the youngest among them were so tense that they seemed to be about to faint at any moment.

    As the mages fanned out and approached the monster horde as fast as they could, Solus offered Nyka a copy of the Fury.

    "Don''t worry. I have everything I need with me." The Vampire rapped over her chest, where Dawn''s crystal was.

    Then, she turned around and bolted toward the rear guard of the monster horde at breakneck speed.

    "Don''t worry about me." Tista said. "Worst case scenario, I can grow bigger and these cuties will still fit like a glove."

    She wore the enchanted Adamant ws, Sunder, and charged at the frontlines, breaking through them with a barrage of magical fire and Origin mes. Tista breathed them from her mouth but took care of disguising them among her spells.

    She wanted to avoid shapeshifting exactly because they were in a friendly territory. Everyone had heard about the Tiamat bloodline but they had a hard time believing that Tista was not human until they saw it with their own eyes.

    Another of the oddities caused by the War of the Griffons was that while in Thrud''s regions, beasts were respected and considered to be equal to humans, in the rest of the Kingdom they were now feared.

    ''How do we do this?'' Nyka asked.

    ''You start.'' Dawn telepathically shrugged. ''You can use some experience whereas these guys are too weak for me. When you get overwhelmed, we can switch.''

    ''You mean, *if* I get overwhelmed, right?''

    ''I know what I said, kid. Now stop yapping and get to work.'' Dawn inhaled sharply.

    Nyka clenched her war mace in frustration and dive bombed to the ground like a small Adamant meteor. Her Nightshade armor covered her from head to toe not only to protect her from iing attacks but also to hide Dawn''s presence in case they needed to switch bodies.

    ''I wish I could use my mace. Too bad that Trolls heal so quickly that physical wounds don''t matter and if I stter them, I''ll end up increasing their numbers.'' She thought.

    All Vampires were naturally attuned to air and darkness but they were as useless as her weapon. Air des would cut the Trolls and create a new one from every fragment, lightning would do little damage, and darkness would make them more dangerous by temporarily undoing their fallen state.

    It was an irond rule to never use darkness against Trolls unless one had a death wish.

    Luckily for her, after Awakening, Nyka had also developed an affinity toward the fire element. A tier four ming Tornado erupted from each of her hands as she spun on her point of impact, engulfing the monster within twenty meters from her.

    Even without Nightshade, Nyka would have been immune to the natural fire that spread from the burning mass of Trolls. Their dried-up skin was highly mmable so the more they iled in the attempt to put the fire off, the more it spread among their ranks.

    ''Wait a second, something is off.'' Nyka thought as despite the mes, the Trolls kept recklessly charging at her.

    Those who were still burning sniffed the air with a hunger that she knew all too well, straightening theirnky bodies before emitting an ear-piercing shriek from the many mouths all over their limbs.

    The nearby Trolls did the same in what the Vampire recognized as a pack-hunt signal.

    Half of the white tide of Decay turned their backs to Ne''sra and charged at Nyka as one. She punched and kicked those who came in too close despite her spells, sending them crashing into theirpanions and keeping the swarm of hands at bay.

    From the sky, the mages of Ne''sra followed Solus'' instructions and rejoiced at the results of their efforts. Hundreds of Trolls were already dead and the mages had yet to suffer a single wound, making the numerical disadvantage null.

    "Something is really wrong here." Solus took over part of the mana geyser below the city to fuel her abilities and conjure the Eyes of Menadion withoutpromising her already dwindling strength.

    Ne''sra''s arrays were only partly operational, leaving her enough to fuel the tower.

    They Eyes could see as far as a Phoenix and read the flow of mana like a Dragon yet nothing they showed made sense. The Trolls were dying much more slowly than they were supposed to and some of them were even countering the mes.

    ording to the Eyes'' readings, it was just Tier zero light magic to hasten their healing even further and darkness magic to weaken the mes once they ran out of mana and turned into natural fire.

    ''Since when can Troll use any kind of magic, let alone darkness?'' Solus thought. ''Also, I''ve never seen them have any form of organization. When the food starts to get scarce, they even cannibalize the weakest members of their tribe.

    ''How can they stage a clumsy but still coordinated attack on Nyka?''

    The Vampire was asking herself the same questions but she had no time to waste with hypotheses. She took flight to escape the white tide when a pale hand grabbed her right ankle.

    It would have been easy for her to escape with a kick if not for the mouth on the palm biting at the Adamant of her armor like a second grip. Another hand grabbed her left foot while many others in turn grabbed the Trolls that were holding her until their collective weight dragged Nyka back into the scrum.

    The Trolls bit at her from every side, uncaring for the broken teeth. They had many mouths all over their bodies and their fangs started to regenerate the moment they were damaged.

    More and more monsters piled onto Nyka, darkening the sun until the only noise she could hear was the gnawing at her armor. A human would have fallen into panic and despite being a Vampire, Nyka felt almost the same way.

 Chapter 2409 Broken Balance (Part 1)

    ''What the heck is going on here?'' Nyka asked while unleashing a tier five Raging Sun from her body.

    The mix of earth and fire generated a st of violet mes and magma that freed the Vampire from the Trolls holding her.

    ''You''ve never fought monsters, did you?'' Dawn chuckled.

    ''No time for riddles. I need answers!''

    ''Fine. Undead are the natural predators of the living, but then what about the unliving?'' The Horseman replied. ''They are living masses of Decay in desperate need of nourishment and darkness element. Now, what are you?''

    ''A corpse reanimated by huge amounts of life force and darkness.'' Nyka replied in horror.

    ''Don''t forget how you undead can''t even use the light element which is the bane of Trolls. Long story short, they are one link above you in the food chain. A single drop of your blood is worth hundreds of humans to all kinds of monsters gued by Decay.

    ''Eating you will both sate their hunger and revert them to their unfallen state, even if just for a while.'' Dawn telepathically nodded.

    ''That''s why earlier you were so sure I would get bodied! You knew this would happen.'' Nyka said in outrage.

    ''Just like I know that I, in turn, am their natural enemy. I''mprised of light element that will further aggravate Decay and a single one of my heat rays can kill dozens of them. Mother made sure I am one link above Trolls to keep things bnced.''

    ''Tell me, smartass, did you predict that as well?'' Nyka pointed at the Trolls who even with the Raging Sun eating at them refused to let go of her.

    They had turned into a bunch of naked men and women of rare beauty with grey skin and four arms.

    "Free atst!" One of them said, licking his lips in hunger. "Come, my siblings. There''s still plenty to eat for everyone."

    ''Seriously, what the fuck is going on?'' Dawn was bbergasted. ''Trolls are supposed to be incapable of speaking and to act solely based on instinct. Yet these bastards are coborating instead ofpeting for the food.''

    ''I''ll take that as a no.'' Nyka took her mace out of her dimensional amulet and smashed the reverted Trolls away before they drained more of her strength.

    No tooth could pierce the Adamant of her armor yet the Trolls had managed to feed on her by mere contact. As a Vampire, she wasn''t supposed to feel tired, just hungry. Yet so much of her vitality had been sucked away so quickly that she was panting.

    "Don''t let her run away!" A female reverted Troll said and her still-fallenrades obeyed.

    ''Mindless creatures my undead ass. Do something!'' Nyka was struck down by a barrage of tier three Light Mastery heat rays.

    By consuming the excess light magic, the Trolls could limit the consumption of the darkness element needed to keep them stable and prolong their unfallen state.

    ''Okay, this is thest straw!'' Teaching her host a lesson was one thing, but attacking Dawn with Light Mastery was an insult that she took up close and personal.

    After switching bodies, the Horseman conjured a beam of focused light that cut through the ranks of Trolls surrounding her like a hot knife through butter. The heat of the energy de set the monsters aze while part of the light element it wasprised of forced them to heal.

    The regenerative process consumed what little energy the Trolls had drained from Nyka, returning them to their fallen state. Those who had no darkness energy, instead, burned to ashes as their bodies cannibalized themselves.

    ''You bastards might have caught me by surprise, but I''m still your natural predator!'' Dawn unleashed a barrage of heat rays from all over her body as soon as she had finished conjuring her tier four spell, Sunshine.

    Numbers meant nothing against energy sts that pierced through their nearest target and moved on to the next until their mana waspletely exhausted. The Trolls being so packed and working together worked against them, allowing Sunshine to hit more targets at the same time.

    The area around the Horseman turned into a zing inferno fueled by the corpses of the dead Trolls that piled up as she cut them down with her crystal sword and smashed them with the mace.

    Each hit fed them light energy and pushed their cores out of bnce again despite the huge amounts of darkness element the Trolls had stolen.

    Their metabolism became flooded by Decay and their bodies dried up, bing even more mmable. The smaller pieces they were cut into also burned more easily and faster than dry grass.

    ''See that, kid? You do it like th-'' The one-sided ughter was brought to a halt when Dawn felt her body weight increase by several folds.

    Then, her feet sunk into the ground while countless tendrils of earth wrapped themselves around her limbs.

    ''What the heck is happening? Even if these Trolls are abnormal, they should be limited to light and darkness. It''s because the evolved Odi failed to master the six elements that they resorted to Roghar. Where does earth magice from?'' She thought.

    ''From there!'' Nyka pointed at the small and allegedly harmless Goblins that were spread throughout the enemy ranks.

    The Vampire had noticed them thanks to her privileged position as a spectator and the fact that while Dawn was in control, she didn''t have much to do but study the Horseman''s strategy along with the enemy''s.

    A quick mind link showed Dawn how the mana moved from one Goblin to the next, stacking up until a simple chore magic spell turned into something more. From tier one to tier three and then into something that roughly resembled an array.

    The Goblinscked the mastery and the knowledge to pull something so refined but each one of them contributed to manipting the collective mana with their respective willpower, creating the next best thing.

    ''Is it me or do those Goblins all have the same energy signature?'' Dawn couldn''t believe her own Life Vision and asked for Nyka''s confirmation.

    ''They do and that''s not all. They aren''t just randomly spread. They have positioned themselves in the exact spots necessary to act as the focus points of a magical formation.'' The Vampire traced a telepathic line between the Goblins that highlighted the magic circle they formed despite the chaos of battle.

    A Goblin''s mana core reached the bright orange at best, but by working together they achieved the prowess of a cyan core.

    At the same time, Tista was noticing as well that the Trolls weren''t burning as easily as she had expected.

    ''This is making no sense. I fought Trolls in the past and they were neither so resilient nor so well coordinated. I need to alert the others before Ne''sra''s mages get ughtered.'' Even bursts of Origin mes died out sooner than they were supposed to and the Trolls seemed to shield those next to them on purpose.

    Tista was about to gain altitude and alert the others with hermunication amulet when a second pseudo-arrays pulled her down. It was clumsy and too rough to overpower her flight spell once she focused on it, but she had no time to do that.

 Chapter 2410 Broken Balance (Part 2)

    The moment the array struck and froze Tista in ce, a white-furred cannonball hit her in a flurry of fangs and ws.

    "You have such a nice egg, little bird. Once I break it, I''ll make good use of it." The Warg had clear blue eyes and a deep guttural voice, her tongue lolling out of her mouth.

    "It talks?" Tista blurted out in surprise.

    Monsters weren''t supposed to understand humannguage, let alone speak it.

    "*She* talks, little bird, and Meva is also going to gut you." The Warg had jumped above the magical formation so that when the gravity spell had enhanced her weight it had boosted her charge.

    She punched Tista with one hand to exploit the momentum of their fall while grabbing Tista''s arm with the other hand. This way, the recoil from each hit pulled Tista back in a whip-like movement that doubled Meva''s already impressive strength.

    Tista was a bright blue-cored Awakened with perfect body refinement yet each blow squeezed the air out of her lungs and hurt like hell despite the protection offered by the Scalewalker armor.

    To make matters worse, when they crashed against the ground, the Wargnded on top of her and used her as a cushion. From so up close the gravity field was much stronger and the Goblins conjured countless tendrils of earth to assist their ally.

    ''This bastard not only has an absurd life force but she''s also hammering at me with spells every time she hits.'' Tista could see with Life Vision that Meva had infused her hands with air, darkness, and water magic.

    The arm holding Tista flooded the right side of her body with jolts of lightning that caused her spasms, cold that sapped her strength, and darkness magic that spread like a disease.

    The Warg''s left arm, instead, hit like a hammer at her vital spots, injecting the spells where they hurt the most and exploiting the natural weakness of enchanted armor against blunt damage.

    Any other person would have been frozen in surprise and fear, with no idea of what was happening or how to defend themselves. Luckily for Tista, Lith had shared his previous battles with her.

    ''This is something in-between the Wargs possessed by Tezka and those Hati Protector faced.'' She thought and the barrage of spells that she kept at the ready ckened the pristine white fur for a split second before apparently healing without leaving a scratch.

    To confirm her theory, Tista opened her extra three eyes and scoured the field, noticing several nearby Wargs doubling over in pain due to the damage caused by her spells.

    ''What the actual fuck?'' All of her eyes went wide open as a famished Troll neared a wounded Warg and instead of eating him, the Troll used healing magic.

    While the Warg recovered, the Troll partially reverted to his unfallen state by getting rid of some of the excess light element that gued his body.

    "You have nice eyes, little bird. I hope you taste good as well." The Warg exploited the earth tendrils and Tista''s shock to plunge her ws into the eye slits of the armor.

    Tista screamed in pain as her blue and red eyes popped, blood and vitreous fluid blinding those she had left. She fell into a panic and shapeshifted into her Red Demon form.

    Her screams of pain turned into a twin burst of Cursed mes.

    "I was right. Your eyes taste almost as good as yolk-" Void incinerated the Warg''s hand while she was savoring her prize and Blight dried up the tendrils and everyone too close to the Red Demon.

    The Warg stepped back in pain, howling, but her wounds passed onto herpanions and she was able to resume her attack before Tista could clear her vision.

    "That wasn''t nice, little bird. I can use some chicken wings, though." A punch straight to the chest sent Tista out of the protective circle of mes and crashing against the nearby Trolls.

    The mouths on their hands, arms, and chests had an easy time biting deep into the wings whose size made them nothing but an easy mark in close quarters. Each bite ripped off the flesh and plucked feathers, turning Tista''s pain into terror.

    To her Phoenix half, losing her feathers was akin to being stripped naked and then skinned alive. It was much worse than being cut or hit because it felt like losing a part of herself.

    "Tista!" The Eyes of Menadion allowed Solus to follow the battle from a distance so she knew that neither of herpanions was faring well.

    Yet she also knew that away from the geyser she wouldn''tst long and that if any creature managed to slip past her, Ne''sra would be doomed. Solus looked at the stone ring on her finger, cursing the weakness that gued her despite Lith having entrusted her with the physical manifestation of the tower.

    Without it, the moment she ran out of energy her body would have no ce to return and shatter for good.

    Solus yelled orders in her amulet, but the mages were simply too few and the troops stationed in Ne''sra ill-prepared to face a monster horde. Soldiers and mages who got too close would quickly be fodder.

    The odd powers of the monsters were hard to predict and counter even for Awakened who understood what was happening, let alone for humans who were caught by surprise.

    Solus would have liked to exin the situation to them, but there was no time for it.

    All she could do was spin the Fury faster until her arm hurt and throw it at the iing wave of monsters. As soon as the hammer left her hand, Solus activated one of the abilities of the Fury, Burning Rain.

    The hammer split into nine copies, each one with its mana crystals of a bright red. The mystical gemstones sucked in the world energy, amplifying the fire element to the extreme until the Furies became engulfed in mes.

    The heat rose, turning the hammers from blood red into pristine white as they flew amid the enemy lines, carrying along everyone they hit and turning them into living battering rams.

    Burning Rain made the heads of the nine hammers explode into countless white-hot Davross shards that pierced through the flesh of the monsters that they had herded, making their blood boil.

    Troll, Wargs, and Goblin burned all the same, throwing their ranks into disarray.

    The magical formations that the Goblins had prepared crumbled. A Warg who had jumped at Solus, confident that the collective might of the pack would have defeated the small woman, was now the sole survivor and had nothing but his own strength.

    A single punch from Solus weed the Warging and sent him on his way to the afterlife.

    "I have plenty of juice for you, jackasses!" She yelled at the white tide of Trolls as she conjured the Mending Field array from the Mouth of Menadion.

    It was a tier four Warden spell meant to heal minor wounds and keep patients in severe conditions stable until a Healer could focus on them. For Trolls, however, it was a cruel torture that robbed them of their sanity.

 Chapter 2411 Relics Of The Past (Part 1)

    The Trolls in the front rows copsed on the ground and tripped those behind. The light element spread by Mending Field made their hunger grow to the point that they turned against each other, devouring their allies and own kin alike.

    "Nice trick, but I''ve gotten a few of my own." A pir of fire element bigger than Solus struck her from above, sending her tumbling to the ground.

    A Balor was slowly descending from the sky, firing more elemental sts from both his yellow and red eyes. Eyes that were on the same horizontal line like a human''s, something unheard of.

    Balors could have up to three elemental eyes and they could appear on any part of their face, but not like that. The Balor''s body was a blood-red mass of scales and bulging muscles, with huge membranous wings on his back.

    Solus was surprised but otherwise unscathed. Due to her body mass and her Voidwalker armor, the elemental pir had mostly hurt her pride. Domination had further lessened the impact, making her eyes shine with a red light.

    Solus had no visible streaks in her hair, but the creature could perceive through his eyes that the small woman in front of him was draining the elemental energy around them in a simr fashion to the Balor race.

    It was actually thanks to the Evil Eyes fused with the Sage Staff hung to her neck, but he couldn''t see it under Solus'' golden armor.

    "Interesting." The Balor''s voice was guttural, akin to the grumble of falling stones, yet his tone was refined and almost polite. "It seems that you and I have much inmon. You''ll make a fine mother for my children."

    The moment he stepped inside the boundaries of the mana geyser, his body started to shrink yet his power grew.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Solus said as the Balor''s membranous wings burst with elemental energy and a second set came out of his back.

    His eyes had split, giving him a red, yellow, blue, and an orange eye while the color of his energy wings followed the same pattern. He had now pale blue skin and short silver hair.

    The perfection of his body could only be described as a miracle of nature or the painstakingbor of an artist who had spent his life to achieve perfect harmony between flesh and muscles.

    "If that''s what you like, it can be arranged." The Balor said with a seductive smile. "Now surrender and no harm wille to you. Ne''sra belongs to the children of Glemos and any resistance will be punished by death."

    Solus''s eyes turned into fiery slits of mana, but she didn''t move until the Fury returned to her hand.

    "Glemos? It exins a lot, but where is your Harmonizer?" She asked, noticing that aside from the armor covering his legs the Balor wore no enchanted item.

    "You know both our god and his workings. Ours is indeed a fated meeting." The four wings of the Balor red up, neutralizing solely the spellsing from the mages and the wands of the soldiers.

    The troops on the battlements and the mages in the skies gaped in horror as the monster horde no longer impeded by their cover fire quickly approached the city walls.

    "Harmonizers are relics of the past. The blessing of our god makes them useless." The collected energy traveled to his eyes where it grew in strength until it could st the city walls open.

    He unleashed them just for Solus to Dominate the four elemental pirs and turn them against the monster horde.

    "I met your god and he was an asshole." Solus replied. "If you are waiting for his return, don''t hold your breath because he''s dead."

    "sphemy!" The Balor charged at Solus, the muscles of his arm strung in the perfect form for a perfect fist.

    "Whatever." Solus effortlessly blocked the straight with her open palm and squeezed his hand into a pulp. The Balor was still screaming in pain when the Fury came in a downward arc and burst his head open with a single hit.

    Death reverted his body to its fallen state, proving that whatever experiment Glemos had performed, it was far from sessful.

    ''It seems that the idiot was right. He needed both life force and world energy to retain his form. We indeed had a lot inmon.'' Solus unleashed the Furies'' Flight, turning her hammer into nine copies that pierced through the iing army and killed dozens.

    She activated the Watchtower to pinpoint Tista''s position while conjuring a Warp Steps to rescue her. Solus couldn''t leave the mana geyser, but she was far from helpless.

    Meanwhile, Dawn was quickly regaining the upper hand. Once she had ovee the surprise effect of the attack, it hadn''t taken her much to turn the tides of battle. The Goblins'' magic was too weak to keep her still and no one could get close enough to hurt her.

    She kept increasing the amount of light and heat in her surroundings, causing the Trolls'' Decay cores to implode while everyone else burned.

    ''Good job, but please hurry. Tista needs our help!'' Nyka could still hear her friend screaming.

    ''I can do that, but it will expose my nature. What about you?'' Dawn replied.

    ''Same.'' Nyka telepathically clenched her fists in frustration. ''Unless those mages are blind, they''ll discover I''m a Vampire.''

    ''I don''t care about Tista or your cover. The choice is yours.'' Dawn''s words made Nyka hesitate for a second.

    ''I''ll save her.'' The Vampire took control of her body and pushed her blood core to the extreme.

    Consuming the umted life force gave her mass while the stored mana turned into deadly spells. Nyka advanced like a freight train, either trampling or mming away those in her path, no matter their numbers.

    "I don''t know what you are, little bird, but you smell and taste amazing." The Warg couldn''t stop licking Tista''s blood from her fingers, fighting with the Trolls for every bit of flesh they took

    Seeing the frenzied mob clinging to her, biting and pulling at her like a chicken leg, made something inside of Tista break. It wasn''t a battle for Ne''sra or to defeat a monster horde anymore, it was a battle for survival.

    She stopped screaming only to take a deep breath and once she was done, scorching mes came out along with her voice. Her bloodline ability Ethereal Aegis turned her whole body into a mass of Origin mes and freed her from the death trap.

    "I take my meat raw. Douse her!" With the Balor gone, the Warg was in charge so the Goblins let go of the earth element and channeled water magic.

    The Red Demon''s blue eye red up, sucking the rain that was supposed to harm her and turning the mes of Ethereal Aegis into ice crystals.

    "What the f-"

    Tista screamed in pain and fury, hitting whoever tried to get close to her. Sunder, her enchanted gloves, cut deep into the flesh while the cold wave they carried froze the blood and reached the hearts of the monsters, stopping them.

    Even the airwaves generated by ws cutting through the air leftyers of frost over the ground and everything they touched.

 Chapter 2412 Relics Of The Past (Part 2)

    Tista kept yelling at the top of her lungs, each one of her attacks conjuring a bolt of darkness or ice that threw another of her captors off guard enough for her ws to reach them.

    With every spell she cast, her body grew in size and Sunder followed suit. The monsters piled up on her, trying to push the Red Demon down again, but the cold sapped their strength first and then turned them into frozen statues in a matter of seconds.

    The gravity array didn''t bother someone made of ice much whereas it slowed down everyone else. Tista''s joints cracked and fixed themselves whereas once the monsters fell to the ground, she would stomp them into ice shards.

    The Warg ordered her troops to charge forward and jumped where Tista''s heart was supposed to be. Her armor was still the size of a human so it could no longer protect her vital areas.

    ''The little bird made a huge mistake. Cracking an Adamant armor is much harder than ripping a big enemy apart. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!'' She thought while hitting the crystal-clear ice as hard as she could.

    The Warg''s fist cracked the Ethereal Aegis and pierced through the Red Demon up to the elbow. The Warg''s snout curled up in a savage grin, rows of white fangs exposed as she twisted her arm and pulled it free.

    Yet only a stump came out. Nothing was left but a thickyer of ice that had kept her from feeling the pain from the amputation. The Warg screamed in horror and tried to jump off her colossal enemy but her limbs refused to obey.

    Her hand and feet had frozen as well, losing their sensibility without the Warg even noticing. She had no idea that what she was clinging to wasn''t ice but Zero. Tista noticed the Warg''s presence only from her screams, her frozen body insensitive to pain.

    The Red Demon grabbed the Warg, freeing her from the trap by shattering her limbs.

    Fury ravaged Tista''s mind at the memory of how the monster had mocked her. How it had hurt her. And how the Warg had gouged her eyes before eating them in front of her.

    The Red Demon opened her mouth wide, biting the Warg and severing the chest from the hips. Tista made sure that the Warg was still alive while her fangs ripped her prey into shreds.

    She felt no guilt as bite marks appeared on the other nearby Wargs. The whole pack was willing to sacrifice themselves to save their leader and they all died trying.

    The Red Demon screamed again, unleashing a Raging Sun on herself that cleared her path long enough to draw another breath. Her red and blue eyes had used the meal toplete their regeneration and they red up together, splitting the elements.

    The ice turned into Cinder and Tista pped her wings, free to soar through the skies again. Once she reached safety, the Red Demon stared in hatred at the small figures squirming below her.

    Even in her Ethereal Aegis form, she could still feel their hands clutching and biting and pulling her apart. She wanted them to stop but no matter how high she flew or how hot she burned, the hands were still there.

    The Red Demon unleashed Checkmate Spears that she split into smaller icicles in order to pin dozens of creatures to the ground. Thundering Mist drenched them before bolts of lightning coursed through the monsters like frenzied snakes.

    Then, once they were soaked in water and blood, Tista released the Frost mes she had conjured inside her body, turning a bunch of monsters into a dozen of meters tall crystal tree decorated with corpses.

    Now that only True mes remained, she dived down, flying through the enemy ranks. Those too weak became ashes in her wake while those strong enough to resist died a few minutester with their lungs burned too badly to draw another breath.

    The now twenty meters (66'') tall Red Demon plunged like a meteor amid the monster horde, mowing dozens of them down with each sh of her ws. Those who lumped together to stop her attacks were burned by a burst of Origin mes while those who tried to escape were struck in the back by a tier five spell.

    The Mouth of Menadion conjured in quick session the arrays that Tista had stored inside it, turning the retreat paths into minefields.

    With their leaders dead, the monsters turned against each other, prioritizing their own survival. The Trolls ate the Goblins while the few surviving Wargs focused solely on escaping.

    The monster horde that until a few minutes ago had threatened to swallow Ne''sra turned into a disorderly rout. By the time Nyka reached Tista, she still needed to be saved, but from herself.

    In her frenzy, she kept unleashing Cursed mes against the retreating monsters even though the burden they inflicted upon her life force far surpassed the damage she inflicted upon her enemies.

    "Calm down, dammit!" The Vampire Blinked right in front of the Red Demon''s face, pping her.

    ? Tista roared in outrage and pped her hands to squash the unknown assant like a bug. Nyka grunted, blocking with both her mace and the crystal sword.

    "It''s me, you idiot!" Another p snapped Tista out of it and she finally recognized the Vampire.

    "Oh gods, I''m so sorry. Did I hurt you?"

    "No, but not for ack of trying on your side. Thank you for asking." The Vampire smiled. "By the way, good job in maintaining our cover."

    Only then did Tista see the frozen tree, the burned wastnd, and the horror in the people of Ne''sra who from the battlements of the city walls were staring at the ming creature with five eyes.

    "Oh, shit!" Along with her focus, the flow of runes through her body was broken and the Red Demon quickly reverted to her original size.

    "Don''t worry. I''m afraid to have ruined it first." Between her armor and the hammer in her hand, everyone recognized the Golden Knight whose feats had been broadcasted throughout the Kingdom along with Verhen''s.

    "Well, we have saved them and you two are acimed heroes." Nyka said with a chuckle. "Worst case scenario, they''ll throw you a parade. Just try not to gloat too much in my face."

    "I wouldn''t be so sure." Solus said.

    The battle was over for a while but no one was cheering. The Healers had retreated behind the walls and the city gates were still closed.

    A soft sobbing had them turn back, noticing that Tista''s eyes were swelled with tears. Her once beautiful wings still carried the marks of the recent fight. They bled profusely where chunks of flesh were missing.

    Huge patches of deep pink skin were exposed and caked with blood where the feathers had been plucked. Tista had hoped that shapeshifting would have fixed them, but she was wrong.

    More than the pain, what hurt her was the deep feeling of loss that the sight of the missing feathers gave them. She used healing magic to close her wounds, but the bald spots remained unaffected.

 Chapter 2413 Not Human (Part 1)

    Even after Invigoration restored Tista''s lost strength, it had no effect on the now-healthy areas with missing feathers.

    "What if I''m crippled? What if it takes me days or months to heal?" Tista caressed her wings, finding them so tender and swollen that they couldn''t stand even her own touch.

    "Don''t worry. Worst case scenario, we can ask Grandma for help. I bet that you are not the first Phoenix that got hurt." Solus replied.

    Tista nodded and folded the wings into her back, wincing in pain. Bleeding wounds opened on either side of her spine and there was no way to mend them.

    "Open up! We need food and rest." Solus yelled at the top of her lungs to be heard by the guards on top of the battlements.

    ''Back when Lith lost his hair, he was in a simr condition but sleeping elerated its regrowth. Let''s hope that the same works for Tista''s feathers.'' She thought while the soldiers and the Head Healer mumbled between them.

    It took them a few minutes to make a decision and open the city doors.

    "Wee back to Ne''sra. We are d to see that you''ve made it back in one piece. Captain Neforce at your service." He gave them the salute but ignores the hands that were offered to him.

    "Don''t worry about your injured friend. I took the liberty to contact the White Griffon academy and prepare a Warp Gate that will lead you there. Please, follow me."

    Captain Neforce was polite, but he failed to hide the edge in his voice. He had arranged for them an honor guardprised of soldiers on the streets and mages flying in the sky to escort them to their destination.

    Yet judging from the tense expressions on their faces and the terrified gazes of the citizens around them, Solus felt as if they were dangerous criminals who had just been arrested.

    "I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but this is unnecessary. We can move on our own and any decent hotel will do." Actually, Solus had to leave due to her energy reserves running low yet she wanted to make sure that the paranoia she had developed after spending years in Lith''s mind wasn''t ying her tricks.

    The Captain nodded, but he never stopped moving forward.

    "I''m d to hear that you are fine but I have to ask you to leave Ne''sra as soon as possible for your own good and ours." He replied.

    "Are you kicking us out?" Nyka''s eyes went wide in surprise. "For the gods'' sake why? These two are war heroes and the three of us just risked our lives to defend your city."

    "I''m not kicking you out. Not yet." He sighed deeply while the soldiers tightened the grip on their weapons. "It''s just that, as you have been told earlier, Ne''sra is currently understaffed.

    "We are grateful to you for saving us from those monsters, but if you stay here, the riot that will follow might do just as much damage."

    "Why should people riot because of us?" Solus asked.

    "Because the destruction you see around here, the same cracks in the walls that put our lives in danger is the work of Beasts and your friend is one of them." He waved at the copsed buildings, the cracked streets, and the many building sites around them.

    "That''s the work of Thrud''s beasts!" Tista countered. "Also, I''m still as human as you-"

    A wild cough shook her to the bone, forcing her to stop walking as she doubled over in pain. Tista used her best healing spells and even Invigoration, but the pain only got worse by the second.

    When she started coughing blood, Solus used her breathing technique, Sky Blessing to understand what was happening.

    "By my Mom, Tista, shapeshift. Quick!"

    The young woman did as bidden, showing a face full of scales and a row of fangs in her mouth. As she unfolded her wings, the mages took aim, ready to shoot at the first sign of aggression.

    What happened, instead, was that the Red Demon''s body squirmed and her mouth dted as she puked her guts out. Whole and broken bones alike came out of her throat along with pieces of a skull and a still whole eye.

    Tista kept hurling until her stomach emptied of every piece of the Warg she had devoured. The earlier pain had been caused by the long bones and the sharp pieces tearing her stomach apart.

    The bystanders gasped in horror, many of them turned green and puked no less than the Red Demon.

    As for Tista, healing the new wounds further sapped her strength. She shivered in shock, feeling like the monster everyone believed she was.

    ''Good gods, what have I done?'' She remained on all fours with her eyes fixated on the remains of the Warg. ''Back then I was so angry that I acted on instinct. If it wasn''t for my sturdy enhanced body, I would have died the moment I returned to human size.''

    She could see her corpseying in a bloody pool, right beside the Warg''s skull.

    ''Is this what waits for me if my life forces merge like it happened to Lith? Will I lose my humanity and have no qualms eating my enemies while they are still alive like an animal?''

    "No, Lady Verhen, you are not human." Captain Neforce shook his head, his words reinforcing her doubts and shame. "Humans have no scales, wings, nor do they eat monsters whole. On top of that, there is the matter of the Golden Knight."

    He turned toward Solus offering her a polite bow in apology.

    "Half of the city hates beasts for the people they have killed and the damage they have inflicted while the other half can''t stand Supreme Magus Verhen and the Golden Knight.

    "The Deirus region neighbors with Thrud''s territories. Many of us had rtives and friends there who died by your hand during the war, Lady Verhen."

    "Long story short, all of Ne''sra hates us." Solus nodded in understanding. "How curious that none of this came up when we were working in your hospitals, healing the very same people that now want to get rid of us."

    "That''s because you made it clear that you wanted to keep a low profile and your friend here was wise enough to keep her human appearance. Now, however, everyone knows the truth about her, and the monster horde you brought here caused several casualties."

    "We did no such thing!" Nyka said in outrage. "The monsters came here on their own and we risked our lives to defend you."

    "Maybe. Or maybe you have just fixed a mess that you created. I was on the battlements when you were talking with that Balor, Lady Verhen. You two seemed to know each other. How can we be sure that they didn''te to Ne''sra for you?"

    Solus opened her mouth to reply but no word came out. She wanted to tell Neforce that the monsters'' goal had been the mana geyser and that if they reached it, they would have be much more dangerous.

    Yet revealing the truth would only expose the crimes of a member of the Council and cause mass hysteria.

 Chapter 2414 Not Human (Part 2)

    ming thete Glemos would have just reinforced the hate toward Emperor Beasts and the citizens of Ne''sra would have lived in fear of another attack.

    "Great Mage Verhen." Solus mumbled in reply.

    "I beg your pardon?" The Captain asked.

    "That''s Great Mage Verhen for you, not Lady Verhen." Solus snarled. "Also, I don''t have to exin anything to you. We are innocent until proven otherwise. Your words sound like the pathetic attempt of an ipetent man to rationalize his failure to protect the city."

    "How dare-" A re of Solus'' eyes had the entire detail fall onto their knees with their hands on the ground.

    The yellow streak in her hair lit up slightly as the flight spells of the mages failed them, making them crash on the ground with the grace of bricks. The mages groaned in pain, the lucky ones had broken their ribs and legs but could still use their hands to heal themselves.

    Those who had broken fingers and arms were now no better than regr people.

    "In case you have forgotten, the three of us have just stopped a monster horde that would have wiped this city off the maps. If they failed to beat us, by what leap of logic do you think you have a better chance were we the menace you use us to be?"

    Another wave of Solus'' hand had the face of Neforce plunge deep into the mud until he started to drown. He emitted terrified gurgles that Solus amplified with air magic for everyone to hear.

    Then, she spread her killing intent farther and the bystanders fell on all fours as well.

    "You are not banishing us. We are leaving because I''m disgusted by you all. I''ll report everything to the Crown and inform them that in case another horde arrives, Ne''sra won''t receive any help from House Verhen."

    A snap of her fingers Warped them back to the city branch of the Association, yet it would take a few minutes before the mana Solus had left faded away and people could finally stand up.

    "Verhen Household for three, please." Tista said with a pained groan.

    "Are you sure?" The clerk looked at her bloodstained back with a worried expression. "Great Mage Verhen, you are clearly hurt and the White Griffon is the only ce where a wound that not even you can treat can be healed."

    He was a man barely older than Tista and his words held no fear nor contempt. He had witnessed the battle but the only thing that mattered to him was the deep green of her robe.

    "Thank you for your kindness, but I think my brother will do." Tista nodded, giving him a thin smile.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen is there?" The young mage looked at the dimensional coordinates he had just inputted as if they were the map for a lost treasure. "Sorry for wasting your time and please, bring him my regards."

    Tista chuckled and instead of pointing out that they had no idea who he was, she just read the name Vamfil on the nametag on his breast pocket.

    "Will do." She walked first through the Gate, the clerk too busy handing Solus a piece of paper to bother checking their ID.

    "Is this a secret message that requires to be imprinted to reveal its content?" Solus turned the paper over, but both sides were nk so she assumed it worked like the academy''s grade report cards.

    "No, it''s just paper." Vamfil replied. "I was hoping for your autograph."

    Solus'' frown turned into a warm smile as she wrote her name in a flowery calligraphy.

    "Thank the gods not everyone is an asshole here. Keep up the good work." Nyka enteredst, discovering that Lith was already on the other side and that Solus was nowhere to be seen.

    "What the heck happened? Weren''t you girls supposed to be on a vacation?" Lith asked while studying Tista''s condition.

    "I guess that bad luck runs in our family, little brother." Tista tried tough but Lith''s most delicate touch sent pangs through her wounded wings.

    "Where''s Solus?" Nyka asked.

    "She''s gone to the geyser for a quick recharge." Lith replied.

    After spending more and more time away from him, Lith had given Solus the stone ring that he usually carried on his finger. Without it, the moment that Solus'' human body ran out of energy or was about to be destroyed, she would have had no ce where to return.

    If that happened, she might have lost her human body for years and dealt great damage to the tower. As long as the tower had a physical form, the ring was just a symbol of their bond.

    When the tower wasn''t over a mana geyser, however, the ring acted as a vessel for both the tower and Solus.

    After she returned, they used a mind link in turn to share their side of the battle and put together the various pieces of the puzzle.

    "The only thing we are sure is that even from the grave Glemos is still causing trouble." Solus said.

    "Who''s Glemos?" Nyka and Dawn asked in unison.

    "It''s a long story." Lith did his best to hasten the regrowth of Tista''s feathers, but nothing worked. "Dammit. You''d better stay here and rest. If the situation is unchanged after a good night''s sleep, we''ll have to ask Grandma''s help."

    Lith was worried for Tista and himself. His feathered wings had never been wounded before and a few of his plumes held the souls of his Demons.

    ''What if once they are plucked, the Void Sigils are lost as well? What about the souls they contain?'' He pondered while Solus used a mind link to bring Nyka up to speed.

    "Should we warn the Council?" Tista needed help to both reach a chair and eat the food that Lith took out of his pocket dimension.

    "Yes and no. This is a matter for the Council and the Royals. There''s no telling if more monster hordes are appearing somewhere else as we speak or if they are about to. Yet before contacting either of them, I''m calling Faluel." Lith replied.

    "Glemos was Morok''s father. Maybe he and Ajatar have a clue about what''s happening."

    "Lith, what a pleasant surprise." One of the seven heads of the Hydra answered her amulet while the other six kept working on a different project each. "Having some peace after months of trouble is really nice.

    "Also, fatherhood agrees with you. I can''t believe that you are finally getting used to calling people just to talk instead of just when you need something from them."

    "About that¡­" While Lith shared with her the story of the attack on Ne''sra, he also asked Solus to take a mental note and remind him to make the courtesy calls he kept forgetting about.

    ''Copy that. I''ll leave sticky notes on the walls of your room. It should be enough to keep your Lich-like memory in check during my absence.'' Hearing her voice answering his thoughts instead of silence made him smile.

    The idea that she would soon leave again wiped it off his face just as quickly.

    "I take that back." Faluel''s tone went from chip to a grumble.

 Chapter 2415 Glemosâ€™ Legacy (Part 1)

    "Still, you did the right thing contacting me first." Faluel said. "This is a matter for the Council but if we are not cautious, they''ll find Glemos'' secretb first and Morok will lose any chance to inherit his bloodline legacy."

    "I beg your pardon?" Tista said in confusion, her mind hazy due to shock and fatigue.

    "You heard me." The Hydra replied. "After we got rid of Glemos, the Council went to his home and thoroughly searched it. Yet aside from trinkets and high-end furniture, we found no trace of the bloodline legacy of the Tyrants, their artifacts, nor any logs of Glemos'' research."

    "Howe this is the first time we hear about this?" Solus asked.

    "Because it''s none of your business. Ajatar and I had priority since we exposed Glemos'' use of Forbidden Magic and executed him ording to thews of the Council.

    "Also, it''s not like Morok is a big friend of yours. You never asked about the fate of his legacy for over a year. The only thing you cared about was the Harmonizers."

    "So Morok didn''t get anything?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "No, he got the trinkets and the high-end furniture. He''s passing them as his own and he''s going to use them to decorate his new house." Faluel shook her head.

    "What a brilliant move/cheapskate!" Lith and the rest of the room had a different opinion on the matter, making the Hydra chuckle.

    "My hypothesis is that Glemos and his ancestors kept their privateb in a different ce from their official residence. It would exin why they have never got caught experimenting on monsters and why Glemos abandoned Morok until he Awakened.

    "He couldn''t afford to make his test subjects meet. Not until Morok choose what side of his hybrid nature to retain and proved to be a sessful mutation. Otherwise all Morok had to do to ruin Glemos'' n was to be a human instead of a Tyrant."

    Everyone wondered if Glemos had picked Morok''s mother at random or if she had been unwittingly bred as well for his experiments. Yet no one voiced those doubts. Glemos was dead and Morok already carried a huge burden.

    His mother had abandoned him as a child, considering him a monster, while his father had never considered him more than another specimen. Morok knew that neither of his parents had ever loved him and it was one of the reasons he had never approached his mother after reaching adulthood.

    She was already scarred from being deceived by a man who had imed to love her. There was no need to tell her that her whole life was actually a small step in a millennia-long conspiracy.

    "We have to alert the Council and the Kingdom because otherwise, things could escte beyond saving." The Hydra continued. "Imagine what would happen if a city filled with food and ready for winter like Ne''sra were to be invaded.

    "Thousands would die, there would be a third famine, and once all the monsters revert to their unfallen state thanks to the mana geyser, killing them will be much harder.

    "Especially if thebined effect of abundant world energy and food further empower their next generations."

    "About that, there''s something off in your reasoning and the words that the Balor said to me. He imed that the Harmonizers are a relic of the past while you are worried about the monsters spawning more.

    "Didn''t you tell us about a year ago that you had Leegaain himself take a look at Glemos'' Harmonizer and that Grandpa dered it an utter failure?"

    "And I stand by those words." Faluel nodded. "I still have the Harmonizer in a stasis field in the hope to one day find a way to examine it without triggering the self-destruct mechanism.

    "No matter what Grandfather says, the Harmonizer would do wonders for my metal and crystal mines."

    "And for my t-" Solus nudged Lith with enough strength to crack his ribs and cut him short.

    ''Fuck me sideways. I''m so used to Nyka knowing even my past as Derek that my brain still refuses to ept the idea that she is now bonded with Dawn and a liability.'' He thought while massaging his chest.

    "Then what''s going on?" Kam asked, tired of the greed typical of Dragons.

    "Mine is just a hypothesis, but it covers all the bases." Faluel snapped out of her dreams of piles of mana crystals and Davross, her eyes focused on her apprentices again.

    "As Grandfather said, the Harmonizer is an utter failure, hence it can''t help Nalrond, Elysia, or Xenagrosh, but what about their children? Let''s say that Friya was a Rezar as well, a hybrid whose two natures collide and that the Harmonizer forces to fuse.

    "If she gets pregnant while they both wear a Harmonizer, the life force of the child who is born from them has no idea of the original condition of the life forces of their parents. That means that the life force of the child will form in perfect shape.

    "Also, even though it''s still imperfect, the life force of a newborn is not only very delicate but also connected and influenced by the life force of the mother. So, if our hypothetical Friya were to stay all the time over the geyser and wear the Harmonizer, it would keep nudging the life force of the baby as it develops."

    "By the gods!" Solus said as the picture formed in her mind. "It''s like what''s happening to Elysia. The Abomination side she has inherited from Lith is tempering her life force while she grows in Kam''s womb."

    "Correct." The Hydra nodded.

    "Of course, Elysia doesn''t belong to a fallen race so her life force is perfect. In our hypothetical case, the baby would be born with a still fallen life force, but better than the one of their parents and used to absorb the surrounding world energy.

    "Now, imagine the baby growing up and then having children of their own under a simr condition.

    "With each generation, the life force of the Rezars would be closer to perfection and the amount of world energy they would be capable of absorbing would increase until they have no more need for the Harmonizer."

    "I understand now." Lith nodded. "The Harmonizer is indeed useless, but only for Leegaain''s purposes. Damn the Guardians and their riddles!"

    He looked around, but seeing that the others were still confused he quickly added.

    "Yes, you are correct. For Nalrond and his Rezar Friya it would take hundreds, if not thousands of years to reach what you have seen today and we know that Glemos hade close to perfecting the Harmonizer just a year ago.

    "But that doesn''t take into ount the monster''s insane spawning and growth rate. As long as they have food, trolls, and goblins reach maturity and breed in the span of days. Which means that in a single year, you can have dozens if not hundreds of generations."

    "Great Mother almighty, that''s why the Balor was the only one who had gained no new abilities. Balors have a slow spawn rate due to their intelligence and power. The trolls and the goblins, instead, are not only getting closer to their unfallen state.

 Chapter 2416 Glemosâ€™ Legacy (Part 2)

    "They have also partly reached the next evolutionary step like the creatures we met in Faluel''s mine." Solus said.

    "That''s why the trolls could suck darkness magic just by touching me and could cast Light Mastery without studying it!" Nyka said in shock.

    "It also exins why the Warg was so damn strong and smart. She and her pack were halfway through bing a Hati." Just saying those words made Tista''s back hurt more.

    "As I said, it''s just a theory, but it covers all bases and answers all the questions you''ve asked me." Faluel rubbed one head under the other to scratch one of her long necks.

    "That''s why we must move quickly. I''m going to contact Ajatar and Morok in the hope that they can help us find Glemos'' trueb. If we don''t get there first, the Council will steal Morok''s legacy and kill all those poor bastards.

    "I''ve failed Echidna, but I''m not going to let the rest of her kind die like that. They did nothing wrong and, in a way, they are our distant rtives."

    "That''s wonderful news!" Kam pped her hands. "You are going to need Lith''s help to rescue those poor souls and get your hands on the prize. Morok is about to marry and a bloodline legacy would do wonders for his status."

    "Since when do you care so much about him and worry so little about me? Usually, you would go on and on about me risking my life and how worried you are while I work on the field." Lith knitted his brows in jealousy.

    "I am worried about you, but I also care about our friends." She said with a radiant smile.

    ''I also can''t wait to spend a few days without you shadowing me and treating me like a crystal vase.'' She actually thought.

    "Just one thing doesn''t add up." Nyka''s eyes burned with white light as Dawn spoke through her mouth. "Why did the monsterse out of hiding now and how could the humans and the magical beasts miss such a horde?"

    "That''s easy." Faluel replied. "If my theory is correct, Glemos needed lots of space and resources for his secretb. He must have created a self-sufficient environment where the monsters lived while he studied the long-term effects of the Harmonizer on them.

    "After his death, however, one of two things must have happened. Either the monsters have started to reproduce without care for poption control and have run out of food, or they havee out to search for their missing ''god''.

    "Thanks to their intelligence, they didn''t waste time nor did they damage the surroundings in order to not alert their prey. The monsters must have moved out from the secretb in numbers and then aimed for the cities with a mana geyser like Ne''sra.

    "Whatever their goal is, a ce like that is the perfect starting point for their search while also keep breeding."

    "Not really." Solus shook her head. "Ne''sra has more abundance of foodpared to other cities but still there wasn''t enough to feed such a huge swarm even if they let the poption starve."

    "Really?" Lith looked her in the eyes, sighing. "Solus, you should know that partially reverted or not, those creatures are still monsters. They would''ve never let the people of Ne''sra starve because they would have eaten them first.

    "Monsters consider even their own kin as food, let alone members of the other races."

    "Indeed." The Hydra and Dawn nodded.

    "Then we must alert the Kingdom immediately!" Solus gasped in horror. "What if more cities are about to be sieged as we speak and they fall because we are here bbering?"

    "Please!" Lith sighed again, but this time he also rolled his eyes. "If Glemos'' test subjects have a shred of a brain, they have coordinated their attack and struck different cities at the same time. It was already toote before you girls even fought."

    Kam angrily pped the back of his neck.

    "Can''t you be a little more sensitive? Not everyone here is as battle-hardened as you." She pointed at Solus who was shivering in shock, at his parents who had gone pale at the thought of how many human lives might have been lost, and the children who were sobbing.

    ''The word I was looking for was actually "cold-hearted" but I couldn''t say that in front of his family. Lith and I need to talk in private. I won''t allow him to speak of human lives like mere numbers in front Elysia.'' She thought.

    "Uhh¡­" That was all Lith managed to say as his snarky reply died on his lips.

    He was used to speaking freely during strategic meetings with Awakened and hadpletely forgotten about his own family. Another consequence of not having Solus in his head 24/7 was that no one now kept his cynical thoughts froming out of his mouth.

    "Maybe, but maybe Lith is wrong." Faluel tried to console them but she had already reached Lith''s same conclusion.

    She just had the sensitivity to not voice it in front of someone so empathetical like Solus.

    "You alert the Royals while I contact the Council. We''ll resume this conversationter."

    s, Lith''s analysis was on point. Many cities in different parts of the Kingdom had been attacked byrge hordes of monsters. Most had won the battle and suffered many casualties among soldiers and mages while a few had fallen.

    There was no news from them and the Royals considered the people of the conquered cities to be already dead. Faluel called Lith back a few minutester.

    "I have good news and I have bad news." The serpentine face of the Hydra''s head looked grim. "The good news is that as soon as the attacks started, the Awakened joined the battle per their treaty with the Royals.

    "Between thebined strength of the Council and the Kingdom, all the fallen cities will be recaptured in a short while. Also, by mapping the locations of the attacks, we should be able to triangte the position of Glemos'' secretb or at least narrow down the search area."

    "What about the bad news?" Lith said after having care to Hush the area around him, letting only the grown-up in hearing range.

    "That ording to our scouts, it will achieve damage control at best. The monsters don''t seem to be interested in upying the cities but in their content. People, food, and magical resources.

    "They are already smart enough to know they don''t stand a chance against us. What Solus has fought today wasn''t an invading army but a plunder expedition." Faluel sighed.

    "This is interesting-" A strong nudge in the ribs from Kam had Lith shift his brain''s gears to a more sensitive wording.

    "This is terrible, but there''s something I don''t understand. If the Glemos'' experiments have already reached such an advanced stage, why was he so obsessed with Morok and what need did he have to further perfect the Harmonizers?"

    "Really?" This time it was Morok who spoke to Lith like a dumb child.

    Faluel had added him to the conversation, bringing him up to speed along with the Council.

 Chapter 2417 Past Chains (Part 1)

    "I didn''t know my father much, but I can tell you this. His goal was to further the evolution of the Tyrant race and see the fruits of hisbor before he croaked. Even if he forced me to have a child with Echidna, their life force would have been unstable.

    "Even worse, to check the results of his experiments, Glemos would have had to wait years since Tyrants grow with the same speed as our human progenitors. The same thing would have happened for his next ''experiment'' and those following."

    Talking about children like they were things made Morok''s face twist in outrage. He needed to spit every time he spoke Glemos'' name, as if just the mention coated his tongue with poison.

    "Also, even once he managed to produce a stable hybrid between Tyrants and Fomors, he would have needed to find a way to have their life forces merge to reach the next evolutionary stage.

    "Glemos didn''t have the luxury of so much time so of course he sacrificed thousands of monsters in order to reach perfection. If I had to take a guess, I''d bet everything I have that upon seeding, my father wanted to further his own evolution.

    "If you remember, he believed that my offspring with Echidna would have rivaled the Guardians. Which also means a Divine Beast level of strength and life force."

    Morok took a pause to let the others understand the scope of the Tyrant bloodline''s goal.

    "I agree with you. It exins Glemos'' rush and the magnitude of his experimentation. Tyrants live as long as regr Emperor Beasts. Three thousand years is also three times the average lifespan of a human Awakened but nothingpared to the 10,000 of an Awakened Divine Beast.

    "Your f-, I mean that man would have gained 7,000 more years. More if ording to his ramblings, he managed to surpass regr Divine Beasts." Lith had walked many miles in Morok''s shoes and know how painful it was when someone else referred to a monster like Glemos as your father.

    It reminded you that no matter how long you had cut ties with him, his blood still flowed through your veins. It sounded like everyone considered you guilty by association and made Lith feel dirty inside.

    "Exactly." Morok nodded. "Don''t worry about this and go on with your lives. I''ll deal with this to the best of my ability and with the help of the Council. Even though I don''t feel responsible for that fucker''s actions, I still want to be the one to erase every trace of his legacy from the face of Mogar.

    "Also, I want to make sure that those like Echidna have a shot at a normal life. I won''t let the Council exterminate them all out of prejudice. I owe her that much and with Master Ajatar''s help, I can do this. Morok out."

    "Well¡­" Lith tapped his lips with his forefinger, a pensive expression on his face as he pondered what would be the most profitable course of action.

    All of that crumbled when he saw the res aimed at him. Solus, Kam, and even Elina were staring at him in a silent warning to not mention loot or anything that might be gained by raiding Glemos''b.

    Solus was still deadly pale, feeling guilty for not having alerted the Kingdom instead of throwing herself mindlessly into the battle. Another consequence of not having Lith in her head 24/7 was that no one now kept her emotions in check and nned ahead.

    ''If I was more detached and less worried about my patients, I could have saved countless more lives. I was so focused on protecting Ne''sra that I failed to see the bigger picture.'' Solus was shivering from a coldness born out of guilt and regret.

    Tista fared no better either. She was still trembling from the shock of the violent loss of her feathers and her back kept slowly bleeding. The number of casualties that now weighed on her shoulders had brought her near the breaking point.

    Nyka felt horrible as well and the mood in the room was so dark that there might as well be a total eclipse. Only Lith and Dawn seemed to be uncaring for those tragic events.

    "This is a crisis but also an opportunity." The Horseman said, uncaring for what the others thought of her. "ording to the news I''ve received from my loyalists in the Courts, the Harmonizers work on undead as well.

    "We should take part in the search party, Nyka."

    "How could you say that? Do you have no shame?" The Vampire replied in outrage.

    Seeing her arguing with herself was bothical and creepy to Lith.

    ''I wonder if this is how everyone feels while Solus and I have our mind links in front of them.'' He thought.

    "Shame won''t fix the ws of our brethren. Remember that, unlike monsters, undead seldom have children. We need a perfect Harmonizer if we want to ovee the limitations of Mother''s design and reach new heights." Dawn replied.

    "I''m sorry guys." Nyka gave them a bow in apology and moved the quarrel into the Mind Space.

    Seeing her expression change as the white light from the Horseman came and go from her eyes gave Lith a mile and then some in the shoes of his loved ones.

    ''Scratchical. That''s creepy as fuck.'' Looking at Nyka''s face it was hard to say where the Horseman finished and the Vampire started.

    ''More importantly, if Dawn didn''t light their eyes and changed their voice on purpose, we wouldn''t even know who''s talking.'' Lith thought.

    "Okay." He sighed in relief now that everyone red at Dawn and he wasn''t the biggest jerk in the room anymore. "I''d say we all need a break. I''ll do everything I can to heal Tista. Solus, do you need some sleep or¡­?"

    Lith left the words hanging, afraid to be falling for the siren of their mutual addiction. Solus fiddled with the stone ring on her finger, wishing solely to give it back to Lith and let her human body fade.

    It would make her strength recover at a much quicker rate and it would soothe all of her worries. His coldness would be her own and in the fortress of his heart, her conscience would find rest.

    ''I can''t do it. It would be the easy way out.'' She thought. ''I need to stand on my own feet.''

    "I can use some nourishment." She actually said, her mouth moving faster than her brain.

    Her human body disappeared and the stone ring flew at Lith''s finger, making them both whole again. They both sighed in relief, feeling like they could breathe again as the world around them seemed brighter and its colors more vibrant.

    ''I''m sorry.'' Solus sniffled. ''I know I shouldn''t have done it, but I can''t bear the thought of all those people dying because of me. Not alone.''

    ''I''m sorry too.'' Lith replied. ''I should have kept my mouth shut instead of offering us the easy way out. Instead of helping you, I enabled you.''

    ''I guess that getting used to being on our own will be much harder than I thought. Now let''s stop this. People are staring.''

 Chapter 2418 Past Chains (Part 2)

    Lith and Solus had gone back to their silent routine while his eyes shed, making him into a matching set with Nyka.

    The group decided to stay in the Verhen mansion along with the rest of the family. Solus didn''te out of her ring until lunch, using her need to fix her life force as an excuse.

    The presence of the mana geyser and the tower allowed everyone to quickly recover their strength. By the end of the meal, Tista''s back had stopped bleeding but she felt so tired that she went to bed immediately after.

    Once Solus reformed her human body, she spent the rest of the day helping Elina and Kam to choose the furniture for the mansion while Lith worked. He was also in charge of keeping contact with the Council and the Kingdom, letting the others rx.

    Luckily, between their mothers reassuring them and the aura of power of their rtives, the kids quickly got over the bad news.

    Rena and Elina had to doctor the events a bit, iming that the army had arrived in time to rescue most of the citizens, but they found it pointless to make them worry again while the embers of the War of the Griffons had yet to die out.

    Abominus and Onyx nudged them to go out and y which made wonders for the mood. The Queen''s gardeners had already nted flower bushes and arranged topiary beasts nearby the mansion.

    With their respective sweet scent and fantastic forms, they gave the noble household a fairy tale allure that soon made the children forget about everything.

    "What is that?" Nyka pointed through a window at the creature Aran used as his steed.

    It looked like a saber-toothed tiger, but it had eight legs and its dark fur was simr to that of a ck panther. A set of purple membranous wings came out of its back that had bony spikesing out of the five finger-like tips.

    "It''s the form Onyx achieved upon bing an Emperor Beast." Elina said. "She has no bloodline abilities like Life Maelstrom or Origin mes, which both she and Aran regret. Also Lith." She chuckled while her son grunted.

    "Aran has named her species Utgard, like the shadow fairy who''s supposed to protect children from bad dreams."

    "Because she''s ck?" Nyka asked.

    "No, because of that." Elina pointed at Onyx who after shaking off Abominus behind a tall bush became translucent at first and then disappeared. Aran quickly followed with about a second of dy.

    "What the heck?" Even using her enhanced senses and Life Vision, the Vampire couldn''t spot any trace of the Utgard.

    "Felines are predators." Lith replied. "My guess is that Onyx''s species is specialized in stealth and deception. She secretes a substance that covers her and anyone of her choosing, bending the light to perfection."

    "Doesn''t she get blinded as well?" Nyka asked.

    "Yes, but she still has her nose, ears, and Earth Vision." Lith nodded. "Shyfs are naturally attuned to earth and air and Utgards bring it to the next level. As long as her prey walks on the ground, she sees better than you and me."

    "Does she have more bloodline abilities?" She stared at Onyx''sst know position, noticing that when the Utgard moved, she also created a distortion that exposed her presence as long as one paid attention.

    "Yes, but I''m keeping them a secret." Lith shrugged. "They arebat-rted and if no one knows, no one can expect them."

    "Do you really trust me so little? Even after we know each other for so long?" Nyka felt hurt by his words.

    "As long as you are with Dawn, yes, I don''t trust you much. You are young and na?ve. You might run your mouth without even noticing."

    The Vampire lowered her gaze and said nothing. She knew that Lith was right but his words didn''t hurt any less for that.

    ''Jerk.'' Solus chided him.

    ''Thanks.'' Lith replied with a wide smile.

    ''For what?''

    ''I missed even your reproaches.'' He was so happy that Solus deemed further scolding to be a reward instead of a punishment.

    After a few hours, Solus got tired of drapes and bedstands. She found Lith''s newest design for the Tablets to be much more interesting. Solus hadn''t entered a magicb since the beginning of her trip and she had an itch that only Forgemastering could scratch.

    ''What do you say if we excuse ourselves and sneak into the tower''s Workshop to perform a few experiments away from prying eyes?'' She asked.

    ''That it sounds dirty.'' Lith replied.

    ''I meant to check if this version of the Tablets is superior to the one we developed before I left!'' Solus blushed up to her ears.

    ''I know, but it sounds dirty anyway.'' Lith nodded. ''I''m stealing that.''

    They spent the rest of the afternoon in the Workshop, tinkering with the Tablets until dinnertime. The Workshop worked simrly to Creation Magic, conjuring materials identical to the original that could be endlessly recycled.

    Lith was happy to have someone capable of understanding his work and thanks to Solus'' input, he managed to sort out a few unexpected issues and to further improve the blueprints thanks to her creativity.

    Solus was even happier thanks to her life force and mana core thriving by the second and the pleasure of losing herself in her work. There was joy in traveling through Mogar and seeing new things but there was even more back home.

    Both of them were happy because their lives seemed to have gone back on track and their minds to have found their bnce again.

    ''Too bad that this just proves how co-dependent we are.'' They thought and sighed in unison, reverting from "I" to "we" in the space of a few minutes. ''Getting over this will be even harder than we thought, and we considered it arduous.''

    Kam went to visit them a few times and brought them a snack to force them to take a break.

    ''Not only is Lith much more patient and rxed than usual, but it''s also much easier to get him off work when Solus is busy stuffing her face.'' Kam thought. ''I don''t like this one bit, but I knew what was I getting myself into when I proposed to him.''

    Tista woke up for the dinner, checking her wings as soon as she stood up. She had gone to sleep in her room in the tower, hoping that the influx of world energy would help her to recover.

    "Dammit! My wounds have closed up but there''s no trace of new feathers in the bald spots." She checked her exposed skin with her Demon Eyes but saw no sign of growth.

    Touching her wings now caused her no pain but their surface was smooth, with no small bumps indicating that her body was umting nutrients to rece the missing plumes.

    "You are back only from a few hours, little sis." Rena caressed Tista''s head. "Don''t be a Lith and be patient."

    "Hey!" Lith grumbled. "Since when is my name an insult?"

    "Not an insult, dear." Elina caressed his face. "Just a reminder that one shouldn''t rush in life and grumble as little as they can."

 Chapter 2419 As A Child (Part 1)

    "Sounds like an insult to me." Lith mumbled under his breath.

    "It''s easy for you to tell me to be patient, Rena." Tista replied. "Awakened heal on their own in hours even from crippling wounds. Heck, even a fake mage by now would have regrown an entire leg with a spell. How can a few feathers take so long?"

    "I don''t know." Rena shook her head. "But I also know that worrying so much would do you no good."

    "It''s not just the feathers." Tista folded her wings into her back, incapable of looking at them any longer. "I feel like something precious has been taken away from me. Like I''m missing a piece of my soul and the phantom pain is driving me crazy.

    "How did you treat your wing injuries, lil bro?"

    "I never sustained injuries to my feathered wings." Lith replied. "In my Wyrmling form, I only had membranous wings. The feathers appeared at the deep violet core but by then I was already 20 meters (66'') tall and weighed tons.

    "Ripping even one of my feathers off required skill and strength above that of a monster. What I can tell you, is that back when I wentpletely bald at the academy, it took me a whole night''s rest to get new hair after it had been burned to the root.

    "Maybe it''s the same for you."

    "Maybe." Tista sighed. "Or maybe your Dragon blood helped you to hide your feathers until you were strong enough to protect them."

    The dinner was joyful since the kids were happy to have their aunts back and wanted to hear everything about their travels. Tista did her best to smile a lot and don''t worry about her wings, but her hands unconsciously moved to her back often.

    When the following morning her condition showed no improvement, she started to get desperate.

    "I''ve waited long enough! You do what you want, I''m calling Grandma." All the members of the Verhen family had Sark on the speed dial and the Overlord answered immediately.

    Even through the hologram, Sark could feel Tista''s anguish and desperation thanks to her Blood Imprint bloodline ability.

    Once the Red Demon was done telling Sark everything, the Guardian had already crossed the dimensional Gate from her pce to the mansion.

    "You did the right thing calling me, Featherling." Sark said. "You are not like your brother. My blood runs thicker into your veins and for a Phoenix, the plumes on her wings aren''t just a decoration.

    "They are our bond with the sky and the means through which even our newborns can conjure Origin mes. Without them, we are crippled."

    "Are you telling me that my condition is permanent?" Tista turned pale in shock.

    "Don''t be silly! Of course it''s treatable. Growing new feathers is something that every Phoenix teaches their hatchlings before letting them fly for the first time. I didn''t tell you about it because I thought you wouldn''t need it.

    "Turns out I was wrong." Sark shrugged. "Happens even to Guardians."

    "What would have happened if it was me instead of Tista and one or more of my Void Sigils was damaged?" Lith asked.

    "Once second." Sark used her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to scan Lith''s feathers from top to bottom. "You would be in Tista''s same condition and the soul stored within would be lost."

    "Can''t my Demons just pick another?" Lith felt his throat tighten.

    "Can''t we please fix my real injuries before worrying about Lith''s hypothetical wounds?" Tista felt her patience run thin.

    Knowing that she could heal only made her want to feel whole again more.

    "I''m sorry, Featherling you are right." Sark caressed her head. "It''s incredibly simple. Turn into your Red Demon form."

    Tista did as bidden and shapeshifted into her hybrid body. The transformation caused her so much pain that it made her want to cry. As a Red Demon, she felt the flow of her mana being interrupted whenever it reached the bald spots of her wings.

    Everything felt wrong with her. Her scales looked duller than usual and even the beat of her heart sounded off. It was like her body wasn''t her own anymore and she was now inhabiting a stranger''s.

    "Now, take a deep breath, just like you would to conjure your Origin mes, but instead of breathing them out of your mouth like a Dragon, move them to your wings like a Phoenix." Sark said.

    Tista followed her instructions, but aside from her remaining feathers being set aze and the bald spot burning like an open wound nothing happened.

    "You are almost there. The final step is to listen to the beat of your heart and let your inner fire dance to its rhythm. A Dragon''s fire is born from his lungs whereas his heart is where his mana umtes.

    "For a Phoenix, instead, our fire is born from our heart which embodies our feelings and passions. Your feathers are an extension of your inmost self and to make them grow back you just have to restore the connection."

    Tista closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, excluding every other noise until the only things she could hear were the air going in and out of her nose and the steady thumping of her heart.

    ''Now what?'' After a few seconds, not only had nothing happened yet, but her mind was being filled with too many worries and random thoughts to feel the void in her mind. ''What am I doing wrong? Grandma said this was supposed to be easy!''

    Tista took a deep breath to cool down and then changed her mind.

    ''Gods if I''m stupid. This is something Phoenixes learn as babies and what a baby would do in my ce after getting hurt is throw a tantrum. I don''t need to calm down. I''m not a damn Dragon, I''m a Phoenix and I need to rage!''

    Tista let her pain and worry flow along with her mes as her heartbeat elerated. She embraced the fury from her wounded wings and the resentment she felt for the trolls who had vited her body with their fanged hands.

    Tista screamed in frustration, reliving those painful moments in her head and wishing to go back in time to give her enemies the painful death they deserved. As she stopped fighting her emotions, the Origin mes moved from her wings to the rest of her body.

    The Red Demon was now a burning pyre yet not a spark cked the floor nor did she produce heat. Lith and her family were just a few steps away but they had no problem breathing, the air still fresh.

    The fire that Tista was producing wasn''t a weapon but a physical manifestation of her true self. It danced with the rhythm of her heart elerating whenever rage or sadness shook her and slowing down only when she needed to catch her breath.

    Tista noticed that there was still no trace of her missing feathers but now she didn''t care. She could now feel the void in the bald spots through the flow of her mes and all she had to do was fill it.

    The Red Demon took another breath, sending a burst of Origin mes through her bloodstream right at the injured areas of her wings.

 Chapter 2420 As A Child (Part 2)

    A burst of emerald mes came out of her flesh, painting the room green.

    When the fire died out, her wings were whole again. New and perfectly formed feathers now covered the bald spots as if the injury had never been there in the first ce.

    Everything felt right again, her body familiar, and Tista''s heart burst with an intoxicating feeling of joy. She drew more breaths, to not let that joy nor the fire stop.

    ''I can feel it. I can feel my fire, my blood, and my heart moving in unison. They are one and the same.'' She thought. ''What about my mana? Why I don''t feel it? Why should it be any different?''

    Tista started to weave the runes of the simplest spells she knew with her body, discovering that the method she had used to circte her mana until that moment was ungraceful and clunky, like dancing with hard shoes.

    It was still feasible, but the movements resulted awkward and the constant pain made it hard to enjoy the music.

    She discarded everything she had learned until that moment and let the magical runes flow through her blood at the same rhythm as the Origin mes, discovering that her spellcasting had turned smooth and required no effort.

    She could feel the runes effortlessly moving through her auxiliary cores, their sequence falling into ce by itself instead of needing to be guided with a steady hand.

    As the mana flow increased, Tista moved to moreplex and powerful spells, quickly reaching the tier four and five that until the day prior had been impossible to perform.

    Usually, her auxiliary cores couldn''t hold such powerful runes even after reaching a semi-spherical state and they would burst along with her flesh whenever Tista tried to make them flow by force.

    This time the runes encountered no resistance and the power they carried helped the auxiliary cores to further develop, nearing their perfect form. Tista drew a final breath and started to weave a tier five spell, knowing that she had finally done it.

    ''One more. Just one more and I''ll reach the-'' Her mind froze in shock as a pir of golden light appeared around her.

    Along with the first rune of the tier five spell she was weaving, Searing Wave, she could also feel that her life forces were starting to merge. The silver star of the Dragon, the red star of the Phoenix, and the human life forces were all breaking apart.

    Yet it wasn''t an act of destruction, simply the necessary first step to build together something new where they would all fit together in harmony.

    "No!" Tista yelled at the top of her lungs, cutting the spell off.

    The mana flow, the Origin mes, and the golden pir disappeared together as she fell to her knees. Tista wrapped her arms around herself, shivering from an unnatural coldness that was in stark contrast with the warmth of the room.

    "What happened? Are you alright?" Lith took a step forward but he didn''t touch her, afraid that the process might resume at any moment and that his presence might mess with the result.

    "No. I''m not." Tista looked at her hands and contracted her fingers over and over.

    She was d to see her pink skin instead of scales and short flimsy nails instead of razor-sharp ws. Yet fear still gripped her heart and with it, the coldness that made her shudder.

    "What''s gone wrong? You were this close to reaching the violet and turning into-"

    "A monster." Tista cut Lith short, the word making him take a step back as if she had pped him.

    "Oh gods, little brother, I''m so sorry." The moment she saw the pain she had caused him and the rest of her family, Tista found the strength to stand up and ran into his arms. "I swear, I didn''t mean it."

    "What did you mean, then?" Lith wanted his voice to sound cold, but as Tista broke down in tears while hugging him with all of her strength, his anger disappeared and was reced by worry.

    No matter how rude, a single word couldn''t erase the years they had lived together and the love Tista had showered him with ever since Lith was a baby.

    "I''m not as strong as you are, Lith. I''m scared." She sobbed. "I''m scared of losing my humanity. Scared of turning into someone else. I know that you, Mom, Dad, Rena, and Solus would ept me anyway, but I saw how much you changed after bing a Tiamat.

    "I saw you struggle to express the slightest emotion and how much focus it took you to not break us every time you touched us. What if turning into whatevery beyond the Red Demon also turns me into someone different?

    "What if I can''t get used to a world where everyone else is as frail as an egg and I hurt someone I love? If I were to hurt Aran, Leria, or Kam, I would never forgive myself. I''m afraid of losing my life as I know and love it."

    Lith''s eyes went wide in surprise, realizing what the word monster truly meant for her. Tista wasn''t scared of changing her physical appearance but of the idea of bing a threat to the people around her.

    To be forced into a self-imposed exile with Sark''s nest because she wasn''t fit for human life any longer.

    ''Poor Tista.'' Lith gently caressed her back and hair. ''Her situation ispletely different from mine. I achieved the deep violet core while I was fighting Jormun because I needed it to survive.

    ''Mine wasn''t a choice but something that I did on the spur of the moment without the time to think about the consequences. All I cared about was to not die in that cave and stop Thrud. I found my answer in the chaos of battle and I embraced it because it saved my life.

    ? ''Tista, instead, has found her answer in the quiet of peace and she refuses it because it offers her nothing but a new path with unknown consequences from which there is no turning back.''

    "I always wanted to be like you." Tista sniffled. "You are not a monster. You are my hero. It was easy to daydream about bing a Divine Beast like you when the violet core was still far away but now that it''s standing before me, I''m scared.

    "I''m so sorry. I''m proud of what you achieved but I don''t know if I''m strong enough to do what you did. To learn how to live as a Divine Beast from scratch. Please, don''t hate me."

    "I could never hate you." Lith held her tight, not knowing what else to say.

    "There''s no need to be ashamed." Elina joined the embrace. "I don''t care if you decide to remain human, to turn into a Divine Beast, or to never achieve the violet and stay a hybrid. I will always love you."

    "We will always love you." Raaz kissed Tista''s head. "I already risked losing you when you were a child. Whatever you choose to be, I''ll never abandon you. Never."

    As Tista sobbed, Elina remembered her own words about wishing that her grandchildren would have a little more skin and fewer scales, fearing to be one of the reasons her daughter was so scared of the change.

 Chapter 2421 Lingering Conflict (Part 1)

    Once she calmed down, Tista felt so tired that she went immediately back to bed, hoping to sleep everything off like a bad dream.

    "Thanks foring to our help, Mother." Elina said once they had moved back to the living room and she offered the Overlord the best sweets they had.

    "Don''t mention it, child." Sark shook her head, epting a cup of honeyed tea. "I''m always d to help my blood ovee a crisis. I should have taught Lith and Tista how to regrow their feathers back when they came to the Desert for the first time.

    "If it wasn''t for me, this would have never happened."

    "It''s not your fault, Grandma." Lith said. "I guess that picking your race for the rest of your life on a clear mind isn''t easy at all. I don''t know if in Tista''s shoes, I''d have acted any different and I''m honestly happy that when it was up to me, I didn''t have much of a choice."

    "Indeed." The Overlord sighed. "Most of my children have years to make up their minds but when the momentes, when they have to discard something that they have gotten used to their whole life, they are all terrified.

    "Sometimes, those who imed to want to be a Phoenix, change their mind at thest second because they can''t bear the thought of having feathers instead of skin and wings instead of hands.

    "In the same way, those who bragged about how they would never abandon their humanity, end up bing Phoenixes because they are not willing to relinquish the power and longevity thates with being a Divine Beast.

    "I''m not going to lie, for a moment I feared that''s what was going to happen to Tista. That once she stopped her life forces from merging, they would have started shing among themselves and she would have been forced to choose one right away."

    "Could it have happened?" Raaz asked, fear draining the blood from his face.

    "Yes." Sark nodded. "Had she rejected her Divine Beast nature, it would have thrown the delicate bnce between her life forces into disarray and she would have be no different from a hybrid who hase to age."

    "What saved her?" Lith asked.

    "Her admiration for you, dear." The Overlord replied. "What makes you an oddity is that despite being born a man, you never considered your Abomination and Beast sides as something different from yourself.

    "Like all hybrids, there was a barrier separating them once they formed, but you wore it down over time by epting not only their power but also their essence. It seems easy, but it''s actually very difficult.

    "It''s not about mere eptance or resignation. You don''t have to get used to having lost or gained a limb but to consider all of your forms like your true form."

    "What about Tista?" Lith was aware that due to his reincarnation problem, epting Lith''s/Strata''s body had been as easy as epting his hybrid nature.

    He was actually Derek McCoy and ever since his second childhood, he had considered his own physical appearance irrelevant and his existence a mystery. Compared to being an undeading from a distant, being a hybrid kind of made sense.

    On top of that, Solus had wholeheartedly epted him since the day they had met while Kam had helped him to get ustomed to his hybrid form in ways he had never considered possible.

    "She never rejected her other natures because of you." Sark replied. "Ever since she was a child, Tista wanted to be like you. She started by bing a healer, then she joined the White Griffon, and then she even began adventuring.

    "Once you became a hybrid, that became her new dream. You were her cool shapeshifting brother and once again, Tista would have given an arm and a leg to follow in your footsteps."

    "What about Shargein?" Raaz asked in confusion.

    "He is different. There is no barrier between his life forces and unless he himself creates one, there will never be. As soon as his body bes strong enough to handle that kind of power, his life forces will be capable of merging.

    "Age and mana core won''t matter, only his own will." Sark said.

    "Grandma, are my feathers the same as Tista''s?" Lith asked, receiving a nod for a reply. "What about the Void Sigils? Why can''t a soul just move from a plucked feather to a healthy one?"

    "Because the Void Sigil is the only feather that bears the rune of the true essence of your Demons. Consider the phenomenon as if when you ept a soul as your follower, you also allow them to imprint one of your feathers.

    "It allows your Demons to bear your energy imprint and form a bond with you that keeps them from moving on even after venting the feelings that hold them here. Without the Sigil, the tether is broken and they fade away before they can create another."

    "I see." Lith nodded. "I''ll have to be extra careful then."

    Aran and Leria barged in, demanding their breakfast and worried by the disappearance of their respective parents. Nyka was worried about Tista, but she couldn''t pay her a visit without the risk that Dawn might wonder what secretsy in the Verhen mansion.

    "What about your trip, Aunt Solus?" Leria asked once she was done eating. "Are you going to leave as soon as Aunt Tista gets better?"

    "Maybe and maybe not." Solus shrugged. "Why, are you already sick of having me around?"

    "No. It''s just that tomorrow Aunt Kam has to go back to work and Uncle Lith with her. If you stay, are you going to spend your time with them or us?" Judging from the sparkles in her eyes, Leria hoped to have her aunts all for herself.

    "I''ll stay with you and Aran." Solus replied, making the kids shout with joy. "I''ll teach you a lot of new cool spells."

    The cheers became louder while the frown of Elina and Rena became sterner.

    "You mean responsible spells." Rena said with a snort. "Thest thing I need is having them throwing fireballs at each other while they y."

    "Of course." Solus nodded, blushing in embarrassment.

    "Are you going to live here as well?" Aran asked Nyka, looking at her in a funny way.

    "Yes. Is that a problem?" She nodded while taking a sip from her "juice".

    "No, but what can you do exactly? Why aren''t you eating and why aren''t you as pretty as the other Aunties that my brother brings home?"

    "You are a true gentleman, aren''t you?" Nyka giggled, knowing that the charm that undeath bestowed upon her had no effect on a child. "What about Aunt Kam then?"

    "Hey!" Kam spat out her tea, knowing that just like the members of the Verhen family, the level of beauty of Awakened women was in a league of its own.

    "Aunt Kam is prettier than you and she''s very kind." Aran shrugged, making her gloat. "Sure, she''s no Aunt Friya, but at least she has saved my big brother from dying alone, right Daddy?"

    "At least?" Kam red at Raaz who tried to walk away with an excuse but Elina nailed him to his chair.

 Chapter 2422 Lingering Conflict (Part 2)

    "Dying alone?" Lith echoed. "Thanks for your vote of confidence, Dad."

    "I swear to the gods, I said that only once years ago!" Raaz raised his palms out in surrender.

    Aran wanted to point out that it had happened more than once over the years and list the various asions on his fingers but no one seemed interested.

    His father was begging him to shut up and despite his young age, Aran wasn''t that slow on the uptake.

    "So what can you do? Are you an Awakened?" He asked.

    "Yep." Nyka nodded.

    "Are you a Divine Beast? Are you a Griffon? I''ve never ridden a Griffon!"

    "No, I''m a human."

    "Ah." Aran''s tone fell t, without even trying to hide his disappointment. An Awakened human who wasn''t even pretty was bound to be weak and uncool.

    "Not any Awakened. I''m a Vampire." Nyka started to feel offended and decided to regain a bit of dignity by showing off her long fangs.

    "Do you drink blood like a mosquito?" Aran was unimpressed. Onyx''s fangs were longer and she was way bigger.

    "Yes, but I can also do this." Beingpared to pests was thest straw. "You don''t want any more cookies."

    "Yeah, I feel full already." Aran said, his eyes empty as Nyka caressed his head and used Mesmerism on him.

    "The poor Leria must be hungry. As her uncle, you should share the cookies with her."

    "Poor Leria." Aran nodded, full ofpassion for his niece. "Do you- Hey, I''m not full at all and I don''t want to share my biscuits! I''m not getting more until lunch."

    "I''m sorry, Leria. We almost got him." Nyka shrugged apologetically.

    "Don''t worry, Auntie. There''s always next time." Leria would have loved a double serving, but she took defeat with dignity.

    "Wait was that one of your Vampire powers?" Aran asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Cool! Can you use it on our Moms and make them give us ice cream whenever we want?"

    "No, I''m sorry. Moms are naturally immune to all kinds of powers." Nyka''s words made Aran and Leria groan and saved the Vampire from their parents'' re.

    "Too bad. What else you can do?"

    After that, it didn''t take Nyka much to gain the kids'' trust and admiration. As soon as breakfast was over, they dragged her and Solus outside to y with them.

    Lith left the dining room as well and went to the magicalboratories that the Royals were building for him. It was the only part of the mansion that he didn''t mind furnishing since he needed a ce to work during Solus'' absence and it was paid by the Royals like everything else.

    Raaz tried to leave for a digesting walk in the park but discovered that Elina still gripped his wrist.

    "We need to talk." She said with a frown matched by the stern expression on Rena''s and Kam''s faces.

    Raaz whimpered and silently prayed to the gods for a swift death.

    s, the Guardians of Garlen unanimously wanted Elysia to meet her grandfather and dismissed his request as frivolous.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, Constables Headquarters.

    While Solus remained at the Mansion to help Elina to take care of Tista and spend time with her and the kids, Kam Warped to Valeron for her first day on the job without Jirni.

    She was very tense due to the hazing she had suffered ever since she had married Lith and the cruel words with which people now also addressed her unborn daughter, like it had happened during the g.

    "I swear that this is really my briefcase, not a Doppelganger ready to eat me the moment you turn your head." Lith following her like an overprotective shadow didn''t help her rx either.

    "It looks heavy and you can''t use dimensional amulets in Valeron. Are you sure you don''t want me to carry it for you?"

    "Lith, I can literally lift a couch with one hand!" Normal Awakened would gain only a slight increase in strength with each breakthrough until the cyan core and Kam had yet to reach the yellow.

    Yet pregnancy and the Divine Beast''s blood flowing through her veins increased her magical and physical prowess as Elysia grew.

    "You lifted a couch?" Lith said in horror. "What if you strained your- Never mind."

    They had established a secret code between them. When Kam red at him like she wanted to kill him, Lith had to shut up.

    The Constable Headquarters was located in a wing of Valeron''s High Tribunal. Like any civic building that wasn''t the Royal Pce, it was built to be functional with no luxury items of sorts.

    Its corridors were painted with a light blue that covered the ceiling and the walls. At every corner, there were white road signs that helped visitors and neers to find their way in the maze of the administrative building.

    There were soldiers constantly patrolling in search of intruders and anyone with at least a medium level of clearance had their own security detail.

    The only furniture was flower vases to make the ce look less like a prison and trash bins made of a transparent substance that magically arranged the trash in distinctyers, making it impossible to hide explosive devices.

    The average person found it ustrophobic and oppressive, needing several weeks to get used to the frequent security checks and mandatory pat-downs.

    Lith instead, found it reassuring and moved like a shark in the ocean.

    Normally a Constable would draw no interest and the many clerks running up and down the corridors with documents and important updates wouldn''t give Kam a second nce.

    Having Lith by her side wearing his Supreme Magus golden and white Robe, however, caused the clerks to stop abruptly. They often bumped into each other and dropped their papers, turning the light green of the floor white.

    ''At least we are skipping all those annoying first-day security checks.'' Kam inwardly sighed as even the guards of her new office let them go with a deep bow as soon as the scan confirmed Lith''s identity.

    They reached the office of Archon Jenma Griffon early since no one had stopped them to search her briefcase and had asked any questions about their presence in that wing.

    The soldiers patrolling the corridors were unrelenting with new faces but Lith''s was well known. The guards needed just to check his white and golden robe to let both him and Kam go without any further inspection.

    The images of the award ceremony of the g had been broadcasted throughout the Kingdom to honor the heroes who had restored peace and showcase to the citizens that the famine was about to be over.

    Celebrations had already been scheduled in all the regions of the Kingdom to follow up the Royal G. The food was still scarce, but Meron needed to prove with more than words that the harshness of war was over and that there were no winners nor losers.

    Only the Griffon Kingdom.

    Hence all the regions, no matter along which side they had fought, were going to be treated equally and celebrate the end of the conflict. The re-unification of the Kingdom wouldn''te true until its people had a reason to rejoice for it instead of missing the Mad Queen.

 Chapter 2423 Council Chambers (Part 1)

    Once they reached the office of Archon Jenma Griffon, Kam stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath to calm down. The Hush spells of the door soundproofed it, but she could almost hear the shuffling of steps and the voices on the other side.

    Once she opened the door, everything was a mirror image of Jirni''s office, yet the simrities ended with the furniture.

    She didn''t know any of the Constables in the room and even the arrangement of cabs and desks was alien to her.

    All Archons had their own private office where they would receive important members of the Court and keep the top-secret files regarding the cases they followed. Their assistant Constables took the rest of the space, their desks arranged through a square room with a side of 30 meters (100'').

    There was no wall between them nor privacy, allowing the Constables to easily pass the documents to their neighbors and check on their activity. Keeping a secret in the office was nigh impossible and so was any illegal activity.

    Everyone stopped what they were doing and silence fell over the room when Kam walked through the door. All eyes went to the unwee neer, staring at her like a criminal they had to interrogate instead of a colleague.

    Lith was right behind her, his appearance drawing the gazes to himself. He bore none of the bestial features with which they had pictured him yet once their eyes met, Constables and clerks found themselves staring at him.

    For one moment, they could feel an unbridled hatred addressed to them tempered only by the presence of the woman in front of him. They could see glimpses of the office set aze while everything they cared for burned and spindly shadows devoured everyone they loved.

    It was just one moment, but enough to cover them in a cold sweat and make them hold their breath until their lungs started to burn.

    "Constable Yehval, wee to the team." Jenma hadn''t experienced any difort from inside her office and hade out as soon as the familiar noise of work stopped. "There''s a lot to do and we can use some help."

    "Thank you, Archon Griffon." The two women shook hands. "Where can I sit?"

    "I had a desk prepared for you and another for Supreme Magus Verhen." She pointed at a corner of the room near the windows. "It''s a pleasure meeting you, Magus Verhen. Thanks for your service."

    "The pleasure is mine." The moment Lith lowered his gaze to meet his host''s, the rest of the room heaved in relief as they finally remembered how to breathe and resumed their activity. "If there''s anything I can do to help, you just have to ask."

    "Please, be silent and keep everything you might hear to yourself. Even a rumor slipping out of this room might ruin weeks of hard work." Jenma gave him a small bow as she led them to their stations.

    "What''s in the program for today?" Kam asked.

    "The same thing we have done since the end of the war." The Archon patted on a pile of documents that reached her eye level that was ced in the to-do tray on Kam''s desk.

    "Triple-check the evidence against the traitors and prepare everything the judge needs to determine their sentence. There are thousands of ongoing trials and most of our daily activity is about making them happen in a reasonable time."

    "Do I have to finish the pile by today?" Kam kept a stray face, but she swallowed hard.

    "Gods, no. That''s just your share." Jenma chuckled. "Do as much as you can. The rest can wait until tomorrow. Don''t worry if the pile gets bigger instead of smaller while you work. The cases are constantly rearranged in order of priority."

    Those words earned Kam plenty of new res that burned at her back. Everyone hated a neer who not only was a renowned oath breaker but who also got special treatment.

    She and Lith sat at their respective desks and took what they needed from their briefcases. Kam needed a notebook to jot down the weakest points of a case and her thoughts about the collected evidence.

    Lith, instead, checked the blueprints of his creations and reced runes with more efficient ones whenever he spotted a clunky sequence. He had no need to consult his grimoires because they were already stored in Soluspedia to which he could ess even without Solus.

    Soon everyone was too busy with their work to keep staring at them and the room became a noisy mess again. Whenever the door opened, Lith''s eyes didn''t move from the Tablet''s blueprints but the set on his forehead opened, following the neer''s every move until they left the room.

    The same thing happened whenever a Constable passed or requested a document from Kam. Her desk never remained unguarded, even when she went to the bathroom. Those who loved gossiping had to remain silent, Lith''s mana-infused eyes finding them the moment they opened their mouth.

    Kam''s work was hard and the unfriendly atmosphere made it even harder, yet not finding dead rats or other "presents" upon her return was still a nice change of pace.

    "It''s almost eight o''clock. Time for your hourly check-up." Lith seemed to have materialized in front of her desk, making her yelp in surprise.

    "What do you mean hourly? You can''t do this at work." She blushed, seeing that everyone had stopped to see what was happening.

    "Watch me." Lith took her wrist, using Invigoration to check the mana core, pulse, and heartbeat of both mother and child.

    Elysia was steadily progressing toward the red, her small heart pumping quickly as her body developed. Kam was days away from the deep yellow, the excess energy Elysia produced was absorbed by her mother''s body and core, refining them.

    "Your blood sugar is low and the baby is hungry." Lith pulled a doggy bag out of his briefcase that contained biscuits fresh from the oven and milk.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨¾?¦Í¨º|¡¤§ã¨®§® "Did you really bring food at work?" Kam was bbergasted and peckish as a sudden craving made her bite at a biscuit despite the embarrassment she felt.

    "There''s more where that came from." He nodded before returning to his station.

    The sweet smell wafted through the room, making more than one stomach gurgle. Lith visited her every hour, bringing her more food and moving anything heavy for her. He even took care of her scut work to allow her to focus on the trials.

    Kam felt deeply embarrassed while her colleague gaped at a Magus acting like an assistant. The only silver lining was that with no interruptions and no fear of hazing, the pile of documents reviewed almost matched the one she had yet to examine.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen, your presence is requested in the King''s Council Chamber." A Great Mage in his fifties had walked up to Lith''s desk before giving him a deep bow.

    "It''s time for my appointment." Lith rolled up the blueprints in a single scroll. "Today we are going to discuss the Tablets. I don''t know how long the meeting willst, but I''ll be back as soon as I can."

    He red through the room, making sure that the message had been received.

 Chapter 2424 Council Chambers (Part 2)

    "War, you know what to do." Lith took the angry de hung to his hip and put it in front of Kam''s desk.

    "Kill. Kill. And kill!" Thetches of the sheath writhed like angry snakes, their clicks producing words with a voice that nothing had of human and didn''t even try to sound like one.

    "No, protect." Lith chided it. "Think of the baby."

    "Daughter!" War whined, the memory of Phloria''s death still haunting it. For some reason, Elysia had reced Phloria as the sword''s primary mission, making War''s obsession with the baby almost as bad as Lith''s.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® Almost.

    "If hurt, kill?" The angry de moaned like a puppy begging for a treat.

    "No, if you even suspect they are trying to hurt her, you can get out of your sheath." Lith shook his head, making War emit a shrieking wail of excitement.

    The de started to float above Kam''s desk, the two violet crystals on either side of the hilt glowing like eyes as War spun around non-stop, leaving no blind spot in its patrol.

    "Guys, you know what to do." Four six-eyed Demons armed to the teeth emerged from Lith''s shadow, assuming a square formation with Kam at its center. "Do you want the Golems too?"

    "For the gods'' sake, just go!" Kam shooed him.

    "You are right, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish." Lith ignored her silent plea and the horrified gazes of her fellow Constables. "Love you."

    "I love you more." She replied with a sigh, waiting for the door to close. "Guys, there''s no need for this level of security. Can you please go away? You are scaring everyone."

    "You heard the Lady." Locrias said. "Covert mode, engage!"

    The four Demons merged with the shadows in the room, making it impossible to determine their current position and creeping the Constables out even more.

    ''This is even worse!'' Kam inwardly whined, afraid to give another order that would be interpreted with Lith-like logic and further screw things up.

    Meanwhile, Lith was following the Great Mage to the Council Chamber located inside a heavily guarded tower above his private quarters. The Throne Room was a security nightmare due to the many secret and servant passages and the dozens of staff members who had ess to it at all hours.

    The most important and secret meeting of the Kingdom took ce in a small room about 6 meters (20 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet) wide with only a round table and several wooden chairs as furniture.

    The shape of the table didn''t imply that every opinion held the same importance. It was simply the only way to keep everyone close and amodate as many chairs as possible.

    Aside from the furniture, the room was bare, with no windows and only one ess point. Both the floor and the walls were of a pale grey, there was no color outside that of the magical stones the room wasprised of.

    Most of the assemblies wouldst hours, and given the sensitive nature of the subjects that required the King''s direct approval, discretion was of vital importance.

    The whole ce was enchanted to prevent eavesdropping, either by conventional or magical means. It was also equipped with all the necessary protections to avoid the King and his most loyal advisors from getting killed in one fell swoop.

    Lith found the Wards and the security of the Council Chamber to be of his liking. They were strong enough to put even his paranoia to rest and most importantly, the security measures were meant to keep people out, not in.

    Thanks to his Magus robe, the Royal Arrays didn''t work on him and if anything went wrong, he would be capable of Warping to safety.

    ''Damn, this is one of those moments when I''d ask Solus to use the Eyes to scan this ce from top to bottom.'' Lith missed her, often talking with her and remembering that she wasn''t there only due to the silence in his head.

    The room was already full and the most influential figures of the Kingdom had been waiting for him. The King and Queen were there as well, the Headmasters of the six great academies were sitting to their right, and the Head Royal Forgemasters to their left.

    Orion sat right next to the King and Marth next to the Queen due to the importance of the role they had yed during the War of the Griffons and that they were about to y.

    There was only one empty seat on the opposite side of the table from the Royals and Lith gave them a bow before taking his ce. The rest of those present stood up to return his gesture, and only the King and Queen remained seated.

    "After much discussing, we have decided to give your Tablets a test run before spreading them to the rest of the Kingdom." King Meron said. "We are going to employ them in the six great academies, in the capitals of every region, and in Lutia."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion. "I understand the academies since the investment for the central unit will be more than covered by the resources saved from not printing more textbooks."

    "That and the possibility for the students to consult tomes from the library without having to wait for their turn." The Queen said and nodded for Lith to continue.

    "The capitals make sense too. The Warp Gates make it easy to send reinforcements in case of abuse of the knowledge and perform server maintenance. Also, with their high poption density the capitals are bound to provide lots of potential mages.

    "But why Lutia? It''s a small-sized city without even a Warp Gate."

    "Actually, there are two." The King corrected Lith. "One in your barn and the other in your mansion."

    "Those are private Gates so my point still stands. What relevance could Lutia possibly have?"

    "Lutia has given us a Suprema Magus and two Great Mages already." Sylpha replied. "Also, the Crown is certain that your little brother, your niece, and your daughter will be pirs of our country as well.

    "On top of that, Lutia is the ce where you live. By giving the citizens of Lutia this opportunity, they will enjoy the fruits of yourbor and be grateful for your presence. Also, who better than the creator of the Tablets can evaluate their effectiveness?

    "This way we are making the life of your family easier and giving you a small sample size to study the impact on society of your device. Many birds with one stone."

    Lith had to admit that the Queen''s logic was sound but it also increased his workload.

    He nodded and pushed the scrollprised of several blueprints to the center of the table where an array scanned them and projected a copy for every person to study.

    While the Royal Forgemasters browsed through the papers, the King asked:

    "There''s one point that I''d like you to rify for me. Based on what you said when you offered the Tablets to us in the Desert, you n on changing the kind and number of documents essible by the Tablets over time, correct?"

 Chapter 2425 Price Of Progress (Part 1)

    Lith nodded in reply and Meron continued.

    "Yet once Forgemastered, even a power core can''t be altered. If we have to craft a new main unit at every step of the project, the expenses will be prohibitive. To make matters worse, the more widespread the Tablets be, the more expensive every update will be.

    "I''m afraid that in the long run, the Crown willck the necessary funds and the isted areas would end up being neglected."

    "You would be right if the main unit worked like an enchanted sword, Your Majesty, but that''s not the case. There''s no need to craft new ones because the enchantments will be the same, only the contents will change."

    Lith pushed the blueprints in front of him aside until he found the one for the externalyer of the main unit.

    "Those spheres you see on the sides aren''t mana crystals that fuel the main unit, but memory banks that hold the information that will be essible from the Tablets. I designed them to work akin to thework of military amulets.

    "They too have ess to several databases that can be upgraded without changing the amulets. Just like it happens for the libraries of ancient families like the Ernas."

    "That''spletely different." Sylpha shook her head. "The armywork resorts to arrays that constantly scan the contents of the library and then share the information with the amulets when requested.

    "If we have to build one such library for every central unit, the costs far outweigh the benefits. The Tablets are supposed to be short-range and rely on a localwork exactly to prevent their abuse."

    "There''s no need for such a thing." Lith replied. "The spheres will scan and memorize the contents of any chosen library without the need for constant ess. This way, the original database will be safe here in Valeron and its contents will be under the direct supervision of the Crown."

    "Are you telling me that you''ve reverse-engineered the army amulets on your own despite the cloaking spells of our Royal Forgemasters and found a way to improve them?" Meron was so shocked that he stood up, mming his hands on the table in surprise.

    "No, I just took inspiration from them." Lith lied through his teeth.

    The concept was derived from his research on memory crystals. Lith had consulted Orion before the meeting and the god of the forge had guaranteed him that the Royal Forgemasters had no idea that memory crystals were even a thing.

    Admitting to having really stolen the orc crystal and revealing what Lith had discovered from it would have only aggravated his position with the Kingdom. To avoid such a problem, Lith had devised a convenient lie that covered all the bases.

    "Once I knew it was feasible, I worked to create something simr, developing Double Edge first and the Tabletster. The principle is the same. My de and the main unit have their own power core but they are also capable of hosting another and adding the second power core''s capabilities to their own.

    "While Double Edge synergizes with War to reproduce its enchantments and give me a weapon I can use in my Tiamat form, the main unit will process the data contained in the sphere''s core and ry it to the Tablets."

    Lith gave them a practical demonstration by conjuring the hologram of what the forgemastering procedure would look like.

    Just like anymunication amulet could scan its surroundings, the spell would scan the library during the forgemastering process and permanently store the information it contained in the power core.

    A simple pseudo core couldn''t handle dozens or hundreds of books at the same time but a power core could thanks to the pseudo cores it wasprised of. Each one of them had a specific role in sorting the pages and associating them to a specific tome in a specific order.

    Without the main unit deciphering the data, the sphere would provide only a jumbled mess. Without the spheres and their forgemastering method, the main unit was just an expensive piece of junk.

    "Splitting the data from the main unit not only will greatly reduce the cost of the upgrades, but also works as a safety measure. Only the Royal Forgemasters will know how to craft a data sphere so that once the local lords get their hands on a main unit, they will be incapable of altering its contents in any way.

    "Even if someone as capable as Thrud were to conquer part of the Kingdom again, she couldn''t use the Tablets against us."

    "This is brilliant indeed." The Queen and the rest of the convened Archmages nodded, wishing that Lith had actually cracked the code of the army amulets.

    It would have been a major security breach, but it would have also meant that Lith had just improved something pre-existing. Having the rest of the Kingdom no concept of memory crystals, it looked like Lith had reinvented the wheel from scratch and developed a maglev train from it.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® The design of the main units and data spheres apparently proved that their Supreme Magus only needed to know that something was feasible to achieve on his own which had taken the Royal Forgemasters generations and made it better.

    It proved Lith''s worth and made him more terrifying than any Divine Beast. Meron''s knees buckled and he was happy to have a chair right below him.

    ''Good gods, if it wasn''t impossible, I''d say that Lith is my lost son.'' Orion was as pale as anyone else, but for entirely different reasons. ''Aside from Jirni, I''ve never seen anyone spewing so much bullshit with a straight face.

    ''I know he''s lying only because Vastor, Balkor, and I helped him develop this technology to improve Double Edge and craft his golems.''

    "Also, I''vee up with another idea that will further reduce the costs and facilitate the spread of Tablets." Lith pushed another paper, making its copy appear in front of his hosts.

    "Another?" Sylpha echoed, gripping the armrests of her chair and bracing for impact.

    "Yes, but this time it''s something simple." His words made everyone sigh in relief until the hologram of what looked like a mage tower nearly gave them a heart attack.

    "I call them Boosters. Their purpose is to pick up the signal from the main unit and expand their range. This way viges and small cities will still be able to use the Tablets while leaving the main unit in the safety of a city with a Warp Gate." Lith said.

    "The advantage of using Boosters is that they are much cheaper than a main unit, they need no upgrade, and each one of them doubles the range of the signal. The problem is that they still require maintenance and since they would be located in isted areas they can be sabotaged.

    "Take down one Booster and all the areas that rely on it will experience a signal ckout, making the Tablets scrap metal. The best cost-benefit approach is to consider the event of sabotage or monsters destroying the Boosters as an eptable risk and keep the main units safe."

    "It''s nice for once hearing a Mage that talks like a bureaucrat instead of an idealist."

 Chapter 2426 Price Of Progress (Part 2)

    Royal Forgemaster Rogal was a bulky woman in her sixties, with long grey hair held up in a chignon.

    "We don''t have unlimited funds and your idea will allow the Kingdom to do what''s best for its citizens for a reasonable price. If the project ever reaches the next phase, of course." The way her eyes shone when she spoke about money and her cynicalughter reminded Lith of Nana

    "Of course." Lith nodded, recognizing her as the Forgemaster who had examined the blueprints of the ck Star on the day he had been promoted to Great Mage.

    ''Do you believe me now, Solus? I don''t remember only hot women who I''ve seen naked. My memory is not that of a Lich.'' Yet once again his thoughts met only silence and his mood turned sour.

    "I agree with Royal Forgemaster Rogal, but I also agreed with you on the day you pitched the Tablets to us." King Meron said. "Let''s not think about the problems of today for a second and worry about the future problems of the Kingdom instead.

    "What do you think is the most far-sighted approach?"

    The eyes of the Archmages went wide not only because the Kingdom was already short on funds due to the War of the Griffons but also because Meron was asking Lith what he would do if he were the King.

    "I gave this a lot of thought while nning the Tablets and how to build the best possible Web of Knowledge." Lith tentatively said to avoid overstepping his boundaries.

    "In my opinion, if the Tablets program reached phase two and we start spreading them throughout the Kingdom, every medium-sized city, even those with no Warp Gate, should have their own main unit.

    "Limiting the number of Boosters also limits the effects that the sabotage or malfunctioning of a single Booster can have. Let''s say that a storm or a monster horde topples even one of them.

    "With the current model, the rest of the Boosters would lose the signal as well in a domino effect that would leave most of the regions in a ckout until the problem is spotted and fixed.

    "During winter that might take days, if not weeks based on the storms and how isted the Booster is. Also, giving a main unit to those cities would make it safer for the people to colonize their surroundings and spread further without feeling isted.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® "What I learned during my two years as a Ranger is that the people of the north are as harsh as the climate, but not just because of the hardships they undergo. During winter, every city and vige is no different from a small sovereign state.

    "For a quarter of the year, words like Kingdom, Crown, and unity mean nothing to them. They are cut off from the rest of Mogar, not knowing if the food reserves willst until the end of winter.

    "They live in constant fear that the next storm might be so long and violent that their pantries will empty while they can''t afford to take a step outside to get their rations for days.

    "That bandits or monsters might invade their homes, stealing their food and destroying everything they have worked hard to build. Their only tether with the Kingdom is the Ranger but only the vige chief has amunication amulet.

    "All those things make the people of the north feel abandoned and isted. They grow resentful of the foreigners that eat their precious food and of the Crown who seems to forget about them until spring when they have to pay taxes.

    "With the Tablets, instead, they would be capable ofmunicating with their neighbors even during a storm. To check the weather mage''s forecasts and call for help when they need it without being forced to go to the vige chief.

    "The books stored inside the Tablets would give them something to do while they are locked inside their homes and to talk about when they gather instead of constantly reminding each other of their respective miseries.

    "As a Ranger, I''ve lived like them every day of my tour, no matter the season. My handler was the only friendly voice I could hear and my daily reports broke my istion, reminding me of who I was fighting for.

    "I think that''s what all the people of the Kingdom need right now, not only those in the north. Thrud may have split the Kingdom in two, but that was possible solely because every region perceived the others as foreigners who were taking advantage of them.

    "Tablets can bring unity or at the very least broaden the horizons of those who can''t look farther than their own problems."

    Lith took a pause, letting his word sink as the Archmages pondered his words. The Kingdom he described was as alien to them as the Banquet Hall had been to Aran during his debut at Court.

    They knew no hunger, they could travel throughout the Kingdom freely thanks to the Gate Network from their own houses, and themunication amulets allowed them to ask for help no matter the time of day or season.

    "I agree with Supreme Magus Verhen." Sylpha stood up. "If the project reaches phase two, we''ll make sure that the people who live at the fringes of our society won''t feel even more abandoned than they already are."

    "But, Your Majesty, what about the necessary resources? Where will we take them? A project this massive would empty the Royal Vaults faster than our mines can replenish them." Archmage Lema, the Headmaster of the Fire Griffon asked and she was right.

    Most of the magical resources mined daily were necessary for the academies or were bought by mages who needed to further their research. Not to mention the Royal Forgemasters who consumed daily lots of enchanted metals and crystals to produce weapons for the army.

    Only a little part was stockpiled in the Royal Vaults and with so many projects ongoing, there wasn''t enough to build trains and Tablets at the same time.

    "Part of them can be recovered from the artifacts we gained after the Battle for the White Griffon." Sylpha said. "The rest we can take from Jiera. As soon as the trains are ready, I''m going to send advanced parties to scout for mines.

    "The people of Jiera don''t need them and this way we won''t put more strain on our magical veins with the risk of exhausting them. Also, it will give us the opportunity to establish our foothold on Jiera from which start our expansion."

    Everyone nodded, unaware of the ho nest in which they were so eager to put their head in. After the gue had brought Jiera to its knees,munications had been cut off.

    Aside from the Guardians, no one in the Garlen continent knew about the monster tides or that many lost cities had escaped their prisons.

    After a long discussion during which Lith''s opinion was often requested and highly valued, the King''s Council reached an agreement.

    "It is decided, then. We''ll start phase one of the Tablets immediately and use most of our resources to build trains. If things go as nned, by the time phase two starts, we should have already started colonizing Jiera." Meron said.

 Chapter 2427 Price Of Progress (Part 3)

    "Thanks to the mines in Jiera, we''ll have ess to a steady flow of resources that will be used to craft Tablets and trains here in Garlen. Only once the needs of the Kingdom will be satisfied will we use the local mines to further our expansion. Any objections?" The King asked.

    Those in the room unanimously shook their heads.

    "Any more questions before I adjourn this session?" This time Headmaster Marth raised his hand and Morn nodded for him to speak.

    "Just one, Your Majesty. I think I speak for all of my esteemed colleagues when I say that despite the excellent work that Magus Verhen did in writing the Void Magic textbooks, we have failed to grasp its basics."

    Duke Marth conjured a sphere of light, the element he had used countless times and for countless hours in his profession as a Healer. As he squinted his eyes in focus, a ck dot appeared on the sphere.

    Then another and more until it looked like a dalmatian. At that point, light and darkness started to sh and the spell faded away.

    "This is the best I can do after training and reading for days in what is supposed to be tier zero magic. Magus Verhen, have you thought about our request for you to give lessons about Void Magic?

    "I strongly believe that if Archmages can''t understand it, neither will simple students."

    "Really?" Sylpha knitted her brows in surprise. "I studied it for much less before achieving much more right after visiting Magus Verhen in the Desert."

    She conjured a sphere of light as well, but hers turned into darkness and back, the elements effortlessly ebbing and flowing into each other. Her performance, however, only achieved to humiliate her loyal subjects, Orion included.

    He had trained harder than anyone in the hope that Void Magic would help him to Awaken, yet he fared no better than Marth.

    "Dear, don''t forget that you have outstanding talent." Meron pointed at the colored streaks in her hair. "Also, on the day of our visit, we received a private lesson from Magus Verhen and he gave us a practical demonstration."

    "I guess you are right." Sylpha nodded, inwardly admitting that she still needed Domination to perform the most difficult steps of Void Magic. "Magus Verhen, your help would be much appreciated."

    "Until yesterday, I would have answered that yes, I thought about it, but my answer is no." The room groaned at those words but Lith raised his palm out to let him continue. "Sadly, after only one day my wife already made it clear that my presence in her workce is cumbersome to her.

    "I''ll be d to give her a bit of respite and hold sses for the students of the fourth year of the academies. The Headmasters, the Royal Forgemasters and whoever is interested can attend in person or just follow the lesson via their amulets."

    "The fourth year?" Archmage Tilmann, the Headmaster of the Earth Griffon, asked. "Shouldn''t you start with first year students? It''s tier zero we are talking about."

    "People who attend the first year have no knowledge of magic and need to learn it from the very foundations." Lith shook his head. "Void Magic has already proven to be difficult for Archmages with decades of experience handling the elements.

    "Sharing it with beginners would only destroy their self-confidence and further reduce the number of graduates. Fourth years, instead, not only have three years of magical practice, but they also take courses like Theory of Combat Magic and Dimensional Magic.

    "During those lessons, the students learn how to put first magic into practice like never before and how to multi cast the elements while keeping them in harmony. The same principles that make it possible tobine two different elements and create a tier four spell can also be applied to Void Magic.

    "You may consider it simple, but Void Magic is no different from Dimensional Magic, Necromancy, or Light Mastery. They are all branches of magic of their own and even though the theory behind Dimensional Magic is well-known and established, not everyone can use it.

    "That''s why I want to teach a non-mandatory ss like Dimensional Magic. Yet since it''s my first attempt I''d like my discipline to not affect the students'' grades in any way in case of failure.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    "I know firsthand how stressful the specialization courses are. Thest thing those kids need is even more pressure."

    "Granted." The King said and the Headmasters nodded. "I assume you are going to choose the White Griffon as your main campus."

    "And you are right, Your Majesty." Lith nodded and the Headmasters groaned. Only Marth gloated. "It''s my alma mater and I have lots of friends there."

    "Headmaster Marth, reserve two front seats for the King and me." Sylpha''s words made the smug grin on the Headmaster''s face turn into a smile from ear to ear.

    "It will be my honor." He stood up, giving them a deep bow.

    "Anything else?" The King asked but aside from low grumbling the room remained silent. "Session adjourned. Everyone is dismissed. Have a nice day."

    Once the Royals left the room, Marth thanked Lith, patting his back and offering hospitality in the Professor quarters of the White Griffon for him and his family for how long they wanted.

    "Do you really think is appropriate for you to hold Void Magic lessons only at the White Griffon?" Archmage Distar, the Headmaster of the ck Griffon and Brinja''s husband, yed his best cards

    "I thought our families were close friends. Brinja will be saddened by your choice."

    "You are right." Lith nodded, checking his pocket watch and realizing it was already lunchtime. "Tell her that even though I still have a beef with the Lightning Griffon, I can hold a few lessons there.

    "It will bring prestige to her Marquisate and give people the illusion that I''m not resentful."

    "I was talking about *my* academy!"

    "We''ll see about that. I barely remember your name, Antz." Lith shrugged.

    "My name is Ainz." The Headmaster''s voice dripped scorn.

    "Close enough, bye." Lith walked away, asking the Great Mage who acted as his valet to make a short detour before bringing him back to the Constable Headquarters.

    During his absence, Kam had never stopped working, taking breaks only to use the restroom or make a tea that she sipped alone in-between case files.

    ''I don''t know what is worse. If the fact that without Lith feeding me I got so hungry that I could eat one of my colleagues or that without him or Jirni no one talks to me.'' She looked around the room, envying the other Constables that found relief from their hard work in each other''spany.

    Those with easier cases offered to help those who were slower or were in a pinch. When they were overwhelmed, they would go to the break room and have a chat while preparing themselves a snack.

    Even though her desk was one meter apart from her colleagues'' she felt like she was adrift in the ocean. Every attempt to make small talk was met with monosybles and whenever she entered the break room everyone was in a rush to go back to their job.

 Chapter 2428 Price Of Progress (Part 4)

    On top of that, with Lith gone the senior Constables had no qualms about dropping their scut work on Kam. It forced her to leave her desk and slowed down the progress of her own cases.

    While she navigated the maze of various offices and departments like the new guy she was, her pile of papers grew in size while those of her colleagues shrank. Walking so much made her both angry and hungry.

    The only silver lining was that no one could mess with her desk. Upon her return, she would find no nasty present nor could people exploit her absence to slip their most thorny cases in her pile.

    Everyone assumed that at least one of the Demons literally shadowed her, but that still left two of them in an unknown position. Also, War had never left its position, emitting bone-chilling shrieks as warning whenever someone dared to approach.

    "I''m back. How did work go?" Lith asked.

    "Peachy." Kam lied through her teeth.

    There was nothing that whining could achieve aside from making her pass for a tattle tale and Lith going nuclear. Both of them would make her life at work worse than it already was.

    "I''m sorry, but I don''t think I can make it for lunch." She waved at the to-do pile. "I''m out of practice and have fallen behind my schedule. You go home and have a nice meal. I''ll fix something for myself from the break room."

    At those words, many Constables groaned. Even without being victims of mobbing, they were in her same situation and the idea of a cold meal consumed over their desks made their day bleak.

    "I knew that something like this would happen so I took the liberty to go to the kitchens and prepare you something myself." Lith took several packages out of as many doggy bags out of his briefcase.

    A delicious smell spread throughout the room as he set a tray in front of her and unwrapped the first of three pastrami sandwiches, each one as long as her forearm.

    The fourth was a basket filled with steaming French fries.

    "I love you so much!" She walked around the desk to hug him as her stomach roared. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Did you bring¡­"

    "Salt and mayonnaise? Yes." The former was avable to the public, thetter was something Lith prepared fresh with a snap of his fingers and a bit of chore magic.

    "Please, marry me." She gave him a sweet kiss, uncaring for the hateful gazes of her colleagues and the rules against public disys of affection.

    "I''m sorry, but I''m a married man already and my wife is very jealous." He chuckled.

    "She sounds like a lucky woman." Kam offered him a chair before going back to her seat and wolfing down the first sandwich.

    Lith took out what looked like a smoothie from his briefcase and sipped it slowly.

    "Why don''t you take one?" She asked.

    "Those are one for you, one for Elysia, and thest in case either of you wants seconds." Lith said with a warm smile.

    "Aren''t you hungry?" She had mustard and sauce all over her mouth but her worried expression made her lovely to his eyes.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    "I sure am, but do you have any idea how much food is needed to sate me? Without my dimensional amulet, a highly dense nutrients potion is the best I can have."

    "Oh gods, I''m so sorry. I''m so used to seeing you eat for ten that I forgot that your stomach is bigger than mine. You must be starving. Don''t worry about me and go home." Kam said.

    "And leave you alone? No way. You look like someone who needspany as much as she needs food." Lith dipped a fry in the mayonnaise and fed her.

    "You are right. I needpany but you need to eat." She stood up and started packing the important documents in her briefcase. "I don''t care about a little scolding from my boss.

    "This stuff can wait for a couple of hours. It should be enough to go back home and prepare a serving big enough for you. I can''t keep stuffing my face like a fool while you suffer for my sake."

    Kam had applied Solus'' magic lessons to both improve her cooking skills and prepare servings big enough for Lith. They could have gone to a restaurant, but she wanted him to enjoy his meal, not to look at the bill like a death notice.

    "What about apromise?" Lith unwrapped one of the sandwiches and took a bite. "Maybe it won''t make me full but it''s still something. You suffered so much to get your job back and I don''t want to ruin it for you from the first day."

    "Okay, but as soon as I can afford a break, I''ll take you to the canteen and you''ll have a proper lunch. I don''t care if they have to restock."

    After the rush hour, the army canteen would be empty, reducing the time for the meal to a minimum, and even though there would be a limited assortment of food Lith wouldn''t have to worry about the price. Two birds with one stone.

    "Deal." Lith nodded while Kam sat back and resumed her meal.

    The scene drew a lot of envy, but even more shocked disbelief. Everyone in there considered Lith a bloodthirsty inhuman monster. An oath breaker who had exploited the Kingdom''s crisis to have his crimes pardoned.

    As for Kam, she had the reputation of a ruthless social climber and a gold digger who had betted on the right horse. She had allegedly enticed Lith with her charms and used him like the tool he was.

    What they saw, however, didn''t fit with those beliefs one bit.

    Kam had worked hard without receiving nor asking a preferential treatment while aside from the ring, Lith had done nothing but protect the person he loved. Surprise and envy walked arm in arm through the office as the firm prejudices of the Constables cracked.

    The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully until it was time to close the office and go back home.

    "I can''t believe I met a real Magus today." Constable Liefnen, a wiry man in his mid-thirties said. "Tomorrow I''m going to muster the courage to introduce myself. Verhen doesn''t look like the monster the rumors make."

    "I can''t believe that Yehval gets to go home with him whereas unless I go to a bar, the paperwork I''m bringing home is all thepany I''ll have." Constable Tornio, a constable in her early thirties replied with a grumble.

    "Don''t tell me that you''re envious? I mean, Magus or not he''s still a beast." Liefnen bared his teeth in what he thought was the impression of a feral creature.

    "With those looks, I''d dly adopt one." She looked at her colleague like he was insane. "Also, have you seen how Verhen treated her? In my experience, only princesses get that kind of attention and only by paying good coins for it.

    "I''ll tell you what, tomorrow I''m going to walk to Yehval''s desk and ask her to teach me her secret."

 Chapter 2429 Change Of Pace (Part 1)

    Zeneka Region, city of Zalma, a couple of weekster.

    Solus, Nyka, and Tista had gone back traveling as soon as Tista hadpletely recovered from the physical trauma of losing her feathers ande to terms with the psychological trauma of rejecting the violet core.

    Her aura was now half bright blue and half deep violet, stuck in the middle of the breakthrough simply because she didn''t know what to do.

    The three women had visited several cities where the presence of a healer was needed and had done their best to provide assistance to the regions that had yet to recover from the many scars left by the War of the Griffons.

    Yet no matter how many people they treated, the moment someone recognized Solus or Tista, the local authorities would politely but firmly invite them to leave before their presence caused a riot, ruining all of their hard work.

    The people of Thrud''s former territories hated Solus'' guts for aiding Lith inying waste to their homes. They were also terrified by Tista, considering her human appearance a farce and her powers a threat to their lives.

    The Kingdom''s cities treated them better, but the final result was the same. Their citizens considered Tista and Solus heroes, but they were afraid that the presence of their esteemed guests would stir more trouble than their help was worth.

    One of their enemies mighte looking for them or the families of their victims mighte from the neighboring cities seeking revenge. Peace was still just a word and the former borders of the civil war were as definite as easy to cross.

    People preferred to be rude than risking to spark a new conflict.

    "Maybe Lith was right." Solus said after being banished one time too many.

    She had spent days working to relieve them from hunger and illness, also helping to make damaged houses inhabitable again. Yet the "thank you" she had received for her effort was a dignified kick in the butt.

    "Maybe these people don''t deserve our help nor ourpassion. They are just a bunch of ungrateful bastards. The citizens of the entire Kingdom should just thank us and keep their mouths shut instead of ming us for their problems.

    "Those who stood on Thrud''s side have condoned her countless atrocities yet they treat us as criminals just because we fought on their same terms and we won.

    "As for the people on the Royals'' side, they are even worse. Lith and I saved their asses countless times. If not for us, the nobles would have been reced by Skinwalkers and the poor would have fed Thrud''s war machine.

    "Heck, the King himself thanked me for my service yet here we are, forced to move from one city to another like fugitives on the run!"

    "I agree with you but I think that your starting point is wrong." Tista countered pointedly. "You shouldn''t help these people to receive their thanks or recognition, but only because you think it''s the right thing to do.

    "Don''t do it for them because they don''t deserve it. Do it for yourself."

    "The right thing to do would be to kick their asses into oblivion." Solus snorted in annoyance as they picked their next destination. "The reason I decided to visit the war zones was that I wanted to witness the consequences of my actions and make amends for them to the best of my abilities.

    "I never introduced myself upon my arrival exactly because I didn''t want parades or causing a fuss. Yet this is too much. Those I fought for kick me out. Those who I''m trying to save despite the fact that they were my enemies until yesterday kick me out as well.

    "They prefer to die to their ailments rather than take a good look at themselves in the mirror and recognize their double standards. I now understand why Guardians and white-cored Awakened don''t mess with people anymore.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    "There''s no pleasing them unless you be their doormat. I know when I''m not wanted and I''m not going to waste any more time convincing others to let me do what''s best for them.

    "They pissed me off so much that my conscience is now clean. I owe them nothing. If they want to die on their terms, who am I to disagree? No more savior business girls. Let''s turn this into a vacation."

    "Finally!" Nyka pped her hands. "I mean, if you are sure that''s what you want, I''m 100%with you. From where do we want to start?"

    "First, we go back home to Lutia. I want to visit Mom and the rest of the family and give them the souvenirs we- I bought for them." Solus still had problems referring to herself as an individual instead of a part of the bond with Lith.

    "Then we can visit the east part of the Kingdom. They didn''t experience the war aside from the food rationing and everything they knowes from the footage uploaded on the interlink.

    "Even if they recognize us, I doubt they''ll give us any problem. Thrud''s former borders are too far to pose a threat to them."

    The other two women nodded and they crossed the Warp Steps leading to the Verhen mansion. Solus needed but a thought to Warp the stone ring over the mana geyser in the main keep and start regaining their strength.

    Even from a distance, they could hear someone yelling at the top of their lungs and hear bits of what seemed a quarrel.

    "Your family is under attack! Let''s move." Nyka tried to bolt forward but Tista stopped her.

    "Don''t be ridiculous. This house is full of defensive arrays and my brother is the silent type. He never yells when he fights. Listen." Tista could recognize Lith''s voice and a really pissed-off feminine voice.

    "Kami is home." Solus nodded. "If anything bad was happening, you would have a Guardian on a rampage if not three."

    "How many times do I have to tell you? I''m pregnant, not on my deathbed!" They followed the angry voices to the kitchen, walking through the door just in time to see Kam and Lith tug the two extremities of a steel bucket filled with over 50 kg (111 pounds) of cow meat.

    She was trying to bring it to a big cauldron while he was attempting to take it off her hands.

    "And how many times do I have to tell you that you don''t have to exert yourself? I can do the cooking. Just sit back and rx." Lith replied.

    "This is my day off, you oaf! The only thing that''s preventing me from rxing is your constant nagging." Kam snarled. "I just want to prepare a homemade meal for you and the baby.

    "If I don''t practice with the seasoning and cooking time necessary for big servings, I''ll never learn. Elysia is the first of her kind and there''s no telling when her life forces will merge.

    "I want to be able to take care of my daughter without having to rely on you and to prepare a meal for my bull-headed husband without having to order food from a restaurant.

    "With my current strength and magical power, it would be easy as cake if you stopped badgering me!"

 Chapter 2430 Change Of Pace (Part 2)

    "Gods, I wish Solus was here. She would drag you into your damnb and I''d have five minutes of peace!"

    "Uhm, hi guys. Is this a bad moment?" Solus asked.

    "Very bad, Solus." Kam nodded. "I swear to the gods, Lith, if you don''t behave, I''ll call Solus and- Solus!"

    The moment Kam''s brain registered the current events through the fog of rage clouding them, she forgot about the quarrel and weed the group back.

    "It''s so good to have you back." She sighed in relief. "How long are you going to stay this time?"

    "Just the time to recharge and say hello to everyone." Solus returned the embrace. "Where is the rest of the family?"

    "Aran and Leria are in the Desert to attend their sses while Mom and Dad are in Lutia to check on the crops and the farm. The harvest time is approaching and the Kingdom needs as much food as it can find if we want to avoid the third famine in a row." Lith replied, waiting for his turn.

    "Wee back, Solus. I missed you a lot." When they hugged, the physical contact hastened her recovery and eased their respective nerves.

    They had both umted a lot of stress but the mere presence of the other was enough to make it fade away like mist under the sun.

    "What about me, jackass? I''m your sister." Tista gave him a weak kick, demanding her due.

    "I didn''t miss you but I worried about you a lot." Lith embraced her, his words earning him a p on the forehead. "Have you decided what to do with your life force?"

    "Not yet." Tista sighed.

    "Nyka." Lith gave her just a nod in greeting.

    His paranoid nature made him cautious due to Dawn''s presence and wounded the Vampire deeply. Lith was carefully limiting their interactions to the bare minimum to keep the Horseman from using her breathing technique on him.

    It was unlikely that Dawn would manage to find out about the tower, but he didn''t want to take any risk.

    "Take a good look, you rude jerk!" Nyka opened her shirt, showing the white crystal as it disappeared under her skin. "Happy now?"

    "Yes." Lith replied, sighing in relief and giving her a proper wee.

    After that, they shared with each other the most recent news. Lith told them all about the issues with Kam''s job and his decision to give Void Magic lessons at the White Griffon academy.

    Solus, instead, told them about her intention of turning the remaining of her trip into a vacation.

    "That''s a wonderful idea, Solus." Kam nodded. "You deserve a real break and as long as you stick with this oaf, you''ll always end up working on a side project."

    "Sadly, she''s right." Lith had to admit. "Come, let''s go meet Mom. She has been worried sick about you girls ever since you fought that monster horde."

    "Not so fast." Solus shook her head. "Kami, can I take a look at the baby?"

    It took Kam sheer willpower to not exhale in frustration and roll her eyes at the request. Lith checked on Elysia at least once per hour. More if a rtive visited them and asked to see the baby.

    Zoreth and Bytra were regr guests at the mansion since with Solus'' absence, the Raiju wasn''t afraid of causing trouble with her presence.

    Solus used her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, <novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    Elysia was now about 10 cm (4'') long and her mana core was close to reaching the red. Her arms and legs were fully formed, ending with five fingers or toes each.

    "By my Mom, she''s gorgeous." Solus'' eyes swelled with tears. "Can you please shapeshift?"

    Her words sent a shiver down Kam''s spine but she did as asked.

    As her skin became covered in scales, so did Elysia''s. Her small fingernails turned into ws and her ears disappeared, reced by a short tail on her back. Kam then took a draconic and Abomination appearance and the baby changed along with the mother.

    "Thank you, Kami." Solus sniffled.

    ''I can''t believe I''ve been away for such a short time and yet I''ve already missed so much.'' She thought. ''I''d love to stay here and keep youpany, little one, but I have to think of myself first.

    ''I''m sorry for being a Lith. I promise I''ll make it up to you.''

    And so, after a brief visit to the Verhen farm to check on Raaz, Elina, and the baby, Solus and the others had moved to Zalma.

    It was a port town built on the Arsman Ocean that separated the Jiera continent from Garlen. The city was the farthest ce possible from the former frontlines and the perfect location to forget about all of the girls'' worries.

    Since the invention of dimensional magic, naval warfare and travel had be obsolete. The only boats anchored at the harbor belonged to fishermen and cruisepanies that offered tours of the deep waters and ferried people between inds.

    The climate was hot due to the summer but Awakened could barely feel it while a Vampire''s sweat nds were as dead as the rest of the body. Zalma''smerce had been flourishing non-stop during the past three years and if not for the recent end of the war, even the most luxurious hotels would have been booked.

    During both the famine and the conflict, the ability to provide food outside of the allotted rations had brought lots of people to Zalma. Fishing had helped the citizens to not suffer much from the food rationing and made the fishermen a pretty penny.

    Anyone could get a fishing rod and with a bit of luck, they could catch enough fish for a meal and sell the rest for a bit of extra money.

    Solus decided to stay at the Grilled Kraken, a high-end hotel famous for its ocean view and seafood menu. Just looking at the tasteful frescos that decorated the lobby and the elegant uniforms of the staff would have made Lith''s wallet bleed.

    Luckily, he wasn''t there so Solus only felt a slight sting in the back of her mind while checking the prices for the suites.

    "One room for everyone like usual, right?" She asked.

    "Two actually." Tista scratched her head in embarrassment. "If this is a vacation, then I''d like to spend at least the evenings with my boyfriend."

    "By my Mom! Nyka, did you hear that? Tista just called Bodya her boyfriend!" Solus gasped in amazement.

    "Way to go, sister." The Vampire said nudging at Tista.

    "He''s not- I mean, he-" Tista took a deep breath to calm down. "Not here, please."

    Only then did Solus remember where they were and noticed the amused look of the receptionist who ording to the nametag on her breast pocket was called Urta.

    She was a woman in her mid-thirties, with light brown hair held up in a ponytail and chestnut eyes that shone with interest at the gossip that she would share with her colleagues to vent the frustration from serving rich weirdos.

    "Two suites, please. Give us your best rooms on the highest floor avable. I want to see the sun rise on the ocean in the morning." Solus said.

 Chapter 2433 Old Life, New Problems (Part 1)

    Bodya took Tista''s hands into his own and kissed them while standing up, ready to leave.

    "Please, stay." Tista pulled him down gently, bringing him onto the bed beside her again. "I really need someone to talk with and you are the only one I know who can understand my struggle and to whom I can fully open up."

    "What about your brother?" Bodya tilted his head in confusion.

    "Lith doesn''t count." She sighed. "He had no idea what would happen to his life forces so he never struggled like I am now. As a Tiamat, he still has arms and legs so he only had to get used to his new strength.

    "On top of that, he never experienced problems with intimacy. Kam knew about his hybrid nature from before Lith''s life forces merged and she helped him to embrace the different aspects of his nature before and after he achieved the violet."

    "What?" Bodya''s eyes went wide in surprise. "Are you telling me that he¡­ That they¡­"

    "Yes." Tista chuckled, seeing his ashen skin turning to a shade of purple. "Kam has Lith shapeshift for their role y."

    "Seriously? What do they do exactly?"

    "Do you really think I ask my brother about the details of his sex life? Gross!" Tista made retching sounds, shivering at the idea of both the question and the answer she would receive.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to make you ufortable, it''s just¡­" Once again, the Nidhogg failed to say such things out loud, forcing Tista to do it for him.

    "That you are embarrassed from being still a virgin as a Nidhogg and are envious of Lith?"

    "Yes- I mean no. I mean¡­ Gods!" Bodya''s skin almost turned pink as she burst in a peal of silveryughter. "Maybe I should leave."

    "Please, stay. I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to embarrass you." Tista held him tenderly and gave him a sweet kiss.

    "Yet you did." He replied, making her apologize over and over. "Maybe I overshared."

    "Not at all." Tista shook her head. "It helped me to realize how big my- our issue is. I hadn''t given a thought to most things you said, like the hunger. Speaking of that, did you have dinner already? My treat, order as much as you want."

    "I have a little confession to make." Bodya gave her a small smile. "I always eat before one of our dates so that I can pretend to be a normal man and be satisfied with a meal at a restaurant.

    "No matter the form you take, once you be an Emperor Beast, your stomach growls like one."

    Only after hearing those words did Tista realize how much thought and effort he put in their rtionship.

    "Thanks, Bodya."

    "For what?" He asked in confusion.

    "For everything." Tista was still scared about her condition and had no idea what to do with her life forces but for the first time since she had turned into a hybrid she didn''t feel alone anymore.

    ***

    Just like the concierge of the Grilled Kraken had promised, their stay in Zalma turned out to be pleasant and rxing. The girls would tour the city together during the day and then split up for dinner which Tista would spend with Bodya.

    After a few days, people started to recognize Tista and Solus from the videos but their attitude only became friendlier for it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Merchants gave them discounts every time they bought something and nobles invited them to social events as their honored guests. Solus made the mistake of epting an invitation only once and deeply regretted it.

    Living away from the warzone meant that the people of Zalma had no hard feelings but also a romanticized view of the War of the Griffons. Nobles kept asking Tista and Solus about their exploits on the battlefield, forcing them to remember the atrocities that they had seen andmitted.

    Their hosts considered the civil war against the Mad Queen no different from a bard''s tale. In their mind, it was a story about heroes who had defeated a cruel tyrant and then hade back covered in glory.

    To Tista and Solus, instead, it was a collection of bloodshed and grief.

    "I know that it''s a sensitive topic, but I need to ask." A chubby Duke asked, his face looked remorseful but Solus could see from his eyes that it was all a fa?ade to hide his curiosity. "Did Lady Ernas really get enved or did she willingly betray the Kingdom?"

    At those words, Solus'' face went pale and her eyes wide in shock. The nobles nearby gasped, holding their breath thinking the Duke had struck a nerve.

    "I mean, I understand that she was angry with the Royals for the injustice she had suffered after Kh, but-"

    "Archmage Ernas." Solus'' voice was reduced to a hiss.

    "I beg your pardon?" The Duke tilted his head, making his jowls jiggle.

    "She''s Archmage Ernas for you!" Solus snarled. "And yes, she was really enved. Phloria risked her life countless times to save us all and she would have never betrayed the Kingdom!

    "I will not stand here and let someone who has never suffered more than a paper cut nder her name. Let''s go." Solus walked out of the ballroom, quickly followed by Tista and Nyka.

    "Please, stay!" Their host, Marquis Eltas, said. "I''m really sorry for what happened but you must understand that Duke Hestia''s intentions were pure. We heard a lot of rumors from the frontlines and it''s hard to tell the truth from malicious gossip.

    "He just wanted to-"

    "Did you just say Hestia?" Solus'' face turned red from anger and the Marquis felt like her re was drilling a hole in his head.

    "Yes. Do you know each other?" Eltas gave her his best smile, hoping to calm her down.

    "Yes, and I can tell you that he meant every single word. We''re done here. Goodbye." The Marquis chased them until the Warp Gate, apologizing for his guest''s behavior but Solus didn''t listen to a word he said.

    "Who was that guy?" Tista asked.

    "The father of a pompous jackass that Lith got expelled from the White Griffon on his first day." Solus replied. "Let''s get out of Zalma. This ce sickens me."

    They left on the following day, but the pattern repeated itself in every city of the Kingdom they moved to. Someone would recognize them, the news of their presence would spread, and then they would be invited by the lord of thend.

    Refusing wasn''t an option, not with both Tista and Solus carrying the Verhen name. It would have meant creating hostilities between their household and the local nobles. Solus was afraid to furtherpromise Kam''s standing in the Court so she was forced to ept.

    The problem was that everyone only wanted to talk about the war. The nobles would ask them about their most famous missions and to describe in detail their fights against Thrud''s Generals, Phloria included.

    Solus always emphasized how the ve array had given Phloria no choice and how the Mad Queen had killed her just to hurt Lith, but Solus could see from the nobles'' faces that they didn''t give a damn about it.

 Chapter 2434 Old Life, New Problems (Part 2)

    To the bored nobles, Phloria''s death was the proper ending for a tragic hero turned traitor. They didn''t care about the truth, preferring to believe the rumors that made the story of her life more scandalous and exciting.

    After a few days of that, Solus was sick of the Kingdom, and the group left for the Gorgon Empire. The Verhens had received the Empress'' invitation and it was Nyka''s adoptive mothend so the customs weren''t a problem.

    Away from the borders of the Empire, the War of the Griffons was a story no one cared about. The only things that had reverberated past the borders were Lith bing the Supreme Magus and the opportunity that the war had created for an invasion.

    "Don''t you think that the Empress is making a mistake not attacking now that the Kingdom''s strength is at its lowest?" People would often debate even in the middle of the street.

    "The Royal''s military force and the Mage Association are exhausted and until the harvest, theyck the food provisions necessary to endure another conflict."

    "Are you insane?" The others would argue. "What you call ''exhausted'' means ''battle-hardened'' to me. Every time that our troops tried to exploit the War of the Griffons to invade the Kingdom, we got destroyed.

    "Sure, now Thrud and her Generals are no more, but the soldiers and mages who went through the war fought and won against the same monsters against whom we were helpless. What does make you think we''d fare any better?

    "On top of that, the Royals already have allied themselves with the Emperor Beasts and the nt folk whereas we are still negotiating with them. If we attack, they would never help us.

    "Last, but not least, do you really want to risk Verhen leading a counter-invasion? I''ve seen those videos, and thest thing I want is to have our city stormed and our food stolen.

    "Going to war means that thousands of our men would die and my son is among them! He has just concluded his training as a Spellsoldier."

    "And my daughter has just graduated from the White Emperor academy!" Another person said. "If we start a war, she might die before making a single copper coin. I don''t give a damn about a bit ofnd if we have to pay for it with blood.

    "My daughter has made countless sacrifices to be a mage and I want her to live a long and boring life in the service of the Empress, not to die a hero!"

    The Gorgon Empire proved to be even quieter than the east side of the Griffon Kingdom for a tourist but after learning her lesson, Solus still moved often to avoid getting recognized.

    They toured the flying fortresses of the Empire and experienced its magical wonders. Unlike the Kingdom, even middle-sized cities had a Warp Gate and an internal Gatework that allowed the residents to instantly move throughout a city like in Belius.

    Dimensional amulets were much cheaper and avable in any store. Due to the Empire''sck of farnds, the past Magic Emperors had made sure that not a single grain of rice or wheat went to waste.

    Dimensional amulets allowed to preserve food indefinitely and kept it safe from vermin, mold, and humidity. Also, evenmoners'' houses had an indoor bathroom linked to a sewer system whose sewage was collected and purified by magical facilities.

    The water would be recycled while the wastes would be condensed and used as fertilizer. The running water allowed the citizens of the Empire to keep themselves clean and healthy, limiting their need for a Healer.

    Away from fame and awkward questions, Solus finally found the courage to get out on her own during the evening and experience life as a young single woman. She would often be approached but things would never go past a few drinks and a chat.

    "Seriously?" Nyka asked one night when they were dining at the Dragon Fire, one of the most renewed restaurants of the capital of the Empire. "Not even a goodnight kiss?"

    "To what end?" Solus shrugged in reply. "I barely knew him and I have no intention to settle here."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I get that, but I thought that the purpose of this trip was detaching yourself from Lith." The Vampire looked at her in confusion.

    "My point exactly, I never said that I wanted to getid or find myself a boyfriend. I just wanted to understand who I am and what I want." Solus nodded.

    "I''m sorry, but you lost me as well." Tista said.

    "I''m not like you, Tista." Solus sighed. "I have no Bodya in my life and no way to get one. I can''t possibly tell anyone about myplicated rtionship with Lith, my nature as a cursed object, or even talk about my past.

    "What does it leave me with?"

    "One-night stands?" Nyka asked, obtaining a nod in reply.

    "Indeed, but I already learned that''s not what I want. While dating Aerth, he told me about my life as-" Nyka nudged Solus, cutting her short and buying herself the time to seal Dawn''s crystal inside her body.

    "Okay, now you can talk." The Vampire tapped her chest and Tista Hushed them.

    "He told me about my life as Elphyn and during the past few weeks, I''ve regained a few memories about my old self. As Elphyn, I''ve already walked the road of shallow rtionships with no true bond and the ending was always sad.

    "I don''t want to repeat those mistakes. I want to have someone who truly knows me and loves me for it. I don''t want to spend time with someone while keeping everything but my face a secret and every word I say is a lie." Solus lowered her gaze in sadness.

    Whenever she met someone, she had to stick to the script that Lith had prepared for the Royal Court, forcing her to y a role and keep her distance. After a while, guilt turned even a casual conversation into torture.

    "Even if someone were to fall in love with me instead of with my powers, they would love nothing but a mask." In the Empire, there were no nobles and a Household would keep its authority only as long as it had a Mage.

    Solus couldn''t show a glimpse of her talent without being swarmed by gold diggers.

    "A mask that would crumble the moment they get too close and that''s not a risk that I can afford. It took Lith years to test the waters with Kami and open up to her. Years that I don''t have since I can stay away from him for barely more than one day at a time.

    "Even if I could, my nature as a mage tower is an insurmountable obstacle. I can''t exin my rtionship with Lith without exposing its existence and I can''t risk that after a break-up a moron ruins our lives in revenge."

    "So what are you going to do now?" Tista asked.

    "The only thing I can and want to do. Go back home." Solus said with a warm smile.

    "Are you sure?" Nyka furrowed her brows.

    "Yes, I''m sure." Solus nodded.

 Chapter 2435 Windfell (Part 1)

    "My rtionship with Lith is messed up but it''s the best thing I could ask for. He loves me for who I am and I have no need to hide anything from him." Solus said.

    "If there''s something I''ve learned from this trip is that I hate lying and how limited my current existence is. I''m sick and tired of going back to Lutia every other day. To be incapable of having a meaningful conversation with anyone but you girls.

    "By staying away from Lith, I''m supposed to be free but instead I''ve never felt caged like this, not even when I existed solely as a voice in his head. I can''t show my powers, I can''t reveal my name, and I can''t even walk away from a geyser without my body betraying me.

    "This is no life. I don''t know if I''ll ever be free from the tower, but I''m certain of one thing. I want to live with the people I love and who need me instead of wasting time with a bunch of strangers to whom I can barely tell the time to not betray my secrets.

    "I want something like my mother had with my father. Something that makes me feel whole with someone I can be my true self. Anything less would be an empty fa?ade. If I can''t have it, I''d rather stay with Lith, Kami, and Elysia,e what may."

    "So, are we done here?" Nyka asked. "Do you want to go back to Lutia?"

    "Not yet." Solus shook her head. "This is still my first real vacation, spending time with my friends instead of just hanging out with Lith''s. Also, I want to spend a bit of the money I earned during the past fifteen years without him nagging at me."

    The thought of his stinginess brought a bittersweet smile to her face. On the one hand, Solus wanted to free herself from her co-dependency on Lith but on the other hand, she missed everything about him.

    She could almost hear Lith asking her who Duke Hestia was andining about how much she had spent on restaurants and hotels. Their bond ran so deep that every conversation they didn''t have hurt.

    Distance had allowed Solus to separate herself from Lith, but the problem was that she hadn''t liked what she had found. As Elphyn, she had felt empty the moment she stepped away from her Forge whereas as Solus, she had discovered that there was more in life than work.

    "By the way, you can let Dawn out. There is no reason to hide from her that as soon as I run out of energy again the vacation will be over."

    Nyka nodded, allowing the Horseman to join the conversation after bringing her up to speed.

    After dinner, they split up.

    Tista wanted to experiment with both her life forces alone, in the hope to make her mind once and for all. Solus, instead, took a stroll through Nestamaath, enjoying the night view from the battlements of the magical fortress and the small talk with strangers she encountered along the way.

    ''These may be small things, but they belong solely to me. Lith would never do it unless Kami or I dragged him by force.'' Solus chuckled, her mind drawing a vivid image of how he would roll his eyes and the annoyed rant he would make.

    As for Nyka, or rather, Dawn, there was something that she wanted to check.

    For a few days now the Horseman had felt someone staring at her from a distance. She had tried every spell and trick in her book to catch by surprise whoever was tailing them, but to no avail.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They kept themselves always past Life Vision''s area of effect and had managed to avoid all the arrays she hadid. By the time she tracked them down to theirst known position, the energy signature had faded too much to be recognizable but she was certain that I was a familiar one.

    ''Why didn''t you let me warn Tista and Solus about this?'' Nyka asked, afraid to face alone anyone capable of outsmarting Dawn.

    ''And tell them what? That I have the suspicion that someone might be following us? What would that achieve aside from ruining their vacation? Tista is still a mess due to her life forces going more out of bnce with each passing day and Solus has lived her entire life in the shadow of a paranoid man.

    ''They would spend thesest few days constantly watching over their shoulder and we would have learned nothing more than we do now. Also, I have a theory that we can test only by ourselves.''

    ''What theory?'' Nyka didn''t like how the Horseman could easily switch from "I" to "we".

    It was just one word, yet it managed to make her feel responsible for Dawn''s actions and for whatever would happen were Nyka to not heed her warning.

    ''If I''m right and we are actually being followed, for some reason they have never attacked us. This means that they either want to collect information about a member of our group or are waiting for an opportunity to face us one-on-one.'' Dawn said.

    ''Tista spends her time either with us or Bodya while Solus always hangs around public ces. As for us, due to our bond, you don''t need to hunt and we''ve never strayed from our group. Until now.''

    ''Are you telling me that we might be the target?'' Nyka used all of her mystical and enhanced senses, but found nothing. ''Isn''t it one more reason to warn the others?''

    ''Again, it''s just a theory. It might be one of my followers from the Dawn Court or maybe Night wants to approach me to ask for my help. I can''t risk spooking them and neither Tista nor Solus would be of use.

    ''If pushes to shove, your hybrid friend would be forced to pick a life force and you''d feel guilty for it while Solus is reaching her limit. She would be useless in a fight and involving her would put her in danger.'' The Horseman replied.

    ''What if it''s Night and she attacks us? Unlike her, we don''t have our steed!'' Nyka pointed out.

    ''Unlike her, we don''t need it.'' Dawn snorted. ''I know the spell that can destroy her and even if it failed, I can always call upon Mother. I''m no idiot and I''ve warned her already. If my signal suddenly disappears, she''ll reach Nestamaath before Night can finish one of her obnoxious rants.''

    Nyka inwardly nodded and left Dawn full control over her body. The Horseman covered her skin with a crystal armor and kept another prism in her hand, ready to turn it into a replica of her Twilight de at a second''s notice.

    "You can put that down." A hoarse voiceing from around a corner said. "We both know that you are stronger than me, but also that you can''t beat me with that toy. The time you devoted to your foolish experiments I spent it polishing my swordsmanship."

    Dawn turned around, Nyka''s eyes aze with white light as a scarred man stepped out of the shadows right outside the range of Life Vision.

 Chapter 2436 Windfell (Part 2)

    If not for the scars on his face, the stranger would have been the kind of handsome man that only an Awakened could be thanks to body refining. He was 1.91 meters (6''3") tall, with brown hair and blue eyes.

    His skin had been turned bronze from the prolonged exposition to the sun and his body was a symphony of muscles of steel trained to be effective inbat rather than showy.

    The air seemed twisted around his body forming a nigh-invisible vortex, concealing his smell and shredding anything carried by the wind before it could touch him.

    ''This guy is good.'' The Vampire thought. ''Not only did he escape our notice, but he also waited until there was no one around.''

    ''Don''t be foolish!'' Dawn warned her. ''There''s no such a thing as a deserted ce in a big city. He created it.''

    The wind suddenly turned and the smell of fresh blood reached Nyka''s nose.

    "I wouldn''t be so sure if I were you." A confident grin appeared on the Vampire''s lips. "Sure, my host is green and my equipment is nothing special, but my enchantments are cutting edge whereas yours are so old that you belong in a museum."

    The man gritted his teeth as his left hand clenched the hilt of the curved de at his hip. Rage twisted his features and his scars shone in the dark alley from an inner fire that quickly faded as the man shrugged off the provocation.

    "What do you want, Windfell?" A spark of energy from Dawn''s core made the prism turn into a razor-sharp longsword while Nyka''s clothes shapeshifted into her Nightshade armor which in turn was covered by another prism.

    "We are not friends and it''s not like you to break the custom among cursed objects to avoid each other unless our respective interests collide. Am I interfering with your ns or do you want another pointless measuring contest?"

    The crystal de became covered in golden light as the Horseman used abination of Light Mastery and Spirit Magic to etch temporary runes that would grant the prism some of the real Twilight de''s enchantments.

    Nyka gasped in amazement, regretting for the first time since they had fused to have closed the channel between their minds and giving up on learning the Horseman''s techniques.

    "Neither." Windfell raised his hands with his palms out while stepping inside the range of Life Vision.

    It was a universal peace gesture since now Dawn could see that he had no spells at the ready nor hidden weapons. As always, only the de was enchanted. The rest of Windfell''s equipment could be bought from any decent store for a few coins.

    "I''m here to check on the rumors and warn you. As you said, we''ve never been friends but in times like these, family needs to stick together, sister."

    "What the heck are you talking about?" Dawn''s lips curled up in disgust for being put together with the likes of Windfell. "Aside from the usual buzz, there''s nothing going around in ourmunity."

    "Ah, so even the high and mighty Bright Day can be caught by surprise." The man tapped his lips with a finger as he pondered the revtion. "Don''t worry, there is no shame in being in the dark.

    "Not when the source of the rumors is someone who''s desperately trying to escape your detection."

    "Night?" Dawn asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "We may not like each other, Windfell, but I respect you too much to think you stupid enough to let my sister drag you into one of her schemes."

    "Thank you." The man gave her a slight bow before adding. "But you are wrong. It might be just another of her crazy ns, but she got me good. And not only me. As we speak, our brothers and sisters are currently discussing a joint line of action."

    "What?" At those words, Dawn took a step back and shapeshifted into her true form.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Cursed objects joining hands was an unprecedented event that would also exin why Windfell felt so confident. He had no chances in a one-on-one, but if there were more children of forbidden magic lying in ambush¡­

    "Calm down, I''m alone. This is not an ambush. I respect you as well and that''s the only reason I came to warn you." The cursed de said.

    "This is the second time you mention that. Warn me about what?" Dawn asked.

    "Do you still not get it?" The host''s face turned into a stern expression. "I know how smart you are and you took part in the Battle for the White Griffon. This is much worse than I thought. It''s not that you don''t know what I''m talking about, you really don''t care.

    "Night was telling the truth. You are into this and are betraying your own kind!" The scars on the host''s face lit up with a blue light as he stumbled back as if someone had hit him.

    Dawn could see shock and betrayal on his face just like Windfell could see confusion and surprise on hers.

    "You are not making any sense! If you are using me of something, especially based on the words of that madwoman of my sister, the least you should do is tell me what the heck is going on."

    The male host sighed, shaking his head.

    Windfell still had a hard time believing to his own mystical senses.

    "You know who Verhen is, right?" The cursed de asked and Dawn nodded for him to continue. "You fought against him in the past and your previous host was a Ranger. Hence you know that Verhen destroyed the ck Star.

    "That two yearster he destroyed Kogaluga. That just a few weeks ago, he destroyed the Golden Griffon!" Windfell voice rose as he spoke, his tone growing more enraged as he listed their fallen brethren.

    "Then how in the gods'' names do you have the gall to ask me what''s going on? We living legacies are the only true immortals on Mogar. We don''t grow old, we don''t fall into madness, and destroying us is impossible.

    "Or rather, we were supposed to be immortal. Destroying us was supposed to be impossible. Yet that bastard is killing us like flies and you and your brother helped him!

    "You and Dusk have betrayed our kin!" The hand of the man moved too fast for eyes to follow, unsheathing the scimitar and pointing it at her, using.

    Nyka could see with Life Vision that every bit of the curved sword was covered in ancient runes of power held together by an impossiblyplicated power core born out of Forbidden Magic.

    "Thrud was a threat to every one of us. She had to be stopped." Dawn shook her head.

    "I''m not denying it, but three living legacies have already fallen and a fourth is already on the chopping block." Windfell took the spells necessary to destroy Night out of his dimensional amulet. "This cannot be condoned.

    "Verhen must be stopped before he kills us all."

    "Don''t be an idiot!" The Horseman snorted. "Verhen has nothing do to with this. My mother released that information of her own will and only after my sister defied her orders for the umpteenth time."

 Chapter 2437 Shattered Pride (Part 1)

    "Night doesn''t give a damn about the death of other living legacies. She is dragging our brethren into her personal mess to further her own agenda and you are falling for her deception like an idiot.

    "Think about it. She is putting you against Verhen so that either you kill him for her, or by studying your defeat she can better understand his powers. No matter how the fight ends, Night wins and you lose." Dawn stepped forward, offering him her hand.

    "The only way you have to win is to stay out of this. Tell me where my sister is and I''ll personally take care of her."

    "I can''t do that." Windfell shook his head and lowered his eyes, incapable of holding her gaze.

    "Why? What has she promised to you?" The Horseman knew the cursed de well enough to understand that he had been aware of her sister''s intentions all along.

    Night was making a tool out of him, something that his warrior''s pride would never allow. Unless she had made him an offer that he couldn''t refuse.

    "It''s not that. I mean, not only that. I can''t tell you simply because I don''t know where she is. Night only contacted the family through a secure line. By the time we located her signal, she was long gone." Windfell clenched the scrolls, crumpling them.

    "Because if you did find her, you would have used Mother''s spell to paralyze her." Dawn raised an eyebrow in understanding. "What then?"

    "Then we would have studied her. We would have cracked the secret of the Horsemen''s ability to be upgraded without losing their individuality. After that, we wouldn''t be forced to hide like vermin and we''d once again be capable of following the design of our creators!"

    Windfell stared at the surface of his metal body in hatred, cursing the outdated runes that predated the Kingdom by millennia. A furious swing of the de cut a nearby brick wall like it was paper, yet it made the cursed object even angrier.

    What once had been an amazing feat was now something that even an enchanted steel de could achieve. During his final days, sword and forge master Elmont Tarak had literally put his soul in his ultimate piece.

    The powerful Awakened had reached the end of his long life without ever finding an apprentice worth of his trust to whom pass down his secrets. Tarak believed to have conquered magic and Forgemastery.

    To have reached the apex of his craft and have achieved a level of skill that could be equaled, but never surpassed. Unwilling to let his knowledge die with him and with nothing to lose, he devoted the little time he had left to Forbidden Magic.

    It had taken him lots of victims, but with his life force dwindling by the day, the Awakened Council was the least of his worries. He was animated by the self-righteous fervor of a man who believed that the end justified the means.

    He couldn''t allow his peerless knowledge to be lost to time due tozy apprentices and bad luck. His masterpiece would be the heir he needed. In time, Windfell was supposed to find someone worthy of inheriting Tarak''s legacy and ensure that their bloodline would thrive.

    Mogar was supposed to be better for it, making it perfectly reasonable in Tarak''s mind to sacrifice worthless humans for the greater good. His mastery over his crafts more than made up for the short life he had left and so Windfell had been created.

    On the day of its birth, the cursed object was the most powerful weapon on Mogar, second only to Guardian-crafted artifacts and lost cities. Yet Tarak took considered his creation peerless since Guardians were filthy cheaters and lost cities were clumsy tools for pretentious tasks.

    Windfell, instead, was capable of moving freely through Mogar and looking for a worthy owner. Inside the de, Tarak had instilled everything he knew about magic, Forgemastery, and swordy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Whoever took it, once he passed the judgment of Windfell, would rise to his level in a matter of years. What Tarak had failed to consider was that the cursed object shared the vision of his maker and considered himself to be perfect.

    Windfell kept finding ws in the heir candidates and ended up twisting them into copies of Tarak down to the smallest details. It was the reason even his current incarnation bore scars on his face.

    Tarak could have easily healed them, but he considered them honor badges given him by his most tenacious opponents and constant reminders of past mistakes he wouldn''t repeat.

    s, reality rarely cares for personal beliefs.

    With the passing of time, the mystical arts progressed past what Tarak had considered insurmountable limits. Windfell dismissed every breakthrough as inconsequential since he was still the strongest weapon and his hosts were still superior to same-cored Awakened in one-on-one fights.

    Then, it came the age of the Rulers of the mes. Menadion''s runes narrowed the gap between Windfell and the other weapons, but the cursed item still felt confident in his abilities.

    Tarak had crafted Windfell in Davross and had used the rarest and most powerful ingredients he had collected during his over one thousand years-long life. The cursed scimitar sneered at the Forgemaster Magus, thanking her for making thepetition worth his time.

    Windfell still refused to even consider that his maker could have been wrong. That there was no such thing as an apex of magic and that with time, everything that the long-dead Awakened had entrusted his living legacy would be obsolete.

    Once Bytra had released her improved version of the runes and became the fourth Ruler of the mes, Windfell couldn''t close his eyes and ears to the truth any longer and with him the rest of the cursed objects.

    Between Silverwing''s, Menadion''s, and Bytra''s legacies, both true and fake mages were improving by leaps and bounds. Their weapons grew more powerful by the decade whereas the living legacies stagnated.

    To make matters worse, cursed items like Windfell were incapable of altering their Forbidden Magic-borne power cores in any way. As their runes and enchantments became outdated, the knowledge they possessed became a relic of the past.

    They were forced to study the newfound disciplines like anybody else, yet theycked the genius and creativity of their makers. Windfell was already heavily reliant on his host during tough fights and things kept getting worse with each passing year.

    If once the de could make even a farmer into an unstoppable war machine in a matter of months, now if the host wasn''t talented or strong enough Windfell would lose.

    He had been forced to sacrifice several hosts already to save himself and he was now forced to hide. The legend about his invincibility was a joke even to himself, shattering his pride and making him desperate.

    ''My maker was a fool! Lost cities may be big and clumsy, but by harnessing the power of mana geysers and trapping souls, there is no limit to their power. Even though their enchantments became outdated just like mine, their might kept increasing even while they were held captive by the arrays.

    ''It''s the very reason no one dares to destroy them.''

 Chapter 2438 Shattered Pride (Part 2)

    ''A lost city umtes so much power that without a proper spell, the aftermath is worse than a natural disaster. Those like me, instead, can do no such thing.

    ''If broken beyond repair we explode as well, but the consequences of the fallout of our power cores are nothingpared to a lost city.'' Windfell would think over and over as time passed.

    Living legacies considered the lost cities as their perfect and invincible big brothers. Something they strived to achieve and that also offered them safe haven in times of need.

    Even though cursed objects rarely shared the same creator, they called each other brother and sister exactly because they were aware that as immutable objects trapped in an ever-changing world, their only chance of survivaly in working together.

    Or so they had thought until the Dark Star had fallen, quickly followed by Kogaluga and the Golden Griffon. Four years were akin to four seconds to cursed items. To them, it was as if Lith had in their champions one after the other.

    He had survived every encounter, never triggering the explosion that was supposed to ensure the mutual destruction of a lost city and its enemy with the same ease of a butcher outliving livestock.

    Lith had given the people of Garlen hope and driven fear into the cores of the living legacies. Fear that Night had exploited to lure her "brethren" to her side and use them as a borrowed knife.

    "That''s idiotic!" Dawn blurted out. "The reason us Horseman are capable of learning and improving is Mother''s Creation Magic. Even if you capture one of us, there''s nothing you can do aside from angering her."

    "Don''t you dare lie to me!" Windfell''s host pointed the scimitar at Dawn again, the Davross de coursing with great power. "We saw you fighting Thrud in the battle for Belius. We know that you can now create a body of your own and not rely on your host anymore.

    "It was the first thing we asked Night when she contacted us and she confirmed our suspicions. You Horsemen possess the ability to change your hosts and yourselves!"

    Actually, Night had been a prisoner for most of the War of the Griffons and before that, she had been on the run from Baba Yaga. She suspected to possess those abilities due to the changes that her bond with Orpal had caused him, but the effects were negligible on him and non-existent on her.

    Yet once the opportunity had presented itself and the cursed items had demanded an exnation for Dawn''s feats, Night had dly told them everything they wanted to hear to rope them to her cause and leash them to her will.

    "Let me guess." The Bright Day licked her lips, trying to anticipate her sister''s next move. "Night promised you that if you kill Verhen, she will teach you the secrets of the Horsemen. Am I right?"

    "Yes." Windfell nodded. "But only an idiot would take her words at face value. That''s why I''m here. To confirm her ims and the rumors about a traitor among our ranks."

    "Are you talking about me?" Dawn raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    "No. Or rather, not yet." He replied with a cold gaze. "I''m talking about the little sister you are traveling with. The one who calls herself Solus Verhen."

    "That''s ridiculous, she-"

    "She''s one of us!" Windfell cut Dawn short, his voice seething with anger for her now confirmed betrayal. "In his final moments, Hystar warned us about Verhen being bonded to a traitorous living legacy and I made sure of it with my eyes.

    "Sure, somehow they have a different energy signature, but I saw Solus'' energy dwindle over time and recover only after going back to her master. On top of that, Night confirmed to us that back at the Heavenly Tavern restaurant, they had the same energy signature!"

    Until hearing from her fellow living legacies, Night had dismissed the phenomenon as one of Lith''s many oddities. Only after hearing Hystar''sst words did everything make sense.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Why the paranoid Lith had weed a "stranger" in his house, the secret behind his strength, and the too many gaps in Dawn''s story whenever Night asked her about her defeat by Lith''s hands.

    "Hystar imed that Solus is the fourth Horseman and Night confirmed it. The fact that you are trying to defend her is the final proof I needed. Solus Verhen is a traitor to our species and the first step we need to take in order to be like you Horsemen." Windfell said.

    "Heed my warning, Dawn, because there won''t be a second." The cursed scimitar stepped back through a Spirit Steps to be close to the Bright Day and yet dozens of kilometers away. "Surrender the traitor to us or join her fate, we don''t care which.

    "I''d rather not make an enemy of Baba Yaga, but two test subjects are better than one."

    The Spirit Steps closed, leaving Dawn staring at the remnants of the dimensional corridor in cold fury.

    ''Let me guess. You can''t use Domination nor are you a dimensional mage.'' The Horseman asked.

    ''I have no idea what Domination is and the only dimensional mage I know is Friya.'' Nyka inwardly shook her head. ''Do you know how rare they are? There is none in Lightkeep and even the Firstborns I met didn''t qualify.

    ''That said, why are we still here? We must go back to the hotel and warn the others!''

    ''Way ahead of you yet I don''t think it will be necessary.'' While they were talking through their mind link, Dawn had already taken hermunication amulet and warned Solus and Tista of the impending threat.

    She was discussing the issue with all of herpanions at once while also expressing Nyka''s worries.

    "As I just said to my host, there''s no need to rush to the Warp Gate. Quite the contrary, I believe it might be a trap." Dawn said.

    "A trap? How?" Tista asked.

    "Think about it. If the cursed objects meant to ambush us in Nestamaath, they would have done it without giving us a friendly warning." The Horseman replied. "Windfell came to me to confirm his suspicions andy the foundations for his attack.

    "He couldn''t trust the words of a dying lost city. Hystar might have just been trying to drag the other living legacies into his mess to avenge his death. Also, Windfell couldn''t trust Night either.

    "She''s unreliable and her losing streak undermines the little credibility she has left.

    "The living legacies must have sent Windfell to follow and study us so that my reaction to his words would give them the answers they were looking for. Their goal was to scare me and put me on the defensive.

    "They seeded, but in doing so they have also given me clues about their n. Windfell somehow knew that you went back to Lith, hence someone must have told him the destination of the Warp Gates we took.

    "He and his aplices must have someone inside the dimensionalwork who can look at the logs and maybe even change our destination. If we run to the nearest Gate and escape from Nestamaath, we''d be the architects of our own undoing."

 Chapter 2439 Weight Of Power (Part 1)

    "It would be the definitive proof that they are right. We''d make them think that we are afraid of them and we''d surely fall into a trap. All their aplice has to do is push a few buttons to send us into the middle of a carefully staged trap from which we would have no way out.

    "Sealed Space blocks even my link with my mother and with enough arrays, taking down the three of us is child''s y."

    "Good gods!" Nyka blurted out in surprise, taking over her own mouth for a second.

    "Thank the gods you are here, Dawn." Solus was already rushing to cancel the reservation when she realized that the Horseman was right. "What do you propose we do?"

    "Nothing." Dawn walked briskly toward her hotel, making sure that no one followed her and alerting Baba Yaga of Night''stest ploy. "As long as we stay in a popted area, there''s nothing they can do to us.

    "Remember that they want to capture us alive and that we are currently in a flying fortress. The automated defenses would take them down in a second and they know it. That''s why they want us to panic and act without thinking.

    "We''ll continue our vacation as if nothing has happened and leave by flight without notice. We can either call my mother to pick us up or use another Gate since the aplice of the living legacies can''t interfere unless they know both our position and destination."

    "I''d go for thetter. If we are followed, we would be attacked the moment we leave the city and Mother is busy at the moment. She can drop everything to reach us, but with Nestamaath constantly moving and no geyser around, it would take her time."

    The word geyser made an idea pop into Solus'' mind.

    ''I just need to wait until Nestamaath flies near one. At that point, Nyka seals Dawn, I conjure the tower, and then we''ll tower Warp to Lith in a heartbeat without leaving a trace behind.

    ''If we call Malyshka, instead, she''d be forced to wait until Nestamaath is far away enough in order to not be mistaken by an enemy and attacked by the automated defenses.

    "By the time the living legacies realize what has happened, I''ll be back to Lutia and if they dare follow us there, they''ll be the ones falling into our trap.''

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, at the same time.

    "Farm Night! I finally got some peace and she''s already working to destroy my life." When Solus had called to alert Lith of the threat, he was having breakfast with his family.

    "Don''t worry about it." Solus'' hologram shrugged. "I have still plenty of mana and I didn''t use my breathing technique much. I''m not going to wait until I''m running on fumes so even in case we get attacked, I can defend myself."

    "Send me the details about your departure via Soluspedia." Lith nodded. "Council amulets are supposed to be untraceable but better safe than sorry."

    "Agreed. Good luck with your first lesson about Void Magic. I wish I was there with you." She said with a sigh.

    "Me too. Preparing the slides has been a hassle. It took me days to dumb the concepts down enough so that even Kami understood what I was saying." His reply earned him a punch on the arm.

    "What do you mean even I?" Kam pouted. "I''m not stupid. It''s just that I''m no mage and all those things you said were baffling at best."

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean that." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment. "What I was trying to say is that someone with limited knowledge of magic like you was the perfect test subj-"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A volley of res from around the table made him choke on his words.

    "The perfect student. Today I''m going to exin tier zero Void Magic and thanks to your job and Jirni''s training, you have an understanding just below the fourth year students who''ll attend my ss today.

    "If even you- I mean, since you managed to follow the lesson with ease, they should be capable of doing the same."

    "Much better." Kam glossed over her private lessons with Solus and her own practice of Void Magic.

    She wanted to keep them a secret in order to keep Lith off her back. He already shadowed her like a Guardian. Thest thing she needed was to give him a reason to spend even more time with her while he turned her into a war machine for the fun of it.

    "Why didn''t you teach us as well, Uncle Lith?" Leria tormented her long golden hair while staring at him with her patented big puppy eyes.

    s, this time they had no effect.

    "Ask your mother." He pointed at Rena.

    "Auntie Kami is an Awakened while you are not." She walked around the table, lifting Leria in a sudden embrace that made her yelp. "You are still young. I want you to think less about magic and more about having fun."

    "But Mom-" Rena''s sniffling made the rebuttal die on Leria''s lips. "I''m sorry, Mom. Please, don''t cry. I don''t care about magic."

    Ever since the Royal G, Rena was having a hard time. Things had never gone so well for her family but her personal life was creaking. Onyx had Awakened, Abominus seemed to be close to Awakening, and Rena was afraid that Leria would be next.

    The mansion was located above a powerful mana geyser and Rena had forbidden Lith to further Leria''s magical education to keep her from Awakening. Rena was already struggling with the idea that her daughter would leave the household in a few years.

    Were Leria to Awaken, she would be forced to stay with Lith until she mastered her new abilities and was no longer a threat to those around her. After that, the divide between Rena and her daughter would grow wider, just like it was happening with her husband.

    Leria was an obedient girl, but Rena struggled to inspire respect in someone who could overpower her with a wave of the hand. She also had no idea how to answer Leria''s questions about magic nor could take part in any game that required more than a measly bright red core.

    Rena was cut out from her daughter''s world and was terrified at the thought that Awakening would further set them apart. As for Senton, he was still ruminating about the G and the fact that no one bothered to even remember his name.

    He couldn''t take it out on the nobles nor did he resent Rena for it.

    Yet his bitterness was there and it brought him to iste himself often. Incapable of dealing with a feeling of inadequacy that grew along with Leria''s powers, he would rarely talk to Rena anymore.

    Senton did it to protect his wife and to not burden her, yet the result was that Rena felt like they were turning into strangers.

    "Don''t worry, my little girl, it''s not your fault." Rena looked at Aran who lowered his gaze in shame, feeling somehow responsible for his sister''s suffering since he was about to ask the same thing.

 Chapter 2440 Weight Of Power (Part 2)

    ''I guess that I need to have a word with Senton.'' Raaz knew of their problems, but wasn''t aware of how bad the situation was. ''Back when Lith was little. I walked a mile in Senton''s shoes and then some.

    ''The difference between us is that I was too happy for the help that Lith gave to the family to care about my fatherly pride whereas Senton feels eclipsed by his own daughter.''

    Lith closed the conversation with Solus and then the breakfast continued in an Awkward silence until he was forced to leave for the White Griffon.

    "How long will the lesson take?" Kam was both happy and scared at the idea of spending a bit of time on her own.

    Lith''s constant care was a bit annoying but it also kept anyone from trying and hazing her. From the academy, there was no way to leave the Golems or the Demons with her.

    "The whole morning minimum." He replied. "You can join me at the White Griffon for lunch or I''lle to you as soon as I''m done in case you have no time for a proper meal. Do you want something in particr?"

    "Gods, yes." Kam had fond memories of the time spent at the White Griffon during Zinya''s post-operation recovery.

    It had marked her sister''s first step toward freedom and the food was simply delicious. Kam gave him a grocery list of all the dishes she wanted and the number of servings for each.

    "We can always save them forter." She blushed in embarrassment when Lith moved to the second page of her notebook and she was still talking. "After all, food doesn''t go bad in a dimensional amulet."

    "That or we can throw a party." Lith scoffed. "Eating for two is a tough job, but judging from this list we are having triplets."

    "Don''t joke about that! What if you jinxed it?" Kam brought his hand to her womb in fear.

    "Don''t worry. Still one. I check on Elysia multiple times every day, remember?" He gave her a warm smile but he still performed a deep scan, just to be safe.

    "It''s kind of hard to forget." She sighed in relief after he took his hand away and his smile was still extending to his eyes. "Let''s hope my colleagues are as polite as they look even without you."

    "Only one way to find out." Lith shrugged, strapping a hiltless War at her hip. "Take care of them for me, okay?"

    "Daughter!" The angry de wailed in reply.

    "Is it safe?" Kam knew what happened to whoever tried to wield the de.

    "The guard and the scabbard can be touched freely." Lith nodded. "I ordered War to keep the grip hidden so there''s no risk of you grabbing it by instinct. Right, buddy?"

    Lith caressed the bloodtches that followed his hand in an affectionate gesture.

    After bidding his wife goodbye, Lith crossed the Warp Gate of the mansion, reaching the Headmaster''s office of the White Griffon in a single step.

    "You are a bit early, but it''s better this way." Duke Marth stood up to wee him and they shook hands. "Do you mind giving me a quick check-up? Ryssa keeps nagging at me because she says that I look unwell."

    "Sure." Lith had to agree with the Dryad.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Marth looked tired and had dark bags under his eyes. He also had a feverish look, often biting his lips and swallowing for no apparent reason. Yet Invigoration confirmed to Lith that his friend was as fit as a fiddle.

    He scanned even his clothes in search of cursed objects since he couldn''t underestimate their resourcefulness, finding nothing but the Headmaster''s ring and the tools that Duke carried on him at all times.

    "The good news is that you are fine even after an Awakened level check-up. The bad news is that you don''t look fine. At all." Lith said.

    "Thanks for not sugar-coating it." Marth sighed, sitting back on his chair. "The worst thing is that I know the source of my affliction but I have no way to deal with it."

    "Meaning?" Lith asked in confusion.

    Duke Marth was one of the beast Healers of the Kingdom and one of the leading figures in the Light Department. On paper, there was nothing that he couldn''t treat.

    "What you see are just the side effects from fusing with the White Griffon to fight Hystar. It was supposed to get better with time but it''s only getting worse." Marth showed Lith his hands which trembled from time to time.

    "Are you telling me that Valeron the First created a cursed artifact? That the academy is trying to affect your mind as we speak?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "No. Quite the contrary." Marth sighed in exasperation, holding his head between his hands. "Valeron did too good a job and held his sessors in too high esteem. The academy is an incredible tool that has no will of its own and grants its user nigh-omnipotence.

    "I''m the root of my problems. My mind and body are not strong enough. I got intoxicated from the power of the White Griffon and now I''m suffering from withdrawal symptoms."

    "Intoxicated? Duke, you are making no sense. I''m starting to worry about you." Lith said.

    "As you should." Marth nodded. "For the duration of that terrifying battle, I could activate the countless enchantments and arrays of the White Griffon with a single thought.

    "My body had be so strong that I could kill a Divine Beast with a casual swing of my sword. On top of that, my mind was filled not only with the mana of the most powerful Professors and students in the history of the White Griffon, but also with a part of their minds!

    "While I fought Hystar, I had Manohar''s genius, Rudd''s dimensional awareness, Vastor''s battle experience, and your unyielding rage, Lith. I would actually need hours to list all the great minds that merged with mine, but you get what I mean.

    "While I was one with them, I had countless ideas and revtions about the true nature of magic. I shared more than their power, Lith, for a brief time, I had their talent as well. Once we defeated Thrud, I took a mental note of several groundbreaking experiments.

    "Yet once I got disconnected from the White Griffon, everything was lost. I remember only bits and pieces of what I had nned. Everything that until that moment was so clear in front of my eyes that I could almost touch it, became an iprehensible blurred mess."

    Marth grasped the air in front of him with his right hand like a man stumbling in the dark, his face twisted with sadness and frustration.

    "Ever since that day, I feel weak, Lith. I feel stupid. I feel¡­ empty. Can you even imagine it?"

    "Actually, I can." Lith nodded. "It''s what I feel every time that the damage in my life force keeps me from using magic for days, sealing even the simplest of tricks and bloodline abilities.

    "The difference is that at least I know that my powers are still there so I only have to bear with that feeling for a while.

 Chapter 2441 Cause And Effect (Part 1)

    "It''s different for me." Marth''s shoulders slouched. "Unless another war happens, the power and knowledge I gained by merging with the academy are lost forever. I feel like someone has broken my hands and clouded my mind.

    "All that knowledge is still at the fringes of my consciousness but no matter how hard I try, I can''t remember a thing. The frustration alone is driving me insane!"

    ''Now that I think about it, Duke''s situation is no different from what I experience every time I fused with Solus. In those moments, I share her genius, her talent for magic, and the power of a mage tower. Lith thought.

    ''What makes the experience not addictive is the fact that she''s there with me. Our minds retain their individuality so our respective powers are just shared, not possessed.

    ''I wonder if Menadion did it on purpose as a safety measure or if it''s just a happy ident. After all, she had an active role in building the academies.''

    "Now that I think about it, you didn''t seem so distressed during the G." He actually said. "What''s changed since then?"

    "As you just said, it was the Royal G. I had a role to fulfill so I was on tranquilizer potions. Also, it wasn''t so bad back then. I was too happy enjoying the peace with Ryssa and Dhiral to care about my lost powers.

    "It only started to really bug me once I got back to work. Every spell I cast feels wrong and every project that gets proposed to me feels dumb. I know they are wed, but I can never point out why or how to fix them." Marth replied.

    "But enough with my rants." The Headmaster took a sip from an ampule and his features smoothened while his hands stopped trembling. "We are making the Royals wait. Follow me."

    Lith''s gut twisted as Marth''s addiction to potions reminded him of Yurial''s after the second exam. Yet he said nothing and followed the Headmaster through a Warp Steps.

    ''It''s just like back then. I can support Duke, but only he can fight his own demons.'' Lith searched for any tip or advice he could give to his friend, but they all sounded like hot air, wishful thinking, or both.

    "Fu-" Once they emerged on the other side, Lith had to bite his own tongue to stop his usual exmation.

    Marth had brought him to the lecture ssroom of the fourth year of the White Griffon where the students would receive themon lessons no matter their specialization courses.

    It had a pitched floor and the desks were arranged in a semi-circr shape.

    At first nce, it seemed to have a capacity of at least two hundred students. The magical lights had been ced so that there was no shadow in the room, exalting the magnificence of the marble floor.

    Usually, one-third of the desks were upied only at the beginning of the academic year, before the students started to flunk their exams or got expelled for disciplinary reasons.

    Now, instead, not only were all the regr desks upied but also more had been added, leaving almost no free space aside from the bare minimum for the Professor''s desk and the ckboard.

    The students of the fourth year from all six academies hade to attend the fabled elective course about Void Magic held by the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom. Centuries had passed since there had been a Magus and receiving his teaching in person was a dreame true.

    Not a single student had turned down the offer, forcing Marth to resort to the dimensional arrays of the academy to expand the ssroom and employ all the spare desks at his disposal.

    Right in front of Lith''s desk sat the King and Queen while at their right and left sat the six Headmasters of the great academies. Behind them, there were the Professors of the academies and all the Archmages of the Kingdom who had obtained the clearance to attend.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Past them, there were the pitched desks of the students who had been split by their academy of origin. Their colorful uniforms formed a weird six-colored rainbow that extended for the entire width of the ssroom.

    It wasn''t Lith''s first rodeo as a teacher, but he was used to speaking in front of a half-empty ssroom, not a crowded stadium. The pressure was already overwhelming when the students saluted Lith''s arrival by jumping on their feet and giving him a standing ovation.

    The Royals and the Archmages reacted with more dignity, slowly standing before joining the crowd without the screams and cheers. Among the students, the girls screamed like it was the concert of their favorite singer.

    Some turned their gaze away the moment their eyes met. Most of them, however, just screamed louder in a higher pitch. If not for the presence of the Royals and their Professors, Lith would have been drowned in a rain of contact cards.

    He took a deep breath to calm down before raising his hand and activating the silencing arrays of the ssroom.

    "Good morning, everyone. Today I am Professor Verhen and you are my students. Let''s not waste time with titles and honorifics and let''s go straight to the point. I''m here to teach you Void Magic and to learn from you.

    "This subject has never been imparted before so my textbook might be wed and my exnations might becking. I need your help as much as you need mine so let''s work together, shall we?"

    Lith lowered his hand and the arrays, prompting another deafening apuse.

    "I assume every one of you has received a copy of my book, correct?" Lith took his copy out of the pocket dimension while the students raised their own for him to see.

    "Excellent. Have you read it?" The room nodded for him to continue, including the Royals. "How many of you have managed to put my teachings into practice?"

    Sylpha raised her hand and that was it.

    "It seems like we have lots of work to do so let''s start right away. You there." Lith pointed at a female student with bright red streaks in her blonde hair. "You have an affinity for fire magic. Did you focus on Void Magic between fire and water?"

    The girl squealed in reply, bing beet red in embarrassment the moment she realized her blunder. She tried to speak, but only a choked sound came out as the excitement quickly turned into a panic attack.

    All heads were turned towards her, including her Headmaster. The convened Archmages were ring at her while her peers pointed their fingers from under their desks,ughing.

    "A yes or no will suffice." Lith spoke loud enough to draw the attention to himself and give her a moment of respite.

    "Yes." Her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible but the fact that she nodded like a frenzied parrot helped.

    "Perfect." Lith replied with a friendly smile. "Do you mind sharing with us what troubles you?"

    "I didn''t expect to speak in front of so many people, let alone the Royals." She replied in one breath. "Also, you are much more handsome in person than in the videos."

 Chapter 2442 Cause And Effect (Part 2)

    "Thanks, but I meant what kind of trouble you have while practicing Void Magic." Lith needed sheer willpower to notugh like the rest of the room.

    The poor girl was already tearing up because of her blunder, looking around like a trapped animal.

    "Enough!" Sylpha''s roar brought the room to silence again. "If you find it so funny, let''s see if you can do better. You there, what''s your name?"

    She pointed at a girl who hadughed hard and meanly enough to stand out in the crowd. Now that the ssroom was looking at her, she found neither the situation funny nor her voice.

    The squeaky noise that came from her mouth couldn''t be called words nor made sense of.

    "I asked for your name, not a magical breakthrough. Is it so hard to remember?" Sylpha crossed her arms, her gaze turning even colder.

    Feeling that the mockery of the entire room now weighed on her and aware that the moment she spoke her name it would be a joke throughout the Kingdom, the girl burst into tears.

    "See? It''s not so easy when you are the one in the crossfire." The Queen pped her hands, bringing the attention back to the girl with red streaks. "You were about to share with us your troubles with Void Magic, miss¡­"

    "T Garhem, Your Majesty." The blonde girl replied while giving a perfect courtesy. "I have read the chapter about fire and water magic multiple times, but I can''t understand how the two elements can be corrted.

    "I mean, fire generates fire and water condenses the humidity in the air. The first is useless when the air is thin and the second when it''s dry. It would make more sense to me if they were connected to the air element instead of each other."

    "I have a simr issue." Another girl, this one with orange streaks in her hair stood up. "No matter how much I try, I can''t turn air into earth nor the other way around. One is ethereal whereas the other is solid.

    "The only thing they have inmon is their affinity for water which conducts electricity and softens the ground. Are you sure that the elements are not connected in sets of three instead of pairs?"

    "Same here." One of the few boys carrying the blessing of the gods of magic in the form of silver streaks amid his hair stood up as well. "Except that light and darkness have no middleman.

    "Unlike the other pairs of elements, everyone knows how to make them work together but I can''t find any similitude between them either. One heals and the other one destroys. They have nothing inmon."

    Murmurs of approval filled the room as the students nodded to each other.

    "I fare just slightly better." Sylpha undid her updo, letting her hair down and revealing the seven streaks. "I can brute force the elements to switch, but it always feels unnatural and I waste lots of mana even for the simplest trick."

    She shifted a speck of energy into its opposite for all the six elements, proving to the rest of the ss that Void Magic really existed and worked despite its difficulty.

    "I see. The root of the problem is that when I wrote the textbook, I never considered that my readers would confuse between the cause and the effect of each element." Lith nodded. "The good thing is that it''s not hard to fix that."

    His words made no sense and his confidence made even the Archmages feel dumb.

    "Here, let me show you the real Void Magic." Lith raised his right hand, conjuring a violet me that made the air hot until it suddenly froze into a wavy ice crystal that dispelled the heat.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When he raised his left hand, jolts of lightning coursed from his wrist to his fingertips. The current increased in intensity until it suddenly was reced by a thickyer of conductive rocks that kept growing up to Lith''s elbow.

    Then, he took several rat skeletons out of his pocket dimension, reanimating them into lesser undead before turning the darkness into a hard-light sword and using the rats'' bones as a scaffold for the construct.

    "I wish I could show you a tier four spell as well, but I still have trouble working on a single element. Switching two of them at the same time while keeping them stable and making them work in harmony is still beyond me." Lith gave them an apologetic bow.

    Yet seeing him triple casting Void Spells was an impressive feat even to Sylpha who could still handle only one elemental spark at a time.

    "What do you mean, cause and effect?" Unlike the other Archmages, her thirst for knowledge wasn''t blinded by pride and she felt no shame in admitting her ignorance.

    ''I must say that Verhen is quite the cunning youth.'' She also thought. ''By referring to himself as a Professor and to us as his students, he avoided all the issues regarding whose standing is higher between the Royals and the Supreme Magus.

    ''Also, he allowed everyone to save face since he put us all on his same level. He is learning from us and we from him. Verhen asked us questions first so it''s only natural for us to do the same.''

    "It''s easier to show than tell." Lith took out a simple ss and lifted it in front of the ss. "Based on what you said earlier, this is what you think. This is water." A snap of his fingers filled the ss.

    "And this is fire." A small me appeared right beside the ss without touching or interacting with it. "Correct? They are distinct and apart."

    The ss nodded for him to continue.

    "What about this, then?" Another snap of his fingers made the me disappear.

    In the span of a few seconds, the water in the ss started to steam and boil.

    "You used fire magic to heat the water." Sylpha said as her mind couldn''t help but wonder that even though the question was simple, the answer was actuallyplex.

    "Correct." Lith nodded, making most of the ss furrow their brows while only a few like Sylpha raised them in sudden understanding. "Let me be clear and do this step by step.

    "I did this." A second ss started to boil by itself.

    "Not this." A third ss appeared but this time the me was ced under the ss like on a stove.

    "So answer me this. If the fire element just produces mes and the water element can''t work in absence of humidity, then where is the fire that made the first two cups boil?" Many opened their mouths to answer just to shut them up as the realization dawned on them.

    "That''s right. As I said, you are confusing the cause with the effect." Lith turned around the ss to make sure that everyone was following his reasoning. "The fire element produces heat, not mes. Just like the water element generates cold, not ice.

    "Have you ever wondered why mages are immune to most of their own spells? Like a fireball doesn''t burn a single hair on our head yet the shockwave sts us away and makes the air unbreathable?"

 Chapter 2443 Cause And Effect (Part 3)

    "That''s because the root cause of our spells is our own mana and it does us no harm. The effects, instead are produced when the spells interact with the external world energy. They are like the ripples produced by a stone thrown into ake.

    "We have control over the distance the stone travels and the strength with which itnds, but not over the ripples that originate from the impact. Let me give you another example."

    Lith raised his right hand, producing such heat that soon everyone had trouble breathing, he included. The same happened when he caused a frost wave that made his teeth tter.

    "See? In both cases, my body is unaffected by the change in temperature that fire and water magic produce but the same doesn''t apply to the effect they cause in the environment around me. Any questions?" He asked.

    "I have one." King Meron said. "During our visit to the Desert, when we discussed the terms of your ascension to Magus, you told us that fire and ice control speed. If water magic slows things down, then howe ice spells are second in speed only to air magic?"

    "Excellent question." Lith gave him a nod of approval. "Yet once again, your confusion originates from mixing up cause and effect. Let me exin it to you with a practical example."

    He put two sses of water on either side of the King''s desk.

    "You are thinking this." A flick of Lith''s finger created a trail of ice that reached the ss and froze the water it contained.

    "Yet it''s actually this." A wave of his other hand had the water in the other ss freeze on the spot without affecting anything else.

    "What my mana is doing is draining the heat by slowing down the movement of the water. The ice is just the visible effect. Ice magic is fast because it''s actually my mana that moves until it reaches the destination and causes the effect.

    "On the contrary, fire magic appears to be slower because the mes it creates behave like natural fire and devour oxygen. That''s why Light Mastery does it better." A heat beam from Lith''s finger punctured a hole in his own desk, spreading the smell of burnt wood.

    "Using light instead of air as a carrier for the fire magic keeps it from wasting energy to produce mes and focuses its power in a single spot. On the other hand, however, mixing fire and air can create explosions, something that light can''t do.

    "But that''s a lesson for another day. Any more questions?"

    "Yeah. You said that we are mistaking cause and effect, but if the ice is the effect, then howe it doesn''t hurt us?" A male student created a crystal shard that phased through his hand and yet pierced through his desk.

    "Because that''s not external ice but your own." Seeing the confused expression on his face, Lith rushed to add. "Let me show you the difference."

    Lith opened both of his palms but while an ice shard simr to the student''s formed above the left hand and floated there, another formed above his right hand, falling to the ground and shattering into smaller fragments.

    "That''s ice conjured by my cold." Lith pointed at the fragments with his free hand. "This, instead, is ice conjured by my own mana."

    "There''s a difference?" The student asked in confusion.

    "Okay, let me ask you a few questions. Does normal ice fly?"

    "No." The student replied with a scoff at the apparent stupid question before realizing how short-sighted he had been.

    "Next, do you use air magic to make your water magic spells fly?"

    "No." This time there was no mockery in the voice of the student who was now pondering his own every word as he spoke. "That would be a tier four spell that I have yet to learn. My water spells fly because they areprised of my mana."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "And mana does whatever you want it to do. That''s the difference." Lith gave the student a nod of approval while conjuring a piece of rock that floated as well, apparently defying gravity.

    Just like the shard, the piece of rock phased through Lith but put a dent in the desk.

    "What about light and darkness?" Marth asked. "Why does one work on ourselves while the other doesn''t?"

    "There is a subtle but vital difference between them." Lith nodded. "Darkness is destruction. Cause and effect match hence our own darkness spells can''t hurt us. Light, instead, works in the same way as air magic and changes its effect based on how it''s applied."

    He conjured a hard-light knife.

    "This is pure light element that I conjured and as you see, it can''t affect me." Lith stabbed at his palm a few times to prove his point.

    Then, he opened a small cut in his own hand with an enchanted knife.

    "If I return this to pure light element, however¡­" The energy that formed the knife lost cohesion, seeping into his hand and healing his wound. "Light is the cause, hence a construct can''t hurt me and its radiance can''t blind me."

    Lith generated a strong light that forced everyone but him to shield their eyes.

    "Healing, instead, is the effect so it works on me as well. Light stimtes the body and the metabolism, that''s why we can self-heal. Cause and effect. As soon as you grasp the difference, you''ll be able to learn Void Magic."

    King Meron raised his hand and Lith nodded for him to speak.

    "My question is not about Void Magic but since we are discussing the causes and effects of the elements, I was wondering if you could give us a demonstration about darkness magic as well."

    From Lith''s speech, Meron had gained a deeper understanding of how fusion magic worked yet he couldn''t speak openly about it.

    Only the upper echelons of the Kingdom knew about the existence of the Awakened whereas the exclusive branches of magic they could employ were still a well-guarded secret.

    The Awakened wanted to maintain their edge over fake mages while the Royals wanted to avoid breeding envy, fear, and hunger for those powers. History was a good teacher and Meron was aware of the truth about the legendary Werepeople.

    Were the Mage Association and the army to learn about fusion and Spirit magic, their most radical factions would set up ck facilities where to conduct human experimentation and hold magical beasts and nt folk to discover the secret of their abilities.

    It would have been the end of the fragile alliance between the races and probably marked the end of the Griffon Kingdom.

    ''It always baffled me how darkness fusion stops pain. Yet no matter how many funds we invested in my "theory" to use darkness magic to rece heavy sedatives and all the risks they imply, even the White Griffon dismissed it as unfeasible.

    ''If Lith is right and fusion magic is just the effects of the elements on ourselves, then he might have the solution.'' Meron thought.

    "It was going to be the subject of a future lesson, but since we are already here¡­" Lith took a scroll out of his pocket dimension and handed it to the King.

 Chapter 2444 Cause And Effect (Part 4)

    "Isn''t this a tier four spell?" Meron blurted out in surprise.

    ''How can something so simple as darkness fusion require something soplicated?'' He thought.

    "Headmaster Marth invited me as a lecturer for the fourth year trial anatomy course that he ns on making mandatory and this was my gift for him." The study of the human body was part of the legacy that Lith had left as a student first and then as an Assistant Professor.

    Marth wanted to make it official not only to train better healers but also in the hope that by recognizing Lith''s contribution to the healing arts, the people of the Kingdom wouldn''t be scared anymore of his nature as a Divine Beast.

    The goal of the Headmaster of the White Griffon was to make Mogar better for Dhiral, Elysia, and all the future hybrid children. To spare them in the future the harassment that their parents were currently enduring.

    "It requiresbining a diagnostic spell to locate the pain centers and a darkness spell to suppress them. Otherwise this might happen." Lith chanted gibberish and then put two fingers on Meron''s right hand.

    It fell limp and incapable of moving, but when Lith pinched it, Meron felt pain.

    "Ouch!"

    "This is because I used darkness magic to mess up with your motor function ''by mistake''. Using solely darkness magic could also cause this." The King''s right arm went into a series of painful cramps, the muscles losing coordination.

    "I get it." Meron gritted his teeth in evident difort. "A simple yes would have sufficed."

    "Not for the students, though. I needed them to understand how dangerous it is to experiment on themselves with darkness magic." Lith gave an apologetic bow to the King before taking a long stare at the students'' seats.

    Then he passed more scrolls to the Headmasters and the Archmages that used it on themselves first and then on the students. The entire room burst into an uproar and it took a while for everyone, even the Royals and Vastor, to calm down.

    Narcotics created addiction, could cause allergic reactions, and very few could be used on pregnant women. One spell to solve all those problems.

    "As you see, the first effect of darkness magic is destruction, but if carefully calibrated, its effects can disrupt the bodily functions even of its user. In this case, I targeted the nerve centers that control the stimulus of pain, suppressing it."

    While his students mumbled to themselves or discussed what they had just learned with their neighbors, Lith took a short break to let his words sink. The Queen was the first to try and experiment with first magic of the six elements, studying their effects with the same curiosity as a baby with a new toy.

    Once the room returned to silence, Lith stepped forward from his desk and Ryeja ma, Headmaster of the Earth Griffon raised his hand.

    "I still don''t get what you did with your bolts of lightning earlier. In your book, you say that earth and air control space, yet I''ve mastered both of them years ago and found no evidence of it.

    "Dimensional magic controls space, not air and earth."

    "No." Lith shook his head. "Dimensional magic is just an extreme application of gravity magic which also is based on air and earth. Yet what you said is partly correct. Air and earth don''t control space so much as the space between things."

    "I don''t follow." ma replied, his face a mask of focus.

    "Since my previous example baffled you, let me turn things down another notch. Everyone knows what maism is, correct?" The ssroom nodded for Lith to continue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Great. Then, Headmaster ma, split this for me." Lith handed ma a big ma attached to a metal te.

    The Headmaster needed just a bit of strength to seed.

    "Do it again, please." A wave of Lith''s hand shattered the ma into many smaller pieces.

    Once again, ma did as bidden no question asked, focusing instead to understand the purpose of the exercise. The ss didn''t stand twiddling their thumbs either. Their bodies were still whereas their minds were spinning at full gear, thinking about Lith''s words and what they would do were they in the Headmaster''s position.

    It took ma just a few minutes toplete the task, but they felt like hours. Not because it was boring or challenging, but because he kept feeling stupider by the second.

    ''I don''t know why but this is humiliating. Couldn''t Verhen just get to the point instead of treating me like a boy?'' He thought.

    "Well, that''s not how I would have done it, but good job." Lith shrugged, taking two bags out of his pocket dimension. "Now, do that again."

    He emptied both on the desk of the Headmaster, revealing their content. One was filled with a fine ore sand while the other with a ma broken down in fragments just as small.

    The two piles moved toward each other before ma could do anything, forming a spherical lump of earth full of bumps. The Headmaster had to choke a heartfelt swearing as he tried and failed to separate the two kinds of sand.

    "This is impossible. The single fragments are too small and I can''t see them properly. I give up. Happy now?" He said with a snarl, feeling even more humiliated by being forced to admit his failure in front of his students, peers, and even the Royals.

    "Why should I be happy?" Lith cocked his head. "I''m your Professor and I''m teaching you. If you had problems with the exercise, all you had to do was ask."

    Lith attached another big ma to the metal te, removing it with a snap of his fingers. The same happened to the fragments of the first ma once he let them stick to the metal surface again.

    "The first two exercises were no waste of time. They were meant to give you a practical demonstration of the forces influenced by Void Magic on a scale big enough for you to easily perceive them."

    Lith had the ma''s fragments attach and detach themselves from the te non-stop, doing in a second what had taken ma time and effort.

    "This, instead, is the exercise that all of you need to master if you want to understand how to apply Void Magic to earth and air, just like you asked me. You see it like this¡­" Lith pointed at the ball of ore and maite, changing its shape and size with earth magic.

    "But it''s actually like this!" A wave of his hand maized the ore, creating a repulsive effect that turned the solid sphere into a thick mist crackling with jolts of electricity.

    "The concept you have of earth magic is wrong. Sure, mud and simple rocks don''t conduct electricity, but only in their natural state. What if I told you that all matter, if you break it down enough, it''s no different from the materials used in this exercise?

    "That there are forces that keep everything together? As a mage, you must learn to feel those forces, manipte them through earth magic, and amplify them with air magic.

    "Only once you master them both will you discover that they actually work the same way and that dimensional and gravity magic are just different applications of the same principles. With the help of the other elements, of course."

 Chapter 2445 Pride And Admiration (Part 1)

    ''A more proper exnation would require teaching them covalent bonds as well as ionic bonds, but I don''t have the means to prove their existence to the ss nor the time to deal with the consequences that such revtion would cause.

    ''I can''t exin to them that earth generates a maic field while air creates an electric one and that is by manipting the resulting electromaic field that you use Void Magic.

    ''If I drown them inplex, foreign notions I''d just make things even more confusing. I only need to push the academies toward developing technology alongside magic and sooner orter they''ll get there on their own.

    ''Their talent for magic gives Mogarians an instinctive understanding of the natural forces, they just put them all together under the word magic. Once they start asking themselves the right questions, the rest wille easy.'' Lith actually thought.

    Another wave of his hand split the mist into maite dust and pulverized ore, sending them back into their respective bags.

    ma gaped at Lith, the feelings of rage and humiliation reced by deep admiration.

    "How did you do that? Was that Void Magic?" The Headmaster stuttered every word but he was too excited to care.

    "No, they were just first magic spells of earth and air." Lith shook his head. "Void Magic is doing what you have just witnessed on regr mud, earth, and rocks. Also, it allows you to conjure earth even when apparently there is none."

    Lith took the ore and the maite out of his pocket dimension one at a time, giving a practical demonstration and generating bolts of lightning from each one of them.

    After that, he put them away again and generated a powerful electromaic field that collected the dust, dirt, and residues from all around the ssroom, generating a sphere of earth apparently out of thin air.

    "Like this."

    "Can you please give me those sandbags again?" ma asked, his tone excited like a child on his birthday.

    "I can but I won''t." Lith replied. "That''s the final exercise that you have toplete before moving on to Void Magic. Today, you have to start from the basics. Detach the ma fragments from the metal tes using only first magic.

    "The first step is splitting them in one go. It will give you an understanding of the forces you have to manipte. The second step will be taking the fragments away one at a time. It requires not only understanding but also fine control.

    "Only when you manage to do that we''ll move on to thest step. Learning how to manipte the forces between multiple objects with fine control and amplify the interactions between them at will."

    "Do we all have to start from the earth element as well?" Archmage Lema, Headmaster of the Fire Griffon asked.

    "No need." Lith shook his head. "I''ve prepared exercises for all three pairs of elements in order to guide you step by step toward Void Magic. You can start from whichever you like."

    "I''d like to start with fire and ice." Lema said and the Headmaster of the Crystal Griffon nodded along with everyone with red or blue streaks in their hair.

    "Easy enough." A sh from Lith''s professor ring made several sses of water appear on their desks. "Your first step is to learn to distinguish between cause and effect.

    "Heat and cold are two sides of the same coin. They areprised of the same energy, the only difference between them is the direction in which they move. Heat is up."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The water boiled into steam despite the distance and without producing any me.

    "Cold is down." The mist suddenly froze in thin ice that fell down on the desk, shattering. "Start by heating and cooling the water from a distance. If a me appears or ice forms, you have failed and have to start over.

    "Another important point is that you mustn''t change the temperature anywhere between you and the ss. That counts as a failure as well."

    "What about light and darkness?" Headmaster Distar, Brinja''s husband and head of the ck Griffon asked, quickly followed by Marth and Vastor.

    "That''s actually much moreplicated." Lith sighed. "It would be simpler if you were Light Masters, but since that''s not part of my deal and I''m saving it for my legacy, I had to get creative."

    This time he needed the help of an assistant to bring to the center of the ssroom what looked like an empty fish tank.

    "Do you know the saying: you can''t catch a fish in clear waters?" He asked.

    "Yes." A male student stood up to answer the question. "It means that even being too clean is a problem. Muddy waters mean that algae grow there and that there are fish in the area who can feed on them or on other fish.

    "If the water is crystal clear, then there is no local flora or fauna. It looks nice, but it''s actually dead."

    "Correct." Lith pped at the student. "That''s because life is dirty. You need to eat, sweat, change your old skin, shed blood when you fight, and of course, empty your intestines and dder to make space for your next meal. What goes in has to go out.

    "This stands not only for humans, but also for fish, nts, fungi, and even the smaller beings. Life is constant change and the by-products of change are what we call waste." Lith dropped powdered dried food in the tank and used a basic light spell.

    The water started to get muddy, as if something was growing but no matter how hard the students looked, the tanks seemed empty.

    "Death, instead, is static. Once you die, you have no more needs. Your flesh bes food or fertilizer until only your bones remain. In time, something will feed on them as well and nothing of you will remain.

    "I know what you are about to say. Once someone dies, they start to rot and insectsy their eggs, but that''s not change. It''s just the now dead flesh being devoured by fungi and bacteria.

    "Once we die, we just became part of the life cycle of other creatures that cause the change. Some of them are very small, like the ones in this tank." A spark of darkness magic and suddenly the water cleared.

    "For those who want to learn Void Magic about light and darkness, your first step is to learn how to feel the flow of life with light magic and how to stop it with darkness.

    "Light magic heals because it nurtures and amplifies the energy of the living, that''s why it doesn''t work on corpses and relies on the life forces of our patients. Darkness magic kills because it brings that very same energy to a halt.

    "In a way, it gives a taste of death. By using them both to control the growth rate of the small organisms in this tank, you''ll discover that once again, they are the same force. Yet while light elerates, darkness stops.

    "It''s different from water magic because water slows down, darkness aims to put an end to the movement. Forever." Lith took a brief pause to let them understand how deep the difference was.

 Chapter 2446 Pride And Admiration (Part 2)

    "As for all the other branches of Void Magic, once you understand how every single pair of elements are fueled by the same driving force, learning them wille natural to you. Any final question before you start practicing your favorite elements?"

    "I have one." King Meron said. "I must say, this is all very brilliant but also there was nothing like this in the first draft you gave us. How did you make so much progress in the short time since the end of the War of the Griffon?"

    "You have to thank my wife for that." Lith shrugged.

    "Your wife?" Meron echoed, followed by many shocked Archmages.

    "With all due respect, Captain Yehval is no mage and her knowledge of magic is crude at best. Are you telling me that she''s actually a genius and she has discovered her talent while helping you with your experiments?"

    "Nothing like that." Lith said with a chuckle. "She did help me to prepare this lesson but just like you said, her knowledge is elementary. As I tried to exin Void Magic to her, I had to simplify things one notch at a time until she managed to grasp the concepts I just exined to you.

    "She''s no genius, but exactly because of that, I was forced to revise everything that until that moment I took for granted. By looking for examples that she could understand and exercises she could practice, my own understanding of Void Magic improved by leaps and bounds.

    "To make her take a single step forward, I had to take ten myself and then set a path for her to follow. She was my first and maybe my slowest student, but if not for her, you wouldn''t have such clear-cut exercises today.

    "By answering her questions that I had never asked myself and clearing her doubts that my mastery of magic made me overlook as insignificant details, I''ve learned from Kam more than I taught her.

    "Now you''d better start. We have spent over half of the time at our disposal on theory. If you don''t solidify what you just learned through practice, by our next lesson everything we said will be nothing but hot air. Pick an exercise and start working."

    In the blink of an eye, the whole room became silent as everyone focused on the aspect of Void Magic in which they felt more confident. Lith sat behind his desk, practicing as well.

    Yet while his students worked on first magic, he attempted to cast tier four spells.

    ''If I get to affect arrays with Void Magic, the sky is the limit. Bybining it with Domination, I can take control of an enemy spell and then turn it into whatever I want.'' He thought.

    During the remaining time, talent and experience quickly created a ranking. First the Royals, then the Headmasters, the Professors, and the students deadst. In all fairness, the youths had mere six years of experience against the decades of theirpetitors.

    Yet they had one advantage and no qualms about exploiting it.

    The older mages felt inpetition not only between themselves, but also with Lith. Their pride was already wounded at the idea that someone so young was ahead of them.

    They felt like they had to prove their talent and ingenuity. That the only reason they hadn''t discovered Void Magic by themselves was just bad luck andck of inspiration.

    Lith had already nned everything for them. Asking him questions was akin to admitting being no better than Kam, a civil servant who had never attended one day of academy.

    The students, instead,peted against each other but only felt deep admiration toward Lith, especially those ofmoner origin. As the youngest Magus in the history of Garlen, he was their role model and a beacon of hope.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Asking him questions did not only feel natural, but also gave them the opportunity to introduce themselves to their hero. Lith patiently answered the questions, gracefully epted thepliments he received, and firmly rejected their apprenticeship applications.

    The girls in particr were tenacious, offering to work as handmaidens or anything he might need. Lith had no idea where their families'' ambitions ended and their raging hormones started, but he had no desire to find out.

    "Screw this." Professor Vastor was the first to give up on his pride the moment one of the students who was practicing on a water tank as well started to catch up with him.

    Sure, the kid had asked several pointers and was leagues behind Vastor, but the Professor knew all too well the feeling of a rival breathing on his neck.

    "I''d rather lose to Lith than to a runt still wet behind his ears." He answered Marth''s silent question before standing up and walking to the Professor''s desk.

    "I got what you said, but there are too many life forces inside my tank. I don''t have the time to get the feel of the flow of life that the bastards reproduce, die, or kill each other. What am I doing wrong?"

    "Nothing." Lith replied, his voice low so that no one else could hear the answer. "What you consider a failure is actually a great sess. The flow of life is not steady by nature. If you really can already distinguish between the various factors that shape it, you are almost there.

    "Don''t get blinded by your pride. You are biting more than you can chew. The first step is understanding, not control yet you are trying to achieve both at the same time."

    "Gods, I''m a moron!" Vastor rushed back to his seat and in a few minutes, he hadpleted the first step.

    Marth followed suit, asking Lith a question. The other Professors and Headmasters would have scoffed at their shameless peers if not for the fact that Marth and Vastor had both reached the second step whereas everyone else was nowhere nearpleting the first.

    "Screw this. Light and darkness may be two sides of the same coin, but I''m not going to finish second!" Headmaster Distar was considered a genius and the greatest alumni of the ck Griffon of his generation but he was falling behind Marth.

    "Shall we?" The King asked. He was practicing fire and water while Sylpha worked on earth and air.

    The n was to master them and then share their respective findings with the other after the end of the lesson to get ahead of thepetition.

    "Of course." The Queen nodded with grace. "After all, as long as we are in this ssroom, we are just students. There is no shame in asking our Professor for help."

    At that point, no ego was big enough to put themselves above the Royals.

    Lith had them form an orderly line and gave up on working on his own Void Magic.

    The questions were concise and the answers clear, yet from that moment until the end of the lesson, people spent more time in line than sitting behind their desk and working on their own exercises.

    "I''m sorry. No overtime and no questions will be taken outside this ss." Lith checked his pocket watch after the bell rang. "Now, if you excuse me, I''m going to the canteen to pick up lunch for my wife and unborn daughter."

 Chapter 2447 Half A Person (Part 1)

    Gorgon Empire, Flying Fortress of Nestamaath, Capitol of the Empire.

    In the days following Windfell''s threat, Solus had saved most of her energy and avoided using magic whenever possible.

    Now that she kept her ring form most of the time and with the vigorous flow of world energy from the control towers surrounding Nestamaath, her energy expenditure was minimal.

    While waiting for the city to fly over a mana geyser, she had Tista carry the stone ring while she visited the city. This way, she would still enjoy her life as a tourist and watch Tista''s back at all times.

    She still assumed her human form during the meals. Eating was the only pleasure that she wouldn''t give up.

    During that time, Solus would ask Dawn for advice about how to put a healthy distance between her and Lith while the Horseman listened to Solus'' past mistakes and nned to use that knowledge to bridge theck of trust between her and Zepho.

    The two women started from opposite directions but aimed for the same goal: a healthy rtionship with their other half.

    "I don''t get it." Tista asked. "Why don''t we just call Lith and make hime here?"

    "Because if Windfell and his aplices are watching us, they might lure him into a trap as well." Dawn replied from Nyka''s mouth. "Remember that they don''t care about which one between Verhen and Solus they kill.

    "They are both equally in danger. As long as they are split, their powers are weakened and if Verhen gets surrounded by multiple cursed objects, not even a Divine Beast can survive.

    "The best course of action is to call my mother when we are near the geyser and have her pick us up. No one will be able to touch us once we are under her protection. Once we reunite Lith and Solus, however, it will be their problem."

    ''More like no problem at all.'' Solus said to Tista via a mind link hidden by physical contact. ''Even if the cursed artifacts have aplices in the Gate Network, we can tower Warp without leaving a trail.

    ''Predicting our moves will be possible only when we decide so. Lith is already working with Faluel and the others to stage a trap of our own.''

    ''Good gods. It took you weeks to start saying "I" and one call to go back to "we".'' Tista replied, making Solus blush in embarrassment.

    "By the way, Lith''s first lesson about Void Magic was an astounding sess." Solus said from her ring, eager to change the topic. "The Headmasters of all the six great academies have offered him the position of tenure Professor.

    "Even the Royals asked him to hold private lessons for them and their magically talented children."

    "Like Princess Peonia?" Tista asked in surprise. "Whatever Lith answered, he''s in trouble."

    "Yeah. Kami shot down the request with the grace of a fireball." Solus chuckled. "Man, I wish I could have been there with Lith. Teaching has always been a dream of mine ever since we worked as assistant Professor after graduating."

    "Any chance I can get a few of those private lessons myself?" Nyka asked. "As long as I''m bonded with Dawn, I have nock of light element. Yet once we split I could use Void Magic to make up for the w of my blood core."

    "Indeed." Dawn nodded with enthusiasm, her white light shining behind the Vampire''s eyes.

    "I''m a bit behind in my studies since I haven''t practiced magic ever since we started our trip, but it shouldn''t take me much to catch up with Lith. After that, we''d be d to give Nyka and only Nyka a few lessons." Solus said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Hey!" Tista snorted, feeling left out.

    "By my M- the gods, Tista. It goes without saying that we''ll teach you as well."

    "Are you so eager to get rid of me?" Dawn sounded mildly displeased. "I helped you twice already and if I learn Void Magic, Night won''t be a problem the next time we meet."

    "Depends." Tista shrugged for Solus. "Are you going to teach us Light Mastery? It would be a fair trade."

    "Fair my crystal ass!" Dawn said in outrage. "I polished my craft for centuries whereas you guys are still building the foundations of your own.

    I would be teaching you unparalleled spells while also helping you to develop tier four and five Void Magic.

    "That''s a rip-off deal, Solus. You are a stingy cutthroat no less than Verhen!"

    "Only when someone has tried to kill me and then has set her crazy sister after my host and family!" Solus snarled, taking the Horseman''s words like apliment.

    "Fair enough, but at least I didn''t tell Night about you or about how you defeated me on our first encounter. Otherwise things would have gone much worse both times she attacked you in Lutia." Dawn crossed her arms in annoyance.

    "So you want me to thank you for not ruining my life? That''s basic decency since it''s you who tried to kill us to further your ns. We acted in self-defense. No offense, but I can see there''s madness running in your family.

    "I''m getting worried for Malyshka." Solus had no body, but the Horseman could almost see a middle finger right in front of her nose.

    "Let me call Mother. We are close to the mana geyser." Knowing she couldn''t win, Dawn opted for a hasty retreat.

    ''By the way, Tista, you''ve spent a lot of time with Bodya. Did it help you to make up your mind about your violet core or at least your rtionship with him?'' Solus could feel how tense her friend was.

    ''Actually, it scared me even more.'' Tista inwardly sighed. ''After learning what he went through after choosing his Nidhogg side, I don''t want to give up on being human. On the other hand, being a Red Demon has be a part of me.

    ''After training so much to control my extra eyes, my wings, the Cursed mes, and Domination, losing them would be akin to losing an arm and a leg.'' Her feathered wings popped out of her back and Tista started caressing them.

    After all the pain and fear she had suffered from their muttion, the sight of her restored wings gave her joy. Her soft feathers were precious to her not just because they were a means to tap into her powers but also because they were now part of her identity.

    The thought of losing them made her want to cry.

    ''Well, it''s a good thing that you don''t have to choose.'' Solus replied. ''Just take your time. The only downside to your situation is that your core will be stuck at the bright blue until you make up your mind.''

    ''No, Solus. I don''t have time. At least not much.'' Tista inwardly sighted. ''Ever since I refused the breakthrough, my life forces are at odds. They are all pushing to move forward and I need to actively suppress them.

    ''The problem is that they are not only trying to merge, but also to split. I believe that my fear and indecision are creating a wall between my life forces that in time will be just as strong as that of a regr hybrid.''

 Chapter 2448 Half A Person (Part 2)

    ''When that happens, I believe that I''ll be forced to choose between human, Dragon, and Phoenix. If I be whatevery beyond the Red Demon, I''ll lose my humanity, but if I don''t, I''ll lose everything else. It''s a nightmare situation.''

    ''I''m sorry.'' Solus didn''t know what else to say.

    ''Don''t be. This is all on me. Also, I''ve decided that from now on I''ll take Bodya with me at social events and screw the consequences. If I can''t stand the idea of being seen with him, then I''ll never be capable of epting my other sides.

    ''If I choose to be a human, it must be because I love it, not because it''s a cage from which I''m afraid to get out.'' Tista replied.

    "What are you guys talking about?" Nyka asked after the silence prolonged for so long that it was obvious from Tista''s changing expressions that she and Solus were having a telepathic conversation.

    "Nothing much." Solus shrugged. "We were justining that this vacation is already over and that once we get back home, there''s a lot to do."

    She and Tista trusted Nyka, but as long as Dawn was with them, they couldn''t afford to reveal any weakness that might be used against them in the future.

    "First, I want to spend lots of time with Mom and Kami. Then, there will be Quy''s marriage in a while. We also have to deal with Glemos'' legacy as soon as Faluel finds a lead. Last, but not least, we have yet to n a trip to the Fringe." Solus said.

    "Don''t you mean *a* Fringe?" Nyka asked.

    "That would require knowing the position of more than one." Solus replied. "We only know the location of the Fringe where Nalrond''s vige was. The same where Dawn was imprisoned."

    Nyka was about to ask toe along, hoping to learn something new about how to ovee her limits as an undead, when she suddenly realized how foolish the thought was.

    ''If Nalrond sees Dawn, he''s bound to try and kill me. Also, whatever they learn there, Dawn would know as well. Solus and Lith will never allow me toe with them.''

    Nyka''s bond with the Horseman freed her from the ws in her blood core and allowed her to experience life like a living being, yet it also created a divide between her and her friends.

    Solus couldn''t talk about her tower, Lith about his past, and everyone kept walking on eggshells around the Vampire, afraid to reveal something that might bite them in the ass in the future.

    ''Being able to withstand sunlight is great but it''s not worth the price. I can now stay awake the whole day but my bond with Dawn makes me a half-person whose other half nobody trusts.'' She thought.

    "Why do you need the Fringe?" Nyka actually asked.

    "Well, Nalrond needs to fuse his life forces and I could use some advice as well." Tista sighed. "Who knows, maybe visiting a Fringe and the werepeople who live there will help me make up my mind."

    "Also, I''m pretty sure that Lith will meet another bottleneck for the bright violet." Solus said.

    His struggle for the violet was public knowledge and once he reached the new bottleneck, there would be no hiding it.

    "When we took part in the When All Are One array, his life force rejected the temporary boost. I believe that until Lith finds a way further merge his life forces, he will be incapable of reaching the apex of Awakening.

    "Gods, we have yet to start working again and I already feel so tired that I need another vacation." Solus chuckled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "If that''s true, then why are you smiling?" Nyka asked.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "Solus, I know you ever since you were just a ring. That''s your smiling voice. Also, you chuckled instead of groaning or sighing." Nyka replied.

    ''Solus said she was a stone when Verhen found her yet Nyka just said that she was a ring when they met. What the fuck is she?'' Dawn knew how cursed objects worked because she was one and because she had met a lot of them.

    Yet the more she learned about Solus the more confused she was.

    "I guess that I''ve reached the eptance stage." Solus shrugged. "I''ve fantasized about Mogar for years, wondering how it would feel being free to travel around and be my own person.

    "This trip allowed me to discover that even though I love visiting new ces, I love my home even more. In the end, all the cities we visited are no different from my past rtionships. Something to distract me from my real problems.

    "I want to go back to the people I love and who need me. They give me purpose and a real reason to live so I don''t mind working hard if I do it for them and with them. My only gripe is that I failed to put any distance between Lith and me.

    "Between the need I have to constantly recharge my mana core and the years we have spent together, our bond is so strong that I can''t escape from it. Until the tower and my life force aren''t fully repaired, I''ll always be half a person."

    "Isn''t it bad?" Nyka couldn''t help but draw aparison with her own situation.

    "It''s not ideal, but it''s far from bad." Solus shook her head. "I love and trust Lith. I have a loving family and the job of my dreams. It''s more than most people I know can say about themselves."

    ''I see.'' Nyka nodded in understanding. ''The difference between us is that Lith enriches her life and is someone she''s proud of whereas despite all of her power Dawn makes me a pariah and I''m ashamed of her.''

    "Enough with the chit-chat. We have almost reached our destination." Tista checked on the maps Nestamaath''s current flight path and position, measuring the distance to the nearest mana geyser that Dawn was aware of. "It''s time to move."

    They left the hotel, paying the bill at thest second to buy time in case Windfell had an informant among the staff. The internal Gate Network brought them to the battlements of the city where many tourists had assembled to look at the breathtaking scenery.

    A nearby mana geyser usually meant flourishing life and their target was no different. Nestamaath was flying over a lush forest surrounding a majesticke. Several boats were sailing its surface to fish and make a few coins on the side by bringing tourists along.

    It was past midday, and the light of the sun reflected on theke, giving the impression that the forest which surrounded it had a magical aura of its own.

    ''I would love to stop and check if the ce is awakened like the forest surrounding the White Griffon, but sadly there''s no time for that.'' Solus inwardly sighed while Tista showed their permits to the sentinels.

    Leaving Nestamaath by flight was impossible even for Awakened. They could use Spirit Magic to bypass the air sealing arrays, but the moment the control towers tagged them as hostiles, they would be shot down.

    Anyone who wanted to leave the city in one piece needed a permit and the authorization from the guards.

 Chapter 2449 Stargazer (Part 1)

    "Everything is in order." The Captain of the wall guards of Nestamaath said after checking the papers and the IDs to confirm the number and identity of the tourists that requested to leave the city by flight.

    He was a man in his mid-fifties with thick mustaches and an otherwise clean-shaved face.

    "It''s just the two of you, right? Tista Verhen and Nyka Dragonborn."

    "Yes." Tista gave him her best smile, instinctively hiding Solus'' ring with her other hand. "Is anyone else leaving? You know, my brother has many enemies and I''m afraid that someone might try to ambush us the moment we leave the safety of your guard, Captain."

    "Don''t fret, mdy." The man clicked his heels while puffing his chest out with pride as he checked the list of who would leave the city and when. "I can assure you that if anyone tries to follow you, I''ll deny them permission to leave.

    "If someone is so crazy to defy my authority, the control towers will make it theirst mistake."

    ''Good move, Tista.'' Solus used her ring form to save as much energy as he could while her breathing technique restored her strength to its peak, just to be safe. ''If pushes to shove, this will buy us time.''

    ''Keep telling yourself that.'' Dawn snorted, not sharing their optimism one bit.

    The Captain gave the silent signal to lower the arrays and tapped on the girls'' shoulders so that no one could predict what was about to happen.

    Tista used her Demon Eyes to grasp the dimensional coordinates of the farthest point she could see and opened a Warp Steps. The moment they crossed it, they activated their best flight spell and bolted away while the Captain restored the elemental sealing arrays.

    "That was smart, but also na?ve wishful thinking. Let''s go." Windfell gestured his twopanions as he opened a Spirit Steps to the position where the girls would be.

    Unlike them, he knew that region like the back of his hand and didn''t need to see far away to open a dimensional corridor. Just by looking at the timing of their departure and the direction they had taken, Windfell could already guess their destination.

    ''Three people have Warped right after we left and they are following us!'' Tista activated air Domination to make the Steps copse, realizing its real nature when it was toote.

    ''Then let''s Warp again!'' Dawn took the wheel, grabbing Tista and moving as far as the Vampire''s eyes could see.

    ''Dammit! If only I had let my life forces merge, I would have opened my sixth eye. ording to Lith, a hybrid body can''t handle more than five. Also, if I''ve mastered Spirit Magic enough, the seventh eye would have opened as well and those fuckers would be cut in h-''

    Her train of grievances was interrupted when the guard towers of Nestamaath detected the unauthorized travelers. The Captain had marked everyone but the girls as hostile and the city''s defensive system had a wide area of effect.

    Three guard towers, one for each alleged invader, sent bursts of mana to the car-sized mana crystals at their upper and lower extremity. The power was stored in the crystals, focused, and then amplified by the arrays surrounding the city into beams of pure energy in barely a split second.

    Windfell and hispanions had just walked out of the Steps when they were sted into oblivion. The energy beam vaporized their bodies and melted their equipment, yet it wasn''t over.

    The excess magic enveloped the targeted aura and then detonated with a strength on par with a Tower Tier spell. It was a safety measure in case a hostile managed to Blink away from the beam.

    The three explosions covered a wide area, making anything less than a long-range Warp Steps useless. The cursed objects hadn''t nned so far and s, they had no need to.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The three living legacies reformed their own bodies and those of their hosts the moment the shockwaves dispersed. Davross had not only amazing durability but also outstanding self-repair properties.

    Even in its non-enchanted and raw form, the metal had to be destroyed several times for the slightest damage to be permanent. Every cursed object, however, was a masterpiece of Forbidden Magic and Forgemastery skill both performed after purifying the Davross to perfection.

    The living legacies Warped after Dawn before the control towers could recharge, flying at a breakneck speed that would soon bring them out Nestamaath''s range. The capitol of the Gorgon Empire kept flying away so when the hostiles disappeared from the radar, the Captain assumed they were dead.

    ''Mom, they are onto us. Where are you?'' Dawn contacted Baba Yaga, her thoughts filled with worry.

    She was ready to fight Windfell to a standstill to buy either the time for herpanions to escape or for her mother to arrive but three cursed objects at the same time were beyond her abilities.

    All three of them had nurtured their host to the bright violet whereas Tista with her bright blue was the strongest in their group. Yet it wasn''t the magical prowess of the cursed objects'' hosts or their ability to employ body casting that worried her.

    Dawn knew how old the average living legacy was and even the youngest among them was bound to have centuries if not even millennia of experience over the Horseman.

    This wasn''t about fighting some arrogant Awakened but single-minded creatures who had spent their lives studying their own limits and trying to ovee them. Without her steed and her Davross equipment, Dawn could take on by herself only one of them, and only because the enchantments of her crystal were state-of-the-art.

    Against three cursed objects she couldn''t ensure the safety of her own host, let alone Nyka''spanions.

    ''Mom?'' Dawn could feel that something was wrong.

    Her link with the Red Mother was still intact but for some reason, there was no answer.

    ''There will be no mommy in shining armor to save you today, traitor.'' A foreign male voice resounded in the Horseman''s mind through the channel that was supposed the be exclusive.

    ''How did you do this and who are you?'' Dawn asked, trying and failing to open a Warp and then a Spirit Steps now that the three living legacies were dangerously close.

    ''I''ll be d to introduce myself and exin everything to you. Just stop running away and we''ll have a friendly chat.'' The voice''s every word oozed malice and mockery.

    The Horseman activated Life Vision, discovering that she and Tista were under the effects of a huge array that originated from one of their pursuers. It was nothing like she had ever seen before but she recognized enough dimensional runes to get the gist of it.

    Dawn took out hermunication amulet pressing runes at random and noticing that the stream of mana that was supposed to connect to the receiver spun aimlessly in the air.

    The connection was open but due to countless microscopic distortions in space, the signal was trapped inside the array in a loop.

    ''This is a dimensional spell and you are a dimensional mage!''

    ''Nailed it in one.'' The voiceughed.

 Chapter 2450 Stargazer (Part 2)

    ''We didn''t follow you for the fun of it. I needed time to learn how to iste and neutralize your energy signature to keep Baba Yaga from interfering. I created this spell to capture Night, but this works too.''

    ''Laugh all you want. Soon my mother-''

    ''Will waste her time looking for you hundreds of kilometers from here, where I dropped the dimensional device that rys your signal right after leaving Nestamaath.''

    Dawn inwardly cursed the living legacy''s cunning as she ryed the bad news to herpanions.

    ''This is great!'' Solus took out her Council amulet, the one from the Desert, and another that she and Lith crafted exactly for a situation like that.

    Unfortunately, none of them worked.

    ''Please, work. I beg of you.'' Distance had never affected the tower''s pocket dimension or Soluspedia.

    It was how Solus had keptmunicating with Lith while he was quarantined in Valeron after suffering from the Unwavering Loyalty array. In the days before the departure, she had put several scrolls inside Soluspedia and she was now pushing one of them out.

    ''We only have one chance. We have to get to the mana geyser at all costs.'' Solus said once another scroll was stored inside Soluspedia, confirming to her that Lith had received the message.

    ''To what end? Sure, it will empower us but it will empower them as well. Even worse, the constant flow of world energy will further widen the gap between you and them since they will make up for the quality of their enchantments with raw power.'' Dawn replied.

    ''Trust me. I only need to touch the geyser while the three of us are there to guarantee our escape.'' Solus replied.

    ''How?'' Dawn''s question was met only by silence.

    ''She''s telling the truth. Please, help us.'' Nyka said.

    ''Fine! But I don''t see the point of keeping it a secret from me since I''ll witness it. Cutting me off would also mean that you''d fight on your own. No more Light Mastery nor my battle experience.''

    ''Dammit, she''s right.'' Solus thought. ''We managed to fool Bytra and Zoreth only thanks to Lith''s unknown bloodline abilities and tricks whereas I have neither. I can only hope that Nyka cuts Dawn off before she sees too mu-''

    One of the men behind them raised a masterfully crafted harvest scythe, conjuring what Solus recognized as one of the impossible arrays Yurial had shown them.

    A six-pointed star, each point of a different elemental color, appeared in front of the curved de, generating six beams that converged into a single point before erupting in the form of an emerald st aimed at the girls.

    They managed to dodge the attack by moving in different directions but then the cursed scythe activated the second effect of the Spirit World array.

    The emerald st detonated the moment it reached its target destination, creating a violent shockwave that rendered the evasive maneuver useless.

    The impossible array had been devised in ancient times by an Awakened Phoenix in an attempt to ovee the mana cost of Spirit Magic. His idea was to have the array conjure the world energy and split it into the six elements without giving them a specific form.

    This way, they would be purified from Mogar''s will and primed to receive a spark of his life force upon being reunited. On paper, it was a perfect method to conjure Spirit Spells exclusive to creatures capable of manipting their life force.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Using the world energy as a power source meant that even tier five Spirit Spell didn''t require more mana than a regr array. In practice, however, the array was vulnerable to all kinds of elemental sealing formations and Domination.

    Disrupting a single flow of energy was enough to make Spirit World backfire against its caster. It was the reason no Awakened used it except as a teaching prop.

    Cursed objects, however, had no such problem.

    The boundary between their life force and mana was paper thin so they could turn the flow of the elements into Spirit Magic like a Phoenix and even if something went wrong, it would be their host paying the price.

    By simply keeping the array active, Stargazer could conjure tier five Spirit Spells non-stop at the measly price of a spark of her mana. Until her victims caught wind of her trick, of course.

    While Nyka was still grunting in pain and confusion, Dawn took the wheel, shooting a simple tier one heat ray at Stargazer. The cursed scythe had no problem dodging it, but the sudden influx of light element disrupted the elemental bnce and added Nyka''s energy signature to the mix.

    "Twice already. This isn''t my lucky day." Stargazer shrugged as Spirit World exploded in her face.

    She used her host as a shield, uncaring for his pain as his body was torn into shreds. Vines erupted from the haft of the scythe, collecting every single fragment of flesh and bone before reassembling them into a usable vessel.

    As any living being, it needed nutrients to make a full recovery but Stargazer had no rush. She filled the nk spaces with her sprouts in order to create a perfectly functional nt-human hybrid.

    A regr person would have gone insane from the agony but her host''s mind was long gone so Stargazer barely experienced a mild difort as the Awakened''s body fought to reject her imnts.

    ''The geyser is close!'' Solus could see it via mana sense from a distance via mana sense.

    ''Great. We just need to hold out for a few seconds and we are safe.'' Tista pped her wings with all of her strength, thanking her Red Demon form for having a speed above that of a regr bright blue-cored mage in the air.

    She was letting Solus keep an eye on the situation while Tista focused all of her strength in her wings and poured every drop of her mana into her flight spell to reach their destination as soon as possible.

    ''Nyka, try to not fall behind. If we get split-'' Tista spotted the exit point of a dimensional spell opening right in front of them and focused her attention on the threat at hand.

    She took a deep breath, unleashing a twin burst of True and Frozen mes. At the same time, she had the enchanted gloves, Sunder, turn back into their real form and shed at the enemy''s vitals.

    Windfell had used that trick countless times and knew what to expect.

    Hebined the Spirit Barrier of his own de with that of his armor to block most of the damage, letting his host take what remained of the attacks. Then, he charged at Tista, uncaring for the razor-sharp Adamant ws and the bolts of lightning they were imbued with.

    The Red Demon had expected the enemy to fall, dodge, or block. Anything but offer himself on a silver tter. Her left hand cut his head into five pieces while her right pierced through his barrier, armor, and heart.

    The man in front of her had no head and a hole in his chest so big that she could look through it yet Life Vision warned Tista that his life force and mana were unaffected.

 Chapter 2451 Knightfall (Part 1)

    "Now you are mine!" The cursed scimitar said while trapping Tista''s right arm inside his regenerating wound while aiming at her wings.

    Tista screamed in fear, her trauma sending her into a panic that made her lose all the spells she kept at the ready as she saw the de descend in an arc.

    ''Snap out of it!'' Solus yelled as the Fury flew out of the stone ring and intercepted Windfell before it was toote.

    Davross shed against Davross in a rain of sparks, their enchantments raging at each other. The impact with the Fury caused Windfell pain, but it was nothingpared to the humiliation of seeing the modern runes etched on the Fury''s surface.

    "I''m going to enjoy this way more than I''m supposed to, traitor." The curved de moved too fast for Tista to follow and it would have amputated both her wings if Solus hadn''t taken her physical form.

    She pushed her friend and enemy in opposite directions, using air magic to form a cushion between her hand and Tista''s body and hitting Windfell as hard as she could.

    He was expecting that as well yet none of the spells he had prepared was designed to stop someone with the strength of a Divine Beast. The palm strike sent him flying, but it was the Clean te infused in Solus'' hand that did most of the damage.

    Under normal circumstances, the tier four Forgemastery spell would have short-circuited the power core of the artifact for a while. Yet Windfell was a sentient being and he used his own mana flow to counter the spell''s.

    Clean te was still effective enough to disrupt the mana flow between cursed object and host, making Windfell lose the spells he had prepared for the fight and rush back in the man''s hand to re-establish the mind link.

    The cursed scimitar''s host was brain dead, with no will of his own. Without the living legacy, his mutted body would stop healing and if the mana core cracked due to the missing head and heart, Windfell would be forced to run away and search for a new host.

    ''Don''t space out and remember. We are dealing with cursed objects. Their bodies are just puppets so focus on the weapons. No matter how much damage you deal to the host, if you don''t cut the strings, it will keep attacking.''

    ''Thanks for the save, Solus.'' Tista replied. ''I''ll follow your advice and watch out for the cursed objects but it''s not like I can ignore the host either. The guy is stronger, faster, and magically more powerful than me.

    ''There''s no point avoiding the de if the man wielding it can crush my throat with one hand.''

    Solus nodded and kept flying as fast as she could toward the mana geyser, feeling the strength leaving her body as if she was using several spells at the same time. Without an energy source, even the Sage Staff could only do so much to mitigate the mana lost by her cracked core.

    Tista used the Mouth of Menadion to conjure her best spells at record speed, throwing a volley of fire, lightning, and Spirit Magic at Windfell to keep him away.

    The cursed scimitar exploited his superior speed to dodge the Spirit Spell and channeled the water element through his metal body, dispelling the other two spells by severing the connection between the mana and the elemental energy.

    ''Shit! I had forgotten that purified Davross can do that. How do we beat that thing?'' She asked.

    ''We don''t.'' Solus replied. ''I don''t care for my secret as much as for my life. No matter if the dimensional mage is messing up with space, no array can affect the abilities of my tower.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''The moment we reach the geyser, I''ll Tower Warp us away, no matter if Dawnes to suspect someth-''

    Tista''s spells had just faded when a dimensional door appeared right in front of them, cutting off their retreat path.

    ''They are taunting us to make us waste time. Don''t stop moving and attack the Steps from a safe distance.'' Solus conjured a tier four Spirit Magic spell with the help of the Sage Staff while Tista activated the Mouth to weave a tier five Spirit Spell.

    ''Unlike Solus, my mana core is at its peak condition and I need to make up for my blunder.'' She thought.

    s, the moment the emerald beams reached the Steps, they curved 45 degrees and were now aimed at their respective caster''s ally. The Red Demon had imbued her spell with willpower and promptly attempted to change its course but Solus'' Piercing Storm hit her first.

    The penta-elemental spell focused on speed, using the air element to make the emerald darts move forward while also spinning on themselves like a drill. The light and earth elements made the tips as hard as diamonds while the fire element made them explode as soon as they stopped advancing.

    Last, but not least, the darkness element was spread forward by the congration, engulfing the victim and eroding their defenses in the case they had intercepted Piercing Storm with a barrier.

    Solus and Tista conjured the Spirit Barriers of their armor while Solus also attempted ast-ditch Domination to at least alter the trajectory of the iing spell.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' She thought when she perceived that there wasn''t just Tista''s willpower to beat, but also another mind guiding the spell and shielding it from Solus'' influence.

    The emerald beam hit her square in the chest, sting through her barrier and covering her Voidwalker armor with cracks. If not for her body mass and the fact that Tista had opted for an area of effect spell instead of a focused one, she would have been ripped to shreds.

    "Gods, you guys are so na?ve." A tenor voice roared withughter. "We havee to punish a traitor capable of killing the Golden Griffon or at least destroy her host. Did you really think that we are a ragtag bunch?"

    Coming out of the Warp Steps there was a giant of a man over two meters (7'') tall. His head was shaven, keeping only a single streak of long dark brown hair in the middle of his forehead that was arranged into a long tress.

    His muscr upper body was naked, only a pair of metal bracers covered his wrists, leaving the bulging muscles of his chest and arms exposed. He wore a pair of brown leather pants and boots and wielded a giant jagged-edged battle axe with a single hand.

    In the other, he held a masterfully crafted round shield covered in elemental crystals and whose surface alternated between absorbing and reflecting sunlight. Solus didn''t need to use Life Vision to know that despite the appearances the ax was the least of their worries.

    ''That shield is made of Davross! It must be the cursed object.'' She warned herpanions.

    ''It is.'' Dawn telepathically nodded when herpanion sent the image of her enemy through the mind link. ''His name is Knightfall and the Forgemaster who crafted him was a dimensional mage.

    ''Be careful, he''s the one controlling the array and he can turn it off and on at will.''

 Chapter 2452 Knightfall (Part 2)

    Solus could see with her mana sense the remnants of the Switch spells that the cursed shield had used to redirect the attacks, yet something was off.

    ''I know that, but somehow he also messed up with my Domination. Can living legacies be bestowed with elemental affinities or bloodline abilities?'' She asked.

    ''Normal cursed objects can''t ess Domination.'' Dawn would have usually had a hard time repressing her surprise since Solus had just admitted to being capable of using one of the most elusive abilities on Mogar, yet her questions had to wait.

    ''No matter what kind of ingredients a Forgemaster uses, you can''t give metal or wood affinities. You and I are an exception because we both have a physical body.

    ''To use Domination, a living legacy has to learn and use it by exploiting the elemental affinities of their host. Knightfall shouldn''t be able to do that, though. That guy has no streaks.''

    ''Eyes on the prize! And I mean literally.'' Tista screamed in their heads as she pointed at the figure behind the barbarian.

    The body of the man wielding Stargazer was still patched up by vines, his mouth moving mechanically to eat food even during the fight. His eyes were empty as he obeyed his master and gave her the means to fix the damage he had sustained.

    ''This guy has no streaks either. He- Oh, shit!'' It took Dawn a second to realize that the Red Demon wasn''t pointing at the hapless man.

    The surface of Stargazer was open in multiple points, emitting from each one the light of a different element. Six Balor eyes were now visible on the haft of the scythe, sucking the world energy and pumping it inside Stargazer.

    To make matters worse, thanks to its ability to exchange mana and life force at will, the living legacy harmonized the six elements that the eyes stored within her own power core, turning them into an emerald aura.

    ''That''s impossible! You can''t obtain Spirit Domination without a proper eye, streak, head, or whatever. Lith and Morok are living proof of that.'' Solus would have been right if not for Stargazer''s staff being made of Yggdrasill wood and the Evil Eyes''tent power.

    Just like Lith''s seventh eye had opened after channeling the energy of the other six and Morok''s formed by merging them, Stargazer operated in a simr fashion. Each Evil Eye granted the living legacy a makeshift Domination that was amplified by the Yggdrasill''s power.

    Also, by mixing them with her own life force, Stargazer could employ an even more makeshift Spirit Domination. It was weaker than the real deal since without the Spirit Eye her willpowercked the means to remain focused and was quickly dispersed.

    Yet Stargazer had had millennia of practice and used her ability only at the right time, taking her opponents by surprise.

    ''There''s no time to be surprised. Move that ass and show me what the heck you need the mana geyser for before it''s toote!'' Dawn''s voice snapped Solus out of it.

    Windfell had finally caught up to them and the Horseman was giving her all to keep him away from her weakerpanions.

    Unfortunately for Solus'' group, the Warp Steps had allowed the other cursed objects to cut off the path toward the geyser. The dimensional door and the girls'' shock from being hit by their own spells had bought Stargazer and Knightfall the time to assume a triangle formation.

    The scythe and the shield blocked the prey from the front while the sword chased them from the back.

    ''We can''t Blink and we can''t fly either forward or back but we have to do something. You keep your eyes open. I''m going to try something.'' Tista racked her brain for a solution as she could see with Life Vision that her enemies had more spells at the ready with each passing second.

    She took a deep breath, hurling a jet stream of True mes while keeping the Frozen mes inside her body that instantly turned to a crystal blue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''The Cursed mes are too fast to be Dominated and by shooting only one at a time, we can understand how that damn shield works without taking too many risks.''

    The barbarian who was wielding Knightfall smirked as he lifted the Davross shield in front of himself. The silvery surface turned ck, absorbing every ray of sunlight and spark of elemental energy from the crystals etched on its surface.

    Then, the Davross disappeared, reced by a round fissure in space that swallowed the True mes. Dimensional items couldn''t store kic energy so Solus used her mana sense to look for the exit point, but to no avail.

    Contrary to her expectations, the True mes came out of the dimensional fissure a split secondter, giving the impression of having been reflected.

    ''What a cunning bastard!'' She thought. ''Half the shield turns into the entry point while the other half is the exit. By adjusting the curvature of the shield Knightfall can change the trajectory of any attack at will.

    ''Even worse, had we attacked it with our weapons, he could have either turned them against us or destroyed them simply by closing the dimensional rift. That shield has both the perfect attack and defense!''

    The True mes hit Tista at point-nk range, turning her into a fiery ball of death that plunged toward the ground. She screamed at the top of her lungs, making the living legacies stop for a second to relish their sess and lower their guard in the process.

    Just like Tista wanted.

    The Frozen mes she had stored in her body countered the True mes, leaving her unscathed and allowing her to exploit the fall to escape the encirclement. The moment she was too far away for Knightfall to Blink after her, she dropped the act and bolted toward the mana geyser at breakneck speed.

    "Fuck!" The living legacies said in unison as they were now in a pinch.

    Windfell was still busy with Dawn while Knightfall and Stargazer couldn''t give chase without Solus getting away. On top of that, she had generated a copy of the Fury and was now holding one Davross hammer in each hand.

    Offering her a free shot would have been beyond stupid.

    "Ignore the hybrid!" Windfell screamed, breaking the stalemate. "We just need the traitor. Kill her before Baba Yaga locates us and it will be our victory."

    "Your wish is mymand!" Stargazer charged at Solus while Knightfall conjured countless dimensional fissures around her.

    Solus used the first hammer to deflect the scythe''s head while the second moved in a rightward arc aimed at the Yggdrasill haft.

    ''I can''t beat them with magic. Even without the Domination counter and the dimensional shenanigans, I''d run out of mana way before them. I have to make this quick by exploiting my superior physical might!'' She thought.

    Her analysis was on point but Stargazer carried the battle experience of her maker and had gained more over the millennia whereas Solus had recovered her body for less than a year.

    A slight change of the angle of impact dispersed the brunt of the impact while the Evil Eyes red at Solus.

 Chapter 2453 Everything And Nothing (Part 1)

    The red eye of the Balor emitted a pir of fire that neutralized the attack of the second hammer and burned Solus'' hand.

    She used darkness fusion to ignore the pain but her charred fingers lost the grip on the Fury that fell down. A split secondter, four more eyes shot their respective elemental beams in unison, leaving her no way out.

    Solus attempted to Blink out of reflex, but nothing happened due to Stargazer''s Distortion Field array. She cursed her bad luck, focusing whatever energy the Voidwalker armor had left into the Spirit barrier.

    She intercepted the ice pir with the second Fury, neutralizing the cold thanks to the fire element channeled by the elemental crystals of the hammer and avoiding putting further strain on her already weakened mana core.

    At the same time, Solus dodged the slower darkness and earth pirs, and tanked only a burst of lightning that was too fast to avoid from so up close.

    The barrier shattered and the violet crystals of the Voidwalker turned dull having exhausted their energy but at least she hadn''t taken any more damage. Every spell she cast bled her mana core faster while every wound she suffered brought her life force closer to shattering.

    ''Thank the gods Light Mastery is a discipline as hard as it is umon. I don''t think I could have dodged a light pir as well.'' Solus was about to sigh in relief, her eyes focused on the opponent to anticipate a riposte or a spell from body casting, when she noticed that the barbarian''s lips were curled up in a smirk.

    Solus'' eyes went wide as she suddenly remembered one of the favorite tactics of all dimensional mages. Knightfall had surrounded her with dimensional openings to make any attempt to dodge a waste of time and energy.

    The moment the elemental pirs had missed their target, the cursed shield had arranged the dimensional field in order to intercept and redirect them at Solus in a seamless attack.

    When the earth and darkness pir entered Full Guard''s area of effect it was toote. Stargazer conjured a frost wave with body cast while lunging at Solus with the de of her weapon.

    Solus gritted her teeth and put all of her strength into a counterattack aimed at the scythe''s de, hoping that the pain would make the cursed object lose focus and allow Solus to use the barbarian as a meat shield.

    When the weapons were about to sh, however, Stargazer Blinked away. Solus was too focused on the enemy attacks to notice the sudden disappearance of the Distortion Field array and by the time she understood what had happened, it was already back in ce.

    The earth element hit her with the momentum of a freight train, crushing her bones and wrapping around her body in a cage that made it impossible for her to dodge the st of darkness.

    It ate at her both body and core, disrupting the forces that kept them together despite the deadly wound she had suffered 700 years ago. Solus screamed in pain as cracks opened all over her skin.

    Energy seeped out of her wounds along with the blood, giving it a golden color.

    "Solus!" Nyka screamed as she saw with Life Vision that her friend''s body was seconds away from falling apart into sparkles of light.

    ''Calm down, you idiot!'' Dawn struggled to keep control over their shared body. ''Getting ourselves defeated isn''t going to help anyone.''

    ''Easy for you to say!'' The Vampire snarled. ''You don''t-'' The internal struggle caused the two women to switch from one body to another, slowing them both enough for Windfell to cut their head off and their argument short.

    "Amateur! That''s why there can be only one master. A host is no different from a horse. It''s just a means to an end. Giving them free will weakens your authority which in turn creates a weakness." To underline his point the curved de also pierced through Nyka''s chest, bursting her heart.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It would have been a lethal wound even for a Vampire if not for the Horseman. White crystals sprouted from the neck, reconnecting it with the severed head, and from the chest, trapping Windfell.

    "So does your big mouth." Dawn smirked as she activated the tier five Light Mastery spell, Supernova.

    A giant sphere of light, fire, and air enveloped the living legacies and their hosts. Light gave the construct substance and blocked Windfell''s every movement while fire turned the de white hot and burned the man wielding it.

    Supernova imploded on itself, reaching a temperature of thousands of degrees before thepressed air element made it explode. Both contestants were hit in the same way but while Dawn was immune to her own mana, Windfell took the implosion and the explosion in full.

    The air around them was now devoid of any oxygen and so hot that it would cook the airways of anyone who attempted to breathe. Dawn suffered from the indirect effects of her spell as much as Windfell, but they had little effect on her.

    Nyka had no need to breathe and undead were naturally resistant to fire whereas Windfell''s host was human. Without oxygen his body would die and his mana flow stop.

    The charred arms of the cursed scimitar''s host fell limp, the muscles too damaged to hold the de.

    At the same time, ignored by everyone, Tista reached the mana geyser without a care for her own safety. She crashed onto the ground, opening a crater on impact that she used to put Solus'' stone ring deep into the ground.

    ''Come on, lil bro. We need you!'' The tower avidly sucked the world energy, using it to take its full form while also hiding from prying eyes.

    Solus had left a series of precise instructions that would allow them to escape or at least summon Lith to their aid without exposing their secret.

    Thousands of kilometers away, in the White Griffon, Lith had barely the time to fake an emergency call to justify the scroll popping out of his dimensional amulet. He had just dismissed the Void Magic ss when he felt the tower pulling at him.

    ''Fuck! I need a non-imprinted geyser and I''ve yet to call for reinforcements.'' With no time to lose, he used his Professor''s ring to reach the Gate in Marth''s office.

    From there he traveled to the Verhen mansion in one step, answering the call.

    His body became one with the world energy that thanks to the bond with the tower carried him to his destination from below, avoiding the effect of the Distortion Field array.

    His arrival changed everything.

    Solus was part of the tower so even though Stargazer''s magical formation blocked most forms ofmunication, it couldn''t stop the part of Solus that was ingrained in the tower from thriving now that the connection with both a mana geyser and her host was restored.

    Even from a distance, her wounds started to heal and she could feel the fissures in her core and life force being mended again.

    Lith also unleashed his Demons of the Darkness among which there were Trion, Valia, Varegrave, and Locrias who had all six eyes.

 Chapter 2454 Everything And Nothing (Part 2)

    Fueled by mana geyser and boosted by the tower, his golems Raptor and Trouble also joined the fray.

    "Leave her alone!" Lith roared, emerging from the ground like a shadow who refused to back down in front of the sunlight and threatened to swallow everything.

    He could feel through their bond Solus'' pain and he conjured an avnche of Demons in the hope to draw the enemy''s attention long enough to rescue his other half.

    At the same time, however, his arrival changed nothing.

    "I have no idea how you''ve gotten here from the Kingdom, but I''m not going to look the gifted horse in the mouth." Knightfall said with aughter. "Either we capture you and discover the secret of your strength, or we kill you and get our reward.

    "It''s a win-win situation for us."

    The dimensional rift on the shield closed shut and so did all the spatial distortions that the living legacy had opened around Solus, but not before linking them to each other with no logic or care for the consequences.

    Multiple points in space now ovepped, stretching reality in-between them thinner until the whole structure copses. Nature abhorred the void so the air around Solus became filled with cracks as air and matter moved in chaotic streams in the attempt to fill the cracks.

    "No!" Lith pped his wings with all the strength he could muster, pushing the tide of Demons of the Darkness forward.

    ''I must reach Solus before the destabilized dimensional fissures cause a massive explosion yet I doubt that those fuckers are going to sit back while I do it. Half of you stop the guy with the scythe while the other halfe with me to rescue Solus.

    ''Whoever gets to her first must bring her to the tower. Everything else is of secondary importance.'' The Demons received the telepathicmand along with several strategies and contingency ns.

    "How the heck did you kill three of our strongest siblings with this pathetic strength?" Stargazer didn''t seem to notice the ck tide, charging right into it.

    The six Evil Eyes opened again, emitting elemental pirs that cut through the Demons'' lines like a hot knife through butter. The body of her host shed left and right with the scythe in wide arcs while also weaving tier five spells non-stop with body casting.

    The Demons tried to swarm the cursed object but the Davross de cut dozens of shadows asunder with a single sh.

    Thebined power of the Evil Eyes and of the Yggdrasill wood disrupted the connection between the souls and their conjured bodies, dispersing the darkness element they contained.

    Even Valia, one of the Demons who would always be summoned with her original body in the form of a Demon of the Fallen, was taken out in a single blow. She had met the man carrying the scythe head-on, nning to block the de long enough for her soldiers to swarm the host and overwhelm him with sheer numbers.

    The Demons who resided inside Lith''s Void Sigils were the only ones who had customized equipment always at the ready which was supposed to give them an edge. Unlike the souls that Lith conjured on the spot, they were calm and collected.

    Valia and the others even trained against each other during their free time, practicing both sword and magic in the hope to learn de Magic and develop their own spells.

    Yet none of that mattered.

    Valia managed to intercept the arc of the scythe, yet the purified and enchanted Adamant of her spear opposed a flimsy resistance against the Davross of Stargazer''s de.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her sacrifice barely slowed the wide arc of the scythe that cut through the haft of her weapon first, then her arms, andstly all the Demons that she was supposed to protect.

    Valia was so shocked by the swiftness of her defeat that her six eyes were still wide open when her form faded.

    Direct contact allowed the ck Evil Eye to absorb part of the darkness element the Demons wereprised of, distort with Domination their bond with Lith, and deal explosive damage thanks to the powerful enchantments of the de.

    The Demons charged the cursed scythe in droves and died in droves. Stargazer had activated Spirit World again, using the hexaelemental array to conjure tier five Spirit Spell for a fraction of the mana they usually required.

    Having learned her lesson, this time she didn''t keep the array active for long.

    Stargazer would conjure a single wide area of effect spell, turn Spirit World off, check that no one capable of stopping her was around, and then turn the array on again for the duration of another spell.

    Regr Demons only had two or three eyes. Even with the tower in ce, Lith needed time to use Invigoration and fill them with power. A time he didn''t and that he wouldn''t have unless he found a weakness in his enemies.

    The Demons fell faster than he could empower them and even though he could raise them back, it would take more energy and they would always start from scratch.

    The space copsed before Lith could reach Solus, the countless dimensional rifts formed a pir of fire that seemed to reach both the ground and the sky.

    The explosion engulfed Solus from every side, but Lith ordered the Demons who had managed to slip past the enemies to shield her with their bodies. The Demons of the Darkness piled onto each other, forming a living ck corridor that led Solus outside the copsed space.

    Still too far from his other half and with dimensional magic sealed, Lith could only cross his fingers and hope that the Demons would take Solus to safety before it was toote.

    ''I get that cursed objects are supposed to be powerful but this is too much. Howe that old ass artifacts are this strong?'' He thought while shrinking his size to that of a human andunching himself at Stargazer.

    The only way he had to prevent the living legacies from taking Solus hostage was to keep them focused on himself. Their hosts had better mana cores and body refinement but as a Tiamat Lith weighed dozens of tons, giving him the advantage in meleebat.

    "Not so fast, kid!" Knightfall put himself between War and its target while conjuring the water and earth aspects of the world energy through the Davross of his body.

    Lith had the mass of a Divine Beast and War was already wrapped inside Double Edge, making it much heavier than it looked. Yet the circr shield easily took the impact, using its curved surface to deflect the angry de.

    The earth aspect made up for part of the weight gap while the water aspect enhanced Knightfall''s Eraser enchantment, turning both of Lith''s des off for a split second.

    Without their enchantments, they were just pieces of sharp metal that rolled off the shield without dealing any damage but taking quite a lot. A dent appeared on Double Edge at the point of impact which in turn twisted War''s metal.

    The moment the de slipped off the shield, War''s Counterflow ability negated the Eraser but the damage was still there.

 Chapter 2455 Reverse Flow (Part 1)

    The angry de screamed in pain, forced to redirect part of its energy to repair the dent.

    Unlike cracks, deformations in the metal would alter the position of the mystical runes engraved on their surface andpromise the stability of every spell imbued in an artifact with potentially disastrous consequences.

    Lith was still shocked by the inexplicable turn of events when the huge barbarian holding the shield attacked him with the jagged ax in his other hand.

    The blow came down harder than Lith had ever experienced. Not even Thrud''s Divine Beasts had been this strong which like the rest of the fight made no sense to him.

    ''What the fuck is going on? I can see with Life Vision that this guy is actually a shapeshifted Emperor Beast, but even though his bright violet core is more powerful than my violet, I should still beat him in raw strength.''

    Lith had conjured the Eyes of Menadion from the tower but aside from a headache, he hadn''t gotten much.

    The only thing he had noticed with them was that the Eyes considered the jagged ax, the shield, and the barbarian Emperor Beast as three different subjects, each requiring a separate scan.

    ''Screw this. I have the mass advantage and the tower. I can do this.'' The Tiamat weaved Nova Eclipse from his body, but only a weakened tier five Final Eclipse came out.

    bbergasted, he tried to conjure a new wave of Demons as a distraction, yet so few of them appeared and so weak that Stargazer ignored them.

    It was then that Lith noticed it.

    The closer he got to Solus, the more the energy flow reversed, draining his mana and life force to feed them to her. Menadion''s failsafe to keep her daughter alive was doing its work yet also sabotaging Lith''s efforts to rescue his other half.

    ''Forget Tower Spells, I can''t even use Call of the Void anymore!'' Even though Lith had just joined the fight, his breath was already ragged. ''Solus is so weak that our bond has turned into a handicap.

    ''For the first time since we bonded, our sum is weaker than the single parts. If I don''t get her to safety, we''ll both die.''

    The pressure from the fight coupled with the tower sucking Lith''s vitality by the second was putting such a heavy strain on his cracked life force that Lith could sense the wounds opening without the need for a diagnostic spell.

    s, Knightfall didn''t care for the reason his opponent''s strength dwindled, he just exploited the phenomenon with a smile.

    The Tiamat deflected the following attacks of the ax but he failed to find an opportunity to counter. The shield seemed to be maized to War and always found its way to intercept the de whenever Lith moved to the offensive.

    The dent had yet to self-repair and Lith was afraid that if his des suffered too much damage while their enchantments were turned off, they would break. Double Edge was nothing that he could easily reforge after recycling the materials with Sark''s Creation Magic but War was unique.

    Not even Orion was certain of how he had managed to give the angry de its semi-sentience and even if he did, creating another de would also give it a different personality. If the de broke, the metal could be reforged but War as Lith knew it would die.

    "What''s the matter, son? You are supposed to have destroyed three lost cities. How can you struggle so much against puny artifacts like us?" Stargazer mocked Lith after moving her host behind him to join Knightfall''s attack.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Because I ambushed them whereas this time you ambushed me, that''s how!'' Lith inwardly cursed them all. ''Against the ck Star, I had sealed most of its powers and Treius was a moron.

    ''Against Kolga I had the help of the whole Jiera Council while against the Golden Griffon not only did I have both the Council and the Royals on my side but also the frigging destruction spell.

    ''I never overpowered a cursed object. I always struck after identifying its weak points. Just like you bastards did to me. Night told you about my abilities whereas aside from Windfell, I had no idea I would also fight two more unknown living legacies.''

    "Dive down!" Tista yelled from behind him before unleashing a burst of Void mes from her mouth and another of Blight mes from her wings.

    Stargazer''s host failed to dodge the surprise attack and the Blight mes burned both the human''s body and the vines that kept it together. Stargazer shrieked in fury as she had to consume even more energy to keep her host from turning into a rotting corpse.

    Knightfall didn''t have the time to conjure a Switch on its surface and couldn''t risk his host or ax being struck. It had taken him decades to find a weapon that powerful and centuries to train his host.

    Losing either was out of the question and with both Stargazer''s and Windfell''s hosts so heavily injured, he preferred to keep his own safe. The Void mes struck the Davross of the shield, and the spark of Chaos corrupted the mana and metal while the Origin mes burned at everything.

    Knightfall drew power from his elemental crystals and circted it through the shield to put the mes down. Yet even after their disappearance, he could feel a sting in the ckened part of the metal.

    Cursed objects had no nerves nor receptors and could experience no pain but that feeling came close, angering Knightfall to no end.

    "Two against two? Alright then!" He said with a cruelugh, knowing that his new opponent was no match for him.

    Knightfall''s host was a bright violet-cored Emperor Beast weighing several tons whereas the Red Demon was a bright blue-cored humanoid hybrid. On top of that, thanks to the bond between a cursed object and its host, their powers stacked.

    What Lith had failed to consider was that, unlike him and Solus, there was no partnership between the shield and the barbarian. There was no conflict in will or argument in the course of action to take.

    The braindead Emperor Beast was just a tool in the hands of an expert master that had long since learned how to tap into its true potential. Knightfall could use the barbarian''s body as his own, achieving the prowess of a being with thebined might of a bright violet core and a power core.

    Every cursed object was empowered by its host in a simr way to de Tier spells. Each one of them could cast their own spells with true magic plus those conjured by their host''s mind and body, achieving triple casting even in meleebat.

    It was the reason Dawn was having so many problems against Windfell. Her host''s body was incapable of body casting and due to their conflicting wills, their respective mana wouldn''t ovep either.

    "Tista, no! Run!" Lith screamed at the top of his lungs and she didn''t make him say twice, bolting away as soon as Knightfall came too close forfort.

    ''Smart girl.'' Lith inwardly sighed in relief after understanding his sister''s ploy.

    She had intervened in order to break him free from the encirclement and weaken his enemies.

 Chapter 2456 Reverse Flow (Part 2)

    ''Please, I''m no match for a regr bright violet-cored Awakened, let alone an old monster with Friya''s talent.'' Tista inwardly sneered at the cursed shield as it tried to catch her.

    ''The only thing that ying hero would achieve is bing their hostage after Lith barely rescued Solus. I have to bring them close to the tower. Once we get there, Lith should be powerful enough to defeat these assholes otherwise we can escape.

    ''Either way is our win!''

    "I see what you are doing but I won''t let you, traitor!" Knightfall dispelled the Distortion Field for a split second, allowing Stargazer to Blink toward the tunnel of Demons of the Darkness.

    Lith noticed the appearance of the entry and exit points, Blinking after the cursed scythe.

    "Lith, no!" Tista screamed, knowing the dangers of using that kind of spell in the presence of a dimensional mage.

    s, two words weren''t enough to convey a proper warning and Lith wasn''t aware of the nature of her opponents nor how skilled they were in their teamwork.

    A cruel smile appeared on the host of the cursed shield as the space copsed behind Lith and the resulting explosion throw him off bnce.

    Lith had positioned the exit point of his Blink so as to strike Stargazer in the back but the st had ruined his attack and propelled him toward the enemy faster than he intended.

    Stargazer''s host smiled as the six Evil Eyes etched on the surface of the Yggdrasil haft turned their power inward and channeled it into the curved de of the scythe.

    The arc was wide, slow, and predictable, but Lith could see with the Eyes of Menadion that the de now carried the collective power of the two cores which was further boosted by the Evil Eyes.

    ''Fuck me sideways! Double Edge is still damaged but I can''t risk dodging that thing. If it hits Solus in her weakened state, she''s never going to survive.'' Lith channeled the power of his mana core into the de, using War''s skill, Gleipnir.

    The golden fetters joined Lith, War, and Double Edge through their respective cores. Their collective might instantly fixed the dent and turned the ck de white from the mana flow within.

    ''The tower is close enough to boost me enough to match a bright violet core, but the problem is that I have no idea if the same stands for my Adamant weapons. That scythe is the product of ancient but powerful Forbidden Magic and is made of Davross.''

    Lith thought as he aimed his strike so that War would intercept Stargazer on the t side and avoid its edge.

    The host of the cursed scythe smirked again as his weapon suddenly shapeshifted into a ive. The awkward and slow arc turned into an elegant and quick downward sh that struck War from above, the haft pushing the sword down while the de cut Lith''s arms off.

    He screamed in shock as fire and ck blood gushed out from the stumps right below the elbow. ck tendrils of energy reconnected the severed parts. War used its enchantments to fly like an arrow at the enemy and protect his master.

    "Oh, please." The ive emitted a peal of joylessughter as her host sted the angry de away with a Raging Sun.

    Without stopping her movement, Stargazer''s host reversed the grip on the haft and pulled it back up, opening a deep cut going from Lith''s right hip to the left shoulder, stopping at the level of his neck.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Let''s see how far you can regenerate your host, shall we?" The man adjusted the grip to follow up with a horizontal cut and decapitate the Tiamat.

    Then, a Davross hammer smashed his head into bits and another hit the de of the ive with so much strength that the shockwave broke the fingers holding it.

    Stargazer didn''t need her host to deal the finishing blow but Solus wasn''t done either. The Furies'' Flight created eight copies of her hammer so there were six more. Four were aimed at the remaining limbs of her host, one at the ive''s de and thest at the haft.

    ''Oh, shit!'' Had Stargazer still a face, her grin would have disappeared.

    It wasn''t just that it was unlikely for the Yggdrasill wood to endure the blow of a Davross hammer thrown by a Divine Beast but also the fact that Solus was rushing at the cursed object while holding the original Fury above her head with both hands.

    ''Luckily that pipsqueak is slow, otherwise, I''d never managed to dodge with my body still vibrating from the first impact. Sure, I can repair Yggdrasill wood with ease as well, but if she shatters me, my power will be crippled until I''m fully-''

    A burst of ck mes the size of a river engulfed both the cursed ive and her host, disrupting both the spells and the enchantments they kept at the ready.

    Stargazer had focused her attention on Solus, forgetting that Lith was wounded but still conscious. Darkness fusion blocked his pain receptors from the start. The moment he had ovee the shock from the amputation he had been waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

    Solus'' arrival had given him the opening he needed which in turn slowed Stargazer long enough for the rest of her hammers to hit.

    Already weakened by the Void mes, Stargazer''s host limbs shattered on impact. The haft of the ive snapped into two and deep cracks opened in both pieces. When the Fury struck the de, the cracks opened further and the metal came free from the wood.

    Solus arrived the second after the mes faded, dealing to what remained of the cursed object and her host a blow that carried all of the little strength she had.

    ''Thank the gods you are alive.'' Lith''s wings had stopped pping so she grabbed him to keep him from plunging down to the ground.

    Direct contact allowed her to further hasten the recovery of her strength and to both of them to share everything that had happened since Solus''st visit to Lutia.

    ''Barely and so are you.'' Lith didn''t care about his own wounds.

    He needed but a few breaths to go back to his peak condition whereas he could tell that Solus'' essence hade this close to being damaged beyond repair. If that happened, she would lose her body if not even her memories.

    ''We need to get away from here and fast. Your wounds have reached your mana core and life force. Invigoration can''t fix them. If not for the tower and my presence, you would have died or whatever happens to you when you are supposed to die.''

    ''I''m afraid that you are right. I tried using my breathing technique and healing spells but neither worked. Every time that I try to draw upon the world energy or light magic, I feel like my body is about to explode and the cracks on my skin open again.'' She replied using her Sky Blessing on him instead.

    The wound on his chest closed rapidly and the stumps on his arms stopped bleeding. War and the severed limbs had been sted away by the Raging Sun and until they retrieved them, there was nothing Solus could do about them.

 Chapter 2457 Breaking Point (Part 1)

    "I must say. Even without your steed and your equipment, you are still a worthy opponent." Windfell said after gaining some distance and healing the wounds of his host.

    "I wish I could say the same about you. Were my host at the Violet and a bit more trustful, this fight would already be over." Dawn said with a thin smile while consuming one prism to regenerate her crystal armor and another for her crystal sword.

    The gap in their equipment was so big that it took barely a few exchanges to shatter her own. Nyka''s Adamant armor was no match for the Davross scimitar and had suffered so many cuts that it was already useless.

    If not for the Vampire''s undead body and the Horseman''s ability to regenerate her vitals, Nyka would have already died a dozen times over. Dawn used her own light element to fuel Nyka''s spells and bloodline abilities but she still needed to consume life force to heal.

    At that pace, the Vampire would soon need to feed or Dawn would be forced to escape and abandon theirpanions.

    "That''s where you are wrong. This fight is already over." The tip of the de pointed behind the Horseman who didn''t dare to avert her gaze from the opponent.

    Had she done it, Dawn would have seen Knightfall stop chasing Tista and Warp near Lith and Solus. Also, Windfell would have cut her body into dozens of pieces before sting her away with the tier five Spirit Spell he had at the ready.

    ''From above!'' Solus said after noticing the appearance of an exit point.

    ''And below!'' Lith had kept using Life Vision in case Stargazer came back and saw her exit point in time to react.

    Lith pped his wings while Solus used her best flight spell,bining their strength to escape from the pincer attack.

    ''Why didn''t you just breathe any mes into those?'' She asked.

    ''Because of that!'' Solus kept looking forward, allowing Lith''s seven eyes to scout the other directions.

    Nothing hade out of the exit points which had exploded in unison a split second after appearing. Knightfall had actually Warped near Stargazer and was providing her the nutrients she needed to restore her host.

    To make matters worse, they were both standing on the fringes of the mana geyser, feeding off the world energy to replenish their lost power and blocking the enemies'' path in a single move.

    ''How did you know what would happen?'' Solus asked as after the explosion two rifts in space opened.

    Had they remained there, the distortion caused by the dimensional spells copsing onto each other would have torn them both to shreds.

    ''Because Friya.'' He replied. ''I''ve seen her screw up her enemies'' Life Vision with tricks like that more times than I can count. Also, if I was a dimensional mage, that''s what I would have done.

    ''Why get close when you can kill a half-dead enemy from a safe distance?''

    ''You are not half-dead! Don''t you dare even joke about that.'' Solus felt guilty for dragging Lith into that mess.

    She felt like she was the cause of every drop of blood he lost and every wince of pain he experienced.

    ''If I didn''t take this stupid journey, if only I stayed home with him, those bastards would have never darede close to us. If not for me, Lith would be safe and sound at the White Griffon and Elysia wouldn''t be risking to lose her dad.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I''m not talking about me but about you.'' Lith replied. ''They know that the prolonged separation weakened you. That''s why they focused on you the whole time. They think that if you die, I''ll follow since that''s what usually happens to the host of a cursed object.''

    He avoided mentioning that if Menadion truly had put her daughter''s safety first that was also the most likely oue to not make Solus feel more guilty but there was no helping that.

    She could feel her broken body sucking on Lith''s vitality and mana faster than her Sky Blessing breathing technique could replenish them. Being that close was improving her condition at his expense.

    Lith''s wounds grew deeper and his core weakened to the point that most of the Demons of the Darkness faded.

    ''I''m killing him! If anything happens to Lith it won''t be Night''s fault but my own.'' Solus circled around the geyser, trying to get past the two cursed objects but they anticipated her moves and foiled her attempts.

    Solus attempted to conjure a tower tier spell and a pain beyond what darkness fusion could suppress ravaged her body. Outside of the tower and in her weakened state, the necessary flow of mana to aplish such a feat was akin to poison.

    New cracks opened on her skin and some of the still-healing wounds burst open again, further increasing the burden on Lith''s life force. Her eyes became misted with tears out of frustration and remorse, ming herself for both her helplessness and putting Lith''s life at risk.

    Solus bit her lips in anger, using the pain the fight off the desperation while her brain spun at full gear in search of a way out.

    ''We can''t stay here. We must go help them!'' Nyka said as the battle against Windfell was once again at a standstill.

    The cursed scimitar had a superior host and mana core but Dawn had better spells and Nyka''s bloodline abilities.

    ''Agreed. Yet if we disengage from our opponent, we''ll allow Windfell to regroup with the other cursed objects. I can block him one-on-one. Three against one I''d be forced to sacrifice you just to stall for time.

    ''You''d be dead and Lith and Solus would follow as soon as I consume your life essence. Is that what you want?'' The Horseman replied.

    While the Vampire gritted her teeth in frustration, inwardly admitting that Dawn was right, simr thoughts gued Tista''s mind.

    ''I can''t let them hurt Lith but what can I do?'' The violet in her aura grew along with her frustration. ''I couldn''t take on one of those things, let alone two. If I go there, I''ll be a liability for Solus.

    ''I could turn into a Divine Beast, but again, to what end? The cursed objects'' hosts have a bright violet core whereas I''d have a mere deep violet. Lith could barely hold his ground against them and he is much stronger and more skilled than I am.

    ''Gods, please, tell me what to do!'' Yet no answer came and the Red Demon remembered all too well how easily Knightfall had deflected her Cursed mes, making them not an option either.

    Meanwhile, Lith''s condition was worsening faster than Solus'' wounds were healing, forcing her to break the standstill.

    ''I can''t waste any more time. Lith''s life force is this close to bleeding and loses more of his lifespan. Here goes everything!'' Making the tower emerge from the ground was off the table.

    It would indeed create a diversion, but also expose Solus'' secret. At that point, the cursed objects might have just run away, spread the news, and return with even more reinforcements.

    At that point, they only had to wait for a moment when Lith and Solus were away from a mana geyser to strike.

 Chapter 2458 Breaking Point (Part 2)

    Solus needed to get away while looking weak and helpless so that during their next confrontation, the living legacies would be caught by surprise by her true power and easily eliminated.

    Solus bolted forward, aiming to get past the enemy line and then use the Tower Warp to escape from the Distortion Field array''s area of effect. At that point, they would either signal their position to Baba Yaga or regroup and escape.

    ''I could use the tower''s spells and arrays from a distance, but the cursed objects would see that the energy doesn''te from me. I need to get there and channel it through my body.

    ''They think that I''m a "fruit of Forbidden Magic" as well. I can pass everything as an ability of mine that just needs to be fueled by a lot of world energy.'' She thought while throwing the Fury with all of her strength.

    The mystical hammer split into eight copies of itself, each one with its elemental crystal red from channeling and amplifying the fire element. They were all enveloped in a small gravity field that increased their speed and weight, making them akin to a meteor shower.

    "Sorry, kid. You''ve already used this skill and no one with half a brain falls for the same trick twice!" Stargazer and Knightfall used their flight spells to bolt away in opposite directions, dodging the Furies'' Flight and nking Solus in one move.

    "I know." She mumbled as a snap of her fingers activated the Fury''s Burning Rain ability.

    The eight hammers exploded in unison, turning into a storm of white-hot Davross splinters that flew in every direction. They moved too fast and there were too many to dodge them all without magic.

    Knightfall smirked as she lifted the Distortion Field array just for the time she and Stargazer needed to Blink behind Solus, baiting her to use dimensional magic to escape.

    Contrary to their expectations, Solus stood still. The ive and the jagged ax coordinated their attack with surgical precision, but so did Solus'' weapons. The ninth and original Fury appeared in her right hand while War came flying to her side and jumped into her left.

    By the time the cursed objects realized their mistake it was toote. Solus threw the final hammer at Stargazer to make up for the range gap while War took the jagged ax head-on.

    The ive''s host was struck in the chest, sending him flying away. War''s Adamant shed with the ax''s, producing sparks. Yet neither the mastery of their respective artisans nor the strength of the hand wielding them was the same.

    The angry de managed to jam the ax''s enchantments long enough for Solus'' strike to push it away and create an opening for a right straight. Knightfall blocked it, the small fist hit the Davross of the shield with a boom of thunder but dealt no damage.

    Yet it broke the arm wielding it and sent both the cursed object and his host flying as well.

    With her path toward the tower now clear, Solus charged at the still-raging fiery storm of Davross in front of her. At thest second, she dispelled the copies of the Fury and Burning Rain disappeared.

    ''Son of a bitch!'' The two cursed objects thought in unison while unleashing their respective spells and enchantments.

    Five of the six Evil Eyes on the Stargazer Staff emitted an energy pir of their corresponding element while Knightfall conjured three tier five spells at the same time.

    Solus countered them all bybining the Hands and the Mouth of Menadion to summon the fire and air elemental sealing arrays. Darkness and earth were too slow to catch up with her flight speed while watercked the necessary destructive power to stop her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    On top of that, any tier five spellprised of either fire or air would simply fall apart upon entering the elemental seal. The cursed objects didn''t waste time, Blinking to Solus'' either side to block her in a pincer attack.

    She reacted by instinct, raising her weapons again but no opponent came through. The dimensional fissure exploded in her face, engulfing Lith and her in a sea of mes.

    The pain woke him up and despite his weakness, he knew what had to be done.

    ''It''s over. Drop me here and save yourself.'' Lith said while Stargazer and Knightfall caught up to them and raised their weapons to strike.

    ''No way. I''ll throw you inside the geyser. Get into the tower and warp away. Even if my body is destroyed, as long as you are alive and the tower exists, I''ll survive.'' She replied with a sad smile. ''I''d rather wait another neen years to get my human body again than lose you.''

    ''You''d lose me either way.'' Lith had no hands so he could only send her the telepathic equivalent of a caress. ''I''m already too weak. If the tower drains more energy from me to keep you alive, I''ll die.''

    ''Maybe. If you die and I don''t bond with someone else immediately, I won''t make it either. I doubt that my mother was so stupid that she would endanger us both. I believe that I''ll just end up in aatose state again until you recover.''

    ''That''s not a risk I''m willing to take!'' Lith said while using what was left of his strength to push her out of harm''s way while also reverting to the full Tiamat''s size to make sure that he would take the blow in her stead.

    ''But I am. Goodbye, Lith. Kiss Elysia for me if I''m not back by the time she''s born.'' Solus turned around at thest second and pushed him away as well, using gravity magic to change the direction of Lith''s eleration to ensure that he would be the one reaching the geyser.

    Yet his stumps applied no pressure on her body, phasing through her as if Solus was just an illusion. Her hands touched his expanding chest and disappeared inside of it, quickly followed by the rest of her body as the Tiamat''s form expanded.

    The ive''s and the ax''s des were millimeters away from their target when Lith and Solus fused. Their bodies copsed into a small sphere that suddenly exploded into a pir of golden light.

    Their weapons struck their target but the feeling was that of hitting a boulder rather than cutting. Knightfall tried to Blink away with her partner, discovering that dimensional magic was sealed by something more powerful than Distortion Field.

    When the pressure and heat from the detonation reached the living legacies, the Davross thatprised their des heated to thousands of degrees while their hosts'' bodies turned into cinders.

    Knightfall and Stargazer activated their Spirit barriers to avoid suffering more damage as the two cursed objects were swept away by the explosion like leaves during a storm.

    "What the heck just happened?" Windfell asked.

    Dawn had never seen that form before but he remembered well its energy signature since their fight in the Odi''s undergroundb.

    "Thanks to you idiots, the most powerful mana crystal and the mightiest of metals have be one. That''s what happened." The Horseman quoted Solus''s words while exploiting the cursed scimitar''s confusion to kick him away and get to safety.

 Chapter 2459 Creation and Destruction (Part 1)

    2459 Creation and Destruction (Part 1)

    ''What are you doing?'' Nyka struggled to regain control of their body but Dawn kept her down.

    ''What you asked me to. I''m going to save your friend.'' The Horseman replied.

    ''What the heck are you saying? This is the wrong direction. Lith and Solus are the other way!'' Nyka was bbergasted.

    ''This is the right direction. Without our help, Tista is going to die.'' Dawn''s words made little sense to the Vampire.

    The Red Demon was indeed close to the fight but at a safe distance. Also, no one seemed to care about her. Yet Nyka could feel the urgency in Dawn''s mind and decided to keep her questions forter.

    At first, Windfell thought it was just a ruse to make him lower his guard and stab him in the back, but Life Vision revealed to him that the Horseman was preparing no spell.

    As Dawn got further away, the cursed scimitar decided there was no point in looking the gift horse in the mouth. Windfell could use a break to gulp down a few tonics for his host and join his allies.

    "What is that thing?" The voice came from the sword since the human was busy drinking.

    "I have no clue." Stargazer had opened the six Evil Eyes on her body and was using them to read the flow of the world energy. "I''ve never met anything like this. The only possible exnation is that Solus Verhen is a greater cursed object like the ck Star.

    "She needs a mana geyser to fuel her abilities and she got close enough to activate them."

    "It makes sense." Knightfall nodded while checking the disturbance in his dimensional array and preparing as many spells as he could. "The little sister didn''t showcase any unique ability even when her life was in danger.

    "More than once I thought that Night had just pulled our leg and that Solus was just a weak-ass huma-"

    "By my maker!" Windfell cut her short as the pir of light faded and its energy was absorbed into the colossal figure in front of the cursed objects instead of disappearing. "Do you see that?"

    "I can feel that!" Stargazer replied as the stream of information from the six Evil Eyes made her whole being burn with pain.

    The thing in front of them was over 35 meters (115 feet) tall.

    It was covered in golden and ck scales, both with their edges blood-red from the heat sealed within. It also had four arms of which the first set was entirely ck and still cut at the elbow level while the second was entirely golden.

    Four sets of wings came out of its back. The first,ing out from the shoulder des were upside-down ck membranous wings. Right below them, a pair of red feathered wings set aze by Cursed mes came out from its spine.

    Then, there was another set of membranous wings but they were golden in color and normal in shape. From the hips came the final set, a pair of silver feathered wings that emanated a soothing radiance.

    It wasn''t just the appearance of the matching sets being in stark contrast with one another but also the energy they radiated. Yet the elements of destruction flowed in perfect harmony with those of creation, amplifying instead of disrupting each other.

    One set of curved horns came out of the crown of its head, pointing at the sky. Another one came out from the back of its neck, shielding it. The third andst one was right below the first, in a spiral shape simr to a ram''s horns.

    Nine eyes were open on its face. Eight formed a perfect circle on the face of the creature while the ninth was vertical and ced exactly in the middle. The jaw of the colossus split in two as it panted, the scales on its face sliding away to reveal two mouths.

    The majestic figure of the colossus was ruined by thebined wounds of Solus and Lith that not only had been carried over in the fusion, but also made deeper by their increased size.

    The creature bled profusely from its amputated limbs and from the many cracks in its body. Light, fire, and darkness mixed with the blood, producing droplets the size of a car that fell to the ground producing a wet noise.

    "That''s it?" Windfellughed while pointing at the colossus. "That''s the Horsemen''s Bane? The Scourge of the lost cities? A huge bright violet-cored idiot?"

    The other two cursed objects were less entertained and more puzzled by the turn of events. Their traitorous sister had yet to exhibit one unique ability, her host''s body wasn''t regenerating like their own would, and Verhen''s core had just gone from violet to bright violet.

    Sure, he was a Divine Beast and his size now exceeded anything but a white core, yet it was underwhelming for someone who had allegedly destroyed lost cities and shamed two of Baba Yaga''s Horsemen on multiple asions.

    "Nine eyes? Unfallen Balors only had six eyes." She pointed at those on her staff that her maker had procured before the fall of the Balor race. "Tyrants have six as well whereas Hydras get to seven heads tops. What are the other two eyes for?"

    "Who cares about that?" Windfell''s host had fully assimted the nutrients thanks to Invigoration, returning his cores and bodies to their peak condition. "Let''s kill Verhen and cash in our reward."

    The cursed scimitar charged forward without waiting for a reply.

    Stargazer cursed his stupidity, readying her spells while signaling Knightfall to be ready to rescue their teammate. The cursed shield considered the precautions useless but followed the n anyway.

    ''Stargazer is the oldest and the most paranoid of the three of us. Sure, Verhen is big but that means that he is going to have a hard time following the movements of someone as small and quick as Windfell.

    ''Each one of us has in dozens of Divine Beasts, a new species is hardly a problem. The trick is always the same. Strike them hard and fast at their vitals while they clumsily il their ws around.

    ''Size is worth squat against Davross and thanks to our regenerative properties, our hosts'' body refining is superior to that of any violet core. The best Verhen can do with his nine eyes is take a good look at Windfell''s technique.''

    Or so Knightfall thought until the cursed de entered the colossus'' range.

    It took a deep breath, and when it exhaled, the sheer pressure generated by such a simple act hit Windfell like a wall, forcing him to a halt. From so up close he heard the noise of two invisible war drums whose deafening noise made his bones and metal vibrate.

    Great was his shock when he understood that it was simply the sound produced by the beating of twin hearts. The ground below the titan caved while the shockwaves caused by the rapid heartbeats paralyzed the living legacy.

    Itsted only for one second, but it seemed tost hours. Awakened could do many things in the span of a second, especially if their opponent was helpless. They clenched their teeth, readying for the colossus'' inevitable attack.

 Chapter 2460 Creation and Destruction (Part 2)

    2460 Creation and Destruction (Part 2)

    Yet nothing happened as the creature focused on its breathing technique to recover from its many wounds.

    Windfell cursed under his breath and conjured a wind de ahead of him that further hastened his movements and protected him from the following shockwaves. The moment he came close, Solus'' golden arms came up and then down like a whip.

    The Fury was still in Solus'' right hand. Yet it was so small that it was invisible through the balled fist of the giant. That changed in the blink of an eye as the link between the Lith/Solus and the tower allowed the artifact to assess the issue caused by its master''s metamorphosis and correct it.

    The Fury swelled, feeding off the tower''s mass until it reached the proper size. The hammer seemed made of grey stone but it struck harder than Adamant.

    Windfell was expecting something like that and his affinity with air magic allowed him to read the air currents.

    That along with Full Guard had allowed him in the past to ride the sheer pressure caused by the movement of a Divine Beast and add their momentum to his own strikes, feeding off the enemy''s might.

    This time, however, the wind ignored hismands and no matter how fast he moved or how suddenly he changed direction, the hammer found him as if he had stood still.

    ''The fuck?'' He thought as he realized that the enemy''s weapon moved so quickly that it had been set aze by the friction with the air. ''That''s why the wind was all wrong! How can such a short arc-''

    Windfell raised his de to deflect the stone with the Davross, but the gap in strength was too big. The metal bent and then cracked as the supersonic boom generated by the attack ripped the skin off his host''s face.

    The motion didn''t stop until the cursed scimitar crashed against the ground. The host''s legs shattered first, then the ribcage exploded, andstly the Awakened''s head was squashed with a crunch between the rock and Windfell''s Davross.

    Knightfall had tried to Spirit Warp the cursed scimitar away, but a glimpse from the titan''s emerald eye had made it useless.

    "We need to get to him before a second strike-" A rumble of thunder cut Stargazer short as the colossus unleashed the Tower Tier Void Spell, Mjolnir.

    Bolts of lightning erupted from the ground and rained from the sky while a cloud of thick metal dust appeared out of thin air. The temperature also dropped so much that it turned the ferromaic powder into a superconductor.

    The humidity in the air condensed into thick droplets of hail that the electric current electrolyzed into oxygen and hydrogen, causing a massive explosion.

    Void Magic turned what remained of the water magic into fire and took control of the detonation, further amplifying its effect.

    Despite the distance separating the two cursed objects from the fight, they needed to conjure their Spirit Barriers to avoid being incinerated as well.

    "Let me go, dammit! My brother needs my help." Tista was still struggling to get free from the Horseman''s hold when the heat wave hit them.

    She and Dawn were even further away yet they still needed to conjure an air shield to keep the explosion from sting them out of the sky.

    "No, he doesn''t." Dawn kept flying, putting even more distance between her and the fusion. "He is one with Solus now."

    "What the heck are you talking about? They are both severely wounded and they are facing three living legacies alone!" Tista tried to sound outraged but there was something in the air that sent a shiver down her scales.

    "I know. Just three of them." Dawn''s voice was full ofpassion. "I pity those bastards."

    "What do you mean?" The Red Demon asked.

    "Have you ever seen something like that?" Dawn said and Tista shook her head in reply. "Me neither, but I''ve fought the Solith once in the past."

    "The what?"

    "That thing." The Horseman pointed at the being born from the fusion. "Whatever you call the form Verhen and Solus assume when they be one."

    "I never bothered giving it a name." Tista said in frustration. "Now tell me why he¡­ they don''t need our help. They have one foot in the grave already."

    "It was the same against me." Dawn replied. "Your brother was weak, tired, and battered whereas I could go on all night. Then, they fused. And you know why I got scared shitless?

    "Not because they ripped my limbs away like I was a doll nor when he shot white mes at me. What terrified me was the fact that as we fought, they kept getting stronger."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean that my energy reserves were slowly consumed to cast my spells and regenerate my body whereas each blow they dealt was stronger than the previous. Now shut up and let me enjoy the show.

    "Let''s witness together the might that a perfect bond between a Horseman and her host can achieve."

    Tista had a hard time believing Dawn''s words but she couldn''t argue with reality. The colossus was still panting like a bellows and their wounds were still bleeding but the aura surrounding them was getting stronger.

    "There''s no stopping that hammer and it''s not strong enough to kill Windfell." Stargazer pointed at the cursed de whose Davross was already fixed and whose host was being pieced together.

    "Let''s fly behind that thing and cut its head off. Can you use dimensional magic?"

    "As long as I don''t try to open the exit point too far away from me, I can. It''s the first time that I meet another cursed object with dimensional abilities." Knightfall replied.

    "That''s not a problem since I have to get close as well. My spells are powerful but my de is much mightier. If Verhen focuses on one of us, the other must bring him down." Stargazer said, receiving a nod for a reply.

    The two living legacies bolted in opposite directions, to go around the titan without drawing its attention. The moment they moved, however, the colossus raised their head so that four eyes could follow the ive and the other four the shield.

    Both maws snarled at the sight of Windfell recovering, the anger of the creature for their own weakness raising. They turned around, walking toward the geyser while also raising the still-bleeding stumps of Lith''s arms.

    ''No matter the spell he conjures, from this distance we can easily dodge it even without dimensional magic.'' Stargazer thought and she would have been right if not for the fact that Life Vision couldn''t perceive a single spell being kept at the ready.

    A ck mist emerged from the stumps, expanding in every direction with the speed of a rising tide. At first, neither cursed object understood what was happening. Then, as they moved to avoid the colossus'' gaze and the mist, they noticed it.

    The iing ckness was starred with the white of the eyes of the Demons and streaked with the silver of their equipment. The mist was alive,prised of countless bodies so packed together that it was impossible to tell where one Demon ended and another began.

 Chapter 2461 Much Worse (Part 1)

    2461 Much Worse (Part 1)

    ''Verhen''s thralls are not a threat. They can''t be stronger than he is and their equipment is nothing against me. I''ll use them as a cover to get close. They share Verhen''s same energy signature so he won''t see meing.'' The cursed ive shrugged at the iing tide.

    Valia was at the head of the charge and her presence made Stargazer knit the eyebrows of her host. Not only was the Demon back at six eyes, but also her equipment was whole again.

    ''That''s not just simr gear. The spear she wields and the armor she wears are identical in both shape and enchantments to those I destroyed moments ago. Who would be so crazy to craft more than one set for a mere thrall?'' She wondered.

    The ive and the spear met only once, the superior battle experience of the cursed ive made Valia''s relentless training insignificant. Her body was once again cut asunder along with her weapon and armor, the ck eye of the Balor stripping the darkness element that gave her body substance.

    Yet something was wrong.

    During the sh, Stargazer experienced from the Demon a strength far superior to a violet core. Also, even though just by a small margin, Valia''s equipment had been more difficult to cut through.

    Last, but not least, taking away the darkness element wasn''t enough to banish Valia''s soul. Under the shadowsy a brilliant me that burst forward, eating at the living legacy''s body and mana.

    ''The blood!'' Stargazer realized when it was already toote. ''These new Demons are not just made of shadows. Theye from the stumps and are conjured from Verhen''s own blood! But that means¡­''

    Valia roared her challenge and turned her body in a burst of Origin mes, followed by her army of Origin Demons. The cursed ive stopped in mid-air, focusing on the defense while making her host look below to confirm her suspicions.

    The titan had bled for a while now, forming pools of blood along its path. More Origin Demons wereing out of those pools, each drop turning into a six-eyed ming shadow with the power of a bright violet-cored Awakened.

    ''It''s a trap! We walked in a damn trap.'' Knightfall thought in excitement.

    His life had been long and real challenges were hard toe by. After a few centuries, being immortal made things boring.

    The enchanted Davross of his body wouldn''t age, it would repair even the ghastliest of damage in a split second, and despite his enchantments being old they were still hard to match.

    The cursed shield longed and feared the moment when Night would deliver her payment. He longed for it because once upgraded, he would once again be invincible. As long as he had a host, there was no way to kill him.

    He also feared it because at that point life would be utterly irrelevant and every victory empty. Unlike his brethren, Knightfall was secretly ted by the new marvels of magic.

    Due to their nature, cursed objects knew no pain nor fear and the difort at the idea of bing obsolete was the closest thing to panic he had ever experienced. It was a new feeling and for a being afflicted by boredom, any novelty was a good one.

    Knightfallughed with joy as he conjured several dimensional openings all around himself in a circr barrier. The moment a Demon crossed it, they were cut in half. Their Orichalcum equipment would crumble and the energy of their bodies dispersed through too many exit points to reassemble.

    The Demons came in waves, one after another, forcing the cursed shield to consume the spells he had at the ready just to not be swarmed. The battle was frenzied. It was desperate. In one word, magnificent.

    Only one thing ruined his fun.

    Every single Demon he cut down wore enchanted equipment of some sort. To make matters odder, it was always good equipment crafted by an excellent Forgemaster who had at least a violet core.

    ''Since when does Verhen possess the treasure of a king? How is it possible that he prepared all of this stuff beforehand? None of that can be the work of my traitorous sister since her core is too weak-'' His train of thought derailed when he saw a familiar face in the crowd.

    And then another and one more.

    ''Wait a second. I thought it was strange that no matter how many Demons I defeated more kepting and I was right. They are not infinite in number. I''ve just been killing the same guys over and over again!''

    Stargazer was in the same situation, but she had an easier time understanding the root of the problem. Valia was hard to forget and she had just reappeared for the fifth time in front of the cursed ive while wearing the same equipment.

    ''This doesn''t make any sense! This woman keepsing back even after Ipletely dispersed the energy in her body. Also, how can her equipment be fixed so quickly and why is it getting more difficult to destroy over time?''

    The first spear Valia had wielded was made of enchanted Adamant. The second one, although identical in design, had grey streaks partly covering the silvery of the de. After each defeat, the grey part became bigger and now the grey streaks were turning white.

    Stargazer snarled in fury and frustration, opening the six Evil Eyes on her haft and conjuring Spirit World again. The array allowed her to cast several tier five Spirit Spells and st the Demons surrounding her into pieces.

    She used that respite to employ her breathing technique and recover both her strength and her hosts'' while trying to understand the conundrum.

    "What''s the matter? Are you tired already?" Valia mocked the cursed ive as another drop of Lith''s blood gave her new life and strength.

    Stargazer didn''t bother replying and shed at the Origin Demon who was fearlessly charging forward with no care for her survival.

    It was then that something unexpected happened. The Davross of the ive, guided by the mastery of millennia, anticipated the enemy''s attack and struck at the iing spear.

    Yet this time Valia''s weapon didn''t budge, the Davross cutting only halfway through the silvery and white of the haft.

    "Are you finally starting to understand what''s happening, sister?" Valia''s strength now matched that of Stargazer''s human host and she kept pushing forward even at the cost of the ive cutting deeper.

    Her body wasprised of ck mes whose heat made it difficult for the Awakened to breathe and ate at Stargazer''s power core.

    "Do you remember about the Golden Griffon? Well, my master is much, much worse!" Knowing to be defeated, the Origin Demon blew herself up before Stargazer''s touch could deplete her energy reserves again.

    Derangedughter apanied the explosion as the resulting burst of Origin mes engulfed both cursed ive and host, eroding both their mana and vitality.

    Trying to save her strength, Stargazer shed at the iing wave of Demons, her anger raising as she recognized more and more faces.

    Much to her surprise, their weapons were turning white as well and by joining their efforts, the Origin Demons seeded in blocking the attack.

 Chapter 2462 Much Worse (Part 2)

    2462 Much Worse (Part 2)

    They came as close as they could before blowing themselves up as well.

    Feeling her power core threatened, the cursed ive released the tier five spell, Frozen Night. ck snow appeared from the merging of water and darkness magic, smothering the mes and allegedly countering the darkness and heat that animated the Origin Demons.

    s, their armors were white as well, but not from the ice. The spell froze the silvery parts of the metal but was repelled whenever it met the streaks. The light of the mes reflected on the impossible armor, producing a golden glimpse.

    "Gold-veined white marble?" Stargazer said in astonishment. "Sure, it''s hard and magic resistant, but it can''t be used to forge weapons, let alone mix it with metals. It''s impossible!"

    "So says you." Valia was back, this time her Adamant equipment was fully coated in gold-veined white marble, resisting both the Davross'' edge and the might of the spells. "As I said, my master is worse than the Golden Griffon, remember?"

    The ck tidesing from the stumps were turning white, each Demon became more difficult to banish with each passing second and the time before their return decreased as the colossus stepped toward the center of the mana geyser.

    When the creature stood above the ground below which the tower was hidden, the link between the artifact and its masters could no longer be hindered by the Distortion Field array.

    Another pir of golden light emerged from the ground and reached for the sky. For the second time in a single day, the ground quaked and the clouds swirled around the column of energy generated by the hybrid.

    ck tendrils of darkness emerged from the amputated limbs stillying on the ground where the Ragin Sun had carried them while gold-veined white tendrils erupted from the forearms of the colossus, reaching for each other.

    "It''s healing!" Windfell''s host was finally whole again and the cursed scimitar yelled his warning. He ordered his flesh puppet to gulp nutrients non-stop in preparation for the battle. "We must kill Verhen before he recoverspletely. Come to me!"

    Stargazer and Knightfall had earlier had no trouble dealing with hundreds of Demons of the Darkness. They had cut through the Demons'' ranks like a scythe felling ripe wheat, without ever slowing their advance.

    Now, however, they were dealing with thousands of Origin Demons who not only kepting back, but also whose equipment made them harder to kill by the second and who would also detonate when fatally wounded.

    The living legacies had taken no step forward since the colossus had unleashed their army of ming shadows. The three cursed weapons had been slowly pushed back, the distance with their enemy only increasing.

    Stargazer and Knightfall disengaged as quickly as they could while also taking as little damage as possible but that was hard against an enemy who wasn''t afraid of death.

    The Demons'' might was fueled by the geyser that in turn fed the hybrid formed by Lith and Solus. The constant flow of world energy gave the Demons substance while a spark of life force ignited the mana the souls were imbued with into Origin mes.

    Usually, releasing so much life force would have had catastrophic effects on Lith''s cracked essence, but that wasn''t the case anymore. Whenever he fused with Solus, their life forces would merge as well.

    Their respective cracks would be carried over to the hybrid, but the tower''s primary directive more than made up for it. Menadion''s first and foremost order was to preserve her daughter and heal any injury Solus may have suffered, no matter the form she would take.

    Now that Solus and Lith were one, the tower was mending theirbined life force. The power of the mana geyser flowed through them, plugging the cracks in their essence to keep it from spilling and slowly stitching their edges.

    It was what Dawn had perceived during her fight against the hybrid in the Odi''s undergroundb. It was the reason no matter how many powerful spells the colossus conjured, they kept getting stronger over time.

    By plugging the cracks in Lith''s life force, the tower allowed him to truly go all-out without the risk of inflicting more damage on himself. Ever since he had saved Protector, Lith had always instinctively held back to protect his damaged life force.

    Now, however, he could finally employ his full might, the true power of his Tiamat form. Yet that was just the first step of the ever-increasing might of the hybrid. After the fusion, their mana cores were perfectly harmonized.

    Lith''s core had reached the bright violet thanks to the synergy with Solus'' and obtained a life force capable of harnessing that strength. Flooded by the sudden influx of nourishment, Solus'' had recovered up to the bright blue.

    It gave her more power, granting her the ability to fuel all of Lith''s spells and boost them with her own mana. Also, it meant that the tower regained more floors. That part of the energy that was no longer needed by her life support system could be now employed to restore the tower core.

    The hybrid''s body held three cores whose power was shared and amplified in an endless loop. Lith''s newfound strength healed Solus faster which in turn restored the tower faster.

    before they hatch."

    The ck and white tendrils had found each other, reattaching the severed arms to the stumps. Which each repaired floor the artifact also recovered a part of its power core and became capable of processing more world energy. World energy that would further strengthen Lith, starting the cycle anew.

    The three living legacies reunited close enough to the mana geyser to feed from its energy but far enough to escape the iing horde of Origin Demons for the time necessary to cast Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    There was a reason those three had been chosen for the mission. Not only were they capable of countering all kinds of spells and bloodline abilities, but they could also use Silverwing''s anti-Guardian spells at their full might.

    Each one of them had their own power core plus the mana core of a bright violet Awakened, making them more powerful than six Council Elders.

    On top of that, between the Yggdrasill wood''s ability to store andbine spells and the Evil Eyes sucking up the world energy to fuel them, the staff had the equivalent of an extra mana core of its own.

    "This victory leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth." Windfell sighed. "I never had to use the Annihtion to kill a mere Divine Beast."

    "Shut up and focus!" Knightfall said. "Until that thing is standing, I''m not going to count my chickens before they hatch."

    The ck and white tendrils had found each other, reattaching the severed arms to the stumps. ck mes cauterized the edges of the wounds while what looked like gold-veined white scabs formed around the forearms.

    No more Origin Demons woulde out, but that was hardly good news. Thousands of ming shadows d in white and gold were swarming the cursed objects from every direction.

    "Now, before it''s toote!" At Stargazer''s mark, they stopped amplifying the Annihtion and shot it at the colossus'' head. "I don''t know nor care how Verhen can summon so many Demons or where their equipmentes from.

    "If he dies, they die and whatever his secret is will be part of our prize!"

 Chapter 2463 Restored Tower (Part 1)

    Seven emerald stars arranged like the Big Dipper appeared in front of the living legacies, channeling the power of the seven elements before merging them into one single burst of energy the size of a skyscraper.

    The Origin Demons roared in defiance, using their bodies to shield their master.

    They were thousands and covered in various alloys of magic metals coated in magically resistant gold-veined marble yet the Annihtion was dyed only for a split second while piercing through their ranks.

    The Demons refused to yield even in defeat, detonating themselves the moment their armor cracked. The Origin mes further weakened the Annihtion but it was too little and too slow to stop its advance.

    After cutting the ck tide in half, the emerald beam pushed through the sea of searing fire created by the Demons and almost reached its target.

    Almost.

    The golden right hand of the giant was covered by a ck working glove with seven mana crystals, each of a different elemental color. In their fused form, Lith and Solus had gained the strength necessary to restore the Set of Menadion to its full glory.

    The world energy flowed through the tower, then it moved from the Eyes to the Ears before reaching the Mouth. There the stored spells would be carried to the Hands where they would take physical form.

    Each gem acted akin to one of the towers of Silverwing''s fortress, splitting the world energy into its basicponents and allowing its master to instantly cast spells without consuming a single drop of their own mana.

    The emerald seventh gem born from the bond between Lith and Solus filtered the will of Mogar, recing the''s energy signature with their own to fuel the Spirit Magicponent of Silverwing''s spells.

    The surviving Origin Demons bellowed their joy. They had seeded in their task, buying enough time for the Bastion to bepleted.

    "How?" Windfell blurted out, taking the words out of everyone''s mind. "Even if there are two of them, even if they both had a bright violet core, it''s not enough to fuel a spell like that.

    "Only a white core can use Silverwing''s spells alone and even they need longer than a thought to conjure them."

    "Who cares! They must have exhausted their strength to pull something like that. Let''s shoot another before they have the time to recover." Stargazer said.

    "Do you realize that we all have mana sense?" Knightfall pointed at the wounds all over the hybrid that were mending at a speed visible to the naked eye. "We can literally see that even after blocking our attack their energy keeps increasing."

    The left hand of the Demon bore a ck glove as well and as they extended their fingers, a Big Dipper appeared in front of their palm.

    "It must be a trick!" The cursed ive replied. "Now shut up and shot them down. Unlike us, they don''t have an immortal body otherwise they wouldn''t have bothered defending themselves from our attack.

    "Let''s hit them with everything we have!" Bybining fake, true, and body casting from each host with the true magic and the body casting from their respective cursed artifacts, they weaved the spell as quickly as there were fifteen mages.

    The counter Annihtion fired right after the colossus'', but the living legacies decided to avoid a direct sh and take the impact. As Stargazer had predicted, the hybrid couldn''t afford to have its head blown off.

    The titan squinted their eyes, trying and failing to Dominate the enemy''s Annihtion. Imbued with three willpowers and moving at the speed of sound there was no time to wrestle for its control.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The hybrid couldn''t activate another Bastion either since the power of the tower was already split between healing their wounds and fueling the Annihtion. The colossus could only try to tank the blow or turn the Annihtion into a Bastion, leaving the initiative to the leaving legacies again.

    The hybrid did neither, opting for a third way.

    A wave of the right gloved hand of the giant recalled the equipment they had lent to the Demons. With a bit of power from Lith''s and Solus'' cores, a second wave of the hand had an impossible shield appear out of thin air.

    It was big enough to be worn by the colossus, with Darwen at its center where the Annihtion struck. Right behind the anti-magic matter, spread too thin to do more than break the secondary impact, there was ayer of purified Davross.

    Below that, there was purified Adamant coated in gold-veined marble. Most of the shield, however, wasprised of Orichalcum and silver. The Darwen broke due to the pressure and the Davross shattered under the magical onught, creating cracks that caused the whole shield to copse.

    "They are done for!" Knightfall had his allies converge their Spirit Barriers on him. Hebined them to boost the resistance of his Davross''s surface while using small dimensional gates to redirect part of the hybrid''s Annihtion.

    Even that wasn''t enough for keeping the shield from shattering non-stop and forcing the living legacies to employ their hosts as meat shields to give theirpanion the time he needed to reform.

    They would heal while he blocked and he would heal while they blocked in a cycle that left everyone weaker by the second, draining their energy reserves as quickly as if they were casting both an Annihtion and a Bastion at the same time.

    Yet it was worth it.

    With the impossible shield broken, the hybrid was dead.

    Or so they thought until the colossus crossed the Fury and a fully white Double Edge in front of themselves, stopping the Annihtion long enough for a second and better impossible shield to appear.

    Both the hammer and the de were charred, their surface full of cracks. Yet they were rapidly closing and the new shield held. It was consteted with white and violet crystals that fueled a power core that generated an external Spirit Barrier.

    Also, now the magic metals weren''t split intoyers anymore but amalgamated in a better alloy that once coated in gold-veined white marble could take quite a beating before crumbling.

    "What the fuck? No one told me that Verhen knew Creation Magic!" Stargazer said while her host shattered faster than she could regenerate him.

    "Screw Creation Magic!" Windfell replied. "Where the heckes all that stuff? If Verhen possesses enough resources to arm his Demons and craft that thing, what the heck is he still doing in the Kingdom?"

    The shield shattered again, just to be reced by a new one with better-ced crystals, a more stable power core, and a better amalgam of the enchanted metals.

    "Three of them? Night has sent us to our death!" Windfell wanted to disengage, but at the least mistake, the hybrid''s Annihtion would leave them too weak to escape.

    Truth be told, Night had shared everything she knew with her cursed brethren. She simply wasn''t aware of Solus'' tower nature which was the source of the unknown variables that kept causing their strategies to fail.

    Lith only had a rudimentary understanding of Creation Magic and even once fused with Solus, he would never be capable of crafting something as big as the shield so quickly.

 Chapter 2464 Restored Tower (Part 2)

    The gold-veined white marble came from the tower''s walls while the shield and the equipment of the Demons had been Forgemastered by the Factory floor.

    Also, despite what the living legacies believed due to the seemingly endless stream of magical resources, Lith''s means were actually limited to what he had stored in the pocket dimension, the Crucible, and the Mines.

    Yet the tower''s Workshop could conjure whatever was contained in its vaults infinite times. The Workshop would create copies of the magic crystals and metals identical to the originals that the Factory would instantly Forgemaster into enchanted artifacts.

    The moment one of its creations was destroyed, the tower erased the copy and created a new one. Then, the Factory would Forgemaster an improved version of the artifact by essing the data collected by the Eyes during its use.

    It was how Valia''s equipment kept returning along with its master and the reason it became harder to cut at every iteration. Lith had received Solus'' distress message via Soluspedia toote to prepare anything so he had devised the next best thing.

    The moment the tower had reached him, Lith had stored his most recent projects in the Library to streamline the mass production of enchanted equipment and maximize the odds of rescuing Solus and Tista.

    It was also how the massive shield that was currently stopping the cursed objects'' Annihtion kept reappearing in a split second, uncaring for the amount of metal and the number of crystals that were destroyed upon its failure.

    It was a seemingly impossible feat, something that under regr circumstances Lith and Solus could not perform even with the aid of a powerful mana geyser. In their split state, the Eyes needed time to scan and the Workshop was incapable of producing anything that required a mana core above the bright blue.

    Also, the Library needed to have the blueprints of an artifact and the Forgemastering circles required stored on its shelves to pass the instructions on to the Workshop.

    Now that Lith and Solus were fused, however, the Eyes analyzed the events the moment they took ce and passed the information collected to the Library that would write it down in its archives.

    Such knowledge was essible to the hybrid via Soluspedia and every idea that glimpsed through their collective mind was recorded as well. The new and improved projects allowed the Workshop to bring their creations to life in an instant.

    On top of that, thanks to the energy from the three cores, the Workshop could perform even Forgemastering techniques that required control and power above the bright violet to perfection.

    Both Annihtions ended at the same time, but the oue for the two conflicting parties couldn''t have been more different. The cursed objects were running on fumes and their hosts were reduced to shreds.

    If not for the presence of the mana geyser and their ability topletely regenerate the living being they were bonded with just from a tissue sample, only a shapeless mass of Davross and Yggdrasill splinters would remain.

    The colossus, instead, stood above the mana geyser unscathed with thetest version of the shield ready to block anything they could dish out.

    "Okay, definitely a contest of magic is not an option." Stargazer panted. "We need a new n."

    "What about running away?" Knightfall said. "I''ve been broken so many times that my durability is barely above Adamant. I can''t stop another barrage."

    "Sure, you first." Windfell said with a sneer. "I''m sure that Verhen will let us go with a smile and a wave of his hand. He''ll strike anyone who attempts to escape in the back and without our teamwork, we don''t stand a chance, you idiot!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "We can Warp away if I just dispel the Distortion Field array..." The moment Knightfall weakened his hold on the dimensional space around them, he felt a foreign and aggressive will rece his spell with something simr yet much worse.

    He quickly restored the magical formation''s full prowess, battling to push away the unknown invader.

    "Scratch that. Maybe Dawn has managed to call upon Baba Yaga or maybe Verhen has arrows in his quiver we don''t know about. Bottom line, Warping is not an option."

    "Then frontal assault it is." Windfell nodded. "There''s three of us and only two of them. Our Davross can cut through anything they have dished out so far. It''s our only remaining advantage and we are going to exploit it now that they are exhausted."

    Life Vision confirmed to the living legacies that for the first time since the start of the battle, the colossus was weakened. Casting an Annihtion in a split second, fueling the Forgemastering circles necessary to craft the shield, and conjuring so many magical ingredients had drained their energy.

    The hybrid was standing still with the shield at hand because they were waiting for the world energy from the mana geyser to refill the tower''s reserves that were currently dry.

    "Better be quick then!" Stargazer pointed at the titan whose aura was already recovering.

    The hosts of the cursed objects allcked at least one limb and bore deep wounds. Knightfall''s had lost his skin and his torn muscles were visible. Windfell''s missed an arm and an eye, his body skeletal due to theck of nutrients.

    Stargazer''s host seemed to fare better, but only because the wooden vines from the haft filled the nk spaces and sealed the otherwise many open wounds. So much of his skin was actually bark that from a distance he looked more like a wooden puppet than a human.

    The three of them had their respective hosts take flight and attacked from three different directions. With no need for thinking, the bodies could focus on employing a breathing technique while the living legacy weaved the spells.

    On top of that, due to dimensional magic being sealed, aside from Knightfall they had no ess to the nutrients'' potions stored inside their dimensional amulets. They had to manipte their hosts with Spirit Magic and make sure they didn''t fall apart.

    The cursed shield had an easier time restoring his bearer, but after taking almost a full Annihtion, he was faring much worse than his allies. His metal was weakened and his crystals were almost depleted.

    The geyser and the breathing technique hastened his recovery, but he still needed hours, not seconds to recover. Unfortunately for him, the colossus had no such problem.

    Their strength seemed to be endless and they were already weaving new incantations of untold strength.

    ''Those are too weak to be Silverwing''s spells but are too strong to be Spirit Magic. What is this thing?'' The three cursed objects attacked from the sides and the front in a triangle formation.

    This way, no matter the direction the titan faced, at least two of them would attack from his blind spots while one of them bought them time. The shield was the weakest but he still was the one with the highest defensive power.

    If the colossus attacked Knightfall, the other two much more damage-oriented artifacts would cut him to shreds. If they attacked one of the two weapons, instead, there would still be the other and Knightfall would recover.

 Chapter 2465 Perfect Form (Part 1)

    The three-pronged attack was bound to create an opening that at least one of the living legacies would manage to exploit and win the battle. Unless the hybrid pulled off something new, of course.

    Much to their surprise, the colossus moved as if they had eyes behind their head. They unleashed the Tower Tier spell, Nova Eclipse, on Knightfall while the right hand wielding War struck at Stargazer and the left hand holding the Fury attacked Windfell.

    The angry de looked like a short sword in the colossus'' hand. Double Edge encasing was already encasing War, but the size of the hybrid far exceeded those of a Divine Beast.

    The Eyes of Menadion looked at both Double Edge and the shield, assessing the usefulness of thetter artifact against creatures so small.

    Lith and Soluscked proper training and blocking with the shield would impede the Fury''s movements. The tower answered by dispelling the artifact and using its materials to craft a better version of Double Edge of a suitable size.

    Nova Eclipse was the tower version of the tier five War Mage spell, Final Eclipse, and it wasprised of the fire, darkness, and air elements. The ck mes were fanned by a powerful air current that turned them into a cyclone.

    The fast-spinning mes created a vacuum, sucking the cursed shield in.

    Knightfall tried to dodge, but in his weakened state he couldn''t escape the pull of a tower spell that reached the prowess of a natural phenomenon. Also, he had lived and fought long enough to know how to beat it.

    Knightfall pretended to struggle with all his might and then fall prey to the vortex. Knowing that he had no chance of victory, he let the current suck and guide him toward the eye of the storm.

    The spell was bound to be devised to keep its victims away from its only safe spot, but Knightfall was a dimensional mage, and even in such a maelstrom he managed to grasp the dimensional coordinates of his destination and Blink there under the cover of the mes.

    ''I''ve taken minimal damage and while Windfell and Stargazer fight for their lives, I can catch my breath.'' The host of the cursed shield grinned in stead of its master while gulping down nutrients'' potions.

    ''The best part is that Verhen''s spell itself protects me from his Life Vision. By the time he discovers what really happened, I''ll have recovered enough to defeat him or escape based on how-'' His train of thought suddenly froze along with his body.

    Nova Eclipse had turned into its Void version, Nova Prison.

    Darkness had turned into a hard-light construct while air had assembled the debris scattered around by the battle into solid stone. Fire had turned into water that seeped through the other two elements, drenching the enemy before turning into ice.

    Light and earth magicbined their strength to seal both Knightfall''s movements and his body casting. The hard light filled even the tiniest gap between the rocks, preventing air to get in or out.

    Nova Prison acted as a sealed vise that slowly crushed its victim while the sudden temperature drop made everything brittle. The Davross of the cursed shield was unfazed by the spell, yet Knightfall started to panic and desperately looked for a way out.

    Pressure, cold, and asphyxia were minor inconveniences for him but not for his host. In the Emperor Beast''s exhausted state, it was just a matter of seconds before Nova Prison killed him and without him, the cursed shield would have no chance of victory.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At the same time, his allies were simultaneously attacking the colossus from opposite sides, forcing them to turn their body so that even when their weapons managed to hit there was barely any strength behind the attack.

    The hybrid''s every move generated a gust of wind so powerful that it would have sted any lesser opponent away, but the living legacies had the experience of millennia by their side.

    They anticipated the air currents, riding them to dodge the iing attacks and further elerate their movement speed. The hybrid''s attacks were quick and surgical, following the enemies'' every maneuver as if the weapons had a homing system, but it wasn''t enough.

    The cursed objects used fire spells to strike at the iing limb and exploited the resulting st to escape. Whenever the hybrid focused too much on one of them the other managed to counterattack, opening long yet shallow wounds in the massive limbs of the creature.

    It was only meant as a distraction to allow their partner to escape and to put the edge of their des to the test. Such cuts were but scratches to someone 35 meters (115'') tall whereas they had to go for the kill and quickly.

    The nine eyes of the creature moved from one opponent to another, trying and failing to counter their joint attacks. Sealing dimensional magic, using a Tower Tier Void spell, and engaging in a battle of wits with two cunning opponents at the same time was too much even for thebined mental focus of Lith and Solus.

    The two cursed des were slowly but inexorably getting closer to the titan''s neck despite their best efforts and no protection at their disposal would hold against two masterfully crafted Davross weapons.

    Since struggling was useless, the hybrid raised their upper set of arms and conjured what was left of the Origin Demons. The runes thatprised their bodies were quickly rewritten and their ck cores turned into the focal point of a dimensional spell.

    The living mass of violet mes turned ck as the Tower Tier Gravity Spell, Sham ck Hole, took form. Half of the Origin Demons acted as a dimensional array that sealed the area of effect of the gravity spell while the other half formed Sham ck Hole.

    In their fused form, Lith and Solus weighed dozens of tons and they were grounded thanks to the tower below them whereas their much lighter airborne opponents failed to escape the sudden pull.

    The hybrid''s mouths curled up in a savage grin of joy at the realization of their newfound prowess. Gravity magic was something that Solus could dabble in thanks to her talent while it was beyond Lith''sprehension.

    They bothcked the dimensional awareness necessary toprehend the many factors involved in a powerful gravity spell and how to alter them in order to not fall victim to their own incantation.

    Now, however, they had not only two minds at the same time but also ess to the Watchtower. It allowed them to extend their mystical senses for kilometers and keep everything under control down to the smallest detail.

    The Watchtower granted them perfect dimensional awareness, bringing their talent to the same level as Friya. The tower''s floor worked akin to the spell Ernas Full Guard, but with a much greater range.

    If not for the Watchtower, Lith and Solus would have failed to follow theplex maneuvers of the cursed objects and distinguish their real target from the feints.

    Air, dust, and cursed objects were sucked in by the hypergravity that pressed them together, forcing the Davross to copse on itself.

 Chapter 2466 Perfect Form (Part 2)

    Trapped inside Nova Prison, Knightfall rejoiced when the Tower Spell disappeared but his happiness was short-lived.

    He was sucked by Sham ck Hole as well, watching helplessly as the clouds started toe down swirling. Lith and Solus bnced the gravity and the dimensional spells together, keeping them active until they felt that they could no longer contain the monster they had created.

    They threw Sham ck Hole away and conjured a multiyered barrier around the point of impact. Inside the darkness of the spelly tons of air kept under high pressure that would violently expand the moment the gravity was released.

    The resulting explosion made the ground quake and it would have raised a mushroom cloud if not for the hybrid pouring all their strength into the barriers.

    Spinning domesprised of earth, air, and light sealed off the detonation by making the shockwaves rebound back and forth, focusing the destructive power of the released pressure on the living legacies.

    As the dust settled, the Distortion Field array disappeared. Knightfall was too busy keeping himself together to waste precious mana and without the magical formation, the bond between the tower and its masters was fully restored.

    Direct contact was no longer needed to ess the full scope of the tower''s powers and due to the Watchtower, the space was theirs tomand.

    Ready for the finishing blow, the colossus shrank to human size. It was the form that Lith and Solus knew best and with which they could perfectly coordinate their movements.

    "How?" Tista asked from a very far away safe distance. "How did you know that this would have happened?"

    They had spectated the fight from much closer until the Annihtions had started flying. At that point, the Horseman had dragged the Red Demon even farther away, and this time Tista had opposed no resistance.

    "Actually, I didn''t." Dawn shrugged. "I was just ying it safe. At least until I witnessed Solith using the Hands of Menadion. That''s when everything became clear and I knew that we were too close forfort."

    "Stop calling them like that! Also, what are you talking about?" Tista did her best to act confused but she swallowed twice.

    "Please, don''t insult my intelligence." The Horseman sighed in annoyance. "I''ve spent months wondering what kind of cursed object Solus could be and why I''ve never heard anything about her during my life.

    "Too many things didn''t add up. She has a body of her own, and she can get away from her host without breaking their bond yet only for a limited time. Plus there is herpleteck of unique powers and weak-ass core.

    "No mage, and I mean not even a mad one, would bother using Forbidden Magic to create a living legacy with a mana core inferior to the bright violet core. Unless of course, they didn''t create anything nor did they use Forbidden Magic.

    "I''ve seen the pieces of the set of Menadion countless times in my mother''s archives and I''ve helped her in her attempts to recreate them so we both know what I''m talking about.

    "Hands, Eyes, Mouth, Ears, and Fury." Dawn pointed at five artifactsprised of gold-veined white marble. "Solus'' real name is Elphyn Menadion and her artifact half is the lost tower of Menadion. Am I right, Mom?"

    With the Distortion Field array gone, Dawn''s bond with Baba Yaga was restored and it hadn''t taken long for the ancient white core to reach them.

    "You are, dear." Baba Yaga was in her Mother form, her ming red hair whipping behind her due to the gusts of wind that escaped from the barriers. "I''m sorry for hiding the truth from you."

    "Don''t apologize." The Horseman shook her head. "I never met the First Ruler of the mes but I know how much you cared for her and her daughter. After my fight with Verhen and everything that Night did to him, you had every right to be cautious.

    "You couldn''t afford the risk of further fueling my sister''s obsession. Also, it wasn''t your decision to make. You did the right thing by respecting their wish for privacy."

    "Thanks, dear." The Mother nodded. "To bepletely honest, I had no idea who Solus was when you met her. I discovered the truth about her only muchter when-"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "When are you going to stop yapping and start helping?" Tista cut her short.

    "Help?" Baba Yaga looked at the Red Demon in amazement. "The Destroyer needs no help. Not in his perfect form. Look at them."

    She waved her hands at the colossal figure shrinking like it was a majestic work of art standing in front of people too dumb to appreciate it.

    "Menadion achieved my dream before me without even trying. The perfect fusion between host, Horseman, and their tower. A being capable of surpassing the white core!"

    "What are you- Great Mother almighty!" A simple surveince spell from Baba Yaga''s tower had conjured a mirror on whose surface they could witness the events near the crater despite the great distance separating them.

    The aura of the hybrid kept growing even away from the mana geyser, its edges ring from time to time. When that happened, the bright violet turned clearer until only a pristine white remained.

    "You can say that." The Red Mother nodded as the res grew in frequency.

    "Is my brother really stepping into the white core like Thrud?" Tista asked.

    "What a silly question, child. Of course not." Baba Yaga shook her head. "Reaching the white core needs enlightenment whereas all your brother has is bloodlust and hatred.

    "Those fools hurt Solus who is his beating heart. They almost took him away from his wife and unborn daughter. Right now, Lith has no care for the secrets of magic. The only thing he can think about is returning the pain he suffered one hundred-fold."

    "Then how is that possible?" The fringes of the hybrid''s aura had turned white and were staying that way.

    "It''s actually easy if you think about it. That''s a being with a bright violet core of his own, plus a bright blue core and a tower core, correct?" The Mother asked.

    "Correct." Tista and Dawn nodded in unison.

    "Then howe is he still alive? One body, one core. That''s the rule for all the races who haven''t fallen. Even Guardians only have one core and so do I. More and we would just explode because unable to contain such raging power."

    She let her words linger for a second before continuing.

    "The fusion bestowed upon them a life force capable of harnessing that power. The multiple cores don''t sh with each other not only because they share the same energy signature, otherwise all werepeople could do the same.

    "No, the secret is that there are actually still three bodies and it''s only the energy that''s shared. That''s why when you neared the perfect bond with Ac you could manifest a body of your own, dear." Baba Yaga turned toward Dawn.

    "Had you two perfected it, you would have reached a simr form. Yet if you two had a bright violet, what color would your core have?"

    "White?" Dawn asked in amazement.

    "You wish." Baba Yaga scoffed.

 Chapter 2467 Perfect Form (Part 3)

    "You would just reach a state in-between the white and the bright violet core. To actually reach the white you would need to be one with Sunrise as well." Baba Yaga said.

    "Remember what I told you after your fight with the Mad Queen, my child. A tower is the equivalent of a white core. Combined with two bright violet cores you just obtain a power one notch above the bright white."

    "Could I defeat you, then?" Dawn''s voice was devoid of malice. There was only confusion and curiosity in her tone.

    "Again, you wish. You would surpass me in raw power when I''m away from my tower, but my mastery of magic would still be above yours. Also, you would gain no bloodline abilities by reaching the white core that way and I have a mage tower of my own.

    "When I''m near my hut, I can ess its enchantments and my power is much greater than just two bright white cores, just like it happens for Lith and Solus." Baba Yaga pointed at the hybrid.

    "If what you say is true, why haven''t they reached the white already? You just said that''s a perfect fusion." Tista asked.

    "A perfect fusion between a broken man, a broken woman, and a broken tower. Neither of them is anywhere near their full potential." The Mother stared at the battle that was taking ce in front of them, clenching her hands in excitement.

    "Yet theyplete each other. They heal each other. With each passing second, what has long been broken is bing whole again."

    Through the surveince mirror, Tista watched the ring white fringes of the hybrid''s aura be stable as the battle unfolded. More than once she found herself inwardly thanking the gods for Dawn''s foresight.

    Even from a great distance, the shockwaves from the exchange of blows and the conjured spells by both sides reached the spectators in the form of violent sudden gusts of wind. Some just ruffled her hair but others forced her to raise her arms to protect her eyes.

    ***

    While Dawn brought Tista to safety, the colossus looked at the exhausted cursed objects and at themselves with the Eyes of Menadion. They exploited the first respite from battle to formte the best strategy to permanently put an end to the new threat that Night had put on their path.

    ''Compared to our human form, our current body doesn''t give us any advantage.'' They thought. ''Sure, it''s big and that makes it hard to reach our vitals but at the same time, it makes the Voidwalker armor useless.

    ''Our bare scales don''t offer much protection against Davross and the wind pressure generated by limbs this big against creatures that small pushes the cursed objects back before we can hit them.

    ''Also, it''s better for us to move the fight to close-quarterbat. Spells give us the range advantage but at the same time cause a major w in our n. Fighting from a distance also means that they have plenty of space for maneuvering and that they can retreat and recover whenever they want.

    ''On top of that, if they bolt away at the same time in different directions, no matter how powerful we are, we can''t chase more than one at a time. They only need to sacrifice one of them to escape from the area we dimensionally sealed.

    ''Once outside, they can use a Warp Steps to get away from the geyser and we wouldn''t be able to follow them. Since the shield is a dimensional mage and he is skilled enough to open short distance Warps despite the tower''s array, we must get rid of him first.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The colossal figure of the hybrid shrunk in size until it was a bit over 2 meters (7'') tall. The skin, flesh, and bones had bepressed. None of the mass of the titan was lost, making them as durable as before.

    Lith and Solus kept standing on the mana geyser to activate the Workshop for what they hoped would be thest time that day. The gold-veined white marble from the restored tower merged with the Voidwalker armor, enhancing its hardness, enchantments, and giving it resistance to magic.

    The huge Double Edge was dispelled so that the Davross could now be used to forge a smaller version of War''s exoskeleton entirely made with the precious metal. What was left of it was used along with the Darwen to create a tower shield, using more gold-veined white marble to fill the voids.

    It took them several attempts to sessfully enchant the Davross and properly mix the metal with the stone and the anti-magic impurity. Usually, those experiments would have taken them days and drained their strength.

    Yet with the Eyes bringing out any evident w in their design and the Workshop Forgemastering them in an instant, Lith and Solus only had to provide the blueprints for the tower to do the rest.

    The Hands both fuelled the Workshop and enhanced its spells while the Mouth conjured a specialized Forgemastering array for each step of each procedure, making them faster and more efficient.

    The artifacts kept fading in and out of existence, reaching an optimized form in a handful of seconds.

    In theirpact form, the new temporary artifacts had their power focused and their surface was covered by white crystals boosting the power cores.

    Bigger wasn''t necessarily better. A shield the size of a Divine Beast needed lots of crystals and a power core of proportional dimensions.

    Otherwise the enchantments would spread unevenly throughout the surface of the artifact and when simple pseudo cores were put under stress they might fail. It was the reason humans had prospered for so long and could hold their ground against any opponent.

    The bigger an artifact, it not only was way more expensive but it also required a much better Forgemaster. To make matters worse, the power of an enchantment, just like a mana core, wasn''t proportional to the size of the body but depended solely on the energy it possessed.

    Hence a Divine Beast''s armor needed tons of ingredients just to achieve the same abilities of a human-sized armor, leaving the human mage plenty of materials to craft all the different tools they would need.

    The moment the living legacies had regained their form and enough of their strength to start regenerating their respective hosts, Lith and Solus moved to the offense to capitalize on their advantage.

    They used air fusion to be faster, fire fusion to bolster their strength, and water fusion to make sure that their four arms wouldn''t hinder each other in the heat of the battle.

    Without gravity fusion, each one of their steps still carried the momentum of dozens of tons but the pressure was now focused on a much smaller area. The hybrid crossed the distance separating them from their prey in quick strides that made the ground quake and produced a boom of thunder.

    Only the light shining bright on the now white Voidwalker armor heralded the arrival of the hybrid. Dust and sound were too slow, starting to reverberate only when the hybrid was already a hundred steps away from the point of origin.

 Chapter 2468 Perfect Form (Part 4)

    ''This is actually great!'' Windfell prepared ayer of air des to defend against the pressure of the hybrid''s strides and formed a mind link with his allies to not waste time discussing their strategy. ''There''s still three of us and only one of them.

    ''Their flimsy equipment offers them no protection against the Davross of our des and those guys are as green as grass. Over the millennia, we have fought countless battles against the greatest masters whereas Verhen is barely twenty years old.

    ''Even if his living legacy was as old and expert as us, something that I find hard to believe due to her weak ass core and the fact that we''ve never heard of her, he can''t deal with three masters at the same-''

    His pep talk was cut short when the hybrid dodged their lunges, abruptly stopping right in the middle of the living legacies.

    The mystical barrier that Windfell and the others had prepared protected them from the sonic boom, but it could do nothing against the sudden caving in of the ground. The creature had imbued their feet with earth magic so that along with the foothold, they also robbed their enemies of their sight.

    The dust cloud and the debris were filled with enough mana to blind Life Vision and make the teamwork of the three cursed objects useless.

    ''Verhen''s not here!'' Windfell telepathically shared his senses and coordinates to not be confused with the enemy.

    ''He''s not here either.'' Stargazer followed his lead and activated the Evil Eyes on her staff to pick up fluctuations in the surrounding world energy.

    Her Elemental Reader ability would reveal both the position of the creature and what kinds of spells they were conjuring.

    ''Gods, help!'' Only shrieks of pain came from Knightfall''s mind link.

    Lith and Solus were blinded as well but thanks to the Watchtower they had other means to locate their enemies. Right after the formation of the crater under their feet had scattered the living legacies, the hybrid had struck at the shield with a two-handed overhead sh.

    Feeling War''s edge made Knightfall sigh in relief since aside from its weight the angry de posed no threat. The cursed shield had already bent Double Edge and expected things to go no different the second time.

    The relief didn''tst long.

    The violence of the impact created a dent in the Davross and the de was now more than a match for the outdated enchantments. War''s edge dug little inside the enemy''s body but enough to activate its Counterflow ability.

    Fueled by the tower and enhanced by the Davross of the new Double Edge, thebined might of the artifacts managed to short-circuit Knightfall''s defensive spells.

    Itsted for a fraction of a second, just the time for a two-handed blow from the Fury tond.

    Enveloped in ck mes conjured by its elemental crystals, the hammer struck at the cursed shield, the impact reverberating into the arm wielding Knightfall and then into the internal organs of his host.

    The shield caved, the arm broke, and the shockwaves ravaged the still-healing Emperor Beast. Knightfall had to split his energy between himself and his host because if it died, the cursed shield''s capabilities would be crippled.

    The living legacies had activated Full Guard right after being blinded in order to locate their allies, but the spell couldn''t tell them who was who. There was indeed a figure bashing another but no way to tell if the hybrid was still attacking or if Knightfall had turned the tables.

    ''Fuck this!'' The cursed shield was too busy surviving to exin to his allies what was happening and Windfell couldn''t risk waiting any longer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Assuming that the creature had the upper hand, the cursed scimitar bolted forward while unleashing several tier five spells. Perceiving the iing threat via Full Guard, Knightfall Blinked away and so did the hybrid.

    Windfell sensed someone appearing behind his back and executed a flurry of masterful attacks that sted away the enemy''s guard and deeply cut into their flesh.

    ''What are you doing, you idiot? It''s me!'' Knightfall had hoped to buy some time to heal and repair but he was now in worse condition than before.

    The realization hit Windfell at the same time as a diagonal sh from War that cut his host asunder. Reattaching the severed halves was a matter of seconds but it still put the cursed scimitar on its back foot.

    With the lower body separated from the upper, Windfell couldn''t use footwork nor put any weight behind the parries. Davross shed with Davross, creating sparks at each impact that burned his flesh and shockwaves that broke Windfell''s bones.

    Assuming there was no way that anyone could best her ally in swordsmanship, Stargazer aimed her spell and was about to release it when doubt made her hesitate.

    ''I can feel three people there and only two are fighting. Howe that Knightfall is doing nothing?'' She conjured a gust of wind that cleared the area and revealed the truth.

    Knightfall was bent and broken while his host had been shredded into pieces. Windfell was in much better condition but his host was wounded faster than any spell could heal him.

    Without a healthy body wielding him, Windfell was incapable of deflecting the de of a much stronger and heavier opponent. For the gap in battle experience to overshadow that in raw power, Windfell needed his arms and legs but they were both broken.

    Stargazer adjusted her aim and released her tier five spell, Frozen Storm. Dragons were weak to cold and the fusion between Verhen and his living legacy still resembled a Dragon.

    A wave of the creature''s golden hand activated the blue and yellow eyes and the feathers on their fourth set of wings. Frozen Storm exploded right in front of the bbergasted cursed ive, encasing her into a cage of electrified ice.

    ''This is impossible!'' She thought. ''Even if that thing has Domination, tier five spells are always imbued with willpower and the Evil Eyes on my body further boost my mastery over the elements.

    ''I''ve killed many Hydras in the past and they were masters in their craft. How can one- Good gods! That was my mistake. There''s two of them whereas my host can''t help me because I turned him into a mindless drone!''

    The shock of the realization was followed by a Furies'' Flight that shattered the ice cage and those it imprisoned.

    ''Stop using spells, you idiots! You are ying straight into Verhen''s hands.'' Windfell''s telepathic grunt reached his regenerating allies. ''He split and blinded us to disrupt our teamwork.

    ''We must attack him in turns to buy the time to heal our hosts and overwhelm him with the Davross of our des.''

    Knightfall inwardly nodded and used Spirit Magic to move the battered body of the Emperor Beast wielding him like a puppet. The Davross shield conjured a Spirit Barrier before putting himself between Windfell and a crushing blow.

    The cursed scimitar took a step back, focusing on mending his wounds and sucking as much world energy from the mana geyser as it could. The hybrid quickly disposed of Knightfall and moved past him, but Stargazer blocked his advance.

 Chapter 2469 Broken Shield (Part 1)

    Stargazer used the powers of the Yggdrasill wood to mix the rune of its enchantments with those conjured by her mind to conjure another Frozen Storm in less than half the time that a regr Awakened would need to weave such a powerful spell.

    The Davross de was meant as an amplifier and as ast mean resort. The true power of the cursed ive came from the mystical wood and the Evil Eyes of an unfallen Balor.

    Stargazer''s maker had been a powerful mage who had used the unique abilities of the World Tree to shorten the cast time of any spell and the Evil Eyes to achieve the next best thing to Domination along with an endless supply of power for the wielder of his masterpiece.

    s, the hybrid had already witnessed a Frozen Storm and even though they couldn''t afford to Dominate it again due to the focus needed to keep Windfell under pressure, they still had arrows to their quiver.

    The moment the other two cursed objects had joined the fray, only three of the nine eyes of the creature had remained fixated on the scimitar and his host. The others evenly split their attention among the neers.

    Thanks to the Watchtower, Lith and Solus had no need to make eye contact to follow the enemies'' movements except for using the Eyes of Menadion on them.

    Solus recognized the familiar pattern of runes and weaved a Frozen Storm of her own even though she had never practiced the spell.

    By Dominating the earlier Frozen Storm, Solus had learned its rune sequence and now she was also learning from Stargazer how to tap into the abilities of Yggdrasill wood.

    The Sage Staff was hung to their neck and she needed but a thought to conjure its unexpected powers. As Stargazer unleashed the spell, the left golden hand did the same and two identical Frozen Storms met halfway.

    "The fuck?" Stargazer blurted out in surprise.

    The hybrid was supposed to be focused on Windfell and even if they weren''t, Stargazer was certain that they had no water spell at the ready when she had started weaving.

    To make matters worse, the standstillsted less than one second before her Frozen Storm started losing ground.

    ''This is impossible! My host possesses a bright violet mana core and my power core is even stronger. I''ve mastered my craft for millennia and I have the power of six Evil Eyes boosting my magical prowess.

    ''The cursed object of the runt is clearly specialized in physicalbat, not magic! Aside from her monstrous strength, that Solus had a weak ass core.'' Yet she was deadly wrong.

    Lith and Solus had the equivalent of one bright violet core, one bright blue core, and a surging power core which was getting closer to the white by the second.

    They indeedcked Stargazer''s expertise, but they more than made up for it thanks to the power of three Evil Eyes, theirplementary elemental crystals, and the Hands and Eyes of Menadion.

    The Hands drew in more world energy than the cursed ive could, using it to fuel Solus'' Frozen Storm. The Eyes showed Solus the precise sequence of the runes needed for the spell and how to space them to perfection to bring out its full potential.

    Even though it was her first time casting Frozen Storm, the Eyes of Menadion made her technique wless. The conflicting spells sealed Stargazer''s advance and forced her to conjure more to match quality with quantity.

    ''If I get hit, I''ll be turned into a block of ice. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn''t be much of a problem but both my host and I already have been destroyed many times.'' She thought.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Any more and I won''t stand a chance against the hybrid on my own even if my host was at his peak. If I lose more power and my host is torn to pieces, I''ll¡­'' She dismissed the ridiculous thought, ming for it the fear that poisoned her mind.

    At least until Knightfall blocked the Fury, dodged a lunge from the Sage Staff, and was one step away from standing in front of Windfell.

    ''I''ll use my perfect defense to block whatever the Verhens dish out. You focus solely on cutting them to pieces. We just need one final push to avenge our fallen brethren and bring Mogar to heel once again.'' He said via the mind link and the cursed scimitar nodded.

    By further splitting the hybrid''s focus, they would make up for the grievous wounds that still crippled their hosts and turn the tide of the battle.

    ''Stargazer truly is a genius. I don''t know how she managed to make Verhen conjure a water magic spell of his own, but the only important thing is that the sh of the spells is making the air so cold that Verhen''s teeth are ttering.

    ''Soon he will be too to fight or even escape.'' Windfell thought.

    Then, the first maw of the hybrid opened, hurling a burst of bright violet Origin mes at Knightfall.

    ''What an idiot! He''s so desperate to stop me from joining forces with Windfell that he served me the perfect attack.'' The cursed shield smiled as his entire body turned into a living dimensional rift.

    ''Origin mes can hurt their user. From this distance and under Windfell''s relentless attacks he has no way to dodge!'' Or so he thought until the second maw opened as well and hurled a burst of bright blue Origin mes.

    The two energies wrapped one around the other, their energy signature matching but more importantly, their intents aligned. They didn''t sh nor did they stack their power either.

    The violet fire used the blue as nourishment to multiply its power, turning into bright white Primordial mes. Despite theirpact form, the Origin mes carried the same amount of world energy as those that Lith would have produced at his full size.

    When they became Primordial mes, such apact form couldn''t hold their newfound might and it expanded abruptly.

    Knightfall increased the size of the dimensional rift and added a tier four gravity spell to suck the mes inside and return them to their sender. Yet gravity magic was still magic and the violence of the Primordial mes burned the runes into oblivion.

    When they reached the dimensional rift, they burned it as well.

    The space copsed, the implosion affecting solely Knightfall and drawing in the Primordial mes faster. The cursed shield found himself engulfed in white fire that charred his host and vaporized the Davross.

    The hybrid''s Spirit Eye lit up, Dominating the Primordial mes and making them form apact sphere around Knightfall. The cursed shield kept falling apart and regenerating, but it was a losing battle.

    The hybrid had yet to finish emptying their massive lungs and Domination ensured that not a single tongue of white fire went to waste. Knightfall tried to conjure his best defensive Spirit Spells, but the Primordial mes burned the runes the moment they formed, making the barriers implode.

    The cursed shield tried to sacrifice his host to gain a temporary boost in power but what little remained of the man he possessed died producing less mana than a red core.

 Chapter 2470 Broken Shield (Part 2)

    The Primordial mes had already incinerated Knightfall''s host and only the tissues that he hid inside his metal body for safekeeping remained, but the cursed shield was too panicked to notice until it was toote.

    With his host gone and the power generated by sacrificing their bond negligible, the Davross started to vaporize and the mana crystals sustaining the cursed shield''s life cracked.

    "No. No! NO!" Knightfall screamed for help in countless deadnguages as holding together the enchantments that gave him sentience became harder by the second.

    Windfell charged with every ounce of strength he had left but the hybrid''s eyes following him didn''t quiver nor the ck hand wielding the White War hesitated.

    The Eyes of Menadion telegraphed to Lith the trajectory of the attack and he exploited that knowledge to intercept the scimitar only once his host hadmitted his full weight under the blow.

    The two Davross des met as equals yet the strength behind them was anything but. The dozens of tons of the hybrid hit with such strength that Windfell cracked, the wrist of his broke like a twig, and his kneecaps shattered.

    Lith wasn''t done and exploited the temporary paralysis to kick his helpless opponent in the chest, sending him to join Knightfall in the maelstrom of cleansing fire.

    "Die!" Lith drew a deep breath, ready to conjure more Primordial mes when Solus pulled at his conscience.

    Afraid that the congration of her two allies would also put an end to her life, Stargazer was pouring everyst drop of mana of her two cores into her tier five Spirit Spell, Seed of Destruction.

    The air and water element united to conjure a frost wave that attacked the hybrid from above while earth and fire turned the ground into magma.

    Bolts of lightning coursed from one water drop to the other, forming an inescapable electric cage while the hybrid''s feet started to sink into theva and burn, making it impossible for them to run away.

    The darkness element filled the air with a noxious miasma, ready to seep into the body of its victim the moment a wound was open while the light element mixed with the Spirit element to form emerald constructs that attacked the hybrid from every side.

    At the same time, five elemental pirs departed from the Evil Eyes on the haft of the ive, each aimed at the hybrid from a different angle.

    The creature grunted at the intrusion, but they kept breathing in.

    War moved from the ck gloved hand to the golden one below, letting the Hands of Menadion free tobine their power with the Mouth where Lith''s and Solus'' best spells were stored.

    Unbeknownst to them, the Ears yed their part as well, but they failed to recognize them and attributed the effect to their hybrid form.

    The magic circle of Silverwing''s Annihtion appeared in front of the gloved hands and was instantly lit by seven elemental stars arranged like the Big Dipper. Each one of them produced a pir of a different element that sted through Seed of Destruction after neutralizing its effects.

    Stargazer used the Evil Eyes to counter at least five pirs with her own but they were overpowered without putting a dent in the Annihtion. The anti-Guardian spell struck Stargazer who barely had the time to conjure the Spirit Barriers of his equipment.

    Once again, it was a futile effort. The barriers failed on contact, the Annihtion ripping through mana, flesh, wood, and metal on the atomic level. Even with her body seemingly intact the cursed ive could feel it falling apart.

    Her enchantments were like notes on a chalkboard that someone kept erasing and she had to constantly rewrite them before she forgot one detail and they were lost forever.

    She screamed in pain and fear, sacrificing her host for a sudden burst of power. When the Annihtion was over, Stargazer was unscathed and filled to the brim with mana. Consuming the life force of the Emperor Beast had allowed her to mend her own and restore her power core.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At the same time, however, her fighting prowess was now halved and with the hybrid''s dimensional seal in ce, she needed Spirit Magic to move around.

    Windfell exploited Lith''s and Solus'' distraction to get out of the vortex of Primordial mes unimpeded. His host was burned to a crisp and his enchantments strained, but he could still fight.

    "Cease the attack before it''s toote and you have my word that we won''t bother you again. We have learned our lesson. We can''t defeat you and you can''t kill us." Windfell said, putting the scimitar back into the scabbard.

    "Says who?" Lith''s mouth said before hurling his Origin mes, quickly followed by Solus.

    "Stop!" The face of Windfell''s host was twisted in rage.

    Those were the first words the hybrid had spoken and they were of defiance.

    "You can''t kill Knightfall. From this distance, the st alone will rip you to shreds. Why do you think not even white cores dare to destroy us? Stargazer and I will survive, but what about you? Is it worth losing your life just to kill another of your brethren?"

    "The only thing I hate more than enemies who tell me what I can or cannot do are those who dare call themselves my brethren!"

    Lith and Solus roared, their voices ovepping as they spoke in unison.

    "You are not my brethren, they are!" Now that they had the time and the strength to reform their Demons, they had the Origin Demons and the Demons of the Darkness surround the Primordial mes.

    When Knightfall''s elemental crystals broke, his power core was damaged beyond repair as well. All the energy stored in every line of runes he had been enchanted with, drew upon the crystals before they faded and then channeled everything through the Davross.

    Even in his molten form, the amplification abilities of the metal were unaffected. The energy from the power core and the mana crystals built up in a perfect storm that was focused and amplified by the Davross to the point that it pushed the Primordial mes back.

    ''It''s over.'' Had Stargazer still a mouth, she would have sighed in relief. ''The Destroyer has reaped another brother, but Knightfall will be hisst victim.''

    She and Windfell tried to Warp away, but to no avail. Cursing the hybrid for the umpteenth time, the cursed scimitar dashed to the ive and picked it up.

    ''A host can bond only with one living legacy at a time but with ourbined powers you should survive.'' Windfell said via their mind link. ''I won''t let that monster kill another of us.''

    ''Thanks.''

    The energy mass from Knightfall''s death kept building up, the dimensional energies copsing and expanding non-stop like a beating heart. Then, it condensed into a minuscule dot, imploding on itself before exploding forward.

    "Now!" The hybrid unleashed a third st of Primordial mes from their maws while the Demons hurled Origin mes in unison.

    The two different kinds of mystical fire stacked with one another, generating the Tiamat''s bloodline ability, Thousand mes. The white and the bright violet mes bore the same energy signature so they synergized to perfection.

 Chapter 2471 By The Hand Of A Mortal (Part 1)

    The Thousand mes pressed down the energy storm, burning at it from every side. The Primordial mes flooded the still-imploding dot, messing with the process and consuming the umted world energy before it could reach the critical point.

    The explosion was unavoidable, but when it finally happened, part of the energy mass had been consumed and it had to fight through a thickyer of Thousands and Primordial mes to advance.

    The energy mass found no world energy to absorb and amplify to further increase its destructive power because the Hands of Menadion had focused it all to fuel the mes.

    Despite all that, the copsing power core managed to burst through the sea of fire with enough strength left to kill the fusion between Lith and Solus.

    It was the reason they had the Demons surround the site of the st. The energy thatprised the Demons of the Darkness rearranged itself into a Sealed Space that cut off what remained of the cursed shield from the rest of Mogar.

    The Origin Demons, instead, used their ck and white eyes to turn into living masses of Void mes before detonating themselves. At the same time, a wave of the Hands of Menadion conjured a Silverwing''s Bastion that enveloped the Sealed Space.

    This way, Lith and Solus could keep pouring mana into the barrier whereas the energy mass had no way to keep the chain reaction going. The Void mes ate more of the force of the explosion so that when it hit the Bastion, the st had lost another chunk of its strength.

    "That''s a nifty trick, but if a Bastion was all that was needed, your friend Dawn would have been killed by Sinmara centuries ago." Windfell''s words fell on deaf ears since the hybrid kept three eyes on him and Stargazer but otherwise ignored them.

    When the explosion shattered Silverwing''s spell, more Demons had taken position in the adjacent area, half of them conjuring another Sealed Space and the other half bursting into Blight mes.

    The hybrid encased them all with a second Bastion, repeating the process four times before the Bastion finally held.

    Much to the cursed objects'' surprise, not only not even a gust of wind had reached them, but the strength of the creature had kept increasing the whole time. The fringes of their aura were now white and more bursts of light red right below them.

    "This was impractical." The hybrid thought out loud. "Too many spells and too many Demons. I don''t think we can do this again."

    Their breath was ragged, the life force consumption for the continuous stream of Primordial mes coupled with igniting so many Origin Demons had taken a toll on them.

    The tower kept fuelling the hybrid with the endless energy from the mana geyser but making up for the lost life force required time. It was the reason Sinmara had avoided using a simr strategy against Dawn.

    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1--§ão§® She would have to use members of the nest instead of Demons and while Lith''s creatures could be reformed as many times he wanted, one single mistake or moment of hesitation might have cost the life of dozens of Phoenixes if not even her own.

    "So we agree. You are going to let us go." Windfell had a hard time saying those words with a straight face.

    Another allegedly eternal being had been in by the hand of a mortal and to add insult to injury, the cursed scimitar had to beg for his life.

    "We never said that." The hybrid shook their head. "We just mean that we are going to kill you in a more efficient way."

    By taking a deep breath to restore their dwindling strength, the hybrid also conjured several Demons of the Darkness. Oddly, only a few of them stayed while the majority took flight and soon disappeared on the horizon.

    "I think that''s enough." Baba Yaga said through the surveince mirror. "Despite your great strength you still have limits, children. What you just did required great control and precision.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "If you try to do that again two more times, you''ll die."

    The Red Mother had no care for cursed objects. She spoke solely to ensure that nothing bad would happen to Solus.

    "Night has instigated the living legacies against you, but Knightfall''s and Windfell''s death will send them a message. There''s no messing with the Verhens without paying the consequences."

    "I''m still alive." The cursed scimitar had never expected that Baba Yaga would stand up for him, yet his joy was ruined by her ominous words.

    "I beg to differ." The Mother used the power of her own tower to bypass Solus'' and Blinked right beside the hybrid.

    A wave of her hand trapped Windfell in the Tower Spirit spell, Cage of Light. Like a mosquito sealed within amber, the cursed scimitar could only helplessly watch as Baba Yaga activated her tier five Creation Magic spell, Dismantle.

    First, it severed the bond between living legacy and host, halving its power. Then, the spell split the mana crystals from the metal, the metal from the hilt, and the hilt from the power core.

    Without a vessel to contain the intricated series of runes that had covered the whole surface of the de, the words of power dissipated not with a bang but with a whimper.

    Stargazer stared in horror at the Red Mother, fearing to be the next to die.

    "Make sure to report the message or the next time we meet it will also be thest. I won''t allow threats to the life of my children nor allegiances to my disowned daughter. Am I clear?"

    "Crystal." Stargazer tried and failed to swallow because physically incapable.

    The Mother usually exuded a serene aura that soothed the spirit of her guests but to the cursed ive she looked even more monstrous than the hybrid. At least Lith and Solus had to struggle to kill Knightfall whereas Baba Yaga had snuffed Windfell''s life like it was a candle.

    "Wait, Malyshka. I disagree." The hybrid spoke with two voices but from the moniker they had employed the Mother understood that it was Solus talking. "This sends all the wrong message.

    "Even if this bastard never attacks us again, she can always reveal to the rest of the cursed objects our techniques, spells, points of strength and weakness. Sooner orte,r Night would learn them as well and that''s not something we can allow."

    "I agree." Baba Yaga pondered. "I''m certain that before returning, Night wille with a bag full of tricks and you''d better have your own."

    "It''s not only that." The hybrid shook their head. "If we let her go, it will make us look weak. The cursed objects will fear you, not us. The moment Dawn leaves for the Eclipsed Lands, they won''t need a dimensional mage to cut off ourmunications.

    "A simple air sealing array will suffice. If we kill her instead, no one but us will know how things have yed out. The only thing that the cursed objects will ever know about this is that three of them came to kill us and they all died for it.

    "They will be afraid of us, Tista, and Dawn.

 Chapter 2472 By The Hand Of A Mortal (Part 2)

    "They won''t dare try again and even if they do, they''ll have no idea what they are going to deal with." The hybrid said.

    "Excellent idea." The Mother extended her hand to cast Dismantle again, but the creature stopped her.

    "Wait. We are grateful for your help, but we have a theory about how to safely destroy small cursed objects by ourselves and this is the only opportunity we got to put it to the test before we encounter more."

    "You do?" Baba Yaga said in amazement while the others just gaped at the hybrid.

    As for Stargazer, she exploited that moment when no one was looking at her to Warp away.

    ''If I have to die, I''ll die fighting!'' So she thought as Baba Yaga''s Elemental Seal array blocked the Spirit Steps first and then even slowed the world energy cursing inside the cursed ive''s power core.

    Stargazer found herself incapable of moving, her body reduced to a piece of wood and metal while her mind had trouble formting thoughts.

    Elemental Seal was a heptaelemental magical formation that went beyond Silverwing''s Hexagram, blocking even Spirit Magic by expending the same amount as its victim.

    It was an array long andplicated to cast, not to mention incredibly mana expensive. Yet for a bright white cored Awakened empowered by her tower, it was a cantrip.

    The six Evil Eyes on the ive''s haft opened, shedding tears of despair at the realization that there was nothing that Stargazer could do to avoid her impending death.

    The group noticed, but just like the living legacy had been indifferent in the past to the suffering of the people she had killed for joy or business, they just didn''t care.

    "Show me." The Mother offered the hybrid her hand and they took it.

    A mind link was worth thousands of words and needed but a few seconds. Lith hesitated since that knowledge might be useful against Night or Dawn but Solus trusted her friend so the final result was the creature frowning.

    "Interesting. Very interesting, even, but it''s difficult and situational at best. There are countless things that can go wrong. Dimensionalpression arrays, Sealed Space, the destruction of your Demons, and I could go on." Baba Yaga said after witnessing their thoughts.

    "An imperfect n is still better than no n at all." The hybrid replied. "Also, even if nobody would fall for it a second time, as long as we leave no witnesses it will always benefit from the element of surprise."

    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1--§ão§® "That''s a fair point, but I have one more objection." A wave of the Mother''s hand brought forward the materials she had recovered from dismantling Windfell and an amorphous puddle of Davross.

    It was what was left of Knightfall after the Thousand mes and the Primordial mes had destroyed everything but the metal, erasing even the memory of its previous shape.

    "If you let me kill Stargazer, we get her materials. If we follow your n, we''d lose them all."

    "That''s a fair point." Lith''s greed battled with Solus'' scientific curiosity, freezing the creature on the spot as their two mouths argued with each other, and their eyes frowned and widened in response.

    "Wow. And here I thought that just their eyes shining was creepy." Tista pointed at the ck and golden arms gesturing independently and pointing at the hybrid themselves when making apelling argument. "This is much, much worse."

    "I find it fascinating." Baba Yaga looked at Menadion''s opus with a mix of admiration and envy, wondering if her children would ever achieve a simr condition. "You don''t look so good, child. Is everything alright?"

    "Can you please give me a check-up? I need a second opinion." The Red Demon winced in pain as she turned back into her human form.

    Shapeshifting had always been a seamless process, but for a few days now it had be problematic.

    The Mother ced her hand on Tista''s cheek and activated her breathing technique, Sun and Moon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You are turning into a regr hybrid." She said once she was done.

    "I know." Tista swallowed hard, incapable of denying the truth any longer. "How much time do I have left?"

    "Three months tops." Baba Yaga''s answer startled the Red Demon.

    "I thought I had longer."

    "Everyone does. Everyone is wrong, though." The Mother shook her head. "I know what you are going through, but you have to make up your mind before you have no choice at all."

    "We''ve reached an agreement." The hybrid said. "Losing magical resources is sad, but we have no use for more Yggdrasill wood and the Davross doesn''t amount to much. The knowledge we seek, instead, might save our lives.

    "We can always get more precious materials whereas we only have one life. Survival takes priority."

    "Fine." Baba Yaga replied. "Then do what you must and bring me along. This way, if your n fails, I can still deliver the finishing blow and recover the materials."

    "Are you sure, Malyshka?" Solus'' voice became slightly dominant. "An explosion like that might kill you."

    "If I didn''t know what is happening and had no time to prepare." She shrugged in reply. "Trust me."

    The hybrid nodded, taking a deep breath and hurling a twin burst of Primordial mes while the Demons who were left joined them with their Origin mes. The mystical fire cleansed Stargazer''s barriers and then reached her runes.

    The moment the first rune of her power core disappeared for good and her wood started to burn, the cursed ive knew that even if she were to survive, she would never be the same.

    Her power was diminished but even worse was the damage to her mind.

    Suddenly Stargazer couldn''t remember a few details of her past and some magical knowledge that had been obvious until a second ago became obscure. She felt happy, then sad, then angry.

    With every rune that disappeared, she lost part of her memory and abilities while her personality changed. When the mespletely engulfed her power core, its structure began to copse.

    The energy that she had umted until that moment was clogged in some points and short-circuited in others, resulting in a fatal overload.

    "Now!" The moment the Eyes of Menadion marked what Lith and Solus assumed was the mana equivalent of critical mass, the Demons of the Darkness broke down their shadow bodies into runes.

    Dawn and Tista were expecting them to try anotherbination of Bastion and Sealed Space but the runes this time belonged to a dimensional spell.

    The Demons disappeared, reced by a Warping array that moved the exploding ive and Baba Yaga to Mogar''s mesosphere, at 80 km (50 miles) of altitude. Another group of Demons was waiting for them, acting as both an exit point and a second entry point.

    The higher they got, the thinner the atmosphere and world energy became. The Demons that Lith had sent away first hade early to gather the necessary mana before reaching their position.

    In the blink of an eye, by passing through a series of Warping arrays, the cursed scythe left Mogar''s atmosphere while her power core was still overloading.

    Theck of air in space would greatly weaken the explosion but it was the absence of world energy that crippled it.

 Chapter 2473 Open Wounds (Part 1)

    With nothing to fuel the chain reaction, the process moved to the implosion step.

    ''Gods, it''s been a while.'' Baba Yaga gazed at the magnificence of the stars now that the ckness of space emphasized them and the sun was behind her. ''I haven''te here since I discovered there''s no world energy nor any way to use elemental magic here.

    ''One day, I want at least to visit the moon.''

    The re of the explosion snapped her out of it. She could still use Spirit Magic and had used it to form an emerald sphere around her that contained enough pressurized oxygen to breathe.

    After confirming with Creation Magic that Stargazer would truly die, Baba Yaga stopped the explosion before it scattered the mystical materials in every direction and collected the Yggdrasill staff, the Evil Eyes, and the Davross.

    Dismantle also released several sparkles of light from the ingredients that the Forgemaster had used, but without a vessel to contain them, they were quickly dispersed.

    The Mother then used a Spirit Warp to re-enter the atmosphere, using her bond with Dawn to find her way back and open a dimensional tunnel leading straight to her destination.

    "It worked." Only a slight tan remained of the effects of cosmic radiation on her skin. "Here''s your spoils."

    "Really? Are you sure?" The hybrid''s eyes shone with greed as Baba Yaga handed him the remains of all three living legacies except for the Yggdrasill staff.

    "I have no need for anything else and you would have defeated the cursed objects even without my intervention. I''m taking this because one of my children can use it and because without my help you wouldn''t have gotten it anyway." She replied.

    "It''s a fair trade." The creature nodded, valuing the Evil Eyes and the Davross much more that the mystical wood since they already had a Sage Staff.

    They put everything into the tower, hoping that it would further elerate the refining of Adamant into Davross.

    "Now that everything is over, does anyone have any idea how can we split?" Lith and Solus had tried thinking about Kam, then Elysia, then their family, but aside from a different emotional hue their feeling aligned.

    When Lith had reminded himself of the risk of Solus getting pregnant, he had also essed her feelings about the matter, adding one more awkward moment between them and leaving the fusion unaffected.

    "I could sever your bond, but it would be pointless." The Mother shrugged. "You now share one body and mind. The imprint would be instantaneous."

    "I think I know the answer." Dawn said. "Solus, this is the perfect opportunity to put my teachings into practice. Establish boundaries with Lith. Lith, you must do the same. Try to keep her out of your mind and remind yourself of who you are.

    "Exclude everything you share with her and focus on your personal achievements."

    A glimpse of Solus'' memories allowed them to share the lessons that Dawn had imparted to her during their travels.

    The hybrid closed their eyes with Lith focusing on Carl''s death, how Derek had avenged his brother, and then moved to Mogar. He thought about how once split from Solus he had fought Nalear''s minions to reunite with her.

    Of the day Kam had proposed to him.

    Solus, instead, focused on her memories as Elphyn, back when Lith wasn''t part of her life.

    She remembered the pain from her death, the love for her parents, and the mystical Forge. Solus recalled her anguish when she was just a stone ring and all the hardships she had endured until she had recovered her body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The moment their identities diverged, the fusion came undone. Lith was back in his Tiamat form while Solus'' golden scales quickly reverted into pink skin.

    Lith instinctively patted his arms, the trauma and pain from the muttion still vivid in his mind. There was a thin edge on his forearms where the scars had yet to heal and the scales to regrow.

    He attempted to use Demon Grasp to fix his wounds but the strain from the fusion and the use of so much of his life force made him light-headed. His whole body hurt in a way that didn''t make sense.

    He felt full of energy yet his breathing was ragged. He could feel an unfamiliar sting radiating from the cracks on his life essence yet its warmth was akin to fresh bandages rather than the reopening of a wound.

    "Thank the gods you are both fine." Baba Yaga checked Solus first, making sure that she had lost no memory and that neither her life force nor mana core had been diminished by the deep wounds she had suffered prior to the fusion.

    Then she moved on to Lith, performing a deep scan that left her bbergasted.

    "Is everything alright?" The Tiamat furrowed his scales when the Mother let him go with a shocked expression on her face.

    "I''m sorry. Before answering that I need to be sure." She performed three more scans before she was certain that her breathing technique wasn''t deceiving her.

    "Well?" Solus asked, feeling already guilty for whatever had befallen Lith.

    ''Why must he be the one suffering? Lith saved my life. I should be the one bearing the consequences of this stupid trip.'' She thought.

    Baba Yaga Blinked them all above the mana geyser where Menadion''s towery deep underground, conjuring her own and a few chairs before talking.

    "Sit down. You need all the rest you can. I''ve already treated you to the best of my abilities but until you get to Sark, I forbid you to even lift a pebble. Are we clear, young man?" Baba Yaga was the only one still standing.

    She weaved her finger right in front of the Tiamat''s nostrils with a stern gaze and an imperative tone that reminded Lith of the times when Elina scolded him as a child.

    "Yes, Mom. I mean, Mo''om. I mean, ma''am." He swallowed multiple times, afraid of the diagnosis. "How bad it is?"

    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1--§ão§® "Look for yourself, you moron." The Mother activated Sun and Moon again but this time she shared its reading via a mind link.

    Lith was shocked, puzzled, and utterly speechless as he witnessed the status of the cracks on his life force. He had studied them for years and knew them like the back of his hand so his surprise was only natural when he noticed that they had shrunk.

    Every wound was still there, but their edges were now closer and the smallest fissures seemed like they had been stitched close. The most external fringes, instead, had either healed or been mended and were on their way to healing for good.

    "What? How? Most importantly, how does this alter my remaining life span?" He took the words out of everyone''s mind.

    "These are all easy questions but since you are too shocked to think, I''ll answer them for you." Baba Yaga replied. "You have gotten better, that''s what happened. As for the how, the answer is your fusion.

    "The tower is programmed to fix both Solus'' life force and cores so once you two merged it had double the work but also double the power. Since your mana core is wless, however, the tower focused solely on your life force."

 Chapter 2474 Open Wounds (Part 2)

    "Wait, this makes no sense." Solus drummed her lips with a finger. "We fused a few times in the past yet Lith''s condition never improved."

    "Please!" The Mother scoffed. "The first time it happened he was still healthy. The second youcked the energy to conjure the tower. As for the time you fought against Dawn, it was cut short and part of the mana geyser was already drained by her experiments.

    "This time instead, not only did you have a powerful geyser all for yourselves, but also the fusionsted for a long while. In a way, fighting against worthy enemies was a blessing in disguise and so was your inability to split.

    "Had I known it, I would have forced you two to remain fused until Lith was fully healed."

    "What about my life span?" Lith asked.

    "Same as before, I''m afraid." Baba Yaga patted his shoulder. "Healing can''t make up for the essence you''ve lost but at least it will make it more difficult for you to lose more. If you are careful, of course.

    "That''s why I want you to stay put until you go to Sark. Maybe she can tap into the lingering energy of the fusion to further heal you or restore your life force. I''m a great healer, but Sark''s power and expertise eclipse mine."

    Lith was both pissed off for splitting the fusion too quickly and happy for the good news. Then, he remembered the risks that such an intimate union might entail and only happiness remained.

    "Thank you, Baba Yaga." He shook her hand while also asking her via a mind link if his worries were reasonable.

    p¦Ánd¦Á,no¦Í?1,§ão§® ''I didn''t think of that.'' She replied. ''Honestly, I have no idea, but if I have to guess I''d say it''s possible.''

    "Thank you, Malyshka." Solus hugged her friend while slowly conjuring the world energy for a Tower Warp in order to not put any strain on the tower or Lith. "Do you want toe along?"

    "I''d love to, but I can''t leave my home behind nor my children unattended. You go first, I''ll be there in a few minutes tops. Just be a dear and warn Sark of my arrival or her nest will give me a Primordial mes kind of warm wee."

    Baba Yaga hated to admit that despite the passing of time and her constant upgrades to her tower, it was still inferior to Menadion''s. Reaching the Desert was going to take Solus a second whereas Baba Yaga would need minutes and a clear path.

    "Good point." While Solus waited for the tower to power up, she called the Overlord to announce their arrival and ask for her help.

    "This is wonderful news." Sark jumped on her feet, interrupting the theatrical performance she had been watching with Shargein and Valeron the Second.

    The small Wyrmlings pped their hands, having no idea what was happening and mimicking their mother''s behavior every time the actors stopped.

    "I''ll ready my medical facility and bring your family along. They have the right to enjoy this happy moment with you."

    "Actually, I think it would be better to wait." Lith replied. "The moment they know what happened, they''ll pester me with questions and they will worry like crazy. If we call them after you are done treating me, when my condition has stabilized, we can reassure them that everything is okay."

    "As you wish." The Overlord hung up the call and dismissed the theatre troupe. "And another of my evenings goes down the gutter. Why doesn''t Lith just join my nest so we get over with this once and for all?"

    Shargein smiled at her, emitting a chirping sound in reply.

    "I have no idea what you just said but you are too cute to be wrong." She lifted the Wyrmlings who shapeshifted on contact into human babies. Sark left Valeron in the nursery where the handmaidens would take care of him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''It pains me to leave Valeron behind but Lith has already lost his arms and almost lost Solus today. He doesn''t need to be reminded of Phloria''s death as well.'' She thought.

    The moment the tower materialized over the mana geyser in her pce, Sark was already there, waiting.

    She gave Lith a throughout check-up, confirming Baba Yaga''s diagnosis and giving instructions to her guards to not shoot the Red Mother down on sight.

    "You did the right thinging here." The Overlord used her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to detect and reactivate thetent energy of the tower that still permeated Lith''s wounds.

    "The fusionsted long enough and broke recently enough that the tower is still having a hard time distinguishing between you and Solus. I can fool its readings for a while and garner more energy for my Rebirth Magic."

    "Which means?" Lith asked.

    "That since you haven''t exerted yourself after splitting from Solus, I can now permanently fix your life force a bit more. Had you used magic or put any strain on your body, the healing effect of the tower would have been wasted to temporarily plug your wounds." Sark replied.

    Seeing how focused she was, Lith remained silent for the remainder of the treatment. The Mother of all Phoenixes was exuding from her body an aura on par with the geyser and employed spells that were cleansing the corrupt energy from his life force.

    Usually, that kind of alteration would take weeks to spread to the rest of the body, but Sark''s Rebirth Magic affected Lith as a whole, making the changes instantaneous.

    He could feel the phantom pain that had gued him since the day he had saved Protector''s life fading away a little. Every breath brought him more world energy than before and filled him with vigor.

    When Lith used Demon Grasp to listen to the melody of his life force, he discovered that a few of the sour notes were gone while most of the others had be less shrill.

    "It is done." Sark said after triple checking that there was nothing more she could do. "Whatever ns you have for the next few days, cancel them. You are not moving an inch from here until your condition has stabilized.

    "If you dare ruin my hard work on top of my evening, I''m going to whoop your ass so hard that your life span will shorten again. Did I make myself clear, young man?"

    "Yes, Grandma." Lith tried to stand up at attention and give her the salute, but Sark pushed him down on the chair.

    "I said rest. Your condition is vtile. One wrong move and the stitches will open and you''ll have squandered this once in a lifetime opportunity. You can only eat and sleep.

    "No magic, no training of any kind, no breathing techniques, and no sex."

    "No sex?" Every following item in the list hit harder than the previous, but none struck as painfully as thest. "Isn''t that a bit extreme?"

    "I can put you in aa for a few days, if it makes things easier for you." Sark swung a cudgel against her open palm in a threatening manner.

    "Rest it is." Lith sighed. "You can bring here my family now."

    "Just one second, please." Solus held his hand and activated a mind link.

 Chapter 2475 2475 Words And Actions (Part 1)

    2475 Words and Actions (Part 1)

    Do we tell Kami everything about the fusion? I mean everything. Solus asked.

    It feels like shooting ourselves in the foot and ruining the good news: Lith replied. "Look, we did nothing wrong and thest time we fused nothing happened. No one knows for certain if it''s even a possibility so telling Kam would just make things ufortable for her:

    "So what do we do?"

    "Have a ss of wine every dinner. If after a week Grandma has yet to pop out of thin air to stop you, we are in the clear:

    "And if she does?"

    "We are dead. Lith''s somber tone made it clear that he wasn''t joking,

    Solus swallowed loudly, looking at Sark for a while before asking her to bring the rest of the Verhens to the Desert.

    As predicted, Lith''s family was terrified hearing the recount of the battle and overjoyed when they were made aware of the unexpected side effects of the fusion on his life force.

    "Where''s Kami?" Her absence half made Lith sigh in relief and half ruined the moment for him.

    "She says she''s sorry but since you are alright, she can''t drop everything ande here: Sark grumbled. "It''s still daytime in the Kingdom and she''s working in the field on a delicate case

    Tm so happy for you, dear: Elina hugged Lith as hard as she could, kissing his cheek over and over. "Wee back home, Solus

    Elina checked Solus'' hands, arms, and shoulders for injuries before moving to her face for signs of malnutrition.

    "Mom, I''m fine! I had breakfast just a while ago."

    "Shut up and hug me? Elina enveloped her in a tender embrace, d that the danger was over.

    Raaz, Rena, and the rest of the family checked Lith and weed Solus back in turns, yet aside from the kids, everyone gave Nyka the cold shoulder.

    Baba Yaga arrived shortly after the Verhens, escorted by several members of the nest who held her and spearpoint.

    "This isn''t necessary. She''s my honored guest. The guards answered Sark''s order by giving her the salute and turning around without a word of apology for the Red Mother,

    "Since you are here and the sun is down in the Desert, Lady Yaga, I have a request." Nyka said. "I would like you to undo my bond with Dawn for good, please."

    "Are you sure?" The Mother rose an eyebrow in confusion. "We have spent quite a bit of time together after you offered to be my daughter''s host and I know how happy your new condition makes you.

    "It''s not just about the power and learning from my experiments when you help me as my assistant, it''s mostly because of everything you can experience by breaking free from the shackles of the defects in your blood core.

    "Staying awake during the day, eating food, dreaming, and everything else you''ve enjoyed so far will be gone. Is this really what you want?"

    "I admit that as long as we remained in the Eclipsed Lands, being bonded with Dawn has been a wonderful experience that has enriched my life like I never thought possible." Nyka stared at her toes, sighing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    p¦Ánd¦Á,no¦Í?1,§ão§® "Her wisdom and knowledge are a gift and so is every waking moment I was able to spend under the daylight. Yet my joy was possible only thanks to the forgiving nature of the undead who live there and upbringing my naive

    "Once we got out, I was constantly reminded of your daughter''s past. Of her crimes and how they have affected the people that are the closest to me. In the outside world, surrounded by strangers belonging to a different race, I had to argue with her over and over because Dawn doesn''t see them as equals.

    "During my travels on the surface, I understood that being Dawn''s hostes with a heavy price. Even though her brilliant mind enriches my life and your spell allows me a certain degree of privacy, her presence ruins my rtionships.

    "Dawn hurt a lot of people I know and I have to constantly protect their secrets from her. Even worse, Lith, Solus, and everyone who has met your daughter in the past now keeps me at arm''s length because they are afraid of how their confidences might be used against them in the future.

    "Being a Horseman makes me more than a Vampire but less of a person. It''s time to put things back as they used to be.

    "I agree. Dawn''s voice came out of Nyka''s mouth, creeping everyone out and showing Baba Yaga what the Vampire meant.

    The Verhens took instinctively a step back and went from treating Nyka like a member of the family to a snake in the grass.

    "I have learned many things as well during out time together and being with Nyka gave me the opportunity to look at Mogar with new eyes. Yet a suitable host for me needs to be more than good-natured.

    "They must be capable of embracing my existence as a whole and learn from what they assume are my past mistakes, not hold them against me. Nyka enjoys my powers and knowledge but refuses to ept the means through which I acquired them.

    "She lifted the veil of cynicism with which my centuries of imprisonment had blinded me but she also showed me how dangerous it is to have a reluctant host. Our quarrels crippled my battle strength and theck of trust between us is uneptable.

    "This is nothing like what I had with Zepho. We aren''t two people trying to make each other better, we are just roommates forced by necessity into cohabitation."

    "If this is about Elphyn''s secret, isn''t that out of the bag now?" Baba Yaga asked. "What did you say?" Lith tried to stand up again and Sark kept him down again.

    Tm sorry, guys" Nyka''s shoulders slouched in embarrassment. "Dawn recognized the Hands of Menadion and from there she figured out Solus'' nature as a tower."

    "And?" The Overlord''s voice was stone-cold.

    She had no qualms smithing even an honored guest were they a threat to her family. "And nothing." Dawn shrugged. "I now know what you kept from me and why but I have no interest in Menadion''s tower. Even if something were to happen to Lith, a cursed object can''t bond with another.

    "The tower is beyond my reach and luckily, beyond my sister''s as well. I have no intention of harming Verhen and Solus unless they attack me first. Also, you have my word that I will respect my mother''s wishes and keep their secret, no matter the circumstances."

    Tll take it." Sark nodded and Baba Yaga moved toward the Vampire.

    The Mother''s hand phased through Nyka''s chest, emitting a subtle light from her Creation Magic. When it came out, it carried a pristine white crystal of incredible perfection.

    I don''t like this one bit: Lith red at Dawn''s real body while calcting his odds of destroying her. I can''t trust Dawn with Solus'' secret, but what can I do about it? Grandma epted Dawn''s vow and any attack against her would mean betraying the rules of hospitality.

    Even if Grandma doesn''t stop me, Baba Yaga will.

 Chapter 2476 Words And Actions (Part 2)

    2476 Words and Actions (Part 2)

    She''ll kick my ass and the only thing I''ll obtain is to ruin Solus friendship with her:

    The Mother noticed Lith clenching the armrests of his chair and so did Dawn.

    "Mom?"

    "Yes, dear? Baba Yaga asked.

    "I know that this may be hard to believe, but despite all of our differences, I''vee to respect Solus and Nyka. To them, I may just be a heartless mass murderer but to me, they are the closest thing to friends I''ve ever had.

    "They have opened their hearts and lives to me without expecting anything in return. We have fought and cared for each other even though our interests didn''t align, I don''t want to end our rtionship with the sour aftertaste of a secret exposed instead of willingly revealed.

    "Can you please put a seal on me as you did with Night and make me incapable of sharing anything I know about them? Dawn asked.

    "I can but it will be akin to having your free will dented. A small wound that will never heal." The Mother said.

    "For an action to matter, it must have consequences. Do it, please." The Horseman replied.

    A small silver magic circle appeared in front of Baba Yaga''s free hand as she altered Dawn''s power core forever.

    Lith looked at Sark and only when the Overlord confirmed to him that it wasn''t just a tear-jerking ruse did he sigh in relief.

    "There. Even if someone interrogates my daughter or even bonds with her, that piece of knowledge will be sealed even from a mind fusion. I made sure that there are no loopholes this time." The Mother said and Sark nodded.

    "Dawn, why?" Solus stepped forward, feeling both moved and baffled by the Horseman''s selfless gesture. "You owe us nothing and this limits your freedom"

    "You are wrong. I owe you just like I owe to all the people I hurt in the past, Zepho included. Words are cheap and all the ''sorry in the world can''t make up for the harm that my actions caused.

    "Undergoing this spell may not change the past either, but it at least shows that my resolution is sincere. I hope that now that you have no reason to be afraid of me anymore, you''ll allow me to visit you from time to time, Solus

    "You are one of the few people who can truly understand me and I you. Let''s go, Mom. I need a new host. I can''t afford to be weak. Not with Night still around? Dawn didn''t wait for Solus'' answer, knowing to have put her in a difficult spot.

    The vow forbade her to share her knowledge, but did nothing to prevent her from exploiting what she had learned against Lith and Solus were they to meet as enemies again.

    Once the Mother and her Horseman left the Overlord''s pce, everyone felt like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

    "What now?" Solus tried and failed to look Lith in the eyes.

    "By my Mom, this trip has been the worst idea ever. First, the cursed objects hunted us down and now because of me, Dawn has discovered our secret. If not for Lith''s life force improving. I would kick myself to the curb''

    p¦Ánd¦Á,no¦Í?1,§ão§® "Don''t beat yourself up." Since Sark still kept him from standing up, Lith extended his hand and caressed her head. "Things have gotten a bit messy but it''s nothing we can''t handle.

    "Also, our gains far outweigh our losses."

    "What do you mean?" Solus clenched the seams of her dress, her voice this close to cracking.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Thanks to our fusion, I know how much your journey meant to you. What you gained from it, what you learned, and how it helped you to grow as a person. This alone would be more than enough.

    "We always deal with the problems that I cause in order to pursue my interests. It would be hypocritical of me to me you for asking me to return the favor for once." Lith replied with a smile.

    "Also, even if you hadn''t left my side, we would still have to deal with the cursed objects and Night''s ploy. This way, not only have we discovered their ns, but we also have already killed three of them and collected the spoils."

    He had the Davross and the Evil Eyes appear from the pocket dimension.

    "The cursed objects have lost the advantage of surprise and we can prepare to face them whereas they have no idea what happened to their brethren. In one move, we have turned an ambush to our advantage and the hunter is now our prey.

    "Last, but not least, do you really feel sorry for healing my life force?" Lith chuckled.

    "But, our secret... Solus hupped, feeling unworthy of such kindness.

    "Please, Dawn already saw us in our hybrid form. She knew from Hystar that you are the fourth Horseman'' and how much Malyshka cares for you. I''m surprised it took her so long to guess your identity. He dragged her close to the chair to hug her.

    "Everything is fine, silly. You have nothing to worry about."

    "Thanks" Solus returned the embrace, her worries fading away.

    The fusion had also shown her how much Lith had missed her and from that close, she could feel his sincerity through their bond. He wasn''t just consoling her. There was no anger or resentment in his mind, only the happiness from being reunited with her.

    "But I meant, how do you exin what happened?" She actually said. "You can''t go back to the Kingdom for a while and your Void Magic ss will be suspended. With the Royals as your students, you can''t just run away and ruin your reputation like a Manohar.

    "Good point." Lith let her go and pondered his situation.

    I can''t tell anyone what happened. Exining why the cursed objects are after me is feasible since their motive is public knowledge. I did destroy three lost cities and adding three more living legacies would only increase my fame.

    On the other hand, however, disclosing that I got severely injured during the fight would embolden Night and reassure the remaining cursed objects of their chances to defeat me.

    If three nearly did the job, the next time they might send four if not even six. The blow from the destruction of their brethren would be softened by the certainty that they almost seeded. I need to y this smart:

    After a while, Lith took hismunication amulet out of the pocket dimension and called Queen Sylpha.

    "Tm d to hear from you so soon, Supreme Magus Verhen. I trust that the issue has been resolved." Her face was a kind mask, hiding to perfection her annoyance with the lesson being interrupted.

    "Thanks for your worry, Your Majesty, and yes, the emergency has been resolved." Lith gave her a deep bow as a spoonful of sugar beforending the blow. "Yet there were unexpected gains that force me away from the Kingdom for a while.

    "I''m afraid that the Void Magic ss will be suspended until further notice."

    "I see Sylpha squinted her eyes and pursed her lips into a thin line in irritation but she managed to keep her tone neutral.

 Chapter 2477 Words And Actions (Part 3)

    2477 Words and Actions (Part 3)

    "Care to borate? I have to exin this to the King, the Headmasters of the six great academies, and the Archmages of the Kingdom"

    Lith could almost hear the "you better have an excellent exnation" in the background, but that didn''t ruin his calm demeanor nor his best charming smile.

    "Of course. As you know, during Balkor''s anniversary my life force suffered from permanent damage, just like it recently happened to King Meron." The mentions of his wounds and of her husband''s condition softened the Queen''s expression.

    "I''ve been searching for a cure for years and when I left the White Griffon, I had just been notified of the discovery of a priceless ingredient that I had to secure at all costs.

    "I thought it was a family emergency. Something about your mother''s pregnancy Sylpha furrowed her brows in confusion.

    "I''m sorry but that was a lie. Lith lowered his gaze, pretending to be remorseful and that now he was being honest. "I couldn''t risk someone learning about the ingredient''s existence and taking it before me. "I needed to get it first and check if my theory was correct. In which case I would have shared the cure with the King''s personal healer:

    "Of course." The Queen nodded, not caring one bit about the lie or the lessons anymore. "How did it go? Are you well now?"

    "The short answer is that sadly it was a bust." Lith sighed.

    "The ingredient wasn''t enough and my spell backfired. That''s why I''m stuck in the Desert under the Overlord''s care."

    Sylpha groaned, her mind filled with worry for both her husband and the possibility that their Supreme Magus might die before discovering how to apply Void Magic to tier four and five spells.

    "Yet the good news is that the underlying principle was correct" Lith''s words rekindled her hope and the light in her eyes. "Even though the spell didn''t work as intended, my life force is partially mended and my condition has improved:

    "The bad news is that I barely survived solely thanks to my nature as a Divine Beast so the ingredient would be useless for the King"

    "I see." The Queen drummed her fingers on the armrests of the throne. "Where does that leave us?"

    "All in all, I''ve gained a lot." Lith replied. "I now know that my method works and I intend to share it with Great Mage Ernas. With a bit of luck, she will find a way to modify it for the King and improve his health.

    "The only problem is that if I leave now, I risk ruining the Overlord''s hard work and returning my life force to its previous condition"

    "These are excellent news" Sylpha nodded enthusiastically. "Take all the time you need. I''ll inform the rest of the ss and send Great Mage Ernas to visit you as soon as she can. Queen Sylpha out."

    "What was that?" Elina asked the moment the conversation was over and the amulet disappeared back into the pocket dimension.

    "Think about it, Mom. Had I told the Queen what really happened, both the news of my victory and of the wounds I sustained would have be public. I would have earned only useless glory and Meln would think that I can be defeated.

    "This way, instead, any cursed object that has been tempted by his offer will be terrified at the idea of facing me."

    "How exactly? I''m sorry but I don''t follow you." Raaz scratched his head in embarrassment.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Put yourself in their shoes, Dad. A mysterious ingredient pops out at the same time of their attack and my condition suddenly improves after a trip to the Desert. What would you think knowing that I''m bonded to a cursed object and that Grandma can use Creation Magic? Lith asked.

    "Oh, Gods!" A savage smile appeared on Raaz''s face at the idea of how terrified Orpal would be by that news. "I would think that you are so strong that you captured the cursed objects alive and that Sal- I mean, Mother has sacrificed them to heal you"

    The Guardian''s re at Raaz using her first name instead of her moniker made the kidsugh.

    "Exactly." Lith nodded. "By iming that this is not a wound but the result of an experimental treatment, they are going to think that I''m their natural predator. That I have a way to improve my strength by feeding upon them.

    "The cursed objects have no clue what has happened and soon they will believe that with each one of their failed attacks, I will be more dangerous."

    "That''s a brilliant idea, dear, but why did you throw Quy under the carriage?" Elina chided him.

    "T''m sorry, Mom, but she''s the only healer that knows my secret who the Queen also trusts. Quy will confirm every word I said and help me to make up a usible exnation instead of looking for inconsistencies in my story.

    "Also, I didn''t technically lie. I did find a cure for my condition and since I can allow Quy to study the tower and the changes in our life forces, she might be able to understand how to replicate its effects.

    p¦Ánd¦Á,no¦Í?1,§ão§® "After all, she''s the best human Healer I know and she''s also a Forgemaster. With my and Solus'' help, we can really seed." Lith said.

    "Isn''t that what you have been trying to do ever since you discovered that the tower is slowly healing Solus'' mortal wounds? Elina said, worried that lying to the Queen like that might put her son into trouble.

    "No, Mom." Lith shook his head. "Until this moment, I believed that the bond between the tower and Solus was the reason she is slowly recovering. That by regaining its strength, the tower was also rebuilding her body, like a phctery with a Lich.

    "What I have been doing is trying and failing to find a way to elerate the process. Now, instead, we know that the tower is actually capable of mending a life force for good.

    "It means that in time, Solus might make a full recovery and be free from the tower. It also means that if we can replicate Menadion''s spell, people like me and the King could heal.

    "It''s not that simple." Solus sighed. "The tower isn''t programmed to help anyone but me. You got better only because it temporarily recognized you as me. Whatever kind of spell Mom used is incrediblyplex and is tailor-fitted for her bloodline.

    "There is no telling if it can work on someone else. Also, even if you are right and in the future, my mana core gets repaired, splitting me from the tower might kill me. I''m at hybrid and the tower is a part of me."

    "Everything you said is true, Solus. It''s a thin hope, but until today we had nothing so it''s a huge step forward." Lith replied.

    "Enough chitchat. You two have suffered grievous wounds and everyone here has gotten a big scare. You can use a hot meal. Sark pped her hands and a table materialized in front of Lith with enough chairs for everyone.

    The pce staff set up the table for the guests and a few minutester they brought a full-course meal big enough to satiate even a Divine Beast.

 Chapter 2478 Words And Actions (Part 4)

    2478 Words and Actions (Part 4)

    "I understand that your cooks are amazing, Grandma, but I''ll never understand how they can prepare so much food on such short notice every time wee to visit you. One bite was all that it took Lith to realize how hungry he was Reattaching his arms, healing his wounds, and the alterations in his life force had drained most of his strength.

    "It''s a secret of the trade, dear." Sark would never admit that it was just her midnight snack that her chefs had prepared for the y, not for the guests.

    The delicacies from the Desert opened Solus'' stomach as well and she discovered to be famished. Once she was finally full, the ground below them shook a little. "Was that an earthquake?" Rena asked.

    "No, it was me" Solus replied while using her breathing technique on herself. "Our prolonged fusion seems to have affected me as well. My mana core has be brighter by a few shades.

    "Not enough to bring me to the next level or restore more floors of the tower, but closer!"

    "How could Baba Yaga not notice it before?" Lith knitted his brows in confusion.

    "Because I was weak, hurt, and we have been separated for weeks. Even with your presence and the mana gryser, it took the tower a while to finish repairing my body and start filling my core again" Solus celebrated the breakthrough with another serving of ice cream.

    Quy arrived after the end of the meal and after a thorough check-up, she congratted Lith for the unexpected recovery and gasped at thetest news.

    "Thanks for throwing me under the carriage to save your ass'' She grumbled.

    Tve already heard that from my mother. I''m sorry for dragging you into this, but I didn''t know what else to do or who to trust. Can we move on, please?"

    "Sure" Quy sighed. "The good news is that what you told the Queen is true. We can fix you and the King for good if we understand how the tower''s spell works. The bad news is that I have no idea where to start.

    "Have you tried asking Sark?"

    "I can fix Lith like I''ve fixed Balkor." The Overlord clicked her tongue. "All he has to do is join the nest.

    "Fine" Quy said after Lith brushed off the possibility with a wave of his hand. "What do you say if we ask Faluel? She''s the best Forgemaster among us, she knows your secret, and so does her mother.

    Fyrwal is one of Menadion''s apprentices so she might be able to give us some advice."

    "It''s a solid suggestion." Lith nodded. "We''ll do that as soon as Grandma stops trying to kill me with her re "He needs absolute rest." Sark snorted. "One more suggestion about work and I''ll have you kicked out of my pce."

    "I apologize, Your Majesty? Quy gave the Overlord a bow, not knowing when to treat her as the ruler of the Desert and when like Lith''s rtive.

    "It''s fine, child. How are the preparations for your wedding going?

    "Great, thank you." Quy smiled. "Everyone is on cloud nine and I''ve received congrattions letters even from my old vige. Mom and Dad are giving their all to prepare a ceremony worthy of the Ernas"

    At the mention of her parents, her smile disappeared and her eyes became dull.

    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1--§ão§® "Is anything wrong? Tista asked.

    "Everything is wrong" Quy shivered despite the warmth of the pce. "My parents are forcing themselves to smile every time they see me and I can''t stop thinking about Phloria

    "My sisters and I promised to be each other''s maids of honor when we married. When I try on a dress, I keep picturing how it would look on Phloria. Every time I hear Lucky barking, I turn around expecting to see her ying with him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I feel terrible for being happy so soon after her death and I can''t stop thinking how much Mom and Dad are suffering at the idea that they will never be able to arrange for her wedding.

    "Maybe I should just postpone everything"

    "Don''t." Elina walked up to Quy and took her hands into her own. "It''s true that your parents are suffering right now. I know it because I felt the same after hearing about Trion''s death.

    "Yet your marriage keeps them busy and it''s also helping them to ept the loss of your sister. You are giving them a future to look forward to instead of being trapped in the past with their memories and regrets.

    "If not for Lith traveling around the Ker region keeping me worried all the time and his rtionship with Kam giving me hope, it would have taken me a long time to ovee my grief even though Trion had estranged. himself from the family for years."

    "She''s right." Raaz nodded. "Months have passed, yet I''m still having a hard time recovering from everything Meln put me through, I would still be a wreck if not for Lith''s marriage and the prospect to have a new granddaughter and daughter.

    "It may look silly, but caring for someone else helps you to not obsess over your own problems and put things in perspective. My pain is still there. That kind of wound doesn''t magically disappear overnight.

    "Yet it''s thanks to my family that I have found the strength to keep fighting."

    "Thanks" Quy nodded. Til follow your advice."

    "By the way, have you picked a date?" Lith asked.

    "Yes, it was two weeks ago." She exhaled sharply. "Wait, what happened? Why have we never heard anything about it?" Solus asked.

    "Because it got postponed. Do you have any idea how big an event my marriage will be considering that the Myrok, the Ernas, and every noble Household of the Kingdom are asking for an invitation?

    "I told my parents that I don''t care for a big ceremony. That since I''m an adoptive daughter we could keep it small and intimate" Quy replied.

    "And?" Elina asked.

    "And they replied that we are already doing it. That inviting fewer people would damage our family''s reputation and breed resentment from our retainers and allies

    "Also, with the famine still ongoing, there''s the issue of securing enough food for everyone so we have to wait at least until the harvest. The final nail in the coffin, though, was Morok himself

    "Why? Did he break the engagement or did he do something stupid like Nalrond and you broke it yourself?" Lith was confused by thest phrase.

    Morok''s dedication to Quy was the only constant in his fickle and obnoxious character.

    "Speaking of Nalrond, how are things between him and Friya?"

    "No one broke the engagement and if you just jinxed my rtionship, I''m going to kick your ass into oblivion." Quy snorted in reply. "It''s just that after hearing about Solus'' meeting with Glemos'' thralls and the possibility of getting his hands on his bloodline''s legacy, Morok was happy to dy the ceremony.

    "He''s hoping that Faluel and the Councile up with a lead so that he can bring more than his person into our marriage. I told him that I don''t care, but he''s been adamant about the issue.

 Chapter 2479 Turf War (Part 1)

    2479 Turf War (Part 1)

    "As for the news about Friya''s engagement, you should pick your damn amulet sometimes and ask her yourself!" Quy said.

    White Griffon Academy, at the same time.

    After Lith had abruptly interrupted the Void Magic ss, Professor Zogar Vastor had gone back to his office to catch up with the paperwork. With his tenure, his role as head of the Light Department, and vice Headmaster of the White Griffon, something or another always required his attention.

    His new physique allowed him to work faster and for a longer period of time before feeling tired, yet there was a reason he had chosen the istion of his office instead of bringing the work back home.

    The tedious monotony of examining and signing documents helped him to keep his mind off the hunger that gued him for a few weeks. Eating kept it at bay for a while but the amount of food he needed would arise suspicion in his colleagues and worry Zinya.

    His Abomination half was growing faster than his human side, without giving it the time to adapt and contain the Chaos. The Master needed sheer willpower and his Grimbark Staff to keep the ck core from consuming him.

    His experiments and short rests inside the Madness helped, but he still craved the sweet taste of life force.. Vastor felt the hunger tempting him every time he visited or healed a patient, begging him to take just a little taste.

    Yet the Master ignored that siren, knowing from the experience of his Eldritch associates that it was a tant lie.

    The moment I give in to the hunger, I''ll be addicted to feeding off living beings. Vastor thought, focusing on the technical jargon of the research paper he was reading to beat the hunger and the constant headache it caused into submission.

    I wish I could just make an excuse, disappear for a few months, and take my turn inside the Madness to stabilize my two halves. Sadly, my Abominations need it more than I do. The battle with Thrud has proven how reliant they are on Nandi,

    If our enemies seal space like the Golden Griffon did and get rid of his ore ability to control world energy, theck of Spirit Magic and breathing techniques of the monster-Eldritch hybrids bes a fatal weakness against Awakened.

    When the momentes, we can''t afford the Council standing in our path. Our involvement in the War of the Griffons proved our strength and valor, but it also forced us to reveal most of our strategies and weak points.

    T''d be an old fool to think that the Council Elders aren''t revising the footage frame by frame and use it to develop the means to put us down the moment our interests are not aligned anymore.

    Abominations are not really Awakened and my Organization is still a probatory member of the Council. We have no seats nor representatives. They tolerate our presence simply because the alternative is a bloody fight.

    I need to remove our current weaknesses or at least alter the known variables so that whatever countermeasures the Council has developed after watching us fight Thrud will be useless On top of that, to develop a treatment for myself I need more data. My Abomination half is a hybrid of the essence of all the six Eldritch descendants of the original Guardians. To fix my ck core I first need to fix theirs Vastor inwardly sighed.

    Despite his best efforts, new documents kept piling up on his desk faster than he processed them, making it a losing battle. Vastor had just called for his assistants'' help when he received a message from the Queen informing him about the development of Lith''s health condition.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    I knew that the story about Elina''s pregnancy being at risk due to her age was a pile of bullshit! He thought. Between the Guardians protecting Kam and Lith''s paranoia, the im of the appearance of a second Golden Griffon would have been more believable.

    "Yet this raises a question. If there was an emergency, why didn''t he ask for my help? Also, why did Lith go to the Desert and ask for Quy instead of me? Is it because he needed Sark''s Rebirth Magic and knew I can''t go there or just to keep me out of his hair?

    Vastor pondered the questions for a while before splitting the paperwork with the young mages and bringing his share back to the Essagor Grand Duchy via the academy''s Warp Gate.

    There was even more paperwork waiting for him there but at least he had several valiant helpers that he could trust with his life. Zinya and the Eldritches took care of most of the administrative duties for him, reading the draft legitions proposed by Vastor''s retainers and redacting them when necessary.

    They summarized the content of every approved request in a single phrase and stamped the rejected ones in advance, leaving the Master only to sign them in bulk with water magic.

    Many changes had urred in the Essagor region after the Royals had awarded Vastor with a higher noble status and funds. There were new Warp Gates to build, more roads to maintain, and more importantly train stations to prepare.

    As Lith''s closest allies, the Essagor and the Ernas regions would be the first to receive the first marvels of Forgemastery born from the ingenuity of the Supreme Magus.

    It required the regional lords to build proper facilities to host the waiting passengers, staff quarters for the shift change, and of course, advertise the trains'' times and routes. It required a lot of work that the Royals were funding with lots of gold and everyone wanted a piece of the cake.

    The noble retainers sought their Lord''s attention day and night, appealing to his wife whenever he wasn''t avable. Per Vastor''s request, Zinya was now a Baroness and the name Yehval had been added to the list of those granted by the Crown.

    All those who had badmouthed her in the past now rushed to make amends while those who had ignored her made excuses for their past behavior and attempted to cajole her.

    Zinya was now a full-fledged noble and a peer, Vastor actively protecting her children had made it clear that she had a great influence over him even outside the bedchamber and now her old enemies were scrambling to get in her good graces. She knew better, granting them an audience with a smile and dismissing them as soon as etiquette allowed her.

    "Back so soon? Zinya weed him back with a hug and a sweet kiss, like always. It was another routine, but one Vastor would never get sick of. "I hope that nothing bad happened:

    "Yes and no." He replied. "Lith had some kind of medical emergency and he is now in the Desert. I came to warn you because your sister might need your support in dealing with the situation."

    "Is Lith alright?" She gripped his shoulders, findingfort in his smile.

    "He''s fine. Kind of. It seems that his life force is better, but since he went to Sark and asked for Quy''s help, I bet that the story he told the Royals contains just a sliver of truth if none at all: Vastor replied.

 Chapter 2480 Turf War (Part 2)

    2480 Turf War (Part 2)

    "Wait. Why did Lith ask for Quy instead of you? He knows that with Manohar gone you are the best healer in the Kingdom, hands down."

    "I am, but I''m also forbidden to enter the Blood Desert." Vastor nodded. "So either Lith did it to protect me, or to keep me away. We both have our secrets and if he doesn''t want to share, I''m not going to pry"

    "And why are you forbidden to go to the Desert? Is it for something you did as a Highmaster? Zinya looked him straight in the eyes, hoping for the truth but ready to swallow a lie.

    Now that the War of the Griffons was over, Vastor had run out of excuses to refuse to visit Lith and Kam in the Desert. He knew that treating Zinya like a fool would only make her trust dwindle so he decided to tell her the truth.

    Or at least, an eptable part of it.

    "No. It''s for what I did as the Master. Vastor shook his head. "I needed to secure resources for my research and 1 couldn''t take them all from the Kingdom without raising enough gs to betray my identity.

    "So, I took them from all over Garten. The problem is that while I know how to navigate the Empire as well as the Kingdom. Sark is much harder to fool and holds a bitter grudge.

    "I see. She sighed in relief.

    Sure, stealing enchanted metals and mana crystals is a bad thing, but Zogar did it for a good reason. It''s a victimless crime and once his research pans out, I''m certain that Zogar will find a way to make amends with everyone he has hurt: Zinya had no idea that the resources he had mentioned included thousands of lives.

    The Master felt terrible for omitting the truth like that but he was too afraid of losing her toe clean.

    "By the way, you should find a way to spend more time with Kam." Zogar rushed to change the topic. "It''s her first pregnancy and she could use the council of an expert.

    "Also, if Kam doesn''t start cramming Court etiquette soon, she''ll regret it when she has to attend any public event. She''s a Countess now, the sister of a Baroness, and she''s married to a Magus.

    "People are eager to curry her favor and take her apart in equal measure. Whateveres easier will do,"

    "Don''t you think I tried?" Zinya snorted. "Whenever Lith was recovering from battle, Kami stayed by his side in the Desert. I couldn''t drop my responsibilities and abandon you and the children to spend the night awake in a different country.

    "Now that she''s gotten back to work, seeing her is even more difficult. She''s either too eager to prove to everyone her worth or too tired to see me. I don''t get why she doesn''t just drop everything and enjoys what she has

    "Like you did?" Zogar teased her. "Ever since you''ve regained your sight you''ve given your all to learn how to read, write, count, sew, and cook. Back in Lutia, it was rare to see you without a book in your hand."

    "That''s because Fallmug kept me ignorant for years and I had a lot of catching up to do." She blushed in embarrassment. "I had to be capable of taking care of my children on my own and holding a conversation.

    "Back then I couldn''t understand half the things Filia and Frey talked about and being unable to help them with their homework made me feel stupid."

    "Then, after you married me, you had to learn about politics, history, geography, literature, music, and Court etiquette." Vastor continued as if he hadn''t heard her. "Now you have the reins of the Grand Duchy while I am at the academy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "In case you haven''t noticed, you are not a cker yourself. Can you really me her when you have gone from one full-time job to another?

    "That''s different!" When he put it that way, Zinya felt like a hypocrite but she would never admit it out loud. "The children are big enough to go to school and you are at the academy or in your secretb most of the time.

    "With nothing to do for so long. I''d die of boredom. I''ve spent most of my life sitting around like a doll, with only the warmth of sunlight on my skin to mark the passing of time.

    "The thought of being useless again makes me feel like I''m rotting inside. On top of that, you''ve given me a second chance, Zogar, I want to make you proud of me and help you however I can so that when you are finally back home, we can spend that time together

    "Don''t you think that Kam feels just the same?" He countered pointedly. "Lith works a lot as well and without her job, she would have nothing to do. Also, for Kam working as a Constable is more than a way to feel useful and get some money of her own.

    "It was how she saved herself after your parents disowned her. It''s something she has built her whole life and that Lith fought hard to give her back. She can''t just quit. It would be like spitting on all the sacrifices she made and wasting Lith''s efforts.

    "Who knows, maybe once Elysia is born, Kam''s priorities will change but until then, you have to respect her choice just like she respects yours."

    "I love it when you are right, but you could at least try to sound less like a smartass" Zinya chuckled before kissing him again. "By the way, how is Tezka? The kids are missing him a lot and to be honest, it''s not the same without him around

    "He''s undergoing his treatment. It might take a while and the worst part is that I have no idea how long, He''ll return only when his life force has stabilized. Vastor sighed, missing the Suneater as well.

    "Why? Is Nelia too harsh with the kids?"

    "No, she''s great." Zinya shook her head. "Having a pretty auntie and a Griffon at that was a dreame true, at least at first. Filia and Frey are still scarred by the death of their magical beasts.

    "Tezka has be a constant in their life and with each. day that passes without seeing or hearing from him, they are getting more worried for him. They are afraid that Tezka''s dead and that we are hiding the truth from them"

    "He''s fine. I can assure you this much. I''ll talk to the children when they get back home from school, you feel free to go to the Desert to visit your brother-inw Vastor said.

    "Are you sure you don''t want me to stay here with you?"

    "I have to go back to work anyway and family should stick together. He sat behind his desk, organizing the papers he had brought from the academy in orderly piles. "Say hello to everyone for me. If they need anything, they just have to ask"

    "Will do." Zinya shapeshifted her luxurious clothes into something more casual before crossing the Gate to the Desert. "See you soon."

 Chapter 2481 Turf War (Part 3)

    2481 Turf War (Part 3)

    The moment Zinya left the room. Vastor performed a thorough scan of his office with life-detecting arrays, Forgemastering spells, and Invigoration. Once he was certain that there was no one around nor listening devices nted by his enemies, he summoned the Abomination-hybrids to his office.

    "Orulm, Abthot, what''s the status report on our war against the Undead Courts?" The two ancient Eldritches had recently found and merged with a suitable monster core.

    With Zoreth too busy preparing for her role as Elysia''s godmother, they had been put in charge of the turf war because they needed to practice with their new powers and get used to walk among the living after centuries of istion.

    "It''s a walk in the park" Orulm burst into a savageughter at the memory of the massacre.

    "Without the Horsemen protecting those pathetic leeches, they stand no chance against us.

    "Their thralls in the human society have been captured by the Royals or are being investigated, making the Courts lose their primary source of ie and protection from thew.

    "On top of that, after their alliance with Thrud during the War of the Griffons has been revealed, their reputation has been stained beyond salvation. Even the most corrupt nobles don''t trust them, afraid of being reced by a Skinwalker or a Doppelganger.

    "The Undead Courts are currently alone and isted.

    Most of the time we don''t even have to lift a finger. We just make an anonymous tip to the army about the location of one of the Courts local branches and the Royals do the hard work for us:

    "So what need do I have for you?" Vastor''s eyes red with rage at the idea of all the resources lost to the army due to thezy Eldritch.

    "What Orulm forgot to mention is that we always infiltrate during a battle and take away most of the treasures" Abthot quickly added, eager to prove her worth. "We leave just enough to not raise suspicions.

    "Once the authorities are done, we fill the power vacuum and take control of the local underworld without shedding too much blood. The gangs that submit to our will resume their activities under our protection without losing a day of business.

    "Those who try to resist or y hard to get are currently our honored guests in the underground prison. Their territories have been split among their former rivals and our loyalists"

    "Excellent news." The Master nodded. "Tezka might need a snack if things don''t go well. Bytra?"

    Tm making progress in my research about towers but I still can''t fix the problem of infusingmon materials with the enchantments necessary to sustain a proper power core.

    "There''s no record of a tower built with Adamant of even Orichalcum because even the slightest amplification effect would screw up even the most careful nning The Fourth Ruler of the mes didn''t like the new additions to the team nor to have to craft equipment for them.

    Both Abthot and Orulm were their original selves who had fed upon their respective clones. Each one of them had a kill count that made Tezka look like a saint.

    Tve learned from Theseus'' Mencos side how to drain the surrounding world energy and from Nandi how to imbue spells inside mana crystals. Yet unless we want to settle for something like the Horsemen''s steeds rather than Baba Yaga''s hut, I''m nowhere close to sess."

    "Keep trying. Time is the only resource we don''tck" Vastor sighed. "The steeds are great on paper, but if just drawing the world energy was enough, we''d have solved the issue when Nandi joined us

    "If we want to face the Guardians, we need towers capable of enhancing our spells and that also provide us with powerful abilities that can cover up for our individual weaknesses. Anything less would be just a waste of time.

    "Then I''ll keep working on it. Here''s a list of everything I need for my experiments that we have run out of stock." Bytra handed him a piece of paper that Vastor passed on to Orulm<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You heard her. If someone approaches our ck market to sell any of this-

    "We kill them and take the loot." The Eldritch nodded.

    "No, you idiot The Master jumped up from his scat, exuding an aura powerful enough to make Orulm cower. "If you do that, no one will trust us to sell their goods and go to thepetition.

    "You have to approach them first and offer them anything they want. Within reason, of course. If we do like you suggested and they brought only a sample, we''d cut off our own supply routes.

    "If we garner their trust, instead, we can get the entire load if not even strike a partnership. A wolf kills a sheep to get some meat. A man just sheers it and sells the wool to buy meat.

    "I assigned you to field operations exactly because you need to get rid of this short-term mentality. Kigan, follow them and make sure they don''t make a mess of our hard work"

    "I refuse to work with this runt!" Orulm said, outraged at the idea of taking orders from someone much younger than himself.

    "And I refuse to waste my time with someone incapable of following simple instructions'' Vastor raised his hand, activating the hidden arrays in the room.

    Based on Arthan''s Unwavering Loyalty array, they seeped into the Eldritch''s life forces and the work of the Madness came undone in the most painful way possible.

    "Please, wait! I''m sorry. Forgive me, Master, I meant no disrespect!" As the monster and the ck cores split, the hunger returned, swallowing every other emotion.

    Orulm could feel his body getting thinner and his mind being flooded by the nightmares of the past that he had believed buried. The hunger of the Abominations was a gue he had waited millennia to get rid of and until a few weeks ago, he was used to it.

    Now, however, the Eldritch had once again a physical body that could experience all kinds of feelings and emotions. The absence of the hunger allowed him to enjoy even the simplest pleasures in life and filled him with bliss.

    Losing his body would mean that Orulm would either die or go back to being an Eldritch. Yet after experiencing life for long enough to forget about the constant void and pain that had tormented him, Orulm would sooner die. than give up on the Master''s blessing.

    "Remember our deal, Orulm." Vastor slowed down the process, but the array kept separating the two life forces, making the Eldritch''s body wither. "Your loyalty andpliance in exchange for power and new life.

    Tm upholding my word and I expect everyone to do the same.

    "I understand. Please, give me another chance." Orulm grovelled before Vastor''s desk. "I am the strongest and one of the eldest Eldritches on Mogar. I can still be useful to you"

    1 could use the ve spell to force him to obey, but I have no use for mindless drones'' The Master thought. ''It would also shatter the bond of trust between me and the rest of the Abominations.

    Taking away the free will of a single moron would make the Organization crumble whereas killing him would be considered a fair punishment for rebelling.

 Chapter 2482 Turf War (Part 4)

    2482 Turf War (Part 4)

    Sadly, Orulm is right. His usefulness still outweighs his arrogance Vastor inwardly sighed.

    "Indeed. The only reason I don''t kill you here and now is that I don''t want to waste the countless hours of work I put into finding a proper monster core for you." The arrays faded, reced by barely enough food to stabilize Orulm''s body.

    The Eldritch gorged himself, even licking the floor to not miss a single crumb of the precious meal and appreciating the hunger fading back in the corner of his mind. It was still there, a constant reminder of the consequences of defiance and a glimmer of hope to keep him loyal.

    "On top of that, if you were to die, your powers and knowledge would be lost forever. You are still valuable to me, but I won''t hesitate getting rid of you if you be a liability greater than your worth as an asset." Vastor said.

    "Thank you. You won''t regret your decision. The once proud Orulm the Obliterator mmed his forehead against the floor in contrition.

    "Don''t thank me yet. Punishment is in order" The Master raised his hand with the palm out. "Abthot, you are in charge of the mission. If Orulm steps out of line again orpromises the retrieval of even one of the items on Bytra''s list, get rid of him"

    The eyes of all three Eldritches went wide in surprise.

    The Obliterator''s life had been put in the hands of someone younger and weaker. Vastor had more than just demoted Orulm, the Master had also granted Kigan and Abthot absolute authority over him.

    Yet while Kigan''s role was well-deserved being him one of the first six followers of the Master and one of his most trusted aides, for Abthot it was a test. Vastor was giving her power and responsibility only to see how she handled them.

    Her current status in the Organization was actually just one notch above Orulm''s. She had been spared the humiliation, but Kigan was the arbiter of her fate just like she was for the Obliterator.

    "It shall be done." She fell onto her right knee, using sheer willpower to suppress the influence of her monster life force that oftentimes clouded her judgment.

    Abthot and Orulm were in the same boat.

    After acquiring a living body and getting rid of the hunger. they had be intoxicated by their newfound powers. They had forgotten that it was cunning and self-restraint, not mindless savagery, that had allowed them to survive for millennia.

    She knew that Vastor had just put a different kind of noose on her neck and she needed her once clever mind to keep it from squeezing the life out of her.

    "One more thing, Master. A few branches of the Undead Courts have contacted us. They are willing to submit to us in exchange for mercy and a position in your Organization. What is our reply?"

    "Stand tall. We are all equal. Vastor said, yet no one believed him. "Tell the Courts that we have no use for them unless they can help us track Meln Narchat. Grant mercy only to those who can provide solid intel.

    "I entered the War of the Griffons only to honor the

    request of my friend Krishna Manohar and to avenge his death. Thanks to your help, my children, I saved the Kingdom he loved but his killer is still atrge.

    "I want Narchat found and I want him dead, no matter the cost." He handed everyone a copy of Baba Yaga''s destruction spell. "If possible, I want you to capture him and bring him to me. His death shouldn''te easy or quick,

    "Yet I can''t afford to repeat Thrud''s mistake. If once you find him you suspect there''s even one chance in a million for him to run away, kill him on the spot. I don''t care if he dies a painless death as long as long as he dies:<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Gorgon Empire, Pirika mountain range, at the same time.

    The disappearance of the three cursed objects'' contact runes was undeniable proof of their death. Night and the rest of her cursed brethren scattered throughout Mogar discovered it the same way in the same moment, filling the living legacies with dread.

    "This doesn''t make sense!" One of them said. "Verhen was at the White Griffon during the attack and never left the Kingdom. The logs of the Kingdom''s Gatework prove

    "He would have needed to travel to the Desert and get Sark''s help to get there in time, but he just went home! Windfell gave us a full report before ambushing the traitor. Dawn''s host wascking and the Verhens had just blue cores.

    "How can they have possibly defeated three of our brethren? Many hypotheses were raised yet none of them made sense.

    The discussion went on for hours until the news of Lith''s appearance in the Blood Desert and his miraculous recovery was released.

    "This can''t be a coincidence! Many cursed objects said in outrage. "Somehow, Verhen escaped the surveince of our thralls and is now more powerful than before. The mysterious ingredient'' must be our fallen siblings. "The only question is why isn''t he taking credit for their death?

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Starlight the Negator said. "Verhen doesn''t want people to know how he traveled to the Empire without a Gate or asking him how he did it. We know he''s bonded to a living legacy whereas the rest of Mogar think him to be a genius mage.

    "He can''t risk exposing his secret."

    "What if we reveal the truth?" A cursed ring asked. "With what proof, you moron? Would you believe the word of a nobody against that of the Supreme Magus?" Starlight sneered at the idea. "The Kingdom has already examined Verlien countless times and even quarantined him.

    "If they didn''t discover our traitorous sister until now there''s no reason for things to go any different. Don''t forget that unlike us, this Solus and Verhen can split at will. Her travels are proof of that."

    "Indeed." A cursed crown said. "She''s a Horseman after all.

    At that word, everyone shifted the me on Night and most of them cut her off from the call, considering her responsible for the death of Windfell and the others.

    "Either you withheld information from us on purpose or what you know about Verhen''s living legacy is wrong. At this point, your help is no longer requested and your presence is unwanted. Starlight said.

    "Your offer is still considered standing, but we have to reconsider if dealing with Verhen is worth the risk of losing more of us. Don''t contact us unless you are willing to fight. If you want to have a voice in the matter, you have to put your life on the line as well."

    "Are you... Their conversation was cut off and Night short. "Kidding me? I''m not like you. Verhen has my damn destruction spell at hand. He needs to read but a few lines to paralyze me and a few more to kill me!"

    The Horseman kept shouting at hermunication amulet to vent her anger.

    "Those bastards don''t want my help. They just want to lure me out of my hiding spot so that they can take me prisoner and extort the secrets of the Horsemen from.

 Chapter 2483 Power Rush (Part 1)

    2483 Power Rush (Part 1)

    "I bet that they wouldn''t touch Verben until they had updated themselves, if ever." Night regained enough of her cool to know how dangerous keeping the amulet active was and stored it inside her pocket dimension.

    This way the signal would be lost and even the best tracker among the cursed objects wouldn''t be able to find her.

    "Did you hear that, maggot? Leech has be even stronger. While you waste our time crying like a bitch, he''s never been happier. The whole Garlen reveres him as the Supreme Magus.

    "He has a beautiful wife and his daughter is treasured by the Guardians. Everyone thinks Leech is a genius and his family loves him. The same family that rejects and despises you.

    "They kicked you out and stripped you of your name yet they epted Leech''s other half into their fold and happily shared with Solus theirst name."

    "I get it. I''m a loser and nobody gives a shit about me." Orpal sobbed, watching over and over the video that Thrud had released upon her death.

    It was a collection of the most embarrassing and humiliating moments of his capture. Every time he had begged, cried, or wetted himself was arranged without context in order to make him look like a pathetic fool.

    All the parts about the tortures he had endured had been cut out whereas those about Night fighting tooth and nail were still there. From the images, Orpal seemed to have folded right after being captured whereas the Horseman had never surrendered.

    It made Night look good, but that was exactly what Thrud wanted. She knew that Orpal''s ego would never recover from the humiliation of being considered nothing without the Horseman.

    Thanks to the video, everything he had achieved, from unmasking Lith to killing Manohar was being second-guessed. People thought that the person who had aplished those feats was just one of Night''s Chosen after shapeshifting.

    Orpal''s name had be a joke and a synonym for cowardice. No one believed him capable of harming a single hair on Manohar''s head, let alone Lith''s.

    Even if somehow Orpal rose from the ashes of his crushing defeat, even if he killed Lith, he would just go from living in the shadow of his brother to that of the Horseman.

    "No, you fool! My point is that we can''t waste any more time. Close that video, grow a pair, and start training again!" Due to Baba Yaga''s spell, Night was forbidden to harm Lith in any direct or indirect way.

    Hence, she couldn''t suggest Orpal a n, only to remind him of his brother''s sesses to stoke the fires of his rage. She couldn''t even possess his body and use the breathing technique in his stead.

    "What''s the point?" He replied amid sobs. "Even if by a miracle I could be a bright violet by tomorrow, Leech''s wife and daughter are beyond my reach. The Guardians would kill me the moment I touch either of them

    Even though the massacre of Jiera''s council had happened during his imprisonment, Orpal knew all about it. The guards had told him what had happened to break his spirit and they had seeded.

    He had no reason to doubt their words because even while trapped in a Sealed Space and surrounded by meters-thick Adamant walls, on the day of the ck Sun he had felt the fury of the Guardians and cowered for it.

    "Even if I was strong enough to face Leech and my Divine Beast form and bloodline abilities were superior to his own, he would kill me with the destruction spell. You said it yourself a moment ago.

    "At this point, it''s painfully clear who got the better Horseman. Every time we faced them, we got our ass kicked and now Leech has be stronger. There''s no hope for us. We are doomed."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Dammit, I forgot how difficult is for humans to ovee their silly traumas.'' Night thought. ''In the past, all I had to do when something like this happened was to dump the weak fool and get myself another host but that''s not an option anymore.

    Even if I kill Orpal, my destruction spell would be still public knowledge. No one would ever bond with me knowing that anyone with a shred of magical power can kill us.

    "To make matters worse, without Orpal, my ns to make Verhen bend the knee will be impossible. I could go against my mother''s ve spell only because it was Orpal''s will to attack Verhen.

    Any other host would just enjoy the power and knowledge

    I bestow upon them and never think of facing the Supreme Magus. Without Orpal, all my pain and sacrifices will be for naught.

    1 need to find a way to ovee my limitations and for him to get strong enough to achieve our goals. Until that moment, by reminding Orpal of Verhen''s glory I would just add oil to the fire of Orpal''s self-pity instead of driving him to improve.

    Night had followed Dawn''s example and used the time of her imprisonment to think. She hade up with many ns to fill the gap in power between Lith and Orpal but she couldn''t voice them due to Baba Yaga''s spell.

    Her initial project was to regain control of the Undead Courts after her escape. There, she would have found people wise and smart enough to decipher the subtle hints she would embed in her battle strategies against the enemies of the Courts.

    Her loyal subjects would then ry those ideas to Orpal and help him turn them into a path to victory. s, with the destruction spell now avable, the Undead Courts had no reason to follow her lead.

    Baba Yaga had crippled Night no less than Thrud had done to Orpal.

    My best hope to get rid of mother''s workings is to bet on Orpal''s bloodline. After all, Ac has changed Dawn and Solus has done the same for Verhen. I don''t see why I should be any different.

    I think I know why Mother created Solus and kept her existence a secret from us. She''s the failsafe in the case one or more of her Horsemen went insane and Mother needed to get rid of us.

    ''She''s never been the type to dirty her hands, she likes to delegate. The first three Horsemen were born to fix the imperfections in the blood core while the fourth is meant to keep the other three in check.

    There''s no other exnation for Verhen beating Dawn and me. Solus must also have some kind of assimtion ability to consume three cursed objects and bestow their life forces upon Verhen. Luckily for me, that''s a game two can y

    Distar Region, Faluel''s Lab, a few hourster.

    Tm d we finally got to spend some time together, Mom." Faluel was in her Hydra form and wore the Hands of Menadion shapeshifted as six crowns of different elemental colors, leaving only her emerald head naked.

    "I would say the same, if not for the fact that you made mee here only to aid you with your experiments." Fyrwal grumbled.

    She was in her real form as well, standing five meters taller than her daughter.

 Chapter 2484 Power Rush (Part 2)

    2484 Power Rush (Part 2)

    The Elder Hydra was wearing the Royal Fortress armor and kept the silver bolts of lightning of the Life Maelstrom it produced ready for use.

    "It''s not my fault if you''ve never bothered visiting me before. Faluel chided her mother. Tm a Regional Lord of the Council and I have several apprentices to care for. I don''t have the time to travel to the Empire every time 1 want to have a cup of tea and a chat with you.

    "You instead are retired and spend your days idly. It wouldn''t kill you to keep in touch with your children more often and nag at them less."

    "Wow." Fyrwal snorted. "I don''t remember all this sass when you asked my help to get your hands on a share of Thrud''s spoils. I seem to recall that you were more like: "Please, Mommy, please! The Council is paying me peanuts for my contributions because they are prioritizing thepensation of the families of the Awakened fallen in battle.

    "The Royals took half the loot for themselves and as one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom, you are entitled to a quota. Do this for me and I won''t ask your help for a long while." The Elder Hydra made her best Faluel''s impression, giving her voice a childish, high-pitched tone.

    "I don''t sound like that!" Faluel''s snake heads hissed in outrage.

    "You do whenever you want a favor." Fyrwal replied and she was right.

    "Whatever. Now please get ready to do everything you can to keep the Harmonizer from exploding. It''s thest one I got and if we lose it, I''ll never learn Glemos'' secrets Interesting Fyrwal''s heads bobbed in the air with a deep-thought expression on their reptilian snouts.

    "What are you talking about? I have yet to take it out of my dimensional amulet."

    Tve just noticed how the Harmonizer is yours* and you are the one who''s going to learn how to mass produce it in case we seed whereas if we fail it''s our problem. Ungrateful much?" The Elder Hydra asked.

    "It was my apprentices who risked their lives to recover the Harmonizer. If not for Ajatar and I baiting Glemos into a trap, there would be nothing to study so I''ve got every right to keep the discovery for myself.

    "As for you, what favor would it be if I had to share the prize with you? It would be a partnership." Faluel replied. "Now less bickering and more focusing. We have only one shot at this. On my mark."

    Faluel ced the dimensional item in the space between the two Hydras where they had drawn their respective best Forgemastering circles.

    Faluel fueled them with the world energy she conjured from the underground mana geyser via the Hands of Menadion so that both she and her mother didn''t need to waste one of their heads to use their breathing technique.

    This way, they kept their mana cores full and their senses sharp. Between the two of them, it was akin to having two seven-man units of bright violet-cored Forgemasters with perfect teamwork.

    Only when Fyrwal cleared her head from every trace of the Dragon greed that an invaluable artifact like the Harmonizer aroused did she nod for her daughter to proceed.

    "Now! Faluel took the enchanted cor out of the dimensional amulet and activated the Stasis Field array to keep the self-destruction from triggering

    Thete Glemos had been meticulous in keeping the fruits of the Tyrant bloodline''s research a secret. The Harmonizer had a double imprint mechanism and after his death, it was programmed to implode the moment its wearer took it off or died.

    This way, no one could study or experiment on it.

    The Stasis Field array was the innermost circle so that it wouldn''t interfere with the others which in turn would take effect the moment the stasis was removed.

    "Tell me when you are ready." Faluel said.

    The runes of the self-destruction enchantment of the Harmonizer were already so overloaded with world energy that Fyrwal could study them via Life Vision despite the Stasis Field.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Regr runes, instead, were invisible to the naked eye and mystical senses couldn''t perceive them over the magical aura of the array.

    "Glemos was a madman but also a genius." The Elder Hydra said. "Even though you triggered the Stasis Field immediately after your amulet, the Harmonizer is already red-hot and cracked. How did you manage to study it in the past?"

    "Grandfather? Faluel sighed in annoyance.

    "I see. Fyrwal nodded. "If you asked for my help, it means that he must have withheld part of the information he gained. Yet this doesn''t exin why you didn''t call me earlier.

    "Based on what you told me, you got your hands on the Harmonizer months ago. What made you change your mind?"

    "Lots of things" Faluel replied. "You have given sanctuary to Ufyl, the only Hydra to have ever sessfully evolved into a Dragon. I hope that by studying his life force and altering the Harmonizer ordingly, our bloodline will find a way to ascend into Divine Beasts without the need for Forbidden Magic.

    "I''ll be honest with you. I wouldn''t mind being the first to seed or at least to see it happening during my lifetime if I''mcking. Also, there''s the matter of the partially unfallen monsters that Solus fought."

    "You mean Elphyn." Fyrwal said.

    "I know what I said." Faluel shook her head. "And if unlike Aunt Tessa you care about having a good rtionship with her, you''ll call her Solus as well. The name Elphyn carries a lot of bad memories and regrets to her.

    "Solus is already literally chained to her past due to the tower. Thest thing she needs is the constant reminder of how her whole family died and she lost her freedom."

    "I will keep that in mind." Fyrwal nodded.

    "Also, there is the matter of the monsters upon whom Glemos experimented." Faluel said.

    "Before they revealed their existence by attacking the cities of the Kingdom, I could afford to take my sweet time with the Harmonizers because I was just going to use them to elerate the growth of magic metals and mana crystals in my mines.

    Tm confident that in a few centuries, Ajatar and I would have found a solution to the problem. The Harmonizer belongs to us both so we would have shared the expenses and the fruits of ourbor."

    Fyrwal was about to ask her daughter why they hadn''t invited the Drake to join them when her eyes fell on the many Forgemastering circles of the Hydra bloodline the two of them had prepared.

    "This Ajatar must be a good guy if Fanny showed him the Hands but she did the right thing keeping him out of the family business. Were he to witness our spells or Domination, we''d have to kill him:

    "Now, however, I''m in a rush." Faluel continued. "Without the Harmonizers, the Council will kill all the monsters who don''t have one along with those who refuse to surrender.

    "In their fallen state monsters spawn at an unsustainable rate and we are still recovering from the famine. You are my only hope to turn an extermination mission into a rescue, Mom.

    a?|

    P/N - Kornce here. The chapter is provided to you by nemesis. Do consider donating to the original author of the novel.

    Discord  - https://discord.gg/Gmb86aUSFP

 Chapter 2485 Family Legacy (Part 1)

    2485 Family Legacy (Part 1)

    "Do you realize that those very monsters you want to save have killed many innocents already? That they are probably going to try and kill you on sight?" Fyrwal asked.

    "I know that, Mom, but put yourself in their shoes." Faluel replied. "Those people have been lied to, experimented upon, and indoctrinated their entire lives. Who knows what lies Glemos told them about the Council and even if after his death they discovered the truth, they have every right to be terrified.

    "They know that no race wastes time to pay with the members of a fallen species. We just kill them like pests, no question asked."

    "Can you me us?" Fyrwal tilted her heads. "Monsters are a living gue. They devour everything and everyone until they turn even the most fertile ground into a barrennd and then they move on to the next area.

    "They multiply so fast that a few days of hesitation may give them the opportunity to double their numbers."

    "No, but I can''t me them either." Faluel sighed. "Bing a fallen race means bing a ve to your base urges and suffering from an eternal hunger and a short life. Monsters do what they need to survive.

    "Their malice and cruelty aren''t innate but the result of their harsh existences. In the case of Glemos'' children, the situation is even worse. They have regained their sanity and have hope for the future which makes them even more desperate.

    "They know that without the Harmonizer they''ll go back to their wretched state and they have no reason to expect others to show them mercy or understanding. Everyone considers their lives expendable and much less valuable than the magical resources the reverted monsters consume to survive.

    "Even if the Council lets them live but exiles them from the mana geyser, they''d lose every chance they have for at normal life. Everything they have suffered and all of their research would be for nothing.

    "Unless we offer them a glimmer of hope to cling to, I expect them to fight to the death. I''ve already failed a poor girl called Echidna because of my greed." Faluel shared with her mother the wonders of the Awakened Fomor''s abilities.

    The Elder Hydra was amazed by the prowess of Echidna''s eyes, wondering if the heads of a Hydra could hold the same potential.

    It would exin why we have lost our wings. She pondered.

    Faluel also showed Fyrwal how desperate Echidna had been and how she had chosen to end her life the moment she had mistaken the enthusiasm of her captors for the Harmonizers for cruel indifference to her situation.

    "Poor kid." The Elder Hydra said. "A nice word and a bit of empathy would have saved her life."

    "Indeed." Faluel nodded. "Her death still haunts me to this day and I don''t want to kill anyone else unless I have to. If we crack the secret of the Harmonizers, I can offer to everyone who surrenders to live above my geysers.

    "I''ll take responsibility for their actions and livelihood and with the Harmonizers returning their life cycles to normal, the Council will have no reason to oppose my request. Especially if I share the Harmonizers with them."

    "Sounds like a n, but one that will cost you dearly. Are a bunch of strangers really worth losing your exclusive over the Harmonizers?" Fyrwal asked.

    "Usually, I''d say no. Yet if we are not prepared, we might end up just like Jiera. The Harmonizer can give the fallen races a new life and Jiera a way to repopte itsnds." The news of the monster tides had reached Garlen and the local Awakened Council was working on countermeasures.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They wanted to prevent theirnd from suffering the same fate and also to take part in Jiera''s colonization. Yet unless they found a way to deal with the monster tides, they would simply join their fellow Council in a desperate struggle.

    "It makes sense. I''m proud of you, Fanny" The Elder Hydra rubbed her heads along the necks of her daughter in the equivalent of a caress.

    "Thanks, Mom. Ready? On my mark. Go!" Faluel activated the Forgemastering circles surrounding the Stasis Field array. This way, the mystical energies came as close as possible to the Harmonizer before they were frozen on the spot just like the artifact''s enchantments. When she turned the Stasis Field array off, the two Hydrasbined their Domination to disrupt the self-destruction spell. Clean te was the first to strike, jamming all the enchantments.

    The overloaded runes stopped drawing in the world. energy but at the same time, the self-repair spell also ceased working, making the cracks on the Harmonizer spread further.

    Faluel and Fyrwal used their bloodline ability to dispel excess energy while shielding the self-repair spell from the following Clean tes.

    The Forgemastering circle, Unravel, split the power core of the Harmonizer into pseudo cores and then the pseudo cores into one different string of runes for each spell the pseudo cores wereprised of.

    The second Forgemastering circle, Cypher, isted the cloaking runes that shrouded the meaning of the rest of the enchantments and cut them off from mana crystals. Identifying them wasn''t an easy task since the runes cloaked themselves as well.

    Cypher couldn''t brute force its way without triggering more safety measures. The spell worked by focusing on the blur rather than trying to dispel it and then following the mana to its source.

    Without power, the cloaking runes became vulnerable to the third Forgemastering circle, Rewrite. Disabling even a single spell meant disrupting the bnce of the power core and making it fall apart.

    If that happened, even with the self-destruct spell jammed the Harmonizer would crumble anyway, and not even Clean te could stop the unbnced energy from going haywire.

    Rewrite scanned the power core as the cloaking spell faded, recing it with the simplest and most suitable set of meaningless runes. This way, the energy flow inside the Harmonizer wasn''t affected by the loss of the cloaking runes, and now the Hydras could take their time studying the variousyers of enchantments.

    On paper, it was a simple process but it would have already failed if not for the exceptional conditions of the experiment. The Domination of the two Hydras stacked, each one supported by seven streams of willpower.

    The Hands of Menadion filled the Forgemastering circles to the brim while also leaving a near vacuum of world energy near the Harmonizer to weaken its spells. Last, but not least, the Life Maelstrom from Fyrwal''s Royal Fortress armor boosted the prowess of all of the Hydras spells and abilities by tenfold.

    "Damn Clean te. It stops the explosion but it also keeps blurring the runes." The Elder Hydra''s eyes were teary from the sheer focus of using Life Vision on top of the rest.

    "Indeed, but unless we find a way to disarm the self-destruct spell what choice do we have?" Faluel was in no better condition.

    Deciphering the enchantments under the effects of Clean te was akin to a short-sighted person trying to read a book written with small characters during a bumpy ride.

    Spotting the self-destructing runes was easy since they were already overloaded. The hard part was to iste them from the rest of the artifact and dissipate the excess energy.

 Chapter 2486 Family Legacy (Part 2)

    2486 Family Legacy (Part 2)

    Until that moment, the Harmonizer would keep falling apart and fixing itself in a cycle that would end the moment the enchanted metal was too worn down to regenerate again.

    The Hydras focused on identifying with Life Vision how the self-destruction spell interacted with the others and with the mana crystals. Only once they discovered from where the energy flow built up and the runes from which it was exhausted could they weave the Forgemastering circle, Disarm

    It was a spell thatbined the effects of Cypher and Rewrite. Disarm''s runes sequence was flexible and needed to be tailored ording to the vtile nature of the spells it had to neutralize and supersede.

    It took them time, effort, and several tries since at the slightest mistake the energy overload would get worse and they would have to start from scratch.

    Once the excess energy was dissipated and the self-destruction spell weak enough to be reced by a simr yet useless sequence of runes, the two Hydras could sigh in relief.

    "Thanks, Mom." Faluel restored the Stasis Field so that the energy inside the Harmonizer would remain stable even after she powered down the rest of the Forgemastering circles and took a break.

    "You are wee, dear. Are we done? Fyrwal asked.

    "Are you kidding me? No. We still have to make sure that there aren''t more safety protocols and then find a way to recreate the Harmonizer. Without your Domination and Life Maelstrom, the Forgemastering circles might not be enough. Faluel replied.

    "You can''t me me for trying." The Elder Hydra squinted her eyes and shook her necks in the attempt to find relief from the massive headaches that the prolonged mental effort had caused her. "You are ving me for free:

    "I can me you alright." Faluel snorted. "You are my mother and our work here can change countless lives for the better. Or at least improve my mines." Faluel chuckled.

    ***

    The two Hydras had to wait until rest had resettled the effects of Invigoration and the Royal Fortress armor had replenished its reserves of Life Maelstrom before continuing their research.

    Before taking a nap, Faluel informed Morok of the progress she had made. After all, the Harmonizer was part of his bloodline legacy and it would belong to him along with everything they would find inside Glemos'' secretb.

    "Thank you very much, Lady Faluel. I''ll be forever in your debt." The Tyrant hadpletely changed his attitude toward the Hydra after she had agreed to help him. Also, Faluel was the only member of the Council aside from Ajatar who was defending his interests instead of trying to rob him blind with the excuse of helping the Kingdom to deal with the monsters'' raids.

    "Don''t forget those words when it''s time to split the loot. Faluel out:

    "This is great news" Nalrond had stood behind Morok for the entire conversation. "Having a Harmonizer of my own might help me to understand the next step toward fusing my two life forces.

    "Otherwise I''ll be forced to go back to the Fringe to get some answers and that''s an experience I have no desire to repeat. The first time we got lucky because the Dewan hoped to convince me to stay.

    "Now, however, we''d have to fight against a whole tribe of werepeople and the gods know how many bloodthirsty elves

    "I''m d to see how altruistic you are." The Tyrant''s voice oozed sarcasm. "It''s my legacy you are talking about."

    "Td never pegged you for a greedy guy." Nalrond knit his eyebrows in surprise.

    "I''m not greedy, just desperate. Morok rebuked. "I usually don''t care much about the gap in riches and status between Quy and me but the marriage preparations are driving me crazy!"

    "Don''t be ridiculous. The Ernas are doing everything. How can you be the one stressed out?" The Rezar asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Easy. First, the guest list: Morok shoved a long piece of paper that a vertical line of ink split into two perfect halves.

    The bride''s guests were so many that they extended to the end of the scroll and continued on its back. The Tyrant''s guests, instead, could be counted on one finger. Aside from Ajatar the Drake he didn''t know nor cared about anyone else.

    "Wow. Even I can do better? Selia considered Nalrond at member of her family and since she didn''t know Priya much, the huntress and the rest of the Fastarrows had already agreed to sit on the groom''s side.

    "Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that." Morok grunted. "You are going to be as humiliated as me during the ceremony when people see that you are a literal nobody. Second, there is the matter of the house."

    "If you are referring to the country house where you moved, Friya brought me to visit our own, and it''s magnificent." Nalrond shrugged.

    "And that''s the problem!" The Tyrant said in exasperation. "Living in the Ernas mansion wasn''t a big deal since it belongs to Quy''s parents. Our house, instead, will be Quy''s house and aside from myself I bring nothing to the ce.

    "Every time I sit on a chair or see a member of the house staff, I''m reminded of the fact that I''m living there rent-free. It makes me feel like a guest instead of the lord of the house."

    Nalrond still spent half of his time with the Fastarrows and the other half with Friya at the Ernas mansion so he had never pondered the problem. Imagining how his future life would be made him swallow loudly.

    "And wait to see when Orion so politely and ''casually leaves around the bills for the marriage preparations. He''s making me feel like a damn beggar!" Morok held his head between his hands. "Luckily for me, due to their founder''s decision, the Ernas know nothing of true and Spirit Magic. I need my bloodline legacy so that I can make up for myck of wealth with my magical knowledge.

    "I really hope for you that those silver mines make you a fortune or you''re going to find yourself in an even worse situation than me?

    Nalrond swallowed again and harder.

    Once he finished paying Lith''s loan back, what was currently left of his shares was more than enough to be at wealthy man in Lutia, but nothingpared to the wealth of an ancient noble family.

    "Well, at least I carry my bloodline legacy with me." The Rezar replied. "I can teach Friya Light Mastery and-"

    "And then she passes it on to the entire Ernas family?" Morok cut him short. "Dude, at least my legacy is solely for Awakened. My inws know about it and can appreciate my gesture but can''t put their hands on it.

    "You would lose yours for good. Also, Jirni and Orion are aware that I''m a Tyrant but did you tell them that you are a hybrid?"

    "Are you kidding me? That''s personal!" Nalrond blurted out in surprise.

    "So you have squat to offer and a big skeleton in your closet. The Tyrant clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "You are screwed, man."

    Neither of them knew that their difort with the bills, the arrangement, and everything else was all part of Jirni''s n.

 Chapter 2487 Family Legacy (Part 3)

    2487 Family Legacy (Part 3)

    The entire situation had been devised by Lady Ernas to get her hands on the magical legacies of her future sons-inw. Like Morok had pointed out, despite being as old as house Myrok, House Ernas had no records about true and Spirit Magic.

    The discovery of Glemos'' secretb was an unexpected boon, but even if nothing came out of it, Jirni nned on getting her hands on everything Morok had learned during his life and under the tutge of Ajatar.

    As for Nalrond, she knew for a long time that he was a Light Master whose discipline was elusive even among Awakened. It made the Rezar even more precious than the Tyrant since Light Mastery was something that Orion could practice even if Vastor were to fail to find a way to Awaken him.

    "I heard screaming. Is everything alright?" Tulion Emas walked through the door apanied by a squad of armed guards and a feral beast by his side.

    "I''m sorry, Tulion. Things just got heated up while discussing my marriage''s preparations." Morok gave him a small bow to which the second-born replied with a stern look.

    "I hope that you are not getting cold feet." Tulion replied with an icy tone,

    "Absolutely not. I was justa?| "

    "I don''t care. Just know that if you make my sister cry before, after, or during the wedding and it''s not out of joy, I''ll borrow the Ernas Royal Fortress armor and kick your ass.

    "Same to you, young man." Tulion waved his finger under Nalrond''s nose while Lucky growled in agreement.

    "Don''t worry, I''ve learned my lesson." The Rezar raised his hands in surrender. "There won''t be a second breaking of the engagement. At least not no my side."

    "Let''s go." The young master of the house gave them a nod and resumed the security drills with the rest of his unit.

    "Man, I liked him more when he was the easy-going one." Morok said as soon as he heard the steps of the guards disappear in the distance.

    "Me too but Phloria''s death changed a lot of things" Nalrond sighed.

    Friya smiled a lot less and trained a lot more while Quy endured Jirni''sdy-of-the-house boot camp to keep herpany.

    There were lots of things and lessons that Jirni had prepared for her Little Flower. Quy could only hope that giving her mother the opportunity to put them into practice would help Jirni to ovee her grief instead of making her dwell on what might have been and never will.

    As for Tulion, he had taken Phloria''s final words at heart and upended his life.

    The death of his beloved baby sister had forever crushed the illusion that the problems of Hose Ernas weren''t his own and that as the ck sheep of the family, he had the right to a boring, easy life.

    Tulion felt guilty for having been absent, helpless, or both for most of Phloria''s life. After the funeral, he had given up on drinking and gambling. To give his parents the time they deserved to grieve their loss, Tulion had helped Gunyin however he could.

    At first as a mere valet since due to his wilful ignorance of protocol and the power bnce with the many retainers of the Ernas region, he could only bring tea and hold documents without embarrassing his brother.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tulion had learned by observing Gunyin work and by studying during his free time. After weeks of hard work, he had understood enough of the state of business of the family and had taken the role of one of Gunyin''s secretaries.

    His hope was to one day do more than stand by his brother''s side and relieve him from part of his burden. Due to his profligate past, Tulion was forbidden to attend events in the Royal Court but he was still a precious asset.

    He knew the dirtyundry of many nobles because he had either listened to their confession after one drink too many or helped them do the deed. Such knowledge provided Gunyin with plenty of evidence or gossip to leverage his political opponents into clearing Phloria''s name.

    It made Tulion an outcast in both the good and bad society but he couldn''t care less about keeping the respect of his old drinking buddies. He had alreadye clean of his own misdemeanors and taken a plea, making himself socially disgraceful but untouchable by thew.

    Lucky had undergone a transformation as well. The once happy and fat Ry has spent a lot of time with Orion, listening to the man he considered his father ming himself for his weakness.

    Phloria''s death had left a hole in Lucky''s heart that no amount of food could fill and that only got deeper every time her smell faded a bit more from the old clothes he used as a pillow.

    The Ry treasured them the most because it was the only thing that he had left of the woman he considered his mother. Yet what really had shaken Lucky to the core wasn''t the pain of the loss but the announcement of a new child.

    Lucky had been the first to notice the start of the pregnancy from the change in Jirni''s smell. Joy had eclipsed his pain just to be reced by fear. The fear of being too weak to protect mother and child.

    The fear of losing another member of the family.

    The Ry had stopped prowling the kitchens for food and had started visiting the local woods, eating solely what he managed to hunt. He would rarely catch something and often get in scraps with the local beasts that considered him an intruder.

    Rys didn''t kill each other, letting Lucky go the moment he surrendered. The Healers of the household would fix Lucky quickly and he would resume hunting the next day. He had lost some weight, gained some muscles, and changed his attitude.

    He didn''t feel lucky anymore.

    The Ry also trained with Orion to practice against humans and their unfair weapons while Orion was happy to have a sparring partner against whom he could safely test his rising mastery of fusion magic.

    While the soon-to-be grooms were discussing their shared worries, the masters of the house were in their private quarters. Xenagrosh hade to check on Jirni, the baby, and Orion under the guise of one of Vastor''s assistants.

    "All patched up." She said after checking that the impurities in Orion''s body hadn''t moved since herst visit. She had also strengthened the bonds between impurities and flesh after testing the progress of his body refinement.

    "I''m d that you are not rushing your practice. Slow and steady is the best course of action for someone your age. ''

    "Not by choice." Orion grunted. "With a full-time job and a family, I have little free time. If not for Jirni using Invigoration on me from time to time I would have achieved nothing"

    He had studied Quy''s notes about fusion magic and Awakening until he knew them backwards and forwards. Even during the medical check-up, he was circting the elemental energy to not waste a single moment of time.

    Orion would start with one, then add a second, and keep increasing their number until his body started to ache.

 Chapter 2488 Family Legacy (Part 4)

    2488 Family Legacy (Part 4)

    At that point, he would count up to five and give up on an element.

    As soon as his body experienced pain again, he would repeat the process until fusion magic waspletely turned off. Orion practiced fusion magic every time that his full focus wasn''t required and took pauses between sessions.

    He knew that his body was old, his core powerful, and that if the dam of his impurities cracked the resulting mana flow would kill him.

    "Then slow down." Zoreth said. "What about you, Jirni?"

    "I''m fine, thank you." Lady Ernas replied.

    "I meant at what point your training is. And don''t try and lie to me. It''s not just your life that''s at stake" The Shadow Dragon caressed Jirni''s womb with nothing but tenderness, but Lady Ernas tensed up, perceiving those words as a threat.

    "I''m practicing umtion every time I''m not forced to speak and I haven''t slept in a week."

    "What? Why?" Those were Xenagrosh''s questions but Orion had beaten her to the punch.  "Because I''ve already mastered First Magic and all the tier one spells I can use." Jirni replied.

    "Already?" Xenagrosh was bbergasted. "I knew you are a dangerous woman, but I never thought you would also be a genius magician."

    "I''m no genius." There was no humility in Jirni''s voice, only self-loathing, "I''ve practiced first magic since I was a child and I''ve always experimented with the few spells I could use in the hope that magical talent could be nurtured.

    "Aside from Spirit Magic, there''s nothing new. True magic is indeed moreplicated than fake magic but unless one is a cker it doesn''t take long to master the few things a bright orange core can do"

    She conjured one elemental spell at a time, losing control the moment she tried to double cast.

    "Still, you are making quick progress. Too quick, I''d say. Why don''t you slow down a bit?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "Because without my job I have too much time on my hands. I''m getting bored and I''m not used to it. Training is the only thing that keeps my mind off my Little Flower." Jirni''s eyes red with mana, her muscles tensing with fury,

    "When that happens, I get sad, then violent, and then I want to hurt someone, no matter who. A flower vase cracked under the pressure of a wild pulse of Spirit Magic.

    "Damn pregnancy hormones." Xenagrosh cursed. "Train less and sleep more. You both need it."

    "Dammit, woman, you heard her. Healer''s orders." Orion lifted Jirni in a princess carry and put her in the bed.

    "I''m fully dressed, you oaf!"

    "And if I take my eyes off you, you''d run away, you bullhead! I won''t fall for your tricks again." Orion snorted before turning to Xenagrosh. "Is there any risk that my wife''s shenanigans put our baby to risk? What if they Awaken like Elysia?"

    At those words, Jirni went pale. Her body froze, torn between the desire to get stronger and the instinct to protect the life inside of her.

    "Don''t worry, there''s no risk. It would take a powerful Awakened being constantly close to her and a mana geyser. Shecks both." The Shadow Dragon shook her head,

    "Well, Jirni herself is an Awakened..."

    "A neophyte. She''s so weak that you barely notice her mana flow with Life Vision." Xenagrosh said but Orion ignored her.

    "And she''s surrounded by countless powerful artifacts. Let''s suppose that happens. What should we do?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Move to a magicless ce, avoid contact with Awakened, and cease Jirni''s training entirely."

    "Why is that? My core is weaker than Kam''s and now that Solus has returned, she practices every day." Jirni said.

    "Even as a hybrid, Elysia''s Divine Beast side makes her much more resilient than a human while her Abomination side can feed off any excess energy. Also, don''t forget that unlike you, Kam practices magic, not breathing techniques.

    "Her body and core get passively tempered by Elysia''s. Kam acts as a drain instead of putting more stress on the baby as you do." Xenagrosh replied. "If your baby Awakens, the sudden surge of power might kill you and them with you. "Even if you survive, your reckless training might blow them up in your womb. Is that what you want?"

    Jirni took off her shoes, undid her hair, and covered herself with a nket in reply. "I feel tired. Please, leave me alone.

    "What about our lesson?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "It can wait until tomorrow. I''m sorry for wasting your time." Jirni said with a sigh, her breath bing slow the moment she closed her eyes.

    At first, Zoreth thought it was just another trick, but her Dragon Eyes could see that wasn''t the case. Jirni''s body was truly exhausted and the moment her willpower had wavered, fatigue had caught up with her.

    "You two need to slow down and rx." The Shadow Dragon whispered after closing the door. "There''s no threat at hand. The only thing you two can achieve with your reckless behavior is to kill yourself."

    "I know, but magic is the only thing that keeps us busy." Orion sighed, looking at the family mausoleum through the window. "This house is filled with memories of our Little Flower. It''s hard not to think of her when everything reminds us of her."

    Zoreth knew nothing about grief so she just nodded. Everyone in her family was a Dragon so death was unlikely unless one was an egotistical idiot. Like her.

    Yet she was an expert on regrets and guilt.

    "I can''t tell you how to live your life but whenever you feel like doing something stupid, think about me. Death isn''t the worst that can happen to either of you. Many in the Organization were powerful mages overeager to Awaken. "All of them have one thing inmon. Their first act was to kill everyone around them. In your case, the arrays of this ce might manage to stop you but you would force your children to live the rest of their life with the guilt of murdering their own father.

    "You are no different than Jirni. Your life isn''t the only one at stake. She said while Orion apanied her to the Ernas Gate.

    "Thanks. I''ll keep that in mind." He went pale and stopped circting the light element. "Where are you going now?"

    "To the Desert." She said with a warm smile, taking a book out of her dimensional pocket. "I n to read a few fables to Elysia in Dragontongue."

    "But she''s still in the womb!" Orion blurted out in surprise.

    "You''d be surprised about how good a Dragon''s hearing and memory are." She chuckled. "The very day I was born. my mother tried to strangle my father in outrage."

    "Why? What did Leegaain do?"

    ***

    Blood Desert, a few dayster.

    Lith''s life force hadpletely assimted the healing energy of the tower and recovered from his injuries but he was still forbidden to practice magic.

    It didn''t really bother him since he could at least work on his future Void Magic lessons and the trains'' blueprints. The Royal Court was still arranging the final details about the Tablets so there was still time for somest-minute change in the pseudo cores.

    ***

    Kornce: Chapter provided to us peasants by nemesis. Donate to the author if you can. Check out the discord for faster updates. Link in the bio!

 Chapter 2489 Heavy Shadow (Part 1)

    2489 Heavy Shadow (Part 1)

    "How do you feel today? Sinmara was Sark''s second inmand and Lith''s assigned babysitter whenever his family was otherwise upied.

    The rtionship between the two was still strained after the War of the Griffons but the prolonged cohabitation and her tender care were slowly smoothing things over. Lith could hold a grudge for a very long time but being ungrateful was out of the question.

    "Better. He flexed his arms and fingers before performing a few basic exercises with War. "My arms are back at 100%. The amputation had no longsting effect whatsoever."

    "Then why do you say it like it''s a bad thing?" Sinmara frowned at his dejected tone. "Because I can still feel it. I can still feel Jormun''s and Phloria''s blood dripping on my right hand. I hoped that one trauma would have canceled the other or at least that after losing my arm, my brain would understand that it has no fault. Lith replied.

    "I''m sorry. I know that I should''ve helped you but-" "I wasn''t trying to guilt trip you. Not this time." He added after a brief pause. "When can I go back to my regr life?

    "One second." Sinmara used her breathing technique, Forgotten Star, to check on his condition. "T''d say yesterday, but if you want some more free time, I can extend your sick leave:

    "No, thank you. I love the Desert, but I really miss my home.

    "Strong words for someone who spends most of his time inside the tower? She shrugged.

    Lith opened his mouth, but there was too much to say and it was too personal to share it with someone he resented.

    Because of the fusion, I''ve essed Solus'' memories and feelings. I shared her inner turmoil about our rtionship, the joy of being reunited with me, and the fear of losing me.

    She''s gone for weeks yet now she''s inside my head like it didn''t happen for years. I love staying in the tower because it helps her core and life force to recover. Also, every room is full of beautiful memories we made together:

    The ground floor of the tower was now permanently arranged in the form of their dream house and Lith couldn''t bear the thought of it having any other way.

    His family rejoiced at the good news about his health, especially Solus.

    "Thank the gods! How is Death Vision? Did it get any better?" "I have no clue." Lith shrugged. "Maybe it''s because of Grandma''s presence, but I never had to hold Death Vision back in the Desert. Everyone always looks normal when we stay here. By the way, howe you visited me so rarely?"

    Solus blushed up to her ears, mumbling gibberish in a tone too low to be audible. Then, she pretended to hear Aran and Leria calling her name and ran away.

    "By my Mom, how can I tell him that the prolonged fusion made a mess of my feelings? I now know every damn thing about him and he knows everything about me. including the things I shared with Nyka and Tista during our trip.

    It''s so embarrassing that it''s hard to even look him in the face

    "I''m happy for you, babe, and a little sad about the end of our unexpected vacation." Kam gave him a soft kiss. "For the first time since I''ve known you, there was nothing to worry about.

    "Your life force could only improve, there was no enemy waiting for us back in Lutia, nor some deadly mission you had to undertake upon your return. This was my first real vacation, with no deadline nor death threat. She chuckled at her own joke.

    "That''s wonderful news, dear!" Elina hugged him, sobbing. "My little baby''s life force is finally better"

    "Mom, I''ve been sitting in bed for days. Why are you acting as if I was about to die?" He tried to get free from her embrace, obtaining only a rain of kisses on his cheeks.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I know, but I can''t contain my happiness!" Unlike Kam, Elina was experiencing a normal pregnancy and Lith still had a hard time dealing with her mood swings.

    Amid the happy family picture, Raaz was the only sour note. He had kept an eye on Senton and Rena for days and things hadn''t gotten better not even after thetest scare. She was holding Senton''s hand in joy, but there was no affection in his eyes.

    If Rena were to turn around, she would discover that her husband considered that gesture like a chore.

    Raaz waited for Kam to get away from Lith and followed her to the kitchen.

    Tm sorry to bother you, especially after what you just said, but we need to talk." About what?" Kam was bbergasted.

    Both her pregnancy and Elina''s were progressing without a hitch, Solus was back to stay, and her rtionship with her father-inw had never been better. Yet from his tone, it sounded like there was something wrong.

    "Bad phrasing, sorry. I need your help with a family matter. Raaz told her everything he knew about the problems with Rena''s marriage and the arguments that Kam had missed due to her work.

    Her eyes went wide in surprise more than once, but she couldn''t find much fault in Senton''s actions.

    "He just needs time. I''ve walked more than one mile in his shoes and I can understand his feelings."

    "And so did I but I''ve never been cold toward my wife or children. Did you ever resent Lith for his sess and how it affected your life?" Raaz asked.

    "No." Kam shook her head. "Sometimes it''s really annoying, but when I feel like I''m getting overwhelmed, 1 just have to think about Zin and all the beautiful moments Lith and I have spent together to get over it."

    "My point exactly. Senton had weeks since the g yet nothing changed. What he needs now is help from someone who can truly understand what he''s going through Raaz helped Kam to prepare a hefty snack for Lith and followed her back into the living room of the tower.

    "Good gods, I have yet to get used to how much food Lith needs ever since he became a Divine Beast? Raaz pondered. "As stingy as he is, I thought he would have a stroke from the food expenses or at least that he would move to the Desert.

    "Sunlight and heat reduce his appetite and save him a pretty coin. I mean, look at this serving. For once it''s almost the size a regr human can eat."

    This is actually for me." Kam blushed, handing the trail to Lith in embarrassment.

    He noticed that it was filled with her favorite foods but said nothing after noticing her distress.

    "Senton, can you follow me for a minute? Your father just called me and he needs to talk with you." Raaz said.

    "What is it now? More nutjobs demand their high priest'' tomune with their god? Is another noble scum threatening our livelihood to get even with Lith?" Senton rolled his eyes, the annoyance he felt gave speed to his stride as they walked away.

    "It wasn''t enough having an Archmage for a son-inw. Oh, no, my father had to build a cult around him!

    "It''s nothing like that. This isn''t about Lith, son, this is about you." Raaz closed the door behind them, making Senton look around in surprise.

 Chapter 2490 Heavy Shadow (Part 2)

    2490 Heavy Shadow (Part 2)

    There was nomunication amulet in the room, just four chairs and Zekell was sitting on one of them. "Dad? What are you doing here? It''s the middle of the night in the Kingdom and you should be resting"

    "Who cares about sleep when my son needs me?" The cksmith walked in front of Senton, shaking his hand while patting his back.

    "Why would I need you? Everything is fine, Dad."

    "Really? Then why is it that you leave the room whenever Leria shows me thetest spell she''s learned? Howe you spend most of the time in Lutia and go back to your wife onlyte at night?" Zekell asked primly.

    "Also, I''m not blind nor deaf. I can hear you two arguing all the time. I can see the anger that drives your hammer while we work and how cold you are toward your wife and daughter.

    "If not for the fact that you are still a loving father to your triplets, I''d say you have been reced by a Doppelganger. Because a Skinwalker would do a much better job at impersonating my son."

    "That''s none of your business." Senton pursed his lips. "We are in a rough patch. Happens to all couples.

    "Indeed, but this one issting for weeks" Raaz said. "I consider you a good man and father, Senton, but I don''t like how you are treating my daughter, I think it''s time we address the elephant in the room, or rather, the Tiamat.

    "You never liked Lith very much and that''s fair since the feeling is mutual. Ever since the g, however, you have extended your displeasure to Rena and Leria as well. That''s uneptable.

    "Of course you say that! Senton snarled. "It''s yours the family emblem hung over my house. It''s your name that my wife and children use first to introduce themselves. I am nothing. I am worth nothing.

    "The clothes we weare from Lith and so do all the magical appliances we use every day. Wherever I turn I see his shadow and the worst part is that even my own father loves him more than me!"

    As he red at Zekell, fury left Senton''s eyes and was reced by hurt.

    "How can you say that?" Zekell jumped on his feet. "You are my pride. My only and beloved son. Everything I''ve built is for you and your children to inherit."

    "Pretty words for someone who always unted his son-inw instead of his real son during every vige meeting" Senton snarled. "You call Lith ''son'' and always go out of your way to please him.

    "You threw away thest name you''ve bought after many sacrifices and even built him a temple! I don''t remember you doing anything like that for me."

    "I unted Lith at the vige meetings because mentioning him gave us priority for repairs and tax reductions!" Zekell retorted. "Because with the money we saved, we could keep running our smithy even when we didn''t get much work.

    "I went out of my way to please Lith, as you say, because he brought me business. He paid for my craftsmanship and taught me things that a vige cksmith could only dream about. If it wasn''t for that, we would be still making horseshoes and plows

    "Instead, now I know how to purify Orichalcum. Fhandled enough silver to open a goldsmith. Where do you think i got the materials to practice? Back then, a single ingot of silver was worth more than our house and shop put together.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "And don''t get me started about the strollers, chessboards, and all that stuff that Lith invented. We''ve got a monopoly over many highly sought-after items because you married his sister and I worked my ass to be his to-go guy!

    "Even if he wasn''t my son-inw, I would have done the same if it meant making honest money. How many times have you seen me bow to a noble? Kiss their fucking ass and lick their shoes when asked?"

    "Too many to count them." Senton clenched his fists in anger at the memory of the past humiliations.

    "And when that''s changed? When we hung that damn Verhen family crest on our door. When the woman answering the bell introduced herself as Rena Verhen. Then it was our turn to have our asses kissed and our shoes licked, yet I don''t remember youining about that."

    "That''s different!" Senton stared his father in the eyes. their noses almost touching.

    "No, it''s not." Zekell didn''t budge. "It''s just that you were too happy being respected to care for the reason of our customers suddenly being all smiles. Son, I want you to lift the veil of your wounded ego and look at the life we''ve built for ourselves.

    "A life we wouldn''t have if not for our rtionship with Lith. I did everything you use me of doing, yet I did it for our family. Even when he was still Nana''s assistant, Lith hated us vigers.

    "Even after you married Rena, his attitude didn''t change so I had to make it change. I''ve never cared about what name any of us carries as long as we are safe. Lith''s presence protected us, brought us business,fort, and made us more money than we had ever dreamed about.

    "Sure, bad things happened from time to time because of him, but he always fixed his own mess. It''s thanks to him that Lutia isn''t a slimy little vige anymore. We live in a medium-sized city that continues expanding.

    "I had those nutjobs build him a temple because our city was dying and so were our friends. It wasn''t a matter of stroking Lith''s ego, but survival!"

    Zekell took a break to catch his breath and let his words sink.

    "Do you really miss living in our old house that was cold during winter and hot during summer? Do you miss our old smithy that was just a little more than a shack? Our house is now worthy of Derios and our smithy has a building of its own.

    "We are not vige cksmiths anymore. We are respected businessmen and artisans. You have four beautiful children who''ll never want for anything and not because Lith is going to pay for it, but because we will.

    "You should know better than anyone else that I spent countless hours at the furnace before and after you got married to Rena. Sure, I have exploited Lith''s name, but only to live in peace without noble scum hazing us.

    "I have also exploited Lith''s fame to draw customers, but every copper coin we made came from our hard work. I am grateful to Lith because I considered him my patron who gave me an opportunity, but I was the one who seized it.

    "Do you deny it?" The old cksmith''s stare was as cold as steel and as hot as his forge.

    "No." Senton lowered his gaze, remembering how the family business had grown over the years through painstaking effort and sacrifice.

    The Proudhammer house could have been worthy of a country noble if Zekell hadn''t reinvested every coin he made into his own business instead of squandering them into luxury items and enchanted clothes.

 Chapter 2491 Heavy Shadow (Part 3)

    2491 Heavy Shadow (Part 3)

    The Proudhammer shop had now be a three stories building that kept getting new floors as the number of their regr clients grew. Also, father and son had opened a branch shop and bought a warehouse in Derios,

    Thanks to the public Warp Gate, their merchandise could now be sold in every city of the Kingdom connected to the dimensionalwork.

    Senton knew all too well that Lith had nothing to do with theirtest sess because expanding into the national market had been Senton''s own idea and Zekell had supported the project despite the risks and the huge starting expenses.

    "If you understand the importance of our business. rtionship with Lith, then stop barking like a mad dog and tell me what the heck is really troubling you!" Zekell grabbed his son by the shoulders and forced him to sit down.

    Senton was younger and stronger but his spirit was broken. Throwing his resentment in Zekell''s face had felt good for a minute until he had listened to his own words and realized how foolish they were.

    Senton felt ashamed and dirty inside for disrespecting his father''s sacrifices.

    "We are here because we care about you." Raaz had remained silent until that moment, knowing that he had no right to intrude between father and son. "I think I know what''s bothering you, but it''s up to you to say it. "Admitting it to yourself is the hardest part but also the first step to recovery. I can''t take that from you! Senton didn''t say a word for a while, raising his eyes from time to time only to make sure that Lith wasn''t there.

    "I knew that Lith wasn''t human since his eighteenth birthday so I didn''t get angry at him when Night''s goons broke into our house and tried to kill us. I had been warned about the risks and I epted them.

    "When Orp- I mean, Meln exposed Lith''s true nature and forced us to escape to the Desert, I didn''t me him either. We were all safe, sound, and together. What I can''t tolerate is that sometimes I feel like Leria isn''t my daughter anymore."

    He held his head between his hands, clenching it in frustration.

    "Her fascination for magic, the desire to Awaken, and all the attention she received in the Royal Court turned my little girl in a stranger that I can barely recognize. I have no authority nor influence over Leria and worst of all, there''s nothing I can teach her.

    "At least Rena carries her same magical blood and gets respected because she''s Lith''s sister, but what am I? I''m just a nameless member of the family. A useless father who can''t do anything for his daughter except entrust her to another man!

    "How am I supposed to live with that, Dad?" Senton turned toward Zekell. "How can I look my wife in the eyes and tell her that we''ve lost Leria?"

    "I don''t know." The cksmith lowered his eyes and sat down as well.

    "But I do and so does Kam. Raaz said, drawing their attention. "When Lith was little, there was nothing I could do for him either. By the time he was four, he was out hunting with Selia. At six he spent most of his time at Nana''s.

    "The more his powers grew, the more distant I felt him bing. I''m a farmer, Senton. Almost twenty years have passed since Lith''s birth and I''m still just a farmer.

    "While my son went to the academy, joined the military, and then became an Archmage after traveling throughout the Kingdom, I never left Lutia once. To this day, all I know how to do is tend my fields.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "My greatest aplishment as a father is spending an evening teaching Lith how to read and write when he was three and then carving for him his alphabetical ruler. That''s it. For everything else, Lith needed someone else.

    "I felt helpless and useless just like you did, but the pride I felt for my son eclipsed my wounded ego. When Lith started to be famous, I had to entrust him to Lark first and then Mirim because no matter how much I wanted to support him, I was a liability.

    "Not finding faults in him, the nobles would point their powdered fingers at me, the country bumpkin with the silly ent who can''t tell a sd fork from a fish''s. It pained me to abandon my child whenever he went to a g and miss the honors he received, but I did it dly because it was the only way I could protect him.

    "Your rtionship with your daughter is in danger not because of her powers or the attention she received in the Royal Court but because you are pushing her away. Sure, you can''t teach her about magic, but you can still teach her how to be a good person.

    "You can show Leria the importance of hard work and honesty. Being a parent is more than authority and power. It''s leading by example and protecting your children by themselves,

    "Without her father, Leria might be an entitled little monster who thinks that might makes right. Is that what you want? Raaz asked.

    "No, but-"

    "I understand how you feel." Kam stepped forward. "Everywhere I go, I''m just ''Lith''s wife, just like you are Rena''s husband. People never bother remembering my name and some really think that Lady Magus is actually my title.

    "No matter how hard I work, everything I achieve is because of Lith'' whereas every mistake I make is ''because she''s an ipetent gold digger lucky enough to pick a winning horse." Her face expressed all the disgust and anger she felt for repeating those words.

    "My daughter is still in my womb and I''ve already met lots of hostility and been called the most obnoxious names. When Elysia will be born, I won''t be able to help her with her hybrid nature.

    "I won''t be able to protect her from the cruelty of people and I will have to work my ass off just to learn enough about magic to follow her around. I''m terrified, Senton. I''m afraid of not being able to be a parent to Elysia because we won''t have much inmon.

    "I''m afraid of Solus being a better mother than me thanks to her bond with Lith. Do you have any idea how it feels?" She asked.

    "Yes." Senton nodded. "It was the same for me when Lith took Leria and Aran to camp. I couldn''t stop her from almost burning down the house, yet he did. He seeded where I failed''

    "Really?" She knitted her eyebrows. "How did you deal with that?"

    "When she got back home, Leria was still my little girl. She spent the next few days showing me everything she had learned and trying to use her powers to help me with my work." Senton smiled at the memory.

    "Lith was her magic teacher, but I was still her dad. She learned from him but she did it for me. You should have seen how happy Leria was for igniting the coal or tempering the hot steel with her magic."

    "What''s changed since then?" Zekell asked. "Why are you so angry now?"

 Chapter 2492 Heavy Shadow (Part 4)

    2492 Heavy Shadow (Part 4)

    "Because at the time Leria wanted to be like me when she grows up. Now she wants to be like Lith." Senton clenched his hands in fury, but it was soon ovee by despair. "She wants to go to the White Griffon and be a mage"

    "That''s idiotic!" The old cksmith blurted out, drawing Raaz''s and Kam''s reproachful gazes. "I mean, sure, Leria may not be a cksmith. Heck, she might even not be fully human if she chooses a different life force.

    "Yet that doesn''t make her one bit less your daughter or my granddaughter. It''s not the profession that makes the person but the values they live for. I''m proud of what you have be, Senton, but not because you''ve taken up the family business.

    "I''m proud of you because you are a good man and a good father. Because you live an honest life and know the importance of hard work. If you pass these values upon Leria, she''ll be like you even if she decides to be a politician

    "He''s right. I couldn''t teach Lith anything about hunting or magic but I''m certain that without my example, he may have grown into a much colder and crueler man." Raaz said, having no idea how true his words were.

    "You can only do everything that is in your children''s best interest and show them the right way. It''s up to them to follow it. That''s what a parent is. The only way Leria will be like Lith is if he''s her only role model since you''ve pushed her away."

    Kam nodded, feeling that she needed to hear those words as much as Senton.

    "Let''s say you are right." Senton said. "How can I live with my head held high if I''m constantly under the shadow of my brother-inw and my daughter? Senton asked.

    "That''s easy." Kam said without an ounce of hesitation. "Think about the life you have andpare it with what you had before. I wouldn''t give up on my family for the world.

    "Sure, the insults hurt and I''d love to be appreciated for myself rather than for being on Lith''s bandwagon, but it''s a small price to pay."

    "I agree." Raaz nodded. "T''d love to have yed a bigger role in my children''s lives and not have relied so much on Lith. Yet thanks to him Tista is still alive and my family has never been happier. That''s the only thing that matters to me."

    Senton mulled over those words for a while, his wounded pride battling with his logic.

    Lith is a cumbersome figure but without him, I wouldn''t have married Rena. Even if I did, Leria would have still had her magical powers and we''d have to way to teach her how to control them.

    "Without Lith, Falco would have been born dead. Senton shivered at the thought of how close he and Rena hade to losing their son to the Strangler.

    "Thanks for this little intervention, but now I need time to think." Senton stood up, shaking the hands of the members of his family. "I know you are right, but it doesn''t feel that way. I let this fester for too long."

    "Don''t worry." Zekell pushed the hand away and hugged his son, patting his back. "If you need to talk or a solid kick in the ass, you know where to find me. Be smart and don''t force me to show you why I choose the Proudhammer name.

    I''il literally knock some sense into you if needed." Zekell mmed his fist on his own hand to emphasize the concept.

    "I know you will, Dad. Senton smiled.

    "I know that I wasn''t invited and that this isn''t my ce, but Rena is my sister and I have something to say as well." Those present gasped as one of the shadows in the room rose into a human form.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Contrary to what Senton feared, it wasn''t Lith who had eavesdropped on the whole conversation but Trion.

    The Demon of the Darkness walked right in front of Senton in a simr way to how Zekell had done earlier, bringing his face millimeters away from Senton''s.

    "Before making your mind, think about Meln and me. We both faced your same doubts, living our lives in the attempt to pander to our wounded pride. Before doing or saying anything that you can''t take back, think about how we ended up."

    Trion turned around without waiting for a reply. His body reverted to a two-dimensional shadow and slipped under the door.

    Tm sorry. I didn''t know he was here." Raaz scratched his head in embarrassment. "I didn''t invite him because I wanted to keep this conversation private."

    "Don''t worry, Raaz. No harm, no foul." Senton replied. "Maybe you should have invited Trion'' He actually thought.

    Once the others left the room and Senton alone, he looked at himself in the nearest mirror.

    He saw his own angry gaze and his hands still clenched in outrage. He remembered seeing the same attitude and hearing words simr to his own back when he had watched Orpal''s manifesto video.

    He remembered all the pain Orpal had inflicted upon his family and especially on his father. Senton could almost see Orpal''s shadow patting his back and he didn''t like it one bit.

    ***

    A few dayster, Lith returned to Lutia and life resumed as usual. Kam would go to work as a Constable and investigate the traitors to the Crown while Lith went to one of the six great academies to hold lessons about Void Magic.

    For a while, he had refused every invitation and went to the Lightning Griffon once every three lessons. He would always find an opening for "casually remarking how the ce gave him a weird feeling and recounting a detail of the day he had been denied admission.

    The Royals, Vastor, and Marth were always there and Lith would follow up by thanking the former for listening to the wise words of histe friend Count Lark and thetter for taking such good care of him as a student.

    Lith was always polite, keeping sarcasm out of his voice, but that didn''t stop the current Headmaster from cursing Linnea''s name nor did it spare the students of the Lightning Griffon from being humiliated.

    The other Headmasters and the students from the other academies hated their guts because even though the Lightning Griffon had turned down the Supreme Magus,

    it was still the only other ce where he agreed to teach. Everyone considered it an unfair honor and an insult to Lith.

    Brinja couldn''t care less about the controversy and neither could Lith. Yet while for her it just proved how deep the bond between the Distars and the Verhens was. for him, it was just petty revenge.

    Unfortunately for him, his tactic was too sessful. To quell the increasing rivalry between academies and the open hostilities toward the Lightning Griffon, the Royals asked Lith to rotate his lessons between the six great academies.

    Feeling somewhat guilty for sparking new conflicts while the dust of war was still settling and after receiving an earful from anyone he asked for an opinion, Lith ended up epting Solus soon joined him, her participation receiving a warm wee.

 Chapter 2493 Strain Of Power (Part 1)

    2493 Strain of Power (Part 1)

    Not only did Solus'' presence make the lessons much more enjoyable for the male fourth year students, but she also taught Void Magic from a different angle by using one-step exercises that emphasized a single aspect of an elemental pair of elements.

    Her methods were just as valid as Lith''s but they offered an alternative approach to those who had been struggling to follow his teachings.

    Time passed, Kam entered the fourth month of pregnancy and Brinja gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Mi Distar, named in honor of herte grandmother Mirim. As the personal healer of both mother and daughter, Lith was summoned to deliver the baby.

    Mi was born with a head full of brown hair with blue streaks all over, making Brinja cry with joy the moment Lith handed her the baby.

    "She''s identical to my mother." Brinja said amid tears.

    "Let''s hope that Mi has inherited Mom''s talent for magic as well."

    Lith couldn''t see any resemnce between the serene, youthful beauty of thete Mirim and the screaming. wrinkly goblin in Brinja''s arms. Yet he had long since learned to keep such thoughts to himself and that all newborns were just as beautiful as their parents imed.

    After giving the mother and daughter a full check-up and cleaning the room, the rest of the family and guests were allowed to enter. Headmaster Distar rushed to his wife''s side, checking them both with his best diagnostic spell before questioning Lith.

    "Did you make sure to remove every piece of the centa?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded.

    "Did you remember to untangle the umbilical cord before the delivery? A prolongedck of oxygen could impair the brain.

    "Yes,"

    "Did you keep track of the blood loss? If Brinja doesn''t get life force now, in her weakened state even a small internal wound could go into sepsis and kill her."

    "Yes. I also already gave her a blood potion to stay on the safe side and rejuvenated her." Lith was one of the only three rejuvenators in the entire Kingdom.

    It was a matter of great prestige and one of the two reasons the Marquis hadn''t delivered his daughter himself. The second was that he was aware of Lith''s nature as Awakened and of his ability to heal wounds with a breath.

    ''I can''t risk stuttering a magic word or fumbling a hand sign. Treating your own rtive is already a healer''s taboo, but two at the same time is even worse. Ainz had never failed a spell, but the idea of losing his wife and child made even the unlikely seem probable.

    "Thank the gods and thank you!" Headmaster Ainz held Lith in a bear hug before returning to his family.

    "The man was so nervous that I almost had to knock him out a couple of times. Marth said while entering the room along with Ryssa and Kam.

    "I can regenerate from almost any wound yet I seem to recall that you were no less worried for me." Ryssa held

    his right arm and yfully squeezed his hand like during the delivery. "Vastor had to reassure you more often than me."

    "Well, yes, but Dhiral- The Headmaster of the White Griffon blushed in embarrassment.

    "Is a hybrid and heals almost as well." She chuckled.

    "Does it always take this long?" Kam had waited with the others for hours in the antechambers instead of a few minutes like for Sark.

    With Elysia growing in her womb, the wait had scared her almost as much as Ainz.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I don''t know how it works for humans. Ryssa shrugged. "For me, it took a while, but maybe it was because it was my firstborn. Things might be easier for the second. What do you think, dear?"

    "Another child already?" The redness flushed away from Marth''s cheeks, making him pale.

    "Why not? The Kingdom is at peace now and Dhiral could use someone to y with. The lesser the age gap, the better they''ll get along."

    "I''m sorry, I need a drink." The Headmaster of the White Griffon rushed to the refreshments stand, toasting to the new mother, father, and their child.

    "Three drinks so early in the morning?" Kam looked at Marth with worry. "Are things going so badly with Dhiral?"

    "Not really. The Dryad sighed deeply, letting her smile fade now that her husband couldn''t see her anymore. "I mean, he''s always a handful, and every time he manages to escape from the crib, we have a heart attack until we find him.

    "That said, the Royal Court is getting used to my presence, especially after the King''s outburst during thest g. Duke''s parents would still prefer for him a human woman, but they are now too afraid of him to speak up"

    "Why afraid?" Lith asked. "Is everything alright?"

    "Not really." Ryssa shrugged. "Duke has threatened his parents to cut them off our lives if they don''t behave but the real issue is his temper. Ever since he fused with the White Griffon, he is struggling with the aftereffects.

    "The only things that calm him down are Dhiral and your Void Magic lessons, Lith. They keep his mind busy. While you were in the Desert to heal, Duke became a nervous wreck until he managed to contact you and get your advice.

    "No matter what he does, everyck of progress reminds Duke of the knowledge he has lost and it''s driving him insane."

    "That''s weird. Ainz doesn''t seem to have any problem." Kam said.

    "He didn''t conjure the mana from the ck Griffon, he just activated the Royal Array." The Dryad shook her head. "He has experienced but a fraction of what Duke went through. That''s why I''d like to have another baby.

    "It would give a new focus to his mind and keep his body in the bedroom

    "Sounds like a n" Kam nodded. "It sure would work on Lith.

    "Hey!" He blushed, not liking the private details of his life to be shared.

    After a while, mother and daughter fell asleep. The Marquis wanted to spend some time alone with them so he politely kicked his guests out.

    "Do you think that Brinja will be alright ?" Kam asked after crossing the Warp Gate to Lutia.

    "It was a normal childbirth. Nothing went wrong. Why?" "Because it''s Selia''s turn next and then..." Her gaze was meant to fall on her womb, but her breasts blocked her vision, no matter how much she pushed her stomach forward,

    "It will be yours." Lith''s gaze fell onto her breasts as well. staring at them with a mix of focus and awe that she recognized as his perverted face. "Is it me or are the twins still growing?"

    "A little whereas there''s still no trace of a baby bump. Is it normal?" Kam had asked that very same question to every woman in the family and received constant reassurances but she was worried nheless.

    "Yes." Lith rolled his eyes. "Good gods, Kami, you have three Guardians protecting you. Do you really think something can go wrong?"

    "Yes." She snarled, her teeth shapeshifting into fangs in annoyance. "Our baby is the first of her kind so there is nothing certain about this. Maybe what''s okay for others means there''s something wrong with me."

 Chapter 2494 Strain Of Power (Part 2)

    2494 Strain of Power (Part 2)

    "Point taken, but look." Lith took Kam''s hands, using his breathing technique to check on the baby and a mind link to share with his wife his senses and expertise. Elysia was now over 8 centimeters (3,2) long. Her organs, limbs, and bones were present and developing how they were supposed to. Her life force and mana flow were weak but steady, just like her heartbeat.

    Kam clenched Lith''s hands, shapeshifting her skin into scales as he did the same. Dragons could share their feelings through physical contact and Kam had be reliant on that method to get reassured beyond what mere words could achieve.

    She could feel Lith''s love, calm, and confidence that everything was going well. Also, there was more to that. Elysia reacted to her mother''s change and shapeshifted as well. Her face turned into a ck te and a small tail came out of her spine.

    The baby was now covered in ck scales smaller than a fish''s and had pointed bony protuberances where her horns and wings would be. Kam found Elysia to be no less beautiful in that form than as a human and was reassured feeling that Lith thought the same.

    On top of that, the mix of scales and breathing technique allowed the baby to share her feelings as well. Elysia was serene, weing the sudden psychic presence of her parents with joy.

    Even though she had no concept of love, she still felt it and returned it in spades. Kam''s heartbeat made Elisya feel safe while Lith''s inner fire spread warmth through her small being. Also, she was happy to get the opportunity toin.

    Almost an entire hour had passed since herst meal and she was hungry,

    "Thank you. I feel much better now" Kam hugged him, but her grumbling stomach ruined the tenderness of the moment.

    She bolted into the kitchen, using her ws to slice the bread, Origin mes to instantly boil the water, and magic to prepare herself a meal. Kam had just achieved the deep yellow core yet her magical prowess bordered on the bright green.

    It reassured Lith that she would be safe when they were apart yet worried him for the future.

    "What Kami is experiencing is no different from what happened to Duke: He thought. "The power and the skills that the pregnancy is bestowing upon her won''tst forever.

    "Sure, they are nothingpared to the White Griffon, but Duke experienced it for a few minutes whereas Kami has them for months. If she gets too used to these abilities, once she loses them it will be traumatic.

    It''s one of the reasons I don''t want her to exert herself. Without Elysia, her strength and vigor will go back to being those of a normal woman''

    ***

    During the following days, Lith and Solus would go back to Lutia right after finishing the Void Magic lessons and go straight to the tower after checking that everything was alright with their family.

    Elina''s pregnancy was at the same stage as Kam''s and much to Elina''s relief, the morning sickness was gone and her baby was as fit as a fiddle as well. She was glowing something that Raaz reminded her of several times a day.

    The renewed peace along with the serene work in the fields and the idea of bing a father again made wonders for his mood. The trauma from Orpal''s torture was still there, bing more visible after sunset when the darkness brought him bad memories.

    Yet he was fighting his inner demons one day at a time and practice made him better at keeping them in a corner of his mind.

    Senton was working hard on himself and in the smithy yet he suffered every morning that Leria left for her magic pre-school in the Desert.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As for Tista, she spent her time either among humans in her Red Demon form or among beasts in her human form, in the hope to make up her mind. Despite her best efforts, she was still at square one while the divide between her life forces kept growing.

    Shapeshifting was getting slower and more painful as time passed, the human side rejecting the foreign limbs like the tail and wings. The worst part about her condition was that no one could help her.

    It wasn''t an illness to be fixed but a life-changing decision whose consequences she would have to bear.

    "Damn if this is hard." Lith grumbled when his tier one Creation Magic spell, ceholder 25, proved to be a dud as well.

    After one failure too many, he didn''t bother giving them a name anymore, using only a number to keep track of the theory he was currently putting into practice.

    During their prolonged fusion, the Eyes of Menadion had recovered most of their powers and the same had happened to the Library. So, when Baba Yaga had used Creation Magic in front of them, the Eyes'' scan had brought much more data than usual and the Library had written it down for them to not overload their brains.

    After they had gone back to their respective bodies and the Eyes had reverted to their weakened state, the parchment was still there, allowing them to study its contents. Lith and Solus hadbined that knowledge with what they had learned over time from Sark to grasp the basics of Creation Magic.

    The Davross dagger that Lith had created with a wave of his hand hadsted for but a few seconds before crumbling. The cracked mana crystals would have caused a big explosion if not for being just copies conjured by the Workshop.

    "Yeah, this sucks." Solus panted like a bellows as the product of her Fuck my Life mark 6 spell faded as well. "It''s a frigging tier one spell, yet it takes so much mana that I can perform it twice before needing to rest. And we are inside the tower!"

    "What did you expect? Lith shrugged. "Creation Magic works the same way as Silverwing''s spells. It requiresbining elemental and Spirit Magic with arrays but also for a single mage to cast the spell and spend the necessary mana.

    "It''s no wonder that only two people on Mogar can use Creation Magic:

    "Three." Solus wheezed. "Three people if you count Balkor. Five if you add us. Yet even I find that a stretch"

    She conjured a chair to sit down and a ss of water that she gulped avidly.

    "Balkor is ahead of us but I don''t consider him a Creation Magic user either." Lith shook his head. "The purpose of Creation Magic is to endlessly recycle precious ingredients so that nothing goes to waste.

    "What we do, instead, destroys everything andsts for a time too short to be of any use in battle. It''s ast-ditch move at best and an expensive one at that.

    ''Agreed Solus replied via the mind link. ''We can''t even use anything less than Davross without the materials crumbling even before we are done weaving a tier one spell

    "Why the mind link? Didn''t we agree to talk more to put boundaries between our minds? Lith asked.

    I''m too tired to talk. Cut me some ck.

    ***

    Kornce: More novels have been added to the update list. Check out the discord for faster updates.

 Chapter 2495 Creation Magic (Part 1)

    2495 Creation Magic (Part 1)

    "Im notining Lith yfully ruffled her hair. I happy to have you back, Solus. I missed you a lot. "

    "You don''t have to say that every day but it''s much appreciated. She blushed a bit. ''I missed you more!"

    Lith returned to the center of the room, checking from the control panel that the tower''s energy reserves were replenished.

    The Workshop''s ability to conjure the necessary amounts of Davross and powerful materials for the experiments of two mages at the same time took a huge toll on its power core.

    On top of that, in its iplete state the tower couldn''t process the entire flow of world energy from the mana geyser, and part of the avable energy was always drained to fuel the other floors and give Solus her human. body.

    Lith had no idea of what would happen if the tower were to run out of power and no desire to find out. From the pocket dimension copsing on itself and destroying everything stored inside to Solus going back to being a voice in his head, there were plenty of nightmare scenarios to choose from.

    "There''s only so long until Kamies back from work. I''m going to take another shot. Since you are resting Solus, please take a good look with the Eyes and tell me if you understand what I''m doing wrong

    While Balkor was forced to study Creation Magic from the theoretical standpoint and practice it only when he believed to have made a breakthrough to not waste the priceless materials Sark awarded him for his services, Lith cheated as usual.

    Practicing Creation Magic on stone and even silver was Just a very mana expensive way to destroy them. The worst part about learning Creation Magic was that only someone who had already mastered it could use regr materials to fuel its spells.

    During thest month, Lith and Solus had destroyed hundreds of kilos of Davross, countless precious white mana crystals, and a forest''s worth of Dryad''s gift but they could afford it since they were just mere copies created by the tower.

    Even a Guardian would have cried blood for such a waste. On top of that, not even one of Mogar''s Chosen would have ever learned the basics of Creation Magic since Sark used cloaking spells to protect her secrets from the likes of Dragon Eyes.

    Only in front of those with which she was willing to share her knowledge did she use Creation Magic in its pure form, even simplifying it for teaching purposes.

    At the level Lith and Solus currently were, they could shape and Forgemaster an artifact but they had yet to understand how to remove the imprint and enchantments.

    Darkness magic weakened the bonds in the metal, allowing the light element to rearrange them in the desired shape, working respectively as a crucible and a mold. Then, came the Forgemastering part.

    Even a tier one Creation Magic spell required to weave an array epassing the Forgemastering circles required to draw in the world energy and the enchantments needed to craft the various pseudo cores.

    At the same time, the mage had to factor in and adjust the output for the amplification effect of magic metals. Useless to say, Davross had the best durability and could withstand being manhandled by amateurs but it also had the greatest amplification effect.

    Too much mana and the metal would copse due to the damage incurred from darkness magic, too little and the enchantments wouldn''t take. Either way, the metal would be ruined unless properly purified by a master of Origin mes. Lith took a deep breath to focus, recalling in detail what he had seen Sark do countless times before trying to replicate her technique.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "First the Forgemastering circle for the world energy.'' He thought as a small silver array appeared over his palms. Then the enchantments andstly a second array to keep the different circles stable and separated.

    The various pseudo cores materialized in the form of concentric sequences of runes arranged in the order with which they had to be applied. A second silver array sealed both the world energy Lith had umted in the Forgemastering circle and the mana he had infused in the spells.

    ''Now I''m going to shape the Davross. A wave of his hand conjured the Forge he had received as a prize for taking down the Golden Griffon.

    It was now smaller due to Lith purifying it from the Darwen with a mix of Origin mes and moltenva. Darwen was the sum of all the impurities in a metal vein that condensed over the centuries as the constant flow of world energy turned silver into Davross.

    The Darwen''s resistance to magic outshined even the gold-veined white marble and was impossible to find it outside raw Davross. Purifying the metal with just Origin mes also meant to destroy the impurity and lose the precious substance.

    Hence Lith had focused his Origin mes to melt solely the Davross and then used theva from the Crucible to liquefy the collected Darwen and "purify" it from the residual traces of Davross, Adamant, and Orichalcum trapped inside the impurities.

    The darkness element flooded the mystic metal, using its own amplification effect against the Davross itself to turn it into a malleable state.

    The following wave of light element reshape the metal in the form of Lith''s choosing and was also supposed to purge the residual darkness that would otherwise act as an artificial impurity during the enchanting process.

    Lith had already tried using Void Magic to switch the elements, but using two unique branches of magic at the same time had proven to be too hard for him. He had mastered neither and their interaction generated unexpected consequences.

    After realizing that mixing the two disciplines only made things harder for him, he had preferred focusing on one subject at a time and to try again once his mastery had improved.

    The block of Davross shapeshifted into another dagger of exquisite design, the now malleable metal rearranging itself using a hard-lightttice as a scaffold. The only limit to the level of detail was Lith''s imagination.

    Then, thettice burst outward to not leave empty sockets as the Davross solidified and purge the lingering darkness in one go. Once the other two spells faded, Lith applied the second step of Creation Magic and had the arrays sealed in his hands expand outward.

    The external circle connected the dagger to the enchantments, the strings of runes folding into pseudo cores that seeped inside the Davross while the umted world energy flooded it.

    Lith had to constantly bnce the world energy he conjured with the mana he poured and then fix the pseudo cores as the mystic metal amplified their power. To make matters worse, everything happened in just a couple of seconds and only because Lith took it slow on purpose.

    "Fuck me sideways!" He said when he felt that hecked the strength for thest enchantment and was forced to let it go.

    Albeit iplete, the enchanted dagger reflected the yellow lighting from the tower, turning it white. The mana crystals bonded with the metal released sparks as they discharged the excess energy from the Forgemastering process.

 Chapter 2496 Creation Magic (Part 2)

    2496 Creation Magic (Part 2)

    ''How did it go? Lith was now panting as well and his violet mana ran on fumes.

    It went great!'' Solus gave him a telepathic apuse. "You really are a talented Forgemaster. By my Mom, I wish I had a violet core too. At my current level, Ick the raw power that good Creation Magic requires.

    "Even using Domination to simplify things can only bring me so far. "

    "Wait, you managed to mix Domination with Creation Magic? Lith blurted out in surprise, receiving a nod in reply. Also, are you telling me that I just seeded?"

    "Define  seeding"

    A cracking noise had him turn back to the dagger as the first fissure appeared on its surface. The Davross screeched like an agonizing beast as the internal pressure due to thepressed metal and faulty spells built up.

    "Was that sarcasm? How do you call this talent?"

    ''Are you kidding me? Solus replied with equal outrage. "Not only did you make everything by yourself instead of splitting the tasks with me like we are used to, but you also managed to stabilize the dagger for much longer than before.

    Usually the Davross would crack right after the Creation Spell ispleted and crumble in an instant. This time, instead, the cracks have yet to reach the mana crystals She had just finished thinking those words that the damage teared the gemstones apart, making them explode.

    A snap of Lith''s fingers returned the conjured materials in their energy form that couldn''t hurt them due to bearing Lith''s signature.

    Way to jinx it. He snorted. "What were you saying about Domination?

    First, I didn''t jinx anything: Solus pouted. The Forgemastery seeded, but the Creation Magic failed hence it wasn''t a matter of if it would explode, only of when. Second, using Domination during the process is not that hard if, like me, you don''t have enough mana to conjure powerful enchantments.

    "I use it to cleanse the materials from darkness magic before imbuing the pseudo cores and aligning them with the mana circtory system. I also use Domination to nudge the Forgemastering process in the right direction whenever I feel I''m losing control. She sighed both physically and telepathically.

    "If you can do this much already then why are you sighing? Lith asked.

    "Because I''m still behind you. She replied. "My core greatly limits the number the enchantments I can conjure with Creation Magic so I have enough focus left to use Domination as a crutch.

    "Yet despite that, my creations blow up the moment I''m done Forgemastering. It doesn''t make me feel better, it just makes my failures more aggravating Solus was so angry with herself that she dispelled her human body and went back into the stone ring to hasten her recovery.

    "Well, what did I do wrong this time? Knowing there was nothing he could say to make her feel better, Lith just changed the topic.

    You failed topletely remove the darkness element and the pseudo cores didn''t ovep properly: She replied while showing him a rey of the Creation Magic process as she had seen it through the Eyes of Menadion.

    Using Davross as a base material presents another unexpectedplication. You did factor in for its amplifying ability but you failed to take into ount that Davross has its own flow of world energy.

    "When you exploited its ability to channel the single elements, part of the darkness magic you used to destabilize and reshape its form got carried along with the world energy. It created a flow of impurities that escaped your detection.

    "Even if you didn''t fail to align the pseudo cores, the dagger would have copsed the moment the lingering darkness clogged the mana circtory system and sent it into overload.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "How did I fail to align the pseudo cores, exactly? Lith tilted his head while reying in his head the different steps of the Creation Magic spell. It''s something I''ve done countless times in the past and this never happened before:

    That''s because you are used to doing things one step at a time: Solus replied. "Bonding, runes, then pseudo cores, andstly mana pathways. With Creation Magic, instead, it all takes ce at the same moment.

    ''Each pseudo core experiences a different level of resistance from the mana circtory system so even if you push them with the same force, they end up in different positions.

    A misalignment means that the pseudo cores don''t receive enough energy from the mana crystals to sustain their existence or that when two enchantments are activated simultaneously, they short-circuit each other.

    In the former case, the pseudo core fades after a while. Its disappearance disrupts the bnce of the remaining enchantments and triggers a domino effect that leads to the destruction of their vessel.

    In thetter, instead, the artifact would appear stable but blow up in your face when activated."

    ''Since I didn''t even have the time to imprint the dagger, I made the first kind of mistake, right?'' Lith asked.

    ''Actually, you did both: Solus highlighted the various parts out of alignment. ''But yeah, the first one caused your piece to crumble.

    ''Damn, this is hard!"

    "What did you expect? She chuckled. That we would breeze through something that baffles even millennia-old beings?"

    "Yes! I mean no. I mean, heck, this is still tier one Creation Magic and the so-called "easy part". Dismantling is much harder than Forgemastering because it requires undoing enchantments and imprints made by someone else without ruining the base materials.

    If you consider that after over a month we are still stuck at this level and we still have no clue about Rebirth Magic we

    ''Slow down, Lith: Solus cut him off. ''In less than a month we have tackled Creation Magic and Void Magic. Do you think is wise to also worry about Rebirth Magic?

    ''Don''t you think we are already doing enough? We spend our mornings teaching and the afternoon experimenting

    "Do you want to abandon your family, stop sleeping, or what?" Her question remained unanswered so she continued.

    Also, we''ve learned from experience that it''s pointless to bang our heads against an unsolved problem non-stop. You always get your best ideas while you are rxing because you finally give your brain the time to unwind and piece together everything we learn through our failures.

    "We have amassed a crapload of data that needs unraveling. Adding more will do us no good. We need a break:

    "You are right, Solus. I think we should- She came out of the ring, conjuring another block of Davross that she tried and failed to enchant with Creation Magic. ''Wow. Hypocritical much?

    "No, smartass. She panted even in her mind. ''My blue core also limits the amount of practice I can do before getting tired. With this, I just performed half the number of your experiments. Now I''m ready to throw in the towel.

    Thanks to the tower and Lith''s presence, Solus would quickly recharge her body, but the mental exhaustion had reached the point where any further exertion would make her fall asleep.

    Just half a day had passed and her breathing technique had already lost most of its efficacy, needing a full night of rest to reset.

 Chapter 2497 Three Years Ago (Part 1)

    2497 Three Years Ago (Part 1)

    By the way, where''s Kami?'' Solus checked the pocket watch, noticing that the Constable shift was supposed to be over for a while now. I''m surprised she has yet toe here and drag your ass home!

    "At the Ernas household: Lith replied.

    To help with Quy''s marriage preparations?"

    "No, to beat the crap out of Orion and blow off some steam. Lith replied.

    "Wait, what?" Solus blurted out in surprise.

    Ernas Mansion, at the same time.

    "Gods if I needed this. Kam said with a rxed smile on her face. "Thank you for recing Jirni as my sparring partner, Orion."

    "The pleasure is all mine. He replied while dodging a kick to his shin followed by an elbow strike.

    Kam kept her Voidfeather armor''s settings on defense so that the Adamant wouldn''t affect the heaviness of her blows nor further boost her physical prowess. She was already using her full mightbined with fusion magic.

    Any more and even with the protection of his armor Orion might have suffered a real wound.

    "Are you sure this is safe?" Zinya watched the sparring session with bathed breath.

    "Yes, don''t worry? Jirni patted her hands. "My husband limits himself to defensive maneuvers. He won''tnd a single blow, Usually, I''d be the one with your sister on the mat, but at my age pregnancy is risky and I can''t take any chance

    "I see. Zinya needed sheer willpower to not twist her face in envy.

    Jirni is ten years older than me, yet she still can have another baby. Gods, why have you forsaken me?"

    The truth, however, was that Jirni couldn''t afford to spar with anyone without them noticing how stronger she had be due to her poor control over Awakening. Orion, instead, could still mask his prowess behind the abyssal gap inbat experience with Kam.

    He needed someone who could push him on the ropes even when he used fusion magic to temper his body. He fought while pretending to use the body-enhancing features of his armor while he was actually learning how to adjust his fighting style to the different effects of fusion magic.

    He was getting used to triggering earth fusion to soften the blows, darkness fusion to limit the pain, and air fusion to be faster. Two elements were his limit so he had to conjure earth fusion only when he was about to get hit.

    Kam was the perfect sparring partner. Strong and fast enough to challenge him but also too inexperienced and unfamiliar with his skill level to notice that he was learning from her more than she was learning from him.

    The matchsted until Orion ran out of energy.

    Elysia provided Kam with the equivalent of a weak but constant breathing technique, making it hard for her to get tired. Orion, instead, was mentally exhausted from using magic for a prolonged time and physically sore from the elemental flow.

    His joints and muscles were still those of a man over forty years old and the strain from the effects of fusion magic made them ache.

    "Do you really need to do this, Kami?" Zinya asked once Orion had left. "Can''t you take a more rxing hobby?

    Tm sorry, Zin, but I''m under a lot of stress and this is the only thing that helps. Believe me, I''ve tried doing other things but they only made me feel worse." Kam replied while dabbing the sweat from her face with a towel.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "What''s wrong?"

    "Things are going better at work. Archon Griffon takes good care of me and my colleagues are starting to respect me as a Constable. As a person, however, I''m still a pariah. On top of that, only the people in my office have softened.

    "I''m still at square one with all the other departments which makes every field mission a drag. At home, everyone treats me like a cracked crystal vase, just like you Zin." Kam red at her sister. "I can''t take a step or move a chair that someone offers to help me. It''s infuriating!"

    "I''m sorry, it''s just that Elysia is the first of her kind. Who knows what can and can''t hurt her?" Zinya replied.

    "Do you think I don''t know that?" Kam snarled. "I''m afraid all the time and being treated like a dying woman is a constant reminder of my worst fears. Last, but not least, I''m having trouble sleeping at night.

    "Elysia gives me strength but she also keeps me awake. I''m always so full of energy that if I don''t tire myself enough, I spend the night staring at the ceiling. I''m going insane from the stress.

    "I''m so sorry, Kami. I had no idea you were going through so much. Zinya hugged her sister that started sobbing "Did you tell Lith?

    "And have him worry too?" Kam shivered. "There''s nothing he can do. Also, Lith''s life force has finally gotten better after years of suffering. He deserves a bit of peace.

    Once she had calmed down enough, Kam went to take a shower while Zinya waited for her outside, talking about her new life as a Baroness.

    "It''s a lot of work but it''s worth it. I can help the people who are in a simr situation to ours when we were trapped in our parents'' home. Also, once Zogar is done with the academy his schedule is free and we can spend some time together. Two birds with one stone.

    "I''m proud of you, Zin. I would go visit our parents in prison and rub their noses in our happiness, if only I gave a single fuck about them." Kam replied.

    "That''s a cruel thing to say, Kamil."

    "Why? Would you really waste your free time on them rather than spend it with your family?" She closed the tap and wore a bathrobe beforeing out of the steaming shower.

    "Point taken." Zinya nodded.

    "Speaking of family, Tezka is finally back. Filia and Frey have cried for hours when he went picking them up from school and they still refuse to let him go anywhere. They are stuck to his fur like ticks. She chuckled.

    "How is he?" Kam asked.

    "If you are asking me if he''s stronger, I have no clue. The only thing I know is that he was so moved by the children''s wee that I''m certain to have seen his eyes get teary. But enough talking about me. Are you ready for your homework?" a Zinya took a shiny mass of silverware from her dimensional amulet.

    "You need to learn which knife and fork go with the different dishes or your Court life will be a nightmare.

    "I know." Kam sighed. "Thank you for taking such good care of me Zin. I wish I was a better sister and spent more time with you without forcing you to chase after me all the time."

    "Don''t say that. I''m the older one and I''ve already gone through Court training so I''m more than happy to help you for once." Zinya stood up, hugging Kam as soon as the Voidfeather armor wrapped around her.

    "Three years ago, I was a blind woman resigned to die in the clutches of a violent monster, thinking that was the best life had to offer me. He had taken my children from me and we could meet only on my birthday or when you spent your hard-earned money to bribe the house staff.

 Chapter 2498 Three Years Ago (Part 2)

    2498 Three Years Ago (Part 2)

    "When you convinced me to undergo the eye surgery and paid for it, you did more than give me sight. You gave me life. Just three years ago pain and misery were all I had. Look at me now." Zinya took out a Remember that projected a hologram of her family.

    "So don''t you dare belittle yourself. I couldn''t ask for a better sister. Now let''s go. You are about to face one of the most unpleasant dinners of your life. Zinya made the silverware clink as they left the changing room.

    Faluel''sir, the following day.

    "Thanks to everyone foring. We have much to discuss. The Hydra was in her human form and her mother Fyrwal was standing right next to her. "Let''s start with the matter of Lith''s life force since Morok still isn''t aware of Solus'' real nature and the moment he gets through that door we have to drop the subject.

    Right aftering back from the Desert, Solus had added the two Hydras as guests in the tower control panel. It had allowed them toe and go freely even when Solus was at the Verhens and the tower was alone in the Trawn woods.

    It also gave the Hydras the benefit of enjoying the knowledge stored in the Library and the power boost from the mana geyser.

    This way, Faluel and Fyrwal had an easier time performing the Forgemastering spells they used in the attempt to understand how the tower could repair Solus'' broken essence and replicate it for anyone.

    T''m sorry to say that even with my mother''s help and her knowledge about Menadion''s workings, I''m simply bewildered by theplexity of the tower core. Solus had removed the cloaking runes surrounding solely her life support system but that hadn''t made things easier.

    "After several tests and using every piece of knowledge that has been passed down by the Hydra bloodline, all I can say is that we are facing something in-between a healing spell, a phctery, and whatever a Horseman is.

    "Thanks to my skill as a Healer, I think I can crack the first piece of the puzzle, given enough time, but the other two are beyond me. If I were you, Solus, I''d either also ask for Ka''s help or that of a Lich you know and trust.

    "Supposing one can even exist, of course." Falue! shrugged.

    "Liches are insane by definition, so no." Lith dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "Ka is our best shot."

    "Suit yourself. Know that she''s just a demi-lich, though. Until she manages to turn herself into an undead, there''s not much she can do." Faluel replied. "For the Horseman part, you should ask either Baba Yaga or Dawn since you are in a good rtionship with them.

    At those words, Nalrond red at Solus. He had learned about her trip with the Horseman only after Solus departure and had managed to swallow his grudge solely because he realized how unique Solus'' existence was.

    Dawn had saved Solus'' life during the War of the Griffons and she was the only one who could rte to Solus condition. Most of all, he knew that he would never meet her.

    Now the idea of the Horseman hanging with his friends in

    Lutia and having to bear her presence was making his blood boil.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "It''s not what you think. I''m not friends with Dawn Solus raised her hands with her palms out as if to contain his seething anger. "Nyka bonded with her only in order to stay awake during the day and we talked mostly about how to deal with the rtionship with our respective hosts"

    "There''s nothing you can say that can make asking for advice to a ve driver and a murderer sound any better." Nalrond replied. "Just like it doesn''t change the fact that you slept, worked, and toured Garlen by her side.

    "Call it a business rtionship or whatever you want, you hung out with her. Period. I can''t me you for trying to fix your life but don''t ask me to like the way you chose to do it.

    "I''m sorry." Solus didn''t know what else to say.

    Tm not happy about this either." Friya broke the awkward silence. "Dawn is a monster, but she saved Tista from Linnea and Baba Yaga saved me and my sisters from the undead in the Feymar mines.

    "If not for her, I would have lost Phloria two years ago and I would have died with her. Please, Nalrond, if you can''t forgive Solus even though she''s the reason we met, do it for me.

    The Rezar balled his fists, torn between the love for the friend who three years ago had saved him from the pits of despair and the hate for the monster who had thrown him inside of it by murdering his entire vige.

    "I''m sorry, Friya, but this isn''t about us. I need time to sort out my feelings. If it wasn''t for how desperately I need the Harmonizer, I couldn''t stand looking those two in the face. He pointed at both Tista and Solus

    "I''m thest person who can tell you to forget about vengeance. Lith said. "But unless you have a death wish, you''d better sort out your priorities. You can live in the past or you can live for the future but you can''t do both. Believe me, I tried:

    He thought about how Carl''s ghost had haunted every decision of his life until Lith had met the real deal in the Mindspace and found the strength to let go of him.

    "I still hate Meln. I''m more afraid than ever at the idea that my cracked life force might kill me before my time. Yet those things are no longer my priority and I consider them nothing more than side projects.

    "If I find a clue about Meln''s position, I''ll track him down and kill him like the rabid monster he is, but I don''t let such thoughts consume my mind. I live for Kami, Solus, and Elysia. Also, you are in an even worse position than me.

    "We both hate a Horseman, but while my enemy has been disowned, yours is still beloved by Baba Yaga. If you decide to chase Dawn, you have to let go of everything else and focus only on umting power.

    "Because even if you defeat the Bright Day and find a way to destroy her, the Red Mother wille to her aid. Unless you can deal with her as well, you''ll have either wasted your time if Baba Yaga lets you go or your life if she marks you as a threat."

    At that moment, Nalrond hated Lith even more than Solus for having said out loud the very same words that haunted him since the day he had moved into Protector''s house.

    ''Despite my tough act with Solus, I''ve given up on my quest for revenge for years now! He thought. "My confrontation with Dawn under the Snake Tongue mountains showed me the abyssal gap between us.

    She taught me everything I know yet that''s just the tip of her abilities. I have no idea how to destroy her crystal rior a clue about where to start looking.

 Chapter 2499 Second Wave (Part 1)

    2499 Second Wave (Part 1)

    Im no Forgemaster, I''m no Awakened, and I''ve got no Adamant for my equipment let alone Davross. Even if I manage to achieve all those things, where the heck do I get a mage tower to counter Dawn''s?

    More importantly, do I really want to spend centuries chasing after her? How on Mogar is Dawn more important than Friya, Selia, and my adoptive family to me? Nalrond had no answer to those questions.

    "Hello, guys. If someone died, please tell me. When I make an inappropriate joke, it must be on purpose otherwise I can''t enjoy the moment." Morok arrived alongside Ajatar the Drake, putting an end to such morbid thoughts.

    "Did you resent your father for what he did to you?" Nalrond asked, needing advice from someone who had lived through a simr hurdle.

    "And hello to you too." The Tyrant snorted. "Yes, of course I did. Why?"

    "What did you feel when he died? Was it worth the wait?"

    "I didn''t feel anything" Morok shrugged. "I despised Glemos but I knew that killing him wouldn''t give me back

    my mother or anything I''ve lost over the years. To be honest, if it wasn''t for Quy and master Ajatar, I would have been lost after Glemos'' death. "If revenge was the purpose of my whole life, achieving it would have also meant having nothing to live for anymore. Why do you ask?"

    ''Gods, that''s exactly how I felt back when Lith and Solus defeated Dawn and I considered my grudge settled. I just resigned to die. Nalrond thought.

    "We''ll talk about thister. He actually said. "Faluel, is there any news about the horde of mutated monsters created by the Harmonizers?"

    "No, but the Council has made a rough estimate of the time the resources they plundered shouldst. The Hydra replied. "If those monsters live above a mana geyser and they breed at a speed akin to the unfallen races, the food willst for several months since many of them died during the attacks.

    "If they are continuing Glemos'' experiments, however, they''ll need more soon."

    "How soon?" Nalrond asked, d to have a more pressing matter at hand.

    "That''s impossible to say." Ajatar shrugged. "There are too many unknown variables like the number of monsters who didn''t take part in the piging, whether the children of Glemos are cultivating crops or not, and if they let their offspring develop at a regr or elerated rate."

    "Then you''ve made use here just to state the obvious? That we have no idea when and where the next attack will take ce? The Rezar yelled in outrage.

    "No one can know the future, child." Ajatar rose an eyebrow at Nalrond''s outburst, having no idea that his nerves were still shaken from the previous conversation. "Yet I crunched some numbers.

    "If we assume that the invading force was just half the monsters and that after seizing the resources they''ll limit themselves to restore their original poption, then their food reserves canst for another month tops.

    "While the forces of the Royals are stretched thin due to the aftermath of the War of the Griffons and the Council considers the monsters a minor annoyance, we know about the Harmonizers.

    "If we keep ready and close to a Gate at all times, the moment something happens we can be the first to respond. It will increase our chances to follow the monsters to their hideout and retrieve Morok''s legacy.

    "That''s why we''ve made youe here. To ask for your help and warn you to keep yourself avable. No trips, no social visits, and no experiments until the horde appears.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "If the attacks are as swift as thest time, even a few minutes of dy can make the difference between achieving our goal and being forced to help the survivors. Remember that no one else knows about what''s at stake.

    "Chasing after the monsters without giving an exnation would ruin our reputation with both the Royals and the Council. On top of that, they would ask us questions we have no usible answer for."

    "I see." Nalrond nodded. "So no babysitting alone for me. If I leave the kids unattended, Selia will find a destroyed house on her return and then she''ll kill me. I apologize for my rudeness, Lord Ajatar

    "Apologies epted. I can understand why this is so important to you? The Drake knew about Nalrond being one of the werepeople and his trouble with split life forces.

    "Thank you." The Rezar nodded. "If the Harmonizer works on me, it could give me a decisive clue to finally merge my different natures. My future rides on this." His eyes moved on Friya who was still holding his hand.

    "Same for me." "Tista was slightly pale, rubbing her shoulders from time to time as if she was cold. "My situation isn''t getting any better and I''m afraid that the day when I''ll have no longer a choice is nearing.

    "The Harmonizer might restore my life forces to their previous condition and reset the time I have left. Worst case scenario, I can just live over a mana geyser until I decide what the heck to do with my life! She clenched her hands so hard that they bled.

    "No offense, but there''s no need for this drama." Morok said. "The choice you are facing is the same that every hybrid has to take. It''s no big deal."

    "For you, maybe" Tista snarled. "You knew your whole life that the moment woulde and had twenty years to prepare. I learned about the possibility just two years ago and I''ve been a hybrid for even less.

    "You have no idea what I wouldn''t do to get rid of this stupid violet core and go back to how I was."

    Actually, Tista was angry with herself the most.

    I have plenty of role models for all sides of my life force. My brother for the Demons, Faluel, Protector, and Grandma for the beasts, my parents, and the Ernas for the humans.

    "Yet no matter what I choose, I''m going to lose something and the idea scares me to the death. If I make a mistake, I''ll pay for it for the rest of my life.'' She thought.

    While the apprentices moved to less vexing topics, Ajatar, Fyrwal, and Faluel discussed their ns. The Elder Hydra was there only as a consultant. Her daughter was adamant about not sharing the Harmonizers and Fyrwal in not getting involved without properpensation.

    "ying the monsters is the easy part. The Drake said. "The problem is to find a way to follow them back to their hideout without being noticed while also not arising suspicions among our allies.

    "If someone follows us, the mission and its spoils will bepromised."

    "It''s worse than that. Faluel shook her head. "The Council would ughter the monsters and care solely about the Harmonizers whereas I want to save them both."

    "Why is that?" Ajatar asked.

    "If they can be reasoned with, it would be the proof that monsters cane back from their fallen state." Fyrwal replied. "It could be the first step in finding a solution to Jiera''s problem with the monster tides.

 Chapter 2500 Second Wave (Part 2)

    2500 Second Wave (Part 2)

    "I don''t see how making a bunch of savage monsters smarter and more powerful can be a solution. The Drake countered pointedly.

    "It''s not." Faluel said. "What my mother means is that I hope that we can open a dialogue with the monsters born from Glemos'' experiments and have them help us against those in Jiera. D

    "After all, the continent is depopted and there''s plenty of space and resources for them to live in peace. They can contribute to stopping their brethren in exchange for the possibility to establish their own civilization

    "That''s an ambitious n. Ajatar pondered. "Both Councils need to agree for it to work. Also, you need a usible excuse to keep the Harmonizers off the table.

    "I know, but I can only take things one step at a time. I''ve no idea if Glemos'' children can be reasoned with nor if they have strayed from the path that he paved for them.

    "If they turn out to be just a threat to the bnce in Garlen, the only solution would be annihtion.

    Crystal Griffon, several dayster after the meeting with Falucl.

    Lith was lost in thought while Solus exined to the ss her personal method to achieve tier one Void Magic by using hand signs and magic words.

    From the previous lessons, they had learned that the best approach was to give their students all the information

    2500 Second Wave (Part 2)

    they could and then let them determine which method they preferred or if they''d rather pick the parts from each that suited them the best.

    Luckily for me, Zinya convinced Kami to tell me about her issues. I''m afraid that once the pregnancyes to term. her condition might be even worse than Duke''s. I need to speak with Grandma about-

    A sudden ping and a sh from the first row of desks drew his attention. Usingmunication amulets while a ss was in session was forbidden in all six great academies but there was always an exception when the Royals were involved.

    It was Meron''s amulet that had been activated and no one dared reproach the King. Especially when they heard the news.

    "Your Majesty, the city guards of Ne''sra have spotted several groups of monsters and so have the guards of several cities in the Deirus, Distar, and Weghan regions.

    Usually, the appearance of such creatures would rise no rm, but after the previous raids, the attacked cities had been tasked with reporting any sighting to make sure it wasn''t just the first step of another coordinated attack.

    "Are the cities the same as thest time?" The King asked. "No, my liege. Ne''sra is the only exception? The army general replied.

    "It must be because the first assault failed and they think that its food reserves must be filled. That or it''s just a diversion" Meron pondered.

    "What are your orders?" The general nodded in agreement,

    "Assemble all the avable troops and keep them ready to be deployed. Yet order the city lords to respond to the assault as usual and don''t send them reinforcements unless there is a visual confirmation of a monster horde.

    "The bulk of our forces are still busy peacekeeping Thrud''s former regions and the risk of riots is too big to leave them undermanned upon mere suspicion.

    "Yet if these creatures are the same as thest time, they are cunning and can''t be underestimated. Sound the rm and warn the rest of the cities of those regions to be on guard.

    "Even if they don''t see monsters, it doesn''t mean there are not. These attacks might just be a feint to bait us to deploy our best elements against a few suicidal units before delivering the real blow."

    Tve already done that, My King The general said. "Yet I''m afraid that it won''t be enough. If you are right and this is but the first step of an borate n, there are too many possible targets and too few avable troops.

    "We have asked our allies from the Council for help, but they replied that they won''t move until there''s a real emergency.

    Just like Ajatar had predicted, the Awakened was a magical society. Many of them would perform long andplicated experiments and travel in search of ingredients or enlightenment.

    They wouldn''t drop everything at a moment''s notice without a good reason, especially since there was no reward involved.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Don''t worry, we can buy all the time we need for those ckers to pick up the pace. I have a whole ssroom of Archmages at your service, General Asal: Meron waved his hand at the rows of desks around him, where the most powerful mages of the Kingdom sat.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, the ss is suspended for matters of national security. Aside from the students of the fourth year, I expect everyone to coborate. He said, receiving nods in reply. "Let''s split up in groups and move to a different Gate cach.

    "This way we can be deployed wherever it''s necessary with minimal dy." Headmasters and Professors returned to their respective academies while the Archmages Warped to the branches of the Association located in the attacked regions.

    "Not you, Magus Verhen. Sylpha stopped Lith when he was about to step through the Gate and reach the White Griffon. "We would like for you toe with us to Valeron.

    "Of course." Lith inwardly cursed, yet nothing transpire from his poker face. "May I ask you why?"

    "Tactical advantage." The Queen replied. "We''ll put you over a mana geyser so that you can start conjuring your Demons. You are a Divine Beast with an army at his beck and call.

    "We''ll send you to the most critical battlefield to take our opponents by surprise."

    Now that he was certain that the Royals wouldn''t keep him away from the fight, Lith sighed in relief and adjusted his ns ordingly.

    "I would like to bring Solus along. She and I make a great team." He asked.

    "Granted." Sylpha would have preferred the Golden Knight and the Tiamat to fight on different battlefields but she had no valid reason to refuse Lith''s request.

    Lady Verhen only has a blue core and without her Raiju steed, there''s not much she can do'' She thought.

    "Why did you require my presence? Solus grabbed his arm, conjuring a mind link invisible to the Royal''s Life Vision. ''We''d have better chances if we split.

    "Disagree: Lith replied. ''If you fight alone, you''ll waste your energy and you''ll be too busy keeping your cover to chase our enemies. If we fight together, instead, you can preserve your mana and exploit the chaos of battle to slip on a monster the moment they retreat. Unlike my Demons, you can survive even far away from me and once you reach their base you can just call us and give us the coordinates.

    ''Excellent thinking'' Solus nodded.

    The army was bound to have alerted the Ernas as well. but Lith called everyone just to be on the safe side. Ajatar and Faluel were among the few Awakened who had promptly answered the call and were ready for battle.

    "Solus and I will fight together? Lith said. "Remember that the safety of the citizenses first. Don''t give chase unless the local authorities relieve you from your duty"

 Chapter 2501 Ruthless Strategy (Part 1)

    The Royals were amazed by Lith ordering around two Council elders just like Ajatar couldn''t believe his own ears.

    "Why is your disciple throwing our n into the gutter?" The Drake asked the moment that he and Faluel were alone.

    "He''s not." The Hydra chuckled while picturing Ajatar''s shocked expression if he were to discover the truth about Solus. "It was a coded message. He''s saying that he has found a way to locate the enemy base and doesn''t want us to blow our cover."

    "I see. usible deniability." The Drake nodded. "How do you think Lith is nning to do that?"

    "Probably with his Demons." The Hydra lied through her teeth. "One of them will hide in the shadow of a monster or something."

    "Remarkable." Ajatar said while paranoia made him devise several ways to check that his own shadow was empty whenever he deactivated the security measures of his home.

    After that, it was only a matter of waiting.

    The cities of the Kingdom dealt with the groups of monsters just for more to pop out. Yet ording to the reports, the creatures possessed no special abilities and their numbers despite great could still be managed by the local forces.

    Then, while the defenders were busy repelling the assault from the front, a much bigger group of monsters with uncanny magical powers attacked the cities from the back.

    "Cunning critters." Meron started, dispatching troops ording to the gravity of each situation but keeping the Archmages off the field. "Send scouts to cast life sensing arrays from a safe distance.

    "I want to make sure of the number of enemies beforemitting our strongest troops."

    His hesitation cost dearly to a few cities.

    The moment the monsters stepped over the mana geyser they were built upon, the creatures would grow in size and power, taking down the city gates with their collective bloodline abilities.

    "You Majesty, we should-"

    "Shut up and wait." Meron dismissed General Asai''s worries, making him question the King''s fitness to rule.

    The battle became bloodier, more soldiers and civilians died by the second but Meron waited on the arrays'' report.

    "You were right, Your Majesty. There are a few more monsters hidden, but they amount just to a few hundred. They can either join the frontlines and fight or attempt to sneak past them and plunder, but they pose little threat to-"

    It was at that moment that the Royal Army was flooded with distress calls.

    More cities were now under siege and none of them had reported earlier sightings. Their guards had gone from bored to death from the routine daily checks to fighting for their lives in a matter of seconds.

    The children of Glemos had learned from their past mistakes and worked smart to not give their prey the time to summon their champions.

    "My King, how did you know?" General Asai was bbergasted and was now questioning his own fitness to lead the troops.

    "When a smart enemy makes a dumb move, usually it''s a feint." Meron replied.

    "A two-pronged surprise attack is hardly a dumb move." Asai said.

    "I was talking about sending advance scouts to the massacre." The King said. "Sure, it drew our attention in a single direction, but it also gave us the time to prepare for the assault and call for reinforcements."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Indeed." The general nodded. "These monsters are as smart as they are determined. Sacrificing their lives for theirrades is the proof of true warrior spirit."

    "Or maybe it''s just desperation." Meron shrugged. "Or worse, our real enemies are even smarter than we thought. After all, monsters look all the same to us. We have no way to distinguish between this new breed and regr fallen races until they use their abilities.

    "What if the first waves of the assault wereprised of regr monsters, captured and bred by their superior ''cousins'' just to test our defenses? Once starved, those creatures would be desperate enough to attack our settlements even though they have no chance of sess."

    "That would be an abominable act!" The general said in outrage.

    "No more than dressing the war prisoners like soldiers and sending them unarmed on the frontlines to act as meat shields as our ancestors did and some of the so-called free countries still do." Meron''s lips were curled up in disgust.

    "Enough chatting. Supreme Magus Verhen, the moment I receive the final report I''ll send you to the most desperate battlefield. Are you ready?"

    "In this case, I''m going to need my weapon." Lith opened his Magus robe, revealing War''s absence. "Your Majesty, I need you to open the Gate to the Constable Headquarters."

    "Do it." The King nodded to the clerk in charge of the dimensional coordinates.

    The fissure in space brought them close enough for the angry de to heed the call of its master. War bolted through the air like a bullet, dodging clerks and guards until it found Lith''s extended hand.

    "Now I''m ready."

    "Me too." Solus said, slightly annoyed by the fact that everyone seemed to have forgotten about her.

    "Excellent. Your destination is the city of Ne''sra. It seems those monsters are really determined to capture it." The King said.

    "Again? I hate that ce." Solus blurted out, obtaining a reproachful look from the Royals.

    ''Do you want me to prioritize killing the enemies instead of saving the civilians? Battles are always chaotic and no one could me me if I "fail" to save those who mistreated you.'' Lith asked with the same tone he would have used to request fries with his order.

    ''By my Mom, no! They deserve a solid kick in the ass, not a sword through their chest. What''s the n?'' She replied.

    ''The moment we step through the Gate, fight just long enough for people to recognize you and then get back in the ring. I need you to save your strength and focus on finding a ride while I take care of the mission.'' Lith said.

    Only a few minutes had passed since the sighting of the monsters yet Ne''sra was already overrun by enemies. The local branch of the army was still safe, but Lith and Solus could hear the screams of the wounded and the buzzing of flying spells.

    The many windows on the ground floor were open, letting the soldiers shoot down the monsters with their wands. The arrays protecting the building blocked the enemy fire but they also trapped the soldiers inside.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen, thank the gods you are here- You!" Captain Neforce became as pale as a ghost as she recognized the woman he had banished from the city just a few weeks ago.

    "Me, you jackass. Guess the first lesson wasn''t enough for you. Do you need an encore?"

    "Yes. I mean, no. I mean we need help. The monsters bust through the city gates like they were paper and¡­"

    Lith ignored Neforce''s ramblings, opening his seven eyes and unfolding his wings before draping them around his shoulders like a mantle. His shadow and those of everyone in the room came to life, assuming the form of dozens of six-eyed Demons of the Darkness.

    The powerful mana geyser under the capital of the Kingdom had provided him with all the mana he needed to summon them while he waited and without using Invigoration.

 Chapter 2502 Ruthless Strategy (Part 2)

    "Give your men the order to retreat, Captain." Lith said as ck chains burst from his chest and the Demons''.

    They scoured Ne''sra, looking for volunteers among the past and recently deceased willing to join the fray.

    "Is the situation so desperate that we need to evacuate the city?" Neforce asked.

    "No. They would just be a hindrance."

    The strength of a Demon grew exponentially with the number of their eyes and every one of those that Lith had brought along had the power of a violet core. The ck chains shared the Spirit Magic and darkness magic with the new troops, the sacrifice of the sixth eye giving substance to dozens of wandering souls.

    The streets were littered with corpses ready for the taking, no matter if by their original owner or not.

    Throughout Ne''sra the dead rose to defend the living and meet a familiar face.

    "Daddy!" A young boy yelled amid tears at the body of a dead orc.

    Imbued with the essence of the Demon, the green flesh had been transfigured in a ck and white copy of the tailor.

    "Get out of my house!" The Demon yelled in fury, pulling a de out of his chest. "I was just a man when I faced Thrud''s thralls and my defiance cost me my life. I''m not a man anymore. When I die, this time I''ll bring you all with me!"

    The tailor bolted forward, cutting left and right with techniques he had never practiced before. The de in his hand felt as familiar as his steel needle, but it was much deadlier.

    Even with only one eye, the Demon disarmed the reverted orcs and sucked them dry of their life essence to fuel his own.

    Meanwhile, Solus had walked out of the building, raining spells and hammers on anyone who darede close. War hade free from its bloody scabbard and flew around Lith on its own.

    Both protected him, drawing the enemies'' attention while he focused on his breathing technique.

    ''I wish I could use the full effect of Call of the Void, but then the soldiers would be blinded as well and kill each other in panic.'' With each breath he took, the number of Demons rose. With each breath Lith took, they grew stronger.

    The monsters strong enough to y a newborn Demon found themselves stabbed in the back when the flow of energying from the Tiamat restored the scattered shadows.

    "Round two, pal." The Demon chuckled, twisting his hand inside the troll''s gut and sucking avidly the abundant light energy it contained.

    The darkness element was supposed to empower the troll, but the Abomination Touch drained him faster than the Decay of his core could rejuvenate him. The troll died, his only achievement having given the Demon two more eyes.

    "I can move now." Lith took his golems out of the pocket dimension. "Thank you for your assistance, Solus."

    "You are wee." Solus jumped on Raptor''s back and charged amid the enemy lines, mowing multiple monsters down with a single swing of her hammer.

    The Adamant golem soared through the sky with the grace of a hawk despite its weight thanks to its own flight spell. Solus donned her golden Voidwalker armor to make herself recognizable from the troops and then left it to Valia.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Demon bore her same energy signature so the armor answered hermand and altered its size to amodate its new host. Armed with a copy of the Fury, Valia continued the assault that Solus had started, rescuing the soldiers in need.

    Hammers weren''t her weapon of choice nor was her physical strengthparable to Solus, yet thanks to her six eyes and the many enchantments of the Fury, the partially reverted monsters were no match for Valia.

    A sweep of the Adamant head of the hammer shattered weapons and bones alike, turning anyone on the Demon''s path into a bloody pulp.

    ''No one here really knows me so a feminine figure and voice are all the people of Ne''sra needs to think that I''m the one inside the armor of the Golden Knight. This way, no one will notice my absence and I''ll keep racking merits.'' Solus thought.

    ''I don''t n on working for the Kingdom, but if there''s something that I learned from Lith is that it''s better to have something and not need it than need it and not have it.''

    Their Void Magic lessons and the trips to the different great academies had inspired Solus. The experience had given her the opportunity to do what she loved the most and shared it with others.

    ''Sure, teaching has always been Lith''s project first, but I would do it for myself, not to just stay with him. Sure, working in the same academy would mean that I could be a Professor even before my core fully heals.

    ''We''d spend a lot of time together preparing the lessons and grading papers. I would even have my own apartments-''

    ''What apartments?'' The moment Solus had Warped near enough to get back inside the stone ring unnoticed, Lith had be part of her stream of consciousness.

    ''Nothing!'' She replied too quickly even for her own liking, inwardly blushing a little. ''There''s no time to chat, we need to focus. I''ll take care of the spells while you deal with the physical aspect of the fight.''

    Lith nodded, saving his questions forter.

    He slowly walked out of the army headquarters from the door, as if he was out for a stroll. The area around the army headquarters was riddled with the corpses of fallen monsters.

    After their death, the children of Glemos would revert to their original appearance.

    Even the Eyes of Menadion couldn''t ascertain from the bodies if they had made any progression in restoring their cores or what powers they might have gained. What he could notice, though, was the presence of several pools of blood that didn''t belong to the monsters and the absence of human corpses.

    ''It seems the raid really is for food. These creatures are above cannibalism but humans are avable on the menu.'' Lith walked forward, taking in the position of the building and the sacks where the fights were taking ce.

    He raised his right hand with his palm out and his fingers bent as if he was holding something. Countless invisible tendrils of Spirit Magic spread from his body to every enemy within 50 meters (164'') of him.

    The monsters battling with the city guards felt their throats being constricted by an invisible hand that lifted them off the ground. Before they could understand what was happening, Lith clenched his hand.

    Their necks snapped with a crunch, the grip so strong that it severed the heads from the necks. The human soldiers stared at the figure d in ck, his wings furled on his shoulders like a mantle, as he kept walking forward.

    A red de spun around him in an irregr path, deflecting spells and cutting down anyone who managed toe close to the Magus while he focused on his next batch of victims.

    A second group of monsters started to float in the air like balloons and a few of them managed to activate fusion magic before it was toote. Their reliefsted only until Lith added a sliver of darkness magic.

 Chapter 2503 Natural Selection (Part 1)

    Shadow hands rose from the ground, lifting the monsters who had freed themselves and breaking their necks. They died at the same time as those who hadcked the presence of mind to use fusion magic, their resistance futile.

    Only when themunication amulets of the soldiers drew their consciousness did they snap out of their reverie. Neforce neither liked nor understood his orders but he was a soldier.

    The retreatmand resounded throughout Ne''sra as the Demons'' advance gave the city guards the opportunity to disengage and retreat.

    A wave of Lith''s hand shoot War past a group of soldiers that were being chased, decapitating the monsters in the first row and forcing the others to an abrupt halt. The de spun on itself like a buzzsaw, cutting through bones and metal like they were paper.

    The blood that War would usually employ to form its scabbard was spread in the form of red strings that wrapped themselves around those who tried to move past the de, slowing their advance.

    The guards recognized the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom and understood what was happening.

    ''He can''t use magic because of us! Any spell strong enough to deal with so many monsters would kill us as well. I need to clear his line of fire.'' They each used different words but thought the same thing.

    The soldiers pushed their aching muscles in ast desperate sprint, tumbling on the ground a few steps after getting past Lith.

    "I''m thest of my unit." A veteran in his mid-thirties struggled to make his words clear due to hisck of breath. "You can go all-out now."

    "What for?" Lith''s yellow eye furrowed its brow.

    He rotated his palm out and then forward, like he was pushing something. Even in his human form, Lith still had the mass of a Divine Beast. His movements boosted by his enhanced physique and fusion magic could generate enormous pressure.

    He further enhanced his speed with air magic while also keeping the wind force focused right in front of his hand. A bit of Spirit Magic allowed the chore magic spell to retain the kic energy of the movement and gave it an emerald color.

    The group of monsters felt like they had been hit by a truck, their bodies knocked off the ground and carried back by the green gust of wind until they struck a stone building.

    Pressed between an unstoppable force and an unmoving object, the monsters on the backline died on impact. Their bones cracked, piercing through their own flesh and impaling their allies as the rest of their unit crashed against their broken corpses.

    The soldiers'' lungs were still burning for air, yet they forgot how to breathe when they noticed that the simple pressure of that gesture had left on the stone wall the mark of a giant open palm.

    A palm covered with scales and whose fingers ended in ws. It was an exact replica of the Voidwalker armor''s glove but of the size of a Tiamat.

    The st had been focused so that only the middle row of enemies had been struck, leaving the left and right nk unscathed but too bbergasted to move a single step forward.

    At a wave of Lith''s hand, the weapons of the fallen monsters and those discarded by the soldiers during their rout rose from the ground like a swarm of shiny insects, falling down in a hail of water, thunder, and sharp metal.

    Spears, swords, and axes struck at the surviving monsters from every direction, opening deep wounds and carrying bolts of lightning inside their bodies.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Reverted trolls tried to defend themselves by shooting heat rays while the goblins used earth magic to conjure protections. Yet every weapon they deflected simply rose up in the air along with those that had killed their target and formed a second wave.

    The onughtsted but a few seconds, whittling down the survivors as each monster had to deal with more weapons at the same time with each iteration. When it was over, the road was clear and only humans still breathed.

    "You''ve done a good job protecting Ne''sra and buying time until my arrival. I''ll take it from here. Get to safety and help any survivor you find." Lith gave the salute to an awestruck soldier who kept moving his eyes from the Magus to the scene of the massacre.

    "Can you guys go back to the barracks on your own or do you need an escort?" A snap of his fingers conjured two one-eyed Demons of the Darkness that stared at the guards in spite.

    When the man spoke, only a gasp came out. Hisrades suddenly realized that they were suffocating as well and started to take deep breaths.

    "Bring them to safety and then join the others. There''s no time to lose." Lith said to the Demons while the soldiers were wheezing too hard to form intelligible words.

    He resumed his advance with quick strides, moving so fast that his afterimage lingered at every corner he stopped to check for enemies for a second after he left.

    ''Your words and actions don''t match.'' Solus said. ''If we are in such a rush, why aren''t we just flying and bombarding the monsters with spells from above like Ne''sra''s mages?''

    She pointed at the human figures in the air that cast spells from a safe distance and dodged those of the enemies.

    ''Have you forgotten what our real mission is?'' Lith replied. ''We''ve already alerted Faluel and the others, but they need time to arrive here since they can''t resort to the Gate Network nor the Awakened''s arrays without raising suspicions.

    ''Also, we are still looking for someone strong and important enough to lead you back to their hideout. If we kill all the monsters in one fell swoop, we''ll have to wait for another attack.''

    ''Aren''t monsters all the same?'' Solus asked. ''Any troll would do. They are strong enough to survive most wounds and smart enough to remember the position of their home.''

    ''No, because even though you can take any form you want, you still have a mass and are still visible.'' Lith replied while pointing at the piles of corpses. ''Goblins barely wear any clothes while trolls go around naked to exploit the many maws on their bodies while they are in their fallen state.

    ''If you slip on one of them, they''ll notice you immediately and even if they don''t, theirrades will.''

    ''On top of that, most of these monsters havee here to die. They fight to theirst breath since they know that this way they reduce the number of mouths to feed. If Faluel is right, they are improving with each generation so those who take part in the raids must have be obsolete.

    ''We need someone who wears clothes and whose life has value. It''s the only chance we have to make sure that once the monsters retreat you don''t end up on one of those who will stay behind and sacrifice their life to slow down the enemies.''

    ''That''s why you have asked Neforce to sound the retreat.'' Solus said as she put the pieces of the puzzle together.

 Chapter 2504 Natural Selection (Part 2)

    ''You want to make sure that the Demons find the leader of the monster army first and keep them alive.''

    ''No shit, Sherlock.'' Lith replied with a telepathic sneer. ''We can''t risk a powerful mage or a lucky shot from a soldier taking away your ride. Why do you ask? What did you think I was doing?''

    ''Well, between the slow march and the odd choice of spells, I thought that you were strutting like a peacock and taking your time as payback to the people of Ne''sra for kicking me out.'' She giggled.

    ''That too.'' Lith admitted, making her blush. ''But the main focus is to kill the monsters slowly enough for their leader to understand that they are beaten and call the retreat. I can''t just let the children of Glemos escape after the Demons surround them.

    ''They would sniff the trap and not return to their base until they understand what''s going on. Only someone who''s running for their life doesn''t have the time to notice a stone ring in their pockets.''

    ''I missed this.'' Solus said.

    ''I missed you too.''

    They never stopped advancing while they spoke, checking in with the various units of Demons for the enemy leader.

    The soldiers of Ne''sra had disengaged from the enemies, yet the guards were retreating slowly despite Captain Neforce''s order because they were helping the civilians to evacuate the upied zones.

    The monsters carried dimensional amulets that they filled with the food provisions they found inside the stores and the corpses of the humans they killed. To them, a shelter filled with people was no different from a warehouse filled with grain.

    Actually, due to the famine and the food rationing, there were more people than food in Ne''sra. Now that the presence of the Demons granted them protection, the soldiers were prioritizing the lives of the citizens over their own.

    The moment they brought a group of people to safety, the city guards went back inside the battle zone in search of survivors.

    ''This is bad.'' Eryon the Fomor thought while studying the battle from above with his six elemental eyes.

    The mages of the Kingdom who had stubbornly opposed him despite most of their spells had proven to be useless had suddenly cleared the field, shooting a barrage of fire and lightning to cover their retreat.

    ''The n was working like a charm before those ck things spawned everywhere.'' When he focused with his ck eye on a city block, Eryon could pinpoint the position of the energy masses thatprised the bodies of the Demons.

    It not only gave him a rough estimate of their numbers but also allowed him to follow their movements and glimpse on their strategy. It took him but a few seconds to understand what was happening.

    ''First, the shadow monsters have stopped our advance and now they are hoarding us like cattle.'' The Fomor could see hisrades being pushed back in what was only apparently a random direction.

    The Demons had cut off all the retreat paths but one so that in the heat of the battle the reverted monsters had been too busy saving their lives to notice the trap. Lith had ordered Varegrave and the others to kill those who resisted and spare those who retreated, hoping to find among them the one who would carry Solus.

    Eryon, however, saw it in a much more ominous light.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''They want to assemble us in one ce so that they can exterminate us in one fell swoop with their damned tier five spells! Those ck things are even worse than humans, ying cat and mouse with my brethren just to preserve a few buildings.'' He gritted his teeth, his thoughts full of hatred for those he perceived as tormentors.

    ''Yet not all is lost. The humans'' staunch defense of their homes has filled our amulets with meat while the farmers'' market was full of fruit and vegetables. We didn''t take as much as I hoped but we''ve gained more than enough.

    ''If the other units gathered as much as we did, we have enough food to migrate to a different region and start over before we fall prey to the bloodlust of our fallen state and murder each other for a piece of bread.

    ''But that''s not going to happen if the humans managed to repel them or if I lose our harvest!'' The Fomor pped his wings furiously, using a flight spell and fusion magic to boost his speed.

    Each team of monsters had a gatherer with an imprinted amulet and the task of collecting food while the others fought. The rest of the unit had to protect the gatherer at all costs and when that failed, one of them had to pick up the amulet and imprint it.

    As long as most of the gatherers or at least their dimensional amulets made it back home, the missions would be a sess.

    As Lith had predicted, most of those who had volunteered for the assault belonged to the older and more wed generations who had been deemed unworthy of having an offspring.

    The colony had limited resources and they would be employed solely for those who demonstrated the greatest potential like Eryon. He was one of the few natural Fomors born from reverted Balors, sent to the battlefield to lead the troops and bring back the dimensional amulets in case the worst happened.

    The children of Glemos knew that the second raid of the cities of the Kingdom would not be as sessful as the first and that a third would reap them only death. It was the reason they had waited as long as they could to make the humans rx before striking again.

    It was also why they needed to move as far away as possible.

    They hoped that this way they would encounter less resistance and that they would escape the search parties of the Council that were getting closer to their hideout by the day.

    ''We are so close to perfecting our life forces. So close. If only we had a little bit more time.'' Eryon thought the same words that Glemos had been telling them for decades to justify his actions and find the strength to fight.

    ''What are a few human livespared to the survival of entire species? If only the four races weren''t so egotistical, we could coexist in peace. This is just their contribution to our salvation, whether they like it or not!''

    The Fomor pped his wings and dived into the thick of battle, repelling Locrias'' de with his enchanted ax. The Demon of the Fallen had taken the strong body of a Hati and possessed six eyes, yet he was pushed back a few meters.

    Eryon''s yellow eye produced a spark of golden lightning that empowered the Fomor his equipment, and all those nearby, multiplying their strength by threefold. On top of that, Locrias'' sword, Pride, was covered in a thickyer of ice.

    It neutralized the enchantments of the de and bled its pseudo cores, making it no different from a sharp piece of purified Adamant.

    Pride had been originally named after his daughter, Gilly, but after it had caused a few misunderstandings, he had renamed the weapon.

 Chapter 2505 Gods And Demons (Part 1)

    His daughter was, after all, Locrias'' pride and joy and no one looked funny at Locrias anymore when he asked Lith to modify his weapon to better suit his hands and fighting style.

    The Fomor also fully unfurled his feathered wings, draining the surrounding world energy and neutralizing the spells used by the Demons whereas those of the monsters weren''t affected.

    "You shouldn''t have done that!" Locrias'' fury rose, every damage to his prized weapon akin to an attempt to his beloved daughter''s life.

    His maw became filled with Void mes that yet failed to rise to their usual intensity due to the Fomor''s feathers. The Cursed Fire was still hot enough to thaw the ice and set Locrias'' body aze.

    "Wait!" Trion grabbed Locrias'' shoulder, discovering that not only were those mes capable of harming him but also that the former captain of the Queen''s Corps was about to evolve into an Abyssal Demon without Lith''s help.

    ''Stop! Remember our orders.'' Trion endured the pain in order to pass the message via a mind link.

    He couldn''t speak out loud without revealing the n to the enemy nor use a tendril of Spirit Magic since the Void mes would have burned it like everything else.

    Locrias growled, unfolding his wings to their fullest like an angry beast ready to pounce.

    ''Fine, but if we get to kill him, he''s mine.''

    "You are lucky that your friend saved you from my trap, but luck is a fickle mistress!" Eryon had no idea what was happening so he just thought that due to their affinity with the Origin mes, the Demons had somehow sensed his attack.

    His red eye red up, unleashing a burst of bright red mystical mes. The Demons tried and failed to Dominate them and once their spells failed as well, Locrias needed Trion''s help again.

    His Void mes alone weren''t enough to match the attack but oncebined with Trion''s, the conflicting different types of fire blew up. The explosion harmed Demons and monsters in the same way, but Eryon''s side enjoyed the protection of his blue eye.

    "Charge!" The world energy trapped in his wings was channeled inside the monsters who led the charge, flooding their bodies and cores with new vigor akin to a breathing technique.

    It also allowed them to cast spells without using their mana and ovee the natural limits of their cores, which made the goblins much more dangerous.

    In their reverted state, goblins reached 1.5 meters (5'') of height and had bright yellow skin. Their limbs were well-proportionate and the slightly long pointy ears emerging from under their white hair almost resembled those of the elves.

    Also, the members of the same tribe shared the same energy signature, granting them the ability tobine their spells and willpower together.

    What had brought the ancient, short cousins of the elves to ask for Roghar''s help had been the fact that they shared their brethren''s low fertility, and their cores were capped at the bright green instead of bright blue.

    Unfallen goblins were blessed with perfect bodies with no impurities as well which made it impossible for them to Awaken without blowing up due to the mana flow exceeding the capacity of their diminutive bodies.

    Despite that, before their fall the goblin race had been a force to be reckoned with when they acted together.

    There was no such thing as a goblin talentless for magic so when amunity cast a spell in unison to defend their cities, they could easily surpass a white core.

    On the other hand, taken individually theycked both magical power and physical strength. Their green cores were too weak to practice the higher tiers of magic for a long time, hindering even the progress of their magical research.

    The procedure to alter their life force that they had devised before their fall was supposed to alter their bodies so that they could withstand up to the bright cyan core and also to increase their fertility.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Goblins weren''t greedy, they just wanted enough mana to conduct experiments for a few hours straight and swell their numbers to make up for their weakness and the casualties of the inevitable conflicts with the other races for the magical resources.

    They would research a way to safely Awaken and reach the blue coreter, once enough geniuses had been born and there were so many of them that no race could hope to threaten their empire.

    Or so they thought until the effects of the Body Sculpting increased their fertility at the expense of their life span and the alteration on their mana cores backfired, bringing them down to orange instead of up.

    Weakened in the body and mind, the goblins now lived for too short a time to master the knowledge of their ancestors and their cores were too weak to practice Body Sculpting and fix the damage.

    The mutation soon affected the minds and bodies of the new generation that ughtered the few unfallen goblins left in a fit of hunger and lust.

    From that moment, the goblin race had been considered lost even by their elvish cousin. The goblins had be too stupid to learn magic and even if they did, they had no magical power to practice it.

    There was no way for them to be restored unless another race was so generous to devote its life to finding a cure for them.

    Until now.

    There were dozens of goblins in Ne''sra and those fueled by Eryon''s wings could ovee the limits of their orange cores, each one of them with the strength equivalent to a cyan core.

    A bolt of lightning traveled from one goblin to the other, growing in power until it turned into a thunderstorm. The small creatures poured all the golden lightning that the Fomor had bestowed upon them into the spell and then hurled it at the Demons.

    Each goblin controlled a portion of the energy, aiming against the enemies with surgical precision without impeding the advance of their allies. A group of trained reverted goblins was akin to a living array that could select its targets.

    All the power of a magical formation and none of its problems.

    The various kinds of Demons tried to conjure stone walls to defend themselves but they failed due to the earth element being drained by Eryon''s wings.

    ''Raise your shields!'' Trion conjured the ck chains that linked all Demons to Lith and between themselves. Unlike a mind link, they were visible, but now there was no need for secrecy.

    The Demons answered in unison by conjuring an emerald-veined golden wall of light to break the lightning tide.

    The souls conjured by Lith shared their energy signature and could fuse their spells as well but the light element was slower than the bolts of lightning and the whirling storm struck before the hard-light construct could fully form.

    The barrier shattered and blue serpents of electricity coursed through the ranks of the Demons, doing them no harm.

    ''What the?'' Varegrave thought after noticing that aside from a sting he felt no pain.

    Eryon, instead, knew what was happening.

    The yellow eyes of the Demons were lit and their collective willpower had neutralized the goblins'' spell, making it their own.

 Chapter 2506 Gods And Demons (Part 2)

    Yet knowing that the Fomor could suck it via his wings, Lith had the spell fading instead of further empowering his enemies.

    "Good job finding the ringleader." A heretical figure whose voice sounded like an insult to creation said while descending from the sky. "I''ll take it from here."

    His wings were membranous instead of feathered and upside-down in a mockery of the Fomor''s. His skin was of a disgusting pink instead of the divine blue of the sky and the razor-sharp fangs in his mouth were unworthy of a human.

    Yet the revulsion that those features inspired in Eryon was eclipsed by the pure hatred that he felt by looking into the abomination''s eyes.

    Six of them seemed identical to those of the Balors of old, wielding the power of all elements. The seventh, however, was something that the Fomor had only seen in his dreams.

    Somehow, the creature had robbed the Balors of their legacy, perverting it beyond belief and yet achieving what they never could. Full control over the seventh element of magic that was the source of all bloodline abilities.

    Glemos had educated his children about the true story behind the fall of the various races and pointed out that demons were just a myth that the fallen species had made up to absolve themselves from their mistakes.

    Yet the abomination fit the Balor''s centuries-old superstitions down to the smallest detail, making him put into question everything he had learned under the Tyrant''s tutge.

    ''The creature standing in front of me is the incarnation of the prophecy that our god Glemos showed us yet it stands against everything he taught us!'' Eryon thought.

    Hisrades felt the same way, some covered their eyes incapable of standing the sight of the living heresy while others groveled in front of the advent of the being that they mistook for their prophesized new god.

    "Damn, if you guys are tall." Lith had no idea why the bunch of monsters had started infighting right after his arrival nor how a Fomor''s blue skin could have turned green.

    The creature in front of him was clearly of human origin, but the perfection of his body betrayed Eryon as something more and yet less than a man at the same time.

    He was over 2.3 meters (7''7") tall, with hair of the six colors of the elements. It would have reminded Lith of Friya, if not for theck of the emerald streak of Spirit Magic. Even though the Fomor wasn''t Awakened, the harmony of his features and the raw strength of his toned muscles were no inferior to perfect body refining.

    The eyes on the Balor''s forehead were ck and white, those under his eyebrows were brown and yellow, and those on his cheekbones were red and blue.

    "Are you rted to Typhos or Echidna? They left me a message before they died." It was a lie, but Eryon had no way to know it and Lith wanted to try to solve things by talking.

    ''If this works, no one else has to die. They bring me to theirir, Faluel makes them her offer, and I''m done with this.'' Lith thought.

    Solus would have praised his attitude if not for the fact that she could read his thoughts and knew the truth. Lith wanted to get his hands on the Harmonizers, install them in the tower, and go back to Elysia''s side. In that order.

    He didn''t care about the lives of the monsters. Diplomacy was simply the quickest way to get what he wanted.

    ''It''s the result that counts.'' She inwardly pouted, not believing her own words.

    "You met them?" Blood left Eryon''s face and the green of his skin turned into a pale yellow.

    "Yes, they asked me to-"

    "Liar!" The Fomor roared, his voice infused with so much air element to trigger a wind st. "They were respectively Glemos'' right-hand man and future daughter-inw. They would have never wasted their breath on the abomination who killed them."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I didn''t kill them." That part at least was true. "I-"

    Eryon charged forward, his enchanted ax aimed at Lith''s throat charged with the golden lightning while an orange armor of light coated his body.

    "As I was saying, they asked me to deliver their tribe a message." Lith extended his hand with the palm out, the sheer pressure generated by air and Spirit Magic forced the de to a halt.

    "I don''t believe you." Eryon grunted. He was pushing with all of his strength but it felt like going against a mountain. "They were with our god on the day they disappeared. On the day our god disappeared.

    "You killed them and stole their powers!" The Fomor''s red eye unleashed another burst of mystical mes that Lith countered with his own.

    The explosion pushed them back among their respective ranks.

    At those words, the monsters behind him snapped out of their reverie. They stopped fighting among themselves and prepared to fight with everything they had gotten.

    "For our god Glemos!" A silver-furred Hati jumped at Lith after harnessing the collective might of the members of his pack.

    Hati were Elder Beasts, the evolution of wargs that brought them one step closer to Emperor Beasts. They looked like bipedal humanoid wolves that closely resembled lycanthropes from Earth''s horror movies.

    At first nce, they looked no different from the hybrid form of an Emperor Beast, yet their form was unstable. Their bodies kept shrinking and expanding, growing new tails or limbs thatsted barely a few seconds before being assimted again.

    Just like the wargs, the members of a pack of Hati could share their physical, intellectual, and magical capabilities.

    Also, evolution granted their bloodline abilities a greater range and returned their affinity for the elements, bringing their champions on par with Awakened Emperor Beasts.

    The members of the pack gave the Hati in front of Lith strength, speed, and all the spells they had kept at the ready until that moment. The wolf-like creature unleashed them all at the same time while performing a downward two-handed sh with his battle ax.

    "This is why I can''t stand fanatics." Lith raised his right hand again and his six eyes lit up in unison.

    Both the Hati and his spells were frozen in mid-air.

    "Last chance. Do you want to talk or fight?" Lith asked.

    "To the death!" Eryon replied, leading the charge of his troops.

    "Death it is." At a wave of Lith''s hand, War darted through the Demons'' ranks and stabbed the Hati in the head, heart, and lungs.

    His pack mates instinctively took the wounds on themselves, realizing they were all deadly only when it was toote. Three Hati dropped dead despite the distance from the front lines and more kept falling as War mercilessly stabbed the prisoner.

    Realizing that he was a liability for the rest of his pack, the Hati cut the connection with his brethren. When the hungry de cut his neck a secondter, he died with a smile on his face.

    The spells cast by the pack darted back from they hade, ravaging the first rows of charging monsters. Eryon had tried to activate his wings and add their strength to his core, but Lith had charged forward as well.

 Chapter 2507 Gods And Demons (Part 3)

    When their des met, the Fomor needed to give everything he had to not be sent flying away due to the abyssal gap in raw strength between them. Eryon used the power of the earth element to be heavier and resistant to harm.

    The air element to increase all of his abilities threefold and the fire element to engulf his body and equipment in mystical mes that ate at both the mana and equipment of his opponent.

    "You know, this would have been much more impressive if your bloodline abilities weren''t half-baked and I hadn''t fought against Thrud''s generals until I got sick of it!" Lith infused War with a spark of Chaos, turning it ck as Origin mes burst out of his scales.

    The violet-ck mes easily overpowered the Fomor''s while the angry de cut through his defensive orange aura. Even though Eryon''s eyes granted him mastery over the six elements and several powerful abilities, it wasn''t enough to stand against the Tiamat.

    Between the gap mass and the body refinement of a violet-cored Awakened, the Fomor felt like a child struggling against an adult.

    Yet the worst part was feeling the emerald eye of the heretic staring at him and feeling it pull at his bloodline abilities in the attempt to steal them.

    The golden lightning was supposed to be safely stored inside his mana organ, yet Eryon had to pour every ounce of willpower he had to keep it from leaving his body and entering Lith''s.

    Yet the Fomor smiled as all of his sacrifices paid off.

    "Now!" At hismand, the goblins unleashed a powerful gravity field localized solely around Lith.

    Thanks to the power of the mana geyser below Ne''sra reverting them to their unfallen state, the goblins couldbine their willpower and dimensional awareness to conjure gravity magic like a true dimensional mage and avoid affecting their allies.

    Lith felt his weight increase by several folds, his kneecaps popped as they would soon copse under the weight of his own body. Another Hati champion joined the fray, moving at the Tiamat''s back.

    Reverted trolls wielding weapons made of darkness and light magic in each of their six arms nked him. Incapable of conjuring constructs, the Traughen had simplypressed the tier three heat rays until they generated the next-best thing to sma des.

    "Fine." Lith snorted. "Charge!"

    For a moment, the monsters'' bloodlust kept them from understanding the meaning of that single word. The descent of the heretic creature and the frenzy of the battle had made them forget about the rest of the Demons.

    They had never left the battlefield nor broken the encirclement. The Demons had simply followed Lith''s orders and waited for the next phase of his n.

    The monsters werepletely focused on the Tiamat so the sudden attack caught them by surprise. The Demons in the backlines unleashed the Spirit Spells they had kept at the ready without worrying for their allies.

    They all shared Lith''s same energy signature and their mana couldn''t hurt them. The Demons in the frontlines, instead, exploited the ensuing mayhem to cut down as many monsters as they could before they could recover.

    Lith escaped the trap by Spirit Blinking at thest second so that when the Hati and the Traughen struck, they fought among themselves for a while before realizing that their enemy was gone.

    Eryon saw Lith appear several meters above the battlefield, outside the area of effect of his wings and where world energy could be harnessed. Seeing a sea of ck mes forming above his head, the Fomor spread its wings and flew up, hoping to stop the creature before it was toote.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He unleashed six elemental pirs, one from each of his eyes, at the same time when Lith released his personal tier five spell, Final Eclipse.

    Much to the Fomor''s horror, the highlypressed elemental beams fared no better than the Hatis'' spells, stopping in mid-air before reaching their target. The Final Eclipse, instead, seemed immune to the pull of his wings and resisted Eryon''s attempt to dispel it.

    "My eyes are up here!" Lith took control of the six pirs and shot them back at Eryon who tried and failed tobine the power of his wings and eyes to reverse the effects of Domination.

    The Fomor crashed against the ground in a multi-colored shooting star of elemental energy at the same time when the Final Eclipse detonated, spreading outward from the core of the monsters'' formation.

    Once again, the Demons suffered no harm due to the shared energy signature. Also, they had no need to breathe so the steaming air didn''t bother them whereas the monsters dropped their weapons in agony.

    Their eyes boiled and their lungs burned, making them helplessmbs to the ughter.

    Eryon conjured the power of the water element to split Lith''s mana from the world energy thatposed Final Eclipse, but once again his powers failed him. The best he could do was to cover himself in ayer of mystical ice and pray to Glemos that it would be enough to survive.

    ''That thing isn''t human. It''s like-'' The Fomor froze in horror when a cautionary tale that Glemos used to tell his children to scare them came to his mind.

    Over a millennium ago, the Tyrant had been traveling Mogar in the hope of finding another sessful evolution of the human race. Both Tyrants and Balors had developed eyes that granted them dominion over the elements so it was likely that a third race would sooner orter do the same.

    Glemos couldn''t stand the thought that while Hydras developed seven heads, humans couldn''t muster the power of Spirit Magic. Even before their fall, no Balor had ever achieved the emerald eye and Tyrants fared barely better.

    Even the First Tyrant had considered the seventh eye a joke since employing it meant giving up on all other elements whereas Hydras and all other species that naturally achieved seven elemental affinities had no such problem.

    Since then, once per generation, the inheritor of the hidden research of the Tyrant bloodline would tour Mogar in the hope to discover a new species of humans whose potential surpassed the limits of his own species.

    His duty was to study them from a distance and wait for the right moment to collect a specimen that would be used as a benchmark to permanently alter the Tyrant''s life force. Glemos had taken the journey as well, finding no more than his predecessors.

    Then, he had heard about a young king who had gone from farmer to hero in a short span. At first, he had dismissed those stories as exaggerated rumors spun by a freshly Awakened to further his agenda.

    Once the Griffon Kingdom had started to take shape, Glemos reconsidered his previous position. Valeron''s feats were too amazing for a mere Awakened human and his prowess rivaled that of a Divine Beast.

    The Tyrant had followed Valeron for years during the campaign for the Kingdom, and the more he learned, the more he was convinced to have found what his bloodline had been looking for millennia.

    Until he had witnessed Valeron revealing his true power and form.

 Chapter 2508 Gods And Demons (Part 4)

    Faced with a being of pure light, Glemos had barely the time to register that the First King indeed had more than two eyes before his survival instinct prompted him to run away without looking back.

    Back then, Valeron had recently achieved the white core whereas Glemos was already millennia old. The Tyrant had already fought and sometimes killed ancient bright violet-cored Emperor Beasts much bigger than him.

    Glemos had also faced several Divine Beasts during his time and had always survived. Yet when the First King unleashed his full might, the Tyrant ran.

    The fact that Valeron was barely thirty years old didn''t put a dent in the fear that possessed Glemos'' legs. Valeron''s bloodlust wasn''t even aimed at Glemos but he knew that if he stayed there, death woulde for him.

    Only after putting dozens of kilometers between them did Glemos feel safe enough to stop, swearing that he would never approach the monster called Valeron again.

    Whenever he recounted this story, the Tyrant would highlight how even being in the presence of the monarch hurt. How he had failed to check for the Spirit Eye because his mystical senses ached at the mere sight of Valeron.

    Glemos had no idea why he had panicked like that since the First King was unaware of his presence, yet he had the certainty that if he had acted any differently, he would have died.

    ''I''m no Glemos and that thing is no Valeron. Then howe I feel like this?'' Eryon thought as his body shivered in terror.

    The Fomor had never heard of Tiamat Fear and was unaware that once activated, drawing in the world energy with his wings would also carry Lith''s mana right inside his body.

    Eryon bit his own cheek to resist the impulse to run away like his god had done almost a thousand years ago, using both his red and ck eyes to survive the raging tide of Final Eclipse.

    ''Why the heck hasn''t he run away already?'' Lith inwardly cursed.

    ''I don''t know.'' Solus replied from the pocket of the Fomor''s tunic inside which she had slipped during their first sh.

    She was the reason Eryon was still alive and his army hadn''t been turned into charcoal. Solus was the one casting the Final Eclipse and she had adjusted its power to make it non-lethal.

    Killing the Fomor and the rest of his allies was easy. The difficult part was allowing him to escape without making it obvious. If Eryon was the only survivor, he would have had no believable means to make it out of the encirclement alive.

    The rest of the monsters were still breathing only because Lith wanted them to "sacrifice" themselves to give their leader the opening he needed.

    ''Turn the heat up a notch.''

    ''Got it.'' Lith fused the Hands of Menadion with the gloves of the Voidwalker armor, using them to replenish the world energy and with it the elemental magic and the mystical mes of his Demons.

    The Tiamat came down slowly, his body shrouded in darkness as he conjured bolts of lightning from both the ground and the sky. The Fomor used his wings to drain the world energy that fueled Mjolnir but for the first time in his life, Mogar resisted his pull.

    He then used his yellow and orange eyes to Dominate the spell like Glemos had taught him yet the storm ignored hismand, trampling him and his troops like an avnche.

    The monsters were sent sprawling on the floor in a seizure and the Demons mercilessly struck them down with cold metal and burning Void mes.

    The Hands countered the Fomor''s wings while Solus'' Domination supported Lith''s, making Eryon''s eyes useless.

    ''I know that I told you to kick things up a notch and I understand that you enjoy your act as a Dark Lord of the Lith, but you need to give this guy a chance if you want him to take it.'' Solus said once the number of surviving monsters became dangerously low.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''If I make it too easy it''ll tip him off.'' Lith replied.

    ''If you make it any harder, he''ll drop dead!''

    ''Yes, Mom!'' He dispelled Mjolnir, sword in hand and apparently ready for the killing blow.

    "You are really resistant to magic. Let''s see how your species fares against Adamant." Lith''s words and the sudden disappearance of Tiamat Fear snapped Eryon out of his daze.

    He looked at the dimensional amulets thaty on the ground after the death of their owners.

    They were filled with the food that his people need to survive. Without them, the mission would fail and the members of the colony would run out of supplies before reaching another mana geyser capable of stabilizing their condition.

    ''Me and my damn pride. Who cares about how this guy got his seven eyes? Even if I kill him, it won''t bring back Typhos or Echidna. If he kills me, instead, the noble sacrifice of myrades will be for nothing and my people will starve!''

    Eryon drew in as much world energy as he could and this time Lith let him. The Fomor didn''t question his luck, releasing the umted energy in a blue shockwave that reminded Lith of Doom Tide.

    "Nice try." With one hand Lith Spirit-chocked Eryon while with the other hebined his Domination and the Hands of Menadion to suppress the st.

    The Fomor squeezed every bit of mana he had left to win the battle, unleashing a pir of ice from his blue eye that froze Lith.

    ''I knew it! Dragons are weak to cold.'' As the water element shockwave expanded, it knocked the Tiamat off and dispersed the energy of the Demons that had been butchering Eryon''s troops.

    "Run, before he recovers." The leader of the goblins conjured a strong barrier while the Traughen shared their abundant life force with the Hati to restore the power of what was left of the pack.

    "We are the past. Worry about the future." With their six hands, the Traughen had quickly collected the dimensional amulets and put them all inside another, to make them easier to carry. "There''s no hope for victory but that doesn''t mean we are defeated either.

    "Do what you must and get out of here alive. We''ll keep the humans busy. As long as one of us draws breath, they won''t have the time to chase you."

    Eryon looked into the eyes of the leader of trolls and saw his determination.

    "Thank you, brother." The Fomor nodded, using his restored wings to amass the world energy and flood with it the surviving members of his forces.

    The monsters felt the power of the elements flow inside their bodies and used the breathing technique that Glemos had passed on to them to Awaken.

    One pir of light surrounded each member of the fallen races, pushing their cores and evolution forward. There were so many of them and so close to each other that their brilliance painted the city of Ne''sra with a blinding, uniform white.

    Both mystical and regr senses were useless, respectively hampered by the mass of mana and the light the pirs that the monsters produced.

    The army of shadows fought the light, smothering it with their ck bodies and sapping its strength with their Abomination Touch.

 Chapter 2509 Necessary Sacrifice (Part 1)

    For a moment, the two forces collided, splitting the city asunder yet leaving both sides equally blind.

    Then, the battle began.

    The size of the goblins hadn''t changed but their skin had gone from bright yellow to golden and even after the light pirs disappeared, they kept shining with their own light.

    The white of their hair had turned silvery while their eyes were pitch ck. They had not only regained their elvish heritage but they also burst with the power of the elements that mixed freely within their bodies.

    All of the wargs evolved into Hati. Their fur became silvery and each one of them carried at least three elemental streaks.

    Unlike those Lith that had just naturally evolved, their bodies quickly stopped shifting from one form to another and became stable into hulking figures of fur and muscle at least 2,5 meters (8''2") tall.

    Lastly, the Traughen''s arms turned each of the color of a different element, showing to have ovee their limit of two elements. At the same time, their affinity for light and darkness increased to the point that their sma weapons almost turned into hard-light and their darkness spells now held a spark of Chaos.

    Yet instead of weaving spells or assuming a semnce of battle formation, the Awakened monsters charged forward recklessly, throwing themselves at the Demons to open a path to the still-stunned Tiamat.

    ''Watch out!'' Solus warned Lith. ''Their cores and life forces are kept stable by the mana geyser, but they are both still too damaged to harness the power of Awakening. I can see them crumbling under the pressure their own cores produce.

    ''It''s only a matter of seconds before-'' As quick the mind link was, nature was quicker.

    The evolved monsters exploded like anyone who failed to achieve Awakening, producing violent bursts of guts, bones, and mana. The st from the death of the first goblin struck those nearby, triggering a chain reaction that made Ne''sra quake.

    Eryon stared at the scene from the sky where he had escaped as soon as the Awakening processes had started.

    He hated the trolls because they were descendants of the ursed Odi, who Mogar had already judged and found them wanting. He despised the goblins, considering them greedy little bastards who had let their inferiorityplex toward the elves define them.

    The only species for which the Fomor felt kinship was the warg. They were magical beasts that just like the Balors has simply tried to escape from the chains of an unjust fate and rectify Mogar''s mistake.

    Yet that day he grieved them all like they were his own flesh and blood.

    ''You did it, my brothers. You''ve killed Verhen and saved our colony. The heretic creature will stain Mogar no more and maybe now our father Glemos will finally return to us.'' Eryon thought while looking at the scene of destruction.

    An entire city block had been razed to the ground and the only piece of the Tiamat visible was an arming out of a pile of debris from a copsed building. With the fall of their master, the Demons of the Darkness had disappeared while the golemsy rigid on a side like huge toys knocked over.

    The Fomor lingered for a second, wishing toe down to the ground and ughter the citizens of Ne''sra now that they had lost their champion. Yet the weight of the dimensional amulet in his hand snapped him out of his righteous fury.

    It wasprised of a few grams of silver but it was heavy with liters of blood and tons of flesh from both sides of the conflict.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''A life for a life. It''s fair.'' Eryon sighed deeply to calm himself. ''Besides, I''m alone now and if I''m caught by surprise by the reinforcements of the humans I''ll die. Farewell, Ne''sra. We won''te back for a third time.''

    He turned around and flew away at breakneck speed, reverting into an unfallen Balor as he got away from the mana geyser and then into a demonic three-eyed figure whose body bulged with muscles as soon as the flow of world energy stoppedpletely.

    Eryon wept the whole time, but not just for the loss of lives that the colony had endured. The mission had partly failed yet fewer mouths to feed had turned it into a great sess.

    Even if the other units had encountered a simr resistance, the people waiting for the warriors at the haven would have enough food reserves to build another settlement andst for a few months before the need to hunt for more supplies.

    ''It''s okay, now. You can get up.'' Solus needed to focus a small pulse of Spirit Magic to be heard from such a distance while Eryon carried her away.

    Lith had one of his Demons look around to make sure that the coast really was clear before standing up. The Spirit Barrier of his armor coupled with his Demons shielding him had absorbed the damage from the congration, leaving him unscathed.

    Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension and alerted Faluel that the first step of the n had seeded.

    "Solus is in and I know the general direction they moved to. Tracking them would be easy but I prefer to wait until they reach their destination. If the monsters have sentries covering their retreat, we can''t afford to get spotted."

    "Excellent idea. We are almost done as well and we''ll converge on your position as soon as the local authorities dere the all-clear." The Hydra replied.

    She, Ajatar, and the others had answered the call of the Kingdom as well.

    The armycked the strength to resist the monster hordes due to most of the troops being locked in the traitorous region to hold the peace and protect the fields before the harvest.

    Soon, fall woulde and then the ripe wheat would be collected, putting an end to the two-year-longsting famine and the food rationing. With so much good food and the harshness of winter, the Royals hoped that the War of the Griffons would be over for good.

    The two halves of the Kingdom would have no more reason for animosity and the people of the former territories of the Mad Queen would be reminded of how much they needed those very people they called invaders.

    "There''s no rush. I''ve still got a few things to do here." As Eryon got further and further away, Solus'' light grew dim in his mind whereas her memories burned strong.

    The fusion had shared every moment of their lives they had spent apart, both good and bad.

    Lith could almost see Neforce uncaring for Tista''s tears and wounds after the previous raid. His sister had put her life on the line for them and had almost been eaten alive yet all the Captain cared about was sending her away.

    Lith could almost smell the fear of the soldiers and mages who had believed themselves capable of restricting Solus, Nyka, and Tista. He remembered the cruel words, how Neforce had tried to shift the me on Solus, and the contempt in his voice while he addressed her without her hard-earned titles.

 Chapter 2510 Necessary Sacrifice (Part 2)

    Lith was seething with anger yet he patiently waited for several minutes, without moving from the spot where he had allegedly fallen. He left his Demons in the shadows where they had hidden after feeding upon the pirs of light.

    The explosion had done them little harm but Lith wanted to give an impression of weakness. One thing was facing a Tiamat at the peak of his strength while surrounded by his undead army.

    Dealing with a lone, wounded creature was another entirely.

    "What the heck have you done?" Neforce arrived only after the silence hadsted for so long that there was no doubt about the end of the battle.

    His voice was angry, pointing at the rabble and then at Lith.

    "You ordered me to call the retreat and this is the result of your arrogance. An entire city block has been razed and months of hard work have gone to waste." The Captain was followed by a sizeable group of soldiers and mages armed to the teeth.

    Lith could see with Life Vision that they all kept spells at the ready and that they were aimed at him. Among the mages, Lith recognized Head Healer Wyrvan Par and the young man called Vamfil.

    "I''m going to inform the Royals of your failure and demand that you pay for the damages of your own pocket. Your savagery has already cost millions of gold coins and lives during the war.

    "I hope that you''ll have the decency to admit that the Kingdom shouldn''t have to bear more expenses to fix your mess." Three of the Tiamat''s eyes were closed, probably wounded, and the creature wheezed in pain from its many wounds.

    Neforce hated to bear witness to the new scar in his beloved city, but seeing the arrogant beast beat and battered brought a smirk to his face.

    "What failure?" Vamfil was just a Mage of the Kingdom and a clerk at that, but he couldn''t stand that nonsense any longer. "These were just buildings. Ever since Supreme Magus Verhen''s arrival, our forces suffered no more casualties.

    "I''ve read the reports from your men and I''ve already forwarded them to the Royals. Magus Verhen and his Demons fought tooth and nail to cover the retreat of our soldiers.

    "They held the monsters back until the search and rescue operations were concluded, saving countless civilians'' lives as well. Who cares about a bunch of stones?"

    Neforce''s face was almost as red as Lith''s eye which was fixed on Par. The chubby woman was the senior Mage on the scene, the representative of the Association, and a skilled healer.

    Yet she kept looking around, unwilling to take a side or even treat Lith''s alleged wounds despite his apparently critical condition.

    "A bunch of stones?" Neforce echoed in outrage. "Who do you think you are to belittle the sacrifices of the people of Ne''sra? This was once a beautiful neighborhood and for all we know there might be dozens of corpses under the ''bunch of stones.''"

    "Then why are you standing there instead of helping?" A wave of Vamfil''s hand lifted the debris of a house to clear the area and search for survivors but Neforce stopped him.

    "Because I want the Royal to take a good look at this disaster. If there was anyone left in these houses, they are already dead. We can''t bring them back to life but we can at least give them justice." Neforce replied.

    "But-"

    "Are you questioning me? What is your rank and upation, young man?"

    "I''m a Mage and a clerk." Vamfil looked at Par for help, finding none.

    "A clerk." Neforce sneered. "In other words, a paper pusher. What''s this, instead?"

    "The insignia of a captain of the army." The young mage lowered his gaze.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Exactly. While you y with your dusty tomes and send reports from the safety of your desk, my men and I risk our lives for the sake of the people of the Kingdom. It''s only because of ipetents like you and Verhen that-"

    "Supreme Magus Verhen." Lith mumbled in a low growl.

    "I beg your pardon?" The Captain asked, having an odd sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.

    "It''s Supreme Magus Verhen for you, not just Verhen." Lith snarled as his fake wounds disappeared and his equipment covered him, his white and golden Magus robe covering him from head to toe.

    "I''ve heard enough and I''m ready to pass judgment." Lith''s violet aura burst out, prompting the soldiers to raise their wands and the mages to unleash their spells in self-defense.

    The barrage of ice, fire, and lightning was brought to a halt the moment it crossed the boundaries of an impossible array with which Lith had surrounded himself.

    It actually had another purpose entirely but it covered his use of Domination. A flick of Lith''s wrist sent the projectiles back to their respective caster, but aimed so that the resulting wound would be crippling instead of lethal.

    The soldiers and mages burned, froze, and spasmed in a seizure, holding the stumps of their missing limbs while crying in pain.

    "This is madness and insubordination!" Neforce tried to sound stern but he took two steps back for every step that Lith took forward. "If before this was about money, now it will cost you your life.

    "You have willingly and consciously attacked loyal officers who act on behalf of the Royals!"

    "I did no such thing." Lith cackled, his mouth filled with ck-violet mes.

    "How dare y-" Neforce literally choked on his words as tendrils of Spirit Magic lifted him and Par off the ground by the neck.

    "Are you questioning me? What is your rank and upation, old man?" Lith mocked the Captain by using the same words with which he had addressed Vamfil.

    "I''m a Captain of the army." He had tried to point at his insignia, but Lith had just squeezed Neforce''s throat harder until he answered.

    "A Captain." Lith sneered in mockery. "What''s on my shoulder, instead?" He made his military rank appear over the white and golden robe.

    "The insignia of a Lieutenant Colonel of the army." Neforce''s eyes almost popped out in surprise and due to the ever-increasing strength of the hold.

    During the g for the end of the war, Lith had been promoted in the army ranks and his status as a noble had been further elevated. Yet those things were easy to forget due to his Magus title eclipsing them.

    "Exactly." Lith''s fangs curled up in a smile. "I didn''t attack anyone, I defended myself from a clear act of insubordination and attempted murder of a superior officer. Do you know what''s the punishment for that?"

    "Death." The hold loosened but blood drained from the Captain''s face even faster than before.

    "Not so fast." Lith tilted his head left and right like a kid studying a new toy. "Firstes the torture, then public humiliation, and then confiscation of family property. Deathesst."

    "Why are you doing this to me?" Par finally found the strength to speak. "I didn''t do or say anything!"

    "That''s my point exactly!" Lith hissed, increasing the strength of the Spirit tendril until the bby meat of her neck was fully stretched.

 Chapter 2511 Clean Up (Part 1)

    "You stood there and did nothing when my sister was hurt and cried." Lith snarled. You didn''t say a word when my- when Great Mage Solus Verhen, your superior in the Association, was treated like amon criminal and you even lent your mages to the army to help them to banish her.

    "After everything she''s done for this filthy city! She had promised you that the Verhen household would have never helped Ne''sra again, yet here we are again. Putting our lives on the line for your sorry ass.

    "And how did you repay her kindness?" Another squeeze made their necks crack and a healing spell fixed them before the wound became lethal. "You hid like a rat while we fought.

    "You didn''t bother checking on our condition until you made sure it was safe for you toe out from your hole. When you saw me wounded and Solus missing, you didn''t treat me nor did you even bother asking me about her.

    "Once again, Par, you sat back and let this moron take charge. I don''t know if you''re using him as a strawman to further your own agenda or if he has you in his pocket and honestly, I don''t care."

    A flick of Lith''s arm made the fingers of the Head Healer twist like a drill in a motion that spread from tip to knuckle. Then, it reached the wrist and from there moved along the arm until the humerus.

    The bones cracked and then shattered into small fragments that would have burst every single blood vessel if not for a healing spell smoothing their edges. A second spell put the bone fragments together in the form of a rough, single jointless block.

    Par''s cry of pain as her hands broke down was heart wrenching but it was nothingpared to the shriek she emitted once she realized what had happened. She could still feel the sun on her skin and the weight of her arms, but they were paralyzed.

    There was no pain anymore, but they moved as if someone had swapped her arms with a wooden stick covered in meat. They swung from the shoulder socket and that was it.

    "What did you do?" She tried and failed to cast even the simplest diagnostic spell, Vinire Rad Tu.

    "As you said, I can''t kill you since you did nothing. Yet I''m your superior and you''ve let me down one time too many. I have decided that if you aren''t going to use your magic when necessary, I might as well take it away." Lith smiled at her, speaking with a soft tone.

    "Have your arms looked at by whoever you want. I allow it. Only a rejuvenator can fix them, and I know all two of them. I''ll make sure they''ll treat you the same way you treated Solus."

    "As for you, dear Captain." Lith grabbed Neforce by the neck and used Body Sculpting to make his ears pointy, turn his teeth into fangs, and cove his body into thick fur.

    "Since you hate beasts so much, you''ll live until the end of your days as one." Lith pressed his thumb on the Captain''s forehead, leaving a rune that marked him for other healers as someone unworthy of any treatment except for those necessary to save his life.

    "I don''t know how many you have left, though." Lith shrugged. "Great Mage Solus Verhen did report your behavior back then and now I''m going to make another. After all, you guided those men against me.

    "They were under yourmand and yours is the responsibility of what happened. I will leave it to the Royals to decide whether it''s better to let you have a long life in shame or a short, painful one.

    "Either way you are done with the army." A snap of Lith''s fingers made the captain''s insignia fall, demoting Neforce to a private.

    Neforce conjured a small mirror of ice in front of himself, screaming in horror at the abomination he had be. He pulled out the hair from his cheeks, making his skin bleed, but soon pain and desperation overcame him.

    "As for you¡­" Lith turned toward Vamfil, towering over the clerk.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lith''s eyes were still aze with mana and his mouth with Origin mes.

    "Good job." He shapeshifted back into his human form, using Life Vision to check his surroundings for survivors. "Neforce was right, if someone was still under the rubble, they would be dead now. Still, you were right as well.

    "It''s worth trying to at least rescue the bodies and give closure to their families but I warn you. During the fight, I noticed that there were no corpses left on the streets. Anyone missing is probably dead and their remains are likely to be the monsters'' dinner."

    "Why are you telling me, sir?" Vamfil licked his lips in nervousness, his eyes instinctively falling to his amulet to check for missing runes.

    "Because not only civilians died today but also good soldiers. Someone needs to tell their families the truth and I don''t trust anyone else with such a delicate task." Lith replied.

    ''Also, it will look great on your resume.'' He actually thought while knocking Neforce and Par out the moment their desperate wails had ceased to amuse him.

    "May I ask you a question, sir?" The clerk stared at the Magus with a shocked expression.

    From so up close and in human form, Vamfil could tell how young Lith was, andparing himself with his junior left a sour aftertaste in the clerk''s mouth.

    "Tista told me everything. Here''s your autograph." Lith handed Vamfil a piece of paper with a mysterious ink smudge that was his handmade signature followed by a readable one made with water magic.

    "That''s not what I was going to ask you." The clerk replied while pocketing the paper after carefully folding it without ruining either signature.

    "Was this really necessary?" He pointed at the former captain, head healer, and the mutted troops. "Mages are rare. My colleagues might still be helpful."

    "Yes, it was." Lith nodded. "We live in delicate times. The Kingdom endured the War of the Griffons only thanks to beasts like me and nt folk. Idiots like them, however, are unwilling to ept the change.

    "Now answer me this. What makes more sense? To redeem them and change their ways or to just rece them with someone morepetent and less prejudiced?"

    "Rece them." Vamfil replied after pondering the question. "They raised their hand against you. If not punished, it would encourage simr behavior in others that share their beliefs."

    "That''s why I didn''t kill them." Lith nodded. "It would have made them martyrs. This way, they''ll be treated like the criminals they are and be a cautionary tale."

    While Vamfil called for help and started to clear the rubble, Lith gave his report to the Royals.

    Useless to say, they were ecstatic about the crushing victory and how after Lith''s arrival the number of casualties had gone down to zero. The news of Neforce''s and Par''s behavior along with their retribution, however, spoiled their mood.

    "I understand your outrage, Magus Verhen, but what you did is the very definition of cruel and unusual punishment." Queen Sylpha weighed her words carefully.

 Chapter 2512 Clean Up (Part 2)

    The Royal Court was assembled for the emergency and she couldn''t afford to show any crack in the rtionship between the Crown and their Supreme Magus. Too many people in the room shared Neforce''s view about the non-human citizens of the Kingdom.

    An argument between Lith and Sylpha would add arrows to their quivers, widening the divide in the Royal Court.

    ''Thest thing we need is another internal struggle so soon after the War of the Griffons.'' Sylpha thought. ''I noticed that for a while Verhen had lost his usual cool and I kept him out of politics because he was a liability.

    ''Yet recently he seemed to be back to his usual self. I don''t understand why he''s suddenly acting recklessly again.'' The timing of the changes that the Queen had noticed matched with Solus leaving and returning.

    She was now following Eryon far away, leaving Lith''s mind unguarded and burdened by both her and his own resentment toward the city of Ne''sra.

    "I know." Lith nodded. "But as far as I know, death row inmates are considered already dead. Such privileges don''t apply to them."

    "That''s true, but only for the soldiers and mages who dared attack you." Sylpha shook her head. "You could have blown them to bits or tortured them to death and I would have been fine with that. Thew is thew and that''s the problem.

    "Captain Neforce addressed you improperly and failed to control his troops. Along with his previous attitude toward the Great Mages Verhen, it''s an offense worthy of imprisonment, court martial, and death penalty at worst.

    "Not¡­" Sylpha had seen many things in her life but she failed to find the word to describe the pitiful state the former captain of the army had fallen. "That. Permanently altering someone''s life force is not Forbidden Magic but it''s highly hical.

    "Same for Mage Par. She might not be very bright or decisive, but she has served the Crown for decades. She indeed needs to be reprimanded for herck of leadership and initiative, but something like stripping her of her title of Head Healer would have sufficed.

    "Taking her magic away is beyond cruel and unheard of. Compared to that, death would be merciful."

    "My thoughts exactly." Lith replied with a wolfish smile that exposed two rows of pristine fangs. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, I find the punishments fitting. Neforce let his hate blind him to his duty and honor, I just made it evident for everyone to see.

    "As for Par, an ipetent leader is worse than a corrupt one. She delegated her authority to Neforce, betraying the trust of the Association andpromising the separation of powers of the Kingdom.

    "As you said, thew is thew. The King controls the army, the Queen the Association, and the Court keeps the Royals in check. The system is made to prevent abuse of power like Arthan''s and both of them broke it!" Lith pointed his finger at the former captain and Head Healer.

    "Neforce was the factual lord of Ne''sra, trampling the authority of the rightful noble ruler of the city and bending the Association to his political agenda despite Your Majesty''s orders. That''s high treason to me.

    "Of course, if you don''t agree with my judgment, I can fix them both in an instant." He gave Sylpha a deep bow to ease the tension.

    The words of the Queen and her showing him the assembly of the Royal Court had made Lith realize his blunder. He had much more leeway when dealing with the Royals in private whereas politics were still a minefield to him.

    ''Luckily for me, I left those two idiots alive. Had I killed them, I would be now in a really bad spot. This might have triggered another trial like Phloria''s. If I know nobles, however, if there''s one thing that they hate above all it''s someone threatening their status.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Some members of the Court may not like me, but they sure love my trains and Tablets. Also, I''ve just given them a perfect scapegoat for their frustration.'' Lith thought.

    The nobles who until a few seconds ago asked for disciplinary actions against the Supreme Magus for overstepping his authority were now praising him for his decisiveness.

    Especially after the local nobility confirmed that after the first monster horde Neforce had invoked martialw to dictate decisions regarding Ne''sra''s security. They had never authorized the banishment of Solus'' group or even agreed on the former captain''s policy about beasts.

    Just like Par, they had delegated their freedom to him in exchange for protection. Yet they were magicless nobles whereas she was a powerful representative of the Association who was supposed to protect them and their interest.

    A human being afraid of monsters was understandable, but for a mage such behavior was outrageous.

    "I agree with Magus Verhen. It''s high treason." Gunyin Ernas was the first to speak. "Neforce ordering around a Magus is unforgivable. It demonstrates no respect for the title issued by the Royals and the honor it carries.

    "An Archmage is the same as an Archduke and a Magus is above that. How can a mere captain mistreat an Archduke?" His words rallied both the mages and the nobles, leaving the army representatives alone.

    "I also agree with the high treason sentence." Archmage Lema said. "Neforce is no different from the traitorous Ranger Quaron, he justcks powerful allies. We''ve already seen what happens when a corrupt member of the military exploits a situation of emergency to be a tyrant.

    "Sure, Neforcecks the necessary magical power to do that, but with her cowardice, Par gave it to him. She allowed him to control the Association henceforth Mage Par is guilty by association!"

    The mention of the coup that had opened the road to the War of the Griffons was thest straw, bringing even the military to agree.

    "The Royal Court agrees with your judgment, Supreme Magus Verhen." The King said, setting the record in stone. "Detain the traitors until a Constable arrives. After that, you are free to go. Thank you for your service. King Meron out."

    Meron zoomed the amulet''s hologram out, showing to the members of the Royal Court that while they were deliberating Neforce''s treason charges, the Demons were helping to clear the debris and searching for survivors.

    They were also providing medical assistance to those in need.

    Lith hoped that the case would be assigned to Jirni, but a male Archon came instead. It wasn''t just a matter of a high-profile case, but the Royals also wanted to avoid ims about conflict of interest during the investigation.

    Archon Arenia and his assistant Constables collected the statements of the witnesses, Lith included, before letting him go. Faluel and the others arrived a bitter.

    "Sorry for the wait but unlike you, we had to wait to be dismissed by both the Royals and the Council." The Hydra said and the Drake nodded. "After repelling the invaders, we tried to catch them but they had nned their escape route carefully.

    "While chasing the monsters, we fell into an ambush and even though in their fallen state they pose no threat to an Awakened, they still bought the time for their leader to get away.

 Chapter 2513 Clean Up (Part 3)

    "On top of that, beforeing here I had to wait for the report of every member of the Council who helped the Kingdom against the monsters. If the location of the children of Glemos were to be discovered, we''d have only a few hours to enact our n.

    "Our chances to pay with the monsters and make sure that the Tyrants'' bloodline legacy doesn''t end up in the Council''s hands would have been minimal. How did your side of the n go?" Faluel said.

    "There were no hitches." Lith replied. "I nted a tracker on the leader of the raiding expedition during our fight. With a bit of luck, he''s going to lead us straight to our destination."

    "A tracker?" Ajatar blurted out in surprise. "That''s your great n? Son, that kind of magical device is easy to find with any kind of magical sense andpletely useless past a certain range."

    "This is a special tracker." Lith gave the Drake a confident smile. "It can shapeshift, cloak itself, and even use dimensional magic if necessary."

    Ajatar was about the question of how an Awakened runt could have ess to such a wonder of magic when Faluel stopped him.

    "Enough with the questions. I trust Lith. If you don''t believe in him, believe in me."

    "Fine." Lesser or not, all Dragons hated mysteries. "Let''s just hope we don''t walk into a trap. If your amazing tracker gets found out, the monsters might lead us to a crystal mine and blow us up with it."

    "Before I forget, there''s something you need to know." Lith said. "The attack on Ne''sra was led by a Fomor."

    "Seriously?" Morok said it with enthusiasm, hoping that their race wasn''t extinct whereas Faluel looked worried. "Was he like Echidna or like Typhos?"

    "Like Typhos so Awakening is still off the table." Lith replied. "What about you?"

    "I was stationed in Friga and the leader looked a lot like an elf but with brown skin." Friya replied. "The worst part was that aside from Spirit Magic nothing worked and the guy had some crazy spell I''ve never seen before."

    "That was an orc shaman." Lith exined. "They can use mana crystals to obtain powers simr to Nandi''s."

    "I know." Quy sighed. "When the equipment of the soldiers suddenly stopped working, it was a massacre."

    Upon hearing that, Lith asked them to share their respective battles with a mind link.

    "The good news is that it really was just a reverted orc. They have yet to manage to further evolve." He said. "The bad news is that they are already lethal with a single crystal. There''s no telling how dangerous they can be with a Harmonizer and an entire mine at their disposal."

    "In Beda, the attack was led by a chick that reminded me of a Dryad, but damn tall and muscr." Morok said, allowing Lith to recognize a reverted unevolved ogre.

    "I fought my lost brethren in Lona." Protector lowered his gaze in shame and grief.

    "You mean wargs?" Lith made no distinction between humans, beasts, and nts. Only between friends and enemies.

    "I mean Hati." Protector looked at Tista who took a step back and instinctively took out her wings, checking that they were alright. "I''m sorry, I didn''t want to talk about it because I knew it would have upset you."

    Ryman gave her an apologetic nod before ring at Lith.

    "That''s considerate of you but unnecessary." Tista had her wings disappear, inwardly vowing to not take them out until the end of the mission. "We need information to prepare and if I be a liability, I''d rather go back home thanpromise your safety just to coddle my feelings."

    Once everyone was done reporting the kinds of reverted monsters they had faced and their abilities, they turned to Lith.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "How do we pinpoint your tracker? If we need to spread out and search, you''d better have prepared enough receiver units for us all." Ajatar said.

    "I just need a free mana geyser to amplify the signal. One with a mine is fine as well, as long as its energy isn''t absorbed by an artificial structure like ab or a city." Lith replied.

    Faluel had to contact the local Awakened Lord and call in for a few favors but in the end, she obtained the position of an unproductive geyser.

    First, Lith imprinted it, making it avable as a destination of the tower Warp. Then, he used the connection between himself and the artifact to call upon it. The towercked the necessary mana, but the response still pointed Lith in the right direction.

    He also tried to activate the telepathic bond with Solus, but the distance between them was too great for that.

    "Damn far away. In that direction." Lith pointed Sud, Sud-East.

    "It''s not much but it''s a start." Ajatar sighed. "Let''s hope that we find your tracker soon or not only will Faluel and I end deep in debt to learn the location of the geysers, but we also might risk the Regional Lords topare notes and get suspicious."

    "It shouldn''t be necessary." Lith put a scroll inside Soluspedia, asking Solus if she was alright and if she could get the dimensional coordinates of the hideout with the Eyes and share them with him.

    Instead of storing a scroll of her own, Solus took out the one saying: "I''m alright but I can''t write" from Lith''s side. Knowing that they would be separated, they had prepared several parchments with generic answers and stored them inside Soluspedia.

    The dimensional spaces were shared and worked for them both no matter how distant they were. Solus had one single piece of papere out at a time in Lith''s pockets so that he could check its content without drawing attention.

    Ajatar and Morok were unaware of the tower''s existence and Lith wanted to keep things that way.

    Once pieced together, the message said: "South ¨C Over - 500 kilometers. Under ¨C Water."

    Lith shared thetest piece of information, making Morok whistle in admiration.

    "Void Magic, Creation Magic, and now this? Don''t tell me that you have also developed in secret some kind of Soothsayer magic?" The Tyrant passed it as a joke but judging from Ajatar''s "casual" interest in the conversation it was quite a serious question.

    "There''s no such thing as supernatural powers." Lith replied with a shrug. "Only natural phenomena that we can harness and reproduce with science. Like we do with magic.

    "The tracker simply registered a spike in the air''s humidity and we know that rain is off the table." He pointed at the clear sky. "How can you even think such nonsense?"

    "Said the man who has received a vision from a couple of hot Dryads about his soul''s deepest desire." Morok snorted.

    "Why did you tell him that?" Lith rolled his eyes at Quy.

    "Because I find it romantic." She replied with a stern tone that wasn''t addressed to Lith. "Also, I left the ''hot'' part out of the story."

    "Like it wasn''t obvious." Morok sighed in nostalgia. "I''ve dealt with my fair share of Dryads as a Ranger and they were¡­"

    "Why did you stop?" Quy smiled at him, a faint violet light escaped from her closed eyelids.

 Chapter 2514 Clean Up (Part 4)

    "I want to hear all about your adventures with Dryads. You''ve never mentioned them before."

    "They were a pain in the ass." Morok jumped out of the grave he had dug for himself, hoping it wasn''t too deep. "You have no idea how many losers I had to rescue before they were turned into fertilizer.

    "Some men seem to lose their mind as soon as they see a hottie with big breasts, long legs, and¡­."

    "You''d better stop rambling. There''s no time to lose." Ajatar nudged him.

    "And I''d better stop rambling. You said they went in that direction, correct?" Morok bolted forward without waiting for an answer, hoping that the flight wouldst long enough to make Quy''s murderous rage subside.

    They traveled for over an hour, keeping silent to not waste their focus and mana before a possible fight. Unfortunately for Lith, they met no mana geyser on their path so he couldn''t obtain new information from the tower.

    Solus confirmed him to be okay every half an hour, but she had yet to find the opportunity to send him more details about her current situation.

    The message said water so they stopped over every river,ke, and creek they spotted from above but to no avail.

    ''Is it normal not to find a geyser for so long?'' Lith asked via a mind link due to the high-speed flight making it impossible to speak.

    During his tours as a Ranger, he had noticed how random the abundance of sources of world energy seemed to be.

    ''Normal, yes. Natural, no.'' The Hydra replied. ''We are way past 500 kilometers now. If we don''t find something soon, I''ll have to promise a few favors.''

    ''Wait, what''s the difference?'' He said in confusion.

    ''It''s normal because powerful geysers that produce magical resources are often cloaked by their discoverer to not have to share them with the Kingdom or other Awakened.

    ''Do you remember the mine in my turf that Glemos ransacked?'' Faluel asked, receiving a nod in reply. ''Like that. So it''s not natural but it''s still normal. If Glemos built the refuge himself, he must have taken care of hiding it from Life Vision.''

    ''Shouldn''t the Council know the position of all geysers?'' Lith pondered how such a big colony might have escaped their attention for so long.

    ''Yes, but they pass the list solely to the Regional Rulers and we have no way to ask them about it without being questioned in turn. On top of that, don''t forget that this isn''t just Glemos'' doing.

    ''If the project started millennia ago, then maybe a Tyrant found an unmarked geyser and took it for himself. If I''m right, we might stumble into a prize the likes you''ve never seen before.

    ''The treasure hoarded over thousands of years by an entire bloodline to fund their secret experiment and keep their riches away from the Council''s grasp in the case it was discovered.

    ''We are talking about a Dragon cave kind of hoard.'' Her eyes sparkled like those of someone who was talking about her true love and a radiant smile appeared on her face.

    Lith shared her feelings and started to estimate the share of the treasure he was entitled to ask Morok since he would have never found his bloodline legacy without Lith''s help.

    "Dude, you are a married man!" Morok noticed the weird mood and the mind link between them. "You also have a bun in your wife''s oven and yet you have the gall to hit on someone old enough to be your great-"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At the fourth great, Faluel hit on Morok''s head, sending him plummeting to the ground. One river and another bustter, it was Ajatar''s turn to beg for help with a "project" he was conducting in the area.

    Even though a mana geyser was unproductive, magical resources like mystical flowers would still grow in its vicinities. To justify his request, the Drake had to look in his books for a nt typical of the area and im that he was in need of its enchanted version.

    "I don''t get it." Morok scratched his chin while looking at the map. "We are past the 500 kilometers mark and there are only a few bodies of water in the area. Can''t we just check them all?"

    "No, you numbnuts!" Ajatar replied. "Even if the flow of world energyes close enough to the ground for us to perceive it, something that I find unlikely, we still wouldn''t know in which direction we should move or how deep we should go."

    "We have Nalrond with us." Morok pointed at the Rezar.

    "Yeah, and I''m certain that Glemos left plenty of safety protocols." Friya snorted. "One wrong move and he''d alert our enemies and make me single. Again!"

    "Point taken." The Tyrant raised his hands in surrender. "What about your tracker?"

    "The geyser fuels the device on its end, but to make contact from my side I need an energy source powerful enough to make up for the distance." Lith replied. "If Glemos''b is cloaked, whatever reaches the surface won''t do."

    While they talked, he checked Soluspedia again and asked for a status report, obtaining the same answer as before. No matter how much Lith focused, the mind link was still out of reach.

    After checking all the water sources and failing to find either a mana geyser or any trace of the presence of monsters, Faluel was forced to ask for help again. The group was now very far from the Distar Marquisate and she needed a usible reason in no way rted to Ajatar''s earlier im to justify her presence in the area.

    Faluel''s bloodline belonged to the four founding pirs of the Kingdom and during the War of the Griffons, Fyrwal had renewed the bonds with the Royals. Mother and daughter had contributed to the final battle and attended the end-of-war g.

    Many Awakened feared that the Hydras may use their privileged position in both the Council and the Crown toe after a new ce where Fyrwal would live since Faluel upied her old fief.

    "I swear upon my core that I''m not after your resources or turf." She had to resort to the Awakened''s sacred oath in order to convince Laxa the Unicorn. "Any mana geyser in the vicinity will do, no matter how weak.

    "I just need it to fuel a long-range life sensing array."

    "And what do you hope to find here that''s not in your turf?" He asked.

    "I''ve managed to track down a group of monsters that may belong to the invading force. The problem is that they noticed me while I was following them and managed to slip away."

    "How? You are apetent elder and those are dumb monsters!" The Unicorn blurted out in disbelief.

    "I don''t know and if you keep wasting my time, I''ll never find out." Faluel snarled, pretending to be outraged by both her alleged blunder and Laxa rubbing salt in her wounds. "My array has a wide area of effect but it doesn''t cover the whole Mogar.

    "Are you going to help me or not?"

    "If it works and you find the monsters'' base, I want credit and 10% of the reward for the discovery." The Unicorn said.

 Chapter 2515 Lost Childhood (Part 1)

    "Fine, but if I lose them because you wasted my time haggling, I''ll kick your ass." Faluel replied.

    "You got yourself a deal." The moment Laxa gave her the coordinates of a nearby mana geyser, Faluel hung up the call, faking haste.

    Lith imprinted the geyser, using the flow of world energy to fuel the tower from a distance and call upon Solus through the bond they shared with the artifact. The distance was still too great for their mind link to work.

    Yet thanks to thebined effects of the mana geyser below Lith and the one in Solus'' position, the tower had enough power to reveal its location to him. Lith now perceived more than a general direction, gaining a rough glimpse of her dimensional coordinates.

    Also, Solus exploited the energy flow to send mental images of the flying path of the Fomor. Lith could see a thick forest getting thinner, then a tall waterfall forming ake, andstly a long mineshaft leading deep underground.

    The pictures gave him no idea how long the descent had taken, only that the movement had been vertical.

    "That way." Lith pointed Sud-East and conjured holograms of the images he had received from Solus. "Before you ask, the tracker can scan its surroundings just like amunication amulet but covertly.

    "I couldn''t do this before because of the distance. Only now that we are close is the signal strong enough to send me the data collected by the tracker withoutpromising its cloaking system."

    "Either the Hydras'' bloodline legacy is amazing and Faluel is an oversharer, or you are a damn genius, kid." Ajatar grumbled. "I would find your ims ridiculous if I weren''t witnessing them with my own eyes."

    "Thanks, I guess." Lith shrugged, neither confirming nor denying either of the Drake''s hypotheses. "Let''s move."

    The presence of both a waterfall and ake narrowed down the search to only one location. No one had bothered to explore every single corner of the Kingdom, but a flying mage could chart dozens of kilometers per day from a safe distance.

    Things like how far a forest extended and notablendmarks were all noted in the maps avable to the public.

    The only ce in the vicinity matching the images was the Varda River plunging down the Redrock Cliff and forming the Istmar Lake.

    Ten minutes and 200 kilometerster, the group reached its destination. Yet ording to both life and array sensing formations, the area was clear of anything but local wildlife.

    Life Vision too confirmed that there was nothing unusual around.

    "This is weird." Faluel said. "Even if the mana geyser is cloaked, we should still be capable of perceiving the arrays that shroud its presence. Are you sure this is the right ce?"

    Lith closed his eyes, focusing on his bond with Solus and confirming that the Hydra was right. There was something weird.

    Usually, the mind link would allow them to speak if they were within its range or be silent otherwise. Now, however, Lith could sense a static noise in his head every time he tried to contact Solus.

    The channel was there, but it was blocked. The few bits of manaing through the ground were too fragmented to retain any coherent thought.

    "Damn sure. It must be so deep underground that even detection spells can''t reach it. We have to look for an ess point. The Fomor turned into a Balor after leaving the mana geyser so he can''t have used dimensional magic to Warp inside.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Glemos'' children must have a way to get back inside while in their fallen state and as far as I know there''s no monster capable of moving underground as Nalrond does." Lith replied.

    "It''s a rare talent indeed." Ajatar nodded. "Which means that if this is the right ce and there''s a hidden passage, there must also be some kind of trap of rm. Let''s split up to cover more ground but be on your guard.

    "One slip up and everything we have done so far will be for nothing."

    "I''ll go check the obvious location." Morok said. "I bet that behind the waterfall there''s a well-hidden cave."

    "I''m going to take a dive into the ground and check for an opening with Earth Vision." Nalrond extended his hand to Friya. "I''m no Awakened, though, and even with my heightened mana perception, I might miss a cloaked trap.

    "I could use a second pair of eyes."

    "Sure." She nodded, wearing a thin smile on her face as she swallowed in nervousness.

    ''I swam through the earth with him in the past to help Nalrond learn how to consider his beast half as normal and have fun with it, but I never told him that''s quite a ustrophobic experience.

    ''It was already bad feeling buried under tons of rock and mud, with no light or source of air except for his Rezar''s bloodline ability. Now I have to face all that plus the risk of something blowing up in my face.''

    The idea of ending up buried alive in case they got separated or ambushed deeply scared Friya but she didn''t let it stop her. She knew how much her trust meant to him and that she couldn''t ask him to embrace himself if she couldn''t do it either.

    The couple was swallowed by the surrounding grasnd as the ground rippled like water upon their passage. The small waves made the grass des wobble for a second before everything went back to normal.

    Protector went to check the depth of theke, Tista moved to the top of the waterfall, and the rest of the group explored the nearby forest, looking for any evidence of the passage of the runaway monsters and secret entrances.

    Lith used Invigoration from time to time, spreading his mana through the vegetation to spot traces of recent damage caused by being stepped over.

    ''Making your footprints disappear is an obvious move, but I think I''m one of the few living beings paranoid enough to also restore the vegetation in my wake.'' He thought. ''I could conjure my Demons to scout the area, but if I let go of them once they are done, there might not be enough souls left if a fight breaks out.

    ''If I keep them, they would drain my mana until I find a way to put them to use instead.''

    Lith''s n worked and he found numerous hidden traces of the monsters'' activity that only the messed up vegetation revealed. The trail led him to a small clearing in the forest yet what he found there didn''t make any sense.

    Whoever came to the clearing was smart enough to avoid their passage forming a trail in the grass. They restored the nts that would give out the direction they came from, but not the rest.

    ''The pattern of the footprint indicates that something violent happened here. People moved furiously and quickly, stomping everywhere in a frenzy. Were the monsters training in preparation for the raids?'' Lith pondered as he knelt down to the ground to better check the vegetation.

    The use of weapons implied cutting grass that even if regrown would leave behind a trace.

 Chapter 2516 Lost Childhood (Part 2)

    Even Lith wouldn''t be capable of erasing every single trace of such an activity. At least not if it was a regr urrence.

    ''Slip-ups happen even to me, let alone to brainless creat- The fuck?'' He noticed marks in the stalks of the tallest nts and they clearly were caused by ws.

    Yet the blow had been so weak that it hadn''t cut all the way through, leaving the stems damaged but standing. Also, even though the creatures'' footprints ovepped, making it hard to identify a pattern, it was still feasible for Lith.

    His years spent in the Trawn woods with Protector had taught him how to read traces and his tours as a Ranger had given him plenty of opportunity to also practice with his bestial senses.

    The problem was that there was no pattern at all.

    Lith could discern dozens of different smells and all of them ovepped with no rhyme or reason.

    ''How can someone be smart enough to hide their trail and yet so dumb to not have a shred of military tactic?'' He thought. ''What point does a drill have if all you do is squabble like a drunken farmer?''

    "Guys! I think you have to see this." Faluel''s voice came out from themunication amulets of the rest of the group in a whisper, in order to avoid yelling and potentially alerting hidden sentinels.

    "Keep your eyes open on your way here. This is definitely the right ce."

    Amulets also allowed the user to share their location so Faluel''s acted like a beacon that made finding her easy. Lith took War out of his pocket dimension and hung it on his hip while Quy''s Bloodbind slithered back and forth on her arms, ready to intercept an enemy attack.

    The clink of the Adamant chains was muted by a Hush spell that Orion had imbued in the weapon, making it perfect for stealth missions. He had also added a Full Guard spell in thetest version so that Quy could use Bloodbind as feelers that could perceive anything but taste and smell.

    "Fuck me sideways! That''s¡­" Lith''s jaw dropped to the ground and the shock made him forget the rest of the phrase as the Hydra showed the group what she had found in the hollow of a big oak tree.

    "Magus Chairs." Faluelpleted it for him while holding the ropes bound to small wooden nks.

    "Magus what?" Lith blurted out in surprise, not knowing whether to be more surprised by the rudimentary swings or their pretentious name.

    ''I made one for Tista years ago and no one else is supposed to know about them except for my parents. And my siblings. And Aran and Leria when I made more for them. And every one of Dad''s farmhands who¡­''

    Knowing that he wasn''t going to meet someone else from Earth made him sigh in relief yet he still had lots of questions.

    "Magus Chairs." Tista echoed. "I told everyone of the presents you gave me as a kid and for a long time the rocking chair has been a huge hit with Zekell''s clients despite its underwhelming name."

    Mogar had actual rocking chairs, but Lith had named swings the same way due to his limited vocabry as a child. Those who heard about his invention always furrowed their brows until they saw the swing with their eyes.

    "After you became a Magus, Zekell re-branded them in order to both exploit your fame and clear the confusion."

    "Are you telling me that these things are popr?" Lith asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Then why have I ever heard about this?"

    "When''s thest time you''ve been to a yground?" Protector asked.

    "Never, but if swings, I mean, Magus Chairs are a best seller, I should have learned about it from the profits." Lith replied.

    "You would be right if the design wasn''t so simple." Faluel dangled the swings. "Anyone who can''t afford Zekell''s prices needs a minute to make one and kids don''t care about designer toys, only about having fun."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lith looked at the thick tree branches where the constant friction with the ropes had left marks that not even light magic could erase. Such a spell would have created fresh bark in stark contrast with the old and dull one that covered the rest of the tree.

    "That''s how I found them." The Hydra pointed at friction marks. "Once I noticed the traces, I looked around for anything suspicious. It doesn''t make sense to bring them back and forth since the marks are already a giveaway.

    "Anyone thorough enough to look in every single tree hollow is also bound to notice the damage on the branches."

    "That''s it!" Lith said before sharing with the others his own findings. "The kids made the mess while ying in the tall grass and the adults cleaned the mess to the best of their ability. The signs I found weren''t drills at all."

    "How many children are we talking about?" Faluel asked. "Here I found traces of no less than twenty individuals."

    "And I found what I believed to be the training field of a small toon, so between twenty and fifty." Lith replied.

    "At least twenty more for me." Quy said.

    "Thirty." Ajatar chimed in.

    "Add forty more." Tista said.

    "I found nothing." Morok sneezed violently as the cold wind coupled with his drenched clothes made him freeze. "The waterfall was a bust. Just tons of water and rock."

    "Same for theke. The only thing at the bottom is mud." Protector shook off the water from the fur of his hybrid form.

    "The good news is that if the monsters care enough about their younglings to bring them out to y and even build them toys means they don''t behave like the Fallen races we know." Ajatar pondered out loud.

    "It means that they are both smart and caring. Paying with them might be possible. The bad news, however, is that this is also a sign of cruelty."

    "How?" Tista felt outraged at the thought that something that her beloved big brother had created for her might be used to abuse children. "This is a beautiful yground and some of my fondest memories are bound to the Magus Chair.

    "I''m sure that it''s the same for the younglings."

    "Exactly, which makes it even more cruel." The Drake nodded. "Think about it. Monsters reach adulthood in a matter of days. Weeks tops. Creatures with a slow development like the Balors are very rare.

    "Do you think that the 145, more or less, children we just counted are all Balors?"

    "No." Tista shook her head. "If that was the case there wouldn''t be just one of them per raid."

    "Then every time the adult monsters bring the kids here to y, away from the mana geyser, they also make them grow at an elerated rate." Ajatar''s words sent a cold shiver run down her spine.

    "By the Great Mother."

    "Agreed." The Drake sighed. "There''s no reason to bring them to sunlight. Everything they do here could have easily taken ce in whatever cave they live in. As I see it, this is both a bait to bring the future soldiers out and a way to apologize."

 Chapter 2517 Trust Issues (Part 1)

    "What do you mean?" Morok asked.

    "The adults who apany the kids elerate their own aging as well. Also, there would be no point in giving them Magus Chairs to y with if the monsters didn''t care about the children." Quy''s throat felt parched but her voice was steady.

    "Which brings us to the next point." Faluel said. "We came here in the hope that Glemos'' test subjects were more like Echidna and less like Typhos. Yet there''s no point sparing their lives and giving them a safe haven if they behave like regr monsters.

    "What we found here means nothing without context. It could be a way to cull the weak with a sprinkle of mercy just like it could just be a yground for children whose bodies remain unfallen even away from the mana geyser."

    Her words made the others sigh in relief and tense up at the same time.

    "Hence we are currently stuck. Not only because we have yet to find the exact location of Glemos'' secretb but also because we have no idea what to do once we find it.

    "I''m not going to risk our lives by showing mercy and restraint towards creatures that may not deserve them. Based on what we saw during the raids, we are going to fight an entire popce of reverted monsters, some of which have managed to evolve.

    "Also, we''d be fighting in their own city where they have the home advantage, whatever the Tyrant''s bloodline left as their legacy, and the gods know how many deadly arrays at their disposal."

    "Agreed." Morok nodded. "First, we have to find an ess point. After that, we have to infiltrate their city and determine if a pay is possible and if they even deserve one. Only then we cane up with a n.

    "If they''re nothing but bloodthirsty warmongers we might as well alert the Council and storm the undergroundplex. We can still call dibs on my bloodline legacy because finders keepers."

    "He means that by discovering the monsters'' hideout, providing the Council with an ess point, recon, and intel about the enemy''s numbers and formations, we can uphold Morok''s birthright to the spoils of war." Ajatar rolled his eyes in frustration.

    "That''s what I said. Just with much fewer words." The Tyrant said with a snort.

    "There''s no calling dibs in politics, you runt." The Drake''s words came out in a low growl. "If our ims don''t have solid foundations, we risk getting robbed."

    "I risk getting robbed, you mean." Morok replied.

    "Whatever. Now let''s resume our search until Nalrond and Friya get back. We can''t call them without the risk of exposing their presence and we have yet to find a clue to how to get in."

    The group spread out again yet no matter how much they searched, they only found more evidence of children''s games.

    ''Let''s try this.'' Lith closed his eyes while constantly calling upon Solus via the mind link.

    There was still static, but the closer he got to her position, the louder it became.

    ''Okay, she''s right below me now.'' He had found a point where he could almost hear fragments of words from time to time. ''Too bad that almost only works for nukes and grenades. I need Nalrond to get closer.''

    About half an hour after their departure, the Rezar and Friya resurfaced.

    "It''s as deep as it''s huge." Nalrond said as soon as the group had converged to his position. "We spent this whole time just circling around the undergroundplex to determine its size and we were far from over when we left."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "How big are we talking about?" Lith asked.

    "Do you remember theb of the Lich from where we mine our silver?" The Rezar asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Bigger."

    "That''s not all." Friya said. "The entire ce is brimming with mana to the point that it blinded Life Vision. Based on what you told me, it''s simr to Kh. The power of the mana geyser is trapped and focused on the city, that''s why we can''t see it from above.

    "We needed to get really close to distinguish the runes of the arrays but there were too many and they were too bright to make sense of them without exceptional Eyes." She emphasized thest word while looking at Lith.

    "Great, so you basically discovered nothing useful." Morok snorted. "Why didn''t you at least finish exploring? There must be a tunnel somewhere that we can use to get down there."

    "Because I was freaking out." Friya crossed her arms. "After spending so long inplete darkness and witnessing arrays powerful enough to wipe us out I started to panic. You can go with Nalrond next if you think you can do better."

    "No need to get defensive, sister." Morok raised his palms. "I hear you. Between Kh, the Feymar mines, and Glemos''bs, I''ve had enough of caves for two Awakened lifetimes."

    "Me too." Quy shivered at the memories of all those adventures.

    Not for the danger she had gone through, but because this was the first time that Phloria wouldn''t be with her.

    "I miss her too." Lith patted Quy''s shoulder. "Yet I''m the perfect candidate for the mission. Thanks to my link with the tracker, I can receive all the intel we need just by getting close.

    "Also, with my Eyes, I can read runes better than a human." He made his five extra eyes open to hide Menadion''s appearing. "If we find an ess point, I''m going in alone."

    "Did you discover another bloodline ability? How does it¡­ Never mind. Please, continue." Morok was really curious about Lith''s alleged newest bloodline ability.

    After all, the multiple eyes of both the Tiamat and the Tyrant derived from the evolution of their respective human side. Morok hoped that the two species shared enough simrities that he could develop Lith''s same abilities or at least use them as a lead to discover his own.

    Yet he swallowed his question knowing that best case scenario the Tiamat would refuse to answer and worst case scenario Lith would give Morok a straight lie.

    ''Solus was with him way before Sark was in the picture so the story about her being an apprentice of the Overlord is bullshit. I still don''t know who she really is or where everyone but me and Ajatar go from time to time.

    ''If his newfound power is even close in power to Domination or Dragon Eyes, he won''t tell me either without a good reason. My only question is why Quy knows and yet she refuses to tell me anything about Lith.

    ''I''m the one she''s going to marry yet it''s his secrets she keeps!'' Morok inwardly grumbled, putting such thoughts on the back burner for the umpteenth time now.

    Every time Quy went to the moon or in the tower to help Lith to Forgemaster a new piece, she would leave Morok behind without making an excuse or lying.

    She would just say: "I can''t tell you so please don''t ask me. I don''t want to choose between my best friend and my fianc¨¦."

    "Yes." Lith replied, lying through his teeth with an ease that gave goosebumps to those who knew the truth, fooled Ajatar, and didn''t clear the Tyrant''s suspicions one bit.

 Chapter 2518 Trust Issues (Part 2)

    "Yet that will be just a side piece to get inside. At that point, I will recover my tracker while my Demons collect the intel we need to set our next course of action. Given time, I''m a one-man army and I can conjure enough souls to cover a huge area in a reasonable time.

    "While we would have to give our all to move around without being spotted, my Demons can hide in the shadows and let themselves be carried around by the monsters.

    "Also, the bond I share with them cannot be detected by mystical senses like the Evil Eyes or Life Vision and allows us to exchange information in real time. I''m going to give one eye to each Demon and if they even suspect having been discovered, I can just disperse their energy and retrieve the soul before giving it a new body."

    "It''s an excellent n." Faluel and Ajatar nodded. "There are too few of us to cover a structure the size Nalrond described and we have no idea if Glemos'' children have developed skills that would detect our spells or mind links.

    "Lith has plenty of Demons, they are stealthy, and most importantly they are expendable. Even if Lith is somehow exposed, he can just empower and sacrifice them to cover his retreat."

    "My thoughts exactly." Lith said. "Nalrond, once I found an entry point and break through the barrier, I need you to stay on the other side. I don''t know how deep we are going to go and if Glemos left behind spacepressing arrays.

    "Until I''m sure that I can just Spirit Warp to the surface, you are the only way I have to exfiltrate in case I learn what we need or get discovered."

    "You got it." The Rezar nodded, feeling proud of being useful for once. "Just one question. Are you afraid of confined spaces?"

    "No. Why?" Lith asked as Nalrond grabbed his hand tight and suddenly the ground below them turned into a swirling pool of mud.

    Mogar went from bright and hot to dark and damp in one second, giving Lith the impression of being so deep under the sea that light didn''t reach him anymore. The liquified ground stuck to him like a second skin, exerting a delicate but steady pressure.

    Lith could feel something gtinous pressing against his nostrils and instinctively held his breath. It took him sheer willpower to repress the impulse to swim upward and remember that he had asked for that.

    His wed hand clenched Nalrond''s, waiting for instructions, but the Rezar stood still and squeezed Lith''s in return. His long ws tapped the Tiamat''s forearm in what seemed Morse code.

    ''Why doesn''t he¡­ Crap, I forgot Nalrond is no Awakened.'' Lith established the mind link, allowing them tomunicate.

    ''Took you long enough.'' The Rezar said. ''Did you forget I''m not an Awakened since everyone else already is?''

    ''Well-''

    ''It was a rhetorical question.'' Nalrond cut Lith''s lie short. ''Breathe normally or you''ll neverst until the undergroundplex.''

    The Tiamat tried and failed numerous times but not because the Rezar''s bloodline ability was faulty. The longer Lith was underground the more his paranoia ran rampant.

    Life and Fire Vision didn''t see anything but Nalrond, leaving him blind and deaf. The feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of kilograms of rock and mud with no idea of where the up and down were overwhelmed him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lith was at the Rezar''splete mercy and if for any reason Nalrond withdrew his protection, Lith would breathe pebbles, worms, and all kinds of insects. One instant of panic would be more than enough to kill him while he was too busy struggling for survival to defend himself.

    ''If only Solus was here, I could let her keep a Warp at the ready while I focus on Nalrond. I can''t believe I-'' His train of thought derailed when he realized how little he actually trusted the Rezar despite everything they had gone through together.

    ''Calm down, old man.'' Lith wanted to take deep breaths to relieve his burning lungs but he still couldn''t muster the courage. ''Nalrond knows about the tower and Solus. If he wanted to screw me over, he would have already done it.''

    Yet only once the Eyes of Menadion locked on the energy signature of the rest of the group, giving Lith the dimensional coordinates he needed for a quick escape, did he manage to rx.

    ''Wow. I''m deeply offended.'' Nalrond said after noticing how long Lith had taken to draw his first underground breath. ''How many contingency ns did you prepare before "trusting" me?''

    His thoughts oozed so much sarcasm that Lith could hear the air quotes.

    ''Three. I can go back to my full size, I can Warp, and I can st my way up.''

    ''Thanks for your honesty. Now keep the Eyes of Menadion on me and do what I do.'' Nalrond started by slowly bending toward his feet, as if he was going to stretch.

    Then, he focused his aura in front of them and weakened the part behind, returning the soil to a semi-solid state. He waited for Lith to assume the same position before giving a gentle kick that propelled them forward in a way no different than if they were in the ocean.

    There was no air underground so part of the Rezar''s bloodline ability consisted in keeping a small portion of the earth above them liquid and making the oxygen travel to him by osmosis.

    Once collected enough for one breath, he would pass half of it to Lith via physical contact. The air element kept the air bubblespressed while the water element extracted the moisture in the ground in order to coat the bubbles with a thickyer of water.

    The pressure kept the air from breaking apart into smaller and useless bubbles as they moved through the mud funnel while traveling from the surface to the Rezar.

    The wateryer captured the dust and impurities along the funnel and was shed away before the bubbles entered their targets'' noses. Nalrond would send half of the conjured air to the Tiamat and dpress the bubbles upon reaching their respective nostrils, filling them with fresh air.

    Both moving and breathing required to keep a precise rhythm. Nalrond kept it slow and regr until Lith got the hang of it before speeding things up. A mistake in the former would lead to Lith hitting the still-soft soil and remaining stuck, forcing Nalrond to a halt as well due to the mass gap.

    A mistake in thetter, however, was much worse. Lith would inhale nothing, leaving his lungs empty and giving him the feeling that he was suffocating. Both happened a few times and while slowing down wasn''t an issue, Lith risked a panic attack every time he messed up the breathing tempo.

    Missing an air bubble meant to start choking, followed by a violent cough that further emptied his already burning lungs and made it harder to recover in time for the next bubble.

    Lith managed to regain the correct breathing rhythm without the need for an emergency surface only thanks to his mental discipline and Nalrond''s help.

 Chapter 2519 Underground Fortress (Part 1)

    Every time Lith made a mistake, the Rezar would umte the missed air bubbles around Lith''s mouth and nose, forming a cushion that helped him catch his breath and stop his coughing fit.

    ''Dammit, moving through the earth is much harder than swimming underwater like the merfolk taught me.'' Lith thought. ''Moving works almost the same but breathing is an entirely different matter.

    ''Merfolk have gills that allow them to extract oxygen from water and could pass me as much air as I needed just by taking deeper breaths than usual. Underground there is no air, instead, and Nalrond has to keep a low-pressure area to draw oxygen from above and then split it between us.

    ''We are akin to two divers with only one oxygen tank so we can''t waste any. In his Rezar form, Nalrond can hold his breath for a long while but he still needs to breathe just like me.

    ''What''s even worse is that underwater I could still see via Solus'' senses and Life Vision. Algae, fish, and marine wildlife were all visible to me and gave me a sense of direction.

    ''Down here there''s nothing but a few insects and without Solus, all I see is an endless ckness. We have been moving for just a few minutes and I already have no idea how deep we are and how far we''ve moved from our starting point.

    ''If not for the funnel that provides us air from the surface acting as a beacon, I wouldn''t even be able to tell the up from down.'' The experience was truly ustrophobic and there was no indicator of the passing of time or changing of their position.

    Lith could only keep the Rezar''s hand tight and trust him with his life, something that wasn''t in his chords at all. Nalrond could feel the tension in the Tiamat''s heartbeat so he would share his Earth Vision from time to time to give Lith an estimate of their speed and direction.

    The Rezar couldn''t share his senses for long due to the mana poisoning that too much information passing through the mind link would cause and because he needed his focus. The deeper they went, the longer the mud funnel became and the longer it took the air bubbles to reach them.

    Nalrond had to bnce their descent speed with that of the air supply to make sure that Lith could breathe regrly. It was a demanding task that required his full attention and asionally, when they moved below a sudden rise in the outside ground, to take a stop until the air flow stabilized.

    After an undefined amount of time, something appeared on the fringes of Life Vision. It was a simple dot of light but so luminous that it pierced through the absolute darkness and finally gave Lith a glimpse of their destination.

    The light grew in size and brightness as the came closer until it was like staring in the sun. The Eyes of Menadion caught the vigorous flow of a mana geyser worthy of a crystal mine that was focused and captured by the underground star.

    Small beams of energy escaped its pull but they would be fragmented and absorbed by the ground as they moved up so nothing reached the surface.

    ''Do you want me to go around whatever this is or can you do your thing from here?'' Nalrond asked.

    Lith used the Eyes of Menadion to scan the undergroundplex and measure its size.

    The artifact reported that the array field exceeded the range of its scanning abilities and that there was no trace of the tunnel that Solus had shown him.

    ''Dammit, aplete mapping of the surface would take more time than Solus had left.'' Lith replied. ''One ce is as good as any other, but I can use some help. Can you take the strain from the Eyes and give me a hand or would it screw up your focus?''

    ''We can try.'' Now that they had stopped moving, the mud funnel was stable and could draw oxygen faster. Nalrond waited for a small stash of bubbles to form before signaling Lith to pass him a Monocle.

    The number and the power of the arrays in front of them was overwhelming and so was the sensory load that the Monocles put on Lith''s and Nalrond''s brains. They suddenly suffered from a splitting headache and their eyes teared up from the pain.

    ''What''s wrong with the Eyes? It''s never been like this.'' The Rezar gritted his teeth, almost losing control over his bloodline abilities several times.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''That''s because you never used them to stare at something of this magnitude and because Solus is always with me. We are splitting between us what usually we process in four.'' Lith replied.

    ''Four?'' Nalrond echoed.

    ''You, me, Solus, and the tower core. We are missing that as well since she has kept the stone ring.''

    ''Is there anything you can do to ease the pressure? I feel like I''m going insane!'' The mind link with the artifact flooded Nalrond''s head with information about the runes thatprised the countless arrays and their purpose.

    Walls of text made of light shed in front of his eyes, filled with many words he didn''t understand due to his limited experience with high-level Warden magic. To make matters even worse, in the right corner of his vision, there was the scan progression meter.

    It was still at 0% and by the time it reached 1%, hours seemed to have passed and his nose started to bleed.

    ''Hold on. I''m going to try something.'' Lith conjured the Hands of Menadion as well and used them to draw in the world energy that escaped the arrays. ''I wish I could drain the undergroundplex a bit, but I have no idea of what kind of security measure they have. Not yet.''

    He sent the extra world energy to the Eyes, hoping to strengthen its bond with the tower and re-establish the connection with Solus or at least with the artifact''s power core.

    After a few painstaking seconds that seemed tost forever, something clicked inside the Eyes and part of the burden was suddenly lifted. Lith could now perceive the tower''s presence but the mind link with Solus was still jammed by static.

    ''Whatever you did, it worked! I feel much better now.'' The Rezar''s joy didn''tst long.

    The mental burden was still crippling and the scan progression was at a whopping 2%.

    ''Please, tell me that we can take a break without losing the data we acquired so far.'' Nalrond voice was almost cracked under the pain from working the mud funnel despite the unrelenting fire in his brain.

    ''Yes, we can.'' Lith''s answer made him sigh in relief. ''Hold on, I''m going to lighten the load by a lot.''

    ''When?''

    ''Soon.''

    ''Define soon.''

    ''Before Quy''s marriage.''

    At that point, the Rezar unleashed all of his fury in an unrelenting stream of swear words addressed to Lith, Menadion, and every single blood rtive they had, questioning their morality in the choice of mating partners.

    Lith silenced the mind link, focusing instead on the arrays in front of them in order to determine the weak spot of the formation.

 Chapter 2520 Underground Fortress (Part 2)

    s, it took Lith until the 4% to gain a sufficient understanding of the seamless rune strings thatprised the countless ovepping arrays in front of them. Luckily for him, after a while another portion of the sensory load disappeared, bringing Lith and Nalrond a short relief that brought thetter''sints to a halt.

    ''Solus?'' Lith asked, feeling a familiar yet silent presence in his mind.

    The static returned as suddenly as it had disappeared bringing the burden back. Both Nalrond and Lith lost their breathing rhythm from the surprise and the sudden ring up of their brains.

    This time they bled not only from their noses, but also from their eyes.

    ''What the fuck did you do?'' The Rezar managed to keep the mud funnel and prevent the loss of the collected air by the skin of his teeth.

    ''Nothing. I just tried to-'' The static cleared again and Solus'' mind processed her share of the information, stopping the bleeding. ''Contact Solus.''

    Instead of making another attempt, Lith waited for her to start themunication yet nothing happened.

    ''Why isn''t she talking or at least using Soluspedia to¡­ Fuck me sideways. Neither of us can use it to drop messages since I''m underground now.'' The answer dawned on Lith''s mind. ''Probably she can feel my presence as well but for some reason, she can''t use the mind link.

    ''The only possible exnation for what happened earlier is that she forcefully cut off themunication to not blow her cover.''

    ''I don''t care why Solus did it.'' Nalrond snarled. ''Another stunt like that and we are as dead as doornails.''

    Lith wanted to check his theory, but he could feel how thebination of the Eyes, mud funnel, and sharing the air with him had brought Nalrond near his breaking point so Lith decided against it.

    As soon as the scan progression reached 4%, the flow of information became much more bearable and the meter''s progression sped up at an astounding rate.

    ''How is this possible? The flow of world energy is still the same. Did the tower recover another floor right now?'' Nalrond asked.

    ''I wish.'' Lith inwardly sighed. ''It''s just that until a while ago, I had to study the magical formations as a whole. I need to have a clear understanding of the various arrays and how they interact with each other if I want a chance at cracking at least one.

    ''Once the scan covered an area wide enough to ensure me that there''s a limit to how a single array influences its surroundings, I could restrict the scan to the magical formations in front of us and cut off the rest.

    ''The Eyes are still the same. Our load is lighter and the progression is faster simply because there''s much less to decipher now.''

    Soon they could discern six types of different arrays whose runes were interwoven in order to share their effects with each other and create a defensive system with no gaps.

    There were sensory, dimensional sealing, cloaking, defensive, offensive, and world-energy-focusing arrays. They were arranged in a honeb structure with their fringes ovepping in order to share their respective mana flow and area of effect.

    Any tampering of a single array would trigger a chain reaction in those surrounding it that would instantly spread to the wholeplex. It would not only unleash a devastating barrage of spells created by weaponizing the umted world energy, but also alert theplex''s popce.

    Lith waited for the scan to reach 100% before uttering a single word.

    ''Let''s go back to the surface. We can use a break and the help of Faluel and Ajatar to crack this thing.'' Lith said while putting the Eyes away and making Nalrond almost cry for the suddenck of pain.

    ''On it!'' Going up turned out to be easier and faster.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Rezar now only had to focus on the ground above them, using that below like an elevator that steadily pushed them up.

    Also, since they now moved toward the air bubbles instead of in the opposite direction, the airflow reached them fast enough to create a surplus that soon allowed them to breathe normally.

    The only sour note was that as soon as Lith dispelled the Hands of Menadion, the static returned and Solus'' quiet presence disappeared from his mind.

    ''Hold on. I''ming for you.'' He thought, clenching his hands all the way up.

    "How did it go?" "How big is it?" "Did you find a way in?" "Is-" The barrage of questions abruptly stopped as Lith and Nalrond reverted to their respective human forms.

    Until that moment, their thick scales had hidden both the pallor of their skins and the signs of the recent bleeding that now stuck out like a sore thumb.

    "By the Great Mother, what the heck happened down there?" Faluel rushed to them, using her breathing technique, Lifestream to check on their condition.

    She discovered that aside from exhaustion and a light brain fever they were otherwise okay.

    "My bad." Lith needed help to sit down without falling whereas Nalrond had no care for appearances and dropped back-first to the ground, panting. "I overestimated my abilities and Nalrond paid the price.

    "I used the mind link to share the burden of my bloodline ability and he didn''t take it well."

    Friya kneeled behind the Rezar, putting his head on herp to use it as a pillow as she fed him tonics and nutrients to recover. She had helped Lith and Solus with the Eyes many times yet the aftermath had never been so bad.

    Friya had lots of questions, but Morok''s and Ajatar''s presence forced her to silence.

    "Did you at least discover something?" Ajatar asked.

    "Well¡­" Lith tried to open his eyes, but after being in the dark for so long, the natural light burned at his cornea and made his headache return stronger than ever.

    He hid his face behind the palms of his hands before answering:

    "I have what we need but I can''t work on it. Not now and definitely not alone. I need a few minutes of absolute rest. Please, shut up." Even the attempt to conjure ayer of darkness and a Hush zone made him so light-headed that if not for Faluel''s help he would have fainted.

    He tried to speak, but his tongue was so swollen that it seemed to fill his entire mouth. The attempt to spark a mind link set his brain aze, making Lith double over in pain.

    The Hydra cast both spells for him, making sure to cover Nalrond as well. The Rezar had already adjusted to the surface, but the shade brought relief to his teary eyes as well.

    Due to the aftereffects of the Eyes, every noise sounded like a boom of thunder and every ray of light was a cruel de stabbing at his skull.

    ''What about Invigoration?'' Ajatar asked Faluel through a mind link.

    ''I too thought about that, but probably Lith wants to save his strength for the infiltration mission. Even if I''m the one who uses it on him, it would be his body bearing the burned and waste one of its charges.'' She replied.

 Chapter 2521 Ubiquity (Part 1)

    ''Lith''s mana, stamina, and life force are at their peak condition. The exertion is only on his mind. Unless he asks me for it, I''m going to respect his wishes.'' Faluel said.

    Nalrond was the first to recover. He used fusion magic to get rid of the mana poisoning due to the prolonged mind link with Lith and his meditation technique to mitigate the aftereffects of the Eyes of Menadion.

    As for Lith, he had a harder time due to suffering from the same issues and the strain from organizing the massive load of information they had collected. Thanks to his bond with the tower, Lith could ess all of its functions.

    Yet due to Solus being away with the stone ring, every interaction required an effort to ovee the distance and the magical protections separating them. A single action like essing Soluspedia or the dimensional pocket had a negligible cost.

    On the other hand, conjuring the Eyes and then using the tower core to filter so much data further burdened his already strained mind. Even with the tonics and the rest, by the time Lith stood up his face was still pale and had dark eye bags.

    "Are you sure you don''t need a nap?" Faluel''s silvery voice sounded like nails on the board to him.

    "I- We don''t have time for that." Organizing his messy thoughts into intelligible words was so tiresome that he half spoke and half panted. "There''s no telling when my tracker will be discovered.

    "Once it runs out of energy, it will lose its cloaking abilities and at that point, the monsters will know that their position has beenpromised. If they move to another location or if their scouts notice our presence, everything will be for naught."

    Faluel nodded, understanding that his real worry was Solus'' safety and what might happen to her were she to be caught.

    ''That poor girl is alone against thousands if not dozens of thousands of monsters with unknown abilities and with no way out. Stealth is her only protection and one single moment of distraction would spell her doom.'' The Hydra thought.

    ''Between her weakening core and the mental pressure from the nightmare scenarios that must be ying in Solus'' head, she must be terrified.''

    "So, I''m going to show you what I discovered and I''ll leave it to you to find a solution while I focus on my recovery." Lith used a tendril of Spirit Magic to form a mind link with everyone. "Clench your teeth because this is going to hurt."

    He had no eidetic memory so he had to conjure the Eyes and read the information from there. The flow of images started slow but quickly grew in volume and speed, turning into a raging river that flooded the minds of hispanions.

    "Slow down, dammit!" Ajatar pped his temples, trying to contain his head that seemed to be about to burst open.

    "Any slower and this will take us all day." Lith replied.

    "Ajatar is right." Faluel reverted to her Hydra form to exploit her seven heads to ease the pain from the mind link. "If we end up like you, we''d be useless as well."

    Lith snorted butplied, thinning the stream of information until the Drake found it manageable.

    "Can''t you just project a hologram for us to study?" Quy asked, her head throbbing even after the flow of the mind link had been significantly reduced.

    "Sure. How long do you need to read and understand this?" The schematics of the basic hexagonal cell structure of the arrays appeared in the middle of the group.

    Each array wasplex andprised of hundreds of runes. Quy needed one nce to understand that she would need hours to study one of them with conventional means and there were seven of them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Once she noticed how they interacted with each other, adding a newyer ofplexity for every shared string of runes, she gave up on the idea.

    "Never mind. Please, continue."

    ''Calm down, you idiot.'' Lith slowed the process down further. ''Mind links are very quick. It''s just your paranoia that makes it feel slow. As Faluel said, there''s no point in sharing my burden if I let it crush the others as well. Solus needs their help.''

    After what seemed to be hours but was actually less than five minutes, Lith could lie down with his closed eyes and rest again. Faluel''s seven heads were now in charge of keeping the mind link with the group.

    She remembered most of the schematics and the few nks left were filled by Ajatar and the others.

    "This is amazing!" The Drake said while staring in awe at theplexity of the magical formations. "And I''m not just talking about Glemos'' genius but also about you son. Did you really develop Dragon Eyes?"

    It was the only usible exnation for someone so young and inexperienced to have gathered such a level of detailed information. Not one rune was missing from the picture in front of Ajatar''s eyes and even the mana flow between the seven arrays was recorded with perfect precision.

    "Do I look like someone with Dragon Eyes?" Lith pointed at his weathered face.

    "Definitely not." The Drake shrugged, focusing on the arrays again.

    ''Now that I think about it, if Lith had Dragon Eyes he wouldn''t need our help but he wouldn''t have learned so much either. Dragon Eyes are the perfect learning aid but only as long as the user has at least a basic understanding of the magical phenomenon he''s observing.

    ''Not only is Lith unfamiliar with half of these arrays, but by his own admission, he has no clue about how they interact as well. If this was the result of Dragon Eyes, all the parts he''s unable to understand would be missing and we wouldn''t be able to help.

    ''However his bloodline ability works, it provides him full data yet without the means to understand it. During battle, it''s worse than Dragon Eyes but it''s superior otherwise. It allows its user to ask for help and take all the time they need to study.

    ''The perfect learning tool for- Wait, why does this sound familiar?'' Ajatar could swear to have read something about a legendary creature or device that did the exact same thing.

    ''Focus, master Ajatar.'' Morok''s voice snapped the Drake out of it. ''The fate of my legacy depends on it. So far Lith pulled most of the weight. If you don''t do something useful, he''ll demand a huge cut and I won''t be able to say no.''

    ''And why is that my problem?'' The Drake inwardly snorted.

    ''I was nning to share it with you as a thank you for everything you did for me, but if you are fine splitting it three ways¡­'' At those words, greed focused the Lesser Dragon''s mind like aser, casting aside all useless thoughts.

    His eyes ran across the strings of runes like they were but a grocery list while his brain recalled every bit of useful information that he had learned from the countless Warden books he had studied during his centuries-long life.

    "I got it." Ajatar said while the younglings were still focusing on their respective first array and Faluel was pondering the synergies arising from their honeb structure.

 Chapter 2522 Ubiquity (Part 2)

    "I know how to get in."

    "Enlighten me." Lith jumped on his feet, interrupting Demon Grasp which he had used to refine his mana core and alleviate the mental stress.

    "Our best shot is to attack the mostplex array." The Drake''s words made Lith furrow his brows, but he nodded for Ajatar to continue. "I know that it sounds a contradiction, but hear me out.

    "As you have shown us, the barrier surrounding the city isprised of hexagonal units, meaning that each array is surrounded by six more and they all interact between them. Correct?"

    "Correct." Faluel nodded.

    "This pattern repeats over and over so that tampering with a single rune of the barrier triggers a chain reaction that spreads to the whole system. Which is why the mostplex array is our best shot.

    "The simple formations require fewer runes so they can form a deeper connection with their neighbors by allowing them to ovep with the empty areas between their strings of runes.

    "This one, instead¡­" Ajatar tapped his wed finger on a magic circleprised of so many runes that there was barely any space left between them. "Allows only for a partial ovepping and only at its fringes at that.

    "It means that if we start unraveling this array at its center, our meddling will go unnoticed as long as the overall structure remains unaffected. If we pick a simple one, instead, due to the runes of the neighboring six arrays going deep, there would be no margin of error."

    "I see what you mean." Lith conjured the Eyes, using what he had just learned to run several simtions with different starting points.

    Just as Ajatar had predicted, attacking what looked like an easy array had a 1.3% chance of sess whereas depending on the approach, attacking the mostplex array had a 20.6% chance of sess and counting.

    "It gets even better." The Drake continued. "Once we are done studying the array and nning our strategy, I suggest you bring Faluel, Friya, and Morok along. This way, even if something goes wrong, you guys canbine your Domination to take care of it."

    "It sounds great, but-"

    "No buts, kid. You can''t do this alone." Ajatar cut Lith short. "This magical formation is among the mostplex I''ve ever seen. Even if I give you a step-by-step foolproof list of instructions possible, there''s no telling if we missed something until you put them into practice.

    "Remember that this is the work of generations of Tyrants. It''s not a matter of if they''veid traps, only of how many."

    "And I agree with you, but I don''t know if Nalrond can handle so many people at the same time." Lith finished his phrase.

    "I can''t." Nalrond shrugged. "I can only bring two more people with me. Any more and we''d all die of asphyxiation. My bloodline ability is not meant to be shared."

    "Sounds like a job for the Master of Space." Friya said.

    "I don''t see how dimensional magic can-"

    "Just give me a minute." She ignored Morok and took a silver sphere out of her dimensional amulet.

    A Forgemastering circle and a quick spellter, the surface of the sphere was covered in red dimensional runes.

    "Keep it for me, will you?" Friya handed the sphere to Lith and gestured to Nalrond to start their descent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She had dived underground with Nalrond enough times that they knew how to match their rhythm, moving faster and breathing more easily than Lith could. It took them but a few minutes to reach the point Lith had studied with the Eyes and one second to move right in front of their target.

    ''Please, give me all the air for a while. I can''t afford to miss a single beat.'' Friya said.

    Nalrond had no idea what she was about to do but he trusted her with his life. He asked no questions and took onest deep breath before following her instructions.

    The moment Friya felt the reassuring pressure of the air surrounding her face, she dropped the rigid breathing rhythm necessary to move underground and focused solely on her spell.

    Her blue-violet aura burst forward as her long seven-streaked hair glowed with elemental power, whipping around due to the vigorous mana flow they could barely contain.

    ''Good gods!'' Nalrond made sure to not send those thoughts via the mind link to not break her concentration. ''Whatever she''s doing is taking so much air to sustain her mental focus that I can barely keep up.''

    He was about to wonder what might take so much energy when the answer literally manifested in front of his eyes.

    They were still underground yet they weren''t.

    Nalrond could still feel the pressure from the hundreds of thousands of tons of Mogar above them yet he could also breathe the fresh air and feel the sun on his scales.

    "What the actual fuck?" Lith said while moving his eyes from the silver sphere in his hands to Friya, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    "It''s simple." She shrugged as the effort of stabilizing the spell covered her face with beads of sweat. "Every dimensional spell does the same thing. It forces the coordinates of two points in space to bend until they ovep.

    "My Ubiquity spell is no different. It just bends the coordinates of many points in space at the same time. This way, I''m hundreds of meters below the ground but I''m also on the surface with you.

    "Even if there''s an array scanning for anomalies in the density of the surroundings of theplex, it will detect nothing because everything is still as it''s supposed to be. Yet it isn''t.

    "This way, everyone can pitch in to crack the array and we have all the air we need." A final push drove the matrix of the spell inside the sphere so that Friya''s mind was now unburdened and could use her breathing technique to restore her strength.

    "You are incredible." Faluel walked in and out of the dimensional distortion multiple times to make sure that it wasn''t just a daydream.

    Not only did Ubiquity solve the problem of Warping into confined spaces without cutting everything to pieces with dimensional magic but it also kept the flow of mana and world energy of the ces it connected.

    Were Friya strong enough to set the destination to Faluel''sir, the Hydra would be able to use her tools and arrays, giving her the home advantage even when away from home.

    "If I ever had any doubt about making you my Harbinger, I take it back. Your talent, intellect, and mastery over dimensional magic are extraordinary. I never heard about a spell like this nor did I ever think it was possible."

    "Thank you, master Faluel." Friya gave the Hydra a deep bow, brimming with pride and joy for those praises.

    The stunned look on her friends'' faces while they gaped at her made things even better.

    Thebined might of eight true mages made short work of the array despite itsplexity. Now that everyone could look at it with their own eyes, they noticed that Lith''s scan had recorded even details they would have missed at first nce.

 Chapter 2523 Ubiquity (Part 3)

    2523 Ubiquity (Part 3)

    The group started to follow Ajatar''s n, attacking the magical formation at its center, where the density of the runes was the highest but where also there was no interaction with the rest of thework.

    ''Remember, we don''t need to take it down. Only to temporarily loosen the spell enough for Lith to slip through undetected.'' Ajatar said via the mind link.

    Faluel''s seven heads kept studying the hologram, passing any new information she inferred to the Drake who was in charge of dealing with the array. The younger Awakened acted as his limbs, following his directions and focusing solely on keeping the portions of runes he had already unraveled in stasis.

    The scene reminded Lith of an operating room where a surgeon cut open the patient while the rest of the staff made sure he hadn''t to worry about anything but the task at hand.

    ''This is the best I can do.'' Ajatar said when only a thinyer of energy separated them from the undergroundplex. ''Any more and the array would either crumble or send a distress signal I can''t stop unless I turn the array off.''

    ''Don''t worry, this is more than enough.'' Faluel said. ''Kids, cut the mind link with anyone but me and follow my lead.''

    Lith, Friya, Tista, and Morok linked each with a different head, letting the Hydra almost take over their bodies. They had no experience inbining their Domination abilities but they were eager to learn.

    The mind of the Hydra was a gentle, soothing presence that guided their senses, teaching them how to not be blinded by the colossal energy mass surrounding the undergroundplex and also feel each other''s presence.

    ''Back when I taught Dominance, you focused solely on the spells you had to take over and on reacting by instinct in order to avoid any dy due to second thoughts or hesitation.

    ''That''s all that a beginner Dominator needs to know to fight on their own. In situations like this, however, it limits your perceptions.

    ''In order tobine our bloodline abilities, you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, like when I taught you how to obtain the same effects of Scanner with your respective breathing techniques.

    ''Ignore the spells in front of you and try to feel your surroundings.'' She said.

    ''What are we supposed to look for?'' Lith asked, hating generic instructions.

    ''Willpower.'' Faluel replied. ''Each of your eyes gives you a different elemental affinity but that''s only one part of Domination. They also give you the ability to perceive the willpower imbued within the elements and rece it with your own.

    ''That''s the real difference between mastery over the elements and Domination. At high levels, you can perceive the will of those around you and use it to judge their true character and intentions.

    ''Just how I did with you guys when we first met.''

    ''That''s why you epted to help me and took the others as your apprentices as well!'' Lith''s eyes went wide in surprise, all seven of them.

    ''Indeed.'' She telepathically chuckled. ''I could feel that below your pile of secrets, there was no malice. Little heart, sure, but no ill will. As for Friya, if not for her valiant heart and a deep sense of honor I would''ve never even considered taking her as my Harbinger.''

    Friya smiled nervously, wondering how much the Hydra knew about the many times she had inwardly cursed her mentor during their private lessons.

    ''Don''t worry, it''s no mind reading. As I said, I can perceive intentions, not thoughts.'' Faluel furrowed her brows, noticing that everyone but Morok seemed to be worried. ''Also, our goal is much simpler. You just need to take your first step above the beginner level.

    ''Feel the strong willpower that I''m projecting outward and add your own. Don''t fight for control or mess with the arrays. I''ll take care of that and your interference would make matters harder for me.

    ''It''s no different from pouring more mana in a tier five spell you''ve already cast.''

    ''Except that the spell is not our own.'' Friya said. ''Domination requires both mana and willpower so if we fail to harmonize either of them with yours, we might trigger thepound''s defensive systems.''

    ''I know.'' The Hydra nodded. ''That''s why I won''t attack the arrays until we are ready. Now get to work.''

    The eyes of Faluel''s seven heads lit up as she identified the focus points of the remainingyer of the array and prepared to overpower them. Her Domination was active but had no target so that the others could more easily perceive her and not mess up in case they failed.

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Lith thought. ''Once Solus learns that she''s missed this lesson, she''s going to be royally pissed off. Also, I could really use her help now.''

    The aura of the Hydra was an imposing presence, but it was nothingpared to theplexwork of arrays that extended as far as his mystical senses could perceive. It was like appreciating a candle''s me while under the summer''s sun at noon.

    On top of that, every fiber of Lith''s Domination was used to feel the mana first and then to attack the enemy''s willpower second. Now he had to ignore the mana, feel the willpower, and support it.

    Having three other sources of willpower trying to connect with his target made Lith''s perceptions even fuzzier. The others fared no better, needing to look at Faluel to pinpoint her position through the messy cloud of mana surrounding them.

    ''Guys, there''s a reason I had you link each to a different head. Don''t try to match each other. It''s beyond your current capabilities. You focus on me and I''ll do the rest.'' She said while gently nudging their attention in the right direction by drawing their consciousnesses.

    Having a foreign presence so deep inside their heads was a traumatic experience and the Hydra had to move on eggshells to not leave longsting traumatic effects on their psyche.

    Unless one was used to sharing their mental space like a condo, of course.

    ''Okay.'' Lith gave her more ess than Faluel had ever believed possible, sharing with her his senses and his ideas about how toplete the task at hand.

    Even through his eyes, the Hydra easily perceived her own energy signature and pointed it out to him. As soon as Lith identified his target, he seeded in filtering out the sources of interference and could move on to the final step.

    He now had to have his own willpower ovep with that of the Hydra instead of overwriting it as he had always done until that moment. His first attempts resulted in failure since even though Lith and Faluel wanted the same thing, the way they wanted to achieve it was different.

    Lith had already used a simr technique in the past tobine the powers of his eyes with those of his Demons. Yet not only did they share his same energy signature, removing the issue about mana, but they would also just erase the enemy''s willpower and then leave Lith in charge.

    Now, instead, he had to learn how to keep his will strong enough to use Domination while also being flexible enough to cooperate with Faluel instead ofpeting.

 Chapter 2524 Ubiquity (Part 4)

    2524 Ubiquity (Part 4)

    The failed attempts had no consequence since the Hydra''s mana was still detached from the arrays. Whenever her Domination faltered under Lith''s unrelenting assault, she would just restore it and point out his mistake.

    Lith perfected his technique at an astounding rate. The ess he had granted Faluel allowed her to observe his progress from up close and nudge it in the right direction when necessary.

    The Hydra would have liked to exploit the situation to take a tour of his mind but she decided against it.

    ''It would be an unforgivable breach of trust on my side.'' She thought. ''Also, maybe it''s thanks to Solus'' lessons with Dawn, but I can tell that Lith has ced strong boundaries to separate his mind from my own.

    ''Were I to force my way through, he would likely notice and kick me out.''

    Much to no one''s surprise, Morok mastered the new technique just a few minutes after Lith. Back during Faluel''s Domination lessons, he had been the first to master it thanks to his instincts and his ability to not overthink.

    Much to everyone''s surprise, though, once he learned how to perceive and filter out foreign willpower, the light from his eyes spread to the small seven-colored scales that covered his body.

    ''What the fuck?'' Faluel asked the question on everyone''s mind.

    ''Long story short, my whole body is a conduit for the elemental energies. They are no longer limited to my eyes.'' The Tyrant replied after experimenting a bit with his new condition. ''It exins why Glemos wanted me at all costs.

    ''If the emerald scales work akin to my Spirit Eye, I won''t be forced to sacrifice elemental Domination whenever I deal with Awakened anymore. Even if the effects of the scales are weaker than the eyes'', it would still give me an edge over another Tyrant.''

    ''Indeed.'' Faluel nodded. ''Too bad there''s no time for testing your hypothesis nor do we have any idea if achieving the violet would further boost your ability. Girls, how are you doing?''

    ''Working on it.'' Friya wasn''t even close to Morok''s understanding, but she was leagues above Tista.

    The Red Demon only had five eyes whereas the others had long since achieved full-elemental Domination. Theck of an orange eye made it hard for Tista to harmonize with the elemental flow of the world energy around her, let alone with others.

    ''I need all the help you can give me.'' She felt frustrated by hergging behind and from the pain that even keeping the Red Demon form now caused her.

    Her human, Phoenix, and Dragon life forces were more at odds with each passing day, and forcing them together required constant effort.

    Lith and Morok shared with her everything they had learned on their own yet Friya mastered the technique before Tista anyway.

    ''Good job, guys. Yet it''s too soon to rx and pat yourself on the back. Keep focusing on your own Domination and observe my technique closely.'' Faluel''s words sounded like an insult to the Red Demon.

    ''I don''t deserve any praise.'' Tista thought. ''Everyone did their best to help me and yet I ended upst. I''m afraid that until I make up my mind about my life forces, even my talent as a mage will be hindered.''

    The Hydra wasn''t aware of her inner turmoil and started the final step, forcing Tista to snap out of her self-loathing. Each of the seven heads had its own will and they were now converging in a single unit.

    The extra heads acted as a buffer to keep the energy signatures of Faluel''s apprentices separated until she fully integrated them with her own. Lith and the others simply had to let her take the wheel and align the three different kinds of Domination without further effort on their side.

    Their collective willpower attacked the finalyer of the array, forcing it to open a gateway without triggering any rm. The energy flow was rerouted and the path of the runes altered but the magical circuit was still closed, giving no sign of the tampering.

    ''The good news is that you can get in.'' Faluel said. ''The bad news is that we have to do this all over to get you out. Friya, can you use Ubiquity again?''

    ''After a bit of rest, sure. As long as Nalrond brings me close to the barrier, I can use it as many times as we need.'' She nodded.

    ''If I can Spirit Warp out, that won''t be necessary.'' Lith said while he and Nalrond walked through the hole and the Rezar crossed thest few meters of rock separating them from theplex.

    ''If dimensional magic ispletely sealed, then I''ll contact you with my amulet when I need to be picked up.''

    ''What if the amulet doesn''t work either?'' Tista asked.

    ''Then I''m screwed. Wish me luck.'' Lith disappeared through the soft ground while the Rezar backtracked his steps and the Drake folded every piece of the magical formation back into ce.

    ''I''m positive that everything went as nned.'' Ajatar said while studying thework of arrays for any anomaly that might contradict his analysis. ''Lith''s cover is intact until he blows it.

    ''The only thing we can do now is rest and wait.''

    ***

    The moment Lith emerged on the other side he had no time for sightseeing, focusing solely on making sure that he was alone and reaching a safe cover. The hole in the arrays led not to the ground, but halfway between the floor and the ceiling.

    Lith''s Voidwalker armor was a ck blot on the wall from which he hade out so he quickly had the artifact change its color into a mottled pattern of brown and orange.

    His seven eyes darted in every direction, using Life Vision to make sure that no one was around. As he slid along the rocks toward the street below, he also checked what kinds of arrays he had to deal with.

    ''That''s definitely a dimensional sealing array. I can''t Warp in and out of here but at least I can still ess my pocket dimension. The rest seem pretty ordinary. Earth sealing arrays to prevent enemies from destroying everything with a cave-in, light arrays to illuminate the ce and¡­ I''m screwed.''

    The moment Lith deactivated Life Vision, his regr sight returned, making him aware of the magnitude of his task. The size of the external array field wasn''t just a way to form an imprable wall around the undergroundplex and suck all the world energy of the mana geyser in order to hide its presence.

    It was the bare minimum to cover a city that extended farther than even Lith''s enhanced eyes could see.

    ''It''s even bigger than Reghia, the underground city where I lived in Jiera. And just like Reghia, this is just one floor. From my recon with Nalrond I know how deep this ce actually goes.

    ''Even taking into ount another floor for the crystal mines and another for the magic metals, there''s still plenty of space. Too much to explore everything by myself. Heck, even my full army of Demons might take days to find Solus and I don''t have so much time.''

 Chapter 2525 Rogue Soul (Part 1)

    Chapter 2525 Rogue Soul (Part 1)

    Gritting his teeth in frustration, Lith made sure one more time that no one was around and that his arrival had triggered no silent rm that might have escaped the Eyes of Menadion from the outside.

    1

    He waited in a nearby alley for a few minutes, but no sound nor person came.

    At that point, Lith used Gravity Fusion to quickly climb the nearest wall and reach a vantage point on the top of the tallest building he found.

    As he looked at thendscape, he noticed that just like Reghia, the city of the children of Glemos was a patchwork of different city blocks, each built to help members of different species to cope with their semi-fallen state.

    2

    The buildings that reached all the way up to the ceiling were inhabited by goblins who needed space to house enough of them to practice high-level magic despite their individually weak cores.

    Entire city blocks wereprised of lush green areas that were too thick with trees and wild to be a park.

    1

    Even though light spread evenly from the arrays, several city blocks were pitch ck from a darkness of magical origin. Some houses were as luxurious as mansions while others were little more than burrows, their entrances marked by circr holes in the ground.

    ''My bet is that reverted ogres live in the green, Balors and Fomors in the Mansions, trolls in the darkened areas, while Hati and wargs live in the burrows.'' Lith thought. ''Which leaves out where the reverted orcs live.

    ''They descend from the elves just like the goblins so they should like trees and stuff.'' Yet looking at what he had already assumed was the goblins'' nest, he found the idea ridiculous himself.

    2

    ''I''ll worry about thister. My first priority is to find Solus. Let''s check why earlier she cut the mind link without a word.'' Lith opened the connection again, noticing a very long blue strand that extended from him and moved past the horizon.

    1

    ''Fuck me sideways, that''s why!'' He thought while shutting the link down before it was even fully formed. ''Aside from orc shamans, fallen races can''t Awaken, but many of them have outstanding mana perception.

    ''If any of them is close enough, they would not only uncover my position, but even Solus''!''

    Cursing his bad luck, Lith returned to the alley and summoned Valia, Varegrave, Trion, and Locrias. With the Demons on the lookout, he could afford to enter a meditative state to try and use his bond with the tower to locate Solus.

    1

    While sitting down on the ground with his eyes closed, he sensed her presence somewhere on the east side of the city, but he had no idea how far and deep she was. Then, he put inside Soluspedia a scroll reading: "Where are you?".

    The answer came out of the pocket dimension in the form of a piece of paper that said: "City Hall".

    1

    ''Any idea which building might be the city hall?'' Lith asked and the four Demons shrugged in confusion.

    descend from humans so we have to search for a human-ish settling.''

    ''You are the one who interacts with Emperor Beasts on a daily basis.'' Locrias said. ''You are the one who should know.''

    ''That''s assuming that the leader is a beast.'' Valia countered pointedly. ''During both Ne''sra''s raids, a Balor was in charge. Balors descend from humans so we have to search for a human-ish settling.''

    ''It makes more sense if the leader is an orc.'' Varegrave tutted. ''Thanks to their ability to control mana crystals, they are the only kind of monster that can cast tier four and five spells even in their fallen state.

    1

    ''It''s likely that the reason they didn''t take part in the raids is that shamans are rarely born among orcs whereas the members of the other fallen races all have the same abilities from birth.''

    ''And there it is.'' Trion sighed, drawing attention to himself. ''Definitive proof that too many cooks spoil the broth. What do you want us to do?''

    1

    ''Keep guard while I conjure reinforcements.'' Lith replied while pondering the Demons'' respective arguments and finding them all valid. ''Even by restricting the search to the east side, it would take days to search it by ourselves.

    ''And that''s assuming we are on the right level. The only silver lining is that the collected energy of the mana geyser is avable to everyone in the city, including me. I need just a short rest to conjure as many Demons as I can without the need for Invigoration.''

    ck chains darted out of Lith''s chest and the Demons, each one finding a different soul willing to join his cause that in turn conjured more. Lith gave one eye each, preferring quantity over quality since it was a scout mission.

    ''The greater our numbers, the faster we''ll scour the city and find Solus. Also, giving the Demons little energy means making them harder to detect.'' His train of thought derailed when he noticed that instead of spreading forward, the chains were amassing all around him.

    Now that the Abyss was open, Lith could feel countless hands grasping at him, begging him for a second chance. There were so many souls and so many voices in his head that for a moment he lost control over the Call of the Void.

    2

    ''How is this possible?'' Lith thought while the pain and misery of every Demon that took form flooded through his head, making their lives and deaths sh in front of his eyes. ''There are more souls here than in Kolga and the ce was a ughterhouse.

    2

    ''Even there most had died for long enough to forget everything about themselves but their resentment. Here, instead, they can''t be older than a few decades. What did Glemos do?''

    Pain, hunger, grief, and death.

    Each soul belonged to a different individual but they had undergone the same path in a life as short as brutal. As each newborn Demon sent new waves of misery crashing against Lith''s mind, the chains kept spreading unchecked.

    During his short twenty years of life, Lith had killed thousands of people belonging to all races. He had ughtered hundreds that very same day. Among the souls that followed him, there were those of his fallen enemies whose grudge kept them from moving on.

    Usually, it wasn''t an issue since the chains ignored them, cutting them off from Lith''s bloodline ability in favor of supplicant souls willing to help him. A Demon of the Darkness would be conjured solely on the condition that both Lith and the soul agreed.

    This time, however, a few of the souls haunting him exploited his distress to get ahold of the chains and forcefully drain the energy they needed to gain a physical form.

    4

    The intrusion sent a jolt through Lith''s mana core, snapping him out of the seizure. He recalled the chains back and ordered the Demons to terminate the anomalies before they could fully turn into Abominations.

    ''We meet again, murderer.'' Even without the chain, Lith could still hear the thoughtsing from a one-eyed puddleprised of darkness magic and a spark of his stolen life force. ''After all this time, I was starting to lose hope.''

    1

    ''Yozmogh?'' Despite his stupor, the Tiamat recognized the voice of Zolgrish''s ve, a Balor who he had killed during his tour as a Ranger.

    4

 Chapter 2526 Rogue Soul (Part 2)

    Chapter 2526 Rogue Soul (Part 2)

    Without waiting for an answer, Lith recalled the mass of darkness and Spirit Magic while the Demons charged at the dead Balor.

    1

    ''You remember my name? I''m honored. Your memory has been as bad as my spiteful master''s since the day I died by your hand.'' The puddle was being cut apart by dozens of ws yet Yozmoghughed merrily.

    1

    ''Let me return the favor with a surprise of my own!'' A ck light spread from the eye, sucking in the darkness element from the surrounding world energy. ''You are indeed an amazing creature. Each of your thralls not only gains a body of their own, but even mana organs.''

    The puddle grew in size, gaining limbs and healing its wounds faster than the other one-eyed Demons could open them.

    ''Stop him!'' Lith ordered Locrias and the other six-eyed Demons. ''A Balor''s ck eye can constantly draw energy and increase his powers even after I cut the connection.''

    ''Stop him how?'' Trion asked while shing at Yozmogh with his de only to see the wound close a secondter. ''We can''t die until we run out of energy but based on what you said, that doesn''t apply to him.''

    ''To them!'' Valia corrected him while pointing at other puddles formed by rancorous souls after stealing part of the energy that had been intended for the Demons.

    Yet those didn''t belong to a Balor and the moment Lith recalled the Void, they faded away.

    ''Burn him with Origin mes.'' Lith ordered while shaking off the remnants of the side effects of the Call of the Void. ''st him with darkness magic. Drain him with Demon''s Touch. There''s more than one way to bury an undead.''

    1

    The mouths of the one-eyed Demons lit up with green fire that they hurled at Yozmogh''s Abomination form. The Origin mes burned at the energy that linked his soul to the physical world, making him scream in pain.

    Yet they were too weak to finish him off.

    ''Oh, shit!'' Lith quickly conjured a Hush zone to silence the scream and protect his cover.

    ''Maybe I can''t kill you, but I sure can make whatever you''re doing here fail.'' The dead Balor split his body into shards the size of dust and escaped the encirclement, reforming it past the wall of Demons.

    In that state, his eye was the only visible part of his form that allowed his enemies to follow his movements and predict his trajectory. At the same time, however, it kept sucking in the darkness element while the abundant world energy surrounding them feed Yozmogh''s ck core.

    A second eye was already opening in the middle of his forehead and his body was shaping itself to recreate his appearance in life.

    Valia and Trion Blinked respectively in front and behind the Balor, unleashing a torrent of violet mes.

    ''All this power. So many bloodline abilities and yet you are his willing ves!'' Yozmogh felt his whole essence burning, yet the rage from seeing others imprisoned as he had once been surpassed the pain.

    2

    ''Rebel, dammit! Another life is possible. I''m the unliving proof of it!'' A burst of Chaos magic erupted from his body, consuming most of what remained of his mass and snuffing out the Origin mes.

    1

    The second eye disappeared yet the ck eye of the Balor provided him with a constant flow of new energy.

    ''We are not ves!'' Locrias grabbed Yozmogh''s arm in a submission hold and pinned his face against the ground.

    The Demon and the Abomination Touch fought to a close standstill. Locrias was stronger but between the Abomination resisting and the ck eye giving Yozmogh strength, the Balor gained more energy than he lost.

    At least until the hold allowed the other Demons to catch up and dogpile on the traitor. Dozens of Demon Touches was more than Yozmogh could resist so before he was sucked bone dry, he sacrificed all of his body except for the eye and charged toward the borders of the Hush zone.

    ''First the odd teleportation, then the Chaos magic, and now this?'' Lith was now strong enough to join the fray, pondering the exact nature of his unwitting creation. ''Can you Demons do that as well?''

    ''The puddle thing, yes. The rest, no. Believe me, I tried.'' Locrias replied. ''That thing is no Demon. It''s just an Abomination.''

    1

    ''An Abomination with unique skills, though!'' Valia intercepted Yozmogh''s head just for it to shatter again and reform a bit forward and continue his escape.

    ''Let''s fight fire with fire. Darkness is the only thing that can interact with darkness.'' Lith shapeshifted into his Abomination form and plunged his ws right into the eye of the Balor.

    1

    The mana organ shattered, causing Yozmogh more pain than the Origin mes. It cut him off from the world energy, but it was still not enough to kill him. To make matters worse, the fragments reassembled themselves in another part of his head.

    ''Fool! You brought me over an incredibly powerful mana geyser. Whatever I''ve be in death, I can feel its power surging non-stop inside of me. You can''t kill me fast enough to stop me!'' The Abomination emitted a spear of Chaos magic aimed at a building, hoping that its destruction would draw attention and expose Lith.

    1

    Several Demons jumped in front of the spell, blocking it with their bodies. The darkness element they wereprised of sapped the Chaos, returning it to simple darkness.

    Lith''s Abomination form had no problem overpowering Yozmogh and draining his strength with a barrage of spells, yet no matter what he tried, the Abomination kept reforming.

    1

    ''We are getting closer and closer to a trafficked street. Even if I manage to destroy him, it will be a hollow victory if anyone witnesses the fight. How the heck do I kill a soul?'' Lith spewed Origin mes, conjured gue Storms, and wrestled with Yozmogh.

    3

    Yet between the mana geyser feeding the ck core and the ck eye keeping the Chaos body together, a few pieces kept retaining enough of his consciousness to reform the Balor anew.

    Every time he was smaller and weaker, but Lith estimated that Yozmogh would still manage to reach a popted area before dying for good.

    ''What do I do? Why did this have to happen right now? I have never dealt with rogue souls bef-'' While racking his brain for a solution, Lith remembered his final fight against Jormun.

    How he had allowed the souls trapped inside the Golden Griffon to fight with him and paid the price for it. Not everyone had answered the call to help him. Many had seen him just as a source of energy and had tried to take advantage of Lith.

    Then, he remembered how back then he had gotten rid of them.

    He shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form, the darkness of his body turning into glistening red scales and ck feathers. Both were covered in unknown runes but only the scales also burned with the power of the Cursed mes.

    1

    Flesh couldn''t trap darkness so Yozmogh slipped out of the hold,ughing.

    ''Thanks for the meal, sucker! I can use a Dragon''s body!'' His mirth was short-lived as the scales aze with Void Fire reacted to the Chaos of the Abomination''s body.

    7

 Chapter 2527 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 1)

    2527 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 1)

    Before Yozmogh could understand what was happening, his body was ripped to shreds and sucked by the scales along with his soul, putting an end to the fight.

    ''Luckily, I was right. My Voidfeather form is the perfect counter to my Abomination powers.'' Lith inwardly sighed in relief while also noticing that he could feel a slight and unknown energying from the Void Scales where Yozmogh was trapped.

    ''The question is, how do I get rid of him for good and what happens if I revert to my human form? I can''t risk leaving that bastard on the loose and having to start all over again. I need a n.''

    Lith turned around slowly, moving on all fours toward the back alley where that mess had started. A Dragon could walk on two legs, but due to hisck of practice, standing felt awkward.

    His long neck swayed at every step and he had trouble bncing his upper body with his tail whenever his arms weren''t touching the ground.

    In that form, Lith was far from clumsy but he wasn''t lithe either. He had to keep gravity fusion and the Hush zone active to keep his steps from alerting the inhabitants of the nearby buildings.

    ''Damn, I wish I had the time to train a bit in this form, but with the baby on the way, the Void Magic lessons, and everything, I-'' Mentioning Elysia sent a sudden pang through Lith''s heart that made his joints buckle.

    "My baby!" If his voice in the Tiamat form sounded like the wind howling through an abyss that had somehow learned how to speak, the Voidfeather Dragon sounded like the rumbling of stones during an avnche.

    "My treasure. My ring! MY LIGHT!" With each word the pain grew and with it the fury in the Dragon''s voice.

    Only thanks to Varegrave conjuring an air shield did the shockwaves from the roar not shake the neighborhood like a quake.

    ''What the fuck am I doing and whose voice is that?'' Lith was bbergasted, feeling his consciousness pushed out of his own body and having to once again fight for control. ''I thought that my life forces had merged upon reaching the violet core.

    ''Why is the Void going rampant again?''

    ''That''s not me.'' The Void replied. ''You and I have reached an agreement and I''m not going back on it. He, however, is still royally pissed off at us.''

    Lith would have liked to question what nonsense was that but he needed his full focus to stop the Voidfeather Dragon from going on a rampage.

    The Divine Beast suddenly seemed to calm down, sniffing the air and walking in circles like a bloodhound.

    "Stolen! Taken! Mine!" There was a fragranceing from the east side of the undergroundplex that somehow Lith perceived as golden through the Dragon''s nose.

    The seven eyes on his muzzle became white like those of the Abomination and the suburban area around him turned into a dense, greyish fog that clouded his vision. Yet he could now see far enough through the buildings and their upants to spot a light in the distance.

    It was faint due to the fog, but it shone like a beacon with a familiar radiance that filled the Voidfeather Dragon with longing and nostalgia. At the same time, another light shone in the far, far distance in Valeron''s direction.

    Or rather, two lights shone, the smaller one enveloped and protected by the bigger one in a nurturing embrace.

    The Divine Beast turned his head from one to another so fast that Varegrave needed to conjure another air shield to block the windstorm the movement caused.

    "My baby! My Light! Why?" He roared in frustration.

    If there was one thing Dragons and Phoenixes were on the same page was how to take care of their eggs. Leaving a hatchling unguarded was an unforgivable crime. His whole being craved for returning to the nest, the pain of the separation almost physical.

    Almost.

    Dragons were greedy creatures and couldn''t stand missing a single bronze coin from their hoard, let alone someone as precious to them as Solus was to Lith. Where Kam was his beating heart, Solus was the warm light in his soul.

    She was his first and best friend, his better half, and an irreceable presence in his life. The fact that she was also bound to a priceless artifact like Menadion''s tower only triggered the Dragon further.

    "Kill them! Kill them all and retrieve my Light!" ming chainsprised of Cursed fires burst from his chest and plunged into the still-stunned Demons of the Darkness, setting them aze into Demons of the Abyss.

    ''No, no, no!'' Lith telepathically screamed in frustration. ''I''ve gone through too much to fail like this. I had to spot the Fomor, allow him to escape, follow him and work my ass to get past the arrays.

    rebelliousness is far from surprising considering how you treated him.''

    ''What do you mean, you beat him to a pulp until a few months ago?'' Lith was so bbergasted that ''I didn''t deal with Yozmogh just to let you ruin everything! Don''t listen to a word he says. Stay put.'' Luckily, the Demons could hear both the Voidfeather and Lith, leaving them utterly confused about whose orders they should follow.

    "I said kill them all! Burn this ce to the ground and let its ashes be a lesson." The Divine Beast roared as he took a deep breath that filled his wings and mouth with violet light.

    ''If we''ve reached an agreement, why aren''t you helping?'' Lith needed sheer willpower to stop the st of Origin mes.

    ''I am helping!'' The Void snarled. ''The guy hates me. If he sees me anywhere around you, he''ll go berserk and fight you way harder than now.''

    ''Why does he hate you and why is he not listening to me? This is no split-personality bullshit. You are all just parts of me.'' Lith asked.

    ''Respectively, he hates me because I beat him to a pulp on a daily basis until a few months ago. He doesn''t listen to you because he has other priorities. Last, but not least, since when are you good at controlling your own emotions?

    ''Do I have to remind you that if not for Solus Lutia and the White Griffon academy would have been turned into a bloodbath?'' The Void replied. ''I''m your rage, pain, and self-loath.

    ''He''s your greed, love, and all the feelings that you''ve spent your whole life repressing. His rebelliousness is far from surprising considering how you treated him.''

    ''What do you mean, you beat him to a pulp until a few months ago?'' Lith was so bbergasted that he went this close to losing control of the Voidfeather.

    ''Your beast side had to suppress your Abomination side until the violet, remember? I was the reason you were stuck at the deep violet and he is the reason your human body was stable, unlike regr Puppeteers.

    ''Only once we stopped fighting could he gather his strength and be my equal. Our equal.'' Then, seeing that Lith was having a hard time epting reality, the Void spoke slowly.

    ''Human. Abomination. Divine Beast.'' The Void pointed his wed finger at Lith, himself, andstly at the Voidfeather. ''We are the three sides of whatever a Tiamat is. You and I are cool. You and he are not. Is it clear now?''

 Chapter 2528 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 2)

    2528 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 2)

    Luckily for Lith, time moved slowly in the Mindscape, allowing him to take in the revtion without the surprise breaking his hold on the Voidfeather''s fury.

    ''If this thing is just the embodiment of my emotions cranked up to eleven due to Grandma''s and Leegaain''s blood, then I have to reason with him like I would with myself.'' Lith had no idea how to reach an agreement with the Voidfeather, but at least now he knew the source of the problem.

    ''With my luck, until I seed, I won''t be able to reach the bright violet core. That''s a problem for another day, though. Now I have to stop myself from screwing weeks of careful nning!''

    ''Why do you stop me?'' The Voidfeather telepathically screamed. ''Why do you hate me? I kept you alive for all these years and this is how you thank me? You''ve let so many of my friends die. You''ve let so many of my treasures get taken away from me.

    ''I won''t let Solus be another casualty of your sick ns. I won''t lose anyone or anything again. No more. Never more!''

    Lith tried to make the Voidfeather reason but the Dragon''s thoughts were chaotic and his attitude was that of a child throwing a tantrum. Lith could feel the Voidfeather''s suffering from the years spent in a losing battle with the Void.

    His frustration at Lith for denying him peace and putting into danger the people he loved.

    The memories of Yurial, Phloria, Lark, Mirim, and all the opportunities that Lith had missed and the things he had never shared with them had left deep scars in the Voidfeather''s mind.

    Scars that could never heal because death had frozen the damage in time, leaving behind only regrets and what-ifs.

    ''I''m not doing this for myself.'' Lith replied. ''This was Solus'' idea. I only care for my share of Morok''s legacy, how I get it is irrelevant to me. She is the one who wants to save them. If you want to let her down, be my guest.''

    His words stunned the Voidfeather Dragon stiff and the surprise grew further when Lith stopped fighting the Divine Beast for the control of his body.

    ''How do I know this isn''t just an attempt to manipte me?''

    ''Are you telling me that you don''t remember what happened just a few hours ago?'' Now it was Lith''s turn to be shocked.

    ''I''m too busy making sure that the jackass doesn''t ruin everything to stalk you. I have no idea what happened since Phloria died.'' The Voidfeather Dragon replied.

    ''Are you serious?'' Lith blurted out in surprise.

    ''That''s thest time you let me out.'' The Dragon snorted. ''Haven''t you seen your Tiamat''s body? The jackass takes most of the space. Aside from your eyes and my wings, everything else belongs to him.''

    Lith had to admit that his Dragon side had failed to manifest itself until the deep violet, when he had achieved the first feathered wing. For the second, he had to wait to reach the violet, when the Void had stopped fighting for dominance.

    ''Let me bring you up to speed, then.'' Lith attempted a mind fusion and failed spectacrly.

    ''We don''t need a mind fusion nor do we read each other''s mind.'' The Voidfeather Dragon guffawed in Lith''s face. ''They are called respectively remembering and thinking, moron.''

    It took the Divine Beast a split second to fill in the nks in his memory.

    ''Damn Solus and her big heart!'' He inwardly roared after understanding the need for stealth. ''Why did you let her volunteer for such a dangerous mission? These vermin aren''t worth a single strand of her hair.''

    ''I agree, but you know her.'' Lith shrugged. ''You know how much he suffered for the wargs and Echidna. If even one of Glemos'' children can be saved and we let them be massacred or if anything happens to our friends because we sit this out¡­''

    ''She''ll never let us hear the end of it.'' The Voidfeather Dragon grumbled. ''Fine. Consider yourself lucky. You have called the right man for this job.''

    A snap of the Divine Beast''s fingers reverted the Demons of the Abyss into their original and much less fleshy state of Demons of the Darkness.

    ''How can you do that?'' Now that his beast side was calm, Lith could afford the time to ask a few questions. ''I mean the chains and controlling the Demons. Isn''t that the Void''s job?''

    ''The jackass? Don''t be stupid.'' The Voidfeather replied with a sneer. ''No matter how much he brags, he reigns over the dead and he''s good at destroying stuff. I rule over the mes and the shadows. That''s all me.''

    ''Then why back in Urgamakka I couldn''t do anything while in Dragon form?'' Lith asked.

    ''Because at the time I was still dormant and the three of us werepletely split. Why do you think that before the violet you couldn''t summon the Demons in your Abomination form either? Because it takes the three of us.

    ''Your eyes and chains, my shadows and mes, and the jackass'' souls and Chaos. Now that we are partially fused, however, we have limited ess to each other''s abilities even in our respective forms.''

    ''I have a name, you know.'' The Void joined the conversation, sick and tired of being addressed with an insult.

    ''I know, George.'' The Voidfeather said with a huge grin on its snout.

    fangs bared.

    ''This isn''t over, George.'' The Voidfeather said. ''It''s just that you are not worth my time now.''

    ''I hate that name!''

    ''I know, George.'' Before Lith could put a word in edgewise, the Divine Beast and the Abomination started tussling around the Mindscape in a deadly embrace that reminded Lith of his split life force back when he was still a hybrid.

    Seen from so up close, however, more than a dance it looked like a bar brawl. He tried to stop them physically, but the mes of the Voidfeather and the Cursed elements of the Abomination burned at his mental projection.

    Words didn''t get through the red curtain of their decades-long rivalry until Lith said: ''Do you realize that every moment you waste fighting is a moment when Solus is alone, wondering where the heck I am?''

    The Void had already proven in the past that he cared for her so much to force Lith to share with Kam the truth about his origins. The Voidfeather Dragon had nearly gone on a rampage for her sake so his feelings couldn''t be any less intense.

    The two creatures froze on the spot, staring intently at each other with eyes aze with mana and fangs bared.

    ''This isn''t over, George.'' The Voidfeather said. ''It''s just that you are not worth my time now.''

    ''Say that name again and I''ll-''

    ''Solus.'' Lith repeated while pointing at her light in the distance.

    The Void roared in annoyance and disappeared from the Mindscape before jumping at the Dragon''s throat again.

    ''Good move, kid.'' The Voidfeather Dragon nodded. ''Watch and learn.''

    The Divine Beast took a deep breath and furled his feathered wings around his body like a cocoon. The shadows of the buildings converged on him, forming a small dome that seemed to merge with the ground.

    His figure waspressed, and the boundary between matter and energy be thinner and thinner until only a small dark blob remained.

    If you''re wondering why the Void is called George, so do I. me the discord for it. Vox populi vox dei.

    Legion20

 Chapter 2529 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 3)

    Chapter 2529 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 3)

    Only enough flesh to keep Lith''s memory and mind intact remained, everything else was an ever-shifting mass of pure darkness, so thin that it was nigh-two dimensional.

    It was the Shadow Step bloodline ability that belonged to Dark Phoenixes like Kigan and Raaz, were Lith''s father ever to Awaken his dormant abilities. The Demons followed suit, disappearing from sight and slithering along the corners of the streets to go unnoticed while they spread throughout the city.

    The Voidfeather Dragon''s mass was much greater and something of his size moving around was hard to miss, no matter how thin he made himself. He split his body into smaller pieces moving small groups of them at a time but always keeping the fragments close enough to not lose control over them.

    This way, he could hide in in sight, even using bystanders and carriages to move around more quickly.

    ''I don''t get it.'' Lith pondered. ''What''s the point ofpressing the space and blocking dimensional magic inside the city? Sure, most monsters can''t use magic above tier three, but some like orc shamans and Fomors can.

    ''Even if it protects the city from invasions, the moment the position of the undergroundplex is revealed, dimensional magic would be the least of their problems.''

    The Voidfeather Dragon could move solely when nobody was looking in his direction and the Demons confirmed to him that there was no one at the windows of the buildings around him either.

    If not for the spacepressing array, he could have just sent the smaller and faster Demons as advance scouts and then Warped to their coordinates as soon as they found a safe spot big enough to hide him.

    ''The real purpose of the array is to focus andpress the world energy. This way, not only does the presence of the mana geyser escapes magical detection from the outside but its energy is also more easily assimted by the children of Glemos.'' The Voidfeather replied.

    ''The dimensional magic seal is just a side effect since the array doesn''t discriminate,pressing the space simply because it''s filled with world energy. Modifying the magical formation so as to not hinder dimensional magic would greatly increase itsplexity for little return.

    ''Aside from orc shamans, no unfallen race can use dimensional magic, and out of here, the monsters revert to their fallen state so they wouldn''t be capable of Warping inside anyway.''

    ''How do you know that?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    They were supposed to be the same person, but now that the Voidfeather Dragon had calmed down, he seemed smarter and more logical than Lith himself.

    ''Because I have eyes. How else?'' The Divine Beast shared his senses with Lith who remained amazed by what infusing each of his seven eyes with elemental energy achieved.

    There was no sudden development of skills like Earth or Water Vision, but by splitting the elements between the seven eyes, the Voidfeather could observe their individual flow.

    The air and earth elements from the arrayspressed the world energy and in turn the life force of the monsters who assimted it, allowing them to keep a semi-unfallen state.

    The water element condensed inside the buildings every time someone pushed a button, giving them the equivalent of tap water. The light and the fire elements coursed through streetmps and home appliances to generate respectively light and warmth.

    Unlike Life Vision which showed the strength of a person or the runes of a spell, through the Voidfeather Dragon''s seven eyes Loth could witness the effects of the flow of magic inside both living beings and inanimate objects.

    On top of that, through the Spirit Eye Lith could also see how the life force and the fallen core of the various monsters interacted with each other. The Spirit Eye showed him where they knotted, shed, and where they instead harmonized.

    ''I''ve used my seventh eye many times but this never happened. How can-''

    ''Because you filled all the eyes with Spirit Magic.'' The Voidfeather cut Lith short. ''The other eyes work as a filter, removing the undesired elemental flows that would otherwise hinder your perception.''

    By focusing the Fire, Light, and Spirit Eyes one at a time on the same person the Divine Beast obtained their thermal readings, their health scan, and a glimpse of how their fallen life force had messed up with their mana cores.

    ''This raises another question.'' Lith said. ''If you are this good with my bloodline abilities and have an agenda of your own, why didn''t you manifest sooner? Not that I''mining but the Void has been much more vocal during my life and a huge pain in the ass.''

    ''An agenda?'' The Voidfeather Dragon snorted. ''My agenda is for you to be happy instead of the lonely, miserable man you''ve always strived to be. The little voice in your head that told you that Solus was right about making friends at the academy was me.

    ''Just like I was the one who pushed you to trust Phloria with your secret and forgive Solus after she lied to you about Protector. I don''t want to take your ce. I want you to stop surviving and start living. There''s a big difference, you know?''

    ''I know.'' Lith sighed. ''But why have you been so discreet? I could have used-''

    ''More power?'' The Voidfeather Dragon''s mind red in outrage. ''That''s thest thing you needed. Power is what made you shut everyone out of your life, thinking you didn''t need them.

    ''It''s weakness that taught you the lessons you needed to grow up and showed you your limits. Also, it''s not like I had much of a choice. Keeping the jackass sealed took me everything I had and the few times I tried to influence you, you ignored me.''

    ''Point taken.'' Lith nodded. ''Then howe I didn''t notice any of your abilities until now?''

    ''How many times have you taken this form for more than a few seconds?''

    ''With this mission, it makes four times.'' Lith telepathically scratched his head in embarrassment.

    ''Once back in Urgamakka, when due to your split life force I had no power.'' The Voidfeather nodded. ''Once inside the Golden Griffon, another after Phloria''s death, and now.

    ''You''ve always been fascinated by Chaos and the Cursed mes but you''ve never bothered asking yourself what, or rather, who protected you from their side effects and allowed you to employ them safely. You are wee.''

    Lith felt a jerk toward himself, which confused him even more. Luckily, the Voidfeather Dragon was too focused on following Solus'' light to give him a second nce.

    During the trip, Lith could observe from up close the living quarters of the different fallen races, being surprised by the Tyrant''s bloodline ingenuity. The darkness element that filled the houses of the trolls kept the Decay of their cores at bay. It further slowed down their metabolism and extended their lifespan.

    The goblins didn''t live in huge condos just because of their numbers, but because this way they were capable of sharing their powers with the inhabitants of the whole building.

    This allowed them to perform magical experiments that required lots of mana despite their flimsy orange cores.

 Chapter 2530 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 4)

    Chapter 2530 Voidfeather Dragon (Part 4)

    On top of that, part of the goblins would focus on channeling the world energy while the rest would take care of a different aspect of the spells.

    ''That''s amazing! Between the world energy stored in the building and them having the same energy signature, it''s almost like when Solus and I work together inside the tower.'' Lith thought.

    ''Except that the three of you have much stronger cores and canst more than a few minutes.'' The Voidfeather Dragon pointed out. ''Not to mention that mimicking a single enchantment of the tower takes a lot of energy and focus that can''t be used for the experiment.''

    Thanks to their bloodline ability, the goblins had reached an output that surpassed the bright violet, but due to their weak bodies and the little mana each one of them possessed, they had barely time for one attempt before copsing.

    The energy readings plummeted as fast as they had risen, and now hundreds of goblins were in need of food and rest.

    The gardens turned out to be the homes of the reverted Ogre-Dryads who needed both the orcs and the trolls for their survival.

    The shamans used their crystals to amplify the light element in the gardens in order to provide the ogres with the nourishment and warmth they needed to grow their nt bodies.

    The trolls, instead, shared with them part of their abundant life force to make up for theck of sunlight. No matter how good the orc shamans were at altering the crystals, they were no sunstones.

    The burrows, instead, turned out to be inhabited by the orcs instead of the wargs. While they moved through the city, Lith could see via the Eyes of Menadion that the holes in the ground led to the crystal mines situated on the lower level.

    The reverted orcs were best suited to extract them safely and their species thrived in such an environment. The shamans taught regr orcs how to ess the power of the crystals and also used them to amplify the voices of their ancestors.

    The resonance effect between the holy crystal and those in the mines allowed the shamans to bring out the memories of one of the previous crystal holders at a time.

    Without the mines, the echoes of all the ancient orcs would have flooded the mind of the shaman at once and endangered their sanity. By studying the memories stored inside the holy crystal, the shamans could witness the life of their predecessors, not just study their spells.

    Some of the most ancient crystals predated the fall of the orcs and offered a window to their lost golden age.

    The shamans conjured the echoes of their ancestors in front of themunity, giving even the less talented orcs the opportunity to learn about magic and the ancient history of their race.

    Fomors and Balors lived in the central areas of the city. Their houses were at least two stories high and each one of them was as big as a mansion. Such privilege wasn''t granted just because they were considered superior but due to their limited numbers.

    On top of that, Fomors and Balors were a key element in themunity, using their powers to help the other fallen races and slow down their aging.

    It was them conjuring the darkness for the trolls, using the power of the elements to elerate the crystal''s growth, and restoring the strength of the goblins after an experiment in order to save precious food.

    The Fomors in particr seemed to upy the highest rank. Not only did they have the six eyes of their god, Glemos, but they were also capable of using all tiers of magic.

    They weren''t as powerful as the orc shamans, but their physical prowess was unmatched.

    Even a three-eyed fallen Balor was as strong as a bright blue-cored Awakened Emperor Beast. Now that they had reverted to their original status and further evolved, they were titans among mortals.

    ''What about the warg?'' Lith asked.

    They were just a few hundreds of meters from Solus'' position and he had yet to spot even one of Protector''s lost cousins.

    ''I have no clue.'' The Voidfeather feared beasts the most, worrying that they could catch his smell or movements thanks to their heightened senses. Yet even the Demon scouts couldn''t find a single trace of the warg''s presence, let alone the Hati.

    ''What the fuck?'' Lith and the Divine Beast said in unison the moment they reached the building from which Solus'' light came.

    Surrounded by tall barracks that reminded Lith of his boot camp, there was a building worthy of the Royal Pce. It was surrounded by tall walls made of white crystals with Adamant gates so heavily enchanted that not even a Divine Beast could break through.

    On either side of the gate, there was a statue of a Tyrant carved out of golden-veined white marble while elemental crystals had been put in ce of his eyes. The statue on the right held books and carried Forgemastering tools on his hip.

    The one on the left was in a battle pose, shielding children of the fallen races behind his body. Between the walls and the building, there was a lush garden filled with flowers that spread their delicate scent and topiary figures representing the monsters that Glemos had sessfully experimented upon.

    Yet it wasn''t the opulence of the pce nor the power of its spell that surprised Lith so much as the fact that only wargs and Hati were tasked with defending the area. On top of that, they all wore top-grade equipment and exuded a powerful aura.

    ''It makes sense.'' The Voidfeather pondered. ''Warg can share their senses and powers. They don''t need amulets to talk or to waste time on reports. What one of them experiences, every member of the pack feels it too.

    ''This is a damn smart move and I like my opponents as dumb as bricks.''

    The pce guards were currently tasked with keeping a crowd of concerned citizens at bay. Hundreds of people surrounded the area, making it easy for the Voidfeather Dragon to slip from shadow to shadow amid the chaos.

    Luckily for Lith, the Adamant gates were open, the crystal walls were depowered, and the security wasx. The city was, after all, safe, and whatever was happening inside the pce was of great interest to the warg as well.

    The guards were arguing loudly between themselves and the bystanders, but the moment someone from the inside came out to give them an update, everyone would immediately shut up and listen.

    The conversations would resume solely once the messenger was gone and the Hush zone past the doors restored.

    ''How do I get inside?'' Lith thought. ''Every time the door opens, all eyes move there. Going unnoticed among the crowd would be very difficult.''

    ''More like impossible.'' The Voidfeather replied. ''There must be a secondary entrance, a skylight, something. As long as the security measures are depowered, we just need an opening.''

    Lith spread the Demons around the pce, scouring every nook and cranny for a way in. The mass of the Voidfeather was too big and the area too well-lit for him to move around safely.

 Chapter 2531 Dangerous Truth (Part 1)

    Chapter 2531 Dangerous Truth (Part 1)

    The solution to Lith''s problem came in the form of a group of women who were having a much more heated argument than the guards in the back of the building. For some reason, the warg guards steered clear of them and no one seemed bothered by the noise they made.

    The group wasprised of several orcs, Hati, six-eyed Balors, and one Fomor.

    "You have no right to keep us out, R." A female Hati dressed in a rich golden dress thatplemented her silver fur snarled. "It''s our future they are discussing and we need to voice our opinion!"

    "As Glemos'' high priestess, I have every right to do so." The beauty of the Fomor''s figure and features was further emphasized by the loose toga she wore that left her back fully exposed.

    Her furled multi-colored wings looked like a soft mantle that went from her shoulders to the ground.

    "It is my duty to protect you all, even from yourselves. Each one of us has demonstrated the highest evolutionary potential and is irreceable. Those whose standing is safe have no right to decide the fate of those who are expendable.

    "A cull will be necessary before we move out. Our men and children will die to leave us with as much food as they can. Do you really think they can find the strength to make such a decision while looking you in the eyes?

    "That they can muster the resolve to end their own blood and themselves while you lot scream and cry? Our god Glemos taught us that the future is more important of the past and that only through sacrifice can our races prosper.

    "The whole Mogar is our enemy. Our own bodies have betrayed us and try to kill us every day. This is the only way we have to survive."

    "Bullshit!" A reverted female orc-elf said, her light brown skin reddened by the blood rush in while her golden hair whipped around due to her mana outburst. "We could ask our unfallen brethren for help.

    "There are still pure-blooded elves out there, but we never tried to find them. We could barter with the Awakened Council to share the Harmonizers and Glemos''b in exchange for a cure to our condition!

    "If the Tyrant bloodline alone could achieve so much, imagine what the four Awakened races could do for us if they join their resources."

    "sphemy!" R pped the orc-elf to shut her up. "Our savior isn''t a mere Awakened. He is a god who took pity on our ancestors after their fall and created this paradise for us."

    "You call this paradise?" A six-eyed Balor stepped forward, forced to look up at the taller Fomor. "We hide deep underground like rats. We can''t expand our borders and are forced to constantly cull our own blood just to survive.

    "This is no paradise, just a sickb and we are the test subjects. Glemos is no god, otherwise he would have healed us already. He exploited our short lives and ignorance to rewrite history as he saw fit.

    "We pretended to believe his lies only because we were scared-"

    "How dare you?" The Balor knew the p was iing and tried to stop it, but R was faster and stronger than her.

    The hit sent the Balor to the ground and was quickly followed by a furious kick.

    "Glemos is a god! Without him, you would be a hideous monster. Without him, I would have never been born. Without him, there is no hope. If you despise his gifts so much, then I''ll dly take them back!"

    The Fomor lifted the Balor by the neck and was about to rip her heart out when the Hati with the golden dress grabbed R''s wrist.

    "Enough. I get your point and I''ll promise you that we''ll behave. Now let her go." The Fomor tried and failed to break free from the iron grip of the Hati that became tighter until R was forced to bend or suffer a broken arm.

    "I''m the high priestess, Syrah. You can''t order me around." She gritted her teeth to withstand the pain, refusing to submit.

    "And I''m the Queen. If you want, we can go back inside and ask which one of us can be more easily reced." The Hati emphasized the concept by taking a step forward so fast that Lith could barely see her.

    Syrah grabbed the Fomor with such strength that not even thebined power of her eyes was enough to break free from the choke hold.

    "Fine. I''ll forgive her transgression." R said and the Hati released her. "But if Br''ey keeps spreading her poisonous lies, our society might crumble. Only the faith in our god and the hope that it brings us have allowed our people to endure such cruel hardships.

    "Are you willing to take responsibility for her?"

    "I am." The Hati Queen nodded. "Now let''s get inside. I don''t trust the scum from the Undead Courts further than I can throw them."

    "You know that I''m not lying, Syrah. We''ve all seen the records of the times before Glemos stored inside Br''ey''s crystal." The Balor pointed at the orc who nodded in agreement. "Our species existed before Glemos. He-"

    "Now it''s not the time, Urhen." The Hati cut the Balor short. "We have lost countless good people today. We are about to lose our homes and cull most of our neighbors and friends simply because they were born with a lesser evolutionary potential.

    "Even if everything we witnessed is true and not the delusion of an ancient orc, do you think that our people could survive discovering that everything they know is a lie? That there''s no merciful god looking over us but just a cruel dictator who bred us like animals?"

    Urhen opened her mouth to answer but no word came out. She lowered her gaze and clenched her teeth before shaking her head in resignation.

    "The truth is a luxury we can''t afford, my friend. Not today." Syrah said. "Lies are the only thing that will allow us to see tomorrow."

    The Voidfeather Dragon exploited the moment when the women hugged each other and the high priestess bolted inside in outrage topress his body as much as he could and split it between their shadows.

    ''Luckily for me, Traughen have six arms and every one of them is damn tall. Between that and their puffy dresses, I''ve just enough space to hide.''

    The group of women walked briskly through the door and then an ample corridor, reaching an open balcony from which they could witness and hear everything that happened inside the room below.

    Also, they brought Lith so close to Solus that she could perceive his exact position even without a mind link. She had left Eryon''s pocket right after he had been summoned to the pce and had been spectating from a safe position all along.

    She turned her stone body into a liquid state, slowly crawling out of her hiding space while also making sure to constantly adjust her color so as to always match her surroundings.

    It took her a few minutes to reach the balcony and what she found there left her gaping.

 Chapter 2532 Dangerous Truth (Part 2)

    Chapter 2532 Dangerous Truth (Part 2)

    ''Solus! I missed you so much. Are you alright?'' The shadows wrapped around her in a tender embrace while the thoughts that passed through the mind link now that they had made physical contact were filled with heartfelt longing.

    ''I was expecting a "status report" or "Solus, analysis." We are surrounded by enemies and we didn''t see each other for a few hours, not days. Did you take a blow to the head or what?''

    ''That''s mean of you. Do you have any idea how worried I was?'' The Voidfeather said while pouting.

    ''Since when do you pout? Never mind. There''s no time for shenanigans, look!'' She elongated her form so that she could look past the balcony and share her vision with him.

    Right below them, there was a circr room in the center of which there was a semi-circr table with several thrones where the representatives of each fallen race sat. At the extremities of the table, there were those like goblins and ogres who had reverted but failed to evolve.

    ording to Solus, they held the least authority, and their opinion was heardst since it carried little weight. The closer one got to the center of the table, the greater the importance of the representative.

    ''The Fomor sits on the right side of the King and in turn the Balor''s representative sits behind the Fomor.'' Solus exined. ''Based on what I understood so far, they are in charge of the equivalent of the Royal Army.

    ''Fomors possess the greatest physical strength, have ess to all tiers of spells, and their eyes gave them plenty of bloodline abilities. They are the generals of the children of Glemos and their leader is called Warlord.

    ''The orc shaman sits on the left side and his species holds the same authority as the Mage Association and their representative is called the Warsage. Even though the orcs failed to evolve, they are the only ones among the fallen races who can Awaken.

    ''They have no elemental restriction and thanks to their ability to manipte crystals the shamans have nigh-infinite mana and can control the world energy even better than the Fomors.''

    ''That I can understand, but I sure wasn''t expecting a Hati to be the King.'' The eyes of the Voidfeather went wide in surprise when he noticed the furred figure standing in the middle of the semi-circle.

    The King was smaller than the Fomor on his right and his magical aura was insignificantpared to the orc shaman to his left. Yet everyone looked at him for permission before they spoke and once he nodded, they kept looking at him to make sure to have his attention.

    At first sight, the King was no different from the rest of the Hati that Lith had met and ughtered in Faluel''s crystal mine and during the raid in Ne''sra. After a while, however, one would notice that even though his body still suffered from the constant shapeshifting of his species, it was limited to minor physical features.

    His ears would change in shape, size, or number, the number of his fingers and toes varied as well, and his snout would be more and less pronounced. The number of his tails and limbs, instead, remained fixed.

    No change in his body took ce that would ruin the luxurious clothes of his office. A peek with the Voidfeather''s Spirit Eye revealed that the Hati''s life force was actually no less chaotic than that of his peers.

    The difference was that the King had learned to feel its flow and somehow controlled it with sheer force of will.

    ''When did you learn this¡­ Spirit Vision?'' Solus asked.

    ''Five minutes ago. When did you learn all this stuff?'' The Voidfeather replied, enjoying herpany and cutting Lith out of the conversation.

    ''This ce is their governing organ and it''s called the senate. It was already in session when I arrived. The various representatives spent over one hour throwing at each other''s faces the past merits of their respective races.

    ''It was like witnessing a heraldry contest where the winner gets to live.'' She gave him a short summary of the events via mind fusion.

    ''I can see why they did it and why the women I met were so upset. Basically, they are using their respective worth as an argument to justify culling fewer members of their species than the others.'' He pondered.

    ''Yeah. Ogres and goblins are in a tough spot. Someone wants to save just ten people from their races and ughter the rest since they are "useless". As you can imagine, orcs, Balors, and wargs are already set to take the lion''s share of the food collected during the raids.''

    ''I get orcs and Balors, but wargs?'' The Voidfeather was utterly confused. ''They were more followers than leaders and their bloodline abilities aren''t that much. How the heck did they gain so much authority?''

    ''Because they can use all elements as well and they are actually the strongest amongst the reverted races. Sure, on the battlefield their power is limited to the number of pack members they brought, but here?

    ''Here the King holds the entire physical and magical might of hismunity. They can pass him mana, spells, strength, mass, and even the power of their cores. I''ve caught just a glimpse of his power earlier when the representative of the Undead Courts angered him but I can tell you this.

    ''If there''s someone that can kick even your ass, it''s the King. He is the champion of both his species and the colony.'' Solus replied.

    The Voidfeather Dragon remembered how easily the Queen had overpowered a Fomor and nodded in understanding. Then his eyes went wide in realization.

    ''What representative of the Undead Courts? What are they doing here?''

    ''Now I recognize you.'' She chuckled. ''There you go.''

    Another partial mind fusion showed Lith that after Glemos'' disappearance, the underground city had been left to itself. The children of Glemos had waited for months, hoping that their god would return and give them new instructions.

    Yet with the passing of time and the dwindling of their resources, panic had slowly started to rise like an ever-increasing tide. In Solus'' memories, Lith could see how the Traughen and the orcs were working together to infuse mana crystals with light energy and create sunstones.

    So far, they had failed, but bybining their efforts with the ogres, they had seeded in developing underground cultivated fields. They also grew their cattle, but neither was enough to sustain the city without outside provisions.

    nts'' growth could be elerated, but it impoverished the soil and every harvest would give fewer crops unless the field could rest. Animals developed and conceived at a speed too slow for the enhanced metabolism of the fallen species.

    The senate had started rationing the food, then moving outside from time to time to forage and hunt, andstly, the culls had be a regr urrence. At the end of their rope and not knowing what to do, Glemos'' right-hand men had contacted the Undead Courts.

    The fallen species needed food and the Courts needed the Harmonizers to fix the ws in their own life force.

 Chapter 2533 Thin Ice (Part 1)

    Chapter 2533 Thin Ice (Part 1)

    Lith saw through Solus'' eyes how the Undead Courts'' representative had politely rubbed in the senate''s face how desperate the situation of the underground city of Zelex was and how much they needed the Courts'' help for survival.

    "My people have upheld our side of the bargain." Now that Lith was caught up with what had happened since Solus had reached the city, he could now follow the debate as well. "We have given you resources and scouted the cities of the Kingdom for you.

    "Without our help, you would have never learned where the major reserves of food were located and how the Kingdom''s troops were deployed in the various cities. If not for our intelligence, you would have been forced to spread your forces thin and would have never gathered so many resources."

    The undead pointed at a pile of dimensional amulets that grew in size as the raid teams returned. Lith noticed that Eryon was there as well, lined against a side wall with the rest of the squad leaders.

    The expression on the Fomor''s face changed faster than a Hati''s body, switching from pride to fear and then from joy into sadness. He stood with his arm crossed, his fingers drumming his forearms while his feet tapped the ground with impatience.

    "All we ask in return is a few Harmonizers. That was the deal that we struck with god Glemos and we expect that his proud children will keep his word. I can assure you that your gains will soon outweigh the loss of a few artifacts.

    "Unlike you, the Courts have ess to the best Forgemasters in Mogar''s history, both ancient and contemporary. As soon as they manage to crack the cloaking device, we''ll mass produce the Harmonizers and everyone will be better for it.

    "Our future will be bright, with our respectivemunities finally free to walk in the sunlight. But it''s a future that won''te to pass unless we work together." The representative of the Undead Courts looked like a man in his mid-twenties, but he was likely to be a few centuries old.

    He had blonde hair and chestnut eyes, and wore tailor-made noble clothes of thetest fashion. Judging by his blood core and aura, he hadn''t been chosen for the task for his strength but for his eloquence and diplomacy.

    Every time he talked about the hardships that the children of Glemos suffered, his voice almost teared up. When he looked around the room, his face was full ofpassion and empathy.

    Every word that came out of his mouth sounded like the reasonable advice of a trustworthy friend.

    "I would definitely like to work together with the Undead Courts, Elder Urma." The King steepled his ever-changing fingers, the corners of his muzzle twitching in what was as likely to be a smile as a sign of annoyance.

    "My problem is that trust goes both ways. True, your Courts have done much for my people, but only because we have leverage. If we die, the Harmonizers die with us. You have every reason to help us, but only until you get what you want.

    "If we give you the Harmonizers now, we''ll lose good people, the evolution rate of our species will drop, and nothing would stop you from turning your back on us."

    "That''s not true." Urma grimaced as if those words had physically hurt him and shook his head. "You have our word and if that''s not enough, we are willing to pay you upfront with food and even give you our Elders as hostages."

    "Food that sooner orter would run out and Elders that might have just be a bother to your Courts." The eyes of the Hati shed with the collective brainpower of his subjects.

    "You would trade something you don''t need and someone you want dead in exchange for a priceless treasure. I''m sorry, Elder Urma, but I have to refuse your offer again. This is the only way the fates of the children of Glemos and the Undead Courts will be truly bound together.

    "Any alternative would set you free from our bargain and leave my people at your mercy."

    "Are you calling off our deal?" The representative stiffened, his voice colder but still respectful.

    "That would make us enemies and we both have invested too much in this project to allow it to fail." The King curled his lips, revealing a row of clenched sharp fangs that could be a smile or a threat.

    "I only ask the Courts to agree to a few conditions that will ensure we both get what we want. First, you''ll help us reach the site of our new haven. Then, you''ll provide us with the resources needed to restore our numbers after the cull and set a new defensive array field.

    "Once the children of Glemos will have regained the strength to defend themselves from the enemies outside and inside our borders¡­" His eyes pierced at the undead, hinting how he considered the Courts among thetter.

    "We''ll give you the Harmonizers. You have my word. Take it or leave it."

    "But-"

    "How am I supposed to take your word at face value if you disregard mine?" The King cut Urma short. "I swear upon the name of Glemos. If that''s not enough for you, there''s no point continuing the negotiations."

    "You drive a hard bargain, my King." The undead gave the Hati a deep bow while wearing a friendly smile on his face. "I can already assure you of our cooperation, but I''d like to contact my superiors, just to be safe."

    "Thank you for your understanding, Elder Urma." The orc shaman stood up, giving the undead a polite bow while the King remained seated. "Escort our honored guest outside and make sure that nothing happens to him."

    It was a polite way to say: "We don''t trust you with letting you know the way out or leaving you unchecked" but Urma feigned ignorance and thanked his hosts profusely.

    The members of the senate remained silent until their guest was escorted out of the room and the Hush zone restored upon the closing of the doors.

    "Are we really going to give our precious Harmonizers to those bloodsuckers?" The Fomor representative stood up in outrage, mming his hands on the table.

    The Balor behind him nodded, and loud grumblings of approval rose from the spectators'' seats.

    "Yes." One word from the King and the room fell silent again. "We have no choice."

    "We do have a choice!" The orc representative stood up as well, hating having to agree with a Balor.

    No matter how much time the two species spent together, Balors were too simr to the demons of old who had caused the orcs to fall. Balors, on the other hand, considered orcs greedy imbeciles who''d rather point fingers than own their mistakes.

    The mutual distrust was one of the reasons the Hati had be King since neither of them trusted the other to not sacrifice them at the first opportunity they got.

    "We just give them nothing and keep leading them by the nose. We already have only a handful of Harmonizers left. Any less and even once we''ve moved to the new haven, there will be no way to stop the culls!"

 Chapter 2534 Thin Ice (Part 2)

    Chapter 2534 Thin Ice (Part 2)

    "I know, but we are walking on thin ice." The King sighed. "If we push the Courts too far, they''ll just stop helping us. At that point, the culls would be the least of our problems.

    "Without them, the resources of our new home will run out in the span of a few months instead of years. We''d be forced to move again, this time with no one scouting the paths ahead for us or giving us the intel that we need for our raids.

    "That bastard is right about one thing. We need to trust them. If they backstab us, a few Harmonizers less will make no difference since will be all dead."

    "Then why don''t you give the Courts the Harmonizers now?" The Traughen representative asked. "At least we''d check their loyalty instead of being constantly afraid of betrayal."

    "Because this way, we are buying time for the return of our god Glemos." The King stood up, staring at the Traughen in fury. "Because I''m forcing those bloodsuckers to invest so much in us that cutting ties with us would mean a huge loss even for their standards.

    "Because if everything goes south, we''d have a fresh start and a rich environment instead of the empty husk that our home has be!"

    Everyone lowered their gaze, knowing that those words were as true as they were painful. The children of Glemos had lived there for countless generations and now they were forced to leave their ancestral home.

    It wasn''t an easy choice nor one they had taken willingly. They just had no other option.

    "Now, unless someone has anything idiotic more to add, I''d like to return to selecting the members of our respective tribes that are going to survive the culls and perform the rites of passage before that pompous corpse returns." The Hati sat down, seemingly aged of decades in an instant.

    His aura of power was gone and his silvery fur now looked of a dull grey.

    Whatever the rites of passage were, Lith and Solus noticed that every person in the room had turned pale. They clenched their hands and looked around as if they were seconds away from running for their lives.

    The Queen and herdies in waiting were gripping the handrail so hard that the self-repair spells could barely keep up with the damage they caused. Even the high priestess looked like someone had just pped her.

    Anything had yet to happen but there was palpable grief in the room.

    An orc shaman rushed from the sidelines to her representative who in turn consulted his mildly esteemed Fomor colleague before speaking up.

    "Your Majesty, there''s a matter at hand that needs your attention." The orc representative said.

    "Mine was a rhetorical question." The Hati snarled. "What could there possibly be that''s more important than our own survival?"

    "One of the raid leaders ims to have important information about Lord Glemos. Also, he ims to have defeated one of the demons that our ancestors warned us about and that there might be more in the outside world." The orc said, having a hard time believing his own words.

    The members of the senate gasped at the mention of their god''s fate and shuddered at the idea of their legendary enemies haunting them again.

    "Let me get this straight." The Hati didn''t even bother hiding his disbelief. "In the middle of the raid, one of our young leaders met a stranger who not only knew about Glemos but also gracefully stopped for a chat.

    "Also, while they were at it, they faced a demon because why not. What are the odds that any of this can really happen outside of a bard''s tale?"

    "Actually, the demon and the stranger are the same person." The orc couldn''t stand the mockery in the King''s eyes and lowered his gaze in embarrassment. "But I can assure you that the raid leader is telling the truth.

    "I''ve checked it myself with a mind link or I would''ve never wasted your time with such a sick joke during our time of crisis."

    "Fine. I''ll humor you. For now. Show it to the senate. If demons really areing after us, our people have the right to know." The Hati stared at Eryon as if he was trash and at the orc shaman like he was insane.

    At least until the shaman used a mind link to share Eryon''s memories with a Traughen who in turn conjured a hologram to project them for the senate to see.

    "Glemos almighty!" The Hati and the orcs didn''t take well witnessing Lith''s appearance but not as much as the Fomors and Balors.

    Seeing a creature bearing the seven eyes that they had longed for millennia was a huge hit to their pride that was only made worse by the resemnce he shared with the demons of the old stories.

    A few among the youngest orcs fainted on the spot while a few Balors puked their guts out. And that before hearing the words: "Are you rted to Typhos or Echidna? They left me a message before they died."

    "How does the abomination know their name?" The Fomor representative asked.

    "Typhos and Echidna were with Glemos the day he disappeared. He wouldn''t have let them die unless¡­" The orc representative couldn''t find the strength to finish the phrase.

    "How can a demon ughter Glemos'' chosen and live to tell the tale? What if Glemos fell for his trickery as well?" The Traughen representative had no such problem. "It''s the only possible exnation for the seven eyes!

    "He stole Glemos'' powers just like he robbed our ancestors'', causing our tribe to fall from Mogar''s grace. The demons have returned. The increasing purity in our blood must have awakened them from their slumber and they are nowing for us!"

    People jumped out of their seats, screaming and running in an attempt to leave the senate, no matter who and how many people they had to trample over for it.

    "Enough!" A word from the King and a wave of pure killing intent forced everyone to ignore the hypothetical threat of the demon and focus on the one in the same room with them. "Words prove nothing.

    "That demon, assuming it was one, was probably just lying. Go on with the projection." The Traughen regained enough of his cool to show the rest of the fight in its savage splendor and dramatic conclusion.

    "See?" The King said with a snort. "If it was a demon, it''s already dead. Also, I doubt that anything that can harm our god Glemos could be defeated by a runt. No offense, kid."

    "None taken, my liege." Eryon suddenly felt stupid for believing a word of the abomination and arrogant for thinking himself better than the master of his race.

    "I have witnessed something simr, my liege." An orc shaman raised his hand. "Until a minute ago I thought it was just a mutated Balor, but now I think it was another demon."

    "Two demons in one day?" The King furrowed his brows but his voice had lost most of its scepticism. "Show us."

    The hologram depicted another raid team fighting against the city guards helped by Tista in her Red Demon form.    <ul> </ul>

 Chapter 2535 Rites of Passage (Part 1)

    Chapter 2535 Rites of Passage (Part 1)

    "That''s no Balor!" The Fomor representative said. "It has just five eyes so it''s still inferior to us. Did you eliminate it as well?"

    "We tried, but we failed." The orc shaman shook his head. "We were surrounded by the Council forces and we prioritized securing the food rather than wasting time fighting. I had no idea-"

    "You did the right thing." The Hati King cut him short. "If Elder Urma hasn''t left Zelex yet, bring him back here immediately. He has much exining to do. He never mentioned demons during our treaties and I doubt that such creatures keep a low profile.

    "If those things are not demons, he''s bound to know what they are. If demons really are out there, instead, he better have a perfectly good exnation for keeping it a secret from us."

    The undead re-entered the room less than five minutes after leaving. The guards pushed and shoved him around, showing how little they trusted him yet he did his best to keep calm despite the rude treatment.

    ''The Hati share a deep connection so whatever has upset their King it must be pretty bad to make them so scared.'' The Nightwalker could smell their fear and it was delicious.

    He pursed his lips and swallowed several times to contain his drooling.

    "I''m sorry for the sudden change of ns, but I hoped that you could clear a few things for us." The King stood up, giving the undead a small bow in apology.

    "You are doing me too much honor, King Ikara. I am at your service." Urma felt all the eyes on himself.

    The hostility in the room was even worse than when he had bartered for the Harmonizers so he kept his best poker face and watched the projection in silence until the end.

    "That was one pretty impressive fight." The Nightwalker pped his hands. "But I don''t see why you need my opinion. You are lucky Verhen underestimated you, kid." The Elder turned toward the young Fomor. " If you ever meet him again, I doubt you''ll survive a second encounter."

    "You knew him?" Eryon grabbed the haft of his weapon and many in the room did the same.

    "Who doesn''t?" The undead shrugged, smelling one second toote the mix of fear, panic, and outrage his word had drawn from the crowd. "He''s one of the greatest enemies of the Undead Courts. I assure you we are no allies."

    "Then why didn''t you warn us about the presence of demons?" The King''s hand slowly moved toward his de while his eyes remained fixed on the Nightwalker.

    "Do you really don''t know? Where have you lived until now? Under a ro-" Only then did the Nightwalker realize that the joke wasn''t far from the truth and that he''d better avoid upsetting his hosts any further.

    "Please, my liege, let me start over." Urma kneeled and raised his hands in surrender. "That''s not a demon. At least, not the kind you believe in. That''s just Lith Verhen, the Supreme Magus of the Griffon Kingdom.

    "Coincidentally, Mogar itself named him the Father of all Demons, but he is no way rted to the creatures of your stories."

    "How can you be so sure?" The Hati sighed in relief, but he could feel the primordial deep-seated fear of their alleged tormentors still lingering in the senate. The coincidence regarding the Tiamat''s name was considered by many as a bad omen.

    "Because Verhen will be twenty in a few months. I have read his records from the White Griffon academy, I''ve met his parents in Lutia, and the Undead Courts had our thralls take part in social events he attended in order to study him." The Nightwalker replied.

    "Also, some members of the Courts were there at the time of your species'' fall and I can guarantee you that back then there was nothing like Verhen. As for the red one, she is his sister. It''s normal for them to resemble each other."

    ''Damn, I feel like a wasted a golden opportunity.'' Urma thought while looking at the faces in the room. ''Maybe if I fueled their ridiculous superstitions, they would have been more easily manipted.

    ''On the other hand, maybe I did the right thing. While Glemos was here, no one took the legends about the demons seriously. They are falling back into their old habits only because their "god" is gone and their home is copsing.

    ''They are already on edge, if I were to push them further, they would have a fit of mass hysteria and there''s no telling what would happen to the Harmonizers. I need to keep them calm andpliant until I get what I want.''

    "If that thing wasn''t a demon, then why did you say that I might be wary of our next encounter?" Eryon asked. "I''ve killed him and only demons can rise from the dead."

    "You? Killed Verhen?" Urma had a goodugh at the expense of the young Fomor. "Kid, even though he presents himself as a human, Verhen''s a Divine Beast and his bloodline abilities are still a mystery.

    "Do any of you know what it''s like fighting one?"

    "Lord Glemos always told us to avoid them unless there was no other choice." The orc shaman said. "Also, from the records of our ancestors, we know that killing a single Divine Beast takes time, preparation, and countless casualties."

    "Everything you just said is correct, but know that Verhen is even worse." Urma nodded. "He has defeated two Horsemen, fought against the Mad Queen and her Generals, and taken down centuries-old Awakened.

    "ording to some rumors, he has fought against two armies at the Feymar mines, and not even that was enough to kill him. So, if you tell me that by sacrificing yourpanions you''ve stunned him, maybe even wounded him, I believe you.

    "But killed?" The Nightwalker scoffed at the idea. "If the golden boy of the Kingdom was truly dead, no dimensional sealing barrier would keep my amulet from exploding due to the too many unanswered calls.

    "The interlink would be in uproar and there would be countless discussions about his state funerals and the fate of the Kingdom now that it has lost its Supreme Magus before he could fully disclose his legacy."

    "He''s dead. I''m sure of it." Eryon clenched his hands at the memory of his fallenrades, feeling outraged at the idea that their sacrifice was for nothing.

    "Please." Urmaughed in the Fomor''s face. "If a runt like you defeated a Divine Beast by himself, then I''m the fourth Horseman of Baba Yaga."

    "How dare you mock our warrior?" The Fomor representative, Ymnar, jumped on his feet ready to teach the undead a lesson but the King held him back.

    "Look, there''s an easy way to quell your fears and prove you my good faith." Urma gave the senate a small bow while moving on to the next step of his n. "When I get out to discuss the new terms of our deal with the Undead Courts, I''ll also ask about Verhen''s whereabouts and his file.

    "If your kid is right and Verhen is dead, you have my personal guarantee that the Undead Corts will reward you handsomely and they won''t object to your new demands.

 Chapter 2536 Rites of Passage (Part 2)

    Chapter 2536 Rites of Passage (Part 2)

    "If he''s alive, instead, I can prove to you that Verhen is of human origins and that you have no reason to fear him unless you make this grudge personal. Either way, you win."

    "So be it." The King nodded and sent the Nightwalker away. "We''ll eagerly wait for your return."

    ''If we want to leave, this is our cue.'' Solus pointed at the honor guard apanying Urma and therge shadow that the group formed.

    ''Not yet.'' The Voidfeather replied. ''I want to see how they react to the news of my survival and to witness the rites of passage. Scouting the undergroundplex has great military value, but exterminating the children of Glemos is n B.

    ''Understanding their culture might allow us to find a way to earn their trust and convince them to surrender without further pointless bloodshed. That''s n A and the reason you are here.''

    ''True.'' While the senate''s session continued and the monsters argued about how many members each race was allowed to spare, Solus noticed the oddities in Lith''s condition that she had overlooked until that moment.

    ''Since when can you turn into this shadow-thingy?'' She asked.

    ''It''s a long story.'' A partial mind fusionter, Solus was brought up to speed and utterly shocked.

    ''So, you are the embodiment of his beast life force and I''ve been talking to you instead of Lith the whole time?''

    ''Yep.''

    ''Do you have a name like the Void?''

    ''Nope. Feel free to call me however you like.'' Between the overly friendly attitude and the waves of affection that the Voidfeather sent her every time he looked at Solus, she felt quite ufortable.

    ''Can I speak with Lith, please?''

    ''I don''t rmend it.'' The Voidfeather replied. ''If we start sharing control and he messes up with the Shadow Step, I don''t see us getting out of here alive.''

    ''Never mind, then.'' Solus tried to focus on the arrays of the senate and the power cores of the weapons the representatives wore, but the loving gaze of the Voidfeather and his shadow form washing over the stone ring in a tender caress made it awkward for her.

    Luckily, the wait didn''tst long and the Elder of the Undead Courts returned a few minutester.

    "I was right." Urma said. "Verhen is definitely alive but the good news is that he has nothing against you. He was just following orders. Here''s his personal file."

    The Nightwalker handed hismunication amulet to the King who browsed the various pictures taken during Lith''s career from Count Lark''s prot¨¦g¨¦ to Supreme Magus.

    They confirmed Lith''s age, origin, and the true nature of the creature that Eryon the Fomor had fought in Ne''sra.

    "Don''t worry, Eryon. Even if it was just a Divine Beast and not a demon, your feat is still outstanding." The Fomor representative tried and failed to quell the fears of his people. "Thank you for your assistance, Elder Urma.

    "You have lifted a heavy burden from our minds." Ymnar gave the undead a deep bow which was promptly returned. "What about our deal?"

    "The Undead Courts present you with a counteroffer." He replied. "We''ll take the Harmonizers only after you have increased your numbers again, as you requested.

    "Yet we require permission for a small number of our Forgemasters to move in with you and start studying the Harmonizers as soon as your new colony has been established."

    "Why the rush?" Ikara asked. "What are a few years to eternal creatures?"

    "Nothing, Your Majesty, but the Undead Courts are tired of you moving the goalposts. What we are asking you is concrete proof of good faith. A sign that we have your trust and that you won''t change the terms of our deal again the moment we give you what you want."

    "What if we were to refuse?"

    "Then you and your people would be on your own." The Nightwalker shrugged. "The Undead Courts wouldn''t attack you but they won''t help you until we get something in return for our services so far."

    "So be it." The Hati sighed. "Now please excuse us, there''s still much work to do. Give your leaders our regards and notify them that Zelex will remain sealed until weplete our preparations.

    "We may be unreachable for a while, but they have no reason to worry nor to stop sending us food."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty." Urma knelt in front of the King. "The Courts will be pleased with your decision and I''m certain that our Forgemasters will dly help you with establishing the new arrays and maintaining security if needed."

    ''Yeah, right.'' Ikara inwardly sneered. ''And let you study our defenses and the location of our most sensitive resources? How generous of you.''

    After dismissing the envoy of the Undead Courts, silence befell the room and no one dared break it.

    "You''ve heard him." The King said after a few minutes. "The good news is that how our gods Glemos always says, demons are not real. The bad news is that we have even less time than we hoped.

    "The terms of our deal with the Courts force us to make haste. Their offer is only apparently harmless. Their goal is to learn the method we use to pass the Harmonizers and use it to take them all for themselves.

    "By nting their mages among us while we are at our weakest, they have ensured themselves a privileged position from which to prepare their attack. We can''t dy the rites of passage any longer.

    "This is the only way to make sure that, by the time we abandon our home, a new and better generation of warriors will be ready to protect our people. I''ll go first." Ikara took off his clothes, revealing a metal cor on his neck.

    He folded his shirt and pants neatly and left them on the throne before walking to the middle of the room.

    At the same time, on the balcony, something seemed to die inside Queen Syrah''s eyes.

    Her gaze became dull and her expression fixed like those of a doll. Her body stiffened to the point that when she walked away there was no trace of her previous grace in her movements.

    "Syrah¡­" Urhen the Balor wanted to console her friend but everything that came to her mind sounded hollow and stupid.

    "Don''t worry about me, my friend. Worry about yourself. Your husband is next." The voice of the Queen was t and emotionless yet her words struck the Balor like a punch to the gut.

    She fell onto her knees, her six eyes tearing up with six small streams of the colors of the elements. Her mouth opened up, emitting a soft hup that quickly rose in volume and despair, turning into a wail of agony.

    "Be strong. We knew this moment woulde." Br''ey the orc shaman knelt before the Balor. "If they see you like this, you''ll make things even harder for them."

    Urhen hugged the shaman, bawling her eyes out and clinging to her hated rival as if they were best friends. The Balor leaned her face on the orc''s shoulder as her body was shaken by the sobs.

    Br''ey returned the embrace and joined Urhen in her grief, knowing that in a few minutes, they would share the same fate.

 Chapter 2537 Rites of Passage (Part 3)

    Chapter 2537 Rites of Passage (Part 3)

    Despite the millennia of resentment and spite between their respective species, they cried together like sisters.

    The moment the double doors of the senate opened, theyposed themselves and stood up, determined to not abandon the Queen in her darkest hour.

    Syrah was walking hand in hand with a young pup toward the senate''s table.

    Were the boy human, he would be around ten years old but Solus assumed he was even younger due to the Hati''s elerated metabolism and theck of a Harmonizer on his neck.

    The pup was a shaking mass of silver fur that the Queen dragged along, uncaring for his whimpers and sobbing. Every time the young Hati looked up at his mother, he found a warm gaze full of pain that right where you are, just like my father and grandfather before their coronation. This is a sacred ritual that our god Glemos established to keep our blood pure and our will strong."

    Ikara turned around, picking the folded clothes and handing them to Xagra.

    reassured him for a second before the fear returned.

    He tried to dig his ws into the ground, but the marble of the floor was too hard and his mother too strong for any carpet to resist her pull when he desperately clung to them.

    The Queen dragged him with even steps in front of the semi-circr table where the King was waiting for them.

    "Don''t worry, Xagra. The rite of passage is scary and it''s natural for you to be afraid. A brave King knows fear like anyone else but he''s capable of doing what''s required from him in spite of it.

    "Don''t think of this moment as a bad thing. A few years ago, I stood right where you are, just like my father and grandfather before their to keep our blood pure and our will strong."

    coronation. This is a sacred ritual that our god Glemos established Ikara turned around, picking the folded clothes and handing them to Xagra.

    "I''m sorry we didn''t get to spend as much time together as I wanted, but it was enough for me to notice that you are stronger, smarter, and more thoughtful than the rest of your siblings.

    "Your will is strong, my son, enough to tame our bloodlust and bring our shapeshifting curse to heel." Only then did Lith notice that the pup''s form was even more stable than his father''s, the changes in his body limited to his fur and eyes.

    "Soon you''ll grow big enough to fit my clothes and by then, I hope that you will also be a better King than I''ve ever been." Ikara knelt down to bring his head to the pup''s level and look him in the eyes.

    "I pass them to you intact as a testament of my determination and I hope that you''ll do the same for your son. Yet remember, there is no shame in sumbing to our curse and adding a few stitches."

    The King showed the pup that the clothes were filled with cuts and patches left by their predecessors, and exined to him that they had been carefully sewn back every time a new king was crowned.

    "These clothes are not perfect because not even a King is without a fault. If you own your mistakes and learn from them, you can even wear rags with pride. Do you understand?" Ikara forced Xagra to raise his gaze until the pup nodded.

    "Ymnar. Phemet. I need your help." The Fomor and the orc shaman representatives walked to the King''s either side and used their respective abilities to depower the Harmonizer.

    The Fomor used his wings to drain the surrounding world energy, leaving the artifact nothing to feed upon while the shaman used his crystal bracelet to freeze the mana coursing through the Harmonizer''s core.

    This way, its enchantments were temporarily neutralized, including the self-destruct mechanism that was supposed to trigger the moment that thetch was released.

    The former King fought as hard as he could, but he couldn''t stop his body from changing against his will, gaining temporarily limbs that were reabsorbed in the span of a few seconds.

    "Please, Dad. No." The pup whimpered as Ikara took off the Harmonizer and put it on Xagra''s neck.

    "I''m sorry, son. The rite of passage was just a means to get rid of the evolutionary failures when Glemos was with us. Now that he''s not here anymore, it''s the only way to preserve the few Harmonizers we have left."

    The former King unsheathed a short sword and gave it to the pup, making sure that Xagra held it with both hands.

    "Though my blood you were born a Hati. Though my blood, you be King." The Hati grabbed the enchanted de until it cut through his palm and became covered in bright red blood.

    Xagra started to cry, opening his snout to beg his father to stop when Ikara embraced the pup with his free hand while the other kept the de straight while it pierced through his heart.

    Syrah rushed to his side, embracing them both while the light started to fade from Ikara''s eyes. He looked at the new King first and then at his widow, determined to tell them how much they meant to him.

    Yet his final words were lost in the frothing of saliva and blood in his mouth, turning them into an unintelligible gurgle. After making sure that the Hati was dead and his imprint gone, the Fomor and the shaman dispelled their respective abilities.

    The Harmonizer recognized its new master before the self-destruct mechanism could trigger and its enchantments brought Xagra''s shapeshifting to a halt.

    "The King is dead. Long live the King." The people in the senate roared over and over while pping in a standing ovation, both empty, joyless gestures that the new King barely registered over the blood of his father drenching his hands.

    "Now it''s your turn to lead our people." Syrah said. "Before that happens, however, you must go with your siblings to the Gardens of Time, where your elders will teach you everything a King needs no know.

    "They will grant great power and wisdom upon you, but the price will be your youth. You leave my house as a child and you will return as an adult capable of building your own. Until that moment, I''ll rule in your stead."

    The Queen took the clothes and the de, cleaning them from the blood before handing them to a male Hati.

    "Bring the King to the surface world and teach him about the ways of Mogar, peace, and war." A Hati guard nodded and walked up to the still-stunned pup, lifting him over his shoulder and carrying him out of the senate like a sack of potatoes.

    "Goodbye, my son. If when youe back you find another Queen waiting for you, always remember that I love you." Syrah sadly waved her hand, giving Xagra what she hoped was a warm smile.

    The moment the meaning of those words reached through the fog clouding the King''s mind, he started to struggle with all of his strength to escape the guard''s hold and run back to his mother.

    "Let me go, you bastard!" Xagra bit, wed, and punched as hard as he could but there was nothing a naked pup could do against an adult bigger, stronger, and armed to the teeth.

    When his orders fell on deaf ears, the King begged and cried but the guard just kept walking.

 Chapter 2538 Rites of Passage (Part 4)

    Chapter 2538 Rites of Passage (Part 4)

    The muzzle of the guard was impassible, but small tears drenched the fur around his eyes. He had not only witnessed the demise of Ikara, but also experienced his pain, love, andst wishes through the mind link the alpha shared with the members of his pack.

    When the adult Hati opened the door, the desperate owls of the pup were drowned by those of the wargs outside who also had perceived thest moments of thete King and had been forced to resist the impulse to sacrifice their lives to save his.

    Solus was still frozen in shock from the coronation of the new King when Ymnar the Fomor walked in front of the Queen, right where Ikara had stood until a minute ago.

    "Do you need a moment, my liege?" He asked while helping her to sit down before her shacky knees buckled.

    "No, Warlord." Syrah shook her head. "I could use help in choosing my son''s spouse. We need fresh and better blood if we want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past."

    "I don''t know anyone with better taste in men than my wife Urhen. Come down here, darling. I can''t do this without you. I literally can''t." The Fomor traded insults onest time with Warsage Phemet before preparing his own de.

    After the King, it was time for a new Warlord.

    The Balordy in waiting walked through the double doors of the senate right on cue, walking hand in hand with a boy of pre-teen age. He was the most stable and powerful Fomor among the newest generation and had been chosen as Ymnar''s recement.

    The young Fomor didn''t share any blood with the Warlord but it didn''t make the rite of passage any easier. The boy was Ymnar''s disciple and had spent more time with him and his wife than with his own parents.

    The Warlord had taught the boy everything he knew and now he could only hope that it would be enough for the boy to survive the struggles that abandoning their old home and dealing with the Undead Courts entailed.

    "Master." The blue skin of the boy was grey, the blood drained from his face due to the terror he could barely contain.

    "No need for honorifics, Uopha. Not anymore." Ymnar shook his head. "You can call me by my name, o Warlord."

    Master and apprentice chuckled briefly before the gravity of the situation drained the joy from theirughter and faces.

    "Do you have anyst question?" Ymnar asked.

    "No." Uopha actually had many, but none rted to his soon-to-be role.

    He just wanted to know why him and why now. Life in the undergroundplex was short and hard, but no one had a shorter and harder existence than the members of the senate.

    Uopha still couldn''t believe that his master had chosen him over his own son. Yet it was an honor he would have dly turned down if only he had a chance.

    "Very well. Urhen?" The female Balor drained the surrounding world energy, taking her husband''s role and ce.

    ''I think we''ve seen enough.'' Solus said with a sniffle while husband and wife exchanged their final words. ''Can we please leave? I don''t think there''s anything else we can learn from watching more people die.''

    ''No. Ask Solus where the array control center is.'' Lith replied. ''We can exploit the grief of the guards for the death of their leader to take a good look at it without being bothered.''

    ''Sure.'' The Voidfeather ignored him and brought them out of the room as fast as he could. ''Solus, do you feel like looking for the array control center or do you need some time first?''

    ''Gods, Lith number three is definitely the kindest but also a bit creepy. I''m not used to so much care, at least not during a mission.'' Her hups turned into a chuckle. ''That said, I know where the array control center of Zelex is.''

    ''Of what?'' The Voidfeather asked.

    ''It''s how they call this city.'' Solus replied. ''Sadly, there''s nothing we can do. The array control center is sealed by powerful magical formations and only those wearing the Harmonizer of the King, Warlord, or Warsage can open them.

    ''On top of that, the ce is well-lit and under constant surveince. Unless you can turn invisible, there''s no way we can stare at the doors long enough to study the locks without being discovered.''

    ''Good point.'' Lith nodded. ''We can still take our time and explore the city. We need to understand what kind of defensive array they have and how to deal with them if we want to have a chance in case we need to storm Zelex.''

    This time the Voidfeather ryed the message as it was, reassuring Solus that Lith was still in there.

    ''Do you mind if we first go to a safe ce and I talk with Lith for a while?'' She asked.

    ''No problem.'' The Voidfeather crawled from one shadow to another, leaving the balcony and then the senate.

    The Hati and warg were already shocked by Ikara''s death but as soon they learned that the rites of passage had begun, the surveince became perfunctory. Most of the guards wore no Harmonizer and they would simply be culled.

    Those who had one, would be forced to give up on their lives to pass it down.

    Their distress together with the information that Lith and Solus had acquired while reaching the senate made it easy for them to escape the notice of the now distraught sentinels.

    As soon as they reached an isted area and the Eyes of Menadion ensured them that there was no one around, the shadows converged to a single point, taking the form of the Voidfeather Dragon that quickly copsed into Lith''s.

    ''Wee back.'' She gave him the telepathic equivalent of a warm embrace since she couldn''t afford to waste energy by assuming her human form.

    ''I was always right beside you, dummy.'' He replied, returning the hug. ''The Voidfeather simply cut directmunication between us, but he never tried to overtake me.''

    ''That''s good news.'' Solus nodded. ''Good, but unsettling nheless. I didn''t expect that after the Void we would have to deal with your beast side.''

    ''Me neither, but it''s not a big surprise. I mean, we knew that my life forces have yet topletely merge and that sooner orter we''d have to look into that. At least now we know the source of my problem and can start figuring out a way for me to reach the bright violet.''

    ''So, what''s the n now?'' Solus asked.

    ''We don''t really have one.'' Lith shrugged. ''I came here to rescue you and collect information. Faluel wanted to know if the children of Glemos could be reasoned with and I say the answer is yes.''

    ''Agreed, but I don''t think that walking in here with a smile and a box of choctes will be enough to convince them of our good faith. They are stuck with Glemos'' doctrine and have just lost a lot of good people.

    ''Even if we bring them an alternative to the culling, it would still bring them despair.'' Solus said

 Chapter 2539 No I in Funeral (Part 1)

    Chapter 2539 No I in Funeral (Part 1)

    ''Even if the members of the senate were to listen to us and believe our words, it would still mean that all of their pain and sacrifices they just endured was for nothing.'' Solus said.

    ''We''ll worry about thatter.'' Lith replied. ''Now we need to study the defensive formations of Zelex. No matter if we choose to pay, raid the city, or ask for the Council''s help, we need to know how to safely get in.''

    Solus had no trouble recollecting Eryon''s path and she guided Lith to a cave on the south side of the city. From there, departed a vertical tunnel that led outside whose ess points were sealed with earth magic and protected by several defensive arrays.

    Lith and Solus used the Eye of Menadion to study Zelex''s arrays as they moved. The city had mostly magical formations meant to keep it warm and freshen its air. The rest were about collecting and focusing the energy of the mana geyser.

    The protective arrays were arranged in an outeryer, meant to protect Zelex from external threats, not from an inside attack. Aside from a self-destruct mechanism that would make the undergroundplex copse if threatened, the city had no means of offense once an enemy broke past its entrance.

    ''It makes sense.'' Solus pondered. ''Based on what the Demons found out, right below the city there is the crystal mine and below that, there''s the magic metal mine. Too many arrays would destabilize the crystals.

    ''Glemos couldn''t inste them without also cutting the flow of world energy they need to grow.''

    ''Also, both orc shamans and Fomors can freely manipte the world energy.'' Lith pointed out. ''They can use the crystals to fuel their powers whereas an invader can''t use powerful spells without the risk of blowing themselves up.''

    The cave at the south entrance, however, was another story entirely.

    Every centimeter of the rock was enchanted with spells that would sound the rm and rain tier five spells on anyone who didn''t know their deactivation sequence.

    ''Damn, there''s enough firepower to kill even a Divine Beast.'' Lith thought. ''Also, even if they survived, the spells are aimed so that they wouldpromise the tunnel''s structural integrity and make it implode.''

    ''Yeah, between the spells from below and the rocks falling from above, there''s no way to avoid ending up dead or buried alive.'' Solus replied. ''Unless one knows the passcodes, of course.

    ''I memorized them when the Fomor who carried me got inside.''

    ''Question, are you sure that we have just to use the entry sequence in reverse? What if the exit password is different?'' Lith asked.

    ''Only one way to find out.'' Solus replied.

    A deep scan with the Eyes and a massive headacheter, they had their answer. To enter Zelex safely, the array had to be unraveled in a precise order and thest rune that Eryon had used was meant to reset the protections.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I have no idea how to open the array sequence from the bottom nor how to reset them once we get out from the other side.'' Solus said after studying the collected data.

    ''On the bright side, once we bring this information to Ajatar, I''m sure that he''ll find a way to crack the offensive arrays safely and give us a clear retreat path in case things go south.''

    Once they were done studying the arrays in the cave, Lith and Solus explored Zelex, finding one more cave leading outside at each cardinal point. The problem was that they all had different passcodes and arrays.

    With their brains already burning and the clock ticking they had no time to scan them all.

    ''Dammit, the undergroundplex is too big. Even with the help of my Demons, it would take days for a proper recon of the various floors.'' Lith said.

    ''Agreed. Let''s not waste any more time and get out of here.'' Solus replied.

    They moved to the extraction point where Nalrond was waiting for them. Not even bybining their powers could Lith and Solus escape but luckily there was no need for it.

    A tendril of Spirit Magic slipped through the empty spaces of the arrays and reached Nalrond who was still waiting for them on the other side. At that point, the Rezar just used the dimensional stone to signal Friya to conjure Ubiquity again.

    Ajatar took care of the external arrays while the othersbined their Domination to bend the finalyer just enough for Lith toe out.

    "How did it go?" Morok asked.

    "Better and worse than I thought." Lith was still recovering from the mental exertion due to the prolonged use of the Eyes of Menadion. "I''ll show you everything in a minute. Let me catch my breath first."

    A tonic, a few minutes, a mind link, and several hologramster, the group was up to speed andpletely horrified.

    "Good gods, we can''t allow the Undead Courts to get their hands on Glemos'' legacy. There''s no telling how powerful they would be if they find a way to fuel the Harmonizers away from a geyser and get rid of the blood core''s ws." Faluel said.

    "Speaking of my legacy, did you find anything of value aside from the Harmonizers?" Morok asked.

    "There''s a metal and a crystal mine, but I think that the best stuff is sealed inside the senate pce." Lith replied. "It''s built in the middle of the city and all the arrays depart and focus from it.

    "It''s the perfect ce for conducting Forgemastering and magical experiments."

    "Wait a second." Nalrond said. "If the Tyrant''s legacy is really there howe the monsters haven''t used it to Forgemaster new Harmonizers instead of conducting something so barbaric as the rites of passage?

    "As you already said, Fomors, Hati, and orc shamans can freely use all elements. Whatever protection Glemos has left, there''s nothing stopping them frombining their powers and breaking through the arrays."

    "That''s where you are wrong." Morok replied. "There is something stopping them and that''s the fear that Glemos instilled inside of them their whole lives. To them, he''s a god and they are afraid of his anger were he to return and find his quarters vited.

    "On top of that, to keep his ''god'' fa?ade, I bet that Glemos imed Forgemastery to be a divine miracle and never taught them even the basics of it. Even if they found the courage and break the taboo, they wouldn''t know where to start.

    "And that''s if Glemos wrote his grimoires without a code which I''m certain he did. Without a mentor or a textbook, learning any advanced branch of magic is impossible."

    "I agree with Morok." Lith nodded. "The monsters have no idea that Glemos is dead and even after witnessing the memories of the past shamans, most of them have a hard time epting that he was just an Awakened who lied and manipted them.

    "That''s why I think that our best chance is to send Morok alone. He''s a Tyrant and his scent proves that he carries Glemos'' blood. If he manages to convince them to be the son of their god, they''ll listen to everything he says."

 Chapter 2540 No I in Funeral (Part 2)

    Chapter 2540 No I in Funeral (Part 2)

    "Good idea and amazing work, Lith." Ajatar said while studying the arrays protecting Zelex and its ess points. "I''ve already spotted the ess from the surface to the south entrance and discovered how to deactivate the cave''s protections.

    "We can all enter from there without wasting time and energy with Domination and dimensional magic. We have everything we need for an extermination raid but I''m not confident that a peaceful resolution can be reached that easily."

    "What do you mean?" Faluel asked.

    "Put yourself in their shoes. After everything they''ve just gone through,es a young Tyrant who''s much weaker than Glemos and doesn''t even look like him." The Drake pointed at Morok''s multi-colored scales.

    "Sure, the smell works in our favor, but what about everything else? They are bound to ask him a lot of questions like what happened to Glemos, why they have never heard about Morok, and why he didn''te to their rescue sooner.

    "To make matters worse, he''s going to ask them to throw all their sacrifices into the gutter and follow aplete stranger to an unknown location where he ims they will be safe. It just smells fishy."

    "I think you are right." Faluel nodded. "They are grief-stricken and have no reason to trust Morok. If we send him to Zelex without a foolproof n, the monsters will treat him as a scapegoat instead of a savior.

    "They''ll take their pent-up aggression against Glemos on Morok and kill him on the spot."

    "Even worse, if the Queen is as smart as she sounded, she might exploit the rage of her people and kill Morok just to disprove Glemos'' divinity." Lith pointed out. "This way, she could finally disclose the truth and free her son and the rest of the senate from following Glemos'' cruel dogmas."

    "Then what do we do?" Quy asked. "Morok is still our best shot. The monsters are never going to trust any of us. Faluel and Ajatar are as strong as Glemos but even if they shapeshift into Tyrants, their smell and life forces will give out their real identity.

    "Also, they know nothing about Glemos'' cult so they will never manage to pass for his reincarnation or something. If he has taught them a secret phrase or gesture to recognize him however appearance he took and we fail the test, we won''t get a second chance."

    "Let me get this straight." Friya said. "We need a surefire way to earn their trust and gain free ess to what they consider holy ground: Glemos''b. If we fail at any point, we''ll have to run away and call the Council.

    "At that point, the monsters will all die, the Harmonizers will be lost forever, and if we are unlucky, they''ll set off the self-destruction mechanism and Morok''s legacy will be destroyed as well."

    "Correct, but that''s assuming that the Council doesn''t deem Glemos'' legacy not worth the hassle and triggers the self-destruction spell just to end things quickly without a fight." Faluel paced around, thinking about a way to solve things without involving the Council.

    "What if¡­" Tista''s idea was briefly considered and rejected. The same happened for every scenario they could think of.

    No matter how rational and well-thought a n was, at some point, there was always a critical w that would cause the negotiations to fail. The children of Glemos were a highly superstitious group of grief-stricken people who were in a desperate situation and had no reason to trust strangers.

    Telling them the truth was out of the question while using a convenient lie would arise questions that in turn would need more lies to make sense once questioned, creating what Faluel called the Hydra effect.

    "For every piece of bullshit you spout, you need toe out with two more or everything falls apart. We can''t send Morok either because he''s not that good a liar and wouldn''t be capable of keeping track of everything he says.

    "Everyone else would be attacked on sight, especially Lith due to his appearance. Which is a shame since he is our resident expert in straight-faced lies."

    "What if I bring him along and he suggests to me what to say?" Morok said. "If he shapeshifts into a Tyrant, he can keep six eyes out of seven and fool them."

    "It''s too dangerous." Ajatar shook his head. "If for any reason you two get separated, you''d be in hot water. Even a small distance would be enough to reveal the mind link and screw everything over.

    "Besides, if they inspect your life forces, they''d discover the ruse in an instant."

    "Lith?" Protector asked after noticing that his friend was staring at the ground with an expression that he knew all too well.

    It was the face that Lith assumed as a kid while calcting if the bounty of a wanted man was worth the hassle of chasing him. He was so focused that Protector needed to tap his shoulder to gain his attention.

    It was then that Lith said something no one would have ever considered possible: "I think that Morok is right. We can do it, but only if he and I work as a team."

    "If your n is to throw me to the wolves while you reach the vault and rob them blind, count me out. There''s no I in team but no I in funeral either." The Tyrant said after noticing that Lith was measuring him up with Invigoration.

    "You read my mind." Lith patted Morok''s shoulders as if the Tyrant had just enthusiastically agreed. "I think I have a n but to make it work, I need to know everything about the monsters'' lore regarding their fall, Ajatar."

    "You can count on me. It''s one of my many fields of expertise." The Drake nodded.

    "Also, before wasting my and your time with a pointless lecture, let me share my n. I''m pretty sure you guys are going to hate it, but if it''s to the point that you don''t want to put it into practice, just let me know.

    "Of course, I any of you has a better idea, I''m open to suggestions."

    ***

    Underground city of Zelex, Queen Syrah''s apartments, about one hour after Lith and Solus had left the senate pce.

    The rites of passage hadn''tsted long. Each member of the senate had barely taken one minute to entrust theirst words to their loved ones and say their goodbyes. Any longer and their determination would have faltered.

    Syrah would have liked to have days to recover from the trauma of losing her husband of robbing her own child of his childhood on the same day. Sadly, time and food were two resources that the inhabitants of Zelex had in short supply even before Glemos'' disappearance.

    After the ceremony had ended, the Queen had gone to snap the Hati of their grieving and informed them that now it was her they had to supply with their mana and life force until Xagra became an adult.

    She could have done it via the hive mind that the members of the warg race shared, but Syrah preferred to do it in person and lead by example. She couldn''t let them mourn and weep more than she could let herself.

 Chapter 2541 They Come at Night (Part 1)

    Chapter 2541 They Come at Night (Part 1)

    "Don''t waste your time crying." The Queen said from her dais. "We have until the day of the departure before the next cull. Only the strongest among us will be chosen and only because we can''t trust the undead filth.

    "We need enough mouths to protect ourselves but not enough to exhaust our limited resources before we build our new home. I know that I''m asking much of you, but it''s the same sacrifice my husband just made.

    "The same sacrifice I''ll make as soon as a new and more worthy Queen is found for my son." She closed her eyes, sighing at the idea of leaving Xagra alone and burdened by the responsibility of ensuring the survival of the new colony.

    "Here''s my first order as Zelex''s regent: live your lives at their fullest and make the best of what time we have left. I would also like to relieve you from your duty for today, but unfortunately, the undead know of our loss.

    "This is the perfect moment to try and-" The sound of the rm cut her short, quickly followed by a tremor so intense that the chandeliers swung from the ceiling and dust fell off.

    "What the heck is going on?" Syrah cursed Glemos'' name under her breath.

    The dimensionalpressing array blocked both dimensional magic andmunication amulets. The only way tomunicate long-distance inside Zelex was either by warg or magic res.

    Thanks to their bloodline ability to share anything with the members of their pack, warg couldmunicate with each other and ry messages even from a considerable distance.

    It was the reason they were the only guards for the senate and the backbone of the city guard. s, both warg and Hati had been assembled to receive the regent''s speech so the only way ofmunication left to the guards was colored res.

    The Queen rushed out of the building and took flight to observe the situation from above. Green, red, and violet arcing lights came from the south ess of the city, their colors mixing together and painting Zelex like a bloody gangrenous wound.

    ''We are invaded and our assants have copsed the south tunnel!'' The information spread through the mind link to all the warg and Hati below, yet despite their rigorous discipline they remained frozen in ce.

    ''Is it really demons?'' A young Hati asked while his heart pounded so hard in his chest that its furious beating was all he could hear.

    Violet res were supposed to be an inside joke between the monster tribes. A relic of their past superstition that their god Glemos had disproved time and time again. Yet they now lighted the city''s sky and more kept being shot by the second.

    ''Only one way to find out. Leave an elite unit to protect the senate. Everyone else, with me!''

    Seeing their Queen charge to battle and the strong feelings she shared with her pack snapped them out of it. The thought of demons wasn''t so scary anymore. Only protecting their beloved city and tribes mattered.

    The only silver lining in that situation was that the cull had yet to happen. There were still thousands of monsters ready to fight who had no qualms about throwing away their lives if it meant securing the future of their people.

    ''At least this way their death will have a meaning.'' The Queen ruefully thought while darting above the small buildings and getting around the tall ones. ''Also, I can use a good fight after a day like this. Spilling blood should do wonders for my mood.''

    When she arrived at her destination, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped to the floor. The south entrance was still secure. The guards had surrounded the narrow passage between the tunnel and the city by the book, making the number of assants pointless.

    Thanks to their rigorous training and the field advantage, a dozen of guards could hold back hundreds of enemies indefinitely. Also, Syrah wasn''t the only one who had noticed the res and was eager to vent her frustration on the intruders.

    Br''ey the orc shaman, R the Fomor, and M''karn the Traughen had reached the south entrance just a few seconds after Syrah. Goblins, ogres, and the other monster tribes that couldn''t fly would take a bit longer to arrive, but the noise of their frenzied marching could already be heard from a distance.

    Yet none of it was enough to save the Queen from the despair that filled her heart. Because past behind the city guards who were valiantly repelling the invaders, Syrah could see a silvery radiance that didn''te from any spell.

    She hadn''t seen natural moonlight since the day the previous Queen had sent Syrah to the surface to elerate her aging, but she still remembered it vividly.

    "The secret tunnel is no more! The copse has turned it into an opening that leads straight to the surface." She yelled. "If we don''t win this battle and seal the entrance quickly, the position of our haven will be revealed!"

    It would have meant rushing with the culling, running away leaving behind most of their possessions, and being at theplete mercy of the Undead Courts for survival. The words of the Queen washed away what was left of the fear of the alleged demons and made the troops'' blood boil.

    At least until the moonlight was swallowed by a ck tide that flooded the narrow ess to Zelex, trampling over the nearest guards. They tried to use water magic to stop it, but the dark liquid wasn''t affected by magic and kept moving forward.

    Only when the defenders were pushed back enough did the tide reveal its true nature,prised of ck bodies and white eyes. The creatures had no features, looking likenky shadowse to life.

    While they wrestled with the guards, however, the monsters slowly reverted to their fallen status while the shadows became more defined. Those who wounded a warg would gain a maw filled with white fangs.

    Those who fought a Balor would gain wings or more eyes while trolls would face opponents whose mastery over the darkness and light elements grew by the second. Luckily, the effect of the shadows'' touch seemed to be only temporary.

    As soon as the reinforcements allowed the guards on the frontlines to disengage and have a moment of rest, the world energy from the mana geyser would fill their bodies and restore their powers.

    On the other hand, the invaders retained the characteristics they had stolen and gained more powers by fighting a different monster race.

    Syrah nodded to Br''ey and R while calling upon herself the power of one hundred warg. The Fomor spread her golden lightning to the Queen and her troops, doubling its efficacy.

    The bloodline ability tripled the warg''s prowess and once they passed it upon Syrah it was tripled again, making it almost as good as Life Maelstrom.

    The orc shaman, instead, drew the world energy away from the opening and focused it on the za. This way, elemental magic would be sealed for the invaders and boosted for the defenders.

    It also served the purpose to iste the battlefield from the rest of the city and shield the crystal mines from the mana fluctuations that powerful spells might induce.

 Chapter 2542 They Come at Night (Part 2)

    Chapter 2542 They Come at Night (Part 2)

    Br''ey had left a contingent of orcs to seal the mines and keep them from blowing up the city. Yet if Syrah went all-out, they might not be enough.

    The Queen conjured the tier five War Mage spell, Raging Sun, in her right hand and the tier five War Mage spell, Frozen Storm, in the left, shooting them both past the entrance of the south tunnel.

    The first spellbined fire and earth magic to conjure violet mes that turned the ground into moltenva and triggered the equivalent of a volcanic eruption. The second used air magic to fan the mes and amplify the explosion while water magic formed a thickyer of ice.

    The cold air smothered the heat that would have otherwise killed the monsters on the frontlines and the ice covered the entrance to the city, sealing the congration on the inside.

    Not a single gust of wind reached the defenders nor did one tongue of me escape the frozen prison.

    Thanks to the power bestowed upon her by the Fomor and thebined willpower of her soldiers, the Queen had conjured the equivalent of a Tower Tier spell.

    "Was that enough?" Syrah asked, prompting Br''ey to focus on her crystal and use its power to expand the range of her Life Vision past the remaining left and inside the now-sealed tunnel.

    "Get down!" The orc shaman conjured a barrier of air and ice just in time before an emerald st burst the south entrance open again.

    Ice shards flew everywhere while the shockwave overpowered the barrier and sent the nearest guards flying. When the dust settled, three humanoid creatures walked through the unprotected corridor and stepped inside Zelex.

    The one on the left was somewhat feminine, with lithe limbs and blue-violet mesing out of its head akin to hair. The one on the right was a humanoid giant over two meters (6''7") tall, with arms thicker than most heads and feet as big as a bucket.

    Both had two white eyes and no features. Their bodies were ck tes that rippled and flowed like quicksilver.

    The one in the middle, instead, looked like a nightmarish creature.

    Long straight horns came out of its forehead while curved horns came out of the back of its skull, covering its neck. ck-violet mes burst from its head, looking like hair one second and like a burning crown the next.

    A set of membranous wings rested on his shoulders and two white eyes were open on his face along with a lipless white maw. Unlike the other two, its darkness body was packed with so much energy that it was almost solid and the way it drained the light in the cave made his ck ws and talons glisten.

    "Well, well, well. What a pleasant surprise." The creature spoke with the voice of a howling abyss, his fangs opening up in a cruel smile. "I came here following the smell of a snack and I found a full-course meal."

    "What do you want?" Syrah asked, feeling via the bond with her pack that fear was spreading through her troops like wildfire.

    "I''vee to finish a job I started millennia ago, child." The demon replied. "Don''t worry, though. I''ll make it quick. You''ll soon be reunited with your dear Ikara and once I''m done with you, it will be Xagra''s turn."

    "How do you know those names?" The Queen snarled, the fur on her whole body standing up in panic.

    ''Those things resemble Verhen''s shadows and if he''s still alive like Urma says it would make sense. Yet it doesn''t exin how they found us nor how they know us.'' She tried and failed to find a logical exnation for her doubts.

    "What do you think?" The body of the demon shifted, its skin stretching as something pushed from the inside.

    The face and hands of thete King bulged from the creature''s chest, calling Syrah''s name with a voice full of pain.

    "He''s part of me now and in time, he will submit to me like everyone else." The faces of Dann''Kah, Yozmogh, and all the monsters that Lith had met and killed during his life shed on the ck skin of his Abomination form.

    Then, they slithered down to his shadow and took the form of more featureless ebony creatures. They were just Demons of the Darkness shapeshifted for the asion, but Syrah had no way to know it.

    Her eyes were sure that the thing trapped inside the demon looked and sounded exactly like herte husband and that much was true. Lith had used respectively light and air magic to mimic Ikara down to the smallest detail.

    The deep-rooted fears in the monsters'' hearts trampled everything about logic and history that Glemos had taught them. The same superstition that he had instilled in them to convince the monsters of his godhood and that the Harmonizer was a miracle now pushed the monsters to believe that demons did exist.

    They had just waltzed inside Zelex and wanted to trap the monsters'' immortal souls inside their cursed bodies.

    "Don''t just stand there. Attack!" Br''ey the orc shaman was the first to react by using her mana crystal to unleash a firestorm upon the invaders.

    The reverted orcs followed her lead and charged ahead while the shamans empowered their cores and covered their advance with a barrage of spells.

    The Warsage was as afraid as anyone else, but essing the memories of her ancestors showed her once again that demons were just a myth and that orcs had been the architects of their own fall.

    ''I don''t know what the truth is anymore nor do I care.'' She thought. ''We can clear that upter once we secure our home again.''

    The demons answered by conjuring a wave of fire of their own, stopping Br''ey''s and charging into close-quarterbat. Just like the demons of the legends, the creatures seemed to steal the power of their victims and made it their own.

    The female demon was tussling with a Fomor, gaining feathered wings and eyes as the fight went on. The giant demon, instead, focused on the wargs, developing a ming-red fur, horns, and further growing in size.

    Only the crowned demon hadn''t moved from his starting spot, just looking around as if it was all a game.

    "You are not a demon and I''m going to expose your lies!" R umted the elemental power from her wings and channeled it into her eyes in the form of five elemental pirs.

    "Nice trick!" The crowned demon said with aughter as two more sets of eyes opened respectively on his palms and shoulders.

    They sucked the attack and sent them back along with a sixth pir made of light magic.

    The Fomor froze in shock, her body refusing to obey her orders. One of her wings was set aze while the other one froze. Darkness struck her chest, nearly stopping her heart.

    Hard light struck her right arm, shattering the joints at the wrist, elbow, and shoulder level. Air cut her skin and flooded her body with bolts of lightning, sending her into a seizure. Earth hit her while she was still paralyzed, squashing her left leg into a pulp.

 Chapter 2543 They Come at Night (Part 3)

    Chapter 2543 They Come at Night (Part 3)

    "That''s impossible!" Syrah felt the air leaving her lungs and refusing to get in. "Only the holy bloodline of the Tyrants has absolute control over the elements and only Glemos could-"

    "I am god Glemos to you!" The voice of her lord and master emerged from the crowned demon as his features shifted for a moment into those of the Tyrant''s.

    Once again everything was exactly as she remembered it. Thanks to Solus'' memory Lith had no problem mimicking Glemos while Morok was using the Abomination''s body like an exoskeleton to hide his presence.

    ''Was that Light Mastery?'' The Tyrant asked after he and Lith hadbined their bloodline abilities to let Morok absorb the elemental pirs that he had shot back.

    Only the sixth one came from the Void. It was just a tier three Light Mastery spell, but to someone with no knowledge of it, it could easily pass for the power of a Fomor.

    ''Yes.'' Lith replied.

    ''Can you teach me?''

    ''No. Ask Nalrond and shut up. Your turn ising up soon.''

    ''Got it, thanks.'' While Lithughed maniacally and spread a thick ck-violet aura, the Tyrant slipped out of the Abomination and retreated to the southern entrance unnoticed.

    "How did you do that?" Syrah unleashed two more tier five spells that shebined into a single tower tier spell.

    "What do you think?" The moment before the explosion spread, Lith snapped his fingers and activated the fire and air elemental sealing arrays from the Mouth.

    The tower tier spell faded in a colorful yet harmless mist.

    "You killed him! That''s why Lord Glemos never returned to us!" The Queen growled but instinctively took a step back.

    All those who had dared defy the Tyrant had died so she knew that if the crowned demon had managed to defeat him, she stood no chance.

    "Indeed. Your god was a divine meal and came with two delicious side dishes" Lith had Typhos'' and Echidna''s faces appear on his chest as well, wearing the same desperate expression they had upon the moment of their death.

    "Then Eryon was right." Syrah had no idea why Elder Urma had lied to them nor did she care. "Verhen was there the day they died. He killed them and you helped him!"

    She had always considered the Undead Courts a bunch of untrustworthy parasites and that was just the proof she needed to know that the moment they got their hands on the Harmonizer, her people would be either enved or exterminated.

    "Verhen?" The crowned demonughed harder. "That idiot tried to save them, but he failed. Then he tried to warn you, but luckily, you fools didn''t listen!"

    Br''ey amassed the pure world energy that she had umted in her crystal until that point and hurled it toward the frontlines.

    She had such fine control that the energy wave worked akin to Invigoration for the monsters, healing their wounds and replenishing their mana and stamina, and then turned into an avnche of tier three spells the moment it reached the demons'' ranks.

    Lith and Tista raised their arms, conjuring both the original and the tower''s Hands of Menadion. Thebined power of the artifacts stopped the elemental onught but while Tista just wanted to deflect it, Lith took over the energy mass and split it into two.

    He reverted the first half into world energy and used it to empower his Demons, evening the field again. The other half he shot it back, but not before adding a spark of his life force to it and conjuring the tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar.

    Light and earth trapped the monsters like insects in the amber while water magic drained the heat, turning them into popsicles. Air produced a shockwave that made organs and bones tremble while darkness ate at their victims inside and out.

    Lith had shot the spell in the crowd but only the monsters died since Demons shared his same energy signature. They took over the corpses, using their battered flesh to evolve into Demons of the Fallen.

    What Syrah and the others saw was an impossible magic that had ughtered their people and then raised them into ves forced to turn their hand against those they had tried to defend until a second ago.

    "Why are you doing this to us? Why are you still hunting us down after millennia?" Syrah overcame her fear and jumped at the crowned demon, shing at him with her Adamant ws empowered by the golden lightning and the strength of a hundred Hati.

    "Because even after all this time, you have yet to learn your lesson!" Lith deflected the hits thanks to his superior mass and battle experience, locking the Hati''s wrists in an iron grip. "Every action has consequences and I am yours."

    Abomination Touch reverted her arms to those of a warg and robbed her of R''s golden lightning, further widening the gap in strength between them.

    "Back then, your species ughtered countless innocents with their experiments. It was their screams that called upon me and I came to put an end to your madness. For thousands of years I''veid dormant until you started the cycle anew, waking me up."

    "We just want to live!" Syrah cried while taking in the power from one hundred more Hati and gaining the strength necessary to break the hold. "Why do we have to be punished for our ancestors'' crimes?"

    Each Hati possessed only a limited martial prowess due to their short lifespan but by summoning their consciousness and weaving together different styles before the demon king could adapt to one of them, the Queen managed to bypass his defenses.

    Deep cuts opened in his ebony skin, each infused with darkness, lightning, or cold. Lith''s Abomination form couldn''t suffer a seizure nor had muscles that the frost could stiffen but darkness magic was its bane.

    It eroded his body, consuming both his flesh and mana.

    Syrah exploited his moment of weakness to hit the crowned demon with her palm while she added another 100 wargs to her mass, for a total of 300. On top of that, at the moment of the impact, she unleashed all of the spells that her army had kept at the ready, injecting them straight into the body of the demon.

    The hit was strong enough to send him flying against the wall and leave a hand-shaped mark on his skin. Yet borrowing so much power came at a price. Syrah''s arm shattered and the recoil from the impact cracked her legs.

    The warg''s ability to share magic, wounds, and life force was powerful, but there was a limit to the amount of strain that the Queen''s body could handle. Once she reached a certain mass, her joints would copse under her own weight and the simplest movement would tear up her muscles.

    She was no Divine Beast and even though she could now release a powerparable to one, her flesh and bonescked the necessary toughness to endure their own newfound strength.

    In the same way, channeling too many spells through a single body meant suffering from mana abuse.

    Dealing one single blow to the crowned demon had forced her to choose between passing the damage upon ten warg in the backline and putting them into aa or dumping it all on a single warg that would die in the process.

 Chapter 2544 They Come at Night (Part 4)

    Chapter 2544 They Come at Night (Part 4)

    Syrah didn''t hesitate and ordered the weakest among the warg to sacrifice themselves. The cull was imminent and they would die soon anyway.

    ''I can use the remaining nine warg''s mana and strength. Keeping them alive and unconscious would be pointless. Every hit will require a sacrifice and I need as many warg as possible conscious to pass any further wound upon them.

    ''They have no Harmonizer and their lives are meaningless whereas their deaths can ensure the survival of our species.''

    The Queen unconsciously touched the metal cor on her neck, knowing that the next Queen would need it to produce a better and more stable offspring. Then, she gritted her teeth, hating herself for having those thoughts.

    ''Curse you, Glemos. You were no god, just a cruel monster who taught us to consider our lives nothing more than numbers in an equation to solve. Since the day we''ve been born, our dreams, wishes, and ambitions are irrelevant.

    ''Each one of us has value only based on what they can bring to the tribe and have to be reced as soon as someone better arises. Even the Queen.''

    Syrah howled her rage, wishing to fight the crowned demon to the death and put an end to the misery of her existence. Yet she couldn''t. Even though she hated it, Syrah valued the Harmonizer on her neck more than herself.

    She was the past whereas the artifact was the only chance they had left for a better future.

    A future where the Elder Beasts would lift the curse afflicting their life force and join their lost cousins again, if not even arise as the sixth race of Mogar.

    It was a future she would not live to see, but the idea brought the first smile to her face since her husband''s death. She conjured one tier five spell after another, hammering at the still-stunned crowned demon to protect that dream.

    Lith had taken hundreds of spells from point-nk range and even though each one of them by itself could do little damage to the Voidwalker armor and the Abomination form it enveloped, together they were a force to be reckoned with.

    The impact against the wall would have squeezed the air out of his lungs, had he any. The darkness-based spells were those who hurt the most, but they all contributed to eroding the energy mass of his proto-Chaos body and fueled his hunger.

    The following tier five spells that the Queen cast by channeling the mana of 300 warg and Hati, however, carried enough power to end him. Lith released all the spells he had at the ready and activated the Spirit Barrier of his armor.

    At the same time, he ordered the nearest Demons to intercept the spells and detonate themselves. The resulting explosions weren''t enough to scatter the manapletely, but they still took the brunt of the damage.

    More Demons joined Lith with their own spells, almost neutralizing what remained of the attack. For once, the almost was intentional. The remnants of Syrah''s magic were still rich with mana, a perfect meal for the Abomination Touch.

    Lith spread his wings and arms to catch as many elemental bits as he could to regain his strength. His Demons did the same, passing the collected power upon him so that the Void could bestow upon their fallenrades a new body.

    While the armies of Demons and monsters fought tooth and w near the south entrance, Syrah smiled in grim satisfaction as the ck tide was slowly repelled. Many of her subjects had fallen but they had died valiantly, bringing with them one or more of the shadow creatures each.

    Then, the ckness rose from the ground again as Lith regenerated the Demons thanks to both the power he had stolen and that he had recovered thanks to his breathing technique.

    "Fight all you want, Syrah, but you can''t win." The crowned demon king from the hole in the wall along with several new shadows that brought the battle to a standstill again. "Every soldier you lose joins my cause."

    Despair filled the Queen''s heart as she saw the new Demons wearing the faces of those she had sacrificed, but her rage soon overshadowed the grief. The voice with which the crowned demon had said her name belonged to Ikara.

    The figure of her husband''s tormented soul writhing under the ck armor drove her insane. She charged forward, ordering R and Br''ey to join her and put an end to that nightmare once and for all.

    Meanwhile, Protector was torn between duty andpassion. Lith had paired him with Locrias and now the former captain of the Queen corps covered the Skoll like a shroud.

    It allowed the two tobine their strength and Protector to disguise himself as a demon, with Locrias giving him the eyes and the shadow body that he needed to y his role.

    Back on the surface, when Protector had listened to Lith''s n, his heart had swelled with pride at his friend''s ingenuity. It was brilliant in its simplicity and would achieve everything that Faluel wanted.

    Were they to seed, countless lives would be saved in Zelex, Garlen, and even Jiera. Protector secretly hoped that thanks to the help of the beast Council, the Hati could be redeemed.

    The Skoll felt a kinship toward the Elder Beasts. He wondered if their pups could be friends with his children and maybe, even help them to master their own bloodline abilities.

    Yet none of the good things that might happen in the future eased his conscience for the bloodbath they were causing in the present.

    To carry out Lith''s n, Protector had to ughter the Hati so that they would be desperate enough to fall for the final act. Protector knew about the cull and that were they to fail many more would die, but that didn''t make it easier for him one bit.

    Just crippling the Hati was out of the question.

    Any enemy he left alive only had to pass their wounds to stand up again and strike at him from behind. On top of that, the Skoll needed those kills in order to pretend to absorb the Hati''s powers and revert to his true form without arising any suspicion.

    Lith had been clear about that: "Regain a bit of your fur for every warg you kill. Bring out your wings and horns only after killing at least one Balor or Fomor. Anything else you kill, grow in size."

    To make matters worse, each Hati captain channeled the might of the 50 members of their pack. They were stronger, faster, and magically more powerful than a mere bright blue-cored Awakened.

    If not for Locrias mending his wounds, using Domination to repel part of the constant barrage of spells, and casting magic non-stop, Protector would have already died.

    ''This is wrong! This is all so wrong.'' He thought while an orc shaman drained the world energy, a Balor unleashed an elemental pir on Protector, and a Hati captain almost punched a hole in his gut.

    ''These people are fighting to protect their city from monsters of legends. I can see from their eyes how terrified they are. How could we agree to this?''

 Chapter 2545 Bloody Hands (Part 1)

    ''What''s the alternative?'' Locrias replied, using his eyes'' Domination to deviate the elemental pirs enough for Ryman to survive and wrap his shadow body around the iing Hati''s punch.

    It softened the blow and stole part of the collective life force, passing it unto Protector and healing his wounds the moment they opened.

    ''Did you offer an alternative solution? Did Faluel or Ajatar suggest any change to Lith''s n before sending you here? No. This is all you have and you are screwing it up. Remember that even if we didn''te down here, these people would die anyway.''

    ''Yes, but I''m robbing them of the little time they had left. I''m goading them into sacrificing themselves for a lie. I''m the one who is killing them and I''ll carry this burden for my entire life.''

    ''Indeed, but if you wash your hands of this you won''t do them any favor. If we fail, the Council will step in and they will all die.'' Locrias replied. ''Many times during my career I''ve done the wrong thing for the right reason and now it''s your turn.

    ''You can choose between keeping your conscience clean and watching the Council massacre every monster in Zelex or you can dirt yourself and save the majority of them. The longer you hesitate, the longer the n will be dyed and the more people will die.''

    Protector inwardly cursed at Locrias for being right and at himself for being weak. He had evolved into a Skoll back when Lith was still a fourth year student at the White Griffon academy and reached the blue core when he was already a Ranger.

    Yearster, Lith had already reached the violet while Protector was stuck at the bright blue. The n required exploiting the monsters'' superstitions and making them desperate, yet the Skollcked the strength and the conviction to y his part.

    With her mana crystal, the orc shaman was a better mage than him. With his bloodline abilities, the Fomor was a better warrior than Protector. As for the Hati captain, he was a merciless war machine.

    He was above the Skoll in everything but speed, relentlessly chasing Protector while unleashing a new spell the moment his soldiers finished weaving one and striking with the strength of a deep violet-cored Awakened.

    Locrias guided the Skoll''s steps with iron discipline, helping him to block, dodge, and repel the enemies'' spells but he couldn''t counterattack for him without blowing their cover.

    A mass of hexa-elemental magic sted the Skoll''s side, sending him against a blue fist charged with golden lightning that cracked Protector''s skull. The Hati didn''t miss the opening, plunging his wed hands into the demon''s exposed chest.

    Protector could feel the Hati trying to tear him apart despite the haze of the concussion clouding his mind and the blood veiling his eyes, yet hecked the strength to stop the enemy.

    Locrias used Abomination Touch to drain the vitality of the Hati and heal Protector, but for every warg that died of exhaustion, another was ready to take their ce.

    Protector bashed the Hati''s head just for a warg in the backline to take the damage and let his captain continue. Locrias unleashed the spells he had at the ready and those from his rings, but the Fomor absorbed them and turned them against the Skoll.

    The Hati''s ws tore Protector''s flesh and bones, letting his organs slip out and his life away.

    It was then that the Skoll let go of his morality, forgetting about right and wrong and focusing solely on survival. The images of Selia, their children, and their unborn son flooded his mind.

    All the hardships that they had gone through together shed in front of his eyes, followed by the grief that his death would cause.

    A guttural howl burst from his throat as the primordial need to protect his pack drove Protector to tap into every ounce of strength his body possessed and awakened his bloodline abilities.

    The maw of the Skoll deformed and grew in size to the point that the Hati fit into his mouth. Protector then closed his jaws shut, severing the arms of the Hati from his chest and then swallowing him whole.

    The Life Eater bloodline ability instantly assimted the ingested nutrients, healing the wounds and dragging the exposed organs back inside the body under the protection of the skin and fur.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It also assimted the energy that the Hati carried, filling Protector with more strength than he could handle. The blue mes surrounding his neck and tails spread to the rest of his body, setting him aze without hurting him.

    The Hati soldiers sent all they could to their captain to ensure his survival but they only fed Life Eater with more strength. Protector howled again, swallowing the severed arms and sending the excess energy where it would keep everyone safe.

    ***

    City of Lutia, Lith''s house.

    "What the heck is going on?" Blue mes burst out of Selia''s skin and no matter how much she tried, neither water magic nor damp cloths could smother them.

    The fear she felt for her life was nothingpared to the terror for the safety of the child in her womb. Yet even that seemed insignificant when Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir turned into living blue torches a secondter.

    Selia screamed at the top of her lungs, releasing a howl filled with pride and strength instead of a terrified human voice. The kids joined her, feeling no pain from their condition either.

    She jumped to her feet and against the ceiling under the terrified gaze of Elina who had no idea of what was happening. Selianded with the grace of a cat and when she tried to reach her babies, she moved so fast that she missed them entirely and hit the wall.

    The arrays of the house immediately started to repair the damage and protected the upants of the house.

    "What''s happening to me?" Selia stood up, crushing the armrests of a chair under her grip.

    As the blue mes approached her swollen belly, her fear turned into full-blown panic.

    Kam was at work so there was no Guardian at the house. Not knowing what to do and afraid for her friend''s safety and her own, Elina pressed Sark''s rune on hermunication amulet.

    The Overlord arrived the moment the hologram projected the mayhem taking ce in Elina''s living room.

    "Calm down. The only threat to your son is you." Sark said while grabbing Selia''s wrists and stopping her from beating at herself in the attempt to smother the mes.

    "Aunt Sally is right, Mom." Lilia said. "These mes don''t burn at all. See?"

    She grabbed the curtains to prove her point, sending Elina''s heart in her throat from the fear that the whole house might catch fire. Luckily, the blue mes stuck to Leria without triggering the defensive arrays.

    Selia opened her mouth, but only whimpers and yelps came out.

    "What''s happening to them, Grandma?" Elina asked.

    "It''s a bloodline ability I''ve never seen before." The Guardian replied. "Somehow, Protector has gained a strength above what his body can safely harness and has sent the excess to his family."

 Chapter 2546 Bloody Hands (Part 2)

    "Are those Origin mes?" Elina took the words out of everyone''s mouth amid Selia''s sobs and the kids'' cheers.

    "No, their power is based on nurturing, not destruction. Unlike the Hati who sacrifice themselves for their leader, it seems that the Skoll''s alpha can sacrifice himself for the pack."

    "Sacrifice how?" Selia recovered her voice and stared at the mes, now afraid that they might give out and Protector die with them.

    "I have no idea where your husband got this much power. All I can tell you is Protector''s bloodline ability doesn''t endanger your life. Quite the contrary, by sharing it with you, he both gave you guys the ability to better defend yourself and to store the power for him until he needs it."

    Selia was about to ask howe she could benefit from an Emperor Beast''s bloodline ability despite being a human when she remembered about the bond between a hybrid child and the mother affected her during pregnancy.

    "So he can''t share his wounds or mana with us, only entrust these mes to us, correct?" She asked.

    "Correct." Sark nodded, opening a Gate back to the Desert now that she considered the issue resolved.

    "Doesn''t that mean that in the same way we could send him more mes after these run out?"

    "Probably, but only if you learn how to trigger the bloodline ability and have ess to whatever empowers them." Sark shrugged and disappeared through the dimensional corridor.

    "Kids, do you know how this works?" Selia asked, making Lilia and Leran shake their heads while the little Fenrir enjoyed the power boost to run all over the room, walls, and ceiling like a spider on steroids.

    "Bad Fenrir! Bad! Come here immediately!" Hearing the anger and panic in her mother''s voice, the little girl slowly crawled at Selia''s feet while covering her eyes with her hands and the tail between her legs.

    "It''s okay, baby girl. Mommy is just worried because I''ve already wasted some of Daddy''s bloodline ability. What if we consume it all and he needs it?" Selia caressed Fenrir''s head to reassure her, but the little girl remained on the ground, afraid that her father would get hurt because of her.

    ***

    City of Zelex, at the same time.

    After Protector devoured the Hati captain, the members of his team copsed to the ground. Not only was the bond with their leader broken, but also everything they had passed onto him was gone as well, draining them of both their physical and magical prowess.

    The Skoll exploited the sudden burst in his abilities to push back the Fomor and the orc shaman.

    Without the Hati supporting them, that side of the battlefront was quickly copsing since orcs were powerless against Spirit Magic and Balors were no longer a match for Protector.

    Lith and Syrah were still fighting, their prowess equally matched. The Tiamat had superior equipment and battle experience while the Queen had the upper hand in magical power and trading blows.

    Her bond with hundreds of Hati at the same time bestowed upon her as many spells as her pack members could wave and the ability to fuse multiple tier three spells into tier four, five, and even tower tier spells.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Also, she had no qualms about taking a lethal blow if it meantnding another in return since no matter the damage, she would keep fighting without losing a beat.

    Sure, every time she hit, got hit, or blocked, a Hati died but between her battle frenzy and the impending cull, Syrah didn''t care about them. The sight of the alleged souls of her husband and loyal subjects trapped inside the demon had clouded her mind with fury.

    The only thing she could think about was putting the crowned demon down and freeing them.

    ''I told you to be careful.'' Solus rebuked Lith. ''She''s the only one who can kick your ass, especially if her friends give her a hand. Was it really necessary to piss her off like that.''

    ''It sure was.'' Lith cursed when the blue eye of the Fomor conjured a thick mist that drained the mana from his Spirit Spell, halving its power. ''I know that a cornered prey is also the most dangerous, but the more heated she gets, the more effective the second act will be.''

    The orc shaman had learned the hard way that the Abomination had elemental sealing arrays at the ready and could drain the pure world energy to restore its power so Br''ey had changed tactic.

    She used her mana crystal only for support, altering the elemental bnce in the world energy to weaken the demons'' spells and empower those of her allies. Spirit Magic wasn''t an option since Glemos had never taught it to make sure that he would always have an edge in case of rebellion.

    Meanwhile, on the left side of the field, Tista was getting pummelled. The sight of the Hati triggered her trauma, slowing her movements. She was forbidden from using Origin and Cursed mes, and even reverted Balors were physically stronger than her, let alone Fomors.

    A Balor could naturallypete with a bright blue-cored Awakened Emperor Beast whereas Tista was much lighter than that, with a mass slightly superior to a regr human.

    On top of that, Zelex''s arrayspressed the space beyond her abilities, sealing dimensional magic. The Fomor she was against had already employed the golden lightning from his yellow eye to empower himself, the Hati captain, and the shaman.

    The Traughen from the backline bombarded her non-stop with a volley of tier three Light Mastery spells which was both a good and a bad thing.

    Good because just like Locrias was wrapped around Protector, Valia was helping Tista to uphold her role as a demon and she could feed upon the light energy to empower their abilities.

    Bad because it frustrated the Red Demon beyond belief, reminding her of her failure to graduate past mere holograms, and covering her with wounds every time the intensity of the spells exceeded Valia''s Abomination Touch.

    Her mass was small as well and she had to keep theyer of darkness around Tista thin to not impede her movements. Also, Valia was already busy countering the Fomor''s eyes and the shaman''s crystal.

    If not for the Mouth of Menadion storing a full set of elemental sealing arrays, Spirit Magic, and Sunder, Tista would have been forced to retreat shortly after the beginning of the fight.

    The enchanted Adamant ws that once belonged to Syrook the ck Dragon were so heavy that a single swing generated air des that could cut through solid rock. It had shrunk so to fit Tista''s size and thanks to the gravity spell imbued in Sunder, their weight wasn''t an issue.

    Gravity magic didn''t alter the mass of the ws so every attempt to block them ended up with an enemy either cut asunder or squashed. Even when the Red Demon simply parried an attack, the impact would throw the enemy off bnce and damage their weapon.

    Most monsters used their fists and ws which led to broken bones. At the beginning of the fight, Tista had exploited Sunder''s raw mass as a means to ovee the gap in power with her opponents, but they were quickly catching up and cornering her.

 Chapter 2547 Curse And Wish (Part 1)

    ''I told you that you shouldn''t havee here. Ajatar would have yed this role better and with a lot less risk.'' Valia supported the Red Demon by acting both as her protective exoskeleton and her coach.

    In their shadow form, the Demons of Darkness could guide a willing host and move their body for them. The former member of the Queen''s Corps possessed a greater martial prowess and a better footwork technique than Tista and was using them to ensure her survival.

    ''This whole mission is a risk!'' Tista pivoted on the balls of her feet to sidestep a spear thrust and then was forced to weave under the fist of a Balor boosted by R''s golden lightning, losing the opportunity to counterattack.

    ''Besides, these guys are afraid of demons and I''m the only other living Demon on Mogar aside from Lith. There would be no point in my presence here if I were to just sit back and let the others do all the work!''

    Back when Lith had exined his n, he had also warned the rest of the group about the enemies'' numbers. There were thousands of monsters in Zelex and even assuming that only those supposed to die in the cull would take part in the fight, they would still vastly outnumber his Demons.

    Sure, Lith could make up for quantity with quality since the mana geyser provided him with plenty of energy and he had the time to bring them all up to five or six eyes. Yet the problem was that the fight had to be bnced and with minimal casualties, not an all-out war.

    Their goal was just to bring the children of Glemos topliance, otherwise they might as well have called the Awakened Council and washed their hands of it.

    Tista had eagerly volunteered to act as a leader of the invasion and due to her condition, Lith had chosen her over the Drake.

    Tista''s conflicting life forces were a few weeks away from the point of non-return but during her fight in the Empire against the cursed objects, she had discovered a way to buy herself more time.

    The human, Dragon, and Phoenix sides stopped shing against each other every time Tista was in a life-or-death situation, focusing on survival rather than dominance.

    The problem was that the opponent had to exert real killing intent, spars didn''t work.

    ''There''s no telling if Faluel and Ajatar can crack the Harmonizers in time and Forgemaster a version suitable for my life force. Those that the monsters wear are specific for their fallen state whereas I''m just a hybrid. They are useless to me.'' She thought.

    The six-eyed Balor charged at her, his body shrouded with violet mes and with bolts of lightning erupting from his energy wings. Tista jumped to the right to avoid the attack, but thick vines burst from the ground under her feet, locking her into ce.

    Reverted ogres had powers simr to nt folk, allowing them to control the ground and vegetation despite the presence of the earth sealing arrays protecting Zelex. They were bloodline abilities based on life force and Tista''sck of the Spirit Eye made her helpless against them.

    Valia did her best to drain the vines with Abomination Touch as quickly as she could but the Balor was faster. He hit Tista like a speeding train, his heavy fists bypassed her attempt to block with Sunder and reached her chest, shattering her ribs.

    The bolts of lightning coursed through her armor and caused a seizure that paralyzed her.

    ''Fucking bastards! Because of those damn arrays, Life Vision can''t see below the ground and even though I''m using darkness fusion, it doesn''t help against muscle spasms.''

    The Hati captain didn''t miss the opening and swung his ws at her throat while channeling the power of his entire pack. The sh would have decapitated the Red Demon if not for Valia taking the wheel.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A quick backstep and tilting Tista''s body brought her back almost out of range. The ws cut through the Adamant of the Voidwalker armor and left a shallow wound on her neck that light fusion closed instantly.

    The damaged enchanted metal of the armor simply turned liquid for a split second and returned to its original state, leaving no trace of the nigh-lethal attack.

    ''Thank the gods Demons of Darkness can''t have seizures or I''d be dead.'' Tista telepathically thanked Valia for the save.

    ''Happy to help.'' Valia replied. ''Yet I really don''t get it. If you achieve the violet core, no matter what life force you pick, this fight would be much easier. Your body, mana core, and body casting would instantly improve by leaps and bounds.

    ''I mean, you don''t need enlightenment or to find a way to tap into your hidden potential. It''s just a choice. It''s like being at a fancy restaurant after waiting for years to get your reservation and then fail to have dinner because you stared at the menu the whole time.''

    ''I know.'' That was all Tista had to say, gritting her teeth in embarrassment while Valia kept dodging the Hati''s relentless assault. ''It''s just¡­''

    Tista had done that speech so often that even she was disgusted by it. Picking her human side meant losing all of her bloodline abilities whereas picking anything else meant losing a part if not all of her humanity.

    There would be gains but also irremediable losses and that was what scared her even more than fighting an army of monsters.

    ''No need to exin yourself to me.'' Valia let go of Tista the moment earth fusion grounded the bolts of lightning. ''It''s your choice, not mine. My onlyint is that in your current state, you can''t even use body casting anymore.''

    The Red Demon gritted her teeth even harder and shed with Sunder in a frenzy. The volley of air des was invisible due to not being produced by mana but simply by the sheer pressure exerted by the Adamant ws.

    Also, their trajectory was random, making them even harder to dodge. The front line of monsters suffered heavy casualties without even understanding what had happened.

    The six-eyed Balor and the orc shaman tried to suck the air element and neutralize the attack, respectively with their wings and crystal. Yet there was no air element, only air pressure.

    The Balor failed to dodge one of the des, losing his right arm and two wings for it. The Hati was so close that he would have been filleted if not for his bloodline ability passing the damage to the other warg and killing the weakest among them to spare the rest of the pack.

    As for the shaman, Traughen and reverted trolls stood in front of her, acting like meat shields.

    They suffered gruesome wounds, but the Decay energy from their cores healed them the moment they opened, offering great resistance to the des that had to cut through the regenerating tissues multiple times.

    Trolls disliked pain like anyone else, but being hurt drained the excess light element in their bodies and temporarily stabilized their semi-fallen state. The final result was that the air des failed to kill them and that they could safely conjure darkness magic.

 Chapter 2548 Curse And Wish (Part 2)

    As for Tista, her all-out attack had failed to buy her a single second. The Hati was still pressuring her with his superior physical strength and the fear from her trauma slowed her movements.

    To make matters worse, Valia was right.

    The Red Demon was no longer capable of using body casting due to the fact that it brought her life forces closer. Even conjuring a cantrip caused her great pain and shortened the time she had left before the choice would be taken out of her hands.

    If not for the Mouth of Menadion and Valia making up for it, Lith would have never allowed Tista to take part in the mission.

    The Hati shed high and low at the same time, forcing the demon to block. His hands shattered on impact but it was irrelevant since the damage was passed onto another warg that in turn was immediately healed by a troll.

    On top of that, the Hati had done it on purpose, channeling in his hands dozens of tier three spells that now coursed through the Red Demon''s arms. Water magic froze her muscles stiff, slowing her down further.

    Darkness magic bypassed her protections and inflicted upon her lots of damage while also making her stamina plummet. Last, but not least, more bolts of lightning caused one more seizure.

    Even with Valia''s help, Tista''s spasming body couldn''t move fast enough to evade the follow-up attacks. The Hati hit her fast and hard, pushing her back until she was against a wall and with no way out.

    ''If we don''t switch, you are dead. Let me be your Lith while you act as my Solus.'' The Demon said while a new wave of monsters approached with the fully healed Balor at its head.

    Tista''s face flushed in shame but she epted. Valia couldn''t control the Hands and Mouth of Menadion due to having a different energy signature and the Red Demon was a better mage than a fighter.

    The Hati felt the victory already in the bag, yet he didn''t lower his guard nor did he lose his focus. It all proved to be pointless when the demon suddenly switched gears and deflected his ws with small and precise movements of her weapon.

    The darkness of Valia''s body now flooded Sunder, neutralizing the Hati''s. Her yellow and blue eyes Dominated the other two elements, turning them against their caster.

    The now frozen and electrocuted monster needed but a second to pass the damage and retreat to safety but in that short time Valia stabbed at his vitals five times, forcing as many wargs to sacrifice their lives for their captain.

    The Hati had tried to deflect the des with a kick, since losing a leg was a non-lethal wound that would be easily healed, but the demon repelled his kick with one of her own. All the while she kept stabbing at him while standing on a single leg.

    "Now!" The Hati would have liked inflicting more damage, but the trap had worked nheless.

    The shaman only had to speak to a warg to share her n with the whole pack without the tendril of a mind link betraying themunication.

    Now that the captain was out of the way, the trolls and Traughen unleashed a barrage of heat rays with the intensity of midday sun. The shaman further reinforced the onught with her crystal, adding the light element to the attack and infusing the darkness in the trolls to stabilize them.

    The Balor, instead, just added a fire pir of his own.

    "Thanks for the meal, suckers!" The Red Demon''s silveryughter echoed through the cave as Tista followed Valia''s instruction.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Hands of Menadion neutralized the pure light element, sharing it with all the Demons of the Darkness and giving them new strength. At the same time, Valia and Tistabined the power of their silver eyes to stop the heat rays in their tracks.

    Valia absorbed a few of them to replenish her energy reserve and sent everything else back. The swarm of heat rays was so thick and carried enough kic energy that both the Balor and the Hati were sent flying back.

    The Balor survived only thanks to his light wing draining part of the energy and using it to instantly heal his wounds while the pack of wargs suffered many casualties.

    A snap of Valia''s fingers turned the heat rays into healing spells upon impact, ravaging the bodies of the trolls defending the orc shaman and reverting them into their fallen state.

    In their mindless hunger, the trolls turned against their allies, giving Tista the respite that she so desperately needed.

    Yet Valia just extended and fused together Sunder''s ws, obtaining two longswords that she used to carve her path in the still-stunned enemy lines.

    ''How?'' Tista asked the moment that her brain overcame the shock and awe of Valia''s strategy. ''How can you be this strong? Until a few months ago, you were just a human.

    ''You''ve never been a Demon before and you had no voice in your transformation. How can youugh like this after everything you''ve lost? You were a human barely older than me and now you are an undead¡­''

    ''Monster?'' Valiapleted the phrase for her. ''That''s a really messed up way to look at my situation. One I couldn''t disagree more with.''

    ''What do you mean?'' Tista asked while casting spells for the Demon and using the Hands of Menadion to neutralize the orc''s crystal.

    ''Kid, my voice was the only one that mattered back when Meln''s thralls killed me. I wanted to live, and your brother, my master, gave me new life. I wanted to protect the people of the Kingdom and he granted that wish as well.

    ''I wanted to say goodbye to my parents and instead, Lith gave me all the time I wanted with them. He preserved my body and had my parents move to Lutia so I can meet them every day.

    ''I may be dead, but I still have a life. During my final moments, I wished for many things and your brother granted them all. How could I possibly reject such gifts? I''m this strong simply because I''ve embraced them instead of fighting them.

    ''It doesn''t matter if I was born Valia the human and now I''m Valia the Demon. I''m still the same Valia who loves her parents and has sworn to protect the Kingdom. There is no disgrace in my condition, only pride.''

    Tista''s mind froze at those words, realizing how simr yet different she was from the Demon.

    The first years of her life had been a constant close call with death and she had dearly wished to survive. Lith had granted that wish, and then she had hoped for a cure for the Strangler.

    After Lith had healed her lungs, she had wanted to be a healer first, then to follow in his footsteps and enroll in the White Griffon, andstly to join his apprenticeship with Faluel after Tista had Awakened.

    Again, all of her wishes hade true, and after Lith had revealed to be a hybrid, she had never thought of his condition as a curse, only as a blessing that she hoped to share.

 Chapter 2549 Prismatic Wind (Part 1)

    Yet now that Tista was at the final crossroad, she refused to take the final step forward because, unlike Valia, she had forgotten the path in life that had led her to that moment. Unlike Valia, Tista was still alive and she rejected her gifts.

    ''Gods, how could I have been so stupid until now?'' She thought while body casting a tier five spell. ''Lith has shown me that no matter what form he takes, he''s still my brother. Our parents still love him, Kam loves him, and our little ones consider him their hero.

    ''Grandma, Bodya, and the rest of my family will love me as well, no matter what I choose. I am Tista Verhen and that won''t change no matter what form I take!''

    Her three life forces spun around each other faster and faster. The barrier between them that had formed during the past few months shattered, offering them no resistance.

    A silver pir descended from the skies while a smaller one erupted from Tista''s body and moved up to reach the other. A sixth orange eye opened on her cheekbone while the Phoenix, Dragon, and human sides merged into a single one.

    The world energy descended upon the Red Demon like the finger of a god, splitting into its sixponents and generating as many pirs of elemental energy that seeped into her eyes.

    It moved from the ck eye on her forehead to her silver eye and then to the yellow eye before flowing into the right side of her face. The newly opened orange eye channeled the elemental flow to the red eye which in turn passed it to the blue eye.

    Before the elemental energy could go full circle, a spark of Tista''s life force burst from the middle of her forehead,bining itself with the six elements that flooded her body to form the emerald seventh eye of Spirit Magic.

    Tista roared as new power flooded every fiber of her being and the silver pir grew in size along with her body. Her ming red scales became bigger and thicker while a second set of wings emerged from her hips.

    They were membranous like those of a Dragon, with one bone spike protruding from the upper joint near her body.

    As the world energy turned into flesh and bones to give her the mass necessary to survive the transformation, emerald bursts of mes erupted from the newly formed membranous wings.

    The emerald mes condensed into white feathers that, by the time the transformation was over, covered the entire surface of the new wings, leaving only the bone spike exposed.

    The original set of curved horns on Tista''s head had grown thicker and longer, now protecting both the sides and the crown of her head.

    A second set of smaller curved horns came out of the back of her skull and protected both sides of her throat. The tailing out of the small of her back grew longer, and then split into two.

    Each extremity was covered in thick red scales and had bone spikes protruding from their spines. Both ended with a jagged bone spearhead and were capable of independent movement.

    Small bumps appeared under the scales on her chest, proving to whoever cared about it that whatever the Red Demon had just be, it was still a mammal.

    Tista now reached 20 meters (66'') of height and Valiacked the mass to cover and control her body any longer. Now that Sunder didn''t need gravity magic anymore to suit its wielder, the artifact fit like a glove and could use all of its power for the offense.

    In theory, the appearance of the Red Demon that the monsters had seen from the files about Lith that the emissary of the Undead had provided them might have screwed up the n.

    Yet the transformation had been as quick as sudden and the silver pir had hidden Tista''s original appearance until the transformation was over.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Block this, fucker!" Sunder''s extended w hit the Hati captain like a speeding train, piercing through him no matter how many warg he sacrificed.

    The captain knew that it was over and let go of the link with his pack right after taking all the damage upon himself. The colossal Adamant de kept moving forward, reaching the orc shaman and nailing her to the ground like a bug.

    At the same time, the other four ws dug deep trenches in the ground and cut through the monsters'' ranks like they were paper figurines.

    Yet being so big also meant offering an easier target.

    Now the entire army of monsters could shoot at her without the risk of hurting their teammates and that''s what they did with extreme prejudice. Each spell per se dealt negligible damage, but there were hundreds of them raining upon Tista from every side.

    The Balor, the only survivor among the leaders of the left wing of Zelex''s army, used the ck energy wing to conjure a circr quasi-array on his back before bolting toward the colossal demon.

    He didn''t attack her directly, preferring to keep the line of fire clear.

    Also, simply by darting around Tista from a safe distance, the mass of darkness magic he carried turned the air into a noxious gas that blinded her senses and sapped her strength.

    Darkness magic was slow so the Balor exploited the cover fire provided by his troops to weave a thick curtain of shadows that the enemy couldn''t avoid. The demon could protect herself from the spells with Domination or use it to disrupt the quasi-array, but she couldn''t do both.

    She had already used the elemental sealing arrays stored in the Mouth and conjuring more would have taken more time than she had. Tista drew a deep breath to conjure a twin burst of Cursed mes but Valia stopped her.

    ''Only two creatures on Mogar possess such a bloodline ability and the monsters know it. If you do that, everything we''ve done so far will be for naught.''

    Tista snarled, moving the flow of world energy and life force toward the new set of wings instead of her heart like usual. She had no idea what she was doing, but it felt as natural to her as spewing Origin mes.

    As she pped her wings to shield herself from the volley of spells, some of the white feathers turned ck, red, or blue. Then, they detached themselves from the membrane, leaving it exposed as the gust of winds caused by the ps carried the feathers among the enemy lines.

    Tista''s first reaction was of panic and shock, the memory of her mutted and naked wings still etched in her mind. Soon, however, she realized that this time the feathers hadn''t fallen due to the attacks but because of something she had done.

    There was no pain apanying their loss, only the certainty that they would grow back.

    ''What is that?'' Valia asked after wrapping her shadow form around Tista''s neck to keep the mind link between them invisible.

    ''I don''t know. I was weaving a few spells with my body when-'' The moment she thought of the spells she needed and where she meant to strike, a big rune appeared on each feather.

 Chapter 2550 Prismatic Wind (Part 2)

    The energy stored inside them was consumed to instantly conjure the spells while also extending their area of effect to the area encircled by the feathers. The ck onesbined with the blue feathers to form the tier five spell, Ice Coffin.

    A swarm of ck crystal daggers filled the air, each one of them enveloped in a frost aura so cold that it started to snow. It wasn''t their razor-sharp edge nor the darkness energy they carried to make them lethal so much as their ability to stick to their target.

    Dodging them all was impossible and once one of the daggers hit, the frost aura would fuse the ice crystal to its victim''s flesh. The cold would suck away the heat just like the darkness imbued within ate at the life force, leaving the target of the spell no way out.

    As for the red feathers, they turned into the tier three spell, Searing Wave, that was focused on the trolls. The members of that fallen race were naturally weak to fire due to their elerated metabolism that required to stock fats in the form of highly mmable oils inside their bodies.

    Prismatic Wind was a bloodline ability so even orc shamans and Fomors were powerless against it. There was no elemental flow that they could read and there was no fixed spell inside of them until Tista set them off.

    To confirm her theory, she kept pping her wings and releasing more feathers until none was left.

    ''Good gods! I can instantly cast spells, spread them around, and even dy their activation as long as I want!'' She thought in surprise.

    ''Yeah, too bad that you can''t cast arrays this way.'' Valia nodded. ''Since we are at it, how am I supposed to call you? Redder Demon? Bigger Red Demon?''

    ''Don''t even joke about that! If anyone hears you, I''ll end up with an evenmer name.'' Tista replied with a telepathic snort. ''Now get off me, there''s something I want to try.''

    As soon as Valia left, Tista took a deep breath and activated Ethereal Aegis. Yet instead of using Origin mes, she activated her ck eye and synergized it with her wings to turn her whole body into a living mass of Void mes.

    She was back being a ck, ming demon straight out of the legends of the various monster tribes. Suddenly, the spells harmlessly phased through her whereas her touch and that of her ws was even more deadly than before.

    Each sh of Sunder carried the ck mes around and they didn''t go out unless their victim died or their energy was neutralized by thebined effects of light and water magic.

    ''It works! Ethereal Aegis still drains my strength like crazy but the mind-numbing euphoria is gone. I can not only feel how much life force I''ve consumed but also stop my bloodline ability without the need of external help.''

    She turned the Aegis on and off, just to make sure.

    Between Protector''s zing blue form wreaking havoc with its newfound might and Tista''s colossal form stomping the monsters by the dozens with each step she took, Lith decided that it was time to move to phase two of his n.

    He took the kids'' gloves off and War out of its bloody sheath. The spark of Chaos of his Abomination form spread through the Adamant of the de, painting it ck and twisting its edge into barbed metal that looked like a row of fangs.

    "Foolish child, there''s no hope left! The more of you we consume, the stronger we get. There''s nothing you can do to stop us anymore." Lith shed downward with his de and Syrah deflected the blow with the back of her Adamant gloves while also channeling the collective power of the 300 wargs supporting her.

    The impact still broke her hand which she passed onto another warg, but she now had an opening to the crowned demon''s throat. Or so she thought until his wings shapeshifted into a new set of arms.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The left hand stopped her in her tracks with a quick jab to her nose that would have caved her skull if not for the sacrifice of another member of her pack. The right hand exploited her surprise to deliver a mean hook that shattered her teeth, jaw, and skull.

    With nothing standing in War''s trajectory anymore, the ck de pierced through the Queen''s shoulder and pinned her to the ground. Then, following Lith''s orders, War used its Counterflow and World Mirror abilities to ess the warg''s hive mind and force Syrah to share her pain with the pack.

    Every single warg and Hati inside Zelex fell to the ground, holding their right shoulder in agony. There was no wound that light magic could heal since the pang came through their own bloodline ability.

    Syrah tried to use darkness fusion but War stopped the elemental flow, forcing her to feel its metal teeth as they bit into her flesh.

    The Warlord dived to the rescue, but a bolt of Spirit Magic-infused darkness magic mimicked Chaos Magic''s speed and escaped R''s ck eye''s control. gue Storm hammered at her body, making her fall right beside her Queen.

    The Warsage, instead, used her mana crystal to conjure the world energy into a tidal wave but the Hands of Menadion jammed her control. A heat ray burned her palms, forcing Br''ey to drop the crystal and dispelling the core boost effect that she had bestowed upon her allies.

    "I''ve eaten plenty of trolls, remember?" The crowned demon said with aughter as he conjured three hard-light different weapons, one for each of his free three hands. "Unlike you, I never forget anything. Your so-called secret arts are parlor tricks to me!"

    Following his lead, the Demons of the Darkness also conjured a hard-light weapon each. Locrias and Valia did it respectively for Protector and Tista since unlike the Demons, they didn''t share any of his knowledge.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Tista thought while staring at the construct with Life Vision first and then by flooding each of her seven eyes with a different element like the Voidfeather Dragon had taught Lith.

    This way, the six eyes filtered the unnecessary mana, leaving the light element pure and concentrated. Yet Tista couldn''t make heads or tails of the spell nor did she understand how to turn holograms into hard-light constructs.

    ''I guess I haven''t gotten Dragon Eyes either. This sucks!''

    The sight of the lost art of Light Mastery stolen and mastered by the demons was a humiliation even worse than death for the trolls and the Traughen. They fell to their knees, sobbing in despair.

    "There''s nothing shameful in failure, at least for you." Lith chuckled, bringing his face millimeters away from Syrah''s. "Your species failed to evolve and turned into bloodthirsty monsters.

    "Compared to that, your defeat today is a small thing. At least you fought with honor, driven by desperation instead of greed like your ancestors. Don''t worry about your son.

    "As soon as I''m done with you, I''ll personally find him and kill him."

    "You monster! Xagra is just a child!" Syrah struggled with all of her strength, but with Lith weighing on her and with the rest of her pack writhing in agony instead of sending her strength, there was nothing a single Hati could do.

 Chapter 2551 Monster And Hero (Part 1)

    "A child whose innocence you didn''t hesitate to take away. A child that will be an adult in a few weeks after moving to the surface world." Lith clicked his tongue in disgust. "Compared to you, I''m doing Xagra a favor.

    "He''ll be reunited with his parents and spared a life of sacrifice." The ck de rose in a slow arc while the Hati Queen failed to hold her tears back.

    She didn''t care for her life or her defeat. What pained her was the fact that she had failed the whole Zelex and soon everybody would die because of her. On top of that, she couldn''t forgive herself because what the crowned demon had said was true.

    ''I''m sorry, Xagra. A parent''s duty is to provide for their children an easier life than their own whereas I forced you on the same path that trapped our ancestors. The only silver lining in the demons'' return is that at least our people won''t have to struggle anymore.

    ''The circle is broken and in death, we might experience the freedom we so desperately sought in life.'' Syrah closed her eyes as War came for her neck.

    Her husband''s name was thest word that came out of her mouth before a thud marked the impact.

    Great was Syrah''s surprise when the pain in her shoulder kept tormenting her and proved to her that she was still alive.

    "We meet again, fucker! You won''t escape this time." A strong, virile voice said.

    "Me? Escape? Either thest time we met I beat you so hard that you lost your memory or you are mistaking me for another demon, Tyrant. It was you who barely survived ourst encounter."

    At the word "Tyrant" the Hati Queen snapped her eyes open, refusing to believe her own ears. Yet either her eyes were deceiving her as well or her prayers had finally been answered.

    Right in front of her, there was the majestic figure of a six-eyed Tyrant.

    Her savior was an over two meters (6''7") tall humanoid with only two slits on his face in ce of his nose and his mouth was full of several rows of shark-like teeth. He had one eye in the middle of the forehead, another on his chest, two on his shoulders, and two more on the backs of his hands.

    Yet instead of having smooth snow-white skin like Glemos and all the Tyrants her ancestors had met in the past, his body was covered in multi-colored small scales.

    Syrah''s eyes went wide when she remembered that, ording to their god, that was exactly the next evolutionary step that Tyrants needed in order to reach perfection and be able to mix their seed with the Fomors to gain their powers.

    "God Glemos?" She asked, half happy to be alive and half terrified at the idea that he might be back long enough to discover everything she had said about him after his disappearance.

    "Who are you and how do you know my Dad''s name?" Morok''s shoulder eyes lowered to look at her while the other four remained fixed on Lith.

    He needed sheer willpower to not puke or twist his face in disgust while calling Glemos like that.

    "Glemos is your father?" The Hati Queen said with awe. "Then he really did it. He seeded in his quest to better the Tyrants and sent you to help us. He didn''t forget about us!"

    "I''m sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about." Morok pretended to pull War out of the wound while the ck de was actually leaving on its own. "My name is Morok Eari, demon hunter.

    "I''ve been chasing that bastard for months. I found this ce only because I was following him."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ording to Lith''s script, the hero had to arrive in the most desperate moment, when everything seemed lost. It would bring the monsters hope and instantly gain their trust.

    Once the fight was over, however, they would have the time and the presence of mind to question such a lucky break. If Morok knew where they were all along, why had he nevere to their aid before?

    How was it possible for him to return just in time for the demons'' attack?

    The moment the monsters put two and two together, the fa?ade would fail and Lith''s group would be back to square one. By acting as a sworn enemy of the demons, instead, he would still gain the monsters'' trust while also holding usible deniability.

    "What''s the point in following me if you end up running away with your tail between your legs like thest time? All you had to do to keep your life was stay away from me." Lith''sughter was devoid of joy and full of mockery.

    His simple presence while standing covered Morok in a cold sweat. The Abomination''s eyes darted all over the Tyrant''s body looking for his weak spots and each gaze was filled with so much killing intent that Morok''s flesh burned as if he had been stabbed.

    ''Dammit, Friya was right when she said that I can''t afford to lower my guard once Lith is in character.'' Morok thought. ''If I didn''t know better, I''d believe that he really wants to kill me.''

    "So that you could take your time hunting me down and killing me just like you did with my father?" He actually said with a snarl. "Now I finally understand why my father abandoned me as a child. He wanted to protect me from you!

    "My father knew that were you to find me, you would use me as a hostage to get your hands on the Tyrant''s legacy."

    "You''re right about the legacy but wrong about the rest." Lith shrugged. "After absorbing Glemos'' power and knowledge, I had no need for you anymore." The form of Glemos surfaced on Lith''s chest for a moment, twisting in agony.

    "I let you go as an act of mercy. You shouldn''t havee back. You are still a weak boypared to your father."

    Only then did Syrah notice that the multi-colored scales weren''t the only difference between her savior and her "god".

    All the Tyrants that her people had met had always exuded a bright violet aura whereas Morok had a mere bright blue aura that paled inparison with the dreadful ck-violet light exuded by the crowned demon.

    "Nothing has changed since ourst meeting. Killing you will take a minute. Just the time to take out the trash." Lith said.

    ¡¤?¦Èm "A lot has changed, scum." Morok said as a wide smile appeared on his face. "This time I''ve got help!"

    Following his cue, a huge seven-headed Hydra burst from the opening in the ground and attacked the colossal demon while a woman bearing the seven elemental streaks in her hair brought the wolf demon''s charge to a halt.

    "Did you bring the Awakened Council with you?" Syrah''s eyes sparkled with hope.

    Maybe Morok wasn''t as strong as Glemos, but thanks to his help, they might be saved from the demons and spared from the alliance with the Undead Courts.

    "No, they just epted to help me put an end to the demons'' threat and to further my bloodline''s evolution."

 Chapter 2552 Monster And Hero (Part 2)

    Morok had to pretend to give a damn about Glemos'' ns and exin why the two women were willing to help him.

    Both the Hydra and Friya bore the emerald streak of Spirit Magic, something that all fallen races venerated and that was the lifelong dream of both Balors and Tyrants.

    "Are they your wiv-?"

    "Please, continue. Don''t mind me." Agonizing screams cut Syrah''s short as Lith impaled a few monsters on his wings. "I''ll get back to you in a jiffy."

    His Abomination Touch drained the hapless creatures dry, reverting them to their original form as their mana and life force empowered him.

    While everyone gaped at the sight of their savior and his majestic allies, the crowned demon had resumed the ughter, cutting the awestruck monsters down by the dozen with each swing of his de and sucking their lives out to regain his strength.

    "You fucking bastard!" Morok cast a quick healing spell on Syrah before charging at Lith while infusing himself with the power of all elements.

    His twin battle hammers, Grimnir were filled to the brim with the element of destruction. One shone with blue fire while the other with darkness element, both imbued by the eyes on the hands wielding the hammers.

    The Tyrant moved as fast as a bullet due to his multi-colored scales amplifying the effect of fusion magic and his eyes, bringing them past their limits. s, the Abomination was faster and stronger.

    A sweep of his ck de deflected the hammers in quick session and snuffed the power with which Morok had imbued them.

    "The fuck?" A front kick struck the Tyrant''s sr plexus and sent him flying away while his face was still frozen in a shocked expression.

    Despite his Adamant Wyrmguard armor and his newfound powers, Morok''s ribs shattered and the impact with the wall would have cracked even more of his bones if Syrah hadn''t caught him on the fly.

    She had conjured a cushion of air magic to absorb the impact and a thickyer of light magic to heal his wounds before the bone fragments punctured his organs. Yet they were both sent back several meters and stopped only thanks to the collective power of the warg.

    "You can''t rush in a fight like that." She warned him while they both spat out blood from their still-closing wounds. "We need a n."

    "We don''t have time for a n. Look!" Morok sounded genuinely desperate because he was.

    The goal of the mission was to bring the monster to trust Morok with the minimum number of casualties necessary yet Lith had already turned his back to them and was leading the Demons of the Darkness in a senseless ughter.

    The warg and Hati had to preserve their strength for their Queen while the Traughen had yet to recover from the shock of seeing hard-light constructs and dying by them. The monsters'' army was still crippled and there was nothing they could do without Syrah''s help.

    ¡¤?¦Èm The Tyrant took a deep breath of Invigoration, fixing both himself and the Hati Queen before jumping at Lith''s back in a sneak attack.

    "Please." The ck-violet aura he exuded was also due to the Full Guard spell of his Voidwalker armor.

    It gave him full awareness of his surroundings without leaving a single blind spot for over 20 meters (66'') around the Abomination.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Yet the hammers were thicker than the sword and this time Morok was expecting a real fight instead of a mock one. By infusing Grimnir with water, he shrouded the hammers with a cold aura against which Lith was allegedly weak.

    At the same time, he also used air to generate shockwaves that would disperse the brunt of the impact with War, making up for the massive gap in mass and numbing Lith''s arm.

    ''I spent a lot of time thinking about what to do if we ever fought against each other, but I always believed it would have been a spar, not that you would actually try to kill me!'' The Tyrant also used the battle to establish a mind link with the Abomination and question his deranged attitude.

    ''Do you really believe I want you dead?'' The voice answering him belonged to the Void. ''No mes, nor bloodline abilities aside from a few crippled Demons of the Darkness. This is nothing but a joke!''

    It sounded cold and inhuman, every word a sharp shard of ice that numbed Morok''s brain.

    ''Besides, the stronger the enemy the greater the glory. I can''t cheapen your victory by just dropping dead after one shot.''

    The first hammer safely repelled War, this time without losing the power it channeled. Lith needed but a flick of the wrist to restore his guard but the second hammer was already iing, forcing him to block again and missing the opportunity for a counter.

    The Tyrant''s weapons had a shorter range than the ck de but, due to their thick mass of Adamant, each time the weapons met it was War getting the worst of it. Its edge dulled and its body cracked, forcing War to continuously repair itself.

    On top of that, by dual wielding Morok kept the tempo of the fight fast enough topensate for the gap in body refining and force Lith on the defensive.

    The Abomination shapeshifted his wings into arms again and extended them to pierce through the Tyrant but he squashed the shadow limbs like bugs without breaking his rhythm.

    "Not bad, but not good either." Lith said after Grimnir pushed War aside and created an opening for the second hammer.

    Yet the blow was intercepted by a second ck de and this time it was Morok''s arm that became numb. The second sword looked identical to War down to the smallest details but it was also incredibly heavy.

    At the moment of the impact, the Tyrant had felt like he had struck at an Adamant''s anvil instead of a thin bastard sword.

    Caught off guard by Lith''s switching to a dual-wielding style as well, Morok was soon put on the back as the twin des repeatedly pushed his hammers aside and got closer to his skin with each sh.

    ''This makes no sense. Orion crafted War, not Lith. Making a second de like that is far beyond his cap-'' Morok''s train of thought derailed when he activated Life Vision and noticed two things.

    The first was that there was a thin thread of Spirit Magic connecting the des. The second was that even though they looked the same, one had several pseudo cores while the other one bore a power core.

    Yet their shape, the positioning of the mana crystals, the enchantments they used, and even the angry wails that the weapons emitted were the same.

    ''That''s not another War. That''s just Double Edge controlled by War from a distance!'' It was then that the Tyrant noticed how Lith used the de in his left hand solely to block, focusing the one in his right to the offense.

    Double Edge had shrunk to fit Lith''s Abomination form, but it still carried the mass of a weapon the size of a Divine Beast. To make matters worse, both des moved with smooth, fluid movements since it was Solus in control of the left hand.

 Chapter 2553 Monster And Hero (Part 3)

    ''Do we really need to go this far? Don''t you think that we have already killed enough monsters to sell them the hero act?'' Solus was confused since that level of violence wasn''t part of the original n.

    ''Respectively, yes we do and no, it''s not enough. Sorry for keeping you guys in the dark but I couldn''t tell Morok everything or his reaction wouldn''t be genuine.'' Lith replied. ''Feel free to take a peek at my mind if you think I''m going overboard.''

    Solus'' reply came in the form of a skillful parry that locked one of the hammers and created an opening that nearly cost Morok his arm.

    ''I trust you. Do you want me to also take out the Fury or the Sage Staff?''

    ''That''s mean of you, Solus. Quy invited us to her marriage, not to Morok''s funeral.'' He replied with a smirk.

    Their conversation was light, but all that the Tyrant could see was a cruel grin on the Abomination''s face. With each exchange, Morok was losing ground and letting Lith dictate the rhythm of the fight.

    They both used body casting to unleash spells against each other but while the Abomination cast tier four and five spells, Morok was stuck at tier three. Their Domination was on par and from so up close there was no space for dodging spells.

    Morok had to use elemental sts from his eyes non-stop to make up for the difference in tier between their spells which was quickly draining his stamina and mana core.

    "You monster!" He said, half following the script and half speaking from the heart. "How many lives have you destroyed? How many people have you killed to be so strong?"

    "Enough." Despite the chaos of battle, the crowned demon''s voice was low and calm.

    His simple answer more terrifying than any threat his enemies could imagine.

    The Tyrant was using every trick, feint, and footwork technique he had mastered over his 28 years of age, six of which spent as a Ranger, yet he was losing.

    Morok was going all-out and squeezing out his energy reserves until thest drop just to not be cut down.

    ''Sure, I''ve Awakened muchter than him but I''m older and I have allegedly been in much more fights than Lith. He''s not even 20 yet he is this close to whooping my ass. What kind of life has he had to be this strong?''

    Double Edge swept both Grimnir away with a diagonal sh to the left while War crossed its path in an X, cutting the Tyrant from the right shoulder to the left hip.

    Blood spurted out as the shock from the deep wound made him fall onto his knees.

    "You shouldn''t havee, kid. All you have done is give these creatures false hope and make me stronger." Lith grabbed the helpless Morok by the throat, sucking what little was left of his strength with Abomination Touch.

    The ck te of the Void turned into small scales, mimicking those of the Tyrant, and each one of the seven white eyes turned to a different elemental color.

    ''Stop it!'' Morok begged via the mind link. ''If you use even a bit more of your strength, I''ll have no believable way to win!''

    ''I beg to differ.'' A silvery blur appeared near the Abomination, punching him so fast that he didn''t have the time to react.

    At the same time, another hand twisted Lith''s wrist, breaking the hold over the Tyrant and freeing him.

    "Son of Glemos or not, you almost died for us and that means something. R!" The Hati Queen was coursing with golden lightning while an orange armor protected her from the demon''s deadly touch.

    The high priestess shared what of her bloodline ability she had left with Morok and his allies, tripling their might and turning the tides of the battle in two out of three hot spots.

    "Br''ey!" Following Syrah''s order, the orc shaman released the world energy stored in her crystal, flooding the bodies of the members of the senate and Morok''s with new power.

    The effect of her technique was akin to Invigoration, healing physical wounds and restoring the lost mana. Also, by holding her focus on a few people, Br''ey could feed them with world energy to rece their mana.

    It allowed her targets to cast spells non-stop and not suffer from the effects of mana abuse.

    ''Now I understand!'' Solus said as the Fomor, the Hati, and the orc shaman worked with the Tyrant to take down theirmon enemy. ''You didn''t want to just paint Morok as a hero.

    ''You wanted him toe out of Glemos'' shadow and ensure that the monsters won''t listen to him just because Glemos is his father but because they consider Morok one of them.''

    ''That''s partly correct.'' Lith grunted in effort.

    Now it was his turn to be forced to go all-out to not be beaten into a pulp.

    <h6></h6>

    The Hati Queen''s group was already his match earlier and now that the Tyrant had joined them, Morok''s martial techniques and the power of his eyes made up for the predictability of the monsters'' attacks.

    ''I needed the Queen to see that she wasn''t just going to exchange one master for another. That Morok really cares for them and he''s willing to put his life on the line instead of just running away when things get tough.

    ''Everything Syrah sees and feels, the warg do as well. In turn, the warg and Hati in the backlines can share it with the other monsters and affect the morale of the entire army.''

    As they spoke, Solus noticed how thanks to the influx of the shaman''s crystal, Morok was circting his mana through his body. From there it moved to his scales where it was amplified and then it was channelled into his eyes.

    ''Is it me or is he getting heavier?'' Lith asked after noticing that the Tyrant''s blows were getting harder to deflect.

    ''You are correct.'' Solus replied. ''He''s gaining mass as the vortexes in his body getpressed. The rate is nothing like yours when you were a Wyrmling but it''s still weird because Tyrants are supposed to be humanoids that don''t grow in size.''

    "You, with the shining wings! Stop wasting your energy." Morok yelled, while inwardly cursing at Lith for moving the fight deep among the monsters'' ranks so that each sh and missed spell caused more casualties.

    "Demons can redirect and corrupt your energy, but so can I. Give me everything you''ve got, now!"

    "But¡­" R couldn''t bring herself to turn the power of her eyes on the descendant of Glemos, no matter if he himself was giving her the order.

    "I said now!" Double Edge had just swept Grimnir away and opened a deep wound in his chest.

    Syrahy on the ground again with her chest pierced by War again while the Hands of Menadion were slowly overpowering Br''ey''s wave of world energy, taking away the monsters'' endless strength and weakening their elemental magic.

    The Fomor saw the strain on the orc shaman''s face and knew it was only a matter of time before Br''ey''s strength gave out.

 Chapter 2554 Monster And Hero (Part 4)

    The mana crystal gave her an ability on par with Invigoration, but after using it so many times on so many people, it had lost most of its effectiveness.

    On top of that, the orc shaman was running on fumes and her stamina had hit rock bottom. Light magic had healed her wounds but without food, her body couldn''t make up for the lost nutrients.

    R inwardly prayed to Glemos to forgive her for her transgression and then used her wings to draw in the bulk of the energy wave before it was toote. Thebined efforts of the orc''s crystal and the Fomor''s wings overpowered the Hands, filling R to the brim with elemental energy.

    Her wings burned like multi-colored zes while her eyes shone like suns as she focused and amplified the power of the elements with every bit of mana she had left.

    Each eye emitted an elemental pir the size of her body and Morok''s eyes moved to his back to intercept them. Hebined the Tyrannical Eye bloodline ability with Domination to suck the pirs inside his body and further amplify them with his core.

    Once he reached his limit, Morok moved the six eyes to his chest andbined them to obtain the Spirit Eye and cast the tier five Spirit, Spell Breakdown.

    Air and earth would block the victim by inducing an electric seizure and by trapping their limbs in a prison of rock. Fire and water would alternate in pulses, causing a thermal shock that would sap their strength and make it impossible for them to breathe.

    Darkness and light would constantly consume and heal those hit by the spell in a cycle that would consume their vitality until they would die of starvation.

    Lith tried and failed to Dominate it, but from so up close and with many enemies to keep at bay he only managed to slow Breakdown for a second before being overrun by the emerald st.

    Or rather, that was how things were supposed to appear.

    The Spirit Eye of the Tyrant and that of the Abomination fought a brief yet visible tug of war that drove the monsters to squeeze even the tiniest drop of energy left in their bodies, afraid that such power would be turned against them.

    Which was a problem since R kept firing her eyes even after Morok''s eyes were no more. Luckily for him, the multi-colored scales on his body managed to absorb the remaining elemental energy and protect him from most of the damage.

    It further fueled his Spirit Spell, but the scales'' absorption rate wasn''t quick enough so they ended up overloading and shutting down.

    Morok took care of making the pir very big, so that when Lith was struck by its harmless core, the destructive power of the rest of Breakdown sold their act.

    The Tyrant had aimed the spell so that it would move toward the south entrance of Zelex, pushing Lith near the escape route while also destroying everything in its path to blind the monsters'' physical and mystical senses.

    The crowned demon screamed in alleged agony and fury while the spell overpowered him and its detonation turned him into shreds. The blinding light released by Breakdownsted for one second, but it was enough to cover Protector''s and Tista''s escape.

    The Demons of the Darkness shapeshifted and joined their bodies to take the form of the Awakened so that when the children of Glemos could see again, they witnessed the remnants of the colossal demon and the wolf demon shattering into bits.

    "It''s over." R said amid pants, her six eyes shedding blood from the effort. "Just like the legends said, once the crowned demon is defeated, the others follow."

    "Do your legends say anything about not killing your allies?" Morok was bleeding from his Spirit Eye and from his scales as well.

    They were now ckened by the elemental overload and had temporarily lost their abilities. The Tyrant now closely resembled a demon and it took Syrah quite some effort to convince her army that he wasn''t another enemy.

    <h6></h6>

    "By Glemos, I''m so sorry." Even R''s most delicate touch was painful, forcing Morok to shove her hand away.

    When she tried to conjure the light element to cure him, the Warlord doubled over in pain while clutching at her silver eye.

    "Don''t bother." The Tyrant raised his hand to stop the Warsage who hade to his rescue as well. "If you heal me now, my body will go into shock. I need food and rest first. The mana abuse from thatst spell almost killed me."

    Br''ey checked his body with Invigoration and discovered that the savior was right. Even though he had only taken part in the final stretch of the fight, he was faring as bad as them.

    ''Good gods, I get that Lith had to sell out the act, but this is too much. He pushed me to my limits so hard that even breathing hurts.'' The Tyrant thought as he cked out from the strain of the fight.

    "Morok!" Faluel screamed while running to his side. "He needs a ce to rest and plenty of food for when he wakes up."

    The Hydra used Quy''s injection spell to flood his body with nutrients while drinking barrels of tonics herself. Life Vision showed Br''ey that the savior''s allies were in better condition than him, but they were in dire need of rest as well.

    Tista would have never managed to hurt the much stronger Hydra so badly if not for Faluel taking the blows on purpose. As for Protector, he had given Friya a run for her money and would have beaten her if not for the script.

    The dimensionalpressing arrays sealed her best spells and with his newfound bloodline ability, the Skoll brought the gap in physical prowess beyond what pure skill could cover.

    Protector had struck her very close to her vitals, avoiding them by a hair''s breadth and making her wounds look way more grievous than they actually were.

    "We can feed the human and the T- I mean, Glemos'' son." Syrah stopped herself halfway after noticing R''s re and the troops staring at the unconscious Tyrant with adoring eyes.

    "You''ll have to take care of yourself, Hydra. I''m sorry, but we can''t waste the food to give you a proper meal." The Hati Queen sighed, looking at the scores of dead along the battlefield.

    Hundreds had died at the hands of the demons yet it wasn''t enough to ensure that the food reserves wouldst until the monsters were done building their new house. The cull was still inevitable.

    Yet they were supposed to die anyway so Syrah''s heart was full of gratitude for their sacrifice and d that their loved ones hadn''t been forced to bloody their hands with the rites of passage.

    To make matters worse, not all of the fallen soldiers were the weakest among the monsters. A few of those who had died were great warriors who were supposed to live, making their sacrifice no less necessary but much more painful to themunity.

    "No problem." Faluel panted, looking around at Zelex in awe. "I have a snack or two in my dimensional amulet."

 Chapter 2555 Both Sides (Part 1)

    Faluel had already seen the city from Lith''s memories but it was still such a magnificent masterpiece of magic and technology that the Hydra''s amazement waspletely genuine.

    "What is this ce?" Friya blurted out, her enthusiasm turning into suspicion as she finally had the time to take a good look at her allies. "I thought that elves lived inside the Fringes and had golden skin whereas yours is light brown. Who are you guys and what are you doing here?"

    "Do you know where my people live?" The orc shaman couldn''t believe her pointy ears.

    "No, I know where one tribe is and their hospitality was far from pleasant." Friya raised her rapier, Dreadnought, staring at the rest of the members of the senate in suspicion.

    "You don''t look like an Emperor Beast and you¡­" She pointed at Syrah with the de and then at R. "What the heck are you?"

    The Hati Queen was equally suspicious, moving her eyes from the women to the fallen Tyrant while pondering the events.

    ''The timing of the rescue was really convenient, just like the fact that this woman ims to have met elves. It''s all too good to be true.'' Yet Morok''s conditions were truly dire and Friya''s smell told Syrah that the human woman wasn''t lying.

    Also, she was genuinely scared.

    "I''m no Emperor Beast." The Hati Queen said while studying the reaction of her alleged saviors. "I''m Syrah, a Hati. The Elder Beast evolution of the warg. This is R and she is a Fomor, the next evolutionary step of the Balors who descend from humans like you."

    "And I''m no elf." The shaman lowered her gaze in shame. "My name is Br''ey and I''m an orc. It means ''creature of the dark'' in elvish. Before our fall, we didn''t live on the surface like our cousins, but deep underground where mana crystals grow."

    "That makes you the bastards who raided the cities of the Kingdom and killed hundreds of innocents!" Friya''s outrage was as genuine as her increasing fear.

    What Syrah wasn''t aware of, was the fact that Friya''s anger was actually aimed at Glemos for putting the monsters through so much suffering and her fear was due to herck of acting skills.

    She was terrified at the idea of their lies being exposed and having to fight to the death so many enemies without her dimensional magic.

    "Calm down, kid." Faluel, instead, was unreadable. "We came here to help Morok avenge his father and that''s what we did. The rest can wait until he wakes up."

    "But, Master Faluel, they-"

    "ording to the demon, they possess the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy and if we alert the Council, our friend will lose his birthright and these people their lives. Don''t be so quick to judge before hearing both sides of a story.

    "Life is often moreplicated than it appears."

    ''Be careful.'' The orc shaman said via a mind link. ''The Hydra is as strong as Glemos was and her equipment is terrifying as well. She can''t kill us all, but we can''t stop her from escaping either. Not with all the safety measures of the south entrance down.''

    Syrah nodded, d that the interests of her people and those of their guests still aligned.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Please, don''t be afraid." The Warlord knelt and with her the Balors and the few Fomors in the monster army. "I swear upon my life to be loyal to Glemos'' heir and that I''ll do everything in my power to protect him."

    "We swear!" The Balors and all the believers of the cult of Glemos shouted as one, tying Syrah''s hands even tighter.

    Balors and Fomors already considered themselves a superior race due to their close resemnce to their god and because he had always favored them. R being both the Warlord and the high priestess only made things much worse.

    ''I''ve just lost a tenth of the main forces of my army. I need to y this with extreme caution. If only Urhen was the Warlord instead of that zealot, I wouldn''t be risking a civil war.'' She thought.

    ''Even if we win, without the Balors'' help, Zelex will fall way before we are ready to move and our new home wouldn''tst more than a few weeks. Without them, the ogres will die, the trolls will be unstable, and the goblins will be nothing but dead weight.

    ''On top of that, that damn hole in the ground exposes our presence to anyone flying above Zelex.'' Syrah cursed their bad luck and resigned to putting the lives of their people even more in Faluel''s hands.

    "I know that I have no right to ask you for help and you have no reason to ept, but please, listen to me." The Hati Queen fell onto her knees, her forehead touching the ground. "I need you to close the hole on the surface and hide it to the best of your abilities.

    "If our enemies find Zelex, we will lose our lives and everything your friend has done until now will be for nothing."

    "Why do you need my help?" Faluel shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Moving a bit of dirt and setting a few arrays is no big deal."

    "It is for us." Syrah replied. "Out of Zelex we revert to our fallen state and we age no differently from a normal monster. Also, we have little knowledge of arrays. Everything you see here is the work of the Tyrant bloodline, not our own."

    "I see." The Hydra nodded. "Since you''ve saved my friend from that monster, I owe you this much. Yet after this, I''ll consider us even and I have no reason to trust a monster.

    "Also, be aware that I''m going to set the arrays so that if anything happens to us, the position of this ce will be visible for kilometers so don''t try to pull anything funny."

    "Do whatever you deem necessary." The mistrust and questions of the Hydra reassured the Hati Queen. "Thank you on behalf of my people."

    ''If this was just a farce, the Tyrant wouldn''t be on the brink of death and his women would be eager to help us in order to earn our trust. I guess miracles do happen, after all.'' Syrah thought in surprise.

    ''I can''t believe this actually worked.'' Faluel thought in equal surprise. ''From blowing the entrance open to showcasing the "chosen one" in order to increase the influence of the high priestess and undermine the Queen, Lith predicted it all.

    ''He staged every step of the fight so that once it was over, the monsters would be forced to ask us to stay and help them. This way, we get to have a tour of Zelex and understand if the children of Glemos can be reasoned with without even trying.''

    Yet despite her admiration for Lith''s foresight, Faluel felt guilty for deceiving the monsters like that. She was betraying their trust, ying with their beliefs, and exploiting their grief from the rites of passage all at the same time.

    Their King had died for mere hours, hoping to buy enough time for their god Glemos'' return and Lith had delivered them the best next thing right after fueling the fires of their superstition.

 Chapter 2556 Both Sides (Part 2)

    The monsters believed in the miracle because, after such a dark day, they desperately wanted to.

    The Hydra quickly fixed the hole in the upper levels and before returning to Zelex, she set several arrays that would cloak the entrance from detection spells and alert the others on the outside in case the infiltration team needed backup.

    ¡¤?¦Èm By the time she was back, Morok was still unconscious between R''s arms but a few of his scales had turned from ck to white.

    Friya nervously turned her head from the copsed passage to the Tyrant. Her bodynguage was a clear statement of how awkward the situation was to her and how scared she was of her hosts.

    ''Think that you are doing it for Nalrond and don''t focus too much on the fact that if anything goes wrong, we''d go from dinner guests to main dishes in a heartbeat.'' With dimensional magic sealed, the moment they got to the heart of Zelex they would have no way out.

    Lith was a Divine Beast but even he had chosen to fight at the borders of the city to have a clear retreat path and force the children of Glemos to split their forces. He had done everything he could to avoid being surrounded and yet he hadn''t hesitated sending Friya and the others in the maw of the beast.

    On the bright side, however, her attitude was exactly what Syrah would expect from a human in that situation, dispelling her doubts about that situation being just a farce.

    "Good gods. With friends like you who needs enemies?" Morok stirred, suffering jolts of pain every time his ckened scales touched anything. "Why did you keep shooting at me? The demon was the other guy."

    "Forgive me, my lord." R bowed her head. "I felt the affinity between your scales and my wings and I assumed they worked the same way. I never meant to hurt you."

    "That''s even worse." The Tyrant groaned, trying and failing to stand up. "If this is what happens when you don''t even try, I cannot imagine- Wait, what affinity?"

    "You don''t know?" Br''ey''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "Do I look like someone who does?" Morok pointed at his own battered body, whimpering.

    "The reason you are recovering so quickly is that your scales are constantly drawing the surrounding world energy akin to my crystal and her wings." The orc shaman said. "The ck scales are temporarily overloaded while the white ones contain all elements.

    "Once enough of your scales recover, the elements will be split and stored again as it happens to a Fomor''s feathers."

    "What''s a Fomor?" Morok knew the answer already but since he was passed out right after the battle, he had to feign ignorance.

    After a second round of exnations, it was the Tyrant''s turn to introduce himself.

    "My name is Morok Eari, son of Glemos." It took him sheer willpower to not speak his father''s name like it was poison and not spit once he was done. "These are my friends, Faluel the Hydra and Friya Herata.

    "They both epted to join me in my quest for revenge due to the threat that the demons pose to all our respective races. That thing was obsessed with those attuned to all elements like us so we decided to join our forces."

    Morok gave Friya a fakest name, afraid that the Ernas name might have been on Lith''s file that Elder Urma had shown to the senate and that if anyone remembered about it, it could blow their cover.

    "So they are not your wives?" R asked with too much enthusiasm for Morok''s liking.

    "Ew, no!" Clearing the nature of their rtionship was fine, the disgusted overtone, not so much, earning Morok murderous res. "I''m married alright, but my wife is neither a scaly grandma nor a pompous ass. She''s the most beautiful woman on Mogar."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I''m sure that we''ll get along, then." R chuckled, looking at the Tyrant with such loving eyes that a cold shiver ran down his spine.

    "I feel much better now." Morok jumped back to his feet to escape from the overly tender embrace. "What is this ce exactly and what are you doing here?"

    "Didn''t Lord Glemos tell you anything?" Syrah asked.

    "No. My father abandoned me when I was a kid to hide me from the demons." Morok hated lying and even more painting Glemos like a good parent, but he had no choice. "He left a tracking spell inside of my life force that was set off the day of my Awakening.

    "When he finally found me, he brought me to a crystal mine. He was talking about something called Harmonizer when the demon arrived. Father managed to make me escape, but it cost him his life."

    "What about Typhos and Echidna? They would have never left our lord''s side." Br''ey said.

    "I know those names, but I never met them." Morok shrugged. "Father told me they were on an errand for him, but he didn''t say much. There was just no time. I believe they either escaped or the demon killed them as well."

    "They are likely dead." The Hati Queen sighed. "Come with us to your father''s mansion, we have much to discuss."

    ***

    Outside the city of Zelex, at the same time.

    "Remarkable." Ajatar the Drake said while studying Tista''s new form. "There''s a chance that your white feathers work akin to a Drake''s scales. Based on what you told me, they seem the perfect fusion between the Dragon and Phoenix bloodline."

    After faking her death, Tista had shrunk to human size and gone back to the surface while still in her Demon form. She needed time to get used to her new body and learn how to use gravity fusion to not destroy everything in her wake.

    Lith and Ajatar could take her mistakes whereas Quy and Nalrond kept themselves at a safe distance.

    "What do you mean?" Tista was relieved noticing that simply by circting her life force like Sark had taught her, the white feathers had started to grow back.

    "My scales absorb the power of one or more elements from the world energy, giving me a breath attack that sadly has nothing to do with Origin mes." Ajatar replied. "Phoenixes, instead, usually store their mes inside their feathers and use them as deadly projectiles.

    "If I''m right, your feathers store elemental energy like a Drake''s scales but can also be thrown like a Phoenix''s plumes. Who knows, maybe you can do everything we can do or maybe you can just cast instant spells. Only time and practice will tell."

    "Thanks, Ajatar." Tista gave him a small bow.

    "Don''t mention it, kid, and wee to the family." The Drake patted her shoulder and through the contact of their scales, they shared many things without saying a word.

    Tista felt Ajatar''s pride and affection for those he considered like his baby cousins while Ajatar perceived Tista''s exhration from her new powers mixed with the fear of being more and less than human at the same time.

    "Don''t worry too much." The Drake said. "Changes are always scary. It''s natural to be afraid. The trick to deal with them is to live in the present and not linger in pointless regrets."

 Chapter 2557 Children Of Glemos (Part 1)

    "I have no regrets." Tista''s voice still sounded feminine but had the deep, rumbling timbre of a storm. "This is what I worked my whole life for. I was just too arrogant to see it before."

    "Not that I''mining, but why now?" Lith asked. "You still had a bit of time. You could have talked to Mom and Dad first or at least undergone the transformation with the support of our family instead of alone during a deadly battle."

    "I wasn''t alone. Valia was with me." Tista replied. "It''s thanks to her that I understood how stupid I have been to waste my time with hesitation. Fear had brought me to turn my own body into a prison.

    "It was like having the Strangler again. Always scared of the future and with my body aching from terrible pain, but this time it wasn''t a cruel joke of fate. It was all on me. I was simply tired of suffering for no reason.

    "Tired of waiting for others to find solutions to my problems like I did for most of my life. As for Mom and Dad, we had the conversation about my life forces many times yet I needed none.

    "I''ve seen how they treat you and how you treat them. Bing a Tiamat didn''t make them love you any less and vice versa. I had no reason to even think that it would have been any different for me, I was just making excuses to stall.

    "Whatever happens from now on, I can finally stand by your side as an equal. Be it against your enemies or helping Elysia with her future struggles, you are not alone anymore, little brother." Tista hugged Lith, the contact between their scales sharing their affection for each other.

    By turning into a Divine Beast, Tista had made their bond grow deeper than just blood. They didn''t belong to the same species but they walked the same path.

    "By the way, it''s the first time I have a face mask." Tista pointed at the scales covering her usually-exposed fangs. "How do I retract them when I want to spew Origin mes?"

    She took a deep breath, but aside from smoke puffing from between the scales, nothing happened.

    "It works the same as unfolding your wings." Lith replied. "Unlike the rest of our scales, they are connected to new muscles you have to learn how to flex. Like this."

    Lith''s mask opened and closed quickly a few times, showing her how the scales were supposed to slide over each other. Tista tried to imitate him but with no sess.

    "My problem is that even though I found the new tissues with Invigoration, I have no idea how to trigger them. My face feels the same as before and I''ve already tried everything I could think of. Any suggestions for newbies?"

    "Yes. Do you remember when you first got your wings and didn''t know how to fold and unfold them on your back?" Lith asked and Tista nodded for him to continue. "Same thing. Flex your whole body at once and instinct will do the rest."

    "Like this?" Tista took a deep breath, clenching her teeth while tensing every fiber of her being.

    "I did it!" She said once she felt something sliding off her face. "It''s way easier than-"

    s, it was quickly followed by something else sliding off her chest and crotch.

    "What the heck, Tista!" Luckily, the Demon had already shrunk to human size so Quy rushed in front of the Demon and covered Tista with a mage robe. "We are all Healers but this is still inappropriate."

    "What''s the matter?" Tista lowered her gaze, noticing her exposed body and turning to a ming shade of red.

    "Dammit, I forgot about that." Lith turned around, d that no one had been with him back when he had encountered the same issue after achieving the violet. "Now that you are not a hybrid anymore, all of your forms have a full set of organs."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Interesting." Ajatar nodded. "Now we are certain that whatever Tista is, it''s still a mammal and that her reproductive method is the same as a human''s. Can you shapeshift into a Dragon and a Phoenix?"

    "I''m not doing this on purpose!" Tista covered herself while trying to put the scales back into ce but the stiffness from the embarrassment kept them retracted. "How do I fix this?"

    "You just need to calm down." Lith replied once he had permission to look again. "Then, you need a private ce to learn how to move the scales of each area one at a time."

    "How do I calm down? I just shed my body!" She said with a snort.

    "For example, you can start by thanking the gods that Morok and Nalrond aren''t here." Quy said. "That would have been awkward."

    "Good gods!" Tista turned a pale red at the thought. "I really dodged a fireball here."

    Luckily for her, the Rezar was using his bloodline abilities to follow Morok''s group inside Zelex and act as first response backup in case something went wrong.

    "Also, you can start by thinking about how to call yourself from now on." Lith said.

    "Good point. Any suggestion that''s not a variation of Red Demon?" Between the safety of the robe and the focus on the issue, her scales moved back to their original position yet Tista kept the robe closed tightly.

    "Depends." Lith shrugged. "How many forms do you have? Can you shapeshift into a Dragon and a Phoenix, making them four, or do you only get one of them like me?"

    "Excellent question." Tista nodded while putting back her Voidwalker armor and shapeshifting into her human form. "Yet that''s a talk for another day. I''m not doing any more experiments until I get some privacy so that I won''t embarrass myself further."

    ***

    The underground city of Zelex, at the same time.

    The Hati Queen guided their guests toward the senate, unaware of the presence of the Rezar following them just a few meters below the street level. Nalrond was forced to stop outside the white crystal gates of the building due to the powerful arrays covering it down to its foundation.

    ''It''s still better than nothing.'' He thought. ''At the first sign of rm from the guards, I can cause a distraction and keep Friya and the others from being surrounded.''

    As they walked through the city, Morok noticed that the monster tribes either looked at him with blind admiration or burning hate. The followers of Glemos believed the young Tyrant to be the prophesized savior while everyone else considered him no better than his father.

    Once inside, Syrah brought the group to a private chamber with a domed roof. It was smaller than the room where the senate discussed their dealing with the Undead Courts and administered the rites of passage.

    It contained a circr white marble table with many wooden chairs around it.

    Several cabs were lined up against the walls, each one filled with either dried food or bottles of liquor. The few pieces of art decorating the room were small busts and paintings of Tyrants that seemed to look down on their guests.

 Chapter 2558 Children Of Glemos (Part 2)

    The eyes of the Tyrants depicted in the artworks were made of elemental crystals and they seemed to follow the observer wherever they moved.

    "This is the Inner Circle, where the leaders of each tribe can freely talk without worrying about things like rank and formalities. We are all equals here." Syrah said while ring at R.

    After introducing the goblin, the ogre, and the Traughen representatives to Morok, the Hati Queen had an orc shaman establish a mind link with their guests to share with them everything about Zelex.

    She told them about the role that each fallen species yed in their society and how things had spiraled out of control after Glemos'' disappearance.

    Morok already knew most of those things thanks to Lith so he had a hard time paying attention and feigning interest. Everything else, however, shocked him to the bone.

    Listening to Glemos'' methods to further the evolution of his subjects and about the cycle of hunger and death the monsters had undergone for generations made him regret that Ajatar had killed his father so quickly.

    ''I also feel like a jerk.'' Morok thought. ''All this time I only worried about my bloodline legacy to not make a poor figure with my inws. I had more or less guessed from Echidna''s words what kind of life her people had to endure yet I never cared.''

    He wanted to apologize for his own behavior and express how disgusted he was by what his ancestors had done to the fallen races but it would have done him no good. It wasn''t just R who still considered Glemos a god.

    Aside from the Queen, the Balor representative, and the Warsage, everyone else clung to their faith to make sense of their hardships. Each one of those present had just lost their husband in the rites of passage and doomed a child to the same fate.

    ''Lith was right. Telling the truth would have achieved nothing. They would rather fight to the death than admitting they have lived their whole lives as puppets.''

    "Soon after lord Glemos'' disappearance, the Harmonizers in the mines and the cultivated fields crumbled. and so did the non-imprinted ones we kept stored for the new generations." Syrah said.

    "Only pregnant women, growing children, and the members of the senate wear their Harmonizers at all times. Women to alter the life force of their newborns, children to get closer to perfection as they develop, and senate members because it gives them control over the array system.

    "For everyone else, it''s just a bothersome piece of metal since thanks to the mana geyser and the alterations in our life forces, we can maintain our unfallen state anyway."

    "I see." Morok nodded.

    Now that his scales had healed, he could feel the arrays surrounding Zelex working in a simr way to the Harmonizer, enveloping him in a thickyer of world energy that naturally seeped into his body.

    ''Damn, if I hadn''t a bright blue core already, between my scales and the arrays it would be like using umtion all the time. Too bad that right now it''s useless to me!'' He actually thought.

    "On top of that, lord Glemos never taught us how to craft anything." Syrah sighed. "Very few of us have regained the ability to cast high tier magic and with our short lives and no mentor, we are still figuring out the basics.

    "That''s why we ended up working with the Undead Courts. We don''t want to, but we have no other choice. Without Glemos and his Harmonizers, Zelex is no longer capable of self-sustaining.

    "Our new generations can improve only by luck and to give a child a chance at evolution, someone has to take their own life so that the Harmonizer can be passed on. The Undead have given us a bit of food and have promised to share with us what they discover about the Harmonizers, but we don''t trust them.

    "We have locked our city to undergo the rites of passage away from prying eyes and to move Glemos'' legacy without them noticing."

    "So the demon was right?" Morok jumped to his feet with a mix of enthusiasm and confusion. "Is the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy really here?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Of course." R gave him a radiant smile that creeped him out.

    "Then why didn''t you use it to fix your problems? I mean, it must contain the blueprints for the Harmonizers." He asked.

    "Because lord Glemos forbid us to enter his chambers and I''ve kept my word." The Fomor threw a disgusted look at the other monsters. "Also, there''s no way that ignorant peasants can understand a god''s workings.

    "But that doesn''t matter anymore. Now that lord Morok is with us, there''s no need to pander to those undead vermin anymore. Please, take your rightful ce among your loyal servants and guide us toward a better future."

    "I can''t make you any promises but if you allow us to take a look, we can at least give it a try." He replied.

    "We?" The monster representatives looked at the two women in confusion while R was clearly upset at the idea of sharing such a treasure with strangers.

    "I''m not my father. I am still young and I''mcking in the Forgemastering arts." Which was a polite way to say that he couldn''t craft a dimensional amulet for his life. "Lady Faluel is my teacher. If there''s anyone who can decipher my father''s work it''s her."

    "Do you trust her?" The Fomor asked.

    "With my life."

    "Then say no more, my liege." R stood up, giving him a deep bow before walking through the door of the Inner Circle and leading the way.

    "Where are we going?" Morok asked after they had been walking for a while.

    "I have no idea." Syrah replied. "This area is reserved solely for the high priestesses of Glemos. As far as I know, no one but our lord and his most loyal servants have ess to this side of the building."

    The senate extended for hundreds of meters in every direction, forming a small city of its own. The more they advanced, the more luxurious the furniture became. The high ceiling was painted with frescos depicting the exploits of the Tyrant bloodline.

    The gold-veined white marble was covered with wards that only R''s Harmonizer could deactivate and only for a brief moment upon her passage. The corridor ended with a thick white wallprised of a mix of white marble and crystals.

    "You guys wait here." The Fomor ced her hand on the wall and offered the other to Morok.

    "I told you, I''m not good enough to decipher my father''s work on my own." He remained still, refusing to take her hand. "I need Lady Faluel''s help."

    "And she cer." R didn''t budge. "There''s something I can only show to you."

    "Right now? Can''t it wait?" The idea of remaining alone with the Fomor after Glemos had already tried to fix him with Echidna didn''t sit well with Morok.

    ''If I reject her, she might refuse to bring me to my legacy and these poor people will be screwed. If I don''t, my marriage will be over before it even begins!'' He inwardly whined.

 Chapter 2559 Children Of Glemos (Part 3)

    "No. Only the heir of Glemos can ess to the key to the vaults that hold the Tyrant''s legacy. I won''t allow anyone but a member of the family to learn about its nature." R said.

    "I can be killed and my Harmonizer stolen, but if no one knows what to look for, they can never find it."

    There was a fervor in her voice and a determination in her eyes that told the Tyrant that he had no other choice. He extended his hand and the moment it made contact with the Fomor''s the marble isted the wall from the arrays of the city, allowing the crystals to form a Gate.

    ''Shit! We are not just going past the wall, we are going somewhere else entirely. Not even Nalrond can follow me wherever our destination is.'' Morok thought as R pulled him through the dimensional corridor.

    He was expecting to walk into an exotic harem filled with gorgeous women of all the fallen races, a luxurious bedroom, or anything that he believed would suit histe father''s overinted ego.

    Instead, Morok found himself in a yroom filled with enchanted toys and all kinds of tools that a child could use to learn magic safely.

    And that wasn''t all.

    "Mommy?" A young six-eyed Fomor, barely five years old, was looking at them from around the corner of the door, in a childish attempt to hide from the alleged intruders. "Mommy, you are back!"

    The child ran to R''s legs who lifted him up in a hug.

    "I told you to not wait for me by the door, you little rascal. What if it was a bad guy?" Her tone didn''t match with her words as she kissed the boy''s head and gently caressed his hair.

    "Daddy would have smitten him." The boy said with a very serious voice, puffing his chest out with pride. "He''s a god. Dad is never here because he has so many people to protect, but he always watches over us."

    "Dad?" Morok echoed as something inside him froze in horror.

    Not only was the young Fomor''s skin white instead of blue like every Fomor and Balor Morok had ever met, but his eyes moved along his body so as to always look at R and the neer at the same time.

    The boy also wore a model of Harmonizer more advanced than those of the other members of the senate. Even the Queen''s Harmonizer was of lesser quality. Morok had seen an identical model only around Echidna''s neck.

    Suddenly the high priestess'' earlier attentions and words assumed apletely different meaning, going from creepy to mind-blowing.

    "Do I have a brother?" He said while pointing at the kid.

    "Half-brother, but yes. Garrik, this is your big brother, Morok. Lord Morok, this is your little brother, Garrik. He was named after your father." R turned the child toward the Tyrant.

    "Hi, big brother Morok, nice to meet you." Garrik''s mouth shapeshifted into the row of fangs typical of their species.

    "Hi, Garrik." Morok tried to give him a warm smile yet it turned out as awkward as he felt. "Let me guess, you said that this is a family matter because your Harmonizer just leads here. Only Garrik''s can open the door to Glemos''b."

    "You are right." R nodded. "Lord Glemos didn''t trust with his life''s work anyone but his own blood. I only pretended to have ess to theb in order to keep my son''s existence a secret."

    "Are you telling me that no one knows about Garrik? That he''s never been outside of this house his whole life?" Morok was bbergasted, and the nod in reply he received shocked him even more. "But why? He''s the child of your god and his life force is perfect.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "He could give hope to your people. Garrik is the tangible proof that my father''s grand n works."

    "Or he could end up being the scapegoat to their fury." R replied. "Someone upon whom vent their frustration after a rite of passage or, like in this case, after Glemos'' disappearance and the culls it has caused.

    "Garrik isn''t like you. He can''t run away until he bes an adult. Were the inhabitants of Zelex to learn about him, what do you think they would do?

    "They would see his Harmonizer as an unfair advantage and resent Garrik because he can have a regr childhood while everyone else is forced to suffer from aging and hunger.

    "I know that it''s hypocritical of me, but I couldn''t risk the senate forcing him to take part in the Warlord selections. Garrik has a chance to have a real life and be free. I won''t let that be taken from him, no matter the cost.

    "Which makes you-"

    He couldn''t finish the sentence as the bad memories of his childhood trampled over his mind and many questions he didn''t want to ask popped to his mind.

    "Lord Glemos never bestowed upon me the title of his wife, but as thetest of his high priestesses he blessed me with his child." R replied.

    "Latest? As in there were others before you?" Morok wanted to scream and curse at his father''s name, but he had to hold it in to further Lith''s n and not scare Garrik.

    "Yes, just like there have been other potential heirs to Lord Glemos'' legacy before Garrik." R nodded, shivering at the mention.

    "What happened to them?"

    "The priestesses also undergo the rite of passage when they are found wanting." R replied. "As for their faulty offspring, they were sent to the battlefield and died to in glorious battles to honor their father."

    "Was it the same fate that would await Garrik if Glemos was still around?" Morok cupped the boy''s ears, adding a Hush spell to keep him from hearing such a grim topic.

    "No. ording to Lord Glemos, Garrik''s life force will stabilize after puberty. He''s not as perfect as you but he will be." R replied, giving him a warm smile and a deep bow of gratitude for his kindness toward her son.

    "I''m the only one who managed to give him an heir that inherited both the Fomor and the Tyrant bloodline.

    "That''s why he kept me around. Garrik was supposed to assist you in the endeavor of bringing the Tyrant''s bloodline to the next evolutionary step or to take your ce were you to refuse to join his cause.

    "Glemos said that he had reached his limit and that Garrik is the apex of his research. A new species of Tyrant born from the perfect Fomor. He did everything he could for our child and then he left to look for you.

    "The perfect Tyrant born from the perfect human. Glemos believed that after Awakening, you would have surpassed him, and he was right!" She tenderly caressed Morok''s multi-colored scales but he stepped back as if her hand was a weapon pointed at his throat.

    "So he experimented on my mother as well? Were we just a science project for him?" He said in outrage.

    "Everyone was a science project to him." R said. "He never cared for any of us. That''s why he Awakened the poor Echidna before her life force stabilized."

 Chapter 2560 Children Of Glemos (Part 4)

    "Otherwise she would have grown into the first pure-blooded stable Fomor and wouldn''t have needed him anymore. Glemos did it to keep her on a leash and force her to be your wife in the hope to achieve someone better than Garrik." R said.

    "Why are you telling me all this?" Morok asked.

    "Because Glemos was right. You are better than him." She replied. "And the moment you told the story about him sacrificing himself for you, I knew it was a lie. That bastard would have dly sacrificed anyone to save himself.

    "As he liked to say, he could always have more children. You and Garrik never meant anything to him. He just needed proof of his experiments'' sess in order to replicate them as many times as he wanted.

    "Which means that either you killed him or you had him killed. I don''t care how or why you did it. Just know that you have no need to lie to me."

    "If that bastard of Glemos put you through so much, why are you so willing to trust me so soon?" Morok stared at her face, noticing that despite her earlier act, the Fomor felt no admiration nor loyalty for her "god".

    "You think I''ve killed him and, for all you know, you and Garrik could be next. Also, if you never believed his crap, why did you behave like a zealot and worked so hard to keep Glemos'' crazy cult alive?"

    "I trust you not just because I think that you killed him, setting me and my son free, but also because the first thing that you did once I introduced your half-brother to you was to protect him instead of exploiting him." R pointed at Morok''s hands which were still covering Garrik''s ears.

    "If you were anything like Glemos, you would have faked a sense of brotherhood you don''t feel and then asked me what Garrik''s abilities are to see if he could be useful to you. Then, you would have asked me to bring you to theb and taken what you believed is rightfully yours.

    "Instead, your first thought was asking questions about his and my wellbeing. You worried about who we are to you, not about what we can do for you. Caring about Garrik''s innocence and refusing to destroy the image of his father sealed the deal for me.

    "I don''t know the real reason that brought you here, Morok Eari, but I know who you are. A good man. As for your question about my high priestess fa?ade, it only proves that you are na?ve and that your heart is pure.

    "A shrewd man would know that no matter what I feel for Glemos, his authority is my authority. A cynical man would know that taking the mask off after his disappearance would mean putting myself and my child in danger.

    "Were I to tell the truth, the zealots would rip me apart while those who have already lost their faith like Syrah''s court would kill me for being Glemos'' whore all this time. Keeping the faith alive keeps *me* alive and it''s my best chance to ensure Garrik''s survival.

    "Once we have to move to our new haven, I''ll be forced to reveal his existence. The believers will be his sword and shield. Those who still fear Glemos won''t dare to touch him, not after the fear that he drove into their hearts and that I''ve kept growing after he disappeared."

    "Good gods!" Morok''s head spun at the revtion, making him wonder if R''s cunning came from her maternal instincts or if Fomors were more rted to Tiamats than Tyrants.

    Yet amid the chaos and confusion, as he was trying to piece everything together and decide what to do, his hands never left Garrik.

    "Is everything alright?" The kid asked after the silence prolonged for so long and seeing his big brother''s shocked expression. "I''m scared."

    He clung to his mother who had kept smiling the whole time to not betray the sensitive nature of the conversation.

    "Don''t worry, little brother." Morok lifted the spell to reassure him. "I''m just shocked because I didn''t know I had a brother. I''ve been alone my whole life so this family stuff is kind of new to me."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I''ve been alone too, but at least I have my Mom. What about yours?" Garrik asked.

    "We never got along. She''s mean." Morok couldn''t tell such a young boy that a mother could abandon her son nor im that she was dead.

    The lie would scare Garrik and force Morok to forge even more lies to give her an allegedly peaceful death to not scare him further.

    "Don''t worry, the next time I see Dad, I''ll ask him to fix things between you and your Mom for you. He''s a very kind god and he never says no to me. Until that moment, Mom and I can be your family.

    "This way, you and I won''t be alone anymore."

    Garrik''s na?ve mind didn''t question the absurdity of the situation. He was too happy for having a brother to care about minor details like where Morok had been until that moment and why they had never met before.

    "Thanks, little brother." Morok felt a pang to his heart while he ruffled the boy''s hair.

    "Please, hold a little while longer. Mom and I still have a few boring grown-up things to discuss."

    "No problem." Garrik nodded, thinking that Morok calling R "Mom" sealed the deal and made them family.

    Putting the Hush spell in ce again was one of the hardest things that the Tyrant had ever done. If before the mission was all about getting his hands on his bloodline legacy and maybe saving a few monsters on the side, now it was personal.

    Though he had met Garrik for a few minutes, the young Fomor was just like him. Another kid whose life had been orchestrated by Glemos from birth with no care for his happiness.

    Blood meant nothing to Morok, but he still felt a kinship toward Garrik due to the maniptions of which they both had been victims.

    ''I won''t let him go through all the shit I had to endure.'' Morok thought. ''I don''t care if I have to share the Tyrants'' legacy with Garrik, Faluel, or the entire Council. I''m going to make sure that he gets out of here alive and that he''ll have his mother with him.

    ''I refuse to let that bastard of Glemos ruin the life of another of his children from beyond the grave.''

    "One more thing." Morok said after cupping the young Fomor''s ears. "I get feeding the god crap to the others, but why didn''t you tell your son the truth?"

    "What good would have it made?" R shrugged. "It was better for Garrik to believe he has a loving father who was always absent due to a higher call than being thest in a long line of experiments performed by a power-hungry monster.

    "Making him believe that his father is always watching him was the only way to convince Garrik to not follow me outside and stay in the house. If I told him the truth, he would still be a prisoner in this house but he would also be much more miserable."

 Chapter 2561 Counter Offer (Part 1)

    "Bring me to theb, please." Morok felt suffocating and couldn''t wait to get out of the ursed ce that was at the same time Glemos'' house and Garrik''s prison.

    R nodded and led the way through several corridors until they reached a double door made of heavily enchanted Adamant. The surface of the metal was covered in white and elemental crystal that fueled a powerful set of arrays.

    They ran above and under the surface of the doors, walls, floor, and ceiling, forming an inescapable of tightly packed runes. Morok only had Life Vision but it was enough to perceive dozens if not hundreds of ovepping arrays.

    The worst part was that just like those surrounding the city, Glemos'' death hadn''t diminished their power. Even from a few meters of distance, the Tyrant could feel a colossal tide of Spirit Magic ready to be released at the slightest tampering.

    "How is this possible?" He asked.

    "The same way as the Harmonizers." R replied. "Double imprint. The trademark of your bloodline. Garrik, be a dear and open the door for us."

    "Yes, Mom." A wave of his hand and a squint of his orange eye turned the whole apparatus off.

    The double doors opened on their own, revealing a magicalb that was in no way inferior to Ajatar''s.

    Tall bookshelves up to the five meters (16'') high ceiling were lined up against the walls and filled with tomes regarding all known branches of magic.

    Morok browsed through the titles, discovering original grimoires belonging to Magi and Rulers of the mes. Each was written in a different code, and there was no sign of trantion or that someone had ever tried to decipher them.

    Neat piles of documents and samples were arranged on several different tables cluttered by various analysis devices, each made of magic metals and fueled by violet crystals.

    "Good gods." Morok looked around the room, feeling overwhelmed by the raw amount of knowledge umted in the room.

    Past the tables, there were more bookshelves but their tomes were written in innguage and arranged in alphabetical order, with each bookshelf covering a different topic.

    They contained detailed information about the basics of the five tiers of magic and the various magical specializations. There were countless grimoires filled with teaching spells that each generation of Tyrants had developed so that their descendants would have better foundations.

    The room was over ten meters (33'') long and that was just the entrance. A T juncture led to three doors, each leading to a different wing of theboratory.

    Morok took a quick tour of the three wings, discovering that even though the Tyrant bloodline had invested in researching all branches of magic and had equipped a separateb each, Body Sculpting and Forgemastering took most of the space.

    The light magicboratory was filled with tissues and organ samples from different species that floated in embalming liquids stored inside stasis fields. The eyes of various creatures upied an entire wall, even a Dragon''s was among them.

    The rest of the space was taken by books and metal bs where Glemos had conducted his experiments on both dead and still-living subjects.

    Right in the next room, the Forgemasteryb was equipped with a Davross Forge that was surrounded by permanent arrays. The magical formations were fueled by elemental crystals arranged in a pattern that Morok recognized as identical to the one that the werepeople used in the Fringes to draw Mogar''s attention.

    In this case, however, their purpose was different.

    An internalyer, right around the Forge, served to conjure the world energy and split it into its elementalponents. They kept the circle constantly charged akin to an artificial assistant without the need for Glemos to waste his energy or trust someone else for his experiments.

    On top of that, he could draw the elemental energy in through his eyes and add a spark of life force to turn the conjured world energy into Spirit Magic and forge a Spirit Artifact.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The externalyer, instead, fueled the Forgemaster, doubling Glemos'' magical prowess and greatly increasing his mana reserves. Once again, it was a setting useless for someone without the Tyrannical Eye bloodline ability that allowed Tyrants to drain the power of the elements and make it their own.

    The study of the life force gave the Tyrants the theoretical knowledge about how to further their evolution and then they put it into practice with Forgemastery.

    The arrays and the alchemical tools that had been researched in the respectivebs all had the purpose to facilitate the assimtion of world energy and use it to permanently alter the life force of the Tyrants'' test subjects.

    The vaults were filled with magic metals, mana crystals, and powerful natural treasures, but there was much less than Morok had hoped.

    ''I guess this exins why even someone as arrogant as Glemos was forced to ask the patronage of the Undead Courts first and Thrudter.'' Morok thought. ''Over the centuries, the relentless experiments must have never allowed the Tyrant''s bloodline to umte resources.

    ''On top of that, I bet that the moment Glemos thought to be near the finishing line, he spared no expense and consumed everything that wasn''t too precious to be wasted on prototypes.''

    Morok found several books and pieces of paper holding designs for Harmonizers, but he couldn''t tell if they were new or discarded projects. Everything, even the introduction books about theb''s maintenance, was written in code.

    "Can either of you read this?" Morok showed R and Garrik a random piece of paper, receiving a shrug in reply. "Do you know where I can find the cipher?"

    "What''s a cipher?" The boy asked.

    "They key to crack a secretnguage." Morok replied.

    "Then no." Garrik lowered his eyes. "The only thing Dad ever told me whenever I looked for him in here was ''get out''."

    The Tyrant gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, yet the moment the child looked at him, there was a warm smile on Morok''s face.

    "It''s okay, brother. You''ve already helped me a lot. Without you, I would have never gotten in here."

    "My pleasure." Garrik left R''s gown and hugged Morok in joy, yet the Tyrant felt like the boy had driven a stake in his heart.

    Morok could tell that even though they had just met, the word "brother" meant the world to the kid because it gave him hope that he wouldn''t be alone anymore.

    "I need my friends to understand how any of this works." Morok said. "How are we going to y this?"

    "Garrik, go to your room, seal the doors, and don''t get out until I say otherwise. It''s time to y the silence game." R said.

    "Already?" The young Fomor stomped his feet, tearing up in frustration. "But you''ve just gotten here."

    "Shush, and remember that Daddy is watching so you have to be a good kid." R admonished him before bringing everyone back to the nursery. "Just follow my lead. Now that theb is unlocked, I can Warp everyone there directly."

    R apanied the boy away and locked the doors leading to the living quarters before opening a dimensional door that led back to the senate''s corridor where everyone was still waiting for them.

 Chapter 2562 Counter Offer (Part 2)

    "What took you so long?" Between Morok''s upset expression and R''s earlier effusions, Friya was worried about what might have happened while they were alone.

    "We''ll talk about itter." The Tyrant gave her the secret gesture that signaled to don''t ask questions. "Now follow me. It''s easier to show than to tell."

    R had to keep her hand on the wall so that the Gate would stay open, letting pass one person at a time. She brought Faluel, Friya, Syrah, and her court.

    The Hydra took a good look at theboratories and checked several pages from various times while everyone else gave up after a first nce.

    "I don''t even know how to turn this thing on." Friya pointed at the Forgemastering circle.

    "Me neither." Faluel said while flipping the pages of a recently written tome. "But I''m confident that I can decipher the code. It''s always the same and since runes cannot be altered, I can already tell what book is about what.

    "Yet to understand what the spells do and how, I need time."

    "Which is something we don''t have." The Hati Queen said. "Thanks for your offer to help us, but even with the food from the raids we won''tst long. If there''s no immediate solution to our problem, our only choice is to rely on the Undead Courts.

    "I don''t want to sound ungrateful to you, but I have to ask you guys to leave. You can take away the books since they have no use to us, but we''ll keep everything stored in the vaults aspensation for our suffering.

    "We will need it if, once the undead crack the Harmonizers, they uphold their word and share the crafting method with us." Syrah sighed, herst hope shattering.

    "What if I offered you an alternative?" Faluel asked. "What if I told you that there might be a way to avoid the culls entirely and keep your people rtively safe until we found a solution?"

    "I''d say that I''ve stopped believing in miracles after my stay at the Gardens of Time robbed me of my youth." The Hati Queen replied with a snort. "Also, in my experience, either something is safe or it''s not.

    "A sword is rtively safe, but that only means that it''s not aimed at you, yet."

    "Point taken." The Hydra raised her palms. "It wouldn''t really be safe. More like a battlefield, but at least you wouldn''t suffer from hunger anymore and your people would die for a cause rather than because they have no alternative."

    "We die for a cause and we do it because we have no alternative. What''s the difference-" Syrah''s eyes zed with mana and fury when her friend, Urhen the Balor, grabbed her shoulder to calm her down.

    "Since we are already here, we might as well listen to what she has to say. Even getting rid of the rites of passage and allowing our children to grow normally would be a great change.

    "Xagra is out for less than a day. It''s not toote for him." Urhen waved her hand, bringing a few chairs close so that everyone could sit down and rx.

    "Very well." The Hati Queen closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself. "Speak, Hydra, but talk lightly about the lives of my people again and I''ll kill you all even if it means drawing the Council here."

    "Okay." Faluel nodded. "First things first. Do you know Jiera?"

    "No. What''s that?" There was a tinge of annoyance in Syrah''s voice, but it wasn''t addressed at the Hydra.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Verhen, Forgemastery, and now this. How many things have Glemos kept hidden from us to ensure ourpliance and how many more have the Undead Courts glossed over to make us dependent on them?'' The more she learned, the more the deal with the undead sounded fishy.

    Faluel established a mind link to conjure a map of Mogar and then of the continents of Garlen and Jiera. She could have used holograms, but she preferred to avoid exining how she had learned the art of Light Mastery that allegedly only trolls possessed and demons had stolen.

    ''I can''t believe it!'' Br''ey the orc shaman blurted out in surprise. ''Is there really so muchnd outside Zelex?''

    ''Actually, that''s Garlen.'' Faluel kept her tone neutral, trying not to offend her hosts. ''We are in the Griffon Kingdom.''

    She drew the borders to the Empire and the Desert, cutting them off from the map and the monster gasped, realizing that their territory was just one-third of the whole.

    ''Zelex is located in the Remana Region which is just a fraction of the Kingdom.'' A tiny blinking dot appeared, quickly surrounded by the borders of the region while the rest of the map faded in the background.

    ''That''s it?'' Syrah couldn''t believe her own mind. ''Is that all we amount to? A mere patch ofnd?''

    ''No, your city is the dot.'' Faluel zoomed in, letting rivers, ins, and cities appear on the map.

    It took the monsters a few minutes to recover from the discovery of how insignificant their existence was. Once they calmed down, the Hydra told them about the gue that had been unleashed upon Jiera, the disappearance of the human race, and the rise of the monster tides.

    ''I can''t assure you anything since I''ve yet to talk with the Awakened Council, but here''s my idea. We''ll split your people between mana geysers in Jiera so they can keep their unfallen state and slow down the aging process.

    ''The local Council will provide you with everything you need to establish your settlements and food. In exchange, you have to protect the magical and natural resources for them.

    ''It means that you can use crystals and metals if you need them to fight or for your research but everything else belongs to the Council. Also, you have to help keep the monster poption in check and prevent the formation of monster tides.''

    ''Are you asking us to exterminate our own kin?'' Br''ey asked in disgust.

    ''Better than exterminating your own blood like now. Also, if you can deal with them without killing them, be my guest.'' Faluel shrugged. ''But I doubt they would let you go without a fight the moment they smell your food.''

    ''Let me get this straight.'' Syrah said while pondering the issue with the collective brainpower of her tribe. ''If we ept your offer, we''ll be split and sent to another continent.

    ''There, we will be free to live and grow our numbers but we will be also forced to fight on a daily basis. You are asking us to bet everything on the hope that thanks to our reproductive abilities and powers we''ll lose fewer people than are born.''

    ''Correct.'' Faluel nodded. ''Yet it wouldn''t be just on you. You''d getmunication amulets and the Council would help you. They have no interest in getting you wiped out. The monster tides are a threat to everyone, not just you.''

    ''Let''s assume that you are right and that you are not just sending us to the ughter.'' Syrah snarled. ''What happens when there are no more monsters to kill in the area and our numbers once again exceed what thend can sustain?''

 Chapter 2563 Poisoned Chalices (Part 1)

    2563 Poisoned Chalices (Part 1)

    "Easy. Once your people overpopte a pacified area, they get split again and move to a new settlement.'' Faluel replied. ''Jiera is very big and most of it is now uninhabited. There''s plenty of space for you and plenty of monsters to fight.

    The idea is to establish self-sufficient fortresses over the mana geysers at the fringes of the known monster tides. From there your people will whittle them over time with coordinated attacks from every side.

    "The monsters tribes thatprise the tide will be slowly surrounded and decimated until they no longer pose a threat to the bnce.''

    ''And what if we actually seed? What will happen when there will be no more enemies to fight and no more geysers for us to inhabit?" The Hati Queen''s mind felt cold and sharp as the winter''s wind.

    "You didn''t let me get to that.'' Faluel replied. "I n on keeping those of you with a Harmonizer here on Garlen so that during all that time we can research Glemos'' work and find a way to mass produce them.

    "It''s not something I would be doing on my own. The member of the Awakened Council would pool their resources to find a solution. After we crack the code, there should be plenty of time to produce new Harmonizers before your numbers be a problem again.''

    "So, you are basically asking us to let you divide and conquer us.'' Syrah replied. "You''ll be keeping the leaders of Zelex hostage in Garlen while the rest of us would be sent to Jiera to fight a war that has nothing to do with us.

    ''How is this any better than the Undead Court''s offer?''

    ''It''s not divide and conquer, but necessity. Faluel shook her head. ''Garlen is still suffering from a prolonged famine. Here there simply aren''t the resources necessary to sustain your people whereas in Jiera there''s an abundance of food.

    "You are free to take the undead''s offer, but know this. Even assuming they won''t backstab you, the moment the ck market can''t provide enough food for your ever-increasing popce, you''ll be forced to either resort to the culls or raid cities again.

    ''Either way, you''ll be forced to spill blood because no one will give up on their provisions without a fight. If you resort to the former, your people will be doomed to perform mass suicide while if you pick thetter, you''ll keep making new enemies that will hunt you down.

    "If you go to Jiera, instead, you would be earning your food and your rightful ce under the sun. People are bound to fall in battle, sure, but the rest would be safe and the wounded would receive care from the local Awakened.

    ''Also, you wouldn''t be isted. Communication amulets will allow your colonies to keep in touch with them and join their forces if necessary. You and the other member of the senate with a Harmonizer would be kept here simply because Garlen''s Council doesn''t trust Roghar.

    ''His wed research led to your fall and there''s no telling what the Guardian of Mana might do with a device that can alter life forces, crystals, and enchanted metals. Also, our continent is now peaceful and we can focus on research whereas Jiera is struggling for survival.

    ''I see.'' Syrah pondered the Hydra''s words.

    The reasoning was solid but there was still ack of trust between them that poisoned the Hati Queen''s mind.

    ''How many Harmonizers should we surrender for your research? Unfortunately for her, the one offered by the undead was a poisoned chalice as well. Both potential allies could backstab the monsters at any time and leave them for dead.

    Her best option was to choose the deal that sucked less and ally herself with those who had more to lose by her people''s demise.

    "None" Faluel replied, making Syrah''s eyes go wide in surprise. There is no Forgemastering spell that requires an artifact not to be imprinted in order to examine it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It''s enough for the Forgemaster to have ess to the artifact and its owner to bepliant. The only reason the undead had to demand some Harmonizers is to wear them themselves and modify them to suit their own life force.

    "Those bastards lied to us!" The Hati Queen snarled while instinctively touching the cor on her neck.

    ''Indeed. Faluel nodded. ''Harmonizers have no value for the Council except for increasing the production of our crystal and metal mines. Our life forces are already stable so unlike the undead, we are notpetition.

    "It sounds good, but is it good enough to put our lives in the hands ofplete strangers? After all, we''ve met for less than a day! Urhen the Balor pointed out.

    "By itself, no, but consider what we have to lose in case something happens to you! Faluel replied. "The crisis in Jiera is real and without help, it''s only a matter of time before the Council is overwhelmed by the monster tides.

    "If I wanted to just exterminate you, why make it soplicated? All I had to do was to run away after the fight and send a distress signal. The Council forces would arrive and ughter everyone.

    ''On top of that, the Harmonizers represent an incredible opportunity not only to elerate the production of our magical resources, but also to solve the threat of the fallen races forever.

    "Last, but not least, Balors are a sessful evolution of the human race and Fomors are another step forward. I can assure you that the human Council will do everything they can to help you simply because they want to be like you.

    "Your death would mean for the humans to losing the first solid lead in millennia to finally fill the gap with the Emperor Beasts and gain the bloodline abilities they are sorelycking.''

    You make excellent points but this is still too sudden.'' Syrah said. ''We''d like to take a few days to discuss it and weigh our options.''

    "Not a problem.'' Morok interjected before Faluel could say anything. I''m going to take a single book since the code is always the same. I''m going to leave everything else here as a sign of good faith.''

    Then, he took twomunication amulets out of his pocket and shared his rune with them.

    "Take your time and let us know when you''ve made up your mind. He gave the first to Syrah who tried and failed to use it. ''Just take one step out of the arrays and it will work.''

    Then, while Faluel exchanged hermunication rune as well, he turned to R and handed the second one to her.

    "If there''s anything you need, and I mean anything, just get outside for a second and give me a call. I''lle running.''

    "Thank you so much!'' The Fomor embracing him surprised no one.

    The Tyrant returning the embrace left quite an impression, instead. Friya worried about what had happened during the time they had remained alone and how that would affect Quy.

    Yet she said nothing while they walked out of Zelex, limiting herself to a re that seemed to bore through the Tyrant''s back until reached the meeting point with the others and made sure that no one was following them.

 Chapter 2564 Poisoned Chalices (Part 2)

    2564 Poisoned Chalices (Part 2)

    "What the heck was that lovey-dovey act with that Fomor?" Friya beat Faluel to the punch, speaking first the moment they reached the artificial cave where Lith and the others were waiting for them. "I get that it''s your legacy we are talking about, but we all risked our lives for this.

    "I don''t care about their sob story. Those monsters are still a bunch of murderous bastards that tonight will dine on the people of the Kingdom. Are you really so dumb that you can''t hold it in your pants the moment a beautiful woman makes her move on you?"

    "What woman?" Quy asked while staring at Morok.

    His expression was serious like she had never seen him before but there was no hint of shame or guilt on his face.

    "This would take too long with words so please give me your hand." The Tyrant took Quy''s hand and pped Friya''s away. "This is about my family. I''m going to discuss it with my fianc¨¦e first and then with you guys."

    A mind link and a full exnationter, Quy went pale.

    "Good gods." She said while conjuring a rock to sit down. "Feel free to tell them everything. I just need a bit of time to recover."

    A second mind linkter, Lith was sitting next to Quy and was no less pale than her.

    Garrik''s story hit him even worse than Morok.

    An abusive father, a protective older brother, and a helpless little brother were the story of Derek McCoy''s'' life. He was so upset that his human body twitched from time to time and part of it shapeshifted into one of his other forms.

    ''Calm down, Lith.'' Solus spread her aura in the telepathic equivalent of a warm embrace to soothe his restless spirit. "That boy is not Carl and he is currently safe. Glemos is already dead and can''t hurt him anymore.''

    Her words both calmed his nerves and made him wish that Ajatar had killed Glemos slowly instead of giving him a quick death.

    ''Even if the monsters reject our offer, we can always set a meeting with R and escort her and Garrik to safety. Whatever you decide to do, I''ll help you however I can, even if that means revealing the tower''s existence to Morok.''

    "Thanks, Solus, but that shouldn''t be necessary. Lith sighed, slowly regaining his cool.

    I never thought I''d say this, but thank the gods Elysia is not a boy.'' She thought in a corner of her mind, where Lith couldn''t hear her. "I can''t imagine what would happen if anything close to a threat were to befall the baby and trigger Lith''s trauma.''

    "Listen, kid, I''m sorry for your little brother, I really am, but-"

    "You did the right thing." Lith cut Ajatar short and made everyone else gasp in surprise. "If you need help busting Garrik out of Zelex, you can count on me."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Thanks, but it would be too dangerous." Morok shook his head. "First, the two of us aren''t enough to keep thousands of monsters at bay and protect a child at the same time. Second, then what?

    "You heard R. If Garrik steps outside of the mana geyser even for one second before he reaches adulthood, his life force could fail to stabilize forever. On top of that, even if Zelex wasn''t surrounded by a spacepressing array, the nearest mana geyser is too far away for a Spirit Steps.

    "We''d need a Warping array, but all it takes to shut it down is an ore shaman with a crystal or a Balor''s wings."

    Can we do it with a Tower Warp, Solus? Lith asked.

    Assuming that we have enough space and privacy to conjure it, maybe. There''s no telling if the tower core can overpower the arrays nor if there''s enough world energy avable to do it.

    The Tyrants devised Zelex so that not even a single speck of energy can escape its premises. It''s possible that the tower can''t tap into the geyser at all so I wouldn''t rely on it until we made sure.

    "This is a mess." Quy whimpered, holding her head between her hands. "It will likely screw up the whole ceremony."

    "I''m sorry, babe, but our marriage will have to be postponed until I don''t find a solution for this issue." Morok knelt down, taking her hands into his own. "I don''t give a damn about Jiera, the Harmonizers, and even the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy but I can''t leave the kid in the Undead Court''s hands.

    "Let''s be real, if the monsters side with the undead, Garrik will be the first to be sacrificed for his Harmonizer. Everyone will hate him just because he''s Glemos'' son."

    "I said ceremony, not marriage, silly." Quy cupped his face while looking him in the eyes. "I was thinking about all the hoops we''ll have to jump through to let your brother attend. Also, exining how I''ve gotten myself a mother and a brother-inw at thest minute is bound to cause a scandal."

    "Inw?" Morok echoed.

    "I know that R isn''t your mother, but if you want to make Garrik part of your life she has to be included as well. Passing her for your mother would ensure them both the safety they need and avoid exining yourplicated family tree to the rest of the Kingdom."

    "Damn, woman, R was right." Morok embraced her, happy that she was not only willing to ept Garrik in their family but she was also including him in their ns for the future. "You two are really going to get along."

    The group left the couple a few minutes before scolding Morok again.

    "As I was saying, you screwed a perfect n real good, kid." Ajatar said. "The copsed tunnel and the demons were meant to destroy away."

    "I know it was a gamble, but what else were we supposed to do?" Ajatar said. "The monsters had already epted the deal with the undead. There was no time to slowly earn their trust.

 Chapter 2565 Poisoned Chalices (Part 3)

    2565 Poisoned Chalices (Part 3)

    "If we waited too long, the monsters would have culled their numbers and delivered the Harmonizers to the Courts. At that point, we would have been forced to call in the Council. Rather than let such precious artifacts fall into the undead''s hands it''s better to destroy them." The Drake sighed.

    "I think that you are both right." Lith said. "That''s why I think Syrah and her court will ept our offer. Yet unless we tell them the whole truth, it''s bound to backfire to the point that things might get ugly in the near future."

    "Are you really suggesting to tell them that we massacred hundreds of their people just to get an audience with the Queen?" Ajatar asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Pray tell, how can that do us any good?"

    "For starters, don''t forget that the children of Glemos are nothing like us. They are used to throwing away their lives to get food and to limit the number of mouths to feed so even a massacre won''t ruffle their feathers if it''s for a good reason.

    "We could even argue that they have massacred hundreds of "our" people during both raids, yet we aren''t holding them ountable for that. The least they can do is return us the favor."

    "Also, you have to consider that Syrah and her court have long unveiled the truth about Glemos and the fall of their respective races. The only reason they kept with the fa?ade was because their people needed hope.

    "This wouldn''t be any different. We''d tell the truth only to the senate in order to garner their trust and give them the tools to spin together a lie that their people can ept.

    "Otherwise there would always be the risk of an internal struggle between those loyal to the Queen and those who follow the high priestess/Warlord. Last, but not least, our ruse worked because Glemos kept the monsters isted.

    "Once they start living on the surface and discover that there are no demons aside from those I conjure, how long do you think will take them to understand the truth?"

    "There''s also the issue of Tista''s... whatever it''s called." Faluel said. "Unless she hides under a rock or never uses her new form in public, sooner orter Syrah and the others will see her picture in the interlink, connect the dots,and get royally pissed off.

    "At that point, things are bound to go south and the only question will be how badly it''s going to end. If the monsters refuse to cooperate, they will be massacred or turned into unwillingly test subjects.

    "The situation in Jiera would be much worse, with the children of Glemos added to the already numerous threats the local Council has to deal with. As for Syrah and the others, they might rather die and destroy their Harmonizers than submit to someone they consider another Glemos.

    "We have already seen it happen with Echidna and unless we want to let history repeat itself, we have to y our cards better this time."

    "I agree with Faluel and I want to add one more thing" Morok said. "For their whole lives, those people have been victims of my father''s maniptions and lies. We can''t expect to be treated any different from Glemos if we act the same way as him."

    ***

    City of Zelex, Queen Syrah''s private quarters, right after Morok and his group left.

    "I think their offer is really good." Br''ey said. "Much better than the Undead Court''s. I think we should ept it."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It''s too good. That''s why I didn''t ept it Syrah shook her head. "We''ve killed the gods know how many humans and razed their cities, yet the woman in the group acted as if it was none of her business."

    "Also, there''s the matter of the timing. Our people spent centuries in here without seeing a single demon. Months have passed since Glemos'' disappearance and the very same day we get swarmed by demons his heir finds us. It smells fishy."

    "Just because you fail to recognize god Glemos greater n doesn''t mean there isn''t one." R said with her best holier-than-thou attitude. "We were in crisis and ready to spill the blood of our kin so he delivered the answer to our prayers.

    "Like thete King Ikara said, he sacrificed his life to buy time for the return of our god and we got the next best thing. Refusing the deal would be spitting on his valiant sacrifice."

    "Don''t drag my husband into this, you wench!" Syrah growled, her eyes lit with the power of hundreds of warg. "There''s no one here to listen to your sermons but us four and if you weren''t the new Warlord, I wouldn''t have even brought you along.

    "So drop your sanctimonious act and say something that actually makes sense."

    "Fine." The high priestess unfurled her wings charging them to the brim with world energy and activating her six eyes to match the threat of the Queen to the best of her abilities.

    "Let''s say that everything you suspect is right. What are you going to do? Take the offer of the undead? At least we suspect that Lord Morok is lying whereas we know that the Undead Courts are lying.

    "Whatever we do, we''ll end up at the mercy of one faction or another. Both of them can turn on us and ughter us at any moment and you know it. Yet while the undead are only interested in the Harmonizers, the Awakened also need our help.

    "They need us and in numbers whereas dealing with the Courts will require us to kill three-quarters of our poption. The Courts ask us to cut our own limbs and to step out of our house right when we are going to be at our weakest.

    "The Awakened are asking us to die for their cause, true, but most of us are bound to die anyway, and for what? To hole ourselves deep below the ground until we are forced to move again.

    "Even if the undead actually uphold their word and study the Harmonizers for us, how are we going to pay for their help the next time we are forced to run away from the people we''ve robbed and murdered?"

    "If we follow the Awakened, we''ll earn our spot under the sun a ce to call home. A ce where our children can happily grow with their parents instead of living in fear of the day when they will be robbed of their youth."

    "Your words would hold a great allure if not for the fact that you are overlooking a fatal w of Morok''s offer due to your zealotry." Syrah said with a snarl, her open hostility aimed to curb the hopes of her court before they became unable of distinguishing dreams from reality.

    She needed them to keep their feet grounded and their minds open to all possibilities, not to be so enraptured by the utopia painted by Lyra that their vote would be just an extension of the Warlord''s.

    "If you are wrong and this is just a trap, we''ll allow ourselves to be split into dozens of smaller groups that will be sent to another continent where they will be much more easily exterminated."

 Chapter 2566 Poisoned Chalices (Part 4)

    2566 Poisoned Chalices (Part 4)

    "The Hydra, even assuming that she really works with the Council and not just for herself, will keep those of us with a Harmonizer here on Garlen, instead. It''s a perfect setup to either enve us just like Glemos did. To use us as hostages to force our brethren to take part in the war and us to undergo their experiments.

    "You are asking us to take a massive leap of faith based on your delusion about Glemos'' grandeur and your clear infatuation with his offspring."

    "Everything you''ve said is true, my Queen." R''s voice held no spite or taunt. "What I''m proposing is indeed a great gamble that might doom us all."

    The court was as bbergasted as Syrah, having a hard time believing their own ears while listening to a meek Warlord caving across the board.

    "But what''s the alternative? Either we stay here and wait for our death, or we follow the undead and put ourselves in equally unreliable hands. To make matters worse, doing that would require us to kill all of our elders and force our children to be adults before moving out of Zelex."

    Any monster past their prime was considered dead weight while younglings would require constant attention. Both were a liability that the monsters couldn''t afford while moving to a hostile environment.

    Yet while the children could be turned into adults, elders would only get older and weaker. The monsters couldn''t afford to waste food on unproductive members of their society nor waste what little time they had taken care of them.

    The elders knew it as well and that was the reason they had volunteered for the raids as soon as food had be scarce. Those who had survived the mission had already volunteered to be the first to be culled.

    "There''s no safe choice." R continued after her words sunk in. "Only bets that will make us shed blood in different ways. Yet if I have to choose between being afraid of the undead, constantly looking over our shoulder, and the hope for a definitive peace, I choose hope.

    At a snap of her fingers, the doors of the chamber opened, letting in the children of the members of the court that the Warlord had recalled from the Gardens of Time. Only a few hours had passed after the rites of passage so they hadn''t aged much.

    "Mom!" The younglings screamed as they ran to their respective mothers.

    The members of the court embraced them without a care of the Warlord''s tant breach of thew. That day had yet to end but lots of blood had already been spilled twice and more would soon be shed based on the court''s soon-to-be taken decision.

    Both parents and children burst into tears, knowing that the joy of the reunion would be fleeting. Lyra stared at them in envy, wishing that Garrik was there with her, but his safety took priority over her feelings.

    "Remember that if we ept Morok''s offer, our kids won''t be forced to sacrifice their youth. Unlike the undead, the Council can use dimensional magic and bring us to our destination without the need to travel on foot to another mana geyser.

    "Also, I''m hopeful, not dumb. There''s onest card that we can y with the Council that has no weight for the undead. Let me exin and then make up your mind."

    ***

    City of Lutia, Lith''s house, at the same time.

    Morok had left the book about the Harmonizers with Ajatar to decipher it. The Drake had asked the Hydra for help and she had reluctantly epted. Her n was to borrow the book and then move to the tower.

    There, bybining the effects of the Armory to share the effects of the Yggdrasill wood of the Sage Staff, the Eyes of Menadion, and her seven heads, she was certain that cracking the code would take days instead of weeks, if not months.

    s, Lith begged to differ.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The moment I proposed to him to do that, he gave me such a re that I thought he was about to bite my head off. Faluel inwardly sighed. I''ve forgotten that with Elysia on her way, keeping Lith away from his family is not an option.''

    Protector had run home as well, eager to check on Selia''s condition and if the sharing of his newfound bloodline ability had any kind of side effect on her or the children.

    Morok felt like shit and despite the sess of the n, he couldn''t even bear to look at Lith.

    The ughter he had perpetrated and thepleteck of guilt he showed were nothing new, but this time Lith had done it for Morok and this weighed heavily on the Tyrant''s conscience.

    He had gone home with Quy, the only silver lining was the idea that bying clean with the children of Glemos and seeding in giving them a better life, maybe he would be capable of looking at himself in the mirror again.

    Maybe.

    "We''re home!" Lith opened the door of his house, receiving a warm wee from all the members of his family despite thete hour. "We bring big news. And when I say big, I mean both in a literal and figurative sense."

    He pointed with his thumb at Tista who pped him on the shoulder with such strength that it made him stumble. Raaz and Elina noticed it, but they thought it was just Lith keeping his act as usual and pretending to weigh like a regr human instead of like a Divine Beast.

    "That''s not funny!" Tista flushed in embarrassment. "Those are notments that a sister wants to hear from her own brother about her body."

    "I was talking about your weight." Lith pointed at the deep footprints she had left outside and at the creaking of the wooden floor due to her poor control over gravity fusion. "Why are you so flustered?"

    "I thought you were talking about my b-"The memory of the incident with the scales showing him and Ajatar way more than Tista wasfortable with made her blush harder.

    Then, she realized that her family had no need to know about her blunder and quickly changed the topic.

    "I mean, that''s still not funny! You shouldn''t make fun of ady''s weight."

    "What about your weight?" Raaz scratched his head in confusion. "You look the same as when you left this morning, maybe even thinner.

    It wasn''t true, but he had learned

    from experience that apliment would ease whatever was troubling his daughter.

    "Thanks, Dad." She chuckled. "But it''s quite the opposite. I finally solved my problems with my life forces."

    "Do you mean that you guys seeded in putting your hands on a Harmonizer?" Elina looked at Tista''s neck, inwardly sighing in relief when she noticed there was nothing.

    ''My children are already been unfairly treated due to their beast nature. Getting a metal cor like a dog is thest thing my daughter needs. She actually thought.

    "No. I let my three sides fuse into one and now I am a... What am I, exactly?" She turned toward Lith, at a loss for words.

 Chapter 2567 Blood Bonds (Part 1)

    2567 Blood Bonds (Part 1)

    "A Bigger Redder Demon!" He raised his arms, conjuring the hologram of a shower of confetti and a huge blinking insignia which said the atrocious name.

    "Anything but that!" Tista turned pale, noticing the hrity in the room one second toote.

    Everyone wasughing, showing no sign of concern for her new condition or surprise about her choice.

    "Wait, you knew?" She looked at her parents, her siblings, and the children who all rushed to congratte her. "How? I mean, I didn''t know it myself."

    "It wasn''t so hard, dear." Raaz patted her head. "We assumed that you would have either followed in your brother''s footsteps as usual or chosen to retain your human side. If you had turned into a Dragon or a Phoenix, that would have been surprising."

    "Yeah." Sark sighed, slightly annoyed at her bloodline being mistreated like that. "Especially considering that if you choose to merge your life forces, you should be able to turn into multiple forms like Lith does."

    "Can you turn into a Phoenix?" Aran''s eyes sparkled with excitement. "Dragons are cool but we already have big brother for that. Phoenixes are cool as well and they also sing with a celestial voice."

    "Well said, young man." Sark puffed her chest out with pride. "Also, what do you call yourself? Because if that thing about the Bigger Redder Demon is true, you and I need to have a talk about creativity."

    "I have no idea." Tista shrugged. "I was too worried to be bothered with naming something that I might have not even gotten before actually seeing it. Heck, I''ve no idea how many forms I got either."

    "Only one way to find out." Leria tried to push Tista out of the door, her small shoes squeaking on the floor from the futile effort that was soon joined by Aran.

    "What''s the rush, kids?" Tista ruffled their hair. "This can wait until tomorrow."

    "No, it can''t." Leria shook her head with determination. "Everyone already knows what Elysia will look like because she will take after Uncle Lith. Aran and I don''t know what we will look like because we take from Grandma and Grandpa, like you."

    "Mom and Dad!" Aran corrected her, hating those terms because they made his parents sound old.

    "Why are you angry?" Leria couldn''t

    understand his reaction. "Sark is our Grandma as well, she''s way older than your parents, and yet she looks amazing!"

    "What do you mean, yet?" Sark furrowed her brows amid the general hrity.

    "No offense, Grandma, but everyone past sixteen is old." Aran bowed apologetically to her. "You can''t have kids of your own and still call yourself a kid. All parents are grown up, hence old people"

    "Are you telling me that you consider your big brother an old coot as well?" The Guardian couldn''t refute the childish logic so she attempted a deflection.

    "Well, yeah: Aran shrugged. "But he''s giving me a niece so it''s worth it."

    "Hey!" Lith didn''t like that argument one bit. The idea of soon bing a parent already weighed heavily on his mind and the fact that his little ones considered him an old man made it even worse.

    "If I''m old, then what about..." He was about to point at Kam, but he instantly realized that she would have either burst into tears or killed him. Maybe both.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Throwing his parents under the bus was out of the question.

    Their ever-dwindling life force despite all of his efforts was one of the things that kept him awake at night. They were in perfect health, but without Awakening, even an untreated cold might kill them.

    I would like to point out that Tista is older than me even though she has no kids, but thest thing she needs while she has yet toe to terms with her new condition is being called a spinster or an old bat. I''ll take the safe route" He thought.

    "Grampa Leegaain?" Lith conjured the 9hologram of the Father of all Dragons. "I''ve yet to have my first daughter whereas he has countless children.

    "What? Speak louder, I can''t hear you." Leegaain appeared out of thin air, looking like a decrepit old man.

    He was sitting on a rocking chair, his legs covered by a heavy nket. A hand was on his ear, pretending to be hard of hearing, while the other held a handkerchief into which he coughed a few times.

    "Grampa Leegaain!" While everyoneughed at the performance, the kids ran to him and started to bawl their eyes out. "What happened to you? Don''t die, please."

    "I''m not dying!" He immediately reverted to his usual appearance, that of an albino man in his early thirties. "It was a joke. A Guardian can look however he wants."

    Despite his youthful form, soothing tone, and plenty of reassurances, it took him a while to calm them down. By the time he seeded, the mood was ruined and Sark stared at him with such a fiery gaze that he wouldn''t have been surprised if his clothes suddenly caught fire.

    "Nice move, jackass.'' She told him via a mind link. "Now y along or as soon as we are alone, I''m going to kick your ass."

    "It''s past midnight and it''s my turn with Kami today. What are you doing here?" Sark actually said while bringing Shargein into the fold to distract the children.

    The infant wyrmling was already as big as Aran and had his big eyes sleepy since he had been awoken from his nap. His cute cooing and the puffs of smoke he produced while yawning made Aran and Leria forget about the earlier scare.

    "The same thing you are doing" He promptly replied. "Our descendant has embraced her heritage and has be the first of a new species of Demons. It''s only natural for me to bear witness to the life force born from the fusion of our bloodlines."

    "Don''t you mean a new race?" Tista countered soberly. "Whatever I am, I''m not a Tiamat, that''s for sure."

    "I know, but that''s not the point." Leegaain shook his head. "It''s safe to assume that a Demon is born from the fusion of the human, Phoenix, and Dragon bloodlines while a Tiamat also needs the Abomination side due to Lith''s unique condition.

    "Also, Mogar called him the Father of All Demons, not the Father of all Tiamats, which means that not all of his descendants will inherit his Abomination powers. For all we know, Elysia is the exception, not the rule. We need more babies, I mean data."

    "Fine." Tista was slightly annoyed at the idea of being once again under Lith''s shadow, but all that talking about the possibility of her having four forms as well made her curious. "Let''s move outside. I need space."

    ''If I have a separate Phoenix and Dragon form, maybe I can get the bloodline abilities of both species as my mana core progress. Even with just Dragon Eyes and Call of the Blood, I would be as powerful Lith even without Solus and his Demons! She inwardly crossed her fingers.

    Sark snapped her fingers, bringing everyone to the Blood Desert.

    "Why here, Grandma?" Tista asked.

 Chapter 2568 Blood Bonds (Part 2)

    2568 Blood Bonds (Part 2)

    "First, the sun is already high in my country so everyone will be able to take a good look at you without the need for spells. Also, you need privacy." The Guardian pointed at the bright sky and then at the vast empty space around them.

    "Everyone knows you live in Lutia and there are bound to be scouts and spies everywhere around your house. There''s no point in revealing your new forms and powers to the rest of Mogar unless it''s absolutely necessary.

    "If people keep thinking of you as Tista Verhen, so will your enemies. The moment they make a move, they''ll discover that they are facing the Bigger Redder Demon and be unprepared to face your wrath."

    "I agree with your logic and appreciate your concern, but I swear to the gods that if that name catches on, I''ll disown all those who said it." Tista shuddered, cringing at the idea of her species being branded with such an obnoxious title.

    First, she focused on her life force as a whole, growing into a 20 meters (66") tall scaled humanoid creature covered in thick red scales and with two sets of wings. The first was covered in silver-veined red feathers while the second set bore snow-white feathers.

    "Cool!" The kids said in unison, running over Tista''s foot to get a feel of her talons and knock on her scales.

    "Are you naked?" Raaz felt awkward looking from below to the lumps on his own daughter''s chest. "Do you want me to turn around?"

    Tista lowered her gaze in panic, afraid of having flexed the retractable scales again. Both her sets of wings went aze in embarrassment.

    "Dad! You gave me a heart attack" She sighed in relief and her feathers returned to normal. "I''m just like Lith. This is how I normally look now. My scales cover me at all times."

    "Almost at all times." Lith said amid a fit of pretend cough so that only Kam and the Guardians could hear him.

    "You didn''t tell your parents?" She whispered in his ear.

    "Would you discuss your anatomic details with yours?" Lith whispered back, obtaining a firm no in reply.

    "Remarkable." Leegaain was already an expert in such matters and could easily distinguish the fixed scales from the rest. Yet such silly details were of no interest to him. "You both have inherited my scales and Sark''s feathers plus one set of wings from each one of us.

    "I''m a bit disappointed that your beautiful Dragon wings are covered with pillow stuffing, though."

    "And I''m a bit disappointed she hasn''t a beak nor enough feathers, instead." Sark said with a snort. "With those horns and tails, she''s more Dragon than Phoenix."

    *Do you really need to ruin this for me with your measuring contest?" Tista snarled. "I could use a little more appreciation and a little less disappointment."

    "Sorry." The Guardians said in unison while elbowing and shifting the me on each other.

    "I''m in no mood for training and there has been no change in my human form so I''ll move straight to answer the question in everyone''s mind." Tista closed her eyes, using her breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze, to listen to the melody of her life forces.

    She focused on the deep violet of the Divine Beast, going deeper and deeper in search of any indication that it wasprised of two different tunes. She listened for a while, studying her beast side in search of the familiar traits of her Dragon and Phoenix half.

    "Damn, it seems I have only three sides." Tista said. "My Divine Beast life forces merged into one and I''m afraid that any attempt of splitting them would undo whatever I''ve be."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    As she focused on her beast side, her whole body burst into silver mes while shapeshifting into a new form.

    The creature in front of the Verhens stood on all fours like a Dragon, but it had bird ws and feet. Its body was covered in silver scales and had two sets of zing-red feathered wingsing out respectively of its shoulder des and hips.

    A long silver tail extended from the small of its back with golden train feathers on its end identical to those of a Phoenix. On its snout, there were seven eyes alight with the power of the elements and a blood-red jagged beak.

    "Not what I was expecting." Tista tried to stand up on her hind legs but failed to bnce herself with the tail, crashing on the ground with a boom of thunder. "Mostly because I''ve never seen anything like this. What am I?"

    "I have no clue." A wave of Leegaain''s hand scattered the sandstorm that the impact had caused and helped Tista to get up without triggering another with the ps of her wings. "I''ve never seen a four-legged Phoenix either."

    "I''m so proud of you, darling!" Sark joined the kids in hugging Tista''s foot.

    The Overlord also activated her Blood Imprint bloodline ability, turning the silver scales into feathers and covering the entire Verhen family but Elina and Senton in feathers as well.

    "Now you are perfect." Sark said with a sniffle while Elina stared at Leegaain who in turn looked at Senton.

    "Don''t worry about me." The cksmith shrugged and hugged Rena. "I made my peace with this. I prefer spending my life with a gorgeous Phoenix than wasting my time wishing I had wings."

    Rena returned the embrace and tried to kiss him, but her feathers tickled him so much that Senton burst intoughter which spoiled the romantic mood.

    "Thanks." Leegaain took Elina''s hand, covering one-third of her skin with a mix of red and yellow-veined orange scales to not make her feel left out like after the Dragon Dance.

    "Wait, why does Kam get feathers while I don''t?" Elina pointed at her daughter-inw and then at herself. "How can my baby not have a drop of Phoenix blood?"

    Raaz and Elina had never witnessed the effect of Blood Imprint on Kam so they had always assumed that it didn''t work on unborn babies. Now that they knew the truth, however, they were afraid of the answer to that question.

    Elina knew to have never cheated on Raaz so it could only mean that something was wrong with the baby while her husband was worried by both hypotheses.

    "She has Phoenix blood alright." Sark rolled up Elina''s sleeves, revealing a few tiny little golden feathers that could be easily mistaken for body hair unless one looked very up close. "The problem, so to say, it''s you, dear."

    "What do you mean?" Raaz asked, more scared than ever at the idea that his wife suffered from an illness that not even Sark could heal. "Is it the Strangler? Can''t you fix her?"

    "Please!" Sark poked at his chest in outrage. "Do you really think so poorly of me that you believe that I''ve kept you under my roof and lived under yours for so long without taking care of *my* blood?"

    "I''m sorry, Mom." Raaz raised his hands in apology. "I was just scared."

    "You better be. Sorry, I mean. There''s no reason to be scared." Sark softened up immediately, reminding herself that he was a young, ignorant baby. "When I said there''s a problem with Elina, I wasn''t referring to her health but her blood."

 Chapter 2569 Blood Bonds (Part 3)

    2569 Blood Bonds (Part 3)

    "What''s wrong with my blood and how is it affecting my baby girl?" Elina stared at the tiny feathers on her arms and then lifted her skirt a bit to check her legs, feeling like her own body had betrayed her.

    "Again, if there was anything dangerous for you or the baby, I would have healed it right after conception, back when you moved to my pce to escape from the Kingdom." Sark rolled her eyes at their hard-headedness.

    "You guys are just forgetting that the bond between mother and child during pregnancy works both ways. The baby girl is a part of you and the Dragon blood in your veins also courses through her body. It amplifies Leegaain''s influence and smothers the effects of the Blood Imprint.

    "Kam, instead, carries no bloodline so Elysia reacts to my ability without suffering from any interference while Rena possesses both the Dragon and the Phoenix bloodline by herself.

    "Were she pregnant, she would amplify them both and turn temporarily into a hybrid. Do you really think that those scales on your body belong to your baby or those feathers on Kam''s to Elysia?" Sark pointed at the women''s skin.

    "A newborn Dragon''s scales are as small as a fish''s while a Phoenix chick is featherless. What you are experiencing now is the manifestation of the babies'' bloodlines after being enhanced by the bond with their respective mothers."

    Raaz and Elina sighed in relief, knowing that everything was fine with the baby girl and Elina''s body.

    "I think we should start thinking about a name for our unborn daughter as well." Raaz inwardly cursed himself for doubting Elina''s faithfulness again.

    He couldn''t help but wonder if it was due to the trauma Orpal had inflicted on him or if Lith had inherited his paranoia from the father''s side of the family.

    "I''m tired of referring to her like a stranger we don''t even know."

    "I agree." Elina nodded. "Grandma, would you mind if we named her after you? No strings attached. We won''t ask you to be her godmother or any special treatment for the baby. It''s just our way to thank you for all the help you''ve given us."

    Knowing that the Strangler didn''t gue her body anymore and that all of her descendants would be born free from the deadly disease lifted a huge burden off her chest.

    After Rena had almost lost Falco to the Strangler and learned that it was inherited from the mother''s side, Elina had been scared to death that the same thing might happen to her unborn daughter as well.

    And it would all have been my fault: Elina thought. I''ve almost killed both Tista and Falco. I couldn''t forgive myself if it were to happen again.''

    "Of course you can. It would be an honor for me, dear." Sark slightly flushed with joy. "But if have to be honest, after Kam decided to name her daughter after me as well, I think you are giving me too much credit."

    "Wait, what?" Kam blurted out in surprise.

    "I''m still here and waiting for-"Tista was royally pissed off for everyone stealing her thunder and ignoring her after the months of anguish and doubt she had gone through before reaching her new form.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Yeah, yeah. You are big, strong, and a mystery wrapped in an enigma. We got that." Needless to say, it got even worse when Kam cut Tista off and shushed her with a gesture. "Back to my baby, please. What were you saying, Grandma?

    Sure, don''t mind me. I can wait! Tista''s thoughts oozed sarcasm. T''m only a unique living being, the first of my species, and the second Demon alive on Mogar. How can any of it beparable with the etymology of a name? Silly me forining.

    It''s not like when Lith became a Tiamat everyone made a big deal of it. He sure wasn''t the only thing our family talked and worried about for days. It went exactly like for me. Not!

    "I was nning to tell you on another asion, like on Elysia''s birth or her first birthday, but there''s no point in dying." The Overlord replied. "You see, I didn''t start as a ruler with an iron first.

    "Right after bing a Guardian, I decided to do like Tyris and help my turf to develop by nurturing its talented people with a loving hand. Of course I knew that I was no Tyris and that my first try was likely to fail.

    "So I changed my appearance to something more Tyris-like, called myself Elysia, and pretended to be the goddess of the sun while I looked for my Valeron. I traveled the Blood Desert for centuries, teaching people about magic and how to always find the nearest oasis before giving up.

    "Why did you give up?" Lith asked in confusion. "You are a wonderful teacher and the best Forgemaster on Mogar. I bet that the tribes of your disciples thrived like never before."

    "They thrived indeed!" Sark mmed her delicate foot on the ground with anger, causing the nearby dunes to slide and turning the sand into ss for dozens of meters around her.

    "They weaponized every spell I taught them and used the knowledge I imparted them to gain a monopoly of the oases, forcing the other tribes to either submit or die. Every one of my disciples turned out to be greedier and more ambitious than the other.

    "Whenever they toppled a tyrant, they would either take their ce and be an even worse ruler or walk away to follow their own agenda and leave a power vacuum.

    "The ensuing chaos and bloodshed made the despots they killed look cute inparison."

    "I''m so sorry, Grandma." Kam patted her back. "Now I understand why the legends say that Elysia drowned in a pool of her own tears after her light had been eclipsed by the ingratitude of her follower"

    "Im sorry, but that part is entirely made up." Sark shook her head. "I didn''t cry. I stormed off after killing everyone and giving birth to the legend of Krahan, the god of darkness. My rampage went on until I calmed down and realized that fear alone wasn''t enough to rule a country as well.

    "But that''s a story for another day and definitely not suitable for future mothers. Whatever you do, please don''t look for Krahan''s name in history books." The Overlord blushed in embarrassment in a way that would have been cute if not for the creepy subject at hand.

    Lith and Solus looked at each other, remembering bits of information about the gods of darkness from their studies. They had researched the lore about ancient monsters in the hope to learn something about Vastor''s Eldritches and be ready in case their rtionship with the Master went sour.

    Krahan of the Starless Night was allegedly a god whose description matched an Eldritch and whose bloody feats in the Desert rivaled with Teaka''s. They had dismissed him as a myth after the Professor had told them that Krahan wasn''t part of the Organization and none of his associates had ever met the guy.

    "Can we talk about me now?" Tista drummed the talons of her foreleg on the sand with ill-concealed annoyance.

 Chapter 2570 Blood Bonds (Part 4)

    2570 Blood Bonds (Part 4)

    "I don''t see why not, dear." Sark turned around, more than happy of changing to a less awkward topic. "I name this form of yours Bloodwind Phoenix. I can''t wait to show you off to the rest of your rtives."

    "Bloodwind Phoenix, I like it." Tista nodded enthusiastically while looking at her blood-red wings and beak. "What about this?"

    She turned into her Demon form, obtaining a shrug in reply.

    "Not a Phoenix so not really my field of expertise. Blood Demon, maybe? You know, to stay in theme?"

    "Heck, no!" Tista roared. "I don''t want to pass for one of Lith''s underlings ever again. I want to be my own person. I deserve it."

    "You sure do." Leegaain nodded, inwardly throwing the Stormfire Demon name in the gutter. "The problem with new things is that you have nothing with which to associate them. We need to make up a word."

    "And one that sounds cool!" "Tista said

    "We need to make up a word that sounds cool." The Father of All Dragons sighed. "Rempa?"

    "It has no kick." Tista shook her head. "Next"

    "Grima?" Sark proposed.

    "Sounds like a disease. Next."

    "Hekate?" Lith said, drawing all eyes on him.

    "Tista the Hekate." She rolled the name on her tongue a few times before nodding in approval. "I like it. Where does ite from and why didn''t you propose it sooner?"

    I would usually spout some bullshit about having learned it during my travels as a Ranger, but with two of the most ancient beings on Mogar present, my lie would be immediately exposed: Lith thought.

    I can''t tell her that this name belongs to the ancient Greek goddess of magic nor that it came to my mind now only because just like Tista, Hekate was depicted with three bodies.

    "Even if I could say that, Tista would probably reject it, saying that reminds her too much of Baba Yaga.''

    "Ites from here." Lith tapped at his forehead, making his answer technically true. "And I didn''t think of it earlier simply because you were just a generic hybrid. I mean, I didn''t throw a fuss when everyone called me a ''Wyrmling'' for over two years."

    "That''s true. I guess that''s fair." Tista scratched her chin.

    "Big sis, can you still breathe fire?" Aran asked.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "You don''t have a mouth anymore." Leria pointed out. "Do you spew fire from both sets of wings now? Also, how do you eat in your Hekate form?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I still have a mouth, silly." Tista chuckled, but due to her size, it sounded like a rockfall. "It''s just covered by my scales like for Lith''s Tiamat form. Let me show-"

    Tista felt all the scales on her body tensing. ready to slide off the parts they were supposed to protect.

    "I mean, I''d better shrink first so you can take a good look" After returning to human size, she covered herself with her Voidwalker armor to avoid further embarrassment. "See?"

    A simple flex of her facial muscles revealed her mouth among other things, making her thank the gods for her foresight.

    "Cool!" The kids said in unison.

    "No offense, Grandma. Beaks are great but fangs look way better." Aran said.

    None taken, dear." Sark would have liked to tell him that with such a short neck, fangs or beaks were equally irrelevant in a fight.

    Tista''s arms and horns had a much greater reach and if an enemy came close enough to bite/peck them, she would be as good as dead. Yet such disturbing thoughts would only scare him so she just nodded and ruffled Aran''s hair.

    Once they got back in Lutia, Tista called the Ernas sisters and Nyka to inform them about her new forms and their respective names. Most of her enthusiasm faded when her friends pointed out to her the amount of training she had to add to her schedule.

    "Gods, why? Now I have to get used to controlling my strength while in human form, adapt my fighting style to my full size, practice using my tails and my new set of wings, and learn from scratch how to even walk as a Bloodwind Phoenix!" Tista whined.

    "That and you must discover and master your new bloodline abilities. Also, you have yet to learn body casting up to tier five and you have to start using umtion again." Quy said with a pedantic tone that made her words even more aggravating.

    "If you don''t condense new vortexes and Awaken them into auxiliary cores, your magical want to pick us up and celebrate?" Nyka asked after Tista had zoned out for a while.

    "I can definitely use somepany, but no more talks about training or study. She replied while staring at Quy.

    "Sorry, but I have to take a rain check." Quy said. "Morok is really upset. He feels guilty for the bloodbath Lith caused and the discovery of having a little brother made a mess of his mind.

    "Don''t worry." Tista felt guilty as well for her part in the massacre and how she had lost herself in the euphoria of acquiring her Hekate form, unleashing her new powers with no care for the consequences. "Tell him that I''m sorry and that if he needs help, he just needs to ask."

    Thanks for the offer. Bye." Quy left the conversation and soon after it ended altogether.

    Tista and Solus used the tower Warp to go to their friends, giving Lith a bit of privacy.

    Meanwhile, now that he was alone in his room with Kam, Lith could finally drop the mask. He had taken no pleasure from killing and deceiving the monsters, but he felt no remorse either.

    He had done what was necessary in order to maintain the peace in the Kingdom and that was enough for him.

    He sat down on the bed, noticing a yarn of white wool woven into what looked like a cylinder and a pair of crochet hooks. The wool was incredibly soft and smooth so he assumed it had to be something for Elysia.

 Chapter 2571 Changed Man (Part 1)

    2571 Changed Man (Part 1)

    Yet the shape of whatever Kam was knitting was a bit weird and what Lith assumed was the neck of the baby carrier was way too big.

    "Are you learning how to knit?" He asked, aiming for a soft topic before unloading his burden.

    "Yes." Kam nodded. "It''s a great way to spend some time with your mother and keep my mind busy while I wait for your return. Time drags when I stare at themunication amulet for updates and I''m constantly terrified of seeing your rune disappear."

    "I''m sorry for making you worry like this, but I did it for you and Elysia. If the monster hordes go unchecked, we''ll end up like Jiera and the famine will be the least of our worries." Lith wrapped her in his arms, losing himself in her scent.

    "There''s nothing I would like more than spend the next five months taking care of you two, but to give you and our daughter a better world I need to fight."

    "You don''t have to apologize." She was actually annoyed at the idea of being smothered in affection by her overprotective husband for so long, but he was clearly upset so she just smiled. "I''ve seen the images of the aftermath. The people of the Kingdom are lucky to have you."

    "It''s not about that." Lith shook his head. "I''ve seen countless casualties in my life. Humans or monsters make no difference to me. They are both sentient beings I don''t know nor do I care about."

    "Then what''s the issue, babe?" Kam pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes without breaking the embrace.

    "Do you have the stomach for a long and gruesome mind link?" He asked, receiving a nod in reply and then sharing with her everything that had happened after leaving Ne''sra.

    Kam was shocked to witness Lith''s meeting with the Voidfeather and discover the next hurdle that her husband needed to ovee before he could achieve the bright violet core.

    The Voidfeather wasn''t violent like the Void, but it seemed to despise Lith no less than the Abomination side did at the moment of their first meeting.

    Then, warm tears streaked her face as she witnessed what the children of Glemos had to endure in order to survive. The lies, the starvation, and the rites of passage.

    Kam couldn''t hold her outrage at Lith''s n nor did she hide her reproach for the cruelty with which he had put it into action.

    Lastly, he shared with her Morok''s memories of his newfound little brother along with all the intense emotions that the encounter had triggered in both Lith and the Tyrant, each seeing themselves in the young Fomor.

    It aroused herpassion for Lith but it also made his actions harder to ept. She stood up, cleaning everything up in order to suppress her emotions and avoid saying something that she wouldter regret.

    Once her mind was clear and the bedroom tidy, she sat down next to Lith again.

    "I''m really angry with you." Kam''s eyes were locked on him, burning with orange-yellow mana. "I''m not talking about the Voidfeather Dragon caring for Solus as much as for us. That will be a whole another conversation."

    She touched her womb, trying to calm down the rage that she felt rising again.

    "I''m angry because even after seeing how those poor creatures live, you didn''t hesitate to turn them into numbers and statistics. People are more than a means to an end, Lith Tiamat Verhen, and I thought you better than this. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "After everything you went through, after everything we went through together, I had hoped that you had changed. I don''t expect you to get rid of your hatred overnight, but you can''t expect me to pat your back for this either.

    "You can''t control how you feel but you can control how you react to these feelings. Otherwise you''ll either pass them unto Elysia or she will grow up to be ashamed of her father."

    "I have changed." Lith shrugged.

    "How, exactly?" She crossed her arms, furrowing her brows.

    "The old me wouldn''t have even suggested the n. He would have just waited for the monsters to cull their numbers and strike when they were at their weakest." The honesty of Lith''s reply shocked her to the bone.

    "The mission was about Morok''s legacy, I had little to gain from a huge hassle. The best course of action for me would have been to call in the Council and if Zelex didn''t self-destruct, kidnap R in the chaos of

    "She was the high priestess and the only one who seemed to believe Glemos a god. She was bound to know the way to hisb. At that point, I would have extracted the information from her by any means necessary.

    "After all, sess or failure, it would have been just Morok''s loss. I would have still gotten my reward from the Royals and the Council for locating the monsters'' hideout and foiling the plot of the Undead Courts.

    "I did what I did for you, Elysia, Solus, Quy, and, believe it or not, I did it also for the children of Glemos."

    "What do you mean?" Kam''s tone and gaze softened, her arms moving to her sides.

    "Think about it. This is just like the case with the warg in Maekosh two years ago. Yet this time instead of just going for the kill, I tried to understand them and I found the only possible way to save them." Lith replied while taking her hand.

    "Do you remember what you told me back then, Kami? Because I do. You said that even if the warg could be reasoned with, there were not enough resources to feed both us and them. Now the issue is the famine instead of winter but the result is the same.

    "I did it for you and Elysia because I don''t want another war to take me away from you two. I knew that if I just let them perfect the Harmonizers, both the monsters and the undead would have be powerful enough to be a threat to the Kingdom.

    "Between the famine and the scars left from the War of the Griffons, the forces of the army and the Association can barely keep the peace. I couldn''t risk the Undead Courts bing more powerful while we are at our weakest.

    "I did it for Solus, because I didn''t want her to be emotionally scarred like it happened with the warg.

    "I did it for Quy because I want her to be happy. To give her, Jirni, and Orion something to celebrate after what happened to Phloria. Last, but not least, I did it for the monsters because I knew what would have happened if I didn''t.

    "Everyone would have suffered like Xagra and be forced to kill the people they love with their own hands. Also, no matter if the children of Glemos sealed the pact with the Undead Courts or we called the Council, most of them would have died.

    "Was my n cruel? Yes. Heartless? Yes, but thanks to it thousands of monsters are still alive, Kami. Without my n, we wouldn''t have learned about Garrik because R would have rather died than revealed his position.

 Chapter 2572 Changed Man (Part 2)

    2572 Changed Man (Part 2)

    "Without my n, the monsters would have attacked us on sight. They had no reason to trust a bunch of strangers and would have tried to kill us to keep Zelex''s position hidden. There would have been no dialogue because they would have refused to listen.

    "You may not like my methods, but you can''t argue with my results."

    Kam opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out.

    She was aware of how many people the monsters had killed during the raids. That their corpses would be eaten like cattle that very night, without leaving anything behind for the families to bury and denying them closure.

    As a Constable, she knew that letting the monsters go out of pity would have been an act of treason that would cost even more lives in the future. That the Undead Courts couldn''t be allowed to get their hands on the Harmonizers.

    The most important cities of the Kingdom were built upon mana geysers, making them easy prey to the undead once the artifact made their blood cores perfect.

    She knew all that yet her heart ached anyway for the hapless creatures that Lith had ughtered in order to turn the survivors into pawns that would take their ce on his board willingly.

    Lith and Kam remained silent for several minutes while she raked her brain for a different, humane way to start the negotiations with the monsters. Yet like the others before her, she found none.

    Every possible scenario she could think of ended up the same way: with theplete extermination of the children of Glemos.

    The only differences between the various oues were the number of casualties among the human cities and whether or not once cornered the monsters decided to trigger Zelex''s self-destruction arrays.

    Without Lith''s ruse to gain Syrah''s trust, the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy would have been lost forever and Garrik would have probably starved to death while waiting for his mother to return.

    No one would have rescued him simply because no one would have known of his existence.

    "You are right, this is exactly like the mission with the warg in Maekosh but this time, you found a solution." Kam said after a while, her lips slowly curling up in a thin smile.

    "You have indeed changed, and I''m proud to see how much. You''ve gone a long way from the broken man whonded on Mogar and wasn''t capable of forgetting about his brother''s death.

    "I''m d to see how you haven''t let your new wounds fester, learning from them and finding a way to keep the warg massacre from happening again.

    "The fact that you empathize so much with Morok''s feelings for Garrik proves that you''re not avenging Carl''s death anymore. You are honoring his life. Yet..." She fell silent, afraid that speaking the next words would make them true.

    "Yet what?" Lith asked.

    "Yet you can''t deny that after seeing the pain and misery of Zelex''s people, you didn''t feelpassion for them, you only saw a weakness to exploit. You fell into your old habits to find your answer and became that broken man again.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Even now, yourck of remorse makes me worry that one day you''ll plunge so deep into the abyss that even if youe back to me alive, the person I love will be dead anyway? She caressed his face, her eyes full of worry.

    "Don''t worry, I haven''t fallen back." He grabbed her hand, holding it tenderly. "I feel the weight of the lives I''ve taken and I understand the consequences of my actions. That''s why I''m telling you all these things.

    "I need you to ground me and remind me that I don''t fight because I hate those in front of me anymore. I fight because I love those who stand behind me and it''s for them that I''m willing to take such a burden.

    "To me, this is no different from back when I had to hurt civilians during the War of the Griffons in my failed attempt to save Phloria''s life. It''s not something that I regret, but I didn''t take those lives lightly either."

    Kam nodded, remembering how the death of their friend had almost crushed Lith with grief and guilt. The pain from Phloria''s loss and the realization of having killed hundreds, if not thousands, for nothing, were a burden that he was still carrying.

    A burden that Kam was doing everything she could to help him deal with. She knew that a war was a bloody business and that only a fool would think that what the chronicles depicted as heroic acts weren''t actually bloody battles.

    To her, those deaths were justified because the fallen were enemies and because Lith had fought to rescue a precious friend from the torture of Arthan''s ve array. Killing the children of Glemos, instead, had felt in cruel.

    Sure, they had gone on a murder spree during the raids, but after listening to their story they looked like ignorant child soldiers who fought only because they didn''t know what else to do to not starve.

    "I believe you. Thank you for telling me the truth and for opening up to me. If there''s anything I can do to help you, you just have to ask." Kam kissed his hand.

    "There is one thing." Lith sighed, his gaze wandering around the room over the items they had already prepared for Elysia in order to find the strength he needed. "I don''t know how things might get if the monsters have seen through our ruse.

    "Even if they didn''t, there''s no guarantee that the negotiations won''t break down and at that point, we''d be forced to ughter everyone to keep the Undead Courts from getting their hands on the Harmonizers.

    If ites to that, Syrah might choose death and trigger the self-destruct mechanism in order to take down with her as many enemies as she can."

    "So what do you want me to do?" Kam asked. "Toe with you guys to exploit the Guardians'' protection? Or to speak to Syrah from one mother to another?"

    "The Guardians won''t let youe and even if they did, they would just protect you." Lith shook his head. "They made it clear multiple times that you are not a weapon. They won''t let you put Elysia in danger on purpose to exploit their vow.

    "Also, if a talk between mothers was enough, I think Faluel has a bit more experience than you." He chuckled. "I want to ask your permission to reveal to Morok about the tower''s existence."

    "Why would you do that right now and why do you need my permission?" Kam tilted her head in confusion.

    "Because this way he can signal R to bring Garrik out and then I can Warp everyone to another geyser safely in case things go south." Lith replied. "The tower is the only hope Garrik has of achieving a perfect life force.

    "If he steps away from a mana geyser even for one minute, everything R has done so far, every one of her sacrifices will be for naught. The spacepression array doesn''t work on the tower because its Warp is akin to fusion magic."

 Chapter 2573 A Different Power (Part 1)

    2573 A Different Power (Part 1)

    "Inside the tower, Solus and I make the rules of magic. I''m asking your permission because this course of action means revealing the existence of the tower to Morok, R, Garrik, and maybe the monsters that might survive after the Council storms Zelex.

    "Morok is an idiot, I barely know R, and I''ve never met Garrik. Even if it''s just the three of them, my safety might getpromised and in turn yours. Once Elysia is born, you''ll be fair game like anyone else so I can''t take this decision without you."

    "I''m proud of you." Kam stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss. "Yes, you have my permission. Putting my life in the hands of an idiot and a child is a bit scary, but I know how much this means to you.

    "Morok is not Derek and Garrik is not Carl, yet you can''t turn your back on them. Not when their mother is fighting tooth and nail for them, just like you always dreamed your Earth mother would. Like Elina does."

    "Damn, I''d never thought I''d be grateful to the Void for making me tell you the truth about my past." Lith hugged her, feeling both her love and sincerity. "Thanks to that, I don''t need to hide anything from you. You know me. The real me. All of them."

    Lith chuckled.

    "You have no idea what it means to me not feeling alone anymore."

    "You''ve never been alone, silly man. Kam gently caressed his back and hair. "Remember what the Voidfeather Dragon told you. There are a lot of people who love you. It''s you who keeps them out.

    "You better listen to his words if you want to make peace with him." Kam blinked a few times in sudden realization. "Wait a second, why are you discussing this with me without Solus? The decision affects her life and safety as well."

    "That''s because-"

    "You already talked with her and she gave you her permission!"

    "Yes, but-"

    "That''s it, we need to talk." She pushed him away gently, "First, the Void goes rampant to give Solus an out and now the Voidfeather is willing to fight a whole city for her?"

    "Uhm, yes. Hey, how are your English lessons going? I remember you wanting to learn a secretnguage to share with Elysia." Lith said, trying to change the subject.

    "Don''t you try to change the subject!" Kam angrily poked at his chest. "You don''t have split personalities, only suppressed feelings. What am I supposed to think of all this?"

    "That I''ve known her for almost my entire third life, that she''s bound to me for life, and that she''s very important to me? I mean, she''s always in my head. We talked about what to do right after Morok told us about Garrik.

    "I didn''t leave you out of the conversation, you just weren''t there." Lith said apologetically.

    "Fine. I forgive you. This time." She growled in a very Draconic way, her teeth turning into fangs and her skin into scales with anger. "I too really like Solus. It''s just that if not for theck of sex, your rtionship sounds too much like marriage forfort."

    ''I could tell her that''s exactly what Solus and I joked about since we met. Too bad that then Kami would have to kill me.''Lith thought.

    ***<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Ernas Mansion, Quy''s room, at the same time.

    Morok sat on the bed, holding his head between his hands and sighing so often and so strongly that Quy wouldn''t have been surprised if he caused an indoor storm.

    "How? How can I have been this stupid?" He bit his hand in frustration. "I have two brains yet most of the time I act like I have none. This is all my fault."

    "Usually I would be inclined to agree on both points but I have no idea what you are talking about." Quy said with a warm smile, cupping his face and forcing him to look at her. "What are you guilty of? Everything went fine.

    "We earned the monsters'' trust, you got the book about the Harmonizers, and you even got to meet your little brother. Assuming you consider it a good thing, of course."

    "It is a good thing!" Morok said. "Maybe the only redeeming factor of the mission. At least until I screw Garrik up like I''ve screwed everything else."

    "Why do you keep saying that? Things have gone way better than we could hope. R is on our side and with her help, Faluel should seed in the negotiations." She replied.

    "I screwed up because everything hangs on a lie. I know that when you pray for rain you have to prepare to deal with the mud as well, but I unleashed Lith freaking Verhen and I got a bloodbath instead of mud!" He whined.

    "If the Courts tell Syrah about Lith''s Abomination side, everything falls apart. If she sees through our act on her own, everything falls apart. If we don''t make a good argument upon our next meeting..."

    "Everything falls apart." Quy nodded,pleting the phrase for him. "I can''t deny anything you just said but I can''t see how this is your fault either."

    "It is my fault because all I cared about at the beginning of the mission was to get my hands on my legacy and make a good impression on your parents. I''ve never forgotten about Echidna, but after the raids, I assumed we''d have to save just a few individuals like her.

    "I was certain that most of the monsters were deranged zealots like Typhos and boy if I was wrong. It was I who agreed with Lith''s n. It was because of my weakness that I couldn''t keep up with him, leading to the ughter of those poor guys until R and the others helped me.

    "Those people died thinking they were sacrificing themselves to save their brethren while they were just pawns on a board. Lith may have killed them, but their blood is on my hands as well.

    "Now, because of my greed, the people of Zelex risk being exterminated and if that happens, Garrik will either die or permanently be a fallen. I spent my life trying to be nothing like Glemos and I ended up bing him.

    "A selfish jerk who toys with the lives of others just to get what he wants."

    "Don''t you ever say that!" Quy forced him to look her in the eyes. "You are nothing like Glemos. You told me the truth about yourself before even asking me out for the first time whereas Glemos kept your mother in the dark until your birth forced him to.

    "You care so much about me that you are willing to share with my family your bloodline legacy that Glemos kept hidden even from his own sons. You''ve known Garrik for a few hours yet you worry about him more than Glemos ever did.

    "You may be a jerk and an idiot, but you''re not selfish or ruthless. Otherwise we wouldn''t be having this conversation."

    "Thanks. It means a lot to me." Morok said after pondering her words for a while. "It''s just that I hate feeling so helpless."

 Chapter 2574 A Different Power (Part 2)

    2574 A Different Power (Part 2)

    "Heck, my fight with Lith has even given me enlightenment about the violet, but even if 1 reach it, I would still be much weaker than you or Ajatar. This isn''t a problem I can just st away."

    "Wait, you did what now?" Quy was bbergasted.

    "I mean, it''s not that hard, right?" The Tyrant let his aura burst forward, revealing several violet streaks burning at its end. "You got it from the start and even your sister reached it a while ago despite being Awakened for just a few years."

    "No, it''s damn hard!" She replied. "I got the violet only because my mana core had already reached that level and by talking with Lith back when he was researching the auxiliary cores, I shared the fruits of his experiments.

    "As for Friya, she had no clue about it until she got major help from a legendary array that temporarily allowed her to reach the violet and experience firsthand its effects. She received the next best thing to a practical lesson and yet she''s still stuck at the bright blue.

    "Not to mention that I''m supposed to be a genius and I''ve researched Awakening for years and she''s an epta-streaked Awakened whose talent is allegedly on par with people like Silverwing and Menadion.

    "You, instead, are..." She blushed, managing to steer the conversation in time. "I mean, Ajatar says that since the marriage proposal, you''ve been neglecting both body casting and the study of your bloodline abilities."

    "In other words, I''m an idiot. Feel free to say it." Morok sighed. "I''m an idiot and we both know it''

    "Your words, not mine." Quy nodded.

    "Wow. That hurt." He lowered his gaze in humiliation. "Maybe we should cancel the marriage."

    "What? Why?" She went pale at the idea.

    "I mean, who is more stupid? The idiot, or the person who agrees to marry him? Maybe I set the bar too low. Do you know someone smart you can introduce to me?" Morok said with a chuckle, sweeping Quy off her feet before kissing her.

    "You idiot." She giggled. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

    "Okay, genius. I need to pick your brain on this. Let''s assume that Syrah is oblivious of our ruse. Should I tell her the truth or not?" Morok asked. "If I do, I can ruin everything off the bat. If I don''t, I''m just postponing the confrontation."

    "Either way, the monsters will feel betrayed and be exterminated the moment they refuse to cooperate."

    "That''s an excellent question." Quy wrapped her arms around his neck to sit up. "As you said, this isn''t a problem that can be solved by using violence. You need a power of a different kind."

    "What do you mean?""I mean political power, but not the Royals''. They have no influence in Jiera and they can''t be involved in matters regarding Awakened. I mean the Council."

    "If the Council could be trusted, we wouldn''t have gone incognito after dealing with the raids. What good can do involving them now?" Morok asked.

    "It would open the eyes of the children of Glemos to the rest of Mogar. It would give them the possibility to strike a deal not with a single person they might or not trust, but with a widemunity they can hope to be a part of in the future." Quy replied.

    "I know it means giving up on a lot on your side, but if on top of the Harmonizers, the monsters could also use the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy as a bargaining chip, they could have way more leverage in the negotiations.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "For example, those who wear the Harmonizers could be allowed to not move from Zelex at all and use the self-destruction arrays as a deterrent to make sure that the Council holds its part of the deal."

    "It makes sense." Morok nodded. "As long as Syrah can only talk with the Council via Faluel, they have no way of confirming our goodwill. The monsters will feel isted and with their back against the wall exactly like with the Undead Courts.

    "By cutting off the middleman, they can keep the negotiations going even in case their rtionship with us goes sour since the Council had no involvement in the demon invasion and has different goals from me."

    "Forget about my earlier request. I think I already got a brainiac." The Tyrant paced the room while holding Quy in a princess carry. making her giggle. "I like your idea but there''s a huge w that I can''t solve."

    "Which is?" She asked.

    "The monsters have no reason to trust the Council more than they do us, especially if our little yes to light. Also, the Council has no real reason to agree on any term the monsters set." Morok replied.

    "From the Council''s standpoint, letting them live is reward enough. The members of the fallen races cannot Awaken and the Council only cares about their own. People like Raagu would rather take the Harmonizers and my legacy by force or a trick than waste time talking.

    "They would feel entitled to them, considering the artifact and books as reparations for all the damage Glemos caused with his experiments."

    "Yeah, I hadn''t thought about that." Quy pondered. "Theck of trust is a big issue that can''t be solved unless we find a way to make sure that both parties benefit from the deal.

    "Even na?¡¥ve creatures like the children of Glemos know that their ally would never turn on them if they gain nothing from betrayal and lose a lot."

    "That''s it! You are a damn genius." Morok dropped her on the bed and took hismunication amulet out of his dimensional amulet.

    "Thanks, but what have I said exactly?" Quy looked at him in confusion. "Also, I don''t think it''s a smart idea to talk with the Council before running whatever idea you had by me first."

    "Hey, I may not be the sharpest tool in the crayon box but I''m not that dull." Morok replied. "A rogue Awakened like mecks the smarts, the political backing, and the experience to deal with the Council.

    "They would eat me to the bone and spit me out without me even noticing. I''m calling Master Ajatar and Faluel. If I''m right, I can give them the arrows they need to make apelling argument."

    ***

    City of Zelex, a few dayster.

    The joy of having Xagra back had eased Syrah''s grief for the loss of her husband. Both mother and son were mourning Ikara''s death but at least now they were together and there was hope that things would remain that way.

    The Hati Queen had spent every waking moment of her son talking with him, doing activities together, and watching him from a distance while Xagra talked with the future members of the senate who had returned from the Gardens of Time with him.

    It saddened her to see the youths form a grief counseling group instead of ying and running around, but they weren''t regr children anymore. If the negotiations failed, their duty was to age fast, rule, and pass their Harmonizer the moment a better generation arose.

 Chapter 2575 Two Magi (Part 1)

    2575 Two Magi (Part 1)

    Syrah spent the rest of her free time with the members of her court while using the warg''s collective brainpower to revise the events following the raids and spot the potential loopholes in the deal with Faluel, andpared it with the one they already had with the Undead Courts.

    Morok had acted like a hero and his offer was reasonable, but he was still someone Syrah knew for a few hours.

    Trusting him blindly would have been reckless and stupid. To make matters worse, R had shifted the focus of her ramblings from the old Tyrant to the new.

    During her sermons to the loyal followers of the church of Glemos, she told them about theing of the prophesied hero and spoke of his promise of a better future as if it was a matter of fact instead of mere words.

    Syra knew that the Warlord was slowly eroding her public support, using hope to poison the minds of the citizens and force the Queen to need an excellent reason to turn down the savior''s offer without incurring into riots.

    At the same time, however, the more Syrah thought about the miraculous series of events that had brought Morok to Zelex, the more preposterous it seemed. She had many doubts that she only voiced to Urhen and Br''ey.

    Not only were they her best friends but they were also among the few that knew the truth about the fall of their respective races and how deep Glemos'' maniption of the truth was.

    On top of that, even if Morok''s offer really was a poisoned chalice, she couldn''t find a single reason to trust the Undead Courts better even though she knew them for much longer.

    "It seems that we have to toss a coin and pick our poison." Urhen said after they used a mind link to relive the entire day of the raids for the umpteenth time yet didn''t learn anything that they already knew.

    "Indeed." Br''ey nodded. "Yet if it was up to me, I''d choose the Tyrant. Even if I''m going to die, at least I would have spent the rest of my days with my family instead of forcing them to be adults and move out of our home."

    "That''s why I''d refuse it instead." Urhen countered pointedly. "At least we know that the undead are snakes in the grass. If we deal with them, we''ll stay on our toes the whole time and be ready to counter any funny business they attempt.

    "With Morok, Instead, the promise of peace and quiet would make us lose our edge and turn us into sheep ready for ughter."

    "Both offers suck." Syrah sighed. "The Undead Courts want us to cull our numbers while the Tyrant wants to split us apart. Whatever we choose, there are going to be too few of us left to defend ourselves."

    "So, what are we going to do?" Br''ey asked, hurt by her friend''s willingness to separate her from her child again. "Are we really going to rely on dumb luck?"

    "No." Syrah shook her head. "You see, even if no one knows the future, the past is a great predictor of future behavior. Thanks to the amulet, I''ve been able to ess something called the interlink and read a lot about the recent events in the Kingdom."

    A quick mind link allowed her to share the news about the Jiera gue, the undead migration, the increasing hostilities between humans and the Undead Courts due to their new recruits, and then everything about the War of the Griffons and the Dead King.

    "Damn, we got yed like a fiddle!" Urhen snarled in outrage. "That''s why the Undead Courts were so eager to reconnect with us, providing us with information and food! It was all a long con to gain our trust.

    "They have made themselves an enemy of the whole Garlen and after the disastrous leaderships of the Horsemen and the Mad Queen, they are losing ground every day to the human alliance. I change my vote. I want to go with Morok as well."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Don''t rush your judgment." Syrah raised her hand, prompting her friends to calm down. "We can still ally with them, but now that we know how desperate they are, we can change the deal to better suit our needs and protect our people.

    "As for Morok, either he is the good guy he ims to be or he''s a na?¡¥ve fool. This tool allowed me to study him, his allies, and even this Verhen fellow that Eryon fought. Elder Urma didn''t lie about him."

    Another mind link passed the information about Lith''s meteoric rise from a student of the White Griffon to Spellbreaker, then Great Mage, Archmage, andstly Supreme Magus.

    Many videos about the War of the Griffons were avable, showing his exploits in defending the Kingdom. Most of the pictures also showed his army of Demons. Their sight alone sent a shiver down the women''s spine.

    "If what we just saw is true, how did Eryon survive the encounter?" Syrah asked, voicing the question in everyone''s head. "Is it me, or are his shadow soldiers really simr to the ones we fought?

    "Last, but not least, is it more likely that some monster from the past sensed our sins or that a powerful Magus from the present followed Eryon to Zelex?"

    Pictures of Morok''s engagement with Quy were public knowledge along with the good rtionship between Lith and the Ernas.

    "This doesn''t make sense!" Br''ey blurted out in surprise. "Why expose himself like this? It''s all too absurd to be just a ruse. I still believe him."

    "Me too, but I can''t bet our future on a mere gut feeling. As I said, the past is a great predictor. I know what to ask him to learn the truth." Syrah replied.

    "Which is?" Urhen asked.

    "You''ll know it soon. I''ve summoned him and his Verhen friend to discuss our deal. They''ll be here any minute." The Hati Queen replied. "R isn''t invited, but if I''m right she''lle anyway. Br''ey, mind link us at all times. Urhen, be ready to fight."

    "Wait what?" The Balor was bbergasted. "If you think a fight might break out, why receive them here alone? Wouldn''t be better to at least have our honor guard present?"

    "We are alone to have privacy, yet at the same time we are not. I''ve put every warg and Hati in Zelex on standby. If something goes wrong, the captains will rush to our aid while the others will alert the rest of the tribes.

    "Our guests will be cornered, surrounded by the full force of our armies without even knowing."

    As Syrah had predicted, Morok hade alone in good faith but R had insisted upon apanying him to the meeting. Contrary to her expectations, however, Lith had broughtpany.

    Two women walked behind him, one tall and friendly and the other shorter and terrifying. Zoreth had taken her role as godmother dead seriously and since Kam had no need for her, she had dly epted Lith''s request for help.

    She wore a full set of deep blue Bookwyrm armor and the Adamant Sky Piercer w on her right hand crackled with raw elemental power.

 Chapter 2576 Two Magi (Part 2)

    2576 Two Magi (Part 2)

    The battle w emitted energy pulses that somehow resonated with Br''ey''s crystal.

    Bytra shared her wife''s concerns but she was also fascinated at the idea of studying a marvel of Forgemastery like the Harmonizers. She was wearing in clothes under her deep violet Rune Magus robe and the Absolution was hung to her hip.

    As for Solus, she was currently exploring Zelex on her own, testing the tower''s abilities. While Lith''s group drew attention to the senate, she confirmed that the tower could take its full form and Warp despite the spacepressing array.

    Lith was close enough to keep their full bond, informing him via Soluspedia the moment she discovered that they could take Garrik to safety in case things went south.

    Lith had yet to disclose the truth about Solus to Morok, and he had no intention to do it unless strictly necessary. It was one of the reasons he had brought the Eldritchs-hybrids. They would buy them the time to fall back to the tower if the negotiations broke down.

    "Queen Syrah, I''ve brought my friend, Lith Verhen, as per your request." Morok gave her a deep bow to which she replied with a nod of the head.

    "Thanks foring on such short notice, Lord Morok." She replied. "Yet I would have liked to be informed of the presence of your guests in advance."

    "So that you could better prepare an ambush?" Lith replied. "On behalf of the Kingdom, Queen Syrah, we are sorry for your predicament, but the transgressions of your people against us are neither forgiven nor forgotten.

    "You have invaded our cities, ughtered innocent civilians, and robbed them of the few provisions they had left to survive until the harvest. I have no more reasons to trust you than you me."

    Syrah gritted her teeth but gave him a small bow in apology nheless. She knew that after Eryon and his unit had tried to kill Verhen, he had no obligation to follow her requests blindly. It threw a wrench in her ns yet it also reassured her.

    An honest enemy was better than a fake friend.

    "Also, these people are here on the Council''s behalf." Lith continued without missing a beat. "Allow me to introduce you Bytra the Raiju, Rune Magus, and Fourth Ruler of the mes. She''s the greatest Forgemaster in the Kingdom and beyond.

    "She can reassure you of the Council''s honest intentions and its capabilities of crafting more Harmonizers. Given time and your cooperation, of course."

    "Your Majesty." Bytra kneeled in front of Syrah, offering her the Absolution with both hands in a sign of friendship.

    The Hati Queen studied it for a few seconds, feeling her skin crawl at the raw power coursing through the hammer. Then, she returned it, hoping to never be at the wrong end of the Absolution.

    "This is Xenagrosh, daughter of Leegaain, Bytra''s wife, and my older sister." Lith continued the moment Bytra stood up. "She''s here because I don''t trust you further than I can throw you."

    "Give me one reason." Zoreth turned into a humanoid Eldritch Shadow Dragon, flexing her fingers and releasing jolts of mana. "It doesn''t have to be a good one."

    Syrah nodded with a growl while also increasing the security alert of the army stationed outside via the hive mind with the warg.

    "Excuse his rudeness, Your Majesty." Morok said. "I couldn''t stop Magus Verhen because he has no interest in our deal and this was the only way to ensure his presence as you requested."

    "I understand, you don''t have to apologize." Syrah regained her cool. "The honor of having two Magi at my court makes this surprise pleasant. I read in your amulet that the presence of two or more Magi in the same era marks a golden age for their home country. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It gives me hope that our deal will truly answer the prayers of both our people. Yet before making a final decision, I still have one question for you."

    "Anything." Morok gave her a small bow.

    "I want you to show me the final moments of Lord Glemos with a mind link." Her lips curled up in a smile. "It''s the only way to corroborate your story and prove to us that he really entrusted our best interests to you."

    Thoughts couldn''t lie.

    Pushing fake memories meant having to improvise a colossal number of details, making them a blurry mess at best. On top of that, sharing a memory also meant sharing the feelings associated with it.

    Syrah would make sure of Morok''s sincerity and check if Lith and the crowned demon were the same person in one fell swoop.

    She hadn''t thought about it on their first encounter because the grief from the rites of passage and fatigue from the battle with the demons had clouded her mind and those of her court.

    "If he had pressured me back then, I would have epted the deal. We''ve gotten to this point because he gave me time to think. I want to believe in Morok''s good faith.'' She extended her hand and the Tyrant took it without hesitation just like she hoped.

    Br''ey activated the mind link and what they witnessed answered every single one of their questions and even a few they hadn''t even thought about.

    Morok shared with them the memories about the crystal mine where he had met the children of Glemos for the first time and witnessed the abhorrent experiments that the old Tyrant conducted on his subjects after leading them out of Zelex.

    Every time that Glemos brought a new version of the Harmonizer, he imed to be the fruit of his divine power but the images of the deformed bodies of the monsters that were chained to the wall in Morok''s memories told a much cruder story.

    Then, she witnessed his meeting with Typhos, the envoys of the Undead Courts, and Thrud''s servants inside Faluel''s mine. Syrah burned with rage hearing the Vampire calling her people freaks and seeing the spite with which the Courts treated the fallen races.

    She stared in horror at Typhos'' death and then froze in shock when she saw Echidna''s misery and Glemos'' ruthlessness toward his own son. Morok shared with the Queen''s court and R everything about his capture, Glemos'' ns for the people of Zelex, and his rescue by Faluel and Ajatar''s hands.

    The Hati Queen drew grim satisfaction from the fight. Seeing someone as arrogant as Glemos being utterly beaten and humiliated before being killed like a dog brought a smile to her face.

    Echidna''s death, however, didn''t amuse Syrah in the least. She could feel the Awakened Fomor''s hope and joy at the death of her jailer turn into despair when faced with the Lesser Dragons'' greed.

    Then, the memories shifted to the present.

    The raids, Lith''s n, and how its various phases had been staged wereid bare in front of her eyes.

    She lived the events from Morok''s perspective, from Tista''s trauma from being cannibalized by a Hati to the fear of what would happen if the Harmonizers fell into the Undead Courts'' hands and the war started anew.

    Urhen fell to her knees while Br''ey fainted but Syrah remained still, waking her friend with chore magic.

 Chapter 2577 Square One (Part 1)

    2577 Square One (Part 1)

    "So it was really you." Syrah growled at Lith while the Warsage was still having a hard time believing to her own senses.

    "And I''d do it again." Lith grabbed the Hati Queen''s hand, forcing her to see the destruction that the children of Glemos had left in their wake and to experience the pain from the Demons belonging to her people that he had conjured in Zelex.

    As Syrah herself had pointed out a few minutes back, thoughts couldn''t lie.

    The visions of the bloodbath of Ne''sra struck hard at her, but only because after losing Ikara she empathized with the grief of those who had lost their own loved ones because of the raids.

    Yet, the emotions that the souls of Zelex had shared with Lith were much worse. Not only did she recognize a few of her mentors from their memories, but she also experienced their despair.

    The dead monsters had sacrificed themselves in the rites of passage in order to ensure their descendants a better future, yet they had witnessed from the shadows that nothing had changed.

    With or without Glemos, Zelex was still stuck in a vicious cycle of hunger and death. Many of those souls resented Ikara and the otherte members of the senate for their deal with the Undead Courts.

    The spirits of the dead monsters consider it an insult to their memory since it would cause the death of the very people they had died to protect. They had epted Lith''s chains and turned against Zelex because they trusted him more than the current leaders.

    ''Good gods, our mere existence is a bane to life itself! Syrah thought. ''We inflict upon others abominable pain just to inflict even more upon ourselves. Even our dead are so ashamed of themselves that they helped Verhen in the assault.''

    She was supposed to feel betrayed, but instead, she felt pity for the souls of the dead and hoped they had finally found peace.

    "Why are you showing me all this? What do you expect me to do after learning the truth?" The Hati Queen asked.

    "The right thing. What''s best for your people." Morok replied. "I apologize for lying to get your attention, but now I''m telling the truth because it''s the only way to earn your trust.

    "My father was no god. He was a monster who tried to ruin my life just like he did yours. The only difference between us is dumb luck. You were alone whereas I had my friends.

    "The Undead Courts are a bunch of monsters as well and cannot be trusted. They betrayed their leaders, Thrud, and even the Dead King the moment they didn''t need them anymore.

    "I''m not asking you to trust me either, not after I spilled the blood of your people just to get my hands on my bloodline legacy. That''s why I''m entrusting it to you and giving you my blessing to use my legacy as a bargaining chip with the Council.

    "If you y your cards right, you can stay here in Zelex and use its arrays to ensure the safety of those who''ll stay behind." Morok shared with her via a mind link the best terms with which Syrah could get the Council to agree and suggestions on how to y the few cards she had.

    She was moved by his sincere worry and regret for his actions. Unlike Verhen who burned with fury like a spirit of vengeance, Eari was full ofpassion and wanted to save her people.

    "Thanks for your generous offer, but I sensed that ites with conditions. What do you want in exchange for your legacy and putting us in contact with the Council?"

    "I only ask for safe passage for two of your people of my choosing. No questions asked." He replied.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "That''s it? Then I''d be a fool to refuse your deal." Syrah''s head was spinning, torn between rage from the lie and shock from the truth.

    "Excellent." Morok nodded. "Now that''s settled, there are a few people I would like to introduce to you. They are members of the Awakened Council who have an interest in Zelex with whom you can bargain in case you don''t want me to be involved anymore.

    "Do I have your permission to bring them here?"

    Feeling cornered and confused the Hati Queen looked at her friends for advice, but they could barely shrug in reply.

    ''I can''t trust the Undead Courts, that''s for sure. Between the mind link and the news on the interlink, I''m now sure that they have no interest in keeping us alive. Best case scenario, they kill everyone with a Harmonizer to get their hands on the artifacts and enve the rest of us.

    ''Worst case scenario, the moment we getout of Zelex after culling our numbers they will ughter us all. Morok is a lying bastard as well, but a bastard who wants to save us at all costs.'' She thought.

    "Sure. Let them in." She actually said.

    "Your Majesty, do you mind if I take a look at the Harmonizer while we wait?" Bytra asked. "Even a preliminary report about the artifact''s abilities will give the Council a better idea of what you have to offer, strengthen your position in the negotiations, and get you better conditions."

    "Excellent idea." Syrah turned to the Warlord. "Since you were behind this charade as well, you should volunteer for the examination."

    "I agree." R tensed up when the Raiju pulled out her Royal Forgemaster wand and started weaving spells. "I believe in Morok and I''m certain that everything will be alright."

    The Queen was afraid that Bytra might try to snatch the Harmonizer, triggering its self-destruct mechanism. From so up close, the detonation would have decapitated its wearer and Syrah had no reason to trust her unwanted guests.

    Yet Bytra did only what she had promised, obtaining a detailed scan of the mana flow of the Harmonizer and the effects it had on the Fomor. Things like the structure of the power core and the runes of which it wasprised were hidden by the cloaking system which also shielded itself from detection.

    Both the Queen and the Warlord held their breath while Bytra weaved one spell after another and sighed in relief when she was done and R''s head was still attached to her neck.

    A few secondster, Morok''s guests arrived.

    Or rather, they hade on Ajatar''s, Faluel''s, and Lith''s request who had promised them something they wouldn''t turn down.

    Fe the Behemoth, the beast representative, Raagu Drerian, the human representative, and Aalejah Eventide, the friendly neighborhood elf walked through the door, each one of them as stunned by surprise as their respective counterparts.

    Morok did the due introductions, but no one seemed to hear a word he said.

    "I can''t believe it!" Raagu was the first to snap out of it. "Faluel was telling the truth. That madman of Glemos really undid the fall and you bastards kept it from us the whole time. I should put all of you on trial for this!"

    "You can try." Zoreth beckoned at Raagu, growling. "Come at me. See what happens." "Don''t worry, big sister." Faluel entered the room a secondter.

 Chapter 2578 Square One (Part 2)

    2578 Square One (Part 2)

    "Raagu is all bark an no bite. Sharing knowledge is on a voluntary basis so we had no obligation to tell them anything." The Hydra said.

    "Also, the Harmonizer was retrieved in my turf from people who were trying to frame me with Forbidden Magic so it was bound to be mine aspensation. As for Morok, he''s a rogue Awakened who was just protecting his interests.

    "The Council never did anything for him so he has no obligation towards its members as well."

    Raagu nodded, her annoyed grimace fully expressing how much she hated when she was caught bluffing.

    "I promised to give you proof that humans can really evolve and here it is." The Hydra said, ignoring the human representative''s puffing. "Urhen is a Balor, a direct evolution of humans, and R is a Fomor, one step further."

    "So you say." Raagu tried to act indifferent but she knew that Faluel would never give up on the monopoly of something precious like the Harmonizer just to waste her time. "I''ve studied the life force of plenty of Balors and they had nothing human about them.

    "If you want my help, I need to take a deep scan with my breathing technique. Only then can we discuss the terms of a deal, assuming there can be any."

    R stepped forward once again, but Faluel stopped her.

    "No. Raagu needs to examine Urhen first because she''s the human equivalent of a magical beast. Your life force is as different from a human''s as that of an Emperor Beast is from an animal''s."

    "Syrah, what do I do?" The Balor was terrified.

    The small human woman emitted an aura as powerful as Glemos and looked almost as kind. Greed, ambition, and excitement made the human representative''s eyes shine like those of a kid eager to tear apart a butterfly''s wings.

    "Do as she says. We''ll be ready to intervene the moment they try something funny." The Hati Queen channeled the power of 300 warg, spreading an aura that rivaled that of the Council members.

    "I can''t believe it." Fe regained her senses next, approaching Syrah with such tenderness that the Queen took a step back in confusion. "So much power without even being Awakened. You really did find a way back, sister."

    "Not us, Glemos." Syrah half spoke half barked. "You have no idea how much pain and blood reaching this faulty state cost us."

    "I''m so sorry." Fe nodded, keeping her distance to respect Syrah''s boundaries. "I swear I had no idea of what your kind was going through or I''d have rallied the whole beast Council after Glemos''s ass!

    "He betrayed us as well. That fucker from a bloodline of fuckers betrayed his own kin." Her genuine outrage for someone she had just met really surprised the Hati Queen.

    No one had ever apologized to her nor did they usually seem to care.

    "But I''m with Raagu here. I need to check your life force as well or I can''t help you."

    "Do you need me or any Hati will do?" Syrah asked.

    "I need someone with a Harmonizer, otherwise the corrupted life force will mess up with my readings." The Behemoth replied.

    "Then do it." The Queen extended her hand, preferring to put herself at risk rather than Xagra, the only other Hati with a Harmonizer.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Are you really a Svart/alfar?" Aalejah and Br''ey said in unison while pointing at each other, using the ancestral term of their respective species instead of the modern one in Tyris'' universalnguage.

    "Gods, I can''t believe it. The ancient chronicles were real. You guys are still alive!" They moved in a circle, one the mirror image of the other.

    Yet while Aalejah held her Yggdrasill staff tight, Br''ey clenched her mana crystal.

    "This is bing embarrassing." They both said and everyone else nodded.

    "Yeah. Raise your hand and take turns talking. You two are giving me a headache!" Raagu finished examining Urhen and moved on to R, her hands shaking in excitement and a feverish light shining in her eyes.

    "This is amazing!" Fe finished first and had a hard time not hugging Syrah out of joy. "There really is another path. By studying the perfect Elder Beasts andbining that knowledge with what we know about Emperor Beasts, we might find a way to move toward bing Divine Beasts without the need for a Guardian progenitor."

    "I wouldn''t be so sure." Raagu was now done as well but while the Behemoth was brimming with enthusiasm, the fire of the human representative had gone out. "Even with the Harmonizers, Balors are still wed creatures.

    "They are actually an involution, gaining a few abilities in exchange for the loss of their mana cores and the inability to cast any spell above tier three. As for the Fomors, they partly solve the problem, but they are artificial in nature.

    "Glemos engineered them with the Harmonizer and there''s no telling if they even have the potential to be permanently stable. Being dependent on a mana geyser for their powers makes them much worse than a Lich.

    "Hence Faluel hasn''t fulfilled her promise with the human Council. She has brought no substantial proof that humans can evolve nor solid lead that might bring us to reach such a stage.

    "I agree that the children of Glemos can be spared in exchange for the Harmonizers and their help with Jiera, but that''s it.

    "They have no value for Garlen''s Council and they don''t deserve our protection. Only once the monster tides crisis is solved and if they be capable of Awakening will we reassess the situation of the various tribes."

    "How can you say that?" Fe shook her head in disgust. "You can''t just treat them like damaged goods. Artificial or not, unstable or not, they are our brethren! Even if in the end studying their life force doesn''t get us anywhere, it''s still a start.

    "We have spent millennia stuck in our condition. How can you throw away the first glimmer of hope we have for a better future?"

    "We humans have spent millennia stuck in our condition. You beasts are the privileged ones. First, you got your Guardians, and from them came Divine Beasts and lesser Divine Beasts like yourself.

    "After Xedros managed to tap into your Guardian blood and Thrud perfected the process, you beasts already have everything you need to move forward. The Harmonizer is relevant only for you. Humans, nt folk, and undead have never moved from square one.

    "I have no reason to care for these creatures nor to help you in your research. If we are done, I''m ready to discuss the terms of the truce."

    "Truce?" Syrah echoed in disbelief. "But that means that you n on reopening the hostilities in the future."

    "As I said, you are unworthy of our protection. You are just a bunch of murderous monsters born out of Forbidden Magic experiments. A trinket isn''t enough to pay your bill and you are going to help Jiera, not Garlen.

    "If they want you there, fine, but if youe back here, there are plenty of crimesto which you have to answer.""How can you be so blind?" Aalejah said.

 Chapter 2579 Square One (Part 3)

    2579 Square One (Part 3)

    "This is a great opportunity to restore the fallen races forever and get back in touch with our lost kin. We are not sure if we can solve Jiera''s crisis with so few people.

    "Rescuing the Svartalf- I mean, the orcs, might be the first step for the Awakened races to reconnect with the elves like the Guardians suggested." Aalejah said.

    "Maybe, but we''ll never know since your people keep hiding like rats." Raagu shrugged. "Unless you know their location and are willing to act as our ambassador, the orcs are useful only as soldiers. There''s nothing to learn by studying their life force since they belong to a non-human species."

    "I''m sorry but that''s impossible." Aalejah lowered her eyes. "I always lived with the World Tree and back when they sent me to Urgamakka, they Warped me straight to the Council. I have no idea where my old home is located since I''ve never been allowed to leave the Fringe on my own.

    "Only fully fledged Chroniclers know the position of the elven colonies and I''ve never be one. Br''ey is the first elf I''ve met in years."

    "My point exactly." Raagu said with a triumphant tone. "There is no point in wasting resources for a pipe dream. Also, elves couldn''t be part of the Council anyway since they cannot Awaken without the help of the World Tree."

    Syrah couldn''t argue any of the human representative''s words. The only card she had left to y was the Tyrant legacy but it was a dangerous gamble. Not only did she think that it belonged to Morok and her people aspensation for Glemos'' wrongdoings, but it was also likely to backfire.

    ''Only R can ess the secretpound and I''m not sure she would agree with these terms. On top of that, if we share the Tyrants'' legacy with the Council, we''d be left with nothing.

    ''They would take the few resources left in the vaults and the books, leaving us at theirplete mercy.

    ''Even if the Council seeds in perfecting the Harmonizers and crafting new ones, we''d have no ingredients to craft our own and we''d end up depending on the Awakened. We''d put a leash on ourselves that might note undone for centuries.''

    "Faluel did fulfill her promise." Morok stepped forward. "Humans can sessfully evolve and I''m living proof of it."

    "Don''t be ridiculous! Tyrants are Emperor Beasts." Raagu swept the air with her hand, scoffing.

    "That''s what I believed as well until Glemos told me the truth. Tyrants and Balors are two sides of the same coin and we both descend from humans. Check my life force if you don''t believe me."

    Syrah inwardly sighed in relief, d that he had delivered on R''s promise. The promise of a potential evolution was the final card that the Warlord had presented the Hati Queen after the "savior''s" departure.

    The Undead Courts were bound to feel threatened by such a revtion as much as the Council was supposed to be enticed at the idea.

    The only problem was that Awakened undead had nothing to gain either and ogres didn''t present nt folk with much.

    They had failed to evolve so far and their powers didn''t differ much from their cousins. If Zelex wanted to survive, they needed both humans and beasts to ensure a victory or at worst a stalemate during the vote in case the Guardians decided to not get involved in the decision.

    After studying Balors and Fomors, Raagu managed to catch the simrities between their life forces and the Tyrant''s, spotting themon root they had in mankind.

    "This doesn''t make sense." Her jaw was trembling in shock. "If you really are humans, why did you side with the beasts?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "ording to my father, it''s because my ancestors decided there was nothing to earn from you." Morok replied. "You are weak, egotistical, andck bloodline abilities whereas beasts are strong and watch after their own.

    "By siding with the beasts, the first Tyrants got easier ess to the Emperor and Divine Beasts'' unique skills and avoided drawing attention from those who would have stopped at nothing to reach our same state.

    "I hope you understand that by revealing this to you, I''m making myself an enemy of my entire bloodline." He turned to Fe. "If you kick us out of the beast Council, most of my people will lose their identity and find themselves isted.

    "Many have no idea they are actually evolved humans and consider themselves small, humanoid beasts like the warg."

    "Then why are you telling us that?" The Behemoth checked the various life forces as well, refusing to believe anything but her own senses.

    "Because I consider the victims of Glemos'' experiments as my people as well." Morok waved his hand at the members of the senate. "I have no idea how many Tyrants were involved in my father''s project, but I won''t let the people of Zelex once again pay for my bloodline''s mistakes just to cover my ass.

    "They are innocent, just like most Tyrants that live under the sun. I''m bounding my destiny to theirs because this way you can''t doom the people of Zelex without hurting your fellow Awakened as well."

    A shocked silence ensued while the Council representatives tried to figure out the best course of action to avoid recriminations and discrimination against the Tyrants and Syrah struggled to understand the magnitude of Morok''s sacrifice.

    "Thank you." Much to everyone''s surprise, the broken and teary voice didn''t belong to Fe. "I can only imagine how hard this must have been for you. From now on, the people of Zelex are under the protection of the human Council."

    Raagu hugged Urhen, then R, andstly, Morok, looking at each one of them like a long-lost child she had assumed dead.

    "I''m so sorry for what I said earlier. It''s just that I''m so tired of seeing the members of the other races develop new species and branches while us humans always remain the same.

    "There are hundreds of different Emperor Beasts and as many Fae whereas humans give birth only to other humans. Some are stronger, others smarter, but our abilities have stagnated for as long as history remembers.

    "Despair, hopelessness, and the awareness that if not for our numbers humans would be the weakest among the Awakened factions blinded me to the priceless treasure you have offered me.

    "Just one second ago, there was only one human species. Now, there are four of us. Five, if Morok further evolves upon reaching the violet."

    "Not to be that guy, but what about me?" Lith said. "I''m an evolved human too."

    "Please." Raagu scoffed, finding her snarky self back. "You are part human, part beast, part Abomination. Before we find a way to replicate that, you''ll have as many children as Leegaain.

    "And that assuming you only keep onepanion at a time. They, instead are fully human. New branches sprouted from a single tree that offer us different paths of being a mere source of envy."

    "ording to my father, Tyrants and Balors instead can further evolve by having offspring together." Morok exploited the human representative''s sudden enthusiasm to raise the ante.

 Chapter 2580 Square One (Part 4)

    2580 Square One (Part 4)

    "Glemos had prepared an Awakened Fomor wife for me and he strongly believed that our child would have gained an independent Spirit Eye like Lith."

    Morok didn''t mention Garrik, preferring to keep him a secret from both the Council and the Hati Queen. The former might demand custody of the child due to his unique condition and Morok didn''t want his half-brother to trade one prison from another.

    Thetter, instead, might have harmed the young Fomor in case the negotiations went awry.

    "Talk about envy." Raagu clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Are you telling me that Fomors can really Awaken? Where is she now?"

    "Yes, they can and their bloodline abilities are further strengthened as a result." Morok nodded. "Sadly, she died. Due to their unstable life force and core, Awakened Fomors can''t survive without a Harmonizer, not even while above a mana geyser."

    "I can vouch for that." R said. "Glemos established the order of the high priestesses to try and mix the two bloodlines. He achieved several partial sesses and he was still working on it when he died."

    The Hati Queen''s eyes went wide at those words, suddenly feeling deeppassion for the Warlord at the thought of what might have happened to her and her children.

    "I see." Raagu was clearly disappointed. "Still, it''s good news. It means that Fomor can Awaken and be full members of the Council. We only need to find a cure for them. Fe?"

    The Behemoth felt hurt and shocked by the maniption of the Tyrant bloodline.

    To make matters worse, Raagu''s newfound zeal irked her to no end. The human was shamelessly asking her for help in a deal that would make the beasts lose a powerful bloodline.

    "I haven''t changed my mind." The Behemoth snorted. "The warg and Hati are still under my protection. Also, I propose not to reveal the truth about the Tyrants until we have a solid lead about how to further human evolution.

    "Otherwise beasts would reject the Tyrants and some of your kin might look for a shortcut. We have had enough Forbidden Magic with Thrud for a lifetime and we''ve already lost too many people.

    "We can''t afford an internal struggle that might further reduce our numbers. The colonization of Jiera is nigh and we need to act as a united front. Any internal division would favor the Undead Corts and ruin the hard work done so far to eradicate them."

    "Agreed." Raagu enthusiastically nodded. "I''m sure that with a little persuading Lotho will vote with us to protect the ogres. I was also thinking about keeping all Balors and Fomors in Garlen to keep them safe.

    "After all, their reproduction cycle is slowpared with other monsters.""Thanks, but no thanks." Urhen stepped forward. "Our colony survived only because we shared our talents and resources. Without Balors, trolls would age quickly and goblins would be little more than cannon fodder.

    "To you, we are different races descending from beasts, elves, humans, and even Odi, but to us, we are all the same. My people have already enjoyed preferential treatment under Glemos and I won''t let the others fight and die for us."

    "Damn, I''ve known you for just a few minutes and I already like Balors more than humans. Involution my ass. What theyck in magic they more than make up for it in spirit." Fe clicked her tongue while ring at Raagu.

    "Too bad that spirit doesn''t fill your belly nor does it save you from a powerful spell." The human representative countered. "If there isn''t anything else we should know, I''d like to hear from Bytra about the results of her analysis."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    No one said anything so the Raiju took it as her cue to speak.

    "It''s really an amazing device. As you know, life force is the natural vessel for the mana core and it''s due to their symbiotic rtionship that mana doesn''t disperse until the moment of our death.

    "The Tyrant bloodline found a way to exploit their bond so that by altering the life force of their test subjects, it would cause changes in their mana flow as well. The Harmonizer works akin to umtion but with a few major differences.

    "First, the flow of world energy is constant. There is no breathing rhythm so once inside the body, the world energy is turned into mana and consumed to fuel the different enchantments of the Harmonizer.

    "Part of this energy forms a sturdy externalyer of mana that acts as a scaffold for the changes in the life force.

    "Second, unlike umtion, there is also a continuous internal mana flow that the Harmonizer employs to counter the ws in the core instead of strengthening it, making it reach a perfect and stable form.

    "Third andst, the Harmonizer contains a Body Sculpting spell that has to be tailor-made for its wearer. Unlike regr Body Sculpting, the spell exerts a slight but constant pressure thatplements the internal mana flow.

    "To make it simple, regr life force has a predetermined shape and rejects changes that are perceived as illnesses. The spell imbued in the Harmonizer loosens the structure of the life force enough for it to adapt to the changes in the core and keep the mana from leaking.

    "That said, the process isplex and even a small mistake in the settings can cause the patient''s death or permanent damage. The externalyer of mana works as a safeguard, preserving the life force''s overall shape and countering the pressure exerted by the internal mana flow.

    "In other words, the life force of those wearing a Harmonizer is constantly altered by two opposing energy currents that act as a mold and that need to be fine-tuned at all times.

    "If the internal flow exceeds the external, the wearer of the Harmonizer explodes akin to someone who failed to Awaken.

    "If the externalyer is too strong, instead, the life force ispressed too tightly to adapt to the changes in the mana core and the mana starts leaking, resulting in death. Also, the Body Sculpting spell suffers from the same issues.

    "Too strong and the mana core can''t reshape itself, leading to a build-up of energy that can cause unpredictable consequences. Too weak and the life force can''t keep up with the changes in the mana core, leading to leaks.

    "It''s a threeyered problem that requires a specific solution for each different race it has to be applied to. I wish I could say more, but with my limited knowledge in Healing magic I need to speak with an expert first."

    "You can tell all this just from a cursory analysis thatsted barely for a few minutes?" Syrah''s shock was understandable since she had no knowledge of the Forgemastering arts nor about what a Ruler of the mes was.

    Seeing the same expression on Faluel and the Council members, however, made Lith wonder how much of that was due to Bytra''s talent and how much was thanks to the resources and knowledge the Master had imparted to her.

    ''Are you really sure we don''t want to apply for an apprenticeship with her?'' Lith asked. ''I mean, even if Bytra were just to teach us the modern version of Menadion''s methods, our technique would improve by leaps and bounds.''

 Chapter 2581 Frail Alliance (Part 1)

    2581 Frail Alliance (Part 1)

    ''Sorry, but no.''Solus shuddered at the thought. ''I like Bytra and I have no problem spending a bit of time with her when shees to visit Kami and the baby. Yet studying under her would take hours every day.

    ''Even though I know she''s literally not the same person who killed my mother and me, she wears the same face and has the same voice. It still creeps me out more than I''d like to admit.''

    "Yes, that''s just my preliminary analysis." Bytra replied, snapping Lith and Solus out of their private conversation. "And before you ask, the answer is no. I can''t replicate the Harmonizers, not even if by a miracle we get rid of all those annoying cloaking runes.

    "During my first life, I wasn''t much of a Healer so my knowledge about Body Sculpting was limited to shapeshifting. After turning into an Abomination, I practiced light magic for all the wrong reasons and I have regained my body only for a while.

    "I have yet to get up to speed with all the modern Forgemastering techniques, let alone update my healing spell and study a new discipline from scratch."

    "What would you need to do it?" Fe asked and Raagu nodded.

    "The blueprints of the Harmonizer, for starters. Changing the disposition, order, and kind of runes after understanding how every single part works will be much easier than reverse engineering such aplex artifact bit by bit and putting it together with a trial-and-error procedure.

    "Also, while I work on the Forgemastering part I need a Healer good enough to alter the Body Sculpting spell and exin to me in great detail the effects that it''s going to have.

    "This way, I can adjust my Forgemastery spells ordingly and choose runes that won''t disrupt the alteration in the life force. Ideally, I would like to be partnered with someone who''s both a good Healer and Forgemaster."

    Everyone present stared at Lith but only a few of them seemed to like the idea."No offense, but Verhen is too young and his dealings with the Organization are shady at best." Fe said, receiving Raagu''s and Syrah''s approval although for entirely different reasons.

    The human representative didn''t like the fact that Lith had chosen Xenagrosh as his daughter''s godmother. Also, she was afraid that once the probation period of the Organization ended and they be the sixth Awakened race in the Council, it would give him even more power and influence.

    As for the Hati Queen, she simply hadn''t forgotten about the ughter of a few days ago and didn''t feelfortable putting her life in the hands of someone she only knew as a ruthless killer.

    "I''d like to propose Lady Fyrwal and if she''s not avable, Faluel is the only one among us who has already experimented on the Harmonizers. The Hydra bloodline has given birth to excellent healers, is already acquainted with Zelex''s senate, and is a trustworthy ally of Verhen, Eari, and the Council.

    "All in favor?"

    Everyone raised their hand, Lith included. Everyone but Bytra and Zoreth.

    "I was actually thinking of the Master." Bytra said after receiving permission to speak. "As Xenagrosh said earlier, the Organization is interested in the Harmonizers as well. They might be the key to stabilizing the conflicting life forces of our members and allow us to Awaken again."

    On paper, it was a good idea and it made perfect sense.

    The Master had already proven to be a priceless asset.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He had not only found a way to bring the Eldritches to new heights, something on which Mogar itself had given up, but he was also close to achieving a method to give new life and an enhanced body to the natural undead known as Abominations.

    On top of that, the Master had yed an invaluable role during the War of the Griffons, dealing with both Thrud''s Generals and her lost academy.

    On the other hand, just the thought of putting him in charge of the project sent a cold shiver down the spine of everyone who knew his name. Every single one of his hybrids was a wanted criminal with a rap sheet longer than a Dragon''s arm.

    No Council elder was a saint, but none of them was a mass murderer like the Organization''s members. The only reason the Awakenedmunity had decided to grant the hybrids a probation pardon and a role in the Council was desperation.

    Fake magic constantly improved by leaps and bounds thanks to coboration between Royal Mages and Forgemasters whereas each Awakened worked only for themselves.

    After Lochra Silverwing had spread her legacy and Ripha Menadion had created the Forgemaster wands that allowed fake mages to use pure mana in their works, it had taken less than one thousand years for fake mages toe close to fill the gap with Awakened.

    The Council had changed its millennia-old rules because they needed the skill and genius of the fourth Ruler of the mes. In life Bytra had willingly shared her knowledge about runes and during the treaties, she had offered her help again.

    Her price was the pardon for herself and the other hybrids plus a seat in the Council, establishing the Eldritches as the sixth Awakened race on Mogar.

    Raagu and the other representatives had epted the offer on the grounds that all Abominations in the past had been Awakened and that in the future they might Awaken again.

    Yet the truth was that the very same power that the Master and his Organization had disyed during the War of the Griffons scared the Council elders to death.

    ''Of the nine known hybrids, six are the offspring of the original Guardians. They are Divine Beasts who thanks to their monster half exceed even the potential of their siblings.

    ''Of the remaining three one is a creature capable of controlling the world energy at will, another is a Verendi Divine beast fused with a legendary Meneos, and thest one is Bytra!'' Raagu thought.

    ''If the Master bes the lead Healer in the Harmonizer project, his Organization will have ess to both the Forgemastery and Body Sculpting halves of the artifact. Once they crack the cloaking runes, they might keep the knowledge for themselves and betray the Council.

    ''Even if they do share what they discover about the Harmonizer, I can''t afford the hybrids to be restored to full life before Bytra delivers some groundbreaking technology to the Council.

    ''Most of them are already terrifying existences and if not for their current limitations, they would have no need for the Council just like the rest of their kin. Once they be capable of using breathing techniques and Spirit Magic again, they will be unstoppable.''

    "Thanks for your offer, Ruler Bytra, but that''s not an option." The human representative actually said. "The Council is bargaining for the Harmonizer and its use will be our exclusive.

    "Even though we appreciate your help, the Organization is still a probatory member. Once your people be an integral part of the Council, this matter can be discussed again. Until that moment, you''ll have ess to the Harmonizers only under supervision and one of our Healers will assist you.""They will keep an eye on me, you mean." Bytra snorted.

 Chapter 2582 Frail Alliance (Part 2)

    2582 Frail Alliance (Part 2)

    If that''s how little you think of me, why should I even get involved in this project?"

    "Because doing otherwise would be a breach of our deal." Fe replied.

    "We have given the members of the Organization ess to our Warp Network, IDs that allow you to walk in the Empire and the Kingdom without hiding like the criminals you are, and we''ve pressured the Royals in their deal with Verhen per your request."

    At those words, Lith''s eyes went wide and he turned toward Zoreth.

    "We did what we thought best, little brother. We never told you about this because we didn''t want you to feel indebted." She replied with a shrug.

    "The Organization, instead, has yet to uphold its side of our bargain." Fe continued to speak, ignoring the interruption. "We are just asking you to do as you promised and refusing your services would force us to revoke the privileges we have granted to the Organization."

    "Fine." Bytra crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes zing with ck and yellow mana in outrage. "You are lucky that I don''t want to cause a bloodbath every time I go visit my goddaughter or this conversation would have a different ending."

    Being part of the Organization''s price tag was already bad, but having his daughter used as leverage against Zoreth was even worse.

    ''Fucking bastards!'' Lith thought. ''Zoreth was sincere when she told me that she doesn''t call me "little brother" lightly. She has always been by my side during the War of the Griffons and this is how the Council treats her?

    ''I don''t know how, but I''ll find a way to make them pay.''

    "Excellent decision." Fe said with a huge victory smile on her face that matched Raagu''s. "Then the only things that remain to be decided are where to relocate your people before moving them to Jiera and the terms for our Forgemasters and Healers to study the Harmonizers."

    "Not so fast." R shook her head. "We have a few demands of our own."

    "What more do you want?" Raagu rose an eyebrow in annoyance. "More? The only thing you is survival in exchange for *our* granted us Harmonizers and putting our lives on the lines for *your* battle. That''s hardly a prize, especially considering that we and Lord Morok will be your test subjects in *your* experiments to further *your* evolution.

    "We are offering much, especially to the human Council, and receiving little in return so it''s only fair that we bnce the scales a little."

    "Sounds fair." Raagu nodded. "Tell us what you want and we''ll give it to you. Within reason, of course."

    Lith could feel that after learning that humans could really evolve, her tone and posture had softened. Raagu was still a bitter old bat, but now she was a hopeful bitter old bat.

    "First, my people need to be provided with food until our departure. It will allow us to increase our numbers and form bnced unitsprised of all tribes that will ensure our survival when dealing with the monster tides." The Fomor said.

    "It''s reasonable. Continue."

    "Also, we refuse to be relocated." That request made the Council members wince. "Zelex is our ancestral home and its arrays are our only defense against your overwhelming forces.

    "By staying here, we can preserve our traditions and use the self-destruct mechanism as a deterrent. If you break your word and try to enve us, we will kill ourselves and the Harmonizers will be lost forever.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Ourst request is to give to every leader of a colony on Jiera amunication amulet. This way, if our runes disappear at the same time, they will know that our deal has been broken and Jiera''s Awakened Council will be on its own."

    That was the n that R had devised and shared with the senate after Morok''s group had left. The Undead Courts had fewer resources than the Council had had no interest in keeping them alive once they got the Harmonizers.

    The Awakened instead, needed willing test subjects if they wanted to further their evolution. It gave the children of Glemos an extra bargaining chip that R was using to not leave Zelex and keep control overthe Tyrant bloodline''s legacy.

    "Are you sure?" Raagu asked. "Do you really want to keep living underground? Wouldn''t be better to live freely under the sun?"

    "To what end?" R replied. "Once in Jiera, our people will have a fresh start but here in the Kingdom, we are considered murderers, and for a good reason. We would still have to hide so it''s better to live in a ce we love and that we can defend.

    "No offense, representative Raagu, but the moment we step out of here, we''d lose most of our powers and we''d be at your mercy. You can''t ask us to trust you this much without giving us a single proof our your good faith."

    "Yet that''s exactly what you were willing to do for the Undead Courts." Fe pointed out.

    "True, but we didn''t trust them either and we are assuming that the Council is better than them. Are we wrong?" The Fomor tilted her head, feigning incredulity.

    "No, you are not." Raagu stepped between the two women, her hands raised to separate them. "We ept all of your conditions but there''s one problem on your side. The spacepressing array blocks dimensional amulets and passages.

    "How are we supposed to deliver the amount of food your people need without forming a line of hundreds of carriages that would end up exposing Zelex''s position?"

    "There''s no such problem." R replied. "Use dimensional amulets to bring the food to one of our city''s entrances and we''ll do the rest."

    Once both parties agreed on the terms of their alliance, the rest of the treaties went smoothly. The children of Glemos asked and obtained a few days to mourn their fallen before the Council was allowed ess to the city and started studying the Harmonizers.

    In turn, the Council required precise data about the growth speed of the various fallen races with and without the mana geyser to have an estimate of the time needed to deploy them and how quickly they could replenish their numbers in case of emergency.

    Once everything was said and done, the Council members left, leaving only Faluel, Bytra, and Zoreth behind.

    "I have upheld my word." Morok said. "I didn''t mention the existence of my bloodline legacy to the Council and I have exposed my race for you. Now it''s your turn."

    "That''s really all you want? Safe passage for two of my people?" Syrah found it a cheap price to pay. "Let me guess, one of them is R."

    The Hati Queen hadn''t missed the tension between the two of them nor how they looked at each other.

    "The deal was no question asked." Morok pointed out.

    "That''s hardly feasible." Syrah replied. "If you take her away, how do we ess the Tyrant bloodline''s legacy? Isn''t it the same as locking us out of it and taking it for yourself?"

    "Fair, this one question deserves an answer." The Tyrant nodded. "You can either take everything out before she leaves-"

 Chapter 2583 Trade Of Secrets (Part 1)

    2583 Trade of Secrets (Part 1)

    "And leave hundreds of books and piles of priceless magical resourcesying around unprotected with the risk of the Council members stumbling into them? Thanks, but no thanks." Syrah cut Morok short.

    "Even if I lift the spacepressing array, our dimensional amulets are already filled with food and I have no way to procure enough to hold such a massive collection."

    "Or you can trust me. After all, until you learn the basics of Forgemastery and Warden magic, you have no use for the ingredients stored inside the vaults. Also, if you don''t let me take R with me, she has no reason to give you ess to my legacy. You''ll be locked out anyway."

    The Fomor put a hand on thetch of her Harmonizer, ready to open it and destroy the only key to reach Glemos''b.

    "Fine. Who''s the other one?" Syrah raised her hands in surrender.

    The books were written in a code that made them worthless and without the Fomors'' cooperation, the deal with the Council would break down.

    R disappeared past the wall of white marble and crystals while Lith and the others prepared for the fight of their lives. He had requested Zoreth''s presence not only to protect Bytra, but also to buy the time he needed to bring Garrik to the tower and Warp him away.

    Solus, is everything ready?" He asked via the mind link.

    "Yeah. I just need your signal to form the tower. She replied. The only thing I don''t like about this n is that Bytra and Zoreth might see the tower and discover our secret.

    "I don''t like it either, but without their help, we could never hold so many enemies at bay while defending a child''

    Solus nodded, inwardly hoping that they wouldn''t need the contingency n.

    By the time the Fomor returned, everyone was full to the brim with mana and spells. The ck-violet aura of the hybrids flooded the pce of the senate with a thick fog that made it hard to breathe for the monsters and also alerted the guards outside.

    Syrah had called everyone to arms, channeling the power of hundreds of warg and twice as many spells. Br''ey and Urhen had charged arrays just like mine. Why didn''t you bring your son away in secret?"

    "Because he''s not like us. Garrik''s life force should be perfect once he grows up, but only if he never steps out of a geyser" R replied. "Also, Glemos didn''t give me control over the spacepressing arrays just like he didn''t give you ess to hisb.

    "He split our privileges to pit us against each other. I couldn''t bring you to theb without endangering my son but at the same time even if I wanted to take him away, I couldn''t do it without exposing his existence.

    "Before doing something stupid, know this. Only Garrik''s Harmonizer can operate theb''s arrays. If anything happens to him, they will be lost forever."

    The Hati Queen clenched her fangs at the cruel ingenuity of Glemos'' ploy. With a single move he had driven a wedge between the only people who could fight his tyranny.

    Even the rites of passage now made sense. Glemos had established them so that Garrik would never be safe without his father. The hatred that built up with each new generation of monsters was meant to keep his offspring prisoner and the high priestesses obedient.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Drop the arrays for one second." Faluel said, breaking the standstill. "It''s all I need to activate my Warping array"

    Syrah moved her eyes from Garrik to the Hydra. The rage he felt for Ikara''s death demandedpensation and even though she knew that Glemos was already dead, harming the child was the closest thing to revenge she could get.

    "Think about it this way." R said. "I didn''t tell the Council about Garrik because I didn''t want them to experiment on him like Glemos did. If Raagu knows about him, she''ll demand to add my son to the terms of the deal.

    "You keep my secret and I keep yours. Garrik is both the key to thebs and your guarantee that I won''t try anything funny."

    "You-"Syrah yelped in surprise when something caught her tail.

    "Wow. Your fur is really soft and warm." The boy was holding it with one hand while with the other he was attempting tob the fur that was bristled in outrage. "My name is Garrik. Are you a friend of my Mom?"

    Syrah just red at the child who due to theck of social interactions and the excitement from meeting new people was oblivious of her hostility.

    "No, she''s not." R pulled him away, putting herself between the Hati and the child. "Now be quiet for a second."

    "Mom, is he my brother as well?" Garrik was now focusing on Lith''s seven open eyes that were brimming with elemental power like those of his mother and brother. "When do I get my horns?"

    "I''m not your brother, little man, but I might as well be. I have more inmon with you than Moron here." Lith used his tail to grab the kid and put him on his right shoulder.

    "It''s Morok!" Both brothers said in unison, making the Tiamat smile.

    "He''s my brother, though." Xenagrosh opened her second set of eyes and turned into her hybrid form, gaining a striking resemnce with Lith as she shielded him with his body.

    The ck scales, the long tail, and the membranous wings typical of the Dragon race gained Garrik''s immediate admiration, making him squeal with joy.

    "That''s so cool. How does it feel to have a tail? Can I get one too?"

    Despite the deep grudge she held for Glemos, Syrah couldn''t bring herself to hate a child.

    Everything from his naive questions to his excitement over trivial things told her many things.

    That kid must have never gotten out of his room his whole life. She thought. ''Glemos robbed Garrik of many things but from what I can see, R managed to protect at least his innocence.''

 Chapter 2584 Trade Of Secrets (Part 2)

    2584 Trade of Secrets (Part 2)

    Syrah looked at the spark in the young Fomor''s eyes, the same that Xagra had before being forced to inherit his father''s Harmonizer and the title of King. Now his eyes were dull and he smiled a lot less.

    Syrah wished to turn back time and, strong of her knowledge of the future, spare her son from that fate but Mogar kept spinning, leaving her alone with her regrets.

    "Just give me your rune." She said while putting forward hermunication amulet.

    "I beg your pardon?" R was too surprised to make sense of the sudden request.

    "I need yourmunication rune, otherwise I can''t call you when I need you toe here." The Hati Queen didn''t want Garrik to get away and have a normal life.

    She wanted to keep him in Zelex and tell him all the horrible things that his father had done to her people. She wanted Garrik to live the rest of his days in shame and to take away from him everything that Xagra had lost.

    Yet she knew that none of it would have made her child happy, it would have just made another young boy miserable.

    The two women exchanged their contact runes and then Syrah briefly touched her Harmonizer.

    "Get out before Ie to my senses and change my mind." The Hati Queen turned around, afraid of losing her temper and ruining her people''s future for a single moment of personal satisfaction.

    "Thank you, Syrah." R said.

    "Thank you, Auntie!" Garrik waved his hand.

    "And Morok." Syrah said while keeping her back turned and her body as still as stone. "I don''t want anything to do with Glemos'' stuff. Take away from my city his ursed books as soon as you can. I''ll keep the contents of the vaults aspensation."

    "What about thebs?" The Tyrant asked.

    "They are staying here as well." Her words made him groan.

    Losing the treasures in the vaults was a huge hit to his legacy but the Davross Forge alone was an incalcble loss. It was already purified and enough to craft more than one full set of equipment even for someone as big as a Fomor.

    "We''ll use them as training facilities when youe here to teach our people the art of Forgemastery. Once you clear your debt with us, I might consider allowing you to move thebs. If we don''t need them ourselves, of course."

    "Thank you, Syrah." Morok knew that it was a fake threat.

    Faluel had already exined during their past visit that thebs had been devised so that only someone from the Tyrant bloodline could use them.

    "Don''t thank me, dammit. Just go! Zelex is wide open until you don''t get your ass out of here."

    "Call me if you ever need anything. Food, healing, weap-" At a snap of Faluel''s fingers the Warping array activated, moving them to a distant mana geyser where Ajatar the Drake was waiting for them.

    The moment Solus felt Lith''s presence fade, she fused with the now free flow of world energy and Warped straight to their destination. Not before marking Zelex''s mana geyser as her own, though.

    "Mom, howe not-big brother has wings and eyes like us while big brother has only the eyes? Where are..." His mouth fell to the ground when he saw the majestic figure of the Drake in his real form.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He resembled an oversized lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales with a huge white horning out of his snout and a long tail ending in a bone protuberance that looked like a mace.

    He was over ten meters (33) high at the withers and over twice as long. Thrice, if one also considered the tail.

    "Is this a pet? Can I have a pet? Can we bring him home, Mom? Please!"

    "Respectively, no, maybe, and absolutely not!" Ajatar replied. "Faluel, move to the next geyser. And be quick before I lose it to Morok Junior''s nonsense."

    The Hydra bolted away with her quickest flight spell while also weaving a Warp Steps that would move her closer to her destination of dozens of kilometers.

    R had a hard time chasing Garrik while they waited. He had never been outside his house let alone in the beauty of nature. He bolted left and right with his wings, trying to catch every bird and sniff every flower he saw.

    The problem was that if he were to get too far away from the geyser, his Harmonizer would depower and his life force would be foreverpromised.

    "I''m really sorry, Lord Ajatar." R gave the Drake a deep bow.

    The only way she had found to keep Garrik close was to put him on Ajatar''s back and let him explore the marvel that a Lesser Dragon was.

    "Don''t worry, youngdy. I''m putting everything on his tab." He tilted his head at Morok. "I''m going to work you so hard that you won''t have the time to attend your own marriage."

    "Please, n-" Faluel Warped them right on cue and Ajatar left before the Tyrant could even attempt a plea for mercy. "That''s great. Now how do we entertain Garrik?"

    "It''s not that hard." Lith turned into his Voidfeather Dragon form.

    The young boy squealed in joy at the sight of another and also bigger majestic creature the likes he had never seen before. Even flying around Lith at top speed, Garrik had yet to finish exploring half of his back when Ajatar activated the next array.

    Lith, Paluel, Xenagrosh, and Bytra took turns revealing their other forms to keep the boy too busy to stray from the geyser and making Morok quite jealous.

    "I can''t believe it" He pouted after trying and failing to engage Garrik in conversation. "I almost gave away my bloodline legacy, I revealed a secret that has been closely guarded for generations, and my own brother is more fascinated by a bunch of lizards than by my epic adventures."

    "Don''t take it personally" R needed sheer willpower to keep looking at him, her six eyes drawn to the mighty beasts of legends. "Garrik is a good kid and he loves you.

    "Ever since he met you, the only thing he talked about was the wish to see you again and how his life would change now that he has a brother. It''s just that he lived as a prisoner within four walls his whole life.

    "He has met Glemos a few times so he knows what a Tyrant looks like whereas he has never seen a bird, let alone a Dragon. Put yourself in his shoes."

    "Fine!" Morok snorted, starting to explore the Divine Beasts'' bodies as well and doing silly things like looking under the scales or snuggling on the soft feathers along with his brother.

    "That''s not what I meant but, oh well." The Fomor giggled seeing the barely contained anger on the Dragons'' scaly snouts.

    One thing was being manhandled by a child, receiving the same treatment by an allegedly grown man was another. Yet since Garrikughed and enjoyed sharing his discoveries with his brother, Lith, and Xenagrosh let it slide.

    The tripsted but a few minutes, crossing several regions and creating several legends about mighty beasts dwelling in the deep of several forests.

 Chapter 2585 New Home (Part 1)

    2585 New Home (Part 1)

    Merchants and travelers reported multiple sightings of ck Dragons ridden by a winged knight.

    Some believed that the Gorgon Empire had sent Leegaain''s children as scouts before an invasion. Others that after the Dragon Dance, the ancient Wyrms who slumbered in the bowels of the Kingdom had awoken and were preparing to establish their own country on the surface.

    All of them were wrong, but that''s a story for another day.

    The final Warping Array marked the end of the journey and made Morok sigh heavily again.

    "What is this ce, Mom?" Garrik stared in awe at the magnificent building standing in front of them.

    It consisted of a two-story house made of silver veined white stones, a sturdy material capable of channeling and amplifying dozens of arrays at the same time. The sloped roof was covered by enchanted tiles bearing a different rune each.

    They would turn silver during hot days to reflect light and keep the house cool and ck during cold days to absorb and store the sun''s heat.

    As for the runes, thanks to the mana geyser below the estate fueling them, they could conjure and ovep multiple kinds of offensive arrays at the same time,bining their enchantments to obtain a different effect based on the enemy.

    Each floor upied 500 square meters (17,660 square feet) and on the back of the building was visible a tall keep over 50 meters (165'') high that was likely to serve as an observation point.

    The property was surrounded by an enchanted wall over three meters (10) high and extended far enough to grant direct ess to the luscious green of the nearby woods.

    The group had Warped inside a garden with enough space to allow a Divine Beast to sit or for several packs of magical beasts to run and y together. Benches and flower beds had been arranged to form paths centered around arge fountain.

    The fresh water gushing from the several nozzles formed arcs that reflected sunlight and, with the help of a simple spell, generated permanent rainbows. At the center of the fountain, there was the statue of a man that shapeshifted into different forms, the only thing they had inmon was that all of them wore a deep white robe.

    The human form held a book, the Dragon form was depicted hammering something on a Forge, and something in-between the other two wielded a sword.

    Garrik gaped at the various wonders, flying back and forth without reaching any because incapable of deciding which one to see first.

    "Thave no idea." R looked around the ce with equal amazement, but only after making sure that there was a stable and powerful flow of world energying from below.

    "This is going to be your home until we find a permanent solution." Morok grunted as he came down Xenagrosh''s back. "Wee to the Verhen Mansion."

    The Ernas ruled over one of the richest and most powerful regions of the Kingdom, but they had no ce where to host the Fomors. Some of their homes and fortresses had been built over a mana geyser, but they were all inhabited and well connected with the local settlements.

    The presence of two non-humans would never go unnoticed and even though the Ernas had at their disposal every means necessary to ensure their safety, Morok didn''t want Carrik to just exchange one prison for another.

    The Verben Mansion, Instead, had been built away from prying eyes on purpose. The location had been chosen due to the presence of the geyser to amodate Solus'' tower which currently resided in the keep with space to spare.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    On top of that, it was equipped with a private Warp Gate.

    Since itspletion, no one could ess the Mansion unless directly invited and thanks to the Gate, people from the Verhen and the Ernas family would be able toe at all times to bring food or spend time with their new guests.

    "Who would have ever thought that the wet dream of a paranoid cheapskate would havee in handy?" Jirni said while taking deep breaths and appreciating the air dense with world energy.Even without the use of a breathing technique, she could feel her body being invigorated and nurtured.

    "Not now, dear." Orion sighed. "Let''s go meet our future inws."

    The Ernas couple had insisted to be present so as to meet R and Garrik and be properly introduced to the members of Morok''s extended family. Solus had arrived first with the Tower Warp and kept thempany while they waited.

    Garrik was the first to spot them from the sky and dived in front of the neers filled with childish enthusiasm.

    "Hi, my name is Garrik and this is my home now. Who are you and what do you turn into?" Without giving them time for a reply, he circled around them, looking at Orion''s back, under Solus'' hair, and above Jirni''s hair for any sign of their true nature.

    "This is actually *my* home, little runt. You and your mother are my guests so be respectful with my friends." Lith caught the boy on the fly and forced him to stand still on the ground so that he wouldn''t give everyone a neck stiff by trying to follow him with their eyes.

    Lith''s tone was supposed to be harsh but it failed to impress anyone. He had kept solely the seven eyes and feathered wings of his bestial form in order to make his guests feel at ease since aside from his pink skin, he closely resembled a Fomor.

    That along with the warmth in his gaze and the way he ruffled Garrik''s hair made him look as stern as a friendly uncle.

    "Guys, these are Garrik and R Earl, Morok''s step-brother and mother. Garrik, R, these are my friends Jirni and Orion Ernas while she is Solus Verhen, my cousin."

    If she''s his cousin, then I''m her mother."Jirni said with a sneer via a mind link. She''s barely taller than me and her body type ispletely different from the Verbens we know.

    ''Also, after allegedly meeting her in the Desert, Lith brought her to his home and gave her the keys to everything This doesn''t just smell fishy, it''s the whole ocean.

    ''Man, if she''s big Orion replied, making Jirni''s attention switch from their host to her husband who was swallowing loudly while clenching her hand.

    Like all Fomors, R was a head and shoulders taller than Orion, reaching past 2.3 meters (77) in height. She had long silky hair of the six colors of the elements that framed her soft hips like a rainbow waterfall.

    Her body and features were perfectly proportionate as if instead of being birthed she had been carved by an artist with the goal of falling in love with his own creation. She wore afortable silk gown and a loose vest that left most of her back exposed so that she could freely unfurl her wings.

    "Yeah, very big I''d say the size of melons" Jirni''s voice oozed venom and despite her gentle touch, Orion could feel the silent fury coursing through her petite body.

    "I meant her height." He rushed to rify.

 Chapter 2586 New Home (Part 2)

    2586 New Home (Part 2)

    Also, did you notice her eyes? She has six of them, like Lith and Morok.

    Oh, I noticed them alright. Especially those right in front of your face. The others are a bit higher."

    "Lord and Lady Ernas, nice to meet you." The Fomor unfolded her wings while giving them a curtsy. "Please, just call me R. I haven''t done anything to deserve Morok''s name and I don''t want to sully it with my ignorance of etiquette and the ways of the Kingdom.

    "I may be an adult woman, but please take care of me like I was a child because I know very little about the outside world and I''m eager to learn."

    "Don''t be silly, dear." Jirni returned the curtsy before taking R''s hands into her own and forcing her to stand up. "I''ve barely met you and you''ve already made a better impression than Morok ever did.

    "In a while, you are going to be part of the family so there''s no need for formalities. Just call me Jirni." She had to raise the ground with chore magic of almost one meter (3'') to not feel like a child.

    Jirni''s pride couldn''t be hurt by something as irrelevant as the height gap. She was used to be the shortest person in the room. Yet first impressions mattered and she wanted to face the Fomor as a peer and look her in the eyes.

    "Indeed." Orion raised a shorter dais and shook R''s hand as well. "Feel free to call me Orion. If there''s anything, like a tour of the nearby shops, you need, just ask. From what I understand, unlike this handsome young man, there''s nothing stopping you from leaving the Mansion.

    "After you learn how to shapeshift, I would be happy to teach you how to interact with humans and about the value of money."

    "Yes and no." R sighed. "We can both move, the difference is that Garrik''s life force would be foreverpromised while mine already is. If I were to leave the geyser''s premises, my body would forcefully revert into a Balor.

    "I''d lose my current appearance and even my magical powers. Shapeshifting can''t help me, but thanks for the offer anyway."

    "Man, if you are short." Garrik looked at Solus and Jirni who were barely taller than the five years old Fomor.

    "Don''t you have things like extra eyes, horns, wings?" He asked, receiving a streak of no in reply. "Not even fur? I''m so sorry for you, your life must be very sad."

    "Garrik!" Rya flushed in embarrassment. "This is no way to talk with friends."

    "Why? It''s not like I insulted them. I just told the truth." The honest confusion in his tone made his rude words even worse.

    "There''s nothing wrong in being different, young man." Lith said. "Yet remember that words have a weight and up here, everyone is like them. How would you feel if they pointed out at your eyes and wings, iming that they must make your life sad?"

    Garrik opened his mouth and raised his finger to reply when everyone shapeshifted into their human form to let him understand what the standard appearance in the Kingdom was.

    Suddenly surrounded by pink-skinned, short, wingless people with only a set of eyes, the young Fomor realized how different his mother was from them and him from her.

    No one else''s eyes moved freely along their bodies. No one had skin the color of the snow.

    "Am I the strange one?" He made his eyes go back to their original ce, closing all but two.

    "Not strange, different." Morok patted his back. "You, I, and Uncle Lith are all unique members of our respective races, but that doesn''t make us better or worse than them. Just different.

    "If you want others to respect you, however, you must respect them first. No one likes being treated like a freak."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I''m sorry." Garrik nodded to his brother before giving Jirni, Orion, and Solus a bow. "I didn''t mean to offend you. I just hoped you to be cool."

    Morok facepalmed and R flushed even more when the boy managed to ruin his apology one step away from the finishing line.

    "I can definitely see and hear the resemnce between you two." Orionughed. "There''s no need to apologize, Garrik. You are Morok''s brother, but unlike him, you are still young and there''s hope for you."

    "Hey, I resent that!" The Tyrant snarled.

    "Thanks, I guess." Garrik looked at the two men, having no idea why his big brother reacted that way to such nice words.

    "Resent what you want." Orion scoffed, turning to Garrik again. "For your information, I am cool. I''m just not as shy as these youngsters. Look."

    He took enchanted clothes and toys out of his dimensional amulet, giving them to both mother and son after exining to them how to use each one of the artifacts.

    "Thank you, Grampa Orion!" Garrik hugged Orion''s legs before stripping naked and wearing his new clothes in front of everyone.

    "And here he goes again." Orionughed again, stopping R before she apologized for the third time in less than a minute.

    "Is this our new friend?" Aran asked, riding alongside with Leria, Lilia, and Leran on their respective steeds.

    "Yes, he is. Guys, this is Garrik, Morok''s brother. I invited you here because he literally doesn''t know anyone and can use learning about human customs through experience.

    "Garrik, these are Aran, my brother, and Leria, my niece. Lilia and Leran are family friends and are special, like you." Protector''s children shapeshifted back and forth into their hybrid form, bing red-furred humanoid wolves for a split second.

    "So cool! What about them?" Garrik pointed at the magical beasts. "Are they pets? Can I have one too?"

    "These are Onyx, Abominus, sh, and Crash!" Garrik had no idea what a teacher was but Leria''s lecturing tone gave him a solid example. "They are not pets. They are our friends and are part of our respective families."

    The magical beasts nodded, leaving the Fomor bbergasted.

    "But yes, you too can have one. Otherwise it wouldn''t be fair when we y." At a snap of her fingers, a Ry, a Shyf, a Gd (stag-type magical beast), and a Byk, walked out of the woods, each with an expression more annoyed than the other.

    They were the youngest members of the four ns of the kings of the woods and had been sent there by their leaders per Lith''s request. "Pick one and give them a name. They actually already have one, but they are impossible to pronounce." Leria said.

    "That''s not true!" Abominus said."Anghrrwhonghayrmr just rolls off the tongue."

    "No, it doesn''t." The sheer number of guttural and howling sybles made Garrik''s throat hurt just at the thought of saying it out loud.

    The young Fomor examined the four magical beasts, from looking under their paws to checking the inside of their mouths and teeth.

    "You look majestic, but you''re definitely too fat." He said to the Byk. "You look more suited for an afternoon nap than taking part in a glorious battle..."

    "Guilty as charged. You can''t win them all. No hard feelings on my side." The Byk trotted away with a huge grin on his face.

 Chapter 2587 Extended Family (Part 1)

    2587 Extended Family (Part 1)

    "That''s why I pick you! I too love napping" Garrik grabbed the hind leg of the magical beast while channeling the fire element for strength and the earth element to increase his own weight.

    The Byk missed his step and fell t on his snout.

    "Say what? No, you are making a mistake. I''m slow andzy while Scourge''s pups y hard and rough." He tried and failed to escape the child''s grip, his ws only digging through the ground without advancing of a single millimeter.

    "It doesn''t matter. We can grow strong together" Garrik pulled the Byk closer and lifted him as he weighed no more than a huge stuffed bear instead of hundreds of kilograms.

    "Why waste time with me? Pick a Ry or a Shyf. They are all the rage now."

    "There''s nothing wrong in being different." Garrik said while embracing the Byk. "You are unique like me, Fluffy"

    "Fluffy?" The Byk said in horror while his peersughed their asses off at his expense.

    "Yes, because your fur is so soft and warm."

    "That just means I''m alive! The steeds of Scourge''s pups are soft and warm as well but their names don''t sound like a fancy pillow. Please, if we really have to do this, at least let me live with a shred of honor. Give me a warrior''s name." Fluffy struggled as hard as he could without biting or wing, but nothing worked.

    "What''s wrong with Fluffy?" Lith''s voice was friendly but his eyes fixed in the Byk''s were not. "You just got bested by a five years old child. You are lucky he hasn''t called you Wimpy."

    "Yes, boss." Fluffy lowered his gaze in shame while the other three magical beasts rushed to their freedom before Garrik could change his mind.

    "Don''t worry, those idiots don''t know what they are missing" Abominus patted the Byk''s back with his paw. "You have just gotten yourself five free meals a day, a roof over your head, a fresh bed during summer, and a hot ce during winter.

    "Really?" Fluffy''s stomach gurgled with joy.

    Onyx took out a b of well-seasoned prime meat from the dimensional ring on her tail offered it to him in reply.

    "This is delicious, I mean, we are going to be best friends!" The Byk gobbled the food, thanking the gods for their blessing.

    "I love you too Fluffy!" Garrik let his new friend go to let him eatfortably and conjured plenty of fresh water for him to drink. "Mom, can I go y with them?"

    "Can he?" R looked at Lith and Morok. "Garrik is very strong and he has never interacted with other people. Also, I''m worried that he might leave the geyser without even noticing."

    "Let me deal with it." Lith crouched down to look the young Fomor in the eyes. "You can go, but only if you promise me to not use any of your bloodline abilities. Regr people can''t lift a Byk and even though the other kids all wear enchanted armor, if you hit them with all your strength, someone is going to get hurt."

    He took a pause to let his words sink in until Garrik nodded for Lith to continue.

    "So never take out your wings and never activate your eyes unless it''s to protect yourself or the others, are we clear? Just to be safe, I''ve asked Orion to enchant your clothes so that the moment you exert a dangerous level of strength you should feel an itch."

    "So that''s why I felt weird while ying with Fluffy!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Yeah, and you weren''t supposed to ignore it. Come on, give it a try." Lith offered Garrik his hand and the young Fomor squeezed it a few times until he learned to recognize the effects of the failsafe and loosen his grip as fast as he could.

    Whenever Garrik made a mistake that would have resulted in a physical injury, his armor would expand like foam, forming a thick, softyer that protected those at both ends of the blow.

    "It might take a while to get used to it but practice makes perfect." Lith said. "Also, always carry this with you."

    He put at the Fomor''s neck what looked like a glowing red bead.

    "When it starts to buzz, it means you should turn around and get closer to the mansion. When it starts screaming, it means you are this close to giving your mother a heart attack." There was no point in exining the delicate bnce of the life force to a kid.

    Lith knew that if he made it about Garrik, with the carelessness and hubris typical of children he would ignore any warning in order to have fun.

    "This thing perceives when Mom is in danger?" The young Fomor stared at the red bead with the right mix of awe and terror.

    "Yes. So when you hear an ear-piercing sound, it means she needs your help. Lith nodded, aware that while Garrik could disregard his safety, no child would willingly put his mother''s life in danger.

    "Thank you. I wish you too were my big brother." Garrik hugged Lith, looking at the bead and at R several times before feeling confident enough to jump on Fluffy''s back and follow the other kids to the magical yfield.

    "That was sly, maniptive, and a bit cruel." Zoreth snarled. "You''ll make a great dad."

    "Indeed." Jirni nodded. "It will teach him responsibility."

    "He''s just five years old, for the gods'' sake!" Orion said. "He should be only thinking about ying and having fun."

    "He should, if a single mistake wasn''t enough to ruin his life." R sighed. "Thank you for your kindness, Lord Verhen. You are letting us stay at your home and you also prepared everything we needed to have a normal life."

    She gave him a deep bow that sent her long hair touching the ground.

    "It''s nothing. I just thought that the best way to learn how to live as a kid is by spending time with other kids. Lith dismissed everything with a wave of his hand. "Orion helped me to make sure that nobody gets hurt in the process. I-"

    Tm sorry for beingte!" Kam arrived at a half-jog pace that was faster than a man running due to her enhanced body further boosted by the pregnancy. "I got stuck at work and-Good gods if she''s big!"

    "My thoughts exactly." Orion nodded, hoping that since Kam had his same reaction for entirely different reasons, it would quell Jirni''s rage and spare him the doghouse. "Fomors are truly majestic."

    He looked down at his wife for a second, but she was unreadable as usual. Jirni''s smile always extended to her eyes unless she decided otherwise. She giggled like a maiden at Kam''s words, but when her gaze met Orion''s, he could swear to read "nice try" in big red letters.

    "Kami, it''s so good to see you!" Zoreth and Bytra rushed to her, hugging and kissing her like they hadn''t seen each other for months Instead of hours. "Are you hungry? Are you tired? Do you need a chair to rest your feet?"

    Zoreth gave Kam a full check-up before letting her go to meet their guests.

 Chapter 2588 Extended Family (Part 2)

    2588 Extended Family (Part 2)

    "Let her breathe, dear." Bytra chuckled, dragging the Eldritch-troll hybrid away to watch over the kids. "Sorry, Kami. You know how overprotective Zor is."

    The Raiju said while taking a cart full of snacks of all kinds and a recliner from her dimensional amulet, proving that despite her words she was no different from her spouse.

    As for Kam, she was still speechless. The eight gap of over half a meter (2''), among other things, made her feel like a child.

    "By the Great Mother, if her breasts were hollow, they could store mine and still have plenty of space left.'' Actually, her thoughts and Orion''s weren''t so different.

    R had a sweet expression filled with genuine enthusiasm as she looked around at everything and everyone that made her lovely. Now that she had folded her wings behind her back, the only signs of her inhuman nature were her pale blue skin and six eyes.

    Yet the color of her skin made her exotic rather than freaky and for someone used to Lith, the six eyes were far from upsetting. To make matters worse, the Fomor kept only two of them open to better fit in with her hosts so the extra eyes were reduced to thin ck lines resembling tribal tattoos.

    "R, this is my wife Kami, I mean, Kam." If Lith had noticed her distress, he hid it as well as Jirni. "Kami, this is R. She''ll be our guest until Faluel can find a permanent amodation for her."

    "At this point, I should be used to meeting drop-dead gorgeous women.'' She thought while her lizard brain screamed in panic despite logic dictated otherwise. ''Yet between the wings, the eyes, and those weapons of mass distraction I can''t help but feel threatened.

    "She has more things inmon with Lith than I ever will and size isn''t an issue since he can grow much, much taller.''

    "Nice to meet you." Kam actually said while extending her hand. "If there''s anything you need, feel free to ask. You and Garrik are wee to stay here for as long as you need."

    "The pleasure is all mine." R took the hand with both her own, giving Kam a deep bow yet her head was still high enough to look down on the human woman. "I''d like to introduce my son to our benefactor, but it''s his first time meeting other children. I hope you won''t mind."

    Both women turned around to see Garrik and the others y together in a weird game of tag that involved a leather ball and plenty of chore magic.

    "Not at all." Kam shrugged. "I''m just surprised he isn''t scared of open spaces after living underground for so long."

    "That''s because each room of our prison was spacious and we even had an inner garden." R replied. "Glemos didn''t make us miss anything, aside from freedom and happiness, of course. We-Great Mother almighty, congrattions!"

    The Fomor brought Kam''s hand to her lips and kissed it.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "For the baby, I mean. When is it due?"

    "How do you know about that?" Kam instinctively looked down at her still-t belly. "I thought that Fomors were evolved humans and that your senses were simr to our own."

    "They are." R nodded, conjuring an ice mirror in front of Kam''s face.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Her skin was full of small ck cracks where it had split into small scales and her eyes now had a vertical pupil. Elemental energy painted her eyes with different colors as they cycled between them.

    This is not that kind of threat, little one! Calm down. Kam blushed in embarrassment, taking deep breaths to slow down her heart and reassure Elysia.

    "I''m sorry, pregnancy hormones drive me crazy from time to time." She lied through her teeth, drawing an approval nod from Jirni. "It''s a girl and she should be born around the end of next winter."

    "A bit less than five months, then." R nodded. "If you ever need a babysitter, I''ll be d to help."

    "Thanks, but at least that part is plenty covered." Kam pointed at Solus, Bytra, Zoreth, and over her shoulder, where Tyris stood guard, invisible. "Follow me, please, I''ll give you a tour of the house and show you your amodations."

    ***

    A month passed, and many things happened during that time.

    The Awakened Council kept its word, providing the citizens of Zelex with plenty of food and enough time to let the monsters say their goodbyes before starting to move them to Jiera.

    The famine affected the Awakened no less than the rest of the poption of the Garlen continent, but due to their long life and plenty of dimensional amulets, they had more than enough to spare for a single city for much longer than a month.

    A single Emperor Beast ate in one day as much as dozens of monsters so with hundreds of them sharing the burden, they could have covered for Zelex''s provisions until the harvest if needed.

    Syrah was true to his word, allowing Morok to travel freely to and from Zelex, recovering the priceless tomes that the Tyrant bloodline had umted over the millennia.

    The Hati Queen still hated his guts, but with each visit her re waned from "I won''t rest until I''ve wiped out your bloodline from the face of Mogar" to "Say one word and I''ll shove my hand up your ass, and use your corpse like a puppet."

    With no more food rationing or culls, and with Xagra slowly recovering from his father''s death, she couldn''t help but soften up. Her boy was still a boy instead of an adult like it would have been if he had been sent to the Gardens of Time.

    For the first time in her son''s life, Syrah could afford to let him stop training like a warrior and live like a child. They could spend as much time with each other as they wanted with no rush or fear of tomorrow.

    The members of the senate didn''t like to be poked and prodded by their Awakened cousins, but now whenever a woman became pregnant the event was celebrated instead of dreaded.

    The Council was more than happy to provide the extra rations in exchange for the opportunity to study the development of the child''s life force from conception.

    Aalejah Eventide spent a lot of time with her lost brethren, trying to learn from them the secrets of the crystals in exchange for lending her Yggdrasill staff. The presence of the artifact alone helped the members of the Council to study the Harmonizers and the Svartalf to recover more of their ancestral memories.

    Aalejah used holograms to show them how elves lived within the Fringe hosting the World Tree and how Mogar had progressed since the Svartalf''s fall. She also shared with them everything she could remember about their race and its traditions.

    Back when she was still an apprentice Chronicler of the World Tree, she had ess to historical records dating up to the first Yggdrasil. Only knowledge deemed as precious had been forbidden to her and luckily for the orcs, they had been ssified as a cautionary tale together with the rest of the fallen races.

 Chapter 2589 Extended Family (Part 3)

    2589 Extended Family (Part 3)

    "I know that this might be awkward, but I''d like to invite you and the rest of the senate to my wedding." Morok said during thest trip to Zelex, right before taking the final pack of books to the Ernas library.

    He had waited as long as he could in the hope that Syrah''s hatred would subside and then seized the moment when Xagra was with her to make his move. The Hati Queen''s countenance changed in the presence of witnesses and especially her son.

    Only she, Urhen, and Br''ey knew the truth behind the alleged demon invasion while everyone else still believed the Tyrant to be a selfless hero and the prophesized savior.

    Syrah hated to admit it, but between the church of Glemos and the food, the citizens of Zelex had epted the deal with the Council without batting an eye. Even the few among the warriors who still had questions regarding the events regarding Morok''s arrival had soon decided that ignorance was bliss.

    The Hati Queen was even more careful holding herself back in front of Xagra, not wanting her hatred to be passed down and ruining any chance the children of Glemos had of a peaceful existence on the surface world.

    "And why would you do that, Lord Morok?" Syrah had to improvise a fit of cough to hide the growl that would have otherwise apanied her words. "We barely know each other yet you have already done so much for us."

    "I feel like we are taking advantage of you." Yet her re told clearly that she didn''t trust him further than she could throw him.

    "Mom, are you feeling unwell? Xagra whimpered and so did his siblings. "Can you please examine her, Lord Morok? Auntie Carana is a great healer, but not even Traughen canpare to Awakened."

    Tm fine, there''s no need for-"Syrah choked on her words seeing the fear in her pups'' eyes.

    Her children were afraid of losing their mother as well and remaining alone.

    "Please, Lord Morok, ease their worries." She offered him her hand, hating the Tyrant''s touch and herself even more for scaring the children.

    "Sure." Morok gave her a check-up as shy as it was pointless. "As for your question, I have no one on my side of the family and I would truly enjoy somepany. Also, I thought that you might like a taste of life on the surface.

    "The ceremony will be held above a mana geyser so with a bit of shapeshifting there will be nothing you have to worry about. There will be lots of food, and the ceremony will be held near open woods, in the middle of a huge garden"

    Syrah was about to tell him to shove the invitation up his ass when all hell broke loose.

    "Food?" Xagra said, panting and waggling his tail in excitement. "Like the ice cream Mom reads about on the silver thingy?"

    "Open woods?" A slightly older Hati echoed. "Can we really y under the sun?" A slightly younger one asked.

    "Yes, yes, and yes." Morok nodded. "All you can eat plus all the space you want to run around without getting older.

    "Please, Mom, can we go? Please? Pretty please. We''ll be good!" Syrah was surrounded by a firing squad of literal big puppy eyes and waggling tails.

    I would never ept if it wasn''t for the fact that I haven''t seen them so happy since the day Ikara died: She thought, Inwardly cursing the Tyrant for histest maniption. "No matter if I tell them the truth or I just refuse the invitation, it would be in cruel either way."

    "It will be my pleasure."

    The children erupted in cheers and then went to share the good news with their friends, sealing Urhen''s and Br''ey''s fate before they could even understand what was happening.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Excellent. Here are your invites. I''ll send someone to exin etiquette to you and to take the measurements for your clothes. Bye!" Morok disappeared faster than she could give him the finger.

    ***

    At the same time, in Lutia, Kam couldn''t stop looking at herself in the mirror.

    Her hips were starting to get wider and her belly to show the signs of a baby bump. She knew it was perfectly normal and every woman in the family reassured her, yet she couldn''t help feeling awkward while staring at her own reflection.

    "How can this be just the beginning? I''m going to get huge!" She whined.

    While she wore her uniform the multipleyers of clothes helped to hide the changes but the moment she was in her underwear, it was impossible to miss them. Luckily for her, the Voidfeather armor made even her undergarments fit without the need to be resized.

    "Gods, woman, if you wanted my attention, you Just needed to ask Lith didn''t mind the changes at all as he demonstrated by pinning her against the wall from behind while kissing his way down her neck.

    I wasn''t trying to seduce you, you idiot." Yet her voice quivered as his hands moved along her exposed skin. "It''s early morning. It''s too soon for..."

    The hormones that were allowing her body to adapt also increased her sensitivity, something that Lith exploited by stroking her most vulnerable areas.

    Kam opposed a barely noticeable resistance as her words turned into moans and her breathing into panting from arousal. After the first round, she turned to look him in the eyes, needing a little help to wrap her legs around his hips.

    As her fingers wed at his skin and her mouth looked for his, Lith brought Kam to the bed where she engaged him in morefortable positions until she waspletely satisfied.

    "I can''t believe you made me miss work" Her breath was stillbored when she managed to reach the pocket watch.

    ording to the disy, there were only a few minutes left before lunch.

    "Tell your boss that you needed rest. Healer''s order Lith replied, making her giggle. "Besides, you made me lose my Vold Magle lesson as well. What I''m going to say to the Royals?"

    "Definitely not the truth." She replied, going back into his arms for cuddles. "Do you really not mind?"

    "Mind what?" Lith asked with a puzzled look on his face.

    "You know, that I''m getting... fat." Thest word came out dragged and so low that it was barely audible.

    "You are not fat." He countered with a firm tone. "You didn''t develop an obsession for cheese and beer, we are having a baby. Besides, unless during thest few hours you have been reced by a Doppelglinger, I think I''ve made my point clear."

    "Oh, no. That was definitely me." Kam gave him a naughty smile followed by a deep kiss yet once she pulled back, she still looked unconvinced. "Are you sure that wasn''t pity sex or something?"

    "Now you are asking for it, woman." Lith pulled her into a tight embrace, forcing her to feel the strength of his convictions. "I''m not letting you out of this room until- Gods!"

    He had barely started to caress her again when he jumped back like he had touched a live wire.

 Chapter 2590 Extended Family (Part 4)

    2590 Extended Family (Part 4)

    "What''s wrong?" Lith''s shocked expression made Kam forget about her self-consciousness about her body to worried sick.

    "A kick!"

    "I didn''t kick you, you jerk. I was just going to-"

    "Not you, the baby! I swear that I felt a kick." Lith put his hand back on her stomach, hoping for an encore.

    "Are you sure it wasn''t just my stomach grumbling?" Lith had missed breakfast but Kam had also skipped her five midmorning snacks.

    "I don''t know. It was weak and this is my first time too." He activated Invigoration to take a look at Elysia just in time to see her strike again, this time with feeling.

    "I felt it too!" Kam started to tear up, her voice broken by hups. "Gods, I''m so happy to have skipped work. This is Elysia''s first kick and we got to share this moment together."

    "Me too, but this begs the question. Is she just asking you for food or did Elysia dislike Mommy and Daddy sharing their special embrace?" The question was as dumb as Lith''s tone was dead serious, making Kamugh and cry at the same time.

    "She''s a baby, silly." Kam said while blowing her nose with a handkerchief. "She has no idea what''s happening. No matter how paranoid you are. A kick is just a kick."

    "Only one way to find out." Lithy his ear against her swollen belly, gently rapping on her skin as if he was knocking on a door. "Elysia, this is Daddy. Kick once if you are hungry and twice if there''s any other problem."

    At first, Kam had to hold in aughter at the absurdity of the situation. Then, it dawned on her that maybe Divine Beasts developed differently from human babies and she found herself holding her breath in tension.

    After a few seconds anything had yet to happen and even from Invigoration Elysia wasn''t giving any sign of understanding humannguage.

    "Thank heavens." Lith sighed in relief. "I swear that if she actually answered, I would have freaked out."

    "Yeah, same." Kam giggled, caressing his hair while she enjoyed that situation.

    The physical contact gave her the impression that father, mother, and daughter were all connected as one.

    "Yet I can''t wait to tell my colleagues that I am one of the few individuals able to say ''told you so'' to the great Supreme Magus of the Kingdom. Even a mere Constable can teach you a lesson or two."

    "Please." Lith replied with a snort. "You are my wife and we live together. You are bound to be right from time to time."

    "From time to time?" She said in mock outrage. "I''m-"

    The delicious smell of meat sauce and roasted potatoes wafted through the frame of the door again, making Kam''s mouth water and her stomach grumble yet it wasn''t the reason she stopped herself mid-sentence.

    A strong, well-ced kick right where Lith''s cheek was had followed the smell, leaving them both bbergasted.

    "Coincidence?" Suddenly Kam didn''t care about being right anymore.

    "Do we really want to know?" Lith jumped up, having his Voidwalker armor covering him while gesturing for her to recall her armor as well and quickly. "Because if we do and the answer is what I fear, I won''t touch you for the next four months."

    "It''s definitely a coincidence." The silvery metal covered her, taking the form of underwear, knee-length loose pants, and a blouse while Kam used chore magic to erase every trace of the indoor activities. "I am hungry so Elysia is hungry."

    Luckily, no more kicks ensued, allowing the mystery to remain so.

    "Good morning!" It wasn''t Elina''s first rodeo so her belly was more swollen than Kam''s and she was at ease in her current condition. "I''m always happy when you two workaholics take a break, but you should at least give notice to your bosses.

    "Archon Griffon was worried about you Kam and she called me since neither of you replied to your amulet. As for you, Lith, Solus had to go to the Crystal Griffon alone for the Void Magic lesson.

    "Without you, that poor girl will be exhausted after using so much magic for the entire morning."

    "I know." Lith sighed while pulling a chair for Kam and handing her an appetizer. "I''m sorry, Mom, let me help you. You must be tired."

    Elina was already done and there was little left to do.

    That day it was Tyris'' turn and Zinya was there as well. The three of them had prepared a small feast and Trion had already set the table after returning from the fields where he had worked during the morning with Raaz.

    Whenever Lith was at home, he conjured the soul of his brother from the Void Sigil in his feather and gave Trion Verhen a human appearance with Light Mastery.

    This way, even when Lith was conducting his magical research or spending quality time with Kam, Solus, or both, Trion could take care of the family and let them make up for the lost time.

    Raaz and Elina loved every moment they shared with their lost son while Rena wanted to know everything about his life in the military. Aran and Leria, however, had yet to warm up to Trion.

    They were young, but not stupid.

    Whenever they asked where their uncle/brother had been their whole lives, their respective parents gave them vague and evasive answers. Despite the joy of having him back, no one felt like painting Trion like a hero who had been away from home, sacrificing his personal life to save innocents.

    His past misdeeds were forgiven, but far from forgotten. That and the perennial guilty look on Trion''s face spoke volumes about his character.

    "I''m a bit tired, but it''s nothing I can''t handle." Elina cupped Lith''s face while caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. "I''m so proud of the man you have be. You have healed your sister, saved your father, and brought Trion back from the dead.

    "It''s only thanks to you that our family is back together and we can live in our home."

    "There''s no need to keep thanking me every other day, Mom." Lith blushed a bit in embarrassment, feeling like a small child again.

    "I couldn''t disagree more." She gently pulled his head down to kiss his forehead. "Without you, our family would be poor and torn apart instead of prosperous. You have rescued two of my children, blessed me with the ability to bear two more, and now you''re about to give me a granddaughter.

    "I''ll never stop thanking you because I want you to know how happy you make me and that I''m never going to take it for granted."

    "Thanks, Mom." Lith hugged Elina, his voice low and husky.

    For a moment, Kam could see Lith shrinking into a very young Derek McCoy crying for his mother''s attention. Yet instead of being ignored as it had happened back on Earth, Elina lifted him to her bosom and lulled him into sleep.

    To everyone else, however, Lith was always an adult much taller than his mother and his face happy.

    "You must be tired from working all day. Sit down with Kami and let me take care of the rest."

 Chapter 2591 New Neighbors (Part 1)

    2591 New Neighbors (Part 1)

    Lith quickly washed the kitchen tools that the women had used to prepare the ingredients and put them back, giving the living room a more orderly appearance.

    "There was no need, but I appreciate it." Zinya washed her face and neck, sweaty from the heat of the stoves and oven. "Gods, I wish I had a shred of magical talent. Doing everything by hand takes a long time and is exhausting."

    At those words, Kam stopped using Spirit Magic to grab bits of the delicacies spread along the rectangr table without the need to stand up and pretended to have used cutlery all along.

    "Zin is already depressed because she can''t get pregnant. I''d better avoid rubbing my ever-growing powers in her face.'' She thought.

    Kam had yet to reach the yellow mana core but thanks to the synergy with Elysia''s red core, she could exert the magical prowess of someone with a deep green core. Her secret magic lessons with Solus had already reached the point where Kam could float on her own.

    ''I can''t wait to be able to fly by myself.'' She inwardly grinned at the thought. ''Flying with Lith is nice and he does every silly thing thates to my mind, but in the end, I still rely on him.

    I wonder what face he''ll make when Solus and I tell him that I''ve mastered tier one magic and I''m close to starting learning tier three.'' As if answering Kam''s thoughts, Solus walked through the door of the house.

    "I''m home and I''m beat." She said with a tired expression on her face. "Sorry for beingte. I had to take a short rest beforeing home."

    The mana geyser in the Trawn woods was close enough to allow her to regain her strength, albeit slowly, as long as Lith was home. Solus had waited until she was sure to be capable of keeping her human body for the duration of the lunch before returning home via the Warp Mirror.

    "Wee back." Lith offered her a cold towel, a ss of water, and a hug. "How was the lesson?"

    They were all a ruse to stay close to her and feed her with his mana and life force without arousing Zinya''s suspicion. Too much.

    "Great, no thanks to you though." Solus put the towel around her neck, gulped the water, and did her best to not linger in the embrace for too long. "Because of your absence, I had to talk and cast spells for two."

    "What do you mean, dear?" Raaz arrived right after her, still sweaty from working in the fields under the sun until a moment ago. He clicked his tongue when Lith didn''t offer him the same treatment. "Isn''t the lesson the same no matter the number of professors?"

    "No." Solus shook her head. "Afterpleting tier three, the ss is working on Void Magic tier four. The problem is that not even us have cracked it yet so whenever one of our studentses up with a theory, it''s up to us to double-check its viability and eventually incorporate it in future lessons."

    Lith rolled his eyes and put a cold towel knotted in a tie to Raaz''s neck, handed him a cold beer, and used water chore magic to remove the sweat from him while patting his shoulder.

    "There you go, Dad. Happy?"

    "Very," Raaz sat heavily on the nearest chair, smacking his lips in appreciation for the beer. "I know I''m not as pretty as Solus, but you should take care of your old man as well, son."

    He said with exaggerated pain, as if he was just back from the battlefront.

    "By the way, what did you do the whole morning?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I took care of my wife. Kami was feeling tired and down so I showered her with attention, unlike someone else who has a pregnant wife as well and hasn''t even asked her how she feels nor thanked her for working her ass off to prepare this meal." Lith replied.

    Raaz felt his beering back up when he noticed Kam sitting at the table surrounded by food like a princess while Elina was still working over the hot stoves like a maid.

    "Yeah, that would have been nice." Elina''s re sent a cold shiver down Raaz''s spine. "At least Lith apologized to me and then took care of the finishing touches to allow me to rest. Where''s my towel, drink, and hug?"

    She grumbled while staring at her husband who kept fumbling with his words and looking around like a trapped animal.

    "Here you go, Mom. Sorry." Lith helped her to sit down before giving her the full treatment with her favorite drink, honeyed strawberry juice, instead of beer.

    "Thanks, dear, but I wasn''t talking about you." Her voice went from warm and loving to cold and reproachful as her gaze moved from her son to her husband.

    "How are you feeling, Kami?" Zinya went to Raaz''s rescue, more interested in her sister''s condition than letting a family quarrel ruin the mood. "Is everything alright?"

    "More than alright." She gave everyone a dazzling smile as she touched her own womb. "Today Elysia kicked for the first time and we both felt it!"

    The room erupted into cheers as everyone congratted her and ced their hand on her stomach as well, hoping for a practical demonstration.

    "What about you, Mom?" Solus asked. "Is your baby moving already?"

    "No, but thank you for asking, dear." Actually, the baby had already been kicking for a few days but Elina didn''t want to steal Kam''s spotlight.

    It was her first pregnancy and Elina wanted to make her feel special, not in some kind ofpetition where she got second. She and Raaz had decided to not say anything until Kam felt her own baby moving for the first time, wait a few days, and then announce their own.

    Elina stood up to kiss Solus'' head and caress her hair in a way that baffled Zinya.

    ''I still don''t get if she''s a rtive, an adoptive daughter, or what. Everyone treats Solus with great affection even though they at first introduced her as a maid from the Blood Desert.

    I''m especially worried about Lith''s behavior but since Kami doesn''t seem to mind, I''d better keep my questions to myself. After all, Lith is a powerful mage like Zogar and the gods know how many secrets he has.''

    Pregnancy and magic weren''t the only things Zinya envied about Kam. Beforeing to the Desert to propose to Lith, Kam had asked for her sister''s blessing and told her that Lith had been open about his secrets with her and that they were the reason for the breakup.

    Even though there were things Kam couldn''t tell even her sister, Zinya was happy for her anyway because it meant that Kam''s marriage was based on trust. A trust that Zinya painfully felt stillcked in her own.

    "Yet I have good news as well that Raaz and I have waited until this moment to share." Elina said, "We''ve finally decided on our baby girl''s name. We are going to call her Surin."

    More cheer ensued, this time even louder as Sark joined the family.

 Chapter 2592 New Neighbors (Part 2)

    2592 New Neighbors (Part 2)

    She already knew that the baby would be named after her and kept an ear out on Elina to not miss the name reveal.

    "I''m sorry, Mother. I meant to call you but I just forgot in the spur of the moment." Elina said. "Do you want to join us for lunch?"

    "Respectively don''t worry and dly." The Guardian replied.

    The lunch was delicious and pleasant. Raaz managed to make it up to Elina by showering her with care and making sure she had no need to move for the rest of the meal.

    "How are things going for the Kingdom, Tyris?" Sark asked. "I''m sorry for being a buzzkill but seeing so many dishes reminds me that the imports in the Blood Desert have never been so low.

    "The Empire is still suffering from that crazy Lich poisoning thend so the famine struck them hard as well and they have little food to spare. I''ve been forced to reopen the borders with some of the free countries and dedicate a few oases for intensive farming.

    "Once we are done with them, they will be uninhabitable for months until the soil recovers its fertility, but at least my people won''t starve until the harvest."

    "We fare worse than the Desert and things are far from going back to normal." Tyris sighed. "The Kingdom is still split in two. Raid parties disguised as bandits from both sides try to rob the other''s caravans of food.

    "Hate and hunger drive neighbors to battle for a morsel of food even if it means spilling blood. My situation is too dire to open my borders like you did. I can''t risk the free countries trying to conquer mynds, not with my army already spread thin and the granaries empty.

    "The only thing I could do was to recruit many sea Emperor Beasts and use their help to lead schools of fish in thes of the fishing ships. I''ve alsomandeered the nobles'' cruise boats and added them to our fishing fleet."

    "That''s a really good idea." Sark pondered. "My Phoenixes don''t like water much and most of the navy of the Desert is on disy in various museums but with a little maintenance they can be repurposed as fishing boats."

    "If it works, I expect a fair share of what you catch." Tyris said, making the Overlord choke on her steak and then changing the subject before she could retort. "But as Kam always says, enough talking about sad stuff.

    "I''ve also been informed about great news that should be made public during in the next few days."

    The Verhen family bombarded her with questions that she deflected until they gave up and moved to another subject. After the meal was over, Zinya kept Kampany, Raaz spoke to both Elina and Surin, and Solus helped Lith do the dishes and stoves.

    "I''m a bit disappointed that I wasn''t there with you guys when Elysia kicked and that she is refusing to do it again for me." Solus pouted.

    "Don''t be. There will be plenty of kicks in the future." Lith chuckled. "I know it''s not the same thing, but if you want, I can share the memory with you."

    "Yeah, right." Solus scoffed. "Because I''m certain that it happened while you discussed poetry and philosophy at the time of Valeron''s Court, Were you guys naked?"

    "Well, it''splicated." Lith replied.

    "No, it''s not and I really don''t want to know, Thanks."

    Once they were done with the kitchen and Elina went to bed for an afternoon nap, Lith, Solus, and Kam went to visit Selia. The huntress was close to term and they hadn''t seen her for a while.

    Along the way, Lith couldn''t help but sigh at the sight of the two new houses that had been built as close as possible to his own without invading his property orpromising his privacy.

    The first one they had to pass in front of was a two-story house made of grey stones and with a sloping roofprised of white tiles glued together by tar that also insted them from water and cold.

    It resembled a mountain cottage belonging to a minor noble with ss windows and sturdy metal shutters and doors.

    "Good afternoon, Supreme Magus Verhen." Gilly Locrias ran to him the moment she saw him from the window of the living room. "I made this for you."

    She was panting a little from the short sprint, trying to swipe her red hair from her face while she offered him a piece of paper.

    "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lith? We''ve been neighbors for months now, there''s no need for formalities." He took it with both hands, discovering that it was a charcoal portrait of himself.

    "I''ll do it when you''ll stop wearing that white robe everywhere." She chuckled. "Well, what do you think?"

    "I think that you are very talented but I doubt that aside from my mother anyone else would recognize me." Lith had his Magus robe disappear and passed the portrait to Kam who had been pulling at his arm for a while in curiosity.

    This version of Lith is 200% more handsome than the original, but I still like it.'' Solus giggled via the mind link, pointing out to Kam the differences between art and reality.

    Portrait Lith had wise and gentle eyes instead of his trademark annoyed re, patrician features, and an invisible wind waved his long hair, framing his face and giving him the aura of a noble hero of the caliber of the First King.

    "True. Itcks the dor sign for pupils.'' Kam giggled as well. ''Also, to be more realistic he should have the expression of someone who has gotten the short end of the stick.

    ''Hey, I can hear you!'' Lith rebuked them.

    "That''s the idea. They replied in unison.

    "What matters is that you like it." Gilly gave him a deep bow. "Thanks for bringing my Dad back. I miss the city life a bit but I wouldn''t change this for the world."

    The first house belonged to the former captain of the Queen''s Corps and just like Trion, he spent most of the time Lith was in Lutia with his family.

    "Stop bothering him ande inside!" Erwald and his wife, Cidra, waved their hands from a window.

    Locrias too looked human, and he was currently entertaining a few of his colleagues that were supposed to patrol the area. Lith gave his Demons full control over the golems Trouble and Raptor so that they could keep their shadow form even in his absence or use them as reinforcements when needed.

    At the moment, Locrias was exploiting his authority to make the golems work while his friends sought shelter from the noon sun and shared a meal in his house.

    "In a minute." Gilly straightened up and the motion revealed a ne the size of a coin hung to her neck.

    Its surface was ck, with seven colored eyes arranged in the same pattern as the Tiamat''s.

    "Wow, it seems Zekell has another follower and you another worshipper." Solus said while nudging Lith.

 Chapter 2593 Old Neighbors (Part 1)

    2593 Old Neighbors (Part 1)

    "Not really:" Gilly shrugged. "I don''t believe in any of that religious nonsense.

    "This is just my way to say thank you to Lith and show the rest of Mogar how proud I am of my father. It also works like a charm to warn everyone who tries to badmouth either of you that they are in for a punch in the nose."

    "Is there someone still bothering you and your family?" Kam asked.

    "Not anymore." Gilly shook her head. "Sure, the fact that whoever harassed Mom and me had the tendency to end up with all their limbs broken helped, but things really calmed down after the images of Ne''sra have been released to the public."

    The members of the Queen''s Corps looked after their own and many of those stationed in Lutia had served under Locrias for years. They took every threat to his family up close and personal.

    Which meant the beating of a lifetime and so many wounds that even those who could afford to get healed at the local hospital couldn''t walk straight for a month.

    Yet not even that was enough to stop those who despised Lith for the massacres he had performed during the War of the Griffons and who considered his Demons to be no different from the Undead Courts.

    Most of these people were foreigners since the citizens of Lutia were either followers of the temple of the All-Father or sympathizers due to the help they received from it. Those from outside, however, only knew Lith from the images uploaded on the interlink.

    No matter how the events were exined and put into context, there was always someone that would only see a monster disguised as a man killing innocent civilians for no reason.

    The release of the videos of the monster raids had changed the public perception because for once the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom wasn''t fighting other humans but protecting them.

    His victims were man-eating monsters with whom no one could side without being tagged like a madman even by those who still considered Emperor Beasts a threat.

    The images of the Demons rescuing army members and civilians while Lith drove back the monster horde had struck the hearts of many, leaving so few radicals willing to harass the families of the Demons in Lutia that the Queen''s Corps could deal with them without Cidra and Gilly noticing.

    "I''m d to hear it." Lith nodded. "Where''s Varegrave?

    "The old goat?" Gilly chuckled. "When he''s not drinking with his buddies, he''s working them to the bone until they sweat every drop of alcohol they poured in their bodies."

    She pointed at an artificial clearing created with earth magic that served as a training ground for the resident members of the Queen''s Corps, equipped with mud dummies, moving obstacles, and everything that thete colonel of the army coulde up with.

    Varegrave had no family so Locrias had adopted his fellow Demon into his own.

    "Well, it was nice to meet you, Gilly. Now I''m sorry but we have to go." Lith said.

    "It was nice to meet you too." She gave him a brief hug before walking back inside.

    "Do I have to be worried?" Kam said with mock jealousy.

    Locrias'' daughter was a pretty young woman with red hair and clear blue eyes who after failing to be epted to one of the great academies had joined an art school with the goal of bing a painter.

    Her magical powers were too weak to cast high tiered spells, but chore magic was enough for Gilly to perform small miracles on the canvas.

    From mixing the colors until they had the hue she was looking for to depicting anything as she imagined it, her magic allowed her to fully express her emotions while her studies taught her how to guide the eye of the observer and follow the story she was trying to tell.

    "No way." Lith shook his head. "She''s just grateful for the house, the reward money her family has gotten thanks to my deal with the Royals, and most of all, for having her father back.

    "She''s just clumsy in expressing her feelings."

    "Gilly is not clumsy." Solus said. "She has no other way to show you her gratitude. What can she possibly gift you aside from her drawings or baking you a cake? Mages are hard to please because they already have everything."

    "Please, don''t remind me of that." Kam sighed. "His birthday is approaching and I''m stumped. Lith already told me that if I get him clothes again, he''s going to file for divorce."

    "I know. I have the same problem and I''m a mage. I mean, whatever I can Forgemaster, he can do it too. Aside from brooding and counting money, Lith has no hobbies so I don''t know what to do." Solus replied, talking like he wasn''t there.

    "Stop talking about me like I''m not here. It''s rude." Lith snarled.

    "No, it''s smart" Kam winked. "Since subtle hints don''t work, we are asking for suggestions"

    "I honestly don''t know." Lith replied after thinking it thoroughly. "This guy sounds like a major pain in the ass."

    While they walked and Lith dismissed every gift they came up with, they passed in front of the second house. It stood where once Zinya''s house had been before Orpal destroyed it and she moved in with Vastor.

    It was on a single floor but slightlyrger than Locrias''. It was made of stone as well, the mark of good money, with a wooden sloped roof, and a little orchard in the back that served both as a hobby and as a food source for a first-time farmer.

    Valia''s parents were born and raised in a city. They knew little about growing crops but with the famine ongoing every little bit helped.

    "How many times do I have to say no?" Valia''s voice came from one of the open windows.

    "First, I''m not a human anymore, I''m a Demon, which makes me an undead. Second, how do you expect me to have a rtionship when I''m forced to travel around most of the time?"

    "Be reasonable, dear. Her mother, Namia, said. "You are not like the other Demons. You still have your original body and from what I could see while you took a bath, everything is in working order."

    "Mom! Not in front of Dad!" Kam could almost hear Valia blush.

    "Your mother is right, pumpkin." Azhen, her father, replied. "Is it too much to ask for a grandkid or two? Unlike you, we are not immortal."

    "Yes, it is too much. Also, I''m sorry to burst your bubble, but even if Mom is right, undead are as good as barren. Even dion, the first Vampire, has only one son." Valia sighed, hoping to end that argument once and for all.

    "Because he has chosen a human woman." Namia replied. "I heard that Divine Beasts are incredibly fertile. Would you mind if I asked Lord Verhen to set you on a few dates with one of his siblings? He''s a great man and-"

    "If you dare mention any of this to him, I''m never going to talk to you again. Are we clear?"

 Chapter 2594 Old Neighbors (Part 2)

    2594 Old Neighbors (Part 2)

    Valia was embarrassed to death from discussing her personal life with her parents, but they just didn''t care.

    They were happy to have her back and the fact that thanks to her body she looked perfectly human without the need for Light Mastery gave them hope.

    Hope that maybe Lith could truly resurrect her or that at least their daughter might have a child and leave behind a part of herself even after her soul decided it was time to move on.

    Lith cast a quick Hush spell to not be heard as they walked in front of the house and protect what little privacy Valia had left.

    "Hey, I was listening to that!" Solus said.

    "I know. That''s why I did it. If Valia wants us to know, she''ll tell us. Otherwise I''m not getting involved in her mess." Lith rebuked her.

    After a few more steps, they reached Selia''s house, or as Kam called it, Lith''s house number two. Not knowing what humans would consider cozy, Protector had built their home in the woods ording to Lith''s blueprints for a dream house back after gaining his memories and life force.

    After moving back to Lutia and seeing the real deal, Selia had gotten angry at him for hisck of originality, but at that point, she had gotten used to that design and she appreciated the amenities that Lith had devised.

    So Selia had kept the tradition over the years and had her house in Lutia remodeled every time Lith upgraded his own. The only difference between the two buildings was the shack for maturing the game that Selia had kept for her work.

    Solus stepped in front of the door and froze in surprise.

    Such was the silence that she could hear the whisper of the wind. The house was supposed to be a cacophony of yells and mayhem due to the hybrid children ying rough with their steeds, yet not even Lith could hear a peep.

    Seriously worried, Solus knocked on the door that was instantly opened by Protector. In his human form, he looked like a barbarian 2.1 meters (7") tall. He wore a cotton apron over a brown shirt so big that it could be used as a tablecloth and ck pants covered in colored stains.

    Ryman''s face was rough and savage, with a square jaw and a cleft chin. His long ming red hair and beard were messy, and his face looked tired.

    Despite his unkempt appearance, Ryman''s emerald eyes lit up with joy at the sight of his friends and he weed them with a warm smile.

    "Come in. It''s so nice to see you. Can I offer you something to eat or a drink?" He said while letting them inside the house.

    What they saw shocked them to the bone. Everything was in order, the floor was clean, and there was no w hole in the walls. Lilia and Leran were sitting on a couch, reading a book together, while sh and Crash yed chess.

    A version of chess that required to roll dice to move a piece and cards to activate their skills, but that was beyond the point.

    "Who are you guys and what you have done to our friends?" Solus activated her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, to make sure it wasn''t a case of Doppelgangers.

    Sure, they would have to be theziest and least professional Doppelg?¡èngers on Mogar to make such a terrible impression of the Fastarrows, but she preferred to err on the side of safety.

    "What do you mean?" Protector said with a hurt voice. [I know how to cook and clean. It was all in Lith''s memories."]

    Thest part was spoken in English, dispelling every doubt about his identity.

    "What happened? Is Selia alright?" Kam asked, noticing there was no trace of the huntress or Fenrir, their youngest.

    "Yes and no." Protector sighed. "It''s easier if I show you."

    He led them to the bedroom on the ground floor, the one where Lith and Kam slept in the original house. If not for the furniture beingpletely different and arranged in different ces around the room, it would have creeped them out big time.

    To make matters worse, Seliay in bed with lots of pillows to support her back and with Fenrir in her hybrid form, curled up over the nkets between her legs like a scared puppy.

    "Hi, guys. Thanks for the visit." The huntress said, d for the break from her boredom. "Forgive me if I don''t stand up to greet you. Even if Faluel hadn''t forbidden it to me, it would take me so long that by the time I''m up you''d be about to leave."

    She caressed her belly which had reached impressive proportions now that the pregnancy neared its end.

    "What do you mean, forbidden? What happened?" Kam asked.

    "Long story short, when the big of activated his bloodline ability, he passed it unto us as well." She pointed at herself and her womb. "After he returned from Zelex, it seemed there were no side effects, but after a few days, I started to feel weird.

    "ording to Faluel, the surge of energy tricked my body into thinking that the baby was ready and it was time to give birth. I can''t move, get angry, or even upset without the risk of going intobor too soon."

    Even with magic, premature babies were at high risk of death on Mogar. There was no such thing as incubators and venttors. A Healer was required to take care of the newborn 24/7 until they were developed enough to survive on their own.

    "Good gods, Selia. How do you feel?" Lith asked, giving her a full check-up.

    "Bored to death." She replied. "At first, silence and rest were nice. I hadn''t slept so well in years. Then I got sick of sleeping all day and the silence became creepy. I miss the voices of my childrenughing.

    "I miss chasing after Fenrir and fixing the mess she always makes. Heck, I can''t even sleep with my husband. I feel like an undead trapped inside a tomb!"

    "Why can''t you-"

    "I can''t let my pressure rise for any reason." Selia cut Solus short and made her blush.

    "I''m so sorry, Selia. If there''s anything I can do-"

    "Yes, there is!" She jumped at Lith''s offer like a shark at a wounded fish. "You cane here often and project your movies. I tried asking Nalrond, but that guy has the imagination of an empty pan.

    "His stories are so boring that he falls asleep before I do."

    Lith swallowed a lump of saliva at the idea. Movies were long and even though they were a novelty to Selia, those he could project he knew by heart so unless there was a special asion, Lith drew no enjoyment from them.

    "Sure, I cane from time to time and-"

    "Are you already taking back your word?" Selia said amid sobs. "How can you be so cruel to me when your wife is pregnant as well? Wouldn''t you help Kam if she were in my same condition?"

    Between the dreadful silence in the house and Se''s desperation, her tears were heart-wrenching.

 Chapter 2595 Tower Upgrade (Part 1)

    2595 Tower Upgrade (Part 1)

    "Don''t cry, Selia." Solus red at Lith for hisck of empathy and went to the huntress'' bedside. "Lith and I can take turns and keep youpany until the baby is born"

    "Really?" Selia sniffled.

    "Really." Solus nodded. "You have my word."

    "Good." Selia blew her nose, her voice steady again. "Ryman, Fenrir you are my witnesses. They promised."

    "What the heck?" Solus was bbergasted. "Was that all an act?"

    "Not everything, just the tears." Selia shamelessly admitted, snapping her fingers at Protector for snacks. "I do have to stay in bed and everyone has to be quiet. That much is true."

    "Why do you think I never told anyone anything, not even to Elina, via the amulet? Because this way you''d feel guilty about neglecting me and be more easily swayed."

    "This is just another of your rip-off deals." Solus scoffed. "Just give me one good reason to not take back my offer.

    "Because you are a good person and I''m really bored." Selia took Solus'' hands in her own and kissed them, quickly followed by a whimpering Fenrir.

    Between the mother''s and daughter''s begging eyes, Solus felt like a monster for backing out despite knowing that the promise had been extorted.

    "Help Mommy. Please." Fenrir was a little under three years old and both her forms were as cute as a button.

    One looked like a lovely freckled doll with long ming red hair and the other had big puppy eyes and lowered ears. Shapeshifting from one to another only.

    "Auntie? Help?" Fenrir asked after Solus remained silent for a while, calling her auntie for the first time and dealing a critical blow to her maternal instincts.

    "Of course we''ll help you. Right, Lith?"

    "Of course..." Lith swept the air in denial with his hand so Kam nudged him in the ribs. "Yes."

    "Thank you, guys. I''ll never forget your kindness." Selia said. "Also, since you are already here, I would like to book you all in advance for magic lessons. I''ll need them once I Awaken."

    "Wait, what?" Kam said. "I thought you wanted a normal life. What made you change your mind?"

    "This made me change my mind." Selia waved at the pristine condition of the house. "Ever since I''ve been stuck in bed and Ryman has consistently taken care of the chores, I''ve realized how much effort it takes for me to achieve the same results of his flick of a finger.

    "He can keep up with the kids, catch them when they throw a tantrum, and he never gets sick." Fenrir whined apologetically, feeling responsible for her mother''s distress and for a good reason.

    "It''s not your fault, sweetie pie." Selia brought the child to her bosom. "You are supposed to be as lively and destructive as a small cyclone. It means that you are healthy. It makes Mommy happy, but also very tired.

    I''ve also decided to Awaken because magic is bing a bigger part of my children''s life as they grow up. In a while, they''ll be so powerful that they could get seriously hurt during one of their games if they are not careful.

    "As I am, I wouldn''t be able to stop them before it''s toote and then I wouldn''t be able to heal them. I could just cry and call for help. Selia shuddered at the thought. "There are already many things that they can do only when Ryman is at home, making me feel left out of their lives."

    "I want to be able to teach them everything they need in life. I want to have the energy to take care of my children on my own instead of watching them from the sidelines.

    "Last but not least, slowing down my aging will let me live as long as this oaf. She took Ryman''s hand, bringing it to her lips. "I don''t want to leave him alone."

    "My life force was cracked to begin with and even with what Lith passed onto me, there''s no telling how long I''ll live." He said, gently caressing her face and checking on her with a diagnostic spell. "What if I die before you? What if I still outlive you due to yourte Awakening?"

    "If you die before me, I just have to stop using the breathing technique to be with you again." She said with a sad smile. "If you outlive me, it means that vou''ll be thest thing I see and that I''ll for her demise.

    Thank the gods he has Solus. This way, even if something happens to me after Elina and Raaz are dead, there will still be someone with him. Someone who knows about Lith and Derek.''She thought.

    "That''s a really weird way to invite someone to a family afternoon, but thanks anyway." Faluel said from the amulet. "Yet since you already have plenty ofpany, I''ll pass.

    "Ka and I are still working on Glemos'' code and if we don''t crack it most of the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy will just be a waste of paper and it will take us years to craft a single Harmonizer."

    "Is it that bad?" Lith asked.

    When he wasn''t otherwise busy, he let the Hydra and the Wight borrow the tower for their research. With the Sage Staff in the Armory sharing its focus-enhancing effects and by using could achieve in hours what would otherwise take days of effort.

    Ka had dly epted to take part in the research, hoping that she could modify the Harmonizer''s Body Sculpting spell so that it would keep her life force and mana core stable when she split them for the final step to be a Lich.

    If her hypothesis was correct, it would increase her survival rate by a wide margin.

    "Worse. Now let me get back to work. If we don''t start, we''ll never finish. Faluel out

    ***

    A feel-good movie and a couple of hourster, Selia had fallen asleep surrounded by the love of her snoring pack.

    "Damn, thest thing I needed is anothermitment." Lith grumbled after they closed the door behind them and he Hushed the house to not wake up the happy family. "Between the Void Magic lessons, my personal research, and training, I barely have any time left."

 Chapter 2596 Tower Upgrade (Part 2)

    2596 Tower Upgrade (Part 2)

    "Now on top of our turns to keep an eye on the kids while they y with Garrik, we also have to keep Seliapany. The only silver lining is that at least I can use umtion during a movie so it''s not aplete loss." Lith said.

    "What about me?" Kam asked.

    "You don''t know Light Mastery and you can''t use umtion either." Lith shrugged. "Grandma expressively forbid you to put any more strain on your core and you know it."

    "I meant that you didn''t include me in the list of your activities, smartass. What am I, a hobby for when you have time to spare?"

    "Those are the things I have to do." Lith gave her an "I got you" smirk. "Spending time with you is something I want to do."

    The answer made her squeal with joy, turning her frown upside down.

    ***

    Trawn woods, Lith''s tower, a few dayster.

    Lith and Solus were working in the Forge, using the Workshop to create from Davross and elemental crystals a setup simr to the one they had witnessed in Glemos''b but that worked for his Tiamat''s eyes as well.

    "The concept is brilliant. If we manage to replicate it, we''ll be able to tap into the world energy that exceeds the tower''s capacity and greatly reduce the burden on my core while Forgemastering a difficult piece.

    "It would be like having a second pair of Hands of Menadion. Not only would it relieve you of part of your burden so that you could take a more active role in the actual enchanting phase, but it would also simplify the procedure of imbuing elemental spells."

    One of the current limits of the tower''s Hands that the corresponding piece of Menadion''s legacy didn''t have was theck of a full set of elemental crystals.

    Solus'' Hands were still iplete and while they could control the world energy to perfection anyway, when it came to conjuring single elements, things would go awry if the artifact had yet to recover the corresponding crystal.

    Sure, they could borrow theplete Hands from Faluel whenever they wanted, but the artifactcked both a Spirit Crystal and a direct connection with the tower. The former made them useless when crafting Spirit artifacts while thetter meant no support from the power core, requiring greater focus to achieve the same effect.

    Glemos'' device instead was capable of fuelling Lith''s Spirit eye and since the world energy was filtered through his body, it answered to his will like his own mana.

    "Agreed, but I wouldn''t be so optimist if I were you." She replied, conjuring and dispelling one prototype after another in quick session.

    As soon as Lith''s eyes failed to establish a connection with the elemental crystals, she would adjust the design based on the readings of the Eyes of Menadion and the intuition she garnered from the Sage Staff.

    "What do you mean?" Lith used Demon Grasp, his umtion technique, non-stop. This way he split the world energy into its basicponents and gave the Eyes of Menadion a baseline that the artifact couldpare with the current apparatus'' performance.

    Every setup that fell below or slightly above Demon Grasp''s effectiveness was discarded as a failure. Those who showed a better output or at least a strong synergy with the Tiamat''s eyes, instead, were put aside for further studies.

    Another advantage of the Workshop coupled with the Eyes of Menadion was that the blueprints of partial sesses could be instantly arranged in hybrid devices to test if they could bebined to ovee their respective shorings.

    "I mean that the reason my mother developed the Hands is to avoid burdening her body. Glemos'' device probably works just as well, but the problem is that it conjures energies that are up to the user to wield.

    "Sure, it allows a Tyrant to exceed the mana output of a bright violet core but their life force is still the same. When used at full power, this device puts a huge strain on the Forgemaster.

    "I think that Glemos used it mostly to craft artifacts he was already familiar with and whose crafting method didn''t require a prolonged effort."

    "I see. Lith nodded.

    "No, you don''t." Solus sighed. "Your life force is cracked so whatever Glemos'' limit was, yours will be lower. And that once you reach the bright violet. Until then, even if we create a Tiamat version of this thing, you aren''t allowed to employ more than a fraction of its power. Are we clear?

    "I think you are overreacting" Lith replied in annoyance. "I''d be still working inside our tower and my body would be enhanced and protected by its enchantments, something that Glemos could only dream about.

    "Also, you have developed the Immortal Body array exactly for a situation like-"

    Solus mmed her fist against the wall, producing a deafening boom and making a giant ultrasound picture of Elysia appear on the walls.

    "I developed it to save your life in case of emergency. To not suffer again the pain of losing the person I love the most. Not to let you be reckless. Or do you want make Elysia an orphan right after she''s born?"

    The eyes in the picture were half open, yet Lith could almost feel them staring at him.

    "Of course not, bute on." His tone had gone from argumentative to conciliatory in half a nce. "It shouldn''t be much different from Demon Grasp. My breathing technique also drains massive amounts of world energy and it never had any side effects.

    "Quite the contrary, it makes my body stronger and tempers my life force."

    "That''s because the energy is quickly absorbed by your core without being amplified or emitted back. During a Forgemastering process, instead, your body would be burdened both as the power of the elements gets in and when it goes out after being multiplied by your mana core Solus countered pointedly.

    "So it would be double the strain and less than half the time you usually have before mana abuse kicks in. I have to concede that the tower might protect your life force, but until we figure out all the ups and downs, we are going to further this project in small steps. Okay?"

    "Okay." Lith raised his hands, admitting defeat. Man, I almost miss the days when Solus'' existence was a secret and I was the only one she could talk to. Back then, we would have argued until we found apromise but now she can rat me out to my parents and Kami.''

    ''I can take a fierce debate whereas my mother''s tears, my father''s worry, and my wife''s reminding me that I''m going to be a father is way more than I can take.'' He inwardly sighed.

    Then his eyes were drawn to the wall again and this time Elysia''s eyes seemed to be filled with grief instead of reproach.

    Lith could almost hear himself exining to a barely five years old lovely little girl that they would never see each other again due to the consequences of the experiments he had conducted before her birth.

    "Why, Daddy?" In his vision, Elysia had Kam''s hair, Elina''s face, and his eyes. "Why do you love magic more than me?"

 Chapter 2597 Push Boundaries (Part 1)

    2597 Push Boundaries (Part 1)

    Lith''s mind then pictured the moment after his own funeral, with Elysia crying in Kam''s arms andter ming her for being incapable of saving her dad. He saw Elysia grow like Solus, marked by her father''s death and estranged from her mother in an attempt to pin the me for her loss on someone.

    Lith felt like a colossal jerk and decided that he wouldn''t try to trick Solus into changing the terms of their deal.

    "I''m sorry, Solus. You are right." He said. "But now please remove that picture or I won''t be able to focus on anything. I feel like Elysia is judging me."

    "Please, she doesn''t even know who you are! Solus said with a scoff. "What you feel is your own judgment as you are forced to remind yourself that your life doesn''t belong just to you anymore. Which is a good thing"

    At a wave of her hand, the picture shrunk to a much more eptable size, something that a dad would keep on his desk at work. Something that now sat on Lith''s desk inside a frame shaped like a heart with "I can''t wait to meet you, Daddy" engraved along its edges.

    "Seriously?" Lith knew that neither the frame nor the engraving was Elysia''s doing yet he felt even worse than when the picture covered the Forge''s walls.

    "Yep." Solus cheerfully nodded. "You can always destroy it if you don''t like it."

    Lith waved his hand and every fiber of his being screamed as if he was about to physically harm his daughter instead of a picture.

    "Fine, you win, dammit." He flipped the frame down, incapable of standing Elysia''s gaze one second longer yet incapable of putting the picture away. "By the way, during thest Void Magic lesson I had an idea that I''d like to run by you."

    "Sure." Solus gloated, knowing from his expression and moving the topic to a non-controversial matter that Lith wouldn''t try to change her mind about Glemos'' device or pull something funny behind her back. "I''m all ears."

    "I was thinking that maybe our current understanding of Void Magic is both shallow and short-sighted. If I''m right, it is possible to turn any element into many others at the same time."

    "Wait, what?" Her mind went nk in confusion and surprise. "Are you serious? "Think about it." Lith Warped them both to the Firing Range floor, where the arrays of the tower would counter the effects of every spell that he would cast whether direct or indirect. And I mean like someone from Earth, not a Mogarian.

    "What does a fireball do?" He cast a tier three spell, releasing a sphere of fire ten meters (33) in diameter that exploded with the strength of several hand grenades.

    The Firing Range neutralized the boom, the blinding light, and the scorching heat that releasing such a spell in a confined space caused.

    The fire generates light that can be converted into darkness." Lith cast a second fireball, but this time it spread a ck corrosive fog instead of radiance.

    "The detonation releases shockwaves that can be either enhanced to conjure bolts of lightning or switched into earth." This time he cast two fireballs, the first one releasing whip-like jolts of electricity and the second one forming restraints around the hypothetical enemy.

    "Turning fire into ice is just basic Void Magic, but what if I affect solely the hot air it produces? A final fireball exploded, but this time it conjured a frost wave that covered the walls in ice.

    Fire makes sense, but what about water or air? How do you convert them?" Solus asked while her brain spun at full gear to find an answer to her own question while also exploring all the possibilities of Lith''s discovery.

    "Easy" Lith generated a bolt of lightning whose light turned into darkness and then another which on impact turned the heat carried by the electron''s discharge into a frostyer.

    Then, he conjured a small sphere of water that after being electrolyzed into hydrogen and oxygen produced the same effects as the earlier fireballs.

    "Wait, I remember this. Isn''t that the same thing we did with Mjolnir back when we fused against the cursed objects?" Solus shuddered at the memory.

    "Indeed." Lith nodded. "This is something we''ve already done but that we never really considered. I''m not going to lie, I had almost forgotten about it until one of our students asked me if it was possible to use Void Magic on the effects of his spells instead of just the cause."

    "What did you reply to him?" Solus could see from the memory that Lith was sharing with her that the idea hade from a fourth year student and how even the Royals and the Headmasters of the six great academies had stopped their practice to listen.

    gave him full marks and I told him that we had to think about it. I couldn''t give him an answer without consulting the co-creator of Void Magic first. Lith replied with a warm smile.

    "By my Mom, that cause and effect speech was really inspired. I wish I was there with you during the first Void Magic lesson." She embraced him, d that the quarrel about Glemos'' machine was already behind them and of his willingness to share the public recognition for their work.

    "Me too, but I''m d you took that trip." He returned her embrace. "It helped you to grow and led to several interesting discoveries, like the fact that when we are fused the tower heals my life force as well.

    "Besides, if you want to watch my lessons, the Royals have all of the recorded in such a high quality that 4K resolution is a puppet show inparison. Sure, getting your hands on them might be expensive but witnessing true genius is a priceless experience."

    "Don''t get cocky, smartass She pulled away, punching his arm yfully. "I get enough ''true genius'' at home and at the tower. If you want me to suffer more, you should pay me, not the other way around."

    Jokes aside, what do you think?" Lith asked once they were done mocking each other.

    "It''s definitely a good idea, but it''s going to be difficult to put it into practice. Much more than regr Void Magic." Solus replied. "The underlying principle is the same, but the starting point and timing arepletely different.

    "Void Magic requires you to switch the elemental energy you have conjured for your spell into its counterpart. It''s not easy but since it is your mana, once you know what you are doing the process still follows your will and the switched element is under your control.

    "Altering the passive effects of a Void Spell, Instead, requires detecting the elemental energies that are released by your mana, taking control of them before they disappear, and then switching them."

    "I havee to the same conclusion." Lith sighed. "That''s why we came to the Firing Range. At the moment I can switch only one of the elements thatprised the secondary effects of a spell at a time and only if there''s no willpower involved."

 Chapter 2598 Push Boundaries (Part 2)

    2598 Push Boundaries (Part 2)

    "Affecting the elemental energies released by a spell with Void Magic requires so much of my focus that without the tower''s defensive measures, my ass would probably be blown to the ground since to be ready to switch light or air I can''t even aim properly."

    Inoticed." Solus nodded. "Still, it''s worth exploring. It''s going to be a great addition to our arsenal, but I think right now it''s better to focus on tier four and five Void Magic. I''m sorry to admit that I haven''t made much progress on that front."

    "Me neither." Lith shook his head. "The root of the problem is that the elements thatprise the spell can''t be switched one at a time. Doing that destroys the bnce that holds them together and makes them fade."

    "It''s actually worse." Solus pointed out." managed to switch two elements at the same time, but that''s not enough to achieve tier four Void Magic. Look."

    She weaved a tier four Banefire stored inside the Mouth of Menadion, generating a burst of darkness-infused mes that took the form of a scorching pir of ck fire. Then, turned darkness into light and fire into water, obtaining only a sparkling ssh of water.

    "What the fuck?" Lith had followed the entire procedure with Life Vision and he was certain that Solus'' technique was wless. Yet her failure didn''t have a single silver lining.

    "Here''s the deal." She had a board appear behind her back, filled with two strings of runes of the color of their respective elements, red and yellow. "If tier four was just casting two tier three spells at the same time, there would be no need for the great academies.

    Tier four requires taking runes from different elemental spells andbining them so that they work together to produce something that''s greater than the sum of their single parts.

    "Unique effects like Full Guard that uses air and fire magic to generate a wide-range heat and motion sensory field. The two strings of runes on the board slithered into each other like snakes, forming the form to cast Full Guard that Lith recognized.

    "Yet what happens if you just switch them?" The red runes turned blue and the yellow ones became orange, changing their shape along with their color.

    Suddenly the elegant incantation that allowed for a quick cast had been turned into a Jumbled, nonsensical mess.

    Switching a single element into its counterpart always affects the runes as well. For tier three and below this is nigh-unnoticeable because any mage capable of performing Void Magic can also adjust the runes in ordance with the effect they are trying to obtain.

    "It''s their own mana so it answers to their will and Void Magic gives them all the tools they need to interact with the spell after it has been cast.

    "Tier four and above, however, require a further step. At the moment of the switch, you have to already have in mind another tier four spellprised of at least one of theplementary elements and whose effects can be drawn from the original runes.

    "Another possibility is to switch both the elements and then rearrange the runes as well, but that requires a focus and skill that only a master of Void Magic or someone who isn''t risking their life on the battlefield can achieve."

    "When you put it this way, it sounds nigh-impossible, but I don''t think that the situation is as dire as you paint it." Lith replied.

    "Why, have you found a w in my theory?" Solos tilted her head in confusion.

    "No, your analysis of how to properly cast tier four Vold Magic is urate, I simply disagree with your conclusions. You see, the problem is that you are trying to go from zero to one thousand in one go.

    "Void Magic is no different from Glemos'' device. It''s something new that needs further study before reaching a definitive conclusion. As you said before, we need to proceed in small steps.

    "In this case, it means to devise exercises of increasing difficulty meant to familiarize with switching one element while keeping the bnce of the overall spell."

    "Rather than trying to convert the two elements and sets of runes thatprise a tier four spell at the same time, we should rather search the academy''s grimoires for spells whose elements can be switched with minimal adjustments in their runes.

    "This way, people like me can focus on learning how to switch only the elements. People who have reached your level, instead, need to practice on spells that still work after switching one of its elements and require solely to rewrite both sets of runes.

    "This way you''ll be able to practice Void Magle on a tier four spell like it''s tier three and once you get used to freely manipting one element while keeping the other one stable you can move to a perfect tier four Void Magic spell."

    "That''s a great idea." Solus started to put all the magical tomes they had inside Soluspedia to read and cross-reference them for what they needed. "Maybe you really are a genius." She chuckled.

    "I wish." Lith firmly cut the air with his hand in denial. "I''m just following Professor Rudd''s methods to teach us dimensional magic, breaking down an apparently impossible task into smaller exercises that once put together make the impossible possible."

    "Okay, maybe you are not a genius, but at least your teaching method is not meant to make your students feel like idiots." As soon as Solus found a suitable pair of spells, she had the library jot them down on a separate parchment.

    The runes that had to be altered were highlighted while the rest were marked for further study to see if they could be removed in order to keep the exercise simple and reduce its mana cost.

    "That''s because our purpose is different. Rudd always wanted to create an elite that suited his beliefs whereas I want to see as far as our creation can go. It''s exactly because I''m not a genius that I understand the importance of making Void Magic essible to everyone.

    "By pooling up the resources of hundreds of mages, people like the student who inspired me might discover how to ovee the boundaries of magic that have always been considered unsurmountable.

    "Otherwise the moment an evil Manohar pops up, we''ll be royally-"The rune of Jadon Lark, the Count of Lustria, lit up on Lith''s amulet, drawing his consciousness and cutting him short. "I''m sorry, but I have to take this.

    "Dear Count, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Lith set the hologram so that only his figure would be projected, hiding both Solus and the Tower.

    "Please, just call me Jadon." The son of Trequill Lark resembled his father enough to make the scar left in Lith''s heart ache. Orpal had murdered Lark only to make Lith suffer and he had seeded. "We know each other ever since you were a mean-eyed kid.

    "Also, now that you are a Magus it''s not like the title of Count holds any weight anymore. If anything, it should be me giving you bows and reciting your titles before saying your name."

 Chapter 2599 Lets Do The Warp Gate Again (Part 1)

    2599 Let''s do the Warp Gate Again (Part 1)

    The most notable differences between thete Count Lark and his heir were that Jadon was almost ten centimeters (4 inches) shorter and had a muscr build while Trequill had always been wiry.

    The current Count Lark was in histe twenties, with pitch-ck hair and a goatee. A blue silk string went into the breast pocket of his jacket, where he kept one of his father''s ck-rimmed monocles.

    Jadon had perfect sight, he always kept the monocle on himself as a memento to never forget about his father and never forgive his murderer.

    "Please, if you were to list all the titles I got, a single phrase would take hours and our conversations wouldst days." Lith said with a chuckle. "Thanks, but no thanks. I''ll call you Jadon as long as you call me Lith"

    "Well, Lith, then I have to inform you that the reason I called you is that your presence is gracefully required in Lutia at your earliest convenience." Jadon replied with mock deference and a formal tone worthy of the Royal Court.

    "You mean right now?"

    "No, the next year on this very same day." The Count replied with a snort. "Of course right now. I''m waiting for you in the main square. Count Jadon Lark out."

    "Wait, are you already there?" Lith''s question fell on a hung-up call. "That was weird. What do you think, Solus?"

    "That we shouldn''t make Jadon wait." She replied. "He''s an old friend and he has never bothered us without a good reason. Please, make sure to include me in whatever conversation you two have."

    "Will do." Lith knew that even though Solus knew Jadon for as long as Lith did, to the Count she was aplete stranger and that pained her greatly.

    Whenever they visited the Lark estate and stopped by Trequill''s tomb, she was never allowed to share her memories of thete Count which exacerbated her sense of loss.

    Before leaving the tower, Lith checked his amulet to make sure that he hadn''t missed any calls or received any messages.

    Every time he thought of Lark''s death, he felt the need to make sure that the important people in his life were okay.

    Only after he checked with Kam, his parents, the army, and the Council that everything was alright did he shapeshift the inside of the tower to resemble his home and activate the Warp Mirror to reach his destination in one step.

    "Seriously?" Solus rolled up her eyes. "Today''s is Grandma''s turn. If something happens to Kami then I''m-By my Mom!"

    A booming apuse and stomping of feet canceled thest part of Solus'' phrase while she looked around and realized they were surrounded by every citizen of Lutia she knew plus many she had never seen before.

    The za was empty whereas the streets surrounding it, the nearby establishments, and any avable public space were packed with people. The crowd extended as far as the eye could see and an excited hubbub filled the air.

    Waiting for Lith in the main square there were Jadon and Kelya Lark, thete Count''s heirs, Marchioness Brinja Distar and her husband Ainz, the Headmaster of the ck Griffon academy, the Verhen family in full force, including the Proudhammers, Kam, and the Royals who were apanied by four Royal Guards wearing a Royal Fortress armor.

    Surprise brought many words to Lith''s lips, most of them vulgar and meant to express his abject surprise for being ambushed like that.

    Yet ording to the books in Soluspedia, never before in the annals of the Griffon Kingdom had the Royal family honored the Lustria County with their presence, let alone a backwater ce like Lutia.

    Tve met Meron and Sylpha enough times to be sick of their faces but for everyone else, this is some kind of miracle. I can tell just by looking at Zekell''s eyes that he''s as excited as if the gods have descended among us.

    "If even someone as jaded as him is so thrilled, I can''t imagine what the rest of Lutia is feeling. I have many questions, but it''s better to ask them in a way that won''t spoil the mood.''Lith thought.

    He dropped to one knee, followed by Solus and everyone else.

    The citizens of Lutia had already paid their homage to the Royals uponying their eyes on the King and Queen for the first time, but they found it uneptable to be standing while their Supreme Magus knelt.

    "Stand up, everyone. There''s no need for formalities between friends." King Meron''s voice echoed throughout the ce without the need for any magical enhancement now that his body had fully adapted to the cracks in his life force.

    "Also, and keep this between us, the Royal Chambein has yet to figure out Magus Verhen''s social status and it''s unclear who should bow to who in such circumstances." Yet the people of Lutia waited for Lith to stand up before doing the same.

    Theughter at the King''s joke continued until he raised his hand, asking for silence.

    "I suppose you have many questions, Magus Verben. About our presence in your vige. this crowd, and the surprise party, correct?" Sylpha asked while pointing at flying mages that were setting up gands, decorations, and banners all around the city.

    "Yes." Lith noticed that right behind the Royals, there was a majestic building entirely made of stone that stuck out like a sore thumb among the wooden edifices surrounding it.

    The front of the building had been covered by a huge drape connected to a rope that was being held by Jadon.

    "The answer to all of your questions is that we are proud to announce the beginning of phase one of your Tablets project, one of your contributions to the Kingdom that earned you the Magus title!" The King said, triggering another booming apuse that forced Lith to shield his ears with air magic.

    It makes sense."Lith thought. During thest meeting, the Royals decided that only the capitals of the various regions, the six great academies, and Lutia would be provided with Tablets until their usefulness is proven.

    It exins everything but the presence of the Royals and the enthusiasm of the Lutians. It would if they had any idea how having a smartphone can change their lives, but none of them has ever tried amunication amulet."

    Yeah. I also don''t understand the need for all of these theatrics. Solus replied. They could have just sent you a message. I don''t see why this requires your presence."

    "Yet for the Tablets to work, a mainframe has to be built in Lutia." The Queen continued from where Meron had left, without breaking the rhythm of the speech. "Only the Mage Association has the right to supervise such a marvel of magic and make sure it''s not tampered with or abused.

    "s, there''s no branch of the Association in Lutia. That''s why in the past few months we had one built here and today, the King and I came to officiate its opening."

    Lith''s eyes went wide at the realization of what was happening. No one cared about a local branch of the Association since it was no charity. Every service a mage would provide had to be paid for.

    What everyone was cheering for was what the mere presence of the Association implied.

 Chapter 2600 Lets Do The Warp Gate Again (Part 2)

    2600 Let''s do the Warp Gate Again (Part 2)

    "There will be a need for plenty of materials, Forgemasters, and Wardens in the near future and there''s no point in burdening your personal Gate and having your private property invaded on a daily basis."

    "Hence we have ruled that the Association will have its own Warp Gate and its use will also be avable to the public ording to thews of the Kingdom." Meron said. "As of today, Lutia is granted a Warp Gate."

    "As of today, Lutia is promoted to the status of medium-sized city and hub of the Kingdom!" The ensuing roar and the stamping of feet made the air tremble.

    It was a colossal achievement for a settlement that until less than eight years ago had been a small-sized vigeprised of a few dozen of houses. There were plenty of cities that had reached the medium-sized status for decades and still petitioned for a Warp Gate.

    Receiving one wasn''t a matter of a city''s size or poption, only of its strategic importance.

    Everything else woulde by itself in a domino effect. A Gate meant free trade with the rest of the Kingdom without the risks and costs of long-distance travel, bringing flocks of merchants and goods.

    It meant a considerable increase in public security, since the presence of the Association implied powerful mages residing nearby 24/7 that could summon reinforcements at a moment''s notice.

    Money and safety naturally brought an influx of people that swelled the citizens'' numbers and with them came the urban development necessary to house them. Any ce with a Gate would always rise to be at least a medium-sized city due to the wealth and work its presence created.

    "We did it, Dad." Senton was crying with joy. embracing the members of his family in turns, starting from Zekell. "We won''t need to travel to Derios anymore to move our merchandise. We can even apply to the merchant guild now."

    "Our days as cksmiths are over." Zekell was crying as well, and for once it was for real. "We are going to be a proper merchant family, just a step below nobility, and we did it on our own.

    "I''m proud of you, son. If not for you, I would''ve never thought of expanding our business to Derios in the past. It''s only thanks to you that we already have multiple shops Instead of standing on the starting line like everyone else."

    "No, it''s only thanks to you, Dad. I''ve let my pride blind me for too long. If it wasn''t for you, I''d have let our business stagnate and destroyed my own marriage." Senton let go of his father and embraced thepletely oblivious triplets who cried but not out of joy.

    Being less than two years old they didn''t like crowds and noise. Until that moment, they had quietly slept in their patented Hush Levitating Verhen Stroller and they didn''t take well their afternoon nap being interrupted.

    Senton ignored theirints, kissing them all on the forehead before moving to Leria and Rena.

    "Congrattions, Dad!" The little girl brimmed with pride and joy for her father while extending her arms to be lifted between his arms like when she was much smaller and lighter. "Once I be a mage, I want to work together with you.

    "I want to make you proud."

    "I''m already proud of you, pumpkin. It doesn''t matter if you want to be a mage, a merchant, or a cksmith. You''ll always be my little girl Senton felt like an idiot as he remembered how he had almost let his envy toward his own daughter break his family.

    "Congrattions, dear." Rena embraced both him and Leria, the sweetness of her expression also bearing a hint of sadness. "We are going to miss you."

    "What do you mean, miss me?" Senton froze in horror, fearing that he was about to pay the price of his past foolishness.

    "Expanding the business and taking part in the merchant guild will take time." Rena replied with a puzzled look on her face. "You are going to stay away from home often and we are going to miss you. Why? What did you think I was talking about?"

    His expression rxed just for one second. Then, Senton realized that she was right. He was going to miss lots of family lunches and dinners along with many of the triplet''s first times. Suddenly the Gate didn''t sound like good news anymore.

    "Now, to move on to the next step of the ceremony and allow Magus Verhen to go back to his work, it''s time to unveil Lutia''s branch of the Association." A wave of the Queen''s hand brought the end of the rope into Brinja''s, Lith''s, the Royals, andstly into the hands of a citizen picked at random.

    "This building is the fruit of thebor of many people and today we celebrate them all. The Kingdom is nothing without its citizens and they stand even above the King." Meron said to exin the order in the line.

    First, the local ruler, then the regional ruler, followed by the Supreme Magus, the Royals, and then a simple farmer who blushed in embarrassment, feeling faint for being at the center of the attention.

    "On three. One, two, three!" The drape covering the stone building fell off easily and the floating mages tossed flower petals while the crowd apuded. "From tomorrow onwards, every citizen of Lutia can go to the Association and pick their own Tablet.

    "Each family can have one for free. If you want more you have to pay for them. But enough talk of money, Let the celebrations begin!" Floating tables came down from the sky, dropping food and beverages among the crowd.

    The moment the bowls and jugs were empty, they were filled again with dimensional magic. Due to the famine, food was precious so guards and mages ensured that no one could take away more than their two hands could handle.

    Once the Verhens were done congratting Senton and Zekell they moved on to Lith.

    "Congrattions, babe." Kam embraced him first. "You deserve this. Let''s just hope that the church of the All-Father doesn''t share the Proudhammer''s sess or we''re going to move to the Verhen Mansion permanently if we want some privacy."

    "Wait, you knew?" Lith asked.

    "Not until five minutes ago when the Royals summed me here as well." She shook her head. "I still feel overwhelmed. This is a huge change. Maybe we''ll really need to have our dream house built somewhere."

    "Congrattions, dear." Elina came second and only to not interfere in her son''s marriage. She was ready to fight the Queen if necessary. "I''m proud of you and a little offended. Why didn''t you give us one of these earlier?

    "It would have made our lives much easier." The Verhens had already received their own Tablet and even though they already had individualmunication amulets, the ess to the Web of Knowledge and the public library was still a novelty.

    Elina now only needed to input a keyword to find information about anything she wanted and even though the public library held mostly ssics, it allowed her to read anywhere and bookmark pages without having to take an actual book in and out of her dimensional amulet.

 Chapter 2601 A Page in History (Part 1)

    2601 A Page in History (Part 1)

    "Because the prototype mainframe I built served solely to showcase the potential of the Tablets. I don''t have the time and energy to set up the real thing, especially for the benefit of just a handful of people." Lith replied.

    "Especially when the Royals were working on it already."

    "Congrattions, son." Raaz hugged him just the time for a couple of pats on the shoulder. "I''m not big on reading like your mother, but I can already tell you that you are going to have lots of fans."

    He pointed out at Aran, Leria, and the few kids that had already gotten their Tablets and were engrossed in reading The Basics of Magic by Lochra Silverwing.

    "Lots of haters too." Lith replied. "I can already hear mobs of angry parents cursing my name after their children have practiced magic indoors with predictable consequences."

    "Those curses will turn into blessings once they realize their kids'' talent. Remember that people like me can barely light a match. To make as much damage as Aran, one must have his same predisposition for magic."

    "Dad!" Aran turned to a shade of purple, still ashamed of his pastck of control and discipline. "Please, don''t turn me into a cautionary tale."

    "You and Leria turned yourself into a cautionary tale, young man. You didn''t need any help." Raaz ruffled his hair. "By the way, I''m going to buy out of my pocket a second Tablet for all of my farmhands.

    "This way grown-ups and kids won''t have to share. On top of that, finding their children will be much easier since they will be just a call away."

    After the Verhens came the Larks, then the Distars, andstly the Royals.

    Solus felt left out since outside of the family no one knew of her involvement in the development of the Tablets nor considered her a full member of the Verhen bloodline.

    Elina and the others would have to wait until they went back home to congratte her in order to avoid arousing questions they couldn''t answer.

    "Congrattions, Lith." Solus said while extending her hand.

    The happiness in her voice was tainted by the sadness caused by the realization that even now that she had gotten her human body back, she was still a spectator forced to watch from the sidelines.

    "Come here." Lith pushed the hand away, enveloping her in an embrace like the ones he had received a moment ago.

    ''Congrattion, Solus.'' He said via a mind link.

    ''Thank you for everything you have done.'' Kam appeared as well, hugging her from behind. ''Even though people might never know, you''ve made the Kingdom a better ce.''

    ''Congrattions, dear.'' Raaz and Elina joined them in the mind link.

    ''Congrattions, Auntie.'' Aran and Leria wrapped her in a telepathic embrace.

    ''Thank you, Solus.'' Senton and Rena said. ''Thank you for always taking good care of our family.''

    ''Way to go, Solus.'' Tista said. ''Stand tall and demand from Lith your fair share of his ie. Don''t trust that cheapskate.''

    ''Thank you, guys.'' Solus inwardly and externally sniffled.

    Even if the rest of Mogar might never be aware of her efforts and achievements, her whole world knew. Their recognition meant more to her than any parade and their gratitude was the only thing that mattered.

    ***

    Saying that the release of the Tablets caused big changes in everyday life wherever they were avable was a huge understatement.

    Until that moment,munication amulets had been luxury items that only wealthy families could afford and only nobles owned one per family member. Tablets had a much shorter range and only worked in proximity of a mainframe but they cost one silver coin instead of ten.

    Their actual value amounted to two silver coins apiece but the Royals had decided to follow Lith''s advice and sell them at loss to collect as much data as possible during the first phase when they still had a capiry control over the experiment.

    The students of the six great academies received their personal Tablets for free along with their uniforms and it deeply affected their academic life. The amulet not only worked just like a Ballot, allowing a student to call for help and record threats or hazing, but it also incentivized anonymousints.

    Those who witnessed acts of bullying just had to take a picture of the event and forward it to the mainframe instead of a member of the academy staff to nail the culprits without getting personally involved in the matter.

    On top of that, students would now receive their tomes during the lesson in a digital form so that those who couldn''t afford a dimensional amulet weren''t recognized anymore simply because they carried their books around by hand or in a bag.

    The academy''s library was avable from the Tablets so there was no need topete for the rarest tomes and there was no waiting line to borrow them next like before.

    Librarians were still necessary to regte ess to books whose contents were deemed controversial or unsafe for mages of insufficient skill. As for the libraries, they were now a safe space where to study or search for detailed exnations about difficult subjects like dimensional magic.

    The amulets also worked in the academies'' forests, helping the groups of students to coordinate during exams or requesting help when they faced a human, beast, or nt above their level.

    The onlyint that Lith and the Royals received from the vast majority of the students was that taking notes with a Tablet was too inefficientpared with water magic.

    The digital pad was perfect for those who had yet to master chore magic and learn how to spread the ink ording to their will, but the moment a student reached that level, even the fastest typergged behind the rest of the ss.

    On top of that, whenever a ss required them to draw a magic circle or to write down runes, the Tablet was useless. There was no drawing software and there were too many runes to add them to the keyboard without making it several meters wide or long.

    Lith received lots of suggestions about devising a Forgemastering spell that would connect the user with the Tablet so that their thoughts would be printed on the digital pages as it happened on a physical one with water magic.

    "Ungrateful brats! Do they even know the meaning of the word prototype?" Lith grumbled during breakfast in his dream house, after moving the tower away from Lutia and onto the geyser in the Rekar mountain range.

    "Also, what kind of moron would ask for something asplex as a neural interface and pass it as an easy spell? Do they really believe no one ever thought about that before?

    "That their seniors are just a bunch ofzy bums? I''m one of the few people on Mogar who can craft memory crystals and I''m nowhere near something like that! Back in my day, I epted free stuff without looking the gifted horse in the mouth.

    "Solus and I had to go back and forth to that goddamn library so many times that I lost count. Our friends risked their lives because there weren''t enough Ballots."

 Chapter 2602 A Page In History (Part 2)

    "These runts have everything we could only dream about and some more yet they whine like I stole their lunch money!" Lith snarled.

    "Back in my day? Brats? Runts?" Kamughed her ass off. "You talk like you are an old coot like Rudd whereas you graduated less than six years ago."

    "Also, don''t believe a word he says, Kami." Solus shared her hrity and then some. "He used toin about everything and if the old Lith had ess to a Tablet, he would curse its inventor and scheme until he got his hands on physical books to keep cheating his way with Soluspedia."

    "Damn right, I would. Cheating is fine as long as I''m the one doing it." Lith said with a straight face, making themugh harder. "I hate fair fights."

    They had been forced to leave Lutia for a while because of the massive influx of tourists since the opening of the public Warp Gate.

    Even those who until a day ago had sworn to be terrified at the idea of a Divine Beast living among humans had booked their trip to visit the birthce of the only (known) living Magus of the Kingdom with the hope of meeting him in person.

    As for the regional capitals, Tablets had spread like wildfire down to the working middle ss. It helped kids with their homework, the parents to always know where their children were and with who, and the city guards to catch criminals like they were fish in a barrel.

    Anyone with a Tablet could call for help with a button and the mainframe would ry the call to the nearest officer along with the coordinates of the crime. Witnesses could take photos and videos that could be forwarded anonymously just like at the academies.

    Most of the senior citizens in the poor neighborhoods with nothing to do all day and a chip on their shoulders were gold mines, reporting multiple crimes and minor infractions daily.

    "We are going to call this the ''Respect your Elders'' or ''Second Life'' program." King Meron said. "Make up a usible reason to give one Tablet for free to each senior citizen. We need to pass them as a personal reward like a tax refund.

    "They must perceive the Tablet as something they earned, not charity, or many elders will refuse them out of pride. Also, we must make sure that they keep it instead of reselling it so force them to imprint the Tablet upon delivery in front of the clerk.

    "We are saving a fortune in crime prevention."

    The anonymous reports weren''t anonymous at all. The Royals had administrator ess to the mainframes and could trace the energy signature of every report to a specific amulet.

    They used them to locate the pockets of crime and increase security in those areas, to issue protective details for the scared but still honest citizens, and to frame those who used the anonymous reports to frame theirpetition.

    Even criminals liked and used Tablets, not knowing that every word they spoke was recorded and that the device allowed their position to be followed in real time with pinpoint uracy.

    Following criminals and collecting evidence of their crimes wasn''t a problem anymore, the issue was to have them sentenced without revealing the source of that information.

    The free Tablet and its public library helped poor families to learn and practice how to read, write, and count. Paper was expensive and most of them would never hold a single sheet their whole lives but now they had dozens of tomes at their fingertips.

    Those who were smart enough could reveal their talent no matter their upbringing, amassing knowledge if they were talented schrs and learning magic if their mana cores allowed it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The Tablets also facilitated and improved healthcare.

    Neighborhood healers now answered a couple of calls between patients, answering simple yes or no questions. It allowed them to rmend a check-up when the symptoms were rming but most often to reassure anxious parents without them clogging the waiting rooms.

    On top of that, many magicos without the necessary talent to be Healers found a way to profit from their limited mana thanks to the Tablets. Whenever someone was too ill to be moved or there was an emergency, the magicos would be called on site to help.

    Even yellow mana cores could cast float spells, basic diagnostic magic, and keep the conditions of a patient stable, helping them to reach the nearest Healer quickly and safely.

    So many people were saved this way that the Royals made it an official job and offered healing training to those determined to take it as their profession.

    Better diagnostic spells meant that the magicos could call the various Healers, give them a preliminary diagnosis, and find the one with the necessary skills to treat the patient at hand without wasting time.

    Also, teaching the magicos low powered flight spells made them faster than any carriage, allowing the patients to reach a hospital in time.

    Last, but not least, the Tablets helped the mending process between the two sides of the Kingdom that had been split by the War of the Griffons to progress faster. Each considered the other''s grass to be greener, fueling envy and resentment.

    The news on the interlink was only government approved so everyone took them with an unhealthy load of salt, believing them to be doctored to arousepassion toward their old enemy.

    Tablets, however, allowed the citizens of different regions to keep in contact even from a great distance and those who exchanged their runes with others in different regions didn''t find privileged individuals with a full belly, just people with their own grievances.

    The use of Warp Gates required a fee, but to let their subjects experience and enjoy the full scope of the Tablets'' functions, the Royals had ruled that the first travel from one Gate to another would be free in order to allow people to exchange theirmunication runes.

    Also, people who sent food supplies to someone with which they shared a rune wouldn''t pay shipping fees as long as the receiver took them in person from the other side of the Gate.

    The reason for this was that every region had a different kind of local product that was cheap and easy to find that they used to stave off hunger between meals. They were all nd looking and even nder tasting, but eating food from different regions added variety and had the allure of novelty.

    This kind of bartering was a zero-sum game that yet made people feel closer and more grateful toward their neighbors. Taking a spoonful from each other''s soup was more effective in breaking the illusion of wealth that people projected on the other half of the Kingdom than any article they could read on the interlink.

    Free traveling broadened everyone''s horizons and keeping in contact with those they met hundreds of kilometers from home helped them to keep an open mind and check the news with people they trusted.

    On a side note, the opening of the Gates coupled with the Tablets gave birth to the closest thing to a kitchen blog.

 Chapter 2603 A Page In History (Part 3)

    Lith''s biography was public and everyone knew he had grown up in poverty and with little food, making his early life a constant famine no different from the one that Garlen was currently experiencing.

    Mothers from all over the Kingdom traveled to Lutia in order to ask Elina to share hermunication rune with them and teach them how she had managed to grow her children into powerful mages despite the little they had.

    At first, she had considered it a minor inconvenience and exchanged her rune, thinking that there was nothing wrong in helping someone in whose shoes she had walked many miles.

    After the Royals granted free first-time travel to Lutia''s Gate, however, her Tablet was covered in so many runes that the silver beneath them had be nigh-invisible.

    Due to time zones and to not be bothered at all times, Elina had disabled the calls and left only messages avable. She would record a cooking lesson or type down a recipe and then forward it to everyone so that they could ess it at their convenience.

    "I can''t believe I''m kind of famous." Elina said while looking at her own Tablet and the hundreds of still-unread messages.

    "I can''t believe you''re not getting paid for this." Lith replied. "You are investing your time and energy into those cooking lessons and for what? A few thank yous?"

    "How can you say that?" She was bbergasted. "If I can give those people a little hope during these difficult times then gratitude is reward enough. Besides, it''s not like I have much to do while you guys aren''t home.

    "Saying a few things while I cook for my family is hardly a grueling task."

    "I''m sorry, dear, but I''m with Lith on this one." Raaz grunted. "I don''t like that any weirdo can get your contact rune nor that you are working for free. I think that you should do like Senton and find a way to profit from your talent."

    "And how should I do it, exactly?" She asked.

    "Write a cookbook?" Raaz shrugged.

    Senton had exploited the Tablets and the free Gate travels to invent advertising. He paid the Mage Association a discrete sum to put an ad banner of the Proudhammer shops and their most famous products on the first page of the local news.

    Themunications amulets allowed people from every corner of the Kingdom to discover the shops'' existence so that when they visited Lutia, Derios, or any city where Senton had opened a retail branch, they would pay it a visit.

    Tablets helped the game of chess to be more widespread since now it was possible to y with people from different regions. Distant yers would share the chessboard thanks to the holograms and, in case the game was interrupted, a picture would record the position of all pieces.

    "Paper is expensive and if those women could afford to buy a book, they would use that money to put more food on their table!" Elina replied.

    "I get it, stop arguing you two." Lith stood between them. "I''ll talk with the Royals about purchasing your book and putting it into the free library, Mom. This way, you can keep helping people but you''ll bepensated for your work. Okay?"

    Both his parents nodded, making him sigh in relief.

    ***

    A monthter, Lustria County, Verhen Mansion.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    It had taken a lot of time, two pairs of Eyes of Menadion, thebined effects of the Armory and the Sage Staff, and many heads working together, seven of which belonging to Faluel, but in the end, Glemos'' code had been cracked.

    The original tomes written by the past Magi and Rulers of the mes were already a priceless addition to the Ernas library, but once the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy began to unravel, it turned out to be a gold mine for Jirni and Orion.

    The books meant to teach true magic to young Tyrants before and after bing Awakened helped both the Ernas with their respective magical education.

    Vastor went to their home as often as he could and whenever he wasn''t avable, he sent his hybrids to teach Jirni true magic. They would all go visit the Erans under the guise of Healers tasked to follow her pregnancy, yet they could dedicate her only so much time.

    Vastor was a leading figure at the White Griffon academy, its vice principal, and the Head of the Light Department. In addition to this, he was also the Arch Duke of the newly promoted region of Essagor.

    Between the new Gates he was allowed to build and supervising the effects of the Tablets on the poption of the capital, he had so little free time that no one would ever believe that he was also the infamous Master.

    Every medium-sized city in the region believed to deserve the Gate and the boom of the Tablets made the matter even more relevant.

    Free travels meant more money left to spend during the visits and many merchants were copying Senton''s idea and using the Gates to open retail shops in the cities where their merchandise was more sought after.

    They still had to pay shipping fees but doing it in bulk instead of piece by piece allowed them to save lots of money and improve their bottom line.

    Vastor was absent for so long and so often that the Organization would have been disbanded if not for the new influx of Eldritch-monster hybrids making up for the absence of the Master, Bytra, and Zoreth.

    The Shadow Dragon spent her time either escorting the Fourth Ruler of the mes during Council duty or with Kam. Zoreth was always d to help build a new model of a crib, choose a color for the nursery, and install high-powered mana-fuelled sma cannons.

    Bytra had created them almost for fun, to be used as self-defense weapons by Zinya and her kids due to theirck of magical powers.

    Tezka was offended by her allegation that he might let even a fly pass through him undetected, but he also liked anything that could punch a hole through solid steel with a flick of a trigger.

    "Are these things really necessary?" Kam asked while Zoreth taught her how to activate the many weapons she had disguised as toys and ced throughout the room. "After all, a Guardian is always following Elysia. She''s going to be safe even after she''s born."

    "I know." The Shadow Dragon nodded. "These aren''t for her but for you. The protection of the Guardians extends to you only while you carry the baby so unless you n to have two kids back to back, you need to be prepared.

    "Awakened or not, you are as weak as a child. If Meln or any of Lith''s enemies wants to hurt him, you make the perfect target."

    Kam swallowed a lump of saliva and said no more.

    As for Bytra, she was working half the time on the Harmonizers and the other half cramming Body Sculpting. She hoped to master the cors'' Forgemastering process while also stealing as much knowledge as she could from Faluel''s side of the work.

    ''I don''t care what the Council says or wants. We deserve the Harmonizers. No, we need them for our survival!'' She thought.

 Chapter 2604 A Page In History (Part 4)

    Faluel didn''t trust the Eldritches enough to share with them the knowledge she gained from the secret Tyrant''s bloodline legacy, but she could use it along with her expertise as a skilled Forgemaster to give tips and hints to Bytra.

    ''I hate to admit it, but even with my mother''s help grasping the technology devised by generations of Tyrants on our own would take too long.'' The Hydra thought. ''If I can''t get to have the Harmonizers mass-produced by the time the situation in Jiera stabilizes, the monsters and the Council will go to war.

    ''On top of that, I need the resources of the Council to Forgemaster enough Harmonizers for everyone. Without its help, I would end up squandering my own bloodline legacy.''

    Truth be told, Fyrwal had agreed to help her daughter only because her studies on Ufyl''s life force hade to a dead end. He was the only Hydra to have ever evolved into a Dragon, even though only thanks to the Ambrosia and Thrud''s Madness.

    Faluel''s mother wasn''t as desperate as Glemos about bing a Divine Beast but her curiosity was piqued and the Harmonizer might turn out to be the solution to her problem.

    "While everyone else will stumble and fall in the search of a way to further their evolution, we will progress smoothly." Fyrwal said. "Ufyl''s life force is the perfect mold for our endeavor.

    "He''s not like the Balors who evolved millennia ago, fell, and then artificially evolved into Fomors. Ufyl was a Hydra until less than a year ago and Forbidden Magic unlocked the path that our species is supposed to follow.

    "Unlike the Tyrant''s bloodline who forged new species by force, Thrud simply unlocked our potential and Ufyl''s life force is stable. We just need to devise a Body Sculpting spell that changes our nature into that of Seven Headed Dragons and then study how the Harmonizer enforces the process.

    "Once every Hydra knows the starting point and their destination, sess will be just a matter of time."

    Faluel was scared at the idea that changing her life force so drastically might also alter her personality, but the prospect of gaining Origin mes and Dragon Eyes like Ufyl was just too tempting.

    Yet all of this had happened in the time after the discovery of Zelex and before Quy''s marriage. Now that everyone hade to the Verhen Mansion to attend, they each focused on the future.

    "I can''t believe that the time hase for our Little One to spread her wings and leave the nest." Orion sighed like a bellows. "Seven years ago, Quy was just a nameless orphan that you tricked into adoption."

    Jirni looked at her husband''s eyes, noticing there was no rebuke for her maniptions.

    "Then came Balkor, Nalear forced Quy to kill Yurial, and that poor girl went through a lot to find her way in life. Yet she did it and we with her."

    "I only wish our Little Flower was here with us today." Jirni turned toward the padded chair at her left, where a replica of Reaver and the golden lily pendant sat.

    It had been Quy''s desire to have the mementos of herte sister there, to have Phloria share that moment with her, at least in spirit. Not a day went by without the Ernas thinking about her, wondering what they could have done differently to bring her back home alive.

    "Me too." Orion cleared his throat from a sudden huskiness. "What are you going to do now?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Once Quy goes on her honeymoon, I''m going back to work." Jirni stared at a few seats of distance where the Verhens were. "I''m done grieving our daughter. My mana core is stuck at the bright orange and there''s no point studying spells I can''t practice but I can still learn a few things by following Kam around.

    "She''s where I''m going to be in a while and if I learn from her mistakes, I can aim straight for the green core. At that point, once I wear the Myrok''s Royal Fortress armor, I''ll have the strength to hunt down our enemies. Like Meln."

    Orion nodded but said nothing. He had yet to master fusion magic of all elements due to the fact that he had already gone back to work, his age, and his overloaded core.

    Having a natural bright violet made him peerless among the fake mages but also made his Awakening highly unlikely. He could train only under the supervision of the Master or one of his associates who would make sure that the impurities in his body wouldn''t reach his core.

    "I got to go. Our Little One needs me." Orion looked at the blinking rune on his amulet and walked out of the room.

    "Gods, I''m so excited for Quy." Solus said, a bit envious of Friya for being the maid of honor and a little angry with Morok for choosing Ajatar as his best man. "Let''s hope that nothing goes wrong."

    She turned to the groom''s side of the room which was depressingly empty aside from Aalejah Eventide, the members of Zelex''s senate, and their children. Faluel was on the bride''s side and so was Lith and the rest of his family.

    The elf had shapeshifted like everyone else into an eptable human form. She had agreed on taking part in the ceremony because she had never attended a human marriage and to make sure that the monsters in disguise didn''t get caught.

    "With us and Aalejah here is unlikely." Lith couldn''t care less about who the best man was. He and the Tyrant had never graduated from acquaintances. "Besides, Morok''s reputation precedes him.

    "Even if his guests drink straight from a bowl or eat with their bare hands nobody will bat an eye."

    His eye fell on Phloria''s chair, bringing him a deep feeling of loss and failure. Even though Phloria had absolved him of her death and he knew that her fate had been sealed from the moment of her capture, Lith still felt responsible.

    The golden lily pendant shone under the magical lights like an unblinking eye, silently using him of killing his first true human friend with his own hands. While looking at his own reflection, the precious memories of the time they had spent together shed in front of his eyes.

    Then, it came the War of the Griffons, the lives he had taken to lure Phloria in the open, andstly, the figure of her limp body impaled through the chest by his right arm.

    Lith froze as the white of his Supreme Magus robe turned crimson and War''s desperate wails echoed through his head. The angry de was stored in his pocket dimension but he could almost feel its familiar weight in his hand.

    As the room turned pitch ck and guilt became unbearable, a familiar hand wrapped in light dragged him back to the present.

    "It''s not your fault. Do you hear me?" Solus said after grabbing his face and turning it toward her. "Wishing she never met you is like saying you wanted her to die at Balkor''s hand. Phloria didn''t take part in the War of the Griffons for you."

 Chapter 2605 Gift Exchange (Part 1)

    "Phloria put her life on the line for her family, her duty, and because she loved the Kingdom. Even if you never returned from the Desert, Reaver and her de Tier spell made her too big a threat to leave her alone." Solus said.

    "Thrud would have kidnapped and killed Phloria anyway. The only differences would be that now the Mad Queen would be sitting on the throne and, thanks to the mass-produced Reaver, the other countries would be under siege in a losing battle."

    "How do you-"

    "I know because I''m in here so often that I''ve built my summer home." Solus patted on his heart. "Don''t look at the pendant. We are not here for Phloria. Today we are here for Quy. Look at our friend and if you can''t, look at Kami or me."

    Lith scratched his head in embarrassment, finding himself covered in a cold sweat.

    "I knew that taking out that pendant was a bad idea." Kam held his hand, caressing it with her thumb. "Too bad that the front row is for family members only. If we sat in front of Jirni and Orion, this could have been avoided."

    "It''s not their fault. I should-"

    "No matter what the idiots out there say, you are still human. So yeah, it''s their fault. You already lent them your Mansion for their daughter''s wedding and are hosting R. The least they could do was to avoid putting you into this position."

    Kam snarled, putting his hand on her womb where Elysia kicked in agreement. Actually, they still had no idea if the baby understood theirnguage. The "one kick for yes, two kicks for no" was just an inside joke between them.

    An inside joke with an unsettling urate record.

    The double doors opened, letting the couples in.

    Quy walked arm in arm with Orion as he walked her to the altar while R the Fomor acted in ce of Morok''s mother. He had tried to write her a letter in which he exined everything and invited her to the wedding, but she had never replied.

    Ajatar had stood in the shadows, watching the human woman burn the letter without even opening it the moment she had read Morok''s name. For a moment, the Drake had hated her. He had gone this close to barge in her house and force her to listen to him.

    To tell her that Morok was a victim as much as she was and that he was meless. That Glemos had already paid with his life and he couldn''t hurt her any longer. Yet Ajatar had never moved from his hiding spot, waiting until he had recovered his cool.

    ''No matter what I said, I couldn''t change the past.'' He thought while looking at Garrik walking in front of the couples. ''Forcing her toe here would have ruined this moment for everyone and added another scar in her heart.''

    Morok''s half-brother was shapeshifted into a tall seven years old boy to not alter his height too much. In his human form, he bore a striking resemnce with Morok, sharing his brown hair and eyes.

    Garrik acted as a flower boy, throwing red and pink roses petals in his wake.

    R had been shapeshifted into a woman in her early forties with dark hair and chestnut eyes. Even though she had been made shorter than Morok and her features smoothed to a less preternatural beauty, the unanimous consent among the human guests was that the former Ranger had to be adopted.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The Fomors moved with lithe grace, their high cored clothes hiding the presence of the Harmonizers, whereas even after plenty of rehearsals Morok was as stiff as a walking stick.

    ''We should have shapeshifted you shorter as well, Dad.'' Quy pouted, barely hanging from his arm despite the high heels and feeling like a sloth clinging to the high branch of a tree.

    ''I can always carry you on my shoulders if you prefer.'' Orion replied with a warm smile, flooding her mind with the memories of all the father-daughter activities they had shared after her adoption.

    Back then she was already twelve years old but being an orphan, she had dly taken part in silly things suitable for someone much younger like ying horse.

    ''Not a chance.'' She chuckled, smiling from the deep of her heart at those images.

    After being adopted by the Ernas, her life had changed in ways she had never imagined. Many good and bad things had happened to her, many of which she had suffered due to the name she now carried.

    Yet overall, Quy considered her life a blessed one, filled with more happiness than sorrow. The only sour note that tainted the recollection of her life while she walked among the people she loved was the absence of her sister.

    ''I "died" because of Deirus'' plot but Mom managed to save me. We all have gone through thick and thin, fighting deadly battles against old and terrible monsters yet we always survived.

    ''It took a war to split us.'' Quy''s heart bled at the sight of the golden lily pendant and to hide her sorrow she clenched Orion''s arm so much that it hurt. ''Maybe it was wrong of me to ask to have Phloria''s mementos brought to the ceremony.

    ''I know how much pain their mere presence must bring to my friends and family because I feel it too. My heart still refuses to ept that Phloria is really dead. That I''ll never hear herugh or cry again.

    ''Yet I refuse to forget about her, to pretend that she never existed just to hide from the pain that her memory evokes. She has been an important part of my life and she still is. Even if she''s not here anymore, Phloria is my sister.

    ''She was with me while I was at my best and my worst. She was there for me after I killed Yurial, when I didn''t know what to do with my life, or simply when I needed someone to listen to my inner demons.

    ''I refuse to abandon her on the day of my wedding. I want her to be with me, with us. I want to face my pain until I''m capable of looking past it and remember only the good things we shared as friends first and sisterster.

    ''Phloria''s death is a tragedy, but her life was a blessing to us all. Every day we spent together was priceless and I want everyone to realize that the only reason her absence hurts us so much is because of how special she was and how much we love her.''

    Quy noticed how pale Lith was, his nk stare fixed on the empty seat. When Solus snapped him out of it, Quy replied to Kam''s reproachful re with an apologetic nod, but she didn''t stop nor did she regret her choice.

    The couple was left in front of King Meron, who was going to officiate the ceremony. The Royal Family always took care personally of marriages between important members of society and the Ernas were one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom.

    On top of that, most of the members of the Ernas family and their friends were heroes of the War of the Griffons.

 Chapter 2606 Gift Exchange (Part 2)

    Without any impending crisis or urgent affairs demanding his attention, Meron had decided not to delegate the task to one of his children as it had happened for Vastor''s wedding.

    Friya stood at the King''s right, dressed in a simple cream-colored day dress with no neckline and a hoop skirt to not outshine the bride during her special day. Her long hair was held up in a do that gave her features a sharp look and made her eyes look cold.

    Ajatar stood at the King''s left, wearing a ck evening suit and wearing the appearance of an unremarkable man slightly shorter than Morok with dirty blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes, the color of his scales.

    Friya looked at his parents and brothers, sitting on the first row, and felt a pang at the sight of Phloria''s chair. Yet she said nothing, moving her gaze on to the second row where Nalrond was sitting.

    The Rezar seemed to be even more tense than Morok and more distressed than Friya but the moment their eyes met, he put a smile on his face and waved at her in a congrattory gesture.

    "Today, we are assembled here to celebrate the union between Quy Nimea Daphne Ernas and Morok Eari. Ranger Eari served the Kingdom for six years, longer than most of his colleagues, defending the North from the enemies lurking inside and outside our borders.

    "His service has been dotted with feats that few believed possible and even fewer think they can ever be equalled." Meron avoiding to rify whether said feats were good or bad spoke volumes about how hard it had been to find something to say about the groom without embarrassing the hosts in front of their guests.

    "It was during those days that Morok and Quy met, during the dreadful expedition that led them to Kh and to the discovery of the horrors of the still-living Odi civilization.

    "Their bond started there and grew over time. I would love to tell you that it''s a love story the likes bards like to sing about but life is seldom so kind. Even after the end of the expedition, the cruelty of the Odi rippled through our lives.

    "It brought unfair trials, assassination attempts, and the betrayal of a man who sold the Kingdom he had sworn to protect to its enemies. Yet good things were born from such hardships.

    "Bonds were created, loyalties tested and found wless. It''s only through hard times that we can achieve the things we cherish the most. We don''t understand what we truly want until we are forced to fight to protect it.

    "We fight for the living because they give meaning to our existence and when we fail, we live for the dead. Because as long as we don''t forget about them, they are never truly gone.

    "Because as long as we carry in our hearts the part of them that they have entrusted to us, they never truly leave our side and give us the strength to fight the good fights." Meron stared for a second at Phloria''s things, giving her parents a small bow and taking a moment of silence.

    "Morok''s and Quy''s rtionship has endured much, just like them. They haveughed, cried, and looked at their future in fear together. Yet they have also chosen to be here today and show us that they want to face it together.

    "With our presence, we acknowledge their will and offer them our support. Because there''s nothing that a loving couple can''t achieve if they have the help of their family and friends.

    "Peace and joy can''t be granted, only earned. My hope is that Quy and Morok will build such a happiness for themselves that they will be able to afford to share it with us and the rest of Mogar.

    "Quy, Morok. Pronounce your vows to each other."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Ajatar handed Morok the deep violet robe that only a Royal Decree could make a Magus''. It was wrapped with the unbreakable knot of the betrothal gifts. The Tyrant held it with care as if it could break apart.

    "Quy, I could say many things about our time in Kh, of how we met and spoke. Yet such anecdotes would embarrass you and aren''t suited for a day like today." Morok said, making her chuckle.

    "What I mean to say is that all things considered, I can''t believe we''ve got to this point. I don''t know if I''ve ever said or done anything to deserve this happiness, the only thing I know is that I don''t want to lose it.

    "When I thought that Deirus had taken you away from me I discovered that your absence made my life unbearable and when you came back, I understood that I wanted to spend every moment I had left with you."

    Morok handed the violet robe to her.

    "This is my betrothal gift. It may look silly and without much value, like me, but it expresses my will to stand by your side and help you achieve anything you want. I have no ambition and I don''t care what the destination of my is as long as you take the journey with me."

    Meron''s nostrils red and his brows furrowed at the highly unorthodox gift shoved right in front of his face, but he said nothing. He was there only as a witness, not as a judge of the soundness of their union.

    Also, Jirni red at him with an intensity that covered the King in a cold sweat.

    Quy epted the Magus robe, taking the knot off and keeping it inside one of the pockets before wearing it.

    "I could say many things about the first days of the expedition to Kh as well, but you are right. They are unsuited for this day and bring too much pain." Quy looked at Phloria''s chair and a thin smile appeared at the memory of Morok mistaking her for a man.

    "What I can say is that, despite its ups and downs, being with you has never been boring. You''ve made meugh even when it was improper and when I get angry with you, it neversts long.

    "No matter how rude what you do or say is, there''s never ill-will in you. When I think back at the time we spent together, even our arguments, it makes me smile because you''ve always been honest with me, telling me what I needed to hear instead of what I wanted to hear."

    At a snap of her fingers, Lucky trotted from Orion''s side to her. The big red-furred Ry wore a big ck bowtie on his cor and carried a small box in his mouth.

    It was unorthodox as well since it was up to the bridesmaid to carry the betrothal gift.

    Quy opened the box, revealing an ornate Orichalcum key with a violet mana stone the size of a pea on either side. It was wrapped with a betrothal knot that passed through the hole in the head so that it wouldn''t mess with the lock.

    "This is my betrothal gift. It''s the key to the house that my parents gifted to me and that I signed over to you." She handed it to him leaving Morok and her parents bbergasted.

 Chapter 2607 Caged Beasts (Part 1)

    "I know that you are a grassroots mage in the most literal sense of the word." Quy said while looking Morok in the eyes.

    "Like me, you are an orphan. You''ve never had a home, a family, or somewhere you belonged. You''ve spent your whole adult life moving from one ce to another, searching for something that you know is lost forever.

    "No one can give you the family or the house you never had, but I can give you my own and hope that you''ll share it with me. With this key, I''m asking you to stop looking at the past and start building the future with me."

    Morok''s hands trembled as he epted the key, wrapping Quy in an embrace even though they weren''t supposed to touch each other until the officiant gave them permission.

    Meron rolled his eyes at the third breach of etiquette in a row, but the crowd was sniffling, caring more about the feelings of the couple rather than tradition.

    "Congrattions. In the name of the Griffon Kingdom, I dere you husband and wife." The King said.

    As the newlyweds kissed, the guests gave them a standing ovation and Lucky howled, quickly followed by Abominus, sh, Tezka, and Syrah''s children. The Hati Queen had been shapeshifted into a woman in her mid-thirties with silver hair the color of her regr fur and stern features.

    She and Aalejah managed to stop them before anyone noticed them. Syrah inwardly thanked the gods for the presence of the much bigger and louder magical beasts that along with the roaring apuse covered most of the kids'' noise.

    The wolf-fox-something in particr howled as loud as a full pack by himself and his voice reverberated with multiple timbres like a choir of wolven gods under a full moon.

    The members of the senate waited for the rest of the guests to be done with the congrattions before taking their turn. They didn''t like mingling with humans and were afraid that somehow they could see past their disguise.

    Too many among the guests had been looking at the monsters for too long than it was polite for the entire duration of the ceremony, making them feel out of ce. The truth was that aside from Syrah, the rest of the group looked stunning.

    Balor, Fomors, and Traughen had all been gifted by evolution with a degree of body refinement simr to Awakening. Even after changing their appearance to human with Body Sculpting, it would have taken major changes to give them average looks.

    They would have preferred a iner appearance, but between the Harmonizer and their fallen life forces, there was only so much that could be done without putting their lives at risk.

    Long story short, if not for the presence of the children, many noble bachelors would have loved to know those mysteriousdies better.

    "Thank you for including me in your invitation!" Aalejah hugged Morok and Quy like they were old friends. "Your vows were moving and I filled a whole notebook with my observations about the humans'' emotional response tomitment.

    "It''s amazing how much spite, lust, and scorn lie behind those smiling faces."

    "Wait, what is behind who now?" Quy asked.

    "I''m terrible at reading human expressions so I''m basing my analysis on the conversations I''ve overheard." She tapped on her ears with her quill while checking her notes.

    Shapeshifting had no effect on one''s senses so even in their shorter, rounder form her ears still had the acuity typical of elven hearing.

    "By the way, do you mind exining to me how the betting tradition works? I personally found it pretty rude, but since everyone did it, I can only assume it''s one of those customs that don''t make sense unless you are part of the tribe."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "What bets?" Quy asked to take a look at the notebook and when Aalejah turned it toward her she found the next best thing to a ledger with names, numbers, and odds about the duration of her marriage.

    Annulment after the wedding night was given 1:100, with most of the bets giving the couple from a few months to a year.

    "This is no tradition! This just means that my parents need better friends because as long as I draw breath these guys are not getting invited to anything anymore." The only silver lining was that no one of her friends and colleagues had taken part in it.

    The names in the ledger belonged to nobles and members of the Royal Court that her parents had been forced to invite for political reasons.

    Meanwhile, the house staff that the Ernas had brought along for the asion moved the chairs out of the main hall and lined several tables along the walls that the kitchen staff set with food and beverages.

    Much to the dismay of the members of Zelex''s senate, their children had no problem mingling with the humans. Aran and Leria knew the truth and it took more than being a member of the fallen races to scare them.

    They gave the new kids a tour of the tables and exined to them the nature of the various dishes, giving special emphasis to the sweets that everyone ate like a bunch of famished trolls.

    Especially the trolls.

    Lilia and Leran shamelessly sniffed the young Hati who returned the gesture, drawing several res from the guests. Selia was still bedridden and without her, Protector didn''t care much about formalities.

    "We are from the groom''s side." A light of understanding shone in the nobles'' eyes at Protector''s words, shifting the me from the Ernas and earning thempassion.

    Filia and Frey, instead, would have found it awkward to interact with those overly attractive youths that seemed tock anymon sense and knowledge if not for Tezka''s presence.

    After dealing with kidnappers, thugs, and assassins on a regr basis, Zinya''s children had long since learned that as long as the Fylgja didn''t ask them to cover their eyes they had nothing to worry about.

    After Essagor had been promoted to an Arch Duchy, Vastor had received huge amounts of gold to build new Warp Gates and cities along with sole discretion to where invest them.

    The various internal factions believed that Zinya''s kids were the quickest way to send him a message or ckmail the Master into doing their bidding. Unluckily for them, Vastor had no idea the problem even existed.

    The Suneater rarely needed to leave behind more than one tail to deal with the hired muscle while he brought the kids back home on time. At that point, the Organization would step in via its capiry control of the underworld.

    Middlemen and shellpanies did little good to hide your identity when you didn''t y against another criminal faction but against the house. The nobles responsible would always be found dead a few hours after the attempt on the kids.

    Some died of heart attack, others left behind a suicide note, while the rest would simply suffer a tragic "ident".

    "I really think that you should sell this stuff." Protector had a bowl of ice cream the size of his hand. "The kids love it and they are not the only ones."

 Chapter 2608 Caged Beasts (Part 2)

    Ryman pointed at the refreshment stand where noble youths behaved no differently from his much less refined kids after tasting a few vors. Many adults were ignoring the known cold and hot dishes in favor of the exotic treat as well, forcing the house staff to constantly refill the various bowls.

    "It''s not worth it." Lith shrugged. "The moment I disclose the recipe, every idiot with chore magic can do it."

    ''Luckily, Mogar''s chocte isn''t toxic for animals once they evolve into magical beasts or things would get tragic here fast.'' He actually thought, d to have made sure of it in the past before offering ice cream to any of his non-human friends.

    "Can I borrow Lith for a minute?" Nalrond asked.

    "Sure." Protector nodded, taking his leave to have a conversation with the Hati Queen.

    Ever since his first sh with the Hati in Ajatar''s mines, he had felt an odd kinship with them and he was curious to understand how simr they were to Skolls.

    "Wow, you look like shit." Lith said without mincing words.

    "Thanks." The Rezar replied with a snarl. "But you don''t look so hot either."

    "It''s nothing." Lith sighed. "I''m just having more and more difficulty developing the auxiliary cores I need to reach the bright violet. My whole body hurts every time I try to condense more and I think I''m reaching my limit.

    "If I don''t understand what''s wrong with my Voidfeather Dragon life force, I''ll be stumped again. What''s your excuse?"

    "I''m not even Awakened, I''m nowhere close to even the bright blue, and my body feels like it''s going to fall apart any moment now." Nalrond was pale and mmy, needing his meditating technique just to keep the symptoms in check.

    "Are you telling me that you''ve reached the same point Tista did after fighting with the cursed objects?" Lith''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "No, I''m nothing like her." A few deep breaths stabilized the barrier that kept his human and Emperor Beast sides apart, making the pain stop. "Tista''s life forces naturally wanted to merge and she was willingly stopping them.

    "I, instead, have struggled until now to try and make them meet, but I''m facing an impossible conundrum. If I keep the barrier standing, I can''t make my life forces interact or attempt to merge them.

    "Whenever I try to weaken it past a certain point, however, due to my age and the power they have both umted, my life forces repel each other with so much violence that they start to tear apart what''s left of the barrier on their own."

    "Isn''t that a good thing?" Lith asked.

    "No, it''s not." Nalrond replied in exasperation. "I''ve spent years trying to understand my beast life force and getting in touch with it. During the past year, I''ve whittled the barrier bit by bit by spending my free time as a Rezar, enjoying what it has to offer me.

    "The problem is that all of this just made my beast side stronger, it didn''t bring my two life forces closer. I can feel that they are not trying to ovee the barrier to merge.

    "They are like two hungry caged predators throwing themselves at the bars, each sent into a frenzy by the smell of the other''s blood. Once they met, I won''t have months like Tista to make up my mind.

    "Heck, I''ll be lucky if I''ll have hours. My bet is that either I pick one on the fly or I''ll go boom."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do for you?"

    "Actually, yes." The Rezar nodded. "I''ve heard from Friya about your problems and from Faluel about the issue with Jiera so I thought about something that might solve everything in one trip."

    "Do you want to go back to the Fringe?" Lith raised his brow.

    "Yes. I''ve found my first clue there and we''ve nned to go back there together since before the War of the Griffons. Now there''s no Balkor copycat on the prowl, no Thrud, or any impending crisis. This is the perfect time to go there."

    "Actually, Meln is still atrge and my prolonged absence could lure him or some other crazy head out. Kami is-"

    "Pregnant with the granddaughter of two Guardians who dote her plus a third one who blotted the sky of Garlen the moment she was in danger." Nalrond cut him off. "We both know that once Elysia is born Kam will be fair game but the rest of Mogar doesn''t.

    "This is the perfect moment to leave, lure them out, and let the Guardians take out the trash."

    Lith liked the idea of having any potential threat wiped out without him moving a finger while at the same time finding a solid lead to solve his differences with the Voidfeather Dragon.

    "I''ll miss not killing Meln in person, but it''s something I can live with." Lith nodded. "But why now? I mean, the war is over for a while. We could have gone to the Fringe anytime."

    "Because the Fringe is a gamble, and a dangerous one at that." The Rezar sighed. "We''ll have to deal with the Dewans and the elves, and I mean thousands of them inside their own home.

    "On top of that, there''s no telling we''ll actually discover something useful. Even if we manage to perform the ritual and get to talk with Mogar, they speak in riddles. It might as well be a colossal waste of time.

    "I''ve waited until now because I hoped to learn something from Tista, but it failed because our conditions were pr opposites. Then, I hoped that the Harmonizer would help me.

    "Yet now that Faluel has deciphered Glemos'' blueprints, she had some pretty bad news for me. The reason that bastard performed live experimentation outside Zelex was to improve on the altered life forces he had already discovered and he still sacrificed dozens of monsters for his research.

    "In my case, since no one has any idea what the shape of mybined life forces is supposed to look like, devising a proper Body Sculpting spell without crippling me is going to take years.

    "Years that I don''t have! You are having a child, Quy is now married, and I can''t keep Friya on stand-by forever. I can see how envious she is of you guys moving forward while our rtionship is stuck.

    "I can almost hear her fear of ending up dead like Phloria without having achieved any of the goals she has set for herself. The Fringe is the only way I''ve left to find the solution I want within a reasonable time.

    "You are a Divine Beast, we have now plenty of Menadion''s artifacts, and Jiera''s developments give us something that we can offer the elves in exchange for their help. Land and freedom.

    "If we bring Aalejah with us, we''ll have an ambassador they will be willing to listen to. While she keeps them busy, we get our audience with Mogar. Best case scenario, the elves take Zelex''s same deal and join the fight against the monster tides and the lost cities.

    "Worst case scenario, they refuse and we bail out like thest time. Either way, we get what we wanted."

 Chapter 2609 Painful Lessons (Part 1)

    "It makes sense, but I have one question." Lith pondered. "What if Mogar gives you a solution that would take too long to achieve or that simply can''t be reached in your lifetime?"

    "In that case, after discussing it with Friya, I''ll tear down the barrier between my life forces and pick one without even attempting to merge them." Nalrond replied.

    "Why discuss it with her? It''s your choice." Lith countered.

    "Yeah, but it''s our life." The Rezar shook his head.

    "She has less than 100 years before she either bes Faluel''s Harbinger or dies. As an Awakened human, I can stay with her for less than 1,000 years while as a Harbinger she''ll live as long as Faluel.

    "Which means three times my lifespan if her research fails and ten times as much if Faluel bes a seven headed Dragon like Ufyl. I''d rather stay a man, but if I do, Friya would have to move forward in our rtionship knowing that she''s going to outlive me.

    "As an Emperor Beast, I can be herpanion. As a man, I''d be almost like a pet."

    "That''s putting yourself down harsh, man." Lith patted his shoulder. "Kami is in your same situation. She didn''t even want to be Awakened and she knew that I''ll probably outlive her, yet things work just fine for us."

    "It''s different for you two." Nalrond sighed. "Your life force is cracked and your life is constantly in danger. There''s no telling how long you have left and Kam probably didn''t want to be Awakened to not outlive you.

    "How long did Manohar say that you have left?"

    "A few hundreds of years. Maybe." Lith lowered his voice to not spoil the mood for the others.

    "See? This means that even if Kam lives just for 700 more years, she''ll be grieving you for centuries. I don''t want that for Friya. That''s why I need to make this trip and why I''m going to talk to her before making my decision."

    "Alright, I''m sold. When do we leave?" Lith asked.

    ***

    It took a while to organize the trip to the ancestral Rezar Fringe. Reaching the Desert from Lith''s barn and then the location of the external barrier of the Fringe needed but a few minutes whereas the preparations took weeks.

    Friya wouldn''t let Nalrond go to the Fringe without her and Quy wanted to cover her sister''s back. So they had to wait for Quy to return from her honeymoon and then give her some time to prepare.

    Also, Lith had to give the Royals notice of his leave. He couldn''t just drop his Void Magic lessons and abandon the Tablets'' trial run without it triggering a Manohar scale manhunt.

    Faluel was going toe as well and she too needed some time to put her business in order and find a recement as the Distar regional lord during her absence. Someone who also had to work with Bytra on the Harmonizers in her stead and keep studying the Tyrant''s bloodline legacy with Ka.

    "Thank you so much for your help, Mom." The Hydra packed most of her things inside dimensional amulets but kept many tools and weapons hung to her belt and inside her pockets just to be safe.

    "Like you gave me a choice." Fyrwal snarled. "I can''t let some schmuck mess with the best shot the Hydra bloodline has in millennia to reach Dragonhood. Also, I can''t wait to work with the Eyes of Menadion again.

    "Speaking of that, are you going to leave the Hands behind?"

    "Nice try but no." Faluel shook her head. "The Fringe is rich in world energy which makes it the perfect ce to learn how to tap into the Hands'' full potential. If things go south, between me and Solus it would take a natural disaster to stop our escape."

    "I see. Yet you look way too excited for someone who''s potentially sticking her head in a death trap. What''s your angle?" Fyrwal tilted her head in curiosity.

    "Are you kidding me?" Faluel couldn''t believe her ears. "I''m going into a Fringe. I''m going to talk with the vital essence of our. I''m going to meet legendary creatures, maybe get a few hints about how to ovee the limits of our species, if not even achieve enlightenment like Grandmother."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Be careful about what you wish for." Fyrwal replied. "Knowledge can be dangerous, especially when the answers you get aren''t what you were expecting. By the way, have you informed the Council?"

    "Of my absence? Yes. Of the Fringe? Of course not." Faluel said. "I''m not going to reveal the position of Nalrond''s home nor am I going to put so many lives in danger without a good reason.

    "You know how Awakened think. The Council would follow us en masse to both strongarm the elves to help Jiera and see if they can benefit from the Fringe. I want a mediation, not give ultimatums.

    "Unlike Zelex''s monsters, elves have no bone to throw the Council and once their home''s location is exposed, they will think it''s the War of the Races all over again."

    "A noble but na?ve choice." Fyrwal lowered her gaze. "If the treaties fail, what is going to stop them from trying to shut you up forever?"

    "I''m not stupid. That''s why I''m bringing Aalejah along and the Hands with me. She''s going to act as our ambassador and do the talking while the others contact Mogar on the down low.

    "As an Awakened elf and a former emissary of the World Tree, she should be able to ensure our safety." Faluel replied.

    "Yes, she should." Fyrwal said with a somber tone.

    ***

    "So you are going away." Sark drummed her fingers on the desk of her office.

    "Yes." Lith replied while using his Overlord permit to grant ess to the Blood Desert to the members of his group without going through customs.

    "For days." There was an enthusiasm in her voice that irked him to no end.

    "Again, yes. Why?"

    "No reason, bye!" A wave of her hand Warped everyone straight to their destination even though not like usual.

    Warping arrays were supposed to just switch locations at a great distance from each other whereas Lith''s group experienced the closest thing to being tossed away like confetti.

    Some fell on their head, others on their butts, and Morok ended up sprawled on the sand.

    Luckily between their enhanced bodies and the limited strength Sark had put behind the gesture, no one was hurt.

    "What was that?" Friya thanked the gods for her armor''s shapeshifting abilities since she had sand even in her underwear. "Why was Sark so eager to get rid of us?"

    "Beats me." Lith tried and failed to conjure some water to clean himself.

    Meanwhile, in the Desert, the Guardian took the answer to Friya''s question in her arms before Warping herself and her honor guard straight to Lutia.

    "Thank you for bringing the little Valeron with you Grandma." Kam said while holding the almost one year old baby against her bosom.

    Even though Sark and Leegaain took care of him most of the time, Kam went to visit the baby every time she could.

 Chapter 2610 Painful Lessons (Part 2)

    Kam didn''t like to act behind her husband''s back but she knew how much Lith was still hurting from the end of the war.

    Jormun the Emerald Dragon had entrusted his son to Lith, but he could barely stand the presence of the child for a few minutes before the images of Phloria''s death shed in front of his eyes.

    "Don''t be silly." Sark pinched Kam''s cheek. "I can use some help and so do you. It takes two to make a child and a vige to raise him."

    Valeron the Second was upset by the sudden change of his environment and started shapeshifting from his human to his Bahamut form non-stop. As she always did during her visits, Kam shapeshifted her hands and cheeks, covering them in ck scales.

    The moment they touched Valeron''s white scales, the affinity between the Dragon bloodlines allowed them to share their deepest emotions. The baby perceived Kam''s care and affection while she experienced his distress.

    Valeron had no clear memory of his parents but he felt like there was something important missing in his life. He desperately sniffed the air looking for Jormun''s and Thrud''s smell.

    He searched for his mother''s heartbeat every time someone held him. He had no words to express his feelings, just a few jumbled thoughts, yet Kam knew what it was.

    Valeron missed his parents dearly and called for them in every way he could.

    "Gods, this is so cruel." Kam sniffled, warm tears streaking down her eyes. "How can someone so young already experience grief?"

    "It''s the curse of being a Divine Beast." Tyris joined them, taking the baby from Kam. The Madness had made Thrud''s smell almost identical to the Guardian''s and her presence calmed him down.

    "Our brains develop fast in order to keep our bloodline abilities in check. It makes us smarter and quick learners, but not all of life''s lessons are pleasant."

    "What about Elysia?" Kam asked. "Does she already understand humannguage? Does he know what''s happening around her at all times?"

    "No, she doesn''t understand humannguage." Leegaain appeared right beside her caressing Valeron''s head first and then her belly. "Isn''t that right, Em''har? You experience the world only through your mother so if she is happy, you are happy, and so on."

    "What did you call her?"

    "I didn''t call her anything." Leegaain replied with a smug grin. "That was just the draconic word for ''my love''."

    "Okay, and what are you three doing here?" Kam asked while looking at the Phoenix honor guard taking care of the chores while also standing guard around the house and conjuring a living array.

    "How could we miss the opportunity to take care of you while the grouch is away?" The Father of all Dragons replied. "I can finally spend a bit of time with my nieces and nephew."

    "Nieces?" Kam echoed while noticing that the honor guard also took care of Elina like she was Royalty.

    "Your work is very stressful, dear, so we are going to make sure that nothing upsets you." Tyris said, handing Valeron back to Kam now that he was rxed.

    "We?" She swallowed a lump of saliva as the Guardians'' clothes shapeshifted into Constables'' uniforms.

    Suddenly she missed Lith with all of her heart and couldn''t wait for him to be back.

    ***

    Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in front of the Fringe.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Do you guys know how to get in?" Nalrond asked obtaining a series of nos in replies while Morok went in and out of the dimensional barrier like it was a revolving door.

    "Gods if I hate him when he does that." Friya clicked her tongue in annoyance.

    "Yeah, the worst part is that he isn''t even trying to brag." Quy needed sheer willpower to not experience her first eye-roll at her husband.

    The Rezar gave everyone a brief exnation of how the ess to a Fringe worked and what they had to expect while getting inside, no matter if by themselves or with some help.

    "It does feel cold here." Despite the heat of the Desert, Solus was shivering.

    The dimensional fissure that protected the Fringe was imbued with the will of Mogar. It flowed through her multi colored hair, carrying the memories, thoughts, and feelings of people long gone whose existence had been recorded by the.

    "Same here." Lith kept his eyes shut, trying to focus on the voices and gain ess by himself like Morok but unlike the Tyrant, his personality was too inflexible and his will too adamant to abandon itself to the flow.

    He was like a sturdy rock in the ocean that water could smooth over time but not break or carry over.

    "Fascinating." Ajatar the Drake hade as well as both back up in case of trouble and schr.

    essing to a Fringe was a rare event and he couldn''t miss the opportunity nor could his apprentice deny it to him.

    "The good news is that at least on this side there''s no barrier, trap, or rm left from your previous adventure. The bad news is that I have no idea how to get in. I tried the whole Spellbook of my bloodline and I got squat."

    "Bring in Solus first." Faluel said, experiencing both the cold from her elemental affinities and the unsettling feeling of the dimensional distortion, like reality itself was wrong. "Then Ajatar, the girls, and me. Keep Lith forst."

    "Sure thing." Nalrond knew that away from a mana geyser Solus was bleeding energy by the second so he carried her over without losing time with questions.

    He closed his eyes, bing one with the flow of the world energy while also retaining his individuality. Half of his body appeared inside the Fringe while the other offered Solus his hand.

    The moment she touched him, she felt a deafening choir of voices invading her mind, flooding her vision with experiences that didn''t belong to her and forcing her to relive the lives of countless people from birth to death.

    Some lived long, most lived shortly, but all of them had much more pain than joy in their life. After the initial shock, Solus withstood the raging river of foreign memories with ease.

    She had experienced something simr every time Lith conjured one of his Demons and they were forced to share with the lost soul the pain that kept them from moving on and the source of their obsession.

    Yet after stepping on the other side, things went much worse. As she got rid of what didn''t belong to her, her past and present lives assaulted her senses. She could hear Threin tell her a bedtime story.

    She witnessed him exploding in front of her eyes and heard his agonizing wails after what was left of his overloaded core reformed into a newborn Abomination.

    She saw Menadion cry for her husband''s loss, ming herself while the young Elphyn piled up on her, telling things that no little girl should say to anyone, let alone her grieving mother.

    Solus saw her old, entitled self dismissing Bytra as a fraud, widening the rift between the Rulers of the mes and fueling the mes of the Raiju''s envy.

 Chapter 2611 Turning Points (Part 1)

    After the foolishness and the partying of Elphyn''s teen years, there was only the Forge. After countless hours spent mastering all of Ripha''s techniques, Elphyn had started to respect as a mother as a Forgemaster first and then as a person.

    It helped her to pull the wool of resentment from her eyes and stop seeing their rtionship through the filter of her trauma. After years of working in the Forge by Ripha''s side and on herself, Elphyn managed to break free from her self-imposed chains.

    She could now recognize the love and effort that Menadion had put into raising her after Threin''s death. Her mother had done so much for her yet Elphyn had never noticed it because she kept looking away.

    She had been trying for a few months now to mend things with Ripha, but after realizing how badly she had treated Menadion for all those years, Elphyn was so ashamed of herself that she never found the strength to apologize.

    It was then that Bytra returned and took her life, killing Elphyn first to create the chink in Menadion''s otherwise invincible tower that she knew would be her downfall.

    Solus relived all the pain, madness, and istion after her mother''s death and then there was nothing. With her memory fading away to keep herself alive, just blissful oblivion remained until she met Lith.

    And then there was more pain but also joy.

    From being kidnapped by Nalear after breaking their bond to being epted by the Verhens as a member of their family, her second life was a rollercoaster as well, but one that she was proud of and that shielded her mind from the scars of the first.

    "Are you alright?" Morok''s voice sounded muffled and distant. "At least you didn''t try to harm yourself but you gave me a big scare."

    The sky inside the Fringe was clear, but something warm streamed over her face. The sounds of nature were apanied by the whines of some wounded animal that grew louder as she regained her consciousness.

    It took her a few seconds to realize that she was curled up in fetal position while holding the Fury tight to her chest. The whines came out of her own mouth as she called Menadion''s name and begged her for forgiveness over and over.

    Tears dripped from her eyes and snot from her nose, giving her the warm sensation that she had mistaken for rain.

    "Mom?" She said while still in a daze.

    "I''m sorry. A man can do many things if he puts his mind to it, but giving birth isn''t among them." He chuckled. "By the way I owe you an apology. I always thought that the story about you being Lith''s rtive was just some bullshit you guys made up to justify your threesome.

    "I was clearly wrong and I''m not afraid to admit when I''m mistaken. I''m really sorry for doubting you guys."

    "What are talking ab- By my Mom!" Solus knew that once inside the Fringe any non-Morok would be forced to manifest their Soul Projection, but no warning could prepare her for what she saw hoovering above her head.

    Solus had been expecting something simr to what Ratpack saw every time they met: her old body wearing her old clothes that hammered at the chains that restricted the powers of the tower and bound her to it.

    Her Soul Projection was visible only from the waist up and it was the figure that she had assumed during her world tribtion. The proto-Guardian form was covered in golden scales and its hand ended with razor-sharp ws.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Long horns that resembled thick tree branches rested on the sides of its head and two sets of wings came out of Solus''s back. One set was membranous and golden while the other seemed to beprised of hair that had been knotted and twisted to resemble feathers of the seven colors of the elements.

    The creature''s face was also covered in scales, her only visible features were two golden eyes and a lipless mouth filled with pristine fangs that gave her a savage appearance.

    In its right hand, the Soul Projection wielded the Fury and used it to hammer at a shapeshifting piece of metal that Solus assumed was Davross. The creature kept the metal still with its bare left hand while breathing regr bursts of mes from its mouth.

    It was an act of creation where the artifact was forged and enchanted at the same time, yet it came at a price. The left hand bled profusely due to the violence of the impacts yet the heat of the mes cauterized the wounds and made the blood be a part of whatever the Soul Projection was forging.

    Golden tears streamed from its eyes, reaching the artifact to imbue it with more mana while also tempering the metal. The Soul Projection seemed to be in pain, yet its obsession with Forgemastering eclipsed it.

    Despite the pain, tears, and blood it shed, the hammer never stopped and bursts of mes kept heating the de at the proper timing, even if it meant scorching the creature''s hand.

    "If you are this crazy, I can''t wait to see what Lith''s Soul Projection looks like." Morok said.

    Solus would have loved to give him a piece of her mind, but she was bewitched by the vision and the exquisite Forgemastering technique her Soul Projection used. With each of its movements, it weaved a new spell that the Fury conveyed.

    Its blood was the perfect carrier of its will and life essence, allowing Spirit Magic to literally flow inside its creation and be part of the metal.

    No matter if the artifact was supposed to have a pseudo or power core, Solus knew that it would take form from the inside instead of the outside, bypassing the enchanted metal''s natural resistance to foreign mana.

    ''If only I could remember how to do it.'' She clenched her hands, cursing her amnesia for the first time since she had bonded with Lith.

    The only silver lining of that situation was that inside the Fringe there was so much world energy that it was like standing above a mana geyser. Like on the surface of Mogar''s moon, she could keep her human form for as long as she wanted.

    Her powers wouldn''t be diminished and her life force would keep healing as long as Lith didn''t go too far from her.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Faluel exined to everyone left the reason for her decision.

    "Ajatar, Lith, and I must be extra careful before entering. Even with Nalrond''s help we could die if we are not careful. It''s unlikely for us to be swept away by the current of Mogar memories since we have trained our willpower over the centuries.

    "Lith, instead, has dealt with Death Vision and the voices of the dead whenever he conjures his Demons so whatever Mogar can throw at him won''t affect him much."

    "The problem wille once we emerge on the other side. Our long lives also mean more bad experiences and regrets. If we are not careful, Reliving hundreds of years in one second might fry our brains or break our minds."

 Chapter 2612 Turning Points (Part 2)

    "In her diaries, my grandmother exins that the older one gets, the harder is for them to enter a Fringe. That''s why she went looking for one back when she was young. To avoid the bacsh and use whatever she would learn as a foundation for her studies."

    "I understand the issue for you and Ajatar, but I''m not hundreds of years old." Lith shrugged.

    "Indeed, but you are also someone who undergoes world tribtions. I''m afraid that Mogar might focus on you when you enter. That and your cracked life force might cause you simr problems." Faluel replied.

    "What about Solus?" Lith pointed out. "She has world tribtions as well."

    "She has amnesia and what little she remembers can''t hurt her. Also, the nature of her tribtions is not as dangerous as yours. She''s going to be fine." Faluel had no idea how wrong she was. "Now, while Nalrond brings the others in, I want you to practice this meditation technique.

    "When you feel you are about to be swallowed by grief and regret, focus on a single moment of your life. Something that defines yourself. A turning point when you have made a decision that shaped your lives."

    Lith and Ajatar nodded, yet the former was quite in a pickle.

    ''I have three lives so I need three moments. Also, I must somehow switch to a different memory during the telepathic onught. This is not going to be easy.'' He thought.

    "Ajatar, you and I are going to go first and have Nalrond wait until we have snapped back to reality. This way when Lith arrives, we and Solus can help him with a mind link. Even if he gets lost in the current, we can act as a beacon and rescue him."

    One after the other, the members of the group grabbed Nalrond''s hand and entered the Fringe.

    This time, Quy and Friya didn''t try to harm themselves but the experience left them weeping nheless. The grief from Phloria''s death and their regret for failing to save her despite Faluel''s help hit them hard.

    "If only I was stronger!" Friya hupped, her blue-violet aura bursting forward in frustration.

    Aalejah, instead encountered no problem. The voices didn''t bother her much, she even tried to make conversation as she passed through the veil. Once on the other side, her young and sheltered life didn''t give her much to think about.

    Faluel chose to focus on the memory of the first child she had refused to Awaken and the moment of her death. Her daughter, Yrdra, had been pampered and spoiled by her father, growing into an entitled little monster.

    Her arrogance had also led her to an early demise that had caused great grief to her parents and split them apart for good.

    ''I don''t regret not Awakening her. If I did, Yrdra would have killed that innocent mage and the gods know how many more. I solely regret not taking a more active role in her education and saving her from herself.

    ''Yet I took responsibility for my actions and let Yrdra pay the price for her foolish choices. I couldn''t have done more.'' She thought while focusing on the memory of standing in front of Yrdra''s tomb.

    Ajatar focused on the moment when he had ughtered an entire vige. Back then, he was just a schr with no fighting experience or thirst for blood. He had simply helped a lost traveler and healed him.

    The man had reported the position of the Drake''s cave and its treasures. At the mention of the gold, the people of the vige had decided that such a monster couldn''t be allowed to live.

    That it was just a matter of time until the monster attacked them so killing him first was self-defence. Also, with all that gold, the vigers would have lived the rest of their lives in luxury.

    Their mistake was assuming that the thin, gentle lizard was as frail as it appeared, not just a form Ajatar had chosen to not scare the traveler.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''I didn''t want to kill them but I knew that if I let them go, they would just have returned with more people after painting me as a bloodthirsty monster. I would have had to fight the Kingdom''s army and Association for no reason.

    ''I might have died. I don''t regret killing them. I regret my na?ve stupidity that made me believe that people are intrinsically good instead of egotistical jerks.'' He thought.

    As for Lith, the problems started as soon as he stepped through the barrier.

    It wasn''t just Mogar noticing him, but also all the souls lingering inside and outside the Fringe. They piled up on in, using the current of thoughts and memories that swirled around the dimensional barrier to gain ess to his brain and from there to his life force.

    Normally, Lith''s powers shielded him from unwanted interactions with the souls but within the veil, the boundaries between the living and the dead were much thinner. Lith could handle the external memories with ease just as Faluel had predicted.

    The hungry mob of souls wing at his mind and life essence, however, wasn''t something he was prepared for. He couldn''t run. He couldn''t hide from them. Worst of all, he had no idea how to defend himself without losing his focus and getting his mind destroyed by the veil.

    He switched from one threat to another, trying to buy Nalrond the time to bring them on the other side.

    Unfortunately, during the journey, the Rezar shared his passenger''s suffering so he was paralyzed as well, lost adrift in the current of memories and barely holding up on his own sanity.

    ''Enough!'' Mogar''s will boomer like thunder, their gaze shining like a bullseye over Lith''s mind and driving all the souls away.

    The storm turned into calm as along with the wailing assants the veil stopped weighing on their minds as well.

    ''It''s nice to meet both of you again.'' Nalrond heard the voice in his head like his own while to Lith Mogar sounded like Elina. ''Do you feel strong enough for what waits for you on the other side?''

    ''What the fuck?'' Lith panted, checking his life force for injuries and finding none. ''I have so many questions.''

    ''No.'' Nalrond replied. ''I almost lost it. I need rest.''

    ''Good.'' Mogar ignored them both and pushed them in.

    Nalrond recovered instantly but for Lith, it was trickier.

    For his first life, he focused on the memory of when he had killed Chris Wainright. It gave meaning to his journey and kept him from going insane when he relived Carl''s death.

    The pain was tempered by the certainty that the killer would pay and that nightmare would end.

    For his second life, the problem was that itsted so little that by the time Lith recalled the memory of his hunger and despair, he had already moved on to the third.

    It happened so fast that he almost failed to conjure the right shield in time. The final memory was about a family lunch he had just a few days back.

    It was simple, but it carried a lot of meaning to him. Tista was alive because he had saved her. Raaz was now able to smile and rejoice after what Orpal had put him through.

 Chapter 2613 A Great Start (Part 1)

    In the memory, Lith was surrounded by his little brother, nieces, and nephews that were born because of him. There was Solus, free to keep her human body and enjoy the food and thepany of their family.

    There was Kam, holding his hand and nurturing the life they had created.

    It was a picture of the present that stood as firm as a mountain range against the tidal wave of suffering caused by hunger, the loss of his friends, and all the hardships he had gone through.

    The memory of Nalear breaking their bond, the sense of loss from when the Odi had apparently killed Solus didn''t stand a chance against her smiling figure.

    The trouble of the past was crushed by the certainty of the present.

    Lith gritted his teeth, searching for the familiar light of his bond with Solus to guide him through the darkness. When he was able to see again, Lith was standing on his own legs while everyone else was still either curled up or unsteady.

    "Let''s see what we have here." It was his first time witnessing Soul Projections so he started by taking a good look at those of the others before focusing on his own.

    Solus'' Soul Projection was as unexpected as it was fascinating, making him stare at it until she reassured him that she had already memorized every detail she could notice.

    ''I tried using the Eyes, but they sense nothing.'' Solus said. ''The Soul Projection isn''t a hologram but something that exists solely on a psychic level.''

    "Damn, I knew I should havee here the first time." Lith clicked his tongue in annoyance.

    Friya''s Projection was fully clothed this time and the chains were gone as well. Her skin was covered in scales and her teeth turned into long, poisoned fangs from time to time. She was fighting hard to reject the transformation, but she was failing.

    "That''s not funny! I''m going to tell Kam." Friya punched his arm, blushing violently at the memory.

    "Do it." Lith shrugged. "She knows I''m not dead."

    "It seems someone isn''t much happy to be a Harbinger, huh?" Faluel clicked her tongue as well.

    Quy''s Soul Projection was now in control of her powers and seemed prideful of her violet Magus robe. Yet she was also covered in blood that she did her best to ignore.

    Nalrond''s hadn''t changed as the Rezar of his Soul Projection still trashed around, trying to get free.

    Faluel''s showed her in a Seven Headed Dragon form, each of her mouths holding a different element while the seventh cast Origin mes in the shape of Mogar.

    "Ego much?" Ajatar said, making her blush and everyone elseugh.

    "Said the pot to the kettle." Faluel pointed above his head, where a majestic Sapphire Dragon rested above a pile of gold and books, surrounded by countless supplicants begging for a chance to learn from him.

    "A Drake can dream."

    Aalejah''s Projection showed her lonely in a dark corner. She wept as sprouts and saplings burst out of her skin and invaded her body until she was turned into a human-shaped tree.

    Its meaning was clear.

    Despite her apparent sunny disposition, being the only one of her kind on Garlen was hard to bear, making her feel out of ce wherever she went. On top of that, she had lived most of her life with the World Tree in her head and she desperately longed to be once again part of something great.

    "Yeah, I''m that messed up." She sighed. "I''m sorry."

    Morok was once again without a Soul Projection and so was Lith.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Dang, man. So you really reached inner peace?" Morok was sincerely impressed. "I was expecting something along the lines of a harem, maybe you beating your ex-brother to a pulp over and over, but not this."

    "Me neither." Said everyone else, Lith included.

    "Could this be a glitch in the matrix or something? I''ve never been a chill guy even in my sleep." Lith said while thinking about one of the many things that troubled him.

    "What''s a glitch- Great Mother almighty!" Faluel jumped back in surprise as a ck sea waved over his head.

    From it emerged the Voidfeather Dragon who was rocking a spark of light in his arms.

    "Is that Elysia?" Solus asked.

    "Maybe, but-" The waters roiled over the Voidfeather in a ck tide, dragging him under.

    For a moment, the figure of the Void was visible, wing at the Dragon with unbridled hatred.

    "That makes much more sense." Lith nodded. "It seems that my mind is as fractured as my life force. I have no Soul Projection simply because it cannot manifest due to my multiple natures canceling each other."

    "That''s fucked up big time!" Morok said.

    "Fucked up is my legal middle name." Lith shrugged as this time he focused on the issue of his longevity.

    The space over his head became ck again and the Abomination form of the Void came out, spreading his wings along with a thin dark fog. The Soul Projection was about to roar when something pulled it down, making the Void disappear.

    "Well, that''s convenient. This way no one can understand what I am and what I can do. What''s our next move?"

    "We rest." Nalrond was deathly pale, the strain from carrying over so many people had greatly depleted his physical and mental strength.

    On top of that, withstanding the charge of the souls had taken a further toll on him. He had never experienced something like that and sharing the pain of the dead had almost made him lose his mind while they were stuck in-between dimensions.

    "I don''t feel too well."

    Faluel examined him with her breathing technique, Lifestream, and discovered that the experience had aggravated the imbnce in the Rezar''s life forces. They were both hazy and weary and so was the barrier separating them.

    "He''s right. Any strain right now might kill him and there''s nothing we can do. I don''t dare heal Nalrond. The risk of one of life forces regaining its strength faster than the barrier is too high.

    "The bnce holds only because everything is weakened in the same way. Also, he''s our only way out if something goes wrong. Without him, only Morok can leave the Fringe while the rest of us would be trapped here."

    ''Solus?'' Lith hade close to both helping her to stand up and hiding the mind link.

    ''I can mark the Fringe and use its power to conjure the tower, that''s for sure.'' She replied. ''The issue is that I don''t know if we can Warp outside until we try and if we can, I have no idea how to pick a specific arrival point on re-entry.

    ''This entire ce is a mana geyser and we can''t risk appearing in the middle of the Dewan vige or the elves'' territory.''

    Everybody sat down, trying to shrug off the side effects of piercing through the veil that isted the Fringe from the outside world.

    "Bummer, this isn''t the same ce from which we entered thest time. I wanted more of those weird fruits and their seeds. Our gardener failed to grow them and I wanted to bring back some more."

 Chapter 2614 A Great Start (Part 2)

    "What are you talking about?" Lith asked, obtaining from Quy the hologram of what looked like a peach, except it was of a bright blue and its shape was slightly different.

    "I can scout the area while you rest." Aalejah proposed. "The Dewan won''t bother me and even if I meet other elves, I can always tell them that I''m a Chronicler. The Yggdrasill staff is more than enough to vouch for my status and ensure my safety."

    "You''d better not." Ajatar shook his head. "If they invite you to their home, you wouldn''t be able to refuse and at that point, we would have to look for you. Also, consider that deception is a bad way to start a rtionship, let alone negotiations about the elves helping with Jiera''s situation."

    "You are right, sorry." She sighed. "It''s just that I can''t wait to see how my people are faring away from the World Tree. On one hand, we were blessed because we knew everything about Mogar even from our istion.

    "On the other hand, it made us feel trapped. We knew everything about ces we couldn''t visit and people we couldn''t meet. That''s why everyone wanted to be a Chronicler.

    "It was the only way to get out of the Fringe and see the wonders that the World Tree kept showing us."

    "I''m sorry to hear, young elf." Ajatar cast several arrays that checked for the presence of traps or spells that might have been ced to detect the arrival of intruders from the outside, finding none.

    When he was done, he surrounded the area with aplex series of barriers that would reveal the presence of enemies and buy them the time they needed to escape if necessary.

    Friya tried to open a Warp Steps leading outside, but the barrier sealed the space, keeping the two sets of dimensional coordinates from ovepping.

    "Yeah, we need Nalrond, and not only because he''s cute." She said after sharing the results of her experiments.

    "Cute?" He managed to raise his head from herp in mock outrage. "I''m handsome. A puppy is cute."

    "About that, switch to Rezar. You can''t make one of your forms rest more than the other." She replied, prompting his shapeshifting.

    "You''ve already been inside the Fringe. Can''t we just perform the ritual here?" Lith asked. "This way, once we are done, we can attempt to pay with the elves and if it doesn''t work we can run away before they have the time to prepare a trap like thest time."

    "I wish." Quy said. "Aside from setting up the circles of runes, we need a secluded ce. Drawing enough world energy to seek an audience with Mogar emits a bright radiance that would reveal our position.

    "That''s why the ancient Rezars used awork of caves for the ritual. To make matters worse, once one enters the Mindscape, you can''t bring them out of the protective circle unless they cut themunication.

    "Without the enchantments boosting the willpower of the supplicant, being in the presence of Mogar is enough to wipe out your mind."

    "I see." Lith nodded. "Where is thework of caves?"

    "Beats me." Quy shrugged. "I''ve never explored the Fringe. I only remember how to reach the caves starting from the Dewan''s vige. Friya?"

    "I''m a dimensional mage, not a map." She snorted. "I can''t remember a single set of dimensional coordinates after all this time. As I said, we need Nalrond. He''s the only one who knows how to navigate this ce."

    "Then please take turns guarding us without me. There''s something I want to try." Faluel reverted to her Hydra form, but kept her bodypact and slightly taller than two meters (6''6").<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    She used her breathing technique with all her seven heads, drawing huge amounts of world energy. Between her grandmother''s diaries and her disciples'' report about their stay in the Fringe, she knew what to expect.

    Mogar''s presence was so intense that even researching a spell within the premises was enough to draw a sliver of Mogar''s attention and learn from it what was wrong with the experimental technique.

    By using Lifestream, Faluel was absorbing inside her body both the world energy and consciousness. Her grandmother had used this method to learn more about the secrets of magic and reach enlightenment but Faluel had grander ns.

    While her heads kept the breathing rhythm steady, they also started to weave each a different spell she was currently tinkering with. The Body Sculpting spell for the Harmonizer, a new Forgemastering technique for Davross, and her own version of memory crystals were among them.

    Instead of receiving a scoff, sneer, or the correction of a single rune like it had happened to Quy and Friya, a choir of voices exploded in her heads. She wasn''t able to tell what they said because the volume was too loud and they all spoke at the same time.

    The ovepping voices flooded her heads and broke her focus, making the world energy she had absorbed go awry. Even worse, after awakening Mogar''s consciousness, the world energy had regained its original energy signature.

    It suddenly resisted the pull of her mana core and turned into mana, poisoning the Hydra''s body and wreaking havoc on its way out.

    Faluel went from a sitting position to standing on all fours, puking her guts out as the world energy forcefully seeped out of her skin, breaking it open into many wounds.

    "Crap, crap, crap!" Quy rushed to the Hydra''s side, using her tier one spell, Injection, to send nutrient potions straight into Faaluel''s bloodstream so that the use of Invigoration wouldn''t put her in an even worse state.

    A breathing technique could heal all wounds and replenish stamina and mana, but it couldn''t give an injured body the nutrients it needed to recover. Someone in a situation as dire as Faluel''s would cannibalize their own mass and potentially cripple their life force for good if healed recklessly.

    Someone with a Lesser Dragon''s mass needed more than a single potion but since some of her friends were huge beasts, Quy always had with her a dimensional amulet filled solely with barrels of nutrients, in case something like that happened.

    It took her less than a minute to stabilize the Hydra, but even after Quy was done, Faluel was in even worse shape than Nalrond.

    "What happened? Is there something wrong with the Fringe?" Ajatar asked while checking on her condition and giving her a special tonic of his own creation, just to stay safe.

    "No, I''m just a moron." She said amid coughing. "I bit way more than even seven heads can chew."

    The Hydra had just finished exining her mistake when she fell asleep.

    "We are here for less than one minute and two of our most vital members are already incapacitated. I''d say we are off to a great start." Lith''s voice oozed sarcasm.

    He used his Tiamat eyes to scour thend, but he couldn''t see much from the ground. Flying up would have been even worse, offering to the enemies andmark visible from a long distance.

    ''Usually, I''d suggest sending Aalejah to the elves to pay and act as a diversion.'' Lith thought.

 Chapter 2615 True Natures (Part 1)

    Chapter 2615 True Natures (Part 1)

    ''Aalejah wouldn''t be alone since I would send Solus with her but inside a Fringe it would never work. Aalejah isn''t aware of Solus'' powers and even if we trusted her enough to share our secret with her, that damn Soul Projection would expose Solus'' presence.''

    "Agreed." Morok nodded. "Since two of our main yers are down, we''d better use this time to n our next moves in advance. We need to have our audience with Mogar and we also have to attempt to negotiate with the elves. Both courses of action might require days.

    "How do we want to y this? I mean, we can''t just take turns with the ritual. It would take too long. Also, we can''t let Aalejah go on her own. It''s not just a matter of safety since she would be easily captured but also of authority.

    "She can''t speak in the name of the Council hence she can''t offer them anything in exchange for their help. She needs to be apanied by someone who can protect her andmand respect even from a bunch of self-entitled jerks."

    "My people aren''t self-entitled jerks!" Aalejah replied in outrage.

    "Oh, really?" The Tyrant replied with a scoff. "Have you ever met the guys who live here?"

    "No." She candidly admitted.

    "I rest my case."

    "Enough." Ajatar stepped between them before the quarrel could escte. "It pains me to say this but Morok is right. The Fringe is small so we can''t stay here for too long.

    "We have no idea if the elves can perceive the surges of world energy caused by themunion rituals and even if they can''t, sooner orter their scouts are going to find us.

    "Cloaking spells can buy us some time but¡­" Seeing that Aalejah had raised her hand and was waiting her turn to speak, the Drake nodded for her to start.

    "First off, my people can perceive surges like those that Nalrond described. If it doesn''tst long or we are far away enough, we can miss it, but a repeated event or if we are close there''s no way the ritual goes unnoticed.

    "Also, cloaking spells aren''t going to do us any good. Even non-Awakened elves can use Soul Vision and there''s no hiding from it." Aalejah bit her lower lip in hesitation, hating the idea of revealing the secrets of her bloodline.

    ''I can''t put everyone''s life at risk to protect someone that might as well kill me along with my friends. Also, this is an amazing opportunity for the elves to rejoin the outside world and stop hiding.

    ''It''s not just a matter of helping Jiera but alsoing out of our self-imposed exile after we lost the War of the Races.'' She thought.

    "Soul Vision? What''s that?" Lith asked as Faluel tried to open her eyes and speak, but fell asleep again as soon as Ajatar pushed her head back on the pillow.

    "It''s what you get by channeling all elements inside your eyes instead of just one." She replied, seeing that everyone tried to do it. "It''s not that simple, otherwise Awakened would have discovered it millennia ago.

    "It''s more like a bloodline ability since it requires you to perfectly fuse and harmonize the six elements. You can''t just conjure them all."

    "So, something like Gravity Fusion but specific to your eyes?" Ajatar asked.

    "No." Aalejah shook her head. "Gravity Fusion is about conjuring the elements and mixing them together to give them an effect. Soul Vision, instead, consists in letting them flow together as one so that once they get mixed with the blood flow in your eyes, they be akin to Spirit Magic."

    Everyone painted their eyes emerald as they flooded them with their own mana, but aside from seeing everything green nothing happened.

    "Stop it! I said it''s not that easy." The elf stomped her foot in outrage. "I can''t believe that I''m trying to help you whereas you are only interested in stealing a technique!"

    ''Lith, can this Soul Vision be the apex of that Spirit Vision the Voidfeather taught you?'' Solus asked.

    ''Beats me.'' He telepathically shrugged. ''Let''s listen to her. For now.''

    "Bottom line, when an elf looks at anything with Soul Vision, they see the true nature of their target. It doesn''t matter if you wear cloaking items or hide underground, I can still see all of you." Aalejah said.

    "What do you mean, our true nature?" Ajatar asked. "Is it something like our respective Soul Projections?"

    "No, those things only show your deepest current emotion. A glimpse of what''s going on in your mind. Soul Vision, instead, shows who you truly are. Let me show you." The elf''s eyes lit with white light as she conjured a hologram.

    Solus was dressed in her apprentice clothes, something like a loose Roman toga and sandals. She was enveloped in golden light and burdened by chains. The bigger one bound her to Lith while the small onesy shattered at her feet.

    Only two chains were still holding her back but one of them seemed to be seconds away from breaking under the constant rain of blows from her hammer.

    To Soul Vision, Lith looked like a Fire Dragon shrouded by blue mes. Only one set of its wings was feathered while the other was membranous and was bursting with the same mes that enveloped its body.

    A human figureprised of living darkness emerged from the Dragon''s forehead yet the man didn''t look like Lith and resembled his Abomination form instead. The Dragon and the Abomination both had seven eyes yet despite their bond they struck at each other relentlessly.

    Every victory was short-lived since any wound one inflicted upon the other would be inflicted on the assant as well.

    Morok appeared to Aalejah in his Tyrant form, but not only did his image stare back at the elf with his six eyes, it was also trying tomunicate something with gestures.

    There was something wrong with it, its body bloating and shrinking with the same rhythm of a beating heart.

    Friya looked like an embodiment of Mogar itself. Soul Vision showed how the elements flowed in harmony inside her body and orbited around her in the form of a star beltprised of seven small suns of different colors.

    The space around her cracked and deformed as if she was failing to bend reality to her own will.

    Quy appeared as a being of pure light that was wrapped inside a cocoon, trying to break out. Her eyes shone with power that the pod turned against her, making her lose consciousness.

    Ajatar was in his Drake form, but with small atrophied wings on his back and frantically looking through a mountain of books for an answer that eluded him.

    Faluel looked like a Hydra whose seven heads each nurtured and grew several small lights. Some of them would fade, twisting her reptilian snout in grief while others would be brilliant and fly away, filling her with pride and sadness.

    As for Nalrond, his human and beast sides had stopped fighting against each other and were now both hanging from a cliff, their bodies covered in deep wounds from the fall and the long battle.

 Chapter 2616 True Natures (Part 2)

    Chapter 2616 True Natures (Part 2)

    They were partly fused together so if one of them died, the other would quickly follow. Yet from their eyes, it was clear that they still couldn''t decide whether to prioritize survival or put an end to their struggle once and for all.

    "What do those things mean?" Friya asked, impressed by her own appearance under Soul Vision.

    "I don''t know." Aalejah replied. "No bloodline abilityes with an instruction manual and those are your real natures, not mine. You are supposed to know. Maybe, if I was still bonded with the World Tree, I would be able to understand their meaning, but I''m on my own now."

    "What if we shapeshift?" Quy asked. "Some of our true natures, like mine, make no sense. Maybe we could disguise ourselves as elves or Dewan."

    "That''s impossible." The elf shook her head. "Someone''s appearance under Soul Vision is fixed and the Fringe is a closed environment. The elves know each other and all werepeople look like your friend there."

    She pointed at Nalrond and projected the image of the beast and the human fused together.

    "The same stands for the Dewan. They know every member of their tribe and even if you disguise as elves, your smell will give out your human identity. I could go to their vige by myself but to what end?" Aalejah shrugged.

    "There''s no point arguing." Lith said. "Negotiating with the elves was Faluel''s idea so I''m certain that she has a n in mind. We just need to wait until she wakes up."

    ***

    While they waited for their friends'' recovery, Lith and Solus alternated working on tier four Void Magic, Creation Magic, and Forgemastery.

    The good news was that just like during Nalrond''s first homing, they could use Mogar''s reaction to their spells to understand what the major mistakes of the various procedures were.

    The bad news was that it didn''t give them any clue about how to fix those mistakes. It required a slow and tedious trial-and-error process since Mogar would give suggestions only once they had gotten close enough to the solution on their own.

    Friya used that time to research dimensional and Gravity magic while also looking for a way to break through and reach the deep violet. Quy and Aalejah worked on Light Mastery, exchanging tips and trying to find their way to materialize hard-light constructs.

    "Do you mind?" Morok snapped his fingers to have their attention. "While you eggheads only worry about yourselves, Master Ajatar and I are the ones who kept guard until this moment. Now it''s our turn to rest."

    "Morok his right." Ajatar''s gaze had been fixed on the horizon just because he was lost in thought while working on Spirit Fusion with Mogar''s help.

    His goal was to master the flow of the individual elements and move it to his eyes in order to achieve Soul Vision. He had been so engrossed in his work and the unique opportunity with which the Fringe presented him to forget about the rest.

    "He, I mean, we have pulled our weight already. It''s your turn now."

    The Drake used his breathing technique, Foresight, on Faluel, pretending it was just a routine control instead of the first time he checked on her condition in hours.

    "I agree." Lith felt like a jerk for ignoring his wounded friends for so long, but at least he was in goodpany. "Solus and I will be next. You guys take some rest or do some experiments. You deserve it."

    Morok went straight for a nap while Ajatar simply closed his eyes and Hushed himself, pretending that his work required great focus while he kept experimenting with fusion magic.

    Lith checked on both Nalrond and Faluel, discovering that the Rezar was the one faring better. Friya had kept taking care of him, prompting him to shapeshift from time to time so that both his life forces recovered at the same rate.

    The gesture was kind and affectionate but Lith couldn''t help but picture her like someone flipping a burger on a grill, making him hungry.

    Faluel''s wounds had already healed for a while and her body was in tip-top shape. The problem was her mana core. The poisoning from the rampant world energy had degraded it to deep violet and disrupted most of her auxiliary cores.

    Only rest and the steady flow of her mana could purge the lingering foreign energy and turn the chaotic vortexes into spheres again.

    "Gods, I''m such an idiot." When she regained consciousness, Faluel was back from deep to violet.

    The abundant world energy in the Fringe was also much richer in Mogar''s willpower than the one she was used to and it worked akin to constantly sprinkling salt on her open wounds.

    "I was so excited at the idea of gaining enlightenment that I threw caution to the wind like a hatchling. I should have started by researching one subject at a time, not seven!"

    "There''s no point crying over spilled milk." Ajatar consoled her. "More importantly, what''s the n? We''ve been stuck here for hours."

    "First of all, how''s Nalrond?" She asked. "No matter how I feel, if we can''t leave the Fringe, I''m not putting us at risk."

    "I''m fine, thanks." The Rezar had already fully recovered and his life forces were now stable. "Just remember that I can''t take out more than one person at a time. Two if it''s thest trip and we are truly desperate."

    "That was well within my calctions." She nodded. "Before we go anywhere, I need to tell you about something called Soul Vision."

    "Been there, done that." Ajatar exined to her everything while Lith projected a hologram of the various images that Aalejah had shown them to not burden Faluel''s mana core with a mind link.

    "Interesting. My educated guess is that Ajatar somehow has the potential to reach Dragonhood or at least reach an intermediate stage past the Drake. He just doesn''t know how. As for me, it seems that my true nature is that of a mother." Faluel said with a chuckle.

    "What about us?" Friya and Quy asked.

    "I have no clue. We should ask Raagu. She''s the expert about humans."

    "How do you know about Soul Vision?" Aalejah sighed in relief, her guilt for revealing the elven bloodline ability lessened.

    "Because Guardians have it as well and Grandfather shared its effects with me on multiple asions." The Hydra replied. "About the n, I collected as much information as I could from the Council''s library beforeing here.

    "I''ve studied elvish lore, protocols, and everything that we learned about them during the War of the Races. I also know that the ritual is bound to release massive spikes of world energy so my intention is to always split us into two teams.

    "One will go to perform the ritual with one of our Guardian candidates." Faluel pointed at Lith and then at Solus. "As theplications upon entering the Fringe have confirmed, they have a privileged channel with Mogar.

    "The connection should be stronger, safer, and with a little luck, the will be less inclined to smite them. Who knows, maybe Mogar might even give our golden duo a simpler test than the one reserved for us mortals."

 Chapter 2617 Evasive Manoeuvres (Part 1)

    "The other team, instead, will act as a diversion. It''s the reason I asked Ajatar toe with us. Aalejah will act as an ambassador of the Awakened Council and offer the elven leaders an olive branch." Faluel said.

    "That along with the presence of two Lesser Dragons and one full Dragon as her bodyguards should keep their attention focused on us. Best case scenario, we can start the negotiations. Worst case scenario, some literal cover fire and a Spirit Steps will bring us to safety.

    "Elves can''t Awaken so they are unlikely to have developed countermeasures against Spirit Magic."

    "I thought you wanted me to talk to Mogar first." Lith said while pondering the n.

    "Yeah, that was the idea before I decided to follow the advice of Jiera''s Guardians." The Hydra replied. "But consider this. As our opening hand, you have a much greater value as a deterrent.

    "Elves only respect Divine Beasts because they live as long as elves do and, thanks to their Guardian ancestor, Divine Beasts are gifted with an affinity toward the world energy on par with the elves."

    "I can vouch for that." Aalejah nodded. "The mana core of a Divine Beast develops with age like our own, but they can naturally reach past the bright blue, and their physical prowess is unmatched.

    "Elves have a very big ego and consider themselves superior to every other race but Divine Beasts. They could never dismiss one or underestimate the consequences of angering a whole bloodline."

    "I know." Lith sighed, remembering how Surtr and Sinmara had refused to help rescue Phloria exactly because their involvement would have caused a full-scale war involving their respective lineages.

    "Hence I need Lith to pose as an Elder Dragon. With his mass and violet core, few people will think that he''s a runt and those who do will assume he has powerful backers who have shared their bloodline legacy with him." Faluel continued.

    "While we test the waters, you guys go to the caves and perform the ritual with Solus. Morok and Nalrond are still the same as thest time so there''s no reason to believe that a second ritual will go any different.

    "If things go well for us, Lith will take his turn while we continue the negotiations without him. If things go south, everyone but Lith, Nalrond, Ajatar, and I will leave the Fringe so that the moment we are done we can get out quickly."

    "I get that Nalrond is the only one who can bring you out while you are bigger and stronger than us, but are you sure you don''t need help to hold the fort in case your position is discovered before the ritual is over?" Solus asked.

    She hated to leave Lith''s side, but doing otherwise would mean being forced to exin Ajatar and Morok her secret.

    "Don''t worry, Solus. I came here looking for peace but prepared for war." Faluel''s clothes shapeshifted into the Royal Fortress armor exclusive to the Nyxdra Household.

    "As I said, the older someone is, the more dangerous getting inside a Fringe. My mother couldn''te with us so she entrusted me with the next best thing." Silver bolts of lightning coursed through the armor and the ive that appeared in her hand, Strife.

    "It will prove my allegiance to Tyris and my alleged mastery over one of the major bloodline abilities like Life Maelstrom. Even my contingency ns have contingency ns, kids. The only thing I overlooked is my own stupidity." Faluel groaned as pangs spread from her abdomen through her whole body.

    "How long do you think it will take you for a full recovery?" Friya asked, her voice full of worry.

    "I don''t know, but it will be much quicker if you bring me outside. That''s for sure."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Ajatar helped the Hydra to slowly get up and made sure that her Gravity Fusion was stable despite the still-jumbled auxiliary cores before leaving her in Nalrond''s care. Otherwise despite her apparent lithe frame, she would have crushed him at the first misstep.

    "I''m going out as well, babe." Morok said. "They can use an Awakened bodyguard and there''s something I want to try."

    Before Quy could ask him for rifications, the Tyrant stepped out of the Fringe with an ease that irked everyone, even Nalrond, to no end.

    "I needed years of training to do that. Even now, it takes me a delicate focus to withstand the bacsh from Mogar''s consciousness whereas it''s just a joke to him." The Rezar snarled.

    "Can Ie with you?" Quy and Friya asked at the same time, the former worried about her husband, and thetter about both her mentor and boyfriend.

    "I''m sorry, I can carry only one person at a time and if I have to make multiple trips in and out, then we''d lose even more time to let me recover. We cannot risk being discovered while we are sitting ducks." Nalrond replied as he opened the doorway to the outside world.

    He and Faluel gritted their teeth, the journey was more arduous than before due to their debilitated state. Yet at least the Hydra found instant relief upon their arrival. Even the space right outside the veil was a different worldpared with the Fringe.

    The world energy was nigh-inanimate with just a shred of Mogar''s consciousness. Without the external pressure, Faluel''s core could purge the residual traces of the mana poisoning her core with ease.

    Nalrond sat close to her while they both looked at the Tyrant who seemed to be performing stretching exercises. After that, he weaved a few spells, conjuring an air shield to protect himself from the sand and another of darkness to block the Desert''s sunlight.

    Thest thing they saw before Morok was swallowed by the ckness of the barrier was him sitting down cross-legged in a meditative stance.

    "Do you think he is¡­" Nalrond refused to finish the sentence.

    "We''ll know soon enough." Faluel closed her eyes, using her breathing technique to visualize the damage to her mana flow and fix it.

    First, she purged every trace of foreign mana from her system and then she guided the mana flow so as to reopen the channels that her failed attempt at stealing Mogar''s knowledge had damaged.

    She condensed the chaotic vortexes into spheres and then Awakened them one at a time until the mana flow was restored enough to keep repairing itself without her assistance.

    ''I could have fixed everything in one go, but I''d rather not pose such a burden on my mana core so soon. It would have drained my mana and kept me from using any breathing technique until I had fully recovered.

    ''This way, instead, my auxiliary cores and mana capacity recover together as the mana flow of my core puts them in shape.'' She thought.

    A few minutester, Nalrond became bored from staring at the darkness dome and looked around. After half an hour, the spells faded, revealing the figure of the Tyrant napping.

    "Damn these spells and their short duration." He said with a yawn, shielding his eyes from sunlight. "I knew that I should have learned an array or two, but who has the time?"

 Chapter 2618 Evasive Manoeuvres (Part 2)

    "That''s it?" The Rezar said in disbelief. "You came out for a nap? And to recover from what, exactly?"

    "I didn''te out for a nap." Morok snorted at the allegation. "It''s just that once I was done there was no point engaging you in a staring contest. It was just the best way to pass the time while you two recovered. Can we go back inside?"

    "No." Faluel shook her head. "You are done doing what, exactly?"

    She looked at him with Life Vision, his life force unchanged and his blue aura devoid of any violet streak.

    "Call me when you are ready." Two quick spells and Morok went back to his beauty sleep without bothering to answer.

    "Gods if I hate him." Nalrond said after Hushing himself and Faluel. "First of his kind, found and married the woman he loves, and worry-free, acting as if everything is a game."

    "Couldn''t you say the same things about Lith?" Faluel tilted her head in curiosity.

    "Yeah, but at least Lith worked his ass off for that. He struggled and suffered. Also, if he''s worry-free then I''m King Valeron." He replied, making the Hydra chuckle. "Morok had shitty parents, sure, but everything else came easy to him. It''s unfair."

    "I disagree." Faluel said. "Morok''s attitude makes it look easy but it''s not. He fought and suffered like the rest of us. It''s just that he didn''t let those things define him. I mean, think about it.

    "In his shoes, after Quy''s fake death, anyone else would be terrified every time that she works in the field. Yet Morok has chosen to focus on the joy to be with her instead of the fear of losing her. That''s not easy at all."

    "Yeah. Like building a family without worrying all the time that it might turn into a dumpster fire like your parents''." Nalrond hated to admit it but she was right.

    Faluel''s recovery was akin to a domino effect, bing faster the more auxiliary cores she recovered. By the time Morok was halfway through his third nap, he felt a hand shaking him.

    "We are going back inside." Faluel said.

    "Not so fast. I''ve waited for you until this moment. The least you can do is give me five minutes and return me the favor." The Tyrant replied.

    "Okay, do you want coffee or tea for break-" Nalrond was still speaking when Morok walked a few steps and was suddenly engulfed into a golden pir.

    The world energy enveloping him was split into its six elementalponents and absorbed through his six eyes. The mana flow was channeled and amplified by the multi-colored scales that covered his body before moving on to his internal organs.

    Matter followed the energy, flowing into the Tyrant and allowing him to grow in size without trauma or cannibalizing his own flesh. The bright blue of his core burst out with violet streaks that soon spread to its entire surface.

    Morok screamed with exalted joy as his body rearranged itself into a more powerful form that could fully tap into the power of his newfound deep violet core.

    His figure had grown to 3.5 meters (11''6"), the scales covering him increased in thickness and number.

    His previous lean physique had also gained more mass in the form of bulging muscles that made him a hulking figure.

    The number and position of eyes hadn''t changed, but his hands now ended with razor-sharp ws and his legs now resembled those of a cat, giving him greater jumping and running abilities.

    Last, but not least, two small protuberances shaped like an overturned V came out of his back. Several small bone spikes punctuated the inner side of the protuberances, almost making them look like ab.

    "What the fuck?" Nalrond said. "Why did you wait for this long?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Maybe because of the huge ass golden pir?" Morok looked at the Rezar like he was insane. "I knew it would have been visible for kilometers. I couldn''t risk betraying our position inside the Fringe nor could I get the violet before Faluel finished recovering.

    "Now let''s move before someone gets here. Also, I bet that everyone will ask me the same questions and there''s no point repeating myself."

    The Tyrant disappeared past the veil, leaving Nalrond behind.

    "I hate it when he sounds like the reasonable one. It makes me feel twice as stupid." He and Faluel joined the rest of the group just in time to hear Morok exin again why he had been forced to go outside to evolve.

    "That was mean of you!" Aalejah pouted while examining his new life force. "I would have loved to witness the birth of a new species. I could have learned a lot from it. Maybe even find a way to improve Garrik''s Harmonizer."

    "Sorry, I didn''t think of that."

    "When did you start researching the violet?" Lith asked, his nostrils ring in ill-concealed annoyance.

    "In Zelex, while you kicked my ass." The Tyrant lowered his gaze in embarrassment. "I got my first clue when my scales absorbed R''s elemental attacks like my eyes. Then I progressed one step at a time until we got here.

    "While the others recovered, I kept practicing under Mogar''s guidance until I found my answer."

    "That''s just a few months ago!" Friya said in envy, still stuck between the blue and the violet.

    "What can I say? I got lucky." He shrugged. "The trick was to weave spells with my body while flooding my vortexes with the extra mana generated by my eyes and then amplify it with my scales.

    "It triggered a loop where each auxiliary core increased the mana flow and assisted the Awakening of the rest of the vortexes."

    "Isn''t that your bloodline secret for the violet?" Nalrond furrowed his brows. "Why are you sharing it with us?"

    "Well, duh. You are all family to me so my legacy is your legacy. Also, I don''t think that this method might work even for another Tyrant since I''m the only one with these scales." Morok tapped on his skin.

    "I''m sharing this information with you because it''s still a hint that might help you and Friya to find your own way to achieve the violet."

    "That''s very kind and smart of you." Quy stamped her fist kiss on his new face, making the Tyrant turn to a deep shade of purple that wasn''t due to the elements coursing through his body.

    "Don''t be disappointed with the atrophied wings." She said while studying them with a diagnostic spell. "They are an excellent sign. It means that your species has the potential to evolve further. Maybe in a few generations-"

    "Why should I be disappointed?" Morok flexed his shoulders, extending his natural mana flow to the bony protuberances. "I was just saving the best forst."

    A burst of elemental energy of seven colors erupted from the reversed Vs, forming translucent majestic wings that lifted the Tyrant into the air.

    "The wings must have formed after the violet because of their particr nature. The Awakening granted me the scales, the Spirit Eye, and an increase in the mana flow above regr Tyrants.

    "The violet core, instead, allowed my body to undergo major changes and develop new organs thanks to Mogar''s help." He said while taking Quy for a spin in the air.

 Chapter 2619 Welcoming Committee (Part 1)

    "I stand corrected. It doese easy to him and I hate Morok for that." Faluel said, receiving a nod from Nalrond. "Wings upon the deep violet? Life is really unfair."

    All creatures dreamed of developing something like Dragon Eyes, but to Hydras, it was theirck of wings and Origin mes that hurt the most. Especially because Wyverns and the rest of the Lesser Dragons never ceased to remind them of it while unting either gift.

    "I hear you." Ajatar''s pride and envy for his disciple fought to a standstill. "Now let''s move."

    "We are going first." Nalrond made sure that even though themunication amulet was cut off from those on the outside, it still worked for those inside the Fringe. "You stay here while I bring the others to the site of the ritual.

    "Once we are safely inside the caves, I''ll give you a call and you can look for the elves. This way, by the time we are done with the preparations, the attention of our hosts will be focused on you and they won''t notice the surge of world energy. Hopefully."

    Solus, Quy, Friya, and Morok followed Nalrond in a low-altitude flight meant to reach a ce he recognized as fast as he could while also avoiding being seen by the inhabitants of the old and new Fringe.

    After the Rezar tribe''s ughter by Dawn''s hand, a second Fringe had fused with the original. It had expanded the borders of Nalrond''s birthce and he was unfamiliar with the areas that had materialized along with the elves and the Dewan.

    "Gods, this ce is amazing!" Solus had never been there before and found the natural beauty of the Fringe to be breathtaking.

    The high-density world energy of the ce affected everything that grew, blessing them with elemental affinities. The ground was covered in tall grass with orange streaks, rustled by a gentle spring breeze that carried the gurgling of water from a nearby river.

    It flowed into a silveryke inhabited by fish with yellow-streaked scales and was surrounded by several fruit trees with blue streaks running all over their brown bark. Their branches were filled with ripe fruits whose delicious smell made Solus hungry.

    Silver-furred chinchis, ck-streaked brown rabbits and squirrels came out of their burrows to look at the neers. The noise made them curious rather than scared because they had never met humans before and mistook the neers for some kind of birds.

    So did many bright feathered actual birds that followed the group for a while, squeaking at them to assert dominance over the territory.

    "So much for discretion." Nalrond cursed, Hushing the birds as fast as he could. "Finally!"

    After identifying an area he was familiar with, the Rezar could find his way toward the ritual''s site. One Steps lost them their noisy honor guard and less than a minuteter they reached their destination.

    Friya well remembered the ce and opened the secret ess to the caves with an earth magic spell while the others checked the surroundings for witnesses. Once inside, the Rezar gave the all clear to the second group.

    "You heard him, Aalejah." Faluel said. "You can now guide us to your people."

    The elf connected them all with a mind link to be capable of speaking and guiding them while moving at high speed. She flew low as well, but moved fast as if she was following a road instead of what looked like a random path.

    She would often make sudden turns or take a roundabout route but the never seemed to be lost.

    ''Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing.'' She said. ''My people explored the area thoroughly and left behind many signs that I can identify easily.''

    She shared with them the images of partially pruned branches and w marks in the trees that were actually elf-made.

    ''We are following the guest route. I could have taken a more direct path, but that would mean that either I didn''t pick the real signs or that I''m ignorant of elven traditions.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''The longer detour allows our guests to recognize our friendly intentions and gives them the time to prepare for our arrival. Which means either an ambush or a banquet.''

    ''What the fuck?'' Lith blurted out in surprise. ''And how do we know which one we have to expect?''

    ''We don''t.'' She shrugged in reply. ''We are putting our lives in our hosts'' hands in a sign of trust and submission. Elves rarely move from their homnd and are very protective of theirnd, especially after the War of the Races.''

    ''We can get in spells zing but that would be as good as a war deration.''

    ''Elven customs are insane!'' Lith replied.

    ''Yeah, because being interrogated by guards, being patted down, and losing your powers due to the defensive arrays every time you enter a human city is such a friendly experience, instead.'' Aalejah replied with mockery.

    ''Point taken.'' Lith had to admit that for a foreigner without his fame and the authority that his ID carried, entering the Kingdom would have been much more dangerous than what the elves required from their guests.

    Quarantine, interrogation, and a thorough search of their body and its cavities at minimum.

    The signs lead them to an ample clearing surrounded by thick bunch of tall trees. Those standing in the clearing had no cover whereas the trees could hide hundreds of people and offered solid protection against physical and magical attacks.

    The whole area had been warded with permanent arrays that would interfere with spells going out without affecting thoseing in.

    "Good job. This is the deadliest wee I have ever received." Lith looked around with Life Vision, spotting several humanoid figures all around them who believed themselves to be hidden by the trees. "Now, if we are done ying hide and seek,e forward.

    "I have better things to do than staying here the whole day. You know I''m here and I know you are there, little mice." He lit up his eyes with mana and pointed at the nearest elves while unfurling the ck-feathered wings and covering his face with the red scales of his Dragon form.

    Lith''s magical senses allowed him to follow their movements and even take a look at their equipment and the spells they were keeping at the ready. During the ritual, Solus had no need for the Eyes of Menadion so he was wearing them at their lowest output, hoping they would be enough to mimic Dragon Eyes.

    ''Lith!'' Allejah scolded him via the mind link while Ajatar and Faluel telepathically piled up on him.

    ''What?''

    ''Have you ever heard a Dragon talk like that? You are supposed to be a noble creature, not a street thug.'' She replied.

    ''First, I''ve heard Dragons say much worse.'' Lith replied, even though he had to admit that they would have used less rude phrasing. ''Second, I wanted to let them know that I''m aware of what''s happening.

    ''Instead of making us wait, they might as welle forward and do whatever they have to.''

    ''I won''tment on your first point, but you must consider that maybe they are buying time simply because they don''t know what to do themselves.''

 Chapter 2620 Welcoming Committee (Part 2)

    ''We came here uninvited and the Parliament of Leaves is likely to still be deliberating the issue after the scouts reported our presence.'' Aalejah said.

    ''The what?''

    ''Their governing organ. Elves have no king. Each main elven n has its own representative who speaks on their behalf in the Parliament. Many heads also mean a long discussion every time a decision that affects the wholemunity has to be made.

    ''As a fellow elf, my presence should reassure them but they have no way to know if I''m here of my own will or if I''m being coerc-'' Aalejah yelped in surprise as a delegation of elven warriors walked toward them before she could even finish the phrase.

    Mind links were very fast, the elves hade out of their hiding ce a few seconds after Lith''s taunt.

    The group wasprised of two women and two men dressed in hunter clothes that had been made by weaving together leaves, vines, and tree bark. Abination of magic and technology had turned them into a mottled fabric as soft and light as cotton.

    The hunting suits wereprised of a shirt, pants, and soft-soled boots. Their various pieces of clothing had small mana crystals for buttons and were embroidered in Adamant that further boosted their enchantments.

    The suits fit like a glove, emphasizing the grace of every one of their movements. They padded towards Lith''s group, producing no noise as they approached.

    Also, the outfit changed its color based on what was on the warriors'' backs, making them invisible when theyy still amid the trees or grass with their hoods down and their gloves on.

    Even now that they were moving, aside from their exposed heads and hands the rest of their bodies was a blur to regr sight. Anyone without Life Vision would have had a hard time aiming at them while they walked, let alone if they ran.

    Their des were hung to their hips and their bows rested on their backs, but from their slow and controlled movements, it was obvious that it would have taken the elves a split second to draw them out.

    Lith checked them with Death Vision, discovering that aside from the slower aging, they could be killed the same way as humans. The delegation died several times in a few seconds in front of his eyes, their head severed, their hearts pierced, and their bodies charred by spells.

    Poison and suicide were less likely but still possible.

    "The Parliament of Leaves wees you to the vine city of Setraliie and its woods." The first one to speak was the elvish woman in front of Lith, quickly followed by the rest of the hunters.

    He didn''t miss how they had each taken ce in front of someone of the opposite gender and moved ording to the most logical pecking order. The Dragon first, then the elf, and the Lesser Dragonsst.

    The elves would have all been considered very attractive by human standards. They had oval faces, perfectly symmetrical features, and long straight hair with several elemental streaks each.

    Each elf had long hair of a different base color, but they all shone like gold under the sunlight. If one had to find a w in them, was that their lithe frame was perfectly proportionate, making the women''s chests small and the men''s bodies so slender to be effeminate.

    The long, pointed earsing out of their hair and their light golden skin that seemed to shine from an inner light were the only traits that made the elves impossible to mistake for humans.

    "I apologize for my rudeness, my Lord, but before introducing myself I need proof of your identity." She said. "Yourck of a Soul Projection is an admirable feat that very few among the non-elves can achieve but it also makes it harder to identify you."

    Lith took a pebble from the ground and breathed a burst of violet Origin mes that turned it as smooth and shiny as a precious gem by removing its superficial impurities.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Is this enough?"

    "Almost." Her eyes shone like stars and her cheeks flushed at the sight of the legendary mes that were essential for a Forgemaster to craft a true masterpiece.

    The abundant world energy that coursed through the Fringe could generate countless natural treasures, enchanted metals, and crystals over time, but only Origin mes could remove the impurities and unlock their full potential.

    The elves lived there for a long time and had mastered the workings of their ancestors, but there was only so much they could do without the help of someone capable of manipting the mystical fire at will.

    "Forgive me for being blunt, but even a mere Wyvern can use Origin mes." The elven woman dropped to her knee, her head so low that her long golden hair reached the ground.

    "Consider yourself forgiven. What more evidence do you need?" Lith said, knowing that the others didn''t share his indifferent attitude on the matter.

    Faluel and Ajatar were ring at the elf woman with spite for addressing the Wyverns in such a condescending way. Despite their poor character, their cousins were the closest to the Dragons among the Lesser descendants of Leegaain.

    It was the reason Wyverns were so arrogant and so insecure at the same time.

    "Please, write down the runes of the spells I am keeping at the ready." She replied.

    Every Awakened with Life Vision could distinguish the types of spells that their opponents had weaved and the elements they used, but only a Dragon could read those spells like an open book and memorize them.

    "Sure." Lith went all out, conjuring with Light Mastery a life-sized character sheet of the elf woman that ovepped with her.

    It listed all the spells she had at the ready in her head and even those she had already infused in the various pieces of her equipment. Boots, des, clothes, and even every arrow in her quiver had been imbued with at least two deadly spells by using the elves'' bloodline abilities.

    Were they proper enchantments, the Eyes of Menadion would have taken some time to analyze them, and quite a toll on Lith''s mind since he was using the artifact by himself.

    The elf woman''s spells, however, were out in the open without any pseudo core he had to decipher or cloaking device to crack, making it child y for the Eyes to record them.

    She was bbergasted by both the detailed description of her own equipment''s status and the use of Light Mastery, one of the highest branches of magic that was considered lost to time.

    ording to the legends, only a true genius with a high affinity towards light magic could discover it by himself. Light Mastery was very difficult to teach and based on the outdated knowledge of the elves, only the now-dead Rezar tribe, the trolls before their fall, and Leegaain knew its secrets.

    "Is this enough or do I have to take a look at your friends as well?" Lith wore a smug grin, in a high-and-mighty expression that he considered his best Leegaain impression.

    "It''s perfect!" The elf woman jumped to his neck, giving him such a deep kiss that he was certain she had a taste of his tonsil.

 Chapter 2621 Elven Customs (Part 1)

    ''What the heck is happening?'' Lith could have stopped her at any time, but due to his ignorance about elven customs, he was afraid of ruining the mission with a rude gesture before it even started.

    ''Don''t worry, it just means that the Parliament has fallen for your act.'' Aalejah replied. ''Offering themselves as a mate is the greatest honor that an elf can make to a guest. If you reject her, it would be the same as throwing her hospitality in her face.''

    ''How can your people have such a moronic custom?'' He asked while the elf woman''s hands ran over his body, acquiring a solid understanding of the shape of his back and buttocks.

    ''Elves live for very long and have a very low fertility.'' Aalejah exined with a calm he didn''t share. ''Women try as many partners as they can to increase their chances of pregnancy. That''s why we are divided into ns instead of families.

    ''In your case, even though my people aren''t fans of hybrid children, Divine Beasts have amazing reproductive prowess and powers.

    ''From her point of view, having the opportunity to carry a baby capable of spewing Origin mes and using Dragon Eyes is quite a catch. It would push her from the warrior caste straight to nobility.''

    ''And from my point of view, it means divorce!'' Lith replied with a snarl. ''How do I get rid of her?''

    He followed Aalejah''s instructions, pushing the clingy elf away gently but firmly before saying:

    "Forgive me for my rudeness, mdy, but this isn''t the time or the ce." Lith nodded at Faluel and Ajatar who were moving their gazes from him to their respective hosts with an awkward expression on their faces.

    "Also, it''s not my custom to even consider sharing my bloodline with people whose name I don''t know nor them mine."

    "Oh." She froze in her ce, looking around the clearing and discovering that aside from those tasked with the diplomatic mission, the rest of the unit was sniggering at her expense, whispering untteringments that she could hear clearly.

    "I''m very sorry, my Lord. Please, forgive my outburst. I''m Le''Ahy Birdsong, at your service." She fell down to her knees, her head down so that her hair could hide the flush of her cheeks and the humiliation she felt.

    ''I can forgive you alright. The problem is if Kami will forgive me.'' Lith swallowed a lump of saliva, d for the first time in his life that Solus wasn''t with him.

    "Please, stand up, Le''Ahy. I''m Qisal the Voidfeather Dragon." Lith used the name of the young Wyvern he had fought against to make sure they wouldn''t recognize him and revealed his Divine Beast side simply because there was no faking it.

    "No harm, no foul. Yet know that until our business is concluded, I have no intention of delving into personal matters of any kind."

    "I understand." She stood up, giving him a deep bow before straightening herself.

    "Wee among us, cousin. May the World Tree share with us their blessing." The male elf in front of Aalejah was clearly impressed by her enchanted Yggdrasill staff that Lith had bonded with the best mana crystal Athung could provide.

    "Le''Ahy has already introduced herself. I''m Nemar Arrowleaf and they are Rem''Na dewing and Tharn Windborn. What brings you and your friends to our colony?"

    "Greetings." She gave him a small bow while using her left hand to hide the right one and drew some quick runes in the air.

    They were ancient elven non-magical symbols that informed her host that she was there of her free will and that those behind her were trustworthy. Had she performed them in the open or at all, the guards would have ssified the group as invaders and acted ordingly

    "I''m Aalejah Eventide, former Chronicler candidate for the former World Tree. You already know Lord Voidfeather, envoy of Leegaain''s Brood. These are Faluel the Hydra and Ajatar the Drake, Elders of the Brood and of the Awakened Council."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The four of them emitted a burst of aura to prove their im.

    Aalejah was the only one with a bright blue core which made it pointless for her to lie about her position. The World Tree would Awaken Chronicler candidates but wouldn''t share the secret of the violet with them unless they became one with the Yggdrasill.

    Even posing as an apprentice Chronicler was bound to backfire since the elves could still ask her to talk to the World Tree via the staff, but the bond was already broken, something that Soul Vision had surely revealed to them already.

    Aalejah didn''t miss the shadow of disappointment on the face of the other three hosts nor the fact that they shifted their weight back. Lesser Dragons were of no interest and the only good thing about a former apprentice was the possibility of stealing her staff.

    Hence Aaleah quickly added:

    "I''vee to you because Mogar has changed in ways we would have never expected and there''s the opportunity for our race to reim our rightful ce in the outside world."

    "Really?" The male elf''s eyes shone with renewed interest as he looked at Lith for confirmation.

    "Really. There''s been a gue in Jiera that has exterminated the human race-" A wild surge of yells and cheers filled the air.

    Lith had a hard time believing that creatures so delicate could be so loud. Even the scouts still hidden behind the trees were so happy at the idea of the annihtion of mankind that they were disregarding their duty and rejoicing with their neighbors.

    "On Jiera. Garlen is safe." Lith''s lungs had the might of his Tiamat form so his voice resounded throughout the clearing without the need for spells.

    The cheering lessened but eerily not that much.

    The elves drew a savage joy at the death of hundreds of millions of humans, if not one billion. They felt vindicated for their forced exile they considered unjust persecution instead of the natural consequence of their defeat in the war to establish the dominant humanoid race.

    "Yet there''s much more to say and I''d dly avoid repeating myself over and over." Lith raised his hand, asking and obtaining silence. "If you bring us to the Parliament, we can discuss the issue and see if our respective interests align."

    "It would be our honor. Please, follow us." The four warriors stood beside their respective guests and held their hands, offering themselves as guides and willing hostages in a sign of good faith.

    The group took flight and moved toward the center of the woods where there were the oldest and biggest trees.

    ''Wow. So no sugar for a poor Drake.'' Ajatar sighed while looking at his elfpanion. ''Life is really unfair. I''m much more powerful than the runt yet the difference in our treatment is like heaven and earth.''

    Rem''Na smiled at him like they were good friends whereas Le''Ahy looked at Lith like he was her first love returned from the dead for her.

    ''Seriously?'' Faluel red telepathically at him.

    ''Seriously. I''m ancient, not dead and she is my type.'' The Drake shrugged.

    The journeysted briefly since no one stood in their path and the elves'' spells were as good as those Lith''s group'' used.

 Chapter 2622 Elven Customs (Part 2)

    Once theynded, a series of powerful arrays cut off their escape routes, sealing the borders of Setraliie.

    They were no different from the standard defense protocols of any major city of the Kingdom but Lith''s paranoia bugged him to no end for it. He checked his armor''s power core, then that his spell-holding rings were fully charged, and that War was hung to his hip before taking the next step.

    Only then did he bother looking at the city and its inhabitants.

    Setraliie reminded him of the nt folk city of Laruel since the dwelling of the elves hadn''t been carved in the wood of the colossal trees so much as grown, yet at a second nce that was where the simrities ended.

    Unlike Laurel, the trees were just regr nts altered with light magic. There was no World Sapling spreading their roots throughout the city and growing new buildings at a moment''s notice.

    The road pavement wasprised of marble tiles that had been smoothened and dulled by traffic but not one of them was broken or damaged. The houses at the base of the trees closely resembled human dwellings, with stone walls and sloped roofs.

    People all over their path came out of their homes to stare at the neers and Lith exploited the open doors to look inside. The stone buildings were poorly furnished and there was barely enough space to hostfortably their upants.

    There was no trace of magic in their clothes and tools while those living at ground level as well but inside a tree trunk had more space, magical light, and a few enchanted appliances.

    The higher Lith looked, the more the houses shone to Life Vision and the worse headache the Eyes gave him.

    "Elven society is literally vertical." Le''Ahy exined to Lith''s puzzled expression. "The poor and those who are useless to society live on the ground. Their duty is to tend the fields and act as a first line of defense in case of enemy assault."

    ''Meat shields.'' Lith thought.

    "To buy the warriors the time they need to prepare their spells and equipment." He actually said with a neutral face.

    "I know what you are thinking." She sighed, tormenting her hair. "We must seem as cruel and heartless as humans to you, but there''s a good reason for this. Elves live for a long time but that doesn''t mean they can achieve much.

    "With our low birth rate, the life of a single talented individual is worth that of dozens of ordinary people. A single genius can change our society in their lifetime whereas those with no aptitude for magic, science, or fighting are easily reced.

    "That''s why only those who give true value to our colony live on the top of the trees, so that an invader has to fight their way up and exhaust their strength before threatening the best among us."

    "Two questions." Lith raised one finger. "What if someonees flying?"

    "That''s suicidal." She pointed at the dome formed by the arrays that was at its strongest near the treetops. "The arrays are up at all times. We lowered them only to grant you ess, my Lord."

    "Makes sense." Lith raised the medium finger as well. "Why these precautions, though? As far as I know, there are no monsters in here, and essing a Fringe is something very few can do."

    "To prepare our people to ept their role into our society once we leave this ursed ce." There was no warmth in Le''Ahy''s gaze as she looked at Setraliie.

    No matter how long the elves lived there and howfortable they had made themselves, the Fringe was still a prison. An act of pity from Mogar because the elves wouldn''t be able to survive by themselves.

    Over time, gratitude had turned into rage, considering the very existence of their city a mark of infamy. Every day they spent inside a Fringe was a constant reminder of their defeat and weakness.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Even the richest among Setraliie''s elves considered themselves a beggar mooching off Mogar''s charity.

    "On top of that, we aren''t alone in thisnd. A tribe of Dewan gues the Fringe and those vermin multiply like the filthy humans that birthed them. With their numbers also grows their desperation and ambition so from time to time, bands of brigands try to take our food, resources, and women.

    "They rarely seed but when they do, we must make sure they don''t take anything of value."

    "I supposed that such raids are followed by punitive expeditions." Lith said.

    "Of course." She nodded. "A few years ago, before a second Fringe merged with our own, we came close to war and had to cull the Dewan numerous times. After that, we have been at peace with them but can''t afford to lower our guard."

    "Culls?" Lith''s tone was of honest disbelief. "Why didn''t you just kill them all?"

    He had no sympathy for the Dewan after they had broken their sacred oath to Nalrond and tried to sell his friends as ves. Also, in the elves'' shoes, Lith would never risk retaliation.

    "I wish we could." She gave him a radiant smile, mistaking his cold logic for rightful indignation. "They are guests of Mogar just like us. When we tried to wipe the Dewan out, the Fringe almost copsed."

    "I see." Lith nodded, feeling her touch bing gentler and tenderer.

    Nemar led them to the biggest tree in Setraliie which grew right in the middle of the city. Lith had never seen anything like that. It resembled a giant sequoia, but its bark was smooth like stone and bore ck, red, and blue streaks.

    It was no World Sapling but it was still the second biggest tree Lith had ever seen, over 168 meters (551'') tall and 22 meters (72'') across. Its internal and external surface was covered in runes that only the Eyes of Menadion could reveal due to the cloaking devices.

    The ground floor was filled with guards armed to the teeth, wearing Adamant armor and wielding enchanted weapons of outdated design whose des and spells were still lethal.

    "Make way." Le''Ahy shielded Lith from the spear tips crackling with electricity with her body as she took out of her pocket the badge of her office. "High Chancellor M''Rael summoned our guests in the presence of the Parliament of Leaves."

    ''High Chancellor? I thought that this was an oligarchy.'' In every media Lith knew, such a title usually identified the big bad guy.

    ''M''Rael?'' Faluel needed sheer discipline to hide her surprise.

    ''You know the guy? I thought this was your first time inside a Fringe as well.'' Lith asked.

    ''You know him too, you moron. At least by name. It''s the same guy who ambushed Nalrond and the others on their way out during their first visit.'' Faluel replied.

    ''I do?'' Lith thought long and hard about the name but nothing came to his mind.

    ''We even went over those events with a mind link before getting here! How can you not remember?'' The Hydra was bbergasted.

    ''Solus usually takes care of these things for me. If not for her, I wouldn''t remember the names of most people I know.''

 Chapter 2623 Truth And Lies (Part 1)

    The guards stepped aside, letting the group through.

    They had been forewarned of the arrival of foreigners but had feigned ignorance in order to disy their prowess. It was a subtle message from the upper floors that rules of hospitality or not, the guests had to be careful not to overstep their wee.

    Le''Ahy led them to the center of the tree trunk where there was the only passage to the next floor through what looked like an elevator shaft. On every floor they were stopped and questioned by more guards while arrays sealed the ess to the lower levels, trapping them behind more and more securityyers.

    By the time they reached the Parliament''s Hall, the subtle message had be so ring that only someone blind, dumb, and deaf might have missed it.

    ''This isn''t just a matter of pride or security anymore.'' Aalejah said via the mind link. ''They are trying to intimidate us.''

    The Hall reminded Lith of the ssroom where he gave the Void Magic lesson. The room had a pitched floor and each level was filled with desks arranged in a semi-circr shape.

    The main difference was that each one of those desks was a masterpiece of carpentry worthy of one of the Headmasters of the six great academies or a Regional Lord. Also, each member of the Parliament had plenty of personal space.

    The ce where the scouts had brought Lith''s group was below the level of the lowest row of desks so that even the less important deputy could look down on them.

    To make matters worse, the door they hade from had just disappeared and the space in front of the desks was guarded by soldiers in full te of Adamant armor, leaving the "guests" surrounded and with no way out.

    ''Based on Le''Ahy''s words I bet the Parliament has a vertical structure as well.'' Lith thought after noticing that the higher a desk, the more enchantments it had and the more artifacts its upant wore.

    The elves on the bottom level were dressed barely better than a Kingdom''smoner whereas those on the top looked like members of the Royal family.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith thought while shutting down the mind link the moment his eyes met the High Chancellor''s.

    He sat alone, in the middle of the highest level. Not only were his clothes made of the finest materials, with white crystals as buttons and embroidered in purified Adamant, but he also wore what looked like a wooden crown studded with six elemental crystals of different colors.

    The Eyes of Menadion confirmed Lith''s suspicions about the crown being made of Yggdrasill wood and revealed to him the vigorous violet mana flow that M''Rael was masterfully suppressing.

    ''The good news is that the crown has no life force, so the connection with the World Tree is cut off. Otherwise he would recognize me at first nce and our cover would be blown.

    ''The bad news is that not only is he Awakened but now we can''t evenmunicate via a mind link without him noticing.'' Lith thought.

    "Greetings, dear guests." M''Rael stood up, addressing the neers while the rest of the Parliament stared at them with a mix of hope and suspicion. "I''m High Chancellor M''Rael Firestone. Please, don''t mind my title. I''m merely first among equals."

    The fact that he strutted like a king and that felt the need to say such things told a different story and so did his wooden crown.

    "Now, please, tell us all about Jiera and this opportunity for us to reim ournds. We are all very interested."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Were you listening to us?" Aalejah said. "This is very unpolite of you and it goes against every elven tradition I know."

    "Agreed." Lith nodded, feigning expertise on such matters. "Yet I''m more interested in knowing how you have gotten your hands on Yggdrasill wood and the secret of Awakening."

    M''Rael''s eyes went wide and the faces of the members of the Parliament paled, but since no one turned toward their High Chancellor and kept staring at the alleged Dragon Lord it was clear that they already knew the answer to those questions.

    "Dragon Eyes are truly the greatest among Mogar''s gifts." Rage and annoyance twisted M''Rael''s face as he let go of his violet aura, not caring to hide it anymore. "Nothing can escape their gaze."

    Once again, Le''Ahy stood in front of Lith, taking the brunt of the killing intent. She clung to the polished stone like it was a charm, but her determination bought her just a few seconds before her body started to shut down.

    M''Rael''s raw aggression was enough to blur her vision and sap her strength to the point of copse.

    "Thank you." Lith moved her behind him, where his own aura shielded her and allowed Le''Ahy to breathe again. "Now, if you want to talk let''s talk. If you want to fight let''s fight."

    War jumped in Lith''s hand, itstches clicking and stirring but, in the end, they remained shut. He knew that once unsheathed, War needed to shed blood and that would make any discussion far from peaceful.

    Faluel revealed her clothes to be a Royal Fortress armor and had her ive, Strife, appear in her hands. She didn''t consume the silver bolts of lightning of Life Maelstrom, but she let them crackle on the surface.

    The Drake did nothing, never averting his gaze from the High Chancellor, and this in M''Rael''s book made him the most dangerous of the three.

    "I apologize for my rudeness." M''Rael bowed to his guests. "You took me by surprise and my temper got the best of me."

    Facing Origin mes, Life Maelstrom, and whatever the Drake was cooking was a bad choice. M''Rael was certain he could win but he didn''t know if hismunity could afford the price.

    "To answer your questions, a while ago, after a bunch of murderous humans invaded our borders, a Chronicler of the World Tree came to us." He said and Aalejah nodded for him to continue.

    ''It makes sense.'' She thought. ''Fringes are sealed ces and the old World Tree wanted to make a census of my people to see if it was possible to bring them all in one ce with the help of the nt folk and their Gate Network.''

    "In their infinite wisdom and generosity, the World Tree acknowledged our need for better tools in order to pursue our dream of freedom. Yet the Chronicler couldn''t stay with us for long nor could he get involved in our war efforts.

    "As you surely know, the World Tree always keeps a neutral position in conflicts. They are a witness and a historian of Mogar''s major events, never a yer." M''Rael took a pause until Aalejah nodded for him to continue.

    "For this reason, before leaving the Chronicler shared with me, the champion of Setraliie, the secret of Awakening, and bestowed upon me the gift of the Sage Crown. It symbolizes our bond of friendship with the World Tree and hopefully will make up for the knowledge that my peopleck after being exiled for so long."

    M''Rael switched from Life to Soul Vision to get a glimpse of the Dragon Lord''s thoughts.

 Chapter 2624 Truth And Lies (Part 2)

    Under the mystical gaze, Lith turned into a Fire Dragon shrouded by blue mes. Only one set of its wings was feathered while the other was membranous and bursting with the same mes that enveloped its body.

    A human figureprised of living darkness emerged from the Dragon''s forehead yet the man didn''t look like Lith''s human form, resembling an Abomination instead. The Dragon and the Abomination both had seven eyes and were intently staring at the High Chancellor in suspicion.

    ''This is bullshit!'' Aalejah thought, cursing M''Rael''s active Life Vision for keeping her from using a mind link and herself for having never discussed such matters before, deeming them pointless to the mission.

    ''I''ve never met the current World Tree, but if they are anything like the one I served, they''d rather take a walk than share anything without getting something of equal value in return right here and there.

    ''Only those epted as apprentice Chroniclers were Awakened and doing that required the Yggdrasill to have their roots seep into our bodies to make up for the impurities elvesck.

    ''Even our Ygdrasill wood equipment wasn''t a gift so much as a means of keeping an eye on us at all times and forcing us back home in case we failed our mission or simply disobeyed our orders.

    ''And this guy wants me to believe that the new World Tree is so carefree and generous that they gave aplete nobody Awakening, a violet core, and equipment out of the goodness of their heart?

    ''The new Yggdrasill may be young, but they have inherited the memories of their predecessors and have my people advising them. For every Chronicler who shed sweat, blood, and tears to be Awakened and gave up on their free will for the violet, this would be an insufferable injustice!''

    "Nice story, High Chancellor." Lith said while furrowing a single brow in his "annoyed Leegaain" impression. "Too bad that it sounds more like a story than reality. I''m no expert on the World Tree since I''ve never met one.

    "Yet when I first met Lady Eventide, she told me that to be a full-fledged Chronicler she would have to be the Harbinger equivalent of the Yggdrasill, losing part of her free will and privacy.

    "When I spoke with Lord dion Dragonborn about acquiring Yggdrasill wood, he told me that even he has been refused ess to the Fringe of the World Tree and that all his trade proposals has been rejected.

    "Are you really trying to convince me that the new World Tree gave so much to you without an excellent reason? You didn''t work for them as long as Aalejah and are nowhere as ancient and influential as dion.

    "We came here to pay, but any agreement we reach has no meaning unless there is trust between us. So I''ll ask you only once. What''s your angle?" Lith pointed his finger at M''Rael while unfolding his feathered wings and letting ck-violet mes seethe from his mouth.

    ''Thank the gods Lith''s bad memory only extends to people.'' Faluel thought while spreading her bright violet aura and readying forbat. ''He has perfect recollection of everything concerning his own interests.''

    "How dare you question me inside my city? Inside my own home?" M''Rael yelled in outrage, his reaction prompting the guards to point their enchanted spears at the now-unwanted guests and imbue them with multiple tier five spells.

    "I dare because I''m not stupid." Lith used that time tobine true magic with body casting to weave several spells at once. "If you want our help, you''d bettere clean with us.

    "Otherwise we''re going to leave the Fringe without telling you anything and you are going to pave your road to freedom with the dead bodies of your people. You don''t know the ruler of thesends, but I do.

    "One word. One word from me and the Overlord of the Desert will treat you like enemies and paint its golden sands red again with your blood." At those words, a Soul Projection appeared above his head.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    It was the Void in its Eldritch form, a living mass of ck mes and shadows that crawled up from Lith''s shoulders until it stood a couple of meters (7'') above his head.

    It fully unfolded his wings, hiding from sight those behind him and spreading a thin ck mist like when it had first manifested inside the Fringe. The only difference was that the Voidfeather Dragon wasn''t interested in pulling the Void down again.

    Quite the contrary.

    "What in Mogar''s name is that?" M''Rael''s Soul Vision was showing him the other half of the puzzle, yet it was a puzzle that didn''t make sense.

    Lith''s appearance under Soul Vision had changed. The human figure that until a second ago emerged from the Dragon''s forehead was now gone, leaving only the Wyrm behind.

    ''How is that possible? A person''s true nature can''t change like that and it''s not supposed to be linked to their Soul Projection. On top of that, how can a Dragon carry the mark of an Abomination?

    ''Whatever the answer is, I can use this to my advantage.'' M''Rael thought.

    "What are you, creature? A filthy Puppeteer who infiltrated Leegaain''s Brood to feed upon the mighty Dragons or are you just nning to be an Abomination to obtain true immortality and conquer Chaos?" He actually said.

    "Thoughts cannot lie and everyone here knows that a Soul Projection is simply the manifestation of your deepest desire. I say that you are just a monster who has crept among noble creatures to poison their minds with your lies!"

    The elven guards prepared for battle and raised their shields. Such was their fervor that their Soul Projection manifested as well. It took the form of a warrior d in heavy golden armor, embodying their will to protect the members of the Parliament.

    The moment their circr formation moved forward, things escaped everyone''s control. Even Lith''s. Le''Ahy tried to speak on his behalf and Aalejah activated her staff to calm everyone down.

    Faluel let the silver lightning course through her armor and was ready to share it with the others while Ajatar''s eyes burned with the emerald energy of Spirit Fusion.

    Yet it wasn''t the collective might of the emissaries of the Council or the buzzing of the arrays powering up that wreaked chaos in the Parliament. It was the Void shing at the closest guards, grabbing their Soul Projections by the neck, and lifting them in the air.

    The elves to which the Projections belonged suffered the same fate, their feet dangling from the ground and the marks of a wed hand appearing on their necks.

    "Come, little mouse." The Void snarled with its howling voice. "Come closer and say that again to my face, if you dare."

    Despite his violet core and the help of the Sage Crown, M''Rael felt his heart throb in his throat from fear. He had been born and raised in the Fringe and his ancestors had lived there for millennia.

    He was supposed to know everything about Soul Projections yet nothing made sense. Never before had a Projection manifested a will of its own or the ability to speak and interact with the outside world.

 Chapter 2625 Mogarâ€™s Home (Part 1)

    To make matters worse, ording to the arrays surrounding the Parliament of Leaves, the Abomination didn''t even exist. The magical formations were still locked on the group of outsiders but were unable to detect the threat of the Soul Projection and defend the Parliament guards.

    The ck mist was seeping inside the bodies of the soldiers and the representatives on the first row of seats, draining their vitality. The elves were falling onto their knees one after the other, suffering from fits of cough while bleeding ck blood from their eyes and ears.

    That while the Dragon Lord had yet to move a muscle or cast a single spell.

    "Stop! I admit my mistake and apologize for my words." M''Rael said. "I''ll tell you what you want. Just let my people go. They are innocent."

    "And how do I do that, exactly?" Lith had been trying for a while now to rein the Void in before it triggered a war but to no end.

    The Abominationughed in triumph, feeling the power of the Fringe flooding its ethereal body and giving it substance.

    ***

    Meanwhile, a few miles away, the preparations for the ritual to speak with Mogar were almostplete.

    The group had followed Quy''s improved design for the magic circle, cing the runes for the light and darkness elements at the opposite sides so that they would channel the life force of the supplicant through the other elemental runes and form a Spirit Array.

    Toplete the magical formation, Solus had to spill a drop of her blood but even that proved to be quite difficult. Between her mass and the toughness of her skin, it took a purified Orichalcum de to prick at her finger.

    "Are you ready?" Nalrond asked her once all the circles in the room glowed with emerald light, amplifying both Solus'' consciousness and willpower so that standing in Mogar''s presence wouldn''t kill her on the spot.

    "No, but I doubt I''ll ever be." She was wielding the Sage Staff in her left hand and the Fury in her right, hoping that the rity of thought the former granted would be passed on in the Mindscape as well.

    The hammer was just for emotional support. Once it had been Menadion''s Fury but after Solus had confronted Bytra for the first time during Vastor''s marriage, Sark had turned it into Solus'' Fury ording to Menadion''s wish and Lith''s plea.

    Solus knew that the challenge that waited ahead of her was intellectual and spiritual in nature but the Fury''s presence gave herfort anyway. It was the only link she had left with her biological mother, a gift made out of love whereas the tower was one made out of necessity.

    A simple means to an end.

    On top of that, the ruined state of the tower was a constant reminder of how Elphyn''s behavior had spelled ruin for her father first, herself, andstly her mother. What Elphyn had destroyed, Solus was slowly and painstakingly rebuilding.

    Yet the burden from the actions of her old self heavily weighed on Solus'' conscience because they were the same person. Her amnesia didn''t absolve her any more than it could fix the tower.

    "Remember that unless you grasp something that we missed thest time, fighting the echoes that Mogar conjures is a waste of time at best and a suicidal act at worst." Nalrond said. "Take your time, study the echoes, and try to understand their significance."

    "And don''t try to undress them with your mind." Morok added. "It doesn''t work and it pisses Mogar off."

    "Why should I attempt something so stupid and more importantly, how do you know this?" Solus asked.

    "When it was his turn with the ritual, the jackass tried to see me naked via my own echo." Quy hid her face in her hands in embarrassment.

    "And you told her?" Friya was bbergasted.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I''m an honest guy." Morok shrugged. "Also, every detail can help and I thought that being the smarter person in the room Quy needed to know. That said, my advice is to try and make Mogar talk.

    "I think that the echoes are the bait and she''s the real prize."

    "I''m going to ask help for Nalrond, myself, Lith, and Jiera." Solus said. "Does any of you have something to add?"

    "Ask for the Harmonizers too." Morok said. "They would solve Nalrond''s, Jiera''s and Zelex''s problems in one go. Three birds with one stone."

    "I agree." Nalrond nodded. "Thest time Mogar stopped me at three questions. If she does the same for you, you should ask about yourself and Lith first since it''s your life you are putting on the line.

    "It leaves only one question and using it for me would be egotistical."

    "That''s exactly what I''m going to do." Solus replied. "You are a friend and an innocent victim. Jiera and the monsters, instead, are the architects of their own misfortune. They made their own bed, they can lie in it."

    "Thanks." The Rezar gave her a bow. "Whenever you want."

    Solus closed her eyes and slowed her breathing rhythm, reaching a deep meditative state. With each breath, she let the Spirit Magic of the circle and the world energy of the Fringe enter her body, mixing together until they became one.

    Once the two energies reached an equilibrium and her mind was clear from stray thoughts, Solus felt a pull on her consciousness akin to that she experienced from hermunication amulet.

    The difference was that this time her mind wasn''t drawn to something but someone. Even with her eyes closed, a blinding light pierced the darkness around her as she answered the call and was drawn to its source.

    The pir of white light was the sum of Mogar''s consciousness and recorded history so that when she stepped inside of it, it was like entering the Fringe again but thousands of times worse

    Countless voices, sufferings, and experiences thatprised Mogar''s mind flooded Solus'' being, but thanks to the circles filled with her essence Solus was thousands of times stronger as well.

    She brushed the telepathic onught off like it was dust from her clothes, without suffering any wound. The pir of light burst forward, expanding in every direction and painting the Mindscape white.

    It was an empty and barren ce that extended as far as the eye could see. Solus stood there alone and suddenly realized that her eyes were now open and that she was standing instead of sitting.

    She looked down on her body, discovering that she wore the clothes of her apprenticeship with Menadion. A loose dress resembling a Roman toga and sandals.

    "Well, at least this time I''m not naked." Her voice echoed multiple times before disappearing. "Let''s see if this works anything like my shared space with Lith."

    A wave of her hand changed her outdated clothes into a Voidwalker armor. The Sage Staff was slung on her back and the Fury hung to her hip.

    "This is much better." Another wave of her hand turned the white of the ground into a grassy meadow.

    The sky turned blue and the blinding white light was reced by the soft yellow of the sun. She also added a gentle breeze to break the silence.

 Chapter 2626 Mogarâ€™s Home (Part 2)

    "I''m impressed by your skills and offended by your attire." A familiar voice said from behind Solus, making her turn around in surprise. "As your other half says, if you are here to talk, let''s talk. If you are here to fight, let''s fight."

    Standing a few meters in front of Solus there was Elina with her swollen belly from the pregnancy. Or rather, it would have been Elina if not for her hair streaked with the six colors of the elements, a full suit of Davross armor, and a twin-headed ive.

    There was actually a seventh color among Elina-Mogar''s hair but Solus couldn''t focus on it. The only thing she knew was that it wasn''t emerald green.

    "Wait! I''m not here to fight." Solus raised her hands with her palms out. "Also, I remember everything Lith ever said and this is the first time I hear those words."

    "Let me get this straight." Mogar-Elina circled around Solus like a predator, splitting her weapon into two halves that resembled long-hilted swords.

    She spun them around in warming-up exercises before joining them back together in a full haft just to start over again.

    "You break into *my* house armed to the teeth, change *my* furniture as you please, and I''m supposed to believe you aren''t looking for trouble? Also, you are wrong because he just did." Mogar''s mocking tone was made even worse by her body shapeshifting into Menadion''s form.

    Seeing her mother in the flesh with her eyes filled with anger was too much for Solus. She saw in them all the me and scorn she felt for her old self and that she assumed the real Menadion had experienced in her final moments.

    "I''m sorry, Mom. I''m so sorry. Please, forgive me." She crossed the space between them in a dash, hugging Menadion-Mogar without a care for the weapons she carried.

    "It''s okay, child. Now I believe you." Mogar gently patted Solus'' head, gently lifting her in her arms.

    "The fuck?" Solus knew to be short but Menadion was supposed to be slightly taller than her, not a giant.

    "Language, child." Mogar- Menadion put her huge finger on Elphyn''s small mouth. "Remember that here your appearance matches the way you perceive yourself."

    Solus yelped with a shrill voice when she lowered her gaze and discovered to have turned into a small girl.

    "Did you do this to me?"

    "No, you did it to yourself." Mogar pointed at the space around them that was now identical to Elphyn''s bedroom in her first house.

    "What about Lith?"

    "Do you really want to waste one of your questions to ask me something you can ask him? If you see him again, of course." Mogar asked.

    Solus focused on their bond, feeling through it that Lith was alive and well. Maybe emotionally shocked but physically he was in top shape.

    "No." She drew confidence from the light that connected them and that she could see every time she closed her eyes. "I havee to ask more important questions."

    "Good." As soon as Mogar-Menadion put Solus down, she reverted to her adult, armed self. "Again? You are starting to piss me off."

    "Shit! I''m sorry!" Solus turned her armor into her favorite day dress, a sleeveless sky-blue skirt, and blouse. The Sage Staff was now her ne whereas the Fury was still at her hip.

    Yet its aura was that of a family memento, not a weapon, so Mogar let it slide.

    "I want to know how to fix Lith''s life force. How to free myself from the tower. How to help Nalrond merge his life forces and-"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down." Mogar snapped her fingers, reverting herself into Elina''s form and the Mindscape to an empty void. "One thing at a time. Three questions are a lot and you have yet to get a single answer."

    A second finger snap conjured three spheres but unlike what had happened to Nalrond and Morok, each one had a small satellite orbiting around them.

    "You know, it''s really rude how people onlye to visit me when they need something. No one ever asks ''How are you doing, Mogar?'' or ''Can I do something for you, Mogar?'' Like I''m just an emotionless piece of rock."

    "How are you doing, Mogar? Is there something I can help you with?" Solus said while approaching the first sphere.

    "Too little and toote for that, child." Mogar clicked her tongue in annoyance. "But yes, there is. And you''re already doing it."

    "What do you- By my Mom!" Solus jumped back in the nick of time, avoiding Grimbark''s lounge by a hair''s breadth.

    Standing in front of her there was Zogar Vastor, but instead of his White Griffon professor uniform, he was wearing Bytra''s Dominator armor and wielded his own Yggdrasill staff.

    Its top had been shaped like a tower with one prancing lion at either side, the insignia of the Vastor Household. The tower was crowned with a single white crystal the size of an apple that the lions kept in ce with their raised forelegs and opened mouths.

    Yet more than the runes covering most of the surfaces of the wood and the metal of the armor was the sight of a small bundle of ck scales wrapped in a baby towel with a hood.

    "The Professor and Elysia?" Solus blinked several times but the vision didn''t change. "What happened to Arthan?"

    "Ah, that''s no longer an option, now." Mogar tilted her head, twisting Elina''s mouth in a mocking smile that the real one would never make. "During your friends''st visit, the Golden Griffon still stood. Don''t you remember?"

    "What about the Madness? I thought that was the key." Solus asked.

    "Good for you. You were wrong." Mogar-Elina shrugged. "Now stop asking me and start asking him."

    "Face me if you dare!" Echo-Vastor said. "I''ll kill you where you stand."

    His bright ck-violet aura and the Chaos spells coursing through his body were enough to convince Solus that his words were far from empty threats. That, and the baby crying in fear at Solus'' sight made her step back until they both went back to being spheres.

    "That was weird." Solus waited until her heart stopped trying to break free from her chest before approaching the second sphere.

    This time instead of strolling there she moved slowly while keeping her footing steady and her guard high.

    She needed them both when a handful of over 23 centimeters (9") long ws tried to rip her face off while a heat ray aimed at her heart moved faster than a bullet.

    She used the Fury to deflect the ws and sidestepped the spells, never taking her eyes off her enemy.

    Nalrond and his Rezar half stood side by side, attacking each other as much as they attacked Solus. They wounded and maimed one another non-stop, causing a mirror injury to appear on themselves.

    Yet no matter how deep the cuts were, they healed as quickly as they were opened.

    ''Dammit, whatever the cure for Nalrond''s condition was, it''s not avable anymore as well. If only I had a way to understand if he''s gotten closer or further to merging his life forces, I would have a solid hint to understand the new answer.'' Solus thought.

 Chapter 2627 Final Answer (Part 1)

    ''Also, I could tell if what Nalrond did so far is right or wrong. Depending on it, Nalrond might just need to continue what he''s doing or backpedal big time.'' Solus thought.

    ''Yeah, too bad this ce doesn''te with an instruction manual.'' Mogar replied, in Solus'' mind, making her shake her head in the attempt to expel the intruder.

    "This is the Mindscape, child. Everything here is thoughts." The avatar of the chuckled. "We ''talk'' by moving our mouths because that''s how your mind organizes reality in order to understand it, but we are not talking at all.

    "Your body still lies amid the circle, guarded by your friends. This is just a shy mind link so you can''t really think to yourself."

    "This doesn''t make sense. With a normal mind link, I should be able to choose what to share and what to keep to myself." Solus replied.

    "There''s nothing normal here." Mogar-Elina shook her head. "You are not just extending a tendril of Spirit Magic like usual. You have projected your mind inside my own.

    "The moment you think of something, it bes a part of me. Consider it a housewarming gift that I demand from all of my uninvited guests."

    Solus nodded and returned to studying the answer to Nalrond''s problem. She kept herself close enough to keep them from going back to being an energy sphere but far enough to easily dodge any iing spell.

    In the past, the sphere had conjured the angry embodiment of his beast half, but now there was also the human part. They were split and embarked on a path of self-destruction just like in real life.

    "This is different from Nalrond''s Soul Projection." Solus pondered out loud since there was no point doing it otherwise. "In the answer, they are not conjoined, they stay side by side by choice.

    "They also look desperate, fighting because they have no other choice instead of hatred."

    "Interesting analysis." Mogar tilted her head slightly by a side. "What do you make of it?"

    "I hoped you would tell me." Solus said, obtaining a sneer in reply. "I already know that fighting them is pointless. My masses from the tower and I have no memory of how it feels to harness the mana from a violet core.

    "My mental projection is too weak to fight them, assuming that ying your game of tag is even the right course of action in the first ce. Before trying anything, I''m going to take a look at my own answer."

    Solus walked away from the Rezar and toward the final energy sphere. Thest one was peculiar. The bigger one wasprised of the seven colors of the elements that shifted along its surface like a tide while its satellite was a mass of pure ckness.

    ''It kind of reminds me about Lith and me but with our position reversed.'' She thought. ''Please, don''t let this be something about our messed-up rtionship.''

    ''It kind of does. As for your prayer, I''m not making any promises.'' Mogar replied, irking Solus to no end for what she perceived as another intrusion into the privacy of her mind.

    Solus readied her stance, preparing for the worse.

    The Fury was in her right hand and the Sage Staff in her left. The Voidfeather armor covered her from head to toe and before taking the final step, she made sure that she knew how to conjure psychic attacks in the form of spells she knew.

    ''In theory, I''m like a god here and I could do much better than tier five magic. Yet the image of something whose effects I know like the back of my hand is bound to be more effective than stuff I make up on the fly. Here goes everything.'' Solus thought while getting inside the enemy''s attack range.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Just like she had feared, a petite woman wielding a mirror image of her hammer struck at her, conjuring the power of the seven elements from the streaks of her long golden hair.

    At the same time, a much taller man wed at her throat with a ck hand made of darkness and Chaos. His ck membranous wings darted toward Solus like giant hands, trying to wrap her in their deadly embrace.

    Solus raised the Fury to parry the iing hammer, ready to sidestep the Abomination''s attacks and Dominate the iing spells. s, the moment the two figures fully materialized Solus discovered that it was worse than anything she could have possibly imagined.

    Her feet refused to move and the power she had umted faded away. Her hair rested on her back again as the mana that had allowed them to defy gravity dissipated.

    Solus froze into ce, incapable of holding the Fury any longer.

    The Forgemastering hammer escaped her hand and hit the ground with a thud as Solus recognized the figures of Ripha Menadion wearing her Rune Magus robe and Threin Menadion in his Abomination form.

    "Mom?" That single word struck the First Ruler of the mes like a hammer, the old Fury turning around and hitting its master in the face like it had a will of its own.

    The Abomination kept attacking, but something in that voice shook every fiber of his being, slowing him enough for Solus to say:

    "Daddy?" The Chaos and darkness copsed on themselves, forming a small ck sphere on the chest of the now-human Threin.

    Threin copsed on the ground, grabbing his right hand with his left to make sure that it couldn''t hurt his daughter.

    "Epphy?" Menadion''s eyes teared up as the power of that word stirred countless emotions in all three of them.

    "Yes." Solus wanted to tell her mother that wasn''t her name anymore but her brain was incapable of formting words of more than one syble.

    The Voidfeather armor shattered like broken ss, revealing the figure of a seven years old girl with light brown hair streaked silver and orange all over. The same appearance Elphyn Menadion had when she hadst seen her father alive.

    The three of them fell to their knees sobbing. There was nothing they wanted more than extending their arms and wrapping their baby in an embrace but the nature of the Mindspace prevented them from doing so.

    "Are these their souls?" Young Solus stuttered every word, needing sheer willpower to modte sounds that made sense. "Am I really meeting my parents again or is this another sick game of yours?"

    "No to all of your questions." Mogar-Elina shook her head. "I''m not a monster. I have no control over souls and even if I did, I wouldn''t bother them for something as trivial as this. Your father and mother are long gone.

    "What you see here is just the embodiment of their memories. Everything they have ever felt, thought, and experienced is condensed in front of your eyes in a form that they recognize.

    "They are not souls, they cannot tell you what your parents would do now, but they are the next best thing. They act as your parents would have while they were still with me and share all the memories of their original down to theirst dying thought."

 Chapter 2628 Final Answer (Part 2)

    "Then why can''t I get close to them? Why can''t they move?" Solus asked amid hups.

    "Because I don''t allow cheating!" Mogar sounded furious for the first time Solus had reached the Mindscape, Elina''s face was twisted with anger. "If it was up to them, they''d hug you long enough to answer every single question you have but that''s against the rules.

    "You came here for my knowledge and you are allowed to fight for it. Anything else is an aberration and I won''t stand for it."

    Solus nodded, trying to lift the Fury.

    ''You heard Mogar. Those are not your real parents. They are just echoes conjured to challenge me. They are just things.'' She repeated to herself over and over but her wordscked conviction.

    Whatever logic told her, seeing Threin and Menadion sobbing in agony as they fought against the impulse to fight the intruder broke her heart. The new Fury at her feet weighed like a mountain because she didn''t want to wield it.

    The real hammer was in the physical world and the one in the Mindscape was just an expression of her will that refused to harm the father and mother she had longed to meet for years.

    "Can we at least talk?" Solus asked.

    "About your lives, yes. About the reason you came here, no." Mogar replied. "No cheating or I make them disappear and we move on to your next question."

    The embodiment of the put her thumb against her middle finger, ready to snap them together and banish the rebellious echoes.

    "Thank you." Young Elphyn nodded, turning toward Threin and taking a small step forward.

    "I''m sorry, Dad." She hupped. "You died because of me. I was so happy to practice magic that I never worried about the dangers of your Awakening or the strain that chasing me around put on you.

    "I killed you. I killed you with my carelessness. Please, forgive me."

    "Is this what you think?" The shock was so great that Threin regained control of his body. "That I me you for my death?"

    His question received a nod as an answer, prompting him to take a step forward as well despite the pressure that Mogar put on him.

    "It wasn''t your fault but mine! You were just a child. We never told you about the risks of Awakening because we didn''t want to make you worry. Your uppity aunt Loka reminded me of tempering my body every time she visited or called, but between taking care of you and my art, I never had the time.

    "I thought that being an Awakened, I could do everything. That I didn''t have to sacrifice anything. I was wrong. If only I painted a bit less and practiced a bit more, the breakthrough would have never killed me."

    "I''m the one who should apologize. If not for me, your mother would still be alive as well and we would be together."

    "But, you died chasing after me. You didn''t have the time to practice because of me. Because I kept escaping to get your attention." Solus said.

    "How could I me you for loving me?" Threin was shocked and hurt by the guilt he saw on Elphyn''s face. "Asking me to act like a parent is not a crime. I spent time ying with you because I loved it, not because you forced me."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He took another step forward, getting so close that he could almost touch her.

    "Back when my body exploded, the thought of leaving you alone was so painful that I refused to die. I loved you so much that I defeated death. Yet when I saw how scared you were of my appearance, when I felt the hunger driving me to attack you and Ripha, I knew what to do.

    "I had always believed that I could never abandon you and your mother. No matter the cost and circumstances. Yet when I realized it was the only way to protect you from myself, Epphy, it was the easiest decision of my life.

    "I may not be the real Threin, but I know what your father felt for you. My- His final thought was begging for your forgiveness. He died because of his own arrogance and he hated himself for the pain you would carry your whole life because of it.

    "I could never hate you, Epphy. It was my duty as a father to keep you safe. To make you happy. And I failed."

    Solus struggled with all of her strength to cover thatst stretch separating her from her father, but to no avail.

    "I''m sorry, Mom." Cursing Mogar and her own weakness, young Elphyn turned toward Ripha. "After Dad died, I treated you like shit. I med you for everything that was wrong in my life.

    "I was so obsessed with my own grief that I refused to see how much you were suffering. I needed a bad guy. Someone to me for Dad''s death and I took it out on you.

    "If it wasn''t for my stupidity, we could have spent our time together happily. You wouldn''t have to be ashamed of your rebellious daughter. If not for me, you would have never taken in apprentices in the hope to give me a new family.

    "It''s only my fault if Bytra entered in our lives and it''s only because of how I treated her that she killed us. I squandered our best years, never telling you how much I loved you or apologizing for everything I put you through.

    "I knew I was wrong but I was too much of a coward to face you. I was too afraid to discover if you still loved me or if I had crossed the line with my behavior and all that you felt for me was spite."

    "Oh, Epphy." Menadion dropped the Fury that bolted toward its new version.

    The two hammers ovepped for a second and then became one.

    "How could I get angry with you for ming me of Threin''s death when I was the one using myself over and over again? I was your mother and you just believed what I said.

    "I should have been your rock, instead I fell apart and I dragged you down with me."

    Ripha sighed, thinking back at those times when she had allowed Elphyn to see her drunk, crying herself to sleep while mumbling the words "It''s all my fault".

    "As for your juvenile escapades, I''ve never been ashamed of you because I knew you were just facing your grief in your own way. Quite the contrary, I hoped that you would find the strength to forgive yourself and me.

    "Also, I didn''t take in disciples just for you. I was trying to fill the void in my life left by Threin''s death. I wasn''t perfect, Epphy. I didn''t know how to move on from there. I had killed my husband and driven my daughter away so I wanted a second chance.

    "My apprentices were supposed to be *our* family. To be the bridge between us. Yet my obsession with my work turned it into a stupidpetition, making you think that you had to earn my love through your work. That you had to prove something to me."

 Chapter 2629 Final Answer (Part 3)

    "I should have just mustered the courage toe to you and solve our differences instead of delegating it to Lochra first, then to Malyshka, and my apprentices. I was supposed to be an adult, yet I ran away all my life like a scared child.

    "And don''t get me started with how stupid I acted when Bytra nearly killed you. After saving your life, I should have stayed with you. Make sure that everything was alright so that we could hunt her down like mother and daughter.

    "Instead, I let myself be carried away by my emotions. The trauma from Threin''s death almost drove me crazy, affecting my skills. The procedure would have failed if I hadn''t already added it to the tower''s enchantments.

    "I barely seeded at the cost of gravely injuring my life force. Yet even then I let my rage consume me. I chose to ignore my and your condition, chasing after Bytra like a fool and falling into her trap.

    "I had failed to protect my husband and I had almost let my daughter die. I wanted more than revenge. I wanted redemption. I wanted to prove to myself that I was more than a fucking Ruler of the mes.

    "I didn''t bother recing the Fury. I was so stupid that I didn''t n for my fight with Bytra and died for it. My final thoughts were of utter despair because I had disappointed you again. I realized my folly only when it was toote.

    "The pain from my deadly wounds was nothingpared to the idea that you would have been alone and starving until someone found you. That even then, you would have been reduced to a mere possession.

    "That whatever your new master would do to you, every hardship you were going to endure, it was going to be my fault. I know that every time you needed me the most, I''ve failed you as a mother. Yet please, Elphyn, I need your forgiveness.

    "I''ve carried this burden for so long that even in death it''s killing me." Menadion''s echo took one more step forward, getting as close to the young Elphyn as Threin.

    "There''s nothing to forgive." Solus shook her head. "Dad, I don''t remember much of the time we spent together, but I know for certain that everything you did, you did it for me. You always put me first.

    "I too wish that you had spent more time training, but if you did, I wouldn''t have so many fond memories of us drawing in your study. You never loved magic, you just loved me and wanted to be part of my life.

    "I don''t know how much time it would have taken you to survive your breakthrough, all I can tell you is that I''m happy to remember you as a loving father instead of an absent man."

    "Mom, you were dealt a terrible hand and you did the best you could. As you said, you weren''t perfect but neither was I. I never made things easy for you, and no matter what you said, it wouldn''t have mattered simply because I refused to listen.

    "When I finally grew out of my jerk phase, I too was a coward. I didn''t work my ass off in the Forge because I wanted to prove something to you. I did it because I wanted to show you how much I admired you.

    "My wish was that, somehow, my works would be able to convey the words I could never speak to you and make up for how badly I treated you in the past. Mom, Dad, please, forgive me."

    She put all of her willpower into her right foot and crossed the space that separated her from her parents.

    "I don''t know what there''s to forgive, but if you need to hear this to move on, then I will." Threin said while lifting the baby girl to his chest. "I forgive you, Epphy. I loved you with all my heart until myst breath and wherever the real Threin is, I''m certain that he feels the same way."

    "I forgive you, Epphy." Menadion joined the embrace as warm tears of joy streaked down her face. "The past is in the past now. Please, move forward with your life without feeling burdened by guilt.

    "We all made mistakes, but you are still alive. You can still seed where your parents failed. Be happy, my child."

    "Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. I go by Solus, now." She said, sobbing.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The embracested just for a few seconds. Long enough for them to enjoy each other''s warmth and feel the touch of their loved ones across the barriers of space and time.

    Yet it was also brief enough to avoid the echoes to share any of the knowledge they held.

    "Good luck, then, Solus Elphyn Menadion." Her parents said while their forms slowly faded into nothingness.

    Solus was left alone, back in her adult form and bawling her eyes out. She wrapped herself in her own arms, desperately trying to prolong that warmth just for one more second.

    Mogar-Elina stood by her side without saying a word until Solus managed to stop shaking.

    "I''m sorry. I wish it could havested longer but as I said, no cheating." She said. "You can ask me any other question but know that I won''t conjure those echoes again. The result would be the same."

    "Thank you, Mogar." A wave of Solus'' hand cleaned her from the tear and snot covering her face. "I may have not learned anything, but I''ve gained something that no knowledge could give me. The chance to meet my parents again.

    "Now if you don''t mind, I''ll leave. I feel too tired to do anything."

    "Be well, child. Remember your parents'' words but don''t forget mine either." Mogar-Elina said while Solus left the Mindscape and returned to her body.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Royal Pce of Valeron, that same day.

    Lith''s trip to the Fringe was supposed to relieve Constable Kam Yehval from the overbearing presence of an overpowered and overprotective being who watched her like a hawk.

    s, reality begged to differ.

    "I can''t believe that even though Lith knows we''ve sworn to protect the baby, he still worries so much. It''s unhealthy." Constable Tyris Griffon said from her desk that was ced right beside Kam''s.

    "I know, it''s insulting." Honorary Constable Sark Phoenix said, her desk on the other side, forming a wall that kept anyone from getting close. "He''s an untrustful busybody. Kam should be free to do the job she loves without feeling like a prisoner of love. Right, dear?"

    "Sure, Grandma." Kam replied while banging her head against her desk in frustration.

    Even before the pregnancy altered her body, she was self-conscious of the fact that she was the less attractive female member of the Verhen family. Sitting between the two Guardians, however, cranked the problem up to one thousand.

    Their presence drew a lot of attention and she couldn''t help but feel like an ugly duckling stuck between a majestic swan and an elegant peacock.

    ''At least Lith would just re at people from time to time and work quietly on his research.''

 Chapter 2630 Final Answer (Part 4)

    ''These two never shut up and follow me everywhere I go. Even to the bathroom!'' Kam thought.

    "I can''t believe your forensicsbs still work with that primitive junk. My preliminary report of the crime scene uncovered more evidence than all those ridiculous gadgets the Knight Guard uses." Leegaain said while submitting his report to her.

    ''Maybe it''s because those poor bastards don''t have Dragon Eyes or millennia of experience with magic.'' Kam inwardly whined as she was once again forced to deliver documents to Jirni after giving them a look and thanking the Father of All Dragons.

    If there was one thing all three Guardians of Garlen agreed upon, was the total disrespect for the chain ofmand. With the excuse of Kam being their "senior" in the office, they reported everything to her instead of Jirni and submitted their paperwork to her for a second opinion.

    The only silver lining of that insufferable situation was that they had been closing more cases in a single day than they usually did in months. Leegaain swept the crime scenes in minutes, collecting evidence invisible to regr means of investigation.

    Based on that, it was easy identifying the persons of interest who once round up individually in the interrogation room, would fold like an ironed shirt.

    "Talk." One word from the Overlord without a shred of killing intent was enough to strike so much fear in those facing her re that even battle-hardened veterans suddenly remembered events dating back to when their mothers had weaned them.

    Pampered nobles didn''t have such a temper so they would hurriedly confess their crimes, having care to talk fast enough so that their ensuing heart attack wouldn''t hinder Sark''s work.

    As for Tyris, she never left Kam''s side on a crime scene, killing even the mosquitos that tried to approach her. Back at the office, the Guardianbed her hair, prepared her meals with impable timing, and dealt with most of the paperwork.

    She left just enough for Kam to always have something to do but cleared her pile of documents so that the new files wouldn''t umte on her desk for the next day.

    "You need to rx. Stress is an invisible enemy." Tyris had replied to Kam''s silent question after the whole office had been staring at her in envy for a while.

    "They are a troublesome bunch, but at least they are effective." Jirni sighed while taking one of the sweets from the tray on Kam''s desk. "Do you mind? I''ve already reached the point I''m starting to have cravings."

    "Help yourself. I have more food than paperwork on my desk." Kam sighed as well. "Do you think we should hire traffic directors?"

    Even under her Constable alias, Tyris was still a beauty and a member of the Royal family which attracted the attention of every male in the building and noble in the Capital.

    Sark was just as impressive and on top of being the absolute authority of the Desert, she was notoriously single. Her line of suitors included even merchants looking for safe routes in the Blood Desert and new markets.

    Much to Kam''s surprise, even Leegaain had quite the following.

    He had discarded his usually unkempt appearance, turning out to be a fairly handsome man. Once sharply dressed in his uniform, his wits and his ability to hold any kind of conversation made him quite charming.

    What really surprised Kam, however, was that the female staff flocked around him despite he always carried baby Valeron on his back and Shargein in human form on his chest, both in a baby holder.

    "It''s a good idea, especially if they are going to stay here for more than a day." Jirni replied.

    ''This isn''t the kind of training that I had nned for, but the Guardians have reached the apex in their respective fields. Even if can catch a glimpse of their abilities and learn from example, it''s going to be a huge payoff.'' She thought.

    "Looks like someone is popr." Sark grunted, unhappy for all the attention that the usually reclusive Leegaain received.

    "Looks like someone is jealous." He replied with a shrug.

    "Of course I''m jealous." She snarled, walking toward the interrogation room.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The clicking of her heels sounded like a death knell to the poor sap she was about to meet.

    "How long will Lith and the girls be away?" Jirni asked.

    "I don''t know. I only wish he is alright. Grandma?" Kam stopped the Overlord in her tracks.

    "Let''s see." Even from the capital, her breathing technique, Mother Sun, allowed her to scour her turf and know everything that happened in a specific location, if she put her mind to it.

    Even the veil that isted the Fringe from the rest of Mogar couldn''t stop her foresight.

    "He''s currently fine but things are getting both chaotic and interesting."

    ***

    Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in the Parliament of Leaves.

    "What do you mean, how?" M''Rael activated the defensive arrays of the room but the ck fog ignored them and kept spreading. "That''s your Soul Projection. You should know how to control your emotions!"

    "It''s my first time inside a Fringe!" Lith tried every single meditative technique he knew to try and stop the Void''s rampage, but nothing worked. "Until a few hours ago, I didn''t even know what my Soul Projection looked like.

    "How do you expect me to know how to control it? You lived here your whole life. Tell me what your people do when something like this happens." Even calling upon the Voidfeather Dragon''s life force achieved nothing.

    Lith became covered in red scales and his feathered wings popped out of his back but that was it.

    "Nothing like this has ever happened!" The High Chancellor gritted his teeth, knowing he was in a pinch.

    ''If I trigger the offensive arrays and I kill him, the Soul Projection will disappear. Yet I doubt that his associates will let me do it. This ce is sealed on purpose to intimidate our guests and keep them from escaping if things go south but right now, we are the ones trapped.

    ''The dimensional sealing arrays keep us from Warping away and if we go all out against such powerful creatures in an enclosed space like this, we''ll suffer incalcble losses.

    ''To make matters worse, if that fog keeps spreading, those bastards only need to stall for time and the Abomination will kill us all!''

    The Void kept swatting the iing guards like flies, their defenses useless. Magic and metal were helpless against the ethereal figure who attacked their Soul Projections.

    Luckily, Lith didn''t move from his spot to not break the defensive formation and soon it became apparent that the Void couldn''t move farther than one meter away from him.

    It wasn''t much but at least the elves on the upper seats were safe from him.

    "Stop it! We are not here to trigger a war but to prevent it!" Faluel had to yell to be heard above the Void''s roars.

    "I''m open to suggestions!" Lith replied.

    "A Soul Projection is the manifestation of someone''s current innermost thought or emotion." Aalejah said. "Chancellor, all you have to do to end this peacefully is to give us a proper exnation.

 Chapter 2631 A Dangerous Path (Part 1)

    "Put Lord Qisal''s worries at ease and that thing will fade away." Aalejah said.

    "Fine, I yield!" M''Rael ordered the guards to drop their weapons and deactivated the arrays before walking down the stairs toward Lith with his hands up. "The truth is that the World Tree isn''t interested in a mere census anymore.

    "They have reached out to our colony in the hope that we would abandon our home and move to their Fringe. The Yggdrasill needs lots of manpower to preserve the knowledge they have umted and keep watching over Mogar once they leave."

    "Leave? To go where?" Faluel asked, d to notice that the Chancellor''s change of attitude had quelled the Void''s rage.

    Or rather, the Voidfeather Dragon had restrained him, to hear the rest of the story. The Void had no means to attack from a distance and with his aura sealed, the fog had stopped spreading.

    "The World Tree is tired of sitting on their throne, always watching and never interfering in the events that take ce on Mogar. The first World Tree took pride in this policy and passed it down to their sessors, yet that pride turned into envy when the First Guardian appeared.

    "Unlike the Yggdrasill, Tyris is an immortal being whose power wasn''t limited to a Fringe and who didn''t hesitate to leave her mark on history. Yet the First Guardian''s hand was soft, nudging and inspiring people but always letting them free to make their own choices.

    "The World Tree resented her, but since Tyris didn''t affect Mogar more than a single enlightened Awakened could if they only had the will, the Yggdrasill learned to respect her.

    "The rest of the Guardians, however, turned out to be a bunch of foolish, egotistical meddlers. Sark altered the Desert as she saw fit, always changing the course of the events with extreme prejudice until she got what she wanted.

    "If not for her, there would be only two great Countries today on Garlen. The Blood Desert wouldn''t even exist, itsnds split between the Empire and the Kingdom while the rest would be fragmented into many free countries.

    "The constant infighting between the tribes was supposed to leave them too weak to resist the invaders. They were supposed to be so reliant on foreign merchants for food and weapons that the other countries would force the desert tribes to bend the knee just by cutting off their supplies.

    "Sark, instead, showed them the path of unity and taught them how to rotate the oases to preserve their soil and resources. And that was before she became the Overlord.

    "Leegaain freely spread his knowledge, turning the Empire from the military state it was supposed to be into the cradle of the mystical arts that it is today. If not for him, it would have taken millennia for magic to supnt superstition.

    "People like Silverwing would have never discovered their talents because killed in the crib by an angry mob of idiots. If Leegaain kept his research for himself as the Tree does, tier four and five would be still exclusive to true mages like us elves and Emperor Beasts.

    "Roghar doomed dozens of powerful races, even our own cousins, turning them into hideous monsters. If not for the Svartalf and the Dvergalf falling into orcs and goblins, we would have won the War of the Races!

    "Zagran turned nobodies destined to irrelevance into peerless warriors and leaders who changed the history of their countries. Fenagar spread the seed of all the modern branches of magic that were supposed to be exclusive to single genial individuals.

    "He and the ursed Dragon gave to the younger and weaker races the means to achieve what elves and merfolk treasured for generations. It''s because of them that we lost our superiority and mankind caught up with us.

    "The Leviathan even explored the stars, escaping the gaze of the World Tree and spreading his blight uncontrolled through the cosmos!"

    M''Rael pointed at the sky, making everyone in the room scoff at such a preposterous idea except for those who had traveled to Mogar''s moon with Lith.

    "The Guardians and their offspring have altered history too many times to be left to their own devices any longer. They have created an unbnce that favors the beasts over all other races, something that the World Tree had always avoided doing by restraining themselves and the Saplings.

    "That''s why the Yggdrasill sent a Chronicler to us. They came to ask for our help and give us a taste of what will be ours if we join their cause. The World Tree ns to leave their Fringe, experience world tribtions, and be the first nt Guardian of Mogar.

    "This is the only way to restore the bnce. Yet they cannot just leave. With them gone, the entire system that until now overlooked and recorded Mogar''s history will crumble. Do you understand now why I couldn''t tell you the truth?"

    "Not really." Lith shrugged. "Sounds like a bunch of crap. Aalejah?"

    "He''s telling the truth." She nodded. "Every time a World Tree dies and a new one takes their mantle, the youth always wants more than just to walk into the footsteps of their predecessors.

    "They want to put their newfound power and knowledge to use instead of sitting on them. Yet what usually happens is that after taking into ount the consequences of leaving the Fringe and consulting with the Chroniclers of the old Tree, they always change their mind.

    "Bing a Guardian is a huge gamble and despite their size and knowledge, the World Tree is still just a bright violet-cored Awakened. If they die away from their roots, disconnected from the Saplings spread throughout Mogar, their knowledge would be lost.

    "Without them, the elves that have always protected and aided the World Trees in their endeavor, would need a new home, mentors, and another way to safely Awaken. It''s a monumental task with potentially disastrous consequences."

    "Why don''t they just reach the white core, then?" Faluel asked. "If they know so much, the World Tree must be aware of its secret. They could just be a white core, Awaken a lot of elves after exining to them how to reach the violet, and leave."

    "That would be reckless and pointless." M''Rael replied. "The white core also means the freedom to escape a world tribtion and the Yggdrasill might end up turning down a tribtion without even noticing.

    "As for the elves, we are indeed better than humans, but we are far from perfect. Those who Awaken might enve the other elves or simply leave to take care of their business and not waste their lives protecting weaklings.

    "The authority of the Tree is necessary to keep order. Before leaving the Fringe, they need to establish a valid surrogate that will keep anarchy from destroying everything that they have built through the millennia."

    "That''s exactly what I was going to say." Aalejah grabbed Lith''s shoulder, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Only someone who has spoken to the World Tree can know such things.

    "As much as it pains me to admit it, his story makes sense. The new World Tree must be truly bent on escaping from the cycle of their species."

 Chapter 2632 A Dangerous Path (Part 2)

    "It''s the only reason they can have so easily gifted what they rarely gifted before."

    Lith and the others knew enough about white cores to recognize the truth in M''Rael''s words.

    "Fine, I believe you." Lith took a deep breath and the Void slowly crawled back into the roiling ck sea above his head. "Let me be clear, though. We came here in peace and yet you treated us poorly.

    "I understand that now that we have to outbid the World Tree you think to be in a position of superiority, but you are dead wrong. What the Yggdrasil is offering you is just to rece your current prison with a more gilded one, but you would still be trapped.

    "Trapped by duty, your new powers will be bound to a never-ending task that would force your people to spend their lives serving an absent master. What we''vee to offer you, instead, is freedom.

    "Freedom to roam Mogar again and do whatever you want like in the old days. If you ept our deal, your people will join the other races and pursue their individual goals instead of those of the World Tree.

    "Sure, there is a price to pay, but nothing worth havinges easy. Also, I don''t believe you to be na?ve enough to think we would put our lives at risk bying here just to make you a gift."

    Lith took a pause, letting his words sink and listening to the whispers of the elf lords that were weighing their options. They venerated the World Tree from the day the elves had learned how to record their history, but what they had longed for ever since the War of the Races was to roam Mogar again.

    Joining the Yggdrasill''s cause was a high calling, but it would keep them isted as they had always been.

    M''Rael opened his mouth but Lith cut him off, his eyes aze with red and ck mana.

    "Onest warning before you decide what to do with us. The Council knows we are here. The Overlord knows we are here. Maybe they can''t get inside the Fringe, but once its location is exposed, they can make damn sure that nothinges out.

    "Raise your hand against us and whatever your beloved World Tree has in mind they will have to find a way to do it without you." Lith was lying through his teeth, but his poker face was impable.

    The Council had no idea where they were while Sark was unlikely to care if Lith died because his n failed but the High Chancellor had no way to know the terms of Lith''s dealing with the various powers in y.

    On top of that, something else was crawling out of his back. A red-scaled ck-feathered Dragon appeared as a Soul Projection, leaving only the Abomination visible to the Chancellor''s Soul Vision.

    ''What the fuck? How can mere projections tag in and out like in some sort of sick game?'' M''Rael inner turmoil went from bad to worse when blue six-pointed magic circles of unknown origin started to fill the space around the Voidfeather Dragon starting from his ming unfolded wings.

    "He stands corrected, that was his final warning, elf. He doesn''t speak for us." The Dragon''s voice rumbled like the grating of stone against stone during a quake. "This is the final warning you''ll receive, elf, so listen well because I''m not going to repeat myself.

    "*We* don''t trust you. *We* don''t like you. And *we* seldom agree. Yet when we do agree on something, bad things happen. Make sure that bad things don''t happen to you, elf. This is *our* final warning and this¡­"

    Bolts of lightning erupted from the magic circles surrounding the Voidfeather Dragon and once again the protective arrays of the Parliament failed to perceive the threat at hand.

    M''Rael activated them manually but the spells seemed to ignore the air sealing arrays, forcing him to dodge. Or at least he tried.

    The bolts that had apparently missed their target now pinned his mantle to the ground in the form of stone spikes while a razor-sharp shard of ice cut M''Rael''s cheek right below his left eye before piercing through the hardwood of the wall desk behind him with a thump.

    "This is a memo." The Voidfeather Dragone folded his wings around himself like a cocoon, slowly sinking into the ck sea from which he had emerged until the space above Lith''s head was clear again.

    ''By the Great Mother!'' M''Rael and the rest of the Parliament of Leaves could see with Soul Vision the Voidfeather Dragon reappearing in the Dragon Lord''s true nature.

    The Abomination nested itself on the Wyrm''s forehead, turning the scales ck and the fire blue again as their energies mixed.

    ''The Eldritch-thing can attack physically whereas that weird Fire Dragon can use fucking magic and neither makes sense! Soul Projections are supposed to be just that, projections. How can mere psychic manifestations have a will and skills of their own?''

    "I have no idea who those guys are, but in your shoes, I''d listen to them." Lith exploited his usible deniability to reap the benefits of his alter egos'' threats without taking ountability for their action.

    "Now, if we want to continue this conversation, you have to bring us to a table. I''m tired of being looked down upon. If that''s too much to ask, then we''d like to leave."

    "Wait!" One of the male representatives on the highest seats stood up. "In the name of n Ra''Firo, I''m interested in hearing the Awakened Council''s proposal. All in favor?"

    "n Ce''Run agrees." A middle-aged elf with grey streaks amid his hair said.

    "And so does n Ni''Nire." A female elf said and after her, three more whose ns'' names sounded oddly familiar followed suit. "I like power, but I prefer freedom. We can always find a way to Awaken ourselves in the future whereas a contract with the World Tree would bind us forever."

    At that point, many from the lesser seats joined them, leaving M''Rael outnumbered.

    ''I''m no Solus, but I didn''t miss how the most powerful elven ns bear in their name part of the primordial elemental runes.'' Lith thought ''Either is a matter of prestige, or maybe that''s just how the elven runes for each element sound.''

    The meeting moved to a room on the lower floor where there was a round table big enough to host the representatives of the Parliament on one half, leaving the other to an equal number of guests.

    The chamber was long and broad, with several wooden pirs nking the walls to support the weight of the upper part of the tree and ensure the flow of sap and nutrients between floors.

    The first three pirs on either side of the entrance had been shaped with Body Sculpting to resemble the manifestations of the six elements. Then, followed the insignia of the other ns in descending order of importance.

    The smell of fresh fruits and old-aged liquors filled the room. The elves didn''t offer and the guests didn''t ask for refreshments, neither wanting to extend the bond of hospitality farther than they trusted the other.

 Chapter 2633 Oddly Specific Requests (Part 1)

    The setup and the presence of the guards still made Aalejah''s group feel overwhelmed and outnumbered but at least now they could look their hosts in the eyes.

    Aalejah spoke first, presenting the facts of Jiera''s gue and exining its consequences in detail without leaving anything out. Then it was Faluel''s turn, offering the elves a role in the quelling of the monster tides and the destruction of the lost cities.

    M''Rael didn''t say anything the whole time and so did Lith. They stared at each other, trying to understand their respective endgames and how much the other party was saying was true.

    ***

    The site of the ritual, a few miles away, at the same time.

    Solus came out of the magic circle feeling happy but exhausted. Her body was drained of energy from the mental stress and she was in dire need of rest.

    "How did it go?" Nalrond asked.

    "I''m going to show you what I saw, but only so that you can start deciphering it on your own." She replied. "There''s no point in discussing it without the others. We''ll wait for their return to avoid repeating ourselves. Okay?"

    Everyone nodded in reply and then Solus shared her experience with the others with a mind link, cutting Morok out of thest part where she had met her parents. Vastor she could show since the Tyrant had no idea who the Master was and couldn''t associate the round Professor with anythingpromising.

    Quy and Friya nearly wept a few tears when they witnessed Solus'' meeting with Threin and Menadion but they had to hold them in to not alert the Tyrant.

    "Damn, it seems that you and Lith fucked up." Morok said while looking at the distraught Rezar. "By the way, who''s the fatass?"

    "You don''t know Professor Vastor?" Nalrond didn''t know about the Master either, but he had met the Professor many times when he had visited Zinya or Lith''s house in the past.

    "Who?"

    "My mentor at the academy!" Quy snarled. "The man who taught me everything I know about Body Sculpting. I told you about Professor Vastor a lot of times. I even showed you holograms of our work together."

    "If I forgot about him, it means it was boring. I mean, it means I didn''t consider himpetition. Wait, no, I mean- Lith and Nalrond fucked up. Am I right?"

    "Whatever." Quy tried and failed to not roll her eyes. "What now?"

    "Either we wait or any of you guys can take their turn. The meeting is still ongoing and the elves are distracted." Solus shrugged, not knowing how right she was. "You could ask for tips about your violet core and what Faluel needs to be a Seven Headed Dragon, Friya.

    "I was limited to three questions so I couldn''t discover more than what I''ve shown you. I know that I''m supposed to have a privileged rtionship with Mogar and the fact that she allowed me to converse with my parents confirms it, but the answers she shows shouldn''t change.

    "Also, my mana and stamina are fine. The problem is that I''m emotionally drained and that''s something Invigoration can''t help me with. If you want me to go back in there, we have to wait and I don''t know how much time we have left."

    "You make a good point." Friya checked themunication amulet while tapping her lips with her forefinger.

    There was a message Faluel had sent her after moving to the neutral location, assuring her that everything was fine. That and the fact that the runes of her friends were still avable reassured her.

    Friya sighed in relief, showing the message to the others.

    "While Solus rests, I''ll take my chances with Mogar. Let''s get to work." The magic circles they had prepared were already spent and they needed to be recharged. Being arrays, anyone could set up the runes to conjure the six elemental energies.

    The only step that only the supplicant could take was dripping their blood so to turn the elemental influx into an extension of their own Spirit Magic. With the help of the others, Friya was done setting up for the second contact by the time Lith was making the Council''s offer to the Parliament.

    "Damn, still no more news." Her amulet was the same, with neither good or bad news to offer. "I''m going in. Shake me up if anything happens. I don''t give a damn about getting answers at the cost of my mentor and my best friend''s life."

    "Thanks for your kind words." Morok said with a sneer. "I''m sure that Master Ajatar will appreciate them."

    "I like the lizard but I don''t know him enough to care. Sue me." Friya closed her eyes and cut off any external noise, starting with the Tyrant.

    Her trip to the Mindscape was as quick as Solus'' but way more confusing. Friya had never been there and the white void endlessly extending in every direction was disturbing.

    There was no noise, making the sound of her own breath deafening, and no color, making her own shadow look like an ink blot tainting the otherwise pristine ground.

    Friya looked down at herself, discovering that she still wore her clothes yet her equipment was gone.

    "It''s okay." She tried to think but it manifested out loud as if she had spoken. "I stand corrected, it''s not okay. It''s creepy as fuck. Even worse, there''s no trace of Mogar. If I''m so insignificant that she stood me up, I swear to the gods that I''m going to cry."

    "Nothing like that." Said a manly voice from her back, making her emit a shrill shriek in surprise. "I was just waiting for you to get ustomed to my ce before showing myself. I didn''t want to split your focus and prolong this meeting for more than it''s necessary."

    Friya turned around, finding herself facing her father, Orion. Or rather, someone resembling him since he had dark brown hair and chestnut eyes instead of the seven-colored hair and eyes of the apparition in front of her.

    Everything else, from his clothes to his demeanor was identical to the original. He was wearing his trademark Knight Guard uniform and looked half asleep and half happy to see her just like when they met every morning for breakfast.

    "Dad?" She knew it was impossible, but every fiber of her being was too happy of seeing the reassuring figure of Orion to care. His mere presence was enough to make her feel safe despite the eeriness of the white world around her.

    "No, but this Orion must be an outstanding man if you chose him as my appearance over yourself and your boyfriend." Mogar replied. "Now that we are done with the introductions, are you ready to ask me your questions?"

    "Not really." Friya inwardly sighed in relief and of course, it was loud anyway. "I need a minute to get ustomed to the rules of this ce."

    ''I''m d I''m not so self-centered to see Mogar as myself, but what really scared me was the idea they might take Phloria''s appearance. I don''t think I could have taken that.'' She managed to think by focusing on the words instead of their sound.

 Chapter 2634 Oddly Specific Requests (Part 2)

    ''Cool.'' Mogar replied, his tone mildly annoyed. ''Didn''t your friend tell you that as per its name, the Mindscape is all in your head? Thinking and speaking are the same.''

    "I''m sorry! I mean, she did, I just forgot. This is so weird." Friya blushed in embarrassment, not for her blunder but at the idea that the privacy of her head had been invaded without her even noticing.

    ''Don''t think about embarrassing stuff. Don''t think about embarrassing stuff!'' Which of course worked the opposite.

    "Don''t be so strung up, child. There''s nothing you have done or thought that I haven''t seen more times than I can count." Mogar-Orionughed, yet the idea that her father had just witnessed that part of her life made Friya wish to disappear.

    "Okay, let''s put it this way. If you are ever to be a Harbinger, this will be your everyday life." Those words calmed her down immediately and froze her with terror.

    "Really?"

    "Really. That''s why people like Solus and Morok have such an easy time in here." Mogar nodded. "Menadion''s heir is used to share her mind while the Tyrant barely has any. They didn''t fight the flow like you are doing, they surrendered to it and swam their way through."

    "Okay. Now with your permission, I''m going to try and change this ce." Friya said. "I need to learn how to fight if I want to survive meeting your answers."

    "A wise choice, child. Proceed." His Grimlock de appeared between Mogar-Orion''s hands, the tip pushing against the ground as he used it like a walking stick.

    Friya felt just like when she trained under her father''s gaze, her mind at ease and her body rxing, both ridden of the earlier shame and able to focus on the task at hand.

    It took her a while to conjure her equipment and a little more to cast spells like in the real world. She kept practicing until she could reproduce the Spirit Version of her Dimensional Ruler spell.

    "Your time is running out, child." Mogar pointed at the magic circles on the outside world that had lost a little less than half their power. "In a while, you''ll start weakening and everything you did will be for naught."

    "Dammit!" Friya cursed herck of talentpared to Solus and Morok. "Okay, fine. I want to know how to reach the violet myself, how can Faluel the Hydra evolve into a Divine Beast, and how can Nalrond the Rezar fuse his life forces."

    "Oddly specific requests." Mogarughed while conjuring three energy spheres.

    "No offense, but those are the only ones I care about. The rest of the Hydras and werepeople is none of my business." Friya released the blue burst of Full Guard and the golden sparkles of Dimensional Ruler, stepping forward without losing one more second.

    "Mine was just an observation, not a critique." Mogar-Orion admired how swiftly Friya reacted to thebined attacks of the Rezar and the human, dodging them with ease.

    In the Mindscape there was no mana consumption, only willpower. It meant that Friya could use the full scope of her powers for as long as her focus held. She tried to grab them by Blinking behind them but they were too fast.

    Then she drive them apart, but the two lights would always find each other a split secondter. Every wound she inflicted upon them healed in a moment. Flesh was but an illusion, they were made of pure thoughts that needed no nutrients to recover.

    "Okay, this is a waste of time." Friya sighed. "Still, it''s good to know that I''m seeing the same thing as Solus. A third trip would be useless."

    She took a final good look at the answer, noticing how both bodies bled non-stop, opening new wounds themselves as soon as the old ones healed. The only time they had stopped their infighting was when she had injured them.

    "Masochism is the answer?" Friya turned toward one of the unknown spheres, d to notice there was only one which meant a single opponent.

    She restored her spells at full power and then approached the rainbow-colored sphere first.

    Seven spells along with as many bursts of Origin mes flooded the area around her, forcing Friya to use Full Guard to spot the empty spaces that formed as the formation advanced and Dimensional Ruler to Blink there and Switch ces when she missed the timing.

    The Faluel-answer tried to Dominate Dimensional Ruler but between her focus being already spread thin through the volley of attacks and Friya countering with her own, the Seven Headed Dragon failed.

    "Okay, fighting is off the table here." Friya had stepped back enough to stop the onught but not so much that the answer would go back to being a sphere.

    The Dragon Eyes had already deciphered and imitated the Dimensional Ruler that now enveloped Faluel as well. Friya had no desire to discover what happened when two such spells met.

    After a few seconds, the Dragon shapeshifted into Faluel''s human form. There was a light radiating from under her skin and eyes that reminded Friya of the elves. Everything else, however, was the same.

    Even her aura was still of a bright violet.

    "So there is a way that doesn''t involve the white core." Friya pondered. "The question is how?"

    She stepped closer, hoping that the answer would shapeshift into a Hydra first and then into the Seven Headed Dragon, giving her a glimpse of its secret. Yet the moment Friya saw that it was going straight to Dragon, Friya Blinked away.

    She made sure that the other two energy spheres were inactive before approaching thest one. Her own.

    "Please, be something stupid. You are me and I hate riddles." Her prayer was seemingly answered yet she found the vision no less confusing than the others.

    The figure in front of Friya was identical to herself except that for two differences. The first was the obvious deep violet core and its aura. The second was more disturbing.

    Her hair was much longer than the original and each elemental streak had been twisted and knotted so to resemble a snake. They had mouths, eyes, and fangs, whipping the air like living beings and attempting to bite at their enemy.

    "Does this mean that I need to be a Harbinger to reach the violet?" Every snake worked akin to an extra head with its own mana flow and spells at the ready.

    "That would be even more pathetic than you already are, princess." The other-Friya said, her voice oozing poison just like the snakes'' fangs.

    "Excuse you?" Friya was bbergasted.

    Answers were supposed to just spit threats, not make conversation. Solus'' case was unique because her answer didn''t involve herself but her long-lost parents and the memories they wereprised of.

    "Did I say something wrong?" The answerughed at her. "All your life you have paved the road to your sess by mooching off others. First, Lith and Quy back at the academy. Without them, you would have never graduated.

    "Then the Ernas, making up for the mess that mommy dearest made. After that, it was Lith''s turn again, forcing your way into his apprenticeship like the drama queen you are. And now it''s up to Faluel pulling you up."

 Chapter 2635 Tipping The Scales (Part 1)

    "That''s ridiculous!" Friya snarled.

    "Really? Then tell me one thing you have achieved on your own."

    "Dimensional magic!"

    "Wrong. That''s thanks to Rudd''s teachings and that happened only because Lith and Quy changed his mind about non-magical bloodlines. You just rode their coattails." The Friya-answer replied.

    "What about this, then?" Friya took a deep breath and plunged into the despair, self-doubt, and sense of failure that had gued most of her adult life.

    The answer wasprised of her memories and the pain from the flood of negative thoughts brought Friya''s replica to her knees.

    "Yeah, my life sucked and I got help. Big deal." Friya reminded herself of the day of Phloria''s death and the void that it had left in her heart, making the answer cry and wail. "I''ve ovee too much to waste my time listening to the same shit I told myself while growing up.

    "I know my limits. I''ve epted my faults and I''m trying to be better. Nothing a knock-off like you can say can hurt me like Phloria''s words did. She knew and loved me whereas you are me and I''ve never loved myself.

    "So shut up and let me study you." Conjuring her intrusive thoughts paralyzed the answer but resisting them kept Friya from mustering the necessary focus to spot important details of her alter-ego''s appearance.

    It took her a while and a few more trips on the memoryne to shut the answer up before noticing that even though the snakes-hair had a mana flow and carried spells, they were nothing like a Hydra''s heads.

    They had no mind of their own, unfolding into regr hair every time the psychic onught brought the apparition to her knees.

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel "Nice try. I almost bought it, bitch." Friya found herself panting, the Mindscape was slightly distorted. "I guess the magic circles are running on fumes. Thanks, Mogar. I hope to never see you again."

    "That''s rude!" Mogar-Orion snarled. "Why does no one ever stop just for tea or something? I''m trying to be nice here!"

    "Are you serious?" Friya wanted to say something but it was toote, her consciousness was already on its way to return to the real world.

    ***

    A few miles away, the Parliament of Leaves, at the same time.

    Aalejah, Faluel, and Ajatar had taken turns exining Jiera''s recent history without omitting anything. After learning about the gue, the monster tides, and the rampaging lost cities, the Council''s offer didn''t sound so alluring anymore.

    The representatives of the six major ns seemed ready to back out, prompting Faluel into throwing them a bone.

    "I realize that we can''t offer you the safety of the World Tree and losing people in battle means a great deal to you. Yet we are not sending you to your deaths. You''ll fight along the Council and your lost cousins.

    "Also, since we are already working on the Harmonizers for the Svartalf and the¡­"

    "Dvergalf." Aalejahpleted the phrase for her, reminding the Hydra of the goblins'' ancestral name.

    "The Dvergalf, with a few adjustments we could try them on you as well. I can''t promise anything, but Harmonizers have already seeded in Awakening people who were supposed not to.

    "It should work for you too and maybe even help you to ovee your fertility issue if not even to evolve."

    "This is really interesting. I would like to hear more about this Harmonizer." Much to everyone''s surprise, it had been M''Rael to speak.

    Until that moment, he had never bothered to hide his hostility nor had he stopped trying to change his peers'' minds.

    "Agreed." One after the other the representatives of the six great ns nodded, quickly followed by the lesser ns.

    Faluel went into great detail, exining how Lesser Divine Beasts nned to use the artifact to ascend while humans aimed to escape the evolutionary dead end they had been stuck in for millennia.

    "If you allow us to study your life forces and they are not so different from your fallen cousins, then we might use them as a base to fix the fertility issue. Awakening is definitely a possibility whereas evolution would take time.

    "And that''s something your race doesn''tck."

    "Indeed." Representative Amari of n Ni''Nire said.

    She was a woman who ording to human standards looked to be around her thirties. She had long silver hair that contrasted with her youthful visage, streaked blue, ck, and yellow all over.

    "I have to admit that all things considered, your offer has its merits. Maybe even more than the one we received from the Yggdrasill.

    "Yet this doesn''t simplify things, it just makes them harder. Our colony is now at a crossroads and whatever path we take it will change the lives of our people forever. There is no turning back, hence we need time for every representative to discuss both offers with their respective n members first and then among us."

    "I agree with Amari." Representative Erama of n Un''Kidu said. He looked like a man in his fifties but was actually over 500 years old. He had shoulder length ck hair with streaks of silver, red, and blue.

    "I''m grateful for your offer and Imend you all for your bravery. Going to such lengths and putting your lives on the line for the sake of people who live a continent away is something that very few would have done."

    He gave each member of the group a deep bow, starting with Lith. His bow was also the deepest which required Faluel and Ajatar sheer willpower to not roll their eyes at the tant favoritism.

    "Please, give us some time to consider what we have learned today, my Lord. My wish is that no matter which offer we''ll take if any, we''ll be able to part ways as friends and that n Un''Kidu may count on your help in our future endeavors."

    "n Ra''Firo wishes the same and more." Representative Bal''Eza had no qualms about pushing his colleague out of the way to pay his respect.

    He looked even older than Erama and had longer hair of a bright red color streaked silver, orange, and blue all over.

    "Your red scales are a testament to your bloodline belonging to the custodians of Mogar''s primordial fire, a duty that my house shares with your Brood. In the name of this kinship, I can promise that we''ll take your words into great consideration during the debate.

    "Like you, we Ra''Firo don''t like to talk much but the little we say has great weight in the Parliament." The elf gave Lith a bow and almost a headache as well.

    "If there''s anything we can do to make your stay more pleasant you just have to ask. I''m sure that our Le''Ahy would be d to show you around until the Parliament makes its ruling."

    He pointed at the hunter elf who still stood by his side, ready to protect him with her body or act as hostage based on the circumstances. She still held the purified stone in her hand, never letting it go even during M''Rael''s onught.

    ''Interesting. The elves belonging to the six main ns have their hair of the same color of the element of their household.''

 Chapter 2636 Tipping The Scales (Part 2)

    ''On top of that, only those with at least three more affinities are chosen for the role.'' Lith thought while the remaining representatives fought for his attention.

    ''Judging from their childish behavior, they must be desperate for Origin mes. None of them has promised me anything but all of them are trying to get on my good side. Time to stir the pot and see whates to the surface.''

    Lith waited for the pleasantries and goodbyes to be over before making his move.

    The only other person to receive attention and courtesy from the Parliament was Aalejah, but it wasn''t without an ulterior motive as well. The representatives were greatly interested in hearing about her stories as a former Chronicler candidate and examining her Yggdrasill staff.

    They also demonstrated great curiosity toward her status as Awakened and the influence she held in the outside world through her position in the Council. For such reasons, she received many invitations to spend her time as their honorable guest.

    ''Greedy bastards!'' Unfortunately for them, after ying politics by Athung''s side for so long, Aalejah wasn''t so na?ve anymore. ''Their only goal is to use me to get a ce for themselves in the outside world in case the Parliament decides to serve the Tree but they don''t want to follow.

    ''They want to bring me to their respective sides to use me as a deterrent against the other ns and exploit my rtionship with Lith as a backdoor ess to his abilities.''

    None of her thoughts showed on her face as she smiled and thanked them one by one before turning down their invitations, iming that she was in a rush to report to the Council the status of the negotiations.

    "I thank you all for your offers, but I don''t like to y favorites." Lith said before bidding them goodbye. "I want you to make your decision with a mind free from the burden of possible future alliances and to evaluate the different offers solely on their merit.

    "For this reason, I can''t stay in Setraliie and I can''t bring Le''Ahy with me." At those words she went pale, the only trace of color left on her face was in her cheeks as if Lith had pped her. "My duty with the Council demands secrecy and discretion, just like yours.

    "I can''t ask my loyal guide to choose between her duty as my host and that to her people."

    "I see." Bal''Eza said with a sigh while aside from her pallor, Le''Ahy remained impassible.

    "In a sign of friendship and since we need a means ofmunication, however, I want you to have this." Lith handed Le''Ahy a silvermunication amulet. "It already carries my rune.

    "Whenever you need to speak to me or when the Parliament is done with its deliberation, you can call me and we can set a neutral meeting point."

    Communication amulets were trivial objects on Garlen, but a priceless treasure for the elves who had been exiled long before Jeron vin, the second Ruler of the mes, had shared them with the rest of Mogar.

    To the elves, it was a wonder of modern Forgemastery and due to its ability to create holograms, it stirred their hopes of learning the secrets of Light Mastery by studying the amulet''s enchantments.

    It was all a pipe dream since true and fake mages had tried and failed to do that from the day of the amulets'' release yet in their ignorance, the elves had no way to know it.

    With one move, Lith was giving them a taste of the outside world, showing them the advancements that magic had made from the time of their exile, and adding more fuel to the fire of their rivalry.

    Seeing the Dragon Lord giving such a "treasure" away like it was nothing was bound to stir the internal conflict between ns.

    Lith had chosen Le''Ahy as the giftee because being a part of the Ra''Firo n, the gesture would look like favoritism and drive the rest of the ns to work hard to regain the ground they assumed to have lost.

    More importantly, Le''Ahy was the only one who had shown him a shred of loyalty even though only out of interest. Based on what Aalejah had told Lith, the elf woman had nothing to gain and everything to lose if the negotiations failed.

    His goal was to keep her loyal, even at the cost of ying with her feelings, in order to have someone inside of the Parliament who could warn him in time if something went wrong.

    Le''Ahy opened her mouth to thank him, but only a girlish squeal came out. She put the purified stone inside one of her pockets before epting the amulet and embracing Lith with all the strength that her lithe body possessed.

    "Thank you, Lord Qisal. I promise that I will protect it with my life." She said while burying her face in his chest. "I won''t abuse your trust nor will I call you often. Too much."

    ''Based on her reaction, the smile on Bal''Eza''s face, and the grimace on the others'', they must consider this some kind of betrothal gift.'' Lith thought. ''If they believe I''m the inventor of the amulets, my status in their eyes will go up and they''ll look at our proposal more favorably.''

    Once again, he was d to not have Solus with him. He could almost hear her voice nagging in his head for his maniptions, weaving strings to control the Parliament uncaring for who got hurt in the process.

    ''A lie by omission is still a lie!'' Solus'' echo said. ''That poor girl did nothing wrong. She has proven to be willing to sacrifice her life for you multiple times and that''s how you thank her for her kindness?

    ''I''m truly disappointed in you, Lith Tiamat Verhen. Just wait until I tell Kami about this.'' The nagging would have gone on and on, but that wasn''t the real Solus and Lith had no problem cutting the voice off.

    On second thought, he realized that was exactly what she was going to say.

    ''Fuck me sideways, either we do spend too much time together or I''m developing ESP. My money is on the former. I need to start working on countermeasures.''

    The group was escorted out of Setraliie and waited to be outside of the protective array field before moving away with a regr Warp. They had no idea if the World Tree had taught M''Rael about Spirit Magic as well and wanted to keep its immunity from dimensional sealing arrays a secret, just to be safe.

    Finding and reaching the location of the caves took them seconds. Amulets could share their location as well so after calling Nalrond to announce their arrival, they Warped a few times to random locations.

    After both Life Vision and the Eyes of Menadion confirmed that no one was following them, they flew straight to their destination.

    "How did things go on your side?" Lith asked the moment they entered the undergroundwork.

    Both groups used mind links to share their respective experience until everyone was brought up to speed.

    "I''m truly disappointed in you, Lith Tiamat Verhen!" Solus said the moment Lith was done with his report.

 Chapter 2637 Thorny Ways (Part 1)

    ?

    "A lie by omission is still a lie and¡­"

    The nagging went on exactly as Lith had predicted, just changing the position of a few words and the phrasing here and there.

    "Guilty as charge. I''m a jerk, okay?" He snorted. "Feel free to team up with Kami and rip me a new one once we get back home but before wee to that, do you mind telling me another way to sway the Parliament of Leaves?

    "New or not, sane or not, I don''t trust the World Tree after what his predecessor did to me. Also, if the elves ept their offer, they might as well be extinct since they''ll never leave the Fringe ever again, and fixing Jiera will be much more difficult."

    Solus frowned and red her nostrils in annoyance as her brain worked at full gear to give him a proper answer. The problem was that she found none. The elves had no reason to trust the Council, let alone the humans.

    Abandoning their home based on the words of a stranger was a potential disaster of which they had every reason to be wary. The only way to drag them out of the Fringe was to show rather than promise something worthwhile enough to take such a risk.

    "Fine. I forgive you only because at least this time your n didn''t involve killing anyone." She grunted, crossing her arms and legs as she sat down on a smooth rock.

    "Anytime, Solus. Anytime." Lith replied with a smug grin on his face. "Now, before I take my turn at talking with Mogar, I''d like us to pool our brains and decipher the meaning of your visions.

    "As Friya has confirmed, the same questions receive the same answers, no matter who''s asking. To get Mogar to give me a glimpse of their hand, we need to find a different angle from which I can work."

    "Tomorrow." Friya said, her stomach gurgling loudly. "Making those circles took us a lot of time and mana and meeting Mogar was no joke either."

    "Agreed." Solus snuggled on Lith, relieved from his life force replenishing the strength she had lost by using so much magic in his absence. "I have a massive headache and I feel like I could eat a whole roasted cow and ask for seconds."

    "About that¡­" Faluel said as the Emperor Beasts'' stomachs made the cave vibrate with their grumblings. "We need food and rest. Between getting inside the Fringe and the rituals, too many of us are worn out.

    "We need our full strength in case M''Rael sends someone to make us disappear or if the negotiations fail and we need to fight our way out."

    "Agreed." Ajatar said. "Taken one at a time, a bright blue-cored elf is not that much of a threat to any of us except for Nalrond. No offense."

    "None taken." The Rezar nodded.

    "Facing hundreds of them, however, is a different story. They have the home advantage, can imbue their weapons with spells making arrows deadly, and the more of us leave the Fringe the more dangerous they be.

    "We can''t have Friya and the others take part in the meetings to not stir the hatred from the War of the Races but we can''t have them get to safety either. We need backup and someone covering our retreat if things go south."

    "Then this leaves us with only one question. Do we eat inside or outside?" Quy asked.

    Those who had been holed up in the caves wanted to breathe some fresh air while those who had been to Setraliie wanted to remain underground, afraid that teams of scouts might be looking for them and find their camp.

    "There''s no point staying hidden." Aalejah shrugged. "If the elvese here and look with Soul Vision, they''ll see our true form and spot us no matter what kind of cloaking arrays we set.

    "Even worse, the more arrays we set, the easier will be to spot us."

    The group ultimately decided to eat outside and sleep inside, using magic solely to cook and dissipate the smells.

    "So, what do you make of the updated answers?" Solus asked while wolfing down her second serving of beef stew.

    "I have no idea why both sides of Nalrond have to bleed, but I''m afraid I know what the answer to my life force means." Lith sighed.

    "Okay, what''s that?" Nalrond slouched his shoulders.

    No one had managed to make sense of the vision that was supposed to hint at how to merge his life forces.

    "Well, it''s kind of obvious." Lith replied. "The first time we assumed that the solution to my problem was Arthan''s Madness, but that was before Kolga proved to me that I can''t just pump more life force, I also need to seal the cracks.

    "Jormun confirmed to me that the real answer was the Golden Griffon and its Unwavering Loyalty array. After the destruction of the lost academy, however, all that''s left is the Madness and its ungodly price."

    "Meaning?" Solus tilted her head in confusion.

    "Think about it. Thrud needed clones of herself and the method to grow them has been lost with her death. I have no clones, just the next best thing." Lith massaged his temples, hating even the thought of those words.

    "Your daughter?" Ajatar was bbergasted. "It makes sense. Half of her life forcees from you and it''s bound to bepatible with yours. Mogar must be sick in the head to propose such a disgusting act."

    "It wasn''t a proposal, just an answer." Faluel countered. "Mogar doesn''t make miracles, they simply show you the way, no matter how thorny it is."

    "Also, what''s the role of Quy''s mentor?" Morok asked. "Why is he in the vision?"

    "I have no idea." Lith half lied half said the truth.

    He had long since suspected that the secret behind the Master''s sess in restoring the Eldritches to life was Forbidden Magic. He had no proof of it nor had he ever suspected Vastor to have retrofitted the Madness, but it made sense.

    It was after their first fight with Thrud that the Eldritch-monster hybrids had appeared. It was after raiding Orpal''s pce from the knowledge he had amassed about the Mad Queen that Zoreth''s condition had further improved.

    Lith didn''t like the thought, but refusing to look at the truth just because it was unpleasant would have been beyond foolish. Yet he couldn''t share his worries with anyone since his destiny and the Professor''s were tied.

    Not only because of Zinya, but also because of Solus. Bytra and Zoreth knew her as Elphyn and things could go really bad if his sworn allies became enemies.

    Lith looked at Solus, wishing he could tell her how happy he was for her for meeting her parents. Even without the mind link, he could feel how heavy her burden was and how much she needed to share it, yet it had to wait.

    "What about you two?" He asked Friya and Faluel.

    "First of all, I want to thank my little apprentice for her thoughtfulness." The Hydra ruffled Friya''s hair. "Judging from her vision, we have so many things inmon that she''s almost a daughter to me."

 Chapter 2638 Thorny Ways (Part 2)

    ?

    "Thank you, Master Faluel." Friya flushed a little.

    Due to their simr hair and height, it was easy to mistake them for blood rtives.

    "That said, I have a theory for myself and the answer to Friya''s question."

    "Really?" Friya moved closer to the Hydra to not miss a single word.

    "Yeah, really. Your method for the violet is probably simr to the Hydra''s bloodline technique. Do you want me to exin it to you?" Faluel asked.

    "Fuck! I mean, no, thanks." Friya tried and failed to hide her disappointment. "What''s your theory?"

    "That at least for me, the answer lies once again in following in Thrud''s footsteps." The Hydra replied.

    "More Forbidden Magic?" Ajatar was already regrettinging to the Fringe. "If that''s the price for Dragonhood, I''d rather stay a Drake my whole life."

    "No, silly." She chuckled. "Just showing me in Dragon form would have been pointless. That''s why I glowed in the vision. I believe that Friya got it right and that Mogar was highlighting my blood."

    "Okay, now you''ve lost me." Quy said.

    "Think about how she turned Xedros into a Golden Dragon." Faluel replied. "Thrud''s method consisted in increasing the amount of Divine Beast''s blood inside a Lesser while also feeding them with a life force that could withstand the potency of a Guardian''s blood.

    "Forbidden Magic was the easy and safe way because of the countless sacrifices Thrud made to evolve a single individual. If I''m right, then just like I''ve Awakened my core, my body, and the auxiliary cores, I also have to Awaken my blood.

    "It''s no different from what happened to Lith upon reaching the violet. He was just a Lesser Dragon before that. A hybrid like the others. Lith somehow has channeled the released energy and Mohar''s help to turn himself into a Divine Beast.

    "I''m already at the bright violet so this is going to be harder for me. I need a way to turn my Dragon blood into a dominant trait while also altering my life force so that I don''t die during the transformation."

    "And how would you do that?" Ajatar was pondering about taking part in the ritual and seeing if the same answer applied to him as well.

    "I have no clue." The Hydra shrugged. "That''s why it''s called a theory."

    They had all worked up a huge appetite but luckily the Lesser Dragons had brought dimensional amulets filled with enough roasted cows to feed a battalion.

    "What was that thing with Lith''s Soul Projection?" Solus asked while they were revising the meeting with the Parliament.

    "That''s a great question." Aalejah nodded. "I''ve never seen anything like that before and if the World Tree has ever recorded something simr, they kept it in their private archives where aspirants Chroniclers have no ess."

    "Then I guess you have no idea what that weird magic was either." Solus was almost certain it had been some kind of Void Magic, but she couldn''t exin the arrays or their use.

    "Yup. What about you guys?" The elf looked at the members of the group in turn, obtaining only shrugs in reply. "Lith, why don''t you conjure them for a little experiment?"

    "Conjure how?" He furrowed his brows in annoyance, not liking the feeling of being the science project. "Thest time I did that on purpose, they canceled each other. Also, if it works, tell me how we stop them from making a fuss and being visible for kilometers."

    "Oh." She replied in disappointment.

    "Oh, indeed. No point in waking the literal Dragon if you don''t know how to put him back to sleep. Also¡­" Lith tried to shapeshift, but it felt weird. "There is some kind of resistance in moving between my life forces.

    "They are still fused but it seems that gaining consciousness and partial substance makes them more resistant to my will."

    "Are you saying you can''t shapeshift?" Morok asked.

    "No, I can." Lith cycled between his four forms. "It''s just more difficult and I can catch a glimpse of their thoughts in the process. I''m afraid that taking another form that isn''t human or Tiamat might increase their hold on my body and make me lose control."

    After dinner, while the others rested, Lith and Solus took the first guard shift. They could use some alone time so Solus conjured the tower and released the Sentries to keep guard in their stead before having the building disappear underground.

    The crystal constructs generated by the Mirror Hall were unanimated objects. They had no Soul Projection and their sensory range was far superior to Soul Vision''s, allowing them to spot enemy scouts way before they could notice them.

    Regr sight was pointless as well thanks to the camouge system of the Sentries that reflected their surroundings on the crystal''s surface, making them nigh-invisible.

    "Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed this." Solus sniffed the delicious smell of pancakes drowned in syrup and of the hot chocte that Lith had prepared for her. "Meeting the echoes of my parents in the Mindscape was hard but being forced to bottle everything up until now was much worse."

    Being surrounded by the familiar rooms of the tower made her feel at home while Lith standing right in front of her made Solus feel protected.

    Her eyes wandered all over the table, not knowing if she wanted to drink, eat, or just fall apart first.

    "I''m sorry you had to go through all that alone. Had I known that the echoes in the Mindscape still retained the memories of their originals I would have found a way to send someone else to the Parliament and be by your side." Lith said, wondering if he could somehow meet Carl in the same way.

    "Thanks." She puffed on the hot chocte before taking a small sip. "I wonder if by asking the proper question you could meet Carl in the Mindscape. I mean, you''ve already talked with him there back in Kolga so Mogar must have saved his ''data'' in her consciousness."

    "I think we spend too much time together. And I mean even considering our bond." Lith studied her expression to see if she really hade to that same conclusion on her own or if she was just pulling his leg and reading his mind.

    "What do you mean?" She blinked several times in confusion, taking a bite from a syrup-dripping pancake.

    The sip of chocte had opened her stomach and the sweet taste of the pancakes was countering her sour mood. Soon her te and cup were empty but she still had plenty of space for seconds.

    Lith used a superficial mind fusion to share with her both the imaginary nagging and histest thoughts along with her reaction to both.

    "By my Mom, we do spend too much time together." She giggled at the revtion, feeling her burden be a little lighter. "I swear on the tower that I haven''t read your mind. The words just came to my mind by themselves."

    "I''m sorry for the stupid question, but how do you feel?" Lith asked.

    It was in vition of Dawn''s teachings about boundaries, but Solus opted for a partial fusion as well.

 Chapter 2639 Pulling The Leash (Part 1)

    ?

    A mind link would have transmitted the images and the feelings that Solus had experienced inside the Mindscape while the fusion allowed her also to share her current inner turmoil and the feelings that reliving the experience aroused.

    "I''m d to have met my parents onest time even though they were just recordings stored in Mogar''s consciousness. I was really happy to hear them say to me how they never resented me, yet I still can''t forgive myself.

    "I don''t me myself for what happened to Threin, I mean my father. But that only because as he told me, I was just a child who didn''t know better. What happened to Mom, instead, was entirely my fault.

    "Awakened or not, past 20 years of age I would have been considered an adult even on Earth yet I kept acting like a spoiled child. I was so full of myself that no matter how many times Aunt Loka and Malyshka tried to open my eyes, I never listened to them.

    "I never sought advice, only validation. Even if Mom didn''t resent me, I do. I wasted what time we had left together and, even after recognizing my faults, I never had the guts to make the first steps and apologize.

    "The great Elphyn Menadion who rivalled with the Fourth Ruler of the mes on a daily basis wasn''t capable of opening her mouth except that for bragging and bitching.

    "If only I told Mom to stay with me after she saved my life instead of making it all about myself as always, she would still be alive!"

    Solus mmed her fist on the table, sobbing a little. The hardwood would have split and the tes shattered if not for them being part of the tower itself.

    "I''m far from being a forgiving andpassionate guy, but when you woke up after being fused with the tower, you were just back from the dead. Don''t you think that maybe the shock, grief, and confusion yed a role outside of your control?" Lith asked.

    "I don''t know." Solus lowered her gaze in sadness. "I don''t remember that part. What I know, however, is that Mom wouldn''t have never left my side before making sure that I was alright.

    "I bet my life on her waiting until I regained consciousness to exin to me what had happened and teach me how to operate the tower in case she didn''t return. I bet that I stood there like a moron, crying for myself and my fellow apprentices instead of worrying about my mother''s health after undertaking such a crazy feat.

    "I should have checked up on her. I should have begged her to stay until she recoveredpletely!"

    "You can''t me yourself for something you may or may not have done-"

    "Yes, I can!" Solus yelled at the top of her lungs, cutting him short. "Because whatever I did, I sent my mother to die! You are right, I don''t know for sure what I did but whatever it was, my mother ended up dead.

    "And you know what really hurts? It''s knowing that after everything I did, after all the cruel things I said to my mother, she died feeling guilty. Even when I cared only about myself, she only cared about me.

    "I was her final thought while she passed away from her wounds, but what was mine? What the heck was I thinking when Bytra stabbed me? Not knowing is killing me because I can''t help but fill in the nks with the most obvious answer.

    "Something stupid, childish, and probably egotistical. Like that the blood was ruining my dress or some shit like that!" Solus started to tear apart her clothes, hating them for what they represented for her old self and how as Elphyn she carried more memories of her wardrobe than of Menadion.

    Lith moved behind her, grabbing her wrists and locking her in an embrace while the Voidwalker armor repaired itself. Solus struggled for a while, screaming and sobbing while the pleas of Menadion''s echo for forgiveness hurt her more than any mean word or reproach could.

    After a while, the weight of the meeting with her parents finally hit her in full.

    The love she felt for them, the grief for their loss, and the guilt for what she considered her role in Menadion''s downfall drowned Solus in despair and self-pity.

    She fought to get free from Lith''s embrace with renewed vigor but not because she wanted to be left alone. She felt undeserving of that affection and wanted to punish herself in a way that she believed fit the wrongs she hadmitted.

    Solus found herself unworthy of the happiness she had found in her second life.

    After seeing the pitiful state her parents were in at the moment of their death, she found it uneptable that someone as petty as Elphyn Menadion had been granted a second chance at life.

    ''Someone like me should pay for all the mistakes I made and the lives I ruined, my own included. I don''t deserve a new family, my mother''s inheritance, or the luck to have a partner who always treated me like a person.

    ''The hunger and madness I endured were no coincidence but some sort of cosmic justice. Losing my memories was another selfish act, absolving myself from my wrongdoings through amnesia.

    ''I should have never forgotten the pain I caused and lived my life in penance instead of worrying about regaining a body I don''t deserve and seeking a love that I''m bound to poison like I did everything else in my life.'' These were her private thoughts, her mind incapable of articting anything but wails.

    Yet from so up close, there was no need for a mind link and Lith could hear everything unless she put some effort to keep him out. Soluscked such focus, allowing him to share her inner turmoil and answer it.

    ''What a load of bullshit!'' The coldness of his reply cut like steel, making her freeze in ce. ''Sure, Elphyn Menadion was an asshole. So what? If all assholes had to die, Mogar''s poption would be reduced to less than one-tenth and I for sure wouldn''t be among the survivors.

    ''She was cruel and unfair to her mother, but it''s also true that life was cruel and unfair to Elphyn. Losing her father like that and her mother''s inability to help a little girl to ovee her grief wasn''t Elphyn''s fault.

    ''She grew up broken, but so did I. I wish I had her luck, because Elphyn received the support she needed to not let her pain turn her into a cold-hearted monster like me. Working on her issues took time, sure, but as you have shown me, she hade to admit she had a problem.

    ''She had stopped pointing fingers and ming others. She was ready to make amends with Menadion but Bytra took that opportunity away from Elphyn. Had she been killed just a few monthster, things might have been entirely different.

    ''Also, stop painting your old self so ck. Elphyn was prideful, but she had the talent to back it. She didn''t bully people nor did she ever abuse her authority as Menadion''s heir.''

 Chapter 2640 Pulling The Leash (Part 2)

    ?

    ''She just didn''t sugarcoat her words and regarded others with the same impossible standards she applied to herself. All the people we have met who knew Elphyn Menadion loved her and considered her a troubled but good person.

    ''Aerth, Malyshka, Silverwing, and Grandma had many good things to say about you and a few bad ones, because guess what? Nobody is perfect.

    ''When Bytra begged for your forgiveness and showed you her side of your story, she admitted that the reason for her anger wasn''t the harshness of your words but the fact that she was the first one to demean herself whenpared to Ripha.

    ''You don''t have to carry the weight on Mogar on your shoulders. People are responsible for their own decisions and the actions that follow. It was Threin who chose not to train his body. It was Ripha who abandoned you to seek revenge instead of staying with you until she recovered.

    ''It was Bytra who let her envy drive her to murder and madness. You were part of their lives, not their master. You may have contributed to the events but the final choice has always been theirs.

    ''Whatever part you yed, whatever wrongs you did in the past, you have paid for them in full.''

    Through the physical contact, Lith forced her to remember about everything she had suffered before meeting him. The loneliness, the hunger, the desperation that had gued her for centuries as her sense of self was slowly eroded by the tower in order to keep her alive.

    Then, he reminded her of the sense of istion she had suffered back when she was just a voice in his head. The creeping madness from her inability to sleep due to theck of a physical body.

    The darkest moments of Solus'' second life shed in front of her eyes, including all the moments when people treated her like a cursed object and were hell-bent on destroying or enving her without a second thought.

    ''What you have today is not something that some merciful god has gifted you out of the goodness of their heart, it''s something you built with me!''

    It was then that the brightest moments of her new life pushed the darkness back into the deepest corners of her mind that had spawned it. Solus remembered all the time they had spent together when Lith was a kid, practicing magic and taking care of Tista.

    Her life had begun anew as a little more than a talking tool, but with time, her role in his life had grown and he had given in to more of her demands. The academy, their friends, and every bit of herself she recovered was a dot of light, forming a line that led to the present.

    The darknessy in between the dots, but their collective light overwhelmed it. Solus Verhen had suffered much and sacrificed even more, yet the result was worth her efforts.

    Her mother''s tower was back and so was her body. She had a loving family that trusted and depended on her. Elphyn had lived her life alone despite being surrounded by love whereas Solus had nurtured every bit of affection she had received even at personal cost, making it grow.

    She stopped fighting, still clenching at Lith''s arms but now to keep them close instead of pushing them away.

    Solus kept sobbing while neither of them said a word. Yet their silence was filled with memories of the time they had spent together, each stirring a different emotion that conjured another memory in a loop.

    They remained like that until the internal clock of the tower alerted them that it was time for the second shift. Solus gently pushed Lith away, checking the logs of the Sentries for anomalies or witnesses before making the tower emerge from its hiding spot.

    She used plenty of water to wash her face and light magic to erase the signs of the prolonged crying. Solus had many things she would have liked to say but no time. Any moment now and someone woulde out of the caves to take over guard duty.

    "Thanks." She said while walking through the tower''s door.

    Solus gave Lith a dazzling smile that she hoped would express everything she felt.

    ***

    City of Setraliie, Ra''Firo n, Firestone branch family, at the same time.

    High Chancellor M''Rael Firestone walked through the dark passages of his household''s dungeon. His path was lit only by the luminous spheres he had conjured around his head.

    His steps were filled with rage and frustration, stomping rather than walking toward his destination.

    "This isn''t how things were supposed to be. Those foreigners should have backed into a corner, allowing themselves to be ughtered and me to collect their resources to increase my status with the Parliament of Leaves.

    "They should have been just another stepping stone on my path to reunite and lead the elf race in taking back our ancestralnds. Instead, the Parliament turned its back on me and I was forced to fold like a cheap shirt. This shall not stand!" M''Rael talked to himself because he couldn''t trust anyone with the truth.

    Down in the deepest part of the dungeon, in a secret corridor that he had built himself with earth magic back when he was young and angry,y the secret of his sess.

    He hadn''t lied to Faluel and the others because there was no reason to.

    Everyone knew that a Chronicler of the World Tree hade to their Fringe to push the idiotic agenda of his master. The Yggdrasill did give M''Rael Awakening, the violet core, and the Sage Crown.

    He had simply omitted to say those weren''t gifts but things he had extorted from the young Tree and that the Chronicler had never left Setraliie.

    Every elf knew how being a Chronicler worked. They were the Harbingers of the Yggdrasill, recipients of the Tree''s power and knowledge. Or as M''Rael liked to see it, the Chroniclers were the weak point of an otherwise formidable being.

    Chronicler Eldun Flippage was chained to the wall with mystical chains that wounded and healed him non-stop, keeping him in an unconscious state. A high-concentrated nutrients potion dripped into his mouth, ensuring that consumption never reached a critical state.

    The Chronicler had been in such a state for weeks now, his enhanced Awakened body made it easier to keep him alive no matter the punishment he endured. After all, M''Rael had no interest in Eldun.

    "Why waste your time with the dog when by pulling its leash you can drag its master to the ground?" The High Chancellor said to the wood splinter stuck in Eldun''s chest, the only piece of Eldun''s Yggdrasill equipment left and the ce where the consciousness of the World Tree was trapped.

    Usually, capturing a Chronicler was an impossible feat.

    Strong with the nigh-omniscience of the Yggdrasil and the bright violet core coupled with Soul and Life Vision, there was no trick a Chronicler wouldn''t avoid or lie they wouldn''t expose.

    The moment the World Tree perceived the slightest ill will they would order their emissary to cast an unstoppable Spirit Warp while the Tree conjured through their wooden equipment spells of untold power to cover the Chronicler''s escape.

    Usually.

 Chapter 2641 Master and Slave (Part 1)

    Chapter 2641 Master and ve (Part 1)

    Because never before had a newly ascended World Tree sent their Chroniclers away without taking the time to assimte the social knowledge that the elven tribes that lived with the Tree carried.

    The Yggdrasill kept for himself only what was rted to magic and the ways to nurture magical resources.

    There was so much to know that even the mighty Tree could barely contain the fruits of the sheer magical research that their predecessors had umted from times that long preceded even the Guardians.

    Never before had a young Yggdrasill spread their consciousness through so many Chroniclers at the same time while putting the lives of their emissaries at risk. In the rush to leave the Fringe once and for all, the new World Tree had bitten more than they could chew.

    Eldun had been left by himself while the Tree dealt with the ongoing crisis caused by their own recklessness, too busy saving the Chroniclers whose lives were already in lethal danger to notice the impending betrayal.

    Eldun was wise and experienced, but going from one World Tree to another was an experience as rare as it was traumatic. He had lived all of his life with his master''s voice in his head, following strict protocols and discipline.

    Now the voice had changed, rushing Eldun and ordering him to disregard the old ways in favor of efficiency. He was no longer allowed to bide his time and study his future hosts from a distance before introducing himself.

    ording to the Tree, there was no point in doing it.

    Elves loved and venerated the Tree. They weren''t like the treacherous humans or the greedy beasts. Eldun only had to move in, present them with the Yggdrasill''s offer, convince them, move to another Fringe, rinse and repeat.

    Or rather, that had been the n.

    M''Rael had been a member of the warrior caste of the Firestone branch of the Ra''Firo n before capturing Eldun. It had been more a stroke of luck than a real n, but that wasn''t how M''Rael would have told the story to his biographers.

    The Chronicler had been unlucky enough to choose the border of the Fringe M''Rael was patrolling. While Eldun focused on piercing the veil separating him from Mogar, M''Rael focused on hitting the back of the Chronicler''s head with the Submission Club with surgical precision.

    The magical tool was devised to be non-lethal and capture prisoners alive but M''Rael had trusted the World Tree and imbued the Club with his best spells before dealing the blow.

    Eldun''s skull had been shattered and his brain turned into a mush, forcing the World Tree to focus their consciousness inside the Fringe in order to save the Chronicler. If Eldun died, so would the fragment of the World Tree with which he was entrusted.

    The Tree would lose a chunk of his power and knowledge forever, forcing them to rebuild it from scratch. Even worse, the Yggdrasill would have shared the pain of their Chronicler''s death and in turn, passed it on to the other Chroniclers.

    The shock would havepromised their focus in battle and if another of them died because of it, their demise would have triggered a cycle that would end only with the extinction of the Chronicler Corps.

    It would have meant setting the World Tree back of millennia and the permanent loss of priceless knowledge.

    M''Rael had exploited the Tree''s moment of weakness to cast Body Sculpting spells that twisted both Eldun''s and the Yggdrasill''s life forces, crippling their powers. At that point, the future High Chancellor had spent every moment of his free time torturing the Tree while making sure that Eldun wouldn''t die in the process.

    Moving their consciousness through two Fringes and the space separating them at the same time weakened the Tree, but the link still forced them to endure everything the Chronicler experienced.

    It was through coercion that M''Rael had been Awakened.

    The Yggdrasill would have loved to botch the process on purpose and let the traitorous elf die, but M''Rael had twisted Eldun''s life force to the point that without constant treatments, the pain would be maddening.

    Before trusting his body to the World Tree, M''Rael had given them multiple tastes of what waited for them in case of his death.

    The psyche of the new Tree had barely withstood the experience and needed sheer willpower to stop the crippling pain from spreading to the rest of their Chroniclers.

    With M''Rael gone, Eldun would have died slowly enough to infect the rest of the corps. Afraid of the consequences of their resistance and feeling guilt for having endangered the work of their predecessor, the World Tree had submitted.

    Then, M''Rael had demanded the secret of the violet core and then something that would prove to Setraliie''s people that he was indeed the chosen one. That was how the Sage Crown had taken form from the remnants of Eldun''s broken equipment.

    M''Rael had purged the Tree''s consciousness from it in order to both keep the Yggdrasill near Eldun so that would share his pain and to prevent the members of the Parliament from uncovering his lies.

    The n had seeded but with one invisible w.

    The World Tree knew about Lith nning the journey for months so he had named and shaped the crown ording to the blueprints of the Sage Staff, hoping that he would notice the red g.

    s, they hadn''t taken into ount that Lith and Solus would have gone separate ways.

    Without her, Lith didn''t have the luxury to space out and study someone''s equipment. He had been forced to focus on the guards and the arrays surrounding him first and then split his attention among the various representatives.

    As for the elves, they had been too happy about M''Rael''s achievements to wonder why the Chronicler had returned just for him or why he had chosen a humble border captain among the thousands of elves of the vine city.

    n Ra''Firo, to which his household belonged, had silenced doubts and rumors in order to protect its prestige and increase its authority. The offer of the World Tree was interesting, but ording to M''Rael, they could do better.

    He told them that just like him, many more could be Awakened without the restraint of serving the Yggdrasill forever. That he was personally negotiating with the World Tree so that every one of those who chose not to be a Chronicler would still reach the violet and receive their Yggdrasill wood weapon.

    M''Rael imed that the people of Setraliie had to travel to wherever the World Tree was herding the rest of their brethren and join hands with their scattered brethren. Together, they would establish Garlen''s fourth great country.

    Strong of an army of Awakened elves equipped with the next best thing to Davross, the elves would have reconquered the outside world with minimum casualties. M''Rael had also ensured that Setraliie''s Parliament would not just be a member of the new governing organ of the united ns.

    Thanks to his contribution to the cause, Setraliie''s Parliament would assume a leadership role in the future High Parliament. The idea of standing above others was the selling point of his pitch and the first step of his n.

    c71241599ffa2342522e9fa0e93245a9d8ec4ad4e8c3c5baf0c66a8666374fd0663cea3c2ba21a4e2d8dab7a06227c0c6311e685db35d8515e4e34924f32cd34286e1fcd3304ad4537db4509ecfcd7b5

 Chapter 2642 Master and Slave (Part 2)

    Chapter 2642 Master and ve (Part 2)

    "If I rule Setraliie''s Parliament as its High Chancellor, then I''ll rule the High Parliament as well. With the Tree''s wisdom at my beck and call and their Chroniclers as my personal guards, I''ll be unstoppable.

    "I''ll be the King of the elves without those morons even noticing.

    "An eternal and pointless war with the other races will keep them too busy to question my authority and too reliant on my privileged rtionship with the Tree to depose me." He thought out loud.

    "Or rather, that was supposed to be the n! If that Qisal bastard has his way, the citizens of Setraliie will never move to the World Tree''s Fringe and if I go there alone, no one will consider me more than a curiosity.

    "I can''t fail when I''m one step away from the finishing line. Tell me everything I need to know to beat the Voidfeather Dragon at his own game!" M''Rael grabbed the splinter holding the consciousness of the Yggdrasill, twisting their life force even before they refused to answer.

    The World Tree was young, but not stupid. They knew that unless they found a solution or at least a way to warn someone of the threat that M''Rael posed, the Yggdrasill would turn into a ve.

    The elf had already imprisoned their consciousness, leaving the main body on auto-pilot. The Chroniclers believed the World Tree to be deeply involved in one of their newfound nonsensical schemes and were happy to have the Yggdrasill off their backs.

    Without the Tree''s constant nagging and whining, the Chroniclers could finally do things the old way. They recorded the knowledge of present events while also performing the mission that their master had assigned them.

    The Chroniclers didn''t like working toward their own abandonment but they were forced to obey the World Tree''s orders just like a Harbinger would their Divine Beast master.

    Writhing in pain, the Yggdrasill cursed those orders. They had enforced a no-contact rule between Chroniclers in order to save time. Anymunication had to pass through them.

    It was the reason no one was looking for Eldun and the World Tree was at the mercy of a mad elf.

    ***

    The following morning, everyone had slept enough to reset the effects of Invigoration and was back in top shape. Only one sour note ruined their morning breakfast of eggs, sausages, and bacon.

    "Still no reply." Allejah sighed after asking Lith to check hismunication amulet for the umpteenth time. "What are you guys going to do today?"

    "I n on thinking very carefully about my three questions and then go visit Mogar in the Mindscape." Lith replied while checking on Solus'' condition.

    They hadn''t had the opportunity to speak much after leaving the tower and using mind links in the presence of Awakened was considered very rude.

    She smiled at him, visibly better but still shaken from the events of the previous day.

    "I''m done with the Mindscape. I think I''ll just practice Void Magic with Mogar''s help." Solus said.

    "Faluel and I might take our turn right after Lith." Ajatar pondered. "If the answer to my evolution into a Sapphire Dragon is the same as Faluel''s, then the key to Dragonhood trulyy in our blood.

    "The problem is that too many visits to the Mindscape without a diversion keeping the elves busy might lead them to discover our hiding ce. Yet if I wait for tomorrow and the Parliament summons us, I''ll lose my chance.

    "Damn, I can''t help but wish that Thrud wasn''t so foolish. We are just following in her footsteps but there''s no telling how easier this would be if she was sane enough to join the Council and lead us."

    The Hydra sighed and nodded, almost regretting the Mad Queen''s death.

    Then she remembered how many people had lost their lives because of Thrud''s madness and Faluel changed her mind.

    "I''m going to research my newfound bloodline abilities, assuming I have any, of course." Morok said, obtaining Lith''s nod of gratitude for the good idea.

    "I''m going to crack Light Mastery." Quy said.

    "And I''ll work on my damn violet core. I hate the thought of being left behind." Friya noticed Nalrond''s dejected look and added: "No offense, dear."

    "None taken."

    "Good luck to you all." Aalejah said. "I''m going back to Setraliie and listen to the grapevine. M''Rael story is fishy and there''s something about him that''s poking at the back of my head, like an itch I cannot scratch.

    "I hope that with Le''Ahy''s help, I can at least get a feel of the public opinion."

    "Why Le''Ahy instead of your own bodyguard/hostage/boyfriend Nemar?" Morok asked.

    "Because he''s mildly interested in me whereas she''s crazy about Lith." Aalejah replied. "I bet that she will sell me state secrets just to know about his favorite foods and how to cook them. Do I have your permission?"

    "As long as you don''t make her any promises nor do you sell my ass on dates, be my guest." Lith shrugged.

    To not leave anything up to chance, Aalejah set a precise schedule for her reports, telling them where she nned to go, in what order, and how long she assumed each visit would take based on elven customs for hospitality.

    The blueprints of Setraliie she remembered were outdated by centuries, dating to the previous visit of a Chronicler but luckily in that time the elves'' number hadn''t grown much and their city had remained mostly the same.

    Aalejah left the caves after breakfast, taking care to Warp around randomly to make it impossible to find her starting point even for a dimensional mage. She also rxed the space upon her arrival, just to be safe.

    Her arrival point was the same clearing where her group had let themselves be captured the day before. They had left Setraliie on neutral terms and Aalejah wanted to make sure not to give anyone a pretext to detain her.

    ''My value as a hostage is zero, but my fellow elves don''t know it. They could still pull some red tape to use me as a bargaining chip in the negotiations.'' She thought.

    After giving the guards a minute to verify her identity, she said:

    "I''m Aalejah Eventide. I came alone to request hospitality. My wish is to visit your beautiful city and speak to our people. I''ve been stranded on Garlen ever since I failed my test as Chronicler.

    "I miss my brethren dearly and I seek thepany of other elves." She chose to y the pity card in order to receive free reins moving around and lenience for the questions she intended to ask.

    Having a troop of guards following her around would shut most mouths and even those who would talk would merely say what they needed to avoid trouble with the Parliament.

    "Aalejah! Wee back." Le''Ahy jumped from behind a tall oak tree and hugged the guest with the warmth of a long-lost sister.

    The huntress kissed the former Chronicler''s cheeks and then her forehead. ording to elven customs, it marked Aalejah as a friend and granted her hospitality. It also meant that Le''Ahy would be considered responsible for every transgression her guest maymit.

    c71241599ffa2342522e9fa0e93245a9d8ec4ad4e8c3c5baf0c66a8666374fd0d0196f0766d3f07431463f9a1f955d88a5e23d0fdea1d333db046c7e6125e03f0b7ebbb7bfdf5db05570dbedd0112

 Chapter 2643 Stale Water (Part 1)

    ?

    "Why didn''t you ask Lord Qisal to contact me beforeing here? It would have saved you this hassle." Judging from the sparkles in her ocean-green eyes, the huntress was just fishing for a pretext to talk with Lith.

    Aalejah didn''t miss how the purified stone had been polished and set in silver, turning it into a ne that was now hung on Le''Ahy''s neck.

    "Because he doesn''t know I''m here." Aalejah replied. "I came here for personal business and I''m not his servant. I don''t need the Dragon Lord''s permission to visit my people."

    Those words both stirred the pride of the elves and marked her as her own person, detaching Aalejah the elf from Aalejah the diplomatic envoy.

    "I see." Le''Ahy nodded, her expression holding disappointment and camaraderie in equal measure. "Then I''m twice as d to be your host for today. What do you want to see first?"

    "Anything is fine." Aalejah shrugged. "After being stuck for years in human cities, even their smell sickens me. I just want to experience again how it feels being one of us."

    "Poor thing." Le''Ahy patted Aalejah''s shoulder while a few guards came out of their hiding spots to show her trust and understanding. "First thing we''re going to get you a real meal. I''m sure that you are sick and tired of the pig slop humans call food."

    "That''s a great idea." Aalejah lied through her teeth.

    Human cuisine was actually good and as someone who had just tasted Lith''s cooking for breakfast, she was already full. The rest of the group had thrown her a weird look when she''d asked for ice cream so early in the morning, but unlike them, she couldn''t just ask Lith for the recipe.

    Le''Ahy opened a Warp Steps leading straight to one of the best restaurants of Setraliie''s mid-level, the Archer Squirrel. Elven elite warriors lived on the trees, way above the farmers and merchants but below even small nobles.

    Elves had no need for money because everyone was bestowed with a healthy body and a role in society so the level of an establishment would be determined solely by the skill of the chef who also was the owner of the restaurant.

    Meals were free, but essible only to those who lived on that specific level or above and only a limited number of times a month per person. An establishment was promoted or demoted based on the number of customers so a chef could achieve a noble caste''s living conditions if their restaurant was sessful enough.

    Aalejah ordered an aromatic beef stew with vegetables, fruit bread, and a mild sweet liquor obtained from fermenting fruits that were exclusive to the Fringe.

    During her second breakfast, Aalejah limited herself to asking harmless questions about the vine city to understand how outdated her information was. Le''Ahy was happy to answer everything, even sharing with her how much the elven poption had swelled since the exile.

    "Are you already a Mother?" She asked after a while, making Aalejah spit a good sip of her liquor.

    "No, but not for ack of trying." She lied with a blush. "I''m just one hundred and seventy. These things take time."

    "I know." Le''Ahy sighed. "My mother badgers me to stop waiting for Elf Charming and put in some effort. And she''s the polite one. You should hear what the rest of the n says."

    "I can imagine." Aalejah nodded.

    Due to their long life and low fertilitypared with the other races, children were a big issue for elves. Any woman who got pregnant would enjoy a treatment of three castes higher until the delivery and after that, she would receive the necessary to take care of the baby.

    Making at least two children was a non-writtenw and a female elf was socially considered a failure until then. It evened out her parents and guaranteed that the elven poption wouldn''t drop.

    Only then would they receive the title of Mother and be exempt from military duty. At the third child, a Mother would be permanently raised of a caste and the same would happen for every further sessful pregnancy.

    Aalejah discretely looked around the restaurant, noticing how people stared at her clothes with even more interest than her Yggdrasill staff. They were dying to hear any crumb of information from the world thaty outside the Fringe but they didn''t want to intrude.

    She then started talking about her work with Awakened Council, the War of the Griffons, and the ns to colonize Jiera. At first, those nearby just turned their chairs to listen.

    Then, the bravest ones asked to join the table. After Aalejah weed them, it was just a matter of minutes before she and Le''Ahy were surrounded by the patrons of the Archer Squirrel and even by the passersby who overheard the conversation.

    Aalejah used holograms to show images of the ces she had visited, the people she had met, and the battles she had taken part in. She said great things about Lith and the others, but never mentioned his role in any event that might expose him as the Supreme Magus.

    Elves lived a secluded life, but they could still get out of the Fringe from time to time and barter formon books from passing merchants. With everything that Lith had done for the Kingdom and with his close rtionship with Sark, he was bound to be famous in the Desert as well.

    "So it''s true that the human Council wants our help to conquer Jiera?" A male farmer asked.

    "Not the human Council. The Council." Aalejah pointed out. "Beasts, nt folk, and undead are part of it along with the Guardians. Asking for your help was actually Fenagar''s idea."

    "Bah!" A female rancher said. "Beasts and nt folk did nothing to help us during and after the War of the Races. I mean, look around!"

    She pointed at the windows from which only passing elves could be seen.

    "I don''t know if it''s Mogar''s will or a conspiracy, but no magical beasts or nt folk are ever born inside a Fringe and those from the outside never came here for us. They only sought to speak with Mogar and left as soon as they were done.

    "Don''t get me started with the undead. They are a living gue and should have never been recognized as one of the Awakened races in the first ce!" Many nodded to her words, yet feeling deep envy for Baba Yaga''s children.

    Elves just lived long lives and couldn''t Awaken on their own whereas undead were truly eternally young and, albeit wed, their blood core had no such problem.

    "Yeah, right but answer me this. How does whining about the past get us out of this damn cage?" A city guard asked. "I don''t want to spend the next 700 years locked inside a Fringe walking through Setraliie until my feet fall off.

    "I hate my job and I''d do anything for a change. The World Tree can fuck themselves for all I care!" Even more people nodded in approval, the malcontent voiced as a buzzing that grew louder by the second.

    Another issue of elven society was that everyone was good-looking and with age would reach a bright blue core.

 Chapter 2644 Stale Water (Part 2)

    ?

    A human would have considered it amazing, but to the elves, it drove them mad with frustration. With looks and mana equal for everyone, it meant that the most important defining trait for an individual was talent.

    The color of a mana core had nothing to do with elemental affinity or magical skills.

    To most elves, it meant that they were forced to spend hours training just to not kill their nmates by mistake. Having no talent for magic was far from umon, but while a red-cored human could barely light a match, their elven equivalent had to be careful even while conjuring a breeze.

    With a bright blue core and true magic, apse of judgment would turn it into a stray bolt of lightning or a wind de with potentially deadly consequences. On top of that, thosecking talent were doomed to perform menial jobs their whole lives.

    To work, their society needed a strict separation of the roles ording to each individual''s talent that no one could escape without working hard. A farmer could be a guard only after mastering magic up to tier three.

    A guard could enter an elite corps only after learning tiers four and five. Anything higher also required brains and cunning which just like talent were something determined at birth.

    The talented ones needed but a few years whereas it could take decades to regr people and centuries to those without a shred of skill or passion for magic. A long life also meant a different perception of time and elves had trouble focusing like humans did.

    Their minds wandered often and applying to the same thing over and over was akin to torture to them. So, spending a long time just to be promoted to one caste higher was often considered pointless since every further achievement would take much longer.

    The elves craved the freedom to do what they wanted and move through a world where their abilities made them special instead of being just one of the many as it happened inside the Fringe.

    Aalejah noticed it and stoked the mes of their curiosity by showing them the marvels of the Griffon Kingdom like the castles, the great academies, and the Warp Gatework.

    "I knew that M''Rael was full of shit!" A female farmer said. "If we move into the World Tree''s Fringe, we''d just be stuck inside another cage. Kid, you have lived there before your banishment, how was it?"

    "Not so different from here." Aalejah shrugged. "Regr people took care of cattle and fields, talented people worked as guards, smart people became Librarians for the Tree, and the cream of the crop aimed to be a Chronicler."

    "Fuck the Yggdrasil!" The chef barged out of the kitchen waving in the air a wooden spoon that sent bits of gravy sauce flying. "I''d rather die than take all the trouble of moving to a different ce just to live the same fucking life!"

    He had opened a restaurant not because he liked cooking, only to escape life as a farmer since it was the only other thing he was good at.

    "Yeah." A male border guard said. "Also, I don''t care what the Parliament of Leaves says, I don''t trust M''Rael either. His story is fishy."

    "What do you mean?" Aalejah asked.

    The people in the restaurant filled her in on everything the High Chancellor had glossed over during their meeting. How he had been just a border captain before being miraculously chosen by the Chronicler for no apparent reason.

    How no one knew how they had met or why the Chronicler had stayed long enough to share his gifts with M''Rael but had never bothered to inform the Parliament of his decision in person.

    "What the fuck is a High Chancellor, even?" Asked a waitress. "This ce is staler than a swamp so we weed the change. Yet when we understood that he was the only one benefitting from the new title, issuing orders like he own us, we cursed that idiot Chronicler."

    Le''Ahy had to clear her throat more than once to remind everyone of her role and point out that the discussion was starting to border on sedition.

    "I would love to be a chef." Aalejah said to help her out. "There are so many delicious things that you can prepare. I think you are just tired of making the same things over and over. Here, try this."

    At a great personal sacrifice, she took out a bowl of chocte chips vani ice cream from her dimensional amulet.

    She offered a spoonful to Le''Ahy first for hospitality and the cook was next.

    Their stunned faces and the delighted expression with which they begged for another taste drove the spectators to ask a bit themselves. In just a few minutes, Aalejah''s entire personal stock of ice cream was gone yet aside from Le''Ahy everyone had just a single teaspoon of ice cream each.

    "What was that called?" The huntress asked.

    "Chocte. It is¡­ was my favourite." Aalejah needed sheer willpower to keep her bleeding heart from pouring through her mouth.

    "Can you please give me the recipe?" The chef asked. "I''ll give you anything you want."

    "I don''t have it." She replied. "It''s the work of a human chef who is very jealous of it."

    Mentioning that it was Lith and that he was also a Magus would only make things look like talent was everything even on the outside. This way, instead, the ice cream just widened the elves'' horizons and gave them a literal taste of freedom.

    "It doesn''t matter." The chef said with augh. "The ingredients tasted simple and now that I know it exists, I can try to replicate it. Thank you, youngdy."

    The elf gave Aalejah a deep bow and walked back into his kitchen with a new sense of purpose in his life.

    It took Le''Ahy quite a bit of effort to get them out of the Archer Squirrel and continue the tour of Setraliie. Aalejah used that time to study the protective arrays of the city, how much it had grownpared with her outdated information, and ask questions about the ongoing discussion inside the Parliament.

    "I''m part of n Ra''Firo and I''m not supposed to speak about those things with an outsider." Le''Ahy replied.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to put you in an awkward position." Aalejah sighed.

    "On the other hand, it''s also true that I wouldn''t know more than anyone else if not for the favor that Lord Qisal showed me." The huntress caressed the stone at her neck, giggling like a little girl as she took themunicator amulet out of her pocket.

    "I wanted to call him earlier, but I don''t know what to say. Let''s make a deal. I answer one of your questions for each one of mine you answer."

    "Shoot." Aalejah inwardly clenched her fists in triumph.

    "How old is he?"

    "He turns two hundred this very winter." Aalejah multiplied Lith''s age by ten to hide his identity and increase his status. Twenty years of age were like a baby for elven standards.

    Also, a Dragon so young was unlikely to have a hoard worthy of its name.

 Chapter 2645 Insider Trading (Part 1)

    ?

    "What about the Parliament?" Aalejah asked.

    "It''s rough." Le''Ahy said with a nod. "M''Rael''s offer was interesting only because there was no alternative. I mean, going to the Tree gives us more space, new neighbors, and ess to their knowledge but that''s it.

    "We are still scared of humans and resentful of beasts, but being finally free to roam Mogar is still a dreame true to most of my people."

    "If that''s how you feel, why is the decision taking this long?"

    "Not so fast!" The huntress narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "That''s another question. Does Qisal have apanion?"

    "Yes, a human woman." With anyone else, Aalejah would have said no, but to an elf, the answer had a different meaning. "Also, as a sign of friendship, I can tell you that he''s already waiting for his firstborn, conceived on their first night."

    "Really? Just onepanion?" Le''Ahy''s squeal was so high-pitched that the nearby dogs howled. "That would make me the second!"

    "Yep." Aalejah had just given the huntress confirmation that "Qisal" was interested in long-term rtionships and didn''t shoot nks. "Now, what about the Parliament?"

    "Lord Voidfeather''s offer is very intriguing, but the representatives can''t make up their minds about the price." Le''Ahy replied.

    "The price? Like they want to get paid?" Aalejah rose an eyebrow in confusion.

    "No, I meant the price in elven lives." The other elf sighed. "Sure, we have now more people than ever, but it took us a very long time to reach this point. The main argument against the Jiera proposal is that we risk losing so many warriors that our colony might be set back for centuries, if not millennia.

    "Don''t forget that to give birth and train a single elven elite mage takes a lot of time. Sure, we all have blue cores, but most of us can''t use them properly. On top of that, there''s the issue of trust.

    "The Parliament is afraid that if we lose too many warriors, we won''t be able to defend ourselves in the case the Council goes back on its word and backstabs us."

    "I see." Aalejah nodded. "What if I could teach everyone magic up to tier three?"

    "Yeah, right. Tell me another." Le''Ahy replied snidely. "Like we haven''t tried that for millennia even before the War of the Races."

    "I''m serious! Look." Aalejah took a book about tier one fake magic.

    It was filled with hand signs and magic words that made no sense at first nce.

    "During the past millennia, human magic has progressed by leaps and bounds. Anyone with a proper core can now master magic as long as they learn by rote this stuff.

    "No need to learn how to perceive the mana flow, wave runes, regte the mana output, and everything."

    "If it''s true it could be a game changer." Le''Ahy skimmed through the pages, recognizing from the drawings some of the mostmon spells taught in the elven academies. "How long does a human take to master all of this stuff?"

    "Based on talent, from one to six months. So for an elf, it should take a couple of years tops since it doesn''t require understanding, only memorization. The upper tiers are more difficult but the basic principle is the same."

    "If you let me take it to Lord Bal''Eza, he can study it and use it to convince the Parliament. I make no promises though." Le''Ahy said after trying and seeding to perform the simplest spell after just a few tries.

    "That''s all I ask." Aalejah spent the rest of her stay in Setraliie projecting the legend of King Valeron for her fellow elves, followed by everything that showed them the world that waited for them past the Fringe''s borders.

    ***

    City of Lutia at the same time.

    It was past sunset in the Kingdom and Kam had left home on the DoLorean for grocery shopping. She didn''t actually need anything, she just wanted to be alone for five minutes.

    After another "wonderful" day at her job, she had returned home just to be pestered by the local nobles who wanted to meet her, the merchants that begged her to ept their gifts and show them to her noble friends, and the Royals.

    They were organizing a baby shower for Elysia, then setting a date for a G after her birth to bestow upon the baby a noble title. The Queen was also pressuring Kam to take a leave from her job and take part in the Court''s life.

    "I swear to the gods, I''m going to murder the next person that talks to me. I don''t care who he is!" She had replied to the clerk''s greeting prompting him to shut up and hide behind the counter.

    It wasn''t so much for the words but how she had expressed them. With fangs recing her teeth, her pupils going vertical while her eyes red with yellow mana, and breathing a significant burst of Origin mes.

    s, on the outside there was already a surprise party waiting for her.

    "I told you that this was going to be our golden opportunity. With Verhen gone there are no Demons or Golems protecting his wife, only those chumps of the Queen''s Corps. And she did us the favor of losing them with that thing." Korman Fent, an Awakened from the Empire said.

    "Yeah, sure, but what about the Guardians? Haven''t you heard about the Day of the ck Sun? How do we avoid ending up like the guys from Jiera?" Phestos Marn from the Kingdom said.

    "That''s actually our ticket to sess." Korman replied. "I studied the reports. No Guardian intervened until she was hurt. We just need to knock her out and we are done. Verhen will do whatever we ask and pay any price.

    "All we have to do is keep his wife unconscious to have unlimited ess to Origin mes, enchanted metals, and more crystals than we''ll ever need. Once we are done with him, we can always sell him to one of his enemies.

    "They get their revenge, we get a massive payload, and we won''t have to spend our lives watching our backs."

    "Still sounds dangerous to me." Phestos pondered both risks and rewards while keeping himself and his potential aplice at a distance. "I''ve heard that today is Sark''s turn. Wouldn''t it be better to wait for Leegaain?"

    "No, man." Korman shook his head. "Tyris and Leegaain have nothing to do all day whereas Sark has a whole country to rule. This is the rush hour for the Desert and she''s bound to be neck-deep in bureaucracy right now.

    "You have nothing to worry about, it''s not like she can¡­ She-"

    "Oh, please, don''t mind me and finish what you were saying." Sark had suddenly appeared from around the corner, walking slowly toward them with a warm smile on her face. "Give me some ideas."

    ***

    Blood Desert, inside the Fringe, on the ritual''s site.

    Lith had just finished charging all the magic circles and was about to step inside the heart of theplex.

    "So, what are you going to ask?" Friya said.

    "There isn''t much left." He shrugged. "I''ll go with how to reach the violet for me and Dragonhood for Ajatar."

 Chapter 2646 Insider Trading (Part 2)

    ?

    "Why not add something about the white core, your world tribtions, or Creation Magic?" Quy asked. "There''s no point in wasting a question slot. Even if the answer doesn''t make sense, it could still point you in the right direction."

    "That''s exactly the problem." Lith took a few deep breaths while studying his own body weight, the feeling of his tensing muscles, and the flow of mana through his body.

    Just like Solus, he still thought of himself as a human and always keeping his original form didn''t help. He wanted to carry his mass inside the Mindscape so as to have a shot at fighting the apparitions.

    "Tell me, Quy. If you were in Mogar''s shoes and I asked you to teach me the secrets of dimensional magic with a single hologram, how would you do it?"

    The question surprised her and it took her a while to ponder it long enough to find a decent answer.

    "That would be impossible." She replied. "There are too many factors to control and the energy in y is equallyplex. The best I could do if you were to know squat about dimensional magic is show you a basic spell like Loop and hope that you''d understand the rest on your own."

    "My point exactly." He nodded. "And that''s if you wanted to teach me something in the first ce whereas we know that Mogar doesn''t operate that way. Her answer is always something vague that points to the solution but it''s useless by itself.

    "My bet is that if I ask for Creation Magic, I''ll get either Grandma or Baba Yaga since they are the only teachers I could get. Too bad they are both out of my league and would kick my ass in an instant."

    "Damn, I''m afraid you are right." Quy tormented her lower lip while racking her brain for another valuable question.

    "As for the white core, I have no idea where to start since I''ve never researched it. Heck, I don''t even have the bright violet so I''m pretty sure that even a friendly advice would go over my head, let alone some confusing riddle.

    "Lastly, asking about my world tribtions is a terrible idea. From what I understood by talking with Grandma and the others who underwent them like Scarlett, knowing the answer is likely to sabotage the test altogether.

    "Mogar was pretty clear to Solus when they said that they don''t allow cheating."

    "I agree, but then why don''t you ask her about Void Magic?" Quy asked.

    "Why would I do that?"

    "Because if Mogar shows you an image, you can learn from it. If they summon your own echo, instead, you can match it for sure. I mean, you are the creator of Void Magic. Grappling against yourself shouldn''t be an impossible task." She replied.

    "You are a damn genius, Little One." Lith ruffled her hair, drawing many curses from her for both the moniker and treating her like a child.

    "I''m taller than Solus, dammit!" She pouted while pointing at her stillughing friend.

    "I''m tall inside and he knows it." Solus chuckled.

    Lith stepped inside the heart of the magical formation and sat cross-legged in the middle of the final circle before powering it up with a drop of his blood. He closed his eyes, feeling himself being dragged toward the light in a way eerily simr to the two times he had died.

    The main differences were that this time he was answering a call instead of being dragged like a leaf in the wind and that there was no inner peace or emotional rity in the whiteness surrounding him.

    He was still Lith Verhen/Derek McCoy, with all of his traumas, hopes, and worries.

    The first thing he did was look down at himself, curious to see which one of the human forms he had assumed.

    "Judging from the size of my hands and by the fact that I''m wearing the Voidwalker armor, I''m still Lith. I guess that after almost twenty years I''ve gotten used to my new face." He said out loud, knowing that thinking was pointless.

    "Hello, Mogar. How are you? Is there something you need?" He shamelessly asked the moment he recovered from the transition to the Mindscape.

    "Nice try." A familiar voice giggled from behind him. "Am I supposed to pretend not to know that you and Solus talk? How many times do I have to say no cheating?"

    "That''s not-" Lith turned around, finding himself in front of the spitting image of his mother who shut him up by putting her forefinger on his lips.

    It was a familiar gesture that Elina always did when he was little and asked lots of questions in a row in order to fill in the nks in his understanding of the Mogariannguage.

    It almost kept him from noticing that her hair and eyes were of the wrong color, but missing the big red membranous wings on her back was really impossible.

    "Shush, child." Even her words were the same, sending a warm familiar sensation spreading through his body. "I was joking. I told her those things for a reason. Even though your courtesy is cynical, I still appreciate the thought.

    "Wee back home, Lith." Mogar using a simr expression to when he had reached the violet baffled him, but he remained quiet. "I''m fine, thank you, and yes, I need help but you are not ready. Yet."

    "You mean that you hope I''ll be ready in the future or that you know I''ll be ready?" He asked.

    "What do you think?" No energy sphere appeared so Lith assumed they were still making conversation.

    "I believe that you expect me to be ready based on current events." He replied. "I''ve long wondered what the heck the vision I received as a kid was and how could it change in real-time as soon as a part of the traitors'' n failed.

    "I don''t believe in nonsense like destiny. Life is tooplicated to be predetermined. I think that the vision was just your projection based on the data you had at the time. As you said to Solus, you know everything that everyone does and think at any time.

    "By watching the events unfold on both sides of the conflict, it wasn''t hard for you to predict who was going to win. The visions you showed me weren''t the future so much as Lukart''s ns that you heard from his own mouth and knew would seed due to his sleeper agents wearing a ve ring.

    "All you had to do was to keep me updated as the various pieces of the puzzle fell into ce or apart and I had the best next thing to irvoyance. Insider trading."

    "Brilliant." Mogar-Elina chuckled. "I admit it, you are right. There is no such thing as destiny. I just cheated."

    "Can I ask you about those wings or would it be part of our business meeting?"

    "Oh, these silly things?" She pped them happily like a chick trying to learn how to fly before wrapping them around her shoulders and baby bump. "That''s all on you, child. You are such a mama''s boy that you wish your mother would Awaken her bloodline."

 Chapter 2647 Shattered Mind (Part 1)

    ?

    "It would make Elina live long and be able to defend herself even while you are away." Mogar replied.

    "So it''s just like my current body. A projection of my desires, not a hint to something that''s going on." Lith sighed in disappointment.

    "What did you expect? That the sixth time was the charm?" Mogar-Elina said with a scoff. "Awakening a bloodline is something that happens by luck only in a bard''s tale.

    "Assuming that''s something your mother wants, she has to work hard for it or ask Leegaain. Either way, it''s her choice. Not yours." She tapped on his nose with her finger.

    "Fine, let''s get to business." Lith said with a snort.

    "I''m all ears."

    "I want to know how to harmonize my life forces and reach the damn violet core, how Ajatar can achieve Dragonhood, andstly how I can reach Void Magic''s full potential." Lith phrased his request that way for a reason.

    From hisst conversation with Solus, he assumed that when he conjured a single element, he could tap into the power of the other six by manipting the energies that originated as a byproduct of the original spell.

    If his assumption was correct, then a Void Mage might be capable of turning amon spell into Spirit Magic by adding a spark of their life force. There was no reason to assume that Void Magic was limited to five tiers and his question was meant to verify his hypothesis.

    "I like this. A mix of egotism and generosity in equal measure." Mogar-Elina pped her hands, conjuring three spheres of light.

    One shifted from ck to red and then to pink in a loop. The second was sapphire blue while the third one looked like a thunderstorm trapped in a pool ball.

    "How is this generous? Only one question is for someone else. The other two are for me." Lith asked while stepping forward the first sphere.

    "Don''t y coy with me." She replied. "Void Magic is something you shared. Whatever you learn from here, if any, is going to be shared as well. Even if you don''t teach everyone about your strongest spells, you would still teach Solus, Tista, and many others.

    "Just by knowing the first five tiers of Void Magic and by looking at you guys, it''s only a matter of time before everyone knows."

    "The first five?" Lith echoed.

    "The ones I''m sure of." Mogar-Elina shrugged. "I don''t see the future. Your words, not mine."

    Lith grumbled and took a final step, dodging abination of Chaos, Origin mes, and War only thanks to the Full Guard enveloping him.

    "What the actual fuck?" He said once he had recovered from the shock of the revtion.

    The thing in front of Lith seemed out of a drunken dream.

    It consisted of a bunch of ss shards linked to each other by something that looked like ligaments and cartge. The stic bands of tissue would pull the fragments together, forming either Lith''s human or Eldritch appearance.

    Then, the humanoid form would explode like a shattered mirror just to be reassembled. The cycle wasn''t just between human and Eldritch, however. Sometimes, the shards would be piled together and wrapped by tissues, taking the shape of the Voidfeather Dragon.

    None of the three apparitionssted for long, torn apart by an inner conflict that kept the fragments sharp and made them cut through the three bodies.

    "Those aren''t ligaments. Those are Dragon scales turned into meat paste." Lith said after observing the phenomenon for a while. "Is this what my Divine Beast side had to endure for all these years?"

    Just the thought made Lith shudder and understand why the Voidfeather seemed to hate him so much.

    "If that''s a question, I have to take away one of the spheres." Mogar replied.

    "Faluel was right. You do treat me and Solus differently from others." It was rude to say it out loud but Lith knew that keeping it to himself was a fool''s errand.

    "Why shouldn''t I?" Mogar shrugged. "I barely notice the existence of most people whereas I follow closely those who undergo my tribtions. It would be stupid and ungrateful to treat my acquaintances the same way as strangers.

    "I like our talks. Even those that take ce without you guys even noticing."

    "A bit creepy, but okay." Lith moved his gaze back to the shards.

    One side was Chaos ck while the other one was pink like his human skin. The two life forces seemed to have merged but they still failed to act as a whole. The mass of fragments didn''t form a puzzle.

    The countless pieces failed to assume a definite form because their edges didn''t match. No matter how many times the Voidfeather pulled them together, they screeched and bent until they sprung back to their original form in a burst of gore.

    "Off the top of my head, I''d say that I''m still a broken man. That whatever is keeping me from reaching the bright violet depends on the fact that my psyche is as shattered as my life forces."

    "If you say so." Mogar had been sitting for a while, sipping tea and eating biscuits and ice cream from a te. "By the way, thanks. Much appreciated."

    "Fuck me sideways. Even you recognize me for my cooking above my magic. The moment Solus sees this I''ll forever be Wonka Magus or something. They''ll never let me hear the end of this."

    "Oh, woe is me." Mogar-Elina rubbed her index finger and thumb together, actually ying Mogar''s smallest violins.

    Plural.

    "There''s no need to be sarcastic." Lith scoffed.

    "There''s no need to be a buzzkill." She clicked her tongue.

    "Man, with that attitude is no wonder no one ever visits." He whispered as low as he could.

    "I heard that!" Mogar''s snarl and the ground turning into a ck charrednd covered in white bones made Lith raise his hands in apology.

    "Let''s move to answer number- Crap!" A whip-fast w and st of bright violet mes were followed by a living stream of sapphire blue energy trying to snuff Lith out like a candle.

    If not for him knowing about Spirit Fusion and having already seen Ajatar using it against Glemos, there wouldn''t have been enough of Lith left to fill a shoebox.

    A sudden burst of Void mes from his skin acted as a barrier, hurting the Sapphire Dragon even in his energy form and giving Lith the time to Blink to safety.

    The moment he stepped away, the energy mass returned to its starting spot and turned into a majestic Dragon who grinned at Lith like an adult after teaching a child a valuable life lesson.

    To make matters worse, the wounds that the Void mes had inflicted upon Ajatar''s echo healed and his vigor returned to its peak.

    "That''s cheating!" Lith tried and failed to use Invigoration which didn''t work in the Mindscape. "Also, what does that mean? Spirit Fusion is supposed to be emerald green, not sapphire blue.

    "Is that a bloodline ability or another kind of energy akin to my Dread mes?"

    "Good question. Ajatar?" Mogar asked the echo who popped his knuckles and stretched his neck in reply. "He says toe and get him, if you dare."

 Chapter 2648 Shattered Mind (Part 2)

    ?

    "Yeah, right. Fighting against someone with a stronger core and body, with centuries of experience above me and unknown powers is the right thing to do. For a moron." Lith snorted while taking his time.

    The Sapphire Dragon reverted into Ajatar''s human form, that of a man 1.82 (6'') tall with blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. A bright light coursed throughout his body and radiated from his eyes.

    At first nce, it looked like mana, but Life Vision confirmed that the Ajatar-echo''s core was bright violet. Also, the light pulsated under his skin with a rhythm that Lith recognized as that of a heartbeat.

    After a while, the man turned back into a Dragon and so on.

    "It''s the same thing Friya saw about Faluel. Maybe Thrud was right and the secret to bing a Divine Beast really is in the blood." Lith turned toward Elina-Mogar, wondering if the same principle would also apply to his parents.

    Suddenly he felt deeply invested in the matter.

    After making sure there was nothing more that he could learn from the first two answers, he moved on to thest one.

    "Gold against copper that this is another death trap." He said before taking the final step.

    "You''re on." Mogar was done with her tea and was reading a book whose title was so blurred that it was iprehensible.

    Thest energy sphere burst forward like a storm. Darkness magic seeped inside Lith''s eyes, mouth, and ears, sapping his strength. Bolts of lightning burned his flesh, sending his muscles into a spasm.

    Heat rays bombarded him from every side, piercing through his armor and then switching into minuscule hard-light constructs that clogged his blood flow causing dozens of strokes at the same time.

    Earth stuck to his joints and, boosted by the light element, attempted to rearrange the minerals in his bones to turn them into stone. At the same time, a cold wave struck at him from the outside while also turning his blood into ice shards that pocked through his skin.

    If not for Full Guard warning Lith of every step of the onught the moment it happened and the numerous precautions he had taken, that single spell would have been lethal.

    The mana boosting the Voidwalker armor repelled most of the external attacks while the Origin mes stored in his heart spread along the blood vessels, canceling the effects on his internal organs.

    Lith also conjured a Spirit Barrier to stop whatever was going toe next, saving his life. The moment the caster felt the six elements losing power, he recalled them into an emerald sphere that instantly turned into a spinning energy ray.

    The Spirit Barrier held, but the pressure of the st was focused on a single point, draining the little energy Lith had left after surviving the surprise attack. Then, in a disturbingly familiar way, the emerald turned into a deep shade of blue.

    The ray managed to pierce both the barrier and Lith''s boosted armor, just to find a hard-light construct underneath and a skin-tight Spirit Barrier right below the construct.

    The spell ruptured Lith''s left kidney and copsed his lung, but thanks to the multiple barriers its destructive power dissipated before reaching his heart.

    Lith was now too far to elicit a second attack from the embodiment of the answer and the healing spell he had at the ready started to heal the damage as soon as he was at a safe distance.

    "Eight¡­ elements? What¡­ the¡­ fuck?" His words were thoughts yet he stuttered nheless.

    Now that the mass of mana had been recalled and condensed into an ever-changing sphere, the figure behind the attack was visible and made Lith want to puke.

    It was humanoid but with apletely ck skin and w-ending hands.

    His mouth was filled with pristine white fangs that formed a cruel grin filled with malice. Two ck membranous wings came out of his back, furled so tightly that Lith would have missed them if not for the pristine background

    Above his head, the same blue energy that appeared in the sphere along with the other seven elements burned in the form of a perfect crown.

    The figurecked the lower part of his body so Lith wasn''t sure of who or what he was seeing, only that the resemnce with his mad brother made him sick.

    "Meln? Meln is the one supposed to be the master of Void Magic?" Lith''s voice oozed so much venom that the ground at his feet sizzled. "If this is a joke it''s not funny. He''s not smart enough to understand tier one Void Magic even with Night''s help!"

    "Do you really expect me to answer that?" Mogar put the book on the coffee table, watching the two monsters staring at each other in hatred.

    Without his knowledge, Lith had shapeshifted into the Eldritch form of Derek McCoy, his head aze with ck-violet mes as he conjured small spheres of Chaos and Decay around himself, ready to attack.

    In the Mindscape there was no real elemental energy, it was just a manifestation of the psyche of Mogar''s guests and of the answers they sought. The Chaos and Decay were respectively Derek''s hatred and pain, embodying his desire to make everyone suffer like he did.

    "No, I don''t." Lith/Derek said, recognizing the sound of his old voice after calming down a bit.

    It would have been an impossible feat if not for the fact that the longer he stared at the creature, the less it looked like Orpal.

    "Where are the horns? Where is his beloved spear? Heck, where is Night?" Lith stared at the chest of the monster, noticing no trace of the ck crystal amid its perfect muscles.

    "Also, thest time I''ve seen him, he had only four mes above his head. Assuming he can reach seven, they wouldn''t form a perfect circle. Last, but not least, I refuse to believe that such a moron can discover the eighth element of magic, assuming it exists."

    Lith healed himselfpletely before taking several deep breaths in a failing struggle to regain his cool. The thing in front of him was unlikely to be his brother, but the mere possibility was enough to drive him insane.

    Lith circled the creature many times, noticing many inconsistencies but none of them was enough to put him at ease.

    "What if this is Meln at his full potential after he reaches the violet?"

    "What if it''s your brother Aran?" Mogar said after the tirade started to bore her. "What if it''s your secondborn?"

    "Bullshit!" Lith replied in outrage. "Aran would never make that face and neither would a kid of mine. I''ve already seen that very expression, I just have to remember where."

    "You forget that this is a realm of possibilities. Almost anything is possible, the odds are just very low." Mogar countered pointedly.

    "Fine." The idea of Meln mastering Void Magic was revolting, but that of Aran turning into such a monster was even worse.

    Lith focused on the pulsing sphere, trying tomit to memory every detail that Solus mightter need while examining his mind. Then, he looked at the echo like it was Aran, trying to figure out what had happened to him and how he could prevent such a possibility from turning into reality.

 Chapter 2649 Not A Smile (Part 1)

    ?

    "Okay, I''m done. Thanks for your hospitality." Lith said when he was too sick to keep looking at the monster.

    "Slow down, child, because I''m not." Mogar approached him until she could put her hand on his cheek, another familiar gesture typical of Elina. "Now look me in the eyes."

    Lith obeyed, suddenly feeling dizzy and confused like someone waking up from anesthesia.

    "Now look around you." She let go of his face and moved away.

    Lith didn''t even need to turn his head to see how dramatic the changes in the Mindscape were. Yet he took a step back out of shock to both assume a defensive stance and make sure that the hellish world he was seeing wasn''t just an unfortunate patch ofnd.

    The ground was now charred ck by eitherva or some kind of heat so intense that it had evaporated rivers and turned the sand on their banks into molten ss. There was no trace of living beings or vegetation except for piles of bones so tall that for a moment he mistook them for dwellings.

    The ckened earth was full of deep wounds that bledva, its gurgling the only sound that broke the silence of the dead ins. The wind was dry and it carried a mix of wormwood, sulfur, and the unmistakable smell of burned flesh.

    The air was thick with vaporized body fat from the corpses that formed a greasyyer in the humidity of his mouth, making him gag.

    Away from theva, the ground was caked with brown stains that Lith recognized as blood. It took a lot of people to drench the soil like that and even more for it tost for however long had passed since the cataclysmic event.

    In the distance, Lith''s Tiamat eyes could see what looked like either the remains of a still-burning enormous tree trunk or a small forest whose trees were packed together. The air around him crackled, as if reality was kept together by a thread about to snap.

    Amid that destruction, only one oasis remained. There the grass was green and there was a spring gushing fresh water. There were few trees and even fewer animals, all scared and malnourished due to theck of resources and the constant fight for survival.

    "Is this what would happen if Meln masters Void Magic?" Lith couldn''t get the thought of his disowned brother being the creature of the final answer out of his head.

    "Who?" Mogar-Elina needed a moment to remember about Orpal''s existence. "Why would he do that? More importantly, why should I talk about someone else when you are right in front of me?"

    "Are you telling me that this is my doing?" He asked in shock.

    "For starters." A snap of her fingers caused the crackling air to crumble, revealing that they were in a Fringe-like isted space and that the rest of Mogar was safe.

    Lith had barely time to sigh in relief when he realized the meaning of Mogar''s words and the destruction spread like a disease, dryingkes and ttening mountains.

    In just a few seconds, the charred ground extended as far as the eyes could see and the sky was covered by ck clouds carrying acid rain.

    "How could I possibly do this?" Lith asked. "I''m just a violet-cored Awakened."

    "Yes, you are." Mogar-Elina waved her hand, giving him a quick tour of the new reality. "But here is where I contemte every single possible oue and this one that cannot be ignored. There will be a time when you''ll have to make a choice and choices have consequences."

    "Is this a threat?" There was something familiar in the ce Mogar had suddenly moved them as she spoke. Lith could swear that they were now in Lutia, but the monotone wastnd made it hard to be sure about it.

    "I don''t make threats, I give warnings. The greatest the power, the direst the consequences." Another wave of Mogar''s hand returned the Mindscape to its original state, an endless white void.

    Lith opened his mouth to talk, but his mind was still jumbled and he could feel the magic circles protecting his mind bing weaker by the second. He had only the time for a few words left and he had to make it count.

    "Solus has tribtions as well and her power is no less than mine since we are one. Then why didn''t you tell her anything?"

    "Because we aren''t as close as you and I." Mogar looked at him straight in the eyes. "And because it''s not her choice."

    "Wait, wh-" A finger snap broke the mind link, sending Lith''s mind back into his body despite his resistance.

    ording to his estimates, there was still time for a couple of questions, maybe three if he kept them short and the answer was just as brief.

    It took him a few minutes to recover from the forced transition and regain enough rity to share with everyone the things he had witnessed in the Mindscape.

    "I think I know why Mogar kicked you out like that." Solus said. "Hadn''t she stopped you, you would have left right after examining thest question. She prolonged and ended your meeting on her terms."

    "It makes sense." Lith had too many things to think about and had a hard time deciding from which to start.

    "Thanks for saving me the trip." Ajatar said. "At least now we know that going from a Lesser to a full Dragon is a blood-rted matter. Yet this doesn''t change the fact that the final vision was beyond unsettling.

    "Be honest with me, child. Is there any way that among one of your prized secrets there''s some lost, forbidden weapon that might cause what Mogar showed you?"

    "No. If I had one, I would have looked for a way to destroy it. I couldn''t live in fear that someone might steal it from me and end life as I know it. I wouldn''t trust it even to a Guardian.

    "Aside from Grandma, of course. But only after every other attempt failed and only after she promised me to dismantle it with Creation Magic without making a copy." Lith replied.

    The only part he had kept out from Morok and Ajatar was the phrase about him and Solus being one.

    "Okay, now what?" Morok asked.

    "Now we wait." Faluel replied. "We have learned the answer to our main questions and are ready to leave as soon as the Parliament of Leaves makes its decision. I allowed Lith tomune with Mogar because it was one of the main goals of this trip, but we can''t afford more.

    "Without a distraction, the elves might notice the sudden influx of world energy. If they find out our base and learn about the ritual, things might get nasty very quickly. We won''t open the channel again until we have the Parliament''s answer.

    "After that, and if we leave Setraliie on friendly terms, we can talk with Mogar again since we''d have nothing to fear even if we were to be discovered."

    ***

    City of Setraliie, at the same time.

    Just as they had feared, Lith''s prolonged interaction with Mogar had drawn quite some attention.

 Chapter 2650 Not A Smile (Part 2)

    ?

    At first, it was just a sound bordering on the edge of hearing, like tinnitus. Yet the longer Lith stayed in the Mindscape the clearer the fluctuation in the world energy became.

    Luckily for them, themunion didn''tst long so the effects of the ritual were mistaken for a wild surge of world energy the likes happened every decade or two inside the Fringe. Actually, there was no such thing.

    What the elves believed to be random events were caused by the werepeople''s attempts to find a way to merge their split life forces in order to return to the outside world for good.

    Most of the Dewan had lost faith in receiving the''s help but there was always someone among the youths who decided to give it a shot.

    Also, Aalejah had unwittingly acted as a distraction.

    The people of Setraliie were too busy listening or retelling her stories to mind the anomaly while the members of the Parliament were arguing among themselves and with the members of their respective ns.

    Each representative had turned into a stray boat in a stormy ocean, with every household of each n trying to push their own agenda. There was no consensus between the members of the same family, let alone among ns.

    With the passing of time, their differences grew instead of being mended. Those who wanted a peaceful life at the service of the World Tree had nomon ground with those who were willing to fight in order to regain their freedom.

    By the time Aalejah left the city, a few quarrels had already escted into brawls.

    "Dammit, I hoped I could take my time but it seems I''m up to an all-nighter." Le''Ahy sighed while clenching the tier one fake magic book that Aalejah had given her earlier.

    "I''m really sorry to burden you like that." The former apprentice of the Yggdrasill gave the huntress a bow. "But I''m sure that Lord Qisal will appreciate your efforts."

    Those words gave Le''Ahy butterflies in the stomach and made Aalejah sick.

    ''Wow, I''m turning into a Lith. It''s easy to point fingers until you have the opportunity to manipte people for your own gain and then turn into the same person you criticized.'' She inwardly sighed.

    Aalejah left Setraliie, Warping to random locations to lose any potential tail before reaching the site of the ritual. A mind link allowed the members of the group to share their respective day before discussing the knowledge acquired.

    "Teaching the elves fake magic is a great idea on paper." Faluel said. "But how can we make sure they don''t abuse it against us?"

    "We can''t. That''s why I gave Le''Ahy just a tier one book. Most enchanted protections nullify spells that weak and unlike true magic, you can''t deduce the upper tiers of magic from the lower.

    "Or better, they can, but it would take them so long that by the time they seed magic will have already evolved by leaps and bounds again, making their knowledge obsolete."

    "Do you have any idea what is the meaning of the things I''ve seen in the Mindscape?" Lith asked.

    "None." She shook her head. "I don''t know you enough to understand how to put back your shattered self and Dragon physiology was among the subjects the World Tree kept away from apprentices.

    "As for Void Magic, I don''t know even its basics so I don''t understand a thing about the alleged blue eight element. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that I''ve never seen an illustration of the creature that smiled at you in the World Tree''s archives.

    "Not even a mention so it must be something new. Like you or your brothers."

    Lith nodded, taking once again the first guard shift with Solus and waiting for everyone to fall asleep before moving outside and into the tower.

    "Say what you want, but those two are really close. As in way closer than it''s proper. Like us." Morok snuggled onto Quy, wishing to have a bit of privacy in order to experiment on his new body with her.

    "Since when are you an expert on what''s proper and what do you mean, like us?" She replied.

    "Only someone who studied etiquette can make sure to break every single rule. It''s not as easy as I make it seem." He replied with undeserved pride. "Also, it''s in the way they look at each other.

    "There''s as much meaning in their silences as in their conversations because they know what the other one is thinking."

    Quy found herself covered in a cold sweat, afraid that the weirdly perceptive Tyrant could catch a whiff of the bond between Lith and Solus and maybe even of the tower.

    "Yeah, right. Like us." She snorted, trying to change the subject. "What am I thinking right now?"

    "Good gods, I can''t believe I''ve married this idiot." He replied, hitting close to home and making her blush in embarrassment.

    "You''re wrong! Now let''s sleep. All that practice drained me." She turned around, giving her back to him.

    "I love you too." Quy was now so red that he could almost see her in the dark without Fire Vision.

    Once the camp was asleep, Lith could finally vent his frustration and fears to Solus.

    "What if that shitstain on humanity really masters Void Magic beyond what even you and I can do? What if that was just some evil version of Aran after he learns about all the things I have done?

    "I mean, right now I''m his hero but if that admiration were to turn into hatred, there''s no telling what he might do. Especially if I teach him everything I know. It would be the ssic viin''s origin story."

    "Uhm, yeah." Solus tormented her long hair, knotting it into tresses just to unravel them and start again. "Sure."

    "What''s wrong?" He asked the moment he finished his rant and finally noticed her odd behavior. "You are not angry or scared. More like embarrassed. What aren''t you telling me? Is he one of your exes?"

    Solus'' eyes went wide in surprise and then she startedughing from the heart.

    "We do spend too much time together." She said with a chuckle. "You nailed it in one. Almost. Yes, I''m embarrassed. No, it''s not one of my exes.

    "Just someone I know. Someone you know."

    "Who?" Lith racked his brain but most faces were just a nameless blur in his mind.

    "By my Mom, are you serious?"

    "Dead serious." He nodded.

    "Okay." She moved behind him, conjuring a dais so that she could ce her hands on the sides of his head without a spell. "Here he is."

    Solus materialized a mirror in front of him while using a mix of light magic and their bond to twist his face into a cruel grimace. His lips were curled up and his jaw closed yet the thing that his mouth formed couldn''t be called a smile.

    It was the savage expression of a predator ready to eviscerate his victim and eat its entrails while it was still alive.

    In the same way, the lines around his eyes didn''t express joy so much as intense hatred and the desire to make everything burn. To inflict upon everyone else the same kind of pain that haunted his mind.

 Chapter 2651 False Assumption (Part 1)

    ?

    Lith''s skin was still pink and there was no ming crown above his head but the expression on his face was identical to the grimace of the monster he had faced in the Mindscape.

    "That''s why it felt familiar. That was your own face that you saw from my memories every time we fused together." Solus said while letting him go.

    "Since when do I look like that?" Lith asked.

    "Since I know you." She shrugged. "Do you remember the serial killer re that scared the others when you were little? Well, that was your expression when you were trying to be normal. This was your face when you were fighting."

    She pointed at the mirror, where Lith''s reflected image was fixed in a savage grin.

    "Are you serious?"

    "Why do you think people pissed themselves or cried for mercy?" Solus replied. "Imagine someone like that looking at you while wielding a powerful spell. That''s what your opponents had to face for a long while."

    "So I don''t do that anymore." Lith sighed in relief.

    "Not really. More like it''s less frequent." Those words made him choke on his optimism "That''s how you still were after Lark''s death. When you fought Meln in Lutia. After Phloria died."

    "Are you telling me that was a version of me?" He asked.

    "A possible version of you, yes." Solus nodded. "And probably the reason Mogar felt the need to warn you. Whatever you be with the bright violet, it might be cranked to one million if youter be a Guardian."

    Suddenly the dead wastnd made sense, yet he drew nofort from it, only more worry.

    "Why has no one ever told me about it?" Lith turned around, incapable of facing that version of himself any longer.

    "Because we love you." Solus gently caressed his cheek. "And because most of the times you make that face, you are fighting for the people you love. How could we me you for turning into a monster for our sake?"

    "This is so fucked up." He grabbed her hand. "Do you think that the first and the third answers are linked? Can that thing be one of the ways the pieces of my psyche might assemble into?"

    "Or maybe that''s the form you''d take if they end up not matching at all." Solus used a mind link to show him how Aalejah saw Lith under the effects of Soul Vision.

    With the Abomination on the Dragon''s forehead, his scales ck, and the mes blue.

    "Fuck me sideways." Until that moment, Lith had considered his own appearance to Soul Vision just an oddity, like everyone else''s so-called true form.

    Now, however, it took a whole new meaning.

    "What do you think we should do?"

    "I''m sorry, but this is one of those rare times when there''s no ''we''." Solus said with a sad smile. "Mogar was pretty clear. It''s about a choice that doesn''t involve me. The only thing I can do is be by your side when the timees and remind you of what was shown you today."

    ***

    Despite her best intentions, it took Le''Ahy two whole days to master a few spells. She had never practiced fake magic, making ents and magic signs even more infuriating than they already were to the average apprentice.

    To a true mage used to feel and weave the mana, it was like learning to do every day''s chores while wearing a straitjacket. Something stiff, restrictive, and unforgiving.

    The only silver lining was that in those two days, the Parliament of Leaves had made no progress. The faction that wanted to serve the World Tree in exchange for power and the one that preferred to spill blood in the short term to gain long-term freedom were evenly matched.

    It was the reason they granted a humble huntress audience so quickly without throwing red tape at every step of the procedure. She had promised something that would break the stalemate and half the Parliament hoped she would deliver.

    House Ra''Firo in particr had backed her request, hoping to ride Le''Ahy''s achievement and reinforce their position of supremacy in the Parliament. The fact that High Chancellor M''Rael agreed had been the final nail in the coffin of their opponents.

    Much to their surprise, she walked into the hall apanied by a male elf they had never seen before.

    "I thank every member of the Parliament for receiving me so quickly." She gave them a deep bow that the other elf stiffly imitated a secondter. "I won''t waste your precious time and go straight to the point.

    "A couple of days ago, I received a gift from our sister Aalejah Eventide. Something that will make even the less talented among us into a precious soldier capable of defending ournds and people." She took out the magic grimoire and offered it to the nearest representative to examine it.

    Then, she exined to them how fake magic worked, its strengths, and its limitations. After that, she proceeded to give the Parliament a practical demonstration.

    "That''s very interesting, Hunter Birdsong, but it proves nothing." Representative Bal''Eza of House Ra''Firo said in the politest tone he could. "You are a member of our elite forces and these are just tricks. It''s only natural that you can master them easily."

    "That''s why I brought master Embergleam with me." She replied with a confident voice while inviting the male elf to step forward.

    "Greetings. My name is Ut''Van Embergleam." The elf stammered from the imposing presence of the Parliament members. "I''m a cook at the Archer Squirrel."

    His whole life he had never gone above the middle level. He had never met the representative of his own n, let alone those of the great houses.

    "A cook?" The word echoed through the hall, disdain mixed with disbelief.

    "He epted to practice with me and I can bring here his army training instructor who is willing to testify that master Embergleam didn''t qualify even as a foot soldier." Le''Ahy said. "Show them what you can do now."

    The poor elf looked around like a cornered rat, sweating more than during summer while standing in front of the heat of the fully loaded stove. Only gibberish came out of his mouth and his hands trembled as if he was naked in the middle of a snowstorm.

    "Do you mind if he turns around?" She asked after the awkward situation prolonged long enough to be pitiful.

    "Granted." M''Rael said and the rest of the Parliament nodded.

    Ut''Van needed a few sips of Frostfire and even more deep breaths to muster enough liquid and actual courage to do as he had practiced. His first attempts suffered from poor control and minor mistakes but they were still a sess.

    With each spell that took form, his confidence grew until he managed to perform the rest to perfection.

    When the members of the Parliament gave him a round of apuse, he was so focused that the surprise made him yelp and turn around with a guilty look on his face as if he had been caught red-handedmitting a crime.

    "Marvelous!" Bal''Eza said. "But those are still tricks. Where''s the real magic? A real soldier needs to be able to fly and conjure fire and lightning."

 Chapter 2652 False Assumption (Part 2)

    ?

    Thest time the elves had studied fake magic it was crude and its knowledge scarce. Magic users back then were rare and they guarded the few spells they knew jealously. In the days of the War of the Races, there was no such thing as a textbook, let alone an academy.

    Modern fake magic was polished, clean-cut, and organized so that it was easy to learn.

    The eyes of every n representative shone with greed, thinking about the army they could finally build. With a bit of study, fake magic would allow the most useless individuals to be precious meat shields who would keep the elites safe.

    Suddenly the death toll that fighting monster tides and lost cities wasn''t so scary anymore since the frontlines would be filled with expendable members of their society.

    On top of that, the elves dreamed about the day when such newfound military strength would be used to serve a noble cause. Like taking back thend lost to the humans at the end of the War.

    "Lady Aalejah said that the Awakened Council is willing to provide us with the best spells they have up to tier three, but only after we swear allegiance to their cause and promise upon our ancestors not to turn their gift against them." Le''Ahy replied.

    It was the most sacred oath an elf could undertake. Breaking it meant to disgrace not only the oath breaker but also their entire n down to its founder. It was enough to shatter everyone''s dreams of conquest and rethink the whole deal.

    "Before doing something like that, we need to study the book and bring it to our respective ns." M''Rael said. "Only then can we truly speak on behalf of our people instead of our personal interests.

    "After all, the knowledge offered to us doesn''t make us invincible. Elven blood will still be spilled and we can''t ask those like master Embergleam to sacrifice themselves without hearing their opinion.

    "Yet I''m certain that Lord Qisal will be d to know that his proposal is one step closer to being epted. Please, inform him that you have seeded, Hunter Birdsong. If the book you offered us today is as good as you say, I can guarantee him that the Parliament will join the military effort to recover Jiera.

    "Do you agree with me, my fellow representatives?" M''Rael turned toward them as they replied "Aye" one at a time.

    No matter how honorable it was, servitude was still servitude whereas the Council was offering the elves both freedom and a powerful weapon that could still be used as a means of self-defense.

    Fake magic would make even a limited number of elves a force to be reckoned with since they would all be bright blue-cored mages. Or rather, that was what they believed.

    M''Rael Firestone aimed much higher. He wanted freedom, power, and an elven kingdom to call his own. He couldn''t believe how generous Mogar was to deliver everything to him on a silver tter.

    ''Now everything makes sense.'' He thought. ''Our defeat in the War of the Races, the long millennia of exile, and the istion were all a preparation for this moment. Mogar never turned their back on us elves like they did with the Abomination.

    ''They were simply waiting for the moment when Garlen was ripe for the taking. A rampaging famine, a stupid Yggdrasill, and one of Mogar''s most powerful artifacts are all at my fingertips at the same time.

    ''Destiny is calling onto me and it found me ready to answer!''

    Le''Ahy was more than happy to finally have an excuse to call Lord Qisal and see his hologram just like M''Rael reveled in a joy just as great. The locator spell the Tree had taught him exploited the call to find the "Dragon Lord''s" location.

    The High Chancellor was now aware that Qisal Voidfeather didn''t exist. There was only Lith Tiamat Verhen, the Divine Beast that Mogar had chosen to deliver M''Rael everything he had ever dreamt of.

    ***

    "Great job, Aalejah." Lith said back in the cave. "Where did you get the idea of teaching the elves fake magic?"

    "It was a spur of the moment thing." She puffed her chest out with pride. "We were talking about how dire is for my people the loss of even one elite warrior when it struck me.

    "Elves all reach the bright blue core but most of themck the discipline and the talent to master their own mana flow. Once you reach a certain level, one mistake can be lethal so no one practices magic past a certain age.

    "Fake magic, instead, does everything by itself as long as one says the magic words and makes the hand gestures right. Talentless elves still can''t master tier four and five because they are tooplicated, but even a small toon of fake mages can take down countless monsters from the sky and fly away at a moment''s notice.

    "Also, the tier one book was just bait. I won''t give the Parliament anything of value until all of its members swear an oath of loyalty and brotherhood."

    "No offense, but treaties and oaths are just things made to be broken." Faluel said. "What keeps them from going back on their word once they''ve gotten what they want?"

    "You don''t understand our customs. Elves live long lives and have few children so their legacy is everything for them. The World Tree records our entire lives and divulges every one of the great achievements of our ns to the different colonies, both good and bad.

    "Were the elves of Setraliie to lie upon the name of their ancestors, their shame wouldn''t be just their own, but of the whole elven kind. They would be shunned, ostracized, and their disgrace eternal.

    "No elvenmunity would ever ept them and the Tree would mark them as sons of man, the greatest insult you can make to our kind." Aalejah had no idea that at that moment the Tree couldn''t do or say anything due to their own stupidity.

    It was the reason the confidence in her words reassured everyone who returned to their own practice. ording to Le''Ahy, the Parliament would need about two more days to put the book to the test before making their decision.

    At that point, Aalejah''s group simply had to report to the Council the sess of their mission. Sure, at first the Awakened were bound to be pissed off for being kept in the dark about the Fringe''s position but it wouldn''tst long.

    They could use Setraliie''s elves as ambassadors to other colonies and organize a proper upation force for Jiera. That along with Zelex''s monsters would be the final piece of the puzzle necessary to keep the fallen continent from disappearing from the maps.

    Until that moment, however, everyone focused on performing their own research under Mogar''s guidance. Faluel and Ajatar experimented on their blood, Lith and Solus practiced Void Magic, while Quy and Aalejah worked on their Light Mastery.

    Friya was literally working on her hair, trying to unravel the secret of their power. She twisted and knotted them into snake-like shapes, used Invigoration on them, and used every single diagnostic spell she knew but aside from giving Morok inspiration for bad jokes, she achieved nothing.

 Chapter 2653 Springing The Trap (Part 1)

    ?

    Luckily for Friya, the Tyrant was too busy trying to discover at least one bloodline ability to pester her. Too much.

    As for Nalrond, he exploited the working frenzy to sneak away into a secluded cave away from prying eyes. He had tried everything from meditation to self-eptance but nothing worked and Mogar was still silent.

    He couldn''t hear a single word from them.

    ''It can only mean that I''m far from a solution.'' He thought. ''Solus and Friya have confirmed that my answer bleeds. Let''s see how urate it is.''

    The Rezar injured himself with a knife, opening mirroring wounds on both his bodies in the same way his echo in the Mindscape had done. He withstood the pain without using darkness fusion, in the hope that it would connect his halves and give him the clue he needed to finally receive Mogar''s guidance.

    ***

    The locator spell gave M''Rael almost everything he needed. To get the rest he had to work hard and promise many favors.

    Even with the knowledge he had extorted from the World Tree and the Sage Crown, he was no match for so many powerful intruders. He needed diplomacy to muster the forces he needed for his endeavor.

    Elves were as greedy as any other race, but much more prudent. Their previous defeat by the hands of Morok''s group during their first visit and the power showcased by the three members of Leegaain''s Brood in front of the Parliament were a big deterrent.

    It was the reason M''Rael didn''t assemble the representatives of the various ns but their seconds inmand. They were close to absolute power but possessed very little of their own.

    Their centuries-old frustration and the prospect of having to wait centuries before having a seat in the Parliament made them more willing to take risks.

    In exchange for their help and discretion, M''Rael had promised them Awakening, the secret of the violet core, a position of power in his kingdom, and a share of the Dragon''s hoard they were about to acquire.

    That on top of bing the next representative of their respective ns, of course.

    Power was nothing without authority and above all the seconds inmand wanted vindication for the wrongs they perceived to have suffered.

    Convincing them to join his cause had been the easy part, especially after exining to them the nature of the prize at hand. The hard part had been mobilizing the necessary troops without anyone noticing.

    The hardest part had been unraveling Ajatar''s protections without triggering any rm. The Drake''s workings had proven to be soplicated that even after studying them for a day there wasn''t a single elf capable of making heads or tails of them.

    M''Rael had been forced to take the shard of the World Tree and make them spit out how to crack the array field. The Yggdrasill was still weakened from the previous torture so they had folded pitifully quickly.

    ''Curse me and my own powers!'' The Tree thought. ''If only the traitor didn''t have the Sage Crown, I could have just lied to him and made him walk inside the trap. My wood, however, allows him to understand my exnations so whenever I lie to M''Rael about magic, he never falls for it and just doubles the punishment.''

    The High Chancellor had managed to put the World Tree under the next best thing to a ve spell. Something that he would have never achieved if not for the Crown and partial ess to the Tree''s archives.

    M''Rael had learned the hard way how difficult controlling a ve was and his first visit to the Yggdrasil''s mind had almost fried his brain. He now asked only brief and precise questions while the spell caused the Tree endless pain in case of lie or no answer.

    Yet all that hard work had finally paid off and the array field was cleared.

    Life Vision, Soul Vision, and arrays sensing spells didn''t perceive any more threats. Life sensing arrays gave the elves the precise number and position of the enemies, allowing the hunters to set the field to perfection before springing the trap.

    ''Phase one, go!'' M''Rael said via the mind link connecting him to his generals who in turn were connected with their respective armed forces.

    The elven warriors answered in unison, using tier three spells to make thework of caves where the enemies were hidden copse while saving their strength.

    "What the heck is going on?" Nalrond was the first one to notice the anomaly thanks to his sensitivity toward magical energy. "The arrays have suddenly disappeared and a huge mass of mana is attacking us!"

    "Nonsense, I-" Only then did Ajatar notice that the telepathic connection with his magical formations only gave static. "Ambush!"

    He established a mind link with everyone to not waste time talking while using Life Vision to confirm the nature of the attack.

    Everyone was still confused by the sudden interruption in their respective experiments when the cave-in began. The ground started to shake and fissures opened everywhere, quickly growing in size with every wave of earth magic reaching their position.

    To make matters worse, the elves were also piling up hundreds of kilograms of rock and soil over the caves so that the moment the roof copsed, gravity would turn them into deadly projectiles.

    ''There''s no time for casting spells strong enough to overpower those of our attackers and we can''t Dominate them all. There are too many.'' Faluel cursed.

    Against someone with Dominance, quantity beat quality. Even though the spells employed by the elves carried no willpower, controlling even half of them was impossible.

    ''We can only go up! Protect the small ones!'' The Hydra conjured her Royal Fortress armor and grew to her original size, using the protection of the Davross and the burst from her expanding body to hit the falling rocks away.

    Ajatar did the same with his Wyrmguard armor and Lith with his Voidwalker armor.

    Neither couldpare with Tyris'' masterpiece but they still did just as well. The Drake used advanced gravity fusion to increase his density while Lith boosted with mana the Adamant coating the Dragon bones.

    Three titans respectively 20 (66''), 20 (66'') and 25 (100'') tall rose from the ground like ancient gods awakened from their slumber, blotting out the sky. The others stood between the colossal beasts'' feet, using their hulking friends as shields.

    The elves gasped in surprise, some even loosed their grip on their weapons, but the chain ofmand held still. Everything was going ording to M''Rael''s n.

    ''Release!'' The confidence in his voice snapped his generals out of it and they ryed the order, restoring the morale.

    Adamant-tipped arrows swarmed at the colossi from every direction, each elf nocking three arrows at a time, and each one of them was imbued with deadly spells.

    Lith, Faluel, and Ajatar reacted by instinct, conjuring a wind shield to repel the volleys of projectiles but one of their enchantments allowed the arrows to pierce through the improvised barrier.

    When they struck, they released the tier Five War Mage spell, Shattering Winter.

    Water magic covered the Wyrms with a thickyer of ice, bringing their temperature below one hundred degrees Celsius and exploiting their natural weakness to cold.

 Chapter 2654 Springing The Trap (Part 2)

    ?

    At the same time, air magic conjured concussive sts on impact whose shockwaves ravaged their victims'' internal organs.

    The three colossal beasts copsed like felled trees, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. The cold sapped their strength, even quenching Lith''s inner fire while the internal bleeding they suffered sealed Invigoration.

    ''Bring the storm!'' The elves answered M''Rael''s second call by flooding the hill with water that seeped down the copsed caves and drenched everyone.

    It was then that a new volley of arrows infused with the spell Frozen Lightning struck. The water acted as a conductor for the electricity, sending everyone into a seizure that made them lose their focus and control over their bodies.

    The few spells Quy and the others had prepared were gone and as soon as the bolts of lightning were discharged, the water turned into ice. The three Wyrms were waist-deep in ice while everyone else was trapped in the frozen waters like insects in amber.

    ''Don''t falter. Don''t rejoice. Don''t lower your guard.'' M''Rael kept looking left and right with Soul Vision to make sure he wasn''t missing anything. ''The Tiamat is our main goal, but if we let even one of his allies slip away, we''re done for.

    ''An Awakened only need one breath ti-'' The appearance of what looked like an enraged goddess cut him short.

    Friya appeared amid the enemy lines surrounded by the blue aura of Full Guard and the golden-emerald sparkles of the Spirit version of Dimensional Ruler.

    M''Rael knew about Nalrond''s presence from the Tree. He was the one who had led the group during the previous visit so he was bound to have apanied his good friend Verhen to the Fringe as well.

    It was the reason he had used Soul Vision to track the movements of the Rezar. Cloaking devices could fool Life Vision but they were useless against Soul Vision.

    Nalrond knew about the elves'' bloodline abilities so he had taken Friya with him and swam through the copsing ground in the opposite direction from which the waves of mana came.

    Then, she had opened a Spirit Steps after checking with her Scope spell where she could deal the most damage in the shortest time.

    Dreadnought, her rapier, unleashed pulses of darkness and light magic, forcing the elves to heal from the damage her spells and de inflicted. Thebined effect drained so much of their vitality that even those who didn''t faint were no longer able to fight.

    Thundercrash, the rail gun, was true to its name, unleashing a single devastating projectile that pierced through the lined-up elves like they were paper while the sonic boom it produced made the sensitive ears of everyone around Friya bleed.

    A regr human would have "just" had their eardrum burst and lost their sense of bnce, but the elven hearing was much better. The shock from the deafening noise followed by the blinding pain made them roll their eyes back as their mouths foamed.

    The area Friya had Warped to was clear in a single st, but she was far from done.

    There were still many enemy units standing and she still had many tricks in her hat.

    She spread her fingers, releasing two spells from each of the five magic-holding rings she wore. They were all made by Lith and could store even two different spells at the same time.

    Then, she had the emerald-golden sparkles coalesce in the middle of the enemy ranks, forming a Steps from which a flurry of red-hot scales and ws emerged. Nalrond finally had a Featherwalker armor of his own that Orion had gifted him.

    The god of the forge had always loved his adoptive daughter, but after Phloria''s death, he had be more generous toward his surviving children and utterly feral in his creations.

    The lessons about true magic only made Orion''s understanding of the Forgemastering arts deeper and survival for his enemies harder.

    Nalrond''s armor was equipped with spiked gauntlets that not only wrapped his natural ws in Adamant but that could also fuse among themselves to be shields and extend forward into spears.

    The scales covering the armor, instead, were capable of adjusting their own angle upon hit and converting the heat released by the Rezar''s spells into high-frequency vibrations, lessening the impact of any physical attack.

    To make matters worse, the couple hadn''te alone. An army of light swarmed out of the Steps, striking along with Nalrond in an orderly spear formation with him at the tip.

    He was no Lith, but Nalrond had honed his Light Mastery skills since a young age and after failing to merge his two essences, he had worked hard to make up for the limits of his two blue cores.

    The constructs were no Demons either, but they were relentless, felt no pain, and could detonate themselves just to reform a secondter. All they needed was Nalrond''s mana and focus and thanks to the armor he had plenty of both.

    ''What the heck is going on?'' M''Rael was shocked to see three units copse like houses of cards.

    The Rezar''s ws cut through armored warriors like butter while Friya kept jumping around, detonating her own exit and entry points along with the dimensional spells of whoever tried to chase after her.

    On paper, she and Nalrond were no different from the elves since they were also stuck at the blue core.

    The differencey in their equipment.

    While the inhabitants of Setraliiecked Origin mes for ages and were unaware of the wonders shared by the Rune Magus, Orion had poured the fruits of the Ernas, the Royal Forgemasters, and his own personal techniques into the Adamant.

    It was as if the elves were trying to use a wooden shield to stop a machine gun.

    Even with the various tier four and five spells that they had temporarily imbued in their equipment thanks to their bloodline abilities, it was only thanks to their vastly superior numbers that their formation was still holding.

    ''Don''t be afraid!'' The High Chancellor said. ''Their physical and magical prowess is no different from our own. Use your superior speed to dodge their attacks and teamwork to corner them. In the end, there''s just two of them!''

    He was right, but also wrong.

    With one unit down and two more busy dealing with the enemy''s strike team, the intensity of the volley of arrows had decreased.

    Lith needed one breath to bring the world energy to his heart and ignite it into Origin mes. The heat they produced melted the mystical ice, allowing his trapped friends to escape from the death trap.

    The water quickly turned hot, revitalizing the other two Wyrms that jumped out of the massive puddle and used chore magic to shake off the residual water.

    "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Morok took flight thanks to his energy wings while doing his best to purge Quy''s lungs from the water that was drowning her.

    He had yet to get ustomed to his new, massive body let alone flying without spells. The elves, instead, were master archers and could hit a fly from one hundred meters (328'') of distance.

    Despite his best evasive maneuvres, one arrow reached him unnoticed in the chaos of battle.

 Chapter 2655 Taken (Part 1)

    The arrow released the tier five War Mage spell, Raging Sun, that conjured an explosion of purple mes akin to a volcanic eruption.

    The Raging Sun blew up Morok''s right side of the body despite the Adamant Wyrmguard armor he wore and if not for him curling up around Quy to defend her, the heat from the st would have charred her lungs.

    The Tyrant plunged to the ground while unleashing elemental rays from his four remaining eyes, trying to intercept the rest of the projectiles.

    Friya and Nalrond weren''t doing well either. After the initial shock from the enemy Warping past the dimensional sealing arrays, the elves had quickly adapted to Friya''s skills and had surrounded Nalrond.

    ''They need our help!'' Aalejah weaved several spells together inside her Yggdrasill staff, conjuring an emerald barrier that protected her, Quy, and the fallen Morok from further damage.

    Another spell located the bits of flesh and bones of the Tyrant and Spirit Blinked them on his body where a third spell started to patch them together.

    ''Duly noted.'' Ajatar charged forward in his four-legged Drake form while using advanced gravity fusion to increase his weight and body density at the same time so as to not damage his joints.

    Each one of his steps made the ground quake, throwing the elven archers off bnce even from a distance and making them miss many of their shots. One of Faluel''s heads took a deep breath, using Invigoration on herself, Quy, and Morok at the same time.

    The other six sted as many different tier four spells, each one based on the air element. The ice, flood, and bolts of lightning were all apanied by a strong gust of wind that carried the acidic venom secreted by her fangs.

    Those who dodged the spells or Blinked away found themselves covered in a corrosive substance that burned through their skin and armor, poisoning their blood the moment it reached an open wound.

    Aalejah stood behind the massive butt of the Hydra, using the protection from Faluel''s Davross-covered body to safely use both fake and true magic for her spells. The elf inwardly cursed herself forcking the violet core and the body casting that came with it.

    As for Lith, with his body set aze by Origin mes, it had taken him a couple of ps of his wings to gain the sky. Solus had saved herself from the initial assault by going back into her ring anding out only once it was over.

    She had used that time to cast spells and arrays that she now dropped on her enemies below while standing on the Tiamat''s head.

    ''The bright blue core of the elves also limits the speed of their flight spells.'' She said. ''If you keep your distance and rain spells from above, the best they can achieve by chasing you is spread their numbers even thinn-''

    A Spirit Warp appeared, far away enough to be outside Full Guard''s area of effect but close enough to not make the air magic-propelled dartsing out of it impossible to dodge after being noticed by Full Guard.

    More Shattering Winters struck Lith''s back, neutralizing the mystical mes and stopping his movements in mid-air.

    Lith activated the Spirit Barrier imbued in his armor, stopping the onught, but a small figure as fast as he was had just appeared from a Warp. M''Rael unleashed the tier five Spirit Spell, Guard Crusher, along with the tier five War Mage spell, Frozen Wastnd.

    The first conjured a swarm of high-density fast-spinning emerald constructs the size of a wooden stake that attacked the Spirit Barrier from every side. Their diamond-hard tips focused the pressure on a single point, forcing Lith''s barrier to disperse its mana to not shatter.

    At the same time, an emerald stake the size of a truck struck in front of Lith''s chest. The coordinated onught overloaded the barrier, making it crumble for a split second.

    Enough for Frozen Wastnd to reach the now-exposed Tiamat, draining the humidity in his surroundings with air magic and unleashing a cold wave with water magic. The two effects synergized in a loop that instantly dropped the temperature of the colossal creature by dozens of degrees.

    It was an anti-Dragon spell devised by the World Tree to get rid of any Dragon, especially Leegaain, who might get too much a fancy to their secrets.

    Solus jumped out of Lith''s head, darting toward M''Rael like a bullet, but he was ready.

    Instead of trying to block the Sage Staff, he turned the Sage Crown into a wooden de and used it to deflect the blow while revealing the object that he had been carrying tucked under his left arm.

    ''Wait a second!'' Solus thought.

    The Eyes of Menadion were analyzing the enemy de quickly. Too quickly for it to be normal, even with the partial analysis that Lith had performed during his visit to the Parliament.

    Thanks to the multiple brains powering the artifact, Solus had an easy time deciphering enough of the Sage Crown''s power core to discover the truth.

    ''That''s not just simr to our Sage Staff, it''s almost the same thing. If not for those damned cloaking runes, I could be sure but there are too many simrities for-''

    The cloaking runes had been the Yggdrasill''s second mistake in their attempt to warn Lith. They had no idea what Lith''s and Solus'' cloaking runes used because they were a secret so the Tree had been forced to use their own.

    Old runes, the worst they could use without M''Rael bing suspicious, but still good enough to foil a scan for quite a bit in Solus'' absence. The realization that something was very wrong came toote.

    Her train of thought derailed not because someone had stolen her secrets but because she recognized the wooden box engraved with silver runes of power. A blue mana crystal the size of a tennis ball was embedded on its lid, fueling aplex series of humming arrays carved on the surface of the Removal Unit.

    The same ancient artifact that Nalear had used to split them and that Silverwing had employed to put the rtionship between Lith and Solus to the test.

    Blue strings of energy came out of the box, wrapping themselves around the stone ring at Lith''s finger and dragging it inside the Removal Unit while he was still too weakened to react.

    Solus fought like a lioness, but she had no spell at the ready for a one-on-one fight. She had prepared area of effect spells to deal with the enemy army while Lith acted as her mobile fortress.

    On top of that, M''Rael had no interest in fighting. He only dodged and retreated, buying time for the lid to close on the ring, breaking the bond between Lith and Solus for the third time in their lives.

    The sudden void in their very core shocked them both, paralyzing them more than any spell of physical restraint could.

    Yet it wasn''t over.

    The box opened right after severing the bond between the tower and its owner and more blue strings came out of it. Except that this time they carried the stone ring to M''Rael''s hand who immediately imprinted it.

 Chapter 2656 Taken (Part 2)

    "Yes, I did it! Menadion''s legendary mage tower is mine!" M''Rael burst into aughter of pure joy.

    ''Don''t move and don''t use magic, wench. Get back inside the ring.'' He also thought at the same time, preventing a mind fusion that might fry his brain and stopping Solus from doing anything that might help Lith to recover the artifact.

    ''In your dreams, jackass!'' Solus felt dirty just from hearing his voice in her mind where Lith''s darkness was supposed to be but her rage was pointless.

    Her body obeyed like a loyal dog, her will irrelevant to the final result.

    Her human form disappeared from the battlefield, leaving behind only her equipment that M''Rael wore with pride. The armor still wore Solus'' imprint but now he had her same energy signature, making it essible to him along with the Sage Staff and the Fury.

    "Thanks, Verhen. Everything you''ve umted so far, your magical legacy, and even your precious artifacts are all mine now." M''Rael said to the Tiamat who was still frozen in shock and grief.

    "As a thank you, I promise that I''ll kill you quickly and turn your corpse into priceless artifacts for my army."

    Lith roared like a wounded beast, using another breath of Origin mes to break free of the ice and charging at the elf with everything he had.

    In one go, he had lost Solus, the tower, and everything he had collected since he was four years old that was stored inside the pocket dimension. Aside from War, Double Edge, and the equipment he wore, he had nothing left.

    "Please." M''Raelughed at Lith''s desperation and pped away the giant hand that threatened to squash him like a fly. "You know how they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

    The Fury appeared in his hand, its mass boosted by the tower as much as the elf''s. The hammer struck Lith''s head like a falling mountain, sending him plunging toward the ground.

    The Yggdrasill cursed themselves for the umpteenth time, knowing that all hope was lost. Now that the damned M''Rael had gotten his hands on Menadion''s tower, there was no way to stop him.

    The World Tree had recognized Elphyn ever since her appearance in Lutia and knew who she was. From the interviews performed by the Chroniclers to Menadion''s disciples back when the First Ruler of the mes was still alive, the old Tree had been aware of her obsession with protecting her daughter.

    The old Yggdrasill also knew of the friendship between Menadion and Baba Yaga so connecting the dots hadn''t been too hard. Silverwing stealing a Removal Unit from a museum had just confirmed their theory.

    The new World Tree had no idea why she hadn''t retrieved Elphyn nor did they care. Creating things like the Horsemen was of no use to the Yggdrasill and the tower was bound to be a piece of junk.

    Broken, obsolete, and depowered, it was a measly prize for someone who knew the secret of tower crafting. The new World Tree had thought about taking it for themselves, but had decided against it since Baba Yaga''s hut was much better.

    Not only was the white-cored Awakened stronger than Menadion had ever been, but she had also upgraded her tower every time there was a new magical breakthrough. It was the reason the World Tree had sent a Chronicler to follow Baba Yaga and try to steal her secrets.

    M''Rael, however, didn''t have the time nor patience for such an endeavor. Beggars couldn''t be choosers so the moment the Tree had revealed to him the bond between Lith and Solus, the elf knew what to do.

    Removal Units were old pieces of junk, but they were elven pieces of junk so he knew how to craft one.

    They had been developed during the final stages of the War of the Races, when the number of casualties had crippled the elven army. Their leaders had decided to beat quantity with quality by fusing their best warriors with Living Legacies.

    It granted them Awakening, powerful abilities, and nigh-immortality. The problem was that the bond with a cursed object also eroded the sanity of the host over time. So the elves had devised the Removal Units.

    They allowed the elven warriors to get rid of their dangerous partner at will and pass it on to someone else until their minds recovered from the trauma. It allowed the elven army to push back the humans and regain most of the lostnds.

    s, such a move had only ended up escting the conflict and forcing the other races to get involved.

    No one liked cursed objects and the elves hoarding and using them had brought several among the undead, nt folk, and beasts to demand the destruction of the Living Legacies.

    The elves had refused toply and the mages from the other races had joined the fight, but that''s a story for another day.

    ''Fight him, child.'' The Tree said to Solus. ''Whatever he asks, twist his words. Whatever hemands, do it literally. We may be ves but we are not idiots. We must do whatever we can to hold our ground and give your friends a sliver of hope.''

    Solus would have been bbergasted by someone riding through the telepathic bond with the tower to open an encrypted backchannel, but she was too traumatized to care.

    She was trapped in her own mind and body, incapable of defying M''Rael''s orders no matter how hard she tried.

    ''Is this how Quy felt under Nalear''s spell? Will I be forced to kill¡­ Lith!'' The weight of that single word snapped Solus out of her shock, allowing her to focus on what was happening.

    Even if she was paralyzed, the tower was still a part of her and she could study its workings. The stone of the tower was now coating her Voidwalker armor, giving M''Rael a mass on par with a Divine Beast.

    It was the secret behind his inhuman strength. He had even shared such mass with the Fury to make it effective against the Tiamat. Yet that wasn''t the worst of it.

    M''Rael was now wearing the Eyes, the Hands, and the Mouth of Menadion and seemed to know how to use them even better than Solus herself.

    ''How? In my Mom''s name, how?'' She thought.

    ''That''s all my fault, child.'' The Tree used the mind link to exin their situation to her and how M''Rael had tortured the Yggdrasill during the previous days in order to learn how to use the tower.

    Meanwhile, Lith crashed against the ground, but the pain from the impact was nothingpared to what he felt from Solus'' absence.

    ''What''s wrong, Lith?'' Faluel asked while charging him with a bolt of Life Maelstrom from her armor. ''Why can''t I feel Solus anymore through the mind link?''

    ''She''s gone! That fucker took her and cut the link off!'' His pain sent his thoughts reverberating through thework that connected him to the rest of the group.

    Those who knew about Solus'' secret were appalled, but those who didn''t were just confused.

    ''Stand down and focus on defending yourself.'' M''Rael''s voice sounded in the heads of the elves like that of a god. ''I''ll take care of the rest from here.''

 Chapter 2657 Knowledge is Power

    The world energy flowed endlessly from the Fringe into the tower and then into him, boosting M''Rael far beyond the power of his violet core alone.

    "This is over, Beasts." He said. "Now that I hold the power of the tower of Menadion and the wisdom of the World Tree, there''s nothing you can do. Theirbined might could take down an elder Divine Beast, let alone two Lesser and a runt.

    "If you surrender, I promise that I''ll keep you alive until you are done teaching me and my people everything you know. Refuse and I''ll kill you. Verhen''s legacy will still do."

    M''Rael was essing the tomes stored in Soluspedia, finding a real treasure of knowledge that he knew like the back of his hand even though he had never studied it before.

    "I think you are very na?ve." Ajatar said. "Knowing and doing are worlds apart!"

    He activated Spirit Fusion, turning his whole being into a mass of living emerald energy. The High Chancellorbined the Sage Staff and Crown''s effects, imbuing them with so much mana that light seeped out of the wood.

    Then, he used the Eyes and Full Guard to follow the Drake''s movements and hit him on the head like a hammer on a nail. The emerald form copsed to the ground, turning back into flesh and blood.

    "Spirit Fusion is a nice trick, too bad that energy can hit energy. The weak point of your bloodline''s technique is that to keep your conscience, in that form you also keep the ability to feel pain.

    "On top of that, once transformed, you can''t regain any of the lost mana until you undo Spirit Fusion. It means that a blow that packs enough punch can knock you out."

    The elf coated the Crown in mana, turning it into a giant de ready to decapitate the fallen Drake.

    ''This is impossible!'' Ajatar was hurt in both his body and pride. ''That is something that only a chosen member of the Drake bloodline should know. Even if somehow the elf discovered it, where did a measly violet core get the strength to suppress my bright violet?''

    Unfortunately for Ajatar and those who didn''t know about the tower, M''Rael was also wearing Solus'' cloaking ring, making his performance and words seem impossible.

    "Oh, yeah?" Faluel attacked before the High Chancellor could strike. "Let''s see how you deal with this, then!"

    She charged herself and her spells with Life Maelstrom, releasing a relentless stream of tier five Spirit Spells from six of her heads while the seventh used Invigoration to restore her mana.

    "It''s actually quite easy." M''Rael danced between the spells like they were just a light show, Blinking and dodging in the fleeting spaces between them until he stood in front of the Hydra.

    "Invigoration is your limit. To keep your breathing technique active, your spells must follow its same rhythm. Once one knows your pattern and sequence of attacks, avoiding them takes little effort."

    The High Chancellor struck with the mass-enhanced Fury, sending Davross against Davross. The impact squeezed the air out of Faluel''s body and sent her tumbling to the ground.

    Somehow, M''Rael had exploited an unforeseen weak spot in her footing and struck exactly where the leverage from the blow would cause the most damage.

    ''Was he saying the truth about the wisdom of the World Tree? But why should such a powerful being submit to this idiot?'' Faluel couldn''t see the sentient fragment of the Yggdrasil due to the cloaking devices of the tower covering the elf.

    Nor could she even imagine that by sharing theputational burden of the Eyes with the Tree, M''Rael had obtained something very close to Dragon Eyes. He could decipher every spell and attack on the flight with minimal burden on his mind since the Tree paid the price.

    It provided the High Chancellor with instant knowledge and kept the Yggdrasill''s mind weakened so that they wouldn''t be able to resist his orders. Two birds with one stone.

    To make matters worse, M''Rael could also ess the knowledge that was already stored in the Eyes of Menadion. Everything that Lith and Solus had ever learned about their friends, enemies, themselves, and even about their own equipment was now at M''Rael''s fingertips.

    It was only thanks to the stolen knowledge that he had managed to anticipate the Drake''s and the Hydra''s moves with such ease.

    Lith shrunk back to his human size before resuming his attack. Being big only meant offering a bigger target to the elven archers who were still shooting. Also, M''Rael kept the tower masspact around his body, making him hard to hit.

    The elf had no experience in a huge form nor time to learn but he had lived as an elf for centuries. He had more skill fighting in that form than his opponents and the tower''sbat form worked the same way no matter the shape its user required.

    ''Since when does the tower have abat form?'' From her prison, Solus could see the Heart, the Library, the Mirror Hall, and the Watchtowerbine their enchantments to form something that was bigger than the sum of the single parts.

    ''You don''t know?'' The Tree was as bbergasted as her. ''How do you think your mother defeated Divine Beasts to collect her ingredients? How do you think your friend Malyshka fights Guardians? With flowers and curtsies?''

    ''I have amnesia, jackass! What''s your excuse for selling yourself to this psycho?'' She replied with anger.

    ''I didn''t sell myself!'' The Yggdrasill said in outrage. ''He took me by surprise and enved me, just like it happened to you.''

    ''It was nothing like what happened to me! You were blinded by your ego and fell for the oldest trick in the book whereas I was blindsided.'' She replied.

    ''Really? Why didn''t the two of you conjure the tower like M''Rael is doing, then? Wasn''t it ego as well?''

    ''No, you psycho. It was just a way to not reveal my secret and avoid killing all those elves even in case they surrendered.'' She replied. ''How was I supposed to know that the all-knowing World Tree was M''Rael''s aplice?

    ''If not for you, this battle would be already won!''

    The Tree hated to admit defeat so they just shut up.

    Meanwhile, on the clearing, Lith and Ajatar stood up again and charged at M''Rael together.

    "Three against one is a little unfair, especially with Life Maelstrom." The elf said with a confident grin while Faluel used part of the energy of her armor to recover and sent a bolt of silver lightning to the Drake.

    She sent more to the rest of the group, making sure that her disciples would be outnumbered but not outmatched.

    Upon M''Rael''s telepathicmand, more volleys of spell-imbued arrows blotted out the sky.

    "Fuck!" Empowered by Life Maelstrom, Friya used the Bait and Switch spell from a great distance to exchange her and Nalrond''s position with one of the troops'' leaders.

    They were both surrounded and about to be impaled by halberds imbued with tier five spells that instead struck a bbergasted elf. It messed up with the chain ofmand long enough for the couple to Warp to Aalejah''s position.

 Chapter 2658 Knowledge is Power (Part 2)

    ''You can''t stay here!'' She rebuked them. ''If we group up in a single ce, surrounding and killing us will be a piece of cake.''

    Quy had yet to fully recover from drowning and while Invigoration had restored Morok''s mana and stamina he was still hungry.

    ''Six eyes and only one frigging mouth!'' He grumbled while gulping down nutrient potions. ''A bigger body also means I need more food to heal. Why there has always to be a catch?''

    ''I know, sorry.'' Friya panted hard, having a hard time stabilizing her breathing enough to use Lifestream. ''Can you hold long enough for us to recover?''

    She and Nalrond were exhausted, having spent most of their mana to hold the line alone against three elven units.

    ''I can do better.'' The elf replied while using her own Invigoration on them. ''Now piss off. This is one of the cases where there''s weakness in numbers.''

    By being together, they offered an easy target while they also couldn''t use their most powerful spells without hurting their allies. Only the mage casting a spell was immune to its effects.

    Aalejah had survived exactly because she was alone. She had earlier cast a Raging Sun on herself, using the st to deflect the arrows and detonate both spells and enemiesing in her direction.

    ''Thank you.'' Friya nodded, hating herself for what was about to say. ''Before I go, there''s something you should know. Killing these guys is pointless if we can''t get rid of M''Rael. Solus is a mage tower and by capturing her he has also gained her powers.''

    ''She''s what?'' Morok''s eyes went wide and not only because he was shooting elemental beams at everything that moved.

    ''Which tower?'' Aalejah asked while suppressing her own surprise.

    ''Menadion''s.'' Friya hated to reveal one of Lith''s most important secrets, but she couldn''t afford to let her friends fight against the unknown.

    Also, there was the possibility that as the World Tree''s former servant Aalejah might know something that would help them rescue Solus.

    ''Fuck! I only know that it exists and that it was listed as lost.''

    ''Because the World Tree kept the information ssified?'' Friya tilted her head to the side.

    ''Yes, there was almost no public information about it. Most of Menadion''s apprentices died with her. Those who left before shepleted the tower knew little about it and those to whom she gifted the pieces of the Set of Menadion kept their mouths shut hoping to find the tower themselves one day.

    ''The Tree had to work hard to find that information and shared it only with the Chroniclers.'' Aalejah replied. ''Can you tell me what to expect?''

    ''The first floor-'' A charge of elves wielding enchanted weapons cut Friya short.

    With a snap of her fingers, she conjured three entry points and dozens of exit points at the same time. All but the Steps from which the members of the group emerged exploded in a burst of fire.

    It blinded the mystical senses of the elves and injured those who attempted to ambush the humans.

    ''Did you know?'' Morok didn''t waste time, taking off with Quy between her arms as soon as he came out of the dimensional door.

    ''Yes.'' His tone was hurt and she couldn''t bear to lie to him any longer. ''I promise I''ll tell you everything, but we have to survive this first. Here''s what the tower does.''

    The Tyrant clenched his teeth in anger, envying Lith not for the tower but for the blind loyalty that he managed to inspire. While Quy talked, he used his eyes to Dominate iing spells and his scales to absorb the world energy.

    Together with the Life Maelstrom, it allowed him to safely overload his core and weave spells above his deep violet core. Since the elves seemed to have a fancy for water magic, Morok conjured on himself the tier five Battle Mage spell, God of Fire.

    A zing armor covered the Featherwalker armor while four ming spheres orbited around him. By tapping into them, he could now conjure all kinds of fire spells up to tier three or mono-elemental tier four spells with willpower.

    He exploited them maliciously to unleash a barrage of tier one Fire Darts so thick that there was barely any space between them. Each Fire Dart dealt minimal damage but enough to trigger the spells imbued inside the arrows and make them explode from a distance.

    It triggered a chain reaction that worked its way back to the archers, forcing them to stop attacking and drop down for cover.

    ''Friya, stay away from the melee. Keep yourself at a distance and Warp Nalrond alone. Be his lifeline and bail him out the moment the situation is about to get out of his hands.'' Aalejah was ying her role in the Awakened formation as the Control Tower, directing the battle from a distance.

    Thanks to his constructs, Nalrond was a one-man army and he could use them to cover his retreat when trapped. All he needed was mana and Friya could give it to him with but a few breaths of Invigoration.

    ''On it.'' Friya felt the familiar blip marking that Thundercrash was ready for a second shot.

    She pointed it at M''Rael for a second, but then she realized that if he really had the tower''s abilities, he also had the dimensional awareness to redirect the bullet against one of the Beasts he was facing.

    So she pointed the rail gun at the biggest group of elves she could find and pulled the trigger. The electromaically charged bullet couldn''t do much damage by itself from that trajectory.

    There were just three elves lined up and not even in a way that she could hit them all and inflict them lethal damage. The shockwave that followed it, however, was another story entirely.

    The three elves lost a limb each and not even from a direct it but due to the air pressure surrounding the bullet. An instantter, the sonic boom followed, causing the eardrums of those nearby to burst and the entire unit to go belly-up.

    Friya had also opened three small Steps, the first of which intercepted the bullet before it could hit the ground and Warped it behind another unit. She had no way to aim precisely so the rebound shot hit no one.

    Yet the bullet still moved at supersonic speed and the sonic boom in its wake was enough. By aiming at the center of the formation, the eardrums of the elves closest to the bullet''s trajectory burst and their bodies were sent crashing against their allies.

    The whole unit copsed to the ground, not bearing serious injuries but all of them stunned and disoriented. The bullet entered the third and final Steps, sting through another unit and dealing the same effect.

    ''If only I had more time and a better visual, I could have the bullet ricochet longer.'' She thought while rescuing Nalrond and dodging more arrows.

    The group was still surrounded and even with the help of Dimensional Ruler, Friya needed to constantly turn around to deal with many threats at the same time.

    Her spell burned lots of mana by the second and she also consumed Invigoration for Nalrond. Friya could barely defend herself, let alone help the Wyrms in any way.

 Chapter 2659 Glass Cannon (Part 1)

    ''Don''t worry, Friya, you just scrambled three enemy units in a split second whereas it will take them a while to recover. Your shot relieved a bit of pressure and that''s more than enough.'' Nalrond burned all the mana he had left to conjure a multipleyered barrier around him and Friya.

    Imbued with Life Maelstrom, the golden constructs stopped several tier five spells, copsing one after the other until only one was left. By that time Friya had already used Invigoration on the Rezar, bringing him back to his peak condition.

    When the final barrier crumbled, there was no one to hit.

    Friya had Warped Nalrond back into the fray and herself to a safe position.

    ''Gods, if only Nalrond was also an Awakened those two would be an unstoppable force!'' While watching them, Aalejah felt a glimmer of hope that quickly faded when she looked at the battlefield and realized how many enemies were left.

    She finished mixing her spells inside the Yggdrasill staff and cast a wide area-of-effect four elemental sealing array juiced up by a bolt of silver lightning. Elves were just true mages and had no ess to Spirit Magic.

    This way, those inside the arrays could only attack with their weapons and any spell cast against Aalejah''s allies would fade. She had only left darkness and light avable to allow everyone to heal and make Nalrond''s constructs the only offensive spells in the area.

    Darkness magic was slow and from such a close distance it lost most of its worth since physical attacks were faster and more effective in a one-on-one situation. At least for the elves.

    They had to focus on single targets, making area of effect darkness spells as wasteful as they were slow whereas her allies had to deal with groups of enemies that needed coordination.

    To them, darkness wasn''t a weapon either but it was a precious tool. cing a darkness mist was enough to disrupt the enemy formation or force the elves to scatter, loosening the pressure from the encirclement.

    ''I''m so angry right now that I''m going to kill someone to vent!'' The moment Quy finished telling Morok about the tower, he dropped her like a live grenade, literally.

    The Tyrant threw her with all of his strength, sending her to crash into the space between two elven units. They replied by turning toward her point of impact in unison, unleashing a concentrated volley of arrows and spells.

    Yet Quy suffered no damage.

    She had enveloped herself in a hard-light sphere that exploded on contact with the ground, generating a burst of air and fire that scattered the arrows and triggered the spells before they could reach her.

    "That was rude!" She extended her arms in opposite directions, each releasing a silvery bolt of lightning from her sleeves.

    The elves fell to their knees, dropping their bows and raising the shields they carried on their back together like clockwork. The artifacts had each an individual barrier and had been imbued with an earth and darkness spell.

    The earth element further enhanced the Orichalcum''s hardness, bringing it to near-Adamant, while the darkness would smother the power behind any attack, boosting the efficiency of its earth counterpart and of the shields'' enchantments.

    Unfortunately for them, Bloodbind snuck inside the gaps between the shields, making them useless. Then, it started to spin around its chain like a blender and turned the wall of shields into a disorderly pile of meat and metal.

    Quy had yet to master the art of making constructs and Bloodbind had no edge. It was meant to defend her and carry her spells at a distance, transmitting them like she was touching the enemy.

    Even though her Light Mastery was rough, she had made up for it by infusing it with Spirit Magic and using Bloodbind as a scaffold for her creation. Each link of the mystical chain had turned into a razor-sharp golden de that cut through flesh, bone, and armor.

    As for the Tyrant, he plunged himself into the middle of the enemy ranks, strong of the God of Fire spell. Upon his arrival, the four spheresbined in a tier three Fire Wave that spread in every direction while the Tyrant advanced.

    His twin hammers, Grimnir, crushed heads like melons as he stepped forward, his newfound strength enough to dislodge the spines of his victims. The only problem was that his back was exposed, taking several hits.

    The elves avoided spells that could hurt theirrades and relied on their arrows to deal damage solely to the enemy.

    Morok copsed on the ground and turned his head just in time to say:

    "Hey. Want to see something cool?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he channeled his mana into his wings.

    The elemental burst propelled him back to the safety of the sky and drowned those behind him in a searing heat akin to a jet turbine.

    Those closest to the Tyrant became a lump of charred flesh while those further away suffered from third and second degree burns all over their bodies based on their position.

    As for the Tyrant, it took him but a few breaths to heal from his wounds and regain the lost strength.

    ''Man, being Awakened is awesome. I can only hope it will also be enough.'' He thought while turning toward the real fight.

    At M''Rael''smand, all the forces that Lith''s friends had failed to distract had unleashed a swarm of arrows so thick that it darkened the sky upon its passage.

    At the same time, the High Chancellor hadbined the dimensional awareness from the Watchtower and the amplifying effect of the Master Mirror to unleash a powerful tier three gravity spell, Copse, without affecting himself or his allies.

    It increased Mogar''s gravitational pull by one hundred-fold, locking the three Wyrms into ce and putting their joints under so much pressure that they cracked.

    "Fuck!" Ajatar had no idea what was happening and no time for exnations.

    He simply took in a deep breath and activated his bloodline ability, Elemental Stream. Unlike Dragons, Drakes didn''t have Origin mes yet they could breathe in the world energy and release it after amplifying one of its elemental aspects.

    Ajatar chose fire to both shrug off the lingering cold that gued his body and burn the iing arrows. At the same time, Lith did a simr thing, but he released Origin mes from his body instead of his mouth.

    The mystical fire disrupted the gravity field and ate at the arrows that survived Elemental Stream while phasing through the Drake. On top of that and outside of Lith''s expectations, the Voidfeather Dragon appeared above his head as a Soul Projection.

    "Thief! Give it back! Give her back!" He roared as once again blue magic circles appeared in front of the Voidfeather''s hands and wings.

    M''Rael took a good look at the unknown arrays but neither the Eyes of Menadion nor the World Tree could make heads or tails of them. To the Eyes, the magic circles didn''t even exist while the Yggdrasill uttered in shock the three scariest words that the most knowledgeable being of Mogar could conceive:

    "I don''t know."

 Chapter 2660 Glass Cannon (Part 2)

    As for Faluel, one head countered the gravity field, one head healed her wounds, one head dealt with the arrowsing at her, two heads counterattacked the elven formations, and the final two showered M''Rael respectively with acidic venom and a tier five Spirit Spell.

    ''Are you kidding me? How can Hydras be listed at the bottom of the Lesser Dragons?'' M''Raelbined the Library and Workshop to conjure a Davross shield that took the brunt of the damage.

    ''They are ss cannons.'' A prolonged pang forced the Tree to answer the question. ''Her body is enduring seven times the mana abuse a normal Awakened would. In a while, she will copse.

    ''Until then, however, she''s worth seven bright violet-cored Awakened on her own.''

    ''How long is "a while"?'' The High Chancellor inwardly cursed.

    ''Usually, not much. With the Life Maelstrom and the Royal Fortress armor, however, long enough.''

    M''Rael cursed again, wishing he could use tower tier spells. Sure, he had the tower but the Tree knew none that they could teach him, M''Raelcked the skill to create one on the fly, and Solus answered every one of his questions with long-winded exnations.

    She used abstruse terms whenever she could and mixed Odi words and English since her "master" had never specified in whatnguage he wanted the answer. The only true weapons left to M''Rael were the empowering effects of the tower and the Master Mirror from the Mirror Hall.

    It boosted and amplified his spells, bringing them above the bright violet core but not enough to deal with Faluel, Ajatar, and Lith at the same time.

    s, that was if one considered his magical prowess by itself.

    ''Then I only have to take out the Hydra first.'' The High Chancellor wielded the Fury in his right hand, the Sage Staff in his right, and mixed multiple spells inside the Sage Crown.

    Faluel quickly shapeshifted into her hybrid humanoid form to not offer a big target and wielded her enchanted ive, Strife. That along with the Life Maelstrom coursing through her was supposed to give her a great edge against a violet-cored elf.

    Menadion''s tower boosted his core and body and, in its battle form, the tower had fused with Solus'' Voidwalker armor, turning it into an exoskeleton. The armor now increased M''Rael''s mass and apanied every one of his movements with the vigor from the world energy it drew from the Fringe.

    It gave the elf a mass akin to a Divine Beast and a physical prowess that far exceeded his mana core. To make matters worse, there was also the gap in their weapons.

    Faluel was a great Forgemaster and Stife was an outstanding weapon but it couldn''tpare with Menadion''s masterpiece, especially after Sark had updated and forged it herself.

    The Davross head channeled the power of the tower to perfection, each strike as heavy as it was precise. The Hydra would have had the range advantage if not for M''Rael using the Sage Staff to block and conjuring the Davross shield to intercept the attacks he missed.

    To make matters worse, the Eyes were quickly deciphering Faluel''s spells as soon as she started weaving them, taking away the effect of surprise and giving him the time to weave counters.

    "Thief!" The Voidfeather roared, unleashing a barrage of spells that M''Rael nullified with the Hands of Menadion.

    Or rather, he tried. The moment he negated one element, the spells changed their nature. The Eyes allowed him to keep up with the changes but Faluel didn''t let him focus enough to anticipate them.

    That and the Drake and the Tiamat were charging at him from behind.

    M''Rael''s eyes went wide in fear and his jaw opened in a silent scream. Then, when he was about to be overpowered, he dropped the mask and a smug grin appeared on his face.

    "Idiots." He released the spells imbued in the Sage Crown, triggering an emerald st that reduced the three Beasts into a pulp.

    Unlike the Sage Staff, the Crowncked the Balor Eyes and couldn''t draw in the elements with the Staff''s same efficiency. What it could do, instead, was act as a multi-spells holding ring that boosted the effects of the enchantments the longer they were stored.

    Thanks to the power of the Yggdrasill wood, the High Chancellor had fused multiple tier five Spirit Spells together, using the Crown to enhance them and the tower to fuel them.

    The final result was less powerful than a Nova Spirit Spell but way more versatile. Countless emerald bullets from Manastorm hit with the strength and speed of trucks. Upon hit they released a noxious stprised of Breakdown and Rainstorm.

    The former used the power of the elements to affect the area around its target and make the air poisonous with darkness while the ground turned into moltenva. Thetter used water to drench its victims and carry the other elements past theyers of protection.

    Emerald bullets hit the Wyrms like a flurry of fists from a giant with one hundred hands, Breakdown turned Mogar into hell and Rainstorm dealt them internal damage, all at the same time.

    With a single move, M''Rael had halted the charge, making his enemies fall to their knees and choking on their own blood.

    "There''s a reason a mage is considered invincible inside his tower and I''m wearing mine!" Faluel had seven heads but only one heart so the High Chancellor struck at her chest with the Fury.

    The Davross of the Royal Fortress armor blocked the blow, but the Davross head of the hammer still caused a shockwave strong enough to crack her ribs and send them piercing the organs they were supposed to protect.

    Faluel''s left lung copsed, sealing her breathing technique while her heart went into ventricr fibrition. All of her eyes rolled back and her heads went limp as only the healing powers of the armor kept her from losing consciousness and with it her life.

    The Voidfeather kept striking with everything he had, but aside from ckening M''Rael''s armor, he achieved nothing.

    "Did you really think a measly spell could damage a mage tower?" He said with augh while hitting Lith''s face and smashing the frontal half of his skull. "Keep firing. I like hearing that wench''s screams of pain."

    The Voidfeather roared in horror and shock, reminded that every attack the tower suffered would also affect Solus.

    "Once I''m done with you, I''ll take my sweet time taming her, so thanks for softening that stupid girl for me."

    The Voidfeather disappeared, reced by the Void who attempted to grab M''Rael. He just sidestepped out of reach and hit Ajatar in a descending blow to the crown of his head.

    The squishy sound the Drake emitted horrified Solus and brought the rest of the group to turn around in shock. Blood poured from Ajatar''s helm, seeping out the eyes and mouth slits and from the cracks that the hammer strike had opened.

    "Master!" Morok screamed in fear as he saw the life force of his mentor slowly fading away.

    The Void roared in rage, spreading his deadly ck fog but in an open space, M''Rael only had to take a few steps back to escape its reach.

 Chapter 2661 Falling Apart (Part 1)

    "Please, you and that Dragon are pathetic one-trick ponies. You can''t do squat from a distance and the other one is useless in close-quartersbat." M''Rael said to the Void.

    One brief moment of distraction was all it took to make the delicate bnce of the fight copse.

    When Morok stopped in mid-air to turn around and dart toward Ajatar, he became a fixed target long enough to also be easy prey.

    The arrowsing at his back exploded before hitting their mark thanks to the elemental streaming from his V-shaped bones, but the resulting explosion sent him spinning like a top.

    The following volley of arrows reached its target, piercing and sticking to his armor until he looked like a porcupine. The tier five spells they were imbued with kicked the Tyrant off the sky, filling the air with a mistprised of his own flesh and blood.

    Nalrond''s constructs froze when he looked over his shoulder, allowing the elves to surround him, and Friya missed the timing to rescue him because she was looking back too.

    Morok''s scream made Quy lose her focus, but at least she had the quick wit to retreat instead of standing still and released all the spells she had at the ready as cover fire.

    A barrage of heat rays mowed down the elven lines where they had dropped the shields in favor of their bows, but the wounds were small and already cauterized, making them easy to heal.

    Aalejah could only watch helplessly as the offensive formation she had organized crumbled and her defensive arrays were taken down in quick session.

    ''If the elven troops join their forces with M''Rael, our chances of victory will go from little to none!'' She thought. ''What the heck can I do alone against so many opponents or against someone who could take down three violet-cored Awakened like it was child''s y?''

    The High Chancellor walked toward Faluel to finish her off, deeming her to be the greatest threat to his n.

    ''Without her, the only opponent with Davross equipment will be gone and her treasures will be mine. Without the Life Maelstrom, nobody can stand against a mage walking with his tower as one! I''m-'' His train of thought derailed when the Sentries alerted him of an iing attack.

    "The fuck?" Double Edge went millimeters away from his face and only because even though it was heavy, Adamant and Dragon bones were no match for the tower-fused Fury. "How can you still stand?"

    Lith didn''t reply, the Tree went on a dissertation about the origin of Abominations, and Solus babbled about a lion cub and the circle of life.

    "Shut up!" M''Rael snarled as the voices in his head hindered his focus without actually exining anything.

    Lith still had part of the Life Maelstrom Faluel had infused him with and had split it with War so that the angry de could sh with the much stronger hammer without breaking.

    ''Blocking the Fury with a de is idiotic but it''s better than death.'' Lith did his best to dodge and deflect whenever he could, but he there were times when he had no choice but to parry.

    Also, he couldn''t politely ask M''Rael to stop blocking. Thanks to the Eyes, the elf had a clear idea of Lith''s martial style and was exploiting such knowledge to beat the de to its breaking point.

    "You bastards!" The High Chancellor said to the Tiamat and his own unwilling ves. "That''s how you did it!"

    M''Rael had sent the Sentries scouting the battlefield to make sure that the Lesser Dragons wouldn''t miraculously revive as well just to discover a bald patch of ground where Lith hadid until a moment before.

    The Void couldn''t get far from him, but nts were still living beings and the Fringe was filled to the brim with world energy. The Abomination had sucked everything dry and sent the stolen life force to Lith to heal his wounds the moment they had been opened.

    "Guilty as charged." Lith pressed forward with everything he had, channeling fusion magic through War to double its effectiveness.

    ''If only I could conjure my golems or get my hands on the equipment stored in the pocket dimension, I could also call upon the Demons for help. Right now, it would just be a waste of energy.

    ''I''d lose mana to summon weak and naked soldiers with no guarantee of having enough time to recharge my core with Invigoration.'' He inwardly cursed, doing his best just to stop M''Rael from finding his bnce again.

    The elf was forced to sept back in order to avoid the Void''s ws and not let the ck fog surround him. Lith had no control over his Soul Projection, but it was still like being two against one.

    The problem was that M''Rael was faster and stronger than them plus with the Eyes and the Sentries there was nothing that Lith tried that the elf couldn''t anticipate and counter.

    Feints and spells were foiled just as easily with M''Rael using the Eyes of Menadion to read their runes as soon as Lith conjured them and the Sentries to follow his de''s every move to predict its trajectory.

    "Stop staring at us like a moron and kill him!" The High Chancellor shifted to a two-handed grip on the Sage Staff and passed the Fury to Solus.

    ''Killing her old master is the perfect rite of passage to break Elphyn Menadion down and end this farce.''

    Too bad that the sentencecked a clear direct object so Solus just threw the hammer at one of the elves surrounding Nalrond, turning them into a pulp and rescuing the Rezar.

    "I meant Verhen! Kill Verhen!" Solus obeyed the worst she could, having her arms pop out of the tower right in front of his eyes and blinding him temporarily while she tried to strangle Lith.

    Tried because he was too far and M''Rael had never specified how she was supposed to perform the task. She also recalled the Fury as fast as she could, which Lith dodged easily since he knew Solus well enough to understand her n.

    M''Rael, however, didn''t. When the hammer flew past Lith, the elf failed to grab the hammer and took the full force of the blow right in his face.

    ''Good job, child!'' The Tree brimmed with joy as their captor stumbled back, his vision blurry from the blow.

    Lith followed in the Fury''s wake, aiming a horizontal trust right in the gap between the helm and the chest te''s cor of the Voidwalker.

    ''If the moron didn''t alter my blueprints, I can cut off his head and rescue Solus.'' Lith regretted not going to help Faluel, but he preferred gambling on a possible victory than achieving a certain stalemate that might end as badly as before.

    ''Go back to your cage!'' M''Rael sent the order to Solus telepathically since he had no time to waste.

    He linked his consciousness with the Sentries, recing his still-useless eyes with their readings and ordering the tower to reach ordingly. The Fury intercepted Double Edge with surgical precision, setting it off its target and dealing a blow so heavy that the metal cracked and Lith''s hands went numb.

 Chapter 2662 Falling Apart (Part 2)

    ''I''m not done yet!'' Lith abandoned his Tiamat form and switched to the Voidfeather Dragon in the hope that the instincts and abilities of the Divine Beast could offer him a solution.

    Spirit Vision showed him how M''Rael and Solus now had the same energy signature and life force.

    It revealed to him like the familiar energies from the different floors of the tower were now mixed to give birth to the uncanny power that had crippled in an instant two of the most powerful Awakened he knew.

    The mystical sight also detected the constant flow of world energy and mass moving from the armor to the hammer, but all of those things only made him understand how desperate the fight was.

    M''Rael exploited the temporary weakness in Lith''s arms to perform an X-shaped attack with the Staff and Fury, leaving him no way out. In the case of a Blink, M''Rael would have simply followed, but not before throwing the hammer.

    ''The Fury will strike him from the front while the Staff will hit him from the back along with all the power I have umted this far.'' The three gems and three eyes on Sage Staff''s head burned with elemental energy, waiting for the right moment to be unleashed.

    Lith breathed a burst of Void mes from all over his body and turned himself into a living pyre. M''Rael didn''t stop his attack, the world energy flowing through his weapons more than enough to resist the ck mes until they ran out of strength.

    His assessment was right and the pir of fire was cut asunder from the sh but that was it. There was no one there.

    Lith had used the Voidfeather Dragon''s Shadow Step to escape. The mes had elongated his shadow enough to ovep with the elf''s and move to his back.

    Unfortunately for Lith, the Eyes of Menadion knew that trick and the Sentries alerted M''Rael of the threat the moment he started to emerge from the shadows.

    "Again with the Dragon? Are you that stupid or just that desperate?" The High Chancellor didn''t even have to turn around to unleash the Frozen Wastnd stored in the Mouth of Menadion.

    The anti-Dragon spell snuffed the breath of Origin mes that wasing out of Lith''s mouth and turned his body into a shivering mess.

    ''I''m just that desperate.'' Lith looked at his allies, discovering that the time he had bought them had kept them alive, but they were far from recovering.

    He then switched to his Abomination form, getting rid of the crippling cold as the spark of Chaos and the darkness fed upon the enemy mana.

    "By the World Tree, you really are an Abomination then!" The amusement in M''Rael''s voice raised countless red gs in Lith''s mind. "That''s great news. Dealing with an Abomination is much easier than someone who can use Spirit Fusion."

    Another spell stored in the Mouth was released, the tier five War Mage spell, Cruel Sun.

    A sphere of ck mes engulfed both Lith and M''Rael, but it was only the Abomination who suffered from the massive amount of darkness magic that painted the spell ck.

    The intense heat, instead, made the air unbreathable, sealing an Awakened breathing technique and turning Lith''s equipment into a searing furnace. Double Edge and the Voidwalker armor turned red hot, the heat weakening them enough for the darkness to creep in.

    On top of that, in his darkness body there was nothing that stopped the pain that the shing energies inflicted upon Lith. Darkness ate at darkness, making the Abomination flicker as it lost mass to survive and its huger soared.

    Yet all went nk when the Sage Staff hit him, releasing the darkness element stored in the Balor''s eye. Lith was sent tumbling with a huge dent in his breastte and knocked out of his Abomination form.

    He was down on his knee, gasping for air due to the trouble he had breathing. Even outside the area of effect of Cruel Sun, the air was poor in oxygen and his ribs were as cracked as his equipment.

    "Thanks for your gifts, Lith Tiamat Verhen." M''Rael stepped in front of him with the majesty of a king. "I''ll use your bones for the frame of my throne and I''ll make sure that your name will be remembered forever for your unwilling contribution to my cause."

    The elemental crystals on the Fury lit up with ck, yellow, and red energy. Fire and darkness maximized its destructive power while air gave it the speed of lightning despite its humungous mass.

    ''No, no, no!'' Solus tried everything she could but the orders from her new master bound her more strongly than any chain. ''I won''t let you do that! I''m going to kill you with my own hands!''

    Her fury was transmitted to her Soul Projection that until that moment had kept hammering at the imaginary metal between its hands. Solus'' rage and fear overcame her obsession with her past and made her focus on her present.

    The golden-scaled creature of the Projection snarled, hammering at M''Rael''s head. The psychic weapon phased through his body without doing him any damage, but the same couldn''t be said about his own Soul Projection.

    The immaterial Fury struck its head with enough strength to make M''Rael falter and miss his step. He was using darkness fusion, but it couldn''t stop the pain from a telepathic injury.

    When the blow came down, Lith had barely managed to raise his arms in a weak guard. The real Fury struck in a short arc, too narrow to reach its original target, Lith''s head.

    Yet it was wide enough to reach Double Edge which was horizontally raised in front of his face. It was strong enough to shatter the de into pieces and then do the same to War within.

    The angry de screamed in what could only described as agony while the pieces of ck metal were sent flying around and the violet crystals on its fuller fell to the ground.

    The impact sent Lith flying as well, ending belly down with his face in the ground.

    He could feel War''s pain through their blood bond, its strength fading along with the spells of the pseudo cores that formed its semi-conscience. The shock flooded Lith with adrenaline, clearing his head from the dizziness caused by his injuries.

    ''It''s fine. War is not a living being and thanks to my paranoia, I always have a dimensional item with me. I can store War inside and keep it frozen in time until I get to Grandma and have her repair it with Creation Magic.'' He thought, trying to convince himself.

    He had to get out of there alive first, and without War, the next blow of the Fury would also be thest.

    "Finish him!" M''Rael ordered the nearest elven unit.

    They had moved away from the original spot, reaching one of the edges of the encirclement. The High Chancellor would have loved to deal the killing blow himself but Solus'' Soul Projection kept hitting him.

    ''Stop it, you whore!''

    ''You can order me what to do, not what to think, you fucker!'' She replied in hatred, hoping to draw his attention long enough for Lith to escape.

 Chapter 2663 Born In Flames (Part 1)

    2663 Born in mes (Part 1)

    Lith''s chest heaved from the wounds while hunger drained the strength from his limbs and clouded his brain so much that he had trouble focusing. Weaving spells felt like trudging through tar, but his body was too weak to react so his mind was all he had left.

    He tried to store War inside the dimensional amulet but the weapon used what was left of its enchantments to resist the pull and tugged at Lith''s consciousness.

    ''No.''War said.

    ''Don''t be an idiot. "The tug of war made Lith''s casting time be even longer. ''You aren''t like Double Edge. That''s just a piece of bone and metal that I can reforge as many times as I want. You are a sentient being and no one, not even Orion can put you back together if your spells fade.''

    I''m not sentient. I know I''m no person. I''m just a thing. War replied.

    "You are a person to me!" Lith felt his heart tighten. ''I can''t lose you and Solus in a single day!

    ''Agreed. You can''t.'' War''s voice worked through the pain to sound aloof and mechanical as usual. So let me help you rescue her. Let me protect you onest time, master.

    Fine. Lith gritted his teeth while swallowing blood and saliva. ''Let''s fight together then, old friend.''

    While the conversation happened via the blood link, the nearest ten-man unit of elves nocked and released two volleys of thirty arrows each.

    The moment Lith stopped trying to store War away and clenched its hilt, the only unbroken part of the de, the metal fragments scattered on the ground came to life. They surrounded Lith, spinning around him and cutting down the sixty iing arrows.

    The enchanted Adamant cut through the Adamant of the tips and the wood of the shafts, jamming the spells imbued inside of the arrows with War''s Counter Flow ability and leeching whatever they could with the Devour ability.

    No explosion followed nor a single spark of energy was released. Only sawdust and metal filled the air.

    The elves were appalled but it took more than a setback to make them forget the discipline that decades of rigorous training had instilled in them.

    They nocked three more arrows each and War''s metal fragments turned toward them. The elves drew the strings back and War''s pieces bolted forward. Before the fingers could release the next volley, the angry swarm struck them with so much violence that it pinned the elves to the ground.

    The metal shards worked their way from the inside, activating the Reverse-Imprint ability that usually befell solely upon those who tried to wield War. The bodies of the elves bloated like overinted balloons, their blood and mana flowing in reverse.

    The ten-man unit blew up with an agonizing choir of screams, blood, and entrails flying everywhere. Yet while the organsnded with a wet thud, the blood stayed in the air.

    The Adamant fragments collected it until thest drop, coating themselves with the blood before going back to Lith. The coagted mass that was supposed to be War''s sealing scabbard was instead used to connect the broken pieces together.

    The life force carried by the blood served as a scaffold to channel the mana of the angry de''s pseudo cores and keep it from fading away. In a split second, the elven unit was dead and a red and ck de had taken form in Lith''s hand.

    Every piece was back in its ce, using the blood as both glue and conductor for the mystical energies.

    Stand up, friend. War used all the stolen life force it couldn''t store to flood Lith''s body, healing his wounds and consuming the excess blood to provide him with the nutrients hecked.

    The blood!" Lith and Solus thought in unison despite their bond being still broken. ''I had forgotten about it. War was just a regr bastard sword before taking my/his blood. We are connected. I/Lith can help War as much as War can help me/Lith.

    Lith clenched the de harder ordering it to release the metal spikes of their first encounter.

    They prickled his skin, making droplets of blood drip on the hilt that were transmitted to the de, revitalizing it further,

    Regr blood was a decent recement whereas Lith''s blood was a part of War as much as the metal and mana thatprised its body. Even those few drops were enough to restore the de to its original prowess and slow down the pseudo cores'' degeneration process.

    "If it works for the pocket dimension, then it must work for the current War as well.''Lith kept the spikes out, dripping blood on the hilt and releasing a spark of his life force.

    The shattered de burst with emerald mes that filled the gaps and turned every iota of lost energy into destructive power. War was still dying, but now its essence would empower it instead of just fading into nothingness.

    "Finally!" M''Rael had escaped Solus'' assault by releasing his own Soul Projection.

    He had no idea how to move it, let alone make it fight, but neither did Solus.

    Now that the M''Rael''s Soul Projection was out, hers was just attacking his physical body to no avail.

    The elf''s psychic image looked just like himself, but dressed in luxurious clothes worthy of a king and sitting on a wooden throne carved in the heart of the World Tree.

    A holographic map in front of him detailed his territories which amounted to one-fourth of Garlen and the position of his troops. The Soul Projection wore an expression of pure joy,feeling at the peak of its existence.

    "Not him, stupid Projection!''Solus cursed. ''Attack the guy on the throne.''

    Yet the golden-scaled creature kept hammering at the real M''Rael since her hatred was addressed toward him.

    "Immortal mes?" He furrowed his eyebrow in disbelief. "You are more stupid than I thought. Those things are powerful, but youck the strength to pay the price they demand."

    "I wish you were right." Lith snarled, knowing that it was War''s essence fueling the mes, not him.

    The seven violet mana crystals were aligned again along the fuller of the de, yet the one further from the hilt started to blink until its light went off. The tip of the de was still alight with power but with one less crystal, the burden of the enchantments was now fuelled by the remaining six.

    Lith saw the sixth gemstone crackle, its light getting duller as the clock ticked.

    He kept his human form despite it being weaker than the Dragon and the Abomination because it had no weakness that the enemy could exploit. Lith''s Soul Projection was back to being the Voidfeather Dragon, but the creature had a troubled expression.

    He wept for War as well and knew that his spells could at best hurt Solus. There was little the Voidfeather could do to tip the scales of the battle but it was better than nothing.

    Lith and M''Rael shed again, but even with the power of the Immortal mes boosting Lith''s strikes, the result was the same as before. The elf had the mass of the tower, the knowledge of the Eyes, and centuries of martial prowess.

 Chapter 2664 Born In Flames (Part 2)

    2664 Born in mes (Part 2)

    The shattered de could now deform itself via the mes, twisting and turning like a snake past the enemy''s guard but M''Rael always blocked it, no matter how impossible the angle of the attack was.

    The Sentries kept feeding him information and the energy coating his weapons shielded them from the destructive heat of the Immortal mes. A normal enchanted armor would have imploded due to the mana required, but M''Rael''s was no armor, it was Menadion''s tower.

    Any other weapon would have melted on contact and its enchantments be consumed at every sh, but Solus'' Fury was the apex of Menadion''s work and it was at one with the tower.

    Lith fought hard and lost hard, one swing of the Fury too many and the mes failed to keep the de''s shards together.

    "Good riddance, Verhen!" M''Rael was about to deliver the finishing blow when a silvery ive aimed at his neck. "What?"

    The Sentries confirmed to him that the Hydra was still on the ground yet Strife was missing.

    He parried the de and prepared to follow up with a shattering blow when an emerald streak tackled him from behind, too fast to react even with the Sentries warning him in time.

    "Thanks for the lesson, jackass." Ajatar said. "Now it''s my turn to teach you something!"

    The Drake had turned his body into pure mana with Spirit Fusion and used it to weave together a series of tier five Spirit Spells at the speed of thought. Ajatar had chosen them carefully so that each one of the spells would boost the effects of the next in a destructive crescendo.

    M''Rael tried to conjure the powers of the tower to defend himself, but found its energy reserves dry.

    "Surprise, motherfucker!" Only then did Faluel stand up, revealing the Hands of Menadion that had been hogging most of the surrounding world energy for a while.

    "How?" M''Rael asked, but the emerald onught smothered his voice.

    The Voidfeather grinned in satisfaction as at least that part of the n had worked out. Since he couldn''t harm M''Rael, the Dragon had let the tower deflect his spells toward his fallenrades before switching them into healing magic with Void Magic.

    The moment the Awakened had regained their senses, it had taken them just the time for a few breaths to recover their full strength. At that point, they had waited for the right moment to strike.

    Faluel had also used tendrils of Spirit Magic to reach her allies from below the ground and imbue them with Life Maelstrom without anyone noticing.

    The seven heads of the Hydra cast several spells at once, using true and fake magic plus body casting, keeping herself at a distance to not interfere with Ajatar''s work. She only threw and recovered Strife non-stop to mess up with the High Chancellor''s stance.

    ''I can''tpete with the tower in terms of energy maniption, not even with the help of the Hands of Menadion.'' Faluel thought. ''What I can do, is to use the power I have umted to fuel my Royal Fortress armor.

    "There''s a limit to how much mana my violet-cored body can withstand whereas Tyris'' work has no such problem.''She could feel the reserves of Life Maelstrom recharging faster than usual and the several spells of the armor gaining new strength from the Hands.

    The Royal Fortress armor worked akin to an eight head, allowing the Hydra to save mana and alter the rhythm of her attacks in a way that M''Rael would have a hard time predicting.

    Lith looked left at Quy and the others keeping the battalion of elves away and then to his right where the Lesser Dragons were giving their all. Yet he knew the prowess of his former tower better.

    He had taken enough blows to know that despite Faluel''s and Ajatar''s best efforts, it wouldn''t be enough to stop M''Rael.

    ''It would be a different story if I had already reached the bright violet core as well.''Lith gritted his teeth, watching the sixth violet crystal lose its luster and knowing that every second lost brought War closer to its end.

    This time, a few fragments of Adamant fell to the ground and no matter how much Lith and War called upon them, they didn''t rise again.

    ''M''Rael knows me, but I know the tower better than anyone else. I can deal with it, but I can''t do it with my current power. I can''t do it alone!''

    ''You are not alone.''The Soul Projection changed into the Void that reached down and grabbed the hilt of the shattered de with his ck hand. ''War, destroy.''

    A spark of ck life force reached the de, painting it ck and instilling Chaos along the edges of the Immortal mes.

    I won''t let you go like that, old friend, nor will 1 let that bastard hurt you.''The Voidfeather dragged the Void down. He became the Soul Projection again and grabbed the hilt with his red-scaled hand. ''War, ignite!

    A spark of violet life force reached the Immortal mes, turning them from emerald green to midnight blue. The Chaos no longer corrupted the Adamant of the de, the blue mes consuming everything that the War couldn''t withstand and using it to further increase its strength.

    ''What the fuck?'' Lith recognized in the blue mes in front of him those that Aalejah saw within him when she looked at him with Soul Vision.

    The same blue mes that he had witnessed in the Mindscape when Mogar had shown him a potential future.

    War was stronger than before, its mana flow more vigorous, violent, and destructive than ever. Yet it wasn''t enough. Even with whatever those mes were, the gap with a bright violet-cored Awakened was too big, let alone with M''Rael wearing the tower.

    Lith took a deep breath with Invigoration to restore his strength while also turning his attention inside of himself. The Fringe gave him the unique opportunity tomunicate with the aspects of his life force.

    If the Voidfeather could talk, then he could also listen.

    "Why are you doing this?''Lith used War to channel his thoughts to the Voidfeather Dragon, focusing his willpower to keep the mind link between Dragon and de from closing. I get it, you hate me and I deserve it yet Solus doesn''t.

    "That bastard took her away from us and orders her around like she''s a smart home appliance. How can you im to care about her yet stand there and do nothing? You are supposed to be the good guy yet you stand on the wrong side of this battle.

    ''How can you help War yet refuse to help Solus? If you merged with me and the Void- ''I don''t hate you.''The Voidfeather snarled. "That''s the jackass'' job. I despise him because he poisons with his hate everything we touch. Because he feels joy killing our enemies and smiles only when he breaks them piece by piece, as if it can solve anything.

    "You I resent, instead. You whined about your wounds for years yet you were the one tearing them open and making sure they wouldn''t heal. You pushed everyone away because you were too afraid of getting hurt again.

 Chapter 2665 Agreement (Part 1)

    2665 Agreement (Part 1)

    It''s because of you that Yurial, Phloria, Nana, Lark, and everyone who ever gave a crap about us died without knowing how much we cared for them. As the Voidfeather Dragon spoke, the mes on his feathered wings changed color ording to the cursed element they were channeling.

    With each word, the Wyrm''s voice turned into a deafening roar that forced Lith to cup his ears.

    "Yet you are right. The mes died out and his voice became as low as a whisper. ''My feelings for you haven''t changed yet if there''s anyone I despise more than the Void, if there''s anyone I resent more than you, it''s that ursed elf!

    The Voidfeather Dragon stared at M''Rael with rage and allowed himself to feel hatred. The same hatred thatprised every fiber of the Void and that now flowed inside the Dragon''s ethereal veins, turning his red scales ck.

    New horns grew on his head while the old ones became longer and bigger. The feathers on the first set of wings were consumed by blue mes, revealing the membrane underneath.

    His remaining set of feathered wings now burned steadily with six different kinds of Cursed mes.

    The blue fire spread from the now membranous wings to the spine and from there, it lit up the ck feathers on the way toward the head. At that point, the blue mes propagated along the bone spikes setting them aze in what looked like a burning crown.

    The Void Demon Dragon, the form that Lith would have assumed if in the past he had let his human side be swallowed by either the Dragon or the Abomination, only had two white eyes without pupils.

    "That''s it?'' Lith checked himself with Invigoration and there was nothing different about him.

    His mana core was still violet and his life force was still that of a Tiamat. His mass, magical, and physical prowess were unchanged.

    At least until the merging between the Void and the Voidfeather Dragon reached the limit that Lith''s life forces currently allowed. The excess energy that couldn''t be stored within the Soul Projection seeped through the bond it shared with the human side.

    Lith screamed in pain as the ckness covered his skin, starting from his head and flowing down as if someone had dropped a bucket of paint on him. His seven eyes turned white and his ck-violet aura was reced by midnight-blue mes that burned at everything.

    The air, the dust particles in it, the surrounding world energy, and even Lith''s own flesh. Only the partial merging with the other life forces kept him from being consumed by the mes as well, the ckness acting as an insnt and shielding him from most of the damage.

    Most, but not all.

    The zing dark energies covered his entire body, turning his fingers into ws and his teeth into pale fangs. The moment his whole body turned ck, his hair caught fire and his skin cracked into countless scales from between which leaked more blue mes.

    At the same time, five of Lith''s seven eyes seemed to cry white tears that defied gravity and dripped toward the sky. The five pristine torrents climbed up the Void Demon Dragon''s body until they reached his face.

    The white tears formed five white pools that condensed into as many eyes, giving the Dragon part of the power of the human side. The man below and the Dragon above roared in unison as they both stabilized and their eyes burst with elemental energy, white no more.

    Lith tried to conjure his Demons but his mana burned blue. The shadows burned. Everything burned.

    "Wait, what?'' Faluel, Ajatar, and M''Rael stopped their fight for a split second, feeling every hair or scale on their bodies stand up in rm. Screams and roars were just air and didn''t impress them, but the power they carried was another story entirely. The three of them turned around toward the thing that Lith had be, feeling the pressure of a true Divine Beast exuding from his body.

    Neither he nor his Soul Projection were that strong alone, but together they produced the same terrifying presence that a real Dragon would. On top of that, the burning de between his hands emitted an aura of its own that perfectly aligned with Lith''s, kicking things up another notch.

    Ajatar grunted in approval and resumed his attack whereas Faluel remained stunned and so did M''Rael. At least until the first hit of the Drakended and they both snapped out of it respectively to support herrade and save his own life.

    "What''s going on? There''s a sudden drop in the world energy''s level but I can''t detect any source for this phenomenon. ''The Hydra and the elf thought alike, one perceiving the changes in the Fringe via the Hands while the other through the tower.

    M''Rael had even tried to use the Eyes of Menadion to understand what was happening, but ording to the artifact, there was nothing going on.

    "You two, what''s the name of that thing and what can it do?'' He worded his questions so that no deflection was allowed.

    ''I don''t know.''They replied.

    Solus knew Lith ever since he was four and the World Tree was the inheritor of millennia of knowledge passed down from their predecessors from times before even the Guardians so those three words scared M''Rael to death.

    ''It doesn''t matter. Whatever that is, it can''t be stronger than Menadion''s tow-''

    "Dodge!" Lith fell to his knees, holding his chest in pain yet his voice roared like thunder.

    Ajatar and Faluel had no idea what was happening and why Lith hadn''t used the mind link, but they trusted him with their lives. They moved away, leaving M''Rael alone and utterly confused.

    The feathered wings of the Void Demon Dragon had drained the surrounding world energy from the moment the Divine Beast had formed and the umted power had now reached the critical mass.

    Lith recognized the burning sensation in his chest. He had a hard time believing it could hurt so much even though it wasn''t building up inside his own heart but he had long since learned that reality didn''t give a damn about what he believed.

    The Void Demon Dragon''s feathers zed with all kinds of mes as a silvery light bled from his chest and quickly moved up along his neck and out through his mouth.

    Dread mes as focused and fast as aser erupted from the Dragon''s maw, crossing the space between Lith and M''Rael in an instant.

    "What the?" The elf conjured all the barriers stored in both the tower and the armor but the mes burned them all.

    The silvery st engulfed him from head to toe, eating at his defenses, his mana, the world around him, the tower, and the body beneath.

    Solus and M''Rael screamed together, feeling their essences being consumed in searing agony. The Dread mes moved past the elf, carving a meters-deep trench in the ground in their wake and turning an entire unit of elves into cinders.

    "Ajatar, Faluel, leave him to me. This fucker is mine!" Lith gestured them to stand aside as he charged forward, the zing de screaming a bone-chilling war cry.

    The Lesser Dragons did as instructed, making M''Rael curse under his breath.

 Chapter 2666 Agreement (Part 2)

    2666 Agreement (Part 2)

    Fighting Verhen alone is definitely easier, but if our duel goes on for too long, the two Lessers will recover their strength and kill my soldiers!''M''Rael''s analysis was spot on.

    Ajatar had assumed his physical form again and was now able to recover from the wounds and exhaustion caused by the Spirit Fusion.

    As for Faluel, not only was she drinking barrels of nutrients from five mouths, but she was also channeling the power from the Hands into the Royal Fortress armor to replenish the Life Maelstrom faster than usual.

    M''Rael, instead, was still quite shaky from the Dread mes, and even with the Immortal Body array from the Heart of the tower, he had yet to fully recover. There was something wrong with him, as if the tower had suddenly shifted down one gear.

    That and the violence of the impact as he blocked War caught him by surprise. He had expected the fragments of the de to hold an insignificant amount of powerpared to when they were a real weapon and coated in Double Edge.

    Instead, the blow had been much heavier than before and Verhen had no care for the might of the Fury any longer. The strike had been clean and straightforward, as if he wasn''t worried about the de taking more damage.

    Because he wasn''t.

    War was already shattered and bleeding, making quickness more important than finesse. Also, the blue mes didn''t just hold the pieces of the dying de together. They embodied the fusion between Chaos and Immortal mes, burning everything in their path.

    The sh failed to deform the fragments because they moved away like water while the blue mes struck at the hammer and eroded the aura empowering it.

    "I apud your warrior honor!" M''Rael noticed that Lith was stronger than before, but not enough to be a threat by himself so M''Rael found his bravado back. "Fighting me alone is-"

    Two ck ming fists hammered at him from above while he was busy repelling War and squashed the High Chancellor into a pulp. The Void Demon Dragon struck at the elf''s Soul Projection so that the tower suffered no harm.

    Lith didn''t miss a beat, plunging the tip of his de down where the heart of his sprawled enemy was supposed to be.

    M''Rael survived only thanks to the Immortal Body array first and then due to the Tower Warp. He became one with the flow of world energy and moved away at a safe distance without creating any opening that Life Vision could predict.

    Dammit! I created that spell to protect Lith. It''s one of my greatest aplishments and my first step into Rebirth Magic yet that fucker used it to save his sorry ass!'' Solus thought as the distance turned out to not be safe.

    Lith extended his arms, emitting a Final Eclipse from his right hand and a gue Storm from the left. A raging stream of darkness-infused violet mes with the heat of a sun knocked the elf off his feet while a hail of darkness bullets dragged him along like an avnche.

    M''Rael cursed, most of the tower''s barriers were still recovering from the Dread mes and out of order. He conjured the darkness and fire-sealing arrays to put an end to the onught.

    Or so he thought until blue magic circles appeared on the Void Demon Dragons'' hands and wings, switching the elements respectively into light and water. The me pir turned into a freezing ray with the mass of a freight train while the darkness bullets became hard-light restraints that chained his arms and feet.

    What? How? The Dragon is supposed to use only magic while the Abomination can only attack physically. How can that thing do both?

    "Who''s the one-trick pony now?" The Void Demon Dragon replied, giving the impression he could read M''Rael''s mind. "I warned you before. Bad things happen when we agree and we agree that you must die!"

    Lith bolted forward with a flying spell and as he came closer, the elf felt the world energy thinning.

    "That''s it! Earlier the Abomination gained physical substance by feeding off the abundant world energy of the Fringe. The Fringe''s output is the same as a mana geyser and Abominations be stronger the more nourishment they have.

    ''Now that they have fused together, the Dragon has gained substance as well. That''s why he can use those odd mes!''M''Rael thought while flying back as well.

    He couldn''t afford to stay still anymore without the Dragon pummelling him. M''Rael had to constantly move around and use his superior might to keep Lith at a distance while killing him with spells.

    The High Chancellor switched from the Fury to the Sage Staff to exploit its superior reach and its ability to boost his magic. Yggdrasill wood was inferior to Davross, but far superior to Adamant.

    At the following sh, M''Rael activated the elemental crystals, releasing six pirs of magic that sted every metal shard of the de away and hit Lith from point-nk range.

    Only the hilt was left, but Lith refused to let go as he tumbled on the ground and wed with his hands to regain his footing.

    The fifth mana crystal faded as well and more Adamant fragments failed to rise.

    "You are a very strong mage, but nothingpared to one with his own tower!" M''Rael quickly cast his Spirit Spell via the Mouth, fueled it with the Hands, and amplified it with the Master Mirror.

    The final result was still less powerful than a Nova spell, but the Eyes fixed on Lith ensured M''Rael that the Tiamat had no way to dodge or defend himself. The elf unleashed Spiral Gorge just to be forced to turn around and use it as a means of defense.

    The Sentries had warned him of Faluel''s attack and he couldn''t afford to ignore it. The Hydra was coated in silver lightning, her physical might further amplified by the Royal Fortress armor and so was her ive.

    Six of her seven heads held a spell of untold power each that crackled with Life Maelstrom. From her opposite side, a living stream of emerald and silver light was taking the shape of a chain of tier five Spirit spells.

    As for Lith, he had found his footing again and waspleting the formation of the three-pronged attack even though his de was now only made of blue fire. The Adamant fragments had been scattered across the battlefield and opted for a recharge before going back.

    They caught an elven squad by surprise and ughtered them. War took their blood as a prize, using it to fuel the mes and buy itself a few more seconds.

    "You said you wanted to fight me alone!" M''Rael yelled in outrage as more and more attacks slipped past the tower''s defenses and dented his armor.

    "And you believed that?" Lith, Solus, Ajatar, Faluel, and even the Tree said in unison.

    M''Rael felt stupid but also confused.

    I don''t get it. I''ve seen from the Yggdrasill data banks how strong Verhen was even back when he was just a blue core. He was stronger than I am now. Then why is this my limit?

    The tower is supposed to have recovered more floors from the battle at the Feymar mines. Can the Nova Spells really make so much of a difference?

 Chapter 2667 Remember Me (Part 1)

    2667 Remember Me (Part 1)

    The answer was no, Nova Spells weren''t the cause of the gap between the tower Lith had used back at the Feymar mines and the one in M''Rael''s hands.

    The problem was that even when Lith still had just a blue core, he had fought alongside Solus, not against her. No matter how many opponents they faced, he took care of the physical aspect of the fight while she dealt with intel and spells.

    Solus was the one manipting the tower and operating its enchantments. She was the one collecting the data from the Sentries and filtering only the relevant bits.

    M''Rael, instead, was doing it all on his own. The tower was actually several times stronger than it had been at the Feymar mines. It had recovered many floors, the Eyes, and the Mouth

    Yet M''Rael was but one elf and there was a limit to what his focus could achieve.

    On top of that, there was a reason the Void Demon Dragon had sted M''Rael and the tower with the Dread mes despite knowing that they would hurt Solus. Lith had learned the hard way that the tower was set to prioritize her survival.

    It meant that whenever she and the host were both hurt, the tower would drain its host to keep her safe. It was how Lith had weakened the tower''s battle form and the source of the weariness that M''Rael was experiencing.

    Ajatar''s spells created a concussive series of sts that ruined M''Rael''s footwork and drained the barriers protecting him. Without them, Strife cut deep into the tower armor, wounding the elf''s right arm and back.

    Faluel''s mouths bit him from head to waist, injecting straight into his flesh both the acidic venom of her fangs and the spells she had conjured. Lith wrapped War around the Sage Staff, pushing it away as he unleashed his tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, along with the Void Demon Dragon.

    M''Rael survived once again thanks to the Immortal Body array, but he was getting hungry. So hungry that he could barely focus anymore. He used the Tower Warp to slip away unhindered and even managed to use his breathing technique.

    It restored his mental focus and his stamina but he was still starving.

    At the same time, War''s fourth crystal lost its light. The outermostyers of the de''s enchantments copsed and with them a handful of Adamant shards. The angry de still had its full power, but its remaining energy kept burning faster and faster.

    "What are you waiting for? Attack!" M''Rael had one of Solus'' tonics appear right in his mouth and even though they tasted like shit, he almost lost himself in the feeding ecstasy.

    Many elves had died, but there were still enough to bring down the three Beasts if their spells struck them in the back.

    "Guys, I need your help." Lith conjured a blue six-pointed star above his head, taking the ce in the array as the seventh.

    Yurial''s Hexagram drained dozens of arrows dry of their fire, darkness, air, and water elements. Four points of the star lit up to their full capacity, leaving only the earth and light elements off.

    There were still more arrowsing, forcing Faluel to return to her original size and spin Strife to deflect as many darts as she could while using the wings of the Royal Fortress armor to take care of the rest.

    She took quite some damage, but between the Life Maelstrom cursing through her equipment and her body back to its peak condition she could bear with it. Especially with one of her heads tucked inside the armor using her breathing technique non-stop.

    "What kind of help?" Ajatar tried to establish a mind link to save time but the blue mes exuding from Lith''s body burned it just like they had done with the previous.

    Everything that wasn''t attached to his own body was consumed by the fire''s hunger.

    "I can cast Silverwing''s Annihtion alone, but only if that''s fully charged up." Lith pointed at the array floating over their heads.

    Those words meant nothing to M''Rael, but luckily for him, the research about Yurial''s Hexagram was stored inside Soluspedia so he only had to think about the mysterious array to learn its workings.

    "By the Tree, no." He gasped in shock.

    He had managed to use his breathing technique, but even with the tower''s help he couldn''t conjure the power of the Annihtion.

    "The wench has a blue core, just like my soldiers, whereas this monstrosity requires seven bright violet-cored Awakened. If only there were six more like me, we would be unstoppable. Curse you and your arrogance, World Tree!

    "Thank you."The Yggdrasill replied. ''Why do you think I send my Chroniclers alone? This way, they can''t get strange ideas and avoid the temptation of using anti-Guardian spells against me.

    I''m more powerful than any Divine Beast, but I''m no Guardian. What about you?

    How do I defend myself, ve?''M''Rael fell for the Tree''s taunt and asked Solus for advice.

    Fuck you, that''s how!

    ''What?''The shock from her defiance hit him as hard as one of Lith''s fists.

    ''You know what? I''m not an object! I''m a person and this tower is *my body* ''Solus had tried until that moment to reconnect with the power core of the tower.

    As she herself had said, M''Rael could tell her what to do or say, not what to think. And she could manipte the tower with her mind. The insult was just a rude way to say that she had no clue how to stop an Annihtion.

    After all, he had asked her for an answer, not a polite one.

    "On it!" Ajatar cast his best tier five healing spell, pouring in it as much mana as the Hexagram could take.

    The six stars lit up and the different elemental energies flowed into each other and into Lith until they merged together with his Spirit Magic and formed a perfect Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    ''Stop it!''M''Rael could feel the tower working against him, bing weaker and harder to move. I forbid you to think!"

    Solus had worked hard to build telepathic boundaries by following Dawn''s teachings so she managed to hold against those

    unreasonable orders. Yet she was just a novicepared to the Bright Day and the tower was just an object.

    It reacted by cutting her off the mainframe and isting her mind in a corner of her life-support system. Suddenly Solus was less than a thing. Less than a voice in her host''s head.

    She was reduced to a ghost prisoner of her own mind, still able to perceive the world but incapable even of reasoning.

    Everything she knew, even the most basic feeling was gone. She was reduced to something even more insignificant than the pebble form she had been back when Lith had rescued her from Protector.

    She felt beaten and vited yet she wasn''t allowed to manifest her sadness. She was reduced to a faded dream in someone else''s memory.

    The High Chancellor flew away, knowing that the weak spot of arrays was that they couldn''t be moved.

    If I put enough distance between us, no matter how strong a spell is, it can be easily avoided.

 Chapter 2668 Remember Me (Part 2)

    2668 Remember Me (Part 2)

    The Void Demon Dragon agreed with him so the Dragonpressed Yurial''s Hexagram, altering the cement of its runes and turning it into a powerful pseudo core.

    I can carry it, but in the meantime, I can''t do anything else. You are on your own.''

    ''No.''Lith replied while gripping War''s hilt. ''I''m not.''

    "Leave him to me until I give you the signal!" Lith chased M''Rael while the Dragon used the world energy that he absorbed from the Fringe to keep the Annihtion stable and boost its power.

    After all, Lith only had a violet core and the Wyrm could use a bit of time to bring the umted Spirit Magic on par with the other elements.

    ''I don''t get it.'' Ajatar asked. ''What can Lith achieve without us?''

    ''I have no clue, but I do know what we can achieve without him.'' Faluel pointed at their disciples still fighting an uphill battle.

    ''Good thinking. Let''s cripple the enemy''s strength and boost our confidence. Fighting a goddamn tower made me feel like when I was still a weak hatchling."The Drake roared as he unleashed a freezing breath of Elemental Flow that decimated an elven unit.

    He was still overcharged with Life Maelstrom and his mana core was bright violet whereas the elves were mere bright blue true mages. Compared to him, they were children. Their strengthy in numbers and surprise attacks.

    They were no match for the Lesser Dragon in a direct confrontation. Not with Faluel Blinking amid her wounded apprentices and restoring their vigor. Not with her heads spitting acid and tier five Spirit Spells like they were confetti.

    Not with Friya turning every Blink and Warp into a death trap that killed its caster and their nearest allies. Not with Nalrond''s constructs throwing the elven formations in disarray and his heat rays burning bows and quivers.

    Not with Aalejah using her staff to conjure multiple elemental sealing arrays at the same time, making everyone who wasn''t an Awakened nothing more than a meat sack.

    Not with Quy using Bloodbind to carry her spells right in the middle of the enemy lines before unleashing them. Not with Morok flying through the battlefield, his eyes destroying everything in front of him while his wings burned everything behind.

    "No, no, no!" M''Rael cried in despair. "Do you have any idea what you are doing? How many centuries did it take to give birth and train so many warriors? You are destroying millennia of our heritage!"

    "I don''t care!" Lith replied. "Once I''m done with you, I''m going to find everyone involved and kill them all."

    The elf grunted, having a hard time while operating the tower, blocking War, and keeping an eye on the Void Demon Dragon at the same time. He would have loved to let the Sentries take care of that but ording to them, neither the Dragon nor the spell he carried existed.

    It was the perfect scenario for Lith''s n yet he couldn''t find a single reason to smile, not even inwardly.

    The space in his mind where Solus had been was now empty. The pain and the rage that her mere presence kept at bay ever since he was four was running rampant like when he was still Derk McCoy.

    The Void was a part of him and with it came everything that the Abomination embodied. It took Lith sheer willpower to keep his emotions under control and not fall into an animalistic frenzy.

    On top of that, War''s clock was ticking out.

    The third crystal went out and even though the power of the de was unaffected, now every time War shed with the Fury or the Sage Staff small fragments of Adamant fell down to never rise up again.

    Even with the blood and fire acting as an emergency mana circtory system, the damages to the shattered de were too severe.

    Its spells were quickly and inexorably degrading, forcing War to cut the weakest branches to preserve the main structural integrity. Yet it was only when the second violet mana crystal on the fuller started to blink did Lith panic.

    ''No, no, no!'' He was scared at the idea of bing incapable of saving Solus without the de and grieved its loss in equal measure.

    ''Don''t worry.''War replied, its voice feebler than ever.

    A semi-sentient artifact couldn''t pant or cough, but as its pseudo cores weakened, War''s rage was dying out. There was no vigor, no fury, or bloodthirst in the echo of its thoughts, only pain.

    "We are still together. Not for much longer, but we still are.''Lith felt the relief of the de at the realization that with oblivion it would alsoe the absence of pain. ''Please, remember me once I''m gone.

    "Even though I''m just a piece of metal, I''m afraid to die. To be forgotten like I never existed.''

    ''I will remember!'' Lith roared in pain, unleashing a burst of blue mes from both his throat and the de. As long as I draw breath, I''ll remember you.''

    M''Rael almost went mming against a tree due to the double st, but the Sentries allowed him to dodge even from such a close distance.

    ''Verhen looks desperate. He seems to be in a rush.'' He thought. I wonder if it''s because he can''t hold the array for long or because he''s running on fumes. Those blue mes are too powerful. They must have some side effect.

    As if Mogar was listening to him, the second mana crystal went dull and War''s mes flickered, giving him what looked like a usible answer. On the other hand, Faluel and Ajatar were ughtering M''Rael''s loyal troops.

    Lith waved his right hand, making the ground split in a shockwave that messed up with M''Rael''s footwork. The moment the crevice reached him, a bolt of lightning erupted from it.

    It wasn''t enough to send the elf into a spasm, but the sh of light produced by the bolt turned into a dense cloud of darkness and then into several chains of light.

    They held long enough for Lith to catch up and for War to almost reach the elf''s heart.

    "What is this trickery?" He asked more to the Tree and Solus than Lith.

    ''Void Magic.'' She replied, leaving the Tree and the elf puzzled.

    The Eyes of Menadion showed him the runes of the original spell and how they had suddenly changed their shape and order, yet the artifact provided no information about how Lith managed to do it.

    "I''m not the Supreme Dragon. I''m the Supreme Magus!" Lith replied while releasing fireballs that turned into frost waves and more darkness.

    I have to gamble everything on the tower being worthy of its fame!''M''Rael stopped his escape, keeping his eyes on the Void Demon Dragon while the Sentries locked on Lith and the tower moved M''Rael''s body ordingly.

    He kept a tower Warp at the ready in case he was wrong and the Dragon either unleashed the Annihtion or tried to punch him into meat paste. Luckily for him, none of it happened.

    The Wyrm kept wing at the sphere between his hands doing the gods knew what and didn''t take part in the fight.

 Chapter 2669 No Regret (Part 1)

    2669 No Regret (Part 1)

    M''Rael inwardly sighed in relief, channeling the power of the tower inside the Sage Staff before lunging it and activating its six elemental focal points. Lith was caught by surprise by the sudden change of pace and forced to block the st.

    More and more fragments of Adamant fell down, bringing his rage to the next level. The blue aura of mes burst out more violently than ever, but M''Rael didn''t mind it. He switched the Staff with the Fury and had the hammer duplicate itself to employ a dual-wielding style.

    Lith fought with everything he had, using Void Magic to keep surprising his opponent and the blue mes to counter spells too powerful or sudden for him to block.

    s, he was alone and War was dying whereas the tower was recovering and so was M''Rael. The twin hammers found their mark more and more often, sending metal shards flying through the sky and leaving deep dents in the Voidwalker armor despite the ming aura protecting it.

    The High Chancellor felt confident about his victory as the battle slowly fell into his own rhythm and Verhen struggled harder to keep up.

    Then, Lith had the Adamant fragments form the de inside the mes again and struck with uncanny speed. M''Rael used one hammer to block and readied the other to counter but the blow was heavier than he expected.

    He was forced to cross the hammers, stopping the attack yet ending up being pushed back. The elf dismissed it as thest burst of strength of a cornered prey yet the follow-up attack was just as fast.

    Then the next was faster and so was every attack that followed, forcing M''Rael to turtle up. More and more of Lith''s spells reached their mark, his ming breath seemed to have be unpredictable, and his de moved like a snake.

    Literally.

    With War''s form shattering, Lith exploited the situation to have the me that held the de together bend at unnatural angles, going around the hammers or wrapping itself around the hammerheads while sending the tip to strike at the hilt where the elf''s hands were.

    The Eyes of Menadion saw and anticipated everything, but M''Rael couldn''t keep up. With every hit, Lith seemed to be faster in body and mind, his spells chained without a pause.

    A gue Storm hit both the elf and the tower, forming a meters-thick cocoon that chased the two fighters but only sapped the strength of one of them.

    "What''s happening?" M''Rael asked multiple times with rising panic in his voice.

    ''It''s called Tiamat Fear'' Solus willingly exined. ''It''s simr to Dragon Fear but it also infects the world energy. The same that you are sucking in via the tower and the Hands.

    They are just things and are unaffected by the Tiamat Fear, yet you''re a living being and are one with them. Your link with the artifacts is letting the Tiamat Fear reach your mana core and from there, it goes everywhere.''

    The sudden revtion left M''Rael stunned so War opened a deep diagonal cut from his right shoulder to his left hip. The tower armor was damaged and the blue mes burned the edges of the cracks, making them harder to fix.

    A mirror wound appeared on Solus'' mental image making her clench her teeth in pain, yet she didn''t whimper.

    It''s not him getting faster! I''m just getting slower. Only then did M''Rael notice that he was stuttering even in his mind. That his hands trembled so much that he needed focus just to not lose his grip on the Furies.

    Fear affected his spellcasting and strength. The longer they fought, the more the Tiamat Fear spread throughout his core, mind, and body.

    "Wait a second. You never helped me since the beginning of the fight. Why did you tell me the truth now?"

    Because it makes you scared!'' Solus yelled telepathically as loudly as she could, making M''Rael''s head hurt.

    He lost his focus and War found an opening to his body again. M''Rael and Solus were hurt the same way but she used the pain to flood the telepathic channel with her screams until he cut her off.

    "Now!" Lith left the ming de lodged inside the elf''s body while he jumped back.

    Two sets of the tier five Spirit Spell, Griffon Fetters, wrapped around M''Rael''s body from either side. The Sentries had warned him but he hadcked the speed to dodge just like he alsocked the strength to break free.

    Griffon Fetters was a spell studied to restrain a Griffon, the mightiest among the Divine Beasts, yet a tower was much stronger. Unless, of course, its wearer was crippled by fear and its body weakened.

    Lith knew that every hit to the tower also hurt Solus, but it was the only way he had found to turn the tables. Tiamat fear weakened M''Rael mind while the tower''s protocols that kept Solus safe drained his body.

    Another of M''Rael''s mistakes was assuming that Menadion''s tower was just like any other cursed object, forced to protect its host in order to exert its true power. He had no idea that he was right but that Solus was marked as the primary host, making him expendable.

    The Griffon Fetters restricted M''Rael and sealed dimensional magic bypressing the space in between their links. Before the tower could umte enough power to break free, the Void Demon Dragon unleashed Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    The High Chancellor gave everything he had, using every spell, enchantment, and tower floor to survive. Every barrier shattered and every enchantment was snuffed out in front of the emerald tide.

    The seven elemental pirs struck him like the finger of an angry god, covering the tower armor with cracks. Despite the power from the Fringe and that umted in the Hands, the grey stone crumbled piece by piece, ripping Solus to shreds.

    The tower reacted by moving the fragments behind the High Chancellor and draining his life force and mana to ensure her survival. Lith kept staring at M''Rael, recalling the spell the moment the tower''s energy signature and the elf''s became too weak.

    The Annihtion had still lots of power left but Lith couldn''t risk killing Solus along with M''Rael.

    "Wait. Stop. I yield." The elf said amid gasps, not even his breathing technique could recover his strength anymore. "You have no need to keep fighting"

    His skin was gaunt and his body skeletal due to his metabolism cannibalizing bones and muscles.

    "You are right, I have no need to." Lith didn''t like M''Rael mistaking the ceasefire for mercy so he cut the extended right arm with the palm out that the elf had raised in surrender. "Yet I want to."

    Blood gushed out of the stump just for it to be set aze by the blue mes, making the pain from the amputation a hundred times worse.

    "If I kill you, I get my partner back. Two birds with one stone." Lith stepped forward as M''Rael crawled back, cutting off the elf''s left leg next.

    The first and final violet crystal went off, leaving solely the mana and blood umted inside War''s enchantments to keep it going. The shattered de felt its essence fading but also the pride of having no regret left.

 Chapter 2670 No Regret (Part 2)

    2670 No Regret (Part 2)

    "Wait, please." Feeling that the tower was killing him faster than the blue mes, M''Rael took out another wooden box from his dimensional amulet and threw it at Lith with the only hand he had left.

    He had brought another in case the living legacy proved to be capable of poisoning his mind after a prolonged exposure. It was the ancient technique that the elves had devised to use cursed objects while minimizing the risks of getting used by them.

    Lith imprinted the Removal Unit and activated it on the fly. Blue strings of energy captured the stone ring from M''Rael''s finger, they sealed it inside the box and then brought it to Lith''s hand.

    He immediately restored the imprint, feeling his strength and mana being drained by the broken tower faster than even the Abomination Touch of the Void Demon Dragon could restore it.

    Yet Solus'' light was back, the void in his mind was filled, and he felt whole again. The happiness that was flooding his being was worth all the pain and weakness that were ravaging his body.

    "Wee back, Solus. He said with a huge smile as he gulped nutrients and used his breathing technique just not to copse. ''1 would have never left you with this-Solus?"

    There was something wrong with her. Her light was dimmer and her voice was sealed. Lith''s joy turned into abject terror, thinking that his attempts to rescue her had inflicted permanent damage upon her.

    "Solus, what''s wrong? Please, talk to me!" He had no idea that she was just following orders, incapable of moving, acting, and even thinking unless spoken to.

    "Please, free me, Lith!" She replied, bawling her mind out as his question temporarily lifted the restrictions on her mind.

    ''Free from-''Lith''s eyes zed with mana and his whole body twisted in fury the moment his tired brain connected the dotsin by M''Rael''s earlier screams. ''You can do whatever you want whenever you want. You are my other half!''

    The new orders overrode the old ones, making Solus'' light strong and allowing her to share the pain and humiliation she had suffered.

    "See? You have her back. There''s no need to kill me." M''Rael mistook Lith''s outraged silence for calm. "I can help you. I can convince the Parliament to do whatever you want. I can share with you the knowledge of the World Tree."

    Through the mind fusion, Lith experienced Solus'' agony in bing just a thing.

    Every order she had been forced to follow had defiled her mind and taken away a piece of her. She had hurt Lith against her will and was riddled with guilt for every wound she had inflicted on him.

    Her body had been dispelled, her mind trapped, and even her thoughts swatted like an annoying fly.

    Even though she knew to be a person, Solus wasn''t so sure about it anymore. Everything that she had fought so hard to achieve had been ripped off from her with but a word and it could happen again at any time.

    She was terrified of everything and everyone, even of Lith.

    "With your Forgemastering arts and all the Yggdrasill wood you need, we can-" An inhuman roar cut off M''Rael''s pitch.

    All the stone fragments and dust belonging to the tower that had been scattered throughout the Fringe formed a vortex around Lith, seeping inside his body instead of covering it.

    Horns burst out of his head, eight wings popped out of his back, and a second jaw appeared right under the first.

    His seven eyes rearranged themselves in a circle, making space for two golden ones more. Thick scales covered his body, but this time they were entirely ck, their edges white from the heat that burned within his body.

    A second set of arms emerged from below his shoulders, the new right hand gripping War''s hilt as well. The sudden influx of mana and world energy rejuvenated the shattered de.

    The Adamant shards returned to the blue fire as the fusion between Lith and Solus rebuilt the destroyed branched of War''s mana circtory system with Creation Magic.

    "I''m so sorry." The second mouth spoke with a feminine voice as golden tears streamed from two of the nine eyes. "I did this to you. My Fury shattered you. Yet you fought and suffered for me until now."

    The tears dripped into the fire while new spikes pierced the second hand as well, adding new blood. The mana crystals on the fuller lit back up one after another, but that was their limit.

    Even with thebined power of the fusion and the tower, their Creation Magic could stanch the wound, not treat it.

    ''I already failed my daughter.''War''s thoughts were filled with new vigor and pain. ''I couldn''t lose you too, master.''

    ''I''m not your master!'' Solus cried harder, empathizing with the de''sck of a sense of self.

    After what she had gone through, she found the idea of being someone''s owner revolting. The feeling of being an expandable tool at the whims of another person still tormented her mind and she couldn''t bear the thought of inflicting it upon someone else.

    ''You are... ''Yet she failed in finding the proper words to express how she felt.

    War wasn''t truly alive. It had no life force nor soul. Just echoes from Orion''s feelings at the moment of its creation and those from Lith''s blood during the years the de had absorbed his mana along with bits of his personality.

    The term "friend" seemed too much but calling War a tool was so demeaning that it hurt Solus. In her fury, she plunged the de inside M''Rael''s chest, taking care the hit wouldn''t be fatal. War needed to burn mana to prolong its existence but it didn''t need to be its own.

    The blue me ravaged the elf''s body, consuming his very life essence to fuel the de''s enchantments and keep them stable.

    "What the fuck is that thing?'' It had taken Ajatar a while to snap out of the shock.

    The Solus-Lith thing was still humanoid in appearance, but their aura had gone from plummeting while Lith took on himself Solus'' wounds to soaring after their life forces had be one.

    Their ming aura had quickly reached an intensity equivalent to the bright violet level and kept growing stronger by the second. The greyish-ck of the tower Voidwalker armor was turning into gold-veined ck and white.

    To make things even more unsettling, floating above the creature there were two Soul Projections. The Dragon and the golden-scaled being were screaming at each other without saying anything that the human ear couldprehend.

    ''Long story short, Lith has a tower, Solus is the tower, and sometimes they merge.'' Faluel replied.

    ''They what?'' Morok and Ajatar said in unison.

    ''It''splicated.'' Quy replied. ''It takes more than a second to exin everything. Focus on the battle!''

    "Lith, stop it." Quy''s words had reminded her that the situation was far from being solved. "We have to help the others to deal with the elves."

    "The elves." The creature''s eyes blinked several times as if they had just woken up. "The elves!"

    The voices of Lith and Solus sounded like an angry choir as their four arms spread out.

 Chapter 2671 The Worst Of Both Worlds (Part 1)

    2671 The Worst of Both Worlds (Part 1)

    "You wanted my power, I''ll give you my power!" The heads of the elven warriors exploded one after the other in a gruesome crescendo.

    Fountains of blood gushed from their necks that grew even taller when their bodies crumpled like trash squeezed by apactor. The broken bones snapped and crunched, turning living beings into meat sacks in a few excruciating seconds.

    Morok had to stop fighting and started puking.

    ''How can that be chore Spirit Magic?'' He could see with Life Vision countless tendrils infused with light magic that transferred every drop of stolen blood and life force to the ming de.

    "You were willing to take our lives so we are taking yours inpensation!" Solus shrieked in fury, trying her best to replicate what she had seen her Soul Projection doing and mixing it with Creation Magic.

    As Lith understood what she was doing, the Void Demon Dragon and the golden-scaled creature that still floated above their heads approached each other until they ovepped.

    The thing that emerged from their union looked more than human yet less at the same time. The ck overshadowed the gold and the four sets of wings were all bursting with blue mes.

    ''Leave that to us.''The fused Soul Projection grabbed War''s hilt, using the collected elven blood plus that of the fusion between Lith and Solus to open new mana channels inside the shattered de.

    It exploited the ruined state of the de to temporarily disconnect some Adamant pieces and soften them with controlled bursts of Origin mes so that once they bathed in the blue mes again, they opposed no resistance to the new mana flow.

    "This is the best we can do. We have bought as much time as we can. Anything else is beyond us.''

    The Eyes of Menadion couldn''t perceive the spells used by a Soul Projection but they could study its effects on the Adamant.

    Usually, Lith and Solus would have loved to collect priceless data but in that moment they couldn''t care less. The violent explosions of the spells employed and the amount of mana released during the conflict had alerted the inhabitants of the Fringe.

    Dewan from the werepeople''s vige and elves from Setraliie had rushed to check on the source of the anomaly, discovering an appalling answer.

    The area of the clearing was in ruin due to the cave-in caused by M''Rael''s troops. Dozens of elven corpses littered the ce and the only people alive belonged to a group of human and Emperor Beasts soaked in blood.

    The High Chancellor was still alive and screaming in agony as his whole body was set aze in blue mes that erupted from his orifices and stumps.

    Le''Ahy was among the border guards who had sounded the rm first and was now staring at the familiar yet alien figure of the fusion.

    Dewan and elves wanted to make the invader pay in blood, but the aura of the Lesser Dragons was terrifying. The aura of the other thing, however, sent horror freezing their veins.

    The two species were enemies in every day''s life but they charged together against amon enemy.

    Until the creature had turned around, fixing its gaze upon them. The Tiamat Fear struck them down like a bolt of lightning, turning the charge into a chaotic tumble where the people in the back tripped on those in the front.

    The eyes of the creature studied the neers, trying to understand the part they had yed in the ambush. Soon Lith caught Le''Ahy''s familiar scent and singled her out amid the mob.

    "Did you know?" The upper maw spoke alone, making his voice recognizable.

    "Lord Qisal?" She muttered in disbelief.

    "Did you know they wereing to kill us? Did you sell us to your High Chancellor?" Both mouths roared, sending a shockwave that made elves and Dewan bleed from their eyes and ears.

    Even Morok, Friya, and Nalrond weren''t immune to it.

    Anyone without at least the violet core found themselves kneeling and puking from the shock. The raw and unbridled killing intent that the hybrid''s voice carried was further aggravated by the Tiamat Fear, bringing its victims on the verge of insanity.

    "No, I swear upon my blood that I didn''t." Le''Ahy said in between sobs, able to speak only because the pressure was lower on her. "My only wish is to serve. Everything I''ve done was to help your cause.

    "Please, believe me!" She yelped in fear as a tendril of Spirit Magic picked her up from the ground and brought her centimeters away from the hybrid.

    They sniffed her and listened to her heartbeat, finding fear but no ill-will. Le''Ahy was telling the truth or at least what she firmly believed to be the truth. If she had helped M''Rael in any way, he had to have manipted her without her even noticing.

    It was enough for Lith, but not for Solus who squeezed the elf harder.''She has everything. Beauty, magical power, talent, and freedom. Yet all she does is whine like a fucking child!'' Lith''s hate mixed with her trauma, making Solus seek any way to vent her anger.

    She hated M''Rael. M''Rael was an elf and so was Le''Ahy. Along with Solus'' suspicions about how the High Chancellor had located the site of the ritual, that was enough for her to warrant rightful vengeance.

    ''She''s telling the truth.''Lith stopped Solus'' hand before the hold became lethal.

    ''He''s right."The World Tree intervened. ''I''m the one who sold you out. I taught M''Rael the locator spell that allowed him to find you from your amulet''s signal. Yet I did it only because he tortured me to do it.

    ''I know it doesn''t make things any better for you, Elphyn, but if you have to take it out on someone, take it on me. This mess is all my fault.

    Solus froze in ce, tormented by fury andpassion in equal measure. She wanted to burn the Yggdrasill to ashes for what they had done but at the same time, she knew their pain.

    She too had been enved by M''Rael and forced to do his bidding. ming the Tree was like ming herself for hurting Lith and her friends. She never wanted to do that. She had fought themand with every fiber of her being yet she had obeyed anyway.

    The Tree had just done the same thing.

    "Fine!" Solus let go of Le''Ahy, throwing her away like a dirty rag. "We have stuff to do so we''ll leave you in charge."

    A wave of her hand undid the Body Sculpting spell that twisted the Yggdrasill life force and allowed them to reconnect with the Sage Crown, recovering the connection with their main body and its power.

    "If anything happens to them while we are away, I''ll take on your offer and burn you and your stupid Fringe to the ground." Solus said while the World Tree recovered Eldun, their Chronicler, with a Warp and cured him.

    "Guys, we are going to visit Grandma." The Hybrid said with the rumbling voice of twin gods of thunder. "She''s the only one who might be able to save War. We''ll be back soon."

 Chapter 2672 The Worst Of Both Worlds (Part 2)

    2672 The Worst of Both Worlds (Part 2)

    They walked up to the still-burning, still-screaming M''Rael whose body was now fully engulfed in blue mes. His life force was spent, making his skin sag like molten wax and his muscles thin like branches after a draught.

    There was nothing left of the proud elf who had dreamed of rebuilding the elven Kingdom. Even his Soul Projection now showed him burning alive in a zing inferno, his mouth opened in a silent scream that matched the main body''s.

    "You were so cocky when you gave me orders." Solus put one hand on War''s hilt and the other on M''Rael''s jaw, closing it shut so that only her voice remained. "You felt so entitled to steal me away like a petty thief and then abuse me to your heart''s content."

    Being so close to him, seeing his face, and hearing his pathetic whimpers almost drove her over the edge with fury. Yet she had to hold it in, refusing to give him a quick or easy death.

    "Now that our roles are reversed, I have only one order for you." She pried his mouth open with violence while the second jaw of the hybrid lowered and moved millimeters away from him, as if she wanted to kiss him.

    "Die!" A jet stream of Origin mes went down M''Rael''s throat without burning anything in its path.

    Solus was using Lith''s mastery over the mystical mes to attack only part of the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, and the brain stem. By damaging the lungs, she had sealed M''Rael''s breathing technique and made every breath an agony.

    The damage to the liver and kidneys brought him pain and spread toxins throughout his body, causing a cascade of organ failure.

    But the real kicker was the brainstem.

    Solus had destroyed the centers that regted involuntary breathing so M''Rael had to work through the pain and will his lungs to fill themselves with air. The moment he lost focus or the pain blinded him, he stopped breathing.

    The elf went into a panic, desperately searching for a way to survive but he found only despair. The damage to his body was so extensive that only Invigoration could have fixed him.

    Too bad that the only people who could use it were the same ones he had just tried to murder.

    "That''s a bit extreme." Ajatar said.

    "Cry me a river, fucking lizard!" Solus'' snarl pushed the Drake back several meters and left two deep trenches in his wake. "First get yourself enved, then, when you have first experience on the matter, you can preach to me about forgiveness."

    ''Solus, I get that you are angry, but War is still dying.''Lith didn''t like being the one who pulled the brakes but he liked what Solus was bing even less.

    It was a mix of him and her while they both were at their worst.

    ''You are right, sorry.'' Solus savored M''Rael''s agony and despair for onest second before turning him into ashes.

    She couldn''t stay long enough to see him die and she couldn''t risk that someone might take pity on him. She wanted him dead and to make sure that he had no way to be brought back, not even as an undead.

    ''Do you think we are in trouble?''Lith asked, fighting to not let Solus'' fury drown her and attempting to calm her down. ''I mean, for showing everyone our fusion?''

    ''No.''she replied with a sneer. Ajatar, Aalejah, and Morok are okay. The elves know nothing of what happened. Even if they speak about it to the Council, people like Raagu will just believe they are delirious due to the Tiamat fear.

    As for the Tree, they know everything, even more than Grandpa. The Yggdrasill knew about me and the tower. It was them exposing my existence to M''Rael. They already knew.'' She said while tower Warping to the Blood Desert.

    s, she was wrong.

    The World Tree did know about Elphyn, the tower, and how most cursed objects worked. They knew how a living legacy would fuse with its host, but only in cases like the Horsemen or the ck Star.

    They shared one body and mind until one of them became dominant and the other a puppet. The Yggdrasill was aware of the mage tower''s battle mode, but it was supposed to be a mere exoskeleton, not be the flesh and blood of its master.

    The World Tree had no idea of the power that was released when, instead of suppressing each other, relic and user truly became one.

    They had never seen it happen before because it never had.

    Now, however, the Tree had witnessed the power of a violet-cored Awakened reaching the white without its side effects. They had seen with their own mystical senses what could be achieved when two cores were backed by the enchantments of aplex power core.

    ''Now everything makes sense.''The Tree thought. "The long millennia of exile, the appearance of the Guardians, and the small-minded stubbornness of my predecessors to waste their lives in the Fringe were all a preparation for this moment.

    "The moment when I''d discover what a bright violet-cored Awakened can achieve with the right servant. If only I had a tower like that, but with one of my Chroniclers instead of a petnt girl as its medium, I would be unstoppable.

    ''I''d have the longevity of my kind, the power of the fusion, and the enchantments of a living artifact in the leaves of my branches. Bing a Guardian would be a simple matter and even if the old Guardians tried to stop me, I could fight them.

    ''Destiny is calling onto me and it found me ready to answer!

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Tribe, Overlord''s pce.

    The Hybrid moved from the Fringe to the geyser upon which Sark had positioned her pce in order to let Lith visit her without the need of leaving a trail of paperwork with Warp Gates or in case of emergency.

    Lith and Solus bypassed all the mystical defense systems because even in their current form, they were recognized by Sark''s spells and treated as honored guests. The same, however, couldn''t be said about the guards.

    All they saw was a hulking figure armed with a ming sword, a hammer, and a Yggdrasill staff appearing in one of the innermost and allegedly most secure areas of the pce.

    The Phoenixes of the Nest jumped at the Hybrid, no questions asked, unleashing the rightful fury of their Overlord upon the intruder.

    Solus wanted to beat them to a pulp but Lith refused to follow her in an act of senseless violence. He stored the Fury and the Sage Staff in the pocket dimension, but when he tried to do the same with War, it failed.

    Dimensional spaces rejected kic energy and the blue mes packed enough heat to melt a mountain. Lith was forced between snuffing them out and storing War or keeping them burning and consuming the de''s essence.

    "The blue mes are the only thing keeping the Adamant pieces together. Without them, I can put War in a timeless state but I''m also likely to kill him.''Lith thought as he used his now three free hands to grab at the iing spears and twist them along with their wielders.

 Chapter 2673 Phoenixs Forge (Part 1)

    2673 Phoenix''s Forge (Part 1)

    Lith was now much stronger than the Phoenixes, but every member of the Nest had to achieve the bright violet core on their own and acquire at least one millennium of battle experience to earn a spot in the Overlord''s elite forces.

    Also, every piece of their equipment was crafted by Sark, boosting the guards'' physical and magical prowess by several folds.

    The effect of surprise from the hybrid''s mightsted only for a split second after which the Phoenixes used teamwork to make up for the gap in raw power.

    "Wee in peace!" The creature''s roar shook the pce''s tent, making their im sound insincere. "We are Lith/Solus!"

    The guards bolted forward with perfect coordination, forcing the intruder to decide what to block and what to endure, but no matter the choicethey made, they would take a lot of damage.

    The Hybrid roared again, using War to deflect a spear, three hands to block as many iing weapons, and their wings to swat the Phoenixesing from behind like flies.

    The Guards reacted by turning their bodies and weapons into living Origin mes to escape the enemy''s grasp and continue their onught.

    The Hybrid took a deep breath, charging his mouths and eight wings with different kinds of mes that they unleashed against the iing Phoenixes.

    "Enough!" A burst of white aura followed by the ckest darkness since the Void stopped all the mystical mes.

    For a moment, Lith and Solus thought that Dawn had somehow followed them with her steed, but their mystical senses corrected them.

    Sinmara, the white-cored Phoenix of Darkness and Sark''s right-hand man, had appeared in the middle of the conflict, putting an end to it.

    "Little brother? Is that really you?" It took her a while to decipher the energy signature resulting from the fusion.

    "Yes, dammit!" They had never been so happy to see her since the day Sinmara had refused to help them save Phloria. "Please, call Grandma. We need her help."

    They showed Sinmara War, taking care of not exposing her to either the deadly de or hilt.

    She looked at the shattered de and dozens of questions popped up in her mind but she voiced none.

    ''It can wait.'' She thought while alerting the Overlord of a code blood emergency.

    It was both the highest state of alert of the pce and something that only a member of the family in distress could trigger. It bypassed the Hushing and dimensional boundary arrays that the Overlord used for her most important business.

    Like those with which she was dealing right now.

    Jiera''s colonization was a big deal and so were the blueprints of the trains that she was plotting to seize. Sark was above stealing from one of her Featherlings but the Royals were another story.

    Economic espionage was part of the political game, something that the Empire and the Kingdom attempted on the Blood Desert every day so the Overlord had no qualms about returning the favor.

    ''If Lith is so na?¡¥ve that he entrusted those idiots with such a masterpiece he can''t me me for-''The code blood interrupted the meeting with her highmand and provided Sark with the dimensional coordinates of the emergency.

    She Warped away without a word, no exnation asked nor given.

    All those who took part in the ndestine summits located in one of Sark''s pockets of space were Phoenixes as well. They had been born, bred, and trained to the belief that the well-being of the Nest was above any amount of money and influence.

    "What in the Great Mother''s name is happening?" Sark would have feared that someone was attempting on Elisya''s life, if not for Leegaain giving her updates on the baby''s development every five minutes.

    "Oh my myself, what have you guys done?" She wasn''t talking just about War but also their pitiful mental state.

    "We-"

    "Too slow. No time." Sark put the index and middle fingers of both hands on the Hybrid''s forehead.

    She activated the Blood Imprint to learn everything that she had missed while in her istion and pulled her hands away, unraveling the fusion.

    Lith''s body appeared in front of her right hand and Solus in front of the left, both with their eyes wide in surprise.

    "I''m sorry, but I had to do it." Sark wiped two silent tears from her own cheeks. "I would have loved for the tower to heal both of your life forces a bit more, but if I allowed that, your minds would have been destroyed.

    "Solus, you are not the kind of person who hurts others in order to express your anger. You are not revenge-driven. That''s Lith''s thing." She cupped Solus'' face, kissing her forehead.

    "Lith, I understand your fury, but you should have done what Solus has always done for you and tempered her pain, not fuel it. Sure, violence would have given her relief for a while, but following your methods would have left even deeper scars as soon as she came to realize what she had done." Sark moved in front of Lith, repeating the gestures of affection.

    "I''m sorry, Grandma, we-" They said in unison but she shut them up by cing her hands on their mouths.

    "As I said, we don''t have time. Not if we want to save War." The Overlord pointed at the shattered de that was losing power by the second now that the fusion was undone, "Sinmara, make sure no one disturbs us."

    She said while turning to her second inmand.

    "Yes, my liege. Unless there''s another code blood, I''ll deal with the Blood Desert in your absence."

    I could say: "What are the odds?" But that would jinx this big time.'' Sark nodded and Warped the three of them in her Forgemasteringb.

    The ce wasn''t much different from the Forge in the tower, except it was much bigger, it had direct ess to a bubbling stream of magma that she used as a source of heating for the smelting process of metals, and every single tool in the room was made of Davross.

    Lith could have spent hours just tinkering with the various pieces of equipment he had never seen before but, as Sark had said, he had no time.

    "What do you mean, we?" He asked. "We came here because we''ve already tried and failed everything we could. Our only hope is your Creation Magic."

    "I''m sorry, but what am I supposed to do?" Sark replied. "I can''t touch either the de or the hilt and if I break your imprint right now, War will copse. The blood and the mana you have infused it with are the only things keeping the de together.

    "If I snuff out the mes, the pseudo cores will fade. If I remove the imprint, they''ll fade. If 1 apply any spell which bears a foreign energy signature, the de''s pseudo cores will consume the energy they have left to counter them..."

    "And War''s consciousness will fade." Solus nodded.

    She was still angry and hurt, but now that she had her body again, she managed to regain her cool for War''s sake.

    "If the situation is beyond even you, then what do you need us for?" Lith asked.

 Chapter 2674 Phoenixâ€™s Forge (Part 2)

    Chapter 2674 Phoenix¡¯s Forge (Part 2)

    "Just because it''s beyond me, it doesn''t mean it''s also beyond us." Sark patted their heads. "My Creation Magic still works and you guys can freely interact with War. Simple, isn''t it?"

    "Do you mean we can do a three-way fusion?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "In your dreams." The Overlord dismissed the idea with a scoff. "I meant that you two are going to use Creation Magic under my guidance. I''ve already allowed you to witness it enough times to learn the basics.

    "It has always been my intention to show you the real deal one day, but I never thought it would happen so soon." She moved behind them and put her hands on their backs, pushing them forward. "Walk in front of those Davross Forges.

    "Solus, take out the Fury and give Lith a copy."

    They did as instructed but even after reaching their destination, Sark kept the physical contact.

    ''We''ll now switch to a mind link to save time. First, I know you''d love to use the Eyes to steal my secrets, but if you do, you''llck the mental focus to perform the task. Second, you guys suck.

    ''At your level, there''s no way you can handle the energy necessary for this kind of Creation Magic so I''ll have to do it for you. I can move your bodies and manipte your cores, but only if you let me.

    ''Resist my influence, question my judgment, or hesitate for one second and everything will be for naught. Are we clear?'' She asked, receiving nods in reply.

    ''Third, I love you guys but I''m no charity. This is your de, Lith, so cough up every ingredient you are willing to consume and I mean the good stuff.''

    For once in his life, Lith didn''t care about money and took the Davross, white crystals, and the rest of the Dryad''s reward out of the pocket dimension.

    ''Thank my paranoia I''ve already purified everything just for a situation like this.'' He thought.

    His heart bled at the idea that the crystal mines and the Crucible would lose efficiency due to the loss of the precious materials but he sucked it up.

    ''Nice.'' Sark patted his back. ''It would be nicer if you weren''t already crying for the loss of the precious materials, though. By the way, it''s called "making an investment".''

    The Overlord furrowed her brows while Solus threw a sideway re at Lith while conjuring her power.

    ''Can I set the tower here, Grandma?'' She asked.

    ''Of course. Feel free to do anything that you think will increase our odds of sess.'' Sark replied, noticing that Lith was looking at her in a funny way. ''Aside from spilling my blood or trying to take from me something that you can use as an ingredient!''

    Lith sighed in disappointment and turned forward.

    ''What an opportunistic brat.'' The Overlord grunted before taking a deep breath to calm down. ''This is one of my personal tier five Creation Magic spells. I call this Phoenix''s Forge.''

    Sark channeled her mana inside Lith and Solus, taking away her own energy signature so that it became their own. The bond with the tower also flooded them with world energy, allowing them to resist a power way beyond their capacity.

    ''Do you think we can do like M''Rael and use the Master Mirror to kick things up another notch?'' Solus said.

    ''d you asked.'' Sark sent the mana from them to the tower where it was amplified before being returned.

    ''The first step in a case like this, when I can''t undo the imprint is called Separation.''

    ck mana filled with darkness magic moved from Sark to Lith, then to the Master Mirror and back, and finally into the Davross Forge in front of him. At the same time, a white stream of mana filled with light magic followed the same path but through Solus.

    War floated between the two Forges where it was exposed to the two conflicting energies at the same time and in equal measure.

    The darkness attacked the mes, the metal, and even the mana pathways in the attempt to tear them apart while the light coated both matter and energy, protecting them from the ck flood.

    Lith found it a fool''s errand akin to weaving Penelope''s shroud. Whatever the darkness did, the light seemed to undo it in an endless loop. After a few seconds, the changes in War became visible to Life Vision.

    The constant destruction and regeneration process was slowly splitting the metal of the de from the mana of the enchantments. With each cycle, the hold that Adamant and crystals had on the pseudo cores, mana circtory system, and mana pathways loosened.

    The process became faster and faster until Lith and Solus could follow it with their naked eyes. The darkness split matter from energy while light seeped in the cracks between them.

    The light element repaired metal, crystals, and spells while also coating them in an instingyer that protected them from the following waves of darkness element that were free to focus solely on the still-exposed parts.

    Before Lith could even understand what was happening, the Adamant of the shattered de and the hilty lifeless on the floor whereas the whole spell matrix thatprised War''s essence was still floating between the two Davross Forges.

    Lith could see War''s mana flow for the first time with Life Vision without the need for Invigoration. The pseudo cores were still intact and so were the mana pathways whereas several branches of the mana circtory system were damaged or missing.

    On top of that, there were huge holes in the rune patterns where the mana crystals were supposed to be. The energy mass was covered by a thick veil of mist that flowed back and forth, making it hard to discern the single runes.

    ''Is it me or is War''s spell matrix blurred?'' Solus asked.

    ''It is blurred.'' Sark nodded. ''I used Creation Magic to iste the spells thatprise War''s "soul" including Orion''s cloaking enchantments since I couldn''t take one without the other.''

    ''What are going to do now?'' Lith chimed in. ''After using him for years, I know roughly how the mana flows to form War''s enchantments and abilities but it''s not enough. If we want to repair War, we need a clear vision of the entire structure.

    ''We can''t rely on guesswork.''

    ''I couldn''t agree more.'' Sark slightly rotated her hands that were still ced against Lith''s and Solus'' backs.

    The light flow isted most of the spell matrix while the darkness attacked selectively a few runes, shattering them. In the blink of an eye, the cloaking runes were gone and with them the mist.

    War''s secretsy exposed in front of Lith and Solus, brilliant in their simplicity and so easy to replicate. Yet it wasn''t such a vision that shocked them to their core.

    ''Wait, what?'' Lith turned from the energy mass to Sark non-stop. ''How did you know which were the cloaking runes and why are you using us to channel the elements?''

    ''I didn''t know.'' Sark replied. ''I simply essed your muscle memory to spot which runes were activated by your mana and those that instead never required direct fuelling.''

 Chapter 2675 From Ruin To War (Part 1)

    2675 From Ruin to War (Part 1)

    As for your other question, Creation Magic requires darkness and light.'' The Overlord said.

    I''m exploiting your bond with War to alter its spell matrix without triggering Orion''s defensive system and the natural affinities of you two to amplify the elemental flow.

    Your eyes don''t give you affinity toward light, Lith, just like Solus'' hair doesn''t give her affinity for darkness. They only unlock Domination that you wouldn''t otherwise possess.

    "I get you can ess Lith''s memories and manipte his mana due to his Phoenix blood, but how can you do the same with me?''Solus asked. ''Is it because of our bond?''

    "You are partially correct.'' Sark nodded. ''It''s because of your bond that you carry Phoenix blood as well, Solus. It''s the reason my Blood Imprint ability works on you too and I can use you as a medium for my spells.''

    ''What? How?'' Lith and Solus asked in unison.

    ''It''s actually obvious.'' Sark chuckled. ''Mogar gave Lith my blood and he gave it to you, Solus. For years you''ve fed upon his life force, using it to restore your own. It''s like building a second house from the spare materials of the first.

    "The final shape is different but the properties of the buildings are the same. Not to mention how, every time you two fuse, your life essences flow freely into one another, making the changes more significant.

    One more question.'' Lith asked. ''If you could do this at any time, why work so hard to recruit Orion when you could just steal his secrets?

    ''Do I look like a petty thief to you?'' Her sudden frown and angry re made him rush to give her an apologetic bow. ''I have no qualms about stealing from my enemies but I''ve never stolen from my colleagues.

    ''It''s a matter of honor and respect. It''s the reason I didn''t force you to share your Trains and Tablets with me but I "borrowed" the blueprints from the Royals. Taking from you would have been bullying. Taking from them is espionage.''

    "That''s some strawman logic. Solus was bbergasted.

    ''No, just logic. They steal from me, I steal from them. It''s part of the politics game.''Sark pressed her fingers on their backs and tendrils of ck mana destroyed the corrupted ends of War''s mana circtory system while white tendrils rebuilt it.

    In a few moments, everything was as it was supposed to be.

    "There. This is War as you know it. The question is: is it enough? Do you really want me to just imbue it in Davross without changing anything?

    ''No to both.''Lith took the blueprints of a new version of War out of the pocket dimension.

    He was altering the schematics of the updated enchantments on the fly, improving on them the moment the Eyes of Menadion gave him and Solus a more precise understanding of the de''s spell matrix.

    ''We''ve always dreamed to see what would be of War if he had a power core instead of just pseudo cores. We''ve researched a few more spells we could use in battle but we never got the opportunity to make a proper blueprint. Until now.''

    ''Also, we didn''t know how to ask you about it without sounding like ungrateful jerks.''Solus blushed a little. ''But since you are the one offering to do it...''

    ''You don''t feel guilty anymore.'' Sarkpleted the phrase for Solus, chuckling.

    ''Don''t get too cocky, though. I''ll do it, but I won''t put anything of mine in this work. Material, brains, it''s all on you two. ''

    It''s fair. Lith nodded. ''It''s the same thing you did for the Fury, right?''

    Right. Those are the terms of my offer.''

    Then can I expect you to fix any unintended w during the upgrade like you did for Menadion''s spells?'' He asked.

    "So much for not getting cocky!'' Sark''s eyes went wide in indignation. ''How dare you trap me with my own words? You are lucky that I like you, because otherwise I''d treat you like the con man you are.''

    ''So it''s a yes?'' Lith tried a seven-pronged puppy-eyes attack.

    ''Yes.''Sark pouted.

    ''Sweet. Here''s the schematics we''ve prepared. Lith handed the parchment to her, giving her the time to study it.

    "There''s a few mistakes here and there.''She pointed them out with a snarl while altering the parchment. This is how it''s supposed to look.''

    "Thanks, Grandma. You are the best!'' Solus threw her own best puppy impression, trying to soften the angry Guardian.

    "Yeah, yeah. Let''s get done with this. I''ve got work to do.''Sark grunted as she made them get close enough to reach the de with their hammers.

    She cleared the fragments of Adamant and Dragon bones from the magic circle, storing the material of the old War and Double Edge in a corner of the room.

    Then, Sark used the darkness element to cut open War''s spell matrix and the light element to expand and rearrange it. New strings of runes flowed in the middle of the energy mass, harmonizing with the pseudo cores.

    First, they formed more pseudo cores that would have worked on their own. Then, they merged with the other cores, letting the runes from the various enchantments mix and removing the parts that were pointlessly repeated.

    This way, War went from having multiple enchantments that worked on their own to being in control of a great number of magical runes that would produce a different effect based on the order in which they were activated.

    The main difference between the old and the new War was that the former could mix its abilities together to achieve different effects whereas thetter would have a limited grimoire of its own.

    War''s abilities wouldn''t be limited by the type of enchantments anymore, only by the number and type of runes at its disposal.

    Sark even added Lith''s best cloaking runes but they didn''t affect the Forgemastering process. As its inventor, Lith knew how to turn off their distortion field while Sark had no need to because she perceived everything through him.

    ''Okay, now let''s move on to the final part. Try not to forget anything of what I''ve shown you or the feelings you have experienced while using Phoenix''s Forge. Let it be your guide while you research your own Creation Magic. Sark weaved runes on their backs, forcing them to action.

    Lith grabbed the Davross with his bare hands, splitting it into a de and hilt with a cross guard.

    "Thank the gods unlike in fantasy bullshit, des don''t weigh much. A bastard sword goes from 0.91 kilos (2 pounds) to 1.6 kilos (3.5 pounds), otherwise I''ll end up with no Davross left for the Crucible.''He thought.

    He shaped it as close to War''s old form as he could, working on the two pieces separately before connecting them.

    At the same time, Solus collected the white mana crystals, cutting them to perfection until she had eighteen of them, all about 3 centimeters (1.2") tall and 1 centimeter (0.4") wide.

    Four of them would go in pairs on either side of the hilt, forming what looked like the de''s eyes and they stayed white. Their purpose was to fuel the de and its spells.

 Chapter 2676 From Ruin to War (Part 2)

    Chapter 2676 From Ruin to War (Part 2)

    Solus also split in pairs the other 14 crystals, enhancing a single element for each pair of elemental crystals that would go on both sides of the fuller. They would power the de''s fusion magic and sustain the Davross'' power to channel the elements to produce bloodline abilities-like effects.

    ''How do we want to arrange them?'' Solus sighed, inwardly regretting not having a single clue about the violet dimensional gem that they had witnessed solely on the Arthan and Saefel Sets.

    ''Not in the light''s spectrum''s order, but ording to Void Magic.'' Lith replied.

    The Spirit crystal was in the middle, next to the air and orange crystal respectively closer to the tip and the hilt. Then there were the fire and water crystals andstly the darkness and light crystals.

    The design allowed the elements to be carried along the de''s edge from tip to pommel by the light''s and darkness'' flow and then meet in the middle where they strengthened the Spirit Crystal by bing one with it.

    Then, the Spirit Magic was split into its six elementalponents and the cycle started anew.

    ''Interesting concept.'' Sark studied it for a bit. ''Where did you get the idea?''

    ''From Quy''s improved version of the magic circle to contact Mogar.'' Solus replied. ''Thanks to the Spirit Crystal, we can obtain the same effect even though the elements are arranged into a line instead of a circle.''

    ''Brilliant, but we are not done yet. We still need the external runes or the Forgemastering process will fail.'' Sark extended her hand and Lith passed her the best Runesmithing patterns he had.

    She nced at the spell matrix and at the parchment for a while, trying to make them fit.

    ''Even with the tower, the Fury, and my Forges, I don''t think these are enough to handle Davross at your level.'' She tormented her lower lip. ''We need to cheat a bit. Luckily, I don''t have to break my word since we are going to use your method.''

    Her hand shapeshifted into talons, cutting deep into Lith''s palms that bled profusely.

    ''What was that for?'' He was shocked by both the attack and the fact that the injuries weren''t healing.

    ''Ingredients. Your blood is stronger and I can''t add Solus'' without the risk that a future M''Rael might exploit it to also steal War.'' She gripped his back, reestablishing her control over Lith''s body.

    He was now shaping his own life essence into a perfect replica of the spell matrix. They were identical from the power core down to the rune patterns. The only difference was that one was made of pure energy and the other one was physical.

    Sark had Lith grab the de so that the blood flowed inside of it while retaining its shape. Then, she proceeded with the Bonding and Runesmithing process.

    The runes and mana crystals ced themselves ording to the blood patterns, establishing the firstyer of the mana circtory system simply by following the blood flow.

    Then she had the light element coursing through Solus push the energy matrix toward the de.

    ''It''s hammer time!'' Sark said while channeling the world energy in the Davross Forges.

    The mirror images attracted each other like mas of opposite prity, but the Davross resisted the process and so did the energy exuded by the mana crystals.

    To ovee the repulsive force, Sark used darkness to hamper the natural flow of world energy of the Davross in the areas away from the spells and light to enhance the spark of Lith''s life force in the blood, spreading it throughout the metal.

    One weakened the enchanted metal''s resistance while the other enhanced its affinity toward the iing energy mass until the blood started to seep inside the energy and vice versa.

    Lith and Solus had already charged their hammers and released the collected energy to push the enchantments in and keep the blood from leaking.

    ''This is amazing!'' Lith thought, noticing how the imperfections in the power core that formed during the Forgemastering process were easily fixed.

    Light controlled the blood and kept its shape fixed so that darkness could weaken the energy just enough to reshape itself ording to its twin. Bumps and indentures in the spheres needed no hammering, just gentle nudges to flow back into the correct shape.

    ''It''s not just that. Grandma is recreating the technique that we saw my Soul Projection use back in the Fringe right in front of us.''

    The problem was that despite all that, the Davross still opposed a massive resistance that they could ovee only thanks to thebined effects of the tower, the Furies, the Davross Forges fuelling Menadion''s Mana Well technique, and Sark''s Creation Magic.

    When the process was over, the de was already imprinted and in its final form while Lith and Solus were drenched in sweat. They panted like bellows while lying on the floor, incapable of standing anymore.

    "It''s a nice piece, if I can say it myself." Sark studied the de through a tendril of Spirit Magic, avoiding any direct contact. "How are you going to call it? From Ruin to War, the next logical step would be Apocalypse or Armageddon." [AN: freely adapted from Mogarian.]

    Mogar too had its myths about the end of the world, but they were considered just myths. Stories to tell in front of the firece to scare unruly kids.

    The new de had its hilt still red from the blood Lith had spilled. The two white mana crystals on either side of the guard still looked like mean eyes, ring at the enemies on both sides of the de.

    The only change in the cross guard was the upward spikes on the external side that resembled thin fangs, giving the impression that below the eyes there was half a maw when the sword was held with the tip down.

    The de itself, however, was different. Its metal wasn''t pure ck anymore, shifting from ck to white ording to the elemental energy channeled at the moment.

    ck for the elements of destruction and the hard effects of the elements of bnce.

    White for the elements of creation and the soft effects of the elements of bnce.

    "Neither would do." Lith shook his head, trying to get up amid pants. "They both herald the end of times, leaving no ce for hope and survival. Since I got War, he has changed as much as I did.

    "He''s not a mere instrument of carnage anymore. He''s sacrificed himself to help me save Solus. He has done everything I asked him to protect my wife and child. I can''t bestow upon him the name of a cmity."

    Lith stood up, feeling the perfect bnce between hilt and de and appreciating Sark''s craftmanship by performing a few routine exercises. The edge cut through the air, producing a swish even though there was no strength behind the movement.

    The Overlord saw each swing produce an air de that the sword countered on its own to protect those around its owner. There was no aggression in Lith and the weapon matched his calm, severing the world energy in the air just to fix it right after its passage.

 Chapter 2677 From War toâ€¦ (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2677 From War to¡­ (Part 1)</h4>

    "A fine bnce between offense and defense." Sark said, making no sense to Lith and Solus who failed to notice the de''s self-imposed harmlessness. "Between creation and destruction."

    "That''s why I decided to rename War into Ragnar?k. The twilight of the old gods and world that yet heralds the dawn of a new beginning. Not just an omen of death, but also of rebirth." Lith spilled a bit more blood to form a sheathe thick enough to seal Ragnar?k and keep it tame.

    "As long as I''m not included among your dying old gods, I like this name." Sark replied with a t tone and a furrowed brow, waiting for rification before showing any reaction.

    "Of course you''re not included, Grandma." Lithughed at the preposterous idea. "You are no god. You are family."

    "Then congrattions on your new weapon!" Sark gave him a warm smile and opened her arms for an embrace but waited for him to store Ragnar?k away before delivering the hug. "It''s good for a young Awakened but crappy for an elder, let alone a Guardian.

    "Feel free toe visit me whenever Ragnar?k needs an upgrade."

    "Thanks, Grandma." Lith returned the embrace, patting her back. "Since we are already here, can you please¡­"

    A frost re almost stopped him in his tracks.

    "Restore what''s left of War and Double Edge? I''ll reforge them myself but I can''t salvage the Dragon bones or the mana crystals without your help."

    "Granted." She grunted, recycling the destroyed weapons into their basic and pristineponents before turning to Solus. "Come here.

    "I know you went through a lot of bad stuff today, but don''t let it scar you forever. Go home, stay with your family, and cry as much as you need. If you need peace, istion, or just a few personal chefs, the doors of my pce are always open for you."

    "Thanks, Grandma." Solus hugged the Guardian, feeling the warmth of Sark''s aura give her strength and fearing what would be of her once they left.

    ''Dad had no problems dealing with his trauma when Grandma was around but he also crumbled the moment she walked away.'' She thought.

    "Do you think I should tell everyone about what happened or should I keep quiet?" Solus actually said. "Kami and Mom could get agitated and the stress might affect the babies¡­"

    "Don''t be silly." Sark poked on Solus'' nose. "Of course you have to tell them. How can the people you love help you in your time of need if you don''t let them know you need help in the first ce?"

    "But-"

    "Great Mother almighty, today I can''t catch a break!" Sark rolled her eyes and Warped everyone in Lutia, including those they had left in the Fringe.

    "Thank the gods you are back!" Kam was so happy to see Lith again that she started to tear up. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

    The thought of being free of her Guardian babysitters took a huge burden off her chest.

    "I was gone for barely a few days. What the heck has happened during my absence?" He asked in utter confusion.

    "A lot of things." Leegaain looked annoyed, but said no more. "But I''ll say no more until you guys have a few days to recover. You went through even more."

    "What do you mean?" Everyone but Sark said in shock, expecting the others to have gone through hell and back.

    "Before that, I need to know how it went with the elves." Lith turned toward Faluel.

    "They weren''t happy that we''ve ughtered so many of them but once the World Tree and Chronicler Eldun exined the truth to them, things took a turn for the better." Faluel replied.

    "They have to discuss the matters of Jiera again in the light of the recent developments. If you ask me, they are likely to take up our offer anyway."

    "Why is that?" Solus asked.

    "Because the Tree stated that all of M''Rael''s promises were lies. The Yggdrasill won''t do the elves who don''t serve them any favors nor will they help the elves to establish their own kingdom.

    "Their choice is between an eternity of peaceful servitude or a battle for freedom and only one is a choice that they can go back from."

    "Indeed." Ajatar nodded, staring at Solus and Lith with a mix of envy and annoyance. "We''ll talk about our businesster. It can wait whereas Solus can''t."

    Between the awkward silence and Solus bing as pale as a ghost Lith''s family started to freak out.

    "Okay, that''s it. What the heck happened inside the Fringe?" Kam said.

    Sark gave everyone aplete version of the events via a mind link, cutting out the violent parts from the version she gave to the children.

    "Good gods!" Raaz blurted out in outrage. "How could you know all this and do nothing about it, Mother?"

    "It''s not up to me to live the life of others." Sark shrugged. "I consider Lith as a member of my family, but I won''t protect him from the consequences of his own decisions. It''s how he''s grown into the man he is.

    "It''s how all of my children grow."

    "Are you alright, dear?" Raaz grabbed Solus by the shoulders.

    He was the one who could empathize the best with the experience of being taken prisoner and abused by a madman.

    "Yes. No. I don''t know." On the one hand, she wanted to reassure her family that everything was okay but on the other hand, she knew it would be a lie. "And I won''t know as long as Grandma is here."

    "That''s why I''ve taken you here and spilled the beans in your stead. This way, you can have all the support you need and they know exactly what they are dealing with." Sark said. "Call me if you need me."

    She opened a Warp Gate leading back to her pce that she crossed while waving with her hand.

    "Do you want us to leave?" Morok asked in one of his rare fits of kindness.

    "Yes, thanks. I like you and Ajatar but I barely know you guys." Solus nodded.

    "Do you want us to stay?" Quy asked, pointing at Friya and Nalrond.

    She was the only member of the group to have experienced a ve spell and she knew how it could mess with its victim''s head.

    "Yes, please."

    "Do you want to talk or would you like a bit of silence?"

    "I don''t know." Now that Sark was gone, Solus wanted to cry, fall apart, and run away at the same time.

    "I do!" Leegaain stood up. "In cases like yours, literature suggests-"

    "To shut the farm up and not overstay your wee!" Sark dragged him past the still-opened Gate that closed instantly.

    Without the Guardians, the house fell into an ufortable silence. No one knew what to say, afraid that they might hurt Solus'' feelings or make it harder for her to open up.

    They waited for her to talk first, but Solus was at a loss for words. She felt hurt, humiliated, protected, and calm at the same time. Seconds turned into minutes, but no word was uttered even after half an hour had passed.

 Chapter 2678 From War To... (Part 2)

    2678 From War to... (Part 2)

    "This doesn''t make sense.'' Solus thought. ''Why do my feelings go up and down like a rollercoaster? How could I be so calm while reforging War into Ragnar?k? I was supposed to be distraught and even with Grandma''s presence I-''

    Another wave of sadness threatened to drown her but the despair it brought her didn''tst. Lith was still holding her shoulder while she sat, happy to have her back. Happy to be back with his family.

    "By my Mom, how could I be this stupid?'' Solus thought.

    "I''m sorry, but I''d like for everyone to leave except for Mom, Dad, and Quy." She actually said.

    "Why?" The hurt in Lith''s voice weakened her defenses, causing Solus an emotional pain so intense that it seemed physical,

    "Because of our bond." She replied. "I can''t deal with my feelings with you here. You are my rock and my armor in more than one way. Your presence works even better than Grandma''s because you are not just powerful.

    "You also share with me your willpower, your strength, and you ''infect'' me with a joy that is not mine. I''m sorry if it sounds mean, but I just can''t find a proper term."

    Then, she turned toward Senton, Rena, and the others.

    "As for you guys, I''m sorry but being surrounded by so many people makes me feel pitied. I want Mom to be here because I''m a crybaby. I want Dad and Quy to stay because they are the only ones who can truly understand how I feel without judging me.

    "I don''t think I have the strength to open up in front of you all. Not now."

    Her words stung Lith, who wanted to be there for her, but they hurt Raaz more.

    ''She wants Elina for emotional support and me because of my experience? Would she kick me out as well if it wasn''t for Orpal kidnaping me? Am I such a shitty parentpared to my wife?'' He looked at his children, hoping they could understand his turmoil and give him an answer.

    Yet all they did was smile at him before turning away and leaving.

    Without the crowd and the children, Solus felt like she could breathe again.

    She didn''t feel the gaze of her fellow mages weighing on her and dissecting her weakness. At the same time, however, without Lith and Sark there was nothing stopping the emotional onught from ravaging her heart.

    She felt vited for being forced to follow M''Rael''s orders. Guilty for all the pain that the tower and the Fury had caused. By using the hammer that she had inherited from her mother to hurt Solus'' friends and shatter War, M''Rael had tainted the Fury as well.

    She was also appalled by her own actions in massacring the helpless elves after the defeat of the High Chancellor. What she had done while fused with Lith was not only unforgivable, but also the closest thing to Forbidden Magic she had ever done.

    "There''s something I need to tell you." Solus stuttered every other word but she then proceeded to retell everything Sark had shared via the mind link with her own words.

    At the recollection of M''Rael''s first order, she started to cry and her voice broke. As she recounted how the elf had used the Fury to hurt the people she loved, Solus was forced to take a break from time to time to make her words understandable again.

    It took over two hours to describe the events that had taken ce inside the Fringe and the scars that being enved had left in her heart.

    She spent the whole time hugging Elina, bawling her eyes out, and blowing her nose on a handkerchief Elina held for Solus like she would for a small child. Elina even cleaned Solus from the snot and kissed her head from time to time, never stopping caressing her back.

    Once she was done, Raaz prepared for her a strong tea made even stronger by a few drops of Red Dragon, a liquor meant to intoxicate even Divine Beasts. He sweetened it with plenty of honey, just like Solus liked it.

    Her throat was hoarse from the talking and crying so the tea did wonders for her. The honey was a balm for her sour mood while the alcohol spread the equivalent of a warm embrace from inside her body.

    After she was done with her tea, Solus looked at her audience who took the prolonged silence as their cue to speak.

    "I''m really sorry you had to experience a ve ring as well, Solus, yet I''m also a bit envious of you." Quy took Solus'' hand in her own and looked her in the eyes, showing there was no mockery in her words.

    "Envious?" Solus echoed, that word making her feel as if Mogar had been turned upside down. "Yes, envious." Quy nodded. "Because you hurt Faluel and the others but they are still alive whereas Yurial is gone and I killed him."

    An awkward silence filled the room while the youngest of the Ernas stared at her own hands, still seeing the red of Yurial''s blood covering them. Feeling the weight of the enchanted knife Nalear had given her. Seeing the ring on her finger.

    To that day, Quy never wore rings aside from the spell-holding ones and whenever she put one on, her hands trembled.

    Solus lowered her gaze, knowing that it was nopetition, but Quy was right. She had it way worse.

    "Also, I''m envious because at least you had the World Tree to talk to." Quy said, delivering her a second blow. "Being under Nalear''s ve spell was the same as when M''Rael ordered you not to think.

    "I was a prisoner of my mind. My body moved on its own, showing emotions that I didn''t feel and saying words that weren''t mine. I remember screaming, crying, and yelling, but no one could listen to me.

    "With every order I had to follow, every time I failed to resist Nalear''smand, I lost hope of being rescued. At least, everyone knew you were enved. You saw your friends fight for you, not against you.

    "The Tree kept youpany whereas I was alone, slowly delving into madness and hoping that someone would kill me before I was forced to enact Nalear''s kill orders." A tear streamed down Quy''s cheek at the memory.

    "After they took Nalear''s ring off from me, it wasn''t the remorse that destroyed me. I was already broken from the prolonged istion. And when I felt the dagger stab Mom, I gave up on myself.

    "Killing Yurial pushed me over the edge. It wasn''t an ident. I did try to kill myself by burning my life force to save my mother back then." Everyone knew that, but until that moment Quy had never found the strength to admit it.

    Solus nodded, feelingpassion for her friend and a sick relief from not having ever thought even for one second about taking her own life.

    Raaz offered Quy a tea, this time spiked with regr alcohol and with less than half its weight in honey. She wasn''t crying, but she needed a pretext to swallow a lot and a bit of time topose herself.

 Chapter 2679 Death Wish (Part 1)

    2679 Death Wish (Part 1)

    ''We are here for Solus, not for me. Yet I''m d I managed to take that burden off my chest. It''s the first time I can talk about my time under the ve ring with someone who went through the same thing.'' Quy thought while slowly sipping the hot beverage.

    "I know more about being held prisoner and tortured than I wish for my worst enemy." Raaz said to drive the attention away from Quy while she was still recovering. "I also know how it feels tosh at innocents just to feel better about yourself.

    "I''m envious of you as well, Solus, but of your fortitude of character. Once you have been freed, you''ve hurt only your enemies. People you had to shut up anyway to protect the secret of Menadion''s tower.

    "I instead, took it out on my family. On my children and wife. I haven''t spilled a drop of blood but that''s far from an achievement. Also, I''m envious because you''ve found the strength to step forward and ask for help right after those events instead of wallowing for weeks in self-pity"

    "That''s not strength, Dad, what Orpal did to you -""It was terrible, yes, but no different from what you have experienced." Raaz cut her short by gently caressing her cheek.

    "Even though through a proxy, you have hurt Lith and the others and they have been forced to hurt you back. It''s something that would have shattered a lesser person and broken weaker bonds, yet here we are.

    "You are an amazing woman, Solus. You are stronger than I will ever be and for that, I couldn''t be prouder of you. I know that I''m not really your father, but I want you to know that I love you like one of my own and that I feel happy like a child every time you call me Dad."

    "Thank you, Dad." Solus sniffled, this time out of joy.

    She let go of Elina and embraced Raaz as delicately and tightly as she could.

    Elina said nothing because silence was the best she had to offer.

    ''I have no idea what any of them must have endured. I don''t want to ruin this moment by saying cheesy and trivial words. She thought. ''I''ll give my opinion only if they ask for it. I''ll respect their pain by letting them share it among themselves."

    After a few seconds, Solus let go of Raaz and went back to sit near Elina, grabbing her hand forfort.

    "What do you think I should do with the Fury and the Sage Staff?" She asked.

    "I beg your pardon?" Elina didn''t understand the question more than she understood why it was being addressed to her.

    "I can''t get rid of the tower without hurting myself, but I can dispose of those weapons or at least reforge them into something else."

    "And why would you do that?" Elina asked in confusion.

    "Because they were gifts. Something precious that my mother and Lith gave to me to make sure I could defend myself. Yet now they are dirty with the blood of my friends and I don''t know if I can touch them ever again."

    "Let me get this straight." Elina said. "If someone were to hurt a member of my family with one of my pots, then I''m supposed to give up on cooking?"

    "Of course not, but you can just throw away the pot." Solus replied.

    "No, yourparison doesn''t hold because a pot is just a tool you can find anywhere for cheap whereas the Fury and the Staff are priceless items." Elina shook her head.

    "They embody the love and the affection of their makers for you, just like cooking reminds me of the happy times I spent in the kitchen with my family. You can''t let the actions of a jerk like M''Rael drive you to such an extent."

    "But, it''s because of me that War has been shattered. It''s because of me that Lith and the others were battered and beaten. If only he had imprinted my weapons himself, this would have never happened."

    "And they wouldn''t be really yours to start with." Quy pointed out. "They would just be borrowed tools that you''d lose in the case your life force and core heal and you are no longer bound to the tower."

    "It''s no big deal." Solus shrugged. "We can always have Grandma remove the imprint and-"

    "And it would be like letting someone else blow the candles on your birthday cake and open your presents." Elina shook her head, "I''m sorry, dear, but you are talking nonsense."

    "What M''Rael did is only M''Rael''s fault and luckily, the fool already paid for it." Raaz said. "You have no reason to punish yourself just like Quy isn''t responsible for Nalear''s kills or I for Meln''s schemes.

    "ording to your logic, I should spend my days in atonement for being used as bait to ruin Lith''s life and exile us from the Kingdom. We are not responsible for our torturers, Solus. We are their victims, just like everyone else."

    Quy nodded but remained silent, giving Solus the time to ponder those words.

    I guess they are right. I mean, I didn''t hesitate to take the original Fury from Bytra even knowing that it had been used in my mother''s death and then in countless atrocities.'' Solus thought.

    Yet her logic and her heart were still at odds and the idea of holding the Fury again made her stomach churn.

    "What about the elves I killed after I fused with Lith?" She asked after a while.

    "What *about* them?" Quy furrowed her brows.

    "I still murdered them in cold blood, I massacred them once they were defeated and I consumed their life essence,"

    "Cold blood?!" Quy looked as outraged as she sounded. "Solus, I was there. You were out of your mind and inside Lith''s! Also, how can you forget that it was those elves who ambushed us? They blew Morok to bits. I almost drowned because of them.

    "Heck, M''Rael would have never managed to kidnap you without his goons. They were all guilty as fuck! Even if they surrendered, and they didn''t, it wouldn''t have excused them of their actions.

    "If someone attempted to kill Elina and once you stopped him, he surrendered and said sorry, would you let him go?"

    "I would kill that bastard after making him spill everything he knows about the attempt." Solus said with a snarl. "I wouldn''t risk killing the hitman without learning everything I could about the instigator."

    "At all costs, right?" Quy asked.

    "Right."

    "Then what''s the difference between a hitman and the elves?" Quy replied. "Is your life less valuable than Elina? Is it mine? Also, you didn''t do it for shits and giggles, you did it to save War!"

    "Ragnar??k." Solus corrected her.

    "Whatever. Do you get my point?"

    Solus tormented her hair for a while, finding the reasoning valid but shaky.

    "I don''t think that their cruel actions justify mine." She said after a while.

    "I agree on that." Quy nodded, surprising everyone. "But look at it this way. If Lith, Faluel, or I for that matter, wanted to kill them in revenge, would have stopped us?"

 Chapter 2680 Death Wish (Part 2)

    2680 Death Wish (Part 2)

    "Would you have fought us over a bunch of murderous, greedy bastards?" Quy asked. "No." Solus shook her head.

    "Then who cares? I mean, one of the things that helped me the most while I was recovering from my envement was knowing that Nalear and her aplices were all dead. That they couldn''t hurt me anymore." Quy said.

    "I''m sorry, dear, but I''m with Quy." Raaz said. "Knowing that Meln is out there plotting the gods know what still gives me nightmares. I know that I''m still his father and he is my son, but I''d pay my weight in gold to have him dead."

    "Dear-" Elina tried to say, but he cut her short, standing abruptly and pacing around the room,

    "Don''t you dear me! I''m the one who still looks over his shoulder every time I go out of the house, afraid of being kidnapped again. I''m the one who sees his mocking face in every shadow at night!

    "I won''t apologize for wanting Meln dead! It would make my life so much easier."

    "I was just trying to say that I feel the same." She had walked behind him, gently holding his shoulders. "I have already disowned Meln after what he did to Lith. Yet what he did to Trion and you is even worse.

    "I''m ashamed to admit that I''ve been praying for him to attack Kam ever since we learned about her pregnancy."

    "Why?" Everyone was bbergasted.

    "Because this way that shitspawn would fall into Sark''s hands and then we could take turns returning him all the bad he has done to us." Elina said with a cold expression on her face.

    "Because this way I would be certain that the new life we are bringing into this world will grow safe instead of under the constant threat of her mad sibling. I''m afraid for Surin and I''ll be until Meln isn''t put down like the rabid beast he is.

    "I don''t want our baby girl to suffer for our mistakes." Elina held her swollen belly, having a hard time holding back her tears and keeping her voice from cracking.

    Raaz inwardly cursed his temper and rushed to prepare one more tea, this time with leaves of a nt renowned for its soothing effects.

    ''Screw it. At this point, I''ll make more for the girls and one for myself too.''

    Once they were all seated again, they went from lively to silent ording to the mood of the conversation. The pauses were never awkward, giving everyone the chance to put their respective thoughts in order.

    Solus still felt a heavy burden on her conscience, but she found a thin smile creasing her face.

    "Who would have ever thought that after Lith''s murderers anonymous I''d have my own support group?'' She thought, putting her pain and worries in perspective through the experiences of the others.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s pce, at the same time.

    Lith and the rest of the family had moved there in order to give Solus space and learn from Leegaain about the events that had taken ce during Lith''s absence.

    "Today I really can''t catch a break." Sark grumbled, giving up on her projects for espionage against the Kingdome and the invasion of Jiera for the rest of the night.

    "Okay, what did you want to tell me about?"

    Lith asked while performing a full check-up on both Kam and Elisya through every diagnostic means at his disposal.

    The baby was as healthy as a Phoenix and as hungry as a Dragon. Kam instead was hungry, cranky, and would soon need to pee. All information that Lith ryed to his wife.

    "Why do you think I''m cranky? I''m tired of being hungry no matter how much I eat and going to the bathroom every five farming minutes! On top of that, my husband has the hobby to almost die on a regr basis." She replied with a snarl that turned her hands into ws.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to wait?"

    Leegaain asked. "You''ve been through a lot."

    "Why? Would the news get better with time?" Lith replied.

    "No, that works only for cheese and alcohol in general." The Father of All Dragons sighed. "Since there''s no way to sugarcoat the pill, I''ll go straight to the point. In the past few days, there have been several attempts to kidnap Kam."

    "When?" Her eyes went wide in surprise.

    "Good!" Lith said with a smug grin.

    "You better rephrase that or I''m going to make your death wishe true." Suddenly her voice carried the coldness of an ice age while her breath the warmth of Origin mes.

    "I mean, I knew that something like this would happen." Lith raised his hands in surrender. "I made a lot of enemies in the past and this was on paper the perfect time for them to exact their revenge.

    "I know that the Guardians are protecting you so with that ''good'' I meant that I was happy they had taken out the trash for me. There will be less to be worried about in the future."

    "Thoughtful intention but terrible delivery." She grunted, excusing herself for the bathroom break. "I''ll forgive you, this time."

    "We thought about that as well so that''s not the weird part." Leegaain continued. "Some of the kidnappers were just humans, others were mages or undead, and only a few of them were actually Awakened."

    "That''s not weird at all." Lith replied. "I made enemies of all kinds."

    "Can I please finish without being interrupted?" The Dragon grumbled and so did the ground.

    "I''m sorry, please finish what you were saying."

    "The weird part is that all of them knew the term of our oath word by word and that''s something that only those who took part in the Council meeting to celebrate your bloodline should know.

    "In fact, the ns of all the kidnappers revolved around capturing Kam without hurting her. Things like making her lose consciousness or taking her away while she slept."

    "Are you serious?"

    "I know, right?" Leegaain was as baffled as Lith. "Those morons really thought they could twist my words with sophistry and semantics. As if a Guardian''s oath is some kind ofw school where they teach you to exploit the loopholes in the wording of a decree.

    "How could they be so stupid that they really believed we would stick to the literal meaning of our promise instead of its spirit?"

    "I don''t give a farm about the kidnappers'' stupidity!" Lith replied. "That''s actually good news, there''s nothing scarier than a smart opponent. Idiots are always wee. What bothers me is how they could know about the terms of the oath."

    "I have two theories about it." Leegaain said, drawing everyone''s attention to him.

    "You do?" Sark was genuinely impressed. "I read the minds of those I captured but I discovered nothing."

    "Did you... scold them?" Lith said while nodding at the kids.

    "No, it would have been too light a punishment. I sent them to my Pits of Detention. They are still there if you want to ''talk'' with them." Sark winked mischievously multiple times.

    "Grandma, you have something in your eye." Aran offered her a towel and a bowl full of conjured water.

 Chapter 2681 Key To Power (Part 1)

    2681 Key to Power (Part 1)

    "You are a real gentleman, sweetie." Sark ruffled Aran''s hair.

    "Yes, I do have theories." Leegaain hated being interrupted but he also loved children so the two things cancelled each other. "The first and more obvious possibility is that Meln is behind the attempts.

    "Night is smart enough to spread the terms of our oath around and use idiots to put her theories to the test.

    "Sounds like something he would do, but there''s a catch." Lith pondered.

    Everyone knew about Orpal''s obsession with the women in Lith''s life and his desire to destroy everything and everyone he loved.

    "He wasn''t there on that day and Night never had informants in the Council. The Undead Courts have no way to know either and Baba Yaga''s Firstborns already refused to help him."

    "I know." Leegaain nodded. "This brings us to the second and more disturbing theory: Elysia was never the target, just a distraction. The real goal of these kidnapping attempts is toy the foundations for Kam''s murder once the baby is born."

    Everyone spat out their tea while Lith and Sark dropped their cups. The silver-veined porcin shattered, staining the hand-woven carpet below the chairs with the liquid it contained.

    "Murder her? Why?" Lith could feel his stomach churning in worry, the pain from the partial fusion of his life forces returning as both the Void and the Voidfeather went on a rampage.

    "Are you seriously asking me that?" Leegaain raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Okay, let me summarize it for you. You are a Magus. You have proven to have a great talent for Forgemastery that has further bloomed after receiving lessons from Sark herself.

    "You are a self-Awakened who has achieved the violet core on his own. You carry the bloodline of two Guardians and are a Divine Beast yourself. You are the inventor of the Trains and the Tablets that soon will be widespread on both Jiera and Garlen.

    "You are the link with both the elves of the Fringe and monsters of Zelex so it''s reasonable to assume that whoever has influence over you also has influence over the entire colonization process."

    "That''s still about me! What does Kam-"

    "Let me finish, dammit." Leegaain snarled.

    "Your offspring is now renowned for having the Guardians'' protection and your bloodline has already proven to be quite potent. Kam, if you please."

    Lith wanted to pose more questions but Leegaain looked royally pissed off and Lith didn''t want to push his luck since even Sark seemed to have no idea what he was talking about.

    "It was supposed to be a secret, but okay." Kam cleared her throat in embarrassment. "After you returned from the Golden Griffon, I''ve decided to learn magic so that I''ll be capable of following Elysia around as she grows up and avoid ending up like Threin.

    "Solus has been giving me secret lessons whenever we had the time and during her absence, Grandpa took her ce." She gave him a bow.

    "No need to thank me, Em''hel (AN: daughter of mine in draconic). It''s always a pleasure teaching to such a fascinating student."

    Lith tried to speak in confusion, but Leegaain''s re shut him up.

    "Please, show them what you can do."

    Kam used a few tier one and two spells, which was unsurprising due to her deep yellow mana core. The tier three, however, were quite impressive, especially her flight spell.

    It was nothing special per se, but a deep yellow core showing the precision and control over the mana flow necessary to fly with the grace of a bird instead of the roughness of a tossed rock was rare.

    "I wanted to tell you all of this on our next date to surprise you." She blushed a little with pride. "To show you that I can fly on my own now. This instead, is really hard."

    Kam waved her hands to better control her mana as she attempted the second exercise of the path necessary to master dimensional magic, Pilfer. The spell required to open two small gates at a variable distance.

    It also demanded the student to make them big and stable enough to let their hand through. The spell''s name derived from being originally created by dimensional mages to steal or pickpocket from a distance.

    Lith recognized the dot of light and when it stretched into two ck spheres that slowly distorted the space between them in the familiar funnel-like shape of an event horizon, his jaw dropped to the floor along with those of everyone else but Leegaain''s.

    Kam failed to stabilize the ck spheres and no Gate appeared. The spell copsed on itself with a crackle and a thud.

    "Sorry, it''s really hard and I have only so much time to practice." Kam panted, her stomach grumbling for a well-deserved recharge.

    "What was that?" Friya jumped up from her chair. "And don''t you dare answer me literally! I know the spell. I mean how can she even do it?"

    "Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot to tell you that I''m using what Solus calls the spoon-feeding method. I achieved none of this on my own, I just follow Solus'' and Leegaain''s instructions." Kam shrugged. "Whenever I hit a wall, they tell me how to ovee it."

    "This just makes your performance way less amazing but it''s still damn disturbing." Friya replied. "Spoon-fed or not, how can a deep yellow core do that? I''ve seen cyan cores struggling to hold the dimensional energies in ce!"

    "I''m pregnant, duh!" Kam said it like it exined everything and it did. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

    She asked after noticing that everyone was pale and shocked.

    "Because you''ve just proved my point."

    Leegaain sighed. "Elysia is already past the red core and I think she''ll reach the bright red before even being born. Yet that''s not enough to exin the amplification effect she has on her mother.

    "To do that, Elysia must have the same potency of a full Divine Beast like Shargein and also have passed onto Kam her affinities." A snap of his fingers covered Kam in ck, red, and yellow scales.

    "Another affinity?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Now, do you still want to ask me why they want to kill her?" Leegaain asked.

    "Actually, yes." Rena said. "It still makes no sense to me."

    "Because, child, your brother is powerful, talented, influential, and monogamous. If you also take into ount his known crippled life force and the fact that Kam has Awakened, you now have a full picture."

    "They want to kill me to take my ce?" Kam said in horror.

    "Yes, it makes perfect sense." Sark nodded. "It happened to all of us even before we became Guardians. Our partners would be targeted just so that we would return to the dating market.

    "I mean, think about it. The woman who hes I ith''s wife will have the influence of a targeted just so that we would return to the dating market.

    "I mean, think about it. The woman who bes Lith''s wife will have the influence of a Magus, the standing on the Royal Court of a Baroness, and control over the colonization of Jiera.

    "If she''s also an Awakened, imagine what she could do with another Elysia in her womb and the protection of three Guardians. A real mage with a violet core would be unstoppable. No offense, dear."

 Chapter 2682 Key To Power (Part 2)

    2682 Key to Power (Part 2)

    "None taken." Kam swallowed a lump of saliva.

    "If I''m right, these attacks aren''t meant to kidnap her. Whoever is behind it must know the attempts are bound to fail. They are just probing the defense system that protects Kam while also making sure that there are no loopholes in the Guardians'' oath.

    "That''s why all the assants know it word by word and try to y around it."

    "Wait a second, something isn''t right." Rena''s brain spun at full gear. "If whoever is behind this knows about the Guardians, then how can they hope to escape your wrath?

    "Grandma can read minds and the moment a woman approaches Lith, Sark will know of her involvement in Kam''s death."

    "You are too na?¡¥ve, child." Sark sighed. "Everyone knows I read minds because that''s how trials in the Desert work. Hence whoever they send will probably be just a puppet. Someone who doesn''t even know she''s being used.

    "Someone who loves and respects the culprit and who will unwittingly follow their n. Someone who probably has a genuine interest in Lith in order to pass the screening that those around him will put her through.

    "If Leegaain''s theory is correct, this is the work of a single Awakened bloodline. They were present at the ceremony, have the means to spread the news, and must have already a violet-cored candidate ready to step in."

    Lith''s brain was still frozen by the revtion, but the looming threat quickly snapped him out of it, allowing him to see a sliver of light in the darkness.

    "You said that it happened to you in the past. How did you solve the problem?"

    "Easy." Leegaain replied. "You find them and then you hit them so hard that nobody will ever dare to try something like that again. A total wipe out."

    "But, if I''m really against an Awakened bloodline, what can I do with just Solus and Tista alone?" Lith asked.

    "Alone?" Friya and Nalrond snarled, feeling offended. "Have you forgotten about your friends"

    "Alone?" Leegaain growled, feeling outraged. "Do you know what happens when someone tries to steal a Dragon''s egg?"

    "No." Lith didn''t know the answer, but something in the tone of the Father of All Dragons told him he was going to like it.

    "My Brood goes on a warpath. The egg of one of us is the egg of all of us!"

    "I get it but Kami-"

    "She bears the eggs." Sark put her hand on Leegaain''s shoulder before his wrath scared the children. "As I told you, this happens often so when our kind finds a spouse, we all take it personally.

    "None of our children cares about what happens to Kam, but if you ask their help to avenge her death, they will all follow. This is public knowledge and usually deterrent enough to nip such ploys in the bud.

    "That''s why Leegaain spoke about a single Awakened bloodline, cocky enough to try. The others are probably scared and waiting on the sidelines to see how it goes."

    "Well, I have bad news for them." Leegaain growled. "Sark, Tyris, and I have let the assants slip past the Queen''s Corps and your magical beasts on purpose. We hid them from sight so that whoever is behind this couldn''t collect any real data.

    "We gave the instigator a false sense of security while also capturing all their pawns alive and ready to be interrogated."

    Lith sighed in relief at Leegaain''s foresight and was d to have him as an ally. The Father of All Dragons spoke slowly and with a calm voice, but the fire behind his eyes threatened to burn Mogar to a crisp.

    ***

    Later that same night, after Solus was done venting with her support group, the Verhens moved to their mansion on the east side of the Trawn woods. They wanted to have a mana geyser nearby to allow Solus to keep her human form and keep herpany.

    Also, they wanted to start getting ustomed to the ce now that it had been fully furnished. Soon there would be two Royal Gs and they would be both hosted in the Verhen Mansion.

    One for Lith''s birthday and another for Elysia''s birth.

    Once there, Lith felt the need to share with everyone the parts that Sark had left out simply because she couldn''t witness them even with her breathing technique. Like his meeting with Mogar and histest quarrel with the Voidfeather Dragon.

    Lith hoped to gain insight from reliving the events and maybe also receive some advice.

    s, no one knew what to say and after a cup of warm milk, everyone felt tired from the long night and the heavy news they had received.

    "Please, be honest with me, dear." Raaz said while putting on his pajamas. "Am I a bad father?"

    The room had a King-sized canopy bed in the middle of the north wall andrge windows on the east side so let sunrise in and wake up its upants. A soft had-woven ck and red carpet covered the whole floor, keeping the room warm and dulling the steps of its upants.

    The tapestry bore the Verhen family''s insignia on the four corners and a scene from Lith destroying the ck star in the middle. There were lots of wardrobes lined up against the other two walls, filled with more clothes than Raaz and Elina would ever wear.

    The clothes were gifts from merchants and nobles from all over the Kingdom who wanted to get into their son''s good book. Manipting Lith was nigh-impossible whereas his parents were still simple people, easy to impress.

    By giving Raaz and Elina gifts, those people hoped to gain a direct channel ofmunication with Lith through his parents. s, Raaz and Elina had gone through a lot so they were simple but not dumb.

    They epted everything under the condition that those items were tokens of gratitude for their son''s endeavors, they took the names of everyone involved, and then passed them all to Lith to check them out before even bringing a single button inside the house.

    "Why do you ask me that?" Elina was puzzled by his question and d that their room had its own bathroom. "You have always been a fantastic husband and an amazing father."

    "I wish." Raaz sighed. "Between Lith and Solus seeing Mogar with your face and Solus needing only yourfort, I must have screwed up big time at some point. I wonder if Rena and Tista feel the same, but I''m too afraid of their answer to ask ."

    Elina pondered his words for a while in silence. She had always considered those things ttering, without thinking about how they could affect her husband''s fatherly pride.

    "I don''t think so." She replied after a while. "I''m sure that all of our children love you as much as they love me, especially Tista and Rena. Lith is a special case. I admit that our bond is probably stronger than yours, but not because you did something wrong.

    "I was just lucky."

    "What do you mean?" Raaz asked with a confused expression.

    "Rena is one of our firstborns. We gave her and... her twin more time and attention than most of our children got."

 Chapter 2683 The Right Way (Part 1)

    2683 The Right Way (Part 1)

    "Once Rena''s siblings were born, she was our rock and she has always helped us with the house and the farm. She spent lots of time with both of us and she loves us dearly." Elina said.

    "Tista was ill as a child so we always paid special attention to her. She had our utmost care and she''s the one who slept in our bed the most since we needed to check on her condition often.

    "Tista knows how much you love and care for her because you showed it to her for years before and after Lith was born.

    "He, instead, was our miracle baby yet the one you neglected the most at the same time. We had so many things to do and so little money. Rena spent the most time with him as an infant and I stayed at home with him as a child.

    "He was too weak to help you with the farm so he used his magic to help me with the daily chores first and then with the cooking. He and I spent a lot of time together while I taught him my recipes and how to take care of Tista.

    "You, instead, were always outside with the boys¡­" The thought of her dead child and her mad one formed a lump in her throat that she had to swallow. "Taking care of the fields and animals.

    "We both assumed that once Lith would be older, you would take the lion''s share of his time, but you know how things went."

    "I know." Raaz sighed. "Between the four and six years of age, when he was supposed to y with the neighbors, Lith hunted with Selia. After he became six, when I was supposed to teach him how to take care of the animals, he became Nana''s apprentice.

    "Then at twelve, when he would have been strong enough to take care of the fields and the crops with me, he left for the academy. For all that time, even when Lith still lived at home with us, I rarely got to spend any time with him aside from the meals."

    "As I said, I was lucky." Elina''s tone was apologetic, as if it was someone her fault. "Lith is my miracle baby. Every time I held him, I remembered the fear of losing him so I spent with him every bit of time I could make.

    "Yet I could do it solely because taking care of the house was my role. Otherwise now I would be in your shoes."

    "Do you think it''s toote to make up for all the time I''ve lost?" Raaz asked while looking her in the eyes.

    "I¡­ don''t know." Elina lowered her gaze, not wanting to give her husband false hope.

    ***

    Lith''s bedroom, at the same time.

    The master bedroom of the Verhen Mansion was simr to that of Raaz and Elina, just bigger and with different furniture. Kam had Lith move the bed near the bathroom door so that she could go back and forth from it in a few steps.

    She also had arranged on her bedstand a variety of dimensional amulets. One was filled with hot and cold beverages, another with salty snacks, and a third one containing sweets in a fresh-from-the-oven/fridge state.

    The carpet of their room depicted his ascension to Supreme Magus and was a gift from the Royals. The wardrobes were filled with clothes as well, yet they belonged solely to Kam.

    A dressing table covered with makeup products and jewelry boxes also resided in her half of the room. Every time he thought about how much it had cost him to give her the necessary for Kam''s current and future Court''s life, Lith''s wallet bled.

    Those clothes and jewels were the only things in the mansion for which he had to pay himself but it still hurt. That was until she saw Kam smile and such thoughts faded away.

    That night, however, they were both in a sour mood.

    Kam hadn''t liked learning about either the kidnapping attempts or how people in the Awakenedmunity believed her position was wasted on her.

    Lith, instead, was still shocked by his bond with Solus being broken and almost losing War. The news about the impending threat looming at Kam''s head had added even more rocket fuel to the mes.

    "I shouldn''t be surprised, after all." Kam grumbled.

    "I can''t catch one single break." Lith sighed.

    "I mean, people still talk shit about Zinya and her husband is ''just'' an Archmage." Such was the venom in her voice that one could almost hear the air quotes.

    "I really believed that with three Guardians protecting you I had nothing to worry about." Lith replied.

    "You know how they call us behind our backs? The ''Spider Sisters''. That''s because we caught a juicy fly in our web and then climbed up to the roof of the socialdder!"

    "I can''t believe that with everything that''s happening, I also have to- I''m sorry, what are you talking about?" Lith said after realizing they weren''t in the same conversation.

    "No, what are *you* talking about?" A brief quarrel and a long discussion about their respective grievancester, they finally moved on to amon ground.

    Something they were equally worried about.

    "What do you make of Mogar''s warning?" Lith asked while cuddling with her.

    "y your meeting with her from the start again, please." Kam replied.

    None of her grudges against the Awakenedmunity would matter if everyone was dead and Mogar turned into a charred wastnd.

    "It makes as much sense as the first time I experienced it. None." Lith groaned.

    "I don''t know." Kam pondered. "It kind of does."

    "Meaning?"

    "Well, consider this. Your Divine Beast and Abomination sides fused on their own and it hurt. Did it ever hurt before?" She asked.

    "No. Wait, now that I think about it, yes. It was simr to what I experienced under the When All Are One array''s effects, but much worse." Lith almost sat up in realization but Kam''s head was on his chest so he stopped before hurting her.

    "Maybe because back then your life forces were simply overloaded like a non-Awakened violet core whereas today, they were twisted in a wrong shape."

    "How can you tell? You are no healer and there was no time for anyone to take a look at my life force." He asked.

    "Because it hurt, remember?" She replied. "It''s not supposed to hurt. It didn''t hurt even when your cracks got worse and you bled life force. You only found out about itter."

    "True." Lith nodded.

    "My guess is that to save Solus you took a step in the wrong direction and forced the Void and the Dragon to merge. Hence the pain." She gently pressed her fingers on his chest, pushing him down. "Whatever the blue mes were, they are bad for you.

    "They used your aura as fuel, burning at it and you at the same time."

    "And?"

    "And if I''m right, the thing you saw in Mogar''s answer to Void Magic''s full potential was what would be of you after going all the way down in the wrong direction." Kam pensively drummed her fingers. "After the Void consumes both you and the Dragon."

 Chapter 2684 The Right Way (Part 2)

    2684 The Right Way (Part 2)

    "Now that I think about it, when I epted your marriage proposal and achieved the violet, Grandma told me that the secrety in allowing myself to feel love whereas this time the Voidfeather had to let himself be poisoned by the Void''s hate to merge with him.

    "In a way, it was a step to the side if not even back. How could I not think about this sooner? How could no one do it?" Lith blurted out loud in surprise.

    "Maybe because you and Solus are still shaken to your bones from today''s events? Maybe because the others went through a lot as well and they have their own burden to carry? Also, consider that neither Leegaain nor Sark-"

    "Grandma!" The Overlord''s angry voice cut her short.

    "Privacy, dammit!" Kam raised her fist with the middle finger extended since she had failed to sit up. "Leave us alone, Grandma, okay?"

    No answer followed so Kam decided to believe they were alone. The clock marking past midnight and the beginning of Sark''s shift said otherwise.

    "Neither Leegaain nor Grandma would tell you anything even if they knew. Were they to do it, they would screw up your path toward the bright violet and Guardianhood. Something I feel they are both invested in." She waited for a reply, but Sark remained silent.

    "If that''s the wrong way, then what''s the right one?" Lith pinched his nose in frustration.

    "I don''t know." Kam brought herself up so that he could rest on her bosom as she caressed his head. "And based on what Mogar confirmed to you, neither does she. Mogar doesn''t really know the future, she just makes up answers from the data she collects.

    "That''s why her answers in the Mindspace are sometimes nebulous. She has probably just theories that were she to share with you mightpromise the final result. Luckily for us, I can take a guess based on my extensive knowledge of you."

    "Off the top of my head, the right way muste natural, not be forced again." Kam raised her index finger. "Also, it must start from your human side, like back when I proposed.

    "This time the Void and the Dragon reached an agreement despite you, not because of you." She raised her middle finger as well.

    "You were so cut out of the whole deal that they shared their abilities with you and vice versa as a side effect, not as something intentional. Last, but not least, it''s not a matter of power, but of eptance."

    Kam raised her ring finger.

    "Remember Mogar''s answer about the bright violet core? The pieces don''t fit so you must make them fit to each other."

    "How?" Lith looked at her with eyes filled with hope.

    "I don''t know." She giggled. "I''m d for your vote of confidence but don''t overestimate me. Even when baby-powered, I''m still just a Constable."

    She threaded her fingers into his and then covered her hands in ck scales, prompting him to do the same. Kam used the Dragons'' bloodline ability to share their emotions through physical contact to express her faith in him.

    By holding hands and without saying one word, she told Lith many things.

    She shared with him her confidence that he would find a way to make things with his life forces right and that she wasn''t scared of any death threat as long as he was by her side.

    Through her scales, Kam let Lith know that she would still love and ept him regardless of the changes that fusing his life forces might bring to his mind and physical appearance.

    Lith felt his chest tighten and his eyes misting. The contact through Dragon scales was deeper than a mind link. Not only those thoughts couldn''t lie but they also brought with them waves of warm and sweet emotions.

    "Thank you." He said with both his voice and scales.

    "No, thank *you* for being you." She buried her face in his chest, giggling like a little girl due to his reply that she could feel through her scales.

    Among the bloodline abilities that Elysia granted her, Kam loved the Dragon scales the most. They didn''t give her strength nor did they boost her magic yet they gave her everything she truly wanted.

    The scales connected mother and daughter, giving Kam the certainty that Elysia was well and felt safe and protected. They also connected husband and wife, giving her the safety and reassurance of being loved beyond what mere words could express.

    The scales were more than the proof of the connection between the family of three thaty in the canopy bed, they were the connection itself.

    The fear and worry from Leegaain''s words faded away, drowned in the love she felt crashing against her hands. Kam fell asleep soon after, knowing that whatever the tomorrow would bring it would be good.

    ***

    The next morning, the couple was walking toward the dining room while chatting. Since Elina had trouble getting up early and Lith helped Kam in the morning, Rena was now in charge of the morning breakfast.

    She loved to be the one taking care of her family for once but she also felt disappointed by the lukewarm reception of her goodwill.

    "Why can''t Uncle Lith cook?" Leria pouted.

    "Leria!" Senton scolded her. "How can you be so ungrateful? You should appreciate your mother''s efforts."

    "I do appreciate them, but I''m also hungry!" Leria rebuked. "I want the good stuff, not the nd food Mom cooks."

    "Leria!" Senton was about to scold her when a hand grabbed his wrist.

    "I agree with you, brother-inw." Aran kept his voice calm andposed, giving his best Lith impression. "She''s a rude little prick..."

    "It takes one to know one!" Leria snarled.

    "But she''s right. Where''s the ice cream? Where are the pancakes and the hot chocte?" His tone was solemn, as if they were talking about the bare survival necessities. "Do you call this a breakfast?"

    Aran pointed at the steaming feast on the table that ranged from porridge to eggs and bacon. Various kinds of fruit juice and hot beverages were ced evenly, making theposition and the meal worthy of a noble household.

    "By the gods, how spoiled are you kids?" Senton couldn''t believe his ears.

    "Breakfast!" Garrik ran into the kitchen with the enthusiasm and energy of a five years old who had been locked away his whole life. "Thank you, Auntie. It smells delicious."

    "It was my pleasure, young man." Rena sniffled.

    At first, the idea of waking up under the same roof as the Fomor and her child had upset Rena a bit, but now she was moved by Garrik''s kindness and joy at the simplest things.

    Meanwhile, Lith and Kam walked slowly arm in arm, her head leaning on his shoulder.

    "I love how strong Divine Beasts are. You give the expression ''pitching a tent'' a literal meaning." She said with a giggle.

    "Kami!" Lith blushed up to his ears.

    "What? I just meant to say I''m always happy to help you put it down." The more her body changed, the more she felt self-conscious about it so she loved it when Lith manifested how he found her attractive anyway.

    .

 Chapter 2685 The Art Of Conversation (Part 1)

    2685 The Art of Conversation (Part 1)

    "Think of the kids, dammit!" Lith blushed harder.

    They met Elina and Raaz along the way and reached the dining room together. The rest of the family and their guests were already assembled, including the magical beasts.

    Fluffy the Byk had grown bigger, stronger, and fatter than his nmates thanks to the hearty regr meals. He had quickly adjusted to his new condition of pet/steed/friend and was amiably conversing with Garrik in between asking for seconds.

    The meal was pleasant for the adults and lively for the kids. Garrik showed off his powers while Aran and Leria taught him their favorite magic tricks.

    Despite Leria''s ims, Rena''s cooking was excellent, just not up to Lith''s or Elina''s standards.

    Rena noticed during breakfast that R tried her best to act normal but she couldn''t help sighing at staring from time to time. At first, Rena thought R was looking at Senton in a way more affectionate than it was proper.

    After a while, however, Rena noticed that the Fomor looked at her the same way.

    Once the breakfast was over and R was helping Rena clean up everything, Rena decided to use that moment when they were alone to understand what was bothering their guest.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to stare." R flushed a little while wringing her hands. "I''m just curious and envious of you two."

    "What do you mean?" Rena had always felt like the less special member of her family.

    Even Elina had seen more action than her, dealing with Guardians and Royals before the presence of such powerful beings became amon urrence in the Verhen family. On top of that, R was gorgeous, tall, and powerful.

    ''What can she be possibly envious of me? I''ve always been good-looking, butpared to her I''m nothing special.'' She thought.

    "I''ve nevery with a man I loved." R''s words hit Rena like a bomb. "Glemos just used me and that was it. I''m curious about how it feels to have someone who cares for you and defends you.

    "I''m envious of your beautiful family and how your children are so lucky that they can afford to talk to you like that. Glemos enforced a strict discipline and Garrik was alone so often that his joy from my mere presence always breaks my heart."

    "Gods, I''m so sorry!" Suddenly Rena felt like the most special and luckiest woman on Mogar.

    "Why? You didn''t y any role in our captivity, did you?" R tilted her head to the side in confusion.

    The prolonged istion in Zelex and her former role as high priestess made her oblivious to social cues.

    "Of course I didn''t!" Rena was bbergasted. "I meant that I''m sorry you had to go through so much and that you could use a friend."

    "Like who?" The Fomor blinked her six eyes in puzzlement.

    "Like me. Gods, this will take a while." Rena chuckled and invited R for a walk.

    Meanwhile, in the external garden, Kam was watching Lith teaching magic to the kids that they would practice during their next game when Zoreth appeared out of nowhere and gave her a tackle-like hug.

    "Kami! Thank the gods you are alright. I''ve been so worried that I''ve been patrolling the Mansion the whole night."

    "What, why?"

    "Forgive her, Kam." Bytra appeared a momentter, needing sheer strength to pry Kam free from the embrace. "After Zor heard from Zyn about the death threats, it was impossible to keep her away from you."

    Kam had told everything to her sister the previous night in order to vent her feelings before going to sleep, failing to take into ount the reaction to the news of Elysia''s godmother.

    "Thanks, Zoreth, but there''s no need for that." Kam patted the Shadow Dragon''s back. "As long as Elysia is in my womb, the Guardians protect me as well. I know you are powerful, but I doubt you can do any better.

    "Don''t worry about me. There''s still time before I give birth."

    "You are right." Zoreth jumped up to her feet. "I''m wasting my and your time here instead of using it to do the right thing."

    "What right thing?" The Shadow Dragon ignored her and took hermunication amulet out of her pocket dimension. "Abthot, I want you tob search the criminal underworld for any hit ced against Kam Verhen.

    "Find everyone who posted the jobs, anyone who took them, and bring them to me alive. 1 want it done for yesterday!"

    Abthot was an Eldritch-Ogre hybrid more ancient and now also more powerful than Xenagrosh, but her position in the Organization''s totem pole was way lower. The Master didn''t trust her as much and had already expressed his intention to get rid of her at the first hint of insubordination.

    To make matters worse, angering Xenagrosh also meant antagonizing Bytra and ending up on the bottom of her to-do list. Abthot knew how serious Xenagrosh was about her role as godmother and that there was only one answer that wouldn''t make her equipment dyed until never o''clock.

    "On it, boss." The ogre-Eldritch alerted the other members of the Organization, giving the mission maximum priority,.

    ***

    Weghan Region,ir of Ajatar the Drake.

    "Why are you still here?" He asked his unwee guest. "Don''t you have a pce or something?"

    "I''m sorry, master Ajatar, but I need a ce where to crash for a few days." Morok tidied up the guest room he had slept in with the methodical discipline the army had engrained into him.

    "A few days?! I mean, why?" Ajatar rolled his eyes.

    "I can get Quy hiding things from me while we were dating, especially family stuff. But that was a huge secret. I mean a mage tower-sized secret!"

    "I think you are overreacting." The Drake shrugged. "A mage tower is something akin to my Spirit Fusion or Faluel''s Domination. You don''t show it to just anyone and it wasn''t Quy''s secret either."

    "Yeah, right." Morok snorted. "Yet I''m the only one who missed the cool trips to the moon, the spa days in the Desert, and the list goes on!"

    "Are you telling me you resent her for having fun without you?" Ajatar was bbergasted.

    "Of course!" Morok looked at the Drake as if he was insane. "She cut me out from some of the most beautiful first experiences in her life that we were supposed to share. I was her fianc¨¦ for the gods'' sake.

    "A simple sorry doesn''t solve anything. I need to put my foot down and set some boundaries.

    I''m okay with my wife being friends with another man but I''m not okay with her prioritizing him over me.

    "I told her this yesterday and that until she finds a way to make it up to me, I''m not going back home."

    "And how should she do that?" Ajatar asked.

    "Not my problem. I''m the victim here." Morok shrugged.

    The Drake felt a whole new level of respect for his disciple and decided to let him stay for as long as Morok needed.

    ***

    A few weeks passed, Kam entered the third trimester, and many events came to pass.

    Rena started to spend more and more time in the Verhen Mansion with R, creating a bond of friendship between the two women.

 Chapter 2686 The Art Of Conversation (Part 2)

    2686 The Art of Conversation (Part 2)

    The Fomor was in desperate need ofpany while Rena just wanted to help and receive a few pointers in raising magically gifted children.

    ''I don''t want to repeat with the triplets the mistakes I made with Leria.'' She thought.

    Rena watched the kids y with R and invited the members of Zelex''s senate at least once a week. Syrah and the others didn''t like much the idea of being guests in Lith''s house again, but their children had fallen in love with the park, the Trawn woods, and the ice cream.

    "What''s the point of being free if we keep living like prisoners in this underground city?" Xagra, her son, said, crushing her straw argument to refuse the invitation.

    Even though R had never gotten along with the rest of the senate, they were still people she had known her whole life and the closest thing to a family she had. Urhen the Balor and Br''ey the orc shared Syrah''s grievances but their children couldn''t care less.

    They loved running in the sun, ying with the magical beasts, and eating to their heart''s content without worrying about the food rations for the day. Just seeing the smiles on their small faces and hearing their joyousughter was enough to force their mothers to be as amicable as they could.

    Rena was a generous host and after dealing with beasts, undead, and nt folk on a daily basis she had no prejudice against any kind of creature, fallen races included. She needed but a few visits to break the ice and make her guests feel wee.

    Raaz and Quy spent a lot of time with Solus in the tower, holding regr meetings of their own small support group. The three of them had found relief in sharing their respective experiences and talking with other people who had walked a mile in their shoes.

    Raaz also loved the initiative because it allowed him to spend more time with Solus and bond with her. He was eager to build a rtionship as good as the one Solus had with Elina while Solus enjoyed having a father figure in her life.

    She was an adult, but the issues that Threin''s violent death had left were far from being resolved.

    Raaz did his best to support her and even delegated some of his responsibilities to the farm in order to have time to spend with Lith.

    "Your sister and daughter are going to be born around the same time and I''m a bit rusty with newborns." Raaz said one day while they dined together. "What do you say if you lend me the nursery of the tower and let your old man teach you all the skills he has learned over the years?"

    Lith dly epted and the two men spent time together every day practicing how to change cloth diapers, burp a small child, and how to deal with them when they had trouble sleeping.

    With six children on his resume, Raaz had plenty of stories and silly anecdotes that Lith was willing to listen to and learn from. Usually, their lessons ended with them sitting in front of the firece with a ss of Water Dragon in hand.

    As for Morok, it took Quy quite some effort to win back her husband.

    She was a very romantic girl, but it was her first time being the one who had toe up with a romantic gesture. Her first attempt was to buy him expensive gifts that he returned with a dry letter reading:

    "No matter what people say, I''m not a gold digger. You hurt my feelings and 1 want you to give me a sincere apology, not a weregild.

    "PS: sex doesn''t count either."

    She had to set up a second honeymoon, bringing him to romantic ces for romantic dates and even bringing Morok to Mogar''s moon. He insisted on exploring it together since Quy had never done that before, but this is a story for another day.

    Suffice it to say that they made up and Ajatar finally returned to his solitary existence.

    Around that time, Kam was forced to take a break from her job. ording to army regtions, the third trimester of pregnancy was part of the mandatory maternity leave so she had either to stay home or find another way to spend her time.

    "Gods, Kami, you have no idea how happy I am for having you all for myself!" Zinya said while the house staff set the table with silverware and empty tes. "We have so much to do and so little time to do it."

    The Queen had already included Kam in several social activities that she couldn''t turn down without being both rude and ungrateful. The Royals had paid for the Mansion and lots of other things so she had to suck it up and smile.

    "We''ll start with what piece of cutlery must be used for each dish and then we''ll move to the art of conversation."

    "I know how to talk, Zin." Kam whined. "I don''t do public speeches but I''m a pretty good conversationalist."

    "Don''t be silly." Zinya chuckled. "The art of conversation means to be able to talk without actually saying anything like the nobles do. Also, it requires learning how to reply to subtle insults and allegations in kind."

    "I hate you all so much." Kam banged her head against the table, missing the time spent with Constables Griffon and Phoenix.

    "You better take this seriously, child." Lady Jirni Ernas walked in from the double doors of the dining hall before the page could announce her. "These events are far from a waste of time.

    "They are your best shot at finding out who wants to kill you and change the mind of anyone who might want to follow their example. Rest assured that I''ll be with you the whole time.

    "May the gods strike me down if I let what happened to my Little Flower befall you as well."

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, Fastarrow house, a few dayster.

    Selia''s pregnancy had finallye to term so she had called the best midwives she knew the moment she felt the familiar pain of the first contraction. Faluel hade first, followed by Sark who meant to uphold her word.

    In less than five minutes, everything was over and Selia could introduce to her friends the newest member of her family: a baby boy she had named Solkar.

    "Did you name you kid after Sark, like we did for our Surin?" Elina asked while holding the baby boy in her arms.

    "No, I named him Solkar after Selia." The huntress grunted from her bed. "After four kids I think I deserve it."

    "You sure do." Protector couldn''t stop himself from checking up on his wife and his kids with Invigoration non-stop.

    He was still scared from Fenrir''s birth, when he had been forced to call Faluel to save Selia''s life. The moment Sark finished restoring the huntress'' body to its pre-pregnancy state and gave him the all-clear, Ryman hugged Selia and peppered her with kisses.

    "Let me go, you damn oaf. This is all your fault." She tried and failed to sound angry, needing reassurance from her own fears.

 Chapter 2687 Shared Wounds (Part 1)

    2687 Shared Wounds (Part 1)

    "This is ourst child, okay? Unless heaven and earth switch ces or I change my mind, you''d better always use that damn birth control spell." Selia said.

    "I will." Ryman sniffled while letting her go.

    He had held Solkar right after Selia, but he already felt the need to hold his son again.

    As soon as Elina passed the child to him, Solkar started to cry. Protector used a baby voice to calm Solkar, strutting around and showing the newborn to his guests like it was the greatest aplishment of his life.

    "You see that?" Kam Hushed them while pointing the father and son couple at Lith. "That''s you in a few months."

    "Please." Lith scoffed, his tone as cold as it was indifferent. "He''s just an Emperor Beast whereas I''m a Divine Beast."

    "What do you mean?" Kam asked, making him look her dead in the eyes.

    Lith''s face was a stone-cold mask when he said:

    "I cry much harder than that."

    Kam burst outughing at the joke, making her spell fade and several heads turn toward them. She was happy to exin herself and stage the conversation to the best of her abilities.

    Soonughter filled the house and even Solkar stopped crying to look around in curiosity.

    ***

    Time passed and things kept moving forward.

    Kam''s days in the Royal Court were as long as they were boring. She learned to hate the noble dames pandering to her every whim even more than those who tried to belittle and mock her under the veil of their courteous words.

    Even though Jirni knew about the presence of a Guardian always following Kam, the Archon never lowered her guard, keeping her mouth shut and her eyes open whenever her attention wasn''t otherwise required.

    ''With me and the Queen present, no one would be so crazy that they would attempt anything remotely funny, but I can still read the room and check how much these women know.'' Jirni was happy to oblige by recounting the events of the day of the ck Sun even though she knew that it made Kam ufortable.

    It made her feel more like a weapon than a person and fear that people might consider Elysia just the same way.

    Jirni didn''t care one bit since being the one telling the story allowed her to have all eyes on her. Just by watching the reactions of her spectators, Jirni could assess not only their feelings on the matter, but also how much they already knew about those events.

    Even the best liar had a hard time feigning the proper level of surprise while "discovering" such a big secret. Jirni baited her enemies multiple times, adding details she made up on the spot.

    Those who were genuinely unaware of what had happened gasped in awe whereas those who knew something had their faces filled with disbelief and confusion. Jirni took a mental note of everyone she just suspected and moved on with pleasantries as if she had noticed nothing.

    Kam hated the Royal Court more with every visit but she owed the Queen a lot.

    Sylpha would always be her main host, keep herpany, and ensure her safety. The Queen also censured anyone who crossed the line with her re and, on a few asions, with a mean right hook.

    "The crushed face teaches best." Sylpha said to the outraged noblewomen during one of such events, forcing them to silence with her mere tone. "This is my house and Baroness Verhen is my honored guest. Any disrespect to her is also addressed to me.

    "One more word and I''ll have you trialled for nder of the Crown. If you find my judgment unfair, feel free to appeal to the King."

    Meron was the calm one between the Royal couple, but he was renown for bing feral whenever someone messed with the Queen. No one wanted to jump out of the frying pan and under the de of the executioner so the King received no appeal.

    Thest month of the year came and Lith''s birthday approached.

    He was annoyed at the idea of hosting a G but the Royals had built the Verhen Mansion under that precise condition, leaving him to suck it up and grin.

    To make matters worse, Lith had no clue how to host a Royal G, and neither did any member of his family. Luckily for him, Orion was more than happy to help.

    It had been Raaz''s idea to call the Lord of House Ernas because he wanted his son and friend to talk to each other. After Phloria''s death, Lith and Orion had kept contact to a minimum, seeing each other only when strictly necessary.

    Orion had a hard time standing in Lith''s presence because it reminded him of the time that they had spent together with Phloria. Lith''s voice and mannerisms conjured countless memories from the past when Orion''s daughter and Lith had been together.

    The Lord of House Ernas was still dealing with grief and the regret of having opposed to his daughter''s rtionship made everything worse.

    ''If I let them be, if it was my Little Flower who''d got pregnant with him instead of Kam, she would still be alive.'' Orion hated such maniptive thoughts, yet he couldn''t help himself.

    Deep down he hated himself and Kam. Thetter for having stolen the opportunity that might have otherwise belonged to Phloria.

    Lith found it difficult to talk with Orion because he felt guilty. He had promised the Ernas couple to do everything he could to bring back their daughter alive and even though he had upheld his word, Lith had still failed.

    That and the fact of having fallen for Thrud''s trap and killed Phloria with his own hand made Lith''s grief harder to ovee.

    Whenever he was in the same room with Orion, Lith could feel his right arm wet with Phloria''s blood and Orion''s eyes seemed to use him silently, no matter what his voice or expression said.

    Raaz had worked hard to bring them together because he wanted to mend their rtionship and help them ovee their respective grief. That and having the opportunity to spend more quality time with his son during an important moment of his life.

    ''Many birds with one stone.'' Raaz thought, not knowing how simr to Lith he was.

    "So..." Orion awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to make conversation after rying the final orders to the house staff he had brought from his own household for the asion.

    "Your old man here tells me you two scoundrels are neck deep in cloth diapers and practice dolls."

    "Yeah." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment, d to have followed his father''s advice about asking for Orion''s help.

    With everything that was happening and the attempts on Kam''s life, security was his first priority. Hecked the time to vet candidates and perform deep background checks whereas Orion''s house staff was loyal to the bone.

    They had even stood their ground against Orpal despite knowing they had no chance of survival.

    "That''s my weak spot. I was the youngest and when Aran and Leria were born I was already at the academy. I know squat about dealing with newborns."

 2688 Shared Wounds (Part 2)

    2688 Shared Wounds (Part 2)

    "What about Rena''s triplets?" Orion asked. "They were born at the end of your military tour and they are barely two years old now."

    "I might have skipped town on purpose a few times and dropped the little stinky bombs on Nalrond whenever I could." Lith turned around to pretend to check the tables and actually hid his face. "They weren''t mine and my free time is precious."

    "Dirty bastard." Orionughed while Raaz sent a reproachful gaze to them both. "Well, I''m just like you two. I haven''t dealt with a newborn ever since... you know. I''m rusty as well. Mind if I join your little club from time to time?"

    "No problem." Lith nodded.

    A g required making sure that there would be enough space, seats, and food for everyone. The furniture had to be different from that of everyday life. More luxurious to impress the highest nobles and more discreet because it would stay at the edge of the rooms instead of the center.

    The furniture had to be easy on the eyes but not so much that it would steal attention from the main event taking ce in the hall. Like magic, cooking, and most things in life, it was a matter of bnce.

    A long, eerie silence befell the corpse of the conversation and like a true healer, Raaz resuscitated it.

    "By the way, Lith, I told Orion about the struggles you are having with your violet core. I hope you don''t mind."

    "No, Dad. Quite the contrary." Lith shook his head. "Orion here is a friend and knows about Awakening. At this point, I could use some advice. Any advice. Heck, even titudes will do."

    "Man, you Awakened sure have it hard." Orion did feel Lith''s pain since he had a simr issue that prevented him from Awakening. "The only thing I had to do to get mine was grow up. You, instead, need some kind of enlightenment, correct?"

    "More or less." Lith nodded. "As you know, my life force is split. The problem is that my mind is in the same condition and I can''t fix one without fixing the other first. Suggestions?"

    "Have you tried, meditation, talking therapy, or just sitting in front of a mirror and telling yourself what you know is wrong with you how to fix it?" Orion talked from experience, having done all of the above to work on his grief.

    "Yes. I spoke with my Awakened, undead, and even my Abomination friends. I meditated and I went to a gods damned Fringe. I tried immersing myself in nature, work, and even did voluntary work. Nothing helped." Lith sighed.

    With time, Demon Grasp was bing less and less effective. Lith was close to manifesting enough vortexes that once Awakened would bring his violet core to the next level.

    The problem was that his body resisted the change. Using his breathing technique was bing increasingly difficult and painful, forcing him to take long breaks to make sure his mana core wouldn''t break.

    Lith had even tried following Solus'' example and having his own support group with Nandi, Bytra, and Theseus. Lith suffered from split life forces and the Eldritch hybrids suffered from nigh-split personality.

    They all had toe to terms with their respective past and actions. The main difference was that Lith''s condition made it impossible for him to make progress whereas the Abominations experienced fits of blind rage called blood madness.

    It was caused by the pure mind of the Abomination''s clone being tainted by the memories of the atrocitiesmitted by their originals.

    Raaz was the one who had that idea as well since he, Quy, and Solus were benefitting from their support group. Things had gone smoothly for Lith at first, but it had taken him a short while to realize there was actually littlemon ground to work with.

    Bytra and the others were ultimately innocents.

    They weren''t the ones who had made those decisions millennia ago nor did theymit any crime. Their burden came from dealing with the price that the original Abominations had paid to gain the power and knowledge that their clones now wielded.

    Lith, instead, was his own man and the source of his own problems.

    Ever since his days on Earth, Lith/Derek had learned how to channel his hatred and rage to face the adversities head-on. That same hatred had followed him on Mogar, pushing him to keep breathing, fighting, and working on whatever he needed to better his life.

    His love for Carl first and Tistater had given him purpose and direction, but it had always been hatred that had fueled his ambition. The important people in his life gave him the strength to resist the pull of his rage, to not let the hate poison his very being.

    Yet it was just palliative care.

    Lith had no idea how to temper those feelings, let alone how to live without them. Without his rage, he was empty. Without hate, there was just a dead man wearing a dead child''s skin.

    Those weren''t mere emotions anymore, they were an integral part of his identity.

    "Then I am out of ideas, sorry." Orion shrugged, using small spheres of light to point where new chandeliers would be needed to light the room evenly during the ball. "For what it''s worth, those things didn''t work for me either."

    Lith nodded and the three men started working again.

    Silence filled the room again but this time Raaz didn''t need to step in. Orion clenched his hand and spoke first.

    "My Little One told me that War was shattered inside the Fringe. It must have hurt. War was the first of the War series and one of my best pieces."

    "You have no idea." Lith stopped what he was doing and turned around to look Orion in the eyes. "But it was worth it. No one died. This time."

    "No, you misunderstood me." Orion scratched his head in embarrassment. "I wasn''t ming you for breaking the sword. I was offering you to make a new one. It''s sort of our tradition. First the Gatekeeper, then Ruin, and finally War.

    "I was expecting you to contact me for a recement for a while already. If it turns out you changed your peerless weaponsmith for the workings of a Lizard, I''ll be offended. Even if it''s a real Dragon."

    Orionughed to make it clear that he was just joking.

    "Didn''t Quy..." Only then did Lith realize that aside from Solus, Sark, and Kam, no one had actually seen Ragnar??k,

    Sark had cut off that part from her mind link with the rest of the friends and family to keep her Creation Magic lesson a secret.

    They knew the angry de by name, but that was it. Lith hadn''t fought once after leaving the Fringe and he kept the de stored to avoid someone touching it identally.

    Kam was the exception because Lith hid nothing from her and he had felt the need to introduce her to the reborn member of the family.

    "I''m sorry, I should have told you right when it happened. Lith pped his hands, prompting the house staff to leave the room as fast as they could.

 Chapter 2689 Liths Gala (Part 1)

    2689 Lith''s G (Part 1)

    Then, Lith activated a Hush zone, a cloaking array, dimensional and elemental sealing arrays.

    Orion looked around nervously, years of discipline and battle instincts screaming at him. He was surrounded by mystical defenses and at the mercy of a person he didn''t like. Yet he took a deep breath and rxed.

    "Go ahead. I trust you." He said to both Lith and himself.

    Ragnar??k appeared in a burst of emerald mes, its blood scabbard so tight that the elemental crystals on the fuller protruded from it, shining like precious gemstones.

    Orion didn''t miss the de ignoring the dimensional seal nor the fact that it looked a lot like War but it was nothing like it.

    "Great Mother almighty! Did you crack my cloaking runes and make a new sword of your own? It''s a feat as insulting as it''s impressing. I guess congrattions are in order." Orion offered Lith his hand but Lith didn''t move.

    "No to both. I didn''t crack anything. War was shattered but not lost so I brought him to Gr- Sark." Orion noticed Lith calling the de like a person but just nodded for him to continue.

    "She used her Creation Magic through me, to both use me as a tool and give me a lesson as a Forgemaster. She took away your runes and I provided her with new spells and materials. I used War as a base to create Ragnar??k. It''s-"

    "Made of Davross instead of Adamant and you''ve followed the pattern of the Saefel Sword after giving it a spin of your own." Orion cut him short while examining the de from a distance. "I guess you''ve also found a way to ovee the limit of the pseudo cores I used.

    "Judging from the pressure Ragnar??k exudes while still sheathed, it must have a power core."

    "A rough one, but you are correct about everything." Lith nodded. "Gran- The Overlord offered me to reforge it again once my Forgemastery improves. Before that..."

    Lith threw a parchment that Orion caught on the fly. Once opened, it revealed the pattern of cloaking runes that Lith and Solus had employed in reforging the de.

    "What does this mean?" Orion asked.

    "As I said, the base is your de. I just improved from it. I couldn''t use your runes only because I don''t know them. If not for Sark, I wouldn''t have been able to do this. Hence I consider Ragnar??k still to be your de.

    "Feel free to look at it with your spells. Lith replied.

    Orion was aware that Lith was doing him a great honor. A Forgemaster sharing his workings with a colleague was the highest form of trust and respect between mages.

    He decided to ept that honor and took his Forgemastering wand out of his pocket. The moment the silvery tendril of mana touched the de, the white crystals on the hilt lit up.

    It seemed like the de was alive and it had opened its eyes after being woken up from its slumber.

    "Father." Ragnar??k said upon recognizing the familiar mana and figure of Orion.

    "By the gods! It talks!" Orion jumped back in surprise, moving his eyes from Lith to the de and wondering how could the Overlord of the Blood Desert condone the use of Forbidden Magic.

    "He actually always did. Even back when he was just War." Lith said.

    "I can vouch for that." Raaz said after noticing the disbelief in Orion''s eyes. "The first time I heard that... ''voice'' it was scary for me as well.

    "Seriously?" Orion asked.

    "Yeah. You can ask Quy, Friya, or Kami if you want. Heck, once War even spoke in front of her colleagues. I doubt they''ve forgotten about that." Lith said.

    Orion asked him to lower the dimensional array and made that call, confirming Lith''s words. It wasn''t due to a matter of trust so much as utter disbelief.

    "I did this?" Orion could feel through his spell the fury that had possessed him back when he had forged War still inhabiting the de.

    Yet there was more now. A part of Lith had been nted after he had imprinted the de and the seed had grown after the use of Creation Magic.

    "Father, I''m sorry." The sheathe near to the white crystals liquified, giving the impression that Ragnar??k was crying blood tears. "I failed you. I failed protecting daughter. I failed."

    The sheathe deformed, growing arms from the middle of the scabbard and legs from either side of the tip, taking the form of a perfectly proportioned small blood golem.

    Ragnar??k''s body had no neck, the white eyes near the top of its chest. The hilt looked more like a sprout growing from the top or a hat.

    Theches and locks clicked to form words, the voice filled with pain and guilt.

    "Forgive me." Ragnar??k wailed falling on all fours in a kneeling position, the hilt touching the ground. "I''ve changed. I''ve learned. New daughter. I won''t fail again."

    Lith fell on his right knee as well, like the day he had been made Magus.

    "I''m sorry too, Orion." Lith had decided that even though hatred was out of his reach, he could at least deal with his greatest regret. "I failed to bring Phloria back home. She would be still alive if not for me.

    "Maybe she would still be enved and under Thrud''s thumb, but at least she would still be alive. You would still have hope. My daughter has yet to be born, I haven''t spent a single day with her but I know that if anything happened to her, I''d be devastated.

    "I can''t even imagine what you''re going through. I know that words can''t change anything-"

    "Shut up!" Orion cut Lith short. "For the gods'' sake shut up. The both of you."

    He started to pace around the room like a caged tiger, feeling grief and rage battling for dominance. The more he moved, the worse he felt. Orion moved to the nearest chair and sat down seconds before losing his mind.

    He poured himself a drink that he swallowed in one gulp and then another. At the third one, his nostrils weren''t ring anymore and he could finally restrain himself to small sips.

    When Orion calmed down, he threw a disgusted look at the bottle and his own reflection in the ss.

    ''I can''t believe I lost control again.'' He thought. ''Every time I feel overwhelmed, I resort to alcohol as a crutch. I had promised my Little Flower to stop drinking yet here I am. So much for a father''s word.''

    Orion had developed his addiction to liquor back when he was divorcing Jirni but after talking with Phloria, he had quit cold turkey. Until Phloria''s death.

    When Jirni had announced him to be pregnant, Orion had quit drinking again and had never strayed from his path. Until that moment.

    Orion put the ss down and used a quick healing spell to break down the alcohol and purge it from his body. He was determined to face his demons on his own like a man instead of an addict.

    His dder demanded its due, but it had to wait.

    "Stand up, Lith. Stand up, War" Orion said.

 Chapter 2690 Liths Gala (Part 2)

    2690 Lith''s G (Part 2)

    "I never med either of you for what happened to my Little Flower. When Phloria started her military career, Lith, you weren''t even together anymore. She did what she wanted to do.

    "You intervened solely upon my request to help Quy with her research on the Odi and it''s thanks to you that both my daughters came back alive from that nightmare in Kh.

    "You went to save them again at the Feymar mines and helped Phloria to Awaken not to turn her into your ve but because you didn''t want her to die. Once her apprenticeship with Faluel was over, you left my Little Flower free to do what she wanted.

    "She joined the War of the Griffons by her own will and she kept fighting after your banishment from the Kingdom.

    "Phloria did it for the honor of her family and to protect the country she loved. So stand up because I won''t let you insult her memory by apologizing for being a good friend to her."

    Orion offered Lith his hand to help him get back to his feet and Lith took it.

    "I never hated you or War. You two did it everything you could. The only person I hate besides Thrud is myself." The Lord of House Ernas stared at his own hands with fury, as if they had betrayed him.

    "I''m the one who filled her head with dreams about the Knight Guard. I put the first sword in her hand and taught her about magic. I pushed her down the path that led Phloria to her death like an idiot!"

    Orion yelled every word, at the top of his lungs finding himself out of breath quickly.

    "I watched you two fight. Especially after Thrud kidnapped my Little Flower.

    "I never cared for the people you killed or the cities you set aze. I secretly cheered for you, begging you to kill so many people that Thrud would be forced to choose whether to release Phloria or rule over a bunch of ruins.

    "If you ever saw disappointment on my face, it wasn''t about you. I was disappointed in myself because I wanted to be out there, doing even worse things than you instead of ying general from the safety of Valeron''s walls.

    "Yet I was nowhere as strong as you. Not a day passes since then that I don''t hate myself for my weakness." Orion''s voice became low, filled with self-loathing and spite.

    "You treated Phloria right until herst breath. You did everything I asked you and for that, you have my gratitude. I''ve avoided you not because I resent you but because seeing you reminds me of my failures as a man and a father.

    "So stand tall, Lith. And thank you for saving War." Orion sped Lith''s forearm and Lith returned the gesture of brotherhood of the Kingdom''s elite forces.

    "Ragnar??k." The de said while standing up.

    "A fitting name." Orion nodded. "Wish I thought about it. War ended up being an ill omen."

    "I will stop apologizing only if you stop hating yourself, Orion." Lith said. "Even during her year-long trial, Phloria never med you for her choices. Her love for magic and for this country made her the person she was and she got them both from you.

    "Don''t be angry with yourself for being a good father. You gave Phloria everything she could dream of but once she left your arms, her life was her own. You can''t me yourself for her choices.

    "We both could have locked her away somewhere and maybe she would still be alive. But I''m sure that she wouldn''t be the person we love anymore. We would have killed her with our own hands and tainted even the good memories we have of her"

    "I know." Orion nodded. "But it''s hard to keep living without her. I need someone to me. I need it to find the strength to keep moving"

    "I know." Lith patted Orion''s shoulder seeing himself in Orion''s eyes.

    He was d to have faced Orion and cleared their rtionship. Also, he was a bit scared of Ragnar??k''s body or whatever that was.

    Yet none of it helped Lith with his issues. He knew that Orion was just like him and that there was nothing they could do to help each other.

    ***

    On the day of Lith''s birthday, the preparations for the Royal G had beenpleted, double-checked by Jirni just to be safe, and triple-checked by the Queen just to be safer.

    She knew the reputation of the Miser Magus all too well and she couldn''t risk that he would cut corners to save a few coins.

    For the first time since the construction of the Manor had beenpleted, the garden was filled with luxurious stagecoaches and DoLoreans from the guests while the Main Hall was filled with people.

    Lith had just turned twenty but the stress made him feel over one hundred years old.

    Aside from his family and friends, the guests were people he didn''t like nor did he care about. A Royal G had nothing to do with fun and friendship, it was all aboutworking and politics.

    There were going to be Royals, nobility, people from the Awakened Council, the Fringe in the Blood Desert, and from the Empire.

    Following the protocol of Royal events, Kam and Lith stood at the main entrance of the Mansion, weing the most important guests as soon as they stepped out of their enchanted stagecoaches.

    Only guests of secondary importance would use the private Warp Gate.

    It seemed a contradiction only until one discovered that while the people brought by carriage/DoLorean had already been identified, searched, and could take part in the G upon their arrival, those using the Gate would be detained until the security checks werepleted.

    It meant a longer queue, a short interrogation, and the impossibility of being announced by the page at the entrance. Hence thoseing out of the Gate had to introduce themselves to all the other guests even if they had arrived after them.

    Usually, the hosts of the event had to stand up the whole time but due to Kam''s status she was allowed a chair and to sit in between greetings.

    For the asion, Lith wore his Supreme Magus white robe over his high uniform of the Kingdom. The Royals had gifted him a brooch shaped like his family''s insignia that he wore on the scarf on his neck.

    The Dragon was carved out of a ck diamond, the tower from a white one, while the crossed sword and staff were made out of gold and silver that framed the gemstones. To avoid pointless friction with the nobles, Lith only had his membranous wings out.

    They rested upon his shoulder like a mantle, creating a stark contrast with the Mage Robe. Just enough to remind everyone of his true nature and hint at his prized creation, Void Magic.

    Kam, instead, wore a red evening dress that left her shoulders, neck, and arms exposed. The silk of the fabric was embroidered in gold, creating a feathered pattern. She wore the original Camellia on her hearth, another as a corsage, and her parure was made of gold crafted to resemble the mystical flower.

 Chapter 2691 Powers at Play (Part 1)

    2691 Powers at y (Part 1)

    Kam''s set of jewels consisted of a ne, earrings, and a tiara, all decorated with magical ming camellias.

    "Lith, my boy, I''m so proud of you!" Professor Zogar Vastor was the first of the important guests to arrive. "I hope that the inside of this ce is as impressive as the outside."

    He pointed at the decorative arrays that epassed the Mansion up to the Trawn woods. Lith hadbined Light Mastery and magical formations to light everything as day while also cing animated sculptures in key ces.

    Fireworks exploded in a loop, illuminating the night sky and forming the shapes of Dragons, Phoenixes, and Griffons. On the way that led from the carriages to the entrance, there were holograms depicting a younger Lith apanied by one of histe friends.

    A four years old Lith stood near Count Trequill Lark, at twelve with Marchioness Mirim Distar, at fifteen with Phloria, and at seventeen with Manohar. The statues recounted the journey of the Supreme Magus and how despite those precious friends were now dead, they still lived in his memory.

    "I hope it''s better" Lith replied with a warm smile. "My father, Orion, and I worked hard to make this event memorable."

    "I''m sure it will be." Zinya suffered greatly from etiquette forbidding her from embracing even her sister. "You are glowing, Kami. I can''t wait to have to opportunity to give you a proper wee inside. Come on, kids."

    "Thanks for your hospitality, Uncle Lith. Aunt Kami." Filia and Frey gave their hosts respectively a curtsy and a bow, showing a perfect knowledge of Court etiquette.

    "Thank you foring, young mistress and lord." Lith said with a chuckle. "Get in. Your posse is waiting for you. I promise you that you won''t get bored like at the other gs."

    "Good job, kid. See you inside." Tezka the Suneater walked right behind the kids in the form of a huge wolfish fox with silvery and ck fur.

    He wore a big ck bowtie that marked him as a guest and an authorized pet.

    "Thank you for allowing Father to be by our side on this day. I''m sure that if he were here today, his monocle would jump out of his eye socket in joy at least once a minute." Count Jadon Lark said and as if on cue, Lark''s hologram delivered.

    "In life, Dad would have killed to be here so in death, maybe he''ll resurrect!" Countess Ke Lark, Jadon''s sister, had to wipe out an insistent tear at the familiar performance.

    "Get inside and have some fun." Kam held Kelya''s hand tight, consoling her to the best etiquette allowed her. "The nearest bathroom is on the left. First corridor, first door. You can''t miss it."

    "Thanks." The Larks entered with their respective families.

    "Hey, Lith. Thanks for the invitation. My missus couldn''t believe it when we received your call, right dear?" Baron Eiros Wyalon from Jambel said to his wife, Mirias.

    "I was just overwhelmed." The usual pallor of the Baroness was alleviated by a light makeup and an insistent blush of pride. "I can never thank you enough for the gift of your friendship."

    Mirias Wyalon usually avoided public ceremonies in the presence of her husband, yet on that day she couldn''t pass the opportunity to unt her blessing. Not only had she been invited personally by the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom but she had alsoe riding a DoLorean.

    Aside from the Royals and a few of the most important noble families, no one had one of those wonders of magic. Mere Barons like Mirias and Eiros were the subject of the envious gazes of Dukes and Arch Dukes, something that Mirias wouldn''t miss for the world.

    "The pleasure is mine." Lith replied with a small bow. "Please, get inside. I made sure that both of you will like the party."

    After them came the Distars, Brinja and Ainz. They both appreciated the life-like statue of Mirim and the grace with which she greeted the guests. Then came Professor Duke Marth and his wife, Ryssa the Dryad.

    "It''s a nice garden, but it could have been better if you asked my help." Ryssa shook the hands of her hosts with a bright smile. "Nice to see you outside the Royal Court, Kami. How do you feel?"

    "Exhausted. I can''t wait for this to be over." Yet the long line of carriages disagreed with her. "Please don''t start fights but don''t pull punches if someone provokes you. You have my permission."

    "You got it." The dryad chuckled, having her biceps triple its size for a split second.

    "Thank you foring, Professor Marth. How''s Dhiral?" Lith asked.

    "Getting better at running away." Marth sighed. "Thank the gods he has no idea where to go and scares easily so at worst we find him under a table."

    Orion and Jirni froze for a second at the vision of the younger version of theirte daughter but thanked their hosts only with a brief nod of the head, walking in quickly to not pointlessly prolong Lith''s and Kam''s duty.

    Nalrond came with Friya, Quy with Morok, Selia and Ryman arrived with their kids, and Faluel came apanied by both Ajatar and her mother, Fyrwal.

    Last, but far from least, came the Royal Couple.

    It was part of the tradition so that at the moment of their arrival, they would be announced to all the other guests. It made them the only couple aside from the hosts of the G that wouldn''t have to introduce themselves to anyone.

    "You Majesty." Lith gave the King and Queen a deep bow while Kam went as low as she could without falling over. "It''s an honor having you here."

    "Supreme Magus Verhen." Meron nodded in wee. "Thanks for having us and for honoring our fallen. Too many people are eager to forget about the past and the lessons we should learn from it."

    The King still had a few grey streaks in his hair due to the forbidden ritual but was otherwise back to his full strength. He wore his high uniform, simr to Lith''s but white and golden.

    A red-furred long cloak rested on his shoulders and he had the Sword of Saefel hung on his hip as badge of his office.

    The Queen wore an elegant and borate evening dress with no neckline. The jewels and decorations on the fabric depicted the day of the coronation of the first King and Queen.

    Her arms would have been exposed if not for the white evening gloves she wore. They highlighted the golden rings on her fingers, each with a precious gemstone the size of a nut.

    Just by selling the raw materials of her ne, earrings, and crown, one could build the Verhen Mansion ten times over.

    "Please, don''t bow, Baroness Verhen." Sylpha grabbed Kam''s hand. "I remember well how awkward thest trimester is and thew dispenses you from these niceties. See you inside."

    Four Royal Guards each wearing a Royal Fortress armor in battle mode followed them in a square formation. Their helmets were closed shut and their identities a secret, allowing them to skip formalities.

    In the Main Hall, Tista was taking care of the guests.

 Chapter 2692 Powers at Play (Part 2)

    2692 Powers at y (Part 2)

    She was the only other member of the family with a firm grasp of etiquette and great skill in dealing with backhandpliments.

    Between her gorgeous emerald dress, the square neckline, and her feathered wings resting on her shoulders, men were too busy staring, and women too focused on not dying of envy to say a word.

    "By the gods, you guys are so cool!" Leran said, prompting the approval of the rest of the kids, even the annoying, arrogant noble ones.

    "I know." Aran said with an aloof voice while pretending to check his fingernails for dirt. "We Verhens are just built different."

    He was leaning back on the massive figure of Onyx who wore a ribbon on her head to mark her as a female and a guest. Two ck membranous wings rested on Aran''s shoulders, but unlike Lith''s, they weren''t upside down.

    "And so are we Proudhammers!" Leria pointed out while tapping her left foot in annoyance.

    She wore a cute pink evening dress and a pair of silvery feathered wings came out of her back. Abominus rolled his eyes, scratching at his neck where his bowtie was in the attempt to take it off.

    "Bad Abominus! Bad!" She stopped him. "You''ll scare our guests this way"

    "As if they can get any more scared." He said with a scoff, scaring the noble kids witless.

    Usually, pets weren''t allowed at Royal Gs but since the event was hosted at Lith''s house he could bend the rules. With their magical beast friends, the kids had the confidence to face any bully without the need for constant adult supervision.

    Filia and Frey had Tezka, Lilia and Leran had sh and Crash, and Garrik had Fluffy.

    "Fluffy? What a dumb name!" A young Baron attempted to say with augh but once the Byk stood up on his hind legs and revealed his fangs, the noble kid couldn''t find anything funny about the beast anymore.

    Aran and Leria would have been insecure and afraid to embarrass their parents and brother/ uncle if not for the gift from their grandparents. Only for that evening, Leegaain and Sark had awakened the bloodlines of all the Verhens.

    Raaz had thick ck feathered wings, Elina ming red membranous wings, and both felt the power of their ancestors coursing through their veins. It gave them such an adrenaline rush that instead of acting meek like usual they exuded an aura of authority that brook no disrespect.

    "And once again I''m cut out." Senton sighed, looking at his wife''s gold-veined ck feathered wings.

    "Thank the gods!" She replied with a disgusted expression. "Imagine if we were blood-rted."

    "Good gods. You are right and I''m an idiot." Senton shuddered at the idea.

    "No, you are my idiot." She gave him a soft kiss that raised more envy than three sets of wings.

    "I like this ce and people look posh and proper with their expensive clothes." Zekell nodded, dressed like a noble but moving with the grace of an anvil. "Where''s the food, though? I didn''t spend my day putting on makeup. I''m hungry."

    "Dad!" Senton blushed in embarrassment.

    "Don''t worry, son. If one of these dandies says something, I''ll introduce them to the weemittee." The cksmith patted the nearest magical beast, unfazed by the reproachful res of the nobles. "I''m too old for this crap."

    "King Meron Griffon and Queen Sylpha Griffon!" The page said after mming his golden staff on the floor twice.

    The Royals were the only ones exonerated from the list of middle names and titles because otherwise it would take hours to introduce the whole family.

    "Supreme Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen, Baroness Kam Verhen, and young Baroness Elysia Verhen." After the baby shower, Elysia had received her own noble title, and etiquette required to announce her as well to remind everyone of her imminent birth.

    "See? Now you have the Royal permission to eat for two." Lith said as Kam blushed in embarrassment, making her chuckle.

    "You are right, thanks." The double doors closed behind them and the protective arrays of the house sealed all kinds of magic but light.

    Otherwise the holograms and decorations that Lith and Nalrond had set up would have gone to waste.

    The first part of a G was about mingling and helping the guests to socialize. As for the hosts, Lith and Kam were supposed to walk around non-stop and have a good word for everyone but she tired easily and often had to sit down.

    At that point, Lith would keep moving while she would stay still and people woulde to pay her homage like to a queen. Lith had made sure that she would never be alone.

    His golems Trouble and Raptor were shrunk respectively to the size of a big dog and a human, both wearing a tuxedo. They stood behind her by either side while Ragnar??k stood in front of her.

    With its short stature, conical shape, and red color, the de looked like a huge carrote to life. Yet it was a carrot wearing a tuxedo, with fangs, arms and legs, and a limited but scary vocabry.

    "I see you!" Ragnar??k growled at the slightest sign of hostility, the white mana crystals on the guard glowing eerily.

    To avoid idents, the de had shapeshifted the hilt away so that Kam could also lean on the crossguard and use her short, overprotective page as a walking aid.

    "It talks?" Every time thetches formed a word, people stepped away, throwing fearful nces at the de and its owner.

    "Marvelous indeed, yet a bit creepy. How is it possible, Magus Verhen?" The King asked, eager to dispel the silent allegations about Forbidden Magic that weighed on the room.

    "My de was shattered and I had to reforge it with the help of Overlord Sark" Lith replied. "ording to her, sometimes when a great Forgemaster crafts a masterpiece, he can literally pour his heart and soul in his creation.

    "I guess that''s what happened."

    "Do you mind if Archmage and Royal Forgemaster Ernas takes a look?" King Meron asked and Lith nodded in agreement.

    Orion only had to cast a few spells and pretend to perform a deep scan before giving his report.

    "Power core, no life force or mana flow, Your Majesty." Orion said with a bow. "This is no cursed object, just a work of genius."

    He was actually praising himself and Lith, making Jirni grin with pride.

    "Speaking of the Overlord, where is she?" Sylpha looked around the room.

    "She''s not here." Kam replied. "She doesn''t like being restricted by protocol and etiquette. Overlord Sark will take part in the private birthday party, tomorrow, with the rest of her Nest. We are also expecting Leegaain and his Brood."

    "Ah!" The King regretted not being invited, but not even he could intrude on powerful beings who had no reason to be polite with him. "Please, let them know that I''m willing to settle any political issue between our countries.

    "They just need to call me."

    "I''ll deliver your message personally." Lith nodded and went back to his guests.

    "I''m d to see that everything worked out between you two." Solus said to Quy and Morok.

 Chapter 2693 Dimensional Magus (Part 1)

    Chapter 2693 Dimensional Magus (Part 1)

    "I was afraid your marriage would be one of the shortest in the history of the Griffon Kingdom." Solus said.

    She wore a golden evening dress with a V neckline and a silver parure shaped like flowers that were actuallyprised of small Forgemastering tools. The silver of the jewels brought out the gold of her dress and hair, while the precious gemstones gave them color.

    "No way!" Morok waved his hand in denial. "I worked too hard to get where I am. I would never divorce, but I have no qualms about putting my foot down when needed."

    "He''s right." Quy blushed a bit in embarrassment. "By the way, thanks for your help, Solus. I don''t know what I would have done without you."

    Among the many ces Quy had brought her husband, there was Mogar''s moon, but the only way to get up there was with the tower Warp.

    "Don''t mention it. Did you like¡­" Solus pointed at the sky.

    "It was gorgeous and dangerous!" Quy red at Morok. "He demanded we explored the ce and visited the neighbors."

    "Really?" Solus was bbergasted. "How did it go?"

    "Well with Leegaain. Sort of." Quy blushed again. "Sark was there too and judging from her re I''m afraid we interrupted something."

    "Gods!" Solus burst upughing at the idea. "I hope she didn''t go feral."

    "No, no." Morok shook his head. "They were really nice and offered us a cup of tea."

    "Poisoned?" Tista asked.

    "No, but they pointed us out at Inxialot next!" Quy pinched her nose. "We almost got captured. The crazy bastard was already listing on his fingers all the experiments he wanted to perform on us."

    "Almost?" Solus echoed. "How did you escape?"

    "I pointed behind Inxialot, yelling to watch out for the flying pig." Quy replied. "It was just a hologram, but it distracted him long enough for us to Spirit Warp away."

    "The weird part is that he wasn''t surprised so much as scared." Morok tormented his chin. "He started yelling ''Not again! Gods no!'' or something."

    "After that, we decided to skip Fenagar and go back to Lith''s turf. We found an enchanting de with a smallke. The fish there were simply delicious."

    At the same time, Nalrond and Friya were wishing Lith a happy birthday.

    "Thanks, guys. Where''s the present? I need to cover the expense of this shenanigan and every bit helps." He said.

    "What a cheapskate!" Friya punched his arm, hurting herself. "It''s the red-wrapped one with the golden ribbon in the huge pile."

    "Don''t listen to him. We are d to have you guys here." Kam said.

    "I don''t want to steal your thunder so this is no public announcement, just a friendly heads up." Nalrond said. "After we came back from the Fringe, I asked Friya to marry me and she said yes."

    "Wait, what?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "He means congrattions!" Kam nudged him. "He''s just surprised because Nalrond seemed adamant about waiting until he fixed his life forces."

    "I was." Nalrond sighed. "But after two visits to a Fringe solved nothing and no one knows what to do, I''ve decided that waiting any longer would be a waste of time. I need to live in the moment.

    "If I fail to Awaken, I won''t have much time with Friya and even if I do, myte Awakening would still make my lifespan shorter than hers. I prefer enjoying what I have rather than chasing what I don''t."

    "Wise words but,te Awakening?" Kam furrowed her brows and red her nostrils. "I''m older than you and I''ve Awakened less than nine months ago. Do you expect me to drop dead at any moment?"

    "No, no, no!" The Rezar perceived the nuclear threat and acted ordingly. "Your case is different. If Lith fixes his life force, he''ll outlive us all whereas Friya and I won''t have the same lifespan unless I merge my life forces."

    "I see." Kam calmed down immediately, turning her frown upside down. "Well, congrattions, then. Consider your invitations already epted."

    "Man, if this is boring." Aran pointed at the musicians who were taking ce on the bandstand. "Let''s go out and do something really fun."

    The kids jumped on their respective steeds, taking two guests each and ''conveniently'' leaving the most obnoxious kids behind. Garrik was shapeshifted into human form and Fluffy could carry four more people, making him pretty popr.

    Lith had set up a magical yground to make the night memorable for the kids. There were swings, literal sand castles with sand golems guards, and hard-light weapons.

    Thetter were meant to y war or just a magical version of paintball with unlimited ammo.

    "And there they go." Syrah, the Hati Queen, inwardly prayed that nothing wrong would happen.

    She and the rest of the members of Zelex''s senate were among Lith''s guests and were drawing a lot of attention. The silver fur of the Hati brought out the ck of her dress, giving her the look of a ray of moonlight in the darkness of the night.

    She hated being used for a political ploy but at least Lith had been upfront with her.

    "Your people are going to Jiera and soon mine will follow. When they meet, there are only two possible oues. Either the mistrust keeps them apart and they start killing each other at the first ident, or we give them a reason to work together.

    "By taking part in the g, you are going to prove to everyone that the fallen races are not the monsters everyone believes. By associating yourself with me, the people of Zelex will fall under the protection of my political umbre. Your choice." Lith''s invitation didn''t sound friendly and wasn''t meant to be.

    Syrah had ended up epting only because her friends had convinced her, Rena included. Despite their inhuman appearance, Br''ey and Urhen were garnering a lot of attention.

    The orc looked like a dark-skinned elf and elves hadn''t been seen around for millennia, making her a being out of a fairy tale. The Balor, instead, had six eyes and blue skin but her beauty was stunning.

    "Are you a member of the Verhen family?" Many asked her, believing that the multiple eyes and wings were a family thing.

    "No, I''m just a Balor." Her reply was even more shocking than the answer they were expecting.

    "Thank you foring." Lith gave the Hati a warm smile and a deep bow as if they were best friends. "Queen Syrah, allow me to introduce you to King Meron and Queen Sylpha."

    "The pleasure is all mine." The Hati gave the Royals a deep bow before exchanging pleasantries. "Also, I find your choice in furniture quite distasteful, Magus Verhen."

    She pointed at Trouble.

    "That''s the corpse of a Balor. Why didn''t you consider Urhen''s feelings before disying such a thing?"

    "For the same reason I invited Emperor Beasts and yet I disyed Raptor." He pointed at the corpse of the Vagrash. "When I kill my enemies, I don''t worry about the feelings of their kin. Only about making the best oue for me."

    "You''ll have to forgive my brother." Rena stepped between them. "He has a hard time being polite toward those who threaten his life, just like you."

 Chapter 2694 Dimensional Magus (Part 2)

    Chapter 2694 Dimensional Magus (Part 2)

    "Fine." Syrah grunted.

    "It''s nice to finally meet you, Queen Syrah." Meron offered her his hand. "I hope our people can get along and work together to build our homes in Jiera. Care to introduce you to your entourage?"

    After the presentations and a bit of small talk, the Royals were impressed by the degree of intelligence and awareness of the reverted monsters. They had expected barely functional bloodthirsty creatures whereas the members of Zelex''s senate seemed more rational than most humans.

    "I''m sure our people will get along." Queen Sylpha gave Rh a polite nod of the head, but before she moved on to learn more about the fascinating orc and her crystal staff, there was a question lingering on her mind.

    "Magus Verhen, you talked about inviting Emperor Beasts, but aside from the children''s friends, I see no one here."

    "Allow me to correct you, Your Majesty." Lith pointed at her Faluel, Fyrwal, and Ajatar, the obvious guests she hadn''t mentioned to not betray their nature. "Also, those are Reaper, Lifebringer, and Sentinel. The Kings of the Trawn woods."

    The two men and one woman were ced in key points of the room, ready to intervene in case something happened. There were also Valia, Trion, Locrias, and Varegrave, but the Demons were spending time with their families, not standing guard.

    "I''m sure you''ve already met Fe the Behemoth."

    "Howdy." A very tall, muscr, and shapely woman who seemed to have a penchant for the ice cream said.

    "Last, but not least, to put my guests from Zelex at ease and bring someone who has no problem showing his true self, allow me to introduce you to an acquaintance of mine that you''ve heard about a few times. Tezka, if you please."

    The Fylgja had given one tail to each of his clones and kept eight for himself, but one was just the Spirit Tail which was almost useless.

    The creature that walked out of the antechamber was about 2.3 (7''7") meters tall and wore a tailor-made evening suit that fit his body like a glove The ck and silvery fur didn''t seem to bother the fabric and if not for his height, the wed hands, the tails, and the wolfish head, he would have been quite dandy.

    His chest was wide enough to y chess and still have plenty of space and each one of his arms seemed to be capable of uprooting a tree.

    "Good evening." He said with a wolfish smile while cutting through the crowd that parted in front of him like a parade in front of a king. "I''m d Lith invited me over. Our meeting is long overdue."

    Tezka''s voice was calm and friendly, but those present couldn''t stop staring at his every movement as if he was going to attack them at any time.

    "Tezka?" The King echoed, having a hard time not letting his voice quiver.

    "The Suneater?" The Queen gripped her husband''s arm to find strength and the Saefel Sword just to be safe.

    "The World Shifter?" Fyrwal dropped her ss in shock and put Faluel behind her, hoping that the Royal Fortress armor she wore would be enough to protect them both.

    Sadly, she considered Ajatar as an expendable meat shield.

    Many other names, most of which unttering, filled the air but Tezka nodded politely to every one of them as if they were words of praise.

    "Yes, I am. Yet I''m a bit disappointed that no one mentioned my original title. The First Dimensional Mage."

    "I beg your pardon?" Both the King and Friya asked in awe.

    "You heard me. I invented and taught Dimensional Magic, but no one ever made me a Magus only because back then the title didn''t even exist." Tezka''s smile widened, revealing even more of his white fangs.

    "Maybe it''s a few dozens of thousands of yearste, but being here with my dear friends, I can''t help but think that Dimensional Magus Tezka has a nice ring to it. Don''t you agree?"

    "Sure." The Queen said, but just because those were the only words she could muster.

    She was a bright violet-cored fake Awakened who regrly sparred with Tyris herself, yet she felt small and helpless in front of the Fylgja.

    "How did you two meet?" The King asked.

    "I''m sure you remember the freak ident in Maekosh with the Wargs." Lith had tried to talk but Tezka had beaten him to the punch. "I''m sorry, but that was my fault. Sort of. One of my¡­ disciples went behind my back in the attempt to kill me and take my ce.

    "Magus Verhen stopped him for me and I hate debts. Once I learned about his involvement, I started to protect his house, like your Queen''s Corps surely has reported you."

    The Royals nodded, remembering all too well the day Phoenixes and a mysterious wolf/fox creature had entered Lith''s house after being invited.

    "The problem was that between his and your protections, Verhen didn''t need me much, but his sister-inw did. I knew Lady Kam would have been devastated if something happened to Lady Zinya so I focused on her.

    "When Thrud''s generals tried to kidnap her children, I disposed of them. I tried getting rid of the Mad Queen as well, but she cowardly ran away."

    "She ran?" Sylpha remembered both her own fight with Thrud and the sightings of the colossal creature on the day of the kidnappings.

    The Queen was as scared as Jirni was envious.

    ''If that thing followed Phloria instead of Zinya, my daughter would be still alive!''

    "Yes, but it wasn''t a big deal. The Golden Griffon would have resurrected her anyway so I messed up with it as much as I could. It bought you a few days of respite if you remember." Tezka spoke casually as if they were talking about his vacations.

    The idea of someone capable of scaring Thrud and even dealing such a blow to an academy caused everyone a fit of abject terror.

    Everyone but Syrah.

    Even if she was still grieving the death of her husband, her whole body was screaming at her and her heart pounded so hard that she was afraid it would break out of her ribcage.

    To her standards, Tezka was strong, handsome, and his Warg half made him godlike in her eyes.

    ''This is not the smell of an alpha. More like of someone who eats alphas for breakfast. Like Mogar one day woke up and decided that alpha wasn''t enough and came up with a new word just for him.''

    "I thank you for your help, Magus Tezka." King Meron''s survival instinct told him that it was better to keep the Suneater calm and happy. "Yet it''s not enough to make up for all the people who died in Maekosh and the damage it sustained."

    "If you want money, I have plenty." Tezka shrugged. "If you want a victim, I''ll give you plenty."

    "No, no. Marypensation will be enough." The threat and the killing intent apanying it were enough to make Meron''s courage take a leave of absence.

    "Good, because now I''m even with Verhen and I don''t n on staying around for long. I came here only to let him know that our debt is settled."

 Chapter 2695 Special Guests (Part 1)

    2695 Special Guests (Part 1)

    Son of a fox!'' Vastor inwardly cursed. ''Lith and Tezka have found a way to both strengthen Lith''s influence in the Royal Court and clear up my name. By linking Tezka with Maekosh and Lith''s house, people will stop wondering why Zinya''s children were protected by such a powerful beast.

    Lith made it all about himself and Tezka yed along with the help of the cloaking ring''s Orion and I made for Jirni. Unless the Royals use Invigoration on Tezka, his energy signature is different from the children''s steeds.

    ''Also, Tezka gained the ability to control multiple bodies only after bing a hybrid so the Royals can''t even consider the possibility that it''s always the same fox.

    "A copper coin for your thoughts, dear." Zinya drew his attention by kissing his cheek.

    "I was just thanking the gods for having such good friends." Vastor nodded at the charade in front of them. "Also, I was eating my liver as an appetizer. Even a huge furred fox is more courted than me."

    A few nobledies didn''t seem to mind the race difference much.

    Not after how sessful Kam''s marriage seemed to be. Not after hearing that Tezka was that ancient and so powerful that he made the Royals quiver and hand him the Magus title.

    Having him in their household would have meant bing the real royal family and their bloodline would birth heroes who would be sung by bards forever.

    "Only because they are as blind as they are dumb." Zinya kissed him again, this time on the lips. "Time and pressure make diamonds, dear. Those unwilling to dirty their hands a bit to look for something precious will always have to settle for shiny stuff that anyone can have."

    "Thanks." Vastor''s envy faded away and he and Zinya went to join the conversation.

    Tezka feigned absolute ignorance toward Vastor but bowed to Zinya, making people gasp.

    "After looking after you for so long I feel like I know you a bit. Who''s this guy?"

    "My husband. Professor Zogar Vastor." Zinya replied with a curtsy,pletely unfazed by the imposing presence of her trusted nanny.

    "Oh, yes. I''ve read your papers about Body Sculpting, but I''ve never put a face on the name." The Fylgja''s eyes widened in recognition. "Simply brilliant."

    More gasps followed the praise, making Vastor turn to a shade of purple.

    "That said, I''ve worked with Wargs to achieve my current condition, Your Majesty. I can assure you they are a proud and trustworthy race. Their natural evolution, the Hati, must be even better. Treat them right and they''ll do the same."

    "Thank you, Lord Tezka." Syrah''s tail waggled like crazy and her voice was hoarse as if she had something stuck in her throat.

    "Are there any more surprises before the ball starts, Magus Verhen?" The longer Sylpha resisted Tezka''s pressure, the more she recovered her usual unflinching bearing.

    "A couple." At a wave of Lith''s hands, two more groups of guests walked inside the Main Hall, each garnering the same attention and respectful admiration as Tezka.

    One was the delegation from Setraliie which wasprised of elven warriors of rare power and beauty. Unlike Br''ey, their skin glowed like there was a star hidden in their hearts and the grace with which they moved was out of this world.

    The second group was heterogeneous but just as imposing. Ka, Nyka, and several undead from the Eclipsed Lands marched united under dion''s and Ilthin''s banners.

    The Firstborn Vampire and Banshee revealed their identity and power, making people wonder if Lith had gone crazy. The number of eldritch horrors under his roof seemed to never end.

    Lith introduced them ording to protocol and made it clear they were his guests under the bond of hospitality. Any disrespect toward them would be also aimed at him and he took full responsibility for the actions of his proteges.

    "My name is Le''Ahy Birdsong, Your Majesty." She gave a curtsy to Lith first, then the Royals, and then to the rest of the guests in descending order of power. "I''m the ambassador from the vine city of Setraliie and I''vee here to swear our allegiance to Lord Verhen''s cause."

    No one missed how she linked her oath to Lith instead of the Kingdom, making it clear who held the leash.

    "We are going to help the Griffon Kingdom in its efforts to colonize Jiera and we are willing to act as mediators with the rest of our kin in order to bring more vine cities to join your cause."

    "Thanks for the great news you bring us, Lady Birdsong. Please, join the celebrations and be merry." The King''s brain spun at full gear while assessing the implications of the time, ce, and wordings of her deration.

    For someone who hates politics, Verhen is damn cunning. I had no idea he knew where to find elves.''He said to Sylpha via a mind link. ''He got uspletely blindsi- ''

    "Phyrile here is willing to be your hostage and concubine as proof of our sincerity." When Le''Ahy said those words Meron gulped hard and Sylpha''s eyes almost popped out in outrage.

    "I beg your pardon?" The King tried to defuse the situation, certain that there had to be a mistake in the trantion from Elvishnguage to Mogarian.

    "You are renown to be a valiant and powerful King." Le''Ahy spoke slowly and softly, like to a dumb child, to make sure that nothing was lost in the trantion from Elvishnguage to Mogarian. "Phyrile would be honored to teach you about our customs and carry your seed."

    "Over my dead body!" Sylpha roared, staring at the youthful and stunning elf maiden like at an assassin wielding a poisoned knife.

    "That can be arranged but it would be an incredibly rude act on our side, even with your agreement." Le''Ahy looked more and more puzzled. "Are you sure that''s what you want?"

    "You little-"

    "There''s a misunderstanding here." Lith stopped the mediation before the Queen went on a rampage.

    He briefly exined elven customs and how Phyrile wasn''t a homewrecker but was doing the Royals the highest honor Setraliie could award a non-elf. Then, he briefly exined the customs of the Kingdom about marriage, drawing amazed gasps from the elves.

    "What about the undead delegation?" King Meron rushed to change the topic, seeing the embers of war smoldering in Sylpha''s eyes.

    "dion, if you please?" Lith stepped back, letting the Firstborn Vampire exin himself.

    "Your Majesty." He gave everyone a bow performed ording to an etiquette that didn''t care about mating potential. "I''m here on behalf of the Eclipsed Lands and the Gorgon Empire to offer you an alliance."

    "An alliance?" Sylpha snapped out of her fury, setting the elven vixen on the back burner. For now.

    "Yes, My Queen." dion nodded. "We don''t have your Trains, but our flying fortresses give us an edge you don''t have. Also, all the time, energy, and resources you poured into fighting Thrud the Empire employed them to n the colonization of Jiera.

    "I lived there for millennia before the gue. I know the continent like the back of my hand and so do my retainers." He waved at the undead at his service.

    .

 Chapter 2696 Special Guests (Part 2)

    2696 Special Guests (Part 2)

    "We know where natural strongholds can be found. We know about the position of all the magical resources and geysers that the creatures from Zelex will need. More importantly, we know how to hunt." dion said.

    "We undead are relentless and hard-to-kill predators. Even though monsters provide us with poor nourishment, quantity can make up for quality. We can wear the monster tides down at night while you Sunwalkers attack them during the day.

    "A constant onught that would whittle the monsters'' numbers while also never giving them the time to recover their strength or numbers."

    "A tempting offer indeed." Meron nodded. "Yet I doubt that you''d do it out of the goodness of your heart. What''s in it for you?"

    "My people are still dying, Your Majesty." dion said with a steel voice. "The Eclipsed Lands can''t feed all those who escaped Jiera''s fall and those we can''t help, end up at the mercy of the Undead Courts.

    "All we want is the opportunity to go back home and take our rightful ce in society. You are too smart a man to not know that where power and life thrive the undead follow.

    "I''m offering you the chance to make a difference. To choose between the Undead Courts which will infiltrate your ranks anyway and feed on your sess from the shadows and the Eclipsed Lands which will help you out in the open.

    "You can have a sly enemy or a willing ally. Your choice."

    "What about the Empress?" Sylpha pondered.

    "Jiera is big and the monster tides are massive." Ilthin stepped forward while waving at Lith and Kam.

    They could almost hear her mentioning the "promised" threesome and something about Lith''s bloodline. An argument with which they were certain Le''Ahy would happily ride along.

    I was enough to make their present and future selves facepalm in embarrassment.

    "You can''t have one without the other. The Empire will strike at the monsters from one side while you attack them from the opposite. There''s plenty of space in Jiera for two yers and it''s better to work together instead of against each other while also dealing with the monster tides.

    "Besides, do you think you have better margins of negotiation with Overlord Sark? With her, it''s always her way or the fight way. Together, we can beat her. Here on Garlen, it''s impossible, but on Jiera we have every advantage on her, but only if we join our forces."

    "You two make several excellent points." Meron nodded. "Points too good to be overlooked just based on prejudice and old grievances. You can tell the Empress that the Crown will take this matter into serious consideration and ry our ruling through the proper channels."

    "Is there anything else?" Sylpha asked while looking at Lith who simply shook his head.

    "Actually, yes." Ilthin Demere, Elf Lady and Firstborn Banshee, said, making Lith and Kam brace for impact.

    She had hair of gold, eyes of silver, and a heart still scarred by the man who had ripped it out of her chest in the search for immortality after swearing his eternal love to her.

    ''After visiting the Fringe, I finally understood why she''s so flirty. Also, I bet that she passed those absurd elven customs to all those she sired.''Lith thought.

    ''It would exin why no matter their race of origin, Banshee behave like elves.''Kam replied via the mind link.

    Usually, seeing such beauties and knowing they lusted after her husband would have angered Kam to no end. Thanks to the Dragon scales on her hand and Lith''s arm, however, she could feel his embarrassment and how his heart skipped a beat only when looking at her.

    "Are you really a Svartalf?" Ilthin asked Br''ey who nodded in reply. "It''s amazing! Your race fell so long ago that I had almost forgotten what you look like. Did you find a way to revert the process on your own or did the cutie help you?"

    The reverted orc looked at Lith to whom the Banshee was pointing, wondering how could a cold-blooded mass murderer be considered cute before saying:

    "Neither. We were victims of the experiments of a crazy Tyrannical Eye. There''s still no permanent solution. Just this." She pulled down the cor of her dress revealing the Harmonizer. "If not for the mana geyser, I would still be an orc."

    "Too bad." If Ilthin was disappointed, she shrugged it off quickly. "I''m happy to meet my lost cousins no matter your appearance as long as you don''t mind mine. I''m a Banshee and I''m a few tens of thousands of years old."

    "Oh, gods!" Le''Ahy chimed in with undeserved enthusiasm while Br''ey gasped in shock. "It''s amazing! You''ve found a way to Awaken and be truly immortal. Care to share with our people how?"

    Ilthin raised her delicate eyebrow in a thin arc, looking at the huntress like someone who had regained consciousness after a blow to the head.

    "I just did. As I said, I''m a Banshee."

    "And I''m sure that''s an impressive title for your aplishment." Le''Ahy replied. "My question is how do I be one?"

    "For the gods'' sake, let me exin or this will take all night!" Lith took Le''Ahy''s hand who dly misinterpreted his intentions and blushed wildly.

    A quick mind link reminded the huntress of the undead race, its subspecies in general, and Banshees in particr.

    "I changed my mind. I''m fine as I am, thank you." Le''Ahy took a step back, looking at the beautiful Elf Lady with fear.

    She also hid behind Lith''s back to y the "damsel in distress" card.

    "I admit that I''m a bit scared." Br''ey said. "Undead have a terrible reputation but so do fallen races so I think we are even. I''d like to know you better, especially if our respective races are going to work together.

    "I''d like to meet you on a neutral ground, though. Rena?"

    "Maybe." She replied with ming eyes. "But if we do this, only in the absence of my husband."

    Senton was very, very loyal which made him very, very delicious to Ilthin''s eyes. She threw asional nces at him that awakened his wife''s Tiamat''s blood.

    "Party pooper." The Banshee pouted. "But I''ll take your offer, whatever your demands are. I''ve longed to be reunited with my brethren for too long to mind the small details."

    Lith sighed in relief as the different parties built the foundation for a future alliance or just a friendly exchange of knowledge.

    The Royals were the most satisfied with Lith''s birthday, immediately followed by the Awakened Council. They both would benefit from the help in colonizing Jiera but only the Royals had interest in the coboration with the Empress.

    Just like she wanted to steal from them the secret of the Trains and Tablets, the Royals wanted to learn about the Empire''s flying fortresses and its many magical wonders. Diplomatic efforts were the backbone of espionage and both parties knew it.

    The Council had to content itself with the study of the Harmonizers, Glemos'' evolutionary opus, and maybe with befriending the elves enough to learn about the position of the Fringe.

    The members of the fallen races, instead, discovered a growing kinship with the undead and simply loved Tezka just because he was one of them and everyone was afraid of him.

 Chapter 2697 Private Party (Part 1)

    2697 Private Party (Part 1)

    "If I may, with all due respect, your customs are idiotic." Le''Ahy said after discussing with the members of Setraliie''s delegation for a while.

    "What do you mean?" Ilthin frowned, feeling offended.

    "I mean, take Lord Verhen. There''s only one of him and limiting him to one woman is detrimental for the whole Mogar. This way it will take forever for his species to multiply."

    "There''s no rush." Sylpha replied, feeling the issue touching her very closely. "What are a few decades in the lifespan of a Divine Beast? The blink of an eye."

    "She actually has a point." Contrary to everyone''s expectations, it wasn''t Ilthin speaking. "The humans already got their share. He''s half human and half beast so it''s only fair to mix the Tiamat''s bloodline with an Emperor Beast as well.

    "My daughter is a powerful mage and has developed a deep bond with Verhen which makes her the most reasonable choice." Fyrwal the Hydra stepped forward while pushing Faluel in front of her.

    "Mom!" Even Faluel''s toes turned red.

    "Don''t ''Mom'' me." Fyrwal''s voice was that of an angry parent disciplining a brat throwing a tantrum. "You belong to one of the five founding pirs of the Kingdom and Verhen''s the new one.

    "You shared your home and knowledge with him to which he replied by giving you a priceless gift. Do you deny it?"

    "No, but-" Before Faluel could wish for Mogar to kill her, someone else butted in.

    "Not so fast, you old hag!" Fe said. "There''s no point in adding more Dragon blood to the mix and from a diluted well at that. The most logical choice is someone from the Griffon bloodline.

    "I candidate myself, but I''m willing to step down if someone from a pure bloodlinees forward."

    "Who are you calling an old hag?" Fyrwal was about to escte the conflict when someone else raised the ante.

    "The beasts can solve their disputeter but since we are discussing the issue, then the Eclipsed Lands demand their fair share!" llthin said.

    "And so does Setraliie!" Le''Ahy didn''t care whose coattails she rode as long as she got what she wanted.

    "Well, too bad this isn''t a democracy!" Kam stomped her foot hard enough to cause a shockwave. "No one but me touches my husband. I don''t give a damn if slowing down the spread of his race is detrimental for Mogar.

    "Lith is mine! Mine! Mine!" Then, she conjured a hologram of the between her hands and shattered it under her foot before rifying: "Mine!"

    "But, sweetie, no one is saying that you can''t be part of it." Ilthin said, trying to calm Kam down. "I''ve offered him first and then you a threesome and neither of you turned it down but you also didn''t reply. What if-"

    "No means no! End of discussion. Are we clear?" Kam cut her short.

    "What she said!" Lith had taken a few steps back when that madness had started, sending Kam forth because she held a power no one could question or defy.

    "But-" Fyrwal tried to say.

    "I said, are we clear? Yes or no." As her blood pressure rose so did Elysia''s.

    Feeling her mother''s distress, the baby readied for a fight and triggered a ripple effect through her blood that alerted her grandparents.

    The sky screamed with thunder and the earth grumbled with quakes.

    Tyris'' light, Leegaain''s fire, and Sark''s life and death energy manifested behind Lady Verhen''s back, heralding the Guardians''ing and their wrath.

    "Yes." Everyone raised their hands in surrender and dropped the topic like a live grenade.

    "For the record, I''m not interested in Lith outside of a tonic rtionship." Everyone but Tezka, who kept sipping his drink and eating ice cream. "I''m his honorable guest. Please, leave me alone if you Guardianse here to smite these pesky ants."

    The various delegations stepped away, leaving the Verhens, Tezka, and the Royals alone. Only after Kam''s anger subsided did everything go back to normal.

    "Good gods, that was something." The King said.

    "Indeed." Sylpha red at him. "We''ll talk about this at home."

    She hadn''t liked hisck of objections at the amorous proffers of the elf maiden.

    "Dear, she caught me by surprise!"

    "Not in public." The Queen walked away with the grace of an empress and the boiling fury of a storm.

    The King knew that if left brewing, Sylpha''s rage could only get worse so he ignored her words and brought her to a private ce where they could talk.

    "Thanks, babe." Lith sighed in relief. "I really didn''t want to offend anyone, but if they kept treating me like some kind of mindless b of meat, I''d have given them a piece of my mind."

    "Anytime." Kam grunted, but not at him. "If any of those power bunnies tries to hop in your pants, just give me a call and I''ll do the rest."

    "Feisty." Tezka chuckled. "I like you."

    "Thank you!" Kam gave the Suneater a big squeeze, drawing several curious gazes. 1 "For what?" Tezka''s was among them.

    "For always protecting my sister, my nephew and niece, and even their happiness. I wanted to thank you for years but we never seemed to meet. If I wasn''t overbooked already, I''d ask you to be our nanny as well." Kam replied.

    "Mine is a full-time job, but I''m honored by your offer." Tezka gave her a small bow. "But I can assure you that whenever your kids y with mine, I''ll always be there. Now, if you''ll excuse me."

    He walked away as well, mingling with the people from Zelex and the undead who he considered as sort of distant rtives.

    After a while, the opening music announced the beginning of the ball and the kids returned. Aran would dance with Filia, Leria with Frey, Lilia with Xagra, while Leran and Garrik with two young noble dames.

    The first dance was bound to be the King with the now serene Queen and Lith with Kam since spouses outranked even the Royals during gs. After the first dance, Lith switched partners with the King.

    At that point, it was the family''s turn. Usually, Elina would take the first turn, but she left the honor to Solus.

    "That poor child still has to recover from what that monster of M''Rael did to her." She told Kam to exin her decision. "She is recovering, but the recent trauma reopened the wounds from her parents'' death.

    "Solus needs to know she''s part of our family and that nothing can change that."

    "I agree." Kam nodded, wishing Solus a speedy recovery.

    s, many in the room didn''t share herpassion.

    "Great Mage Solus Verhen is very pretty." Said one of the guests, uncaring of who heard him. "I don''t get why Magus Verhen didn''t marry her"

    "Me neither." A noblewoman replied. "I would get it if she was his sister or one of his cousins, but they are distant rtives so blood shouldn''t be an issue. She''s a powerful mage and a valiant fighter. The perfect candidate for a powerful bloodline."

    "Indeed." Another one nodded. "She went through thick and thick with Verhen while he was exiled in the Desert, she helped him create Void Magic, and fought alongside him as the Golden Knight during the War of the Griffons."

 Chapter 2698 Private Party (Part 2)

    Chapter 2698 Private Party (Part 2)

    "I have nothing against Lady Yehval, mind you, it''s just there''s noparison between them."

    Under any other circumstance, the fact that those people called Kam by her maiden name and drew painfulparisons that she did herself often would have greatly hurt her but not today.

    Kam had taken off her evening gloves during the dance to keep her scales in contact with Lith''s. The love he felt while looking at her and how his heart pounded whenever he brushed against her baby bump filled her with confidence.

    ''Dragons must be the happiest creatures on Mogar.'' She thought. ''No doubts, no worries. Only certainties.''

    Once Lith had danced with his whole family, including Leria and Filia, it was time for the friends. He went to Orion and Jirni and asked for their permission. They both went pale while Friya''s and Quy''s eyes watered a bit but they all agreed.

    Lith returned to the center of the dancefloor alone and before anyone could question his actions, he conjured Phloria''s hologram.

    The construct wore an emerald evening dress and white evening gloves, emphasizing her gold-colored skin due to theck of colors in the projection.

    The dress was skin-tight, with a neckline that somehow exerted a push-up effect. The construct wore part of its hair down, like a silky ck waterfall that reached its tights, while the rest formed a tress resembling a wreath over its head.

    The ballgown was decorated with flower-shaped small jewels and Lith''s golden lily pendant was the only ne the construct wore, drawing attention to Phloria''s slim neck.

    The construct was dressed like thest time they had danced at a G and wore the same smile. The apparition threw the ballroom into silence until the music started.

    ''Quy was right.'' Lith thought. ''I can''t let Phloria''s death force me to forget every good moment we spent together. She gave me so much and putting her out of my life just because her memory hurts would be damn ungrateful of me.''

    The construct moved with grace, its feet lithe as they followed the rhythm. Unlike the dress and jewels, Phloria''s projection looked like Solus back when she had her energy body.

    She was entirely golden, making her recognizable butcking many features to not make the apparition too painful to watch.

    ''One day, I''ll give you color but not today.'' Lith thought. ''I miss you too much, Phloria Ernas. You are the first woman who ever loved me unconditionally despite we shared no bond.

    ''I wish that back when you were still alive, I took the time to let you know how much you meant to me.''

    Lith kept the construct only for one dance and then resumed the regr schedule.

    The rest of the G was as pleasant as that kind of events filled with envy and petty grudges can be. At least, however, it was uneventful.

    ***

    The following day, Verhen Mansion.

    Lith''s social birthday was celebrated the day before so that at midnight the date would ovep with his real birthday while also leaving him the time to celebrate solely with family and friends.

    This time, on top of the Ernas, the Larks, the Distars, and Zinya, there were also the members of Zelex''s senate.

    "You didn''t have to invite us twice, Lord Verhen." Syrah felt embarrassed by the confidence and trust shown to her and her family.

    "Just call me Lith, Syrah." Lith shrugged her objections off. "Also, you are Rena''s friend which is enough to qualify for an invitation. Please, just be kind to R and especially to Garrik.

    "Whatever istion you experienced, they had it worse and they were also alone whereas at least you had your husband."

    Syrah pondered his words, but the reason she had epted was another. Her kids loved the sun, the woods, the food, and the Fastarrows.

    The young Hati felt shunned by the outside world and were scared of strangers but they felt at ease with the Skoll and the magical beasts. As much as Syrah resented Lith, she liked Rena and her own children more.

    "I''m sorry for missing the party yesterday, little brother." Zoreth said with a deep sigh. "But today Byt and I are all yours."

    The Shadow Dragon and the Fourth Ruler of the mes had skipped the official party to avoid being seen with Vastor. The Eldritches usually avoided the Court but a few people still knew them as the Professor''s nieces.

    If someone pointed out their rtionship and a Guardian were to hear it, they would immediately realize the real identity of the Master.

    "Don''t worry, Zor." Kam gave her a warm smile. "What matters is that you are here today. Elysia missed her godmother."

    Those words were enough to make the Eldritch tear up like a baby, hugging Kam first and her belly second.

    "Thanks. Auntie missed you too, baby girl." Zoreth said.

    "Auntie will kill entire races to keep you safe." Xenagrosh said while bing covered in ck scales.

    "That won''t be necessary." Leegaain patted her daughter''s back, stopping her shapeshifting back and forth from loving human to merciless Eldritch. "We all are going to protect Elysia until shees of age."

    He waved at Tyris and Sark who were there as well. The members of the Nest and of the Brood took it as their cue for a huge hurrah and cheers.

    That day there were enough Phoenixes and Dragons assembled in the Mansion that they could burn the whole Garlen to ashes in a matter of minutes if provoked.

    "I''ve brought gifts!" Bytra handed Lith baby clothes with more protective enchantments than threads, toys safe for the baby and dangerous for everyone else, and a crib equipped with a force field and an automated milk bottle system.

    "Thanks." Lith was bbergasted but happy.

    He had thought of making them as well, but hecked the time, skill, and materials to seed.

    "Don''t mention it." The Raiju stamped a huge kiss on his cheek, then Kam''s, and then her baby bump.

    "I''m sorry Zogar couldn''t make it." Kam said to her sister.

    "Me too." Zinya replied, knowing he was actually absent on purpose. "But you know how busy life in the academy is. He can''t take two days off in a row."

    After the gift exchanges and pleasantries were done, Quy and Morok walked up to Lith and Solus.

    "He has something he wants to say to you." Quy pointed at the Tyrant.

    "I''m sorry for calling you Lith''s secret girlfriend all this time." Morok gave Solus an apologetic bow. "Now that Quy exined everything to me, I realize how rude and inconsiderate I was."

    "Don''t mention it." Solus blushed in embarrassment at his unusual thoughtful behaviour. "That''s what everyone thought before knowing the full story. They just worded their concerns in a more polite way."

    "Thank you for your forgiveness." He gave her another bow. "Can I ask you a few questions or is it rude?"

    "Shoot. I can''t promise I will answer if it gets too personal, though." Solus chuckled.

    "I don''t think it''s personal so much as setting a baseline to get to know each other." Morok pondered. "I mean, I was wrong all this time. You aren''t Lith''s secret girlfriend, more like Kam''s secret wife, correct?"

 Chapter 2699 Talent and Mana (Part 1)

    Chapter 2699 Talent and Mana (Part 1)

    "I beg your pardon?" Solus became a deep shade of purple.

    "Well, you and Lith share one body and one life, it''s also natural to share the wife." Morok shrugged.

    "No, it''s not!" Solus and Quy said in unison while Lithughed his ass off.

    "No need to be such a prude. I know that you''ve been just a voice in Lith''s head. You were there while he checked the goods and took the test rides with his previous girlfriends. Yes or no?"

    "Yes, but-" Solus regretted having ever left the stone ring.

    "So when he decided to wife Kam up, you must have given him your approval. Their rtionship wouldn''t havested that long if you constantly nagged against it." Morok pointed out.

    "That''s true but it''s not like that. I have my own body now, see?" She waved her pink hand in front of his eyes and grabbed his hand to let him feel her warmth. "We don''t share Kam, okay?"

    "I see." Morok nodded. "So it''s you and Kam who share Lith."

    "Excuse you?" Kam joined the fray.

    "I mean, he''s legally married to one and magically married to the other. There''s nothing to be ashamed of. Lucky bastard."

    "What did you say?" Quy red at him.

    "Hey, my heart has space only for you, sweetie, but Lith''s is clearly more spacious." Suddenly Lith wasn''tughing anymore. "Just out of curiosity, are you three exclusive or it''s more like the more the merrier?

    "It would exin why yesterday all those chicks wanted a piece of Lith, or better of his d-"

    "Morok!" Lith, Quy, Kam, Solus, and even Friya yelled in unison.

    "Okay, fine. Great Mother almighty, no need to ruffle your feathers like that. I was just asking for a friend." Morok shrugged and left.

    "I''m sorry." Quy bowed and then turned around to chase him. "I need to make sure he doesn''t get himself killed!"

    their homage before allowing themselves to disturb the party with their chirping.

    14:33

    "Where''s Tezka?" Sark still found the quarrel hrious but for Kam''s sake she giggled instead of guffawing.

    "I didn''t bring him today, Overlord." Zinya gave her a curtsy. "I know you two have your differences and there''s no need for him today."

    She waved at the Guardians and the Divine Beasts present. Even the crickets paid their homage before allowing themselves to disturb the party with their chirping.

    "Do you mind calling him? I need to talk with Tezka." Sark said. "Our conversation will be peaceful and under the rules of hospitality. You have my word that no harm will befall him unless the Suneater strikes first."

    "I can ask him, but I can''t promise more." Zinya stuttered.

    "That''s more than enough, thank you." The Overlord gave her a nod of the head yet it was enough to make Zinya''s hands quiver for the honor given to her.

    "What''s up, little sparrow?" Tezka Chaos Warped, this time wearing no clothes.

    His silver and ck fur shone under the sunlight, both reflecting and absorbing its rays in equal measure.

    "I have an offer for you, old fox." Sark didn''t mind the teasing but the same couldn''t be said about her children.

    They didn''t like the disrespect nor that the Eldritch often remarked that he was the older of the two.

    "I''m listening." Tezka took a flute and a steak.

    "I want to resume our fight from where it was interrupted millennia ago. I want to see how much stronger we both have be." She said, plunging the garden into a shocked silence.

    "It would be a non-lethal spar." Sark quickly added after seeing how pale Zinya and her children had be. "We go all-out but we stop before the bitter end. I swear it on my warrior''s honor."

    "Why should I ept?" Tezka sounded more curious than worried. "What''s in it for me?"

    "The same thing there''s in it for me." The Overlord replied. "Don''t think that I''m blind to the Master''s machinations. Your little pack is preparing for something big. Something that might even put you against the Guardians."

    "And?" Theck of care in the Suneater''s voice was astounding.

    If he felt threatened by the presence of Sark and her Nest, it didn''t show. Those like Crevan who had met Tezka in the past could feel that he had changed deeply but they couldn''t understand how or how much, no matter how long they studied him with their mystical senses.

    "And it''s very hard finding a decent challenge. Especially for you. Am I right?"

    "Gods if I wish you weren''t." Tezka sighed, showing the first emotion since his appearance.

    Annoyance.

    "No matter how powerful they are, people like Thrud are like kids to you." Sark continued. "They are young, inexperienced, and boring. To understand how truly powerful you have be and spot the areas where you are stillcking, you need a true opponent.

    "Someone like me. We both get to learn something new about you and we work up some sweat. It''s been a long time since myst spat with Zagran and our fights are getting kind of repetitive. I need a real challenge as well."

    "Okay." Tezka finished his drink and finished his steak. "State your terms and conditions. I''m not falling for any trap or loophole."

    "My terms are as simple as myws!" Sark red up in anger. "I follow the spirit of my promises. I don''t nitpick with wording. We''ll meet on my turf in two days so that we both have the time to prepare.

    "Our fight will be no holds barred, but also non-lethal. If either of us understands the other has lost, we stop. If the other surrenders, we stop. Also, I promise you safe passage in and out of my territory, no matter who wins and who loses.

    "Whoever stands on your path once we are done will face my wrath. I will stop at nothing and no one until you are safe. Do we have a deal?" Sark extended her hand to him.

    "Yes, but I have a few conditions of my own." Tezka opened his hand but he didn''t take Sark''s.

    "Like what?" The Overlord furrowed her brow in confusion.

    "I want the kids to watch our fight." The Suneater pointed at Filia and Frey. "I want them to enjoy the same protection you offer me."

    "Why?" Both Zinya and Sark asked.

    "Because I care for them." Tezka replied. "Because even though their mana core is weak, there''s talent in their small bodies. Because I have no heirs nor disciples and I want to leave behind a few lessons in case something were to happen to me.

    "Last, but not least, I want them to witness the full scope of my powers. I want them to see their Uncle Tezka as a cool warrior instead of a bloody murderer for once."

    "Don''t say that, Uncle." Frey grabbed the Fylgja''s massive leg. "You are one of the good guys. You saved me, my sister, and Mom countless times."

    "Sure thing, buddy." Tezka''s hand was so big that its palm alone matched the boy''s head. "Sure thing."

    Sark looked at the scene in utter disbelief. She knew the Suneater and she knew how sensitive to evil kids were. Yet the love Filia and Frey radiated toward the Suneater was blinding to the point of making her envious.

 Chapter 2700 Talent And Mana (Part 2)

    2700 Talent and Mana (Part 2)

    "Deal." Sark said.

    "Wait!" Zinya stepped between them before their hands could touch. "I wish toe as well. Please."

    "One more person means nothing to me. Sark shrugged. "But at this point, I feel entitled to a simr concession."

    "Why?" Tezka snorted. "We both know that you can share everything with your Nest via your Call of the Blood. Whatever I do, your runts will know anyway."

    "Not my runts." The Overlord shook her head. "I want to bring those two as my guests."

    She pointed at Lith and Friya.

    "Hey!" Kam said in annoyance.

    "Fine, you too. You''ll keeppany to your sister." Sark rolled her eyes.

    "Let me think about it." Tezka walked towards the trio, his eyes wandering on each one of them and then on Solus.

    He had often met those people, he had seen them in the past but he had never bothered really looking at them. In his eyes, they were as pretty and ephemeral as butterflies. There was no point in memorizing the pattern of their wings.

    "Let me guess. These two are a package deal.''

    Sark nodded, knowing that any attempt to hide the pocket dimension from the inventor of dimensional magic was as stupid as trying to deny the existence of the sun.

    The Suneater could feel the same dimensional space stretching from both Lith and Solus, leaving him only one logical conclusion.

    "This one is funny!" Tezka bent down until his head was at the same eye level as Friya, covering her in a cold sweat. "There''s talent in her as well and she''s even been dabbling with my magic for a while now."

    Friya was proud of her ability as a dimensional mage and calling her seven years of blood, sweat, and tears in perfecting her skills "dabbling" was offensive at best. Yet she couldn''t move or even breathe under the gaze of the nightmare in front of her.

    She felt like he was looking past the clothes and flesh covering her. Like Tezka was staring at her true essence, making her feel naked andpletely at his mercy.

    "Deal. I like both Yehvals and Lith is my little brother. I can allow him a plus one." The two ancient monsters shook their hands and the tension in the air disappeared as fast as it had manifested.

    Friya could finally start breathing again and her knees buckled up. She panted like a bellows, feeling exhausted as if she had fought for her life against impossible odds.

    "Do you really think we are talented, Uncle Tezka?" Filia asked him.

    For some reason, the kids looked at Friya in a funny way, finding her weird. Friya was the only one who had experienced Tezka''s pressure. To everyone else, he had just talked.

    "I don''t think, I know." He replied. "Talent and mana capacity are twopletely different things. The first is decided at birth while the second can be expanded through Awakening."

    "What''s Awakening?" Frey asked with a puzzled look on his small face.

    "Ask your mother." Tezka disengaged before Zinya''s re could bore a hole through his skull.

    "How the heck does she do that?" Sark had noticed how the Suneater respected that weak human woman more than her and it pissed the Overlord off beyond belief.

    The party resumed as normal and since there was no boring etiquette hindering the fun, everyone talked, ate, andughed as much as they pleased without a care for differences in social status or bloodline.

    Lith''s Demons in particr were able to move around without people being scared of them and to interact with their respective families without the other guests treating them like freaks for consorting with lost souls.

    Trion spent most of the time with Aran and Leira, helping them with their games in the hope of reconnecting with them. He was still a stranger to them and their least favorite sibling/uncle but he could only me himself for that.

    Between Trion''s long absence and ill reputation among the family, the kids had no reason to trust him. That day he had decided to take control of Raptor and alter its size and properties to those of a normal magical beast in order to let the other children y fairly

    Elina and Raaz looked at their lost son with pride, recognizing the progress Trion had made to better himself. Once he would have never epted the demeaning role of a steed whereas now there was no trace of his past arrogance.

    Locrias hugged and kissed his wife non-stop, greatly embarrassing Gilly, his daughter. The fact that he also paraded her around like the most beautiful girl on Mogar didn''t help either.

    Valia justughed her ass off at Gilly''s expense while her parents scolded her for herck of tact. Then, her father asked Leegaain if there was a nice Dragon among his Brood that might be interested in Valia and the hrity stopped.

    "Dad!" Valia''s soul inhabited her own body but it was still a corpse.

    Yet she managed to blush up to her ears.

    "Overlord Sark, can you please introduce someone to my daughter?" Valia''s mother asked, revealing that her parents had nned for a two-pronged attack. "I know that an undead''s ferility is low but we''d really love to have a grandchild."

    "Mom! 1-" The rest of the words died on Valia''s lips as she noticed her mother''s watery eyes as she looked at the many youths assembled.

    "I''ll see what I can do." Sark nodded and returned to the party.

    Only Remphas Varegrave, former colonel of the Kingdom and current Demon, sat alone in a corner. He had no family and with no soldier to train, there wasn''t much he could do.

    "The War of the Griffons is over and Thrud is dead. He thought while nibbling at the food on his te. ''My duty is over. Maybe it''s time to move on.''

    "Remphas,e here please. He recognized Lady Verhen''s voice, the only one in the family who called the Demons by their name.

    He didn''t bother walking, fusing with the nearest shadow and jumping next to Kam to save time.

    "What do you need, my L-" Varegrave''s dead heart skipped a beat and his shadow form almost seeped out of his own corpse in surprise.

    He inhabited his original body, like Valia, and he was always raised as a Demon of the Fallen as well.

    Right next to Lady Verhen stood a blonde woman in her mid-thirties with blonde hair held up in a chignon that was more suited to the daily chores than to a party. She had blue eyes and the pained expression of someone who had recently lost a loved one.

    The blonde woman wore day clothes of good quality but they looked haggardpared with the rest of the guests.

    She had dark bags under her bloodshot eyes, signs that she slept little and had recently cried a lot. She kept wringing her hands while looking at Varegrave so much that her dry skin cracked and bled under the pressure of her nails.

    "What is Shya doing here? Why did you tell her that I''m alive, I mean, a Demon? You had no right to do this without asking my permission first, Lady Verhen!" The Demon said in outrage, without worrying to hide the edge in his tone.

 Chapter 2701 A Warriors Spirit (Part 1)

    2701 A Warrior''s Spirit (Part 1)

    "First of all, I always found it weird that you had no one." Kam ignored both Varegrave''s attitude and questions. "Most of the members of the military I know have a family. It''s what keeps them going.

    "So I did a little digging and as a Royal Constable getting my hands on your personnel file was easy. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you actually had a wife and children."

    "Ex-wife!" Varegrave snarled. "Hence why you should haven''t done this. We have nothing to say to each other anymore and my children deserve to not have to mourn their father twice. I''ll soon be gone and there''s no point in this meeting!"

    Suddenly, the bond with Lith wavered, the Demon''s anger so great that he was willing to move on just out of spite for Kam.

    "I would agree with you if your story matched your wife''s. This time Kam stared into his eyes and addressed his objections. "Had she expressed indifference or just hate for your demise, I would have left it there after giving her my condolences.

    "Instead, even after months from the end of the War of the Griffons, she was still mourning you and was happy to talk about you. She told me of how you felt guilty for putting your family''s life at stake after the events of Kandria"

    Varegrave shuddered at the mention of the gue and the memories it evoked.

    Due to his mistreatment of Lith during their first meeting, the Queen had been adamant about charging him for High Treason after the fourth-year student had found a cure for Hatorne''s parasites.

    ording to the Kingdom''sw, not only Varegrave but also his family might have been executed as a warning to the rest of the army officers. His poor judgment had almost cost the Kingdom a priceless asset and countless lives.

    If not for Lith asking for mercy on Varegrave''s behalf, there was no telling how far the Queen''s wrath would have gone.

    "She told me how it was out of guilt that you volunteered to lead the squad that supported Lith in protecting Belius from Thrud''s forces. A mission that wasbeled as suicidal." Kam continued.

    "Then Shya must have also told you that she didn''t want me to do it. That she told me that if I went to Belius, I might as well note back because I wouldn''t have been wee in my house anymore.

    "That everything between us would be over." Varegrave snarled. "That''s why before leaving I served her the divorce papers. I performed my duty and followed her wishes. To quote my ex-wife''s words, we are done!"

    He noticed that every time he used the word "ex" or mentioned their final argument, Shya seemed to crumple in pain.

    "People say lots of stupid things when they are angry and I''ve been with a stubborn man myself long enough to know when I need to ignore his words and do what he really needs." Kam shook her head.

    "Your wife has always regretted herst words to you and has never stopped mourning your loss. Your children are still distraught and they me their mother for what happened to you." "That''s ridiculous!" Varegrave blurted out in surprise. "Leaving was my choice. Shya has nothing to do with that!"

    "Then you should tell them yourself because your children think that if she didn''t push you to divorce her, you would have found the strength toe back to them alive like you always did." Kam replied.

    "Gods!" The Demon sped his temples, torn between the desire to help his family and avoid bringing them further suffering. "Shya, please tell me what to do. You''ve always been better than me in-"

    Hearing those familiar words spoken with the same pattern and intonation as the husband she had considered lost forever, Shya just dashed forward and tackled the Demon in an embrace, sobbing.

    "Forgive me, Remphas. I never meant to kick you out. I just wanted to stop you. I wanted you to love us more than your job." She buried her face into his chest, enjoying his warmth and losing herself in his smell.

    Varegrave too inhabited his corpse and it was kept in perfect condition by necromantic spells.

    "I''ve always loved you more than my job, you silly woman!" Varegrave''s hands trembled as he searched for the strength to return the embrace. "I didn''t volunteer because I had a death wish but because I thought that Verhen was our best shot at victory.

    "Were Thrud to win, I would have lost my life anyway and you guys would have lost our house, my pension, and maybe even your own life. Even if somehow I survived, I wasn''t important enough to be enved by the Unwavering Loyalty array.

    "Thrud would have hunted me and my men down, using our families as bait to lure us into the open. You''ve seen what happened to Phloria Ernas. Do you think I could let something like that happen to you?"

    Shya just shook her head, feeling like the biggest idiot on Mogar. Back when they had quarreled, Thrud''s reputation was even better than the Royals''. The Mad Queen had yet to lose her husband Jormun and give in to her madness.

    It was the reason Shya hadn''t cared about the War of the Griffons, thinking that no matter the victor, her family''s life wouldn''t have changed. Now, however, she knew better.

    "I''m sorry, Remphas. That''s all I can say, I know it''s not much. I know that I don''t deserve it, but please,e back home. If not for me for our children." She cried so hard that if not for his Demon hearing, Varegrave wouldn''t have made sense of her words.

    He was still angry and hurt from their parting words, but he could also feel from his ex-wife''s heartbeat and perspiration that she was telling the truth. She really was sorry and her pain was genuine.

    Varegrave had left Shya with the hope that the separation would shield her from the pain. He had died to protect her so the idea to have actually made things worse and be the cause of her current suffering was unbearable.

    "I can take you back, but I can''te home." He said while finally hugging her. "Away from my Liege, I would fade away."

    "Then we''ll move to Lutia with the others. I don''t care where we live as long as it''s with you. She sniffled. "Also, I''m still your wife. I never signed the divorce papers. Never."

    Shya handed him the folder containing the documents and bearing his signature but she had never filled her parts.

    "Thank you" Varegrave felt a huge burden lifted from his heart, knowing that he hadn''t been forgotten. That despite everything, he still had someone to return to. "Now we just have to tell the kids..."

    "Easily solved. Grandma, if you may." Kam said.

    "On it." The Overlord opened a Warp Gate and dragged a teen boy and a young girl to the Verhen Mansion.

    They looked around with a shocked expression on their faces until they saw their parents.

    "Dad! Mom!" The how, where, and why they had crossed thousands of kilometers in an instant became meaningless to them.

 Chapter 2702 A Warriors Spirit (Part 2)

    2702 A Warrior''s Spirit (Part 2)

    Their lost father was alive and he seemed to have made up with Shya. That was the only thing that mattered to Varegrave''s children.

    "My babies! Damn, look how much you guys have grown. Is the house still standing or did you eat that too?" The joke about their

    gluttonousness was something only the real Varegrave could know and it made them break into tears.

    They joined the family hug, bawling their eyes out and calling out their dad over and over.

    "Thank you, Lady Verhen." Varegrave said, having a hard time holding back the tears.

    "You are wee." A snap of Kam''s fingers activated a Warping array that moved the Varegrave family inside the Mansion.

    There, away from prying eyes, the Demon let himself go, expressing all the joy of the reunion with sweet words and salty tears.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Blood ins, near the borders with the free countries, two days after Lith''s birthday.

    Contrary to its name, the Blood ins were made ofmon yellow sand. There was no grass nor water in the surroundings, just a peculiar wind pattern that kept dunes from forming and left the Desert''s sands leveled for a few kilometers.

    Sark had scheduled the meeting near high noon so that the Suneater could employ his best spells to their maximum efficacy. As promised, she had brought along a small crowd of spectators and left her Praetorian Guards to patrol the area.

    For the asion and to ensure that nothing bad happened to her guests, the Overlord had invited both Sinmara the Phoenix of Darkness and Surtr the Dragon of Light.

    "I''ve arranged our transportation to a neutral ground." Sark said. "It''s an uninhabited ind outside of my turf. There we can fight on equal terms with only our own strength.

    "My guards will make sure that no one will disturb our fight and that our spells won''t force my cartographers to redraw the maps of half the continent."

    "That''s very thoughtful of you, little sparrow, but I''d like for us to fight here." Tezka gave her a small nod of the head as thank you.

    "Are you sure?" Sark furrowed her brow. "I''m stronger in the Desert. It would be an unfair advantage."

    "It also means that other Guardians will be weaker and that your Nest is at its strongest." The Suneater tutted. "We both know that outside your turf means inside someone else''s. I trust you and no one else."

    "Fine!" Sark was pissed off at the idea of having an edge on her rival. "Then you cast your best spells before we start. That will even things out."

    "Not a chance." Tezka shrugged. "Where''s the fun in that?"

    His words pissed the Overlord even more, giving her the impression that the Suneater was either underestimating her or overestimating himself.

    "Uncle Tezka, why are you doing this? This is unfair!" Filia asked, a bit pale from fear.

    No reassurance could convince her that something bad wouldn''t happen to her beloved friend. The Divine Beasts assembled there only made her feel more scared that Sark might go back on her word.

    "Because life is unfair, my sweet child." Tezka replied while caressing her cheek. "If the meandy and I are going to fight in the future, it won''t happen on my terms. Did the bullies give you notice before ambushing you?

    "Did Fallmug give you a chance before doing what he did? Did any of those mean people who attempted on your and your brother''s life y by any rule?"

    Both Filia and Frey shook their heads. Also, they appreciated Tezka calling Fallmug by his name instead of father. To them, Zogar was the only dad they had ever had while the Suneater was their best friend.

    "Remember my words while you grow up. Always prepare for the worst and train under the most unfair conditions because that''s how life usually ys out."

    Sark nodded in agreement, feeling her pride restored and admiring Tezka''s new attitude.

    ''He isn''t disrespecting me. Quite the contrary. The old fox trusts me so much that he''s putting his life in my hands. He wants to fight here because he knows that even if hees one inch from death, I''ll protect Zinya and the kids.

    ''He''s actually doing it for us. For me to show my true power and for him to fight without any worry. The old fox is going to give the performance of his life.'' The Overlord thought.

    "Before we start, there''s a spell I have prepared for our guests." She actually said. "This fight is meant to be a lesson, but at the speed you and I move it would be a lot even if our spectators just see a couple of shes before we are done."

    Sark revealed the spell matrix to Tezka before using it on Zinya and the others.

    "Interesting. They will use our senses as a live feed, to experience everything we do as if they were on our level." The Eldritch-Warg hybrid rubbed his chin. "I agree with this and I thank you for your kindness."

    This time Tezka gave her a real bow, leaving everyone bbergasted.

    Sark used the Battle Sense spell to connect herself with Tezka and both of them with Lith, Solus, Friya, Kam, Zinya, Filia, and Frey.

    "Shields up!" On the Overlord''s mark, the entire Blood ins were surrounded by a twenty-meter (66'') thick Spirit Barrier, and the spectators were brought on the other side since thanks to her spell distance didn''t matter anymore.

    "Before starting, I have one suggestion and one more offer." Sark said. "I suggest we keep our formspressed to human size. It''s just you and me here. Being big is just pointless and would increase the number of times we hit the barrier.

    "Once we go all-out, even with my children fueling the barrier, there''s only so many hits it can take so we have to make them count or we''ll have to suspend the match to allow for repairs. I hate being interrupted."

    Tezka nodded in agreement and for her to continue.

    "If you want, you can use your equipment whereas I''ll fight bare-handed. Deal?"

    "No." Tezka replied. "I want to fight you at your best, just like it might happen in the future. I''m not interested in 10% of your power or any arbitrary number. You, me, 100%. Anything less and I''m out of here."

    "Gods, Zagran would love you." Sarkughed heartily, pping at his warrior spirit.

    "I have a few final words before we start as well." Tezka said and Sark waited without weaving a single spell nor assuming a guard stance. "Filia, Frey. Every time I had to fight, I asked you to close your eyes.

    "Not today. Today, I want you to watch my back and never to avert your gaze. Don''t even blink if you can. I''m going to show you the pride of the Suneater and I don''t want you to miss a single moment of it.

    "I want you to be proud of me. It''s been a long time since someone has been proud of me."

    He looked back at Zinya at the children, raising his closed fist in a salute that also showed his determination. Filia and Frey returned it, but Tezka had already turned around.

 Chapter 2703 True Power And Form (Part 1)

    2703 True Power and Form (Part 1)

    "Now I''m ready." The Suneater said.

    "So am I!" Sark pped her hands, signaling the beginning of the fight and shapeshifting her ample red desert robes into skin-tight pants and shirt.

    The fight started with a quick exchange of fists and kicks that surpassed the speed of sound. The two contenders moved back and forth throughout the Blood ins, riding the sonic booms to move faster and timing their respective attacks to create constructive and destructive interference.

    Sark and Tezka used the former to pile up their own sonic booms into devastating shockwave attacks and thetter to weaken the opponent''s booms. They moved through space on purpose, every spot where they shed was a forcedpromise between offense and defense.

    Forced because neither of them was letting the other dictate the flow of battle but they had to exchange blows or they would be just staring at each other all day.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I can barely understand what''s happening even with Solus'' help and the Eyes!''Lith was terrified by the spectacle.

    If not for the Battle Sense spell he would just see empty air.

    ''Me too.'' Everyone else replied.

    Zinya and her children were cut off from the conversation since they knew nothing of Solus and magic.

    "You have definitely improved." Sark however, was already getting bored. "Your double core gives you a nice new kick but you are still nothingpared to the raw prowess of a Guardian who has mastered their powers!"

    "You don''t say?" Tezka smiled at her as if she hadplimented him. "Then you''re going to like this."

    The sky suddenly turned dark as his Eldritch Tier spell, Suneater, blotted the sun out of the sky.

    Suneater used a burst of Chaos magic to bring a piece of Tezka out of Mogar''s atmosphere. From there, it would grow and spread like an umbre, absorbing both the light energy from the sun and the cosmic radiation.

    Suneater fed all the collected energy to Tezka in real time and in turn, he would convert part of it into mass and use the rest to fuel his spells and bloodline abilities.

    Eldritches were made of energy and their ck core was a bottomless pit. Their capacity to hold and control mana was endless, there was no such a thing as mana abuse for them.

    Tezka suddenly became much stronger, faster, and heavier as the new mass his body gained matched that of the Guardian.

    "So much for wanting to fight under the most unfair conditions possible." Sarkughed even though Tezka''s barrage of attacks was now pushing her back. "You have no violet core nor body casting.

    "You had no time to weave Suneater with true magic unless you did it during your pep talk to the kids!"

    "Victory needs no exnations whereas defeat brooks none." Tezka replied as the frequency of his attacks increased without end.

    He used not only hands and feet like Sark but also nine of his ten tails and she couldn''t deal with all of them anymore.

    ''That''s a low blow!'' Friya inwardly cursed. ''I didn''t expect Tezka to be this cowardly.

    ''You are wrong.''Lith replied. As he said, life is always unfair. The secret to survival is making it unfair to your advantage.

    Friya and Kam looked at him for a second, wondering if the Abominations weren''t wrong in considering Lith like one of their own.

    As for the kids, they couldn''t agree with Tezka more.

    "We are on the prettydy''s turf. If it gives her an advantage, Uncle Tezka has every right to cheat. She isn''t ying fairly either."They thought while cheering as hard as they could for the Eldritch.

    "It was an amazing spell back then and it''s even better now but so am I!" Sark abandoned her human form and shapeshifted into a blood-red Phoenix. "Don''t forget that I''m no human. I never was one. That silly form was a handicap I gave myself.

    "I was doing you a favor but now it''s time for me to get serious!" Her feathered wings moved in circles in front of her, intercepting multiple kicks and punches at the same time.

    The air currents apanying Sark''s movements neutralized the shockwaves while her soft plumage absorbed the physical impact. She didn''t take the attacks head-on anymore, she deflected them off her line with minimum effort, waiting for the right time to counter.

    Tezka''s tails were supposed to still give him an edge but Sark now could reply in spades. The long peacock-like feathers on a Phoenix''s tail weren''t ornamental. They darted from every direction, moving like a new limb each and intercepting Tezka''s tails.

    She had more than nine of them so the Suneater found himself quickly on the back foot. The Phoenix''s wings and tail feathers intercepted everything Tezka dished out while her beak punished the slightest mistake with a surgical counter.

    Tezka''s fur was thick and durable but even after hardening its tufts into spikes, the Phoenix''s beak cut through them effortlessly. To make matters worse, her extra feathers from the tail pummelled at him from every direction.

    If the Suneater stepped forward, Sark stepped back, and vice versa. She kept strict control of the range, limiting his offensive and defensive options by cornering him with her tails at every step of thebat.

    "Does this remind you of anything?" The Guardian smirked. "This is an urate rey of ourst fight. Come on, do it. I know you want to."

    "This is nothing like ourst fight!" Tezka smirked back, his form splitting into nine identical bodies.

    Each one of the new Tezkas only bore one tail except for the one who also carried the atrophied Spirit tail.

    "What does he hope to achieve with this?'' Sark and the spectators thought in unison. The number of tails is unchanged and even though he now has more limbs- Oh shit!

    As exined before, an Eldritch''s ck core was a bottomless pit with an endless capacity to hold and control mana. Even the small portion of the sun''s energy absorbed by Suneater was the equivalent of several nuclear explosions and that without factoring in the cosmic radiations.

    Each one of Tezka''s nine bodies had the physical and magical might of the original. Each one of them had the same mass of a 50 meters (164'') tall Guardian. They moved with a single mind and purpose, surrounding the Phoenix in a seven-pointed attack formation.

    "Oh, crap!" Not only were now the tables turned, with Tezka''s limbs outnumbering Sark''s, but he also did more than rely on physical attacks.

    Seven of them kept a constant pressure on the Guardian while the remaining two kept their distance and cast spells with true and fake magic for the rest of the group. A barrage of Cursed, Dimensional, and Gravity spells now rained on Sark''s head along with blows powerful enough to tten a mountain.

    "Go, Uncle Tezka!" Filia started to jump while cheering whereas Zinya was simply terrified by the extinction-level fight taking ce in front of her.

    "Is really Tezka that strong? How can the kids take all of this as some sort of game? What the heck happened while they were with him that they are used to such things?"Zinya thought.

 Chapter 2704 True Power And Form (Part 2)

    2704 True Power and Form (Part 2)

    Zinya had many other questions but they all had to way because it was Sark''s time to make her move.

    "Nice trick." She replied. "I admit that this bloodline ability would have cornered me, millennia ago. Now, however, I know better!"

    She conjured a stream of magic of the opposite elements to counter the Cursed Spells, returning them to their natural state. Thanks to her Guardian core, Sark could use body casting so the faster she moved the faster she weaved her spells.

    Gravity blocked Gravity and Dimensional Magic countered Dimensional Magic. The now regr tier five elemental spells she tanked with no worry, barely making a grunt when a particrly strong one hit her.

    "Oh, please, that was just a setup and you fell for it!" The choir of Tezkas said, appearing everywhere at the same time.

    While Sark was focused on not letting Gravity crush her and dimensional tears rip her to shreds, the nine Tezkas had surrounded her, blocking every dodge and block path. A flurry of hands and feet ws opened deep wounds on the Phoenix''s body while the nine tails impaled her.

    Feathers flew and blood gushed out as the Guardian felt strength abandoning her body.

    This fucker knew he couldn''t beat me with magic. He created a distraction to hit me with the physical might of nine Guardians.''Sark though. I must admit that''s a bit too much even for me.

    She took a deep breath and her body was suddenly set aze. The tails stuck inside her body burned and so did all the following hits. At the same time, by using her bloodline ability, Rebirth mes, she converted her mana into matter.

    Her wounds healed faster than Tezka could open new ones whereas the mes managed to inflict upon him major burns despite theyers of protective magic surrounding his bodies.

    "It''s over, old fox." Sark said as the violet of the mes turned white and so did the red of her feathers. "It was brilliant of you to add a new step to our fight, but now that I''ve taken my true form you are no match for me."

    The Tezkas stepped away, a few of them focused on healing while the others tried everything they could yet it was pointless. The white mes burned mana, dimensional openings, and even Cursed Spells.

    The roaring fire shone like a sun, devouring everything the Suneater could throw at the Guardian.

    Tezka whimpered, his snout curling down in frustration.

    For one fraction of a second. Then, it turned up into a literal wolfish smile as heughed from the depth of his heart.

    "Did you forget your own words? I have still one trick you know left." Then he sent this message to the spectators. "Kids, this is for you. This is the true form of my prized Chaos Dimension!"

    The air, ground, and light started to quake, giving Sark an eerie feeling. The space all around the contenders filled with cracks, as if reality was one big mirror and an army was punching at it.

    "Seriously?" Sark scoffed in annoyance, but she used Soul Vision to understand what was happening. "This is what you did thest time and your precious spell failed against my white mes.

    "This is when you left and we ended in a draw. You couldn''t hurt me and I couldn''t catch you. Yet that was millennia ago. Before I fully mastered the Primordial mes and my full power as a Guardian. I''m much stronger now!"

    She unleashed the Primordial mes all around her, burning Tezka''s spell down to its smallest rune.

    "And so am I!" The nine Tezkas went back to be one, he needed the masteries over all elements in one body for his next move.

    His hands moved in unison, each forming a semi-circle that mirrored the other.

    The white mes stopped as if they had hit a wall and then Sark crashed against the ground like a meteor. Gravity had been amplified by a thousand-fold yet the sand around her was unaffected.

    The clouds and wind were untouched by the spell''s effect as well. Even the ants who were feeling the fallen Phoenix with their antennas were unscathed by the spell.

    "What the fuck?" Sark used raw physical strength to get up, unleashing a st of fire from each of her wings and a Guardian Tier Spirit Spell, Lord of War, from her mouth.

    A hail of emerald bullets each the size of a building and possessing enough destructive power to vaporize ake bolted against the Suneater at Mach 10.

    "I''m disappointed in you, little sparrow!" Tezka weaved his hands and shifted the weight on his feet as he shifted gravity itself.

    All of Sark''s attacks were imbued with willpower and would chase their target to the edge of Mogar yet they failed toe even close to the Suneater. Space was distorted around him so that the spells failed to pinpoint his position, swirling around him without ever finding him.

    Tezka quickly performed hand signs, using both fake and true magic to control and alter the already-formed Chaos Dimension.

    A red Warp sucked one of the bursts of Primordial mes, a white Warp took the other, and a ck Warp sucked the Lord of War in.

    Sark instantly replied bypressing the space around her, but it was useless, Chaos Warp didn''t bend space, it pierced through it. The only thing her spell achieved was to further degrade the space and make it unstable around her.

    The Chaos Warp also opened the path for the following Decay Warp and Cinder Warp. Lord of War hit Sark from point-nk range, its mana tainted by Chaos enough to hurt even its caster.

    Decay Warp exploded right after releasing the Primordial mes, turning them into a massive congration that was impossible to dodge. Cinder Warp added kic energy to the second burst of mes, doubling its speed and making it hit hard like a physical blow.

    The Mother of All Phoenixes was sted off her feet, spinning through the air in a drizzle of blood and feathers. She tried to Spirit Blink but due to the Cursed Warps the space was unstable and the dimensional corridor blew up in her face.

    The members of the Nest and the Praetorian Guard gasped, needing sheer discipline to not step into the fight as their mother, mentor, and Overlord was tossed around like a ragdoll.

    Tezka kept adjusting the Cursed Gates so that they kept following the helpless Guardian until they delivered thest bit of their deadly cargo.

    Sark survived only because her body was still wrapped inside a thickyer of Primordial mes that took off the brunt of the three attacks.

    ''Good gods!'' Surtr and Sinmara were shocked to their bones. Now I understand why Thrud ran away even though she had the Arthan Set with her. I wouldn''t be able to survive any of Tezka''s hits and I''m a bright white core.

    Even with my best equipment, I don''t think the oue would be any different. Thrud had no chance against him.''

    ''Fuck us sideways!''Lith and Solus fared even worse and Kam with them.

    ''Solus, what are our chances if we were to face either of them while above a mana geyser and with the tower to back us?'' Lith asked.

 Chapter 2705 Gods Of War (Part 1)

    2705 Gods of War (Part 1)

    Our chances of victory would be none. Yet if we manage to fuse and trigger the tower''sbat form, we might escape by the skin of our teeth. Maybe.''Solus replied.

    "You are amazing, but let''s see how you do without silly tricks!" Sark bolted forward, her wings curled near her body as she elerated to unbelievable speed.

    The white mes burned the Chaos Dimension, getting rid of the spatial distortion and allowing her to reach her mark in an instant. Her wounds were also healed, making her children sigh in relief.

    ''Brilliant move!" Solus thought while analyzing Sark''s strategy. ''Whatever Tezka did to fool the willpower in her spells, it can''t work on physical attacks. Once the Primordial mes get rid of the Chaos Dimension, the match is hers!

    Or so she thought until, with the same delicate movements of his hands, Tezka also deflected Sark''s wings, tails, and beak. The power of the white mes overwhelmed Chaos Dimension but she still couldn''t touch him.

    The Suneater, instead, only needed a flick of his wrists to uproot her in a defenseless position and then strike at her with a boom of thunder. His fists came in and out of Cinder

    Warps that appeared near her body, limiting the interaction with the Primordial mes and amplifying the kic energy of the blows one hundredfold.

    Sark was utterly confused, with gravity changing its direction so quickly that she couldn''t orient herself. Tezka moved from one point in space to another non-stop, making it seem there were one hundred of him instead of one.

    "How is this possible? My Primordial mes are supposed to burn the runes of your spells yet they are still unscathed." Soul Vision revealed that none of her attacks had put a single dent in the integrity of the Chaos Dimension''s matrix. "What power is this?"

    "Science, little sparrow." Tezka weaved his index finger in front of his snout without ever stopping his attacks. "Gravity is actually the curvature of space and time. You, I, and everyone else on Mogar are simply moving on the curvature of that fabric.

    "Matter tells space how to curve while space tells matter how to move. I have understood their duality and now I can control matter with Gravity Magic and space with Dimensional Magic.

    "This isn''t your turf anymore but my yground!"

    Gravity altered the trajectory of Sark''s attacks while space twisted and turned around the Suneater, making him untouchable and his attacks unavoidable.

    I understand now!'' Friya said, making everyone turn toward her. ''Primordial mes still use world energy but now that''s at Tezka''s back and call. He achieved absolute mastery over everything around him by circting the mana from his body through his tails.

    ''He needed to fuse back into one body because to attain this level of control, you need a perfect understanding of all elements and how they interact with each other as you alter their individual output at any given time. He is-''

    As Friya tried to find a metaphor that could express theplexity of Tezka''s genius, something clicked inside of her.

    ''That''s it! That''s what Mogar''s answer about my hair meant! I''m no Lith, I don''t have a bloodline ability that gives me Domination, I have a natural affinity towards all of them.

    "To achieve the violet, I must do like Morok and let the elemental energies flow through me. Yet since I don''t have his eyes, I need to split the world energy in itsponents by myself before harmonizing them with my life force.

    ''He was right, I really can learn from his experience.''

    The others drowned her in questions but she cut them off, using Lifestream to circte the world energy inside her body. She split it into its basicponents, using her hair to draw them apart and making them a part of herself.

    Friya wasn''t just a mass of life force and mana anymore, the six elemental energies now resided in her body as well, bncing the other two forces out. The elemental streaks in her hair lit up like suns of different colors and the blue of her aura turned violet.

    Yet she was no beast. There was no pir apanying her evolution and her body started to crack down to rearrange itself in the most perfect and painful way possible.

    "Surtr! Deal with the kid. I don''t care what happens to me, Friya mustn''t miss a single second of this fight. Did I make myself clear?" Sark ordered.

    "Yes, mother." The Dragon of Light put his hands on Friya''s head, taking control of her breakthrough.

    He guided matter and energy on the path of least resistance so that the young woman could still focus on the exchange between the Suneater and the Lord of War.

    Friya''s body shivered, ck tar-like impurities gushed out of her mouth, eyes, and ears yet she barely noticed it while she tried to unveil the secrets of Chaos Dimension.

    Every fold in space was a symphony of genius and every twist in gravity was a masterpiece of magic.

    ''Fuck me sideways I remember an Einstein quote saying Tezka''s exact same words!'' Lith said this solely to Kam and Solus. ''What if Tezka is as smart as him? What if he''s even smarter?''

    The two women had a hard time understanding the implications of the existence of someone who could match the intellectual prowess of the father of modern physics and also had the magical power of an Eldritch.

    "Fuck, I really didn''t want to do this because it feels like a cheap blow, but as you said, victory requires no exnation!" Sark released countless elemental sealing arrays, knowing that someone without Spirit Magic or Domination would be helpless once deprived of the power of the elements.

    Yet Tezka kept grinning and unleashed the spells stored inside six of his tails. The Cursed Elements drained their counterpart from her arrays, turning one of the elementalponents of the magical formations into Cursed Magic as well.

    Mirror Magic was much faster than Warden Magic so Tezka''s spells reached their targets while the arrays were still forming and before they could take effect.

    The final result was the arrays imploding and Sark getting pummelled for losing her focus in surprise.

    "I told you, I''ve prepared for this fight for a long while. You would have beaten me ten times over if I were still an Eldritch but now I''m also a Warg!" Tezka''s Spirit Tail had detached earlier from the main body.

    The atrophied limb was useless in a fight, but it could still form a body of its own. The Spirit Tail had been casting with true and fake magic, passing the spells to the main Tezka.

    It gave him the equivalent of body casting and an endless reserve of spells for his tails.

    "Magnificent!" Sark''s voice expressed the admiration she felt. "I did the right thing challenging you. A weaker Guardian might have been defeated by your newfound powers."

    "A weaker Guardian?" Tezka echoed before being sted away in a pir of emerald fire.

    "Indeed." Sark was still a White Phoenix but her body was now engulfed in Immortal mes.

    They came out of her body and were sparked by her very core. The emerald mes obeyed solely the Overlord and ignored even Mogar''s will.

 Chapter 2706 Gods of War (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 2706 Gods of War (Part 2)</h4>

    2706 Gods of War (Part 2)

    Chaos Dimension made Tezka the ruler of the area but the Immortal mes ignored his decrees.

    They only had one goddess and one purpose. The emerald mes spread outward, burning at Chaos Dimension''s runes and weakening its grip on the Guardian.

    Tezka cursed under his breath and rearranged the spell in order to save as much of it as he could.

    A flick of his fingers turned the sand into stone and made it into a mountain that struck at the Overlord. A shift of his feet lowered the air pressure to the point where there was barely any oxygen left.

    A wave of his tail made it so that the temperature dropped by 200 degrees. Such was the power of Chaos Dimension.

    By controlling gravity and space, Tezka could control the whole Mogar. Or rather, the fraction of Mogar that his Eldritch tier spell epassed.

    To do that, he needed massive amounts of mana that only the Suneater spell could provide and he had to fill the area with his own power in order to make up for theck of Domination.

    All of that was useless against a being who was the source of her own power by emitting Spirit Magic. A Guardian who possessed true Domination and had mastered it over the millennia.

    Sark''s body red up, dispelling the mountain, restoring the air, and making the Desert warm again. Her Immortal mes burned through space, Blinking her behind Tezka and assaulting him with a flurry of hits from her tail''s feathers.

    "Damn it, if only I too had Spirit Magic!" He roared.

    "And if wishes were horses beggars would ride!" Sark roared back, following him everywhere he Blinked, leaving no safe space in the entire Blood ins for the Suneater.

    "Indeed!" Tezka replied, activating the power of his tenth tail.

    An incrediblyplex array appeared out of thin air, the Master''s very own Chaos Annihtion, a version of the anti-Guardian spell that had no need for Spirit Magic.

    The Chaos reced the darkness and made up for theck of the seventh element, bringing Vastor''s variation of Silverwing''s Annihtion on par with the original.

    A six-pointed star appeared around Tezka with him as the seventh. Five elemental pirs and a Chaos pir burst in front of him and he fuelled them with spells from both his Gravity and Dimensional tails, bringing the spell to the next level.

    "What the farm?" The Overlord and everyone else said in unison but for entirely different reasons.

    Dimensional magic elerated the spell and bounced it everywhere, making it impossible to dodge. Gravity magic hindered Sark''s movements while also making her the center of gravity of the entire Blood ins.

    Everything fell towards her including the Chaos Annihtion that was now homing into its target. Tezka bellowed as he put into the anti-Guardian spell every ounce of power from Suneater that his body couldn''t take.

    As for the others, Phoenixes, humans, and everything in between, they were simply stunned.

    ''Are they really going to keep one-upping each other like this?'' Every time the match seemed over, Either Tezka or Sark pulled a new trick out of their hat.

    Can you really mix Gravity and Dimensional spells even with arrays?''Friya coughed out a bunch of impurities but her eyes didn''t blink as she stared at the Suneater.

    Sark took the Annihtion in full and her Immortal mes went out. The Guardian was sent flying back, allowing Tezka to restore his might via the Suneater spell.

    He was panting heavily, having put everything he had into the Chaos Annihtion.

    "Well, good to know." Sark stood up, with half of her body missing and spurting blood. "That thing hurts like a bitch but I doubt you can do that again."

    Rebirth mes healed the White Phoenix, regrowing the missing organs and limbs in an instant.

    "I, instead, have Immortal mes for days!" Emerald fire burst out of her body again, apanied by a shortness of breath.

    Even a Guardian knew fatigue and purging the Chaos that was guing her mana core and body required further effort.

    "You really don''t want to let me go home today!" Tezka pulled the Endless Night de and his Suneater armor from his pocket dimension. "I thought you were into Dragons."

    "I sure am!" Sark replied by wielding her ck de, Tyrant Sun, in her tail''s feathers and wearing her white armor, Conqueror Moon.

    Both sets of equipment were made from the purest Davross and studded solely with elemental crystals.

    Sark''s set was a Guardian-crafted artifact that she only used against a fellow Guardian and only after they both agreed to put their life on the line. That day, she wore it for an Eldritch.

    Tezka''s set, instead, was made by Bytra, the Fourth Ruler of the mes.

    She had used the Absolution, splitting the hammer among her hybrid siblings to craft her masterpiece. Eycos the Garuda and Nelia the Griffon had used Life Maelstrom during the whole process.

    Cyare the Fenrir and Hushar the Leviathan had employed Doom Tide passive effect, Elemental Flow, to change the arrays every time an enchantment could be bettered, ensuring that each spell would be imbued in the best condition possible.

    Xenagrosh the Dragon and Kigan the Phoenix had purified the Davross and removed any w from the employed materials. Nandi the Minotaur had conjured an amount of world energy on par with a mage tower.

    Last, but not least, the Master had wielded the ninth hammer, using his own Spirit Magic to make up for what the Eldritchescked. As for Bytra, she had poured everything she knew into her creation to achieve perfection.

    Lith and the rest of the spectators swallowed a lump of saliva noticing that both Tezka''s de the armor bore seven elemental crystals each. One for each element plus a violet crystal holding the power of Dimensional Magic.

    It was something that Lith had only seen on the Saefel and Arthan Sets. Something exclusive to Dimensional Mages that even Fyrwal had no idea how to craft.

    Tezka kicked things up a notch by using his own mastery over Dimensional Magic to boost the mass of his Davross equipment.

    A mass of Chaos-infused molecules wrapped around Endless Night and the Suneater armor. The Chaos molecules used the equipment as a scaffold to rearrange their atomic bonds in the same form as the legendary metal, mimicking the Davross'' properties and forming a de and an armor of the same size as the Overlord''s.

    You can do that with Dimensional Magic? How?'' Friya asked and everybody shrugged.

    "All I know is that this is going to be over soon!'' Lith replied.

    The mere presence of the weapons was filling the Spirit Barrier put up by hundreds of Phoenixes with cracks.

    The Lord of War and the Suneater needed but a split second to go back to their peak strength before putting everything in a single strike.

    The moment they moved, the power they emitted was enough to blind everyone present despite the Battle Sense spell.

    The moment the des connected, a gigantic explosion shattered the Spirit Barrier, sending the first line of Phoenixes flying and forcing those in the second line to shield the spectators with their bodies.

 Chapter 2707 Historic Event (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2707 Historic Event (Part 1)</h4>

    2707 Historic Event (Part 1)

    "I knew this would happen, silly songbird!" Leegaain popped out of thin air in front of Lith''s family, shielding the spectators personally but standing right in front of Kam, just to be safe.

    Thanks to the Phoenixes, the congration would have just sent her and the others belly up. Maybe suffering a few scratches from the impact with the coarse sand. Yet the mere aura of the Guardian of the Empire was enough to neutralize what remained of the shockwave.

    Once the dust settled, the Blood ins had to be renamed the Crystal ins. The heat released by the des'' collision had vitrified the sand, turning it into a meters-thick ss that spread as far as the eye could see.

    Sark was the only one standing, a still-bleeding deep wound was open on her neck and chest while she pointed her de at Tezka''s brain. Her de and armor were damaged, but they healed as fast as her body, returning to their peak condition in an instant.

    The Suneater was shredded into pieces, the head the only part of him that was unscathed and solely because the Guardian had willed it so.

    His equipment was shattered in a silvery mist of metal and crystals but thanks to the Davross'' natural regenerative properties, they reformed faster than his body even though Tezka was still fueled by the Suneater spell.

    At that sight, Zinya and the kids ditched the group and ran with all the speed they could muster.

    "It''s over, old fox." Sark lowered her de, sighing deeply. "You won. It''s my defeat."

    "Are you drunk, high, or both?" Tezka snarled as ck tendrils collected the bits of his body and put them back together. "You''ve clearly won by andslide. Even if my strike went through your guard, you would have survived.

    "If you didn''t stop your de, instead, my life would be over. I''m still weakpared to you."

    "Weak?" She put away her de and armor, offering the Fylgja her hand to help him stand up. "You pushed me way harder than when I was a fledgling Guardian. You managed to hold your ground against me, the Lord of War, in my own turf despite youcking both Spirit Magic and body casting.

    "Considering the many advantages I had, this is your victory and-"

    "Uncle Tezka!" Filia and Frey screamed, hugging him and bursting into tears as soon as they reached him.

    "Gods, are you alright? Do you need food?" Zinya knelt near the still-sitting Suneater who was still in the process of regenerating his tails.

    She patted his arms, chest, and snout, looking for any form of damage he might not be able to heal.

    "And this is also what makes you the true victor." Sark sighed harder. "You are the only one who had someone cheer for him the whole time. Even in defeat, people cared for you, not for me."

    She waved at her children and guests who were dazed from the fight. They stared at the contenders with a mix of awe and fear. Not one of them had thought for a second that the Overlord could lose.

    It was proof of their trust but also a sign of ack of care. No one had worried about her wounds, simply assuming they wouldn''t bother her.

    "I call bullshot!" Tezka said right after reassuring everyone he was alright and letting Zinya and the kids help him to stand up.

    The Vastor household also had its family-friendly lingo and the Suneater was a professional at using it even under stress.

    "This is your victory and a well-deserved one at that. I lost because you are a better fighter and mage, end of the story. All excuses in Mogar can''t change this fact just like they won''t alter the ending of our fight if we ever be mortal enemies.

    "Only an idiot can believe to be entitled to a fair fight. There are only fights you can walk away from and those you can''t. Everything else is just a footnote on history books. Thanks for the lesson."

    Tezka gave the Overlord a deep bow.

    "I might have lost, but this fight truly took the rust off my old bones and made me realize where I''m stillcking. If we meet again, I promise that I''ll be even stronger."

    "You better." Sark scoffed yet returned the bow with the same depth in respect. "Because I''ll be much stronger so if you ck off, you''ll bore me."

    "I''m sorry you lost, Uncle." Frey said. "You deserved to win."

    "Yeah." Filia nodded. "You were amazing! You are almost as smart and strong as Dad."

    "Thanks, kids." The Suneater chuckled, proud of what he and the Master had done with the children.

    They were no longer the scaredy cats living in fear of the shadow of theirte biological father, Fallmug. Filia and Frey were now proud and loving, no matter who they had to face.

    "Don''t be sorry for me. I still got the opportunity to show you my best side. Besides, I''ll let you on a secret. I''ve always learned more from my failures than my sesses. Because if you seed, you are right but you also make no progress.

    "When you fail, instead, you have the opportunity to look inside yourself and understand what you are missing and what you are wrong about. If you do find the answer and the strength to improve, that one failure will bring you countless victories.

    "That''s why I don''t care about this squabble. Every fight from which I can walk away without any loss is a victory in my book. Yet beware, if you let defeat be a poison in your heart, if you let results be more important than progress, you''ll end up as miserable as your Dad was when you met him for the first time."

    The children nodded, giving Tezka a bow and offering him food from their dimensional amulets. He chuckled, returned the bow, and gobbled the food. He had no need for it since the Suneater spell provided him with energy that he could convert into matter and nutrients, but he appreciated the gesture.

    He was about to ask Sark to bring them home when a panting voice stopped him.

    "Please, master Tezka, wait." Friya arrived muchter despite being a deep violet-cored Awakened due to the pitiful state of her body.

    The breakthrough had left her sore and exhausted. If not for Surtr''s care, she would have fainted already.

    "Master?" The Suneater burst into a bellyugh. "You are Faluel''s apprentice. Why are you calling me master? Do you have a death wish or what? Hydras are jealous of their secrets."

    "You are right, yet you''ve taught me so much today that I need to express you my gratitude." Friya fell onto her knees and bowed her head. "Thank you so much. If not for you, I don''t know if or when I''d have attained the violet core.

    "If not for your words, I would have kept scratching at the surface of Dimensional Magic without ever truly understanding its potential. Your fightsted seconds, but it taught me more than decades of research.

    "If there''s anything I can do to repay your kindness, you only need to ask."

 Chapter 2708 Historic Event (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 2708 Historic Event (Part 2)</h4>

    2708 Historic Event (Part 2)

    Friya raised her head only to stare at the magnificent violet dimensional crystal etched on Endless Night. She was dying to know how to craft them but she bit her lips and kept her mouth shut.

    "I call bullshot on you too, kid, but thank you for your kind words. It''s been a long time since someone didn''t call me names, let alone master. You owe me nothing" Tezka said with a wolfish smile.

    "If you achieved the violet core just by watching me fight, if you reached enlightenment from a few words of mine, it''s only because you could understand everything on your own." He waved at the other spectators who seemed oblivious to whatever Friya was talking about.

    "I was right about you. There''s talent in here and here. His long, wed finger tapped her forehead and bosom. "Having a good brain is just luck, Having a good heart is all on you.

    "Youbined them to reach the point you are today and I can''t wait to face another true dimensional mage instead of these farming cheaters." Tezka pointed at the Guardians. "Yet if you really want to do me a favor, there''s something I need."

    "Anything." Friya nodded.

    "If something were to happen to me, please, teach these children in my stead." The Suneater patter Filia''s and Frey''s shoulders. "In exchange, I''ll give you a tip. There''s a reason only dimensional mages can craft violet crystals.

    "The same for which I can still make them even without Spirit Magic. That reason is the very thing that sets us apart from normal mages. We don''t feel the elements. We are the elements."

    Friya furrowed her brows having no idea what those words meant. She took ink and paper out of her dimensional item, writing everything down to the letter to never forget.

    "Thank you for your teachings. You have my word that I''ll train the kids as if they were mine." She rapped on her heart and then fainted, sumbing to exhaustion.

    "I''m sorry, Grandma. I''ve been a jerk and you are right. Knowing how strong you are is no excuse for myck of care. Are you alright?" Lith had Blinked his side of the family near the Overlord and was now handing her a giant bowl of ice cream in apology.

    "Too little and toote young man." She scoffed. "I had my organs blown out over and over and no one gave a farm. You guys are- Is that coffee and hazelnut ice cream with fresh whipped cream?"

    "And fresh cookies." Solus took them from her own personal reserve.

    "Damn, all that sweating made me work up quite an appetite." Sark smiled.

    "Me too." Kam drooled at the sight of the frozen ice cream and steaming chocte cookies, her stomach grumbling no less than the Overlord''s.

    "Guess I''ll have to forgive you. And to share the ice cream." Sark chuckled. "Don''t worry dear. I''ll work your husband to the bone if it means to fill our bellies!"

    "Mother, we-" Surtr attempted to say and with him the members of the Nest.

    "Too little, toote, and no ice cream. Bye." She said with a snort while Warping everyone back to the Verhen Mansion, including Tezka.

    That day was remembered throughout Garlen for several reasons.

    For the Desert, it marked the birth of the ss ins. For the Empire, it provided images and words from a fight that their mages would study for centuries in the attempt to deepen their understanding of dimensional magic.

    For the Kingdom, it was the day when Friya Ernas achieved the violet and Magus Verhen needed to consume all the daily production of milk from his father''s cows to feed gluttonous women.

    ***

    As time passed Kam grew stronger in magic and body as her belly grew bigger.

    Her feats of strength like those she had disyed at the Royal G, forcing elves, undead, and even beasts to back down in front of her fury, aroused many rumors about her real nature.

    Some said that she was actually a Divine Beast as well, others that she was the reincarnation of a goddess of magic who had awakened from her slumber. Bottom line, her life in the Royal Court became peaceful and no one dared to cross her.

    Then, someone bothered researching the effects of pregnancy of a hybrid baby from a powerful mage and everything went back to normal.

    The silver lining was that with the pregnancying to term, Kam stayed home for longer and longer periods of time. She read and studied magic more than ever thanks to Elysia boosting her intellect and magical prowess.

    She also cooked more than ever in order to relieve her boredom and put what she learned into practice.

    Cooking allowed her to employ Fire Vision to check on the pots, Spirit Magic to do everything from her chair, air magic to cut the ingredients, fire and water magic to keep the temperature of the stoves stable, and darkness magic to get rid of pesky insects.

    Elina would sit right beside her, teaching Kam how to cook and knit at the same time. Kam would bring a spoon for both of them with Spirit Magic for tasting or a full te for snacking.

    "Gods, I love you so much, Kam." Elina burst into tears. "Yet I''m also envious of you. Why do you get all these amazing powers and I don''t? It''s not fair! It''s not!"

    Unlike Kam, Elina went through the full hormonal rollercoaster, going from happy to angry and from sad to aroused in the blink of an eye multiple times a day.

    Luckily, it wasn''t Raaz''s first rodeo so he was always near tough with her, calm her down, console her, or stop her ording to the circumstances.

    "You''re right, it''s unfair." He hugged her, bringing a handkerchief to her nose that she blew into. "Those Guardians are farming bastards. If you want, I''ll go there and kick their asses!"

    Raaz didn''t believe a word he said, he just needed the bring the emotional swing back.

    "Thanks, dear, but it''s not necessary. I''m just being silly." Elina chuckled, realizing how preposterous the idea was. "Did I ever tell you how handsome you are?"

    She whispered in his ear with a sensual voice, almost panting.

    "Gods, Mom!" Lith became beet red. "I can never unhear that."

    Then he noticed that aside from him and Solus, no one was embarrassed.

    "How can you be this calm?" He asked in surprise.

    "Because unlike you, we''ve all seen Mom pregnant at least once." Trion shrugged. "I was there when she was expecting Tista and you."

    "And I was there for her when she was expecting you and Aran!" Tista scoffed. "You were thest born and then you were too busy with the academy to help. You came back only to deliver the baby."

    "I''m so sorry!" Elina bawled her eyes out. "I''ve made my baby ashamed of me. I''m a failure of a mother!"

    Everyone rolled their eyes, ring at Lith for dragging Elina back to square one.

    "No, Mom. Don''t say that." He said in a perfect example of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

 Chapter 2709 Everything Burns (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2709 Everything Burns (Part 1)</h4>

    2709 Everything Burns (Part 1)

    "I love you and I could never be ashamed of you, Mom. You are the best mother in Mogar. Even the Fringe confirmed that." Lith said.

    "Oh." Elina sniffled, proud that her son treasured her to the point of seeing the embodiment of his entire world with her features. "Thanks, dear. I feel much better now."

    ''Good gods!'' Kam thought while caressing her own womb. ''I feel like I dodged a hail of bullets here, not just one. Thank you, beloved.

    A kick ensued and she interpreted it as an "I love you too, Mom".

    Kam had ups and downs too, but nothing that a few deep breaths and a touch of Dragon scales couldn''t fix. Every time her mind ran rampant or her insecurities threatened to crush her, the scales gave her the reassurance she needed.

    ***

    Almost two monthster, Solus'' tower.

    "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Away from prying ears, Lith was free to vent his rage and frustration.

    He yelled at the top of his lungs, trashing tower-made furniture that would cost nothing to fix.

    "The baby is about to be born and I''ve gotten nowhere close to achieving the bright violet core. Therapy sessions, support groups, meditation, facing my inner demons, I tried everything and nothing worked!"

    Lith mmed his fists on a table, cracking it.

    Solus just stood there, letting him be since nothing she could say would help.

    "He really did his best, trying even the most farfetched theories I coulde up with.'' She inwardly sighed. His body is almost filled with vortexes and auxiliary cores but due to the imbnce in his life forces, the umtion process is bing slower and more painful by the day.

    ''Soon Lith will be forced to stop altogether or risk his core to crack and be an Abomination. In their current state, his life forces can''t handle the power of the bright violet core. Until he finds a solution, his abilities will be capped whereas his enemies can still grow stronger.''

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, the same day at the same time. On the days when her mood was stable, Elina loved to take the DoLorean for a ride and go out for a bit. She would go shopping for the soon-to-be-born babies or groceries, just to keep her mind and hands busy.

    Sometimes, like today, she also brought Aran along to teach him the value of money and make him feel involved with taking care of the family.

    It was exactly the kind of moment that two bright violet-cored Awakened from Verendi had waited to strike.

    "Verhen''s wife is clearly off limits, but there''s no Guardian''s oath regarding his mother." Winion Sez, a brown-skinned man about 1.9 meters (6''3") tall, said. "Also, ording to our data, Verhen has a soft spot for his little brother.

    "These two are the perfect target to avenge our fallenrades and bring that arrogant runt to heel."

    "I know, but don''t you find it weird?" Narant Mur, a 1.78 meters (5''10") tall beautiful woman, replied. "I mean, Verhen has Golems, Demons, Beasts, Queen''s Corps. Why there''s no one here?"

    Her skin was even darker than Winion''s and along with their camouge armor, it allowed them to be like shadows in the darkness of the alley. Only their eyes were visible and solely because they were scouting the area from a distance with Life Vision.

    The mystical sight had a limited range but they had more than doubled it with enchanted goggles that only the Awakened of Verendi knew how to craft. Its inventor could have be a Ruler of the mes for it, but he preferred to keep his monopoly and with it, insane prices.

    "Golems and Demons are bound to Verhen so their absence is nothing to worry about." The man set the goggles to maximum distance, sacrificing detail for range yet nothing came out. "You are right about the rest.

    "Where''s the kid''s beast, Onyx? And how can mere humans hide from our sight?"

    "You know, this would be funny if I wasn''t sick of this already." A voice said from behind, forcing the two Awakened to turn around and assume a defensive stance.

    Their enchanted and poisoned weapons jumped in their hands on their own and then froze just like their owners.

    "Kris des and Wyvern poison. The mark of professional assassins." A lean albino man 1,75 meters (5''9") tall, with snow-white hair and skin stepped out of the shadows.

    His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil, Theb coat he wore over a set of pitch-ck clothes revealed his identity as much as the Dragon Fear that paralyzed Winion and Narant like sheep in front of a pack of wolves.

    "Now, usually I''d kill you and get over with it, but I''m sick and tired of this game. Since you are already dead, I might as well put you worthless pieces of trash to good use. You should be honored. You are going to help me with an experiment."

    It was true that no vow forced Leegaain to protect Elina but after spending nine months under the same roof with someone carrying his own blood, it was hard for him not to get attached.

    Especially since she carried along with her a boy who called the Guardian Grampa.

    Ever since Shargein was born, Leegaain had a soft spot for children and Elina carried another one of his blood in her womb.

    "Now, if I''m right, this should be utterly terrifying. Please, try to not faint. I need you awake and conscious for the experiment to bear meaningful data." Leegaain set numerous sensing arrays while the two Awakened were paralyzed.

    The only things they could do was breathe and think, which made his words sound even more ominous than they already were. The Father of All Dragon activated Leegaain''s Eyes, developing three vertical pupils that crossed each other, forming a six-pointed star in each of his eyes.

    "And go!" A snap of his fingers Warped Lith from the tower to the alley, making his fists hit only air.

    "What the heck am I doing here?" He asked and Leegaain answered by sharing the two Awakeneds'' n via a mind link. Down to the most cruel and vicious detail.

    "You!" Lith turned around in fury and the Dragon Fear disappeared. "How dare you?"

    His eyes moved from Elina and Aran to the couple of assassins as the images of what would have happened without Leegaain''s interference shed in front of his eyes.

    ''I feel normal now, but I still can''t move! Winion said via a mind link.

    ''Same, but Leegaain talked about an experiment. We can still get out of here. Verhen is just a violet core and there are two of us. We can kill him easily, just weave your spells.'' Narant replied, following her own advice.

    Then, the picture of Elina and Aran''s bodies ovepped with Carl''s corpse at the morgue. At his funeral. As Derek/Lith buried the casket.

    "I hate you!" Lith''s neck tilted to one side and then to the other, cracking.

    His breathing split into three quick, shallow breaths in, followed by three more out. Five of his seven eyes disappeared as his skin became pitch ck and the remaining two turned white without a pupil.

 Chapter 2710 Everything Burns (Part 2)

    2710 Everything Burns (Part 2)

    Outside of the Fringe, there was no Soul Projection taking off the blunt of the effects of the forced merging of Lith''s Abomination and Dragon life forces. The raw power they generated now flooded his body without any filter.

    Leegaain had only brought Lith to the alley, leaving Solus in the tower and Lith''s rage to run unchecked.

    His ck skin cracked into countless small scales from which blue mes burst out. The mes spread to his body and set it aze along with his violet aura.

    "I hate you." This time his voice was low, sounding like a growling abyss.

    Ragnar??k appeared in his hand in a blue ze while the mes reached Lith''s head and formed a burning crown.

    ''His breathing is split like his life forces. This wasn''t noticeable in Sark''s records Leegaain studied everything through his Eyes and arrays, recording every detail of the transformation.

    Even the Overlord''s breathing technique couldn''t see Soul Projections from a distance but this time there was no need to. Leegaain could experience everything first-hand from a front seat.

    ''Yet what really worries me are those blue mes.''He thought while watching them spread along the ck de that wailed in fury. They are burning at my sensing arrays, requiring me to constantly fix the magical formations.

    The blue mes are also affecting the ground and without me, they would have already set aze the whole neighborhood.''

    ck horns sprouted from Lith''s forehead and behind his neck. Five white pools formed on his face, slowly turning into as many eyes, each with a vertical pupil of the corresponding elemental color.

    All the while Leegaain took page after page of notes.

    ''I''m the inheritor of the ancient mes from which Mogar was born so even though I can''t produce them, I have understood the nature of Lith''s Cursed mes and even of his Dread mes.

    ''They are no different from my Origin mes. They are simply sparked out of an unbnce in the world energy that can affect a single element for simple Cursed mes or all of them for the Dread mes.

    ''The blue mes, however, are different. They aren''t the effect of an unbnce. They are a whole new bnce and a wrong one at that. A dangerous new bnce that might not be allowed to exist.''

    Winion and Narant too felt the threat of the blue mes, finding themselves covered in a cold sweat. The Tiamat Fear was weaker than Leegaain''s but they could feel it messing it up with the spells they kept at the ready.

    To make matters even worse, Lith''s aura had just jumped from a violet core to a bright violet and the screaming de in his hand was clearly a masterpiece.

    The Davross turned into a ck te and the elemental crystals on the fuller activated all at once as Ragnar??k prepared its own spells and channeled the blue mes into its own abilities.

    ''Since when does Verhen have Davross and how can he be a bright violet without any of the side effects of a breakthrough?'' Winion asked via the mind link in amazement.

    ''Less talk, more fight. Look at the Guardian!'' The woman nodded at the albino man who was trying for a while to get their attention.

    "Off you go." A snap of his fingers released the assassins'' bodies from the paralysis and they immediately tried to retreat.

    s, Leegaain''s experiment was a controlled one so they mmed their backs against an invisible and unbreakable barrier with such speed that it broke their breathing rhythm.

    ''Fuck! We can''t escape but maybe if we defeat Verhen, the Guardian will let us go.''Winion said.

    "And what if he kills us anyway?'' Narant replied.

    ''I''d rather die fighting than begging for my life!" The male assassin bolted forward, unleashing a Raging Sun right under Lith''s feet.

    The tier five War Mage spell was strong enough to wound even a Divine Beast and under the cover of the fire and magma, Winion was certain to be able to Blink behind Verhen and finish him quickly.

    Lith extended his free hand, lighting his red and orange eyes. Domination kept Raging Sun from detonating and redirected it at Narant who was forced to conjure a Spirit Barrier to survive the congration.

    Winion cursed at the Father of All Dragons and his offspring and Blinked anyway.

    ''Whatever that bloodline ability is, it must take a considerable focus and I need but one second to kill my target.'' He thought, reassured by the absence of an aura typical of spells like Full Guard.

    What he didn''t know, was that the Voidwalker armor had Full Guard among its enchantments. The reason the assassins couldn''t see it was the same for which Lith''s bright violet aura was missing.

    The blue mes were currently burning at his body, his blood, his mana, and even his aura. Spells were no different. They were still there, they were just burning.

    So, when Winion appeared, he found out that Lith had already turned around. The ming de moved like a snake, intercepting the first kris with so much strength that the assassin was forced to back it up with the second to not be cut asunder.

    The blue mes spread to the enchanted Adamant, setting mana and metal aze.

    Lith''s other hand struck Winion''s chest with an open palm and sent him crashing against the barrier.

    If not for the armor''s Spirit Protection and the assassin jumping back at thest second to lessen the blow, Winion would have died on the spot.

    Fuck! Even with full fusion magic and even gravity fusion, the hit hurt like a bitch!''Winion looked down, noticing the ming imprint of the palm on his chest.

    He conjured water magic to smother the mes but it burned. He conjured light magic to heal himself from the injuries, but it burned as well. Everything burned.

    "What''s happening?'' Despite decades of training and discipline, he was seconds away from falling into panic.

    The mes on his chest were spreading and so were those on his weapons, forcing him to drop the kris des before the fire reached his hands.

    ''Interesting.''Leegaain kept scribbling in his notebook. ''Water gets split into oxygen and hydrogen, making it mmable. The flesh on the assassin''s body is being split into carbon and hydrogen.

    ''Pressure and heat turn the carbon into coal and the hydrogen, well, it naturally burns. Everything burns.'' Leegaain had no idea if the process was due to Lith''s mastery over magic, Void Magic, or just a property of the blue mes.

    What he was certain of was that the mes could split organic and inorganic matter into its originalponents to fuel themselves.

    "I hate you!" Lith lunged Ragnar??k and the assassin tried to Blink but the space burned as well, copsing the dimensional door.

    The angry de screamed in ecstasy as it fed on Winion''s blood and life, unleashing the mes that covered it on his internal organs.

    Lith left Ragnar??k lodged in the man''s chest, turning around toward the woman.

    "I hate you." He said like it exined everything.

    "Ignoring a still-alive Awakened is idiotic at best.''Narant thought, a smirk appearing on her mouth. ''Winion needs just one breath to recover his strength and without his weapon, Verhen is a fish in the barrel!''

 Chapter 2711 Elysia (Part 1)

    2711 Elysia (Part 1)

    The female assassin jumped forward, unleashing several tier five spells at the same time and then performing a perfectly timed Spirit Blink to change her position under the cover of her own spells'' mana.

    Yet nothing worked. The spells remained frozen in ce and her Blink never opened.

    ''What?'' Shended in front of the Void Demon Dragon who had not bothered moving during her jump. ''How did he do that and why he is not attacking?''

    The seven eyes were all fixed on her, reading with Life Vision the movements of her mana as soon as she conjured it and then neutralizing her spells with Domination.

    Narant discovered the answer to her second question the moment she tried to feint at Verhen''s head with one hand while the real attack aimed at his left lung. It would seal his breathing technique and open a wound close to the heart enough to make the poison on her des lethal.

    Lith extended his open hands in an attempt to grab the des.

    ''Fuck no!''Narant had to stop herself so abruptly that her nimble maneuver turned into a clumsy tumble that sent her amid trash bins.

    Lith''s hand were aze as well and Winion''s weapons were reduced to pools of molten metal that were slowly evaporating. As for the male assassin, he tried to use Invigoration to heal his wounds.

    The problem was that the world energy burned the moment it entered his body. His flesh was burning and so was his blood. Everything was burning. Winion''s whole body was now a blue torch that tossed around, screaming in endless agony.

    "That''s why he has yet to attack. Verhen wants to take me alive and Winion is a warning of what''s going to happen to me if Verhen touches me.''Narant thought and she was right.

    "I... hate... you." Lith extended his wed hands as if he were trying to grab her.

    His voice was strained, stuttering every word due to the strain that making sense inflicted upon him.

    "He''s trying to tell you that either talk or you you''ll end up like your partner." Leegaain tranted for her.

    "If I tell Verhen what he wants, will he let me go?" Winion''s wails were slowly dying out, making them even more horrifying.

    "I don''t know but I''m pretty sure that if you don''t, he''s going to make it really, really slow" Leegaain took his sses off to clean them. "As you said earlier, my grandkid loves his mother and brother very much."

    Narant hesitated until Lith snarled and took a step forward. Even from a distance, she could feel the heat of the blue mes hungering for her life. She tried a new volley of spells and when they failed her again she said:

    "What do you want to know?"

    "I...ha-"

    "Try with everything. Starting with who sent you here, why, yada yada. Make it quick." Leegaain said as Lith advanced further.

    "I''m here to avenge the ughter of Verendi''s Council!" Narant said with what little pride she had left. "Because of you, the entire continent has fallen into chaos! Without the Awakened putting a leash on those power-hungry morons, all countries are now at war.

    "Because of you, those Abominations have invaded our territories, and our Guardian of Life, Ileza the Bastet, almost died at their hands!"

    "They what?" Leegaain was bbergasted at the news.

    Sure, Tezka had proven to be powerful, but nothingpared to Sark. Yet they had fought one on one whereas if the Master''s hybrids attacked together, the fight might have ended differently.

    "How is it possible and why didn''t she call for help?" He asked.

    "Ask Tyris, Dragon." Narant cursed the Great Mother''s name. "When she came to ughter us and Ileza stood up for us, Tyris beat her so hard that she couldn''t stand. Her wounds refused to heal, making her easy prey.

    "The Eldritches let Ileza live solely because she was a good punching bag and they wanted to study her bloodline abilities."

    "I could argue that''s your fault for putting a Guardian''s patience to the test." Leegaain snorted. "Enough with your chatter. Who put a bounty on Kam Verhen and her baby?"

    "No one." The female assassin looked at Leegaain as if he was insane. "Tyris made sure we learned our lesson. No one wants her to return to Verendi. Why do you think we were targeting Verhen''s mother?"

    "So are you telling me that you are not involved in the ploy to rece his spouse?"

    "Is there really someone so delusional that they think they can fool a Guardian?" Narant blurted out in surprise. "Don''t they know what has happened to Verendi? Of our continental war?"

    "It seems not." Leegaain sighed. "She''s telling the truth, Lith. She knows nothing."

    "I hate you!" The Void Demon Dragon''s hands clenched around the assassin''s throat, filling her mouth and nostrils with blue mes.

    He let her burn as slowly and painfully as herpanion, enjoying every cry and whimper of agony of the assassin.

    His snout opened in a big, savage smile of cruel joyprised of two rows of pristine white fangs.

    Leegaain didn''t say or do anything, remaining a spectator as Mogar''s prophecy came one step closer to fruition.

    ***

    Only after the assassins from Verendi were dead and Lith had collected their equipment did Leegaain Warp him back to the tower. Not before putting Tyris to look after Elina, though.

    "I''m sorry, pretty finch. I''ll take her out of your hands as soon as I''m done here." Leegaain gave Tyris a deep bow in apology for dragging her out during her rest day.

    "Don''t worry, little lizard." She chuckled. "It''s nice to see you care about someone for once. Take all the time you need."

    "What happened and why did you drag Lith away?" Solus asked and Kam nodded.

    "I have bad news and I have worst news. The Father of All Dragons replied. "The bad news is that you were right, Solus. The vision Lith witnessed in the Fringe isn''t about Meln or anyone else.

    "It''s about himself. The worst news is that, after the Dragon and the Abomination life forces found an agreement, now the process is much faster and requires no further bickering.

    "I''m convinced that every time they fuse, the transformation will be worse and harder toe back from. I brought Lith away from you because you are his literal tether with humanity. I thought that without your presence, just like against M''Rael, Lith would fall on the wrong path.

    "I''m sorry to say that I was right."

    "What can we do?" Kam asked.

    "You? Nothing. It''s Lith''s problem. The stronger he gets the harder it is for him to control his destructive impulses. You two can help him along the way but it''s up to him finding his path.

    "Solus, try not to leave his side for any reason. I believe that Lith can still resist the fall if someone reminds him of what he''s fighting for."

    "What about me?" Kam said, offended by being left out.

    "Little girl, if you were bound to his hip, none of this would happen. With three Guardians protecting you, there would be no threat capable of stressing him out that much.

 Chapter 2712 Elysia (Part 2)

    2712 Elysia (Part 2)

    "The ''problem'' is that you are your own person and have your own life whereas Solus can stay at his finger and inside his thick head." Leegaain said.

    "So if I stay with him, I too can protect Lith from himself" Kam said.

    "Yes. So take turns, do whatever you want, but know this. If Lith doesn''t find a way to fix his life forces, sooner orter he''ll go so deep into the rabbit hole that there will be noing back."

    ***

    The two women took Leegaain''s words to heart, making sure that Lith was never alone during all the time before Kam''s pregnancy came to term.

    Solus did all she could, using mind links and fusions to relieve the burden from his three lives but it was like emptying a river with a bucket. New water kept flowing from the mountain and facing that kind of negative emotions was exhausting.

    Kam used the Dragon scales as often as she could to understand his trauma and try to make Lith feel safe but to no avail. Her presence and feelings calmed him, but only as long as they kept physical contact.

    The moment she let go of him everything went back to normal. Or rather what now was to be considered normal.

    Lith could now feel the call of the Void Demon Dragon at all times and even though the blue mes hurt him as well, he craved their power. He was desperate to achieve the bright violet core and the safety that the unstoppable mes would bestow upon him.

    Lith tried everything, from talking with Faluel to spending time with his family in all of his three forms, but nothing helped.

    It was another morning of failed experiments and meditation training when something as scary as it was ordinary happened.

    "Gods! I''m so sorry, Rena!" Kam said pointing at the wet floor. "I''ve had problems holding it in for a while, but I never thought I would wet myself like this."

    "That''s not pee, dear. Your water just broke." Rena replied while sounding the rm on hermunication amulet.

    The code birth summoned every family member, Queen''s Corps soldier, and magical beast at Lith''s service for kilometers. Of course, Lith and Solus were called as well and arrived at the Verhen house first.

    "Is it really the day?" Lith''s voice was filled with fear and awe.

    "Yes!" Kam grunted in pain as Sark helped her to lie down on a bed. "Is it supposed to hurt so much?"

    "Yes." All women in the house but Tista nodded with confidence.

    Elina looked at her own womb, wishing her turn woulde soon.

    "Great! You! Don''t stand like an idiot ande here. I''m scared!" Kam beckoned at Lith who promptly moved to her side. "Grandma, what are you waiting for? Do your trick."

    She took Lith''s hand in her own, using the Dragon scales to find courage and strength. "This doesn''t work like that, child." The Guardian said and Faluel nodded. "You are the one who''s going to give birth. I''ll make it as fast and painless as possible but this must be your achievement, not mine.

    "I''ll just check on your condition and deliver the baby the moment she starts toe out but not a moment sooner."

    Kam burst out in a long streak of vulgar words as the contractions became more frequent and painful.

    "Sark is right, dear" Tyris wiped the sweat off Kam''s forehead and gave her ice chips to keep her hydrated. "Pain is a big part of life and you are creating a new one. Without it, you wouldn''t be able to appreciate the miracle you are performing."

    "I swear to the gods that the moment I can stand up again, I''m going to appreciate my knife up your ass!" Kam snarled while clenching Lith''s hand so hard that he could actually feel the pressure.

    Since everyone was a healer or had at least witnessed giving birth, her violent outburst triggered by the pain impressed no one. Zinya was at Kam''s left side, after leaving the kids at the Mansion with Tezka and the others.

    "Be strong, Kami. If a blind human woman could do it, it should be a breeze for an Awakened like you."

    "You can lecture me with your feel-good bullshit when a melon with horns and wingses out of your body! Gods, I hate you so much! How can you say something so stupid?"

    "She doesn''t mean that." Lith said.

    "I know she doesn''t." Zinya chuckled. "You have no idea what I said when I was like this."

    Even though Lith and Solus had helped hundreds of babies to be born, this time it was different. Seconds seemed tost minutes and minutes hours.

    "Gods, please protect her. I''ll do everything you want!" He was so afraid that he found himself religious.

    "Thanks for the offer, dear." Sark patted his head. "But we''re going to do it anyway. So just rx."

    "How can you tell me/him to rx?" Lith and Leegaain said in unison before looking at each other awkwardly.

    "I mean, I''ve had plenty of children but I''m still antsy every time. I can never forget how scared I was my first time." The Father of All Dragons cleared his throat in embarrassment.

    "I couldn''t have said it better." Raaz patted Lith''s shoulder. "It was your mother doing all the work and I felt so helpless that I thought I would go insane."

    Lith knew that it was stupid of him to be scared despite the presence of three Guardians and Faluel overseeing the delivery yet he couldn''t help it. Hearing Leegaain''s and Raaz''s words at least made him feel normal.

    Between spells and Kam''s Awakened body, it took less than one hour to reach the critical point but to Lith it seemed tost an entire lifetime.

    "That''s it, dear." Elina said. "I can see the head. Just take a deep breath and push!"

    "Okay, it''s my time to shine now." Sark used her personal Rebirth Magic spell, Midwife, to make sure that push would be thest one.

    It rxed muscles where needed, flexed others, and elongated bones and tissues to limit the resistance to a minimum.

    Elysia came into Mogar in her human form, crying at the top of her lungs. Everything was suddenly too cold, too bright, and too noisy, scaring her out of her wits. She shapeshifted in her Tiamat form, using her scales as a shield and her Origin mes to keep herself warm.

    The membranous wings were normal instead of upside-down like Lith''s while the second set of wings was featherless, barely two pink stumpsing out of her hips. Her ck scales were veined with all elemental colors but emerald.

    "We''re almost done." Tyris caressed Kam''s head. "Clench your teeth because the worst is about toe"

    "Wait, what?" Kam had already stopped feeling pain since Sark had healed her and Tyris was already restoring her body to its pre-pregnancy shape so those words made no sense to her.

    Until Sark offered Lith to cut the umbilical cord and he obliged.

    At that very moment, the connection between mother and daughter was severed forever.

 Chapter 2713 Fighting Monsters (Part 1)

    2713 Fighting Monsters (Part 1)

    Elysia bing a separate being from her mother depowered Kam''s body and core. It deprived her of the Dragon scales and the enhanced senses she had gotten so used to.

    Kam felt exhausted, so weak that she would have fainted on the spot if not for Tyris'' warning. On top of that, she refused to lose consciousness before holding her baby.

    "Is... this... what you meant?" Her eyes drooped and she felt like sleeping for a week.

    Instead, she bit the inside of her cheek and used the pain to push through the drowsiness that was flooding her body.

    "Yes." Tyris nodded. "For a Guardian it means losing half the power we have during pregnancy but for you is much worse. You just went from a cyan-cored Awakened to a yellow one. You are a few dozens of times weaker than you were a moment ago."

    "Can I-" Lith stepped toward Sark who was holding Elysia.

    "No!" The three Guardians stepped in front of him as one, even stopping Faluel and Elina froming close and helping him. "For Mogar''s sake stay away and don''t move a step."

    "Why?" Lith''s voice trembled, feeling rejected. Feeling like the monster he knew he was.

    "Because if you are anything like Leegaain, and I mean even one atom, we need all the help we can get." Tyris replied while handing Elysia to Kam and using her breathing technique, Mother Earth, to restore Kam''s strength.

    "What do you mean?" The Guardians formed a barrier around mother and daughter, pushing Lith to the edge of insanity.

    "Oh gods, thank you so much." Kam sniffled as Elysia took her human form upon smelling her mother and feeling her warmth. "She''s beautiful. She''s the most beautiful girl I''ve ever seen."

    Between Tyris'' Mother Earth restoring Kam''s stamina and Sark''s Rebirth Magic pumping nutrients into her body, Kam managed to stand up with Zinya''s help.

    All the pain and fear that she had experienced until a moment ago were forgotten in the joy of holding her baby and feeling her warm breath on her skin.

    "Look at her, Lith. This is our daughter. Your daughter." She stepped forward, with tears streaking down her cheeks from the happiness that was filling her heart.

    "Careful now. Slow and easy" Leegaain said as the Guardians moved out of the way, clearing a path for the couple.

    Lith could finallye close enough to take Elysia from Kam, not understanding anything that was going on.

    Until he held the baby girl in his arms, feeling the weight of her life in his hands.

    Elysia was just a hybrid, weighing no more than a human baby.

    She was a little and frail thing, something that he could have extinguished with a sliver of killing intent. A being as warm as a candle that could have just as easily been snuffed out by one of his fingers or the weakest of his spells.

    Yet she was there, Elysia Verhen, daughter of man.

    Lith felt his knees buckle and instinctively shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form to use its long tail as a crutch.

    As Elysia felt the red scales pressing against her skin, she followed suit. Her wings stillcked feathers, but her scales were of six colors and they all burned with elemental power.

    Elysia, daughter of Dragon.

    Before Lith could understand what he was doing or why, his panicked mind sought asylum in the safety of the darkest corner of his mind, where everything had begun.

    He took on his Abomination form, and feeling the coldness of darkness and Chaos stinging at her, Elysia did the same. She turned into a small bundle of shadows with white eyes.

    Elysia, daughter of Derek.

    Lith was shocked and confused, shapeshifting non-stop from one form to another while the baby followed his lead in a game of tag that only the two of them on the entirety of Mogar could y.

    At that moment, Lith finally understood what was happening.

    The shock he felt came from his inability to ept that he really had be a father and that the baby he was holding was just like him.

    A piece of him that yet was pure and untainted by his past and without the scars hidden under the skin of his Awakened body.

    Someone who he could love unconditionally without the need for tests, time, or the establishment of trust throughmon interests.

    Lith had spent his whole life fighting against monsters like Ezio, Orpal, Thrud, and even the one he himself had be in order to survive the adversities that he had faced back on Earth.

    No matter where he had gone and who he had met, Lith had always been forced to hide something from others, even from those closest to him. His Mogarian parents knew nothing of his past life and it had taken them years just to learn the secret of his magic.

    Every friend and girlfriend had always been fed little bits of truth at a time, to see how they reacted before giving them a bigger and more shocking revtion. Lith couldn''t help but consider it akin to building tolerance to poison.

    Like his existence was something cursed from which others needed to be protected.

    Solus was the only exception to the rule but, in his mind, she didn''t count because Solus was a part of himself. She couldn''t live without him just like Lith couldn''t live without her.

    His secrets were her own and vice versa, standing alone together against the rest of Mogar in a perennial battle for survival.

    Elisya was different. She was not Lith yet she was just like him.

    She was born as a Tiamat, sharing all of Lith''s hurdles and powers. He could feel through the scales connecting them her trust and her silly na?¡¥ve joy at the reassurance that the familiar voice of her father offered to her.

    Lith looked into her eyes which were just like his own, both in her Tiamat and human form. Her raven ck hair, instead was like Kam''s but also streaked with the six colors of the elements.

    Lith silently thanked the gods that Elisya''s face carried nothing of his usual disgruntled expression.

    The baby girl was happy, smiling from the heart like he had long forgotten how to.

    Amid his inner conflict, something went wrong inside of him.

    In ast-ditch desperate attempt, the hate of the Void flowed into the Dragon once again.

    Lith''s skin became ck, and blue mes burst from his head.

    And so did Elysia.

    Lith''s eyes went wide, the realization hitting him as hard as the news of Carl''s death.

    ''She''s like me in every aspect. Even her life forces can merge in the wrong way. What''s even worse is that Elysia is so trusting that she''s following whatever I do. She''s going to pay for my mistakes!'' Lith thought in outrage.

    He had learned one thing by fighting monsters and that was that children had to be protected from those disgusting creatures, especially from their father, if he was one of them.

    In that moment, Lith decided that there was nothing he wouldn''t do, nothing he wouldn''t be in order to protect that little, weak life that he was holding in his hands.

 Chapter 2714 Fighting Monsters (Part 2)

    Chapter 2714 Fighting Monsters (Part 2)

    Lith''s touch remained gentle but he clenched his teeth as he pulled the Void and the Dragon apart by sheer force of will. Lith assumed his Tiamat form, roaring at the top of his lungs while also conjuring a Hush zone to protect everyone present.

    He had done this plenty of times before but now it was different. His voice was still filled with rage, pain, and hatred like in the past, yet he wasn''t screaming to fan their mes.

    He wasn''t igniting his past traumas to open his old wounds and draw strength from them. Lith''s roar was meant to express those feelings and let them go. He was letting them burn away, because, in the end, everything burns, even hatred.

    Lith yelled for all of the people he had lost, the pain he had endured, and the betrayals he had suffered. In his long, primordial roar he let them go, refusing to carry their burden anymore.

    <nulli>''Whatever I am, whatever I''m bing, I won''t let my shit taint my daughter! I may not be worthy of being a father, but I will.'' Lith let the hate of the Void flow into him without allowing it to control him just like he let the passions of the Voidfeather Dragon in.

    A pir of silver and ck light erupted from his body while a bigger silver pir and a ck one respectively descended from the sky and emerged from the ground, like the fingers of two gods touching him.

    As Lith kept roaring and yelling, holding the baby against his chest, his mana core broke past the violet and entered the bright violet. The different pieces of his mind and life forces finally fit.

    They had stopped fighting against each other, stopped changing their shape and size in order to not match with the others and retain their individuality. Lith embraced the Void and the Voidfeather Dragon, but more importantly, he epted himself.

    It was impossible for him to forget the past. What was done was done and there was no changing it. Lith would always live in the shadow of his mistakes and enemies and whoever said differently was either a fool or a liar.

    Yet Lith understood that there was one thing that he and only he could do about it.

    He could forgive himself for what he had done instead of looking for validation. He could ept the bad things he had gone through without trying to find some sort of sick sense or reason why people had done them to him.

    There was no changing the past but he could move on and stop looking back.

    And that''s what he did.

    As his body and core underwent the refinement process, his Tiamat''s aura spread out as well.

    Elysia giggled, feeling all ticklish and epting the change because that was what a good girl was supposed to do.

    A small ck and silver pir erupted from her little body, resonating with that of her father before joining it. Her life forces underwent the same changes as Lith''s, following him along whatever path he would take.

    Everyone gasped at the sight of a newborn undergoing a breakthrough but for Lith, it was more than a miracle. It was proof of the bond he shared with his daughter and of the duty he had to her.

    He roared louder, with fury born from fighting spirit, challenging the whole Mogar to touch his baby if they dared.

    His body grew up to 30 meters (100'') tall, forcing Sark to stretch the space with dimensional magic to keep his house from being destroyed.

    Lith''s red-veined ck scales became bigger and thicker than ever. His horns grew longer and denser, while the bone spikes on the top of his head were set aze, forming a crown of silver fire.

    His feathered wings burst out with emerald mes that changed the nature of most of the feathers. At first, they were all red-veined and ck in color, and while they remained ck, their veins turned, yellow, orange, silver, red, blue, and emerald until their numbers matched.

    The emerald fire red up, enveloping both father and daughter. They burned with great strength, reinforcing them and feeding them with everything they needed to survive the transformation.

    Then, the emerald mes moved to the membranous wings where they turned blue for one single instant before dissipating. Yet their power was still there and Lith sted it out with his next roar.

    "What''s happening?" Elina asked Sark.

    "It''s a new species, dear, so I have no clue." The Guardian shrugged.

    "Then what was all that thing about Lith having a shred of Leegaain''s blood?" Kam asked.

    "I acted in a simr way when I had my firstborn." The Father of All Dragons replied. "Do you remember the Dragon Dance? I-"

    Tista suddenly screamed, cutting him short.

    She quickly turned into her Hekate form, but it was different. Her scales werepletely ck and both her sets of wings were membranous, a sign that somehow her Dragon blood was overpowering the Phoenix half.

    Tista screamed and roared, growing in size as well until she reached 20 meters (66'') of height. All kinds of mes came out of her mouth, from emerald to blue.

    Then it was Aran''s and Leria''s turn, bing covered in ck scales and growing up almost to 2 meters (6''7") tall. Aran''s Demon form had blue-veined ck feathered wings while Leria''s had red-veined silver feathers.

    They grew bone spikes on their spines and heads, but too small to call them horns.

    "I was about to assume something about Lith''s Dragon blood but this disproves it." Leegaain pondered, looking at the thick feathers on the kids'' bodies.

    "What do you mean?" Rena and Elina asked in fear. "What''s happening to our babies?"

    "Rx." Sark tried to calm them down. "It''s just-"

    Rena''s voice grew into a roar, cutting the Overlord short as her body became covered in gold-veined ck feathers and scales. Her teeth turned into fangs and a long tail grew from the small of her back.

    "Rena!" Elina yelled in shock, feeling that something was wrong.

    There was a ball of fire in her belly, like the worst acid reflux she had experienced her whole life.

    "I think I''m sick, I-" The words turned into a growl as she underwent the metamorphosis as well.

    Red and yellow-veined orange scales covered her body and ck membranous wings enveloped in red mes came out of her back.

    Even Rena''s triplets started to change, spitting small bursts of Origin and Cursed mes.

    "Rx a farming farm!" Raaz yelled at the top of his lungs to be heard. "What''s happening?"

    He pointed at his body that was glowing as well as Zoreth''s, Leegaain''s, and even Sark''s. Yet nothing happened to them aside from a feeling of a vague and distant euphoria.

    "It''s Lith!" The Overlord said. "His Tiamat blood is resonating with those of his kin. That''s why the transformation. Whatever energy he''s releasing, is being amplified by Elysia and it''s affecting your bodies."

    "Why am I the only one in the family to have not changed, then?" Raaz asked.

    "Because you carry solely my blood. Everyone else carries Demon blood." Sark replied.

 Chapter 2715 Just a Word (Part 1)

    Chapter 2715 Just a Word (Part 1)

    "Even Elina?" Raaz was bbergasted.

    "No, but your baby does." Sark pointed at Elina''s swollen belly from which the light originated.

    <nulli>''This Tiamat Dance, forck of a better term, is magnificent.'' Kam thought while looking at the members of the Verhen family. ''<nulli>Yet I can''t help but feel left out.''

    Even Raaz and Zoreth were glowing, one bound to Lith by his Phoenix blood while the other from her Dragon and Eldritch side whereas Kam was just human. Since Elysia had been taken away from her, Kam felt more than weak.

    She felt isted.

    The world was cold and distant now that she had lost ess to the Dragon scales. They had connected her to her daughter and husband, making Kam certain of their feelings for her whereas now she could only believe those feelings were still there.

    She had always been aware that knowing and believing were two different things but only then did she understand how much.

    ***

    At the same time, in a far, far corner of Jiera, where Meln Narchat was fighting monster hordes to polish his skill, the effects of Lith''s breakthrough washed over him, leaving him unaffected in every aspect.

    He could feel it like anyone else on Mogar but that was it.

    "No, no, no!" Meln wailed like a child on a tantrum, letting the creatures hit him since there was no wound that Night couldn''t heal. "This isn''t fair! Why has Lith reached the bright violet already and why I''m cut off from this power?"

    "You wanted to be different from your brother and I granted your wish." The ck Night replied. "Now shut up and fight. You are no Demon. You are a Vurdk. Make it count or I swear on my mother that I''ll drop you here to die and go back to Baba Yaga to beg for her forgiveness."

    Meln gritted his teeth, his rtionship with Night was turning sourer by the day.

    The Horseman hated him for making the secret of her weakness exposed. In one night, she had gone from apex predator to easy prey of whoever had learned Baba Yaga''s destruction spell.

    Night was angry and she had no qualms about making Meln pay for it.

    He knew the price of defiance and obeyed, swearing to one day take his vengeance against the Red Mother and all of her children. Night included.

    ***

    Back in the Verhen House, Lith was far from done.

    His body haspleted the refinement but he refused to let the world energy go.

    He kept roaring his challenge at Mogar, afraid that someone might try and take Elysia away from him. In his fury, he unleashed the Call of the Void.

    It covered Lutia and then the Lustria County. The ckness kept spreading and soon it reached the capital, Valeron.

    "Okay, unless you want the birth of your baby to be remembered as a massacre, you have to stop him." Tyris said to Kam.

    "Me? What am I supposed to do? I''m just human." She replied, slouching her shoulders.

    "You are the only one who can." Tyris tried to enter the pir but the silver-ck light rejected her. "I can force my way in, but I don''t want to hurt Lith and Elysia."

    Solus punched on the pir, but she was cut out of it as well.

    "Enough with the moping and get in! I still have to hold the baby." Solus was greatly pissed off by the pir rejecting her as well and the fact that she had yet to touch Elysia. "Get in!"

    Solus pushed Kam forward and she effortlessly passed through the wall of light.

    ''Well, at least this is something only I can do.'' She inwardly sighed.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen, I''m really happy for your breakthrough, but that isn''t reason enough to act like a jerk!" Hearing her angry voice and his middle name, Lith lowered his head, knowing he was in trouble.

    "I don''t care if you can cover the entirety of Mogar with the Void now and honestly, I don''t care. Get down. Now!"

    "Baby! Protect! Enemies!" His brain was still a puddle, having trouble making a full sentence.

    "That''s right. Our baby. My baby." Kam yelled even though now there was no need to. Lith had stopped roaring and was listening. "I''m tired and hungry. I''ve pissed and shat myself in front of the whole family.

    "Thest thing I need right now is everyone ming Elysia for all the people who''ll die of heart attack because of you. Recall the Void and the Demons."

    Lith growled, tilting his head to a side while trying to find a witty retort when he realized that she was right. Any more and Elysia''s birthday would be something infamous like the Day of the ck Sun.

    The ck dome disappeared and thousands of people were spared from the scare of their lives. Countless Demons of the Darkness had been spawned by thebined power of father and daughter, but they had no direction.

    They had just rejoiced and celebrated in the darkness of the Void, their howls scary but their presence hard to notice since they had no interest ining close to the living.

    "Good. Now shrink and hand me Elysia." Kam tapped her foot, making her annoyance clear even to a 30 meters (100'') tall oaf.

    "But it''s my baby." He whined, holding Elysia to his chest and wrapping her between his wings while cupping both hands around her.

    "No! Our baby. You had one night of fun and I nine months of work, to be precise. Not to mention that you watched while *I* gave birth. Do you really want a measuring contest?" She grunted and Lith shrunk to his human size.

    "Sorry." He said, feeling like an idiot.

    "Don''t be." Kam hugged him, making sure to not squeeze Elysia between them. "What you did was both amazing and moving. I had to y bad Constable only to protect both of you. And because I won''t let you hog our baby."

    She chuckled, gently taking Elysia off his hands, even apologizing since she could see how the separation hurt him.

    "Solus, meet Elysia. It''s our daughter and after all I went through, you have to pull a lot of weight if you want to evene close to match my efforts." Much to Elina''s, Zoreth''s, and the Guardians'' dismay, Kam went to Solus first.

    <nulli>''I have no idea what Lith has just gone through, but whatever it was, it changed him.'' Kam said via a mind link. <nulli>''You are a part of him and a part of this family as much as the two of us. Please, help him. Please, help our daughter.''

    Solus was so moved by Kam''s gesture and her words that she teared up the moment she held Elysia.

    <nulli>''I have no clue what happened to him either. Our mind link was- Gods, she''s so beautiful!'' Solus couldn''t feel with Elysia the same connection she shared with Lith yet she loved the baby no less than him.

    Elysia instinctively shapeshifted into her human form the moment she touched Solus'' skin. She had big, dark-brown eyes that sparkled with intelligence as she looked around the room.

 Chapter 2716 Just a Word (Part 2)

    Chapter 2716 Just a Word (Part 2)

    Elysia looked exactly like Lith as a newborn, aside from the re, the cynism, and the murderous impulses. That and the genitalia, of course.

    Solus acted on instinct as well, flooding her long hair with mana and using it to wrap around Elysia in a multi-colored warm nket.

    "By my Mom, look at her, guys. She''s the picture of her parents." The phrase was devoid of malice, stating how much the baby resembled Lith and Kam.

    Yet between Solus'' hair nket and Elysia''s head filled with short hair streaked by the six elements, it sounded like Solus had somehow yed a part in the conception as well.

    The room fell into an awkward silence, broken only by Elysia''s baby noises and Solus'' cooing since she waspletely oblivious to the effect of her words.

    "I''d say that''s enough." Raaz cleared his throat. "The grandparents have rights too and since Elina and I took care of Lith for over sixteen years before you guys butted in, wee first."

    Zoreth said nothing. She whimpered, but said no intelligible word.

    Solus too had a hard time letting go of the baby, but less than Lith. Raaz quickly wrapped Elysa in a warm cloth and said a few words to avoid further misunderstandings.

    "You did an amazing job, Kam. Thank the gods Elysia takes most of her looks from you and Elina. I was terrified she might look like me."

    Elina and Kamughed, raising the temperature in the room by several degrees.

    "Thanks, Raaz."

    "Don''t be unfair to yourself, dear." Elina took Elysia next. "Lith, Trion, and Aran have taken from you and they look great."

    Everyone avoided mentioning that Lith was Awakened, Trion was dead and far from good-looking, and that Aran had received Lith''s treatments since a tender age.

    "Guys, I know I''m asking a lot, but if anyone else steps in front of her in the line, my daughter is going to cry." Leegaain said, waiting for permission from the other two Guardians to hand the baby to Zoreth.

    "That''s not true!" She blushed up to her ears but her teary eyes and her broken voice didn''t sound much convincing. "Hello, little one. I''m your godmother. You can call me Zor."

    Elysia started to cry, but a quick shift of Zoreth''s hands brought out her scales and more than enough reassurance for the baby to feel safe.

    The Shadow Dragon showed the baby girl to Bytra who also introduced herself as if Elysia had any understanding of what was happening.

    "It''s a gorgeous baby." The Fourth Ruler of the mes said. "I don''t want to be that girl but Elysia holds quite some Chaos energy for someone at the deep orange. You guys have to be careful."

    "Deep orange?" Kam was bbergasted.

    "Well, yeah, babe." Lith scratched his head now that he had gone back into his human body. "She had a breakthrough with me, remember? It must have happened because the merging of her life forces has increased the efficiency of her mana flow."

    Kam took a deep breath, pinching her nose in annoyance.

    <nulli>''I''m barely a yellow mana core and Elysia is already at my heel. Now that she''s born, I have to train my body and practice the breathing techniques on top of working, being a mother, and preserving my rtionship with Lith. I feel tired already.''

    Between all those emotions, Kam felt the need to go back to bed while the Guardians took turns holding and cooing to Elysia. Only once they were done did they allow the other family members to touch her.

    Rena and the kids had no problem with that since they were still quite shocked by their own transformation.

    "Itsted just a few seconds but I felt so powerful." Rena tried to feel the mana and trigger the shapeshifting again, but her blood had be inert again.

    "That was so cool and I was so tall! Can we do that again, big brother?" Aran asked, handling the baby like a priceless crystal vase.

    "I have no clue how I did that." Lith shrugged. "Back then, I was overloaded with world energy thanks to Mogar''s help and I was also resonating with Elysia. I don''t think I can do it again by myself."

    "It doesn''t matter." Aran shrugged. "Finally, a nice to take care of and who will respect me."

    "Dream on." Leria said with a snort. "If she''s half as smart as Uncle Lith, Elysia is going to run circles around you by the time she learns how to speak."

    Leria was already used to handling babies due to the triplets so she showed more confidence and less hesitation than Aran.

    Elysia started to cry, but this time nothing managed to calm her down, not even Dragon scales.

    "She''s hungry." They still allowed Lith to understand what the baby felt. "Let''s give her back to Kam. Only women and I can stay in the room."

    "Why? It''s not fair!" Aran pouted.

    "You''ll thank me when you are older." Leegaain lifted him and started to drag the boy away when Lith took the baby Tiamat in his arms and she said:

    "Dya."

    "You''ve heard it! You all are my witnesses. Her first word was Dad!" Leegaain gloated while Zoreth facepalmed and Sark and Tyris fumed.

    "Gods, Dad! Was it really necessary?" The Shadow Dragon stood between Kam and the Guardian, to protect him.

    "Don''t be silly. That was just baby babble." Kam wanted to believe her own words but plenty of grimaces in the room said otherwise.

    "You would be right, if this farming Dragon didn''t create Dragontongue in general and the word ''dad'' in particr to be the easiest one to pronounce by a baby in Dragon form!"

    "How can she speak-" Only then did Kam remember about all the time Leegaain had spent talking to her belly, using that particr word over and over in all the stories he read. "Farming Father of All Farming Dragons!

    "I''m going to kill you!"

    "Calm down. You need to rest and the baby needs to eat."

    Zoreth passed Elysia who was crying harder since now she was scared on top of hungry.

    "Fine!" Kam snorted. "Grandma, why didn''t thishappen with Shargein?"

    "Because I knew he would do it and I kept him at an arm''s length the whole time!" The Overlord snarled in reply. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. One time was plenty enough. Now I''m very careful about what he says to my belly!"

    "I don''t get why you are so angry. As you women say, it''s just a word." Leegaain shrugged with a smirk on his face. "She has to start somewhere."

    "Get out!" Kam said with a soft hiss to not scare Elysia more and Sark was ready to help the Dragon out with a powerful kick in his butt.

    <nulli>''First, I lost my strength. Then I lost my connection with my daughter. And now that jackass of a Dragon took Elysia''s first word away from me. This day couldn''t get any worse.'' Kam actually thought, her hands trembling as she sniffled.

    "I''m so sorry, babe." Lith knelt beside her, his wings wrapping themselves around both mother and daughter on their own.

 Chapter 2717 The Fires Within (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2717 The Fires Within (Part 1)</h4>

    2717 The Fires Within (Part 1)

    "Nothing I say can make this better. In your shoes, I would be livid and I''d probably storm out of here in search of books about how to be a Dragon yer." Lith''s words made a thin smile appear on Kam''s face while his warmth helped to dispel the self-doubt that gued her mind.

    "Don''t worry about me. It''s fine." She lied through her teeth..

    "No, it''s not." Lith shook his head. "Please, don''t lie to me."

    She tried to speak but only hups came out as being caught red-handed added humiliation to her wounds.

    "What do you say if to make this up to you, we make sure that Elysia''s first word in humannguage is ''mom''? I know it''s not much, but at least this way we''ll be even. Dragontongue for the Dad and humannguage for the Mom."

    "I would love that." Only after every man in the family, young or not, exited the room did Kam unbutton her shirt and breastfeed Elysia.

    The baby was very hungry, to the point of taking her fangs out and giving small bites in the hope of getting more milk.

    "Damn!" Kam and Lith said, but for entirely different reasons.

    He was staring at her exposed chest with the deep-thought expression of a philosopher pondering the mystery of life or a scientist trying to crack a very hard mathematical problem.

    Something that both Kam and Solus recognized as his perverted face, making Kam chuckle and Solus blush in second-hand embarrassment.

    "Is everything alright, dear?" Elina asked after a while. "Why are you staring at Kam like that? You are making me worry."

    Lith opened his mouth to say something that would have ttered his wife and made her giggle if they were alone. Yet in the presence of his mother and sisters, it would have put both of them in great embarrassment.

    "Everything is fine, Mom. I was just amazed by how beautiful Kami is even after everything she''s just gone through."

    The female side of the family aed whereas Solus had to turn around and cover her mouth to notugh in their faces.

    "By the way, Lith, have you checked on your life force yet? How much has it changed?" Solus asked to draw his attention.

    She knew that he could look at the "scenery" for days without blinking and that not even Elina''s blind love for him was blind enough to keep the wool on her eyes about his thoughts for that long.

    "What changes? I mean, no." Lith needed sheer willpower to avert his gaze. "Let''s take a look together."

    He offered Solus his hands as he started to use his breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze, to study the changes in his life force after reaching the bright violet.

    What they saw filled them with shock and awe.

    Lith''s life force looked like a gxyposed of stars that were linked between them by a red thread. The ckness of the Void filled the space between them and also encapsted the entire structure, protecting it from external forces.

    Apparently, not much had changed since Lith had reached the violet but after a more careful observation, Lith and Solus discovered that things couldn''t have been more different.

    The Void now also passively absorbed the world energy and foreign mana in the surroundings, giving them Lith''s energy signature and then feeding them to the stars it protected.

    The Abomination side no longer just took, it also gave back and nurtured the other aspects of Lith''s life force.

    The blue stars had all turned either deep violet or violet, increasing the output of mana and raw power that Lith''s body could produce. The Dragon''s life force rhythmically flooded the auxiliary stars with elemental power, changing their color.

    After that, the temporary elemental stars would re up into their corresponding Cursed Element before going back to the violet. The elemental and Cursed Stars only manifested in neighboring pairs so that the final result was always perfectly bnced.

    The ck stars scattered among the colored stars and connected to the rest of the structure by the red threads now alternated between emitting pulses of death energy and absorbing the power from the colored stars.

    Yet it wasn''t a parasitic rtionship so much as symbiotic. The ck stars fueled the life force with their own power while also siphoning the excess energy produced under stress in order to keep the whole gxy stable.

    Also, the collected energy wasn''t stolen, just stored and ready to be released whenever it was needed. At the center of the gxy, burned a giant bright violet star around which everything else orbited.

    The surface of the giant violet was covered in ck currents that red up from time to time, turning the surface of the star silvery and sometimes even burning with blue mes.

    The energies of life and death thatprised Lith''s life force had attained a better bnce, just like the two pirs that had ushered Lith''s breakthroughs. Now both the Voidfeather Dragon and the Void had stopped shing against Lith and each other, bringing harmony where there had been conflict.

    "F...arm me sideways!" Lith said in the nick of time. "We''d better check Elysia too."

    Solus neared to the baby, her arms extended, when Elysia threw her what Solus could have sworn was a furious re.

    "Maybe we can wait until she''s done." Solus awkwardly said.

    "Did she just..." Lith pointed at Elysia.

    "Yes." The choir of women replied.

    With a full belly and the reassuring warmth and smell of her mother''s skin, Elysia fell asleep instantly. Kam''s heartbeat was the best luby on Mogar for her, making her feel safe like when she was in the womb.

    When Lith checked the baby''s life force, he discovered that it was almost identical to his own. The main difference was that her ck stars wereprised of a small amount of stable Chaos and the Cursed Stars of stable Cursed Elements.

    "Damn!" Lith wanted to say much worse, but he held it in.

    "Is everything alright?" Kam noticed his distress and covered herself up to help him clear his mind.

    Lith shared everything with her via a mind link and then did the same for the rest of the family.

    "Damn!" Both Guardians and Eldritches said in unison.

    "The good news is that your daughter won''t be harmed by the Chaos energy in her body. The bad news is that you guys might. You need to be extra careful." Tyris said.

    "Careful how?" The idea of not being able to take care of her granddaughter terrified Elina.

    "Don''t worry, babies with magical powers usually don''t use them unless under great stress." Sark replied. "Even when they do, they can distinguish friend from foe."

    "Usually?" Kam echoed. "So not always?"

    "idents can happen." Tyris had to admit.

    "Don''t worry about it now. Just focus on resting and recovering your strength."

    Kam nodded, falling asleep a few secondster while still holding Elysia. Lith took the baby from her and put Elysia in a crib right next to Kam''s bed. Close enough to reach it with one step and far away enough that the mother couldn''t hit it in her sleep.

    "Grandma, let''s get out. We should let them rest."

 Chapter 2718 The Fires Within (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 2718 The Fires Within (Part 2)</h4>

    2718 The Fires Within (Part 2)

    Everyone followed Lith outside but Tyris who stood by the crib.

    "I think that there''s something wrong with me." Lith said once they were outside and the Hush spells kept Kam from overhearing him.

    "Even now, I can still almost hear my old rage scratching at the back of my mind. If you take a look at my life force, the blue me is still there. I thought I was supposed to have gotten rid of it after my breakthrough!"

    "Shush, child, let us see." Sark disregarded her displeasure for Leegaain''s stunt and asked his help in studying the situation.

    The eyes of the two Guardians went wide for a split-second while checking Lith''s life force and once they were done, they walked away to tell something inaudible between them.

    "You are right, there is something wrong with both you and Elysia." Leegaain nodded, exining to him everything the Father of All Dragons had discovered during histest experiment.

    Even the Eldritches had no idea what he was saying, but unlike the rest of the family, they could understand how dire the situation was.

    "I just want to assure you that the blue mes aren''t a parasite or something that can hurt you two like Chaos would." Leegaain said.

    "Then what are they?" Lith asked.

    "Something that can change you and affect everything else in the process." Leegaain replied. "I wish I could tell you more but this is the problem with new species. Your powers are something unique that needs studying and understanding."

    "Also, consider this." Sark stepped in, noticing how pale people were bing. "The fact that Elysia had a breakthrough with you and that her life forces merged along with yours is a good thing.

    "It means she has also ovee all your past issues and is left only with the new ones. While she''s so small, she won''t lose control of her abilities unless you do it first. You''ve seen how deep your bond is.

    "Elysia learns from you so it''s twice your responsibility not to stray from the right path just for power''s sake."

    "Easier said than done." Lith sighed.

    "Listen to me well, child." Sark cupped his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "You are of my blood so there''s something you need to hear from me."

    Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "There are two Phoenixes who constantly battle inside of us. One that basks in light and helps you rise to new heights, and one that lurks in darkness and craves for blood."

    "I know that." Lith rolled his eyes. "The one who is going to prevail in the end is the one I feed."

    "What? That''s not how the saying goes! I know it because I made it myself. Who goes around twisting my words into such bullshot?" Sark said in outrage. "Tell me where you heard that so I can kill them all!"

    "Please, Grandma, you are scaring everyone." Lith pointed at his parents and the kids.

    "I mean, I was about to say that to achieve true greatness, you must learn to be them both. Never lose yourself in either of them. Always be their master, no matter how alluring their promises are.

    "If you relinquish one, you also relinquish a part of yourself and whatever strength you achieve will always be iplete. Do you understand me?"

    Lith nodded and Sark let him go.

    "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I have an appointment that I can''t dy any longer. Leegaain!" She turned to him. "I leave you in charge but pull another fast one and no Shargein for one month."

    "One month?" Leegaain was bbergasted.

    Before he could say anything, the Phoenix was gone in a pir of mes.

    "Why the long faces?" He regained his cool before the fires went out. "Elysia is finally born and we have to party!"

    Confetti, sweets, and everything necessary for a proper celebration appeared out of thin air, including lots of alcohol.

    "By my Mom, I really need this." Solus poured herself a ss of Red Phoenix.

    She had barely taken the first sip when along with the burning sensation from the alcohol, another one raised from the pit of her stomach.

    A bright blue pir erupted from her body as her mana core reached the next stage. At the same time, in the Trawn Woods, the tower was sitting above the mana geyser and started sucking in rocks, ground, and wood in order to rebuild itself.

    Between the time spent in the Verhen Mansion and the Desert, Solus had always received excellent nourishment from Lith''s ever-increasing life force and mana. After the breakthrough, the pir of silvery-ck light had seeped inside her as well.

    Thebined effect of Lith''s and Elysia''s evolution had given her thest push she needed. Yet unlike an Awakened, Solus didn''t expel impurities nor did her body break down.

    The body that the tower gave her was identical to the one she had 700 years ago.

    It was a perfect vessel for a bright violet mana core, with no trace of impurities and no imperfections. Yet without a proper energy source to fuel her body''s abilities, Solus was no different from a bright blue-cored Awakened.

    A bright blue-cored Awakened with the mass of a mage tower and its enchantments at her beck and call akin to bloodline abilities, though."Damn, this is going to be a long day." Solus emptied her ss in one gulp and filled it again. "Do you mind if we talk about what the new floors do in a few days? I''m not in the mood for work.

    "Also, until they''re done being rebuilt, I won''t recover memories about them either."

    Lith nodded and the celebrations resumed.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, the Overlord''s pce.

    Sark had no need for a Fringe to contact Mogar. Her willpower and core alone were enough to conjure the world energy anytime she wanted, as long as she was on her turf

    The Guardian''s appearance in the Mindscape was identical to her own and her powers weren''t diminished one bit. Quite the contrary, Sark knew the rules of the game well enough to be nigh-invincible in there.

    Nigh because even she couldn''t be sure of winning were she to face Mogar on their own turf.

    "What do the blue mes mean and why are they still there?"

    The Mother of All Phoenixes asked the familiar figure of the blood-stained beast Mogar took for her. "They were supposed to go away once Lith reached the violet. Unless this is your doing."

    The Guardian''s eyes red with mana while Mogar''s remained unfazed by the allegation.

    "I didn''t do anything. Why should I even care?"

    The beast resembled a two-headed Phoenix, one with eyes full of love and mercy and the other with crazy eyes and a derangedughter.

    Its talons were stained with blood while the white of its feathers was reddened and ckened by the innards and ashes of its fallen enemies.

    "Point taken." Sark nodded, regaining her cool. "Then can you at least tell me why the blue mes are a part of him now? Wasn''t that supposed to be the result of a bad choice on his side?"

 Chapter 2719 Bare Minimum (Part 1)

    2719 Bare Minimum (Part 1)

    "Lith has made his choice and by my blood, it''s the best he could!" Sark roared.

    Mogarughed, their voice devoid of joy and filled with mockery.

    "That was not the choice!" The beast replied. "As for your other question, do the clouds disappear after the storm? No, they just move along with the wind. You think the storm is over whereas it has just moved somewhere else.

    "The clouds are still there."

    Sark went pale, gritting her teeth to avoid making a scene.

    She gave a deep bow to Mogar before bidding them goodbye and going back to take part in the celebrations.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, floating fortress and capital of the Empire, city of Manaron.

    Milea Genys, the Magic Empress, had just received news of Elysia''s birth and cursed the Imperial throne that both kept her from the celebrations and from having the time to develop a better rtionship with the first Supreme Magus on Mogar.

    Having no time to waste in recriminations, she summoned Ke Sunbry-Genys to her office. The young girl was Dusk''s host and Milea''s adoptive daughter. She was now fourteen years old and attended the fourth year at the Red Emperor Academy.

    "Greetings, Empress. I mean, mother. Or should I say, Mom?" Between the sleepiness from being woken up in the middle of the night and her strained rtionship with the Empress, Kelia was at a loss for words.

    "Mom or mother, please." Milea sighed. "If people hear you call me Empress, they''ll assume we are on bad terms and try to turn you against me. Our citizens are not happy with my leadership and thest thing I need right now is dealing with a coup."

    "A coup?" Kelia and Dusk said in unison, her eyes ring orange due to his influence. "Is there something in the water or has the people of the Empire just lost their minds?

    "We mean, the famine, the undead invasion from Jiera, the war against Veeza the Lich, the Undead Courts, andstly Thrud! If not for you, the country would have crumbled!"

    "Indeed. Yet those are the very same weapons aimed at my throat to question my judgment and undermine my rule." Milea sat back and steepled her fingers.

    "How exactly?" Kelia was astonished. "You solved those crises and fixed the aftermath. Heck,pared to the Wars of the Griffons, you dealt with Veeza''s army painlessly.

    "Also, if you didn''t beat her fast enough, the Empire would have been pincered between the Undead and the Mad Queen. At that point, our country would have dissolved."

    "You are right, but you are also na?¡¥ve." Milea had a chaire from behind, hitting the girl''s knees and forcing her to sit down. "To our poor citizens, it doesn''t matter that I solved those problems, only that they happened under my rule.

    "Hence, in their mind, it''s my fault for not nipping them in the bud. From where they sit, fixing my own mess is not an achievement but the bare minimum."

    "How can anyone stop a mass invasion, a famine, or a mad Lich? Do the citizens consider you a god or what?"

    "Kelia, people like peace, and when they don''t have it, they like to find someone to me." The Empress had tea and hot pastries appear on her desk for an early breakfast.

    "At the same time, my enemies use those events, analyzing them in hindsight to find ws in my decisions and iming that they would have done better."

    "That''s rich!" Kelia grunted, but after biting the first cream puff, she started stuffing her face, feeling more hungry than angry.

    She had been a poor orphan living on the streets for too long and had moved to the safety of the academy for too little time to shut down her survival instinct in the presence of warm food.

    "I would love to see any pompous idiot try to best you in anything. I asked Dusk if he could do better and he said no."

    "That''s why no one has yet to make a move against me." Milea replied. "Talking is easy, dealing with real problems, not so much. During these crises my political rivals all backed me, no question asked, because they didn''t want to face those monsters themselves.

    "They are waiting for the situation to calm down so that they can rece me and hog all the merit for my achievements since people would start noticing the effects of my reforms only after a new Emperor has been elected.

    "It''s a simple, but effective n."

    "And you are just going to sit there and take it?" Kelia would have spat out in surprise, if the thought of wasting food wasn''t unbearable to her. She swallowed the muffin like a piton before talking, instead.

    "Actually, I''ve given it a thought." Milea said, making the girl spill her tea. "I mean, without this damn crown and throne, I could finally get back to myb. I couldplete the experiments I need to perfect my magic before sharing it with the Empire.

    "If not for my duty as the Empress, I would have long been a Magus!" She snarled. "Yet I''ve decided otherwise. I n on using this time to set a few pieces in motion that will turn the political tide in my favor and once it starts, I''m going to need your help."

    "Me?" Kelia dumbly pointed at herself. "I''ve just acquired a bright green core whereas you are a bright violet. What can I possibly do for you?"

    "You can give a massive help in the colonization of Jiera." Milea touched her desk, triggering the activation of the hologram of a train. "After Magus Verhen''s birthday G, I''ve reached an agreement with the Royals.

    "Their Train will transport our people as well during the first trip. We''ll join our forces to make sure that everything goes well and then we''ll go separate ways."

    "I thought we were going to move via a flying fortress." The Red Sun replied."When we had no better option." Milea replied. "Our fortresses are safer than a train but much slower. Also, between the famine and everything, I don''t feel safe losing one and giving away the necessary food to feed the inhabitants of the fortress for the duration of the trip.

    "The train will allow us to send a skeleton crew. Once you reach the position of the chosen settlement in Jiera, you only have to establish a Warp Gate and after that, the Empire will have a solid foothold in two continents!"

    "It''s a great n, but why me?"

    "Because you are bound to the Red Sun and need experience." Milea sighed. "Your presence will strengthen our security and we can use someone who has ess to most Divine Beasts'' bloodline abilities.

    "Just Life Maelstrom alone increases our strength by tenfold. Don''t worry, there is no rush, yet. You''ll finish the fourth year and then go to Jiera during your break. You have plenty of time to practice and finish growing up."

    "Why sote?" Kelia asked. "I mean, it''s winter for us and I''m already on break. It''s summer in Jiera now. It''s the perfect moment to move and avoid storms."

 Chapter 2720 Bare Minimum (Part 2)

    2720 Bare Minimum (Part 2)

    "Didn''t you hear the news? Magus Verhen had a child."

    "Hear? We felt that." The girl and the Horseman shuddered at the memory of the wave of life force that Lith had unleashed during that day.

    "Then you must know that no matter the reason, you don''t get between a Dragon and his egg." Milea replied.

    "She''s not an egg. She''s a baby. Probably she won''t even remember that her father left for a while once she grows up." Kelia shrugged.

    "Child, have you ever heard, even as boasting, about someone having a pet Dragon or having eaten a Dragon''s egg?" The Empress took a deep breath trying to calm down.

    "No, but we live in the Empire. Dragons are sacred to us. It would be weird otherwise." "Point taken, but that''s not the issue." Milea nodded. "A Dragon never gets away from their treasure and a hatchling is their crown jewel. Even one stupid rumor gets their attention and you don''t want that.

    "Fell one Dragon and dozense. Fell two, and the next day your country will burn. And if they really find an egg or a hatchling..." Milea shuddered at the thought. "Well, you don''t want to know the rest."

    Dusk? Kelia asked.

    You really don''t want to know.'' He replied, sharing with her only a memory of dozens of scaled Divine Beasts, all lined up and exuding Dragon Fear in unison.

    In the vision, the living died of terror while the undead died in a torrent of white mes. After that, the memory faded but she had seen enough to guess the rest.

    "After my fourth year it is." Kelia nodded. "What then?"

    "Let me worry about that. You should worry about ''what now'' instead". Milea replied.

    "What do you mean?"

    "As I said, it''s going to take a while until the baby grows enough to quell the Dragon''s protective instinct and allow Verhen to move." Milea replied. "The Royals won''t ask him anything before that because if he''s anything like Leegaain, Verhen would rather defect than abandon his daughter.

    "That or trigger a war. ording to my spies, the Kingdom intends to use that time to let the monsters of Zelex multiply and to send as many diplomatic envoys as possible to other Fringes to recruit more elves.

    "The Empire can''t remain idle or we''ll go from equal partners to a silent one. That''s why I''m going to offer my support to Setraliie''s elves in traveling to the Fringes in the Empire and get the opportunity to negotiate with their kin first.

    "Also, I''m allocating resources to the Eclipsed Lands to allow them to gather undead refuges from Jiera, feed them, and offer them a ticket back home. The Magic Council was against it at first but then I reminded them that this way, we lose a little in the short term and earn a lot in the long term.

    "It will swell the numbers of our invading army and give us an unstoppable elite force at night so that our contribution to the colonization will be no less than the Kingdom''s.

    "Also, by offering our aid, we are rounding up undead and sending them away in one fell swoop. I''m turning a problem into fuel for our expansion. Two birds with one stone."

    "It''s indeed a brilliant n." Kelia nodded. "But we see two ws in it. One, you want to send me there, but I only have a bright green core which makes me a liability. Two, you mentioned Life Maelstrom, but we don''t have ess to it.

    "That''s one of Dusk''s powers and they are still sealed"

    "Again, I have a solution that solves two problems at once." Milea stood up. "I''ll use the methods Leegaain used with me to speed up your core development and together we''ll look into those seals.

    "After all, during the War of the Griffons, you managed to override them thanks to Dawn''s help, correct?" The Empress received a nod in reply. "Remember that feeling. Recall everything you can and we''ll start working from there.

    "In case that fails, we can always ask Dawn for help. And one more thing.

    "During your stay on the Train, you two must exploit every opportunity you can to steal its secrets. Don''t do anything rash, colonizationes first and we can''t afford to break our alliance with the Kingdom before having established a Warp Gate in Jiera.

    "I''m just saying that the trip will be long and boring. Use that time wisely to befriend Verhen and his partner, Solus. The four of you have a lot inmon and you two can learn from them. Go for the Train''s power core only if the coast is clear.

    "It''s a prototype so it should be poorly shielded but in case it''s not, it''s not worth the hassle. Once Trains be widespread in the Kingdom, we''ll have plenty of opportunities to study them."

    "So, colonization first, Verhen second, Trains third?" Kelia asked.

    "Exactly. Now let''s discuss your training program, daughter."

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, at the same time.

    The Guardians'' dimensional magic could have easily expanded Lith''s home in Lutia endlessly but it couldn''t bring the mana geyser in the Trawn woods any closer.

    After Solus'' breakthrough, she started to feel weak so the party had to be moved to the Mansion where its geyser would hasten the rebuilding of the tower and help Solus to fill her now bright blue core with mana.

    Kam woke up after less than half an hour, her weakness mostly a product of the bacsh from losing the extra power that Elysia had granted her until that day. Invigoration had fully restored her strength, but she still felt heavy, slow, and feeble.

    She had gotten so used to her baby-boosted physical and magical prowess that now her flesh seemed made of lead and her mana watered down.

    Kam smiled from the heart only while holding Elysia. The rest of the time her smile was stretched and it didn''t extend to her eyes.

    "Why doesn''t she have seven eyes?" Garrik asked while waiting for his turn to hold the baby. "Even I was born with six."

    "Because you took more from me, dear." R replied. "Other species, like Tyrants, Hydras, and apparently also Tiamats, develop their extra organs with age and power."

    "Does this mean I could get twelve eyes?" He asked with such a bright smile that she couldn''t find the strength to be honest.

    "It''s possible" The Fomor nodded.

    ''It''s very unlikely.'' She actually thought.

    "I can''t believe I''m finally an aunt." Leria sobbed a little while holding Elysia who slept through everything without a care in the word.

    "Me too." Filia was envious of the baby''s multiple streaks and the power she exuded but most of all, she was moved by the arrival of the new member of the family.

    Due to Fallmug, she had never been able to be a big sister and she believed to have failed to protect Frey. This was her chance to redeem herself and spend time with her beloved aunt.

    "Same here!" Frey said, jumping on the spot in anticipation.

    "You''re an uncle, like me. Not an aunt!" Aran said with a solemn voice.

 Chapter 2721 Past Grudges (Part 1)

    2721 Past Grudges (Part 1)

    "Don''t worry, Frey, this is the first time for you, but I''ve taken care of Leria since I was born. I''ll teach you everything you need." Aran said.

    "Excuse you?" Leria managed to re and snarl while keeping her voice low and melodious so as to not scare Elysia. "Since when have you taken care of me?"

    Lith chuckled, patting them all on the head and ending the quarrel.

    "Actually, the only uncle here is Aran. Yet it''s better to avoid more childishpetition than force the kids to remember their respective degrees of kinship. Aunt and uncle make it all much simpler.'' He thought.

    People from the Brood, the Nest, the Fastarrows, and the Ernas hade to the Mansion to celebrate. They all ate, drank, and were marry. Even the Demons and their respective families had been invited to join the party.

    "Have you heard about it, my Liege? They want to rename the west side of Lutia ''the Verhens!" Vgros said.

    After Kam had reconnected the former colonel of the army with his family, the Royals had to build him a proper house near Lith''s. Between the presence of the Demons'' families and Raaz''s retainers, only friends of the family lived in the area.

    "I know:" Lith sighed, hoping to not end up like the Hamptons. "Why the long face?"

    Trion was the only one who looked out of ce. As if he was there because someone had dragged him there after losing a bet.

    ... it''s nothing." He replied.

    "He''s the only member of the family who has yet to hold Elysia." Kam stepped forward slowly with wavering steps. Solus was helping her to walk by offering Kam her shoulder. Ragnar??k also let her use it as a walking aid, but it wasn''t enough.

    "So what?" Lith snorted.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen, how can you speak like that to your brother?" Elina inwardly called herself a fool for failing to notice her oldest son''s distress. "What''s the matter, dear? It''s not like you haven''t held your baby siblings in the past before."

    "That''s the problem." Trion had a hologram right above his skin that gave him human appearance and warmth. "I don''t think I deserve it. Not after what I''ve done to Lith and Tista."

    "Nonsense." Kam shook her head. "You may not be my favorite member of the family nor even my favourite Demon. That''s Locrias, by the way."

    "Thanks!" The former captain of the Queen''s Corps gave her a bow and his family him an apuse.

    "But you are still a Verhen. Elina and Raaz love you. You''ve been a poor brother to your younger siblings but that doesn''t mean you can''t be a great uncle. The only way you can ruin this is by running away from your responsibilities again."

    Kam took the bundle of cloth and love that was Elysia and handed it to Trion.

    He hesitated, looking at his hands and knowing that under the light-made illusiony wed instruments of death. Yet more than his Abomination touch and his nature as a Demon, he was scared of tainting her with his presence.

    "You can do it, son." Raaz patted Trion''s back. "Turning a new leaf is hard, but not impossible."

    The Demon took the baby from Kam''s hands and Elysia suddenly opened her eyes.

    In that moment, Trion remembered when he had held the same way Tista and Lith, swearing upon the gods that he would always be there for them. That he would protect and love them no matter what.

    The guilt from what he had actually done shattered his heart and with it the hologram. He went back to looking like he felt: a dead man wearing a husk of darkness as ck as his soul.

    The Demon had six white eyes, wings on his back, and ws on his hands yet Elysia looked at him and smiled. She shapeshifted into her Abomination form, cooing at her uncle.

    As Trion looked at the baby in amazement, feeling the coldness of his touch match hers and seeing his figure reflecting into her pristine eyes, reality struck him with all of its weight.

    I''m dead. I''m really dead.'' He fell to his knees while holding Elysia tight to his chest. ''All this time, I''ve tried to convince myself that as long as I stuck with Lith I would still have a life but it was a lie.

    ''This is what I could have had if I were a better person. I would still have a whole life in front of me if I hadn''t let Orpal drive me away from my family. Night might have murdered me but I''m the only one responsible for my death.

    It all started back when Lith was a newborn and it has never stopped. Even now, I keep running away from the consequences of my actions.''

    Trion shed tears that manifested as small bursts of smoke and darkness, his body devoid of fluids. He curled his fangs in a smile and rocked the baby to not scare her, but he kept crying.

    Tve ruined my past and destroyed my future. I''m just a shadow. A means to an end. Yet it''s still more than I deserve.''

    "It''s everything alright, dear?" Elina would have loved to kneel down, but Surin was just a few days away.

    "Yes." He nodded. "Please, Mom, take Elysia. There''s something I need to say."

    The moment the baby was off his arms, Trion put his hands and forehead on the ground.

    "I''m sorry." He said to Lith and Tista without ever raising his head. "I''m truly sorry for everything I did and said to you back when we were children, I''m sorry for not taking care of you just because it was more convenient for me."

    "What are you doing?" Tista felt greatly embarrassed whereas Lith barely frowned. "You have already apologized to us. This ispletely unnecessary."

    "No, I didn''t." Trion replied. "I''ve apologized to Mom and Dad. I''ve also apologized to Rena but not to the two of you. What I gave you after I became a Demon were the apologies of Trion Proudstar, former sergeant of the army.

    "I apologized to Lith solely as a Demon when I''ve sworn my allegiance to him, but that''s merely acknowledging that I owe him everything I''ve left."

    "I''ve never apologized as your older brother for what I did when I was just Trion and we didn''t have a family name. I failed you, I betrayed you, and then I abandoned you. Please, forgive me."

    Tista didn''t know what to do, looking at her parents'' expectant eyes and then at Lith''s unfazed expression as he kept sipping tea. He was still upholding his promise to not drink alcohol until Kam could.

    "Stand up, Trion," Lith replied. "If it''s of any constion, I forgave you years ago, back when you left our home to never return. That was the greatest gift you could give me."

    There was no trace of warmth orpassion in his voice.

    "I''m thankful for your help saving Mom and helping me uncover Meln''s ns, but that''s it. I''ve never forgiven what you did."

    "Lith!" Raaz said, his voice half shocked and half scolding him. "If not for Trion, your mother might have been hurt that day"

 Chapter 2722 Past Grudges (Part 2)

    2722 Past Grudges (Part 2)

    "What''s the matter, Dad?" Lith turned to his father, his eyes ever so slightly warm. "Do you want me to congratte Trion for doing the right thing for once? Do you want me to forgive him just because he did the bare minimum after abandoning you for years?

    "That''s a lot to ask. Forgiveness can be asked, but receiving it is another question entirely. Tista can do what she wants. As for my forgiveness, it must be earned. Words are cheap and so far, Trion only did what he had to do to keep living as one of my Demons."

    "Lith!" Kam met his eyes and said nothing more.

    She knew howplicated family rtionships were and asking him to forgive his brother would have been like him asking her to forgive her parents. Yet she could see the pain in Elina''s and Raaz''s eyes and it hurt her deeply.

    They were the parents she had always dreamed of having and Lith''s demeanor was ruining the joy from Elysia''s birth even more than losing her powers had already done for her.

    "No, he''s right." Trion stood up slowly, giving everyone a bow in apology. "Once again, I''ve been thinking solely of myself, spoiling the fun for everyone. Today is about Elysia Verhen, not me. I apologize for my rudeness."

    Trion tried to disappear into the shadows but Lith''s willpower held him in ce.

    "Running away after making a mess. How do you expect me to believe that you''ve changed if you keep behaving the same way you did your whole life?" Lith clicked his tongue in disgust.

    Between his tone and words, Elina would have stepped between the two brothers to defend Trion, if not for what Lith actually did.

    He took Elysia from Elina and gave the baby back to Trion.

    "The problems you have with me are just between us." Lith said. "You can still be a good brother to Aran and a good uncle to my daughter. Don''t be sorry, be better. Prove to me that you have changed and then we''ll talk again."

    Then, he turned around and walked away without waiting for a reply.

    ***

    Ernas Household, the day after.

    "That was a nice save on Lith''s side.''Jirni thought. After his parents and brother cried, everyone thought that Lith was leaving the door of reconciliation open and that was enough to restore the good mood of the party.

    What he actually did was give his parents and wife peace of mind while also putting Trion to the test. It was harsh, maniptive, but fair.

    The Lady of House Ernas would have loved to stay in the Mansion along with her daughters. Elysia was a sight to behold and Jirni would hate to miss Surin''s birth as well.

    The problem was that with Kam on maternity leave, she had one person less she trusted and more work to do. No matter the joy that a new life brought and the peace that the rtives wished to have in order to savor the happy event, Mogar kept turning.

    Their enemies kept plotting and Jirni had to keep up with them to not let everything she had built so far be swept away.

    "I was really surprised when your daughter delivered me your invitation, granddaughter." Jiza Gernoff walked through the double doors leading to Jirni''s private quarters before Dyta could announce her.

    "Thest time we met, you said very colorful things about me and swore that the next time we met would be when you spat on my grave"

    Jiza was actually Jirni''s ancestor and there were many grand- before the word daughter. Even though Jiza Gernoff looked to be in her early forties, she was an Awakened and an Elder of the human Council.

    Her real age was 585 years old and she called Jirni granddaughter just for brevity, like Leegaain did for young Dragons.

    "You can''t expect a mother in distress to keep her cool. Especially when those who are supposed to help her turn their back on her and her daughter." Jirni replied without turning toward her guest, keeping her eyes on the window facing the inner garden.

    "You are family, yet you refused to help me and because of that, my daughter died." Her voice was calm but she needed a few moments to collect herself and not let her anger transpire.

    Jirni considered feelings to be a burden while doing business and she prided herself in never letting her emotions give an edge to herpetition. Once she turned around, she had suppressed her grudge against the Gernoffs and the hormones from the pregnancy.

    "Phloria''s death, the untimely passing of the most promising Ernas since Juria is on you. Because of your choice, the Myrok Household and in turn the Gernoff too have lost a priceless asset to their bloodline."

    Jirni looked at Jiza with a sad smile on her face. There was no trace of anger in her eyes and her voice was filled with grief. Yet it was just a mask she wore to probe her opponent.

    Jiza looked down in shame, needing a second to collect herself before replying.

    "I know. Your daughter''s death was a tragedy. If only you weren''t so blind, Phloria would still be alive."

    "Excuse me?" Jirni''s eyes steeled for a second, letting the sting wash over her to not let it affect her judgment.

    "After Verhen killed Jormun, you should have known that Thrud would seek revenge. Your daughter''s sword and her friendship with Verhen made her the perfect candidate. Yet you failed to protect Phloria because you trusted her Awakened friends too much."

    J?-za red at Jirni with icy eyes, looking down at her. The Gernoff was 1.62 meters (5''4") tall whereas Jirni was shorter, barely 1.52 cm (5'') tall. Both women had long blonde hair and sapphire-blue eyes, making them look like sisters.

    "I didn''t trust anyone. I knew something like that might happen so I deployed the best units the Ernas had to spare. We were at war and Phloria was dating a Griffon. It was supposed to be enough. What''s your excuse?" Jirni''s reply took Jiza by surprise, something that hadn''t happened in centuries.

    Her lips curled up in annoyance but for such a short time that only Jirni noticed it and only because her Awakened senses managed to keep up with Jiza''s lightning-fast reflexes.

    Both of them showed emotions only if they decided so and someone seeding in putting a crack in their mask only made them respect their opponent more. Things like pride or humiliation didn''t exist in their vocabry.

    A step back was only a way to collect more data.

    "I too assigned the best forces the Gernoff had to spare but they failed as well." Jiza admitted, making Jirni open her eyes wide in surprise. "I failed to predict that Thrud would send her Generals.

    "My troops were ill-equipped to face Divine Beasts. I failed as well so I guess Phloria''s death is also on me. Now, if we are done with recriminations, I''d like to know why you invited me here."

    "To ask for your help again." Jirni replied. "1 hope that this time you''ve learned your lesson and that your answer will be different.

 Chapter 2723 The Long Game (Part 1)

    2723 The Long Game (Part 1)

    "My help with what exactly?" The Council Elder tilted her head to the side, trying to make sense of the charade yed in front of her face.

    ''In her shoes I would never call me. I''d ask Fabel Byrwal maybe even Raagu beforeing to me.'' Jiza thought.

    ''I''m certain you are aware that a bounty has been put on Lady Verhen''s head" Jirni said, receiving a nod to continue. "I have reason to believe that the instigatores from the Awakenedmunity but I have no reach there and my daughters have no talent for politics.

    "With your assistance, however, I can find and eliminate the threat. By helping me you would also be helping yourself since you''d gain the gratitude of both the Brood and the Nest. A fair trade, if you ask me."

    "Oh, I see" Jiza blinked a few times in understanding "You called me here because you suspect me being the instigator. You wanted to study my reaction upon hearing that the Phoenix and Dragon bloodlines are on my alleged tail.

    "Smart. Brilliant. You nned to put the literal heat on me and watch me boil."

    "How can you say that?" Jirni said in outrage but inwardly cursing the Elder for seeing through her n. "We are family. Despite our differences, we both carry Oghrom''s blood and cared about Phloria."

    "Oh please, spare me the emotional maniption. Just like you, I have no feelings unless I decide otherwise." Jiza scoffed, dropping the act and revealing her annoyance.

    "Look, we can dance and y with words all day or we can be straightforward and get this over with this in a few minutes. Your choice."

    I hoped Jiza would be as conceited as the rest of the Council but I was wrong.''Jirni thought. "This woman isn''t at my level, but she received my same training and mental conditioning.

    ''Also, she''s yed this game for over half a millennium more than me. Going on like this would just be a waste of time.''

    "Fine." She actually said but kept her countenance. "You were there the day the Guardians swore their oath, correct?"

    "Correct." Jiza nodded.

    "Also, you have a niece, Cy. She has met Lith in the past, she''s of the right age, and you invested quite some resources to make her achieve the violet core just a while ago. Do you deny any of it?" Jirni asked.

    "Only the part about me wasting resources! The Elder shrugged. "After getting humiliated like a child by someone younger than her and with no background, Cy got her act together and adhered to a strict training schedule our Household prepared for her.

    "She did all the hard work, I just passed on to her the secret of the violet core. My n for her seeded, like always. I rarely fail."

    "Am I really supposed to believe this is just a coincidence, then?" Jirni''s face was a stone mask. "Are you telling me that you don''t want revenge for what happened to Phloria? A daughter for a daughter?"

    "That''s it!" Jiza snapped her fingers in triumph. "You thought it was me because you assumed this was Deirus all over again. That I''m some kind of crazy lunatic who would put her entire household at risk for a petty grudge."

    "I''d be lying if I said the thought hadn''t crossed my mind." Jirni stared at the Elder''s face but she saw no deception nor guilt.

    Only triumph.

    "Ah, Jirni, my sweet baby granddaughter" Jiza had a predatory smile on her face that extended to her eyes as she talked to Jirni like a toddler. "I''m honored to be your main suspect. Your reasoning is solid and the legwork you did indeed points in my direction.

    "On top of that, having no shame or qualms about making an enemy out of your own bloodline is worthy of the heir of Oghrom Gernoff. Yet you are wrong. Your young age is leading you astray but there''s no shame in that."

    "Care to borate?" Jirni kept herposure while the Elder had thrown caution to the wind.

    ''Her showing her emotions like that can mean up to three things. One, I was right and Jiza is not up to my level, just older and more experienced. Two, she has seen my hand and determined that I''m too weak.

    ''I too don''t waste my time and energy deceiving an unworthy enemy. Three, all of the above.'' She thought.

    "Since you are my junior, I''ll give you this one lesson for free." Jiza replied, assuming a serious expression again and the lecturing tone of an elementary school teacher. "Your theory is wed because you think Awakened reason like the humans.

    "We don''t. To find who''s after Lady Verhen''s life you need to consider the short-, mid-, and long-term game. And when I say long, you must think decades if not centuries, not months and years."

    Jirni nodded for her to continue.

    "As any good investigator, you know that tomit a crime, a sane person needs a motive. In this case, it must be strong and important since in case of failure whoever is responsible will make an enemy out of Verhen.

    "Even if they seed andter get found out, then they''ll have to face the Brood so it can''t be something done on a whim. Do you follow me?"

    ''Clearly, she has been looking into the instigator as well. The question is: is she doing it for the Council or just to get in Lith''s good book? In her shoes, I''d find the culprit and bring him their head on a silver tter.

    ''That way, I''d create a strong bond between our bloodlines.'' Jirni thought but just nodded.

    "That said, what do I have to gain from Lady Verhen''s death? Nothing. She''s a human Awakened and I''m a human Awakened. I''ve already seen what''s born from the union of a human and the first Tiamat and I''m happy with it."

    Jiza took out hermunication amulet showing the pictures of Elysia that Lith had been forced to let journalists take since the birth of the Magus Baby was soon to be celebrated with another G.

    A small hood covered her hair, hiding the elemental streaks from sight, just to be safe.

    "Elysia is beautiful, strong, and ording to my sources, she''s born with at least three elemental affinities. Only time will tell us if she also can develop seven eyes like her father, but that can wait. We humans of the Awakened Council can wait.

    "The longer Lady Verhen lives, the more babies will be born from the First Tiamat. We have the chance to see the effects of the original source mixing with Awakened human blood multiple times and also to approach them to mix their bloodline with our own.

    "We humans have no interest in killing Lady Verhen, quite the contrary. The longer she lives, the more babies she''ll make, and to us waiting twenty or thirty years for her children to marry ours is not a problem.

    "In time, we''ll ess the powers of the Verhen bloodline and create our own branch, looking for mutations and maybe improvements. It''s the other races who cannot wait because Verhen''s life force is cracked."

 Chapter 2724 The Long Game (Part 2)

    2724 The Long Game (Part 2)

    "The non-human races can''t afford to lose ess to the First Tiamat so Lady Verhen''s life is a threat to their future ns. Sure, they can ess the children as well, but what if there''s a special interaction with the various Awakened bloodlines that only Verhen can unlock?

    "After all, Elysia''s wings are normal and so are Tista''s, Aran''s, and Leria''s whereas Verhen''s are unique." Jiza showcased pictures of the kids from the G, of Tista from the battlefield, and Lith''s Magus profile.

    "It makes sense." Jirni pondered the Elder''s words, finally finding the missing piece of the puzzle that had eluded her for so long.

    She knew something was missing but shecked the knowledge of the inner workings of Awakened bloodlines to understand what it was.

    "Indeed." Jiza nodded. "The problem is that there are too many suspects. As the G has proven, everyone wants a literal piece of Verhen. Undead, Beasts, elves, nt folk, and I bet that in a while some cute merfolk maiden will go to his house for a ''visit''.

    "As for me, I wouldn''t waste Verhen on my niece Cy. She''ll have children that with a bit of luck will marry his children. Just like you hoped to do with Phloria, I can y the long game but unlike you, I have plenty of descendants."

    The remark stung Jirni because both statements were right. Jirni hated being seen through like that but if her displeasure showed, Jiza showed no contempt for that.

    "What I can tell you, however, is that you can strike Dragons and Phoenixes off the suspect list. Verhen already carries their blood and there''s nothing to gain from it except maybe a shift toward one bloodline.

    "Also, none of them would be stupid enough to do something like that. The moment they are discovered, their whole race would turn against them, leaving them alone and helpless. No

    one forgives betrayal against your own."

    "Thanks for your help." Jirni gave the Elder a curtsy. "You''ve just made my work much easier. This narrows down the list of suspects quite a bit."

    "Don''t thank me." Jiza''s face returned to be a stone mask. "Consider this as my parting gift."

    "Parting gift? Are you going somewhere?" Jirni assumed that maybe her ancestor would move to Jiera to help with the colonization, maybe never to return.

    "I''m not, but you are." Jiza replied. "You were right about the fact that I''m out to kill someone but you were also wrong about my target. You."

    "What?" Jiza released a sudden burst of killing intent that made Jirni lose her cool and checked on the arrays of the Ernas Household, making sure they all worked.

    Much to her surprise, they did.

    "When after I refused to Awaken you and your husband you didn''t even try to change my mind, I knew you had a n b at the ready." Jiza said. "The fact that you suspected me to be a killer and dared invite me here confirmed it.

    "You''ve seen Awakened fight. You wouldn''t have called me here just because of a bunch of arrays because you know Spirit Magic ignores them. You wouldn''t trust yourself fighting me with a mere human body, even if you are wearing the Myrok''s Royal Fortress armor.

    "Sure, I bet that your husband is hidden somewhere with his own Royal Fortress armor, but that''s not enough when facing an old monster like me. Not for the likes of us."

    "I-"

    "Don''t try to deny it." The Elder cut Jirni short. "ording to the intel I got, Orion is allegedly away on a secret mission, but hiding the fact that both Royal Fortress armor are taken is impossible to hide.

    "I praise your scheme and resourcefulness, but even if I still had a shred of doubt, the way you reacted to my killing intent proved me right. There''s no way a non-Awakened could withstand that pressure with a pathetic orange core.

    "The fact that Life Vision shows me no mana flow and such a weak vitality only means that your husband is as good as the rumors say. Wherever you are, Lord Ernas, that''s one amazing cloaking device." Jiza spoke while looking at the walls and the ceiling.

    "If I had to make a guess, I''d say that you now have a yellow core. No, I was forgetting that you are pregnant and your baby is no Divine Beast. You can''t take risks practicing breathing techniques so you must be a bright orange, deep yellow tops."

    Everything Jiza said was right, even her analysis of Jirni''s deep yellow core was urate. The breakthrough had happened naturally and with no consequences for her baby but after that, she had not used umtion for months now.

    "Why do you want to kill me and why did youe here if you knew this was a trap?" Jirni asked, wondering whose trap it was and which one of them was going to be cornered if she sprung it.

    "Because, as I told you when you came to me, Oghrom left us only two orders before taking his life. To protect the Kingdom and to prevent anyone like him from Awakening. That''s you.

    "You''ve been warned but you thought yourself too smart to abide to our rules. In a few months, you''re going to pay the price for it. I won''t kill you until the baby is born. We cannot risk losing another Phloria."

    Jiza knowing the gender of the baby made the threat real but Jirni wasn''t scared. Yet.

    "As for your so-called trap, why refuse an invitation to take a look at your arrays and study them while we talked? I mean, sooner orter someone will break in here and kill you.

    "They can use the solid intel that my breathing technique has been giving me since the moment I stepped into your house. Now, the question is: do you want to fight me now or do you want to wait for your baby girl to be born as well?"

    Jirni didn''t move nor react, knowing that there was no point fighting against one opponent who hade prepared for the ambush.

    "I thought so." Jiza nodded. "If there''s nothing else, I''ll take my leave. Goodbye, Jirni Ernas. The next time we meet, it will be at your funeral."

    A Spirit Warp opened, breaking through the magical formations and bringing the Council Elder hundreds of kilometers away. It was just one small gesture to prove that no matter what Jirni did, the Gernoffs couldn''t be stopped.

    "May the gods burn her!" Orion emerged from a secret dimensional space that Friya had created for him. "Why didn''t you give me the signal? We could have taken her."

    "Too many risks." Jirni smiled at his concern, giving her husband a sweet kiss before turning back into her heartless self. "You are not Awakened and the baby is still in danger. We could have won, but our losses would have been incalcble.

    "I''m not going to lose another daughter let alone you." She turned back toward the window, looking at the statue of Juria Ernas.

    "Today is a great victory for us. We should celebrate."

    "Celebrate?" Orion echoed in disbelief. "This is terrible! Your days are numbered if we don''t find a solution."

 Chapter 2725 Precious Moments (Part 1)

    2725 Precious Moments (Part 1)

    "Celebrate." Jirni nodded. "We advanced our investigation about the instigator of Kam''s murder, acquired a better understanding of the Council, and learned about a threat that would have otherwise blindsided us.

    "Now instead, we have the time to prepare. Why fight as we are now when we can ask for Vastor''s help? For Lith''s help? By the time our baby girl is born, you might be an Awakened.

    "A bright violet Awakened who''d stillck Jiza''s experience but with a Royal Fortress armor and the gods know what new marvels Forgemastered. No, biding our time was the right choice.

    "Let theme. Even if Oghrom Gernoff himselfes at our door, I''ll usher him in and have him buried under the bushes of roses."

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, a few dayster.

    Surin seemed to share her mother''s wish to not steal the thunder of Kam''s first pregnancy and came into Mogar a week after Elysia''s birth, when the celebrations were already over and people had started to rx.

    Surin wasn''t Awakened nor did she carry a groundbreaking bloodline, but her birth was no less celebrated and Elina found her to be the most beautiful baby on Mogar. She and Raaz cried a lot, thanking Sark, Tyris, and Faluel for their help in the delivery.

    "Finally! I''ve graduated from being the youngest." Aran said like somehow it was his own achievement.

    "Poor girl." Leria nodded. "Surin will need lots of help. Luckily for her, I''ll protect her from you."

    "Hey!" Aran said in outrage. "I''ll be a big brother as good as Lith."

    "Yeah, right. And since we''re spouting nonsense, I''ll be as powerful as Grandma!"

    "I still can''t believe this." Lith Hushed the quarreling kids while looking at the two baby girls sleeping in nearby cribs, both built by Bytra. "In the span of a few days, I''ve gotten a daughter and a little sister."

    Surin had Elina''s hair, but they were so light that they were strawberry blonde, streaked yellow and orange all over. She also has Raaz''s dark brown eyes and a cute little face.

    When sleeping beside Elysia, they looked like sisters.

    "Who''s up to another party?" Leegaain asked and everyone agreed.

    Surin had no Guardian looking over her shoulder but that didn''t make her family love her less.

    Even though her body hadpletely recovered from giving birth, Kam was still wavering on her feet, needing to lean on Lith and Ragnar??k whenever she felt dizzy. She had yet to get used to her reduced strength and the fact that her mood was sour didn''t help.

    She had already discovered how hard being a parent was and she felt worse about herself with each passing day. When she held Elysia, her heart was filled with love but she missed the connection she had enjoyed with her daughter while the baby was still in the womb.

    Whenever the baby girl cried, Kam didn''t know what to do whereas Elina handled it through experience and Lith via his Dragon scales. Elysia always shapeshifted along with him, allowing Lith to understand how she felt and for what reason she was crying.

    Kam found herself trying to shapeshift out of habit multiple times a day and every time nothing happened, she felt like her body had betrayed her. Like something vital had been taken away from her.

    The party for Surin''s birth was held at the Verhen Mansion again because Solus and the tower were still recovering from their own breakthrough. To build the new floors and synergize them with the old ones, the tower needed time, loads of world energy, and resources.

    Sure, the tower could turnmon ground and rock into everything it needed, but the process still created a crater and then the world energy had to rearrange everything down to the molecr level.

    "Congrattions, Mom. You did an awesome job with Surin." Solus said. "I''m sure she will grow to be as beautiful as Tista and as smart as Lith. Hopefully, also less jaded."

    "Hey!" Lith said.

    "Thank you dear." Elina chuckled.

    Unlike Kam, pregnancy had given her only trouble so getting rid of all the side effects and hormonal imbnce had put her in a good mood. That and Sark''s treatment made Elina feel twenty again.

    "Are you sure we can take the crib? I know you made it for Elysia." She asked Bytra.

    "Of course you can." The Fourth Ruler of the mes looked at the babies with stars in her eyes. "Gods, I''m so envious of you. Us hybrids are all sterile and we''ll be until we find a cure for our condition."

    "Well, at least you can afford to wait. Elina sighed, thinking about her body getting older by the day. "You girls are going to live forever whereas this might be myst ride."

    "Don''t say that!" Zoreth hugged Elina. "Byt, don''t spoil the mood. This isn''t a funeral but a birthday party."

    "I''m sorry, Zor." Bytra lowered her gaze.

    She had seen how happy her wife was while holding Elysia and Bytra wished there was a way to give Zoreth a child of her own.

    "Can I?" Trion pointed at Surin and Elina replied by putting the baby in his arms.

    "It''s not that you can, you must. You are her big brother." Elina replied.

    The celebrations went wonderfully, with peopleughing, crying, and every girl of marriable age being pestered by her respective parents for a simr gift.

    By the end of the day, Valia, Tista, and Gilly were more exhausted than the babies.

    "Somebody please kill me again. The Demon was still of a shade of purple after her parents had dragged her to know every single male member of the Nest and the Brood.

    "At least you can hide in the shadows or go back to Lith''s feather." Tista replied while trying to get rid of the massive headache she had.

    Her whole family but Lith had talked her into settling down until her ears bled. They had been relentless, tagging in whenever she was about to run off. Zinya, Elina, Rena, Kam, and even Sark had kept Tista in a corner the whole day.

    "Why me? I''m the youngest here?" Gilly groaned. "I''m nothing special!"

    She felt just like Valia, but worse. On the one hand, she wanted to be left alone. On the other hand, she had no idea how much time her father had left.

    The idea of him disappearing before she got married and never meeting his grandchildren was killing Gilly.

    The three girls kept groaning for hours,paring their situation and making it a misfortune contest. The rest of their respective families, instead, were on cloud nine.

    After realizing how badly he had failed as an older brother, Trion was eager to make up for it with his little sister and niece.

    Raaz and Elina loved being pampered for once. Their every need was catered for and they could fully appreciate parenthood without a single worry. Elina could rest while Raaz could help her since the fields were taken care of.

    The fact that no illness could befall either mother or daughter was a huge relief as well.

    Rena was so happy that she had almost ovee the big scare from the triplet''s birth.

 Chapter 2726 Precious Moments (Part 2)

    2726 Precious Moments (Part 2)

    She hade to the conclusion that maybe there would be nothing wrong with having another baby.

    Luckily for Senton, almost.

    Solus kept cooing and dangling her hair at Elysia, spending with her every moment that Kam was away in order to not butt in between them andpromise their blooming rtionship.

    "How do you feel?" Lith asked when it was time to go to bed.

    "Tired." Kam sighed deeply. "I''m sorry, I know I should be jumping with joy for us and be excited for your parents. Everything went without a hitch yet I can''t help but feel sad. "I can barely keep my eyes open."

    ''Fuck me sideways, this is worse than I feared. Lith thought. ''Being tired is almost impossible an Awakened. Especially since she has received Tyris'' Invigoration and has slept for more than eight hours each day.

    Kam would wake up multiple times to feed the baby, but Lith had made sure that she would get back to sleep immediately after and he had taken care of everything else. She hadn''t slept eight hours straight but she still had rested more than when she worked Overtime in the army.

    I was afraid that this might happen. I made sure with light magic that she couldn''t have baby blues so this must be the withdrawal effect from losing her powers.

    "Then get to sleep." Lith kissed her forehead before going to the crib and fetching Elysia.

    The baby slept in their same room since Bytra had Hushed the crib and linked it to a buzzer. The parent in charge wore a bracelet and was the only one who would hear Elysia cry or trash around, letting the other parent sleep.

    "Aunt Bytra would have made a killing with this thing back on Earth." Lith handed the baby girl to Kam. "Onest refill before bed, okay youngdy? Mommy needs to rest so refill the tank and let her sleep as much as you can."

    Kam giggled and so did Elysia.

    Kam shapeshifted the shirt of her pajamas off, exposing her breasts to let Elysia feed.

    "And just to be clear, those are Daddy''s favorite toys, Elysia. I''m lending them to you but I want them back."

    "Pervert." Kam tried and failed to repress a peal ofughter. "Are you getting yourself inpetition with your own daughter?"

    "Hey, I married you to get exclusive ess! Lith shoved under her nose both the Camellia and the Tuner that he had given her as a betrothal gift. "I''m okay with sharing, but only if I get my fair serving."

    "Gods, you are such a pervert." Kamia giggled, d of those few precious moments when everything went back to normal and the shroud of darkness suffocating her was lifted.

    Then, Lith finished talking, Elysia finished eating and the illusion of normality shattered. Not because depression got its ws inside Kam again, but because Elysia nodded at Lith.

    "Did you understand what I just said?" Lith was appalled.

    Elysia giggled like the happiest girl in the world and nodded again.

    "Can you please forget I''ve ever said that?" Lith hid his face behind his hands while Kamughed her ass off. "Gods, this is embarrassing. Let''s hope she won''t remember anything once she grows up."

    After Lith was done burping Elysia and putting her back into the crib, Kam was stillughing.

    "Thank you." She needed a handkerchief to wipe off the tears from hrity. "I needed that"

    "If you really want to thank me, why did you put your shirt back on? What about my share?" Lith said in mock outrage.

    "Are you really willing to risk that?" She smiled, pointing at the baby that was indeed Hushed but could still look at them from the crib.

    "No, I don''t. Excellent point." He had yet to turn off the light that Kam rested her head on his chest and fell asleep.

    ***

    Kam had a good night''s sleep with Lith taking care of everything but the breastfeeding, yet she woke up the next morning feeling even worse than the previous night.

    She looked at herself in the mirror, finding the reflection of a slow, fat, and haggard woman looking back at her.

    "This must be all in my mind.'' She shook her head, trying to drive the insecurities in her head away. ''Grandma fixed me like she did Selia and Elina and they both look gorgeous.

    Lith had been very careful around her, limiting his own shapeshifting to a minimum and avoiding to use the Dragon scales. He mostly used diagnostic spells to understand why Elysia was crying and took care of teaching them to Kam so that she could do the same.

    Yet it still wasn''t enough.

    Sometimes, when there was no way of making Elysia stop crying, Lith had to resort to the Dragon scales. When for whatever reason he was unavable and Solus took care of the baby, she solved the problem by singing.

    Solus had no singing training but she had ess to Lith''s ylist from Earth and knew how to reproduce them all via air magic. She conjured the songs from her mouth, picking those with the smoothest or most upbeat rhythm.

    She sang the lyrics with her own voice, turning them into lubies that Elysia quickly learned to recognize. To make matters worse for Kam, raising her daughter right beside Elina was a huge help and an as big blow to her confidence.

    Elina had no special abilities and limited magical skills, but after six children she was a pro with newborns. Everything that Kam struggled with came natural to Elina who seemingly always knew what to do to calm the babies.

    Okay. I''m not the Dragon father or the Magic Mom. I''m just a first-time mother but at least 1 can still cook breakfast. Kam woke up first, wishing to make everyone a surprise and herself feel less useless.

    She used Spirit Magic to take the ingredients from the pantry along with the cookware she needed, fire magic to light the stoves, and water magic to make the liquid ingredients float into the right pot or pan.

    It was something she had done dozens of times in the past few months and she felt her confidence returning in performing the familiar routine. She then conjured more strands of Spirit Magic to handledles and stir the ingredients.

    It was then that everything fell apart and on the ground.

    Without Elysia''s affinities and the boost that pregnancy granted to Kam''s core, performing so many tasks at the same time put a heavy burden on her mind yet she had refused to give up, reminding herself that willpower was the pir of true magic.

    "This is just my depression fueling my insecurities. I know I can do this and I will do it again!''Or so she thought until the deafening sound of metal and the squishing of ingredients hitting the floor broke the silence of the kitchen.

    Luckily for Kam, the bedrooms were far away enough so no one heard anything nor would they learn about the incident as long as she managed to clean it up in time. Unfortunately for her, the mess she had made was huge and the feeling of failure and istion made everything look much worse than it actually was.

 Chapter 2727 Inside Jokes (Part 1)

    2727 Inside Jokes (Part 1)

    Kam tried to use magic to clean up but after almost dropping a pot again, shecked the confidence to continue and tried to fix her own mess the old-fashioned way.

    Yet it was now a mammoth task for a single woman and due to her rush, she was spreading the dirt rather than cleaning it. Soon her hands and clothes were covered in milk, egg yolk, and grease stains from the food whereas the floor was still a mess.

    ''Gods, I''ll never make it in time. How am I going to clean this and myself? How could I be so stupid? I should have known that I can''t do anything on my own. She fell to her knees, sobbing.

    She tried to muffle her voice by covering her face with her hands, achieving solely to dirt herself more and crying harder as a result.

    Her wails, however, were one of the triggers of the tower rms and the arrays covered the entirety of the Mansion.

    ''Dammit, something must have happened to Kami!'' Solus thought while reminding herself of Lith''s words about Kam''s depression and the potential withdrawal syndrome.

    Solus made sure to keep everyone away and Warped herself to the scene of the crime, finding the culprit grease-handed and riddled with guilt.

    "Good gods, Kami are you alright?" Solus kneeled in front of Kam, using Invigoration to make sure that she hadn''t gotten hurt.

    At first, Kam was humiliated at the idea of having been discovered and annoyed by Solus'' touch. Yet the warmth of her hand broke the coldness of the shell that had smothered Kam until that moment.

    She hugged Solus tight, bawling her eyes out while speaking with a voice too broken to make any sense. Solus could have used a mind link to understand Kam or a spell to calm her down but did neither.

    Solus just returned Kam''s embrace, caressing her back until she vented all of her pain and frustration.

    "Okay, once more, but this time with a little less feeling" Solus said, making Kam chuckle amid her hups.

    "I''m just useless." Kam weaved at the mess surrounding them. "I had deluded myself into thinking that I had learned something from your lessons. That I could use magic like you guys do. I was wrong.

    "It was always Elysia, never me. I''m just a baby carrier."

    "Don''t you say that." Solus restored the embrace and blew Kam''s nose on a handkerchief. "You were great. You are great. I know because I taught you and I''ve seen what you can do.

    "Do you mind showing me what happened?"

    Kam was hesitant to use Spirit Magic again, but their teacher-student bond gave her the confidence to know that even if she were to mess up again, Solus wouldn''t judge her.

    A quick mind link told Solus everything she needed to know.

    "Okay, I know what went wrong here and I can tell you are still plenty capable of making breakfast." She said.

    "Reality begs to differ." Kam sniffled, pointing at the dirty pile of pots.

    "Look, you have a yellow core now which is enough to attend one of the minor academies. Also, Lith helped Elina back when he was three and with an orange core so there''s no reason for you to doubt your skills." Solus replied.

    "Then why did this happen?" Kam was confused.

    "Let me show you." Solus established another mind link, projecting the answer into Kam''s mind. "The only problem is that you are too used to having a stronger core so you tend to power through stuff rather than use finesse.

    "You used thick tendrils where thin ones would suffice, wasting mana and focus. Also, instead of doing everything at once, split the various tasks based on the element you need to control.

    "It takes barely a few seconds longer but it costs much less mana. Your core is too weak for hexacasting. Come on, follow my lead."

    Solus used the telepathic bond to conjure a game-like interface in front of Kam''s eyes, creating an active time tutorial for her. Kam only had to use the suggested element and create tendrils of the shown shape and size to put the pots on the table with Spirit Magic.

    Then, she conjured darkness magic to clean them and the floor.

    In barely two seconds, everything was sparkling and in perfect order.

    "Did I really do this?" Kam said in awe.

    "Yes, now, I can guide you in putting the pots on the stoves and the ingredients in the pots, but after that, you are on your own. Unless you want to eat my cooking." Solus lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

    Solus Elphyn Althena Menadion-Verhen, genius Forgemaster and candidate Ruler of the mes, despite countless attempts and hours spent in the kitchen with Elina, could still barely prepare a broth.

    "Gods, no." Kam chuckled as she started to make breakfast. "No offense."

    "None taken." Solus sighed while projecting another tutorial about the Spirit Magic tendrils and the best sequence to activate the elements. "I''m not going to lie, it''s humiliating. I''ve watched Elina and Lith cook for years.

    "We fused our minds lots of times and yet I still suck!"

    "Speaking of that, do you mind keeping my little fit a secret from Lith?" Kam asked, blushing in shame.

    "Well..."

    "Of course you can''t." Kam sighed. "I should have known that I can''tpare with the bond you two-"

    "No!" Solus cut her short. "Don''t say that. Don''t you ever say that. I can''t keep it from Lith because he already knows. Why do you think I arrived here so fast?"

    "Do you mean he''s already awake?" Kam looked around in confusion, trying to find Lith.

    "No, just that he knew something like this would happen." Another quick mind link and Solus shared with Kam Marth''s withdrawal symptoms after merging with the White Griffon and Lith''s worries that Kam would feel the same after childbirth.

    "Oh." She said, lowering her gaze.

    "Kami, I hate saying this, but you are being a Lith. How can the people who love you help you if you cut us off? How can we understand what you are going through if you silence wall us?" Solus asked.

    Kam thought about all of Lith''s secrets, his silences that had put so much strain on their rtionship in the past, and how things had be so much simpler once he had finally opened up to her.

    "You are right." Kam sighed. "I''ll tell everyone myself after breakfast."

    ***

    Everyone pretended to be shocked and surprised by the news but even in her depressed state, Kam''s Constable training allowed her to spot such tant lies.

    "I swear I had no idea you felt like that! Elina said, as fake as a three-dor bill.

    Now Kam understood why during the past few days her mother-inw had been so patient with her, exining every trick Elina knew about babies to Kam and teaching her every secret she had learned.

    Sometimes, Elina even faked being incapable of solving a problem just to let Kam put the teachings together on her own and "save" the day. Other times, they both failed because babies are sometimes a mystery, giving their mothers a massive headache.

 Chapter 2728 Inside Jokes (Part 2)

    2728 Inside Jokes (Part 2)

    "See? It wasn''t that hard?" Whenever that happened, they called Lith who solved everything with Dragon scales for Elysia and a diagnostic spell for Surin.

    Both women were deeply grateful and resentful for his cheat abilities at the same time.

    "If you need help with magic, you just need to ask." Tista said. She had already offered multiple times to coach Kam and help her get ustomed to her reduced magical prowess.

    "We can help you, Sis Kami!" Aran said and for once, Leria supported him wholeheartedly. "We are like you and we''ve been taught by big brother."

    The child hated the long-winded sister-inw and called Kam sister for short.

    "Thank you, guys." Kam sniffled, moved by both their feelings and pathetic acting performance.

    She could see how hard they were trying to pretend ignorance to spare her feelings and that meant the world to her. It broke the bubble of istion and helped her to breathe again.

    "By the way, the tower has finally finished rebuilding itself." Solus triumphantly said. "You are in for a treat. You''ll be the first person on Mogar to witness the magnificence of the new four floors!"

    "Why can''t we-"Aran was about to whine about the unfair privilege when Leria kicked him from under the table.

    He turned around to re at her, meeting Onyx''s snout instead. She didn''t speak, but her eyes were scolding him. When his niece and best friend agreed on something, Aran always assumed to be in the wrong and so he didn''t push the matter further.

    Tm sorry, guys." Solus said. "I''ll give you a tourter along with Grandma, Grandpa, Tyris, and the rest of our friends"

    "Thank you." The three Guardians said in unison from a different corner of the table.

    Tyris was there because it was her shift, Leegaain to keep teaching the baby girls Dragontongue, and Sark to keep him from teaching them the wrong words.

    "There are things that only the three of us share. Please, respect our bond and privacy." Solus gave an apologetic bow but her words made Lith spit out his coffee.

    Everyone was looking at him in a funny way. They wondered if Elysia''s six streaks and the fact that Kam herself had asked Solus to join her in mothering the baby had to do with Solus somehow taking part in the conception.

    "It''s not what you think!" Lith said in outrage.

    "I''m not the father!" Sark said in a perfect imitation of Leegaain''s voice back when he had denied his involvement in Lith''s existence.

    Kamughed her ass off while the Father of All Dragons and the Father of All Tiamats blushed like schoolgirls.

    "I can vouch for that." She said after wiping her tears of hrity. "Solus and I have a deep bond, but not that deep."

    "Sure." Raaz said.

    "Right." Senton nodded.

    "I don''t believe you!" Morok said, receiving countless ps on the head and questions about his presence. "I mean, look at the child''s head. Somehow they made it into the perfect threesome."

    "What''s a tree sum?" Leria asked.

    "A technique Rangers use to navigate thick woods." Lith red at the Tyrant along with enough powerful beings that the collective mean looks could almost kill for real.

    Almost.

    "Yeah, right. Woods filled with bushes and infested by beavers." Morok said with a scoff while the Guardians politely dragged him to another room and beat the crap out of him.

    "Are beavers that dangerous? I thought they were fuzzy and cute animals." Aran asked.

    They are magnificent butplicated creatures." Lith replied, telling the truth under the cover of a family-friendly lie.

    After breakfast was over but before Morok could regain consciousness, Solus brought Kam and Lith to the tower. It had gained two more floors above the ground and two below, yet the other floors had expanded as well.

    The building was now 30 meters (100 feet) high and almost 13 meters (42 feet) across.

    The grey of the stones thatprised the tower was now veined with white streaks as the tower core regained more and more data about the atomic structure of the gold-veined white marble it was originally made of.

    "Wow!" Kam said. "Thank the gods Lith had the foresight to have the keep built much taller than the tower at the time. There''s still a lot of space to spare."

    "Guys, please, stop pretending nothing happened." Solus could tell that the atmosphere between them was awkward. "What did I say to make everyone react like that and Kamiugh? Was I inappropriate?"

    "Solus, remember when you told me that we had to get in and make Mom pregnant?" Lith asked.

    "How could I forg-" Solus blushed in embarrassment at the memory first and then at the realization of the unintended innuendo. "Gods! How could I say that? Why do I sound like a closeted pervert?"

    "She went so deep in the closet that I''m confident one day she''ll save Marmia." Lith said, making Kam giggle at the Earth''s pop culture reference and Solus blush harder.

    "See? That''s what I was talking about." Solus pouted, "Only the three of us know about Lith''s past on Earth. I named some of the rooms with inside jokes that only we can understand.

    "That''s why I wanted toe here with just Kami. Not because she and I share her fetish for the Tiamat tongue or we both enjoy the tail-"

    "Solus!" Lith and Kam said in unison, incapable of looking each other in the eyes.

    Whenever Lith and Solus fused, she learned everything about him and his life. Everything.

    "Oh, gods! I did it again!" Just follow me, please.

    The ground floor of the tower was now split in two and they were arranged as Lith''s dream house. It was based on Baron Wyalon''s mansion in Jambel, Lith''s home in Lutia, and Kam''s house in Belius but rearranged in a unique, harmonious way.

    Lith, Solus, and Kam had given to every room their own touch, adding stuff like the Forgemastering hammers, the Camellia, and the Tuner as furniture.

    The resulting ce was cozy and lived-in, filled with warm and joyous memories that quickly dispelled the awkwardness between the trio.

    "My baby!" Lith said the moment the tower cut Elysia''s presence off his senses.

    A quick Warp, brought her to his arms, where he held her like they had just rescued Elysia from murderous kidnappers.

    "It''s okay, baby girl. Daddy is here. No one will hurt you." He said to a giggling Elysia.

    "Don''t mind him. Dragon stuff. Solus said to a bbergasted Kam. "Also, Derek stuff. Between the Dragon''s greed and Derek''s abandonment issues, you can''t take Elysia off Lith''s sight without a literal fight."

    "Believe me, I know." Kam grunted.

    "From where do you want to start? Up or down?" Solus asked Kam since Lith couldn''t care less, lost in Elysia''s eyes.

    "Down, like usual. Let''s go to the bottom and walk our way up. I want to see how every floor has changed." Kam replied.

    The bottom floor was still the Crucible, where metals were molten, purified, and flooded with world energy, turning them into their magical version. Scraps would turn into silver, silver into Orichalcum, Orichalcum into Adamant, and Adamant into Davross.

 Chapter 2729 Spark and Thievery (Part 1)

    Chapter 2729 Spark and Thievery (Part 1)

    The boiling magma in the lower level of the Crucible was now white hot at the center, surrounded by a red ring that slowly turned ck near the tower walls. The world energy flooded the room from below along with the magma and the tower used the metals to dampen the flow before it reached the upper floors.

    Next came the Crystal Mines where magic crystals were constantly refined. The walls of the room were now filled with white marble streaks that carried the world energy straight to the various crystal veins.

    The tower also used the marble''s innate resistance to magic to focus the world energy around the growing crystals instead of keeping it evenly spread like in the past. This way, the refinement and growth processes were further elerated.

    "This is the first new underground floor, the Spark. It''s located between the Mines and our other neer." Solus said.

    "Wait, what happened to the Armory and the rest of the floors?" Lith asked.

    "They have been rearranged to optimize the world energy''s consumption. You''ll understand once you see everything." Solus replied, opening the reinforced metal door of the room.

    It was magically and physically sealed, requiring the maximum clearance level of the tower to ess.

    Once Lith looked inside, his eyes went wide in surprise, all seven of them. The walls of the Spark were filled to the brim with world energy that was steadily umted and preserved forter use.

    Countless cables, tendrils, and alembicsing out of the grey-white stone were the only furniture in the room. That and a stone pedestal ced at the very center of the Spark.

    "I was going to say this is underwhelming but your mother''s creation has already fooled me more than once. What''s the catch here?" Kam asked.

    "d you asked." Solus conjured the tower''s Hands of Menadion and ced them on the pedestal.

    Lith noticed that the ck working gloves had be more refined in appearance, looking less like badly carved stone and more like a piece of art. The right glove had now six out of seven mana crystals active while the left one only had four.

    "This room cannot function unless the Hands are in position and before you ask, I checked. The other Hands, those we have gifted to Faluel don''t work. This will be importantter." Solus said.

    "Now, please take off your Voidwalker armor and put it near the wall, Lith."

    "Okay." Lith did as instructed, remaining stark naked.

    "By my Mom, don''t you wear underwear?" Solus blushed wildly but never took her eyes off the prize.

    "Yes, I do. They are also stored in the Voidwalker." Lith shrugged. "Why so shy? Both of you have seen me naked plenty of times."

    Kam too was staring, her face red and flushed by the blood rush along with other parts. Before giving birth, they had abstained from sex to not inducebor and after because she had baby blues.

    The vision had given her something else to think about and a clear picture of how to vent her frustration.

    "Yes, but¡­ cover yourself, dammit!" Solus said.

    "In a minute." The moment Lith lined the Voidwalker armor against the wall, the cables moved on their own,tching on the metal.

    The surface of the armor turned semi-liquid, allowing the tendrils to seep inside and then split themselves into smaller units that formed aplex circtory system. The tendrils spread to the Dragon bones inside the armor as well as to the Dragon scales on the outside and the Adamant coating them.

    The cables, instead, linked themselves to the violet mana crystals bonded to the armor.

    "What''s happening?"

    "Cover yourself!" Both Solus and Kam said in unison.

    "Fine!" Lith pulled clothes out of his pocket dimension yet once he put them on, the two women groaned. "Why are you groaning?"

    "You see, the Spark has the ability to keep refining materials even after they have been Forgemastered." Solus said, eager to dodge the question. "Right now, the Adamant is slowly reaching the Davross state, but if that was it, this would just be a poor man''s Crucible.

    "What you don''t see is that even the Dragon bones and scales are being further refined!"

    "What?" Lith looked at the Hands, noticing that not only did the artifact control the energy umted in the Spark, but it also focused it on the Voidwalker armor in a different way based on the affectedponents.

    "Does it also work for Double Edge?"

    "Bingo and more! Go on." Solus waved at a still-free spot.

    Lith shrunk the de and it received the same wee as the armor. Solus followed his lead, putting the Sage Staff there as well.

    "Why are you doing that?" Kam asked. "There''s nothing past white crystals and the woodes from a World Tree that was about to die of old age."

    The Spark ignored the gemstones, making her objections valid.

    "Indeed, but if we leave the Staff here, the Spark will further refine and age it, bringing the Yggdrasill wood to levels that no World Tree could ever reach due to their natural death. You see, the Spark exerts a mana flow on par with a violet-cored Awakened."

    "Are you telling me that Syrook''s bones and scales are being refined as if he was still alive and had reached the bright violet like me?" Lith said with a smug grin on his face.

    "Better." Solus smirked in kind. "The Spark works at an elerated rate. My mother couldn''t wait centuries to get good stuff. If this works akin to the Mines and the Crucible, the refining speed is at least ten times that of a normal Awakened.

    "Inyman''s terms, one day in here is like at least ten days of non-stop body refinement! Our own Room of Magic and Time!"

    "This is amazing!" Lith jumped like a little boy on Christmas.

    "And there''s more!" Solus mirrored him in enthusiasm. "You have no idea how the wait for the tower to finish upgrading itself killed me. Do as I do and ask no questions, please."

    "What''s a room of-" Kam asked and a quick mind link exined to her both the meaning of the official name of the room and of the inside joke about the unofficial name.

    "Gods, you two are like kids. Yet now I want to see those cartoons-" She looked with agape mouth as Solus and Lith cut a bit of their hair, collected an ampoule of their blood each, and Lith even ripped off a few of his scales. "Eww!"

    "Not ew. More like yay!" Solus said.

    The samples were stored in the crystal alembics, receiving a strong flow of world energy as well.

    "This is how my Mother managed to craft her Fury and the rest of her stuff despite being a rtively young Awakened." Solus exined. "It also works on living tissues. If we leave them in the Spark long enough, we''ll have the amplifiers for our Forgemastering experiments that we''vecked until now!"

    "Awesome!" Lith said.

    "Feeling left out, again." Kam sighed.

    Lith then exined to her that truly powerful artifacts were capable of storing and boosting the powers of their masters but to do that, the artifact needed to be fused with living tissues during the Forgemastering phase.

 Chapter 2730 Spark and Thievery (Part 2)

    Chapter 2730 Spark and Thievery (Part 2)

    The problem was that the quality of an amplifier depended solely on the level of body refinement of the mage himself.

    A Dragon scale 100 years old would be nothingpared to a Dragon scale from a Divine Beast almost 10,000 years old.

    "Wow!" Kam said.

    "You can say that." Solus nodded. "Thanks to the Spark, Lith''s equipment can be refined endlessly, turning our downtime into a profit. The only problem is that without the Hands, this room is useless."

    "Let me guess, another one of the new rooms needs the Hands to work as well." Lith said.

    "Yep." Solus sighed. "There''s always a catch. Next stop, the Thievery!"

    "The what?" Lith and Kam said while looking at each other.

    The Thievery also required the maximum level of clearance and had a solid metal door. The inside was even weirder than the Spark, having lots and lots of disy cases and another stone pedestal in the middle.

    Solus put the Eyes on Menadion there before exining how the Thievery worked.

    "First of all, do you remember how Grandma has her honor code of which she''s so proud? That she''s unwilling to steal the secrets of her friends and colleagues and only takes from her enemies?" Solus asked, obtaining nods in reply.

    regained, Menadion used to say:

    "Wel, uhm, my mother clearly shared none of that, considering honor among Forgemasters a tant lie we tell each other just to avoid fighting to the death on a daily basis. From a memory I regained, Menadion used to say:

    "Once you put your spells on the market, they are on the market. If I can afford them and I have the brains to crack your code, I deserve to know your secrets as well. Talent borrows; genius steals."

    "That''s a quote that resonates deep with my heart." Lith nodded.

    "Same here." Solus said with a little blushing, embarrassed to admit it. "My Mom believed to be doing a favor to the whole Mogar by stealing everyone''s secrets and incorporating them into her Forgemastering technique.

    "She considered it her right since she was the First Ruler of the mes who had shared and kept sharing a lot of her work with Garlen. Bottom line, if you put the Eyes there and an enchanted item in one or more disy cases, the Thievery can work its magic.

    "It''s an automated process that works to break down the cloaking runes and in time crack every single pseudo core of the artifact, even discovering what kind of ingredients are needed to make a perfect copy of it."

    "That''s stealing!" Kam said.

    "That''s awesome!" Lith said. "Why didn''t we have ess to this earlier? It would have saved us time and headaches. Not to mention countless failures to reproduce pseudo cores and the wasted materials."

    "I''m sorry, Kami, but it''s called the Thievery for a reason. The same reason for which only Menadion and I were allowed into this room. Mom couldn''t afford her reputation to be destroyed.

    "As for your question, Lith, it''s because as Grandma predicted, the tower ising back inyers. First, it has regained the foundation needed for the tower itself to exist, then the basic functions, and then the moreplex devices that need more than one enchantment to work.

    "For example, the Spark needs the Crucible, the Mines, the Hands, and a function that allowed the tower to extract a spark of life force from Menadion. It was necessary to give organic matter the semnce of life, but we don''t need it anymore because our Hands have the Spirit Crystal as well.

    "The Thievery, instead, needs the Eyes, the Library to have ess to a database about runes and another about ingredients'' effects, the Workshop to conjure materials, and the Factory to attempt to replicate the artifacts stored in the disy cases.

    "Things like ingredients can''t be manufactured without the Workshop and to make sure that the sequence of pseudo cores is in the right order, one needs to make a test. Without the Workshop, only truly powerful artifacts would be worth our while.

    "With the Thievery, instead, even if we find a trinket with a single interesting function, we can break it down and learn how to apply it to our own creations. Again, genius steals!"

    "I agree." Lith nodded. "Your mother was a damn genius. It''s no wonder that no one ever managed to reach her level even a millennium after her death."

    "I know, right?" Solus puffed her chest out with pride.

    Every time she spoke about one of her mother''s achievements, she seemed to act as if it was her own and treasured it dearly. Yet Lith knew it wasn''t a matter of ego, but love.

    Solus didn''t remember much of the First Ruler of the mes but she loved the shadow of Menadion that lived in her heart very much. Ripha had spent her final years to find a way to save her daughter and she had seeded.

    Menadion had given her life for Elphyn and had left her the greatest mage tower in Mogar''s history. It was Menadion''s opus, her legacy, and more importantly, her heart.

    "So, if Kami puts her Voidfeather armor in the disy case, we could learn about Grandma''s workings?" Lith asked, looking at his wife with a serious expression on his face.

    "In theory, yes. But only if Kami agrees and, again, the Eyes need to be here for the Thievery to work. Also, isn''t that your perverted face?" Solus replied.

    "Do you really want the secrets of the Voidfeather armor or are you just looking for an excuse to see me naked?" Kam tapped her foot in mock annoyance.

    Lith remained lost in deep thought for a while before saying.

    "Both. Both are good."

    "Pervert!" Kamughed. "Seriously, do you want me to¡­"

    "Get naked? Gods, yes!"

    "No, submit the armor to study." She pped his shoulder yfully.

    "No." Lith sighed without bothering to hide his disappointment. "It would be rude toward Grandma. That''s our wedding gift and after her lessons about Creation Magic and helping us to save Ragnar?k, I would be the greatest piece of shit on Mogar if I did that."

    "Also, please, not in front of me." Solus pouted. "Come one. There''s still a lot to see."

    "Wait. No other function?" Lith asked.

    "What? Do you want more?" Solus clicked her tongue.

    The Factory had grown bigger and had more Forges than before. It could now craft multiple pieces at the same time and, ording to Solus, thanks to the support of the new floors, the Factory could Forgemaster on its own artifacts up to the deep violet.

    The Workshop was just bigger but also juicier. It wasn''t limited to the amount of materials stored inside the tower anymore but could replicate up to 50% more than what they actually owned.

    This way, even if they had a single piece of ingredient left, two experiments could be performed at the same time.

    The Forge and the Alchemicalbs were identical since the owner of the tower was in charge of procuring the necessary tools.

    The living quarters were bigger, more luminous, and Solus could add a small inner garden to Raaz''s and the children''s delight.

 Chapter 2731 Engine And Grimoire (Part 1)

    2731 Engine and Grimoire (Part 1)

    The Mirror Hall had gained more mirrors and powers, but Solus glossed them over. For some reason, she was in a rush.

    "The Heart can now store up to ten arrays at the same time and the Library has gotten much bigger, but honestly, that''s just the icing on the cake I''m about to show you." Her eyes sparkled like stars and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

    "Lith, before I open this door, I need you to calm down and take a deep breath, okay?"

    "Okay." He nodded, feeling confused rather than emotional.

    "This room is everything we''ve always dreamed about. It''s so important that I''m still conflicted about how to name it. I''ll let you decide once you see how it works." Solus said.

    "Wait, aren''t you supposed to remember how it''s called? Didn''t your mother name everything already?" His confusion became worse by the second.

    "Please, Mom was a genius Forgemaster, but she sucked with names. I mean, Refining Chamber. Pfft. Spark sounds much better, am 1 right?" Solus looked at him with such happiness that Lith couldn''t find the strength to contradict her.

    "Now, without further ado, wee to the Prime Engine. Or the Mechatron. Up to you." Solus opened the hardwood door, revealing a room filled with holographic screens and five stone pedestals at its center.

    Four were arranged in a square formation around the main one which was ced at the very center of the room. On top of the pedestal, there was what looked like a chunk of Davross and the Fury was stuck in it.

    Each of the side pedestals had a chunk of metal of its own and one of the pieces of Menadion''s set fused with it. The Eyes, the Hands, and the Mouth channeled their powers through the magic metal that amplified them before sending them to the Fury.

    "What''s this supposed to-" Kam turned to Lith noticing that he shared the same childish enthusiasm and unbridled joy that Solus had while introducing the new room to them. "Oh, great. Another nerd rant is just what I needed."

    "Father of all Mechs! Are you telling me this is..." Lith didn''t dare to finish the phrase, afraid to jinx it.

    "Yes!" Solus jumped in joy before taking his hands into hers. "This is the control room for the tower''s battle form. Or as Mom called it, the Battle Room."

    "Eww. It sucks! Your naming sense is much better!" Lith passed Elysia to Kam and then he lifted Solus.

    She jumped at his neck, grabbing at him like a ko while both danced around the room.

    "I know, right? Which name do you prefer?" She asked.

    "Excuse me, can I have an exnation?" Kam was annoyed by both being left out and the improvised dance/hug/whatever it was.

    "Of course, I''m sorry." Lith stopped for a moment. "Long ago, thousands of light years away from Earth, on a distant-"

    "No, I don''t want to know about the childhood fantasy world this thing reminds you of. That can wait. I want to know what it does." Kam stopped him.

    "Sure." Solus nodded. "You see the..." She looked at Lith, eager for his decision.

    "Prime Engine." He said like it exined everything.

    "The Prime Engine controls the tower''s battle form and allows its master to customize it as we see fit. Let me show you." Solus finally let go of Lith to reach the holographic mainframe.

    "The Eyes are in charge of recon, enemy analysis, and even predicting their spells like a Dragon would. The Hands control the world energy, fuelling the weapon system and granting the battle form of the tower full power even after leaving the mana geyser.

    "We can use tower tier spells andbine the enchantments of the various floors as long as we don''t get too far away. As for the Mouth, once in the Prime Engine, it can store a second set of spells, arrays, and evenbat maneuvers that will be instantly executed.

    "The tower can, for theck of a better term, body cast its own spells. It can also ess the Library and the Firing Range respectively to give us the best options ording to our enemy and conjure the spells we choose without burdening us."

    "What about the Ears of Menadion?" Kam asked, pointing at the empty pedestal.

    "I wish I knew." Solus whimpered, losing her spark. "I mean, look at that! That''s the only sour note of our breakthrough."

    She pointed at a holographic disy showing the current capabilities of the battle form and it was stuck to 60% of the maximum predicted capability.

    "60%?" Lith read out loud in horror. "Why?"

    "My guess is 20% off because we don''t have the Ears and the rest is because the tower is still broken." Solus'' shoulders slouched and her gaze fell to the ground. "Still, look at this!"

    She lifted her head while inputting a fewmands on the keyboard.

    "We can choose the appearance of our mech, the weapons it can manifest, and even their enchantments." Solus had the colossal humanoid form of the tower shapeshift into what Lith recognized as a semi-truck.

    "Wait." Lith raised his hands to stop her. "Is it a mech or a gestalt?"

    He pointed at the five different pedestals, each holding a unique piece of equipment.

    "Mech. We don''t need other people to control the battle form. Why? I thought you liked flying solo." Solus replied.

    "Well, yes, but skills like Friya''s dimensional magic or Faluel''s multiple heads would have been nice, no? Imaginebining our talents for-"

    "Excuse me! Do you two need a moment or can I be part of the conversation as well?" Kam was starting to feel truly left out and truly pissed off.

    "I''m sorry, babe, here''s the gist of it." Lith

    shared with her a breathtaking story via a mind link.

    It was about a living who spawned sentient robots with incredible abilities among which there was the power tobine in order to form something even more powerful.

    "I agree with the Prime Engine." She nodded. "The guy is smart, level-headed, and kind. Just like you. The other guy is strong. A true leader and a warrior but he ends up letting his past define his identity and ruin his future. Like you almost did.

    "Please, don''t jinx it." She caressed Lith''s face while showing him the little bundle of Elysia who was still giggling at her father''sical act.

    "I won''t. I promise." He kissed her hand and then the baby''s head. "Oh, gods. What''s this smell?"

    "I think you got her excited as well. Do your thing, Daddy." Kam chuckled.

    "Okay." Lith Warped them to the nursery where he had everything he needed to clean and change the baby. "I don''t know if it''s because of her Divine Beast side, but baby poop shouldn''t be this big or smelly."

    "I never measured it, but feel free to." Kam passed him the baby powder and a clean cloth diaper.

    "No, thanks." Lith sent the stinky cargo to the pile of manure that Raaz''s farmhands used to fertilize the fields. "Is there anything more you have to tell me about the Prime Engine?"

 Chapter 2732 Engine And Grimoire (Part 2)

    2732 Engine and Grimoire (Part 2)

    "Why? Isn''t even that enough for you?" Solus sounded very disappointed in him.

    "Are you kidding me? It''s amazing, but there was always the possibility it could be even better. I guess that finding the Ears has just be a priority." Lith replied.

    "Dya." Elysia saying the Dragontongue word for dad moved Lith and angered Kam.

    Tm going to kill Leegaain. One day, I''ll have my vengeance. She inwardly snarled.

    "But not as much as you!" Lith lifted the baby showering her with kisses. "You are Dad''s first, second, and third..."

    Kam cleared her throat in a way that made him wonder if she could still breathe Origin mes if triggered.

    "Priority along with you gorgeous Mommy. You two are my treasures."

    "Nice save." Kam said.

    "We are going to talk about thister, farmhead." Solus grunted. "Now, there''s only one floor left. It''s right above the Prime Engine which is ced between the Library and the Grimoire for reasons that will be obvious once you visit it."

    "The Grimoire?" Lith and Kam echoed.

    "Yes." Solus nodded. "An apt name for its purpose."

    The room had a solid hardwood door studded with enchanted metals, requiring a clearance level above the Prime Engine but below the Thievery. After all, no one aside from the master of the tower could change the battle form''s specs.

    The worst a traitorous guest could do was to take note of the current settings of the battle form but that was it.

    Past the door,y a room whose walls were filled with violet-white mana crystals, each one of them projecting a holographic terminal. At the center of the room, there was a now-familiar stone pedestal with a slot just the size of a pince-nez.

    "As you guys know, we can use the Eyes to study our opponents, their equipment, and their spells." Solus said while putting the Eyes in their ce. "The problem is that a full scan takes a lot of time and brainpower.

    "To make matters worse, the data about a dead enemy is usually worthless. Their equipment can be studied with the Thievery while the Grimoire allows us to put to use iplete scans and records of every spell we witnessed.

    "Observe." The Eyes of Menadion started the projection of a past battle, showing the conjuring of an unknown spell and its effects.

    At the end of the projection, the avable data flowed into the crystals that used algorithms to guess the missing runes and fill in the missing percentage of the scan.

    "The mana crystals here work akin to those we witnessed in Grampa''sb, but unlike them, we have no control over them nor can we alter their function. Leegaain has magicalputers whereas we have one trick ponies, but still.

    "The Grimoire needs ess to the Library to consult all the spells we know and the runes'' database to search for the best match. Even if it seems static to you, right now the Firing Range is also trying everything the Grimoirees up to.

    "Thanks to its abilities to cast and counter every kind of spell, the Firing Range is of paramount importance for the Grimoire to work. Even failures allow the Eyes to collect more data, look for better runes, rinse and repeat.

    "Another priceless ability of the Grimoire is that it can also study old spells. As long as the Eyes have scanned enough runes, the rest can be derived by our databases from Huryole, the Odi, and all the junk we collected during our trips.

    "ording to my memory, once the Grimoire is done deciphering an old enchantment or a spell, it can also covert it in modern runes with no effort on our part. Everything will be cataloged in the Library, giving us instant ess to the newfound knowledge."

    This is not as exciting as the Prime Engine but it''s still outstanding." Lith nodded. "Is there any possibility that the Grimoire might also provide us with a basic understanding of unknown branches of magic?

    "Like Friya''s Gravity and Dimensional Magic or the Abomination''s Chaos Magic?"

    "We do have the runes for Friya''s Dimensional Ruler but neither of us possesses the spatial awareness needed to use it." Solus shrugged. "We can cast it, but unless we exploit the Mirror Hall to make up for ourck of talent, it would surely backfire."

    "What about Mirror Magic in general and Chaos Magic in particr?" Kam asked. "Elisya''s life force isprised of stable Cursed Elements instead of Cursed mes like Lith. We need a way to teach her how to control them."

    Tm sorry, but the problem is twofold." Solus replied. "Knowing the runes but not how a branch of magic works makes it difficult to learn a spell. Also, when my mother built the tower she wasn''t aware of the existence of Mirror Magic so the Grimoirecks the necessary safety means. Look."

    Lith and Solus had faced several Abominations and knew the tier three Chaos spell, Howling Void, like the back of their hand. At least effect-wise since they had no idea how to safely conjure Chaos.

    The Eyes had long since stored the data necessary so when Solus set the experiment on Howling Void, the following prompt popped up on the holographic interface:

    "Warning, unknown element detected. Due to the destructive power of the spell and the vtile nature of its matrix, it''s strongly advised not to proceed. In case of failure to control the effects of Howling Void the tower might suffer temporary if not permanent damage.

    "Are you sure you want to proceed?"

    "Wait, hold your Dragons!" Lith gestured for her to stop. "What does it mean, permanently? That the tower''s functions might forever bepromised?"

    "Not that bad but close." Solus shook her head. "Temporary means that the tower would retain the progress we made so far but would need time for the repairs. Permanent means that it''s like we never did it to that point.

    "As if, for example, thest two years never happened and the tower has to recover the four new floors from scratch."

    "Fu-Farm me sideways, that''s a huge no." Lith pushed the no button, aborting the request. "I''m not putting any of this at risk, let alone your safety, Solus. If it was just about the tower, I might be willing to gamble on low-tiered Chaos spells, but this is about you.

    "I''m not going to endanger your body or your freedom."

    "Thank you." Solus hugged him. "Also, it''s not like I would have allowed you to, but it''s nice knowing you care. Now, before moving up, what are we going to do with the Eyes and the Hands? Only one room at a time can work."

    "The Prime Engine is pointless unless we are nning a fight." Lith pondered. "I''d say we put our best jack-of-all-trades battle strategy as preset and we leave it at that. The Spark must work 24/7 so the Hands stay there, period.

    "As for the Eyes, I''d give priority to the Grimoire. We''ve partially scanned lots of spells in the past. From Dawn, to Night, from Zogar to his Eldritches. Not to mention the multiple demonstrations of Creation Magic that we have witnessed from both Grandma and Baba Yaga."

 Chapter 2733 Menadions Genius (Part 1)

    2733 Menadion''s Genius (Part 1)

    "Thanks to the Grimoire, those one-time lessons we received in the past are now a permanent record about how to distort space, to update arrays while keeping them active, and so much more. There''s a lot we can only learn from the Eyes whereas we can ask Grandma or Faluel about Forgemastery." Lith said.

    "My thoughts exactly." Solus nodded. "Just remember to retrieve your armor when you need it and that you''re wearing normal clothes."

    "Oh, s-shot!" Lith said noticing that neither Elysia''s drool or pee stains had self-cleaned. "Thanks for the heads up. I''ll fetch one of my prototypes."

    "Thank you, guys." Kam gave them both a hug, dragging Lith and Solus into a family embrace. "Thank you for acting like everything is normal. Thank you for being silly and making me forget about my issues.

    "Most of all, thank you for never using that mind link of yours and keeping me in the loop. I don''t think I could have taken it."

    "Anytime, Kami." Lith patted her back before taking a step back and handing her Elysia. "The next time, you change her, Mommy. My armor is at the cleaners so yours will have to do."

    ***

    After a brief stop at the Prime Engine, they went back home to pick everyone up so to give the tour of the new and improved tower only once.

    Everyone was amazed to see the mere stone of the tower slowly turning into gold-veined white marble. They demanded a full tour of the tower, old floors included, especially the Guardians.

    Suffice it to say, the Spark was a huge hit.

    "I would be lying if I said that I''m not equally impressed and pissed off." Leegaain considered Syrook one of his wayward sons, but seeing his corpse turned into equipment upset him greatly. "And it works even on Yggdrasill wood. Annoying"

    "A couple of quick questions." Lith asked. "Do I have to be worried about your Dragon Eyes and can you tell me how much the Spark speeds up the refining process?"

    "You have no reason to be worried." Leegaain replied. "I have the blueprints of Menadion''s tower right here."

    "You do?" Everyone asked as the Father of All Dragons tapped his temple.

    "Yes. Ripha asked for my help more than once. Just like Baba Yaga, she wanted to study my Dragon Eyes in the hope of reproducing them with Forgemastery. That''s how the Eyes of Menadion came to be and how Dusk possesses our bloodline abilities." Leegaain said.

    "What about the tower?" Sark was very curious.

    "She brought me here to better study me and I in turn studied the tower. A fair exchange."

    "So, we don''t have to worry because you already know everything?" Solus asked.

    "No, because I *knew* everything and I can''t learn much right now." Leegaain shook his head.

    "What do you mean?" Tyris tilted her head to the side in confusion.

    "The tower is linked to Solus who in turn is linked to Lith. Menadion has turned an already powerful artifact into a living being that''s growing, changing, and adapting based on their knowledge and experiences." The Father of All Dragons replied.

    "Even my Eyes can''t predict what someone will be otherwise I would have known about Lith''s Tiamat form and the dangers of the blue mes back when he was just an anomaly, not even a Wyrmling.

    "Leegaain''s Eyes can understand what something was, is, and how it works, not how it will be. The tower is beyond myprehension but I can make an educated guess based on theparison between its previous status under Menadion and the current one after being bonded with Solus."

    "Is there any possibility that the tower makes it so that one day spent in the Spark equals one year of refinement?" Lith asked, hoping to bring the parallel with the original room of Magic and Time to perfection.

    "Tell me another!" Leegaain scoffed. "That''s impossible. Such a mana flow would destroy rather than refine the Adamant, let alone lesser metals or the most delicate ingredients."

    "So I''m right." Solus pulled his arm. "One day is equal to ten days of refinement, correct?"

    It wasn''t as much as she hoped but it was still a good result.

    "Yes and no." Leegaain pushed his sses up the bridge of his nose with a know-it-all attitude. "Yes, that''s the current rate. No, because it''s probably going to change. You see, the tower right now is just like Lith''s body: trying to adjust to the new bnce after the breakthrough.

    "It will take both of them some time to adapt to the new output of their respective cores and optimize their performance."

    "Okay, just tell me this. What was the time/ refinement rate of Menadion''s Spark?" Lith asked.

    "Back in the day, it was a bit above your current one. Thirty days in here would refine any material of a full seasonal cycle in the outside world." Leegaain replied.

    Mogar had days and weeks but no months, expressing the passing of time with the change of seasons.

    ''So, one month out there, one year in here. That''s still pretty awesome.'' Lith thought and Solus nodded.

    "Don''t get too excited." Leegaain said after noticing the spark of greed in Lith''s eyes. "Your Spark might be better or worse. Yet if I was a betting guy, I''d say better since the tower is always being updated.

    "Only don''t dream too big. There will still be a limit to the refinement speed. Past that, you just have a fancy way of breaking stuff."

    Leegaain was right. The power of the mana geyser was great and the tower was capable of further enhancing it and then focusing it, yet there was no way to purify something without inflicting it damage.

    The trick for both the natural phenomenon and the Spark was to keep the side effects to a level that the refinement wouldpensate and mend the damage before it was toote. As with everything in life, it was a matter of bnce.

    "Gods if I hate you." Faluel was looking at the alembics containing Lith''s and Solus''s future amplifiers. "Time is the only variable that not even Awakened can control and now you can. Do you mind renting me a spare spot?

    "I could use both the amplifiers and the elerated refinement rate to check if my experiments on my blood are working or not in enriching my body in Dragon''s essence."

    "No renting, it''s free for you." Lith said, leaving everyone bbergasted. "What a bunch of rude gigglidooders, right, dear? And they dare call themselves Dad''s friends."

    "Bu!" Elysia nodded and pouted, multiplying the shock factor.

    "Gigglidooders?" Elina said with a chuckle.

    "Free?" Leegaain said with eyes wide open. "Since when does Elysia understand what we''re saying?" Raaz asked.

    "Fatherhood sure looks good on you." Sark just patted Lith''s shoulder with pride. "Does your offer extend to me as well?"

    "Sure, help yourself." Lith shrugged.

    "I don''t need it, but Shargein sure does." The Overlord put a few molted scales in an ampoule.

    "Now, the next room is controversial so I have to ask permission from my partner. Solus?" Lith looked at her and she blushed a bit before nodding.

 Chapter 2734 Menadions Genius (Part 2)

    2734 Menadion''s Genius (Part 2)

    "Okay. But please, guys, do not judge. You are our family and friends and we trust you deeply. Otherwise we wouldn''t share this with you. Keep an open mind please."

    Once again, Solus'' raw talent with words made everyone think of a sex dungeon or something along those lines.

    Contrary to their expectations, it was just the Thievery.

    "That''s it?" Elina took a deep breath in relief. "What does this even do?"

    She had been expecting straps, chains, beds, mirrors, and maybe the contraption that had helped Solus take part in Elysia''s conception.

    ''I should have known that Morok''s words were just crap. Why did I let him sway me?''She inwardly thought.

    Once Solus exined to them how it worked, her words finally made sense in an even more unpleasant way than her guests had expected.

    "Damn, Ripha, this exins a lot!" Sark snarled. "A Forgemaster''s pride my a- ant! That''s why you kept borrowing stuff from me. Were you still alive, I would never let you hear the end of this!"

    "Thank the gods I never let Valeron lend her the Saefel set." Even Tyris was mildly annoyed.

    A scowl was an unusual appearance on her usually smiling face.

    "By the way, old lizard, did you know?" She turned toward Leegaain.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "You said you have the full schematics in your brain. Was the Thievery a part of it?" Tyris asked.

    "No. Ripha kept it redacted but I won''t lie to you. I had my suspicions. All those questions about my Eyes and the energy she poured into creating her own was suspicious at best." Leegaain replied.

    "Wait a second." Solus interrupted the flow of family-friendly proto-swear words. "How could Mom craft the Eyes before the tower? It doesn''t make sense."

    "Easy." Leegaain shrugged. "First, she built the tower''s basic levels, just like you guys did. Then, she used its powers to craft the various pieces of Menadion''s set. Then she used them to achieve a greater degree of mastery and understanding of magic.

    "At that point, she brought the tower to Baba Yaga, she reset it with Creation Magic, Ripha rebuilt it strong with her newfound knowledge and the help of the set. Then, she had the set disassembled as well and she rebuilt it with the power of her new tower.

    "Rinse and repeat. She devised the tower and the set together, but she crafted them separately until her power and mastery reached the level necessary to fuse them into one single artifact." Leegaain pointed at the tower.

    "The pieces of the set that Menadion gifted to her apprentices were just a copy of the originals that she modified to make sure that they could never threaten the tower nor match its power even if all four of them werebined.

    "There''s a reason she kept the Fury for herself and never gifted anything like that to anyone. It was to keep the set iplete for everyone but her."

    "This is amazing!" Solus said with her mouth agape. "So Malyshka is behind Mom''s sess."

    "Obviously." Leegaain shrugged. "She''s not on the level of sweetie pie here..."

    He pointed at Sark who blushed at the moniker a bit and cooed like a girl at her first crush instead of like the God of Forgemastery.

    "But she''s the next best thing. Also, your mother never hesitated to ask for Lochra''s and my help. Your mother didn''t let pride blind her and that''s why this tower was and is the most powerful mage tower on Mogar.

    "She also knew no shame." Sark looked at the Thievery in disgust. "At some point, I helped her without my knowing. Am I also helping you?"

    "No." Lith raised his hands to calm her down. "I was tempted to put your Voidfeather armor in here but I didn''t. It''s your gift and I treasure your friendship way more than any trinket, no matter how powerful."

    "Da!" Elysia nodded, extending her little arms to the Overlord whose doubts melted like snow under the spring''s sun.

    "How can you be so beautiful, my little Featherling?" She took the child. "Grandma loves you so much that she''s thinking of kidnapping you."

    Everyone looked at her weirdly, even Elysia.

    "It was just a passing thought." Sark blushed and gave the baby to Kam. "What''s on the next floor?"

    As they visited the rest of the tower, Leegaain pointed out to everyone the changes from the original design and the improvements since the past breakthrough. Lith found it helpful to understand the hidden potential of the tower.

    Solus loved it because as the Guardian spoke, countless memories came to the surface of her mind. They were just echoes and blurred faces, but it made her hope that one day her memory would return as well.

    "And this is the Prime Engine!" Lith said with pride.

    "What''s a Prime Engine? What''s even supposed to mean?" Even after hearing how it worked, none of the Guardians expressed one bit of enthusiasm.

    A tower having a battle form was a given and even Menadion''s only brought them only memories of their past fights with arrogant mages who had believed themselves invincible because they had a white core, a mage tower, or both.

    "This is a Prime Engine. It doesn''t mean anything. It just sounds cool." It was Lith''s time to blush a little, feeling childish.

    "That''s childish of you." Leegaain said. "The name should be self-exnatory, not some ego trip."

    "Hey, let him have his fun!" Kam said. "Lith is already too serious because of hisplicated childhood. Kill what''s left of his inner child and I swear to Grandma that I''ll find a way to beat the carp out of you."

    "Well said, dear." Sark nodded.

    Lith was on cloud nine for his wife having his back and caring for his inner nerd even though she didn''t understand it much. Yet.

    Raaz and Elina, however, took it as a stab. Lith''s childhood on Mogar hadn''t been easy, but still nothingpared to the one on Earth. They had no idea of what Kam was talking about and felt responsible for his hardships.

    "I''m sorry, Lith." Elina said. "I wish I could go back in time and offer you you more."

    "Don''t apologize, Mom/Elina. She/I didn''t mean it like that." Lith and Kam said in unison.

    "Okay." Elina still considered it a poor lie and held Surin tight, swearing that her daughter would know no hunger nor cold.

    "Cool!" Aran and Leria couldn''t agree more with Lith''s naming sense and tried to pull the pieces of Menadion''s set out of the rocks. "How does it work? Can we fuse together like you and Aunt Solus?"

    "No." Lith replied, conjuring several groans from both children and adults.

    Friya, Quy, Tista, and Morok seemed interested in the idea.

    "Allegedly." Leegaain added, making everyone''s heads turn toward him. "The old tower couldn''t. That''s for sure. This one, however, already allows for one fusion. Only time will tell if more are possible."

    "The question is, how do we call ourselves and who picks what?" Friya said with such a serious tone that it seemed she was discussing a matter of life and death. "Like every decent elite unit, we need a cool name."

 Chapter 2735 Seed of Change (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2735 Seed of Change (Part 1)</h4>

    2735 Seed of Change (Part 1)

    "Lith would take the Fury. That much is obvious." Quy said.

    "Hey!" Solus said. "I mean, it makes sense, but still, hey!"

    "Shush, short one." Friya said. "Now that the angry one is fixed, you should definitely take the Eyes due to your observation abilities and your shady past."

    Solus wanted to argue at both her title and the insult, but she was too embarrassed to speak. Everyone knew how she had spectated at Lith''s private life in the past and how she still did via the fusions.

    "I''m going to take the Hands for obvious reasons as well." Friya pointed at her multi-colored streaks that matched in kind the gems on the artifact. "Also, it''s only natural since Master Faluel is the inheritor of the other Hands.

    "I was going to suggest myself but, fair enough. The Hydra chuckled. "I guess that you can take my spot when I''m not avable."

    "And I take the Mouth." Tista stepped in. "I own the other Mouth, I''m Lith''s sister, Solus'' best friend, and a member of the Tiamat species.

    Cut me out of this and I''ll do the same with your heads!"

    "Well, none of that truly matters. Quy said. "We stillck the Ears and anyway, I''m more suited than you for a fusion. Unless we want to dazzle the enemy with your beauty, you don''t have much to offer."

    "Hey!" Tista replied in outrage, starting to list her known bloodline abilities.

    As everyone quarreled for thest open position, Lith walked out of the room and guided everyone to the Grimoire. It garnered lots of questions and interest, especially from the Guardians.

    "Damn, Ripha. First the Thievery and now this? You were a true genius." Leegaain said, his voice filled with admiration. "You managed to outmatch even my children''s Dragon Eyes."

    "Really?" Lith and Solus asked.

    "Yeah. I mean, sure, basically the functions are the same. Nothing stops a Dragon from studying an artifact they''ve conquered or practicing a spell they''ve witnessed but that takes time.

    "Time that a Dragon can''t dedicate to refining his body or to his magical research. These rooms are automated, meaning that you can delegate the research and just collect the fruits.

    "Something like this could help even me in finding a cure for Zoreth." Leegaain sighed.

    "It would also save me a lot of experiments to improve my Forgemastering spells." Sark nodded. "Maybe making a mage tower for ourselves wouldn''t be the waste of time and materials I''ve always believed."

    "Agreed." Tyris checked the crystals on the walls, trying to understand how they worked.

    The tour of the tower ended with the Greenhouse that not only had be bigger and its soil more enriched in world energy. The ceiling that acted as a fake sky now also collected the light element released by the sun and made it seep inside the nts.

    It both hastened their growth and enhanced their metabolism, making them more resistant to diseases, mutations, and countering the destructive effects of a vigorous flow of world energy, allowing the tower to send more to the Greenhouse.

    The abundant light element helped the nts to fix any damage as soon as it appeared. By bncing world energy and light element, the damage and healing cycles made the mystical ingredients grow more resilient.

    A property that their seeds inherited and that would tolerate an even stronger flow of world energy. The future generations would either possess stronger magical properties or be subject to mutations that might turn them into new and unknown natural treasures.

    "Farm me sideways! That''s why the Greenhouse is on the top floor." Lith said after checking the new specs of the floor on the tower''s interface. "It''s just like Grandpa said.

    "The delicate seeds and nts need to be protected by the world energy and being closer to the sky keeps the Greenhouse filled with light element."

    "Indeed." Nalrond said while trying a few of his spells. "This is also a great ce to practice Light Mastery. Both experts and beginners can use the abundant light element to respectively try spells above their level and reduce the stress on their mana reserves while practicing"

    "Can Ie here, please?" Quy asked. "I still can''t make a decent construct for the life of me."

    "Same here." Nalrond raised his hand.

    "Me too." While in the Greenhouse, Kam could feel the light element flow through her body almost as strongly as when she was pregnant with Elysia.

    "Sure." Solus said while trying her own Light Mastery and discovering that Nalrond was right.

    She could easily add three elements to her tier five spells there.

    "I could use thepany."

    "Me too." Raaz was checking on the crops while the rest of the group babbled what was nonsense to him. "Just stay away from the fields or I''ll sic a stingy Tiamat on you."

    "What he said." Lith clicked his tongue. "We haven''t gotten a single harvest yet. Dad had to grow our magical nts from scratch and getting the cultivation conditions right took a lot of tries and effort.

    "Don''t disrespect his job just to make your own easier."

    "Thanks, son." Raaz was moved from Lith being more worried about his father''s hardships than about his own magical vaults.

    Knowing what a scrooge Lith was, it meant the world to Raaz.

    "Don''t worry, Dad." Solus nodded. "We''ll be careful.

    Once the tour of the tower was over, Solus decided to celebrate the event and her newfound knowledge about her mother with an improvised ice cream party.

    ***

    Faluel''sir, a few dayster.

    Neither the monsters of Zelex nor the citizens of Setraliie had remained idle during the months before Elysia''s birth. The members of the fallen races had used that time to restore their numbers and practice with the magical artifacts with which the Council equipped them.

    The elves, instead, had received from Aalejah the books about the first three tiers of fake magic. They couldn''t increase their numbers easily so they had worked hard to make up for quantity with quality.

    Lith murdering their High Chancellor and ughtering over one hundred of their kinsmen had put a huge dent in the negotiations with the Kingdom, but only until the World Tree and their Chronicler had stepped forward to reveal the truth.

    The Elvish ns'' Heads had inwardly sighed in relief and thanked publicly the Dragon Lord for cleaning up their houses from traitorous scum for them. They had mourned the loss of their soldiers only in terms of military power.

    The moment the betrayal of M''Rael''s aplices had been exposed, they had been disowned by their respective ns even in death and no funeral service had been administered to their corpses.

    The traitors'' remains had been stripped of everything that could still be useful to their respective ns of origin and their bodies used to fertilize the cultivated fields.

    The elves of Setraliie had also sent ambassadors to other Fringes, garnering the alliance of more vine cities. Most of the Elvish colonies, however, preferred to bide their time and watch how their cousins fared on Jiera before making up their minds about rejecting the Yggdrasill''s offer.

    Those months had been fric for themoners of Setraliie and not only them.

 Chapter 2736 Seed of Change (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 2736 Seed of Change (Part 2)</h4>

    2736 Seed of Change (Part 2)

    All elvish castes were excited at the idea of seeing the outside world once again but only the lower-ss citizens treasured fake magic dearly.

    It made them from helpless civilians into powerful mages so they devoted their attention to the study of magic beyond their usual focus span. The idea of going to Jiera and the risk of death put their usual carefree and procrastinating mentality on the back burner.

    Also, as a sign of good faith, after Setraliie had sworn its allegiance to the Kingdom, the Royals had also shared with them a few tomes about tier four and five modern magic. The elvish mages had been surprised by the gift and shocked by its content.

    With a single move, the Queen had shown the still-resentful elves trust and how much theygged behindpared with the Kingdom. The books were a small price to pay in exchange for a loyal ally.

    Also, now the elves had concrete proof of how much they had to gain by working with the Kingdom, further strengthening their bond born out of mutual interests.

    Faluel''sir had been picked as the send-off spot for the first batch of reinforcements because she belonged to one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom, she was Leegaain''s granddaughter, and Lith''s former mentor.

    She was the link between Lith and the Kingdom as much as he was the only thing connecting the allied forces between them.

    Monsters, elves, and undead of the Eclipsed Lands had all been assembled under the Hydra''s roof to be sent on the other side of the ocean. It was the first andst time that the colonization forces from Garlen would receive help from Jiera''s Council and Guardians.

    And that solely because the situation was that desperate.

    Lith stood in the middle of it all, with Elysia held in front of him inside a baby carrier strapped to his shoulders. He had tried to get away from the child for personal affairs but the moment he crossed a certain distance, he suffered from a homing instinct.

    He became nervous, constantly looking in the direction Elysia was even when he had no idea where he was. With every passing second, he would be crankier and more aggressive until he could feel his whole body boil with blue mes.

    It was then that he treated everything and everyone keeping him away from the baby as an enemy, even while visiting a friend. The only solution he had found was to bring Elysia with him.

    "Don''t worry, it will get better with time." Leegaain wanted to sound reassuring but his voice was filled with pride instead. "A Dragon''s first instinct is to protect his treasure and who''s more precious than this little bundle of love?"

    "Whatever." Lith felt ridiculous wearing a baby carrier over his Supreme Magus golden and white robe but he had no alternative. "Let''s get this over with."

    "With pleasure." This time it was Tyris herself opening the long distance Warp Gate to Jiera and she did it without even assuming her Griffon form.

    Much to Lith''s and Faluel''s surprise, when the dimensional tunnel opened there was no draft or storming out of it despite the presence of Fenagar the Leviathan on the other side.

    On top of that, instead of his usual banter and cocky attitude, the Lord of Discovery kept his head low like a beaten dog.

    "Seriously? Did you really have to bring the baby along?" Fenagar considered Leegaain his rival, despised Sark, and, after theirst encounter, was utterly terrified of Tyris.

    All three of them were there, looking at him like an overgrown fish bait.

    "I did it for three reasons. I don''t trust you, I don''t trust you, and I don''t trust you." Lith lied through his teeth.

    He did not trust the Leviathan but under normal circumstances, he would consider Leegaain''s or Tyris'' presence more than enough.

    "Whatever. I deserve that. Come on, guys. I don''t have all day." Fenagar erged the Gate enough for one column of each different race to cross to Jiera at the same time.

    "Did you hit your head or what?" Leegaain said in surprise. "Humility is not your thing. It never has been."

    "I know" The Leviathan sighed. "Yet as any true researcher, I can''t argue with solid data. I was wrong about you, Verhen, and for that, I apologize."

    None of the Guardians of Garlen had ever thought to one day hear those wordsing out of Fenagar''s mouth. The shock kept them from speaking for a while and their newfound respect for the Leviathan kept them from rubbing salt in his wounds.

    "Care to borate?" Sark asked.

    "Thest time we met, I called Verhen a harbinger of death and said that wherever he goes, death follows. I was wrong about that." Fenagar turned from her to Lith. "You, young man, are a catalyst.

    "You don''t change the initial stages or the final results of an event. What you do is to create a new path, a different way to do things that otherwise wouldn''t take ce. Your presence makes the cogs of change move faster and, sometimes, the only grease that can allow it is the blood of those who try to preserve the status quo.

    "You''ve rarely been the primary cause or the final solution to a problem, but you''ve always been in a key position to alter the course of history, shifting the bnce in one direction or another.

    "What I''m trying to say is that you are a seed of change. Like Sark here would tell you, sometimes to make new life thrive you must first get rid of the old one. You are an interesting fellow, Lith Verhen, and I''m eager to see what changes your return to Jiera will bring."

    After Fenagar finished saying his piece, he moved away from the Warp Gate, making space for the columns of monsters, elves, and undead to pass before Lith could ask him any question.

    "What does he mean, my return to Jiera?" Lith asked everyone and no one. "I have no reason or interest to go there."

    "Beats me." Leegaain said and Sark nodded. "I''m no fortune teller. My best guess is that the frilly lizard knows something we don''t from the other side."

    Even Fe and Faluel couldn''t help him making sense of those words. Lith was still pondering them and letting Elysia suck/bite his finger when a familiar figure patted his shoulder to draw his attention.

    "I have no idea either, but sure I''d like to have a bit of help." dion Dragonborn, Firstborn Vampire and ruler of the city of Lightkeep said. "Jiera is mostly empty and you could use a training ground to put your bloodline abilities to the test.

    "There are more monsters than you can count so you wouldn''t have to hold back or worry about coteral damage. On top of that, I seem to remember that you have a knack for destroying lost cities. Maybe that''s what Fenagar meant.

    "If I were Jiera''s Council, you would be my to-go guy."

    "Thanks, dion, but what are you doing here?" Lith had let the Vampire talk because he had hoped to receive an exnation for dion''s presence, but his interpretation of Fenagar''s words would do.

 Chapter 2737 Survival and Extinction (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2737 Survival and Extinction (Part 1)</h4>

    2737 Survival and Extinction (Part 1)

    "My duty." The Firstborn Vampire replied. "1 was born on Jiera, just like my wife and son. We have been forced into exile by the gue and even though I like Garlen, my family still misses our homnd."

    "That I know." Lith nodded. "I meant, how can you go there and leave Lysa and Radusk alone in Lightkeep? What if the Undead Courts attack them? Also, you might be immortal, but your wife is human. You should treasure your time with her."

    "Da!" Elysia had no idea who the people Lith was talking about were but feeling the sentiment in her father''s voice, she nodded.

    "I see." dionughed while offering the baby a finger that she sniffed with curiosity before giving it a yful bite. "Fatherhood indeed suits you and you are right. I would never leave them if not for my privileges as one of the Firstborns."

    "Meaning?" Lith asked.

    "How do you think I got myself and my people to Garlen so quickly without losing anyone? The same way I rescued the undead trapped inside the Golden Griffon. I used my link with the Red Mother to open a Gate and reach her.

    "I can do it from any distance, no matter how high in the sky or deep in the ground I am. Back then, Mother was in Garlen and she helped us to cross over. Then, she went to Jiera herself to rescue the young hybrids for her research.

    "In the same way, I can go back and forth from Jiera with a moment''s notice. I don''t n to stay away from my family for long, just the time necessary to recover my old settlement and establish a base." dion replied.

    "I see." Lith nodded. "So, is Baba Yaga going to stay in Lightkeep during your absence?"

    "Yes." dion nodded. "Also, Ilthin ising with me. This way, as long as one of us is in Jiera, Mother can open the Gate and we can go back and forth to take care of the Eclipsed Lands."

    "By the Red Mother, who''s this little fairy?" After hearing her name, the Firstborn Banshee had gone to join the conversation but had been dazzled by the baby girl. "Do you know that you resemble your Daddy a lot?"

    Ilthin neared her finger as well but Elysia clearly remembered her. Instead of sniffing or grabbing the finger, she shapeshifted into her Tiamat form and attempted to bite it with her small fangs.

    The Banshee managed to dodge in time and the sh of teeth produced a snap like a bear trap.

    "Hey, that''s not cute at all! Why is she so cranky?"

    "It seems Elysia remembers you upsetting Kami." Lith checked the baby with the Dragon scales. "Come on. Be nice. Ilthin is a bit creepy but she means well. She helped Mom and Dad get back together."

    Such concepts were tooplex for Elysia''s mind but the contact allowed her to more or less understand Lith''s feelings on the matter. She chittered for a bit before going back to a human baby and staring at the Banshee with suspicion.

    "Okay. No flirting, no grabbing, no mentions of threesomes. Are we clear?" Lith said.

    "Fine." Ilthin pouted yet her bad mood melted away while looking at the six streaks in the baby''s hair and at her big, expressive eyes. "Gods, she''s so cute."

    The Banshee caressed Elysia''s cheek and this time there wasn''t any muttion attempt.

    "By the way, Lith, where''s Kam?" dion looked around the Hydra''sir, finding no trace of the Constable. "A mother leaving her baby alone is weird. A wife leaving her husband alone knowing Ilthin is going to be there is even weirder."

    "Hey! That''s mean of you." The Banshee said in outrage. "Do you know how hard it was for me not mentioning that Lith and I could give Elysia a sibling?"

    "She''s home." Lith sighed. "She''s not feeling well."

    ***

    Blood Desert, City of Quyntan, permanent headquarters of the Undead Courts'' War Room.

    Quyntan was located at the borders between the Gorgon Empire and the Blood Desert, making it one of the safest ces on Mogar for the Courts. The Guardians'' breathing techniques barely reached the city, making cloaking arrays and a bit of caution enough to shield their presence.

    After losing the Horsemen and the War of the Griffons, the Undead Courts had reached an all-time low. Night''s mad ns in her attempt to kill Verhen had cost the life of dozens of elders and then taking part in the War as Thrud''s allies had brought the death count even higher.

    The Undead Courts had invested a lot of resources and manpower to ensure the Mad Queen''s victory under the promise that she would provide them with perfect Harmonizers.

    Glemos had crafted a model specific for undead that not only removed their weakness to sunlight but it also pushed forward their evolution. Something that not even Baba Yaga could have predicted.

    ording to the ns of the Red Mother, undeath was supposed to be a temporary condition. A second life where her children would gain the strength and wisdom to ovee the ws that had doomed them before resurrecting themselves by giving up on the blood red core.

    Baba Yaga had never meant for the undead to be a master race nor to leave space for further improvement. Yet the Undead Courts begged to differ.

    They had never discovered the secret of Awakening and even though they could still reach the full-blood red core over time, bing mortals again would have meant to give up on the powers and bloodline abilities to which they had gotten dependent over the centuries.

    Not even Awakened Firstborns like dion and Ilthin had ever considered following the Red Mother''s n, let alone those who hade nowhere close to the might of their progenitors.

    The Undead Courts had hoped that, after getting rid of the crazy Horseman of Night, things would have taken a turn for the better. Instead, Thrud had been defeated and the Courts had been spiralling ever since.

    They still had a few of Glemos'' Harmonizers for undead, but with their limited abilities as Forgemasters, it made little difference.

    "Why are we here?" Ezhman Makh, Vampire and General of the Night Court asked. "At this point, assembling in a single location is like begging to be exterminated. We should each stick to our respective turfs and lie low."

    "Lie low?" Shelk Whur, Blood Warlock and Destroyer of the Dusk Court echoed in outrage. "If we go any lower, we might as well disband the Courts and go hide in a cave like the wounded beast we are."

    "Calm down, Shelk." Anmira Phrett, Arch Duchess of the Dawn Court said. "Ezhman is right. We are just getting weaker by the day. Without a solid n, it''s better to take a step back and wait for an opportunity.

    "At the moment, there''s nothing we can do. The Master''s Organization keeps hunting us down, whittling our numbers, and stealing our resources. The Jiera Colonization n was supposed to be our second wind but by tightening up the safety measures, the three Great Countries have made it impossible for us to meddle with that."

 Chapter 2738 Survival and Extinction (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 2738 Survival and Extinction (Part 2)</h4>

    2738 Survival and Extinction (Part 2)

    "The Kingdom has developed a spell that can spot the blood core in our thralls and with the undead of the Eclipsed Lands forming an alliance between the Kingdom and the Empire, we''ve been cornered.

    "Even if somehow we manage to send our elders to Jiera, our traitorous cousins will spot them and at that point, they would be fish in a barrel."

    "I do have a n." The Blood Warlock said. "A n you all should have already considered on your own since it''s the only way we have left to turn the tables of fate and escape annihtion.

    "This is not a matter of riches or power anymore. Our survival depends on it. If we don''t take a stance, we''ll be wiped out and the only trace left of the Undead Courts will be a footnote in history books."

    "What are you talking about?" Ezhman said with a sneer. "There is no magic form to solve our problems. We have taken a streak of bad decisions that have led us to lose power, influence, and numbers over the past four years.

    "It didn''t happen overnight. If we want to regain our strength, the best course of action is to avoid further losses and rebuild our power from the safety of the shadows"

    "And how long do you think that would take, exactly?" Shelk''s voice oozed spite and sarcasm. "Centuries at minimum. Millennia, even. And for what? To make up for four goddamn years!"

    An awkward silence befell the room as the representatives of the Undead Courts pondered those words. With the Eldritches of the Organization on the prowl and the loss of the reinforcements that would soon return to Jiera, the Courts were at their wit''s end.

    After the Master''s Organization had be the new ruler of the criminal underworld, the undead had seen their influence and ie greatly reduced. They were still afloat, but only thanks to their cousins from Jiera who had failed to find a ce in the Eclipsed Lands and had no choice but to take part in the conflict.

    "Four years during which we''ve gone from being the shadow government of the three Great Countries to a bunch of refugees." Shelk took the silence for his cue and resumed talking.

    "Dawn, Night, Glemos, andstly, Thrud. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. We have yed a major role in our downfall, always betting all our chips on one leader or another and assuming they would win.

    "Each time, our trust proved to be misced and we lost a good chunk of our power until our strength was spent and now, we are cornered against a wall. Yet there is amon element in our defeats and if we remove it, we might ascend just as quickly as we fell."

    "Which is?" Anmira furrowed her brow in confusion.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen. Our misfortune started when we crossed paths with him in Othre and from that moment onward we could never catch a break." The Blood Warlock replied. "If we don''t kill him, there''s no future for us."

    "I admit that Verhen is a pain in the ass, but I fail to see how killing him would make things for us any better." The Vampire said.

    "Think about it. The Organization started hunting us down after Night''s failed assault on his house." Shelk pointed out and the others nodded.

    The Undead Courts had no idea that Lith had nothing to do with the relentless war that the Eldritches waged against them. It had been the Horseman of Night''s repeated attempts to kill Zinya and her children, the family that Vastor loved like his own, to trigger the Organization''s wrath.

    The undead almost killing Vastor first and then Orpal sending Zinya the Future card had only made things much, much worse.

    Eldritches had a long memory, infinite life, and no care for material losses if it meant achieving their vengeance.

    The reason the Undead Courts had found themselves on the back foot was that the Organization hadn''t hesitated to lose money and influence in order to expose the Courts'' bases and annihte them.

    "Now, I don''t know if Verhen has some sort of control over the Abominations or if he''s the fabled Master himself, but consider this. If I''m right and we kill him, the Organization will leave us alone.

    "If I''m wrong, our position won''t get better but it won''t worsen either. At least we''d have taken down our nemesis and dealt a blow to the Organization''s pride.

    "Also, consider this. Trains, elves, monsters. ording to the few people we have left inside the Royal Court, the whole n to colonize Jiera revolves around Verhen. If we kill him, the production of Trains will slow down.

    "The elves might go back on their word since the man they''ve sworn allegiance to is no more. Without Verhen to mediate between the Kingdom and Zelex, it will take us but a spark to burn the bridges between humans and monsters.

    "There will be chaos in the Kingdom, chaos in the Council, and chaos in Jiera. The Undead Courts have always thrived amid chaos because while the living fight among themselves, they give us plenty of food and their dead join our ranks."

    "You have a point." Ezhman pondered. "If Jiera''s colonization is postponed indefinitely, the undead who abandoned us with the prospect of returning home would return to our fold and boost our numbers."

    "Not only that." Anmira said. "The death of the Supreme Magus would trigger internal and external strife in the Kingdom. The fear of the monsters and of a second War of the Races with the elves will give us ess to the noble households again.

    "Our gifts and power will put the nobles at ease and turn them into our puppets." The room went into an uproar as the magic form seemed to materialize in front of their eyes. One answer to all of their problems.

    Much to everyone''s surprise, right when the enthusiasm of the members of the various Courts peaked, Shelk raised his hand, demanding silence.

    "Please, before making our decision, I need you to understand how dire our situation is and why I think that this gamble is necessary for our survival." The Blood Warlock said.

    "What most of you failed to consider is that just like we have many grievances against Verhen, he feels the same toward us, if not worse. Back when he was a Ranger, we had no reason to fear a blue-cored Awakened human.

    "Even an elder like Kan could have killed him with ease so Verhen kept away from us. Back then, he used the army as a shield against us and we backed down simply because the juice wasn''t worth the squeeze.

    "After Verhen left the army and joined the Council, we shed multiple times yet again, he was forced to y on the defense. We attacked, he survived, but he never tried to get back at us.

    "Not because he was afraid of us, he simply had no choice. We were many, he was one. Verhen couldn''t waste his time traveling Garlen in search of our city branches and even if he did, we would have outnumbered and outmatched him.

 Chapter 2739 More than Power (Part 1)

    Chapter 2739 More than Power (Part 1)

    "Verhen had to lock his family behind the Council''s and the Kingdom''s protection while we had to back off. We never managed to follow his movements and the few times we did, he was in highly secure locations where our options were limited.

    "Then, the bastard became a Divine Beast. If not for Night and Thrud ordering us to leave him alone, we would have dealt with him back then, while our blood cores still gave us an advantage over a runt with a deep violet core.

    "To make matters worse, we kept underestimating him. Who would have thought that a baby, a hatchling, would have reached the violet core in the same time as Awakened with a powerful bloodline legacy at their disposal?

    "It''s like the bastard Awakened in the crib and spent his whole life on a mana geyser!" Shelk said.

    The first hypothesis was correct while the second was wrong. The rapid development of Lith''s mana core was simply one of the many perks of having a mage tower even before knowing what Solus'' stone ring was.

    It was much, much better than living on a geyser and much, much worse for the Undead Courts who still had no idea of their enemy''s true abilities.

    "Now, we are fucked! We are so fucked that I expect every one of us to die with a little Tiamat bursting out of our chest. Verhen is now not only a Divine Beast, but a Divine Beast with a bright violet core.

    "If we wait too long and he gets ustomed to his new powers, we''ll have no chance of victory. Bloodline abilities, mass, raw physical strength, there''s nothing that even an undead elder can match him in."

    "That''s not true." Ezhman countered. "Blood cores grow naturally past the bright violet. We can never reach the white, but some of our oldest members are still stronger than Verhen."

    "Really? Do you really think that any of them is going to face a Divine Beast and put their eternal life on the line for us? Because I sure wouldn''t." Shelk replied, turning the enthusiasm into despair.

    "If this is what you think, why are you proposing to kill Verhen in the first ce?" Anmira asked.

    "Because I believe we have no other choice." The Blood Warlock lowered his gaze, his voice sounded worried if not scared. "Once Verhen masters his powers, he''ll be the one hunting us.

    "I doubt he has ever forgotten about the Undead King''s ploys and the help we gave him. Verhen never forgave us, he was simply biding his time and now he''s almost done waiting.

    "Soon he''ll have no need to y defense anymore. When that happens, he''ll bring with him his Demons, his sister, the Council, the army, the Association, the Abominations, and the gods only know who else.

    "Before you say anything stupid remember that unless we attack first, Verhen is going to have the time to raise an army of Demons of Darkness, each one with the power of a bright violet core!"

    Every one of them had watched the videos from the War of the Griffons. They knew what Lith could do with a bit of time and a mana geyser at his disposal. Facing him alone was already hard but if he brought reinforcements, there would be no chance of victory.

    "For the first time from the founding of the Undead Courts, time is not by our side. The more we wait, the fewer our chances of victory. If we don''t create an opportunity to recover the ground we''ve lost, if we don''t be the makers of our own fortune, the only path left for us is extinction."

    The representatives of the other two Courts remained silent, searching for any argument that would counter such an ill-prophecy.

    Yet they found none.

    After Veeza the Lich had triggered and lost a war, the Empress was mercilessly hunting down the Courts with the aid of the Organization. In the Kingdom and the Desert things weren''t much better. The Eldritches uprooted the undead from the underworld while the Royals from society.

    As for the Desert, the Organization had no foothold there but for a good reason. Sark allowed no ck market and her nomadic society didn''t leave many opportunities for the undead to hide.

    The local Courts existed by allying themselves with the rogue tribes and the bandit ns that refused to submit to the Overlord''sw. They lived off by piging the viges and trading the stolen goods with merchants since most oases were off-limits.

    The undead in the Desert were forced to live as nomads as well, stealing what they could from the unused mines and running away as fast as they could once the members of the Nest spotted them.

    "All in favor?"

    ***

    City of Lutia, Trawn woods, Lith''s tower.

    Kam was indeed struggling against the feeling of weakness and the anxiety that had arisen after Elysia''s birth.

    Without the Divine Beast''s senses, the world around her had be a dull and cold ce. She couldn''t see the vibrant colors of a flower anymore. She couldn''t smell a mix of subtle fragrances and recognize them all.

    It was like having ayer of cotton hard-pressed against every centimeter of her skin, muffling her every sensation. That and the sudden loss of her physical and magical prowess had led her to depression.

    Lith had suggested her to move inside the tower because the dream house was filled with happy memories that soothed Kam''s spirit while the mana geyser helped her to practice umtion.

    Without Elysia refining her body and mana core for Kam, she now had to do it herself.

    "I don''t know what to do anymore, Duke." Lith was talking with Marth, the White Griffon academy''s Headmaster, and his wife Ryssa. "Our life has never been so peaceful. The pregnancy is over, Elysia is healthy, and we are surrounded by our friends and family.

    "Kami is supposed to be happy but she''s not. I don''t think I''ve ever seen her so down, not even after we broke up. Do you guys have any advice?"

    "I''m sorry, no." Marth said. "I''ve walked a mile in your wife''s shoes and I can tell you just one thing. It''s not her fault, yours, or anyone else''s."

    "How did you get over your post-power depression?" Lith asked.

    "With time." Marth sighed. "I had to keep moving forward day after day until I stopped living stuck in the moment when I fused with the White Griffon."

    "That''s it?" Lith was relieved to hear that the solution was that simple. "We just have to wait until it goes away?"

    "No, it''s far from easy." Marth shook his head while trying to find the right words to express the burden that was still weighing on him. "It''s like having lived your perfect day and having experienced true happiness.

    "On paper sounds great, but when the following day your life goes back to normal, that joy bes a curse. Everything good that happens, every one of your achievements gets weighed against that day and found wanting.

    "You can''t help but see everything through the lens of that day, turning your present sad and disappointing."

 Chapter 2740 More than Power (Part 2)

    Chapter 2740 More than Power (Part 2)

    "Nothing you do is good enough. Nothing the others do for you is good enough. Even when good things happen, you don''t appreciate them because they don''t measure to that ursed day." Marth said.

    "Good gods!" Lith said as he finally understood the problem.

    "It''s like constantly wearing balls and chains that weigh you down the whole time, no matter where you are or with who you are. It''s a nightmare." Marth closed his eyes and pinched his nose.

    "Also, this is how it worked for me. There is no guarantee that Kam will experience the same. She might need more time, less time, or some kind of trigger. Only the gods know."

    "Any suggestion?" Several ns came up to Lith''s mind but he discarded them all because his wife wasn''t a problem to solve but a person who needed his help.

    "None. On the plus side, I''ve heard that Kam is learning magic, correct?" Duke asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Keep teaching her. The more she gains power, the less the shadow of her pregnancy will darken her."

    <nulli>''That''s true.'' Lith pondered. <nulli>''Like Tyris said, the issue is that post-partum a regr Awakened loses half their prowess whereas Kam got weaker by dozens of times. She just needs to get close to the cyan to feel like that again.''

    "Another good thing is that, unlike the academy, Elisya didn''t boost her magical talent like the shadows of my colleagues did with me hence she should be faring better than I did."

    "About that¡­" Lith went to the crib and lifted a sleeping Elysia, bringing her in front of the amulet.

    "Great Mother almighty!" Marth yelled in shock at the sight of the six elemental streaks in her hair yet his fatherly instincts also lowered the volume to not wake up the baby.

    "Yeah. Turns out that a baby with streaks also passes her affinities and Kam got a kicker from understanding the mostplex things about magic by sheer instinct like a Divine Beast." Lith said.

    "Who knows about the hair?" Marth set that particr problem aside for the moment.

    "Just those who witnessed the childbirth. My family, my closest friends, and now you." Lith replied.

    "Damn, the Royals are going to increase the security for the G to eleven." Marth passed his right hand on his face, massaging his stubble.

    "Why? Do you think there is someone so crazy that they want another Day of the ck Sun?" Lith scoffed while picturing in his mind the summoning of Elisya''s three god cards.

    Leegaain the Omniscient, Tyris the Sky Griffon, and Sark, the Winged Warrior of Destruction.

    "No for the baby but the mother!" Marth scoffed in kind.

    "What do you mean?" Lith was surprised by the Headmaster knowing about the bounty on Kam''s head, but he decided to y dumb and fish for information.

    "Well, you have many eyes but no streaks. Kam has no streaks either but since no one in your family has so many, what do you think people wille to believe? That they are on the mother''s side or at least by your specificbination."

    "That''s ridiculous!" Lith blurted out. "My older brother had no streaks like me and my sisters got respectively a ck and a red one. Those things aren''t inherited."

    "I know, but this is huge!" Math put his hands in his hair, not understanding how Lith could be so blind. "No one has ever been born with six streaks! That''s something that happens only in legends."

    "Farm me sideways." Lith suddenly realized that indeed never before someone had Awakened in the womb and gotten six affinities.

    "Exactly! Even our beloved Queen got hers after the marriage, after gaining enlightenment while visiting one of the old temples of the gods of magic." Marth had no idea that it had been just Tyris Awakening Sylpha.

    "Now, put yourself in the nobles'' shoes. Would you be willing to wait for Supreme Magus Verhen''s second-born child to make sure it''s just a lucky break? Heck no! If another one with six streaks were to be born, it would be toote.

    "It wouldn''t be just a hypothesis but a certainty. Something that they cannot let happen." Marth emitted a low whine, thanking the gods for Dhiral not being that talented in magic. "I need a break. I''ll let you speak with Ryssa."

    "Don''t listen to him." The Dryad said the moment Marth walked out of the room.

    "About what?"

    "About everything." Then she noticed the sleeping Elysia. "Oh, gods! She''s so cute. I wish I was there to drown her with hugs and kisses."

    Hearing a baby voice, Elysia opened her eyes and looked around, giggling at the Dryad''s silly appearance as she made toys and moving figurines sprouting out of her fingers.

    "Can we go back to the topic, please? The fate of my wife depends on it." Lith said.

    "Sorry. Well, wait my¡­" Ryssa stared at Elysia and changed the wording. "Perfect bottom. Duke was a wreck all the time. He couldn''t work, he couldn''t enjoy his family, nothing. He almost drove several Professors to quit with his constant nagging and whining."

    "Why is this the first time I hear about this?" Lith asked.

    "Because Zogar and I worked hard from behind the scenes to not let it blow out. Zogar would mediate with the Professors and talk with them behind closed doors while I helped Duke at home." Ryssa replied.

    "Helped how?"

    "Basically, Duke was green with envy of himself and Kami is probably the same now. And since you can''t beat yourself, he ended up hating himself, with obvious consequences." Ryssa sighed.

    "What I did was to keep him busy, especially with Dhiral. I helped him to remind to himself through daily life that the worth of Duke Marth isn''t measured just in his magical talents but also as a person. As a father and a husband.

    "As a good boss and a beloved teacher. All things that he was before fusing with the White Griffon and still is. Don''t you dare just sit there and wait for Kami to get better. Stay with her.

    "Remind her of all the good things you did together without the need of her powers. Like your baby. Don''t let herself reduce her existence to power and affinities. Kami is more than that. You two are more than that."

    "Thanks, Ryssa." Lith nodded.

    "Anytime." She replied. "If she ever needspany, don''t hesitate to call me. You have two personal Warp Gates, don''t be afraid of using them. Ryssa out."

    ***

    To fight her depression, Kam was already following Marth''s prescription on her own. All the time she didn''t dedicate to Elysia she devoted it to using umtion to strengthen her core and practicing magic to temper her body.

    She would perform house chores either by the use of pure magic or the old-fashioned way but by using fusion magic to boost her physical prowess. Solus was always there, helping Kam with tutorials whenever she ran into a hitch or messing with her to increase the difficulty of a task once she had gotten used to it.

    ["Wow! You cleaned half the Mansion with magic and the other half by hand."] Solus said in English, admiring the sparkling results of Kam''s training.

 Chapter 2741 Voices and Shadows (Part 1)

    Chapter 2741 Voices and Shadows (Part 1)

    ["Well, Lith too started by doing chores and with my weak body and core I''m not going to fight magical beasts."] Kam replied, also in English.

    She and Solus had kept their word about sharing a secretnguage and always spoke it when they were alone or with Elysia to practice it. Also, since the baby was so smart, they expected Elysia to learn it along with Tyris'' universalnguage.

    ["Still, using fire fusion to move the furniture, water fusion to stretch, and air fusion to go faster while also retaining your precision was a brilliant idea."] Solus said.

    ["Yeah, sure."] Kam said with a sneer. ["Now let''s practice some real magic."]

    Before Solus could tell her that all magic was real magic, Kam started practicing the Pilfer spell for the first time since Elysia''s birth. It was the second step in learning how to create a Warp Steps and required to create two small stable Gates at a variable distance.

    Back when she was pregnant, Kam had managed to split the energy sphere into two ck dots and stretch them into an event horizon. Now, however, things weren''t going that smoothly.

    Without Elysia''s affinity toward the elements and with a measly yellow core, Kam managed to make a single minuscule golden sphere that blew up into sparks in a matter of seconds.

    ["This doesn''t make sense."] Kam said. ["I remember the theory and how the mana flow is supposed to feel. I''ve done this countless times so why am I failing now?"]

    Solus took a deep breath and delivered the cold truth.

    ["Because your core is too weak to power up the spell matrix enough and because your mana flow is too rough. You are handling the elements like brooms whereas before you used them like scalpels."]

    ["What do you- Oh."] Only then did Kam remember how while pregnant she always felt where the flow of mana was too strong or weak, adjusting the elemental bnce by instinct without giving it much thought.

    Solus showed her how to perform Pilfer properly via a mind link but even then, the spark of light was barely visible andsted a handful of seconds before Kam started panting.

    ["Let''s do something else. Maybe a Fireball."] Solus said. ["Let''s move to the gard-"]

    ["Heck, no."] Kam cut her short. ["I''ll just practice Loop then."]

    It was the simplest and most basic dimensional magic exercise, creating two minuscule rifts at a fixed distance. Kam tried and failed until she had to use Invigoration.

    She ran out of mana multiple times without seeding once before giving up.

    "There''s nothing wrong with it." Solus switched to Mogarian to help Kam rx.

    Unlike Solus who had all of Lith''s memories from Earth in her head, Kam had to remember the words, the grammar, idioms, everything. It put even more stress on her mind and made every failure worse.

    "Dimensional magic is damn hard. Only the six great academies teach it and they don''t admit anyone with less than a green core. Even then, more than half the students fail to learn it."

    "I guess you are right." Kam nodded, feeling a bit better about her bruised ego. "I''m still too weak. Let''s start practicing again once I reach the green."

    "Excellent idea!" Solus nodded. "Let''s go to the garden, now. We can join the kids'' games and show them how the grownups fight."

    "I''ll race you there." Kam cast a flight spell. "Last one to the garden cooks for a week. In your case, you also taste your food before serving it."

    "That''s food poisoning and that''s cheating!" Solus was still weaving her own spells when it happened.

    Kam lost control of the air currents that were supposed to follow her will and propel her through the air, crashing against a door''s frame and then tumbling onto the ground.

    "Good gods, Kami, are you alright?" Solus Blinked to her, finding Kam sobbing in a fetal position.

    A quick use of Invigoration showed Solus that even in her panic Kam had used earth fusion to resist the impact, darkness fusion to keep the pain at bay, and light fusion to mend her wounds while she cast a healing spell.

    <nulli>''Thank the gods between her enhanced body and the Voidfeather armor she didn''t get seriously hurt. She just failed another spell.'' Solus thought.

    "Kami, why are you crying? ording to my spell, you''ve already fixed everything by yourself. Where does it hurt?" She actually asked.

    "Everywhere." Kam said with rage and sadness in equal amounts. "It hurts everywhere. It hurts here when I fail to understand the things that I assumed I had mastered." Kam touched her temple.

    "It hurts here when I tap into my mana for a spell and find a dry well where once there was ake." She then touched the area between the sr plexus and the navel, where her mana core was.

    "It hurts here when the things that were once as light as feathers now feel like lead, myself included." Kam brushed her legs and arms. "I can''t even fly properly anymore. Let''s hear your excuse of the day, master.

    "How is this not me being a piece of trash this time?" She went back hugging her own knees, sobbing.

    "That''s not true at all." Solus replied. "Flying isn''t that easy. It took Lith days to start floating on his own and then-"

    "Bullshit! The kids do it and they are seven!" Kam cut Solus short. "It''s a tier three spell that all magicas can use. Everyone but me."

    "Yes, but actually no." Solus was starting to cry as well. "The kids do it because they have a bright yellow core and because Lith taught them from scratch during his boot camp at the Hot Pot, remember?"

    Kam nodded, but her grimace didn''t change.

    "Then, once the kids got home, they practiced every day and failed countless times before seeding, just like the magicas you talk about."

    "The boot campsted less than one week." Kam''s voice was filled with spite but it was addressed at herself. "Also, how is everything we did together during my pregnancy inferior to what the children did?

    "You taught me for months, spoon-feeding me knowledge with no effort on my part!"

    Solus was about to point out that while the kids had built their foundations normally Kam was now rebuilding everything from scratch, when the outburst became much worse.

    "I''m just a failure of a mage as I am of a mother." Kam started sobbing harder and harder. "I can''t do anything right. I can''t use magic, I can''t fly, I can''t even understand why my baby cries.

    "I''m helpless to calm Elysia down whereas you and Lith always find a way. Maybe it was wrong of me to ask you to be Elysia''s mother as well."

    Those words hurt Solus deeply, but what came after did much worse.

    "Maybe you should be the only mother she has." Kam sobbed. "You are good with magic, beautiful, and you even have Elysia''s same streaks. No one will ever believe she''s my daughter anyway.

    "I''m nothing but a cow. Good only to make milk. I don''t deserve to be in Elysia''s life. I''m useless."

 Chapter 2742 Voices and Shadows (Part 2)

    Chapter 2742 Voices and Shadows (Part 2)

    Every time Kam''s core and skill failed her, every time she couldn''t make Elysia stop crying despite all of her efforts and Elina''s teachings, the voices in her head became unbearable.

    Ever since Kam had married Lith, she had gotten used to being badmouthed and criticized both in her face and behind her back. Everyone seemed eager to exin to her why she was an unsuitable partner for a powerful mage and a waste of space.

    She had learned how to brush them off, knowing from Zynia''s experience how cruel people born with a golden spoon could be. During the pregnancy, the Dragon scales had reassured her of her husband''s feelings and created a bond with her daughter stronger than any insult.

    Yet after Elysia''s birth, after losing her powers and the Dragon scales, all the mean words that had been thrown at her and she believed to have forgotten had resurfaced. Whenever she failed a spell, the space around them seemed to darken.

    She felt suffocating, crowded by people pointing fingers and reminding her of her ws and how inadequate of a mother she was. Kam tried to ignore them, but getting hurt after messing up what was supposed to be an easy spell had been the final straw.

    She was curled up because that was the only free space the shadows in her head left her. She cried because she was trying to cover the voices. Those mean words sounded less like insults and more like truth the more she listened to them.

    Kam''s desperate wails tore Solus'' heart to shreds, making her sob at the realization of having failed to understand how deep the pain of her beloved one was.

    <nulli>''Gods, I''m so stupid. Using my hair as a nket, using the tricks I''ve learned from Lith to calm Elysia, and unting my magic to solve every problem only added fuel to the fires of Kami''s feeling of inadequacy.

    <nulli>''Unlike what happened to Marth, she isn''t justparing herself with her pregnant self, but also with me. Without realizing it, I turned her magic lessons into apetition that Kami was bound to lose.''

    Solus was about to burst into tears and beg Kam for forgiveness when a deep-rooted pain turned her sense of guilt into righteous anger. The tears dried from her eyes and her voice became steady again.

    "Kam Yehval Verhen, don''t you dare say anything like that ever again!" Solus grabbed her by the shoulders and forced Kam to look her in the eyes. "My father, Threin, was just a human painter.

    "Compared to my mother, he was weak and frail. His magical talent was so poor that he managed to fly only after lots of practice and he never learned how to use dimensional magic.

    "Dad was, as you say, useless. More useless than you since he couldn''t feed me as a baby and his cooking contained traces of paint so often that we all got resistant to poison over time.

    "Yet I loved him. I still do. He taught me more things about being a good person than the great Ripha Menadion ever did. Whenever my mother was too busy with her experiments, my father was there for me.

    "Menadion taught me everything about magic metals, mana crystals, and Forgemastering, but it was Threin who taught me how to read and write. It was he who read me stories every night before putting me to bed.

    "Do you think I love him any less for it?"

    Kam was taken aback by Solus'' aggression enough to snap back to her rational self.

    <nulli>''No. Threin''s death hurt Solus a lot. It almost destroyed her mother and the rtionship the two had. It represents the fall of the first domino tile that led to Bytra ending Menadion''s legacy.'' Yet Kam had enough sense to not spread salt in Solus'' wounds and just shook her head.

    "Damn right, you are. He was my whole world. I never gave a shit about his power, knowledge, orck thereof. I only cared about his attention and enjoyed every stupid thing we did together. What you call love, Elysia is going to spell it ''time''.

    "The time you give her despite your busy day. Your work. The strength you find to y with her despite being so tired that the only thing you want to do is sleep.

    "Your daughter is never going to judge you on how many Dragons you''ve in, only on how many memories that she has of you two together will help her to grow into the woman she will one day be.

    "Don''t get me wrong, I love Elina and Raaz, but I still miss my parents. I would give up on all of my powers if it meant having them back. Are you really willing to throw your daughter away only because of pride?

    "To turn her into me?" Solus had no need to refer to her troubled past, her shaky rtionship with Menadion, and all the regrets she carried because Kam knew them all too well.

    "No." Kam replied after a while. "It''s just that sometimes this is so hard and I feel so bad about myself that I feel hopeless. Sometimes I really feel like Elysia would do better without me."

    Solus rolled her eyes and Warped away, returning a split secondter. She handed a confused Elysia to Kam, forcing her to hold the baby in her arms. With no idea what was happening, Elysia did what she did best and fell asleep.

    "See? She feels safe and protected not because of your powers but because you are her mother." Solus said. "Now look at her face and tell me that what you just said makes any sense. I double dare you."

    Kam looked down and suddenly the idea of leaving her family sounded so stupid that she wouldn''t believe it had evere out of her mouth. She still felt insecure about her role in Elysia''s life but she wouldn''t give up on being her mother for the world.

    The connection that the Dragon scales had given her with her baby was lost and the void it had left was painful, but the idea of being physically separated from Elysia was much worse.

    "I don''t know what it is, but there''s something wrong with me." Kam said after a while. "Please, help me."

    "I was going to do it anyway, whether you liked it or not."

    ***

    When Elysia became one month old, two things happened. Lith discovered to be still pathologically incapable of being more than 100 meters (328'') away from Elysia which forced him to carry her around everywhere he went.

    No matter if it was just a trip to the grocery store or a Council summon, the baby carrier had be an integral part of his attire just like the white Supreme Magus robe.

    "This is bullshot." He said to a cooing Elysia. "Now I understand why Grampa Leegaain is always so stiff and why Grandma always ckmails him with Shargein. Let''s hope that by the time you are as old as your cousin, I will be able to do by myself more than go to the bathroom."

    The second was Kam''s first breakthrough on her own, going from yellow to a bright yellow core.

 Chapter 2743 Not a Father (Part 1)

    Chapter 2743 Not a Father (Part 1)

    Kam''s mana core had already gotten close to the bright yellow before giving birth and the training coupled with living over a powerful mana geyser sped up the process.

    "Gods, help!" She cried in between puking and sweating a ck tar-like substance that stank so bad that it almost made her faint.

    Her abdomen felt like it was going to explode, the waves of bright yellow mana pushing the impurities out of her system from all of her orifices at the same time.

    "What''s hap- Seriously?" The Guardians said aftering and leaving in turns.

    "I told you not to be so dramatic." Lith said while she puked her guts out. "It''s just impurities and the breakthroughs between levels of the same color are the easiest. Wait to see what happens when you step to the next level."

    Kam had a clear idea of what her husband called "easy" and she had an incredible vocabry of vulgar words at her disposal. She had learned them from the scum of the Kingdom during her job as a Constable and she was eager to use them to express her feelings.

    s, her eloquence was lost amid retching sounds and the gurgle of bile.

    "This¡­ is the easy part?" She asked amid pants once the torture was over.

    "Totally." Lith said while destroying the impurities with a pulse of darkness magic.

    "You bet." Tista said while handing Kam a change of clothes until the Voidfeather armor finished cleaning itself.

    "This will be a happy memory when you start getting rid of the impurities stuck inside your organs and bones." Solus said while preparing her a hot bath.

    "Being an Awakened sucks!" Kam groaned, feeling so faint that her eyes started to droop.

    "Stay awake." Tista gave her a few gentle ps. "Either you take a bath or you sleep on the floor. If that shit touches your bed, you are never going to get rid of the smell."

    "Awesome." Kam nodded, feeling a bit better since the breakthrough had indeed been light and thanks to the power of the geyser she was already recovering. "How long will it take for the deep green?"

    "Best case scenario, even with all the tricks we''ve learned over the years and the tower, months." Lith replied.

    "Thank the gods!" Kam looked up at the sky with eyes filled with gratitude.

    "I thought you were adamant about learning Dimensional Magic as soon as possible and that takes a deep green core minimum." Solus said, confused by Kam''s change of heart.

    "That''s what I believed as well. I was wrong."

    ***

    City of Lutia, a few dayster.

    Elysia loved the tower and the nursery could shapeshift into several different forms that were all aimed to keep her entertained. So, whenever it was Lith''s turn to look after the baby, he adopted a sharing approach.

    When she was awake, Lith read out loud his notes, using the voice and intonation he would use for bedtime stories. He and Solus would discuss magical theories like they were talking about something wondrous, smiling all the time.

    After a while, Elysia''s small brain would get tired from trying to understand all those big words and she would fall asleep. Only after putting her to sleep in the safety of Bytra''s Doomyer crib did they put their theories into practice.

    Elysia''s birth had upturned Lith''s life but since the tower had needed but one second to be perfectly baby-proofed, that part of his routine hadn''t changed much.

    Yet after Kam had shared with Lith how ugly herst meltdown with Solus had been, he had pondered a lot about Ryssa''s and Marth''s suggestions. It had meant for Lith to slow down a bit his magical research and devote more time to looking after his wife''s mental health.

    He tried to involve Kam in everything he did, even his experiments, to keep her mind and body busy. The maternity leave would be long and Kam was adamant about not going back to work until she solved her issues.

    "I don''t trust myself anymore." She said. "I''m afraid that if I resume my duty as a Constable, I''ll use it as a way out to not face my problems. That I''d rather overwork myself than go back home and feel useless all over again.

    "Also, I don''t know if I even want to work again." Kamy on a recliner near Elysia''s crib while the baby slept like a log.

    Kam loved staying in the tower when it was Lith''s turn to take care of Elysia because she couldpletely rx and enjoy the most wholesome moments between her husband and daughter.

    She always had hermunication amulet at hand and in a little more than a month she had taken hundreds of photos and videos.

    A few dayster, Lith, Kam, and Elysia in her inseparable baby carrier were shopping for the imminent G to celebrate the baby''s birth. Orion would once again bring the house staff and the furniture was already there, but the food and ingredients had to be bought fresh.

    They went from merchant to merchant, taking a look at the merchandise, making their orders, and of course, bargaining the price.

    "I can''t believe you got a huge ass mansion and yet you didn''t hire one butler to run this kind of errand." Kam said with a chuckle while making sure that the hood of Elysia''s onesie stayed up.

    After Lith''s conversation with Marth, they had agreed that it was of paramount importance to avoid that Elysia''s six-streaked hair remained a secret until the g.

    "I can''t believe we are having this discussion again." Lith sighed. "I''m not trusting a stranger with what we put in our mouths. A new Hatorne, the undead, or any of my enemies might feed us a magicallyced poison and bad things would happen.

    "Also, having a butler would mean having to force Garrik and R to be permanently shapeshifted into human form, putting an end to Rena''s tea parties with the people of Zelex, and hiding Solus'' tower.

    "On top of that, do you really want to put a stranger so close to our daughter? What if they sell her pictures to make a quick buck or they gossip behind our back?"

    "Point taken." Kam nodded. "I don''t want people to know about my depression or worry that any little quarrel between us might be public knowledge. Yet having a butler would-"

    The sound of a crying girl cut her short and drew her attention. After giving birth, Kam had be more aware of that kind of noise that she would have once ignored amid a crowded ce like the farmers market.

    It was just a young girl, around five years old, throwing a tantrum in the middle of the road while her father tried to drag her away. At least until he stopped abruptly, forced her to straighten up, and pped her in the face.

    The hit wasn''t that hard, making the girl just turn her head, but the sound it produced seemed to pierce through the crowd''s noise and hit Kam like a punch in the gut. The worst part was that there was no shock in the girl''s eyes.

 Chapter 2744 Not a Father (Part 2)

    Chapter 2744 Not a Father (Part 2)

    She instantly shut up and lowered her gaze, doing her best to hold back the tears.

    "I don''t know what the matter is but that was wrong. Do you think we should go ch-" When Kam turned to Lith, she found herself talking to empty air.

    "I said look at me when I''m talking to you, you ungrateful runt!" The man yelled in the kid''s face who instead kept her eyes low. "I said look at-"

    The man had already raised his hand again when a whisper from behind covered him in a cold sweat.

    "I am looking." Lith said, standing right behind the man and locking his wrist in an iron grip. "And I don''t like what I see."

    Before bing a father, it would take a young boy or two brothers being victims of abuse to trigger Lith. Now, however, any little girl would do as well.

    "What''s the matter here?" Lith asked.

    "Nothing, Magus Verhen, I was just-"

    "I''m not talking to you." A bright violet light zed from his eyes and drained whatever vitality the man had left, bringing him to his knees.

    "Dad!" The little girl found her voice back and ran to his side. "Please, don''t hurt my Dad. It''s my fault. I made him angry."

    check-up with Invigoration.

    He found several old and new bruises under her baggy clothes and Hearing the same words that once Lith/Derek had told himself turned the violet light blue but he took a deep breath and wished it was just a misunderstanding.

    "I see." Lith nodded, patting the girl''s back and giving her a full check-up with Invigoration.

    He found several old and new bruises under her baggy clothes and even a few now-mended broken bones.

    "Are you hurting your daughter?" Lith straightened up the man with the same ease the man had earlier done with the girl, dusting off his clothes with a touch that held no kindness.

    "No, I was just disciplining her." The man half stuttered and half spoke, feeling something wrong in the blue mesing from the Magus'' eyes. "You are a father yourself. You know how kids can be."

    That was hisst mistake.

    With Elysia on Lith''s chest, drawing aparison between them broke the dam of Lith''s willpower for good.

    ck veins appeared all over his face as his mouth turned into a lipless maw and his hair burst into a zing crown.

    "What did you say?" The ckness spread along his body until tongues of blue fire came out of his hands.

    A small roar came from the baby carrier where a spitting, scaled-down version of the angry mage tried to rip at the man''s chest with her ming ws.

    "What did you say?" Lith repeated to the man who was now even more scared than his own daughter as he felt death staring at him in the eyes.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen!" A voice making her way through the crowd snapped him out of his frenzy before he snapped the man''s neck. "Don''t you see you''re terrorizing that poor girl?"

    Only then did Lith lowered his gaze, noticing that the kid was clinging to her father''s leg, more scared of the mage than of her long-time tormentor.

    <nulli>''I get you are angry, but I''m not going to let you turn our daughter into a murderer. Look what you are doing to her!'' Kam quickly cast a mind link to not divulge private matters to strangers.

    Lith could see his fury reflected in Elysia, twisting her as much as it did him.

    <nulli>''Also, no matter how bad he is, you can''t kill a man in front of his daughter. You''ll scar her for life.''

    <nulli>''You are right, thanks Kami.'' Contrary to before, it took Lith a single deep breath to pull himself together and one thought to return both himself and Elysia to their original appearances.

    He drew and umted the blue mes in his right hand before snuffing them out by clenching his fist. They now obeyed his will, but only as long as he didn''t let the fury that had generated them control him first.

    "Da! Da! Da!" Elysia yelled refusing to let her small ming blue crown go.

    "Bad! Bad Elysia!" Kam put her finger in front of the baby''s nose.

    "Ba?"

    "Yes, bad. Don''t do it." Her voice became softer but still held a hint of rebuke.

    "Ba." Elysia threw a final angry re at the man, pulling at Lith at Lith''s shirt. "Da."

    Then she fell asleep, tired from the strain that particr form inflicted on her young body.

    "Da indeed." Lith said it like a death threat but his eyes were clear now and his face smiling. "I apologize for my rude behavior, youngdy."

    Lith gave the girl a deep and flowery bow with his robe.

    "You have my word that everything is fine and that I''m not mad at you. Please, ept this as proof of my goodwill." Lith used a touch of Invigoration to heal her every wound and then gave her a steaming cream puff.

    Her face lit up with joy while holding the sweet but she didn''t dare take a bit before looking at her father to receive his approval first.

    "It''s fine. You can eat it." The man said with an awkward smile as he could still feel the Magus'' eyes weighing on him.

    "Thank you, sir Magus." The girl ate with a joy and a hunger that drove a stake through Kam''s heart.

    "Da." She echoed with a stone-cold voice while looking at Lith before pulling the girl aside, offering her more cream puffs and some hot chocte to drink.

    Kam still carried around one bakery worth of sweets on herself, just to be safe.

    "Now, this can end in two ways." Lith said. "You can give me your word that you''ll never ever touch your daughter, wife, and your other children, if you have any. Do that and I''ll pretend nothing ever happened."

    "I promise." The man nodded like a frenzied parrot. "I swear upon my soul. I''m a changed man now. I finally understand the error of my ways. I''ll never touch my children again."

    At that point, the plural was just the metal band around the coffin.

    "Excellent." Lith smiled, his eyes calm and his voice reassuring. "Then you are free to go. Treat your family to something good. You need to celebrate the happy moments of your life."

    He handed the man a small purse filled with copper coins that the man gratefully epted, giving Lith bows so deep that his head almost touched the ground. He waited for his daughter to be done eating before walking back home together.

    "Thank the gods, at least I got something good out of this mess." The man said with a whisper, making sure that the crazy Magus was too far away to overhear. "Yet this is all your fault, Lyra. You humiliated me in public.

    "The moment we get home I''m going to teach you a lesson."

    "Varegrave." Lith called while standing still.

    "Yes, My Liege?" The kneeling form of the former colonel of the army rose from Lith''s shadow.

    "Would I ever ask you to kill a father?"

    "No. Not after you became one yourself. You know its burden and the misery that such a thing would leave in its wake." Varegrave replied.

 Chapter 2745 Elysiaâ€™s Gala (Part 1)

    Chapter 2745 Elysia¡¯s G (Part 1)

    "Would you call that man a father?" Lith asked.

    "No." Varegrave''s voice was filled with spite. "He brings fear instead of safety and he harms those he''s sworn to protect. That''s no father, that''s an abomination."

    "Then you have your orders." Lith couldn''t risk Elysia understanding that he was cing a hit so he took a softer approach on the matter.

    "Yes, My Liege." The Demon''s eyes burned with violet light as he was infused with enough power to turn him into a bright violet core.

    "Wait." Kam was back, checking that Elysia was still asleep before continuing. "This is the list of circumstances of death that ensure a man''s family to receive the Kingdom''s assistance after his untimely demise."

    "How kind of you, My Lady." Varegrave took the booklet from her with both hands before storing it inside Soluspedia and choosing the best way to perform his mission.

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, on the night of the G.

    Unlike the event organized to celebrate Lith''s twentieth birthday, Elisya''s Royal G involved only the upper echelons of the Kingdom and they had all been forewarned to leave politics outside the door or write ast will beforeing.

    "Any insult to my wife could trigger me, Elysia, or both. I can vouch happens, I have no authority to stop it. It''s your choice, Your Majesty."

    for my self-control but not for that of the baby." Lith had exined the Royals before making them decide to whom they would send invitations to the g.

    "Any insult to my daughter, instead, might trigger a war and if that happens, I have no authority to stop it. It''s your choice, Your Majesty."

    "Are you telling us that a less than two months old baby can already kill a man despite the protective arrays of your home?" Meron was bbergasted.

    "The baby? Absolutely not." Lith''s answer just confused him more. "Her godmother, grandparents, and every rtive from the Desert and the Empire who demanded to attend, however, can and they will."

    "I see." Queen Sylpha quickly struck through several names from the guest list. "How many are we talking about?"

    "Leegaain, Sark, theirtest son, Shargein, part of the Nest, part of the Brood, the Magic Empress-" Lith was still counting on his fingers when the King stopped him.

    "We get it." Meron said with a sigh. "We''ll limit the invitations to people who respect beasts or at least are capable of keeping their mouth shut when necessary."

    ''I would love to see their faces when I tell them that Baba Yaga and Lochra Silverwing areing as well as Solus'' guests, but that would arouse too many questions.'' Lith inwardly smiled.

    When the night of the G arrived, the Royals discovered that the usual safety protocols had been reced by something quicker and much more high-end.

    They drove their muscle car-shaped DoLorean in the Mansion''s Park, noticing that once again Lith had gone all out with his Light Mastery.

    There were plenty of holograms and hard-light statues decorating the garden. Fireworks constantly exploded in the sky, creating light but producing no noise in order to not scare guests and animals alike.

    The y area for the kids was fully equipped with new rides and heavily guarded.

    A red and ck carpet led the guest to the entrance of the Mansion and on either side stood honor guards in high uniforms. Those on the right side wore ck armor whose tes were shaped like feathers and came from the Desert.

    Those on the left, instead, wore a red suit of armor whose scales were shaped like zing mes and came from the Empire. The raw pressure their mere presence exuded made even bright violet-cored Awakened feel threatened.

    <nulli>''Are they really all from the Brood and the Nest?'' King Meron was bbergasted.

    <nulli>''I guess that Magus Verhen wasn''t exaggerating.'' Sylpha replied. <nulli>''One wrong move might really trigger a war.''

    Lith and Kam were waiting at the entrance again, where they weed the Royals and ushered them in.

    "Howe there was no line?" The King asked.

    They hade fashionablyte to both make sure to arrivest like protocol dictated and avoid waiting for their turn.

    "Because the tools that Overlord Sark has provided to her Praetorians are better than those of the Royal Forgemasters and with Dragon Eyes it doesn''t take long to take a sweep of carriages and people alike." Lith replied.

    "The honor guards didn''t just pay you homage, Your Majesty." Kam added. "They also scanned you on your way here and telepathicallypared notes about any anomaly they might have perceived."

    "Remarkable." Queen Sylpha said.

    <nulli>''That''s terrifying!'' She actually thought. <nulli>''Let''s hope we moved fast enough to keep those damned Divine Beasts from cracking the cloaking runes of our equipment and the Saefel Set.''

    When the Royals stepped inside and the page announced their arrival, they discovered that the Main Hall of the Verhen Mansion was already full beyond belief. Literally.

    Sylpha was the one who had approved and signed for all the blueprints but even Meron could tell by memory that there was something different about the room from their previous visit.

    "Is it me or is it bigger on the inside?" He asked.

    "It''s not you." Sylpha activated Life Vision, spotting an incrediblyplex spell that epassed most of the Mansion, stretching the space so that it couldfortably host the guests without making them feel packed like sardines.

    "A spell? Not an array?" Meron blurted out in surprise once the Queen shared the readings with him.

    "Yes." A feminine voice replied, forcing them to turn to their left. "Arrays are annoying. You need to rewrite them from scratch just to alter a small thing. Spells, instead, just do what you want them to do."

    Sark, the Blood Desert Overlord, wore a magnificent bright red g dress and a blue ribbon on her slender left shoulder that identified her as a rtive from the father''s side of the baby.

    She gave the Royals a small bow that they quickly returned.

    "To what do we owe the pleasure of you personally waiting for us and greeting us first?" King Meron asked.

    "ording to your etiquette, aside from the parents, no one can approach the baby before the Royals." Sark tried and failed to contain her annoyance. "Please, follow me. We''d better get this over with or you''ll end up making more enemies than you can fight."

    Sylpha nodded and followed the Overlord. She didn''t miss the res of hostility from the members of the Nest, the Brood, the Council, and other people that she could swear she knew from somewhere but couldn''t put her finger on who they were.

    Elysia''s crib was ced in a side room as big as a three-room apartment. It would allow multiple people to get in without making them feel crowded and the baby trapped.

    The room was devoid of furniture and the crib was hidden from view by four guards armed to the teeth each standing on one side of the crib. They kept their wings spread so as to block any form of sight, be it mystical or natural.

    "Halt!" Two more guards stood at the entrance, ring at the neers and crossing their weapons to stop their advance. "No one enters before getting scanned."

 Chapter 2746 Elysiaâ€™s Gala (Part 2)

    Chapter 2746 Elysia¡¯s G (Part 2)

    "It''s to avoid shapeshifters, assassins, or kidnappers." Sark went first to show the Royals how it was done.

    The guards didn''t spare her anything and treated her only with a modicum of courtesy until both their instruments and breathing techniques confirmed her identity.

    The King and Queen didn''t like being treated like criminals but if even the Overlord had to undergo such treatment, they had no reason to protest. Their surprise only increased when Milea and Leegaain came as well yet received no free pass.

    "What''s happening?" Sylpha asked.

    "As I said, the Royals muste first yet there''s more than just the two of you." Sark replied. "The Desert ims its blood rights by paternal ascendence. I consider Elysia a part of my Nest until she tells me otherwise."

    "And the Empire ims its blood rights by maternal ascendence." Milea confirmed. "We are involved with this baby as much as you. Her grandfather¡­"

    The Empress waved at the Dragon Guardian who wore a pink ribbon on his left shoulder that identified as a rtive from the mother''s side.

    "Has already offered an apprenticeship that''s only up to Elysia to turn down. We are here to make sure that her rights are respected and that her choice is going to be made freely."

    The King and Queen nodded, holding their hands tight to contain part out of joy and the rest out of despair.

    Elysia was healthy, asleep, and in her human form, showing a head the massive headache that had started upon their arrival at the Mansion and was getting worse by the second.

    The moment the guards stepped away, the Royals wanted to cry. In part out of joy and the rest out of despair.

    Elysia was healthy, asleep, and in her human form, showing a head filled with raven-ck hair streaked with the six colors of the elements all over.

    "Awakened from birth?" Milea herself felt faint at the vision, her head spinning so fast that she needed to cling to the crib to not fall face-first against the floor. "And with seven streaks at that?"

    Just like the Royals, the Empress knew that six streaks would manifest only in an Awakened and that the appearance of the emerald streak was just a matter of time.

    Meron''s life force couldn''t take the blow and he felt like having a stroke and an aneurysm at the same time while Sylpha started hyperventting and needed help from the guards to keep standing.

    "A heart attack at your age." Sark fixed the King with a cantrip. "I must tell Tyris to take better care of you, young man."

    "Here, take a seat." Leegaain handed the Queen and the Empress a chair each and a leather bag in which to breathe.

    "Can we turn around now, Mother?" The guards asked, excited to meet the newest member of their flock.

    "Not yet. Let''s give these weaklings a moment to collect themselves while the parents arrive." Sark''s words were rude but they still reminded everyone that the masters of the house would soon join them.

    Lith and Kam snorted in annoyance while being examined but they thanked the guards once they were done.

    "Your Majesty." Kam left Lith''s arm while he gave them a quick bow and went to the crib. "Thest part of the baby reveal requires my presence. Here we go, baby girl. Show them what you can do."

    Lith picked Elysia from the crib who looked around, yawning, with no clue what was happening. She didn''t like having so many strangers around, but between her parents and grandparents, she felt safe enough.

    Lith then quickly shapeshifted into a Tiamat, a Voidfeather Dragon, and an Abomination with Elysia following his lead with but a moment of dy.

    The Royals would have loved to take note of all the changes the threeponents of Lith''s life force had undergone but they couldn''t take their eyes off the baby.

    "Is she really a hybrid?" Sylpha rubbed her eyes off in disbelief.

    "Yes. Half human, half perfect Tiamat." Kam replied.

    "What does perfect Tiamat even mean?" The Queen asked. "Also, hybrids are supposed to have two life forces and as many forms. Not four!"

    "You see, being a new species Lith''s life forces had trouble harmonizing to each other which in the past caused him several setbacks and problems." Since it was all in the past, Kam thought there was nothing wrong in exining the situation to her guests.

    She just turned to look at Lith and once he nodded for her to continue, she did.

    "What you''ve known and seen until now was an ''iplete'' form, for ack of a better term. Recently, however, Lith has managed to ovee the issue, and due to their father-daughter bond so did Elysia.

    "It coincided with her first breakthrough."

    "A two months old baby had a breakthrough?" The Empress'' eyes almost popped out of their orbits in surprise. "Do you realize how ridiculous this story is? A hybrid''s life force is bound to be unstable and inferior to that of her parent until she chooses one."

    "Feel free to check yourself." Lith shrugged. "It''s not like I gain something from lying nor do I n on forcing Elysia to hide her strength."

    A battery of eyes filled with light element stared at the baby with Life Vision confirming Kam''s horror story down to the smallest detail.

    "How can she be already a deep orange?" Sylpha went into hyperventtion again and talked through the leather bag.

    "Do you mind if I examine her with a breathing technique?" Milea asked, drawing the envy of the Royals whocked such priceless skill.

    "Not at all." Kam shook her head. "As Lith said, Elysia has nothing to be ashamed of. We have no reason to hide anything."

    The sight of the baby''s life force and the presence of stable Cursed Elements amid the ming stars thatprised it made the Empress turn pale. She put the baby back in the crib, nice and easy, and then allowed herself to faint.

    She hit the ground face first, producing a metalling noise due to her g dress being actually the White armor whose defensive systems activated automatically to protect its wearer.

    Elysia giggled like crazy at the sight, drawing the reproachful gaze of her parents.

    "It''s not funny." Lith said while lifting the baby and looking her in the eyes. "Only bad girls enjoy the misery of others. Are you a bad girl?"

    Elysia lowered her gaze, shaking her head while emitting apologetic baby noise.

    The Royals looked at the scene, then at each other, and then joined the Empress on the stone floor.

    "If anyone looks at the scene from the outside, they are going to think that we organized some kind of borate trap to dispose of the leaders of the three Great Countries and take over the Garlen continent." Lith said with a sigh.

    "Almost all leaders." Sark was still standing and unlike her alleged peers, she was no easy prey of her own emotions. "But I admit that I''m a bit tempted by this situation. What if you take the Kingdom and we split the Empire 50/50?"

    "Gods, no!" The idea of ruling over a bunch of morons made Lith''s stomach churn.

    "Not so fast!" Tyris entered the room after being thoroughly examined.

 Chapter 2747 A Powerful Bloodline (Part 1)

    Chapter 2747 A Powerful Bloodline (Part 1)

    "I know that you are joking, but it''s still highly disrespectful of you to talk about the future of my turf like I''m not even here." Tyris said.

    "It was just a silly prank." Sark shrugged. "I would never kill Leggy''s apprentice and we all know that Lith would never waste his time taking care of people he doesn''t like."

    "Leggy?" Tyris echoed, making the Dragon blush.

    "Kids, you have our permission to turn around. We are going to stand guard until you are done." Leegaain promptly said to change the topic.

    Tyris took care of the fainted rulers, Sark moved at the entrance, and the guards could finally look at Elysia and take turns holding her. The amount ofughter, joy, and tears in the room was disturbing to Lith.

    "I thought Phoenixes were creatures of passion, not Dragons." He asked Sark while giving the honor guard space. "Yet they are making a big fuss of it and crying like the baby is their own."

    Dragons and Phoenixes both would hug and congratte Kam the moment they were done examining Elysia, hugging Kam like a long-lost sister. She didn''t understand them much, but receiving such heartfelt gratitude andpliments did wonders for her depression.

    "They are." The Overlord nodded. "They just have a weak spot for newborns, especially those of a new bloodline. It means hope, rebirth, and infinite future possibilities.

    "Also, those who cry are the weak ones. It''s the quiet ones that the rest of Mogar must be afraid of." She pointed at Surtr and Retia who were treating the issue like it was perfectly normal. "Because if something happens, you don''t want to be anywhere near him when he snaps."

    "What about the Phoenixes?"

    "Oh, they are just holding themselves back until we go back to the Desert." Sark shrugged. "They know we are your guests and they would never ruin the G."

    Lith noticed that the honor guard on the Phoenix side had a high turnover rate. Those who held Elysia and congratted Kam would soon leave via Call of the Blood and be reced by another Phoenix.

    At the same time, a much louder, joyous, and ming celebration was taking ce in the Desert but that''s a story for another day.

    "Congrattions, little brother." Surtr the Dragon of Light patted Lith''s back before offering him a scaled hand. "Your baby is amazing. She inherited everything you have and some more. You have no idea how envious I am of you."

    Surtr''s voice was calm and his heartbeat clockwork. If not for his eyes being slightly misted, Lith would have thought that his white-cored cousin was mocking him.

    At least until Lith shook Surtr''s hand and the contact between their scales told him everything the Dragon of Light felt. The deep regret for leaving Lith high and dry after Phloria''s kidnapping, the sadness for their rtionship going sour, and the immense joy Surtr felt for Elysia''s birth.

    There was indeed envy tainting that joy, but not the kind that people like Orpal would have experienced. Surtr didn''t feel belittled by the event nor did he feel the need to one-up Lith to restore his wounded pride.

    It was envy born out of the realization that Lith''s children would take everything their father had to offer and maybe build something even greater from it whereas Surtr''s descendants were all his lesser.

    The power of the white core couldn''t be inherited so none of his and Retia''s bloodline abilities could be inherited. Their offspring were cursed to quickly learn how different they were from their parents and that the white core represented a wall they couldn''t ovee.

    It was an envy that pushed Surtr to strive to be a better parent and find a way to not let his children feel trapped by their bloodline.

    "Thanks." Lith replied, understanding now why no Guardian regretted not having achieved the white core. Their condition strengthened the bond with their descendants whereas a white core nearly severed it.

    "I know we have our differences and that I''ve never done anything to earn your forgiveness but if you ever need a sitter, just give us a call." Surtr said.

    "I am kind of spoilt for choice already, but thank you. I''ll keep it in mind." Lith nodded.

    While the guests lined up in front of Elysia''s room to take a look at the baby, Elina and Raaz sighed deeply.

    "I''m really happy for Elysia but I''m also as worried about Surin." Raaz said. "The two of them are going to grow together like sisters yet their lives couldn''t be more different.

    "One is going to be a Divine Beast envied by the whole Mogar and the other one dismissed as the daughter of farmers."

    "You say it like it''s a bad thing." Elina furrowed her brows.

    "We may not care but Surin will." Raaz tried to exin. "She will live her whole lifeparing herself with Elysia and no matter how much everyone loves her, she will find it hard to love herself.

    "Do you remember how things went thest time something like this happened?"

    "Nonsense." Elina shook her head. "It pains me to admit it, but Meln was rotten from birth. The only moment he was truly happy was when we had just him and Rena. She and Tista, instead, never envied Lith."

    "But Trion did." Raaz pointed out. "Sibling rivalry is a thing and it''s much worse between the same sex. Boys hate being shorter and weaker than their brothers just like girls hate being less pretty and graceful than their sisters. No one wants to be the nice/smart one."

    "Damn if you are right." Elina sighed, thinking back at the family drama of her friends and households. "The only thing that can smother envy is the age gap since you don''t see someone much younger aspetition."

    "Indeed." Raaz nodded. "Elysia and Surin instead have the same age and will face the same choices at the same time. The problem is that Mogar will treat them like heaven and earth.

    "The moment Surin gets old enough to notice, her struggle will begin and we must be ready to help her. I don''t think she''ll grow into another Meln but I would like to spare her from bing like Trion."

    Elina looked at her husband with eyes filled with pride and admiration. Amid all that luxury and joy Raaz could already see the struggles that waited for them in the future and was preparing to face them.

    "I don''t know what I did to deserve-" A patting on her shoulder broke the tenderness of the moment and almost made her re up in annoyance.

    "Yes?" Elina turned around with an amiable voice and a re that could kill a Dragon.

    "Where''s the other baby?" A burly blonde man over 2 meters (6''7") tall with golden wingsing out of his back asked while taking a step back, shocked by her fury. "I heard there are two of them."

    "Do you mean Surin?" Raaz asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "I''m sorry, sir, you must have been misinformed. Magus Verhen only had one daughter. The other baby girl is ours and she''s not Elysia''s twin."

 Chapter 2748 A Powerful Bloodline (Part 2)

    Chapter 2748 A Powerful Bloodline (Part 2)

    "Sir? Misinformed?" The gentleman in the incredibly fancy white tie suit was taken even more aback by those words. "What''s with all these formalities? I''m Gentor, the Golden Dragon, and I''d like to meet my niece, sister."

    "Sister?" Elina looked around, but there was only her.

    "Yes." Gentor nodded while shaking her hand. "You did a wonderful job with Lith and Tista, dear sister. I''m sure that your youngest will be no less amazing. Where is she?"

    Elina felt greatly embarrassed and didn''t know what to do.

    "Give me one moment." Raaz gave the Dragon a polite bow and walked away, returning after less than a minute from the side room where the baby slept.

    "Can I hold her?" Gentor asked and Raaz passed her to him. "She''s a beautiful baby. If you ever need an Awakened mentor, you can count on me."

    He had yet to start cooing at the giggling baby when a woman with feathered wings grabbed his shoulder.

    "Typical of Dragons. Hogging stuff that doesn''t belong to you and keeping others in the dark." She said with perfectly veiled rage to not scare Surin. "Give her to me."

    "Firste first served. Go fish, you oversized bird!"

    "What if want worms? Or Wyrms?" She replied with a snarl that drew the attention of more guests, quickly escting the matter into a bloodline war.

    "What have you done?" Leegaain was bbergasted. "Why do you think we kept Elysia in a separate guarded room? It was to keep this from happening! If you wanted to introduce Surin to society, you should have told us."

    "Do you guys really¡­" Raaz couldn''t find the strength to express his incredulity for such powerful creatures caring about a mere human girl.

    "No, we don''t." Sark''s voice oozed sarcasm while pointing behind her. "Our children are throwing fists because there''s not enough wine."

    Dragons and Phoenixes had split into two sides. One who protected the baby making sure that Surin wouldn''t notice the conflict and another beating the crap out of each other.

    "In case you are wondering, you two are now considered part of the family and your children even more." Leegaain said. "Lith proved and Tista confirmed that your bloodline is powerful and can be Awakened.

    "You may be simple humans but as their progenitors you are considered the source of two new bloodlines. It gives you great powers andes with great responsibilities. I would have never expected you two to be so careless."

    Watching the small war taking ce just to determine the order of who would hold Surin first was scary, but it also filled Raaz and Elina with pride and joy.

    "You know what? Maybe growing together with Elysia is going to be hard for Surin, but not as hard as we feared." Elina said, leaning her head against Raaz''s shoulder while the Guardians put an end to the conflict.

    ***

    At the same time, in Elysia''s room.

    Elysia was really annoyed by all the people who kept barging in, holding her without feeding or cuddling her, and then leaving without a shred of exnation. She wanted to sleep and eat, and she also missed Surin.

    The other baby girl was a bit slow on the uptake but at least was greatpany, enjoying the mysteries of life that the grownups seemed insensitive to just like Elysia.

    She would have liked to cry to express her disappointment but everyone already did and their loud voices and wet tears bbergasted her. They acted like overgrown babies and Elysia couldn''t understand if they were consoling her or if she had to console them.

    On top of that, the scaled ones were just like her dad. They were all so happy just to see her and loved her so much that Elysia couldn''t help but giggle at them and hold their big fingers.

    Thetest batch of visitors was weirder than the rest, which already spoke volumes about their demeanor and aura. Elysia was dead tired already but she was afraid of leaving Solus without someone watching her back.

    "Elysia, these are Aunt Loka and my dear friend Malyshka." Solus said while holding the baby. "Loka, Malyshka, this is Elysia."

    Lochra Silverwing, the First Magus of Garlen, looked like a woman in her mid-twenties but she was actually over one thousand years old. She wore a silver-colored g dress that emphasized her shoulder-length silver hair streaked with the seven colors of the elements.

    Her rainbow-colored eyes were also proof of her innate talent toward all elements but with her 1.68 meters (5''6") of height, she didn''t give any of the imposing, tyrannical presence that legends attributed to her.

    "Let me get this straight." She asked. "This is Lith''s and Kam''s daughter, correct?"

    "Correct." Solus nodded.

    "Not yours?" Silverwing neared her own hair to Solus'' and then to Elysia who sneezed fire when a strand of hair tickled her nose.

    "It''s not mine but I''m taking care of her to the best of my abilities." Solus brought Elysia to her bosom who sniffed at it with enthusiasm until recognizing another dry well.

    "Are you sure?" In her mother form Baba Yaga looked like a woman in her forties, about 1.70 meters (5''7") tall with ming red hair and emerald green eyes.

    She was wearing an emerald g dress that highlighted her hair and matched her eyes.

    "I mean, the colored streaks, the vigorous mana flow, and the explosive talent for magic aren''t something Lith ever had, let alone that lovely Constable."

    "Malyshka, please, exin to me how could I sleep with Lith, get pregnant for nine months, and then give birth without my knowledge." Solus was getting annoyed by the implications.

    Under any other circumstance, she would have been ttered, but those words were the stuff that Kam''s insecurities were made of.

    "Aunt Loka!" Solus blushed up to her ears and covered Elysia''s. 20:06

    "Maybe, just maybe, you and Lith wanted to try something different and had sex with Kam while fused." Lochra said.

    "Aunt Loka!" Solus blushed up to her ears and covered Elysia''s. "First, I would remember that. Second, not in front of the baby!"

    "As long as it was consensual, there''s nothing to be ashamed of." Malyshka patted Solus'' back. "You know you can tell me anything, don''t you?"

    "Yes, I know. Now please let''s talk about something else." Solus kept blushing harder and Elysia started snarling defensively.

    Too bad that due to her size and shape, she looked as threatening as an angry puppy barking and wagging its tail.

    Solus then told them about what had happened inside the Fringe with M''Rael and how easily he had restricted her after bonding with her.

    "It was terrible." Solus shuddered at the memory. "Luckily, itsted barely a few minutes or I think I would have gone insane."

    "Oh, Epphy. That''s why I told you that you would have been safer with me." Silverwing said. "Verhen can''t protect you-"

    "And neither can you." Solus cut her short. "If you really give me the freedom you promised me, M''Rael would have still broken our bond via the stone ring since I''m the one who needs it to rest.

    "At least, Lith is always with me whereas you would just notice that I''m gone and then start looking for me. Again. And we both know how it ended thest time."

 Chapter 2749 Attack and Defence (Part 1)

    Chapter 2749 Attack and Defence (Part 1)

    An awkward silence fell in the room while the First Magus cursed herself for keeping to stuffing her mouth with her own foot.

    "If you don''t want my help and clearly you aren''t ready to move on, why did you invite me here?" Silverwing asked.

    "To introduce you to Elysia, of course." Solus replied while letting the baby take a good sniff and reassure her that Lochra was a friend. "That and to have the opportunity to spend a bit of time together without the risk of you pulling a fast one."

    There were so many Phoenixes and Dragons around that even if the Guardians took a walk, Silverwing wouldn''t have taken three steps before being shot down.

    "It''s nice to see how much you trust me even after I opened the door of my house to you." The First Magus slouched her shoulders. "Since we are already here, do you mind showing me around the tower?

    "I''m making progress with my own, but I feel like it''s missing something. I promise that I won''t try anything funny. I just want to see Ripha''s tower in the hope it gives me inspiration."

    "I''m sure you won''t." Solus said as Ragnar?k appeared in her free hand amid a ze of emerald mes.

    The angry de was covered by a thick scabbard made from the blood and remains of its victims, leaving only the elemental gemstones on the fuller and the hilt exposed.

    Between the white crystals on the hilt and the jagged teeth-like spikes on the guard, the weapon seemed to be growling at the strangers.

    "Follow their every movement and if they take one step inside the restricted areas or try to break in, sound the rm." Solus let the de go and it stopped in mid-air after getting rid of the blood sheath.

    Yet instead of simply breaking it apart like War would have done, Ragnar?k converted the umted mass into a humanoid figure about 1.8 meters (5''11") tall whose body wasprised of blood, flesh, and muscles.

    There were no bones nor internal organs, making the body fluid as it rearranged the various collected parts to find the best possiblebination.

    "It will be done." The de replied, the creature was still mouthless, simply an extension of Ragnar?k''s will meant to exert a fraction of its true power even in the absence of its masters.

    "Is that a blood golem?" Baba Yaga asked with eyes wide in surprise.

    "More like a blood construct but that''s not the point." Solus replied. "The reason I called you, Malyshka, is that I realized how badly I need help in retaining my own individuality in case someone else uses a Removal Unit against us.

    "Can you please call Dawn here?"

    "I can do better. Dusk also wanted to meet you." Baba Yaga replied while opening the psychic connection with her Horsemen. "He doesn''t know about the tower and Dawnie still bears the seal that protects your secrets."

    "What''s wrong, Mother?" The arrival of the Horsemen would have rmed the guards if Solus hadn''t warned them already.

    They still found a toon of angry Divine Beasts ready to turn the intruders into mincemeat at the first mistake they made.

    "This!" Baba Yaga shoved Elysia in their faces. "Once again, you''ve let yourself being beaten to the punch by a twenty years old runt despite having millennia head start on him. Is it too much asking for a grandchild or two?"

    Solus chuckled, seeing Tista in the Horseman and Elina in Malyshka.

    <nulli>''Doesn''t your mother know I''m only fourteen?'' Ke asked via the mind link.<nulli> ''I''m not okay with you using my body to have children not even if you shapeshift it into yours to sleep with a woman. I don''t want to even think about this stuff.''

    <nulli>''Me neither.'' Dusk replied, making her sigh with relief.<nulli> ''First, we need to Awaken your bloodline at the blue yet that''s just to start assessing your potential. We don''t have to worry about children until you reach the violet.''

    <nulli>''We what?'' The entire conversation was silent so on the outside it seemed like Kelia was sick, making grimaces as her face turned from pale to beet reed.

    <nulli>''I was crystal clear after we fused together. I revealed to you all of my ns to turn you into another Verhen.'' The Red Sun said and she had to admit that he had indeed been straightforward.

    Yet back then Ke''s main worry was to get warm food and a roof on her head. The violet seemed something so far away whereas now she was already at the green.

    <nulli>''Don''t worry, though. I have no problem waiting a few years and then using my own body if you don''t want to go through the hurdle.''

    <nulli>''Thanks, but this doesn''t make things one bit easier.'' Ke replied. <nulli>''I know nothing about motherhood, let alone fatherhood!''

    "Congrattions, Solus." Dawn said, snapping them out of their quarrel. "You did a great job with your baby. She''s one of the most beautiful girls I''ve ever seen. I hope that one day Zepho will find the strength to forgive me and we''ll have one too."

    "Thank you, I- No!" Solus was really getting tired of the misunderstanding but half of the ck of Elysia''s hair was covered by the elemental streaks and since Lith had ck hair as well, it was fair to assume that she had inherited it from both her parents.

    After once again exining the situation and suffering from the incredulity of her guests, Solus told once again the story about her brief yet traumatic bond with M''Rael.

    "I''m sorry you had to go through all that, sister." Dusk said. "How can I help you?"

    "Dawn, I want you to keep teaching me how to defend my mind and keep it separate from my host. Dusk, ying defensive isn''t enough. If something like that happens again, I must know how to attack as well.

    "I''ve read about you guys. I''ve seen your ursed sister change her host as often as a dress. I know of the people you''ve enved after shattering their minds and reducing them to empty husks whose sole purpose was to do your bidding.

    "I want to learn how to do the same." Solus clenched her fists, inwardly swearing that she would never again be reduced to an object.

    "I can do that." Dawn said and Dusk nodded. "Attacking it''s actually much easier than keeping a healthy boundary since even I have yet to learn how to do that."

    "And so are we." Dusk and Kelia said in unison. "But before we ept, there''s something you should know. What you are asking us to teach you is the same as using your power core and will to be a living ve item.

    "Your attacks will have permanent effects, altering the personality of your host and bending it to your will until there''s nothing left. The people on which you would use such techniques would be worse than dead.

    "I''m not going to lie to you, my past host, a mighty genius Lich, was so far gone that not even Mother''s magic could salvage what was left of him. Before asking us again to teach you, I want you to understand the burden you are going to carry."

 Chapter 2750 Attack and Defence (Part 2)

    Chapter 2750 Attack and Defence (Part 2)

    "You are not like me and my sister, Solus. You are a good person. If you use those techniques even once, you will never be the same again."

    "I''m okay with that." Solus swept the air with her hand. "I have too much to lose now. I have too many people I care about to dispense mercy to those who have none for me."

    She took Elysia in her arms and the baby tried to reach for her hair which Solus gave to her. Elysia grabbed and sucked a lock of hair, pulling at it with the little strength she had until Solus animated it with Spirit Magic and wrapped her hair around the baby.

    Elysia cried and smiled with joy, looking at Solus with so much love that she started to cry.

    "It doesn''t matter what happens to my enemies. If it means going back to my family and daughter, I''m willing to bury an entire country."

    ***

    At the same time, inside the Mansion''s keep and inside the tower.

    "Epphy has grown a lot and so has the tower." The Mother looked at the white veins in the grey stone of the tower walls in admiration.

    "Yeah, too bad that she doesn''t trust us one bit." Silverwing tried and failed to ess the guest control panel, discovering that both she and Malyshka were marked with the lowest level of clearance.

    "Can you me her for that?" Baba Yaga shrugged. "We know her but she doesn''t know us. Also, it''s not like we''ve done much since Epphy returned to our lives to earn her trust. On the contrary, you have almost destroyed it."

    They toured the tower while taking notes, both trying to remember everything they could of Menadion''s workings and remaining shocked more than once as the present tower outshone the tower they had visited centuries ago.

    They found themselves cut out of both the Thievery, whose door remained sealed shut, and the Grimoire. The Prime Engine wasn''t locked, but all the screens were turned off so that they couldn''t see what the current settings of the tower''s battle form were.

    Ragnar?k followed them from a distance, never losing sight of them and disying full control over the surveince system as if it were the owner himself.

    "That sword is really creepy. Have you ever seen something like that?" Silverwing asked while entering the Prime Engine.

    "Simr, yes, but it was a cursed object whereas that''s just a sword." Baba Yaga looked around the room, noticing the appearance of new crystals on the walls that weren''t present in Ripha''s original blueprints.

    "If it''s ''just a sword'' how can it operate the tower?" Silverwing pointed out. "The imprint of the master is required for that along with Lith''s energy signature."

    "The blood." Baba Yaga replied. "The construct that the de uses as a body carries also Lith''s blood. That coupled with his mana stored inside the Spirit Crystals gives Ragnar?k the ability to mimic its master''s energy enough to control the tower."

    "Again, creepy." Silverwing nodded. "What do you make of this ''Prime Engine''? Do you think I should do something simr for my own mage tower?"

    "I don''t think, I know." Baba Yaga sighed, pointing at the five stone pedestals in the middle of the room. "Without a battle form, a tower is no good against opponents stronger than yourself.

    "Itcks mobility and the ability to redirect power from quality-of-life floors to the offensive and defensive enchantments."

    The Mother looked around the room, sighing deeply in a mix of envy and eptance.

    "This is the reason why to this very day even the Guardians consider Solus'' tower superior to mine. I made too many floors dedicated to my kids and experiments and too few specific to boost my prowess under different circumstances.

    "Compared to me, Ripha was single-minded to the point ofpulsion."

    "Why don''t you change your tower, then?" The First Magus asked.

    "At this point, it''s toote." Baba Yaga replied. "It would require so many alterations to the power core that it would be easier making a new one from scratch."

    "Since we are already here, do you have any idea what happened to the Ears of Menadion? I''ve looked for them far and wide, hoping to gift them to Epphy and show her my goodwill, but to no avail."

    "You should start by calling her Solus. I''m sure she would love that." The Mother said with a snort. "Sadly, I have no idea. All the pieces of the set are lost to time and those who own them either didn''t know their value or hid themselves."

    "What do you think will happen to Ep- Solus'' tower once the five pieces are reunited?" Silverwing hated calling Elphyn like that.

    It was like epting that the goddaughter as she knew her was dead and dealing with an entirely different person.

    Baba Yaga gently caressed the Fury, going from hilt to head. Then she moved to the Hands, the Eyes, the Mouth, andstly to the empty spot before turning around and saying:

    "Only the gods know."

    ***

    At the same time in the Ballroom, the people from the Kingdom were drinking alcohol like it was water to ovee the shock of meeting Verhen''s heir. If not for Orion''s vow to not consume alcohol and Jirni''s pregnancy, they would be both tipsy as well.

    "Six streaks from birth." Friya groaned. "To think that people like me and the Queen had to work hard our whole life while people like Rudd never got a single streak. Life is unfair."

    "Said the noble, magically gifted, gorgeous woman who is also one of the rare dimensional mages." Nalrond teased her, making her blush.

    "Stop making me sound like an idiot!"

    "Don''t worry, babe, you already do an excellent work by yourself." He replied. "Morok, do you mind if I talk alone with Quy for a second?"

    "No problem." The Tyrant was sitting with his head down and his shoulders slouched. "Dammit, unless that jerk of Glemos did an awesome job on me or Quy''s genes work miracles, my friendly rivalry with Lith just ended with my utter defeat."

    "Why? Did you have any doubt?" Jirni scoffed, still seeing no value in the former Ranger aside from the ability to make her daughter settle down.

    Meanwhile, Nalrond dragged Quy to a side room filled with enchantments that would ensure their privacy.

    "I''m a married woman and you have a fianc¨¦e. You know that, right?" She said with mock indignance.

    "Yes, but you are also a great healer and the only other member of our group to have reached the bright violet core. That''s the reason I called you right here and right now. Congrattions, by the way." Nalrond checked to have closed to doors before sitting on a chair and gesturing her to do the same.

    "Thanks, but for a regr Awakened it''s not a big deal. Reaching the deep violet was much harder and more painful. This time I expelled very few impurities." Quy replied.

    "Impurities? I thought that past the bright blue Awakened had no more impurities to expel." Nalrond asked in confusion.

    "You would be right if I hadn''t taken part in the When All Are One array during the War of the Griffons." Quy replied.

 Chapter 2751 Overwhelmed (Part 1)

    Chapter 2751 Overwhelmed (Part 1)

    "It''s meant for bright violet cored Awakened and due to my ''just'' violet core and body, the strain from exerting so much power created quite a few impurities as a side effect." Quy sighed. "So, when I reached the bright violet, I was in for a painful surprise."

    "Is that the reason Friya too suffered so much during her breakthrough?" Nalrond deeply regretted not being there to help her and missing the fight between the Suneater and the Overlord.

    "Yeah. The only silver lining is that I got it much easier since I was already at the violet back then whereas Friya was ''just'' a bright blue." She shrugged. "Now that''s out the way, what did you want to talk to me about?"

    "I think I''ve figured out how to solve my problem but I need your help."

    "Really? How?" Quy brought her chair closer and took out ink and paper from one of the pockets of her dress. "I tried everything I could and even found a few ways that might merge a hybrid''s life forces but nothing that would work against the wall that separates yours."

    "That''s the same problem my people and I had until we went to the Fringe. It took me a while but I think I finally understood what Mogar''s answer meant." Nalrond replied. "To ovee the wall created by Forbidden Magic that istes my life forces, I need to almost die."

    "I beg your pardon?" Quy put down everything, looking at the Rezar as if he had taken one blow to the head too many.

    "Think about it. The wall is unbreakable because it''s fueled by my own life essence. Any alteration we tried failed because it affected my life forces as well and because the moment they interacted, the resulting repulsive force almost killed me before I could make any choice." He said and Quy nodded for him to continue.

    "Yet we know that there is a moment when the mana core loses cohesion and the life force bes much easier to manipte, and that''s when people suffer from a lethal wound.

    "If I''m right, I can use the effect to weaken the barrier so that my two life forces and cores can ovee it while also lessening the repulsive force between them enough for them to merge."

    "In theory, it''s a great idea, but I see many problems with it. If you are right, why has no member of the werepeople managed to do that in the past? I mean, if a lethal wound is all it takes, many people should have already seeded." Quy replied.

    "Also, a lethal wound is lethal by definitions. Seeding just to die immediately after would be pointless."

    "You are correct in every aspect, but you are forgetting about Mogar''s answer." Nalrond shook his head. "In the vision, both my halves had to be wounded in an identical manner at the same time.

    "When my people die, what happens is that the life force and core of the body they were using fade away first and, when the damage reaches the other half, it''s toote to do anything.

    "What I''m proposing to do, instead, is to weaken them both until they reach the point where the barrier is fading and they are left with only two choices. Either to merge and survive or die together.

    "If I''m right, the two cores and life forces willbine and use their energy to seal the leak that would be lethal for every other species. At that point, I need external help to heal my wounds and stabilize my condition."

    "It makes sense." Quy pondered. "But it''s extremely risky and if you are wrong, you might die for good."

    "I don''t think I''m wrong." The Rezar said. "I worked hard to understand the real nature of my hybrid body, something that no member of the werepeople ever tried. I''m now certain that there is no human and beast half. Only me.

    "I only need a crack in the dam to bring it down and merge my life forces."

    "How do you know?" Quy asked, her eyes squinting as she reyed the whole conversation in her head.

    "As I said, I researched the other hybrids, I lived as a Rezar-"

    "If you want my help, cut the crap." She cut him short. "You are a great healer, but not that great. How did you get the idea and howe you are so certain of this n of yours?"

    "Because I already seeded on my own." Nalrond clenched his hands to find the strength to look her in the eyes.

    "Did you almost kill yourself?" Quy''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "Don''t look at me like that. I''m desperate, not insane! I simply started injuring my two bodies as shown in the vision, increasing the punishment only after making sure that I could take it." He said in outrage.

    "The problem is that by the time my life forces and cores start to be malleable, I''ve lost so much blood that my vision blurs. I wouldn''t ask for your help if I wasn''t afraid of losing consciousness before the end of the procedure and dying after seeding."

    "Okay, so you are crazy but not batshit crazy. It''s not much but it''s a start." Quy nodded, "Does Friya know?"

    "Of course not. She would have tried to stop me-"

    "And she would be right." Quy cut him short. "No sane healer would ever attempt a near-death procedure. If you want my help, talk to her first. Put your business in order because if things go south, it will be toote then.

    "I''m not going to tell Friya that I''m the reason you are dead. If you are willing to walk out of her life due to your obsession, she has the right to do the same."

    ***

    Lith and Kam were looking at the mess the guests returning from Elysia''s room were. They also shared the joy that Raaz and Elina felt for all the attention that Surin was receiving from their extended side of the family.

    "I know that I''m going to sound like a jerk, but seeing the Empress and the Royals faint was hrious." Kam couldn''t hold a heartyughter at the memory.

    "If it means seeing you smile, I don''t care about spending my life with a jerk." Lith wrapped his arm around her lean shoulders, d to see her eyes clear from the depression that usually dulled them.

    "Thanks." Kam gave him one of her dazzling smiles, one like he hadn''t seen since Elysia''s birth. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

    "First of all, I''m sorry." He gave her a small bow. "I know that I''m going to ask a lot of you, especially since you are not feeling well already. Yet as you know, bing a father also meant getting rid of a lot of my past burdens.

    "So I was thinking of bringing Valeron the Second to our home and at least trying to uphold Jormun''sst wish."

    "Really?" Kam didn''t bother hiding her surprise.

    She knew how every time Lith saw the young Bahamut he was reminded of Thrud and her ploy that had led to Phloria''s death.

 Chapter 2752 Overwhelmed (Part 2)

    Chapter 2752 Overwhelmed (Part 2)

    "Really." Lith nodded. "Valeron is innocent. He''s a piece of Thrud, sure, but he''s also as untainted from his mother''s crimes as Elysia is from my mistakes. Neither Phloria nor Jormun would want me to take it on a child.

    "Besides, how can I ask people to not me our daughter for what I did if I''m the first one to hold Valeron ountable for his mother''s madness?"

    "What would you do if I said no?" Kam tilted her head to the side in curiosity but the smile never disappeared from her face.

    "I wouldn''t burden you with my decision." Lith shrugged. "Taking care of one baby is already hard and your mental healthes first. I would simply take Valeron with me whenever I go to the tower with Elysia.

    "I would ask Solus and the Guardians to assist me in case I get overwhelmed. I''m thinking of stopping working for a while and bonding with Valeron the Second. He''s already past one year old and if I wait for too long, I''ll end up like Trion and regret my stubbornness."

    "ording to what Grandma told me, he''s almost as smart as Elysia and so is Shargein. I would spend time with the kids and help them to socialize. I would tell them the same stories and y the same games.

    "I''d work only when they sleep and bring Elysia to you when she needs to be fed. To be honest, I think it will do us some good as well. I''m afraid that Elysia might need ydates at her level or she''ll grow thinking to be surrounded by goldfish."

    "Sounds like a wonderful n." Kam nodded. "Do you promise to not get angry if I tell you a secret,?"

    "Punishing honesty is the same as asking to be lied to. Shoot."

    "I knew how you felt about Valeron but I also knew that you''de around sooner orter. I''ve spent quite some time with him during my pregnancy without telling you anything because I didn''t want you to feel forced to do the same." Kam said.

    "I have no objection to bringing him to our home. Valeron is smart and he''s also a very sweet child. I''m certain that you two will get along. Just keep help at the ready because I could be overwhelmed as well."

    Lith held her tighter and gave her a sweet kiss even though etiquette forbid public disys of affection. Luckily, those stuck up enough to care were all drunk and his wings wrapping around her on their own hid them from sight.

    "Speaking of overwhelmed, since the day of our daughter''s birth we haven''t had a moment for ourselves. What do you say if tomorrow we leave Elysia with my parents, grandparents, or any of the many rtives who have badgered us to babysit her and we go out for a date?

    "I promise you that if you give me the chance, I''ll make you smile over, over, and over like during our honeymoon." Lith stared at her with the intensity of a thousand perverted faces, making Kam blush.

    "Why don''t you let me be the judge of that?" He dragged her close to his chest, shattering any shred of hesitation she had left.

    "I don''t know." She cleared her voice, hearing how squeaky it had be. "We haven''t been alone in a while and I''m self-conscious about my body. I need a bit of time to get back in shape."

    "Why don''t you let me be the judge of that?" He dragged her close to his chest, shattering any shred of hesitation she had left.

    ***

    The following day, leaving Elysia and then the house was the hardest part for both of them. Once outside, hours passed before they kept looking at their respective bracelet, expecting to hear the baby crying at any moment.

    Breakfast was a bit awkward, but by lunchtime, things went much better. They dined in the north of the Kingdom, in their old apartment in Belius to rekindle many memories about the time they had first met.

    After that, Lith brought Kam to Sark''s beach house. Kam loved the sun and swimming, but due to her job first and the pregnancyter she had been forced to avoid both.

    She felt so insecure that she wore a one-piece swimsuit, but Lith said nothing butpliments. They called Elina a few times, keeping the call brief to make sure that everything was alright and avoid the temptation to run back home.

    For dinner, Lith brought her to the Flying Griffon, the high-end resort where he usually took Kam for her birthday. It was located near the top of Lochra Mountain and was surrounded by natural beauty.

    Unlike normal hotels, the suite was on the ground floor, allowing the VIPs to watch the local fauna through the reinforced magical ss of the terrace and to take a stroll along the nearbyke simply by walking through a door.

    The Flying Griffon also had a private Gate that allowed the hotel to have ess to anything their clients might want and to Lith and Kam to get back home in one step if necessary.

    For first-time parents who couldn''t take themunication amulet off the table even for one second, it was very reassuring.

    "I don''t get why you wanted to order room service." Lith asked while pouring himself a ss of Red Dragon. "I had reserved a nice table in the restaurant hall since we already ate indoors for lunch.

    "I thought you wanted to do something different for a while." The ce was cozy, but the sight of the king-sized bedroom made him nervous.

    They hadn''t been intimate for a while and with Kam''s depression, he was afraid of not being up to his usual standards. The Red Dragon helped to keep the edge off, but Lith could still feel his paranoia slowly delving into performance anxiety.

    "I know and I''m sorry for ruining your thoughtful ns but I don''t want people to see me in a tight dress." She replied through the bathroom door.

    "Nonsense." Lith said with a scoff. "I mean, I''m more than happy to have you all for myself but I assure you that even if you wore a bunch of rags you would still be stun-"

    Kam walked out of the bathroom, causing Lith to freeze like a deer in headlights and his grip to tighten to the point of shattering the ss.

    "I know it came a bit shorter than I wanted, but be honest with me. How do I look?" Kam''s flushed cheeks made her smile even more lovely than usual but Lith had a hard time focusing on her face.

    She was wearing what on Earth was called a Virgin Killer sweater dress. It was made of thin and soft red wool, and had a halter neck with a hollow-out chest that left visible miles of cleavage.

    It also left her back exposed down to the hips, showing more cleavage on the sides. The curve-hugging fit of the dress emphasized every one of Kam''s soft curves and the fact that it ended way above the knee made it almost hypnotic.

    Lith stared at her in silence for a while, crushing the ss shards into a fine powder that the pressure of his hand kept melting and fusing back together.

 Chapter 2753 Rarest Treasure (Part 1)

    Chapter 2753 Rarest Treasure (Part 1)

    "Isn''t that what you were knitting a while ago?" Lith asked with the hoarse voice of a man who had swallowed sandpaper.

    "Yes." Kam nodded. "I remembered how it was one of your teen dreams having your girlfriend wear one of these things so I had to learn knitting from scratch. I couldn''t risk telling Solus. You two might have fused again and spoiled my surprise."

    She had to constantly pull the hem of the skirt down since it rose dangerously high every time she moved.

    "Also, making a sweater like this proved to be harder than I thought. It took me several tries to- What are you doing?"

    Lith raised his hand to ask for silence while he made a quick call.

    "Mom? Is everything alright with Elysia?"

    "For the gods'' sake, yes!" There was audio only and Elina sounded really annoyed. "Stop calling every other hour and enjoy your date."

    "Thanks. Would be a problem if we prolonged our absence until tomorrowte in the morning? Maybe for a couple of days. A week tops."

    "A week?" Elina''s voice went from angry to utterly confused. "Of course not, but-"

    "Thanks, Mom. Love you." Lith ended the call, giving his full attention to Kam. "You heard her. We have one week. We must make it count."

    He was so serious and spoke with such a solemn voice that Kam half blushed and half giggled.

    "I take it as you like the dress and you''re happy we didn''t have dinner at the restaurant."

    "I love the dress and the rest of the guests are happy we didn''t have dinner at the restaurant because otherwise, I''d have to make a massacre to not leave witnesses." Lith put the dinner in the pocket dimension to keep the food warm and the drinks cold while he took care of much more pressing matters.

    Kam was still giggling like a little girl when he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a deep kiss, fighting the urge to rip the fruits of herbor to shreds.

    Even though Lith had known her for almost four years now, Kam still managed to surprise him.

    After three lives spent on two differents, around people who would say anything to get what they wanted just to disappear the moment things got rough, there was nothing more amazing than honest feelings.

    Ever since they had met, Kam had never professed her love through cheap words or empty promises, always through action. Every time she had been confronted with one of Lith''s disturbing secrets and presented with the chance to walk away, she had chosen to stay.

    After discovering Solus'' existence and the ambiguous rtionship with her that Lith would never sever, Kam had left out of shock when his career was at its peak. Yet she had chosen to return to him and propose to him at the lowest point of his life.

    Not even learning about his first life on Earth and his past as Derek McCoy had been enough to push her back on her wedding vows.

    The things that she had learned during the day he hade clean with her about being an alien, a day that was supposed to be one of the worst of her life, Kam had treasured them.

    The Virgin Killer dress had been but a fleeting thought as he recounted to her the despair of his years on Earth, yet she remembered about it.

    Despite her job taking most of her time, despite Solus'' magic lessons to be ready to take care of Elysia, despite the things that kept happening in his life, Kam had managed to learn how to knit just to make one of his old dreamse true.

    That was their first true date in months and she was still severely depressed after losing her powers, yet Kam had brought the dress with her and spent the whole day preparing for that moment.

    <nulli>''That''s why she wore the one-piece swimsuit. She wanted to see my reaction.'' Lith thought, still incapable of believing how lucky he was.

    In a world of shadows and lies, a person like Kam was the rarest and the most precious treasure that he could ever hope to find.

    ***

    Of course, they didn''t extend the date for a whole week. Lith''s homing instinct and Kam''s maternal instinct would have never allowed it. They just had fun during the night, slept in, had more fun during the day, and then went back home after lunch.

    Lith managed to keep his promise, making her happy multiple times to the point that Kam woke up with her face hurting due to the grinning in her sleep. Yet it came at a cost.

    Lith presented her with a list of revealing and sexy dresses that he still remembered from Earth and asked her to make them. Kam wasn''t enthusiastic about the idea of spending her free time like that, but he was so happy that she couldn''t say no to him.

    After their return, Lith fulfilled Jormun''s final wish and started to bring both Valeron the Second and Shargein with him to the tower. Elysia was still very little and could have only limited interaction with the older babies.

    Sadly, all the good intentions in Mogar couldn''t stop Lith from feeling a knot in his stomach in the presence of Thrud''s son. Shargein''s presence helped because the whelp was already bigger than Aran and way smarter than any human his age could be.

    He mediated between the two human babies, using a mix of baby noise, Dragontongue, and a few words here and there. Whenever the trio was asleep after a hearty meal, Lith would work on Void Magic with Solus while Tista would give Kam magic lessons and follow her physical training.

    Everything went fine and their life was peaceful until it wasn''t.

    The reveal of Elysia''s streaks and bloodline had only ended up hastening the ns of the Undead Courts. If one Tiamat was a threat, two were a cataclysm. On top of that, the baby couldn''t be attacked but there was still a silver lining.

    "Cut the head of the Dragon and the body will wither." Rakshu the Ghoul said. "Verhen spent years discovering his abilities and he only seeded through effort and luck. Things like the ck Star and Kolga don''t exist anymore.

    "If we kill him, not only there will be no more Tiamats for a long while, but also his daughter will be forced to reinvent the wheel on her own from scratch once she grows up.

    "Without a mentor, she won''t be a threat to us even after the protection of the Guardians has expired and at that point, taking her out will be a simple matter. Remember, there will be no opportunity like tonight.

    "The more time passes, the more Verhen will master his violet core and new bloodline abilities. He''ll never be as weak as he is today and every trick that we have nned for the assault will work only once.

    "So remember your role, tread with caution, and don''t fuck up!"

    Rakshu put hismunication amulet in the middle of the circle formed by the dozens of elder undead that had volunteered for the mission.

 Chapter 2754 Rarest Treasure (Part 2)

    Chapter 2754 Rarest Treasure (Part 2)

    Each one of them was a non-Awakened undead with an almost full red blood core and centuries of experience.

    The Courts couldn''t risk someone having cold feet at thest minute and defecting so no one had been forced in any way to take part in the mission and the members of the assassin squad were free to walk away until the mission started.

    Each one of the undead had umted so much life force that their mass was on par with an Emperor Beast and even though they could only use true magic for the elements their undead species was naturally attuned with, they had survived the encounter with bright violet cored mages.

    The fake mages were all dead and buried whereas killing an Awakened was harder, but the convened undead had all put down more than one cocky Council member each during their undeath.

    Despite all of that and their prized enchanted equipment, the undead were nervous. Very few of them had faced a Divine Beast in the past and surely not an Awakened and bright violet-cored one.

    Those who did, had a bad memory of the encounter and counted themselves lucky for surviving to tell the tale. Their experience was priceless in knowing how to deal with beasts that big and how to counter their bloodline abilities.

    The squad had been assembled so that they would be able to take down a Dragon or a Phoenix in his own nest. It was unclear what a Tiamat was so the leaders of the Courts had preferred to not take risks.

    Rakshu''smunication amulet projected a hologram of the Verhen Mansion depicting the blueprints of all the internal rooms and corridors. The blue-colored holograms were the paths they were certain about because they had been verified by their unwitting aplices during Elysia''s birthday G.

    The grey holograms were those the undead had acquired from the Royal archives after bribing several clerks, but those paths were marked as uncertain and dangerous. The Royals liked to nt false information to lure their enemies into traps and smoke out corrupted officers with one move.

    "The problems start right outside the park." The Ghoul exined. "We have to dodge the magical beasts, the Emperor Beasts, and the Golems. Demons depend on Verhen''s strength.

    "During the night he''s supposed to be asleep and the Demons to be slumbering inside his feathers but we''ll act as if we expect them to patrol the mansion as well." Rakshu stopped for a moment until everyone nodded.

    "The Golems are just two and they need to recharge at regr intervals. We have timed how long theyst and we''ll move out as soon as one of them leaves for a charging pod. It should be any minute now."

    He checked an enchanted clock where several countdowns progressed at the same time.

    The one about the Golems was nearing the zero and in fact, Trouble turned around in mid-air andnded on the roof to recharge its power core while keeping a vantage point for observation.

    High ground was pointless against someone who moved from below so it actually yed out as the undead wanted.

    Rakshu used his powers as a Ghoul to make the ground soft despite the earth-sealing arrays surrounding the Mansion, allowing the assassin unit to reach the first line of defensive arrays unnoticed.

    At that point, it was the turn of Ghiaro the Lamia and Argo the Korvak, the two best Wardens among them. Lith had learned a trick or two as a Ranger, making the array field of his house simr to the Golden Griffon''s.

    It would change at fixed intervals, swapping the order and kind of ovepping magical formations, requiring a specific and different deactivation sequence after every reset.

    How Lith did it was a mystery even for the Royals since permanent arrays were supposed to be, as the name implies, permanent. Changing one of them meant that the Warden had to alter the spell matrix of the formation and rebnce everything as a whole.

    It was something long, hard, and expensive to do even one time, yet the arrays of the Verhen Mansion changed about once every 24 hours. The undead had waited for the reset before moving, to avoid ending up trapped inside an unknown sequence of arrays and being exterminated.

    Ghiaro and Argo spent a few minutes studying the magical formations with their array sensing spells and thoroughly discussed their strategy before implementing it. Below the arrays air magic still worked and it carried their words.

    Undead didn''t need to breathe which allowed the rest of the group to wait instead of suffocating to their deaths. The two Wardens needed all of theirbined skill to breach the magical protections without triggering any rm, but they seeded.

    At that point, instead ofing out and moving through the Mansion, Rakshu followed his n and kept digging a way leading to the internal garden. It would allow them to move past a huge part of the building while never leaving the cover of the solid ground.

    "This way, we can make sure that none of Verhen''s contingency ns for the contingency ns has triggered and we can still abort the mission with no losses." The Ghoul said and everyone agreed.

    Beforeing out of the ground, Ghiaro and Argo checked with their spells again, discovering that the sabotaged arrays were still sabotaged and that there was no new array or unknown living presence inside the area of effect of their life-sensing arrays.

    The undead came out of the ground two at a time, establishing a perimeter and checking for traps and guards before letting the others leave the safety of their burrows.

    Rakshu came outst, ready to run away in case things went south so that at least one of them would survive and use the data for a new attack.

    <nulli>''Demons. Demons everywhere.'' Zamo the Nightwalker pointed in several directions where his natural affinity for the darkness element revealed the presence of dense masses of energy slightly tainted by Chaos.

    Undead had no mind links and the air sealing arrays were still in ce but they had developed a signnguage for situations like that. Ghiaro signaled Rakshu who brought out his amulet again and the Lamia put red dots where the life-sensing array perceived the beasts.

    Zamo did the same, putting ck dots on the map where his mystical senses spotted the Demons. The moment they were done, Upha the Vampire traced several colored lines indicating the routes at their disposal that allowed them to avoid the sentinels while also keeping open at least one retreat path.

    The undead pointed in unison at the quickest yet riskiest option, knowing that prudence would ensure their survival, but only boldness could lead to victory while in hostile territory.

    The longer they remained under Lith''s roof, the higher the chances that something would go wrong and at that point, the mission would snowball fast, going from killing to damage control in a jiffy.

    <nulli>''Remember, you can kill whoever you want, just don''t touch the baby girl.'' Ruksha said via signs. <nulli>''If we meet any of the Verhens, keep them alive but don''t waste time trying to use them as hostages.''

 Chapter 2755 Tiamat Fear (Part 1)

    Chapter 2755 Tiamat Fear (Part 1)

    <nulli>''We can''t risk a Demon rising from the shadow of a hostage and rescuing them. The moment we meet Verhen, y bad guy and then kill the prisoner in front of him. The angrier he gets, the less prone he will be to call and wait for reinforcements.

    <nulli>''We need him dumb and frenzied so that we can kill him quickly and get out of here. I don''t want to go out in a ze of glory. I don''t give a fuck about being celebrated. I want to get out of here as undead as I got in, understand?'' The Ghoul said via hand signs.

    The warning was mostly perfunctory since creatures as ancient as those assassins had long since lost any warrior honor or na?ve concept of fair fight. As long as they won, they could make themselves appear as heroic and noble as they wanted.

    Their dead opponents couldn''t tell their side of the story and the truth would be whatever the winner wanted.

    The assassin unit used darkness magic to cover for their smell and their unnaturally lithe bodies to make less noise than a falling petal. They almost got discovered by the patrols more than once, forcing them to backtrack and choose a different path.

    Yet each encounter made the undead feel more confident instead of discouraged. Their intel wasn''t fully urate but it was solid. Thanks to their skill and careful nning, they had managed to dodge every bullet that Verhen had thrown at them.

    Arrays, traps, guards, they were one wrapped around the other like an annoying gift box made of so many boxes that the final present turned out to be a coin. Yet with each protectiveyer they disabled, the members of the unit came closer to the master bedroom.

    <nulli>''Fill up, boys!'' Rakshu took a chunk of still-bleeding human flesh from one of his pockets and wolfed it down while his colleagues each fed upon their preferred source of life force and mana.

    Reaching their destination had taken longer than expected and they had all consumed quite a bit of energy, needing a refill to get back to their peak condition before facing their mark.

    Ghiaro, Argo, and Zamo did ast sweep of the area before Upha got to work on the door''s lock. A Clean te spell undid the imprint on the handle, a Closed Field spell trapped the linked rm signal in a loop, and the lockpicks opened the door without making a sound.

    The undead counted down to three to make sure that nothing happened before barging through the door with weapons unsheathed and spells zing.

    "What the fuck?" Upha said out loud since there was no point in secrecy anymore.

    The path that the undead had taken didn''t lead to the master bedroom but to the Mansion''s Keep. The circr room was over 50 meters (166'') high and 30 meters (100'') across.

    Right in the middle stood a tall towerprised of white-streaked grey stones around which a Voidfeather Dragon was coiled. It would have resembled the Verhen insignia if the Dragon had been wrapped vertically instead of horizontally and if he spat mes instead of releasing smoke from his nostrils.

    Seven eyes stared in hatred at the intruders as the Voidfeather Dragon slowly raised his long serpentine neck. His figure was 30 meters (100'') long from head to toe with an 8 meters (26'') long tailing out of his back.

    Slightly curved horns came out of his temples, forehead, and crown of his head. Thetter were the smallest but they also formed what looked like a crown of bone spikes each burning with a different color.

    The ming crown would go from rainbow to emerald, from emerald to silver, from silver to blue, and then start over again. Each one of the red scales the size of a tower shield covering his body was set aze with Cursed mes and carried a unique rune that none of the undead had ever seen before.

    The ck feathers were now streaked each with a different elemental color that formed a runic pattern depending on its inhabitant.

    Worst of all between the wed hands of the Dragon rested a much smaller creature that bore a striking resemnce with her parent.

    "Are you here for me, my daughter, or my wife?" The Voidfeather Dragon asked, his voice sounding like stones rumbling against each other during an avnche.

    His bodyy still on the ground, the only movement that of his hands closing around the small whelp to shield her from the noise.

    Rakshu gave the signal for n D, spread out and attack with Frozen Wastnd, an anti-Dragon spell based on air and water magic, from every direction. The fact that Lith had multiple forms was public knowledge and before infiltrating the Mansion the undead had devised different ways to counter each one of them.

    The Ghoul shifted his weight to the right to jump to his position in the attack formation while the otherspressed their muscles like springs to do the same, even infusing themselves with a fraction of the power stored inside their blood cores to boost their physical prowess.

    Great was their surprise when they realized that they were all stuck in the same ce as when they had entered and that no power flowed through their bodies. The group of assassins stood there, still like statues each looking at the other with a confused expression on their faces.

    "Don''t stay there like idiots. Move!" Upha the Vampire started to shapeshift his body into mist but an emerald glimpse from the Dragon''s Spirit Eye put him back together.

    "Ready and hold!" Ruksha was using the code to activate the spells they had at the ready and those stored inside their spell-holding rings.

    He too had tried and failed to use his bloodline abilities but he could feel that the mana he had prepared for the assault still answered hismand.

    The Ghoul extended his hand and unleashed his tier five spell, Frozen Night. It wasprised of a mix of water magic that would freeze the Dragon while the darkness magic it carried would sap his strength and hopefully break his focus.

    <nulli>''Nothing we have prepared is worth squat if we can''t use it. Yet if we break this curse, it''s our victory.'' Ruksha thought and he was right.

    The problem was that once again his body betrayed him and the same happened to his aplices.

    The hands, mouths, eyes, and whatever part of their body they had chosen to emit their respective spells turned against their nearest ally and unleashed their magic on each other.

    Some burned, others froze, and a few got mild damage from electrocution but all of them suffered from darkness magic, the greatest weapon and bane of all undead species.

    The Dragon kept looking at them, his only worry to shield the baby Dragon from the cries of agony of his prisoners.

    "I''ll ask you only one more time. Have youe here to take my life, my daughter''s, or my wife''s?"

    "Fuck you, that''s who!" Argo unleashed the gravity array, Moon Fall at great cost for his blood core, consuming a huge chunk of the light element it stored.

 Chapter 2756 Tiamat Fear (Part 2)

    Chapter 2756 Tiamat Fear (Part 2)

    Yet it took the Dragon a wave of his scaled hand to alter the coordinates of the magical formation and have it press on the undead instead, forcing them to fight against the ever-shifting gravitational pull just to keep their flesh together.

    "If fear isn''t enough to make you talk, pain will do." The Dragon opened his mouth, hurling a gentle stream of Origin mes that engulfed Ruksha.

    Much to everyone''s surprise, it didn''t affect the stone floor, the Moon Fall array, Ruksha''s armor, or even his clothes. The Ghoul was seemingly unscathed yet he screamed at the top of his lungs in agony like no undead had ever done before.

    They were supposed to be immune to pain, their bodies just vessels for the necromantic energy that animated them. Very few things could hurt them and for those, darkness fusion was supposed to be plenty enough.

    Yet Ruksha wailed and rolled on the floor, pping all over his body as if he was trying to kill a swarm of insects or to smother an invisible me.

    The showsted for barely a minute but it seemed hours to the undead. With each passing second, they could feel the Ghoul growing weaker, the life essence and the darkness that he had painstakingly umted over the centuries slowly burning away.

    Even without Life Vision, they only needed a whiff of his smell to perceive that his almost full red blood core had gained several ck streaks. He had be weaker, as if the past century had never happened.

    Ruksha was crying like a baby, shedding blood tears from his eyes and hugging himself in a fetal position.

    "Not ready to talk yet?"

    "No, w-" A second burst of Origin mes struck and this time the Ghoul''s strength plummeted.

    The amount of fire was the same as before, there was just less energy to burn. Once the fire went out again, Ruksha was reduced to the blood core equivalent of green and his flesh steamed from the heat still burning within.

    "Origin mes can burn everything." The Voidfeather Dragon exined while his mouth deformed into a cruel smile. "Even your so precious cores. It just takes a bit of skill and patience to learn how to do it.

    "If you keep remaining silent, I''ll burn away everything you are. All the magic and strength you have umted in centuries of life will be gone. You''ll get out of here, alive but as weak as newborns."

    "Are you really going to spare our lives?" The Lamia asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

    "Why shouldn''t I? I''m sure you have made plenty of enemies on your own. Why give you a merciful death when I can throw you out and let you spend what''s left of your undeath on the run?

    "Fearing that every day might be thest because you won''t have the strength to defend yourselves even from the street thugs that will try to take away your equipment.

    "Death is much easier than living as prey after having always been a predator." Lith chuckled, letting their fear turn into terror and then into horror.

    Little did they know that his skills were boosted by the tower that stood right behind him. That he stillcked the pinpoint precision to burn solely a core unless the target wasn''t courteous enough to stand perfectly still.

    The undead of the assassin unit tried and failed every spell, bloodline ability, and piece of equipment they wore. Their spells hurt their own caster and left the Dragon unaffected, their bloodline abilities didn''t trigger, and their artifacts were reduced to nothing more than scrap metal.

    The undead checked their imprint over and over, yet even though the weapons still carried their energy signature, the enchantments didn''t answer their owner''s will.

    Every member of the assassin unit had all fought thousands of battles with their favorite equipment, upgrading it over time but always keeping their respective preferred sets of enchantments to execute the strategies that they had perfected over the centuries.

    Never before had any of them been betrayed by their own flesh, blood, and metal.

    A third breath of bright violet Origin mes struck Ruksha, burning what was left of his blood core. The other undead could see him writhing on the floor, his aura dimming like a candle burning out.

    After a few seconds that seemed tost forever, a skeletal husk was left in ce of the once-powerful Ghoul. The wretched creature had now grey skin and limbs so thin that they couldn''t sustain his body anymore.

    His mind was lost along with his power, crushed by the hunger as his almost full-ck blood core demanded nourishment. Yet Ruksha''s husk was still paralyzed like everyone else and could only wail and trash in frenzied fury.

    After a while, the bnce between the darkness energy and the life force was broken, thetter fell prey to the hunger and the Ghoul''s essence cannibalized itself. His body became filled with ck veins that spread throughout his body, and all the while Ruksha never stopped screaming.

    His agonizing wailsted for the whole process, its pitch raising as the ck veins grew in size until they painted the Ghoul''s skin ck. Only then did the screaming end and only because his tongue was the first thing to turn into ashes.

    The rest of the assassins stared in horror as theirpanion died of starvation, one of the most horrible things that could happen to an undead. Something that was supposed to take weeks and yet it had happened in front of their eyes in the span of a few minutes.

    "Okay, you are next." The Dragon turned toward Upha the Vampire, his mouth already filled with roaring mes.

    "Wait!" Upha tried onest time to go Chiropteran, mist, and even to just run away, but everything failed. "Just tell me what you want to know."

    ***

    After a thorough interrogation of the members of the assassin squad and learning everything they knew about the current state of the Undead Courts, Lith killed them all to leave no witnesses of his newfound abilities.

    "I thought you said you''d set them free to send a message." Tista came out of the shadows behind the Voidfeather Dragon while still in her Hekate form, her seven eyes all alight like those of her brother.

    "I was lying." Lith said with a scoff, incredulous that someone could still be so na?ve after knowing him for so long. "They would have spread rumors about the tower behind me, of my ability to paralyze my opponents, and in the end, even figured out how I caught them by surprise."

    As Lith shrunk back to human size with Elysia still sleeping between his arms, the presence of Trion, Valia, Varegrave, and Locrias was also revealed.

    "That was incredible, My Liege." Locrias still couldn''t believe what they had just done. "Is this really the full extent of the Tiamat Fear?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "Those morons didn''t suspect that I created the inner garden on purpose, to leave the same opening they exploited while attacking Rena''s house. They failed to notice the thin construct I left over the soil and they broke it triggering my rm."

 Chapter 2757 Careful Planning (Part 1)

    Chapter 2757 Careful nning (Part 1)

    "At that point, all I had to do was to fill the Verhen Mansion with Tiamat Fear with the help of my Demons and make the intruders waste enough time so that their cores, bodies, and even their weapons were infected by world energy carrying our will."

    While Dragon Fear affected solely the magical aura surrounding a Wyrm, infusing it with their killing intent and making it almost tangible, Tiamat Fear would also spread to the surrounding world energy thanks to the power of Lith''s eyes.

    A power that now Tista shared and so did his loyal Demons. They had all received through him a boost to their abilities from the tower and used it to spread the Tiamat Fear while pretending to patrol the corridors.

    At that point, with each second the undead had spent inside the Mansion, with each spell they had cast, the infected world energy had reced that stored inside their bodies, building up slowly until it had be dominant.

    The assassins had been cautious professionals who didn''t take unnecessary risks and always created the best scenario for their hits. Lith had counted on that, turning their careful preparations against them.

    By the time they had reached the tower, even their weapons were filled with his willpower. To make matters worse for the undead, the Mansion''s Keep was the room from which Lith had spread the Tiamat Fear and also where its concentration was the highest.

    It had been the Tiamat Fear taking control of their spells, bodies, and equipment, turning them all into puppets that danced to his tune. The presence of the tower was also necessary to boost Lith''s abilities otherwise capturing so many powerful undead alive would have been impossible.

    It was also the reason he had asked Tista for help after conjuring the Demons. The Hekate was the only one with also a Spirit Eye and had helped him to shut down bloodline abilities from behind the scenes, reinforcing Lith''s apparent omnipotence.

    As for the Demons, they were an extension of Lith''s power and carried his same energy signature. Together, they had emitted five times the amount of Tiamat Fear Lith alone could and then had helped him and Tista to keep the prisoners under control.

    "If Tiamat Fear is this strong, why did you make us hide?" Tista asked. "Maybe if they felt outnumbered and outmatched, they would have talked faster."

    "It''s strong indeed, but nothing strikes fear more than the unknown." Lith replied. "Had the assassins seen you or had I exined to them what was happening, they might have actually felt hope.

    "After all, if I need so many people to restrict them, it means that another squad might have seeded where they have failed. They wouldn''t have talked so much as tried to buy time while trying to escape.

    "This way, instead, they felt crushed. They were many against one and yet they lost. They died believing me much more powerful than I actually am. They folded only because they thought that any future mission would fail as well. Solus?"

    "Everything went fine." She said while collecting the undead''s equipment and essing their dimensional amulets in search of clues. "The spacepressing array didn''t feel any pressure so no one of them was Awakened or a Blood Witch.

    "I kept studying their spells and abilities with the Eyes on their way here and I noticed this." A wave of her hand created a hologram depicting the now-dead assassin unit using a map to navigate through the Mansion.

    "Even weakened, the Undead Courts have ess to the fake blueprints of our house. We need to warn Farg."

    "In a minute." Lith brought Elysia back to the master bedroom where Kam was sound asleep.

    He kissed her forehead, Hushing her ears before putting the also sleeping baby in her crib.

    "I''m sorry, little one." Lith held her tenderly to his chest. "Daddy would have loved to keep you out of this, but I needed your help to amplify my powers. I needed to make sure whether the bad guys were after Mommy or not.

    "It was the only way I could protect her properly."

    Elysia reacted to his voice with a yawn, opened her eyes for a second, and as soon as she recognized her father she went back to sleep since she wasn''t hungry.

    Before leaving, Lith connected to the tower, checking the status of all arrays and spells. Only once he was sure that there was no intruder left in the house and had sealed the rooms of all the members of his family did he return to the keep.

    From there, he sent the Demons away and Warped to the Main Hall. He nned to keep the tower in position and not reveal its existence to anyone, not even those tasked with protecting his family.

    Then, he pressed two runes on hismunication amulet, belonging respectively to Am Farg and Brinja Distar. The former was his liaison with the Queen''s Corpse while thetter had achieved the status of Lord Commander of the Queen''s Corps after her mother''s death.

    Even though the army amulet was supposed to be secure and the line protected, both women preferred to reach the scene of the crime in person to talk.

    "Dammit, Verhen. Are you really telling me that the undead managed to enter this ce? This is a fortress!" Farg was a woman in her early thirties with chin-length red hair streaked orange all over.

    She was very tall, almost 1.8 meters (5''11") high with the muscr build of a front-line soldier.

    After Mirim''s death and working hard, Tyris had refined Farg''s core to the bright violet, bringing her to the top of the strength that a fake Awakened could achieve without learning a breathing technique.

    "They did." Lith nodded. "But before showing you the surveince tape, let''s wait for Brinja."

    He handed the various pieces of equipment left by his victims for her to study and the few documents they carried. Farg thanked him something noble about the grace of her movements.

    Even while examining the Adamant chainmail of the fallen Ghoul, with a nod of the head, using both Life Vision and Forgemastering spells to understand how powerful the enemies had been.

    "Did you really take on alone so many people of this caliber?" The former Professor of the White Griffon was shocked, yet there was something noble about the grace of her movements.

    Even while examining the Adamant chainmail of the fallen Ghoul, her touch was full of strength yet incredibly delicate.

    "Yes." Lith lied through his teeth. "But as you said, this ce is a fortress. I had the home advantage."

    Farg tested the spacepressing array with her own Spirit Blink and she was d when it failed.

    "Sorry for beingte." Brinja walked through the Gate of the Mansion a couple of minutes after Farg. "The baby was crying and after what happened tonight, I didn''t feel like leaving before doubling my own security detail. What did I miss?"

    Marchioness Distar had inherited her beauty from her mother, Mirim. She was now 24 years old, about 1.63 meters (5''4") tall with silky blonde hair that looked like a golden waterfall and almost reached the floor.

    Lith then projected the security feed with a hologram, showing them the undead''s chosen ess point and the information they disyed to know while navigating through the Mansion.

 Chapter 2758 Careful Planning (Part 2)

    Chapter 2758 Careful nning (Part 2)

    "These bastards still have a mole in high ces, but not high enough." Brinja''s sky-blue eyes burned with red mana as she took pictures of the map used by the undead and cross-referenced it with the clearance level necessary to ess it.

    Unfortunately for her, the Distars'' magical talent seemed to have skipped a generation, leaving Brinja with no power of her own. Even after learning about the real role that Mirim had yed within the Kingdom, Brinja had to content herself with bing Lord Commander of the Corps.

    Tyris had offered her to be one of her fake Awakened with the prospect of taking Mirim''s position in due time, but Brinja had turned her down.

    "My mother was a talented mage who spent her life honing her abilities. I''m too old for that and by the time I catch up with the rest of the Corpse, I would stillckbat experience." Brinja had replied.

    "I''d rather entrust this honor to someone who deserves it and who won''t be a burden to theirpanion. Besides, I''m thest member of the Distar household and I won''t let my bloodline disappear with me."

    Tyris and Sylpha had been forced to exin the truth to Brinja after she had risen to the rank of Lord Commander. The Corps and the Corpse needed to coordinate their actions and be aware of each other''s ns.

    Otherwise they would often waste time and manpower by protecting the same mark or their missions could ovep which would lead to friendly fire. While Mirim was alive, shemanded both units so such things had never been a problem.

    Now, however, the Queen had to entrust Brinja with the existence of all ck ops units and hope that her pride wouldn''t get in the way of preserving her mother''s legacy.

    "That''s not all." Lith shook his head while showing the interrogations one by one. "They also knew about all of my life forces and hade prepared for all of them. They had ess to anti-Dragon and anti-Abomination spells.

    "That part isn''t public knowledge."

    "That doesn''t mean much." Farg shrugged. "Undead are old. They only need to trade for those spells with a Household desperate enough to ask for their help once to know how the Kingdom deals with such threats.

    "As for your Abomination side, the story of the ghost girl and your chains has spread like wildfire despite our best efforts to cover it up. Also, don''t forget that Meln ruled the Courts for a while. Whatever he knew about you, they also probably know."

    "Point taken." Lith nodded.

    "Why did you call us here?" Brinja asked after reviewing the footage once more and saving a copy for herself. "There''s no impending threat and I doubt the undead will strike twice during the same night."

    "Because I need your help." Lith replied. "The undead are right about many things. I was nning to hunt them down as soon as my body got ustomed to my new powers and Elysia got a bit older.

    "I really wanted to enjoy this time with her and avoid fighting as much as I could. Now that the enemy has entered my home, I can''t dy it any longer." Lith sighed. "I''m going to reforge my equipment anew and start the preparations to raid the Undead Courts."

    The prisoners had shared with Lith the position of all the branches they were aware of just to make the pain stop.

    "While I do that, however, my family will remain exposed. I need the Corps and the Corpse to focus solely on protecting my wife and my family. Elysia is untouchable whereas Kam already has a bounty on her head.

    "I''m afraid that while I''m busy with the undead, the instigator might exploit my absence and the security being stretched thin to strike."

    "I can understand Lady Verhen." Farg had already ced Kam among those who required maximum protection after Leegaain had warned Lith about the repeated attempts on her life. "But why your family?

    "There''s nothing to gain from killing them and even Meln wants them alive to let them witness your fall."

    "Because that''s what I''d do if this was my n." Lith replied. "The Courts already know how strong I am. After tonight, they''ll assume that my Mansion is off-limits. Hence, they''ll try to lure me somewhere they have the home advantage.

    "The best way is a hostage, but killing them works too. Grief and rage would weaken me mentally, making me an easier prey. If the undead can''t get to me, they''ll get to those close to me and then leave a trail of breadcrumbs for me to follow.

    "That was Meln''s n. It was a good n and still is. Yet this time I know the who and where whereas the Undead Courts have no idea of what I can do now." Lith showed the position of the now-known branches.

    "I don''t n on ying on the defense for long. This time I was lucky, the next things might go differently. With a bit of luck, the Undead Corts will never think that their assassins could be captured alive and forced to reveal what they knew.

    "If I''m right, they''ll just assume that the mission failed and let their operations continue as usual.

    "If I''m wrong, instead, they''ll evacuate the branches the assassins came from and once I get there I''ll find them empty. If I''m very lucky, however, the Undead Courts will turn their hideouts into deathtraps and fill them with their best mages, hoping that I''m stupid enough to go there alone."

    "How is that lucky?" Brinja furrowed her brows in confusion. "Eradicating a branch of the Undead Courts is already hard when they don''t know you areing. If they are prepared, even advancing one meter requires spilling blood.

    "Not to mention that even if we power through their defenses, they are bound to have several escape ns at the ready. The Undead Corts have always been hard to eradicate because they don''t hesitate to run away when they know they can''t win."

    "That''s another reason I need your help." Lith replied. "I don''t have enough Demons to storm a ce packed with powerful undead and seal the perimeter at the same time. I want you to seal the exits so that I can focus my forces on a surgical strike.

    seal the perimeter at the same time. I want you to seal the exits so that I can focus my forces on a surgical strike.

    "Also, I consider the death trap the best-case scenario because it would save me a lot of time. To make sure to take me down, the Undead Courts will amass their most powerful members into a few locations, allowing me to kill them all in a few fell swoops.

    "I called you here because I can''t move everyone to the Desert without letting the Courts know that I''m aware of their intentions. They must keep thinking that I believe tonight''s assault to be an isted incident.

    "So, reinforce security for my family in general and on my wife in particr during my absence. Once I''m done with my preparations, I''ll hit the Undead Courts so hard and so fast that by the time the news of the attack spreads, I''ll have already moved on to the next branch and keep catching them off guard."

 Chapter 2759 Secret of Learning (Part 1)

    Chapter 2759 Secret of Learning (Part 1)

    "Are you sure you want to do this by yourself?" Farg asked in surprise. "You have plenty of allies and thanks to the recent peace, the Kingdom has plenty of avable troops that can join you in storming the Undead Courts."

    "Thank you for your offer, but it''s not like I want to, I need to do this alone." Lith replied. "I have to check my new powers, put my equipment to the test, and most of all, I want to teach my enemies a lesson.

    "As Leegaain said, I must send a message to all those who might think this is a good moment to get back at me. A message so loud and bloody that whoever is next in line will think twice before making their move.

    "To achieve that, I must be the one writing the message. I want them to be afraid of me, to know what *I* can do. Not the Kingdom."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s Pce, at the same time.

    It was daytime in the Desert and the Overlord was fully absorbed by the mountain of paperwork that kepting from the four corners of her dominion. Single-handedly dealing with most of the bureaucracy of thergest of the three Great Countries was an impossible task for a human but just a long, boring one for a Guardian.

    <nulli>''I swear on my Nest, I''m going to make a Menadion tower with my own spin.'' She thought. <nulli>''Soluspedia would be enough to cut the time I need to deal with this to one-tenth and that on top of all the stuff that Ripha hid from me.

    <nulli>''If only the tower was already restored, Tyris, Leegaain, and I could already work on that, but since it''s still missing a lot of floors, too many pieces of the tower core are missing. Using the old blueprints in Leegaain''s possession would be a waste of time.

    <nulli>''Now that Lith has reached the bright violet core it''s only a matter of time until Solus too-'' Her train of thought and flow of ink was interrupted when she perceived a slight tug on her consciousness.

    It wasn''t hermunication amulet, Elysia, nor one of her fellow Guardians from Garlen. It was something much feebler that came from far away.

    "Fenagar, if you have a death wish, just call Tyris. I''m pretty sure that she would love to finish what she started a couple of years ago." She said without even lifting her eyes from the pile of paper as she manipted the ink with water magic.

    Countless documents were drafted, others amended, and all of them were signed with elegant penmanship followed by Sark''s mystical seal.

    "Very funny." The Leviathan replied. "Also, if I really had a death wish, I''d just follow Zagran around to fight those damned cursed cities. Ah, if only I remembered where I put my notes on those pesky contraptions¡­"

    "What do you want, then? I''m busy." The Overlord cut him short, already tired of Leegaain''s rambling and unwilling to stomach those of someone she didn''t like.

    "Nothing. I just need you to open the Gate from your side." Fenagar said. "It''s time."

    "Already?" Sark inwardly cursed while reviewing her schedule and deciding what she was going to sacrifice in the name of duty.

    "Yes. I''m done with my part and we can use one more full-fledged Guardian. Scarlett has learned from Leegaain how to control the voices and her bond with Mogar. From Zagran how to fight and move like a Guardian.

    "Roghar has taught her how to tap into and master her bloodline abilities while I took care of discovering with Scarlett how to apply them to her mystical senses in order to further her magical research.

    "She needs your guidance to learn how to Forgemaster like a Guardian and how to kill like a Guardian. Please, be quick. After the first batch of reinforcements from Garlen arrived, things on Jiera are going better, but it''s still crap.

    "Scarlett doesn''t seem to be the kind of Guardian bound to a specific turf and having a fourth would drastically increase our odds of se- Are you listening to me?"

    "No." Sark replied while noticing she was in a bind.

    If she took care of Scarlett, either she had to abandon the Desert or she would have to give up on lots of her free time with Shargein and Elysia. Useless to say, she wasn''t willing to do any of it.

    "Send her here. We''ll figure out something." A wave of the Overlord''s hand made the space in Jiera ovep with her private quarters in the Desert, allowing the Sekhmet to reach her destination in a single step.

    "Let''s start with the basics. How do I have to call you?" Scarlett was in her human form, that of a blonde woman in her mid-thirties wearing a gold-rimmed pince-nez.

    She had entrusted the real Eyes of Menadion to Ka, but after wearing them for over one century, she felt naked without them. She always carried a perfect yet powerless replica with her.

    "Leegaain and Zagran were okay with being on a first-name basis whereas Roghar was an ass and demanded I called him master. Fenagar, instead, didn''t care much about titles since he did most of the talking and I couldn''t get a word in edgewise."

    Sark raised her eyes from the pile of paperwork, looking at the Sekhmet with Soul Vision and the fellow Guardian didn''t attempt to stop her despite the pin-prickling sensation that the Phoenix''s gaze caused her.

    The Overlord could see that even after bing a Guardian and in turn one with Mogar, Scarlett still carried part of the old resentment toward Sark for hiding and protecting Ilyum Balkor, the god of death, from Scarlett''s fury.

    Under Soul Vision, the Sekhmet was in her true form, that of a titan with a height at the withers of 45 meters (148''), bigger than any white-cored Divine Beast but still far from the might of a full-fledged Guardian.

    The Sekhmet in the vision was in a battle stance, her hind legs wing the ground andpressed like springs, ready to pounce at any moment. Her forelegs ended with long ws that scraped at the ground in aggression and her open mouth was filled with mystical bolts of lightning.

    "That''s up to you." Sark replied with a grunt. "I don''t care how you call me as long as you respect me. Remember this, if I am to teach you anything, you must consider me your better and receive my knowledge without questioning me or my methods every step of the way.

    "There will be a time for doubts and questions, but only once a specific lesson is over. Anything you say after I''m done exining means you''re trying to fully understand what I taught you and maybe even expanding further with your own talent.

    "Anything you say while you still have no idea of what we are talking about just means that you don''t trust me and that you are challenging my authority. So, think carefully before making up your mind about how to call me.

    "I''m not Leegaain who has the patience to take you kids by the hand and wait for you to quit throwing a tantrum."

 Chapter 2760 Secret of Learning (Part 2)

    Chapter 2760 Secret of Learning (Part 2)

    "He''s that good which is the reason you went to him first. I''m not like those no-lifers of Jiera either.

    "I don''t have all the free time in the world nor do I need an assistant. I''m the Overlord of the Blood Desert, the Lord of War, a mother, and a grandmother. The moment you waste my precious time, I''ll drop you like a bad habit.

    "This apprenticeship will be brief if you shut up and listen or it can be very long if the only way you have to learn is by observation. Your choice. I don''t care about your mission or about what happens on Jiera.

    "Not until the Desert joins the colonization''s effort and Jiera bes my business too."

    Scarlett emitted a low growl in annoyance but said nothing. She took a few deep breaths to calm down while pondering the Phoenix''s words. The Sekhmet could still feel the rage and frustration for giving up on her revenge burning inside of her.

    She could feel a soft grudge toward Sark as she stared at the Guardian.

    "I understand, master." Scarlett put her right hand above her heart and gave Sark a deep bow in ordance with the Awakened tradition about establishing a master-disciple rtionship. "What''s my first lesson?"

    "Letting go of the past. Follow me." The Mother of All Phoenixes put down the ink and papers, Warping them both to the Forgotten Plume tribe.

    The dimensional door led them to theb of Ilyum Balkor, the Blood Magus of the Desert, and one of Sark''s Feathers. He was sitting cross-legged, letting the mystical elemental energies flow through him with such a vigor that he was levitating.

    There was no floating spell active, it was just that his aura had be dense enough to press against the ground and lift him in the process. Balkor had six spheres, each of a different element, orbiting around him.

    With each breath, he turned one element into its counterpart, switching light into darkness, air into earth, water into fire, and vice versa. Yet while the light and darkness elements flowed into each other wlessly the others stumbled and failed often.

    When the stumbling happened, most of the energy would be lost and only a portion of an element would be actually converted. When the process failed, instead, the entire sphere would implode and disappear.

    "What the heck is this?" Scarlett said in amazement before noticing Sark''s re and adding: "Master."

    "Void Magic." The Overlord exined. "The new branch of the mystical arts invented by the Supreme Magus of the Griffon Kingdom."

    "Who did what now? What''s a Supreme Magus?" The more she heard, the less Scarlett understood.

    "Lith devised Void Magic." Sark smirked with pride. "The Kingdom made him the Void Magus for it and then since he also helped them against Thrud and developed stuff like the Trains and Tablets the Royals created the title of Supreme Magus for him."

    The Guardian conjured holograms of each of Lith''s inventions, making Scarlett''s jaw drop onto the floor and then start digging.

    "Are you telling me that the anomaly created all this stuff, gave it to the Kingdom, and then they shared it with you?"

    "I wish." Sark sighed. "Lith developed Void Magic while he was in the Desert so he gave me plenty of demonstrations. I learned simply by observing him and then showed those same things to Ilyum and he''s currently working on mastering it."

    "And he got this far without a word of exnation?" Scarlett had long since learned to reverse light and darkness but even after watching Balkor at work for a while, she failed to use Void Magic on the other elements.

    "Yes." Sark nodded. "As for Trains and Tablets, he couldn''t share those either. Luckily, political espionage is a thing. Sooner orter, I''m going to make them mine. Ilyum!"

    The loud voice snapped the Blood Magus out of his trance and only then did he notice the presence of intruders. His first instinct was to smite them with the arrays of hisb but the moment he recognized Sark, his attitude went from furious to meek.

    "Yes, master?" He gave Sark a deep bow while also using Spirit Magic to fetch a towel and dab the sweat drenching him.

    "This is Scarlett the Sekhmet, formerly known as Scarlett the Scorpicore." Balkor nodded, giving no sign to recognize either Scarlett''s appearance or her name which angered her to no end.

    ''I can''t believe that I spent years hating a guy who doesn''t even know who I am.'' She thought, feeling her old grudge resurfacing.

    "She has recently be a Guardian and hase to me in search of guidance. Since she''s as green as grass and I''ve better things to do, you''ll take care of her in my stead."

    "What?" Balkor and Scarlett spoke in unison, yet their feelings were on the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.

    The Blood Magus felt honored but he was also humble enough to doubt that someone as young and rtively weak as him could teach anything to a mighty existence like a Guardian.

    Scarlett, instead, felt insulted. Balkor was barely in his mid-forties, with a crippled life force, and he wouldn''t even be a fake Awakened if not for Sark whereas the Sekhmet was a self-Awakened over 300 years old who hadpleted her path to Guardianhood.

    <nulli>''It''s like asking a toddler to teach an academy professor.'' Scarlett thought, her eyes brimming with mana and outrage. ''I would understand if Sark delegated her duty to Silverwing or Baba Yaga.

    <nulli>''They are older and wiser than me. There are countless things that I can learn from them, including the secret of the white core. What can a bloody murderer like Balkor possibly teach me?

    <nulli>''Sark demands respect, yet her first act as my mentor is humiliating me!''

    "You heard me." The Overlord nodded. "Teach her everything you know about Void Magic without hiding anything. Also, whenever you practice Creation Magic, I want you to allow her to spectate but you are not to say a single word."

    "Yes, master." Balkor took a deep breath of Invigoration to recover his strength and then used a mix of water and darkness magic to cleanse himself.

    "I thought he was one of your fake Awakened." Scarlett was bbergasted watching a Feather using a breathing technique. "Also, did you really teach him Creation Magic? There are only two people on Mogar capable of doing that."

    "Five." Sark corrected the Sekhmet. "Balkor, Lith, and Solus are far from mastering Creation Magic but they can still use it. I''m confident that, in time, they''ll make it their own."

    "How could you teach such a noble and rare art to mass murderers and yet not share it with your fellow Guardians?" Scarlett looked at the Overlord with eyes wide open, feeling like Mogar had turned upside down.

    "I didn''t teach them. I showed them just like Balkor will do for you." Sark replied. "As for your question, I''m entrusting the first part of your education to Ilyum because you clearly don''t understand what being a Guardian means.

    "We are supposed to be more than pompous gods that look at this world from above."

 Chapter 2761 The Weight of One Life (Part 1)

    Chapter 2761 The Weight of One Life (Part 1)

    "There''s a reason Leegaain had so many disciples and now has Milea. There''s a reason Tyris helped Silverwing and trained Valeron." Sark said.

    "It''s the same reason I took in the mages like Lith and Balkor that the rest of Mogar considered monsters and gave them a ce to stay. A Guardian can''t just hoard knowledge and power for itself.

    "We must also share it with those who have the ability to understand it and the wisdom to not abuse it. It''s the only way to affect life on Mogar without intervening directly and stripping people of their free will.

    "If you don''t learn this lesson, you''ll end up like the Guardians of Jiera, and whatever ce you choose as your turf will suffer the same fate as their own."

    Scarlett put her wounded ego aside and pondered Sark''s words,paring the two continents.

    Garlen had a troubled history, but between Valeron Griffon founding the Kingdom and Lochra Silverwing creating tier four and five fake magic, the continent had prospered in rtive peace.

    The people of the Empire and Sark had followed a mere human''s example, establishing the three Great Countries in less than thirty years and revolutionizing life on Garlen forever.

    Silverwing had been just a few centuries old Awakened when she had spread her legacy throughout Mogar, turning fake magic from a dying art into something that could rival the Awakened legacies.

    Balkor''s methods were unforgivable, but he had upended the academy system in a little more than ten years. ording to Awakened standards, Lith was a runt as well but his contributions to magic already outshone those of most Awakened in the Council.

    "I see. With each person you Guardians sponsored on Garlen, you helped your people to take the right path without the need of your direct intervention. If you did, people would have taken it as a divine act and learned nothing." Scarlett said.

    "Exactly." Sark nodded. "A Guardian can''t inspire people. We are too powerful, our existence too overbearing to arouse more than despair and subservience. Mortals can only be inspired by other mortals.

    "It''s by looking at people like Valeron or Silverwing that the rest of Garlen realized how much a single person can achieve and strived to do the same. It takes but one man to make the impossible possible for countless others to break free from their self-imposed limits and achieve greatness.

    "So don''t underestimate Ilyum just because he''s young. I''ve learned about memory crystals from him just like I''ve learned Void Magic from Lith, power cores from Tyris, and de Magic from Valeron.

    "Mogar is full of lessons that you can learn only if you pull your head out of the sand and look at those around you with an open mind. Jiera was destroyed because its people were blinded by their pride and its Guardians were too self-absorbed to find someone who could inspire the humans."

    Actually, Sark''s judgment was too harsh. Zagran had sent more than one of her apprentices to stop the gue from being released, but between thenguage barrier and Jiera being fragmented into many little countries, they hadn''t been enough.

    Scarlett nodded and looked at Balkor while also activating Soul Vision and letting the voice of Mogar flow through her. To her eyes, the Blood Magus appeared as a heart-wrenching scene.

    The man was reced by a teen, barely more than a boy, kneeling in a deep puddle of mud and blood. The youth was desperately trying to save the life of the members of his family but there was nothing that healing magic could do to corpses.

    His father''s eyes were still open, his gaze fixed in agony from being forced to watch his wife and daughters be defiled while trying to keep his intestines in. He had been gutted like a fish and died bleeding like one.

    Balkor''s little brother''s corpse was a broken mess after being trampled to death by horses and then again as a corpse as the raiders escaped from the vige before the soldiers could arrive.

    The bodies of Balkor''s mother and sisters were naked, full of bruises, and covered in signs that he would never forget. Their throats had been slit to shut them up, making them gurgle in their own blood as the bandits had their way with them.

    Scarlett could hear the teen Balkor screaming, she could feel the heat from the houses burning all around him as the ce that was supposed to be his safe haven crumbled.

    The Sekhmet was the Guardian of the Children and that was Ilyum Balkor had been back then. A child whose innocence had been ripped off from him, whose life had been own life force in order to create an army of undead every year for eleven years destroyed out of pure cynical calction.

    Scarlett watched the child turn into a man and the man into the monster that was now standing in front of her. Balkor''s body was rotting, huge chunks of his flesh dangling by a thread of skin.

    His eyes burned with the red light of undeath, a clear sign that if the Kingdom had ever seeded in iming his life, Baba Yaga would have answered his call and raised him again, giving birth to an even more terrifying existence.

    Scarlett saw the countless scars left by the fights back when the Blood Magus could afford to lead his troops and those he had inflicted upon himself by sacrificing his own life force in order to create an army of undead every year for eleven years straight.

    Scarlett felt her heart tighten at the vision and even though she knew that at the time she was just the Lord of the White Griffon Forest, she felt guilty.

    <nulli>''I failed him.'' She thought. <nulli>''If only I spent less time worrying about myself and started my journey to achieve Guardianhood just a few decades ago, I could have protected Balkor.

    <nulli>''I hated him until now because I couldn''t bear the thought that he lived happily in the Desert while I suffered for his actions yet I now know better. What I went through is nothingpared to him.

    <nulli>''When he attacked, I was already old and powerful, and I had been forewarned.

    <nulli>"Ours has been a merciless fight but still a fight. What the nobles did to him was a one-sided massacre. They knew that Balkor couldn''t do anything to protect his family and they orchestrated the whole thing to break him.

    <nulli>''They seeded, but failed to predict the depths of his genius and rage. I''m no different from the rest of the Kingdom. I paid the price for my own indifference.''

    "I did it, Dad! I did it!" A twelve years old boy wearing a deep red mage robe burst through the ps of the tent. "I got admitted as an apprentice to high-tiered magic. Eylen is not your only disciple now!"

    "Good job, Erak. I knew you could do it." Balkor patted the boy on the shoulder while shaking his hand, his eyes shining with fatherly pride.

    "I''m proud of you, son, but you could have waited a few seconds and shared the moment with us." The p of the tent opened again, letting a woman and a girl wearing a deep yellow mage robe in.

 Chapter 2762 The Weight of One Life (Part 2)

    Chapter 2762 The Weight of One Life (Part 2)

    "I''m sorry, Mom, but I wanted to be the first to tell Dad before someone stole my thunder again." Erak red at his sister, Eylen, with anger born out of sibling rivalry.

    There were no great or lesser academies in the Blood Desert.

    Everyone learned magic from a tender age along with reading, writing, and arithmetic. The lessons would stop only once one''s core couldn''t keep up with the increasingly difficult exercises and the child couldn''t master chore magic further.

    Only after someone reached twelve years of age could they be examined by the local Feather and deemed worthy of learning the real tiers of magic.

    If the attitude, discipline, and mana core''s growth rate of a youth were deemed satisfactory, the Feather would ept them as their apprentices and teach them magic personally.

    In Balkor''s case, since he was both the Feather and the father of the aspirant, he couldn''t perform the test and had to summon another fake Awakened from a neighboring tribe to ensure that the judgment would be fair.

    In the case the tribe was very big and there were too many potential fake mages during a single generation, Sark would send over a suitable number of members of the Nest to assist the local Feather in teaching and protecting the youths.

    Mages were the backbone of the Desert like of any other country and the Overlord had to avoid them getting wiped out in one fell swoop just because she had grouped them up in a single ce.

    Some considered thew forbidding to teach even tier one magic to kids below twelve years of age to be too harsh since people like Lith would have not emerged in such an environment.

    Yet Sark''s will was uncontested and no one dared to speak against her decision except that maybe once a year when she allowed her Feathers to advance suggestions to improve the quality of life in the Desert.

    Little did they know that the Overlord wasn''t unreasonable, just very cunning.

    The ban on tier one and above had been established with a precise goal in mind. Most oases were located above a powerful mana geyser that ensured a water spring and a bountiful harvest.

    Sark promoted the study of magic and forbade anything but tier zero magic because her purpose was to test which children had the potential to self-Awaken by studying chore magic while their mana cores were stimted by the abundant flow of world energy.

    Those who seeded she took them under her wing and they would be taught magic by the members of her Nest, learning everything about fake, true, and Spirit Magic. Once their magical training was over, they would be given a choice.

    Either to join the Overlord and help her to develop the Desert tribes or join the Council. One meant a life of duty, but also benefitting from Sark''s protection and future teachings.

    The other brought a life of freedom but also no assistance from the Overlord and being thrown amid the political games of the Council and the dire need to find an Awakened mentor with everything that it would imply.

    As for Balkor''s children, Erak''s deep red robe meant that he was a novitiate, the equivalent of a first year student in the White Griffon. Eylen''s deep yellow robe, instead, marked her as a disciple, someone who had yet to master the basic three tiers of magic.

    It was the equivalent of a third year student and if she passed it, she would gain the deep green robe of the apprentice mage and learn about specializations and tier four magic.

    After that, came thest year with its deep cyan robe, the role of assistant mage, and tier five magic.

    Scarlett was stunned to see Balkor''s family. Not only were the kidspletely untouched by the corruption that gued their father but they also seemed to somehow counter it.

    Their presence made the rot on the Blood Magus'' figure recede, making him appear under Soul Vision as a very sick but still living man. The most shocking thing, however, was that she could hear their voices.

    Both Erak and Eylen were happy, safe, and they didn''t need the protection of the Guardian of the Children one bit. Their joy was a balm to Scarlett''s psyche and lessened the strain from the constant but more distant calls for help.

    "Wait. If he''s the Feather and the Blood Magus, why are the children named after someone else?" Scarlett said, her voice filled with confusion.

    On Mogar it was traditional to name children after the most sessful member of the family for good luck.

    "We named them after my wife, Eos." Balkor said after introducing the Sekhmet to his family. "She saved my life in more than one way. We chose their names hoping they would not end up like me since my magical talent brought me only misery."

    Eos Balkor was a lovely woman in her mid-thirties, about 1.62 meters (5''2") tall, with shoulder-length dark brown hair and deep brown eyes that looked at Scarlett with suspicion.

    She remembered that voice, but she couldn''t put her finger on where and when she had heard it.

    "Actually, we named them after me because my husband is way too modest." Eos gave the Sekhmet a slight bow, pulling the edges of her white linen dress that protected her from the Desert''s heat and emphasized her bronze skin.

    "He''s a great Magus and an even better man. I wanted to name our son after him but he thought it would be a bad omen."

    She sighed, looking at Balkor and glossing over years of quarrels over his inability to let go of the past.

    Scarlett joined the family for lunch, during which the member of the tribe congratted Erak and his parents.

    <nulli>''How would things be different today if I had killed him years ago? Would have I created one more Balkor or even two?'' The Sekhmet thought while studying the deep bond of the children with their father and reconsidering the weight of taking even a single life.

    Her blonde hair and exotic appearance garnered her way more attention than she was used to and by the end of the meal, Scarlett was d to not have taken an overly beautiful form like most Guardians did.

    She assisted Balkor in his afternoon ss with Eylen and the other two yellow robed apprentices and only once he gave them a series of learning spells that they had to try on their own did he Hushed himself and the Guardian from the rest of the ss.

    "I can see that you have many questions weighing on your mind." He said. "We can''t undergo aplex subject like Void Magic if your concentration is all over the ce. Ask what you want and I''ll answer you within reason.

    "The Overlord guaranteed for you but I have no obligation toward you aside from teaching."

    "How did you be a true Awakened?" Scarlett felt her anger raising for his cocky attitude.

    Yet after so many years what was left of the embers of her grudge had almost been put out after meeting Balkor in person so she easily ignored those feelings.

 Chapter 2763 Puny Human (Part 1)

    Chapter 2763 Puny Human (Part 1)

    "I would like to say that discovering the flow of world energy and devising a suitable breathing technique was just the natural consequence for a mage of my talent after Sark Awakened me, but the truth is that I wouldn''t have ever seeded by myself.

    "Before his death, Krishna Manohar and worked together to crack the secret of Awakening. I have to admit that if not for his ingenuity and my knowledge of Alchemy, we would have failed.

    "It took us a while to understand that his problem was that his mana core was both static and overloaded with mana whereas mine filled me with so much power that it blinded me to the presence of world energy.

    "There is a reason most fake Awakened never manage to understand how a breathing technique works despite knowing about its existence.

    "Once a Guardian Awakens our cores and removes the impurities in our bodies, the resulting mana flow is so intense that even the world energy released by a mana geyser gets smothered to the point we can barely sense it.

    "I lived for years above mana geysers. First as a simple fake mage and then as a fake Awakened, but my own core always stopped me from perceiving the geyser''s power without Life Vision.

    "As a fake mage, the many impurities necessary to suppress my core also shielded me from the external energy.

    "As a fake Awakened, I had no more impurities but my natural mana flow was an even better instor. That''s why Manohar and I devised a potion that would trigger the mana flow for him and one that would suppress it for me."

    "You and Manohar were friends?" Scarlett was bbergasted by the unlikely alliance between the god of healing and the god of death and their genius.

    Awakening was indeed more difficult the more one was powerful since thebination of impurities and mana made perceiving the world energy nigh impossible.

    It was the reason kids and weak mages were more likely to Awaken. A developing body was burdened by a limited number of impurities and a still-growing core opposed little resistance to the world energy.

    In the same way, a weak but experienced mage would have few impurities, a core far from being overloaded, and experienced the connection with the world energy via his spells enough to be able to perceive it, if the conditions were favorable enough.

    "I''d say more like colleagues, but to honor Manohar''s memory, you can consider us friends." Balkor sighed, thinking back at his tumultuous rtionship with thete god of healing. "His definition of friendship was so loose that he considered murder attempts like a handshake."

    A thin smile appeared on his face but the Blood Magus quickly shook it off.

    "Only one more question." The Sekhmet felt more intrigued by theplex personality of the man who she was now convinced was more than just a bloodthirsty monster.

    "It took me hundreds of years to learn how to switch light and darkness. I pride myself in being a damn good Forgemaster, yet I''ve never evene close to learning Creation Magic. How did you do it?"

    "Switching light and darkness was actually pretty easy." Balkor shrugged. "During my studies of Necromancy, I''ve researched the darkness element deeply, and ever since I fought against Manohar for the first time, I understood the potential of the light element."

    The Blood Magus conjured holograms of his family that he quickly coalesced into hard-light constructs.

    "I learned Light Mastery on my own like I did with the rest, by observation. Once you know that something is possible, it''s not just a matter of if, only of how. So, after Manohar showed me his ability to switch light and darkness, I only had to find a way to do the same.

    "I was already a good Forgemaster before meeting the Overlord. My troops needed quality equipment to face the Royal Forgemasters and Spellbreakers or even the advantages that undeath given them wouldn''t have sufficed.

    "So she only gave me a few lessons about the few things that I wasn''t aware of before showing me her Creation Magic in battle. Once again, it was only a matter of how to do it.

    "As for Void Magic, I must admit that if I hadn''t already learned from Manohar how to switch light and darkness and from Sark how to make the elements flow into each other while Forgemastering, I would have never seeded.

    "Don''t be fooled by Void Magic''s apparent simplicity. It''s actually really hard." Balkor conjured a small ball of lightning but even while focusing on a single element at a time barely half the air was converted into earth.

    Scarlett nodded, knowing that what seemed a trivial aplishment to him was actually a testament to the Blood Magus'' genius. She could see with Soul Vision and her Guardian senses the still lingering chaos in Balkor''s mind.

    To achieve his revenge, the god of death had studied and researched all branches of magic. Yet due to the limited time and resources at his disposal, he had been forced to focus on what he needed for his Valors and neglect the rest.

    After giving up on his revenge, Balkor''s had filled the gaps in his self-taught education under Sark''s tutge but that knowledge was useless without a direction.

    Balkor had been content with his life as a Feather and that had stopped his improvement.

    Sark had noticed it and showed Creation Magic to him in order to stimte the Blood Magus. Her demonstrations would have been pointless to a lesser mage whereas Balkor already possessed all the pieces he needed to reinvent Creation Magic, he just had to put them together.

    The same thing had happened for applying Void Magic to light and darkness first and now to the rest of the elements. The god of death had umted an outstanding amount of knowledge during his short life.

    Thanks to that, his brilliant mind needed just a spark of inspiration to find a practical application to that knowledge. Giving up on his revenge was what had allowed Balkor to make his true potential bloom.

    It had given him the time and means necessary to put order to the chaotic mass of notions he had umted. His ability to learn new branches of magic with apparent ease was only due to the time he had spent turning mere learning into understanding.

    Many mages had ess to the same tomes he had studied but very few could derive the underlying principles that made magic work.

    "I''m ready for my first Void Magic lesson, master." The mighty Guardian gave the puny human a small bow, recognizing both his superior intellect and the truth behind Sark''s words.

    She would learn nothing from Balkor unless she put aside her grudge and admitted to herself that the Blood Magus was her better. Otherwise her contempt would clog her ears and her resentment cloud her mind.

    She needed humility to acknowledge her current limits and pride to give everything she had during her study so that the student would soon surpass the master.

    "Good." Balkor was a little surprised by the Guardian''s humbleness and what he could only perceive as sudden mood swings.

 Chapter 2764 Puny Human (Part 2)

    Chapter 2764 Puny Human (Part 2)

    "I''ll exin it to you like the Overlord did to me. Elemental magic can be divided into three branches. The elements of creation¡­" And then the god of death exined to Scarlett the basics of magic just like Lith had done for Aran and Leria just a few years ago.

    ***

    City of Vem, capital of the Essagor Grand Duchy.

    Lith was usually right in his predictions, but this was one of the exceptions to the rule.

    After failing to kill him inside the Verhen Mansion, the Undead Courts had indeed shifted their target, but they had no intention of attacking his wife or the rest of his family in Lutia.

    Kam was already under heavy protection due to the bounty on her head. The Queen''s Corps, the Corpse, the magical beasts, and the golems followed her every time she went out of the house, making any attempt on her life suicidal at best.

    Only thralls could attack her during the day and during the night, when the undead''s strength was at its peak, she stayed home with her daughter. No one wanted to live another Day of the ck Sun nor were they stupid enough to challenge a Guardian.

    Raaz, Elina, and the others lived under simr conditions as well.

    Sure, no Guardian followed them unless they babysat Elysia, but after her birth had established the advent of the Demon bloodline, many Dragons and Phoenixes liked to visit those they now considered as members of their extended family.

    Surin received lots of guests and so did Valeron the Second. The sheer number of Divine Beasts hanging around the Verhens and teaching Aran and Leria magic during the day made even the thought of attacking them pure madness.

    At night, the visitors would go away but the Verhens would move to the Mansion to sleep and the ce had already proven to be impregnable.

    The Undead Courts had no idea how a kill teamprised of twelve elite elders could disappear without a single survivor or even making a peep. For this reason, they had no intention to make a second attempt before understanding what had happened.

    So, they had shifted their focus to a much easier target.

    Zinya Vastor was Kam''s only living rtive about whom she cared. Killing Crefas and Kima Retta implied infiltrating a Kingdom''s prison just to make Kam a favor.

    Zinya, instead, was not only just a normal human woman with no powers or protector whatsoever, but she had also never gotten used to the noble society''s strict rules and she kept moving around without a personal detail.

    As the Archduchess of thend and the wife of an Archmage, the Queen''s Corps protected her, but Zinya never bothered giving them her daily schedule nor did she bring around guards from the Vastor household.

    She was the perfect target for the perfect n.

    Once the Undead Courts kidnapped her, she would be the perfect hostage. If Verhen followed their instructions to save her, he would fall into a deadly trap. If he didn''t, they would simply kill Zinya and nt the seed of destruction in his marriage.

    Best case scenario, Kam Verhen would leave him and bring Elysia with her, taking the Guardians off the equation. Yet the undead hadn''t lived that long by being forgetful and sloppy.

    There was no member of the Undead Courts who had forgotten about Thrud''s failed attempts at kidnapping Zinya. Her existence had been a mystery to the Mad Queen and the Courts had never bothered to solve it. Until that moment.

    Daytime and unknown variables were the perfect recipe for disaster. On top of that, the story of Dimensional Magus Tezka giving her a bow during the Royal G for Lith''s birthday had spread far and wide.

    Whatever power Zinya had or protected her from the shadows, wasn''t something that the Undead Courts wanted to add to their already long list of sworn enemies. It was the reason why instead of taking action in person they had hired a powerful mercenary.

    Finjorn the Leviathan was a self-Awakened Divine Beast over 300 years old who had recently achieved the deep violet core. He had a dire need for the necessary resources to upgrade his equipment and an opportunity to put his newfound prowess to the test.

    The Undead Courts had hired him via a middleman, giving the Leviathan a substantial down payment along with his mark''s name.

    Of course, they had glossed over Thrud''s fear of the "mere human woman" and had made sure that even if the Leviathan was captured and interrogated, he would know nothing that could lead back to the Undead Courts.

    <nulli>''Gods if I love humans.'' Finjorn slithered through the skies, his form shrunk into the form of amon bird. <nulli>''So rich of resources and so poor of intellect. They make the perfect target for a rip-off deal.

    <nulli>''I always manage to get paid way more than any job deserves. With the reward I''m getting, I should be fighting the Corpse, not a bunch of weak fake mages. Luckily for me, I know where Tyris'' private squad is deployed or I would have been forced to turn down the job.

    <nulli>''Sure, I''m a Divine Beast, but with my deep violet core I don''t feel confident fighting even one bright violet-cored human, let alone risking to piss off Tyris over such a trivial matter.'' The Leviathan thought, sure to have conned the stupid human instigator.

    Finjorn was a well-renowned assassin who left no witnesses in his wake and had never failed a job. Doom Tide meant to strip the surroundings of world energy, making fake mages helpless and even negating most bloodline abilities.

    Elemental Flow, instead, allowed him to cast several arrays in advance and have them move ording to his needs.

    The problem with magical formations was that keeping them at the ready took a huge toll on the mage''s mind but once unleashed, they were as mana expensive as any other spell.

    A single array was capable of turning the tide of any battle but their coordinates were fixed and their effects couldn''t be changed. All ws of which Elemental Flow would get rid.

    Finjorn''s strategy was cunning in its simplicity. He would study the target from a distance with Life Vision and arrays, using the collected data to find the best way to deal with the protection detail.

    Doom Tide was usually enough to kill anyone from up close when attacking from a distance wasn''t an option. If the enemy would survive the st or have an annoying bloodline ability like Life Maelstrom, Elemental Flow would do the rest.

    Finjorn would dive in with Spirit Arrays already cast that would work even in the absence of world energy and that would affect only his enemies. At that point, victory was assured.

    Even if the mark Spirit Blinked, the magical formations would follow them and if the target tried to get close to the Leviathan, he could always turn the arrays on and off at will or change the effects of the arrays to suit close-quartersbat.

    As any capital city of the Kingdom, Vem was protected by dimensional and air sealing arrays so Finjorn made sure to take everything he needed out of his dimensional amulet before crossing the city borders.

 Chapter 2765 Professional Pride (Part 1)

    Chapter 2765 Professional Pride (Part 1)

    Normal magic was useless against Spirit Spells so the Leviathan kept flying undisturbed, quickly reaching a vantage position from which he could study his mark from a safe distance.

    He always kept himself a few hundred of meters away and upwind. This way, no mystical or physical sense would perceive him while Finjorn gauged his prey

    <nulli>''These things cost a fortune but they are worth every single gold coin spent.'' He wore the goggles that he had bought from Verendi.

    Finjorn had to give themission for two hits to the Forgemaster in order to afford the goggles, but they were worth the price. The artifact would boost Life Vision, expanding either the data it could collect or its area of effect.

    The Leviathan always used thetter, collecting as much information as possible before risking to use life-sensing arrays and array-detecting spells that could be perceived by an Awakened or by a Warden on their guard.

    Little did he and the Frogemaster know that Lith had collected two pairs of goggles from the assassins from Verendi and was currently studying them with the Thievery.

    Lith''s n was to see if he could use the enchantments to boost the tower''s Eyes of Menadion and then sell the goggles, passing them as his own creation. But this is a story for another day.

    All of Finjorn''s confidence crumbled the moment heid eyes on the small, insignificant human woman that Zinya Vastor was. ording to Life Vision, she had a bright red mana core and a body weak even by human standards.

    Her clothes bore excellent enchantments and were made of Adamant but they were nothing special to a Divine Beast. The Leviathan only needed a gentle tap of his fins to crush Zinya under his weight.

    In theory.

    Even from such a distance, the mere sight of Zinya filled Finjorn with dread. His body shivered so hard in fear that the few people who could see the bird perched on the high roof thought it was having a seizure.

    As Zinya slowly walked along the streets, she received countless bows and gifts from the people of Ven.She also came closer to the Leviathan who found himself covered in a cold sweat even though that form was supposed to not have the necessary nds for the job.

    As she neared, Finjorn''s survival instinct screamed at him to run away and never look back. With each step Zinya took, the Leviathan''s sight darkened as the cold embrace of death numbed his body.

    Such was the fear ravaging his mind that he lost control of the spells he had at the ready and the Spirit Arrays he had already activated faded into nothingness. It was then that the horror haunting him lessened enough for the Leviathan to Spirit Blink away.

    He kept Blinking until horror faded into "just" terror and Finjorn regained enough presence of mind to cast a Warp Steps that consumed what mana he had left and brought him as far away as possible.

    The Leviathan tried and failed to use Invigoration, his breath too quick and shallow to keep a steady rhythm. Mana abuse made his whole body ache and he felt so tired that if not for the fear that was burning through his veins his eyes would have started to droop.

    Finjorn still didn''t feel safe, like something was after him and there were only a few seconds left before it found him. He flew at breakneck speed after picking a random direction, hoping that if he didn''t know where he was going, neither would his hidden enemy.

    The Leviathan found ake on his path and dived in without hesitation. He swam to the deepest corner of theke and then he used his natural affinity toward water and earth to burrow deeper and deeper underground.

    Finjorn would never know that his survival instinct had saved his life twice already.

    He had just found the underground aquifer that connected theke to the sea when a series of Chaos Gates connected Vem to every one of the dimensional exits that the Leviathan had opened and then straight above theke.

    "Weird. The smell literally disappears here." Tezka scratched his hairy chin while sniffing the air and sensing the space around him in search of other residual spatial distortions.

    He took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension and called Zoreth.

    "You were right. There was definitely someone casting arrays. I followed his dimensional path and then his smell to ake but either the guy had the smarts to start rxing the space or he plunged under the ground or water.

    "Whatever the answer, I''ve lost his trail. I have no idea what direction he took and sting the whole area seems overkill."

    "Is there anything you''ve discovered about him?" Zoreth asked.

    "Nothing much. Male, Leviathan, a little over 300 years old, and with a bright blue or deep violet core. His equipment is crap and he has a perspiration issue." The Suneater replied.

    "Go back to yourb, old fox. I''ll contact Abthot and ask her to search the underworld for someone who fits the description." The Shadow Dragon inwardly cursed her bad luck.

    "Divine Beasts are rare and Leviathans are even rarer on this side of the ocean. Xenagrosh out."

    "Guys, I''m grateful for your care but there''s no reason to get worked up. I''m fine and nothing bad happened." Zinya said. "Maybe he wasn''t even here for me."

    "Then why did he run away?" Kigan emerged from her shadow as well.

    "Maybe because you red?" She shrugged. "I''m no mage but even I noticed that the entire road went silent when you released your aura. If people you didn''t even care about fainted, imagine what he must have felt having your focus on him."

    "You have a point but one can never be too careful." Zoreth nodded.

    The feeling of dread that anyoneing too close to Zinya experienced derived from the couple of Eldritches that always followed her around. Usually, it was Xenagrosh and Kigan, but when she was busy, Orulm would take her ce.

    Kigan was the constant because only the Phoenix could use Shadow Step, a bloodline ability that allowed him and his partner to merge with a shade and be nigh-invisible even to mystical senses.

    Thrud''s soldiers and Generals had survived the encounter simply because they had loyally followed the Mad Queen''s orders and limited themselves to observing Zinya. The Eldritches wouldn''t attack willy-nilly nor would they risk blowing the Master''s secret identity.

    They would perceive the approaching of a powerful individual and wee them with waves of hostility that would grow stronger as the stranger got closer. Human Awakened like the Forgotten had been frozen by fear from a distance whereas Divine Beasts like Iata had been bombarded by killing intent until she fainted.

    Finjorn''s mistake had been to conjure his arrays, making his intentions clear.

    Xenagrosh had the best senses among the Eldritch-monster hybrids and even from a distance and through the distortion effects of Shadow Steps she hadn''t missed the weird bird surrounded by magical formations.

    The moment her Dragon Eyes had deciphered the purpose of the arrays she had alerted Zinya and called Tezka.

 Chapter 2766 Professional Pride (Part 2)

    Chapter 2766 Professional Pride (Part 2)

    The Phoenix and the Dragon couldn''te out of Zinya''s shadow without raising a fuss nor could they leave her unguarded. So, she had entered a building and requested the privacy of a room to let her bodyguards out.

    Tezka hade rushing, but since he was in the middle of an experiment, he had needed a few seconds to arrive. He kept looking around theke for a while before giving up and returning to hisb.

    <nulli>''I hate leaving loose ends but the guy could be hundreds of kilometers away by now if he used Invigoration to Warp non-stop. Besides, nothing happened and this is one of the few days I don''t have to look after the kids.'' He thought while removing the stasis field and resuming the experiment.

    "If you feel safe now, do you mind if I finish my errands?" Zinya asked. "I can''t wait to see Kami and Elysia."

    "Me too!" Zoreth''s face lit up at the idea of visiting her goddaughter and she dragged the Dark Phoenix back into the shadow.

    At the same time, Finjorn had just returned to the peak of his strength with Invigoration, Warping away and rxing the space behind him now that he had calmed down enough to mind the risk of being followed.

    He still didn''t feel safe and things didn''t get better until he had put two regions between him and whatever had been following him.

    "You filthy bastard!" The Leviathan shouted in hismunication amulet. "You had promised me an easy prey yet I almost died."

    "That''s not true." The man on the other side was beyond confused.

    ording to the public interlink and the military feed in Vem, nothing had happened. Not even a small incident or a small riot, let alone something big enough to be a threat to a Divine Beast''s life.

    "I told you that the Archduchess would be a tough nut to crack. Between the city arrays and an entire unit of the Queen''s Corps protecting her, it was no walk in the p-"

    "Who cares about that?" Finjorn cut him short with a yell. "I crack arrays for breakfast and eat your so-called elite mages for lunch. None of that was the issue. That woman is not human.

    "It''s like death incarnate. Even from hundreds of meters of distance, the moment our gazes met my heart nearly stopped. You lied to me and hid vital information for the sess of the mission.

    "I consider the contract over and I''m keeping the down payment aspensation. Don''t you ever try and contact me again or my next target is going to be you." The Leviathan then smashed themunication amulet between his spires, making the contact rune on the middleman''s amulet disappear.

    In his line of work, Finjorn had learned to never leave behind evidence that might link him to his previous hits. He would make amunication amulet for every client and smash it the moment the job was done.

    The Leviathan activated all the safety measures of his underwater secretb. No one knew where it was and theb was located thousands of kilometers from Essagor and dozens of kilometers off the Garlen''s coast, yet he still didn''t feel safe.

    Only after several hours of trembling vigil and several shots of Red Dragon did he finally manage to fall asleep.

    "Wake up, kid. We need to talk." An unknown voice and a few nudges to his head woke the Leviathan from his slumber.

    Finjorn was still drowsy from the drinking yet a sudden feeling of dread cleansed his mind faster than any spell could.

    The being in front of him was awfully small, barely bigger than a human. His silvery fur had several ck tufts that moved over his body, reminding the Leviathan of Davross.

    The intruder sported ten tailsing out of the small of his back and a set of cruel fangs that despite their small size drew Finjorn''s eyes with maic hostility.

    "Who are you and how did you get in he-"

    Tezka grabbed the snout of the Leviathan with his puny hand, closing it shut and breaking the maw.

    "I''m the one asking the questions, child, and you better prey that I like the answers."

    ***

    Verhen mansion, right after the kidnapping attempt.

    Kigan had remained at the Vastor Household and Zoreth had reached Lutia with her own means, leaving Zinya alone as she stepped through the Warp Gate. Since Kam was waiting for her with Elysia in her arms, however, it wasn''t a big deal.

    The Master''s hybrids had to keep themselves separated from his wife to avoid the Guardians who always hung out at the Verhen mansion to make the connection between them and Zogar Vastor.

    The only one who could move freely was Tezka and only because his cover as Filia''s and Frey''s nanny was long established. The Suneater wasn''t there that day since the kids were staying with their aunt and extended family.

    Tezka had little free time so he would wee every opportunity when his presence was redundant to keep researching his magic and his condition as a hybrid. The Master had done and was still doing everything he could to fuse and harmonize the life forces of the Eldritch-monster hybrids.

    The Suneater didn''t like sitting there and waiting, he preferred to perform his own research and look for a way to expedite the process. For an Eldritch who had spent millennia using light magic as little as possible, being free to employ healing magic at will was fun and intoxicating.

    At least until Abthot found out about the existence of a Leviathan hitman who had a solid reputation for never failing a mission. Little was known about him except for his name, Finjorn, and the fact that he had been spotted several times along the Kingdom''s southeast coast.

    Tezka loved magic but he hated loose ends more so he went out for a chat.

    "Kami, it''s so good to see you." Zinya hugged her sister, doing her best to smile and not point out how worn out Kam looked. "How are you doing?"

    "Today is not a good day, but it''s better than yesterday." Kam sighed. "What about you?"

    "I''m doing great." Zinya glossed over the ident in Vem to not worry her sister. "Zogar sends you his regards and apologizes for visiting you so little."

    "Send him my love and tell him not to worry." Kam smiled and handed the baby to Zinya.

    Due to the Guardians'' vow to protect Elysia and his nature as an Abomination hybrid, Vastor had to keep away from the Verhens most of the time. It pained him not to be part of so many family events but the idea of meeting a swift death was even worse.

    Zinya and Kam had no idea what exactly he did as the Master, but they knew it was something shady. Not wanting to press him with questions that might destroy Zinya''s happiness after over a decade of suffering at Fallmug''s hands, they dly covered for him.

    "Gods, no matter how many times I hold her, I still can''t believe she can be so beautiful." Zinya''s eyes veiled with tears and Elysia cooed at her aunt.

 Chapter 2767 Pride and Shame (Part 1)

    Chapter 2767 Pride and Shame (Part 1)

    Zinya had been blind for most of her life. She recognized the baby noise and knew the sensation of the small body pressed against her chest, but everything else was a new and amazing experience.

    How Elysia looked around, how her little fingers moved, every one of her movements was a delight for Zinya''s eyes. She still suffered for having been denied the opportunity to spend time with her own children after their birth.

    On top of that, due to her past condition, she had no idea what they had looked like during the various phases of their growth.

    "Come on, the kids are waiting. Also, you don''t want to make your sister-inw jealous." Kam chuckled.

    Zinya blinked a few times in confusion, wondering why Tista or Rena should be jealous of her time with Elysia when Zinya realized that her sister was talking about Surin.

    "That''s a good one." She chuckled as well. "I swear, it''s hard to think that Lith has a baby sister even younger than his daughter."

    "Yeah, but Aran already makes the family tree weird so Surin isn''t that much of a shocker once you get used to him." Kam guided Zinya to the park where the kids were ying with their steeds and the enchanted sand castles that Lith had built for them.

    Aran and Leria used chore magic while Filia and Frey countered the enemy fire with toy artifacts and alchemical tools that Vastor had crafted to make up for their weak mana cores.

    "I''m happy to see them having so much fun yet it saddens me that Zogar is missing out so much because of his job." Zinya sighed.

    "Is there anything I can do to help?" Kam took Valeron the Second from the crib and fed him.

    "No, but don''t worry." Zinya shook her head while also taking Surin in her arms. "Zogar is a great father. He spends a lot of time with the kids on his own. They have never been to a fair or an amusement park and Zogar has taken it upon himself to help them make up for the lost time."

    ***

    On Mogar, the Spring equinox was called the Day of the Rising Sun and it was widely celebrated. It marked not only the end of winter, the rationing of food, and the istion due to snowstorms, but also the moment when the day wouldst more than the night.

    People on Mogar lived wary of the undead and knowing that their natural predators could hunt less while the days would grow longer made everyone happy even before the war with the Undead Courts had started.

    Now, it made everyone ecstatic and made every noble from the Royals to Bars sigh in relief. During winter and fall, they were forced to invest a great deal of money in security and make sure that there were enough soldiers to patrol the living areas regrly.

    After the Day of the Rising Sun, instead, they could save lots of money just by having the soldiers help out with the construction and maintenance of public property during the extra daylight hours.

    Zogar Vastor had decided to make use of the national holiday to take Filia and Frey to the city fair of Ustar, on the western side of the Kingdom. Ustar had an all-around amusement park filled with magical rides that only the highest nobles could visit anytime.

    Anyone else needed to spend lots of money and wait a lot of time to make a reservation. Things got particrly hectic during the Day of the Rising Sun since Ustar would bring out exclusive rides and shows.

    Vastor had invited Lith toe along with Aran and Leria, but he still had a hard time getting away from Elysia, and bringing her along would have ruined the holiday for Vastor.

    Kam was still under the weather, needing all the support of her family in her battle against her inner demons so she had also declined the invitation. Zinya hadn''te either, wishing to make up for herck of experience with the newborns and leave Filia and Frey to spend some time alone with their dad.

    Vastor had bought priority passes for all rides, allowing the kids to skip every line, even those that technically didn''t allow for it.

    He wore the insignia of his status as Archmage, vice-headmaster of the White Griffon, and Spellbreaker in in sight, making the operators make way for him and the nobles grunt in envy.

    "Can we really do it, Dad?" Filia asked, making his heart clench with joy like it was the first time he heard it.

    It wasn''t the word per se, it was how she said it. Her voice was filled with love, trust, and respect.

    "There are no priority passes for Manohar''s Madness and those people must have waited in line for hours. Isn''t it unfair for us to take their ce?" Even after everything Filia had gone through, she still worried about others and especially about her step-father''s reputation.

    "What if they spread bad rumors about you?"

    "Yes, it''s unfair." Vastor nodded while holding her hand and looking her in the eyes. "Like it was unfair that your mom was blind for years or that your schoolmates bullied you and your brother. Yet do you think that any one of them cared?"

    "No, but two wrongs don''t make a right either." Filia shook her head. "We are better than people like them because we act better."

    Those words filled Vastor with pride and shame. Pride for his daughter and shame about himself who would have dly killed everyone in line just to enjoy one of her smiles.

    "Indeed, but let''s put it this way. What does the Kingdom do to criminals?"

    "It punishes them." Frey said.

    "Exactly." Vastor nodded. "You don''t reward bad behavior and those people are mean. Consider us skipping the line their punishment for mistreatingmoners every day of the year."

    "Are you not worried about what they might say about you?" Frey shuddered a bit under the res of the nobles in line.

    "Please." Vastor scoffed with confidence. "This won''t put a single dent in my reputation. Even if I was a saint, those nobles would still find a reason to spread rumors about me. At least this way I''m earning it."

    Heughed, ruffling the boy''s hair yet his words lit a spark of rage in Frey''s eyes, making him clench his teeth.

    He was young but far from stupid. He had listened too many times to the bad things that people said about his mother and about Vastor for marrying her. Frey loved Zinya and considered Vastor his hero.

    The boy had never forgotten about the day when the grumpy, round old man had protected Frey''s family, standing alone against an army of undead. He was still grateful to Vastor for avenging the deaths of Brionac and Volgun.

    Most of all, he was thankful to Vastor for giving Zinya sight and protecting her over and over. Vastor had given Frey''s family a home, cool uncles like Tezka, and more joy than the young boy had ever believed to be possible.

    He deeply wished that Vastor was his real father and to one day be someone like him.

 Chapter 2768 Pride and Shame (Part 2)

    Chapter 2768 Pride and Shame (Part 2)

    The moment Filia and Frey remembered how people had always been mean to Vastor, their consciences went quiet and their anger red. After that, they said no more and jumped on the ride.

    Manohar''s Madness was the Mogar equivalent of a roller coaster, made fast and secure by air magic. The same spells that moved the carts also generated air cushions all around the ride so that even if someone fell off despite the safety harness, they wouldn''t get hurt.

    On the top of the first climb, Frey was scared so he grabbed Vastor''s hand and albeit trivial, the gesture filled the Master with joy.

    <nulli>''I know that I''m not worthy of being a father, but I swear upon the gods that I will.''

    "Did you like it?" Vastor asked after the ride while casting a cantrip to settle the still wobbling stomachs of the kids.

    "Yes." Filia said, hugging him for both bringing them there and being so thoughtful that he always helped them before they could ask for it. "But I''m also quite annoyed."

    "Why?" Vastor asked in confusion for both her words and gesture.

    "Because there are rides themed after a lot of mages yet there is none about you." Filia pouted and Frey nodded in agreement. "You are an Archmage and a hero of the War of the Griffons. These people are a bunch of ingrates."

    The Master justughed and caressed their heads, their recognition was the only one that mattered to him now.

    At the end of the evening, after the kids had tried all rides at least twice and had eaten more sweets than it was healthy, it was time for the fireworks.

    Ustar had magicos specialized in controlling air and fire magic that would conjure balls of fire and lightning. The low yet shy tiers of magic would spread through the sky, taking the form of mystical creatures and legendary warriors.

    Unlike regr fireworks, those cast by mages wouldn''t disappear quickly and could be moved around akin to living beings. The magicos exploited their powers to narrate short stories and epic fights, adding more spells for special effects when needed.

    It wasn''t as urate or detailed as Lith''s movies but having the whole night sky as the screen and the moon and stars as background still made it amazing for the kids. For the rest of the guests, instead, it was the closest thing to a movie theatre they would see their whole lives.

    It was at that moment, when all eyes were looking up, that three figures approached the happy Vastor family. Between the crowd, the noise, and the blinding magical shes from the fireworks, not even the Master''s senses perceived anything until it was toote.

    The body odor of the mass of people around him clogged his nose while the mana from theplexwork of arrays fueling the attractions blinded his mystical senses.

    The undead had followed them via human thralls the whole night, making sure that Tezka the Suneater really wasn''t looking after the kids anymore. After more than one undead hade close to Filia and Frey and lived to tell the tale, they had enacted the final step of their n.

    The Warping Arraysted only for a split second and was timed so that it went off at the same time as two spells exploded to mimic the sh between Sylpha''s and Thrud''s des during the Battle for the White Griffon.

    When the sh faded, the Master and the kids were gone. While the Queen''s Corps cursed Vastor for ignoring their warning and going to such a security nightmare, the rest of the visitors were d to have a bit more personal space.

    The assassins of the Courts had nned the ambush even more carefully than the infiltration in the Verhen Mansion. Their previous attempt had been aimed at an isted ce whereas Ustar swarmed with guards.

    Fighting there would have no chance of sess since reinforcements would have arrived quickly and Vastor could have simply disappeared through the crowd with a Blink.

    The undead knew that he was the only Highmaster of his generation and that someone like him would have no qualms about using civilians as meat shields. The children, instead, had proven to be time and time again the weak spot of an otherwise formidable opponent.

    The assassins of the Undead Courts had brought them to an isted area in the middle of nowhere exactly for that reason. With no allies and no ce to hide the two kids, he would be forced to take his opponents head-on without tricks or cunning strategies.

    The Undead Courts hated Vastor''s guts for the same reasons Filia and Frey loved him. He had humiliated Night and destroyed the undead army that hade one step away from conquering Vesta.

    He had single-handedly killed dozens of elders of the Night Court during the assault on Lith''s home. Everyone who had faced him during the War of the Griffons was dead and his presence alone had cost them incalcble losses.

    Killing him was a wet dream of the Courts, making up for all of their past defeats and even outshining the Horseman of Night herself. Vastor had received one of Orpal''s Past cards but the Undead King had never dared facing the old Professor again.

    Now, however, he was caught in the middle of an ambush, surrounded by powerful enemies and arrays without his precious Highmaster armor and no time to prepare a spell.

    As far as the Undead Courts knew, Vastor was a human fake mage so he was supposed to need both hand signs and words to chant even a tier one spell.

    Four undead attacked in a square formation.

    One charging at the Master from the front, another from the back, and two aiming at the children from the sides. The only difference between the attacks was that those aimed at Vastor were intended to kill whereas the children needed to be taken alive.

    Yet Vastor had no way to know it and had to defend from all of the undead at the same time without dodging. Filia and Frey were clutching at his hands in fear and despite his best efforts, Vastor failed to get free of them.

    The undead counted on it and exploited the situation by consuming part of the life force stored in their blood cores to enhance their mass, bringing it on part with an Emperor Beast.

    Vastor activated the Spirit Barrier of his Dominator armor but teamwork plus the darkness and fire elements unleashed by the undead in the second line shattered it with ease.

    He then tried to Spirit Blink but the undead hadin a spacepressing array that he failed topensate for before it was toote. des hit him from the front while maces struck him from behind, making him spit out a mouthful of blood from his copsed lungs.

    The Blood Warlock in front of him charged himself with Blood Maelstrom, further boosting his physical prowess before throwing the Master away like he weighed less than a doll.

    For all his power, Vastor was still a human with a mass that was nothingpared to an elder undead d in dozens of kilos of Adamant.

 Chapter 2769 Rampaging Chaos (Part 1)

    Chapter 2769 Rampaging Chaos (Part 1)

    "It''s over." Dervalos the Blood Warlock said while looking at the bloody hands of the children the moment Vastor''s body crashed against the ground.

    They had held on to him with all of their strength but the violence of the impact had been too great and the friction with the metal of the Dominator armor had scraped their hands.

    "Check that the fatass is dead while I take our quarry-" A wooden staff struck him in the middle of his eyes while a ck-silvery dome formed around the children, sealing them from the rest of the world.

    Yet it wasn''t the hit that had cut Dervalos short so much as Gon the Nightwalker hitting him like a sack of bricks. The two undead tumbled onto the ground for one second before they managed to untangle their bodies and get back to their feet.

    "I''m the one you want. Leave them alone." Zogar Vastor stood tall, his presence imposing despite his 1.55 meters (5''1") of height.

    There was no trace of wounds on his body, only ck streaks that slithered over is half-naked figure. His right eye burned with a bright violet light while his left zed like a ck torch fueled by Chaos.

    His arm and legs were all muscles and even though he still had a pot belly, his skin as tight as a drum instead of bby like the undead expected. They were still trying to understand what was happening when a golden wand appeared in Vastor''s right hand.

    It was one of the secret weapons of the Kingdom against the undead, crafted by the Royal Forgemasters with the help of thete Manohar. It was capable of converting any tier four and five spells into a ray of concentrated sunlight.

    Each beam wouldst briefly, but long enough to kill an undead, if it struck at their weak spot.

    ''<nulli>This doesn''t make any sense.'' Ylia the Vampire thought. <nulli>''Vastor has always been stuck at the bright blue and there''s no point in bluffing with the wand. We know how it works and he had no time to -'' A golden ray the size of a finger pierced through his brain and turned his body into ashes.

    "The bastard is an Awakened and can body cast!" Dervalos shouted to warn hispanions but not before a second ray of light turned a Korvak into a grey cloud.

    Vastor ignored the advanced units and targeted those on the backline to get rid of the mages who were about to rain spells upon him from a distance.

    The third beam missed its target since now the undead followed the wand''s every movement and darted out of its trajectory with the inhuman speed of their bodies.

    <nulli>''Without the element of surprise, distance gives them the time to dodge. I can''t afford to waste any more spells.'' Vastor thought, gritting his teeth to resist the pain.

    Without Grimbark, his Yggdrasill staff, his Abomination side was going rampant again. The Master had to keep the Chaos from devouring his body, protect the children, cast spells with his mind and body, and also defend himself from the four assassins charging at him.

    One of them turned out to be a Grendel, a type of undead with long ws, a massive body, and a natural resistance to magic. The second was a Vampire who shapeshifted into his Chiropteran form, further boosting his physical strength and gaining the ability to fly.

    The third was the Blood Warlock, who spread red bolts of lightning to his allies.

    The undead that hade to kill the Master and kidnap the children had reached the blood core equivalent of the bright violet for centuries and now that power was increased fivefold.

    The fourth was a Wendigo, a cannibalistic undead who also possessed great physical strength and who was always surrounded by a frozen aura that carried the rigid temperatures of the harshest of winters.

    The creature howled, activating one of his bloodline abilities, Chilling Wail. By focusing the frozen aura in the mouth, the Wendigo sucked the warmth from Vastor''s surroundings, lowering the temperature by dozens of degrees in an instant.

    The sudden drop in temperature condensed the humidity of the night air into snow and it also weakened a human''s naked body. Breathing now stung Vastor''s throat and lungs while his muscles stiffened and wasted precious energy by shivering.

    <nulli>''Shit! Even though they didn''t know that I''m an Awakened, they came prepared for it. I don''t know whether to be honored or angry.'' The choice was taken out of the Master''s hands when he heard screaming from behind him.

    The second line of undead was not only shooting spells at him non-stop, they were also in the process of cracking the Dominator armor open to get to the children.

    <nulli>''Angry it is, you cowardly bastards!'' A snap of his fingers activated Grimbark''s offensive routines and the staff unleashed one of the spells it stored.

    Yggdrasill wood had the ability to hold and mix spells. Since Vastor was forced to always keep Grimbark by his side to contain his Abomination half, he also kept the staff filled with offensive spells.

    He had already found himself in a simr situation and he knew that no matter how good his armor was, if the enemy was unimpeded, it wouldn''t take them long to get past it.

    The Yggdrasill staff solved the problem, attacking on its own and following a pre-recorded strategy.

    The Final Sunset spell produced a dome of ck mes that encased one of the undead before starting to shrink. The same spacepressing array that kept the Master from running away with the kids also sealed the undead''s fate.

    No matter how quickly and far he ran, the spell was faster and its destructive power strong enough to eliminate the target before she could escape its area of effect.

    Vastor would have smiled if not for the fact that the staff was now one spell short whereas a new undead was emerging from the ground to take the ce of his fallenrade.

    Even worse, the assault of the four assassins was so quick and well-coordinated that he managed to finish conjuring the tier four Mage Knight spell, Full Guard, just before the fastest of them towered over him.

    A Grendel couldn''t use magic in hisbat form but all the power of his blood core was now converted into physical might and magic resistance. The undead kept his fingers syed so that his 10 centimeters (4'') long ws covered a wide area.

    Phresia swept his arms at Vastor in an X shape, cutting from the sides to the center so that the fat man could only block or step back. The Master didn''t need Full Guard to know that both choices were suicidal.

    Even with his Awakened body, the Grendel had more than enough strength to tear him apart if he blocked while stepping back meant throwing himself into the ws of the Chiropteran.

    The hit would severely wound him and throw him back into the Grendel''s ws that would finish Vastor.

    The Master did the only possible thing, creating a third option.

    He stepped forward as fast as his shivering body allowed him to, jumping into the Phresia''s embrace.

 Chapter 2770 Rampaging Chaos (Part 2)

    Chapter 2770 Rampaging Chaos (Part 2)

    From so close, the Grendel''s long arms lost most of their strength, forced to hit from an awkward position. The razor-sharp ws pierced through Vastor''s skin and it was then that he stopped restraining his Abomination half.

    <nulli>''My dear ck core, if you really want to destroy everything, I might as well put you to good use.'' He thought as the ck streaks slithering over his body moved to a foreign and juicier target.

    Chaos was unfettered destruction but it was also eternal hunger. The Grendel was filled to the brim with life force and Blood Maelstrom, making him a hearty meal. The Chaos covered the ws and spread along the undead''s arms, making him scream in agony.

    Dead bodies were supposed to be insensitive to pain but Chaos didn''t just create wounds, it attacked its target''s very essence. Vastor let the ws rip his flesh as he moved forward, letting go of the golden wand in order to deal a double palm strike infused with more Chaos.

    The Grendel was sent flying for dozens of meters, his hands and chest tainted by the ckness that kept eating at him even after being separated from the main body.

    The Master would have loved to finish the Phresia off, but there was no time for it. The other three assassins were already upon him, needing but a single strike to sever his head from his neck.

    On top of that, Filia and Frey were screaming again, calling for his name and begging for help. Grimbark shot two more spells, aiming solely at targets that were too close to dodge a darkness spell.

    Four more undead died just to be reced by four more as the staff consumed more spells.

    Vastor gritted his teeth in frustration, trying to bridle the Chaos before it started to consume his own body. His arms and back were pitch ck and if he didn''t stop the cursed energy, he would be soon limbless and his organs exposed.

    "You are pathetically weak for someone who defeated the Horseman of Chaos." Dervalos said while breathing a burst of crimson Blood mes.

    "And you are pathetically stupid for someone who went this far to corner a single old, out-of-shape man." Vastor replied, shielding himself with the still-ckened parts of his body.

    The mystical mes ate at the Chaos, weakening it. The rampant cursed energy ended up taking the brunt of the damage, defending Vastor from the Blood mes and bing weak enough to be easily restrained.

    "Had the four of you attacked me at the same time, I would have been done. You guysck teamwork!" The Master''s Chaos-infused hands ripped the mes apart and along with his words, his mouth conjured a tier three Chaos Spell, Howling Void.

    A pitch-ck spear the size of a small tree pierced through the body of the Blood Warlock and then moved on to the next target on its path. A hole appeared in Dervalos'' chest but he had been smart enough to move his heart away.

    The heart was the source of the blood flow and also the weak point of a Blood Warlock. The White Lady trying to open the Dominator armor and lure the children out of its protection, however, wasn''t so lucky.

    The hypnotic powers had already lulled Filia and Frey into stopping Grimbark''s attacks when Howling Void pulverized everything from the shoulders up. Without her voice mimicking Zinya''s, the children snapped out of it and reactivated the offensive protocols.

    "Infiro!" Filia shrieked and Grimbark obeyed.

    A White Lady could regrow her head in seconds, her weak point was the water stored in her lungs. The same water that she had used to drown her own children before taking her life.

    Yet they were also incredibly weak to fire. The Yggdrasill staff took Filia''s chore magic me and boosted it via its wood and mana crystals. Without the mouth, the undead couldn''t hurl water to protect herself.

    The mes shrouded her and she burned like gasoline, wailing in death throes.

    <nulli>''Good girl.'' Vastor inwardly smiled.

    Bytra''s masterpiece was imbued with a power core capable of understanding humannguage and the Master''sst order had been to assist the kids, not just to protect them.

    Grimbark wasn''t sentient but the order granted the kids a certain degree of autonomy over the staff''s spells despite not being the ones who had imprinted it. Teamwork was a key element in the Organization and Vastor had taught to his children the importance of delegating to those you trusted.

    Both his Eldritch and adoptive children.

    "It''s still not toote old man!" Quomar, the Vampire in Chiropteran form swept down from the sky with his ws while Resnian the Wendigo came from the sides, his hands filled to the brim with concentrated frost aura.

    He also roared a second Chilling Wail to turn the sweat covering Vastor''s body into an icy prison.

    "Idiots." A flick of the Master''s hand activated his tier five personal War Mage spell, Tetrastrophe. "Were you my students, I would fail you all."

    Four tier five spells, each of a different element, manifested themselves from his skin, hitting the Chiropteran and the Wendigo at the same time. Earth blocked their attacks, pushed them back, and then pinned them to the floor like flies.

    Fire burned at them, dealing little damage but removing the cold aura and warming Vastor. Water absorbed the Wendigo''s power, trapping both undead into frozen coffins.

    Since he was draining the Wendigo''s cold, Vastor had only conjured a massive amount of water, leaving to his unwittingly enemy to do the rest. The result was a thick cage of ice strong enough to resist their strength while darkness magic ate them from the inside out.

    "You cretins!" Dervalos roared while fixing the damage to his chest. He could speak with air magic but he needed his lungs to breathe Blood mes. "He was lying! Were we to attack all at the same time, he would have killed us all.

    "We aimed for abination attack exactly to avoid such an eventuality."

    "Too bad that- Oh, shit!" Vastor had just finished conjuring the tier five Chaos spell, Howling Rain, when the worst-case scenario took ce in front of his helpless eyes.

    The Grendel was back and at his peak condition. The elemental energy spread throughout his body kept him from casting spells but it also countered any magical attack.

    The light element stored in his blood core had turned the Chaos back into darkness that had then been neutralized by the darkness coursing through Phresia''s body. To make matters worse, Dervalos had just activated his bloodline ability, Blood Tide.

    It sucked out the world energy from his surroundings, dispelling Tetrastrophe and turning Howling Rain from a checkmate move to a waste of mana. With no darkness element, the Chaos couldn''t manifest and it would just eat at Vastor who was forced to release it.

    The four undead were now reunited and Vastor was left solely with Spirit Magic. It wouldn''t have been so bad if not for his opponents being all much stronger than him and wearing a full set of enchanted equipment whereas he was in underwear.

    The spacepressing array preventing him from taking anything out of his dimensional ring was the icing on a cake that he had no idea how to swallow.

 Chapter 2771 Enemy Within (Part 1)

    Chapter 2771 Enemy Within (Part 1)

    Vastor already needed every ounce of willpower he could muster to keep the Chaos ravaging his body in check and he also had to change Grimbark''s attack pattern from time to time.

    The children knew nothing about strategy and repetitive attacks were bound to fail against a smart opponent.

    <nulli>''Shit, shit, shit!'' Almost as if it had a mind of its own, Vastor''s Abomination half went on a rampage, requiring more of his focus and slowing his casting speed down.

    The Wendigo focused his cold aura on his body. Without the water element or world energy, he couldn''t emit Chilling Wail on the outside but he could still manifest it through physical contact.

    The Grendel pushed his blood core to the extreme, infusing his spring-like muscles with the Blood Maelstrom to perform a lightning-fast attack. Much to Vastor''s surprise, the Chiropteran jumped back and took the sky.

    He had no need for air magic to fly, hisrge membranous wings more than enough to support his weight thanks to the inhuman strength that undeath bestowed upon him.

    "What the?" Zogar Vastor noticed toote that all the undead but Dervalos had jumped back, leaving the Blood Warlock free to unleash the energy stored by Blood Tide.

    The st caught the Master point-nk, without giving him the time to formte a n or conjure a Spirit Barrier.

    Vastor let his grip on the Abomination side go, to use it as a shield again and gain the focus he needed to counter the follow-up attack that he knew woulde after the st.

    Yet the Chaos suddenly stopped its rampage, suddenly as calm as a tame mare.

    <nulli>''Seriously? What the fuck?'' Vastor''s now pink human skin took the Blood Tide in full, not one single centimeter of his body was spared from the congration.

    He used darkness fusion to block the pain and exploited the extra focus to conjure the Spirit Barrier. Just as he expected, the Grendel, the Chiropteran, and the Wendigo jumped at him while Vastor was still in mid-air, propelled by Blood Tide.

    His ck and violet eyes were boosted by Full Guard which coupled with his rich battle experience granted him the ability to anticipate the trajectory of the iing attacks.

    He used that awareness to focus his mana where the undead were about to strike, hardening the Spirit Barrier solely where necessary.

    s, it wasn''t enough.

    Cunning, battle experience, and power weren''t enough against the enemy within.

    The Abomination side turned from a tame mare to a frenzied bronco, covering his skin in a single instant and almost devouring him.

    Vastor needed all of his willpower to resist the onught. He seeded, but in the process, he lost control of the Spirit Barrier that shattered upon impact.

    The Grendel''s ws crashed through the emerald wall and cut deep into his throat. They severed his jugr vein and carotid artery, stopping only against the bones of his spine.

    The Chiropteran severed the tendons of Vastor''s wrists and legs. Quomar knew that he couldn''t cut the bones with the strength left after overpowering the barrier, but a paralyzed opponent was a dead opponent anyway.

    The Wendigo channeled his frost aura into his fingertips so that when his ws stopped against the Master''s sternum and ribcage, the cold still reached his heart, freezing it.

    Resnian''s ws weren''t long enough to pierce through the organs but they still managed to puncture both the heart and the left lung.

    <nulli>''Even if he''s an Awakened, he can''t breathe anymore. This guy is fucked.'' The Wendigo thought as a huge grin appeared amid the white fur on his face.

    At the same time, Dervalos was conjuring his strongest Blood Spell, Cursed Life.

    The other three undead jumped back in unison, expecting the ckness to counter attack them like it had done to the Wendigo upon the first sh, and they were right.

    The blood spraying from Vastor''s severed throat turned ck and instead of moving like a liquid it coalesced into a gel that stuck the countless drops together and proceeded to reattach the severed flesh.

    The violet light in Vastor''s right eye turned white as his mana core faded. His short, plump body grew taller and leaner, sporting thick long hair on his head.

    "Dad, help!" Frey''s voice reached the battlefield as the undead were getting closer to pry open the Dominator armor. The defensive barrier grew weaker by the second and even Davross couldn''t hold forever while spread over twice its intended size.

    Yet the thing that had reced Vastor didn''t seem to mind, his lips curling up in a savage smile.

    Dervalos unleashed Cursed Life and the smile grew wider.

    The Blood Spell used the water aspect to slip inside every nook and pore of its victims, fire to burn them, earth to tear them apart, air to cut them open, darkness to eat their essence, and light to fasten its own spreading.

    The Abomination just opened his palms, sealing the red tide inside his hands before consuming it with a shiver of pleasure. Blood Magic was akin to Spirit Magic, but filled with life force and blood from the victims of the Blood Warlock.

    The perfect nourishment for an Abomination willing to turn into an Eldritch.

    Meanwhile, inside Vastor''s mind, the Professor of the White Griffon stood in front of the root of all his trouble.

    "Nice to see you again, old man." The young Abomination born from Vastor''s tissues and the samples collected from his hybrid children said. "So nice of you to be stupid enough to believe that you had gotten rid of me so easily."

    Just like during their first battle inside the gene tank, Vastor''s Abomination half had taken the appearance of his dream self whereas the Master looked no different from his physical body.

    The Vastor-Abomination grabbed the still-stunned Professor by the throat and lifted him from the ground, choking and hurting him as if their standoff was taking ce in the real world instead of the Mindscape.

    "It was really arrogant of you to believe to have vanquished me for good. I''m still a part of you. You can''t get rid of me unless you take your own life. Maybe not even then. After all, how can you kill someone who''s already dead?"

    While the Abominationughed with joy, drinking the intoxicating feeling of having finally taken over Vastor''s body, the undead assassins regrouped and strategized.

    "Fuck, we never considered that Vastor could be an Awakened. We killed him just to turn him into an Abomination." Resnian the Wendigo said.

    "We can''t go away like that." Dervalos grunted. "His equipment still bears his imprint and we can''t take the kids while offering our backs to a hungry monster. Newborn Abominations are vicious."

    Everyone nodded at his words.

    "Yet they are also weak and magicless." Quomar the Vampire said. "They are even weaker to darkness magic than us and there''s no one who can use darkness element like us undead."

    At the same time, in the Mindscape, the confrontation between clone and original Vastor continued.

    "This makes no sense. We''ve already fought and I won. I absorbed you." Vastor half spoke and half gasped due to the choke.

 Chapter 2772 Enemy Within (Part 2)

    Chapter 2772 Enemy Within (Part 2)

    "Indeed." The Abomination snarled at the memory of its humiliating defeat and exposed a row of white, pointy teeth made of Decay. "You broke me down into many small pieces but I had all the time I needed to rebuild myself.

    "At that point, I just had to take the passenger seat in your life and wait for the right opportunity. Whenever you practiced your spells, I learned from you. Whenever your so-called children, my parents, passed their knowledge onto you, I learned from them as well.

    "While you wasted your time ying family, I worked my ass off to find your weak points in both mind and body." The Vastor-Abomination''sughter was joyless, filled only with spite and cruelty.

    "You should have wondered why over time controlling your Abomination half became harder to control instead of easier. It was because I was learning how to counter your will and rece it with mine.

    "You have no idea how many times I''ve tried to possess you in your sleep and kill that sack of flesh, Zurya." Hearing the clone threaten Zinya and diss her by not even remembering her name filled Vastor with rage.

    Yet rage was useless against a being much stronger than him that had already exploited Vastor''s weakened and battered body to rece his willpower and energy.

    "Too bad that you always kept that damned staff close by. Whenever I was about to take over at night, you would grab the staff and kick me back to the curb. Even in your sleep, you were a massive pain in the ass!

    "Not even these pesky undead would have been enough to bring you down if I hadn''t messed with you the whole time. I had to bring our ck and bright violet core out of synch and keep you distracted just for those morons to hurt you enough to lose control over me."

    Vastor gasped, realizing why back at the deep violet he had stood against Baba Yaga, and now at the bright violet he had experienced so much difficulty handling undead without a full red blood core.

    "It''s over, old man." The Vastor-Abomination clone said. "Our throat is cut, our limbs are crippled, and our heart is frozen. I''m the only thing keeping us alive. Surrender now and you have my word that once I deal with the undead, I won''ty a hand on your precious kids.

    "Your life in exchange for theirs. It''s a fair deal."

    Vastor needed but a thought to assess the conditions of his body and mana core. Time in the Mindscape was slowed down, but only to the point that it allowed him to better take in how desperate the situation was.

    Without anyone bothering them anymore, the undead in the back line were almost done cracking the Dominator armor and the Yggdrasill staff was out of spells.

    The decision he had to take was as painful as it was obvious.

    "No." Vastor replied, his voice reduced to a hiss as he clenched his right hand around the Abomination''s wrist and started to squeeze it as strongly as he could.

    "No?" The Abomination echoed in disbelief.

    In the real world, the undead charged at the Abomination, raining tier five darkness-based spells mixed with other elements. Final Sunset, Burial Ground, Dark Ages, and more darted at the Vastor-clone from every direction.

    The creature smirked, raising his hands to dispel such trifling spells with a wave of Chaos yet nothing happened. His smile turned into a confused expression and the spells hit their mark with surgical precision, not one iota of darkness gone to waste.

    "No." Vastor repeated. "I''m not going to surrender. I''m tired of failing. Tired of giving up just because the task at hand seems hard. I''m done losing."

    The battered body of the Abomination now bore several holes big enough to see through them. He tried to escape but the perfect teamwork of the undead coupled with their numerical advantage locked him in a perfect trap.

    More spells struck the dumbfounded creature whose spells and bloodline abilities kept failing him.

    "So nice of you to be stupid enough to believe that you were the only one capable of messing with our body. Keyword, our." Vastor said with a sneer, his grip tightening as the Abomination''s loosened.

    "What are you doing?" The clone was going crazy due to the pain from the wounds and the psychic struggle. "I told you already. I''m the only thing keeping us alive. If you keep up like this, we''ll both die!"

    "So be it." Vastor replied, taking a third volley of tier five spells without so much as a grunt. "If that happens, I won''t lose. We are just going to settle for a draw."

    "A draw? Are you insane?"The Abomination whined, his knees buckling until Vastor''s feet touched the ground again. "There''s no victory in death, just oblivion."

    "But there''s no defeat either." Vastor let go of the Abomination''s wrist, moving his hand onto the clone''s throat. "If I die, it''s going to be because I refuse to yield to a piece of trash like you.

    "Right now, the undead are my instrument against you and you are my only enemy."

    "You don''t understand." The Vastor-Abomination''s voice turned hoarse from the increasingly strong hold in the Mindscape while in the real world, another volley of darkness spells sted more holes open in the Chaos thatprised his body.

    "Our form is in tatters. We are alive only because I have no vitals. You have to release me and let me use my powers. There''s no other way out of this."

    "No." Vastor looked down at his clone, further tightening his grip and bringing their faces centimeters away. "There''s no guarantee that you''re going to give up on control after that and as I said, I''m done losing. I''m not going to lose anything and anyone ever again."

    The Master could hear the children screaming, their voices giving him the strength to fight for them and also for himself.

    "You truly are a pathetic being." As he spoke, the essence of the clone was ripped apart by Vastor''s will and absorbed by his telepathic projection. "You im to have learned my secrets while looking at Mogar through my eyes, yet clearly you''ve learned nothing.

    "You hid yourself like a coward all this time, avoiding any struggle and pain by using me as a shield. You''ve deluded yourself into believing that my power is your own, but you are wrong. So wrong."

    "I am right!" The Vastor-Clone fought with all of his strength but he could only slow down the inevitable. "It''s not your power. It''s our power. I am a part of you."

    Between the agony from the grievous wounds caused by the undead and Vastor''s relentless onught, the mind of the Abomination faltered. His willpower flickered with every injury he suffered while his essence and consciousness were devoured by the short, insignificant man in front of him.

    "Wrong again." Vastor clenched his hand so tight that his fingers almost touched his thumb. "You are not a part of me. You are a tool I''ve created. A means to an end. A war dog bred only to be sicked at my enemies.

    "It''s time I teach you once and for all who holds the leash." Vastor opened his mouth wide, biting the Abomination''s head.

 Chapter 2773 Green Light (Part 1)

    Chapter 2773 Green Light (Part 1)

    The Chaos entity was torn, shredded, and assimted in a way no different from real food. Everything was happening in the Mindscape so the significance of the event was clear.

    Vastor wasn''t fusing with his Abomination half nor was he asking to borrow its strength. The Master was consuming the rogue part of his body, destroying it so that where once there were two now there was one.

    The Vastor-Clone struggled to break free, yet he failed. The Abomination was a feral beast, hungry for power for power''s sake. He had no goal or ambition aside from bing the strongest on Mogar and turning the entire into his ything.

    His body coursed with the power of the Eldritchs and through Vastor''s memories he had the same magical expertise as the god of the battlefield. Yet none of those things belonged to the Abomination.

    He reaped the fruits of the Master''s efforts without enduring any of the challenges that Vastor had ovee to achieve them and that made the clone''s willpower as frail as paper.

    Every wound he suffered made the Abomination waver, pain burned his mind into cinders because he was as empty as his dreams. The Abomination was a predator who had never been challenged and had no idea how to deal with failure.

    Vastor, instead, was just a man. A man with plenty of ws and weaknesses, but with the will and the determination to ovee them. It made him like steel, tougher with every hit he withstood.

    Pain burned at Vastor as well, but it tempered him, making him more focused. Making him more deadly.

    As thest bit of the clone disappeared down his throat, the Master regained control over his body and released a primordial roar. With no more interference from his other half, his bright violet and ck core worked in unison.

    The Chaos no longer posed a threat to his flesh, answering his everymand like the mana flowing through his body.

    <nulli>''The bastard was right. I can''t go back to my human form like this.'' Vastor thought, conjuring the tier five Chaos spell, Hungry Void.

    A ck sphere wrapped around him, absorbing the iing volley of spells. The Chaos of the barrier neutralized the darknessponent of the undead''s spells and fed upon the other elements of which they wereprised.

    Vastor used that time to conjure more Chaos energy, using it to rebuild his body before shapeshifting back into human form.

    "Dad!" Nothing could pierce through Hungry Void but Frey''s voice did.

    Vastor dropped the shield, charging at the position of the children with the speed of a bullet.

    s, with the world energy back, the Wendigo''s cold aura slowed him down enough for the Grendel to reach him from behind and swat Vastor down like a fly. Even with the Chaos at the Master''s beck and call, his body was exhausted from the wounds he had suffered.

    His mana was spent and his mind weary from the battle in the Mindscape with his clone. With no spells at the ready, he was just an Awakened human.

    <nulli>''What can I do? Think, Vastor, think. I didn''t just beat myself into submission just to lose against a bunch of leeches.'' Even while on all fours and panting like a bellows, the Master racked his brain for a solution.

    <nulli>''My two cores work together, but part of my mana is constantly wasted to keep the Chaos under control because it has no damn counter-'' The argument was old, Vastor had spent countless hours debating it with the other Abomination hybrids.

    Yet the condition of his ck core was brand new.

    He no longer had to fight to keep it under control. After devouring his other half and destroying its mind, the cursed energy answered the Master''s call with the same meekness of his regr mana.

    Vastor got back to his feet with a kip-up and pushed the Grendel back with a flurry of fists, using body casting as fast as he could. Yet he weaved no offensive spell, only Body Sculpting.

    His Master Scalpel spell altered his life force, bringing the two cores closer until they almost touched. Usually, it would have been a suicidal move, the bottomless hunger of Chaos was supposed to devour the helpless mana.

    What happened, instead, was Vastor controlling both of his cores so that the ck core emitted a single tendril of energy, reaching the mana core.

    There, it sucked the light from the darkness of Vastor''s mana flow, turning it into more Chaos. At that point, Vastor used the newborn Chaos of his mana core to fight the tendril off while his mana core reached a new equilibrium.

    Instead of using the light element to stave off the spreading of the Chaos, Vastor used the remaining darkness element of his core until there wasn''t enough to provide the light element with its counterpart, turning it into Decay.

    It was supposed to throw the bnce of the elements inside his mana core into disarray but thanks to the tendril of Chaos, it was stable. The Chaos of the ck core finally had a counterpart that kept it in check, not by suppressing his power but by synergizing with it.

    The two cores ovepped just enough so that the ck core kept the segment of the violet core that had turned into Decay stable. At the same time, the segment fed the Chaos with Decay, creating a perfect bnce.

    A new, unprecedented bnce.

    Vastor''s core was perfect and consisted of all elements.

    Had Xenagrosh tried the same thing, her troll core and ck core would have simply devoured each other. What made Vastor''s experiment a sess was the fact that the Chaos no longer struggled and that his core wasprised of all six elements.

    Light and darkness naturally coexisted inside of it and filtered both Chaos and Decay, acting each as a buffer against the other and stabilizing them as a result.

    A small green pir and another ck one erupted from Vastor''s body, quickly followed by two bigger ones respectively descending from the sky and emerging from the ground.

    The Master could feel the air around him be filled with so much world energy that he could finally Chaos Warp through the spacepressing array and move right beside the children before the undead could crack the Dominator armor open.

    The pirs kept spreading in every direction, pushing everyone away but the Dominator armor, its quivering guests, and the Yggdrasil staff. The equipment carried Vastor''s energy signature so the green pir just washed over it.

    "Green?" Dervalos said in utter disbelief, the rest of the undead too shocked to do more than stand with their mouth open. "Golden is for beasts, orange for nt folk, silver is for whatever Verhen is. What does a green pir mean?"

    If Tezka the Suneater had been there, he could have answered the question. He was old enough to remember thest time a green pir had appeared. Thest time a human had undergone evolution, turning into a Tyrant.

    <nulli>''Magnificent.'' Mogar stared at the old Professor, bestowing upon him her favor in the form of all the energy and matter he needed to survive the process.

 Chapter 2774 Green Light (Part 2)

    Chapter 2774 Green Light (Part 2)

    <nulli>''It''s been a long time since a human relinquished their ego for my sake. This man has found a way to evolve on his own, with no help on my side until this moment. He even managed to do it from the lowest point possible.

    <nulli>''He turned the only fallen species I have given up on into a new race.'' Under the eye of Mogar, the ckness of the Chaos spread over the Abomination''s body disappeared, reced by the pink, soft skin of Zogar Vastor.

    As he screamed in determination, perfecting his form with the Master Scalpel spell, the Chaos energy left condensed on his left shoulder de.

    From there, it sprouted into a ck feathered wing, filled to the brim with the Cursed Element. Feeling the sudden imbnce, Vastor tapped into the Decayponent of his core, making a pristine white wing emerge from his right shoulder de.

    The wings countered each other, one sucking the light element and giving the darkness to the other and vice versa. Chaos fueled Decay, Decay fueled Chaos, and they both kept each other stable.

    The violet light disappeared from Zogar Vastor''s right eye, taking the white of the Decay while his left eye burned with ck mana.

    <nulli>''Too bad that the Master infected himself with Abomination tissues.'' Mogar sighed. <nulli>''I had really hoped to see a Fomor, for once. That''s the path I had assumed humans would take whereas this is something different.''

    The watched as Vastor''s teeth became sharp, his nails turned into short ws, and his ears pointy.

    <nulli>''Oh well, this is much more interesting.'' They shrugged. <nulli>''I bet that my Guardians will regret missing this. The rebirth of Zogar Vastor, the Master of the Fallen Eldritches, into the first of the Arisen.''

    The moment the undead had kidnapped the Master and the kids, the rm had resounded inside the Vastor Household and the Organization had started looking for them. The undead didn''t have the time to rx the space after the Warp Array which had left a trace.

    Unfortunately, using dimensional diagnostic spells while the Corps, the city guards, and the Corpse were still around would have been impossible. Tezka had lost precious time hiding from the crowd and avoiding to draw attention to himself since there was no way to exin his presence there.

    At least not without exposing the bond between Professor Vastor and the Dimensional Magus.

    "Great Mother almighty." Tezka the Suneater said while emerging from his Chaos Warp just in time to witness thest bit of the green pir disappear. "This isn''t evolution. This is apotheosis."

    With his double core, Vastor had long since surpassed the limits of the bright violet but what Tezka felt was a whole new level. Something that brought the old Professor into the realm of the white cores.

    The Master was still much weaker than the Suneater, but he could also feel that Vastor''s aura was no different from the wailing that apanied the birth of a new life form.

    Before the green pir faded away, Vastor touched Grimbark briefly and filled it with new spells while he got ustomed to his new body. He mostly looked the same as before but he felt nothing like it.

    At the same time, hearing the staff humming with power and seeing the armor fixing all the cracks on its surface made Filia and Frey sigh in relief.

    "Dad?" For the first time since they had been kidnapped, the word didn''t hold fear, sounding like a question rather than a plea for help.

    "I''m okay, kids. Don''t worry. Everything is going to be okay." Vastor''s voice was calm and soothing.

    For some reason, Filia knew that he was telling the truth. There was a finality in his words that reassured her. The girl felt calm enough from the beginning of that ordeal to try something.

    Friya wasn''t the only one who had watched at the fight between Tezka and Sark, learning from them. The Yggdrasill wood made that lesson even clearer, making countless thoughts that she had never had before pop into her mind.

    Filia tried and failed to follow her sudden inspiration, but her mana core was too weak to cast even a cantrip. Then, she tried to guide the flow of energy of Grimbark, using the mana crystals to make up for her own weakness.

    The staff was programmed to assist her but her will was untrained and her mana insufficient for the task.

    "Frey, I need your help." She said. "This is what I want to do¡­"

    Her brother grabbed the staff as well, gaining the insight and wits to understand what his sister was talking about and how to do it. They pushed together, weaving a very small Loop spell.

    The entry and exit points were just a few millimeters away from each other, but close enough to look past the Davross shielding them.

    Vastor took a step forward, spreading a circle of light as he moved.

    The Grendel, empowered by a second bolt of Blood Maelstrom, was the first to reach the Master. He lunged his ws at the human''s throat, only for his knife hand to be grabbed right before it could reach its target.

    "Begone." Vastor pulled Phresia''s hand down while also punching at his chest with his right.

    This time, a ck circle appeared but it closed in, the energy drawn instead of emitted. The darkness element was sucked by the ck wing, turned into Chaos, and then channeled inside Vastor''s fist.

    The blow was so strong that the Grendel''s chest caved in and his wrist broke. It also injected the Chaos straight inside his body, ravaging it from the inside.

    The white circle had been a mix between a diagnostic spell and a breathing technique. The Master had employed his original creation to send his mana inside the undead assassins and find the exact location of their respective weak points.

    The ck circle, instead, was simply meant to gather the strength necessary to destroy them.

    Even though Lith and Vastor had both recently evolved there was a huge difference between them.

    While Lith belonged to a new species and had practiced high tiered magic for just seven years, Vastor had spent decades mastering the elements and studying the Eldritches of his Organization.

    While Lith worked alone with Solus, the Master could count on the help of some of the most powerful and ancient beings on Mogar. The Eldritches had all shared their millennia of knowledge with him.

    They had allowed Vastor to study their Chaos forms and he was the one who had devised a way to grant them the power of their newfound hybrid bodies. Bodies that he had thoroughly studied, learning how their old and new abilities worked and how to use them.

    He shared with his children whatever he discovered and they did the same with him, in a virtuous cycle that had deepened the Master''s understanding of the Cursed Elements beyond what even those who had learned Mirror Magic knew.

    Vastor''s body might be brand new, but to him, the experience was no different from that of an engineer driving a new car of which he had designed every singleponent.

 Chapter 2775 Old Monster (Part 1)

    Chapter 2775 Old Monster (Part 1)

    The Master released his grip on the Grendel''s wrist, stepping forward with his right foot while delivering a body blow with his left fist. The Grendel''s side burst open like a balloon, the sheer force of the impact sent him flying like a rag doll.

    "What the fuck?" Quomar the Vampire said in shock.

    Undead had no Life Vision so they had no way to have an exact measure of the strength of their opponent. They relied on their predatory instinct to gauge their enemies and right now, their instinct was warning them.

    "How can a human be this strong? I can feel that his mana is off the chart but his mass is unchanged!" He said, and he was wrong.

    Vastor had evolved and was no longer a human. The green pir had nurtured his body during the change, providing him with the nutrients he needed to achieve a mass simr to that of an Emperor Beast.

    An Emperor Beast with two cores now partially fused together that released an energy greater than the sum of the single parts.

    The bits of the Grendel reassembled themselves while the mana and life force inside of him tried to neutralize the Chaos and failed. The undead burst into ck mes that reached his heart and core, turning him into a pile of ashes.

    The undead that had kept themselves at a safe distance, targeting the Dominator armor and the Yggdrasill staff while their most powerful members dealt with the old Professor, unleashed a new volley of darkness-based spells.

    Their goal was to buy the advanced team time to regroup and recover while also putting pressure on the Master. He could either dodge and let the armor suffer another series of sts or waste mana to protect the kids.

    Either way, the undead woulde one step closer to their goal.

    Davross was sturdy and could repair itself quickly but with every cycle, it lost durability. Even with its elemental crystals fueling the Dominator armor, it cost the artifact a great deal neutralizing so many tier five spells without letting the kids suffer any harm.

    If Vastor took the spells himself, instead, the strain would keep him from using his breathing technique and make him easier prey for the surviving assassins.

    s, they had no idea how evolved humans worked and failed to grasp the significance of the Master''s now-ck eye.

    As Vastor inhaled, Mogar seemed to slow down. His eye differentiated between the various spells even if they partially ovepped and showed him the focus points where the willpower of their casters was stored.

    <nulli>''I see. This works no differently from arrays.'' As a Highmaster, he had plenty of experience dealing with magical formations.

    During the past decades, he had no mystical sense like Life Vision so Vastor had developed such keen mana perception that he needed no spell to determine the position of a spell''s focus points.

    <nulli>''If I break the power nodes, the spells will copse but what if I inject my mana and willpower?'' With a wave of his hand, he reced the energy signature of the undead with his own, turning a deadly swarm into a pack of loyal dogs.

    The spells phased through the Master and dodged the children. The undead died with a smile on their face, without even the time to understand what had happened.

    "Now it''s only you and me, scum." Vastor tuned to the three remaining assassins. "Do your worst."

    The Wendigo focused all of his cold aura into his hands, dealing a double palm strike against the Master who didn''t even bother defending himself. The Chiropteran lunged at Vastor''s heart from behind, filling his ws with spells ready to explode from inside his target''s body.

    As for Dervalos, he charged both himself and his equipment with Blood Maelstrom before lunging forward with his enchanted spear, Nailbiter.

    The Wendigo bounced back, falling butt-first on the ground while the Chiropterannded with the grace of a bag of bricks over one meter away from Vastor. Nailbiter reached the Master, but its point just pressed against his skin without dealing any damage.

    "How does it feel?" Vastor asked as the shocked men around him panted heavily while looking at their pink, trembling hands. "How does it feel being alive after so long?"

    Both the Wendigo and the Vampire were back into their human form, covered in sweat as fear turned their hearts into frenzied drums. The Blood Warlock felt the weight of his equipment crushing him, the red bolts fading away.

    Undead knew the importance of mass in a fight so they wore heavy equipment suited for much bigger beings. Over time, their natural strength would exceed that of Emperor Beast so they didn''t even need to use weight reduction enchantments.

    To make matters worse, the energy signature of a blood core was slightly different from that of a mana core. The transformation had jammed the bond between artifacts and owners and the worst part was that the three men couldn''t imprint their equipment again.

    The artifacts still bore their undead energy signature and their masters were literally alive. With their owner still present and a steady supply of energy, the original imprint remained.

    The problem was that the enchanted items failed to recognize their masters and treated them as thieves. It would take just a few minutes for the power cores to adapt to the slight change in the energy signature but none of the former undead believed to have more than a few seconds left.

    "How does it feel to be just a human?" A simple backhand p knocked several teeth off Quomar''s mouth, crushed his nose, and twisted his neck enough to break it.

    Unfortunately for him, the Master also imbued a healing spell in his hand so that the damage wouldn''t be deadly.

    "Is it still funny taking on people who can''t fight back?" Vastor grabbed the wrist of Phresia the Grendel again, performing a precise series of strikes that shattered every bone from the fingers to the shoulder socket.

    Phresia thought it was the worst pain he had ever felt but only until Vastor grabbed the other arm and evened them out.

    "Come on, have a goodugh like you did before." The Master spread a frozen aura of his own, letting Resnian the Wendigo experience the same deathly cold that had apanied his first demise and that of all of his victims.

    Resnian''s fingers and toes froze and fell off, hot blood pouring out of the stump. The warm life essence dispelled the cold and the numbed limbs experienced the pain of the muttion.

    Vastor kept hitting and healing them, the Chaos destroying as quickly as the Decay healed so that no wound, no matter how deadly, could finish his victims off.

    Tezka stared in pride and amazement as the Master deepened his control over his newfound abilities. Decay made grass and flowers sprout from the nutritious blood drops fertilizing the soil, growing them quickly.

    The moment the nts reached maturity, Chaos seeped inside of them as well, restoring the elemental bnce without a single leaf withering.

    "I hope you appreciate my gift." Vastor said. "This is the tier four spell, Full-Course Meal, of myte friend Krishna Manohar."

 Chapter 2776 Old Monster (Part 2)

    Chapter 2776 Old Monster (Part 2)

    "Your beloved Undead King took him away from me just like you tried to take my children away. I''m going to do to you everything I would have done to him if only Meln had the guts to fight me in person instead of using one of his pathetic clones."

    Manohar had devised Full-Course Meal to fix the imbnce in an undead''s blood core for a brief period of time, turning them back into living beings and making them easier to kill.

    The spell owed its name to the fact that the god of healing overfed the blood core with light element without caring for its natural equilibrium. When light overpowered the darkness element, an undead would regain their mortality but also lose their powers.

    Vastor had upgraded the spell, making itst longer, and added the slight alteration to the life force to ensure that his victims would be incapable of using any magical item they had brought with them.

    It was the perfect means to capture and interrogate undead.

    Right now, however, the Master wasn''t interested in anything but inflicting pain upon the assassins. The power overflowing through his core drove his emotions to their apex, making his bloodthirst a siren he couldn''t deny.

    "Dad, stop it!" At least until Frey and Filia got free from the Dominator armor and tackled him with the little strength they had.

    The Master''s instinctive reaction was of fury, his ck and white eye burning with the Cursed Elements while his wings unfurled menacingly.

    "Please, stop." Frey was crying out of fear.

    Not because of the undead or because he was afraid that Vastor might him, but because the boy was scared of what his step-father was bing right under his eyes.

    After witnessing Lith''s shapeshifting, living with Tezka and the other hybrids, and meeting dozens of Divine Beasts, the changes to the Master''s body were far from dreadful.

    Under more peaceful circumstances, the kids would have considered their father to have be even cooler and would have probably paraded him to the rest of their family.

    "You promised to protect us and you did it. We are safe now. Please, stop hurting the bad guys." Frey clung to Vastor''s leg who tried to shrug him off but the boy resisted.

    "Listen to Frey, Dad." Filia pulled at Vastor''s right arm from the other side, forcing him to look at her. "Fighting in self-defense is okay. They tried to kidnap us and you defeated them. To keep hitting them after they surrendered is just cruel.

    "Please, stop. I don''t want you to turn into a monster. I don''t want you to turn into Fal- Fallmug!" Saying that name made Filia shudder and her stomach churn.

    Vastor couldn''t understand why she was crying or the reason she would give a damn about those retched creatures until he stopped looking at the scene through his fury and started looking at it from their eyes.

    The assassins were lying on the ground, their bodies torn and mutted. There was blood everywhere, painting the ground around the Master and the Master himself red. Vastor looked at his own bloodied hands and chest, finally realizing how he had to appear to the children.

    "You are better than this, Dad." Frey sobbed. "Please, do the right thing. Let thew deal with them."

    Vastor gritted his teeth, disgusted by himself and by the gruesome show he had forced the kids to witness.

    "You are right, kids." He said with a heavy sigh. "I''m sorry for making you worry. You have my word that I''ll deal with them ording to thew."

    A wave of his hand generated a pulse of darkness magic that cleaned him. The Dominator armor answered the Master''s call, covering him up and turning back into his Professor uniform while Grimbark flew into his hand.

    "After all, I''m Zogar Vastor. Archduke of Essagor and Spellbreaker of the Kingdom. I am thew. For the crimes of attempted murder of an Archmage of the Kingdom and the attempted murder of his children, I sentence you to imprisonment.

    "You''ll be thoroughly interrogated and once I''ve squeezed from you everything you know, I''ll carry your death sentence."

    "Wait!" Dervalos said, raising his hands in submission. "We didn''t mean to harm the children. The n was-"

    "To rid Mogar of hunger and bring world peace." The Master cut him off with a scoff. "Save your breath for the interrogation. Right now, you''d say anything to save your skin."

    "You bet!" Dervalos grinned, thankful for the timely save.

    ''The old monster was too worried consoling the runts to notice that his spell is fading quickly. By killing my associates, Vastor has also dispelled the spacepressing array so we can Warp out of here!'' He actually thought.

    There was a brief moment while Full-Course Meal faded when light, darkness, and life force were bnced in a blood core. During that time, an undead reached perfection.

    No more weakness to the darkness element, no more restrictions upon using the light element, and they would be immune to sunlight. It was the reason Manohar killed the reverted undead on the spot instead of interrogating them.

    That and because he was afraid to learn something that would lead to another mission and spend more time away from hisb. Vastor''s upgraded version was no different and the assassins exploited his fatherly concern to run away.

    Stronger than they had ever been, the three survivors of the assault team healed their bodies and cast a Warp Steps leading as far as their boosted blood core allowed. They jumped into the dimensional corridor, each in a different direction so that even if the Master reacted, it would have been impossible for him to catch them all.

    At least one of them would survive. At least one of them would return to the Undead Courts and reveal to them the true identity of their nemesis and leader of the Organization.

    <nulli>''Once exposed to the Kingdom, the Organization will be too busy dealing with the aftermath, losing power and turf while we''ll-'' Or so Resnian the Wendigo thought until he mmed against something very hard standing right in front of the Warp Steps.

    The impact sent him tumbling onto the ground despite his temporarily boosted strength. Much to his surprise, the same thing happened to his colleagues.

    "Nice try." Tezka the Suneater tutted while standing on the other side of Resnian''s dimensional door.

    He stood in front of all three dimensional doors, blocking them with his massive body. With plenty of time and no distraction, bending the Steps so that they would have the same exit point was a walk in the park for the inventor of Dimensional Magic.

    "Escape is not an option. You should have thought twice before attacking our children." The Fylgja growled as many Chaos Gates appeared behind him, bringing the rest of the hybrids to the party.

    The Blood Warlock was wrong all along. Vastor had never lowered his guard nor did he forget about Full-Course Meal''s duration. Once he had calmed down, he noticed both the kids and Tezka.

    At that point, he knew that unless the Guardians of Garlen decided to intervene it was over.

 Chapter 2777 Due Process (Part 1)

    Chapter 2777 Due Process (Part 1)

    "Your children?" Dervalos repeated in disbelief.

    "Yes, our children." Xenagrosh the Final Smile snarled, her form flickering between human, Dragon, and her old Abomination form.

    She had always liked Zinya''s children and the bond with the Master made her love them. Yet after Elysia''s birth, her maternal instinct was cranked up to eleven. Her unbridled fury was so great that it suppressed Bytra''s blood madness.

    "Our children." Nandi, or better, Kimbug the Bloody Abyss, said after emerging from another portal.

    Quomar the Vampire couldn''t believe his own eyes as all the worst nightmares on Mogar seemed to havee to life just to pay him a visit.

    "We''ll take it from here, Lord Vastor." Tezka jokingly gave the salute before grabbing an undead with each of his tails. "Please, do try and run away. We love ourselves a good chase."

    His lips curled up in something too cruel to call it a smile.

    The Suneater''s eyes were filled with delight and promises of endless pain. Once they got away from Filia and Frey, there would be nothing stopping the hybrids from picking up from where Vastor had left off.

    The Abominations needed no reason to torture the undead, a pretext was more than enough. The three assassins slumped, praying to the gods that by cooperating their suffering wouldn''tst too long.

    Tezkapped the kids, hugging them to reassure them with his warm fur. Then, he waved them goodbye and disappeared, his anger reaching new heights after checking how bad the scare had been.

    The rest of the hybrids followed his example, reassuring Filia and Frey and then leaving.

    "I think we are still in time to catch the final act of the fireworks." Vastor said after checking his pocket watch. "Do you want to go back to Ustar or do you want to go home?"

    "Home!" Filia and Frey said in unison, stopping from sipping the hot chocte that Bytra had offered them for a second. "I want to tell Mom what happened and show everyone how cool you''ve be, Dad."

    "Home it is, my boy." Vastor smiled, caressing Frey''s head and feeling moved by his sincere admiration.

    He checked their current coordinates via his army amulet and after reporting about solving the situation by himself, the Master opened a Chaos Steps that would bring them to the nearest Warp Gate.

    <nulli>''Whatever I am, whatever I''m bing, I won''t let my past taint my family. I may not be worthy of being a father, but I will.''

    ***

    Back to the Vastor Mansion, Zinya was utterly terrified hearing what had happened but the kids spoke about the little they had spectated of the fight with so much enthusiasm that she could only smile and nod.

    <nulli>''Thest thing they need is to realize how dangerous the situation was and be scarred for life.'' She thought.<nulli> ''It''s better to let them think it was some kind of adventure and hope that time would smother the horror of the experience.

    <nulli>''This way, when they understand the truth, maybe it won''t hit them as hard as it should.''

    Lith, Kam, and the rest of the Verhens had been invited as well, mostly because Filia and Frey wanted to brag about their father. Surrounded by the warmth of their home and family while clinging to Tezka''s fur, even the most dramatic parts of the kidnapping didn''t seem so bad anymore.

    The Suneater was back in his pet form, a bit pissed off for missing the fun in the basement but otherwise happy with the oue. The rest of the Eldritches had even worn Constable uniforms to keep Vastor''s promise about doing things by thew.

    "All we promise you is due process." Kigan said in between Chaos spells. "And when I say process, I mean dposition process. The roses of the Lady of the house grow best with fresh undead ashes."

    Aran and Leria were envious of their friends, garnering them a big scolding from their respective parents.

    "There''s nothing to be envious about!" Raaz said, incapable of believing his own ears. "Filia and Frey got kidnapped and it''s only thanks to Zogar that nothing bad happened."

    "Isn''t that the same thing that always happens with Lith?" Aran countered pointedly.

    "Yeah, but we always miss all the action." Leria pouted. "You didn''t even bring us to watch the fight between Grandma and Uncle Doggie. Why do Filia and Frey get to see amazing stuff while we are locked in the house?"

    Tezka chuckled at being called a dog andughed hard at the rest.

    "That''s my fault, sorry. I only had a limited number of guests I could invite and familyes first." The Suneater said.

    Aran and Leria nodded and dropped the arguments since the only person they could me was Sark but they loved their grandma too much to bother her with such a small thing.

    "Come on, Dad. Show them." Frey tugged at Vastor''s arm.

    "Sure, but please, take a few steps back first. I''m not used to this yet and I''d hate it if someone were to get hurt." The Master handed the Yggdrasill staff to Zinya, which helped her to notice how his skin wasn''t turning ck anymore and heightened her mind.

    They exchanged a brief nod, implying that he would tell her the full storyter and away from impressionable ears.

    Vastor took a deep breath, using his breathing technique, Beyonder''s Eye, to study his new life force and focus on it as a whole instead of the red thread that carried the remaining melody of his previous form.

    A regr human''s life force looked like a mannequin built out of lego blocks and an erector set. The life force of the newly evolved Arisen, instead, looked like a humanoid dollprised of colored threads.

    There were red threads that originated from the residual human life force, white threads coursing with Decay, ck threads of Chaos, and grey threads that stood inactive.

    They carried no energy and acted as a buffer, keeping the red threads separated from the Cursed Elements. Vastor''s life force still closely resembled that of a human but it had already lost most of its previous rigid structure.

    Not only did the threads work as better conductors for the elemental energy but they could also be freely rearranged, making shapeshifting easier.

    Both Lith and Vastor assumed that, if an Arisen worked in a simr fashion to the other evolved humans like the Fomor, then he was likely to develop more eyes and maybe even more wings as his cores fused.

    The only thing they were certain about was that Vastor''s evolution had just started and it still had a way to go. The most peculiar thing about the Arisen''s life force was that the different colored threads were woven to form something that was still unclear due to the red and grey being dominant.

    <nulli>''Who knows, maybe they''ll assume a moreplex shape like Elysia''s and Lith''s life force. Or maybe once the process isplete, the various threads will merge together to form something entirely different from a human.

    <nulli>''Only time will tell.'' Vastor thought.

    His cores closed in again, using the darkness element of his mana core as a buffer in order to turn the light element into Decay safely.

 Chapter 2778 Due Process (Part 2)

    Chapter 2778 Due Process (Part 2)

    As soon as Chaos and Decay reached a perfect bnce, the ck and white wings sprouted from his back, sizzling their way through the Dominator armor.

    The artifact hadn''t been devised to cover the new limbs nor did it have in-built openings for the wings. Vastor did his best to shapeshift the armor out of the way but he was inexperienced and had only a vague idea of their size.

    "The elemental eyes are typical of evolved humans but this is the first time that I see them charged with Cursed Elements instead of the regr ones." Lith ignored the other changes, deeming them irrelevant.

    "Do they have some special ability?"

    "Sort of." The Master shrugged. He had never heard about Domination nor had he received any formal training. "I could see the focus points of the enemies'' spells and rece their will with my own.

    "It was weird, but it allowed me to hijack them and turn the spells against their casters."

    Lith nodded, his poker face hiding his surprise under a confused expression.

    <nulli>''Fuck me sideways, this is the first time I heard about something like this.'' He thought. <nulli>''My eyes, Morok''s, and Lyra''s can''t do anything like that and she''s a Fomor. I wonder how different Zogar has be from a human.''

    Vastor then exined to them how the synergy between his cores, wings, and eyes granted him the ability to collect elemental energy and weave it in a spell within moments.

    "The only annoying thing about this is that after all the hard work to lose weight, I gained it back one hundred-fold!" He sighed.

    Luckily for him, he already knew about Gravity Fusion, but it would take the Master a while to get used to his new mass and then neutralize it with fusion magic.

    "Don''t worry, dear, you look amazing." Zinya hugged him. "With your shining wings, you look like a god descended from the sky. Can I touch them?"

    "Wait a second." Vastor took a step back and then put a flower on each of his wings. "Chaos and Decay are highly destructive. There''s a good chance that prolonged contact is harmful."

    After a few seconds, the flowers were still there. Two minutester, the suspense was long gone and reced by boredom.

    "Can I touch them now?" Zinya asked.

    "One second." The Master made his mana circte through the wings, making them shine with elemental power.

    Yet nothing happened again. The Cursed Elements were contained by the wings and wouldn''t emit more than light unless he willed so.

    "Okay, knock yourself out." Zinya, the kids, and Kam took the offer. "I meant¡­ never mind."

    He still felt awkward about his new condition and had assumed that only his wife would touch him. Being groped by so many people wasn''t part of the n.

    "There are no elemental veins here." Aran checked the feathers'' front and back. "I count this as my brother''s win."

    "No, it''s not!" Frey replied. "Lith''s wings aren''t better, just different."

    "Frey is right." Elina intervened to nip the new Blood War in the bud. "We are all friends here and this is nopetition."

    "Okay, fine." Leria pouted. "Then who''s stronger?"

    "Do you really want us to fight just for that?" Lith replied. "What if we get hurt?"

    "Dya." Elysia nodded, finding the matter ridiculous.

    "I changed my mind." Aran went pale at the idea and so did Frey. "I don''t care who''s stronger."

    Filia was tempted to unt her sess in casting the Loop spell, but she closed her mouth without saying anything.

    <nulli>''Even if Uncle Tezka is right and I do have talent, that was not my doing. Without the Yggdrasill staff, I don''t even remember how I did it and without its power, I would never manage to do it again.

    <nulli>''Mom makes a fuss every time I ask her about Awakening so there''s no point talking about something I don''t understand and can''t practice.'' She inwardly sighed, keeping her chagrin hidden to not ruin the moment for the others.

    After a while, everyone returned home via the Vastor Household''s Gate.

    "I know it''s supposed to be your day off, but please, don''t leave their side tonight." Zinya said to Tezka after tucking the kids in their beds. "If they have nightmares, I want them to have someone looking after them until my arrival."

    "No problem." The Suneater was a bit puzzled by the request since the master bedroom was close by. Also, he pondered why she was still holding Grimbark, but he just shrugged his doubts off.

    "I''m sorry." Those were the first words that Vastor said to her when Zinya entered the room. "I''ve put your children in danger. Again."

    He was sitting on the bed, his head down and his shoulders slouched.

    "Also, I''m not even fully human now. Maybe you and the kids should move out of the house for a-" Her hand on his mouth put an end to his rant.

    "Don''t you even say that." Zinya stared him in the eye with an angry look on her face. "You saved me from Fallmug first, then from Night and from Meln. I live on borrowed time and I want to savor every moment of the life you''ve gifted me.

    "On top of that, ording to Zoreth, the prisoners confessed that the ploy was about hurting Lith through me. It would have happened with or without you. You are not the reason for the attack, only for my children''s survival so I forbid you to me yourself. Are we clear?"

    Vastor nodded and she let go of his mouth.

    "Now, I have a few questions before we go to bed."

    "Shoot." The Master saw the anger disappear like snow under the sun and then be quickly reced by a huge smile and sparkling eyes.

    "Do you really have control over your Abomination half now?" She asked.

    "Technically, there''s no more Abomination half. I''m no longer a hybrid, more like some kind of new human species. It''s far from finished but-"

    "Great." Zinya seemed to have no interest in technical jargon. "So we don''t need to sleep with this thing between us anymore, correct?"

    "Yes, but why are you still holding my staff? To check how long my body canst without it?"

    "No, it just helps me think." She shook her head. "Last question. If you are not a hybrid anymore, you are also not sterile, right?"

    "Maybe." Vastor blushed in surprise. "I don''t know. Give me a few days to perform a few experiments and make sure of it."

    "You took the words out of my mouth." Zinya dropped the staff and let her dress slip off her body, ready to spend as much time in the b" as necessary.

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, at the same time.

    "Poor kids, they can never catch a break." Lith sighed while handing Elysia to Kam for thest meal before bed.

    "It''s the price to pay for having an Archmage in the family." Kam shrugged. "A few bumps on the road are well worth the trip if you ask me."

    She looked at the baby girl with love, almost feeling again the connection that they once shared. As for Elysia, she was still hungry but it was getting better.

 Chapter 2779 Dismantle (Part 1)

    Chapter 2779 Dismantle (Part 1)

    "How are you doing with Creation Magic?" Kam asked.

    "I still have a long way to go, but I''m making progress. The Grimoire is working on Grandma''s lessons as we speak. With a bit of luck, it will decipher the simplest spells first so that Solus and I can start from the basics.

    "Phoenix''s Forge is the only spell I''ve actually cast on my own and is tier five. It gives me a point of arrival whereas I need something to start with. I set the Eyes on Dismantle first. It''s tier one Creation Magic and rtively simple."

    "Excellent news." Kam nodded. "Once you have mastered it, do you mind recycling Zogar''s Dominator armor?"

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith raised his eyebrow in disbelief.

    "You heard me. Zogar has¡­ changed and there''s no way to retrofit the armor for his new needs. The gods know how hard to find the ingredients for an artifact like that is." Kam pointed at the room and at the likely presence of a Guardian.

    "I think that Sark-"

    "I swear to the gods, call me that again and I''lle there and kick your ass." An angry voice cut him short and confirmed Kam''s suspicions.

    "Grandma might not agree with me using her teachings for someone else and I don''t want to upset her."

    "I really don''t mind as long as you don''t teach Creation Magic around, but thank you for asking, dear."

    "See? Even Grandma agrees."

    "Okay, but do you realize that Zogar is¡­ an Archmage of the Kingdom and has¡­ to keep its interest above his own? What if in the future we end up standing on opposing sides?"

    "He''s also the husband of my sister and the father of her children." Kam replied with a scoff. "If something goes wrong, you two will talk it out like family not fight to the death.

    "Also, how would you feel if something happened to him or Zinya because his equipment is outdated? Are you willing to put everything at risk just because of a hypothetical, paranoid scenario?"

    Lith had to ponder a lot before answering. He didn''t want to argue for no reason and he also had to admit that Kam had a point.

    ''Zogar didn''t hesitate to reveal his identity as the Master to me in Lightkeep in order to help me. Without the instruction for the device he gave me back then, I would have never learned about memory crystals.

    ''He has also chosen me as the heir of his legacy and taught me a few of his personal spells back in Verendi. On top of that, if not for him I would have never met the Abomination-hybrids.

    ''Without Zoreth, my understanding of Origin mes would still be superficial. Without Bytra, Solus would have never gotten her Fury back.

    ''Tezka has proven to be an honest friend to Zinya and the children, and he has taught Friya priceless lessons. Maybe even to me and Solus, if only we manage to make sense of what we''ve witnessed during the fight.''

    Luckily for Lith, every single move of both the Overlord and the Suneater had been recorded by the Eyes and was currently being deciphered by the tower''s Grimoire.

    Even though Lith and Soluscked dimensional awareness, they could still replicate Sark''s skills and at least find a way to counter Tezka''s spells after understanding their underlying principles.

    "Fine, you win. I''ll do it." Lith sighed, getting under the nkets.

    "Thank you!" Kam''s whole expression beamed with joy as she made Elysia burp at the end of her meal. "I''d give you a proper reward but we have a guest so you''ll have to settle for this."

    She gave him a kiss on the cheek while the baby stared at them in curiosity.

    "La." Elysia said, demanding her due.

    "Of course, I love you too." Kam kissed her on both cheeks and then passed the baby to Lith who did the same. "Now Dad will put you to bed. Goodnight, Elysia."

    Lith held the baby tight for a second before putting her in the crib and setting the thermostat to make sure she wouldn''t be cold.

    "Goodnight, my heart. Always remember that you are safe, you are loved, and you are wise." Elysia cooed, recognizing the words that her father told her every night even though she failed to understand their meaning.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Tribe, Sark''s pce, Lith''s tower.

    Between the information collected by Lith from the captured undead after the failed attempt on his life at the Mansion and those extracted by Vastor''s hybrids, Lith was almost ready to strike back.

    Almost.

    During the past months, he had gotten used to his new body and used his breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze, to further refine his core and body. The breakthrough had made him stronger but at the same time had made every piece of his equipment obsolete.

    Thest time he had reforged the artifacts had been during the War of the Griffons, with the help of all his friends. Including Phloria.

    Until that moment, Lith had hesitated to recycle and upgrade his equipment because by doing so he would erase one of the final traces of Phloria''s presence in his life. As long as her mana flowed in the enchanted items, she was always with him.

    Yet with Elysia''s birth and an old enemy knocking on his door, there was no time for sentimentality anymore. He hade to the Desert to redo everything from scratch. Double Edge, the Voidwalker armor, Thundercrash, the Golems, the Sage Staff, and even Ragnar?k.

    After all, they had been Forgemastered back when he was still at the violet and Solus at the blue. Now they had both broken through the next level and the tower had be more powerful after recovering the new floors.

    In a matter of life and death, feelings were inconsequential. Only power and quality mattered.

    "Where is everyone and why have you conjured such a fancy recliner for me? Not that I''mining, mind you." Sark was sitting on the mostfortable massage chair Lith could remember from Earth, with a table filled with ice cream and snacks on her right.

    Aside from her, Solus, and Lith, the tower was empty. Sark knew that Lith would split the Fury into nine copies and use as many assistants to tap into the full power of the tower.

    That way, he could Forgemaster pieces way beyond the level of a violet-cored mage with a tower.

    "I''m going to call themter." Lith replied. "First, I want to use the Dismantle spell myself and recycle the materials. I can''t do it in the presence of a witness since you forbid me to teach Creation Magic and I can''t risk people like Quy or Faluel to learn from observation."

    "If you don''t need my help then why am I here?" The Overlord asked.

    "Because I''m going to need your help in case something goes wrong." Lith gave her a polite bow. "Dismantle might be a tier one spell, but I''ve never used it on something thisplex and precious.

    "I don''t want to lose precious ingredients forever out of stupid pride, let alone ruin things that can''t be reced in a lifetime."

 Chapter 2780 Dismantle (Part 2)

    Chapter 2780 Dismantle (Part 2)

    Lith pointed at the Golems and Ragnar?k, lingering on thetter longer.

    Trouble and Raptor were the only working applications he had found for memory crystals. They granted the constructs part of Lith''s bloodline abilities, spells, but most importantly, his wits.

    By retaining a sliver of his consciousness, the memory crystals granted the Golems the ability to improvise instead of following a precise pattern and to learn from experience.

    On top of that, due to the link with Lith and between each other, the constructs could share the acquired knowledge and improve faster. Being a novice with Creation Magic, Lith was afraid that once recycled, the Spirit Memory Crystal would lose both his energy signature and the stored memories.

    Elemental crystals weren''t supposed to be detached after the Forgemastering process and Lith knew that without the mana pathways of an artifact keeping an elemental gemstone stable, they would quickly revert to a simple white crystal.

    As for Ragnar?k, the situation was much moreplicated since the angry de was semi-sentient and had a personality of its own. The smallest mistake while casting Dismantle would have turned a unique masterpiece into an unremarkable pile of metal.

    By keeping Sark to his side during the whole process, Lith would gain first-hand experience in handling powerful artifacts with Creation Magic and also have the certainty that nothing would go wrong.

    Two birds with one Phoenix.

    "So this is bribery." Sark waved at the setup with her spoon filled with ice cream before bringing it to her mouth.

    "More like an incentive to spend quality time with the family." Lith shrugged, Warping Shargein, Valeron the Second, and Elysia to the Forge. "The kids love light shows and love their mom/grandma even more."

    "Bribery it is." Sark sighed despite having to admit that it was a perfect trap.

    Elysia was still too small to sit, stand, or even roll so unless someone held her, she could only stare at the ceiling. Shargein, however, had already grown bigger than a seven years old human boy and could easily lift her.

    The two Wyrmling couldn''t speak well and had no concept of mind links but they could still hold proper baby-conversations via their Dragon scales. Once Elysia assumed her Tiamat form and Valeron his Bahamut form, they could express themselves as much as their young brains could process.

    It was how Elysia told Shargein what she wanted to look at and when. Valeron was already big and old enough to stand up by leaning on the crib. After over two months, small, soft feathers had covered Elysia''s second set of wings.

    They were red-veined and ck like those of her father, but she could change their color at will, based on the element that she channeled and amplified. Thick golden feathers covered Valeron''s eagle head and the wingsing out of his hips.

    After over her year, his feathered wings had grown so much that now they matched his membranous wings in size.

    Sark was proud of both of them, seeing a spark of herself in the baby girl and one of Tyris in the baby boy.

    "You are lucky that I love these little imps too much to leave you high and dry." She caressed the Wyrmlings'' wings, d that Shargein wouldn''t grow up feeling alone.

    He was the first natural perfect merging of the Phoenix and Dragon bloodlines. His life forces were exactly like those of Elysia and Valeron, growing together instead of shing for dominance.

    It made him unique, but it would also make him lonely once he grew up enough to understand his condition. Since the other two kids were in his same boat, however, they would have at least someone who could empathize with their respective situations.

    "How do you n to keep them quiet until you start? I doubt that baby cries won''t disturb your focus." Sark asked.

    "Well, we have invited you here to share a little something with you." Solus chuckled, unleashing a stream of soap bubbles the size of an orange in front of the stunned Overlord and the giggling children.

    Sark could easily do something like that, but it required chore magic just to form water bubbles and light magic to give them color. The thick soap bubbles, instead, needed no external help and reflected the light in the room, forming colorful rainbows on their surface.

    The kids replied by ying their own version of skeet shooting, hurling small balls of mes at the bubbles to make them pop. They couldn''t keep a score since none of them knew how to count, but Sark noticed how the biggest bubbles were always the priority.

    "Da! Da! Da!" The children chanted until Solus released a second stream of soap bubbles that was weed with another volley of Origin mes.

    "That''s remarkable." Sark said while trying to understand the phenomenon.

    "Don''t bother. Here''s the form." Solus handed her a piece of paper and a cylindric container holding a dense mix of water and detergent.

    The kids followed the passing of the torch with their eyes and begged the Overlord with their cooing. Sark happily obliged, producing more bubbles for the children to shoot down.

    Meanwhile, outside the tower, Aran and Leria were teaching Kam how to fly with a yellow core. After thest fiasco, she had decided to only practice in open spaces and start slow, gradually increasing the speed as she achieved fine control over the air currents.

    The kids would from time to time raise sand pirs that she had to dodge or conjure a well-spaced obstacle course to teach her basic air maneuvers. They had already reached the bright yellow but they still remembered well their own struggles with flight spells and the too many hard buttndings.

    "You are doing great, Aunt Kami!" Aran cheered for her.

    "Come on, Abominus! You are stronger and more experienced. How can you fall behind her?" Leria yelled suggestions that distracted the poor Ry, making him m against the sand with his huge behind.

    The magical beast was indeed stronger. He had a bright cyan core and a body the size of a pony.

    Yet despite his natural affinity for air magic, not touching the ground scared Abominus and he moved awkwardly through the air, trying to adjust his trajectory with his legs instead of his mana.

    The result was that Abominus came deadst in every race.

    Onyx always arrived first. After evolving into an Emperor Beast, she had gained a set of purple membranous wings and new instincts that helped her hone her flying skills by leaps and bounds during practice.

    Kam arrived second, panting like a bellows due to her weak core being ill-suited for a high-speed chase with sharp turns, but d to not best.

    "I''m trying, farm me sideways!" Abominus cursed his wolfish instincts after mming against one of the sand pirs one time too many. "That''s cheating, by the way. It''s not fairpeting against someone with wings."

    "I call it a skill issue, instead." Onyx said with a huge grin on her feline snout. "Even the pipsq- I mean, Aunt Kami flies better than you."

    "Yeah, *even* I." Kam snorted.

    "Bad, Onyx! Bad! Don''t be rude to Aunt Kami. She''s doing her best." Aran scolded the Utgard.

 Chapter 2781 Skill Issue (Part 1)

    Chapter 2781 Skill Issue (Part 1)

    Feeling the worry in the boy and the depression in the woman, Onyx rushed to say: "I''m sorry for being a jerk. Mypetitiveness got the best of me." She gave Kam a deep bow and aplimentaryp on the face.

    "Apology epted." Kam hugged the Emperor Beast, findingfort in her warm and soft fur.

    "What about me?" Abominus growled.

    "You''re right." Onyx turned toward him. "I''m sorry you''ve yet to evolve even though months have passed since I did. It must suck to suck."

    "You furred-" Rage, practice, and the powerful mana geyser that fueled Solus'' tower made something click inside the Ry''s mind.

    He had received the teachings of Lith, Dragons, and Phoenixes just like Onyx but until that moment everything just sounded like hot air to him. Abominus took a deep breath, holding it in while contracting his abdominal muscles before letting it out.

    Along with his breathing technique, a golden pir erupted from his body, quickly joined by a bigger one descending from the sky. His fur turned from red to blue and his body started to grow in every direction.

    Once the evolution was over, the Ry had been reced by a wolf-like creature whose height at the withers reached two meters (6''7"). Its thick blue fur was streaked red and yellow all over.

    His tail seemed to beprised of a single masterfully chiselled crystal and ice spikes covered his neck in the form of a mane. Blue feathered wings came out of his back, transparent like ss but as sharp as razors.

    Yellow bolts of lightning were trapped inside the ice crystals and coursed from head to paw of the Emperor Beast, producing a blinding light.

    "You did it, Abominus. You did it!" Leria hugged him without a care for the electricity that died down the moment she touched the newborn Emperor Beast. "How is your species called?"

    "Good question. Too bad that''s up to you to answer." Abominus covered her face in slob with a single lick of his massive tongue. "Lith named Protector and Aran named Onyx.

    "Please, find me a cool name, and don''t go for something cheesy like Thunderwolf or Frostfire. I Don''t want to be theughingstock of my pack."

    He waggled his tail with an expectant look on his face.

    "Sure." Leria replied, her enthusiasm dying down a bit. "Give me a few days. A month tops."

    "A month?" Abominus echoed in disbelief.

    "As I said, skill issue." Onyxughed her ass off. "I''ll call you ''Good Boy'', then."

    "Don''t you dare!" Abominus jumped at the Utgard''s neck, but between hisck of control over his new body and the eight legs of his opponent, Onyx pinned him down like the inexperienced cub he was.

    "Don''t bully him, Onyx. It''s not his fault if Leria didn''t prepare anything for this moment." Aran patted her neck and the Utgard released the prey.

    "Are you telling me you did?" Leria was bbergasted.

    "Sure. I have several names at the ready for when Onyx evolves into a Divine Beast and then into a Guardian." Aran said like it was the most obvious thing on Mogar. "I''m so envious of you guys.

    "Aunt Kami has already reached the yellow and will soon catch up to us whereas Onyx and Abominus are in a league of their own. Why is my mana core still bright yellow?" He pouted while looking at his own reflection in an ice mirror.

    Lith had taught the kids years ago that even without a breathing technique they could check the progress of their cores from the color of the mana released by their eyes.

    "Because beasts are supposed to grow quickly. They can''t afford to be small for years like us." Kam patted his head. "As for me, I''m an adult. My body can withstand the power of a stronger core whereas you kids are still growing.

    "You are just seven years old."

    "I''m already seven years old, you mean." Aran pouted harder. "At my age, Lith was already working as a healer."

    "That''s because Uncle Lith self-Awakened at four." Leria sighed. "Let''s be honest, we are not his match. He learned everything by himself while we can''t do anything without his teachings."

    <nulli>''That''s not the issue. Lith is actually a man from Earth who Awakened upon his rebirth on Mogar. There''s noparison between you guys.'' Kam thought.

    "That''s not true. You guys are amazing. Aside from the heirs of magical bloodlines, there are only a handful of kids of your age as skilled as you are.

    "Also, ording to Lith, your mana cores are growing almost as fast as his own did while using umtion. I''m sure that as soon as you grow up a bit more, your cores will develop as well." She actually said.

    "I want to grow up, then!" Aran grumbled.

    "Really? You want to start working, cooking, cleaning and moving out of your house instead of ying all day?" Kam asked.

    Aran opened his mouth to answer when he realized that not only growing up implied working every day like the rest of his family did but also that he only had a few years before he had to either apply for an academy or find himself a master willing to teach him a trade.

    The idea of giving up on life as he knew it, of seeing Onyx and Leria only during his free time made his jaw close shut and his stomach churn.

    "I changed my mind. I want to stay a kid forever."

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside the tower, Lith and Solus had finished the preparatory steps before attempting Dismantle on their own. They wore one gauntlet of the Hands of Menadion each and had summoned the Davross they had left via the Workshop and the Factory.

    Thetter shaped the metal as a small Forgemastering Forge while the former now increased the amount of Davross they had avable by 50%, giving them enough for both of them.

    ''Our goal is to learn how to do everything by ourselves individually, but since it''s our first time working on something soplex, we better split the job and master our respective tasks. There''s no point biting more than we can chew.''

    Lith and Solus shared the same mind and energy signature, making it possible for them to conjure a spell together. Lith''s Abomination and Dragon sides gave him affinity toward the darkness element while Solus was naturally attuned to the light element.

    They each manipted only part of the spell so that their instinct would guide them and the Dismantle spell would be handled as if the caster was equally attuned to darkness and light.

    Lith and Solus had decided to start from Double Edge and work their way up from there. The de was made of Adamant and Dragon bones, with no elemental or memory crystals.

    Only violet crystals were avable for purchase and those an artifact big enough to be wielded by a Tiamat needed were as big as expensive. Even if the Eye of Kolga was still intact, it would amount to just one crystal and to fuel its spells Double Edge needed many.

    Lith flooded it with the destructive side of the spell, attacking the weak points of the enchantments he had imbued in the de.

 Chapter 2782 Skill Issue (Part 2)

    Chapter 2782 Skill Issue (Part 2)

    From the opposite side, Solus cast a stream of restorative energy that kept Lith''s side of Dismantle from damaging the power core, mana pathways, and mana circtory system of Double Edge.

    He used the darkness element to find and purge the mana coursing through the artifact from his own energy signature while also cutting off the supply of new mana to the de.

    The darkness element coated the de inside out, clogging the mana pathways and interrupting the natural flow of energy from the owner to the power core. Once the energy signature disappeared, it took Double Edge a few seconds to interpret is as the "death" of its master and losing the imprint.

    The task at hand was difficult and Lith had to use Domination multiple times to make sure to not have left enough mana to recover the imprint the moment the darkness element faded away.

    Solus, instead, had to make sure that while Lith removed the energy signature, the enchantments wouldn''t suffer any permanent damage that would cause their energy to leak and be lost along with the imprint.

    "Six out of ten." Sark said despite their sess. "Removing your own imprint is always easy because it''prised of your mana and it answers your everymand. Were Double Edge infused with someone else''s energy signature, you would have failed if not for Domination."

    Lith grunted but epted the criticism. He knew that he was supposed to perform the Dismantle spell in one go, yet he proceeded one step at a time to use it as a learning experience while under Sark''s guidance.

    As for the babies, they only say the sparkling of metal, the shiny gems, and the majestic elemental power. They giggled at the light show, almost forgetting about the soap bubbles.

    Almost.

    Then came the real Dismantling.

    Lith increased the flow of darkness element while Solus did the same with the light. This time, he was eroding the spells from the inside, gnawing at the bond between matter and energy while she protected solely the matter.

    Light magic flooded the mana crystals, the metal, and theponents that derived from the ingredients, leaving everything else exposed. As Lith destroyed the enchantments, Solus recovered what was left of the materials after he was done.

    She put the dust back together with the rest before flooding it with the light element as well to iste them from the flow of darkness elements. With each cycle of destruction and regeneration, the various enchantments faded until only the power core was left.

    At that point, Lith stopped so that Solus could pinpoint the pseudo cores created by the ingredients and separate them from thoseprised solely of pure mana. Once she was done shielding the pseudo cores, Lith resumed his attack.

    He took down the power coreyer byyer, making sure that the inner pseudo cores would remain stable. If they copsed all at the same time, those protected by Solus would be pulled apart from two different directions, making her job harder.

    After that, he destroyed the mana pathways that until that moment had prevented the mana of the enchantments from leaking out so that Solus could safely extract the ingredients'' essence.

    Without the interaction of the pseudo cores with the enchanted metal and the crystals and with the light element shielding them safe from the darkness element, it took Solus but a sliver of focus to keep the ingredients'' essence stable.

    After that, it was the turn of the mana crystals.

    Again, Solus filled the metal with light while Lith attacked solely the mana circtory systems. It was created during the Bonding process and made the mana crystals as one with an inanimate object.

    Lith used darkness magic to slowly sever the tendrils that spread the crystal''s energy through the de akin to a me burning the roots of a tree from underground.

    By losing its anchors, the bond between crystal and metal became flimsier until it simply fell off as if it had just been sitting there. Lith repeated the process for every crystal of Double Edge until only the hilt and the de remained.

    By the time he was done, he and Solus were exhausted, panting hard while doubling over with their hands on their knees.

    "I can''t believe it took so much energy just for a tier one spell." Lith wheezed. "On top of that, I had Solus'' help and the boost from the tower. If I had to also split the Dragon bones from the Adamant, I don''t know if I could split them without taking a short rest."

    "And I can''t believe that you''ve already reached this degree of mastery." Sark examined the various pieces extracted from the former artifact, including the ingredients'' essences that Solus was still preserving.

    "It''s been just a few months since I taught you Phoenix''s Forge and I know you didn''t spend them holed up in your tower. Not to mention that ever since Elysia''s birth, you''ve made her and Kam your first priority.

    "As for your doubt, you have the privilege of taking two possible approaches to split bone and metal. You could have kept using Dismantle or shifted to Origin mes to melt away the Adamant coating the Dragon bones."

    "So, is this a good result?" Lith took a mental note of her words.

    "Good?" The Overlord raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "This is great. I know how anal-retentive you are, but you should be proud of yourself. You''ve just recycled aplex artifact with a power core, multiple sets of runes, andprised of several different materials.

    "Your grievances would be reasonable if you had difficulty Dismantling something like a standardmunication amulet. Balkor has yet to reach this level and he has years on you plus a life much more peaceful than yours."

    "He alsocks Solus and a mage tower." Lith''s breathing had slowed down and was almost back to normal.

    "But he had me, plenty of demonstrations and time." Sark countered. "Also, he''s a genius yet if he attempted what you just did, he would have lost the ingredients minimum. Maybe even permanently damaged the Dragon bones.

    "Be honest with me. Did you progress this quickly because of the tower''s Grimoire?"

    "Yes." Solus scratched her head in embarrassment. "We had the Eyes focus on Dismantle until it reproduced the spell to perfection and now it''s working on Phoenix''s Forge.

    "Ever since we learned Dismantle, we had the Workshop conjure materials that the Factory auto-Forgemastered into artifacts we used for our practice. We''ve failed a lot of times but at least this way we wasted nothing."

    "Marvellous." The Overlord gave them a warm smile, drawing their stupefied looks. "Don''t look at me like that. First, knowing and doing is very different so the fact that you''ve reached this point so quickly is a testament to your talent.

    "Second, failing and destroying stuff is how things are supposed to go.

    "You have no idea how many things even a genius like Balkor ruined yet he''s still behind you. I use his constant need for new crafting materials to both force him to take a break and send him on missions that serve as learning experiences."

 Chapter 2783 Sibling Rivalry (Part 1)

    Chapter 2783 Sibling Rivalry (Part 1)

    "You guys have simply used the tower to not depend on anyone and have practiced diligently. Starting from the basics of Dismantle instead of going straight to the top of Phoenix''s Forge proves wisdom and humility.

    "Working together without letting dumb pride orpetition hinder your progress shows that you''re not obsessed with something silly like being the best, only in doing the best job you can. What''s next?" Sark asked.

    "We nned on recycling the artifacts in ascending order of difficulty." Solus sat down to hasten the recovery of her stamina and mana core. "Now we do Thundercrash, then the Voidfeather armor, the Golems, andstly Ragnar?k.

    "We are likely going to need your help for thest two. We have no idea how to preserve the information stored inside the memory crystals and we don''t want to risk damaging Ragnar?k''s mind."

    "Correction. You need to leave thest two to me." The Overlord shook her head. "Even I have little experience with memory crystals since I didn''t even know they were a thing until Balkor shared them with me.

    "Yet I have plenty enough experience with Creation Magic to improvise the moment something goes wrong."

    "What''s the issue with Ragnar?k?" Lith asked.

    "That''s made of Davross." Sark replied. "Even though I used your blueprints, I used my skill to Forgemaster it. I''m sorry to say but based on what I''ve seen, even by working together you stillck the necessary skill to handle such a masterpiece.

    "Remember that Creation Magic is an advanced branch of magic, even harder than Light Mastery. As you have experienced yourselves, even a tier one spell can drain you more than several tier five spells.

    "To make matters worse, any mistake on your side would inflict Ragnar?k pain and it might evenpromise the unique blood bond that exists between Lith and the de. Unless you''re willing to put them at risk, don''t even try."

    Lith nodded, clenching his hands in frustration.

    ''Dammit, I should have taken into ount that due to his semi-sentience, Ragnar?k is closer to a patient than an artifact when ites to Creation Magic. Any half-assed spell would be akin to torture and the poor thing wouldn''t even understand what I''m doing.

    <nulli>''Ragnar?k would assume that either I''m punishing him for something he has done or that I''m just that cruel.'' Lith looked at the de feeling guilty for hisck of consideration while Ragnar?k replied by bending its guard up in a smile to ease its master''s worries.

    Once they got back to the peak of their strength, Lith and Solus proceeded to Dismantle everything. The Voidwalker armor presented no difficulty since it was simr to Double Edge. After that, they moved to the Sage Staff.

    It proved to be the easiest piece they had recycled until that moment since the Yggdrasill wood answered meekly to the Solus'' healing spells while the Balor''s eyes were susceptible to Lith''s necromantic magic.

    With just three elemental crystals and no tricky step, the process went without a hitch. At the same time, it helped Lith and Solus to appreciate how simr Forgemastering was to healing magic.

    The process of destroying the enchantments with darkness magic while preserving the materials with light magic was simr to getting rid of parasites or a tumor in a living patient.

    The Yggdrasill wood and the Balor''s eyes being enchanted organic materials acted as a contact point between two apparently different disciplines. Once Lith and Solus were done with the staff, it was time to build a better Thundercrash but this time Sark had to intervene.

    Its dual nature as Forgemastering and Alchemy tool made it easy to assemble and a nightmare to disassemble since the two parts had to be treated at the same time.

    "Can I?" Solus showed Sark the Eyes of Menadion before the Guardian started her work.

    "No, you must." She replied. "I''m giving you guys these lessons because I want to and the way you learn from them is irrelevant to me. Balkor has his talent, Lith has you, Solus, and you have your mother''s tower.

    "Asking any of you to give up on their natural advantages wouldn''t be fair, just in stupid. It''s not like I didn''t use my Guardian powers to master Creation Magic just because it would have been unfair to the other mages on Mogar."

    Much to Lith''s and Solus'' surprise, after dealing with Thundercrash Sark sat down again and waited for them to recover their strength.

    "I thought you would deal with Trouble, Raptor, and Ragnar?k." Lith said in confusion.

    "That''s what I said and I''m going to do it, but I''ll do it using you guys as my Forgemastering tools." The Overlord replied. "First, since you are recording the process with the Eyes I might as well give you a practical lesson.

    "Second, I can''t deal with Spirit Crystals by myself. They bear your imprint, mana, and life force. Any external influence would rece your Spirit Magic with mine and throw your work down the gutter.

    "With Ragnar?k, it would be even worse since it''s semi-sentient so it would fight me at every step of the process. You are the only one who can make itpliant."

    When they worked on the Golems, Sark had Lith and Solus keep working together and use the Hands. The trick for preserving Memory Spirit Crystals was that once the darkness cut off the roots, the light had to fill the now-open mana channels in the crystal.

    It was a delicate process where Solus had to both plug the channels to keep the Spirit Magic from leaking and coat the crystalttice so that the information stored would be preserved.

    Solus'' light side of Creation Magic had to act akin to a life support system for a brain after it had been removed from a skull, keeping both the blood flow and the neurons vital. It was just one crystal yet her burden increased by tenfold forcing Sark to use Mother Sun on her.

    "I''d love to give you a bit of rest, but it''s much better to move on to the next golem while you have the impression of how to handle the mana still fresh in your mind. Repetition is the mother of learning." The Guardian said and Solus nodded.

    <nulli>''Damn, Solus has just a bright blue core, but she is attuned to the light element and has Grandma''s guidance. I can''t wait to see if I can do better or worse than her.'' Lith''s scientific curiosity andpetitiveness were piqued, but there was too much at stake.

    He set his pride aside and focused on what truly mattered. Preserving the years ofbor he had put into the Golems and getting rid of the threat to his family forever.

    Once they were done with the Trouble and Raptor, Sark allowed them for a short break. Just in time for the kids to start crying and demand their morning meal. Lith inwardly cursed and split the task with Solus as well.

    While Sark fed Shargein with a full bowl of tenderized meat, Lith gave a bottle to Valeron while Solus brought Elysia to Kam.

    Lith experienced conflicting feelings while dealing with the toddler.

 Chapter 2784 Sibling Rivalry (Part 2)

    Chapter 2784 Sibling Rivalry (Part 2)

    The baby boy had a full head of emerald hair that reminded Lith of Jormun, but he also had silver eyes that resembled Thrud''s too much forfort.

    Holding Valeron was still a struggle for Lith but the Dragon scales made it much easier. Just like Elisya, the baby boy followed Lith''s lead and shapeshifted by instinct. The feelings they shared during those moments broke Lith''s heart every time.

    Valeron was sad. He missed his mother and whenever Tyris took care of him, he burst with joy because he mistook the Guardian for the Mad Queen. The disappointment that followed was just as deep and the worst part was that the child was still waiting for his mother to return.

    He also missed his father dearly and was afraid of being the reason Jormun was gone. Valeron the Second felt alone and guilty, believing that his parents had abandoned him.

    Only the constant presence of his handmaidens, Ophya and V, and of his brother Protheus, Father of all Doppelg?ngers, gave Valeron hope that maybe it wasn''t his fault.

    That maybe his parents were just busy, dealing with one of those things he still couldn''t understand.

    The Dragon scales allowed Lith to understand how the baby boy was nothing like his mother and to feel how sorry Valeron was every time he perceived Lith''s grudge. The baby boy had no idea what he had done to deserve so much hate but he tried to make up for it to the best of his abilities.

    "It''s not your fault." Lith rocked Valeron while feeding him. "You did nothing wrong, little man. I''m just a piece of s- work. Definitely work."

    He noticed Sark''s re and immediately shifted to a family-friendlynguage.

    "Is it normal for babies to poop so soon after a meal?" Solus had just sat down after returning with Elysia when the baby girl''s cries and pungent smell forced Solus to stand up again.

    "What goes in sooner orter has to go out." Sark chuckled.

    Shargein had no such problem since he had already reached a size and skill tofortably use the bathroom on his own. Dragons grew slowly but learned quickly, a trait that all the hybrids in the room shared.

    "Why does she do that?" The moment Solus touched the cloth diaper, Elysia started crying harder, kicking her away.

    "She''s jealous." Lith and Sark said in unison, one drawing his intel from Dragon scales and the other from the Blood Imprint.

    "Jealous of what?" Solus was bbergasted.

    "That I took care of Valeron. Let''s switch." The moment Lith took Solus'' ce, Elisya started to giggle and Valeron to cry.

    "What did I do wrong now?" Solus whimpered.

    "Nothing. He just feels abandoned. Valeron is begging Lith to return." Sark said, making Lith curse under his breath.

    "If not for Creation Magic being a secret, I would ask Tyris toe here." Lith grumbled, changing Elysia and putting her on his back inside a baby carrier before moving on to change Valeron as well.

    "Why don''t you just ask her toe and leave once we are about to start practicing again?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "Wow, and I thought to be a heartless monster." Lith threw her a reproachful gaze. "Would you really kick her out so soon, ignoring both her and Valeron''s feelings? Giving him his grandma just to take her away like that is in cruel."

    Solus felt like an insensitive jerk, but her own self-loathing took a back seat when she noticed Valeron''s serious expression. Solus followed his gaze, discovering that Elysia was looking down on him from above Lith''s shoulder with a smug grin on her face.

    "What the farm?" She blurted out in shock.

    "Sibling rivalry." Lith sighed, feeling the emotions of both kids through the Dragon scales. "It seems that I''m the prize."

    "Dya!" Elysia pronounced the Dragontongue word for dad with pride.

    Valeron needed to shapeshift into his Divine Beast form as well to say:

    "Dya?" It was a question about Jormun since Valeron knew that Lith wasn''t his father.

    It triggered Lith''s guilt for killing the Emerald Dragon and for treating Valeron like he was some kind of devilish spawn instead of an innocent child.

    "Your father is not here right now, but he loves you from the bottom of his heart." Lith said and the Dragon scales delivered the message. "Don''t worry. He asked me to take care of you and I will."

    "Dya." Valeron nodded, feeling relieved.

    "Dya!" Elysia had somehow crawled out of the baby carrier and onto Lith''s back after shapeshifting into Tiamat form, wing at his face with pride.

    "Yes, thank you, Elysia. Yet if I''m going to be a good parent to Valeron, I expect you to be a good little sister. Are we clear?" Lith lifted her in front of his eyes, making her pout.

    Then, he put her right next to Valeron and the contact between their scales made her share his sadness and insecurities. Elysia started to cry at the top of her lungs until Lith Warped to Kam, reassuring the baby girl that her parents were still there and that they weren''t going anywhere.

    From that moment onward, the rivalry between Elysia and Valeron continued, but she never rubbed her parents in his face ever again.

    "Damn, time sure flies when babies argue." Lith grumbled after going back to the Forge. "I''ve regained my strength yet I haven''t gotten a single minute of rest."

    "That''s a parent''s life. Deal with it." Sark said while cing her left hand on Lith''s back and her right hand on Solus''.

    The procedure was identical to the one she had used a few months prior to teach them Phoenix''s Forge and turn War into Ragnar?k.

    "I''m sorry to tell you that for something with even a shred of sentience like Ragnar?k Dismantle isn''t an option. It''s the reason I offered you to reforge it myself every time you guys made a breakthrough." Sark said.

    "Removing ingredients, pseudo cores, and Spirit Crystals would be the same as performing surgery on a patient with no anesthesia. It would be an excruciating experience made even worse by the fact that you pull his organs out and mess with his insides before putting them back in."

    "Actually, I was thinking of adding a little something." Lith conjured one of the ampules from the Spark where his tissues had been refined since the day the tower had gained its new floors.

    "I know that I''ve gained my hybrid life force only for four years now and that I''ve just reached the bright violet, but thanks to the Spark, my blood has undergone a refinement worth two more years."

    "It''s not really worth much anyway." Sark shook the vial, using her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to check on the potency of the ingredient.

    "I know." Lith nodded. "That''s why I keep more vials in the Spark and I n to rece the amplifier with something better in the future. Yet for now, it''s still an improvement. Since Ragnar?k and I share a blood bond, I believe that adding my refined blood as an amplifier is going to make a big difference.

 Chapter 2785 Amplifier (Part 1)

    Chapter 2785 Amplifier (Part 1)

    "My blood carries a spark of my life force and mana which along with the Spirt Crystal in the fuller, will allow him to have better control over my bloodline abilities."

    The Overlord didn''t like Lith calling the de like a person. The next troubling step would have been trying to give it a full personality.

    <nulli>''I must be overthinking. Lith has experienced too many bad things through his Demons to be so stupid that he would attempt Forbidden Magic.'' She inwardly shrugged. <nulli>''His blood needs more work, but there''s no harm in humoring him.

    <nulli>''Worst case scenario, Ragnar?k won''t get any better and Lith will have just thrown away a bit of blood.''

    Sark guided Lith and Solus during the Phoenix''s Forge with only a few differences from the previous lesson. This time she didn''t need Lith''s essence to make the Davross ept Ragnar?k''s spell matrix since the enchantments were the same.

    She just had to create openings in the mana pathways to let more energy in and increase the strength of the already existing runes and power core. Also, she took the sample of Lith''s blood from the ampoule and converted it into a new pseudo core.

    Just like it happened for magical ingredients, the pseudo core wasn''t made of runes but of pure energy that seeped inside the spell matrix. This way, the blood merged with the power core as a whole instead of making it moreplex by adding one more pseudo core.

    The difficulty of the processy in refining the blood so that the matter was converted into energy without significant losses, retaining most of Lith''s energy signature, mana, and life force.

    Lith''s role was to use the darkness element to pierce through the variousyers of the power core in order to allow Solus'' light element to pour the energized blood. The amplifier wasprised of a unique kind of energy and it interacted in a different way with each different enchantment.

    The various pseudo core thatprised the spell matrix of the power core carried the same energy signature and mana of the blood but they weren''t meant to host life force.

    The different enchantments mixed slowly with the amplifier and it was necessary to damage them with darkness and then repair them with light to speed up the merging.

    Lith created a fissure in the pseudo cores that Solus fixed by adding a bit of the blood so that once the damage was patched up, the life force was evenly spread throughout the renewed spell matrix, allowing it to flow freely in the rest of the pseudo core and from there into the power core.

    Once the process was over, Lith and Solus were exhausted. Sark had provided the energy for the missing seven people by herself but Lith and Solus had been forced to go all-out like during a normal Forgemastering experiment.

    "Are we done now?" The Overlord was both impressed by the fruits of her work and pissed off because she couldn''t check on the final result directly without Ragnar?k trying to bite her face off.

    "Not really." Solus said amid pants, handing Sark both the Fury and another ampule containing a long strand of her refined hair.

    "Are you kidding me?" She asked. "You guys are nowhere near the level necessary to craft a piece like Solus'' Fury, let alone upgrade it with Creation Magic. I''m sorry, but I''ll have to do this alone."

    "Thank the gods. It''s what I was hoping you would say." Solus split the Eyes into the Monocles, giving one to Lith and keeping the other for herself.

    Then she conjured two more massaging chairs and plenty of food so that they could take some rest while admiring a master craftsman at work.

    ***

    After Solus received her improved Fury, Lith conjured the helpers for the actual reforging since Sark had no intention of helping them further.

    He even moved the tower to the moon so that there would be plenty of energy for both pairs of the Hands of Menadion as well.

    "Good gods, there is really life in space." Ajatar the Drake stepped into the silvery grass covering the clearing that surrounded the tower, feeling his whole being rejuvenated by the world energy in the air and the Life Maelstrom in the ground.

    "And here I thought that Morok was either drunk or pulling my leg when he told me about this ce. I can''t believe you were telling the truth."

    "Thanks for your vote of confidence." The Tyrant replied with a snarl.

    "Sightseeing can wait." Lith pulled the Drake back inside. "Keeping the ingredients stable is a pain in the ass and it weighs on our focus so let''s try to make this quick."

    Bonding mana crystals and applying rune patterns was part of the preparatory phase of a Forgemastering process so Lith had already done it on his own right after finishing to Dismantle his equipment with Sark.

    Memory crystals came first, followed by Spirit Crystals. Elemental crystals were rtively easier to make so Lith had let them return to white crystals and then enhanced their elemental aspects strong of his newfound knowledge and prowess.

    What was left to do was the actual Forgemastering and creating the power cores necessary for the various artifacts. Lith and Solus already knew how to cast de Tier spells and the more powerful the power core of their equipment, the more powerful the resulting spell would be.

    It was the reason they needed to tap into the full power of the tower, of the set of Menadion that was part of the tower, and of the other pieces of Menadion that they had recovered and gifted to their friends.

    On top of that, the Fury could produce eight copies of itself and turn the energy signature of any wielder into that of its master. It was how back in the day the First Ruler of the mes had crafted her best pieces and taught her techniques to her apprentices.

    The mystical hammer bore Solus'' imprint but since she in turn bore Lith''s, the products of the Forgemastering would ultimately carry his energy signature. To help them in their endeavor, Lith and Solus had assembled Tista, Protector, Faluel, Friya, and Quy.

    With five helpers plus Lith and Solus, seven hammers were taken, leaving two to spare. Ajatar the Drake had been summoned to take the ce of thete Phloria Ernas since he had learned about Solus'' secret and the tower during their trip to the Fringe.

    The Drake had proved to be a good friend, without ever prying or asking questions until Lith had feltfortable opening up with Ajatar and offered him a limited tour of the tower.

    The cat was already out of the bag, but Lith preferred to keep the most powerful floors a secret to avoid arousing the greed typical of the Dragon species. It brought the total of Forgemasters to eight and filling the ninth spot had been quite difficult.

    Orion was a non-Awakened and showing him the tower would have opened a can of worms Lith wasn''t willing to deal with. Tyris had no intention of helping him this time and neither would Sark or Leegaain.

 Chapter 2786 Amplifier (Part 2)

    Chapter 2786 Amplifier (Part 2)

    Solus had contacted Malyshka who had politely but firmly refused, still embittered by the envy from visiting the newly restored tower floors. Silverwing was off the table as well.

    She was eager to make up with Solus for the past idents but neither she nor Lith feltfortable letting her know the blueprints of the weapons that sooner orter they might use against her.

    The same stood for Bytra. She was an incredible Forgemaster and the Fourth Ruler of the mes, but her past self had gone on a murderous rampage to get her hands on the tower and it was better not to risk those events repeating themselves.

    After a long debate that had angered Kam, made Solusugh, and embarrassed Faluel, they had begrudgingly agreed on Fyrwal the Hydra. She was one of thepanions of Valeron the First, a skilled Forgemaster with over a thousand years of experience, and a powerful bright violet-cored Awakened.

    She had known and cared for Solus ever since she still was known as Elphyn Menadion. The Hydra considered the First Ruler of the mes as her beloved mentor and was unlikely to endanger Ripha''s legacy for selfish reasons.

    On top of that, Fyrwal already knew of the tower and Solus so there was no risk in sharing a few blueprints with her. Lastly, and this was the controversial part, she was Faluel''s mother and had yet to give up on the idea of fixing her daughter with Lith.

    "Fyrwal is probably going to y the long game." He exined. "She has no reason to antagonize us and she won''t risk alienating a potential son-inw. Right, Faluel?"

    "Yes." She replied, blushing up to her ears.

    Solus found Faluel''s situation funny as much as Kam found it infuriating but she had caved because survival came before pride.

    "I must say that the new tower is simply amazing, but nothing canpare with this little bundle of joy." Fyrwal said, studying the upgraded Forge while carrying Elysia in her arms.

    The baby girl had been the final nail in Lith''s pitch. The Elder Hydra was on cloud nine at the sight of Elysia''s streaks, her Awakened core, and her brilliant mind despite being a small child.

    Fyrwal could almost see a perfect Tiamat-Hydra hybrid and wondered at what the resulting bloodline would be capable of doing.

    "Thanks." Kam''s voice was polite but cold.

    She had lived with Lith long enough to recognize the greed typical of a Dragon when she saw it and guessing Fyrwal''s intentions was quite easy. She walked along the floors like she owned the ce and examined Elysia like a priceless artifact.

    "You did a great job, for a human." The Elder Hydra handed the baby girl to Kam but not without throwing a dubious look at Solus'' seven-streaked hair.

    "Thanks." Kam''s voice now held the warmth of an ice age.

    "How does this work now?" Fyrwal ignored the human woman and went straight to business.

    "One second." Lith added his helpers to the guest list of the tower so that they would also benefit from its enchantments.

    World energy flooded their bodies, the Library imparted them the knowledge they needed for the various crafting methods down to the smallest detail, and the Armory shared with them the effects of the Sage Staff.

    Thanks to the Yggdrasill wood, the minds of everyone inside the tower reached a degree of rity and focus that bordered on genius. The Staff wiped away any stray thoughts and pushed their brains to their limits.

    "Amazing!" Fyrwal and Ajatar said in unison.

    "I have perfect understanding even of spells that I''ve never studied before." Ajatar examined the blueprints of Lith''s original power cores, discovering that he knew them like the back of his hand.

    He had no need to focus on visualizing a detail or understanding anyplex step of the process. It was as if he had known them his whole life.

    "Don''t get attached to it." Lith said. "The moment you are cut off from the Library, that knowledge will disappear."

    "I already knew how the tower works but not even Ripha ever managed to get her hands on Yggdrasill wood. You are a resourceful young man." Fyrwal threw a reproachful re at her daughter who seemed to shrink.

    "For obvious reasons, we''ll work on the Sage Staff forst." Lith ignored the remark in the hope of defusing Kam''s anger. "Please, take a good look at the steps necessary to craft the Staff and take all the notes you think you might need while your mind is still fresh.

    "I want to avoid tiredness and theck of the Yggdrasill''s wood influence making us miss important detailster."

    Everyone followed his instructions, especially Ajatar. In the time the others had filled a couple of pages, the Drake had written a small book by manipting the ink with water magic.

    "I meant for you to take notes about the process to Forgemaster the Sage Staff, not a mage tower." Lith pointed out with a snarl.

    "I don''t know if and when I''ll ever get ess to such a magnificent Library and Yggdrasill wood." Ajatar replied with an indignant tone. "You can''t ask me to pass up this opportunity.

    "If it ruffles your scales so much, consider this as payment for my services. I''m a violet-cored Awakened Forgemaster and you can''t expect to send me home with a shake of the hand and a bowl of ice scream."

    "How rude and greedy of you." Fyrwal clicked one of her tongues. "It''s no surprise that Lith didn''t trust you with his secrets. We Hydras, instead, are warm and friendly, right dear?"

    "Yes, mother." Faluel covered her face with her hands, wishing to disappear.

    The Elder Hydra had shapeshifted into a hybrid form with the excuse of putting all of her seven heads on the case but no one doubted for one second that she was also working on her own projects and taking personal notes on the sides.

    The Sage Staff''s blueprints wereplex, but not that much. At least not for such an expert Forgemaster and one with seven brains at that.

    By the time everyone was done with their homework, Ajatar hadpiled a couple of thick books. Fyrwal had allegedly finished first, but for some reason, she kept her hybrid form while waiting for the others to finish.

    The Forgemastering process was long and hard, requiring to take a break after each piece. Double Edge''s design remained the same. Lith didn''t have enough white crystals for a weapon that big.

    He could only strengthen the power core and improve the enchantments. The same happened to the Golems, Thundercrash, and the Sage Staff.

    Trouble and Raptor had actually received an upgrade but since it involved the Spirit Memory Crystal, it was something Lith and Solus had shared solely with Sark and there was no trace of the changes in the blueprints.

    Only the Voidwalker armor came out different from how everyone remembered it.

    Lith''s size had increased and Syrook''s skeleton wasn''t big enough nor were two months in the Spark enough time to grow his bones, skin, and scales to the size of a bright violet cored Dragon.

 Chapter 2787 Returning the Favor (Part 1)

    Chapter 2787 Returning the Favor (Part 1)

    2787 Returning the Favor (Part 1)

    Lith had rearranged the organic materials thatprised the Voidwalker armor so that it would fit his new body and that as the Spark refined the materials, they would have the space to grow.

    On the other hand, however, the scales and bones were now thinner than before, offering a lesser degree of protection until the size of the body parts of the dead Dragon reached that of the living Tiamat.

    Lith had needed to add more Adamant to coat the exposed surface of the now-stretched suit of armor. It was a subpar result by Lith''s standards, but hecked the Adamant necessary to craft a full metal Voidwalker armor for a bright violet-cored Divine Beast.

    To make up for it, Lith had reced the violet crystals with elemental crystals.

    The idea was to move the previous violet crystals back into the mines where the tower would refine them into white 24/7 and leave the Spark to focus its energy solely on the Dragon''s remains.

    A ck crystal was now on the back of the right hand of the armor and a white one was on the left. The right and left pauldrons were now adorned respectively with a red and a blue crystal.

    A yellow crystal was embossed on the right tight and an orange one on the left. In the middle of the chest, rested an emerald crystal that collected the energy from the others before circting it back to the rest of the armor.

    The crystals'' pattern on the Voidwalker armor followed that of Ragnar??k, allowing the different elemental energies to flow from one into another and be reinforced by the Spirit Crystal.

    "A remarkable piece." Fyrwal studied how the crystals would now fuel elemental spells imbued in the armor, lessening the strain on Lith''s mana and core. "But it''s kind of wasted on Adamant.

    "Davross would work much better and I''m not even sure if the Voidwalker armor can endure the strain that this kind of power produces."

    "I don''t have much of a choice." Lith shrugged. "The enhanced magical abilities shouldpensate for theck of physical durability. This is the best I can do right now, unless you know a way for me to get my hands on a shitload of legendary metal."

    "Actually, I do." Fyrwal looked at him with sparkles in her eyes as she turned from Lith to her daughter non-stop.

    "I was joking." Lith said, looking her straight in the eyes.

    "I wasn''t." Fyrwal replied, matching his gaze and intensity.

    "Time for the tour of the moon we promised you." Solus stepped in before the situation got even worse. "We can use some rest after so much work."

    "One moment, Epphy. I-" At that moment, something clicked inside Fyrwal''s head.

    ''The baby has seven streaks and Elphyn is over 800 years old.'' She thought.

    "If my daughter is too young for you, I''m willing to-"

    "Come on, Mom." Faluel dragged the Elder Hydra by the arm before she could finish the sentence. "I''ve prepared a feast for our pic and believe it or not, my liver in not on the menu."

    ***

    City of Derios, outside the Warp Gate leading to the local branch of the Dawn Court, the following day.

    Lith had rested the whole night to reset the effects of Invigoration and be at the peak of his strength during the raid. It was high noon and even though the air was chilly due to thest glimpses of winter, the sky was clear.

    You''ve attacked my home when you were at your strongest and I was supposed to be at my weakest. It''s only fair for me to return the favor.''Lith had little problem finding the magic circle forming the Gate.

    Upha the Vampire had been kind enough to draw Lith a map with the position of the engraved runes. Tista had gone checking if the undead was telling the truth before Lith killed him.

    To circumvent the dimensional sealing arrays of the important cities of the Kingdom, the Undead Courts resorted to old-fashioned permanent Gates. Ancient Warp Gates would permanently fuse two specific points in space, whereas modern ones could connect to multiple locations via dimensional corridors.

    It made modern Gates more versatile, but also susceptible to being jammed by preventing the magical device from locking on to the coordinates of its twin on the other side.

    Ancient Warp Gates had no such problem. There was no corridor to create, just a door to open. At the same time, however, this kind of dimensional transportation was a security nightmare.

    They bore no imprint and the runes were physically carved in stone or metal, waiting for the mana necessary to activate them. Anyone who knew the location of the runes and had ess to a suitable energy source could open the Gate at will.

    It was one of the many reasons ancient Warp Gates had been discarded in favor of modern ones. The Courts couldn''ty traps on the outside or a traveller might step on them by chance and their gruesome death would trigger an investigation.

    The undead could only secure their side of the Gate by cing enough guards and arrays to neutralize an invading force. No matter the numbers, only two people could pass through the Gate at a time, creating a natural choke point that gave the defenders an insurmountable advantage.

    At least in theory. 1

    Lith checked the area with life-sensing and array-sensing spells, making sure to not miss anything. Then he ced his hand on the main rune of the ancient Gate and opened his emerald eye.

    Usually, that kind of device needed a specific mana crystal to work but Lith had no need for that.

    Between Spirit Magic and his Tiamat Fear, it took him a few seconds to find the right frequency to activate the Gate, flooding it with world energy corrupted by his own energy signature.

    He lit the dimensional runes up until thest one.

    "Solus, get ready to open the passage for me. Enter only after I''ve dealt the first blow.''He said via their mind link.

    Solus nodded as she came out of the stone ring.

    She was wearing a new model of Voidwalker armor over the Hands of Menadion and wielded the renewed Sage Staff. She needed both to draw in as much world energy as possible so that her human body wouldst for the whole duration of the fight.

    While she took his ce, Lithbined his flight spell with fusion magic to reach the sky above the clouds in a few ps of his wings. There, he activated gravity fusion, increasing his own weight until he couldn''t fly anymore.

    Lith then changed the direction of the gravitational pull and of his flight spell, using his wings to further elerate as he dived down toward the closed Gate. He put an air de in front of himself to generate a slipstream effect and reduce air friction.

    The moment despite his precautions his armor burst into mes, he activated the tier three Light Mastery spell, Sunburst, to generate two pirs of light and fire from his feet.

    The spell acted as a jet engine, turning him into a living missile.

 Chapter 2788 Returning the Favor (Part 2)

    Chapter 2788 Returning the Favor (Part 2)

    2788 Returning the Favor (Part 2)

    Solus followed Lith''s movements via their mind link without the need to look up at the sky. The moment she felt he was getting too close forfort, she let the world energy reach the final rune and Blinked to the side of the Gate.

    On the other side of the dimensional door, the undead watching the entrance sounded the rm the moment the Gate opened. Authorized guests knew they had to announce theiring or send the Court Lord the password and neither had happened.

    The protective arrays of the underground building activated at the same time when a burning ck meteor crashed in the middle of the marble floor. The sonic boom apanying the meteorbined with the shockwave produced by the impact produced the next best thing to a natural disaster.

    The air pressure burst the eardrums of the guards and squashed their eyes, making them bleed. The shockwave sent them flying against the wall with so much strength that it caved.

    The ground rumbled and the chandeliers hung to the ceiling started to swing with enough violence to give the impression of a quake, except tremors were supposed toe from below, not from above.

    Even while in human size, Lith was still a Divine Beast 30 meters (100'') tall weighing dozens of tons. Gravity fusion and the fall had turned him into a human projectile whose impact released the kic energy of a copsing mountain.

    The arrays tried and failed to contain the damage, the offensive system was thrown off by the cracks in the floor and walls that disced the perfect alignment that the runes required to conjure their effects.

    The lines of power connecting the runes thatprised the arrays had been either broken or twisted, making it impossible for the magical formation to exert more than one-tenth of its original power.

    Also, since the Gate led to a different ce, the dust, noise, and debris that came out of the dimensional door affected solely the area right in front of the entrance. The artificial quake left the area where Solus was waiting unscathed, the birds stopping their songs briefly until the noise died down and the clearing returned peaceful.

    As she let Trouble and Raptor out of her dimensional pocket, a swarm of shadows flooded the Gate as soon as the dust settled. Hundreds of six eyed Demons made their way inside the underground building, each one of them a two-dimensional blot.

    That form allowed them to ovee the limits of the small size of the Gate and kill the guards before they could heal.

    Lith had conjured his Demons while at the Verhen Mansion, so that the mana geyser would fuel the tower and both would enhance his powers. Creating so many six-eyed Demons in a short span of time had required him a few uses of Invigoration, but it was worth it.

    Now a small army of Awakened Abominations were rushing down the corridors and bursting through the doors of the branch of the Undead Court, uncaring for the traps they triggered.

    The defensive barriers shielding the Demons took the brunt of the damage and darkness element of their bodies took care of the rest. Lith didn''t move from his position, keeping the portal in check and giving the Demons the mana they needed to rebuild their shadow forms.

    ''The coast is clear. You cane in.''Lith said once the Eyes of Menadion confirmed him that he was alone.

    The moment Solus and the Golems crossed the dimensional door, Lith twisted the corrupted world energy so that it exploded, turning one of the few way outs into a pile of rubble.

    The violent release of the dimensional energy erged the cracks in the walls and destroyed what was left of the defensive arrays at the entrance.

    Raptor followed Solus while Trouble and Lith moved in different directions. She had the strength and the mass of a Divine Beast but her core was still bright blue. It meant that both her speed and mana capacity couldn''t match those of an Elder undead.

    Solus'' power would have been meaningless if she couldn''t hit her target so she used the Vagrash golem as a steed to make up for being slow.

    Lith ran down a oncevish corridor stomping over the broken vases and scattered flowers. Ragnar??k rested in his hand, still sheathed in its bloody scabbard. Lith followed the wake of destruction left by the Demons, searching for an opponent they had failed to destroy.

    Most of the undead slumbered during the day or had their strength greatly reduced. They were no match for a six-eyed Demon of the Darkness and they died before even understanding what was happening.

    Lith had given clear instructions to ask no questions and give no quarters so his path was littered with the bodies of the thrails that served the undead. Those people took care of the daily affairs of their sires and ensured their safety while the sun was up in exchange for the promise of eternal life.

    I don''t care about the reason they were here. They chose their bed, now they can die in it. Lith thought while walking through the ruin and carnage of the corridors.

    He moved slowly, using Life Vision and life sensing arrays to make sure that the Demons hadn''t missed anything or anyone.

    At the beginning of the assault, only a small portion of the army of conjured souls had any equipment since they were limited by what Lith possessed and most of his reserves had been consumed for his Voidwalker armor and the Golems.

    Yet with every enemy the Demons fell, weapons and armor dropped to the ground, ready to be imprinted. Unfortunately, undead didn''t leave a corpse behind, only ashes, so the Demon of the Darknesscked the means to turn into Demons of the Fallen.

    Each one of them having six eyes, however, more than made up for theck of a physical body.

    Each one of them had the strength of a bright violet-cored Awakened, the bloodline abilities of a Tiamat, and a rage that had simmered for at least decades. Only elder undead could take on a single Demon and there were hundreds of them.

    To make matters worse, their bodies wereprised of darkness, the bane of the undead, and every Demon had ess to Lith''s spells. Whenever the defence forces retreated, a hail of tier four and five spells rained on them.

    If they tried to engage the Demons in close-quartersbat, death would soon reap them. The shadow creatures were too strong for a young undead and their very touch infected their victims with deadly darkness.

    Lith noticed that the doors on his path had been kicked in, most of them ckened by fire along with the rooms that they were supposed to protect. The stench of ashes and burned flesh forced Lith to seal the face mask of the Voidwalker armor.

    The vaporized body fat in the air was so thick that it condensed in the humidity of his mouth, forming a greasyyer on Lith''s tongue that he had to destroy with a pulse of darkness magic from time to time.

 Chapter 2789 Spare None (Part 1)

    Chapter 2789 Spare None (Part 1)

    2789 Spare None (Part 1)

    Soon Lith started to hear the ngor of a furious fight, indicating that he was getting close to the front lines of Demons. A few doors leading to the private quarters of the undead''s upper echelons were still closed, their enchantments strong enough to keep the ck tide at bay.

    Yet.

    The Demons had no time or wish for finesse so they just took deep breaths and hurled streams of Origin mes in unison. The resulting Thousand mes burned at the defensive arrays, forcing their runes to shine bright as they drained their energy source to resist the onught.

    s, there was no mana geyser below the Derios branch so the only way to fuel permanent arrays was to use mana crystals. No one had the luxury of the time to rece the crystals once they ran out of world energy so there could be only two endings.

    Either the Origin mes destroyed the runes, deactivating the arrays while the crystals still had some juice, or the crystals dried up, leaving a roompletely unprotected anyway.

    The moment a door gave in, the Demons would flood the room with gue Storm. They didn''t check who or how many people were inside. Their mission was an extermination and they followed it through with savage joy.

    Suddenly, a ckened figure charged out of a room and pushed the Demons aside before they could release their spells. A cunning Ghoul had followed the events on the surveince system and found a path to survival.

    Before the protective arrays of the room where he lived with his thralls failed, he had opened the door and went straight for Lith''s neck. Between the still-active defensive barrier and the regenerative powers of his species, the Ghoul had survived the Thousand mes.

    ''If Verhen dies, these monsters will fade away. Coming here was a mistake.''The Ghoul thought, lowering his center of gravity for what looked like a tackle. ''I have no way to pierce through his armor, but luckily, I also have no need for it.

    ''The idiot wears a cape around his neck. All I have to do is pull it down with all of my strength to force him to stretch his neck and reveal the gap between the gorget and the helm.

    ''At that point, there will be nothing stopping my de from cutting off his head but flesh and bones.''

    The Ghoul boosted his already powerful physique with earth fusion and by consuming most of the power stored in his blood core. There was no point in saving it forter since there would be noter unless Lith died.

    He grabbed the edge of the cape while nting his feet firmly on the ground, pulling at it as if his undeath depended on it. Because it did. The Ghoul knew that Lith was a Divine Beast, but between the burst of strength and the leverage, his n would work.

    Much to his surprise, the ck cape turned out to be as slippery as it was sharp, cutting deep into his hands as it escaped his grasp, no matter how hard the Ghoul tightened his grip.

    ''Who the fuck covers their mantle in metal and why is it this sharp? It''s-''A wing.

    Lith would never wear a cape. It served no purpose and would have offered his enemies something to grab during a fight. What the Ghoul had mistaken for a cape was Lith''s wings resting over his shoulders.

    They were also covered by the Voifwalker armor, giving them a silky appearance and the edge of an Adamant de. The right wing unfurled, revealing its true nature to the bbergasted undead.

    Then, it wrapped itself around the Ghoul, using the four finger-like bones to grab him while the bone-spike that acted like a thumb pierced through his legs. Before the undead could try to get free, a massive flow of darkness element turned him into ashes.

    With the door now open, the Demons didn''t bother helping Lith and rushed to finish their job. Lith ignored the agonizing screamsing from behind him and kept walking, reaching the barricade that had temporarily stopped the advance of his army.

    It was located on a T junction where several undead had joined their forces, forming a small sack of resistance. They had opened the doors of their respective rooms so that multiple defensive arrays now ovepped.

    The Demons couldn''t advance any further unless they took down the arrays and those who were defending them. The undead were ying it smart, shooting their spells from behind the cover of the magical formations.

    The arrays protected the undead from the enemy spells while letting their own pass. The undead had also piled up the enchanted furniture of their rooms to form a makeshift fence.

    The Demons had no ce to take cover and kept charging forward. In their fury, the Demons refused to back down despite the constant onught slowly whittling down their numbers.

    "Behind me!" Lith ordered and the Demons obeyed.

    The avnche of darkness, fire, and lightning unleashed by the undead was now aimed at him. The willpower imbued in the spells was too great and their number too big to take control of them with Domination, but Lith had no need for it.

    The blue crystal on Ragnar??k''s scabbard lit up, channeling the water element in the Davross and fueling its abilities. A few sweeps of the de severed the link between the mana and the elemental energy, sending the spells into oblivion.

    Then, the red crystal lit up, engulfing Ragnar??k in mes that could burn mana as if it were wood. The angry de tapped into the life force stored in its sheath and activated the Spirit Crystal as well.

    The mes turned from red into emerald Immortal mes, cutting through the arrays and the barricade with the same ease.

    ''What the fuck is that and how did Ragnar??k do it?'' Lith had seen the Immortal mes the first time when Jormun had conjured them against him and thest time when Sark had challenged Tezka.

    Yet he had no idea how they worked and had never managed to produce them himself. Back when the dying War had conjured them to fight against M''Rael, the de had done it on its own.

    "Oh, well. Answers can wait.'' Lith inwardly shrugged.

    "Stop!" An undead screamed and Lith ignored her.

    Judging by the bristles covering her body and the bulging muscles ripping through her lovely day dress, she seemed to be a Korvak. Their species was capable of moving during the day at the expense of part of their magical prowess.

    Their mind and physical abilities were unaffected by the abundant light element that had allowed them to resist until that moment.

    "I know that you hate us, but this madness has to stop!" The Korvak woman screamed as Lith cut through the furniture and burned the defensive runes. "Even if you kill us all, nothing will change.

    "Violence just begets more violence in a never-ending cycle. The only thing you can achieve by this senseless ughter is to enrage the Undead Courts. They-"

    "They what?" Lith cut her short, but never stopped swinging his de. "Will theye for me at night?"

 Chapter 2790 Spare None (Part 2)

    Chapter 2790 Spare None (Part 2)

    2790 Spare None (Part 2)

    "Will they break into my home to murder my loved ones in their sleep? Been there, done that." Lith''s voice was filled with rage and contempt at those pleas for mercy.

    "I would like to taunt the Undead Courts to do their worst, but they already did. I survived their worst and now I''m here to give you a taste of mine!" A two-handed sh of the still-sheathed de cut the protections asunder, opening a path for the shadow army.

    "Fine." The woman put her hands behind her head and kneeled. "If you want to kill us, do it. But, please, spare our thralls. They are but innocent kids."

    Lith stopped for a moment, raising his right hand and bringing the Demons to a halt as well. The humans among the undead were indeed young. The oldest was around twenty and the youngest couldn''t be more than sixteen.

    "Innocent? You mean like my little brother Aran?" The ck and white crystals lit up as Lith weaved the tier zero Chaos spell, Bite, and the tier zero Decay spell, Fast Forward, through the angry de.

    The elements were split from their counterparts, generating Chaos and Decay. Lith had used Ragnar??k as a buffer, exploiting the Davross'' natural ability to channel the elements and the crystals to boost its effects.

    His hope was that by working through the gemstones, the darkness element generated would shield Ragnar??k from the Decay and the light from the Chaos. Also, the de was supposed to in turn shield Lith''s life force from the consequences of failing to contain the Cursed elements.

    Only thest part was a sess.

    Bite took form, moving faster than a bullet and killing the youth in front of his distraught sire. Yet part of the Chaos and the Decay went awry, opening a hole in the blood sheathe and making the Davross sizzle.

    "Like my niece Leria? Like my wife and parents?" With each word a new bolt of Chaos and Decay shot from the angry de, respectively piercing through a thrall and turning them into mummified corpses.

    Lith stopped using Mirror magic only when half of Ragnar??k''s scabbard was gone. Any more would leave the de without the life force necessary to employ its abilities. Also, without it, the Davross would take the full brunt of the failed spells.

    "Don''t y coy with me. I knew what you were going to do to my family. You deserve the same mercy you would have granted them. None"

    The Korvak jumped up,unching herself at Lith with a mad howl of grief. A lunge of Ragnar??k pierced through her armor and heart, turning the undead into ashes.

    "Spare none." Lith said while the Demons resumed their advance.

    ***

    Blood Desert, City of Quyntan, permanent headquarters of the Undead Courts'' War Room.

    It was still night in the Blood Desert so the moment the local branch of Derios was attacked, Shelk Whur, Blood Warlock and Destroyer of the Dusk Court, picked up his amulet and demanded a status report.

    "What is it now? Did the Kingdom discover our position or is it more infighting?" He asked.

    After failing to both kill Lith and kidnap Zinya''s children, what unity was left between the members of the Courts was falling apart. As more and more elders fell into eternal sleep, the surviving undead were unwilling to continue with Shelk''s n.

    The Courts were split from the inside, with the elders wanting to back down to save their lives and the younger undead pushing them forward to secure their own future. Fights were a daily urrence and if not for the resilience of undead, there would have been lots of casualties.

    "It must be another squabble." Urma the Nightwalker, representative for the Kingdom, sighed. "There have been no movements of troops and assembling enough forces to take a fortress like the Derios branch would hardly go unnoticed.

    "We''ve hidden from the humans for centuries and unless one of our own betrays us, there''s no way someone can discover the G-" His reasoning was correct, but his conclusions were wrong.

    The Kingdom had no need to assemble arge number of troops because Lith had his own. Someone had indeed revealed the location of the branch and the proof of it was that more and more runes kept disappearing from hismunication amulet as he spoke.

    "A squabble my undead ass!" Shelk roared as the runes of the members of Derios'' Court faded from his amulet as well. "This is a massacre. Contact whoever is left from Derios and find out what the heck is happening.

    "I''ll summon everyone capable of moving during the day and give the mobilization order. There is not a second to lose."

    "There''s no one left to call either" Urma looked in shock as the contact runes on his amulet grew in size and rearranged themselves.

    The death of so many undead had left lots of free space that the enchantments of the amulets were optimizing.

    "How is this possible?" Shelk mmed his fist on his mahogany desk, making the wood crack and bend until the enchantments it was imbued with started to fix the damage. "What kind of elite unit can kill so many undead so quickly?

    "Even during the day, it takes more than five minutes to break in and ughter an entire branch!"

    "There''s no point arguing the unknown." The Nightwalker replied. "I''ll activate ourwork of spies immediately and inform you as soon as I learn something. Whoever is behind this attack, we must make him pay.

    "Our kin are already divided. We can''t afford to lose the trust of our supporters. There''s no point in an army with lots of generals and no soldiers willing to follow orders. We must-"

    Another rm started to sound, this time from the branch located in the city of Zaqua, one of the most important trading hubs of the Distar Marquisate.

    "Another one?" Shelk couldn''t believe his own ears and eyes.

    Now two sirens were ring and more runes had started to disappear.

    "This is ridiculous!" Urma yelled in outrage. "Even the most ipetent idiot in our ranks can''t have missed two armies of mages and soldiers reaching Derios at the same time. Even if the Royals acted covertly, there''s no way to hide so many people!"

    "This is not the Royals'' doing." The Blood Warlock watched the runes fade from his amulet one after another. "This is Verhen. He''s employing the same strategy he used against Thrud to clean his turf."

    The branches of Derios and Zaqua were the closest to Lutia and without them, any further attempt on the Verhen Mansion would have been impossible.

    "If you are right, then they have no chance without our help." The Nightwalker replied. "I''ll inform the others and go save as many people as I can. I don''t know if I can do it alone, though. How long will it take for you to arrive?"

    "Soon." Shelk hung up the call and rushed toward the closest Gate.

    The Undead''s dimensionalwork wasn''t as quick as those of the three Great Countries. Each Gate led to a single destination and to connect all the branches between them it would have taken a whole building.

 Chapter 2791 Spare None (Part 3)

    Chapter 2791 Spare None (Part 3)

    2791 Spare None (Part 3)

    Theck of security in old Gates made the existence of a central dimensional hub both impractical and dangerous.

    To make matters worse, even if the Courts had the space and the resources to establish such a ce for each one of their branches, it would also mean that once one of them was exposed the others would quickly follow.

    The bestpromise the undead had found during the centuries was to set up only a few Gates for each branch.

    On the one hand, it meant that reaching most destinations required lots of timepared to the humanwork. On the other hand, the extra passages and the authorization protocols worked as security measures,partmentalizing the various branches belonging to the same Court.

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, City of Zaqua, a few seconds after the fall of Derios'' branch of the Dawn Court.

    Lith knew that moving via a Warp Gate would have left a trail of paperwork that a corrupt officer might have ryed to his employers so Lith had chosen a different approach.

    Farg and Brinja needed just one Home Stone and a few people near Zaqua to allow Lith and the rest of the troops to reach their destination in a single step. Demons didn''t take space since they would hide inside Lith''s shadow and Solus was already back inside the stone ring.

    She had consumed little energy but she preferred to rest and hide her presence. As for the soldiers tasked with surrounding Derios'' branch of the Dawn Court, they carried with them a temporary Gate.

    These dimensional devices could be assembled at will and allowed their owner to cross hundreds of kilometers in one go as long as there was someone fueling the exit point on the other side.

    Lith used the Home Stone and the dimensional runes he had imbued on it as a beacon. The artifact contained the dimensional coordinates of his destination and stored enough mana necessary to open a Warp Gate.

    "Are you sure you don''t need to rest a bit before the attack?" Farg asked after Hushing them, to make sure that no one could overhear them.

    She was a member of the Queen''s Corpse and the liaison between Lith and the ck ops unitprised of fake mages.

    "I know that an Awakened needs but a few breaths to recover their strength, but you also carry the burden of hundreds of Demons. Wiping out Derios'' branch must have consumed a considerable amount of their strength and there''s a limit to the number of times you can use a breathing technique.

    "Luckily for us, the Dawn Court of Zaqua built their hideout over a mana geyser. Even if we dy the assault for just a few minutes, you can regain your mana and save Invigoration for your Demons."

    "Thanks, but I have no need for that." A wolfish smile appeared on Lith''s face while Solus took the form of the Hands of Menadion from under his armor. "I have all the power I need already!"

    Between the underground magicalbs and the magical formations surrounding the building, most of the energying from the mana geyser was already taken. There was not enough for Solus to assume her tower form but plenty left for the Hands to control.

    Even while talking with Farg and listening to Brinja briefing the troops, Lith and Solus were working on taking over the residual world energy. Once they were done with that, they would start seizing control of the rest.

    As the raid progresses and the Demons burn down the arrays, the free world energy will increase. Solus said. ''When I have enough, 1 only need to secure an area big enough to host the first floor of the tower.

    At that point, the Demons and I will receive an endless flow of mana without any burden for you.''

    That''s of secondary importance.''Lith replied. The priority must be to use the tower to clear up your surroundings and make sure that no eyewitness remains. At that point, even without the Demons, it''s going to be checkmate.

    The Heart had Silverwing''s spells memorized while the Mirror Hall allowed them to Warp around freely. Even if the undead had a spacepressing array, it wouldn''t be able to keep up with the tower''s output.

    The Armory would share with the Demons the powers of the Sage Staff and Ragnar?k, respectively focusing their minds and turning every weapon they wielded into an angry de.

    The Firing Range now could shoot any pre-programmed spell outside the tower as well and, if push came to shove, Lith could always activate the Prime Engine.

    Solus nodded telepathically while Brinja showed Lith the location of the ancient Gate and the secondary exit points that the members of the assassin squad had revealed before being killed.

    "Based on my estimates, their hideout could be at any depth but it shouldn''t exceed this area." Marchioness Distar drew a circle in the hologram in front of her and the artifact calcted its diameter as slightly over 500 meters (1650'').

    "Any more and the use of Gates wouldn''t make sense since an underground tunnel would suffice."

    "Agreed." Lith nodded. "The Undead Courts tend to build their bases on multiple floors. The Gate will lead me to the uppermost floor while the secondary Gates should be linked with the private quarters of the Court''s upper echelons.

    "They are located on the bottom floor, to give them privacy and the time they need to evacuate if cornered. Don''t get inside and wait for me to flush them out. Let the undead fall into your arrays instead of dealing with theirs."

    "Thanks, Magus Verhen." Major Lantam, Brinja''s head of security gave Lith the salute. "I know that you are a Divine Beast, but your courage still amazes me. You are about to go in there alone, face a bunch of undead monsters on their turf, and leave us to clean up the leftovers.

    "Yet even now you are worrying about our safety."

    The man offered Lith his hand, proud and honored to serve at the side of such a hero. Little did he know that Lith just wanted to have no one witnessing his methods or secrets.

    "That''s because from great powerse great responsibilities." Lith shook Lantam''s hand after returning the salute, making Solus want to puke at his bald-faced lies. "Now bring your soldiers in position. Time is never on the side of us mortals."

    Lantam nodded and started to bark instructions in his amulet, followed by Brinja who checked on the members of the Queen''s Corps. They were stationed in vantage positions from which they could reach multiple Gates quickly and join the army in the fight where necessary.

    "Really? Us mortals?" Farg echoed his words, sprinkling them with plenty of sarcasm. "Even though your life force is cracked, I doubt that you have less than a couple of hundred years left to live."

    "Maybe." Lith shrugged. "But I can be killed like anyone else here which makes me a mortal."

    "Semantics." Farg replied.

    "Do we really have to do this right now?" Lith knew that she didn''t like him, but he had never cared about it and he wasn''t going to start anytime soon.

 Chapter 2792 Spare None (Part 4)

    Chapter 2792 Spare None (Part 4)

    2792 Spare None (Part 4)

    "No." Farg sighed while walking away. "Kick those undead''s asses,e out of there alive, and then I''ll give you a lesson about how to deliver a pep-talk without treating your subordinates like idiots."

    As soon as the various units confirmed to have reached their respective positions and conjured the battle arrays, Lith repeated the same strategy as the previous branch.

    He half-opened the ancient Gate and left Solus behind to keep it from revealing their arrival while he soared in the sky. Then, he dived down and she let him in before going for cover.

    Despite the depth at which the branch of the Dawn Court was located and its distance from the Gates, the assembled soldiers managed to perceive a vibration running through their feet at the moment of the impact.

    That coupled with the vision of the ming ck meteor falling down the sky raised a question in their minds.

    "What kind of spell would be needed to produce this kind of shockwave?" Lantam asked Farg, voicing everyone''s curiosity.

    "One capable of destroying a city" She replied curtly. "Now get ready. If this goes like thest time, the fattest rats will be the fastest to abandon the sinking ship."

    Almost as if answering hermand, one of the nearby Gates lit up. A richly dressed gorgeous woman came out of it, followed by men and women dressed like butlers and maids.

    The group of people proved to be capable mages, using air and darkness magic to cover the quickest path to the nearby woods from sunlight. The members of the army had no idea who was human and who was undead and even if they did, their orders were clear. Leave no one alive.

    The soldiers in the front line raised their shields, each conjuring a small energy field that fused with those on either side, forming a tall wall. Those right behind them used the shoulders of the shield-bearers to support their staves as they unleashed a barrage of fire.

    At the same time, the solid ground around the Gate turned into a muddy field.

    The mages on the third line only had one spell at the ready and needed to identify the threat at hand in order to weave more and not waste precious mana. The cover fire would either get rid of the enemies or force them to step into the light.

    The gorgeous woman snarled, waving her hand to conjure a Warp Steps and get away. Dimensional magic took a great toll on a blood core but undead could still use it. Temporary weakness always beat eternal sleep.

    Great was her surprise when her mana faded without producing any effect. She had no time for hand signs and magic words so she used true magic to cast a darkness-based tier four spell.

    A thick ck mist advanced toward the troops and disappeared as soon as it entered the darkness-sealing arrays around them. The undead woman couldn''t fly due to the sun and tried to run along the safe path she had created.

    Yet even with the inhuman speed of an undead, she was an easy target as the knee-deep mud slowed her down and the soldiers used the veil of darkness to predict her movements.

    ''That''s why those bastards aren''t using darkness magic.'' She thought as her servants were ripped apart by the fireballs and damage kept piling up on her body faster than she could heal it.

    ''Not because they were afraid that I would dodge them but because they sealed my best weapons!"The fact that all undead could conjure darkness magic "out of thin air" was public knowledge.

    The Baroness put everything she had to enhance her physique and charged at the soldiers. She preferred to die after inflicting as many losses as she could to the human army than as a cornered rat.

    I still have a slim chance of survival. If I break through their ranks, the soldiers will pile up on me and shield me from sunlight with their bodies.'' Herst-ditch n fell apart when her face crashed against the shield wall.

    One soldier alone was nothingpared to her, but once linked in the formation, each one of them was as sturdy as a pir of stone. The Wardens cast another darkness-sealing array, dispelling the safe path to the woods she had conjured earlier and leaving her no ce where to hide.

    The Baroness of the Dawn Court wed at the nearest soldier in desperation, but the sun robbed her of her life before she could reach him.

    She died while cursing the humans for their cowardly ambush in the middle of the day, just like humans cursed the undead for attacking them in the middle of the night when they were alone.

    "Iing!" Farg used chore magic to light up two Gates.

    Thanks to Life Vision, she could see the dimensional energies building up before the Gate opened, giving the soldiers the time to prepare and catching the undead by surprise.

    Meanwhile, inside the Court, Lith''s strategy was working like clockwork. His human meteor strike strained the first line of defenses and misaligned the arrays. Then came the Demons, Solus, and the Golems.

    She was now wearing the Hands, using the emerald gemstone in the middle of the palm to convert the world energying from the mana geyser below into mana and recharge both the Demons and the constructs.

    Even with that, it wasn''t enough to bring everyone back at 100% but it hastened their recovery rate without increasing the burden on Lith. They split in three directions, with Lith and Trouble going in different directions while Solus rode Raptor.

    The Demons spread like a ck tide, their mass blotting out the lights in the corridors as they advanced. Thralls and undead alike didn''t realize what was happening until the Demons split at the crossroads enough times for their individual forms to be recognizable.

    Lith walked briskly behind them, using the souls to test the defenses and trigger the traps from a safe distance. Thanks to his bright violet core, each step he took conjured more runes.

    The movement of his muscles, blood, and organs generated a constant stream of spells that he unleashed the moment the Demons encountered any form of resistance. The chains connecting him to the shadows allowed him to share their senses and them to receive his spells.

    Emerald-streaked hard-light weapons appeared in the hands of the unarmed Demons on the frontlines while those behind them unleashed jets of ck mes from several Final Eclipses at the same time.

    All the Demons shared the same energy signature so the spells of their allies could do them no harm. The undead locked inbat with them had no choice but to hold their ground and die by Final Eclipse or flee and die by backstabbing.

    Whenever the army of shadows encountered an enchanted wall or a golem guard, they lined un and took a deep breath. Thousand mes encountered any form of resistance. The chains connecting him to the shadows allowed him to share their senses and them to receive his spells.

    Emerald-streaked hard-light weapons appeared in the hands of the unarmed Demons on the frontlines while those behind them unleashed jets of ck mes from several Final Eclipses at the same time.

    All the Demons shared the same energy signature so the spells of their allies could do them no harm. The undead locked inbat with them had no choice but to hold their ground and die by Final Eclipse or flee and die by backstabbing.

    Whenever the army of shadows encountered an enchanted wall or a golem guard, they lined up and took a deep breath. Thousand mes took care of unmoving obstacles while Origin mes seeped inside the golems and burned their cores.

    The strength of the Demons dwindled with each spark of Lith''s life force they consumed but so did the enemy numbers.

 Chapter 2793 Changes and Upgrades (Part 1)

    Chapter 2793 Changes and Upgrades (Part 1)

    2793 Changes and Upgrades (Part 1)

    Lith followed the Demons as they advanced, feeling a sting in his heart whenever he heard the dying throes of youths he could only hope were thralls.

    Bing a father had healed most of his emotional wounds but it had also restored part of his humanity and conscience.

    ''I wonder if they had a family somewhere. If the only reason these men and women have joined the Dawn Court was to ensure their loved ones a better life.'' Lith thought while weaving the tier zero Chaos spell, Bite, and the tier zero Decay spell, Fast Forward, through Ragnar?k.

    Practicing two Cursed Elements at the same time was taxing on his mind and core, but he had no other way to get rid of the Decay generated with each Chaos spell he conjured.

    The elemental crystals helped him to fine-tune the spells while the angry de''s blood scabbard endured the consequences of his mistakes for him. It was something that neither War nor Ragnar?k could do and it was made possible by the recent ungrade.

    The blood that Lith had added to the power core of the angry de as an amplifier now coursed through the remains of his fallen enemies collected by Ragnar?k, turning them into expendable extensions of his own body.

    Lith used Mirror Magic only against thralls because their deaths would provide him with the blood and life force he needed to replenish Ragnar?k''s strength.

    Bing a father and regaining his humanity had brought Lith to understand the weight of the lives he took but that didn''t make him soft. On the contrary, it reinforced his determination.

    "The Undead Courts aren''t going to stoping after me unless I make them. Every person I kill is one less enemy that Elysia will have to face in the future.'' Lith thought, killing the thralls with clinical precision despite their desperate pleas for mercy.

    ''It''s much better for me to shoulder this burden than let my daughter live under the constant threat of immortal monsters. If Elysia wants to join the Nest or be Leegaain''s apprentice it''s going to be her free choice.

    ''Not because she''s scared for her life or that or her mother!'' Lith didn''t want to die, but he had to prepare for the eventuality.

    With his crippled life force and the many enemies that he had made during his life, he knew that sooner orter something from his past woulde back to bite at him. Aware of his mortality, he didn''t want to make Elysia pay for his mistakes.

    The only way he had to protect her was to clean up his own mess and leave her a clean te.

    The once luxurious corridors of the Dawn Court had now turned into a ughterhouse. The priceless works of art that once decorated the wallsy shattered on the floor while the high-end furniture was reduced to charred splinters.

    As he walked amid the carnage and destruction, Lith could almost hear Kam''s voice in theirst argument.

    "I know that the undead have attacked the Verhen Mansion, but do you really have to do this?" She had asked. "Can''t you just leave the army to deal with this?"

    "After General Morn, after Deirus, and how those assassins got the blueprint of our home, do you really trust the Kingdom to not let its corrupt members screw this up?" Lith asked back.

    "Fine!" Kam scoffed. "But if you really have to do this, why not bring Zoreth along? Why don''t you ask for Surtr and Sinmara''s help? Heck, bring the whole Organization with you!"

    "And then what?" Lith countered pointedly. "Let everyone know that I associate myself with ancient Abominations? Everyone would start to believe that I''m the Master and at that point, the undead would be the least of my problems.

    "As for Surtr and Sinmara, I don''t want to be reliant on them every time things get hard. My enemies aren''t going to stoping so I need to make sure that I can take them on by myself."

    "Is this a matter of pride, then?" She stomped her foot in frustration. "What if something happens to you? What if one of the Courts you are going to storm today is ruled by an ancient undead so powerful that not even you can beat them?

    "What I''m going to tell our daughter when she asks me why she had to grow up without a father?" Not knowing what else to do, Kam took the sleeping Elysia from her crib and gently shoved her in Lith''s face.

    The crib was Hushed so the baby had no idea what was happening. She opened her eyes, seeing her beloved parents and yet sensing the tension between them.

    "Dya?" She asked, extending her arms to Lith while shapeshifting into her Tiamat form to get some rity.

    Lith took her in his arms, using the Dragon scales to let her know how much he loved her and that everything would be alright.

    "Tell her I wasn''t scared." Lith replied. "Tell our daughter that her father fought for her until hisst breath."

    The vision blurred his sight for a moment, the regret from making Kam worry and leaving her on such a sour note still weighed on his mind. His guilt turned into a determination that spread to the Demons of the Fallen through the ck chains.

    The dark horde roared, doubling their efforts to make sure that their master would go back home and patch things up.

    ***

    At the same time in a side corridor, Solus was wearing every piece of the set of Menadion that they had recovered. The Eyes were deciphering thework of arrays, showing her the most direct path to the control room.

    ''Once I turn the magical formations off, the geyser will be up for the taking and this will be over. Solus used the Hands to umte the free world energy and use it to fuel her tower half.

    The more the tower core took form, the less strain the Eyes put on her and the faster she could take over the mana geyser.

    ''I know, but don''t be impatient.'' Raptor replied, his thoughts sounding like the wind howling through an abyss and somehow forming intelligible words. ''We are still weakened.

    ''Keep less energy for yourself and send more to the Demons. If they get pushed back, we''ll have to deal with everything by ourselves.

    ''Good point.'' Solus still had a hard time dealing with the Void who was now possessing her steed yet she had no reason to ignore his advice.

    She released part of the umted power through the emerald gemstone embedded in the palm of the Hands, turning it into mana and providing the Demons with a small but steady flow of energy.

    ''Much better.'' Raptor''s feline snout curled up in a satisfied grin as the Void also received his share.

    Memory crystals carried the memories and a sliver of the personality of the Crystalsmith and Lith had brought things up to the next step. During the reforging of the golems, he had altered the Spirit Crystals so that they could host the embodiments of the different aspects of his life forces.

 Chapter 2794 Changes and Upgrades (Part 2)

    Chapter 2794 Changes and Upgrades (Part 2)

    2794 Changes and Upgrades (Part 2)

    After reaching the bright violet, the three sidesprising Lith''s life force hade to an understanding, even the Voidfeather Dragon and the Void. They no longer quarreled among themselves and Lith could trust them with more freedom.

    The Void was in charge of controlling Raptor and the Voidfeather of Trouble, giving the constructs intelligence and a few tricks.

    The Vagrash''s body had been shrunk to the size of a pony to allow Solus to ride it and move nimbly through the corridors.

    She saw a wall of runes and mana ahead of them, thick enough to stop the advance of the Demons and even resist their Thousand mes. From behind its protection, the undead shot darkness spells from point-nk range.

    The darkness element was the bane of undead and Abomination alike. With the spells flooding the corridor, leaving the Demons no way to dodge or cover, they were falling like flies.

    The corridors were littered with puddles of shadow from which the Demons rebuilt their bodies just to be shot down by the undead.

    ''Dammit, that''s something that we didn''t encounter during the past raid. We''ve failed to take into ount that the presence of a mana geyser increases our options but the same applies to our enemies.

    ''With the difference that they had centuries to set up their defenses!'' Solus cursed their bad luck and conjured the Fury in her right hand.

    ''Fall back.'' She couldn''tmand the souls of the dead but the Void could.

    The frenzied Demons answered by using Shadow Steps to clear her line of sight as they moved inside the nearest empty room to recover.

    Solus activated the Furies'' Flight, conjuring eight more copies of the enchanted hammer that flew at the barrier in a bird-looking formation. The white crystals on the sides and head of the Furies turned ck, yellow, and orange.

    The darkness element increased the destructive power, the air element gave the hammers speed, and the earth element further increased the hardness of the Davross.

    The strand of her hair that Solus had fused with the hammer connected the metal head with the Phoenix bone in the handle and the Dragon leather of the grip, amplifying the effects of the elemental mana.

    The Furies'' Flight surpassed the speed of sound, creating a sonic boom in its wake.

    The energy wall took the first blow without budging, but after the fifth, cracks opened in the points of impact. The shockwave caught up a split secondter, hitting the entire wall and preventing the self-repair spell from mending the damage.

    Even with the power of the geyser fueling the wards, nine heads of Davross thrown by someone with the strength of a Divine Beast and imbued with the power of Sark''s altered crystals was too much.

    The best the array could do was withstand the sonic boom and limit the spreading of the fractures. Solus burned a spark of her life force to ignore the dimensional sealing array, returning the Fury to her hand in a burst of emerald mes right after the hit.

    The first shockwave had yet to dwindle when a second set of Furies took flight followed by another sonic boom. The energy wall withstood two more hammers before shattering.

    The Furies from four to nine turned the hole opened by the third hammer into a wide passage and the ensuing shockwave sent the undead flying. Raptor exploited the copse of the defensive formation to cross over before the array repaired itself.

    Solus rode on its back and the able-bodied Demons marched right behind the golem.

    "Shit!" Zontak the Duhan had just got back to his feet when the assault began.

    The group of undead had been alerted of the fall of Derios'' branch but on too short a notice to prepare for the invasion. They had betted everything on the defensive measures fueled by the mana geyser and they had little beyond that.

    Not many Demons had managed to walk through the broken barrier and only a few of them had four eyes left, but the Golden Warrior''s reputation preceded her and there was something in her steed that gave the creeps even to centuries-old predators.

    The eyes of the Vagrash had been reced by a fire and a darkness crystal while the Spirit Crystal had been moved from the chest to the middle of the forehead. The crystal eyes had no iris or pupil yet they managed to express a savage joy.

    The Void looked at them like toys he was eager to break. To cut them open and discover what made them tick.

    The undead noticed the resemnce with the Tiamat and wondered if the reason the construct didn''t have seven eyes was that despite the des, the Supreme Magus of the Kingdomcked resources.

    Little did they know that Lith had the crystals, he just didn''t trust the Void with that kind of power.

    The Duhan cast spells from both his head and body. One manipted its hair to make up for the missing hands and trace the mystical runes while the other used air magic to turn the gurgling noise from the severed neck into words.

    Jima the Banshee activated her bloodline ability, Shattered Soul, to produce an ear-piercing shriek that carried the kic energy of a speeding truck. Demons and constructs had no eardrums to burst but the air pressure still scattered them and sent them mming against the wall.

    The enchantments of Solus'' Voidwalker armor Hushed her ears yet Shattered Soul''s vibrations spread past her armor and into her bones, making her shiver like she was naked under a snowstorm.

    Zamor the Mage yer followed up by cutting through the weakest Demons, reducing the number of threats while also conjuring one bolt of lightning with each movement of his de.

    The tier three spells were aimed at Solus, too fast for her to dodge them while her body struggled to follow hermands. The electricity sent her into a seizure and left her open to Zontak''s spells.

    "Not so fast." The Void flexed the Vagrash''s tail, using it to wrap around Zamor''s sword and throwing the Mage yer right in front of Solus.

    The gaseous body of the undead fed upon the mana without letting a single spark of energy reach the Golden Knight.

    "That''s annoying but at least my spells didn''t go to waste. Zamor is now stronger and can take care of the woman while I deal with the construct. The Duhan thought while unsheathing the sword at his hip.

    His favorite weapon was actually a spear, but with the cramped space of the corridor and surrounded by allies and enemies he needed a shorter-ranged weapon.

    ''I still have the advantage since the golem fares even worse than me with its long body and the short reach of its front-''His train of thoughts derailed as the figure of the Vagrash changed into a humanoid appearance.

    Long straight horns came out of his forehead while curved horns came out of the back of his skull, covering his neck. The feathered wings on its back turned membranous and small spikes erupted on his arms, legs, and chest.

    They were arranged in concentricyers so as to act as both a means of offense and defense.

 Chapter 2795 A Trick of Two (Part 1)

    Chapter 2795 A Trick of Two (Part 1)

    2795 A Trick of Two (Part 1)

    The hoofed feet of the Vagrash turned into taloned toes and the tail was detached from the body, turning into a proper de.

    "I''m just like you, wearing a corpse coated with metal. I don''t need organs to survive." The Void answered the Duhan''s silent question as his lipless maw formed a smile. "But wait. There''s more."

    ck chains burst out from the Spirit Crystal on his chest but instead of providing the Demons with power or conjuring more, the chains struck at the undead. The Duhan and the others froze for a second in surprise but when nothing happened, they resumed the offensive.

    The Void has bought me enough time to shrug off the effects of the Banshee''s scream but I''m still fucked,'' Solus unleashed one of the tier five spells she had at the ready just for the undead to counter it with their own.

    Darkness countered darkness while the Mage yer fed on the remaining element, bing even stronger. Solus'' core was weaker than the undead''s, her body was slower, and they were two against one.

    To make matters worse, only a de master could turn into a Mage yer.

    Zamor had honed his skills through the centuries whereas she was a novice. Solus had regained her human body for less than one year and she liked to spend her free time experiencing life, not training.

    If only I could use body casting to weave spells above tier three, this would go much differently!" Her body was strong and one hit of the Fury would have been enough to kill any undead, but they were both meaningless if she missed her target.

    The Mage yer failed to find an opening in Solus'' Voidwalker armor so he yed it smart. He used his superior technique to wrap his de around the hammer and keep it at a safe distance, using those movements to cast spells.

    Whenever his de and the hammer touched, he released a bolt of lightning that froze the Golden Knight long enough for the Banshee to strike. If the lunge managed to pass through her guard, he released a focused pulse of darkness magic.

    Solus could counter it with the Spirit Barrier of her armor, but even then, some of the darkness would slip past it and attack her body. Due to the darkness'' element ethereal body. Due to the darkness'' element ethereal nature, only a dense mass of energy or matter could stop its advance.

    I can''t keep the barrier always active or the armor will run out of power. Same if I make it too thick. Solus cursed as Jima unleashed another of her screams at the same time when Zoma''s de sent a bolt of lightning through her arm.

    "If I get it by the Shattered Soul, I''ll be a fish in a barrel.'' Her only option was to activate the Spirit Barrier again, blocking the scream and pushing the Mage yer away.

    The problem was that the move bought her time, but she was still surrounded. The two undead just kept at the fringes of the emerald ward and bombarded it respectively with darkness magic and a flurry of attacks that conjured as many spells.

    Zontak the Duhan had no idea what purpose the ck chain connecting him to the Void had yet it didn''t seem to matter. The two had been going at it for a couple of seconds, their des and limbs hitting each other without a care in the world.

    The Duhan was heavily armored, especially his head since it was his weak point. The helmet alone wasprised of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of Adamant but it was as light as a (22 pounds) of Adamant but it was as light as a feather to the elder undead''s blood core.

    His sword was also much heavier than a regr weapon and filled with enchantments. The Golem/Void, instead, was stark naked, covered only in theyer of Adamant that coated the body of the dead Vagrash.

    The same held true for the tailde, yet the creature seemed not to mind the exchange of blows that it was clearly losing.

    I expected more from such a conceited being Zontak thought. ''Sure, my body can''t cast magic anymore but that thing is leaving my head alone, giving me all the time I need. I may be severed from my body in the flesh, but we are still as one.

    Despite the clear ws of Lith''s Golem and of the alleged intelligence possessing it, the Duhan was impressed. Raptor could fight against an elder undead on equal footing despite the clear gap in experience and equipment.

    The construct was unbelievably fast and strong, using sheer physical might to make up for what itcked in skill. On top of that, the physical fight happened at an incredible pace, much faster than any mouth could move.

    Zontak had no way to body cast. Only Awakened and Mage yers undead could do that. He had to give up on high tiered spells and focus on quick tier three spells or the fight would be over before his head cast even a single one.

    The first was a bolt of lightning which coursed through Raptor''s metal body and was grounded into the floor without dealing any damage. The second was a st of darkness magic, neutralized by a spark of the ck eye.

    "Gods, you''re so cute." The Void smiled at the Duhan like at a dumb kid. "You just wasted your spells. I can''t have seizures and you just ran out of time. It''s my turn now."

    Zontak ignored the taunt and resumed his attack. Much to his surprise, the Void ignored his feints and moved straight for the kill. The Duhan immediately adjusted his strategy but the golem anticipated every technique, breezing through them.

    The Void parried the de with his own, extending the muscle joints of the Vagrash''s tail to wrap it around the enemy weapon up to the arm, locking them in a deadly embrace.

    The ck eye lit up, conjuring a constant flow of darkness element that flowed from Raptor''s arm into Zontak''s. The Void used his free hand to hammer at the undead with a flurry of fists carrving the full weight of the half a ton heavy carrying the full weight of the half a ton heavy Vagrash.

    ''How? Just how?'' The Duhan wasn''t a brawler, but in his centuries of life, he had fought empty-handed more often than most professional fighters their entire career.

    Yet the Golem deflected his blows with minimal effort, managing tond every single strike of its own as if Zontak wasn''t even trying to defend himself. The Void also seemed to know the equipment of the Duhan inside out.

    He avoided the offensive enchantments and threw a feint to trigger the defensive systems just to deliver the real blow the moment they started to fade. The enchantments of the golem, instead, always reached a weak spot, unleashing the full extent of their power.

    ''Shit, shit, shit!'' Zontak went into a panic when he finally realized what he had overlooked. 2 The Golem wouldn''t tire, wouldn''t relent, and each one of its blows would be as strong as the first until its power ran out. Yet the real threat was the darkness magic that was moving from the Duhan''s arm to his core.

 Chapter 2796 A Trick of Two (Part 2)

    Chapter 2796 A Trick of Two (Part 2)

    2796 A Trick of Two (Part 2)

    The weak point that every living being had but they usually ignored because only an Awakened could find it.

    "Just how?" The Duhan''s head turned into ashes with the question on his lips but the Void ignored it and turned around to help Solus.

    ''What the fuck?'' The ck chains had also struck her opponents but they seemed to be useless.

    At least until she was forced to lower the Spirit Barrier and face the Banshee and the Mage yer in close-quarterbat again.

    The Full Guard spell imbued in her armor gave Solus full spatial awareness, but there was no point knowing the movements of her enemies if her body couldn''t follow them.

    Now, however, she could see thanks to Full Guard where every part of the undead''s body was and, in her mind, where they would be. Solus could see which movements were just feints and which were meant to strike.

    She could even see how either undead would react in case their respective blows would connect or be blocked or dodged.

    It was akin to seeing the future sh in front of her eyes.

    The flow of information came from the mind link she shared with her steed and Solus chose to trust the Void. Her hammer moved to intercept the Mage yer''s de before it started to move as she cast a Hush Zone to neutralize the Shattered Soul that she knew was iing.

    Zamor was taken by surprise, the hit so heavy that if not for his experience, the Fury would have shattered his de and with it his life. Jima the Banshee had charged in after unleashing her bloodline ability, certain that it would have created an opening.

    Shattered Soul did create an opening, but for Solus. The Hush Zone cancelled the scream and the Banshee had her guard down whereas Solus held her hands up.

    Jima was now defenseless against the gue Arrows that Solus conjured via body casting. Darkness was slow, but the Golden Knight ced the spells along Jima''s trajectory, making the Banshee run into them on her own.

    Jima stumbled and fell, her strength abandoning her. Solus tried to finish her off but the Mage yer moved to protect his weakenedrade.

    ''How?'' He wondered in confusion. ''How can an amateur suddenly be capable of predicting my most refined techniques?''

    The answer to the Duhan''s'' and the Mage yer''s question was the same.

    While in the golem''s body, the Voidcked the connection with his souls and the mana organs necessary to conjure Demons. Yet the Spirit Crystal carried enough of Lith''s pure mana and life force to conjure the ck chains.

    Undead were predators and the older they were, the more victims they had preyed upon. It also meant more souls following them. Souls who had haunted their murderers for years, if not centuries, and who were d to share their knowledge with the Void.

    A long life meant acquiring habits and patterns. Any veteran knew that a winning strategy had to be refined and perfected, never discarded. The souls had seen the undead training and fighting countless times, memorizing those patterns.

    Now, they acted as telepathic coaches for the Void and Solus, telling them what to expect and from where.

    Solus caught up with Zamor''s rhythm, blocking his de with her hammer. Then, she conjured a copy of the Fury in her free hand, and before the undead could react, she pped with the two hammers.

    Struck between the two Furies, the Adamant weapon shattered. A Mage Knight''s body wasprised only of a heart and de. The orange fog was just a defensive measure meant to neutralize magic and protect the heart.

    The de was the means through which the blood core exerted its power and they grew in strength together as the Mage yer fed upon their prey. If the weapon was damaged, the blood core would leak and consume the umted energy to repair it.

    Zamor was old enough to be capable of fixing his de but the suddenck of energy made the fog surrounding his heart disappear. With the same movement that had shattered the de, Solus conjured a st of darkness magic that destroyed the floating heart and killed the undead.

    ''I''m not going to waste my undeath fighting two against one. Better to retreat to fight another day.'' Jima the Banshee could hear Solus panting and the light in the Golem''s eyes flickering, but the ck chains were still there and she didn''t trust her odds.

    "Full Nelson!" The Void consumed thest remnants of Raptor''s energy to move behind her in a blur locking her arms with his own her in a blur, locking her arms with his own.

    The Banshee gritted her teeth to withstand the unknown spell conjured by the unknown words of power. Then, Solus'' hammer hit Jima in a descending arc, crushing her head and then splitting her body asunder with the sheer might of the blow.

    "Time out?" The Void asked, the runes on his metal body flickering in warning.

    "Sort of." Solus was still panting when she conjured the recharging array for the Golem which shapeshifted back into an Emperor Beast. "We resume our advance the moment I''m done catching my breath."

    Unlike Lith, she couldn''t power Raptor up by consuming her mana, she could only do it through a magical formation. The Void stood still, drawing the world energy through the Golem''s eyes to speed up the process.

    It took Solus a few seconds to breathe regrly and a few more to use her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, to go back to the peak of her strength. It wasn''t long enough for Raptor to do the same but they had no time to lose.

    She sacrificed part of the energy stored inside the Hands, injecting it inside the construct after filtering it through the emerald gemstone. It would slow down the takeover of the mana geyser but she needed the Void''s help to seed.

    "Nice trick, by the way." She said while riding the Vagrash and talking to not waste precious mana with mind links. "I thought you needed to fuse with a soul to ess to their knowledge. How did you do it with just the chains?"

    "We all learned a trick or two since we got back from the Fringe." The Void replied, wondering how the Voidfeather Dragon was doing.

    ***

    The Voidfeather Dragon wasn''t pleased with Trouble''s body. The membranous wings felt wrong, the short humanoid neck limited his vision, and theck of a tail made his bnce precarious.

    "This is uneptable!" The Voidfeather snarled while the undead around him rained spells upon him. "No mes and no shadows. This construct is crap!"

    Trouble''s body had benefitted from its stay in the Spark. The Adamant coating it hade closer to Davross and the Balor''s corpse had been refined as if Trouble was still alive and had somehow Awakened.

    On top of that, the Spirit Crystal had been moved from the chest to the forehead, mimicking the pattern of a Tiamat. s, the Golemcked all the mana organs that the Voidfeather Dragon needed to conjure most of his bloodline abilities, carrying only the Voidfeather''s mind and a spark of Lith''s life force.

 Chapter 2797 Counter Measures (Part 1)

    2797 Counter Measures (Part 1)

    Yet a sliver of life force was enough for the Voidfeather to couple his mastery over the elements with the full set of elemental crystals to suck in the iing spells, cleanse them from their caster''s energy signature, and shoot them back in the form of raw elemental pirs.

    Lith had studied the Balor''s eyes long enough to understand the underlying principles of their bloodline abilities and the Voidfeather had mastered the elemental crystal enough to mimic them.

    A living body would have been ravaged by mana poisoning and damaged by the violent spells temporarily coursing through it, but both were irrelevant problems to a Golem.

    Blue magic circles surrounded the Voidfeather Dragon, each holding a different spell as they followed him in his advance. The undead were still shocked by seeing their best spells fade into nothingness when beams of incandescent light hit them.

    The tier three Light Mastery spell, Sunburst, generatedser-like heat rays that moved as fast as a bullet, yet light and fire inflicted little damage to an undead body. The Dragon used Void Magic to turn fire into ice and light into darkness.

    The ice clogged the joints of the undead''s armor and stuck to them so that the darkness it carried could seep inside the undead without wasting one iota of mana. Then, the Voidfeather lit the yellow eye and unleashed a lightning bolt that filled the corridor.

    The electricity stung at the undead, but that was it.

    When it turned into solid rock, trapping them inside a stone coffin, however, it was a problem. With their joints already clogged by ice and encased in rock that made it impossible to exert leverage, even someone as strong as an undead needed time to break free.

    Time that the Voidfeather didn''t grant them, activating one of the magic circles so that the blinding light produced by bolts of lightning turned into a haze of darkness. By the time the undead managed to free themselves, the ever-shifting tide of attacks had inflicted grievous wounds upon them.

    The silver lining was that they were many and the Golem was one.

    "Gentlemen, if you please." The horde of Demons hiding behind the Voidfeather struck at the weakened enemies in a frenzy, ughtering them like cattle.

    Once thest undead turned into ashes, the Demons still had six eyes each and the Dragon was done preparing the next batch of spells. His advance was slower than Lith''s and Solus.''

    He had no way to recharge the ck cores of the Demons so he had to make each hit count.

    ***

    Lith avoided the strong barriers fueled by the mana geyser since dealing with them was a waste of time unless they led to the lower floors. He didn''t rush in his advance, taking the time to replenish his strength and Ragnar?k''s scabbard as he studied the enemy defense formations from a distance.

    ''It seems I have to get past that junction if I want to proceed.'' Lith''s eyes spotted a golden barrier simr to the one that Solus had just ovee.

    He had tried the other routes and they all ended the same way. It might have been considered a waste of time if in doing so he hadn''t also cleansed the entire area of undead.

    Thanks to that, the Demons of the Darkness were free to assist him and many of them had gotten their hands on the corpse of a thrall. By absorbing the residual mass, life force, and mana, they had turned into Demons of the Fallen, increasing their strength with no burden on Lith.

    The number of Demons behind him was so great that not a speck of light was visible. On one end of the corridor stood a wall of light and on the other one of darkness.

    Lith took a deep breath and so did the Demons. Their mouths filled with Void mes, filling the corridor with an eerie glow.

    Lith hurled a jet stream of fire in front of himself while the Demons aimed the Void mes so that they would cross paths with Lith''s. The Cursed mes stopped their advance for a split second, forming a sphere of fire that grew in size until the stone of the corridor turned white hot.

    Then, the Thousand mes burst forward until they crashed against the defensive barrier like a raging river hitting a dam.

    The defensive array copsed under the pressure, but thanks to the energying from the mana geyser it reformed too quickly for Lith to cross over unless he opened a Spirit Warp.

    ''Blinking would mean leaving the Demons behind while a Steps would be easily countered by a Copsing Space spell. I would lose my Demons anyway and be forced to defend from both sides of the corridor.

    ''Getting closer is not an option either. I have no cover and while I take down the barrier, too many Demons would have to sacrifice themselves to protect me. Time for n E.

    At Lith''s signal, the Demons of the Fallen knelt while those of the Darkness stretched their shadow necks so that their heads could move freely from their bodies. Soon the whole corridor was filled with white maws glued to each other like bricks.

    The second burst of Thousand mes hit the barrier in the same spot as the first. This time, after the magical formation crumbled, the mes had enough power to burn through the makeshift barricade and the undead hiding behind it.

    The third wave struck while the array was still repairing itself, bringing it down with ease and flooding the corridor. The ck mes killed the guards, burned the traps, and split in two upon reaching a T junction.

    More agonizing screams came from the two corridors, revealing the presence of more undead lying in ambush.

    I guess that now they are too busy saving their skin to bother me.''Lith conjured ayer of cold air around his head since unlike his Demons, he needed to breathe and the surface of the marble corridor was bubbling.

    At hismand, the shadows pressed their bodies against the already-fixed barrier, draining it with their Abomination Touch. The Demons quivered in pleasure feeding off the power of the mana geyser and feeling the strength they had consumed return.

    The barrier copsed again but this time it stayed down. A ck rim marked the presence of Demons that kept draining the barrier faster than the mana geyser could fuel it.

    "Those with less than five eyes stay here and feed. The rest with me.''Lith crossed the threshold, readying himself to fight as he neared the T junction.

    Judging from the small pile of ashes, only a few undead had been destroyed while the rest had run away after the failed ambush. Lith split his forces to explore both corridors, clearing the area before going down the stairs leading to the next floor.

    "This isn''t going well.'' Lith thought. ''The presence of the geyser is helping the defensive forces more than it helps us. We''ve met much more resistance than in the other branch and some of the arrays were strong enough to depower several Demons.

    I split them so that Solus and the Voidfeather could act on their own, but that left me with the smallest unit.

 Chapter 2798 Counter Measures (Part 2)

    Chapter 2798 Counter Measures (Part 2)

    <nulli>''I am the only one who can recharge the Demons quickly, sure, but the more I use Invigoration on them, the less it works for me.'' Lith sent Valia and Varegrave forward, expecting an ambush.

    He wasn''t disappointed.

    Two Wendigos weed them with a Chilling Wail that froze the Demons and conjured an ice wall that cut the reinforcements off. Valia and Varegrave were prepared for something like that.

    During the interrogation of the assassin unit sent to the Verhen Mansion, Lith had extracted from them the countermeasures that the Undead Courts had devised against his different forms.

    Wendigos for the Dragon, Nightwalkers for the Abomination, and Blood Witches for the Tiamat.

    The two former members of the Queen''s Corps had moved forward while holding their breath so that when they exhaled, they released a burst of Origin mes from all over their bodies.

    The mystical mes turned the ice into steam, blinding the Wendigos from seeing the des aimed at their intestines. Smashing the head or puncturing the heart of a Wendigo was useless.

    Born from a person starving during a harsh winter to the point of feeding on the corpses of members of their own race, a Wendigo''s weak point was the never-rotting flesh of their first victim.

    Unless it was destroyed, the hairy undead would endlessly regenerate, given time and enough power in their blood cores. The des failed to get past the Adamant armor of the undead but the darkness element coating them did.

    Valia''s opponent experienced difort while Varegrave''s was unlucky.

    The blow nced at the right spot, causing the remnants of her first meal to rot. The Wendigo''s strength plummeted and she tried to back down but the Demon of the Fallen kept pressing forward.

    "Help me, dammit!" She screamed in fear as the eternity that had been promised to her slipped through her fingers.

    Thralls and undead came to her aid but as soon as Lith''s array-detecting spell and life-sensing array provided him with the information he needed, the rest of the He was close enough to help and support them, but also out of reach for the undead.

    "Now!" A familiar voice shouted and the undead jumped to the side, uncaring if it left Demons stormed the room.

    Having no idea how deep the building went and how many enemies he would face, Lith used the Demons for recon while he studied the situation from a safe distance. He was close enough to help and support them, but also out of reach for the undead.

    "Now!" A familiar voice shouted and the undead jumped to the side, uncaring if it left them exposed to a blow.

    A massive construct shaped like hands made of pure darkness reached the crowd of Demons, splitting into many smaller limbs that grabbed their respective targets and pinned them against the wall.

    The Demons tried to shapeshift out of the restraints, but darkness could interact with darkness and the constructs shapeshifted along with them, blocking their escape.

    The undead didn''t miss the opening and poured their spells and bloodline abilities against the helpless Demons.

    Lith cut his own palm, throwing droplets of his blood in every direction. The moment they got far away enough from him, the effects of his natural shapeshifting were lost and they returned to their original size.

    Lith''s body was that of a creature 30 meters (100'') tall so the droplets expanded into the equivalent of several buckets of blood that painted the room red.

    Many undead almost fell into a feeding frenzy, the smell of the nectar filled with bright violet mana and a powerful life force intoxicating. Somehow, it suited the blood cores of those belonging to both the human and beast races.

    Even the undead who didn''t feed on blood had a hard time notpping it. The wrong nourishment was bound to taste bad, but the vitality and mana contained in the blood made it a hearty meal.

    The Demons of the Darkness bathed in the crimson liquid, seeing it for what it truly was. The trigger for another contingency n.

    The Demons absorbed the spark of Lith''s life force contained in the blood and ignited it, turning themselves into Demons of the mes. The shadow constructs still pinned the Demons to the walls but the mystical mes now burned at the mana and the materials thatprised the unknown spell.

    At the same time, the fire engulfing the Demons weakened the attacks aimed at them, giving them the time to counter with spells of their own.

    <nulli>''I was right.'' Thanks to the Origin mes eroding the spell matrix, Lith could see itsponents with Life Vision. <nulli>''Those weren''t shadow constructs simply because they don''t exist.

    <nulli>''They were made of earth coated in darkness that somehow also gained the speed of air magic and the flexibility of water magic. Tier five magic controlling four elements at the same time is something that only a tower tier spell is supposed to achieve yet the magical power behind those constructs was nothing special.''

    Lith had experienced the effects of his own tower and witnessed the might that Baba Yaga''s hut granted her and that of a Horseman''s steed. Even the crystal horses provided their master with a power beyond the bright violet core whereas the mana in the shadow constructs was slightly stronger than his own.

    "Dammit, this wasn''t in any report. Add the ming Demons to the database." Urma the Nightwalker said while sapping the vitality of his herd to recover the lost mana.

    His hands traced the mystical signs and his mouth spoke the words of power, both moving with the swiftness of undeath and the expertise of centuries. He also used true darkness magic to weave the rest of his spells with his mind.

    Nightwalkers were prototypes of the Horseman of Night and they shared her ebony skin. The highlypressed darkness element stored in their bodies painted them ck and granted them resistance to all kinds of damage.

    The white of Ulma''s eyes stood out so much that from a distance it would have been easy to mistake him for an Abomination, if not for his thick red hair streaked ck all over.

    Nightwalkers'' affinity toward the darkness element was so great that they were capable of manipting the shadows. They just needed to infuse a shade with a bit of their mana to turn it into a hiding spot, a weapon, or anything they might need.

    Yet such abilities came at a price. A Nightwalker would only be attuned to the darkness element instead of two like the rest of his kin and they could feed solely on people with ck streaks in their hair.

    Ulma conjured two tier five spells at the same time, Fire Cutter and Burial Grounds. The first was supposed to conjure a storm of super-heated air des that would chase their target.

    The second spell, instead, would fill the marble corridor around the Nightwalker with darkness magic and mana, allowing him to manipte his surroundings at will and turn the entire area into a corrosive trap.

    Lith''s Tiamat eyes spotted the enemy leader hiding in the shadows at the end of the long corridor and identified his spells. Yet the situation made no sense to him.

    From that distance, Fire Cutter would lose cohesion before reaching Lith while keeping Burial Ground active until the two engaged in close-quarterbat was nothing but a waste of mana.

 Chapter 2799 Source Magic (Part 1)

    Chapter 2799 Source Magic (Part 1)

    <nulli>''That guy can cast what he wants. I just have to keep my distance to turn whatever spell he keeps at the ready a burden on his mind and a waste of mana. I''ve still a lot to do here so-'' Lith''s seven eyes went wide as they perceived the elemental flow of the familiar spells turning into something unknown.

    Ulma had finished conjuring the runes but instead of condensing them into their respective spells, he was manipting them. Many runes from both Burial Grounds and me Cutter were discarded while the rest merged into Deadshot.

    The air still had its speed and the fire packed its heat, but they were nowpressed into a stone bullet infused with darkness. The new spell moved at near sonic speed, crossing the distance between Ulma and Lith in the blink of an eye.

    Luckily for the Tiamat, the other six were still open.

    <nulli>''I know this spell!'' Lith couldn''t dodge something moving so fast, he could only block it. <nulli>''It''s the same one that killed Quy, I mean, the meat puppet Jirni switched her with.

    <nulli>''That''s the ability that earned Tiennon Zavra his title of Lost Magus, but he''s dead. I''m sure of it because I killed him.''

    Lith activated the blue and orange crystals on Ragnar?k to lessen the strain that channeling two elemental aspects of the Davross at the same time inflicted on the de.

    The water aspect split the mana from the world energy, weakening Deadshot the moment it neared Lith. The earth aspect turned the aura surrounding the de into a sturdy defensive barrier harder than a diamond.

    The bullet was the size of a baseball, focusing thebined power of the two tier five spells on a small surface. It gave Deadshot the kic energy of a truck shot by a sniper rifle.

    Even with the conjured protections and his mass Lith slid back a few centimeters, his back recoiling from the impact.

    <nulli>''Fuck me sideways, that guy is much closer than Zavra back then so I don''t have the time to dodge. Orion could block this kind of spell only because he wore a Royal Fortress armorprised of hundreds of kilos ofpressed Davross.'' Lith didn''t like his situation one bit.

    His Demons of the mes were still fighting the new wave of undead brought by the Nightwalker and Lith couldn''t wait for them to finish their battle. Not with Ulma weaving another spell from a safe distance while also feeding upon his thralls.

    <nulli>''There''s no telling what kind of arrays and how many undead are hidden in the space between me and the Nightwalker yet I have no choice but to charge forward.'' Lith gritted his teeth in frustration

    <nulli>''I bet that if I stall for time, he will alternate between attacking my Demons and me. He will chip my strength and the numbers of my allies while he keeps his own and more reinforcementse to his aid.''

    Lith''s analysis was spot on.

    Ulma had made no effort to hide his intentions in order to bait Lith into falling into the nextyer of his trap.

    <nulli>''If Verhen runs away, not only will his n to raid the Undead Courts as he did with Thrud''s cities fail, but it will also prove that we can defeat him. The morale of the soldiers of the Kingdom will plummet and so will his reputation.

    <nulli>''Our morale will be restored, instead, and the unrest between the members of the Dawn, Dusk, and Night Courts will die down. If Verhen tries to get me, he''ll die. His human form has no weak point but no powerful ability.

    <nulli>''Either way, I win.'' The Nightwalker rearranged and fused two more tier five spells, conjuring Scatterst.

    The bullet this time was made of frozen rocks and infused with air and darkness. The air element propelled Scatterst forward while also conjuring a small vortex that drew the dust and humidity in the air, adding more mass to the bullet.

    As soon as it reached a certain size, Scatterst split into two and the process continued during their flight. The vortex effect served to reduce the air resistance, increase the bullets'' speed, and collect raw materials.

    On top of that, the high speed allowed Scatterst to gather everything in its path, including the remnants of the spells conjured by Ulma''s fellow undead. Between the Wendigos'' frost aura and the debris from the fight, there was plenty to work with.

    With each new bullet, the area of effect of the vortexes increased and with it the mass of collected materials. By the time Scatterst reached the entrance to the third floor, there was a swarm of bullets aimed at both Lith and his Demons.

    The ice conjured by water magic would smother the mes and keep Lith from turning into either a Dragon or a Tiamat. The darkness element the Scattersts were imbued with wasn''t enough to be lethal, but it would sap the strength of their targets even if the bullets were to be blocked.

    <nulli>''Damn if I hate smart opponents.'' Lith gave Ulma a small nod of the head in respect and fell on his knee.

    It reduced the area that the Spirit Barrier of the Voidwalker armor had to cover, making it thicker and denser. At the same time, Lith merged Ragnar?k with the emerald construct so that the de would weaken the iing spells but suffer no making it thicker and denser. At the same time, Lith merged Ragnar?k with the emerald construct so that the de would weaken the iing spells but suffer no damage from the bullets.

    The blue and orange aura from the elemental aspects of the Davross coated the Spirit Barrier, tripling its defensive abilities. Once the Scattersts hit, the tide of the battle was still in favor of the undead but Lith had suffered no damage.

    He cast a flight spell while also pping his wings to cover the distance between himself and the Nightwalker in the shortest time possible. Ulma smiled and readied his troops.

    At a wave of his hand, the surface of the marble corridor rippled like water.

    Ghouls armed to the teeth jumped out the walls, ceiling, and floor, attacking Lith from every side. They had crawled there only after the beginning of the fight to avoid being detected by life-sensing arrays and then the enchanted stone had hidden them from Life Vision.

    Lith smiled as well, activating a Spirit Blink and a Copsed Space in quick session.

    The Blink moved him forward twenty meters (66'') while also bringing along the limbs and the parts of the weapons that hade close enough to his body to be caught in the dimensional spell.

    Ghouls had greatly regenerative powers but even they needed to collect a severed limb before reattaching it. The Copsed Space made the exit and entry point of the Blink explode but while Lith was moving at high speed the Ghouls were stuck in mid-air.

    The detonation further destabilized the damaged weapons, making their pseudo cores go awry and causing a chain reaction. The wounds opened by the Blink were easily torn apart by thebined explosions of the equipment and Copsed Space.

    Several Ghouls died on the spot while the survivors found themselves unarmed. Lith, instead, avoided the explosions and used the sts to fill his wings and fly faster.

 Chapter 2800 Source Magic (Part 2)

    Chapter 2800 Source Magic (Part 2)

    <nulli>''Cunning son of a bitch!'' Ulma gave the signal to all the reserve troops at once in ast-ditch effort that he knew was bound to fail. <nulli>''I expected the Spirit Blink but not thebination with Copsed Space.

    <nulli>''The sudden burst of speed has thrown off the timing of my traps!'' The arrays triggered when Lith had already flown past them and more undead jumped out of hiddenpartments just to hit empty air.

    Those who appeared in front of Lith too early, he simply Blinked past them, leaving behind more Copsed Spaces for free kills. The multiyered trap fell apart like a house of cards hit by a sneeze, dealing no damage to its intended victim and crippling Ulma''s troops.

    "You really are an annoying bastard! No wonder you survived this long." The Nightwalker sent his herd away andbined the Battle Mage tier five spells, God of Air and God of Water.

    Then, he enhanced the resulting God of Storm spell with his bloodline ability, Nightblood. The ice armor coursing with thunder that covered him from head to toe turned ck and so did the four elemental spheres that orbited around the Nightwalker.

    Topensate for theirck of a second elemental affinity, Baba Yaga had made sure that no matter what kind of spell her Nightwalkers conjured or equipment they used, they would be able to infuse anything with the darkness element.

    This way, the resistance to darkness of their bodies would be shared with their equipment and their spells could be manipted freely with true magic thanks to the added darknessponent.

    The God of Nightstorm spell bestowed upon Ulma the extra mass and protection from the ice, an air barrier that softened the impact with the charging Tiamat, and a darkness aura that chipped away at the enemy''s strength.

    Despite all that, the Davross of Ragnar?k easily pierced through theyer of ck ice covering the Nightwalker''s powerful Adamant de. The sh produced a silvery noise and sent the undead mming against the wall at his back like a ragdoll.

    <nulli>''What the fuck is that spell? Wasn''t Zavra just some kind of mage sniper?'' Lith heard the boom and saw the enchanted wall cave upon impact but Life Vision showed him that Ulma had suffered little damage.

    The water and air had cushioned the undead while the darkness element had dispersed part of the kic energy during both the sh and the crash.

    "What''s with that surprised face, Verhen? Did you believe yourself to be the only Magus on Mogar?" The Nightwalker consumed part of the power stored by his blood core to reduce the gap in mass and strength with Lith.

    "To be the only one privy to an exclusive branch of magic? Well, you are wrong! The Undead Courts have been blessed by countless geniuses over the centuries and you''re about to face the might of ourtest addition.

    "Behold the might of Source Magic, a discipline worthy of the title of Magus and entrusted solely to a selected elite of the Undead Courts."

    Ulma jumped off the wall, billowing wings of ck iceing out of his back. He moved faster than Lith believed possible, performing a series of feints and attacks that Lith managed to counter only thanks to his superior speed.

    Air fusion made him faster and the air crystal in the Voidwalker armor further enhanced his speed. By charging the different pieces of the armor with different charges, the crystal exploited the maic repulsion and attraction to support every of Lith''s moves.

    Might faced skill to a standstill, the oue leaving both opponents bbergasted.

    <nulli>''This makes no sense.'' Lith thought.<nulli> ''I''m a bright violet-cored Awakened Divine Beast and Ragnar?k is made of Davross. I should have cut through this knock-off Horseman like a hot knife through butter.''

    <nulli>''This makes no sense.'' Ulma thought. <nulli>''I''m a centuries old undead whose blood core has long since surpassed the violet. My armor is infused with two of the most powerful Battle Mage spells and my bloodline ability.

    <nulli>''Aside from the Davross of Verhen''s de, he has nothing over me. He''s a twenty years old runt with less battle experience than my little finger. After taking two Source Magic spells and with my darkness aura weakening him, I should be able to easily overpower him.''

    Lith stepped back to escape the ck aura and body cast more spells, goading his opponent into attempting to weave more spells. Unlike a true mage, a fake mage would consume mana upon starting the chant.

    Lith only had to interrupt the spellcasting to weaken the Nightwalker''s core and throw his mana into the gutter. The problem was that Ulma knew all that as well so he didn''t fall for the trap, sticking close to Lith to at least disrupt his focus.

    up.

    He used his corresponding eyes to tap into the runes he had recorded inside the Or rather, he didn''t fall for that particr trap.

    "Out of curiosity, is the genius you mentioned earlier Meln? Because that would be surprising." As Lith moved, the red and the ck crystals on the Voidwalker armor lit up.

    He used his corresponding eyes to tap into the runes he had recorded inside the memory crystals toplete his tier five spell, Final Eclipse, in the span of three exchanges. It was the time he needed to conjure the non-elemental runes with body casting.

    "Who, that pompous, whiny bitch?" Ulmabined the four elemental spheres of the God of Nightstorm so that the water countered the heat and the darkness neutralized itself.

    "Without Night''s help, the only thing that moron can discover is his own ass, and only if someone draws him a map!"

    "d that we finally have somemon ground." Lith grinned as the blue and yellow crystal on his armor lit up, conjuring the tier five War Mage spell, Corona Discharge.

    It was one of Nana''s favorite spells and Lith liked to think that histe magic teacher would be happy knowing that every time he cast it, Lith would think of her.

    Corona Discharge conjured a wave of water that robbed the corridor of the residual humidity and then crashed against the Nightwalker. The God of Nightstorm assimted part of it to repair the armor, mixing Lith''s energy signature with Ulma.

    This way, when a storm of lightning bolts erupted from Lith''s body, the armor offered minimal resistance. Undead didn''t have seizures and the air element did little damage to them, even less to a Nightwalker.

    The darkness element imbued in their bodies increased their resistance to all elements, making them a tough nut to crack.

    <nulli>''Either Verhen is dumber than he looks or I''m missing something.'' Ulma understood what had happened one second toote.

    The water of Corona Discharge had also grounded the lightning bolts of his own armor and what was left of them had been tainted by Lith''s energy signature as well. The only part of the God of Nightstorm that still obeyed Ulma''s will was darkness element, everything else was a tug of war.

    The various pieces of the armor''s joints would fuse together, slowing him down while part of the electricity would switch into ferromaic rods, grounding the bolts of lightning produced by the elemental spheres before they could reach Lith.

 Chapter 2801 To Kill a Magus (Part 1)

    Chapter 2801 To Kill a Magus (Part 1)

    The good thing about tier five spells was that they worked the same way as true magic so the Nightwalker could still salvage the situation by consuming enough mana to cleanse Lith''s and repair the armor.

    Just like Lith wanted.

    The previous Final Sunset had served the same purpose. To force the undead to consume the mana stored in his blood core to purge the God of Nightstorm of the foreign energy signature.

    "Let me guess, a Source Magic spell costs way more than two tier five spells." Lith said. "With no breathing technique and no more thralls for a sip, you won''tst long."

    Thanks to the elemental crystals, Lith had consumed only a fraction of the mana necessary for his spells whereas the Nightwalker could only tap into his own reserves.

    "True, but it''s long enough!" Ulma restored the God of Nightstorm and conjured another tier five Source Magic spell, Dark Mastery.

    Earth magic manipted the rubble, giving them shape, while air magic lifted and propelled the constructs, giving them speed. Water magic soaked the rocks, making them more flexible and easier to adjust their density.

    Nightblood gave it the final kicker, increasing the destructive power and giving the spell the same appearance as a hard-darkness construct. If they actually existed, of course.

    Lith recognized it as the same spell that was still troubling his Demons. Its effects resembled Light Mastery, but earth magic made it sturdier while darkness made it deadlier.

    "I hope you like this." Ulma said. "Tiennon Zavra devised this spell to kill Manohar while ying at the god of healing''s own game but I guess you''ll have to do. Let''s see if the so-called Supreme Magus can stand a chance against the opus of the Lost Magus!"

    With God of Nightstorm back at full strength Lith''s physical prowess was his only advantage and Dark Mastery tipped the scales in the Nightwalker''s favor.

    Bybining darkness, water, and air, the elemental spheres could produce any trielemental spell that the Nightwalker could think of, regardless of the tier. The darkness-infused stone constructs defended the undead while also attacking Lith from every side.

    The fight had suddenly turned into a three against one with Lith having to deal with Ulma''s swordy, the spheres'' unrelenting spellcasting, and Dark Mastery''s physical onught.

    The Nightwalker was no Awakened so he had kept those spells at the ready for the moment when Lith managed to reach him. Ulma knew that, without body casting, he wouldck the opportunity to weave new spells.

    On top of that, while the Tiamat would have been free to divide his focus between old and new spells, every iota of willpower that the Nightwalker hadn''t infused in his spells before the fight started would have gone to waste.

    <nulli>''I stand corrected. Verhen is smart, but I''m no idiot either.'' Ulma thought. <nulli>''I never expected to get to this point but luckily, I prepared for it. All the mana I have left I can devote it to these two spells. It should be enough. It must be enough!''

    Yet Lith Spirit Blinked away every time he was cornered, conjured the Spirit Barrier of the armor to absorb surprise attacks, and exploited Ragnar?k to harass the enemy.

    No matter what elemental aspect Lith enhanced, Ulma ended up consuming mana to repair his armor and the damage on his weapon kept piling up. Even the coating from the God of Nightstorm spell couldn''t protect the Adamant from the angry de.

    The only silver lining was that Lith''s hard-light constructs couldn''t keep up with Dark Mastery. He conjured them quickly thanks to the silver crystal of the Voidwalker armor, but they moved slowly and didn''tst long.

    The Nightwalker grunted in exasperation, consuming more of the energy stored inside his blood core to be even stronger. He was now ever faster than Lith, the gap in mass almost filled thanks to the Source Magic spells.

    Skill became much more relevant and with Ulma never giving him a moment of respite, Lith couldn''t use Invigoration. Spirit Magic was an amazing tool, but Blinking so much and the use of the barrier cost a lot of mana.

    <nulli>''Now it''s my moment!'' The Nightwalker could feel his deing close to breaking so he activated the bloodline abilities Nightblood and Shadowvine.

    The former filled the cracks in the Adamant de with pure darkness element, giving the weapon a destructive aura that channeled and enhanced that of Dark Mastery and God of Nightstorm.

    Thetter, instead, sent sparks of Ulma''s life force into the shadows of the corridor, giving them a third dimension and turning them into tendrils thatshed at Lith from his blind spot.

    Full Guard warned him but four enemies at the same time were too much. He breathed Origin mes on the tendrils, parried Ulma''s de with Ragnar?k, and conjured the Spirit Barrier to block a sudden thunderstorm.

    The four elemental spheres had merged into one, unleashing frost waves and bolts of ck bolts of lightning throughout the corridor, making Blinking useless.

    It slowed Lith''s movements down long enough for Dark Mastery to get rid of thetest batch of hard-light constructs and join the fray. A pair of darkness-infused stone fists the size of a barrel rammed against the Spirit Barrier, pinning Lith against a wall.

    Then, they spread themselves over the energy sphere, covering it like a shroud while also keeping the pressure.

    <nulli>''Shit.'' Lith was now blinded and stuck, with few options, and none of them was good.

    Ulma didn''t give him any respite, focusing the thunderstorm into a small hurricane that further increased the pressure against the barrier. ck bolts of lightning hit it from every side along with ck ice crystals.

    Lith could feel the shroud squeezing the barrier with increasing strength while projectiles the size of a spear with the momentum of a speeding car bombarded it.

    <nulli>''If I Blink, I''ll carry the Dark Mastery along. I need to-'' Ulma''s following attack shattered the barrier and cut Lith short.

    His darkness-infused de coupled with his twice-boosted strength was more than the power core of the Voidwalker armor could take. The pressure from the other two spells had already thinned the Spirit Barrier and the small crack quickly spread to the rest of the construct, making it crumble.

    Lith exhaled the air he had in his lungs, emitting a burst of Origin mes from all over his body. The coldness of the storm fought against the heat as both icicles and bolts of lightning sizzled against the mes.

    Dark Mastery wrapped around Lith, smothering his inner fire with the massive amount of mana that the spell carried. Before it was toote, Lith used his ck eye and the crystal to conjure gue Storm.

    A swarm of gue Arrows erupted from his body, circling around it like a school of piranhas. Darkness fought against darkness, the Arrows pushing Dark Mastery back in waves.

    Ragnar?k moved non-stop, blocking the storm by channeling the water element and destroying every one of the iing projectiles that it touched. The Nightwalker grinned and moved in for the kill.

    He rode the fury of God of Nightstorm and charged at Lith. Their mass was simr and with the hurricane propelling him, Ulma managed to push Lith back against the wall and into Dark Mastery''s embrace.

 Chapter 2802 To Kill a Magus (Part 2)

    Chapter 2802 To Kill a Magus (Part 2)

    To make matters worse, while the darkness-infused constructs started to wrap themselves around Lith''s limbs and slipped past his defenses, the Nightwalker was relentless in his attack.

    Not only was Ulma the better swordsman, hitting more and more often as Dark Mastery restricted Lith''s movements, but also the bolts of lightning and iceing from the elemental spheres phased through him.

    Being made from his mana, the various spells did no harm to each other and their caster. By standing in front of Lith, Ulma blinded his vision and kept his sword busy while the projectiles hammered at him from every direction.

    Lith conjured another Spirit Barrier but it was instantly destroyed. The Nightwalker lunged with his de, forcing Lith to block from an awkward position. Then, he had God of Nightstorm exploit the still-shing des as lightning rods.

    The stream of electricity struck them both, but while Ulma was unaffected, Lith had to use everything he had to limit the spasms. It slowed his reaction time and allowed the Nightwalker to kick him in the chest with the might of a Divine Beast.

    Lith was sent flying back, crashing against a wall and opening a few meters deep crater. The four tri-elemental spheres following Urma had the frozen hurricane follow Lith.

    The wind pushed him down while the water coating the wall made it slippery. Not only did it make it hard for Lith to get out, but the cold waves also turned the water into a thickyer of ice that glued him to the stones.

    Bolts of lightning rained on him without a break, to keep him stunned. All of them carried the darkness element that ate at him and his equipment inside and out.

    The Nightwalker had Nightblood move to the tip of his ckened de, to focus the destructive power of his bloodline ability in a single point.

    <nulli>''If this gets past Verhen''s armor, the darkness element will be the least of his problems.'' Ulma thought. <nulli>''My mana will infect his core and my life force taint his own. It should be enough to kill him, especially if I manage to hit near his heart.''

    Lith''s body was bruised and battered whereas the Nightwalker''s aim was true. Held by a trembling arm, Ragnar?k managed to move the tip of the enemy''s de just enough for the hit to not be lethal.

    Ulma smiled, seeing his de pierce through the Voidwalker armor and Lith''s sternum. The perfect ce to release Nightblood and have it ravage the lungs and the heart at the same time.

    ***

    Meanwhile, on the first floor, Solus and the Void had chosen a different approach. After clearing the area with the help of Lith, the Voidfeather, and the Demons, Solus'' goal was to find the perfect spot to conjure the tower.

    "There''s no point in fighting the undead." She said. "It''s much better for me to focus on the mana geyser. Once it belongs to us and the tower takes form, the fight will be over."

    "Agreed." The Void checked onest time that no enemy was left and then hit the floor with the full strength of his Adamant body.

    The room was filled with the six-eyed Demons left while the others waited outside. The Demons moved in synch with the Void, each blow generating a shockwave that made the surroundings shake.

    They were exactly above the middle of the mana geyser and the deeper they went, the closer they would get to the motherlode. It took them four hits to make the floor copse into the room below.

    At that point, the rest of the Demons swarmed from above and killed the undead while they were still trapped under the rubble. Once they were done, they rushed out of the doors, drawing attention to themselves and killing more enemies.

    "This is highly inefficient." The Void grumbled. "We are splitting our numbers too much. We can''t win this way."

    "Sure we can." Solus shrugged. "The array control room must be right below us. If we can shut it down, there will be no need to slowly assimte the power of the geyser.

    "The Demons just need to buy us time." Solus hammered at the floor, its self-repair enchantments unable to keep up with the Fury''s might. "One more. We just need to clear one more room and then Lith and I will be unstoppable."

    Solus would have liked to say "we", but she didn''t want the Void to think she was referring to him.

    She still had her doubts about giving the sides of Lith''s personality so much freedom but she couldn''t deny the perks of using the memory crystals that way.

    "What about me?" The Void pointed at himself.

    "You are not part of the team." She replied with a scoff.

    "Lith disagrees with you. Got to go. Bye." The light of consciousness disappeared from the construct''s eyes and its body reverted to the Vagrash form.

    Without the Void, Trouble couldn''t keep its humanoid form.

    "Locrias!" Solus called and the Demon answered.

    "Yes, my liege?"

    "Alert Valia to be ready to take charge of the Voidfeather''s squad. Something is going on and Lith might recall him at any moment." She said.

    Solus couldn''t control the Demons of the Darkness by herself because it was Lith''s exclusive bloodline ability. With the Void gone so were the ck chains connecting him to the rest of the army.

    Even if the branch of the Undead Court had no dimensional blocking array, givingmunication amulets to Demons would have been pointless. The chains acted as a better and faster way tomunicate.

    Locrias used them to inform Valia and take charge of Solus'' troops.

    "Can you tell me what''s going on with Lith?" Solus asked.

    "You can just use your mind link if you are curious." Locrias replied.

    "I meant by contacting the Demons with him, not him. I don''t want to risk distracting Lith during a fight."

    Locrias''s gaze went nk for a while until he said: "Fuck me sideways!"

    ***

    Lith coughed out a mouthful of blood as thebined effect of the highly concentrated darkness element released inside his body, mana, and life force turned his internal organs into mush.

    His skin ckened and his veins bulged as the essence of the Nightwalker invaded his bloodstream. Lith''s eyes rolled back, leaving only the white of his eyes visible. Then, his body faded into nothingness.

    "I won!" Ulma burst into savageughter. "We concocted a huge teamwork n but I alone was enough! I can''t wait to see the faces of those fuckers when they notice that I''m wearing Verhen''s equipment.

    "A Davross'' weapon is a dream-" The moment the Nightwalker grabbed Ragnar?k''s hilt, the spikes pierced through his skin and his joy was reced by agony.

    The Reverse Imprint skill flooded Ulma''s hand with Lith''s energy signature, achieving the same as the Nightwalker''sbination of spells and bloodline abilities.

    Ulma''s hand and arm bloated in quick session. If not for the dense darkness energy fighting the process every millimeter of the way, the Nightwalker would have died on the spot.

    Instead, he managed to call upon Dark Mastery and cut his own arm at the shoulder before it was toote.

 Chapter 2803 Life Forces (Part 1)

    Chapter 2803 Life Forces (Part 1)

    "Oh, fuck. You are a spoilsport. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pull this trick on someone with Life Vision? It''s literally impossible." The Voidwalker Armor said as it stood up by itself.

    "I mean, you could have just died. That or wear my armor instead of taking my de. I''m very hungry and I can use a snack." Ragnar?k flew into the gauntlet just in time for the head of the Void to pop out of the gorget.

    Ulma found himself staring at someone with a skin even cker than his own, with seven white eyes and a wolfish smile so devoid of humanity that it gave him the creeps.

    <nulli>''How the fuck did Verhen survive with no heart? How did he neutralize Nightblood while enduring two tier five Source Magic spells?'' The Nightwalker thought.

    Yet none of those questions came out of his mouth.

    "Why do you look like an Eldritch?"

    "You mean this?" The Void pointed at the horns, the wings, and the spikes that had reced the scales. "Don''t worry, looks are deceiving. I''m much worse than an Eldritch."

    Shapeshifting into his Abomination form had changed more than Lith''s appearance, it had also affected his life force. The Void surrounding the stars and threads had copsed on itself, taking the form of a ck sphere that fed upon external energy while keeping everything inside safe.

    If someone were to be foolish enough to look at it with a breathing technique, they would see the ck sphere outlined by a violet corona and surrounded by a ring formed by the world energy it constantly absorbed.

    The Void injected a bit of his life force inside Ragnar?k turning its aura from bright violet to ck. The ck and the white crystals activated in unison, one spreading the spark of Chaos throughout the de and the other keeping it under control.

    Ulma stared with his mouth agape as the Void bolted forward, his body shrouded in an aura of darkness and Chaos that rivaled the Nightwalker''s. Ulma didn''t lose time, turning part of Dark Mastery into a prosthetic arm.

    The rest he turned into a set of four giant hands that surrounded the Void while the elemental spheres of God of Nightstorm resumed their attack. At the same time, he raised his de, ready to counter whatever Verhen was about to dish out.

    "I really don''t y like this."The Void shrugged, sending more of his essence down the angry de.

    Unlike War, the blood sheathe wouldn''t be lost every time the de was released from its seals. Once freed from its scabbard, Ragnar?k needed fresh blood to form a new one but the old blood still contained the life force that the now ck de needed to fuel its abilities.

    Like the one the Void was employing.

    The flesh and blood stored in the scabbard turned ck and then into two sets of arms that grabbed at Dark Mastery. They were smaller, but the destructive power of the Chaos was superior.

    The Void let Ragnar?k take care of the darkness-infused stone while he shed vertically, cutting through the storm and the Nightwalker''s de at the same time. The Chaos aura further enhanced Ragnar?k''s edge and, after consuming the Nightblood protecting it, the Adamant de broke into pieces.

    The ck de used its yellow and water crystals to neutralize the storm while the Chaos surrounding it dispelled the darkness. Ulma''s superior''s swordsmanship was pointless without a sword.

    What was left of his weapon wasn''t long enough to pierce through the Voidwalker armor even if by some miracle the Void decided to not cut the stump of the de off along with the arm holding it.

    Ragnar?k shattered the Adamant of the de, cut through the multipleyers of Ulma''s enchanted armor, and then dug deep into his flesh. The Nightwalker gritted his teeth, channeling the full might of God of Nightstorm on himself.

    Also, he had Dark Mastery fall back to save him, locking one of the four stone constructs to his shoulder to rece his missing arm.

    s, the blood constructs were relentless, grabbing at the enemy spell and sucking its energy.

    Lith had survived because the Void, just like an undead, had no vitals. His Abomination touch could feed upon any source of energy and they were standing above a very powerful mana geyser.

    Even while they were fighting, even though there was no time to use Invigoration, the Void bathed in the world energy and recovered his strength. He recovered Lith''s strength.

    The Void had no care for the storm either. Cold didn''t bother him, electricity found no nerves to course through, and the darkness infused in the other elements was too diluted to be more than a pin prickle.

    Ulma used the prosthetic arm to grab at the ck de safely but there was no such a thing. The World Mirror and Counter Flow ability took over the arm, allowing the Void to grin and say:

    "Stop hitting yourself." The fake arm was now gouging the Nightwalker''s eyes, blinding him. "That''s my job."

    The Void pulled Ragnar?k back and performed a horizontal sh. He could see with Death Vision that there were just a few ways that Ulma could die.

    By starvation, sunlight, and severing his neck from his head. Nightwalkers were very simr to Abominations. Piercing their hearts or bashing their skulls was pointless. Their very essence was stored in the darkness element that painted their bodies ck.

    Decapitation worked because by physically removing the connection between the brain and the blood core, the body would remain limp until a new head fully formed while the old head couldn''t regenerate without a core.

    Ulma yelped like a little boy, seeing his entire life and then his undeath shing in front of his eyes as Ragnar?k closed in.

    s, the ck de cut only air due to a Blood Blink rescuing the Nightwalker.

    "I told you to wait for me!" Shelk Whur, Blood Warlock and Destroyer of the Dusk Court was supposed to bring more reinforcements, but after seeing the runes belonging to the previous auxiliary troops disappear from his amulet, he had rushed forward with a Blood Steps.

    The dimensional sealing array was still in ce and it blocked conventional magic.

    "If I waited one minute longer, Zaqua would have be-" Ulma coughed out ck blood, the wound in his chest festering with Chaos.

    "Look, Ragnar?k. More meat for the grinder!" The Void Spirit Blinked a split secondter, just the time to cut down what remained of Dark Mastery.

    With their caster too busy surviving, the stone constructs had been easily paralyzed by Ragnar?k''s blood hands and then dispelled by the ck de. Chaos turned the darkness element into more Chaos upon contact, throwing theplex spell out of bnce.

    The four elements became unable to coexist and the Chaos cannibalized everything else in search of enough light element to return to its stable condition.

    Much to the Abomination''s surprise, the Blood Warlock managed to block his attack and he did it with a ive at that. The Void''s eyes went wide in surprise until he recognized the red lightning coursing through the undead and his Adamant weapon.

 Chapter 2804 Life Forces (Part 2)

    Chapter 2804 Life Forces (Part 2)

    Surprise turned into shock when a red wave erupted from the Blood Warlock''s body, hitting the Abomination with a fully charged Blood Tide.

    "I can see that now." Shelk said, passing part of the Blood Maelstrom to his ally. "Heal your wounds and join me as soon as you can. You are supposed to be the Abomination''s counter!"

    "On what grounds, pal?" The Void had slipped out of the Voidwalker armor, pressing his whole body against the red wave in order to suck as much of its power as he could with his Abomination Touch. "I seem to be *his* counter."

    Ragnar?k pressed with its ck blood constructs against the energy dome as well, sharing the Abomination Touch of its master thanks to both the Spirit Crystal and Lith''s blood that had been used as an amplifier during its reforging.

    The ck crystal made the process more efficient while the white crystal converted the energy stolen from the Blood Tide into a form that the emerald crystal metabolized, replenishing the power core of the de.

    When the sh from the Blood Tide disappeared, the Abomination had suffered little damage while Lith''s equipment had taken none.

    The Void wore the armor and wielded the ck de, using it to conjure one tier one Chaos Missile for each finger of his right hand. Shelk ignored the phenomenon, chanting as many spells as he could as fast as he could.

    "I see." The Abomination depowered the spells and Ragnar?k, turning its aura down. "Blood mes to counter my mes, Blood Maelstrom to screw with my equipment, and Blood Tide to neutralize my bloodline abilities. A smart n."

    "How do you know that?" Shelk''s mind thought of the obvious answer first.

    There was a traitor among their ranks. His n was to have Lith go all-out, bringing his equipment to the limit so that a timely burst of Blood Maelstrom would destroy it.

    If Lith went for some powerful spell or any bloodline ability-based strategy, instead, Blood Tide would throw the Tiamat''s efforts down the gutter. Without world energy, only Spirit Magic would work.

    The mana geyser below them was bound to quickly refill the area, but that wouldn''t give Lith the mana/life energy spent back, just provide the Blood Warlock with more ammunition for another Blood Tide.

    The Void refused to answer but then the Blood Warlock noticed the ck chaining out of his own chest. A little present left by the Abomination during their previous sh.

    Shelk tried to pull at it, but the chain was ethereal and apparently immune to magic.

    In a distant corridor, the Voidfeather felt a pull on his consciousness.

    <nulli>''What do you want, George?''

    <nulli>''Don''t call me that! Also, how the fuck can you still be on the first floor?'' The Void replied with a snarl.

    <nulli>''Perfection requires time.'' The Voidfeather Dragon shared his vision, showing to his poorly esteemed colleague that the Demons at hismand had still five eyes and some of them six.

    <nulli>''Whatever. Want to beat the ass of someone who uses an unknown branch of magic?''

    Trouble went back to its artificial intelligence stored in the memory crystal as the Voidfeather Dragon left the wheel.

    <nulli>''Can I use the Eyes, please?'' He asked Solus via their mind link.

    <nulli>''I need them to defuse the arrays without blowing up. Why?'' She replied, prompting the Void to give her a quick recap. <nulli>''Why didn''t you call me sooner?''

    <nulli>''Would you have given me the Eyes if I did?'' He replied.

    <nulli>''No, but I would have taken the gloves off. Enough with the diversion. Send all the Demons to my position.''

    The Demons of the Darkness who were still feeding on the energy barrier, the Demons of the mes who had finished dispatching the Wendigos at the entrance of the fourth floor, and the Demons of the Fallen that the Voidfeather had just left answered hermand.

    They used the mind link as a beacon to Spirit Warp at Solus'' coordinates.

    <nulli>''Make sure that no one disturbs my work.'' She ordered and Locrias ryed her words. <nulli>''Keep the undead away and breathe Origin mes often. The weaker the arrays get, the easier it will be to deactivate them.''

    At the same time, the Void shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon and the ck chain connecting him to Shelk disappeared. The Abomination had already collected the important information and keeping the chain active while in another form was impossible anyway.

    "Let''s fight!" The Dragon unfurled his four wings, setting every feather aze with fires of the colors of the elements.

    The ck sphere opened up and the gxy it contained rearranged itself into a single constetion that resembled a Dragon. Each star burned with the power of a different element, either natural or Cursed, and had smaller stars revolving around itself.

    The Cursed Stars were paired with their respective counterparts, forming stable twin suns surrounded by star systems double the size of those belonging to the natural elements.

    The red threads of the human side and the void of the Abomination were used both as a framework, allowing the various star systems thatprised the Dragon constetion to move without drifting apart from each other.

    At the same time the Void disappeared, the blood constructs went from ck to red and then wrapped themselves around Ragnar?k. A spark of the Voidfeather''s essence lit the blood and the life force it contained up with emerald mes.

    "Immortal mes?" Shelk cursed his bad luck, knowing that Blood Tide wouldn''t affect them.

    "For starters, yes." The Dragon remained still, the soft pping of his wings was the only movement he made.

    The Blood Warlock could instinctively feel that the quiet was only apparent. His powers were based on the control over both life force and world energy and thetter was getting out of his hands.

    If he were to have Life Vision, he would have witnessed the flow of world energying from the mana geyser alter its course as the Voidfeather Dragon''s wings absorbed it.

    Yet without a mystical sense, the phenomenon became apparent only when the Cursed mes that engulfed Lith''s red-veined ck feathers doubled their size.

    "Where''s the Wendigo who is supposed to be my nemesis?" The Voidfeather Dragon asked, using his long neck to look in every direction without the need to turn around. "There''s no point in fighting you. You are not my opponent."

    "We''ll see about that!" Afraid that the Dragon would exploit the respite to use Invigoration and return to his peak condition, Shelk activated Blood Tide again.

    <nulli>''I have no idea what Verhen is nning, but I know how to stop it.'' He looked sideways, where Ulma was feeding on the members of his herd to heal from his grievous wounds.

    <nulli>''My Blood Magic can do whatever Spirit Magic does and without world energy- What the fuck is that?!''

    Not only could Shelk feel that the amount of world energy answering hismand was half of what he had experienced earlier but the crown of fire on the Voidfeather Dragon''s head had turned silvery, burning so high that it reached the ceiling.

    With no time to lose, the Blood Warlock released the Blood Tide.

 Chapter 2805 Parts and Whole (Part 1)

    Chapter 2805 Parts and Whole (Part 1)

    Silvery mes already seeped between Lith''s fangs as he curled his maw up into a grin and when he opened it, a jet stream of Dread mes burst against the red wave.

    <nulli>''That''s impossible.'' Shelk thought.<nulli> ''Between the two of us, there''s not a shred of world energy left. What are those things burning at?''

    The answer was that unlike Origin mes which ignited the world energy with a spark of life force, the Dread mes needed to umte the world energy first. Only after recing its six elementalponents with their cursed counterpart was the world energy ignited to be Dread mes.

    It was the reason they would burn and destroy anything even in the absence of world energy. The Dread mes packed everything they needed and when they met the Blood Tide head-on, they punctured it like a knife through a b of meat.

    While the Blood Tide was spread out and moving in every direction, forming an expanding energy dome, the Dread mes were as focused as aser. To make matters worse, the Leviathan''s bloodline ability wasprised of highlypressed world energy but still world energy.

    The Dread mes burned through it, bing stronger by the centimeter as they turned the enemy attack into fuel.

    <nulli>''Fuck!'' Shelk had no choice but to infuse the Blood Tide with a red bolt of lightning, stopping the Dread mes in their track with a sudden burst of power.

    Or so he thought, until the Void mesponent neutralized the Blood Maelstrom and the Dread mes resumed their advance unimpeded.

    Shelk activated Blood Blink to move escape but in doing so he emitted a trail of energy that guided the hungry mes to their target. The Blink bought him only one second during which the Dread mes followed the exit point and hit the Blood Warlock like a truck.

    The Void mesponent and the Blood Maelstrom canceled each other while the other five Cursed mes thatprised the silvery fire burned at his equipment, body, and mana from the inside out.

    Ulma couldn''t believe his bad luck. Building a herd was very difficult for a Nightwalker since he needed to find humans with an affinity for the darkness element who were willing to let him feed upon them.

    Every one of them was a treasure hard to rece yet he was now forced to put several of them at risk.

    <nulli>''I can''t afford to drain their life forces slowly. If I don''t save Shelk, I''ll be next.'' The Nightwalker consumed arge part of the members of his herd''s life essence and activated his bloodline ability, Shadow Transfer.

    The Blood Warlock had Blinked away from Lith and near his ally in the hope of joining their forces. Ulma was far enough from the epicenter of the Blood Maelstrom so the stream of world energy from the mana geyser had already partly filled the void.

    It was enough for the bloodline ability to conjure tendrils of darkness that the Nightwalker used to grab at the Blood Warlock. Most of them were burned on contact but they also neutralized the Blight mes.

    That and the absence of the Void mes allowed Shadow Transfer to pass precious mana and life force to Shelk. It saved his undeath long enough for him to conjure a burst of Blood mes from his body.

    The two mes ate at each other like hungry beasts, the Dread mes quickly overpowering the opponent before triggering an explosion.

    "Fuck!" Ulma sucked his herd dry, using half of the collected energy to recover his strength and passing the rest to Shelk.

    At the same time, he cast the tier five Source Magic spell, Healing Shroud, on the Blood Warlock who returned the favor by imbuing both the spell and its caster with Blood Maelstrom.

    Earth magic formed a cocoon around Shelk, smothering what was left of the mes. Air gave the spell speed and created a vacuum, water cooled down the wounds and provided fluids, while light element nurtured the wounds.

    Nightblood coated everything, ensuring that any residual trace of foreign energy would be destroyed so that nothing would hinder the Blood Warlock''s recovery.

    The feast had allowed Ulma to replenish his blood core and, since he had already killed them, also to rece his missing arm with one from a human of his herd. The Blood Maelstrom coursing through his body sped up the process, making the transnted limb shapeshift into a copy of the old arm.

    The only difference was that due to theck of darkness element it was grey rather than ck.

    "Oh, please." The Voidfeather Dragon clicked his tongue in disapproval.

    He couldn''t believe that even from his privileged position the Nightwalker had missed the still-ming wings on the Dragon''s back. It was impossible to conjure one burst of Dread mes safely.

    They only came in pairs.

    The wings sucked in the world energy while also filtering the elements it wasprised of in order to turn them into their Cursed counterpart. Yet producing Chaos gave birth to Decay, turning the earth element into Corruption generated Choke, and so on.

    The byproduct Cursed Elements were stored in the wings, where Lith''s life force kept them isted from each other and the rest of Mogar. He only needed to put them back together in his heart and ignite them with a spark of life force to obtain more Dread mes.

    In ast-ditch effort, Ulma conjured all the spells he had at the ready and infused them with every iota of Blood Maelstrom that Shelk had just granted him. The silvery mes burned through the tier five Source Magic spells like they were paper.

    The darkness element they were imbued with barely slowed the Dread mes down. The Nightwalker was struck before he could understand what was happening. His natural resistance to all elements was useless as he was burned to a crisp.

    The Voidfeather Dragon didn''t miss a beat,unching himself forward in a charge with Ragnar?k lunging at the enemy''s neck while bursting with Immortal mes.

    "I told you to wait f-" A Wendigo as big as he was powerful appeared from a Blood Gate conjured by one of Shelk''s apprentices.

    The cold aura of his body was focused and enhanced by his enchanted mace, Windgust, making the temperature of everything it touched drop by dozens of degrees by the second.

    The Immortal mes heated the cold air into a dry desert wind, chipping the Adamant of the weapon''s head as it turned red hot. On top of that, the strength of the impact sent the Wendigo flying back despite the fact that he was already infused with several bolts of red lightning.

    "Never mind. What the heck happened here?" Ulsor asked.

    "No time for that. Go all out and try tost more than one second." Shelk had barely enough strength to feed upon the human cattle that his apprentice passed him from the dimensional gate.

    <nulli>''I can''t believe that it took Verhen a single st of those things to almost kill a full-powered Blood Warlock past the half-full red blood core!'' He thought while eating as fast as he could before his core started to fade away.

 Chapter 2806 Parts and Whole (Part 2)

    Chapter 2806 Parts and Whole (Part 2)

    His prized Adamant armor, the several enchanted protections that he wore, and even the Blood Barrier he had activated at thest second had all been useless against the Dread mes.

    Healing Shroud could only keep Shelk undead, but his core was spent and only nourishment could replenish it. Ulma was in his same situation, battling for survival.

    His apprentices were using massive amounts of darkness elements to fight the Cursed mes and Shadow Transfer to supply their sire with a constant flow of nourishment, yet it was barely enough.

    The Wendigo snarled, unleashing the most powerful Chilling Wail that Lith had ever experienced. Knowing how it worked, however, the Voidfeather Dragon had a countermeasure at the ready.

    A single deep breath enveloped him in a pyre of Origin mes that kept his body warm and prevented Ulsor from exploiting the Dragon''s natural weakness to cold.

    "Not bad for a runt. Too bad I can''t y with you a bit." The Wendigo nodded in approval and released a tier five Source Magic spell.

    The Voidfeather Dragon''s eyes went wide in surprise as Silent Night used the air element to suck the humidity out of the air, reinforcing the cold wave conjured by the water element.

    At the same time, darkness element coated the frozen shockwave, and a second burst of air element filled Silent Night with bolts of thunder. A tier five Source Magic spell was a scaled-down version of a tower tier spell but Blood Maelstrom more than filled the gap.

    The Voidfeather Dragon found himself being swept off the floor despite his mass, the shockwave carrying him like a feather in the wind. The bolts of lightning sent him into a seizure while the shockwave dissipated the Origin mes enough for the cold to seep inside his body.

    "The wings!" Shelk yelled and Ulsorplied.

    Tier five spells wouldst as long as their caster had mana. The Wendigo didn''t hesitate to burn through his blood core and Blood Maelstrom reserves to keep the enemy pinned to the wall and exploit the element of surprise until itsted.

    Windgust rained left and right, hitting the Voidfeather Dragon''s unfurled wings away from Ragnar?k''s reach. The Voidwalker armor took part of the damage, but the Wendigo was stronger.

    Stuck between the wall and Silent Night, Lith couldn''t dodge or block, leaving the enemy free to hammer at his limbs. By the time he let go of the angry de, one wing was already smashed and Ulsor was moving his attention on the other.

    Ragnar?k cried in fury, collecting the blood lost by its master to reinforce the Immortal mes. Usually, without a hand holding the de, an expert like the Wendigo would have had an easy time dispatching the new threat.

    Yet after spending so much mana and Blood Maelstrom on Silent Night, Ulsor was weakened. His full focus was devoted to keeping Lith trapped and what was left of his physical strength he needed it to neutralize the wings.

    Wendigos were naturally immune to fire, the eternal cold apanying them drained even the heat produced by magic-fueled mes in seconds. Yet the Immortal mes scared him.

    They burned at his weapon every time he blocked, leaving behind emerald mes that consumed the enchantments of Gustwind until he spent enough energy to neutralize them.

    <nulli>''I have no idea what would happen if they stuck to me instead of the Adamant.'' He thought.<nulli> ''Even worse, I can''t afford to lose my focus until-'' Lith cast a tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, cutting the Wendigo short.

    It wasn''t strong enough to block Silent Night but its shockwave propelled Ragnar?k forward, turning it into a missile made of sharp Davross. The de darted at Ulsor''s head and he promptly blocked with his mace.

    A head injury wouldn''t be lethal to a Wendigo but it would make him lose his focus and Silent Night disappear. Ragnar?k mmed against Gustwind on purpose, using the strength of the impact to ricochet down.

    The mace covered Ulsor''s line of sight and the ming de used the Wendigo''s strength to gain even more speed. Ragnar?k pierced through Ulsor''s huge belly, burning it and the bits of flesh from his first meal it contained.

    Silent Night disappeared as the agony seared through every fiber of the Wendigo''s being, setting Lith free. The Voidfeather Dragon kicked Ragnar?k''s hilt with all of his strength, sending Ulsor crashing near his allies before recalling the de.

    "I''ll admit that you guys are strong." Lith panted while using his best healing spell, Mother''s Embrace, to heal his many injuries. "But you have made a grave mistake in your ns."

    He shapeshifted into his human form, using his breathing technique to check if there was enough world energy for Invigoration.

    "I''m not a human." He shapeshifted into his Abomination form, the features of the Eldritch Derek McCoy dominant again. "I''m not an Abomination or a Dragon either."

    He shapeshifted into the Voidfeather, letting the seven eyes of the man ovep with the darkness of the Eldritch and the scales of the Dragon. For one moment, the blue mes appeared as his body twisted into the Void Demon Dragon.

    "I''m a Tiamat." The three aspects merged into one, restoring his original form. "What you''ve struggled to face so far was just one of my aspects. Let''s see how you fare against the whole."

    Lith unfolded his wings which were now in perfect condition. The angry de coursed with Chaos and Immortal mes while his seven eyes guided every one of the elemental gemstones of his armor to form a different spell.

    "So what?" Ulsor said. "Each one of us has gone toe to toe with one of your forms alone and lived to tell the tale. There are three sides of you but there''s three of us while you are alone."

    "No." The Tiamat''s face mask opened up, revealing a mouth filled with fangs and Origin mes. "I''m not alone. I never am."

    Demons of the Darkness poured out of his shadow, leaving the undead bbergasted. They went from three to six-eyed Demons yet there was no way that Lith had enough time to use Invigoration so many times.

    The crown of silvery mes on his head grew in size until it epassed his whole body. Suddenly the Tiamat burst into Dread mes and his Demons into Demons of the Abyss.

    Shelk consumed whatever Blood Maelstrom he had left, but the Void Demons needed but a scratch to make the red lightning short circuit. Ulsor emptied his blood core to activate his bloodline ability, Balewinter.

    Yet the True Demons emitted such heat that the snow instantly turned into steam. The Wendigo produced a storm of cold air that shed against the hot wave of the Demons, canceling each other.

    Ulma used Source Magic and the darkness element to keep the Demons at bay but the Tiamat was upon him. Ragnar?k cut every one of his spells into pieces and the Immortal mes burned what was left, leaving him nothing to control.

    "Help me, dammit!" The Nightwalker turned his joints into darkness and bent his limbs out of the way of the burning de buying himself one whole second until his back struck the wall.

 Chapter 2807 Red Wave (Part 1)

    Chapter 2807 Red Wave (Part 1)

    "Ulsor!" Shelk activated the first part of Blood Tide, draining the world energy in his surroundings and with it the darkness element that gave substance to the lost souls.

    The Demons of the Abyss disappeared, leaving the Wendigo free to jump at Lith''s back. The bloodline ability also nullified enchanted items by depriving them of the power they needed to work but it didn''t affect Ulsor''s cold aura nor the hardness of his Adamant mace.

    Both the Dread and the Immortal mes remained, but neither wouldst long since Lith''s core alone couldn''t sustain one of them for long, let alone both at the same time.

    He used Ragnar?k to deflect Gustwind while his ck and silver eyes conjured the energy stored in the gemstones studded on the Voidwalker armor. The crystals dimmed as they made up for the missing elemental energy with their own power.

    Void Magic turned the darkness element into beams of light that followed those produced by the silvery crystal and they both turned into gue Arrows upon hitting the Nightwalker.

    Thanks to the Blood Maelstrom and the amount of energy he had spent to boost his physical power, the Wendigo was almost as strong as Lith. Adamant couldn''tpete with Davross and with every hit more emerald tongues of fire stuck to the mace, but Ulsor didn''t care.

    With the skill umted through centuries, the Wendigo kept blocking every hit while exploiting the smallest opening for a counterattack. The cold aura he emitted was no match for the Immortal mes but he didn''t care.

    He was just buying time for the Blood Warlock.

    The Tiamat grunted, releasing elemental energy from the remaining crystals on his armor and activating the corresponding eyes. Water element soaked the Wendigo so that it turned the thick fur and undead skin into a perfect conductor for a stream of lightning bolts.

    <nulli>''Verhen must have gone insane. Water boosts my bloodline abilities and electricity does nothing to me.'' Or so Ulsor thought until Lith activated his tier four Void Magic spell, Burning Cage.

    The bolts of lightning connected with the dust and debris collected by the water wave as it swept the corridor and then turned into solid rock. The Wendigo found himself trapped inside a thickyer of stone that was filled with water.

    With no space to move or lever, even with his strength, he would have a hard time breaking free. On top of that, his own cold aura froze the water which increased in volume, filling what little space of maneuver he had left.

    Then, Void Magic turned the water into steam and Burning Cage became akin to a pressure cooker.

    Sure, Wendigos didn''t suffer from heat either, but the temperature inside the stone prison was rising quickly. The remnants of Ulsor''s first meal resting in his intestines were still damaged by Ragnar?k''s fire so when the raw flesh started to get cooked right inside his body, it hurt even more.

    The agonizing screams of the Nightwalker and the Wendigo forced the Blood Warlock to y his hand earlier than he would have liked to.

    "Two against one and you can''t even buy me some time. You two are damn useless!" He Blood Blinked right in front of Lith and found Ragnar?k waiting for him.

    Shelk released the Blood Tide he stored inside his body, the force of the impact great enough to push the burning de aside before it could deal him any arm. The crimson st freed the Wendigo and pushed the Nightwalker away, giving them the time they needed to recover.

    Lith''s Immortal and Dread mes fought against the Blood Tide to a standstill but in the end, they were both snuffed out. The Blood Warlock could feed upon the infinite energy of the mana geyser whereas Lith had to use the power of his mana core wisely.

    The st sent him flying away as well, giving the undead the opportunity to regroup.

    "Stop doing that! What point does having spent countless hours to master Source Magic if you don''t leave enough world energy for us to use it?" The Wendigo said in outrage.

    The Blood Tide had freed him from the Burning Cage but it had also opened even more wounds on his already battered body.

    "I''d love to, but without me, you two morons would be already dead." Shelk replied. "I''m the one who dealt with those annoying Demons and has rescued you. Now shut up and follow my lead!"

    He drew once again what little world energy the mana geyser had pumped in the corridor but this time, he released it pure, igniting it in a stream of Blood mes.

    Lith tried to counter them with his own but due to theck of world energy, nothing came out of his mouth.

    Also, the gemstones on Ragnar?k had all turned dull from sustaining the Immortal mes, and with the blood scabbard consumed, Lith would have to provide both the life force and mana.

    <nulli>''This is risky, but I have to try!'' His Spirit Eye lit up, bathing the three undead in the mystical mes that were supposed to be the first step for their counterattack.

    There wasn''t enough world energy to kill even the weakest among them so Lith divided the Blood mes evenly between his enemies, breaking their formation in surprise and forcing them on the defensive again.

    However, it was only half a victory.

    Lith had avoided using Domination until that point because he had no idea if someone was watching him and if they did, he couldn''t afford to leave a witness alive.

    Domination was a secret art that would lose most of its importance if its existence were to be public knowledge. Anyone with an elemental affinity could use it, undead included.

    Its discovery would mean an arrow less in the quiver of Tiamats, Hydras, and Tyrants and one more for their enemies.

    Lith had resorted to using it solely because theck of world energy depowered any surveince device and he couldn''t allow Shelk to keep monopolizing the world energy.

    Ragnar?k was running on fumes which meant that he couldn''t use its enchantments anymore without the risk of the de losing part of its semi-sentience. His mana would guarantee the minimum to hold the power core together, but only if Lith used Ragnar?k as a regr de.

    Powerful enchantments needed a lot of energy. It was what runes and mana crystals were for but without world energy to absorb, they were useless.

    Lith had been forced to use Domination because he had no other option but now, he had to kill the three undead at all costs.

    <nulli>''Starting from the Blood Warlock.'' He thought, knowing how much was at stake and that Shelk was the biggest variable. <nulli>''The other two can''t escape the dimensional sealing arrays and the moment I get rid of Blood Tide, they are finished.''

    Lith checked the energy reserves of his armor, finding themcking as well. The Spirit Crystal could project a barrier for a couple of seconds before running dry. As for the elemental crystals, each one of them had enough juice for a single tier five spell, three tier four, or ten tier three.

 Chapter 2808 Red Wave (Part 2)

    Chapter 2808 Red Wave (Part 2)

    <nulli>''The silver lining is that even in the case the Voidwalker armor gets turned off due to theck of power, there''s no consequence. It''s not so heavy that it would hinder my movements and it needs just time to recharge.

    <nulli>''None of its enchantments is going to be lost.'' Lith sped up further, charging at the Wendigo.

    Going on the offensive meant making it easier for the undead to surround him, but leaving the initiative to them would allow the undead to set the rhythm of the fight and agree on a n.

    Lith preferred chaos on the battlefield, forcing the enemies to react to his moves without giving them time to think.

    Ulsor projected his cold aura while cursing at the Blood Warlock.

    <nulli>''No world energy also means no water element and no Gustwind. Without my mace, I can''t focus my aura outside of my body and to touch Verhen I need to get past that damn Davross de!''

    To make matters worse, the Wendigo was still enveloped in Blood mes that neutralized his bloodline ability. Lith lunged at the undead with Ragnar?k and grabbed at the iing mace with his open left hand.

    Without enchantments, such a small piece of Adamant was no threat to a creature as big as a Tiamat, especially with the protection of the Voidwalker armor. The de pierced the shoulder and Ulsor''s left arm fell limp.

    Gustwind''s hit didn''t hurt thanks to darkness fusion and broke no bones. Lith ripped the mace out of the Wendigo''s hand while taking a step back and pulling Ragnar?k out of the wound.

    Then he threw Gustwind at the Nightwalker with all of his strength. Ulma had nothing to defend himself with and couldn''t use spells. He took the mace in his chest, the impact sending him flying away.

    Lith feinted at Shelk, aiming to go back to Ulsor and finish him off quickly, but the Blood Warlock could read his moves like an open book.

    <nulli>''Verhen is smart, but his battle experience is nothingpared to mine.'' Shelk could see that only half of the weight of the Tiamat was on the front foot, the muscles of his legs tensed like springs ready to move back.

    Shelk jumped back in an exaggerated movement, pretending to have fallen for the trick. A slight smirk creased his lips as Lith gave the Blood Warlock his back while jumping at the Wendigo.

    Shelk followed suit, his goal to sever the Tiamat''s spine. Darkness fusion stopped pain, but could do nothing against paralysis.

    Great was his surprise when instead of swinging his de, Lith shoulder charged the Wendigo, carrying him through a Spirit Blink whose exit point appeared right behind the Blood Warlock.

    Shelk cursed at Lith, turning around just in time to see the frozen humanoid projectile rushing into him. He used the t side of his polearm to push Ulsor out of his way and a flick of the wrist to return to a neutral stance, ready to exploit the Tiamat''s own momentum to impale him.

    It took him a fraction of a second to perform those movements but once he was done, his weapon hit only air. While Shelk''s line of sight was blocked, Lith had Spirit Blinked again, returning to his original position while conserving the kic energy of the charge.

    The Blood Warlock realized what had happened when the Davross point of Ragnar?k pierced through his armor, ribcage, and reached his heart. It was the source of the blood flow and the weak point of his undead species.

    s, a red wave erupted from the beating heart, pushing forward with enough strength to repel the angry de.

    <nulli>''The fuck?'' Lith thought as another Blood Tide hit him at point-nk range. ''That''s why there''s still no world energy despite the geyser! He never stopped sucking the energy in, waiting for a moment like this.''

    Shelk fell to his knees coughing out blood. Even though it wasn''t fatal, the damage to his vital organ coupled with the release of such a powerful ability had left him weakened.

    Luckily for him, his allies were back on their feet and ready to intercept the enemy. Ulma was now wielding Gustwind whose surface was pitch-ck after being infused with Nightblood.

    Ulsor had condensed his frost aura in his ws and mouth, unleashing a Chilling Wail upon Lith. The frost wave bypassed the Voidwalker armor''s weakened enchantments and reached Lith''s scales, draining the precious warmth that fueled him.

    Gustwind dodged Ragnar?k''s shivering guard and hit the Tiamat''s right side, crushing his ribs and flooding him with darkness element. As Lith fell onto his left knee, the Wendigo and the Nightwalker attacked from opposite sides to finish him.

    The darkness crystal of the Voidwalker armor neutralized Nightblood''s effects while the fire crystal warmed Lith. The light and the earth crystalbined their power to conjure the tier five Void Spell, Twilight Crush.

    Light turned into darkness that coated the hail of stones which in turn turned into air des. They cut deep into Ulma''s skin before switching back into stone nails that injected the darkness element right into his flesh.

    <nulli>''That was myst darkness spell. There''s no point using water and fire since undead are immune to it. Better keep them ready to counter the Wendigo.'' Lith thought while using Ragnar?k to cut off Ulsor''s extended arms.

    The Wendigo felt no pain, his dead flesh suffering no shock now that the angry de had no darkness element or Origin mes to hurt him. Lith''s attack seeded, but it didn''t stop Ulsor''s charge.

    He trapped the Tiamat in a bear hug, burning what energy he had left to emit the cold aura from all over his body, stumps included. Lith immediately felt the coldness invading his body and robbing him of his strength.

    He increased his size as much as the three meters high (9''10") corridor allowed him to, but the Wendigo didn''t let go. From that position, Ragnar?k was useless. Lith couldn''t stab the Wendigo without hurting himself and any wound that missed the flesh stored somewhere in the intestines would only harm Lith.

    The struggle was reduced to a tug of war between the fire crystal and the blood core and thetter was winning. Ulma was bleeding ck blood but he still had the strength to stand up and wield the darkness-infused Gustwind.

    "Hold on as long as you can!" The Blood Warlock Blood Blinked the Nightwalker to a safe position, allowing him to hit the Tiamat.

    Lith dropped the de and raised his arms, lowering them into a double hammered first at the same time when the mace hit his left side. More ribs broke along with Ulsor''s arms, but the Wendigo just focused on healing them and refused to let go.

    Lith could see with Life Vision that there was no world energy around, meaning that Shelk was umting it again. He kicked, headbutted, and punched the Wendigo. Every bone in his body was broken, but Ulsor didn''t care.

    Ulma raised and lowered the mace again but this time Lith used the Wendigo as a meat shield. He saved himself from the hit, but the darkness still reached its mark. Nightblood was part of Ulma''s body and as such answered his will.

 Chapter 2809 Not my Son (Part 1)

    Chapter 2809 Not my Son (Part 1)

    The pure darkness element slithered over Ulsor''s skin, burning it, and seeped inside Lith''s. He coughed out a mouthful of blood, pain blinding him now that darkness fusion had to stop the enemy''s bloodlines skill before it reached his vital organs.

    The relentless cold waves emitted by the Wendigo slowed Lith''s reflexes and mind, his eyes drooping from exhaustion.

    "This is it." Shelk said, his body and heart bursting from the umted world energy. "We''ll die with you, but it''s a price worth paying. With you gone, the Undead Courts will wash away their shame and take their rightful ce in the three Great Countries back."

    ***

    Array control room, right now.

    "Finally!" Solus deactivated thest defensive mechanism protecting the control panel of the array system.

    At that point, a single swing of the Fury smashed the main focus points of the various magical formations that originated from there and spread throughout the local branch of the Dawn Court.

    Solus couldn''t just turn the arrays off since they didn''t bear her imprint but it was unnecessary. Without the safeguards, she suffered no damage and the arrays wouldn''t explode and potentially kill Lith.

    With the magical formations weakened and their hold on the world energy fading away, the Hands of Menadion reached control over 51% of the mana geyser. Enough to conjure the mage tower and let it do the rest.

    ***

    Fourth underground floor, right now.

    "Finally!" Lith felt strength surging inside of him.

    The Immortal Body array enveloped him and his wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. A pir of world energy flooded his body and equipment, restoring their energy reserves.

    "That''s impossible!" Shelk''s voice cracked, his denial irrelevant to the cold truth. "I control the world energy, not you!"

    "First mistake." Lith connected the Hands of Menadion to the Voidwalker armor and Ragnar?k, using the power of the Hands held to fuel the enchantments of the rest of his equipment.

    The angry de roared in joy, its elemental crystals shining with renewed power.

    ''I can''t give Verhen time to recover. If he Spirit Warps away, everything will be for nothing.'' The Blood Warlock had no idea what was happening, but he knew there was no time to lose.

    He released the Blood Tide, empowering it with everything he had left. His heart had yet to heal and it failed to withstand the strain. Shelk Whur died praying to the gods above and below to give meaning to his sacrifice.

    "Second mistake." The Spirit Eye lit up andbined its power with the hands of Menadion.

    The Blood Tide froze in ce for a second, Domination taking control of the bloodline ability while the Hands overtook the world energyprising it.

    Then, it resumed its advance, washing over Lith and hitting the other two undead in full.

    The Blood Tide nailed them against the walls, ripped their flesh off their body, and broke their bones, yet they didn''t die. It was the curse of undeath. As long as their blood cores had energy and their weak points were intact, they were banished from death.

    "This is not ov-" Ragnar?k cut the Nightwalker''s head and him off. Tendrils of darkness tried to form a new head just to be consumed by the Blood Tide.

    The process repeated over and over until Ulma''s essence was spent and his body crumbled.

    The Wendigo saw the Tiamat walking toward him and reminisced about his vige. About the cold night he had been reborn. Then a violent burst of Final Eclipse burned his body and his memories shattered from the agony.

    The darkness element flooded his wounds, finding the human flesh stored inside his intestines. It turned into ashes and the Wendigos'' body did the same. Lith took a deep breath of Invigoration and restored his strength.

    At that point, it was over.

    He and Solus used the Watchtower to find everything and everyone inside the building and then the Mirror Hall to reach them with a single step. Thanks to the tower, the Demons grew in number and strength by the second, needing no supervision in their ughter.

    On the outside, Farg coordinated the army and the Queen''s Corps, making sure that no one escaped the encirclement alive.

    "This is odd." She said after a few minutes of rtive peace. "I was expecting much more rats to abandon the ship. Take cover and ready your weapons. I''m afraid that they are amassing their forces for a final charge."

    "No, they are not." A voice said from behind her, making her jump in surprise. "It''s done. Start sending your troops to our next destination. I''ll join you as soon as I''ve recovered my strength."

    "How did you get here?" Farg was bbergasted. "How did you purge the branch alone so quickly? The undead had a mana geyser at their disposal yet they didn''tst half the time of the other branch."

    "Another of my secrets." Lith replied before Warping back inside.

    "You heard him." Am Farg yelled at the troops. "The night is still long and we have yet much to do."

    ***

    The following morning, Lustria County, city of Lutia, Lith''s house.

    Due to the quick raids and the death of so many powerhouses, it had taken the Kingdom forces just a few hours to cripple the Undead Courts in the Distar Marquisate.

    After four branches had been razed to the ground and piged, the others had been found empty. The undead had chosen to retreat and strategize rather than face whatever was ughtering their elders.

    With each branch, even when the army met no resistance, a contingent of soldiers and mages had to stay behind. Their role was to search the ce for anything incriminating that might have been left in the hurry and deactivate the array system.

    The Royals wanted to make sure that the undead wouldn''t return and check the vaults. Every Undead Court possessed countless treasures and it was unlikely that they had all been brought away during an emergency evacuation.

    Even if it was just gold and jewels, it would be a huge blow to the Courts financial power and fuel the Royal Reforms for Trains, Tablets, and the colonization of Jiera.

    By the end of the night, there weren''t enough Kingdom''s troops avable to secure the perimeter of any more branches. The hunt ended and Lith went back home.

    "There was no point in me staying there. The army will inventory whatever they find and the Royals will send me my share." Lith patted Elysia''s back until the baby burped.

    "Is it over now?" Kam asked while checking him with Invigoration and making sure there was no permanent injury.

    "For now, yes." He replied. "Without a power base and their local members on the run, the Undead Courts can''t afford more attacks. Unless they find a new powerful leader or have an ace in the hole that they kept secret until now, we are safe.

    "There are still plenty of branches to raid but I''m done with it. I''ve shown my strength and Zoreth is making sure that the underworld spreads word this is my doing. The Royals can take care of the rest.

    "This is their Kingdom after all."

 Chapter 2810 Not my Son (Part 2)

    Chapter 2810 Not my Son (Part 2)

    "Are you sure you aren''t hurt, dear?" Elina patted Solus'' arms, chest, and then face in search of injuries or malnutrition.

    "Yes, Mom. I was away for one night, not a month!" Back when she was trapped inside her ring and watched Lith undergoing Elina''s check-ups, she found them wholesome.

    <nulli>''I stand corrected.'' Solus thought.<nulli> ''Having a loving Mom is not wholesome, it''s the best.''

    After Lith was done with Elysia, Elina checked him up as well, earning an eye roll.

    "Don''t you dare roll your eyes at me, young man. You''ve put your life into danger and as your mother, I have every right to be worried. If you don''t like it, you can always change your career to something less dangerous."

    "Mom, I''m a Magus. What am I supposed to do for a living? Write books?"

    "Sounds like an idea." Elina nodded. "And teaching. You won''t find undead assassins in a ssroom of the White Griffon."

    "I am teaching at the White Griffon already!" Lith countered.

    "Among many other things whereas I mean exclusively! Your daughter deserves to grow up with a father." She rebuked him.

    "Let me get this straight. First, you pestered me to find a girlfriend, then to get married, then to give you grandkids, and now that I''ve done all of the above you want me to retire? What is this, some kind of long-term evil mastern?"

    "Just a long-term n." Elina weaved her finger under Lith''s nose the same way she did back when he was little and she scolded him. "I''ve never been fond of your so-called adventures."

    "So, should I have let Thrud or the Undead Courts have their way? "I''ve never been fond of your so-called adventures."

    "So, should I have let Thrud or the Undead Courts have their way? Should I just turn down the Royals whenever they request my help?" Lith asked.

    Elina opened her mouth to reply but quickly realized she had no way to argue that. She pursed her lips, squinting her eyes in annoyance before saying: "You win this round, but this is not over."

    "It never is." Lith sighed, shapeshifting into the Voidfeather Dragon as a warm-up, then into the Tiamat, and finally into his Abomination form.

    Elysia followed his lead, shapeshifting just like her father did with less than a second of dy.

    "Why do you keep doing that?" Elina had no problem with her son and granddaughter having multiple forms, except for one.

    She didn''t like the Abomination because even though it resembled Lith, it actually was his appearance as Derek McCoy. The fact that the Abomination bore his son''s eyes and smile yet everything else was different creeped her out.

    On top of that, in that form, both he and Elysia were cold to the touch. They had no heartbeat or pulse, feeling like a corpse. Prolonged contact with their dark bodies was painful for anyone but Kam and Solus.

    "Because I must make sure that Elysia can control all of her powers and forms." Lith replied. "Back when I was at the deep violet, taking my Abomination form was dangerous for me.

    "At the violet it got easier, but the Chaos still threatened to consume me. The hunger I experienced back then drained my strength quickly and I could sustain my Abomination form only for a short while.

    "Now everything is fine, at least for me, but I''m still made mostly of darkness whereas Elysia has a lot more of Chaos. I''m checking for side effects as she develops but so far, I''ve found none." The baby girl''s giggle sounded like a high-pitched howl yet everyone found it adorable anyway.

    "Thank the gods." Elina sighed in relief. "You do your thing then. I''m going to check on your sister. Call me if you need help."

    "Do you need a hand, Mom?" Solus asked.

    "No, dear, but I''d love to have somepany." Elina entered the nursery where Surin was sleeping, followed by Solus.

    Sitting on a chair in the living room, Raaz looked at the scene with a fatherly smile mixed with worry.

    "What''s the problem?" That day it was Leegaain''s turn to keep an eye on Elysia.

    The Father of All Dragons was dressed in the ck livery of a butler and had taken one of his favorite human appearances. He looked like an albino man in his mid-thirties,1,75 meters (5''9") tall, with snow-white hair and skin.

    His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil. Multiple spots of his skin were halfway turned into scales, making Leegaain look like he had tattoos.

    "Can you silence us?" Raaz asked.

    "Sure." A wave of Leegaain''s finger and words stoppeding out of Raaz''s mouth. "Anything else?"

    Noticing the smug grin on the Guardian''s face and the sass in his tone, Raaz exploited the situation to tell Leegaain everything he thought about the Father of All Dragons and his pranks.

    "Great Mother almighty! I can''t believe you kiss your wife with that mouth." Leegaain was appalled by the crudenguage and the vulgarity of his host.

    A cruel smirk appeared on Raaz''s face as he doubled down and gave color to the Guardian''s pale skin.

    "Why? What is he saying?" Unlike the Lord of Wisdom, Lith couldn''t read lips.

    "I''m not going to repeat any of that in the presence of children." Leegaain replied. "Or adults, for that matter."

    A snap of his fingers gave Raaz his voice back.

    "Lith, how is that spell you use whenever you ''talk'' with Kam in your room called?" Lith could literally see the air quotes since Raaz used them to avoid misunderstandings.

    "Dad!" Kam said, blushing no less than her husband.

    "What? The whole Kingdom knows you two ''talk''. How do you exin that child? Am I supposed to pretend to believe that a Griffon left Elysia on our doorstep?"

    "It''s called Hush. Why?"

    "No reason." Raaz turned to Leegaain. "Can you Hush us now, please?"

    "That''s for amateurs." Another snap of his fingers and apparently nothing happened. "To the rest of Mogar, we are making small talk. You know, cultivated fields, grandkids, and stuff. No one will ever know your questions or my answers."

    Raaz trusted the Guardian as far as he could throw him so he firstmented heavily on Leegaain and repeated his earlier speech. When no one so much as looked at them, Raaz finally believed the Dragon.

    "Was that really necessary?" Leegaain furrowed his brows in annoyance.

    "After knowing you better, yes." Raaz nodded. "That said, are you sure that''s my son?"

    "I beg your pardon?" Leegaain blinked several times in confusion. "Are you implying that you don''t think your wife was faithful to you or that a Doppelganger took Lith''s ce and no one noticed?"

    "Yes." Raaz nodded.

    "Are you insane? How many times do you have to witness the Blood Imprint conjuring the feathers of both of you to convince yourself that Lith is your own flesh and blood?" Leegaain said with a re.

    "Not that!" Raaz angrily replied, yet his rage was quickly reced by a guilty expression. "Actually, I questioned Lith''s paternity a few times in the past, but after witnessing the Blood Imprint so many times, even the most obstinate doubt I had has been cleared.

    "That''s my son''s body and my blood runs through his veins, that''s for sure."

 Chapter 2811 Not my Son (Part 3)

    Chapter 2811 Not my Son (Part 3)

    "Then you consider him a Doppelganger?" Leegaain asked.

    "I don''t know what it is, but look at that." Raaz pointed at Lith cooing at Elysia while she cooed back, both of them in their Abomination form. "After spending so much time with you Guardians, after listening to Bytra''s and Zoreth''s stories, I know how an Abomination is born.

    "Not anyone can turn into one or Mogar would be overrun by Abominations. It takes someone with a powerful will or with an outstanding mana core and as far as I know, a newborn has neither.

    "I was there when Strata¡­ I mean Lith was born. I remember his limp body and Nana doing everything she could to revive him. I remember how scared I was when the possibility that my son was born dead hit me.

    "Then, Lith started to move like nothing had happened. As if a switch had been turned on." Raaz could still picture those first moments when the baby hade back to life, acting so weirdly that to justify his behavior, Nana had imed that Lith was blessed by the light.

    "Also, that''s not my son''s face."

    Leegaain looked at the vestiges of Derek McCoy''s visage and had to admit that the only thing the two men had inmon was the eyes.

    "Abominations are creatures made of energy. Their physical appearance has nothing to do with the features they were born with. It''s merely a reflection of how they perceive themselves to be." Leegaain replied.

    "And that exins the wings, the horns, and the rest of the demonic features." Raaz countered. "But what about the haircut and that face? I could get if Lith saw himself more monstrous or handsome, but that''s just a man. Different, but still a man."

    The Father of All Dragons had to admit that even he had no exnation for that.

    Derek McCoy wasn''t bad looking and that was the issue. An extreme deformity might have been exined by Lith seeing his Abomination side like something revolting or dangerous whereas it was just human.

    Another human.

    "Whatever that thing is, whenever it sees me, its eyes spark with hatred and contempt until Lith recognizes me." Even at that moment, the Abomination red instinctively at Raaz.

    Ezio McCoy, Derek''s Earth father, kept ovepping with the figure of the farmer and the Void''s first instinct was to protect Elysia from him just like he had protected Carl.

    "It didn''t make sense to me until Zoreth exined to me the different kinds of Abominations. Eldritches, Empowered and¡­ Puppeteers."

    Zoreth took her role as godmother very seriously and was the only one besides Lith who could trigger Elysia''s Abomination form. While she took care of the baby, she had exined to Raaz the dangers of her species and how to protect himself in case the baby went wild in fear.

    "And why do you ask me?" Leegaain said. "You are of Sark''s blood, not mine."

    "Because of what you said during thest visit to the tower." Raaz replied. "That your eyes can understand what something was, is, and how it works. Does it apply also to people or just to magical artifacts?"

    "It does work on people, but not in the way you think. It''s no mind reading and people don''te with blueprints or instruction manuals. It might give you more questions than answers so think carefully about this." Leegaain took a meaningful pause.

    "Do you really want to know? Does it really matter who inhabits that body?" The Father of All Dragons himself had no exnation for Raaz''s doubts and had pondered the origin of Lith''s Abomination side for a long while.

    He knew that his and Sark''s bloodline had been added artificially by Mogar but the how and why were beyond him. In the end, Leegaain had disregarded those questions since knowing would have achieved nothing.

    Even if Lith really was an Abomination, no Guardian would kill him just for that. What he did was much more important than what he was in determining his character.

    "I want to know." Raaz wringed his hands. "I need to know if my son really is my miracle baby or if I lost him on that day. Otherwise the doubt will consume me."

    After living with Lith for twenty years, Raaz loved him like one of his own. Yet ever since the day Lith had revealed his nature as a hybrid to the family, a constant doubt had been nagging in the back of Raaz''s head.

    He was tired of doubting Lith''s paternity, Elina''s faithfulness, and most importantly, himself.

    "The problem is that I didn''t raise Lith. No one did. He raised himself." Now that Raaz had finally admitted it out loud, the words kepting out of his mouth like a river breaking through a dam.

    "For a long time, I felt like a shitty father and a horrible parent for that. Whenever I needed him, my boy was there for me. Whenever Lith needed me, I was useless. I couldn''t understand how someone so young could also be so mature and now that I think I know the answer, it''s all I can think about."

    "Fine, but don''t say that I didn''t warn you." Leegaain ced his hand on Raaz''s shoulder, activating Soul Vision.

    To the mystical sense, Lith now appeared like it was supposed to be.

    Like himself.

    Even though in the real world Lith was still in his Abomination form, Soul Vision saw him as a perfect Tiamat. While holding the baby girl, there was no trace of aggression on his face or blood on his hands.

    The creature was at peace, wrapping Elysia with both his hands and wings to keep her warm and protected.

    Yet there was one significant difference between Lith''s Tiamat form and the one revealed by Soul Vision. A small blue me enveloped him, leaking out of the spaces between the ck scales.

    Then, the Guardian also activated Leegaain''s Eyes and shared them with Raaz. The figure of the Tiamat was split into three parts. The human, the Abomination, and the Voidfeather Dragon.

    Each one of them was broken down into smaller pieces, the three forms regressing in time as they all went from being an adult to a teen. Then from a teen to a child, from a child to a newborn, and then back in time again nothing remained.

    Raaz was about to question the vision when the three forms merged before splitting again.

    Now he could see two babies, one in his left eye and the other in his right. For a moment, he thought that they were the same person since they moved in unison and there was no difference between them.

    Yet while one cried and sought attention and care, the other just slept. The one on the left behaved like every child Raaz had encountered his whole life while the one on the right was Lith.

    Suddenly, a blue pyre erupted from the baby on the right, surprising Leegaain. The blue mes burned stronger and higher than ever, much more than on the day the Guardian had sicked Lith against the two assassins from Verendi.

    Time moved forward and the babies quickly grew into young children.

 Chapter 2812 Not my Son (Part 4)

    Chapter 2812 Not my Son (Part 4)

    They were both small and scrawny, but more differences between them had now be evident. The skin of the one on the left had be a dark shade of grey to the point that it was hard to spot his features.

    Only his eyes were clear. Eyes filled with fear, pain, and sadness.

    The one on the right, instead, had pink skin and a cold stare. Whenever he looked around, he seemed to gauge his enemies. Whenever he moved, the blue me followed him.

    <nulli>''mes aside, the one on the right is Lith.'' Raaz sighed in relief. <nulli>''I''ll never forget his re or how confident he was even from a young age. Whoever the other one is, he can''t be my son.

    <nulli>''No matter what life threw at him, Lith has never been scared. I''ve seen him sad and hurting, but even then, there was strength in his eyes. I''ve never seen him desperate or broken. Who is he and why is Leegaain showing him to me?''

    Time shifted, moving faster for the boy on the left and making him grow older while the one on the right remained a boy. Raaz flinched and almost turned his head more than once when he finally understood what was happening to the child on the left.

    <nulli>''By the gods! The ckness wasn''t just shadows. It was bruises that instead of healing and disappearing turned into indelible marks. Who can be so cruel to a child?''

    Grey had already turned into pitch ck and the eyes of the now teen boy were dull and lifeless. The pupil was gone, leaving only white holes on his face. Tears as thick and pristine as milk streamed down his face as he hugged his knees, crying.

    The vision had no sound, but Raaz could see the small and scrawny body quivering with each sob. Raaz felt pity for the boy and thanked the gods for sparing his children from suffering such a cruel fate.

    He had yet to finish his prayer that something happened.

    The boy on the left stood up, the pain was still there but despair was being reced by anger. Teeth turned into fangs, nails into ws, and a blue me crept through the ckness of his skin.

    Once the metamorphosis wasplete, it was impossible to miss that despite their different size, the eyes of the two boys were the same. Cold, indifferent, cruel.

    Raaz feared that the two might be one, that all of his fears mighte true but as time kept moving forward, he was proven wrong time and time again.

    The boy on the left grew into something less than a man, developing bestial features as the blue mes burned higher. Raaz witnessed the moment when Lith had found Solus'' stone and the blue mes subsided as his eyes became kinder.

    Raaz watched Lith take care of the young and ill Tista, holding her to his chest gently and the mes subsided even more.

    The man on the left, now a monster, had blood dripping from his hands and the crimson line dripping from his face was the only clue to where his mouth was. Everything else was a ck te.

    His eyes now expressed only cold indifference, it was impossible to say if he was happy or angry. Even the mes were gone, making the ckness of his body stand out even more in the white background

    As for Lith, he was now wearing his White Griffon academy uniform. He still looked around with his usual re and the blue mes enveloped him, but they were barely visible from under his clothes.

    Time shed forward again, projecting in Raaz''s eyes images that were different yet disturbingly simr. In his right eye, there was Lith on the final night of Balkor''s attack.

    He was hugging the massive figure of Protector''s dying body, clinging hard to him as if Lith was trying to keep life from abandoning his friend. Even though Lith had no wings back then, he saw something feathered unfurl from his back.

    It wrapped around Protector''s body as Lith poured his life inside the Skoll to perform a miracle.

    In Raaz''s left eye, the ck monster was hugging a broken human body. The corpse was resting on some kind of metal table and even from the faint details of the vision it was clear there was nothing that could be done.

    In the background, a handsome youth wearingvish clothes scoffed at the scene, finding it hrious.

    The monster emitted a silent howl, revealing white rows of fangs. He cried from the depths of his heart, showing that there was more than cruelty inside of him. At least until two membranous wings erupted from his back, enveloping him like a cocoon.

    The blue mes returned, burning higher and higher until the shell opened. The monster was no more and the wings were now attached to a dying beast. There were no wounds visible, yet Raaz could tell by how it dragged its feet that its end was near.

    The blue mes were the only thing keeping it alive, the hatred burning everything that was left of the human child for the sake of revenge.

    While Lith grew older and stronger, the beast grew weaker and more tired. The blue mes that seemed to have gued Lith from birth dwindled as he met Yurial and the others, became a Ranger, and then met Faluel.

    Those of the beast became higher and more violent as its life neared the end. Raaz witnessed an absurd fight, the beast pouring what was left of its strength against the noble youth while he was riding a weird chariot that reminded Raaz of the DoLorean.

    The beast was as swift as merciless, dragging the youth into its cave before ying cat and mouse. The beast took its time, mangling and ripping through the youth''s body until it was identical to the corpse on the table.

    Satisfied, the beast ceased its struggle. Ity on a side, smiling with a joy that dazzled and saddened Raaz at the same time. Despite the beast''s cruel actions, Raaz was happy for it because he knew that it was no beast, it was a small boy.

    Raaz was dazzled by the smile because it was the first time since the vision had started that he had seen the boy happy, yet he was also saddened because that first smile was also hisst.

    The blue fire engulfed the beast and died with it. At the same time, Raaz could see in his right eye Lith marrying Kam, killing Jormun, and then holding his baby just like he was doing in the real world.

    The blue me was gone and Lith was at peace. Raaz felt with rity that whatever it was, it wouldn''t trouble his son any longer. Then, the corpse of the dead beast turned into a shining sphere that darted toward the sky, the blue mes igniting once again.

    The vision from the left and the right eye merged into one and so did the figures in them. Lith was still wearing his Supreme Magus white and golden robe while holding Elysia, but the shadow he cast was not his own.

 Chapter 2813 Still Burning (Part 1)

    Chapter 2813 Still Burning (Part 1)

    Lith''s shadow had be identical to the monster the other boy had left after his death, and now he was also holding Elysia, but in her Abomination form. Whoever the unknown boy was, he was still alive. Whoever he was, he was still burning.

    Leegaain took his hand off Raaz''s shoulder and the vision fell apart slowly, reced by reality.

    Lith was still in his Abomination form, smiling and ying with the little girl. A wisp of darkness was twirling around his index finger and dancing in front of Elysia''s face. She grabbed the wisp and brought it to her mouth, munching it in curiosity.

    Elysia spat the darkness out in the form of a Chaos projectile the size of a bead that only the arrays of the Verhen''s household neutralized before it could pierce through the walls and hurt one of the farmhands.

    "Bad, Elysia! Bad!" Lith scolded her while pulling his finger away. "What if that thing hit someone?"

    "Ba?" She repeated, not understanding the problem.

    "Yes, bad!" Kam joined the scolding. "Magic isn''t a toy."

    Lith charged his finger with a cantrip and aimed at a big fly that was buzzing through the room.

    <nulli>''Fuck, no. I''m not going to introduce the concept of death so early in her life.'' He thought about pretending to shoot at someone and made them y dead, but that was even worse. <nulli>''Either she''ll think that we are monsters or that people can actually resurrect.

    <nulli>''How do I exin the "do no harm" concept to a baby too small to understand the difference between violence and self-defense but smart enough to be emotionally scarred?''

    To buy time, he reverted into his human form and Elysia followed suit. The Abomination wasprised of pure darkness, making it easy even for an infant to conjure a spell whereas as a human, magic required a finesse that the baby girlcked.

    "Kami, I know you don''t like it, but can I use the Dragon scales to teach Elysia self-restraint?" Lith knew how she missed that particr ability and the connection it granted between parent and child.

    "You are not showing off, you are making sure that everyone around Elysia is safe and that she doesn''t do something that she would regret her whole life. You don''t need my permission for that. But thank you for asking."

    Kam hugged him from behind, doing her best to hide how hurt she felt. The problem wasn''t Lith using the Dragon scales so much as the awareness that she wasn''t able to raise Elysia properly.

    <nulli>''I''ve tried using mind links to exinplex concepts to her. Yet if I keep it simple, Elysia doesn''t understand and if the conversation goes on for too long, she starts suffering from mana poisoning.'' Kam inwardly sighed. <nulli>''I just can''t make it right.''

    Dragon scales allowed formunication without the exchange of mana so Lith could express his worries about her actions to the baby in detail without risks. He showed her a vision of the Chaos projectile hitting Raaz and wounding his arm.

    Elysia knew and understood pain, even though just in a limited, childish manner. The images of her grampa unable to hold her and forced in bed until the wound healed saddened her but that was it.

    Lith furrowed his brows, repeating the images and changing the point of view until Elysia realized that she was the one shooting the Chaos spell. At that point, he had the imaginary Raaz cry in pain.

    Only once sadness turned into guilt did Lith interrupt the flow of images.

    "Ba?" Elysia asked, her eyes veiled with tears.

    "Yes, sweetie. Hurting your family is bad." Lith kept his tone neutral and smiled.

    "Ba?"

    "No, I would never hate you, but it would make everyone very sad." Lith added images of Elina who was also crying, hugging Raaz in worry.

    "Ba!" Elysia burst into tears, apologizing non-stop for her imaginary misdeed and mistaking it for a real event.

    Lith had to hand her to Raaz so that she could make sure that he was actually alright and wasn''t angry with her.

    "I''m sorry, Dad." Lith said after exining Raaz his ruse with a mind link. "I couldn''t use Kami or Elysia would have been traumatized."

    "Are you telling me that I''m expendable?" Raaz replied chuckling, but it was only half a joke.

    After what he had seen through Leegaain''s Eyes, he partly believed those words.

    "Don''t ever say that, Dad." Lith was dead serious, instead. "It''s just that if you get hurt, Mom cries. If Kami gets hurt, I''m the one crying and then Elysia would think that she has hurt both her parents.

    "I''ve seen how Valeron still mes himself for the disappearance of Thrud and Jormun. I don''t want Elysia to live in fear of her powers but I also need her to understand that actions have consequences.

    "It''s hard raising someone who''s too smart for their own good."Lith sighed. "I''m sorry, Dad. I didn''t mean to make you feel expendable. I want you to know that the day I thought I had lost you at the Hogum mansion is one of the worst of my life."

    "Don''t apologize. I''ve walked quite a few miles in your shoes." Raaz cooed at the baby, letting her see that his arm was fine. "Lith¡­"

    "Yes?"

    "Nothing." Raaz shook his head, banishing the many questions he still had. "I think we are done here."

    Elysia had calmed down but now she wanted to apologize to Grandma Elina as well so Lith handed her the baby and exined the situation to Elina as well.

    "Are you satisfied now?" Leegaain asked after Hushing them again.

    "Yes, thank you." Raaz patted the Guardian''s shoulder and was about to walk away when Leegaain stopped him.

    "Well, I''m not. Based on what we saw, at least a part of Lith doesn''t belong to your stillborn son. What''s the point of searching for the truth if are not going to ask him anything about it?"

    "What''s the point?" Raaz shrugged. "If Lith is aware of it, asking him questions would mean forcing him to open up with me. If he doesn''t, I would screw up his life. As a father, it''s my duty to protect my son''s happiness.

    "I don''t care if a part of himes from someone else or if he''s just a soul wearing a corpse. Lith calls me Dad and Elina Mom. We raised him. We fed him. We love him. Lith is my son, everything else is irrelevant."

    "Then why did you ask me to peer into his soul?" Leegaain asked.

    "Because I''m just a human. I was afraid that his Abomination side was the only reason he has grown into the man he is. That a mere farmer like me had just been a burden for him.

    "I was afraid to not be his father not because of where his soules from, but because I had taught him nothing. Now I know that I was wrong." Raaz looked at Lith taking care of his own family with pride.

    "That poor boy knew nothing about love. He lived like a beast and died a monster. Elina and I may have not given him life, but we made him human again."

 Chapter 2814 Still Burning (Part 2)

    Chapter 2814 Still Burning (Part 2)

    "It''s our warmth and affection that turned an Abomination into a loving father and husband. Even if Lith didn''t share one drop of our blood, I wouldn''t love him any less for it and I would still call him my son." Raaz said.

    "So that''s it?" Leegaain asked.

    "I''ve waited seventeen years for Lith to tell me that he was an Awakened hybrid. I can wait seventeen more. I can wait as long as the gods will give on Mogar for all I care." Raaz walked out of the Hush zone and to Lith''s rescue.

    "How could you do that? Elysia is just a child!" Elina rocked the still-crying baby girl in her arms. "Babies are bound to make mistakes and it''s our duty as parents to stop them and teach them better.

    "Not to scare them like that and guilt trip them to teach them a lesson."

    "I agree with you, Mom." Lith replied. "The only problem is that babies her age aren''t supposed to do anything. Look at Surin!"

    The other baby girl spent most of her time in the arms of a member of the family or in her crib. At the moment, she was staring at the holograms of small fish that moved in circles right above her head.

    "The worst she can do is suck on a nket or drool all over us when we hold her. The worst Elysia can do is kill someone."

    "True, but I still think you went overboard." Elina nodded. "There must be a healthier way to handle her powers."

    "Come on, dear, cut him some ck." Raaz wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It was just the magical equivalent of a puppet show. Elysia learned her lesson and no one got hurt for real.

    "Remember that our granddaughter has special needs and we must trust our son to do what''s better for her."

    "Thanks, Dad. If you have any suggestions, Mom, I''m all ears." Lith crossed his arms. "I''m a first-time father and Elysia is a one-of-a-kind baby. I have no idea how to deal with her."

    "That''s not true! Plenty of Divine Beasts had children with humans in the past. They must have encountered simr problems and solved them. Right, Sinmara?" Elina asked.

    "Indeed." The Phoenix of Darkness replied. "The trick is to keep them away from non-Divine Beasts with the exception of their human parent. The babies are not violent with them and small sts like the one Elysia produced earlier are barely a sting for someone my size."

    "Excellent idea!" Lith pped his hands in mock enthusiasm. "I''ll take Elysia away and you won''t see her until she''s old enough to control her powers. How does it sound?"

    "Say that again, young man, and I will¡­" Elina stopped mid-sentence, her face going nk.

    Her brain didn''t register Lith being taller, stronger, and magically gifted. To her, he was still her baby and she saw him as such. The problem was that any threat that she could think of was painful for her.

    She would never threaten Lith physically or emotionally. The idea of cutting him out from any family event out of petty revenge was absurd. She wanted to win the argument, but her motherly heart vetoed everything her brain could concoct before it reached her mouth.

    "I will cry." She pouted.

    "Oh, great. Now we have three babies throwing a tantrum, Dad." Lith snorted.

    "Lith!" Elina blushed in embarrassment.

    She knew that she sounded childish but it was the only option she had left.

    "Don''t you dare call your mother a baby, young man!" Raaz held her tight and raised his finger at Lith in mock outrage.

    "Thanks, dear."

    "Especially when she acts like one. That''s my job." He burst outughing.

    "Very funny!" Elina nudged him. "I can see where our son gets his attitude. We''ll talk about thister."

    "Like father, like son." Raaz shrugged, looking at her with loving eyes.

    After Lith had revealed his Abomination half to the family, Elina too had considered the eventuality that the soul inside Lith''s body might not belong to the original baby. Unlike Raaz, however, she had never questioned Lith''s identity.

    He was her son and there was no revtion that could change her mind about that. Now that he knew the truth, Raaz felt proud of her. Her words made his heart feel lighter, d that she had been right all along.

    ***

    East coast of the Griffon Kingdom, Lith''s tower, a few dayster.

    "I still can''t believe this thing can travel through Mogar and beyond in an instant." Rena opened a window, letting the salty breeze reach her nose.

    That morning, she had asked Lith and Solus for a ride. They had watched the sunrise from the moon, watched it again during breakfast in the warmth of Sark''s beach house, and now for a third time in the Kingdom.

    For everyone else, it was still breakfast time but she was ready for lunch.

    "d that you are enjoying yourself, big sis." Lith moved around the kitchen with Elysia strapped on his back in the baby carrier. "Are you sure you don''t want to bring Senton along? He must feel left out again."

    "Gods, I never thought the day woulde when you would be the one trying to make my husband feel wee at family events." She chuckled. "You spent most of the time you two were in the same room ring at him."

    "Yes, and I was a jerk." Lith nodded. "Also, this can hardly be called a family event. There''s only you, me, Solus, and Elysia here."

    "Dya!" The baby girl iled her arms and legs in excitement

    She had no idea what was going on but she liked the pretty light in the sky. Also, the smell of food meant it was feeding time.

    "Yeah, and I wouldn''t have brought here Solus and my lovely niece either, if you three weren''t a package deal." Rena moved to his back and yed with Elysia.

    "I''m sorry. I know you asked for a private meeting but I still can''t get away from her." Lith sighed. "As for Solus, if anything were to happen to her and the tower was too far away for her to get back inside the stone ring, there''s no telling what might happen to her human form."

    "I know." Rena sniffed the delicious smell of the mushroom risotto he was cooking. "It''s no big deal since Solus would sooner orter learn about our talk anyway and Elysia won''t understand much of what we say."

    Lith stirred the pot and nodded.

    <nulli>''This is weird. Ever since she married, Rena and I have rarely spent time alone. She has never asked me for a private ride of the tower before.'' He thought.

    "I''m sorry, Rena." Solus blushed a bit, giving her a small bow. "I hate to intrude on you two so if you want, I can shut myself in the ring and give you privacy."

    "There''s no need for it, but thank you for the offer." Under her warm smile, Rena still couldn''t wrap her head around what kind of rtionship Solus had with her brother nor believe that such a young-looking woman was actually over 700 years old.

 Chapter 2815 Another Life (Part 1)

    Chapter 2815 Another Life (Part 1)

    After a hearty meal, Lith prepared a hot tea that they sipped on the reef outside the tower. The Kingdom was way colder than the Desert and the early spring winding from the north still carried the rigor of winter.

    Lith conjured threefortable chairs and waited for his sister to talk. Rena looked at the waves crashing against the shoreline for a while, sipping her tea in silence.

    "You know, sometimes I wonder how my life would have been if I wasn''t the oldest child." She lowered her eyes, her voice sad and full of regret.

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith moved the milk bottle away from Elysia in confusion and the baby girl roasted his stubble with Origin mes in outrage.

    "You know, this." Rena pointed at the tower, the sea, and the water bubbles Lith had conjured to douse the mes. "The magic, the adventures, the amazing bloodline abilities. Don''t get me wrong, I love my life.

    "I''ve never regretted taking care of you, Tista, and Trion. I love my husband and I wouldn''t give up on my children for the world.

    "Yet ever since I learned about Tista''s Awakening, I''ve kept wondering how different my life would have been if you were my big brother or at least if there wasn''t such a big age gap between us.

    "I''ve kept such thoughts on the back burner because there''s no changing the past and I had better things to do than waste time with daydreams. Yet after seeing Tista turn into a Hekate and hearing you talk about Awakening Aran and Leria, curiosity got the best of me.

    "I started wondering what I would be if I were to Awaken. What I would look like if I reached the blue core and all that stuff. Elysia''s birth and experiencing the Timat Dance¡­"

    "Demon Requiem."Lith corrected her, d to have finally found a name for the phenomenon.

    "Fine." She chuckled. "Experiencing the Demon Requiem answered a lot of my questions but it also brought us here. The day Elysia was born, I felt more powerful than ever. I''ve witnessed my body change in a way beyond my wildest dreams and you know what?

    "I''ve always thought that I''d be scared of turning into a Divine Beast, that losing my humanity would have terrified me. Instead, I was excited and I''ve never felt more alive in my life."

    "Are you asking me to Awaken you?" Lith raised an eyebrow.

    "No, silly." Rena shook her head. "Awakening at my age would mean having much less time to devote to my family since I would need to learn magic and train my body from scratch.

    "It would also mean having to prepare myself to be a widow since I would outlive Senton. I always knew that one day we were going to lose Mom and Dad, but my husband? Or worse, outliving one of my children?

    "I don''t think I could live with that."

    "Then why are we here?" Lith asked.

    "Because I need to take this burden off my chest without feeling like an egotistical jerk." She replied. "You have revealed to me so many secrets of yours so I hoped that I could entrust you one of mine for once."

    Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "You know, before you were born, our life was harsh, poor, and the best we could hope for was that the treatments for Tista''s illness would leave us enough money to not starve during winter.

    "I knew that getting married and leaving the house as soon as I was of age was the only way I had to have a better life for myself. Back then, I couldn''t wait to grow up. I felt guilty at every meal and I thought that with one mouth less to feed, everyone would have been better.

    "That with the extra money, Tista would have gotten more treatments and her condition would have improved. That Orp- Meln wouldn''t have been so angry all the time. Then, after you became four, things got¡­ magical.

    "Our problems started to disappear one after another and I wasn''t in a rush to grow up and get married anymore. When you enrolled in the White Griffon, I was proud of you and I felt the same way when Tista became Nana''s apprentice.

    "I wasn''t magically gifted so there was no point being envious. After learning about Awakening, however, I started to daydream how my life would have been if you had been born before me.

    "Of how different my life would have been if you took care of me the way you did with Tista and the children. Who knows, maybe now I would be a powerful mage as well and even the first member of my own species." She sighed, her gaze lost on the horizon.

    "I''ll be honest with you, after having a taste of what my life might have been like during the Demon Requiem, I''ve gotten angry with Mogar. I couldn''t get over all the things I''ve lost and the power I''ve missed only because I was born a few years too early. It''s not fair." Rena balled her fist hard enough to make her hands turn white.

    Lith swallowed a lump of saliva. Those words were a bit too Orpal-ish forfort.

    <nulli>''At least she''s pissed off at Mogar instead of me.''

    "Then, I understood how stupid I was being." Rena lowered her eyes in shame. "Watching you with Elysia, made me realize that I was bing so focused on what I couldn''t do to forget about all the wonderful things I have.

    "My husband, my children, and the long years of peace I''ve enjoyed while you fought from the shadows for all of us. I was so blinded by your achievements that I was glossing over the many hardships you have ovee to get where you are.

    "I may not be a Divine Beast, but I''m happy. I''m not even a mage and maybe I never will, but it''s my choice because even before talking with you, I knew that my little brother would Awaken me if I asked you."

    "I''m sorry, but you''vepletely lost me." Lith said.

    "Me too." Solus didn''t want to intrude but she felt as curious as she was confused.

    "I still don''t understand what we are doing here." He said.

    "I just wanted to be alone with my little brother and bring out in the open this stupid envy that has weighed on my chest until now." Rena replied. "I also wanted to thank you for all the wonderful things you''ve done for me.

    "For the happiness you''ve brought into my life." She hugged him, small tears streaming down her eyes. "Also, I wanted to ask you to please look after my children in my stead."

    "You what?" Lith felt a cold shiver running down his spine and examined his sister from head to toe with Abyssal Gaze, finding her as fit as a fiddle.

    "I''m fine, silly." Rena gently caressed his cheek, his worry and care warming her heart. "It''s just that if Leria Awakens, she''ll live much longer than me. If the triplets follow in the family''s footsteps, they will be mages as well."

 Chapter 2816 Another Life (Part 2)

    Chapter 2816 Another Life (Part 2)

    "So what?" Lith asked, sighing in relief.

    "So, I know I can''t teach them how to handle their powers, but you can." Rena replied. "I know that at some point in Leria''s life, if she Awakens and then turns into a new kind of Divine Beast, she will feel lost and confused.

    "I know that I''m asking a lot of you, but please, be their parent for the things I can''t help them with. Be their parent when I won''t be here anymore. Please, promise me that you''ll protect them and take care of them like you did for me."

    "Why me? Why not Tista?" Lith felt a lump in his throat, not for themitment that the promise implied but at the idea of living in a world without his big sister.

    "Because Tista still looks up to you to find her path in life. I know that she can keep my children safe but I don''t think she can teach them anything about being a hybrid, let alone a Divine Beast.

    "She may be older than you, but in my eyes, she''s still a little girl. You instead, are a man and a father."

    "Dya!" Elysia puffed her chest out with pride.

    In her mind, it was a shared achievement since they had graduated from the father/daughter academy on the same day.

    "Dya indeed." Rena offered her index finger to the baby and Elysia grabbed it. "What do you say, little brother?"

    "You have my word." Lith nodded.

    "Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me." Rena hugged him again.

    "Don''t thank me. Thank Elysia." He returned the embrace, holding his sister tight.

    "Because she made you a better man?" Rena asked.

    "Be?" Elysia echoed.

    "No, because by then she''ll be old enough to take care of her cousins in ce of her old man." Lith coughed while hunching his back, pretending to have suddenly aged decades. "I''m too old for this stuff."

    "Dya!" Elysia shapeshifted into a small Voidfeather Dragon to have a neck long enough to reach Lith''s shoulder and pin-like teeth to bite him.

    "Thank you, Elysia, then." Rena caressed the small scaly head and then ran her hand along the neck. "Don''t be angry at your dad. He is right. As the older sister, you''ll also have to take care of your younger siblings, just like I did."

    "What siblings?" Lith froze in horror.

    "Wa?" Elysia asked with a mouth full of Voidwalker armor.

    "Feel free to use your brothers and sisters as practice, Elysia, so that when you take care of my children, they''ll have the best mentor on Mogar." Rena chuckled, ignoring them both. "As for you little brother, our family has twins often.

    "This time you were lucky, but the next¡­"

    "Please, stop!" He looked at Elysia, imagining all the trouble he was going through doubled if not tripled like it had happened to Rena.

    "Fine. Now bring me to the moon. I bet that I''m going to be the first woman ever to take a bath in ake under Mogarlight."

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Castle, a monthter.

    The full spring hade and with it the good weather and the first exam for the students of the six great academies.

    Much to Lith''s dismay, Void Magic had been introduced as one of the mandatory courses for the fourth year and he was still the only person qualified enough to teach the subject.

    Elysia was now three months old and he still couldn''t get 100 meters (328'') away from her without bing violent. It was a great motivator whenever the Kingdom requested his help to ughter a local branch of the Undead Courts, not so much for teaching.

    Thanks to the information that Lith and Vastor had extracted from their respective prisoners, the Distar Marquisate and the Essagor Arch Duchy were undergoing a purge of their most influential undead.

    The army and the Association rarely needed help, but when it happened, the Archmage and the Magus were happy to give them a hand. It was thanks to the intervention of their personal forces that the raids had yielded an unexpected bounty.

    The more intact Ancient Gates they found, the more the Kingdom''s Wardens could study the outdated runes employed by the Undead Courts and use them to discover the position of new branches.

    On each Gate was carved the fixed sets of dimensional coordinates that connected it with its twin. Even if the Gate on the other side was destroyed to prevent the invaders from activating the dimensional door, the mages of the Kingdom could still study its remains

    The Undead used very ancient runes that were allegedly lost to time and only a few of them were recorded in the Royal Library. Unfortunately for the undead, Tezka was more ancient.

    He had written those runes millennia ago and even though he couldn''t remember them all, he could reverse-engineer them.

    It was only a matter of time before he recovered the full set of runes and discovered the dimensional coordinates to which a specific set led. With a bit of luck, with each conquered branch, more would fall in a domino effect.

    "I swear, if they want to force me to enter a ssroom andmand respect while wearing a baby carrier, I''m going to give them a piece of my mind." Lith snarled and so did Elysia.

    For some reason her father was angry and she was doing her best to express her support for him.

    "Maybe they have prepared a side room for me and the baby. It would exin why they have summoned me as well." Kam cooed at the baby, finding Elysia''s attempts to be threatening quite adorable.

    Her maternity leave had yet to end and she had decided to not resume her work as a Constable until she had ovee the depression caused by the loss of her powers. umtion and training were making Kam stronger, but the only moment she felt truly at peace with herself was when she held her baby girl.

    It was only then that her suffering became irrelevant and the voices in her head shut up for good.

    "That''s actually a good idea." Lith nodded. "But I would rather stay home and rest. Is it too much to ask the Kingdom to survive for a few months without me?"

    At those words, the Royal Guards escorting them from the Warp Gate to the High Council Room located in the King''s private headquarters coughed awkwardly.

    "This isn''t a good sign." Lith said.

    Once they reached their destination, they found the representatives of the Awakened Council, the Royals, the Empress, Kelia, General Vorgh, and Archmage Akham, the new head of the Mage Association, waiting for them.

    ''I''m confident this isn''t about Void Magic.'' Kam said via a mind link while their arrival was greeted with bows and niceties.

    <nulli>''No mind links without establishing physical contact to hide them.'' Lith warned her. <nulli>''Awakened can see them and it''s considered a very rude gesture.''

    <nulli>''Sorry.'' Kam cut off the contact, wondering if mind links were the reason public disys of affection were universally frowned upon on Garlen.

    With everything that had happened since Elysia''s birth, there was no time to also teach Kam about the etiquette of the Awakenedmunity.

 Chapter 2817 Wayfinder (Part 1)

    Chapter 2817 Wayfinder (Part 1)

    "Supreme Magus Verhen. Lady Verhen." Everyone but the Royals and the Empress greeted them first in respect. "It''s an honor to have you here."

    "The honor is mine." Lith replied. "To what do I owe this summon?"

    "We need you for the maiden voyage of your masterpiece." Meron spoke first. "Allow me to present you the Wayfinder."

    At a snap of his fingers, the arrays of the room conjured the hologram of a long train at one end of the table. The projection moved through simted ins and marshes before stopping in front of Lith.

    "That''s amazing!" Kam pped her hands in excitement.

    The hologram was too detailed to be just a promo based on the drawings of an engineer.

    It was the actual footage of a test run of the artifact. It meant that the Wayfinder had already beenpleted and that it was stored in some secret warehouse of the Kingdom.

    "Wait a second." Her enthusiasm faded when the doors of the various cars opened and people came out of the train.

    With nothing around the Wayfinder, it was impossible to estimate its size so Kam had assumed it was a train simr to the ones she had seen in Lith''s memories from his life on Earth. Now, however, she realized her assumption was wrong.

    Four people at a time coulde out of every door at the same time or two carrying a huge crate, or one Emperor Beast. And those were the passenger coaches. The wagons storing supplies could flip open their entire side, and each one of them hosted dozens of crates the size of a car.

    "This isn''t one of the Trains supposed to connect the smaller cities of the Kingdom to the main trade routes." Kam said and the King nodded. "This thing is massive and holds way too much cargo.

    "Warp Gates aren''t that distant from each other and most merchants use dimensional amulets to move their goods. What''s the point of bringing so many crates?"

    "Excellent observation skills." Sylpha said. "If you believed that we wanted Magus Verhen to participate in a promotional tour of the first Train, I''m sorry to disappoint you. Public transportation will have to wait.

    "The Wayfinder has a different purpose. It represents the first step necessary for the Kingdom to colonize Jiera." The Queen took what was supposed to be a long, meaningful pause to underline the importance of the historical event.

    "The Kingdom *and* the Empire." The Empress said with an iron tone as she pointed at several figuresing in and out of the train who wore foreign clothes. "This is a joint venture and the Wayfinder belongs to my people as well."

    "Indeed." Meron tried to sound casual, dismissing the ident as a mistake instead of an intentional omission. "The Kingdom alone would havecked the resources to build something this big without exposing our side to our enemies.

    "The War of the Griffons took a heavy toll on us but luckily, we had the help of our cousins from the Empire."

    "This is an amazing sess for diplomacy, but what do you need me for, exactly?" Lith chimed in before the measurement contest could escte further.

    "To take part in the founding expedition." Milea replied, looking him in the eyes and ignoring the Royals. "Trains are your creation and this is going to be their first transoceanic voyage.

    "As you can see from the holograms, we have performed tests in shallow waters and over the sea, yet theysted a few hours, and reaching Jiera will take days. Also, the open ocean is much more dangerous and there''s no telling what might happen.

    "Sea Emperor and Divine Beasts might attack the Train, either considering it a can filled with tasty snacks or a chest full of treasures.

    "Don''t forget that to build our bases of operations and Forgemaster Warp Gates powerful enough to connect Garlen with Jiera, we are going to need lots of precious metals and magical crystals.

    "In the middle of the ocean, there are no witnesses. If the Train gets sunk, there will be no way to know if its disappearance would be due to a freak ident or a robbery. Also, we have to take into ount storms and possible malfunctions due to the strain of non-stop travel.

    "As the inventor, your presence would help to fix any damage quickly and to adjust the blueprints of future trains with the knowledge acquired during the journey so that they can allow for safer travels."

    "Days?" Kam''s eyes went wide in surprise. "Also, if sea beasts are so dangerous, how were precious materials and people transported by sea in the past?"

    "When traveling from one continent to another, Awakened had no such problem." Raagu said with a sigh. "We contacted our counterpart on the other side of the ocean and opened a Warp Gate with their help.

    "The problem is that despite its limited means and precarious standing, Jiera''s Council hasn''t changed its stance on the colonization. They continue to regard our deployment as an act of aggression. They are not going to help us."

    "As for mere humans¡­" Lotho the Treant said, drawing the res of non-Awakened. "While short sea trips were rtively safe, carrying precious cargo required a fleet.

    "Only by splitting the goods between several ships and each one of them being protected by mages kept the Sea Beasts away. Most of the time. Unless the Sea Beasts allied with a foreign nation or between them and then split the loot."

    "Those were good times." Inxialot, the Lich King dazed off, lost in memories of the past when sinking ships and pinning the me on Sea Beasts solved most of his supply problems.

    The other people furrowed a brow at the nonsensical words of the undead and dismissed them as one of his many off-topic ramblings.

    "Is my presence really necessary?" Lith asked. "If anything happens, you can always contact me with the amulet and I can work on the issue from myb."

    "Yes, it is." Meron stepped in front of Milea to not let her run the show. "You see, even with the recent abundant harvest, the previous famines have heavily affected peace in the Kingdom and the Empire.

    "We need most of the food to keep our people happy and smooth over the tensions between Thrud''s past territories and our own that the prolonged rationing of food exacerbated.

    "The Kingdom cannot afford tomit the supplies required to feed a force strong enough to protect the Wayfinder for the duration of the journey and the colonists until the Warp Gate is established."

    "And neither can the Empire." Milea chimed in after pushing Meron to a side. "Your presence alone solves all of these issues. As a Divine Beast, you have the strength of an army but thanks to your Abomination side, your food consumption is limited.

    "On top of that, you can conjure Demons. Those creatures don''t eat, don''t take space, and weigh nothing until you conjure them. They can help with security, maintenance, and any issue that might arise during the journey without burdening our limited resources.

    "It''s like having double the crew for half the price."

 Chapter 2818 Wayfinder (Part 2)

    Chapter 2818 Wayfinder (Part 2)

    "Not to mention that the presence of a Divine Beast alone will be deterrent enough to keep most meddlers away." The Empress said.

    "I see." Lith nodded while racking his brain to find a way out. "I would love to help but sadly, I can''t leave my daughter''s side even for just a few hours, let alone days. If I were to bring Elysia along, Kami¡­ I mean, Lady Verhen would follow.

    "I can''t protect her and the Wayfinder at the same time. My focus would be split and we all know who I would prioritize."

    "That''s the reason we are not sending you alone." Queen Sylpha said. "The Kingdom, the Empire, and the Council are sending members of their elite units to support you.

    "This is an unprecedented endeavor that will benefit us all. We will all do our part."

    "Define elite, please." Lith crossed his arms, trying to keep his tone neutral.

    "The Kingdom ismitting several units of the Queen''s Corps who will be led by Captain Am Farg, Archmage Orion Ernas, and his daughters Friya and Quy Ernas." At a wave of the Queen''s hand, the entrance to the High Council Room opened, letting the new guests in.

    "I was in charge of the engineering team that turned your blueprints into reality, Lith." Orion said while giving a bow to those present. "I''ming to make sure that everything goes without a hitch. After all, there''s not much you can do without a Royal Forgemaster."

    "That makes sense, but what about you two?" Lith asked Quy and Friya.

    "I''m here as Faluel''s apprentice." Friya replied. "My master eats and weighs too much for this mission. Also, she can''t leave the Distar Marquisate unattended for that long."

    "I''m here as a Healer of the Kingdom and to protect my father." Quy replied. "Jiera is bound to be full of diseases unknown to Garlen. Our colonists are going to be wiped out in a few days if they don''t receive the proper medical care.

    "On top of that, those same diseases might be carried over once the Gate is established. What is amon flu on Jiera can turn into a gue on Garlen and those without an Awakened body would die."

    "Great Mage Ernas is right." The King nodded. "Only after she identifies the mostmon illnesses in the colony and finds a cure for them will the Gate be opened to the public.

    "Until that moment, a strict quarantine will be enforced for everyoneing through the Gate and all goods will be sterilized before being moved."

    "The Empire will deploy its White Sword Corps and my own step-daughter, Kelia Genys." The Empress said. "Don''t underestimate her because of her age. Like Magus Verhen in his youth, there''s more to her than meets the eye."

    Kelia fumbled a bit, trying to perform a curtsy before remembering that she was wearing pants and switching to a bow. Everyone chuckled, making her turn beet red. Then, she raised her open hand and let out a spark of silver lightning.

    No oneughed anymore.

    "Her presence alone boosts our strength by tenfold." Milea stepped back, patting Kelia''s shoulder for the job well done.

    ''I''m sorry.'' The youth said via a quick mind link established through physical contact. ''I can deal with nobles and mages but some of the people from the Council are old monsters. What if they discover about Dusk?''

    ''Don''t worry. If ites to that, I''ll take the full me and deal with the aftermath.'' The Empress replied. ''You just focus on your missions.''

    "The Council is sending two squads of the Hands of Fate that will be led by a representative each. With all due respect to the Empire and the Kingdom, only Awakened can deal with Awakened and there''s no telling if Jiera''s Council will attempt foul y to preserve their monopoly."

    "None taken." The Royals and the Empress said in unison.

    They knew that the Council wasn''t acting out of the goodness of its heart. The Awakened of Garlen expected to bepensated with their share of mana geysers, magic crystal, and enchanted metal mines for their trouble.

    And it was all going to be tax-free.

    "Wait, did you just say representatives? Not Elders?" Lith asked and Raagu nodded in reply. "I thought that food and weight were an issue. Who are you sending?"

    "Inxialot and I volunteered for this job." Raagu replied.

    "Sure, I- Since when?" The feral news pulled the King of Liches out of his memoryb where he conducted his simted experiments and mental calctions whenever babbling idiots kept him away from the real one.

    "Since now. Why do you think I asked you to apany me?" The human representative said with a scoff.

    "Now that you mention it, how did I get here in the first ce?" Inxialot tried and failed to remember one single thing after he had given the morning feed to Nero, his pet catb assistant.

    "I called you on your amulet and then showed you this." Raagu took a shining orange flower out of her mage robe and the Lich King started to follow her around the room like a puppy lured by a tasty treat.

    Then, she put it away and Inxialot snapped out of it.

    "That''s not fair. Give me the Star Seed! You promised."

    "Sure." Raagu''s voice sounded like that of a nursery school teacher talking to a particrly annoying kid. "What''s that?"

    She pointed behind Inxialot and he turned around, gasping in shock.

    "Who are you people and how did you get inside my house?" zing spheres of emerald energy red from the Lich King''s arms, making the room tremble.

    "This is the Royal Castle of Valeron." Meron pinched his nose, having a hard time believing that a creature so powerful could also be so deranged. "Gods, it''s like Manohar is still here,"

    "Nonsense, I haven''t visited the Royal Pce ever since Nero insisted on crashing Valeron''s wedding." Inxialot conjured a spell that would ascertain his dimensional coordinates. "You have no idea of the trouble I''ve gotten myself into just for a slice of cake."

    The spell confirmed Meron''s words, making the Lich gasp again.

    "I''m really in Valeron. Is there a wedding, by chance? And why is Raagu here? Not that I''mining." He winked at her, making her eyes roll.

    "Did he just forget about the entire conversation?" The Empress was bbergasted.

    "What conversation? Make sense, woman!" Inxialot was furious and confused.

    He hated it when people treated him like an idiot after sneaking inside his own house.

    "You just volunteered to take part in the journey to Jiera with me." Raagu replied.

    "And why would I do that? Are we going to share the same room?" He said with a scoff.

    "No, but it''s a Train." She pointed at the hologram.

    "Meaning?"

    "I can''t avoid you for the whole duration of the journey." Raagu''s shoulders slouched as Inxialot raised his finger and opened his mouth to talk.

    Then, he squinted his eyes and fell into a deep meditative trance, rubbing his chin while pondering the implications of those words.

    "I eat no more than a human and he doesn''t eat at all." She turned toward Lith again.

 Chapter 2819 The Right Way (Part 1)

    "The two of us are very powerful." Raagu said.

    "If webine our talents, it would take someone like Thrud to hold us off. Also, Inxialot is nigh-immortal andpletely expendable. If pushes to shove, any of us can throw him to the lions and the best part is that he won''t even remember it."

    "How long would the mission take?" Lith asked, knowing that at this point he had very few usible reasons to turn down the Royal''s request.

    "Assuming there are no idents, two days by the sea and then one week to build the Gate." Queen Sylpha replied. "After your return, you, Lady Verhen, and young Lady Verhen will be able to skip the quarantine period due to your Awakened status."

    Lith could actuallye back to Lutia at any time via the tower Warp, but that would have meant raising too many questions.

    ''I can move back and forth between the two continents if I want. I just need to be careful not to let anyone notice my disappearance and turn themunication amulet off when I leave Jiera.

    ''It would be impossible to exin howe my rune is avable even when I''m supposed to be way out of reach. On top of that, the army and the Awakened could pinpoint my position.'' He thought.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen, I know that we are asking you a lot, especially considering that you have recently be a parent." The Queen put emphasis on his title. "Yet I want you to consider this mission as part of your duty.

    "You became a Magus because you shared Void Magic, the Tablets, and the Trains with us. If we don''t colonize Jiera, umting the resources necessary to spread the Tablets throughout the Kingdom will take decades.

    "The Trains will remain on paper for much longer since they are way more expensive and difficult to craft. Aside from Void Magic, there''s the risk that your legacy might be forgotten and because of that, crises that would have been avoided might reap countless victims.

    "Remember the words the King and I spoke on the day of your ascension. A Magus just shares their knowledge. A Supreme Magus makes sure that their knowledge is put into practice the right way.

    "They supervise the development of their legacy so that no one can twist it against the people they were supposed to help." Queen Sylpha pointed at Elysia. "Back when we visited you in the Desert, you talked about the importance of working for the future.

    "What kind of Kingdom would you like your daughter to grow up in? A modern country that you contributed to shape or the same society you experienced as a child?"

    Lith didn''t like the low blow to his fatherly instinct but he had to admit that there was merit in Sylpha''s words.

    ''I don''t want Elysia to grow like I did. Heck, I don''t want Aran and Leria to go to the White Griffon and receive the same treatment I did.'' Lith thought. ''They are going to have it much worse due to their beast blood and because those who resent me will take it out on them.

    ''I don''t know if Trains and Tablets can really make a difference, but I''d rather do everything I can to make people more tolerant toward the other races rather than leave it up to chance.''

    "I ept." Lith gave a small bow to the Queen and then looked at Kam who nodded to confirm that she woulde with him. "I have a request, though. I want a room for me, my wife, my daughter, and my cousin Solus Verhen."

    "Separate rooms, I guess." Everyone was taken aback by the request.

    "Who are you people and what are you doing in my house?" Everyone but Inxialot, of course.

    The Lich King had taken a note about not forgetting about going on a trip with Raagu and after that, he had drifted intoplex equations until his dimensional amulet had run out of paper.

    "Of course." Lith nodded. "She helped me develop the technology for the Trains and I''m going to need her input in case significant alterations to the original design were to be necessary."

    "Excellent idea." King Meron said with a huge smile on his face.

    With her contributions during the War of the Griffons and the crucial role she had yed in destroying the Golden Griffon, Solus was a high-profile unmarried mage. The fact that she had also contributed to the achievements that had made Lith the Supreme Magus was a huge plus.

    After listening to her lessons about Void Magic, Meron hade to the conclusion that she was his best shot at mixing the Verhen blood with the nobility of the Kingdom.

    Nobility that would soon be involved in the development of the colonies on Jiera, creating plenty of opportunities for them to befriend Solus whenever her expertise was required.

    "She is fully human, correct? I need this information to adjust for the food provisions and bnce the weight." The King said, lying through his teeth.

    "Yes, she is. What''s the problem with the weight, though? You mentioned it a few times but I can''t see its relevance." Lith felt puzzled at the question.

    "I know that non-humans can use Gravity Fusion but thatsts only as long as they are conscious." Meron replied. "If something bad happens, the trip mightst longer or some of the passengers might need to sleep or be knocked out.

    "In that case, the sudden increase in weight would drain the power core and force the Wayfinder to find a ce where to stop and recharge." At a wave of Meron''s finger, the hologram turned into a map of Mogar where the travel path of the Train was highlighted.

    Lith noticed that the Royals had charted it with a few detours from the most direct route so that several small inds would be avable for emergency stops at irregr intervals.

    ''Damn. Solus weighs a lot but I can''t say it. It''s not a big deal if she gets back inside my ring at night.'' Then he looked at Kam who was probably thinking the same and frowning. ''Maybe.''

    "What about the crates?" She asked. "Wouldn''t it be better to store everything inside dimensional amulets to save space and travel lighter?"

    "It would be fantastic, if not for the fact that only the owner can ess a dimensional amulet. Also, that person can be killed by a saboteur and their imprint reced, making us lose food or materials without even noticing until it''s toote.

    "Even worse, it would just take nimble fingers and a good arm to throwponents essential to build the Gate under the sea. Between that and the risk of smuggling, dimensional magic must be sealed during the journey."

    "Is this because of the Undead Courts?" Lith asked.

    "Undead Courts, spies from the Desert, people from Jiera, and the list keeps going." Sylpha sighed. "Know that even among the nobles in the Royal Court there are many people who would rather see the project fail and your title as Supreme Magus revoked than give you your due credit in case of sess."

 Chapter 2820 The Right Way (Part 2)

    "The name Verhen already holds great weight in the Kingdom and some say it''s too much."

    Those words aroused disgusted looks from the members of the AwakenedCouncil, made the representatives of the army and the Association lower their heads, and made Milea smirk with an "I told you so" look in her eyes as she stared at Lith.

    He could almost hear her pitch about switching sides and moving to the Empire.

    ''Too bad that even without noble and ancient households, I bet that politics would still try to screw me over. The only difference would be the source of my problems.'' Lith thought.

    "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Your Majesty." He said after pondering the issue for a while. "I''ll be happy to help with the Wayfinder and ensure that nothing goes wrong with the expedition.

    "I just ask you to make sure that building the Warp Gate is a priority so that I can go back home quickly and that even if something goes wrong, my presence will be unnecessary thanks to the avability of spare parts and reinforcements."

    "First the safety of the perimeter, the Gate second. You have my word." Sylpha nodded. "A final note. As you know, Jiera is gued by the lost cities that have managed to escape their respective confinements.

    "The poption of Jiera, its Awakened Council, and even the Guardians are helpless against them. In the past, you have destroyed three lost cities on your own and it would make wonders for our public rtionships on Jiera if you could bring that number up to four."

    Lith was about to say that those were special circumstances where he had unexpected help but the Queen raised her hand, gesturing for him to let her finish.

    "No one expects miracles from you, Magus Verhen. I''m just asking you to put your talents to use and see if there''s something you can do. If you seed, it would make the colonization process safer and smooth the tensions with the locals.

    "If you fail, things will stay as they are and no one is going to me you for it."

    "That''s honestly hard to believe." Lith replied while crossing his arms. "The Royal Court seems to have a penchant for demanding the impossible from others and then screaming bloody murder at the first hitch."

    "That''s why my request is off the records." Sylpha replied. "There will be no trace of it in the official documents regarding the objectives of the expedition. Only the people in this room know about it so if rumors start to spread, you know who to me."

    She red at the members of the Council and the Empress. They were the only ones who would benefit from driving a wedge between Lith and the Kingdom, especially thetter.

    "For what is worth, this is also what the Guardians of Jiera want."

    "I''ll see what I can do." Lith gave her a small bow, nodding.

    "Excellent." Meron pped his hands, to signal that the meeting was dismissed. "We''ll contact you as soon as we have a date for the departure. Feel free to spend this time as you see best."

    "I thought that the Wayfinder was alreadyplete." Kam said in confusion. "Is there some problem we are not aware of?"

    "No, just that you can''t put security on a timeline." The King snapped his fingers, making the hologram show the interior of the train and its crew. "We need to load everything you are going to need on Jiera, check the personnel for blood cores, and then perform the final checks on the control systems.

    "Depending on what we find and sabotage, it can take from a few days to a few weeks."

    Kam widened her eyes in surprise but said no more, giving the Royals a deep bow before taking her leave.

    Upon their return home, they shared the news with the rest of the family. Contrary to Lith''s expectation, it caused a small uproar.

    "Why did you include Solus in the trip but not me?" Tista asked. "I was part of the original expedition to Jiera. I want to see how the merfolk of Zhen are doing after we destroyed Kolga.

    "I want to visit Khalia''s parents. I want to return to the ces we visited with Phloria and remember the good moments we spent together." Small tears streamed down her cheeks at the memory of their lost friend and of the merfolk who had sacrificed her life to allow Lith''s group to infiltrate Kolga.

    Khalia had allowed herself to be captured, yet it wasn''t that to have caused her death. The people of the lost city had magically lobotomized her to keep Khaia tame while she was forced to give birth to their children.

    Unfortunately, the process was irreversible, causing a fracture in the life force and mana core of its victims. The only way to relieve Khalia from her misery was death. Tista had killed the merfolk and the rest of the prisoners in cold blood to spare them from a much worse fate after the fall of the city.

    "I''m sorry, but the Kingdom already knows about your powers. If they didn''t summon you is because they can''t afford the weight of another Divine Beast. No offense but unlike me, you count for one." Lith replied.

    "Much taken." Tista grunted. "How many asions do you think I''ll have to go to Jiera with you? I could have used this opportunity to meet Bodya''s family."

    Her words made Raaz and Elina exchange expectant looks, but they kept silent to avoid pressure from changing her mind. Rena limited herself to nudging her younger sister, making her blush.

    "With the tower Warp? Any time." Lith replied. "Why didn''t you go earlier if that was your intention?"

    "First, Bodya doesn''t know about the tower. Going there by myself would be pointless. Second, I don''t want to just be the two of us. It sounds way too official for my taste.

    "One thing is going on a mission with you. Another is going there just to meet his parents."

    "Point taken." Lith scratched his chin. "Just because you can''t board the Wayfinder doesn''t mean you can''te. You and Bodya can fly and reach Jiera on your own."

    He conjured a hologram of the map that the King had shown him earlier and that Solus had memorized.

    "Excellent idea." Tista nodded. "In theory, we can get there much faster than the Wayfinder. In practice, however, I''ve never flown for so long. Even at my top speed, it would take me over one day to cross the ocean, and that assuming nothing goes wrong."

    "Please, I doubt that anything will be so stupid that they will bother a Divine Beast and a Lesser Leviathan flying together." Lith said with a scoff.

    "I know. I meant storms, high winds, and any weather phenomenon that can sap my strength. Remember that Demons and cold don''t get along well." Tista replied. "If I follow your same route, I can use the inds for shelter."

    Tista took a map of Mogar from her dimensional amulet and started to take notes from the hologram.

    "What about us, dear?" Elina asked.

 Chapter 2821 That Word (Part 1)

    Chapter 2821 That Word (Part 1)

    "Not to sound paranoid, but your absence would make a great opportunity to attack us. And I don''t mean just the Undead Courts. Anyone who wants you to abandon the colonization expedition might target us." Elina said.

    "Don''t worry, Mom. I have already arranged things with Grandma so that you can all move to the Desert until we get back. One country and several Phoenixes of distance should keep you safe from whoever wants to harm the Kingdom or me."

    "What about Valeron, son?" Raaz said while rocking the baby boy. "I don''t think that even the Dragon scales can make your departure any easier on him."

    Valeron the Second was in no way rted to the Verhens. He was the son of the Mad Queen and Jormun, one of Leegaain''s firstborns. Yet Raaz had fallen in love with the child soon after Lith had brought him into their home.

    Valeron was as smart as Elysia but much sadder. He was struggling to ept the disappearance of his parents, looking for them in every person who held him. The pain and grief in Valeron''s eyes reminded Raaz of his own son.

    Raaz had noticed how the boy seemed to turn into a normal child only when ying with Elysia or when Lith took care of him. And now both of them were about to leave, potentially triggering his abandonment trauma again.

    "I know. That''s why I''m bringing him along with us." Lith shrugged.

    "Really?" Kam said, beaming with joy.

    "Why not? He weighs like a normal baby and even if I have to bring his food myself, no array can stop my pocket dimension." Lith had a bottle of milk appear in a ze of emerald mes.

    Both Valeron and Elysia sniffed at it in hunger, but it was the small Bahamut to get the prize. Kam brought Elysia into the master bedroom to feed her so the baby girl had nothing toin about.

    "I know it''s not the same thing, but I''m worried about R and Garrick." Rena said. "While we are gone, there will be no one to take care of them. If someone looks for us at the Mansion, they might be coteral damage."

    Garrick couldn''t leave the mana geyser without throwing his life forces into disarray and losing every chance for a normal life. In case of another hit on Lith''s family, escape wouldn''t be an option.

    "I''ll ask Grandma to let you bring them with you. There''s always a mana geyser under her pce so Garrick''s life force will be safe. Also, he can use a bit of traveling. In the Desert, he can shapeshift as much as he wants.

    "Between the magical beasts and the members of the nest, no one will bother another hybrid."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, Sark''s pce, a few weekster.

    "What do you think of our new house, Fluffy?" Garrick had his wings out and his eyes moved all along his body to take in every nook and cranny of his new room at the same time.

    "It''s hot and dry!" The Byk went to the natural thermal spring that the Overlord put in every VIP guestroom, sshing himself with water for relief. "The food is good, though."

    There was a cart full of delicacies of the Desert as a housewarming gift and Fluffy was gobbling down his share.

    "Thank you very much for already enrolling Garrick in the local school." R the Fomor, his mother, gave Lith a deep bow. "Having a normal life and enjoying thepany of kids his age means a lot to him."

    "Don''t worry about it. Aran and Leria will take good care of him." Lith replied. "Make sure that no one bullies him."

    "Will do, big bro." Aran nodded. "If someone ys dirty, Onyx will eat them."

    "And Abominus the Pyrmir will help her." Leria puffed her chest out with pride for the name she had bestowed upon her friend''s new species.

    Abominus knew the word had no meaning, but it sounded cool. Hepped her as a thank you, covering her face in slob and wiping her smile off.

    "E! Stop doing that. Water is precious in the Desert. I can''t wash my face every two seconds here." She showed him how water magic didn''t work due to the dry air.

    "Okay." Abominus shapeshifted into a seven years old looking boy with ck hair and sky-blue eyes. He hugged her and nuzzled her cheek, making her giggle.

    "At least he''s wearing clothes." Elina grumbled.

    Evolving into Emperor Beasts meant that Abominus and Onyx were capable of protecting the children better but also that they could now take human form. Elina knew they were just friends but she couldn''t help but worry about how things might change once they reached their teens.

    "Is there any problem, Grandma?" Leria asked after noticing her grimace.

    "No. Nothing at all." Elina lied through her teeth.

    "Thank you for your hospitality, Mother." Raaz tried to give a bow to the Guardian who ignored the gesture and hugged him.

    "Nonsense. This is also your home, child." She replied. "We''ll see each other on the other side, Lith. Have a nice trip."

    "What do you mean, on the other side?" He asked in confusion. "You are on Elysia duty for the first day and then it''s Leegaain''s turn."

    "Do you know how hard is it to Warp into something that small that moves that fast?" The Overlord scoffed. "Besides, you are going to depart from the Kingdom and jump straight into another Guardian''s turf.

    "Once outside our territory, creating a dimensional corridor would be even harder and we are not going to take any risk. Not with Elysia and Valeron on the Wayfinder.

    "Tyris insisted on prolonging her shift until you guys reach your destination. If the other lizard and the hungry cur try something funny, she can hold them off until our arrival."

    The Guardians couldn''t afford to leave Garlen exposed and if two of them were away, the one remaining couldn''t cover for the three Great Countries at the same time.

    Elysia, Valeron, Surin, and Shargein said their goodbyes. They all cried and wailed at the idea of missing their friends. For them, the concept of time was non-existent. One year and one day were the same.

    Surin was the only one with a regr baby brain but she cried nheless, scared by the noise the others made.

    "Don''t worry, little sister. I''lle visit you as soon as I can." Lith held the baby girl, kissing Surin''s forehead before handing her to Elina.

    "I still can''t believe how many babies we have in our lives." Kam said as soon as the Warp Gate leading to the Kingdom closed behind them.

    Lith was carrying both babies on his chest due to the fact that if he picked one, the other would be jealous and cry.

    "Also, I can''t believe that you already have favorites, youngdy." Kam smiled from her heart while mock rebuking her daughter.

    "Dya!" Elysia pointed at Lith and then at Valeron. "Ba wa du hi!"

    "I don''t understand a word you''re saying." Kam chuckled, noticing that Valeron seemed offended by the gibberish, pointing his small finger at Elysia and mumbling his own share of nonsensical words.

 Chapter 2822 That Word (Part 2)

    Chapter 2822 That Word (Part 2)

    "I know Lith is your dad, but why can''t I hold you for a while? Am I not your mommy?"

    "Ma¡­ ma." Elysia nodded.

    Kam, Lith, and Solus froze into ce, ignoring the Royal Guards of Valeron''s Pce demanding to see their IDs.

    "What did you say?"

    "I said: papers, please." The voice of the man inside the armor was cold and professional.

    "Shut up, tin man, or I''ll make you!" There was so much fury and killing intent in Kam''s bright yellow eyes that the Royal Guard took a step back while gripping his weapon. "What did you say, dear? Can you repeat that for Mommy?"

    She ignored the guard turning toward the baby girl with the sweetest expression and voice on Mogar.

    "Ma¡­ ma." Elysia stuttered, the word impossible for a human baby so young but just hard on the throat of a Wyrmling.

    "Yes, that''s right! I''m your mom!" Kam took the baby from the carrier and held her to her chest. "I''m your mom."

    She started to cry so hard that she fell onto her knees.

    "Ma¡­ ma?" Elysia tried to console her, but Kam just cried harder.

    After suffering for months, feeling like a second-rate parentpared to her husband, that word meant the world to her. It cleared every one of Kam''s internal struggles and boomed over the voices in her head like thunder.

    The Royal Guard had no idea what was happening but while the woman sobbed, the Supreme Magus gave his papers and allowed them to scan his white and golden robe. Solus followed suit, giving them her ID and letting them scan her for blood cores.

    Once Lith''s identity was confirmed, the Guards could set duty aside and give Kam the time she needed. It took her a few minutes topose herself and get back up to her feet.

    "I''m sorry for my outburst." She said amid sniffles while giving her ID and letting the Royal Guards scan her as well. "It was my baby''s first human word and the surprise overwhelmed me."

    "It''s understandable, ma''am." The Guard nodded. "I too have c- wait, human word?"

    "My daughter learned Dragontongue first. It''s a long story." Lith gave them the salute and moved forward, unwilling to waste time exining how intricate his bloodline was.

    The internal Warp system of the Royal Pce led them to one of the lowest levels of the city where the Wayfinder had been assembled away from prying eyes.

    "Great Mother almighty." Kam blurted out in surprise, looking left and right in the attempt to size the train from top to bottom.

    Each car of the Wayfinder was as tall and wide as a studio apartment but thrice as long. They wereprised of steel coated in Orichalcum to give it high mana conductivity without suffering losses in durability.

    Only the wheels supporting it while on the ground were made of pure metal, having no other purpose than saving energy while at rest. There were no windows, each car a silvery bullet with violet crystals ced at every external corner.

    "Remarkable." Kam could see with Life Vision that the crystals ovepped with the focus points of the arrays that ran along the entire surface of the Wayfinder.

    They fueled the arrays, acting both as ry points and amplifiers so that the energyyers formed a seamless sheath around the metal without weak points.

    "Did you and Soluse up with this solution?"

    "No. That''s a Royal Forgemaster thing." Solus sighed. "With our current techniques, we wouldn''t be able to enchant something that big let alone set so many permanent arrays."

    "Permanent? Are you telling me that this thing is made tost?" Kam was bbergasted. "Isn''t it too big for civilian use? I doubt anyone is going to use it a second time to go from Garlen to Jiera."

    She counted at least twenty wagons for a total length of over 150 meters (500'').

    "Indeed." Orion approached them, shaking the hands of everyone, babies included. "The n is to leave half of them on Jiera for the exploration team and bring the other half back.

    "Regr trains will be smaller, but the single wagons of the Wayfinder can be repurposed for transporting valuable goods or first-ss passengers. We are still on the fence about that.

    "I''m sorry to rush you, but the final checks are quite long and we don''t want to dy the departure any further."

    Before boarding, everyone had their ID checked again and their body scanned for a blood core in order to avoid thralls. Dimensional amulets were also confiscated and each passenger thoroughly searched for anything that could be used as a means of sabotage.

    Even Orion had to undergo the security checks again and so did anyone who got off the Wayfinder before the departure for any reason.

    "I hope you don''t mind if I made sure that we are neighbors." He said after opening the door connecting his personal wagon to the next, revealing an oblong small apartment.

    Lith counted two bedrooms, one bathroom, one living room with a table where to eat, and one smaller empty room meant to hold the belongings of the passengers. The ceiling was high enough that even in his hybrid form Lith would be able to stand up straight.

    "Oh, gods. One bathroom?" Lith said in horror.

    "Lith!" Solus and Kam scolded him.

    "I know. Even though the country is entitled to ask for sacrifices from us this trip is going to be a long, cruel, and unusual punishment." Orion looked like someone who had just sucked a lemon.

    "Dad!" Quy and Friya yelled at him.

    "How are these things supposed to be used after the mission? There''s too much furniture." Lith ignored the background noise.

    "Like this." Orion paid no heed to the ims about him being an insensitive father and pushed a button on the ceiling.

    The walls slid so to form threepartments of the same size on one side and two more on the other. The bathroom also shrunk to just enough to contain the shower, sink, and toilet with no extra space.

    Where present, the beds split into two halves that slid against opposing walls rearranging themselves intofortable sofas and leaving a wide corridor between them.

    "Just add a few more beds, put some baggage racks and you are good to go." A second push of the same button reverted things as they were supposed to be.

    "Isn''t it a bit ustrophobic with no windows?" Kam was tired of being ignored so she dropped the argument.

    "Not at all." Orion tapped on one of the internal walls which seemed to turn transparent, letting them see what was happening on the outside. "Before you ask, no, we don''t have Light Masters so this is all it can do.

    "It''s a simple application of themunication amulet technology. In the same way two people can look at each other while they talk, the spells collect the information from the outside and project it inside.

    "The projection is one-way only so no one can see what''s happening inside unless you push this button." Orion opened a smallpartment that had been installed at a height easy to reach but closed so that the system couldn''t be activated by mistake.

 Chapter 2823 Resonance (Part 1)

    Chapter 2823 Resonance (Part 1)

    "It also works on the floor." Another push and the people inside the wagon had the impression of walking on air.

    "What a wonderful idea!" Solus said. "Elysia and Valeron are going to love looking at the aquatic fauna while we travel."

    "Actually, it''s a safety measure to check for enemies from below in case of an attack but that works too." Lith nodded. "At the speed this thing moves, however, I doubt we are going to see much."

    "Just one question. How are they going to bring this titan out of Valeron?" Kam asked.

    "You''ll see." Orion said with a huge grin on his face. "Feel free to join us for lunch. But first¡­"

    He took out of his pocket several vials containing a dense yellow liquid. Two of them were bigger and white in color.

    "This is the cure for Jiera''s gue. I know you guys are Awakened, but I don''t want to take unnecessary risks." He opened the stopper and gulped one.

    "Are you sure? This looks like milk." Lith said while shaking the white-colored potion.

    "Because part of it is milk." Orion replied. "It should make it easier to administer to the babies. See youter."

    ***

    Kelia''s quarters, a few wagons away.

    The members of the White Sword Corps and the Red Sun were all stationed inside a single car. Those like Lith''s and Orion''s were reserved for VIPs in order to avoid people spying on them and giving them privacy.

    Orion was in possession of the only copy of the blueprints of both the mechanical and magicalponents of the Wayfinder in case it needed repairs. It was the reason he was entitled to private quarters since dimensional amulets didn''t work.

    Lith, instead, was known to have many secrets that he was unwilling to share and Elysia needed extra security. The details of the day of the ck Sun were unclear to most people but no one doubted that those events would repeat themselves if a madman attacked the child.

    Kelia and the others were not only considered regr passengers but since the wagons had been split evenly between the members of the expedition, the Empire needed to optimize the space in each car in order to bring as many people as possible.

    "This is crap!" Kelia said, looking around.

    Regr wagons were split into fivepartments on either side. Four of them contained two sofas, each long enough to amodate three people while leaving anarrow corridor between them.

    With a click of a button, the sofas would turn into bunk beds, giving their upants their own ce where to sleep but little privacy or space. The fifthpartment was upied by a bathroom with just a toilet and a sink that the passengers of the wagon had to share.

    "This is actually nice." Harun, a female soldier in her mid-twenties said. "Compared to my boot camp, this is a luxury resort. The mattress is soft, the space is Hushed against snoring, and the bathroom has tap water and a flush system.

    "Imagine having an outhouse and having to deal with the smell of piss and shit the whole day." She chuckled, theugh highlighting her white teeth and kind voice.

    "I guess you are right." Those words conjured shes from when Kelia still lived in the slums and everything reeked of piss and shit, Kelia included.

    ''Damn, I''ve spent just a year inside the Red Emperor academy and I''m already turning into a spoiled brat.'' She shuddered at the memories of her life on the street. ''Any clean and warm ce is a pce.''

    Thepartments had been split by gender so that people could changefortably and wear whatever they wanted during the journey. The members of the White Sword Corps wore a modified version of the Skinwalker armor, allowing them to switch between civilian clothes andbat gear at a moment''s notice.

    While waiting for the departure, Kelia used umtion to pass the time. Her core was still bright green but the dull cyan was getting closer by the day.

    ''After that, I only have to work my way up to the blue to discover what kind of bloodline abilities I possess.'' She thought with excitement.

    ''If any.'' Dusk corrected her. ''I know for certain that you carry the dormant bloodlines of Phoenixes and Griffons but there''s no telling if reaching the blue is going to be enough to awaken them. They might just stay dormant.''

    ''What about Verhen?'' Her eyes twitched in annoyance.

    ''He doesn''t count. He''s the first of his kind and no one knows why he seeded in awakening his bloodlines. My hypothesis is that it''s rted to his Abomination side.

    ''The constant struggle for survival of his other life forces strengthened them over time. As for his sister, the Demon Requiem proved there''s resonance between members of the Demon race. By awakening himself Verhen is likely to have influenced the rest of his bloodline.'' The Red Sun replied.

    ''What about Narchat, then?''

    ''He''s but an imitation. My sister gave him a blood core to make up for theck of the Abomination side. It''s possible that when he reached the blue, Night manipted Narchat''s life force so that the two cores fused and the power they released created a new species.'' Dusk pondered.

    ''Bottom line, I''m going to need your help. Correct?'' Kelia inwardly sighed in order to not lose her breathing rhythm.

    ''Correct.'' With each breath, she channeled the extra energy that her mana core couldn''t assimte into the red crystal hidden in her chest.

    With every wave of mana she created, the strength of Kelia''s core and the world energy seeped inside Dusk''s core, eroding the seal that Baba Yaga had ced upon him.

    He had understood the nature of the seal during the War of the Griffons, but it had been the Empress toe up with a solution.

    The limiter was as strong as Dusk and that was apparently an unsurmountable wall. At least until one remembered that Horsemen weren''t meant to live alone. They were supposed to nurture and cherish the bond with their host.

    Tobine their strength with their host''s until they could choose freely to have each their own body or fuse together into something more just like Lith and Solus did. The seal that Baba Yaga had ced on Dusk''s crystal was indeed a punishment but also a training tool.

    The only way he and Kelia had to break the seal was to learn how to be one andbine their strength. That way, Dusk''s strength would exceed Baba Yaga''s spell. Up until that moment, Kelia and the Red Sun had a long way to go.

    Her core was weak and their ability to harmonize their essences was sloppy at best. By putting their all they could conjure a single bloodline ability for a couple of seconds like they had disyed in the High Council Room, but that was it.

    ''Will you dump me if I don''t develop any bloodline ability of my own?'' The question was half loaded with fear of being abandoned and half with relief at the idea of being her own person again.

    ''Depends. Do you want me to leave?'' Dusk replied.

 Chapter 2824 Resonance (Part 2)

    Chapter 2824 Resonance (Part 2)

    ''What do you mean?'' Kelia blinked so much that Harun offered her a handkerchief to clean her eyes.

    ''I''d prefer we split up, if that''s what you want, but only after I''ve regained my powers. Of course I would love for my host to be a Divine Beast like a Tiamat or a Vurdk, but the choice is yours.'' Dusk shrugged, feeling a bit sad.

    ''If you consider me baggage, we''ll never merge and if we don''t, I''ll never be whole again. So I''m not going to pressure you into anything.''

    ''I see.'' She pondered.

    ''If we seed in merging, even if you were to fail to awaken your dormant bloodlines, there''s still a lot we can learn from each other. If you don''t see our rtionship as mutually beneficial, however, I''m going to dump you.

    ''I''d rather have a regr host who''s willing to work with me than fighting every step of the way. You want your freedom but so do I. If our interests don''t align, I''m not going to sacrifice myself for you.'' Dusk said.

    ''Thanks.'' Kelia preferred an honest business partner to a dishonest friend. ''When do we move to meet Verhen?''

    ''After the departure. Once they are bored and we have a reason to be bored as well, they''ll wee thepany. Otherwise we would seem desperate or nosy. One step at a time, kid.''

    While the soldiers put their baggage on the racks below the couches and above the entrance, Kelia kept breathing while fiddling with the controls of herpartment until she activated the projector.

    On the outside, people were still boarding the Wayfinder, the line slow due to the thorough checks. The cargo had been loaded in advance by the Royal Guards, making repeated scans pointless.

    "All set." A Royal Guard wearing the stripes of a captain raised his right arm and spun the index and middle finger in the air.

    Four soldiers wearing the Royal Fortress armor assumed a square formation in front of the Wayfinder, each one of them looking like a humanoid prancing Griffon. Dimensional energy departed from the hands of the Guard on the lower left corner, connecting with the one above, then right, below, and left to close the circuit.

    "Great Mother almighty!" Harun and the other members of the White Sword Corps said in unison. "That''s one huge ass Warp Gate, not a Steps!"

    Kelia could only tap her knee and nod, almost losing her breathing rhythm from the gasp.

    On the other side of the Dimensional corridor, she recognized the harbor of the city of Zalma. It was located at the edge of the east side of the Kingdom, thousands of kilometers away from the city of Valeron.

    Even from inside the Train, she could smell the salty breezeing from the Arsman Ocean that separated the Garlen continent from Jiera.

    The Wayfinder started to move yet there was no jolt or shaking. The soldiers who had stood up to look in front of the train felt their feet still firmly rooted to the floor. If not for the imagesing from the outside, they would have believed that the Wayfinder had yet to depart.

    The metal wheels below the Train had been lifted and now were stuck to the sides as the gravity sheath lifted the Wayfinder off the ground.

    The Train kept elerating, moving from the underground facility to the open sea in a matter of seconds. Kelia turned around just in time to see a second four-man squad of Royal Guards on the other end of the Gate, closing it as soon as thest wagon crossed over.

    The moment the Wayfinder moved from solid ground to water, the structure jerked and roiled. Those who were still standing fell butt-first on the floor, their seat, or their travelpanions, depending on which one was the closest.

    Lith hadn''t designed trains to fly, only to float. The gravity sheath needed to establish a perfect bnce with the sea which took the power core several trials since every wagon weighed differently and required individual tuning.

    After that, the gyrostabilizer would do the rest, ensuring that the passengers wouldn''t experience difort any longer while traveling.

    The Wayfinder kept its pace steady, without further elerating until the power core adjusted the output of its enchantments and found thebination that allowed it to proceed safely.

    "Wow!" Quy felt the shaking under her feet lessen to the point that only a low rumble remained.

    "Wow indeed." Orion felt both proud and envious of the fruits of his own work.

    Proud because he had contributed to crafting it and turning Lith''s blueprints into reality. Envy because it was still Lith''s blueprints.

    "Now you''d better sit down."

    "Why?-oah!" The Wayfinder went from gallop speed to dozens of kilometers per hour and then hundreds.

    Once again, the various systems needed time to find the perfect bnce necessary to neutralize the effects of the increasing kic energy and the violent roiling of the ocean on the passengers.

    Quy flew into Orion who caught her on the fly.

    "This brings back a lot of memories." He hugged her, stinging her face by brushing against her cheek with his beard.

    "Dad, I''m not a kid anymore. I''m a married woman!" She said, grateful that aside from Friya there was no one in theirpartment.

    Orion snarled at the thought of Morok and didn''t let go of her until everything quieted down.

    "What about me?" Friya asked, her arms open.

    Orion had expected mockery for his overbearing father routine, not jealousy.

    "My babies!" He hugged her, lifting Friya from the ground like she was just a child. "I won''t let anything bad happen to you. Not again."

    "Don''t worry, Dad. We are not going anywhere." She caressed his shoulders, knowing how Phloria''s death still pained him.

    "This went way better than I expected." Lith said half in pride and half in annoyance.

    Pride because it was his creation, annoyance because Orion had pushed it beyond Lith''s expectations.

    "Don''t be a sourpuss." Solus scolded him. "We Forgemastered the power core down to thest rune. We might have underestimated its prowess but Orion couldn''t have done anything if the power core wasn''t already capable of such feats."

    "Fine." He grunted.

    "Is he always like this when something goes well?" Kam was bbergasted.

    "You don''t know the half of it." Solus sighed. "Lith doesn''t belong to the ''ss half empty'' tribe. He''s the chieftain of the ''who the farm drank half my water while I wasn''t looking'' tribe."

    "A whole new level ofining." Kam chuckled.

    Having no valid counterpoint, Lith ignored them and focused on the babies. He knew they would experience difort so he had kept Elysia and Valeron floating in mid-air to keep them from puking and crying in fear.

    "Come to papa and defend him from the meandies." Lith pouted and Elysia and Valeron quickly followed suit.

    They had no idea what slight he had suffered but they were indignant nheless.

    "Gods, they are so cute." Solusughed hard. "When they are so close it''s hard to understand who''s the bigger baby."

    "Ba!" Elysia pointed her small finger at Solus. "Ba! Ba!"

    "Bad? Am I the bad guy?" Solus was bbergasted.

 Chapter 2825 Nice Save (Part 1)

    Chapter 2825 Nice Save (Part 1)

    "Ba." The baby girl nodded.

    "Bad." Valeron pointed fingers as well.

    "The farm?" Kam said. "Isn''t he too young to speak?"

    "Using Elysia''s learning rate as a benchmark, I''d say no." Lith said with a smug grin on his face. "Well said. They treat me badly."

    "Don''t drag the children into our petty squabbles! That''s a low blow." Kam took the baby girl away, afraid of hearing the word bad addressed to her as well.

    "Mama." Elysia said, making Kam sigh in relief.

    "What about me?" Solus asked.

    "Ba¡­ ba." Elisya replied.

    "Baba? Is it a variation of mom or does it mean ''very bad''?" Solus went pale, not liking either answer.

    "Ba¡­ ba!" Elysia pouted.

    "Fix this right now or you and I are going to have a problem!" Solus jumped to her feet, forcing Lith to use the Dragon scales to exin the situation to the children.

    That small argument was the only event of the morning and soon the excitement from the marvel of crossing the ocean on a train turned into boring normality. They moved too quickly to see anything from below and after a while, the waves looked all the same.

    "Do we really have to spend two days like this?" Solus groaned after less than one hour.

    "How long before lunch? I''m bored!" After putting the babies in the crib, Kam was using umtion non-stop.

    It was a way to spend her time but it was far from enjoyable.

    "Four hours." Lith wasn''t faring any better.

    Aside from using his breathing technique and reading his notes, there wasn''t much he could do. He could only take notes of the theories and ideas he developed during the journey since to check if they were viable he needed ab.

    "Damn, I can''t believe the day woulde that I would resent Soluspedia." Solus said. "I have nothing to read because I already know my favorite books like the back of my hand and I have nothing to do because the elemental sealing arrays of the Wayfinder are set to prevent the use of even chore magic."

    "My thoughts exactly." Quy opened the door of thepartment after knocking. "What about one of those movies of yours, Lith?"

    "Seconded." Orion scratched his head in embarrassment. "I should have nned something for entertaining. The soldiers can''t even exercise due to theck of space. This is going to be a nightmare for everyone."

    Lith didn''t like the idea much since he could only project stories that he knew by heart so unless there was a special asion, watching any movie was quite boring for him anyway.

    Also, the living room didn''t have enough chairs so Quy had to conjure the missing two with hard-light constructs. Light magic was the only element avable since it helped dealing with seasickness and its offensive branch was the stuff of legends.

    The time until lunch passed uneventful with Lith insisting on taking care of the babies by himself just to keep his mind and hands busy. The meal was prepared in the kitchen wagon and delivered by carts.

    "I can''t believe that most people are eating straight from their tes while we have the luxury of a table." Quy said.

    "I can''t believe you think most of them give a d¡­ dam." Orion had to bite his tongue to escape the parents'' death re. "Only pampered noble idio¡­ ms are going to whine about that. First, it''s just for two days.

    "Second, having a good warm meal that you can consume while taking your time and inside a safe ce is like attending a banquet for someone used to work in the field."

    "Nice save." Lith nodded. "Twice."

    "I''m sorry, I''m out of practice with baby talk." Orion sighed.

    "Don''t worry, I know how you feel." Solus sighed as well. "I don''t think I remember a single swear word anymore."

    "Consider this a good opportunity to practice, Dad." Friya chuckled. "Once the baby is born, it''s going to be your turn to talk in code all day."

    Orion choked on his meal and his daughtersughed, thinking that he was nervous at the idea of bing a father again after so many years. The truth was that he was utterly terrified.

    ''The baby is like a countdown. Once they are born, the Gernoff will try to kill Jirni for breaking Oghrom''sw.'' He thought. ''I''m in a damn rush to Awaken and the worst part is that even if I do, there''s no guarantee of survival.

    ''I''m not going to leave Jirni to fight this battle alone but at the same time, the idea of making all of our children orphans, especially the baby, scares me to death.''

    Jirni had yet toe forward with Lith and even with her daughters.

    Telling Lith the truth meant to reveal to him Vastor''s involvement in her ns. The news of the Master Awakening Jirni without telling Lith and even helping her to hide it from him might havepromised their rtionship.

    Jirni couldn''t risk alienating either of his allies if she wanted to stand a chance against a whole Awakened bloodline.

    Coming clean with her daughters, instead, meant not only to reveal the magnitude of Jirni''s deception and how far she and Orion had exploited Quy''s research behind her back.

    It would also involve them in a conflict that would endanger their lives. On top of that, they were bound to share the news with Lith which led back to the first issue.

    Jirni''s n required Orion to Awaken and then they would ask the others for help. This way, no matter how angry her daughters or Lith would get with her, there was nothing they could do to stop her anymore.

    Vastor''s involvement would remain a secret, leaving Lith toe up with the idea of asking Vastor for help "on his own" and giving the Professor usible deniability.

    "Do you think is going to be a boy or a girl?" Friya nudged her father.

    "I don''t know. Your mother and I want it to be a surprise." He racked his brain, searching for a way to change the subject. "How are things going with the little Valeron?"

    "Better than I thought." Lith shared with them the many things he had learned bymunicating with the baby boy via the Dragon scales.

    "What? Are you telling me that Protheus and a few of Thrud''s Generals are still alive?" Orion''s eyes red with violet mana at the thought that Phloria''s murderers had been spared and even enjoyed a good life.

    "Calm down." Lith Hushed Valeron''s ears and turned the baby boy around so that he couldn''t see Orion.

    "I personally took care of those responsible for Phloria''s death. Leegaain only rescued those who belonged to a unique bloodline and you already knew that the Council had epted the surrender of Ufyl, the seven-headed Dragon.

    "This is no big deal."

    "How can you say that?" Orion''s jaw fell on the floor and then started digging. "Are you really the same Lith I know?"

    "No, I''m not." Lith replied. "When I held my daughter for the first time, I swore to myself that I wouldn''t let my hatred taint her so I let it go."

 Chapter 2826 Nice Save (Part 2)

    Chapter 2826 Nice Save (Part 2)

    ?

    "Why should I resent Protheus? He is but a misguided child who got brainwashed by his ''mother''.

    "As for the surviving Generals, they have lost everything already. They have no home, their families would kill them on sight, and they are going to be prisoners inside Leegaain''s biomes until he decides otherwise.

    "This is hardly a happy ending for them and even if it was, I don''t care anymore. If they are good with Valeron and if once they are free they have truly changed, they can do whatever they want with their lives.

    "If they try anything funny, however, I''m going to kill them for good. There''s no point being angry on a maybe."

    Then, Lith told the others about the handmaidens and how they and the surviving Generals had taken care of Valeron the Second.

    "If not for them, he would probably grow up to be a second Balkor and honestly, I couldn''t me him for it. Also, watch this." Lith tickled Valeron under the chin, triggering a metamorphosis.

    The onesie he was wearing turned into a cute version of Arthan''s Armor and the toy he always carried around shapeshifted into an edgeless very small Arthan''s Sword.

    "Good gods!" Orion shuddered at their sight. "Have you tried to take a look at their enchantments?"

    "No. I gave my word to the Guardians that I would not." Lith shook his head. "I''m taking care of Valeron because Jormun asked me to and because it''s the right thing to do. Don''t get me wrong, I would give it a shot if I was just stealing Thrud''s secrets.

    "The problem is that Arthan stole those secrets from Tyris and he caused the death of Valeron the First. I think she has already lost enough. Even if I was a piece of work big enough to not care about that, Tyris has already done a lot for Kami and Elysia and she might do more in the future.

    "What kind of idiot would I be to make an enemy of a Guardian and risk that she withdraws her vow to protect my daughter?" Lith asked.

    Thest part hit Orion hard, his curiosity as a Forgemaster waning like fog under the sun as the pain for Phloria''s death made his body tense up.

    "An idiot who deserves to die." He replied soberly.

    For a moment, Orion had considered studying the Arthan Set on the quiet whenever he interacted with Valeron the Second. As he saw it, Thrud''s offspring didn''t bear his mother''s crimes but the small Bahamut still owed Orion a blood debt.

    The problem was that if Tyris noticed his attempts, she might not share Orion''s perspective. After all, not only was the baby innocent, but also the Guardian''s direct grandson.

    The Mad Queen''s experiments had made her body into what a direct descendant of Tyris and Valeron the First would have been had they chosen to retain their Griffon life force.

    The Madness had made Thrud into Valeron the First''s half-blood and her son carried a quarter of the First King''s blood.

    ''I would take the chance if this was just about me but if I get caught, it would be Jirni and our child to pay for my foolishness. She won''t survive the conflict with the Gernoff without me and if both of us are dead...'' Orion thought while looking at Valeron the Second.

    The soon-to-be-born youngest of the Ernas would suffer the same fate as the baby boy if everything went south.

    Meanwhile, a few wagons ahead, Kelia had finished her meal and was bored out of her skull. She had spent thest few hours practicing umtion while Dusk taught her about the subjects of the fifth year of academy.

    Thanks to the Horseman''s help she had skipped years twice so if everything went ording to n, she would graduate at sixteen.

    One year earlierpared to those who had followed the full five years of academy in order to master magic from its basics but two yearsterpared to people like Lith who had solely attended thest two years in order to learn specializations.

    ''There''s nothing we can do about it.'' Dusk pointed out. ''You joined at thirteen with close to no practice of magic whereas Verhen enrolled at twelve with about eight years of magical experience.

    ''If you too enrolled at twelve, you would have graduated at fifteen, only one yeartepared to him. Considering that before meeting me you couldn''t light a matchstick, it''s an impressive achievement.''

    ''Yeah, I know.'' Kelia yawned in rhythm with her breathing technique, Sun re. ''Even if I tried to enroll right after we met, with my weak core and myck of magical knowledge, I would have been rejected.''

    She stood up and after exining her intentions to herpartment mates she walked toward the door.

    ''I love magic, but without books or the opportunity to put your lessons into practice, after a while everything bes hazy and boring.'' She said via the mind link. ''Let''s see how hard the tertiary mission that Milea assigned to us is.''

    Kelia had already tried to use her breathing technique to study the power core of the Wayfinder, but to no avail. Even with Dusk''s expertise, the world energy could only go this far.

    Even if she were to crack the cloaking arrays, the only thing she could study from her own wagon was the arrays surrounding it and the energy flow fueling them. They had both proven to be interesting but they didn''t give the Horseman any insight about the workings of the power core behind them.

    She walked with her hand stuck to the wall, pretending to use it to keep her bnce when the Wayfinder asionally jolted due to a particrly tall wave but she was actually following the arrays back to their source.

    ''Interesting.'' She thought. ''I expected the power core to be at the front of the train, to pull it forward. Instead, it seems to be located in the center.''

    ''Where I expected it to be.'' Dusk replied pointedly. ''It''s the only way to distribute the enchantments evenly and fuel them with the same amount of energy. Otherwise there would be a dy between the activation of the arrays in the front and the back car.''

    ''You are right. Sorry if I have just six months of experience as a Forgemaster and I have no idea what a power core even looks like.'' Kelia''s thoughts oozed sarcasm. ''It''s easy to be a know-it-all after sitting on your thumbs for centuries.

    ''I''m in my mid-teens and I''ve spent most of my life struggling for survival.''

    ''Arrogant brat! When I was your age¡­'' The bickering continued all the way in until they reached the Kingdom''s sector and Lith''s carriage at that.

    Sharing one body and one mind meant getting on each other''s nerves a lot. Their quarrels were so frequent that they considered them akin to a hobby.

    ''Seems that our second and third objectives just crossed paths.'' She knocked on the door. ''We can see if Solus is in the mood for a lesson, befriend Verhen, and maybe even take a few nces at the Wayfinder''s power core.

    ''Many birds with one stone.''

 Chapter 2827 Two Minds (Part 1)

    Chapter 2827 Two Minds (Part 1)

    ''Careful.'' Dusk warned Kelia. ''The Royals have assigned this wagon to Verhen in order to repair the power core in case of malfunction and to protect it from people like us.

    ''He''s an Awakened and he is going to notice any attempt of using spells or breathing techniques unless you are extra caref- By the Red Mother!''

    The moment Solus opened the door, Dusk noticed that her core had broken through the blue, something that he had missed the previous time due to the presence of the mana geyser under the Verhen Mansion.

    Yet both her mana flow and vitality were off the chartspared to what he would have expected from someone at that level.

    Even that anomaly, however, took a backseat when the other upants of the wagon turned around to look at the neer. Both babies had their eyes lit up with mana and Life Vision as they observed Kelia with curiosity.

    ''How can people Awakened from birth actually exist?'' He was wrong, since Valeron fit the description but Elysia had Awakened shortly after conception. ''Also, howe the younger one has a mana core as strong as the older one?''

    The baby girl had experienced her first breakthrough at birth due to Lith rearranging his life forces. From that moment, she had spent most of her time in the tower or in the Verhen Mansion where Solus could tailor-fit the flow of world energy to match Elysia''s body development.

    She had yet to learn what a breathing technique even was, but her mana core was just two steps behind her body refining as if she used Invigoration nigh non-stop. Lith did it on purpose so that Elysia would experience no pain as her core developed.

    Valeron had only recently joined the family but since that moment he had received the same care.

    "Hi, Kelia. Nice to see you. You are just in time for the start of a new movie." Solus said while pointing at Orion while making sure to eclipse the gesture with her own body.

    ''He knows about Awakened but nothing about me or my rtionship with Lith.'' She exined via a mind link. ''Don''t mention anything about Dusk or me that might put us both into trouble.''

    "What''s a movie?" Kelia asked with a genuinely confused expression on her face.

    She knew from their previous encounters that Kam and the Ernas girls knew everything about Solus so Kelia found it odd to keep only one member of their team in the dark.

    ''A story projected with Light Mastery and given sound by air magic.'' Dusk replied while his host stared at the images with her mouth agape. ''If only Mother had shared with me the same knowledge she bestowed upon Dawn or if my sister had bothered teaching me, we could do the same.''

    The Horseman gritted Kelia''s teeth in annoyance.

    Light Mastery wasn''t part of Dawn''s bloodline abilities, just a very rare branch of magic. Yet since the Bright Day had fewer innate skillspared to Dusk, she considered Light Mastery as such and she had never shared its secrets with either of her siblings.

    On paper, Dusk was the strongest of the Horsemen due to possessing the mana organs necessary to conjure the Guardians'' most powerful bloodline abilities. Yet Light Mastery tipped the scales in Dawn''s favor and she preferred keeping the bnce between the three Horsemen since they often fought between them.

    "It''s like a theatrical y but performed with magic and without breaks unless we need to go to the bathroom or grab a snack." Solus replied before introducing Kelia to the rest of her guests.

    Except for Orion, everyone''s eyes red up with Life Vision to make sure that she wasn''t attempting anything funny. The Kingdom was in a neutral rtionship with the Empire and Solus with the Horsemen of Dawn and Dusk, but there was little trust between them.

    ''We can forget about studying the power core.'' Kelia thought. ''Milea was right. It''s too dangerous.''

    She ended up enjoying the story of Lord of the Blings andpletely forgot about her missions.

    ''It was nice.'' She thought at the ending. ''Too bad for the forced plot. Like who would be stupid enough to sit on their thumbs for centuries while an evil overlord builds a whole army?''

    ''It''s just a story.'' Dusk pointed at Elysia and Valeron who seemed to have overlooked the many logical shorings of the movie.

    "I''m tired of sitting around." Solus stood up, stretching her lithe arms. "I''m taking a walk. Would you like toe with me, Kelia?"

    "Sure." The Horseman replied a bit too quickly, making Orion wonder what the heck could a woman like Solus have to tell a young girl like Kelia. "I''ve heard you are a Professor at the White Griffon and even though I know that no academy shares its secrets, I was hoping you could help me with the basics."

    "Honorary Professor, actually." Solus blushed a bit in embarrassment. "And only because Lith and I are the only ones who can teach Void Magic."

    "Don''t be modest." Lith shrugged. "As soon as we master all tiers of Void Magic, we''ll have all the qualifications to be Professors at any academy of our choice."

    "We?" Orion could understand the joy of instructing a youth in the ways of magic but he was utterly confused by Lith''s wording. "You are a f¡­arming Magus. The first one in over a century for the Kingdom."

    "What about Balkor, Manohar, and Zavra?" Kelia asked.

    "Fine. The first Magus who isn''t insane, a traitor, or both." Orion grunted. "Bottom line, even if we don''t consider the Supreme Magus title, and it''s a big if, you can already teach wherever you want. What''s that ''we'' about?"

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' Lith thought. ''I screwed up.''

    "Solus and I have worked very well together on several projects but she''s still just a Great Mage." He actually said. "I just meant that Void Magic is her ticket to be a Professor and teach alongside me, if that''s what she wants."

    The exnation would have been perfect if not for Solus living with Lith, working with him, teaching with him, and holding Elysia as often as Kam.

    "Baba?" The baby girl asked when Solus unwrapped her hair around Elysia and gently handed the baby to Kam.

    "I''m just going to take a walk, sweetheart." Solus kissed the baby''s forehead. "And I''m not baba. I''m not a bad person. Don''t you love m- aunt Solus?"

    Elysia pondered the issue with a stern expression on her plump, cute face before nodding.

    "Awa." She tried and failed to modte the sounds for aunt.

    "Good girl. I love you too." It was more than enough for Solus who threw one final re at Lith before walking away.

    As they left the wagon, Kelia and Solus made small talk while using a mind link for the realmunication.

    ''I haven''t seen you since Elysia''s birthday g.'' Solus said to the Red Sun.

    ''I''m sorry, but we have been too busy with the academy to have any free time.'' He replied. ''Even with my help, graduating from four years in just two is a very demanding feat.''

 Chapter 2828 Two Minds (Part 2)

    Chapter 2828 Two Minds (Part 2)

    ''I know. I''ve attended an academy as well.'' Solus smiled at the memories that those words evoked.

    Back then things were much simpler, but also more painful. Lith was still alone and no one but Protector knew the truth about him. Solus was without a body, trapped in the stone ring and reduced to a voice in Lith''s head.

    Her smile disappeared as she remembered all the hardships they had endured. Yurial''s death hit her the hardest and the pain of his loss felt deeper now that Phloria was dead too.

    ''Only three members of the old gang remain. I wonder if we''ll lose someone else before this mess with Jiera ends.''

    ''What gang?'' Ke asked.

    ''Nothing!'' Solus inwardly cursed her slip of the mind and quickly changed the topic. ''What can you teach me about offensive telepathic abilities? I mean, in case another M''Rael gets my ring, how do I turn the table on him?''

    ''There are countless ways to destroy someone''s mind, but if you are in a rush or if like in your case you can''t refuse your host, there are two things that you must prioritize learning.'' Dusk said.

    Unlike the Horsemen who had been created by Baba Yaga to be independent, the tower wasn''t allowed to be picky with its host due to the damage in Solus'' life force and core.

    Its first priority was to ensure Solus'' survival and to do that the tower needed external help. The host had to voluntarily imprint the tower to establish the bond whereas Solus had no say in the matter.

    It was like Silverwing first and M''Raelter had tried to snatch Menadion''s opus from Lith''s hands, even though for entirely different reasons.

    ''The first thing you have to master is the skill to hold onto your identity and remember that you are a part of the bond as much as the host. Your stone ring and my red crystal are no different, they are just mediums to our minds.

    ''The artifactponent tends to bepliant but you hold the same authority as your host over it. No matter what they order you to do, you can resist their will, but only as long as you remember that you are not a thing.''

    ''If that''s true, then how could M''Rael stop me even from thinking?'' Solus shared the memories of her experience via the mind link, making both Dusk and Kelia shudder.

    ''He managed to do it because your telepathic defenses are weak and because, from what I can see, you still consider your stone ring as your real body. The former allowed M''Rael to taint your willpower with his own while thetter made you submit simply because you believed you had to.''

    ''What do you mean?'' Solus asked in confusion.

    ''Our respective bodies are indeed an artifact but they are imprinted by two different people with two different minds. To put it simply, it''s like the artifact is a tier five spell that you are trying to Dominate.

    ''It''s a tug of war of willpower. You lost against M''Rael because the Yggdrasill exined to him how to fight whereas you didn''t even know where to start. Also, you never fought the orders he gave to the tower because you thought you had no choice.

    ''You only resisted his will and that was your biggest mistake.''

    ''I see.'' Solus had already wrestled control of the simple features of the tower off Lith when they teased each other, but she had always assumed that he was just letting her.

    ''That said, the most powerful offensive weapon people like us have is the mind fusion.'' Dusk''s words made her stop abruptly in the real world, grabbing Kelia to force her to look into Solus'' eyes.

    ''I beg your pardon?''

    ''You heard me.'' Dusk replied while Kelia''s voice apologized for a non-existent rude act in order to appease the curiosity of the train crew. ''It''s the reason during our first meeting I shared with Kelia only my origins and my ns for our future.''

    Back then, Kelia had been enraged at the idea of the Red Sun considering her a means to an end but now she couldn''t help but smile when he talked about ''our future''.

    ''I''m so d we have bonded.'' She thought. ''Back then, my only worry was to find enough food scraps to live and see another day. Now, instead, I can make ns for the years toe. Good or bad, I have a future!''

    ''By my Mom, I''m so sorry you had to go through so much.'' Solus said.

    ''Did¡­ you hear that?'' Kelia stuttered even in her mind from embarrassment.

    She was proud of her present but also so ashamed of her past that she had a crippling anxiety at the idea that someone might learn about it. That someone might learn that she was just a fraud.

    A dirt-poor beggar that a kiss from a cursed object had turned into Mage Charming.

    ''I saw that.'' Solus realized that Kelia had made her same mistake and tried to console her. ''You have nothing to be ashamed of. You had it even worse than Lith. You should be proud of yourself.''

    ''Oh, please! Magus Verhen is a self Awakened. In my shoes, instead of running away from the orphanage, he would have conquered it. If not for Dusk, I''d still be nothing. No, less than nothing!'' The shame turned into rage as Kelia hated Solus for forcing her to face what she considered an unforgivable sin.

    Her own weakness.

    Dusk was the reason she had escaped life on the streets. It was thanks to him that Kelia had experienced warm food and a clean bed after running away from the orphanage despite not having anything but her first name on her.

    It was the Horseman who had Awakened her, given her the skill and knowledge necessary to enroll in one of the six academies. It was thanks to his guidance that her teachers first and the Empresster had noticed her.

    ''No matter how much I hate how Dusk manipted our first encounter or I despise his methods. Without him, I''m just an empty husk and now Solus knows it! Once she rats me out with Verhen, he''ll never respect me.

    ''At most, he''s going to pity me.'' Kelia thought, making sure that the mind link was dead.

    Feeling the connection lost and seeing the fury in the eyes of the young girl, Solus realized that her words had fallen on deaf ears. She tried to establish a new mind link to apologize but Kelia killed it off with her own mana.

    ''So what?'' Dusk said in an attempt to calm her down. ''Even if what you say were true, how are you any different from Verhen? Maybe he Awakened by himself or maybe Solus helped him.

    ''Either way, they worked together to build the life he has. They attended the academy together, Solus helped him during every mission as a Ranger, and stood by his side during every battle.

    ''I doubt he would have gone this far in life without her help. Solus is a powerful cursed object like me who possesses great knowledge and Verhen is a talented, hard-working individual who holds a powerful bloodline, just like you.''

 Chapter 2829 More than Flesh (Part 1)

    Chapter 2829 More than Flesh (Part 1)

    ''Like me?'' Kelia echoed in confusion.

    ''You are the one who pulled all those all-nighters.'' Dusk replied. ''You studied hard to cram years of academy into months. You practiced magic non-stop until Invigoration lost its effectiveness.

    ''All those things are on you, not me. You didn''t delegate the written tests to me nor did you leave your body to me to train it. Even your bright green core and our academy life are your doing.

    ''I wanted to dy your breakthrough and the academy until the following year.

    ''It''s you who decided otherwise, even against my judgment. So don''t sell yourself short because if it was for me, we would still be hotel hopping while I taught you the basics of magic instead of being on the first Train of Mogar.''

    ''Thanks.'' Kelia clenched her teeth, doing her best to get that sincere praise past the wall of her self-doubt.

    Solus recognized from the orange light in Kelia''s eyes that she and the Horseman were having a private meeting no different from those she and Lith shared and that pissed everyone else off.

    Only once the orange light disappeared did Solus attempt a second mind link and this time, Kelia epted it.

    ''What were you saying about the mind fusion?'' Since the young girl seemed to have trouble discussing her rtionship with Dusk, Solus glossed over it, pretending that Kelia''s slip of the mind had never happened.

    ''That it''s the simplest and yet the most powerful weapon at your disposal. It can break even the most strong-willed individual in the span of a few minutes, turning them into a loyal ve who is going to obey your everymand.

    ''They''ll fight and die for you without a second thought or putting up the slightest struggle. And that without no conditioning and soon after they''ve bonded with you.''

    ''Seriously?'' Solus was bbergasted. ''How is that possible? It seems too good to be true.''

    She would have liked to point out that she had fused her mind with Lith hundreds of times and their rtionship was still healthy but she didn''t want to face the barrage of questions she knew would follow.

    ''Also, when I shared it with Dawn, she instantly understood my feelings for Lith.'' This part, she kept for herself.

    ''It''s actually quite obvious if you think about it.'' Dusk replied, oblivious to her inner turmoil. ''Fusing your mind with that of your hostpletely means to fill their head with your memories, thoughts, personal beliefs, and even your feelings.

    ''For creatures with an infinite life like us, the longer we live the stronger this kind of attack bes. If I were to perform a full mind fusion with Kelia, worst case scenario, I would fry her brain. Best case scenario, I would turn her into my clone.''

    ''What do you mean, your clone?'' Both Kelia and Solus asked.

    ''Think about it. Her ten-something years of life are nothingpared to the millennia of my existence. A single fusion would have flooded her mind with more information than she could process.

    ''By reliving my experiences, she would reshape her morals ording to mine. By sharing my memories, she would care about the same things I love and hate the same things I do.

    ''Hence she would be my clone, at least in mind. I wouldn''t need to force her to follow my goals because they would be her own as well.

    ''She wouldn''t hesitate to sacrifice her life for me because she knows I''m the immortal one and that even if she dies, I''ll keep working on what now are "our" objectives.''

    Both women froze into ce, one pondering the power she held and the other realizing how dangerous her situation was.

    ''Okay.'' Solus said while Kelia was still in shock. ''But I''m not millennia old. Does it make the mind fusion less powerful?''

    ''Not really.'' Dusk shrugged. ''Even if you are centuries old, it''s still a lot of information to process and-''

    ''What if I''m not centuries old either?'' Solus cut him short.

    ''It''s easier if you tell me how old you are.'' Dusk could feel the hesitation in her voice and decided that there was no point wasting time with a guessing game.

    ''About twenty years old. More or less.'' It was a rough estimate obtained by adding up the sixteen years she had spent with Lith after recovering from the centuries of mana starvation plus the memories of her old life that she had regained over time.

    ''Twenty years?'' Kelia and Dusk echoed in shock. ''Were you made on the same day as Verhen''s birth?''

    ''It''splicated.'' She wrung her hands in nervousness. ''I''m actually much older but I''ve lost my memories due to an ident. It was an almostplete wipe out so I don''t remember much from before I bonded with Lith.''

    ''That''s as interesting as it is unsettling.'' Dusk pondered for a while before answering. ''It exins why you know so little about your own abilities. You never needed to develop techniques to manipte or resist a host because Verhen is your first.''

    ''Sure.'' Solus felt no need to exin to Dusk that Menadion had never meant for her daughter to need more than one host.

    Whatever offensive telepathic ability Solus now possessed was likely to be a happy ident due to the First Ruler of the mes using Baba Yaga''s Horseman technology as a foundation for her work.

    ''Then let me put it this way. Even your twenty years of memories are a powerful weapon. Only a millennia old Divine Beast could resist your onught and even then, it would be just a matter of time before their mind crumbles.''

    ''Seriously?''

    ''Seriously.'' Dusk replied. ''Think about it. Even an old creature would have a hard time enduring the mental pressure of reliving twenty years of life in one second. Your fears, your feelings, and your beliefs would be hammered into their mind too fast for them to reject them.

    ''Also, even if the first assault fails, you just have to do it again. And then again and again until the personality of your host copses. But beware, such a method is a double-edged sword.

    ''There''s a reason we Horsemen prefer taking young hosts and avoid using the mind fusion this way. A young host means a more malleable mind so that even if we use the mind fusion, the counter pressure on us is minimal.

    ''Yet we''d rather not use it at all. I''m teaching it to you as an extreme measure to deal with an extreme situation.''

    ''How so?'' Solus asked.

    ''Because unless you manage to iste your sense of selfpletely from that of your host, their mind flows into yours as well. A single mind fusion is enough to bring you two closer, making it hard for you to sacrifice them.

    ''In the case of people like Meln, Night would risk being infected by his obsession toward Verhen if not even from his arrogance. Anything your host holds dear, every major aspect of their personality is their weapon against you.

    ''Especially if you use the mind fusion multiple times.''

    ''I see.'' Solus nodded. ''So my first priority is to learn how to iste my mind from my host and lessen the effects of a mind fusion solely on my side.''

 Chapter 2830 More than Flesh (Part 2)

    Chapter 2830 More than Flesh (Part 2)

    ''That''s for sure.'' Dusk replied. ''You need it in your everyday life. If you have more time, instead, suggestion is a powerful tool especially when your host is asleep. Unlike us, all creatures lower their guard while they rest, even the undead.

    ''During their slumber, their mind is helpless and whatever you tell them, they''ll mistake it for their own thoughts. Over time, the seed of doubt you nt will turn into a strong belief that you can nurture or prune as it develops.

    ''Another way to bend your host''s will is to amplify and suppress their feelings while they are awake. This way¡­''

    Kelia was supposed to study the power core of the Wayfinder while Dusk instructed Solus but she was too shocked to do anything but listen.

    She was pretty sure that Dusk hadn''t done anything like that to her. They rarely fused their minds and when they did it was always limited to a specific topic. Also, she didn''t remember any dream that had changed her way of thinking.

    The few she recalled, were just nonsense.

    ''If I don''t stop overhearing their conversation, I''m not going to sleep for weeks.'' Kelia shuddered, moving her focus on her breathing technique and from there, on the enchantments surrounding them.

    Away from Lith''s wagon, there was less information about the power core but also fewer cloaking runes. Kelia took notes of everything she could grasp past the Royal Forgemasters'' workings as they reached thest car of the Wayfinder and then moved back.

    ''Shit! Gravity magic, Dimensional Magic, Light Mastery, several unknown Forgemastering spells, and many more belonging to every single element aside from Spirit Magic.'' Kelia couldn''t read the enchantments due to the cloaking runes but she could still recognize the different energy flows.

    ''This thing is more than a masterpiece. Unless we get our hands on a copy of the blueprints, reverse engineering the Wayfinder will be a long and difficult process. The worst part is that without a Light Master, the Empire won''t be capable of making any improvements, only to replicate it as is.

    ''Unless we strike a deal with the Eclipsed Lands and Dawn gives us a hand.'' A light smile appeared on Kelia''s face.

    She was proud of herself for being able to garner so much during the walk and also of her ability to n ahead.

    ''Maybe Dusk is right. Maybe I''m more than a lump of flesh carrying a powerful artifact.''

    ***

    The rest of the day passed uneventfully and so did the first part of the night.

    "What the heck is going on? Why are we stopping?" Lith stood up and moved to the secret panel behind which the power core of the Wayfinder was secured.

    The Royal Forgemasters had ced it in the safest ce on Mogar. Inside Lith''spartment, under the crib where the babies slept.

    Lith needed to input a code even to move the crib away and reveal the panel.

    Then another to open it and a third code to deactivate the safety measure. Otherwise the moment he attempted to study the power core, the artifact would have reacted with extreme prejudice.

    "Is everything okay?" Kam sat up on the bed, checking on Elysia and Valeron first.

    ''I know that Tyris must be here somewhere but I can''t rx until I''m sure they are alright.'' The peaceful breathing of the babies and a touch of Abyssal Gaze reassured her of the babies'' condition and warned her that they were about to get peckish in ten minutes or so.

    "Peachy." Lith replied. "I have no idea how the Royal Forgemasters did it, but we have just reached half the autonomy."

    "Is it that amazing?" Kam activated the holographic panel of the external wall.

    The images revealed that the Wayfinder had reached an ind and had arranged the wagons in a circle.

    "Are you kidding me?" Lith joined her looking at their surroundings. "We''ve traveled non-stop until now, moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour. Any artifact I know would be drained by now."

    The lotives at both ends of the Train locked with each other, closing the circuit of the arrays. The runes covering the chassis of the Wayfinder spread outward, forming a barrier of solid energy.

    The arrays also spread on the inside, sealing most kinds of magic in the space epassed by the wagons. At the same time, the doors of the carriages blinked green, signaling their upants that they were free to get out and stretch their legs.

    "My bet is that they reced most of the crystals as soon as they run out of power but we consume them faster than they recharge. If I''m right and we are on thest batch, moving forward would mean going on half a tank in case of attack."

    "It makes sense." Kam assembled a portable stroller and put the babies in after covering them with a nket. "Even if we manage to escape, it would be pointless if the barriers drain the energy we need to float and the Wayfinder sinks."

    A knock on their door drew their attention.

    "Guys, we''re going out for a walk." Orion''s voice said. "Do you want to join us?"

    "One moment!" Lith instinctively rubbed Solus'' ring as she came out in her human form.

    She couldn''t sleep in her bed due to her weight and once she lost consciousness gravity fusion would fade. Solus had returned to the ring to rest and recover the energy she had lost during the day.

    Kam wasn''t happy sharing her bed and having no privacy, but she cared about Solus too much to leave her on Garlen just for that.

    "Where are we, exactly?" Solus asked.

    "A bit shorter of the halfway point." Orion replied. "We had to take a short detour to reach the ind of Vura. We are not going to stop here all night. Just until all systems recharge."

    Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket, finding the runes on its surface to be still there but not avable.

    "Sorry." Orion shrugged. "We still can''t allow using dimensional magic. It''s too risky."

    Even elemental magic failed Lith. The soldiers were making a bonfire in the clearing in the middle of the circle with stones, charcoal, and a spark from a flint.

    The troops from the Kingdom, the Council, and the Empire stared at each other awkwardly for a while before mingling in front of the campfire. Liquor and hot beverages were being served from the meal carts, helping to break the ice.

    "It''s too bad you shared this technology with the Kingdom, Verhen. It would have made you a fine Ruler of the mes." Raagu, the human representative stepped out of her wagon.

    She was holding arge suitcase in her right hand and a ck cat in the crook of her arm.

    "And then what?" Lith asked. "I would still be exiled in the Desert, Thrud would still be on a rampage, and the Council would have quarreled about what to do with Trains for decades. And that assuming we won the war."

    "Sounds urate." She sighed, unlocking the seals on the suitcase before opening it.

    A bunch of dirty bones and tattered robes rolled on the ground.

 Chapter 2831 Sea Beasts (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 2831 Sea Beasts (Part 1)</h4>

    "Wake up, you idiot! We''vended." Raagu shouted.

    "Finally!" A red light lit the eyes of a skull as it started floating and the various bones assembled themselves in the skeletal form of Inxialot, the King of Liches. "Are we there yet?"

    "No!" She and the cat said in unison, rolling their eyes. "Thank the gods I''ve brought a Sealed Box with me. If I had to listen to that question one more time, I would have killed you myself, mission or not."

    "Agreed." Inxialot nodded.

    "On killing you?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "No, on the box part." Inxialot replied. "A nice, dark ce where no idiot can disturb me is ideal for conducting my theoretical calctions. Besides, it''s not like she could really kill me. She has no idea where my phctery is."

    "Yeah. No clue." Raagu clicked her tongue, pointing at the bell hanging from the cat''s cor.

    If bells were made of white mana crystals, the size of an apple, and encased in Davross covered by so many runes that the glimmer of the metal under the moonlight was barely noticeable.

    "Don''t be disappointed, sweetheart. You are a smart, amazing woman but I''m a genius. I''ve found a way to use part of the Darwen that''s naturally mixed with the Davross as a magic insnt.

    "Not only does it allow me to cut the costs of the perfect purification process since even a half-assed one works, but it also shields my phctery from mystical senses and magical damage."

    "Really?" Raagu raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    She used chore magic to attack the part of the phctery left exposed by the metal of the bell, only for a ck goo to intercept the spell and neutralize it with no strain for the metal or its enchantments.

    "It sounds amazing. What''s the secret?" She said with genuine enthusiasm and a flirtatious hint in her voice.

    "Oh, that''s easy. I discovered it by chance while looking for a way to improve on my technique to make magical metals capable of shapeshifting as a preparatory step for the Forgemastering pro-" Nero jumped on his skull, wing at him like a rabid cat on steroids.

    A single sh was enough to sever the head from the neck and cut the airflow from what was left of Inxialot''s lungs to his vocal cords.

    "Why did you do that?" The Lich King said in outrage with air magic.

    Then, Nero flicked one of his toes against the bell, producing a silvery sound and making Inxialot gasp in astonishment when he noticed that everyone was staring at it.

    "Right. I mean, meow. Meow-"

    ''Mind links, you idiot!'' Nero said in righteous fury. ''First, you insulted my mother and then offered to bear my offspring.''

    ''Then I respectively apologize and respectfully take the offer back. I''m sorry, Nero. I just don''t swing that way and it was cruel of me to y with your feelings.'' Inxialot replied.

    ''For the gods'' sake, we are both males! You can''t- Never mind. Just whenever I meow, you shut up. Okay?''

    ''Okay, but you are worrying too much. I think I made a harmless blunder.''

    ''You think or you know?'' Nero replied with a sneer. ''The differencey in whether you remember what you were talking about or not.''

    "I''m sorry for the interruption. What were we talking about?" Inxialot asked.

    "Abot the preparatory step to make magical metals capable of shapeshifting." Lith replied.

    "How do you know about that? It''s one of my most treasured-" Nero meowed and the Lich stopped talking.

    A few minutes and lots of meowster, it was clear that the opportunity was lost.

    "How long for a full recharge?" Raagu asked Orion.

    "A few hours. After that, we''ll resume our journey and if everything goes fine, we are going to take only one more stop before reaching Jiera on the morning of the day after tomorrow."

    "Why one more stop?" Friya asked. "We made it halfway through with half the power. By the time we reach the shore, we''d still have lots of energy to spare."

    "You would be right, if this was a joint mission between Jiera and Garlen." Raagu replied. "We have no idea what''s waiting for us on the other side. Maybe the fringe of a monster horde. Maybe a lost city.

    "Maybe a strike force of rogue Awakened. Maybe all of the above. I wouldn''t be surprised if our cousins from Jiera''s Council tried to share their burden with us. This way, they make their problems our problems from day one.

    "Our advance slows down and the pressure on their cities lessens. Two birds with one stone. No, we need to be at our peak strength to face any ''unfortunate'' event that might hinder our way."

    "What about the first wave of helpers we sent to Jiera via the Warp Gate? They could scout the territory for us." Lith said.

    "Impossible." Inxialot shook his head. "The undead are powerless during the day, the monsters of Zelex can''t get away from their mana geysers, and the elves are too worried about their own lives to care about ours. We are on our own."

    "One more thing." Tyris appeared out of nowhere, conjuring a holographic map with Light Mastery.

    "Until this point, we are on the turf of Myulon the Kraken. He''s a neutral Guardian on the matters of Jiera and he won''t give you trouble."

    She circled a vast area of the ocean between Garlen and Jiera with her finger.

    "After that, you might face local resistance before reaching the maind."

    "Are you sure?" Lith asked. "I mean, Zagran didn''t object to ouring and Fenagar even apologized to me. Why should they intervene?"

    "Not them." Tyris sighed. "Guardians don''t care about small stuff. I''m thinking more about angry Jierans determined to sink the Wayfinder and then pige it for resources.

    "After all, it''s a marvel of magic loaded with priceless materials. The same tools you are going to use to build your bases, the people of Jiera can employ them to hasten the reconstruction of their cities."

    ***

    The Wayfinder got back on the ocean four hourster. The trip was uneventful for the rest of the night and the morning. Many Awakened like Friya and Kam used that time to practice umtion until boredom got the better of them.

    Kelia kept pocking at the cloaking runes of the Train''s power core to no avail while Dusk used mind links to teach Solus everything he knew about telepathic defenses and give her the opportunity to practice them with Lith.

    He would give her a simple order, like pouring him a ss of water and she had to put Dusk''s teachings into practice to deny it. The problem was that she failed most of the time and when she didn''t, it wasn''t thanks to her willpower.

    ''I''m sorry, it''s just that ordering you around like this and forcing you to do something you don''t want to is creeping me out.'' Lith said after one of his "orders" failed again simply because he expressed it as a request.

    ''You and me both.'' Solus shuddered. ''I don''t know what to do. On the one hand, I want to be ready to face another M''Rael situation.''

 Chapter 2832 Sea Beasts (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 2832 Sea Beasts (Part 2)</h4>

    ''On the other, when you boss me around, even though I''m the one asking you to do it, it makes me feel dirty.''

    ''It''s worse for me.'' Lith replied. ''It feels like I''m tainting our bond. We have always trained together but we''ve never hurt each other on purpose and controlling your mind is still violence.''

    "Isn''t there another way to do this?" Solus asked after a long hug and a partial mind fusion.

    It reassured her that her bond of trust with Lith was as strong as ever and that he didn''t see her as something less than himself. It was something they both needed.

    "Resisting orders from an outside source is bound to be easier, but I guess we can give it a go. Putting you one against the other is not working anyway." Dusk sighed.

    "Verhen wavers whenever he gives you an order, making them less effective, and even when he seeds, you feel too emotionally hurt to gather your will to oppose him."

    In the other wagons, boredom was proving to be a fearsome enemy.

    Soldiers were used to sleep or perform maintenance of their equipment during downtime but they had already slept the previous day and their equipment was stored in the cargo with the rest of the magical tools to avoid sabotage.

    After ying cards, gambling a bit, and exchanging stories, the members of the different units started to get restless. The Wayfinder was spacious, but not enough to allow multiple people for a stroll.

    "Damn, I think we underestimated the issue." Even Orion felt cranky after sitting for so long. "We can''t drink alcohol or move around. This isn''t a problem if a Train is used for public transportation since the trip doesn''tst long.

    "Yet if we ever are to use them for more long journeys, it''s necessary to devise some kind of entertainment."

    "Big time." Friya was so bored that she begged Kam to let her change Elysia''s and Valeron''s diapers.

    It smelled and was overall an unpleasant experience but at least it had the charm of the novelty.

    "Maybe it''s because I''ve gotten used to doing it, but seeing a powerful magician struggling with cloth diapers is entertainment to me." Kam chuckled.

    "At least one of us is having fun." Friya grunted. "Are you sure you don''t want to give this a go, sis? We all know that you are going to be next. After Mom, of course."

    "I what?" Quy blushed hard, her hard-light construct shattering like ss against Lith''s.

    She had perfected Light Mastery on her own but without a teacher, Quy was still struggling to find the perfect bnce between hardness and flexibility. She had asked Lith and Solus to spar with her and they had epted.

    Their pact with Nalrond prevented them from teaching Quy anything, but by performing the Light Mastery equivalent of arm wrestling, she could still put her constructs to the test and examine the creations of two different Light Masters.

    Even though they didn''t say a word, Quy could still learn by observation and imitation.

    "Your sister is right dear." Orion mocked her. "Weren''t you the one who begged Morok for a baby during the War of the Griffons? Now that you two are married, there''s nothing keeping your dream froming true anymore."

    "He told you about that?" Quy blushed even harder, her ears turning to a shade of purple.

    "Yes, and in great detail at that." Lith nodded, making her wish for a swift death. "He lists that discussion as one of his finest hours and proof of his charm."

    She went from wishing for her own death to bing a widow.

    "I''m going to kill him!"

    "Why? I know that being turned down is never pleasant but he acted like a true gentleman." Friya giggled at Quy''s outrage.

    "Laugh all you want. The moment we are away from the kids, I''m going to give you a piece of my min-" The Wayfinder jolted suddenly, a low rumble spreading through the floor with increasing strength until it made it hard to keep standing.

    The lights above the exits became shed red and the sound of a bell alerted everyone that the Train was under attack.

    "What''s happening?" Lith asked as the external projectors disyed meters-tall waves crashing against the sides of the Wayfinder.

    "What we were afraid of." Orion replied. "We have still a way to go to reach Jiera, but ording to the sensors, the seabed is not very deep in this area. Around 100 meters (328'')."

    "It''s the perfect spot for an ambush." Lith cursed. "Why didn''t the Kingdom send scouts before arranging the Wayfinder''s route?"

    "We did, but from the sky." Orion replied. "We already had to n things so to have inds were tond nearby, we couldn''t also stop every now and then to measure the ocean''s depth. The preparations would have required years otherwise."

    Lith nodded in agreement and switched to cursing their bad luck.

    The rtively shallow seabed meant that if whoever was attacking them sunk the Wayfinder, the wreckage would be easy to find and plunder.

    He was about to Spirit Blink when he realized that he had no idea of the dimensional coordinates outside and even if he did, at the speed the Wayfinder moved he would have just watched it disappear on the horizon.

    "This way." Orion answered Lith''s silent question by pushing one of the small buttons near the entrance.

    The metal wall rearranged itself into adder leading to an opening in the ceiling.

    "Here, put these." Orion handed him a pair of boots. "They are maized. They will help you keep your bnce and not fall off the train."

    "Thanks, but with my weight, they are not really necessary. Also, the moment I turn into a Tiamat, I''d shred them."

    "I could use them though." Kam said and Orion handed her the boots as the hits made the wagon tilt.

    "You stay here with the kids. It''s the safest ce on Mogar." Lith went out and the air pressure forced him to lessen the effects of gravity fusion to not be sted off the roof.

    "Damn, either we are very unlucky or someone set us up." Orion gritted his teeth, looking at the size of the creatures nking the Wayfinder and mming their bodies against it.

    A few of them still tried raining spells, but the elemental-sealing arrays encasing the train neutralized them before they could deal a single scratch.

    "There''s no other exnation for so many Emperor Beasts targeting us."

    "These are actually magical beasts." Lith replied while looking around with his seven eyes to gauge the situation.

    "Magical beasts?" Orion had a hard time believing those words.

    "I''ve been under the sea in the past and I assure you these are no Emperor Beasts. Sea predators can easily reach a significant size due to-" Something big and long enough to put the Wayfinder to shame jumped out of the water and cut Lith short.

    Its shadow eclipsed the sun and as it came crashing down, it wasn''t hard to guess how big a sea Emperor Beast was supposed to be.

    The mages of the Association reacted promptly, having the single cars detach from one another and spread out.

 Chapter 2833 Battle at the Sea (Part 1)

    Chapter 2833 Battle at the Sea (Part 1)

    The different parts of the Wayfinder were still linked between them by several strings of visible runes connecting the mana crystals at the four corners of each wagon, but now they could move independently.

    The wagons had each their own control panel that one of the mages used to steer the cars to avoid the impact. The Orichalcum-coated wagons dodged the titan with ease, each following their respective shortest paths before reforming a single line.

    Single cars were more agile, but they could also be surrounded and kept away from the rest of the train until their energy reserve ran out.

    "Let me guess. That''s a sea Emperor Beast." Orion pointed his finger at the angry monster who roared his orders with a ring snort.

    "Your guess is as good as mine." Lith put on the Eyes on Menadion, discovering that the creature was called a Throndar, an Emperor Beast evolved from a Baraham, the magical beast born from the Mogar equivalent of whales.

    ''Since when can the Eyes identify an unknown species? I thought they had lost their database along with Solus'' memories.'' Lith thought as the Eyes reported the creature wearing no equipment but a few rings around its teeth, a bright blue core, and the vitality of a Divine Beast.

    ''Since I took care of filling the Library with all the avable tomes about marine creatures and Jiera.'' Solus replied via the mind link. ''The Eyes and the Library are now connected.''

    "I''ll deal with it!" Lith tried to jump but an emerald aura locked him in ce.

    "No, you don''t." Raagu said. "Save your strength and conjure your Demons. We are going to need them."

    She pointed at the many magical beasts that chased the Wayfinder and charged at its wagons from the sides and below. The fake mages had already taken position on the roofs thanks to their maized equipment, but there was only so much they could do.

    A corresponding light blinking on the roofs signaled them what element was about to be unlocked and for how long, but it had to be one at a time. Otherwise the enemy could have used tier four and above spells and overpower the humans with sheer numbers.

    The water furtherplicated thebat since it neutralized fire and earth while darkness was too slow to matter. Air des still worked whereas bolts of lightning were quickly dispersed through the saltwater, losing their focus.

    The Awakened forces of the Council employed Spirit Magic that wasn''t hindered by the arrays but the sheer number of the magical beasts and their size required lots of mana to take them down.

    And that''s only if the Awakened managed to shoot the beasts during a jump. Under the water, the spells quickly lost cohesion and at the speed the Wayfinder moved, it was hard to hit a swimming target.

    Lith closed his eyes and opened himself to the Void, conjuring the ck chains. They scoured his surroundings, finding numerous souls willing to help. Lith''s call wasn''t limited to humans, it was just that their souls were the most abundant in an urban environment.

    The shadows lurking in the underbelly of the Wayfinder took the shape of huge fish, turtles, and things that resembled oversized squids. The Eyes recognized among them shark-, orca-, and octopus-type magical beasts.

    He gave them three eyes tops since their opponents were non-Awakened and their cores were below the bright cyan. By the time he needed to use Invigoration to replenish his mana, over one hundred Demon of the Darkness had arisen.

    The attacking magical beasts were surprised and scared by the appearance of the enemy. They were forced to relent on the chase and defend themselves. The Demons avoided wasting strength on spells and charged at their respective targets, using Abomination Touch to increase their power.

    Octopi wrapped their tentacles around their prey while carnivorous predators bit them and never let go. With every second of struggle, the magical beasts weakened while the Demons grew stronger.

    "Let me show you how you are supposed to fight in high waters." Raagu opened the Sealed Box, releasing the King of the Liches from his mystical prison.

    The bones rolled in the wind, bouncing off the metal of the roof before sinking into the ocean below with a ssh.

    "Fair enough. It was stupid of me to expect anything different." The human representative sighed, holding Nero in the crook of her arm and making sure that the phctery was safe.

    It would act as a beacon and guide Inxialot back. As soon as he noticed the change in his amodations of course. Or rather, if he noticed.

    Raagu''s mage robe lit up, revealing the many array runes woven in its threads. One magic circle appeared in front of each of her fingers, one more around each wrist, and a bigger one behind her back.

    She released them on either side of the Wayfinder, outside the area of effect of its elemental sealing arrays, and watched them disappear in the distance.

    As soon as the magical formations materialized, one array conjured a continuous stream of bolts of lightning while another encased a cylindrical area 20 meters (66'') across and 30 meters (100'') deep.

    The second array wasprised of water and air elements, sealing the space inside so that the bolts of lightning generated by the first array couldn''t cross the boundary, keeping their full strength.

    The magical beasts trapped inside the concentric circles were stunned by the increasing voltage of the water until every nerve in their body was fried and their blood boiled.

    "Is that dimensional magic?" Friya asked.

    "One of its applications, yes." Raagu nodded. "Like this."

    More concentric circles were released, focusing the power of the water element in a reduced space. Precise chunks of water froze, trapping within themselves magical beasts who now couldn''t move or breathe.

    Even in the case they managed to break free with their own water magic before dying of asphyxiation, by that time they would be too far away from the Wayfinder to resume the chase.

    ''That''s the magical equivalent of depth charges.'' Lith thought, using the Eyes to decipher the secret behind Raagu''s insane casting speed.

    With each wave of her hands, Raagu released in front of the Wayfinder a set of three concentric arrays. The first was darkness-based, filling the space within the magic circles with entropy.

    The second was a gravity array that created an upward stream of water carrying the magical beasts chasing the train. The third one was the dimensional array Containment Field, which restricted the effects of the other arrays and shielded the Wayfinder from them.

    Up in the air and away from the water, the sea creatures lost the cover of the ocean and the advantage of their bulk. They were reduced to huge balloons of flesh that the mages lined up on the wagons'' ceiling shot down with ease.

    Even if they missed, the darkness magic from the first array dealt enough damage to force the surviving beasts to run away.

    Arrays were supposed to be slow andplicated, but she conjured them with ease. At a quick nce, she wasbining true magic with body casting and her robe.

 Chapter 2834 Battle at the Sea (Part 2)

    Chapter 2834 Battle at the Sea (Part 2)

    Somehow, the runes of the enchantments woven in the fabric were capable of channeling Raagu''s mana.

    She had no need to manifest any rune that was already present on her mage robe, she just had to circte the proper elemental energy and the artifact would do the rest. Conjuring runes was akin to writing words using mana as ink.

    The robe, in turn, acted as a printer with a pre-set series of characters that needed mana to be traced with mechanical perfection.

    Much to Lith''s dismay, that was all he could get since the cloaking spells of the artifact hindered the Eyes and he had more important things to do. The Throndar wasn''t afraid of the puny humans and wanted to teach them a lesson for invading his turf.

    The gleaming metal of the Wayfinder and the powerful white crystal would be a fine addition to his resources, maybe even enough to craft proper armor for his massive body.

    ''Those fuckers are Awakened and bright violet cores at that but they arend dwellers.'' He thought. ''All their fancy spells and equipment are useless here.''

    Lith shot both a Final Eclipse and a Raging Sun at the Emperor Beast, but to no avail. The creature kept his body enveloped in thick streams of water that made up for hisck of equipment.

    Even the scorching mes of a tier five spell were instantly doused by the ocean which also neutralized the darkness element before it could reach the Throndar''s skin.

    ''I could try a tier five Spirit Magic spell, but the bastard keeps his distance. I bet that the moment he recognizes the emerald light, he will dive down and my mana will be lost.'' Lith thought and he was right.

    The Emperor Beast limited himself to howling orders and attacking from a distance. He knew that he had no chance of victory against a violet-cored Awakened in directbat, but the indirect path was open.

    The Throndar used his enormous mass to raise tidal waves every time he emerged. Then, he boosted their size and speed with water and air magic and sent them crashing against the Wayfinder.

    Sure, the elemental sealing arrays would neutralize his mana as soon as it entered their range, but they could do nothing against the sheer volume of water and the kic energy it had umted until that point.

    "You''ll never believe what happened to me!" An annoying voice said from the emerald light of a Warp Steps. "Somehow, I found myself sleeping with the fish and then snacking with them. Too bad that I was the main course!"

    Water spurted from the Steps and the attire of the Lich King was now adorned with several magical beasts still biting at his limbs. They were twisting their bodies in the attempt to rip what little of flesh he had left and crack his bones.

    A mere shrug turned the predators into prey as Inxialot leeched the life force and flesh off the magical beasts. Their bodies became mummified for an instant and then only the skeletons remained.

    As for the King of Liches, he was back to his human appearance. Sort of.

    He now looked like a handsome man in his fifties, about 1.78 meters (5''10") tall, with greying brown hair streaked blue, red, and ck all over. The many holes in his tunic showed more of his physique than the etiquette of any race that employed clothes allowed.

    Part of his body was covered by dull scales that belonged to the fish he had fed upon, others were enveloped in a chitinous shell from the crustaceans, and small tentacles whipped off his chin akin to a living beard.

    "Just to be sure, is this some kind of weemittee or are we under attack?" He asked.

    "We''re under attack." Raagu handed him the cat in order to freely move her arm and further hasten her cast speed.

    "Thank the gods. Otherwise I would have been in the embarrassing position to ask how to distinguish between the buffet and our hosts." A wave of his Inxialot''s hands activated his tier five Spirit Spell, Something Banshee Something.

    Its name was as unimaginative as its effects wereplex. Air magic released a stream of shockwaves from his mouth and hands, producing an effect simr to the shriek of a Banshee.

    The main difference was that each sonic st had the same frequency so that whenever two or more shockwaves ovepped, the perfect constructive interference increased their destructive power.

    On top of that, Inxialot oriented his arms in front and to the sides of his head so as to form a triangle pattern. When the shockwaves met in the middle of each triangle that formed as the Wayfinder moved forward, the water element changed their path.

    Fire magic altered the water''s temperature and split the shockwaves among three different water currents. Instead of shing and canceling each other, the three currents spiraled in the water until the constructive interference was restored, fusing them into a single shockwave.

    Earth magic conjured a temporary echo chamber that amplified the newborn shockwave''s power and light magic gave it substance. On top of that, sound moved faster in water than in the air so Something Banshee Something affected the area where the Train was, where it had been, and where it was going to be.

    The marine creatures were disoriented, stunned, and sted away from the Wayfinder as the sonic sts hit them in an unrelenting onught. Those who survived were so confused that they couldn''t understand the orders of the Baraham anymore.

    The magical beasts either ran away or mistook allies for enemies and started to tear each other apart.

    The sides of four cargo wagons of the Wayfinder flipped vertically open and as many DoLoreans shaped like muscle cars bolted out of them. Lith recognized in the undercarriage several minigun-looking that were actuallyprised of dozens of magic wands bound together.

    There were four of them one for each side and the pilot only controlled the one on the front while the soldier on the passenger seat aimed the other three. Combined bolts of lightning stunned the target despite the water mass, sts of ice sealed their movements, and darkness projectiles sealed the job.

    The DoLoreans moved nimbly through the air, going everywhere they were needed and shooting without a care since the passengers of the Wayfinder were protected by the elemental sealing arrays.

    Away from the dimensional seal, the soldiers had solely to put their hands out of the windows to release barrels of ck metal from their dimensional rings. They sunk quickly, reaching a depth of several dozen meters before exploding.

    The shockwaves released deformed the sea surface for a second and sted away everything in their path. Even those away from the explosion were not safe from its secondary effects.

    "Now you can go." Raagu lifted the emerald barrier around Lith and he took off.

    The Emperor Beasts had poor vision, needing echolocation to pinpoint his enemies and soldiers alike. Even from the distance, Inxialot''s spell and the depth charges had jammed their senses and the Throndar was no different.

    When he noticed the sun turning dark before its time it was already toote.

 Chapter 2835 Wayfinderâ€™s Core (Part 1)

    Chapter 2835 Wayfinder¡¯s Core (Part 1)

    ?

    Double Edge pierced through the wateryer and into the flesh of the Throndar who groaned in pain. The creature dived down, knowing that his only hope of salvation was the Dragons'' natural weakness to water.

    Yet no matter how much he struggled or how hard he whipped with his tail, the Emperor Beast kept moving up.

    "Let me guess, you''ve never heard about Gravity Magic." Lith said while channeling the spell inside the de and through his limbs with which he was grabbing at the Throndar''s massive body.

    The weight of the Divine and the Emperor Beast was reduced to the point that the Tiamat''s wings were strong enough to lift them both, bringing them high into the sky where even the mightiest of whales was nothing but a clumsy lump of flesh.

    "I-" The unnamed Throndar was cut short and into countless pieces as he was hit by Lith''s de Tier spell, Ruin.

    While conjuring Demons non-stop and under the cover of his powerful and (allegedly) reliable allies, Lith had safely conjured the de spell. He hated loose ends and he didn''t have the time to check that the beast didn''t have a second brain, heart, or anything that would ensure his survival.

    After all, an Awakened needed but one breath to heal from any injury.

    The strength generated by thebination of Lith''s bright violet core and the various power cores of his equipment killed the Throndar in one hit. Ruin also split the sea open for hundreds of meters, exposing the seabed to sunlight for the first time in eons, and cutting the clouds asunder.

    "It was a rhetorical question." Away from the Wayfinder, Lith used his pocket dimension to collect as many pieces of his fallen enemy as he could. "I wonder if a Throndar works better as an ingredient in the Forge or the kitchen."

    The Library didn''t say much about that species of Emperor Beasts. Only that its bones were highly sought after by artisans to craft sturdy but flexible pieces.

    "Only one way to find out." Lith was about to try and orient himself based on the map stored inside Soluspedia and the course that the Wayfinder was supposed to follow when a snarl arose from his guts.

    Elysia was now far away enough to trigger his homing instinct and became aware of the baby''s position better than his own. A flight spell, fusion magic, and furious ps of his wings brought him past the speed of sound and the Train within the range of his eyes.

    "Where''s Lith?" Kam asked when she noticed that he was the only one missing after the others returned inside the wagon and closed the hatch on the roof.

    "Don''t worry, Kami. He''s alright." Solus said, trying to reassure her.

    "What if he''s alright in the middle of the ocean?" She replied before adding with a mind link. ''Does Lith have the stone ring or is it in your possession?''

    ''He has it. Sorry.'' Without the ring, Solus couldn''t check on Lith unless he was within the range of their telepathic bond. ''But don''t worry. His homing instinct-''

    A knocking on the ceiling aroused Kam''s hope and once Orion reopened the hatch, it confirmed Solus'' words.

    "I''m sorry for making you worry, baby." Lith said as he climbed down. "I got lost for a moment, but I''m here now and I''m alright."

    "Thank the gods! I was afraid-" Kam went for a hug but he dodged her, running to embrace Elysia.

    "Daddy is here baby girl." Lith peppered her with kisses while the baby cooed in joy. "I''m never going to leave your side."

    "Of course he wasn''t talking to me." Kam said with a snarl.

    Yet the genuine affection between father and daughter melted her heart, making her rage disappear. Then, a feeling of irritation and envy reced that as well.

    "Do you think he''ll ever love me like that?" She asked all those present.

    "He already does." Solus replied.

    "Obviously." Quy said.

    "No, but you''lle a close second." Orion''s words garnered him a firing squad of reproachful gazes. "Why are you looking at me like that? Was I supposed to lie?"

    "You''re such an oaf, Dad." Friya sighed.

    "What? I''d give my life in an instant for your mother!" The female audience aed. "But I''d also throw her in a Dragon''s maw with no hesitation if it meant saving my girls. That''s my duty as a parent."

    "Thanks, Dad." Quy and Friya stiffened for a second before hugging him, moved by his sincerity and affection.

    Solus and Kam, instead, remained stiff.

    "So, am I expendable?" Kam asked with a shocked expression on her face.

    "You and me both, sister." Solus replied.

    Only after reassuring Elysia of his well-being and making sure that she and Valeron weren''t scared anymore did Lith check on Kam and Solus.

    "Thank the gods you two are alright. I was worried sick." He said.

    "That''s hard to believe." Kam grumbled.

    "Yeah, it took you so long to even look at us that I was starting to believe you had forgotten about our existence." Solus nodded.

    "That''s unfair! I-" Lith tried to defend himself, only to be drowned by a hail of rightfulints.

    "You can roast himter." Orion stepped to the rescue. "Now I need Lith to check on the status of the power core. The fight should have consumed quite a bit of energy and has put the enchantments of the Wayfinder under serious stress.

    "If there''s a w in the design of the power core, it''s going to turn up any moment now."

    Orion sent away Kelia, Kam, and Quy, allowing solely those who had contributed to the Forgemastering blueprints of the train to stay.

    "But Friya is staying!" Quy objected.

    "I''m sorry, sis. Masters of Space only." Friya waved her hand until her father closed the door and magically sealed the wagon.

    The power core of the Wayfinder was located in a secretpartment under the babies'' crib in Lith''s bedroom. essing the power core required a password to open thepartment and a series of spells that only Orion was privy to.

    Once he was done, a small cylindrical pedestal came out of the floor and the inner walls, floor, and ceiling of the wagon turned out to be covered by runes. The now visible words of power each projected a beam of light at the pedestal, generating a copy of themselves.

    The mass of runes swirled in a chaotic bunch for a moment as they rearranged themselves. Then, they formed a perfect sphere of pure energy that had a few dull patches.

    "Fuck me sideways. Are you telling me that-"

    "Correct." Orion nodded. "The entire wagon is actually the power core. This is just the control panel. It projects a scaled-down interface of the power core to perform maintenance more easily."

    It was one of the reasons Kelia''s breathing technique had failed to crack the mystery of the Wayfinder. She and Dusk had searched for a dense energy mass whereas the power core was evenly distributed throughout the wagon.

    Even if they realized their mistake, it would have been pointless since at Kelia''s level it was impossible to cover such a wide area with her breathing technique.

 Chapter 2836 Wayfinderâ€™s Core (Part 2)

    Chapter 2836 Wayfinder¡¯s Core (Part 2)

    "How is that even possible?" Solus asked. "Isn''t the energy stored in the power core supposed to be focused?"

    "It is focused." Orion shrugged. "Do you realize how long the Wayfinder is? For the power core to control and protect every car, it must hold lots of energy and it also needs to be big enough to contain it.

    "You can''t expect every power core to be of the same size. Do you really think that something as big as an academy can be fueled by a core the size of a fist?"

    "Point taken." Solus nodded while rethinking a few things like the structure of the enchantments of Double Edge and Lith''s Voidwalker armor.

    "What do you mean, point taken? This thing is massive." Friya said in amazement.

    "Still nothingpared to the power core of an academy." Lith shrugged. "If the White Griffon is anything like the Golden Griffon, then the entire Headmaster''s Office is part of the power core.

    "A part?" Friya was bbergasted.

    "Yeah." Solus nodded. "Hystar''s room was just the ess point and first line of defense of the power core. Its walls hid an even bigger room that contained a white mana crystal bigger than a person.

    "And that was just the main focus point of the power core."

    "Good gods!" Friya turned to her father in disbelief.

    "I can neither confirm nor deny that." He said while nodding vigorously. "Now enough chit-chat and exin to me what''s going on."

    A few touches of Orion''s finger broke down the power core into the single pseudo cores of which it wasprised. The dull areas belonged to enchantments whose output had dropped to a dangerous level or whose runes had suffered significant damage.

    "This isn''t supposed to happen." Orion exined after noticing the dumb look on the faces of his fellow Forgemasters. "A power core should be able to distribute its energy evenly to prevent such things from happening.

    "It''s better to have the whole structure lose a bit of power andpensate for the sudden energy expenditure than keep the various spellspartmentalized and risk a partial failure of the system."

    He moved his hand near the luminous sphere, pointing at the structural choke points that separated the still-high output enchantments from the weakened ones. Orion''s first instinct was to re-route the energy where needed, but he trusted Lith enough to wait for an exnation before doing something potentially dangerous.

    "What you say is correct for something with a straightforward purpose like an amulet or a sword, but not for something asplex as the Wayfinder." Lith shook his head. "As you can see the Light Mastery and elemental sealing enchantments are almost depleted from the fight, but that had to be expected."

    In the absence of solid ground to conjure sturdy barriers, Light Mastery was the only possible defense against physical attacks like the magical beasts charging at the Train or the tidal waves unleashed by the Throndar.

    Without it, the wagons would have been heavily damaged, deforming the rune patterns necessary to keep the Wayfinder running.

    The same applied to the elemental sealing arrays. A Train was a means of transportation, not a battle tank. Spells could easily pierce through theyers of iron and Orichalcum, potentially flooding the wagons.

    "I know, but I don''t get why you guys put the choking points. Because of them, it''s taking too long to recharge the depowered pseudo cores. If there''s another attack, we are going to be sitting ducks." Orion replied.

    "True, but at least this way we can safely reach the nearest ind and recover the lost energy. Take those choking points away and we are going to sink like a brick." Solus replied.

    "What do you mean?" Orion shuddered as the vivid image of the Wayfinder falling under the waves shed in front of his eyes.

    "Dad, the power core has to constantly check the position of the floor of every car andpensate for waves, depressions, and sea altitude." Friya replied. "All the while keeping the people and things inside from being thrown around at every step of the way.

    "To do that, the Warp Core requires a steady supply of mana. If a sudden drop in the energy level of the shields were to be reflected on the Warp Core, the consequences would be catastrophic.

    "Best case scenario, the flight and stabilizing spells would go out of sync. Anything inside the Wayfinder would jolt like during a quake while the soldiers and mages fighting on the outside would be thrown at sea."

    "And this is the best-case scenario?" Orion was bbergasted.

    "An overly optimistic one at that." Lith nodded. "Worst case scenario, part of the Wayfinder would sink and our own propulsion system would make us derail. At that point, the wagons would turn into death traps and anyone without Spirit Magic would die."

    Orion nodded, realizing that the failure of the elemental sealing array system wasn''t such a big deal. Even chore magic could get rid of the water seeping through a crack, but only if the passengers had ess to it.

    Without the elemental sealing arrays, spells could damage the Train but the people inside were also free from the restrictions and made up for it with their own magic.

    "Always remember that I never nned for Trains to cross the ocean. On the ground, the strain on the Warp Core is much smaller and even if something dangerous happens, a Train can stop anywhere."

    "I see." Orion nodded. "If I knew about these issues, I would have sacrificed a bit of space in every wagon for auxiliary mana crystals that would fuel solely the defensive systems.

    "As it is, your power core can still work at sea but it can''t withstand consecutive attacks."

    "True, but it wasn''t supposed to withstand one to start with." Solus grunted, her professional pride stung by those words. "The safety measures are intended to weather storms or a small group of enemies until safending.

    "Not to repel the attack of an enemy army led by a creature the size of a Divine Beast. Again, this isn''t an armored tank nor a weapon. It''s a farming Train!"

    "I know how it''s called." Orion couldn''t understand Solus'' annoyance since to him the word had no meaning outside what Lith gave to it. "Still, this is the reason the Royals insisted you guys came with us.

    "We wouldn''t have gotten past the ambush so easily without Lith and thanks to your exnation, I''ve learned a lot. Once I report my findings to the Royal Forgemasters, we will be able to improve the design of the future Trains significantly."

    He could now appreciate how Lith''s chocking points in the power core let the non-necessary energy to the Warp Core slowly flow into the pseudo cores of the defensive systems withoutpromising the speed or stability of the Wayfinder.

    Once they reached the nearest ind, Orion took another look at the power core. The moment the Wayfindernded and the Warp Core was disengaged, the choke points disappeared.

    The remaining energy was evenly distributed between the different pseudo cores, restoring the Train''s full defensive capabilities. In the process, the mana crystals were drained ording to their current residual energy so that they wouldplete their respective recharge cycles at the same time.

 Chapter 2837 Welcome Committee (Part 1)

    Chapter 2837 Wee Committee (Part 1)

    ''Magnificent!'' Orion felt proud of his daughter but also envious of Lith and Solus.

    "The good news is that we suffered no damage or casualty during the attack. The bad news is that if any of those beasts survived and called for reinforcements, it won''t take them long to find us.

    "If they keep attacking us in the open sea, we''ll be forced to make multiple stops and dy our arrival."

    "Thank the gods." Raagu sighed in relief.

    "I beg your pardon?" Orion was bbergasted.

    "Oh, sorry. The full phrase was actually: thank the gods Inxialot can''t hear anything from the Sealed Box. Otherwise at this point, his whining would have driven me crazy. That or he would have tried to kill us all and return to hisb."

    Nero meowed in approval, but Raagu didn''t fall for his act one bit.

    ''There''s no way on Mogar that a normal cat talks, reasons, and even protects the secrets of its airheaded master. I have no idea how Nero''s mana core is cloaked even to my breathing technique but if he''s a cat then I''m a Guardian.'' She thought.

    "Maybe I can help." Kelia stepped forward. "I know that at my level I can''t do much in a fightpared to you guys but I can still earn my spot among the Wayfinder''s crew."

    She ced her hands on the metal of the external wall, using her breathing technique, Sun re, to identify the main rune pathways that connected the mana crystals to each other and to the power core.

    At that point, she stimted her mana core and had its energy synchronize with Dusk''s power core. Itsted only for a split second, but it opened a crack in Baba Yaga''s seal that the Horseman exploited to release as much Life Maelstrom as he could before the seal reformed.

    The seal only prevented Dusk from essing his powers, it didn''t diminish them one bit. The equivalent of one burst of silver lightning generated by an adult Griffon at the peak of his strength flooded the Wayfinder.

    It was split between the enchantments thatprised the power core and the size of the Train also diluted the effect of Life Maelstrom but even then, it was enough to amplify the absorption rate of world energy by several folds.

    "It''s done." She panted, sweating profusely from the strain. "This way we should be able to resume our journey before the magical beasts can gather in numbers great enough to be a threat to us."

    The system''s mainframe confirmed her words. The recharge process would nowst half an hour instead of four.

    ''I can finally give them both Hands.'' Friya sighed in relief, feeling the power of Menadion''s masterpiece at her fingertips. ''Master Faluel entrusted them to me in case of emergency and thanks to Kelia, there''s no longer the risk of exposing them.''

    Unbeknownst to everyone, Friya and Lith were using their respective Hands to empower the Wayfinder under the cover of Kelia''s Life Maelstrom.

    The power core ended up recovering in just a quarter of an hour thanks to the synergy between the artifacts and the bloodline ability and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

    At least until they reached Jiera''s coast.

    "Shore!" Sentinels had been left outside the whole time in order to react more quickly in case old or new enemies found them. "Also, we''ve got several unidentified humanoids inbound. Everyone to the battle stations!"

    A group of creatures covered in sky-blue scales were approaching the Wayfinder from both sides. Their webbed fingersbined with their steel-like muscles and their mastery over water magic allowed them to match the Train''s speed.

    Living at the depth of the ocean meant having bodies tempered by the high pressure and learning how to ride the water currents. The unknown attackers kept themselves below the ocean''s surface and moved too quickly to notice whether they wielded weapons or not.

    Their only distinguishing feature was the brightly colored mane that the soldiers assumed was hair since it came out of the creatures'' heads.

    Lith, Orion, and the members of the Awakened Council joined the soldiers, every one of them weaving their spells.

    "At ease!" Except for Lith who recognized them as merfolk.

    The Eyes even spotted a few known energy signatures but if not for Solus'' memory, he would have never been able to associate a name to them.

    "What are you guys doing here, Rem?"He asked to a plump merfolk with sky-blue hair that matched the color of her skin.

    She was leading a unit of ten people arranged in a spear-tip formation, guiding the water magic of those behind her to bend the violent oceanic currents to her will and propel the merfolk forward.

    "It would be easier to talk if you just slowed down!" Even though she spoke while gurgling the water coursing through her gills and her tone was strained by the effort of keeping up with the Wayfinder, her voice sounded friendly.

    "Oh, right." Lith gestured the all-clear to Orion. "They are not beasts. They are merfolk from Jiera. I can vouch for their good nature."

    "How do you know a school of legendary beings and how can they speak Garlen''snguage so well?" Orion couldn''t believe his own ears. "Assuming that merfolk actually exist, they should speak gibberish that only they understand like everyone else in Jiera."

    "We are not fish!" A short but fit male merfolk with purple hair that Lith recognized as Mal shouted. "We don''t move in schools, but in units!"

    "My bad!" Orion realized how rude his words were and gave Mal a small bow.

    To make matters even more embarrassing, judging from Mal''s offended tone and the angry gurgling soundsing from the merfolk all around the Wayfinder, Orion was pretty certain to have used a racial slur.

    "Also, everynguage is gibberish until you learn it. Jerk!" A muscr male merfolk with long violet hair said the moment the Train slowed down enough for him to catch his breath.

    ''Or maybe more than one slur.'' Orion inwardly cursed his own big mouth.

    "I apologize for my rudeness." He actually said. "Our people have more inmon than I thought. We humans too move in small units."

    Raagu checked the neers with Life Vision and the moment she confirmed that they were casting solely movement spells, she made sure that the Sealed Box containing Inxialot was closed shut.

    Then, she set the output of its dimensionalpressing array to the max, just to be safe.

    ''We are already on the verge of a diplomatic ident. That moron would escte things into a war before I have the time to say-''

    "Free specimens!" That was all that the King of Liches managed to say before she cut off the audio feed, but judging from the res, it was almost enough.

    "Good to know." Mal ignored Inxialot''s remark and focused on Orion. "Your race must have improved a lot, then. Back in the day, everyone referred to a group of humans as an infestation."

    The merfolkughed in unison, d to repay their guests in kind.

    Half of the people from the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Council blushed in embarrassment while the other half scowled.

 Chapter 2838 Welcome Committee (Part 2)

    Chapter 2838 Wee Committee (Part 2)

    Neither of them liked being on the receiving end of an insult.

    "That''s a good one." Lithughed at the joke as well, making everyone agree and re at him. "Can I help you guys with something or is this just a friendly visit?"

    "I hope this answers your question." Rem snapped her fingers and the various units of merfolk produced sshes of water that reached high above the Wayfinder, splitting sunlight into many rainbows on its passage.

    Others conjured waves tall enough to reach the soldiers and pass them baskets filled with seafood and colorful gands made from unknown algae.

    "Don''t worry we have already removed the poison." A female merfolk said with a warm smile only after a soldier had already worn the gand, creeping him out.

    The poor man was torn between the instinct to throw it away and the desire to not disrespect his hosts.

    His expression was so awkward that the merfolk burst into a gurgle ofughter.

    "I''d say we''re even now." Lith said. "Jokes aside, to what do we owe the pleasure of his wee?"

    "Not them. You." Rem pointed at him. "I require permission toe aboard."

    "Permission granted." Orion said with amanding voice, trying to regain some face.

    A magical wave lifted the female merfolk on top of the Wayfinder. Lith offered her hand but Rem ignored it, giving him a deep bow before getting down on one knee.

    "It''s an honor to have you all back. I''ve brought enough of my people to safely escort you to shore. We have already secured the way and the perimeter of a greatnding site. It has plenty of fresh water and trees.

    "Your people can get fruit, meat, or fish based on what they like. You won''t find all those things in a single ce for kilometers."

    "Thank you very much." Lith returned the bow and then offered Remhis hands to help her to stand up. "By the way, what do you mean, having us all back? I''m the only one here. Phloria¡­"

    An awkward silence ensued as the Wayfinder approached a sandy shore. As Rem had promised, there was plenty of space for the Train, even after splitting it into singr wagons.

    A wide river came from the maind and flowed into the sea, its course surrounded by thick tall trees just a few dozen of metres from the shoreline.

    "She gloriously fell in battle while fighting for her people. I know." Rempleted the phrase for him. "And you must be Lord Orion. We are very sorry for your loss. My people owe your daughter a huge debt of gratitude that neither death nor time can erase.

    "If there''s anything we can do for you, you just have to ask."

    "Did you know my Little Flower?" Due to the circumstances of Phloria''s death while enved by the Unwavering Loyalty array, her name was still muttered with shame and disgust in the Royal Court.

    Everything she had done as an officer of the Kingdom, every one of the feats she had performed since she had enrolled in the White Griffon academy had been eclipsed by a single word: traitor.

    No one cared if before her capture Phloria had valiantly fought on the frontlines of the War of the Griffons or that her loyalty had been extorted with Forbidden Magic. In life and death, no one cares about extenuating circumstances, only results matter.

    To the people of the Kingdom, Phloria''s name had be no different from that of An Linnea, the traitorous former Headmaster of the ck Griffon.

    They were both considered oath breakers who had joined the Mad Queen hungry for power and revenge against those who had slighted them.

    Despite all of Orion, Lith, and the Royals'' efforts to clear her name, the public opinion had yet to budge.

    "We met briefly, but yes." Rem nodded. "I''ve been blessed with the opportunity to know Phloria and share the same air with her. I''ve heard about what happened to her and you have my deepest condolences.

    "It should have happened to a lesser person. Your daughter Phloria has been killed thrice. Once when the ve spell forced her to trample over everything she had fought all her life to protect, killing her spirit.

    "Once when Thrud had her executed with a filthy trick, killing her body. And thest time when the stupid humans of the Kingdom tarnished her reputation, killing her memory." Orion was so used to Phloria''s name being ndered that hearing Rem talking about her with deep respect gripped his heart.

    "Know that my people have no care for such idiocy. In our history books, Phloria is recorded as a hero. The circumstances of her death are described in detail, making her figure tragic, not despicable.

    "I hope that you all will find the time to visit our city of Zhen. It would be my honor to show you the monument we have erected to celebrate our heroes." The merfolk gave a deep bow to Orion and Lith, freezing at the sight of the babies strapped on his chest.

    "You said all of us. Is Tista already here?" Lith asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

    "Yes, of course. We would have had no way of knowing your route or an estimate of your time of arrival otherwise." Rem had a hard time taking her eyes off the babies and especially from their hair.

    "Your sister is here? How?" Orion felt a bit confused by the revtion.

    "She wanted toe as well but the Royals mentioned the weight issue so she just flew here on her own." Lith shrugged. "Do you have a problem with that?"

    "Not at all. I''m just surprised." Orion shook his head. "We need all the help we can get. If Tista is here so must be her boyfriend and he''s from Jiera, correct?"

    Lith nodded.

    "This is great. Maybe we''ll avoid pointless squabbles with the locals and with their help, finding the perfect ce for our first settling will be much easier." Orion gave Rem a quick bow and then jumped off the Wayfinder, prompting everyone to do the same.

    "Disembark now! If you puke it, you clean it." He said with a magically amplified voice that allowed him to be heard from everyone inside the Wayfinder.

    The volume of his voice was no higher than a regr shout whereas its frequency was modted so that his words resonated with the metal chassis of the Train, making it akin to a sounding board.

    The envoys of the two countries and the Council came out of their respective wagons in an orderly fashion while Orion used a chore magic spell to perform and update the headcount in real-time.

    "I don''t want to sound nosy, but did you make my race the honor of taking a merfolk bride already?" Rem asked while staring intently at Kam and Solus.

    Their skin was too dark, their eyes too brown, and their hair too in to be merfolk. Sure, they might have shapeshifted, but Rem couldn''t find a single reason for the spouse of such a powerful being like Lith to hide from the eyes of her lessers.

 Chapter 2839 Landing Spot (Part 1)

    Chapter 2839  Landing Spot (Part 1)

    ?2839  Landing Spot (Part 1)

    "Merfolk bride?" Solus looked at her hair which bore solely the silver and orange streaks and realized the misunderstanding.

    "Already?" Kam furrowed her brows, her voice holding much more annoyance than Solus''.

    "No bloodline can survive with just one member." Rem was puzzled by their reaction and even more by the hostility toward such a basic concept. "Having more than one spouse is the quickest way to spread the Tiamat species and tap into the potential that each different race can grant it when they are mixed.

    "I assume Magus Verhen has a merfolk bride due to the wonderful color of his children''s hair." She pointed at Valeron''s emerald head and at Elisya''s six elemental streaks.

    "I think introductions are in order." Lith stepped in, feeling Kam''s fury rising.

    She already had a bone to pick with those who after seeing Solus'' true hair mistook her for Elysia''s mother. With those who kept pushing Lith for sleeping with women of other races, she had another bone entirely.

    "This is my wife and mother of my child, Kam Verhen. For the record, she''s a human."

    "Hi." Kam kept her arms crossed and exuded enough hostility to make her words sound like an insult.

    "Child?" Rem was bbergasted by the singr.

    "This is Elysia Verhen, my daughter." Lith took the baby girl''s hand, making her wave at Rem.

    "Dya!" Elysia said with a giggle.

    "She is Solus Verhen, my partner..." The use of different terms to describe the same role puzzled the merfolk but she med it on herck of knowledge about the Kingdom''s traditions.

    "And mother of your son." Rem nodded,pleting the phrase for him.

    "What? No?" Solus blushed, turning around to not face the merfolk.

    "And also a human." Lith rolled his eyes and pretended to have not heard anything. "And this is Valeron Griffon the Second. He is the son of my fallen brother Jormun and a direct descendant of Tyris'' lineage. He''s an orphan and I''ve adopted him."

    "What? Two humans? I mean, what about the babies'' hair? No human can have such bright or diverse colors. That''s exclusive to merfolk." Rem pointed at Valeron first and then at Elysia.

    Her voice was filled with disbelief at those words as much as her face.

    "Jormun was an Emerald Dragon, so you''re wrong about that." Lith pointed at the baby boy who said: "Dya." With a sad tone. "As for Elysia, her hair is like that because she''s an Awakened and is attuned with all six elements."

    "An Awakened baby?" Rem''s disbelief turned into shock.

    "Both of them are, actually." At a gentle scratch under their chins, the babies shapeshifted into their respective Divine Beast forms and exuded an orange aura.

    Rem''s knees buckled at the sight and she fell butt-first on the ground, followed by the merfolk who hade ashore to help the humans. Those still at sea forgot how to swim and sunk like bricks.

    "Damn, no matter how many times I see this, it''s always funny." Orion and his daughtersughed whereas everyone else from Garlen wore a grimace on their faces.

    The fact that Elysia was Awakened in the womb and that she had six streaks was known for long enough that people had the time to swallow their pride and eat their liver.

    Valeron''s Awakening, instead, had been kept a secret until that moment. It made everyone gripe in hindsight for not having demanded the baby aspensation for Thrud''s war crimes.

    ''It''s not like I can talk my way with Leegaain. Even if I could, I''d have to deal with Tyris first.'' Raagu and everyone else who had witnessed the God of Wisdom taking the baby and the Arthan Set for himself thought.

    ''Taking the baby by force would only get me a closed-casket funeral.''

    "I see." Rem stood up as soon as her legs stopped wobbling. "Congrattions, then. The young Lady Verhen looks as talented as she is beautiful. May the gods bless with the same gifts your many future children."

    "Thanks." Lith nodded, but he could read between the lines and so could Kam.

    Saying that she wasn''t happy was an understatement.

    "Guys, you want to watch this." Orion stepped in to defuse the situation before the members of the weemittee got themselves ripped into shreds. "Rhak Wam Shusa!"

    On hismand, the magic crystals studded on the wagons of the Wayfinder detached from one another and started moving each on its own. The twenty wagons arranged themselves into a small vige of silvery houses, forming three rims like the Kingdom''s cities.

    The armed forces were stationed in the outer rim, people like Lith and Orion who had both power and leadership roles had their quarter in the middle rim, while the inner rim was reserved for the cargo wagons and the members of the expedition who had little battle prowess but a vital role to y.

    "Why not a circle like when we took a rest on the isl-" The pieces of the Wayfinder started to pulse, cutting Lith short.

    In the vige formation, the magical runes inscribed on the different wagons were aligned so as to form the same arrays that protected the Wayfinder in its train form, but also to expand their area of effect.

    Several concentric energy fields expanded from the inner rim of the vige, growing in power, size, and brightness as they collected the runes and power from the other wagons.

    The barriers were over 300 meters (985'') across, protecting the entire camp and its outskirts, giving everyone enough space to move around without feeling trapped. The most external barrier was made of solid light, giving the guards the time they needed to assemble in case of attack.

    "This is amazing." Lith studied the array field, recognizing the various defense measures he had implemented for the DoLorean but used in a way he hadn''t thought of.

    The Light Mastery array was the only one covering the outer rim so that the people on guard duty could use magic freely to scout their surroundings. The elemental sealing arrays covered up to the middle rim so that even if a spell broke through the first line of defense, it wouldn''t hurt anyone.

    The dimensionalpressing array, instead, was focused on the inner rim, to keep anyone from taking away resources or materials without supervision. Also, it prevented enemies from reaching the core of the vige and killing its weakest inhabitants with a Spirit Steps.

    "Thanks." Orion nodded. "This is why. The ring form amplifies the arrays by stacking them but it also restricts our strength. This way, instead, we have the same level of protection of a middle-sized city and we can adjust the arrays based on the circumstances."

    Meanwhile, the merfolk had recovered from the shock and stared in awe at the magical city. More emerged from the ocean, bringing food and offering to help with unloading the Wayfinder.

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Orion gave Rem a polite bow. "We aren''t going to take out anything but food for now. We''d be honored to share what little we have with you, though."

    "With pleasure." Rem gestured to her people to start making fires and bring fresh water.

 Chapter 2840 Landing Spot (Part 2)

    Chapter 2840 Landing Spot (Part 2)

    ?2840  Landing Spot (Part 2)

    "Does my sister know we have arrived?" Lith asked.

    "No. Thest time I saw her, she was busy visiting our city. Lady Tista wasn''t willing to wait for you at high sea for hours so we didn''t push her. I''ll have someone look for her immediately." Rem replied.

    "Hours?" Kam echoed, feeling a newfound respect for the merfolk.

    "No need. I''ll inform her myself." Lith took hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension.

    The moment the runes of its surface lit up, he received several notifications and calls. Tista was among them.

    "Wee to Jiera, lil bro." She said with a warm smile that was a bit creepy due to the fangs of her Hekate form. "Where are you now?"

    "Rem led us to a shore three kilometers south of the nnednding point." Lith conjured a hologram depicting their actual position on Jiera''s map. "We-"

    "Gotcha. Be there in a minute." Tista hung up the call and Lith checked the messages.

    Most of them belonged to his family and the Royals asking him to update them about the status of the journey as soon as he could. The others were from the few people of Jiera he knew. Also, there were messages from both dion and Ilthin.

    "Gods, no." Kam groaned. "Not Ilthin. I don''t have the energy to bear with her usual flirting. Not after such a warm and caring reception."

    She hadn''t missed how the merfolk setting camp for the expedition leaders were all slender females nor that as the water dried out of their bodies, the blue scales of the merfolk were slowly reced by pale white skin.

    The Merfolk women were paying Lith and the babies special attention, bending over to coo at the kids and arrange the food on a conjured stone table.

    Orion was having a hard time not blushing and not staring at the naked supple forms of his hosts as they cooked the food and served him drinks. Even Inxialot seemed to be upset by the spectacle.

    "I bet this is something you haven''t seen in a long while." Raagu nudged him while she focused on the male poption.

    "You can say that." He nodded. "Having so many precious specimens at hand and no usible deniability for kidnapping a few of them is the stuff of nightmares."

    The King of Liches sighed and the merfolk within earshot of hisints gave him a wide berth, moving in small groups whenever they were forced to approach his position.

    "Wee to Jiera, Lith." Tista and Bodyanded outside the camp, shrinking and shapeshifting their bodies into their respective human forms at the same time. "How was the trip?"

    "We ran into a snag on our way here but that''s it." Lith stood up to escape the encirclement and greet them both. "When did you guys get here and what have you been up to until now?"

    "We arrived yesterday. We got to Jiera quickly because we used Invigoration and flew almost non-stop. After wended, we went to Reghia. I had no idea how to reach Zhen by myself or how to get in touch with the merfolk since we never exchanged contact runes.

    "So, I asked for Xoth the Nue''s help. He arranged our meeting with Rem thest time we were here and I assumed he could do it again."

    "You did well." Rem nodded. "We merfolk don''t keep ourmunication amulets at hand because they don''t work underwater. The air and light spells get scrambled underwater and even if they didn''t, merfolk would have no way to talk back."

    "Then how do you keep in contact with the human and beast cities?" Solus asked.

    "Like this." Rem pointed at a bracelet bearing a small green crystal the size of a pea that she wore on her right wrist. "When someone is looking for me, the ring lights up. At that point, I reach for the surface and take mymunication amulet out."

    The amulet came out of the bracelet which turned out to also be a dimensional item.

    "After Rem came to pick us up, I went to visit Kahlia''s parents first and see how the people of Zhen are faring after the destruction of Kolga.

    "Thest time we were there, we left in a hurry without looking back. I was worried that some of the horrors of the cursed city might have survived the detonation of the Forbidden Sun and found their way to Zhen." Tista said and Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "Luckily, things are going great for the merfolk and the city has be even more beautiful. I think it would do both you and Orion good to visit it as well."

    "Not to be that guy but I have no idea what you are talking about." Orion said. "What''s Kolga? What''s Zhen? What am I supposed to visit?"

    "Here, let me show you." Lith activated a mind link, sharing with Orion the details of the mission in Kolga with the exception of Solus'' role and the power source behind the Eye of Kolga.

    "That''s how you guys destroyed Kogaluga!" Finally, all of Orion''s questions about the lost city of the Kingdom and how Lith had solved a problem that no one else, not even the First King, had ever figured out. "Its weak point was here in Jiera all along."

    "What was where?" Kelia hade to join the other leaders of the expedition but she was at a loss for words.

    She didn''t understand anything they were saying and the sight of the now-dried up merfolk made her blush up to her ears.

    "It''s a long story, kid." Lith replied. "One that I''m not willing to share. Sit down and eat."

    "Who are you calling a kid? When you were my age-"The temperature dropped by several degrees and thunderclouds covered the sky, turning it dark.

    "Stay on guard!" Raagu had to yell and use magic to be heard above the rumble of the iing storm. "Whatever this is, it''s not natural. Everyone to their battle positions!"

    The units of the Hand of Fate Spirit Blinked to her side, weaving their spells with true magic. The arrays of the Wayfinder were holding the fury of the wind out, but Raagu could see the shoreline getting away from the beach faster and further than it was normal.

    "Can this thing withstand a tidal wave?" She pointed at the energy dome after recognizing the early signs of the iing disaster.

    "No. Nothing can." Orion replied.

    "Can the Wayfinder outrun it?" Raagu asked.

    "We havended only for a while. The recharge process has barely started but sure. Everyone, drop everything nonvital and get back onboard. Code red situation. I repeat, code red-"

    "Calm down. Everything is fine." A dimensional opening as thin as a hairline appeared and Tyris stepped through it.

    She was wearing a silk-satin golden evening dress embroidered in silver to form a feather pattern, exalting the grace of her every movement. A silvery ck crown with eight elemental crystals rested on her head, bringing out the golden of her hair.

    Tyris'' body exuded a golden aura that lit the whole area around the Wayfinder as clear as day, making humans and merfolk alike feel like the sun had descended from the sky to walk among them.

    She was dressed like the First Queen and for the first time in a millennium, she wasn''t holding back.

 Chapter 2841 Ancient Fury (Part 1)

    Chapter 2841 Ancient Fury (Part 1)

    A wave of Tyris'' hand cleared the sky while her mere gaze was enough to disperse the energy that was building up in the tidal wave and restore the shoreline. As she walked outside the barrier, the cold gale turned into a gentle spring breeze and the air warmed up.

    "If you have something to say to me, younger lizard, you cane here and say it to my face. Try to bully my children again and we are going to have a problem."

    Fear disappeared from the hearts and minds of the members of the expedition, reced by the awe of being in the presence of the Great Mother.

    One after the other, merfolk and members of the expedition alike fell onto their knees, bowing their heads as if they were praying.

    "What the heck are you guys doing?" Lith asked more puzzled by the sudden gesture of devotion than by the fickle weather.

    He, Kam, Solus, and the babies had been around the Guardian for too long to be fazed by her powers unless she aimed directly at them.

    Valeron cooed, mistaking Tyris for Thrud and calling her.

    "Mama! Mama!"

    "I''m not your mother, child." She looked at him with a sweet smile and eyes veiled by tears.

    Then, she turned around and her face became a mask of stone that could barely hide the unbridled rage burning within her.

    "Do you dare threaten my blood, Fenagar? Do you?" Her voice was soft and low but even the reef quieted down in worship, afraid of her fury.

    Such was the silence that even the beating of one''s own heart was deafening.

    "I''m not threatening them, but you." The Leviathan''s voice, instead, was as loud and violent as the storm that had just subsided. "I felt your arrival hours ago but I let it slide because I didn''t know where that metal toy was going to stop.

    "There was still hope that you were going to be someone else''s problem and you were just passing by." The Leviathan snarled and growled every word. "But now your people dare to set camp on *my*nd and your stench following them has be unbearable.

    "Your presence here is a breach of every treaty the Guardians have ever agreed upon. Thest time you justified your transgression with my own but this time you stepping foot on Jiera is an act of pure aggression.

    "Go away now or suffer my wrath!"

    "Bold words for someone who lost miserably to me just a while ago." Tyris replied with a peal of silveryughter that somehow projected in the minds of all those present the image of the Griffon Guardian holding the broken body of the Leviathan in her beak.

    Witnessing Fenagar''s defeat and the gap in ability between the two Guardians made the people from both Garlen and Jiera lose respect for the Leviathan who could perceive their fear turning into confidence.

    "How dare you humiliate me in front of mere mortals?" He roared. "This is myst warning. This time I had more than a few minutes to prepare for your arrival. The power of thisnd is with me and I have enough arrays at the ready to kill two of you.

    "The only reason I haven''t already kicked you to the curb is that I have no intention of wasting my time looking after your crumbling Kingdom. I have stayed my hand until now not out of mercy orpassion. Your death is just not worth the effort."

    The ground, the ocean, and the sky glowed eerily, resonating with the power and the energy signature of the Leviathan. It was no disy of strength, Fenagar was barely releasing a fraction of his power to back his words.

    Yet the magic of the Wayfinder faded, cut off from the world energy. The pressure that the psychic equivalent of a re inflicted upon the people assembled on the shore brought them to the ground, gasping.

    They found themselves covered in a cold sweat and with their hearts pounding so hard that they seemed to be moments away from bursting out of their chests.

    Even Lith needed sheer willpower just to not touch the ground with his hands.

    He was down on one knee but his back was still straight and his head high. The Leviathan had yet to manifest himself in person but Lith could see Fenagar with Life Vision.

    The massive body of a snake-like creature big enough to blot out the sky was horizontally coiled around the entire camp. What Lith and the others were experiencing was the pressure exerted by the aura of the Leviathan while he was still far away in the safety of his underwater fortress.

    Only five people werepletely unaffected by the sh between the Guardians. Tyris, Kam who was holding Valeron the Second, and Solus who was holding Elysia.

    "How cute. That''s the exact reason I let you live thest time." Tyrisughed again, her repeated mockery angering Fenagar enough to activate the arrays that enveloped the entire west coast of Jiera.

    They were just at half-strength as a deterrent, but beads of sweat appeared on the Griffon''s forehead as she needed a considerable effort to resist their effects and also protect everyone else.

    "I must say that I''m impressed. You prepared well, but so did I!" Bolts of silver lightning coursed through her body, allowing Tyris to push the arrays back effortlessly.

    The majesty of her golden aura overpowered Fenagar''s and everyone was able to stand up again. They looked above where the multi-colored energy of the arrays crackled against the golden light, battling for dominance.

    "You call that preparing?" Fenagar replied with a sneer. "You are wasting your energy just to stand still. What do you think is going to happen when you run out of Life Maelstrom and I still am at my full strength?"

    "Why do you think is going to take me that long to drag you out of the hole that you call home and kick your ass?" Tyris needed but one spell to turn the tables in an instant.

    One spell that every single mage on that beach knew like the back of their hand, no matter if they were Awakened or not.

    The Warp Steps spell opened a dimensional tunnel leading thousands of kilometers away, straight back to Garlen.

    "I don''t know if with age you are getting dementia or if you are just delusional, young lizard." Leegaain stepped out of the wormhole first.

    He nced at the magical formations and then hurled countless bursts of white mes, each one the size of the Wayfinder, that struck at the focus points at the various arrays, cracking them.

    "You know that this means war, right?" Sark came out of the Steps second, throwing a single punch that shattered the magical formations beyond recovery.

    Tyris exploited Fenagar''s pointless effort to repair the arrays before it was toote to push her aura forward and reject his. All of the Wayfinder''s operative systems came back online and Lith saw the Leviathan''s spires disappear as his strength returned.

    "Foolish finch! Your insane actions have brought destruction to the whole Mogar!" Fenagar roared.

 Chapter 2842 Ancient Fury (Part 2)

    Chapter 2842 Ancient Fury (Part 2)

    The Leviathan knew that even while standing on his own turf, there was nothing he could do from a distance against three Guardians so he came to face them in person.

    "This is not an act of aggression anymore, but of war between Garlen and Jiera. By the end of this day, only one continent will survive and retain its original Guardians!" Along with his own Steps, Fenagar conjured two more. One for Roghar the Fenrir, who had many bones to pick with all of Garlen''s Guardians, and one for Zagran the Garuda, the battle maniac who never turned down a challenge.

    The crackle from the conflicting auras of the assembled six Guardians was enough to tten one-third of Jiera. Mogar reacted by turning the beach into a Fringe and keeping whatever was going to take ce inside of it from affecting the outside world.

    "Farm me sideways." Lith focused on Zagran, her aura waspletely different from Sark''s yet simr.

    He could tell even at first nce that the Garuda was stronger than the Pheonix in some aspects but weaker in others, making a fight between them a coin toss at best.

    ''Even if the Guardians of Jiera were all chumps, the sh with the Guardians of Garlen would be enough to kill us all. No one would have survived the side effects of Grandma''s fight against Tezka if not for the colossal barrier and them looking out for us.

    ''Here there is no barrier and the other Guardians are going to target us on purpose.'' He thought while conjuring Ragnar?k in a ze of emerald mes. ''If only I could conjure Silverwing''s Bastion¡­''

    The anti-Guardian spell needed seven bright violet-cored Awakened and on that beach, there were just four. On top of that, Lith and Quy had never practiced with Inxialot and Raagu so even if they did have the power, the spell would be far from optimal.

    "This is fine." Inxialot said. "My phctery is hidden in a safe ce. I''m going to survive this and once I''m back, I''ll find a way to resurrect you, baby. If I remember about you, of course."

    "Don''t call me baby!" Raagu snarled.

    "Meow!" Nero pulled the Lich''s robe, pointing at the bell on his own neck.

    "Oh, shit! I''m dead. And I mean for real. Really dead. Cadaverific." Inxialot realized in shock that his phctery was right in front of him. "If you ever loved me and if there is any sort of afterlife, put in a good word for me, baby."

    "Who the f-arm ever loved you? We had one date and it was a disaster!" Raagu replied, stunned by her vocal cords altering the swear word on their own.

    "Roghar." Tyris opened and closed her hands multiple times, making her knuckles pop. "Didn''t you have enough already? Didn''t Ileza''s fate teach you anything?"

    The majestic Fenrir reached a height at the withers of 50 meters (166 feet), the fur covering his body glistening under the sunlight as if every bristle was a pure white mana crystal.

    The fact that he still wore enough bandages to pass for a mummy and two of his limbs were splintered, however, ruined the overall effect.

    "I surrender." Roghar shrunk to the size of a regr wolf and fell on his back in front of the Great Mother, exposing his white-furred belly.

    "Zag-zag!" Sark stepped forward with her arms open.

    "Sally!" Zagran shrunk from a fifty meters (166'') tall humanoid covered in feathers into a human woman and ran to Sark, lifting the Phoenix in an embrace.

    "I''ve heard about your fight with the old fox. How was it? Has he gotten stronger? What tactics did you two use? Are those Eldritch hybrids really a threat or are they cool guys? You have to tell me everything and I mean everything."

    "Sure thing. Now put me down, please." Sark replied. "I have an image to uphold in front of my Featherlings." She pointed at Lith and Elysia.

    "Well, I guess it''s just you and I, old friend." Leegaain''s voice was calm and deep as the all-weapon Worldbreaker materialized in his hand in the form of a spear. "I''ll honor your wish. By the end of this day, one shall stand and one shall-"

    "Let''s not rush this, okay?" The Leviathan shrunk to his human form, holding his hands with the palms out in a peace gesture. "Things were said but no one got hurt so no harm no foul.

    "We''ve all let old grudges cloud our judgment for a moment but there''s no reason to make a mountain out of a molehill." Fenagar had prepared thoroughly for Tyris''ing and was sure to win.

    Against her. Three Guardians versus one, it wasn''t a challenge so much as a death sentence. Mogar shared his opinion and dispelled the Fringe.

    "Tyris?" The Father of All Dragons looked unconvinced but, at the same time, he really didn''t want to overtake Fenagar''s turf and take care of it until a new Guardian of Discovery popped out.

    "Violence is never the answer." The Great Mother shook her head, rxing her muscles. "Except when it is."

    She disappeared from her spot and moved right in front of the Leviathan.

    Her knees were slightly bent, her center of gravity low, and her posture perfect. The punch she unleashed contained every bit of Life Maelstrom she had released which was further amplified by Focus Point.

    The Griffon''s bloodline ability allowed her to concentrate her power and mass to the extreme so that not one iota of her strength went to waste. The punch struck Fenagar''s sternum, shattering it first and then the rest of his bones as the shockwave reverberated inside his body.

    The Leviathan was sent flying despite him weighing hundreds of tons, his painful journey ending abruptly thanks to the defensive systems of his underwater fortress. Tyris'' aim was true, sending him back home after a few bounces with the same precision as a pool yer choosing a specific pocket tond a specific ball.

    "I couldn''t waste so much Life Maelstrom and the other lizard deserved a lesson anyway." Tyris said with a warm smile as her golden aura faded.

    It was nigh impossible to believe that the same sweet, beautiful woman in front of everyone had just sted away a colossal monster but after a few pinches and ps, the witnesses had the bruises to prove that it wasn''t a dream.

    "I''ll go back to Garlen them. Call me when you want me to take over guard duty." Leegaain said while walking in front of Elysia. "Were you scared? No? Good girl. Grampa is always watching over you." He cooed and made a lot of embarrassing baby noise before going to reassure Valeron the Second as well.

    Only once the Father of All Dragons was certain that both babies were and felt safe did he walk through the still-open Gate and put Worldbreaker back into his pocket dimension.

    "Can I please go home now?" Roghar whimpered. "This is getting embarrassing."

    He was still belly up and people were staring at him.

    "Scram." Zagran snapped her fingers, sending him back to his turf. "So these are the famous Lith and the even more famous Elysia."

 Chapter 2843 Ancient Faults (Part 1)

    Chapter 2843 Ancient Faults (Part 1)

    In her human form, Zagran looked like a bulky woman in her mid-twenties, over 1.8 meters (6'') tall, with shoulder-length blue hair, deep purple skin and eyes. She wore a sleeveless monk''s garb that left many of the scars on her arms, hand, and neck visible.

    There were even more under her clothes but all of them were nothing that even a regr Awakened couldn''t easily heal, let alone a Guardian. Zagran conserved them because she considered them honor badges.

    Those were wounds inflicted upon her during the most intense battles of her life and she used them as mementos of her past mistakes and the lessons she had learned from them.

    "You look like a good kid, but theck of feathers here is disheartening." A tap on Lith''s forehead forced him to shapeshift into his Tiamat form. "Too many scales for my taste and what''s that? A crown? The old lizard''s blood ruined you, kid."

    "I know." Sark sighed and shrugged. "But you are wrong about one thing. He doesn''t look like a good kid. He is one." She pointed at both babies, leaving Zagran perplexed for a second.

    "I see. He gave you a grandchild and he also adopted Tyris''. A good kid indeed. What happened to the baby boy''s parents?" Zagran asked the Griffon.

    "They are both dead." Tyris lowered her gaze. "And it''s all my fault."

    "No, it''s not. Once a bird flies off the nest it''s not our responsibility anymore." Zagran shrunk to 1.7 meters (5''7"), making her muscles and scars disappear in order to appear less threatening. "Can I hold her?"

    Solus looked at Sark who nodded.

    "Sure." Solus handed Elysia to the Garuda who examined her with her breathing technique, Celestial Vault. "Oh, my. We are precious, aren''t we?"

    Zagran offered Elysia a finger and when the baby girl grabbed it, it shapeshifted into a taloned bird finger. Elysia giggled and bit it yfully.

    "She''s adorable. Also, I can see why you and the old lizard vowed to protect her. I''ve never seen anything like her."

    "I resent that." Sark snorted. "I did it out of love and the old lizard did it only out of peer pressure. How dare you put us on the same level?"

    "My bad." Zagran raised her hands in surrender and moved on to Valeron.

    Her lips curled up in disgust when she perceived the lingering traces of Forbidden Garuda with all the little strength he had.

    Magic on his life force. Yet the baby was clearly a victim, not the culprit so her expression softened and she yed with him as well.

    Valeron smiled brightly as her feathers reminded him of his mother and held to the Garuda with all the little strength he had.

    "Gods." Zagran''s eyes turned watery as she felt both the baby boy''s joy quickly followed by despair when Valeron realized that he had once again been mistaken. "Poor thing. How could Fenagar threaten him? If you hadn''t given him a lesson already, old finch, I would!"

    She turned around with a snarl, noticing that the merfolk had surrounded Tyris and were kneeling at her feet.

    "Have you returned to us, Great Mother?" Rem asked while kissing the hems of Tyris'' dress. "You know how much we have suffered since you turned your back on us. The humans-"

    "I haven''t turned my back on you." The Guardian raised her hand, cutting the merfolk short. "You turned your back to me when you decided to disregard my warnings and discard all my teachings."

    "What do you mean?" Rem was bbergasted.

    "Didn''t my children keep visiting you even after the rise of Fenagar?" Tyris asked and the merfolk nodded for her to continue. "Didn''t I teach you the importance ofmunicating with the other races?

    "Didn''t I gift you all with amonnguage that you ignored in favor of pride and secrecy? How are the consequences of your decisions my fault? If you hadn''t supported the elves in their war for conquest and instead sided with beasts, you wouldn''t be exiled to the bottom of the sea today.

    "You can''t try to wipe out an entire race from the face of Mogar and then me them when they try to return the favor after you fail. The humans have many ws but they have learned to cohabitate with the nt folk and the beasts.

    "Merfolk would have been invaluable allies and assets back when traveling with dimensional magic was an exclusive of Awakened and coast cities depended on boats for survival.

    "If not for your bloodthirst, today your people would live on the surface along with the humans, mixing their blood and sharing the same resources. You are no different from the elves.

    "Your prolonged istion andck of progress is the consequence of your hubris first and of your shameter. Centuries have waxed and waned from the War of the Races, yet you''ve made no diplomatic effort to earn your spot on the surface.

    "Do you deny it?" Tyris'' smile disappeared and her eyes became cold.

    "No." Rem lowered her head further. "You are right. Until the gue crippled the humans of Jiera, we were too afraid to face our retribution and too prideful to ask for forgiveness.

    "But that''s changed. We have changed. We have stepped forward to help the survivors and we are learning yournguage again. Our presence here is proof of our goodwill."

    "It''s a start. Tainted by opportunism but still a start." The Guardian nodded.

    She could easily read between the political lines.

    The merfolk had no way to stop the people from Garlen so they had preferred befriending them. On top of that, they knew and trusted Lith which gave them grounds to obtain fair conditions in future mediations.

    After all, the humans were going to need scouts and information while exploring the ravagednds of Jiera and the merfolk could provide them both. For a price.

    "Wake up, you moron. It''s over." Raagu shook Inxialot''s skull until the red light of undeath shone from the empty sockets of his eyes again.

    "Well, at least I didn''t feel a thing." He sighed while rebuilding his body and looking around. "This is sad. The afterlife is just like the world of the living. A boring ce filled with morons. Nob, no ingredients, nothing.

    "I knew I would get punished for my actions, but this is too much. By the way, what did you do to end up here as well, exactly?"

    "We are not dead and this is not theherworld. Even if it was, I would never end up with you." Raagu snarled.

    "Negation is the first step of grief and rage is the second." He dismissed her words with confidence. "There''s no point ying innocent. Since we are stuck here forever, we might as well exchange stories. I''ll start¡­"

    "Meow." Nero pulled at his robe again, to stop the Lich King before it was toote.

    "Nero! If you are here, it means that I''m with the good guys but that''s impossible. There''s only one rational exnation for this¡­" Inxialot took a pause as he put together the pieces of the puzzle.

    "That we are still alive!" Raagu said.

    "That since you carried my phctery, my soul was mistaken for that of a cat!"

 Chapter 2844 Ancient Faults (Part 2)

    Chapter 2844 Ancient Faults (Part 2)

    "It all makes sense. The sand is for your litterbox and the idiots are for your amusement. Everyone knows that cats like to watch." Inxialot said in amazement.

    "What about the Guardians, then? What about Verhen?" Raagu rolled her eyes.

    "Good point. Either cats'' heaven is premium heaven or even Guardians are much dumber than I gave them credit for. Like you."

    "I give up." Raagu shook her head. "There''s no point wasting time to convince him of something that he is going to forget anyway."

    While Tyris scolded the merfolk and Sark shared with Zagran the details of her fight with the Suneater, everyone returned inside the Wayfinder''s temporary vige.

    "With three Guardians, we are as safe as we can be. Are you alright, Tista?" Lith helped her to sit down.

    She and Bodya were too far away from the children to be protected by Tyris'' aura and had been hit by the full power of Fenagar''s arrays. The smell of the Hekate aroused Zagran''s curiosity whereas she frowned at the serpent Emperor Beast until she recognized him as a Nidhogg.

    "Another one?" The Garuda nudged Sark. "Someone has gotten really naughty with Leegaain."

    "Technically, they are not ours." The Phoenix opened a small Warp Gate. "He is. Zagran, meet Shargein."

    The Wyrmling was surprised by the sudden change of scenery but due to Sark''s presence, he felt safe and sniffed at the Garuda in curiosity.

    "A perfect hybrid? Damn, Garlen is much more interesting than Jiera. I chose the wrong continent." Zagran let Shargein study her and give her a few yful bites before taking him into her arms.

    "Being knocked out by a Guardian isn''t my idea of wee back to Jiera, lil bro, but it was worth it." Tista shapeshifted back into her human form as she shook her head to clear her vision.

    "With this, we have met all six original Guardians in person. I bet that only a few people on Mogar can say the same. I''m Tista Verhen, nice to meet you." She offered her hand to Zagran who shook it.

    "Zagran, Lord of Might, Mother of All Garudas, and Guardian of Jiera. Nice to meet you too, kid."

    After the proper introductions, Tista shared with Orion and Lith the rest of her findings.

    "Once we were done with visiting Khalia''s parents, Bodya and I have scouted the area of yournding." She said. "We have taken care of the monster scouts we''ve spotted on the way here but there was no time to locate a mana geyser, sorry."

    She looked at Solus with a worried look, knowing that even with the Sage Staff hanging to her neck, she wouldn''tst long in her human form in case a fight broke out.

    "You''ve done more than enough." Orion replied. "You''ve sent us the merfolk who guided us here and the Wayfinder needs a bit of time to recharge before going on the road again anyway. While we wait, I''m curious about Zhen."

    He offered her his hand, expecting a mind link and for Tista to show him the underwater city.

    "I''d rather you see it for yourself. It''s not the same thing with a mind link. Believe me."

    "You want me you leave the camp?" Orion''s eyes went wide in surprise.

    "No, I want you guys to leave the camp." She pointed at Lith and Orion, hesitating a bit before adding Solus. "Zhen has been deeply touched by Phloria''s presence and the destruction of Kolga.

    "Witnessing the changes that the city has undergone helped me to put my conscience to rest for those events and with my grieving process. My hope is that it will do the same for you."

    "This is very thoughtful of you but I''m not a true mage." Orion lied to the best of his abilities. "I can''t cast spells underwater and chore magic isn''t enough to move someone of my size."

    "That''s not an issue." Rem replied. "We can carry you, if you let us."

    "I don''t want to be a burden to you." Orion said. "Also, I don''t think it''s safe allowing the only people who know how to operate the power core of the Wayfinder go away at the same time."

    "It''s no burden at all." The merfolk fell on her knee. "You are Phloria''s father. Just because she''s dead our debt with her is not forgotten nor cleared. This is the least we can do for our savior."

    "I''m not okay with Verhen leaving, but if it''s you, your absence doesn''t change our defensive capabilities much." Raagu shrugged. "Inxialot and I can take care of almost anything and with the troops and the arrays protecting us, you can forget about the almost."

    "Don''t worry, Dad." Friya said. "I''ll stay here to check on the power core of the Wayfinder for anomalies. I''m among the inventors of the DoLorean and I''ve never been to Jiera before. I can skip visiting Zhen. You need it more than me."

    "And I''ll stay with her to watch her back." Quy nodded.

    "Kid, what exactly do you think can happen while Sally and I are here?" Zagranughed in his face. "Even if a meteor were to fall or the ground to split open, it''s no big deal. Do your thing."

    It felt weird for Orion being called a kid at his age butpared to a Guardian, he was a tadpole. Also, Friya was right. She was more thanpetent enough to perform routine diagnostics and no sabotage could happen with the Guardians present.

    He went to check the engine of the Wayfinder before giving his answer.

    "It will take a little more than four hours to bring the crystals back to full strength. How long will the round trip to Zhen take?"

    "Way longer than that." Rem lowered her gaze in disappointment.

    "Not if we fly up above the city and then swim only the way down." Tista suggested. "I knew that we were on a schedule so I took care of memorizing Zhen''s position."

    "Uhm, I know that I didn''t contribute to the original mission, but I would love to see a merfolk city with my own eyes. If it''s not a bother, of course." Kam said.

    "No bother at all." Rem gave her a friendly smile and a small bow. "We are already bringing an extra. One more is nothing much."

    Her words hurt Solus.

    Even though she knew that no one was allowed to know about her involvement in the destruction of Kolga, being called an extra stung her heart. She had fought side by side with Lith, Tista, and Phloria against the Kolgans.

    She had cried with herpanions for the death of Khalia and all the innocents who had lost their lives after the destruction of the breeding camps. Solus was the one who had killed the King of Kolga and retrieved the Hands of Menadion, destroying the lost city in Jiera and its twin in Garlen in a fell swoop.

    Yet Rem treated like a stranger and bringing Solus to witness the fruits of herbor was doing her a favor.

    "What about Elysia? What about Valeron?" Lith had yet to take one step away and his homing instinct was already screaming.

 Chapter 2845 Naming Sense (Part 1)

    Chapter 2845 Naming Sense (Part 1)

    "They''ll be fine. Three Guardians, remember?" Kam pointed at Tyris, Zagran, and Sark who were holding a baby each. "You need this and I want to share the underwater parade thrown in honor of my badass husband by a legendary race.

    "This is the stuff of legends."

    Lith was about to reply that merfolk had no concept of parades and that the beauty of their cities was alien to human standards when he felt it again. He felt his right arm be sticky and wet with Phloria''s blood as the smell of metal filled his nose.

    ''She''s right. I need this and maybe this experience will help Kami to ovee her depression. That or at least to appreciate sunlight more.'' He thought.

    "I''m d you finally understand how cool I am." He actually said.

    "I''ve always known, farmhead. It''s the reason I married you." She gave him a sweet kiss that was cut short when she pulled back with a nervous expression on her face.

    "By the way, are the legends true? I mean, how are we supposed to breathe underwater?" Kam asked.

    "Yeah, with all due respect, I''m a married man and I''d like to stay that way." Orion went pale at her words.

    He remembered all too well that, in all the fairy tales he had read to his children, merfolk shared their breath with passionate kisses or other vaguely described methods that ended with the female protagonist getting pregnant.

    "It requires physical contact." Rem replied and when she noticed Orion and Kam taking a step back from the beach, she rushed to add: "Any physical contact. Holding hands works as well."

    Lith, Solus, and Tista couldn''t hold it in anymore andughed their asses off at the expense of their friends. Solus was about to reassure them when Lith grabbed her shoulder.

    ''Don''t. Both the merfolk and the members of the expedition would question how you know such things.''

    ''You are right. I''m sorry.'' She replied, doing her best to keep the smile on her face.

    ''Don''t be. I understand how frustrating this must be for you.'' Lith sent her the telepathic equivalent of an embrace. ''Just put it this way. Even if you feel left out and nobody knows who you are, every de I have received and am going to receive for our past actions belongs to you as well.

    ''Also, now that you have your own body, you can take credit for all your achievements. We are going to share the credit for everything we do on Jiera just like we''ve done on Garlen, dear Golden Knight.''

    ''Thanks.'' Solus'' hand went for her own shoulder, finding Lith''s and strength in the contact.

    "Don''t worry, Orion." Tista said with augh, taking the words out of Solus'' head. "The legends are greatly exaggerated. It''s regr holding hands. I''ve been there twice, remember?"

    "Right." Orion nodded, yet picked Mal as his partner, just to be safe. "Let''s go then."

    "One moment, please." Lith had no idea how long the trip would take or what might happen during the journey so he left a Home Stone at the camp, right outside the protective arrays of the Wayfinder.

    Tista shapeshifted into her Hekate form and let the others climb on her back before taking off. Lith shielded them with a mix of air magic, Light Mastery, and Spirit Magic so that she could go at full speed without killing her human passengers.

    Bodya was back in his Nidhogg form, using extra mana to keep up with her despite theck of wings.

    ''Can you breathe underwater?'' Solus asked him via a mind link, the only way tomunicate while moving at that speed.

    ''I wish. My species is earth based so we didn''t inherit gills from Fenagar. Luckily for me, in my human form, my whole body shrinks so my need for air is no different from that of a regr human. Otherwise Tista and Lith would have the same issue.''

    Between high-speed flight and Warp Steps, it took them about ten minutes to reach their destination. Tista used water magic to freeze the surface of the ocean and give everyone the opportunity to prepare for the dive.

    She, Lith, Solus, and Kam pushed the gem right under the neck of their respective armor, shapeshifting their clothes into a skin-tight silvery diving suit with tempered lenses in front of their eyes and webbed fingers and toes.

    "What''s that?" Orion asked in surprise.

    "My species is sensitive to cold so as soon as I discovered the issue, I made modifications to the Voidwalker armor. With these settings I can seal off the water and the inner heating systems can counter natural cold temperatures to a degree." Lith replied.

    "This way, I can swim in any of my forms even though just for a while. Only my human form doesn''t suffer from the cold and that''s because Awakened are naturally resistant to extreme temperatures."

    Orion took a mental note of everything and nodded.

    The merfolk had already dived into the water, regaining their fish-like features.

    He followed suit, feeling the cold sting at his body which immediately started to shiver. The merfolk helped him to get ustomed to the ocean by drawing in tropical currents while Orion tried and failed to warm himself up with chore magic.

    ''Shit! Now I understand why Lith''s armor needs a heating system. The water drains the heat from the metal of my Featherwalker armor faster than the cold-resistance spells can warm it.

    ''The cold gets straight to my skin so my armor is no better than normal clothes. Here goes nothing!'' Orion gritted his teeth and used fire fusion to raise his internal temperature.

    "We''ll stay near the surface until you get used to breathing underwater. If you feel like you are having a panic attack, feel free to emerge." Mal said.

    Orion nodded, putting his head down and holding his breath by instinct. The merfolk breathed through their gills filtering the oxygen from the water and sharing it with their guests.

    One of their bloodline abilities allowed them to make minuscule air bubbles crawl along their bodies and those of their guests, sending them straight to Orion''s nostrils.

    After a few seconds, he felt the air pressure and took a deep breath. Much to his surprise it felt no different from breathing on the surface. Then he took another and swallowed a lot of water.

    "Breathe normally!" Mal warned Orion after he was done coughing and spitting. "I can''t always give you so much air without suffocating myself. I''m the one doing all the job, you just need to stay still."

    "I''m sorry." Orion was actually doing his best.

    He was a battle-hardened veteran and putting his life in the hands of a stranger went against everything he had trained his whole life.

    Kam and Solus had no such problem. They were already swimming along with their respective partners and getting used to the shared breathing rhythm.

    "You two are amazing." Rem was bbergasted. "Where did you learn how to swim like a merfolk?"

    "From me." Lith raised his hand. "You taught me and in turn, I passed it on to them when I taught them how to swim."

 Chapter 2846 Naming Sense (Part 2)

    Chapter 2846 Naming Sense (Part 2)

    "You do my people a great honor." Rem bowed her head. "Yet please, keep it to your family only. Otherwise in case our rtionship with thend dwellers goes south, not even the ocean will be safe for us."

    "Sure thing."

    After a few minutes, Orion managed to keep the burning of his lungs to an eptable level since mistrust and paranoia kept messing up his breathing rhythm.

    "Maybe this can help." A second male merfolk took Orion''s other hand, doubling his oxygen provision.

    A third and a fourth grabbed respectively his left and right ankle and at that point, albeit feeling constricted, Orion had all the air he needed.

    During the descent, the merfolk pulled his arms and pushed his feet, making up for Orion''s inability to move on his own. For a while, the abundant oxygen and the speed gave him an exhrating feeling.

    Then, when they reached a point too deep for the light to reach anymore, his panic became even worse. Suddenly everything was ck. He couldn''t tell up from down or left from right.

    The fact that he waspletely lost and depended on others even for breathing made it one of the scariest moments of his life.

    ''Calm down.'' Mal said. ''I can feel that your heart is about to explode.'' ''Get out of my head!'' Orion thought.

    ''Before you ask, I''m not in your head. Only Awakened can use mind links, remember? I''m talking to you by making my words vibrate through my body and then into yours.''

    Once Orion managed to calm down, he recognized that it was nothing like the mind links he was used to.

    ''Your species can''t do this, so you can only listen. If you understand, squeeze my hand once for yes and two for no.'' Mal said and Orion squeezed once.

    ''Good. Now I''m going to teach you how to see underwater so listen closely.'' The spell Mal taught him required both air and water magic to conjure effects simr to echolocation.

    Merfolk didn''t really see but they could discern the shape, speed, and size of anything within hundreds of meters of distance. The sound spread through the water faster than any beast could swim, giving them the time to correct their course and the predators a wide berth.

    ''Shit!'' Without Solus'' tenth sense, Lith was as blind as Orion.

    Life and Fire Vision were useless underwater and the tier four Sonar spell didn''t give him enough information to quell his rampant paranoia.

    ''Why so nervous? I remember you were a lot calmer the first time.'' Rem asked him in confusion.

    ''Dragon instinct. Being away from my daughter is hard for me.'' He lied through his thoughts.

    ''Because thest time I could actually see.'' He actually thought.

    With the excuse of needing reassurance to ovee their "fear", Solus was holding Kam''s hand, sharing her tenth sense with her.

    ''Great Mother almighty!'' Even while swimming at high speed, Kam''s enhanced senses noticed the bizarre fish who had be blind due to the perennial darkness of the deep.

    Ancient beings halfway between fish and reptiles still lurked there, along with creatures so big that they rivaled the size of a lesser Divine Beast.

    ''Yep. That thing on Earth has a smaller version called "Giant Squid". That must be an Emperor Beast.'' Solus nodded at a tentacled creature longer than 20 meters (66'') from the tip of the head to the end of its tentacles. ''Hopefully.

    ''Because if it''s just a magical beast I''m going to piss myself.''

    ''Giant squid? Seriously?'' Kam replied with a sneer. ''What ack of imagination. And how did they call that one? Big teeth?''

    ''No, Megalodon.'' Solus was true to her word when she saw the massive life force of the creature and its cyan core.

    Luckily, the titan barely registered the puny merfolk and focused on the bigger and juicier meal.

    ''That sure sounds better. What about that one?''

    ''By my Mom, that''s Nessie!'' Solus froze for a moment as the thing she could only ssify as a dinosaur swam popped out of the darkness below and gave chase to the Megalodon.

    ''Nessie? I swear, people from Earth have the weirdest naming sense ever.'' Kam said with a chuckle. ''By the way, thank you for sharing this with me. If I couldn''t see I''d be shitting myself right now.''

    ''You mean you didn''t? I mean, you''re wee.'' Solus could see and was barely holding her bowels together.

    Tista and Lith, in their blissful ignorance, had only perceived something big they had dismissed as a whale or something equally harmless to a Divine Beast like them.

    By the time they arrived at the bottom of the sea, Orion had barely managed to grasp the position of something within ten meters (33'') from him, and only if it was at least the size of a cat.

    Creatures smaller than that escaped the detection of his amateurish technique while those bigger he noticed but he couldn''t distinguish a humanoid from a shark.

    On the bright side, Orion had been so focused on practicing the spell that he hadn''t the time to be scared or worried. His breathing had be stable and regr, leaving more than enough for the four merfolk to expedite the trip.

    ''Here we are.'' Rem had signaled the group to huddle up so that the vibrations would travel through everyone''s body and her words be heard. ''Wee to Zhen''s twin city, Yhen.''

    ''Okay.'' Lith did his best to keep a neutral tone but feigning enthusiasm was beyond him.

    He could sense something big in front of him, then many much bigger things spread at a distance from one another that he could only assume were homes to the merfolk, and the merfolk.

    The only impressive thing about that ce was the massive amounts of world energy filtering from the seabed. It was strong enough that Lith could perceive it even without Life Vision while Solus felt her strength recovering just thanks to the Sage Staff at her neck under the armor.

    ''Look, I''m touched by your kindness but I really don''t see the point in bringing me here.'' Orion said once he joined the mind link and was able to reply. ''I''m sure that this ce is amazing but I can''t see anything. I''d-''

    ''Gods, you are too kind.'' Solus'' words didn''t make sense until she shared with everyone what she could see with her tenth sense.

    Lith was right about the buildings and the humanoid figures swimming and floating around them, he had simply forgotten about the importance of the monument that rested in the middle of a merfolk city.

    Merfolk didn''tmunicate with words. That was something that they learned to do in order to interact with the surface dweller or to reassure them while guiding them to the depths of Mogar''s oceans.

    They used vibrations tomunicate, expressplex concepts, and even feelings. For that purpose, their homes were built with materials capable of amplifying the vibrations both from the inside and the outside and were shaped to have excellent acoustics.

    Every house was carefully ced so as to add its sounds without interfering with the others'', creating to the merfolk''s sensory organs the equivalent of the noise of a bustling city while to a human''s ear, it sounded like music.

 Chapter 2847 Sea Heart (Part 1).

    Chapter 2847 Sea Heart (Part 1).

    At the center of all this, there was the Sea Heart, a hollow piece of rock usually shaped like a sea shell or coral that was used solely for events that involved the entiremunity, be they good or bad.

    In Yhen''s case, the Sea Heart was shaped like a group of statues. They were all roughly outlined since sight yed a minimal role in merfolk society but the sculptor had taken care to make each one of them recognizable.

    In the front, there was Tista, kneeling on the ground while holding Khalia''s lifeless body. On her left, there was Phloria with her shield raised, protecting herpanions from an invisible horde of enemies.

    On the right, there was Lith in his Wyrmling form. He wielded War and there was the skewered corpse of a Kolgan hanging from the de. Behind the four of them, there was the winged figure of Lith''s Tiamat form.

    It wasn''t as big as the original, just three times taller than the others. The statue had its arms raised, while the ground at its feet was jagged as if something was crawling out of the seabed.

    ''You probably can''t recognize this ce, but this is where Kolga once stood. After you left, we cleared the debris and built Yhen. The mana geyser that fueled the lost city turned out to be powerful enough to fuel the enchantments of both cities.

    ''With no longer the need to spend our resources to contain Kolga''s expansion and the geyser, my people have achieved a prosperity the likes we haven''t seen since the War of the Race.'' Rem''s vibrations sounded like a smile.

    ''This wouldn''t have been possible without you. For this reason, we have unanimously decided to shape the Sea Heart after you guys so that the memory of those events will live on forever. Also, it''s too soon to thank me. Please, wait a moment.''

    Orion had no idea who those people were or how he could suddenly see clearly what until a second back had been pure darkness. Those were just minor details, like the fact that if not for the shield he wouldn''t have been able to tell Phloria from Tista.

    All that mattered to him was that there was somece on Mogar where his daughter was remembered for the way she had lived rather than the circumstances of her death. It was enough to pierce through the dark clouds surrounding his heart and add one more drop of salt water to the ocean.

    ''I take that back.'' He said. ''You have no idea how much this means to-''

    Mal broke the formation, gently pulling Orion with him as he approached the Sea Heart.

    The merfolk put his hand on the statue of Khalia while another merfolk took Orion''s free hand, forming the third link of a living spiral of merfolk that reached higher than the tallest building of Yhen.

    Mal''s body started humming, the sound echoed through the Sea Heart before being sent back to be amplified through every member of the living chain. It sounded pleasant, but no different than someone performing vocalisms to warm up their voice.

    The sound rose all the way to the top and then went back to the Sea Stone where it exploded into a choir of different voices.

    Orion could see the youthful joy that had marked Khalia''s life turning into sadness when she had chosen toy down her life for the future of her people. There was regret for the things she had dreamed of and now she would never experience.

    There was fear for the cruel destiny she knew awaited her inside of Kolga yet there was also the bravery to face it head on.

    Tista''s statue reverberated with grief for Khalia''s death,passion for her suffering, and mercy for sparing her the slow agony of her core falling apart. Somehow, Orion knew that those weren''t Tista''s feelings but those of everyone who had known and loved Khalia.

    As the vibration spread from Tista to Phloria, Orion felt his daughter''s warrior spirit and her indomitable will to protect those she loved, even at the cost of her life. He could almost see the spells she was blocking with her shield and the flurry of parries of her estoc.

    She was alone against many, fighting in what a cynical person would define as the pointless effort of defending someone stupid enough to weep for a corpse on the battlefield. Yer Phloria didn''t move and nothing got past her.

    Orion felt the trust the merfolk had put in his daughter back when they had erected the monument and he felt it growing louder through the living spiral because they still did.

    The merfolk knew how Phloria had died yet they didn''t think any less of her for it.

    Then it was the turn of Lith''s statue whose statue released a music with a slow, solemn tempo filled with cold fury. It expressed not only the wrath that Lith had disyed while fighting the Kolgans, but also the thirst for revenge of all the people of Zhen against their ancient enemy.

    The melody carried their grudge for living under the constant threat of the lost city and the toll of lives that keeping Kolga contained cost them.

    Finally, the vibration reached the Tiamat statue which sang a dirge of death and reckoning. The merfolk now knew how the Forbidden Sun was fueled and what happened to the unfortunate ones captured and dragged inside Kolga.

    The tune echoed with the sounds of battle that had spelled the end of the centuries-long conflict. The low, baritonal tones reached the ground at the Tiamat''s feet, signaling the rising of the dead to protect the living and keep them from joining the Demons'' ranks.

    The song of death spread out, reaching the nearby buildings and turning into a happy sonata about life. The battle was over and from the rubble of Kolga, a new city was built.

    Orion could see the daily life of the people of Yhen, scavenging the ruins of the lost city for the remains of their loved ones. The materials that the Kolgans had amassed and refined to build their city had be part of Yhen.

    The new settlement of the merfolk was more modern, sturdier, and bore enchantments that would have been impossible without using the work of the Kolgans as a foundation.

    Yhen would forever carry the bloodstains of the conflict, but the merfolk didn''t consider it a mark of infamy. It was their way to honor those who they had lost and make their sacrifice amount to something.

    Those very bloodstains made the fallen like Khalia and Phloria immortals, the echoes of their deeds forever engraved in the rock and metal of the buildings.

    As the vibration spread, the city of Yhen lit up to the Sonar spell with such strength that even Orion''s amateurish technique could perceive it with rity. Each building shone with a different color and expressed a different emotion, yet they all carried the echoes from the Sea Stone.

    When a merfolk was born, when someone argued, and even when they slept, the vibrations from their bodies from their house to the next until the monument and back.

 Chapter 2848 Sea Heart (Part 2)

    Chapter 2848 Sea Heart (Part 2)

    Every single person in Yhen lived every day while carrying a sliver of Phloria with themselves and they did it with pride. The realization made Orion''s eyes add more water to the ocean and through themunion of the song, he knew that he wasn''t alone.

    Lith, Solus, Rem, and everyone else were honoring those they had loved and lost, shedding tears of grief and joy. Death was unavoidable and unstoppable but so was life.

    ''Grief didn''t stop them.'' Orion thought. ''The merfolk kept moving on with their lives because it''s the only way to give death meaning. Something that I''ve learned today and that I can only hope I''ll be able to pass on to Jirni.''

    The song stopped and Orion became blind again. Without the resonance from the living spiral and Solus'' tenth sense, everything had gone dark. He broke the chain, keeping solely Mal''s hand while paddling toward the Sea Stone.

    The merfolk understood his intention and guided Orion toward Phloria''s statue. He used his free hand to caress the features of the stone figure and even through its rough surface he could still recognize his daughter''s face.

    Orion brought his forehead against hers, stopping for a moment before signaling Mal that he was done.

    Or at least, that was Orion''s intention.

    The merfolk had no military background so he interpreted the sharp gestures of the codednguage as a call for help.

    ''Calm down, I''m getting you more air.'' Mal said as other merfolk put their hands on Orion and provided him with an extra flow of oxygen.

    Lith couldn''t help since Sonar wasn''t precise enough in its readings and he had no idea what was happening. Only Solus could see and decipher the gestures, urging her host to bring her close to Orion so that he could speak via the mind link.

    ''Thank you very much. The Ernas Household will forever be grateful to you for honoring one of our own.'' He said. ''I have no words to express the beauty of your city or the feelings that visiting it inspired in me.''

    ''Don''t mention it.'' Rem replied. ''We are d that your brief stay has been meaningful for you as much as for us. You are a good man, Orion Ernas.''

    He blinked in surprise for a couple of seconds, wondering if the merfolk had learned something about him through themunion or if those were just formal words.

    ''If it''s not a bother and if there''s enough time left, I would like for my daughters to ''It would be our honor.'' Rem replied.

    Reaching the surface required regr stops to dpress and keep the humans visit Yhen as well.''

    ''It would be our honor.'' Rem replied.

    Reaching the surface required regr stops to dpress and keep the humans from suffering embolism. The first mouthful of fresh air felt amazing and despite the strong feelings that still stirred his heart, Orion was delighted to regain his senses.

    Lith entrusted to one of the merfolk a Home Stone and warned her to keep it above the water''s surface. Then he triggered the other one he had left at the campsite and they reached it in an instant.

    There were less than two hours left but thanks to Dimensional Magic and without all the care that bringing a fake mage required, the second trip required much less time.

    Solus apanied Friya and Quy, allowing them to see the monument and truly appreciate the unsettling beauty of the deep. Upon their return, their bodies were drenched by the ocean and their eyes watery with tears.

    They needed a bit of time topose themselves while their father discussed with the merfolk.

    "My people are nning their return to the surface and we would like to have a settlement in Garlen. Somece near Magus Verhen''s house, if possible." Rem said.

    "I can help you with that and vouch for you if necessary but there''s an unsurmountable problem with your n." Orion replied after offering everyone a cup of hot tea to shake off the cold of the sea from their bodies.

    "What problem? If it''s a matter of trust we are willing to-"

    "Not that." Lith cut her short and conjured a hologram of the Lustria County. "I live on the maind. Hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest shore."

    "Me too." Orion gestured for Quy to do the same for the Ernas Arch Duchy. "I can help you with the paperwork and smooth the diplomatic issues, but if youe to Garlen, you''ll have to deal with the local lords, not us."

    "This won''t do." Rem sighed, shaking her head. "Humans have a good reason to not trust merfolk but the opposite is also true. Tensions and conflicts have to be expected but having a figure trusted by both parties would make things much easier.

    "I requested Magus Verhen''s territory because we know him and we have heard from the advanced scouts how open-minded he is. He treats beasts as peers and has befriended monsters, undead, and even elves.

    "If he has ovee the struggle of dealing with the main instigator of the War of the Races, helping the merfolk should be a breeze for him."

    "And maybe it is." Lith nodded. "You see, I''m an honorary citizen of the Blood Desert and I have a beach house there. Have you considered starting a colony there?"

    "The Desert?" Rem squinted her eyes. "Isn''t it dry and unhospitable?"

    "For the most part, yes. On the other hand, bureaucracy and diplomacy are not going to be an issue since thew of the Overlord is absolute. If you get a deal with her, there won''t be any petty feudal lord bothering you or acts of sabotage from the locals.

    "They might not like you at first just like the people of the Kingdom, but they won''t dare defy the Overlord."

    "It sounds interesting, but you are Supreme Magus of the Kingdom and just an honorary citizen of the Desert." Rem replied. "I doubt you have the authority to even get us an audience with the Overlord."

    Her words were met with several coughs of suppressed hrity that offended the merfolk quite a bit.

    "I don''t think so." Lith shrugged. "Grandma, can youe here, please?"

    "Yes, dear?" A stunning woman in her mid-twenties with waist-long raven hair and emerald eyes said.

    She was holding in the crook of her arm what looked like a Dragon whelp covered in ck scales and with ming red feathered wingsing out of his back. The whelp was the size of a human baby and from time to time he shapeshifted into one.

    "Grandma?" Ren was shocked by her youthful appearance for a second, then she remembered about the Awakened''s longevity and everything made sense.

    "Rem, this is Overlord Sark of the Desert. Overlord Sark, this is Rem the merfolk of the underwater twin cities of Yhen and Zhen. She would like to discuss with you the terms to establish a merfolk settlement along the Desert''s coast."

    "Sha!" The whelp cried in outrage, emitting a burst of bright red Origin mes aimed at Lith.

    "My bad." Lith chuckled. "This is my Uncle Shargein, son of the Overlord."

    The whelp emitted a low prideful grumble, thick puffs of ck smokeing out of his nostrils while his yellow eyes shone like embers.

 Chapter 2849 Like Paper (Part 1)

    Chapter 2849 Like Paper (Part 1)

    "Is Sark, I mean, the Overlord your grandmother?" Rem''s eyes went wide while her mouth hit the floor.

    "Yes." Sark replied while pacifying Shargein. "Let''s talk then."

    Zagran and Tyris joined the conversation as spectators. The Garuda because she was still considering the idea of establishing her own empire in order to help resolve the crisis of Jiera.

    The Griffon because she was interested in the needs of the merfolk and what they could offer in exchange for hospitality on the surface. She could use that knowledge to instruct the Royals about how to write a treaty without leaving space for loopholes that the nobles might exploit.

    After the Wayfinder recharged, Lith exchangedmunication runes with Rem and gifted her a dimensional ring filled with red meat, fruits, and vegetables. All things that the oceancked and that he hoped would be a delicacy for the merfolk.

    He also gave her a cookbook since due to their life underwater, they had no concept of spices or cooking yet they would need to get used to both once they started to live on the surface.

    "Are you really giving away the position of our beach house?" Solus pulled Lith aside, whispering. "This way we won''t be able to tower Warp there freely anymore."

    "Of course not." Lith replied. "I just said I have a beach house. I never shared its coordinates. That''s our happy oasis and I want to keep it that way."

    The people of the expedition groaned loudly as they boarded the Wayfinder again. Being trapped in a confined space for an unspecified amount of time was hardly exciting.

    "What''s next?" Lith asked.

    "The worst part of this journey. Aimless wandering until we find a mana geyser. We need it to establish a Warp Gate strong enough to reach the Kingdom." Orion replied.

    "Any idea how long will it take?"

    "Hopefully, not much." Orion said. "We have brought you Awakened for a reason, after all. As soon as you see one, let us know."

    "It''s not that easy." Lith frowned. "Life Vision has a limited range and the Wayfinder moves in a straight line right above the ground. It could take weeks, if we are unlucky. That''s much longer than I was promised."

    "Don''t worry about that." A snap of Orion''s fingers had the sides of the cargo wagons flip open. "The Royals have no reason to ruffle your scales."

    A small fleet of DoLoreans floated out of the train cars.

    There was one for each Awakened of the expedition and a few to spare for regr mages.

    "We''ll count mainly on you guys. If the mages of the Association find external signs of a geyser, they''ll mark the location and it''s up to one of you to check." Orion showed Lith how the DoLoreans shared awork that allowed for instantmunications and to put together a single map from the explored areas.

    The Wayfinder was part of thework, signaling its position to the fleet in case they needed a ce to retreat to safety.

    "I thought you had brought just four of them." Lith was bbergasted after noticing that all the DoLoreans carried the same armaments.

    "No, we used only four because that''s how many people we have with sufficient training to lift off the Wayfinder at high speed without turning into a giant fireball," Orion replied. "Now that we are on the ground and without anyone chasing us, things are much easier."

    After everyone imprinted their respective DoLorean, only one Awakened had been left out to no one''s surprise.

    "This is unfair. Why can''t I drive one of these things?" Kelia asked.

    "First, they are called DoLorean. Second, no one is going to let you study their power core. You can eithere with me or stay on the Wayfinder." Lith replied while setting Elysia''s car seat inside Kam''s DoLorean.

    "Fine. I''ll let the Empress know of your vote of confidence." She snorted.

    "Good. I don''t want her to think I''m an idiot." Lith snorted back.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to take Elysia with you?" Kam asked. "I know how hard it is for you to be away from our baby."

    "Yeah, I''m sure." Lith replied. "I can look after myself whereas you are a bit too weak for my taste to go out alone in a continent filled with monsters and lost cities."

    "Define weak."

    "You are not a Guardian."

    "Guilty as charged." She giggled.

    "Be a good girl and protect Mommy, okay?" Lith felt weird entrusting an adult to a child but there was nothing on Mogar that could hurt Elysia.

    "Mama!" The baby giggled as well.

    "I''m right here, you know?" Tyris had gone back to Garlen, allowing Sark to take her ce and step inside the DoLorean on the passenger seat. "You could just ask me."

    "And you would just give me the ''join the nest speech'', Grandma." Lith replied. "If Elysia clings to Kami, instead, you have to protect them both. As I see it, she''s your boss. Why waste time talking with the underling?"

    The Guardian''s outrage was met by the children''s prideful expression since even Shargein nodded.

    "Whose side are you on?" She asked and the Wyrmling licked her face in reply. "You are lucky that I love you or I''d never forgive your betrayal so easily."

    Shargein ignored the words, hearing only the love they carried, and kept licking her and clinging to his mother to let her know that he returned the feeling.

    "Dammit, babies should be tier one Forbidden Magic. I can''t stay mad at you." Sark sniffled, the Blood Imprint they shared amplified their bond to the point that she could hear the Shargein''s every thought.

    And they were all about her.

    That or food but Sark still counted them as proof of love since a healthy appetite aligned with her wish for her son to grow strong.

    "I forgive you too, youngdy, but don''t push your luck." She pointed her finger at Elysia who grabbed it.

    "Gama." The failed attempt to articte the word grandma was more than the Guardian could take.

    "I''m your fourth word?" Her voice broke, needing sheer willpower to not cry.

    "Gama?" Elysia replied with worry.

    "Yes, I''m your grandma and I''m going to kill whoever threatens you or your mommy."

    ''I would like to say I told you so, but I don''t want to ruin the moment.'' Lith thought.

    ''Good because I would have hated to break your nose in front of the kids but rest assured that I don''t like you exploiting my emotions.'' Sark replied with a re.

    He had forgotten that he was included in the Blood Imprint just like Elysia and Shargein. From so up close, Sark could naturally read the minds of those who carried her blood without the need for a mind link or a breathing technique.

    Lith took a few careful steps back and jumped into his own DoLorean as soon as Kam left, quickly followed by the rest of the squadron.

    While they safely explored the maind from the sky, the Wayfinder moved along the coast to map its outline and look for a fortified ce where to spend the night were the aerial recon turn out to be unsessful.

 Chapter 2850 Like Paper (Part 2)

    Chapter 2850 Like Paper (Part 2)

    There was a long list of Jiera''s coast cities that were known to the people of Garlen but there was no telling if they were built over a mana geyser or not. More importantly, they might have been destroyed by the lost cities after their escape or upied by monster tribes.

    Corpses were but food for monsters and the now-empty houses were a perfect shelter for anyone with enough brains to turn a handle. The Wayfinder moved at moderate speed, to give the watchmen the time to look for signs of settlements or of the presence of monsters.

    "I don''t get it." Kelia said while searching the ground with Life Vision while Lith flew at a low altitude. "If the monsters of Zelex can only stay on a mana geyser it means that Jiera''s Council shared with Garlen the location of a few geysers.

    "Why don''t we just go there?"

    "For a few reasons." He looked left while she looked right. "One, having monsters and humans cohabitate right off the bat is a bad idea. Any problem might easily escte in a conflict that we can''t afford.

    "Two, the mana geysers offered by Jiera''s Council are all located in dangerous regions adjacent to the area of influence of at least one monster horde. It''s the perfect position for the tribes of Zelex to whittle the numbers of our enemies and keep them contained but a nightmare for everything else.

    "Third andst, even if it was a safe location, once the human settlement expands, where are the monsters supposed to go? Away from a geyser, they revert to their feral state and age quickly.

    "The Warp Gate must be positioned in the center of the mana geyser and pushing Zelex''s tribes away is a death sentence. Again, not a good idea, if you want to build a longsting alliance."

    "Really? How is that possible?" The Empire was kept out of the existence of the Harmonizers and had little information about what had made the children of Glemos suitable allies for the Kingdom.

    Lith brought Kelia up to speed, mentioning Morok''s father but painting him solely as an expert at manipting life forces. He left out the deal between the Council and Zelex to not tempt the Empire to sabotage their rtionship with the Kingdom.

    Lith was an expert healer and could make up a few details while attributing the rest to the genius of the dead Tyrant and feigning ignorance. On top of that, monsters were naturally drawn to mana geysers.

    As abundant sources of world energy, the geysers allowed the monsters to naturally alter their life force and use it to attempt to reverse the effects of their fall. It was usible that someone had exploited the phenomenon for their experiments.

    For everything else "I don''t know" was the standard answer.

    "Wow!" Even with the few bits of truth in Lith''s story, there was more than enough to give Dusk a lot of thought material.

    He was a great expert in life forces, maybe the third greatest on Mogar after Roghar and Baba Yaga. The pieces of the puzzle at his disposal made sense but the huge gaps in Lith''s story kept him from seeing the full picture and exposing the deception.

    "Kolga, Zelex, and the elves." The Red Sun thought out loud. "You seem to be connected to everything even here. I refused to believe those silly rumors until now but you really are bad luck, Verhen."

    "Thanks." Lith turned around, giving them a sarcastic bow. "It means a lot to me,ing from a genocidal maniac like you."

    Kelia''s/Dusk''s eyes red up in annoyance for a second but he didn''t answer. He was still used to being so powerful that no one dared talk back to him while Lith was used to living with Guardians.

    Even if the Red Sun was still at his full strength, he would leave no impression on the Tiamat.

    As they moved, the map on the holographic screen became wider until it shrunk to fit the new borders while keeping everything in perspective. The explored area grew from every side thanks to the multiple DoLoreans and the Wayfinder all moving in different directions.

    Flying on a car at low altitude wasn''t much different than floating on a train but Kelia''s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm at the simplest discovery. She had much more personal space on her seat and she could look in every direction to take in the scenery as they advanced instead of looking at it from a single perspective.

    Also, the DoLorean was much nimbler and had greater maneuverability. She loved it when Lith performed a trick at the wheel to dodge a herd of animals or a wreck on the road so she often asked him for an encore.

    "Look, there''s a city there." Lith pointed at a distance.

    "I don''t see anything." She deactivated Life Vision and squinted her eyes as Lith steered the DoLorean toward their new destination.

    "Sorry. Sometimes I forget I''m not human anymore." He sighed. Lith had two eyes aze with Life Vision while the other five looked around normally.

    Most mystic senses had a limited range to not overload their master with information and also because energy signatures faded away quickly with distance.

    "Why the sighing?" Kelia asked. "Sure, having seven eyes is a bit creepy but it''s damn useful."

    "It sure is, but if you put it together with my mass, the enhanced eyesight, and everything else, I have to constantly hold back just to not hurt those close to me. Heck, I couldn''t even ride the DoLorean I made if not for gravity fusion.

    "I had to relearn how to do everything from scratch because everyone and everything is as tough as paper to me. The worst part is that it''s not that I don''t get upset anymore, I simply can''t afford it.

    "If I p someone''s hand away, I shatter it. If I bump into someone, I kill them. Don''t get me started about crowds."

    Dusk and Kelia pondered those words, thinking about how would they deal with the issue if Kelia''s bloodline awakened upon reaching the blue core.

    "Still, you make it look so effortless that I never noticed it. I think you are really cool." Kelia said.

    Lith would have considered it an attempt to manipte him with ttery but it took him a single nce to notice the honest admiration in her eyes and the childish enthusiasm in her voice.

    ''I guess I''m a rockstar now. Right, Solus?'' Yet no one answered him and the smile creasing his face dimmed a bit.

    The DoLorean slowed down until it stopped in an empty area. Lith''s Tiamat eyes failed to spot a living being for hundreds of meters and Life Vision confirmed to him that there was no one hiding around them either.

    "Why are we stopping?" She said and after noticing his gloomy expression, she added: "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to belittle your hardships. I know we aren''t friends, but I like to consider us rivals just like our respective countries.

    "I really look up to you Magus Verhen and-"

    Lith opened the door as he said: "Get out."

    Kelia found herself covered in a cold sweat as she left her seat and prepared for the worst.

 Chapter 2851 A Lesson to Learn (Part 1)

    Chapter 2851 A Lesson to Learn (Part 1)

    Lith and Kelia were alone, in the middle of a no-man''snd filled with countless mortal dangers. The perfect situation for an "ident" to take ce.

    ''Shit! Maybe Verhen betrayed us and revealed your existence to the Kingdom.'' Kelia''s mind sought order in the sudden chaos around her. ''Maybe they have tasked him to kill me and retrieve your crystal since you are in a weakened state. We¡­''

    "Why that face? Get in. We don''t have all day." Lith had walked around the car and was now sitting on the passenger seat, making her sigh in relief.

    "Okay." She was getting in the backseat when a tendril of Spirit Magic stopped her.

    "What are you doing? I meant there." Lith pointed at the driver''s seat, looking at Kelia like she was crazy. "I was going to teach you how to drive, but if you don''t want to¡­"

    "Really?" Her eyes sparkled with joy as the truth dawned through the dark clouds of her paranoia. "I mean, sure."

    She didn''t make him ask twice, taking the wheel and turning to a shade of purple in embarrassment after realizing how silly she had reacted.

    "I''m sor-"

    "In a few years, I''m going to have to teach my daughter." He cut her short, pretending to not have heard anything. "Since we are allies and there''s no telling if you are going to need a DoLorean while we are here, I thought it would be a good idea.

    "I get a bit of practice and you learn a useful skill. Fair warning. No breathing techniques. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal!" Kelia''s face stayed red but now it was out of joy.

    The prospect of receiving lessons from Lith about anything was already exciting but also having some sort of a father figure was a first for her. The Professors at the academy liked her, but only to further their own agenda and the Empress''.

    Dusk was a part of her so he didn''t count either.

    Kelia could feel her heart pounding as she followed Lith''s instructions as fast and efficiently as she could.

    The DoLorean had simple controls so it took her but a few minutes to go from floating slowly above the ground to speeding through the skies.

    "Congrattions, you can now drive." Lith said as they spiraled in a barrel roll that reminded him of Lark''s crazy antics at the wheel. "Now slow down and get back to the ground. The lesson isn''t over and we aren''t cruising. We are on a mission."

    "Yes, sir!" The abandoned city was already in sight so Kelia focused all of her and Dusk''s senses to perceive the presence of enemies. "I think the area is clear. This could be a perfect ce to spend the night."

    "We''ll see." Lith nodded. "Gain altitude. We''ll take a look from above. It''s better to avoid the risk of being surrounded and trapped by the walls."

    Kelia did as instructed, her enthusiasm fading when she noticed Lith''s frown.

    ''Did I do something wrong? Did I say something wrong? How did I mess up?''

    ''Gods, calm down!'' Dusk replied. ''Mogar doesn''t revolve around you or around what Verhen thinks of you. It''s probably nothing.''

    The Red Sun spoke more harshly than he would have liked to but he had his good reasons. He knew of Kelia''s admiration for Lith and how it had gotten worse after dancing with him at the G.

    The driving lessons were further boosting those feelings and Dusk wanted to keep her from getting too attached.

    ''We are allies, not friends. In the future, we might even be enemies.'' He reminded her, making Kelia swallow.

    "Listen." Lith said, unaware of her inner turmoil.

    "What?" She asked after listening carefully for a while. "There''s nothing here. It''spletely silent."

    As she lowered the DoLorean inside the city walls to take a closer look, Kelia noticed how every door was open and barely hanging from its hinges. Some showed signs of wear on both sides, proving that it was just due to the years of neglect.

    Most of them, however, had been burst through.

    The roads were paved with the dirty white bones of the people of Jiera. Most skeletons were still in the ce where they had died while a few been had assembled in small mounds.

    The smaller houses had crumbled due to theck of maintenance while the big ones with a private garden were covered by vines and surrounded by tall weeds. There was no birdsong. No noise of animals or people on the streets.

    Aside from the rustle of the wind and the creaking of the half-open shutters, there was nothing around Lith and Kelia.

    "Exactly. This means that this ce has been raided by monsters recently. They burst through the doors they couldn''t open and collected the edible corpses to consume them. This ce is not safe.

    "We have no idea if the monsters are still around and how many of them there are."

    "Edible corpses? The gue happened years ago, not months." Kelia pointed out.

    "They were probably survivors who tried to settle here. During myst visit, I have witnessed many humans abandoning the beats'' cities because unable to cope with the new order." Lith replied.

    "How can you be so sure it''s recent? It could have happened months ago."

    "You said it yourself. It''spletely silent. There are no animals which means they have been devoured or flew away. If they haven''te back yet, it means that the attack can''t have happened more than a few days ago." Lith used Spirit Magic to grab a bone and showed Kelia the bite marks.

    "Good gods." She stopped the DoLorean as the reality of her surroundings hit her.

    They weren''t inside an empty city but in a dead city.

    The gue had killed most of the people and then the survivors had killed each other. Then, the monsters had gotten rid of whoever had failed or refused to find shelter in one of the Awakened settlements.

    Nature was slowly reiming everything and the weather gave it a hand. Everything around Kelia was the result of a man-made disaster that no one had bothered cleaning up.

    "This is the reason I''m here today." Lith''s voice broke the silence and snapped her out of her reverie. "This is the reason I epted to be a Magus first and then joined the War of the Griffons instead of spending my time sipping tea in the Desert.

    "This is what happens when true power ends up in the wrong hands. I don''t im to be a hero. I didn''t do anything admirable. I simply stood up against Thrud, the Undead Courts, and the stupid politics because I didn''t want this to happen to Garlen."

    "Is this the lesson you were talking about?" Kelia asked when a ping from the console signalled them that the DoLorean number four had found a safe ce and everyone was converging there.

    "Yes." Lith replied as they gained altitude and set the course for their new destination. "Having power makes no one infallible. It only increases the number of people who end up paying the price for the mistakes of those who wield it."

 Chapter 2852 A Lesson to Learn (Part 2)

    Chapter 2852 A Lesson to Learn (Part 2)

    Lith knew of Kelia''s background from Solus and due to Kelia''s symbiotic rtionship with Dusk, Lith felt an affinity toward her. He was aware that the Empress was raising Kelia as her sessor and that she probably had been sent to Jiera on some mission.

    What he suspected and Kelia wasn''t aware of, was the fact that part of the mission was gaining field experience and witnessing the consequences of bad leadership. If Lith was right, the Empress wanted Kelia to be more than just a powerful mage who hosted Dusk in her body.

    If she ever became the next Empress, her actions would affect the whole Garlen.

    ***

    Once they reached the meeting point, Lith and Kelia had a pleasant surprise.

    Just a few dozen kilometers from their initialnding point there was an unused mana geyser. Farg had found it by following the river through the maind. After that, she had scouted the area surrounding the geyser for signs of the presence of monsters or lost cities.

    After finding plenty of wildlife and no traces of recent struggles, she had activated the homing beacon for the rest of the expedition.

    "This was a lucky break." Orion said. "Tonight we''ll sleep here and tomorrow we''ll proceed to scout the entire region thoroughly. I''m not taking a single crate out of the Wayfinder until we make sure there''s no one around here oring this way."

    The Train was already in its vige mode, setting a safe perimeter with the arrays that allowed everyone to rest and rx during the dinner.

    "Do you need our presence after the construction process begins?" Tista asked.

    "No, unless there''s an emergency. Why?"

    "Well, I came to Jiera to check on the merfolk and to meet Bodya''s rtives." She pointed the Nidhogg to Orion. "I would like to bring Lith and Kam along. Also, we could use this time to check on dion and the others."

    "Fine by me." Orion sighed. "But keep your amulets at hand and consider yourselves on call."

    The evening was quiet and the night passed without incidents. The following day, the Wayfinder and its upants kept guard to the geyser while checking for magic crystals and magic metals while the DoLoreans checked the perimeter for dozens of kilometers.

    The recon took until dusk because the mages had to oftene down and use earth magic to search for caves hidden underground and cast life-sensing arrays.

    Only after they found no traces of settlements and the presence of wild animals confirmed that there had not been a monster horde in a long while did Orion contact the Royals to share the good news.

    The following morning, the construction work started. The portable vige had been arranged so as to keep the site of the future Warp Gate at the center of the arrays.

    Mages were sent out to find an alternative source of water to the river and set temporary arrays to warn them of the approach of enemies while the soldiers looked for a steady supply of food for the expedition.

    Game, fruits, edible herbs, anything that would make the provisions brought from Garlenst longer in case they had underestimated the time necessary toplete the Gate or something dyed the construction.

    Only the members of the White Sword Squad and the Queen''s Corps unit were present when the Forgemastering materials were unloaded by the Awakened by using Spirit Magic. Tista, Lith, and Bodya also gave a hand by carrying the heaviest crates with ease thanks to their strength. Inxialot could have contributed as well, but no one trusted him near the pricelessponents and rare ingredients.

    There was the concrete chance that he might steal them, lose them due to his forgetfulness, or steal them and then forget about doing it so that even if Raagu questioned him, the Lich King would have been unaware of his own actions.

    Believing himself innocent, there was no telling how he might react to usations but no one believed for a second that Inxialot would never agree on revealing the contents of his dimensional amulets.

    Even worse, even if he did and was caught red-handed, the Lich King would believe to have always owned the stolen items and fight to protect them with everything he had gotten.

    "I still don''t understand why we brought the undead with us. He brings more trouble than help." A guard from the Empiremented drily.

    "Me neither." Said a mage. "Even worse, the more I see how a Lich operates, the more embarrassing is the thought that we came this close to losing against Veeza."

    The rest of the unit on scout duty muttered in agreement.

    "We brought him with us because he can stand guard alone night and day without rest and cover one side of the camp by himself." Harun, a female member of the White Sword unit said while pointing at the figure of Inxialot and Nero watching the south entrance.

    "Also, you guys are making a big mistake if you think that a Lich is just a clumsy oddball. If that was his true nature, Inxialot would have never be so powerful or risen to his position.

    "His ridiculous behavior means that he doesn''t give a damn about us and you should thank the gods for that. Veeza was a threat to the Empire because she had a goal and we were an obstacle to her ns. Once a Lich puts their n into motion, they never stop and never waver.

    "So shut up and don''t give him a reason to focus."

    Everybody was bbergasted but after a while they swallowed a lump of saliva, finding themselves covered in a cold sweat. They remembered well how Inxialot had single-handedly disposed of all the magical beasts attacking the Wayfinder with a single spell.

    On top of that, he was an Awakened and the representative of the undead in the Council whereas Veeza had been just one of the many affiliates of the Dusk Court. Nheless, it had taken the direct intervention of the Empress to kill her.

    The guards from the Empire stared at the figure of the Lich King onest time and decided that it was better to leave the sleeping Dragon alone lest he woke up.

    "Thanks for the help, guys." Orion triple-checked that everything necessary to build the physical foundation of the Warp Gate and only that had been brought out of the Wayfinder.

    This way, if something went amiss or was damaged, the sabotage would be immediately discovered. By keeping a limited number ofponents at hand while the rest was locked in the wagons made it hard for any enemy to deal a crippling blow to the expedition.

    Orion had brought spares of everything but only he knew what was where.

    "We''ll start right away and even though the area is secure, I''d sleep morefortably knowing that you are here. Please,e back as soon as you can or our estimates about the construction time might be nothing but wishful thinking."

    "There''s something I don''t understand." Lith said. "I thought that after arriving to Jiera, the people of the Empire would have gone separate ways and built their own Gate. Why are they still here?"

 Chapter 2853 A Lesson to Learn (Part 3)

    Chapter 2853 A Lesson to Learn (Part 3)

    "The people from the Empire are going to leave alright, but not before we are done here." Orion pointed at the disassembled Gate. "There was no point bringing more than one Gate since we can''t lend the Wayfinder to someone and hope they kindly return it without even taking a crack at it.

    "First the Kingdom builds its private Gate. Then, we bring the necessary for the fortification of our first outpost while the Empire brings the material for their own Gate.

    "At that point, we help them carry everything and keep guard until they are done. And when I say keep guard, I mean to their encampment and the Wayfinder."

    "Makes sense." Lith nodded. "See you soon."

    "I entrust everyone to you." Tista gave Bodya a kiss. "Also, I entrust him to you, girls. Protect this puny deep violet-cored Nidhogg in my absence."

    "Don''t worry. We''ll keep an eye on him for you." Quy said.

    "Not that you need it, Bodya. People at the deep violet like us are a cut above the rest." Friya patted his shoulder and red at Tista.

    Bodya squinted his eyes in annoyance, but itsted only one second. He hated being reminded that somehow a bunch of kids had surpassed him but he had long since learned that there was no point in being angry with reality.

    "Are you sure I can''te with you? You can trust me with a secret." It was a simple question, yet it made Tista shift Awkwardly on her feet.

    "I''m sorry. It''s not up to me. It''s a family matter." She replied while nodding at Lith.

    ''Now I understand how Lith felt before opening up to Kam.'' She actually thought. ''I''ve never had to hide anything from Bodya because I had no secrets. Being an Awakened is normal in the Council and Lith took the brunt of the public reaction after revealing he was a hybrid.

    ''I know that Bodya cares for me. He showed his selflessness to me countless times. The problem is that I have no idea how he would react seeing the tower. It''s a huge secret and it''s not mine to share.

    ''I can''t ask Lith and Solus to risk everything for me, even if it means hurting Bodya''s feelings. Let''s hope that after meeting his rtives I can understand him better.''

    The Nidhogg didn''t like being left behind or the clear divide that still separated him from Tista. Yet he could also see how uneasy she felt and how guilty she looked.

    ''Judging by the way she keeps looking at Lith, she must be following his directions.'' Bodya thought. ''I know that he has many secrets and that he must have his reasons for this but Tista is supposed to be her own woman, not an extension of her brother.

    ''I guess we''ll have to talk about this when she gets back.''

    He simply nodded and let her go.

    Tista waved him goodbye as Lith opened a Warp Steps leading dozens of kilometers away.

    "I''m sorry, Tista." Solus said with a sigh. "But even with the Sage Staff, I''m starting to feel weak and we didn''t stay over Yhen''s geyser long enough to replenish my energy reserves."

    "No need to apologize, Solus." Tista replied. "This is my problem, not yours. I trust Bodya, but not so much to feel safe that he would keep silent about the tower even in case we break up. People like Kam are rare."

    "Thank you." Thepliment brought a warm smile to her face.

    She still remembered the heartache from learning about Solus'' existence and his rtionship with Lith. Yet such bad memory was eclipsed by the good ones they had built together and the happiness that her weird extended marriage brought to her.

    Kam knew how Solus had worked hard from behind the scenes to teach Elysia the word mom while showing the baby Kam''s hologram. Also, Solus had been a great help to deal with Kam''s depression.

    She had taken care of the baby and forced Kam to take a break from the practice of magic every time she was overwhelmed. Solus had not only built their home inside the tower but was also helping Lith and Kam to keep it together despite their respective struggles.

    "Come on, I want to visit Mom and Dad. Which direction is the nearest geyser?" Tista asked.

    "Good question." Lith looked at Solus, like everyone else.

    "Gods, how can you guys live with the memory of a Lich?" She conjured a holographic map of the coastal region that had been explored by DoLorean with the discovered mana geysers marked by blinking dots.

    The Awakened of the expedition had found more than one but they were either located in areas hard to defend or that bore signs of recent activities. Orion couldn''t risk being discovered by a monster tide or starting a feud with a city of locals.

    The conflict would drain their limited resources and dy the construction of the Gate indefinitely. Lith had no such problems. Building the tower took but a second and after that, the Watchtower would tell him everything he needed.

    They reached a particrly powerful geyser that was surrounded by a thick forest. It was a terrible ce for a settlement since the trees would cut the line of sight of the sentinels and there were enough blind spots to hide an army.

    All things that were a plus for Lith. The trees would cover for the tower and the blind spots were perfect for his Demons to stalk the area and make sure that no eye witness would survive.

    Lith threw his stone ring on the ground, seeing it disappear under the mud and grass. Yet nothing visible happened. He had the tower stay underground so that he and Solus would gain its powers without anyone noticing.

    Then, after the life sensing arrays and the array detecting spells of the tower confirmed that no one was around, Lith conjured the power of the Warp Mirror to bring everyone inside.

    "Can we jump back to Garlen?" Kam asked.

    "Not yet." Solus replied. "I''m still recovering and building up the power for such a long-distance Tower Warp takes time. Also, that."

    She pointed at the images collected by the Sentries and shown in the mirrors.

    A few creatures emerged from the shadows of the forest and approached the location of the Mirror Steps to study the remnant dimensional energy.

    Or rather, they looked like different creatures until they merged into a single Empowered Abomination. The creature lived above the geyser and fed off it. He had hidden the moment he had perceived the arrival of the intruders and was now trying to assess if they were a threat or a meal.

    The Abomination had started weaving a spell to reopen the dimensional door when a voiceing from behind made him jump in surprise.

    "Are you allied with the Master?" The Demon of Locrias asked while wielding his sword, Pride.

    <"What did you say?"> The Abomination''s reply was in an unknown idiom which was an answer by itself.

    "I''ll ask you only one more time. Are you allied with the Master''s Organization?"

    <"Enough with the gibberish!"> The creature snarled in annoyance and released a tier four Chaos spell, Void Howling.

    The spear of Chaos was faster than a bullet, as wide as a small tree, and it disappeared soon after being conjured.

 Chapter 2854 A Lesson to Learn (Part 4)

    Chapter 2854 A Lesson to Learn (Part 4)

    <"What? How?"> A darkness-sealing array had appeared around them and when the Abomination tried to Blink away, he discovered that dimensional magic was sealed as well.

    "I''ll take that as a no. If I''m wrong, my bad." Locrias unleashed the tower tier spell, Primordial Nova.

    The enhanced version of the tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, overpowered the mass of Chaos that was the Empowered Abomination''s body and destroyed it. Locrias stood there for a while, pretending to lower his guard while more Demons scouted the surroundings.

    "We can go now. If there was someone else and they were running away, the Sentries would have noticed them while if they were hiding, by now my Demons would have discovered them." Lith said.

    Locrias cast Restoration to rx the space before returning inside Lith''s feather. Recalling a Demon left no trace that could be followed because it required no spell.

    Solus nodded and Warped the tower to Sark''s pce in the Blood Desert.

    "Fine, you got me. I''m going to build me one of these as soon as the tower is done rebuilding itself." The Guardian came out of Elysia''s shadow, feeling her full power return now that she was back on her turf.

    "I can''t wait to be able to move freely and kick some Fenagar ass without the need of someone on the other side opening a Warp for me."

    "Great idea." Solus chuckled. "This way Zag-zag cane to visit you often."

    "Don''t call her like that and dear gods you are right." Sark went pale at the thought. "She''d spar with all the Desert if I let her and by "Don''t call her like that and dear gods you are right." Sark went pale at the thought. "She''d spar with all the Desert if I let her and by the time she is done, my whole Nest would need a long vacation to recover."

    Before leaving, Sark cleansed the group and the tower from any ailment they carried from Jiera. The wave of darkness magic washed over them, making them feel like after a sterilization bath.

    Even though it was the middle of the night in Garlen, Lith''s family was happy to wake up to see them again. The only sour note of the reunion was that Surin hadpletely forgotten about all of them which angered Elysia.

    "Shush, darling. Normal babies have no memory. Your Aunt has no fault for that." Even by using the Dragon scales it took Lith a while to calm her down.

    Enough for Solus to recount everything about the trip and the visit to the underwater city of Yhen.

    "I''m proud of all of you." Elina hugged them. "You are the heroes of two continents. You too, Solus. Even if the rest of Mogar only sees a stone ring on Lith''s statue, your family knows what it really means."

    "Thanks, Mom." Solus smiled from her heart, d for the recognition.

    "How are you guys doing?" Lith asked Aran and Leria.

    "Great! Mom allowed us to take part in the daily lessons and we have improved a lot." Aran shot a small shard of ice that moved for over ten meters (33'') before fading away.

    It was a simple spell, but he cast it without any magic word or sign. The perfect silent magic and the range reached by the chore magic were the signs of a talented mage.

    "In just three days?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Not really." Leria replied. "We have never stopped practicing your teachings. The only thing we have learned here is how to cast offensive spells and how to keep the mana from dispersing."

    "I never liked the idea of teaching the children how to hurt people so I always kept them out of the most violent lessons." Elina sighed. "But if they are going to follow in your footsteps and enroll in the White Griffon academy, it''s time they learn."

    "Don''t worry so much, dear." Raaz gently held her shoulder to reassure her. "They are not learning how to hurt people but how to defend themselves. Also, only by experiencing how dangerous magic is can they understand that it''s not a toy to y with."

    "Well said, my child." Sark nodded while examining the kids with her breathing technique, Mother Sun.

    Working on the basics of true magic and living over a powerful mana geyser was stimting the growth of the kids'' cores and setting the foundation to develop a mana flow.

    "How is Garrik doing?" Kam would have liked to ask him in person but then she would have to exin how they had returned so quickly.

    "He''s never been happier." Leria replied. "Here nobody cares about his looks so Garrik has made a lot of friends at the magic lessons. He can shapeshift and fly freely which also makes him one of the most popr students.

    "His mother, R, is also taking magic lessons and the Phoenixes are helping her to control her bloodline abilities. Only Fluffy hates being here." She chuckled. "He is always hot due to his fur and Grandma put him on a diet."

    "I''ve offered them to permanently move to the Desert, but R turned me down." Sark sighed. "She says that it''s more important to her that Garrik sticks with his brother, especially now that Morok is married and the family is bound to grow."

    "Don''t say that to Quy, or she might have a stroke." Solus chuckled. "She''s already under a lot of pressure from the Kingdom and her family. Thest thing she needs is more responsibilities."

    With Manohar''s death, Quy was the only Healer skilled enough and with knowledge of Light Mastery that could take his spot as the Royal Healer. She had taken the position after Lith and Marth had turned it down.

    The former because he wasn''t interested in politics and thetter because, between his family and his duty as Headmaster of the White Griffon, he already had his te full. Quy, instead, was still looking for a path in life and wanted to redeem the Ernas name in the public eye.

    As the Royal Healer and aspiring god of healing, she could lighten the burden on Gunyin''s shoulders. The oldest of the Ernas had taken the role of head of the Ernas Household to give his parents the time they needed to grieve and recover from the War of the Griffons.

    After they finished catching up, everyone was happy to have a lightte dinner/early lunch to spend some time together while Solus and the tower recovered their strength. During that time, Lith left his equipment inside the Spark to further refine them.

    After bidding their family goodbye, Lith and the others went back into the tower and from there to Jiera.

    "What''s next on our agenda?" He asked.

    "Well, I''d like to meet Bodya''s rtives first." Tista tormented her hair nervously. "It''s the reason I came here in the first ce and if I keep dying it, I''m afraid I''ll end up chickening out."

    "Nice." Solus nudged her while winking. "Sounds important. Why didn''t you mention it to Mom and Dad?"

    "Are you kidding me?" Tista replied with a snort. "The moment they heard about this, they would start nning my marriage. Why do you think I inform them about our rtionship on a need-to-know basis?"

    "Is it that bad?" Kam furrowed her brows in surprise.

 Chapter 2855 Nidhoggâ€™s Nest (Part 1)

    Chapter 2855 Nidhogg¡¯s Nest (Part 1)

    "No, it''s worse. Here''s the ns for Lith''s marriage with Phloria." Tista projected a hologram depicting a small, intimate ceremony in an old version of the Verhen House, making Lith''s stomach churn.

    "This instead is about the marriage with Faluel." The images now showed a tacky, grandiose celebration taking ce inside the Hydra''sir, surrounded by piles of gold and precious gems. "Then there was Peonia-"

    "Enough. We got the gist of it." Tista had just started to project a wedding ceremony in the Throne Room when Lith stopped her. "Good gods, it''s even worse than I thought."

    "You mean you didn''t know?" Kam was surprised and offended at the same time.

    Surprised because Lith seemed to have been as oblivious as her and offended because there was no trace of a n for their marriage.

    "No, and I was happier that way." Lith sighed. "The only time my parents tried to involve me in their madness was when they nned for our marriage that was supposed to take ce after our third anniversary."

    "They were nning our marriage?" Kam''s face lit up with joy for almost one second before her smile got turned upside down. "Wait. How dare you call it madness?"

    "Because they didn''t give a farm about my consent." Lith replied. "I wasn''t nning anything because neither you nor them knew about Solus and it wasn''t fair to you popping out the question without telling you the truth first.

    "We all know how it ended up when I did."

    "Right." Kam nodded, her face back to a neutral expression as she turned toward Tista. "Can I see those ns, please?"

    "You need to be more specific." Tista replied. "What version?"

    "There''s more than one?"

    "You bet. Our parents upgraded it the more lil bro here gained fame and money. Same when he brought Zinya to our home, you two took the kids to the magic training camp, and Lith opened up to you and you stayed with him."

    Tista showed Kam so many versions of her marriage that soon she was on cloud nine. She now loved Raaz and Elina more than ever and was also happy that none of those hypothetical ceremonies surpassed the real deal.

    "Okay, great." Lith was eager to change the subject. "So, Bodya first, and then we go check on our allies. I''m curious to see how undead, monsters, and elves are faring and if they need a hand.

    "After that, we canfortably wait for the Gate to be finished and get back home as soon as it''s done."

    Lith hadn''t forgotten about Sylpha''s request to take out a lost city and the members of the first colonization party had been in Jiera for months. If there was a cursed object nearby, they were bound to know about it.

    ''I''m not going to waste time or risk my life for a secondary mission. If I can scan the power core from a distance with the Eyes of Menadion, I''ll think about it. Otherwise I''ll wash my hands and let the Guardians of Jiera dealing with this mess.''

    While they discussed their ns for the immediate future, Solus used abination of spells, arrays, and Sentries to check on their surroundings. The Sentries shared her mana sense and analysed everything that reflected on their ssy surface.

    From there, returning to the Wayfinder required but a single Warp Steps thanks to the Home Stone Lith had entrusted to Friya before going to Yhen.

    "Done already?" Bodya weed them all with a warm smile that became radiant as soon as his eyes met Tista''s. "I was expecting you guys to be away for a day or two."

    Solus was back at full strength but not even the members of the Council could notice the difference. She had avoided exerting herself on purpose so that the rise and fall of her condition ording to the presence or not of a mana geyser had gone unnoticed.

    "Yes, everything is fine now. It was just a family discussion. I missed you, though." Tista embraced him to lose herself in his warmth and brace herself from what was about to happen.

    "I missed you too. Can we go now or do you need some time to prepare?" Bodya smelled on her several scents alien to Jiera and typical of the Desert.

    Yet he knew that Sark was there as well and between the powers of the Guardian and the great rtionship Tista had with the Overlord, there were countless usible exnations for the oddities he noticed.

    "Do I need to prepare?" She froze on the spot pulling away enough to look him in the eyes.

    "How should I know?" Bodya shrugged. "I have no idea if there is somest-minute call you have to make to your family or how you nned this."

    "nned?" Tista went pale at that simple word.

    It was her first time going to meet someone and be the one hoping to make a good impression. In the three Great Countries, between her beauty and Lith''s status, she was used to men throwing themselves at her feet.

    She only had to answer yes or no to their invitations and they would do the rest.

    In the Awakenedmunity, her beauty wasn''t that special but her Demon bloodline was. Old and new Awakened households coveted her power and spared no effort in the attempt to add Divine Beasts to their ranks.

    Tista was but one Demon, sure, but all of her children would share her powers and if they chose the Hekate form when they came to age, their numbers would multiply with time.

    At that point, any Awakened bloodline who had garnered Tista''s loyalty would use that power to either climb the ranks of the Council or even bepletely independent from its authority.

    On Jiera, however, none of that mattered, especially for beasts. Tista was indeed a gorgeous woman, but only ording to human standards. Beasts shapeshifted and took any appearance of their choosing making looks irrelevant.

    To make matters worse, away from Garlen and the advantages that befriending her alleged grandparents implied, Tista was just a Divine Beast. A new kind, sure, but not necessarily better than a Garuda.

    All things she hadpletely overlooked until that single world had shattered the illusion of herfortable routine.

    "Do you think I should introduce myself in my human or Hekate form? Should I bring a gift? Some homemade food?" Tista gripped Bodya''s arms in a panic.

    "Respectively: it''s indifferent, depends, and definitely not." He chuckled. "Gods, I don''t know whether to get angry about how little thought you put into this or be moved by how flustered you are."

    "Please, be moved. I can''t deal with anything right now." Bursts of mes of different colors started to erupt from her body while her eyes became watery in frustration with herself.

    "I feel so dumb that I can barely understand what you are saying."

    "Long story short, your appearance is irrelevant since your smell will reveal your nature as a Divine Beast anyway." Bodya caressed her back to calm her down after making sure that the mes were harmless.

    "As for bringing a gift, it depends on your intentions."

 Chapter 2856 Nidhoggâ€™s Nest (Part 2)

    Chapter 2856 Nidhogg¡¯s Nest (Part 2)

    "If you are going to propose you need a proper betrothal gift." Bodya said with a sly smile as Tista literally burned red in embarrassment. "Otherwise there''s no need to bring anything.

    "You are just visiting the family of a friend. No one expects you to dish out powerful ingredients like they are candies nor to bring food since my rtives are all lesser Leviathans.

    "They are not used to human dishes and to make enough for everyone you''d cause another famine."

    "Right." She nodded. "Let''s go meet your rtives, then."

    Tista shapeshifted into her Hekate form and opened a Warp Steps as quickly as she could before she lost her cool and chickened out.

    "You know where my family lives? Then you did prepare, after all." Bodya said.

    "No, I''m just so scared out of my mind that I opened a Steps in a random direction." Tista replied, her voice almost breaking in terror and embarrassment.

    She dispelled the dimensional door after realizing it just led to the furthest point she could see. Her mes died down and her scales turned to a deep, dull red.

    "There''s nothing to be afraid of. Everything is going to be fine, I promise." Bodya hugged Tista before she burst into tears.

    All the magic on Mogar and the bloodline abilities of her Demon form were useless against stress. She was just a girl terrified at the idea of meeting her boyfriend''s family.

    "She''s making a big deal out of nothing." Lith scoffed, but under a Hush zone to not make his sister feel worse about it. "Who cares if some strangers like her or not?"

    "It is a big deal!" Kam and Solus snarled at him.

    "Don''t you remember how scared I was when you brought me to Lutia the first time?" Kam''s meeting with Lith''s family had gone well, but she had cried her share the days before.

    "Have you forgotten how terrible it was when you introduced me to our family?" Everyone had assumed that Solus was the reason behind Kam breaking up with Lith and had treated her like a homewrecker.

    It had been one of the worst days of her life and she had ended up crying a lot before mess.

    the misunderstanding had been cleared.

    "Dya!" Elysia had no idea what was going on but feeling how upset the two women she cared the most about were, she scolded Lith to the best of her abilities.

    As for Valeron the second, he pretended to be asleep to not be dragged into that mess.

    "Fine, I apologize. I''m a jerk." Lith raised his hands in surrender.

    The three most important women of his life were coalized against him and that wasn''t the hill he wanted to die on.

    After Tistaposed herself and her scales went back to their usual shiny red, Bodya opened a series of Warp Steps leading southeast, away from the coast.

    "Since my species hasn''t inherited the gills of our forefather, Nidhoggs tend to build their homes deep underground and away from water. Just like wingless Lesser Dragons avoid heights." He said in between dimensional doors.

    "Our ability to swim through the earth makes it rtively easy for us to find a naturalwork of caves that we then expand and rearrange with magic. It''s also great for looking for crystals and enchanted metal mines.

    "If we find a deep vein, even if there''s no preexisting cave, it''s worth making one from scratch."

    "Sounds like a very convenient ability." Lith suddenly found the idea of meeting Bodya''s family exciting as well.

    Nalrond could swim through the ground as well but there was only one of him and his form was rtively small. Unless Lith had a concrete lead about the presence of natural resources, the Rezar wouldn''t waste days digging randomly.

    On the other hand, there were many Nidhoggs and Lith remembered how quickly Bodya could move underground. Between their size and speed, it would take them hours to cover the area that a Rezar would need days to explore.

    The fact that Jiera was a no-man''snd whereas most of the geysers on Garlen were already taken, further sweetened the deal.

    "Very." Bodya furrowed his brow. "My species is considered among the best prospectors of the Awakenedmunity. We enjoy high status and often exchange our services with Origin mes since there are few species on Jiera capable of using them.

    "A piece of advice, make that Dragon greed disappear from your face and make sure it doesn''t pop back out during our visit. All Leviathans, lesser or not, need Origin mes and dislike Dragons in equal measure."

    "Why?" Tista swallowed a lump of saliva, feeling very involved in the matter.

    "Because of the rivalry between our forefathers." He shrugged. "Also, Lesser Leviathans are even more vocal about that due to their inferiorityplex."

    "Their?" Solus echoed.

    "I got over it. I learned the hard way that letting pride dictate your life is the recipe to make everything pointlessly hard for yourself." Bodya replied. "We''re here."

    They had arrived at a grasnd in the middle of nowhere. Judging from the several bald spots and the presence of deep craters, a huge battle had taken ce there recently.

    That, or a monster tide had shortly left.

    "Already?" Tista felt her throat parched and beads of fire leaked out of her scales.

    Bodya used Invigoration to recover the mana he had consumed and then he ced a hand on the ground. Solus noticed with mana sense the presence of an active array with which the Nidhogg was interacting.

    Bodya wasn''t weaving runes, just sending small bursts of elemental energy with different duration, intensity, and rhythm.

    ''It''s like a secret knock.'' As soon as he was done, the grasnds opened in front of their feet, forming a circr opening about ten meters (33'') across.

    Big enough to allow an adult Nidhogg to slide in while also carrying guests on his back. The corridor was also very steep and there was no light source.

    ''It''s a well-disguised trap.'' Lith''s paranoia sense tingled as soon as he saw the corridor. ''Everything is so smooth that there''s no foothold and the space is too tight for a non-serpent Emperor Beast to movefortably.''

    ''Yeah. That and the fact that the corridor is the right size to be flooded by the acidic spit of a single Nidhogg doesn''t help.'' Solus added. ''The various earth sealing arrays in ce make it impossible to alter the terrain but they don''t interfere with a Nidhogg bloodline ability.

    ''Getting inside without an invitation is suicidal at best.''

    "Jump on." Bodya shapeshifted into his lesser Divine Beast form and let them sit on the space right behind his head.

    He shapeshifted the scales covering his body so to form hand and foot holds before diving down. While Tista rehearsed her introduction with a mumbling voice, Lith used his seven eyes to look left and right as they moved.

    "Not to be that guy, but this is the poorest Awakened Household I''ve ever visited." Aside from the barren rock, there was nothing in the corridor surrounding them.

    No pieces of art, no magical wonders, no decorative spells that only the Life Vision of an Awakened could appreciate.

 Chapter 2857 Nidhoggâ€™s Nest (Part 3)

    Chapter 2857 Nidhogg¡¯s Nest (Part 3)

    The only spells Lith could detect were the elemental sealing arrays and the various security measures in ce.

    "No need to apologize. It''s on purpose." The corridor in front of Bodya formed a sharp turn right in less than ten meters yet he changed neither speed nor direction.

    Everyone had just the time to brace themselves for impact, their warnings and curses still making their way to their lips when the wall in front of them became softer than jelly.

    The new corridor they had just entered was not only perfectly lit, but also richly decorated. The surface of the ground was now rough and almost level, giving the guests the opportunity to make a stop if they wished.

    The ceiling depicted a long fresco narrating Fenagar''s history until one of his Emperor Beast spouses had given birth to the First Nidhogg and from there, the newborn species and its exploits were the sole protagonists of the mural.

    On the walls were hung illustrations of the Nidhogg bloodline''s most important achievements. Just like the paintings decorating the houses of the nobility of the Kingdom, each picture wasn''t static.

    It showed a short movie focused on the highlights of an event and the glory that the Nidhogg bloodline gained from it. To either side of each painting, there were alcoves hosting the statues of the main subject of the painting in both his human and Lesser form.

    "There''s no point making a path that anyone can follow when all the members of your family can make their own. The other corridor is just a diversion." Bodya smiled in pride at the amazement of his guests. "By the way, try to alternate between regr and Life Vision."

    They did as suggested, discovering that the offspring of the Father of all Leviathans also favored less conventional forms of art.

    Life Vision revealed that both paintings and statues had been enchanted to have apletely different appearance when observed with mystical senses.

    The elemental flows they had imbued with made the paintings show a second clip while those swirling around the statues generated a harmless reproduction of each ancient Nidhogg''s favorite spells.

    riches and masterpieces was just a matter of time.

    The entire corridor had been decorated with magical runes that had no purpose but to narrate in thenguage of magic how each one of the events and people depicted had altered the course of the family bloodline.

    It was a spectacle reserved solely for Awakened since impressing them was much harder than a short-lived human mage. To creatures like the Nidhoggs, umting riches and masterpieces was just a matter of time.

    In their opinion, any species incapable of doing it despite the advantage of their longevity, deserved to go extinct. So while mere light revealed mere opulence, Life Vision gave the guests concrete proof of the skill and mastery over magic of their hosts.

    It impressed even Lith, both in a good and bad way.

    ''On the one hand, I want to do something like this for the Verhen Mansion.'' He shared his thoughts with Solus and Kam, but kept Tista out of the loop to not upset her further.

    ''On the other hand, the level of pride and self-entitlement the various enchantments exude is something I have only seen in their of a Wyvern. Either Bodya is taking us on the route reserved for unwanted guests or this is the only route, which is even worse.''

    ''Yeah.'' Solus nodded. ''It would mean that there are no wanted guests. The Nidhoggs look down on anyone who isn''t one of their own.''

    The corridor went on for a while and soon replicas of magical devices and Forgemastering wonders appeared alongside the pieces of regr art. Once again, light showed their physical form while Life Vision gave an idea of the capabilities of the original artifacts.

    Whenever a Nidhogg achieved more than glory in battle, the fruits of theirbor were disyed as well. It was the perfect method to unt one''s creations without the risk of having their secrets stolen by Dragon Eyes or simr means.

    The eyes of the babies went on and off non-stop, giggling like it was the best carnival ride ever.

    Despite the sensation of being looked down upon, Lith appreciated the way the Nidhogg bloodline had chosen to recount their story and he decided to introduce it in Garlen as well.

    The journey ended in awork of massive caves big enough for multiple lesser Leviathans to movefortably no matter the form they chose. Yet the position of the pirs supporting the ceiling and the height of the cave were clearly intended to hinder other lesser Divine Beasts.

    With its 15 meters (50'') high ceiling, lesser or not a Divine Beast would have been forced to shrink to a size they had only briefly experienced during their development, making it awkward for them to fight and limiting their battle prowess.

    The columns, instead, were close to each other to counter four-legged creatures like Behemoths and Drakes, hindering the movement of their massive bodies and tails.

    Nidhoggs, instead, would have no issue maneuvering around and wouldn''t need much space since their serpentine forms would never stretch for the entirety of their length.

    ''Fuck me sideways.'' The symphony of paranoia and contingency ns that filled the room made Lith feel at home and pissed Solus off big time. ''This is brilliant. The pirs are actually built to be easy to destroy and cause a cave-in.

    ''This way, the enemy gets trapped under tons of rock and a Nidhogg is free to swim around like a shark. I''m moved.''

    ''Yeah, this is somewhat worse than a Wyvern''sir.'' Solus replied with a snarl. ''They just show off whereas the Nidhoggs turn out to be the kind of guys who wee you with one hand and point a gun to your head with the other.''

    There were just a few humanoid lizards in the cave but judging from the echoesing from the side tunnels, more wereing.

    <"Grandfather! It''s so nice to see you again."> Bodya''s Leviathantongue was rich with joy and emotion as he approached a Nidhogg in humanoid form.

    <"Bodya, my boy. Where have you been these past few months and who are your friends? O still have mymunication amulet, you know?"> The Grandfather looked like a bipedal lizard who had developed opposable thumbs.

    His body was covered in brownish grey scales streaked yellow, orange, and blue all over. Several straight bone spikes came out of his forehead in a shape that reminded Lith of the frill of a triceratops.

    He was wearing a full-body suit meant to protect him from high temperatures. It was made of red scales from another and older Nidhogg that left only the older Nidhogg''s hands and head exposed.

    A tail came out of the small of his back and it was way longer than a Dragon''s.

    ''It''s not supposed to be used like a third hand, but to wrap around and constrict a prey.'' Kam pointed out.

    Solus was about to ask since when Kam was an expert on the matter but then a few of Lith''s shared memories popped out in her mind, making her blush.

    <"Sorry for not contacting youtely, grandfather. Lots of things happened and I lost track of time."> Bodya replied.

 Chapter 2858 Nidhoggâ€™s Nest (Part 4)

    Chapter 2858 Nidhogg¡¯s Nest (Part 4)

    <"Do you mind switching to the Great Mother''snguage? I don''t want to make my guests feel ufortable.">

    "dly. Who do I have the pleasure to meet?" The older Nidhogg asked.

    "Grandfather, these are Tista Verhen, my girlfriend¡­" Tista''s appearance and name left Bodya''s old man indifferent, but her family name hit a nerve. His body stiffened and his eyes went cold for just a moment, but long enough for anybody to notice. Except for Tista, who was too tense, and Bodya, who was too happy about the reunion.

    He listed all of his guests, always specifying their rtionship with Tista. The more the Verhen name echoed through the cave, the less warmth remained in the eyes of the older Nidhogg.

    "Guys, this is my grandfather, Vothal the Nidhogg. He took care of me after my parents died and he taught me everything I know about magic."

    "It''s an honor to meet you all." Vothal weed them one by one with a small bow while keeping a respectful distance.

    Handshakes were considered rude in the Awakenedmunity because physical contact was often used to study someone with a breathing technique.

    "The honor is all mine, sir." Tista kept her face mask on, hoping it helped her to appear more confident than she actually was. "Bodya always speaks very highly of you."

    "d to hear it, yet I wonder why he never spoke to me about you." The older Nidhogg red, but at his grandson.

    "Grandpa!" Bodya said in embarrassment. "I didn''t mention Tista to you because you''ve told me countless times that you weren''t interested in my dating life unless I needed advice or it was something serious."

    "And which case is this?" Vothal asked with visible confusion on his reptile face.

    "Something serious!" Despite his ashen shin, Bodya''s ears were almost as red as Tista''s scales.

    "Then why did you introduce her as your girlfriend?" The older Nidhogg retorted. "Or were you looking for the word fianc¨¦e?"

    "Grandpa!" Tista burst out in mes and Bodya became nigh-pink skinned. "It''s not that serious. Tista wanted to meet my family just like I met hers. I thought that someone as old as you would know about courtesy visits."

    "Good." Vothal nodded. "You did the right thing, Tista. You saved yourself and this bonehead a lot of suffering before it was toote. For that, you have my thanks."

    He gave her a deep bow, but despite his polite gesture, Bodya went ashen again.

    "What do you mean, Grandpa?"

    "In a moment. Let''s wait for everyone to arrive. This is a family matter and I don''t want you to endure any more that''s strictly necessary." The older Nidhogg beckoned at the other members of the family.

    None of them bore a human face, preferring a form closer to their original appearance but with thefort of prehensile limbs to conduct their experiments. It was impossible to tell the emotions of the Nidhoggs because theycked the necessary muscles unless they deemed otherwise.

    Their eyes were equally cold and expressionless. If not for his keen instinct, Lith would have never noticed the underlying anger and scorn in the still-growing crowd around him.

    Much to his surprise, however, neither Bodya nor Tista were the subjects of the Lesser Leviathans'' focus.

    He was.

    After a while, the cave was almost packed. The Nidhoggs who wore working clothes kept their humanoid forms while those who didn''t kept their true appearance. They looked down on Lith, extending their bodies until their heads brushed against the ceiling to appear more imposing.

    "Ssso our prodigal ssson is back." Said a cold, hissing voice that could barely pass for human.

    Lith was expecting for one of the full-size Nidhoggs to deliver whatever speech Vothal had in mind, instead, the voice came from the small crowd in front of them. The humanoid reptilians moved aside, making way for one of them.

    The neer was dressed in Frogemastering clothes like everyone else and had taken the same height as the others, around 2 meters (6''7") tall. His scales were of a dull ashen grey, simr to Bodya''s skin, and were streaked orange, blue, and ck all over.

    He wore no insignia of authority and aside from his hissing voice there was only one remarkable detail about him. Every Nidhogg had bone spikesing out of their heads. Some were straight, others curved.

    A few formed a pattern but most appeared to be random. The neer, however, had the bone spikes on his head arranged in a circr form, resembling a crown. Resembling Fenagar himself.

    "Patriarch Forrn?" Bodya was happy to see him yet he was also confused by his presence in Vothal''s home. "What are you doing here and why are so many of our people assembled in a single ce?

    "Is it safe to leave your houses unguarded during such dangerous times?"

    He spoke out of sincere worry, yet his words were met with hisses of disapproval and furious res from the full-size Nidhoggs. The others were also doing it as well but their forms kept their feelings from being noticeable.

    The skin on their faces remained rxed and their reptilian eyes wide, giving them a perennial indifferent look.

    "Good godsss! Your ssstay on Garlen must have ssscrambled your brain, hatchling." Forrn replied, his expression still neutral while his voice oozed scorn. "Why do you think we are packed in here like animalsss? For sssurvival, that''sss why!"

    "What?" Bodya was taken aback.

    He opened his mouth to answer when fear took his breath away. He looked around, noticing several familiar faces and as many missing.

    "Is this all that is left of our n?"

    "Godsss no! The femalesss are sssimply in an even sssafer location to ensssure that our next generation sssurvivesss. They are our future and need to be protected at all costsss." The patriarch''s voice turned low as worry and grief filled his mind.

    He looked away, his eyes focused on the recent past that kept shing in front of him.

    "Why? What happened to our homes?"

    "Ssseriously?" Forrn snapped back, his tone as loud and angry as before. "Isss there sssomething wrong with Garlen''s water or did peace turn your brain into musssh? The monster hordesss happened. The lossst citiesss happened. The goddamn Abominationsss!

    "Why do you think we allowed you to go to Garlen? Becaussse it wasss clear that Jiera hasss failed and we need to learn from thossse who ssseeded. And what did you do? You forgot about usss left usss here to rot!

    "You ssstayed overssseas for yearsss to y with your girlfriend while we fought and died every sssingle day! What do you have to sssay for yourssself?"

    It wasn''t a rhetorical question, the pause long enough for Bodya to recover from the revtion and give an answer.

    "The situation was under control when I left and I didn''t abandon anyone. I asked grandfather for permission and he granted it to me."

    "Indeed." The Patriarch nodded. "Permisssion to court the member of a promisssing bloodline. To befriend a hero to Jiera. To learn how to rebuild our home country ssso that eventsss like the gue won''t happen ever again.

    "Tell me, young man. After all thisss time, what did you achieve?"

 Chapter 2859 Cruel Lesson (Part 1)

    Chapter 2859 Cruel Lesson (Part 1)

    "You brought no ssspouse, jussst a girlfriend. You indeed befriended Verhen, but you dare bring him into our houssse after he betrayed usss? Have you at leassst brought any piece of knowledge that can help us sssolve the current crisssisss?" Forrn asked.

    "Verhen, I mean, Lith is no traitor. As you said, he''s a hero to Jiera." Bodya replied. "I admit that I haven''t found any solution to our predicament, only new methods of government that humans can use in the future, but I always kept Grandpa updated.

    "He and I worked as a bridge between the Awakened Councils, bringing here reinforcements that are currently helping us to deal with-"

    "No, I sssaid that he wasss a hero." Forrn spat acid on the floor, making the protective arrays sizzle. "That until he went from helping usss to helping himssself. Instead of sssharing his creation with usss, Verhen bartered them in exchange for hisss freedom, and now he''sss going to take our own!"

    "Alssso, usss who? You haven''t taken part in a sssingle fight sssince your departure. And what reinforcementsss are you talking about? Elvesss that are going to sssteal ournd? Monstersss? Like we didn''t have enough already." "I almossst forgot. You brought back the fu-arming undead! Getting rid of them wasss the only good thing the gue achieved and you ruined it." In his anger, the patriarch missed how his words auto-corrected to family-friendly.

    "You didn''t bring help, you dimwit, you''ve brought an invasssion army with you. Even if we win, victory will belong to the conquerorsss who are going to keep everything for themssselvesss.

    "You have failed usss, Bodya. in and sssimple." The patriarch lowered his voice and head, followed by everyone else.

    Bodya felt like the members of his tribe were mourning his passing. Their bodynguage was clear to him and he read sadness and disappointment, not hate.

    "I don''t share your vision, patriarch." He replied. "Did you really expect I could achieve so much by myself? How exactly? Bing a Guardian takes more than two years.

    "I did my best to push Garlen''s Council to help, but they have their own problems. *Our* undead invaded theirnd." The young Nidhogg stressed that word. "Thrud Griffon killed dozens of their elders and she lived here, on Jiera, under our nose for centuries.

    "We pretended to not know about her existence in order to use her as a weapon against Garlen and soften our enemies before we struck the first blow. We hoped she would be a speartip for our invasion forces and instead she crippled our saviours.

    "I say that Jiera owes a debt to Garlen which is why I didn''t oppose any of their Council''s ns. On top of that, the thought that they might risk their lives for us without getting anything in return is preposterous.

    "We always knew there would be a price to pay."

    "You may be right, but your price isss too sssteep." Forrn nodded, resenting those words yet he had no argument to refute them. "I''m sssorry, but I can''t forgive you. You are banished from the n until you decide what ssside you are on."

    "Banished?" Bodya looked at his grandfather but Vothal refused to meet his eyes. "What do you want me to do?"

    "I already told you." Forrn replied. "You need to pick a ssside and fight for it. You can work for Garlen or Jiera but not for both."

    "I am working for both!"

    "No, ying both sides only serves yourssself." The patriarch poked Bodya''s chest with a wed finger. "I''m not asssking you much. If you want your ce in the family back, all you have to do isss to cut contact with the invadersss and fight by our ssside.

    "Being young and ssstupid is no crime. Persssevering, however, would be an uneptable act of betrayal."

    "What about Tista?" Bodya''s voice trembled.

    "Either you kick her out or ssshe disssownsss her family and joinsss oursss in marriage." Forrn shrugged. "I don''t like Dragonsss but the potential of her bloodline is undeniable.

    "With more Divine Beastsss in our ranksss, retaking Jiera wouldn''t be a dream anymore. Or at least, we might be able to protect whatnd we have left."

    "Is that what I am to you?" Tista''s embarrassment was gone and was now reced by fire and fury. "A means to an end? Do you really think I would abandon my family for a bunch of jackasses I don''t know?"

    "What you think and what you are going to do are of no concern to me, child." The patriarch dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "I was sssimply presssenting to our wayward ssson hisss optionsss.

    "Whether you decide to follow Bodya or not is of sssecondary importance. Only hisss choice matters."

    Tista turned toward her boyfriend, expecting to see Bodya as outraged as she was. Instead, he was deathly pale, clenching his hands and licking his lips while racking his brain for an answer.

    "How long do I have to give you my reply?" He finally spoke, disappointing both sides.

    "Until Jiera is colonized or our ssspecies goesss extinct." Forrn hissed. "Until that moment, you can do however you want and ssstay wherever you want but here. Asss I''ve already sssaid, you are banissshed."

    "But-" A spark of Forrn''s mana and a Warping array cut Bodya short, moving him and the others in the middle of nowhere.

    Before anyone could do or say anything, a disgusting smell hit their noses. The ins they had been Warped to werepletely barren, with the soil of a reddish brown from the amount of blood spilled.

    Bodya recognized the effects of the acid breath of the Nidhoggs as the cause for thepleteck of vegetation. Hundreds of liters had been spilled there, leaving only the white of a few sets of bones emerging from the ground.

    "This is wrong." He turned left and right as he slowly recognized the ce from the fewndmarks left after the conflict.

    The molten chunk of a once-giant rock still bearing childish carvings, the dried bed of a river, and four hills close to each other that resembled the knuckles of a buried giant.

    "This is where I grew up. There should be a forest here. A river full of fish." He turned toward Tista with a feverish light in his eyes. "Narso and I spent more time here than at ho-"

    Bodya froze as that name along with the pattern of the bones broke something inside of him. He shapeshifted into his real form digging through the ground with the desperation of a man sentenced to death.

    He knew the answer yet he refused to believe it until reality pped him in the face. There was only one set of bones. The skeleton they belonged to was simply very long and partially buried, giving the impression they belonged to more than one corpse.

    Instead, it was just a single Nidhogg.

    Its snout still bore countless teeth and w marks. There wasn''t a shred of meat on the bones nor did a single scale survive the ravenous hunger of the monster tide. The corpse could have belonged to anyone if not for its unique pattern of horns.

 Chapter 2860 Cruel Lesson (Part 2)

    Chapter 2860 Cruel Lesson (Part 2)

    "Narso!" Bodya screamed as tears streaked down his eyes.

    The water hit the ground with a hiss due to its reaction with the acid that still permeated the area.

    Tista put her personal feelings aside and turned into her full size to be able to embrace the Nidhogg and console him.

    "He was my best friend." Bodya managed to say as the shock settled. "I was supposed to introduce him to you right here. We grew up together since we were the only two human hybrids of the tribe."

    "I remember." Tista kept caressing his giant head.

    "He had over 2900 years left to live. How could he die like that? This must be some sort of sick joke. A punishment for disappointing the patriarch."

    ''It indeed is a punishment.'' Lith thought. ''But this is no trick, this is reality. Now I understand why the Jiera Council didn''t oppose our colonization ns and Fenagar even helped with the first expedition. Things must be even worse than we expected.''

    While Lith mused about the dangers that Orion''s expedition was likely to face, Tista let her fury simmer but didn''t let it show on the outside. Not a single tongue of fire erupted from her scales or feathers.

    ''What a cruel bastard! Forrn sent us here to make Bodya feel guilty and break him.'' The Hekate cursed Fenagar and all the members of his bloodline with one single exception. ''Yet I''m no better.

    ''I was about to tear him a new one for letting the patriarch speak to him like that and for not taking my side immediately. In my fury, I hadn''t considered how painful it must be to Bodya to cut off his family.

    ''This isn''t a fairy tale. Love doesn''t conquer all and we are not even engaged. If he gives up on his family for me and things don''t work out for us, he''s going to end up with nothing.''

    Bodya reminisced several of his escapades as a child with Narso and shared them with Tista, shedding a tear from time to time. She smiled and chuckled for him, his face frozen in time like that of his old friend.

    Their adventures were no different from those of Aran and Leria, so Tista could easily rte to them. The only difference was that instead of having magical steeds, Bodya and Narso turned into big snakes and hid below the ground whenever they ended in trouble.

    She listened in silence until those sweet childhood memories crashed against the bitterness of the present.

    "We were like brothers, Tista, and now he''s dead because of me. While I was having the time of my life in Garlen, he was fighting for his life to protect everything we held dear." Bodya said.

    "The patriarch is right. I''m a traitor of my species and Narso paid for my crimes with his life. If I had been here, he wouldn''t have died a dog''s death alone. We would have fought and survived together. I-"

    He looked at the corpse of the Nidhogg and then at Tista, hearing the words of the elder echoing in his head over and over.

    ''The patriarch has reminded me that as a lesser Leviathan, I have responsibilities toward not only our n, but also Jiera, my homnd.'' Bodya thought. ''Narso''s demise is the consequence of my disregard for such responsibilities that forced others to shoulder them in my stead.''

    His grief turned into a burning rage that demanded for him to find and punish those who had killed his friend. Misery lovedpany and Bodya wanted every single monster on Jiera to suffer as much as he did.

    Yet Narso''s bones also reminded him that there was only so much that a single Nidhogg could do.

    "I need to avenge him. It''s the only way I have to atone for my mistakes." Nalrond snapped out of his reverie. "But I can''t do it alone nor would it be fair for me to drag you into my mess.

    "As Grampa said, our bond is not that deep." Those words hurt Tista much more than she expected. "To fight whatever killed Narso, I need the help of my family and there''s only one way to get it. We-"

    "Shut up." Tista cut him short, her voice sounded like the low rumble of a storm yet it still managed to express kindness and how much she cared for him. "Don''t say things that you can''t take it back."

    "But-"

    "I said shut up!" Her seven eyes red with as many streams of elemental energy. "I''ve been quiet in respect for your loss but now it''s my turn to talk and you will listen. It takes two to make a rtionship and I have the right to say my piece.

    "If when I''m done you are still of the same mind, I won''t bother you anymore. Is that okay for you?" She asked and Bodya nodded for her to continue.

    "I was going to keep this to myself until you felt better, but you need to hear this now. Your patriarch is a maniptive, heartless piece of s-and!" The Guardians'' auto-correct struck again yet Bodya''s eyes went wide in outrage and he would have retorted if his word hadn''t bound him to silence.

    "Look around. Do you really think that a single Nidhogg can cause this kind of destruction? Do you really think that the rest of your tribe let Narso fight alone? Because if they did, it wouldn''t be your fault, but theirs.

    "You were thousands of kilometers away when this happened, but what''s their excuse?" The Nidhogg froze for a second, this time it was his own voice and estimates that echoed through his head.

    It had taken hundreds of liters of acid to do something like that. Which meant that a whole group of adult Nidhoggs if not more than one group had fought and lost there.

    "If they didn''t, it wouldn''t be your fault either. Or are you so egotistical to believe that you alone could make the difference and save the day?" Tista''s words stung, especially when Bodya shook his head to answer without interrupting her.

    "Good." Tista said with a snarl. "Nowes the maniptive, heartless part. Don''t you think it''s strange that your best friend was the only one to die in the fight to protect a ce that was dear to you?"

    ''Is she insinuating that my people killed Narso just to teach me a lesson?'' He thought in a horror that was born from the possibility that it might have been true. ''It''s too much of a coincidence.''

    "It''s too much of a coincidence." Tista gave voice to his thoughts. "Don''t get me wrong, I''m pretty sure that your friend died in battle and that the members of your family did everything they could to save Narso.

    "Yet I''m also pretty damn sure that this is a farce. Howe Narso died here and why there''s not a single other corpse? If you ask me, more than one Nidhogg died here but I bet that your friend wasn''t among them.

    "I bet that those who died here received a proper burial in the family tomb or whatever your tribe uses to honor their dead. I bet that Narso died in some other circumstance and that they nted the body here for you to find it."

 Chapter 2861 Joint Colony (Part 1)

    Chapter 2861 Joint Colony (Part 1)

    "I bet that all this has been staged to reinforce the trauma from the destruction of your childhood memories with the death of your friend." Tista said. "Otherwise, answer me this. Why did the members of your family abandon Narso here? Is it normal to leave a corpse of your own flesh and blood exposed for the animals to feed on them?"

    Bodya shook his head again.

    "If you ask me, I think that while we waited for everyone to gather in the main hall, someone took a trip to the family burial site, dug up Narso''s corpse, and brought it here. Forrn did everything he could to push you away from me.

    "He vomited bile and resentment on you like he wanted to argue yet he sent you away before you could answer him. Maybe I''ve been around Jirni Ernas for too long but I think you are being manipted.

    "As for our rtionship, you are right, we aren''t that close and that''s mostly my fault but that doesn''t mean that I don''t care about you. I don''t know what the future holds for us but I''ll be damned if I let you throw everything away because of an old snake.

    "Whatever you decide, I''ll ept it but I want to make sure that it''s what you want, not that you just parrot Forrn''s words." Tista let go of his neck and took several steps back, even shrinking back to her human form.

    "I''m done. Take your time and give me your answer."

    She walked away slowly, leaving Bodya alone with his thoughts. He looked around the scene of the battle again, this time without letting his emotions cloud his judgment.

    He noticed many details that were inconsistent with his early reconstruction of the events and that supported Tista''s hypothesis. The effects of the acid were too extensive to be the work of a single Nidhogg and the position of the corpse was weird.

    Narso''s bones came out of the ground at regr intervals, like he had been swarmed while slithering in and out of the soil and also killed so quickly that he had failed to either fly away or dive down for cover.

    That was the only possible exnation, unless, of course, everything was staged. The thought made his stomach churn and dizziness blurred his vision.

    The inconsistencies and the weirdness of Narso''s death scene were no proof of anything. Bodya had seen many even more unbelievable things happen amid the chaos of battle and the amount of acid that the soil wasden with could be easily exined.

    Maybe Narso had fought together with other members of the tribe andgged behind during a retreat, forcing them to abandon him there. Maybe he had been caught by surprise and realizing he had no chance of survival, he had spread his acidic blood everywhere to bring down with him as many enemies as possible.

    All Bodya had were a bunch of theories and a single certainty: his life hade to a point of no return.

    If he decided to believe to Tista''s words, returning to his tribe was out of the question, no matter if their rtionship blossomed or withered. How could he trust people who imed to love and care for him yet didn''t hesitate to exploit a tragedy for their ends?

    There were bite marks on Narso''s bones, indicating that after he had bled out, monsters or scavengers had preyed on his corpse. If Tista was right, leaving the body in the open like that was a ruthless, intentional act meant to shake Bodya.

    He could understand his tribe''s outrage for his prolonged absence and the current colonization of Jiera but such things were no excuse to defile the body of a warrior of their tribe to manipte another.

    If he decided to believe patriarch Forrn, instead, Bodya could still go back to his ancestral home, but that meant cutting ties with Garlen forever. His kinsmen and Jiera''s Council would never ept him were Bodya choose to pursue his rtionship with Tista.

    A rtionship that may fail, leaving him a lone outcast and forcing him to rebuild his life from scratch in a foreignnd.

    ''Yet what if I choose my tribe andter find out that Tista was right?'' He thought. ''I could never forgive such a betrayal. I''d abandon my family and I would be alone anyway. I could still live in Jiera and be a member of its Council, but to what end?

    ''Without any bond to fight for, I have no reason to care for this wretchednd.''

    Bodya shrunk back into his human form, walking toward Tista and the rest of the group. They were waiting for him from a distance, giving him time and space to think things through.

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t give you an answer right now." The Nidhogg said. "Until I clear my doubts and learn the truth about Narso''s death, there is no right answer. Only poison that muds my brain."

    "It''s fine." Tista nodded, doing her best to hide how hurt she felt.

    Her brain understood that choosing her while they weren''t even betrothed would have been reckless and stupid of him. One thing was giving up on his family to move in with hers and having the certainty that they would build together one of their own.

    Gambling everything on a maybe quite another. Yet love is supposed to be reckless and stupid and her heart was no different, wanting to be chosen no matter how flimsy the odds were.

    ***

    A quick call to dionter, Lith and the others were flying toward the coordinates of the undead encampment that the Firstborn Vampire had given them. Lith was in his Tiamat form and everyone else was riding on his back since he was the fastest among them.

    Bodya spent the trip in silence, mulling over everything that his grandfather and the patriarch had said in search of faults in their arguments. The problem was twofold since he found none and Tista''s reasoning was just as solid.

    He was sitting on the edge of the barrier protecting them from the wind pressure and the jolts of the flight, adding a physical distance to the emotional one that already separated him from the rest of the group.

    ''Don''t be angry with Bodya. I''ve walked many miles in his shoes and I know how hard making this kind of life-changing decision feels. It tears you apart.'' Lith said Tista with a mind link.

    ''What do you mean?'' She asked in confusion. ''You never doubted your rtionship with Kam.''

    ''I wish it was true.'' He inwardly sighed. ''Before choosing whether or not to share the truth about me, I doubted every one of my rtionships. Even those with Phloria, Kam, and our family.''

    ''What?'' Hearing him question their bond of trust outraged Tista. ''Why?''

    ''Because opening up to a woman or friend meant putting my life and the freedom of our family in danger while opening up to the family meant risking to be disowned, called names, and lose everything. That''s why.'' Lith replied.

    ''Think about it. A single slip of the tongue or a break up with a girlfriend might have led to exposing my existence before I had gained enough power to protect everyone.''

 Chapter 2862 Joint Colony (Part 2)

    Chapter 2862 Joint Colony (Part 2)

    ''Just because I was honest wouldn''t have made Mom and Dad less scared of me. They had every reason to be shocked and even question if an Abomination hybrid like me was their son to start with.

    ''I didn''t wait years beforeing clean because I never considered the issue, I did it because I was scared. The only difference between Bodya and me is that you know about his struggle and that he doesn''t have much time to make up his mind.

    ''He can''t afford to ster a smile on his face and pretend that everything is fine until he feels safe like I did.''

    Tista remained silent as her outrage died out. She remembered her brother''s distress well, how keeping his identity as an Awakened and Solus'' presence a secret had haunted him for years.

    Back then, she had no words to offer him aside from cautious optimism. Even though she believed in love, there was no guarantee that things wouldn''t fall apart and once a secret was out, there was no putting it back in.

    She mulled over his words until theynded, but even then she was none the wiser.

    "What the heck?" Kam said in surprise, noticing that they were surrounded by a mana geyser and in front of hundreds of reverted monsters. "I thought we were going to check on the undead, not the people of Zelex."

    "And so did I." Lith shapeshifted into his human form, taking hismunication amulet out of his pocket dimension to call dion again.

    "And you were both right." The Firstborn Vampire ced his hand on Lith''s amulet before his finger could reach dion''s contact run. "Wee to the joint colony of Zelex and the Eclipsed Lands."

    The sun was still high but as long as the Vampire turned his full-red blood core into a deep red mana core, it was no bother to him.

    "A joint colony?" Solus echoed in disbelief. "I''m sorry, but I don''t see the point of it. By taking the same space you can cover each other''s back, but it also reduces the territory you can secure by half.

    "On top of that, there is no trust between you guys. The slightest iprehension could turn into a massacre since undead are mostly helpless by day."

    "You are right about the limits to the expansion of our colony but wrong about everything else." dion shook his head. "Just like you have said, undead are fish in a barrel while the sun is up but it''s also true that the people of Zelex can''t leave the mana geyser for long.

    "We have joined forces so that we undead have a safe ce where to slumber during the day and once nightes, we take care of the fighting and expanding the safe perimeter.

    "Unlike the people of Zelex, we can move freely. We can scout the area outside the geyser and prepare traps in advance every time we know the settlement will be attacked during the day."

    "It makes sense." Lith didn''t miss how the Firstborn referred to his allies as people instead of monsters. "Yet the cons still outnumber the pros of an operation like this. There is no trust between the two parties and without it your alliance is built upon shaky foundations.

    "If anything goes wrong, both your forces will suffer great losses and the colonization of Jiera will slow down considerably."

    "That''s why we didn''t pool our resources before reaching a mutual understanding and ensuring each other that we have nothing to gain by quarrelling and everything to lose." The Firstborn Vampire nodded.

    "You see, you guys are missing a vital point here. Undead need to feed regrly to keep their strength, but what are we supposed to eat while we are stranded in a wastnd like this?"

    Lith was about to point out that the monster hordes would offer the undead plenty of food when he remembered that due to their twisted life forces and fallen cores, monsters were disgusting to the undead.

    Purifying their corrupted energy took so much time and effort that it was easier feeding off grass and it tasted even better.

    Also, there was the issue that only those belonging to the same original race of an undead could provide them with the amount of energy they needed to recover from a fight.

    "I know what you are thinking, but again, you are wrong." dion said with a charming smile. "Fallen creatures are disgusting to us, but as long as the people of Zelex stay above the geyser, they revert into their original form."

    He waved at the Balors who counted as evolved humans, making them even more tasty, the ogres who were nt folk, the Wargs who counted as Elder Beasts, andstly to the orcs and goblins.

    They descended from the elves, making them universal donors of life force.

    "I see, but that doesn''t change much. You have much to gain from the people of Zelex but little to offer them. While should they ept working with you?"

    "Because even on another continent, life never stops." The First Vampire replied. "And only us can offer our allies and their children safe passage home."

    A Warp Gate leading straight to Zelex opened at a snap of his fingers.

    "Why do you think Ilthin is nowhere to be seen?"

    "Hi, handsome." The Firstborn Banshee popped her head out of the Gate, letting fresh warriors reach the encampment while newborns and those in dire need for treatment crossed over to Garlen.

    Baba Yaga and her Firstborns were bound by a powerful mind link that could be triggered from any distance, allowing her to open a dimensional tunnel in case they needed rescue.

    "The people of Zelex offer us food and protection during the day. In exchange, we protect them during the night and allow them to rece their wounded with fresh troops or simply to reconnect with their families."

    "Daddy!" Radusk ran through the Gate and into his father''s arms.

    The young boy had no trace left of his previous pallor and aside from a few strands of silver, his hair was as ck as dion''s.

    "Damn, you are growing so fast." A few months were nothing to an immortal Vampire but a long time to a human child.

    dion''s heart tightened at the idea that his son''s time on Mogar was limited and that he was spending too much of it away from Radusk.

    "I''m sorry but I have to go. One of us must always stay in Zelex or even Mother would take hours to reach Jiera in case of emergency."

    "Wait. You have yet to exin why Baba Yaga is willing to go to such lengths to help with the colonization of Jiera." dion ignored Lith''s words and crossed over the Gate at the same time as Ilthin.

    "I can answer that, sweetie pie." The Firstborn Banshee said to Elysia who was strapped to Lith''s chest in the baby carrier.

    The elf Lady had hair of gold, eyes of silver, and ten centimeters (4 inches) long pointy ears that came out of her waist-long hair.

    "Mother is doing it for Radusk. This ce is too dangerous for him but at the same time, she doesn''t want to keep the boy separated from his father for so long."

 Chapter 2863 Wretched Land (Part 1)

    Chapter 2863 Wretched Land (Part 1)

    "Also, it''s not only the mons- the people of Zelex who need fresh troops." Ilthin said while pointing at the still-open Gate.

    "I know that Malyshka is a good person but she''s no saint. Staying at all times in Zelex means halting her research and travels." Solus said. "What''s the catch?"

    "Well, let''s say that Mother is still very intrigued by hybrid children. In a way, the people of Zelex are hybrids as well since they are stuck between a reverted and a fallen state." Ilthin replied.

    "We undead also have a wed mana core and Mother is checking if the same principle that temporarily fixes a monster core while on a geyser can work on us too."

    "That''s the Malyshka I know." Solus chuckled, knowing that Baba Yaga couldn''t be too far away.

    "I resent that!" The Red Mother said but she didn''t dare show her face due to the truth of those words flushing her cheeks.

    "Come on, Mother. I too would be afraid you were suffering from the onset of white- core dementia if you suddenly got all gooey. We worry because we care about you." Ilthin offered Elysia a slender finger that the baby sniffed for a while before grabbing it.

    "Ba." Elysia said while looking at Valeron the second. "Baba."

    "How cute!" The Firstborn Banshee squealed in misunderstanding and peppered Elysia''s small face with kisses. "No, sweety, I''m not Baba Yaga. We just smell simr because I carry a spark of her life force within me. My name is Ilthin."

    "Baba." Elysia confirmed.

    "Mom, you have to hear this. Lith and Kami are so kind that they have taught their daughter your name as one of her first words."

    A sound simr to a raspy cough came from the other side of the Gate as the Red Mother tried to suppress a peal ofughter.

    Elisya remembered how angry her mother would get whenever the First Banshee approached them and the baby girl could also feel Kam''s growing annoyance. It was the reason Elysia was referring to Ilthin as "very bad".

    "That''s not-" Lith was about to exin the truth when a nudge to his ribs told him otherwise. "I mean, how are things around here?"

    "Things are exactly as you can imagine." Ilthin turned serious while letting Valeron the Second sniff her hand as well and mark her as a bad guy. "Those lowlifes of Jiera''s Council put us right in the path of a monster tide.

    "When we first arrived here, there was not a single de of grass left and the food provisions we received from the nearby Awakened cities were barely enough to keep the people of Zelex from starving.

    "If you ask me, the goal of the Awakened was to limit the reproduction rate of us ''invaders''. That or they just wanted to use us as cannon fodder against the tide, with mutual destruction as their best-case scenario.

    "Too bad for them that nt folk are great at growing stuff and with the energying from the mana geyser, the fertility of the soil here is outstanding. In two weeks, we had enough grass to lure wildlife.

    "We needed only a few months to get to the point where we are now." She waved at the few tall treesden with fruits and the many more short ones that the ogres were growing at an elerated rate with the help of the trolls.

    The nt folk''s connection with the green allowed them to find and revitalize even dried seeds while the evolved Odi used their mastery over light magic to speed up the nts'' metabolism while also taking care of not depleting the soil.

    "That and keeping those damned monsters away, of course." She then gave them a short recap of the events since their arrival in Jiera.

    At first, the fights to drive away monsters thatprised the edge of the tide had been so brutal that they had caused many casualties amongst the people of Zelex until the sun had set and the undead risen.

    It was a war of attrition that the forces from Garlen had won only because most monsters were incapable of using magic and killing an undead with physical attacks was nigh impossible.

    On top of that, the monsters were always hungry and the barrennd offered no food. Each conflictsted only until the tide migrated toward a much juicer prey and involved solely the dregs of the hungry swarm.

    Those too weak to be part of the main attack force and living off the scraps left by the other monsters.

    Despite all of that, there were thousands of them whereas the allied forces from Garlen. amounted to a few hundred. Ogres exploited their nt nature to recover from most wounds while the trolls were forced to keep themselves at the borders of the geyser.

    This way, they needed but a few steps to revert to their fallen state and gain unparalleled regenerating abilities in exchange for their lifespan. Little by little the alliance between reverted monsters and undead had whittled the tide''s numbers until their ranks didn''t reach the geyser anymore.

    After that, at each passage of the tide the undead took care of luring single tribes of monsters with food, leading them into traps where they were ughtered. Then, multiple tribes were baited to the pile of corpses, sending them into a feeding frenzy.

    Away from their leaders and aroused by the smell of blood, the monsters would fight among themselves, leaving to the people of Zelex to deal with the winners. The final result was a literal hill of dead bodies that the reverted monsters refused to eat but they had no qualms using their lost kin as fertilizer.

    "We keep killing more of them than they can spawn and with every victory we gain more raw materials to feed the animals and enrich the soil. It''s a win-win." Ilthin sighed deeply, showing no enthusiasm.

    "Then why do you say it like it''s a bad thing?" Kam asked.

    "Because it is." The Firstborn Banshee shook her head. "At some point, we''ll have to stop the expansion of our settlement or risk to draw the attention of the monster tide. Remember that so far, we have only fought the weakest and dumbest among them yet we still suffered losses.

    "If the main bulk of the tide attacks us, no one but me or dion is going to survive. Maybe. Thisnd would go back to being barren and everything we have worked so hard for until now would feed the monster tide enough to swell its ranks to its full force again.

    "If we want a shot at winning this, we need Forgemasters to establish permanent arrays and a decent defensive system. We also need enough materials to build Gates and ensure both reinforcements and a way out in case we get overrun.

    "Most of all, we need a way to break into the heart of the tide and kill the leaders. They are the thin thread that holds the different tribes together and keeps them from tearing each other apart.

    "The bad news is that as long as they stand, we have no chance of victory.

 Chapter 2864 Wretched Land (Part 2)

    Chapter 2864 Wretched Land (Part 2)

    "There are so many monsters that it doesn''t matter how many we kill in a direct battle. They eat our and their own fallen to produce an offspring that reaches maturity in days.

    "It''s the reason we always dispose of the corpses after every battle. The good news is that without the leaders, the monster tide will fracture into multiple hordes that can actually be exterminated."

    "Can''t you or dion do it?" Kam asked.

    "Yeah, right." Ilthin scoffed. "Monsters are immune to my charms and even if they weren''t, their leaders are damn smart. They don''t go around wearing a crown orvish clothes.

    "They stick to the middle of the tide, surrounded by so many underlings that I''d die before I get there. Even if somehow I managed to seed, how do I tell the real leader from his bodyguards?

    "It''s not like I can take a stroll among them and ask for directions. I would be surrounded by millions of monsters charging at me from every side. Not even if I was a Divine Beast I would survive that."

    "Point taken." Lith nodded. "Any news from the elves?"

    "Only that they have locked themselves inside a Fringe." She replied with a snort. "They use guerri tactics as well but with the advantage that the monsters can''t enter the Fringe.

    "The elves prepare their spells, get out, unleash them, get in, rinse and repeat."

    "Why so angry? It sounds like a good strategy."

    "It is, but as I told you, unless you get rid of the corpses it just buys you a bit of time. On top of that, the elves have refused to leave the Fringe even for a few hours and turned down every offer to coborate." Ilthin replied.

    "Idiots. Lith took out hismunication amulet and called Aalejah. "I can''t do anything about the elves from Jiera but those from Garlen are supposed to help us. Otherwise they can kiss their future cities and the books about modern magic goodbye!" The former apprentice of the World Tree was now a member of the Awakened Council of Garlen and the appointed liaison between elves and humans during the colonization expedition.

    "Hey, Lith. It''s been a while. How are you doing?" Her blue eyes sparkled with joy from hearing a familiar voice.

    "I''m alive." His voice oozed sarcasm. "I need you to contact the elves of Setraliie. They are not keeping their end of the bargain."

    "That''s not true! We are doing the best we can." The elf was annoyed by both the usation and the fact that the rumors about Lith calling someone only when he needed something turned out to be true.

    "Nonsense! I''m here with Ilthin and she''s- Wait, we? Are you on Jiera as well?"

    "As well?" Aalejah echoed in surprise. "When did you arrive and why didn''t you tell me anything?"

    ***

    Middle area of Jiera, Cascan region, human Awakened city of Naerma.

    Orpal Narchat finished gulping down the broth remaining in the bowl and burped with satisfaction. It had been weeks since thest time he had a real meal and the warm sensation spreading from his stomach to the rest of his body made him feel reborn.

    Night''s n to use the monster tides of Jiera and its lost cities to have Orpal gain the battle experience he sorelycked had been a sess until it wasn''t.

    Fighting against the swarms of monsters was the perfect way to increase his battle awareness and force his bloodline abilities to manifest. During the training, she only let him use Thorn, sealing the ck Rose armor and their steed, Moonlight.

    Killing someone bound to a Horseman was close to impossible, but they still experienced pain. Without the armor, every mistake rippled into bleeding wounds and ruptured organs, giving Night''s host the feeling of a real battle.

    She even refused to heal his wounds until his body was turned into shred, making Orpal experience death over and over again. He was a blue-cored Awakened armed with a Davross weapon, but a tide wasprised of millions of monsters.

    The moment he faltered, blood blurred his vision, or fatigue clouded his judgment, he was ripped apart limb from limb, feeling every bite and w tearing his flesh apart.

    Lost cities, instead, were the perfect opponents to put Meln''s abilities to the test and check on how much of the true power of his equipment he could tap into by himself. Night would give him the armor and the steed, but offer him no help.

    Orpal learned the hard way what it meant to fight against another immortal opponent and a stronger one at that. Even Tower tier de spells didn''t leave any permanent damage on a cursed city.

    They just pissed it off and made the entity go all-out, usually turning Orpal into a smear under their feet in a matter of seconds.

    ''How strong was that pile of trash?'' He asked after every defeat.

    ''About as much as your brother.'' Night always replied with a mockingughter.

    Of course, it wasn''t true. A cursed object of that size needed a Guardian just to be pushed back. Without a proper spell to destroy their power core, the death of a cursed city would have triggered a devastation of untold proportions.

    Yet the lie stoked the fires of Orpal''s rage and envy, keeping his motivation strong.

    What Night had failed to take into ount was his mental sanity. Or rather, the state that was considered normal for his twisted mind. Death was a scarring experience and Orpal''s streak of defeats on Jiera was longer than the Wayfinder. Both took a toll on his mental state and after escaping from the Golden Griffon, eating was the only pleasure he had left.

    To heal Orpal''s wounds and make him stronger via body refining, Night needed nutrients. The Horseman''s pocket dimension had been filled with delicacies, but after months without restocking there wasn''t a single morsel of food left

    To make matters worse, Orpal had never learned how to cook or to field dress a prey.

    Cooking was a woman''s job and his parents had disowned Orpal when he was considered too young to handle a knife. As for Night, she had never needed to do either of those things.

    Her previous hosts were undead whose meals required no preparation. She only knew the thrill of the hunt and the ecstasy of the feeding. To make matters worse, monsters tasted disgusting even if someone knew how to butcher them.

    Orpal had tried to imitate the protagonists of the stories he had listened to as a child, ripping off a leg or arm from a corpse and putting it on a fire as it was. The result tasted so bad that it required him to swallow the meat while holding his nose without munching.

    Even then, he would usually puke everything in a few hours.

    Night didn''t care since during that time she still managed to extract from the wretched flesh everything she needed. She considered his pain and hunger the proper punishment for Orpal''s ipetence and she believed that it would have made him grow strong faster.

    That until his mind had started to slip.

 Chapter 2865 Wretched Land (Part 3)

    Chapter 2865 Wretched Land (Part 3)

    Orpal''s empty stomach, wounded ego, andck of human interaction for months had driven him to the brink of insanity, something that she couldn''t allow to happen.

    Without Orpal, Night had no way to get revenge on Lith and without it, she had nothing left. Her Court had betrayed her, her mother was hunting her down, and the spell to destroy her crystal body was now public knowledge.

    ''If this moron''s mind shatters, everything I''ve sacrificed so far will be for nothing!'' So she had him take a break from his training from time to time and join an Awakened human city.

    Orpal had prepared countless aliases for his Balkor copycat n and his shapeshifting abilities were remarkable. As long as Night remained sealed within his chest, no one would perceive her and on Jiera no one knew his energy signature.

    Language wasn''t an issue either since the Horseman could speak like a native of any of the biggest countries. Orpal always introduced himself as a rogue Awakened in search of food and shelter after a monster tide had invaded the safety of hisb.

    Between his blue core and wretched appearance, it was easy to believe. The guards granted him ess, but they also mocked him and called him a coward for hiding like a rat for that long while the rest of the Council fought.

    He hated them all, wishing to crush them under his heel, but after months of istion, the sound of another voice was a balm for his ears, no matter what it said.

    Orpal had plenty of money and jewels but those things had no value now. He also possessed magical ingredients, but thest time he had tried to buy food with them, his properties had been seized as an entrance fee.

    Human cities on Jiera operated on merits that could only be earned by doing something useful for society. Anyone with a practical skill could exchange their work for merits and buy whatever they needed.

    In Orpal''s case, Raaz had taught him how to farm while Night how to fight and use magic. He refused to cultivate thend considering it beneath him so the only way he had to earn merits was by fighting.

    He would bring the heads of the monsters he killed and be rewarded for it. He would have loved to carry a mountain of corpses and earn the respect that he deemed to deserve but Night cautioned him against it.

    ''If you show so much strength, people will start wondering why they have never heard about you. If they start to dig into your background, they''ll find nothing and no one to back your story, they''ll get suspicious.'' She said.

    ''Nonsense. I just need to show them a couple of spells and-''

    ''Since you never bothered creating your own, you would have to show *my* spells and the rulers of the city might recognize them. We are talking about the cream of the crop of the Awakened society. They are not morons and they know me.''

    ''Then I''ll reveal that I''m a powerful hybrid. My Vurdk powers-''

    ''Are more than enough to justify your prowess and have a single call to Garlen expose your identity, you idiot! Anonymity is your best ally so keep your head low and shut up.'' Night cut him off and ended the conversation.

    Orpal gritted his teeth but said nothing, knowing that she was right. At first, he was always content to have people talking to him and his stomach full. Those were the moments when he felt and acted like a normal person.

    He shared the hardships of the rest of the citizens, feeling frustrated and unappreciated like anyone else. The problem was that, just like back on Garlen, the moment his basic living problems were resolved, his ego made such an existence unsufferable to him.

    ''This isn''t fair. I''m supposed to be a General at the head of an Awakened army, not a foot soldier that everyone bosses around. I am the Horseman of Night! I possess a legendary mage tower and Davross equipment.

    ''I shouldn''t be forced to live in a dump among people unworthy of licking my boots!''

    Such thoughts would be more and more frequent until he was forced to leave a city lest he revealed his true form in a tantrum. Night never stopped him because she wanted him out practicing.

    She wanted him angry and out of blood. She wanted Orpal to be Orpal and easy to manipte as she saw fit.

    That day, they had returned to Naerma after running out of provisions. Meln preferred to stick to a few cities because it gave him a sense of familiarity and because the guards already knew him.

    Going to a new ce would have meant repeating his story and enduring the hazing and the insults again. He was eating beef stew while waiting for his provisions to be delivered from the local store when he caught an rming piece of gossip.

    "May those jerks from Garlen and the day they stepped foot on ournd be damned." Rhom, a bright blue-cored Awakened guard hawked and spat with pinpoint uracy in a nt pot.

    "What jerks from Garlen?" Orpal tried to sound indifferent while he fought to keep his food in his stomach.

    "Don''t you know?" Rhom was bbergasted. "Where have you lived until now? Under a rock? Oh, right. My bad."

    The tavern erupted in a burst ofughter, making Orpal clench his teeth and ball his fists. Night knew thenguage of Jiera, its history and tradition, but having lived on Garlen during the past few decades, she was unaware of anything that was consideredmon knowledge for a local.

    Orpal had to exin it by iming to have been in secluded training for a long time. The depth of his ignorance and the fact that despite his alleged ripe age he was still at the blue made the joke never get old.

    He would have loved to take out Thorn and shove Rhom''sughter down his throat along with the speartip, but Orpal couldn''t afford to be chased out of Naerma. Not until he made sure of what was happening.

    He and Night had escaped to Jiera because there no one had ever heard about the Dead King or the spell to destroy Night that Baba Yaga had shared. His existence was on the brink of bing even more precarious so he swallowed his pride and smiled.

    People took turns exining Orpal how Garlen''s Council dared colonize Jiera under the pretence of helping solve the ongoing crisis. The voices grew louder and angrier as they spoke, often adding a profanity every other word.

    The more the citizens of Naerma got riled up, the calmer Orpal became. It was clear that there was no chance for an alliance. The Councils weren''t going to exchange knowledge so as long as he kept away from the colonists, he would be safe.

    "They''vee on their fucking Train, acting all high and mighty." Rhom said, spitting once more. "That thing is made of so much Adamant and white mana crystals that we could have built an arsenal with it, but those fuckers only care about themselves!"

 Chapter 2866 Wretched Land (Part 4)

    Chapter 2866 Wretched Land (Part 4)

    "If just the Garleners shared their resources with us, we would retake Jiera like this." He snapped his fingers.

    Theponents of the Wayfinder were greatly exaggerated and Rhom knew it. He just wanted to rile up the crowd and maybe get a few free beers. After the gue, they had be luxury goods since good brewers were a rarity and fermenting liquor took time.

    "ording to what I''ve heard, the gods would have graced us with sinking them and their toy if not for the ''Supreme Magus'' and those stupid merfolk." Orpal could almost hear the air quotes and he loved it when people talked about Lith with as much spite as him, yet that name sent the stew back to his esophagus.

    "They acimed him as a hero and helped the Garleners to get rid of the sea beasts." More lies, more cheers. "I believed Verhen a hero as well after he destroyed Kolga but now I know better.

    "If he really cared for Jiera, he would have shared his technology and his Void Magic with us. He would help us to get back on our feet instead of kicking us while we are down." An angry roar and a free beer put an end to Rhom''s rant.

    "Leech- I mean, Verhen is in Jiera?" Orpal asked, afraid that his brother hade to find and kill him.

    "Seriously? You know nothing about anything that happened during thest century yet you know that bastard''s name?" A bystander said in amazement.

    Orpal and Night both cursed his slip of the tongue. Luckily for them, it was a mistake easy to fix.

    "No shit, genius. I asked about him after I heard about Kolga''s destruction for the first time." The answer satisfied the crowd and Rhom was able to speak again.

    "Yeah, he''s in Jiera. Why? Do you want an autograph?" Moreughter ensued but Orpal remained calm this time, spoiling their fun. "The Garleners have been sighted near the beast city of Hasar. Their Train passed close to it without even noticing."

    "Where''s Hasar?" Most of the cities of the Beast Empire were built underground and their founding dated to after the gue so Night wasn''t familiar with any of them.

    Orpal took a map of Jiera out of his pocket dimension and showed it to the guard.

    "Around here." Rhom pointed at an area close to the west coast, a few hundred kilometers northeast of Reghia. "It doesn''t mean Verhen is nearby. The Train went away and the beasts didn''t follow it. Why do you ask?"

    This time there was no mockery in his voice, only curiosity.

    "Nothing would make me happier than someone teaching that windbag a lesson. Yet even if there wasn''t a non-aggression treaty between the Councils, people like you and me are nothing to a bright violet-cored Awakened."

    Rohm was centuries old, but like most Awakened without a bloodline legacy, he was stuck at the bright blue.

    "I know that." Orpal bit his lip, snarling every word.

    His equipment would have been enough to fill the core gap, but even Davross couldn''t protect him from Baba Yaga''s destruction spell. Thrud had already demonstrated how just a few runes would leave him as helpless as a baby.

    A direct confrontation was not an option.

    "But let''s say that I manage to lure the ck Tide away from us and pitch it against the Garleners. What''s in it for me?" The Jierans had named the different monster tides based on the skin color of the most populous tribes since it was the only noticeable thing while observing them from the safety of the sky.

    "That would be the stuff of legends!" Rhom cried excitedly. "No matter who wins, we would get some respite and the Garleners would get a taste of what we have endured until now.

    "If you pull it off, I''ll put you on the top of the house list. You''ll get a real ce to live instead of those four rock walls you erected in the slums." Actually, Night''s mastery over earth magic was more than enough to craft a cozy ce.

    The furniture, however, no matter how soft or good-looking it was, it would still be a bunch of dirt and rocks.

    "And I''ll give you a beer for free every time you dine here." The bartender said.

    "And I''ll pay the entry tax for you so that you can keep your prey for yourself." Another guard said.

    More people spoke in turns, offering Orpalmodities and favors. Everyone felt pretty generous since they all made promises they were expecting to never have to fulfill.

    ***

    After over a year on Jiera and countless fights, Orpal was familiar with most monster tides and knew the identity of their leaders. Some he had fought, others he had let be due to their dangerousness.

    The ck Tide was among thetter.

    He rode Moonlight while wearing his full Davross set, waiting for nightfall before making his move. It was the time when the ck Night was at her strongest and his best shot at running away in case something went wrong.

    ''Any idea how to convince the old fart?'' Orpal asked, receiving no answer.

    Baba Yaga''s seal prevented Night from hurting Lith, his family, and anyone else who lived in Lutia. Helping Orpal with his schemes, even by giving advice fell within the scope of the spell.

    ''I''m not going to attack Leech, dammit. You heard me, I want to attack the Train.'' More silence ensued. ''Do you really expect me to infiltrate the crew and ask every single one of them where they are from?''

    ''Yes!'' Night said in exasperation, triggering a long quarrel thatsted until the sun disappeared below the horizon.

    ''Can you at least help me locate the sucker?'' Orpal used Life Vision from one eye and regr vision from the other.

    His sight as a Vurdk was no different from a human''s and the mystical sense''s short range limited its usefulness.

    ''Let me guess, you can''t because you know I''m about to try sending him against someone potentially from Lutia.'' He asked after receiving no answer for several seconds.

    ''Thank the gods you are finally learning!'' Truth be told, Orpal had simply gotten used to speaking with Night freely.

    Ever since they had left Garlen, unless there was a solid chance of meeting someone from Lutia or he ranted about Lith, the seal wouldn''t activate.

    ''You are such a bitch! If it wasn''t for Leech, I would have never bothered picking up a talking piece of shit like you. You two have ruined my life.''

    ''Oh, please! If it wasn''t for him, you would have lived your life as a pathetic farmer in the middle of nowhere. You would have never Awakened, learned magic, or obtained a Divine Beast bloodline.

    ''I bet that you''d have either drunk yourself to death or pissed off the wrong person and bled out in a sordid alley. Admit it. I am the best thing that''s ever happened to you.''

    Orpal didn''t reply, but he knew deep inside that the Horseman was right. Even if Lith was never born, Orpal couldn''t deny that it would have been only a matter of time before the mediocrity of Lutia drove him insane.

 Chapter 2867 Internal Conflicts (Part 1)

    Chapter 2867 Internal Conflicts (Part 1)

    ''Believe what you want. I was born for greatness and- Great Mother almighty!'' It is said that seeing is believing, yet Orpal had a hard time believing his own eyes.

    Their flight path had led them above the Zalka mountain range and everything looked normal until Orpal noticed that the top of one of the peaks had arms and legs. In the pallid moonlight, it was hard to tell the snowy crests from the white stone.

    The Dead King had noticed the lost city solely because he was following the stream of world energying from the mana geyser below the real mountain and found an energy signature that didn''t belong to Mogar yet strong enough to eclipse it.

    ''Okay, I''ve found him. The problem is: how do I get him to do what I want?'' Night remained silent but at this point, Orpal had gotten used to their old routine.

    He pondered the issue for a while, keeping a distance from the cursed object to escape its attention until he had a clear strategy to achieve his goal. Maniption had the highest chances of sess only on their first encounter, when the lost city was still unaware of Orpal''s origins and goals.

    Two living legacies meeting twice in less than a few centuries was something unheard of. It happened solely when they worked together or one of them needed something from the other.

    Upon their second meeting, the lost city would get suspicious and not listen to a word Orpal said until it had a clear idea of his motives.

    ''Let''s put it this way. Assuming that this bastard is at least as smart as me, how would I convince myself to kill Leech if he weren''t my brother?'' The Dead King thought while trying to find a solution to his problem.

    ttery was pointless with someone so powerful. Stroking his ego could help make a good first impression, but he wouldn''t move just because an ant asked him to. The same applied to asking for a favor or offering a reward.

    Orpal had no good feelings one could appeal as well and he would demand an ungodly price for his services because he was worth it. A beautiful woman could pique his interest but why barter for something that he could just take?

    ''Damn, I''m just too perfect.'' Orpal had a hard time being angry with himself as he swelled with pride. ''There''s no way someone like me can fall for petty tricks-''

    His train of thought derailed when his own words triggered painful memories of the many times he had been duped and thrown away during his unsessful criminal career.

    ''No! It wasn''t my fault!'' Years had passed yet the humiliation of making a fool out of himself still burned like it was yesterday. ''I did nothing wrong. I trusted them and they betrayed me, just like my family.

    ''Besides, back then I was only human. Now I''m so much more but maybe that old fart is still gued by the weakness that I shed away.'' Orpalplimented himself for his past stupidity, using it as inspiration for his current endeavor.

    Night was as silent as bbergasted. Those shbacks weren''t her doing, just another symptom of her host''s narcissistic behavior. Yet what shocked her wasn''t his newfound strategy but his ability to twist reality until even a defeat looked like a victory.

    Or at least it became someone else''s fault.

    Orpal rode Moonlight through the sky with purpose while still looking left and right as if he had yet to find the ancient titan.

    The moment he entered the lost city''s detection array field the creature stood up to better study the neer, giving the Dead King a usible excuse to notice its presence.

    ''If the Council sent that worm thinking that just because my energy reserves are low, they have a shot at me, they are sorely mistaken.'' Unlike the smaller living legacies, lost cities rarely needed to change their host and Thaymos was no exception.

    No one had ever managed to harm him so the human he was bonded with dated to the era before his imprisonment, making the lost city unaware of how much Mogar had changed over the millennia.

    On top of that, even with a host, lost cities needed an external energy source to fuel their abilities.

    No matter how big and powerful their power core was or what kind of spell had given them birth, they needed ess to a mana geyser to recover their strength quickly after a fight.

    Without one, once they expended their mana, they would be forced to slumber until their power core absorbed enough world energy. It took quite a while and was the reason most of the lost cities had been sessfully imprisoned.

    Pride was always their downfall since until they were captured, the cursed objects considered themselves invincible, having no care to manage their strength and paying no attention to the puny spells cast by lesser beings.

    <"Hi, brother. Do you understand me?"> Orpal used an ancientnguage of Jiera while tracing with his fingers the secret runes that living legacies used to identify themselves as members of the family.

    ["What the heck are you saying and who are you?"] The lost city replied in one of the earliest versions of Tyris'' universalnguage, making Orpal inwardly grunt in disappointment.

    ''Even his introduction runes are outdated. On the one hand, if he has been imprisoned for this long my job will be easier. On the other hand, his old ass enchantments mightck in power.'' The Dead King kept his distance, afraid it might be a ruse to get him close enough to activate Baba Yaga''s destruction spell.

    Albeit old, the lost city had broken free from its prison and even the Guardians of Jiera had failed to stop it. The strength of such a living legacy couldn''t be underestimated.

    ["I said: hi, brother. Do you know who I am?"] Orpal felt the outdated yet powerful arrays of the lost city scanning his armor, steed, and him with a rudimentary mana sense.

    ["No, but I recognize the workings of the old hag on you. What does a child of Baba Yaga want from Thaymos, the Eternal Fortress?"]

    ["Nothing. I''m the Bright Day and our meeting is due to chance. I''m running away from the Destroyer and I suggest you do the same if you value your life. Farewell, brother."] Orpal kept looking around and pressed Moonlight forward, pretending to have no intention of continuing that conversation.

    ["Stop right there! You dare talk to me like we are equals yet you seem afraid of this so-called Destroyer. Do you really think that the old hag can protect you from me but not from him?"] Thaymos'' anger made Orpal''s lips curl up in triumph.

    ''He doesn''t know me nor what Baba Yaga''s Horsemen look like. I can use this to my advantage.''

    ["Indeed."] The Dead King turned Moonlight around while keeping himself far away enough from the lost city to dodge everything it might throw at him with ease. ["Why do you think he''s called the Destroyer?

    ["He''s a traitor to the family who has killed three lost cities and as many cursed objects like me.]

 Chapter 2868 Internal Conflicts (Part 2)

    Chapter 2868 Internal Conflicts (Part 2)

    [He feeds on our powers to increase his own. I have no intention of bing his fourth victim and neither should you."]

    Orpal took out hismunication amulet and showed Thaymos the recordings of Lith fighting the Golden Griffon and the records of his des after destroying Kolga and the ck Star.

    ["I''ve heard those names from the little ones like you who came to pay me tribute."] The lost city replied. ["Kolga was no brother of ours, just an imitation. Yet I have to admit that it was a powerful one.

    ["Is this Destroyer really good enough to threaten your life despite the old hag''s protection and your Light Mastery skills?"] Thaymos was ancient andmunication amulets were "recent".

    ''Excellent! If this moron doesn''t even know what an amulet is, Thaymos has no way to contact another living legacy and verify my words. Even if he somehow discovers the truth, without amunication amulet he will never learn the spell to destroy Night.

    ''No matter if Baba Yaga spreads it on Jiera as well, no Awakened will be so kind that they will gift Thaymos an amulet and exchange contact runes with him.'' Orpal thought.

    ["He is. No member of the family survived the encounter and the humans keep his secrets, thinking him a hero. Sooner orter, Jiera will belong to him so we''d better find a safer ce to live."]

    ["Nonsense!"] Thaymos roared. ["I am the Eternal Fortress! I''ve fought Guardians!"] ''You didn''t fight, you survived the encounter. There''s a big difference, old fart.'' Orpal thought, yet had no intention to correct the lost city.

    ["My power is eternal and ever-growing! I won''t let myself be chased out of my home. Not when I''m so close to build my own empire after millennia of imprisonment and humiliation.

    ["No one can threaten my domain! Jiera belongs to me and soon even the Council will be forced to choose between bending the knee to me or die. Where can I find the Destroyer?"]

    With considerable reluctancy and after several threats from the lost city, Orpal conjured from the amulet a map of Jiera with the position of the Wayfinder marked brightly.

    He had discovered its position with ease since he had a starting point for his search and the members of the expedition were doing nothing to hide their presence.

    ["Please, reconsider."] The Dead King said, knowing that his words of caution only stoked the fires of Thaymos'' pride and outrage. ["He has Archmages from Garlen with him and Awakened mages.

    ["He possesses a cursed object that can summon an army of souls whereas you are alone."]

    ["An army of souls?"] The lost city bellowed in joy and exhration, leaving Orpal bbergasted. ["This must be fate, pup. Don''t worry about me. I''m not alone. I never am."]

    ***

    West coast of Jiera, near the Fringe in the Zarman region.

    After talking with Aalejah on the amulet, Lith had her share his location and set up a safe location to discuss the current situation.

    "This is a breach in our deal. The Kingdom offered to teach your people modern magic and a ce where to live outside the Fringes in exchange for cooperation in dealing with the monster tides.

    "Why aren''t you coborating with the people of Zelex and the undead?" Lith crossed his arms, hoping more than expecting a decent answer.

    "It''s not as you think." Aalejah replied. "We are taking part in every raid and our help has been vital in keeping the joint strike force alive until this moment."

    "I must have missed the memo since I''ve never seen you guys around and our living allies of the colony keep dying!" Ilthin was the only one who could both move during the day and cross the boundaries of the mana geyser.

    She had followed Lith to act as a representative of both the Eclipsed Lands and Zelex.

    "Look, I''m sorry for your losses but I''ve exined this to you countless times. I didn''t mean to cut you off but you have to realize that amulets don''t work inside the Fringe and every time I meet you, I lose credibility."

    "Wow, that''s the rudest apology I''ve ever heard and I''m millennia old, kid." Ilthin snorted. "Now I remember why I left my own Fringe. Elves are nothing but selfish idiots!"

    "Selfish?" Aalejah replied in outrage. "We gave you our food and-"

    "Please, stop arguing." Lith stepped between the two women. "Does anyone mind tell me what I''m missing?"

    "I suppose Ilthin already told you about how difficult it was dealing with the monster tide and how the Council of Jiera is not spoiling us with resources, right?" Aalejah said and Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "What she must had failed to mention is that the people of Setraliie are not like me. They are afraid of the undead and the monsters except that for Svartalf and Dvergalf." She used the ancient names for the races that after their fall were known as respectively orcs and goblins.

    "Our initial cohabitation was a nightmare. The monsters asked us for food since we were the only ones who could go out hunting, while the undead looked at us like food since we are universal donors of life force and mana.

    "There was no trust between us which made cooperating during battle problematic at best. Elves are used to imbue their spells inside their arrows and use melee as ast resort.

    "The people of Zelex, instead, have devised strategies that revolve around their bloodline abilities and the teamwork they have developed by living together for so long. Bottom line, we ended up hurting each other almost as much as the enemy."

    "We elves left as soon as we found a ce that had yet to be ravaged by the tide where to settle. We kept for ourselves only a little of the food for the Council and gave the rest to the people of Zelex since we could afford it.

    "We still kept contact via the amulets and helped as much as we could whenever the monsters attacked but after a few skirmishes, we realized that fighting together on a single front would be counterproductive in the long run.

    "If the attacks kepting from the same direction, sooner orter the tide would have focused its attention on us and wiped us out. For this reason, the elves have kept themselves on the borders of the conflict and attacked from multiple sides.

    "Splitting our forces reduced the damage we inflicted but the resulting chaos split the monsters as well and kept them from discovering the position of the colony."

    "This I don''t agree with but at least I can understand it." Ilthin said. "I would have preferred that our respective races learned to ovee their differences and work together rather than each of us acting on their own.

    "Yet the n still worked and you coborated with us. Ever since you''ve found that damned Fringe, however, you have walked out on us."

    "That''s not what happened." Aalejah rolled her eyes. "Once we met our cousins, we have done our best to further ease the strain on your colony and increase our numbers.

    "The Fringe potentially gives us a safe haven from which conduct our operations, food, and allies."

 Chapter 2869 Reluctant Trust (Part 1)

    Chapter 2869 Reluctant Trust (Part 1)

    "Emphasis on ''potentially'', here." The Firstborn Banshee snorted. "For now, only the elves have benefitted from the Fringe while the rest of us have to fight for our lives while waiting for your call."

    "How many times do I have to apologize for you to drop this?" Aalejah replied.

    "Drop what?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "If the elves of Setraliie are scared of their allies despite being forewarned and having agreed to join our forces after countless deliberations, imagine how the elves of Medolin feel." Aalejah said with a sigh.

    "On top of that, they have no deal with the Kingdom. They have no obligation to help us or anything to gain if they do. They consider the people of Zelex no different from the monsters of the tides and the undead as dangerous predators.

    "The elves of Medolin refuse to meet and talk to non-elves even via the amulet. It took me quite some effort to be granted an audience with their Parliament after their scouts reported who I was associated with."

    "Which leads us to this point." Ilthin interjected. "With the elves holed up inside the Fringe and ourmunications reduced to a bare minimum."

    "Is it true?" Lith asked.

    "Yes and no." Aalejah shook her head. "We moved inside the Fringe because this way we could pass every single morsel of food we received from the Jiera''s Council to the colony. We ended up staying holed up because our n worked too well.

    "We''ve drawn the attention of the monster tide away from our allies at the expense of our freedom of movement. How do you think you got the time to restore thend without swarms of monsters feasting on your job, Ilthin?

    "If not for the help from the elves of Medolin, we''d be still fending waves of attacks daily. A monster tide can afford to ignore a few hundred of elves and their arrows, but not thousands.

    "You may have not noticed our presence but you sure have benefitted from my strategy!"

    "Wait a second." Lith put a hand on the elf''s shoulder to calm her down. "You just said that the Jieran elves didn''t want to help. How did you get thousands of them to fight for you, Aalejah?"

    "Not for me. With me." She replied. "Even though their Parliament of Leaves has yet to reach a consensus, I used my time with them to lead by example. I showed, not shared, them themunication amulets, the magic books, and everything that the Kingdom has to offer them.

    "I told them that they could get the same deal as my people if they helped us to protect the settlement. After greed got the best of the members of the local Parliament, I invited them to follow us outside and witness with their own eyes how powerful modern magic is.

    "It''s only then that the elves of Medolin understood the threat that the monster tides pose and realized that if they kept doing nothing the Fringe would turn from a sanctuary to a prison.

    "That the moment their poption exceeds what the Fringe can feed, they would be forced to cull their numbers until the monsters die out and thend recovers. It scared them so much that the Parliament of Leaves reconsidered my offer and dered the state of emergency.

    "Until they make a ruling, their army is going to support Setraliie''s forces and follow us into battle. The only problem is that they still refuse to cooperate with the colony and consider its existence a point of contention.

    "Every time I speak or meet with Ilthin, the discussion of the Parliament gets thrown back of days if not weeks."

    "You''ve been here for months!" Kam said in amazement. "How can the elves of Medolin have wasted so much time? I know that politics are slow, but this is ridiculous."

    "The problem is that I can speak for Setraliie, not the Kingdom or the Empire." Aalejah replied. "Medolin doesn''t trust humans to keep a verbal agreement just based on my word. They demand to meet someone with real authority.

    "I''ve been waiting for you guys to arrive while doing my best to keep everything from falling apart."

    "Well, we are here now." Lith shrugged. "Orion carries the Crown''s seal and Kelia is the Empress'' daughter. Just tell me when and where I can set up a meeting."

    "Not so fast." Aalejah raised her hand. "The location of the Fringe has been kept secret for millennia and the people of Medolin want to keep things that way. I first need to go to them and find a neutral location."

    "This doesn''t make sense." Solus said. "The Fringe is the perfect base for the allied military forces. They can hide inside when needed and strike without warning. Denying them ess is going to hinder the elves'' ns for freedom."

    "That''s only in wartime." Aalejah shook her head. "When and if we solve the current crisis, the elves wouldn''t have anywhere safe to go in case the humans go back on their words.

    "With the allied forces knowing the Fringe''s position and how to get in, the elves would be ughtered in a single night. On top of that, even if those entrusted with this secret kept confidentiality, the Awakened Council is bound to discover the location of the Fringe.

    "The elves don''t like the idea of being sieged and sooner orter the Awakened would find a way to get in which brings us back to the same issue with the humans."

    "I see." Lith nodded in understanding.

    The alliance had yet to be born and even if the forces of Jiera and Garlen reached an agreement, it would be paper thin. The elves had no reason to risk their city getting invaded and their resources stolen in case things went south.

    Giving the humans ess to the Fringe would have created an opening in the elves'' impregnable defence that couldn''t be closed. After all, the War of the Races was a myth to humans but recent history for the elves.

    "I''m going back to the Wayfinder. I''ll exin the situation to Orion and Kelia while I wait for your call."

    "Don''t worry, it shouldn''t take long." Aalejah sighed. "The elves of Medolin are as eager to learn modern magic as I am of getting out of here and stop listening to their endless bickering."

    ***

    Returning to the encampment took just a few Steps thanks to the Home Stone Lith had left in Friya''s hands.

    The dimensional device acted as a beacon, giving Lith direction and dimensional coordinates that allowed him to cross the distance between them as soon as he was in the Home Stone''s area of effect.

    He brought Kelia and Orion up to speed about the rest of the allied forces'' circumstances and in turn they called their respective rulers to receive permission to conduct the negotiations.

    Both of them also needed to know how much they could offer to the elves officially and how much they had to keep for a backroom deal that would put their respective country ahead of their temporary ally.

    Meanwhile, Solus was curious to learn if and where the merfolk would build their first outpost on the surface and went to speak with Rem.

 Chapter 2870 Reluctant Trust (Part 2)

    Chapter 2870 Reluctant Trust (Part 2)

    "How is it possible that you are still in that form?" Solus pointed at the sky-blue scales covering the merfolk''s body and the gills on her neck.

    "Like this." A wave of Rem''s hand conjured a drizzle of water that kept her humid. "Humans are crazy. They were ufortable with my people and asked us to wear clothes. Those things are itchy and tight, making us ufortable.

    "So we have reached apromise."

    "That''s not going to work in the Desert. Also, you have to get used to clothes. Going around naked is a big no-no."

    "Why?" Rem''s voice gurgled in annoyance. "Beasts and nt folk do the same and everything we need can be carried around in a dimensional amulet or a sack. What''s so vital about clothes?"

    "Never mind." Solus realized that she wasn''t going to change millennia-old habits with a few words so she changed the topic. "How did your negotiations with the Overlord go?"

    "Again, we needed apromise." Rem grunted. "Overlord Sark showed me her realm and my people weren''t pleased with it one bit. We merfolk long for the vibrant colors of the green, the light, and the wildlife that weck in the deep of the ocean.

    "We have no desire to move to a ce whose heat can kill us and is more inhospitable than an oceanic trench. We had to arrange for the nearest oasis to the ocean and it wasn''t easy. We''ll end up rtively close to Magus Verhen, but much further away than we desire."

    Aalejah contacted Lith a few hours past dinner time. The Parliament of Leaves was in full debate, half of them wanting to visit the Wayfinder and witness with their own eyes the marvels that they would soon obtain.

    The other half, instead wanted to keep away from what might easily be turned into a death trap were the elves to refuse the humans'' terms. It took the Parliament until the next day to reach an agreement and then even more time to prepare its forces.

    The elves of Medolin had decided that witnessing the apex of modern magic was worth the risk but they weren''t going to take more than necessary. Only a few representatives of the Parliament would get inside the array field of the Wayfinder at a time.

    The rest would stay outside with several units of their elites and secure an escape path. The representatives would take turns visiting the facility, ensuring that the vast majority of the Parliament members would be safe at all times.

    Aalejah apanied the rulers of Medolin, acting both as an ambassador and a bodyguard. Lith served the same role for the humans and spoke on behalf of Garlen''s Awakened Council as well.

    His nature as a Divine Beast further reassured the elves and gave him the authority to speak on behalf of the Beast Council. Raagu kept herself at a distance to not scare the elves and made sure that Inxialot''s Sealed Box was tight shut the whole time.

    Ilthin and a Balor attended as well, representing respectively the Eclipsed Lands and Zelex. Identical negotiations had already been conducted with the people of Setraliie so everyone knew what to do and say.

    The real issue was reassuring the elves of Medolin that it wasn''t all a ruse to lure them out of the Fringe and kill them all. After that, it would have been smooth sailing.

    The representatives of the Parliament were pleasantly surprised to meet Rem and the rest of the merfolk. Even more when they discovered the merfolk''s ns to move to Garlen and build their cities on the surface.

    Merfolk and elves had fought side by side during the War of the Races. If one race felt confident enough to step out of its self-imposed exile there was no reason the other couldn''t do the same.

    "Damn, we should have thought about this." Kelia grumbled. "If we yed the merfolk card better, we could have easily gotten the elves'' trust."

    "Disagree." Orion Hushed them. "We had no idea that we would meet merfolk upon our arrival and they have no reason to trust us, they are here because of Lith and Tista. The merfolk have no reason to be nice to us.

    "On top of that, the fact that we have nomon interest with them ys in our favor."

    The elves had at first believed that the meeting was no coincidence but something carefully nned and staged. That was until they spoke to Rem whoined about the food, the spices, the issue with clothes, and her current dealings with the Desert.

    No pawn would be so outspoken about her grievances with her allies nor would Soul Vision show them her honest surprise at their arrival and sincerity in her words.

    ''Dusk?'' Kelia asked.

    ''I agree with Orion. Had we prepped Rem, the elves would have noticed it and trusted her even less. Now instead, they see how unhappy she is yet she still feels safe enough to hang around our camp and voice her opinions.'' He replied.

    ''Wait a minute. What about Soul Vision? What if they notice you?''

    ''Don''t worry. I''ve never met elves and they went into hiding long before my creation. Even if they can sense something weird, just me it on your equipment and bloodline.'' The Red Sun said before activating his best cloaking spells, just to be safe.

    The elves of Medolin also didn''t miss how their cousins from Setraliie were at ease with Lith, the undead, and the reverted monsters. They were all awkward around the people from the Kingdom and the Empire, yet they trusted the humans enough to lower their guard.

    It was the perfect show of reluctant trust that was to be expected from such a recent and diverse alliance.

    "Marvelous." One of the elven elders said while taking in the sight of the many magical appliances, the wagons of the Wayfinder, the partially built Warp Gate, and the babies strapped to Lith''s chest.

    "My eyes are up here." He replied with a grunt.

    As predicted, the elves considered the terms of the treaty fair and remained adamant about keeping the location of their Fringe a secret. Yet the negotiations took much longer than expected.

    After hearing from their colleagues about the many wonders inside the encampment, every member of the Parliament wanted to visit the ce in person and make sure that the other representatives hadn''t struck a better deal exclusive to their own n.

    Orion and Kelia had to repeat the terms of their offers over and over while Rem had to give the same answers so many times that she started to treat the elves rudely. The Wayfinder and the Gate were the main foci of attention, though.

    ''A mobile fortress and a device capable of bending space further than any living being can.'' Every single member of the Parliament thought. ''If we find a way to pierce the veil of the Fringes with it and connect our cities, building an impregnable elven country wouldn''t be a dream anymore.''

    After the second group of Senate Representatives, Solus and Kam went back inside their wagon with the babies to rest, leaving Lith alone to grumble.

 Chapter 2871 Seed of Doubt (Part 1)

    Chapter 2871 Seed of Doubt (Part 1)

    Solus and Kam returned only to take part in the celebrations once the deal was sealed.

    Even though resources were scarce, the Kingdom and the Empire had brought the means to hold a banquet and exchange gifts with all their allies.

    The elves of Setraliie, the people of Zelex, and the undead of the Eclipsed Lands had fought on their own until that moment, enduring harsh conditions and having only the food from the local Council to sustain themselves.

    The banquet was the way for the Kingdom and the Empire to thank their allies for their sacrifices and start the coexistence with the human side of the expedition on the right foot.

    As for the elves of Medolin, the banquet was meant to impress them and give them a taste of their future freedom.

    "How long until the Gate ispleted?" Lith asked with a polite smile stered on his face. "I''ve done my part and I can''t wait to get out of here."

    "A few days. One week tops."

    Orion replied, wearing a simr grin. "My Forgemasters have been working on the Gate as fast as they can even during the treaties. Any more would be rushing things and you don''t want that."

    "How so?"

    "Lith, this is the first transoceanic Gate in Mogar''s history." Orion said, his enthusiasm turning genuine. "Once we are done building and enchanting it, we could have to deal with unforeseen issues that might arise from connecting two points so distant in space."

    "So it''s a few days if we encounter noplications and one week otherwise." Lith sighed. "I can live with that."

    While everyone enjoyed their first night of festivities sinceing to Jiera, only one sour Nidhogg remained.

    Time had brought Bodya no sce nor rity.

    No one of his contacts on Jiera had witnessed Narso''s death and the members of his family refused his calls. He sat on the sidelines of the encampment, nibbling chunks of meat from the corpse of a humongous sea creature he had captured and sipping wine from a regr-sized cup.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to cook it?" Tista asked, the smell of entrails and blood so strong that only the presence of an array kept it from stinking the air.

    "I''m sure." He nodded. "This thing tastes like shit but that''s exactly how I feel. There''s no point in also souring your mood. Go back to the others."

    Tista didn''t know what to do or say to make him feel better. Being there for Bodya was the only thing she could do and clearly, it wasn''t enough. Her presence gave the Nidhoggfort but it also reminded him that he was on a clock.

    He had to choose between his girlfriend and his family and if he waited for too long, he was going to lose them both.

    "Look-" "Listen-" They said in unison as Bodya''smunication amulet lit up.

    "Isn''t that your grandfather''s rune?" Tista asked.

    "It is!" Bodya hoped that Vothal had listened to all the messages Bodya had left and was calling him to patch things up.

    He hoped that his questions would finally find an answer. That the love between the foster parent and son had finally ovee the duty Vothal felt he owed to their tribe. Yet Bodya didn''t dare voice those thoughts and steeled himself for the worst.

    "If the patriarch finds out that I called you, son, I''m going to be in a lot of trouble so shut up and listen." The older Nidhogg was in his humanoid form, standing in the middle of several Forgemastering circles that sealed the room from external influences and hopefully would keep the amulet''s signal from being detected.

    "There''s something wrong with the ck Tide. It has gued ournd for months but now it has suddenly started to move."

    "I know that already." Bodya sighed. On the one hand, he was d for his grandfather''s concern for his wellbeing. On the other, he was utterly disappointed. "It''s because the members of the expedition-"

    "I said shut up!" Vothal hissed. "I know about that and I wouldn''t call you for weeks-old news. What I''m talking about happened in thest two days and I''ve called you only after confirming that it''s not just the usual ebb and flow of the frontlines.

    "The ck Tide isn''t shifting around for food like usual, it''s leaving!"

    "Leaving?" Bodya echoed in disbelief.

    A monster tide wasprised of millions of monsters and had to settle in a ce with enough life to temporarily sustain its existence. So many creatures couldn''t just get up and move away.

    They were literally a living tide whose patterns could be studied and predicted.

    "Yes, leaving. And under any other circumstances I would be ecstatic." Vothal''s forked tongue nervously licked his scaly lips. "The tide is moving to the west, giving our tribe respite and ournds the opportunity to recover. Even better, the tide is directed toward a barrennd.

    "Each day of travel will kill thousands of monsters either of hunger or to sate that of its strongest members. I had no reason to worry or call you until I triangted the current position of your amulet, son.

    "I don''t care what the patriarch says, I may be mad at you but I don''t want you dead. So get your things and leave because based on thetest report of our scouts, the ck Tide will reach the Wayfinder in a matter of hours."

    Bodya was moved by his grandfather''s care. Infringing the patriarch''s decree was a severe crime and if exposed, Vothal might be banished from the n for aiding a traitor.

    At the same time, however, Bodya couldn''t put aside the doubts about Narso''s death and the news sounded absurd rather than unsettling. Once the seed of doubt was nted, it cast its shadow over every wording out of Vothal''s mouth.

    "Are you telling the truth or is this another attempt to manipte me?" Bodya''s voice started as a whisper but grew in volume with each word.

    "There''s no time for arguing. Just get away from there!" The older Nidhogg said in frustration, nervously looking around like he expected someone to barge inside the Forgemasteringb at any moment.

    "So says you." Bodya snarled. "Someone nted Bodya''s corpse in the Sun Valley right where the patriarch Warped me. Was it a coincidence? Have we changed our traditions and don''t recover the bodies of our fallen brothers anymore?"

    Vothal flinched, his mouth opening and closing yet producing no word. His facecked the muscles necessary to make expressions but Bodya recognized nervousness from the slight tremble in the tail.

    "How do I know that this isn''t just another ruse to make a fool of me in front of the other members of the expedition? That you aren''t going to destroy the Gate as soon as it is left unprotected?

    "How can I believe you after what the tribe has done to my brood brother?" The younger Nidhogg took his grandfather''s bodynguage as an admission of guilt and voiced his doubts.

    "By tricking me you are also tricking Garlen and if because of your lies the expedition fails, every rtionship I''ve built so far would be destroyed."

 Chapter 2872 Seed of Doubt (Part 2)

    Chapter 2872 Seed of Doubt (Part 2)

    "At that point, the colonization of Jiera would be dyed for months and the Awakened Council would deport me back home, leaving me no choice but to beg for the n''s mercy. Two birds with one stone." Bodya said.

    "I have no time for this madness." The sound of approaching steps confirmed Vothal''s words. "Do what you want, but do it fast!"

    The hologram disappeared and the rune of Bodya''s grandfather became unreachable again. Whether it was due to Vothal storing the amulet away or it being confiscated, there was no way to tell.

    The Nidhogg stared at the inactive rune for a moment, thinking back to the time when Vothal had adopted Bodya after the death of his parents. Back then he had nothing and was a very confused youngster who had yet to recover from the shock ofing of age.

    Bodya had been a Nidhogg who tried to move like a man. He was still grieving the loss of his arms and legs when the news of his father''s death at the hands of an Abomination reached him.

    Vothal had reached out to the boy, taking care of the funeral rites and giving him the time and help he needed to adjust to his new condition.

    The older Nidhogg had been part of Bodya''s life for far longer than his parents and until a few days ago, Bodya would have trusted his grandfather with his life. Now, however, he didn''t know what or who to believe.

    "Guys, I bring urgent news." The Nidhogg reached the main table where the various leaders were sitting and conversing amicably.

    A Hush spell cut off all the noise and questions until he was done repeating Vothal''s warning. Bodya also mentioned his previous argument with the patriarch and how it had led to his banishment from the tribe.

    ''I can''t fully trust Grandpa but I can''t ignore him either.'' He thought.

    "This is ridiculous." Lathazzar, one of the elves'' representatives from Medolin said. "We needed weeks and countless raids to make the ck Tide move of a few kilometers. Why should it suddenly go for a walk?"

    "I agree. It sounds like a tant lie." Aalejah nodded while the banquet exploded into an uproar of voices ridiculing Vothal and insulting the Nidhogg bloodline. "Yet there''s no reason to dismiss the warning since it can be easily verified."

    The monsters of Zelex, the elves of Setraliie, and the undead took out their respectivemunication amulets and contacted their kin.

    At first, everyone scoffed orughed at the preposterous im, especially the people of Medolin. Yet it only made their shock more appalling when they came out of the allegedly sieged Fringe just to find no trace of the ck Tide.

    The reverted monsters searched the whole area surrounding the geyser while the undead scouted for kilometers around the settlement without finding a single monster.

    "Still, this doesn''t make any sense." Orion pondered. "Even if the ck Tide moved, for what reason should ite here?

    "This region has nothing special and we have chosen this location for the Gate exactly because there are several fertile areas between here and the nearest monster tide. If the monsters just want food, they are going to stop way before reaching the Wayfinder."

    "Usually, I would agree with you." Ilthin nodded. "But I''ve been on Jiera long enough to study the ck Tide and know how it behaves. The reason it was so hard driving it away is that in that region there are several cities of survivors filled with cattle.

    "Monster are always hungry and food is no valid exnation for such a sudden migration. I think this is worth investigating, especially until the sunes up. After that, my people will be forced to seek shelter and you are going to be on your own."

    "Agreed." Raagu replied. "Let''s not make hasty decisions until we understand what''s happening. What are our options?"

    "Well, no matter how fast a monster tide is, the Wayfinder is faster." Orion shrugged. "The problem is that if Bodya''s grandfather is telling the truth, we can''t disassemble the Warp Gate fast enough to load it inside the Train before the ck Tide gets here."

    "What? Why?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "Because the pieces that have been already Forgemastered be highly unstable if their pseudo core gets removed from the partial power core." Orion replied. "Can you dismantle a DoLorean after enchanting it?"

    "No, I can''t. Not without Creation Magic." Lith mumbled thest part, but it still got him several res. "Repairing damage is one thing. Taking the chassis apart would disrupt the rune patterns and cut off the mana pathways with explosive consequences."

    "Exactly." Orion nodded. "Even if we remove the power cables connecting the Gate to the geyser, the umted energy would take days to dissipate enough to make the disassembling process safe.

    "Until that moment, it takes but one mistake to make the Gate blow up in our faces."

    "What if we abandon it here?" Kam suggested.

    "It''s feasible, but without a Gate going back to Garlen will take days. Then weeks to stockpile new materials and months to discover what went wrong." Orion replied. "The Royals won''t greenlight a new mission until they are sure it won''t be another very expensive failure."

    "Let me guess. I would be dragged in all of the above." Lith sighed.

    "Dragged, no but your help would surely be much appreciated. The Royals will ask you to take part in the next expedition, though."

    "I see." Lith had no desire toe to Jiera again but at the same time, a little inconvenience was much better than risking his life to protect the Gate. "What''s our next move?"

    "Recon." Raagu replied. "I suggest we send the strongest of us to check on the ck Tide''s movements and if it really ising this way, attempt to change its course. If it doesn''t work, retreat is our only option.

    "If the entire Jiera Council failed to get rid of a single monster tide, we have no chance of sess. Jiera is not even ournd. There''s no point fighting to the death."

    Everyone agreed yet the elves of Medolin resented the human representative anyway. They were the only ones who couldn''t Warp away and wash their hands of that mess.

    "Lith, do you have a Home Stone to spare?" Ilthin asked. "There''s a mana geyser here and the people of Zelex can help you defend this position."

    "True, but if ites to that, how are they going to evacuate once we are done boarding the Wayfinder?" Lith replied while handing her the artifact. "It''s better to leave them where they are so that in case of failure they can leave with your people."

    "Then why are you giving me this?" She pointed at the sphere whose surface was covered in red dimensional runes.

    "To give you a way out that doesn''t involve your mother. If Malyshka Warps you to Garlen, our allies will be stranded on Jiera."

    Baba Yaga could open a portal leading to her Firstborns, but without one of them acting as a living beacon, moving people from one continent to another would take quite some time.

 Chapter 2873 Black Tide (Part 1)

    Chapter 2873 ck Tide (Part 1)

    "Point taken." The Banshee imprinted the Home Stone and buried it right outside the Wayfinder''s dimensionalpressing array.

    Lith took the babies out of the carrier and handed them to Kam before removing the harness.

    "Keep them close and don''t leave their side not even for one second." He said while looking her straight in the eyes.

    "I will protect them with my life." She nodded.

    "Yeah, sure. You are totally going to protect them and not the other way around." Lith had a hard time keeping a straight face. "Be a good girl and take care of your mom, okay?"

    "Mama." Elysia nodded as her father cupped her face and kissed the crown of her head before moving on to Valeron the Second.

    "Be a good boy and remember that I love you. I''ll be back soon." Lith put his hands on the baby boy''s cheeks and Valeron gripped the fingers with all of his strength.

    "No." He cried, shapeshifting into his Bahamut form to w at Lith''s skin in an attempt to hold him there. "No!"

    "No?" Lith asked in confusion. "No as in, you don''t want me toe back?"

    "No!" Valeron cried harder, mes bursting out of his mouth and silver lightning coursing through his small body to give it strength.

    Lith had failed to consider that this was the first time he had said Valeron goodbye since adopting him nor was he aware of the fact that his parting words were painfully simr to those that Jormun had spoken with his final breath.

    Only when Lith shapeshifted as well did the Dragon scales solve the mystery and convey all of the baby boy''s pain and fear. The violent flow of emotions made Lith reel, unable to break contact until he shapeshifted back into human form.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to make you worry, little one. Rest assured, I aming back. I promise." He kissed Valeron''s forehead and stepped back, gently escaping his grip.

    "No!" The Life Maelstrom focused on the baby boy''s hands and burst forward in a powerful stream that hit Lith square in the chest.

    He opened his emerald eye to defend himself from the sudden attack and Dominate the silver lightning, just to receive another blow that put him on his knees.

    Another emotional blow.

    There was no aggression in the bolts of energy. They were just the clumsy attempt of Valeron the Second to protect Lith. Their violence came solely from theck of mastery of the baby over his own abilities.

    Even without Domination, Lith needed but a thought to bridle the silver bolts of lightning to his will and control them like they were his own. He could feel the emerald and the yellow eyes react to the newfound power.

    It made sense since Life Maelstrom was a mix of life force and air element. The tingle in his ck and red eye, however not so much.

    "No." Once Valeron''s mana organ ran out of Life Maelstrom, the stream of energy faded along with his voice.

    The baby struggled until the strain from using so much strength made him fall asleep. Yet even after losing consciousness his inner turmoil endured and small tears streamed down his cheeks.

    Shocked and confused, Elysia shapeshifted into her Tiamat form. Valeron''s pain hit her like a nightmaree true and she started crying as well. She didn''t know the right words and her father was out of her grasp so she cried for him to stay.

    When that failed, she cried for her grandmother to stop him. Then for her grandfather andstly for the kind blond aunt that always looked at Elysia from the shadows.

    No one answered her pleas, making Kam''s efforts to calm down the baby girl vain as well.

    "We''d better go before I change my mind." Lith''s homing instinct was scratching at his brain, the call of his blood almost too strong to deny it. "Who''sing with me?"

    Solus stepped forward. Her stay on the mana geyser of the camp had been long enough to regain all of her strength.

    "You can count on us." Raagu rapped on the Sealed Box containing the annoying Lich King.

    "upied." Replied an annoying voice from within.

    "I''ming too." Friya stood up. "Master of Space, remember? If you need to get out of there, I''m your best bet."

    "I''m not leaving your side." Tista said. "I didn''t understand a word the babies said but if something happens to you, I would never forgive myself."

    "Nor I yours." Bodya snarled. "The ck Tide has already taken Narso away from me. I''m going to make them pay."

    "Calm down, child. This is just a recon mission." Ilthin said. "You are going to need my help. I''m the only one who can get close to a monster tide and live to tell the tale. Also, I''m the strongest among us."

    "What about me?" Quy asked in outrage.

    "You are staying behind with me." Aalejah replied. "With my arrays and your Light Mastery, we can use this time to reinforce the camp''s barriers and add a few more."

    "What''s the point of doing that? The ck Tide is hours away from here." Quy countered pointedly.

    "Allegedly hours away." The elf countered. "If the Nidhogg''s calctions are wrong or whatever caused the migration also interferes with the camp before we are done evacuating, we are going to need to buy as much time as we can."

    ***

    Back into his Tiamat form''s full size, Lith soared the sky while the rest of the group sat between his neck and shoulder des. He moved with astounding speed, the Life Maelstrom coursing through his body empowered his muscles despite the emerald eye keeping the silver lightning sealed inside his body.

    Once released, the Life Maelstrom couldn''tst for long so Lith had to use Domination to lock it in a closed circuit and keep it from dissipating. Despite that, silver sparks erupted from all over his body with unforeseen consequences.

    The air and fire fusion empowering his wings left respectively a trail of storm clouds and fire upon his passage. The silver mes produced by the bone spikes on Lith''s head were now spread all over him, forming a thin shell.

    They burned at the air in front of him, reducing friction and repelling the currents produced by his high-speed flight. At the same time, they inflicted no harm on his passengers, allowing them to move freely without the need of a barrier.

    "Is this normal for you?" Raagu pointed at the feathered wings whose veins shifted color with each p. The elemental mes enveloping the feathers followed suit just one heartbeatte.

    "No. I have experienced Life Maelstrom a few times in the past, but nothing like this happened back then."

    ''Because your life forces had yet to achieve harmony and you were still iplete.'' Everyone thought, deeming it useless to ask any more questions.

    "What the actual fuck?" The Tiamat arched his back slightly enough to p his wings forward without jolting away hispanions.

    That and the air magic supporting his flight spells brought him to a halt in a handful of seconds. The night was quiet, with only the sound of the wind breaking the silence.

 Chapter 2874 Black Tide (Part 2)

    Chapter 2874 ck Tide (Part 2)

    From that altitude, the group had a clear line as far as the eye could see. The light from the moon painted the scenery silver, leaving deep ck lines on the horizon and wherever a shadow was cast.

    "What''s the m- Oh shit!" Tista shapeshifted her eyes and then opened the remaining five to get a better grasp of the situation.

    "What?" Raagu asked in annoyance. "We have just left the camp and the enemy is hours away. Are you telling me someone else is going to attack us?"

    "Allegedly hours away." Friya''s eyesight was no better than a regr Awakened but her Scope spell worked better than a binocr, opening two small dimensional holes that allowed her to see from kilometers of distance. "Look."

    She moved the entry point in front of the human representative who had to move her eyes back and forth from the dimensional fissure to make sure it wasn''t some stupid prank.

    The ckness at the horizon was no shadow but a marching band of living beings so tightly packed that even with Friya''s spell it was hard to discern where one creature finished and another started.

    The roiling mass of limbs and heads formed apact front that moved like clockwork, as if the monsters followed the rhythm of war drums only they could hear.

    Whenever one of them failed to keep up due to strain and fatigue, they would be pushed down by those right behind them. The fallen were stomped to death, their bones broken and their meat tenderized until it became a quick meal for the backlines.

    Nothing went to waste, the dead were just fuel for the living war engine of the monster tide. There was no gap in their formation, with creatures of different races and heights marching side by side at a different pace that depended on the length of their limbs.

    The tallest ones walked while the shortest, like the goblins, had to run. From a distance, it really looked like a tidal wave had crashed ashore and invaded the maind.

    The monster tide advanced with the smooth flow of water spilling over the ground, with different colored patches of hair for foam and tall creatures that stood out like waves amid the rest.

    "How is this possible?" Raagu blurted out in surprise.

    "I have no clue." Lith replied. "All I can tell you is that two days ago I witnessed the ck Tide myself and it was still roaming around the Fringe of Medolin. Is there a fallen race I''m not aware of that is capable of using dimensional magic?"

    "No, there''s not." The human representative shook her head. "Most monsters can''t use magic at all, that''s why they are called fallen. Only the lucky ones can use chore magic, let alone aplex discipline like dimensional magic."

    Raagu too found the speed with which the ck Tide had reached them absurd. Lith lying to her would have made more sense and been easier to ept.

    ''Yet as deceptive Verhen is, there is one constant that makes him a reliable ally.'' She thought. ''He would never put his wife in danger nor would hepromise the mission since the Royals are going to involve him in any future attempt anyway.''

    "How far are we from the Wayfinder and how long does the ck Tide need to reach the camp?" Lith asked.

    "Less than twenty kilometers." Friya replied, using the dimensional coordinates of the Home Stone to gauge the distance. "As for the how long, normally I''d say one hour and a half but at this speed, the monster tide would have needed weeks, not days to get here.

    "Until we find out how the monsters can travel so fast, any estimate is a gamble."

    "You stay here and alert the main camp." Raagu weaved her spells as fast as she could. "We''ll make sure that the monster tide stays away until our allies are done with the evacuation."

    Friya hated to be left behind but she knew that Raagu was right and stepped off Lith''s back. If the leaders from Zelex, Setraliie, and Medolin didn''t get back to their people alive, the frail alliance with the Kingdom would have crumbled.

    The party would have looked like a trick to lure them away and kill them, no matter what exnation anyone would give.

    ''I wouldn''t believe the story about the monster tide covering thousands of kilometers in two days if I wasn''t seeing this with my own eyes.'' She thought while taking hermunication amulet out of her dimensional item and alerting Orion of the impending threat.

    "Ask them if they need help." Farg said while mobilizing the Hands of Fate. "With the DoLoreans we can be there in minutes."

    "And how do you n on recovering them once we are on the run?" Orion replied. "We need them here to ensure cover fire in case whatever brought our enemies so close takes them straight to our doorstep."

    ''Is there anything we can do, Dusk?'' Kelia asked.

    ''Green core, no bloodline abilities, no steed.'' He telepathically shrugged. ''I''m sorry, but we wouldn''tst long even as bait.''

    ***

    Far away enough to be sure that his cloaking devices would allow him to escape being detected, Orpal looked in amusement at the fruits of his n.

    After fooling Thaymos into taking action and rying to him the position of the Wayfinder, the Dead King had helped the Eternal Fortress however he could to expedite the voyage.

    Moonlight could open Warp Steps leading to hundreds of kilometers away but moving the ck Tide that way would have taken too long. Orpal had opted for mapping the mana geysers between the lost city and its destination so that Thaymos could recover his strength quickly.

    "Look at them. They have no idea what''s going on. They are like ants, too stupid to understand that they are walking in the palm my hand. All I need to do is clench my fingers to crush them." He said. "Admit it. Contacting the old fart was a stroke of genius."

    Night watched the ck Tide shing against the mages from Garlen without saying a word.

    "Are you giving me the cold shoulder because you don''t agree with me or you can''t even give me your opinion because it would count as indirect help?" He asked in annoyance.

    "Thetter." Night''s voice was filled with unbridled fury.

    There were so many things that she wanted to do and say.

    She yearned to scold Orpal for his arrogance and join the battle herself. Even with her host''s weak body and core, her power and battle experience were more than enough to kill a bright violet cored Awakened with a surprise attack.

    Yet her body and mind were bound by invisible chains that kept her from stating the obvious and take charge to correct Orpal''s mistakes. Every time Baba Yaga''s seal robbed Night of her free will, she hated her mother and Lith more.

    The problem was that the seal also kept her from harming them so she could only vent her frustration on Orpal or innocent victims.

    "I know what you are thinking. Now that I''ve brought Leech away from the little bitch, there''s no Guardian protecting him."

 Chapter 2875 Black Tide (Part 3)

    Chapter 2875 ck Tide (Part 3)

    "I just need to wait until Leech is isted to kill him from a safe distance with my de Tier spell. The junk he wears is no match for my Davross equipment empowered by my tower." Orpal said with a huge smile on his face.

    "All of my efforts and sacrifices are soon going to be repaid."

    ''It''s *our* de Spell, equipment, and tower, you arrogant idiot!'' Night thought. ''Also, that''s not what I''m thinking. At all. I would indeed wait for an opening, but to Warp close and strike from point nk so that he doesn''t have the time to dodge.

    ''And I would do that only after studying what Lith''s cursed object can do and make sure that she''s not just going to heal his wounds like I would. Hystar only had the time to reveal Solus'' true nature to us and died before saying anything about her abilities.

    ''On top of that, it''s been over a year since west witnessed Lith''s strength. Assuming that he''s still the same as before and going blind against a cursed object who might be even stronger than me is not just wishful thinking, it''s pure madness.''

    ***

    "What''s the n?" Lith said while approaching the ck Tide. "No offense but I have no idea what you guys can do and bad teamwork is worse than no teamwork."

    "I agree but luckily, every one of us is strong enough to act on their own so there''s no need for that. Well, almost every one of us." Raagu looked at Solus who was the weakest in the group.

    "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but there''s no need to worry since Lith wasn''t talking about me." Solus replied. "Lith, Tista, and I make a great team and always have each other''s back."

    "It''s kind of a waste of two Divine Beasts but fair enough." Raagu said, pissing Solus off big time. "Inxialot is immortal so I''m going to throw him right in the belly of the beast. Can you do the same, Ilthin?"

    "For a while, sure." The Firstborn Banshee nodded. "But don''t overestimate your friend. If he wears his phctery, it can still be destroyed."

    "Point taken." Raagu sighed, relinquishing her n to throw Nero together with the Sealed Box.

    The disguised Emperor Beast didn''t like it. He liked it even less when Raagu dropped him from Lith back without notice. A heart-wrenching meowing apanied his freefall to the ground.

    "What?" Raagu asked in reply to the shocked and disgusted stares the rest of the group threw at her. "I refuse to believe that any of you is stupid enough to buy the cat act and I couldn''t leave Nero here without sealing Lith''s mes.

    "From this distance, the phctery is close enough to give Inxialot his full powers and too distant for the monsters to find it. Even if they do, Nero has plenty of time to run away."

    No one could argue with her logic but her heartlessness still stood.

    "Why dropping Nero instead of Warping him to the ground? You know, in the off chance you are wrong." Tista asked.

    "Cats always fall on their feet. Or so they say." Raagu shrugged. "This is my stop. I''ll attack the monsters from the sides while you guys attack from the inside."

    She opened a Warp Steps leading right into the middle of the ck Tide and emptied the Sealed Box in it before jumping off Lith''s back.

    "This is also my stop." Bodya grunted. "I shouldn''t need help, but if you hear me scream in pain, that''s my safe word."

    He jumped off as well but while Raagu used a Float spell to slow her descent and gauge the distance with the enemy while weaving her spells, Bodya simply shapeshifted into his real form.

    The ground opened like water on contact with the Nidhogg, letting him dive underground and then forward without losing momentum. Finally away from Tista, he could let the fury and pain that ravaged his heart go rampant.

    His roars conjured runes for his most destructive spells and made the ground quake but the monsters didn''t notice, the vibration of millions of feet drowning out the Lesser Leviathan''s voice.

    As for Nero, he cursed Raagu while using gravity fusion to slow down his descent until the Tiamat was far away enough and then reverted into his real form. The ck cat grew into a huge ball of fur and ice, great crystal wings sprouting from his back and catching the air currents like a parachute.

    "Fuck them. I would have helped them if they asked. Now they can die for all I care." Nero''s voice came out in a low growl as he shook his mane which chilled the night air into snowkes.

    "I''m stronger than Inxialot but unlike him, I need to feed and monsters are immune to my Charm." Ilthin said. "I can use some cover fire. Both literally and figuratively."

    "I can do better. Maybe." Lith tried to remember the sensation he had experienced back when he had absorbed the Life Maelstrom from Thrud''s generals and somehow amplified it until he had generated some of his own.

    Hecked the necessary mana organ but the emerald eye allowed him to control life force, the yellow one the air element, and his heart could process the world energy. Using Valeron''s Life Maelstrom inside of him as a temte, Lith sent the power of the emerald and yellow eyes to his heart, giving the silver lightning everything it needed to grow.

    Once the Life Maelstrom grew beyond what Lith could control, he poured the excess into Ilthin and her equipment, amplifying their power by tenfold.

    "Thank you, sweetie." She kissed one of his scales and jumped off.

    A burst of darkness magic erased the lipstick mark and the traces of the Banshee''s perfume.

    "What was that?" Tista asked in outrage.

    "Life Maelstrom. Don''t worry, I haven''t sacrificed what Valeron gave me. I-"

    "I meant the hickey-erase spell!"

    "First, that wasn''t a hickey. Second, when I shapeshift it should disappear but I''m not taking any chance. Now get off my back. Both literally and figuratively." Lith grabbed his sister, infused her with part of the silver lightning he had left, and let her go.

    "You can drop me but I''m not dropping this so easily. We are not done talking." Tista nodded in gratitude as red scales covered her expanding body, but the re extended to all of her seven eyes.

    "Whatever." Lith ignored herment and focused on the roiling living tide below. ''This is a good opportunity to go all-out for both of us, Solus, but there''s no mana geyser for you. Any idea?''

    He went from talking to using a mind link in a heartbeat. Their bond created a space where no one could disturb them.

    ''Yes. I can''t stay here either. The focus you''d spend on keeping your mes from hurting me would limit your destructive power and there''s not much I can do from up here. I could use the Life Maelstrom, though.''

    She took the Golem, Raptor, out of the pocket dimension and activated the Spirit Crystal that gave it ess to part of Lith''s memories and bloodline abilities.

 Chapter 2876 Black Tide (Part 4)

    Chapter 2876 ck Tide (Part 4)

    Lith split the silver energy inside him into two identical halves, each forming a stable lightning ring. Solus took one and the silver ring moved inside her body without any difort since her energy signature was identical to Lith''s.

    Shebined her Domination with the Hands of Menadion to both keep the Life Maelstrom in check and amplify it as Lith had done, but with no sess.

    ''Fuck! What do you think is the difference between us?'' She asked.

    ''Off the top of my head, a mana organ. My lungs and heart can naturally collect the world energy and ignite it with life force. For me, the hard part is suppressing the fire element and recing it with a spark of the Life Maelstrom Valeron gave me.

    ''For you, everything is hard.'' Lith took deep breaths, each one collecting great amounts of world energy yet only a small part turned into new Life Maelstrom.

    If the energy signature of Valeron the Second became too dilute, the silver lightning would fade so Lith couldn''t just inject world energy at will. He also had to provide a spark of his own life force after purging it of his energy signature so that it would be assimted by Valeron''s.

    It added oneyer of difficulty too many for someone who was attempting such a difficult procedure for the second time and once again during a battle.

    Solus tried to replicate his technique with the emerald gem of the Hands but only one of the two gauntlets had it. The spark of life force flowed from one hand just to crash into the other which was incapable of channelling it.

    ''I guess you are right.'' She inwardly sighed. ''Still, it was worth a shot. Be careful out there. My safe word is the same as Bodya''s.''

    ''It''s not funny!'' Lith grumbled and fire burst from under his scales. ''Be careful as well and remember that our role here is to stall the ck Tide.''

    ''I will.'' Solus jumped on the back of the Vagrash, wielding the Sage Staff in her left hand and the Fury in her right.

    The Golem unfurled its wings and used a mix of gravity and air magic so that they could support its weight and that of its rider.

    Meanwhile, on the ground, Inxialot''s bones were the first ones to make contact with the enemy. They bounced on the heads of the advancing army, ignored at first but quickly picked up as soon as the smell of the rotten meat that covered them reached the monsters'' noses.

    The fallen creatures bit the flesh and twisted the bones to suck the marrow but both resisted every attempt to break them. Red light filled the empty sockets of the Lich King''s skull as his consciousness was dragged away from his mindb.

    "I was this close to substituting numbers with elemental runes and giving birth to magical calctions. This better be important, or else..." Inxialot looked around, seeing too many fangs, ws, and snarling faces for his taste.

    His first thought went to his phctery, afraid that Nero might be in simr circumstances. After feeling the presence of the cat and the vessel of the other half of his mana core at a safe distance, the King of Liches could focus on the threat at hand.

    Or rather, at hands.

    His bony fingers returned the grip on the monsters holding them and used the creatures as an anchor around which to rebuild his body. The monsters tried to resist the pull but touching a Lich was never a good idea.

    The physical contact robbed them of their mana and life force which albeit providing Inxialot with little nourishment left the monsters too weak to fight. The King of Liches conjured his equipment along with two ck cubes out of his dimensional amulet.

    Their surface was iid with silver runes that hummed with power and formed on each face a delicate drawing depicting a ferocious battle. It was Inxialot''s way to mark an artifact and remember its use.

    Too many had been stored away and then left to rot due to their maker forgetting the purpose of his various creations or even their existence. At first, Inxialot had the habit of activating them, but it often bore dire consequences.

    Explosions marked his presence, forcing him to deal with those who came to investigate. On top of that, in order to test an artifact''s capabilities, the Lich King needed to imprint them first.

    Many times Inxialot had discovered that he had no use for the nameless items he had stored inside his dimensional amulet simply because he was supposed to sell them.

    He had lost clients and wasted priceless ingredients before caring enough about the issue to find a solution. Keeping a ledger was pointless since Inxialot would forget about its purpose and use it as a notebook for his experiments.

    The first cube opened its dimensional subspace, releasing a mountain of skeletons whose flesh had been reced with Orichalcum. Their right hand had been fused with an Adamant de while the left with a shield.

    The second cube, instead, released Inxialot''s Necromancy spell, Spare Parts. The magic imbued in the cube contained everything that the Lich had learned about swordsmanship from his victims.

    Whenever a Lich fed upon an enemy, they would inherit their abilities until the stolen life force was spent or the Lich forgot about them. In Inxialot''s case, he had excised the extra life force whenever he fed upon a warrior and sealed it inside the cube while it was still fresh.

    The Orichalcum stored and channeled the muscle memory stored inside Spare Parts while the darkness element flooded the skeletons, turning them into Dread Knights. The newborn undead retained most of the skills and magic mastery of their originals, making them a force to be reckoned with.

    Also, Spare Parts made the undead see everyone but the other Dread Knights as Inxialot while the Lich King himself was invisible to their eyes. The undead fought against the monsters surrounding them with fury and an unquenchable thirst for revenge, reliving their final moments over and over.

    For each Lich King they felled, ten more rose to take his ce but the Dread Knights didn''t falter. Their rage was unending and they would keep fighting until the final iota of the power animating them was spent.

    "What am I supposed to do, exactly?" Inxialot stood calmly between the Dread Knights, waiting for instructions before starting to prepare his spells.

    "To host a party." Raagu snarled, her voice coated with sarcasm.

    "Really?" He gasped in shock as the ground below his feet turned into mud from the monster blood spilled by the unwitting allies.

    "No, you idiot! You are inside a monster tide. Keep them busy until I tell you to fall back." The human representative hung up the call and kept flying back.

    She had one magic circle in front of each of her fingers plus one behind her back. Raagu unleashed a magical formation just to wave another immediately after. Each array had the power of multiple tier five spellsbined together and it affected the entire area it covered.

    Yet not only would the magical formationsst solely a couple of seconds, but also if not for her flight spell, Raagu would have been killed one hundred times already.

 Chapter 2877 Fallen Further (Part 1)

    Chapter 2877 Fallen Further (Part 1)

    The monsters flooded Raagu''s arrays in such numbers that the mana that was supposed tost minutes was quickly drained in order to kill them before they escaped the magical circle''s boundaries.

    Unlike the Lich King, Raagu hade prepared for the fight. Yet even with many arrays at the ready forming a wide trench of light between her and the enemies, only a fraction of them were forced to step into the magical formations.

    The rest of them just ran around the arrays since not even someone as skilled as Raagu could cover a battlefront that extended as far as her enhanced eye could see.

    She had killed hundreds of monsters in the first seconds of the conflict and kept killing more, but the ck Tide swallowed her light without suffering significant losses.

    ''Now I understand why even the whole Jiera Council failed to vanquish a single monster tide. Anything but long-range attacks is useless and I can''t stop for a second to catch my breath.'' Raagu thought.

    ''And I''m still currently fighting the dregs of the tide. They are just mindless brutes whereas their leaders are bound to know magic. Even with a rudimentary mastery over the elements, they can make up for quality with quant-''

    A burst of light from the ck Tide snapped her out of her ns for the future and forced her to focus on the present.

    Raagu hoped that it was one of her allies but Life Vision failed to recognize any magical rune or energy signature that she knew. A rity Field array showed her what was too far for her Awakened eyes to see.

    Lanky creatures she had never seen before stood taller than the rest of the tide, their bodies covered by a white chitinous shell while their limbs ended with three-fingered ws.

    The source of the light was their heads which were supported by a neck as long as half of the rest of their bodies. They were Wormlings, a fallen race of Jiera born from a failed attempt of a now-extinct Lesser Dragon species to attain the full power of Leegaain''s pure bloodline.

    ''What are those things?'' Raagu noticed that the "heads" had no visible sensory organ, just a wide mouth filled with fangs that opened on a cavity asrge as the neck.

    The light came out of the open mouths in the form of a highlypressed projectileprised of mana mixed with world energy. A single energy burst was nothing to Raagu''s tempered body that was further protected by multipleyers of enchanted artifacts.

    Hundreds of them firing at the same time, however, produced a power above a tier five spell and covered an area several times wider. She Blinked to safety just to find a second volley of light rushing toward her.

    A quick barrier blocked the threat but it also offered a luminous target that was soon reached by a third and a fourth barrage. Raagu used the Spirit Barrier of her cloak to endure the attack while studying the situation.

    ''Son of a bastard!'' She thought as her detection arrays analyzed the battlefront. ''The waves of tall creatures aren''t positioned at random. They have been arranged so that no matter where I go, I can''t escape their fire.''

    The nearest monsters were just food for the Wormlings who feed upon theirrades to restore their strength. A monster''s elerated metabolism shortened their lives but it also made them recover from fatigue and replenished their mana reserves just as quickly.

    They only needed a steady supply of food.

    Raagu weaved one tier five array for each wave of Wormlings and unleashed them with deadly precision. Thenky creatures curled up into opalescent spheres while the smaller, weaker monsters around them piled up on the Wormlings, covering them from every side.

    The arrays released their fury on the meat shields, killing them in droves. Yet once Raagu''s mana was spent, the Wormlings stood up unscathed. The mangled bodies became food for the monster tide, allowing the most powerful of them to recover from the strain of the march.

    Raagu could see with Life Vision that the corpses were carried to specific members of the tide whose life force and mana surged by the second.

    The barrage of light hammering on her shield never waned, forcing her to Blink in retreat before the power core of her robe exhausted its energy.

    At the same time, Bodya ran below the monster army. He nned every move with caution, setting as many domino tiles as he could before making them fall. His personal tier five spell, Rotting Swamp, kept the earth soft even after his passage.

    The water element of the spell controlled every drop of his acidic breath, mixing it with the ground. The resulting mud wasden with toxic substances without being affected by them, their properties spread wide with minimal loss of their potency.

    The Nidhogg disseminated more and more spells as he advanced, mindful only of the time he had left before the first spell he had cast would fade into nothingness. When only ten seconds to spare remained, Bodya triggered Pitfall.

    The area of effects of the various spells he had ced ovepped so one was enough to trigger a chain reaction that spread far, wide, and away from the Nidhogg. Pitfall opened deep barbed holes into the ground that ended in stonences immersed in acid.

    The barbs made it impossible to get a grip on the hole''s wall, sending their prey to the spikes below. Even if the victim survived, the acid corroded their flesh, killing them and freeing the space for another.

    This way, no matter how many monsters fell into the trap, they would all die in due time. Fracture Line, instead, opened under the marching monster army deep trenches whose surface was smooth and whose bottom was filled with magma.

    Bodya had given the mystical violet mes enough time to melt the stones and form incandescent pools ofva. After their activation, the traps lost their effect of surprise, and avoiding them was easy.

    At least until the Nidhogg emerged vertically from below, his towering form spilling acidic spit in a painful drizzle before diving down again. Trenches and pitfalls created forced pathways that disrupted the monsters'' teamwork and worked as kill boxes.

    Bodya waited in the safety of his underground tunnels until his arrays spotted enough enemies grouped together to deserve another strike. Nidhoggs were born to avoid direct confrontation and employ hit-and-run tactics that gave them plenty of time to strategize or use their breathing technique.

    That until the monstersbined their limited magical powers to close the holes shut and used the bodies of the dead to form pathways across the magma. Bodya''s n was perfect, but there were just too many and he was alone.

    An orc shaman used his crystal to spot the Nidhogg and harden the ground, negating Bodya''s bloodline ability. Mogar''s soil turned from a shield into a deadly trap.

    Stranded amid the enemy lines and with no way tomunicate his position to his allies without making it easier for the monsters to reach him, Bodya had only a handful of seconds to find a solution before the tide dug its way to him.

 Chapter 2878 Fallen Further (Part 2)

    Chapter 2878 Fallen Further (Part 2)

    ***

    Ilthinnded without the need to use a flight or gravity spell. She couldn''t hope to make an impact with her light mass even by aiming for the heart of the enemy formation.

    She used her bloodline ability, Shattered Soul, to produce a sonic shockwave so strong that it broke her fall and ttened the monsters in a radius of over 100 meters (328 feet) from hernding spot.

    Those outside the focal point of the shriek were sent tumbling by the sheer air pressure produced by Shattered Soul, bumping into those next to them in a domino effect. Even monsters several meters tall and weighing close to 150 kilograms (331 pounds) folded like cheap shirts.

    Their eardrums had been either burst or damaged by the noise, depending on how sensitive their hearing was, making the monsters lose their sense of bnce. With knees wobbling like jelly, even a gentle push was enough to topple a titan, let alone the fury of a storm.

    Ilthin conjured her weapon of choice against the living, the one-and-a-half-handed mace Orphan Maker. Most undead had a weak point that needed to be destroyed to kill them forever.

    A blunt instrument couldn''t pierce a Vampire''s heart or reach the flesh hidden inside the stomach of a Wendigo.

    For the members of her kin, the Firstborn Banshee favored a dual-wielding style for her rapier and dagger, Storm Fangs. Against the living, instead, Orphan Maker was true to its name.

    The mace wasprised of a single piece of Davross, save for the hilt that was lined with a single Griffon feather. Each hit of the weapon shattered bones even when it was blocked and turned its victim into a living projectile.

    In such a tight melee, Ilthin exploited her full strength by sending the corpses ramming against the backlines, their bodies taking on the remaining strength of the blow.

    Those who survived a direct hit either died when crashing against their allies or by their hand since a weakened monster was no different from a free meal in the eyes of the horde.

    With her free hand, the Firstborn Banshee conjured streams of lightning and air des that cut deep into the monsters'' ranks even after hitting their first target. Both disrupted the monsters'' teamwork, one by sending them into a seizure and the other by spilling blood.

    Despite her good looks, Ilthin smelled of undeath to the fallen creatures, making her an enemy but not a meal. Their allies, however, smelled delicious.

    The frenzy of battle coupled with the scent of fresh blood caused many monsters to lose their mind to the hunger that gued them from birth and was aggravated by the long march.

    Their loyalty to their master was suppressed by the feeding instinct, plunging the battlefield into chaos.

    The healthy monsters attacked even the injured members of their same tribe who defended themselves fang and w, spilling more blood. Ilthin made sure that the vicious cycle never ended, her spells focused on opening injuries rather than killing.

    She swatted anyone who came too close to Orphan Maker, resorting to Shattered Soul solely when surrounded. A simple earth magic spell made everyone but her ankle-deep in the mud.

    The ground became solid only when her feet touched it and the gap in speed was now so wide that Ilthin moved freely amid the frenzied creatures. She waited for them to be clumped together before hitting them all with a single sweep of her mace.

    The Firstborn Banshee had yet to suffer one hit yet her eyes were teary with disgust. The reek of the monsters'' blood and the revulsion she felt from their corrupted life forces made her want to puke.

    Discipline and battle experience allowed her to deny her instincts. Every fiber of her being wanted to unleash the Life Maelstrom she had received from Lith and wipe out those abominations, but she saved it for Orphan Maker and Shattered Soul.

    What looked like a white snake whipped from behind her, producing the crack typical of a small object breaking the speed of sound when it missed. Ilthin had no need for Full Guard, she channeled the disgust she felt to perceive every rotten heartbeat and bulging vein around her.

    The thing in front of her was no exception nor were the four more snakes that came at her in rapid session. The Banshee had no idea what she was up against and was curious to know.

    In her long life, the unknown was a rarity and the only thing she feared.

    She pulled an ogre out of the mud and used him as a meat shield. Ilthin counted thirteen different snakes before the attack stopped and the ogre was riddled with holes big enough for her to see through them.

    "You sure are an ugly bastard." She said to the creature while it was still busy munching.

    It looked like a naked hairless humanoid with pulsating reddish skin and no visible sensory organs. Its whole skin steamed in the chill of the night yet some of the puffs were denser than the rest for no apparent reason.

    The snakes were actually what she assumed were fingers only because they came out from the extremity of the monster''s forelimb where humanoid creatures usually had a hand.

    Each alleged hand had six three meters (10'') long fingers, each one of them ending with a fanged maw that was chewing a bloody piece of flesh and crunching bones.It exined twelve hits but thest one was still a mystery.

    At least until Ilthin noticed that the mouth on the te-like face of the creature was munching as well.

    "Oh, gods!" Ilthin grimaced in disgust while smashing the space around her free as more serpent-fingered creatures approached. "Pearl white skin, many mouths all over your body, and your heart beats so fast that you are in a perennial blush.

    "You guys are mutated trolls. And not the cute reverted/evolved kind of trolls but the further-fallen-down kind."

    The creature hissed in reply, revealing a meters-long tongue ending with a bone hook. Crunching sounds could be heard as it walked over its fallenpanions, indicating the presence of more mouths under its feet.

    The Firstborn Banshee heard the humming of the troll''s heartbeat be louder yet it was slightly out of synch. She turned around, noticing more mutated trollsing close while the rest of the monsters kept their distance from the undead.

    Ilthin''s full blood red core granted her nigh-infinite stamina but the respite gave her the time to take a good look around her. Monsters were naturally drawn to mana geyser because they were capable of using the world energy to alter their life force despite their inability to use magic.

    Under normal circumstances, such a thing required the tier five Body Sculpting spell, but monsters had an unstable life force and their elerated metabolism made them prone to mutations when in the presence of a substantial energy source.

    The trolls weren''t the only ones to have changed for the worse. Ilthin recognized several variations of the species she knew and all of them had be more twisted. Even those like the orcs and Warg who were supposed to retain a degree of rationality had be feral and deranged.

 Chapter 2879 Pulling the Strings (Part 1)

    Chapter 2879 Pulling the Strings (Part 1)

    ''The stupider a creature is, the easier to kill. Or so I would think if the behavior of the monster tide hadn''t shown clear signs of intelligence. These creatures stopped their blind charge when they realized that numbers mean nothing to me and formed this ring for the mutated trolls.

    ''The only question is what do they hope to gain from this and why are they stalling for-''

    The answers to Ilthin''s questions came in a disgusting cracking of bones and ripping of flesh. The munching had never stopped as the trolls advanced toward the Firstborn Banshee, taking several bites with each step they took.

    Then, one of them emitted an agonizing scream from all of its mouths as its red skin tore apart in a fountain of blood. The heart beat so quickly and the veins were so many that a single scratch was enough to release a bloody mist that resembled an Awakened''s aura.

    Ilthin wondered if one of her shockwaves might have caused an internal bleeding that was seemingly killing the creatures, but that didn''t make sense. Trolls were famous for healing quickly and the wound was external and expanding quickly.

    Too quickly.

    Before she could furrow her delicate brows, the mutated troll''s fingers and legs anchored themselves to the ground, pulling in opposite directions. The pale red body was torn asunder in a ssh of blood but both halves kept standing.

    The anchors kept munching and new sh grew to cover the exposed organs. In the blink of an eye, two identical trolls stood where just a few seconds ago there had been one.

    "I see." Ilthin nodded. "This mutation further elerates your spawning rate. No breeding, no younglings. Just straight adults, each one a copy of the original. Do you even share the same memories?"

    As she spoke, the rest of the mutated trolls started the pseudo-mitosis. Ilthin took a deep breath and opened her mouth as if she was about to scream.

    The monstersprising the living ring and all trolls lifted the corpses under their feet to use them as shields.

    "Wow." Ilthin''s voice came out as a sensual whisper. "Shared memories and a hive mind?"

    Her words were met with growls and hisses, the monsters enraged in the same manner at her deduction.

    "Please, it wasn''t that hard. You moved as one and none of you gave a single order that I could perceive." She burst into a peal of silveryughter. "Besides, you have more pressing matters to worry about.

    "Do you really think I was wasting my time talking?" A series of explosions ravaged the area around her, scattering the monsters to the wind, while the ground turned into moltenva, incinerating the corpses.

    Ilthin had silently cast tier five fire-based spells like Raging Sun and Volcano, spreading them in her surroundings as she fought. She knew that getting rid of the corpses was as important as killing when dealing with monsters.

    The Firstborn Banshee had just waited for the moment when her spells would deal the most damage. The mutated trolls were debilitated from the mitosis or still in the process while the rest of the monsters were packed to gorge themselves upon their fallenrades.

    The tier fives spells were also meant to exploit the mmable nature of the trolls and the dry fur of other monster tribes to spread the fire. Ilthin didn''t breathe so the hot air spared her lungs.

    The hail of sharp rocks bounced off her harder-than-steel skin and even stepping on the burningva brought her little difort. Undead were naturally resistant to all elements but darkness and her body healed faster than the heat could damage her.

    She exploited the ensuing chaos to pierce through the monster ranks and summon a strong wind that dragged the mes in her wake and spread them further.

    Great was her surprise when a familiar crack came from behind her, forcing her to turn around. The mouths at the end of the long fingers of the trolls snapped empty air as she dodged them with a somersault.

    "How are you still alive? Trolls are supposed to be mmable, you know?" Regr trolls were indeed mmable.

    Their elerated metabolism dried their skin and umted fats in the form of oils that were stored within their bodies, ready to be converted into energy.

    The mutated trolls, however, were and looked different.

    Not only did they seem unaffected by the fire but their skin had been covered by what looked like ck scales. The moment the heat was about to reach the skin underneath, the scale was discarded and a new one grew.

    Air bubbles formed between scales, dispersing the heat until the protection was restored. Ilthin crushed the fingers with Orphan Maker, and once they healed, the bones became denser while the flesh had turned stic to better soften blows.

    She then froze the air around her with the tier five spell, Perennial Winter. The ck scales meant to keep the heat out now helped the cold to seep in, carried by the air bubbles underneath.

    The trolls roared, shivering and shedding the scales. They raised their body temperature to the point that the oils they stored caught fire and countered the frost waves.

    "Amazing! You can also evolve and adapt to any threat you face." She said with a joyous tone that annoyed the monsters further. "This proves that your mutation is not random. Someone is pulling your strings."

    The living tide of monsters roared at her words but the Firstborn Banshee ignored them.

    "Good for me they aren''t that bright." Perennial Winter waned while Volcano and Raging Sun burned with renewed strength.

    The ming trolls were now defenseless against the fire element that reached the oil sacks and made them explode. Ilthin burned the trolls to the ground, making sure that nothing remained before resuming her onught.

    ''I can''t risk those fragments spreading around and turning into a bunch of quick-adapting trolls. Not while we are here. After we are gone, I''m going to spread them like a disease through the ck Tide.

    ''Those things eat non-stop and this can be used to cull the other monster tribes.'' A feral howl drew Ilthin''s attention to a ck-furred Warg jumping toward her.

    "Shit!" Life Vision showed her that the creature had a physical prowess superior to a Divine Beast.

    Her flight spell was slowpared to the creature, forcing her to Blink away. The Wargnded fist-first, the impact generating a shockwave that put down the fires and opened a several-meters-deep crater.

    The moment Ilthin came out of the Blink, the aura of the ck-furred Warg faded as another one took the collective power of the pack and jumped at her.

    "Again?" She used a spark of the Life Maelstrom Lith had given her to boost herself and her mace as she countered the Warg''s blow with one of her own.

    She was the Firstborn Banshee and Orphan Maker wasprised of Davross whereas the wolf-like monster used his bare fist. Yet she was the one who was sent flying back.

    "Shit!" Ilthin turned around just in time to see the collective power of the Warg jump into the closest member of the pack to her while her flight spell had yet to bring her to a halt.

 Chapter 2880 Pulling the Strings (Part 2)

    Chapter 2880 Pulling the Strings (Part 2)

    "This is why I hate smart enemies." One Warg was nothing to an undead.

    Even a whole tribe was just an annoyance. A Firstborn like Ilthin could take care of a monster horde of Warg by herself without breaking a sweat.

    The ck Tide, however, wasprised of millions of them and the Warg in front of her carried their collective power, mass, and magical power. Despite its size was nothing much, the creature was a force to reckon with.

    There was a limit to the power a regr Warg could amass, but those that had attacked Ilthin all had fur the color of charcoal and eyes red like embers, the sign of a mutated species of Wargs that had ovee such limits.

    That along with the hive mind allowed them to pass their power to the closest Warg to the prey and use their shared senses to follow Ilthin''s high-speed movements. Yet it wasn''t enough.

    Ilthin had now an idea of the enemy''s capabilities and dodged the iing fist with the minimum movement necessary while delivering a counter at the same time. Even with the mutation, the difference in battle experience made monsters easy to read.

    The Warg snarled, his strength disappearing and his body bursting like a balloon under the heavy mace. Instead of fighting a losing battle, he had passed on his abilities.

    When the Firstborn Banshee struck with all of her might, theck of resistance made her lose her bnce and created an opening for the next Warg. She turned her fumble into a roll and the ground where the monsternded into a sinkhole that swallowed him.

    Breaking free of dozens of tons of solid rock would have drained the tide''s stamina so the Warg epted his death and passed the power on to the next vessel.

    "Two down, two million to go." Ilthin sighed as another mutated Warg stepped forward.

    Only mutants dared face her while the rest kept their distance. They, or rather, the one pulling their strings knew that stalling was the best strategy against an undead. Sunrise was an enemy that not even a Firstborn could defeat.

    ***

    "I''m not going down there stark naked." Tista said while she and Lith studied the situation from above.

    Turning into a Hekate had given her great physical prowess and increased her mass but had also made her old equipment useless. Shecked the means to craft an armor her size so her red scales were all she had.

    The only silver lining was that Sunder, the enchanted ws, now fit her like a glove without the need to reduce their weight with gravity magic.

    "I don''t think it''s a wise idea." Lith nodded, noticing the willingness of the monsters to sacrifice themselves to kill the enemy and their perfect teamwork. "We have just to buy time for the Wayfinder.

    "Instead of getting swarmed like the others, we better create a diversion." He used Void Magic to collect the dust and debris released by the fight below in the air to conjure round rocks the size of a small apartment.

    Then, Lithbined them with fire and gravity magic to unleash the tier five spell, Burning Comet. The fire element amplified the friction with the air, setting the rocks aze while gravity magic increased both their weight and speed.

    Lith aimed the spell so that it would hit away from his allies but close enough to the frontlines to disrupt the monsters'' formations. Each impact generated a mushroom cloud that rose for dozens of meters in the air, creating localized sandstorms.

    The Tiamat took control of the air currents filled with dust with Void Magic, turning them into solid walls that trapped the monsters and isted them from the rest of the tide.

    At the same time, he took deep breaths with Invigoration, releasing a hail of Demons of Darkness from his wings. Abominations were no picky eaters, all life forces tasted the same to them.

    Lith gave them only one eye each counting on the monster hordes to feed his own.

    As for Tista, she took a deep breath as well and activated her bloodline ability, Ethereal Aegis. Her whole body turned into a living mass of Origin mes as she dived down into the heart of the tide.

    In that form, no physical attack could harm her and she phased through the lines of monsters while leaving a trail of charred corpses in her wake. Sunder''s syed ws cut down scores of monsters upon her passage and released air des that cut deeper.

    When she felt the familiar sensation of her lungs burning for air, the Hekate flew back up in the sky in an ascending parable before the mes disappeared. The smell of charred flesh still lingered in her nose and a thickyer of grease covered her tongue.

    Tista had killed hundreds of monsters in one swoop and left behind a burning scar in the ck Tide yet it barely put a dent to it. She turned to Lith, noticing that instead of unleashing his spells one after another he was taking his time and aiming carefully.

    She was about to take a deep breath to conjure a twin stream of Cursed mes when the Tiamat grabbed her shoulder.

    ''Not so fast. Invigoration can''t make up for the life force we lose every time we use Origin mes. We must make every burst count.'' He said with a mind link to not waste time.

    ''What do you propose, then?''

    ''Origin mes infused with Life Maelstrom, what else?'' Lith replied. ''It''s the perfect opportunity to put our training to the test.''

    ''We have never seeded so far. What if it''s just another failure?'' She asked.

    ''Worst case scenario, the resulting explosion will make up for that.'' He shrugged.

    There was no need to mention the best case scenario.

    ''Fine.'' They used the mind link to coordinate their breathing rhythm until their hearts beat in unison.

    ''Now!'' They thought as one, unleashing a jet stream of Origin mes each.

    The two pirs of fire ovepped, crackling as the different energy signatures they carried fought for dominance. Then, pushed by the willpower imbued within them and the sparks of silver lightning, the deep and the bright violet mes merged into a pristine white pir.

    The Primordial mes grew in size by devouring the surrounding world energy and vaporizing everything they hit. They cut through the lines of monsters like a hot knife through butter, disappearing only when the two Divine Beasts ran out of breath.

    ''We did it!'' Tista was ted, Lith not so much.

    Firing from above meant to be safe from attacks but it also limited the piercing power of the mes. Had they attacked while standing on the ground, the white column of fire would have cut the ck Tide asunder.

    ''Yeah, but most of the Primordial mes were wasted against the ground. We need to think of something better.'' He replied.

    ''Can''t we just rejoice that our theory was correct?''

    Lith had noticed that having the same energy signature wasn''t necessary nor enough to produce Primordial mes. He and Solus had done in the past but so had Kigan and Xenagrosh.

 Chapter 2881 Merging Flames (Part 1)

    Chapter 2881 Merging mes (Part 1)

    On top of that, Lith shared the same energy signature with his Demons, but all he had obtained bybining his strength with them were Thousand mes. After countless hours of training in the Blood Desert, using the tower to protect his cracked life force, Solus hade up with a theory.

    "Grandma and Leegaain can use Primordial mes so it''s not something that can only be performed by more than one person. Also, the energy signature is irrelevant as well. Which leaves only one exnation: the secret of Primordial mesy in the life force of the users."

    "Meaning?" Lith asked with a puzzled look.

    "Origin mes can''t be controlled by imbuing willpower in them, only by manipting the willpower already present in the life force that ignites them. To produce Primordial mes, you need either an exceptional life force like the Guardians do, or tobine multiple life forces together." Solus replied.

    "Isn''t that what I always do with my Demons for the Thousand mes?"

    "No. You guys just pile up your life forces but the intent they carry is discordant. If I''m right, the difference between Thousand and Primordial mes is that thetter doesn''t require just the will to destroy but to destroy the same thing in the same way.

    "That''s why you never produced Primordial mes with your Demons. They share your energy signature and target, but each one of them tries to aplish the mission in their own way. When we were fused, instead, we were one.

    "We shared the same life force and will. I wanted exactly what you wanted which made it easier for us to seed. With Tista things are going to be harder because your personalities are very different." Solus had said and she was right.

    Tista''s mes were animated by her will like the knife of an assassin, aimed at the vital points of her target while trying to minimize casualties and coteral damage. Lith''s, instead, only cared for destruction.

    His mes aimed to annihte his enemies while also cutting off every possible escape path. If someone or something were close to the point of impact, that was their problem.

    Both had trusted Solus'' judgment and worked to ovee the issue by using a mind link. They would project in the other''s mind how they wanted their respective mes to work and then met halfway.

    Until that moment, they had only obtained explosions of various degrees and only a few tongues of white mes. This time, however, they shared the same will and Life Maelstrom.

    Valeron''s silver lightning was spread inside their life forces, raising theirpatibility and smoothing the conflict between the two Origin mes. ''I''m going to rejoice when we seed on our own without external help.'' Lith replied. ''Let''s see what happens with Cursed mes while we are at it.''

    Tista and Lith were the only two people capable of conjuring them on Mogar so they had no idea what applying the principle behind Primordial mes would do. The only time they hade close to such a thing was against Night''s Chosen.

    Back then, however, it had been a fluke caused by the Horseman''s interference and the interaction of three kinds of mes. The result had been a powerful congration but how and why was still a mystery.

    ''Let''s go with True and Frozen mes, then.'' Tista said.

    Shecked Lith''s Abomination side and the only way a Hekate had to conjure Cursed mes was in pairs. One element would be channeled through the lungs to the mouth while the other would go from the heart to the wings.

    Lith nodded as he took a deep breath in unison with his sister. This time, they needed to agree on both the kind of destruction they wanted to cause and the epicenters of the different Cursed mes.

    Being a hopeless pessimist, Lith assumed that they would fail.

    It wasn''t their first attempt to fuse two kinds of mes at the same time but since even the "simple" Primordial mes were beyond their reach without Valeron''s help, he was ready to bet that Cursed mes would be more difficult.

    ''Let''s aim there and there.'' He telepathically marked two points very far away from their allies, where the explosion that he expected to take ce would kill the most monsters.

    ''Okay.'' Tista breathed a burst of True mes from her mouth and a twin jet stream of Frozen mes from her wings just like Lith.

    The True mes were aimed at arge tribe of trolls since they were weak against fire while the Frozen mes hit Wormlings who due to their draconic lineage were likely to suffer cold.

    ''I hate being always right but this is too much!'' The Cursed mes had reached their respective targets, killing everyone on their path until they made contact.

    At that point, they had just disappeared.

    ''I get no Primordial mes, but no explosion either? At all?'' Tista was bbergasted. ''Do we really suck that bad?''

    ''I suck that bad, you mean.'' Lith cursed. ''I''m at the bright violet and with the Life Maelstrom empowering me, the worst that should have happened was my mes overpowering yours and then detonating.

    ''How could I end up in a draw with a deep violet?''

    ''Thank you so much! You''re such a-'' Tista choked on her own sarcasm when a red and a blue light seeped through the ck mass of the monster tide.

    They slowly expanded, revealing that the light sources elemental hemispheres coursing with silver lightning that were rapidly expanding. The True and Frozen mes devoured the monsters in their path, bing bigger with each victim they made.

    ''I stand corrected.'' Lith said. ''We failed but not that badly. Our mes are building up and the moment they reach the critical mass they are going to explode in-'' The hemispheres consumed the ground as well and then the other half was visible as well.

    The two spheres were concentrical, with a denser one at their core while the external one was lighter but crackling with lightning. Also, they seemed to have no intention to stop expanding.

    ''Why haven''t they exploded yet?'' Tista asked.

    Before Lith could shrug, the Cursed spheres roared. Colossal arms erupted from the externalyer, soon followed by legs. Both sucked in more monsters, yet Lith could see with Life Vision that the act wasn''t consuming their strength.

    It fueled them.

    With the externalyer gone, the two Divine Beasts could now see that the internal sphere was packed with monsters. It grew into a torso first and then a head sprouted on top of it.

    Where the Cursed mes had collided now stood two giants, each about 23 meters (76 feet) tall. One had its bodyprised of roaring red mes while the other condensed the surrounding humidity and blood, resembling a red-veined crystal golem.

    Aside from a single set of eyes shining respectively with Zero and Cinder, their bodies were featureless. There was no trace of intelligence in them, only a crippling hunger.

    The two elementals looked at the monsters surrounding them with unquenchable desire. The fallen creatures were rich of heat and fluids, the things that the starving titans needed to prolong their existence.

 Chapter 2882 Merging Flames (Part 2)

    Chapter 2882 Merging mes (Part 2)

    Confused, the monsters attacked the unknown enemies in droves, strong of their numbers. Soon it was evident that the elementals could be hurt by physical and magical attacks and bloodline abilities.

    Yet they could also heal by feeding off the energy of their prey. Their size dwindled when under assault from the monsters and swelled when the titans counterattacked, trapping more enemies inside the sphere hidden deep inside their bodies.

    Lith had no idea what he had done nor did anyone else. Raagu and Inxialot turned their heads toward the giants and so did everyone else. The fight slowed down a beat and for a second the ck Tide stopped advancing.

    ''Fuck me sideways, are those some kind of Abominations?'' Lith could see with life vision that the elementals carried his and Tista''s life force.

    The sphere inside their bodies acted like a mana core, providing them with a constant stream of wed mana. The red titancked the water element while the crystal giant was unable to process the fire element, making their opposite go on a rampage.

    The monsters stored inside the True mes elemental quickly turned into desated mummies that burned into ashes while those inside the Frozen mes elemental became ice statues that copsed under their own weight.

    Both cores needed to constantly be supplied with fresh materials, the slightest dy had dramatic effects on the size and strength of the elementals.

    Then, the two titans locked eyes and hatred reced hunger. One shivering in cold while the other burning with fever, they saw each other as a thief who had stolen from them their most precious treasure.

    The elementals ignored the monsters swarming them and charged at one another with a deafening roar. Their bodies grew in size the closer they got, their respective scraps gave their nemesis relief from the hunger and fueled their might.

    When the two titans locked arms, their limbs merged and their cores were drawn together. The elementals fused into a pir of fire and ice that conjured strong air currents before fading into nothingness.

    With the elemental bnce restored, the life force stored inside the titans was released and their corrupted cores had no longer a reason to exist. Their existences born in the ngor of battle and ended in awed silence.

    Raagu exploited the monsters'' hesitation to take a deep breath with Invigoration and escape from the enclosing encirclement. Inxialot repaired all the damage that his Dread Knights had taken and conjured Spirit Spells to buy them some space.

    The Lich King had no care for himself. Any monster that struck him became his food, giving Inxialot more mana for his spells.

    Ilthin bit her own finger, marking the mutated ck Warg with her blood so that she would always know their position, no matter how deep they hid themselves behind the monster''s ranks.

    Solus used the Furies'' Flight to rescue Bodya. Eight hammers opened the path toward the orc shaman while the original Fury took his life. The moment the earth element was once again under the Nidhogg''s control, Bodya buried his aggressors alive and resumed his onught.

    The only problem was that Solus was now surrounded from every side. With no geyser and away from her allies, she couldn''t afford a slugfest. A single monster could do little damage to her, but every hit she took would chip her strength.

    ''If I take the sky, those things with the long necks will shoot me down. If I stay here, one of the ck Warg will reach me and I''m no Ilthin. I have only one way out of this.'' Upon her telepathicmand, Raptor dived down and the ground rippled at his passage.

    Vagrash could swim through solid earth and the Spirit Crystal on the Golem''s forehead managed to stimte the remnants of the original Emperor Beast''s life force enough to trigger its bloodline ability.

    On top of that, since Raptor had no need to breathe, all the oxygen the Golem collected was sent to Solus, filling her lungs with ease. ws, teeth, and spells hit empty air as she plunged underground.

    ''What was that?'' Tista asked. ''Why did those things attack each other? We ordered our life forces to ravage the monster lines, not our allies.''

    ''Respectively, I don''t know, because that''s what Cursed Elements do, and that''s exactly what they did. The problem is that we never mentioned anything about what they had to do after finishing their task since they were supposed to disappear.''

    He pointed at the surroundings of the area where the Cursed mes had been unleashed. They bore the marks of the destruction that Tista and Lith had envisioned together based on what they had achieved with the Primordial mes.

    ''Once those things fulfilled their duty, they went autopilot and went for the most abundant source of the element theycked: their twin.''

    ''What''s an autopilot?'' Tista asked in confusion. ''Are you telling me that we could have controlled them? What if they gained some degree of consciousness?''

    Lith inwardly cursed, reminding himself that just because there was a voice in his head, he couldn''t be as open as with Solus.

    ''No time for questions.'' He replied curtly. ''Let''s save our life force and Life Maelstrom forter. Enough with the mes, let''s use magic.''

    ''Fine!'' Tista had more to say but Friya had joined them and their mind link.

    She wielded Thundercrash in her right hand, its barrel still fuming from the previous shot. The body of the railgun hummed as the maic field charged up.

    ''I''ve alerted the camp. Useless to say they weren''t happy hearing that they have even less time than we had anticipated.'' Friya said. ''My father says to stall as long as we can and, if possible, to find out how the ck Tide moved so quickly.

    ''It''s a vital piece of information if we want to establish another safe camp, especially if the other monster tides can do it as well.''

    ''Another camp? Are we giving up on the Gate?'' Lith asked in surprise.

    ''Unless the ck Tide stops or changes its course, yes.'' Friya telepathically nodded. ''What other choice do we have?''

    The moment Thundercrash alerted her that the charging wasplete, Friya conjured her Scope spell. The entry point was right in front of the barrel while the exit point was levelled with the ground.

    She steadied her footing on Lith''s shoulder with Gravity Magic and then pulled the trigger, easing the recoil by tensing her wrists and locking her elbows. Friya just made sure to aim away from her allies and put no care otherwise.

    There was no singr monster dangerous enough to be a target and against an opponent like the ck Tide quantity was more important that quality. Thundercrash could shoot a single bullet at a time, but it would fly for a long distance, piercing through everything until its energy was spent.

    The shockwave apanying the bullet was enough to rip apart the weakest monsters while the sonic boom it left in its wake deafened those near its path. Lith saw a corridor opening in the monster tide as the bullet made its way through the sea of bodies.

 Chapter 2883 Old Magic (Part 1)

    Chapter 2883 Old Magic (Part 1)

    ''Can you redirect our Primordial mes like you just did for Thundercrash''s bullet?'' Lith asked.

    ''Depends. Can you guys control them well enough to not eat at my spell?'' Friya replied.

    The Hekate and the Tiamat exchanged an embarrassed look that answered louder than any word could.

    ''Then no.'' Friya said. ''If Scope copses and your Primordial mes go awry, we''ll be dead in a second.''

    ''Let''s y this safe, then.'' Tista said. ''I''m going in close quarterbat. Please, deflect with Dimensional Magic any attack strong enough to shoot me down. I will take care of the rest.''

    ''I can do that. There''s not much I can do while I wait for Thundercrash to recharge anyw¡­ What?'' Solus emerged from the ground with a full set of spells at the ready.

    Mjolnir erupted from the Fury, conjuring bolts of lightning that the now maite-enriched soil absorbed and amplified. The monsters that survived or avoided the spell were impaled by rock spikes that acted like lightning rods.

    The maite drew the collected electricity upon them so that not a single thunderbolt missed its target. The tier four Light Mastery spell, Blightburn generated scorching pirs of solid light from the fingertips of her free hands, cutting through the enemy ranks and keeping them at bay.

    Eight more Furies carved their path, their heads white from the heat conjured by the red elemental crystals. Once they reached their respective destination, the eight hammers exploded into countless ming shards.

    Burning Rain turned them into white-hot Davross shards that pierced through the hide and flesh of the monsters, making the blood of its victims boil.

    At the same time, the runes carved on the Sage Staff conjured Warping Arrays that allowed her to jump through the battlefield and avoid being surrounded by the mutated monsters.

    From his hiding spot, Orpal hated Lith for having grown so much in power while his own stagnated. He hated every kind of mystical me the Tiamat generated because it was something majestic that he knew deep inside he would never possess.

    He also hated Tista''s new form for resembling so much a Tiamat and none at all a Vurdk, proving that Orpal''s bloodline had been cast away from the Verhen family as much as its bearer.

    Last, but not least, he hated Night because even though the Horseman couldn''t even think about the fight they were witnessing, he could almost hear herughing at him.

    ''Curse you all! Millions of carefully bred monsters and not one that can put a dent on Leech''s scaled face. Yet I''ll be the one to have thestugh!'' As if waiting for Orpal''s cue, something brought Friya''s thoughts and the whole battlefield to a halt as Solus'' spell wore off.

    A red flow of life force and a blue stream of mana were coalescing from the monsters she had just in along with thoseing from the hundreds of corpses that each member of the assault unit had imed.

    Even the ashes and ice crystals produced by the monsters consumed by the Cursed Cores of the elementals swirled in the air. The resulting energy mass that umted in the middle of the ck Tide was so intense that it was visible to the naked eye.

    The air crackled with power as the energy shaped itself into a perfect circle that spun faster and faster until the area it epassed started to deform. It was like reality was being muddled, stirred, and then pulled from the other side by an invisible hand.

    A phenomenon that every mage worthy of their name knew like the back of their hand.

    ''Friya, is that a Warp Gate?'' The question was redundant but Lith refused to believe his seven eyes.

    Not only was the size of the dimensional tunnel enormous but it also emitted such an ill aura of unbridled might that it made the scales all over his body stand up.

    ''Yes.'' She wanted to express how wrong the spell felt, how such a monstrosity was undeserving to be associated with Dimensional Magic.

    Yet even with the mind link allowing her to express her thoughts and feelings, she failed to find a way to describe what was happening properly.

    Friya would have never expected to witness someone resorting to forbidden magic to conjure a spell as mundane as Warp Steps, yet it was happening right in front of her eyes and it made her stomach churn.

    The life force of the monsters was sacrificed to amplify the poor mana of their defective cores and umte the necessary elemental energy to conjure a stable spell.

    Only Lith could feel the desperate howls of the souls that were still attached to the life forces as they consumed, just like only Friya could feel the world energy twisting itself in the attempt to resist the call of the foul spell.

    ''They are crying. The elements are crying.'' She said as the forbidden magic took the elemental energies from Mogar with violence.

    ''Whatever is opening that portal must be stopped.'' Lith ignored Friya''s apparently senseless remark. ''You are the Master of Space. Can''t you shut it down or make it explode with one of your spells?''

    ''I''m trying and failing as we speak.'' Friya grimaced as she put her focus and mana against the colossal Gate, but to no avail. ''You guys are fucking Divine Beasts with Domination. Pull your weight!''

    ''What do you think I''m doing? ring?'' Lith and Tista pointed at their seven eyes which were all burning with mana of a different elemental color.

    ''So am I!'' Friya''s hair shone with inner light and her body was enveloped by the golden aura of her Dimensional Ruler spell, but the Forbidden Gate kept forming like they were just spacing out.

    Activating Domination required to overpower the will of the original caster and rece their energy signature with the Dominator''s to work. Yet the dimensional corridor held more mana than a bright violet core and it wasprised of too many willpowers to subdue them all.

    Dimensional Ruler, instead, overrode the dimensional coordinates of a spell to hijack it or exploited the natural instability of the bent space to make it copse based on Friya''s wishes.

    This time, however, the dimensional coordinates were restored the moment she altered them and there was no instability in the Steps. Whoever he was, the caster was conjuring the spell over and over, rewriting the runes and correcting his mistakes faster than she could spot one.

    Lith and Tista hurled Origin mes at the Gate, but they were little thingspared to the swirling energy mass and were extinguished like candle mes.

    Raagu was left out of the conversation due to the distance separating her from her allies but she had the wherewithal to know that whatever was happening had to be stopped.

    Shebined true magic with body casting and the runes woven in her robe to conjure several dimensional sealing arrays faster than any other mage could. The swirling portal deformed for an instant before effortlessly fixing itself.

    The forbidden magic hadpensated for Raagu''s interference by altering the elemental bnce in the area and neutralizing her arrays. Incapable of drawing the correct proportions of world energy and split it into itsponents, the magical formations were reduced to a bunch of glowing runes.

 Chapter 2884 Old Magic (Part 2)

    Chapter 2884 Old Magic (Part 2)

    Raagu had already faced a simr strategy and she knew how to adjust her spells under any circumstance. She just needed time to correct the runes'' sequence ording to the new bnce.

    Time that she didn''t have.

    The Warp Gate opened despite their valiant attempts to disrupt it and Thaymos the Eternal Fortress crossed it with a single step. The lost city stood over 100 meters (330 feet) tall, its bodyprised of lustrous white stones.

    For one moment, the image of the White Griffon in its White Knight form ovepped with Thaymos, but the two couldn''t be more different. The Eternal Fortress had no wings and unlike the academy, each piece of his body showed clear signs of what building every piece belonged.

    The head was a main keep with a metal drawbridge for a jaw and a portcullis shaped to resemble teeth. Two of the many round windows lit with orange light were supposed to be the eyes, or at least that was the impression they gave.

    Tall towers stood on the shoulder pads that extended into two stocky arms formed by what looked like the west and east wings of the castle. The fingers on each hand were formed by smaller buildings like stables and servants'' quarters held together by the magic animating the living legacy.

    The main bulk of the castle formed the chest, with the external walls wrapped around it as a rickety armor. The legs, so to speak, were two conical, featureless stumps formed by the underground floors of the fortress after being piled up on each other.

    The "feet" had no toes or heels. They were just two cylinders wider than those above to give the legs stability.

    Where the White Knight looked exactly like a giant man wearing a Royal Fortress armor, Thaymos the Eternal Fortress looked like a castle that had taken on humanoid features solely for the sake of convenience.

    There was nothing human in it nor was it pretending to be one.

    ["What''s going on?"] Thaymos asked, his voice formed by the sounds of mming doors and thudding gates. ["This is not where the Steps was supposed to appear. Where''s this so-called Tea-Rain?"]

    There was no word for train in the old version of Tyris''nguage that Thaymos spoke. Orpal hadn''t bothered finding one and the Eternal Fortress had no desire to update his vocabry so they had settled for the closest-sounding thing.

    "What is it saying?" Raagu''s magically amplified voice resounded above the ngor of battle even at great distance, reaching Inxialot who was her target but also those still high in the sky.

    "I''m not my mother, I''m not decrepit enough to have ever learned thatnguage." He replied. "I should have a dictionary back at home, though."

    "It''s saying that it was expecting to have reached the Wayfinder." Lith replied in annoyance before realizing that Tista and Friya were looking at him in surprise. "What''s the matter? The ent is funny but that thing speaks clearly."

    "For you." Tista said. "It''s gibberish to m- Great Mother almighty!"

    Instead of dissipating like it usually happened, the life force and mana thatprised the Warp Steps flowed into the gate-mouth of the living legacy and into the windows, doors, and every opening visible on his limbs.

    ["These idiots must have killed each other quicker than I expected."] Thaymos failed to notice the humans on the ground because their size made them irrelevant to him and the Divine Beasts in the sky because he didn''t bother looking up.

    ["It doesn''t matter. I should be close enough anyway."] The living legacy spoke to himself out of habit.

    During the millennia of imprisonment, his own voice was the only sound he could hear. The barrier sealed off Thaymos from the rest of Mogar to keep him from luring with promises of power someone stupid enough to free him.

    Also, his captors had hoped that the years ofplete istion would have driven the Eternal Fortress insane and made it easier to restrain him in case of escape. Unfortunately, it hadn''t worked.

    The only silver lining was that Thaymos was ignorant of the outside world and too arrogant to care about it.

    The living legacy stomped his feet, causing a grade four quake on the Richter scale and using the vibrations to scout his surroundings with Earth Vision. He noticed Raagu, Inxialot, Solus, and Bodya andpared the collected data with the description that Orpal had given him.

    Since none of them matched the Destroyer and there was no trace of the Train, Thaymos activated his long-range detecting arrays to acquire the dimensional coordinates of his correct destination.

    It was the secret behind the quick progression of the ck Tide. The monsters advanced, feeding on their own kin, until they either found a mana geyser or enough of them died to conjure a Gate.

    At that point, Thaymos reached them and opened a new Warp Steps leading as far as his mystical senses could perceive. The dimensional tunnel would be over 100 meters (330'') wide instead of high, allowing the ck Tide to cover hundreds of kilometers in one go.

    Whether there was a mana geyser or not, the Eternal Fortress would gather his strength while waiting for his thralls to call upon him once again.

    Thaymos spread his arms and drained the world energy while chanting the dimensional runes of his spell. Some of them had been changed to make the modern Warp Steps more efficient, but enough of them had stayed the same for everyone to recognize the spell.

    Magical runes were the words that mages used tomunicate with Mogar and magic was the one true universalnguage used by all people, no matter their continent of origin.

    A spinning vortex appeared between his hands, its contours the only clear shape while the inside was hazy. The old version of Warp steps required to input the dimensional coordinatesst and no one used it anymore.

    Millennia ago, a cunning mage had devised Copsed Space, turning the escape route into a deadly trap. To counter that, Blink had been created andter Warp Steps had been modified so that it would appear without giving the enemy the time to weave Copsed Space.

    "We need to stop it!" Raagu yelled but she didn''t conjure her dimensional sealing arrays again, afraid to draw on herself the attention of the living legacy.

    "How, exactly?" Friya yelled back. "Unless you have gotten some serious ace in the hole after fighting against the Golden Griffon, I have nothing that can take down a thing that big. Even a Divine Beast looks cute inparison."

    She pointed at Lith who even in his Tiamat form didn''t reach the waist of the Eternal Fortress.

    "I hate to admit it, but Friya is right." Lith had recalled Solus by his side and together they were using the Eyes of Menadion to gauge their opponent.

    Thaymos'' spells were as old as his enchantments yet for some reason the living legacy was even stronger than the Golden Griffon at the time of its destruction.

    Which made little sense since the Lost Academy had been updated by Thrud and its power core boosted by the mana cores of her students and Divine Beasts.

 Chapter 2885 Old Magic (Part 3)

    Chapter 2885 Old Magic (Part 3)

    Compared to the Golden Griffon, Thaymos was supposed to be an outdated piece of junk, yet the readings of the Eyes of Menadion begged to differ.

    "We have killed hundreds of monsters yet we haven''t slowed down the ck Tide''s advance one bit. Now we have to also deal with a lost city and as far as I remember, no one has ever managed to destroy one even on Garlen."

    "No one but you." Inxialot Blinked himself, Raagu, and his undead army near Lith.

    He was tired of screaming and there was no point leaving the Dread Knights behind. If they had to die again, they would do it to serve their master, not to y with monsters.

    "Those were special circumstances." The Tiamat shook his head. "I think everyone remembers how things went when we faced the Golden Griffon without the blueprints. This is no different."

    He pointed at the dreadful yet majestic aura of the Eternal Fortress that despite the distance sent shivers down everyone''s spine. It was an enemy that the Jiera''s Council at its full force had failed to put down, even with Zagran''s help.

    There wasn''t much that the eight of them could do, except for one thing.

    "There is one small difference." Raagu said. "The Golden Griffon moved on foot whereas this idiot opens Gates. Before we were taken by surprise and scattered, but if we join our forces, we can copse the dimensional corridor.

    "It''s not enough to kill a living legacy but it should send him away in search of the nearest mana geyser and buy us the time we need."

    Everyone nodded and looked at Friya, the only dimensional mage of the group, for advice.

    "I already tried and failed on my own. The bastard alters the elemental bnce in the world energy faster than I can follow him." She replied.

    "I can help you with that." Raagu created a mind link with Friya. ''Just follow my instructions. While the others keep the living legacy busy, I am going to create a w in his portal and you have to use it to bring everything down.''

    "Okay, but we need to wait for the real deal." Friya pointed at the still-small Steps epassed by the Eternal Fortress'' hands. "A Steps that size is nowhere near powerful enough to damage a creature that big."

    ["You!"] Thaymos'' ttering voice as he looked up produced a gust of wind as strong as a storm. ["You match the description of the Bright Day. Are you the Destroyer?"]

    "What is it saying?" Raagu asked and Lith tranted for them again.

    ''The Bright Day?'' Solus was bbergasted. ''She''s without a host and has no reason to be on Jiera. Why should she talk about you to a lost city?''

    ''How should I know?'' Lith replied. ''How does he know that some people call me the Destroyer?''

    ''Not some people.'' Solus pointed out. ''It''s a title that Malyshka gave you so whoever spoke to this guy must have some connection with her.''

    ["You''d better answer me, kid, because I''m going to kill you anyway."] Thaymos noticed the resemnce between the four-winged ck creature and the Tiamat in Orpal''s holograms but there were many differences between them.

    The size, the ming crown, and all the things that had changed after Elysia''s birth and his life forces merged into a perfect one. Also, due to Lith''s cloaking devices, Thaymos couldn''t sense the bond with Solus.

    Tyris'' ring made Solus'' energy signature different from Lith''s which further confused the Eternal Fortress. Yet their resemnce respectively with the Destroyer and the Golden Knight in the holograms was more than enough for him.

    Thaymos had no qualms about killing Divine Beasts for sport.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about." The members of the group understood that he wasn''t talking to them solely because he was looking straight at the Eternal Fortress.

    ["It doesn''t matter."] Thaymos said, conjuring another gust of wind and leaving Lith bbergasted. ["If you are lying, you are going to do everything you can to stop me. If you are not, I can take my time with you.

    ["Feel free to run away. Now that I know your energy signature, there''s no ce on Mogar you can hide from me. I have all the time in the world and I love myself a good hunt."]

    The detecting arrays had finally located the position of the Wayfinder but the magical formations protecting the train made it impossible to pinpoint the dimensional coordinates in its vicinity.

    The living legacy had been scouting for an arearge enough to open the Warp Gate without interference. No matter how strong the ck Tide was, the dimensional corridor was a funnel that prevented the monsters from using their real strength: numbers.

    If the humans managed to hold the ck Tide off, keeping the portal open for too long would have drained Thaymos'' power core until he could no longer sustain it. Countless of his thralls would die and he would be nowhere close to his goal.

    The Eternal Fortress spread his hands, projecting the Warp Gate in front of his army. Instead of going himself, Thaymos was sending the ck Tide fist, forcing Friya''s hand.

    ''We can''t let the monsters reach the Wayfinder!'' She said via the mind link.

    The dimensional tunnel was quickly increasing its size as the fog within cleared, revealing somece near enough to the expedition encampment to see it but too far away for any of its arrays to be of use.

    Any resistance force would have no advantage.

    The process, however, created ripples and dimensional distortions as the mana necessary to open a Gate that big kept flowing in. Friya locked on the distortions, injecting them with the golden sparks from her Dimensional Ruler spell to keep them unstable until the portal reached its full size.

    Lith and Tista coordinated themselves telepathically andnded in front of the Gate, both of them taking deep regr breaths.

    ''Now!'' Friya gave the signal the moment the dimensional tunnel ceased expanding and its energy started to stabilize.

    Inxialot and Ilthin Blinked in unison, one in front of Thaymos'' face and the other in front of his chest.

    The King of Liches pointed his staff and unleashed on the main keep a barrage of Spirit Spells powerful enough to level a mountain. At the same time, he spoke gibberish while keeping a smug expression on his face.

    He had long since learned that the good thing about anguage barrier was that whatever you said the opponent would take it for the worst insult in their life as long as your tone was right.

    Ilthin shouted a Shuttered Soul at the top of her lungs, consuming another chunk of the Life Maelstrom Lith had entrusted her. The rest she used to empower her body along with the energy stored inside her blood core, reaching a power and mass superior to an Elder Divine Beast.

    She channeled the fire element inside Orphan Maker, enveloping the mace with mystical mes that would seep inside any crack and burn at the magical runes enchanting the Eternal Fortress.

    Inxialot''s spell generated a light that illuminated the teau as if an emerald sun had risen and an explosion that clouded Thaymos'' face. Ilthin''s shriek shattered the windows of the wall-armor and its shockwave made it rumble.

 Chapter 2886 Old Magic (Part 4)

    Chapter 2886 Old Magic (Part 4)

    Her strike generated a deafening boom of thunder and created a one-meter-deep crater in the solid rock, opening a way in for the Davross'' mes. s, the cracks started to close immediately, snuffing out the mes, and when the dust settled the main keep had taken little damage.

    The white stones were ckened from the heat but that was it.

    ["How dares a mere skeleton to disrespect me like this?"] That and the wound on Thaymos'' ego.

    He had been sealed before Liches were a thing and his mind conjured every slur against living legacies he knew in the attempt to decipher Inxialot''s words.

    He tried to squash the two insolent insects with his palms but they both Blinked away, leaving the Eternal Fortress shocked. He ended up pping and damaging himself more than the two pests had.

    ["How? How can they open Warp Steps so quickly?"] He asked to no one in particr in amazement. ["Is everyone a genius these days or has magic changed this much while I was imprisoned?"]

    Thaymos had fought against the Guardians and assumed that their amazing spells were possible solely thanks to their matchless power. During the skirmishes against mages of the Council, he had believed that they had sent against him the best of the best and brushed off the issue again.

    After meeting the alleged Bright Day and this group of meddlers, however, Thaymos was starting to have doubts.

    The disturbance was enough to weaken his hold on the Gate so that Raagu''s dimensional sealing arrays encountered limited resistance.

    She couldn''t conjure enough of them to cover an area so wide but the distortions that her magical formations caused in the dimensional corridor ripped the front line of monsters that was walking through the Gate to shreds and destabilized the spell.

    Friya capitalized on that, activating the golden sparks of her Dimensional Ruler spell in the fracture points of the Steps and following Raagu instructions about how to adjust her spell to Thaymos'' alterations to the elemental bnce.

    The human representative let her arrays fade and conjured several Copsed Space spells to help Friya. Dimensional openings required a perfect bnce among their severalponents and were easy to destabilize.

    The Warp Steps that the Eternal Fortress used, however, wasprised not of just mana, but also of the life force of his thralls. It made the spell different from all those that the Awakened had faced in the past and hard to influence with just pure mana.

    It was the reason Inxialot and Ilthin kept stinging at the living legacy. Their purpose was topromise his focus on the spell. Bodya dug deep into the ground, making it copse under Thaymos'' feet and the living legacy lose its bnce.

    ''I wish I had still enough acid to make a decent trap but I consumed most of it against the ck Tide. I''d better save what I have left for something that can make a difference.'' The Nidhogg thought.

    ''I can''t believe it.'' Friya inwardly grunted with effort, feeling the will of the Eternal Fortress resist her own and the corrupted life force of his forbidden magic stand like a wall against her Dimensional Ruler spell. ''All of this is not enough.

    ''Lith, Tista. Aim for the edges of the Steps.''

    The two Divine Beasts took another deep breath, the violet light born in their mouths moving down their throats, chests, and lungs where the world energy was ignited by a spark of their life forces and imbued with silver lightning.

    The two crackling jet streams of Origin mes crossed each other in front of the Gate, their energy swelling for a moment like it was about to explode and then bursting forward with the white radiance of the Primordial mes.

    The mystical fire brushed over the upper edge of the Steps to avoid crossing to the other side and potentially damaging their allies.

    Due to this, only a small portion of Primordial mes affected the spell while the rest washed over the ck Tide, turning scores of monsters into ashes and carving a deep path amid their ranks.

    The corrupted mana and life force faltered and the spell matrix of the Steps fell apart. Thaymos sent waves of willpower and mana to stabilize it while Friya''s Dimensional Ruler spell drove a wedge into the cracks that had appeared in the space.

    One tried to close them while the other tried to tear them open and despite the help Friya received from the others the battle was at a standstill. That until Solus came down Fury-first from the sky like a zing meteor of Davross.

    Gravity magic increased her weight and the weapon''s one hundredfold while the elemental crystals on the Fury were now one ck, one orange, and thest one blue.

    The darkness element enhanced the destructive power, the earth element the hardness of the hammer, while the water element carried a frost wave that made the enchanted white stones of the Eternal Fortress brittle.

    Solus also channeled the water element inside the Davross, generating a blue aura around the Fury that split the world energy from the mana of anyone but her. When the automatic defensive systems came online, the hammer tore them apart like paper and struck the main keep/head without losing momentum.

    Thaymos had underestimated the petite woman with the weak aura, unaware that cloaking devices had been invented as well during his imprisonment. The blow was as strong as it was unexpected, making the Eternal Fortress lose his bnce.

    ["What the?"] The Fury brought down the roof of the main keep and cracked its walls.

    Bodya released the acid he had left to cause a sudden cave-in while Inxialot and Ilthin pushed the lost city down with the sheer strength of their bodies and magic. Thaymos fell to the ground with the grace of a sack of bricks and lost sight of his spell.

    Friya exploited the opening to bring the Steps down with a thunderous explosion that ckened the ground for almost a kilometer. She felt the acrid taste of bile as the forbidden magic threatened to taint her core, her whole body shivering in revulsion.

    ''There''s something wrong. The mana I''m Dominating is forcing itself into Dimensional Ruler and me. Even detached from the lost city, the energy still carries its original owner''s energy signature and will.

    ''If I just let it go, the bastard will regain most of the mana and open another Gate. Even if we can''t destroy it, we can still defeat it!'' Friya pushed her deep violet core to its limits and channeled her strength into the Hands of Menadion.

    The masterpiece of the First Ruler of the mes amplified her mana and absorbed the wild energy of the forbidden spell. The Hands kept the corrupted life force at bay by forming a cushion from the surrounding world energy that isted Friya from the taint.

    Then, she took control of the remains of the dimensional spell, turning it into a Warp Steps that carried the Primordial mes in front of Thaymos, hitting him from point-nk range.

    The array defensive system was fooled by the residual energy signature, mistaking Friya''s spell for friendly and letting it past theyers of barriers and arrays.

 Chapter 2887 Cruel Star (Part 1)

    Chapter 2887 Cruel Star (Part 1)

    The Primordial mes set the outer walls aze, burning matter and energy alike and opening a hole that reached the heart of the living castle.

    Lith and Tista kept breathing fire until there was no air left in their lungs but the moment they stopped, the mes went out and the Eternal Fortress repaired the damages with a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ''How is this possible?'' Lith panted, his life force strained from the prolonged use of Primordial mes and the Life Maelstrom necessary to produce them. ''Without a geyser, this guy is no different from us. The only energy he has is what is stored inside his power core.''

    ''Pseudo cores. This cursed object is too old to have a power core. Also, there''s no geyser here. I''m sure of that.'' Solus said after both the Eyes and the Hands of Menadion confirmed what she already knew from mana sense.

    ''Just like I''m sure that the living legacy is now stronger than at its arrival. Don''t ask me how it is possible, but it''s like he hasn''t cast a single spell or suffered any damage. Aside from wasting his time, the only thing we have managed to do is piss him off.''

    ["This does it!"] Thaymos stood up slowly, the orange of his windows turning red from anger as he red at Solus. ["No woman can be so heavy and only a member of the family can hide her strength so well.

    ["The only possible exnation is that I was right from the beginning. You are the Destroyer and she''s the living legacy who has taken you as her host!"]

    He was wrong on multiple levels but after hearing his words through the mind link with Lith, Solus felt no need to correct him.

    ''Share with the others that this guy knows nothing about modern magic. We can use it to our advantage.'' She said.

    ''Yeah, right. I just have toe up with a believable story about how we started to discuss what he does and doesn''t know in the middle of a fight.'' Lith sneered, passing the information only to Friya and Tista.

    They were both bbergasted, but not by how outdated Thaymos'' knowledge of magic was.

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' Friya said. ''This guy speaks gibberish that only Lith understands and his magic is as old as he is. It means that since his release this lost city hasn''t learned anything about the modern world.

    ''Then how does he know about Lith and Solus? How does he know the title that Baba Yaga uses to refer to him?''

    ''I''m actually more worried about the gibberish part.'' Tista looked around, d to notice that the night sky was clear. The only tremor in the ground came from the ck Tide and the living legacy getting back to his feet.

    ''Whenever Lith understands a deadnguage is because there are souls involved. What if this triggers a tribtion?''

    Lith squinted his eyes, his mind stopping for a second nning ahead and considering Tista''s words instead.

    ''You are right. The souls calling on to me would exin how I understand the lost city, how he controls the ck Tide, and the reason he''s gotten stronger during our fight.'' He said.

    ''Exin how?'' Solus asked. ''The Eyes don''t perceive any form of energy connecting them and I doubt there''s any ve spell capable of controlling so many creatures at the same time. Even the Golden Griffon had limits and it was-''

    A roar of inhumanughter cut her short and forced them to save finding an exnation forter. Thaymos was back on his feet and with each movement of his massive limbs, a raging torrent of pure mana was coalescing in front of him in a huge emerald sphere.

    A huge emerald sphere aimed at Lith.

    ''Spirit Magic! That bastard can use Spirit Magic as well.'' The shock from the vision made everyone shudder.

    It meant that the lost city already had a living host and there weren''t many ways the living legacy could fuel a spell of that magnitude without a geyser.

    Either he was somehow capable of tapping into the mana cores of the monsters at his feetor the Eternal Fortress'' pseudo cores exceeded the strength of a white-cored Awakened by arge margin.

    Thaymos'' spell, Cruel Star, shot forward with such violence that it cast an emerald ring over itsunching point.

    The fire element shrouded the emerald beam with mes thousands of degrees hot, the light element gave the externalyer substance, and the darkness element saturated both, but withpletely different purposes.

    The darknessbined with the mes to increase their destructive power, which was pretty normal. Itsbination with the light element, instead, was unheard of. The two elements of the externalyer weren''t meant to be used as a blunt weapon, but a containment field.

    The earth, air, and water elements were sealed inside, forming a very unstable and highly destructive Gravity Spell.

    Earth and air manipted the electromaic forces that generated the abnormal gravity while water cooled them just enough to not make them explode. The light and the darkness elements of the externalyer respectively sealed the chaotic gravitational waves and suppressed their strength.

    Without the containment field, the Gravity Spell generated by just three elements would have detonated right in Thaymos'' face.

    Friya was the only one to understand the meaning of the unusual setup fast enough to do something about it. She could feel through her Full Guard and Dimensional Ruler spells that her allies were preparing shields and Blinks, mistaking Cruel Star''s purpose.

    ''Blink, now!'' Her voice echoed inside their heads, the order quickly followed by a mental image of the iing spell''s inner workings. ''Then Bastion!''

    Raagu, Ilthin, and Solus went pale. Even in the split second they had to nce at the picture, they understood how deadly Cruel Star was. Inxialot understood it as well, but after double-checking the position of his phctery, he took notes instead.

    Lith, Tista, and Bodyacked the necessary knowledge the grasp the full scope of Thaymos'' Spirit Spell but they trusted Friya enough to follow her directions without asking any of the many questions they had.

    Blinking would bring them to safety, but only some of them, and only for a while. Cruel Star was infused with willpower and it would chase either Lith or Solus. On top of that, Blinking would sever the strand of Spirit Magic that formed the mind link.

    Without it, coordinating their moves would be impossible, let alone conjuring a difficult spell like Silverwing''s Bastion.

    The answer to everything was the Dimensional Ruler spell.

    Friya hijacked herpanions'' spells and rewrote the coordinates for the exit points so that they moved together to the dimensional coordinates she set. Also, she had the entry point detonate the moment Cruel Star neared, hoping that the dimensional distortion wouldpromise the spell''s integrity field.

    ["Smart!"] Thaymosughed, taking mental notes about Friya''s spell. ["Too bad it''s not enough."]

    He only had to send more mana to reinforce the outeryer and keep it from copsing. Cruel Star stuttered for a second and then resumed its chase at supersonic speed.

 Chapter 2888 Cruel Star (Part 2)

    Chapter 2888 Cruel Star (Part 2)

    ''Inform me as soon as you are done weaving your part!'' Friya knew that keeping the group together also meant offering a single, juicy target.

    She kept Blinking away to keep Cruel Star at a distance, each time copsing their entry point to force the enemy''s spell to slow down to restore the containment field and buying her priceless time.

    ''Gods if I hate Faluel.'' Raagu was amazed by Friya''s ability to hold the makeshift Mass Blink together while also saving the residual mana from each jump to save strength for the next.

    Friya was casting one-seventh of the Bastion while moving, using for the escape solely the mana she had stolen from Thaymos and that was contained within the Hands.

    ''Ready.'' Each member of the group said at a different time and Friya stopped solely when the sixth voice echoed inside her head.

    Then, she took a deep breath and conjured the anti-Guardian spell, Silverwing''s Bastion. It required seven violet-cored Awakened and they had barely enough power for that.

    Raagu, Inxialot, Lith, and Ilthin held each a mana above the spell''s requirements while Bodya with his violet core was subpar. Tista and Friya only had a deep violet core and they barely qualified.

    Solus was left out of the magical formation since with her blue mana core she was too weak.

    She could have made up for it with the Hands of Menadion, the Sage Staff, and the Life Maelstrom she had received from Lith, but that would have aroused questions she couldn''t afford to answer.

    ''By my Mom, I promise that I won''t mock Lith for his paranoia ever again.'' Solus thought as she passed her mana to him who in turn used it topensate for Tista and Friya''s weak cores.

    No one had expected trouble but since there was a lot of downtime while traveling on the Wayfinder and waiting for the Warp Gate to be finished, Lith had insisted that everyone practice Silverwing''s spells together, just in case.

    The case mmed against the still-forming emerald barrier, but it held.

    Each member of the group produced a different elemental sphere that the array-spell hybrid connected in a circuit, making their collective strength greater than the sum of the single parts.

    The Bastion formed a six-pointed star that converged on Friya who acted as the final and seventh star in charge of producing the seventh element, Spirit Magic. She drew as much world energy as she could with her Hands to make up for hercking core, but there was only so much the artifact could do.

    The quantity of world energy was limited and she had to share it with both Solus and Thaymos. The lost city had the innate abilitymon to powerful artifacts of absorbing the world energy and unbeknownst to everyone, the ck Tide further tipped the scales in Thaymos'' favor.

    Tista tried every function of the Mouth of Menadion, but there was nothing among its enchantments that she had recently deciphered that could help. Ilthin felt the Bastion''s imbnce as Cruel Star crashed against the barrier so she helped the others by fueling all the elements but light.

    ''It would cost me too much for its worth whereas between my core and the Life Maelstrom I have left- What the fuck is this?''

    The seven-pointed star of the Bastion had fully formed, connecting the mana cores of the mages that took part in the formation. Lith''s darkness element came enveloped in the yellow light of his eye.

    When it reached Tista, it boosted her strength and triggered her yellow eye as well, further empowering the resulting mana flow. The rest of the group failed to amplify the mana wave but each one of them had their strength slightly enhanced.

    On top of that, ayer of silver mes engulfed Silverwing''s Bastion, repelling Cruel Star and buying the barrier the time it needed to fully form. The Dread mes not only ate at Cruel Star''s externalyer but at the Tower Spirit spell as a whole.

    The chaotic gravity waves were weakened as a result and their release dyed by precious moments. Yet they were still strong enough to tear the space apart, pulling at the fabric of reality like a kid ying with explosives.

    There was no exit point for the entry points the spell opened. Gravity fluctuated with no rhyme or reason, bending space just to make it copse in an endless, senseless chain.

    The trail of destruction fed upon itself, the destabilized space spreading like cancer as cracks opened in the air as if it was a mirror that someone was punching from the other side.

    ''Do you really want me to waste time finding an exnation right now?'' Lith put every iota of his focus into holding the Bastion together against the madness of Cruel Star.

    The cracks in space had enveloped the emerald sphere and tore at it from every side. The gravitational waves changed the weight of the eight Awakened so quickly that their bodies would have been shredded even without the relentless explosions hammering at the Bastion.

    Luckily for them, the spell''s defensive properties included keeping the space inside the Bastion rxed and the gravity uniform. Any other barrier would have been helpless against the dimensional cracks and doomed its casters to a gruesome death.

    "No/Yes!" Raagu and Inxialot said in unison, thetter with his notebook already at hand.

    ["How can they still be alive?"] Thaymos was the most bbergasted of them all. ["How can a hybrid between an array and a spell exist? I have so many questions!"]

    The Dread mes shrouding the emerald sphere burned at the energy built up inside the dimensional fissures while the space-rxing effect of the Bastion made creating them mana expensive.

    Together, they tripled the energy required to keep Cruel Star going.

    The lost city couldn''t afford to spend so much of its power, not without first understanding if it was worth it. As soon as Thaymos stopped wasting mana, nature''s abhorrence for void made the cracks in space disappear.

    ''Now!'' Friya thought while taking a deep breath with Invigoration.

    The runes of the barrier were partly rearranged and partly reced with offensive runes, turning the Bastion into Silverwing''s Annihtion. Seven pirs of elemental energybined into one and struck the head of the corrupted titan.

    Multipleyers of barriers enveloped the Eternal Fortress, from elemental sealing arrays to Spirit Barriers. The Annihtion pierced through them like wet paper, sting the head off before moving down to the heart of the giant.

    The beam of emerald energy destroyed everything in his path and left a searing hole in Thaymos'' chest before disappearing. Yet the damage didn''tst, the various pieces of stone, crystal, and ss returning to their original position as if time was being rewinded.

    ''I don''t know how to say it, but the lost city hasn''t lost one bit of his strength.'' Solus checked the readings of the Eyes over and over, yet they kept making no sense.

    The group was still half-panting half-using Invigoration to recover when a swarm of flying Wormlings moved to intercept them. The monsters hadrge membranous wingsing out of their back and bright lighting out of their mouths.

 Chapter 2889 Final Destination (Part 1)

    Chapter 2889 Final Destination (Part 1)

    ''Fuck! The moment we enter the range of their bloodline ability, they will shoot at us.'' Raagu warned the others. ''I say we have bought the expedition team enough time. Let''s Warp out of here.

    ''Once we rx the space, this bastard will have no way to track us. While he wastes time looking for us with the ck Tide, we can finish packing and go back to Garlen.''

    Her n was perfect but for one crucial detail. Raagu didn''t know that Lith was the reason Thaymos had sent the monster tide toward the camp in the first ce. The lost city already knew where to find them the moment they disappeared.

    ''You go. I''ll hold him off as long as I can.'' With no way to exin the situation without exposing the secret of the tower, Lith could only y hero and hope the others bought his act.

    ''Are you insane?'' Ilthin said. ''We have fought together until this moment and we have achieved nothing. What do you expect to do on your own?''

    ''Okay. Bye.'' Inxialot waved his hand, opening a Steps that brought him to Nero and then another toward the camp.

    ''Son of a bitch!'' Raagu cursed. ''I''m going to kill him. I don''t know how, but I''m going to try.''

    ''You go. I''ll stop him.'' Solus handed Lith her stone ring while Raagu was still swearing. ''It''s me that he wants and as long as you have the tower, I can''t die.''

    ''You are both insane!'' Tista said. ''Let''s go back to the camp, if the lost city attacks Elysia-''

    ''Grandma would push him back while protecting everyone, Leegaain would protect solely the babies, and Tyris¡­ I have no idea what she would do.'' Lith cut her short. ''Still, I''m with Tista, Solus. I won''t allow you to-''

    ["Fine!"] Thaymos roared in annoyance the moment his body was back to its peak strength. ["You pests are resourceful, I have to concede that. But can your friends say the same?"]

    The Eternal Fortress already had the dimensional coordinates of the Wayfinder so opening another Warp Steps took him seconds this time. To make matters worse, Lith''s group was still huddled up and missed one of its most powerful members.

    Lith believed that things couldn''t get any worse but he was wrong. Thaymos walked through the Steps first, getting at spells'' range from the camp.

    ''No!'' Lith stared in horror as the dimensional corridor rearranged itself to let through as many monsters as possible at the same time.

    ''End of discussion, we need to go!'' Ilthin activated the Home Stone and conjured a Warp Steps leading directly in front of the Wayfinder. In the time since they had left, the elves had returned to Medolin and the monsters of Zelex had followed them back home.

    The soldiers and mages were loading the cargo wagons as fast as they could and the non-essential personnel had already boarded the Train, waiting for the order to leave.

    ''What are you doing? We must stay here and attack the Gate from this side. It''s unprotected!'' Lith tried and failed to resist the Firstborn Banshee''s grip.

    ''You call that unprotected? The ck Tide is surrounding the Gate and those disgusting things are flying at us.'' She pointed at the iing Wormlings. ''It took ourbined power to bring down the first Gate and we seeded by distracting the lost city.

    ''How are we supposed to do it from here and without Inxialot? Also, if we stay here who''s going to protect the Wayfinder?''

    Lith gritted his teeth in frustration, recognizing Thaymos'' Gate for what it was.

    A trap. Even if they seeded in making it copse again, the lost city would just conjure another.

    In the meantime, the Eternal Fortress would be free to ughter the camp and destroy the only means of escape they had. While in its vige form, the Wayfinder was a sitting duck.

    It would take Thaymos one spell of the caliber of Cruel Star to destroy the train.

    ''Fine.'' Lith recalled the Demons of Darkness and stepped through the Steps just in time to avoid a barrage of energy projectiles from the Wormlings.

    Ilthin left the dimensional door open and when the winged monsters attempted to follow her, she copsed the portal, cutting several of them in half.

    ''It''s not much but it still reduces their numbers and allows us to understand the rtionship between the lost city and the monsters.'' The Firstborn Banshee said while holding the half of the Wormlings that had made it through.

    The creatures spat their energy bullets in defiance, but the projectiles were too weak to do any harm to a powerful Awakened. The blow just exhausted what little life the Wormlings had left, killing them on the spot.

    A red haze rose from the corpses that Life Vision identified as life force. At the same time, the mana cores of the monsters seeped out of the dead bodies without cracking. The red mist shrouded the mana cores, keeping the mana they contained from dispersing and amplifying their power as the multi-colored haze darted toward Thaymos.

    ''Red Mother almighty!'' Ilthin blurted out in horror. ''We have to get out of here and fast.''

    ''That''s why the mana of the Gate resisted my Dimensional Ruler spell and its energy felt so revolting!'' Friya said. ''It was mixed with the life force of the dead monsters and none of my spells can affect both dimensional energy and life force.''

    ''Correction.'' Raagu said. ''No spell can do that. That''s why even Silverwing''s Bastion barely worked.''

    ''Each monster can''t be worth much energy, but we killed thousands of them and there are still millions!'' Solus suddenly understood why the lost city seemed to have an infinite source of power.

    ''Even worse, if he''s that strong in the middle of nowhere, how powerful will he be when he reaches the mana geyser?'' Lith snapped them out of their reverie. ''We can''t allow the lost city to take a single step forward!''

    Solus nodded and rushed toward the camp, leaving her allies bbergasted and furious.

    ''I can understand Inxialot being deranged, but isn''t she too young for that?'' Raagu spoke through the mind link and themunication amulet at the same time, threatening the King of Liches with unspeakable horrors if he didn''te back immediately.

    ''Solus has her reasons.'' Lith perceived the tower taking form as his strength surged. Tista and Friya felt it as well since they were listed as apprentices and the tower now shared with them the effects of the Library and the Armory.

    Solus had left there the Sage Staff so that everyone could benefit from the mind-focusing abilities of the Yggdrasill tree during the uing battle.

    This way, even if Thaymos reached the mana geyser, most of the world energy would already be under the tower''s control, leaving him little to feed upon.

    ''Bodya, make the ground below him unstable. If we make him fall over his troops, we''ll kill thousands of them and with a bit of luck, the dimensional energy will also cut him in half.'' Lith said.

    ''Tista, with me. Friya, alert Quy and Farg that we might need them for a Bastion or an Annihtion. Ilthin, Raagu¡­'' He stopped, not knowing their abilities or how to employ them best.

 Chapter 2890 Final Destination (Part 2)

    Chapter 2890 Final Destination (Part 2)

    ''I''ll set up a few arrays in case things go south.'' Raagu said. ''My spells work best from a distance. Also, I''ll make sure Inxialot moves his bony ass.''

    ''And I''ll hit fast and hard wherever I can do the most damage.'' Ilthin replied. ''The lost city is the major threat but if we let the ck Tide through, we''ll have to split our focus into too many sides.''

    The mind link was a quick way ofmunication so from the moment they crossed over Ilthin''s Steps and when they assigned roles, only a couple of seconds had passed.

    Solus too used a mind link to exin to the members of the camp what was happening and what they had to look out for.

    Farg deployed the DoLorean fleet that she had kept at the ready while the elves of Setraliie started to imbue their equipment with tier five spells.

    ''Is there really nothing we could do?'' Kelia stared at the Eternal Fortress in a mix of helplessness and fear. Even from such a distance, the lost city was a dreadful existence that made her feel small and insignificant.

    ''Sure, we can call upon Mother and run away.'' Dusk replied with a sigh.

    ''Anything but that!''

    ''There is one thing.'' The Red Sun replied.

    Origin mes would have been useless while Doom Tide would have made the fake mages useless. Life Maelstrom''s effects, however, depended solely on the person they were bestowed upon.

    "Here. This should help." Kelia pooled her mana with Dusk, allowing him to ovee Baba Yaga''s seal.

    The crack in the enchantment closed almost immediately, butsted enough to infuse Orion with a single bolt of Life Maelstrom.

    He was no Awakened, but his bright violet mana core was as strong as any other and his equipment was one of the best in the camp. More importantly, Orion had be famous for teaching thete god of healing de Tier spells, something that only Rulers of the mes were supposed to be able to do.

    Even ancient beings like Raagu, Inxialot, and Ilthincked such ability and their destructive power paled inparison to a single de Spell.

    Orion wasn''t expecting anything like that and almost died for it.

    The silver lightning empowered his body and mana core, making them both swell with power. He could feel his whole being burn as the impurities that kept his mana flow still were pulled with violence toward his core.

    If not for Vastor taking care of fusing the impurities with his flesh and bones to make it impossible for Orion to Awaken by ident while practicing fusion magic, he would have died on the spot.

    Luckily for him, the treatment resisted the effects of Life Maelstrom long enough for him to bridle its energy and suppress the mana flow it caused.

    "Is everything alright?" Kelia wasn''t aware of Orion''s condition so him getting pale and showing shortness of breath instead of bursting with power was unexpected.

    "Sure. I just need a second to catch my breath." He replied while using an irregr breathing rhythm that Vastor had taught him in case Orion ever needed to disrupt his own mana. "How long do I have before Life Maelstrom wears off?"

    "A few minutes tops." Kelia said. "Depends on how fast you consume it."

    "Then I''d better get to work." Orion nodded. "If the enemyes too close, I would risk hitting our allies as well. Yet there''s a catch. A de Spell consumes a lot of mana and starting a fight exhausted is a terrible idea.

    "Can you replenish my mana like Lith or my daughters would?" He knew about breathing techniques but feigned ignorance to not raise suspicions about his attempts to Awaken.

    "Yeah, don''t worry. Even if my mana core is weaker than yours, Invigoration still works."

    "Excellent news." Orion gritted his teeth into what he hoped looked like a smile in the attempt to suppress a violent spasm. "Follow me, then. Who knows, maybe you are talented enough to learn a thing or two about de Magic just by watching."

    ''What''s wrong with him?'' Kelia noticed the strain on Orion''s face as they walked toward the boundaries of the barriers.

    ''I''m afraid you made a mistake.'' Dusk replied. ''People with a powerful core like Orion die if Awakened. There''s a strong possibility that our Life Maelstrom is causing a small mana flow inside his body.

    ''If Orion doesn''t get rid of it as soon as possible, his body might reach a point of no return.''''

    ''What?'' Kelia was shocked, feeling suddenly riddled with guilt. ''Is there something we can do about it? Why didn''t you warn me?''

    ''No, there''s nothing we can do. The slightest spell affecting his life force wouldpromise the frail bnce that''s keeping him alive.'' Dusk replied. ''I didn''t warn you because the chances of Awakening someone, even a violet core, just with Life Maelstrom are abysmal.

    ''I''ve never seen it happening my whole life.''

    Orion walked while chanting his spell and performing the hand signs for Elemental Sonata as fast as he could. He had devised it like a Mage Knight spell so it required only one hand and could be used while wielding a weapon.

    Yet that would take more time than he had left. Vastor''s safety measures and Orion''s sheer willpower kept the Life Maelstrom away from his core but they didn''t make the experience any less painful.

    Orion couldn''t afford to suppress the pain with darkness fusion since it was the only indicator of how he was holding out. Yet it was also so bad that his vision blurred and his head went dizzy from time to time.

    He channeled his pain to speak and draw the runes faster, avoiding using true magic. It would have made things even faster but it was also likely to trigger the mana flow.

    The moment he was done with the spell, he unsheathed his sword, Grimlock. It was thetest and probably his most powerful piece of the War series that he had crafted alone.

    The de drained part of the Life Maelstrom from Orion''s body even before he could think about it, relieving the pressure on his core and making him sigh in relief.

    ''Damn, I''m a panicking idiot. I forgot that I could have infused my equipment to lessen the strain on my body. Thanks, little fellow.'' Orion thought and Grimlock emitted a soft hum, making him flinch in surprise.

    ''Is this purring? After War and Skywarp, does Grimlock have some sort of sentience as well?'' The sword remained silent, just draining more Life Maelstrom and sharing it with the Featherwalker armor.

    Orion shook his head and put his doubts on the back burner. For now.

    He released the silver lightning slowly, pouring it into every piece of his equipment that carried a power core. The more he consumed the more his pain lessened but his mental strain was unchanged.

    Instead of holding himself together, now Orion had to harmonize the mana contained in his equipment with that in his body. He had a limited grasp on mana flow, but since it was his mana and energy signature that the artifacts carried, they answered to his will.

 Chapter 2891 Final Destination (Part 3)

    Chapter 2891 Final Destination (Part 3)

    For a fake mage, the trick to perform a de Tier spell was to perceive the tiny specks of mana that left their body to feed their equipment and follow them to locate the power core.

    de Tier spells followed the same principles as tier five spells and once conjured, one could pour as much mana as they wanted. In Orion''s case, he had to draw the energy from the power cores and add it to Elemental Sonata while keeping the spell matrix intact.

    It was both slower and more difficult than what an Awakened would do since they would add the power from their equipment while weaving the spell instead of splitting the process into multiple steps.

    On top of that, due to theck of Spirit Magic Orion''s Elemental Sonata used only six of the seven elements. The silver lightning became one with the de Spell and the multi-colored light of his de turned white.

    Orion put every iota of mana and Life Maelstrom in Elemental Sonata. The tip of the de traced gentle curves in the air that epassed Thaymos'' figure from head to toe.

    ''Based on what Solus told us, targeting the ck Tide is pointless and we don''t know where that thing''s pseudo core is hidden.'' Orion thought. ''Instead of a focused blow that''s likely to be of no consequence, I''m going to spread my energy.

    ''It won''t do much damage but with a bit of luck, it is going to give us a clue about how to defeat it.'' The white beam of Elemental Sonata burst from the tip of Grimlock, cutting through the barriers and rock in the same pattern as Orion''s flowing movements.

    ["What?"] Thaymos yelled in surprise as the de Spell carved him like a scalpel, the cuts clinical and precise but also shallow.

    The surprise was much worse than the damage. That whole night had been one shock after the other, making him realize how outdated his magic was.

    Lith and Tista had just reached their respective positions when Elemental Sonata lit the sky. While they were still busy dodging the spell, Kelia contacted them on their amulets and informed them of Orion''s intentions.

    They used the Monocles of Menadion to study the reaction of the lost city, hoping to see him defend a particr area or his regeneration being slower in a specific point.

    s, the only relevant wound on the Eternal Fortress was the one to his pride.

    ''Void and Blight?'' Lith asked, cursing their bad luck.

    ''Void and Blight.'' Tista nodded and drew a deep breath.

    Then, the Tiamat and the Hekate unleashed a twin burst of Void and Blight mes, aimed respectively in the back and in the front of the lost city. This way, even if Lith and Tista were to fail to control the elemental giants, Thaymos would be right in the middle of their conflict.

    Just like a few minutes ago, the Cursed mes seemed to cancel each other, forming a small sphere each. They fed upon the monsters, draining from them the element they bothcked to form bodies 23 meters (76'') tall.

    ["Seriously, I''m still on Mogar or what?"] Thaymos'' patience was quickly reaching its limits. ["How many things did that bastard gloss over? Either everyone here is bonded to a living legacy or I''ve been set up!"]

    He attacked the ck and white giants with his massive fists, smashing them from head to waist in a single blow. Yet there were still plenty of monsters in the ck Tide and instead of disappearing, the Cursed mes clung to the stony limbs.

    The Void giant sucked the light element dry while the Blight giant absorbed the darkness element that Thaymos was conjuring to destroy them. The damage they dealt to him was minimal and their small size posed no threat to him but the Eternal Fortress was distraught.

    No matter how many times he destroyed the elemental giants, they kept reforming. The scores of monsters of the ck Tide were an endless source of energy for all three of them, leading to a standstill.

    To make matters more annoying, the fleet of DoLoreans harried him like a swarm of angry wasps. The weapons mounted on the vehicles were alchemical tools and could conjure spells only up to tier three but each flying car cast hundreds of them per second.

    Also, the passenger seats were taken by mages who dropped tier five spells instead of bombs at each passage. The DoLoreans were so small and fast that the Eternal Fortress perceived them only through his detection arrays.

    The hail of spells was mostly neutralized by his automatic defenses but the explosions they produced overloaded his senses and made it hard for him to focus.

    ["Enough!"] Thaymos grabbed the giants by the head and mmed them against each other with so much violence that the p of his hands generated a shockwave that swept the DoLoreans away.

    The Cursed Elements shed without the time to restore their bnce and triggered a st that lit the night as bright as day and destroyed the lost city''s arms up to the elbows. ["I''ve held back because I wanted to study the might of modern magic but I''m done ying. I''ve witnessed enough. You''ll make a fool of me no more!"] He raised his quickly regenerating limbs while conjuring an emerald sphere between them.

    In their short life the giants had killed hundreds of monsters and their death had killed more but it had also provided Thaymos with massive streams of life force and mana to fuel his best spells.

    Lith and Tista breathed in unison, their Origin mes turning into Primordial mes that ate at the energy sphere and crashed against the Eternal Fortress'' chest. Yet the hole they opened healed just as fast as the arms and the lost city just poured more mana into the spell to make up for what the mes had consumed.

    ''What now?'' Tista asked in a panic as the Tower Spirit spell nearedpletion.

    ''Now this!'' The elemental and the DoLoreans had bought Lith enough time to conjure his Tower de spell, Nova Ruin.

    Fake and true magic, body casting, and the Mouth of Menadion made it quick while the energying from the tower and the air aspect of Ragnar?k''s Davross amplified the spell along with the Life Maelstrom past any Nova spell he had ever cast.

    There was only so much silver lightning Lith could pour inside his mystical mes without them overpowering Tista''s instead of fusing with them. Nova Ruin, however, had no such problem.

    ''I''m back!'' Solus Warped on his head, tracing the spell as well with the Fury after coating it with a hard-light construct shaped like the angry de.

    Her mana fused with Lith''s and so did the Life Maelstrom she possessed.

    Nova Ruin flowed from one of them to the other, its energy amplified with each cycle. Only when their equipment couldn''t bear any more energy did they unleash it in a scarlet-ck pir.

    Thaymos unleashed what was ready of his Tower Tier spell, surpassing Nova Ruin in size and brilliance. Great was his surprise when the smaller spell crushed Cruel Star into emerald shards and then hit him like a truck.

    The Tower Spirit Spell crumbled in front of the Tower de Spell and the Eternal Fortress'' head was burst open.

 Chapter 2892 Final Destination (Part 4)

    Chapter 2892 Final Destination (Part 4)

    Lith slowly lowered Nova Ruin''s beam, carving Thaymos'' chest open as well and disintegrating everything it contained.

    Bodya rose from the depth of Mogar, using a tier five earth spell to make the tunnels he had created copse. While the Eternal Fortress struggled to keep his bnce, the Nidhogg curled around the stone titan''s right knee and squeezed as hard as he could.

    The already strained joint cracked and healed non-stop, incapable of bearing the increased weight and the pressure at the same time. Ilthin focused the Life Maelstrom she had left and struck the left knee with Orphan Maker.

    Inxialot chose that moment to make his entrance, unleashing a barrage of Spirit Spells against the lower body of the lost city to not mess with the Nova de Spell. The Hekate wanted to join the onught but Lith stopped her.

    ''Save your strength. We are going to need it.'' He said.

    Nova Ruin faded shortly before cutting the hips asunder but it was enough to make Thaymos fall. His body hit the ground, causing a localized quake and squashing scores of monsters under his weight.

    The white stone shed against the edges of the dimensional corridor, releasing a cascade of sparks as it cut through horizontally and crossed the vertical wound left by Nova Ruin.

    ''No.'' Lith thought as the Warp Gate never destabilized.

    ''Please, no.'' An emerald spark was now visible in mid-air and it was quickly swelling to gigantic proportions.

    Thaymos rose to his feet as if pulled up by invisible strings without the clumsy movements a man would need. His arms were whole again and the cross-shaped chasm was already closing.

    ''No!'' Lith activated the Warp Mirror of the Mirror Hall, moving himself and Tista right in front of the enemy.

    They hurled Primordial mes at the Tower Spirit spell as it darted toward the Wayfinder. The white mes consumed and destabilized Cruel Star but as long as the Eternal Fortress lived, it wouldn''t matter.

    ''No!'' Solus returned to the tower via the Warp Mirror, releasing all the Life Maelstrom she had left to strengthen the defensive arrays of the tower to protect the Wayfinder.

    Tista followed the emerald meteor, alternating Blinks with bursts of Cursed mes to weaken it.

    "No!" Lith charged forward in rage and desperation, plunging Double Edge into the lost city until the hilt hit the stone armor.

    His seven eyes turned blue and blue mes erupted from all over his body. They moved through the de and drew Thaymos'' attention.

    ["What is this feeling?"] He asked, having never experienced pain before.

    The Counter Flow and World Mirror abilities of the angry de were keeping his wounds from healing, which was a first, but the blue mes were worse. The Eternal Fortress sent waves of water magic to smother the fire, but they ended up fueling it.

    He took the air away from his internal chambers but even in the vacuum the blue mes burned by breaking down the white stones thatprised his body. Everything burned.

    Shock and confusion forced Thaymos to forget about Cruel Star and to focus his energy to stop the blue mes from spreading and the Tower Spirit spell faltered due to the suddenck of mana.

    Its externalyer cracked as the Primordial and the Cursed mes drained the spell and damaged its matrix. The inner vtile gravity spell lost cohesion, turning its destructive power against itself.

    Solus, Raagu, and Tista, noticed the phenomenon and struck at Cruel Star with their best spells, making it detonate before it could reach the first line of barriers. Quy conjured her tier five Light Mastery spell, Shellfire, that formed a spinning incandescent dome.

    The heat generated strong updrafts that along with the airflow caused by the high-speed movement dispersed the shockwave while the hard-light construct took the brunt of the damage before shattering.

    The rest was dispersed by the protective arrays of the Wayfinder coupled with those prepared by Aalejah. She had ced them at fixed intervals so that even if they copsed, the force of the enemy spell was broken over and over, like a tide facing a breakwater until it was reduced to a strong wind.

    Raagu then activated her tier five Warden spell, Stillbound. The array registered the chaotic gravitational waves conjured by Cursed Star and generated counterwaves of opposite directions.

    Yet even a tier five spell couldn''tpare to a tier five Tower Spirit spell. It was the reason Raagu had prepared several Stillbound, cing them at different heights so that they would cover the same area without their runes ovepping.

    Each one of them dampened Cursed Star a bit until its strength was more than halved. At that point, the Dimensional Compressing arrays generated by the Wayfinder and the tower kept the space stable and prevented dimensional fissures from opening.

    Friya floated in the middle of the camp, drawing the remaining world energy to fuel her Dimensional Ruler spell and rx the space whenever the arrays couldn''t keep up.

    When the dust settled, the outer ring of wagons had been toppled and everyone was exhausted but there had been no casualties.

    Thaymos had no time to check the results of his spell and pped his hands to squash Lith like a bug. The Spirit Barrier of his armor shattered like ss, forcing the Tiamat to let go of the de and block.

    Without him, the blue mes would go out. Without him, there was no telling what spell the Eternal Fortress would dish out.

    His arms and wings pushed against the huge palms but the difference in mass and strength was too big. Lith felt his bones crack as the air was squeezed out of his lungs.

    ["You are worthy of your name, Destroyer, but today you''ve found your better."] Thaymos needed to consume lots of mana to suppress the blue mes but he could afford to, especially with the mana geyser in sight.

    He kept pummelling at the Tiamat who in turn focused what Life Maelstrom he had left to spread the blue mes and keep himself alive. Yet when the silver lightning was finished, so was Lith.

    ["Your mes are a mighty weapon like I''ve never seen. I can''t just smother them with mana like Origin mes. I had to wrestle with them and overpower them with a greater strength like they were alive.

    ["I can see how my siblings died at your hand. Only someone with infinite power like me could resist you."] Lith coughed out a mouthful of blood while the Immortal Body array of the tower healed his wounds and the Eternal Fortress kept gloating.

    The Tiamat could feel the Mirror Hall amplifying the power of his spells while the constant flow of world energy from the mana geyser filled him with new strength. Yet none of it was enough to formte a path to victory.

    Thaymos was bigger, stronger, and even though his power wasn''t infinite as he imed, it was damn close. To make matters worse, using the full scope of the tower''s power just to run away posed a tremendous risk.

    ''From this close, Raagu and Inxialot might perceive the energy of the tower or recognize that what I''m conjuring aren''t spells but enchantments.'' Lith thought.

 Chapter 2893 Full Power (Part 1)

    Chapter 2893 Full Power (Part 1)

    ''I would risk it all, if I was certain of victory, but I''m not. My best shot would be activating the Prime Engine but again, it''s not enough to win, only to buy a bit more time. Even worse, it would betray the existence of the tower and at that point, my life would be over.''

    Lith turned his head in the direction of the wagon where the children were, knowing that his best shot at getting out of there alive was to lure the enemy there and bait the Eternal Fortress at striking at Elysia.

    At that point, a Guardian woulde out and drive the lost city back. Even such a powerful being could only stall for time since killing Thaymos was impossible. It was a huge gamble for little return.

    The Guardians might read his intentions and refuse to help until thest moment or maybe even take back their vow after rescuing them as a punishment for Lith''s maniptions.

    His mind foresaw several oues, one worse than the previous, in the span of a few seconds but it wasn''t that staying his hand. The mere thought of putting his daughter into danger, of exploiting her life as a tool made every fiber of his being churn in disgust.

    ''It''s my duty to protect Elysia, not the other way around. She''s in this situation only because I brought her to Jiera. I promised to do anything, to be anything in order to protect her and I will!''

    Lith let the blue mes go rampant, relinquishing his body in favor of that of the Void Demon Dragon. The blue fire raged anew, shrouding him and infecting Thaymos'' body with every blow, block, and when they merely brushed.

    Solus went back to the tower to avoid getting burned. From there, she cast Nova Spells non-stop and passed them onto Lith after amplifying them with the Mirror Hall.

    The Void Demon Dragon used the blue mes to burn through the multiple defensiveyers of the Eternal Fortress and released the spells at once from point-nk range.

    The camp became as bright as day as the lightning storm of Nova Mjolnir, the fires of Nova Eclipse, and the hard-light constructs of Nova Extermination hammered at the lost city.

    Lith emitted the Nova Roarst, imbuing it with a wave of blue mes that coated every shockwave and elemental aspect of the spell.

    Thaymos chuckled like a baby, simply raising his hand in reply.

    An emerald barrier coated his body, shattering the Nova spells into sparkles of mana upon contact. He got rid of the blue mes by severing the afflicted parts of the barrier and then recing them with new energy.

    ["Impressive! You forced me to use a defensive spell."] The Eternal Fortress pped his hands as the exhaustion from the repeated use of the blue mes ravaged Lith''s body.

    Yet it wasn''t the strain on his cracked life force that made his legs buckle, bringing the Void Demon Dragon down to one knee.

    ''How could I miss it? This whole time the lost city hasn''t used a single defensive spell. All of our efforts to wound him seeded solely because he didn''t bother raise his guard. None of our blows would have reached him if he didn''t allow us to.''

    Mana sense showed Solus how upon his arrival near the camp Thaymos had be even stronger. She had taken control of the mana geyser, but the energy that the still-iplete tower couldn''t channel was his for the taking.

    On top of that, the whole area was enriched with world energy that had spilled over the geyser over the centuries. The vegetation and soil surrounding the camp wereden with power that the Eternal Fortress was now harvesting.

    ["Let''s end this."] Thaymos tried to crush Ragnar?k with his fist but Lith managed to store it away in time. ["Fine. Struggle all you want. I''m still going to kill you and your living legacy."

    ["Tell me, is she immune to these wondrous blue mes of yours?"] Without waiting for an answer, the lost city coated his fist with emerald energy and struck at Lith. ["Let''s find out."]

    Amid the chaos of battle, Thaymos could feel that something was draining the energy from the geyser and struggled with him for control. The cloaking devices hid the tower''s aura but the tug of war between artifacts gave away its position.

    The Eternal Fortress aimed the blow carefully, making sure that the living projectile would cause and suffer the most damage before reaching its target.

    ["Those you love and what you''ve built will be destroyed by your own hand. Those pesky barriers your allies put so much work into creating will be rendered useless by the trust they put in you. Isn''t that poetic?"]

    Lith''s body was sent flying, bouncing on the ground once before reaching the Wayfinder. Thaymos'' fist had shattered his ribs and skull, his life spared only due to the Immortal Body array.

    The contact with the ground broke his spine and twisted is legs in unnatural angles, the Spirit Barrier of the Voidwalker armor spent and the metal worn out.

    As Thaymos had predicted, the defensive measures of the camp recognized the living projectile as an ally and let him pass unimpeded. The Void Demon Dragon bounced a second time against the external ring of wagons of the Wayfinder, scattering them away and setting them on fire with blue mes.

    Even amid his agony, Lith managed to channel the pain to drive back the hatred and be a Tiamat once again. The mes spread nheless, bringing down the barriers set up byQuy and Aalejah while the out of position wagons weakened those of the Wayfinder.

    The third bounce crushed the middle ring, scattering people and supplies to the wind. Solus tried everything to stop him, but she had only offensive spells at the ready and the defensive systems of the tower were busy keeping Lith alive.

    The Tiamat came crashing against the partially built Gate, just like the Eternal Fortress had predicted. The destruction of an artifact rooted in the middle of the mana geyser was bound to trigger a chain reaction that would kill the Destroyer and weaken his cursed object.

    Thaymos would then swoop in and kill the weakened mysterious girl.

    ["No matter how powerful she is. I''ll absorb her essence just like I do for my loyal servants. Her death will fuel my greatness and bring me one step closer to achieve my dream of conquest!"] He burst into a roar ofughter that died as quickly as it had started.

    A warm light was extinguishing the blue mes and had stopped the Tiamat in mid-air after gently dispersing the kic energy of his flight. His body shrunk to human proportions and his wounds disappeared like they had never been there in the first ce.

    A maiden of light held his body between her arms, weeping in silence.

    "It''s alright, dear. You can rest now." Tyris said to Valeron the Second who had witnessed everything from inside Lith''s private wagon.

    Kam had activated the projector the moment the rm had resounded, too worried by the news that Friya had carried to notice that the tremors had woken up the babies until they had started crying.

 Chapter 2894 Full Power (Part 2)

    Chapter 2894 Full Power (Part 2)

    At that point, fear had frozen Kam like a deer in headlights. She wanted to turn off the projector to not let the babies witness what was happening but at the same time, she couldn''t bear to not know her husband''s fate.

    Elysia and Valeron cried for their father from the beginning of the fight, yet Tyris remained neutral. Until something inside of her snapped.

    She remembered well the pain of losing her Valeron.

    She also remembered how much the little Bahamut had suffered from the death of Jormun first and Thrudter. The Mad Queen had been true to her name during the War of the Griffons but Tyris couldn''t deny how simr they were.

    Not only in their physical appearance, but also in their pain.

    The same pain that was once again ravaging the little body of Valeron the Second.

    She gentlyy down the Tiamat''s unconscious body on the ground before turning to the Eternal Fortress.

    ["This isn''t my turf and the people of Jiera are not my responsibility anymore."] She said as a burning fury evaporated her tears and twisted her visage. ["They have turned their back on me and you are probably unaware of my vow."]

    She walked toward the edges of the barriers, her body swelling in size as she returned to her true appearance.

    ["Under any other circumstance, I would offer you to walk away in exchange for me overlooking your transgression. Today is different. You have caused my blood great pain. You have caused me great pain and for that, I''ll end you."]

    A majestic Golden Griffon stood 50 meters (166 feet) tall on her hind legs, surrounded by a warm yellow light akin to the sun and a majestic aura of power.

    The people from Garlen fell to their knees in awe whereas Thaymos just resumedughing.

    ["End me? I don''t know who you are but I know what you are, little bird. You are nothing!"] The Eternal Fortress was double Tyris'' height and even though her aura was brighter than his own, Thaymos showed no sign of fear.

    ["I''ve fought the strongest Guardian of Jiera. Zagran herself failed to stop me and she was much stronger than you."] He said, and he was right.

    "You sure are an ass, Fenagar." Zagran scoffed in indignance through the mind link that connected her to her fellow Guardian. "The least you could do is stop opposing Tyris'' powers like you do for me when I deal with threats on your turf. This is just petty."

    "No, this is wise." The Leviathan shook his head. "Tyris is on my turf against my permission and she even dared wound me when I reprimanded her for her invasion.

    "Sooner orter, we''ll fight for a third time and this is the perfect opportunity for me to learn how to deal with her. I''m not lifting the restrictions because she doesn''t deserve my help."

    ''That and because by limiting her strength I''ll force her to reveal her best cards.'' He inwardly added.

    "That''s a fancy way to say you are a petty bastard." The Garuda replied before opening another mind link, this time to Garlen. "Hey, Sally, do you want toe here?"

    The Overlord heed Zagran''s call and turned her attention to Jiera noticing the uing battle.

    "dly, but why are you bringing me there? You could just share your senses with me." She replied.

    "Because this is what friends do, asshole. Not like someone who kept her fight against Tezka all for herself." The Garuda scoffed but opened the Gate anyway.

    She was secretly worried for the Griffon. Thest time Zagran had beaten Thaymos into submission, he was standing above a mana geyser while at his peak strength.

    Now he could only tap into the part of the energy that Solus'' tower, the Gate, and the Wayfinder left avable and he had just fought his way there. Yet the Eternal Fortress was stronger than back then. Much stronger.

    Tyris felt thend of Jiera rebelling to her touch and its world energy resisting her call. Her powers were indeed diminished. She wasn''t just a Guardian outside of her turf, she was a Guardian in a hostilend.

    Thaymos charged at her, his colossal body eclipsing hers like an adult does with a child. He kept the defensive barrier active and punched with all of his strength.

    Griffons possessed the greatest physical strength among Divine Beasts but the gap in mass between Tyris and Thaymos was several times that in height. If she dodged or tripped him, the Eternal Fortress would reach the camp and kill all those the Griffon was desperately trying to protect.

    Tyris recognized the threat and quickly shifted her body weight, raising her left arm to block Thaymos'' massive fist.

    The mere contact between her wed hand and the t surface formed by the buildings thatprised the lost city''s fingers produced a p of thunder that deafened humans and monsters alike.

    The shockwave that the true might of the Eternal Fortress caused shattered what was left of the defensive arrays of the Wayfinder, the hard-light construct of Quy, and the new batch of safety measures erected by Raagu.

    It was no spell orplicated tactic, simply the result of Thaymos being serious. He had yed with the Destroyer to unravel the mystery he was and understand how Lith could have extinguished the light of Thaymos'' immortal brethren.

    Against Tyris, instead, the Eternal Fortress was going all out.

    He was eager to put his true power to test against a Guardian. Eager to discover how much his power had grown since hisst fight with Zagran and how big the gap between him and Mogar''s chosen still was.

    The ground sunk below the titans'' feet as their limbs shed, violent quakes opened deep fissures that broughtva to the surface while the shockwave generated strong winds that uprooted the nearest trees and cleared the sky from the clouds.

    The Guardian was fierce but the Eternal Fortress was strong. So strong that when his charge stopped, he had been pushed several meters back, leaving deep trenches in the barren soil.

    He.

    Tyris was unmoving, still in the same spot where she had taken her stand. Her wings were unfurled and had taken the brunt of the shockwave, allowing the people of Garlen to survive.

    "First mistake." She tightened her fingers, crushing Thaymos'' fist with her grip.

    Cracks spread up to his forearm and sent jolts of pain through his body. He reacted by pulling his right arm back to draw her close and throwing a left jab.

    "Second mistake." Tyris resisted the pull and exploited the Eternal Fortress'' shift in weight to throw him off bnce and drag him forward.

    Her right elbow deflected his left arm and then her fist struck at Thaymos'' chest with a counter that carried both their weight and momentum. Her hand pierced through the Spirit Barrier and the protective arrays below, leaving a deep mark on his chest.

    Tyris'' right fist kept hammering at the Eternal Fortress while her left hand kept him locked in ce. Her punches rained so fast that when the mark of the second hit appeared on his armor, she had already hit him ten times.

 Chapter 2895 Full Power (Part 3)

    Chapter 2895 Full Power (Part 3)

    The hole in Thaymos'' Spirit Barrier widened faster than its enchantment could repair it, leaving the lost city exposed to the onught.

    He roared in fury and outrage, severing his right arm to break free from Tyris'' hold. She was caught by surprise and failed to react in time. The colossal left fist of the lost city hit her square on her eagle head, producing a second, devastating shockwave.

    ["Not bad."] Tyris replied with a t tone that shocked her opponent.

    Her neck was twisted to the side and her beak bore a hairline crack.

    ["But it''s not enough."] With both of her hands free, the Griffon unleashed a flurry of fists that lifted the Eternal Fortress off the ground and then threw a front kick that sent him flying.

    Thaymos crashnded right in front of the advancing ck Tide, killing their frontlines.

    "What an idiot." Zagran chuckled while sharing with Sark the refreshments she had prepared. "Inviting a Griffon to a slugfest is like nning your own funeral."

    "You can say that." From so up close, the Overlord could feel the forbidden magic animating the lost city and her skin crawled for it. "Still, I don''t get how that thing is still free. He said you have defeated him in the past. Why didn''t the Council seal the lost city back then?"

    "Because of that." Zagran pointed at her scrying mirror.

    The two warrior Guardians were watching the fight from the Garuda''s turf via a surveince device. From the mirror''s surface, Sark witnessed Thaymos'' right arm regrowing before his body touched the ground.

    By then, every damage that Tyris'' blows had inflicted upon him had already disappeared.

    "No matter how badly I beat him or how small the fragments I reduce him into, the bastard gets back in one piece and runs away before an array can fully form."

    "Even away from a mana geyser?" Sark asked in disbelief.

    "You bet. I have no idea how something so old can be that strong or how the old people of Jiera seeded in sealing it." Zagran shrugged.

    Once again, Thaymos stood without bending his knees or pushing himself up with his arms. His back lifted from the ground as if a crane was pulling him up or Mogar was rejecting his presence.

    The Eternal Fortress ordered the ck Tide to retreat to a safe distance in a gutturalnguage lost to time and they obeyed.

    ["Maybe it''s not enough, but it''s a start."] He pointed at the hairline crack on Tyris'' beak that had yet to heal.

    She replied by brushing her thumb over the injury and making it disappear.

    The lost city snarled and then conjured one Cursed Star from each of his hands. The emerald energy umted in the form of perfect spheres the size of a small vige that upon their release left a zing trail in their wake.

    As the two energy sts departed, Thaymos shapeshifted his arms into spiked maces and covered his body with razor-sharp stone des as he charged toward the Griffon in a tackle.

    Tyris snapped her fingers and the spells crashed against a golden energy dome along with their caster. The hard-light construct broke the outeryer of the Spirit Spells open and in turn their detonation broke their caster''s charge.

    The Eternal Fortress'' mana couldn''t hurt him, but the same couldn''t be said for the chaotic gravitational waves, the dimensional cracks, and the shockwaves produced by his own spells.

    Thaymos tried to shield himself but something from his chest pushed him in the path of the strongest gravitational waves and threw him inside the biggest spatial fractures. The golden dome also sealed the effects of the spells, making them bounce on its surface and maximizing their destructive power.

    As Thaymos'' body was torn apart and his limbs cracked under their own weight, his detection arrays located the source of his troubles.

    Tyris'' earlier fists carried one Light Mastery array each and they had carved the magical formation into his stone chest with every hit she hadnded. The arrays were both furling the golden dome that trapped him and generating the sudden jolts that kept him off bnce.

    The magical formations answered the Griffon''s will and sealed his joints with hard-light constructs at the perfect time to make Thaymos stumble in the worst position possible.

    When the golden dome faded away, however, the damage was already repaired and the lost city was flushing Tyris'' spell out with a stream of corrupted mana.

    ["Fine. If I can''t beat you with quality, let''s try with quantity. Charge!"] At hismand, the ck Tide resumed its advance.

    ck Warg with a strength superior to a Divine Beast attacked her legs while Wormlings unleashed a barrage of life force projectiles and the mutated trolls moved past her.

    Tyris opened her hand, releasing a stream of violet bolts of lightning that killed all those who dared face her. Thaymos grinned, joining the offense while the electricity was still crackling.

    He infused himself with all the elements, bing even faster, nimbler, and stronger than before. Tyris saw himing but her body couldn''t react quickly enough. The first spiked fist struck her with a hook, ripping golden feathers off and leaving bloody cuts on her snout and neck.

    The second was a body blow that squeezed the air out of her lungs and cracked her ribs. While the mace was still digging into her flesh, an arc of lightning went from one mace to the other, sending her into a seizure.

    Each blow was apanied by a Tower Tier Spirit Spell. Emerald mes from Phoenix Smash engulfed the Griffon, followed by emerald chains of Griffon Fetters restricting her limbs and movements.

    All of them had the strength to wipe out one of the regional capitals of the Griffon Kingdom in one blow. A strength far superior to a white-cored Awakened possessing a mage tower.

    Orpal stared in horror at the fight between the colossi.

    On the one hand, he thanked the gods for giving him the wits to avoid challenging Elysia''s bodyguards and ending up like Thaymos a few seconds ago. On the other hand, he cursed at the lost city.

    ''How is that possible? I was certain that the old fart could beat Leech, but only thanks to his superior mass and strength. How can he be that strong? Stronger than you with Moonlight?'' He wasn''t referring to himself but to the strongest hosts Night had in the past.

    ''I don''t know.'' She replied. ''I was about to say that he is even stronger than my mother but then I remembered that Tyris can''t bring out her full power while in the territory of a hostile Guardian. Still, Thaymos is far exceeding my expectations.''

    ["I told you that you are nothingpared to Zagran, little bird!"] The lost city roared in a bloody glee as his fists and spells connected in an endless stream. ["She''s better than you in every aspect. She-"]

    The wagons of the Wayfinder went back to their original ce, restoring the defensive arrays to their maximum capability. At the same time, a small replica of Valeron castle made of pure emerald and golden energy sealed the camp from the outside world.

 Chapter 2896 Full Power (Part 4)

    Chapter 2896 Full Power (Part 4)

    It was Tyris'' bloodline ability, Light Raider.

    It converted her aura into runes that took the form of arrays, Light Mastery spells, and more. Thanks to Light Raider, the Guardian could freely manipte the light element thatprised the world energy, and by mixing it with her life force, turn it into anything she wanted.

    The runes of light now shrouded the space behind the Griffon, forming healing spells to help the wounded, hard-light knights that swarmed from the castle to intercept the ck Tide, and tier five spells belonging to every specialization.

    Neither the ck Tide nor the ripples from the fight between the Guardian and the Eternal Fortress could reach Tyris'' children, leaving her free to devote her full focus to the fight with the lost city.

    ["Let me guess. She also does something like this."] A crack of thunder apanied the bolt of Life Maelstrom that enveloped Tyris'' body.

    She shrugged her shoulders and unfurled her wings, shattering the Griffon Fetters and extinguishing the emerald mes of Phoenix Smash.

    A horizontal wave of her hand opened a deep chasm in the ground between the ck Tide and Light Raider, adding a moat to her castle of light. A second vertical motion shot down the Wormlings and all the other monsters approaching the Wayfinder by flight.

    ["Yes, she does."] Thaymos'' eyes/windows narrowed in annoyance.

    "But I do that off the bat. Why do you think Tyris didn''t go all out from the start?" Zagran asked.

    "My guess is for a couple of reasons. First, she wasn''t expecting Thaymos to be so powerful and didn''t think that she would need to use Life Maelstrom, just like I did." Sark turned to the Garuda with a questioning look.

    "I admit that maybe I should have warned you guys, but he isn''t, or rather, wasn''t that strong. What makes him really annoying is his recovery speed."

    "Which would have been nice to know in advance as well." The Overlord sighed. "As for the second reason, Tyris needed to get used to her diminished strength. Due to Fenagar''s interference, her powers are at an all-time low."

    "Lizard bastard." Zagran grunted, obtaining a re in return.

    "Had Tyris used Life Maelstrom at the start of the fight, she would have had to waste time to adapt herbat style to her amplified state and then do it again once the Life Maelstrom ran out.

    "If that happened in the middle of the fight, it would have screwed up her chances of dealing a finishing blow. This way, she has tested the capabilities of her weakened body and can n ahead with and without consuming Life Maelstrom.

    "Also, she was focusing on getting the kids to safety." Sark pointed at the members of the group who had been healed and transported inside the castle conjured by Light Raider, Bodya included.

    The Nidhogg in particr was bbergasted since he had been forced back into his human form and Blinked out of the ground against his will.

    "Always a mother hen." Zagran chuckled.

    Orpal looked at the Light Raider with Life Vision and cursed every single life form on Mogar.

    ''Before I couldn''t attack without the risk of those blue mes burning me to cinders and now I have no way to get past that damned barrier!''

    Thaymos went on the attack again but this time Tyris deflected every blow and countered every spell with one of her own. Every opening that the failed attacks created was punished with a powerful fist.

    Tyris was slowpared to Zagran. The Garuda moved on every battlefield with a mix of footwork and flight thanks to her multiple wings and lithe body.

    That coupled with Life Maelstrom allowed her to unleash an unrelenting barrage of strikes from every direction without giving the opponent the chance to even take a good look at her.

    Tyris''s stocky build was unsuited for such a fighting style. She preferred to stand her ground and beat the opponent thanks to her superior strength. She didn''t know shy moves but every one of her attacks was honed to perfection.

    There were no wasted moments, no tells that the enemy could use to anticipate what she was about to do. The only thing that the Eternal Fortress knew was that the Griffon''s limbs seemed to disappear and by the time he could see them again they had already pierced through his body.

    ''I was wrong! Zagran is faster than this woman, but she''s still faster than me. Even worse, she''s much stronger than Zagran!'' Thaymos started to panic as the Griffon stopped ying defensively and moved on to the offense.

    The first blow intercepted his spiked fist and then shattered its way through the shoulder, leaving an empty space where the lost city''s right arm had been until a heartbeat ago.

    The second blow was a kick that cut off his retreat and crushed his remaining arm to smithereens when he attempted to block. He had conjured his best defensive spells and the arrays imbued in his pseudo cores but to no avail.

    Tyris'' attacks were infused with magic as well and they were a Guardian Tier spells at that. zing Trail disrupted matter on an atomic level by countering its maic fields with air and earth magic.

    It also altered the vibrational frequencies of the particles bonded together by making one atom vibrate faster with fire magic and its neighbours slower with water magic. Darkness magic struck next, opening the now-weakened bonds long enough for light magic to rearrange them into a stable yet brittle formation.

    zing Trail would turn even diamonds into graphite in the split-second before Tyris'' blows connected, making even the hardest of materials crumble like cardboard.

    Without his arms, Thaymos was open to a headbutt, the third blow, that smashed through his chest and allowed the Griffon to hurl her Guardian Tier spell, Molten Core, inside the Eternal Fortress.

    Tendrils of emerald light invaded the empty spaces connecting the buildings thatprised the lost city''s body, forming an endoskeleton that opposed his every movement.

    Once the spell had invaded its victim, it burned, froze, calcified, and cut at the magical runes that animated the lost city. Light magic formed countless blood vessels through which darkness magic flowed, sapping both life and mana out of the Eternal Fortress.

    Thaymos screamed in agony as his colossal form imploded, leaving behind only pieces of rubble no bigger than an adult man. The location of his pseudo cores was finally revealed. It was a piece of white stone no different from the others except that it resisted gravity''s pull and floated in mid-air.

    "And there it is." Zagran sighed. "Tyris should rush to grab the pseudo core and bring it as far as she can."

    "Kami?" Lith had just regained his senses thanks to the tower''s rejuvenating flow and Tyris'' care. "What''s- Fuck me sideways!"

    He was relieved witnessing the Eternal Fortress fall and shocked seeing it rebuild itself almost as quickly as Tyris'' magic had destroyed it.

    ["Not bad, but not it''s not enough."] Thaymosughed at the Guardian, mocking her with her same words as he stood up again, leaving the Great Mother was even more shocked than Lith.

 Chapter 2897 Artificial Guardian (Part 1)

    Chapter 2897 Artificial Guardian (Part 1)

    Tyris had destroyed everything in one go save for the cornerstone containing the pseudo cores of the lost city. It was supposed to cause a massive energy loss that would weaken Thaymos while also ensuring that the damage wouldn''t trigger a chain reaction and endanger her children.

    Yet the Eternal Fortress'' core was still burning with power.

    Too much power for what measly amount he could draw from the thrice-upied mana geyser. Way more power than even the collective cores that the monsters of the ck Tide possessed.

    A power stronger than Thaymos possessed a few seconds ago when Tyris had stepped on the battlefield.Due to Fenagar''s interference, the Great Mother needed some effort to spread her breathing technique, Mother Earth, throughout the battlefield and understand what was happening.

    Only then did she notice that the monsters of the ck Tide were willingly jumping into the chasm she had created to protect the Wayfinder. Only then did she discover the true source of Thaymos'' power.

    The red and blue flowsing from the dead monsters carried their mana, their life force, and their mana cores. Their living essence left their physical form upon its destruction and was assimted by the Eternal Fortress'' pseudo score, bing one with them.

    Tyris experienced something simr to what Friya had felt while handling the corrupted mana but millions of times worse. She sensed the world energy twisting in the futile attempt to resist Thaymos'' pull.

    Every core he gained increased his ability to absorb the essence of Mogar, enhancing his recovery abilities, his magical and physical strength.

    She heard the desperate cries of the living monsters just like Lith heard those of their dead and they were heart-wrenching. They expressed the pain of the loss and the fear they felt knowing that soon they would be forever trapped inside the Eternal Fortress as well.

    Mother Earth showed her how during her fight against Thaymos, he had forced his thralls to sacrifice their lives to fuel his strength. The forbidden magic amplified the mana of the monsters by hundreds of folds by sacrificing their life force.

    By killing them in droves he obtained a supply of powerparable to a mana geyser while also gaining new mana cores that passively and permanently increased his abilities.

    Tyris'' body lit up with burning golden light from outrage and indignance.

    ''Zagran, exin!'' Her voice forced its way through the mind link the Guardians shared, sounding both like an order and a threat.

    ''I''m sorry, I don''t know. I just punch stuff.'' Despite the thousands of kilometers separating them, the Garuda still took a step back by reflex.

    ''Fenagar!'' The Leviathan''s name sounded like an order, a threat, and an insult.

    ''It''s ancient stuff. How am I supposed to know?'' He replied while leaving Jiera for the moon, just to be safe.

    ''Leegaain!'' This time, her voice sounded like a frustrated cry for help.

    ''What is it n- Order and chaos!'' The Father of All Dragons would have liked toin about being left out until they needed him, but seeing two of his grandchildren so close to the obscenity that Thaymos was put his personal feelings on the back burner.

    The Eternal Fortress had almost finished rebuilding himself so Leegaain couldn''t afford the time to exin things with a mind link. He looked at the lost city thought Tyris'' eyes but studied it with Leegaain''s Eyes, letting the knowledge flow into her as soon as he gained it.

    The Griffon witnessed events that had taken ce millennia ago unfold in front of her like memories. Thaymos had been a magical city rich of culture and talented individuals, whose popce had tirelessly worked to expand the limits of fake magic, but with little luck.

    They had no concept of Awakening and they failed to replicate the true magic that seemed toe easy to the other races. The turning point in their history had been the advent of the Guardians.

    Back then, the mighty beings epted disciples and granted advice, giving the people of Thaymos the opportunity to observe and study the Guardians. The fruit of their foolishbors was the Eternal Fortress.

    After misunderstanding the rtionship between Mogar and their Guardians, the people of Thaymos had crafted something that could grow like a living being. Their goal was to build an artificial Guardian that would obey and protect them.

    Someone who would bestow upon all of them the gifts and longevity of Awakening.

    Of course, with only a rough understanding of world energy and only a few recently Awakened among their ranks, the only way they had found to further their ambitions was forbidden magic.

    The spell animating what had once been a lively city granted it the ability that the people of Thaymos attributed to the Guardians: to im the world energy as their own and grow stronger over time.

    Their n was simple. Since every person had a mana core and every mana core could tap into the power of magic, the people of Thaymos believed that to make the impossible possible they only needed to amass enough cores for the job.

    At first, they had fed the living monstrosity with the essence harvested from their enemies. Then their criminals. Then the wretches of their society. Until the servant had be the master and sacrificed his own makers for the sake of power.

    Back then, Thaymos was still weak and the neighbours of the lost city had soon noticed the disappearance of an entire civilization. After sending and losing enough scouts, the Awakened Council had taken the situation in its hands.

    The elders had safely infiltrated the Eternal Fortress but found no trace of survivors or blueprints that could help them solve the matter once and for all. The only solution they could devise was to seal the city from the rest of Mogar before it grew too strong to be contained.

    The Council had hoped that with no source of energy aside from the mana geyser below the city and istion, the enchantments of the living legacy would have faded away over time or at that at least Thaymos would have lost his mind.

    After the fall of Jiera, the Eternal Fortress had freed itself with the help of the monster hordes seeking to reach his geyser. At that point, he had bred and herded them to obtain an endless source of food.

    Monsters only respected strength and someone like Thaymos was akin to a god to them. He had unified the different monster tribes, providing them with food and protection so that they could multiply without limit.

    He had also used his powers to alter their life forces to trigger mutations that served his purposes and reinforced the impression he was a god. The Eternal Fortress had no ve array nor did he need it.

    The foolish creatures were willing to fight and die for him, driven by their instinct to obey the strongest member of the tribe.

    The current ck Tide was Thaymos'' work and the millions thatprised it had been spawned by the crumbs of his every meal. The lost city had been already powerful at the time he had been sealed.

 Chapter 2898 Artificial Guardian (Part 2)

    Chapter 2898 Artificial Guardian (Part 2)

    In the years since his release, Thaymos had fed upon countless monsters whose cores now belonged to him.

    ''He''s different from the Golden Griffon.'' Leegaain said. ''While Arthan''s academy preserved the mana cores of its students to make them into the Mad King''s immortal army, this thing takes them for himself in the attempt to force his way to Guardianhood.''

    ''Can he do it?'' Tyris clenched her beak in disgust.

    ''Of course not, but power is still power.'' Leegaain replied. ''Beware, as long as the ck Tide lives, his force and mana are endless. Even if you ughter every single monster, it''s not going to solve anything.

    ''He''ll be stronger than ever and no seal canpletely cut off the flow of world energy, only limit it. It''s only a matter of time before that lost city frees itself, finds another monster tide, and starts over.

    ''Zagran did the right thing by just pushing him away and you should do the same.''

    ''I see. Thank you, young lizard.'' Tyris sighed, shaking her head in sadness.

    ["I admit to have underestimated you, Guardian."] The Eternal Fortress crackled with new power as he grew a de from his left forearm and a shield from the right. ["Zagran may be better than you, but you are still a worthy opponent.

    ["Do you have the guts to fight me until the end or are you going to run away with my core like she would do?"]

    ["I''m going to fight you until the end."] Tyris released a second stream of Life Maelstrom on herself, charging her body and core with new power.

    ["Excellent! Our battle willst for hours."] Thaymosughed in excitement.

    ["No."] Tyris replied. ["It won''t."]

    A sh of light erupted from her body, washing over the monster tide and turning millions and millions of living beings into ashes in the span of a second. The ckness of their bodies faded like night shadows in front of the sun, leaving no trace of their previous existence.

    ["You are insane! Funny, but insane."] The mana cores of the dead stacked on Thaymos'' core as they were assimted along with the power they carried. ["Thanks to you I''ve reached new heights. I''m one step closer to my goal!"]

    Tyris ignored the mockery that followed, the time for words was over.

    She raised her right hand to the sky and opened her pocket dimension. Thaymos''ugh died in his stony throat as winter turned into summer and night into day.

    Even from Garlen, a shiver ran down Leegaain''s spine, and from the moon, Fenagar activated the defensive systems of hisir.

    "What''s that? A morning star?"Zagran asked while pointing at the spiked mace in the Griffon''s hand.

    "No." Sark replied. "That''s THE Morning Star."

    Every Guardian had crafted their personal equipment for the day when they would need to face their fellow Guardians in battle or any other enemy who had reached a simr level of power.

    A Guardian''s weapon bore a name that was either rted to its purpose or the conditions under which it had been Forgemastered. Sark''s Tyrant Sun embodied her will to rule over the Blood Desert and make it prosper despite its harsh condition.

    Leegaain''s Worldbreaker represented the Father of All Dragons'' potential to understand the nature of all things and use his knowledge to undo those who stood in his path.

    In Tyris'' case, her weapon''s name stated what it was.

    Pure Davross wouldn''t boil at any temperature unless heated with Origin mes and the Great Mother had exploited such property in crafting Morning Star. Trapped inside its core, there was a spark of Mogar''s sun that she had captured after a violent sr re.

    It was a ball of swirling, hot sma that was held together by a bnce of forces between gravity magic and pressure exerted by the mystic metal. Morning Star''s surface was so hot that not even Tyris could wield it without a hard-light construct around its grip acting as insnt.

    The moment the spiked mace came out of the pocket dimension, its light was visible from kilometers of distance, giving to those in sight to the phenomenon the impression that the sun had appeared on the horizon hours early.

    To the expedition party, however, the raw heat and brilliance Morning Star produced made them shield their eyes and start sweating despite the protection of Light Raider.

    Then, the Great Mother infused her weapon with a bolt of Life Maelstrom and the darkness returned. Morning Star''s power was now amplified tenfold andpressed to the extreme thanks to her bloodline ability, Focus Point.

    A single swing of the mace shattered the shield at the end of Thaymos'' right arm, crushed the limb bearing it, and smashed his chest open. The surface of the weapon was dozens of thousands of degrees hot, making the grass catch fire from a distance and the white stones evaporate on contact.

    The Eternal Fortress took a step back, employing but a fraction of the mana it had gained from the death of the ck Tide to condense the vapors back into stone and regenerate his arm.

    He enveloped the reborn shield with a Spirit Barrier that would have stopped a tidal wave and his de with a Tower Spirit spell that could tten mountains. Both shattered into pieces when Morning Star came again in a backhand swing.

    Wherever the mace hit, stone and metal would vaporize while everything nearby would either melt or burn. Thaymos healed at a speed visible to the Awakened eye but Tyris'' weapon was a shimmering blur.

    The Eternal Fortress fell apart faster than he could regenerate himself, his defences falling apart no matter how much mana he poured into them.

    ["What''s the matter, o proud living legacy?"] Tyris'' voice was cold with spite. ["Isn''t your power enough? Isn''t the death and misery that you wrought upon Jiera enough to satisfy your ambition?"]

    Thaymos was too busy defending himself to answer her questions. He was aware that destroying his pseudo core would have caused destruction on an unprecedented scale, especially after absorbing so many mana cores at once.

    Yet the Guardian didn''t seem to care much and the idea of bringing Jiera down with him was of no constion to the Eternal Fortress. He wanted to be stronger, to conquer, and most of all, to live.

    If he died here and there nothing else would matter. Thousands of years of imprisonment would have been for nothing. So Thaymos focused on protecting his pseudo core, no matter how much mana resisting Morning Star''s blow required.

    ["No? Then let me help."] Tyris released a third bolt of silver lightning that struck the lost city, sending its ancient pseudo core in overload.

    It had yet to assimte the energy brought by the sudden death of the ck Tide and the mana cores still bore their owners'' energy signatures and will. The Life Maelstrom turned the feast into a bite way bigger than Thaymos could chew.

    The resulting mana flow was too much for the pseudo core to handle. It burned instead of reinforcing the ancient spells that animated the lost city. Upon receiving the silver lightning, the millions of different energy signatures carried by the mana flooded the pseudo core faster than it could purify them.

 Chapter 2899 Collapsing Eternity (Part 1)

    Chapter 2899 Copsing Eternity (Part 1)

    Thaymos'' strength turned into poison and his enchantments shorted in a rainfall of wild mana sparks.

    The colossus fell to the ground, incapable of withstanding his own weight. The Life Maelstrom coursed through the Eternal Fortress in a cycle of destruction and regeneration that drained his mana reserves.

    Tyris made it even quicker by dropping Morning Star on his chest. Without the ability to conjure a hard-light construct, Thaymos'' hands melted as soon as he grabbed the haft.

    In the span of a few minutes, the living castle was reduced to a pool of molten stone and stayed that way. All the mana the lost city had umted since his creation was spent and what was left of it was barely enough to keep his pseudo core from sumbing to the heat radiated by the mace.

    And that solely because Tyris willed so.

    She stored Morning Star away the moment its work was done, giving Thaymos'' core time to stabilize. Sure, its energy reserves had reached rock bottom, but they were still near a mana geyser and the pseudo core still had the cumtive power stolen from millions of mana cores, both healthy and defective.

    The Guardian could already feel the pseudo core draining the surrounding world energy and twisting it into a corrupted hybrid between life force and mana.

    The ruins of the Eternal Fortress were slowly rearranging themselves into their original appearance, the different buildings taking form from the amorphous mass of molten rock.

    "That was impressive." Zagran pped her hands in amazement. "Scary and reckless, but impressive nheless. Yet there''s a reason I never tried doing something like that.

    "If we don''t find an isted ce where to seal that thing soon, it wille back to life with a power beyond what a non-Guardian can face. We have to move fast and contact the Council for help.

    "That scaredy serpent of Fenagar fled and I''m not going to bring one of his living legacies on my turf."

    "I don''t need the Council''s help and I''m not going to seal this thing anywhere." The Griffon grabbed the pseudo core with her wed hand, crushing the white stones that had already reattached to it and insting Thaymos from the world energy with her Life Maelstrom-enhanced aura.

    "I''m going to kill this revolting creature here and now."

    "How?" The Garuda asked, trying and failing to open a Steps leading to Tyris'' position.

    With Fenagar missing, the authority of the ruler of thend weakened both Guardians but Tyris'' rage was stronger. She usually wouldn''t interfere in the power bnce of her own country let alone that of another continent.

    When she faced someone important or a threat on the level of Thaymos, no matter how much they angered them, she would limit herself to teaching them a lesson and cripple their life force.

    It was what she had done in the past to Xedros, Ileza, Fenagar, and twice to Roghar.

    Yet the lost city''s life force was coded into his enchantments and altering them would have caused a chain reaction whose consequences were unpredictable. Tyris had yet to forgive Fenagar for his transgression and the people of Jiera for turning their back on her.

    Yet the anger she felt for Thaymos and the pity for his victims surpassed even that. The only option she had was to solve the problem permanently and teach a lesson to all those too arrogant to fix the errors of their ways.

    "Tyris, do you need my help?" Sark didn''t attempt to open a Gate, knowing that she would have suffered Zagran''s same fate.

    "Please, if Creation Magic was all we needed to get rid of a lost city, it wouldn''t have taken you centuries and the help of the young lizard to get rid of those in the Desert. Don''t worry about me. I have everything I need right here."

    A snap of her fingertips Blinked her and Lith inside the Mirror Hall of the tower.

    Yet while the Guardian''s disappearance was evident, the Tiamat had been reced by a hard-light construct that was in no way distinguishable from the original, not even with Soul Vision.

    The life force, the energy signature, and the mass were identical to the real Lith down to the smallest detail. She did the same thing for Solus, making a copy of her join the celebrations for the victory so that no one would question her absence.

    "What? Why are we here?" Lith''s wounds were perfectly healed and between the tower and Tyris'' spell, his body was full of vigor.

    "Didn''t you hear me? I have to destroy this thing and to do it, I need your help." The Griffon shapeshifted back into her human form and showed him the mana crystal she held in her hand.

    It was rough, white, shaped like a rectangr stone, and the size of a shoe box.

    "And what am I supposed to do with this, exactly?"From so up close, Lith could not only feel the corrupt life force that coursed through Thaymos'' pseudo core, but also hear the deafening chorus of voices from the millions of souls trapped inside of it

    The former made his body churn in revulsion while thetter made his head hurt so much that he was afraid it was going to explode.

    "Not you. You two." Tyris pointed at him and Solus who was floating nearby. "Do you mind lending me the Eyes of Menadion for a while?"

    While they talked, Thaymos'' senses took in the magnificence of the tower despite the cloaking spells restricting them.

    ''This is a mage tower. A perfect mage tower.'' He thought in amazement. ''If I can assimte it, my powers will soar. I have no idea what the Eyes of Menadion are, but if the female Guardian thinks that''s enough to destroy me, she''s deluding herself.

    ''The first thing I did after gaining sentience was to destroy every blueprint of my creation and kill every person involved.''

    ''Am I?'' Tyris replied with a sneer. ''Shouldn''t you be wondering how can you suddenly understand modernnguage?''

    Thaymos had no eyes for blinking or a throat to swallow saliva. He was just a block of crystal but if it had a face, his expression would have been of utter confusion.

    ''I''m doing this for you, but don''t misunderstand. I''m not doing you a favor. I just want to savor your fear and despair while your end nears. I won''t let you spend your final moments in blissful ignorance.''

    The Eternal Fortress tried to counter that he was true to his name and that the three Guardians of Jiera had already tried and failed to destroy him. He attempted to mockingly ask her why she believed things would be different for her but Tyris kept the mind link one way only, humiliating him further.

    Without his powers and any way tomunicate, Thaymos was reduced to a bystander in his own life.

    "The Eyes? Sure." Solus conjured the relic and handed it to the Guardian.

    "Thanks. I figured that if your mother''s legacy could reverse engineer the schematics for the Golden Griffon, it should be able to do it again for¡­" Tyris wore the mystical pince-nez and started studying the crystal in her hand.

 Chapter 2900 Collapsing Eternity (Part 2)

    Chapter 2900 Copsing Eternity (Part 2)

    ''What''s your name, scum?''

    ''I''m Thaymos the Eternal Fortress, woman. No pair of sses can-'' The Guardian cut him off as soon as she learned what she wanted.

    "Thaymos."

    "By my Mom, you are right!" Solus couldn''t believe her own stupidity. "The limit of the Eyes is that they need to be close to the power core, or in this case, the pseudo core to study it.

    "No lost city would open their doors to us and let us study their weak point but now it stands defenseless right in front of us!" A holographic interface appeared in mid-air, depicting the recovered schematics and the progression bar of the scan.

    0.2%

    The Eternal Fortress was old, but not so much to not understand basic math. Also, as the scan progressed and more lines connected, he recognized the blueprints holding the secrets of his existence.

    ''This is bad, but I have lots of time to find a way out. Based on how little of my schematics they have recovered until now, it should take this damn tower hours to finish the job.'' Thaymos said to himself in the attempt to calm himself down.

    The Mirror Hall was full of world energy but it was under Solus'' control and it ignored his call.

    He then used a sensory array to find a weak point in the containment field trapping him and when he found none, Thaymos conjured tendrils of mana to reconnect with his body outside and use it to absorb the world energy.

    Tyris noticed his attempts and increased the power of the containment field.

    "This is a great idea but the scan is going to take hours and I don''t know how much time we have left." Lith said. "Orion has no idea what you are doing and Thaymos'' body is still out there.

    "If he decides that the Gate ispromised and follows the original n to leave Jiera, the moment people notice that Solus and I are not onboard they will start looking for us."

    "Don''t fret." Tyris shook her head. "I''ve already covered for your absence and this is not going to take hours."

    She ced her hand on the nearest wall of the Mirror Hall, releasing the Life Maelstrom she had left and injecting it straight inside the tower core.

    At the same time, the Great Mother expanded her aura and conjured more of Mogar''s world energy so that even in its enhanced state Menadion''s masterpiece would be at its full strength.

    Solus'' mana core went from blue to bright blue, breaking through to the deep violet and then growing in power until it reached the bright violet. The tower rumbled under the pressure she exuded, recovering floor after floor and expanding deeper into the ground to keep its existence hidden.

    "This is amazing! I-" The happiness in Solus'' voice was reced by pain and her words turned into a scream as too much information flooded her brain too fast.

    Her floating spell failed and she doubled over in pain on the floor, quickly followed by Lith. Their bond allowed her to share her suffering with him and lessen her burden but it was too much to bear anyway.

    The information about the new floors and the abilities that the old floors gained as the tower core reachedpletion were burning their synapses. On top of that, the Eyes were still scanning Thaymos'' pseudo core.

    Lith and Solus shared the burden with Tyris and the tower, but it wasn''t enough, not even with the help of the Sage Staff in the Armory. The Eyes were enhanced by the Life Maelstrom as well and with the Guardian''s brain supporting the Eyes, the artifact''s capabilities were amplified way more than ten times.

    The scan progress had already reached 25% and it increased by one percent more in less than a second.

    ''Well, Thaymos, how does it feel?'' Tyris asked as the counter reached 30% and kept increasing. ''How does your so-called eternity copsing into less than a minute feel? Because that''s what you have left to live.''

    The Eternal Fortress would have never believed her if not for the blueprints taking form right in front of his senses. He spent what little energy he had regained before the Guardian had sealed him in a futile attempt to escape.

    Then, he tried to self-destruct, to bring everyone else down with him, but Tyris'' aura blocked that too. Her Mother Earth breathing technique had invaded his crystal body, giving her absolute control over the mana that was his lifeblood.

    It was then that Thaymos realized that his life was literally in the palm of her hand.

    Her earlier words were no empty banter. She knew all of his thoughts and struggles and was enjoying seeing him squirm just like he had done in the past whenever a worthless insect dared stand against him.

    His sensory arrays had managed to analyze the tower and the containment field only because the Guardian had allowed them to. Tyris wanted Thaymos to understand how desperate his situation was while leaving him the illusion of having still a chance of survival.

    The revtion shocked him to the point that he lost sight of the progression bar until a pinging snapped him out of it. The scan was alreadyplete and the blueprints of Thaymos'' power coreid in in sight for everyone to see.

    "I''m sorry, guys. I would have avoided hurting you if possible but I had no other choice." Tyris helped Lith and Solus to sit down on a couple of chairs she had conjured.

    She offered them a delicious honeyed tea that cleared the acrid taste of bile in their mouths and eased the blinding pain in their heads.

    "W¡­ what?" Lith stuttered, even forming a single word renewed his pain.

    He had to take another long sip of the tea to ease the tension in his brain.

    "Shush. It''s going to be over soon." The Mirror Hall quaked again as the Life Maelstrom wore off and the tower returned to its original size.

    Without the boost from Tyris'' bloodline ability and world energy, the new floors copsed and the old ones lost their newfound abilities as quickly as they had gained them.

    Solus felt the pressure on her mind ease as the sudden influx of knowledge disappeared from her memory and her mana core degraded to blue. Yet the relief she felt was matched by the disappointment from losing everything once again.

    Amid all that pain and confusion, the only silver lining was the idea to be whole again. That maybe, once the tower had stabilized after recovering all of its strength, she would have been free to roam Mogar like a normal person.

    "What do you mean, you had no choice?" Solus finished drinking her tea and fought hard to repress the frustration and anger she felt for the Guardian.

    "As Lith said, I can cover for your absence, but if the Wayfinder departs, my ruse will be exposed. This isn''t my turf and to maintain such perfect hard-light constructs I need to be close." Tyris replied.

    "Couldn''t this wait until we relocated the Wayfinder or returned to Garlen?" Lith wrapped Solus'' lithe shoulders in his arm to console her.

 Chapter 2901 Collapsing Eternity (Part 3)

    Chapter 2901 Copsing Eternity (Part 3)

    "I need to get rid of Thaymos now to protect you guys." Tyris shook her head. "If I just seal him somewhere, sooner orter the Council of Jiera is going to decipher hisnguage. I don''t think you want him going around babbling about the Destroyer and his cursed object."

    At those words, Solus'' anger at Tyris disappeared and was reced by gratitude.

    "By my Mom, I had almost forgotten about that. Lost cities don''t have much credibility but if someone believed him, we would have gotten in trouble."

    "Indeed." The Great Mother nodded.

    Saying that Lith was bonded to a cursed object was easy to refute since he could foil any investigation simply by taking off the stone ring. The problem was that Thaymos wouldn''t make a generic allegation but point at Solus.

    The moment someone examined her from up close with a breathing technique and discovered that her energy signature was the same as Lith''s, Thaymos'' words would be confirmed.

    "Also, this isn''t my turf." Tyris added. "Fenagar would notice me if I followed you as you moved the camp to a new site. If I waited for you guys to go back to Garlen, instead, I would have to bring Thaymos with me.

    "The other Guardians would then ask themselves why I''m endangering Elysia first and my Kingdomter, wasting my focus instead of just dropping Thaymos here and making him Jiera''s problem.

    "This is the best moment to get rid of the lost city without anyone suspecting that I needed your tower, Lith. Remember that the Guardians know you possess Menadion''s legacy but they arepletely unaware of what it can do.

    "Thanks to these blueprints, I can im that during the fight I recognized Thaymos and had a way to destroy him. I just needed to restrain him to keep you safe while I searched for the self-destruct spell among the ancient books I keep in my pocket dimension.

    "It will exin my current absence and why I was so confident I could destroy him."

    Even through the haze of pain and confusion, Lith knew that the Guardian was right.

    ''Even Grandma had no idea of the properties of the various floors of the tower and we spent months on her turf. By protecting my secret, Tyris is making sure that Jiera''s Guardians won''t bother me during my stay.''

    "Maybe it''s the headache talking, but I can''t make heads or tails of this stuff." Lith only needed a single nce at Thaymos'' blueprints to suffer from blinding pain. "Do you need Grandma or Leegaain''s help to crack them?"

    "I would, if this was a modern and revolutionary Forgemastering technique." Tyris skimmed through the pages, highlighting with a holographic marker the parts she needed. "This stuff is so outdated that it''s embarrassing to look at.

    "Don''t get me wrong, without the schematics, not even Leegaain''s Eyes would find a way to safely destroy a monstrosity like this. All the souls and the mana cores Thaymos absorbed during the centuries have formed hundreds ofyers that shield the pseudo core''s runes from being studied even by Soul Vision.

    "With the schematics, however, finding the weak points of the lost city is child''s y for an ancient creature like me who can read the ancient runes and is familiar with this kind of enchantment."

    She double-checked her findings and once she made sure to not have missed anything, Tyris handed the Eyes back to Solus with a deep bow of gratitude.

    "I''ll send you back first to give you guys usible deniability. Can you stand?"

    "Barely but that''s a good thing." Lith''s knees wobbled for a second. "We are supposed to be exhausted from the battle, after all."

    Tyris nodded and put Lith and Solus right inside their respective doubles before making them fade. Everything that their copies had seen, heard, and experienced was passed into Lith''s and Solus'' minds, bringing them up to speed.

    Luckily, they had been away for less than two minutes. Aside from the screams of joy and a quick head count to make sure that no one was hurt, nothing much had happened.

    "Lith? Are you alright?" Kam asked with worry after seeing him shutting his eyes while gritting his teeth.

    The influx of information from his copy wasn''t much but it was enough to aggravate his headache. The babies clinging to his chest while screaming at the top of their lungs didn''t help either.

    "I''m fine, Kami. I''m just moved and deafened from the warm reception." He forced himself to smile while he resumed reassuring the children from where the copy left.

    There was a small crowd of people surrounding them, waiting for the moment to ask their questions without disturbing the moment. Everyone had seen how desperate Lith''s condition was after Thaymos'' punch and even though they knew Tyris had healed him, they were still worried about him.

    "Thank you for your help, Solus." Friya hugged her while asking her to y along via a mind link. "Without you, my spells would have copsed."

    In the chaos of battle, no one had noticed her disappearance and Friya was providing Solus an alibi. Friya knew that the camp had withstood the Tower Spirit spells only thanks to the defensive system of the tower and this was the only way to give Solus her due credit.

    "We make a good team, as always." Between her still ringing head and the influx of information from her copy, Solus had a hard time focusing.

    After Tyris had disappeared, the camp had fallen into a stunned silence. The fear from witnessing the fury of a lost city and the apparently endless scores of the ck Tide had taken a while to fade.

    One moment everyone was praying the gods for mercy and the next a living god had fought for them. Tyris'' power, her Morning Star, and theplete annihtion of a monster tide had left the people in the camp with their mouth agape and their brains frozen in shock.

    It had been the cries of the babies when Kam hade to check on Lith that had broken the stillness.

    "Are we safe now?" She had asked.

    "Yes, it''s all over now." The construct had replied with so much confidence that his words had lifted everyone''s spirit.

    The camp had burst intoughs, cries of joy, and cheers that had continued until that moment.

    "You can turn tail and get back to the camp, you cowardly bastards." Orion cheerfully said to the pilots of the DoLoreans. "I''m sorry to break this to you, but we are all alive!"

    Once he confirmed that there had been no casualties and that everyone from the advance party hade back, Orion went to talk to Lith.

    "I know that it''s a stupid question, but I need you to confirm it to me. Is the ck Tide really gone?"

    "Most of it, but yes." Lith nodded. "I''m not sure if the lost city left a few of them behind as a backup, but even if he did, they shouldn''t amount to more than a few monster hordes. And hordes without a leader at that."

    "What about the lost city?" Orion pointed at the massive molten remains thaty a few hundreds of meters in front of the camp.

 Chapter 2902 Collapsing Eternity (Part 4)

    Chapter 2902 Copsing Eternity (Part 4)

    "He''s still alive." Lith looked at Thaymos'' body with Life Vision, noticing that even without the pseudo core it still had a visible mana flow and life force. "I don''t know what Tyris is going to-"

    Right on cue, the figure of the Great Mother in her human form appeared in the sky apanied by a gentle radiance that lit the night as bright as day.

    A wave of her hand healed the scars on the ground left by the conflict and scattered the ashes of the dead monsters. A powerful darkness spell erased the smell of death from the air and that of sweat and fear from the living, making them feel like after a rxing hot bath.

    The living corpse of Thaymos was the only reminder of the fierce battle that had just transpired.

    "People of Garlen. People of Jiera. Heed my voice." Tyris sent a telepathic impulse that triggered all themunication amulets on Jiera, forcing them to project her image and carry her voice.

    "For a long time, you have lived in fear of the ck Tide and of the lost city of Thaymos, not knowing that they were one and the same." The amulets projected segments of the battle where the Eternal Fortress appeared in his humanoid form and fed upon the essence of the monsters.

    "The ck Tide is no more." The images now showed a Golden Griffon unleashing a beam of light that had conquered the darkness of the night and exterminated the monsters.

    Then, she let go of the crystal block containing the pseudo core of the Eternal Fortress. It merged with the mass of molten rocks, rebuilding itself with astounding speed as he sucked in the surrounding world energy and Tyris provided him more.

    ["Please, no."] The Eternal Fortress said the moment he had a mouth again. ["Don''t kill me. I''ll do anything you ask. I''ll protect your people. Fight other lost cities. Anything!"]

    Even though no one understood his words and Thaymos had no facial muscles that could express emotions, everyone could hear the fear in his voice and feel it in his trembling limbs.

    He was double her height and his limbs were covered in deadly weapons yet he was the one backing away, his hands raised in surrender.

    His pleas were met with a cold, merciless gaze. Thaymos knew he had no way out but he still had to try. He turned around and started to run when Tyris took out an ancient parchment and spoke the first rune of the self-destruct spell.

    The mana flow in his body froze, his limbs iling as he fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The Guardian chanted the rest of the spell even though she had no need for it.

    Tyris wanted everyone to listen and understand what was happening. Every rune she spoke appeared in the air in front of her and then rushed into the Eternal Fortress, making him spasm.

    Every rune that her fingers traced was a luminous sword that cut the white stones of his body open. The cracks started as small as her movements were slow but they spread as if the living city was made of ss.

    His self-repairing enchantments flowed backward, making the slightest injury grow deeper andnger instead of closing it. Thaymos screamed in agony, his powerful voice echoing for miles and scaring the few animals left into a rout.

    Tyris found no pleasure in his suffering but she kept chanting slowly.

    She had no idea if there was an afterlife or if a living legacy possessed an eternal soul. The only way she had to be sure that Thaymos paid for his cruelty was to take care of it herself while he was still alive.

    The Eternal Fortress tossed and screamed, his agony broadcasted through themunication amulets to the entire Jiera. His death throes were a warning to the rest of the lost cities of the fallen continent and the smaller living legacies who had never been imprisoned and possessed an amulet.

    Orpal was among them, his amulet safely stored inside his pocket dimension, but physically close enough to see and hear everything. Night was frozen in terror, her mind empty as she witnessed what her fate would be if caught. The self-destruction spell seemed to act the same way of those that Thaymos had suffered earlier but the truth couldn''t be more different. The spell wasn''t affecting the Eternal Fortress'' body, there was no attack from which his enchantments could shield him.

    The runes conjured by Tyris were unravelling the forbidden Forgemastery spells that gave Thaymos'' limbs life, the spells that stored his memory and gave him self-awareness. The self-destruction spell was undoing everything that made the Eternal Fortress a living being.

    His existence could be described like a book filled with the chronicles of his life through the millennia while Tyris'' spell was a candle whose mes was burning the pages one by one.

    Thaymos felt the magic of his enchantments disappear, the spells that had been part of his since his creation were now forgotten, leaving a painful void inside of him. His body wasn''t breaking apart, it was fading from existence.

    Every piece of him that crumbled was lost forever akin to an amputation and he knew it.

    ["Please, no!"] He begged, oveing the agony through sheer desperation.

    Until the final rune was weaved, there was still hope for mercy. Hope for tomorrow.

    ["I''ll be your ve. I''ll do anything you want forever."]

    Tyris paused for a moment, staring at him before ncing back at the camp and at the small Valeron the Second. The baby was still crying, but this time out of joy.

    Lith was back. His father was back. The baby boy still had his family.

    ["Anything?"] She asked while tracing the runes with her fingers as slowly as possible without interrupting the spell.

    ["Anything!"]

    ["Then here''s my first order for you. Die!"]Tyris resumed chanting and her fingers waved rune after rune to make up for the lost time.

    Thaymos'' legs were the first to disappear. Then, it was the turn of the arms. When his head crumbled, he lost every perception of the outside world and his voice distorted into a shrill shriek before ceasing.

    Tyris had taken everything away from him. His mind was trapped inside an eternal ckness without any means to interact with the rest of Mogar. His memories were the only thing he had left.

    And she took them away forst.

    Suddenly there were holes in his memory. Thaymos could remember where he was but not what had led to his current situation. Fear of the unknown and agony soon matched as his personality regressed and became shallower with every lost memory.

    Once his mind became a nk te, it took a single rune to snuff out his consciousness. The stone chest was back to be a mere stone fortress wrapped by walls. There was no life or magic left in them, only the coldness of the night.

    The final remnant of Thaymos the Eternal Fortress cracked as thest remnants of the forbidden spells faded and the souls imprisoned within fought their way out.

 Chapter 2903 Warp Home (Part 1)

    Chapter 2903 Warp Home (Part 1)

    At first, small spheres of light seeped out the fissures in the Eternal Fortress, darting toward the sky like lonely shooting stars. As the cracks widened and the walls fell apart, more and more found their way out until there was a cascade of light reaching for the heavens.

    Millions of souls soared through the air like fireworks, celebrating the end of a nightmare.

    Everyone stared at the spectacle in awe, the pity they had almost felt at Thaymos'' agony was forgotten as the joy of the freed souls touched the hearts of the spectators. Everyone but Lith.

    ''Thank you.'' ''Finally!'' ''I''ming!''

    He could hear their voices and distinguish them as if they spoke in turns. Some were just happy that their suffering was over, others looked forward to reconnecting with the loved ones they had been separated from for so long.

    All of them thanked Lith yet he felt unworthy of that praise.

    ''I failed them. If not for Tyris, they would still be trapped. I never cared for their suffering. This time, I failed.'' While the rest of the camp looked at the sky, Lith stared at the ground in shame.

    ''Is everything alright?'' While the rest of the camp looked at the sky, Solus looked at Lith. ''Is there something wrong with your life force? Have the cracks widened?''

    The light show had distracted the babies, giving him the time to space out and her to check on him.

    Lith shared his senses with Solus, letting her listen to the voices he heard and feel what he felt.

    ''Thank the gods.'' She sighed in relief, pissing him off big time.

    ''I beg your pardon?'' He snarled, quickly returning to his usual snarky self.

    ''I was afraid that between your wounds and the aftereffects of the tower''s overdrive, your condition might have worsened while you are just being a sourpuss like usual.'' Solus replied.

    ''I''m not. At least not always.'' Lith replied. ''I just feel undeserving of the praise of all those souls. I didn''t do anything for them.''

    ''I beg to differ and more importantly, they beg to differ.'' She forced him to look up at the vibrant light of the ascending souls. ''If you hadn''te to Jiera, Tyris wouldn''t be here.

    ''If you hadn''t adopted Valeron and been such a good father to him and Elysia, he wouldn''t have cried like that and Tyris would have just taken us to safety. If it wasn''t for our tower, there would be no self-destruction spell and those souls would still be trapped.

    ''You may have not done as much as you''d like for them, but that''s still far from nothing.'' Solus immersed herself the joy of the voices and amplified it for Lith, until he couldn''t ignore them anymore. ''Stop acting like you bear the weight of Mogar on your shoulders.

    ''Even if we couldn''t beat Thaymos on our own, even if this was a failure, it''s not your fault. You are the reason the expedition is here in the first ce. ept your responsibilities but also your credit when it''s due.''

    ''Thanks.'' Lith stood up slowly, looking down again but this time to check on the babies.

    Their cooings and giggles made him smile and raise his eyes to the sky.

    ''Any time.'' Solus took his hand and a share of his burden, letting the light of the ascending souls brighten the darkness of his scales.

    Once thest soul disappeared, Thaymos'' pseudo cores faded away and the lost city turned into a pile of rubbles.

    "People of Jiera, the Eternal Fortress is no more." Tyris'' voice resounded clear throughout the camp and the amulets, making everyone burst into cheers and screams of joy.

    "Always remember, this is what you caused." Tyris projected the devastation left by the passing of the different monster tides through the region and images of Thaymos'' victims. "If not for your greed and folly, none of this would have happened."

    The bitterness in her voice brought the celebrations to a stop.

    "Always remember, this is what you have lost by turning your back on me." The figure of the Great Mother became translucent. "There are still many horrors like the Eternal Fortress out there and you are going to face them alone.

    "This is thest favor I make you. Farewell." Tyris disappeared while her words still echoed through the air.

    The night was back to being dark and cold and even those in the middle of a crowded city felt lonelier than ever.

    ***

    With the disappearance of the ck Tide and Thaymos'' destruction, the colonization process became faster and easier. The monsters of Zelex could focus on building their homes and fortify their settlements.

    With no more need for scouts and long-distance patrols, reverted monsters and undead worked tirelessly to make themselves homes. They cleaned the rubble from the streets and repaired the buildings, turning their living quarters from refugee camps into proper cities.

    Quy performed daily checkups on the non-Awakened members of the expedition, identifying diseases typical of Jiera but unknown to Garlen while they were still in the incubation phase.

    She collected blood and saliva samples from the infected that after being sent through the Gate reached the White Griffon''s Light Department. There they would be studied in order to develop healing spells.

    In the rare cases when enhancing the immune system with light magic wasn''t enough, Quy would cleanse her patient with Invigoration.

    Orion ordered the Forgemasters to focus on the Gate, leaving a skeleton crew of guards to protect the camp. The rest of the members of the expedition spent their days exploring their surroundings while Orion and Kelia continued their diplomatic efforts with Medolin.

    Even though Tyris was allegedly gone for good, the result of her actions still remained. The elf city was now free to expand past the boundaries of the Fringe and restore nature from the ravages of the ck Tide.

    On top of that, the battle against Thaymos had been recorded and even though the people of Garlen had lost, they had shown an outstanding prowess. Their magic, the DoLoreans, and their artifacts were tangible proof of what the elves of Medolin could achieve by coborating with the colonists.

    Sure, there were still several monster tides to face and lost cities to contain, but it was an excellent start.

    Lith spent his time resting. The injuries he had suffered and the repeated use of mystical mes had put a huge strain on his life force that the blue mes had further aggravated.

    Quy, Solus, and Raagu had all prescribed him to not exert himself in any way for at least four days. He followed the advice without protesting since the babies started to cry the moment he got out of their sight and there was no way to make them stop until he returned.

    He passed his time by either chatting with hispanions orzily ncing at the information about the forbidden spells stored inside the Eyes of Menadion. The blueprints of the Eternal Fortress were much older than the Golden Griffon''s but no less sickening.

    Lith performed thetter solely while in the privacy of the tower, sitting on the stone throne of the Mirror Hall.

 Chapter 2904 Warp Home (Part 2)

    Chapter 2904 Warp Home (Part 2)

    "I can''t believe that not long ago I was considering doing stuff like this." He sighed in disgust after pointing various strings of runes at Kam.

    Forbidden magic wasn''t much different from regr magic unless one knew where to look. Then, it turned out to be a deadly trap whose cost and consequences were unknown until the spell was cast.

    What doomed most mages who dabbled in forbidden magic was the fact that the runes of such spells could produce any kind of effect as long as the sacrificed life force and mana were enough but no way to know how much "enough" actually was.

    Regr magic seeded or failed based on the amount of mana stored in the mage''s core. No matter how quick and skillful at chanting a yellow-cored mage was, he could never cast a tier four spell.

    Every attempt would leave him exhausted and inflict upon him the effects of mana abuse but that was it.

    Forbidden magic, instead, was devised to take the energy required from any external source avable. If the sacrifices'' mana wasn''t enough, the spell would take it from anyone in the vicinities. If the mana wasn''t enough, life force would do.

    If not even the life force sufficed and the mage had failed to take proper precautions, the spell would spread outside theirb and reap victims until it reachedpletion.

    A mage attempting a spell out of his league ended up exhausted. A mage attempting a forbidden spell out of his league ended up destroying everything he was trying to protect.

    Even worse, the mana and life force channeled inside the forbidden spell would be part of the enchantments it conjured, damning those who had been sacrificed to fuel its effects to an eternity of suffering.

    Their essence would constantly be burned by the magic and then reced by the world energy in a cycle that could be broken only with the destruction of the cursed object.

    "I can''t believe it either but I can''t say I''m surprised." Kam shuddered and then kissed him on the cheek. "You havee a long way from the man you were on Earth. I can see Derek McCoy doing something like that out of spite for his enemies.

    "Lith Verhen, however, is better than that. I''m proud of you. Never forget that." She embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder.

    "Thanks." Lith wrapped his arms around her, returning the embrace.

    Only the memory of the fight with the Eternal Fortress soured the moment for him.

    Lith couldn''t forget how easily the blue mes had answered his call. How when faced with a desperate situation, he hadn''t hesitated to give up on himself to bring the Void Demon Dragon forward.

    Lith couldn''t help but wonder if Derek McCoy was truly gone or if he was just sitting away from the light, waiting for the darkness to fall again.

    ***

    A week after the expedition''s arrival on Jiera, the transcontinental Gate was ready.

    Orion had yet to gain the trust of the elves of Medolin so he had to stay. Quy couldn''t leave her patients and Friya refused to leave Quy''s side.

    Lith, Solus, Kam, Tista, and Bodya bid their friends goodbye and returned to Garlen with a single step.

    The room where the other Gate was positioned was a square room with a side of 10 meters (33'') with no furniture. Even the control panel for the Gate was outside the room.

    The purpose was to leave as much space as possible for the items that had to be exchanged. Due to the distance and the prolonged istion between Jiera and Garlen, everyone and everything needed to be quarantined until they were deemed harmless.

    The moment the dimensional corridor closed behind them, the light in the room turned to a deep purple as brief pulses of darkness magic sterilized the air and every object in the room, including the clothes worn by Lith and the others.

    "Please, use darkness fusion." The familiar voice of Duke Marth, the Headmaster of the White Griffon echoed from a holographic panel.

    Lith nodded, shapeshifting his hands and using the Dragon scales to exin the babies what they had to do and how to do it. Even a deep red-cored awakened could use fusion magic and both Elysia and Valeron the Second had reached the deep orange.

    They experienced through Lith what how to trigger fusion magic and instinctively followed his lead. The darkness magic of their own mana core couldn''t harm them and it just cleansed their system from any foreign organic life form, no matter how small.

    "We''re done here." Lith said and the door opened.

    Marth walked through it while wearing a Life Ward gue mask, one of the few pieces of Manohar''s legacy left to the public. It consisted of a single-use alchemical tool that coated its user and kept dangerous substances from reaching him.

    The holes in the beak from which Marth breathed were pulsing with darkness magic that acted as a filter, killing microorganisms and breaking downplex and potentiallyplex gases into inert substances.

    The Life Ward, instead, wasprised of a hard-light magicyer that covered him from head to toe. It worked as well as a hazmat suit but it was much morefortable to wear.

    "Stay still. This will just take a minute." Marth cast a diagnostic spell on each one of them to make sure they weren''t suffering from an asymptomatic illness.

    The light of the spell seeped inside their bodies and outlined their organs and blood vessels. In case of infection or disease, the affected area would have been greyed out but the five of them shone like lightbulbs.

    "Is this normal?" Kam asked, a bit worried from seeing her own insides like she had been turned into an anatomy model.

    "Actually, no." Marth replied. "Normal people are supposed to shine much less and have some grey spots even when healthy. Age and work are supposed to leave permanent damage over time which is not your case.

    "I envy you Awakened so much." He took the gue mask off and weed them back home with a handshake. "Now follow me. Before going back home, the Royals would like to have a word with you, Lith."

    "What''s this about?" He asked with a puzzled look on his face.

    "Are you really asking me such a stupid question?" Marth was even more puzzled. "The Queen asked you to help the Kingdom with their diplomatic efforts in Jiera by talking down a lost city and you went out of your way, getting also rid of a monster tide.

    "The Royals want to offer you their thanks for ensuring the safety of the expedition and hastening the colonization."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Tyris''ir, at the same time.

    The moment Lith returned to Garlen, the Father of All Dragons was with them, just cloaked in order to be invisible. It was his turn to look after Elysia and since he was already inside the Royal Pce, he called a meeting with the other Guardians of Garlen.

    Tyris was already there and Sark was d to wee back her beloved Featherlings in person. She brought Shargein along, leaving him to y with the children while the grown-ups talked.

 Chapter 2905 Fallen Pieces (Part 1)

    Chapter 2905 Fallen Pieces (Part 1)

    The apparition of the Wyrmling in the Throne Room caused quite a fuss and it took the Royals a while to make sure that it was just some weird greeting from the Overlord instead of a breach of security, but this is a story for another day.

    "Mogar is changing." Leegaain exchanged worried looks with the other two Guardians.

    The three ancient beings had taken their real forms, standing tall in Tyris'' underground throne room.

    The ce was an almost exact replica of the one above but entirely made of stone. Drawings, tapestry, and ceremonial armors were identical, the only difference was that every piece of furniture depicted the feats of Valeron the First.

    There was no trace or mention of any of his descendants, not even the children he had sired with Tyris. The Stone Room was a ce fixed in time, where everything was the same as the day had been crowned as the First King of thends he had unified under the name of the Griffon.

    On the throne next to Tyris'', sat his life-like statue wearing the full Saefel Set. Only his head was exposed, his dark brown hair ruffled by the wind and his face fixed in a friendly, warm smile as he weed his most loyal friends in his new home.

    "Until two decades ago, us Guardians would rarely leave our respective turfs and seldom appear in front of non-Awakened." Leegaain moved his eyes to the White Phoenix.

    "Sark was an exception, but even she would rarely employ more power than a regr Emperor Beast.

    "Now, instead, we cross our borders on a daily basis and ever since the Day of the ck Sun, we have shown ourselves to the popce multiple times. We have gotten to the point that we are directly interfering in everyday''s life and affecting the bnce."

    "Are you reproaching me for killing Thaymos?" The Golden Griffon growled, her eyes narrowed to fiery slits of white mana. "If it was Shargein crying and begging you to stop that filthy piece of Forbidden Magic, would you have acted any different?"

    "No, far from it." The ck Dragon dismissed the idea with a sweep of his scaled hand. "I''m not a hypocrite and I have no problem to admit that I''d have done the same. Yet this just proves my point.

    "Think about it. Until recently, even our children were considered a myth. The only way to see a Dragon or a Griffon was to open an illustrated children''s book. Now, instead, Sark''s Nest walks Mogar.

    "My Brood awakened for the Dragon Dance and one of your descendants even dated a human for a while. Thrud gave birth to a fusion between our races whereas Lith became one. Don''t get me started about Elysia."

    "I agree with you." Tyris calmed down after pondering his words. "More things have happened in the past two decades than in thest two millennia."

    "The Abominations are back on the path to evolution, Thrud found a way for our Lesser children to be Divine Beasts, and Glemos was this close to undoing the damage that many fallen species brought upon themselves."

    "Don''t forget about you invading Fenagar''s turf twice, you beating Ileza into a pulp and annihting Verendi''s Council, and Roghar breaking into my home." Sark said.

    "Even though I understand your reasons, Tyris, you acted the same way as the hungry cur and breached the treaties between the Guardians. Treaties that we all wrote and agreed upon."

    "I know." The Golden Griffon sighed. "But again, can you me me for any of it?"

    "No. Quite the contrary, I thank you for that." Sark shuddered at the memory.

    If not for Tyris dealing with Verendi and Leegaain ensuring that the White Phoenix kept a shred of her sanity, she might have miscarried Shargein in her fury.

    "Why do you think everything is happening now, old lizard? I hope you are not ming Lith either. He is our baby."

    "He is not our baby!" The ck Dragon roared in outrage. "He''s another product of Mogar''s schemes, the only difference is that he isn''t failing like all those before him. To answer your question, no, I don''t me him.

    "The Master, Thrud, Glemos, they existed before Lith was even born and have worked on their respective projects for decades, if not centuries, before setting them in motion.

    "If anything, I think it''s the other way around. Lith has been ced on the board because of them."

    "What do you mean?" The White Phoenix tilted her head in surprise. "That he''s some kind of counter to all those things? That would be ridiculous. Mogar had no way of knowing that Lith would have managed to awaken and merge his bloodlines, let alone befriend us.

    "Had he treated Solus badly or tried to exploit my kindness, he would have died years ago. There are countless variables that altered every step of his path and, more importantly, his rtionships.

    "Just think about Elysia. How many things would have taken apletely different route if Lith''s first child had been born in a different moment? Mogar is powerful but not that powerful."

    "I know and I agree with you." Leegaain replied soberly. "My hypothesis is that Mogar saw the possibilities that the future held and yed their hand ordingly, just like we do. Think about it.

    "The anomaly was born in the Griffon Kingdom and that was outside Mogar''s control. The bloodlines he received to contain his Abomination side, however, are too convenient to be a coincidence.

    "By giving him Dragon and Phoenix blood, Mogar bound Lith to two of their Guardians by blood as much as he is bound to the Kingdom by deeds and family. Had he received Dragon and Griffon blood, like Valeron the Second, you would have never gotten involved with him.

    "After the Horseman of Night exposed him, he would have fled to the Empire where my non-interference policy would have forced him to be Milea''s right-hand man.

    "Kam would have never gone to him simply because there would have been no deal she could use as a cover for the trip. Had he received Phoenix and Griffon blood, for example, Zoreth would have not cared for him during his first meeting with the Council or befriended himter.

    "And I could go on. Take even one Guardian out of the equation and things change dramatically."

    "We might have never gotten close again and Shargein wouldn''t be born." The White Phoenix shivered at the thought. "And without him, no Dragon Dance."

    "I see your point, young lizard, and I think you are probably right." The Golden Griffon nodded. "My only question is if you called us here just to exin this to us or if you also have something else in mind."

    "I think we should keep our eyes open and be ready to intervene even if we usually wouldn''t." Leegaain replied. "There''s something going on that I can''t see, but if Mogar thought it necessary to have contingency ns, we''d better do the same."

    "ns?" Tyris echoed. "You mean there''s more than one Lith out there?"

    "More like there were." The Father of All Dragons shook his head. "If my hypothesis is correct, they are all dead by now."

 Chapter 2906 Fallen Pieces (Part 2)

    Chapter 2906 Fallen Pieces (Part 2)

    ***

    Valeron Pce, Throne Room on the upper floors, at the same time.

    After Marth led Lith and his family to the Royals, the Magus was surprised to hear the King speak of the destruction of the lost city of Thaymos in the same terms as Solus.

    "I know that it''s not by your hand that the Eternal Fortress met its hand. At least not directly.

    "Yet if not for your presence, Lady Tyris wouldn''t have intervened and the expedition would have failed. With one monster tide and one lost city less to deal with, we''ll be able to gather resources faster than we nned.

    "Soon we''ll have the means to spread the Tablets to the whole Kingdom and build the first non-military Trains. For this, you have our gratitude and we would like to reward you as you deserve."

    "Thank you, your Majesty." Lith gave the Royals a bow. "There''s nothing I need at the moment, but if somethinges to mind, I''ll let you know."

    "Take your time. There is no rush." The Queen smiled to him.

    She had received reports about the performance of the Wayfinder and the weaponized DoLoreans. Thanks to them, the military power of the Kingdom would finally surpass that of the Empire and the Desert, making their borders safe for the first time in centuries.

    "Before sending you back to your family, I have a simple task that I want to entrust you." At a snap of the Queen''s fingers, a parchment appeared in her hands and she passed it to Lith.

    "The Crown would like to start building civilian cars. The first batch would be just an experiment to see how people deal with the change. Mass production wouldeter, if at all."

    Lith unrolled the parchment, discovering that it contained a series of drawings about possible alternative designs for the DoLorean and their suggested specs. The Royals wanted him to limit the altitude a civilian car could reach to a few meters tops.

    This way, a driver could still dodge obstacles both vertically and horizontally but they couldn''t pass above the city walls and avoid checks nor escape detection while crossing the borders with other countries.

    The Royals also wanted him to limit the max speed of a DoLorean to the third notch of the lever. Much to Lith''s surprise, the list of changes didn''t include the removal of any of the safety measures except for the Home Stone synchronization.

    Regr people couldn''t afford such precious artifacts anyway and there was no point in giving ess to the rich and powerful to a way to escape from the scene of an ident.

    There were also two designs that caught Lith''s attention. One was for nobles, giving the DoLorean the slender form of a muscle car, and another for merchants that looked like a truck with lots of space to carry merch.

    Both models would have the same specs, it was just a matter of appearance and, of course, price.

    ''For a moment I was afraid they were going to give me blueprints for the new DoLorean. After all, they had all the time to study the ones I provided them and the schematics of the Train.'' Lith thought.

    ''I guess that having no Light Masters is a big deal since without one, they can''t understand what the power core does and how the different enchantmentsbine together to make the DoLorean move.''

    "It will be my pleasure." Lith nodded. "Thank you, Magus Verhen." The King said. "This concludes our meeting. You must all be very tired and we kept you here long enough. Unless you have something to request from the Crown you are free to go home and rest.

    "We''ll keep you updated about the progress of the colonization."

    The group gave the Royals a bow before turning around and being apanied by the Royal Guards to the Warp Gate in the waiting room. Normally the guests would be followed closely by the Guards to keep them from wandering the castle and ensuring the safety of the Crown.

    In Lith''s case, they left him plenty of space, acting like a real honor guard instead of wardens pretending to be one. Lith looked out a window, noticing that it was night in the Kingdom.

    ''Damn time zones! The sun was up in Jiera but is down in the Kingdom. What time is it in the Desert?''

    ''A few hours before sunset.'' Solus replied after checking her watch and doing the math. ''Why?''

    ''I wanted to know if our family was still awake. I didn''t want to wake them up just to greet us. We can all use some rest, especially Tista and Bodya.'' Lith replied while looking at the couple.

    The Nidhogg looked more rxed now that he had put thousands of kilometers between him and his family, but the burden on his shoulder had only gotten heavier after the destruction of the Eternal Fortress.

    He still had to give Tista his answer and without a deadly threat over their heads, he had no excuse to drag it out for much longer.

    As for Tista, the trip to Jiera had shown her many things and she still had to process most of them. It wasn''t just about her rtionship, but also about how cruel the Awakened society was and the danger that the lost cities posed.

    ''I thought that the Golden Griffon was an exception. After all, it would have never gotten free without Thrud''s help nor would have it gotten so powerful without her modifications.'' Tista thought.

    ''Yet it was no exception, it was the norm. The Kingdom is filled with monstrosities like that and it takes just one slip-up to free them and turn Garlen into Jiera. Living in the Desert doesn''t sound so bad anymore.''

    During her past battles, Tista had med her struggles to her mana core and the fact that she was just a hybrid. Yet even after achieving the violet and bing a Divine Beast, the feeling of helplessness hadn''t changed.

    Facing the monster tide had humbled her while fighting Thaymos had made her feel as small as when she was still a human.

    Truth be told, everyone was still shaken from the battle against the Eternal Fortress. For the first time in Solus'' life, the tower hadn''t been enough to secure the victory and that had shaken her confidence as well.

    Kam still had nightmares where she saw Lith''s broken body tumbling through the camp over and over. The sound of her own screams and the cries of the children kept echoing in her ears for hours after she woke up from such dreams.

    Only Elysia and Valeron the Second seemed to have gotten over it as soon as the fight was over. They had stopped crying the moment they had been strapped to Lith''s chest and heard the sound of his heartbeat.

    ''Damn, I don''t want to think about what would have happened if I hadn''t changed my mind about this little fellow.'' Lith wiggled his finger in front of Valeron who grabbed it and brought it to his mouth.

    This provoked Elysia''s ire who threw a tantrum until she was given one as well.

 Chapter 2907 The Outsider (Part 1)

    Chapter 2907 The Outsider (Part 1)

    "How do I hold things now?" Lith whined as both of his hands were held hostage.

    "That''s what Spirit Magic is for, baby." Kam chuckled.

    The Gate brought them to the entrance of the Heavenly Plume Tribe since the Royalscked a pass for direct ess to the Overlord''s Pce.

    Sark was already there, taking care of retrieving Shargein before leaving the Kingdom.

    She had arranged a wee ceremony and informed the rest of the family of the group''s arrival. A long red carpet covered in flower petals went from the Gate to the pce and there was a small crowd waiting for them.

    "Wee back, son." Raaz gave Lith a quick hug and patted his back before passing him to Elina for the inspection.

    "Thanks, Dad. It''s nice to see you too." Lith conjured Trion from his Void Sigil to let him take part in the family reunion.

    "Why is everyone so glum?" Elina patted Lith''s arms and chest for injuries and then took his face in her hands to look for signs of malnutrition. "Based on what Sark told us, the expedition was a sess."

    "It was, but a few things have happened that have ruined the trip for us." Lith nodded at Aran and Leria.

    Elina understood that the matter had to wait until after bedtime and moved on to the Trion.

    "Wee back, son. How was Jiera?"

    "It was¡­ interesting. We have been weed by a tribe of merfolk." It was the only nice thing he could say about the trip without delving into the politics, the fights, and the diseases.

    "Really?" Aran and Leria asked in unison, conjuring the holograms of the various depictions of the merfolk they had seen in different children''s books until they found the right one. "Cool!"

    "Yeah. They want to build a city here in the Desert so you might meet them soon." As the children burst into cheers, Elina performed her wellness check. "Mom, do you have to do this?"

    "Do what?" She asked.

    "Asking how I am and looking for wounds. You know that I''m dead. I lost my body years ago and now I''m bound to Lith. If he''s fine then I''m fine. As simple as that." He tried to take her hands off his face, but Elina resisted and Trion was afraid of hurting her.

    "Don''t you ever say something like that again." She forced him to look her in the eyes. "You are my son and I''ll always worry about you. Even though you have lost your body, you can still get hurt, feel the warmth of an embrace, andugh with us.

    "You are not dead, Trion. You are part of our lives and you are as important to me as any other of my children." They shared a long hug and then Elina greeted the others.

    She noticed the distance, both emotional and physical, between Bodya and Tista but said nothing. After Solus and Kam confirmed to Elina that the source of their distress was the same as Lith''s, she could only smile and wait.

    "How did your magic lessons go?" Lith asked the kids.

    "They went great, Uncle."Leria puffed her chest out with pride. "We are the top of our ss. I just don''t get why the instructor refuses to teach us tier one magic. There''s only so much we can do with chore magic."

    Lith nodded, uncertain of what to do.

    On the one hand, he wanted to expand the magical knowledge of the children and teach them responsibility. On the other hand, he knew that once they focused on fake magic, the chances of self-Awakening would plummet.

    He remembered well Menadion''s words about picking the right time to Awaken her daughter. Too soon and a child would be a danger to others. Toote and the pain from Awakening would be a traumatic experience.

    Aran and Leria were seven years old, one year older than when Nana had taught Lith fake magic. On top of that, they already had a bright yellow mana core. If Lith waited for too long, they wouldn''t just puke impurities.

    ''This is not a decision I can make by myself. I have to talk with Mom and Rena first.''

    "She''s lying, big bro. We are not the top of our ss." Aran pouted while offering to hold Elysia for Lith. The kids loved the baby girl like a little sister but were still on the fence about Valeron.

    He was the son of a very bad woman and was in no way part of the family.

    Phloria had been one of their favorite aunts and their swordsmanship teacher. Her death had left a scar in the children''s hearts and it was hard for them to not resent Valeron for what Thrud had done.

    "Abominus, Onyx, and Garrik run circles around us." Aran said while rocking the baby between his arms.

    "They don''t count! They are the only ones that can use true magic and that''s cheating." Leria replied.

    ''Fomor can produce a golden lightning. Maybe I can ask R to help me in a few experiments.'' He then noticed Solus ring at him. ''Not now, of course. I mean many days from now.''

    The mention of the Fomor reminded Lith of the weird interaction between Life Maelstrom and his eyes.

    ''Fomor can produce a golden lightning. Maybe I can ask R to help me in a few experiments.'' He then noticed Solus ring at him. ''Not now, of course. I mean many days from now.''

    "That''s not cheating since they use chore magic just like us." Aran countered. "That''s talent."

    "Yeah, right, because a bell rings every time they exceed the mana we can use." Leria replied with a sneer. "The difference between chore and tier one magic is just power. They cheat. Maybe they don''t do it on purpose but they cheat."

    "You are just envious of their talent." Aran scoffed pointedly.

    "Cheating!" "Talent!" The bickering went on for a while until they demanded a tiebreaker. "Uncle/Big bro!"

    "Leria is right. Given a task regarding chore magic, is easy for an Awakened to cheat without even noticing." Lith replied making Leria gloat. "Yet Aran is also right. The affinity for the elements of Emperor Beasts and Fomor also gives them a great talent for magic."

    Leria gasped and it was now Aran''s turn to gloat.

    "So you are both right." Lith concluded, disappointing them both.

    "How can I beat them, Uncle Lith?" Leria asked, tugging at his arms and pointing at Valeron.

    She felt guilty for discriminating against him. Garrik too was the son of a bad man but he had no fault for it and was a good friend to her and Aran.

    "The same way I beat Aunt Quy and Friya at the academy even though they were more talented than me. By working hard." Lith handed the baby boy to Leria and he smiled at her with so much joy that her guilt worsened by leaps and bounds.

    ''By my Mom, can you believe the nerve of this man, Kami?'' Solus chuckled at the children moaning and groaning. ''He beat them because he could do all-nighters thanks to Invigoration and because he had me.''

    ''I know.'' Kam chuckled as well. ''He''s one of the dirtier cheaters on the face of Mogar if not the dirtiest.''

    ''Please, you are just envious of me.'' Lith inwardly clicked his tongue in mock indignance, making themugh harder.

 Chapter 2908 The Outsider (Part 2)

    Chapter 2908 The Outsider (Part 2)

    ''I Awakened by myself so everything that came from that counts as the fruit of my hard work.''

    They walked slowly to the Pce, with Lith describing the family-friendly parts of the trip to Jiera and showing holograms of the majestic sea creatures. Aran and Leria gaped when he put a scaled-down version of Raaz near the magical beasts, emphasizing their sizepared to an adult human.

    Aside from that and the weing party of the merfolk, there wasn''t much that could interest them.

    Aran and Leria had already met elves at the G for Lith''s birthday and they often yed with the reverted orc, Br''ey the Svartalf, every time Rena invited her to the Verhen Manor. "Give these little rascals to me. You can use some rest." Once they arrived home, Elina took Valeron and Elysia out of the children''s arms and put them in the same ypen as Surin and Shargein.

    The Wyrmling had already reached the size of a magical beast but he was less than a year old and eager to y. Elysia greeted her aunt with joyous chirping but sadly, Surin had already forgotten about her and Valeron.

    "Ba!" Elysia said in outrage while Valeron just crawled to Surin and grabbed her hand.

    She was still alive and well and that was enough for him.

    Shargein stood in the middle of the conflict, licking Elysia to calm her down.

    "Ba! Ba!" She shapeshifted into her Tiamat form, touching the Wyrmling to express how hurt and offended she felt.

    Shargein was warm and his small scales soft to the touch. Elysia fell asleep without even noticing and the others soon followed suit.

    The real conversation had to wait until after dinner, when fatigue and a full belly knocked Aran and Leria cold. Tista asked Bodya''s permission to share his part of the story and he agreed.

    ''If we break up, her parents deserve to know why. If we don''t, I would still need to exin to them the reason I cut my family from my life.'' He sighed.

    Everyone was shocked at the sight of how Jiera had be and how even powerful creatures like the Nidhoggs had been driven into a corner. When people heard about establishing colonies across the ocean, they always pictured Jiera as a fertile but abandonednd.

    What the Verhens witnessed, instead, was a death trap.

    "I''m sorry for you, Bodya." Raaz said. "That Forrn is unworthy of the title of patriarch. They should have weed you with open arms and supported you while you grieved your friend. Not exploit his death for their agenda."

    The part with Thaymos and the ck Tide was even worse. Not only did Lith''s parents realize what their children had fought against but they were also scared that the Royals might send them to Jiera again.

    "If Vothal contacts you again, please thank him for me." Elina said. "I know that your stepfather put himself at risk solely for you, but his actions saved my children as well. Your father is a good... Nidhogg, Bodya. You can be proud of him."

    "Thanks, Elina. I will." Despite his words, thepassion everyone showed him made him feel out of ce.

    The Verhens treated him like family while Bodya was still an outsider and maybe would soon exit from their lives. He excused himself, iming to be tired, and left the room.

    Tista was sad seeing him leave while Lith took advantage of his absence to add the part about the Eternal Fortress knowing about him and Solus.

    "Thank the gods Tyris was with you." The night in the Desert was chill, yet Raaz found himself covered in sweat from the worry that he wiped with a handkerchief. "Why didn''t you just tower Warp away?"

    "And then what?" Lith shook his head. "Even assuming that Thaymos wouldn''t have followed us to Garlen, how could I have exined my survival? Inxialot would have probably forgotten about it, but the Council wouldn''t.

    "Also, using the tower Warp meant to leave Orion and Bodya behind to die or share my secret with them. Then there were also Kelia and Ilthin. Once Malyshka rescued them, I would have had to answer a lot of questions.

    "I can dodge Ilthin up to a point, but not the Empress. Not after the Gate and the Wayfinder were destroyed and I popped out unscathed along with everyone I give a damn about."

    "This begs a question." Kam said. "Thaymos didn''t know squat about modern magic and had no idea who Tyris was. Yet he knew Dawn and was aware of Lith''s nickname as the Destroyer and that he is bound to Solus."

    "Correction." Solus shook her head while reying all the conversations with the Eternal Fortress in her head. "He believed me to be a cursed object, not a mage tower. Which rules out Malyshka because she would never betray me and Dawn because she has no reason to.

    "She knows my real identity and asked Malyshka to seal her memory to avoid betraying my secrets under any circumstance. Even assuming that Dawn went mad, changed her mind, found a new host, went to Jiera, and somehow found a loophole to rat me out to Thaymos, he would have known the truth."

    "So the real culprit is someone who hates Lith, has a vague understanding of our bond, and can pass for a Horseman."

    "Meln." The entire family said in unison.

    "The only question is how does he know about Solus?" Raaz clenched his hands so hard at the thought of his disowned son that they bled. "He doesn''t have the brains for it and Night can''t help him."

    "The only people I don''t trust that knew about Solus are Hystar and Thrud but they are both dead.

    "Also, Thrud never shared the truth with Hystar since even before his death he referred to Solus as the fourth Horseman, not Menadion''s legacy." Lith had pondered about the issue long and hard while waiting for the Gate to bepleted.

    "I asked Leegaain, and he confirmed to me that Thrud''s surviving Generals don''t even suspect I have a tower and they never left hisir. The only possible exnation is that before dying, Hystar must have told Meln what he knew and Warped him away.

    "It would exin why Meln''s knowledge is wed and how he managed to evade capture after the destruction of the Golden Griffon."

    "It sounds a bit forced." Elina didn''t like the idea of Orpal knowing so little yet so much.

    The thought that he was the cause of the misfortune of her children during their stay in Jiera filled her with guilt. He was still her son and she felt responsible for every atrocity he perpetrated.

    "Maybe, but we can''t think of anything else." Solus shrugged. "Also, Meln running away to Jiera makes sense. Everyone on Garlen knows him and the spell that can be used to capture/destroy Night.

    "Here he has no allies whereas there no one knows him or the spell."

    "Well, that''s something easy to correct." Lith took out his Councilmunication amulet and forwarded the bounty on Orpal''s head to everyone he knew on Jiera, including the human and the beast representatives of the local Council.

 Chapter 2909 Proper Timing (Part 1)

    Chapter 2909 Proper Timing (Part 1)

    The file contained holograms depicting the physical appearance of all Orpal''s known aliases, Night''s trademark spells, and Baba Yaga''s spell to destroy the Horseman.

    Lith also warned his contacts on Jiera to be wary of any unknown Awakened who had suddenly appeared after the fall of the Golden Griffon and to keep the hunt for Night a secret from anyone they didn''t trust.

    "What''s the point? Meln isn''t stupid enough to use his real appearance and it''s not like you can include his energy signature in the bounty either." Kam said in frustration.

    "True, but based on what the cursed objects Meln sent after Solus said, Night has been ostracized by their kin as well." Lith replied.

    "Now if Meln is cornered and uses one of his spells in front of an Awakened, his cover will blow and all those who met him will be able to recognize him no matter what form he takes.

    "Also, I''ve just given the local cursed objects the means to destroy him. Meln''s life on Jiera has just be as dangerous as on Garlen and the best part is that he won''t know it until it''s toote."

    ***

    Jiera Continent, Wayfinder''s camp.

    "For how much longer do I have to stay here?" Kelia asked. "I thought that as soon as the people of the Kingdom were done building their Warp Gate, you would have sent over the materials to build our own.

    "Patience, my child." The Empress shook her head. "The Wayfinder is not only a means of transportation, but also the only defense both our expeditions are going to have until the fortifications of our respective settlements arepleted.

    "Even with the ck Tide gone, there are many threats on Jiera and we have no allies there.

    "Without the Wayfinder, the people of the Kingdom would be vulnerable to an attack. First, they need to finish to fortify the area and ce permanent arrays. Then they can lend us the Wayfinder.

    "The starting point of our colony must be far away enough from the Kingdom''s to avoid conflicts while they expand. It also requires a mana geyser and to be as safe as possible.

    "The search is going to take a while and after we find the right ce, we are going to need protection as well. We are going to keep the Wayfinder until our Gate and settlement areplete or our mages will be sitting ducks.

    "During all that time, the Kingdom''s colony is going to be on its own, and without the personnel they''ll send along with us to operate the Train and the DoLoreans. You can''t expect them to gracefully hand everything to us and trust that we won''t try to crack the secrets of such powerful artifacts out of the goodness of our hearts."

    "I understand, mother." Kelia gave the Magic Empress a deep bow. "I didn''t mean to rush things, I''m just eager to return home. My fifth year of academy is going to start soon and with Verhen gone, there''s not much I can do here."

    "Don''t worry. Your break has barely started and from now on things are going to proceed quickly." Milea replied. "What if our mages and I started looking for a good site for the camp? It would save us time and-"

    "Absolutely not!" The Empress cut Kelia short. "The Gate also ensures that whatever happens, the members of the expedition can receive reinforcements or leave Jiera at any moment.

    "After what happened with the ck Tide, you should realize how reckless it would be leaving its protection."

    "I thank you for your thoughtfulness, Your Majesty, but I''m not like the others. Dusk can heal any wound I suffer and even if I meet something that can threaten my existence, I can call upon Baba Yaga." Kelia replied.

    "Really? And how do I exin to the team that I''m letting a mere fourth year student fly around alone?" The Empress scoffed. "Even better, what if someone witnesses your regeneration abilities or Baba Yaga''s intervention? It would expose your existence and destroy your future.

    "You can''t change your energy signature and once people know that Kelia Sunbry is Dusk you would have to stay in hiding just like Meln Narchat. Don''t be silly, little girl. You are neither immortal nor invincible, just tough to kill.

    "The moment you get away from the Gate and the White Sword Squad, you are just a green-cored Awakened. There are plenty of things out there that can make you regret the day you were born."

    Outside the camp, from a safe distance, Orpal kept studying the magical formations in search of weak points he could break through. There were so many targets inside, so many people he hated.

    All he needed to get his revenge was one opportunity to sneak past the barriers and decide who he would kill first.

    He was aware that revealing his presence on Jiera would cost him his anonymity but with Thaymos'' failure to chase the Garleners away, it was only a matter of time before he lost it anyway.

    ''I''ll make Leech pay for havinge here to steal what little I''ve left and the price will be the lives of everyone he loves.''

    ***

    Vige of Lutia, a few hours after dinner.

    Going from the middle of the night of the Desert back to the Kingdom where the sun was high in the sky was always an unsettling experience.

    Not only because the members of Lith''s family still had a hard time grasping time zones and that they could cross such great distances in one step, but also because the jeg made a mess of their sleep cycle.

    Yet the Verhens had decided to return home immediately because they were already awake and, after hearing about what had happened on Jiera, they had tossed and turned in their respective beds before giving up on sleep.

    The thought of Orpal being responsible for Lith''stest misfortune made Elina''s and Raaz''s guts twist into a knot more than any lost city could.

    Elina because she was worried about what her wayward son might do next Raaz because he burned in outrage and couldn''t stop daydreaming about Orpal being caught and tortured to death.

    ''Gods help me, this is the first time in my life that I''m regretting to not have asked Lith to Awaken me. I''d give anything to be capable of casting just that one spell. The spell that is going to send Meln where he belongs. Sleeping with the manure.'' Raaz thought.

    "I''m surprised that you left the kids in the Desert, Mom. Why didn''t you wake them up?" Lith said while guiding Shargein by keeping a hand on his neck.

    The Wyrmling was walking on all fours, carrying the babies on his back. Each set of his furled feathered wings acted as cushions while the scales on his back slightly curved themselves to keep Valeron and Elysia upright.

    "To what end?" Elina sighed, carrying the sleeping Surin in her arms. "They would have begged me to let them sleep, worried about our sudden leaving the Desert, or both. There''s no point in upsetting Aran and Leria.

    "They are safe and sound in the Desert and their pets are with them."

 Chapter 2910 Proper Timing (Part 2)

    Chapter 2910 Proper Timing (Part 2)

    "When they wake up, Abominus and Onyx are going to bring them here. Unlike us, they''ll have nothing to worry about and I''m ready to bet that they''ll tire themselves ying and fall asleep in a few hours." Elina said.

    "Is it safe for the kids?" Raaz pointed at Shargein, eager to change the topic.

    "Rude!" The Wyrmling snapped his jaw, pretending to bite the extended finger.

    "Dad!" Rena joined the scolding. "You have lived with Beasts long enough to know that they are living beings just like us. You should have asked if ''Is he safe for the kids?'' Not ''it''!"

    "I meant riding his back, not Shargein." Raaz raised his hands in apology. "I''m sorry little guy. It''s not like I don''t trust you, but you are very young and at your age, I couldn''t be trusted with anything less sturdy than a hammer."

    ording to the Phoenix family tree, Shargein was Raaz''s lots-of-greats-uncle but since Sark called both of them son, the Wyrmling believed to be Raaz''s little brother.

    Shargein licked Raaz''s hand and emitted chirping sounds that were supposed tomunicate that everything was forgiven and that the Wyrmling understood Raaz''s worries.

    The problem was that no one understood them, taking the chirpings for baby Dragon noise.

    "It''s better than safe." Lith casually caressed Shargein with his hand covered in scales to decipher the message. "Shargein is under Leegaain''s protection just like Elysia. Also, he and the babies can use Dragon scales tomunicate with each other.

    "Elysia and Valeron can tell Uncle Shargein where they want to go and even express their needs. He can talk for them, right, uncle?"

    "Right!" The Wyrmling puffed his chest out with pride and smoke out of his nostrils with mes.

    Despite the tender age, he could already understand human, Dragontongue, and Phoenixnguage to perfection. Shargein still had trouble forming long sentences but he always managed to make himself understood.

    The words hungry, lonely, stinky, and tummy ache covered most of the babies'' needs.

    The moment the Verhens stepped out of the Gate in the barn, Kam''smunication amulet lit up with several notifications. Since she had lost most of her friends after marrying Lith and had yet to resume working, the pinging surprised everyone.

    "Is it something wrong?" Lith asked.

    "No, don''t worry." Only Kam as the owner of the amulet could see what each notification was about and from which rune it came. "It''s just Jirni asking perfunctory questions about our well-being before moving on to what she''s really after.

    "She''s heard about Thaymos but she doesn''t trust second-hand information or official records. Since, and I quote, ''that oaf of my husband has yet to contact me, please let me know if Orion and my daughters are alright.

    "PS: feel free to visit me after working hours. I''m bored.'' Do you think I should tell her about our suspicions about Meln''s involvement?"

    "Depends, do you think you can hide it from her?" Solus asked.

    "Nope. I guess I just got my answer." Kam sighed. "Also, Zinya has invited us all for a visit. She says that she misses Elina and Rena greatly and asks me to reproach them harshly for disappearing from her life."

    Both women blushed in embarrassment. They were almost as busy as Zinya and making their three schedules match was hard but still it wasn''t an excuse for neglecting someone who was way more than extended family.

    "Tell her we ept her invitation." Elina said. "Zinya just has to set up a date and we''ll be there."

    "No take backs!" Kam said with a chuckle while sending the message in front of their eyes.

    When they walked out of the barn''s wooden double doors, the heads of the farmhands all turned around in curiosity. The men working in the fields were both tired and bored from the long hours spent under the sun and could use a distraction.

    Lith''s appearance was apanied by cheers and greetings, his presence ensured their safety against any threats and guaranteed that soon some juicy gossip from one of his crazy adventures would resound through Lutia.

    "The bards have already written several songs about him." Rizel said. "Who knows, maybe they''ll write one about Lutia as well and include our names. Can you guys picture that?"

    "I sure hope that never happens." Bromann replied with a grunt. "What''s to sing about a bunch of farmers? That we work thend like countless other people in the Kingdom? At best the bards will mention Nana''s and Selia''s names since they helped Lith in the past."

    "Because your greatest achievement is trying to murder our Supreme Magus when he was five!" Bromann snarled. "Or maybe you''d like everyone in the Kingdom to know that you are a childhood friend of the Dead King? Because I sure don''t!"

    "Sure, but why going so far as hoping it never happens, Dad?" Rizel asked.

    "Because your greatest achievement is trying to murder our Supreme Magus when he was five!" Bromann snarled. "Or maybe you''d like everyone in the Kingdom to know that you are a childhood friend of the Dead King? Because I sure don''t!"

    "I''m sorry, father." Rizel''s voice was but a whimper but everyone heard him anyway.

    "You better be." Bromann grunted. "I''ve forgiven what you did but I''ve never forgotten about it and I won''t let you forget either. The lesson you learned that day made you into a better man. Treasure it."

    "Well said!" Ashtur the Ry, leader of the magical beasts in charge of protecting the farm said. "A pup is bound to make mistakes growing up, but if he tries to hide them out of shame or wallows in self-pity instead of learning from them, he''ll be a burden for his pack."

    With Lith''s family absent, the magical beasts still had their meals guaranteed but nothing to do all day. It hadn''t taken them long before starting to help the farmhands to pass time and practice magic.

    "Thanks, buddy." Bromann caressed the Ry''s muscr neck.

    A few years ago, hearing a big wolf talking would have been a traumatic experience.

    After surviving Orpal''s attack on Lutia, seeing Phoenixes and Dragonse and go from the Verhen house at all hours, and witnessing Lith''s Abomination form, however, it took a lot to surprise the average Lutian.

    The Verhens returned the greetings of the farmhands and entered their home.

    "I can use a distraction to take my mind off this mess." Raaz said while shapeshifting his desert clothes into working overalls. "If you don''t need me, I''m going to help the guys with the fields."

    "Okay." Elina nodded, putting Surin down.

    Shargein had already climbed inside the ypen and curled up, setting Elysia and Valeron in the nooks of his limbs for a nap. Elina ced Surin beside his belly, between the other two children.

    The baby girl kept sleeping like a log and once the Hush zone of the ypen was up, the adults were free to make some noise. The spell was devised so to stop sounds froming in without affecting thoseing out.

    If a baby cried, they would hear it.

    They had just finished pulling the curtains and opening the windows to freshen the air inside the house when someone knocked on their door.

    "Who is it?" Rena asked while activating the arrays of the house to see the people on the other side and have them scanned for threats.

 Chapter 2911 Friendly Rivalry (Part 1)

    Chapter 2911 Friendly Rivalry (Part 1)

    "Your neighbors Selia and Gilly." The huntress rolled her eyes, knowing that Rena could see her. "So much for hospitality. Do you also want to call me on my amulet to be sure it''s really me?"

    "Selia! How are you doing?" Rena ignored the sarcasm and opened the door, inviting the guests in.

    Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir ran inside leaving the two women in the dust, the little girl was incredibly fast for someone less than four years old. They all clung to Lith, demanding toys, sweets, and stories.

    "Busy." Selia was holding hertest born, Solkar, making sure that fangs and ws wouldn''t pop out while Gilly was there. "You could have told me you wereing back.

    "Communication amulets are a thing and for you guys, the Desert is just one step away. It wouldn''t have killed you visiting me from time to time." After noticing the ypen and its upants, she sighed in relief. "Hey, big guy, do you have space for one more?"

    Shargein nodded, stretching himself a bit more to amodate the Skoll.

    Solkar growled, eager to challenge the authority of the Wyrmling for the position of pack leader. Shargein replied with a growl of his own, baring fangs the size of a nut and the Origin mes burning down his throat.

    The infant Skoll whined in submission and fell asleep almost instantly.

    "Thank the Great Mother!" Selia was still wondering how to solve the shapeshifting issue when the problem had worked itself out. "You too can visit me anytime." She caressed the Wyrmling''s head who chittered in reply.

    "I''m sorry, Selia." Elina said. "We''ve never forgotten about you. It''s just that between the kids and Lith''s trip, we already had plenty on our te. We couldn''t risk some weirdo taking a shot at us in Lutia and forcing Lith to abandon the expedition."

    "I don''t want to intrude so I''ll just ask my question and leave." Gilly said. "Lord Verhen¡­"

    "Lord Verhen is my father. Please, call me Lith."

    "Okay." Gilly nodded with a smile. "Lith, if you are not going to leave soon, can you please let my fathere back home? My mother and I have missed him a lot and I''d love to spend as much time as possible with Dad before something else happens."

    "Sure." Lith cursed his bad memory and let out the Demons of Locrias, Valia, and Varegrave.

    Their families had moved to Lutia and bought the neighboring houses to Lith''s to be reunited with their loved ones whenever he wasn''t away for a mission.

    ''Why didn''t you remind me of this sooner?'' Lith said Trion via a mind link.

    ''Because I forgot about it. First, I was too happy seeing our family again, and then I couldn''t stop worrying about that shithead of Orp- Meln. Unlike you, I can''t call Mom and Dad whenever I want and you didn''t let me out in Jiera except that for fighting!

    ''On top of that, while I''m inside your Void Sigil I''m stuck in a dream cycle so when I wake up, I always have a lot on my mind. What''s your excuse?''

    ''My bad.'' Lith replied.

    The rtionship between the two brothers was still pretty rocky. Lith had yet to forgive Trion and conjured him often solely because doing otherwise would hurt his parents and cost him the scolding of a lifetime.

    Solus would never let him hear the end of it if he put his petty grudges above his parents'' happiness.

    ''Progress, not perfection.'' Solus telepathically patted Lith''s head, proving that she''d been listening all along. ''It''s not an apology for acting like a jerk but admitting it was your fault is still a step forward.''

    ''I''m not-''

    "I missed you so much, Dad." Gilly threw her arms at Locrias'' neck who lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing.

    "I missed you more." He had neither a smell or a heartbeat anymore so he treasured hers above all. "My liege, do you mind?" He pointed at his horns and multiple eyes.

    "Damn, I must be having an off day." Lith waved his hand, giving the Demons the same semnce they had in life by coating them with a paper-thin hard light construct.

    It made their skin pink and warm to the touch. Even those like Valia and Varegrave who had their original bodies needed it to not look like animated corpses.

    "Thank you, my Liege." The Demons said in unison while giving Lith a bow before walking out the door that Selia immediately closed behind them.

    "Okay, now that we are away from prying ears, feel free to congratte me." The huntress said with pride.

    "No offense, but Solkar is old news so unless he has learned how to change his own diaper, I don''t see why we should." Lith said, making the children giggle.

    "No, he can''t. He stinks a lot." Fenrir made a disgusted face, holding her nose at the memory of the smell.

    "That''s not funny, youngdy." Selia tapped her foot. "Until a while ago that was you. Down to a t."

    "Me?" Fenrir looked both shocked and humiliated. "I did that?"

    "Everyone did." Lith embraced the little girl to console her.

    "Also, what''s with the sass? Didn''t Ryman share with you the big news?"

    "Oh gods!" Rena dropped the empty cups for the tea that bounced on the floor instead of shattering thanks to their protective enchantments. "Selia, are you pregnant again?"

    "Gods, no! I couldn''t survive that!" The huntress said in horror before noticing the sad expression on her children''s face. "I mean, every child is a blessing and I wouldn''t give up on any of my babies for the world.

    "Yet your daddy and I have decided that Solkar is going to be thest for a while. A long while." She took a long, meaningful pause to shook the dread off her voice and find the strength to change the topic and shift the mood.

    "Speaking of that wolfhead, I can''t believe that he never bothered to call you and announce my Awakening." Selia straightened her back, her arms akimbo as she exuded a red aura.

    "Congrattions, Selia!" Elina hugged her old friend.

    "That''s amazing. How does it feel?" Rena''s voice was filled with curiosity.

    "Wow, that sucks! You are the weakest Awakened I''ve ever seen. Are those deep red streaks I see? It''s no surprise you never used chore magic. A deep red core has barely any mana." Lithughed at the vision, drawing several angry gazes on himself.

    "Respectively, thanks, Elina. It feels amazing, Rena. I rarely get exhausted anymore. And I''m sorry for offending your sophisticated eyes, Lith, but I didn''t choose to be born with no mana capacity.

    "Also, with a whole pack of hungry wolves at hand, I don''t get much time to practice. Unlike you I don''t have a big loving family or a hot dude at my finger to take care of the children for me."

    "A hot dude?" Solus pointed at herself in confusion.

    "Let a woman dream. If I was in his shoes, you''d be a man."

    "Well, thanks then." Solus chuckled.

    "Okay, I get it. I''m sorry, Selia. It''s just that I''ve never seen an Awakened with a red core. I thought they were a myth." Lith said before his family piled up on him.

 Chapter 2912 Friendly Rivalry (Part 2)

    Chapter 2912 Friendly Rivalry (Part 2)

    "What about her?" Selia pointed at the sleeping Elysia.

    "She was born with a bright red and she broke through the deep orange a few minutester." Kam cleared her throat, half-sorry for embarrassing her friend and half-proud of her daughter.

    "Damn, then Lith is right. I really suck." The huntress clicked her tongue in annoyance as she studied the baby girl with Life Vision.

    Selia outshone Elysia in life force as much as the baby girl outssed the huntress in mana flow, but being physically stronger than a four months old baby was hardly an achievement.

    Valeron was on the same level as Elisya, while Shargein despite being at the bright red and non-Awakened was already much stronger than the Huntress. To add insult to injury, Selia was already running low on mana.

    "This is not going to be an issue for long." Selia dispelled Life Vision before mana abuse gave her a headache. "The first levels are the fastest to achieve and I''ve breathed my all life. I have plenty of training with that.

    "The problem is that once I reach the deep orange, I''m going to need a teacher. Which brings me to the reason of my visit. Would you do this for me, Kam?"

    "I already have a lot on my¡­ What?" Lith said.

    "Me? Why me?" Kam replied. "Ryman is a powerful Awakened and your children have used magic since the day they learned how to talk. Even Aran and Leria are better and more powerful mages than I am."

    "Which is exactly the reason I want you to teach me." Selia nodded. "The wolfhead and our adorable children are so talented for magic that they use it without thinking. They can''t answer most of my questions because they never had to ask them themselves.

    "Aran and Leria are good kids, but I don''t want to mess up their friendly rivalry with my children. If they teach me, whenever Lilia and Leran mock them, they would also mock me as their apprentice."

    "Thanks, Mom. You are the best." Lilia and Leran were moved by her understanding of the unwritten rules of childish banter.

    "Just like I want to keep my rtionship with Lith as it is. With me as his mentor. The teacher who turned him into a hunter and saved his life." She stood on a chair to recreate the height gap of back when he was a child, and patted his head like a dog.

    "If he were to teach me, we''d be even! I can''t allow that."

    "What about me?" Solus asked.

    "No offense, but you two are joined at the hip." Selia replied. "I don''t want Lith to have augh at my mistakes and struggles the next time you fuse."

    "I would never do that." Lith said with an offended expression on his face.

    "Who are you and what did you do with my apprentice?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

    "Not in your face, at least."

    "Now I recognize you." She jumped off the chair while the two of them chuckled. "Jokes aside, Kam, you know how embarrassing it is being taught by someone much younger than you.

    "To stumble and fail at things that the rest of your family does with ease. To feel inpetition with your own children."

    Kam did know how that felt. Having Aran and Leria as teachers was indeed embarrassing and failing to cast spells that she had always assumed to be elementary stressed her out big time.

    "Fine, I''ll do it." She said with a sigh. "But I swear to the gods, if you turn out to be a magical prodigy and shatter what little is left of my confidence, I''m going to kick your ass."

    "Challenge epted." Selia offered her hand which Kam promptly shook.

    ***

    Arch Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, at the same time.

    The Master finished revising the report from the colony expedition, nodding in satisfaction at Lith''s new achievement.

    ''Good. I didn''t pick Lith as my heir because I wanted his help but so far, he''s been an invaluable asset to my ns.'' Vastor checked the calendar to assess which Guardian would take care of Elysia for the day.

    Kam always kept in contact with her sister which made it easy for the Master to learn about the Guardians'' whereabouts without even asking. He would then focus the Organization''s activities on the Guardianless country since there was a small chance of being discovered, making even the Blood Desert essible.

    With the opening of the transcontinental Warp Gate, the Organization would soon gain ess to Jiera as well. The monster tides with their mutants were bound to provide Vastor with plenty of specimens for his experiments that no one would miss and maybe even suitable monster cores for his Abominations.

    Most of the magic metal and crystal mines of the fallen continent were up for the taking. Vastor had to make the most of it while the situation was still unstable and no other powerhouse would notice his mining operation.

    On top of that, Jiera was filled with piles of gold, tinum, and precious gems that had been abandoned after the gue. Such things had no value for people whose priority was survival and monsters had no use for them either.

    Opening the vaults of the ancient noble households would be child''s y for the Abominations and their content would fund the Organization for years.

    ''I just need to wait until the security measures loosen up a bit. Not even Tezka cane in and out of the capital without risks, but once the Gate is essible to the public, it will be a breeze for him.

    ''Even better, with two out of three Guardians wounded by Tyris, we don''t have to bother hiding our presence. If they dare try and stop us, we''ll deal with them like we did with Ileza.''

    A wide grin appeared on Vastor''s face as he reached the part of the report describing the beating that Fenagar the Leviathan had endured. Knowing how fierce Tyris'' handiwork was, it was safe to assume that it would take him months, maybe years to fully recover.

    Until that moment, the starting point of the colonization, Fenagar''s turf, would be defenseless.

    ''What a moron!'' The grin opened into a burst of cruelughter as he opened a second report from one of his sources inside the Empire. ''He messed up with Tyris even during the fight against the lost city.

    ''Which means that it''s unlikely he and his fellow Guardians of Jiera will receive any help against us, even if they manage to swallow their oversized ego and ask for it. The Guardians of Garlen know how to hold a grudge and Fenagar''s antics have pissed them all off at the same time.''

    Vastor took a map of Jiera where Tezka had sketched the rough outlines of the three Guardians'' respective turfs. Fenagar''s was on the west side of the continent, facing the ocean from north and west.

    Roghar''s took most of the east side, with ess to the ocean from east and north. It was the only one connected to the eastern continent of Zima through a wide stretch ofnd.

 Chapter 2913 Price of Failure (Part 1)

    Chapter 2913 Price of Failure (Part 1)

    The border between the two continents was guarded night and day by the Guardians of Zima, to make sure that none of Jiera''s problems became their own.

    Zagran''s turf was in the south, and it was off-limits. ording to Tezka, the Garuda was a force to be reckoned with and she had several disciples that patrolled the area, keeping track of the monster tides and lost cities.

    She was the only Guardian at her full strength, and the Master preferred to not mess with her unless it was necessary. Last, but not least, ording to the Kingdom''s report, Sark was still in a good rtionship with Zagran, since they were on a moniker basis.

    Vastor painted the south part of Jiera with a blood-red color that marked it as a recon-only area reserved for Abomination that specialized in stealth. After sharing the map and the good news with the members of the Organizations, he summoned his seconds inmand into his office.

    "What''s the status of our current operations?"

    "Pretty good." Nelia the Griffon said. "We have gained control over the vast majority of Garlen''s ck markets. The influence of the Undead Courts is at its weakest and we are uprooting what''s left of their local branches with little effort.

    "I''ve also taken care of opening several stores on Verendi.

    "With the elders of the local Council dead and one Guardian critically wounded, the entire continent is in chaos. There are more ongoing wars than countries and every one of them is willing to pay any price for the weapons they need to win.

    "This alone provides us with a flow of cash and magical resources that can keep our research departments operating at full capacity without breaks or tapping into your personal resources."

    "Excellent." Vastor nodded and then turned to Zoreth. "Speaking of Ileza, what did you learn from her examination?"

    "Not much." The Shadow Dragon shrugged. "She wasn''t very cooperative or open tomunication.Her weakened state, however, has allowed us to study both her physiology and the way a Guardian interacts with the world energy.

    "Physically, she isn''t much different from Theseus. Just bigger and stronger, but that was expected. Her vitality, however, was off the charts. Even in her crippled state, she could heal wounds without bing weaker and regrowing entire limbs out of thin air.

    "It doesn''t make sense. Not even Guardians can create something out of nothing. I think the exnation is rted to the second issue." She turned to Nandi the Minotaur.

    Vastor was the only Awakened in the Organization but he didn''t dare appear in front of a Guardian. Ileza would have recognized him no matter what disguise he wore and then revealed his identity to the rest of Mogar.

    Killing her wasn''t an option. No one had ever murdered a Guardian or witnessed it so the consequences of such an act against Mogar were unknown. On top of that, Vastor couldn''t risk turning his Organization into the public enemy number one.

    Until that moment, the local Guardians chased his Abominations on their own, and only if the Eldritches made a mess big enough to draw the Guardians'' attention. The death of a Guardian, however, would turn the Organization from an afterthought into a priority.

    Something that Vastor couldn''t allow, yet.

    It was the reason he had entrusted the task of studying Ileza''s mana core to Nandi. Not only was his ability to control the world energy had no equals but also he had spent months in Baba Yaga''spany.

    His knowledge allowed him topare the effects of a Guardian core with those of a white core and was the Organization''s best shot at understanding you both of them worked.

    Legends said that whoever conquered the ck and the white core together would gain the power to challenge the Guardians. s, not even Tezka knew if the rumor had a basis of truth or if it was just a hoax.

    "Witnessing Ileza fight inside her very turf was a unique opportunity." The Minotaur said. "From what I could observe from Baba Yaga, white cores constantly draw in massive amounts of world energy even without the use of a breathing technique.

    "Ileza could do the same thing, but with a deep difference. She didn''t draw in the world energy. The world energy came naturally to her and answered her everymand without mixing with her mana.

    "To make this simple let''s say that Baba Yaga can shape the world energy as she likes whereas during our fight with the Guardian the world energy shaped itself however Ileza wanted.

    "None of her spells required mana, only her willpower."

    "This is amazing!" Vastor jumped up on his chair in excitement. "Is there any chance you can find a way to replicate this ability?"

    "None." The finality of Nandi''s voice made the Master flop down. "But I''ve already shared everything I''ve learned with Bytra. Maybe she can do it or at least one of her creations will."

    The Minotaur pointed at the Fourth Ruler of the mes that was standing between him and Zoreth.

    "Before talking about that, how did Theseus react to our experiments? Ileza it''s still his mother. For ack of a better term." Theseus the Bastet was actually a clone who had devoured his original, giving him a nk te at life.

    Those like him retained the same personality their originals had before bing Abominations and were free from the burden of millennia of madness and ughter. Those memories, however, were still part of them, making the clones remorseful for actions they had nevermitted and vulnerable to a condition called the Blood Madness.

    "Not very well." Nandi sighed. "He refused to take part in the fight, insisted that we released Ileza as soon as we were done with our research, and threatened to turn on us if we attempted to kill her."

    "That was to be expected." The Master nodded. "How is he now?"

    "Still moping." Nandi shrugged. "Theseus understood what we were doing and why, he just didn''t agree with our methods."

    "Bytra?" Vastor turned to the Raiju, noticing how ufortable the topic made her feel.

    She was a clone as well and one of Theseus'' closest confidants after he had reluctantly joined the Organization.

    "He won''t betray us if that''s what you are asking me." Then, before the Master could answer, she resumed talking. "As for the tower project, I made several breakthroughs but I''m stillcking a few key elements.

    "I''ve learned from Nandi how to bend mana crystals to my will and from you, Dad, how to turn them into memory crystals. This is more than enough to Forgemaster something that can withstand the multipleyers of enchantments that a tower core requires, the problem is that regr crafting techniques aren''t enough ."

    At a wave of Bytra''s hand, two different prototypes appeared on the Master''s desk. There was no one in the Organization capable of using Creation Magic and building a mage tower was beyond expensive.

    The Raiju worked on scaled down models the size of a toy to avoid wasting resources but even this way each failed attempt was a paperweight worthy of the treasure of a king.

 Chapter 2914 Price of Failure (Part 2)

    Chapter 2914 Price of Failure (Part 2)

    One prototype was a tower made of Darwen, coated inside and out with Davross.

    The former would grant the tower nigh-immunity to magic while thetter would provide the artifact with magical conductivity and protection from physical blows since Darwen was brittle by nature.

    The second prototype was made of a single white crystal and was shaped like a Raiju, reminding Vastor of the Horseman''s steeds.

    "Let me guess. This one is the standard tower that can''t move from a mana geyser, like Menadion''s." Vastor pointed at the Darwen miniature.

    "Correction. It can''t function without a geyser but it can move." Bytra said. "Menadion had crafted devices simr to Home Stones that she used to mark mana geysers and Warp the tower from one to another.

    "After the first visit, the tower recorded the coordinates of the geyser and the Home Stone was no longer necessary, leaving no trace of her passage."

    "Brilliant! Warping a building of that size at will must have been a work of pure genius." The Master''s eyes sparkled like those of a kid listening to his favorite fairy tale.

    "More like sheer necessity." Bytra dismissed his enthusiasm with a scoff. "A tower in a fixed position is a security nightmare. Those who want to steal it from you cany in an ambush while those you want to kill will nevere near it the tower would have no offensive value.

    "On top of that, it''s not like you can shrink a building of that size and put it in your pocket." Bytra said, unaware of how wrong she was. "Without the Warp, the tower would be a sitting duck the moment its location is exposed.

    "This is why Baba Yaga made her tower and those of her Horsemen capable of moving freely." She touched the crystal Raiju with a finger. "They still need a geyser to reach their full power but unlike Menadion''s, you can use them anywhere.

    "In my opinion, Menadion''s tower was more powerful but Baba Yaga''s is way more practical. If I had to pick, I''d choose hers."

    "If you''ve already made up your mind, then why are you researching both?" Vastor took the two models in his hands and studied them with his breathing technique, Beyonder''s Eye.

    The two miniature towers were both imprinted by Bytra and utter failures. The different pseudo cores that were supposed to merge into a powerful power core ovepped badly and their mana flows were out of synch.

    "Because I think that Baba Yaga''s tower is more suited to warriors like me who have to travel around and can''t afford to settle on a geyser. Menadion''s tower, instead, is perfect for times of peace or people like you, Dad.

    "A mobile fortress from which to conduct your experiments and avoid pointless conflicts. It''s how I hope to spend my days after we are done with our current projects." Bytra looked at Zoreth with a thin smile that the Shadow Dragon returned.

    "Thank you, Bytra." The Master nodded. "I promise that I''m going to do everything in my power to ensure you a peaceful retirement. That said, what are the key elements you are missing?"

    "First off, to make a tower one needs to conjure too many pseudo cores." The Raiju replied. "Even splitting the Absolution into nine hammers and having everyone helping doesn''t make the cut.

    "We end up exhausted beforepleting even half the work and from that moment, everything is lost." She pointed at the prototypes. "Rushing things doesn''t work and lowering the number of pseudo cores makes the final product a powerful artifact, but it''s far from a tower."

    Even with Nandi feeding the other Eldritch-hybrids with world energy to keep their cores at full power, the mental strain from weaving so many powerful spells in a row wore them out.

    They had to stop the process multiple times to make sure that the various pieces would fit between themselves and once they were done with a pseudo core, move on to the other.

    "After gaining endless mana and stamina, I''ve concluded that the original Bytra never managed to craft her own tower because the foundations of her project were wed.

    "We need to find a way to move the crafting of the single pseudo cores to the preparatory phase so that when we assemble them during the Forgemastery phase they are perfect and we are well rested.

    "That''s the critical moment of the tower-crafting procedure. Each pseudo core must be perfectly aligned and unlike regr Forgemastering techniques, the order in which they are assembled matter."

    Bytra conjured a small Forgemastering circle in the palm of her hand and then several small iplete pseudo cores. She showed Vastor how the sequence they were put together could make their power merely stack, amplify with each pseudo core added, or weaken.

    "The smallest mistake and¡­" Once enough mana had built up and a pseudo core failed to sinch with the others, the whole structure exploded in a burst of light and fire.

    The Fourth Ruler of the mes had conjured sparks of mana for her demonstration so the defensive enchantments of Vastor''s office contained the detonation with ease. Yet the Master could imagine what would have happened if those sparks were pseudo cores fueled by the might of his Hybrids.

    The Vastor Mansion would have turned into a crater.

    Even the failed prototypes standing on his desk were a testament to Bytra''s genius. She had managed to keep them stable, but they still held the destructive power of several tier five spells.

    Unbeknownst to the Fourth Ruler of the mes, she was just one step behind Lochra Silverwing in building a tower with modern magic.

    "Any idea how to achieve that?" Vastor asked.

    "I have several theories but no concrete leads." Bytra sighed. "I need more time and materials."

    "I''ll make sure you get everything you need. Dismissed. I''ll see you at dinner." Vastor put away the documents belonging to the Organization and pulled the paperwork of the White Griffon out of his dimensional amulet.

    The first trimester would soon finish and he had to pitch ideas for the exams, allocate funds to the various researchers of the Light Department, and write the report cards of the students attending the Healer specialization.

    He was barely done arranging everything he needed when he raised his eyes and noticed that the hybrids were still standing in front of him.

    "What?"

    "What about your report?" Zoreth asked, taking one step forward and out of line. "How is the process of merging your cores going?"

    "I''ve made no progress." The Master sighed. "I can now make them ovep at will, but I failed to conjure any element but Decay and Chaos."

    He made his eyes light with mana and his wings pop out of his back.

    "The ck core made it easy to stabilize the Decay, but I think that the other Cursed Elements are going to be-"

    "Who cares about that?" Zoreth cut him short. "I want to know if we can hope for a little brother."

    Vastor''s face became flushed and his eyes widened from embarrassment but itsted a second. Then, color left him and he went back staring at the paperwork like it was a matter of life and death.

 Chapter 2915 Price of Success (Part 1).

    Chapter 2915 Price of Sess (Part 1).

    "No, you can''t." Vastor''s voice was t but the hybrids could sense a tinge of sadness. "Even after evolving into whatever I am now, I''m sterile. My Abomination side may have no longer consciousness but it still drains the life out of me.

    "Maybe I need to further merge my life forces and cores. Maybe I need to fuse them to perfection. We might never know."

    "Not to pry in your private life, but have you tried doing it while you are in the partially merged state?" Bytra asked. "It should reduce the toxicity of your Abomination side."

    "Zinya said the same thing so I''ll give you the same answer." The Master raised his eyes from the papers, the ink he was maneuvering with water magic whipped the documents rather than writing on them.

    "No, I have not and I have no intention to try. While in the merged state, everything of me is infused with Abomination tissues but I can control them because they are part of my body. The problem starts when they get outside.

    "We all know how even a minuscule fragment of an Abomination can thrive as long as it has enough life force to prey upon. It''s how I turned whole tribes of monsters into Abominations. It''s how you guys became hybrids. I''m not going to put Zinya''s life at risk on a whim. End of discussion."

    Zoreth wanted to keep arguing, but she knew he was right.

    Vastor had sacrificed many things to get where he was now.

    He had betted his own life and those of countless others to give humanity a better future. The Master could shoulder the burden of that choice solely because he knew that it was for the greater good.

    If something were to happen to Zinya or her children just to satisfy his ego, Vastor would never be able to forgive himself. He would be the viin of his own story and lose thest tether of morality he desperately clung to.

    ***

    City of Lutia, a few hourster.

    Aran and Leria hade home straight after waking up in the Desert.

    Only after they were doneining about missing so many hours of sunlight that they could have spent ying and practicing magic with their friends did Rena finally get the opportunity to inform them about Selia''s Awakening.

    "Damn, when it rains it pours." Aran grumbled. "Now even Aunt Selia is Awakened. This is not fair!"

    "What do you mean, it''s not fair?" Lith furrowed his brow.

    "That it''s not fair!" Leria said like it exined it all. "Everyone in the family is Awakened. Everyone but us!"

    "That''s not true, sweetie pie. I''m not Awakened and neither is your dad." Rena said while helping to set the table for dinner.

    Selia, Protector, and their kids had been invited to celebrate the return of the Verhens to Lutia. While the parents helped with cooking and food, Lilia and Leran had shared the big news with their rivals.

    After that moment, they had paraded their mother like the best thing after the discovery of fire, cheering whenever she performed even the most insignificant of cantrips.

    "Only because you didn''t ask for it, Mom. Uncle Lith would have done it for you." Leria replied.

    "She has a point." Lith ked and gutted the fish he had brought from Jiera to give his family an exotic meal.

    "Don''t encourage them." Rena snarled, tired of Leria tugging at her gown.

    "We instead have asked him for years! Dozens of times." Leria ignored both.

    "More like hundreds of times." Lith filleted the fish and skewered the meat for the grill.

    "See, Mom? Uncle Lith recognizes our hard work."

    "I said don''t encourage them!" Rena was about to snap when Senton and Raaz abandoned the peace of the firece and quelled the whining of their respective children.

    "Leria, stop pestering your mother and be a good girl. We have worked hard today in Grampa''s shop and we could use some quiet." To keep their minds off the shocking events of Jiera and the possible involvement of Orpal, the adults had chosen to work despite theck of sleep from the previous night.

    It had worked like a charm, but they were now dead tired since they had been awake for almost 24 hours.

    "Leave your sister alone, Aran, and don''t even think about bothering your mother with this nonsense. She already has her hands full with Surin." Raaz pointed at the baby girl who was crying for apparently no reason while Elina tried to calm her down and Tista to understand with a diagnostic spell the source of the baby girl''s distress.

    "Seriously, guys, it''s no big deal. This is the best I can do. No kidding." A small red me burst from each fingertip of Selia''s right hand, no bigger than what a lighter would produce.

    A few secondster, when Lilia and Leran were still cheering and Aran and Leria gritting their teeth, the mes disappeared and Selia panted heavily.

    "Gods, I think you were right, Lith. Red-cored Awakened must have be a myth because they probably hide out of shame until they get at least the orange. I suck so bad." She winked at him, chuckling.

    At her level, the best she could do was manipte already existing elements, like stirring the water in the pots with water magic or adjusting the heat from the stove with fire magic.

    And even that had to be done sparingly and with moderation. Things like Life Vision, Fire Vision, or conjuring a small amount of elemental energy drained her in less than a minute.

    "Why don''t you want to be Awakened, Dad?" Aran asked. "You would be strong like Lith and we could fly together in the sky."

    Thest part was the only thing Raaz missed, feeling the distance from his youngest son increasing as Aran''s powers grew.

    ''It''s not as bad as it was with Lith, but the two situations don''t evenpare.'' He inwardly sighed. ''Still,pared to Trion, Aran is not going to appreciate much what I can share with him.

    ''Carving wood and farm works must be dull, boring thingspared to magic.''

    "Because magic it''s not a miracle, son. It requires time and study. I don''t want to be a mage. I already have a job I love. I prefer spending my days with you, your little sister, and your mother rather than reading and training."

    "Same." Elina, Rena, and Senton said.

    Even though the rtionship between the cksmith and Lith was lukewarm, Senton was certain that Lith would Awaken him, if Rena asked him to. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "But, Aunt Selia¡­" Leria tried to rebuke but Selia herself shut Leria down.

    "I''m not going to be a mage either. A magica at best. My first goal is to learn chore magic and reach your mother''s level. Then, as my core grows in power, I''ll practice just enough to make sure I don''t hurt anyone by mistake.

    "Once I learn how to fly, my magical education will beplete. No spells above tier three, no fancy dimensional magic, nothing. I''m a huntress and that''s what I''m going to keep doing."

    Since there seemed to be no chance of victory there, Aran decided to try a different angle.

 Chapter 2916 Price of Success (Part 2)

    Chapter 2916 Price of Sess (Part 2)

    "Still, it''s not fair, big bro. Howe Abominus and Onyx managed to Awaken while Leria and I are still fake mages? We spent the same time on mana geysers and practiced magic together. What''s the difference between us?"

    "First, that''s a wrongparison." Lith shook his head. "You guys are about the same age, but while you kids started practicing magic during our camping trip, Abominus and Onyx have done that their whole lives.

    "Also, there''s a big difference between you guys. The level of development of your cores. You and Leria are at the bright yellow whereas Abominus and Onyx had reached the bright cyan when it happened.

    "Why do you think that''s the normal threshold for magical beasts? Why do you think Tista Awakened when she was at the bright green? Because their mana cores had reached a point where the practice of magic stimted a mana flow strong enough to trigger the Awakening." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I don''t want to wait for so long!" Leria cried. "I don''t want to Awaken in my old age like Aunt Tista."

    "Old age?" Tista replied in outrage. "I Awakened at sixteen! If that''s Awakening at old age, then what about Ryman? What about Selia?"

    "They are parents." Lilia replied to the illogical question with a puzzled tone.

    ording to children''s logic, fathers and mothers were supposed to be immortal beings. No kid wanted even to consider the idea of bing an orphan so it was only reasonable that their parents weren''t allowed to age.

    With all the children staring at her and all the parents ring at her, Tista opened and closed her mouth a few times in a perfect goldfish impression before saying:

    "You are right. I''m sorry. I don''t know what I was thinking."

    ''Nice save.'' Protector said via a mind link. ''I don''t mind being called old, but if you put in my children''s heads the idea that I''m going to die, they''ll have nightmares for months. If that happens, I expect you to take care of the mess you created.''

    ''Thank the gods you didn''t call me old. I''d have hated to punch you in the face in front of the kids.'' Kam said.

    She was at the age when that word started to sting and Awakening was too recent for her to fully digest the idea that her life span had greatly increased. On top of that, the passing of time was scary for her as well.

    Kam wasn''t afraid of dying of old age, only of seeing Lith pass away before her due to the damage to his life force. At that point, her Awakening would turn from a blessing into a curse.

    ''Please, gods. Whatever time I have left, make itst no more than a week after Lith is gone. Since we are already here, let''s make it a few centuries from now so that Elysia will be grown up and with a family of her own to help her deal with the grief.''

    As Kam silently prayed for her husband, herself, and her daughter, her gaze instinctively moved to the baby girl.

    "What are they doing?" She pointed at Shargein, Elysia, and Valeron the Second who were leaning against the ypen in their Divine Beast form and staring at the dining room.

    "Gods, they are adorable. They look so cute." Selia''s eyes almost teared up.

    Unlike Elina and Kam, shapeshifting babies were her bread and butter. Even if covered in fur or scales, even with talons or ws instead of fingers, she saw them solely as little bundles of love.

    Lith followed the stares, noticing that they converged on the huntress.

    "Selia, whatever you are doing, stop!"

    "Why? I was just recovering my mana while practicing umtion. I-"

    "In front of Shargein?" Kam was bbergasted. "Do you know what Dragon Eyes are?"

    "Dragon what now?" Selia looked at Ryman who pped his own forehead, cursing at himself for not instructing his wife properly.

    "Sha!" Shargein roared triumphantly as his body emitted a bright red aura that turned to deep orange as his Awakening wasplete. "Mom! Mom!"

    "What going-" Sark Warped in the middle of the dining room, covering the distance with Call of the Blood.

    No force on Mogar could keep her away from a Featherling calling her name. No force but shock, of course.

    "Great Mother almighty, who did this?" Sark pointed at the three Wyrmlings that were emitting their auras while chittering like crazy.

    "How can you not-" The Overlord was furious but seeing the huntress'' red aura, it was clear that she was the Awakened equivalent of a newborn. "Who is the idiot who Awakened you?"

    "I did." Ryman raised his hand while kneeling to her. "I''m sorry. Ipletely forgot to warn my wife. She has no fault."

    "I did." Selia raised her hand. "I''m sorry. I didn''t know Dragon Eyes are a thing and I still have no idea what they do."

    "How can you not-" The Overlord was furious but seeing the huntress'' red aura, it was clear that she was the Awakened equivalent of a newborn. "Who is the idiot who Awakened you?"

    "I did." Ryman raised his hand while kneeling to her. "I''m sorry. Ipletely forgot to warn my wife. She has no fault."

    Sark would have loved to smite him where he stood, but Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir stood before Protector, clinging to his legs in an attempt to protect him.

    "Please, Grandma, forgive him. Uncle Ryman is a good man." Aran said amid hups.

    "Please, don''t be mad." Leria cried over the Overlord''s desert robe.

    "Why are you crying?" Only then did Sark notice that in her rage she had her eyes, hair, and hands burning with white mes. "Oh, that''s why."

    She needed a few deep breaths to calm down and make the mes disappear.

    "It''s all right, kids. I''m not mad. I swear." She said.

    ''Not anymore.'' She inwardly added.

    "So you are not going to hurt Uncle Ryman and Aunt Selia?" Aran shivered like a leaf.

    "No, I''m not." Sark tried to reassure them, but the kids were deeply shaken.

    They had never seen her angry and had never considered the danger she posed, considering the Overlord only as their loving grandmother.

    "Do you promise?" Leria sniffled.

    "I promise." Sark slouched her shoulders, her vow weighed on her but not as much as the headache from the situation. "I''m sorry for my outburst, but this is a big deal. None of my children has ever Awakened at such a young age.

    "Until Shargein was old enough to decide if he wanted to stay in my Nest or leave, I would have not taught him anything but the basics of magic. Spirit Magic and Awakening were supposed to be off the table. This is a mess."

    "I''m sorry, Grandma. I should have thought about this." Lith said.

    "No, it''s my fault." She shook her head. "It''s been too long since thest time I had a baby Dragon and I''ve forgotten they require special caution."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "For example, do you know what that chittering is about?"

    "I don''t speak Dragon, baby, or whatever that is." He replied.

    "First, Shargein has tried to teach them how to use Dragon Eyes, then he has exined them umtion, and now he is teaching them how to open from the inside the spells that keep the ypen locked."

    "He is doing what?" Lith and Kam rushed to the kids, picking one each. "Bad, Shargein! Bad!"

    "Why bad? Sharing good. Shargein good" The Wyrmling tilted his head to a side, wondering why everyone was making a fuss.

 Chapter 2917 Not Normal (Part 1)

    Chapter 2917 Not Normal (Part 1)

    "Sit down." Sark said and Shargein obeyed, shrinking to the size of a human child under her angry gaze. "I expected better from you. Mommy is sad."

    "Sad?" The Wyrmling whimpered, exposing his belly in submission and extending his limbs in a silent plea for affection.

    "Yes, sad. No umtion, no teaching to others, and no magic until I say so. Are we clear?" She asked and after he nodded, she picked him up. "Great Mother almighty, this is going to take a lot of work."

    "What about us?" Lith asked.

    "What about you?" Sark furrowed her brow.

    "What if Elysia and Valeron use umtion? More importantly, do they have Dragon Eyes or not?" Lith was both scared and excited at the idea.

    Scared because dealing with babies with Dragon Eyes was a nightmare and he would need to be extra careful whenever he brought them to the tower. Excite because if Elisya could learn Dragon Eyes, then so could he.

    ''There are endless possibilities just from that. My daughter would be the most powerful mage the Kingdom has ever seen.'' Just the thought of how Elysia would breeze her academy sses, made his heart skip a beat.

    "Sorry to burst your bubble but they don''t have Dragon Eyes." Sark replied, making Lith groan and Kam sigh in relief. "Shargein only carries two bloodlines while Valeron has three and Elysia four.

    "The Dragon blood is too diluted for that. I doubt even Shargein would have it if not for him being a direct descendant of two Guardians. Usually, new species are born from mortals. Shargein''s bloodline is going to be unique.

    "As for umtion, the concept should be tooplex for the babies to grasp it and at this age, they have no discipline. They''d get bored of it after two breaths or get distracted the moment something interesting happens.

    "Like a soap bubble, a butterfly, or any sudden noise. The problem is that Elysia and Valeron are not normal kids. They are not going to forget about it over time.

    "You need to tell them now not to practice it so that when they grow up, they''ll remember that as well ande to you for guidance."

    Lith nodded and shapeshifted his hands, using the Dragon scales and a mind link to convey his worries. He didn''t want to introduce the concept of death so early in the life of the children, afraid to traumatize them.

    Valeron the Second still believed that his parents were alive somewhere and that one day they would return. It gave him hope and Lith didn''t want to take it away from him.

    ''I''ll wait until he''s old enough to tell him the truth. Doing it now would be just cruel.''

    He projected in their minds images of them using the breathing technique quickly followed by Lith, Solus, and Kam bing sad and worried. The more the kids used umtion, the farther away from their parents something pushed them until Valeron and Elysia couldn''t see them anymore.

    "Bad, Dya?" Valeron was the first to grasp the concept, the idea of being left alone again was terrifying to him.

    "Not bad. Danger." Lith exined, emphasizing how it was the colored wind generated by the breathing technique to create the distance. In all the images Lith tried to get close but umtion pushed him away.

    "Dan-ger." Valeron nodded, swearing to himself to never use the weird thing Shargein had just taught him.

    It took Elysia a bit longer to understand what her father meant, but when she did, she cussed Shargein out with every word she considered an insult.

    ***

    A few dayster, once the storm from Shargein''s Awakening had passed and everyone had gotten used to life in the Kingdom again, Lith received several calls.

    The first was from Friya and Quy, informing him of the progress of the expedition in building the first settlement and exploring their surroundings.

    The DoLorean pilots had already located abandoned crystals and magic metals veins but they too far away from the camp. The Kingdom would start the mining operations only afterpleting the base and establishing a safe route.

    "Do me a favor." Quy said. "When you go visit my mother, give us a call, no matter the time. She hasn''t heard from us for over two weeks now and she must be lonely without Dad."

    "Wait, I understand that not being part of the Council Nalrond has no Davross amulet, but what about Morok? He has one and he can call you whenever he wants."

    "Morok is working with Ajatar on a project and even if he wasn''t, Mom would rather wait for my return than share the same air as him." Quy sighed. "The worst part is that the feeling is mutual."

    "Is it that bad?" Lith asked.

    "No, it''s worse!" Orion''s voice roared from out the hologram''s field of view. "Have you ever spent a whole day with the guy? And I mean in hispany, not just in the same ce." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Dad! Morok is not¡­ He isn''t that¡­ He has a good heart. Two of them actually." Quy said.

    Even though she loved him, she couldn''t refute the fact that her husband was a bit rude and that, sometimes, he could be obnoxious.

    "Remember to tell Nalrond that I miss him." Friya chimed in to save her sister from further embarrassment. "Did we miss anything interesting?"

    "Actually, yes. Selia is now Awakened and Shargein stole her breathing technique with Dragon Eyes. He''s now Awakened as well." Lith nodded.

    "He did what?" The Ernases yelled in unison.

    "It wouldn''t be so bad if he hadn''t also taught umtion to Elysia and Valeron. I have given them an age-appropriate warning about the dangers of using a breathing technique, but they are just kids.

    "We have to constantly check on them and make sure they are just breathing-breathing. If you know what I mean."

    "Okay, now I''m sure of it. You must be shitting me!" Orion barged in front of the amulet, demanding an exnation.

    Once Lith managed to calm them down and end the call, he contacted Jirni to schedule a visit. She was back on active duty and with the odd hours of an Archon, it was rare finding her at home.

    "I''m swamped in the middle of something and I don''t know when I''ll be done with it." Only Jirni''s voice came from the amulet, making him worry. "I''ll call you as soon as I''m home at a decent hour."

    "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

    "Thanks for you offer, Lith but this isn''t a scene I would show to kids and the case is cut and dry. Bringing a Magus would be overkill. Jirni out."

    "Did she sound normal to you, Kami?" Lith turned around from his work desk. "Do you think she might need help?"

    "Theck of a hologram doesn''t mean much." She walked near the cribs, checking the readings of the array. "If she was in a dangerous situation her personal amulet wouldn''t have been avable in the first ce.

    "Jirni was either in a room containing ssified material or evidence she can''t disclose to anyone. She is fine."

 Chapter 2918 Not Normal (Part 2)

    Chapter 2918 Not Normal (Part 2)

    Since the day Shargein had Awakened, Solus had devised a magical formation for the tower that checked Elisya''s and Valeron''s cores for the fluctuations deriving from the use of a breathing technique.

    So far, they had heeded Lith''s words but he was too paranoid to trust even a child.

    "How can you be so sure?" He asked.

    "Jirni is as paranoid as you. She knew you would make me listen to the conversation and she used the codeword ''cut and dry''. It means that everything is fine." Kam shrugged.

    "What if she said that the case is a walk in the park?"

    "Then it would have meant that she had been kidnapped and they were currently moving her to an unknown location."

    "Seriously? What the f..arm?"

    "Guys, look at this." Solus walked in apanied by Shargein who was their guest for the day along with Sark.

    The Overlord was exploiting the Library and Soluspedia to clear the paperwork of days in just a few hours. The Wyrmling had quietly slept on a sofa beside her for a while but now he was getting bored.

    Solus handed him a Rubik''s cube with every face split into 49 small cubes instead of just nine and already scrambled. Shargein pulled and pushed until he understood how the various parts moved and then solved the cube in less than a minute.

    She handed him several different puzzles and he solved them with the same ease with which Lith opened a door.

    "Is he a genius or was that just Dragon Eyes?" Lith asked.

    "Eyes." Shargein and Sark replied in unison.

    "You can''t even y cards with a Dragon. They are natural-born cheaters." This part the Overlord said it alone. "Look."

    She took a sealed deck of cards, shuffled it, and handed it to Shargein who shuffled it again.

    "I wonder if all the baby Divine Beasts are so smart of if it''s just Shargein." Lith conjured a normal Rubik''s cube, scrambled it, and handed it to Elysia. "Come on, baby girl, show Daddy what you can do."

    "That''s far from impressing." Kam said. "I can do that too." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Really? You can do this?" Sark opened the cards in a fan, revealing that they had been split by suit again and the cards of each suit were arranged low to high. "Because I can''t, at least not without magic."

    "My bad. I stand corrected."

    "I wonder if all the baby Divine Beasts are so smart of if it''s just Shargein." Lith conjured a normal Rubik''s cube, scrambled it, and handed it to Elysia. "Come on, baby girl, show Daddy what you can do."

    Elysia pulled and pushed until she understood how the various parts moved and then bit the cube in frustration before tossing it away.

    "That''s my girl!" Lith lifted the baby Tiamat while she was still snarling and peppered her with kisses andpliments while Solusughed her ass off.

    "Why so happy? She didn''t solve it." Kam asked in confusion.

    "Because except for the biting part that''s my/his exact same reaction when I/he got my/his first one. I/he never managed to solve one of those." Lith and Solus said in unison.

    "Come on, you are a Magus. This thing can''t be so hard." Kam said and she was still trying to solve it when an hourter they received the second call.

    "Hey, Lith. How are you doing?" Nalrond contacting Lith was no surprise whereas his appearance was shocking.

    The Rezar looked like someone who hadn''t had enough to eat for days and had pulled one all-nighter too many. He had dark bags under his eyes, unkempt hair, and his skin was gaunt, making his features as sharp as knives.

    "I''m fine, thank you. What about you?" Lith recognized the Ernas Mansion behind him which made things even more confusing.

    ''I would get it if Nalrond were in the middle of nowhere, struggling to find a safe ce where to rest and taking care of rationing his supplies. Yet he''s living in one of the mostfortable and rich households in the Kingdom.

    ''No servant of the Ernas would dare disrespect an esteemed guest of their lords and even if they did, Nalrond is a very powerful mage. Something''s fishy here.'' Lith thought and Solus agreed.

    "I''m doing great." The Razar gave them a wan smile. "I''m just tired. With Friya gone I don''t have many distractions so I get easily carried away with my experiments and I end up losing track of time." Nalrond wasn''t lying but he wasn''t telling the whole truth either. He had taken advantage of Friya''s absence to collect more data about the process that he hoped would bring his human and beast sides to merge into one.

    He slept and ate regrly but the wounds he self-inflicted in order to weaken his life forces and study how they interacted once the protective wall separating them thinned were taking a toll on his body.

    "What experiments? Aside from writing a grimoire of the spells of the Rezar tribe to prevent your tribe''s legacy from getting lost in case something happens to you, I don''t remember you working on a project." Solus asked.

    "You are wrong. I''ve been working on a cure for my condition since the day we met and I''ve never stopped doing it." Nalrond''s voice became cold, annoyed by his alleged friends forgetting about his first and only goal in life.

    ''Alleged? First and only?'' He was ashamed of himself as soon as those cruel thoughts crossed his mind. ''Gods, exhaustion is turning me into an even crankier Lith, I need a break.''

    "I''m sorry, Solus." The Rezar gave her a small bow in apology. "I didn''t mean to sound like a jerk. As I said, I''m tired and I probably should get some rest. Before I go, just one question.

    "Why is Friya''s amulet still unavable? She was supposed toe back with you and I''m starting to get worried."

    "That was the original n, but after what happened with the lost city and the ck Tide, Friya didn''t feel like leaving Quy alone." Solus replied. "She asked us to tell you that she misses you and to not worry about her."

    "Fine." Nalrond stiffened at the news. "Do you know when Quy will be done on Jiera and return to Garlen?"

    "A few weeks tops." Lith furrowed his brow at the odd reaction but asked no questions. "Just the time to discover and ssify the most infectious diseases against which the people of Garlen have no natural defences."

    "I see. Thank you." Nalrond sighed.

    He had hoped for a different answer and a swifter return.

    The reason he had ended up in his current condition was that he had been trying to determine how much he had to weaken his life forces to conduct a magical procedure of his creation.

    If everything went well, Body Sculpting would break the effects of Forbidden Magic without forcing him to choose between his bloodlines.

    The Rezar believed to have found the perfect bnce between the human and the beast side but he had already learned the hard way that he needed someone to infuse him with vitality and heal his wounds if he wanted to survive.

    Quy had agreed to help him, but only under the condition that Nalrond discussed his n with Friya first, something he had yet to do. After the promising results of thetest series of test, he was confident in the chances of sess of his procedure and was ready to have that conversation.

    It was time to take the Dragon by the horns and face the consequences.

 Chapter 2919 Not Normal (Part 3)

    Chapter 2919 Not Normal (Part 3)

    Nalrond had spent years expanding on the research of his people, trying to undo what the human mages had done to them with Forbidden Magic. Now that he was finally close to the solution, he couldn''t bear the thought of waiting one second longer, let alone weeks.

    ''It doesn''t matter.'' He closed his eyes and massaged his temples in an attempt to contain the resentment he felt burning at him from the inside. ''I need time to recover. If Friya sees me like this, she''ll think that I''ve gone crazy and she''ll never support my decision.

    ''I need to y my cards right if I don''t want to-'' It was then that the thought that Friya might not only not approve of his decision, but also break up with him pierced through the haze of his obsession.

    With the excuse that he needed more data, Nalrond had kept dying the conversation which had allowed him to not think about how it might end. Now that he had no excuse left, he went pale as he realized the consequences of his decision might entail.

    ''If she epts and the procedure fails, I''ll break her heart and miss all the years we would have spent together. If she breaks up with me and I die, at least I won''t have to hear everyone telling me I told you so.

    ''Yet what if she breaks up with me and the procedure seeds? What then? I would be a new species, sure, but I would also be alone. Unless I find someone else who''s willing to ept me, my newborn race will die with me and all of my sacrifices will be for nothing.''

    On the one hand, Nalrond wanted to go on with the procedure, no matter the consequences. His people had struggled for millennia with their condition and he had worked to find a solution for decades before meeting Friya. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Throwing his heritage in the gutter for one woman was beyond stupid.

    On the other hand, without Friya his sess would have been hollow.

    Only if she supported his decision and the procedure seeded would he get a happy ending but even in his exhausted state it wasn''t hard to realize how abysmal the odds were.

    "Are you alright?" Lith asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

    "Yes. I mean, no. I mean, I need your advice." Nalrond said.

    ''Lith made his rtionship with Kam work and with the help of his tower, the procedure''s chances of sess should skyrocket. If there''s someone who can help me convince Friya that''s him.'' He actually thought.

    "With pleasure. What''s this about?" Lith said.

    "Not here and not now." Nalrond shook his head. "It''s not a discussion I feelfortable having on the amulet and I''m in dire need of sleep right now. Give me a couple of days to rest and put my thoughts in order or I doubt I''ll make any sense.

    "Please, keep your schedule clear because even though it''s not a life-or-death situation it''s a pressing matter to me."

    After Lith agreed, the Rezar inquired about the expedition on Jiera and once he was sure there was no impending threat on Friya, Quy, and Orion, he bid Lith goodbye.

    "That was weird." Kam said.

    "Big time." Solus nodded. "Do any of you have an idea of what he might want to talk about?"

    "It''s Nalrond so it can be only one of three things." Lith shrugged. "There''s something new about his life forces, he wants suggestions about how to propose to Friya, or he just wants me to Forgemaster him a betrothal present."

    "Point taken." Solus nodded. "Probably Jirni has pressured him to make his move since Friya is getting old. I mean, ording to Mogar''s standard." She rushed to add, the topic sensitive for her and Kam.

    Any woman past 25 who was still unmarried was considered a spinster and Friya was already 23. It was one of the reasons Kam had thought that she would never have a family before meeting Lith.

    They discussed the oddity of Nalrond''s condition but there was no real reason to worry about it so they soon split up and went to take care of their respective business.

    Lith spent the rest of the afternoon working on the blueprints for the new models of DoLorean that the Royals hadmissioned him, Kam alternated between practicing umtion and magic, while Solus spent her time inside the Prime Engine.

    ''If there''s something I''ve learned from our fight with the Eternal Fortress is that the passive boost that the tower gives us and the arrays are not enough to even survive against an opponent of that caliber.'' She thought.

    ''We couldn''t use the Firing Range because it would have betrayed the position of the tower and blown my cover, but even if we were alone and there was no witness, it wouldn''t have been enough.

    ''The whole tower wouldn''t have been enough.'' She clenched her hands so hard that they turned white. ''I need to find a ce where to put the Prime Engine''s prowess to the test and see if there''s any way to use it covertly.''

    Lith and Solus had already gone to the same isted areas of the Blood Desert where in the past they had practiced their de Spells to test the Prime Engine in secret. The problem was that they had never fought a real opponent with it and there was only so much they could learn from shooting at dunes and firing at the sky.

    To make matters worse, even in its iplete state, the tower''s battle form was a stone golem over 25 meters (82'') tall.

    The mass necessary to form limbs and reinforce the body came from the underground floors that even though were usually hidden from sightprised half of the tower.

    ''How can we exin we built something like that and where are we supposed to have found the necessary materials?'' Solus inwardly griped. ''Even worse, even assuming we find a perfectly usible exnation, there''s no way to justify the fact that we can only use it in the presence of a mana geyser.

    ''If we pull the Prime Engine out without having an airtight cover story, the Royals and everyone else involved in the War of the Griffons are going to think that we have kept the blueprints of the Golden Griffon and used it to craft a scaled down academy of our own.

    ''Which is partially true since my mother created the academies and the tower so she the two projects are bound to be simr. Yet this makes our situation worse. There''s no point winning a battle if it costs us the trust we have built with our allies.

    ''I need to ask for Lith''s help and if we can''t think of anything, we''ll have to go to Grandma for advice.'' She checked all the Forgemastering catalogs at their disposal but she failed to find an artifact that the Prime Engine could imitate to hide its true nature.

    As for the babies, they entertained themselves with the many hard-light interactive toys in the tower or slept. Whenever they were hungry or needed to be changed, the tower would alert one of the parents and they would take care of it.

 Chapter 2920 Not Normal (Part 4)

    Chapter 2920 Not Normal (Part 4)

    When the babies were lonely, Shargein would bring them to the subject of their desire. Solus had added him to the apprentice list in the tower''s mainframe so that the Wyrmling knew where everyone was at all times and could Warp straight to them.

    "Bad Shargein. Bad! Keep sneaking behind me and I''m going to put a bell around your neck." Lith rushed to cover the blueprints of the DoLoreans when the Wyrmling brought Valeron to him.

    The baby boy often felt the need to check on Lith and make sure he was alright.

    ''Dragon Eyes are supposed to be useless here since Shargeincks the basics of Forgemastering, Light Mastery, and dimensional magic, but being the son of two Guardians, better safe than sorry.'' Lith thought.

    The Wyrmling snorted at Lith, sending two big puffs of smoke in his face. Lith was about to return the favor when he remembered that despite his size, Shargein was younger than Valeron.

    "You are lucky to be so cute, or I would not teach you a lesson." Lith poked the Wyrmling''s snout before taking the baby boy and handing Shargein "The Basics of Magic" book by Lochra Silverwing.

    Valeron cooed happily as Lith rocked the baby in his arms while the Wyrmling opened the book at a random page and then started to turn it around, trying to make sense of it.

    "What are¡­ you can''t read!" Lith snapped his fingers as Shargein red at him in annoyance for stating the obvious. "Grandma, can I teach him or is it too dangerous?"

    "Excellent question." Sark took a break from her paperwork to ponder the dilemma. "On the one hand, sooner orter he''s going to learn anyway. On the other, I''m afraid of what he could do."

    She looked at Shargein as he turned the pages, rotated the book, and raked his brain in the attempt to crack its mystery. Then, he noticed her gaze and chirped at Sark with what Lith assumed was a begging tone.

    "You are right, I can''t teach you responsibility without giving you something to be responsible for. Yet remember your promise. No magic and no umtion without my permission. Are we clear?" She asked and Shargein nodded, wagging his tail in excitement.

    She handed him an alphabet book with illustrations depicting several objects ofmon use for each letter. The Wyrmling flipped through the pages like it was a restaurant''s menu, finishing it in seconds.

    He took the Basics of Magic, holding it the right way, but chirped again at the foreword.

    "That''s the author''s name. It''s not supposed to make sense, just like my name or yours." Sark exined.

    Shargein nodded and resumed reading chirping again just a few secondster.

    "Here." She handed him a vocabry that he flipped until he found the unknown word.

    Shargein went back and forth between books until he got sick of it. He focused on the dictionary, flipping through its pages in a few minutes before starting again.

    "What is he doing?" Lith pointed at the Wyrmling who was turning the pages faster and faster until he reached the end and opened it back on the first page.

    "Memorizing the dictionary. Repetition is the mother of learning." The Guardian replied.

    "Are you serious?" Lith was bbergasted.

    In less than five minutes Shargein had read the thick book ten times and was now moving on to the Basics of Magic. This time he read it from top to bottom without breaks and it took him less than a minute

    Once he was done, the Wyrmling stood up and chirped proudly to his mother. Lith stared at them in shock, remembering how long it had taken him to do the same despite being much older.

    "I''m happy too that you liked it, but remember your promise." Sark caressed his snout as he nodded vigorously. "Now be a good child and say thank you to Uncle Lith."

    "Thank you." Shargein handed back the Basics of Magic with a small bow and a hint of sadness.

    "You are wee. Also, you can keep it. I have more than one copy." The Wyrmling jumped at Lith''s neck, licking his face with joy while being careful to not hurt Valeron.

    Shargein held the book like it was a treasure before storing it inside the dimensional amulet where he kept his snacks. As Sark went back to her work, the Wyrmling Warped Lith to the nursery where Elysia was waiting for them.

    Then Shargein read the titles of the children''s books on the shelf and handed Lith his favorite story, The Three Little Wyrmlings and the Big Bad Snake.

    Finding a creature for the role of the bad guy while adapting Earth''s fairy tales had been a real hassle since Protector was a wolf and Lith didn''t want to make the kids scared of him.

    He had also considered Wyverns, but that would have been embarrassing during family reunions and Leegaain might have resented Lith for that. In the end, everyone had agreed on snakes because Fenagar looked like one, no one liked him, and there was no snake among Lith''s friends.

    He had also considered Wyverns, but that would have been embarrassing during family reunions and Leegaain might have resented Lith for that. In the end, everyone had agreed on snakes because Fenagar looked like one, no one liked him, and there was no snake among Lith''s friends.

    "Do you want me to read it?" Lith asked.

    "Please. I''m tired" Shargein rubbed his Eyes. Learning so much and so fast had taken a toll on him.

    "Dya! Dya!" Elysia and Valeron chanted, seconding the motion.

    Lith conjured a chair and started reading the book that was animated. Literally.

    Every time a new page was flipped, it would project a hologram of the current scene. Lith used air magic to increase or lower the pitch of his voice for each character he yed.

    He was at the scene where the big bad snake hissed and puffed to blow away the wooden cave when hismunication amulet drew his attention.

    "It''s Faluel. Solus, read on while I take this call."

    She nodded and took the book from his hands. Now the three little Wyrmlings had a less deep and more feminine voice, but the waving hair mimicking the storm and a tress acting as the hissing snake more than made up for it.

    Kam was upset with Lith''s choice. She had been watching as well the whole time. She loved it when her husband gave life to stories and she admired the effort he put in doing even the most simple thing for the kids. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Valeron and Elysia were much smarter than the average kid and it was harder keeping them engaged when they failed to understand much of the story.

    The use of holograms allowed them to associate an object with every word, making the story more captivating and increasing their vocabry for when they would be capable of talking.

    Kam would have liked to be the one continuing the story, but she had to admit that Solus was doing a better job than she ever could. With her weak core and limited mastery of magic, Kam was unable to change her voice much, let alone conjure holograms.

    ''It''s fine. I can read them a second story once Solus is done. This is nopetition.'' She thought yet failed to convince herself.

    Lith walked out of the room and conjured a small Hush Zone on himself to not disturb the story while he answered.

 Chapter 2921 Family Lab (Part 1)

    Chapter 2921 Family Lab (Part 1)

    "Hey, Faluel. Is everything alright?" It was a weird hour for a call and he hadn''t heard from the Hydra since before his departure to Jiera.

    "Hi, Lith. I''m fine, thank you. Just a bit annoyed with a friend of mine who disappears for long periods of time and never calls unless he wants something." She replied with a yful tone.

    "I''m sorry." Lith sighed.

    Isting himself was an old bad habit of his that resurfaced every time he was engrossed in his work which happened very often.

    "You''d better be." The Hydra grunted. "You could have at least called me to tell me about the fight with the lost city and that everyone was alright. Instead, I had to find out from the interlink first and then get the details from Friya''s report."

    "I know, but with everything that happened, it slipped my mind." Lith said. "Until the Warp Gate was finished, I was involved with the treaties between the merfolk and Grandma to create new cities in her Desert.

    "Also, with the excuse to act as liaison with the local Awakened Council along with Raagu, I have spent most of my free time scouring their archives for hints about the Ears of Menadion."

    "It''s a nice excuse, but still an excuse." Faluel nodded. "That said, do you have ns for tomorrow? I have something I want to show you."

    "I''m free tomorrow." Lith replied.

    "Perfect. Come to myir first thing in the morning. See you. Faluel out."

    Lith put the amulet into his pocket and went back inside the room. Kam and Solus were reading the story of the Ugly Sparrow, a bad-looking bird that turned out to be a mighty Phoenix and became the ruler of the forest.

    ''This is not one of mine. I wonder if Grandma wrote it or if it''s just based on her.'' Lith thought.

    The two women alternated reading, making the back and forth between the characters more vivid.

    "Mind if I join?" He asked.

    "Not at all." Kam moved to make space for him. "There are lots of birds in this story and I''m running out of voices. By the way, have you noticed that the only friend of our ugly sparrow is a finch? Coincidence?"

    "I think not!" Lith and Solus replied in unison, making the three of them burst into aughter at the inside joke from his memories.

    ***

    The following day, Lith and Solus left the babies at home with Kam and went to visit the Hydra.

    The Beast Ruler of the Distar Marquisate had her home built inside the ck Scar, one of the rare mountains in the south of the Griffon Kingdom which took its name from the obsidian covering most of its rocky surface.

    The volcano had been active until Fyrwal, Faluel''s mother had moved there. After bing one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom, the Hydra had grown weary of the intrigues of the Court and sought the solitude of her secretb in the ck Scar.

    She had diverted the magma flow of the mountain''s fiery core to form a pool that fueled her Forgemastering experiments and yed a key role in smelting and purifying magical metals.

    The mountain also had a steaming hot spring that along with the warm climate of the south made it the perfect ce to live for creatures like the Hydras who were weak to cold.

    After Valeron''s death, Fyrwal had no ties left with the Kingdom and gave her residence to Faluel as aing-of-age gift.

    Upon reaching the Hydra''sir, the stone walls opened, letting Lith and Solus in and revealing an enormous cave decorated with enough riches to put even the most ancient noble households to shame.

    Piles of gold and precious gemstones were mixed with small mounds of magic crystals. The more precious a pile, the nearer to Faluel''s living quarters it was.

    The artifacts she had collected and Forgemastered over the centuries, instead, were carefully stored inside several crystal cases only she could open.

    They formed the walls separating the different rooms of their, serving both as a testament to her guests of their host''s skills and a silent warning of what she could unleash upon them if provoked.

    "Man, if it''s hot in here." Lith looked at the metal tubes running from the hot spring that covered the inside of the mountain''s walls.

    Aplex system of arrays and magical stones spread and amplified the heat carried by the pipes, allowing the Hydra to regte the temperature and humidity of herir at will.

    Ever since Lith had realized the air conditioning system for her as a thank you for saving Rena''s son, Falco, from the Strangler disease, Faluel had used only two settings.

    Scorching summer day for when she was alone and warm summer day for when she had guests.

    "Thank you, but I''m not interested in a married man." Faluel said with a chuckle while she lowered the temperature.

    She was in her human form, resembling a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5''7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with rainbow-colored eyes and long hair that framed her fine features.

    She was wearing a short-sleeved red shirt and what Lith could swear was a jeans overall.

    "Very funny, but before I forget about this for the umpteenth time, where did you get that cloth?" Lith asked. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "This?" She waved at her overall. "It''s just cotton woven ording to an old Hydra tradition to make it more durable."

    "Can you teach me how to do it?" Lith felt a pang of nostalgia from his life on Earth whenever he saw Faluel wearing clothes like that.

    "Sure, but if you sell it and it bes a hit, I demand a huge cut. Now, to business." A snap of her fingers Warped them away from herir and to a much bigger ce.

    The ceiling was over 40 meters (132'') high, with no inner walls and so packed with lesser Dragons that Lith couldn''t see the confines of what he could only assume be an underground cave.

    Seven-headed Hydras stomped left and right as they moved, their heads talking with other Hydras as much as between themselves. Pirs of light were visible at regr intervals that were formed by a series of arrays stacked together.

    The distance between the different sets of magical formations ensured that the spells didn''t interact between themselves and that each pir received enough world energy without hindering those nearby.

    "What is this ce?" Solus asked, feeling small and insignificant.

    She could perceive with mana sense that every one of those present had a bright violet mana core and was at least 20 meters (66'') tall. Some, like Fyrwal, reached over 25 (82'') meters of height, something in-between a Lesser and a Divine Beast.

    Anyone who surpassed the 20 meters was considered an individual blessed with a thicker amount of Guardian blood than average. To give credit to this belief there was the fact that such people were often also gifted with great talent.

    Their towering bodies and overflowing mana cores were no different from those of the Dragons and the Phoenixes that Solus was used to hang around with.

 Chapter 2922 Family Lab (Part 2)

    Chapter 2922 Family Lab (Part 2)

    Yet unlike the Hydras, the Divine Beasts always kept a human appearance to not intimidate the members of smaller races.

    ''Now that I think about it, I''ve never seen Surtr or Rethia in their true form.'' Solus thought and Lith telepathically nodded.

    "Wee to the familyb. Or did you really think that I could work on the Harmonizers and the secret behind Ufyl''s evolution by myself?"Faluel replied. "This kind of work requires a group effort or it would take me centuries to see any progress in my research."

    Despite their stumpy four-legged bodies, the Hydras moved with enough grace to never get close enough to the neers and risk stepping on them. Yet between the rush of their movements and the tails whipping around, Solus felt like an ant in the middle of a road.

    "Is this what you wanted to show me?" Lith asked.

    "Yes and no. Assume your Tiamat form and follow me or it''s going to take us all day to reach our destination. Necks!" Upon her warning, the nearby Hydras made space for her to avoid bumping and shoving each other as she grew in size.

    "Necks!" Lith followed her lead, but his transformation drew many eyes and caused many gasps.

    Not only did he reach 30 meters (100'') in height, the mark of a true Divine Beast, but he also had arms, wings, and the heat of the mystical mes burning within him reddened the tip of his scales.

    It was everything that the species belonging to the Lesser Dragons dreamed of.

    Wyverns had Origin mes and wings, making them the closest to their progenitor among the Lesser Dragons. Yet theck of arms limited theirbat prowess while not having the Dragon Eyes impaired their magical development.

    The seven heads that every Hydra could reach by mastering the elements and Domination made up for theck of Dragon Eyes whereas missing prehensile limbs and Origin mes limited their Forgemastery skills

    In the same way, theck of wings reduced the Hydras'' aerial maneuverability. Body Sculpting could fix some of those issues but the necessary alterations to their life forces stunted the growth of a Hydra if kept for too long.

    "Man, they shrink so fast." Lith patted the nearest of Faluel''s heads, ruffling her scales. "It seems yesterday that you towered over me and now you are as short as Solus."

    "Not funny!" Both women snorted in unison, even though theparison was quite urate.

    The Hydra now barely reached the Tiamat''s chest, just like Solus did to Lith''s human form.

    "Follow me, smartass." Faluel led the way while Lith lifted Solus on his shoulder.

    From that height, they could both take a better look at theb and see their destination.

    A white array formed a white pir that reached the ceiling and contained the winged form of Ufyl the Seven-Headed Dragon, formerly known as Ufyl the Hydra.

    One of his long necks was outside the magic circle, breathing Origin mes inside crystal containers for the others to use.

    The remaining six heads used their Dragon Eyes to study the readings of the arrays, help the other Hydras in their respective lines of research, and try to crack the secrets of the Harmonizer.

    It was because of his bloodline abilities rather than his sincere remorse that Fyrwal had epted Ufyl''s surrender at the end of the War of the Griffons.

    The Mad Queen had seeded in awakening the Dragon blood in the former Hydra by injecting him with Ambrosia and subjecting him to the Madness. They were both fruits of Forbidden Magic but the results were undeniable.

    Ufyl had evolved into a Seven-Headed Dragon, reaching what Hydras considered the pinnacle of their species.

    They hoped that by studying Ufyl''s body and life force they would find a way to replicate Thrud''s results without the use of Forbidden Magic or at least gain insight about how to further their natural evolution.

    Faluel led Lith in front of the white array where her mother, Fyrwal, was having a heated discussion with Ufyl and a few other Hydras at the same time. Her seven heads were syed around, each talking to a different person about a different subject.

    "Everybody, give a warm wee to our guests." The Elder Hydra said when she noticed Lith and Solus approaching. "They are Lith and Solus Verhen."

    At those words, Ufyl raised one of his heads and soon all of them stared at Lith in shock, their mouths agape. The Seven-Headed Dragon was still at the violet whereas the Tiamat had changed much since theirst encounter.

    As he stood there in silence, the Lesser Dragons briefly stomped their forelegs in greeting,cking the means for any hand-rted gesture.

    "I''m Xubari, head of light magic studies." The Hydra was 23 meters (75'') tall and, based on the deep tone of the hissing voice, he was a male. "It''s an honor to meet you."

    Xubari''s body was covered in forest-green scales that on the necks and heads progressively turned into the color of the element they were respectively attuned with.

    "And I''m Anata, lead Forgemaster." The closer head gave them a polite nod.

    Anata was a little less than 22 meters (76'') tall and had a silvery voice that identified her as a female. The base color of her scales was deep brown on her body and became lighter as more and more elemental streaks manifested.

    "You look different from your pictures, Lady Verhen. A smart trick to hide the blessing of the elements and your Awakened nature, I presume." She nodded at the colored streaks in Solus'' hair.

    "Your guess is correct, Anata." Solus nodded. "The humans who don''t know about Awakening consider the seven streaks as the mark of great talent and I want to avoid drawing unnecessary attention."

    "I hope that you won''t mind me saying that they look as good on you as they do on our species." The Hydra''s mouth curled up in a warm smile. "Also, motherhood agrees with you. You are glowing."

    "Thank you." Solus turned to a shade of red in embarrassment while Lith and Faluel cleared their voices in a desperate attempt to hold backughs.

    ''I''m on a diet. I swear!'' Solus inwardly whined at the involuntary backhandpliment. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''I know you are.'' Lith replied. ''Don''t take it personally. She mistook you for Kami and she was justplimenting you. Maybe it doesn''t have anything to do with your weight.''

    ''Let''s hope you are right.'' She grumbled.

    "What?" Fyrwal turned around in confusion. "This is Lady Verhen but not Lady Verhen."

    "What?" Anata looked at the Elder Hydra like she was insane. "You are not making any sense. Maybe you need a break."

    "I mean that this isn''t the Tiamat''s wife. They are¡­ blood rted." Fyrwal failed to find a proper exnation for their rtionship that wouldn''t confuse people further so she went for the official lie.

    "Really?" Anata squinted her eyes to take a better look at Solus. "I''m sorry, but I don''t hang around humans much. You are so small that it''s hard recognizing your features. You look all the same to me until I memorize your energy signature."

 Chapter 2923 Copies and Originals (Part 1)

    Chapter 2923 Copies and Originals (Part 1)

    "Don''t worry. I have the same trouble with magical beasts." Solus replied. "Why did you request for our presence, Faluel?"

    "To update you about our progress and pick your brains about the issues that we are currently facing." The Hydra replied. "We could use a fresh set of Eyes."

    Faluel and Fyrwal winked, both aware of Solus'' real nature and her link with Menadion''s masterpiece.

    "Lord Verhen." Ufyl snapped out of his reverie and fell to his knees. "I know that this is still too little and toote, but I want to renew my apologies for my actions. Ever since I rejoined my tribe, I''ve realized how blinded I was by vengeance.

    "In my hatred for the parents who abandoned me and the master who sold me to Xedros, I''ve hurt countless innocent people. Phloria may be just one of the many, but her death weighs on me the most.

    "Without her, I would have never understood the error of my ways and I would have ended up dead like the rest of my battle-siblings. Every morsel of food I enjoy and every moment of happiness I can still experience, I owe it to Phloria."

    "I''ll ry your message to her parents." Lith nodded, feeling a sting at Ufyl''s words.

    ''In this, we are simr. Without Phloria, I would have given up on my humanity a long time ago.'' The two Divine Beasts shared a moment of silence, that the Hydras respected.

    Only a few of them had met thete Phloria Ernas, but everyone knew she had been precious to Faluel and the grief of one of their own was the grief of them all.

    "So, what''s the status on the Harmonizer?" Lith asked.

    "Well, I have good news and I have bad news." Faluel sighed. "The good news is that we have finished reverse-engineering the schematics of the Harmonizers."

    "Really?" Solus asked in amazement.

    "Yes. We can Forgemaster them in bulk if we want to, but there are several catches."

    "Several?" Lith groaned.

    "Yes." Faluel nodded. "The Harmonizers Glemos used to elerate the growth of mana crystals and magic metals are the easiest to make since they affect only the surrounding world energy, not a life force."

    "That''s fantastic news!" Solus tried to say more but Faluel waved her hand stopping her.

    "No, it''s not. If you remember Ajatar''s mine that Glemos upied, there was one Harmonizer focused on a specific mana crystal and used it as a temte." Lith and Solus nodded for her to continue.

    "The other Harmonizers, instead, collected the surrounding world energy and focused it, elerating the growth process of new crystals. The problem is that you can only obtain copies of the temte."

    "So what?" Lith said understanding the issue one second toote. "Fuck me sideways! This means¡­"

    "Correct." Faluel nodded. "You can''t employ the Harmonizers on already existing crystals and the same applies to magic metal veins. You need to harvest everything but one to use it as a temte, and then you can ce the rest of the Harmonizers on the clean crystal vein.

    "Since the germination phase is the slowest one, however, and you are starting from scratch¡­" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "It would take a long time anyway and you''d have to sacrifice the crystals that were already growing naturally. That''s why Glemos needed the Balors. To force feed the Harmonizers with world energy and speed up the process." Soluspleted the phrase for her.

    "Can''t we do the same thing with Invigoration? We are Awakened, after all."

    "In theory, yes, but who would want to spend months, if not years, pumping world energy into one Harmonizer at a time?" Fyrwal replied while handing Lith the blueprints for Glemos'' version of the Harmonizer.

    "Our current goal is to keep the world energy focusing ability and eliminate the need for the temte."

    Lith wore the Eyes of Menadion, sharing their burden with Solus and Faluel while the Sage Staff further amplified their intellectual abilities.

    ''Easier said than done.'' Solus'' feet resting on his shoulder and Lith''s membranous wing touching one of Faluel''s necks allowed them to use a mind link without anyone noticing.

    ''The purpose of the temte is to guide the energy coursing through the Harmonizer toward a final, stable form that can be cut with Crystalsmithing. Forcing a mana crystal to grow at that speed at random can cause a build-up of world energy.

    ''It would lead to a detonation that would affect the nearby crystals and cause a chain reaction. Best case scenario, you lose the entire crystal harvest. Worst case scenario, the mine copses and you lose ess to the crystal vein.''

    ''Everything you just said is correct, but you are forgetting one thing. The tower''s mine operates in a simr manner but the crystals we grow are stable so there must be a solution.'' Solus said.

    ''It''s not the same thing.'' Faluel replied. ''The tower focuses and amplifies the energy from the mana geyser throughout the entire mine so the crystals are free to grow in every direction at an elerated rate.

    ''With the Harmonizer, instead, the crystal''s growth is limited to the space inside the metal ring. If the growth starts near the edge, there will be part of the crystal forming at a normal rate while the rest grows faster¡­''

    ''And boom.'' Solus nodded. ''I understand, yet I don''t agree with you. The tower''s crystal mine is also capable of using any crystal of superior quality, even those already cut, as a temte to elerate the growth of the weaker ones.

    ''I don''t see why the Harmonizers shouldn''t be able to do the same with the proper tuning.''

    ''Point taken, but I can''t exactly borrow your tower and bring it here for everyone to study your mines.'' Faluel replied. ''Why do you think I entrusted the Hands of Menadion to Friya?

    ''As long as I have to work here, I have no use for them. I trust the members of my family, but not so much to risk internal strife. Hydras are still Dragons and our greed mustn''t be underestimated.

    ''The Harmonizers and the potential evolution are for everyone so there''s no conflict in sharing them, but a single powerful artifact would do more harm than good.''

    "Can I keep the blueprints?" Lith asked Anata. "I need time and quiet to study them. If we want to make this work, the runes about the temte have to be either safely removed orpletely rewritten.

    "It''s not something I can do off the top of my head." Or rather, the Eyes of Menadion needed time to process the information acquired and identify the role that each set or runes yed.

    "Help yourself." The lead Forgemaster said. "We have plenty of copies. We also have crafted a few Harmonizers for crystals, if you are interested."

    "Thanks, but I prefer to build my own after tinkering with the runes a bit." Lith said. "What about the Harmonizers Glemos used to alter the life force and your research to turn Hydras into Dragons?"

    "We have finished studying them too and the problem is the same as the crystals." Faluel sighed. "The Harmonizer needs a temte to work, in this case, a life force."

 Chapter 2924 Copies and Originals (Part 2)

    Chapter 2924 Copies and Originals (Part 2)

    "The reason Glemos performed so many experiments on his followers is also simr. He used Harmonizers with no temte to trigger chaotic mutations and then he would study the life force of those who survived, using them as a starting point for the next batch.

    "Monsters spawn fast so he had no shortage of test subjects."

    "If that''s true, then what about the Balors? Their development rate is not much different from humans. Also, what about the undead? Their fertility rate is abysmal." Solus pointed out.

    "There are two possible exnations for this." Xubari, the lead Healer, said. "Either after many experiments Glemos spotted a tell that allowed him to determine the first steps a life force had to take, and that''s what we hope, or he simply needed a lot of time and sacrifices.

    "After all, Glemos was just thetest researcher, there''s no telling for how long the Tyrant bloodline has studied the Balors. Maybe the Tyrants even mating with Balors in the hope of creating a powerful hybrid.

    "As for the undead, they can be spawned faster than monsters. You only need a fresh corpse and a necromancy spell." A long awkward silence followed those words.

    Solus shuddered, thinking about Nyka and how many like her had been sacrificed just to fill Glemos'' pockets with the Undead Courts'' resources.

    "Wait a second." She said. "If your second hypothesis is correct, why isn''t everyone rejoicing? You have Ufyl''s life force to use as a temte and the blueprints for the Harmonizer. You can take turns wearing it and study each other''s life force." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She looked left and right, noticing that there was only one Seven-Headed Dragon in the cave and that the rest of the arrays contained different models of Harmonizers designed solely for crystals and magical metals.

    "It''splicated." Fyrwal''s necks straightened while the other Hydras looked so glum that Lith felt like someone had suddenly died. "Consider that the difference in mass between a monster and its reverted form is negligible.

    "The alteration their bodies undergo is akin to healing from a body-altering congenital disease but still a disease. The differences between a Hydra and a Dragon, instead, are several.

    "Mass, mana organs, bone density, extra limbs, and the list goes on.

    "There''s a reason why even evolving from a magical beast to an Emperor Beast requires Mogar''s help. The same reason Thrud needed her modified version of the Madness and weeks of gestation to ensure the survival of her generals." The Elder Hydra clenched her ws in anger.

    "When we first developed our own Harmonizers, a researcher disregarded all that and turned herself into a Seven-Headed Dragon."

    "And?" Lith asked even though he already knew the answer.

    "Her body went from 20 to 30 meters of height, her internal volume increased by several times and she developed wings." Half of Xubari''s heads looked down while the other half had an angry look in their eyes.

    "Bottom line, she died of starvation before her body couldplete the transformation."

    "I feared as much." Lith nodded. "I''m sorry for your loss."

    "Don''t be." The lead Healer replied. "My sister was an idiot, but at least her recklessness taught our young ones a lesson. Had she not made such a foolish decision in front of everyone, there''s no telling how many Hydras would have done the same in the privacy of their rooms."

    "And the problems didn''t finish there." Fyrwal continued. "We devised a machine that would feed and nurture a Hydra while his body was gradually altered by a special Harmonizer, ensuring his survival.

    "The experiment was a sess, but the volunteer died anyway."

    "Didn''t you say that the transformation was gradual? How could he die after turning into a Dragon? Did someone kill him out of envy?" Solus asked.

    "Worse." Xubari replied. "At first, everything was alright. Dragon Eyes, Origin mes, Cantor had everything and he was as happy as you can imagine. Yet a few days after emerging from the growth vat, his body started to rot.

    "You see, here''s another thing no one had thought about. Monsters are like any other race. Their individual features and talents are unique, but their bodies all work the same way. Divine Beasts, instead, have each a unique body, depending on their bloodline.

    "A Red Dragon is different from a Darkness Dragon, just like a Shadow Phoenix is different from a Storm Phoenix." The lead Healer used Lith''s bloodlines to better exin the issue.

    "Imagine what would happen if someone tried to forcefully suppress your natural talents and develop others you are not supposed to have."

    "My body would fight the changes tooth and nail, just like it happened to Cantor." The Tiamat replied.

    "Exactly." Fyrwal nodded. "We Hydras may look all the same to you, but each branch of the family has inherited a different bloodline from Leegaain and if we awaken the wrong one, we''ll die."

    "Is this what happened to Cantor?" Solus asked.

    "I wish." Xubari said. "We just put him back in the vat and removed the Harmonizer. They work only while in the presence of a geyser and we couldn''t demand our test subjects to spend their lives as prisoners so the machine is devised to support the transformation both ways.

    "The problem was that as the effect of the Harmonizer faded, Cantor''s body stabilized whereas his mind delved into madness. Even though he had gained the Dragon Eyes and Origin mes for a short while, he was already addicted to them.

    "The pain from the loss of the bloodline abilities coupled with the natural greed of Hydras drove him insane. We sedated him and did everything we could to help him recover but he ended up taking his own life."

    "Gods, I''m so sorry." Solus wanted to hug the Hydra, but with her small body, he would barely notice.

    Also, she had no idea if the gesture would have been consideredpassioned or just rude.

    "Everyone here is." Xubari replied. "Not only is the death of our brethren a tragedy, but if we fail to make the Harmonizers work, their misery will be for nothing. Please, help us."

    Lith pondered the issue for a while, but there was nothing he could do.

    ''My bloodlines awakened and fused on their own, I have no idea how it happened.'' He thought. ''The tower yed no part in it and Menadion was a normal human so there is no floor that can help us.''

    ''Even worse, the Harmonizers arepletely useless for Nalrond.'' Solus said. ''We have no idea what shape his life forces would take once fused and he is thest of his kind. What can we do?''

    ''I don''t know. I wonder how Thrud-'' Lith''s train of thought derailed as he remembered the many unique Divine Beasts born from the Mad Queen''s research.

    "I''m sorry, I don''t think I can help you with this, but maybe I know someone who can." He said after a while. "Can you please Warp me back home? I''ll contact you as soon as I have a definitive answer."

    "Sure." Fyrwal nodded.

    "I also need to bring Ufyl and Faluel with me. Don''t ask me questions, please. Just know that without them, I have no chance of sess."

 Chapter 2925 Ravages of War (Part 1)

    Chapter 2925 Ravages of War (Part 1)

    The Elder Hydra didn''t like being kept out of the loop, but she knew that Lith had many secrets and that there was little trust between them. If not for Fyrwal knowing Solus as Elphyn Menadion, there would be none at all.

    "Fine, but be careful. If Ufyl runs away, finding and capturing him alive would be your responsibility." The underground cave went into an uproar but the Elder Hydra quelled the dissent.

    "Silence! The Council entrusted Ufyl to me. The decision is mine to make."

    "I have no intention of escaping! I want to atone for my crimes, no matter the personal cost or how long it will take." The Seven-Headed Dragon snarled at the crowd in outrage.

    "I hope so." Anata hissed. "The War of the Griffon is far from forgotten and there''s plenty of people out there who would dly rectify the Council''s decision to grant you mercy."

    Not everyone had weed Ufyl back into the fold and the lead Forgemaster''s family was among them. They had lost several friends and rtives during the war.

    To make matters worse, during the conflict the Seven-Headed Dragon had also led the Mad Queen to theirs of the Hydras he deemed responsible for his misfortunes.Their vaults had been raided and their owners wounded or worse.

    "I know. You guys have every right to hate me." Ufyl lowered his gaze in shame. "I''ll be back. I promise."

    "You bet-" Before Anata could reply, Fyrwal dispelled the white array surrounding Ufyl and Faluel Warped the four of them to herir.

    "You can''t go around like that. Shapeshift into human form." She said while taking everything she might need in case things went south.

    Ufyl nodded, assuming the features of a handsome blonde man, about 1.96 meters (6''5") tall man, with blue eyes, a muscr body, a short beard, and the seven elemental streaks.

    "First, clothes." Lith said while Solus became red up to her ears. "Second, no streaks. Let''s try not to draw too much attention. Third, get shorter. Otherwise you are going to impress no one but the wrong people."

    "You are right. Is this better?" Ufyl shrunk down to 1.84 meters (6''), bing as tall as Lith, and his hair became wheat blonde.

    "Almost. What about those pants?"

    "Party pooper." Faluel grumbled and handed the Dragon a spare set of clothes she had prepared for Ryman.

    As soon as Ufyl imprinted the shirt and pants, they shrunk to fit his size like they had been tailor-made. Then, Lith opened a Warp Steps leading to his home.

    "Guys, I''m back and I bring two guests. Faluel and Valeron''s Uncle."

    The Seven-Headed Dragon had yet to take a look around when his eyes fell on the ypen and a tiny voice said: "Ufy!"

    "My Liege!" Ufyl dribbled the extended hands and ignored those who tried to introduce themselves to him, kneeling in front on the babies with his head down on the floor. "I have been so worried about you.

    "I was afraid of what the Council might have done to you after the fall of the Golden Griffon." He said amid hups, feeling a huge burden lifted from his chest.

    Valeron tried to reach him, but the spells of the ypen kept him inside until Lith opened it up. Then, he handed the baby boy to Ufyl while Shargein carried Elysia and both sniffed with curiosity at the neer.

    "Guys, this is Ufyl, one of Thrud''s former Generals and one of the members of Valeron''s extended family."

    The Verhens were still greeting Faluel and questioning her about the identity of the stranger when the revtion made them gasp.

    "Is it safe bringing him here?" Raaz asked, instinctively shielding Surin with his body.

    "Dad, you are being paranoid."

    "And that''sing from Lith." Solus said with a chuckle.

    "There''s me, Solus, Faluel, Tyris, and we are surrounded by a state-of-the-art defensive system worthy of a noble household that I spent years building." He ignored her. "Also, I would have never brought Ufyl here if I considered him a threat."

    "You are right, Solus. This is disturbing." Raaz nodded.

    "Who are these people?" If the Verhens were upset, the Seven-Headed Dragon was terrified.

    The baby girl and the Wyrmling were nothingpared to him but just looking at them sent a feeling of dread down his spine. Yet Valeron seemed to be at ease with them and was talking with them in a rudimentary Dragontongue

    "Ufyl, this is Elisya, my daughter. She''s under the protection of the Guardians. This is Shargein my many-great Uncle. He''s the son of Leegaain and Sark so don''t do anything stupid." Lith said after introducing the rest of his family.

    "I don''t get it, why did you bring me here?" The Seven-Headed Dragon asked.

    "To let you meet Valeron. I assumed that you would both enjoy the reunion." The baby boy giggled, nodding vigorously. "Also, I need your help, but before that you should sit down."

    Not knowing how to react to the situation, Elina offered the guest a cup of tea and some biscuits pretending that everything was normal and her guest was just one of Lith''s friends.

    Aran and Leria didn''t know what to do. On the one hand, they found all Divine Beasts to be cool and they felt safe while inside their house. On the other hand, Thrud had a horrible name and so did everyone associated with her.

    Lith briefly exined to his family the role Ufyl yed in the Hydras'' research, glossing over the technical jargon and the gory details. Then, he revealed to the Seven-Headed Dragon the fate of his siblings-in-arms.

    "Are you telling me that I''m not alone?" Ufyl wanted to jump up from his chair but his knees failed him. "That not everyone died with the Golden Griffon?"

    "Not everyone survived either." Lith shook his head. "Leegaain saved only those belonging to an unknown bloodline and only under the condition that they would remain his prisoners until he is certain they are reformed."

    "I understand." Ufyl took a deep breath, looking for his bnce between the sadness for his shattered hope and the joy from knowing that he wasn''t the only survivor. "I''ll do my best to help you. You have my word."

    Then, he looked at Elina.

    "Can I have another biscuit, please? It''s been a long time since I ate something different from raw meat." The peaceful atmosphere of the house, the mishmash family where everyone looked out for each other, and the warm food reminded him of the Golden Griffon.

    In the records of the winners of the War of the Griffons the lost academy had been recorded as a nightmare born out of Forbidden Magic, but for Thrud''s Generals it had been the first ce they could call home.

    "Sure." Elina filled the te again and handed it to Ufyl. "Take them all. I can always make more."

    "Thank you." He gave her a deep bow.

    "Tyris?" Lith called and the Guardian answered.

    "Yes?"

    "Can you please contact Leegaain and exin the situation to him?"

    "Why don''t you do it yourself?" Tyris asked.

    "Because he never gave me his contact rune. Just like you." Lith replied.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 2926 Ravages of War (Part 2)

    Chapter 2926 Ravages of War (Part 2)

    "That''s because you''d abuse it and you know it." The Guardian scoffed and activated the mind link, making a Warp Gate appear in the middle of the living room.

    Elisya extended her arms, wanting Lith to bring her along, but her father just picked her from Shargein''s arms, kissed her head, and then passed her to Kam.

    "The ce should be safe¡­"

    "I resent that!" Leegaain''s rumbling voice echoed from the Gate.

    "But I prefer going alone. I''m going to meet what''s left of Valeron''s family and it''s going to be hard on us all. I don''t want to risk Elysia activating the Dragon Scales and experiencing my pain or Valeron''s. Please, take care of her while I''m gone."

    "Don''t worry, I will." Kam nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

    "Don''t you mean we are going to meet Valeron''s family?" Solus asked.

    "There''s no we this time." Lith shook his head. "It will be already hard for them to meet me. Facing the Golden Knight would make things harder."

    "You are the Golden Knight?" Ufyl took a step back, remembering how many of her siblings Solus had sent to the resurrection chamber.

    "My point exactly." Lith had the Seven-Headed Dragon go first, then Faluel, and he wentst, holding Valeron the second in his arms.

    Leari the Thunderborne, Ophius the Quetzalcoatl, Protheus, the Father of all Doppelgangers, and the remaining four of Thrud''s generals experienced a roller coaster of emotion.

    First, joy for the unexpected reunion with their battle-brother. They knew of Ufyl''s pardon, but they assumed that he would never learn of their survival like everyone else on Mogar.

    Then, confusion from Faluel''s appearance since they had never seen her in her human form but recognized her from her energy signature with Life Vision. They were just about to ask Ufyl if she was his jailer or one of his rtives when Lith stepped through the Gate.

    Even from the istion of Leegaain''s biomes, they had watched the videos and read the articles about the War of the Griffons that were avable on the interlink. They knew he was the one who had infiltrated the lost academy, dealing it the death blow.

    They knew that it was because of him that the Forgotten had been released from the ve spell, making Thrud''s army copse. Without the power the Golden Griffon bestowed upon Thrud, she had lost to Sylpha and the True Queen''s revolution had died with her.

    They pushed Ufyl aside, unbridled rage burning through their veins as their bodies shapeshifted into the colossal forms of Divine Beasts. Only Protheus stood back. He had just reached the bright green core and knew that he wouldn''t stand a chance against the Tiamat.

    Also, in the back of his head, he was afraid to consume another piece of Lith and be consumed by it. Thest time it had happened, the Mad Queen had saved him and he didn''t know if Leegaain would have done the same.

    There was no way in or out of the Guardian''s home unless he willed so and whoever attacked one of his guests was bound to incur his wrath.

    The fury and outrage of Thrud''s former Generals faded like mist under the morning sun when they noticed the baby carrier on Lith''s chest and the silver-eyed baby who was clinging to him.

    "Lyaba." Valeron smiled as he called them family in Dragontongue.

    "My Liege." The Divine Beasts fell to their knees, crying.

    They hadn''t seen Valeron for months now and until that moment they had been afraid that as a part of their rehabilitation, the Guardian would keep him away from them to force them to let go of their past.

    The baby was indeed theirst tether with the Mad Queen and a constant reminder of their failed mission. More importantly, what remained of Thrud''s loyalists could still rally under Valeron''s name and trigger another War of the Griffons, a possibility that Leegaain wanted to nip in the bud.

    Or so they thought.

    The truth was that after Lith had entrusted Valeron to Sark, she had kept him away from everyone but his handmaidens, Ophya and V. Her goal wasn''t to facilitate the rehabilitation of Thrud''s former Generals nor did she care about the Kingdom.

    She wanted Valeron the Second to grow under the real sun, surrounded by people who loved him because of who he was instead of what he represented. In Sark''s eyes, the love of the Divine Beasts for the baby boy was twisted and dangerous.

    She didn''t want them to tell Valeron stories about Thrud where she was painted like a misunderstood hero killed by ungrateful people. The Overlord was going to tell him the truth, but only in due time, when his personality would have been developed enough for that knowledge to not affect his sense of self.

    To make Valeron the Second grow up as a normal kid instead of the heir of Arthan the Mad King.

    Sark''s only care was to protect his sense of identity and not let his troubled family''s past shape his future as had happened to the Mad Queen. Lith agreed with her and after adopting the baby, he had followed her lead.

    "Stand up." Lith said. "Valeron is no longer the crown prince and he has never considered you as his servants. He thinks of you as family and has just called you as such."

    Thrud''s Bane ordering them around angered the Divine Beasts but his words still lifted their spirit. Almost.

    "Is it true?" Ophius asked while looking at Ufyl. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "How should I know? I was a Hydra all my life. No one has ever taught me Dragontongue." After emerging from Thrud''s Madness as a Seven-Headed Dragon, Ufyl had spent most of his time on the battlefield, in the training rooms, or in the resurrection chamber.

    His role as General and the War of the Griffons hadn''t left him time to spend with King Jormun and learn about Ufyl''s heritage as a full member of the Brood.

    "It''s the truth. You have my word." Leegaain walked between them to protect the innocence of his grandson and prevent the spilling of blood.

    The Guardian was in his human form, that of a lean albino man, 1,75 meters (5''9") tall. His snow-white hair and skin shed with gold as he moved under the artificial sun of the biome that made the room as bright as day.

    His purple eyes shifted from coldness to affection as his vertical pupils moved from the adults to the child. Lith furrowed his brows as he noticed that under his usual pristine whiteb coat, Leegaain was wearing a full suit of scale armor.

    The ck scales clearly belonged to his Dragon form, but Lith also spotted silvery streaks of Davross and ck streaks of Darwen.

    ''Whatever Leegaain was doing until a moment ago, he needed his best protection against physical and magical harm.'' Lith thought. ''That thing must be his Guardian equipment and I''m willing to bet he made it out of his own scales. The question is whether he just shed them or he ripped them put.''

    ''Nice insight.'' Leegaain replied inside Lith''s mind, making him flinch. ''As for your question, I shed them. For a Dragon, molting marks the moment when his scales are saturated with mana and can''t store any more.''

 Chapter 2927 Lies and Truth (Part 1)

    Chapter 2927 Lies and Truth (Part 1)

    ''After a Dragon''s scale is shed, a new one grows from the same root, using the mana conductivity reached by the old scale as its starting point. This way, the new scale develops an increased mana capacity and durability, strengthening a Dragon''s, or in your case a Tiamat''s, natural defense with every cycle.'' Leegaain said via the mind link. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Thanks, and get out of my head, please?'' Lith didn''t like the intrusion but he didn''t dare challenge the Guardian of Wisdom in his own home. Also, disrespecting Leegaain while he was teaching Lith something about his own bloodline was beyond stupid.

    ''You are wee and no can do. You are in my turf and you share my blood, child. From this up close, I''d need to willingly shut you out and we are not on so friendly terms that I can trust you too much. By the way, who taught you Dragontongue?''

    ''Grandma.'' Lith glossed over the fact that he only knew the words for Dad, those that Valeron used from time to time, and "Where is the bathroom" since it was the first one he learned back on Earth whenever he tackled a newnguage.

    Sark had furrowed her brows at his odd and specific request but she had granted it anyway.

    The Divine Beasts stopped kneeling in front of the child and Lith handed Valeron to Leari who was the closest one to them. Then, while the baby was distracted, Lith walked in front of Protheus.

    In his human form, the Father of all Doppelgangers had Thrud''s silver eyes, Jormun''s emerald hair, and bore a semnce to both of them that made Lith struggle between conjuring Ragnar?k to his hand and apologizing.

    ''Do your thing but keep it brief. If Valeron uses Life Vision, we''ll break his heart.'' Lith''s eyes narrowed in spite.

    Spite for Doppelg?nger but also himself for what they were about to do. Protheus nodded and after walking behind a corner, he shapeshifted into Jormun''s form. He was now an exact copy of thete Emerald Dragon, even the smell was identical.

    Only the energy signature could reveal the truth.

    Leegaain summoned the handmaidens, making them walk to Protheus'' side to keep the baby distracted and make sure that the fa?ade would hold.

    The Guardian too hated lying to Valeron, but the truth would lead to lots of pain and more lies. He couldn''t tell the baby boy that his foster father had killed his biological father without destroying the bond between them.

    Leegaain couldn''t exin the circumstances of Thrud''s death either unless he wanted Valeron to grow up feeling responsible for his mother''s madness and the death of hundreds of thousands of innocents.

    The Dragon blood that flowed in Valeron''s and Elysia''s veins made them smarter and gave them a peerless memorypared to normal children but it also deprived them of the blessing of oblivion that their young age usually ensured.

    "Em''har!" Protheus/Jormun said while extending his arms.

    "Dya! Dya!" The baby boy struggled to get free from the embrace of the Thunderborne and reach his father. "Dad!"

    "I missed you so much." Protheus shed tears that he had to wipe off before they fell off his face and turned back into the gtine that they actually were. "Have you been a good child? Is godfather Lith treating you well?"

    "L¨°. Yes." Valeron nodded, alternating between Dragontongue and humannguage.

    Protheus looked at the baby with mock disbelief and turned to Lith for confirmation.

    "He''s better than good. He''s perfect." Valeron giggled at those words and cooed as his father kissed his head.

    "I''m sorry for being absent so often, but your mother needs my help and I can''t leave her alone." The pain Protheus expressed was genuine, a lump formed in his throat as his voice broke. "I don''t know when we''ll be back, but always remember that your parents love you.

    "You are our first andst thought every day." Valeron clung to the Doppelganger as hard as he could.

    The pain of the separation was great but it was nothingpared to the relief he felt knowing that he wasn''t abandoned nor forgotten.

    "Always listen to what Lith says and when you are in doubt, ask Ophya and V for advice. They will always look out for you." Protheus said and Valeron nodded.

    After a few minutes, the fake Jormun handed the baby boy back to Lith and Warped away. Valeron sniffled for a bit, but the still-lingering smell of his father gave him hope while that of his stepfather reassured the baby boy that he had a loving family and a home.

    Seeing how the baby clung to Lith forfort, the resentment of the Divine Beasts melted like snow under the spring''s sun. Thrud''s former Generals knew that they were Valeron''s past and that they could offer him no future but to walk in the footsteps of his mother.

    They waited for Valeron to fall asleep before talking but it didn''t take much. The baby boy tired easily and the whirlwind of emotions had left him exhausted.

    "What do you want, Tiamat?" Leari spoke thest word with so much hatred that it sounded like "murderer".

    "First, exnations are in order. Leegaain, can you please tell Ufyl what you did after I destroyed the Golden Griffon? Ufyl, do you mind exining to your former associates how you have earned your second chance?"

    "Sure." Leegaain briefly exined how he had felt that the role that the lost Divine Beasts had to y wasn''t over yet and how he had saved them from death, granting them asylum.

    After the Guardian was done, Ufyl stepped forward. He recounted to his former allies how after surrendering to the Kingdom''s forces he had begged for mercy and offered himself to the beast Council.

    "How could you stoop so low?" Ophius said in disgust. "How could willingly be a test subject and cast the True Queen''s gift to the swine that killed her?"

    "You sold yourself and the worst part is that you did it for nothing." Leari Hushed Valeron''s ears before starting to yell. "Had you fought until yourst breath like I did, like everyone did, you wouldn''t have died.

    "Lord Leegaain would have saved you and brought you here with us. You sold yourself like a ve because you are a coward! You betrayed the Queen and turned your back on everything she represented just to save your skin!"

    The other Divine Beasts cussed the Seven-Headed Dragon in turns, only Protheus kept himself out of it, and only because he was still torn from the remorse of what he had just done.

    "I''m not a coward, you are!" Ufyl snapped back when the outrage for those usations beat his survivor''s guilt into submission. "I kept fighting until the Golden Griffon was destroyed. After that, there was no honor to have, just bloodshed.

    "You guys refused to surrender only because you were afraid to meet your punishment. You kept killing innocent people because deep down you knew that there could be no forgiveness for what we had done and that what we had done was wrong.

    "I didn''t betray the True Queen, she betrayed Phloria. Thrud betrayed us all!"

 Chapter 2928 Lies and Truth (Part 2)

    Chapter 2928 Lies and Truth (Part 2)

    "Or are you still unaware of how she yed us for fools? Xedros was her puppet all along, not the other way around. Thrud didn''t save us. She used us!" Ufyl had learned the truth from the Council while Leegaain had revealed everything to the rest of the Divine Beasts.

    It was a hard pill to swallow right after losing their freedom, but it was necessary to break the chains that still bound them to the Mad Queen and help them turn over a new leaf.

    It had taken everyone a long while to ept the truth. Most of the former Generals still tried to rationalize Thrud''s actions even after Leegaain had restored the memories that the ve array suppressed.

    epting that their hero was actually their jailer and that every precious memory they had of the time spent together was built on a lie was more than the lost Divine Beasts could take.

    They had endured grueling training and painful experiments. They had experienced the agony of death time and time again. They had betrayed their respective families and in countless innocents, and for what?

    Not to defeat the corrupt Council and free the people of the Kingdom from the tyranny of a usurper, but to further the delusions of grandeur of a madwoman.

    "I didn''t surrender out of cowardice." Ufyl continued as soon as he could see from the faces of his friends that his words had sunken in. "I just wanted to give meaning to the atrocities that we suffered and those we perpetrated.

    "My death would have solved nothing. I offered my life to atone for my crimes and give the Council the chance to put Thrud''s experiments to good use.

    "If the Hydras find a way to evolve into Divine Beasts, sooner orter the rest of the Lesser species are going to do the same and countless youths will be spared the cruelty of their so-called masters.

    "No one will be afraid to be sacrificed like it happened to us. If I just rolled over and died, everything would have been for nothing. History would have remembered us as the foolish pawns of the Mad Queen.

    "I''ve let the whole Mogar know that we were victims of Thrud''s machinations as much as everyone else. I''ve reconnected with my family and I''m doing my best to earn forgiveness during this lifetime.

    "What have you achieved so far that you have the right to judge me? What do you n to do with your lives from now on aside from obeying a new master while trapped in a new jail?"

    The truth of his words shattered thefortable nket of self-pity with which the lost Divine Beasts had shrouded themselves, making them lower their gaze in shame.

    "Speak for yourself. V and I didn''t hide nor cower." Ophya, the blonde handmaiden said. "We shielded Lord Valeron with our bodies when the Golden Griffon was falling apart and after that moment, we have lived in the Desert with him."

    Sark had brought them with her to help the baby adapt to the transition to the new home and to judge the two human women, finding them trustworthy.

    "We''ve never helped Thrud or been part of her schemes." V, the brte chimed in. "Our deal was simple. We would have protected her baby and in turn, she would have taught us how to survive in the outside world.

    "We have served the Mad Queen and then the Overlord with loyalty even after you took Valeron from us, Lord Verhen. Why don''t you let us live with you?"

    "It''splicated." Lith said with a sigh.

    Having two Awakened women as beautiful as them in Lutia would have been a major hassle and theirck ofmon sense would have made everything worse. Were they to let slip Thrud''s name or Valeron''s identity, it would have been a nightmare.

    Last, but not least, Lith didn''t trust them with the existence of the tower and he didn''t want the trouble to find a usible excuse every time he brought the children with him to the Trawn woods.

    "Complicated how?" V asked in confusion. "Don''t you have housemaids and nannies in the Kingdom?"

    "We do, but they can''t kill a man with a p or bend metal with their bare hands. You guys draw too much attention and Lutia is not the Desert." Lith replied.

    "I doubt we are more impressive than a Divine Beast like you." Ophya countered soberly. "Also, we are inexperienced, not stupid. Living among normal people is the best way for us to learn how to act like them."

    "I can vouch for that." Leegaain said. "After you took Valeron, they have taken good care of Shargein. Their only problem is that don''t do well with crowds. Syrook first and Thrudter always kept V and Ophya isted.

    "They are socially awkward and tend to panic."

    ''With Nalrond gone, Rena can use some help with the triplets and Selia with her children.'' Lith pondered. ''On top of that, I can use Awakened security whenever Solus and I are away.''

    "Fine." Lith actually said. "You can move to the Verhen Mansion and take care of my guests. Someone will always be with you and teach you about human customs. You will take care of Valeron in my absence and go in public only if apanied. Deal?"

    Garrik and R neededpany, after all, and the Mansion was too big for the Fomors to keep it clean on their own. On top of that, thanks to its Warp Gate the Mansion was easy to reach for everyone but also far enough from Lutia to keep the handmaidens from learning about the tower.

    Two birds with one stone.

    "Deal." V offered him her hands and Lith shook it. "How much are you going to pay us?"

    "Pay?" Lith echoed, his wallet bleeding at such a cruel word.

    "Yes. We don''t n on living with you forever and once we are done learning normal humans'' customs, we need money to have a ce of our own." V looked at Lith like he was the one withoutmon sense.

    "I have no idea how much a housemaid makes." Lith swallowed his stinginess. "I never had one before. I''ll ask to one of my noble friends and let you know."

    "Why have youe here, Tiamat? To humiliate us and get cheapbor on your way out?" Ophius said with the snarl.

    He and the rest of the lost Divine Beasts looked at the handmaidens in envy. They were free toe and go as they wanted. They had yed no part in Thrud''s uprising so they had no penance to make and no one knew about their existence.

    "There''s no such a thing as cheapbor." Lith said with the tone of a man with the purse of a great noble and the heart of a miser. "Also, no. I didn''te here to humiliate you but to make you an offer. With Leegaain''s permission, of course."

    "I''m listening." The Guardian replied before Leari could make a snarky remark.

    Lith exined to them the potential of the Equalizers and their current limits before presenting his proposal. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 2929 The Path Ahead (Part 1)

    Chapter2929 The Path Ahead (Part 1)

    "No one knows how Thrud identified and awakened the hidden potential of your dormant bloodlines." Lith said. "Even with Ufyl''s help, isting the markers that allowed him to evolve into a Seven-Headed Dragon might take decades.

    "Replicating the process without the use of Forbidden Magic is going to require even longer. If you ept to take part in the research, however, byparing the life forces of the members of your family with yours, the Hydras should be able to spot what you all have inmon.

    "At that point, they''ll be capable of programming the Harmonizer to trigger a specific bloodline instead of reshaping the entire life force.

    "The effect would onlyst while the subject is above a mana geyser, but by studying the changes during the forced evolution, the Hydras can find a way to make it permanent if not even to awaken a dormant bloodline without the Harmonizer.

    "You would help Ufyl, your families, and the beast Council."

    The lost Divine Beasts turned to Leegaain before answering.

    "It''s going to take you much more than that to earn you a second chance but it''s a start." The Guardian said. "You have my permission to participate in the experimentation, if that''s what you want."

    "Permission, not order. Correct?" Leari asked and Leegaain nodded.

    "What do we have to lose?" Ophius said. "Any Emperor Beast who knows us and can recognize our energy signature will live about 3000 years. Rather than just wait for everyone to forget about us, we might as well do something.

    "I don''t like the idea of bing the Hydras'' test subject, especially after enduring the experiments that Xedros first and the True Queenter put us through. However, I''d rather do that and breathe fresh air than being trapped inside Leegaain''s biomes until I forget how the real Mogar looks like.

    "This is our opportunity to get outside and start fixing the mess that we have contributed creating. We have sacrificed countless lives and destroyed entire cities, thinking that it was necessary to save the Griffon Kingdom.

    "s, the only threat to the Kingdom was Thrud and we were too caught in our self-righteous anger to question her actions and motives."

    "That''s assuming that Leegaain has been telling us the truth." Leari pointed out. "Even if he''s right, how can we be sure that we aren''t being manipted again? The Council might want us for our powers, just like the True Queen.

    "If the Hydras lean how to reproduce our abilities and misuse them, how would this be any different?"

    "Easy." Faluel stepped forward, putting herself between the Seven-Headed Dragon and the Thunderborne. "See what''s be of the Kingdom with your eyes and listen to what your past enemies and allies think of you with your ears.

    "I can give you a tour of the regions that have been involved in the conflict and let you witness the consequences of your actions.

    "I offer myself as your guardian and guide until you''ve made up your mind. I ask nothing in return and if you choose not to help the Hydras with our research, you have my word that I won''t reveal your survival to the Council."

    "Why would you do that, Hydra?" Leari asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "We are not of your blood and if we turn down your offer, you''d have nothing to gain."

    "Because I have nothing to lose either if not a little time." Faluel shrugged.

    "What do you mean?" Gulfort the Moonhound asked.

    "I''m no saint, just practical." She replied. "Even if I bring you out of here, you would still be under Leegaain''s watch. Try anything funny and Grandfather is going to make you regret being born."

    "That''s for sure." The Guardian snorted. "You are alive because of me. You are my responsibility, no matter where you are."

    "My point exactly." Faluel nodded. "You are no threat to me or to anyone in the Kingdom. If you end up refusing to help, you are going to be trapped in here for millennia which is punishment enough for me.

    "Spilling the beans to the Council would achieve nothing but souring the rtionship between Leegaain and the Awakened and betraying his trust in me."

    The Hydra took a pause, letting the lost Divine Beasts ponder her words.

    "Before making up your mind, consider this." Faluel said after she noticed with Life Vision that tendrils of mana now connected Thrud''s former Generals in a mind link. "This is your opportunity to share your side of the story, to exin why you did what you did instead of being remembered as bloodthirsty monsters.

    "Also, by helping the Hydras, you''d be helping all Lesser Divine Beasts. You''d improve the lives of your bloodline''s future generations. Maybe it won''t be enough to clean your names, especially if the project fails, but it would still be proof of your goodwill."

    "It''s more than that." Leegaain chimed in. "Actions speak louder than any apology ever could. As I said back when I brought you here, I''m not going to let you go anywhere until you''ve proven me that you are remorseful for your actions and have made amends for them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Don''t think that you just have to wait in thefort of my house and then say that you are sorry. If I''m not convinced of your sincerity, you are going to stay here until the day you die."

    Since it was clear that the choice was between waiting for the members of the current Awakened Council to die and then starting to atone for their crimes and getting to work right now, the lost Divine Beasts needed but a few minutes to made their decision.

    "We take your offer, Hydra." Leari spoke for everyone. "We are going to witness what has be of the Griffon Kingdom under your supervision. Be warned, though.

    "If by the end of our road trip I haven''t changed my mind on the Royals and the Council, I''d rather spend the rest of my life as a caged rat than help those who put me in Xedros'' hands."

    "And so would I." Gulfort said, quickly followed by the rest of the group.

    "What about me?" Protheus asked. "I''m not a Divine Beast but I can replicate their powers almost to perfection. Is the offer valid for me as well?"

    The Doppelganger could now replicate up to two mana organs belonging to a Divine Beast while taking its form. Conjuring more and mixing the attributes belonging to different bloodlines was still impossible to him.

    Leegaain had no idea if it was due to the fact that Protheus'' core was still bright green, because he had yet to master his bloodline abilities after being infused with Ambrosia, or if it was just impossible.

    "The more the merrier. I think-" Faluel tried to say when the Father of All Dragons cut her short.

    "You are allowed to follow yourpanions in their travels, but not to take part in the experiments."

    "Why?" Protheus asked. "Why I am the only one who''s forbidden from seeking forgiveness? How are my crimes worse than those of mypanions?"

    "They aren''t." Leegaain shook his head. "Quite the contrary, your penance is going to be much lighter."

 Chapter 2930 The Path Ahead (Part 2)

    Chapter 2930 The Path Ahead (Part 2)

    "Back then, you were just a newborn and I can''t me you for yourck of judgment. On top of that, you and your children did little aside from espionage. You Doppelg?ngers haven''t led troops in battle nor ughtered the Kingdom''s soldiers. Your role in the War of the Griffon was minimal." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Then why?" Protheus repeated.

    "Because Jormun considered you like a son and I''m going to honor his wishes. I''m not going to put you into danger." The Guardian replied. "If the Council discovers that you survived, the research about the Harmonizers will fade into the background.

    "The only thing everyone will care about is replicating your powers and if it turns out to be impossible, the Council will demand to kill you for the greater good.

    "The existence of a being that can replicate, even partly, all kinds of bloodline abilities is too dangerous. Especially if your future offspring retains the mutation caused by the exposure to the Ambrosia.

    "Until you have mastered your skills and understood your limits, revealing your presence isn''t going to give you a chance at redemption, Protheus, only death."

    For a moment, Faluel dreamed aboutbining Dragon Eyes and Life Maelstrom in battle, using the former to spot the weakness in the enemy''s spells and thetter to exploit that knowledge for a deadly counter.

    Then, she realized that if everyone thought the same, the Doppelganger would be no different from Solus'' tower. A secret that had to be kept at all costs to keep Mogar from being ravaged by wars.

    "I understand but I still find it unfair." Protheus nodded. "There must be something I can do to earn my freedom. I wish to be reunited with my brother before he forgets about me."

    "I understand your frustration but that''s none of my business." Leegaain sighed. "You and your offspring are a menace for all living beings. Very few people know how to deal with your species, you reproduce easily, and you''ve been indoctrinated since birth.

    "Every single Doppelganger is akin to a child wielding a set of powerful artifacts. You are all barely one and a half year old and have had a sheltered life. First inside the Golden Griffon and now in myir.

    "Anything that sets a Doppelganger off can turn a popted area into a charnel house and this is a risk I''m not going to take. As for you, Protheus, you are even worse. You are an angry kid wearing a Royal Fortress armor.

    "There''s no telling the destruction and mayhem you can cause if provoked or angered by people talking about your ''mother''." At those words, Protheus slouched his shoulders in disappointment.

    Not only because the idea of being trapped while the rest of his siblings took the first step to regain their freedom hurt, but also because he recognized the truth in them. s, the Guardian was far from over.

    "To make matters worse, due to Thrud''s meddling, even I have no idea about how your species is supposed to act. Are Doppelgangers supposed to be meek or aggressive? Is your reproductive cycle quick or slow?

    "How long does it take for each of you to reach maturity and what is the parent Doppelganger supposed to teach their newborn before leaving them on their own?"

    Protheus and the rest of the Doppelgangers raised one finger or opened their mouths but not a single word came out. It was the first time in their life that they formted such questions and the realization that none of them had ever thought about such crucial matters before was beyond shocking.

    Due to Thrud''s training, Doppelgangers were meek to their family and duplicitous against everyone else, but that only because they had followed Thrud''s agenda.

    They had no interest in fooling people or taking their ce now that the War of the Griffons was over. On top of that, what about natural enemies? Doppelgangers were the fruit of a forced natural evolution that had likely taken ce centuries if not millennia ahead of time.

    Their forebearers, the slimes, were still mindless creatures that acted only on instinct and incapable of rational thought. If not for Thrud enving them with the Unwavering Loyalty array and forcing them to execute a breathing technique, Protheus would have never been born.

    He had generated many children not because he wanted to, only because Thrud needed more evolved slimes to experiment on them and learn about the abilities of the race she had created.

    Then, the rest of the Doppelgangers had been born to help in the war efforts of the Mad Queen.

    Once again, it was something forced, done out of what was perceived as a necessity and out of loyalty.Almost six months had passed since Protheus and his children had moved inside Leegaain''sir, none of them had felt the need to reproduce.

    They didn''t seem to grow or age over time. The only thing that changed was their mass and that depended solely on the amount of food they ate.

    As for how to cater to their newborns, the Doppelgangers had no clue about that either. The youngest among them was born inside the Golden Griffon and it had always been the Mad Queen to take care of their education.

    The Doppelgangers had spent their time inside Leegaain''sir grieving the death of their mother and her dream first and then getting ustomed to their new home. Leegaain was a fair warden, leaving them free to learn a trade, study, or practice magic based on the individual preferences of his prisoners.

    Protheus and his children had been too busy developing their mana cores and exploring the continent-wide space of the biomes to ask themselves such questions.

    Leegaain gave them the time to realize the abyss of their ignorance before resuming his speech.

    "Despite my objections, I see the value in your arguments. There is only so much that you and your people can learn in a controlled environment. On top of that, it wouldn''t be fair to the rest of the Doppelgangers to let Protheus go out and explore with Faluel while they are holed up here.

    "So, I havee up with a solution that should make everyone happy. I''m going to let you go out for a while, but only under a few strict conditions. First, you will all stay within the Gorgon Empire and in the region of the capital.

    "While so close to myir, I won''t need any focus to follow you around and make sure you don''t mess up. Second, I''m going to split you into three groups, one for each race and have you experience living on your own among them."

    A Doppelganger could replicate the features and physical abilities of nts, humans, and beasts whereas undead were off the table. Undeath wasn''t something that could be imitated and the powers of a blood core had nothing to do with the corpse it inhabited.

    "You are forbidden to help each other. You are forbidden to fight, even for self-defence. Killing you is nigh-impossible so if something goes wrong you have my permission to shapeshift into whatever form you see fit and escape.

    "You can only resort to violence to defend someone else."

 Chapter 2931 The Path Ahead (Part 3).

    Chapter 2931 The Path Ahead (Part 3).

    Those conditions were meant to test the Doppelgangers'' morals and self-control. To determine if their mentality would better fit with human, nt, or beast society, Leegaain needed to know how the Doppelgangers reacted under stress.

    "Last, but not least, you are forbidden to reach a mass superior to that of the form that I''ll assign to you. There is no point in sending you out there to learn about yourselves if you ovee every hardship simply by brute force."

    In their natural form, Doppelgangers looked like a gtinous puddle the size of an intable pool. They could eat as much as they wanted and either retain the mass or split into two different beings, producing an offspring.

    Yet to keep the extra mass, they needed to feed regrly. Otherwise, as it had happened to Protheus, they would just not feel hungry while their bodies metabolized the umted nourishment until they reverted to their original size.

    "Are you telling me that I can''t turn into a Divine Beast?" Protheus was bbergasted. "That none of my children can ess their Chimeric Form? How are we supposed to defend ourselves, then?"

    "You are not." Leegaain replied curtly. "Again, this is a learning experience. There is no war and no reason to fight unless you instigate it. You have known conflict your whole life and now you must get ustomed to peace. Am I clear?"

    "Yes." The Doppelgangers replied in unison while lowering their gaze.

    They had yet to take their first step in the outside world yet they had already learned something new: fear and helplessness.

    "Don''t worry, I''m forbidding you from using violence but I won''t let you be punching bags either. Her, take this." A snap of Leegaain''s fingers made what Lith recognized as a Guilty Ballot appear in the hands of each Doppelganger.

    "Hide it inside your bodies and use it only if you feel that you can''t deal with the situation at hand. You just need to press the button and I''ll answer the call."

    "Wait, didn''t you just say that as long as we are close to yourir you can follow us all at the same time?" Protheus asked in confusion.

    "Correct." Leegaain nodded.

    "Then what point does this thing have? Why don''t you just intervene when we need it?"

    "Why indeed." Leegaain said with a smirk, refusing to reply further.

    ''That''s really smart of him.'' Solus pondered. ''It added anotheryer to the morality test. Thanks to the Ballot, a Doppelganger can escape if they are overwhelmed by social interactions or if they panic in a situation they are not ufortable with.

    ''Were Leegaain to intervene without a call, they would never exercise freedom of choice and develop their ability to judge a situation. This way, a Doppelganger has a "get out of jail free" card whenever they feel like they ended up in a pinch beyond their control.

    ''He just added the "ask for help" option to the ssic fight or flight response.''

    ''Indeed.'' Lith telepathically nodded, taking mental notes for Valeron''s and Elysia''s future education. ''Depending on how the Doppelgangers use the Ballot, he can evaluate who''s immature, who has a weak character, and even who haspassion.

    ''After all, he did say that they can fight to defend others and the Ballot also allows the Doppelgangers to call for reinforcements in case their strength isn''t enough.''

    ''Nailed it in one.'' Leegaain intruded in their mind link, upsetting both Lith and Solus.

    "So, do we have a deal?" The Guardian offered his hand to Protheus who instead of shaking it turned around and discussed the matter with his children, passing Leegaain''s first test.

    ''Had Protheus made the decision for everyone, I''d have withdrawn my offer. The Doppelgangers are no longer soldiers but individuals. They aren''t supposed to take orders but to exercise their free will.'' He thought.

    While the discussion went on, Lith conjured a Hush spell to not be disturbed.

    "I know that it''s none of my business but I''ve been thinking about how to help you with your research about the Harmonizers." He said to the Hydra.

    "And?" Faluel asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

    "And I''ve determined that I don''t have the time to add something else to my to-do list and, more importantly, I don''t care. My life forces have already merged on their own and the tower works great.

    "If and when you perfect the Harmonizers, I''ll add them to the Armory but right now the juice is not worth the squeeze."

    "And you conjured a Hush Zone just to tell me that?"

    "No, to give you a suggestion." Lith replied. "The Harmonizers have little value to me but Baba Yaga might be interested. After all, Glemos adapted them to enhance and evolve the undead, something that Baba Yaga has been attempting to do for millennia."

    Faluel''s eyes went wide in enthusiasm, just to quickly narrow in a worried expression. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I see your point. With the Red Mother''s help, we could achieve our objective much faster. With her expertise on life forces and Forgemastery, not to mention her Creation Magic, we would save decades of research and countless resources.

    "At the same time, however, we would risk to upset the bnce. Based on your report, the Harmonizers provided to all undead a path to evolution whereas with what we have, the device works only on lesser Divine Beasts, leaving all the other beasts and races behind."

    "Hence why my Hush Zone." Lith waved his hand at the air barrier. "Thrud''s former generals know about this but they haven''t thought about the possible implications, yet.

    "I want to avoid giving them ideas about finding a way to contact Baba Yaga and getting from her a better deal than Leegaain''s."

    "I see your point but there''s a catch." Faluel replied. "Even assuming that I want to ask for her help, how do I contact her? White cores are elusive to the point that even most members of the Awakened Council have never met one." "There''s no catch since Solus has Baba Yaga''s contact rune. Right, Solus?" Lith said to his stone ring.

    "Uhmm, yeah but I don''t know how to feel about this." She replied.

    "Me too." Faluel scratched her head in frustration. "This is too big for me. I need to talk about it with my mother first and then we''ll probably need a second opinion from someone trustworthy."

    "I think you got that already." Solus pointed Lith''s hand at Leegaain who had been staring at them all along.

    From that close and inside his ownir, there was little that anyone could hide from him and nothing that those carrying his blood could.

    "Grandfather, I need your advice." Faluel''s words failed to escape the Hush Zone but the thought behind them reached the Guardian.

    "I have many reservations about contacting Baba Yaga as well." He said after stepping through the air dome. "Let''s say that the Harmonizers hold the key to evolution and you manage to find it with her help.

    "After that, your paths will diverge since you have nothing more to offer her anymore. Baba Yaga''s research will progress much faster than yours and the scope of the consequences in case of sess will be also wider.

 Chapter 2932 The Path Ahead (Part 4)

    Chapter 2932 The Path Ahead (Part 4)

    "Based on what you told me, once the undead wore the Harmonizers, they became immune to the sun."

    "Not exactly." Lith said. "The only thing we know for sure is that they were capable of moving during the day. We met them underground so there''s no way to know if sunlight was still lethal or not."

    "Also, don''t forget that Malyshka made her children weak to the sun on purpose." Solus said. "I don''t think she has changed her mind about it."

    "I know, but I also know that she had no qualms about letting her children roam free despite their unintended ws." Leegaain countered. "What if she considers the newfound immunity a w as well and she works on it while her new and improved undead spread?

    "On top of that, even just the ability to move during the day would be a game changer. So far, only a few undead races and undead elders can do that and it alwayses at a price.

    "If all undead became capable of staying awake at full strength during the day, they would double the time they have to dedicate to the practice of magic. There would be no time when the living have a tactical advantage.

    "Even worse, there is no telling what theck of slumber might do to their sanity. Undead never get tired and unlike Liches, they are social creatures. If they lose their minds, the cost in lives to put them down would be high."

    Protheus and the other Doppelgangers finished their discussion while Faluel had barely started discussing her own issue with Leegaain, bringing it to a premature end.

    "Most of us agree to the deal." Protheus waved at those behind him. "Yet there are a few who would like to have a bit more time to think."

    About a dozen Doppelgangers kept themselves a few steps of distance with an awkward look on their faces.

    "We are still too sad, angry, or scared for what happened to the True Queen." A gtinous humanoid creature said. "If we get out now under such harsh conditions, we''d be a liability for our brethren.

    "We don''t want them to fail your trials because of us. Mogar might not be ready for us, but mypanions and I sure are not ready for Mogar."

    "A wise choice." Leegaain nodded. "You can stay here as long as you need, but make no mistake. I will judge you as individuals, not as a whole. The sess or failure of any of you won''t influence the oue of the others unless they contributed to it."

    The group of Doppelgangers sighed in relief, giving the Guardian a bow of respect.

    "It''s excellent news but in our current state, we''d be a burden to anyone associating with us."

    "When do we start?" Protheus asked.

    "It depends on Faluel." The Father of All Dragons nodded at the Hydra. "The moment she brings the Divine Beasts out, I''ll send the Doppelgangers to their respective destinations."

    "I need some time to n our voyage." Faluel replied.

    ''And also to think about whether to involve Baba Yaga or not.'' She actually thought. ''I''ve already heard Grandfather''s and Lith''s opinion but I have yet to ask Mom''s. She''s the only one I can trust to not make a fuss and get burdened with political bullshit.''

    "I''ll be back for you as soon as I''m done with the preparations. In the meantime, I''ll bring Ufyl back to the Hydrab."

    None of it was of Lith''s concern. He only focused on consoling Valeron the Second. The baby was sad about being reunited with his "father" just to be once again separated from the fake Jormun and the rest of his family.

    ''I''m not going anywhere, little one.'' Lith thought and the Dragon scales delivered the message. ''Soon we''ll be back home where everyone is waiting for you.''

    The images of Kam, Solus, Elysia, Shargein, and all the Verhens popped into Valeron''s mind, recing the sadness with nostalgia. As Thrud''s former Generals held the baby and bid him goodbye in turns, the thought of his new family allowed Valeron to not burst into tears again.

    More than one year had passed since the end of the War of the Griffons and just a bit longer since the day the Horseman had single-handedly decided to terminate their bond. Yet he still counted them and each passing day felt like a year.

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, City of Aregal, Barrel Dragon tavern, a few dayster.

    Zepho Ac, the former Ranger of the Ker region of the Griffon Kingdom and Dawn''s former host, couldn''t stop looking at the door with a mix of fear and anticipation.

    More than one year had passed since the end of the War of the Griffons and just a bit longer since the day the Horseman had single-handedly decided to terminate their bond. Yet he still counted them and each passing day felt like a year.

    ''With all the ces in the Empire, someone as sophisticated as Dawn picking a family restaurant can only mean bad news.'' He thought.

    Hearing the name of the tavern, Lith would have imagined the sign picturing a cool gunslinger Wyrm but that was only because he came from Earth. On Mogar, things were much more mundane, and firearms a relic of the past.

    The tavern sign bore the picture of a Dragon sitting inside a keg of beer while drinking its contents with a tankard. The people of the Empire were obsessed with Dragons due to Leegaain''s presence and considered them good luck.

    After the Dragon Dance, people had be bordering fanatical and it had be hard to find an establishment without a Dragon-rted name. The owners of well-known restaurants had been forced to follow the trend, often picking up a ridiculous name to ensure its originality and not be mistaken for one of theirpetitors.

    The inside of the tavern was entirely made of hardwood. The floor was clean but filled with scratch marks left by the constant moving of tables and chairs.On the walls were hung decorative weapons and mediocre paintings depictingndscapes to give the ce some color.

    The tables were squared and could host a maximum of four people. The owner liked to keep them this way to discouragerge groups. Sure, they brought quite a bit of money, but the mess and the noise they made usually drove away the regr clients.

    The increase in profit was vastly overshadowed by the overload of the kitchen, the stress of the servers, and theints of the regrs. Especially those who sat at the bar counter and looked for peace while sipping their drinks.

    As for Ac, he was still one of the Kingdom''s most wanted, but thanks to his long beard and hair, even the few who had ever seen his poster were unable to recognize him.

    He had made up his mind about his bond with Dawn for months now but he had no way to contact her and the only news about any of the Horsemen on the interlink dated back to the War of the Griffons. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Not that I would ever contact Night. She''s crazier than I ever was and his host makes me look like a saint.'' Ac thought.

    How Dawn had managed to track him down was still a mystery to him. Ever since they had split, their energy signature didn''t match anymore and they had never exchanged contact runes.

    Yet someone who imed to be the Horseman had passed a note under his hotel room''s door and set up the meeting.

 Chapter 2933 First Step (Part 1)

    Chapter 2933 First Step (Part 1)

    Ac might have suspected it was a trap, if the note didn''t contain details about him that only Dawn could know.

    Also, his presence was requested, not demanded, and the mysterious messenger said that he had no obligation toe and if Ac decided to stand them up, they would understand.

    The former Ranger was almost sure that it was really Dawn which caused him a mix of fear and anticipation. Anticipation because he was eager to close that chapter of his life once and for all and move forward. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Fear because he was afraid that all his self-reflection and determination would crumble the moment he saw her. Their rtionship had started badly, developed weirdly, and ended abruptly.

    That and the atrocities they hadmitted together had left Ac in a very bad ce. He looked around the wide single room thatprised the tavern, his eyes lingering once again on the bar counter.

    Several Dragon-shaped taps decorated the east wall and by pulling a small lever, they seemed to breathe beer instead of Origin mes. After naming the establishment, the owner had gone all-out on the brand.

    An unwrittenw of the Empire stated that all Dragons'' reproductions had to depict either a single scale or the full body. Mounting a Dragon''s head or w to a wall, no matter if fake, was akin to going around and begging for the beating of a lifetime.

    Hence the taps were only the final part of the Dragon-shaped device that brought the ale up from the barrels hidden behind the counter. Ac found them to be beyond tacky, but more than one new client had gasped at the ingenious visual effect.

    The flow of beer was intense and took the bartender skill to fill a mug without making a mess of the floor.

    A sudden creaking noise announced the opening of the front door, making Ac and the bored patrons turn around to take a look at the neer. It was a woman in her mid-twenties with the pale skin of the people of the Empire.

    She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and features so in that they weren''t worth a second look. She wore a heavy mantle with arge hood that she removed just for the time necessary for everyone to take a good look at her and make sure she wasn''t a wanted criminal.

    Only the hairy and unkept foreigner seemed entranced by her appearance. The moment she politely asked him if the seat in from of him was free and sat down at his table, everyone wished him luck and went back to their business.

    "How did you find me?" Even with a different host, even with the undead woman using Body Sculpting to look like the average Gorgoner, Ac could recognize Dawn anywhere.

    "I''ve looked into your memories for a clue about where you might be and left messages at your favorite spots in the Desert, the Empire, and the Kingdom. Yet the rms I''ve set never activated so I assumed you hadn''t found any."

    "I didn''t." The Dawn-woman blushed in embarrassment, bringing a cute shade of pink to her pallor. "I''ve been avoiding all the ces where we''ve been together. Too many memories.

    "As for your question, I cheated. You still wear my equipment, remember? Among its enchantments, there is a tracking spell that allows me to know your position at all times." She took a brief pause before adding: "And your health."

    "How fitting." He said with a sigh while gesturing to the waiter to take the order of his guest. "You split us up without my consent and dropped me in the Empire before I could recover from the shock of the separation.

    "Now, after months of me trying and failing to reach you, you set the date and ce of our reunion. It seems that our rtionship keeps moving at your pace and with utter disregard for what I want."

    Dawn flinched back like she had been pped, knowing that Ac was right. On the one hand, she could hear the bitterness of his voice and the well-concealed anger behind it.

    On the other, the fact that he was inviting her to order food instead of yelling his answer in her face and walking out of the Barrel Dragon was a good sign.

    ''If he wanted to get rid of me quickly, he wouldn''t bother having a meal together.'' She thought as Zepho ordered for himself first since he had only drinks while waiting.

    Ac had pork shank with a side of roasted potatoes while Dawn asked for mutton stew, onion rings, and a steak.

    "We''ll order dessertter." She said with a smile that left both men shocked.

    The waiter because he couldn''t understand how a woman so thin could eat that much and Ac because he knew that undead were incapable of eating food. From Dawn''s memories, whenever she needed to blend in, she''d have her host order a soup and store each spoonful inside her pocket dimension instead of swallowing it.

    Otherwise she would have soon to find a safe ce where to puke it out without drawing attention.

    "I''m sorry." She said as soon as the waiter was out of hearing range. "I know that it was cruel of me, but try to understand. I knew that you had be too dependent on me to ept to be separated from me.

    "I left you in the Empire, that''s true, but in a safe ce and only because I wanted to give you space. Both emotionally and physically. If I stayed there, you would have either begged me to bond again or called me every name in the book, saying many awful but true things that would have made this moment even more awkward.

    "I''m also sorry for avoiding you for so long. I just wanted to make sure to give you the time you needed to make up your mind. I wanted to visit you every day, but I knew that if you sent me away asking for more time, it would have broken my heart.

    "I''m not trying to justify my actions. What I did is inexcusable but I still need to exin my reasons to you. For what is worth, I apologize for the pain that I caused you. All of it.

    "From the moment we bonded until now."

    "A bulk apology. How very convenient." Ac clicked his tongue, his voice colder than winter in the Empire.

    Dawn whimpered, hiding her face deep under the hood to not make him see her eyes turn watery and think that she was attempting to manipte his emotions.

    ''It''s fair. He has every right to be angry at me. He has to be. It means that I still matter something to him. Were Zepho indifferent, it would mean that it''s really over between us.'' She thought.

    "Apology epted." He said after the silence between themsted until the waiter came with the tes and left. "But not because I''ve forgiven you. Only because you are right."

    "I beg your pardon?" Dawn raised her head after wiping her tears with water magic.

    Ac''s voice wasn''t cold anymore, carrying an emotion that she couldn''t define.

 Chapter 2934 First Step (Part 2)

    Chapter 2934 First Step (Part 2)

    "I said that you are right. Back then your power was the only source of self-confidence I had. I would have never epted to break our bond because I was too scared that, without you, I''d be back to be worth nothing.

    "You also did the right thing by dropping me in a hotel room while unconscious. When I woke up, I wanted to bond back with you and beat you up in equal measure. I needed the distance to take a good look at myself with nothing and no one affecting my judgment.

    "Otherwise I would still be trying to pin my mistakes on you with the excuse that I don''t know where I end and you start." Ac lowered his eyes in shame, thinking back to his victims.

    Admitting to have been a petty, egotistical man who had killed the Rezars who had taken him as one of their own just to coddle his own overinted, wounded pride was hard. Yet the realization that he might never find a way to make amends was much worse.

    He had thought countless times about turning himself in. As a convicted traitor of the Kingdom, he would have been subjected to a painful death worthy of his crimes but that would have solved nothing.

    His victims would remain dead and no one but Nalrond, would be better for it. Maybe.

    Ac had also considered surrendering to the Rezar, but again, his death would have gifted Nalrond a short satisfaction if none at all. He considered Dawn just as responsible as Ac and the Rezar wouldn''t find peace with an iplete revenge.

    "Also, even though the wait has been painful for me, it has allowed me to make sure that I was making my decision for me, not for you. Seeing you or even hearing from you before Ipleted my recovery would have shattered me."

    He took a deep breath, pinching his nose while the memories of the lives he had saved during Battle for the White Griffon steeled his resolve. None of them knew his name nor did Ac give them the time to even say thank you.

    There was no redemption in it, but there was change. The old Ac would have bragged about it with Dawn, deducting the people he had helped from those he had murdered, like it was just math.

    It was his first step in what he believed to be the right direction.

    "With or without you, I''ve decided to- What are you doing?" Ac wanted to look Dawn in the eyes to show her his determination, but she was too busy staring down at her meal.

    Another of the reasons for her hood was that by wearing it, no one had noticed the undead shapeshifting into the Bright Day. Her hair was now raven ck and her eyes golden.

    Her mouth, instead, was filled with mutton and onion rings.

    "Eating." She replied with a voice muffled by the mouthful and the cutest smile Ac had ever seen. "These things give you a terrible breath and make your farts stink like an ogre''s butt but they taste amazing.

    "No one prepares them better than the cooks of the Barrel Dragon. It''s one of my favorite restaurants and the reason I set up our reunion here. I wanted to share it with you."

    As if on cue, the waiter brought a second serving of onion rings, putting it in front of Ac along with a frothing mug of his favorite ale.

    "Since when do you eat?" Ac was bbergasted.

    During the time they had been bonded together, Dawn had always been a cold and aloof mage dedicated to her research to the point of obsession. She had always taken care to give Ac good meals, but only because she needed his body to develop properly to withstand the breakthrough of his mana core.

    She had always considered food solely from a nutritional standpoint.

    Taste was irrelevant to her and Ac had never seen her eat. Even her smiles were something rare that she brought out only for him and only after their bond had turned into a rtionship. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "For a while now." Dawn munched and swallowed in a haste, realizing how silly she sounded with a full mouth. "After the war, I took a short trip with some¡­ acquaintances and I got used to eat again."

    What Ac was noticing, was the lingering echo of Nyka and what her bonding with the Horseman had taught Dawn. The Vampire had never been alive so the taste of food, any food, was an amazing novelty.

    Dawn would eat for Nyka, associating with the various dishes the joy that the young Vampire felt while savoring them through the Horseman''s mouth. The two women had been a bad match up, but Nyka''s bubbly personality had been a breath of fresh air.

    Dawn was a recluse, used to bond with brilliant but power-hungry individuals that would help her further her agenda. The bond was just a means to an end and magical knowledge was the only thing she would carry from a host to the next.

    With Nyka, instead, Dawn had remembered how to appreciate Mogar''s beauty and take her time to stop and appreciate the small things, like a good meal. She had no need to eat, she did it because she liked it.

    Just like she smiled more because she was happy to be reunited with Ac. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, yet she was bottling them inside, afraid to drown him in chatter.

    Ac was taken aback, looking at the Horseman as if he saw her for the first time. His eyes moved from her to the te of onion rings and then to the beer, pondering what to do.

    His hesitation turned her expectant look into the sad expression of a puppy denied attention so he took a bite to indulge her. The onion ring did taste amazing and so did the beer.

    "Do you like it?" She asked with trepidation.

    "Very. It''s delicious, thank you." His words sounded sincere but his expression was clearly embarrassed.

    "I''m sorry, I''ve been interrupting you non-stop with my nonsense. What were you saying?"

    Ac''s face steeled again, turning her stomach into a knot.

    "That I''ve decided my path and that I''m going to follow it, with or without you." He replied while pushing away the te and the mug, making Dawn feel like he was doing the same to her.

    "I know that you are too old for something like guilt and regret, but I''m human. I can''t just pretend that nothing happened and wait for the passing of centuries to blur my memory.

    "I''ve been a horrible person long before meeting you. Our bond simply enabled me to do what I''ve always wanted to do. What had stopped me until that moment wasn''t morals or conscience, only the fear of the consequences.

    "I don''t me you for what you''ve done to me or the people we''ve killed, only myself. I''m the one who epted bonding with you even though I knew the price it entailed. As a Ranger, I was well aware of how a cursed object operates, I simply didn''t care."

 Chapter 2935 Conflicting Interests (Part 1)

    Chapter 2935 Conflicting Interests (Part 1)

    Hearing Ac calling her a cursed object hurt Dawn. The Horsemen weren''t the mad creations of a foolish mage. They weren''t bent on world domination or any self-serving goal.

    The Horsemen were the opus of Baba Yaga, the strongest and wisest white core on Mogar. They were her chosen children, entrusted with the sacred mission of helping her perfect her job and freeing the undead race from their ws.

    ''Yet I can''t deny that to our victims our behavior is hardly different from that of a cursed object. Night is even worse.'' Dawn thought, biting her tongue to keep herself from talking and bracing for impact.

    "On the contrary, you have my thanks." Ac gave her a polite nod of the head where once he would have held her hand. "It''s thanks to you that I''ve realized what true genius is and got rid of my blind pride.

    "If not for our bond, I would have never learned what it means to care for someone other than myself and be taken care of in return. I want to believe that our bond made me a better man and that breaking it allowed me to understand how much I wascking, but I''ve still got a long way to go.

    "I need redemption, but not for the Kingdom''s sake or the Rezars we killed, only for myself. I can''t change the past and saying I''m sorry means nothing. That''s why I''m going to redeem myself through actions, by helping those I hurt in my foolish quest for glory.

    "I don''t seek thanks or recognition. People might never forgive me and they have every right to do so. I''m going to do it because it''s the only way I can forgive myself."

    Dawn tilted her head to a side, remembering the rumors about a nameless Light Master who had appeared during the War of the Griffons and had even taken part to the Battle for the White Griffon.

    Even after the end of the conflict, reports of the exploits of the mysterious Light Master had never stoppeding. He appeared where there was a crisis that the local forces of the Kingdom couldn''t deal with, solved the problem, and left without saying a word.

    "Are you the rumored Spirit of Manohar?" Between Ac''s Light Mastery and skill as a healer, people thought he was the ghost of thete god of healing.

    "Yes." Ac nodded. "I don''t like the name much, but it''s better than the alternative."

    He put his wanted poster on the table, tapping on the huge bounty and the hateful words people hadmented on his crimes with.

    "So, what''s your answer?" Dawn asked, feeling more nervous by the second.

    She could hardly recognize Ac and not because of his new look. Self-pity had been reced by sadness and his previous indecisiveness by strength and resolve.

    "You already have my answer." He replied with a puzzled look on his scruffy face. "If I didn''t want to bond with you again, I wouldn''t be here. That or I would have reported your position to the authorities to settle our score without the need to dirty my hands.

    "I''m the one who''s waiting for your answer. I''ve shared my resolutions with you to let you know who I have be and what my goals are. If you take me back, I''m not going to be your mindless tool or your henpecked husband anymore.

    "I''ll help you to achieve your mission but I expect you to do the same for me. Otherwise we''d better part ways."

    Dawn opened her eyes wide in shock, realizing how foolish she had been. She had let her worries blind her to the point that she couldn''t see past the end of her nose.

    ''I was expecting this reaction.'' Ac waited in silence. ''Dawn is used to having her wants and needse first. On top of that, if we divide our time equally between our respective interests, my work will be easier whereas hers will be harder.

    ''Magical research takes countless hours and can seldom afford distractions-'' Or so he thought until Dawn''s lips curled up in a smile and she leaned forward to close the distance between them, taking his hand into hers.

    "By the Red Mother, I must have acted even worse than I thought if you have such a low opinion of me." Her voice sounded sad and remorseful. "All this time I wanted you to be my partner. My equal. It was you who saw yourself beneath me and acted like I owned you.

    "I wanted you to find your own purpose and goals. Of course I''m willing to support you with all my strength. You already had my answer the moment I contacted you."

    Ac took a deep sigh in relief. He was pondering what to say next when Dawn moved back on her chair, leaving something in his palm.

    ''It can''t be her crystal. Only Baba Yaga or the death of Dawn''s current host can break her current bond.'' He thought and he was right.

    There was a wooden tag connected with a key in his hand, with the sign of the Barrel Dragon on the front and the words honeymoon suite written on the back. Like most taverns, the ground floor hosted the restaurant while the upper floors were for guests needing a ce to spend the night.

    "Until our bond is restored and our cores are synched again, I won''t be able to form a body of my own." She said, blushing in embarrassment. "So I thought we could use this time and my current host to make up in more than one way."

    "Wait. Is this supposed to be a date?" Ac asked and Dawn nodded in reply. "And you picked onion rings nheless?"

    All the nervousness and tension of the moment couldn''t hide the smelling even from a distance.

    "Two wrongs don''t make a right, but maybe two stinks cancel each other." She said while feeding him another piece. "That said, if you want to ''bond'' with me tonight, I''ve a couple of conditions of my own."

    "Which are?" He asked with a chuckle.

    "The long beard and hair have to go."

    ***

    Jiera''s continent, settlement of Darmoq, outpost of the Griffon Kingdom.

    After the destruction of the Eternal Fortress of Thaymos, Orpal had patiently waited for Lith to leave while nning his next move.

    ''I can''t attack Leech while Junior is here. One wrong move and the Guardian protecting the rug rat will end us.'' Even with Moonlight, he knew to not be a match.

    The Dead King knew from Night''s memories that he was still weakpared to her past hosts and that she had survived her spats with Guardians only because Baba Yaga had alwayse to her rescue.

    Now, instead, calling upon the Red Mother would have meant signing off their own death sentence.

    The problem was that after thepletion of the Warp Gate, reinforcement and materials flowed non-stop from the capital of the Kingdom and were often delivered by Royal Guards.

    Orion wore a Royal Armor of his own and he never left the camp alone while Quy and Friya never left at all. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 2936 Conflicting Interests (Part 2)

    Chapter 2936 Conflicting Interests (Part 2)

    One was absorbed in her medical research and the other always vignt to protect her sister.

    As the construction of Darmoq progressed, permanent arrays joined those conjured by the Wayfinder. The Space Compressing array hindered Spirit Blink and even though Orpal could ovee it thanks to Moonlight, he was afraid of Friya''s dimensional awareness.

    ''If I get close enough to kill the healer, the other one might make my dimensional door copse, and not even Davross can resist space itself being cut. Unless Night''s crystal gets caught in the rift, we should survive but the same can''t be said for Moonlight.

    ''If our tower gets cut in half, we will be trapped behind enemy lines and lose one of our most powerful weapons forever. It takes one of the many mages of the camp to chant the self-destruction spell and our life is over.

    ''I want to live to savor Leech''s desperation. I have no intention of sacrificing myself for a constion prize.'' His thoughts made Night sigh in relief.

    She couldn''t help him with anything due to Baba Yaga''s seal, but that also meant she couldn''t protect Orpal from himself.

    As time passed and the fortification of Darmoq nearedpletion, the Dead King gave up on the idea of killing one of the Ernas and moved on to n b. Soon the people of the Empire would leave the safety of the array to search for the location of their own outpost.

    When that happened, there would be no one who might be from Lutia. There would be nothing to seal Night''s power and wisdom anymore.

    When that happened, the ck Night, the Red Sun, and their respective hosts would finally meet.

    ***

    Jiera''s continent, several hundred kilometers into the maind.

    Orpal, the Kingdom, and the Empire weren''t the only forces eagerly expecting for Darmoq to bepleted. It was child''s y for Vastor to get his hands on Orion''s reports about the progress of the construction work and the locations of the resources spotted by the scouts.

    Thanks to the DoLoreans, the prospectors had an easy time avoiding the monster hordes in the surroundings of the camp and outrunning them when discovered. With the help of Farg, the undead, and the elves of Medolin, the people of the Kingdom had already located a few crystal and magic metal mines.

    Ghouls could swim through the ground with ease like a Rezar while the elves'' Soul Vision allowed them to spot a mana geyser with a nce. All forces at y were happy to help in exchange for a share of the future mining operations.

    Elves and undead also offered to cover part of the costs and workforce. With Thaymos dead and the ck Tide gone, Medolin was safe enough to establish routes to the potential mines.

    The elves were eager to learn about the new prospecting spells and observe modern mining tools, like the mana des, in action. Even at the cost of working for free. They had to make up for centuries of stagnant knowledge and a bright future in front of them.

    It was the perfect moment for the Organization to establish the foundations of its private settlements.

    The outposts of the Kingdom and the Empire would offer double the opportunities to smuggle resources, especially once thepetition between the two countries made the security measuresxer for the sake of efficiency.

    It was the reason Kigan had brought Orulm and Abthot to Jiera by flight, dropping them on the maind before going back to Garlen. They were both ancient Eldritchs who had recently received a monster core capable of matching their unique power and could use some practice to get used to their new bodies.

    Yet the real reason Vastor had sent them away was that he didn''t trust them enough to include the two hybrids in his main n. The training in Jiera and finding enchanted mines was just an excuse to put their usefulness to the test.

    The real goal of the mission was for Orulm and Abthot to show their loyalty to the cause of the Organization and the ability to restrain the impulses that fusing a ruthless Eldritch with a bloodthirsty monster generated.

    Were they to lose control while in Garlen, they would reveal the presence of the Organization and ruin the rtionship with the local underworld, reducing the profits from the ck market until a new human liaison was found. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    If it happened in Jiera, instead, nobody would get hurt and Vastor would covertly dispose of the newborn hybrids. He had no need for more liabilities and the power he bestowed upon the Eldritches was too dangerous to let them run unchecked.

    "Shit. We got ourselves exiled." Orulm sighed.

    He was the second oldest Eldritch of the Organization after Tezka and, before they had received their monster cores, the strongest. After living for countless millennia, Orulm had be arrogant and headstrong, but he wouldn''t have survived for this long if he was also stupid.

    He understood the real purpose of the mission and knew that this was hisst chance.

    "No. You got us exiled." Abthot snarled, exposing a row of white shark-like teeth. "You always run your mouth instead of your brain and yourck of foresight has annoyed the Master one time too many.

    "I''m just coteral damage. If only there was another Eldritch who had gotten their monster core at the same time as us, I would have gotten another partner and I wouldn''t be here."

    Orulm grunted, knowing that her words were true. He was used to working alone and had joined the Master''s Organization only for the promise of furthering his evolution.

    The same ambition that had kept Orulm in line until he had gotten his monster core had also gone to his head after receiving it. He had naively believed that since he didn''t need the Master anymore, they were now equal partners.

    At least until Vastor and his arrays had painfully reminded Orulm of the meaning of the call sign "Master". The short, fat man had given the Eldritches their new powers and he could take them away at any moment along with their lives.

    "Fine, I get it." Orulm raised his hands in apology. "Since you are the straight-A student, what''s our next move?"

    Under normal circumstances, Orulm would have taught the insolent whelp a lesson. Yet he had no idea if he was still stronger than Abthot.

    Depending on the monster core, the abilities of an Eldritch were amplified by different folds and there was still no telling which one of them had the bestpatibility with their own.

    Also, he knew that if anything happened to her, the Master would likely suspect Orulm and kill him even if he gave the best cover story in Mogar''s history, just to be safe.

    "Easy. We go to crystal and magic metal mines near enough to the outposts for our envoys to carry the materials to the Warp Gates but far away enough for our mining operations to not be discovered any time soon."The ogre-Eldritch hybrid replied.

    "Also, we need to make sure there is no monster tide, Abomination, or lost city that can mess with our human associates in their proximities."

    "And what if there are?" Orulm asked.

 Chapter 2937 Exploitation Rights (Part 1)

    Chapter 2937 Exploitation Rights (Part 1)

    "Then we drive them away with extreme prejudice." Abthot took a map of Jiera out of her dimensional amulet, marking the position of the Warp Gates and all the enchanted mines she remembered from her past stays in Jiera.

    Once she was done, she passed the map to Orulm who did the same. Creatures as old as them had traveled Mogar multiple times during their lifetimes and mana geysers were an Eldritch''s best friend.

    Even though back then they had no use for natural resources, a mine was the perfect ce to hide and restore their strength while on the run from a powerful enemy.

    The abundant flow of world energy sated the hunger of the Eldritches without leaving a trail of corpses or missing people reports that the Council and the Guardians could follow.

    "Let''s start by checking up on mines that were already being mined before the gue." Orulm said. "There''s no need to reinvent the wheel. If rails and carts are still in ce, our men won''t have to rebuild the necessary infrastructures for the mining operations."

    "Excellent idea." Abthot was pleased to see her partner make a valuable contribution to the mission. "It will save the Organization time and money."

    s, creatures that old had a skewed sense of the passing of time. Most of the mines they remembered had run dry or copsed since centuries had passed from thest visit of time the two Eldritches.

    The few mines that were still active were already upied by either Abominations or monster tribes that had abandoned a tide to settle there. The former received an ultimatum.

    They could join the Organization and oversee the miners'' security, go away, or fight and die. Empowered and Puppeteer Abominations didn''t dare face the Eldritches. Even those who didn''t know Orulm and Abthot by name could still feel their power and were d to join the Organization.

    Eldritches, instead, were proud creatures set in their ways. They found the idea of serving someone repulsive and most of them walked away. No matter how confident they were in their battle prowess, fighting one against two was madness, no matter who the Eldritches were.

    Fighting one against two Eldritches infamous like Orulm and Abthot was suicidal at best.

    Monster tides weren''t a problem as well.

    Unlike the undead, Abominations weren''t picky eaters. As long as someone was alive, it was a meal to them.

    When a tide refused to move to a safe distance from the Organization''s future base of operations, all Abthot and Orulm had to do was to take a stroll amid the monsters'' lines until they found their leader and killed them.

    Without their presence, the rickety order within a monster tide crumbled and the different tribes thatprised it turned against each other. At that point, the Eldritches didn''t have to lift a finger as the problem solved itself.

    If a new leader rose from the chaos of battle, they were usually smart enough to not anger the gods/demons and join their predecessor in death. The Eldritches exploited the monsters'' superstition to ensure their loyalty and keep them exactly where they wanted.

    "Why bother ughtering them all?" Orulm exined his strategy to Abthot. "We have nothing to gain by solving Jiera''s crisis. If we did, the Guardians would have only the lost cities to worry about and sooner orter they would find a way to get rid of them.

    "This way, instead, we are keeping the Jierans on their toes and leaving obstacles in the way of Garleners colonists. The longer they take to wipe out the tides, the longer we can mine for resources without anyone noticing.

    "We must exploit the monster tides and the lost cities to create buffer zones that will hide our bases long enough to stockpile everything we need undisturbed.With a bit of luck, everyone is going to be so busy defending themselves that by the time they chart our mines we''ve stripped them of everything."

    "Wow. You are way smarter than you look." Abthot whistled in admiration.

    "When you get as old and powerful as I am, you get used to solving problems by brawns rather than brains, you runt. It''s easier and quicker." Orulm grunted at the backhandpliment. "Just because I''m a bit off my game it doesn''t mean that I''m dumb."

    As they traveled through Jiera, they collected everything that had been left behind by the previous miners that could still be usable and checked the underground tunnels of the mines for signs of structural failures and cave-ins.

    Years had passed since the gue and theck of maintenance coupled with the monsters'' settling inside the tunnels had often caused significant damage. Mana crystals in their raw form were vtile and a single misced spell was enough to trigger a chain reaction.

    Once the two Eldritches were done with that, they moved on to the final step of their mission. Finding the best position for a settlement where their human associates would reside.

    There weren''t enough Abominations in the Organization to take care of the mining and even if there were, their corrosive touch would destroy the mana des necessary to cut the crystals and ruin the magic metals simply by handling them.

    It was the reason why Vastor was organizing a private group of "colonists" that after signing a waiver, would be free to leave the outposts. On paper, their goal would be to find a small town and cultivate abandoned fields.

    Now that the famine was over, the Griffon Kingdom did not need extra food, but the same couldn''t be said for the outpost on Jiera. Darmoq couldn''t rely solely on import or at the first malfunction of the Transoceanic Gate the colonists would starve.

    The technology was untested and problems had to be expected. On top of that, until the Kingdom located usable mines and started collecting resources, the entire colonization process was a loss for the Royal Treasury.

    The Crown could use a local source of food and cut some of its losses. On top of that, being a private venture, Vastor''s private venture of "farmers" would cause no further burden on the budget.

    As for the Gorgon Empire, even without the famine, the harsh climate condition of the country made growing food a priority. The cities of the Empire were already forced to pay a share of their annual taxes with crops in order to feed the personnel of their prized flying fortresses.

    One of the Master''s middlemen had already contacted the Magic Council, the Empire''s governing organ that elected the Magic Emperor and assisted Milea''s political program, and had received their enthusiastic support.

    The private farms would serve as both watchtowers to warn the future Empire''s outpost of impending dangers and as an additional source of food until the Gorgoners had gained a foothold on Jiera strong enough to safely cultivate thend on their own.

    For both the Kingdom and the Empire, these privatepanies were undertaking a high-risk high-reward gamble that would help the two countries in their endeavour in case of sess and have no consequences in case of failure. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It seemed too good to be true and in fact it was.

 Chapter 2938 Exploitation Rights (Part 2)

    Chapter 2938 Exploitation Rights (Part 2)

    Only a small part of the private colonists would be actual farmers while the rest would be miners and Crystalsmiths. Abominations couldn''t work in the mines, but they could still Chaos Warp everyone to destination, protect the settlers, and use earth magic to develop the fields.

    The mana geysers would also ensure a steady supply of energy for the members of the Organization, ensuring that they would leave no trace of their existence.

    As for the mined goods, until Vastor found a way to safely smuggle them via the Gates, they would be stored inside dimensional amulets and collected by his hybrids from time to time.

    While exploring the areas between the outposts and the mines they nned to exploit, Orulm and Abthot found an ideal spot for a settlement. It was rtively close enough to the Transoceanic Gate of Darmoq and surrounded by fertile ins.

    It would have been easy to cultivate and theck of natural obstacles made it impossible for anyone to approach the area without being noticed from a long distance. In one word, it was perfect.

    So perfect that it was already taken.

    "What the fuck is that?" Orulm asked in surprise.

    Below the Eldritches, there was a magnificent city that extended for kilometers in every direction with streets bustling with activity. The greys stones of the defensive walls bore no trace of recent conflict and so did the merchant and residential districts inside the city.

    The streets were busy but clean and the citizens were full of smiles.

    Their bodynguage and voices were rxed which was the creepiest thing of them all. Not only because there was no one on the battlements to keep guard but also because the popce was beyond heterogeneous.

    Even from above, the Eldritches could spot humans mingling with nt folk, Emperor Beasts, Lesser Divine Beasts, and even monsters. The members of the Fallen Races spoke in snarls and growls yet everyone understood them just like they understood at least ten differentnguages.

    "What the fuck indeed." Abthot kept looking at old and new maps of the area, finding no mention of such a city even in Jiera''s Council reports dating right after the gue. "This ce shouldn''t exist. Or rather, it can''t.

    "Even assuming that everyone down there is an Awakened, how can they coexist with monsters and why do they speak so manynguages instead of just Tyris''?"

    "Wait a minute. Is it me or is the world energy thinner here?" Orulm squinted his eyes in focus as he racked his brain, feeling that there was something familiar in the city below them.

    "Now that you mention it, it is thin. Let''s go down a bit." The lower they went, the less world energy they felt.

    It was then that Orulm noticed theck of cultivated fields. The green areas inside the city turned out to be parks filled with luscious flower bushes and treesden with fruits. Yet the vegetation outside was withering and the soil was dry.

    The inconsistent details jogged his memory but it was already toote.

    As the Eldritches approached, their presence further sapped the world energy, angering the lost city of Auros. The buildings copsed one after the other while the people inside burned alive until their physical form was lost, leaving behind only a mass of mana and life force.

    As everything fell apart, a lonely figure walked out from a sloped roofed building that Orulm recognized as the temple of the sky god. The man would have been unremarkable if not for his aura of power that the Eldritches could perceive even from a great distance.

    A power that grew exponentially stronger as the city around the man copsed and the energy released by the dead flooded his body.

    Soon flesh and blood were no longer capable of containing the collective might of Auros. The man''s mana core freed itself from the constrains of a mortal body and turned into a giant figureprised of golden light.

    ["Leave now or die. I won''t stand parasites to live."] Auros said.

    ["The pot calls the kettle ck, old man."] Orulm replied in the same deadnguage. ["I almost didn''t recognize you after the makeover. Thest time we met, you were much smaller and had but a fraction of the ves you have now."]

    [Thank you for noticing, Orulm the Breaker.] The colossus'' mouth curled up in a smile filled with pride and confidence. [I haven''t wasted any time since I''ve regained my freedom. I''ve taken in all those who sought for order and safety amid the chaos of this new world.

    [Without the restraints of my old cage and so many new hosts, my power has soared beyond the wildest dreams of my creators. There is no limit to how much I grow, Eldritch.

    [Unlike you pathetic leeches, I''m no longer restricted by the presence of mana geysers to exert the full scope of my abilities. The world energy answer to my will and the whole Mogar is my yground now!]

    To prove his point, Auros emitted a burst of golden aura that lit the area as if a second sun had risen. The world energy from the surroundings swirled around him, feeding his pseudo cores and the many mana cores that supported them.

    Such was the pull the lost city exerted that even the energy that inanimated things had yet to fully convert into their own mana was forcefully assimted. Rocks cracked and nts wilted while the ground where the lost city had been until a second ago turned out to be dry and barren.

    [Sorry, pal. No can do.] Orulm replied. [There''s no way I can let my first mission end up in failure.] n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [Then let''s settle our score once and for all.] The giant raised his golden hand, pointing a single finger at the Eldritch Abomination.

    A ck-emerald stprised of Spirit and darkness magic hit Orulm with the speed and the mass of a speeding train, knocking him off the sky. Darkness magic was the bane of Abominations.

    By mixing it with Spirit Magic, Auros had removed its only weakness: slow movement speed.

    ["Have you grown senile or did the passing of millennia haven''t been kind to you?"] Auros was confused by how easy his victory was.

    The lost city had used a single finger not because he believed it to be enough. Eldritches were apex predators and unless one consumed all the Chaos they had umted inside their bodies, they were impossible to kill.

    The st had been Auros'' way to test his newfound powers and force Orulm to reveal his best spells. Thanks to his most recently acquired hosts, the lost city had a good idea of how much magic had progressed since the time of his imprisonment.

    The problem was that very few among them had a proper magical education.

    Auros was eager to learn and master all of the new branches of magic, something that unlike his wed siblings like Thaymos, he could do. Auros'' enchantments were as outdated as those of any lost city, but he could still study magic.

    The main difference between him and any other cursed object was that Auros wasn''t limited to a single host.

 Chapter 2939 Power of Unity (Part 1)

    Chapter 2939 Power of Unity (Part 1)

    No matter how brilliant the mortal a living legacy bonded with was, they could only study a single subject at a time and their understanding was limited to their innate talent.

    Auros, instead, could have as many hosts as he wanted. They could study multiple topics and each of their talents would be his own. By turning their mana cores into auxiliary units for the pseudo cores, the lost city could endlessly increase his might and the range of his ability to draw in world energy.

    On top of that, once he assimted his hosts into the energy form, he would inherit their mana organs along with their cores. The lost city had already gained Life Maelstrom from a Hippogriff and Origin mes from a Wyvern, yet there was a catch.

    Just like the mana cores, the mana organs would retain their size and power, no matter the form Auros took. The Life Maelstrom he had stored could empower a few spells, but if spread to his colossal body the effect would be negligible.

    As for the Origin mes, the volume he could emit matched the Wyvern. For a being over 100 meters (328'') tall like him, it was no bigger than a lighter and useless except in close quarters against a "small" enemy.

    To the Lost City, however, it was just a minor setback.

    The more powerful Auros got, the more the city grew in size, allowing for new inhabitants in an endless cycle. He only had to meet and subdue enough Divine Beasts to have ess to her powers and then increase their numbers by making them breed.

    The makers of the lost city had developed Auros the Bringer of Unity as the starting point of a utopian society where everyone would live in peace. The bond with the city created a permanent mind link that broke through thenguage barrier and facilitated the exchange of ideas.

    The pseudo cores of the lost city were supposed to use the power they drew from the inhabitants to create new lodgings and to ensure their safety. By being connected to the city, everyone shared the same energy signature, meaning that no one could hurt another by magic.

    s, as soon as the lost city had gained sentience, it discovered that physical violence was still an option and that there was no way to make people with different beliefs get along.

    So, Auros had followed his programming and ensured peace by mind fusing all of his citizens. The ensuing telepathic maelstrom had destroyed their individuality, turning them into empty shells that obeyed Auros'' every order.

    The lost city''s goal was to host all of Mogar''s peoples and cover its entire surface, bing one with the like not even the Guardians could.

    ["Rx, old friend. I''m just ying around."] Orulm emerged from a meters-deep crater while his body was still rebuilding itself.

    Rotten flesh became pink again while the shredded bones and muscles put themselves back together at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ["You are not the only one who''s be stronger and I need to test the limits of my new body."]

    "Language!" Abthot didn''t understand a word of what they said and she expressed her frustration for being cut off from the conversation with a Chaos Annihtion.

    A six-pointed star resembling Silverwing''s Annihtion appeared in front of her, emitting a hexa-elemental st where Chaos reced darkness and made up for theck of Spirit Magic with raw destructive power.

    The golden giant raised his left hand, blocking the spell without conjuring a barrier to fully savor its strength and understand its workings. The anti-Guardian spell tore the hand apart, reaching halfway through the forearm before Abthot ran out of mana.

    ["Impressive."] Auros felt the sting of Chaos gnawing at the end of the stump but that was it.

    It took him a single breath to regenerate the missing limb. More nts withered and the soil depleted further, but that was none of his concern. Time would heal all wounds and Auros had all the time on Mogar.

    ["I have a few Awakened among my hosts, yet none of them is capable of using this weird variant of Silverwing''s Annihtion. Teach this new spell to me and I''ll consider letting you go."]

    ["Dream on."] Orulm traced countless runes in the air with his fingers, conjuring several magical formations at the same time.

    A gravity array brought to golden giant to his knees while a darkness array sapped his vitality and a dimensional array sealed Auros, cutting him off the world energy. The cursed city scoffed, needing but a shrug to conjure the mana to counter each one of those effects. Yet Orulm hadn''t reached his age nor his position in the Organization by sheer luck.

    The runes of the three arrays were already rbining themselves so that their enchantments fused and the power each one of them contained flowed freely into the others. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The result was darkness-infused gravity that bybining itself with the dimensional energy formed a semi-solid barrier that cut on the molecr level anything that tried to cross it.

    Even Auros'' energy body wasn''t immune to that. He could feel the different pieces of his essence being broken down and separated from the city''s hive mind, eroding the very foundation of his power.

    To make matters worse, the Eldritch kept weaving new arrays that were already merging with the others, forming a spell with the versatility and might of a power core tailor-suited to counter Auros.

    ["How dare you!"] Tired of ying already, the lost city conjured a Spirit Barrier infused with Life Maelstrom to block the onught and darkness and dimensional sealing arrays to destroy Orulm''s magical formations. ["Do you really think that I''ll let you do whatever you want?"]

    The Abomination-hybrid was strong, but Auros had the collective power of thousands of mana cores and all the world energy he had umted until that point. The dimensional barrier shattered as the lost city struck with a fist the size of a castle.

    "Shit!" Orulm said when he tried and failed to Blink, taking the blow in full.

    The impact created a dozen-meter-deep crater and caused shockwaves akin to a 7.6 quake on the Richter scale. When Auros raised his hand, it was now a silvery color and held the broken Eldritch in his fist.

    A constant stream of Origin mes generated by the Wyvern''s essence engulfed the Eldritch while also protecting the lost city from his deadly touch. Auros too suffered the effects of the mystical fire, but he was willing the pay the price.

    Orulm screamed in agony, shapeshifting his body into tendrils, goo, and anything that came to his mind just for the energy limb to rearrange itself into a new prison capable of containing the Eldritch''s ever-changing form.

    ["You are not the only one with new tricks, old flea."] The lost city snarled, enjoying the agony of his prisoner. ["My power has grown to a point that not even my creators believed possible."]

    ''What the fuck?'' Abthot thought while bolting to the rescue. ''The hand is filled to the brim with light energy, I can feel it from here. Even with the Origin mes, it should be a delicious meal yet Orulm is getting weaker by the second.''

 Chapter 2940 Power of Unity (Part 2)

    Chapter 2940 Power of Unity (Part 2)

    Eldritches had no Life Vision so she only noticed the thickyer of darkness magic when it was toote. The radiance of the light element masked the presence of its counterpart but it was still there.

    It was the massive amount of darkness magic that was hurting Orulm beyond what even an Eldritch could take. Abthot tried to Chaos Blink away, but the elemental imbnce near Auros distorted the spell just like it had done to Orulm''s.

    ["Bug off, bug."] The lost city pped the Ogre-Abomination hybrid away with his free hand that was now white hot.

    She tried to use the nt nature of her monster half to split her body into vines and dodge the attack, but a sudden cold wave froze her in ce. Turning into smaller pieces made her water-rich body more vulnerable to the cold and when the open palm hit her, she felt herself burning with the heat of a small sun.

    Eldritches were resistant to all elements but darkness yet the same couldn''t be said for Abthot''s monster half. The thermal shock broke her into shreds that caught fire the moment the ice trapping her thawed.

    Her screams of pain didn''t join Orulm''s solely because she had no mouth left.

    ''Is the lost city turning one element into another?'' She wondered in shock as she consumed a good chunk of her energy to reassemble her form. ''How can someone on Jiera have mastered Void Magic?

    ''Verhen personally taught Vastor and he has yet to master it. This doesn''t make sense.''

    And yet it did.

    What Auros used wasn''t Void Magic. He had simply weaponized an extreme elemental imbnce. By draining the world energy of one element via his pseudo cores and hosts, the counterpart became over-abundant.

    It caused spells of both elements to fail and inflicted great damage simply by proximity. Orulm could have drained the light element and fueled his powers if not for the thickyer of Origin mes enveloping him.

    They ate at his body from inside the fist while the darkness magic attacked him from the outside.

    The Eldritch kept screaming yet he refused to die. The lost city tightened his grip until there was almost no space between his fingers but death seemed to be runningte that day.

    ["Wait a second."] Auros stared in shock at Orulm with Life Vision.

    ording to the mystical sense not only was the Eldritch''s life force recovering but also his energy signature matched that of the lost city.

    ["Shit. You noticed."] The screams of pain turned intoughter as Orulm pried the fist open with brute strength. ["I was hoping that my little act and your ego would keep you from using Life Vision. Oh, well. All good thingse to an end."]

    "Language!" Abthot yelled in annoyance after getting far away enough to regain her strength by sucking a patch of trees dry.

    "Sorry." Orulm said. "Thanks for your patience. I''m done with my preparations."

    "And so am I. Let''s take down this arrogant brat." Abthot injected one of her tendrils inside each of the dead trees.

    The fragments took root, spreading Chaos through the withered wood and turning each one of the trees into a perfect copy of the Ogre-Abomination hybrid. Looks and energy signature were identical.

    Only the limited amount of mana the copies held made the original easy to recognize. At least until they sucked everything in their proximity dry, bringing their ck cores almost to match with Abthot.

    She had gained from her Ogre core the ability to turn corpses into loyal and expendable servants while Orulm''s monster half belonged to a Skinwalker. Such monsters were capable of mimicking their victims to perfection.

    They inherited even the memories, the physical skills, and the energy signature of those they devoured, keeping them until the next meal gave them a new form.

    In Orulm''s case, the hungry nature of Chaos had mixed well with the bloodline ability of the Skinwalkers, allowing him to acquire the characteristics of his enemies just by consuming their energy.

    Such effects wouldst only until the stolen essence waspletely expended or digested, but until that moment, the Eldritch held several advantages.

    The energy Orulm had consumed during the first two shes was too small to give him ess to the lost city''s full memory but it was enough to create a breach in Auros'' hive mind.

    Everything the cursed object nned or feared was clear to Orulm now and thanks to their shared energy signature, magic could do him no harm anymore. The darknessyer was useless and if not for the Origin mes, Orulm would have finished his meal much sooner.

    The Eldritch could now slip through every barrier and defence the lost city would conjure since the enchantments would mistake him for one of the many hosts.

    Auros roared in fury, turning his golden body orange by infusing it to the brim with earth magic. The sudden elemental imbnce conjured a violent thunderstorm that the Bringer of Unity hoped would buy him the time to understand what was happening.

    He was so focused on the mystery that Orulm represented that by the time he looked at Abthot, there was no way to distinguish the original from her clones.

    ''This is impossible. It takes centuries for an Eldritch to tap into their full potential and they are not supposed to reproduce. How could she vite both these rules?'' The lost city thought in shock.

    The Ogre-Abomination hybrid had created only five copies since due to Auros'' influence there wasn''t enough nourishment around to fuel more. What the Bringer of Unity t feared wasn''t the Eldritches'' numbers but the unknown threat that their newfound abilities represented.

    Auros chose to ignore Orulm since now his spells were harmless and with his puny body the Eldritch''s physical attacks were nothing to the orange giant. The Skinwalker-Abomination hybrid smiled, using that respite to gain some distance and weave a new set of spells.

    ["It''s useless! You Abomination can''t use Spirit Magic and there''s nothing you can do that a mere array can''t stop."] Auros said and Orulm tranted for Abthot..

    The lost city advanced slowly and clumsily, taking his time to conjure a new set of elemental sealing arrays for each step he took. He was wary of the Annihtion and had no desire to discover if among their new abilities the Eldritches had also gained the means to destroy his pseudo cores.

    "Yeah, but arrays go both ways." The Abthots scoffed as they Blinked around, surrounding the giant in a circle formation.

    The six of them plunged their hands into the ground, spreading their spells while also sucking the world energying from below dry to fuel them.

    Channelling massive amounts of earth element gave Auros a degree of defence almost on par with a Fenrir''s bloodline ability Mana Body, but with one difference. It required mana, not life force so in order to use it the lost city could seal neither earth or air.

    The former would negate his own spell while thetter would make it impossible to safely split the elements. It was the reason Abthot could still use earth magic in the area beneath the lost city and create a fissure big enough to trap him. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 2941 Break Down (Part 1)

    Chapter 2941 Break Down (Part 1)

    Even though Auros'' body was made of energy, it still retained the collective mass of the city and its citizens and had to follow thews of physics. Gravity pulled the Bringer of Unity down in the now-unstable soil, taking away his mobility.

    ''Dammit, there is not enough air element left to lift me.'' He thought. ''If I don''t dispel my protection, I''ll be a sitting duck while those ursed Eldritches take their sweet time to cast whatever they want.''

    Little did Auros know that Orulm heard every one of the lost city''s thoughts the moment he formted them. As soon as the elemental bnce was restored, the Eldritch-Skinwalker hybrid conjured a series of useless arrays all around the golden giant.

    Auros was still wondering what point barrier, life-sensing, and bridge-building arrays could possibly have when the Eldritch snapped his fingers and unleashed a Disarray spell.

    Orulm had chosen magical formations that would ovep with those conjured by Auros and connect them together without disrupting them. This way, the Disarray spell triggered a chain reaction that got rid of all the cursed object''s defenses in one fell swoop while also dealing him a huge blow. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The resulting explosion engulfed the lost city, blinding Life Vision and giving the Eldritches an opportunity for a surprise attack. Before the dust could settle, the six Abthots unleashed as many Chaos Annihtion at the golden giant.

    Auros conjured a Spirit Barrier to protect himself but the attack came from every side and his mana was spread too thin to matter. The anti-Guardian spell pierced through his body and consumed considerable amounts of the world energy that the lost city had painstakingly umted since his release.

    ''There''s no such thing as a perfect ability. There has to be a weak point!'' Auros thought while calling upon the earth element again for protection and using the storm created by the elemental unbnce to clear his line of sight.

    Just as he had suspected, only the original Abthot could cast such a powerful spell. The copies acted as simple energy reserves and their bodies were shriveling quickly as the mana they contained ran out.

    The lost city ignored the clones and focused his Spirit Barrier solely against the Eldritch, knowing that once he got rid of Abthot the other attacks would fade as well.

    ["Not so fast."] The sound of Orulm''s voice made Auros curse himself for forgetting about the other Eldritch.

    He turned around just in time to see Orulm consume the mana he had stolen from the lost city to fuel his next spell. Their energy signatures matched no more, making Auros vulnerable to the Eldritch''s magic again.

    A modified version of Chaos Annihtion burst out of the Skinwalker hybrid, aimed at Auros'' knee. The Cursed Element was reced by Orulm''s unique Eldritch bloodline ability, Break.

    A Chaos spell imbued with it would not just destroy something. It would erase it from existence like it never had been there in the first ce. For living beings, it was no different from regr Chaos.

    A life force contained the full blueprints of the entire body so as long as one was alive, the missing parts could be regenerated. For a mystical artifact, however, things weren''t so simple.

    If one rune was damaged, the spell of which it was part would be weakened but in time it would be repaired by the pseudo core. If one rune was deleted, instead, the enchantment would fall apart.

    Best case scenario, the artifact would lose one of its functions. Worst case scenario, it would implode due to the disruption of the spell matrix. It was the secret of Orulm''s strength since he needed but one sessful blow to turn the most powerful piece of equipment of his enemies into a piece of junk.

    When the Annihtion struck, it consumed part of the energyprising Auros'' calf and all the runes it contained. The lost city experienced blinding pain and his limb went limp.

    Sending more energy was useless because once the damage was repaired, there was no way to restore the leg''s functionality and all the enchantments it contained. Several hosts died in the aftermath simply because the information about them stored inside Auros'' spell matrix had been erased as well.

    Losing a single host was not only a nigh-impossible eventuality. It also implied losing all of their knowledge and skills.

    Countless spells that until a moment ago Auros knew like the back of his hand disappeared from his memory.

    The shock from the physical and mental amputation paralyzed the lost city that iled around in the attempt to regain his bnce. Abthot focused her Annihtion on the injured leg, making Auros lose control of his flight spell and fall to the ground with a boom.

    ["Rx, old friend. The good news is that I have no way to safely kill you. That''s why I aimed away from your pseudo cores."] Orulm said, his voice filled with mockpassion. ["The bad news is that I don''t need to."]

    Another Break Annihtion struck the left foot, erasing more runes and disabling more enchantments. The damage was severe but not fatal. A cursed object was a living being with its own life force.

    As long as the pseudo cores were intact and they had a stable energy source, the destroyed enchantments could be regenerated in the same way as a lost limb. It would take time and a lot of world energy, but it was possible.

    ''I don''t know if I have either!'' Auros thought as Orulm shot a third Break Annihtion after a short pause to regain his strength.

    This time the spell struck the right hand of the giant, leaving nothing above the wrist. More memories and spells were lost forever but this time the Eldritch had been lucky, hitting the spot where the essence of a few Lesser Divine Beasts was stored.

    The mana organs that the lost city treasured above all, the source of his dream of one day gaining the bloodline abilities of all Guardians faded as well and Auros found himself crying for the first time in his millennia-long life.

    Not even while he was still imprisoned inside a cage had he felt so helpless. Back then, he knew that he only had to wait for an opportunity to escape. The Council could trap him and weaken him, but it couldn''t take anything away from him except for his freedom.

    ["In fact, finding you here is kind of a lucky strike."] Orulm said while Breaking the right hand of the colossus as well. ["I''m going to offer you a deal, if you are interested."]

    Abthot looked at her colleague in worry. Break was a very powerful and expensive ability that was supposed to be used to weaken an enemy before dealing them the final blow and sucking their life dry.

    Each blow permanently consumed a part of Orulm as well and it would take him days to recover, no matter how much he fed. It was the reason he had avoided using Break until he was certain that the enemy wouldn''t dodge.

    Orulm was overusing Break, consuming way too much life force to deal with a single enemy he couldn''t even feed off.

 Chapter 2942 Break Down (Part 2)

    Chapter 2942 Break Down (Part 2)

    It wasn''t just a matter of keeping the lost city from exploding. The Eldritches had no idea how Auros enved his hosts and the hybrids had discovered during the War of the Griffons that their life forces were weak by design against that kind of spell.

    Orulm and Abthot couldn''t risk falling prey to a Forbidden Magic simr to the Unwavering Loyalty array and in turn exposing everything they had worked so hard for.

    Orulm answered her worried look with a nod, keeping up with the fa?ade and using the ck aura of Chaos surrounding him to pretend that he still had energy in spades.

    ["What deal?"]The colossus said and then made his own mouth disappear to avoid the further humiliation of screaming in pain.

    ["I''m not going to tell the Council about your current position and weakened state. If you are lucky, you''ll be back to your feet before they find you."] Orulm replied. ["All I ask you in exchange for my mercy, is for you to hang around here."]

    The Skinwalker-Abomination hybrid took a map out of his dimensional amulet and sent it in front of the lost city''s left eye.

    ["Keep away from here, here, and here."] Orulm circled the human outposts of the humans and the reverted monsters, Medolin, andstly the area where the mines of the Master were. ["Don''t bother the buildings and its residents, but make sure they don''t cross over."]

    The area between the mines and the outposts was hundreds of kilometers wide and extended for even longer. The Eldritch drew a line that split it in a rough half.

    ["I need you to hinder their ns long enough for my own toe to fruition. Be a deterrent, not a threat. If needed, clear the other areas for the humans a bit so that they''ll focus their attention elsewhere."]

    ["How long am I supposed to remain here?"] Auros nodded, inwardly swearing that he would use that time to grow even stronger than he had ever been and destroy whatever Orulm held dear the moment the lost city understood his enemy''s endgame.

    ["Until I tell you otherwise, old friend."] The Eldritch smiled.

    The Master needed to slow down the colonization process, not stop it. Urban development also meant crime development and the Organization would control it on the other side of the ocean as well.

    On top of that, once the Kingdom focused on the colonization effort, the attention of the authorities would be diverted elsewhere, leaving Vastor free reins. Thanks to Orulm, now the Master had the power to slow down or facilitate the colonists at will.

    The Organization needed just enough time to get its hands on what it needed and then exploit the Kingdom''s distraction to put them to good use. Orulm was certain that it was more than enough to buy himself a spot in Vastor''s good graces.

    [And just in case you have some funny thoughts about revenge or betrayal, here''s a memo.] The Skinwalker-Abomination hybrid put everything he had left in a final Break Annihtion, sting a spot on the side of the golden giant''s head open.

    Auros wanted to scream, but his mouth failed to form. His vision turned ck and he thought that pain had blinded him. Yet once the Chaos gnawing at the injury faded away everything was still ck.

    To make matters worse, as soon as the cursed object calmed down and stopped screaming in his own head, he noticed that Mogar had plunged intoplete silence.

    ''Somehow that bastard used the initial sts to probe my spell matrix and found my sensory arrays. I''m blind, deaf, and mute until I manage to repair the damage. Unless¡­'' Auros tried to shapeshift back into a city.

    This way, even if his mystical senses would still be useless, he could use the mind link with his hosts to use them as his eyes and ears. Pain ravaged his body as his pseudo cores glitched.

    Entire sections of the city of Auros were now missing from the internal schematics, making the transformation impossible. The living legacy cursed Orulm''s name onest time and focused his efforts on mending the damage.

    ''That bastard! Either the Council finds me or I heal in time, he gets what he wants. I would be andmark that everyone would avoid and to ensure my confinement, the humans would still focus on me long enough for Orulm to get what he wants.

    ''He didn''t offer me a deal, he just bet my ass!'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, City of Lutia, a few dayster.

    The Royals had kept their word and soon after the local branch of the Mage Association had been opened, the construction of a local mainframe for the Tablets had begun.

    The presence of the Warp Gate ensured that in the near future Lutia would expand into at least a medium-sized city thanks to the easy exchange of goods with the rest of the Kingdom.

    That plus the presence of the Supreme Magus and the promise of one free Tablet to every family unit of residents, made people flock to Lutia from all over the Distar region.

    The empty houses left by those who had moved away back when Lith had been dered a criminal had been sold like hotcakes and new ones were being built. Once again, Lutia was expanding in every direction but the farnds.

    Lith was known to love his privacy and every attempt to buy thends near his home was met with a firm rejection. The farmers refused to sell their ancestral houses and were proud of being the neighbors of the first Magus of the country in over a century.

    The local mainframe had been quicklypleted but the line to collect the free Tablets from the Association was bound tost days. Until that moment,munication amulets had been the mark of nobility or wealth.

    Getting one for free was a dreame true. Everyone was eager to add their first contact rune and make their first call, no matter if to a friend standing right in front of them.

    "By my Mom, what a mess!" Solus looked at the queue of farmers that twisted and turned for entire blocks around the Association. "People are going to lose days of work this way."

    "Not really." Lith shrugged as he used a hologram to return the constant smiles and waves he received to avoid developing carpal tunnel. "It''s one Tablet per family. They can send the kids or the elders to collect their amulet.

    "What worries me is the iing explosion of violence and quarrels."

    "What are you talking about?" Solus asked while checking the grocery list stored in Soluspedia.

    The start of the distribution of the Tablets was a big day for Lutia and even bigger for Solus. She was proud of seeing the fruits of theirbor getting publicly recognized and wanted to enjoy the smiles it was supposed to bring.

    After so many fights and the constant struggles of the members of her family, Solus needed a win.

    "Again, one Tablet per household." Lith repeated and when she kept staring at him with a puzzled look, he added: "For Newton''s sake, Solus, each family gets only one Tablet and only one of them can imprint it."

 Chapter 2943 Future Basis (Part 1)

    Chapter 2943 Future Basis (Part 1)

    "I bet people fought harshly about who would go pick the Tablet up and then some more to make sure they wouldn''t imprint it. And believe me, if someone gives in to temptation before going back home, hands are going to be thrown." Lith said. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Gods, that''s what you meant with the explosion of violence!" Judging by the yelling she could hear from the nearby houses, Solus knew he was right.

    Even worse, she witnessed several people imprinting their Tablets the moment they came out of the Association just to gloat in front of their neighbors still in line. At the idea of the amount of arguing that a single moment of petty bragging would cause, Solus felt like she was to me for it.

    She sighed, her expectant expression turning into a frown.

    "I''m starting to understand why my mother avoided people and never cared about how her creations were used. There is no winning."

    Lith was sad to have burst her bubble, but he preferred her joy to be honest rather than just a convenient lie to make her feel good. They never lied to each other, especially after how Protector''s fake death had cracked their bond of trust.

    Lith took her hand, moving away from the Association and toward the residential districts. At the local school, Solus witnessed a ssroom of kids where the teacher and the students had a Tablet each.

    Miss Hawell used the device to project what she wrote on the chalkboard on the Tablets of the kids so that they could easily read and take notes no matter how back in the ss they were.

    Even learning math, the most dreaded and boring subject, had be like a game. Everyone smiled andughed. Reading and writing were no longer a boring chore but something every student was eager to learn in order to master their new tool.

    "How? Why?" Solus sniffled, her eyes swelling with tears while they moved from one ssroom to another.

    She witnessed the children''s awe as their teachers taught them about the development of the Kingdom. Thanks to the support of holograms, the students could witness the most crucial moments of the Kingdom''s history.

    Pictures of Valeron the First, Silverwing, Menadion, and even Solus herself appeared based on whether the subject at hand was the founding of the Kingdom, the birth of the academies, or the War of the Griffons.

    "Thanks to the Camellia." Lith replied. "The gift that everyone nagged me about was the basis for the temporary imprint of the DoLorean and now has made this possible. These Tablets, like those of the academies, belong to the school, not the students.

    "They can be imprinted at the beginning of each lesson and returned by the end, ready to be used by the next ss."

    "That''s a great idea!" Solus'' smile was so radiant that it could have set the school aze. "But where did the Royals find the funds? The colonization is still in the early stages and they consumed most of what they gained from Thrud''s army to build the Wayfinder and the mainframes.

    "Brinjamented that the Crown gave her barely enough Tablets for the citizens of Derios. I thought that the schools of the capital of the region would have been supplied long before Lutia."

    "I''m sure the Royals found a way." Lith shrugged. "I''m that important and they want to keep me happy."

    Solus didn''t believe a word he said. First, because Lith didn''t even try pretending to be sincere. Second, because she knew that if the King wanted to make Lith happy, giving Tablets to a school was nowhere on his wishlist.

    "You did it!" She said in realization. "Did you ask the Royals or did you pay for the Tablets out of your own pocket?"

    "Thetter." Lith shrugged again. "It''s not a big deal. It''s a one-time expense. Even if it wasn''t, a few coins are well worth your happiness. I know how much you care about our work and I wanted to show you the good you are doing."

    Lith didn''t clench his pocket in pain while mentioning the coins so he was telling the truth.

    "Thank you for the beautiful surprise." Solus sniffled, embracing him despite public disys of affection being frowned upon.

    "You are welc-" Someone tugging at Lith''s Magus robe cut him short.

    "Can you?" A six years old boy, wearing clothes no different from those Lith wore before learning how to hunt from Selia, was offering the Magus what was likely to be the family Tablet.

    It had already several contact runes engraved while a Tablet belonging to the school would lose any rune along with the imprint at the end of each lesson.

    ''How cute he is!'' Solus had yet to recover so the sight of the poor clothes and the big brown eyes of the boy moved her deeply. ''He wants the contact rune of his hero.''

    "But of course." Lith took the Tablet from the hands of the kid and instead of sharing his contact information, he signed it on the back with his terrible penmanship.

    ''What a jerk!'' Solus telepathically scolded Lith after seeing the shock and confusion on the face of the boy. ''He wanted your rune, not your autograph!''

    "Thank you, mister Magus!" The boy smiled from ear to ear, hugging Lith''s leg briefly before running to his friends and bragging about his treasure.

    ''Jerk my ass. I can''t give my contact rune to everyone or I would be flooded with calls about the stupidest things.'' Lith replied. ''I''m not going to make kids believe that they can ask me for help just to ignore them.

    ''If you want to be the fairy godmother of the whole city, be my guest.''

    Solus swallowed a lump of saliva at the idea. She was weak to kids and knew that if she gave her rune to anyone who asked for it, she wouldn''t have the time to enter herb for years.

    ''I forgive you only because you still made him and me happy.'' She changed the topic, smiling as the kid imed that the mystical rune that was actually just Lith''s badly written name was bound to ward off evil.

    The ssmates turned the Tablet around, trying to understand what side was up and what was down, before agreeing that Lith''s signature was not a human word.

    After leaving the school and on the way to the groceries, Solus witnessed small crowds of small children surrounding the family elders. They had been entrusted the Tablet so that while the parents worked, the elders could read a story and keep the rest of the kids busy.

    A touch of the holographic page conjured the pictures of the heroes, the monsters, and their battles. Solus stopped for a few moments every time she listened to a different story, appreciating the effort Lith had put into that part of their work and the joy it brought.

    "Is this your doing as well?" She asked.

    "Yes." Lith''s voice oozed sarcasm. "I paid the Lutians to read from the Tablets instead of using them to spank asses."

    "Not that!" Solus punched his arm in mock outrage. "I meant if you gave around extra Tablets torge families."

 Chapter 2944 Future Basis (Part 2)

    Chapter 2944 Future Basis (Part 2)

    "Stop being so paranoid." Lith said in his best Solus impression. "Not every act of kindness hides a hidden agenda. Good people do exist."

    Solusughed hard as the earlier sour mood became a small cloud on the horizon.

    They bought everything both the Verhen House and Mansion would need for months, enough to fill the pantries to the brim.

    "I get the sugar, the flour, and the spices." The merchant said in confusion as he handed them the goods on the list. "But how can the owner of the biggest farm in Lustria County need to buy milk?"

    Solus blushed hard. Everyone in the family loved ice cream but her enthusiasm for it was unparalleled, often depleting the share of the milk that Raaz kept for the family''s needs.

    "It''s-" Lith pointed at her.

    "Complicated." Solus cut him short, pping his hand away. "We have lots of unexpected guests and some of them eat a lot."

    "I see." The merchant nodded, picturing in his mind a mighty Phoenix as the cause of the milk shortage instead of a gluttonous, petite Forgemaster taking one night snack too many. "Thanks for bringing your business here, Magus Verhen.

    "And thank you both for the Tablets. They save us a lot of time."

    Most of the clients of the rush hours now submitted their orders from their houses first thing in the morning, giving the clerks the time to prepare everything whenever the work was slow. On pick up, the customers had only to check the goods and pay.

    Once Lith and Solus got back home, they walked straight into the Warp Gate inside the barn, reaching the Mansion where everyone was waiting for them. With one thought, Solus set the tower in the keep.

    The vigorous flow of world energy from the mana geyser filled them both with power and elerated the mending process of her life force and mana core.

    ''I wonder what changes the tower and I will undergo when I finally reach the deep violet.'' She pondered through their mind link.

    ''I''m more curious about what would happen if we got our hands on the Ears of Menadion, instead.'' Lith replied. ''I believe that with each piece of the set we find, the tower recovers a part of the missing schematics of its power core.

    ''If I''m right, even though our version of the pieces of the Set of Menadion is inferior to the originals until the repairs arepleted, the schematics of each artifact help the tower to find the best way to rearrange its floors and speed up its restoration process.''

    ''It''s a very interesting theory.'' Solus nodded telepathically. ''Too bad that we have no way to put it to the test nor any idea where the Ears are.''

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree.

    ''How is it possible that despite having ess to every piece of information collected by nt forms and with hundreds of Chroniclers I still have no idea where the Ears of Menadion are?'' The young Yggdrasil was angry and had no qualms about letting his servants know.

    Their voice thundered in the Chroniclers'' minds, bringing them to their knees while holding their long ears in the attempt to muffle the noise.

    "My Liege, it''s none of our fault." K''aylen, one of the oldest elves at the service of the World Tree tried to quell their anger. "We have followed the various pieces of the set of Menadion however we could.

    "Only the Hands and the Ears have escaped our notice and not for ourck of trying. We had no way to follow Kolga in the depths of the ocean and algae don''t answer your questions.

    "As for the Ears, we know the whereabouts of thest mage who had them in his possession. The problem is that he has been recently killed and his murderer has taken care to erase every trace of their passage."

    ''Stop telling me what I already know!'' The Yggdrasil could use magic to speak, but they preferred to use a mind link.

    Both air magic and Body Sculpting gave them a voice, but it was a fake one. It sounded like they were pretending to be someone else. The mind link, instead, was the pure manifestation of their will and reminded the elves who held the leash.

    ''I want answers. I need them if I ever want to start my journey.''

    ''You fool!'' The World Tree roared, the mere violence of their aura sent the elf sprawling on the floor. ''What if without the Ears the tower fails to reach perfection? I have no use for an iplete trinket.

    "Can''t you just wait until the tower recovers on its own and then take it from Verhen?" Tash''ar, another elder asked.

    ''You fool!'' The World Tree roared, the mere violence of their aura sent the elf sprawling on the floor. ''What if without the Ears the tower fails to reach perfection? I have no use for an iplete trinket.

    ''On top of that, once Menadion''s opus gets back to its full power, how am I supposed to take it? Verhen is a Divine Beast and his mana core will soon rival mine. I can have the upper hand only if I fight him inside my Fringe or while he is away from a geyser.

    ''Defeating him and the tower while they are both at their prime is just a pipe dream. Verhen knows about the Removal Units already and after what M''Rael did, he''s bound to be on his guard against a tactic he already knows.

    ''I need the Ears, not for what they represent, but because they will serve as bait. I just need to feed Verhen and Elphyn Menadion the information they already seek to bring them where I want them to be.''

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, at the same time.

    ''By the way, we should ask Zoreth to look out for the Ears.'' Solus said. ''I don''t like the idea of Vastor and his Eldritches putting their hands on another piece of my mother''s legacy but their informationwork is our best if not our only chance.''

    The Master had already studied and sessfully replicated the Fury.

    Based on what Bytra told them, the Mouth was still a work in progress, instead. The Forth Ruler of the mes could have easily made a copy, but there was no point wasting priceless resources to make a vessel for enchantments outdated for centuries. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Bytra, Vastor, Tezka, and every single Eldritch that in life had been a skilled Forgemaster were pooling their resources to update the spells imbued in the Mouth and improve on Menadion''s work.

    ''Yeah.'' Lith sighed. ''Zoreth''s Dragon Eyes are the next best thing to the Eyes of Menadion and Nandi can do everything the Hands can, if not even more. I''m afraid that if Zogar studies the Ears, he''ll add mage towers to his already considerable arsenal.''

    On the one hand, they loved and appreciated the old Professor. On the other hand, they knew what his Master persona was capable of doing and how deeply rooted in Garlen''s underworld his Organization was.

    Vastor imed that his goal was to heal Mogar and promote the evolution of the human species that had stagnated for millennia.

    Yet looking at his associates, Lith and Solus couldn''t help but question the means through which the Master aimed to achieve those goals and most importantly how he nned to achieve them.

 Chapter 2945 Playdate (Part 1)

    Chapter 2945 ydate (Part 1)

    Despite all the doubts Lith and Solus shared, she had recovered her Fury only because Bytra had given it to her after recognizing Solus as Elphyn Menadion. The Mouth had ended up in the hands of Jiera''s Council and they would have never heard about it, let alone retrieved it, if not for Zoreth. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Each piece of Menadion''s Set was a priceless treasure that was heavily safeguarded and whose possession was kept secret to not arouse envy and greed. Lith and Solus knew that unless a miracle happened, Zoreth and the Organization were their best bet at locating the Ears.

    The Shadow Dragon wasn''t aware that Lith controlled the tower but she knew about Solus'' real identity and their bond. For over a year now Zoreth kept everything a secret even from the Master and gave them no reason to doubt her.

    Trusting the Shadow Dragon with the search for the missing artifact wouldn''t endanger Lith''s and Solus'' safety any more than it already was.

    Were Zoreth to spill the beans to the Organization, what Vastor might do with the Ears of Menadion would be the least of their worries.

    "Finally! I was getting worried. Are you two alright?" Kam was waiting for them on the other side of the Gate, giving Lith a kiss and a hug the moment he stepped through.

    "Yes, we are fine." Solus nodded.

    "Then what took you so long?"

    "That''s my bad." Lith replied. "Solus needed a confidence booster and I brought her to Lutia''s school."

    "How can a refresher course in writing and reading improve her morale? In her shoes, I''d feel insulted." Kam asked in puzzlement.

    Solusughed at the misunderstanding while Lith inwardly grumbled. To keep the surprise, he had told no one about the donation of Tablets, not even to his wife. A quick mind link brought her up to speed and a smile on her face.

    "I''m proud of you." Kam gave him a dazzling smile while caressing his face. "For once you acted from the heart instead of the wallet. A few coins make a small difference to you but they mean a lot to the kids, the school, and Solus."

    "Thanks. I guess." Being praised like that actually made Lith feel worse since Tablets were cheap by design and he had crafted them himself, spending only the necessary to buy the raw materials.

    "Nowe, everyone was waiting for you for the experiment." Kam took them by the hands and dragged them toward the garden.

    "I wouldn''t call it an experiment." Lith said with a sigh. "It''s just a ydate."

    "Experiment is more appropriate. No ydate has ever been so dangerous. I guess." Kam opened the ss double door with Spirit Magic while waving at their guests.

    "You took your sweet time, Archole Verhen." Marchioness Brinja Distar stood up from her lounge chair and stood in front of Lith with her delicate fists nted on her hips in defiance.

    Her long golden hair had been fixed into a tress and her sky-blue eyes looked at him coldly.

    "It''s Supreme Archole Verhen for you." Lith said with a stern face before breaking into a smile at the word she had made up about him by fusing his titles of Archmage and asshole.

    Brinja hade up with it a few years back in annoyance when Lith had be an Archmage and avoided her like the gue. Now it was just an inside joke between them.

    Truth to be told, Brinja had searched for a Magus equivalent, but to no avail.

    The Lord of the Distar region was wearing afortable setprised of a loose shirt and pants that were usually reserved to deal with paperwork in the privacy of her own home or while parenting her daughter, Mi.

    The baby girl was in a ypen right near the chair, looking around in curiosity.

    "And Supreme Archole it is then." She replied with a chuckle, giving him a brief hug. "Is everything alright?" She asked, receiving a nod in answer. "What about our promise?"

    "I haven''t forgotten, Brinja. When I find Meln, you''ll be the first to know."

    "Good." She nodded. "Then we can move on to the serious stuff."

    Brinja waved at the rest of the guests: Ryssa with Dhiral Manohar the Second, Elina with Surin, Selia with Solkar, Tyris with Valeron the Second, Sark with Shargein, and Elysia.

    To avoid misunderstandings and questions about Valeron''s origin, Tyris had introduced herself as his mother while the handmaidens posed as herdies in waiting. V and Ophya stood to the side, ready to intervene in case someone needed help. R and Garrick were there as well, both excited to see so many new faces.

    ''Say what you want, there''s something weird in Lutia''s water.'' Brinja stared at the rest of the women with a mix of envy and confusion. ''Even the maids are stunning. I feel like I came to a beauty contest while wearing my pajamas.''

    "You have no idea how much this means to me." The Dryad said with a sigh. "The nobles of the Royal Court have to associate themselves with me during social events but they refuse to let their children near my son.

    "Dhiral needs to learn to socialize or he''ll grow up into another Manohar. I meant his second name to be a blessing, not a curse." In is Dryad form, the baby boy had blond hair and light green skin, making his inhuman nature apparent.

    In his human form, instead, he had ck hair straked silver all over, a smart gaze, and enough resemnce with thete god of healing to make people forget about his Dryad half as they ran for the hills.

    Dhiral Manohar Marth was the Headmaster''s son. Marth had proved it with Blood Resonance multiple times. Yet the memory of the impossible feats performed by thete mad genius trampled both reason and everything between the nobles and the nearest exit.

    "I don''t get it." Solus said. "He''s but a child. What can he possibly do? Look at how quiet he is."

    "Not again!" Solus'' words rmed Ryssa, who turned around and lifted the baby, discovering it was just a bundle of vine shaped to resemble Manohar. "Where has he gone?"

    "Right here." Fluffy the Byk pointed at the toddler who was tugging at his round ears.

    Manohar the Second had never seen a magical beast before and he was eager to inspect the unknown, fluffy creature. When Ryssa reached them, the baby was done patting the nose of the bear-like creature and was pulling Fluffy''s lips up to inspect his teeth.

    The Byk showed great patience, merely rolling his eyes at Dhiral''s antics.

    "Do you see what I mean? Babies aren''t supposed to understand the concept of diversion let alone do this!" Ryssa pointed at the four long vines spurting from the baby''s back. "I can''t get him to stop and Dhiral creeps everyone out."

    The baby used the vines to move around and to explore his surroundings. They acted as extra and very nimble limbs that he also used to grab things he wanted to examine.The overall impression, however, resembled too much an overgrown spider to be anything but disturbing.

 Chapter 2946 Playdate (Part 2)

    Chapter 2946 ydate (Part 2)

    Ryssa caught Manohar from under the shoulders and brought him away from the Byk. Just like the old Manohar, the baby reacted to the meddling with his experiments by throwing a tantrum.

    "I know how you feel, sister." Selia sighed, drawing Brinja''s curious look as the huntress put the seemingly normal baby boy on the ground.

    The Marchioness was about to open her mouth and ask for an exnation when Solkar became covered in soft red fur and started running on all fours, yapping at those present while sniffing at their clothes.

    Brinja instinctively took a step back, putting herself between Solkar and the ypen when he came close to Mi.

    Manohar the Second stopped crying, focusing on the other hybrid.

    "Don''t worry. He''s excited, not dangerous." Elina put Surin, the only other fully human baby, sitting on the ground in front of the puppy.

    Solkar sniffed and licked her, making Surin giggle and fall to a side. The Skoll tried to help her sit, but the baby girl was more interested in his soft fur and waggling tail.

    After a while, Brinja felt safe enough to let Mi out of the ypen. The baby girl had inherited her light brown hair streaked blue from thete Mirim and had been named after her.

    Mi crawled forward and Solkar weed her with a good sniff. The puppy yelped when she grabbed his tail but did nothing aside from barking in annoyance.

    "Here we go. Let''s set loose the heavy weights." Sark gently dropped Shargein to the ground. "Be good and help the little ones."

    The Wyrmling looked like a human so Brinja gasped in surprise when she saw him nod in reply. When Shargein shapeshifted back into his real form, her knees buckled and she needed Elina''s help to keep standing.

    He had the snout and the tail of a Dragon, scaled arms, bird feet, and two sets of wings on his back. The ck feathers covering his body shined like obsidian under the sun but what scared Brinja the most was his size.

    Shargein was younger than Mi but he was already as big as an adult man. Manohar the Second giggled like crazy and it was with no little reluctance that Ryssa let him go as well.

    He used the tendrils to run where the other babies were assembled, drawing Solkar''s growls. The Skoll didn''t know the neer and it moved too quickly for his taste.

    Elysia and Valeron exchanged a quick look, neither of them liked that mess. They shapeshifted into their respective Divine Beast form, pping their small wings and taking flight.

    They circled the other children, studying the situation from above while discussing in Dragontongue whether to join the weird bunch on the ground or not.

    "They can fly?" Brinja went pale.

    She was no mage and the idea of Mi going away in a direction where she couldn''t follow scared her to death.

    "Yes, but so can we." Kam pointed at herself, Solus, and Lith. "You don''t have to worry. This ce is safe."

    She wasn''t referring to theplex array system protecting the ce so much as the two Guardians.

    "Still, it''s the nightmare of every parent." Ryssa pointed at the flying babies. "In your shoes, I would never let them do that. One moment of distraction and they are gone."

    "Now, now. Don''t be dramatic." Lith shrugged. "I put trackers in all of the clothes I make."

    "Exactly." Kam nodded. "He- You did what?"

    "You heard me, woman." Lith replied.

    "Are you telling me I have trackers in my clothes?" Kam was bbergasted.

    "No." His answer made her sigh in relief. "Grandma made your armor so I had to put trackers in your jewelry."

    "You did what?"

    While Kam reproached him for the breach of her privacy, Ryssa and Brinja were still staring at Valeron and Elysia.

    "Trackers or not, I''m d that my baby girl can''t fly." The Marchioness said.

    "You and me both." Ryssa regretted those words the moment they came out of her mouth.

    Manohar the Second had been staring at the Wyrmlings as well. A rustling of leaves and snapping of vines made the Dryad look down just in time to see Dhiral''s extra limbs shapeshift into what looked like wings with vines for bones and leaves instead of feathers.

    "Gods, no!" Ryssa said in terror as the baby tried and failed to lift himself in the air.

    "There''s no need to worry." Sark raised her hand to calm the Dryad down. "A human''s body is too heavy and those wings are too small to fly."

    The Overlord''s true identity was public knowledge so Ryssa trusted her. The Dryad didn''t grab Manohar and kept watching. She sighed in relief when all of his attempts failed, leaving him pouting and exhausted on the ground.

    "What did I tell you? He''s just a baby." Sark regretted those words the moment they came out of her mouth.

    While catching his breath, the baby boy had studied the shape and size of Shargein''s wings. It took Manohar the Second but a few modifications to his wings and a gust of wind from chore magic to take flight.

    "I stand corrected. He''s a very smart baby." Sark said while using tendrils of Spirit Magic to fetch the runaway.

    The rest of the ydate went great. Mostly because the parents moved indoors and put the babies inside a huge ypen sealed from every side, up included.

    ***

    Jiera continent, Griffon Kingdom''s Outpost.

    With thepletion of the Transoceanic Gate, people and materials had beening non-stop from Garlen.

    Under the protection of the Wayfinder in its vige form, the builders had started their work by fortifying the Gate first and then erecting solid walls capable of channelling the permanent arrays necessary to protect the future city of Darmoq.

    Healers from the six great academies came to help Quy to catalogue the mostmon illnesses of Jiera, each bringing with them Alchemical tools to store and analyse the biological samples collected.

    After a quarantine to ensure that none of the neers required the medical care that only an Awakened could provide, the Ernas were finally free to go back home. Orion had taught Am Farg everything she needed to operate the Wayfinder. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She had volunteered to stay behind and help the Empire''s expedition to find the perfect site for their own outpost, but that would have to wait until the array system of Darmoq waspleted.

    Quy couldn''t wait to go back to her husband, Friya to n her own marriage, and Orion to get the full check-up he so desperately needed.

    After Kelia had infused him with Life Maelstrom to empower his de Spell, Orion had discovered that although his impurities still held, the practice of any kind of magic brought him dangerously close to Awakening.

    If before his training had focused on trying to feel the world energy and make the mana inside his body move, now he had to learn how to suppress the flow that naturally originated every time he cast a spell.

    He needed to use darkness fusion to stop the pain, light fusion to keep the impurities anchored to their positions, and the other elements to create a counterflow that kept his mana core under constant pressure.

 Chapter 2947 Changing Plans (Part 1)

    Chapter 2947 Changing ns (Part 1)

    ??Luckily, after getting rid of Thaymos and the destruction of the ck Tide, there had been just a few skirmishes that required Orion''s direct intervention. As long as he didn''t use magic, the pain disappeared and his mana core reverted to its dormant state.

    "Are you sure that you don''t want us to stay and keep youpany, Dad?" Friya asked before leaving the quarantine room in Valeron.

    She and Quy were free to go after a routine check-up thanks to darkness fusion cleansing their system from any lingering pathogens whereas Orion was just a fake mage. At least on paper.

    "I''m sure, my Little Rainbow." He caressed her hair covered in seven elemental streaks that she no longer needed to hide from the world. "Go to your mother. She''s been alone for all this time and I''m worried sick about her."

    "Because she''s pregnant, moody, and someone could take advantage of her state?" Quy asked.

    "No, because she''s pregnant, moody, and there''s no one to keep her temper under control." Orion replied. "Just because your mother doesn''t show emotions it doesn''t mean she has none. She''s just that good at keeping them under control."

    "Are you telling me that under her hardened shell Mom''s actually a softie?" Friya said in joy.

    "Are you listening to me?" Orion pinched his nose in frustration. "I''m talking about the kind of emotions that make your mother great at her job and difficult to find an open spot in the graveyards of the Ernas region."

    "Come on, Dad. It can''t be that bad." Quy replied. "It''s not Mom''s first rodeo and there are Tulion and Gunyin by her side."

    "Indeed, but there''s also Morok." That was enough to make Quy turn pale.

    The Tyrant''s brashness was well known and any indelicate mention of the fate that had befallen Phloria might have turned Quy into a widow.

    "Don''t worry about me and go." Orion pointed them to the door.

    "We''ll call you as soon as we get home." Friya and Quy left the room in a rush.

    Vastor waited for them to go past the security checkpoint outside the quarantine zone before sealing the door and making sure that no one would disturb them.

    He was wearing a Life Ward gue doctor mask. It generated a hard-light construct that covered him like a second skin and kept any dangerous substance out. The darkness magic of the beak flooded the air before he breathed it, turning every substance it carried into inert dust.

    "I heard you went through a lot in Jiera.How are you feeling?" The Master chanted all the routine spells, making small talk while also establishing a mind link to start the real conversation.

    "I''m just tired. I''ve caught more bugs on Jiera than in a year on Garlen." Orion shrugged.

    ''I feel like crap. I think there''s something wrong with my mana core.'' He actually thought, bringing Vastor up to speed.

    ''Of course you feel like crap.'' The Professor replied in outrage. ''You are an idiot!''

    ''Our time is limited so less insults and more sense.'' Orion said.

    ''Do you understand that the point of everything we are doing is to not trigger your Awakening until your body has a chance of making it in one piece?'' Vastor asked and Orion nodded for him to continue.

    ''Then how could you be so stupid that you used a de Tier Spell? You were stationed above a mana geyser and surrounded by Awakened. Compared to that, a crystal mine is poor in world energy.

    ''The Life Maelstrom wasn''t an issue since it strengthened both your core and impurities but the de Spell threw that delicate bnce into the gutter. For a brief moment, your mana core exerted a pressure that your body couldn''t contain.

    ''Each power core you drew upon was akin to an extra mana core with no impurities to bnce it out. You are lucky to be alive.''

    ''I''m not stupid. I just did what I had to.'' Orion shook his head. ''I suspected that the de Spell might kill me whereas I was certain that the lost city would kill me. Would you have acted any different in my ce, were the lives of your children on the line?''

    ''No, I would not.'' Vastor admitted. ''Enough with the bad news. I also have good news for you.''

    ''I thought that me being alive was the good news.'' Orion replied.

    ''Yes, but there''s more. Whatever you''ve done after the de Spell has greatly tempered her body. That counterflow technique you''ve developed doubled the refining rate. How do you feel now?'' Vastor asked after using Invigoration to adjust the position of Orion''s impurities and strengthen their anchoring points further.

    ''Much better. Ever since I left the geyser, the burning sensation in my abdomen subsided but now it''spletely gone.''Orion replied.

    ''Do me a favor and cast a tier one spell without conjuring its effects.''

    Orion did as asked, discovering that no mana flow formed and informed Vastor of his findings.

    ''This is a good sign but just to be safe, don''t use magic until I say otherwise.''

    ''Why?'' Orion asked.

    ''Because if I''m right, we have found a way to make your body refinement match your mana core.'' Vastor replied.

    ''Are you telling me that I can Awaken?''

    ''No. at least not right now.'' Vastor said. ''Yet by using a de Spell to stimte your core and then using your counterflow technique to suppress it, your body should gradually get ustomed to high-pressure mana.

    ''On top of that, by adjusting the size and position of your impurities as your body refinement improves, you should have a concrete chance to survive your Awakening.''

    ''Let''s say you are right. How long would it take?'' Orion asked.

    ''If we want to make sure, a year. Maybe more.''

    ''I don''t have a year! Please, you have to find a way to speed things up.''

    Vastor was taken aback, checking Orion''s life force just to discover that he was a healthy man with at least 50 more years of good health left.

    ''What are you talking about? What''s the rush? I thought you wanted to Awaken only to live as long as your wife.''

    ''That was before. Now I need to Awaken to defend my wife and I''ve only got a few months left.'' Orion didn''t trust Vastor and his many secrets much, but with the term of Jirni''s pregnancy approaching, he preferred to dirty his conscience if it meant keeping her alive.

    As Vastor performed the check-up, Orion told him the truth about House Myrok and Gernoff.

    ***

    Ernas Arch Duchy, a few minutester.

    The moment the Royal Guard inputted the coordinates of the Ernas Mansion and the Gate opened, Quy and Friya took their first sigh in relief. The second came after they stepped through the dimensional corridor and the house staff greeted them instead of offering them their condolences.

    "Wee back, Lady Quy. Wee back, Lady Friya. I''ve read many great things about you two on the interlink." Deiter, the old family butler, gave them a deep bow. "Thanks to you, the name Ernas is once again spoken throughout the Kingdom with the respect it deserves."

    "Thank you." Quy nodded. "Where is our mother?"

 Chapter 2948 Changing Plans (Part 2)

    Chapter 2948 Changing ns (Part 2)

    "In the main tea room with your husband and Lady Friya''s¡­" Deiter was still talking when the two women disappeared through a Spirit Step.

    The arrays of House Ernas blocked regr dimensional spells but were ineffective against Spirit Magic. In truth, Jirni had already entrusted Orion to add a Space Compressing array to the custom dimensional sealing array that all the powerful noble households employed.

    The renovation works had started right after Jiza Gernoff made her threat and the private quarters of the family were already shielded. Yet until the baby was born, Jirni couldn''t afford to show her hand.

    To fool her enemies and make them think she was helpless, she first had to fool her allies.

    The two women reached their destination in one step, but none of the healing spells they kept at the ready could prepare them for the scene they found upon their arrival.

    Jirni was sitting on afortable sofa with her legs distended to give relief to her swollen feet. Her pristine day dress was a few sizes bigger than usual and loose to amodate her swollen belly.

    She was sipping a cup of warm tea while caressing the head of Lucky the Ry. The magical beast was sitting in front of the sofa, his head on the sofa and leaned onto Jirni''s side.

    It made it easy for her to find thefort of his warm fur and for him to listen to the heartbeat of mother and child. Sitting around the tea table, there were Nalrond, Morok, Gunyin, and Tulion.

    The four men took turns refilling Jirni''s cup and handing her sweet or salty snacks based on what she craved. Instead of the zing bloodbath Quy had been dreading, a polite conversation about the state of Jiera''s colonization was taking ce.

    "Mom? Are you alright?" Friya asked in disbelief, thinking that only a severe medical condition could exin the odd situation.

    "I''m perfectly fine, dear. We both are." Jirni caressed her own stomach, her voice filled with warmth. At least until she took a good look at her daughters.

    "What''s with those pants and why are you casting spells inside the house?" The only silver lining of their appearance was that their clothes were pristine, but Jirni knew it was only thanks to the self-cleaning properties of the enchanted armor.

    Quy was d to see that everything was fine but she couldn''t tell her mother that she had prepared everything she needed to save Morok and safely restrain Jirni.

    "We are just triple-checking that we haven''t carried any bug from Jiera. You know, to keep you and the baby safe."Friya lied through her teeth and let the spells fade away.

    Jirni easily saw through her daughter''s fa?ade but pretended not to as a reward for her ability to adapt ande out with a believable cover story on the spot.

    "Same here." Quy awkwardly said, making Jirni click her tongue in reply. "Is Morok disturbing you?"

    "Hey!" The Tyrant said in outrage.

    "Not at all." Jirni gestured for him to sit and calm down. "During your absence, your brothers and I had the opportunity to know your husbands better. I must say that they are a couple of fine young men."

    Friya and Nalrond were just betrothed. Hearing Jirni referring to the Rezar as Friya''s husband made the former choke on his tea and thetter fiddle with her hair in nervousness.

    Despite that, Friya didn''t miss how weird the situation was. Obtaining Jirni''s approval was supposed to be a difficult feat and she wasn''t the type to givepliments out of politeness.

    "Really? Since when?" Quy said, her voice expressing her disbelief in full.

    "Hey! I''m right here, you know?" Morok grunted in annoyance.

    "I mean, I know you are a good man. That''s why I married you." Quy raised her hands in apology. "I''m just surprised my mother has changed her mind about you so quickly."

    "I wouldn''t call weeks of interrogation ''quickly''." Morok replied, leaving Quy bbergasted.

    "It was no interrogation. I just wanted to know my sons-inw better since you girls always y your cards so close to the vest." Jirni replied with an amiable voice.

    "No, I''m pretty sure it was an interrogation." The Tyrant shook his head. "Way more polite and subtle than those I underwent back when I was a Ranger in the army but still an interrogation. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "If it was a conversation, I''m pretty sure I would have been allowed to leave or not answer your questions."

    "Mom, what did you ask him?" Quy asked.

    "Them." Morok pointed at himself and Nalrond.

    "A few things here and there." Jirni brushed off her daughter''s concerns with a wave of her hand.

    "Everything." Morok corrected her.

    "Everything?" Quy echoed.

    "Everything." Nalrond confirmed, making Friya go from nervous, to embarrassed, and then angry in less than two seconds. "Except for intimate details, of course."

    Jirni chuckled at his need to rify that point whereas her sons shuddered in horror at the thought.

    "Mom, how could you do that?" Friya asked.

    "How couldn''t I, you mean." Jirni replied. "I was bored and tired of being left out of your lives. After what happened to your sister, and after you''ve left the house, I''ve been so lonely."

    She cried on cue, going from the bad guy to the victim in a single move.

    Jirni couldn''t hide her actions, but at least she could cover her motives. As any good strategist, Jirni was preparing the field for victory and settling her business in case of defeat.

    The clock was ticking and she needed to make sure that if something happened to her, her children would be cared for. It was the reason she had brought her family together, Lucky included.

    Jirni had never liked the mastiff much, but he loved Phloria and missed her almost as much as Jirni did. They had bonded over the grief they shared and the care the Ry showed for the unborn child.

    Lucky was now part of her contingency ns. He couldn''t fight Awakened but, with the proper equipment, he could ensure that the baby wouldn''t fall in the Myrok''s hands were Jirni and Orion to die.

    "As for you, Quy, are you even taking your marriage seriously? Are you neglecting your conjugal duties because of your research? How can you not be pregnant yet?"

    "Mom!" Quy cried in embarrassment.

    "Not for ack of trying on my part!" Morok stood up, putting his hand on his secondary heart, located near the right lung. "She''s the one who''s always busy. It''s only thanks to me that we have explored every room of our house. If you know what I mean."

    "Morok!" Just looking at the grimaces twisting her brothers'' faces made Quy want to die.

    "I would have rather not known this, but thank you." Jirni nodded. "You don''t have to be angry with him, dear. After everything Morok went through with his parents, he has lost any filter but there''s no malice in his words.

    "He just wants to be sure to be epted for who he is. His words may sound rude and crass to you, but it''s just his way to be open with you."

    It was also the reason Jirni had been forced to write him off her battle ns.

 Chapter 2949 Future Struggles (Part 1)

    Chapter 2949 Future Struggles (Part 1)

    Morok''s powers and his alliance with the monsters of Zelex would have been a fine addition to the forces at Jirni''smand, but there was no way that Morok would be able to keep the secret from Quy.

    Jirni had no intention to involve any of her children in the battle ahead. It was Jirni''s mess, something born out her grief from Phloria''s death. The thought of losing another precious member of her family, and because of her at that, was uneptable.

    Morok sat down fiddling with his fingers. It was his turn to feel embarrassed after being read like an open book.

    "I agree with Mom." Gunyin said, surprising no one. "Morok is not and will never be Royal Court material. Yet knowing that you have at least one honest friend in a world of lies and deceit is of greatfort to me, dear sister."

    "What about Nalrond?" Friya asked.

    "This is not for me to say." Jirni turned toward the Rezar. "Go, dear. You two have much to talk about and you''ve waited too long already."

    Nalrond had been a true surprise to Jirni.

    Since she was already aware of Friya''s Awakening, Lith''s and Morok''s past hybrid nature, and Nalrond skills as a Light Master, the Rezar had decided that disclosing his past wasn''t a big deal after all.

    Also, in his naivety, he believed that by being honest with Jirni she couldter better help Friya in making up her mind about their rtionship after he informed her about his ns.

    Instead, Jirni used the garnered information to further her own. Nalrond had gone through a lot of suffering. He had lost his entire vige and his first fianc¨¦e. He knew grief even better than Jirni and would have been a priceless asset to her.

    Yet before involving him in her schemes, Jirni needed him to go on with his experiments and clear things with Friya. As he was, Nalrond''s only worth was his Light Mastery and the fact that Friya loved him.

    There was no point pitting him against Awakened. If he seeded in fusing his life forces, however, after Awakening he would reach the bright blue, if not even the violet.

    Being already a true mage, Nalrond would quickly get used to his newfound condition and his powers would y a key role in Jirni''s strategies. Before deciding how to use him, however, she needed to hear Friya''s answer.

    It would made the difference between making whatever the Rezar might be a sacrificial pawn and a piece that Jirni had to preserve at all costs.

    "Thanks." Nalrond was d to have opened up to Jirni and have received the full support of who he hoped would be his future mother-inw.

    Despite her inquisitive line of "conversation", Jirni had proved to be a great listener.

    She had shed (fake) tears upon hearing about the fate of his vige, showed no concern about his hybrid nature, and had even encourage him about fusing his life forces.

    As for Tulion and Gunyin, they would have preferred fully humanpanions for their sisters. Yet Nalrond''s and Morok''s honesty and hard-working nature made them better than any of the spoiled nobles and arrogant mages that gued the Royal Court.

    On top of that, their tragic past put them in a unique position to bond with Quy and Friya like not even the members of their adoptive family could. Morok was an orphan just like Quy while Nalrond had lost his family in a single day, just like Friya.

    The fact that the two men were also powerful mages was a huge plus on any brother''s book.

    Nalrond stood up from his armchair, taking Friya''s hand and gently pulling her toward one of the safe rooms of the house.

    They were soundproofed and magically insted against any kind of listening device but since Nalrond didn''t want to take risks, he added a Hush spell and a couple of arrays of his own to ensure their privacy.

    His conversation with Jirni had given him a glimpse of the personality of his host and he suspected that the safety measures didn''t apply to the Lords of the house. Even though he wanted Jirni to help Friya with the aftermath of their conversation, he didn''t want her to take any part in it.

    "How was Jiera? Do you need some rest?" Nalrond took Friya''s hands into his and cast his best diagnostic spells to check on her condition.

    "It was exactly as the reports say." She smiled at him, d for his care. "A beautiful and richnd on the precipice of annihtion. It showed me what the Kingdom might have be if Hatorne''s gue hadn''t been contained or the civil war avoided.

    "It made me appreciate the Crown despite all of its shorings. I don''t need any rest. I had plenty on Jiera while shadowing Quy. Aside from the asional skirmish with a monster horde, there wasn''t much for me to do.

    "I spent most of my time using umtion and practicing dimensional and gravity magic. If I manage tobine them like Tezka showed me, I could-" Nalrond wrapped his arms around her body, giving her a sweet kiss and cutting her short.

    "I missed you." He said. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I missed you too." Friya looked him in the eyes, reading in them how d he was of their reunion and how nervous he was.

    "I guess that the magic lecture can wait."

    "Yeah." Nalrond nodded.

    "And that you brought me here to talk about something important you''ve already discussed with my mother." Asking the mother''s blessing instead of the father''s before proposing was unusual, but Jirni was the one avable during Friya''s absence.

    "You''re on fire today, babe." He replied, taking a few steps back and flexing his fingers to relieve their tension. "There''s something that I need to tell you and I can''t wait any longer."

    Friya expected him to get on one knee and pull out a betrothal gift from his dimensional amulet. Instead, Nalrond kept standing and told her about his n to fuse his life forces and how Quy had refused to help him until he discussed everything with Friya.

    "What do you mean, almost die? Are you insane?" The missed proposal hurt but the ease with which he spoke about endangering his own life was even worse.

    "I''m not insane. This is the path werepeople sought for millennia." Nalrond shook his head. "The path that I was already walking before meeting you. Now that I''ve finally found a solution, I need to put it into practice."

    "No, you think to have found a solution." Friya clenched her fist, needing sheer willpower to not yell. "And you have no need to put it into practice. It''s just something you want to do. There''s a difference."

    "And what would that be?" Nalrond narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

    "That you are obsessing about one thing you don''t have and ignoring everything and everyone else." Friya replied. "What if you are wrong? What if you die? Why can''t you just pass this knowledge to a tribe of werepeople and see how it goes?"

    "Are you seriously asking me this?" He was bbergasted.

 Chapter 2950 Future Struggles (Part 2)

    Chapter 2950 Future Struggles (Part 2)

    "Would you ever consider taking all your work as a dimensional mage and giving it away just because something might go wrong?" Nalrond asked with a scoff.

    "It''s not the same thing!" Friya couldn''t believe he could be so hard-headed. "I''ve worked my ass off on dimensional magic since the academy. It''s the path that I''ve chosen as my career whereas you are just being stubborn."

    "Please! I''ve been working my ass on light magic ever since I have memory because I wanted to fix my condition. My people worked on it for centuries. It''s not only a career for me, but also my legacy.

    "The dream that I share with my ancestor and with all those who have been turned into werepeople by Forbidden Magic." Anger turned Nalrond''s voice cold and his teeth into fangs.

    "Fine." Friya couldn''t argue his point without sounding like a hypocrite. "But why it has to be you?"

    "Because I''m the one who had the vision in the Fringe. I''ve worked on it and the only life force that I''m confident treating is my own." Nalrond replied. "It would take me months just to study the life force of another tribe and adapt the procedure to it.

    "Also, I can count on Quy''s help and Lith''s tower. Werepeople would never ept being treated by a stranger and Lith would never expose Solus'' secret. With their help, I have a chance whereas everyone else doesn''t."

    "Is it because I''m stronger than you?" Friya was running out of options but she was too afraid to lose him to stop. She didn''t care how low she had to stoop if it meant having him in her life. "Because you can''t Awaken?

    "Strength means nothing. Think of Kam. Think of my mother. They are both weaker than their partner but they are happy."

    "No, our difference in strength isn''t the issue, even though I''d be lying to you if I told you that it doesn''t bother me. But it''s not for the reason you think. I wouldn''t care about Awakening if I had a way to get stronger with you.

    "To live as long as you do. To not have to be left behind whenever something happens just because I''m too weak. I''ve lost everything but my life once already. Every time you go out fighting and I stay home, I feel as helpless as the day Dawn destroyed my world while I could just watch.

    "All of this bothers me, but it''s not the reason I want to fuse my life forces. It''s because I want this curse to end with me. To give my, our children if you''ll have me, a better life than mine.

    "Whether they want to Awaken or not, to be human or beasts, I want it to be their choice." Nalrond took a deep breath to both calm down and find the strength to say the next words.

    "I didn''t ask to be born, just like I didn''t ask to be permanently stuck between two worlds yet belong to neither. I didn''t ask for Dawn to destroy my vige. Things just happened and I had to suck them up.

    "Seeking revenge was my first real life-altering choice. It led me to Lith, then to Protector, andstly, to you. Our rtionship is something that I''ve chosen and I treasure it the most for this exact reason.

    "If it has to be another thing that I just have to suck it up, it would be meaningless. I can''t give up on my dream just because you ask me to, just like you wouldn''t give up on dimensional magic for me, would you?"

    "No." Friya lowered her gaze.

    She knew how hypocritical her request sounded but she didn''t regret trying.

    "When we started dating, you knew that sooner orter I would attempt to cure my condition but you epted me. If you have changed your mind and want to break up, you just have to tell me." Nalrond took another step back, giving her space and waiting for her answer.

    Countless thoughts crossed Friya''s mind. From ending the engagement with him to wondering what their children would look like. Then, as she pictured them growing up, if their condition as hybrids would trouble them like it did Nalrond.

    She thought about the sacrifice she was asking him to make. A sacrifice that would reflect upon their marriage over the years, especially while everyone grew old while Friya remained youthful.

    Yet all of that seemed a pointless worry in the face of death. She''d rather deal with those issues when and if they arose rather than enable what she perceived as a suicidal attempt.

    Friya was about to open her mouth to answer when he put his finger on her lips.

    "Please, consider this. Failure doesn''t mean that I''m going to die for sure. If the wall between my life forces crumbles and I can''t merge them, I''ll just turn into a hybrid. And since I''m way past twenty, I''ll have to make my choice.

    "If ites down to that, I''m going to pick my human side. I won''t live as long as you once you be a Harbinger, but I''ll finally be myself and our children will resemble their grandparents.

    "I have no idea how being a Harbinger works and I''d rather not have them choose between being a Hydra and a Rezar. I love being human and I''m certain that our children would suffer were they to look nothing like their mother."

    Those words struck Friya harder than she thought possible.

    ''Gods, I can''t believe how selfish I am.'' She thought. ''While I only worried about me, Nalrond worried about us. I''ve never stopped to consider how the Hydra blood might affect my body.

    ''I''ve never questioned how my choice to serve Faluel might affect my future family. Nalrond, instead, is willing to give up on his Rezar side and a longer life today just to make someone who doesn''t even exist yet happy. Someone who may never be born if we break up.''

    "I have only one question." Friya took his finger off her mouth. "Are you really okay with me bing a Harbinger? To be the Solus in our rtionship?"

    "Depends." Nalrond furrowed his brows. "Are you sleeping with her?"

    "What? No! Why do you ask?" Friya couldn''t understand his logic.

    "Then no. I don''t mind to be the Kam of our rtionship. Faluel is going to be the Solus since she gets your mind but not your body." He said, making herugh. "Don''t get me wrong, I''d rather not share you with anyone. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yet if I have to choose between you bing a Harbinger and not have you in my life at all, I pick Harbinger hands down."

    "Then go to Quy and tell her to prepare for the procedure. She wanted us to have this talk and we did. There''s nothing I can do or say to stop you nor do I have any right to. As you said, this is your life and you have to live it as you see best." Friya sighed.

    "What about us?" Nalrond asked.

    "I''m still against it." Friya shook her head. "Yet if I have to choose between risking to lose you and losing you no matter what, I pick the risk hands down. We are still together."

 Chapter 2951 Present Struggles (Part 1)

    Chapter 2951 Present Struggles (Part 1)

    Friya hugged Nalrond tightly, losing herself in his warmth.

    She ran her hand through his hair, appreciating its soft thickness. Then, she caressed his back, following the line of his muscles. Friya took deep breaths, taking in Nalrond''s natural smell and that of his cologne.

    She clung to him, trying to trap all those feelings and engrave them in her memory as strongly as she could. It was the only thing she could do to fight the fear that it was thest time she would hold him.

    ***

    Trawn Woods, Lith''s tower, a few minutester.

    "What do you mean, almost die? Are you insane?" Lith said, his words matching Friya''s.

    Nalrond, Friya, and Quy had Warped to the Verhen House and from there the Rezar had asked Lith to move to the tower to talk in private.

    "Do you realize what you are asking me to do?" Lith''s outrage after Nalrond finished exining to him the procedure to merge the Rezar life force with the human had taken everyone by surprise.

    They had expected a shrug. A cold risk/benefit analysis. A friendship hug since Lith knew all too well how having your life forces engaged in an eternal conflict felt. Anything but this.

    "This isn''t a life-saving procedure but an elective procedure. And dumb one at that." Lith snarled.

    "No more than Quy''s attempt to Awaken herself." Nalrond shook his head.

    "Hey!" Quy said, not liking theparison one bit. Mostly because it was true.

    "Please!" Lith brushed the objection off with a wave of his hand. "That wasn''t stupid. That was suicidal. I ssify it as a life-saving procedure because without me Quy had fewer chances of survival than a biscuit in Solus'' room." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Hey!" Both women said in unison, liking theparison even less than the prior.

    "This time, instead, I can stop this madness simply by refusing to take part in it. If I ept and something goes wrong, it is going to weigh on Solus'' conscience for the rest of her life. Friya might resent me and I''d lose one of the few friends I have.

    "I don''t see any reason to help you. I have nothing to gain and everything to lose from this shit."

    "Wait, you don''t even see me as a friend?" Nalrond asked in shock.

    "A friend?" Lith furrowed his brows in greater shock. "You tried to kill me at first sight. You betrayed Solus'' secret after she spared your life. You taught me Light Mastery only to make up for the mess you made.

    "We are acquaintances and business partners in the silver mines, but that''s it."

    "Thank the gods you haven''t changed." Nalrond said with augh, finding Lith still being Lith oddly reassuring. "For a moment I feared that fatherhood had made you soft."

    "Why in the gods'' names are you happy that Lith''s acting like a jerk?" Friya asked, outraged enough for them both.

    "Because I''d rather my healer be cold and detached during the procedure than an emotional mess." Nalrond shrugged. "Most healers refuse to treat their loved ones because they can''t take the heat.

    "Also, if I have to be honest, Lith isn''t wrong. We know each other for years but you can count the times we hung out together for the fun of it on the fingers of one hand."

    Then, the Rezar turned to Solus who was still as confused as everyone else.

    "Since we have already established that Lith has no conscience and he''s just worried about yours, would you please help me convince him, Solus?"

    "Me?" Being the center of attention made her take a step back in reflex.

    She considered Nalrond a friend and was worried about how his death would reflect on Friya as well. Thest thing Solus wanted was to be the one making such a hard decision.

    "Yes." Nalrond nodded. "I know that it''s a low blow but if I convince you, Lith''s going to follow you to the moon and back. Please, Solus, help me. You know how it feels to be trapped in a cage that has no bars yet prevents you from living your life to its fullest.

    "To be stuck in ce not because of what you did but for the choices that someone else made for you. Please, help me to shatter my chains."

    Solus stared at him and then at Friya, not knowing what to do.

    ''What would I do in his shoes? Would I put my life on the line to be free from the tower?'' Solus looked at the hands of her human body and then she used Sky Blessing to study for the umpteenth time the cracks in her life force and mana core.

    They were still there, unchanged since the first time she had discovered them, but there was a reason for it. Were the tower to fix them, its bond with Solus would be broken and with it the possibility to save her life.

    The wound that the original Bytra had inflicted upon Elphyn had caused her original life force to be nigh-depleted and her mana core to turn grey.

    The years Solus had spent bonded with Lith had allowed the tower to replenish her missing life force by slowly converting the world energy into it after using Lith as a blueprint.

    If the cracks in her life force had been sealed back when she was a stone, she would have died of old age in a matter of days. Even now, Solus had no idea how much of her original life force had been restored.

    She had lived bonded to the tower for 700 hundred years and Awakened humans were supposed to live around 1000 years. Even worse, were the cracks in her mana core to be fixed, it would quickly reach the bright violent level in a matter of days.

    Her core would then be too strong for her weakened body, making it burst like an overinted balloon. Solus had struggled a lot with her condition over the years, but the more she studied it, the more she realized that Menadion''s work was a miracle of magic.

    Ripha had salvaged a shattered core and even found a way to replenish an exhausted life force. What were sixteen yearspared with the renewed youth and life that the tower was giving her?

    ''No, I would not try to close the cracks in my essence.'' Solus answered to herself honestly. ''I wouldn''t risk dying and losing Lith, Elysia, and everyone I''vee to love. Yet my situation ispletely different from Nalrond''s.

    ''I just have to wait to get everything I want and maybe even get free from the tower whereas he has to decide whether to be a prisoner for the rest or his life or put everything on the line for a change at freedom.''

    "You are my friend, Nalrond. You have my help." Solus offered him her hand and he promptly shook it.

    "He is?" Lith was bbergasted. "But you''ve spent with him even less time than me!"

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen!" Whenever someone used his full name, he knew to be in trouble. "Nalrond risked his life while fighting by our side countless times. He helped us to save Falco from the Strangler."

 Chapter 2952 Present Struggles (Part 2)

    Chapter 2952 Present Struggles (Part 2)

    "He taught us Light Mastery and apanied us to the Fringe.He is *our* friend and the fact that Friya loves him should make you appreciate Nalrond more, not consider him a liability to your friendship."

    "Fine, you win." Lith raised his hands with the palms out in surrender. "But if we are going to do this, we''ll do it my way."

    "What do you mean?" Nalrond asked.

    "I mean that I''m going to do everything I can to ensure your survival." Lith scoffed. "I''m not going to put Solus'' and Friya''s happiness at risk just to be nice."

    "I still don''t follow you." The Rezar was getting more puzzled by the second. "You putting the most effort into the procedure is a good thing. I want to live. It''s the whole point of me asking you for help. Why are you talking as if it''s a bad thing instead."

    "Because when I say everything, I mean everything." Lith replied, his voice cold and his gaze stern. "You are going to swallow a very bitter pill and you are not going to like it."

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, underground city of Lightkeep.

    "Why are we here?" Friya had never been to the undead city and looked around in amazement.

    The Tower Warp had brought them inside dion''s house, a fine noble mansion that put even the Ernas household to shame.

    "As I said, we''re going to do everything we can to ensure Nalrond''s survival. This is where the final pieces of the puzzle are." Lith pointed at the Hands of Menadion that they had borrowed from Faluel and the Mouth of Menadion that Tista had entrusted to them.

    The Hydra had agreed to oversee the procedure.

    She would wear the tower''s Eyes so that her seven heads would take the full burden of the artifact. This way, she could study the data collected by the Eyes and ry the parts relevant to the procedure via a mind link, leaving the Healers free to focus on their spells.

    Lith and Quy were the only ones in the group besides Faluel to have reached such a mastery of the healing arts that they could hear the melody of the life forces. Having less skilled people like Friya or Tista around would just hinder them.

    "I see." Friya nodded in understanding. "We havee to borrow the Eyes of Menadion from Ka."

    As if on cue, the Wight walked through the door and trotted toward them.

    "It''s nice to see you again so soon, Scourge." She was wearing a gold-rimmed pince-nez the size of a te on her snout and a perfectly cut white crystal as big as an apple on her neck. "I love yourpany but you can''t interrupt my work so often."

    "Mom!" Nyka and Nok both pped the back of the Wight''s neck. "First, rude. Second, what do you mean, often? Thest time you saw Lith was during the War of the Griffons!"

    "My point exactly." Ka grunted in annoyance. "He can''t barge in here every other day and expect me to be happy. I can''t drop everything whenever he feels lonely. If Scourge has so much free time, he should deal with Thrud or take care of his pregnant wife."

    "Mom!" Nyka and Nok both pped the back of the Wight''s neck again while everyone else chuckled at their expenses. "That was over a year ago. Thrud is dead and Lith''s daughter is five months old."

    Nyka pointed at Elysia who was strapped to the baby carrier on Lith''s chest.

    "Really?" Ka took the Eyes off her snout to clean them before taking a better look at her guests. "She looks pregnant to me."

    Her w pointed at Quy who raised her finger, opened her mouth, and then remembered how the Eyes of Menadion worked. She fainted on the spot before anyone could recover from the surprise and congratte her.

    "Mom, that''s Quy, not Kam!" Nyka pped her own forehead so hard that it produced an echo. "Also, way to break the news to her. You should be more tactful."

    "Don''t lie to me." Ka was outraged. "I know Scourge''s wife, Kelpie. She is female, has ck hair, and she''s shorter than Lith."

    The Wight waved at Quy''s unconscious figure that matched the generic description to perfection.

    "Kam, not Kelpie!" Ka had still a long way before attaining Lichhood but Nok feared that her memory had already be that of an undead from overwork. "Also, you have just described half of the women of the Garlen continent."

    "I see." It was only then that the scan revealed that the energy signature of the fetus didn''t match those of the Tiamats and Ka realized her blunder. "Well, congrattions youngdy. He''s going to be a healthy strong boy."

    "It''s a boy?" Quy had barely recovered when she fainted again. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Why the reaction?" Ka was puzzled. "There''s no reason to prefer a female. The important is that the child is healthy."

    "Mom!" Nyka pped the massive head of the Wight with all of her strength. "Please, shut up. Quy doesn''t care about the gender of the baby. It''s just that you keep delivering her with big news with the tact of an avnche!"

    "I see." And Ka was being literal.

    She saw things clearly with the Eyes but had yet to understand the reason for all that fuss. She decided to do as instructed and shut her mouth until talked to.

    Quy had just regained consciousness again. When she woke up, she found herself to be lying on the marble floor with everyone giving her space while looking at her with a worried yet joyful look.

    "It wasn''t a dream, right?" She asked and when the others shook their heads in reply, she went into hyperventtion.

    "Congrattions, sis." Friya took first ce while offering Quy a leather bag to breathe in.

    "Thanks. I guess. I hope. I''m scared!" Quy said in between breaths, d that every healer worthy of their name carried such bags with them at all times.

    ''I knew it!'' Ka inwardly patted her own back. ''I knew I had to shut up. If this Kira is already scared as it is, I should tell her about the twin only once she calms down.''

    "It''s normal. When I learned that Kami was pregnant, I was terrified and I wasn''t the one carrying the baby." Lith said. "Congrattions, Little One."

    ''Sis, little one, Karnak. How can people demand me to remember so many goddamn names?'' Ka looked at the scene in annoyance, longing to go back to herb already. ''Can''t they just pick one and stick with it?''

    Everyone congratted Quy in turns and after a while, she was able to get back to her feet.

    "Thanks, guys. Gods, I have to tell Morok. And Dad. And Mom!" Quy shuddered at that word. "I don''t know what to expect from her. To lock me in the house to protect me or send me out on a mission to exploit the baby''s power boost."

    "Babies. Plural." Ka corrected her. The Wight had been distracted long enough to forget about the previous warnings, including her own.

    "Babies?" Quy echoed as blood drained from her face.

 Chapter 2953 Victims and Perpetrators (Part 1)

    Chapter 2953 Victims and Perpetrators (Part 1)

    "Yes." Ka tapped with a w near Quy''s womb. "A boy and a girl. I missed one earlier because the boy eclipses his twin and with all the equipment the mother wears it took the Eyes a bit toplete the scan."

    Quy checked her womb with Invigoration, finding the minuscule life forces only because she knew where and what to look for.

    "It''s fine." Quy nodded and then fainted again.

    After a few minutes, several sses of water for Quy, and ps for Ka, the situation went back to normal.

    "I''m ok now. I think." Quy received a second round of congrattions but this time she refused to get up. "Just to be clear, we are done, right?"

    "Are you leaving already?" Ka asked with a jovial tone that was anything but polite.

    "No, I''m asking if we are done with the news. You didn''t spot a third baby while I was passed out, did you?" Quy said.

    Ka took a long pause, her gaze getting stern.

    "Did you?" Quy''s voice quivered at the idea of triplets.

    "I''m sorry are you talking to me? I spaced out for a moment." The Wight replied. "Yes, there''s just two of them. Also, I''m sorry for upsetting you. I wouldn''t have mentioned your pregnancy if I hadn''t mistaken you for Scourge''s wife.

    "You resemble her a lot."

    "Thanks." Quy said with a chuckle, taking it for apliment.

    The truth was that all humans looked the same to Ka.

    "Please, don''t apologize. It was an honest mistake and despite my unbing reaction, you made me really happy."

    "d to hear." The Wight rubbed her muzzle against Quy''s hand in a friendly gesture. "So, when are you leaving?"

    "Mom!" Nyka wanted to die in embarrassment while Nok''s paw hurt from all the pping.

    "I mean, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

    Lith briefly exined Nalrond''s problem to Ka and its experimental solution. Much to everyone''s surprise, she remained focused for the entire conversation without missing a beat.

    "I see. So you want to integrate Nalrond''s life forces and you want to borrow my Eyes to couple them with the tower''s and maximize the efficiency of the floors that require the Eyes to work."

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "Out of curiosity, howe you remember Nalrond''s name after hearing it once?"

    "What a silly question, Scourge. I never forget the name of my specimens, I mean, friends." Ka looked around, hoping that no one had noticed her slip of the tongue. "By the way, would you mind if I spectate?

    "To be a Lich I''m going to almost die myself and I could learn a thing of two from your experiment."

    "First, it''s a procedure. Second, you should ask Nalrond, not me." Lith said.

    "Yes, of course." Ka replied, turning to the Rezar. "Do you mind?"

    "No problem." Nalrond had just met the Wight but he couldn''t wait to get rid of her already.

    "Great! Let''s get to work!" Ka trotted toward the tower but Lith stopped her.

    "Not so fast. The Eyes are just one of the things we need. Make way, Solus."

    The only thing Lith remembered about dion''s house was that it was underground whereas thanks to her previous visit and her eidetic memory, Solus knew where Baba Yaga''sb was.

    ''I hate it when Lith acts like this. Even more when he is right.'' She inwardly crossed her fingers, hoping for the best.

    Lightkeep was built over a geyser powerful enough to sustain temporarily both Solus'' tower and Baba Yaga''s hut and dion''s house was so big that it could host them both.

    Those who had never been to the undead city marveled at the sight of the training facilities and the masterpieces of art decorating the ce. Yet nothing shocked and awed Nalrond more than the contents of the small hunting hut.

    The room seemed to be made of in hardwood and the magical equipment was simr to what he had seen countless times in Faluel''sir and Lith''s tower. The Rezarcked the Forgemastering expertise to recognize how more advanced it actually was.

    So it wasn''t a what who struck at the very core of his being, but a who.

    "You!" Nalrond went pale, the blood draining from his face in trigger response to his trauma before flushing back in anger.

    "Hi, Nalrond." Zepho Ac, former Ranger of the Griffon Kingdom and current host of the Horseman of Dawn, stepped away from the magical equipment. "Lith warned me of your arrival." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He kept his hands visible and away from anything that could be considered even remotely a weapon. Yet the bright white mana crystaling out of his chest was visible through the fabric of his shirt and that was enough for Nalrond to consider Ac a threat.

    "You did what?" He said in shock.

    "I told you that I would do everything to ensure your survival and that you wouldn''t like it." Lith replied. "Dawn is one of Mogar''s greatest experts on life forces in general and yours in particr.

    "You told me that your people sought her advice and that you''ve learned light magic from her. Dawn has studied the life force of the Rezars for centuries and she is bound to know a lot of things about it, if not even a cure.

    "Not asking her advice before risking your life on a maybe would be stupid."

    "Stupid?" Nalrond could barely contain his anger. "How can you bring me to the person who murdered my people and destroyed my life? How can you consider not seeking the advice of such a monster stupid?"

    Ac remained still and silent, knowing that everything the Rezar was saying was true.

    "You would be right, If I had brought you here with the goal of reconciliation." Lith replied. "I''m not asking you to forgive them or even to trust them. Only to listen to what they have to say and check if it matches with your theory.

    "You are thest Rezar and if you die, your species will be extinct. You don''t have to like them to take what it belongs to you."

    "What the heck are you talking about?" Nalrond felt like Mogar had be crazy and he was the only sane person remaining.

    "You are not going to ask for their help. As I see it, they owe it to you. Once we are done here-"

    "We are done here!" Nalrond cut Lith short, enveloping Elysia in a shield of light that blocked her sight and hearing. "And they don''t owe me answers, they owe me blood!"

    He shapeshifted into his Rezar form and charged at Ac. A tier three Light Mastery spell enhanced the already razor-sharp edge of his ws and made them scorching hot.

    They easily ripped through clothes, flesh, and bones, leaving four deep diagonal cuts that went from Ac''s left shoulder to his right hip. The heat cauterized the wounds the moment the ws opened them, making them harder to heal and the surrounding blood boil.

    Once it reached the nearby organs, they were steam-cooked from the inside and failed one after the other. Ac could have activated light fusion to mend the cuts, darkness fusion to stop the pain, or just the Lightspire Armor to prevent the damage, but he did nothing.

 Chapter 2954 Victims and Perpetrators (Part 2)

    Chapter 2954 Victims and Perpetrators (Part 2)

    ''Whatever Nalrond does to me, I deserve it. This pain is the consequence of my actions and I''m owning it for once.'' Ac thought.

    "You destroyed my vige!" Nalrond yelled as a left-handed sh cleaved Ac''s arm at shoulder level and the limb into four smaller pieces.

    No blood spurted from the wounds. The heat cauterized them instantly, searing the flesh and releasing a barbeque smell.

    "You killed my people!" A right-handed strike tore apart the remaining arm as well.

    "You killed my family! My wife!" Nalrond crossed his ws into an X-shaped cut that severed Ac''s legs, leaving him a helpless stump.

    "How dare you stand here like nothing happened?" The Rezar lifted Ac from the cor of his shirt, his eyes burning with mana while his ws sizzled on contact with the flesh. "How dare you live infort, well-fed and dressed while I couldn''t even collect the ashes of my people?

    "You should be hiding in some dirty hole like the rat you are. You should spend the rest of your life scared, running from one ce to another without knowing what day will be yourst!" Nalrond screamed every single word and soon found himself short on breath.

    Yet his body was full of strength, his rage burned so strong that everything felt possible to him. Having his hated enemy at hand was a dreame true. He had imagined that moment countless times and it was turning out to be everything he had hoped for.

    With one jarring sour note.

    In Nalrond''s fantasies, Ac fought tooth and nail. He would scream in pain, shouting with rage and desperation as his life neared its gory, violent end. Now, instead, the former Ranger refused to struggle and had yet to emit as much as a whimper.

    "You have no right to be happy!" Nalrond shouted in frustration and when once again Ac refused to reply, the Rezar decapitated him. "You have no right to live! My people should have never saved you!"

    Nalrond''s right hand pierced through Ac''s chest, puncturing his heart and seizing Dawn''s white crystal. He unleashed his best spells one after the other, screaming in an animalistic roar in the attempt to split the host and the cursed object apart.

    "Did you get it out of your system?" Dawn said, her voiceing out of the head on the floor that had shapeshifted into her own.

    Crystals sprouted from the stumps and reconnected the main body with the severed limbs. The muscr body of Ac was reced by a lithe feminine frame, yet when Dawn''s delicate hand closed around the Rezar''s ws, it had the strength of an industrial vise.

    "I let Zepho be your punching bag because that''s what he wanted. For some stupid reason, he feels guilty for what happened to you." The Horseman pulled Nalrond''s hand out of her chest with deliberate slowness as the Rezar grunted in fury and effort, trying to resist.

    "He can do everything he wants with his body, but when you dared touch mine, I had to draw a line, you scum." The crystal sprouts disappeared along with the wounds, leaving no trace of the ughter.

    "How dare you call me scum, murderer?"Nalrond spat every word, saliva dripped off the Horseman''s face.

    "I just like calling things by their name, thief." Dawn replied with a low growl. "Since you are such a connoisseur of vengeance, you won''t mind me exacting mine!"

    She closed her fist shut, crushing the Rezar''s hand in the process.

    Solus and Friya stepped forward to stop Dawn and help Nalrond but Lith grabbed their shoulders, shaking his head.

    "Your vengeance?" Nalrond roared in outrage. "Yours?"

    "Yes, mine!" The Rezar struck with his healthy hand only for Dawn to p it away and then hit his face in a single movement.

    The p shattered his jaw and twisted his neck with so much strength that it gave him a concussion. Even with darkness fusion stopping the pain, Nalrond''s vision blurred and his knees buckled.

    "Or have you conveniently forgotten the part about what your people did to me?" Dawn grabbed the Rezar by the scales on his neck akin to what he had done earlier to Ac, making him bleed.

    "I never even knew werepeople were real until I was forced inside the Fringe. I never nned on involving the Rezars in my feud with Sinmara. You guys butted in!" Since Nalrond kept struggling, she punched him in the chest.

    Darkness fusion spared him from the agony but the shattered ribs made breathing almost impossible. The Rezar couldn''t move anymore, there was no strength left in his body as he coughed out blood.

    "With the excuse to be my jailers, the Rezars trapped me inside a small chest for centuries." Another p broke the other side of Nalrond''s jaw and aggravated the concussion.

    "You starved me of light element with your arrays. You tortured me for decades until I gave up and shared my knowledge with the Rezars." Dawn let go of Nalrond, healing his wounds just enough to make sure he could keep listening but not argue back.

    "You extorted Life Mastery and Body Sculpting from me. You stole another mage''s work, breaking one of the most sacred taboos on Mogar. Not even the Guardians, not even the past Royals of the Kingdom, or the Magic Emperors ever did such a thing to the lowestmoner.

    "Your people did." The Horseman took a brief pause, letting her words sink in before dealing another stab at Nalrond''s righteous anger. "Your people took everything from me, even my legacy.

    "They left me alone in the dark for years at a time until they needed something from me and only then would I know a short respite. Did you really think that after enduring centuries of this, I would have just walked away with a smile?

    "That I would have let you Rezar scum live happily to enjoy the fruits of *my*bor?"

    "You are a monster." Nalrond gasped, his voice barely a whisper. "Everything you''ve learned cost thousands of lives. We delivered justice to your victims."

    "Please!" Dawnughed at him with scorn. "If you truly believe what you say, you would have never learned my magic. If my spells are stained with blood, so are your hands.

    "Your people never cared about my so-called victims. They knew about me only what Sinmara told them and they used it as a justification for their actions. Otherwise your ancestors would have gone out of their Fringe and fixed my alleged mess instead of hoarding my knowledge for themselves.

    "The Rezars were no better than I am." Dawn spat on the ground. "Stop ying the tragic hero. Like it or not, sharing my legacy makes you the disciple I never wanted. Your hands are as bloodstained as mine.

    "The only difference between you and I is that I moved on. Even after I discovered that a Rezar had survived, I didn''t bother with a mad quest for revenge. When Verhen suddenly became a Light Master after meeting you, I didn''t chase him down. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I knew it was your doing, I just didn''t care. I considered us even and let go of my resentment."

 Chapter 2955 Matching Pieces (Part 1)

    Chapter 2955 Matching Pieces (Part 1)

    Nalrond''s chest was healed enough for him to breathe again. He wanted to yell, to curse at the Horseman and deny everything she said. Yet hey down on the floor, his spirit as broken as his body.

    He knew that she was telling the truth because the methods for dealing with Dawn had been passed down in his tribe for generations. He had learned them as a child and put them into practice as an adult. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He had never doubted those teachings or questioned his actions.

    From the Rezars'' point of view, they were doing Mogar a favor. Taking her knowledge was no act of malice, just their rightfulpensation for the horrors they had suffered from the same Forbidden Magic that had spawned her.

    From Dawn''s point of view, however, the Rezars were a bunch of cruel monsters and she was their victim.

    ''How could I believe that a single Rezar would seed where an entire vige failed?" Nalrond thought. ''My quest has never been about revenge. My purpose never changed even after meeting Lith.

    ''I just wanted to be put off my misery and be reunited with my people.''

    "Now, since I doubt that your friend would like being indebted to me even more than he already is, Solus, it''s better if one of you guys heals him. I''m going to check if Zepho is alright." Dawn walked out of the room, to let both her host and Nalrond express their grief without witnesses.

    Friya bolted to the Rezar''s side as soon as Lith let go of her arm. She used Invigoration on him to assess the severity of his condition, discovering that the wounds Dawn had inflicted upon him were painful but not life-threatening.

    She had avoided vital spots on purpose. Even the remaining rib fragments were nowhere near his heart and lungs.

    "Why did you stop me?" Friya asked, her tone filled with resentment and disbelief. "We could have helped Nalrond. Together we could win."

    "And then what?" Lith shrugged. "We have no way to destroy her mana crystal and even if we did, making an enemy of Baba Yaga while inside her mage tower is beyond idiotic.

    "On top of that, I made myself clear when I said that I''d do anything in my power to help Nalrond and that he wouldn''t like it. We came here to ask Dawn a second opinion and if Nalrond needs to be beaten to a pulp to get a reality check, I''m fine with it."

    "How can you say that?" Quy pulled Lith''s arm, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "I doubt that in his shoes you''d act any different. You are a huge hypocrite!"

    "No, I''m not." He replied. "I had plenty of enemies stronger than me in the past. Deirus, Night, Thrud, and I could go on. Yet I''ve never charged blindly ahead. I always bid my time and wait for the moment when I can win.

    "I don''t fight losing battles unless my life of that of someone I love is on the line. What Nalrond did here was reckless and stupid. Had Dawn not made peace with Solus, now we would be all involved in his mess and we would have another immortal enemy."

    "But-" Friya tried to say but Nalrond gently squeezed her hand after shapeshifting back into his human form.

    "He''s right." He said while coughing out the blood still stuck in his throat. "Dawn''s right. I think that even someone as kind as Solus would have ughtered us after being treated like that for centuries.

    "We used the term cursed object and the crimes we assumed Dawn perpetrated to excuse what we did to her. After meeting Solus, I understood that not all cursed objects are bloodthirsty monsters.

    "We did things to Dawn. Horrible things. She was just a murderous piece of crystal to us, not a person. We didn''t waste one second worrying about her suffering. We only cared about getting our hands on the legendary Light Mastery."

    "Are you telling me that you''ve forgiven her?" Friya asked in disbelief.

    "No. I''ll never forgive her." Nalrond said with a snarl, finding his strength back. "I''m just too tired. I need time to think."

    After an awkward silence lingered in theb for a few minutes, Lith sent Solus to call Dawn back.

    ''Do you want to confront the Rezar?'' The Hoseman asked Ac.

    ''No. Everything he said about me is right. Nothing I say will make Nalrond feel better. My presence would only make things for him harder to bear. Besides, he needs your help, not mine.

    ''If he''s your disciple, I''m just your apprentice. Yet.''

    "What can I do for you?" Dawn asked Lith without looking down at Nalrond once.

    "My friend here thinks he''s found a way to undo the effects of Forbidden Magic on his life forces. Since you have spent centuries in the Fringe with his people, I assume you know a Rezar''s physiology inside out.

    "I want your opinion about the procedure he has devised and any advice you can give us to improve on it."

    "Do you really expect me to know a cure for the condition of the Werepeople?" The Horseman asked with a scoff.

    "A cure, no." Lith replied. "However, I bet that during your imprisonment you devoted a lot of time and energy to circumvent the Rezars'' condition and use one of them as your host. It''s what I would have done."

    "Consider the bet won." She nodded. "Useless to say, I failed. After a while, I realized that their life forces were so strongly intertwined that in my sealed state I couldn''t fix them without a host.

    "Yet unless I fixed their life forces, I couldn''t get a host. It was an impossible conundrum. That''s why I had to wait for an outsider like Zepho."

    Dawn was impressed by Lith''s cold logic as much as Ac was appalled by Lith''s willingness to put Nalrond through so much emotional pain just to achieve his goal.

    ''I can see now how he beat us.'' Ac thought.

    ''I can see now why Solus likes him.'' Dawn thought.

    "Nalrond?" Lith asked.

    "What?" The Rezar sighed, gulping down potions to make up for the lost nutrients.

    "It''s your research. My understanding of it is limited." Lith replied. "I can act as a middleman if you don''t want to talk directly to Dawn but I still need your input."

    Lith put his hand on Nalrond''s shoulder, establishing a mind link.

    ''Your choice.''

    ''Isn''t it a bitte for your concerns after setting me up for a beating?'' The Rezar asked.

    ''I did no such thing. I warned you multiple times. It''s you who acted out. You picked a fight with Dawn and got your ass kicked. I''m your healer, not your nanny.''

    Nalrond gritted his teeth, those words spread salt on his already wounded pride.

    ''Thanks. I think I can do it.'' He took a few slow breaths to rx and then exined everything to Dawn.

    "I think you are on to something." She replied after pondering Nalrond''s theory and brainstorming it with Ac. "Your procedure should work, but in my opinion your odds of survival are barely 50%. At least as it is."

 Chapter 2956 Matching Pieces (Part 2)

    Chapter 2956 Matching Pieces (Part 2)

    "Do you know how to improve it after listening to it once?"Nalrond was bbergasted.

    "No sh- shop, genius." Elysia''s presence triggered the auto-correct for family-friendlynguage. "As your friend said, I''ve studied the Rezars for a long time and my expertise in light magic made Manohar look like a child inparison."

    "I''m/He''s not his/my friend." Lith and Nalrond said in unison.

    "Really?" Dawn furrowed her brows. "Going through so much trouble to help you heal in the body and the mind sounds like something a friend would do."

    "He did?" Nalrond was bbergasted.

    "Lith informed us of your arrival and asked us to go easy on you in case things got out of hand." Dawn nodded. "Anyway, off the top of my head, there are two points that you have to reconsider.

    "First, you can''t just let your life forces meet and hope for the best. That''s something that regr hybrids are forced to do because they have no idea when the barrier between their life forces is going to fall apart and make them sh.

    "In your case, you can make it happen any time you want. You might as well be prepared. Weakening your life forces by wounding your bodies will weaken their shes and make them more receptive to your will, but that''s it.

    "If your goal is to merge your life forces, you should use Body Sculpting to create an artificial link between them. This way, their energies are going to flow into each other and reduce the friction between them.

    "It''s the same thing a Forgemaster does when applying runes during the preparatory phase." Dawn said and Lith nodded for her to continue. "Second, cracking both your cores is unnecessarily dangerous.

    "You''d better try and see if they merge along with your life forces. Then, if that fails, consider cracking solely the mana core of the life force you are more willing to discard.

    "Even if you can''t make the mana cores merge, as long as you have a perfect life force and one healthy core you should survive."

    "This is very interesting." Ka said while taking notes with water magic and adapting the process for Lichhood. "ording to my previous and almost lethal failures, however, it''s better to collect data before attempting the actual procedure.

    "Even with the Eyes, it might take a few tries. We have no idea how long Nalrond''s life forces are going to remain stable enough to study them and he needs time to recover before performing a new attempt."

    "Right. The Eyes." Dawn said, looking at the Wight in envy. "Well, if you don''t need us anymore, we''d go back to our experiments."

    Solus looked at Nalrond who replied: "Yes, we are done here."

    "In case anything elsees to your mind, please ask dion to contact us. He has Lith''s rune." Solus didn''t trust the Horseman enough to give Dawn her contact rune.

    Also, she wanted to avoid further upsetting Nalrond.

    "Where is Malyshka? I was hoping to meet her."

    "Mother is busy. As more and more members of the Undead Corts are leaving the surface, the Eclipsed Lands are running out of space." Dawn replied. "Before helping them to build a new city, however, she wants to make sure her children from the surface have truly turned a new leaf.

    "I''ll let her know you''ve been looking for her."

    Friya and Quy had never been in the Eclipsed Lands and were curious to see the rest of Lightkeep. Yet Nalrond was in dire need of rest. His physical wounds had already disappeared whereas his mental scars had been torn open again.

    Everyone returned to the tower and a quick Warp brought them back to the Verhen Mansion. Thanks to Scarlett''s Sunshade array that absorbed the excess light element of the day, Nyka wasn''t hindered by the sun as long as she remained away from the windows.

    "Take all the time you need." Lith brought Nalrond to the Rezar''s private quarters on the first floor of the tower. "We need you at the top of your game before you give us a practical demonstration of the procedure."

    He left a tray of steaming food on the table and was about to leave the room when Nalrond stopped him. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Why did you do that?"

    "You need to be more specific."

    "Why did you force me to meet Dawn and Ac? You know what they did to me. If you thought we needed a second opinion so badly, we could have had that conversation through amunication amulet." Nalrond asked.

    "Because you remind me a lot of how I was until a while ago." Lith replied. "So focused on what I''ve lost that I disregarded what I had and, more importantly, what I could have if I just pulled my head out of my ass."

    He shapeshifted into his Tiamat form while holding Elysia''s little hands. The baby girl shapeshifted as well, smiling from ear to ear as the Dragon scales transmitted the love that her father was unable to express with words.

    "Let me guess." Nalrond sighed. "In my shoes, you wouldn''t put at stake what I have with Friya nor go on with the procedure."

    "No. That''s why I say we are not friends. You don''t know the first thing about me." The Tiamat snarled. "In your shoes, I would absolutely try the procedure. The idea of not being able to protect Kami and Solus is unbearable to me.

    "And don''t get me started about dragging Elysia in my sh-op. What I wouldn''t do is let my pride get in the way of my survival. I don''t care who or what I have to ask for help. As long as I cae back to my family at the end of every day, the rest doesn''t matter."

    ***

    While Nalrond sorted out the mess that his mind was, Lith and the others worked to synch the various pieces of the Set of Menadion. Luckily, they already knew how to connect the two Eyes and with the help of the artifacts, synching the Mouths and the Hands was just a matter of time.

    "If my hypothesis is correct, this is going to more than double our magical prowess." Solus exined. "You see, after thest upgrade, the tower has recovered a few floors that need the pieces of the Set of Menadion to work.

    "Even though the single external pieces can''t connect with the tower by themselves, the problem should be solved by synching them with their respective tower twin."

    Since Lith and Solus had nothing noteworthy for the Grimoire and the Thievery to study, Solus activated the Spark. It allowed them to further refine the pieces they had already Forgemastered without the need to break them down with Creation Magic and then enchant them again.

    Solus put the tower''s Hands on the stone pedestal, channelling the vigorous flow of world energy necessary to activate the full power of the artifact and start the refining process.

    Ragnar?k was alreadyprised of Davross and elemental crystals so it had no need for the Spark. The Voidwalker armors, the Sage Staff, and Double Edge, instead still had a long way to go.

 Chapter 2957 Lost Secrets (Part 1)

    Chapter 2957 Lost Secrets (Part 1)

    Also, the Spark enriched with mana the blood and tissue samples that Lith and the others would use as amplifiers for the artifacts they would Forgemaster in the future.

    "Okay. Here goes everything." Friya pressed the six elemental gems of her Hands of Menadion against those of the tower''s Hands.

    A notification in the tower''s interface announced to Solus that the synch had been sessful, but nothing happened.

    "Farm, nothing happened! I knew it was too good to be-" The tower shook below their feet and cracks opened on the stone pedestal in the middle of the Spark. "By my Mom, I think we are putting too much stress on the tower.

    "Either it needs to recover more floors in order to handle both artifacts or we did something we weren''t supposed to. We need to reverse the process!"

    While Solus and Friya tried to deactivate the synch between the two pairs of Hands, the cracks expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    "Or maybe not. Look!" Tista pointed at the fissures in the stone pedestal that were taking a precise circr form instead of spreading. "We were all wrong. It''s no damage. The tower has just created a second slot for the other Hands."

    "Correction, we were partly wrong." Solus checked the tower''s interface and the status of the core. "I think this wasn''t supposed to be possible, at least ording to the old tower''s schematics and the process is indeed straining the tower."

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked. "Aren''t identical pieces of the Sets of Menadion naturally capable of working like a single unit?"

    "Yes, but the pieces that my mother gifted to her apprentices weren''t supposed to link with the tower. It became possible because the tower is iplete and once synched, the tower core mistook Friya''s Hands for another missing piece.

    "It''s like when we be one, Lith. When it happens, the power core is no longer capable of distinguishing between us and fixes your life force as well. In the case of the Hands, it created an extra slot where there was none.

    "The issue is that to do that, the tower core is rewriting itself to amodate another artifact and deal with its foreign energy signature."

    "I see." Lith pondered the issue for a while. "This means that as soon as the tower recovers from the changes, we need to go to the Thievery and the Grimoire to make room for the second set of Eyes.

    "If we wait for too long, whatever new function the tower can gain by doubling the artifacts it is connected with will be lost. For once, the tower being in an iplete state is not a handicap but a limited opportunity to gain an advantage."

    "What about the Mouth?" Tista pointed out.

    "We have no floor that works with the Mouth." Solus shrugged. "There''s no rush for that."

    "Gods, how can you guys be so calm? Aren''t you curious?" Friya was quivering with curiosity.

    She stood in front of the stone pedestal while holding the Hands but she didn''t dare insert them without permission. A mage tower was the most sacred treasure a mage could have and Friya would never risk damaging such a priceless artifact.

    "Yes!" Lith and Solus replied in frustration. "But this is new for us as well. Better be safe than sorry."

    After a while, the tremors stopped and the stone pedestal was whole again. No cracks remained. The slot for the second pair of Hands was so cleanly cut that it seemed to have been chiseled by an artist with a scalpel.

    Even then, Solus waited until the tower interface detected no more power fluctuations for ten minutes straight.

    "Do it, but be ready to pull them out on my signal." Solus said and Friya nodded.

    The moment she got close to the pedestal, the Hands escaped her grip and positioned themselves so that the right glove of one set was in front of the left of the other. This way, the Apprentice Hands could cup around the Master Hands. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The elemental crystals on the fingertips of the silver gloves touched those of the same color on the knuckles of the ck gloves, leaving only the darkness gemstones on their backhands disconnected.

    At least until a small de came out from under both the magic crystals, bringing them forward until they touched,pleting the circuit. At that moment, the tower''s efficiency in handling the world energy skyrocketed.

    It was still a long way from taking control of the entire output of the geyser but enough for the Spark to upgrade itself to make the best of the improved flow of energy.

    New cables sprouted from the walls, seeping inside the artifacts that needed refinement and hastening the maturing of the biological samples.

    "A weapon?" Lith had expected the changes in the Spark whereas the de was a surprise, piquing his curiosity. "I thought the Hands were just a Forgemastering and teaching tool."

    "Me too." Solus nodded. "I would think that it''s just another upgrade caused by our bond, but that would be possible only for the Master''s Hands. The Apprentice set was Forgemastered by my mother centuries ago and has never been modified."

    "Sweet!" Faluel said from themunication amulet. As a good apprentice, Friya had called the Hydra to give her the good news. "I''ll be there as soon as possible."

    Once the Spark stabilized, it was the turn of the Thievery and the Grimoire. Both times the tower trembled and needed a while to adapt to the unexpected second artifact and its foreign energy signature.

    Luckily, all the pieces of Menadion''s set could be used by anyone as long as they received permission from the owner, creating a temporary secondary imprint that solved the energy signature problem.

    For the Thievery, the stone pedestal split into two halves that positioned themselves at the opposite ends of the room. This way, the artifacts under scan would be reflected in the lenses of both sets of Eyes which in turn mirrored the reflected images endlessly.

    Instead of deciphering one enchantment at a time, once coupled this way the Eyes studied the overall mana flow and the runes generating it. It was akin to go from deciphering a coded book to solving a jigsaw puzzle.

    The more pieces the Eyes put together, the clearer the picture became and the easier finding the next matching piece.

    In the Grimoire, instead, the pedestal remained the same and the Eyes sat next to each other, parallel processing the information acquired by both of them and working on multiple spells at the same time without affecting the speed of the single process.

    "Well, this is nice. The only downside is that now the tower also has to rest." Lith sighed. "Even if the interface says that everything is okay, I''m not going to take risks. The tower is part of Solus and has be a living being.

    "After so many changes, it needs to stabilize and recover. If anything happens during Nalrond''s procedure, we can''t afford to split our focus. I don''t want to force anyone to choose between Solus'' well-being and Nalrond''s."

    "Well, since we seem to have some free time, what do you say if I teach you how to use the Mouth properly, Tista?" Solus asked.

 Chapter 2958 Lost Secrets (Part 2)

    Chapter 2958 Lost Secrets (Part 2)

    "What do you mean? I know how it works. I store a spell and then I cast it." Tista replied.

    "Yes, that''s one of the powers of the Mouth but not the only one." Solus chuckled.

    "Really?" Lith and Tista said in unison. "Why didn''t you tell me sooner?"

    "Because until now I didn''t know either." Solus shrugged. "While we waited for the Thievery to stabilize, I had the Eyes focus solely on Tista''s Mouth. That''s how I learned about another of its interesting functions."

    The Apprentice''s Eyes were devised to be incapable of analyzing any of Menadion''s masterpieces. It was a safety measure to ensure that the disciple who owned the Eyes could not use them to reproduce the other pieces of the Set if not the tower itself.

    "How could we miss it for so long and how could you study the Mouth so quickly?" Lith asked.

    "It was actually an overlook on our part." Solus sighed. "We tried to study our Mouth with our Eyes but got nothing because it''s still iplete. Tista''s, instead, has all of its functions but since Fyrwal exined to us how it works, we assumed there was nothing else to learn.

    "I performed the scan on a whim, hoping that the collected information might speed up the recovery of the tower since the various floors are linked to our Set of Menadion. Of course, it didn''t work.

    "What happened, instead, is that by using the information already avable about our Mouth as a base, the Thievery had to scan only for the missing part, which wasn''t actually much.

    "Like the de in the Hands, the Mouth has a hidden function as well. I hypothesize that my mother taught about them solely to the disciple to whom she had gifted each piece and that these functions were lost to time because the various pieces were never passed down.

    "They were stolen and I bet that no mage is willing to reveal such a secret to their murderer."

    "What does the Mouth also do?" Tista asked.

    "More importantly, can ours do it as well?" Lith added, drawing his sister''s re.

    "Respectively, let me talk and partly." Solus tutted them both. "As I said, the pieces of our set will remain iplete until all the rtive floors are recovered."

    Then, she turned to Tista.

    "To answer your question properly, the Mouth can store not only spells but also enchantments."

    "Isn''t that almost the same thing?" Tista was puzzled.

    "Not quite. The stored spells still need to be cast, albeit way faster than usual, and they tap into your mana. The temporary enchantments of the Mouth, instead, activate instantly and tap into the energy reserve of its power core." Solus exined.

    "It means that you can imbue the Mouth with a Spirit Barrier if you want additional protection. A healing spell if you think you''ll face a hard battle. If the first enchantment is akin to having an extra casting method, the second is like having multiple spell-holding rings of all tiers."

    Tista''s face lit up in a smile as she realized what it meant.

    "Can I add enchantments of every type? Even Spirit Spells?" She asked, receiving a nod in reply. "How many enchantments can the Mouth store?"

    "Yours, three. Ours, one." Solus replied.

    "Why so few?" Tista said with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.

    "Because they are enchantments, not spells." Solus said and once she noticed the confusion on her friend''s face, she added: "You have to Forgemaster the enchantments every time you change the Mouth''s properties and consume ingredients, if necessary.

    "Also, too many extra enchantments would sh with the power core of the Mouth with disastrous consequences. Three is not a small number if you consider you can add all kinds of powerful spells and skip all the Forgemastering preparatory phases.

    "Last, but not least, don''t forget that the more powerful an enchantment is, the more energy it consumes. If you abuse them, the Mouth will run out of energy and you will lose all of its functions."

    "I see." Lith examined the tower''s Mouth, giving it a simple enchantment and then erasing it. "I think the Mouth is the fruit of Menadion''s studies to achieve Creation Magic.

    "It offers no resistance to our mana since it already bears our imprint and unless we use ingredients, it allows us to experiment with new ideas without wasting materials. For someone without ess to a Creation Mage, the Mouth is something worth killing for."

    Lith stared at Tista with a cold re, his voice stern.

    "I know." She sighed. "I won''t unt it around and I''ll leave no witnesses alive."

    "Good girl." Lith ruffled her hair. "I don''t mean to be harsh. It''s just that this kind of poweres with a huge burden. Think about what happened to all those who possessed a single piece of Menadion''s Set."

    "Yeah, about that." Solus tugged at his arm. "Do you think that Vastor learned about the hidden function of the Mouth before returning it to us?" N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Honestly? I bet he does but I hope he doesn''t."

    ***

    In the end, they decided to wait for two days before attempting anything. One day to let Nalrond and the tower recover and another just to be safe.

    "If you don''t feel like watching while I hurt myself, you can leave the room, Friya." Nalrond sighed. "I asked for Quy''s help because I didn''t want you to see me like that."

    "I''m going to stay, thank you." She replied with conviction, yet her face paled a bit. "Couldn''t you just pass your vitality instead of opening wounds? The effect should be the same with no blood or pain."

    "I know, but I can''t get out of my head that if it wasn''t important, Mogar wouldn''t have shown it to me both times I went to the Fringe. In the images, my life forces fought against each other, creating mirror wounds.

    "It has to be a clue."

    "Maybe." Quy pondered before offering him a hand for a mind link. "Let me see the visions again."

    Nalrond wasn''t the only one who had entered the Mindspace so she asked Lith and even Morok to show her everything they remembered.

    "Any idea?" Nalrond asked in hope.

    "No, but sure it didn''t hurt." Quy blushed in embarrassment as soon as the words came out of her mouth. "No pun intended."

    "None taken." Nalrond said with a thin smile. "Man, I wish the tower had a Hospital, a Resurrection Chamber, or something."

    The procedure was going to take ce in the Heart of the tower, where the mystical formations were stored and could be instantly activated by Lith and Solus. Since it was just a test run, there was no need for the Hands and the Mouths had been filled with life-saving spells in case Nalrond messed up.

    Lith wore the Apprentice''s Eyes while Faluel in her humanoid hybrid form wore the Master''s. The synch between the relics would allow Lith to gain instant understanding via the mind link without suffering any burden on his focus.

    Shouldering it rested on Faluel''s seven heads.

    The process was rtively simple. Nalrond would tire both his blue cores by using the strongest spells at his disposal until he was inches from suffering the effects of mana abuse.

 Chapter 2959 Yurialâ€™s Lesson (Part 1)

    Chapter 2959 Yurial¡¯s Lesson (Part 1)

    Then, Nalrond opened one wound at a time. First on his human body and then an identical one on his Rezar half. He used darkness fusion to numb the pain enough to not lose his concentration but not so much that he wouldn''t notice cutting too deep in.

    He hated every second of it, needing sheer determination to go against the instinct engraved inside every fiber of his body. Worst of all, was looking at the worry and pain Friya''s eyes.

    She turned around more than once, needing time topose herself and resume watching.

    "Okay. This is enough." Nalrond panted, exhausted from the pain and blood loss. "Look carefully."

    He activated his tier Body Sculpting diagnostic spell, Watcher, to follow the process for the umpteenth time in the hope of noticing something he had missed in his previous attempts.

    Nalrond started to shapeshift, stopping the process midway to let his halvese into contact.

    With his life forces weakened, the wall built with Forbidden Magic to keep them apart had also be thinner. The barrier drew its strength from the life forces and right now itcked the power to keep the bridge from forming.

    As soon as the first crack in the wall opened, the life forces went from dead calm to raging. Whenever they touched, they would merge for a split second before bouncing back in a shower of sparks.

    The conflict further weakened the life forces and the wall, but while thetter crumbled the former grew more violent by consuming what little energy they had left to exploit the opponent''s weakness and put it down.

    ''I hope you have collected some useful data because I can''t keep this up for much longer.'' Nalrond said.

    ''Then don''t. Let''s stop it here.'' Faluel said.

    While Nalrond forcibly cut the contact between the life forces, he also healed the mirrored wounds one set at a time. It would take him a while if he was alone since he couldn''t risk losing consciousness until the wall was fully restored.

    With the others feeding him vitality, however, he could quickly close enough wounds to stabilize his life forces and make sure that the wall drained them faster than they could recover.

    He would go for aplete healing only after his life forces quieted down and the wall was thick enough to keep them from perceiving one another again.

    "Well?" He asked.

    "I have good news and I have bad news." Since Faluel had earned seven massive headaches for her trouble, Lith let her make the honors. "The good news is that even though the phenomenon didn''tst long, we''ve collected precious information with the Eyes.

    "Also, whatever you did in the past worked. At least a bit. Unlike all the hybrids I''ve studied in the past, your life forces partially ovepped with every sh. They tried but failed to fuse every time they came into contact."

    "That''s nothing new." Nalrond sighed. "I noticed that myself with my diagnostic spell. The problem is that I don''t understand what causes the fusion to turn into a conflict."

    "And herees the bad news." Faluel was annoyed for being interrupted and expressed it with seven loud grunts. "Your mana cores never showed any sign of merging or even justing closer.

    "Whenever the Forbidden Magic separating your life forces starts to crumble, the mana cores perceive each other as a threat and react with extreme prejudice."

    "How can my mana cores be the issue?" Nalrond politely raised his hand to talk and the Hydra nodded for him to continue. "My life forces arepletely different whereas a mana core is a mana core no matter the race it belongs to.

    "They even have the same energy signature!"

    The Rezar projected a hologram of his human and beast sides as he saw them via the Watcher spell. One looked like a humanoid mannequin that had been built with red lego bricks and an erector set.

    Every piece was snapped together with those adjacent and connected with the rest of the body via what looked like strings and bars.

    The other, instead, looked like a burning blue star. It had a solid core that contained the information about the Rezar''s physical form while the ming externalyer controlled the flow of mana and the elemental affinities.

    "True, but you have forgotten about a crucial aspect of your condition." Faluel added a hologram of her own representing the mana cores, that were indeed identical in size, power, and energy signature.

    "This is what happened a few minutes ago." She took control of the holograms with Domination and Nalrond let her. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    What he saw left him speechless.

    The projection depicted the two life forcesing in contact and trying to rearrange themselves in order to fit with each other. Whenever they failed, both mana cores perceived the merging like an illness.

    They reacted by employing life fusion to restore the original shape of the life force, fire fusion to strengthen their respective bodies, and earth fusion to make them resistant to further changes.

    The ensuing conflict resulted in the sparks and the bouncing back that the Watcher spell reported.

    "What in the gods'' name is that?" Nalrond knew the answer to his question but he needed to hear it from someone else to make sure he had not gone insane.

    "Even if the energy signature is the same, fusion magic still works." Solus replied. "And since, as you said, your life forces are very different, it takes but a small alteration to make the fusion process fail."

    "Why did this never happen to Lith or Tista?" The Rezar asked in helpless frustration.

    "Because we''ve only ever had one core." Lith replied. "When our life forces were ready to merge, the mana flowing through them brought them together because they both ''belonged'' to it.

    "Your mana cores, instead, recognize neither the other life force or each other."

    "That''s why no member of the werepeople ever managed to find a cure!" Nalrond said. "With no ess to a specific artifact or Invigoration, even a true mage has no way to visualize their mana flow.

    "Even worse, there are plenty of spells that can alter a life force but none for mana cores. They are not physical organs and the only way to interact with them is with pure mana.

    "Too bad that since I''m no Awakened, I have no Spirit Magic and if someone else uses it on me, I''d just get mana poisoning!"

    Faluel and the others nodded, letting the Rezar vent his frustration since they had nothing useful to add.

    "Calm down." Friya caressed his shoulder. "This was just the first try. The Eyes has collected only 10% of the avable information. There''s still the remaining 90%."

    Nalrond sighed and went to bed. He needed to be at his full strength or the following scan wouldst even less.

    One weekter, the Eyes had reached an 80%pletion. Now the how, why, and when the fusion failed were much clearer. s, such knowledge gave Nalrond and the others no clue about how to ovee them.

    Consuming before the procedure so much mana that Nalrond reached mana abuse levels made him lose his focus and his head ached so much that he couldn''t bring the life forces together. The process would not even start.

 Chapter 2960 Yurialâ€™s Lesson (Part 2)

    Chapter 2960 Yurial¡¯s Lesson (Part 2)

    After that, Nalrond tried to save just enough mana to keep it together, but the moment the cores started using fusion magic, exhaustion would bring him back to square one.

    Next, he resorted to poisoning his cores and almost died from it. Instead of making the cores meeker, the presence of external mana gave them the means to strike directly by forcing the poison onto the other core.

    The damage his life forces sustained after trying to exploit mana poisoning brought the experiments to a halt for a whole day.

    After eight days and 90%pletion, the group of healers was no closer to finding a solution whereas Nalrond was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    "Fuck Mogar and its lies!" He punched a wall of the tower with all of his strength, breaking his hand in four points. "My people, all the werepeople, have wasted centuries chasing a damn pipe dream.

    "I''ve struggled so much, spent so much effort, and for what? I''ve wasted years of my life and argued with some of my best friends and Lith for nothing."

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Quy took his hand and fixed the damage. "I''ve thought long and hard about this. We may have found no solution yet, but I''m sure Mogar doesn''t lie."

    "What makes you think that?" Nalrond snorted.

    "Friya''s vision was true and so was Lith''s. Heck, based on what Faluel has recently learned about the Harmonizers, her vision and Ajatar''s are true as well. Why should you be a special case?"

    "Story of my life. That''s why." He said with a sigh.

    "No, that''s the story of my life." Lith waved at himself, the tower, and Solus.

    "Point taken." A small smile appeared on Nalrond''s face. "Still, I don''t agree with you, Quy. If Mogar''s vision is true, then the solution should be something that any of the werepeople can do on their own.

    "In my vision, there wasn''t a famous Forgemaster like it happened for Solus nor a Mad King. There was just an identical copy of myself. No light like in Faluel''s vision nor weird effects of any kind that might lead to think there is a tool involved.

    "Then how is it possible that no one has ever found the solution? That not even with a legendary tower and two Sets of Menadion we are nowhere close to understanding what the vision means?" N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "That''s easy to exin." Lith shrugged. "As you told us, the werepeople see their Emperor Beast half as an enemy. Something to beat into submission or get rid of instead of a part of themselves.

    "They failed because their research was always aimed in the wrong direction. You are the first of your species to look for understanding and harmony, and only because you got to see how my life forces interacted.

    "Whether we seed or fail, we are condensing hundreds of years of research in a few days thanks to the tower and its tools. You should be proud of it."

    "Also, there''s no point being discouraged already." Friya moved closer to Nalrond, holding him in an embrace. "There''s still the final 10%. Sometimes the things you are looking for end up in the most unexpected ces."

    "Yeah." Nalrond sighed. "Sometimes."

    ***

    The next day and one more sessionter, the Eyes reached 100%pletion of the scan. Now they had a perfect understanding of how, why, when, and where every single attempt had failed but no clue about how to seed.

    The stress from the disappointing news coupled with the constant self-harming was more than Nalrond could take. The moment everyone admitted they had no idea how to go forward, the Rezar went this close to losing his mind.

    He disappeared in his room, refusing to open the door for an entire day and skipping every meal. Anger and despair drove him from one extreme to another in the span of minutes.

    Nalrond went from trashing the furniture and setting his clothes aze to crying his heart out so quickly that he couldn''t control himself. More importantly, he didn''t want to.

    His lifelong dream was falling apart in front of his eyes and he was too angry to keep being strong just to not upset others. Once the Rezar was too hungry and too depressed to keep going like that, he called Lith on themunication amulet, asking for hispany.

    "Just a question." Lith''s eye twitched in annoyance seeing the state the room was in. He didn''t pop a vein only because the enchantments of the Manor would fix the damage. "Why me? I''m not as kind as Solus and for sure I don''t care about you as much as Friya."

    "Because unlike them, you don''t give a shit about my feelings." Nalrond handed Lith the only half-fixed chair in the room while he sat on the ruins of the bed. "There''s a question that''s tormenting me and I need an honest answer.

    "I don''t want someone to cheer me up, sugarcoat the truth, or tell me some optimistic bullshit about the rainbow after the storm. I want to know if what I''m doing is worth the effort or just madness.

    "I''m fighting so hard for something that might as well kill me when I could just sit back and enjoy the rest of my life with Friya. Am I crazy for hurting myself and risking my future with the woman I love for this?"

    Lith pondered the question for a while before answering.

    "You know, years ago I had a friend who was facing a simr choice. Yurial was a rich pampered kid so there was no life-or-death situation involved. Yet he too was torn between what he wanted to do and what others expected him to do."

    Lith conjured a hologram of one of his rare conversations with Yurial in one of their rooms at the White Griffon academy. There were no sounds, only images to not betray those old confidences.

    "In the end, he chose to pick the easy way. To have the rest of his life nned by his father, to marry a woman he didn''t even like, and to live for the sake of others. Were he still alive, I don''t know if by now he would have found happiness or be more miserable.

    "What I know is that back then Yurial wasn''t happy and he spent his days at the academy with his head filled with ifs and buts.

    "Nalrond, you can give up like Yurial did at any time. If you do it, however, I''m certain that for the rest of your life there will be a small voice in the back of your head. It will never stop wondering how things could have gone had you made a different choice.

    "It would ruin your happiest moments and be a constant reminder that you settled for what you had instead of striving for what you wanted. Sess or failure don''t matter, only knowing that you''ve done everything you could.

    "I felt the same way every time I had to reveal a part of my secrets to the people I love. I knew that I could have kept silent and no one would have ever suspected a thing. I knew that by telling the truth I could have lost everything.

 Chapter 2961 Painful Truth (Part 1)

    Chapter 2961 Painful Truth (Part 1)

    "Yet I couldn''t live with that lie." Lith shook his head. "Wearing a mask for the rest of my life and the constant fear of what might happen if Kami or my family learned the truth was too much. It tainted every moment we spent together."

    "What if things went differently?" Nalrond asked. "What if they didn''t ept you?

    "I would have still had my powers." Lith shrugged. "I would have still had Solus by my side, the tower, and most importantly, I would have been free to look for someone who would ept me. Cutting ties is hard, but it''s better than keeping them even when they are strangling you."

    "Thanks, Lith." Nalrond''s mood was still sour but his heart felt lighter. "I need some time to think. Please, tell the others to not worry about me and that I''ll see you all tomorrow." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Do you want some food?" Lith had a tray filled with steaming dishes appear out of his pocket dimension. "If we want to continue with the research, you need your strength."

    "Yes, please." Nalrond''s stomach grumbled like a distant storm, the delicious smell triggering the primordial instincts that only cared about survival. "Don''t worry about the room. If something stays broken, I''ll pay you back."

    "You better." Lith nodded. "Here''s the bill for the food."

    ***

    "What an ass!" Solus couldn''t decide whether to be angry orugh at Lith''s prank. The final result was a sort of joyous scolding. "You didn''t even pay for the furniture of the Mansion. The Royals did. Billing him for the dinner was a brilliant move, though."

    "Thanks." Lith nodded. "The worst part is that Nalrond thought I was being serious and tried to pay me."

    "Really?" Friya asked.

    "Really. We almost came to hands due to the lousy tip." At those words, everyone burst intoughter at what they hoped was another joke.

    "Moving on, I''d like to review the data collected by the Eyes andpare it with Mogar''s vision together with you." Quy said. "I have a theory that I''d like to share and the images make the exnation easier.

    "I want to iron out every detail we can before telling Nalrond that I may have found a solution. I don''t want to give him false hopes." ***

    After plenty of (free) meals and the first good night''s rest in over a week, Nalrond''s body was in top shape and his mood was lighter.

    He went to the dining room of the Verhen Mansion first thing in the morning to have breakfast with the others and reassure them about his condition.He found them sitting around the table, engaged in a lively discussion that ended the moment he walked in.

    Even weirder, Kam, Elysia, Valeron, and even R and Garrick were nowhere in sight.

    "There''s no need for a family intervention." Nalrond raised his hands in apology. "I''m fine now. You can bring the others back. I won''t scare the children with my temper, you have my word."

    "That''s not the issue." Lith shook his head while having a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausages appear in front of Nalrond''s chair. "We have to discuss healers'' matters and there are things children shouldn''t hear."

    "I see." The Rezar sat down and tipped a copper coin to Lith who promptly threw it back, hitting Nalrond right in the middle of the forehead. "Jackass."

    "Cheapskate."

    Many would have liked to point out the ring "pot calling the kettle ck" case, but they assumed it was some weird male bonding and they left it at that.

    Once everyone was done eating, Quy started talking.

    "I''ve thought long and hard about this and I believe to have found a solution."

    "You did?" Nalrond was bbergasted. "Until two days ago, no one had a single clue."

    "Yeah, because what made me think was yourment about how any member of the werepeople should be able to solve the problem without so many resources and that Mogar''s vision made no sense." She replied.

    "After checking the readings of the Eyes andparing them with our memories from the Fringe, I discovered that the answer was in front of our eyes the whole time."

    "Which is?" Nalrond leaned forward, barely containing his excitement.

    "Look carefully." Quy projected the vision belonging to Nalrond''s own memories of the Mindscape.

    She focused the vision on two moments. As long as the Rezar kept his distance, the embodiments of his life forcesshed at each other. No matter which one delivered a sessful strike, a mirroring wound would appear on the aggressor as well.

    When Nalrond approached them, however, they had stopped fighting and attacked him like rabid animals.

    "The first part is what you understood and tried to replicate until now. The symmetrical wounds are a suggestion to link and weaken the two aspects of your life forces. The second part, instead, you misunderstood like we all did.

    "Like it happened with the other vision, the attack isn''t just a way to kick you out of the Mindscape, but part of the solution." After noticing his confused expression, she pointed out:

    "Look! They are not only attacking you, they also have stopped bickering. The moment your life forces found amon enemy, their base instincts brought them to work together.

    "To sessfully fuse them, you need to give them something to be worried about. Something so dire that they''ll be too busy surviving to waste time with infighting."

    Nalrond watched the images over and over until he was sure of it.

    "You are right! While fighting with me, the two life forces coordinated their attacks. On top of that, even though they offered each other several openings, they exploited none until they were done with me." He said.

    "Still, I don''t think I can fight anyone while undergoing a Body Sculpting procedure and I doubt Lith wants to expose the tower to any of our enemies."

    "Before moving on to that, there''s a matter that we''ve never considered but that we can''t ignore any longer." A snap of Quy''s fingers shattered the hologram, bringing Nalrond''s focus back on her.

    "Life forces can fuse. We know that. We''ve seen that." She pointed at Lith and Tista before conjuring images of Elysia, Valeron, and Shargein. "It''s possible under the right conditions and by following Dawn''s suggestion, once we solve the conflicting cores'' issue, merging your life forces should be no problem at all.

    "They already want to fuse on their own. We just have to clear the path a bit for them and smoothen the process."

    "Okay?" Nalrond tilted his head in confusion.

    "Kid, are you dumb or what?" Ka was annoyed by all that beating around the bush. She had been away from theb and her specimen for a whole day already. "Solving the conflicting cores issue doesn''t solve the cores'' issue."

    "The what?" Nalrond went from confused to stupefied.

    "Mana cores don''t merge." Solus rushed to clear up. "At least, not that we know of. Let''s assume you get your life forces to fuse. What happens to your cores next? The only reason you are fine is the Forbidden Magic wall keeping them apart."

    "What about the Master''s hybrids, like Xenagrosh?" He asked.

 Chapter 2962 Painful Truth (Part 2)

    Chapter 2962 Painful Truth (Part 2)

    "They have your same unsolved problem but in their case, their cores have formed a symbiotic bond. It''s their version of the wall, just another aspect of the same issue." Lith replied.

    "On top of that, even if your two cores naturally fuse, we''ve never thought about what they would be." Friya pointed out. "Were at least one of them weak, it would be no big deal.

    "But they are both blue and bright blue is the cap for normal people. Awakened need to temper their bodies and achieve enlightenment to reach the violet. Fake and true mages, instead, develop a unique constitution specific for them to survive the violet.

    "What if your two cores exceed the limits of the bright blue when fusing?"

    There were three possible answers. One, the new core would go in overload, reaching the violet for a short while before blowing Nalrond''s body to bits.

    Two, the core would not withstand its own energy and crack, killing Nalrond but leaving behind a fine corpse.

    Three, after cases one or two took ce, due to his mastery over magic and will to live Nalrond would be an Abomination.

    "Good gods!" He took his head in his hands. "How could I be this stupid? I''ve wasted everyone''s time because of my blind obsession."

    "No, you didn''t." Quy said. "Besides, I wasn''t lying when I said I have a solution. I just needed you to understand what the issues are before offering the answer to you."

    Nalrond furrowed his brows until his brain pieced the conversation together, giving him the only possible solution to all those unsurmountable obstacles.

    "Are you saying that I have to Awaken while you guys perform Body Sculpting on me?" The idea was so brilliant that he didn''t know whether to call Quy crazy or praise her genius.

    "No. I''m saying you have to Awaken and, if necessary, reach the violet while we perform Body Sculpting on you." She replied.

    Awakening did fit the various pieces of the puzzle. It would give the mana cores amon enemy, since they would be both too busy purging impurities from their respective bodies to fight each other.

    It would create a strong mana flow that could be influenced by rearranging the life forces with Body Sculpting. After all, a mana core had to be enveloped by a life force to survive.

    As the human and Rezar bodies became one, both cores would move toward the new center of the mana circtory system that was located slightly above the navel level. At that point, being the two cores made of mana and sharing the same energy signature, they would be forced to ovep.

    Last, but not least, even if they exceeded the bright blue, the extra energy could be diverted throughout the body to form auxiliary cores.

    It was brilliant in its simplicity, solving several problems and answering centuries-old questions at the same time.

    Awakening was something that anyone could achieve and didn''t require any special equipment. Nalrond needed help like Phloria, Tista, and Quy before him because his cores were too powerful for his body.

    Had he harmonized his life forces and Awakened at a young age, Body Sculpting would have been plenty enough to break him free from the shackles of the Forbidden Magic that gued his body.

    "Are you sure about this?" Nalrond asked.

    "No. Again, no one has ever undone a Forbidden Spell so I can''t be certain." Quy shook her head. "But I believe the procedure has a good chance of working and the others agree with me."

    The whole table nodded with different degrees of confidence, Friya being the lowest. She believed in the procedure they had devised but she had a hard time being happy about it.

    ''It''s ironic.'' She thought. ''Less talented people would have hit a dead end like all those before us and Nalrond would have found closure without risking his life.''

    "Define a good chance." Nalrond was taken aback. "I mean Awakening is a dangerous process and I have two cores at the blue. What makes you think I won''t just blow up?"

    "A few things." Faluel leaned forward on her chair. "Sure, you have two cores but also two bodies, each with enough impurities to contain their respective cores. Your concern would be well founded, if you consider this like Awakening two people but that''s not the case.

    "During the Awakening process, your bodies will be in a semi-fluid state as they rearrange themselves. The flesh, bones, and organs of the human and Rezar sides need to fuse so that whatever you are going to be can survive.

    "While in such state, your bodies are going to offer much less resistance to the waves of mana caused by the Awakening. Less resistance means enduring less damage if not even releasing the impurities with greater ease than a regr human.

    "Also, consider that until the merging isplete, your mana cores will be subjected to the shifts and changes of your physical form. The process will be fast, but we can follow it in real time with the Eyes and act ordingly.

    "We canpensate for the uneven mana flow by redirecting it to non-vital areas so that random surges of mana won''t kill you.

    "If necessary, we can also shift the position of the impurities or use the Hands to lessen the pressure on your body whenever you need time to recover. All the spells and enchantments we are going to need will be pre-recorded in the Mouths so there should be no dy between the need and the cast of a spell."

    "All of that plus my Immortal Body array and the other abilities of the tower should cover for unexpectedplications." Solus looked at the rest of the table, making sure there was unanimous consent before delivering the final note.

    "One more thing. I''d rather not take Mogar''s help in consideration since we have no control over it, but for your peace of mind I want to remind you that it''s a possibility nheless."

    "You are right!" Nalrond snapped his fingers in excitement. "I''m not fully human. Mogar might help me just like they helped Lith, Tista, and even that friend of yours, Vastor.

    "Can you imagine if after worrying and banging our heads so much Mogar just sweeps in at the beginning of the procedure and does everything on their own?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Can you?" Lith said with the coldest and most deadpan voice the Rezar had ever heard.

    "No." Nalrond''s bubble burst as quickly as his mind had conjured it. "We can''t rely on luck and wishful thinking. We need to be prepared for the worst."

    ***

    Another week was necessary before attempting the procedure. It was the bare minimum necessary for Nalrond to learn everyone''s respective techniques for the violet, get ustomed to them, and then trying to piece together the parts that fit with him best.

    He had already learned how to Awaken by himself during his apprenticeship with Faluel. He had never put his breathing technique into practice because back then his survival chances were zero.

    To no one''s surprise, Morok was happy to share his enlightment to achieve the violet whereas Faluel apologetically but firmly refused.

 Chapter 2963 Whatâ€™s Left Behind (Part 1)

    Chapter 2963 What¡¯s Left Behind (Part 1)

    "I''m sorry, but my method to reach the violet core is a family legacy." Faluel said. "As much as I like you and consider you a friend, Nalrond, I can''t betray the Hydra bloodline and expose its secrets. I hope you understand." "No need to apologize." He smiled at her to show his sincerity. "I''m not even your disciple and even though we have helped each other in the past, you owe me nothing. Rather, I''m in your debt for hiding my existence from the Council and supporting me all this time.

    "Even if you can''t share with me your bloodline technique, you are lending me your Hands, your heads for the Eyes, and your great expertise in healing magic. If I survive, it will be in no small part thanks to you."

    "Thank you." The Hydra shook his hand, hoping that everything would go well.

    "Ka''sb log. Rezar''s experiment. Final addendum before the procedure. The specimen is healthy, arbitrarily optimistic, and emotional." The Wight said inside her recorder.

    "Even though I don''t believe there is a corrtion between the mood of the subject and his odds of survival, it seems to ease the mind of my colleagues from the worry of his imminent potential demise.

    "The subject is now staring at me. His unblinking gaze suggests deep thought process, difficulty processing visual images, or sudden brain damage."

    "Do you have to be here?" Nalrond asked.

    "Of course not." Ka moved to a different corner.

    "I meant in my room. With me. While I get ready for the procedure."

    "I don''t have to but I want to." Ka spoke like she was talking to a small child. "The subject is sighing, showing minor signs of emotional distress, probably due to the approaching of the scheduled procedure.

    "He is thest of his species and in the case of his passing, his tribe''s legacy would be lost with him. A tragic eventuality that makes his sacrifice in the name of science admirable. Even though he might be only remembered for his failure, he won''t be forgotten.

    "He is now briskly walking toward the door, probably to finish saying his farew-" As Ka followed him, she was hit on the nose by the door that Nalrond mmed on his way out.

    She had managed to upset him with her rude words and the worst part was that everything the Wight had said was true. More than the concrete chance of losing his life, it was the idea of leaving no legacy behind that scared him.

    His obsession with finding a cure for his condition had prevented him from having a child. Even worse, his unwillingness to share the secrets of his people with someone outside the Rezar bloodline had caused him to never train a proper heir or even have a disciple.

    ''If I were to die today, nothing would be left of me but the memory of a bitter man who achieved nothing his whole life. I would be forgotten in a single generation and with me my entire tribe.'' Nalrond''s mouth said his goodbyes to Selia, Protector, and their kids, but his mind was elsewhere. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''The only person alive who''d have more than generic knowledge of my people is Ac, cursed be his name!'' On the back of his head, a small voice pointed out that the Rezar culture would actually survive since Dawn was its original founder.

    Yet the thought that everything that mattered to him would remain in the hands of the two people he hated the most made Nalrond so angry that if he focused on it for too long, his will to undergo the procedure wavered.

    "Don''t worry too much." Selia gave him her best motherly smile, trying to appear serene and give him confidence. "When Lith saved this wolfhead, he didn''t have a fraction of his current skills and tools.

    "Compared to fixing a broken core with his bare hands, this is going to be a walk in the park."

    "You are right. Thank you, Selia." Nalrond hugged the huntress.

    He knew that her words contained only a partial truth. Back then Lith had been at 100% of his strength and had permanently sacrificed part of his life force to save someone he loved.

    Now Lith''s maximum power was unstable due to the cracks and there was no way he would risk anything for someone he didn''t even consider a friend.

    "Selia is right." Protector nodded, interrupting his woodwork. "Also, even if the worst were to happen, you will never be forgotten. You may have kept your guard raised with us adults but you did a poor job with the kids."

    He let inside Lilia and Leran, who had been fed the cover story of Nalrond going on a sudden trip away to justify his possible disappearance.

    "Good luck, Uncle Nalrond." They said while handing him small wooden figurines depicting his human half on the front and the Rezar on the back.

    They were good luck charms that the members of his tribe gave in the past to those who went to speak with Mogar in the Mindscape or attempted to fuse their life forces. Most of them died, but Nalrond had altered the story to not scare the kids, telling them it ended with a "long journey", just like his own.

    The figurines were crudely made, the front looked like a murderous mannequin while the back resembled more a dog than a Rezar. Knowing the true ending of the story the gifts would have been creepy if they weren''t just perfect.

    They looked exactly like those that the children of Nalrond''s tribe once had given to their family members as birthday presents. Not even Rezar kids knew the true meaning of the figurines and in time, their blunder had altered the meaning of the tradition.

    "Thank you, kids." Nalrond hugged Lilia and Leran, feeling at home for a moment. "I promise that I''ll be back as soon as I can."

    Fenrir tugged at his pants, handing him a piece of wood. It wasn''t carved. She wasn''t allowed to use sharp objects. Even her ws were for self-defense only. Yet she loved her uncle and wanted to give him something just like her siblings.

    "Thank you, little one." Nalrond put the wood piece in his pocket with the figurines before lifting her.

    "I''m not little anymore! I''m a big sister now." She pouted, pointing at Solkar who was asleep in his crib.

    "You sure are." Nalrond chuckled, thinking of how every time she insisted on taking care of the baby, someone had to take care of them both.

    After that, the only people left were the ones involved with the procedure, who kept things brief to not get emotional right before the action, and Morok.

    "Twins, uh." Even a week after receiving the news, he was still dumbstruck.

    "Yeah. Congrattions, man. For the umpteenth time now." Nalrond sighed.

    It was the only topic Morok talked about and for once no one had the heart to interrupt him when he bragged about it. Jirni and Orion shared his sentiment, their opinion on the Tyrant had been upended by a single feat.

    "For once, I''ve beaten Lith, but I guess this much had to be expected." Morok said.

 Chapter 2964 Whatâ€™s Left Behind (Part 2)

    Chapter 2964 What¡¯s Left Behind (Part 2)

    "Please, no. Not again." Nalrond whined. "These are not thest words I want to hear. I never wanted to hear them even the first time."

    "You see, Tyrants have redundant vital organs to ensure their survival. It''s the reason I have two hearts, brains, livers, and three lungs and kidneys. Then why in the gods'' names don''t we have at least two d-"

    The mming of the door spared the Rezar from the rest of the rant.

    Feeling the need to cleanse his eyes, ears, and soul, he went to Friya''s room.

    "Hi, babe. Big day today. How are you feeling?" He asked.

    "That should be my question. "She replied with a wry smile. "Seriously, how do you feel?"

    "Anxious, excited, and terrified." Nalrond sat on her bed, holding his churning stomach. "I can''t wait for this day to be over."

    "You and me both." She sighed, sitting beside him.

    "Also, I''m grateful for you not asking me to stop. It''s already hard as it is. I don''t know if I could go on without your support." He took her hand into his.

    "I would never do that to you." Friya actually wanted to but she knew how much the procedure meant to him. "I''m grateful for having a friend like Lith, instead. I would never be able to operate on family or a dear friend.

    "Lith instead treated Tista, Phloria, and Zinya. The guy has a heart made of ice, if he even has one."

    "I''m pretty sure he does." The conversation died after that, neither of them knowing how to say what was running through their minds without making the other feel much worse.

    They spent the rest of the time in silence until Quy called them on the contact amulet.

    Nalrond opened a Warp Steps to the keep of the Verhen Mansion and Friya shut it down with Domination, putting herself in front of him.

    "Promise me you won''t die."

    "I promise." Nalrond wrapped his arms around her, focusing on the warmth of her body and the smell of her hair to carve into his being the reason he was fighting for.

    Then he stepped away and took control of the Steps back.

    "No kiss?" She asked.

    "No goodbye kisses, miss. I''m not allowed to die." He said with what he hoped was his best confident smile. "We''ll resume this after the procedure."

    "Good boy." She stood up on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair.

    The rest of the team waited for them on the other side of the dimensional door.

    The location was the Heart of the tower, the center of its array system. Solus had already depowered all the other floors but the Library, the Arsenal, and the Firing Range to keep most of the energy from the mana geyser at the ready. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The room was empty aside from a single operating bed ced in its center and the Immortal Body array already coursing through the floor.

    "Are you ready?" Lith was one set of scrubs away from looking like a magic surgeon.

    He wore the Hands instead of surgical gloves, the Mouth instead of a mask, and his head was covered by the Voidwalker armor. He had no idea how Nalrond''s body would change and he didn''t want to risk a stray hair mixing with the Rezar''s flesh and disrupting the process.

    "Almost." Nalrond took the two wooden figurines and the piece of wood out of his pocket and ced them below the feet, the head, and the center of the bed as silent guardians. "Okay, ready."

    "Please,y down." Quy was wearing the same artifacts as Lith plus the Apprentice Eyes.

    The results of the scans were going to be shared with the Master Eyes and sifted through by Solus. Then, she would write down the relevant information with water magic and store it in the Library, giving everyone instant ess to it.

    The gold-rimmed pince-nez had no mind link with its owner and Quy wouldn''t have the time to read the information.

    She wore the Apprentice Eyes only because she needed the artifact to point out to her any anomaly that she would have to treat off the top of her head until Solus provided her with a solution.

    Nalrond did as instructed, findingfort in the many contingency measures. Faluel wore one monocle of Menadion, sharing its burden with her seven heads, while Tista wore the other.

    That plus the tower core gave the artifact the brain power of nine mages. The Sage Staff stored in the Armory enhanced everyone''s rity and mental focus, while the Firing Range would allow Solus to cast any spell she needed at a moment''s notice.

    "Shapeshift when I ask you to." Quy said while she and Lith activated their respective breathing techniques and versions of the Body Sculpting spell, Chisel.

    If not for the Hands, they would have found it difficult to use their breathing technique without physical contact for a prolonged time. Yet they had no choice since Scanner wouldn''t perceive the mana cores and they were a vital part of the problem.

    "Rx and don''t resist. I''m siphoning your human vitality first." Quy used her personal Body Sculpting spell, Lifestock.

    It used darkness magic to drain the patient''s energy and light magic to keep it stable until the Healer needed to inject it back. It was akin to drawing a rare blood type from a patient before a procedure.

    ''To think that I could have done this from the beginning instead of cutting myself open like a fish.'' Nalrond inwardly whined.

    Instead of feeling a burning pain, the affected areas just became numb.

    "Go Rezar now, please." Six glowing spheres floated behind her, one from each limb plus the torso to weaken them at the same time and in the same proportion.

    She repeated the process for the second life force, making Nalrond feel like a barbarian inparison. There was no blood nor waste. Were he to decide to back off, his vitality would be returned to him with no need of being healed and rest.

    "Human again." Quy drew a lesser amount, making sure to weaken the life forces while also leaving them the strength to survive the transformation.

    She also checked Nalrond''s lucidity from time to time with random questions. Quy needed to be sure that if something went wrong, he would notice and help them fix it with his willpower.

    "Take down the wall but warn us before the first crack opens." She said after Nalrond assured her that his life forces were weak enough topromise the stability of the barrier separating them.

    "Now." Nalrond''s voice was a whisper, his full focus on harmonizing the Rezar and the human half while also doing his best to suppress the mana cores.

    Lith and Quy focused on the breaches in the Forbidden Magic, using Chisel and threads of mana to connect the pieces of the life forces on both sides before they came into direct contact.

    This way, the zing fire of the Emperor Beast''s star and the red threads of the human side were allowed to share part of their essence and meet on neutral ground.

    The Chisels created temporary buffer zones between the life forces, giving them the time to adapt and increase theirpatibility.

 Chapter 2965 Plan F (Part 1)

    Chapter 2965 n F (Part 1)

    For a while, the shes between the live forces were minimal and the mana cores remained dormant. The more the fusion progressed, the more Nalrond''s body started to change. Both forms now had pink flesh and orange scales, constantly shifting in mass and size.

    The human body slowly grew bigger while the Rezar''s shrunk, the two vessels broke down as they shaped a third one that would take their ce.

    At the same time, however, the wall copsed faster and faster until Lith and Quy were incapable of keeping up with the speed new openings formed.

    When it happened, the life forces rejection triggered the cores which used fusion magic to unravel everything the Healers had done up to that moment.

    "Awaken, now!" Lith said while using the Master Hands to conjure a flow of world energy that countered the mana cores and the Mouth to conjure and maintain as many Chisels as he needed without any burden on his focus.

    Nalrond felt dizzy and nauseous, but did as instructed. He used his breathing technique to stimte his cores and establish a mana flow. Unlike that time in Faluel''sir, the Forbidden Magic inside his body was weakened and his life forces partially fused.

    His body didn''t swell like a balloon nor did he bleed from his orifices, yet the pain of Awakening was inevitable. Also, the sudden convergence of impurities on both cores brought their influence on the life forces to a stop.

    Impurities were natural mana insnts and as long as the cores were coated in impurities, their link with their respective bodies would be limited. All of their energy had to be umted and amplified to reach the breaking point and release a mana wave strong enough to push the impurities away.

    "Shit!" Faluel avoided the mind link to not add mana poisoning to the long list of problems they already had. "Both cores are now bright blue. The bastards really are in synch."

    The group had hoped that the breakthrough would happen at different times so that the strain on the bodies would be just above that of a single core. Now, instead, two mana flows were flooding Nalrond at the same time.

    It wasn''t just that the fused areas would now endure twice the strain. With double the life force, they were supposed to hold. The problem was that the flows of impurities moved in different directions and ovepped at multiple points.

    If a clog were to form, the pressure from the mana cores would make the fused areas burst and once they regenerated, they would do it in their original and split form. Quy and Lith couldn''t risk throwing all their work so far in the gutter.

    They used the Hands to conjure a counter flow that slowed down the impurities, Invigoration to keep them from clumping together, and Chisel to create the best next thing to a temporary exhaust port where the mana flows ovepped.

    Luckily, the constant shapeshifting made the life forces malleable.

    The impurities encountered small resistance as they moved through the two bodies and it didn''t take Lith and Quy long to create a way out for the impurities that wouldn''t mess with their work.

    The problem was that less impurities also meant a stronger mana flow. No body could handle two bright blue cores without exploding but after being just promoted, alone theycked the energy to reach the violet even though Nalrond knew how to do it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''We need to keep as many impurities as we can inside until the mana cores are fused.'' Lith said via the mind link while using everything he had to make the fusion process of the life forces faster than the Awakening.

    ''And how do you propose to do that?'' Quy replied as she hade to the same conclusion.

    "Clench your teeth, pal. You are not going to like this." Lith said while putting a Hushed gag in Nalrond''s mouth to ensure he wouldn''t hurt himself. "The silver lining is that you can scream as much as you want. No one is going to hear you."

    ''Solus, contingency n F.''

    ''Engaged.'' She replied while storing the scroll containing the details of the procedure inside the Library.

    ''I fucking hate you!'' Quy and Nalrond said in unison the moment they essed the scroll''s contents.

    ''Make it so, number one.'' Lith had prepared several contingency ns, all of them arranged in the Library in alphabetical order.

    Some letters were missing but everyone had just assumed it was because of his peculiar naming sense. The truth was that the missing parchments were about ns that Lith had kept to himself so as not to upset the others before the procedure.

    The idea was to share them only if it was strictly necessary and during a crisis to avoid pointless debates, nagging, or another psych evaluation.

    ''Marvelous!'' Ka fell in love with both the n and the Library.

    It gave her ess to a vast amount of knowledge with but a thought and left her free to take notes without being bothered to read or listen to others.

    n F stood for fireworks.

    Quy followed Lith''s lead, forced to set her moral dilemmas and professional ethics aside forter. Lith reversed the effects of Chisel and Invigoration while using the Hands to redirect the impurities toward the zones of Nalrond''s body that offered the most resistance.

    There, the impurities would umte and clump together, causing the flesh and life forces to swell until they couldn''t stand the pressure of the mana flow any longer. At that point, they would explode in a burst of blood and bones.

    The Immortal Body array would quickly repair the damage while Lith exploited the scattered state of the life forces to merge them before they could return to their original position.

    Once the body was mended, the healing process further mixed the life forces. Survival took priority so instead of wasting energy trying to split, the human and Rezar parts rearranged themselves in a way that would prevent another clogging.

    On top of that, the array would also put back the impurities into ce, keeping the mana resistance of the tissues high and limiting the mana flow. Bloody fireworks bloomed from Nalrond''s body, blowing the recalcitrant parts of his life force to bits as many times as necessary.

    Quy had to use her Injection spell with multiple potions at a time to ensure that Nalrond would have enough nutrients in his bloodstream to survive the shock from the constant damage and regeneration.

    ''It''s disgusting but it''s working.'' Faluel saw with the Eyes that as the life forces merged, the mana cores were pushed toward the same ce. ''Rearrange the impurities at the following points.''

    The artifact followed the evolution of the mana flow and predicted its path.Lith and Quy created dead ends until the mana cores only had one avable path and slowly moved to upy the same space.

    The moment they started ovepping, the bright blue became lighter and lighter. Then, the first streaks of violet appeared and Nalrond''s whole body started to crack and swell.

    ''Do it! Just pick a technique for the violet and use it!'' Lith and Quy focused on expelling the impurities as fast as they could.

 Chapter 2966 Plan F (Part 2)

    Chapter 2966 n F (Part 2)

    The closer Nalrond''s bodies got to merge into one, the denser they became.

    To manipte his cores and protect his bodies, Lith and Quy had to keep double the impurities of a regr bright blue core which meant that Nalrond''s odds of survival would be zero the moment the merging process reachedpletion.

    They exploited Nalrond''s vigorous mana flow, Invigoration, and the temporary malleable state of his bodies to get rid of everything that wasn''t necessary to keep nudging his evolution in the right direction.

    It would have been an impossible task without the Eyes marking the dangerous impurities, the Hands harnessing the power of the mana geyser to finely regte the speed of the Awakening process, and the Mouths allowing for a negligible cast time.

    Nalrond''s nature as a true mage gave him years of experience with fusion magic so the moment his mana started to flow and the vortexes to appear, he knew what he had to do.

    He circted his mana to form his favorite spells. Not the strongest or the most useful but those he had learned at a tender age or that held sentimental value. To achieve the violet, magic had to be a part of him and those spells defined who he was.

    Hecked Friya''s seven streaks so he had to discard the part about using his natural affinities to split the elemental mana. His eyes conjured no world energy so he had to diverge from Morok''s technique that used them as a conduit.

    His heart didn''t store mana like Lith''s so he couldn''t use his bloodstream to carry the mystical runes. Nalrond stripped one technique at a time of the parts he couldn''t use and reced the missing bits with the first thing that worked.

    At that moment, he didn''t care for his potential future enlightenment. He only wanted to live. He used his newborn life force to channel his mana, forcing his blood and mana vessels to ovep.

    He took hold of the heat that his tissues produced, using it to weave runes that reached every nook and cranny of his new, unknown body. As the first vortex turned into an auxiliary core, a golden pir erupted from Nalrond and another one descended from the sky.

    The pain disappeared as Mogar gave the finishing touches, bringing harmony where there was still conflict and order to chaos. His body still felt alien, but now Nalrond could hear the melody of his life force.

    He used it to guide the mana throughout his body and close the rest of the vortexes. Once his deep violet core stabilized itself, the excess energy formed more vortexes that needed to be Awakened into auxiliary cores, but that could wait.

    Nalrond bit the enchanted gag, crushing it between his fangs, and jumped off the bed. He punched Lith in the face with all the strength his newly evolved body could muster, the hit apanied by the cracking of bones and snapping of sinews.

    Were the form of the creature born solely out of Bady Sculpting, Nalrond''s mass would just equal the sum of his old human and Rezar''s sides. Yet due to his height now reaching over four meters (14''), it wouldn''t have been enough.

    It would have left him in a weakened state that would havested until he had assimted the missing mass by eating and resting. Thanks to Mogar''s help, however, he had already reached his peak form and size. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The unknown beast still resembled a Rezar, but it was bigger and now it had silvery bone spikesing out of his body instead of orange scales. His body shape was also leaner and more muscr, resembling more a humanoid rather than a two-legged pangolin.

    The tail and the ws were still there, but the former was slender and longer while thetter formed perfect hands and feet.The fingers were razor-sharp for their entire length but by adjusting the chitinous ques surrounding them Nalrond could remove their edge or move it to the external side of his fingers.

    This way, his punches would cut and his knuckles would pierce, just like he was doing now in a fit of anger. Lith''s mass was that of a Divine Beast so none of that mattered.

    Nalrond''s fist crumbled and a second elbow seemed to form halfway the ulna. He suppressed the pain with darkness fusion and hugged Lith while light fusion slowly mended the damage.

    "Thank you, you beautiful bastard." The air, the light, even the pain felt new and exciting. "You put me through hell and back, but it''s only thanks to you that I''m still alive!"

    Nalrond''s tail hit the floor multiple times in excitement as he rubbed Lith''s head with the knuckles of his good hand.

    "If you really want to thank me, stop damaging your body. We worked our asses off for hours to make it and you''ve already messed it up." Lith activated the Immortal Body array to fix the damage to the right arm. "I don''t know you guys, but I''m starving."

    "Me too." Nalrond''s stomach roared like an angry beast. Mogar had made up for the missing mass, but all the nutrients spent before their intervention were still missing.

    "I''m not!" Friya chimed in in outrage. "We''ve gone with your crazy experiment, you''ve escape the jaws of death by a hair''s breadth, and your first instinct is to hug Lith instead of me?"

    "Actually, I/he punched him/me first." The two men said in unison.

    The hug was simply the byproduct of guilt for the unwarranted aggression and enthusiasm for the sess of the procedure. It was Nalrond''s way to apologize for his outburst, just like ignoring it and fixing Nalrond''s arm was Lith''s way to ept the apology.

    "Still, you went to him over me!" That was the only thing Friya could think of. "I was scared shitless the whole time. I prayed Mogar and every Guardian I know for your safety and you left me hanging."

    She started to cry, making Nalrond feel awful and move to her side. He wanted to embrace and console her, but his new form was so tall that even if he went down to his knees, she would barely reach his waist.

    Friya ignored the issue, grabbing his leg tight the moment he came close and bawling her eyes out while nuzzling her face on it. That vision and the desperate cries made Nalrond''s stomach churn. Literally.

    He felt a tug at the level of his abdomen, like something was being pulled and squeezed from the inside. His form shrunk to two meters (6''7") and the spikes ttened into scales.

    On top of that, the elongated snout of the creature turned into Nalrond''s face and thick ck hair covered the small scales on his head.

    "What the heck?" Nalrond looked at his limbs that now had had the muscles of the beast but the shape of a human.

    "Shut up and hug me, you jerk!" Friya had noticed as well, she just didn''t care.

    All she wanted was to feel his touch and warmth to reassure her it was not just a dream.

    "I''m sorry." He caressed her head and back, holding her tight in silence until the sobbing subsided.

 Chapter 2967 Fire of Knowledge (Part 1)

    Chapter 2967 Fire of Knowledge (Part 1)

    The room was quiet. Everyone respected their moment except for Ka who kept writing down her notes and essing to the collected data in the Library to adapt the procedure to Lichhood.

    "Do you think you still have a human form?" Friya asked and Nalrond''s stomach growled in reply.

    "Maybe." He shrugged, and the simple gesture was strong enough to push her two steps away. "Gods, I''m so sorry."

    Nalrond had never been so heavy and strong so he had no control over his new form. A quick examination confirmed that Friya was alright. Her enhanced body and the armor she wore protected her from his clumsy touch. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Don''t worry. We can work this out. It happened to me as well right after Faluel Awakened me." Friya had lost count of the cups she had broken and the ribs she had cracked by hugging people. "Your human form can wait. First, we all need food and rest." She said.

    "Lots of rest." Faluel took the Eyes off and assumed her human form, reducing the number of throbbing heads to one. "Even with the tower and the Sage Staff, my head is killing me.

    "During the procedure, I''ve used Invigoration to recover my mental focus so many times that it has barely any effect."

    "You should also thank my sister, jerk." Friya hugged him with all of her strength, inwardly d she didn''t have to hold back with him anymore.

    "That''s right, Quy!" He felt terrible for almost forgetting about her but she had remained silent the whole time and had yet to move from her position near the surgical bed. "Is everything okay?"

    Her face was deathly pale while her breath quick and shallow. The moment she opened her mouth, she started to puke her guts out. Quy fell on all fours, her body shaking uncontrobly.

    Tista ran to her side and was about to check on her with Invigoration when Faluel stopped her.

    "Don''t! She''s suffering from mana poisoning. Even with the Library, Solus and I had to share with her lots of information during the procedure whenever she needed to make a snap decision."

    "What about Lith?" Tista pointed at her brother who was in tip-top shape.

    "Solus and I have our bond. Her mana is my mana." He replied. "Also, I have the tower empowering me. My mana flow cleansed the foreign energy signatures before they could build up and reach my core. Quy wasn''t so lucky."

    "Is there anything we can do for her or you?" Friya asked Faluel but it was Ka to answer.

    "No, we can''t." Now that she was done with her notes, the Wight closed her notebook. "The tower, however, can. The high concentration of world energy is helping Quy''s core to recover while the Sage Staff is keeping Faluel''s mind from copsing.

    "No one can leave, especially Nalrond. Mogar or not, the first 24 hours after a procedure of this magnitude are critical. If something can still go wrong, it''s going to happen soon."

    "Agreed." Solus let her human body disappear and reverted to her wisp form.

    The burden from the prolonged use of the Master Eyes weighed on her as well and the strain of controlling so many enchantments at the same time for so long was taking its toll on her. Yet she felt great.

    She had seeded in helping one of her friends and in using so much power for a long time with no adverse effects. She still remembered how back when she had first regained her body it wouldst only for a while, even while inside the tower.

    Solus felt like the procedure had also given her back a part of herself, bringing her one step closer to being whole again.

    While everyoney down on the floor to catch their breath, Nalrond picked up the wooden figurines and the piece of wood that Protector''s children had gifted him from under the surgical bed.

    "I can''t believe they worked." He said, putting them inside his dimensional amulet. "In a way, they are the first lucky charms of my tribe to have saved a life."

    "Do you n on keeping them?" Friya asked.

    "Yes. They mark the end of a nightmare and a new beginning." He replied. "Now even if someone observes my life force, they''ll never know I belonged to the werepeople. I''m a free man. I can even join the Awakened Council, if I want to."

    "About that, have you thought about how do we have to call your species? Because using the Rezar name would defy the purpose of the procedure." Lith asked.

    "Yes, ever since I was a child." Nalrond nodded. "My new species still has light and fire as its innate elements and I used my life force and body heat to reach the violet. I''ll call myself Agni, like the god who gifted men fire and shed the light of knowledge to disperse the shadow of ignorance.

    "Speaking of ignorance, in your long list of contingency ns the letter P was missing as well. What does it stand for?"

    "Pain." Lith replied. Making Nalrond wonder what could possibly be more painful than Fireworks and happy that he would never know what n P entailed.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Empire, Leegaain blushed.

    Agni was one of his old aliases back when he traveled Mogar, teaching people how to use fire to purify metals and the importance of keeping written recordings of their discoveries. Yet this is a story for another day.

    "He''s not of Dragon blood but I''ll allow it." The Guardian said to Milea, who noticed his tail wagging in excitement.

    "How magnanimous of you, letting others carry your name and stroke your ego."

    ***

    Back in the Verhen Mansion, Ka and Tista procured enough food for everyone while Quy only drank potions until her body recovered enough to ingest solids. After they finished eating, Nalrond could thank Faluel and Quy without his gratitude making their condition worse.

    "Thanks, master Faluel. In the end, I was right. I didn''t need your bloodline technique to survive. Only your help." He said while offering her his hand.

    The Hydra was about to shake it, when an involuntary reflex caused a long spike de to erupt from the Agni''s backhand, stopping millimeters away from her heart.

    "Is this a weird coincidence or some passive-aggressive threat for not sharing my technique?" Faluel studied the de, discovering that it was razor-sharp and dense enough to pierce through the enhanced body of another Awakened.

    "It was an ident, I swear!" Nalrond pulled his right arm away only for a second de toe out of the left hand and almost give Friya a haircut.

    "Hey! Be careful with those things." She checked her hair, finding no missing locks. "Why didn''t you warn us about them?"

    "Because I''m still resting and Ka forbade me even to use my breathing technique! How was I supposed to know?" He tried to flex and rx his muscles to have the des go back in.

    They were as long as his forearm and made it impossible for him to grab something without knocking it over.

    His attempts to get rid of the des were rewarded by two more spikes erupting from his knees.

 Chapter 2968 Fire of Knowledge (Part 2)

    Chapter 2968 Fire of Knowledge (Part 2)

    "Gods, why?" As he raised his hands to the sky in frustration, the spike des on his arms went back under the bone spikes and then came out from the other side, slightly above the elbow.

    "My guess is that your species is supposed to use them to impale anyone dumb enough to charge at you." Lith pointed out.

    "While in your more-human-than-beast form, the knee des are useless.

    "Yet in your other form, you are forced in a half-sitting position to sustain your massive upper body. I suppose the knee des and tail make up for the impossibility of kicking."

    "Good to know!" Nalrond scoffed. "How do I retract them?"

    "Practice. Lots of practice." Friya patted his back, deciding it was safer to leave him alone until she could take a good look with her breathing technique to his new body.

    ***

    The night went uneventful and by the next morning everyone had recovered and the Agni had gotten the hang of the retractable des.

    Nalrond felt confident enough to use his breathing technique, Firelife, discovering how much his life force had changed. The red bricks and the burning star were gone, reced by a red ming humanoid figure.

    He had now one life force, neither human nor Emperor Beast. It took him a few tries to get his old appearance back with Body Sculpting.

    "I''m sorry, it seems that I''m different from Lith and Tista. My original life essences have be so mixed up that I can''t separate thempletely like they do. I can tune one down and focus on the other, but only up to a point."

    "It''s fine. You are still part human and so will I if I be a Harbinger. Right, Faluel?" Friya asked.

    "I have no clue." The Hydra shrugged. "I''ve never met a Harbinger and no one among the Lesser Divine Beast had one. I can''t tell you what''s going to happen to you because there''s no record of it."

    At those words, Friya swallowed a lump of saliva.

    ''It''s fine.'' She thought. ''There''s still over ny years left before Faluel has to decide whether to make me her Harbinger or kill me. By then, I will have already lived a long and hopefully happy life.''

    ***

    After everyone left the tower to get back to their respective lives, the days passed quiet and uneventful. Elisya kept growing healthy, Kam was recovering from her depression thanks to her efforts and the help of her family, and Lith was teaching Void Magic again.

    Even though he was still perfecting tier four and working on tier five, he found that going over the basics of Void Magic helped his creativity and deepened his understanding.

    Teaching it to the kids and Kam helped, but the six great academies were filled with youths of outstanding talent. Sometimes they asked him a question or proposed an exnation that would help him find a missing piece of the puzzle, improving his research by leaps and bounds.

    He and Solus enjoyed their new routine, splitting their time between home and work. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    By spending so much time with Elina and Zinya, Kam had be a great cook. Maybe too much since Lith had found himself eating even when he wasn''t hungry and Solus had gained more weight.

    Her diet had barely started when they received two unexpected calls.

    The first was from Baba Yaga who had called on behalf on Dawn. The Horseman wanted to know if Nalrond was alright and if her suggestions had been helpful.

    "I''m sorry to bother you, but I can''t call Nalrond. I don''t want to upset him further nor do I want him to think this is an attempt at reconciliation. As I said, I consider us even."

    "Didn''t Ka tell you?" Solus asked in puzzlement.

    "I don''t talk to a wannabe-Lich and the wannabe-Lich returns the favor." Dawn replied.

    Sooner orter, the news of Friya''s future marriage would be public knowledge and by taking the Ernas name Nalrond was bound to receive a lot of attention. There was no point in hiding the truth.

    "I see. Thanks Solus." Dawn said after a brief and doctored recount of the procedure. "You have my and Ac''s thanks. If you ever need my help again, you only have to ask."

    The Horseman had followed Solus'' advice, using partial mind fusions to share her feelings and thoughts with Ac without burning his brain. It helped him to ovee his doubts about her sincerity and Dawn to understand how deeply her maniptions had hurt him.

    "Will do. Bye." Solus said, ending the call. "Man, that was weird."

    Even weirder was the second call that Lith received the following day.

    "I''m contacting you as the current head of the Awakened Council, Verhen. This isn''t a courtesy call." Raagu Drerian said. "One of our elders has recently been murdered in his own home and we need to bring his killer to justice."

    "Do I know the guy?" Lith asked, receiving a no in reply. "Then why are telling me about this and more importantly, why should I care?"

    "You didn''t let me finish." Raagu replied with a sigh.

    She was annoyed by Lith''s attitude, but Lith yed no part in the Council political ys and had no pending matters so she had no influence over him. If she wanted a favor, she to ask for it and do it nicely.

    "The Council elder''s name was Sherk Limbell and with his 1046 years he was one of the oldest among us. Despite his age, he was a very powerful mage and an even more powerful Forgemaster.

    "He was never close to the title of Ruler of the mes but he was the next best thing for the Kingdom just like thete Lesalia was for the Desert. Now, only the Empire possess one such Forgemasters."

    Raagu hoped that due to the role Lith had yed in the death of Lesalia, he would feel guilty and be more malleable.

    "Who''s Lesalia?" Lith asked, oblivious of Raagu''s ploy and of the identity of the dead Forgemaster.

    "The master of one of the apprentices who attacked you in Zantia." Solus reminded him via their mind link and Raagu said through the amulet. "The guys who staged the Griever in order to use a Forbidden Array."

    "I still don''t see how this is my problem." Lith shrugged.

    "You don''t understand." Raagu shook her head. "Limbell''s house was well protected. He spent there most of his time and after living for so long, it was supposed to be impregnable.

    "Yet he was killed and his home ransacked. When his heir came back from a mission to fetch the ingredients Limbell had requested, he found his grandfather dead and most of his resources stolen.

    "An Awakened is supposed to be invincible in their own house. The death of a single one of us is a red g but I wouldn''t have contacted you if it was just an isted ident. More people are dying and precious ingredients are going missing."

    She took a pause to let her words sink. The wounds from the War of the Griffons were too fresh for Lith to forget that the situation at hand was very simr to how Thrud had staged her uprising.

 Chapter 2969 Strong Enough (Part 1)

    Chapter 2969 Strong Enough (Part 1)

    "Are you suggesting that some of Thrud''s Generals survived and are back for revenge?" Lith asked.

    "No. That''s impossible. I have witnessed all of them die, either with my own eyes or through the recordings of the Kingdom. What worries me is this." Raagu had a holographic list of ingredients appear on Lith''s amulet.

    They were all priceless and very rare, but that was understandable. No one would attack a Council Elder to get something they could find at the farmer''s market.

    Lith recognized several of them as those whose purchase was severely regted due to the role they yed in several known Forbidden Magic spells.

    "The Council has already underestimated too many threats in the past. The monster outbreak, the disappearance of the children of the Eclipsed Lands, and the resentment of our apprentices, to name a few.

    "We have learned from our mistakes and want to get to the bottom of this before it bes something bigger and more dangerous. I''ve called you because the Hand of Fate has run out of leads and Elder Haug says that you''ve solved a simr case in the past and you can do it again."

    She had no idea that the reason Lith had seeded inpleting Haug''s mission was that he had worked with Scarlett the Scorpicore and back then she had the Eyes of Menadion.

    Sure, Lith now had Eyes of his own but he stillcked a reason to get involved with someone else''s mess.

    ''I''d rather keep studying Void Magic and spend time with my family.'' He thought. ''This way, whenever Meln will raise his ugly head, I''ll have ess to another branch of magic he knows nothing about.

    ''Also, keeping the tower on the mana geyser speeds up its recovery. With a little luck, the tower will have regained more floors by then.''

    Lith had never left loose ends in his life and hadn''t forgotten about the threat that his estranged brother posed.

    "Elder Haug is not the only one who has requested your presence. Xenagrosh of the Organization petitioned your presence on the investigation team as well." Raagu continued.

    "Xenagrosh?" Lith echoed, surprised by both the request and the Shadow Dragon not asking him in person.

    "Yes." Raagu nodded. "We had to¡­ ask for her help as well since she''s the best tracker among the hybrids. She dly epted and proposed your coboration."

    She could almost hear the thoughts running through Lith''s mind.

    ''Zoreth would never waste my time, let alone leave Kami and Elysia alone if this wasn''t important. This arouses a question, however.''

    "As far as I know, the Organization is still a probatory member of the Council. Howe you are involving them in a private matter and what have you offered them to ensure their coboration?"

    "The same thing I was about to offer to you." Raagu was d that Lith had asked for the bait before she had to throw it. "Limbell''s heir wants the murderer of his grandfather caught and the stolen legacy retrieved at all costs.

    "Since he''s too young and weak to face such an opponent, he has asked for our help and offered a juicy reward. Anyone who helps find useful clues about the lost legacy will be entitled to a share. The one who finds it, instead, gets the first choice."

    "Just a share of the magical research?" Lith was already swamped with fusing arrays with Light Mastery spells, learning Creation Magic, perfecting Forgemastery, discovering Void Magic, and his attempts at Gravity Magic.

    A reward that might be of any worth only years in the future held little interest to him.

    "No. Also of the missing ingredients, assuming that there is still any by the time we track down the culprit." Raagu replied.

    "Fine. You can count on my help. Where did Limbell live and when can I get there?"

    "You''ll meet with the rest of the team at the crime scene. I''ll inform you about the details as soon as the squad of the Hand of Fate in charge of the investigation reports to me. Raagu out." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The moment the call ended, it was Lith''s turn to make one, contacting Zoreth on her personal amulet on a secure line.

    "Hi, little brother. How are you doing?" She asked with a warm smile on her face.

    "I''m fine. Mostly confused." Lith repeated the contents of his talk with Raagu. "What''s so important about a dead old coot and why didn''t you ask me first before involving me in this matter?"

    "The dead old coot, as you call him, was known as Sherk Limbell, but his real name was Pharek of Derios." Zoreth replied while studying his expression. "What makes him important is the fact that he not only was one of Menadion''s favourite apprentices but also the one she entrusted the Ears to."

    "What?" Lith jumped up from his chair, inviting Solus via the mind link to join him. "Are you sure?"

    "Very." The Shadow Dragon nodded. "Judging by your reaction Elph-, I mean, Solus has yet to recover her memory."

    "Yes. Why do you ask?" Lith''s paranoia started to pound his brain like his heart was doing his chest.

    "Because I hoped she would be able to help us." She sighed. "As for the reason I didn''t warn you, it''s because I wanted you to act as detached as possible. Raagu is no idiot and the greed of a Dragon is hard to control.

    "She noticed my interest immediately and it took me quite some effort to convince her to let me in the operation. This way, she suspects nothing and I bet that she had to bust her ass to rope you in."

    "Nailed in one." Lith nodded, his paranoia taking the back seat again. "Excellent move. Had I known it, I would have eagerly waited for Raagu''s call and excitement might have betrayed my interest."

    "It surely would since I had my conversation with her over a week ago?" The Shadow Dragon said.

    "What?" Solus and Lith said in unison.

    "Raagu must have waited to call you on purpose, hoping that you would simmer in impatience and maybe even contact her first." Zoreth leaned back on her chair with a smug expression on her face. "She suspects I know something that she doesn''t and that if it was really important, I would have kept you posted.

    "Now, however, she has probably lowered her guard, thinking that whatever I''m after is relevant only to me. Even if Raagu doesn''t trust me, now she believes that you''ll y on her team, if the price is right."

    "Instead, we can now just pretend to be on her side and have ess to the Council''s files about the investigation!" Solus blurted out in understanding. "You are a genius."

    "Please, Solus." Zoreth dismissed thepliments with a wave of her hand. "I may be young in the ranks of the Organization, but I''m way older than Raagu. If after over a millennium, I hadn''t learned this much, I would be an idiot."

    "Credit where credit is due, big sister." Lith said. "This was brilliant."

    "Not to be rude, but who else in the Organization knows about this?" Solus asked, visibly on edge.

 Chapter 2970 Strong Enough (Part 2)

    Chapter 2970 Strong Enough (Part 2)

    "Only Byt and I." The Shadow Dragon replied. "I had no clue what Pharek looked like or who the people Menadion gave the pieces of her set were. Bytra recognized him from the picture and informed me.

    "It happened during the call with Raagu so even though I had muted the amulet while Bytra told me about Pharek and the Ears, I didn''t have the time to cool off." She sighed in regret. "After that, we decided to not alert the rest of the Organization to avoid repeating what happened with the Mouth.

    "Convincing the Master to also give you the Ears would be hard and he might suspect something."

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Solus jumped for joy at the idea of getting her hands back on another piece of her mother''s legacy.

    The fact that this time it wouldn''t fall into the Organization''s hand sweetened the deal and eased her worries about Vastor''s ns.

    ''If the Professor makes something bad out of my mom''s work, I''d feel responsible. Luckily, Zoreth has no idea we possess the tower and that we just need to touch the artifact, not possess it.'' She thought.

    ''Cynicism 2156 ¨C Naivety 4. You are wee.'' Lith replied, pissing her off big time.

    ''Since when are we keeping score?''

    ''Since ever.''

    "Don''t mention it." Xenagrosh replied. "I know that your grudge with Bytra is not easily settled and none of my business, but please, believe me when I say she''s not the person of your past.

    "Ever since she learned about Pharek''s death, she''s been obsessing about how you must feel and how to help you. Also, please make no mention of this conversation to her or she''ll kick my ass.

    "I was supposed to undery her involvement in the matter. Some bullshit about doing the right thing because it''s the right thing to do and not to get something in exchange." Zoreth shook her head, clearly not sharing Bytra''s sentiment one bit.

    "Hey!" Solus felt offended at the remark.

    "Tell me about it." Lith shook his head as well while pointing at Solus.

    "Hey!"

    "We''ll see you in a while. Say hello to Kami and kiss Elysia for me. Zoreth out."

    "Who''s we?" Solus pondered as the Shadow Dragon''s hologram faded.

    "Bytra is probably going toe along as well." Lith shrugged. "Vastor favors the buddy system to make up for the hybrids''ck of Spirit Magic. There''s little love and even less trust between his Organization and the Council."

    "What about Tezka? He always works alone." Solus'' good mood and gratefulness toward the Fourth Ruler of the mes disappeared like snow under the sun at the idea of meeting her again.

    No matter how many good words and deeds Bytra performed, Solus had still nightmares about the Raiju''s horn piercing her chest. She could still see the bodies of her fellow apprentices lying in pools of blood all over the tower at night.

    "After seeing him fight with Grandma, do you think there''s someone who can hurt him?" Lith found the idea preposterous.

    "Definitely not." Solus had to admit.

    The first thing Lith had to do was to inform Kam of his absence. He had no idea how long the investigation would take. It might even be the first time since Elysia''s birth that he spent a whole day away.

    Also, he needed someone to inform the academy of his leave and that the Void Magic lessons would be suspended.

    "I don''t like this." Kam paced the room nervously while Lith held the baby girl in his arms. "Do you really have to do it?"

    "What do you mean?" Father and daughter shapeshifted together from one of their four forms into the other.

    The resonance between them helped Lith to safely study the changes in the different aspects of his life force, especially the Abomination one. For Elysia, instead, it was a way to be ustomed to her powers and learn how to control them.

    More importantly, it was a moment of bonding for both of them, allowing them to touch each other''s minds and hearts.

    "I get that Solus needs the Ears, that it might help the tower to recover more quickly, that it''s her mother''s legacy, and   . But do you really have to stick your neck in this mess after what happened on Jiera?" Kam stopped in her tracks.

    Despite her anxiety, seeing father and daughter smiling warmed her heart.

    "You''re going after a killer. Someone who could murder a bright violet Awakened, like you, in his own home. And that was before the murderer got his hands on the Ears of Menadion. It sounds awfully dangerous to me."

    It also made her terrified of losing her husband.

    "And don''t try to say that you are not going in alone. I trust Solus, but away from a geyser she has limits. We both know you''ll try to ditch the Hand of Fate as soon as you can, so they don''t count.

    "Sure, Bytra and Zoreth areing, but that''s exactly the reason you shouldn''t go. They are trustworthy and don''t need your help. Can''t you stay here and wait for their return?" She asked as Elysia grabbed and sucked Lith''s finger.

    "It is dangerous, Kami, and you are right. I could sit back and leave Zoreth to deal with it but then I would learn nothing. Pharek might have had my same core, but he was much older and powerful than me.

    "I need to know first-hand how to defeat someone like that so that I can do it too and no one can do it to me." Lith said while looking Kam in the eyes. "Even once I reach the peak of the bright violet, I''m still going to be a twenty years old runt.

    "To get stronger, I need battle experience. Otherwise I''ll never fill the gap with old monsters like Tezka and Grandma."

    "Stronger?" She echoed in disbelief. "You are a bright violet-cored Divine Beast! You are the farming Supreme Magus! You have no need to get stronger. You should think of our daughter!"

    "It''s exactly for her that I''m doing it." Lith replied while cooing at Elysia. "I don''t want her to grow up while watching me fight like I''ve done in the past. I don''t want her to witness the violence and bloodshed I needed to protect everyone.

    "I want to be strong, Kami, strong enough to be gentle. So strong that I can afford to be kind without it biting my back in the future. The weak are not gentle nor kind. They just pretend to be to cope with their helplessness."

    When Kam met his gaze, she read all the pain from his past life on Earth and his early life on Mogar. Above all, she saw his will to not let their daughter have to endure any of it.

    "Okay." Kam sat down beside Lith, holding him in an embrace. "Just be careful, will you?"

    "I''m more than careful. I''m paranoid." Lith replied while kissing her head, making her chuckle.

    "I guess that it has its perks." Kam gave him a sweet kiss, then she took Elysia from his arms to kiss her as well. N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 2971 Rescue Mission (Part 1)

    Chapter 2971 Rescue Mission (Part 1)

    The baby girl was happy to see her mother. All those big words and the repeated shapeshifting had worked her up an appetite. Elysia turned into a Tiamat for better mobility and went for Kam''s chest.

    "Bad Elysia!" Kam said as the baby pulled her shirt open, exposing her bosom.

    "That''s my girl!" Lith said with pride.

    ***

    Ernas Household, a few hourster.

    A regional holiday had been dered for the whole week to celebrate the news of Quy''s twins. Jirni and Orion had arranged for festivals to be held in every city and vige, providing as much food as the recent end of the famine allowed for.

    So Lith wasn''t surprised when he walked through the private Gate of their mansion and found every wall, curtain, and piece of furniture decorated with blue and pink ribbons.

    Even the portraits of Orion''s ancestors wore one on thepels of their painted jackets and their expressions looked more smug than usual.

    ''It''s all in your head.'' Solus said. ''I remember what they looked like and no one altered the paintings.'' ''If you say so.'' Seeing the usually polite and reserved house staff smile from ear to ear was so creepy that Lith pondered if Mogar had its own clown prince of crime who had filled the mansion with lethalughing gas.

    When they reached Orion''s Forgemasteryb, they almost couldn''t recognize it. It was filled with cribs, nkets, and everything one would expect from a children''s shop, not the research quarters of a powerful mage.

    "Wee, Lith! Hi, Solus!" Orion shoved a cigar in Lith''s mouth, gifted a small bottle of perfume to Solus, and handed a ss of Dragon Water to both. "Come on in, we were just getting started."

    "Hi, guys. Please, tell me you''vee here on a rescue mission." Nalrond was in his Agni form.

    He had three cigars in his maw and one bucket-sized ss filled with liquor in each wed hand.

    Orion was supposed to take Nalrond''s new measurements for a new armor, but he had been otherwise upied.

    "What a guy! He has a killer sense of humor." Orionughed, creeping everyone out. "Don''t worry, we''ll be done soon and you''ll be free to go back to Friya."

    The nudges and winks left no doubt that Orion was fishing for more grandchildren. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Sort of." Lith had walked many miles in Nalrond''s current shoes.

    His parents had been pushy even before he met Kam and only Elysia''s birth had made them relent from their demands for grandchildren. For a while.

    "I bring good news and lots of stuff." Lith opened his pocket dimension, dropping the materials from Nalrond''s old Featherwalker armor that he had recycled with Creation Magic.

    "Did you ask Sark or¡­" Orion asked with greed.

    Even the happiness of the moment couldn''t make him forget his own personal war.

    Hisb was full of failed prototypes and the vaults of the Ernas Household were cluttered with old artifacts that Creation Magic could turn into materials for weapons of destruction.

    "Both." Lith raised his hands in surrender. "As in, I tried, failed, and Grandma stepped in before everything blew to bits. Sorry, Orion, but your creations are still tooplex for me. Maybe if you gave me the schematics of your cloaking runes-"

    "Over my dead body!" Not even his personal war could make Orion forget his pride as Forgemaster. "Then you would steal every secret of my bloodline''s legacy and the Ernas would de facto be reduced to a branch of the Verhen family."

    "I was just saying." Lith didn''t even try to deny Orion''s on-point allegations. "How is it going?"

    "Before, good. Now it''s much better." Orion said.

    The violet crystals were expensive, but the real issue was getting his hands on enough Adamant to make a proper armor for Nalrond''s new and even bigger body. Getting back the Adamant of the Featherwalker made things much easier.

    "This guy is a Forgemaster''s dream." Orion pressed a few nerves, triggering the retractable de spikes on the forearms and knees.

    "I have a name and I''m not a toy. Stop doing that!" Nalrond said.

    Then, he saw the hurt in Orion''s eyes and remembered how much the Ernas were doing for him. How even after seeing him in his new form they hadn''t batted an eye at his diminished humanity.

    "Please."

    "I''m sorry, Nalrond. I''m just too happy." Orion said.

    In his Agni form, his son-inw would be a formidable ally. Nalrond had already learned and practiced Spirit Magic during Faluel''s lessons with the help of her silvery wand.

    The first three tiers of magic were just a matter of power so he only needed to practice tiers four and five to be a Spirit Master. Also, Nalrond had already started to teach Friya Light Mastery.

    Even though there wasn''t much time, Orion believed that every bit he could snatch from those lessons would help. Last, but not least, between his already deep violet core and his armored body, the Agni was a force to be reckoned with.

    "Why is Nalrond''s new body relevant to Forgemastery?" Solus asked in curiosity.

    "It''s actually a niche branch, but a very useful one." Orion exined. "You see, normally an armor''s focus is just defense. You can add things like ded wings or ws, but those arest-ditch resorts.

    "Adding more metal for including weapons is not the problem since the weight-reducing spells take care of it. The issue is that you can''t give an artifact more than one power core.

    "Adding the specifics for a weapon also means wasting runes to set its shape, edge, and measurements, or the self-repair spells won''t work. You also have to specify where the dees out of how.

    "For Nalrond, there''s no such problem. I just have to enchant the armor with the simple ''cover your owner'' spell to give him what he needs." Orion pointed at the bone spikes on his body and the retractable des.

    "With Nalrond''s external shell giving shape to the armor, I simply have to choose for the power core spells that can work both as offense and defense. I can focus on the enchantments and their efficiency instead of wasting runes on diagrams."

    ''This is interesting.'' Lith pondered. ''The horns in my Tiamat form are too short to be useful except as ast resort but my tail is another story entirely. Maybe it''s time to put the bone spear at its end to good use.''

    ''Sure.'' Solus replied, blushing in embarrassment as memories about the tail that weren''t her own shed in her mind.

    "I''m going on a mission for a while. If you guys need me for anything, please let Kam know. I might not be able to answer my amulet until I''m done."

    "Thanks, Lith. You have no idea how much this means to me." With the Ernas paying for the mansion, the marriage, and even Nalrond''s equipment, he felt greatly indebted to them.

    Recycling the old armor helped lessen the expenses for the new one but that wasn''t enough.

    ''Light Mastery is my bloodline legacy and the Ernas are my new tribe. I guess that I''ll follow Morok''s lead and share with my inw everything I know.'' He thought, unaware that he was being manipted into doing this for months now.

 Chapter 2972 Rescue Mission (Part 2)

    Chapter 2972 Rescue Mission (Part 2)

    "You are wee Nalrond. Thanks for the lesson, Orion." Lith said, a bit surprised that a proud artisan would share information with a rival.

    "Don''t mention it." Orion said.

    ''The stronger Lith gets, the higher our chances of survival against the Myrok.'' He actually thought. ''I would have never taught him anything if he was alone. But with his share of Thrud''s spoils and his Demons, one piece of information can change the course of a war, when it applies to an entire army.''

    ***

    Werean region, Medaka ins, the following day.

    After a quick trip to the Desert for a few tweaks on the Voidwalker armor and a good night''s rest to reset Invigoration''s effects, Lith woke up to a call informing him that the final details of the investigation had been settled.

    For some reason, the Captain of the Hand of Fate, the Council''s enforcers, had refused to give Lith the coordinates of Pharek''s home and demanded to meet in an open space.

    ''This is weird. My paranoia sense is tingling.'' Lith said while looking around the empty area chosen as the point of contact.

    The scarce vegetation of the area had been trampled and uprooted during the War of the Griffons. It gave a clear line of sight for kilometers but also no ce where to hide or take cover in case of ambush.

    ''Agreed. This is the perfect spot for a trap.'' Solus used the Eyes to scan the area for dormant arrays or surveince spells.

    Only once she found nothing could she rx a bit and tune down to the less draining mana sense. The Eyes came from the tower and the tower shared its power source with Solus so the use of the artifact without a geyser still took a toll on her mana reserves.

    ''By the way, I was thinking. Pharek of Derios? Isn''t it odd that one of Mom''s closest apprentices is from our region?'' She asked.

    ''Not really.'' Lith replied. ''Orion told us that the first records about Menadion''s life mention that she lived in the Distar region when Derios was still a small vige.''

    ''So what?'' Solus asked.

    ''If your mother really was born in the Marquisate, it''s normal that she befriended people close to where she lived. Also, if Derios underwent the same explosive growth as Lutia, it wouldn''t surprise me if our vige was also built because of her.'' Lith replied.

    ''Do you think that my mother founded Lutia?'' The idea shocked Solus.

    ''No. More like that she lived nearby for the mana geyser where I found you and that the area started developing due to her presence.'' Lith shrugged.

    ''It makes sense.'' Solus pondered. ''Probably back then people didn''t even know who she was and the presence of a mage gave them safety. Then, after we¡­ she died people moved out.''

    ''Just like it happened to Lutia after I was exiled.'' Lith used his Tiamat keen sight to scout in three directions at the same time, but there was nothing to see.

    ''Someone''sing!'' Solus focused mana sense on the dimensional rift taking form a few meters from them and conjured the Fury in her hand.

    "Hi, little brother. Hi, Solus." Zoreth walked out of the Chaos Steps first.

    She was wearing a full set of deep blue Bookwyrm armor. The Adamant Sky Piercer w on her right hand crackled with bolts of powering from the six elemental crystals studded on its surface.

    The battle w emitted energy pulses that scanned the surroundings which along with the barrier enveloping her indicated that Xenagrosh was expecting trouble.

    "If the area is clear, why are you so tense?" She pointed at the hammer in Solus'' hand and Lith keeping his palm on the hilt of Ragnar?k. "You cane, Byt."

    "Because we''ve been waiting here for a while and I was starting to suspect this is all a setup." Lith assumed a rxed stance.

    There was little that two monster-Eldritch hybrids couldn''t deal with, especially with that kind of equipment.

    ''By my Mom, that''s not the same equipment Zoreth had thest time we met her in Zelex. Her artifacts have been significantly upgraded.'' Solus said. ''Also, is it me or has that w gotten closer to the Hands of Menadion as well?''

    ''And it''s made of pure Adamant.'' Lith didn''t know whether to be more envious or worried so he went for both. ''Where the heck does Vastor get so much enchanted metal? Orion is struggling to make one armor for Nalrond!''

    "Hi, Lith!" Bytra waved at him before shaking his hand. "Solus." She kept her distance from Solus, greeting her with a nod.

    The movement brought Solus'' attention to what looked like a bandana that both hybrids wore around their necks. It took her a single nce at them with the Eyes to send a cold shiver down her spine.

    "What do you mean, waiting?" Zoreth would have liked to ask for recent pictures of Elysia, but the situation was indeed weird. "I''mte on purpose. I don''t trust the Council so I made sure that you would arrive first.

    "Your presence is supposed to smooth whatever tension might arise." She sniffed the air, finding no unusual smell. "Fine. Have it your way."

    The Shadow Dragon raised her gloved hand and discharged the umted energy. The resulting pulse expanded in every direction, creating a domeprised of swirling elemental energy.

    The pulse suddenly shattered on contact with a lonely tree located about 500 meters (1641 feet) away. Bytra followed by throwing the Absolution with every ounce of her considerable strength, yet she aimed a few meters away from the base of the tree.

    The impact blew the ground into a crater with a boom of thunder, sending the tree and three more people of different sizes belly up.

    ''What the fuck? They were hiding underground at the base of the tree but that doesn''t exin why not even the Eyes detected them.'' Before Lith could finish the thought, a fifth figure bolted toward Zoreth, exploiting the depowered state of her weapon.

    The creature rode a bolt of lightning and moved so fast that even to Lith''s Awakened senses it was barely a blue blur. It would have struck at Xenagrosh before she even had the time to register the movement if not for Bytra being on guard.

    The Raiju used her own electric powers to move fast enough to intercept the enemy.

    Her silver bolt and the blue one of her opponent moved to six different locations in six different directions before the Shadow Dragon could lower her hand.

    They Eyes failed to lock onto anything and Lith''s seven eyes could barely follow the countless exchanges that took ce in a single heartbeat.

    ''I can tell that they use two different bloodline abilities and that it''s more a spar than a fight but that''s it.'' The mind link reported the message as the bolts stopped.

    Much to Lith''s dismay, the neer wasn''t a humanoid blue hedgehog but a humanoid white tiger. The blue streak as he moved came from his armor which carried a pattern of colors and design that Lith didn''t recognize. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Are we done ying?" Xenagrosh''s tone was t, as if she was making small talk in an elevator rather than dealing with an unknown assant.

 Chapter 2973 Gravity Field (Part 1)

    Chapter 2973 Gravity Field (Part 1)

    "You seem to be as good as you im to be, Abomination." The creature said with a low leopard growl. "Maybe there really ismerit in your presence here. Maybe."

    "First, I''m an Eldritch, not an Abomination. Get on with the program or I''ll refer to you as a kitten." Xenagrosh''s voice now sounded bored which gave insult a further sting.

    "Second, if I wanted to hurt you posers, that pulse would have exploded in your face instead of imploding on itself. You live because I allow it."

    "You-" Before the white tiger could snarl something back, Bytra wrapped the strap at the end of the Absolution''s hilt around his hand and let go of the hammer.

    The Emperor Beast charged himself with another yellow bolt of lightning and tried to move but the Absolution brought him down like a dirty rag. His speed was meaningless while he was pinned to the ground.

    He grunted, pulled, and pushed, but the hammed didn''t budge. Bytra, however, was free to move. With one hand locked on the floor and a half-knelt position, the white tiger could neither block nor dodge.

    Her delicate fist hit in an uppercut that sent him flying up just for the pinned arm to whip him down with a shattered jaw and dislocated wrist, elbow, and shoulder.

    "You live because she allows it!" Bytra snarled, her ck aura spreading to the sky and conjuring dark clouds.

    The Fourth Ruler of the mes was the meekest among the Organization''s Eldritches.

    Like most clones, her past, innocent self was dominantpared to the original''s ruthlessness. She felt remorseful for ughters she had never perpetrated and wished to make amends for them.

    Unless someone threatened Xenagrosh.

    The Shadow Dragon was a merciless killer to the rest of Mogar and the sun to Bytra. Any attempt to harm her wife turned the Raiju into a feral beast that would have made the old Korgh hide in a corner.

    Meanwhile, the lonely tree had fallen back to the ground and shapeshifted into a Fae wearing a dark suit of armor identical to those of the other three Awakened. They assumed a battle formation with perfect teamwork and bolted forward with a unique flight spell.

    They were a human male, a humanoid serpentine creature, and a rotten skeleton wielding a staff that Lith assumed was a female solely because she was too short to be an Awakened man.

    ''So they didn''t hide behind the tree. The tree was hiding them in an underground space between its roots.'' Lith''s thought, uncaring of the events unfolding around him. ''A smart move, but it still doesn''t exin why we failed to notice them.''

    Life Vision, mana sense, and the Eyes perceived nothing where the four ck-d warriors and the white tiger stood. Aside from a slight distortion in the world energy around them, it was like they didn''t exist.

    ''My bet is they wear Darwen-coated armors.'' Solus replied. ''Somehow, the material has been treated to reduce the vacuum in the world energy that would otherwise betray its presence. Whatever the crafting method of that armor is, the result is beyond every cloaking artifact we''ve ever imagined.

    ''I can''t read their cores, their life forces, their equipment, nothing. They could all be Divine Beasts wearing Royal Fortress armor and we''d be none the wiser.''

    "That''s why I hate stupid kids." Xenagrosh sighed. "They can''t see the truth until they m their noses into it."

    When the four alleged members of the Hand of Fate were just a few dozen meters away, Zoreth spread her ck-violet aura and activated Dragon Fear.

    Her mana filled the area, carrying with it her killing intent that seeped inside the bodies of everyone inside the Dragon Fear''s aura of effect. Panic made the four Awakened lose control of their flight spell and crash onto the ground.

    As Lith estimated their masses based on the depth of the crater their fall created, the only thing in their eyes was Xenagrosh. Even though she was still in her human form, they could see behind her the illusion of a majestic Shadow Dragon standing on all fours.

    Its wings were unfolded, blotting out the sky, and its neck was reared high, ready to unleash the sea of fire and shadows that was roiling in its mouth.

    "Dodge." A flick of Zoreth''s middle and thumb fingers conjured several icicles the size of a dagger that flew at the warriors.

    It was just a tier three spell, something that anyone with an alchemical wand could use. There was no willpower in it and its destructive power was far from remarkable. Yet the Council''s elite took every icicle in full.

    They had been forewarned and had plenty of space for manouvre but Dragon Fear paralyzed their limbs like Adamant chains. They were sent sprawling on the ground, coughing up blood from the internal injuries they had suffered.

    "Byt, stomach please." Before the white tiger could be outraged by the humiliation of his soldiers or confused by Xenagrosh''s request, the Raiju delivered a punch to his sr plexus.

    It squeezed the air out of his body and cracked the instingyer of Darwen that coated his armor. Lith could now see a bright blue aura seeping out of the fourckeys and a bright violet one from their indomitable leader.

    "Now that we have properly introduced ourselves, would you like to speak like a civilized person or do I have to keep beating manners into you?" The Shadow Dragon had yet to move from her spot, her voice the same she would use to discuss the weather. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The white tiger growled back but Bytra''s charging fist was as telegraphed as its consequences.

    "Fine, let''s talk." The fist didn''t slow down, it just changed its target from the throat to the gonads. "I apologize for my rude behavior. The attack was uncalled for, but I couldn''t help myself.

    "I wanted to see what''s so special about you guys."

    "Apologies epted." Zoreth nodded and Bytra let go of the scruff of the white tiger while recalling the Absolution to her hand. "Take your time to heal your soldiers andpose yourselves. I want to avoid further dys to our mission."

    "Excellent idea." The white tiger turned around without introducing himself, taking care of fixing his armor first and checking on his unitter.

    "What was that?" Solus pointed at the spot where the Absolution hadin until a second ago.

    There was a deep depression in the soft soil where the hammer had blocked the Emperor Beast. A crater several meters deep that couldn''t be exined by thebined weight of the Absolution and the white tiger.

    Solus still had many reserves about the Raiju, but her love for Forgemastery was stronger than her trauma.

    "Something I made up to avoid the Absolution ever ending up like the Fury." Bytra lowered her gaze in shame while offering the hammer to Solus. "It conjures an internal gravity field so that arrays have no effect on it.

    "The moment someone who hasn''t my approval or has a different energy signature from mine touches it, the gravity field increases the weight of the Absolution. Also, since the enchantment works akin to fusion magic, you can''t store the hammer inside a dimensional amulet to steal it."

 Chapter 2974 Gravity Field (Part 2)

    Chapter 2974 Gravity Field (Part 2)

    "It''s brilliant!" Solus had sparkles in her eyes, pondering how she could to do the same for the Fury.

    "Please, forgive me, Solus. I''ve learned from my own crimes." Bytra was afraid that the revtion would trigger another panic attack, but Solus remained calm.

    "Thanks for the apology, but you have no need to. It wasn''t you." Every word was like pulling teeth. "Feel free to share the method with me, if it makes you feel better."

    Zoreth furrowed her brows at the tant exploitation of the Raiju''s guilt but Bytra didn''t seem to notice and if she did, she didn''t care.

    "I would love to, but I didn''t do everything by myself. I had the idea but the spell is Tezka''s. See?" She pointed at the violet dimensional crystal that was now studded on the head of the Absolution.

    ''Too bad.'' Solus inwardly sighed. ''I bet that this has aroused every nerd instinct in your body.'' She said via the mind link with a chuckle.

    ''How is that?'' Lith asked in confusion.

    ''Are you telling me that all that "Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor" didn''t cross your mind? Not even for an instant?''

    ''Please, that''sme. There''s only one Thor for me.'' The thunder god of Lith''s childhood had long red hair and beard, wore enchanted metal gloves, and a belt doubling his strength.

    His hammer had a short handle due to sabotage during the Forgemastering process and its powers came from the owner, not the other way around.

    ''Still, it''s a good idea to protect the Fury. We''ll have to add it to Friya''s to-do list. By the way, is it me or isn''t just Zoreth''s and Bytra''s equipment that got stronger?''

    ''I don''t know.'' Solus replied. ''They wear a cloaking ring that shields both their cores and life forces. It''s inferior to those guys'' armor but more than enough to jumble mana sense''s readings.''

    ''Dammit, we need to know if Vastor is getting closer to fusing their life essences like we did for Nalrond. I could try using Invigoration, but Zoreth was once an Awakened and she knows how having foreign mana flowing inside you feels.'' Lith inwardly grumbled.

    ''Or, and I know it sounds crazy, you could ask her.'' Solus'' thought oozed sarcasm. ''Zoreth considers herself your sister, she is Elysia''s godmother, and she''s the one who bought our ticket to this fair. Why do you keep treating her like an enemy?''

    ''A rival. There''s a difference.'' Lith countered soberly. ''Still, you are right.''

    "Is it me, or have both you and your equipment had quite the makeover?" Lith asked.

    "It''s not you." Zoreth smiled and ruffled Lith''s hair. "But let''s talk about thister. The children areing." She pointed with her thumb at the members of the Hand of Fate.

    "Nice to meet you." The white tiger sounded more fake than a three-dor bill. "My name is Strider the Zouwu, of the Emperor Beast Yi dynasty." He offered his hand with his ws still extended.

    "Not to be rude, but I''ve never seen one of your kind or even heard about their existence before." Lith shook it drily while taking a good look at his reluctant ally now that the white tiger stood still.

    He had long curved hornsing out of his forehead and tusks from the sides of his mouth. What Lith had earlier mistaken for frills of the Zouwu''s armor were small proto-feathered wings on Strider''s elbows and knees.

    They weren''t meant to fly, their feathers a tool to fine-conjure air currents and control them with pinpoint uracy. His tail was very long and it was ethereal in nature. The white came frompressed clouds and the ck from the storm brewing within.

    It was possible to see thunderbolts light the tail from the inside and discharge into Strider''s body, probably fueling his abilities.

    "That''s because I''m not from Garlen." The Zouwu bowed his head, in respect to his origins rather than his unwanted guests. "My familyes from the eastern continent of Zima."

    "These are my subordinates. Rhuta Ailius..." He pointed at a handsome man who gave them a polite nod of his head. He was as tall as Lith, with red hair and blue eyes.

    "Unanna the Naga¡­" The creature was a male as well. It had six arms, blue skin, and the lower part of his body was that of a giant snake. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave them a bow.

    "Ryka the Titania¡­" The Fae was almost 2 meters (6''7") tall, with the appearance of a gorgeous woman with pearly pink skin, ocean-blue eyes, and long hair the color of red maple leaves.

    She extended her hand, sprouting one vine for each of her guests who promptly shook them. "And Azhom Rhot. The sanest Lich you''ll ever meet." The skeleton was definitely human but what was left of her flesh wasn''t enough to guess what she looked like or what she was thinking.

    "Hi, my name is Solus Verhen." When she offered the Zouwu her hand, Strider''s face lighted up with a real smile.

    "Nice to meet you, Lady Verhen. I wish we could have met under different circumstances and with betterpany." When he pulled back, from the handshake, Solus found her arms filled with delicious-smelling food.

    "Thanks!" She smiled while taking a bite from a doughnut-looking sweet. "I mean, wow, you are pretty rude. What threat do we pose to you?" She asked while never stopping to eat.

    "You mean what threat they pose to us, miss. To us all." The Zouwu waved at Lith, Xenagrosh, and Zoreth. "Abominations aren''t named after what they do, but what they are!"

    His voice turned into a rumbling snarl but this time he kept his feet and mana still.

    "They murder and pige with no remorse. Entire viges, cities, and even whole countries have been brought down by those monsters. They forced my family to flee from Zima and seek the protection of the Great Mother." There was anger and shame in his tone.

    "Those are the Abominations of your country. Here things are different." Solus said, hating Strider lumping Lith with the rest of his kind.

    "Are they?" The Zouwu said in anger yet gave her more food. "The Organization was behind the monster outbreak of a few years ago. It spawned hybrids like them that made countless victims.

    "Xacha the Nue, one of the kindest beings I''ve ever met was driven crazy by them. She became one of them. She killed Myshar the Unicorn, our savior, and then she destroyed my second house, forcing my family to run away again."

    He red at Zoreth who shrugged and Bytra who blushed, knowing that she was born from the outbreak. Not the same that Strider was talking about, but only due to dumb luck.

    Taking their silence as an admission of guilt, he continued.

    "As for him¡­" The Zouwu pointed at Lith. "He''s just another hybrid. He nted himself inside a human house and yed nice. I have to concede that. Yet the moment his identity was exposed, it took him minutes to show his true colors!

    "Everyone in Garlen has seen Verhen torturing and feeding off the Hogums."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 2975 Hidden Lab (Part 1)

    Chapter 2975 Hidden Lab (Part 1)

    "During one of the longest famines of this century, your dear cousin erased an entire bloodline and turned a fertile barony into a barrennd to relieve his anger! Do you deny it?" Strider asked.

    "No, but-"

    "After that, he bought his pardon by sharing Void Magic with the humans instead of the Awakenedmunity. He didn''t care for us, only for himself. The title of Supreme Magus he carries marks him as a convicted murderer and a traitor! He-"

    A slow p cut the Zouwu off just like he had done to Solus.

    "Thanks for the recap." Lith said. "If I ever want a biographer, I know who *not* to call. Now, what do you say if you quit whining and we get a move on? I don''t have all day."

    The Zouwu''s eyes narrowed into fiery slits that brimmed with mana. He growled but said nothing, his gaze lingering on Bytra way longer than it was polite.

    "And you. How could you do it?" The Fourth Ruler of the mes was aware that Strider had no way of knowing about her killing Menadion, but his words sounded like an usation nheless. "How could you betray us for¡­ this?"

    He pointed at the Shadow Dragon.

    Not knowing about the real Bytra or the clones, the Zouwu assumed that she had lived in seclusion for some reason until the Organization had scouted her. Then, Bytra must have fallen in love and willingly turned into a hybrid to be with her lover.

    None of it was true, but he didn''t know nor care.

    "That''s enough." Zoreth grabbed his extended finger and broke it into three parts, bringing Strider to his knees from pain. "I''m tired of listening to you, kitten. Bring us to Limbell''sb. Now."

    "Fine." The Zouwu mended his wound. "This way."

    A wave of his hand opened a Warp Gate leading straight to their destination.

    It was an underground pce, either built inside a mountain or so deep into the ground that everyone could feel the pressure of dozens of tons of rocks weighing above them.

    "You first." Lith took the Zouwu by surprise and by the scruff of his neck, throwing him inside first and then the rest of his team. "No traps. We can go in."

    "Was it necessary?" Strider asked while helping the members of the Hand of Fate who had trouble getting up

    Being thrown like a sack of potatoes by a Divine Beast did a number on your pride, bones, and internal organs.

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "Since we are such good friends, it was reasonable to think you might have ''forgotten'' to deactivate the protection system so that we could have an unfortunate ident."

    The truth was that the Zouwu had thought about it and decided otherwise for Solus'' sake. He hated Abominations but he would never sacrifice an innocent for his revenge.

    "I see. Follow me." He turned around and started walking.

    The pce was exactly what one could expect from an ancient powerful being who spent more time in hisb than in the outside world. Every room and corridor was pristine, the self-cleaning spells of the house made it low-maintenance.

    The furniture was made of high-end materials and finely crafted. Their beauty showed the hand of master artists capable of creating a masterpiece without it being ostentatious.

    Yet while every piece of art was pleasant by itself, the overall impression of the pce was jarring.

    Limbell/Pharek had collected many things in his over one thousand years of life and his house was filled with things linked by themon feelings they inspired in him, not by design.

    Colorful tapestries were hung on the walls behind what looked like in vases and even rocks. Paintings ofpletely different styles and ages were disyed one near the other, their themes often in contrast.

    The house seemed to have been decorated by a color-blindpulsive hoarder in a drunken fit. Yet everyone could appreciate the majesticplexity of the enchantments interwoven throughout the pce.

    Pharek was indeed a gifted Forgemaster and one of Menadion''s dearest apprentices. Solus and Bytra could see it in his work, in how every rune was drawn and ced with the care of an artist.

    The enchantments were a symphony to their eyes, making them mist with tears as the familiar designs aroused long-forgotten memories in both women.

    "Why are¡­" Strider said and Lith Hushed him not to ruin Solus'' moment. "They crying?"

    "You can ask themter." The Tiamat replied, receiving a fist bump of approval by Zoreth. "By the way, as far as I know, the Hand of Fate is supposed to beprised of bright blue-cored individuals who seek the Elders'' help to reach the violet.

    "Yet unlike your men, you already have a violet core. What''s in it for you?"

    The ease with which Lith asked such a cynical question made Strider sigh in exasperation, reaffirming his prejudices about Abominations.

    "Yes, the bulk of our forces is stuck at the bright blue but that''s more than enough for most investigations. The blue core is the limit for everyone and between Spirit Magic and our longevity, it takes a lot to harm an Awakened. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yet when someone capable of killing an Elder appears, sending blue cores would be like throwing leaves into a fire and hope to smother it. That''s why there are people like me who take point when something like this happens.

    "As for what''s in it for me, the answer is not much. I get to keep my seat among the Council''s Elders and my turf. We take turns serving the Hand of Fate as part of our duty. Even your former master, Faluel, has to answer the call when summoned.

    "Can I ask you a few questions?" Strider said.

    "Sure." Lith nodded as the Zouwu asked him the reason he had refused the seat in the Council.

    As Lith replied with his usual blunt candor, Ryka the Titania asked him for advice about the violet while Rhuta was eager to listen about how it felt to have be a Magus at such a young age.

    As a fellow Awakened human, Rhuta was used to stay on the sideline and hide his abilities. Fame and recognition were something he could only dream about. The more Lith talked, the less he appeared like the bloodthirsty monster Strider had painted him.

    As the ice between the two groups thinned, Azhom the Lich dared to ask Xenagrosh questions about her condition as an Eldritch and her role in the War of the Griffons. She turned out to be warm and friendly, when you weren''t ambushing her.

    Bytra and Solus, instead, walked in silence for a while. They snapped out of their reverie almost at the same time and noticed that they could see everyone''s lips moving yet hear nothing.

    They turned to each other, noticing their respective teary eyes. For a moment, they felt close. The two of them were the only ones who could appreciate the hidden beauty of the pce and see the traces of Menadion''s legacy hidden in Pharek''s work.

    Then the moment passed and it made thing awkward between them. They rushed to wipe their eyes and dispel the Hush zone just in time to hear:

    "This is it." The Zouwu said, pointing at the crime scene.

    It was hidden behind a fake wall, a second Forgemasteryb right past the one where Lindell trained his disciple and met his clients.

 Chapter 2976 Hidden Lab (Part 2)

    Chapter 2976 Hidden Lab (Part 2)

    By the time Lindell/Pharek''s secretb had been found, the damage to the hidden room had been repaired by the protective arrays of the pce. Theplex and delicate instruments were intact, but too many things were out of ce.

    The Forge had disappeared, leaving only a depression in the carpet. The many books scattered throughout the room and the several empty shelves were the only remaining signs of struggle.

    No mage would be foolish enough to set up an array to put books back in their ce.

    Otherwise they wouldn''t be able to read without the array taking the tome off their hands like an annoying librarian. If a shelf had been broken, the books were right below it.

    If a spell had blown it to bits, however, the explosion would propel the books away.

    By studying the pattern of the books, it was easy to retrace the different phases of the fight and also understand when things had gotten dire. Self-repairing enchantments were no barriers and paper was frail by nature.

    A tome with missing pages or the presence of scattered ashes meant that a spell strong enough to overpower the protections had been used.

    "I''ll tell you what we already know so you won''t have to start from scratch." Azhom said. "Based on our timeline reconstruction, about five months ago someone entered Limbell''s house. It must-"

    "Five months ago?" Lith was bbergasted. "You''ve sat on the scene for so long and expect us to find something?"

    "No, we didn''t ''sit on the scene'', as you put it." Strider snarled. "We have used arrays to preserve everything as it was. From the dust on the furniture to the position of the books to the lingering energy signatures.

    "Everything is still as we found it. Also, what did you expect? Awakened crimes aren''t like human crimes. There are only so many possible suspects and no one steals something like this to keep it hidden.

    "We were certain that by letting the culprit think that they had gotten away with it, they would have done something that would betray their involvement. Also, we''ve never stopped investigating. We believed that something woulde out.

    "The problem is that we were wrong. Please, continue, Azhom."

    "It must have been a friend, because unless Limbell opened the door himself, the security system would have alerted him and he would have fought the intruder in the outer rooms, not in his hidden Forgemasteringb.

    "Also, it must be someone Limbell trusted. A Forgemaster treasures his secrets more than his bedchambers." The Lich said and Bytra, Solus, and Lith nodded in agreement.

    "We think that Limbell brought the killer here to show them something, maybe a piece that had beenmissioned but still needed the input of the client before beingpleted.

    "Then something was said or done that caused the violence. This is most likely a fist." He pointed at a pile of copsed books in front of an empty shelf at the level of Limbell/Pharek''s head.

    "When that failed, spells started to fly." She pointed at the scattered and burned books on both sides of the room where the mages had probably crashed during the exchanges.

    "Then Limbell died and you know the rest."

    "Are there missing books?" Xenagrosh''s Dragon Eyes had already counted the stray books and then calcted the empty volume on the shelves.

    For them to be all destroyed there were too little ashes.

    "Many." Rhuta said. "After ounting for the scattered books, those damaged, and the few that have been blown to cinders, we estimate that about half of the content from the empty shelves was taken. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Another weird thing is that Limbell''s diaries, Grimoires, and secret manuals are safe. He had entrusted them to his disciple and even though the young Nem Limbell refused to let us read them, we could still verify their contents.

    "The books in his possession are so many that they would fit this entire room. The missing tomes are ''just'' a few dozens."

    "Before you ask, yes we checked Nem Limbell''s whereabouts and alibi." Unanna the Naga said. "He was our first suspect since he fit the bill of the culprit to nigh-perfection.

    "He was away when this happened. Old Limbell had sent him to fetch rare ingredients in the Council''s market. We have witnesses, security footage, timeline, everything.

    "Also, I specified nigh-perfection because the young Limbell has no damn motive. His master was old, there was no argument between them nor time to find a recement.

    "All of this was going to belong to Nem in a few years anyway. It was no secret that Sherk Limbell''s life force was almost drained so why kill his master and risk death at the hand of the Council?"

    "How can you be so sure that there was no argument with his disciple?" Bytra asked, knowing well how a disgruntled apprentice could hide their resentment until it turned into hatred.

    Solus swallowed at those words, wondering if it took a murderer to know one.

    "Because Limbell was old and had plenty of friends." Strider replied. "We have checked with them their conversations of thest few years and there''s no mention of attrition with Nem Limbell nor did Sherk ask his friends to help him find a recement.

    "We even checked with Nem''s friends who confirmed to us that the youth has been a mess for quite a while now. He loved the idea of bing the master of the house but he hated that it came at the price of losing his beloved great-grandfather."

    "It''s a mystery." Xenagrosh thought long and hard about the issue but found no exnation.

    Warping inside a mage''s house was suicidal but before that, it was impossible unless you had been there already and knew the dimensional coordinates. A guest or a friend would have never known about the secretb.

    Even if somehow an intruder bypassed the dimensional sealing arrays with Spirit Magic, they would have appeared in themon areas that were also the most heavily protected.

    Yet there was no trace of struggle in the rest of the house so there had been no fight. On top of that, killing an Awakened as old as Pharek in his own turn turf was far from easy. And that without taking the Ears of Menadion into the equation.

    Zoreth couldn''t think of a single way she could have done such a surgical job against someone with Pharek''s resources.

    It was a feat on Tezka''s level but someone like the Suneater would have never run away and left behind so many treasures. He would have taken his time and stolen everything noteworthy.

    Anyone strong enough to kill Pharek was supposed to have no reason to fear Nem''s return. The culprit had killed like a powerful mage and then acted like a weakling with no n or experience in cleaning his own mess.

    The execution was the mark of a pro, everything else was the wreck of an amateur at his first kill.

    The only silver lining was that Xenagrosh had no need to understand someone to track them to the end of Mogar.

    "Indeed, and I don''t have the time to solve mysteries." Lith took out hismunicator amulet and pressed a familiar rune.

 Chapter 2977 Murder, She Said (Part 1)

    Chapter 2977 Murder, She Said (Part 1)

    "What do you think you are doing?" Strider tried to grab the amulet from Lith''s hands but razor-sharp wings and tail whipped at him, forcing the Zouwu to stand back.

    Even in his human form, the Tiamat still had the mass of a Divine Beast and the mere air pressure generated by his movements hit like a storm. Strider had dodged everything yet small bruises and cuts appeared on his hands and face.

    "I''m an expert at tracking people, not a Constable." Lith replied. "Yet I know a very good one and I like to understand what kind of mess I''m facing before getting involved with it."

    "Thank you for the call, Lith. I was really bored and I could use somepany." The image of a petite, blonde woman lying on a sofa appeared in the middle of the room. "I would have liked to be forewarned that others were going to be present, though."

    Lady Jirni Ernas sat straight, wiping the chocte mustache from her face and lots of crumbs from her dress. She ate a lot due to the cravings and, in the privacy of her own home, she didn''t care for appearances.

    "Yeah, you''re right. I should have thought about that." Lith cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Can you help me with a case?"

    "A case?" Jirni''s eyes shone with interest. "Dear, you shouldn''t even ask. You know that I''m always here for you in your times of need. Tell me everything."

    She spoke with an amiable voice and a warm smile, yet Lith could see in her eyes an "I owe you" bill with his name written on the bottom.

    Once Lith was done recounting the events and showing her the room, Jirni was deep in thought.

    "It''s unbelievable." She said.

    "I know, it doesn''t make sense." Lith said and the rest of the team nodded.

    "No, I mean that it''s unbelievable that after five months this case is still open." Jirni grunted like when she had to deal with a rookie Constable on their first day on the job. "I guess Awakened must be so used to using magic to solve their problems that they let their brains rot."

    "I don''t know who you are, miss, but I assure you that we are professionals. We covered every base and investigated everyone involved." Strider said with his best professional and detached tone.

    He didn''t like Jirni because she was Lith''s friend, but taking his anger on an innocent human and a pregnant one at that was out of the question.

    "I can see that." Jirni nodded. "Which is why I find it incredible you''ve stopped one step away from the finishing line. Be a dear, Lith, and ask the Zouwu with anger issues whothe person supposed to provide Nem Limbell with the ingredients was."

    Both Lith and Strider were bbergasted.

    The former thought that maybe Pharek''s death was linked to histest magical theory, but that would mean looking for the perpetrator among those who had sought the same magical resources. Their source was irrelevant.

    Thetter, instead, had a hard time believing that not only had the human recognized an Emperor Beast from Zima at first nce but also seen through his best poker face.

    "The merchant''s name is Eeram Zeth." Strider said, trying and failing to hide his shock.

    "His name is irrelevant, sir." Jirni shook her head. "What I''m interested in is to know what Zeth''s rtionship with the victim was."

    "They were friends for centuries and he has an alibi as well. He''s beyond suspicion." The Zouwu replied.

    "Then I was right. You guys are not very good at your job." Jirni sighed. "You should think about Awakening a few Constables. You can''t improvise being one and even the best tools are pointless if you can''t read their findings."

    Truth be told, no one there was a detective of any sort. The members of the Hand of Fate constantly rotated and they were assigned cases based on who was avable, not on their area of expertise.

    "Do you have the name and a description of the culprit?" Lith asked with a stern face that Jirni matched as she nodded, making everyone gasp in astonishment.

    "Do you really have to work with such gullible people, Lith?" Jirni chuckled at the Awakened for falling for a tant lie. "Jokes aside, I have a few more questions. This Limbell was very old and powerful, correct?"

    Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "Is there any chance he had some dark secret he didn''t want anyone to know about, even after his death?"

    "Most likely. You don''t live a thousand years without a few skeletons hidden in your closet." Lith''s face seemed to be carved in stone and so was Zoreth''s.

    The members of the Hand of Fate were dumbfounded whereas Solus and Bytra showed more nervousness than curiosity, telling Jirni more about the nature of the case.

    "Then I''m almost certain that you are dealing with a shadow disciple." Jirni said. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "A shadow what?" Lith asked in confusion while the faces of the members of the Hand of Fate lit up in understanding.

    "A shadow disciple, dear." Jirni replied. "Someone who is not going to inherit the title, the house, and the riches. Only the dirty little secrets that the real heir has been deemed incapable of keeping under wraps or that the master just doesn''t want to burden them with."

    "Are you sure?" Strider asked, a newfound respect for humans in his voice.

    "It''s the only possible exnation." Jirni said. "Limbell didn''t send Nem for ingredients, he sent the youth away. I bet that Zeth had to keep an eye on Nem and warn Limbell in case his heir left early.

    "Limbell needed time to meet his shadow disciple in secret and make the final arrangements. He couldn''t afford to die and let Nem discover the secret room before clearing it.

    "The missing items aren''t stolen. They were entrusted to the murderer and neatly organized for them. That''s why there''s no trace of piging or ransacking."

    "Wait a second." Lith raised his hand to stop her. "Even if you are right, the shadow disciple had no motive either. If he got books, materials, a Forge, and Limbell''s teachings, why kill his dying mentor?"

    "I can clear that up." Strider said with a sigh. "As the miss said, a shadow disciple inherits none of the wealth and fame of their master. They are forced to start from scratch and build their reputation on their own so that no one will ever link them to their teacher.

    "Even their techniques and spells must undergo many modifications so that they can pass as inspired by the master''s work and not passed down. It can create a lot of resentment, especially at the end of the master-apprentice rtionship.

    "As long as the master is alive, the shadow disciple still gets ess to the resources and wealth they need. They get to learn from their mentor and take pride in knowing that the real heir won''t get any of those secrets.

    "It''s something special, only for them. Yet as the master gets old, there''s less and less to learn and the shadow disciple knows that they''re going to end up alone and lose ess to all the things they have taken for granted until that moment."

 Chapter 2978 Murder, She Said (Part 2)

    Chapter 2978 Murder, She Said (Part 2)

    "Yeah, I can see that pissing anyone off big time." Lith pondered. "Especially someone who has never worked to live. With no reputation to back their skill, the shadow disciple is going tock a consistent source of money.

    "Which means being forced to lower their living standards by a lot until they build their reputation. I supposed that doing that while hiding the techniques passed on by the master should take years."

    "More like decades." Strider pointed out. "Non-Awakened don''t trust those who didn''t attend one of the great academies and Awakened have no need for amateurs. Our quality standards are much higher."

    "What about the fight, then?" Lith pointed at the piles of books.

    "Someone of that age can be knocked out by a single sucker punch." Jirni said. "Limbell was old and almost dead whereas his disciple is bound to be young and with a very powerful core. He had no chance in close quarters.

    "My guess is that either Limbell was already almost dead after the first strike and put up a little fight or, as I''m inclined to think, he died on the spot. Look carefully. The evidence isn''t consistent with a struggle between two powerful beings.

    "More like the havoc caused by one powerful being throwing a fit after realizing what they have done." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Looking at the scene from that perspective, Jirni''s words sounded painfully obvious to the members of the Hand of Fate.

    "Thank you, miss. Your help has been enlightening." The Zouwu gave her a respectful bow. "I''ll pass your suggestion of recruiting Constables like you on to the Council."

    "Gods, no!" Solus said in horror, imagining what a small army of Awakened Jirnis could do.

    Everyone but Lith had no idea what she was rambling about so they looked at Solus like she was crazy.

    "I mean, thanks Jirni." She blushed, lowering her gaze.

    "Thank you, kind sir. My name is Jirni Ernas. Feel free to look for me if you ever need a few names." She returned the bow as much as her swollen womb allowed her to. "Is there anything else, Lith?"

    "No, but I will call you again if we need your help. Thanks, Jirni. Lith out." After ending the call, Lith looked around the room with an annoyed look on his face.

    "Bottom line we have to deal with an Awakened with at least a violet core who had five months to get ustomed to whatever Limbell gave them and prepare for our arrival. Once we find them, we''re up for a deadly wee."

    "First we have to find them." Zoreth said. "Lith, collect everything you need and let me know when you are done. My tracking methods are destructive and once I use them there won''t be anything useful left."

    Lith nodded and released his bright violet aura. At the same time, he circted the power of the elements, his mana, and life force through his seven eyes. Then he turned on and off the Call of the Void multiple times.

    It was all absolutely pointless since he had yet to discover anything about his eyes'' bloodline abilities. The problem with unique races was that they came with unique traits and no instruction manual.

    Everything was justyer uponyer of deception as he activated the Eyes of Menadion to study the room. This way, even if the Awakened looked at him with Life Vision, the artifact would be hard to notice with all the mana flowing through him.

    Also, being a part of the tower, the Eyes shared Lith''s mana and energy signature which further helped hide their presence.

    Lith immediately excluded the arrays of the pce''s defensive systems. They were back in perfect condition and held no clue. Then he filtered out the auras of all those present so that they wouldn''t contaminate the readings.

    With eachyer of magic he eliminated, the strain on his and Solus'' brain lessened and the Eyes could narrow their focus on the lingering traces of Limbell and his shadow disciple.

    He ignored the enchantments protecting the books and the shelves, leaving only the energy signatures of those who had touched them visible.

    ''If Jirni is right and the disciple had a meltdown, he might have injured themselves while breaking stuff. A single hair or speck of skin is enough for the Eyes.'' Lith thought. ''And shit!''

    "I need something of Limbell." Lith said. "Something he wore or enchanted or we have a 50% chance of chasing a dead body."

    Strider took a blood sample out of his dimensional item. It was an alchemical tool devised to put its content into stasis to preserve it even outside a dimensional distortion.

    "Thanks." Lith scanned and removed Pharek''s energy signature, leaving only one.

    By focusing on it, the Eyes projected on his corneas hazy images of the shadow disciple''s actions and movements in the room. Lith could estimate the height, build, and gender of the culprit.

    He saw one of the residual images throwing a single punch filled to the brim with fusion magic and then casting spells while destroying things in a fit of rage. Most importantly, Lith had the energy signature of his prey.

    "This tall, male, muscr build of a Forgemaster." Now Lith could find the shadow disciple, but he needed to be in the area of effect of the Eyes.

    "How do you know he''s a he and 1.9 meters (6''3") tall?" Azhom the Lich asked.

    "My eyes can read the elemental fluctuations left by his body. I can tell where they start, finish, and what shape they outline, but that''s it." Lith lied through his teeth while also conjuring a life-sized hologram of what he saw through the Eyes of Menadion to divert everyone''s attention.

    "Remarkable." Rhuta said in admiration.

    "Sort of." Lith replied, faking modesty to hide the full scope of his abilities. "Now I know his energy signature and I can follow his trail but if he Warped away, I''ll lose his trace until we get close enough to perceive him."

    "Are you done?" Zoreth asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Byt, give me a hand."

    The two Eldritches raised what looked like bandanas that they wore on their necks, revealing them to be metal face masks that covered their noses and everything below eye level.

    To Lith and Solus, they resembled the cloth a ninja would wear to hide their face if not for a major difference that didn''ty in the material they were made of.

    Each face mask was studded with fourteen elemental crystals arranged in two curved lines.

    Each line wasprised of seven gemstones of different colors, one for each element plus a violet dimensional crystal. Adding a Spirit Crystal would have made the artifact useless for anyone but its crafter.

    The elemental crystals were paired up based on their element, one above, one below, forming what looked like a grinning mouth filled with sharp crystal fangs.

    "Is that-" Strider choked on his own words, incapable of believing his eyes. "It''s impossible. There should be only one Mouth of Menadion."

    "And you are right." Even with the face mask on, Zoreth''s eyes were smiling and the fangs matched her expression with such perfection that it wasn''t hard to guess who had inspired Bytra in her work.

 Chapter 2979 Stalking Predator (Part 1)

    Chapter 2979 Stalking Predator (Part 1)

    "These aren''t the Mouth of Menadion, but the Maw of Bytra." The Shadow Dragon said while waving at her wife with pride. "She is not only the Fourth Ruler of the mes but also one of Menadion''s disciples.

    "What one genius Forgemaster can make, another can recreate." As she spoke, the two Maws resonated with each other, generating a synchronization effect that Lith and Solus knew all too well.

    The two artifacts cast several detection spells and arrays in quick session, collecting all the evidence they needed and storing the data necessary for the Eldritches to make up for theirck of Life Vision.

    "And you dare throw them in the face of the emissaries of the Council?" Ryka the Titania asked in shock.

    "Why should we hide?" Xenagrosh''sughter was full of contempt. "We are as strong as your precious Council. If you think we feel threatened by you, think again. Make one move against the Organization and not only will you discover how wrong you are.

    "You will also learn the hard way what Bytra''s creations can do in the hands of beings older than any Council elder if not even the Guardians themselves."

    Between the power of the Maw and her ck-white aura exuding Dragon Fear, the members of the Hand of Fate took several steps back without even noticing.

    "You must be great in bed to inspire such a betrayal, lizard!" Strider roared in outrage, releasing his aura to oppose the Dragon''s.

    "Better than you''ll ever be, kitten." Xenagrosh extended the ws of Sky Piercer and beckoned at him. "I bet you are fast in everything you do. And I mean everything."

    "Enough!" Bytra stepped between them, breaking the sh. "Xenagrosh, stop taunting him. It stopped being funny an hour ago."

    Zoreth grumbled but she retracted her aura and lowered her gaze.

    "As for you, fastest jerk alive, I''m sick of your ridiculous ims. I owe no loyalty to you or the Council so stop acting like at some point you and I were betrothed. Insult me again and we are going to see if you can fight as meanly as you talk.

    "For the record, even though it''s none of your business, the Organization found me when I was already an Abomination."

    "Preposterous!" The Zouwu replied. "Am I supposed to believe that someone who achieved the title of Ruler of the mes failed Awakening or a breakthrough?"

    "Yes, you idiot!" In her rage, Bytra conjured her horn and the mother of all storms. "Do you really think that a brilliant Forgemaster likes to spend her days breathing and training while her head is full of projects and ground-breaking theories?

    "I Awakened young but reached the violet centuriester because oveing the bright blue took time and I was always busy in my Forge. I devoted myself to training only after I had mastered the level of crafts I could perform and only because my corecked the power to put my new ideas to the test.

    "To all those like Menadion and I, our core is just a means to an end: Forgemastery. You wouldn''t find one Forgemaster at the cyan level if we could do everything with a green core."

    Bytra''s outburst took everyone aback and also exined to Solus why Bytra had yet to reach the bright violet after finishing her apprenticeship with Menadion.

    ''I was different from the others.'' She thought as fragments of her memory shed in front of her eyes. ''After what happened to Dad, I was obsessed with training. I was terrified of exploding like him.

    ''I had little life outside the Forge because I devoted my free time to refining my core and training my body.'' Then a painful memory hit her.

    After reaching the bright violet, Elphyn had thrown the training in the gutter and moved her attention to sweets. Solus could remember Ripha nagging at her for gaining weight and the slow build of her Senton physique.

    ''I guess I still have something inmon with Elphyn Menadion.'' She inwardly sighed.

    Meanwhile, the Zouwu could see the fury in Bytra''s eyes and feel her power.

    ''She''s beyond the bright violet as well and, with her speed, she might even be my match. There''s no point fighting a losing battle. Even if I win, the Shadow Dragon will have my head and if not her, the Council.

    ''Stop acting like a child, dammit!'' Strider stepped back and closed his eyes, trying to push the memories of the Eldritch destroying his birthce back into a corner of his mind.

    Whenever he met an Abomination, he could still hear the screams of his people as they were mowed down, feel his mother''s hand painfully squeezing his own in fear while she dragged him away by force.

    He would go back to being a six years old Zouwu, forced to leave his father behind to face the monster alone while he and his mother escaped. Strider hated his old self for its weakness and his present self forshing out like a scared child.

    "I apologize, Lady Bytra." He growled more than talked and gave her a small bow. "My words were uncalled for."

    "Sucks as an apology, but this isn''t worth my time." Bytra dismissed him with a wave of her hand, like a petnt servant. "Xenagrosh?"

    "On it!" The Shadow Dragon''s human form flickered, her body became covered in ck scales that turned smoother and of a deeper shade of ck as she tapped into her Eldritch powers.

    She used her Stalking Predator bloodline ability to draw in all the auras in the room and integrate them into her body. The books lost the smell of old paper, the air became clean of the smell of the breakfast the master and apprentice had consumed, until everything that gave the secretb a lived-in appearance was no more.

    Everything became aseptic as if the scene was just a disy in a museum. Lith noticed that even his smell and the small particles of dust on the Voidwalker armor had ended up the same way.

    He felt the same way as after taking a sterilization shower back when he was quarantined in Valeron. Even his armor looked brand new. He wasn''t the only one. Everyone was shuddering, feeling that something they had never noticed yet they cared about had been taken away from them.

    Everyone but Bytra. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "It''s not my first rodeo." She shrugged in reply to Lith''s silent question. "I''m wearing brand new clothes on purpose so I barely notice the difference."

    "Do you need the life force sample too?" Strider wanted to argue about the vition of his personal space, but with an effort he managed to keep his temper in check.

    "No, thanks." Xenagrosh replied while sniffing the air. "I don''t need it. Two smells came in here but only one gets out. The old man died here."

    She pointed at the impression of the Forge in the carpet.

    "Correct." Unanna the Naga said. "We found Limbell there. But how does that hel-"

    "Shush, child. This is the crucial step. I need to focus." Zoreth raised her hand to ask them to be quiet while her body metabolized the energy signatures she had devoured and converted them in a signal that she could follow.

 Chapter 2980 Stalking Predator (Part 2)

    Chapter 2980 Stalking Predator (Part 2)

    Discarding her own, Bytra''s, Lith''s and Solus'' scents was easy, because she was already familiar with them. Then, she consumed the energy belonging to unanimated artifacts like armor and weapons.

    They were metallic, leathery, or woody. Some were made of paper or the skin of the member of one of the five races but they all had one thing inmon. Their mana was stale, dead as a doornail, a mere variation on that of their owner.

    Then, only two smells remained. One, belonging to Limbell/Pharek, was spread throughout the house while the second, the shadow disciple, was present only in a few rooms.

    Yet inside the secretb, his scent was stronger than Pharek''s. The disciple had spent a considerable time there, mastering the secret crafts that his master had entrusted solely to him.

    Xenagrosh unraveled the tangle that his smell formed by focusing on the small details.

    She now could feel the disciple entering the room one step behind his master and walking to the Forge. Inside the secretb, the smell became agitated and spread out like a storm to the bookshelves the disciple had destroyed in his fury.

    Then it started to move in circles like a caged beast before moving out of the door.

    "This way." Xenagrosh led the party and the others followed. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''Fuck me sideways! Zoreth''s power and the Eyes don''t work well together. She destroyed everything we needed to retrace the movements of our prey.'' Lith thought as the artifact''s scan was nowpletely nk.

    ''Yeah.'' Solus inwardly nodded. ''Let''s hope it was worth it.''

    She took a different corridor from the one they hade from, her stride quick and confident as if she was familiar with the pce''syout. After a few meters, the Eyes picked the unknown energy signature again and showed Lith a hazy ghost on the run.

    ''Jirni was right. After killing Pharek, the shadow disciple went into a panic. This wasn''t nned.'' Solus noticed there was no attempt to cover his tracks or destroy the traces of his passage.

    The only thing the ghost cared about was getting out of there quickly.

    The group walked into a long corridor filled with portraits of Pharek with the various disciples he had trained over the years. There were men and women of all races and ages, the only trace of the passage of time was Pharek getting older or younger.

    "Do you think we might find the shadow disciple among these guys?" Rhuta asked.

    "Unlikely." Strider shook his head. "There''s no point having a shadow disciple if you hang his portrait on disy. I bet mytest batch of ingredients that this just made our guy angrier."

    "Nailed it." Zoreth pointed at a spot in the corridor where she could smell the residue of a punch strong enough to make even an Awakened bleed.

    The arrays had long since repaired any damage, and the shadow disciple had the presence of spirit to destroy his blood with darkness magic.

    Yet Zoreth''s nose and the Eyes could still pick it and the presence of the portrait of Pharek with his official heir made everyone believe the Shadow Dragon''s words even though they couldn''t notice anything.

    "There''s a secret passage here." Xenagrosh pointed at the wall in front of her. "The smell moves in this direction."

    "And the control panel is here." Lith could see where the ghost''s hand touched the wall so he did the same while activating the tier four Forgemastering spell, Reveal.

    The hidden enchantment turned visible, revealing a holographic keypad waiting for the ess code.

    "I can''t read the code." Lith said.

    "I can''t smell a code." Xenagrosh shrugged.

    "We don''t need to." Strider entered the numbers 1-2-3-4-5 on the keypad and the door opened.

    "What?" Lith blurted out in surprise. "Was Pharek senile? That''s the kind of thing an idiot would have on his lock!"

    "Indeed." The Zouwu replied. "But after his death, his imprint has been lost and all the security codes have been reset. We forbade Nem to add his imprint exactly for a case like this."

    "Still, the old man had a perverse sense of humor." Bytra said. "Every time the shadow disciple had to get in and out, he would not only be forced to use a secondary entrance like a beggar, but also be reminded of what he can never have.

    "Pharek''s official disciples will be remembered after his death and can use his name as a reference whereas no one was supposed to know about the shadow disciple and they have to hide their skills like a thief."

    The door led to a long underground corridor that opened on the back of the White Fang Mountain which was located at the edges of the Medaka ins.

    "Wait a second." Bytra stopped the Shadow Dragon the moment she felt they were leaving the mana geyser under Pharek''s house.

    She turned around, hastily scribbling on a piece of paper that she crumpled and handed Solus. She opened it, taking care that no one else could read it.

    "If you need time to recover your strength after what you and Lith did, you just have to give me a sign. I''ll find an excuse to take a break."

    Solus burned the piece of paper and patted Bytra''s back to reply with a hidden mind link.

    ''Thanks, but it won''t be necessary. I''m fine.'' Even though she couldn''t summon the tower over an already taken geyser, between the rich world energy, the Sage Staff, and Lith''s presence, Solus was at the top of her game.

    "You guys did a great job covering the entire area with the energy-preserving arrays." Xenagrosh said to buy time and smoothen things with the Hand of Fate. "I have yet to lose track of our prey."

    "Thanks, but it''s standard procedure. Always preserve the area covered by the victim''s magical formations and then some more." Azhom quoted the manual. "We are still inside Limbell''s array system."

    Once Bytra gave her a covert signal, the Shadow Dragon resumed her advance. The trace still moved in a straight line, making it easy to follow as they exited the arrays'' range and entered a small patch of trees.

    Lith inwardly cursed when he saw the hazy figure of the ghost disappearing into a circle of light that he recognized as a Warp Steps.

    "I was right." Xenagrosh stopped in front of the echo of the dimensional door. "You guys did a good job."

    She spread her arms out and traced runes in the air that outlined the shape of the remnants of the Steps. Her hands moved in a blur in every direction, forming what looked like an array.

    The Eyes of Menadion''s readings indicated that the portal''s energy trace was getting stronger with every rune Zoreth conjured. The array was picking up the echo of the Warp Steps as well, amplifying it until the spell came back to life.

    "I didn''t know you also were a dimensional mage." Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "Because I''m not." The Shadow Dragon replied. "A dimensional mage would have opened this with a wave of their hand. I''m just ancient and specialized in tracking. I''ve learned how to do this with lots of practice."

 Chapter 2981 Random Steps (Part 1)

    Chapter 2981 Random Steps (Part 1)

    "This spell wouldn''t even work if I couldn''t feel on my own the exact point where the original Steps had been opened. Get in." Xenagrosh said.

    Once on the other side, both her nose and the Eyes lost track of their mark. Five months had passed and without the energy-preserving arrays, the energy signature hadpletely faded over time.

    "Shit!" Rhuta studied their surroundings, discovering they were in the middle of nowhere. "Another dead end."

    "No, not at all." Zoreth took a map out of her pocket dimension and found their new position in the Wegan Region by using the visiblendmarks and her knowledge of the Kingdom. "The hunt has just begun and we are getting closer."

    "What do you mean?" Solus set the Eyes to full-range scan, seeking only their mark''s energy signature yet it found nothing. "The guy was panicking but he still had themon sense to Warp in a random direction. He could be anywhere by now."

    "Wrong. Just by calcting the distance between the entry and exit points, we can estimate how strong he is and the distance we can expect him to cover on average with a single Steps." The Shadow Dragon exined.

    "Also, everyone uses the term ''random direction'' because it has a nice ring and makes them feel safe, but there is no such thing as a random ce. You can''t Warp to an unknown house just by pointing your finger.

    "You must remember their dimensional coordinates by heart and no one bothers remembering the ce they sneezed, unless they did it in the King''s face. When people Warps in a ''random direction'' it''s actually just the wrong direction but still in the ballpark of their real destination.

    "You can''t go in the opposite direction or you''d just waste time and mana by moving back and forth in a straight line. If we could retrace all of his ''random Steps'' we could narrow the area of search."

    Everyone took notes while Lith also discovered that her reasoning applied to him as well and changed his Warping routine ordingly.

    "Even if you are right, how are we supposed to find him?" He asked.

    "That''s why you are still green as a manhunter, little brother." Zoreth tutted, booping Lith''s nose with her finger. "You have yet to learn how to think like a predator. What do we know about him?"

    Lith narrowed his eyes in confusion but answered the question.

    "Our mark is young by Awakened standards and panicked after killing his master. Wherever he lives, he tries to pass himself for a self-taught mage, most likely a Forgemaster."

    "Go on." Zoreth twirled her fingers in the air.

    "He has no name for himself, little money, and with the death of his master, he has lost ess to the supply line of ingredients he was used to. Also, after five months, he must be thinking he has gotten away with it and has lowered his guard." Lith said.

    "Which means?"

    "That even if he has lived holed up in his hideout, by now he must have run out of food and magical resources. We must look for a mage who moved into the area recently and is looking for Forgemastering ingredients." Lith concluded.

    "Correct, but that would be the right course of action only if we were like them." Zoreth pointed at the Hand of Fate. "We don''t need a precise who, where, or when. Just to be close enough to perceive him.

    "If he has stopped hiding, the ces he hangs around are bound to be filled with his smell. He thinks to be just a face in the crowd. The secret of his existence is allegedly paying off. He doesn''t know he can be found so he won''t bother covering his tracks."

    She pointed at the cities and viges on the map in the range of at least another Warp Steps covering the same distance as the first.

    "True. Where do we start?" Lith asked.

    "What do you think?" The Shadow Dragon smiled at him.

    "Viges." He replied. "Sure, cities are crowded but you have to constantly show your ID and have a connection with the Mage Association if you want to deal in magical resources.

    "Also, if for some reason someone notices you, they have no qualms about reporting you to the local authorities. In a vige, instead, no one asks for IDs and a mage offering his services as a healer is always wee.

    "On top of that, vigers are distrustful of strangers. After five months they''ll consider him one of their own and lie for him. Losing your healer means losing your family at the first cough."

    "Excellent job, little brother." She ruffled Lith''s hair giving him the opportunity to open a mind link.

    ''Zoreth, are you sure you want to give your spells and techniques out like this?'' He asked. ''The members of the Hand of Fate are not our allies and Strider hates our guts. He could use everything you are teaching us against you.''

    ''Let him try.'' She telepathically chuckled. ''This is nothing groundbreaking. Just things you learn with age and experience. These runts have no idea how our respective tracking abilities work so as long as we y it close to the vest they won''t be able to jam our senses even if they try.

    ''On top of that, how can you ask a big sister to pass up the opportunity to look cool in front of her little brother?''

    Those words made Lith feel weird inside. Zoreth treated him like Rena would, if only she had something to teach him. Zoreth looked out for Lith like family whereas he was on the lookout for her like a liability.

    He believed her affection was sincere but he couldn''t shake off the suspicions that her involvement in Vastor''s ns entailed. He would have loved to trust her, but the consequences of underestimating the Organization''s resources were still hanging at her neck.

    ***

    Vige of Haroq, Vomar barony.

    A few hours and several Warpster Lith could put into practice Zoreth''s teachings. There was no need to enter a vige or ask questions. They would get close enough to a settlement to scan it without entering its borders.

    The Eyes'' range extended way farther than what a medium orrge vige covered. As soon as the reading came back negative, he informed the Shadow Dragon who would confirm his findings or ask for a small tour of the vige. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lith wondered if her uracy was greater than the Eyes'' or if she was just doing it to hide the limits of their abilities but he said nothing and followed her lead.

    ''She seems to pick up traces as well as us.'' Solus said. ''That and Dragon Eyes truly make up for her limits. Too bad that there''s no such thing as the Nose of Menadion.''

    ''And what should it do, exactly?'' Lith scoffed. ''All the tools we''ve found so far were rted to Forgemastery. You don''t sniff metals or mana crystals so there''s no point in having a Nose of Menadion.''

    ''Then what are the Ears supposed to do, smartass? We don''t listen to metals or mana crystals either.'' She retorted.

 Chapter 2982 Random Steps (Part 2)

    Chapter 2982 Random Steps (Part 2)

    ''The Ears do exist so maybe you are right and we should listen to metals and crystals.'' There was a nagging feeling in the back of Lith''s head and for once it wasn''t Solus.

    At least, not directly this time.

    Her words had stirred one old and one recent memory that he still couldn''t exin. When they had fused against Nalear and yearster against Windfell, they had disyed abilities that couldn''t be exined by the floors the tower possessed at the time.

    ''I wonder if that was the Ears doing.'' He pondered.

    Lunchtime came and went. Everyone had brought hot food with them, even the Lich. After a few awkward and short-lived conversations, the Awakened mustered the courage to speak with Bytra.

    She was already a living legend and the revtion of the Maw of Bytra made her a goddess of the Forge to their eyes. Everyone wanted to hear stories from her time with Menadion and, more importantly, if she eptedmissions.

    Bytra avoided talking about Menadion for Solus'' sake and politely turned down the orders for custom-made equipment. To not let the conversation plunge back into embarrassed silence and small talk, she shared her memories about the founding of the Kingdom with the Awakened.

    Eldritches aside, the oldest member of the group was 359 years old. They had read about those events in history books but hearing them from someone who had taken part in so many important moments was apletely different experience.

    "Back then, everything seemed possible." Bytra said. "In a little more than 300 years, we had four Rulers of the mes and even more Magi. White cores and Guardians walked among us, and a mixed couple ruled over the first and strongest Kingdom of Garlen."

    She took a brief pause, conjuring with Lith''s help a hologram of Valeron''s coronation and then another depicting the figures of the first three Rulers of the mes, leaving herself out.

    "And that''s when everything went downhill." She sighed. "Magic started to progress too quickly. Powerful artifacts were now avable for the first idiot who had the money and connections to get them.

    "The Madness, the ve cors, and many other gues were born from our collective stupidity. We Rulers of the mes were so obsessed with one-upping each other that we didn''t realize how dangerous our creations were.

    "Thest 700 years have been wasted cleaning up the mess we made. I can''t even imagine how many brilliant minds have been snuffed out during one of the eternal conflicts between the countries.

    "We worked so hard to create a golden age and failed to make itst."

    "But things are finally changing again." Rutha said. "There''s the Blood Magus in the Desert, the Void Magus in the Kingdom, and a new Guardian!" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "And don''t forget about Baba Yaga''s return." Unanna said. "She''s the living proof that white cores exist and that mage towers are real! With so many brilliant minds and Lady Bytra bing part of the Council again, there''s no telling what the future holds."

    "It''s Supreme Magus, Rutha." Ryka chided him. "You are forgetting about Magus Verhen''s Forgemastering skills. We might have another Ruler of the mes right here!"

    Azhom nudged them all, nodding at their leader.

    Strider''s dislike for all forms of Abominations was well known and Baba Yaga had returned because of the mess her Horsemen had made. The war with the Undead Courts had cost many Awakened lives, including many of their friends.

    The Zouwu clenched his cutlery, closing his eyes more often than he liked to make sure his gaze didn''t turn into a murderous re. The Lich''s worries were on point, but what annoyed Strider the most was that he couldn''t refute any of his subordinates'' overly enthusiastic remarks.

    ''Instead of whining like a loser, I''d better work hard and be a leading figure myself. I can''t just cross my arms and wait for Mogar to change. I must be the change.'' He thought.

    "How are you and your family finding Garlen?" Solus asked to make him part of the conversation instead of a brooding spectator. "Do you miss Zima?"

    "We''re doing fine. Thank you, Lady Verhen." Strider felt weird saying it, as if he was talking to Lith''s wife.

    All their hidden mind link required physical contact like holding hands and touching shoulders which were easy to misunderstand. The two showed a degree of intimacy that the Zouwu hoped to have never disyed with any of his siblings.

    "At first it was hard. In Zima we speak Tyris''nguage so that wasn''t a problem. The hardest thing to get used to was the food." He sighed. "My mother grew quickly ustomed to the new cuisine whereas my father still whines at every meal unless she prepares a traditional dish.

    "My siblings were born here so they don''t understand why he''s like that and mock him for it. We don''t miss Zima much. Aside from the humans'' physical appearance, everything is the same here. We just wish we didn''t have to abandon so many things during our escape."

    ***

    After they were done eating, the hunt resumed.

    It was a few hours before sundown when they picked the shadow disciple''s trace again.

    "Told you so." Xenagrosh gloated, pointing on the map how the vige of Yurta was just a few degrees off the straight line she had traced by connecting Pharek''sb and the exit point of the Steps she had reopened.

    "Random Steps don''t exist. The guy must have never even bothered checking a map. I bet he just picked a spot he''s familiar with and that allows him to travel fast."

    The members of the Hands of Fate nodded and swallowed loudly, realizing that probably they made the same mistake and that someone like the Shadow Dragon could find their hiddenbs with ease.

    "Do we go in now or wait until tomorrow to interrogate the locals?" Strider swallowed his pride, instead, and let Xenagrosh take the lead.

    "To get what? Lies and misdirection? Our prey has no reason to be honest with the vigers and what little might have slipped during their everyday conversations is irrelevant at best. Lith?"

    "That way." The Eyes picked a faint residual energy trace in the vige and a massive one in the thick woods a couple of kilometers away from the vige.

    He could have pinpointed the position of their mark but that would have been stupid and aroused questions he didn''t want the others to even ask themselves, let alone to him.

    "Yes, his trace goes in that direction and it''s fresh. He left the vige no more than a few hours ago. Let''s move." Xenagrosh opened a Steps a kilometer away from the woods but she didn''t cross it, to make sure not to trigger any traps. "Be on guard.

    "A cornered prey is the most dangerous and we''re challenging him inside his own den after giving him five months to prepare."

    The Maw emitted life and array-sensing spells, covering the entire stretch ofnd between the open Steps and the woods while the rest of the team used Life Vision to scan the area. The Maw emitted life and array-sensing spells, covering the entire stretch ofnd between the open Steps and the woods while the rest of the team used Life Vision to scan the area. Much to everyone''s surprise spells and mystical senses perceived nothing at all.

 Chapter 2983 Mogarâ€™s Garden (Part 1)

    Chapter 2983 Mogar¡¯s Garden (Part 1)

    "Weird." Xenagrosh said. "Either our mark is an idiot or he is so confident in his defenses that he doesn''t need rms. Stay on guard. Both are equally possible and his confidence may be well-founded."

    Following the energy signature was easy but their advance was slow because they stopped from time to time to check for traps and rms. They never found anything but that only made them more nervous.

    In everyone''s experience, the longer the opponent waited to deliver the blow, the stronger it would be.

    Lith and Solus alternated using Life Vision, mana sense, and the Eyes to save their strength, noticing something about the Maw of Bytra.

    At regr intervals, the Raiju and Zoreth conjured the life-sensing and array-detecting spells and a third spell that Lith had never seen before via the artifact.

    "Can I ask you something about how the Maw works?" He said.

    "Sure, but with a mind link, please. Brother-sister confidentiality." Zoreth agreeing so easily made Lith feel bad. Asking for a mind link in the presence of Awakened was considered a rude gesture and a sign of tantck of trust but she did it for him nheless.

    The tenderness with which the Shadow Dragon caressed his head made him feel worse.

    ''What if one day I have to use what she is teaching me now against her? Wouldn''t that be an act of betrayal?'' He thought.

    ''What''s the spell you cast after the two arrays?'' He actually asked via the mind link.

    ''As you know, Abominationsck things like body cast and Life Vision. The Maw makes up for both. Bybining a modified version of Full Guard with the sensing arrays, I can perceive both the movement of hidden enemies and the flow of mana of spells.'' She replied.

    ''You can incorporate Full Guard to arrays?'' Lith was bbergasted.

    ''Yeah, but it''s not as cool as it sounds.'' She sighed. ''Arrays can''t move with me and even though I get to feel the flow of mana, I don''t know what runes are being employed unless I look at them.

    ''I can only understand what elements are being conjured and how powerful a spell is. As you can easily imagine, my Dragon Eyes don''t work with it as well. That''s why we are researching for a better version that at least can read a spell''s runes.''

    The idea of a Dragon capable of learning everything that happened around them was simply terrifying. Life Vision had a much shorter range than an array and couldn''t see outside the field of view of the user.

    ''How do you mix three spells like that?'' Lith put his worries aside and asked the question that bothered him the most. It usually required a power core to synergize arrays.

    ''I don''t. It''s not something any mage I know can do but the Maw can.'' Zoreth tapped on the cor of her armor.

    ''Thanks, big sister.'' Lith knew how much she liked to be called like that and the warm smile she gave him was proof of that.

    ''Don''t mention it, little brother. This is nothingpared to the honor you gave me when you asked me to be Elysia''s godmother. We are family.'' She replied.

    The idea of using his daughter in his maniption was thest straw. Lith cut off the mind link and turned to Solus.

    ''Can our Mouth do the same?'' He asked after sharing the previous conversation with her.

    ''It''s possible.'' She wanted to scold him for what he had done but Solus could sense how guilty Lith already felt. ''Remember that the Eyes exin only how something works. It''s up to us to understand its applications and limits.

    ''If what Zoreth is doing requires just the spells stored in the Mouth, then yes, we can do the same. If it''s an ability based on the stored enchantments, instead, then we can''t at the moment but we can still test this theory on the Apprentice Mouth.''

    Lith nodded, setting those questions aside forter. He couldn''t use the Mouth in the presence of witnesses anyway. The artifact was too eye-catching and unlike the Eyes, the Mouth had no stealth capabilities.

    As they reached the deepest part of the woods, the scans kepting back negative. There were no life forms but animals and no spells but those the group cast.

    "In there." Xenagrosh pointed at a rock formation that looked like the entrance to a cave.

    She opened a Steps as far inside the cave as she could see from a distance in the fading daylight and cast her set of three spells.

    "What the fuck?" The Shadow Dragon sniffed the air, touched the ground with her ck Abomination hands, and cast the same set of spells from the outside, refusing to believe her own magic.

    Yet all the readings confirmed her first impression.

    "Why are you freaking out?" Strider used Life Vision and his best detection spells while never taking his hands off the hilts of the curved swords at his hips. "Have we fallen into a trap?"

    ''Anything that can make a monster like her flustered can turn us into mincemeat.'' He thought, not lowering his guard even when he found no trace of the presence of a mage or even a magical beast.

    "No. There are no traps or spells. Not even inside the cave." Xenagrosh shook her head. "That I would understand. This makes no sense, instead. You need to see it for yourself or you won''t believe me." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    No matter what spell or mystical sense the others used, there was nothing but small animals andmon vegetation. Their curiosity peaked as they reached the cave and there it turned into shock.

    "What the fuck?" Some of them used different words but the concept was the same.

    Up until the externalyers of rock, the woods were nothing special. Once past the threshold of the cave, instead, there was a vigorous flow of world energy like they had never seen before.

    Most mana geysers looked flimsy inparison.

    Trying to find an exnation for the phenomenon, they went in and out of the cave multiple times until they could deny the evidence anymore.

    "This cannot be." Ryka the Titania stepped inside, her body trembling in shock and excitement.

    Small roots sprouted from her hands and feet, seeping through the hard rock like it was wet soil. Her skin lit up like a zing torch as the world energy flowed through her body and charged the sap that ran in her veins instead of blood.

    Her mouth and eyes were open wide, a bright blue light surged from within her and turned them into three zing wells of mana.

    "What cannot be? Exin yourself." Strider grabbed her shoulder to snap her out of it, receiving a jolt of energy that sent him flying.

    Before anyone could make a move, the Titania arched her back and the wood of her body screeched and twisted in what was the Fae equivalent of a scream. A tinge of violet painted the blue and after a few seconds, it spread to the rest of her aura.

    Under the shocked gazes of herpanions, Ryka had just reached the deep violet core.

 Chapter 2984 Mogarâ€™s Garden (Part 2)

    Chapter 2984 Mogar¡¯s Garden (Part 2)

    Centuries of shackles shattered in an instant and for no apparent reason.

    "I can''t believe it was so simple." She fell onto her knees while green tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. "Thank you, Great Mother."

    She put her head and hands against the ground, kissing the naked rock and chanting words that sounded like the rustling of wind through a thick foliage.

    "What happened? How did you do it?" The blue-cored members of the Hand of Fate repeated her previous actions but to their touch, the stone remained solid and the world energy ignored them.

    "Who cares about that? It can wait." Bytra forced Ryka to stand up. "What''s this ce? And for the love of the gods, someone tell me you''ve Hushed us or we''ve just announced our presence to the enemy like a bunch of idiots!"

    "I did." Lith raised his hand. "Caverns mean echo so I''ve kept us Hushed since we spotted the cave."

    "Well done." Zoreth patted his back, puffing her chest out with pride. "Now answer the question, child."

    Ryka was still recovering from the ecstasy of themunion and looked hesitant to speak. At least until Strider said:

    "The Eldritch is right. Remember the mission, soldier. There''s no time for petty secrets. The deep violet will do you no good if we all die inside there. The man we are after killed someone much older and more powerful than you are.

    "Tell us what Lady Tyris has to do with this ce."

    The Titania grimaced, her hands moved toward the cave again. She craved themunion and the quick refinement of her body and core that it would grant her.

    "Not Tyris. This cave is something I believed existed only in the legends of the Fae." She felt dirty betraying the lore of her people with the members of the other races. Her words came out slowly and with great difficulty.

    "Long ago, before the Guardians and even before the World Tree, there was only Mogar. The first Great Mother. ording to the legends, our suffered from the loneliness of being the only sentient being on her surface so she researched ways to help her children to be her equals.

    "For that purpose, she created her Gardens." The Titania pointed at the cave. "ces where the world energy doesn''t just flow like it happens for mana geysers, but it''s also focused and umted.

    "Within a Garden, life thrives, grows, adapts, and evolves, achieving in minutes what is supposed to take centuries. First, the Great Mother gave birth to the nt folk. We are her firstborns because we took our nourishment straight from her bosom.

    "Then came the Horde, the second born. Pale imitations of the nt folk who fed on my ancestors like parasites, stealing rather than earning the gift of sentience. For their crime, the Great Mother took away their ability to have offspring.

    "They are damned to spend their eternal life in solitude and to roam Mogar in search of their own kin. Then, came the animals. Over time, by eating our fruits and grazing the rich grass of the Gardens, herbivores became the first magical beasts and monkeys became humans.

    "They are called the third born by some and the real second born by most. Carnivores camest, gaining their sentience by feeding on the second born."

    "Really?" Solus was bbergasted. "Are nt folk the first sentient beings on Mogar?"

    "Nah, it''s just a legend." Azhom the Lich said with a scoff. "Every race has their pompous backstory to justify the im to be the firstborns of Mogar and their alleged superiority over the other races. I don''t like using swear words, but this is just mrkey."

    "Really? Then how do you exin that the Garden is real?" Ryka would have agreed with Azhom until just a few minutes ago but now her faith in the old ways had been restored. "We are the firstborns and this is undeniable proof that our legends are true!"

    "Hogwash!" Azhom dismissed her argument with a wave of the hand. "If what you say is true, then why didn''t all nt folk evolve into Fae and reach the violet? Why do you Fae need the Council? Why did you, Ryka, spend over a hundred years serving the Hand if you could have just called Mommy Mogar for help?"

    Ryka was taken aback, finding no logical answer to the Lich''s questions and answering with dogmas.

    "Mogar makes no mistakes and we Fae are not a failure!" The Titania said in outrage.

    "Please, Ryka, don''t let your new powers go to your head." Strider gripped her shoulders to ground her in reality. "Think. Isn''t it more likely that the Gardens are just a natural urrence like mana geysers?

    "Because after the emergence of sentient beings, the Gardens were no longer needed. Mogar decided that all races deserved the same opportunities. That giving an advantage to her firstborns over the rest of her children was unfair.

    "So the Great Mother turned the Gardens into mana geysers and the races started to battle to receive Mogar''s love and blessings."

    "Riiiight." Azhom sneered, her red undead eyes rolling in the empty sockets of her skull. "Then your almighty Great Mogar forgot to get rid of this Garden after the spring cleaning.

    "That or you Fae suck so hard that she has changed her mind and decided you needed a clutch."

    "Mogar makes no mistakes and we Fae are not a failure!" The Titania said in outrage.

    "Please, Ryka, don''t let your new powers go to your head." Strider gripped her shoulders to ground her in reality. "Think. Isn''t it more likely that the Gardens are just a natural urrence like mana geysers?

    "That those who knew about the existence of the Gardens kept it a secret in order to be the only ones to benefit from it? What do you think makes more sense? That your people are greedy or that a god creates and destroys things on a whim?

    "If the legends are true, how can a Garden still exist and how is it possible that you Fae never evolved into whatever your Divine Beast equivalent is? We know our mark is in there and he has lived in the Garden for at least five months.

    "If it''s such a miracle ce then what need does he have to hide from us? Shouldn''t he have already achieved the power to match the Guardians?"

    All he said was true. The legends made no sense when put in front of reality.

    "I guess you are right." Ryka sighed. "I''m sorry for acting crazy."

    "Don''t worry about that." He replied. "Just tell us if there''s anything we should know about the Garden. Even though the legends are bound to be exaggerated and inurate, they can give us an idea of what to expect."

    "There''s nothing else useful." She shook her head. "The rest are stories about the life inside a Garden and how the Fae learned magic from Mogar."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Still, I''d like to propose an experiment." Lith said. "Merge with the Garden again and use umtion. I want to see how urate the legends about the evolution speed are. It can help us to gauge how powerful our enemy might have be until now."

    He looked at the Zouwu who nodded and then moved to the rest of the group. Only once unanimity was achieved did he ask Ryka:

    "What do you want to do? Remember that the shadow disciple might have poisoned the well or set rms. If something goes wrong, you would be the first to lose her life."

 Chapter 2985 Legends and Reality (Part 1)

    Chapter 2985 Legends and Reality (Part 1)

    "I want to do it." Ryka took a single step inside the cave and spread her roots again.

    The world energy flooded her, making her skin turn violet as the light reached her mana core. Her body swelled, shrunk, and snapped trying to amodate the raging flow of energy.

    Less than one minuteter, cracks appeared on her bark and green sap bled out of her wounds and orifices. Her body jolted back like she had touched a high-voltage cable, sending Ryka writhing on the ground in a seizure.

    A thin smoke came from the burned roots on her hands and feet which smelled like charcoal. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Stay back and don''t use any kind of mana on her. She''s about to burst." Lith said while watching the Titania''s core pounding against her life force.

    It was overloaded with world energy that the core couldn''t assimte fast enough. Her body broke down and regenerated, holding itself from falling apart by sucking the nutrients in the fertile soil around her.

    If not for the Fae''s unparalleled regenerative abilities and the Griffon-like constitution of the Titanias, Ryka would have already died. If nothing changed she was still going to die, just in a slow and excruciating way.

    She couldn''t use darkness fusion to suppress the pain. The slightest stimulus to her mana core hastened the copse of her body.

    "Follow my lead!" Lith cast the tier five Spirit Magic spell, Sealed Space.

    It cut Ryka off the world energy and, once her core absorbed what little was left inside the emerald cube, the area around her was devoid of natural mana.

    Solus was the first to cast another Sealed Space and the members of the Hand of Fate quickly followed. Bytra and Xenagrosh had no ess to Spirit Magic so they both cast all six elemental sealing arrays to keep the world energy at bay.

    Due to the vacuum in the Sealed Space, no more world energy entered the Titania''s body. Her mana core processed the energy overloading it, slowly but steadily reducing the burden on itself and the strain on the life force.

    The multiple Sealed Spaces and the elemental sealing arrays ensured that the vacuum was contained and preserved. Nature abhorred a void and the world energy would have slowly seeped through the first Sealed Space Ryka if not for the multipleyers dying the process.

    After a while, the spasms ended and the cracks on the Titania''s body started to close.

    "Let''s keep Ryka sealed until all the world energy has been converted into mana." Strider said and Lith nodded.

    "Agreed. Then we''d better move her to a safe distance. It''s dangerous for her to stay close to such a high concentration of world energy until she fully recovers."

    An hourter Ryka sat up and knocked on the Sealed Space asking to be freed.

    "Thanks for saving my life, guys. I''m fine now."

    "I''ll be the judge of that!" The Zouwu roared. "Try using fusion magic again. If there''s no trace of pain prepare to be Warped away."

    The Titania experienced no difort so the group employed a Warping array to get everyone away from the cavern''s entrance. They couldn''t risk meeting their mark while they were unprepared and one of them was injured.

    "Thank you for saving Ryka with your quick thinking, Verhen. I misjudged you." It was the first nice thing that Strider said to Lith without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I owe you one."

    s, even though his tone was sincere, his gaze reminded Lith that of a hungry vulture disappointed in his meal. Not because it was all skin and bones but because it was still alive, dying his dinner.

    "I''m a healer first. I did what I had to." Lith shrugged. "I guess this disproves the ''hastened evolution'' part of the legends. Probably a Garden can help a nt folk Awaken or, in Ryka''s case, help to achieve enlightenment after having long researched the violet.

    "Yet tapping directly into it is risky and the Garden can''t be used for long."

    ''Yeah, too bad.'' Solus inwardly sighed via their mind link. ''I hoped we could mark the Garden and bring the tower here to recover all of its floors in a few days but I''m afraid the tower core would end up the same as Ryka.''

    ''Solus, if these Gardens were so amazing, don''t you think that people like Silverwing, the Guardians, or Baba Yaga would have monopolized them by now? There''s always a catch.'' Lith replied.

    ''I know. When something is too good to be true, it usually is.''

    "You can say that." The Titania still didn''t dare cast one single spell or use a breathing technique. "You were right, Azhom, it was all mrkey."

    "Magic is science and Mogar is no god." The Lich gave her a small bow, epting her apology. "Just damn powerful and with a ir for making things interesting."

    "How long do you need to be back in action?" Strider asked. "If necessary, I can relieve you of duty. The four of us are going to be enough if not redundant. I feel our guests outmatch us big time."

    He said pointing at the Abominations, Lith included.

    "Just a minute." Ryka replied. "Even though the legends are inurate, there''s a reason only nt folk can use the Gardens."

    She disappeared into the ground and split her body into countless roots and vines. The small pieces of the Titania fused temporarily with all forms of nt life, using them to ground the excess mana and world energy that afflicted her.

    On top of that, the phenomenon allowed her to stock on nutrients and replenish her vigor without the use of a breathing technique. When she emerged from the grass patch, she was back to her peak condition.

    The group whistled in admiration, wishing they could recover so quickly from such grievous wounds.

    "Not to mention that I might remember something useful while we are down there. The legends are all we know about the Garden, or rather, I know. Without me, you guys would be lost."

    They returned to the cave on foot, scouting their path like it was the first time. The entrance was still open and unguarded but this time they went in without hesitation.

    Xenagrosh went first, using her nose to lead the way. Ryka was behind her to look around and notice anything that might indicate the presence of their mark.

    "Let me try something." She touched the inside of the cave and used her Eldritch side to absorb the world energy.

    Xenagrosh felt pain, the flow was so intense that it was smothering the Chaos and invading her troll side, making her hand swell until her fingers looked like sausages.

    "Sadly, I was right. Even we have no use for this thing." She stepped away and her hand returned to normal. The Chaos fed upon the excess world energy and Decay on the excess side, restoring the bnce.

    ''Unless I get Tezka to teach me that energy into matter thingy.'' She inwardly added.

    The tunnel wasrge enough for two of them to walk abreast but they preferred to advance in a single line to buy time for those behind to react in case something happened on the front.

    ''Unless I get Tezka to teach me that energy into matter thingy.'' She inwardly added.

    The tunnel wasrge enough for two of them to walk abreast but they preferred to advance in a single line to buy time for those behind to react in case something happened on the front.

 Chapter 2986 Legends and Reality (Part 2)

    Chapter 2986 Legends and Reality (Part 2)

    Lith walkedst, to double-check Zoreth''s findings and make sure she didn''t miss anything or, if she did, that no one would notice him taking it for himself.

    The tunnel was rough and uneven, with no source of illumination. It was a natural structure formed over a very long time that showed no signs of the recent passage of any creature bigger than a rat.

    Aside from the droppings of small animals and the presence of moss, one would have thought it barren.

    "Remarkable." Unanna said, carrying the Silencer device that ensured no one would hear them. "The flow of world energy is umted and focused inside the Garden like the legends say.

    "If someone finds a way to tap into it, the sky is the limit to its potential applications."

    "Yeah, all the more reason to stay on our guard." Bytra said. "Limbell was a genius Forgemaster and I bet that his shadow disciple didn''t find this ce on his own. I bet that this is where Limbell conducted his secret experiments.

    "The dark, shady research he couldn''t burden his heir with. If I''m right, the secretb you''ve found in his house was just for teaching. This is where the real magic happens and the protections of this ce have been devised by an old monster, not a runt."

    The Raiju''s words made everyone stop wondering whether to report the Garden''s existence to the Council or keep the secret between them. If that was Limbell''s realb, the weapons at the disposal of the shadow disciple were much deadlier than their master.

    ***

    Deep inside the Garden, inside the temple of the Great Mother, at the same time.

    Maergron Ashvein, shadow disciple of Pharek of Derios, heir to the Ears of Menadion, and new owner of the secretb was sitting on the stone throne of the main hall of the temple.

    Once it had been the symbol of power of the Groundkeeper, the Fae who ruled over the Garden of Mogar and ruled who to grant or refuse ess to the temple. Now, it was just a chair in the right position.

    From there, Pharek had overseen many experiments at the same time thanks to the Ears, making sure that each one of them would receive the power it needed from the Garden without blowing in his face.

    Maergron had learned well from histe master and exploited the perfect acoustic of the room and the power of the Ears to extend the area of effect of Earth Vision to the entireplex of the caves.

    While sitting on the throne, he could finely regte the ongoing alchemical processes, study the pseudo cores conjured by the many Forgemastering circles he was tinkering with, and act as a living security system more urate than any array.

    At the moment, however, he was holding his head between his hands in sadness.

    "How could you do this to me, master Pharek?" He sighed deeply, the pain in his voice as fresh as if the murder had happened just one day ago. "All of this would have never happened if you had one ounce ofpassion in your heart.

    "All I asked you was to give me a small shop. Something that would act as a link with the Awakenedmunity and provide me with funds while I got on my feet. Yet not only did you refuse, iming it would have aroused too many questions¡­"

    Thete Pharek was right. Even establishing a small shop was too risky. The size and revenue weren''t the problem, the connections required to sell anything to Awakened were.

    How could a nameless youngster have a well-established business? How could people trust a nobody? The only way to make it work was to create a fake family and make Maergron their heir, but that would have been idiotic.

    One couldn''t make up an entire Awakened bloodline and hope that everyone went senile or never questioned why they had never heard the name before. Awakened, especially the powerful ones, were old and had a great memory.

    They would have seen through the ruse in one instant and soon Maergron would have been interrogated until he spilled the truth or be forced to run away.

    Old man Pharek had tried to exin this to his disciple, but Maergron just wouldn''t listen.

    "No, that would have been too kind of you, master. You had the gall to also ask me to help your precious Nem from the shadows. To befriend him and watch his back from the greedy Awakened who would go after his legacy.

    "To covertly use my Ears and the knowledge you imparted me to make him a better Forgemaster! How could you do that? I was already resigned to leaving your house like a beggar and toiling as a nameless Forgemaster for years to build my own reputation.

    "I managed to suppress my rage at the thought that the Ears and a damp cave were all I''d get after your death while Nem would take the house, the riches, and your family name.

    "Asking me to share what little I had with that rich spoiled brat was beyond heartless." Maergron had repeated that same speech countless times in the attempt to convince himself that it wasn''t his fault.

    "I had every right to be angry. You deserved that punch, you old fool."

    Tears streaked down his eyes, not believing a word that came out of his own mouth. Pharek had died because he trusted Maergron so much that he was listed as a son in the defensive mainframe, making him immune to the many arrays of the house.

    Because Pharek never wore enchanted protections while spending what little time he had left with his precious disciple. The punch would have never killed him if not for the blind trust he had in Maergron.

    With his master dead, the shadow apprentice had lost his mind. Knowing that soon Nem woulde back and find the body, it was only a matter of time before the Council hunted Maergron down like a rabid animal.

    With already one murder on his shoulders,mitting more wouldn''t make his situation any worse. Needing money and resources for his experiments and being in a precarious state of mind, Maergron had used the Ears to take what he needed.

    After a few months had passed and no one had knocked on his door, he had calmed down enough to recognize the foolishness of his ways. He had stopped attacking the Council elders, hoping to have gotten away with it.

    He had also started to build his reputation as a mage in the vige of Yurta, waiting for the rumors about his abilities to reach the right ears. He needed the Council toe to him so that he could im ignorance of everything and have a fresh start. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Maergron was still sniffling when the Ears of Menadion caught a weird vibrationing from the upper floors of theplex. It took him a second to focus his consciousness and follow the soundwaves to their source.

    "What the fuck?" He could sense two weaklings, two regr human women, and five ghosts. "Something is weird. I get that the Council sent its Hand of Fate after me, but who are the other four? Guides? Trackers?"

 Chapter 2987 A Discipleâ€™s Struggle (Part 1)

    Chapter 2987 A Disciple¡¯s Struggle (Part 1)

    Xenagrosh and Bytra wore the second-best cloaking device, reducing their magical aura to a deep-red core and hiding their Eldritch aura. Lith wore one cloaking ring and Solus two, making them appear respectively as a cyan and a yellow core.

    The five members of the Hand of Fate were invisible to mystical senses thanks to their Darwen-coated armor. That plus Unanna''s Silencer device that enveloped everyone, canceling their footsteps and keeping their smell from spreading.

    Maergron would have never noticed the intruders if not for the pressure they exerted on the ground as they walked. The ceiling of the tunnels was low and narrow, making it impossible to fly or float.

    Due to the asperities on the ceiling and the irregr downward inclination of the tunnels, their sight would be limited to just a couple of meters forward, making the Awakened blind to any iing threat.

    The massive amounts of world energy running through the rock blinded Life Vision and Fire Vision couldn''t see past dense rock. Xenagrosh had neither, moving with ease only thanks to her keen sense of smell and the experience of centuries.

    Bytra needed someone sharing Fire Vision with her via a mind link to not stumble every other step and that someone was Lith. Solus felt that a telepathic connection was too intimate and didn''t want to talk with Bytra unless strictly necessary.

    Using a light spell would have been dangerous. It would have made them visible from a long distance while they would only see within the cone of light.

    "Whoever the other four are, I bet they are not to be underestimated. The Council would never hire goons without a good reason. The real question is if these people are here for me or if they have stumbled into the Garden by chance and are exploring it.

    "Only one way to know." He leaned back on the throne, letting the Ears fully connect with it and putting on hold the ongoing experiments.

    Maergron would devote his full focus on the intruders until they had either gotten out of his house or joined his army.

    ***

    "So far so good." Zoreth said to break the eerie silence of the tunnels. "Our mark uses this path often. His smell is so intense that it''s impossible to miss."

    Lith nodded as if he could confirm it whereas he still had trouble filtering the surrounding world energy from the Eyes'' readings. He had managed to eliminate most of the white noise but there was still too much useless information.

    The structure of the Garden was filled with random fluctuations and build-ups in the world energy that obstructed his vision. Whenever they appeared, the Eyes gave him a headache and broke his focus.

    "Ryka?" Strider asked the Titania, the only one in the group capable of using Earth Vision.

    "I''m sorry, boss, there''s too much interference." The Hush spell kept sounds and vibrations from getting out, not in. "All I can tell you is that there''s moss, the dripping of water, insects, and rodents.

    "The echo in this ce is strong and the flow of world energy makes things even worse." She showed her burned hands and feet. "I can''t connect with the ground for more than a few seconds at a time so I can''t focus on anything too distant or unclear.

    "The good news is that our mark is on our same boat. It would take a miracle to make a permanent detection array work inside the Garden. The world energy messes up with all kinds of long-range signals."

    ''A miracle or the Ears of Menadion.'' Solus thought as she and Lith shared one Monocle of Menadion each and were now able to pinpoint Maergron''s energy signature in the distance. ''It took us quite some effort to adjust the settings and Pharek had centuries to get used to this ce.

    ''I can''t shake off the feeling that he chose the Garden of Mogar to tap into the Ears'' true potential.''

    ''If only you could remember what they do, it would be peachy.'' Lith replied.

    The only good thing about that situation was that now they could establish a mind link whenever they wanted without holding hands or physical contact and no one would notice it anyway.

    ''I''m sorry if I have amnesia! I have almost died of starvation for centuries. What''s Bytra''s excuse?'' She sneered, angry to share Lith''s mind link with the Fourth Ruler of the mes.

    ''Good question. Hey, Bytra, what do the Ears do?'' Lith asked.

    ''I don''t know, I''m sorry. Menadion was a control freak and would only grant her apprentices ess to the pieces of Menadion Set that would make up for what she thought theycked. In my case, the Fury since she said my technique was wanting.

    ''I''ve never used once the Eyes, the Hands, or the Mouth either for the duration of my entire apprenticeship. Being allowed to use one of Menadion''s artifacts was considered a badge of honor and each piece of the set had its exclusive club.

    ''On the one hand, I''m d Ripha was so secretive. Otherwise my old crazy self would have probably gone insane faster and done something even worse than she did. On the other hand, Menadion was a bitch.

    ''She made uspete for everything. She rewarded us with her attention and then rubbed her superiority in our faces. She always used the full set whereas an apprentice could consider himself lucky to have ess to one piece of the set.

    ''Ripha was¡­''

    Bytra bit her tongue, realizing how rude and ungrateful her words sounded.

    ''Please don''t tell Solus I said that. I don''t want her to think I''m trying to tarnish the memory of her mother to justify my actions.''

    ''My lips are sealed.'' Lith replied and it was the truth.

    His lips didn''t move, it was his brain rying the conversation in real time. Solus flushed in anger at those words, wanting to give Bytra a piece of her mind. Yet a little voice in her head reassured Solus that the Raiju was telling the truth.

    A deep-seated annoyance from a past she couldn''t remember made Solus nod in agreement before she could even notice her own reaction.

    ''What else can you tell me about Menadion?'' Lith baited Bytra, hoping to help Solus regain more fragments of her memory.

    ''She was the best person I''ve ever met. She was a great mentor, a caring friend, and the loving mother I''ve always wanted.'' She and Solus inwardly sighed in relief. ''But once she stepped inside her Forge, Menadion disappeared and only the Forgemaster remained.

    ''She was cold, demanding, and whenever you made a breakthrough, she would point out the ws in your technique instead of congratting you.

    ''Every time I discovered something, she would pat me on the back and give me enough hints to understand it was nothing new for her and that I was just scratching the surface of the matter. It was infuriating.

    ''I know she did it to push me forward, but Ripha always made me feel inadequate.'' Bytra said and Solus instinctively agreed. ''Just like keeping me from the other pieces of the Set made me feel like she didn''t trust me. I''m a terrible person, I know.''

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 2988 A Discipleâ€™s Struggle (Part 2)

    Chapter 2988 A Disciple¡¯s Struggle (Part 2)

    ''No, you were a terrible person. There''s a difference. Also, Menadion was a piece of work.'' Lith replied, leaving both women bbergasted. ''First, she drowned in her sorrow for Threin''s death for so long that she alienated Elphyn.

    ''Then, she let her inner conflict between being a good mentor and hiding her secrets sour the rtionship with her apprentices. It''s no surprise that no one looked for her murderer, people only cared about her tower.

    ''Don''t get me wrong, the old Bytra was a monster, but Menadion contributed to making it. Instead of giving her apprentices a taste of a power they could never obtain, she should have shown them solely what she was willing to share.

    ''The tower was already temptation enough. Revealing the Set of Menadion on top of that was like ying with fire. Rivalry and secrets can breed resentment that can fester for centuries due to the Awakened''s lifespan.

    ''It was only a matter of time before she got burned.''

    Bytra pondered his words but said nothing, fearing it would sound like self-absolving. Solus, instead, thought deeply about it andpared Menadion''s teaching methods with Lith''s.

    Aran and Leria knew about the tower but not what it did or how hard it was to make one. Whenever Lith taught them something, he showed them both the harshness of the beginning and the prize waiting at the end of the journey.

    Menadion, instead, let people believe they had reached the finishing line just to reveal it was just one stage and they still had a long way to go. It allowed her disciples to focus on the matter at hand but, at the same time, made their aplishments feel hollow.

    ''I wonder if I ever got to use the full Set myself.'' Solus pondered. ''I regained a lot of memories by holding the Fury but when we got the Eyes, the Hands, and the Mouth I felt nothing. Why did mother-''

    "Watch out! Something small and smelly is iing." Zoreth''s warning snapped Solus out of her reverie.

    "Can you be more specific?" Strider unsheathed his des and started weaving a bnced set of spells.

    "Yes. They''re smaller than a fist and smell like garbage." The Shadow Dragon replied with a sneer."It''s pitch ck and the echo messes with my hearing, dimwit."

    Strider''s Fire Vision couldn''t see further than ten meters and his feline ears fared no better than Xenagrosh''s. Even if a Rock Dragon was charging at them from below, he wouldn''t be able to notice it until it was toote.

    Of course, Leegaain''s offspring had better things to do than chase small mice in narrow tunnels. What came at them was a cloud of bats flying so packed together that they appeared as a single huge creature to Fire Vision.

    "We''re dead! We''re all dead!" The Zouwu said with mock terror while putting the swords back into their scabbards. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The group exuded a powerful killing intent, enough to drive any wild animal away and give them a stroke were they to daree too close. Yet the bats seemed to not even notice the blue-violet luminescence and kept charging at the intruders.

    Lith kept his guard up and his paranoia rampant as the Eyes scanned the opponents.

    ''Deep red core, negligible life force, no enchantments.'' He furrowed his brows while reading the report. ''Then how can they resist this pressure? Zoreth managed to stop the Hand of Fate with her Dragon Fear.''

    Only Solus and Bytra shared his thoughts and with them his doubts. The rest of the group fired first magic spells at the bats. They were mostly wind des and ice spikes, but more than enough to decimate them.

    The flying critters fell like flies but the survivors relentlessly charged forward as if in a frenzy.

    "Maybe they are running away from something." Xenagrosh used tier zero Chaos Magic to shoot energy bullets that opened deep holes in the living cloud. "Something so scary that they have lost their minds."

    "Scarier than an Eldritch Dragon?" Strider said, finding her theory to be unlikely.

    "Point taken but what''s the alternative? What threat do they pose to us? If there''s a mastermind behind this ''attack'', what''s their goal?" She asked and no one knew what to answer.

    The whole situation made no sense. The bats died long before reaching the group, their mangled forms weed by the little insects and scavengers scurrying the cavern''s floor in search of their next meal.

    The group resumed its advance without Zoreth''s nose or the Eyes spotting any more nearby threats. They had taken just a few steps forward when it happened.

    "Ouch!" Ryka was in the middle of the formation and at the center of the remains of the clouds of bats. "Something bit me!"

    The small corpses emitted a blood-curdling screech as they writhed in undeath. The red light from their small eyes made the corridor look even bloodier than it was. The undead bats jumped on their surrounded prey from every side.

    They wed, bit, and scratched with a nonsensical strength for their size.One undead bat would have been nothing to the powerful Awakened and their equipment but there were hundreds of them.

    ''This doesn''t make sense.'' Xenagrosh and everyone else thought. ''Necromancy spells need you to be close to a corpse and know its exact position. There''s no one else but us here and our enemy had no way to know where the bats would fall dead.''

    Lith too couldn''t believe his eyes, but he trusted Menadion''s.

    The artifact showed him that the energy signature of the spell animating the undead was the same as the man they were after. The Eyes couldn''t exin to him how Maergron used magic from kilometers away, only that he did.

    And that wasn''t even the worst part about the readings.

    "Don''t underestimate them! The Garden gives them strength!" His words were as unbelievable as long-distance Necromancy but reality brooked no argument.

    The undead bats were hurting everyone despite their magical equipment, even Xenagrosh. Their little teeth pierced through metal and flesh alike and their ws shaved Adamant like it was wood.

    In such an enclosed space, using powerful magic was bound to hit your teammates and even violence wasn''t an option. A single wide swing from Lith, Solus, or Zoreth would kill dozens of bats and anyone unlucky enough to be on its path.

    "Everyone, hold position and don''t use magic!" Strider said as his body disappeared in a bolt of living lightning.

    His twin des moved in a blur, turning the air around him in a high-speed moving blender. Lith could see through the Eyes the secret of the Zouwu''s speed and the difference between his bloodline ability and Bytra''s.

    The Raiju used her connection with the air element to give the ground an opposite charge to her own and make her gallop speed as fast as a maglev train. It brought the attrition with the ground to zero and used the repulsive effect to keep elerating as long as she increased the current.

    To use such technique, however, she needed space of manoeuvre and the time to build up her eleration and set the charges along her future path.

    Strider, instead, didn''t run. He performed short dashes by supercharging himself, his starting and arrival point.

 .Chapter 2989 Life from Death (Part 1)

    Chapter 2989 Life from Death (Part 1)

    Strider''s bloodline ability gave his body and the ground he stood upon the same electrical charge while his destination bore the opposite charge.

    This way, the repulsive and attractive forces would respectively push and pull him toward his destination with pinpoint uracy. Thanks to theirbined effect he reached a speed on par with a Raiju at full speed but with smaller and more precise movements.

    Even the closed space of the caves wasn''t an issue since unlike Bytra the Zouwu did not need to generate an electromaic rail, only jump points. The charged areas also acted as maic locks, giving Strider solid footing on the walls and ceiling as if he were standing on the ground.

    His father had manufactured his armor and des to boost his abilities further, building different electrical changes in different pieces so that the various parts of the armor moved along with him.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Theirbined effect bnced Strider''s steps and absorbed part of the strain from exceeding his natural speed.

    The des attracted each other when he needed to block, forming a single wall.

    When he attacked, instead, they formed electric arcs that struck at the enemies even after the passage of the first sword, creating an opening for a counter and tracing a path that the second sword could follow in a split second.

    ''Not bad at all.'' Lith thought, holding a breath of Origin mes ready to be emitted from all over his body, just in case. ''I wonder how powerful Strider would be were he to master earth and air Void Magic.''

    Unbeknownst to Lith and heavily implied by his paranoia, the Zouwu shared such thoughts which were among the many reasons for his resentment toward the Tiamat.

    In the space of two heartbeats, all the undead bats were on the ground, and this time for good. They had been shredded in so many pieces that the biggest was the size of a single human phnx.

    "Is everybody okay? Did I miss one?" The Zouwu asked.

    "Yes and no." Rhuta said. "You killed all the bats and we are alive, but we are not fine. Look carefully."

    He showed Strider his still-bleeding arm.

    "Why aren''t you healing it?"

    "That''s the point. I''ve been using light fusion since before the bats attacked us the first time yet the wounds aren''t closing." Rhuta replied.

    ***

    The necromantic speel had traveled through the underground flow of world energy of the Garden, just like Ryka''s and Rhuta''s blood. The life essence was carried by vein-like tubesing out of the ceiling of the throne room and converging in an ancient bronze basin at the right side of the throne.

    Back when the Garden epted pilgrims seeking the Great Mother''s blessing, the Groundkeeper would fill the basin with water and use it to wash his hands and eyes before meeting a supplicant.

    It was a symbolic gesture to move on from the results of the previous judgments and listen to the neer with a fresh, unbiased mind.

    Now, however, the basin had a whole different purpose.

    Maergron stirred the pool of fresh blood, splitting it based on the person it belonged to. Then, he cupped his hands and sipped the blood on the right side.

    "A human. What a waste." There were no bloodline abilities, no noteworthy spells engraved in Rutha''s life essence. "Fuck! An enforcer of the Council. If he''s here for me this could mean trouble."

    There wasn''t enough to read the human''s memories, only a few bits of feelings and emotions.

    Maergron then drank the green blood of Ryka, gulping it with satisfaction.

    "Yes! A Titania!" His muscles swelled and bulged with might. "This can be usefulter. She works for the Council too and she''s¡­ In love with some sort of humanoid tiger? Who cares?"

    The shadow apprentice could glimpse into the mind of those whose blood he tasted, but what he would learn was up to chance.

    "I don''t know what''s worse. If wasting time and resources to prepare a second wave to deal with a bunch of unknown intruders or the fact that I can''t stop talking to myself!" Maergron said and he was right on both ounts.

    The hunters were getting closer to their prey while guilt and istion were creeping in his mind, slowly twisting it into madness.

    ***

    The situation was so weird that the group of Awakened used a spell to light the tunnel ahead of them as bright as day even if it meant exposing their presence. After what had happened, they weren''t sure it would matter anyway.

    "Shit, I hadn''t noticed because it barely stings but it''s the same for my wounds." The Titania pointed at her still-bleeding feet that were filled with bite marks from the undead carpet.

    "How is this possible?" Azhom the Lich said. "Lesser undead can only draw power in two ways: either from their creator or their victims. The bats were newborns and there was no one but us here.

    "It means that one of us is a traitor. That or there might be some truth in the stories about the Garden." Both hypotheses were preposterous but only one was usible.

    The members of the Hand of Fate looked at each other with distrust, especially at the Lich. She was immune to such creatures and as an undead, Azhom was familiar with all kinds of Necromantic spells.

    "No, there''s actually a third possibility and I can prove it." Xenagrosh said.

    No one suspected the Eldritches because if they wanted to wipe out the unit, they would have done it the moment they were in an isted area.

    Creatures like that had already proven that with their overwhelming power, they had no need for subterfuge. "Look here." She showed her left forearm where small holes in the Bookwyrm armor were still visible. ck blood dripped from her flesh, sizzling upon hitting the ground like a powerful acid.

    "What''s there to look?" Strider''s lips curled up in a grimace of disgust.

    "Boss, use your head!" Unanna said. "If one of us was powering those bats, then how could our minions do something we ourselves can''t? It proves there''s no traitor."

    "It''s more than that." The Shadow Dragon nodded, silently scolding the Zouwu who inwardly cursed himself for the umpteenth time that day. "Those things bit through Bytra''s Bookwyrm armor, pierced my flesh, and drew my blood.

    "All these things are supposed to be impossible. I''m an Eldritch. I feed upon everything, undead included. My Abomination Touch is stronger than the life-draining abilities of any undead.

    "The bats were supposed to be consumed by my Eldritch half upon contact, yet they resisted long enough to harm me. On top of that, they left something in my wounds that''s keeping them open."

    The Awakened tried to use Life Vision and regretted it immediately. The world energy of the Garden blinded them like they had stared into a stroboscopic light.

    "Let me help." Bytra took quick note of the dimensional coordinates of the ce and Warped them outside.

    ***

    "What the fuck?" Maergron was bbergasted. "You can''t Warp outside. I can''t Warp outside without the Ears'' help. The energy of this ce messes with space!"

    He had no idea what Chaos Steps was so he decided to put even more effort into the next wave.

 Chapter 2990 Life from Death (Part 2).

    Chapter 2990 Life from Death (Part 2).

    "I can''t let those fuckers escape. If they report my position, this will never end!"

    ***

    Away from the Garden, Life Vision showed the presence of an unknown Life Force lingering in Zoreth''s, Rutha''s, and Ryka''s life forces.

    "Okay, have you memorized that?" The Shadow Dragon asked, receiving nods in reply. "Finally!"

    The bite marks on her arm sizzled with a screech for a second before healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her flesh and armor fixed the damage in an instant, returning to their full power.

    Everyone but Lith and Bytra looked at her in amazement.

    "As I said, I''m an Eldritch." She answered their silent question. "I could have fed upon whatever the bats had left in my flesh and healed whenever I wanted. I kept the wound open for your sake since my body is part pure Chaos and makes the foreign energy signature much easier to spot."

    She pointed at their open wounds that due to the mana flow and life force they contained almost cloaked the foreign substance to perfection.

    Almost.

    Now that the Awakened knew what to look for, they could see it clearly.

    "Take a good look and imprint it in your memory before healing. That''s the energy signature of our enemy." Xenagrosh said.

    "How can you be sure?" Azhom raised what was left of her eyebrows in disbelief.

    "Because the bats carried the smell of the shadow disciple and so did our wounds." Zoreth had brought a handful of ashes of the fallen undead with her.

    "These are from the bats." She used air magic to split the grains based on their smell. "These are from something that was stuck to the bats."

    The second kind of ashes looked identical to the first and had already lost any trace of energy signature.

    "Whatever it was, it controlled the bats while they were alive and fueled them after turning them into undead. I know that because while I fed upon the bats, I also fed upon this thing. I have no clue what it is but I''m certain it was alive."

    "I can vouch for that." Lith said. "The energy signature on your wounds is very faint but identical to that of our mark."

    His words dispelled the few doubts left and opened lots of questions. The whole situation made no sense.

    "Unless¡­" Ryka knelt in front of the ashes of the undead, dipping her middle and index fingers and bringing them to her tongue. "Yeah, this is undead already."

    She spat and then did the same for the ashes of the unknown enemy.

    "Shit, I was right. Our enemy is nt folk, no, a Fae!"

    How she could know with certainty the taste of her own species was disturbing at best. Yet the ruthlessness of nt folk was well known and there was no time for moral considerations.

    "This exins everything." Strider nodded. "Fae like Ryka can tap into the Garden and with that kind of power at their disposal, powering up lesser undead is child''s y.

    "To control the living, our enemy must have parasitic or symbiotic abilities. What kind of Fae can do that?"

    "Do you want them listed in alphabetic order or based on theirnd of origin?" Rhuta sighed.

    "Never mind." The Zouwu cursed their bad luck. "Still, how did he control the undead from a long distance and how did he find us?"

    "Good question. Remind me to ask him before I kill him." Lith said.

    ***

    After healing everyone''s wounds, a second Chaos Steps brought them back to their departing point. Since the enemy seemed to know their position despite all their precautions, they kept the light on.

    The Awakened kept their formation more spread out to allow for short-range spells and walked without the Hush zone, speeding up the pace.

    They met several twists and the tunnels often branched into different directions but Xenagrosh''s nose always found the right path. Whenever they encountered a corpse, no matter how little, they destroyed it from a safe distance.

    ''Watch out!'' To further improve their reaction time, they also kept a mind link active at all times, but they used it only for emergencies, relying on words for normalmunication.

    Lith had seen with the Eyes somethinging from below Zoreth, above Strider and Ryka, and from the side walls near Solus and Unanna. The mind link allowed him to pass the warning in time while also pointing out the source of the iing threat.

    Maergron''s goal was to split the group or at least test their prowess since the cloaking devices made direct readings impossible.

    Three tier five Raging Suns erupted from as many little holes under the Shadow Dragon''s feet. They were not enchanted, the holes served as a focus for Maergron''s mana and to condense the spell in nigh-solid pirs of violet mes.

    At the same time, the ceiling turned into a thick wall that came down like a shutter, exploiting the pressure of the tons of soil above to gain the speed and momentum of a freight train. Last but not least, the humidity on the walls condensed into icences.

    Each spell was meant to kill in case it hit its target or iste them from the others in case of failure. The Ears allowed Maergron to not only have his spells ride the world energy of the Garden to their destination but also to borrow its power to exceed tier five magic.

    "Oh, please." A sh of Sky Piercer severed the world energy from the mana, snuffing the Raging Suns like candles.

    "Earth magic against a Titania? I guess our enemy knows our position but has no idea who we are." With her newfound deep violet core and the physical might of a Griffon, it took Ryka a single punch to shatter the stone wall.

    What survived the impact she countered with an earth spell of her own. She spread her roots within the soil, adding her physical strength to her mana and making up for the gap in magical power.

    Unanna unsheathed his six weapons, one for each of her hands, ready to intercept the ice projectiles before they hit him or the petite, weak woman.

    Solus spread her arms open with her palms out, using Domination to take control of the ice spell and turn its energy against itself. Earth Vision allowed its user to perceive things from a distance but it was limited by the speed with which sound traveled through the rock.

    There was a dy between the moment Maergron''s enemies moved and when the resulting sound waves reached Maergron. A dy that made his willpower brittle and allowed Solus to hijack his spells while passing it for simple elemental mastery. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Wow!" Unanna said in admiration. "We might have the same core, but you are the best mage I''ve ever met."

    "Thanks." Solus replied. "But let''s keep our guard up. Our array sensing spells detected nothing a second ago which means that our enemy is not limited to Necromantic spells to attack us from a great distance. It''s like being surrounded by undetectable traps."

    "Almost undetectable." Bytra and Strider said in unison while staring at Lith with a puzzled look on their faces.

 Chapter 2991 Golden Blood (Part 1)

    Chapter 2991 Golden Blood (Part 1)

    "My Eyes." Lith managed to lie while telling the truth. "They allowed me to perceive the sudden elemental imbnce. World energy contains all elements whereas no spell can use more than two."

    "Damn, Tiamats are amazing. Maybeter we could arrange for a private study session?" Azhom''s voice was sensual and her touch delicate as she caressed Lith''s arm while removing her armor.

    s, the Lich had forgotten about her corpse-like appearance, making her flirting attempts look out of a horror story. Her tattered robe would have revealed most of her ample bosom, if only there was still meat attached to the bones.

    "No." Lith said with a cold tone that brooked no reply. "Let''s move."

    The Lich''s pride was already wounded and the sniggering of her colleagues made things even worse.

    Ryka, the only other woman in the group, conjured an ice mirror in front of Azhom, reflecting the rotten bits of flesh on her face, the soft curve of her exposed jawline, and the perfect symmetry of her skull.

    "Thanks, sister." Azhom misunderstood the gesture, found her confidence back, andpletely forgot about the incident.

    "No! I wasn''tplimenting your bone structure. I was pointing out that youck flesh!" Ryka said in annoyance.

    "Why should I wear flesh on a deadly mission? That''s a liability." The Lich was already oblivious of her own seduction attempt and no one had the time and patience to remind her.

    "Liches." Xenagrosh sighed and for once she and Strider found amon ground.

    ***

    A few kilometerster, a guttural howl resounded through the corridor in front of the Awakened. Maergron had limited control over his minions so there was no way to fool the senses of such powerful enemies.

    "It seems our host has no more need for subtlety." Zoreth extended the ws of Sky Piercer to the size of short swords while everyone else took their ce in the battle formation.

    The first to appear was a stampedeprised of cats, dogs, and medium-sized farm animals like sheep.

    Behind them, humans and monsters alike ran like the wind. A flock of pigeons flew above their heads, filling the little space left in the corridor and making it impossible to Blink past them.

    Yet no one cared about the cannon fodder. The Awakened focused their gaze on the thin green vines that ran all over the creature''s bodies like an external blood circtory system.

    With each step the creatures took, the vines connected the herd to the Garden for a brief moment, gifting them inhuman strength and carrying Maergron''s will. Monsters, humans, and animals all had green eyes with no sclera, proving their possession by the hand of the Fae.

    ''We already know how this works but I doubt this will go the same as before.'' Azhom said via the mind link. ''Turning them into undead is just one move. There must be at least two more we don''t know about.''

    A barrage of tier two and three spells was enough to ughter the herd the moment they came in sight, but as predicted, it didn''t mean much. Upon their death, the vines carried a Necromancy spell that raised them and fed the blood core with the power of the Garden.

    It was enough to make the situation go from square one into the fire since the number of enemies was unchanged and their prowess was greater than when they were alive. s, what the Awakened had failed to predict was how many prisoners Maergron kept in his holding cells.

    Despite the hail of deadly spells, the sorry bunch of living creatures managed to reach their targets, flooding them like a wave.

    ''What the fuck?'' Each wave of Zoreth''s hand cut apart dozens of minions yet they didn''t care and kept running.

    Just like the bats, they moved past the first line of defense and toward the exit like they were trying to escape.

    ''There''s too many of them and they came from every direction. There''s no stopping them!'' Even Strider''s speed couldn''t keep up with so many attackers at the same time.

    They were all much bigger than a bat so a single cut wasn''t enough to kill them. Not with the vines stitching the wounds and healing them the moment they were opened. Somehow, the vines carried part of the regenerative abilities of the Fae.

    It made even decapitating an enemy or piercing their heart a minor inconvenience.

    ''They want to surround us and cut off our only escape path.'' Lith said after a conventional Blink failed him.

    Spirit Magic still worked, but the moment he tried a Spirit Blink, the uneven flow of world energy of the Garden flooded the entry and exit point of the dimensional door, upsetting the delicate bnce it needed to work.

    ''Then let''s stop them!'' Solus raised her hands, unleashing the tier four Light Mastery spell Nalrond had taught them after bing an Agni, Sunshine.

    The spell belonged to Dawn and it conjured a barrage ofser-like rays. Each one was as thick as an arm and as hot as a furnace, piercing through the wave of enemies and burning their flesh beyond recovery.

    s, Lith was right but that was just one objective of the mad charge. The moment Sunshine killed the hosts, some of the vines detached from the corpses and fell upon the Awakened in the form of parasitics.

    The vines restricted the Awakened''s movements with the strength Maergron had stolen from the Titania, making even Zoreth and Lith fell onto one knee. The vines slithered over the exposed skin and through the smallest fissures on the armors, forcing their way onto the new hosts.

    It burned the flesh and poisoned the mana with Maergron''s energy signature, all the while drawing endless force from the Garden. The Abomination sides of Lith, Bytra, and Xenagrosh fed upon the vines and slowed their advance but there was too much world energy and they couldn''t absorb it quickly enough.

    "Nice try, moron." Except for Azhom, of course.

    The Lich had no flesh, no veins, and her draining touch countered the effects of the vines enough to not make them hinder her movements. She cast a powerful pulse of darkness magic from her staff that she had programmed to avoid her allies.

    The darkness magic filled the corridor, tainting the Garden and sapping the strength of vines, living, and undead alike.

    ***

    "A Lich?" Maergron was going insane in frustration. "Why it had to be a damn Lich?"

    The dy in themunication with his minions had slowed his reaction time long enough for the Awakened to get free from the vines and start the counterattack.

    ***

    "Okay, now I''m pissed!" Zoreth took a deep breath and released a pir of Origin mes from her body, reducing the iing wave into cinders. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Even though she had to limit the size of the pir to avoid burning herpanions, the Shadow Dragon managed to create a funnel in the corridor. It forced the enemies to step into the mes or run into Strider''s des.

    The quick movements of the Zouwu weaved several runes each, conjuring one spell for every swing of his swords.

    The spells were limited to tier three to contain their destructive power and guided by willpower so that none of them would miss their mark.

 Chapter 2992 Golden Blood (Part 2)

    Chapter 2992 Golden Blood (Part 2)

    Bytra couldn''t move fast in such an enclosed space and swinging her hammer was dangerous.

    She adjusted her grip right below the head of the Absolution, shortening its range but giving her fists the hardness of Davross and the destructive power of the bolts of lightning conjured by her horn.

    Lith freed Ragnar?k from its bloody scabbard and shortened the de to not be impeded by the nearby walls or be a threat to his allies. The angry de cut through the enemies like a hot knife through butter, guided by the Full Guard enchantment of the Voidwalker armor.

    Solusbined the Full Guard of her armor and the shortened grip on her hammer to squash living and undead like bugs. She had turned the elemental crystals on the Fury ck, painting the Davross into an obsidian surface.

    The darkness magic snuffed life forces and smashed blood cores alike, denying those risen from the grave the gifts of undeath.

    Yet she felt scared. She had no idea why, but she felt scared.

    As her heart kept pounding harder and harder in her chest, she called upon the Sage Staff and used its enchantments to turn the area around her into a kill zone. What her arms missed, the elemental crystals and evil eyes of the Staff would destroy.

    ''Something is very wrong.'' She tried focusing on the ongoing battle but her brain was screaming at her. ''This attack is doomed to fail. Numbers are meaningless against overwhelming power.

    ''If I know that, so does our hidden enemy. Then what does he hope to achieve by wasting so many powerful undead? Why am I scared?''

    ***

    The battle had barely started and half of Maergron''s minions were already destroyed for good. Based on his calctions, it would take less than ten more seconds for the second wave to be destroyed.

    If things didn''t change.

    The Fae looked with a smile at the bronze basin and at its crimson content that was seconds away from spilling on the floor. The attack was just the first step toward victory. Even with his support and the power of the Garden, the lesser undead had too many limitations.

    Maergron had ovee their weak constitution by exploiting the regenerative abilities of Fae like him. The vines attached to his minions took the power from the Garden and converted it into life force but there was only so much world energy the vines could take before burning like it had happened to Ryka.

    By being connected with his undead, however, the excess energy was fed to the blood cores, preserving Maergron''s tissues and empowering his creations. Undead could only feed upon members of their own race but their creator was an exception.

    Not only could they feed off his vitality, but also one single drop of the creator''s life force was worth hundreds of times the energy that the undead would have gained from the best alternative source.

    Maergron used the Garden to trigger a loop that made the almost ck blood cores of the lesser undead turn red in mere seconds. The process bestowed upon the undead the raw physical strength to fight on par with the Awakened and made their limbs hard enough to damage the armor.

    With no intelligence, spells, or bloodline abilities, however, even if the lesser undead reached the full-red blood core it would never be enough against a skilled opponent. That was what the vines were for.

    They fueled the undead with fresh power, they poisoned the enemies'' bodies with Maergron''s seeds and their cores with his mana. And that wasn''t all.

    The Fae filled his cupped hands with Strider''s blood, feeling the power of lightning coursing through him and bestowing his minions with his ability to elerate. He reveled in seeing the stupid feline''s shocked expression when the zombies started to follow his movements and outspeed hispanions. A second mouthful, this time from Ryka, increased the strength of the undead to the levels of an Emperor Beast and the blood cores boosted it further. The third mouthful was from the Naga, turning the clumsy movements of the animated corpses into a graceful and nimble dance.

    The power of the Nagabined with the Titania''s strength and the Zouwu''s speed, allowing the undead to tap even more into the abilities of their unwilling donors.

    Now the battle was at a standstill, the two sides equally matched. One had quality, but the other had quantity and still more blood from Maergron to drink upon.

    "It''s sad that Liches and Abominations are dried wells." The Fae sighed. "But luckily the other two don''t have such an issue. Let''s start with the heavyweight."

    Unbeknownst to him, he was referring to Solus who in the frenzy of battle tended to lose control over gravity fusion, making her steps much heavier than Lith''s.

    When the blood filled Maergron''s hands, he felt his whole body tingling. Suddenly he was filled with euphoria, power, and knowledge.

    New details and better specifics for his current projects came to his mind, making him feel like an idiot for missing for so long such simple and elegant solutions.

    "How is this possible? Who does this blood belong to?" It was then that he noticed it. The blood was resonating with the Apprentice Ears which unlike its current owner recognized the heir of Menadion and resonated with her tower half in the attempt to restore the Master Ears.

    "If this is what I get from touching it¡­" Maergron lost no time and brought the blood to his mouth, seeing it turn golden as he poured it through his lips. "Who has golden blood and why I don''t feel any different?"

    The euphoria, power, and knowledge were all gone along with Solus'' blood. Away from her body and the tower, it had reverted to its energy form, turning golden first and then fading into speckles of light.

    "No!" Maergron tried to salvage the miraculous blood but what was left in the bronze basin had turned golden as well and was disappearing.

    "No, no, no!" He tried to store it in his dimensional amulet, but like everything it had done until that moment, Solus'' blood defied logic and refused to be contained.

    ***

    "No, no, no!" Solus screamed at the top of her lungs in the tunnel above the temple. "They are killing me! These things are killing me!"

    Her words didn''t make sense to herrades. Due to her position in the formation, Solus had taken much fewer hits than the others. Between the spells from the Sage Staff, the power of her hammers, and her physical prowess, she had suffered just a couple of scratches.

    That was on the outside. On the inside, the situation was much worse. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Solus wasn''t like any other being that was supposed to be alive. Her life force and mana core bore a deep, wide crack that constantly bled her life essence. Thanks to her bond with Lith and the tower, however, she recovered more than she lost.

    Until that moment.

    Maergron''s tendrils and spores found fertile ground in the cracks of her life force, spreading them wide and making them fester. His mana followed the stream of Solus'' bleeding mana to strike directly at her core, poisoning it.

 Chapter 2993 Black Blood (Part 1)

    Chapter 2993 ck Blood (Part 1)

    Despite the abundant nourishment Solus drew from the Garden, despite Lith being just a few meters away, she felt her body growing weaker by the second. Healing magic didn''t work, empowering the vines along with her body.

    Her breathing technique didn''t work, the poison in her core tainting the world energy as soon as Solus tried to wield its power. Her wounds didn''t just refuse to close like it happened to the others.

    They were getting bigger and turning into cracks from which a golden light bled.

    Lith, Bytra, and Zoreth knew of her bond with an artifact and understood what might be happening.

    "Solus!" Bytra screamed in despair, channeling the full power of both his Eldritch and Raiju sides to conjure ck bolts of lightning that fried her enemies to a crisp.

    Yet more came right after and if she abandoned her position, the whole formation would copse. Zoreth''s situation was even worse. Without her, the funnel of Origin mes would disappear and the waves of enemies would swarm herpanions, Solus included.

    ''If only I could use tier five magic safely.'' She inwardly cursed.

    The immense flow of world energy of the Garden caused her more trouble than it was worth. Sure, it fed and empowered her, but it also fueled her abilities beyond her control.

    She had used the pir of Origin mes instead of a jet stream because if her life force sparked the world energy that flowed throughout the corridor, the slightest mistake would set everything aze, putting Bytra, Lith, Solus, and even Zoreth herself in danger.

    She had never wielded so much power and had trouble controlling it. Origin mes could hurt their own user and always destroyed everything else.

    Lith''s position at the end of the formation made things simple for him. He had to choose between helping Solus and leaving the undead monsters free to surround the group.

    At that point, they would be attacked from both sides and the fight''s difficulty would double as well.

    Lith couldn''t care less about his position or the members of the Hand of Fate. He trusted Zoreth and Bytra to survive so his only priority was Solus.

    ''There is no point in winning this fight, there is no point in retrieving the Ears if ites at the cost of her life!'' Lith drew a deep breath, releasing a pir of Origin mes just like Zoreth and discovering how hard it was to control them.

    The mystical fire burned at the ground, at the enemies, and wanted to burn at his allies. It was swept by the power surges of the Garden that made the mes grow and move against Lith''s orders.

    Ragnar?k cut through the living and the undead, collecting blood and life force to transfuse Solus. Lith''s charge was like an avnche, sweeping everything in his path and trampling everyone who dared resist him.

    The Origin mes, the spells from his magic-holding rings, and the swings of the angry de carved a path to Solus'' side, yet left his backpletely exposed.

    ''Lith!'' She cried as the wall of mes pushed the undead away.

    ''Solus!'' Lith grabbed her hands, passing onto her his life force, mana, and the vitality stored by Ragnar?k.

    Yet they failed. Everything they tried together failed and the infection kept spreading.

    "NO!" Lith screamed in both the physical world and the Mindscape.

    In a desperate attempt, he breathed a second burst of Origin mes, this time not giving a second thought about his allies and focusing solely on Solus.

    He exhaled slowly, to keep the connection between the mystical fire and his willpower open. The cost in life force would be several times greater but Lith''s control over them would be surgical.

    He knew himself and Solus like the back of his hand. He remembered the color and position of every strand of her hair, the shape of every one of the cracks of her life force, and how deep the fissure in her mana core was supposed to be.

    The Origin mes carried that information, ignoring everything that was Solus and burning with fury at everything that wasn''t.

    Solus screamed in pain, the parasites were so intertwined with her life force that destroying them set it aze as well. Yet she weed the pain, feeling that her wounds had stopped expanding.

    ''They are still not healing!'' Hope turned into desperation when she renewed her attempts to fix the damage and failed. ''We are being overrun and you can''t keep breathing Origin mes forever. Save yourself.

    ''Just make me go back into the ring. My alias will die, but I should survive and maybe I''ll get better.''

    ''No!'' Lith had never risked anything on a maybe and had no intention of starting now.

    ***

    In the throne room, Maergron was pleased with his gains and the progress of the battle. He was now filled with new powers and strength that would help him in many of his future endeavors for a long time before fading.

    "Losing the golden blood was a pity, but I have still one more intruder to taste." The Fae''s curiosity was piqued.

    Thest blood was different from anything he had ever seen before. It was red like that of a man, but under the magic lights of the room it would turn clear like pure silver and then ck like a tar pool in a never-ending cycle.

    Maergron dipped his hands in the Tiamat''s blood, feeling his whole body tingle in a way simr yet different from the golden blood.

    He drank arge gulp, experiencing something that was delicious one moment and disgusting the next. The Fae had little care for taste, only power mattered.

    Maergron devoured the red side, the side of the human. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Five more eyes opened on his face and the seven eyes he now had burned each with a different color.

    "Yes! I no longer control the elements. I am the elements! I''m akin to Mogar itself!" Full of joy and intoxicated by the infinite power he could now directly draw from the Garden, Maergron absorbed the silver side.

    The Dragon''s side.

    Bright violet Origin mes rose from his throat and seeped through every pore of his body. Red scales covered and protected his skin, amplifying the power of the mes and engulfing him in a deadly suit of zing armor.

    "A Fire Dragon?" The Faeughed, his voice drunken with euphoria "I now possess the cleansing mes of creation! The sky is the limit for my Forgemastering abilities. Even if I make a mistake, I can infinitely recycle magical metals!"

    Then, he absorbed the ck side.

    "What the heck?" Maergron took a deep breath, using the breathing technique he had learned from Pharek, Starsong, to check on his condition.

    He felt no different from before. The amount of mana in his core was unchanged, his powers were the same, and neither made sense. Even if it was just the blood of a human, he was supposed to gain insight into his prey''s thoughts and feelings.

    Instead, there was nothing.

    Less than nothing.

    He had absorbed the Void. The Abomination''s side.

    As Maergron studied his new appearance in the blood basin he finally noticed a change.

 Chapter 2994 Black Blood (Part 2)

    Chapter 2994 ck Blood (Part 2)

    Maergron no longer perceived the world through the other five eyes and the Voidfeather''s keen sight was lost to him.

    As he looked at the five extra eyes, they looked back at him, ring in hatred.

    "I see you." A voice that didn''t belong to the Fae came out of his mouth that was now filled with fangs that hadn''t been there until a second ago nor had he perceived forming.

    A voice that sounded like wind howling inside an abyss.

    Maergron touched the fangs with his fingers, refusing to believe his own eyes. As a Fae, his appearance depended solely on his will. Such a change was impossible without his will.

    The moment he touched the fangs, his fingers became numb. Then, he doubled over in pain as the same force that had sucked the vitality out of his hand did the same to the rest of his body.

    The human and the Dragon side of the Tiamat''s life force were just that. Life force. Once separated from their owner, they were without the will and power to resist a predator like Maergron.

    The Void, however, contained a spark of the same death energy that had given new life to the dead body of the original Lith, Strata. The Void only needed a source of power to thrive. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Protheus had learned this the hard way back when he had tried to steal the Tiamat''s powers and offer them to the Mad Queen to study. Maergron was experiencing the same phenomenon, just a thousand times worse.

    Back then, Lith was just a deep violet core. Back then, the Void was a wild yer wanting everything for itself.

    Now, Lith was a bright violet core, and the Void had the full support of the human and the Dragon side. When the Void connected with their blood, they gave the Void their powers, joining it in the fight.

    ***

    "I see you." A voice that belonged to the Void came out of the Tiamat''s mouth along with countless images and feelings.

    Lith and Solus could now watch through Maergron''s eyes and look at the Forgemastering contraptions in the throne room. They could look at the visage reflected in the pool of blood and recognize it as belonging to their enemy.

    ''That''s the bastard who''s hurting Solus!'' Lith''s body swelled with mes as he ignored the throne room and focused on his hated enemy.

    The Void inside Maergron answered the call by piging Maergron''s body and brain. The Voidfeather took the stolen energy, unraveling the knowledge and power it contained.

    Then, the human side projected the elemental energy through its seven eyes and sent the information acquired by the Voidfeather to Lith via the flow of world energy of the Garden.

    Lith''s skin prickled as he was now connected to the Ears of Menadion thanks to the body that the Void was attempting to steal. More than that, he gained the knowledge to exploit that power.

    "I understand." Lith took another deep breath and released it slowly.

    The violet of the Origin mes repelled the waves of enemiesing from both sides and seeped inside Solus'' wounds.

    It couldn''t heal her, but it could protect her.

    The violet turned ck as the Void mes burned at the poisonous mana and ravaged the blood cores, using the life force they stored to stoke the Void me''s power.

    The ck turned white as the Blight mes elerated the metabolism of the parasites, forcing them to devour themselves and wilt. The parasites couldn''t prey on fresh meat and life force because it was engulfed by violet mes that prevented the tendrils from spreading.

    The Blight mes struck at the vines wrapped around Maergron''s minions, at the lichens and moss that grew on the rock walls, at everything they perceived as a threat.

    The white turned orange as the Nether mes disrupted the electromaic fields inside the cave and turned off the Zouwu''s stolen ability.

    The minions reverted to their regr speed whereas Bytra and Strider were unaffected. The orange turned yellow as the Noxious mes turned the air into a powerful acid, eating at the minions from the outside while the other Cursed mes ate at them from the outside.

    The orange turned red and the blue. The True mes set aze the world energy coursing through the rock, cutting the tendrils of the Fae off and denying the undead the source of their infinite strength.

    The Garden was aze, the rock so hot that it became white. The Frozen mes coated the enemies, making their bones brittle and their flesh stiff, robbing them of the power of the Titania.

    Lith stood up slowly, lifting Solus in his arms. The pir of fire surrounding his body kept growing in power and strength even though he had stopped breathing more Origin mes. "Six, no seven. Eight. Nine¡­ Eleven different kinds of mes?" Zoreth was bbergasted.

    The Cursed mes swirled with the violet of the Origin mes, the white of the Primordial, the emerald of the Immortal, the silvery of the Dread, and the blue of something she had never seen before.

    Each one took the shape of a roaring Dragon that bit, wed, and spread its fire on the enemy lines.

    "Everything burns." Lith said, his voice reduced to a whisper.

    The pir of fire grew and spread, protecting his allies and killing his enemies. It took what it needed from the Garden, ravaging it with the power of the mes born from the Tiamat''s body.

    They were relentless and unforgiving. They followed the trail left by Lith''s human side in the flow of world energy like sharks sniffing blood. They followed it to their enemy, burning everything in their path.

    ***

    Maergron screamed in agony as every vine of his body turned against him and the powers he had stolen stopped answering to his will. The Void was stronger than it was in the past but s, the Fae wasn''t as weak as Protheus either.

    The Doppelganger had been a measly green-cored Awakened and would have died without Thrud''s help.

    Maergron was older, stronger, had the Ears on his side, and was in the heart of his ownb. He triggered the defensive spells on himself and drew new power from the throne.

    The Fae resisted the pain, using the Ears of Menadion to understand and counter the unknown enemy. Soon, he understood there could be no victory.

    "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The only choice Maergron had left was to expel the blood he had absorbed.

    He had to give up on everything he had gained up to that point but the alternative was death. The Fae split his body into two, surrendering to the Void every bit of flesh and mana that it had conquered.

    It was a huge loss, but now the link was broken. The Void had no more ess to the Ears, to the throne, and to all the other resources that the rot left by Derek McCoy had turned against their master.

    Maergron and the Void had equal mass and power, but only one of them had the home advantage. Without the Fae''s energy signature to shield it from the defence mechanisms, the throne room unleashed its full power at the Void.

 Chapter 2995 Scorched Earth (Part 1)

    Chapter 2995 Scorched Earth (Part 1)

    Maergron used the Ears to guide their attack and the world energy sifted by the throne to regain what he had lost. Then, the mes reached him through the Garden and struck him with boundless hate.

    "Even if you kill me, I won''t die." The Voidughed as the arrays tore it into pieces. "I''m not even here, you moron. I won''t die and I won''t forget you. We will meet again soon and then I won''t be a fragment. I will be whole!"

    The Fae ignored the threat, jumping off the throne just in time to save his head. The rest of his body was reduced to a pile of ashes, but the battle was won.

    With the disappearance of the Void, the connection between Lith and the Ears had been severed. He had no more ess to the knowledge he needed to operate the Garden or conjure so many kinds of mes at the same time. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Fuck." Maergron regrew an arm and destroyed every drop of the Tiamat''s blood left in the bronze basin. "This was a total disaster. I almost lost the throne, the Ears, and my life.

    "The only silver lining is that I still have plenty of blood of the other- Why am I talking to myself?" The brush with death and physical pain had broken the grip of madness caused by the guilt of killing Pharek.

    "Shit, I need to¡­ Gods, I can''t stop talking!"

    ***

    The pir of fire surrounding Lith reverted to its original violet and then faded away.

    All his enemies were dead and his allies were too shocked to say a single word. The fight had ended more abruptly than it had started and in a way no one could exin.

    The section of the corridor where they stood was still white-hot but, for some reason, the air was fresh and the stone was cool to the touch. Lith still held the sobbing curled form of Solus in his arms.

    Her armor was cracked at several points, either due to the wounds opened by the undead or because the mes had little care for what she wore and had focused solely on healing her.

    "I can help her." Ryka the Titania stepped forward, willing to share the effects of her breathing technique and the regenerating properties of the nt folk.

    "Don''t touch her!" The Tiamat''s maw snapped like a bear trap at the extended tendrils, forcing the Fae to step back.

    Even in his current state, Lith hadn''t forgotten that no one was allowed to notice that Solus actually had his same energy signature or take a good look at her life force. His membranous wings were wrapped around her like a cradle, hiding everything but her head.

    It wasn''t just to cover her exposed skin but also the shining golden cracks still opened on Solus'' body.

    She was still scared from the crumbling of her life force and crying from the pain that the mes had inflicted upon her while cleansing the parasites. Solus hid her face in Lith''s chest, sniffling while holding her arms tight around his chest.

    "Is she alright?" Bytra asked after failing to get an answer from Solus.

    "No, but she will be." The different kinds of mes had purged the infestation and cauterized the wounds on both her life force and mana.

    Between the physical contact with Lith and the energy the tower drew from the Garden, the wounds and burns Solus had suffered were already healing.

    ''Go back inside the ring. It should make things faster and ensure there are no long-term consequences.'' He said via the mind link and Solus was too tired to argue.

    Lith''s wings covered her head as well, to hide the moment when her body turned into light. Solus left the Voidwalker armor behind so that the membranous wings retained her shape.

    ''You were right.'' Solus said. ''Now that I''m back to being pure energy and the tower doesn''t need to keep my physical form anymore, I can feel my wounds being stitched close.''

    ''Are you okay?'' Lith asked.

    ''No, but know that I know I''ll heal, I feel better.'' Then, her consciousness drifted into a dreamless sleep.

    "What did you do? How did you do it?" Strider wasn''t the kind of man to look at the gifted horse in the mouth, but he needed to know what had happened.

    "Sit down, because we all need to rest and this is going to be a long story." Lith replied.

    "What if another army of undeades our way? We should establish a perimeter and organize a watch duty." Rutha said.

    "Nah, there won''t be another attack for a while." Lith''s mouth opened in a savage grin, his eyes brimming with confidence and malice at the idea of the damage the Void had inflicted upon the Fae. "Believe me."

    After everything they had witnessed during thest few minutes, it was hard not to. Bytra and Zoreth established a few surveince arrays with the Maw, just to be safe.

    Then, once they all sat on the ground and took out some food to eat, Lith exined to them what had happened and what he had seen. The idea that even his blood had a life of its own made everyone stare at the still-healing wounds on his body.

    ''I wonder if we''re going to be able to do the same once our life forces merge.'' Xenagrosh wondered, looking at her blood sizzling on the ground until it disappeared.

    "This is what our mark looks like." He projected a hologram of Maergron.

    "That''s a Redcap!" Ryka said after studying the image of the handsome man and the bundle of crimson hair on his head that was actuallyprised of blood-soaked brambles. "It exins a few things, but not all."

    She pointed at the red streaks all over the Fae''s hologram.

    "Redcaps can indeed borrow the abilities of their prey, but passing them upon undead is unheard of, let alonebining them together in a stable form as he did."

    "Maybe those stories about the Garden aren''t all hogwash." Azhom pondered. "Maybe this guy has found a way to further his evolution thanks to the Garden like the legends say."

    "I don''t care." Lith replied. "But I''d greatly appreciate it if you let me have the death blow."

    "We need to take him alive to interrogate him and bring him to justice." Strider said.

    "Or we can just kill him on the spot." The murderous light in Lith''s eyes showed the Zouwu an already dug grave with his name written on the tombstone.

    And the date was today.

    "Sure." Strider felt his fur stand up in fear when he opened his mouth to argue so he changed the topic. "Still, I think we shouldn''t underestimate the potential of the Garden. How does this Redcap control it?"

    "He doesn''t." Lith would have liked to avoid disclosing what he had learned during his brief connection with the Ears, but killing Maergron took priority.

    Not only had he injured Solus, but his imprint prevented Lith from retrieving the final piece of Menadion''s Set. Even worse, if left alive the Redcap might have revealed the artifact''s existence to bargain for his life and the Council might ept his offer.

 Chapter 2996 Scorched Earth (Part 2).

    Chapter 2996 Scorched Earth (Part 2).

    ''After all, Pharek was the closest thing to a Ruler of the mes they had.'' Lith thought. ''This fucker has learned everything Pharek knew and also possesses the Ears of Menadion.

    ''By letting him live, the Council would gain a powerful Forgemaster at its service as a willing ve. The death of Pharek''s shadow apprentice doesn''t benefit the Council, only me.''

    "Then how did he orchestrate such well-coordinated attacks?" Unanna asked.

    "The same way I killed everyone here and sent him a nasty surprise." Lith replied. "His throne is connected to the world energy''s maelstrom that fuels the Garden but it does much more than that.

    "The throne acts like a filter and a safety measure to ensure the output doesn''t exceed what the Redcap can bear. The real secret of his strength is a¡­ unknown device embedded in the throne." He said while looking everyone in the eyes in turns but lingering a bit longer on Bytra.

    ''The Ears!'' It was more than enough for the Fourth Ruler of the mes to catch the hint and silently alert Zoreth.

    "Based on what my fragment learned, the device has at least one function. To read the flow of world energy of the Garden. What looks like a single stream to us it''s actually a raging ocean.

    "That''s why Ryka got hurt when she attempted the connection and even Eldritches have to be careful." Lith reminded them of what had happened at the entrance of the cave and they nodded for him to continue. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Which means that while we are inside the Garden, we are surrounded by countless currents of world energy that move in different directions and with different degrees of intensity.

    "Thanks to the device, the Redcap can read those currents. He uses them to piggyback his spells and willpower, sending them wherever he wants whenever he wants. He can ovee the distance between the temple and our current position because the currents do the hard work for him.

    "He doesn''t consume a shred of his mana or willpower. He just has to move from one favorable stream of world energy to the next to hit us like he''s here without taking any risk.

    "The only downside of this method is that there is a dy between the moment the mana is sent and its arrival. He sees what was happening three seconds ago, predicts our next actions, and reacts ordingly.

    "That''s why there were gaping holes during his attacks. We weren''t moving ording to his ns and he didn''t notice until it was toote."

    "This is terrifying news." Strider replied. "Whatever this device is, it must be retrieved. We can''t let something like this be in the possession of a madman. Fae can use Earth Vision and based on what you said, he has kept us under surveince until now and there''s nothing we can do to stop him."

    "Yeah, but the situation isn''t that bad either." The Titania pointed out. "Earth Vision has a greater range than most mystical senses but it also provides a lesser degree of information.

    "Our enemy has no idea to which race we belong or what our powers are until we use them. Otherwise he would have probably run away the moment our Eldritches allies were forced to go all-out.

    "Sending enough minions to swarm us is a great strategy, but the noise and vibrations they cause blind Earth Vision. That''s why his undead move on their own with a predetermined strategy.

    "Amid the chaos of the battle, the shadow disciple can''t tell them apart."

    "That''s all fine and dandy but also irrelevant!" Zoreth''s eyes were burning with silvery ck mana. "Lith, you are still injured and so is Solus. Do you want to take a break? We can Warp you outside whenever you want."

    The Tiamat looked down at his wounds that were closing on their own. Even without the earlier firestorm, his Abomination Touch made it hard for the parasitic vines and spores to take root.

    "Thanks, big sister, but no." Lith shook his head. "If we leave, the Redcap might think we are calling for reinforcements. Also, he''ll have the time he needs to collect himself and n smart.

    "We can''t risk him putting Limbell''s legacy back in the dimensional amulets and running away. The Garden extends for kilometers and with the device he can Warp to any point he wants without knowing the dimensional coordinates.

    "If he manages to escape, we might never find him again. We must keep him focused on us. We can take a short rest here. I''ll protect Solus, no matter the cost."

    While the members of the Hand of Fate appreciated Lith''s dedication to the mission, Zoreth questioned his motives.

    ''Is he doing this just to secure the Ears of Menadion or because he doesn''t want Solus to lose a piece of her mother''s legacy?'' She pondered, and the answer came to her when she noticed the tenderness with which he caressed the stone ring on his right hand.

    That, and the spark of barely bridled fury in his eyes.

    ''Love and revenge. Two things I can respect.'' The Shadow Dragon inwardly nodded.

    "Not to be an insensitive Lich, but can you guys afford the time for a break?" Azhom asked. She was the only one to not have suffered any damage and with her phctery on her, she had already recovered her full strength.

    "What if he throws more spells and undead at us?"

    "He can''t." Lith replied with a matter-of-fact confidence. "Check it yourself with Life Vision, if you don''t believe me."

    "Life Vision? But¡­" The Lich flooded her red eyes with light element and discovered that the amount of world energy in the walls was so little that it didn''t hinder her mystical sense anymore.

    "How did you do it?"

    "My mes burned everything on their path." Lith cradled Solus'' armor like it was her. "The world energy circting inside a Garden is no greater than a mana geyser. The difference is that it doesn''t disperse on the outside.

    "The world energy is umted over time, reaching a density impossible under normal circumstances and with the effects you have witnessed. I relieved the pressure around our position so the Recap can still locate our position butcks the means to attack us like he did before.

    "At least for a while."

    The Lich and her fellow Awakened could see the world energy shifting throughout the stone to restore the bnce of the Garden, but it would take time.

    "Also, now that I know how his attacks work, I have an unpleasant surprise for him." A savage grin appeared on the Tiamat''s face, as if he couldn''t wait for the next sh.

    "Thank you for your help and dedication to the mission. Our enemy is a serial murderer but with the kind of device you describe he''s a threat to the Council." Strider said. "Even though I feel sorry for what happened to Solus, I was going to ask you to continue the mission."

    "Yet there''s something I need to know. Are you telling us that every part of you is alive and can fight on its own?" He asked while looking at the droplets of Lith''s blood on his armor and on the ground.

 Chapter 2997 Inner Garden (Part 1)

    Chapter 2997 Inner Garden (Part 1)

    The Zouwu had a newfound respect for his Eldritch allies but that didn''t mean that he could underestimate the threat posed by someone who could spawn countless Abominations.

    If the killer and his device were a threat to the Council, Lith was a threat to Mogar itself simply by existing.

    "I wish." The Tiamat replied with such disappointment in his voice that it was hard to doubt his sincerity. "If that was the case, I would already have an invincible army of creatures that can assimte the knowledge and powers of my enemies.

    "They would be by my side and help me protect everything I care about. My blood is just blood." A snap of Lith''s finger hastened his recovery and cleansed the stains on the ground and his armor.

    "At least until you infuse it with life force and mana like our enemy did. You don''t eat an Abomination. The Abomination eats you."

    "Isn''t that what happened when your child was conceived? How can your wife be still alive?" Strider pondered.

    "My Abomination side was the first I made peace with. It loves Kami as much as I do and would never hurt her. Its consciousness actually reassured me that nothing bad would happen to her.

    "Also, she didn''t take a part of me. It was willingly offered. She didn''t try to take my power for herself. She added something of her own and turned it into something, no, someone new. If you can''t tell the difference, I pity you."

    For some reason, thest part irked the Zouwu more than the threat of the Abominations born from Lith''s fragments.

    While everyone recovered, Lith projected holograms of the throne room.

    The vines hanging from the ceiling, the bronze basin in which they poured the stolen life essence, and the sophisticated alchemical and Forgemastering devices were depicted in great detail.

    "We must stop the minions from collecting more of our blood." Ryka the Titania said. "Judging by how the Redcap arranged the room and the corridors, this isn''t something our enemy has prepared to deal with us. It''s part of his original n.

    "Giving him our spells and bloodline abilities is already bad. If he really furthered his evolution, there''s no telling what he might be able to do. We must destroy our blood the moment we get wounded."

    ***

    In the throne room, Maergron had just finished rebuilding his body. He was weak, tired, and in desperate need of nutrients. The temple of the Great Mother was filled to the brim with world energy but without direct ess to fertile soil, the regenerating abilities of a Fae were limited.

    "This isn''t over yet." His hands and voice trembled in exhaustion so he needed sheer willpower to not waste a single drop of the blood left in the basin.

    With each gulp, he gained the strength of his enemies, their powers, and to a degree, their memories. By the time the Redcap had emptied the basin, he was back to his full strength and knew all of his opponents'' weaknesses.

    He sensed Strider''s hatred for Abominations, and it wouldn''t take much to turn the Zouwu against his allies. Maergron had no idea that there actually were also two Eldritches because they shed no blood.

    The Redcap could taste Rhuta''s ambition and his desire for his talent to be recognized. His frustration for being stuck at the bright blue for centuries while those younger than him surpassed Rhuta every day.

    The youth only needed a timely nudge to throw himself at the first opportunity to prove himself.

    The Titania was an even easier target. Maergron had underestimated her feelings. Under her cold demeanor, there was a deep fear of losing the person that made her feel more than a power-hungry monster.

    She would do anything to protect the Zouwu, even if it meantpromising the mission or the safety of herrades.

    The Naga''s weakness was inherent to his species, instead. Being evolved from a cold-blooded creature in a hot-blooded one, Nagas were subjected to severe mood swings.

    By manipting the others, the Redcap would make Unanna resentful toward hispanions and destroy their teamwork.

    The seeds of destruction were already there, nted long before the Council had sent the members of the Hand of Fate after Maergron. He only had to make them bloom.

    Then, there was the Tiamat.

    Maergron could still hear the Void''s voice ringing in his ears. He could still feel the Void''s touch as the ck tendrils flooded his body and ate it from the inside.

    "What the fuck is that thing?" He shivered at the memory of their confrontation.

    The seeds of destruction were already there and Maergron was worried there was one for him too, waiting for the right moment to bloom.

    ***

    When the world energy was close to restoring the bnce in the tunnel, the group resumed its advance. The Awakened had fully recovered by using their breathing techniques while the Eldritches by taking nibbles at the Garden.

    They couldn''t withstand the full flow of the world energy but a few drops were more than enough to quell their hunger.

    Lith did the same, using his Abomination side to probe the Garden and see how much energy he could take at a time without hurting himself. He had already used his breathing technique several times on Solus and wanted to preserve what was left.

    Luckily, food gave him nutrients and the world energy did the rest, limiting the amount he had to eat to just enough to recover from the wounds.

    With Solus still recovering inside the stone ring, the formation had to be adjusted. Now Lith walked in the middle, with Zoreth in front of him and Bytra behind to cover for attacks from every direction.

    The Tiamat had his arms free and Ragnar?k in his hand but the wing-cradle would still impede his movements.

    Suddenly, Strider raised his hand in a closed fist, the signal to stop.

    ''There''s something wrong here.'' He said via the mind link. ''There is too much humidity in the air and too much moss on the walls.''

    A quick barrage of darkness bullets made everything wither until the rock walls were barren.

    ''The threat was too obvious and getting rid of it too easy. Any ideas?'' He asked.

    Zoreth cast herbination of detection arrays from the Maw, but aside from the members of her group, there was no magic and no one for a hundred meters (328 feet).

    They resumed their advance, keeping their guard up and cursing the Garden. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''With so much world energy all around us and that damn device, Limbell''s shadow apprentice can time his spells to perfection. Just because there''s nothing now, it doesn''t mean there will be nothing one secondter.'' The Zouwu thought and he was right.

    The Garden made the patches of ground fertile and destroying the moss had only fertilized them. Barbed vines sprouted from the walls and whipped at the intruders from every side.

    The world energy carried more than Maergron''s light magic spells, it also carried his seeds. The vines grew faster than the Awakened could detect them, growing in size and length until they matched a boa constrictor.

 Chapter 2998 Inner Garden (Part 2)

    Chapter 2998 Inner Garden (Part 2)

    ''On my mark.'' Lith said without moving a muscle or waving a spell. ''Mark!''

    The Tiamat Fear spread out, flooding the world energy and the patches of ground with Lith''s energy signature and willpower. It caused a ripple in the mana currents of the Garden that the Ears couldn''t predict, scrambling all of their readings.

    For one moment, Maergron was blinded. He couldn''t perceive his enemies and the Ears only gave him static while adapting to the interference.

    For one moment, the barbed vines were without direction and it was enough. The Awakened easily dodged the initial attack and exploited the paralysis of the vines to destroy them in a fell swoop.

    Lith didn''t move, letting Bytra block the attacks aimed at him and focusing on keeping the pulses of Tiamat Fear short and irregr.

    ''I bet that the Ears of Menadion can read my mana flow as well, but only if itsts long enough to be another current in the Garden. The artifact can''t predict where and with how much strength I''ll "throw a rock" in the world energy.

    ''On top of that, if I can undermine the fucker''s trust in his ace in the hole, he will think twice before trying to escape.'' He thought.

    *** n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "What the fuck was that?" Maergron cursed when the Ears reestablished the connection with the tunnel and the situation was already resolved.

    The members of the Hand of Fate had resumed their advance and there were no patches of ground for a long while. Even worse, the intruders had learned the trick and wouldn''t fall for it a second time.

    "This doesn''t make sense. Master Pharek had the Ears since they were forged and not once did they malfunction." The Redcap cast his best Forgemastering spells, trying to find an exnation but without sess.

    "Was it just bad luck or am I cursed?" He looked around theb, but there was no one in the room with him. "Master Pharek, I''m sorry for killing you. You gave me everything and I threw it in your face like the stupid brat I am.

    "Please, forgive me." No one but the ghosts conjured by his guilty conscience.

    ***

    ''Nice trick, little brother.'' Zoreth said. ''I wish I could do that too.''

    ''Thanks.'' Lith replied. ''Don''t lower your guard. We are getting close.''

    Even though the tunnel seemed to go on forever, ording to the Eyes there were only a few hundreds of meters between the group and his mark. The Shadow Dragon confirmed Lith''s readings, Maergron''s smell grew stronger and fresher with every step they took.

    ''Solus?'' Bytra asked, scared by the prolonged stillness of the membranous bundle.

    ''I''m fine now. Thanks.'' She had woken up for a while, her body hadpletely recovered and her strength was back to its peak.

    Without the burden of holding Solus'' body together, the tower had drawn upon the Garden to fix the damage and replenish her mana. She had yet toe out only because she wanted to preserve her strength and take care of the Eyes for Lith until he needed her help.

    Strider still found their rtionship weird, bordering on creepy.

    After witnessing the care Lith had for Solus, the fondness with which he spoke of his wife and daughter, and him saving the Hand of Fate''s asses, however, the Zouwu was willing to admit he had been wrong.

    ''Abominations are not just monsters.'' He thought. ''The way Bytra cares for the Shadow Dragon and Solus, aplete stranger, proves that Verhen isn''t just an exception. Once the mission is over, I have to give them a proper apology.''

    One more turn to the right and suddenly they could see the end of the tunnel. The passage opened in an underground cave sorge they couldn''t see the end of it and with its domed ceiling over 200 meters (660'') high.

    At least, that was their best estimate since the upperyer of the cave was eclipsed by what looked like a multi-colored starred sky. The world energy was so dense that it took semi-physical form in clouds of the six elemental colors.

    Sometimes the different flows mixed, creating shiny gatherings of one element surrounded by a different, sparser, element and giving the impression that a bright yet small sun shone from behind a cloud.

    The elemental flow moved through the ceiling as if carried by an invisible wind. The members of Lith''s group knew they were deep underground but the spectacle gave them the illusion of having stepped inside a wide open space.

    The elemental clouds lit the cave as bright as day, revealing the majestic structure of the temple. It was built with earth magic from the rock of the cave itself. The naked temple was shaped like an Earth''s ziggurat and carved from a single block of stone.

    It wasprised of ten rectangr floors, one on top of the other, those above smaller than those below forming what looked like a stair for giants to reach the sky. Each floor showed no sign of the hand of builders and its straight walls were too perfect to have been cut by a mortal hand.

    The entire structure had been designed by a genius and built by one or more powerful mages by channeling the power of the mana geyser.

    The temple was surrounded by luscious vegetation that stopped just a few meters before the tunnel from which Lith and the others had emerged. Even from the entrance, they could see at least five more tunnels that started from a different point but led to the temple.

    The green covered the floor of the cave and each of the levels of the ziggurat, giving it the shape of a pyramid. There were water ponds everywhere, flower bushes, and trees of all species growing on and around the temple.

    "Those are Lotus Dhalias." Strider pointed at a bundle of aquatic nts in a pond whose flowers had thick violet petals like a lotus flower but were shaped like a dahlia''s. "They are a very rare sight in Zima and are not supposed to grow anywhere else."

    "And those are Dandedragons of the Empire!" Zoreth stared in amazement at fluffy flowers that looked like an Earth''s dandelion but were oblong like a snout and with two red straight petals resembling horns right behind them.

    "They only grow on our tallest mountains. How the heck did they end up in an underground cave in the Kingdom?"

    "What about Verendi''s Moonroses?" Bytra turned Zoreth''s head toward a bush flower filled with snow-white roses withrge and t petals arranged in an almost perfect circle. "Or Jiera''s Sunbirds?"

    They were bright orange bellflowers with two pairs of petals each.One pair was curved, giving the impression of spread wings, while the other was as straight as an arrow, giving them the semnce of a flying bird.

    "And those are Fire Orchids! Grandma''s favorite flowers!" They looked like orchids, but were crimson red and glowed in the dark.

    The people of the Blood Desert loved Fire Orchids and had made them their Overlord''s symbol because they only grew near a water source. During the night, their luminescence was visible from afar, guiding the lost travelers to salvation.

 Chapter 2999 Hidden Thorn (Part 1)

    Chapter 2999 Hidden Thorn (Part 1)

    Fire Orchids were delicate in appearance but incredibly resilient and capable of thriving in the harsh climate of the Blood Desert. To the nomadic tribes, Fire Orchids were a symbol of strength and hope, just like the Overlord. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Wherever Solus and the others looked, they saw trees, flowers, and fruits from all of Mogar''s continents. It didn''t matter if they were supposed to grow in a dry or humid climate, if they needed a in or the rarefied mountain air.

    They grew one right beside the other, forming a dreamlikendscape.

    Even Lith''s paranoia took a rain check, too busy admiring the view to paint nightmare scenarios in his mind and make up imaginary enemies hidden in every shadow.

    "I feel like crap saying this but we must burn everything to the ground." Before the rest of the group could beat the Tiamat to a pulp, his array-sensing spell revealed over thirty concentric magical formations surrounding the temple that covered most of the inner garden.

    Barriers, elemental-sealing arrays, gravity fields, magma bombs, storm blitzes, every single known powerful magical formation was present and primed to blow in the face of any intruder stupid enough to cross them.

    "No, we don''t." Xenagrosh beckoned Bytra and shooed everyone else. "After being confined in a small space for all this time, it''s finally our moment to shine. Nobody is as good at destroying as an Eldritch, lil bro.

    "This is what we were born for. Just stay out of our way or you guys are going to get hurt." She put a Decay bastion in front of the tunnel''s exit to emphasize the concept and ensure that she could go all-out without endangering Lith''s life.

    "I''m ready when you are, Zor." Bytra shapeshifted into her real form, that of a Raiju.

    Her appearance was that of a Chinese dragon fused with a warhorse. The resulting creature had pitch-ck scales covering her horse body, withrge branching horns over her head. She had long whiskers, a thick blood-red mane, yellow eyes, and a long, scaled draconic tail.

    Her Bookwyrm armor shapeshifted as well, covering her new body while the Absolution altered its shape to coat the straight horn that came out of her forehead.

    "Then let''s go, Byt!" Zoreth''s body grew over 35 meters (115'') tall, turning into a Shadow Dragon with four eyes arranged on the same line, two for each side of her snout.

    The Raiju started to run around the borders of the arrays, forming a circle of lightning in her wake. The Shadow Dragon walked forward instead, using the Maw of Bytra to make up for herck of body casting and preparing her best spells in the time it took her to draw a deep breath.

    From inside the temple, Maergron cursed his bad luck and readied his defenses.

    "I can deal with the horse, but a Divine Beast is thest thing I needed today." He adjusted the Ears on his head, making sure that the connection with the throne was wless. "The only silver lining is that from so close there is no longer dy in my perceptions.

    "I can see everything they do and react with the speed of thought."

    The Redcap activated what was left of his undead army and channeled the world energy into the arrays. The former would attack, thetter would defend, and both would give him the time to cast the spells he needed.

    From the safety of hisb, he could use fake and true magic plus body casting to conjure three spells at a time while his enemies would fight for their lives. They could use body casting as well, but only if they had reached the violet.

    It was a rare feat and even if they had aplished it, they would be three times slower than him and forced to make snap decisions while Maergron could take his time and calcte his odds of sess before making a move.

    Or so he thought, until Xenagrosh''s shadow grew longer and reached the opposite side of the magical formations. There, it rose from the ground, taking the form of a second Shadow Dragon.

    She hurled a raging stream of Origin mes the size of an apartment building while her shadow cast her tier five Chaos spells, mes of Absolution.

    The ck fire infused with Chaos magic flooded the firstyer of the energy dome, eating at the runes that kept the energy barrier solid while also weakening the volley of spells released by the inneryers of arrays.

    mes of Absolution weren''t meant to cleanse but to corrupt, yet they were still capable of disrupting the fine mana tuning that high tiered magic and arrays required to reach their maximum potential.

    The Origin mes attacked from the other side, devouring runes and burning the mana thatprised the outermost magical formation and the world energy that fueled the defensive system.

    The two-pronged attack spread the barrier''s energy thin, opening small fissures in the dome of light that Bytra exploited.

    As the Raiju circled around the outermost array and the circuit under her hooves nearedpletion, her speed increased exponentially. Massive streams of electricity umted above and below her, empowering her spells and pushing her forward.

    She unleashed her tier five Chaos spell, Locust Swarm, conjuring a ck hailprised of countless little bullets made of Chaos that stuck to the first rune they touched and devoured it.

    Pharek was no fool and had ced a darkness-sealing array right after the energy barrier, knowing that a static defense would be easy prey for the element that boasted the highest destructive power and its only weakness was being slow.

    The Locust Swarm faded without reaching the nextyer, but along with Xenagrosh''s attacks, it was enough to bring the first barrier to crumble. The Raiju then used her tier five spell, White Knight.

    The fire element focused on the tip of her straight horn, raising the temperature to thousands of degrees. At the same time, the air element created a sack of high pressure while also using the horn to conjure a corona of bolts of lightning.

    The final result was a smance that departed from the top of Bytra''s head and pierced through the darkness-sealing array and all those behind it until thence met the air-sealing array.

    White Knight lost cohesion on contact, but the sma was a byproduct of the spell and kept moving forward until the drop in air pressure and temperature destabilized it.

    White Knight left deep rifts in the arrays it crossed, burning their runes and destabilizing the delicate bnce that allowed them to synergize.

    "Two Abominations? No, wait, they are Eldritches!" Maergron''s surprise turned into terror as he activated all the defensive systems at once, knowing there was no time for finesse. "How could I miss it? How can the Council associate with them?"

    Bytra and Zoreth wore cloaking devices and had hidden their strength while in the tunnels exactly to not spook their target. Being capable of killing your enemy was pointless if you warned him and gave him the time to run away.

    The vegetation of the temple parted, revealing the presence of hundreds of nt-undead hybrids.

 Chapter 3000 Hidden Thorn (Part 2)

    Chapter 3000 Hidden Thorn (Part 2)

    Maergron had kept his minions hidden from mystical senses under the cover of the abundant world energy of the inner garden and ready to ambush the invaders.

    Half of the undead''s bodies were intact while the other half wasprised of the Redcap''s vines. This way, their blood cores would constantly gain new strength by feeding on the vines while the vines sapped the world energy of the Garden.

    It created a loop that granted unlimited power to the blood cores and allowed the vines to tap into the Garden without overloading. With no more dy, Maergron could control the undead with his mind and pass them his spells at a moment''s notice.

    At the same time, he tapped into the starred sky above the temple to borrow the elemental energies and shape them into spells of untold power. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Air and water magic conjured a frozen tornado from above the Shadow Dragon while fire and earth shook the ground with a quake that swamped her in magma. The undead and vines carried the Redcap''s energy signature and were immune to the natural disasters.

    As for Bytra, Maergron sent half of his troops against her and exploited her apparent weakness. The trail of lightning made her path predictable so he cast an air-sealing array and set several tier five spells that would activate upon her passage.

    Zoreth shook as the cold storm pushed her down and quenched her inner fire. Air des the size of a tank cut deep into her Bookwyrm armor, piercing through her scales.

    The thick Adamant and its enchantments were nothingpared to the power umted over time by the Garden. Xenagrosh''s wounds reached the bones and crippled her arms while the quake took away her footing and burned her flesh.

    "Nice try and thank you for the snack!" Thebined assault of spells and defensive arrays would have killed the Shadow Dragon if not for her troll side healing her wounds the moment they started to open.

    The chunks of flesh reattached themselves without the need of a healing spell. The blood gushing from her wounds weakened the iing spells and dissolved the undead upon contact.

    Her Eldritch side, instead, fed upon the abundant surrounding world energy, giving Xenagrosh the nourishment she needed to not be hindered by the regeneration process.

    A sweep of her Sky Piercer w shredded the magical formations and tore the elemental energy of the spells from Maergron''s mana, forcing the Redcap to consume part of the Garden''s power to keep from disappearing.

    The undead, or rather, the snack, further fueled Xenagrosh''s onught. A blood core was a powerful mass of life force and darkness magic kept in perfect bnce and Zoreth needed but a touch to feed upon them both.

    Her troll half was the bane of undead because it could endlessly absorb darkness to counter the Decay element while her Eldritch half was the bane of the living, needing the light of life force to quench the Chaos element.

    The Shadow Dragon''s wed hand harvested dozens of undead at a time, dropping them in her mouth like popcorn. Their numbers meant nothing. Their physical strength meant nothing.

    The moment they touched her, the red light of undead in their eyes flickered and the vines that animated their bodies wilted.

    Those who chased after the Raiju met no better fate. With the circuitplete, Bytra moved faster and faster until she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

    ''I could never move that quickly. Sure, she can''t alter her direction as quickly as I do, but if she were to target someone or something else, I could never stop her.'' Strider thought as his jaw fell to the floor.

    The Raiju''s path was predictable but the shockwave she left in her wake at everyp pushed the undead away with the violence of a storm. Those who stood in front of Bytra were turned into cinders by the sma de that she cast in front of her which also reduced the air resistance and created a slipstream effect.

    The spells ced by Maergron triggered upon her passage but when they unleashed their effects she wasn''t there anymore. By the time she returned to the same spot, the sma de would cut through what was left of the spells and undead, leaving her unscathed.

    The air-sealing arrays failed because the circuit wasn''t a spell but a bloodline ability and was based on world energy, not mana. The Ears could read the flow of world energy, not control it.

    That was what the Hands were for.

    "The Hands of Menadion!" Maergron stared in horror at Sky Piercer, mistaking it for another piece of the legendary set. "Wait, where is the other glove? How could that stupid beast lose one?"

    Greed and outrage clouded his vision as he pictured what he could do were he to collect the Hands as well. Pharek had never used them in person but had seen them in action and had shared with his shadow disciple his theories about them.

    "I won''t just stand here and watch." Solus lifted the Fury, bringing it close to the Decay Bastion.

    "They told us to wait." Lith grabbed her shoulder, afraid that she could mess with the battle between gods that was taking ce in front of their eyes.

    The Tiamat and the Hand of Fate had remained silent in respectful awe until that moment. Pharek had worked on his defensive system for hundreds of years and it was more powerful than most of those used to defend ancient noble households like the Ernas.

    Maergron had spent the five months after the death of his master wisely, giving the arrays his own spin and adding an army of lesser undead whose power rivaled that of elder greater undead.

    Even from the safety of the tunnel, the battle was terrifying and it was hard to tell who was winning. Lith trusted Zoreth and the strength of the Master''s hybrids but had no idea how he and Solus would fare.

    "No, they told us to not get in their way and that''s what I''m going to do." Solus used the Davross of her hammer to amplify her powers and the elemental crystals to bind together air and earth, conjuring the tier four Void Magic array, Rumbling Storm.

    It covered Bytra''s path, splitting the ground into its conductive and insntponents. The former was pushed to the surface, amplifying the Raiju''s bloodline ability while thetter waspressed below, keeping the electrical charges from dissipating.

    At the same time, thunderous clouds formed on the upper end of the array, near the stone ceiling. Bytra saw the lightning storm brewing above her head and stirred it, adding the power of natural lightning to those conjured by her magic.

    Her speed increased to the point that the shockwaves she produced ripped the undead to shreds and her figure blurred in a ring of light that grew tighter as oneyer of defensive arrays crumbled after the other.

    ''It''s sad thinking about what we could achieve together if not for our differences.'' Both women thought in unison while inwardlyplimenting the other for her skill.

    "You know, what, Solus? I love it when you''re always right." Lith shapeshifted into his Abomination form, letting it resonate with the world energy and the two Eldritches.

 Chapter 3001 Ears of Menadion (Part 1)

    Chapter 3001 Ears of Menadion (Part 1)

    A ck pir erupted from Lith''s body, quickly followed by Bytra''s and Zoreth''s. The resonance effect between their Abomination halves amplified the Eldritches'' powers without disrupting their focus since Lith took the burden on himself.

    "Thanks, lil bro!" The Shadow Dragonughed and released a st of Origin mes from all over her body.

    It incinerated the undead, ate at Maergron''s spells, and coursed through the ground, burning the foundations of the permanent arrays. Hundreds of years of painstaking work and preparations crumbled into nothingness.

    The din of battle disappeared in an instant, reced by stony silence.

    Without the arrays, there was no point in continuing to struggle. The Redcap couldn''t risk the Eldritches destroying the temple and its priceless machines with one of their Chaos spells.

    The undead army was equally useless now so Maergron dispelled them and used what time he had left to recover his full strength. Running away was no longer an option. He would need more than a few seconds to pack what he needed to build himself a life somewhere else.

    "Even with the help of the Ears, Warping away is too risky." He told himself with a bitterugh. "They''ve yed me like a fool until now. With my luck, they have a dimensional mage ready to copse my Steps and kill me with my own spell.

    "Even worse, I''ve already lost master Pharek. I won''t leave everything behind for the Council to plunder. I''d rather die here than spend centuries rebuilding what Pharek left here for me.

    "I still have one card to y."

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Bytra and Xenagrosh used the Maw to make sure there were no more hidden traps. They found the remains of the undead and destroyed them for good measure.

    Even if Maergron changed his mind, there was nothing left to raise from the dead. Only when they were sure that the path to the Garden''s temple was clear did they remove the Decay Bastion and let the rest of the team in.

    "Amazing work like always, big sis." Lith waved at the luscious green that had suffered no damage during the fight. It was a testament to the Eldritches''s control over their powers.

    "Just one question. Why didn''t you use the Annihtion to get rid of enemies and barriers in one fell swoop?"

    "For the same reason the Council doesn''t use it often, lil bro." Zoreth poked at his nose with her finger. "Because it''s too powerful. Once unleashed, it would have also destroyed the temple and everything it contains.

    "I couldn''t risk killing our quarry and destroying the magical wonders hidden in that green pyramid."

    "It looks like a pyramid because of the hanging gardens but it''s a ziggurat." Bytra corrected her.

    "On top of that, you''ve seen how spells behave weirdly inside the Garden." The Shadow Dragon ignored her wife. "If the Annihtion was amplified or its Chaos element spread throughout the clouds above us, we''d be all dead."

    "Thanks for your kindness." Strider and Ryka were both moved by her words even though forpletely different reasons.

    The Zouwu was astonished by the restraint shown by the Eldritches. They were following the Council''s orders and had proved to be willing to shoulder the most dangerous part of the mission in order to protect those weaker than them.

    To him, it was an eye-opening experience that upended everything he believed to know about Abominations.

    The Titania couldn''t care less about taking the shadow disciple alive for interrogation. What struck her chords was the care the Eldritches had shown in preserving the beauty of the Garden.

    It was one of the most sacred ces for her kin and until that moment, Gardens had been considered myths. Protecting the Garden and sharing it with the other Fae and nt folk was much more important than catching any murderer.

    "Don''t mention it. We are all on the same boat and can benefit from the content of the pyramid." Zoreth lied through her teeth.

    She was there to retrieve the Ears, give Bytra a chance to patch things up with Elphyn, and give Lith a useful gift. In that order. An Annihtion might have destroyed the priceless artifact and made the whole trip a waste of time.

    ''Also, once we are done, I can bring Father here and let him and Nandi study the Garden. Based on what Ryka said, other ces like this exist on Mogar. If it turns out useful to the Organization, we can find another Garden and keep it to ourselves.

    ''First, however, we must make sure that the juice is worth the squeeze.'' She thought.

    "Say it with me. Ziggurat." Bytra held Zoreth''s face in her hands and moved her lips.

    "Fine! It''s a ziggurat. Happy now?" The Shadow Dragon said with a scoff.

    "Very." The Raiju replied with a giggle that was hard to associate with a heartless monster, making another bit of Strider''s convictions crumble.

    "Everyone, prepare your spells." The Zouwu said. "Let''s not give our mark the time to strategize. And remember that it''s the external arrays that have been destroyed. There might be more on the inside."

    The Eyes of Menadion proved his fears wrong. ording to the artifact, everything inside the temple had been modified to be part of argeplex of Forgemasteringbs.

    Some floors reminded Lith of the tower, but they were all weaker andcked the ability to connect between themselves and enhance each other powers. There were indeed arrays inside the ziggurat, but their purpose was to shield thebs from external energy and contain the results of failed experiments.

    They were an amazing tool for a Forgemaster, to the point that Lith wanted to copy them, but they were useless in a fight.

    "What if our mark has run away? Can you chase him?" Strider asked, his short swords unsheathed and humming with power.

    "He''s still here." Lith and Xenagrosh said in unison but only the Shadow Dragon had more to add. "Even if he tries to escape, this time we''d have a fresh trace. But I don''t think he will. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "He killed his master because of greed. He murdered the other Elders of the Council because he preferred risking it all than putting in the hard job necessary to get ess to the resources he needs.

    "If he runs away, he''d be left with less than nothing and everything he has done so far will be for naught."

    "He''d still be alive, though." Azhom shrugged.

    "He still has the device." Unanna pointed out. "It gave him a huge advantage while we were kilometers away and now that we are in front of him, it could be even more powerful. Also, he still has the home advantage.

    "He has trained here for decades whereas we can barely use our skills without harming each other. This is the only ce where he stands a chance against us and he knows it."

    The Naga wielded his six weapons, each of a different type and with a different kind of elemental crystals. He wielded one de, one mace, two shields, one staff, and one dagger dripping a thick, greasy transparent substance that was likely to be poison.

    The walk to the top of the Ziggurat was uneventful and they found the door open.

 Chapter 3002 Ears of Menadion (Part 2)

    Chapter 3002 Ears of Menadion (Part 2)

    Even though the tenth floor was the smallest, it was a room 30 meters (100'') long and wide. Maergron had already used the enchantments of theb to move all the Forgemastering tools to the floor below, leaving only the throne room''s original decorations.

    Aside from the bronze basin and the stone throne, there was nothing enchanted left.

    The two side walls were covered in murals and bas-reliefs depicting the history of the Garden. Ryka had a hard time looking at her enemy rather than staring at the tales they depicted.

    Above the murals, two long stone shelves covered the entire length of the walls. Above the shelves, there were hundreds of small dolls made of dried grass, y cups, and metal amulets that the pilgrims had presented as votive offerings before the Groundkeepers past.

    There was no Groundkeeper now, only a Fae.

    He looked to be in his early twenties and was 1.9 meters (6''3") tall. He wore a full suit of armor that left only his face exposed, revealing a pale green skin. His eyes were as red as rubies and reflected the mystical lights no differently from real gems.

    The Awakened noticed that the bronze basin was empty and that the armor seemed stretched thin, as if it could barely contain the raw violence of the Redcap. It showed that he still had the powers of the Titania just like the jolts running over the metal were too simr to Strider''s.

    des as long as short words rested on the forearms of the armor, one for each knuckle but the thumb''s. They looked like long sleek fingers, made more to stab than cut.

    Lith, Solus, and the Eldritch-hybrids, however, were much more interested in the helm covering most of Maergron''s head. Its design was simr to the armor''s but it was clear that the helm was much older.

    The Ears had an angr shape, t on the sides and tapering on the top of the head. The artifact''s front was empty, outlining where the Eyes and the Mouth were supposed to fit and form a full helm.

    At the ear level, there were angr protrusions that reminded Lith the speakers of gaming headphones. There was no headband connecting them, just white magic crystals shaped like arrowheads on their top.

    ording to the Eyes, the crystals worked akin to antennas, collecting the fluctuations in the surrounding world energy and feeding them to the artifact to decipher.

    The Eyes also revealed a steady flow of world energy going from the throne to the Ears. It was one of Pharek''s greatest sesses and the reason Maergron refused to escape.

    Only inside the Garden and only near the throne would the Ears receive the energy the artifact needed to tap into its full power without burdening the Redcap''s mana or mental focus.

    ''I can''t believe it!'' Lith thought.

    ''Me neither!'' Solus replied. ''We''ve found thest piece of Menadion''s Set! Do you know what this means?''

    ''That after shapeshifting the Ears a little here and there I can call myself Tiamatimus Prime!''

    ''I''m fucking going to-'' Whatever she had to say, it was cut short. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "You''vee here by following the most direct route without ever taking one of the many dead ends or triggering one of the traps left by my master." The Redcap said. "Clearly, you have a way to track me down, and running away would solve nothing.

    "However, I doubt it would have taken you five months to find me if it was that easy. My guess is that one of you guided the rest here so once I kill you all, I''ll have the time to pack my stuff and disappear. The Council won''t find me ever again."

    "Dream on, kid." Xenagrosh sneered at him, locking the Maw to her face.

    "You possess the Hands and the Mouth of Menadion?" Maergron was bbergasted. "Now I understand how you''ve found me. Master Pharek was right. Menadion was killed by an Abomination."

    "Sure." Sheughed at him. "I killed Menadion. I taught Arthan what he knew. I''m the one responsible for Valeron''s death. It was me all along."

    "I''m Maergron Ashvein, creature. Who are you?" He said, having no idea if the Eldritch was mocking him or telling the truth.

    Judging by the shocked gazes of herpanions, both were equally usible.

    "Xenagrosh the Final Smile." She pointed at the fangs-shaped gemstones on the Maw while giving him a mocking bow.

    Maergron and everyone else in the room went pale. Even Azhom''s skull somehow lost color.

    "What''s with those faces?" Zoreth asked the members of the Hand of Fate. "You''ve known my name all along."

    "I thought you were another Xenagrosh." Rhuta took a cautious step back.

    "I didn''t kill Menadion, I''ve never met Arthan, and I''d never harmed Valeron, for that matter."

    "This makes you just slightly less terrifying but thanks for the rification." Ryka moved a bit to the left.

    "Screw it. If she wanted to kill us, she would have done it long ago." Azhom hit them with her staff. "Let''s capture this guy. I call dibs on his armor."

    "I call dibs on the helm." Lith said.

    "That old junk?" Strider scoffed. "Then I''ll take his weapons. I think they''ll suit my style."

    The Lich''s joke had restored unity and battle formation. Also, for some reason, now Maergron looked more scared of Lith than of the Eldritch.

    Xenagrosh''s eyes moved left and right, trying to find a safe attack path. Not for herself, of course, but for the others. The room was big, but not so much to allow a group asrge as hers to attack a single target at the same time.

    ''Bytra''s powers and those of the Zouwu might hinder each other. Even worse, we have nomon tactic with the Hand of Fate. We risk interfering in our respective attacks and ruin everything.'' She thought.

    "I''ll go first and test the waters." Strider raised his right de in a chivalrous salute and circled the left to his back, stabbing at the air multiple times with subtle movements. "This guy is too confident for a dead man."

    His cloudy tail released a powerful bolt of lightning that fueled his bloodline ability, sh Steps, and produced a re of mystical light that blinded Life Vision for a split second.

    It was all the time Strider needed to cover the distance with Maergron and strike at his heart and neck at the same time.

    Lith, Solus, and the Eldritches were caught by surprise and cursed at the Zouwu.

    They didn''t know how his abilities worked nor did they catch his silent signal. The Members of the Hand of Fate did. Ryka and Unanna covered their eyes and Blinked behind the Redcap.

    The Titania was already the strongest member of the unit back when she was a bright blue core and now she had gained the deep violet. Unanna could strike six times, making him akin to three people fighting with perfect teamwork.

    More would have meant obstructing each other movements and messing up with Strider''s attack pattern.

    Maergron was blinded by the sh as well yet the Zouwu read annoyance, not fear, in the Fae''s expression.

 Chapter 3003 Ears of Menadion (Part 3)

    Chapter 3003 Ears of Menadion (Part 3)

    A blue bolt of lightning was visible coursing under Maergron''s armor as he used sh Steps as well.

    He blocked the short swords with one w from each of his gauntlets, leaving Strider bbergasted.

    ''I suspected Maergron would have trained using our abilities while waiting for us, but this is too much. I have years of experience and he''s blinded. He''s supposed to panic and il his arms.

    ''How could he block my attack with such precision and why is he not using the rest of his ws?'' With no answers to his questions, the Zouwu used the recoil from the block to alter the trajectory of his des by twisting his torso and flicking his wrists.

    At the same time, Ryka''s and Unanna''s Blinks opened and the two Awakenedunched a sneak attack from Maergron''s left at right side. The Redcap smirked, he needed no eyes as long as he had the Ears.

    A flick of his fingers allowed him to stick one w to the Zouwu''s right de and extend a second w that pierced through Strider''s defense and armor before he could react.

    The w was actually a stake that the propulsion system on the glove shot forward like an anti-tank bullet. It had been designed to impale the enemies and knock them back to buy time for its master.

    While Strider was still recovering from the impact, a second w struck his right cheek, opening a shallow cut.

    Then, Maergron pivoted on the balls of his right foot, kicking Ryka in the chest with his left leg while the right arm moved in front of Unanna and shot all four ws. Even with six arms, the Naga was no match for the Zouwu-like speed.

    Ryka was sent crashing against the wall behind the throne while Unanna blocked one w, dodged another, and took the other two respectively in the shoulder and the stomach.

    With the Darwen coating their amor cracked, the aura of the Awakened now seeped out along with their blood.

    "Much better." The Redcap smiled and recalled the stakes stuck in the Naga''s body, leaving gaping holes that bled profusely. "Who''s next?"

    Lith raised Ragnar?k while Xenagrosh charged Sky Piercer, both expecting Maergron to go in for the finishing strike and intercept him.

    Instead, the Redcap remained still.

    The Members of the Hand of Fate were dumbfounded as well but exploited his bizarre behavior to heal their wounds. Or at least, they tried. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Strider and Unanna fell to the ground in agony, having a hard time not letting go of their weapons as they doubled over, clutching their stomachs. Maergron pointed both his arms at the Zouwu, shooting the eight ws on his gauntlets from point-nk.

    "No!" The Titania felt perfectly fine and reacted by instinct.

    Instead of Blinking Strider to safety, she Blinked in front of him. It made much more sense to her since with her regenerative abilities those hits couldn''t kill her and this way, she would get close to Maergron and draw his attention.

    ''Awakened only need one breath to recover and I can buy-'' Her train of thought derailed as the ws dug into her body and inflicted her pain like she had never experienced.

    Ryka screamed in anguish, copsing to the ground as her whole being seemed to be on fire.

    Bytra and the other members of the Hand of Fate tried to intervene but Lith and Zoreth stopped them.

    ''It''s a trap.'' The Shadow Dragon said via the mind link connecting them. ''Those wounds are nothing to darkness fusion. The problem is that they carry the smell of the Redcap.''

    ''Poison? Then let me go I-'' The Lich felt confident but Lith cut her short.

    ''Mana poison. The bastard uses the spikes to inject his mana in critical points like auxiliary cores. That''s why your friends are suffering so much. You may have not a body, but you still have a mana core.

    ''If you recklessly jump in, you''ll end up like them.''

    Maergron''s weapon, Killer Wasp, had been devised by Pharek after studying the Ears for centuries and its purpose was as Lith suspected. The first hit had cracked the Darwen, creating a flow of mana that the Ears could read so that the second strike would hit a vital mana spot.

    Even if blinded, the Blinks weren''t cloaked and the Ears had perceived their opening and allowed Maergron to react. He remembered the position of all intruders so based on the entry point, he knew who his attackers were.

    What Lith and Zoreth weren''t aware of, was that the Ears could listen to the mana flow of an individual just like that of the Garden. The strike to Strider''s cheek was intentional, to inject the mana on the most direct current to the Zouwu''s core.

    Without such pinpoint precision, the quantity of mana injected would have been nullified by the vigorous flow of a bright violet Awakened core before Strider could even notice being poisoned.

    Bytra inwardly nodded and charged forward, carried by a silver bolt of lightning. Her cloaking artifact wasn''t as good as Darwen so even though the Ears couldn''t hear her flow well it was enough for Maergron to react.

    ''Luckily, she''s slower than the Zouwu in such a confined space, and just like him, she didn''t cloak her weapons. No one does.'' The Redcap grinned, using the Raiju''s faint mana flow and the Absolution''s massive stream to predict and dodge her attacks.

    Even with the Titania''s strength Maergron had stolen, he didn''t dare block. He knew from their previous confrontation how strong Bytra was and the Killer Wasp had no defensive abilities.

    The ws would bend out of shape if hit by the Davross hammer and be useless until fully repaired. It was something that would never happen because the Redcap would neverst long once he lost his prized weapon.

    As Maergron avoided the Raiju''s lightning-fast attacks, he countered at every opening by shooting one w at a time. Some Bytra dodged, others she blocked, a couple managed to open small wounds.

    ''Perfect! That''s not enough to poison her but now that I tagged her energy signature with mine I can-'' Maergron cursed himself for underestimating an Eldritch.

    The Ears had just started scanning the Raiju''s mana flow when the energy tags the Redcap had injected inside her body were devoured by Bytra''s Eldritch half.

    She further surprised him by making a copy of the Absolution materialize in her left hand and throwing seven more hammers at him while she performed a dual-wielding assault.

    Maergron knew that Blinking with so many Awakened using Life Vision on him was madness. He activated a Spirit Barrier and unleashed three Raging Suns he had at the ready, cing them in a triangle formation in front of the iing hammers.

    Thebined shockwave from the three spells deviated the projectiles'' trajectory while the barrier took the brunt of Bytra''s attacks. It shattered under the two Absolutions but still gave Maergron the time to retreat to safety.

    ''Whoever decides to attack, be careful of what the others do. If we get into each other''s crossfire our numbers will be a weakness instead of a strength.'' The Shadow Dragon said before joining the fray.

 Chapter 3004 Ears of Menadion (Part 4)

    Chapter 3004 Ears of Menadion (Part 4)

    Lith and Solus telepathically nodded and stayed behind, waiting for the Eyes to collect enough information to grasp the Ears'' weakness.

    Azhom and Rhuta, instead, conjured their best tier five Spirit Spells, respectively Manastorm and Griffon Fetters. The former generated a hail of emerald bullets, each one with the power of an Adamant cannonball.

    Griffon Fetters conjured a set of emerald chains strong enough to restrict a Griffon, the mightiest among the Divine Beasts.

    ''If I manage to block this guy''s movements, it''s over. Someone like the Final Smile needs one good punch to win.'' He thought.

    The problem was that aside from Manastorm, no one and nothing could keep up with Maergron''s speed. He stabbed with the Nails at the Fetters'' critical points and Zoreth''s armor.

    Killer Wasp''s ws also worked as feelers. Even when they failed to deal damage, they allowed the master of the Ears to study his opponent. The following blows struck the areas of Zoreth''s body where her Eldritch and Troll sides were still at odds.

    He injected them respectively with darkness and light magic, making her wince in pain. The damage by itself was insignificant but it was destabilizing her hybrid life force.

    "You are a cunning bastard, but I bet that there''s a limit to your abilities." Zoreth unleashed a pulse of elemental energy from Sky Piercer and conjured several spells at once from the Maw.

    The sudden imbnce in the world energy jammed the Ears'' readings, hitting the Redcap and those behind him like a tidal wave. It inflicted little damage to Maergron and the others, its purpose to move the Hand of Fate out of Zoreth''s way.

    Her tier five Chaos Spells, Howling Storm, conjured a volley of ck spears as thick as small trees and faster than bullets. Even with sh Steps and the help of the Ears, Maergron took several hits in full.

    Gaping holes opened in his armor and one of his legs was severed. Green tendrils sprouted from the wounds, closing the holes and collecting the scattered pieces of Adamant to hasten the armor''s repairs.

    ''Damn Fae and their regenerative abilities. If only I could attack his head.'' Zoreth clicked her tongue.

    Even when split from the main body, Maergron''s limbs kept their mobility. Manastorm was hounding the Redcap but it failed to hit him. He circled around the Awakened so that Azhom had to make the trajectory of her bullets curve to avoid her allies.

    ''He is healing too fast and his armor is whole again.'' Solus pointed out while filtering the Eyes'' useless readings. ''This can''t be the Ears'' doing. It must be the throne.''

    She had noticed that Maergron kept himself within a 15 meters (50'') range from the stone throne, even if it meant not chasing a wounded opponent. Before Lith could say anything, Bytra cut the Redcap''s path and he stepped back while using Ryka as a human shield against the unavoidable Manastorm. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Azhom cursed, steering the spell away from the Titania and hitting Xenagrosh in the process.

    ''I said to be careful, you idiot! He can read our movements!'' She was right.

    Maergron knew that in the chaos of battle, the Lich would focus too much on her enemy and friends to worry about for someone as powerful as the Eldritches.

    "Poor little things." Heughed at them. "Many against one and you cannotnd one solid blow."

    Unanna was already frustrated by his sense of helplessness and fell for the provocation. He attacked Maergron in a blind fury that made him easy prey for another dose of poisonous mana.

    The Redcap would have finished the Naga off if not for the timely assault of the Eldritches.

    He shot half of his ws at Zoreth who pped them away with Sky Piercer and the other half at Bytra who dodged them. The ws were too fast to hit them all in time and she suspected that the attack was a bait.

    ''I get that the Ears are a powerful tool, but how can we deal with so many of us at the same time.'' She thought as the Adamant projectiles curved in mid-air, stabbing Zoreth and chasing after the Raiju.

    The answer was that Maergron was Pharek''s true heir and his master had passed on to him the secret power of the Ears just like Menadion had done for him centuries ago.

    The Fae wasn''t limited to the basic functions of the artifact like the enemies that Lith and Solus had faced in the past.

    As long as the Ears had a suitable energy source, they could exceed the limits of hearing by triggering synaesthesia. Small cables linked the artifact to the sensory areas of Maergron''s brain, triggering them all.

    He could see the flow of mana with his eyes, feel it on his skin like a wind that announced an iing blow, and even taste it on his tongue. The more intense the vor, the stronger the enemy was.

    By splitting the information among the various senses, the Ears provided its master with several cues and safeguarded him from sensory overload. Back when she was still alive, Menadion knew that sound was the primal way animals and humans perceived danger.

    "If you see a sh of light, your first reaction is to shield your eyes. If you hear a loud sound, you turn around." She had exined Pharek after gifting him the Ears. "For this reason, the Ears are the mostbat-oriented among my creations.

    "Yet that''s not their purpose. I made them to help you Forgemaster masterpieces like they do for me. Use them wisely and remember that they have limits."

    Pharek had heeded her words and built hisb in the Garden for that precise purpose. The umted world energy was more abundant than any mana geyser and the throne made up for hisck of a tower or the Hands.

    It provided him with a constant flow of energy that fueled the Ears and the rest of his equipment while also blinding Life Vision. The Garden served as a means of offense by fueling the Ears and of defense by hiding the artifact''s weak point under the guise of a tacky piece of furniture.

    The problem was that Pharek had built hisb assuming to face a single opponent like a white core or an Eldritch, not a group. Also, in none of his ns had he considered a scenario where his array system would have been taken down.

    "At that point, I would be as good asdead." He had shrugged, dismissing the possibility as oundish.

    Maergron had further improved his master''s ns by adding more defensiveyers that exploited his unique powers as a Fae. By collecting the blood of an intruder, he could mimic their powers and learn their strategies before meeting them.

    In fact, if not for the abilities he had stolen from the members of the Hand of Fate, the Ears would have been useless. There was no point in reading attacks he was too slow to react to or too weak to defend against.

    He was a Forgemaster, not a fighter. If not for Strider''s speed, Ryka''s strength, and Unanna''s dexterity, all the Ears of Menadion could do was distinguish which blow would kill him first.

 Chapter 3005 Poisoned Well (Part 1)

    Chapter 3005 Poisoned Well (Part 1)

    Xenagrosh alone would have been enough to kill Maergron already if only she didn''t have to preserve the Ears. A full-powered burst of Origin mes would have likely destroyed the artifact along with the Redcap and so would most of her best spells.

    She could feel Bytra''s eyes on her, begging the Shadow Dragon not to ruin the mission.

    ''I can''t give Solus her mother''s back. I can''t undo what my original self did in the past. What I can do is protect Menadion''s legacy and help her daughter retrieve what''s left of it.'' The Raiju wasn''t as strong as the Shadow Dragon but her most powerful abilities were still too dangerous.

    Chaos spells and sma des would destroy the Ears beyond repair and she couldn''t allow it.

    ''I must not make that bastard feel cornered until I find a way to safely kill him. Otherwise he might reveal the existence of the Ears to bargain for his life or destroy it out of spite. A cornered prey is the most unpredictable one.'' Bytra, Lith, and Solus thought in unison.

    Rhuta let the Fetters fade. He had already wasted too much mana to repair the spell over and over and it was now clear that as long as the Redcap moved that quickly, it was a wild goose chase.

    "Useless as always, Rhuta Ailius. I guess your nickname as the Pinkie of the Hand of Fate is well-deserved." Maergron mocked him, hitting the Awakened''s pride where he knew would hurt the most.

    ''How does he know my full name and even the nickname those assholes of my old unit gave me?'' Outrage and surprise made him lose focus in the middle of a spell, forcing him to weave it from scratch.

    ''We''ve stopped using our names the moment we realized our mark could listen to us.''

    Lith entered the fray right when Strider had purged the mana poisoning from his core and was getting up.

    ''Gods, I can''t believe that such a small wound could hurt that much.'' He thought while releasing another bolt of thunder from his tail but this time with no sh. ''What kind of poison can affect an Awakened?''

    He was aware of the mana poisoning but without knowing of the Ears'' existence and how it worked, it was hard to believe that a thin strand of mana had reached his core.

    The Zouwu assumed it had been carried by an alchemical vector that worked akin to Balkor''s poison.

    ''I don''t care if you believe me or not.'' Lith replied while sharing via the mind link what he had learned about the throne while sitting on the sidelines. ''I have a n, but I can''t do it alone. Are you in?''

    ''With pleasure.'' The Zouwu analyzed the various steps of the n, making a few suggestions based on his real abilities and the experience from his sh with Maergron. ''Do you think you can keep up with him?''

    ''No. I wouldn''t need you otherwise.'' Lith unsheathed Ragnar?k and swelled his human form just enough to eclipse Strider who kept himself one step behind.

    At Lith''s signal, Bytra and Zoreth jumped back, leaving the Redcap bbergasted.

    The Ears perceived both the Zouwu and the Tiamat but there was something weird about their charge. The mana flow around them was blurred as if the next attack coulde from every side.

    And that wasn''t even the worst part.

    ''Another Davross weapon?'' Maergron inwardly griped. ''Does it grow on trees now or what? Shooting the ws is off the table until I understand if this guy is strong enough to cut them.''

    Lith was in his human form and without his Magus robe and extra eyes, there was nothing peculiar about him. There were no images avable to the public of his weapon and a ck-haired Awakened with ck armor was as rare as a three-leaf clover.

    Maergron felt like he had seen Lith somewhere in the past, but with an entire murder squad of the Hand of Fate and two Eldritches knocking on his door, the Fae had more pressing matters to focus on.

    When Lith lounged with his de, the Redcap deflected it by intercepting Ragnar?k''s tip and pushing it aside with his considerable strength. He could have just dodged, but the contact was necessary to ovee the cloaking device Lith wore and poison his mana flow.

    ''What the fuck?'' Even with the lever effect and the might borrowed from the Titania, Maergron could barely deviate the angry de and the readings of the Ears were far from reassuring.

    The Redcap lunged with his left hand, aiming at the auxiliary core in Lith''s left shoulder. Just like he had predicted.

    The left membranous and feathered wings came out at the same time. The flesh, bones, and the metal covering them took the brunt of the damage, trapping Killer Wasp in their flexed muscles.

    With one arm locked with Ragnar?k and the other stuck, Maergron tried to pull his left hand free and Lith used his momentum to lunge at the Redcap with the Adamant-coated bone spike at the end of his tail.

    At the same time, Strider circled around the Tiamat and the Redcap, cutting off his head, arms, and legs in quick session while Lith''s tail pierced through the chest.

    "Nice try, but it''s not enough." Having no way to avoid the blows, Maergron had disconnected the vines keeping the various parts of his body together before Strider''s des hit. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As most nt folk, his humanoid appearance was a choice. Thanks to the warning of the Ears, he could reshape himself to lessen or nullify damage. His armor could also split, allowing the different limbs to move independently.

    "Are you trapping me or is it me who''s trapping you?" The vines on his chest had opened and closed around Lith''s tail, blocking him in an awkward position.

    Maergron twisted his left arm just enough to loosen the grip on the ws and shoot them at once at Lith, hoping that at least one of them would hit an auxiliary core.

    The now-free right hand shot one w at a time at Strider, forcing him to move along a path that put him in collision course with the tier five Spirit spell, Death Bind.

    Maergron knew how the Zouwu''s bloodline ability worked and as soon as the Ears had perceived the forming of the supercharged spot in the ground where Strider wouldnd, the Redcap had aimed his spell there.

    An emerald spider with a spinning energy drill at the heart and head level appeared right where Strider was supposed to be. It was supposed to kill the Zouwu slowly enough to give the Titania the illusion she could save him so that she would be next.

    The death of his captain would trigger a fit of rage in Unanna that would make the Naga break formation. In one move, Maergron would get rid of more than half of the Hand of Fate and gain the blood he needed to fuel his abilities until the end of the fight.

    Except none of that happened.

    Strider let the first electric field fade the moment it was formed and created a second one.Changing his course in mid-air and at that speed cost him quite a bit of mana and mental focus, but it was worth it.

 Chapter 3006 Poisoned Well (Part 2)

    Chapter 3006 Poisoned Well (Part 2)

    Strider kept moving without losing speed, dodging Death Bind and carrying Lith away from the throne with him.

    ''I was so close to killing four enemies with one move.'' Maergron sighed. ''I have gotten myself a constion prize, though.''

    While the Awakened caught their breath, the Redcap used the respite to drink the blood shed by his enemies. The Zouwu''s, the Titania''s, the Naga''s, and the weird blood of the mysterious creature.

    ''Wait a second. He''s not a human, the Lich has no blood, and the Eldritches'' blood leaves behind no traces.'' During his fight with Bytra and Xenagrosh, the Shadow Dragon had been wounded multiple times. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yet her ck blood sizzled on contact with anything, burning matter away until there was nothing left.

    ''This blood hasn''t turned golden yet which means there''s only one possibility!''

    "You are the one with the freak blood!" Maergron stopped sucking Lith''s blood and hurled out what he had already taken without trying to absorb it.

    Despite the gory effect of spitting out so much blood, the Redcap had taken no damage, realizing the danger before it was toote.

    "Guilty as charged." Lith shrugged while healing his wounds. "Since you like using various kinds of poison, it was only fair to return you the favor."

    ''Lith''s n has failed but it was worth a shot. Is there any way to know where he''s hiding his Root?'' Strider asked via the mind link.

    ''Thank the gods, no. Or the Fae''s regenerative abilities would be utterly useless.'' Ryka replied, d to see that he was alright. ''I mean, no, sorry.''

    Fae and nt folk had no internal organs and only one vital spot. The Root, also called the heart, was a remnant of the original nt they had evolved from. For a Dryad it was a flower, for a Thorn a twig, and Treantlings had sprouts.

    Redcaps like Maergron were one of the possible evolution of Thorns which meant that the fastest way to kill him was to destroy the piece of the bramble he was born as.

    Before Strider could reply, a tier five spell erupted from the ground for each member of the team. A Raging Sun appeared from the ground in the middle of the group, breaking the formation by sending everyone flying in a different direction.

    Zoreth was hit by the anti-Dragon spell, Frozen Wastnd, that trapped her in ice and made the temperature around her drop by dozens of degrees. It sapped the internal fire that fueled her strength and reduced her to a shivering mess.

    A Burial Ground emerged from under Azhom''s feet trapping the Lich in a cage made of the temple''s stone after infusing it to the brim with darkness magic. Liches were still undead and darkness magic was their bane.

    Ice, lightning, and darkness flooded the room without damaging the shelves or harming one of the many trinkets they held.

    Maergron had used the Ears to have his spells ride the waves of surrounding world energy so that they reached their target without taking a physical manifestation until it was toote.

    Awakened were reliant on their enhanced senses and Life Vision to anticipate a threat but the spells seemed to appear out of nowhere and the world energy blinded most mystical senses.

    On top of that, thanks to his training in using Menadion''s masterpiece, Maergron knew how to focus the usually widespread effects of tier five magic in a small area, increasing their destructive power by several folds.

    Lith and Solus managed to dodge the spells aimed at them only thanks to the Eyes. As long as the artifact was focused solely on the Redcap''s energy signature, the external interferences wouldn''t affect its readings.

    The problem was that they couldn''t warn either Bytra or Zoreth, letting them take the blow in full. The Frozen Heart spell that hit the Raiju wasprised of water and darkness magic.

    It drenched her and her allies in water so that the more powerful the lightning she conjured, the grislier wounds she would inflict upon them. At the same time, the darkness element attacked her Eldritch and Goblin side.

    One became hungrier while the other weaker and easy prey to the former.

    ''Any brilliant ideas?'' Lith asked while escaping a Frozen Wastnd by the skin of his teeth.

    ''Just one.'' Solus dodged at thest second a Stormnado that was supposed to slice her to shreds. ''To make it work, we need perfect coordination and a bit of help.''

    ''Got it!'' They bolted from one point of the room to another, rescuing their allies and using a mind link to share with them Solus'' n.

    Luckily, what the members of the Hand of Fate knew about Maergron''s secret weapon was enough to understand the n without the need to expose the Ears.

    ''Guys, this is going to hurt, but it''s our only chance.'' Strider said to the bright blue-cored Awakened on his team.

    They were bound to have had a hard time fighting a normal bright violet core, let alone one with the speed of a Zouwu, the strength of a Titania, and a device that allowed him to anticipate the enemy''s attacks.

    ''Don''t worry, boss.'' Azhom replied. ''Guys, feel free to use me as a shield. As long as my phctery is intact, I cannot die.''

    ''And where is it, exactly?'' Rhuta asked.

    ''Rude! I never took you for someone with a ve kink nor did I suspect you looked at me that way.'' The Lich had hidden her phctery outside the cave before entering the Garden.

    The natural flow of world energy would trap detection spells on the inside, making it impossible to spot the phctery while also keeping it close enough to retain her full strength.

    ''I don''t!'' Rhuta blushed in embarrassment. ''If you have your phctery with you, we can''t help you protect it unless we know on which part of your body it''s hidden. If you left it somewhere, the moment your body is destroyed you''ll go back to the phctery.

    ''You won''t die, sure, but you won''t be back here before the end of the fight. I, I mean, we need to know where it is to n ahead.''

    ''Oh.'' Azhom replied. ''I don''t have it with me. It''s all I can tell you.''

    Everyone cursed at the news. A Lich was a Redcap''s natural enemy but without the phctery, it wouldn''t take many hits to banish Azhom from the Garden until it was toote.

    Once again, Strider charged in first, followed by Bytra as soon as she dried herself up. The Titania came next, Blinking to his back but this time at a safe distance. Ryka shrunk andpressed her body to offer a smaller target.

    She lifted several blocks of stone with earth magic and threw them at the Redcap with all her strength.

    The mind link alerted her allies of the trajectory of the projectiles and they made sure to block the easiest escape paths. The temple was made of rock that had been refined by the Garden through the centuries, bing as hard as diamond.

    The stone projectiles weren''t enough to kill a Redcap but with the Titania''s strength, one hit would be enough to block Maergron''s movements long enough for Bytra and Strider to finish him.

 Chapter 3007 Blindsided (Part 1)

    Chapter 3007 Blindsided (Part 1)

    Maergron cursed his bad luck, with the Raijuing like a missile from his back and the Zouwu in front of him, there was no way to dodge. He split his body into vines and his armor into itsponents, escaping from the jaws of defeat. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    On the one hand, Strider was forced to dodge Bytra''s charge as well, relieving the pressure on the Redcap. On the other hand, not only did Strider need a single step to avoid the living projectile, but Maergron was forced to expose his Root in the process.

    ''There it is!'' Azhom Blinked right in front of the target while the rest of the group shot their spells with thergest area of effect.

    The vines shuffled in a rush, hiding the Root from the Lich''s deadly touch and her Rot w. Darkness magic was slow but from so up close and with Maergron''s body still reforming, it didn''t matter much.

    The spell created a condensed fog in an area big enough to engulf the Redcap without affecting herpanions.

    Maergron cursed, unleashing upon the Lich the tier five Phoenix Smash he had prepared to kill the Zouwu. Emerald mes burned at the Lich''s body and mana, foiling the Blink she had conjured to escape.

    The dimensional spell burned as well and exploded in her face. Azhom shrieked as what was left of her mortal body was incinerated by the Spirit spell. It couldn''t kill her, but even a Lich wouldn''t forget that kind of pain easily.

    "Azhom!" Rhuta pretended to be worried, hoping to fool the enemy into believing that the Lich was gone.

    The Ears showed Maergron the blood core moving to the surface so he didn''t buy the act nor the fake outrage that followed.

    The Naga unleashed a flurry of his six weapons while also conjuring his best spells against the Redcap.

    ''If I can''t match him with quality and speed, I must make up for it with quantity.'' Unanna thought.

    He was too weak to fight Maergron alone but with Bytra and Strider covering for him, he could fight on par with the bright violet core until his mana ran dry. Then he had to recover with Invigoration, rinse and repeat.

    Rhuta kept himself at a distance, his fastest and most destructive spells at the ready while waiting for the Root to be exposed again. His chances of sess were minimal but it gave the Redcap one more thing to worry about.

    ''I don''t get it.'' He thought. ''I can go on like this until I run out of blood whereas if they make one mistake, I can destroy them like I did with the Lich. What are they hoping to achieve?''

    The answer to his question kept themselves out of the fight.

    Lith used Demon Grasp to conjure, Locrias, Valia, Trion, and Varegrave with six eyes each. He shared with them the n and how to safely exploit the endless stream of world energy of the Garden.

    He didn''t give them a body to possess so that even if they failed to control the power of the Garden, Valia and Varegrave wouldn''t lose their corpses.

    At the same time, Solus conjured the tier four Void Magic spell, Rising Storm. Part of the floor of the Garden''s tenth floor broke down, either turning into a muddy substance that Solus manipted to hinder the Redcap or into small thunderclouds.

    Thanks to the mind link, Bytra and Strider knew where and when the floor would soften or be electrified. They used the information to move even faster while Maergron stumbled, taking more and more hits.

    Lith left the Demons of the Darkness behind and moved forward. They were nibbling at the world energy and using it to conjure more and more Demons by themselves via the ck chains that came out of their chests.

    Maergron still failed to see the point in that strategy.

    ''The six-eyed creatures are strong but they are made of pure energy. If they attack, I can destroy them with one hit thanks to the Ears. The one-eyed creatures aren''t even worth defending against.

    ''Whatever they are doing, I must stop them before it''s toote!'' He consumed the blood stored in his thorns in one go.

    The stolen strength, speed, and agility coupled with his Fae body now exceeded his opponents''. Also, the blood gave him ess to some of the most powerful spells of the Hand of Fate and how to use them.

    Ryka''s rocks shattered while a hail of electrified ice des cut Unanna arms and impaled him to the wall. The Killer Wasp slipped with ease past the Zouwu''s defenses and the Raiju''s, the ws pierced their flesh and poisoned their cores.

    It was a desperate gamble that Maergron had tried to avoid but he had no choice. Solus'' spell had tipped the scales of the fight too much. If it kept on like that, he would lose. To make matters worse, the Shadow Dragon had been looking at him the whole time.

    Soon her Dragon Eyes would learn everything about him and when that happened, his speed would be worth nothing.

    The Redcap''s only option was to kill everyone in one fell swoop If it failed, however, the abilities he had stolen would fade and he would be a sitting duck.

    ''He fell for it. Now!'' Solus said via the mind link.

    Rising Storm generated bolts of lightning that came from both the ground and the ceiling in a loop, intercepting Maergron''s spells and giving Solus'' allies the time to retreat to safety.

    Lith activated Tiamat Fear and flooded the world energy with his willpower and mana. The interference jammed the Ears'' readings and for one precious second, synaesthesia made Maergron blind and deaf.

    Zoreth Chaos Blinked to the throne and cut it into five pieces with Sky Piercer. The moment the flow of world energy was cut off, the Ears went back to their normal mode, unable to split the information through the Redcap''s five senses any longer.

    The noise caused by the flow of mana and the world energy in the room gave Maergron a splitting headache but his training and willpower held.

    ''I can still do it. The power of the blood in my vines will make mest until-'' Until the Demons of the Darkness started to move in a frenzy and conjured as many spells as they could.

    Blood and sap seeped out of the vines thatprised the Redcap''s eyes, mouth, and ears due to the sudden sensory overload. Maergron lost his mind and with it all the spells he kept at the ready.

    He tried to surrender, but the voice was stuck in his throat and a wail of agony escaped his lips instead.

    The moment his body froze in pain, Strider cut it into shreds, Lith burned the pieces with small bursts of Origin mes, and Bytra hammered them into bits. Maergron''s Root was hidden in his right foot and contained so much mana that it shone like a lightbulb.

    Bytra spotted the luminescenceing from the armored heel and destroyed it by "ident".

    "Sorry." She said as the remaining vines withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

 Chapter 3008 Blindsided (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 3008 Blindsided (Part 2)</h4>

    3008 Blindsided (Part 2)

    "Don''t be." Strider rushed to Unanna''s side, making sure that his wounds weren''t lethal. "Losing Limbell''s knowledge is a tough blow for the Council but I think it''s for the best. His disciple was deranged and unworthy of trust.

    "Your mistake saved us a lot of future trouble." The Naga was in a critical condition but since he was still alive and his core was intact, it took the Zouwu only a few breaths to stabilize his friend.

    "I''ll write in my report that it happened in the chaos of battle and that there''s no way to know who dealt the death blow. Everyone agrees?" Cheers weed the proposal and Unanna gave him a thumbs up from the only hand that already worked.

    "My only regret is that the bastard didn''t suffer enough." The Naga coughed out the blood obstructing his lungs.

    "Thank you, guys." Bytra had a hard time acting casual and holding her impatience back. "Great n, Solus. It worked like a charm."

    "No, thanks to you, guys." She replied with a warm smile. "Without your help, I couldn''t have stayed safe out of the fight and understood how his powers worked. Also, I had the idea, but you made it work."

    "Yeah." Lith lied through his teeth. "I''m not going to lie, that mutated Redcap was terrifying. He could anticipate our movements and spells like it was nothing. I''m happy he won''t ever sire more like him."

    With that, he had justified Maergron''s mysterious abilities and hidden the existence of the Ears.

    "Too bad I had to destroy his device." Zoreth sighed, following his lead and pointing at the throne. "I would have loved to know how this thing could read the flow of world energy but there''s no telling how many of us would have died if I didn''t destroy it."

    "Again, sad but an eptable loss." Strider said. "I want to apologize to you guys. I treated you like shit from the beginning yet if not for your assistance mypanions and I would have died at the entrance of the Garden.

    "Thanks for saving my ass and taking my head out of it." The Zouwu bent down, picking the Ears from where it had fallen. "I guess this is yours, Supreme Magus Verhen."

    He threw the helmet in a lob shot that Lith caught.

    "You are wee." Lith studied the Ears with fake indifference. "You know what, this would look bad on me. It''s yours, Solus."

    He threw the Ears at her but a ck-d hand came from behind her and caught it first.

    Solus would have fought the unknown thief but her limbs refused to move. Her strength was leaving her body as a red stain bloomed on her chest. One hand held the Ears while the other pushed a knife through her heart.

    Ruthay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. A female humanoid figure dressed in ck stood behind him after cutting his throat to prevent him from alerting the others.

    Lith''s shock turned into horror when he felt his bond with Solus disappear and her presence vanish from his mind.

    "Solus!" He tried to Spirit Blink her to his side and failed.

    He tried to Blink to her side and failed as well.

    With no idea what was happening, Lith, Bytra, Zoreth, and his Demons charged forward while the figures d in ck ran for the door.

    "What the fuck?" The bond returned as quickly as it had disappeared the moment Lith entered an invisible Sealed Space. "That''s why not even Spirit Dimensional Magic worked!"

    He knelt at Solus'' side, feeling the tower sap his vitality to heal her wound and he dly let it. He shattered the Sealed Space to tap into the world energy and used Demon Grasp to mend the punctured heart just in the nick of time.

    Bytra was the first to reach the exit where a third ck figure waited. Griffon Fetters bound her and dragged her to the ground and the same happened to Zoreth the moment she tried to free the Raiju.

    When the Demons arrived, a fifth figure was done opening a Gate that sucked that four ck-d individuals in and then exploded on itself. Locrias and Valia used Domination to keep the portal open but their will wasn''t enough.

    "How dare you?" Zoreth was seething with anger.

    Her strength and Sky Piercer failed to shatter the mystical shackles and she was forced to slowly consume them with Origin mes to not risk hurting Bytra in her fury.

    With the thieves gone, the spells faded on their own.

    "Who the fuck were those guys?" Strider was kneeling by Rutha''s side, doing everything he could to save his life. "Long-distance Spirit Magic doesn''t work in the Garden. How could they escape like that?"

    Luckily, a bright blue Awakened''s body was sturdy and everything had happened so quickly that Rutha''s core had yet to start to fade.

    "I don''t know, but you have my word that I''m going to find them and I''m going to kill them." Lith held Solus'' hand, d to see the ze disappear from her eyes and be reced by light.

    "And I''m going to help you, lil bro." Zoreth was fuming. Literally.

    Steam rose from her incandescent skin and ck smoke came out of her nostrils as the fire of her rage threatened to consume her.

    "I don''t know or care who those guys are. I''m going to use everything the Organization has to find them and when I do, I''ll make them regret to have been ever born."

    ***

    The Chroniclers of the World Tree copsed the space behind their Steps and then rxed it. It was a method to make dimensional corridors untraceable that the Yggdrasil had learned from one of the best Dimensional Mages in Mogar''s history.

    ''Well done.'' The World Tree said. ''Now that we have the Ears as bait, there is only one more step of my n left.''

    ''With all due respect, my Liege, wouldn''t have been easier dealing with them here and now?'' Ghal V''horr asked while pointing at the other ck-d Chroniclers. ''We could have just taken the girl after killing the others and brought her to you.''

    They all wore Darwen suits that made them invisible to everything but regr sight and there were twenty of them. The rule was for one Chronicler per mission. Three when trouble was expected and five to deal with multiple Divine Beasts.

    Never before had so many Chroniclers been assembled and nothing on Mogar could stop such a force. With the advantage of surprise, there was no way they could lose.

    V''horr was confident even against the Suneater under such circumstances.

    ''Fool, do you really think that Verhen would have let you get away that easily? That he would just sit there and let you use a Removal Unit? What if they fused? What if the ambush failed?'' The World Tree replied.

    ''I know how every major force on Moagr thinks. How they will act. Every force but those ursed hybrids.''

    Memories of Tezka''sst raid on the Yggdrasil''s Fringe sent a shudder down his colossal trunk. The Fylgja had got in, taken what he wanted, and left.

 Chapter 3009 Overlapping Moments (Part 1)

    Chapter 3009 Ovepping Moments (Part 1)

    The World Tree knew many things but how Tezka had discovered the location of the Fringe and how had he gotten in was not among them.

    One thing the Yggdrasill knew for sure.Years had passed since the first incursion and, since that day, the Suneater had be even stronger. How much was another mystery and one of the few on Mogar the World Tree had no desire to unravel.

    ''Given time, the Eldritches would have called for their kin. Given time, they would have destroyed us all.''

    ***

    Luckily, Solus made a full recovery and the only problem she had left was hiding the sadness for losing the Ears. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Strider offered them to take Maergron''s armor and weapon to make up for their loss, but they refused.

    "I''m interested in the crafting methods for Darwen, though." Lith said, angry about the theft of the Ears and the attempt on Solus'' life.

    "I can''t help you with that, sorry." The Zouwu shook his head. "These armors belong to the Council. None of us knows how to make them."

    "And the Elders are going to kick my ass for losing mine." Azhom said with a sigh.

    Only her skull had regenerated. The rest of her body would take at least one day.

    "Look, I know it''s not much, but I want to apologize to you guys again." Strider offered Lith his hand and he promptly shook it. "You have my word that I''ll use every connection I have to find those weird guys.

    "They almost killed Rhuta and I consider you and Solus honorary members of my team. No one puts their hands on myrades and lives to tell the tale. Nobody." The Zouwu said with a low growl, his eyes reduced to fiery slits of violet mana.

    "Thanks." Lith nodded, every offer for help was wee.

    Especially because this way it wouldn''t be him bing indebted to the Council or involved in their power ys.

    "If you discover anything or need help, don''t hesitate to contact me. My policy about those who hurt my family is simr to yours, just much crueler." They exchanged contact runes.

    "Wanna bet?" Strider said with a cruel smile that made him gain several points in Lith''s book.

    "Game on." After another quick goodbye, the Hand of Fate left with the promise to contact the others again after the Garden had been fully explored.

    The mission was a sess and everyone was entitled to their share of the recovered spoils.

    "Let''s go home." Lith checked Solus for the umpteenth time with Invigoration.

    For one moment, he had thought to have lost her forever and the feeling still haunted his very soul. Solus had been hurt many times. Against the Odi, she had been wounded so deeply that her consciousness had been drawn to the Mindscape, and their mind link severed.

    Yet even then he could still feel their bond and there was no body he could see.

    Back in the temple, their bond had briefly disappeared and Lith had witnessed the light abandoning Solus'' eyes, just like it had happened with Jormun and Phloria. It triggered all of his past traumas plus one.

    For some reason, the scene of the assassin stabbing her was as familiar as it was bone-chilling but he couldn''t tell why.

    "You cane with us, if you like." Solus said. "Elysia will be happy to see you."

    Even though she didn''t like Bytra much and felt so tired that she could sleep for a week, Solus didn''t want to be rude to the Eldritches. It was thanks to them she had traced the Ears of Menadion and they had put themselves at risk multiple times to help her.

    The failure to recover the artifact didn''t erase their sacrifices or Solus'' gratitude.

    "And we will as well. Thank you." Bytra replied with a warm smile but kept her distance even more than usual.

    It took them a few Chaos Steps to reach the closest city with a Warp Gate and then a single step to reach the Verhen Mansion.

    It waste evening, but the park was still bustling with activity.

    Kam was teaching Selia the basics of chore magic, changing the subject to footwork and self-defense whenever the huntress was fed up with studying.

    Selia was no warrior, but after a lifetime spent in the woods, she was as lithe as a cat and had excellent eye-hand coordination. Learning how to fight came much easier to her than first magic.

    The Mansion was their chosen training ground because it was spacious, away from prying eyes, and, most importantly, had plenty of babysitters. The practice of magic required time, concentration, and silence.

    All things that Seliacked since she had given birth to five cyclone-shaped hybrid children.

    Elina, R, Rena, and the handmaidens took care of the toddlers. Aran and Leria were back from their magical lessons in the Desert and kept Lilia and Leran busy ying with their magical beasts.

    Garrik and Fluffy took part in their games, the young Tyrant''s skills making up for the Byk being the weakest of the group.

    In a secluded spot of the park, Nalrond was teaching Friya and Protector the basics of Light Mastery. The Agni would soon be part of the Ernas family and share his legacy with them, yet he wanted his fianc¨¦e to be the first to benefit from it.

    Protector was included in the lessons because Nalrond considered him a part of his new tribe. The Skoll and his family were among the few who knew who he really was and had shared their house with him for years.

    ''This is the least I can do to thank them.'' Nalrond thought with a serene smile on his face.

    ''To think that I busted my ass for years to learn Light Mastery and they are getting it for free.'' Quy thought with the scowl of someone who had lost a huge bet.

    Nothing that Nalrond was exining was new to her, just simpler and easier to understand. The Agni was in his humanoid form and had sought the privacy of the Mansion as well.

    There were no human servants there and no one batted an eye at his appearance. Nalrond had yet to get used to his new body and using Body Sculpting to assume his previous human form felt awkward.

    Elysia and Valeron yed with Solkar, Surin, and Manohar the Second. After the first y date, many more had followed. Interacting with other children had proven to be more interesting to the Dryad-human hybrid than his usual escape attempts.

    Ferir was in goodpany as well. She was the same age as Falco, Teryon, and Lenart, Rena''s triplets.

    "I can''t believe we have a little army of mages here." Elina chuckled while watching the children of all ages using magic for their games.

    "I can''t believe I can finally spend my afternoons rxing instead of running around the house to make sure they are not setting it aze." Rena groaned, pouring herself a cup of strong tea with rxing properties. "We should have done this sooner."

    Fenrir and the triplets yed under the strict supervision of the Fomor and the handmaidens, Ophya and V.

 Chapter 3010 Overlapping Moments (Part 2)

    Chapter 3010 Ovepping Moments (Part 2)

    R used her eyes to snuff any spell that might harm the children while the handmaidens with their Awakened bodies could safely restrain the young Skoll when she threw a tantrum.

    When Lith and the others arrived, it took one nce at their faces to notice that something bad had happened.

    "Wee back, sweetie." Elina got up to meet them. "Is everything okay? Are you done with the investigation?"

    Lith was frowning more than usual but Solus worried Elina the most. Her face was greenish pale and her smile twitched like she could fall apart at any moment.

    "It''s a long story, Mom." Solus replied, not wanting to upset Elina and scare the children. "Sadly, we got our man but we failed. No new toy for me."

    "Dya!" Before Elina could ask another question, Elysia recognized her father and took flight to reach him.

    With her stumpy Tiamat form and her short wings, the baby girl''s movements were clumsy and awkward. Yet her genuine efforts made her adorable in the eyes of the members of the family.

    "Baba?" Elysia stopped midway, sniffing Solus'' odd scent and feeling her distress.

    The baby girl changed the target andnded between Solus'' arms with the grace of a sack of potatoes.

    "Not baba, sweetie. I''m not bad." Solus embraced Elysia tight, findingfort in her warmth and the softness of her small body. "Call me Solus, Auntie, but not baba, please. I can''t take it. Not today."

    "Baba?" Elysia grabbed Solus'' shirt and wrapped her wings around Solus in what was the best hug she could offer. Elysia wasn''t used to seeing Solus upset and wanted to console her like Solus always did with her.

    "I''m fine, baby. Don''t worry." Solus'' voice broke with every word she spoke and soon she was sniffling.

    She had kept it together until that moment, but the sight of the Mansion, her family, and Elysia''s embrace were more than Solus could take.

    ''I went this close to losing all of them. I went this close to losing everything again.'' The sniffling turned into sobbing as the feeling of the knife piercing her heart from the back ovepped with the memory of Bytra''s horn killing her. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The two events were centuries apart yet the surprise, shock, and helplessness she had experienced while her life slipped away were the same. The Sealed Space had isted her from Lith, making Solus think that she would have once again died alone.

    The old and recent trauma weighed on her mind, crushing Solus'' spirit into fine powder.

    Elysia giggled, smiled, and did everything that usually made grown-ups happy but nothing worked. Solus kept crying harder until the baby girl joined her.

    Lith took a step back, gesturing for Bytra and Zoreth to do the same.

    ''If I get close, our bond will help her but also reinforce our codependence. Yet if I leave her alone, I''ll feel like a jerk. There''s no right move!'' Lith was seething with pain and anger, wishing to find those who had stolen the Ears and give them an excruciating death.

    "Are you sure you don''t want me to leave?" Bytra whispered despite having already put a Hush spell in ce. "My presence here can only make things harder for her."

    "You''re right. You''d better go. I''m sorry." Lith Warped them to the Gate and apologized again.

    "Don''t apologize, lil bro." Zoreth dismissed it. "Just let us know when Solus gets better and tell her that if there''s something we can do, she just has to ask."

    "Will do. Thank you."

    Meanwhile, in the park, Elina was embracing Solus in an attempt to console her while R and the handmaidens brought everyone inside to give the two women some privacy.

    As soon as they were alone, Solus tried to speak, but her voice was a sobbing mess, and the few words she put together made no sense. She used a mind link to share with Elina the final moments of the mission and all the suffering that her near-death experience had inflicted upon her.

    "It''s alright, baby. It''s all over now. You are safe here." Small tears streaked down Elina''s cheeks but her voice remained calm and soothing.

    Elina''s pain was more than Elysia could take so she went all out.

    "Dya! Mama! Gama! Masa!" She called upon those dearest to her forfort.

    The baby girl didn''t understand what was happening and it terrified her seeing grown-ups cry.

    Sark''s Blood Imprint brought her there from the Desert, Lith felt Elysia''s distress through their resonance, and Kam ran there because she could hear her daughter cry from a mile away.

    Solus cried hard but Elysia was a close second.

    Sark''s strength, Lith''s bond, and the warmth of the group hug allowed Solus to pull herself together enough to ask a question that was nagging at her.

    "Who is Masa and why didn''t they answer?" She asked amid sniffles.

    "And I''m your grandma too, sweetie. I should be offended that you''ve yet to call me Gama." Elina gave a peck on Elysia''s head with a mock frown, trying to lighten the mood.

    "It''s you." Sark answered Solus'' question. "It means ''Mommy Solus'' and Elysia was keeping it for a special asion. And by special asion I mean to get what she wanted from you the next time you said no to her."

    "Like father like daughter." Solus half sobbed and halfughed.

    "I''m sorry. I don''t know who Lith takes after. We raised him better than this." Elina chuckled as well.

    Kam was a little upset by the new baby word, but she got over it quickly.

    ''It''s normal. Solus spends a lot of time with Elysia and dotes on her. It''s just like how Tista called Rena mom when she was little and I thought that Zinya was my mother because she spent all her time with me.'' She thought, yet a tinge of annoyance remained in the back of her mind.

    "Say that again." Solus kissed Elisya. "Say Masa. Ma-sa."

    "Masa." No one was crying anymore so the baby girl gave it another try.

    "Thank you." Solus fell onto her knees.

    She was still crying but now was out of joy.

    "I''m home, baby girl, and I''m here to stay."

    ***

    The next morning, Kam and Lith woke up first, letting Solus sleep in with Elysia. After learning everything that had happened inside the Garden, Kam had agreed to a family sleepover.

    "I don''t want to be here. I''ve better things to do than wasting my time sleeping." Leegaain had grumbled.

    The sleepover included him, Sark, Elina, and Raaz all sleeping in different beds in the same room.

    "Adya." Elysia spoke the Dragontongue for grandfather that Leegaain had made the second easiest to pronounce for a baby of his Brood on purpose.

    "I changed my mind." He said with a smug grin while Raaz and the Overlord scowled at him.

    "So, I have to drag you here by force and she needs but one word to convince you to stay?" Sark''s aura lit the room in anger.

    "Well, yes. Elysia is way cuter and kinder than you. No matter what form you take, you are a brute on the inside as much as you are on the inside." Leegaain shrugged.

 Chapter 3011 New Job (Part 1)

    Chapter 3011 New Job (Part 1)

    The presence of the baby girl and her happy giggle saved the Father of All Dragons from a long tirade and prevented a small scuffle between Guardians.

    "We''ll talk about this tomorrow." Sark grunted.

    While Lith contacted everyone he knew and pulled every string at his disposal to uncover the identity of the thieves of the Ears, Kam called Jirni.

    "My six months of maternity leave are about to end and I would like to know if there''s a way to extend it." She asked. "I don''t feel like going back to work as a Royal Constable again.

    "The long hours and the overtime were hard before but now they would be unbearable. I don''t want to be back home only for the meals and dedicate to my daughter the crumbs of my time."

    "I hear you." Jirni nodded. "I''m sorry but there''s no way to extend the leave. However-"

    "Then I''d like to work part-time as a Constable or be demoted to my old job as data analyst if necessary. Anything that can give me regr hours and stability will do." Kam loved her current line of work and until a few months ago she would have never considered quitting.

    ''It''s not like my presence affects the crime rates.'' She thought. ''There are countless criminals and hundreds of Constables hunting them down but there''s only one Elysia. She learns new things every day and I don''t want to miss any of her first times.

    ''I want to be with her when she starts crawling, stands up, or learns a new word. There''s not enough time on Mogar to be a good mother and Constable. I''d rather be a good mother and a crappy Constable than a good Constable and a crappy mother.

    ''Even if it means quitting my job.'' Kam didn''t want to be like her own mother, Kima, who only remembered having daughters when she needed something.

    She was currently rotting in a jail and Kam had not visited her once.

    Also, she couldn''t deny that the idea of Solus spending more time with Elysia than her and being demoted from Mama to whatever word Elysia would use for "Mommy Kam" hadn''t weighed on her decision.

    "As I was saying, there is no way to extend the maternity leave."Jirni said. "However, you could take a sabbatical. With over thirteen years of loyal service, you are entitled to a one-year leave with fixed pay."

    "Thank the gods." Kam sighed in relief. "I hadn''t thought of that. Thanks, Jirni."

    "Don''t thank me, yet." She dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. "I''m willing to bet good money that you won''t have to take a sabbatical. Just submit your application to send the message and the rest will take care of itself."

    "What are you talking about?" Kam said in confusion.

    "You can''t be so na?ve, child. Not after spending so much time with me." Jirni furrowed her brows in annoyance. "You will get full pay and regr career advancement because taking care of your daughter is your new job for months now."

    "What?"

    "Think about it, dear." Jirni assumed the slow, calm lecturing tone she used with small children. "You belong to a powerful magical bloodline. Elysia has already shown her attitude toward magic in the form of the six streaks in her hair.

    "The Royals know she''s Awakened so even if your daughter was born with an insignificant mana capacity, she''s destined to reach the bright blue. When she gets the violet will depend on her attitude and whether or not Lith will share his method with her, but that''s it.

    "When, not if. The Crown knows she''s going to be a powerful mage and a Divine Beast at that. The Kingdom can''t afford Elysia to have an absent mother because she might grow resentful of the time you spend apart.

    "If the Royals do this ''favor'' to you, you''ll be grateful to them and that will reflect on the way you raise her daughter. Her feelings about the Kingdom depend on what you teach her. If you love it, she''ll love it too. As simple as that."

    "It makes sense, but it''s still a big deal. Showing such tant favoritism is bound to arouse envy and anger. Our colleagues will hate me and Lith''s enemies will have another argument to use against him." Kam replied. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No, they won''t. It''s not an exception the Crown will do just for you. It''s the rule." Jirni said.

    "Since when?" Kam blurted out in surprise. She had never read or heard of such aw.

    "Since the founding of the Kingdom." Jirni replied. "Ancient magical bloodlines and the four founding pirs have always benefitted from this policy. Orion and I were offered this very option every time I gave birth to one of our children."

    "Really?"

    "Yes. It was actually addressed to Orion but extended to me out of mere formality." Jirni''s face twitched in difort so lightly that if not for their familiarity Kam would have missed it.

    "I have been raised under¡­ peculiar circumstances that along with my personality made me unsuitable to nurture a healthy child. It''s the reason Gunyin has grown into a responsible, disciplined man and Phloria was such a dedicated soldier.

    "My sons were considered failures by the Kingdom due to theirck of magical talent but they are the apple of my eyes no less than my daughter."

    "What about Tulion?" Even Kam''s Awakened senses failed to perceive Jirni''s frustration and the regret for all the things she had missed.

    "That''s no one''s fault. Sometimes a good tree can produce a rotten apple." Jirni was happy to change the topic and deny any allegation of Orion being a bad parent. "Or rather, it produced a stubborn apple who took his sweet time to ripe."

    She grunted, d that Tulion had turned a new leaf and showed no sign of falling back into his old habits.

    "You said made." Kam pointed out. "Are you going to take the offer to stay home this time?"

    "I am." Jirni nodded, her eyes brimming with determination. "I''ve changed a lot since Phloria''s passing and I''ll be damned if I miss a single moment of my child''s infancy or repeat the mistakes of the past.

    "I''m going to stay with my family and may the gods help anyone who tries to take me away from them."

    ***

    After a few pleasantries and asking Jirni for updates about her pregnancy, Kam ended the call and joined the rest of the family for breakfast.

    To keep the children from pestering Solus about the events of the previous day she shared with everyone her decision of taking a break from her job and the information she had received from Jirni.

    "That''s wonderful news and an even better decision, dear." Elina gently squeezed Kam''s hand. "I wish the Kingdom cared so much about every child, though. Being a working parent is hard for everyone, not just the magical bloodlines."

    "Please!" Aran snorted. "They gave sis Kami a break only because Elysia is a girl. They are a lot of work."

    "Hey!" The entire female side of the family replied as one.

    "What?" Aran shrugged. "Lith was a perfect son and gave no problem to our parents. Just like me. Isn''t it true, big bro?"

 Chapter 3012 New Job (Part 2)

    Chapter 3012 New Job (Part 2)

    "Yes." Raaz scratched his head in embarrassment while Trion almost snarled his answer.

    Raaz hated having yed such a minor role in Lith''s upbringing whereas Trion hated theparison. Not even death couldpletely extinguish the fires of sibling rivalry.

    "Your brother is a special case, young man." Elina scolded him. "You gave us your fair share of trouble."

    "But not as much as Tista." Aran grumbled.

    "Hey, I was ill!"

    "And how is that my fault?" He replied with the stubbornness of a child. "Our brother solved your problem so my point stands."

    "You are so cool, Uncle Lith. When I grow up, I want to be like you." Falco said. He had blonde hair streaked ck like Rena, but for some reason, Lith thought of Balkor every time he looked at the boy.

    "Me too!" Lenart had ck hair with silver streaks all over.

    People often pointed out how simr he and Manohar the Second''s human form looked like, sending a cold shiver down everyone''s spine. The Kingdom would have loved another god of healing, the parents of the boys, however, didn''t share the enthusiasm.

    "When I get as old as Aunt Tista, I''ll have surpassed you all." Teryon had auburn hair like Tista, with blue streaks that turned red at the tip of her hair.

    She spoke with a confidence that annoyed the children''s male side of the table plus one grown-up woman.

    "Hey, why is ''grow up'' when you talk about Lith and ''old'' when you talk about me?" Tista was used to children''s bantering but not to be the butt end of their jokes.

    "Weed to my world." Trion grunted with a smirk on his face.

    "Our world, you mean." Senton corrected him.

    Misery always lovespany.

    "Because he''s cool and you are not." The triplets replied as one without even trying.

    "He''s a Magus." Teryon shrugged.

    "He''s a great Dad." Lenart pointed at Elysia.

    "He''s the first mage of our bloodline and we take our family name from him." Falco pointed at the family insignia etched, drawn, or studded in many points of the Mansion.

    "You are older and got nothing to show for it." They said in unison again.

    "You little¡­" Tista jumped from her chair but had no way to rebuke their mean yet honest words without stooping down to their level.

    "Don''t worry. The first mile is always the hardest." Senton wanted but failed tough, feeling deeppassion for Tista. "Fair warning. It doesn''t get better with time. You just get used to it."

    "Preach, brother." Trion gave him a fist bump.

    "Kids!" Rena blushed in embarrassment. "Stop grilling your aunt. These are not nice things to say."

    "Why?" Teryon was honestly confused. "You taught us to always tell the truth, Mom. Do you want us to lie?"

    "Absolutely not, baby girl."

    "Then what''s wrong with what we said?" The triplets'' Dolby surround speech made it harder for Rena to find a polite answer.

    "Tista is¡­ I mean, everyone has a different path in life. Not everyone can do it and sess doesn''t guarantee happiness. I mean¡­"

    "Well, thanks, Rena, I couldn''t have said it better myself." Tista sneered. "You should be awyer. Mom, Dad! Say something."

    Raaz quickly shoved food in his mouth so that when he spoke there was no way to understand a word he said.

    "We are proud of all our children." Elina inwardly cursed her husband''s ingenuity and went for a nket statement before changing the topic. "Are you feeling better today, Solus?"

    "Yes, Mom. Much better. Just this damn cough." Solus was crying from hrity and her cough was the result of her failed attempts to stifle herughter.

    "With friends like this, who needs enemies?" Tista grumbled and epted defeat.

    "Uncle Lith, when will you take us on our trip to teach us magic?" The triplets asked in unison.

    "When you are older and only if your parents give you permission." Lith replied.

    Even though they were fraternal triplets, the kids often said the same things at the same time and each finished the sentence of the other. They had lots of interests inmon and aside from the usual sibling rivalry about the pecking order, they rarely argued.

    Sure, they could quarrel for hours about silly things like who was the oldest among them, who was the fastest, strongest, smartest, and so on, but if not for those disagreements one would think they shared a hive mind.

    To be fair, everyone found their behavior adorable while Lith''s paranoia often tingled.

    ''What if it''s some kind of nascent mind link?'' He would think sometimes while studying their deep orange cores that grew in unison like their owners.

    "Also, if you are interested in bing Forgemasters, you should learn the basics of smithing from your father." Lith pointed at Senton with a fork, making him choke on his food.

    "Really?" The kids asked.

    "Yes. Your father and I are partners. He gives shape to the thing I enchant. I couldn''t work without him." Lith lied through his teeth.

    "Wow! Dad, you are so cool!" The children turned their heads from Lith to Senton non-stop in awe.

    "Also, working in a smithy is important to learn how to purify metals and respect fire. It can create but when mishandled, it destroys. I learned from Grampa Zekell as a kid and Senton was my senior in the smithy.

    "He helped me craft my first metal Skinwalker armor." Aran and Leria already knew those things but had never heard them put in such a positive light.

    They both shut up, although for different reasons. Aran was aware of Rena''s arguments with Senton due to the gap in social standing while Leria felt guilty for not having thought about those things on her own.

    ''Probably Uncle Lith is trying to avoid making Mom and Dad argue more. He''s making up for my mistakes.'' Leria swallowed, holding the hems of her dress under the table. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was none of her fault but as a child, the only way she had to take control over an impossible situation was to me herself. The only thing she was right about was Lith''s motive.

    The triplets, like Fenrir, were approaching four years of age, when permanent memories and rtionships would start to form. Lith didn''t want Senton to suffer again, feeling isted in his own family.

    "Dad, can we work with you in the smithy? Please!" The triplets ran to his side of the table, pulling at his legs.

    "Only if you behave and stop driving your mother crazy." He patted their heads with a smile but he felt a lump in his throat and his eyes were this close to mist.

    Senton mouthed a silent ''thank you'' to Lith who epted it with a nod.

    Another reason for his kind behavior was that now that Lith was a father, he was afraid of walking even one meter in Senton''s shoes. The idea of someone else bing Elysia''s father figure filled him with murderous rage that he could repress only because the enemy existed solely in his head.

    ''I bet that Senton feels the same. He''s just less powerful than me.'' He thought, and he was right.

 Chapter 3013 Story of My Life (Part 1)

    Chapter 3013 Story of My Life (Part 1)

    "Also, while we wait for your bodies and mana cores to develop enough to use chore magic, you can ask Uncle Trion to train you." Lith said and his older brother bit his fork along with his food and swallowed both in surprise.

    "He was a drill Sergeant in the army and trained a lot of famous soldiers."

    "Is it true, Uncle Trion?" Now the kids looked at him in admiration.

    "No." He said, taken by surprise. "I mean, yes. You are too young for any kind of physical training but I can teach you footwork and meditation techniques to hold your focus longer. They will help you in your future studies."

    As the triplets pestered Senton and Trion to find time for them in their daily schedule, the Demon thanked Lith via the ck chains connecting them.

    ''Thanks. It''s nice to be seen for once.'' Trion patted the children''s heads, telling them stories from his time in the military. ''I know how much you dislike me so I''m even more grateful for your kindness.''

    ''Don''t be ridiculous. I''m not doing this for you. I''m doing this for them.'' Only then did Trion notice how happy Elina and Raaz were.

    They had stopped eating and talking, covering their mouths with a hand. The sight of their family happy and united again had veiled their eyes with tears.

    ''And for her.'' Elysia smiled and giggled at her uncle. ''I don''t want to drag my daughter in my grudges. I love them more than I despise you. That''s all.''

    ''Then you deserve my thanks even more than I thought. Thank you.'' Trion nodded.

    The telepathic conversation was just over when Rena threw a breadcrumb at Lith to draw his attention. She mouthed the words ''thank you'' and her eyes were misted with tears as well but for egotistical reasons.

    Now that the kids had something to do outside the house, she would finally have five minutes for herself. The triplets would be too tired to trample everything in their path and teaching them discipline would make them easier to educate.

    "What about me?" Tista grumbled, feeling left out.

    "There''s nothing for you. I''m sorry." Lith shook his head. "They can''t shapeshift and magic is off the table. You can tell them stories of the academy, if you want."

    The rest of the breakfast passed with the triplets discussing all the things they wanted to do and making impossible training ns that would require days to be at least 48 hours long.

    "Uncle Lith, when can we get our own magical beasts?" They had almost forgotten about it since Onyx and Abominus now ate at the table in their human form with the rest of the family.

    "Depends. Are you going to take care of them or do you want them to take care of you?" Lith''s serious gaze and stern expression made the triplets understand the importance of the question.

    Falco, Teryon, and Lenart huddled up, whispering for a while before agreeing on the answer.

    "Both." Falco replied and the other two nodded. "We''ll take care of them as we can and we''ll follow their instructions."

    "Good answer. I''ll bring you to the Trawn woods for your fourth birthday and let you have your pick." Lith''s words made the kids and Rena erupt with cheers.

    "Thank the gods." She said.

    Magical beasts were a pet, a friend, a bodyguard, and a full-time nanny at the same time. Sure, they ate a lot, but they were worth their weight in meat. Ever since Leria had got Abominus, Rena felt much safer letting her daughter walk alone.

    Also, a magical beast could counter dangerous magical pranks with their spells and keep a child safe whenever they put themselves in danger. They weren''t blind followers and wouldn''t hesitate to warn the parents when a kid misbehaved. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The reason the triplets didn''t already have one was that magical beasts didn''t deal well with unreasonable runts. They would treat them like unruly pups but small bites and roars would traumatize a toddler.

    Also, Lith believed that since they were potential lifelong friends, a magical beast had to be sought and earned, not gifted.

    He wanted the children to be old enough to understand that others had feelings too and deserved respect.

    "How long until our birthday?" Falco asked.

    "I don''t know." Teryon looked at the calendar just to realize she couldn''t read or count.

    "Dad?" Lenart asked, receiving an appalling answer.

    The news that they had to wait for over a year was the only sour note of that day.

    ***

    Later, that day, after finishing her magical and physical training with Selia, Kam took a long hot shower and went to Elysia''s room.

    ''I can''t believe Lith followed this grueling routine for years and now I have to do the same.'' She sighed. ''I don''t get why everyone dislikes umtion. When I nurture my mana core, it is the only moment I''m not sweating bullets or burning my brain to weave mana.

    ''Compared to the rest, it''s like taking a break.''

    Selia shared Kam''s feelings from the depth of her heart.

    Unlike Kam, the huntress had never practiced chore magic due to her red core so even after Awakening, she needed sheer willpower to make the elements answer her call.

    The cantrips that Lith had used as a child to clean her house came as easy as tier five spells to her. On top of that, Selia was in a rush to refine her core because she was still physically slower and weaker than her children.

    When Fenrir walked away in a tantrum, she could easily drag the huntress if Selia tried to hold onto the little girl.

    ''I need to see my baby girl''s beautiful smile to remind myself of the reason I have to endure so much suffering.'' Much to Kam''s surprise the nursery was empty.

    Since the rms were active, there were no traces of blood, and the power cells of the sma cannons of the Doomyer crib were fully charged, no intruder had walked into the room.

    ''Lith must have taken her.'' Kam pondered. ''To think that when Bytra installed those things I found them unsettling. Now they put me at ease.''

    She needed one thought to ess the Mirror Warp of the tower and another to check the holographic interface and locate Lith. ording to the tower, he was in his Forge on the first underground flood.

    Elysia, Valeron, Surin, and the triplets were with him.

    ''Why the Forge? There''s no way Lith would craft something without Solus and she was training Selia and me.'' Yet the delicate bnce Forgemastering spells required and the presence of the children drove her to caution.

    Instead of Warping there and risking ruining hours of hard work, Kam walked her way down to the Forgemasteringb.

    Much to her surprise, despite the perfect instion every room of the tower was supposed to have, she could hear everything through the door.

    ''Don''t go in! You''ll ruin everything.'' A strong hand grabbed Kam''s shoulder while another covered her mouth in an iron grip.

    ''Solus, you scared the hell out of me! What the fuck is-'' To answer her question, Solus turned the door into a one-way mirror so that she could see inside without being seen.

 Chapter 3014 Story of My Life (Part 2)

    Chapter 3014 Story of My Life (Part 2)

    Lith held the toddlers in his arms and wings while the triplets sat onfortable bean bags of Earth''s design.

    He was telling them stories and the Forge was just for ambiance. The Forgemastering circles were lit up doing nothing and small mana crystals of different colors sprouted from the ground and walls, providing light and warmth.

    The floor was covered in tall grass from the Garden and the mystical nts that Raaz grew spread their sweet scent. Small wisps of light shaped like fairies danced between the flowers and disappeared if touched.

    ''Good gods, it looks like an enchanted cave like the ones in the fairy tales I read as a child.'' Kam thought.

    ''Correction. It doesn''t look like an enchanted cave. It is an enchanted cave. Now listen.'' Solus let go of Kam''s arm and mouth.

    In the story Lith was telling, Raaz was depicted as an earth god who took care of thend and the animals, ensuring a bountiful harvest every year. Elina was the goddess of fertility who nurtured life and taught morals to humans.

    Together they made their children into good workers and good people.

    Lith used holograms to show their actions and the passage of time.

    Air magic gave every creature a different voice while the other elements were for special effects. The story taught the kids how even the humblest job was the foundation of the wealth they enjoyed.

    Then, he told them the story of the travels of Derk McCoy, a man who couldn''t die but could still experience pain. Of course, being a fairy tale, the pain was mostly emotional, seeing thend change and the people he knew pass away while he remained the same.

    It was an age-appropriate and doctored version of Lith''s struggles, to teach the children that power makes no one perfect. Derek was depicted as a powerful but wed man and the kids sometimes booed at his tant mistakes and cheered when he redeemed himself.

    After that, it was the turn of the story of Elphyn, the Forgemaster who had gained everything she wanted and lost everything she loved. Just like for Derek, it was the story of Solus'' first life but devoid of tragedies and grief.

    Threin left Menadion because they argued which also led Elphyn to cut contact with her. In the story, Elphyn reached the pinnacle of her craft, got herself a mage tower and great fame, but due to her egotistical behavior she ended up with no one to celebrate her sess.

    Lith glossed over Solus'' past flings and the constant quarrels with Menadion, but left Elphyn''s condescending attitude toward her fellow apprentices and her obsession with her work.

    The moral was that you can''t get everything you want. Elphyn chose herself over everything else, sacrificing her rtionships in the pursuit of magic.

    Since it was a story, in the end, Elphyn realized her mistakes and after finding her parents, she helped them get back together.

    ''Gods if I like happy endings.'' Solus sniffled.

    Kam was surprised that, among the many stories, there was no one about Lith''s current life. He kept the attention of the kids with special effects, altered the appearance of the Forge to suit the fairy tale he was telling, and gave them plenty of snacks.

    When they were engrossed in the narration, Lith switched the sweets with fruit slices and the triplets ate them without noticing.

    Thest story turned out to be the most shocking of them all.

    It was about Kam the Constable, who traveled undercover throughout the Kingdom to expose crime and evil-doers. In the story, she wore a ridiculous long ck cape with a deep hood that looked cool on paper but would stick out like a sore thumb in real life.

    There was no need for investigations or crimeb analysis. She would always encounter innocents crying for help and catch bad guys in the act, no matter how serious or unusible the crime was.

    She only had to drop the cape to reveal her uniform and show her badge to have the bad guys grovel on the ground for mercy.

    Kam couldn''t help butugh at the silliness of the story and how the kids took it seriously instead.

    "Yet her greatest enemy waited for her right in her office. It was him the evil overlord Paperwork." The children gasped as the hologram of a pile of documents with a mantle and a mean expression took the form of a Hydra.

    "No matter how many forms she filled, more woulde for each crime she solved. Paperwork could only be contained, never beaten."

    "Isn''t that a pointless fight, Uncle Lith?" Falco asked. "Why does she care?"

    "Because if she doesn''t do her job, innocents stay in jail and bad guys get released." Lith said. "People like your aunt Kam and your grandfather Raaz struggle in silence.

    "Even if no one sings their praise, without people like Grampa there would be no food on your table and without people like your aunt, the streets wouldn''t be safe."

    The kids nodded and Elysia grinned with pride even though she had no idea what they were talking about except that they were praising her mother.

    Kam covered her own mouth since it was her turn to sniffle.

    ''Does he do this often?'' She asked.

    ''Every time it''s his turn to take care of the kids.'' Solus replied. ''I know I shouldn''t eavesdrop, but I end up dropping whatever I''m doing and listening to the stories from a corner.

    ''Thest time it was about Rena, Tista, Phloria, and Yurial. I always cry when he tells my story.''

    ''If this has been going on for a while now, why didn''t you tell me sooner?'' Kam felt annoyed for being left out.

    ''Because what we are doing is wrong and because I liked to consider it my thing.'' Solus''s cheeks flushed.

    "Uncle Lith, is this how you met Auntie Kami?" Teryon asked. "Did you two work together on a crime and fall in love?"

    "No, no." Lith dismissed the idea as preposterous even as a fairy tale. "This is now. Back then, your aunt was a data analyst and I was a bold lone Ranger."

    The few details were enough to arouse the crowd''s interest and ask for the full story.

    "Fine. Elysia, Valeron, this is how I met your mother¡­"

    ''Gods, no!'' Kam didn''t consider their romance to be age-appropriate from the start to the circumstance of her marriage proposal.

    There were so many parts that she would have liked to be skipped that she''d rather have the kids believe she and Lith had married at first sight.

    ''Gods, yes.'' Solusughed at her expense.

    "Dada?" Valeron the second tugged at Lith''s arm, using Dragon scales to convey a message tooplex for him to express it with words.

    "Yes, I know I''m not your father, Valeron. Yet Jormun entrusted you to me and until he returns, I''ll be your dad. You are part of the family, son. Get used to it."

    The word son transmitted by the Dragon scales hit the baby boy like a punch to the gut. He started to cry, clinging to Lith''s chest while his small wings wrapped around the arm holding him.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3015 Time of Change (Part 1)

    Chapter 3015 Time of Change (Part 1)

    Elysia sent Lith a message via the Dragon scales as well, asking her father to bring her close to Valeron. She grabbed one of the baby boy''s hands and wrapped him with her wings, making him cry harder.

    "Why is he crying, Uncle?" Lenart asked. "Is he hurt?"

    "No, he is happy. Happy and scared of losing his new family like he lost his old one." Lith replied.

    The children already knew a doctored version of Valeron''s adoption and after meeting him, they considered the baby boy one of the Verhens no less than Elysia or Shargein.

    They stood up and got closer to Valeron, speaking softly and reassuring him everything would be well. s, the infant understood their tone, not their words. He kept crying and clinging to Elysia and Lith tighter to be reassured by their Dragon scales.

    Then, Lith''s and Elysia''s Tiamat bodies resonated and the tower enhanced the effect. A short pulse of mana temporarily awakened the dormant bloodline in the triplets, covering them in colored scales.

    They experienced Valeron''s suffering while he felt their sincerity and stopped crying.

    "I want my Mom." Falco started to cry, suddenly afraid that Rena might have disappeared like Thrud.

    "And Dad!" Teryon joined him, quickly followed by Lenart.

    "One moment." Lith called Rena and Senton on their amulets.

    "Can''t you just Warp them here, please?" Lenart begged.

    "No. Have I ever told you the story of the kidnapping of Grampa?"

    What followed was a short animation not about the Hogums capturing and torturing Raaz but about the time Solus had summoned him to the tower without consulting him first.

    Bad luck had him being Warped away from the bathroom while relieving his bowels.

    The anatomical details were removed but the vision was enough to dispel the sadness in the room and rece it with hrity.

    ''Not that story again!'' Solus blushed in embarrassment from behind the door.

    ''Wait, are you telling me that really happened?'' Kam had gone from being moved by Valeron''s reaction, to worried about the triplets, toughing her ass off at Solus'' expense.

    ''Sadly, yes. It happened while I was arguing with Tista and we Warped Dad to have him settle who was right.''

    "From that day, unless there''s an emergency, we always ask permission one of our own before Warping them." Lith exined and the kids barely registered his words. "Also, I need you to promise me to keep this a secret."

    He pointed at their scales, obtaining their full attention.

    "If Aran and Leria learn they missed this, they''ll never let me hear the end of this."

    "But they are in the Desert for school now." Lenart tilted his head in confusion.

    "Just trust me." Rena and Senton answered the call and agreed to be transported to theb.

    After exining to them why their children were covered in Dragon scales and the reason for the call, it took Senton and Rena a while to calm the triplets down.

    ''I should be there too. Valeron needs me.'' Kam said, trying to muster the courage to step inside.

    ''Yeah, and how do you exin that you know everything? We are still eavesdropping, you know?'' Solus snorted.

    ''Point taken.''

    "This ce looks amazing, little brother. What were you guys doing here?" Rena was sitting on the floor holding Falco, Senton held Teryon, and Lenart was between them, with one arm of each of his parents around his shoulders.

    "This is our cave of wonders, where I tell the kids the stories of Mogar and the Verhens." Lith said. "I was about to tell them about how Kami and I met."

    "Go on." Rena was curious how he could spin it in a way that wouldn''t scare the children.

    In this version of the story, instead of saving abused ves from their captors, Lith protected farmers from a criminal gang before anyone could get hurt. Then, he reported the situation to Kam who came to rebuke him because of the damage the vige had suffered.

    Her looks and voice were spot on, especially her mean, lecturing tone that she used with him when she was still his handler and had to fix one of his messes. Of course, his faults were redacted, making him a valiant hero and her a budget-loving bureaucrat.

    ''I''m going to kill him!'' Kam said in outrage as Rena and Sentonughed while the kids booed Kam, even Elysia.

    ''It''s just a story. He can''t tell them about the vers or the many secrets he had to keep from you at the time.'' Solus tried to calm Kam down.

    "Uncle Lith, if Aunt Kami was so mean, why did you ask her out?" Falco asked.

    "Because I could see that deep, deep, deep down she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside." Lith replied. "Also, you Kami is a great and wise woman." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Nice save, jackass.'' Kam grunted.

    "Every time we argue, it only takes a bit of patience and understanding from both sides for her to admit that I''m always right." His words received a unanimous heartfelt apuse, even though the adults wereughing their asses off.

    ''Okay, I stand corrected.'' Solus said. ''I hold Lith down while you beat the crap out of him.''

    ***

    Essagor Arch Duchy, Vastor Household, at the same time.

    After Zogar Vastor''s noble status had been elevated to Arch Duke, the highest title a noble of the Kingdom could achieve, his fief had yet to stop expanding. Smaller nobles from nearby regions petitioned for their territories to be annexed to Essagor, in the hope of receiving one of the new Warp Gates.

    Medium-sized andrge cities applied respectively for Gates and new infrastructures. Along with the noble title, Archmage Vastor had been also granted arge amount of money that he could use at his sole discretion.

    It was enough gold to make any man live like a king for the rest of his life and several generations after him, but if used to cover the expenses of dozens of cities it wasn''t that much.

    Vastor had to choose wisely where to invest them so that with the return profits he could take care of the rest of his territory.

    There was a big difference between a Duchy and an Arch Duchy and lots of infrastructures needed to be built or renovated to bring Vastor''s fief on par with those of his peers.

    New Gates meant new trade routes that needed bigger and safer roads. Law enforcement had to hire new people to inspect the goods that entered the city and prevent smuggling. More money and the sudden influx of new citizens to Essagor also meant more crimes but luckily there was more than enough budget for that.

    Despite the seemingly unending flow of documents that waited for Zinya''s approval, she couldn''t stop humming as she Warped back from the Verhen Mansion.

    ''Elisya, Valeron, Surin, and Solkar are so cute.'' She thought with arge smile on her face. ''They brighten my day every time I see them. I don''t get why people bother Marth so much. Hybrid babies are still babies.''

    She had yet to give Vastor a biological child and helping her friends to take care of their babies helped Zinya to fill the void that ravaged her heart.

 Chapter 3016 Time of Change (Part 2)

    Chapter 3016 Time of Change (Part 2)

    ''First Kami Awakened and now Selia has decided to follow her lead to feel closer to her husband and live longer. Maybe I should ask Zogar to Awaken me as well. Maybe it would solve my fertility issue.''

    Zinya had been thinking about it since Tezka had exined to Filia and Frey the difference between mana capacity and talent. ording to the Fylgja, her children were born with negligible mana but great affinity for magic.

    They had been pestering Zinya for months now about what Awakening was and if they could really learn magic through it.

    ''It''s inconsiderate on my side not taking into ount their wishes. Also, if they were to Awaken, it would be silly of me to be the only non-Awakened in the family. It would kill so many birds with one stone.''

    Her reasoning was solid yet Zinya struggled to make up her mind. Awakening her children also meant that in the future their lives would be at risk even more than they already were.

    Bing a mage led to traveling, searching for rare ingredients, and interacting with other mages. All things that, based on Kam''s stories about the Council, led to a premature death. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Awakening implied new powers, responsibilities, and a long life. Too long for Zinya''s taste.

    ''What if Zogar and I argue? He would be afraid that if I leave him, I could reveal his secrets. Having a good marriage thatsts decades is rare, but centuries? Is it even possible?''

    "Wee back, Mom. How are the babies?" Filia asked.

    The Verhen''s family tree was quite intricate so they considered Surin and Elysia their nieces and Valeron the Second their nephew for simplicity''s sake.

    "Happy as ever. How was school? Did someone bully you again?"

    "School was good, Mom." Frey sighed. "Since Dad has be an Arch Duke, the real problem is to keep the bootlickers at bay. They all introduce themselves with a smile but give them a minute and they''ll ask us for something."

    "No more bullying. You have my word, Zin." The two magical beasts that the two children rode fused into one and shapeshifted back into Tezka''s real form. "Here''s my report about today''s events."

    He handed her a scroll that she opened and closed very quickly while trying to keep smiling. It contained a list of the potential threats he had spotted during the day and a note reminding her that the kids were still asking him about Awakening.

    "Thanks. Go get some rest. You deserve it." Rest was the codeword for magical research since Eldritches never got tired. "I''ll help the kids with their homework."

    "Nonsense." Tezka shook his head. "I have multiple tails whereas you are just human. You need to rest more than I do."

    "What if we do it together?" Zinya smiled. "I''ll get to spend time with my children and you can better focus on your work."

    "It would be my pleasure." Tezka gave her a small bow which drew a scoff from Orulm.

    The Skinwalker-Eldritch hybrid had recently returned from Jiera and was enjoying the fruits of his sess. The flow of magical resources from overseas earned him Vastor''s trust which led to obtaining more funds for his private research and authority in the Organization.

    Tezka let Zinya and the kids go ahead, promising to join them soon.

    "What was that?" The Fylgja asked the moment they were alone.

    "I understand that you have to follow the Master''s orders and protect his bastards, but there''s no need to kiss the ass of his woman." Orulm shrugged, confident that with his monster core and new equipment he had at least closed the gap with the Fylgja.

    "She''s a liability. The only good thing about her is that she''s going to die soon. We need to think in the long-" Tezka''s wed hand grabbed Orulm''s throat, making the Eldritch choke on his words, spine, and blood.

    "Bastards?" Tezka''s voice was a barely intelligible snarl. "If someone here is a liability who''s going to die soon that''s not Zin."

    The lights in the house flickered as a punch with the might of a falling asteroid struck Orulm''s guts. It shattered his Davross armor, pierced his organs, and broke every bone in his body.

    Chaos coursed through the wounds, infecting the Skinwalker-Eldritch''s life force and sealing his regenerative abilities. Yet not a gust of wind escaped the blow. There was no noise and no shockwave.

    No one, not even the house staff in the vicinities noticed what had just happened. They looked at the two men for longer than it was polite but only because they were so handsome that there was no maid who didn''t secretly wish to catch their eye.

    ''When did you shapeshift us both? How could you shapeshift me against my will?'' Orulm thought.

    "rgh!" Was what actually came out of his mouth along with a fountain of blood.

    Tezka let go of Orulm and walked away. He was far from finished, but he had to leave the others something to have fun with.

    The six Eldritches offspring of the original Guardians all shared with the Master the same bond as Tezka. It was their tissues that the Master had used to engineer his Abomination half.

    Their blood ran inside of him and his thoughts were their own. If Vastor was akin to a father to them, Zinya was their mother. Filya and Frey, however, were a different matter.

    The monster-Divine Beast hybrids considered them as their children and any threat to their safety, no matter if real or perceived, was dealt with extreme prejudice.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in Vastor''s office, he had to deal with an unexpected guest.

    "Are you sure you want to do this? There''s still time and you can use more training."

    "There''s no time and it''s because I need training that I have to do this now." Orion replied. "I can''t wait for Jirni to give birth to Awaken. What if the Myrok attack the day our daughter is born?

    "Even if they don''t, how am I supposed to hold the baby if I can''t even grab a ss of water without shattering it? I need to Awaken now so that I can get used to my new condition and master my powers before the attack.

    "I can''t just cross my fingers and ask the Myrok to give us some more time to prepare. If it weren''t for the baby, we would already be at war. Jirni is getting stronger while I can''t cast anything above tier three with true magic even after over a year of your training."

    As time passed, Jirni''s body had gotten used to the bright orange core. Everyyer of tissue protecting the baby had been reinforced and the enhanced nourishment she received from her mother made her grow healthier than a regr human baby.

    After checking the condition of mother and daughter with Vastor, Zoreth had allowed Jirni to break through to the yellow core under supervision. Everything had gone well and now Jirni could move on to learning tier three and four spells.

    They would be too much for a regr yellow core, but not for a pregnant yellow core. The boost in power that the almost fully developed baby gave to her was enough to dabble with the training spells for tier four that required skill rather than lots of mana.

 Chapter 3017 Not a Hero (Part 1)

    Chapter 3017 Not a Hero (Part 1)

    "I get your point but you also have to get mine." Vastor replied. "You are the one who refuses treatments that require Forbidden Magic. If you die, none of what you''ve just mentioned will matter and Jirni will have to face everything by herself.

    "Is this what you want?"

    "I don''t want to but I have to." Orion trembled form head to toe, feeling his stomach churn as he spoke. "That''s why I brought you a gift. I had Kigan carry it here under the cover of darkness."

    "A gift?" Vastor was puzzled.

    "Criminals that I officially failed to capture. Scum of society that if convicted by a tribunal would be sentenced to death." Orion spat the next words like they were poison on his tongue. "Specimens for your experiments."

    ording to thew of the Griffon Kingdom, death row inmates were dead men walking without any civil rights. They could be used for magical experimentation, tortured, or anything that the judge thought would give their victims relief or make them useful for society.

    It was supposed to ease Orion''s guilty conscience but it didn''t work. His prisoners had not undergone due process. No judge had pondered the issue and now was involved.

    No matter how Orion painted it, he was still going to sacrifice human lives for his own sake. His honor and loyalty to his Kingdom would never allow him to do that if it wasn''t for the threat on the lives of Jirni and their unborn daughter.

    The Myrok were likely to take the baby girl away and Orion would rather die in shame than lose his wife and another daughter.

    "More like food for your life force." Vastor tapped on his desk with his forefinger. "I have no idea what you think I do, but I can assure you that I have no use for a ragtag bunch of criminals.

    "And neither have you."

    "What do you mean?" Orion asked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I mean that you can kill them, arrest them, do with them whatever eases your conscience. We don''t need them for the procedure. After ourst discussion, I searched for a way to amodate your request and I found it."

    "Really?" Orion sighed in relief, a huge burden was lifted from his shoulders. "Can we start now? How does it work?"

    "Yes, yes, and it''s easier to show than exin." The Master steepled his fingers. "Yet I can''tpromise the position of my facility. We are allies today but tomorrow you might change your mind. Sleep."

    "Are you kidding me?" Orion was outraged. "How can you think I would betray you after everything you are putting on the line for-"

    He fell to the ground with a thud as his consciousness slipped away.

    There was no such thing as sleeping spells but Vastor had been a great healer long before turning himself into a hybrid. His white eye had spotted the stress points in Orion''s life force and fixed them for him.

    Under normal circumstances, it would have been no different from rejuvenation but there was nothing normal in Orion''s condition. His mana core pushed against the impurities surrounding it in an attempt to Awaken.

    Yet Vastor and Zoreth had anchored them, making the impurities likerge trees with roots that ran deeply in Orion''s body and weathered the storm. The process still drained his stamina and his constant training in the use of fusion and true magic made things even worse.

    The moment Orion had stepped inside his office, Vastor had noticed that his friend was so tired that he stood only thanks to sheer willpower and stubbornness. Some might have considered it a miracle of love but the Master found it idiotic.

    "Kigan, report."

    "Yes, Father." The Dark Phoenix grunted, annoyed that his ytime with Orulm had been interrupted.

    "See that Orion''s guests suffer no harm and remember nothing of their capture." Vastor said. "They must be returned to him intact and ready to stand trial."

    "Are you sure? How will your friend survive, then?" Kigan asked.

    "We''ll use our prisoners. There''s no point in dirtying his conscience. Mine will suffice." Vastor replied. "It''s a drop in the ocean for me but it would be a mental scar for him. What Orion doesn''t know can''t hurt him.

    "Let''s make him believe that miracles do exist so that he can enjoy what time he has left without the guilt of knowing how he managed to live long enough to be a father again."

    "I see." Kigan felt proud of Vastor''s selflessness and spirit of sacrifice.

    "Don''t look at me like that." Vastor''s stern expression turned into a scowl. "I''m not some valiant hero. I''m not protecting innocents from a cruel enemy.

    "I''m preying on the weak who have nothing to offer to society and feeding them to the strong so that they can be even stronger and lead mankind to a better future. It''s the reason I founded the Organization, turned you and me into hybrids, and now I''m helping the Ernas."

    "What about Orion?" Kigan realized that the Master could glimpse into his feelings through the bond they shared, so he quickly changed the topic.

    "The idiot needs to rest." The Master scoffed. "In his current condition, not even Arthan''s Madness could save him. Orion needs to be at his peak condition if he has to stand a chance of surviving the procedure.

    "If he wakes up, he''d just keep training like a moron. Bring him to theb, strap him to afortable bed, and change the IV bag of nutrients every hour. He''s going to need it."

    Vastor stuck the needle in Orion''s arm after numbing his arm with darkness magic. Then, to make sure that Lord Ernas would keep sleeping, the Master fixed every imperfection of his body and fastened the impurities around the mana core tighter.

    Once he was done, Vastor fully rejuvenated Orion to his prime, using his decades of experience and Invigoration to fix his bones, organs, and muscles down to the slightest imperfection.

    The strain on Orion''s vitality was minimal, but more than enough to make his deep sleep even deeper.

    ***

    Orion woke up after over 24 hours of uninterrupted slumber and only because he was starving. The bags of nutrients gave his body what it needed to rebuild itself but couldn''t fill his belly.

    He tried to pull his arm from under the nkets and ring the bells to call for the butler.

    ''Damn, I was so tired that I don''t even remember going to bed. Maybe Vastor is right and I need to rest more. I''ll grab a bite and go back to sleep. Work can wait.'' Orion thought as his arm refused to move. ''What the fuck is happening to me? I''m paralyzed!''

    "Help! Someone calls a healer!" Panic washed away the fog in his mind but also made him forget that he could still use true magic.

    "Stop yelling. I can hear you just fine." Nelia the Griffon pulled off the nkets, revealing that Orion was still fully dressed and bound hand and feet to the bed. "Gods, how long has it been since you had a good night''s rest?"

    She undid the straps on his wrists, put a pillow behind his back to make him sit upfortably, and handed him a tray filled with delicious-smelling steaming food.

 Chapter 3018 Not a Hero (Part 2)

    Chapter 3018 Not a Hero (Part 2)

    "Yesterday." The magnitude of Orion''s lie exceeded his poker face, making Nelia click her tongue in reply. "Thanks for the food."

    He gulped down the stew like a man who had just escaped a desert drinks water. He cut the steak into fine pieces, holding the bones with his hands and gnawing at them to not miss a single morsel of meat.

    He tore the bread into big pieces which he used to scoop both tes before chewing them.

    Nelia stood in silence the whole time and refilled Orion''s ss of water as soon as he emptied it. Whenever she bent down to do it, her hair formed a ming red waterfall that blocked Orion''s vision.

    He noticed it only halfway through his meal, when his stomach gave him the respite he needed to notice her clear silver eyes and beauty. She was Tyris'' direct descendant which made her appearance dreamlike.

    It took him even longer to notice the restraints at his feet.

    "Thanks for your hospitality but I''m a married man. Where are we and why are you keeping me your prisoner, Griffon?"

    "Don''t tter yourself, young man." Nelia''s smile was like a sunrise after a stormy night but it left Orion only more worried than he already was. "You are not my prisoner. You are the M-, I mean F-, dammit, Vastor''s prisoner. I mean guest."

    She had trouble remembering who knew what and how much she could tell to whom.

    "This will be your room until the procedure starts. Here, have seconds."

    "Am I still inside the Vastor Household?" Orion asked while wolfing down his food, this time with a modicum of manners.

    "I''m sorry. I can neither confirm nor deny."

    "Why do you call it a procedure? Isn''t Awakening amon event for your people?"

    "No, it''s rare even for us and considered impossible for bright violet-cored people like you."

    "Can''t you undo the straps? I feel awkward."

    "No. Do you want more food?"

    "Are you telling me I slept for a whole day? I need to go back home, reassure my wife that I''m okay, and make up for the lost training time!" He said while finishing his meal in a frenzy.

    "So much for not being a prisoner." Orion grumbled but epted the third tray. "Gods, how long was I asleep? I''m still hungry."

    "That''s because you missed dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner again, and whatever meal you usually have in between."

    "Are you telling me I slept for a whole day? I need to go back home, reassure my wife that I''m okay, and make up for the lost training time!" He said while finishing his meal in a frenzy.

    "No, you are going back to sleep."

    "I don''t have time to-" Nelia touched his forehead and a simple healing spell made Orion fall unconscious, snoring.

    "Humans." She shook her head and called Vastor on his amulet. "Your friend is fine, Father, but he needs at least twelve more hours. You were right. His body is a mess but I''m fixing it."

    ***

    Twelve hours would have sufficed, but Vastor waited until Orion woke up on his own fourteen hourster, trusting the body more than the mind.

    "Help! Someone call- Wait a minute!" Orion was strapped again but this time he knew what was happening.

    "Good night, idiot."Vastor checked his clock, confirming it was half past midnight. "Shut up and eat. Do you have any idea how much time and money your stupidity cost me?

    "The machines for this procedure cost money. My time is worth a lot of money. Every moment my children spend at your side I''m bleeding gold. You cost me a lot, Lord Ernas. You''d better survive and repay me for my investment."

    He undid all of Orion''s straps with a snap of his fingers and a touch of Spirit Magic. The Master handed Orion arge tray with several dishes based on meat and vegetables. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lord Ernas had many grievances with Vastor but his mouth was too busy eating to express them out loud. All he could do was gobble and re.

    "I had to stay cooped up at home for almost two days and recall my aides from the field. We''ve all waited for our sleeping beauty to wake up." The Master had no such problem and even more grievances. "I should be in bed with my wife, not spend the night with a man."

    One that they both agreed so Orion nodded vigorously.

    "While you fill your stomach, let me introduce you to my team. You already know Xenagrosh and Bytra."

    "Elysia''s godmother, sure." Orion extended them his hand and they shook it. "You helped avenge my Little Flower and now this. If there''s anything I can do to help you, please, just let me know."

    "Don''t be silly." Zoreth replied. "Phloria was important to Lith which made her important to me, just like you. I''m d to help."

    "You should remember the others from my wedding." Vastor continued. "Nelia, Kigan, Cyare, Hushar, Eycos, and Nandi."

    "Damn, usually to meet so many good-looking people in a single room I have to go to Lutia." Orion shook their hands in turns.

    "She''s the only new face. Orion, meet Abthot. Abthot, he''s Orion." Vastor''s voice went stone cold on thest phrase, something that Orion recognized as ack of trust.

    "Nice to meet you, Lord Ernas." In her human form, Abthot had long strawberry blonde hair and violet eyes.

    Her skin was slightly green due to her ogre side still stabilizing, giving her the color and beauty of a Dryad.

    "The pleasure is all mine, mdy." Orion finished his meal and got up from the bed to perform some light stretching. "Do we need so many people just to Awaken me?"

    "Just?" Vastor echoed in annoyance. "Do not ''just'' me, Orion. This is the bare minimum and everyone I could find or you''d see more people here."

    A snap of his fingers lightened the room as clear as day, revealing the presence of arge metal contraption that reached the ceiling. It wasprised of five gene tanks. One in the middle and the other four arranged in an X shape.

    "Nandi will take control of the world energy, increasing and releasing the pressure on your mana core based on my instructions."

    The Minotaur had the gems on his forehead, hands and chest appear on his skin. A single wave of his hand emptied the room of world energy, the unnatural void giving a pit to Orion''s stomach.

    "Nelia and Eycos will give everyone the power we need." The two women had bolts of silver lightning run from their fingertips to their eyes and back.

    "Hushar and Cyare will take care of you, instead, ensuring that your body can resist the process." The Leviathan wore his Maw of Bytra and used it to conjure several arrays that his Elemental Flow bloodline ability turned intopletely different magical formations.

    The Fenrir infused Orion with Mana Body, improving all of his physical abilities and making him resistant to mana, even his own.

    "Abthot is a recent addition but she''s no less vital for your survival. She-"

    "What is he wearing?" Orion pointed at Hushar''s Maw, cutting Vastor short. "What are you all wearing? Is that¡­"

    "The Mouth of Menadion? No. It''s the Maw of Bytra." Vastor replied.

    Hearing those names one after the other made reality click inside Orion''s brain despite his attempts to deny it.

 Chapter 3019 Price of Power (Part 1)

    Chapter 3019 Price of Power (Part 1)

    "Bytra? The Rune Magus?" Orion looked at the Raiju''s human form with a mix of shock and awe. "That Bytra? Are you really her?"

    "Yes. Who else do you think could build that thing? Me?" Vastor scoffed while pointing at the modified version of the Madness with his thumb.

    Orion finally understood why she had always felt familiar. Even though notpletely urate, portraits of the past Magi existed. Orion felt his knees wobbling and needed to sit down on his bed.

    "Yes, it''s really me." Bytra gave him a cute bow. "I hope it''s not a problem."

    "A problem?" Orion gasped. "It''s an honor. I''m a big fan of your work, Magus Bytra. Thank you for your teachings. Menadion gifted us Forgemastery, but it was you who gave us the means to truly master our craft.

    "Without your version of Runesmithing, even today only geniuses with plenty of resources like the Forge Magus would be able to craft a power core."

    He bowed to her multiple times, wondering how could Bytra be still alive after all those centuries. How she had met Vastor and why she was at his service instead of the other way around were more than mysteries, they were inconceivable thoughts.

    "Thank you. You are too kind." She blushed a bit, not used to receiving praise outside of the Organization.

    "Not to be rude, but are you an Emperor Beast?" It would have exined her longevity and beauty.

    "Yes." She nodded, receiving another deep bow.

    "Nice how you''ve never been so respectful to me and I''m the one who''s going to save your ass." Vastor snorted. "As I was saying, Abthot is the key to avoid using Forbidden Magic to keep you alive.

    "She''s a Fae and she''ll share with you her regenerative abilities for the duration of the procedure. She will provide you with nutrients and the life force she steals from nts. Unless you think that carrots should also have human rights."

    "Not at all." Orion felt embarrassed. Not only were Vastor''s words true but the fact that so many powerful people were willing to follow him and obey his orders meant that the old Professor deserved more credit than Lord Ernas had ever given him.

    "nts have no self-awareness and farm animals are bred to be eaten. Feel free to use either of them."

    "Thank you." Vastor inwardly smiled since Orion''s definition of eptable food covered many of the people the Master held capture.

    Some were in a vegetative state after abusing alcohol or drugs and others were the dregs of society that he considered worse than cattle. At least cattle yed a role in nurturing humanity whereas Vastor''s prisoners dragged it down.

    "Wait, what''s his role in all this?" Orion pointed at Kigan.

    "Security. Same as Bytra." Vastor shrugged. "We are going to be helpless until the procedure ispleted. Kigan will deal with any problem regarding our safety while Bytra will make sure that the machine works without a hitch."

    "Before we start, I need to make sure that you understand why every step of the way matters. Sit down and listen." Vastor went over the hurdles of Awakening for normal people before moving on to the dangers for those who exceeded the bright cyan.

    When he was done, Orion was deathly pale. After Vastor finished exining to Orion the difference between Awakened and non-Awakened violet cores, Orion''s face lost any trace of color left.

    "Good gods! That''s why you had me practice fusion magic that way since the beginning." Orion blurted out in surprise. "You had me preparing for this moment all along."

    "Correct." Vastor nodded. "The bright blue is powerful, but useless for someone in your situation. I couldn''t afford the time to let you master fusion magic first and then learn how to circte runes.

    "My method allowed you to do both things at the same time. It''s harder to learn and less efficient than fusion magic but someone as powerful as you needed control, not strength. Also, there was supposed to be no deadline."

    Orion opened and closed his mouth, wanting to say many things but failing to find the proper words to do it.

    "Whenever you are ready." Vastor said after the silencested for a few minutes. "If you need more rest, food, or if you want to call someone before we start, now is the moment."

    "I''m fine, thank you." Orion said yet his knees gave out when he tried to stand up. "I won''t call my children. They''d notice there''s something wrong with me and I don''t know if I have the courage to lie to them or to go on with the procedure if they ask me not to. Does Jirni know?"

    "Every detail." Vastor handed him a magically sealed letter that only Orion''s mana could open. "I kept her updated on your condition the whole time."

    The letter read:

    "Please, my love, don''t do it. As the moment nears, I finally understand how selfish I have been. We wouldn''t be in this situation if not for my stubbornness. I asked you to Awaken only because I wanted you by my side as long as our children need us.

    "Instead, my actions have potentially shortened my life and by deciding to Awaken so soon, you are endangering yours. Please, I can''t bear the thought of losing my husband so soon after my daughter.

    "What am I going to tell our children if something happens to you? How can I keep living if the family I''ve sworn to protect abandons me because my recklessness causes your death?

    "If you won''t do it for me, do it for our baby. If I lose the battle against the Myrok, Dripha needs to have at least one parent. I can cheat any opponent but not death. Please,e back home and stop this madness before it''s toote."

    "You didn''t tell her, did you?" Vastor had realized the gravity of the situation when Jirni''s usual stone face had crumbled upon learning the reason of her husband''s disappearance.

    "No. She made her choice despite my objections. It''s only right that I do the same." Orion folded the paper with care, put it back in the envelope, and left it on the bed.

    "I''m ready. Before we start, I just want to thank you all and let you know that however this goes, house Ernas owes you a debt of eternal gratitude."

    "Please." Vastor scoffed. "The words of a dead man have no value so make sure to survive so that I can hold you to your word."

    The two men couldn''t have been more different. One short and fat and the other tall and muscr. Yet they stared each other in the eyes like equals and shook their forearms like brothers.

    "I''ll do my best." Orion nodded.

    "Now, don''t get this wrong, but I need you to strip." Vastor said.

    "Here? In front of everyone?" Over half of those present were young-looking women and usually, healers didn''t need to see their patients naked.

    "You can do it in another room but you''d be naked in the tank anyway." Vastor said.

    "I promise we won''t makements." Zoreth said.

    "While you can hear us, at least." Bytra chuckled, her joke meant to lighten the mood but made Orion blush up to his ears instead. N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 3020 Price of Power (Part 2)

    Chapter 3020 Price of Power (Part 2)

    Orion sighed, taking a moment to collect himself before taking off his clothes.

    "I''ll keep us all connected with a mind link. I''ll use it only in case of emergency and I expect everyone to do the same. Avoid screaming and begging in my head, please. I need to focus." Vastor stripped as well, followed by Abthot, Nandi, and Zoreth.

    They only kept the Maw on.

    "What are you doing?" Orion didn''t know where to look.

    "Five pods for five people, genius." Vastor replied. "Enchanted armor would get in the way of the neural interface. I can''t risk the slightest dy in the system."

    ''Damn, the rumors about Vastor''s staff were true.'' Orion nodded and walked inside the open gene tank.

    When the ss door closed, a violet liquid flowed inside and kept pouring even after reaching Orion''s neck. At that point, what looked like an oxygen mask came down from the ceiling and attached itself to his face.

    ''Don''t worry and breathe normally.'' Vastor said via the mind link. ''This will take a long while so get yourselffortable. Give me a sign when you''ve gotten used to the pod.''

    Floating in the nutrient potion was indeed a weird experience just like seeing Mogar in shades of violet. Yet the warm liquid rxed Orion and being able to see Vastor and the members of his team eased Orion''s worries.

    As he gave Vastor a thumbs up, Nandi cranked the density of world energy inside Orion''s tank to eleven. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Stop fighting your core and Awaken.'' Vastor said.

    Orion nodded and followed the breathing technique Vastor had taught him. The tank seemed to turn from a life support system into a torture device. His blood burned through his veins like magma while the impurities became a swarm of angry razors that tore his body apart from the inside in the attempt to escape.

    Abthot''s vines moved from her pod to Orion''s, seeping under his skin and spreading throughout his flesh, blood, and bones. The sensation of his body being invaded would have been terrifying under normal circumstances but the pain was too intense for Orion to care.

    Zoreth provided the abundant vitality of her troll side, Abthot infused nutrients and life force on a cellr level better than Quy''s Injection spell, while Nandi adjusted the pressure of the world energy based on Vastor''s instructions.

    As for the Professor, he used his breathing technique, Beyonder''s Eye, and his Decay eye, to study the changes in Orion''s body and life force in real time. He spotted the mana flow''s breaking points and moved the impurities there.

    All the vital organs were constantly protected. The impurities adjusted their shape and density to fight the destructive waves of violet mana like well-trained soldiers under the orders of a veteran general.

    Orion''s body bloated and exploded, but only in non-vital areas that Zoreth healed and Abthot replenished with nutrients.

    None of that would have been enough if not for Nandi generating a world energy pressure above that of a mana geyser and Cyare imbuing Orion with Mana Body. The earth element-based bloodline ability made flesh and bones sturdier and resistant to their own mana.

    It turned Orion''s entire body into a quasi-impurity that hindered the Awakening process, allowing him to survive. Nelia infused her allies with Life Maelstrom, giving the lion''s share to Abthot.

    The ogre-Eldritch hybrid kept half of it to herself and infused the rest along with the nutrients inside Orion''s cells when they regenerated. This way she empowered his body without affecting his core, increasing his physical resistance beyond human limits.

    Bytra followed the events from the control panel of the Madness, making sure that the energy flow didn''t overload any of the pods and that everyone received the nourishment they needed.

    The procedure was going tost hours, if not days, and they needed their strength.

    Orion''s Awakening was unique and Vastor had no mage tower. Orion knew that somehow Lith had helped Quy to Awaken, but he couldn''t ask her anything without exposing his intentions.

    Vastor had nned for the impurities to slowly drip out of Orion''s body as it rebuilt itself stronger and its mana conductivity improved. The problem was that he had no experience with violet cores and yed it safe.

    He followed the transformation of Orion''s body with Beyonder''s Eye, nudging the changes in the life force here and there while letting the impurities out only when their presence made further advancement impossible.

    The tar-like substance seeped instead of flooding out of Orion''s orifices and pores, making the process as painful as a normal Awakening but making itst much longer than a few minutes.

    ''Whatever happens, don''t lose consciousness.'' Vastor warned him. ''Whenever you feel too weak, just tell me and I''ll restore your vitality. Just remember that the more I do it, the less effective it will be.''

    Orion screamed, nodded, and kept screaming.

    His bones broke, his skin fell off, and his blood seemed to be on fire.

    The slow Awakening process hindered his breathing technique and sapped his strength. Invigoration didn''t work due to all the barriers stopping the mana flow while the constant opening and healing of his wounds took a toll on his mind.

    Awakening was supposed to be empowering but for Orion, it was a slow and excruciating torture.

    Seconds seemed tost minutes, minutes days, and hours years. The process couldn''t be stopped and soon Orion found himself wishing that someone, anyone messed up.

    ''At least, this would be over. At least, the pain would stop.'' His tears were lost in the violet liquid.

    No god answered his prayers and the Eldritches made no mistake.

    Cyare and Hushar took turns with the arrays and the Mana Body while Eycos and Nelia alternated using Life Maelstrom so that their mana organs were never full.

    ''Circte your mana!'' Vastor incited his friend from time to time. ''The more auxiliary cores you form, the lesser the strain on your body will be.''

    It was easy to say but hard to do in the searing ocean of agony that drowned Orion. He needed sheer willpower just to stay conscious, he clenched his teeth so hard and for so long that they kept chipping and regenerating.

    Every piece of his body down to his hair hurt all the time. Circting mana under those conditions wasn''t hard, it was impossible. Normal Awakened would not experience pain, their bodies free of impurities upon reaching the bright blue.

    The point of the violet was to reach the expertise and focus to form auxiliary cores, not to battle death. It was only hourster, when Orion''s body refinement had reached the equivalent of the blue, that he could start forming the auxiliary cores.

    By that point, he had almost got numb to the pain and with most of the impurities gone, it was bearable. At least for him. Without the Master''s careful nning and the prolonged suffering, what Orion now considered eptable suffering would have driven a normal man insane.

    Nandi slowly decreased the pressure of world energy as Orion''s body improved and so did Cyare and Hushar with Mana Body.

    Abthot tendrils stitched Orion''s flesh together, Zoreth enhanced his metabolism to regeneration levels, and Vastor moved the impurities to force the mana flow to follow path of the least resistance.

 Chapter 3021 Price of Power (Part 3)

    Chapter 3021 Price of Power (Part 3)

    Once the process stopped, Orion was still alive and he was now a violet-cored Awakened.

    "What''s wrong with me?" His body was stronger than ever but as he weaved his first tier four spell with true magic, he noticed there was something wrong with his mana core.

    "I''m sorry. There was no way topletely stop your mana from leaking out of your body. As I told you, your core was overloaded. The worst case scenario was you going back to bright blue and the best was retaining the bright violet.

    "The arrays and Nandi slowed down the bleed as much as they could, but we are no gods. You''ve been losing mana from the moment the procedure started until you began forming the auxiliary cores." Vastor and the others dried themselves before putting their clothes back on.

    "I don''t care. I''m alive. It''s all that matters." Orion sat on the bed, stillpletely naked.

    In that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was that the pain had stopped. He was enjoying the feeling of breathing without his lungs filling with blood. Of moving his arms without his flesh ripping apart and his bones breaking.

    His jaw still hurt but it was finally starting to rx. He could still hear his own screams gurgling in his ears but they were fading away. The silence was music and the absence of pain brought him more joy than he believed possible.

    "That''s the spirit." Vastor shook Orion after letting him space out for a few minutes. "You can regain the bright violet. Just practice umtion. Also, you need to grow a beard so stop shaving."

    The Master gave Orion a mirror and the face returning his gaze snapped him out of the shock of the procedure.

    "What the fuck?" Just a few hours ago he had a few grey hairs but they were now ck like the rest. The lines around his eyes and on his forehead were gone, leaving his skin smooth and youthful. "I look at least ten years younger."

    Orion checked his hands and muscles, finding the nigh-forgotten vigor of his youth.

    "How could this happen? I mean, I know that Awakened live for centuries but the life force I''ve consumed so far is supposed to be lost. You are Awakened as well and-" Orion bit his tongue the moment he realized how rude and ungrateful he sounded.

    "I mean, Jirni¡­ is going to kill me if I say something like this to her."

    "Yes, yes, and you bet." Vastor nodded. "My hair is getting its color back but not because I''m getting younger and neither is your wife. Yours is a special case and your current state is a side effect of Awakening I hadn''t even considered.

    "I can only specte about what happened."

    "Tell me." Orion was curious and almost scared at the idea of being just a bit older than his eldest son.

    "Your body was overloaded with mana that wanted to escape, yet the world energy conjured by Nandi and the arrays that Hushar and Cyare set into ce held it back for hours. My hypothesis is that part of your lost mana is now trapped in your skin and enhancing your life force.

    "If I''m right, the rejuvenating effect is temporary and should wear off as your body stabilizes and gets rid of the excess mana."

    "What if this is not the case?" Orion asked.

    "Then I''ve performed a gods-damned miracle and I''ll kick your ass first and then mine because I have no idea how to do it again!" Vastor snarled. "If I wasted my luck on you, not even your life would be enough to repay your debt."

    Orion looked at himself in the mirror again and then at Vastor''s furious expression. Hisughter started like a stifled sneeze and then slowly grew in intensity until Orion was hugging his belly, gasping for air.

    "Thank you, my friend." Orion said amid tears of hrity. "Thank you for reminding me that there''s more to life than the absence of pain. I feel like myself again."

    "You are wee." Vastor handed Orion his clothes. "Now put your pants on and go to sleep. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

    "What do you mean?" Orion obliged, feeling stupid for being the only one naked in the room.

    "Look at the bed." Vastor pointed at the handprints left by Orion''s joyous fit on the wooden frame. "Your strength has gone from that of a trained soldier to that of a violet core with perfect body refinement. If you go back home now, you are going to kill someone."

    The self-repair spells were already fixing the damage but the marks in the solid wood were deep.

    "We can start now. I don''t feel tired." Orion replied. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Say that again with your head on the pillow."

    "I don''t feel tired. We can¡­" Orion''s eyelids drooped and his voice faded along with his consciousness.

    His body was filled with adrenaline, giving him the impression of strength but he was actually on the breaking point. The pain, the changes, and the wounds had taken their toll on his mind as well

    "Excellent job, guys." Vastor said after Hushing his patient. "Take a day off and rest. We are all tired and need our strength before going back to work. Kigan, you keep an eye on him and teach him the basics of Spirit Magic.

    "Just enough to send him home safely."

    ***

    Orion slept for eight full hours and then started his lessons.

    His body was full of energy and he needed to learn how to control it. Spirit Magic crushed things when he was angry or frustrated, brought him things he desired, and made him aimlessly float when he was happy.

    His body was much worse. Eggs, tes, cups, and cutlery ended up the same, crushed by his hands. Whenever Orion tried to take a full step, he would m against the ceiling and bounce onto the ground.

    After a whole day of continued failures, Kigan kicked him out of the Vastor Mansion with a goodbye gift.

    "I''m done wasting my time on you. Practice on your own!" The Shadow Phoenix handed Orion a special suit of armor and threw him into Vastor''s private Warp Gate.

    Unlike regr armor, the artifact was meant to protect others from its wearer. It would restrict Orion''s movements and conjure air cushions when he exerted a pressure dangerous to an adult human.

    "Thank the gods you are alright." Jirni was waiting for him on the other side.

    She hugged him tight and helped him to get back to his feet. For some reason, Orion moved as if he had a stick up his ass and one more up each of his limbs.

    "I told you not to do it! If anything happened to you I would- What the fuck happened to you?" She took his face between her hands and noticed his youthful appearance.

    "It''s a long story." He sighed. "I need a sturdy chair, lots of food that I can eat with my bare hands, and a ce where to eat without witnesses."

    Jirni arranged for everything in a few minutes and Orion was eating and telling her what had happened before he could sit down.

 Chapter 3022 Price of Power (Part 4)

    Chapter 3022 Price of Power (Part 4)

    "I see." She sighed in relief, uncaring for the lost power of his core and grateful for the procedure''s sess. "We can always say that you''ve used Hossa''s full body cosmetic magic.

    "The problem is exining why I didn''t undergo one as well." She grunted.

    "Easy. Bullshit for bullshit, we can tell people that you didn''t feel it was safe for the baby." Orion shrugged.

    "Good idea." Jirni kept turning his face in her hands, her expression still stern. "Vastor is right. Grow a full beard and don''t go out until you''ve mastered your newfound physical prowess."

    "Because you are worried that people might notice the change or because you are jealous?" Orion chuckled.

    "I am jealous." Jirni admitted, making his jaw drop. "You''ve always had more suitors than me. Now that I look like your mother, I''m afraid to lose you to some pretty girl. And the worst thing is that I couldn''t me you for it.

    "We are in this situation because of me. You''ve risked your life because of me. You have every right to step away from this mess." She sighed, staring at the floor because scared of reading the answer in his eyes.

    The stress, the pregnancy, and the nearing of the deadline that Jiza had given Jirni had worn out her willpower. Orion''s youthful appearance only made things worse.

    He was the head of one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom, a powerful mage, and a man renowned for his wisdom and good heart. That along with his tall and powerful built physique made many noble dames disregard the fact that he was married.

    As for Jirni, her reputation preceded her as well. No matter how beautiful, a shark was still treated as a shark. Especially when she had no qualms about maiming and tearing apart whoever dared swim near her.

    "Don''t be silly." He chuckled, opening his arms to embrace her just to remember how dangerous it was for her and the baby.

    Orion froze halfway, keeping his arms wide and beckoning her to do the rest.

    "I''m not going anywhere." She hugged him while Orion stood still. "Everything I''ve done, I did it for us. You, me, and our children."

    "Our children can''t afford to lose both their parents." Jirni pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes. "That''s why I didn''t want you to Awaken anymore. I wrote you a letter instead of calling you so that you could be certain of my intentions.

    "That I meant every word I wrote and there was no maniption attempt or hidden agenda." Orion had almost divorced Jirni after she had faked Quy''s death and broken her vow not to lie to him.

    They had made up, but she knew Orion still had trust issues. A holographic call would have allowed her to convey infinite nuances via the tone of her voice, her bodynguage, and her eyes.

    The letter took her power of deception away.

    "So why did you do it?"

    "Because I can''t stand the thought of reliving the events that preceded Phloria''s death." Orion replied. "I won''t stand on the sidelines again, watching others risk their lives to protect those I hold dear while all I can do is pray.

    "I did it because I couldn''t live with the regret of not doing everything I could just to save my skin. I''d rather die on my feet in a few months than die of old age on my knees. I''ve already lost Phloria. I''m not losing you, no matter the cost." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Idiot." Jirni said while hugging him again and burying her face in his chest.

    "By the way, there''s something you should know." Orion told her about the true nature of Vastor''s so-called nephews and nieces and then gave her a brief exnation of how their abilities had allowed him to survive the Awakening.

    ''The fact that Vastor didn''t use Orion''s prisoners doesn''t mean he didn''t sacrifice human lives. He had probably prepared everything he needed in advance.'' Jirni immediately spotted the w in the Master''s lie.

    ''Yet I don''t care. He gave me my husband back and in one piece. If I''m right, Vastor has be almost as good as Manohar. If I''m wrong, he lied to save Orion''s soul. Either way Vastor is the kind of ally I need.'' She thought.

    "So I was thinking, why not ask Zogar and his Divine Beasts to side with us?" Orion asked. "With their help, standing against the Myrok would be much easier. Jiza might even give up without a fight since even if she wins, the Myrok would end up decimated."

    "Sure, but why should Zogar and his Divine Beasts help us?" Jirni asked back. "A business deal is one thing. Taking part in a private war is another entirely. The Myrok are part of the Council whereas I''m pretty certain that Zogar and his allies are not.

    "He''s the only one who I''ve ever seen using Spirit Magic. Zoreth taught us true magic, but she never gave me a demonstration about Spirit Magic. She only gave me theorical lessons."

    "That''s true." Orion pondered, remembering how Kigan too had never given Orion a practical demonstration during their lessons.

    "Also, if we win against the Myrok, things end there. If Zogar wins against the Myrok, the Council is going after him next. I can''t just ask him to side with us, we need to give him either usible deniability or a justification to take part in the conflict."

    "Let me guess. You are already working on both and waiting to see which one hits harder." Orion said.

    "You know me well, my love." Jirni took his face between her hands, giving Orion that predator smile he had learned to love and fear.

    ***

    Jiera Continent, Gorgon Empire''s outpost.

    "I can''t believe this is ourst flight together." Kelia sighed while turning to Am Farg who sat on the passenger seat of the DoLorean. "I''m going to miss you a lot."

    "Are you talking to me or to the car?" Farg didn''t miss that the young girl was caressing the control panel on the dashboard.

    "The car." Kelia scoffed. "You are an annoying spoilsport who does nothing but nag and treat me like a thief."

    Farg''s eyes were lit with Life Vision to make sure that her guest from the Empire didn''t use her breathing technique to steal the secrets of the DoLorean''s power core. Kelia was the only Awakened in the Empire''s colonization expedition while Farg yed the same role for the Kingdom.

    With Lith gone, it was her duty to ensure that Kelia didn''t try anything funny with the Wayfinder or the DoLoreans.

    "I treat you like a thief because that''s what you are. I bet that the Empress ordered you to spy on Magus Verhen''s legacy. Do you deny it?" Farg asked and Kelia remained silent, not trusting her skills as a liar.

    "And I don''t nag. I try to advise you because despite your talent, you are still a rookie. Real life is nothing like the academy. There are no life-saving arrays out here. One mistake is all it takes to send even the best of us to the grave."

 Chapter 3023 Crystal Hunting (Part 1)

    Chapter 3023 Crystal Hunting (Part 1)

    Kelia had to admit that she had been reckless while dealing with monsters, hostile Emperor Beasts, and nt folk that threatened Wyrmhold but there was a reason she was so confident in her abilities.

    Her equipment had been crafted by Baba Yaga herself and it was made of Davross.

    Also, as the host of the Horseman of Dusk, even though she had a bright green mana core she was harder to kill than a Divine Beast. Kelia rushed into battle not because of youthful stupidity but to gain invaluable experience.

    With Dusk and her equipment, she could take risks that no one else could. By putting herself into life-or-death situations, she honed her battle instinct and learned to suppress fear and hesitation in the face of stronger opponents.

    ''What point does it have to have an immortal body if I keep being afraid of getting hurt?'' She thought. ''Baba Yaga''s seal doesn''t affect Dusk''s regenerative abilities. I can afford to take one death blow or two if it means killing my enemy.''

    "Please, I''m a student of the six great academies." Kelia actually said. "I have met dozens of demanding Professors. I can tell the difference between teaching and nagging."

    "Fine!" Farg raised her hands with the palms out. "Since this is ourst day together, I might as well admit it. You are right. I''ve been nagging at you because I''m envious of you."

    "You? Envious of me?" Kelia almost crashed against a Cron (bird-type magical beast) from surprise.

    Farg was a beautiful woman and a charismatic leader. With her violet core and uncanny mastery of Spirit Magic, Kelia couldn''t think of a single reason Farg should be envious of a brat like her.

    "Yes." Farg sighed. "Even after everything you went through as an orphan, you managed to enroll in one of the six great academies of the Empire. Your talent is so great that the Magic Empress noticed you after the first exam and she adopted you.

    "For the gods'' sake, she trusts you so much that she Awakened you. As for me, I had to work my ass off to get into the Corps first and then into the Corpse. I''ve risked my life for the Royals countless times since I graduated from the Crystal Griffon but they didn''t Awaken me, let alone adopt me.

    "I''m a fake. Every member of the Corpse is a fake Awakened entrusted only with the power they need to serve the Crown but nothing more. You are the real deal."

    "Oh." Kelia slowed down since they hade close to a city of the Wild Empire and the number of flying beasts was too great to drive without focusing on the sky. "Thank you. I''ve never put it that way."

    Because none of Farg''s intel about Kelia was true. She would still be an orphan begging for food if not for Dusk. He had rescued her, Awakened her, and tutored her until she knew enough to pass the admission test for the Red Emperor academy.

    The Empress had just collected the final product. There wasn''t much trust or love between Kelia and Milea. They were trying to build both over time but their true bondy in their business deal.

    The Empress needed a loyal Awakened and could use Dusk''s expertise while Kelia needed a powerful backer to ensure that Dusk''s existence would never be revealed.

    "You are wee." Farg sighed, pondering if spending so much time with a child was making her childish. "Turn around. Even if there''s a mine around here, I doubt the Wild Empire would surrender it without a fight. We''ve note here for war." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Kelia steered the DoLorean away and they flew for over a hundred kilometers before using Life Vision again. They kept exploring the region until sunset, spotting three mana geysers and mapping their position before returning to Wyrmhold.

    The Empire''s outpost had already its own Warp Gate and the basic set of defensive arrays would bepleted for the next day. After that, the people of the Kingdom would leave and return to Darmoq.

    Worst case scenario, in case of an attack the arrays would buy Wyrmhold''s forces enough time for reinforcements from Darmoq to arrive via the Gate. Jiera was a dangerous ce and mutual aid was one of the key points of the deal between the Kingdom and the Empire.

    "I can''t believe we are almost done. Just a few days and I''ll go back to the Academy." Kelia stared at the campfire while eating dinner. "I''ll miss Jiera. Don''t get me wrong, I''d never live here.

    "But after so many theoretical lessons, putting what I''ve learned at the academy into practice was a nice change."

    "I can''t believe we are working together with monsters and undead." Farg pointed at the orc shamans, Balors, and ghouls with her spoon. "Sometimes it feels like Mogar has turned upside down."

    Ghouls worked as prospectors, following the mana geyser''s current deep below the ground and looking for magic metals and crystals. They were faster than any spell and could locate rich veins of enchanted resources with 100% uracy without aimlessly digging tons of rock.

    Orc shamans were not only Awakened, but they could also use their link with mana crystals to bestow regr people effects simr to Invigoration and negate enemy spells at a moment''s notice.

    Balors were powerful warriors who, despite their inability to use magic above tier three, could single-handedly dispose of a monster horde thanks to their wings and Evil Eyes.

    Both monsters and undead worked in exchange for a share of the mines, but their services were well worth it. The Kingdom and the Empire couldn''t afford to deploy the troops necessary to protect their respective overseas outposts.

    Losing a bit of resources was worth saving the thousands of lives of their citizens that monster tides and lost cities would reap.

    "I''m not a fan of undead, but I''d hit that." Kelia pointed at a handsome orc shaman who in his unfallen state was a dark-skinned elf and at a bare-chested Balor whose body was a symphony of muscles.

    After a Divine Beast had been proimed Supreme Magus of the Kingdom and the Headmaster of the White Griffon had married a Dryad, the public opinion toward the other races and mixed couples was slowly changing.

    Especially after Elysia had shocked the Kingdom during her introduction G and Dhiral was showing more of his intelligence. Some even said that Manohar the Second wasn''t just a second name, but a prophecy.

    On top of that, life in Jiera was already hard.

    Anyone could die at any time, making the social barriers in the outposts even thinner. Many soldiers courted the so-called reverted monsters, making female orcs and Balors giggle like little girls.

    "Kelia!" Farg spat out a mouthful of her stew. "You are still a child. Also, I called dibs on Ba''rai."

    "Please." Kelia chuckled. "I''m not a child. I''m fifteen. Next year I''ll be considered an adult. Also, you have attended an academy as well. Compared to what happens there, this is a temple of purity."

    "That''s true." Farg sighed, looking at the Balor way longer than it was polite while wondering if to invite him to Darmoq.

 Chapter 3024 Crystal Hunting (Part 2)

    Chapter 3024 Crystal Hunting (Part 2)

    "And I was talking about Kai''El." Kelia nodded at the dark elf. "With the orcs'' elerated growth rate, he should be around my age, if not even younger."

    "Are you going to¡­" Farg asked.

    "No. I''m about to leave Jiera and I don''t want to throw away my first time. I''m young, not stupid." Kelia shook her head. "Are you going to¡­"

    "No." Farg sighed. "Tooplicated and my mission can''t afford distractions, no matter how hot they are."

    "Wow." Kelia chuckled. "We are more serious than I thought."

    "Yeah." Farg nodded. "Yet with all the shit that keeps happening, I think our soldiers are right. We should enjoy our lives while we still have one."

    ***

    The following morning, the Wayfinder went from vige to train mode, allowing the people of the Kingdom to load the DoLoreans in their wagons.

    "If you need anything, call me." Farg grabbed Kelia''s forearm and she returned the gesture. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Same to you. How long will it take the Wayfinder to reach Darmoq?"

    "At cruising speed and without Steps, a bit more than one hour. But we can always turn around ande back at full throttle if needed. On top of that, the DoLoreans can get here even faster." Farg replied.

    The Wayfinder was too big to pass through the Gates but mages could still hasten its travels by opening Warp Steps.

    "Thanks. It shouldn''t be necessary, but I like to be ready for the worst. With you gone and the undead slumbering during the day, Wyrmhold is at its weakest since its founding." Kelia pointed at the buildings below which the people of the Eclipsed Lands rested until sundown.

    Farg briefly saluted the Empire personnel and boarded the Wayfinder which soon disappeared on the horizon.

    "What are our orders for today, mdy?" Colonel Fymray asked.

    In the Empire noble titles weren''t hereditary, let alone the office of Magic Emperor but as Milea''s adoptive daughter, Kelia was treated as royalty.

    "We are going to Warp our allies from Zelex to the sites where the ghouls spotted veins of magical resources. They are going to act as both workers and guards until we have enough forces to establish a perimeter." Kelia replied.

    "Moving them from their viges, building basic housing, and ensuring them enough provisions is going to take us all day so we''d better get moving."

    ***

    The people from Zelex couldn''t step away from a mana geyser without reverting to their brutish and fallen state so Warping arrays had to be prepared at their departing and arrival points.

    It was a hassle but the creatures were worth it. Shamans stabilized the crystal mines, allowing prospectors and miners to use powerful spells without the risk of blowing everything up.

    Building a city, digging a tunnel, or moving a mountain were equally easy to a Balor''s orange eye. Before sundown, a makeshift stone vige and several fortifications were ready.

    The crystal veins were still inessible but the shamans had already built a wide underground space where mages could work without disturbing the soldiers. Warg and Hati scouted the ce, forming a living securitywork with their mystical senses and hive mind.

    With each mining vige the reverted monsters built, the resources necessary to sustain those who remained in Zelex lessened. At the same time, the Kingdom and the Empire saved thousands of gold coins in manpower and soldiers'' lives.

    The monsters remained on site, ensuring the safety of the miners and goods.

    "We are done here." Fymray said while looking at the sundown. "Soon the undead will wake up. With their help, the people of Zelex willplete the settlement before sunrise.

    "At that point, unless a monster tide gets here, there''s nothing that can threaten the mine faster than backup can arrive. We should go back to Wyrmhold."

    "Sure." Kelia panted, appreciating how after living with the Fallen for weeks, no one called them monsters anymore. "You open the first Steps. The next one is on me."

    Her mana core was almost empty but her breathing rhythm returned to normal as Invigoration restored her strength. She had helped dig through the rock and build the vige in order to understand her limits and refine her body.

    It was the best way to learn how to handle powerful spells and get used to a stronger mana flow.

    "Don''t worry, mdy." The colonel opened the Steps. "You''ve already done-"

    A silvery pir of light the size of a train swept the settlement. The cave copsed and the stone vige was razed to the ground. The monsters died first in the attempt to stop the onught.

    Then it was the turn of the Empire''s soldiers andstly of the undead. Their coffins were hidden underground for safety but the pir cut through rock and soil like a scalpel carving flesh.

    Kelia survived, but barely. Even the Davross of her armor coupled with the Spirit Barrier couldn''t stand a Tower de spell.

    Once everyone was dead, Copsing Moon focused on Kelia, ripping through the Scorpion armor first, then her flesh, bones, andstly her organs until only Dusk''s red crystal remained.

    ''I need to call mother. Now!'' The Horseman tried and failed to activate his mind link with Baba Yaga, finding himself inside a Sealed Space.

    Before he could process the information, Thorn pierced through the emerald barrier and the exposed red crystal, nailing it to the ground.

    "Hello, brother." Night chuckled, getting close only after confirming from a distance that the damage she had inflicted on the other Horseman was beyond saving. "I''ve waited a long time for this moment.

    "That Farg bitch never left your side and I couldn''t afford to face two Awakened at once. Not with everyone knowing how to kill me with one spell!" She snarled, setting more and more Sealed Spaces around the area.

    "You know, you picked yourself a cute host. Mine would have liked to y with her for a bit. Seduce her, even. But there''s no time. We are sick and tired of living under the threat of Mother''s seal.

    "It''s time to break it and you are going to help us."

    ''I won''t do anything to help you. I''d rather die here.'' Dusk replied, feeling his crystal body falling apart piece by piece.

    "It''s your choice. I don''t need you alive for my purpose. I just need you without a host." Night shrugged. "If you keep acting tough, you are both going to die. You know what you must do.

    "What we''ve been taught to do in circumstances such as this. You have only one move left and we both know how it ends."

    ''You are right.'' Dusk replied. ''I''m dying and so is Kelia. Even if Mother notices our link being cut off, she''ll never get here in time. I have only one move left.''

    The host of a Horseman served several purposes. It allowed them to tap into their true powers, it gave them a physical body, and served as ast-ditch resort. By burning the life force of their host, the Horsemen could heal from any damage and return to their peak condition.

    It was how Dawn had survived her fight with Sinmara. It was how Night had defeated countless opponents despite her recklessness. It was something that Dusk had never done in his millennia-long life.

 Chapter 3025 Unforgivable Crime (Part 1)

    Chapter 3025 Unforgivable Crime (Part 1)

    ''But you are also wrong! I''ll never help you. As I said, I''d rather die here.'' True to his word, Dusk refused to sacrifice his host.

    Even if he reverted to his peak condition, Baba Yaga''s seal would remain and so would the Sealed Space that kept the Red Mother from pinpointing his location. His spells, mana, and bloodline abilities would still be trapped inside his crystal body.

    Sacrificing Ke would achieve nothing but serve Dusk''s crystal to Night on a silver tter. He burned his life force instead, bringing Kelia back to her peak condition by taking on himself the wounds they had suffered.

    "No! No, no, no!" The ck Night and her host yelled in unison as Dusk exploded in a shower of bloody crystals. "I won''t let you deny our prize! Our birthright!"

    Kelia exploited the ensuing chaos to run away with a single fragment stuck in the middle of her chest. Night was too busy collecting Dusk''s crystals and integrating them with her own to notice her escape, sharing the damage with Orpal and Moonlight.

    It was a matter of time before the enchantments holding Dusk''s mana organs together fell apart and if that happened, Night would have lost her chance at apotheosis.

    ''Don''t worry, kid. Now that you are outside the Sealed Space, Mom has received the message. Just Warp in a random direction and by the time Night notices you are gone, it will be toote.''

    Warm tears streaked down Kelia''s eyes as she consumed the little bit of Life Maelstrom Dusk had left to boost her mana core and conjure a Warp Steps. She cried because she was terrified of death.

    Of what Orpal would do to her if Night just turned her head a bit. Of the feeling of Dusk''s presence disappearing from her mind.

    ''Baba Yaga can save us, right? She can save you.'' Kelia disappeared, quickly followed by Firebrand and Scorpion.

    Without the Sealed Space, the Davross had drawn upon the world energy and repaired itself from the catastrophic damage of the Tower de Spell. The enchanted metal was bound to Kelia''s energy signature and Baba Yaga''s spell made it part of her no less than her skin.

    ''No. It''s over for me, kid.'' Dusk said, his consciousness fading away along with his enchantments. ''I''m sorry for what I did to you when we first met. I''m sorry for fooling you into bonding with me.

    ''I''m sorry for many things but I don''t have the time to apologize for them all. Know that I''m happy to have you as my final host, kid. I never doubted my choice. My only regret is that when you discover the secret of your bloodline, I won''t be with you. Farewell, Kelia.''

    ''No! Don''t leave me. I don''t want to be alone again!'' The Horseman''s voice went silent and the light inside the crystal dimmed.

    Away from the rest of the fragments and with his body shattered, Dusk''s consciousness faded into nothingness.

    Kelia and the Horseman had spent a little over one year together and most of it had been far from a joy ride. The fires of deception and the feeling of betrayal were hard to forget, let alone forgive.

    Yet Kelia couldn''t forget that meeting Dusk had brought her to a better life. She suffered no more from hunger and she was safe. Kelia had gone from a starving orphan living on the streets to a powerful mage in one of the six great academies of the Empire.

    During that time, Dusk had been her mentor, friend, andpanion, sharing with her every good and bad moment.

    He had given her a new family with Baba Yaga, helped her navigate the academy despite her poor upbringing, and stood by her side when the Empress had uncovered their identity due to Kelia''s arrogance. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It had taken her longer to forgive the Horseman than to switch from "I" to "we". She had gotten used to the familiar presence in her head because, despite her righteous grudge, Dusk made her feel safe.

    Now he was gone and the silence in her head was deafening. It was like a hole had been opened in her soul and everything good in her life was going down the drain. She was no longer part of one of the most powerful beings on Mogar, just a nameless orphan.

    Kelia begged and screamed, channeling every iota of her mana inside the crystal shard. She tried with her breathing technique and all the Forgemastering spells she knew but nothing worked.

    Only Spirit Magic seemed to bring back a pinprick of light. The two of them had shared the same energy signature and Spirit Magic was made of elemental energy and life force, the two things that made a Horseman a living being.

    Yet with a single shard and the power of a bright green core, Kelia''s attempts were like trying to fill a leaky bucket with a spoon. Her mana was too little and it bled out as quickly as she poured it in.

    "Gods above and below, what''s happened?" Kelia was so focused on her task, on never losing control of her breathing technique to send a constant stream of mana into the shard, that she had noticed nothing.

    From the appearance of the colossal Warp Gate to the chicken-legged hut walking through it, she had noticed nothing. Baba Yaga was talking to Kelia, but the young girl couldn''t hear or see her.

    Her whole focus was devoted to keeping the tiny spark of light inside the shard burning, even at the cost of her own life.

    The Red Mother needed but a nce to understand that something was terribly wrong and a wave of her hand to conjure her tier five Creation Magic Spell, Restoration.

    Her white core burned bright, lighting the grasnds as wildfire. Baba Yaga''s eyes went wide with horror when she discovered that not even her full power was enough. Her son was almost dead and there was nothing she could do about it.

    Almost.

    She tapped into the power of her tower, sucking the surrounding world energy dry to turn Restoration into a Tower Tier spell. It wasn''t enough to heal the shard but it kept what was left of Dusk''s energy stable.

    ''Child, if you want me to save Dusk, I need to know what happened and where I can find the rest of his crystals.'' She said via a mind link.

    The spark of light shone dimly, like a candle out of wax, but it had stopped fading. It was enough for Kelia to allow herself to pour every bit of information about Night''s attack into the mind link.

    She fell with her forehead on the ground, her hands still clutching the shard and ready to pour whatever mana she had left. Invigoration wouldn''t work much longer. Her body couldn''t take any more mana abuse without falling apart but she didn''t care.

    ''Dawn, go. I have to take care of Kelia.'' The oldest of the Horseman came out of the hut riding her steed, Sunrise, and wearing her full Davross set.

    Baba Yaga was seething with anger and wanted to take no risk.

    ''I''ve already prepared the self-destruction spell.'' Ac said, leaving Dawn in control of his body.

 Chapter 3026 Unforgivable Crime (Part 2)

    Chapter 3026 Unforgivable Crime (Part 2)

    ''I don''t care if Night is your sister. I''m going to kill her on sight. If we don''t stop her now, you''ll be the next.'' Ac said.

    ''d we are on the same page.'' Dawn''s eyes burned with mana and fury.

    She kept the destruction spell for Night''s crystal and her Tower de Tier Spell, Rising Sun, ready to be unleashed the moment Night was in sight.

    What the Crazy Horseman had done was more than betrayal, it was fratricide. Something that among Baba Yaga''s direct children, like Firstborns and Horsemen, was considered an unforgivable crime.

    The Red Mother had given them life and only she could take it away.

    In case of a dispute, only non-lethal fighting was allowed. If either side wanted the battle to be to the death, they had to summon Baba Yaga via their eternal bond and ask her judgment.

    Night had spat on a millennia-old tradition and everything the Horsemen stood for in one fell swoop. Kelia had provided Baba Yaga with precise dimensional coordinates and so many details about the location of the attack that Dawn could find it with her eyes closed.

    Sunshine brought Dawn to her destination in the blink of an eye, yet aside from death and the ruins of the mining town, there was nothing to find. Ac and Dawn used Tower Tier detection spells, hoping to find a dimensional trace to give chase to Night or at least a few of Dusk''s fragments.

    ''Even one more shard would make Mother''s work much easier. Saving my brother takes priority. Revenge can wait.'' s, she found nothing.

    The space had been rxed and every bit of crystal collected.

    "Come out and fight me, you coward!" Dawn yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice booming for kilometers but only silence answered her call. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She Warped in random directions, using her detection spells in the hope of stumbling into Night''s trail. Luck turned her back to the Horseman and Dawn was forced to return to the hut empty-handed.

    ''There''s nothing I can do here. I''d better make sure that Night hasn''t backtracked to steal Dusk''s steed while Mother is busy.''

    When she arrived, there was no trace of the traitorous Horseman but none of her brother either. There was no magic in the air, only the sound of Kelia''s sobbing. She was curled up in a fetal position, holding the shard piercing her chest while rocking back and forth.

    "Is Dusk¡­" Dawn failed to find the strength toplete the question.

    "Gone? Yes. Dead, no." The Red Mother said, shifting from her Crone form to that of the Mother before wrapping Kelia in a gentle embrace.

    "Really?" She sniffled amid tears and bubbles of snot.

    "Yes, child. How do you think that I came to your side like that? If Dusk was dead so would be my bond with him. My bond with you." Baba Yaga replied.

    "Can you bring him back?" Kelia asked.

    "That''s beyond even me. We are missing his body, his mana organs, and his core." The Mother shook her head.

    "Then he''s dead!" Kelia started sobbing again.

    "No, because he''s left you a critical piece of himself. His mind." Baba Yaga touched the crystal shard and it shone with new power.

    Dusk''s voice was gone but everything he knew was still there. Any question Kelia asked would be answered, but the information came to her cold and impersonal. It was more like reading a book than remembering.

    "Now, you have two choices, child. You can let me pull the shard out of your chest and return you to the safety of the Empire. You are still an Awakened and the Empress cares for you.

    "Dusk will be gone forever but you''ll be safe and Night will have no reason to bother you again."

    "What''s the other option?" The mention of her hated enemy made Kelia steel with fury and her voice ooze with venom.

    "You keep the shard where it is. It will keep Dusk alive but it won''t give you any power. On top of that, Night might feel the connection with the remaining fragment and hunt you down until she gets it." Baba Yaga replied.

    "Can you use it to find her?" Kelia asked.

    "Maybe, maybe not. This was not supposed to happen. I have no idea if the link between the crystal and shards goes both ways or if only Dusk''s main body can locate its fragments. All I can tell you is that you''d be in danger and I''d use you as bait."

    "What wasn''t supposed to happen?" Kelia''s hatred shifted to Baba Yaga as well, considering her responsible for Night''s madness.

    "I''ll exin thatter. First, I need to know your decision. Your future depends on it."

    "The shard is mine!" Kelia had it hide under her skin, even though it caused her great pain. Without the Horseman guiding the process, it was more like digging through her flesh than merging with it.

    "If it means that you can bring Dusk back or lure Meln into a trap, my life is a little price to pay. I want him dead. I want to be the one dealing the death blow!"

    "Get in line, sister." Dawn said.

    "Let''s go. We have people to warn and ns to make." A touch of Baba Yaga''s finger and a healing spell made Kelia faint.

    Her battered body and her fractured psyche were in dire need of rest.

    "Where to, Mother?" Dawn asked.

    "Lutia."

    ***

    In a makeshift cave hundreds of kilometers from the attack, at the same time.

    "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Since Night was entrusted with the hardest part of the work Orpal had to take the most of the pain to preserve her focus.

    The wounds they had inflicted upon Dusk were now shared between Orpal, Night, and Moonlight. Yet The Horseman couldn''t risk exceeding the self-repairing enchantments of her steed so she inflicted minor damage upon her mage tower and added more only after it had been fixed.

    The three Horsemen had been carved from a single Spirit Crystal after splitting it into itsponents. Light for Dawn, darkness for Night, and everything else for Dusk.

    It was why he was the only one who possessed the first Guardians'' bloodline abilities.

    After her defeat at Balkor''s hands, Night had been forced to admit that the god of death was right. Light and darkness were two sides of the same coin and Baba Yaga had made a mistake by making three Horseman instead of one.

    She nned to correct that mistake. To fuse the three crystals back into one to give birth to a perfect being.

    ''Mother had to be scared of us if she split us. I bet that in our original state, we were as strong as her. Maybe even more.'' She grunted in pain as she tried to fit Dusk''s shards into her crystal while also providing them with the energy to preserve their enchantments.

    ''I would have preferred to assimte Dawn first but her host is more powerful than mine and she never gets away from mother. Dusk was my only chance at getting rid of the weakness she imposed upon me.''

    ''Are we finally free from the self-destruction spell?'' Orpal asked as he writhed in agony like a worm someone had stepped on.

 Chapter 3027 Unforgivable Crime (Part 3)

    Chapter 3027 Unforgivable Crime (Part 3)

    ''Can you now help me n and fight against Leech?'' Orpal asked.

    ''No to everything.'' Night''s answer made him wail in pain and despair. ''We don''t even have any ess to Dusk''s abilities since along with his crystal I''m taking upon myself the seal mother had imposed on him as well.''

    ''Then why the fuck did we do this in the first ce? Why do I have to suffer like this?''

    ''Because once I''m done fusing our crystals, once our power cores merge into one, all of our dreams wille true. Dusk''s seal, my restrictions, and even the self-destruction spell will be in the past. We will be unstoppable.''

    Those words made Orpal''s lips curl up with joy, turning his gritted teeth into a twisted smile of fury.

    ''At least in theory.'' She added and he emitted a blood-curdling scream. ''Horsemen were never supposed to be one. Mother created us to be unique and establish our own bloodline.

    ''I have no idea how assimting another Horseman works or how long it will take. Until we are done, we''ll be in agony. Even if we seed, until we master our new body, our abilities will be diminished.

    ''Yet I can promise you this. If I''m right, nothing on Mogar but the damn Guardians will be able to stop us. Maybe not even them.''

    Orpal wanted to smile andugh at the idea, but the only thing he could think of was to make the pain stop.

    ***

    Garlen Continent, Verhen Mansion, dining hall.

    The sun had risen for a while and the Verhens and their guests were about to have breakfast together.

    It was Sark''s turn to watch over Elysia for the day and she had also helped Elina in the kitchen. There were lots of mouths to feed and some of them demanded servings big enough to need a table of their own.

    "Congrattions, kid." The Overlord said while studying Nalrond''s body with her Rebirth Magic diagnostic spell, Riptide. "Your life forces have merged into one and the final result is perfectly stable.

    "It''s a feat akin to reverting a fallen race to normal. You''d better be careful. If word spreads, Roghar will add you to his to-kidnap list."

    "Thank you." The Agni swallowed a lump of saliva, happy that no one except those in the house knew who he was and who he had been.

    The older kids were used to keeping secrets while the younger ones had no idea what their grandma was talking about. Such nonsensical words would be forgotten before they finished eating their slice of cake.

    Inside the mansion, Nalrond kept his semi-human form. He was taller and part of his skin was covered in small grey scales but everything else looked like his old self.

    "Do you n on using your knowledge to help my people, Lord Nalrond?" R the Fomor asked, looking at him like a beacon of hope.

    "Please, just Nalrond. I''m not Lith. I''m not a noble and I have no stick up my a-nt farm."

    The Guardian''s auto-correct made the expression family-friendly yet Nalrond received several res nheless.

    "I''ll help as much as I can, but I''ll keep my involvement a secret and let Faluel take all the credit for my contribution." He said, anxious to change the topic.

    "By the way, big guy, how do you call yourself now?" Sark asked.

    "I''m Nalrond, First of the Agni since I''m no one''s father. Yet." He caressed Friya''s hand who blushed while the children giggled.

    "That''s obvious, Uncle Nalrond." Fenrir said. "Only a married man can be a father and only if the Great Mother approves."

    "That''s right, baby girl." Selia ruffled her hair, d that her children had bought the nonsense she had made up to exin where children came from and why they wouldn''t get more siblings.

    "Agni?" Sark stiffened.

    "Yes, I''ve named my species after-"

    "The Father of Fire." The Overlord cut him short. "It''s a name as pretentious as he is."

    "Well, a bit pompous but- Wait, did you know him? What kind of man was he and how much of what the legends say about him is true?" Nalrond was bbergasted.

    "I didn''t know him. I know him and he was no man." Sark scoffed. "If you are curious, you can ask him yourself. He loves the sound of his voice."

    She pointed at Leegaain who was helping Kam feed Valeron and Elysia while telling the kids a story in Dragontongue.

    "He''s the Father of Fire?" If not for the fact that he was already sitting, Nalrond would have fallen butt-first on the ground. "But I thought it was just a myth or one of your aliases. You are the god of Forgemastering and you fit the bill better than he does."

    "Please." The Overlord tutted. "My elements are darkness and light. My ess to Origin mes is dependent on my connection with life, not fire. Also, do I look like someone who goes around teaching people for the kick of it?"

    "No, but-" Nalrond''s objection was interrupted by an emergency call on both Lith''s and Solus'' Council amulets.

    All the magical gemstones were ring up with elemental light, signaling the urgency of the call and that it required maximum encryption. Baba Yaga''s rune shed like a lightbulb, making things more unsettling.

    Lith Hushed the kids before answering but kept everyone in the dining room.

    ''Even if something capable of threatening Baba Yaga is on its way here, a couple of Guardians can easily deal with it. I''m not asking for their help or putting the children in danger. They just happen to be here.'' He thought.

    "Solus, Lith, we need to talk." The Mother had activated the conference call mode and was clearly relieved of seeing they already were in the same ce. "It''s about Meln and it''s urgent. Please, give me clearance to the Mansion. I''ll be there shortly."

    Baba Yaga had no Tower Warp but she could instantly reach any ce on Mogar where one of her firstborns was. In this case, she had contacted Nandi to reach Essagor and from there to Lutia it would take her just a couple of Steps.

    "Consider it done." Lith essed the tower''s mainframe and added Baba Yaga to the apprentice list.

    The tower was linked with the arrays'' control system, allowing Lith and Solus to restrict the use of magic only to the energy signatures of their guests. Anyone else would be considered an enemy and treated ordingly.

    Lith sent the children to another room with R and Garrik. The Verhens were on edge, hoping that Orpal had been caught and disposed of yet fearing he had hurt another of their friends.

    They controlled theirmunication amulets and sighed in relief when they double-checked there was no rune missing.

    Baba Yaga''s hut came out running from a Warp Steps at the edge of the Trawn woods. It always marvelled Lith how something so big and heavy could be so lithe. The mage tower went from top speed toplete halt in the space of a few steps and without ruining thewn. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "One second. You need protection." The Mother stepped out of the door, ready to use Creation Magic to alter and reinforce the arrays of the Verhen Mansion when she noticed Sark.

 Chapter 3028 Unforgivable Crime (Part 4)

    Chapter 3028 Unforgivable Crime (Part 4)

    "Or not." And then Leegaain.

    "Definitely not." At a wave of Baba Yaga''s hand, the chicken legs bent in a sitting position and disappeared under the hut''s floor. "Come out, sweetie."

    Dawn stepped through the door while carrying Kelia who was still a sobbing mess. She clung to the Horseman with all her strength, touching the white crystal emerging from Dawn''s chest like a lost parent.

    "You!" Nalrond snarled, assuming his full bestial form and growing in size.

    "Me." The Horseman red at him with spite. "I''d dly kick your ass and teach you another lesson in Light Mastery, but I have more important things to worry about than arguing with you. Can''t you see she''s hurt?"

    It was the first time Nalrond met Kelia so even after looking at her with Life Vision, he found nothing out of the ordinary. Friya and the others, however, could tell that even though her magical aura had grown since their time in Jiera, Ke felt diminished.

    Like a part of her soul had been ripped out.

    "By my Mom, Meln has taken Dusk from her!" Solus had no proof of her words but her instinct.

    The anguish and the change in Ke''s aura were familiar to her, having experienced them every time her bond with Lith had been broken.

    Also, she knew that if the Horseman of Dusk were there, he would have done something to console Kelia or taken over her body to spare her the humiliation of being seen in such a pitiful state.

    Just like Lith had done for Solus more times than she could remember.

    She approached Kelia, who hugged Solus. The young girl had felt an odd kinship with Solus since their first meeting and searched for sce from her loss. Somehow, Kelia knew that Solus understood her pain.

    "What? How did that¡­" Lith tried and failed to find a word that could express his feelings toward his older brother. "Thing learn Creation Magic?"

    Severing the bond between a living legacy and its host was something that only death or Creation Magic could achieve.

    "Let''s go inside. The child needs to eat and calm down." The Mother replied.

    Once back in the dining hall, Baba Yaga exined everything that had happened and what mighte to be if Night''s crystal fused with Dusk''s.

    "Are you telling me that he''s going to be much stronger and get his hands on the Guardians'' bloodline abilities?" Lith was fuming.

    "No, I''m saying there is a possibility ites to that." The Mother replied. "What worries me the most is the idea that Night might be able to attack you directly. Meln is an idiot but she possesses the knowledge of centuries.

    "As for the rest, I''m not concerned."

    "Why is that?" He asked.

    "Because of this." She touched the middle of his forehead where his Spirit Eye was hidden. "And because of that." She pointed at the sorry figure of Kelia.

    Elina and Sark were taking care of her, one giving her emotional support and the other tending to the damage to her life force.

    "Yes, Meln could get ess to Dusk''s powers, but without the knowledge stored inside Kelia''s shard, we both know he''s going to shoot himself in the foot before he learns his limits. I don''t n on giving him more than one chance.

    "The moment I see him, I''m going to rip him apart piece by piece." The Mother''s face twisted in fury until her body shifted into the murderous calm of the Crone.

    "That''s true." Lith pondered. "All those bloodline abilities are a double-edged sword. If Meln uses them brainlessly, I can steal them from him and crush him like a bug."

    "My point exactly." Baba Yaga nodded. "Without a mentor, those abilities are dangerous even for their wielder. It''s the reason Dusk became so wise. He had to study them and learn how to master them bit by bit.

    "Do you think Meln is willing to do the same? Because I know for a fact that Night is not."

    "He''ll never do it." Lith shook his head. "As soon as he learns how to infuse himself with Life Maelstrom without blowing up, he''s going toe here running."

    "And I''ll be here. Waiting." The Crone''s voice was reduced to a whisper yet everyone heard her clearly. "I''d like you to allow Kelia to stay here.

    "If her shard acts as a beacon, the idea of having the person he hates the most and the thing he wants the most in the same ce will drive Meln insane. With a little luck, he''ll attack Elysia and die without even noticing."

    "As if I''d allow that scum to get even in sight of my granddaughter." Leegaain scoffed.

    "Seconded." Sark burst in a ze of Origin mes. "I''ve always gone easy on your daughter out of respect for you Yaga. Not anymore."

    "And for that, you have my gratitude, masters."She gave the Guardians a deep bow. "Lith? I need your answer."

    Usually, he would have refused. Lith didn''t like having so many people in his house, especially those who didn''t know about Solus and the tower. R, Garrik, Selia''s children, and the triplets were already too many in his book.

    Yet he knew Kelia''s pain. He had experienced first-hand the trauma of losing his partner. The sudden void in his mind and soul where until a minute ago there was light and joy.

    The only difference between them was that when it happened to Lith, he knew that Solus was still alive and that he could fight the person responsible to get her back. Kelia, instead had no hope.

    Based on Baba Yaga''s words, Dusk was as good as dead and even if he wasn''t, Kelia would never find Orpal, let alone defeat him. She was a weak human girl and he was an insane monster bonded to another insane monster.

    ''The Verhen Mansion is turning into a shelter, but I can''t abandon Kelia.'' Lith thought. ''She''s Meln''s victim as well and my best shot at luring him out in the open.''

    "If we find and kill Meln, can you restore Dusk?" He asked.

    "I think so, but killing him won''t be enough. To let Kelia''s shard take root and restore Dusk''s crystal, I have to kill Night first." Baba Yaga lowered her gaze, feeling her heart tighten at the thought.

    "I released the self-destruction spell to the public because I wanted to give her a merciful death but she''s forced my hand. Once I capture her, I''ll wipe her out of existence in a slow and painful process since I need her crystal intact and cleansed from her mind."

    Lith nodded in reply, pondering his next move, when the King''s rune lit up on hismunication amulet.

    "Magus Verhen, the Magic Empress seeks an audience with you at your Mansion at your earliest convenience. There''s something she wants to discuss with you in person." Meron was puzzled by the request and its urgency but with the joint colonization of Jiera going so well he had no reason to turn her down.

    "I called her and exined her everything." Leegaain said, answering everyone''s silent question. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m avable right now, Your Majesty. Please, let her in." Lith said.

 Chapter 3029 Common Enemy (Part 1)

    Chapter 3029 Common Enemy (Part 1)

    "Do you need assistance?" The King asked. "If it''s a political or diplomatic matter the Kingdom has your back. I can send you our minister for foreign affairs in a minute."

    "Thanks, Your Majesty, but it won''t be necessary." Lith gave the King a polite bow. "It''s a private matter regarding the sighting of Meln Narchat in Jiera. Please, inform our troops to be on alert and keep Night''s destruction spell at the ready."

    He had no idea if the self-destruction spell would still work, but it could buy the people of the Kingdom precious time.

    If Night made a move before her power core had the time to adjust to the changes, there was a good chance that the spell would still work or at least cause her serious damage.

    ''I wish I could tell Meron about Dusk and the powers that Night might gain after assimting his crystal, but then it would be a political mess. The Kingdom would me the Empire for aiding and abetting a Horseman.

    ''Even worse, the Crown might try to take Night''s crystal for themselves or destroy it.''

    Lith gave the King a doctored version of the story where Night had attacked one of the Empire''s mining towns and killed its colonists.

    "The Empress wants my advice on how to deal with Night since I''m one of the few people who has survived multiple confrontations with her."

    "How do you know that if she doesn''t even have your contact rune?" The story made sense but it didn''t exin how Lith could know so much.

    "Leegaain." Lith shrugged. "He passed the messages but he''s tired of ying middleman."

    "I see." Meron nodded. "Thank Lord Leegaain on my behalf for not Warping his disciple without my consent. The Kingdom appreciates the efforts of the Lord of Wisdom to keep the peace between our countries. Meron out."

    "Damn if you are good at making up bullshot on the spot." Milea and Leegaain said in unison, neither needing the Guardian''s auto-correct.

    The Empress walked to Kelia and knelt in front of her. Much to Milea''s surprise, instead of throwing her arms at her, crying, or having any emotional reaction, the young girl shied away.

    Kelia made herself small and hid behind Elina.

    "I''m sorry. Even with your warnings and teachings, I failed my missions."Kelia looked at the Empress and Lith, feeling like she had failed the former and betrayed thetter. "I let Meln take me by surprise. I let him take Dusk away from me.

    "What''s wrong, daughter?" Milea''s voice was calm and soothing.

    Kelia opened her mouth to speak, but she ended up crying. It took her a few minutes topose herself enough to make sense.

    "I''m sorry. Even with your warnings and teachings, I failed my missions."Kelia looked at the Empress and Lith, feeling like she had failed the former and betrayed thetter. "I let Meln take me by surprise. I let him take Dusk away from me.

    "I''m useless to you now."

    The Empress furrowed her brows in confusion for a second until the meaning of those words dawned on her.

    "Do you really think that I''d throw you away just because you are not a Horseman anymore? That I''d disown you and make you an orphan again?" N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Yes." Kelia nodded amid sniffles. "Without Dusk I''m just a weak runt. I''m no longer the top student of the Red Emperor. I have no bloodline abilities and no chance to graduate in time.

    "Without Dusk, I''m worthless." She started sobbing again, clinging to Elina who red at the Empress with the fury of a mama bear.

    Elina didn''t know Kelia''s story, but from that exchange, it was clear that the adoption was just on paper and there was no love between mother and daughter. It was a business deal that an adult in a position of authority had imposed on a child.

    "I''m not going to disown you, daughter." Milea said. "I''m sorry for what happened to you and I''m even more sorry for making you think I value you only because of the services you can provide me.

    "That''s how our rtionship started, but back then I had no reason to believe that Dusk had turned a new leaf. I needed to keep you at arm''s length until I was certain it wasn''t a trick to avoid capture."

    "I know we haven''t spent much time together but that''s because the academy leaves you little time and the throne leaves me even less. I thought that at your age and with your ambition, you wanted your personal space."

    "Yeah, right." Elina''s voice carried the coldness of an ice age. "Why would an abandoned child want affection and a family? Leaving her in the care of someone you considered an ancient monster was the most sensible thing to do."

    "I¡­" Milea wanted to reply but every justification that came to her mind sounded idiotic.

    "How much time did you spend with this poor girl? How many times have you called her just to ask her how she was doing and how many to question her grades or give her a mission?" Elina was furious.

    She saw Lith and Solus in Kelia and the parent she had tried her whole life to not be in the Empress. Elina was grateful for Lith''s hard-earned money and proud of his achievements, but they weren''t the reason she loved him.

    She wanted him to be safe and happy, not a means to her ends.

    Kelia knew it as well because Lith''s biography was a bestseller. She envied him since the day Dawn had told Kelia that his family knew about his other half and epted him anyway.

    "I admit that I''ve never taken care of Kelia after adopting her, but that''s because I didn''t know if I could trust her." Milea sighed. "Kelia''s background check was a nightmare and there was no way to know where she ended and Dusk started."

    "It''s still unforgivable." Elina retorted.

    Milea gave up exining politics and reason to an angry mother, knowing it would only enrage Elina further.

    "Well, I don''t care. I didn''te here to argue with you but to discuss Kelia''s future with her and Verhen." She replied.

    "What do you mean?" Kelia asked from behind Elina''s back.

    "That I need to know if you want to take a short break from the academy or a sabbatical." Milea replied. "You''ve gone through a lot and I don''t expect your trauma to go away overnight.

    "As I said, I''m not going to disown you. I can have you move in the safety of the imperial pce until you feel better. We can spend time together, know each other. Whatever you want."

    "What about me?" Lith asked.

    "I don''t like the idea of using Kelia as bait but what I want is irrelevant." Milea replied. "We both know that sooner orter Meln wille for her. The moment he notices that Dusk''s mind isn''t in the crystal pieces he stole, he''s bound to figure out what''s happened.

    "Even if he can''t perceive Kelia''s shard, he''ll look for her first. Why spend years mastering a craft when you can just torture it out of a weak girl?" Milea''s lips curled up in a disgusted expression.

    "Yeah. Meln would never work hard when he could just take a shortcut. As long as he''s not the one paying the price, everything goes." Lith noticed toote how those words hurt Elina.

 Chapter 3030 Common Enemy (Part 2)

    Chapter 3030 Common Enemy (Part 2)

    She felt responsible for Orpal''s crimes and his twisted mentality. She lived them as a consequence of her failure as a parent.

    "Even assuming that Kelia wants me by her side, I don''t have the time and resources to shadow her every moment of the day." Milea continued. "The Empire has no Awakened at its service, real or fake.

    "With Leegaain often here, I can''t even rely on the protection of my mentor. Based on Kelia''s choice, I might need your help, Verhen. You have Awakened and Guardians in your house and a much bigger grudge with Meln than me."

    "I don''t want to give up on the academy." Kelia clenched her firsts. "I- we worked too hard and sacrificed too much to let that scumbag ruin everything. I''m still an Awakened. My power can still grow."

    The thought of facing Meln again, the feeling of helplessness she had experienced while trapped inside the Sealed Space ravaged her mind. Kelia''s face paled and her lips trembled.

    "I need to learn more powerful spells or when Melnes for me, I won''t be of any help. I refuse to live in fear and pray that someone else solves my problems. Yet I can''t do it alone. I can''t stay alone.

    "The silence in my head is killing me." She burst into tears again.

    "Then here''s my proposal." The Empress said. "Kelia will go back to the Red Emperor for the lessons and Warp here once she''s done for the day. It will split Meln''s focus and give Kelia a ce to stay where she doesn''t have to hide her pain or condition.

    "This way, no matter when the attack takes ce, Meln will have to fight his way through powerful arrays and give us the time to join our forces."

    "Okay." Lith and Kelia said in unison.

    For the first time in his life, Lith didn''t set conditions nor did he ask for rewards for his help. Orpal was a personal matter, and one he wanted dead, buried, and forgotten as soon as possible.

    As Lith saw it, he wasn''t helping the Empress and Kelia. They were helping him.

    ***

    Kelia spent the days before the start of the next trimester getting used to living with the Verhens. The Mansion was enormous and had plenty of bedrooms for her to choose. Space wasn''t a problem.

    Getting up in the morning was hard but not as getting used to thepany. Crying babies she could get, flying babies not so much. Valeron and Elysia sniffed at her in curiosity, perching on her shoulders while in their Divine Beast form.

    After spending weeks in Jiera with the people from Zelex, she quickly became friends with R and Garrick. Protector''s children, instead, took her by surprise and so did their absurd games with the Verhen kids.

    ''Gods, I wish my childhood was like this.'' Envy burned deep in her gut seeing the children ride their magical steeds through the park and eat to their heart''s content every day.

    "Elysia, no! Bad! Bad girl." Solus'' voice snapped Kelia out of her daydreams.

    Solus was trying to put the sun-shaped pendant on the baby girl''s neck but she kept biting it. The self-repair spells could mend the damage left by her small Tiamat fangs but she had tried to swallow the pendant more than once.

    Solus was scared at the idea that the ne would be destroyed and terrified at the idea that the baby might choke on it.

    "Ba?" Elysia asked in confusion while sniffing at the shiny piece of metal.

    "No, the pendant is good, just not to eat." Solus grunted. "You are being a naughty girl."

    She scratched Elysia''s chest whoughed and smiled, trying to understand the new game.

    "I feel like this is getting nowhere." Solus sighed. "Look, Elysia. Mommy Solus has one too."

    She showed the baby her star ne and Elysia promptly bit it.

    "Elysia!"

    "What''s the matter?" Kelia asked while unconsciously reaching for the crystal shard hidden under her chest.

    For some reason, Solus felt like a sister to Kelia as much as Dawn. The presence of another Horseman was the only thing that eased her trauma. That and the constant noise in the Mansion that almost made her miss the silence in his head.

    Almost.

    "We are taking a family portrait and I hoped that Elysia would behave. I want a picture of the three of us wearing the family set." Solus poutsted for a second before she returned the baby girl''s radiant smile.

    "Masa!"

    "Yes! Yes, I am." As long as Elysia didn''t call Solus Baba anymore, she was on cloud nine.

    Elysia had trained her well.

    "Three?" Kelia had a hard time grasping the Verhen family''s dynamics.

    "Yes." Solus beckoned at Kam and had her show her moon-shaped pendant. "See? A star, the moon, and the sun. To bring light during every moment of the day. Lith crafted them for us on a very special asion."

    "They are magnificent." Kelia nodded, trying to muster the courage to ask her question. "How can three people make a baby?"

    She pointed at Elysia''s ck hair like Kam, her six streaks like Solus, and the Tiamat form that she had taken from Lith. Kam and Solus blushed in embarrassment not only for the question but also because it was a painfullymon misunderstanding.

    Almost everyone who knew about Lith''s bond with Solus thought the same while those who didn''t had a 50% chance of thinking she was the child''s mother. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to intrude on your private lives." Kelia said, mistaking the awkward silence for shyness. "It''s just that Baba Yaga often asks Dawn and Dusk for grandchildren.

    "I always wonder how that''s supposed to happen and if I would somehow have to get involved in case Dusk found apanion. I''ve never seen a Horseman with a baby of her own before."

    "And you''re not seeing it now." Solus felt the need to be the one clearing the misunderstanding.

    She knew how depressed Kam would still get sometimes and didn''t want to make matters worse.

    "I yed no part in the babymaking. Elisya and I sharing the six streaks it''s just a coincidence."

    "It''s one heck of a coincidence." Kelia pondered. "Also, why did you call the pendants a family set? I would get if Verhen, his wife, and his child had a pendant each, but the three of you make no sense."

    "Because I''m part of the family." Solus couldn''t exin to Kelia her origin nor the role she yed in Lith''s life. "Lith made one pendant for me to reassure me that Elysia''s birth wouldn''t change things between us."

    She could only hope that Kelia would drop the argument.

    "Do you have to be here?" Or that something else would draw her attention.

    "Give me a break. I like this situation less than you." Dawn would have loved to flip Nalrond off but she couldn''t in the presence of the children. "I was just minding my own business when I discovered that you are sharing my legacy willy nilly."

    "Your legacy?" Nalrond echoed in anger.

    Dawn remained with Kelia during the night to help her sleep and usually left before breakfast.

 Chapter 3031 Trust and Secrets (Part 1)

    Chapter 3031 Trust and Secrets (Part 1)

    That day, on her way out, Dawn had noticed Selia, Kam, and the kids practicing Light Mastery.

    She just needed to study their spells for a few minutes to distinguish Lith''s students from Nalrond''s. Lith had learned tier zero on his own, teaching his version of Light Mastery to Kam, Aran, and Leria.

    Selia, Lilia, and Leran, instead, practiced using the exercises Dawn had developed for the Rezars. Even the sequence of the exercises and the number of repetitions were the same.

    "Yes, my legacy." Dawn nodded. "If you have trouble remembering how your ancestors learned their craft, we can go in the back of the mansion and I can ''freshen'' your memory."

    "No, thanks." At the mention of their previous encounter, Nalrond went pale. "Do we have a problem?"

    He looked at the kids and then at Dawn. The Agni had never thought that the Horseman would find out about his Light Mastery lessons and now he was scared for his new family''s safety. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "No. As I said thest time, I''ve moved on." Dawn shrugged, making him sigh in relief. "I was just curious."

    The Horseman felt a gentle tug at her dress and when she looked down, she saw Aran offering her a wildflower from the garden and its holographic counterpart.

    "Hi, miss. My name is Aran. Are you a friend of Aunt Solus? Because you are as pretty as her."

    "What a charmer." Dawn giggled, caressing his ck hair before taking both flowers from his hands. "We are not friends but we are rted. Sort of distant cousins."

    She appreciated how despite its ethereal nature the hologram followed her hand with minimalg and retained the same detail level away from the boy.

    "Remarkable." Dawn said afterparing the hologram to its original. "It''s a very urate replica. Did you learn this by yourself?"

    "No, Uncle Lith taught me." Aran shook his head. "But I''m stuck. I can''t make a construct even after practicing for two years."

    "Well, Light Mastery is a tough disciple." She nodded. "To what do I owe these pretty flowers? Are you asking me out on a date?"

    "No, I want advice." Aran replied. "Uncle Lith also taught me that pretty words and a nice gift can sell water to a fish. I was¡­" He checked his notebook for difficult words. "Buttering you up."

    "I''m offended." Dawn''s silveryughter didn''t match her words.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen, what in the nine hells have you been teaching your brother?" Elina almost never swore so he immediately understood the gravity of his situation.

    Lith took out hismunication amulet, pretended to have an important call, and excused himself in a rush.

    "What am I doing wrong, pretty miss?" Aran said, not aware of having revealed his strategy to his mark.

    "I''m sorry. I don''t want you to pick bad habits." Dawn said. "Like turning you into a goody two-shoes. So here''s what you have to do¡­"

    While the adults were still bbergasted, the Horseman whispered a few things in Aran''s ear and his face lit up in a big smile.

    Kelia burst out in aughter, not knowing whether Nalrond''s shocked expression or Elina''s outraged grimace was funnier.

    ''She''sughing.'' Solus said to Kam while nudged her. ''It''s the first time since she got here.''

    ''I know. Kids can do miracles. Let''s shut up and let her enjoy the moment.''

    Aran put the advice in practice, but failed miserably. It wasn''t even a hologram anymore. Just a bunch of fireflies stuck together.

    "Please." Nalrond said with a scoff. "Constructs are tier four and Aran only knows tier zero Light Mastery. You can''t skip three tiers of magic like that. It took Lith more than one lesson to make a stable construct and he was an academy graduate with years of experience."

    "Please." Dawn scoffed back. "The problem was the teacher. There''s a big difference between the original and a knockoff."

    "If you say so." The Agni clicked his tongue and pointed at the scattered light. "Don''t worry, kid. You still have a weak core. Even the most basic of constructs consumes more mana than a tier five spell until you learn how-"

    The words died in his throat as the fireflies coalesced into a flower made of solid light.

    "The farm?"

    "Told you so." Dawn opened her palm and Aran gave her the flower to examine. "Needs work but it''s a great start. Don''t forget what I told you and keep practicing."

    "Lith! Come here immediately!" Rena didn''t find the situation funny anymore but her brother had already taken care of making himself scarce.

    The stem and the petals resisted the pressure of her fingers but the moment she squeezed the leaves, the construct cracked and leaked mana.

    "Hi, prettydy. My name is Leria." She offered Dawn a flower and a hologram of her own, making the Horseman and Keliaugh harder.

    "Lith! Come here immediately!" Rena didn''t find the situation funny anymore but her brother had already taken care of making himself scarce.

    "I hope to grow as beautiful as you. Can you please give me advice as well? Aran and I are rivals and he now has an unfair advantage."

    "Good point." Dawn nodding. "One question first. Who''s prettier between me and Lady Tyris?"

    The Guardian was sitting on a bench near Elysia, reading a book. Hearing her name, she lifted her eyes from the page.

    Leria opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. She checked the notebook where she jotted down her uncle''s teachings and said in a t tone devoid of conviction:

    "You are the prettiestdy of the house."

    "What a silver tongue. I wonder who she is taking after." Seeing the guilty expression on the girl''s face, Tyris dropped her book fromughter.

    "Well said!" Dawn chuckled and whispered something in Leria''s ear.

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen! I demand an exnation!" Rena roared.

    Kelia keptughing and at that point, Solus and Kam joined her.

    "How is that possible?" This time Nalrond studied the hologram with Life Vision.

    He saw its light dispensing, but not because Leria had lost control of the spell like he had believed earlier. Life Vision showed him that the sparkles were bing solid. Instead of turning the hologram into a construct in one go, Leria had split it into several smaller pieces.

    They still retained their details and shape. She just didn''t assemble them until she had made the fragments stable enough to withstand the weight of the full flower. After that, shaping the hard-light construct was as easy as matching the numbered pieces of a puzzle.

    "Did you really believe that I shared everything I know with your ancestors?" Dawn said at the same moment Leria''s flower came to life. "I taught the Rezars just enough Light Mastery to exploit them as my unwitting assistants.

    "I made them perform my experiments and take all the risks aspensation for what they did to me while I was their prisoner. I kept your ancestors ignorant on purpose so that they failed to understand the real scope of what they were doing.

    "The fact that even though your people had centuries to practice and improve on my teachings you are none the wiser should tell you something."

    ''Damn, she''s right.'' Nalrond clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. ''This is the final nail in the coffin of my na?ve beliefs.''

 Chapter 3032 Trust and Secrets (Part 2)

    Chapter 3032 Trust and Secrets (Part 2)

    ''There is no such thing as the Rezars'' legacy and tradition. Everything we know about Light Mastery we either extorted it from Dawn or she gave it to us to further her agenda.

    ''My people were so obsessed with splitting from their beast half that over time we stopped improving and became dependent on her. We were her hands and feet but Dawn was the brain all along.''

    "Thank you!" Leria offered her flower for the Horseman to examine while giving her a deep bow. "How is itpared to Aran''s?"

    "Wow, guess the rival thing is no joke." Dawn chuckled while examining the various parts of the hard-light construct. "You did a great job, Leria, butpared to Aran''s flower yours is a bitcking. See?"

    The stem was soft and flexible but when the Horseman squeezed a petal, it crumbled. Cracks appeared all over the flower, leaking the light element until the construct faded away.

    "Why?" Leria''s eyes became watery for the humiliation and Aran''s relentless mockery. "I mean, I have silver streaks like Aunt Quy whereas Aran only has red ones. Why am I less talented then?"

    "How dare you cry after learning one of the most elusive branches of magic, little girl? How can you be so entitled?" Dawn''s voice was cold as she booped Leria''s nose.

    "I''m¡­ sorry?" The little girl was taken aback and so was Aran.

    The Horseman''s usation hit close to home since he would have done the same in Leria''s shoes. His smug grin disappeared and he stared at the ground like he was the one being scolded.

    "Are you asking me or are you telling me?" Dawn asked sternly like a disappointed teacher.

    "I''m sorry." Leria and Aran said in unison while staring at their feet.

    "As you should." The Horseman said before switching to a friendly tone again. "To answer your question, Leria, it''s because Aran doesn''t have streaks that he''s better than you. Or rather, he learned better."

    "I''m sorry, I don''t understand." Leria tilted her head in confusion and Aran nodded.

    "Your affinity to the light element makes things easier to you. You learn more quickly but by spending less time on each step of the process, your understanding remains shallow." Dawn replied.

    "Aran has no affinity so to reach your same level he has to work harder and obtain a deeper understanding of how Light Mastery works. He learns slowlypared to you but he gets really good at what he does.

    "Also, since when do streaks matter? Does your uncle/brother have silver streaks? No. Same as Nalrond and they are the best Light Masters you''ll ever meet. Myself excluded, of course."

    Leria blushed in shame, understanding how her words had insulted Lith and belittled her own achievements and Aran''s.

    "I''m sorry." She said and this time she was deeply remorseful. "I didn''t mean to offend you, Uncle Lith." She yelled the second part since Lith was still nowhere to be found.

    "Apologies epted." His voice echoed through the garden in a way that made it impossible to guess the direction it came from.

    "Can we share your advice with my big brother?" Aran asked. "He''s the one who taught us. Pretty please for a prettydy?"

    Dawn pretended to be in deep thought while caressing her chin before answering with a t:

    "No."

    "Why?" Leria asked.

    "Because trust and secrets are the bread and butter of a mage. I''ve already given you a lot yet you keep asking more." Dawn was stern again but not cold. "If you want to keep a good rtionship with a fellow mage, you need to earn their trust and keep their secrets.

    "Even if it hurts other rtionships. Am I clear?"

    "Crystal." The kids nodded in unison. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Good." Dawn caressed their heads.

    "What about our siblings and niece?" Aran asked. "They''ll be our rivals too and this would give us an unfair advantage."

    "Life is unfair." The Horseman shrugged. "But let''s put it this way. You can''t teach them, but you can tell them toe to me and ask my help just like you did. This way, the result may not be the same but the opportunity is. How does it sound?"

    "What about Uncle Lith?" Leria jumped with joy at the idea.

    "You can tell him too." Dawn bid the children goodbye and walked to Kelia who was still smiling. "It''s nice to see you''re doing better kid."

    Kelia went pale for a second, feeling guilty for being happy so soon after Dusk''s death. Then, she realized how silly the thought was.

    ''Dusk would never want me to waste time moping. He would push me to find a way to rescue him.'' She thought.

    "Can you teach Light Mastery to me too?" She actually said.

    "Sorry, kid. I''ve never taught Dusk for a reason and I won''t teach you either. Not with the risk of passing it to Meln in case he gets his hands on you."

    "Point taken." Kelia shivered at the thought.

    "See you tonight, kid." Dawn patted Kelia''s shoulder and Warped back to the Empire.

    ***

    Verhen Household, a few dayster.

    The family couldn''t spend all their time in the Mansion for several reasons. Raaz taking care of the fields and Elina of the animals was just one of them. The most important one, however, was to keep people away from the Verhen Mansion.

    With R, Garrik, and all the inhuman friends that now lived there, it would have been problematic if people from all over the Kingdom wanting an audience with Lith came to the Mansion.

    Things would also get difficult if the Royals started to believe that the Verhens had moved from Lutia and sent more units of the Queen''s Corps to look after their new home.

    On top of that, it was quite lonely during the day.

    The kids over six years of age went to the Desert for their magical lessons, Garrik included. Nalrond was busy setting up his own space in the estate the Ernas had gifted Friya and helping her to organize their marriage.

    "This is one of those days I''m happy that Lith brought help to take care of Valeron." Kam groaned.

    The toddlers required a lot of attention and drained a lot of time and energy.

    "You can say that." Elina sighed.

    Ophya and V were kind and helpful, but it was hard for the women of the house to not be jealous of them. Not only had it taken a lot to convince them not to wear the Dragon priestess clothes but they also looked stunning even in simple day dresses.

    So good that even Raaz stared at them from time to time while his farmhands tripped on their own feet with rming frequency whenever the handmaidens stepped outside the house.

    Being Awakened from an early age, the two women were as attractive as Tista without the aura of unapproachableness that being a Verhen gave her.

    "When do Lith and Soluse back from the Desert?" Elina tried and failed to calm down the crying Elysia.

    She didn''t take well her father''s absence, especially after not seeing Lith for days due to the hunt for shadow disciple. The father-daughter bond went both ways and without Lith, Elysia felt weak and scared.

 Chapter 3033 Sparring Partners (Part 1)

    Chapter 3033 Sparring Partners (Part 1)

    "By lunchtime, I hope." Valeron screamed in Kam''s ears, being older than Elysia only made him louder.

    His fear of abandonment made things bad for him as well. Going from glued to Lith 24/7 to not seeing him for hours at a time terrified the baby boy. After all, it was the same thing that had happened with Jormun.

    "Shush, Val. Daddy is fine." Kam rocked the baby before turning to Elina. "With Meln''s threat and the search for those guys who stole the Ears, Lith and Solus can''t dy their training any longer. They need to master the Prime Engine."

    ***

    Blood Desert at the same time.

    Practice also required secrecy. It was of paramount importance that whatever Lith and Solus learned about the tower''s offensive form remained a secret.

    This way, as long as they killed their current enemy, they would always have the element of surprise on their side when facing the next. It was the reason they asked Sark for a secluded spot with a powerful mana geyser and a suitable sparring partner for the Prime Engine.

    "Well, little brother, what can I say? I hate you." Sinmara, the Phoenix of Darkness, had volunteered for the task, and her brother Surtr with her.

    Lith was a Divine Beast with a bright violet core so only someone with a white core like the twins or a Guardian could get him on the ropes while the tower supported him.

    Yet Guardians were too powerful and Lith wanted to test the Prime Engine against someone who would actually get hurt by his spells, not just pretend to. So he had epted Sinmara''s and Surtr''s offer even though there was still rust between them.

    The twins wanted to make up for not helping him to rescue Phloria. As for Lith, he knew that unless he worked on their rtionship, he would hold his grudge forever.

    "That''s a big word." The Dragon of Light jotted down his findings while his sister fought. "Envy is a better fit. You feel no real ill-will toward him. You just wish you too had a tower like that and so do I."

    "No, right now hate fits the bill." Sinmara waited for her injured wings to regenerate before reverting to her human appearance. "That thing is still iplete yet it gave me a run for my money."

    The colossus in front of her was humanoid in appearance and as tall as her, reaching 40 meters (130 feet) in height. The Prime Engine looked like something in between a golem and a machine with gears at the joints and exhaust ports on its back.

    The tower by itself was 30 meters (100 feet) high, but that was because there were as many floors above the ground as below. Even after rearranging itself to have arms and legs, the tower had enough mass left to grow to the size of a white-cored Divine Beast.

    "What did you expect?" Surtr snorted. "It''s a mage tower. It''s supposed to have a powerparable to a white core and Menadion''s tower was the best tower on Mogar. Even if it''s iplete, it''s also up to date with modern magic.

    "If you add Lith''s bright violet core and Solus'' bright blue, they are bound to beat you in raw power. Also, don''t forget you went easy on them because this is a practice session, not a death match."

    "It still hurts my pride." Sinmara grunted.

    She wasn''t wearing her equipment and had avoided using her millennia of battle experience to end the match quickly. Otherwise, Lith and Solus would have learned nothing andcked the time to get ustomed to the Engine''s control system.

    "This is bullshit!" Lith didn''t share Sinmara''s view on the match. "The controls suck, the Eyes made my eyes water most of the fight, and we got pummelled."

    The grey stone of the tower was full of streaks of gold-veined white marble and cracks from the Phoenix of Darkness'' spells and blows. Just like Sinmara, the Prime Engine was repairing itself at a speed visible to the naked eye thanks to the power of the mana geyser below its feet.

    "You are absolutely right. This is terrible!" Solus'' voice oozed sarcasm and mock indignation. "How could we not steamroll a millennia-old white-cored Phoenix on our first try? I mean, it''s not like we''re missing the Ears and the gods know how many floors.

    "My mother was such a lousy Forgemaster and the tower is a piece of crap!"

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean that." Lith sighed, taking off the Eyes first to give relief to his pounding head. "I just didn''t expect the controls to be soplicated."

    He took the Mouth off next, then the Hands, andstly split Ragnar?k from the Fury. Then, he tried to stand up from the stone throne but discovered to still feel dizzy and disoriented.

    "I did." Solus leaned her head back against her throne with her eyes closed, getting used to moving her real body instead of the Engine again. "Guess we know where Pharek took his inspiration for his secretb.

    "I bet that if we had the Ears, the Engine''s controls would be much easier to handle."

    The stone thrones connected directly to the hosts'' brains to allow them to move the tower''s battle form like their own bodies. The thrones also linked the pieces of Menadion Set to the tower''s floors that fueled their abilities.

    While sitting on the control seat of the Prime Engine, the enchantments of the various floors could be used like spells and conjured in an instant as if they were part of the power core of the artifact with which they were connected.

    Also, since world energy was used instead of mana and it flowed through the tower instead of Lith''s body, casting the most powerful spells of his grimoire didn''t consume his energy and didn''t cause mana abuse.

    While in the Prime Engine, Lith and Solus could use Tower and de Tier spells with no burden on either their cores or bodies. At the same time, however, the sensory overload caused them a blinding headache.

    The Eyes collected information about everything around them, the Mouth constantly suggested them spells and tactics that they had to approve or reject, while the Hands required them to choose which floors keep active and which depower based on the situation at hand.

    The tower core made things even worse. It flooded their vision and minds with status updates about the Engine''s structural integrity after every hit and prompted them to use some enchantments and avoid others to redirect the energy needed for the repairs. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "So do I." Lith sighed. "I bet that Menadion gave the Ears synaesthesia exactly to avoid the sensory overload from using too many enchantments at once. As it is, we can process information only through our eyes which burdens our brains a lot."

    He had fused his mind with Solus, hoping that everything that the Void had learned during his brief use of the Ears was enough to retrieve its blueprints, but to no avail. The tower had simply produced an artifact that looked like the Ears but had none of its functions.

    It was a hollow shell based on their memories.

 Chapter 3034 Sparring Partners (Part 2)

    Chapter 3034 Sparring Partners (Part 2)

    Lith and Solus knew what the Ears looked like and how the artifact was supposed to work but that was it. They were missing the thousands of runes thatprised its power core and many enchantments.

    "Gods, you two really are a younger version of ourselves." Surtrughed, hearing them bickering from outside the tower. "One is a brilliant, light-hearted genius and the other is a sour, nagging grouch."

    "Hey!" Sinmara and Lith said in unison.

    "Nailed it." Solusughed her ass off.

    "Well, what do you think of the Engine?" Lith and Solus Warped out while the tower went back to its original form to repair and recharge more quickly.

    "That it looks weird." Sinmara replied. "I get the human body since Ripha was a human. It looks male because Lith is its master. But why the metal head? What''s with the face mask, the glowing eyes, and the weird shape of the helm?"

    ''Because he''s a nerd from Earth.'' Solus inwardly chuckled.

    "I meant what you think of its capabilities!" Lith blushed a little at the remark.

    "It''s really good." The Phoenix of Darkness begrudgingly admitted. "I didn''t have my ass kicked so hard since myst battle with Aylen. I''m not going to lie, your use of Silverwing''s Annihtion was really creative and I''m damn happy we restricted the use of de Spells.

    "I don''t know if I would have survived getting hit by one."

    "Same here." Lith shuddered at the thought. "And thanks for pulling your punches at thest second. Every hit at the tower causes damage to Solus'' body and I don''t want to discover what happens if the tower copses."

    Sinmara had struck hard at first to test the durability of the Engine but once cracks and holes had been opened, she had continued to exploit the openings she found in their strategies but stopped her blows at thest second.

    This way, Lith and Solus knew when and how they messed up but suffered no harm.

    "Hey!" The Phoenix of Darkness sounded offended. "How dare you thank me for that? Even if you are angry with me, I''m your big sister and I''ve been Solus'' friend since the time she called herself Elphyn. I would never hurt either of you."

    "Thank you." Solus said with a warm smile.

    She didn''t like her old name but she appreciated Sinmara acknowledging both her lives and how much she had changed as a person.

    "You did give my sister quite a beating, but I think you could do better." Surt showed them his notebook. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lith had allowed Surtr to use Dragon Eyes to study the Prime Engine and the techniques he used with Solus. It was the best and quickest way to find what they could improve.

    "Well, that''s obvious." Solus shrugged. "It was our first real fight against a powerful opponent. I would have been worried if you said otherwise. It would mean you are screwing up with us."

    "No, I mean this." The Dragon of Light turned the page, showing a beautifully detailed drawing of what looked like a fusion of Lith''s Tiamat form and the Engine. "I think there''s a way to make up for the Ears or at least better deal with the stream of information during a fight."

    "Meaning?" Lith asked.

    "Ripha developed the Combat Core, now Prime Engine, because she was human. Even if she reached the white core, she was likely to not have the mass to fight on par with big creatures and needed a way to control the tower like her own body.

    "Also, she didn''t have Solus. Ripha had to do by herself what you two can do together." Surtr went on to exin his idea and how to check if it was feasible.

    "I like it." Lith nodded.

    "I don''t." Solus pouted. "Why do you always get to be the main body?"

    "Grow another 28 and a half meters (93''6") and we''ll resume this talk." Lith patted her head like she was a big dog.

    "It''s not funny!"

    "It is from up here." Lith projected a hologram of how he saw her from his point of view, making Solus even more angry.

    "Guys, be honest with me. Do I really look like an excited puppy when I''m upset?"

    "No." Surtr said too quickly to be believable.

    "Lith is just pulling your leg." Sinmara turned away, incapable of looking Solus in the eyes while keeping a straight face.

    "Dammit!" She stomped her foot with so much strength that the pressure turned the sand into ss. "Still, even if we want to try that, I think it''s better if we master the Prime Engine first.

    "I want to be able to fight on my own even without Lith and the Engine is exactly what I need since it doesn''t consume my mana. Giving Lith a second phase can wait."

    "What''s a second phase?" Sinmara asked.

    "Nothing!" Solus said too quickly to be believable.

    "I agree with Solus." Lith hijacked the conversation, eager to change the topic. "If we don''t learn how to use the Engine, the rest would be pointless. Also, we need another sparring partner."

    "Like me?" Surtr pointed at himself.

    "No, I mean someone we can go all out against. We can''t practice Tower Gravity spells, Tower Silverwing''s spells, and Tower de spells with you guys but we need to learn how to use them in practicalbat.

    "We can''t wait to fight against Meln or someone like him just to discover there''s a problem we hadn''t taken into ount." Lith said. "Jiera is full of lost cities that have no idea who we are and are too ancient to have heard about Menadion''s tower.

    "Do you know any of them that''s weaker than Thaymos but strong enough to test the full scope of our strength?"

    "No." Surtr shook his head. "Not yet, at least. I''ll start looking into that immediately."

    He called his children, sending them on a scout mission on Jiera under the pretense of helping the local Council. It would give the Dragons ess to the already existing database and Lith usible deniability.

    "I''ll deal with the paperwork. Get back inside the tower. It''s time for round two." The Dragon of Light said.

    "But I''m tired!" Solus whined.

    "No, you are not." A snap of his fingers and a spell revealed that she, Lith, and the tower were back at their peak condition.

    "Thanks, Solus. It was worth a shot." Lith sighed.

    He knew nobody would havepassion for someone as big and tall as him. Solus, instead was short and cute.

    "Don''t mention it."She grumbled.

    They had no problem with working hard, but the constant headache from the Eyes was another story. Also, the Engine transmitted the pain of the hits to let its master gauge the strength of the opponent.

    They could hardly look forward to getting beaten to a pulp until their body ached as much as their head.

    ***

    Verhen House, a few hourster.

    After pacifying Elysia and Valeron, they could be put in the crib with Surin. The baby girl was usually quiet but she scared easily. If she heard another child crying, she would join and increase the workload.

 Chapter 3035 Family Bonds (Part 1)

    Chapter 3035 Family Bonds (Part 1)

    Luckily, when Valeron and Elysia were moderately upset, they would waste a lot of time and energy trying to exin Surin their problems.Too bad she had no Dragon scales, didn''t speak Dragontongue, and had the brain of a six months old child.

    She would just look at them, make senseless sounds, and eventually fall asleep. At that point, Elysia and Valeron gave up and followed her lead. From their point of view, Surincked empathy andmunication skills but was a great listener.

    With the children safe in Bytra''s Doomyer crib, Kam could finally rx a bit before helping Elina prepare lunch. It worked as cooking and magic lessons since Tista''s and Lith''s servings needed more food than could be prepared with conventional means.

    "Thank the gods you are an Awakened, dear." Elina let Kam carry a whole butchered cow and the giant pot where to put it along with the broth with Spirit Magic. "Don''t forget about Tista''s serving."

    "I didn''t." Kam kept the cow in mid-air with chore magic and then cut it into smaller pieces with controlled air des. Now the meat fitted the cauldron and it would be cooked evenly. "I''m not good at multi-tasking yet."

    After preparing a second giant pot, it was just a matter of stirring the various dishes from time to time and waiting. Kam could do everything from a distance, sitting outside the house to enjoy the breeze and checking the kitchen with Fire Vision.

    Elina loved both the help and thepany, feeling like she had another daughter to whom she could teach the family recipes. They moved the crib outside with them to keep an eye on the babies now that they were done with the house chores.

    Elina was exining to Kam how to calcte the right amounts of spices needed for each serving based on the size of a guest when they received an unexpected visit.

    "Hello, sister. Long time no see." Kaz Retta, Kam''s older brother, tried his best to give the two women a warm smile but even a seasoned businessman like him found it hard to hide the depth of his disappointment.

    After everything he had heard and read about his brother-inw, the so-called Supreme Magus of the Griffon Kingdom, Kaz had expected something better than a countryside cottage.

    The Verhen house was a nice and cozy two-story tall building with solid stone walls and a sloping roof of high-quality tiles. Yet it was nothingpared to the luxurious mansions that even the small nobles of Xylita could afford.

    Kaz had pictured Magus Verhen having a small Royal Pce in Lutia, with a finelyndscaped garden that extended as far as the eye could see and droves of servants catering to his every need.

    Reality was that he could see the whole house even from up close, there were cultivated fields instead of a garden, and farmhands and animals in ce of the servants.

    Kaz had never seen so many brutish, sweaty, and dirty men in one ce in his entire life. To make matters even worse, not one of Raaz''s employees seemed impressed by Kaz''s fine clothes.

    They didn''t even look at him with the respect that his status as inw demanded. The farmhands just red at him with eyes filled with spite and suspicion.

    ''Why do I feel like my head is on the chopping block?'' The head of house Retta thought. ''Everyone stares at me as if they are going to kill me the moment I make a sudden movement. Even the dogs are overgrown and have something feral about them.''

    Of course, Kaz was right about everything.

    The men of the Queen''s Corps were hidden and had followed him since his arrival through the Gate of the Lutian branch of the Mage Association. His ID had triggered a red g which in turn had prompted a deep background check on Kaz and everyone on his contact amulet.

    Before he reached the farm, the Crown knew everything about him and three snipers had his head and heart in their sights. Two of them were ready to blow him up with two long-range spells and a third snipery in ambush with a barrier-piercing explosive arrow already nocked.

    The farmers were normal men, but thanks to their hard work were so physically fit that one of them was enough to kill Mister Retta with one blow of his farming tool. As for the dogs, they were Rys and the smell of cooking meat made them hungry.

    "Kaz? What are you doing here?" Kam jumped up from her recliner chair, too shocked from the surprise to make the proper introductions. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Elina had heard little about him, but after meeting Kam''s parents and almost being fooled by their good manners, she felt no warmth towards her guest.

    Kaz Retta was a man in his mid-thirties, about 1.75 meters (5''9") tall, with short raven-ck hair waxed just enough to not be ruffled when he removed his top hat or by a sudden gust of wind.

    He had a gentle face that reminded Elina of Zinya and the slender build of someone with a sedentary job. His clothes were neat and ironed. The only trace of dirt on them was a bit of mud on his shoes.

    He wore a blue jacket over a white shirt and blue pants. They were actually a couple of years old, but they were well kept and the decline of the Retta Household was too recent for them to show signs of wear.

    "What kind of question is that?" He asked with a wounded expression and a pained voice. "Can''t a brother be worried about his little sister? I didn''t expect a warm wee considering the circumstances we parted ways but I hoped that time and happiness would have softened you a bit."

    ''What the hell is going on here?'' He actually thought. ''Kam looks like she''s back in her early twenties. That woman is Verhen''s mother but how can she be in her thirties when he''s twenty?''

    Kaz had seen the pictures of the Verhen family on the interlink, but he had always assumed they had been edited or at least that the people depicted wore heavy makeup since the photos were taken during gs.

    Yet the two women wore no makeup now and there was no way they were as old as they were supposed to be.

    "What brother? Kam said with a sneer. "I remember well the few times we interacted outside meals and social events. You were a housemate to me and a condescending prick to Zin.

    "I rarely asked you for help yet you always turned me down when I did. Like when I begged you to convince your parents to let me continue my studies. To let Zin out of the house so that she could meet someone who would give a damn about her.

    "Or when I cried for not being forced to choose between an arranged marriage like Zin or be kicked out of the house. You were no brother to me. A brother is supposed to care for his siblings and help them. Not wash his hands of them whenever they are not useful to him."

 Chapter 3036 Family Bonds (Part 2).

    Chapter 3036 Family Bonds (Part 2).

    "I owe you an apology, Kami. I was young and stupid back then. Now I realize how unfair I''ve been to you but I hope you can find the strength to forgive me. Also, they are *our* parents. No matter what they did, they are still our mother and father." Kaz replied.

    "First off, don''t call me Kami." She replied with a snarl that the Rys echoed. "Only family can do that and you are no family. Second, Kima and Clefas are *your* parents. I became an orphan once when they disowned me and twice when I disowned them.

    "Third, I''m surprised to see you here. I would expect you to try and get whatever you came here for from Zin. I know that you and Clefas always considered her the weak link because of her good heart.

    "Yet if you had visited her, she would have told me. What''s the matter? Did you finally grow a conscience?"

    The mention of Zinya made Kaz swallow several lumps of saliva before he could calm down. Kam was right and she was indeed hisst-ditch attempt.

    The first had been approaching Filia and Frey. Kaz had yed his role as the good Uncle after Fallmug had taken them away from their mother and he had a good rtionship with them.

    Also, gaining the sympathy of the children was the best way to get back in their mother''s good graces and, in turn, of her rich, old, fat husband.

    Kaz had gone to meet Filia and Frey outside their school a few weeks ago and he was sure everything would go well until he had seen their pets. They were smaller than the dogs near Kam but they had met Kaz''s gaze as soon as he had stepped toward the children. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Then, the dogs had smiled.

    Dogs weren''t supposed to smile. The corners of their lips weren''t supposed to curl up nor their eyes to express savage joy and expectation like that. If it wasn''t impossible, Kaz Retta would have sworn that the cruel smile of the dogs extended to their eyes.

    As he got closer, he had witnessed the ck-slitted yellow eyes of the cute furballs turnpletely ck. Then, the kids had said something and the dogs had barked, except it sounded like augh.

    A mirthless sound thatughed at Kaz, not with the children. At that point, he had panicked. Kaz had run away as fast as he could and every time he turned back, he could swear that the dogs were still following him with their eyes,ughing.

    It had taken him a few days topose himself and realize it was all in his head. Still, he avoided the children and went for Zinya, just to be safe.

    Once again, the moment Kaz had seen her in the crowd, a feeling of dread had filled him. There were no dogs, but something was still staring at him. White eyes opened in the shadows of the people closest to him.

    At first, he had thought to be hallucinating, but then he had suddenly fainted.

    When he woke up, he was back in his hotel room and the eyes were everywhere. In the shadows, on his own reflection in the mirror, and on every two-bit painting decorating the room.

    He had tried to run away, but the door refused to budge. He had called for help, screamed, punched the door, and stomped the floor, but no one answered. He had remained trapped for over two days with no food and just the few drops of water he could conjure.

    He had cried, begged, and prayed, but the nightmare ended only once he swore to the gods above and below he would never bother Zinya ever again. The gods remained indifferent but the Eldritches answered his plea.

    "We have a deal." The door flung open, revealing a maid who looked at the disheveled form of Kaz Retta like he was insane.

    He had left Essagor never to return and it had taken him weeks to recover from the experience.

    "Z-Zinya is an Archduchess and has too many responsibilities on her shoulders." Kam might have believed him, if not for the stuttering and the sudden pallor. "I didn''t want to bother her. You, instead, I heard you are on maternity leave.

    "I hope you have a few minutes for me."

    "I have two, starting from now. Make them count." Kam noticed Elina''s look and answered her silent questions. "Elina, this is Kaz Retta. My¡­brother, for ack of a better term. Kaz, this is Elina Verhen, Countess of Lutia and Lady of this house.

    "She made me the honor of calling her mother just like I call her husband father."

    "Pleased to meet you, mister Retta." Elina''s voice didn''t match her words and she stared at him like he was a stain of dirt on her carpet.

    "Is this my beautiful niece?" He moved close to the crib, opting for an opening that would soften any mother. "If not for Elysia''s six streaks, it would be impossible to distinguish her from Surin. Congrattions, Lady Verhen, my little sister-inw is lovely."

    "The pleasure is all mine." Kaaz swallowed again.

    Things weren''t going as he expected and the gods-damned dogs were staring at him. At least, they weren''tughing and they showed no emotion that a dog shouldn''t have.

    "Is this my beautiful niece?" He moved close to the crib, opting for an opening that would soften any mother. "If not for Elysia''s six streaks, it would be impossible to distinguish her from Surin. Congrattions, Lady Verhen, my little sister-inw is lovely."

    No matter how Elina despised the man, everypliment to Surin was well received. Also, if Kaz tried something funny, the Doomyer crib would turn him into ashen confetti.

    "Thank you, mister Retta." She replied, incapable of stopping a small smile from appearing on her face.

    "And you, Kami, did a wonderful job." He persisted in using the moniker, hoping that it would stir the few good memories they shared. "Who would have thought that the blood of the Rettas would carry a power worthy of a Queen?"

    "I told you, don''t call me Kami." She rolled her eyes. "Enough with the small talk, Kaz. Tell me what you want so that I can tell you no and we can both move on with our day."

    "Can I hold Elysia? Just for a moment?" The idea was that seeing the toddler smile at her uncle would remind Kam of the value of family bonds.

    "Are you sure?" She replied with a snicker. "I have to warn you. She''s as fiery as her father and if angered, bad things tend to happen to the ones responsible."

    Once Kaz nodded, Kam picked the baby girl from the crib. Elysia smelled her mother''s annoyance and ill-concealed rage, looking at the stranger with suspicion.

    "Ba?" She asked.

    "Is she looking at me with suspicion?" Kaz was bbergasted.

    "Yes, baby girl. He''s a bad man."

    "Kami!" Kaz said in outrage. "No matter how you feel about me, you should leave an innocent child out of our grudges."

    "As I see it you are the one who dragged her in first." Kam said with a scoff. "I''m just warning her."

    "Ba!" The moment Kaz Retta neared his hands, Elysia shapeshifted into a small Voidfeather Dragon, exploiting her long neck to whip her mouth at his fingers and snapping her fangs close like a fox trap.

 Chapter 3037 Father of Fire (Part 1).

    Chapter 3037 Father of Fire (Part 1).

    Kaz stepped back in time to avoid the bite and a burst of deep orange Origin mes that came millimeters away from his right ear.

    "Ba!" The small Voidfeather Dragon growled like an angry lion, roaring her challenge.

    The Rys stood up, revealing their size, while Shyfs came out from their hiding spots, ready to pounce. Several Crons as big as piper nes started to circle around Kaz, their shadows eclipsing the sun in turns like clockwork.

    "Stand down!" Kam said and the beasts obeyed. "Well, Kaz, do you still want to hold Elysia?"

    "No, thanks." He had seen the pictures but they weren''t enough to prepare him for the sight of a baby shapeshifting into a Divine Beast. Even worse, no one seemed to care about the transformation.

    Elina and the farmhands were still staring at Kaz like he was the monster.

    ''Has Mogar turned upside down and I''m the only one who noticed?'' He thought. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Do you need help, miss?" Bromann, one of Raaz''s best friends asked.

    "Bo!" Elysia wagged her tail and waved her wed hand.

    "Yes, I''m Bromann. Thank you for remembering my name, little miss." He waved back and the baby girl shapeshifted back with a giggle.

    "She talks and understands?" Kaz fell butt-first on the ground.

    "Yes, she does. What do you want, Kaz? Your two minutes are running out." Kam put Elysia back in the crib for his protection.

    Elysia flew awkwardly but that and the orange Origin mes were more than enough to maim an adult man. If not to kill him.

    "I came here to apologize for what I-, no, what we did to you in the past. It was wrong and we abandoned you while you were at your weakest. Also, I want to ask you for mercy for our parents." Kaz took his top hat off and held it against his chest with both hands.

    "Prison isn''t the ce for middle-aged merchants, Kami. You wanted to teach Mom and Dad a lesson and, believe me, they learned it. You have every right to be angry at them, but now they are at their weakest.

    "If you abandon them, you would be no better than them. Please, I know you have the power to grant them a pardon. Use it for good."

    "You are right. I have power. I have lots of it." A wave of her hand lifted him from the ground with Spirit Magic. She would have loved to choke him like Lith would, but Kaz had yet to do anything to deserve it.

    Also, she didn''t want to use more violence in front of Elysia than what was absolutely necessary.

    "And I could also use it to get your parents out of jail if I wanted. But I don''t. I haven''t forgotten how you stood there and did nothing when they kicked me out of our house with nothing but the clothes I wore.

    "Or when Fallmug started to beat Zinya and took her children away from her. I haven''t forgotten how the first thing your parents did after years of neglect was to try and con my sister into taking part in their schemes!

    "Just like I can see through all your theatrics and know that you aren''t one bit sorry for what you did, only because you are forced to face the consequences of your actions. You haven''t changed one bit, Kaz.

    "You still believe that the end justifies the means and try to manipte those you can''t bribe. I''m the one who has changed, Kaz. I''m not the little girl who was desperate for her parents'' affection and approval.

    "I''m not the na?ve little sister who admired her brother, mistaking his arrogance for confidence. Now that you have your answer, get out of my house and nevere back." Kam put him down gently but Kaz fell to his knees anyway.

    There was something about his sister that stunned him, a strength that had nothing to do with magic or the physical might she had gained after Awakening. It was the confidence she had gained after going through many bad and good things with those who loved her.

    Kam didn''t feel lonely nor did she care about what others thought of her anymore, not even her old family.

    "Wait, what''s that?" Elina pointed at the sky where a small light had be visible. "It looks like a morning star, but I''m pretty sure it wasn''t there yesterday."

    "Is it me or is it getting bigger?" Kam squinted her eyes, noticing that the light was growing in size and intensity.

    A few secondster it was so big that it was impossible to miss and soon it became clear that whatever it was, the fireball in the sky wasn''t getting bigger, just closer.

    "Kaz, stay back." Kam shoved her former brother behind her. "Bromann, get everyone inside the arrays!"

    She made the protective magical formations visible to the naked and the farmhands and the magical beasts ran under their protection. Theet soared through the sky, leaving in its wake a zing trail visible for kilometers and aiming straight for the Verhen house.

    "Grandma, Grandpa, if either of you is here today, this would be a good moment to step forward." Kam nervously looked around, trying to decide what to do.

    She could fly away, but that meant leaving Elina and Raaz behind.

    ''What if I''m the target and this is the same person who wants me dead? If I leave, the killer could follow me and, away from Elysia, I''d have no chance of survival.'' She thought as countless scenarios ran through her mind, one scarier than the other.

    Once theet came close enough that its light and warmth dwarfed the sun, it slowed down and shrunk in size, gentlynding without burning a single de of grass.

    "How are my favorite girls?" As the mes opened, the human form of Gentor the Golden Dragon emerged from within. "Who is this guy and what did he do to anger you, sister?"

    He looked like a burly blonde man over 2 meters (6''7") tall with a clean shaved face. He wore the finest noble clothes that Kaz had ever seen in his life. A set of golden wings came out of his back, revealing his inhuman nature.

    "Sister?" Kaz managed to echo before he felt something squeezing his throat and the life out of his chest.

    "Why do you entertain a hairless monkey?" Theet reshaped itself in the massive form of a man with ming long hair and beard streaked with white due to old age. "You don''t ask a mosquito why it bites you. You just kill it."

    He was at least 2.5 meters (8''2") tall with biceps bigger than Kaz''s head. He wore a ming red overcoat over a white silken shirt and ck pants. He had no wings but his yellow eyes and vertical pupils betrayed his nature.

    "Stop right there!" Kam used a tendril of her Spirit Magic to mess with the old man''s and save Kaz''s life. "I won''t let you kill a man in front of my daughter."

    ''That''s your concern? That the little monster might might get scared?'' Kaz thought but he had the presence of mind to keep it for himself.

 Chapter 3038 Father of Fire (Part 2).

    Chapter 3038 Father of Fire (Part 2).

    "Gentor, who is this guy and why did you bring him to my home?" After dealing with Sark and Leegaain long enough, no matter how old he was, no Dragon could impress her.

    "Ba?" Elysia asked, trying and failing to break out of the crib.

    Valeron the Second joined her, afraid for their mother, but not even Origin mes could put a dent in the Doomyer crib. Yet the artifact reacted to the children''s distress by aiming a battery of sma cannons at the intruders.

    "No!" The old man staggered back like he had been pped. "How can you call me bad, Em''har? I''m your uncle by blood, brood, and heart. Not like that scum! He''s afraid of you and only seeks to exploit you."

    He pointed his finger at Kaz who felt dying again as Dragon Fear gave him a stroke.

    Kam recognized the draconic word for loved ones and noticed that only Kaz was affected by the bloodline ability. Even though she appreciated the effort, she put herself between the Dragon and Kaz, saving his life again.

    "Sis Kami, allow me to introduce you to Valtak the Fire Dragon and current Father of Fire." Gentor said. "Valtak, this is Kam, Elysia''s mother, but we call her Kami." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Correction. Only family calls me that and I don''t know you." She offered the Fire Dragon her hand which he shook with the gentlest touch.

    "Then I''ll do my best to earn such honor." Valtak gave her a deep bow but his head was still higher than hers.

    "Why did Gentor say the current Father of Fire? I thought it was Leegaain''s title." Kam asked.

    "It was, back when grandfather called himself Agni and the Fire Dragon bloodline had yet to be born." Valtak exined. "After that, he passed the name and title on to the Father of All Fire Dragons who, before his death, passed the title on to the new patriarch.

    "The Fire Dragon bloodline is one of the most ancient not like Golden Dragons." He pointed at Gentor who like thete Agni was Leegaain''s direct descendant. "I''m the patriarch hence as long as I draw breath I''m the Father of Fire."

    While they talked, the farmhands got back to work after snapping a few photos of the Dragons with their Tablets. The magical beasts yawned and resumed their napping while Kaz ran for his life as quietly as he could to not draw attention to himself anymore.

    "What the fuck are we even here for?" Gn Sohl, the current Captain of the Queen''s Corps stationed there, took a sip of rxing potion to calm his nerves and prevent another stroke.

    "I hear you, brother." Locrias patted the backs of the unit''s members while handing pastries and a strong liquor spiked with hot tea. "Believe me, this job doesn''t get better with time, but you get used to it."

    "What''s going on here?" Lith came out of the barn''s door, conjuring Valia, Trion, and Varegrave as he walked.

    They resided inside the Void Sigils on his wings except during battle and whenever he was in Lutia. Their respective families had moved into the houses neighboring Lith''s in order to spend as much time as they could with their loved ones.

    Solus was just one step behind Lith and looked even worse than him. They had half-closed bloodshot eyes due to the prolonged migraine andbored breath. Lith and Solus moved with a slight stagger, like they had just returned from a double shift in a mine and could barely move from fatigue.

    Which wasn''t far from the truth since shouldering the burden of the Prime Engine while fighting Sinmara had proven to be exhausting. The more floors of the tower they converted into weapons the worse the sensory overload became.

    The tower took the mana abuse and the real damage, but the toll on their minds remained unchanged. Lith fared better than Solus only because his stronger core gave him better recovery abilities and unlike her, he didn''t need focus to keep his body while away from a mana geyser.

    Usually, it was a negligible amount but Solus'' head throbbed so much that even remembering her own name was painful.

    ''I''ll stay just the time to say hi to Elysia and Valeron before going back inside my ring. I''m noting out before lun- oh, shit!'' She inwardly groaned while looking at their guests. ''No rest for the wicked.''

    "Lith, Solus, Gentor hase to visit us and has brought a friend with him." Kam waved at the huge old man. "This is Valtak, patriarch of the Fire Dragons and current Father of Fire. Valtak, these are Lith, my husband, and Solus, his cousin."

    "Dya! Masa!" Elysia and Valeron shook the crib''s wall once more, and Solus went to take them out.

    "Nice to meet you." Valtak gave them a small bow, his eyes fixated on Lith. "Where is your sister, the so-called Hercules?"

    "Hekate." Lith corrected him. "What do you want from her?"

    "The same thing I want from you." Valtak shrugged. "To check out the rumors about your unique ability to manipte Origin mes and put them to the test. From what I''ve heard, both of you might be worthy of inheriting the title of Father of Fire.

    "I''m old and my life won''tst much longer. Before passing away, I want to make sure to have chosen the right sessor and taught everything I could to you hatchlings."

    ''I would like to reply that I''m a grown-ass man with a daughter but I guess that to someone close to 10,000 years a twenty years old must look like a baby.'' Lith thought.

    "Tista will be here in a short while." Lith checked his pocket watch. "I''m curious. I''ve never seen you or heard about you, Valtak. You didn''t take part in the celebrations for Shargein''s birth and you didn''t attend Elysia''s g."

    "As I said, I''m old. I was slumbering far away from Garlen and the Dragon Dance woke me up. Once it was over and I regained my senses, I had to catch up on a few centuries of recent history." The Elder Wyrm replied.

    "Believe me, it takes a long while to sort out what''s important from what it''s not and to be honest I''m not done with it, yet.

    "It''s too soon to tell if things like the birth of the first perfect hybrid between the Dragon and Phoenix bloodline, which is you, Grandfather''stest newborn, and even your lovely daughter will have an impact on Mogar.

    "You guys might be a beacon to the Dragon race as much as a sh in the pan. I have little time and I have to make it count."

    "If you think so little of us, why are you here?" Lith took Valeron in his arms while Solus took Elysia.

    "Correction, I thought little of you." Valtak waved his finger in front of the baby boy, studying his Bahamut form. "At least until a certain ck sheep of the family started the rumor that you can control¡­ nine kinds of mes?"

    "Eleven."

    "Great Mother almighty!" Gentor blurted in shock.

    "Leegaain''s fire!" Valtak straightened up, looking for hints of deception with Dragon Eyes but finding none. "Eleven? Is that true?"

 Chapter 3039 Eldritch and Abomination (Part 1)

    Chapter 3039 Eldritch and Abomination (Part 1)

    "Sort of." Lith shrugged. "I can control eight kinds of mes right now. Immortal and Primordial mes are still out of my reach while I have no clue about how to control the blue mes or what they are.

    "If you are referring to the events that have urred inside Mogar''s Garden, then you must know about the peculiar circumstances I manifested so many mes at once."

    "Actually, I don''t." Valtak scratched his head in embarrassment. "I delete Zoreth''s messages without listening to them. My fellow Fire Dragons heard about it from the members of the Hand of Fate who took part in the mission, but I don''t trust them more than that filthy Eldritch."

    "I came here to ascertain the truth for myself and meet you all. Many birds with one visit."

    "Zoreth may be an Eldritch and a ck sheep of the Dragon bloodline, but watch your words while speaking about her under my roof." Lith snarled, turning in his Tiamat form and matching Valtak''s height.

    "Whatever she has done in the past, Zoreth has been a loyal friend to me. I consider her my big sister and she''s the godmother of my daughter. That''s way more I can say about you."

    "Hatchling, you have no idea of the madness that''sing out of your mouth. Abominations are named as such not because of what they do, but because of what they are." The Father of Fire shook his head, sighing.

    "Just to be one you must fail yourself and Mogar in the worst way possible. On top of that, to be an Eldritch you have to stoop so low that even the Great Mother denies you further mercy.

    "The monster to whom you foolishly entrusted your daughter cast her Dragon nature away out of pride. Then, she turned into an Abomination because of her vanity. She murdered thousands in blind hunger before Mogar could tolerate her any longer and-"

    Lith handed Valeron to Solus and took Elysia in his arms before shapeshifting into his Abomination form. The moment his body turned into pure darkness element, Valtak choked on his words.

    When Elysia followed suit and her flesh changed into stable Chaos, the red in the Father of Fire''s beard and hair lost its luster.

    "What were you saying about Abominations and Eldritches?" Lith''s voice was reduced to a raspy howl.

    "It seems that I''ve rushed my judgment." Valtak studied them both with Dragon Eyes. "I owe you and Zoreth an apology."

    "And Elysia." Lith shoved the baby in his face while she was sucking the shadows swirling around her thumb.

    "And Elysia." Valtak nodded, giving them a deep bow.

    The Elder Wyrm was old and his convictions firm, but he was no fool. He couldn''t deny facts out of mere prejudice and Dragon Eyes gave him all the proof Valtak needed to change his mind.

    The rumors were true.

    Lith looked like an Eldritch yet he wasn''t. There was no sign of Mogar''s rejection. Quite the contrary, the world energy flowed into him freely and his essence bore the marks of his sessful world tribtions.

    On top of that, the darkness of his body carried a single spark of Chaos that was nurtured rather than contained.

    As for Elysia, she didn''t look like an Abomination, she was one. An Abomination who didn''t suffer from hunger and was constantly fed by the world energy. The Chaos thatprised her body served her instead of trying to consume her.

    "Ba?" Elysia asked, her voice a rumbling growl too deep to be cute despite her diminutive size.

    "Not yet, baby girl. The jury is still out on that." Lith shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon to pass the message and Elysia followed. "Gentor, do you share his opinion about Zoreth?"

    "Most of us, do, little brother." The Golden Dragon replied. "When she chose her human side, it was a huge blow for all of us and what she did as an Eldritch¡­ Well, I''d rather not say it in front of children.

    "Aside from Surtr, few of us are willing to take her back into our fold."

    "Interesting." Valtak studied the Void Sigils on the Voidfeather Dragons'' wings and his scales burning with Cursed elements. "Very interesting. Coming here was the right decision."

    Somehow, the Cursed mes surrounding the scales were cleansing the lingering Chaos left by their previous form and life was thriving around them.

    "What you can do,dy hatchling?" The Father of Fire asked Solus, catching her by surprise.

    "Me? I''m fully human." She replied.

    "Then why do you smell like a Dragon?" Valtak sniffed something underneath Lith''s scent on her.

    "I mean, I haven''t awakened my dormant bloodline. Sorry." Solus said. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''By my Mom, that''s why I have scales and wings in my proto-Guardian form.'' She actually thought. ''Whether it''s because my body isprised of Lith''s life force or because the tower uses him as a blueprint, I''m bing a hybrid as well.''

    "What about this dashing young fellow?" The Elder Wyrm neared his wed finger to Valeron the Second who sniffed it before bringing it to his mouth. "I haven''t heard much about him."

    "That''s because there isn''t much to say aside from the identity of his parents." Solus replied. "If Valeron has already developed any kind of bloodline ability, he never needed to use them."

    "Awakened from birth." Valtak muttered while studying the boy with Invigoration. "I always believed it was just an expression."

    "Your intel is as inurate as it''s outdated, old man." Gentor chuckled. "Elysia established a new record by Awakening from conception."

    "Are you kidding me?" The Father of Fire''s yellow eyes went wide in surprise.

    "No, he''s not." Kam picked Elysia from Lith''s hands and offered her to the Elder Wyrm to hold. "It''s one of the many reasons she''s a handful."

    Valtak put the baby girl in the crook of his left arm with the gentle touch of a consummated parent. She could understand little of what they were saying so she used the Dragon scales tomunicate.

    "Order and Chaos! She did Awaken from conception and she''s very smart. Almost Dragon smart." Without thenguage barrier hindering themunication, Elysia expressed and understood with ease concepts that were supposed to be beyond a six months old toddler.

    "Really?" Lith asked in honest curiosity. "I could nevermunicate with a child before so I have no baseline."

    "What''s going on and who is this guy?" Tista walked out of the barn with a deep frown on her face.

    Bodya had just left the Mansion, asking her some time apart to make up his mind once and for all.

    ''I thought thating back to Garlen with me after realizing how deep the maniption of his so-called family runs was the answer. Those fuckers didn''t even want to warn Bodya about Thaymos'' arrival.

    ''If not for Vothal, the lost city would have caught us by surprise.'' The thought of Bodya''s grandfather who had risked everything and betrayed his n out of love softened Tista''s anger and aroused herpassion.

    ''Gods, we never went to check if he was punished for defying the patriarch''s orders. Vothal might have been imprisoned or even exiled from the colony. Maybe Bodya has just gone to visit his grandfather.''

 Chapter 3040 Eldritch and Abomination (Part 2)

    Chapter 3040 Eldritch and Abomination (Part 2)

    ''Yet if that''s the reason he had to leave, why didn''t he just tell me?'' Tista realized that family matters wereplex and that it was ultimately her fault if her rtionship with Bodya was still shallow even though they dated for over a year.

    Despite all of this, the fact that he had yet to make his decision and left her in the dark hurt.

    Lith made the introductions and exined to her the reasons for the Father of Fire''s visit.

    "Can we please postpone this conversation? I''m exhausted." Tista groaned.

    She had spent the morning training her magic and researching her bloodline abilities in the Desert with the help of the Phoenixes. Sark''s blood ran the thickest in her veins and the members of the Nest were always happy to help her.

    Also, she didn''t know a single Dragon who would spend so much time with her without asking for something in return. Surtr and Zoreth were the only exceptions but the former was already busy with Lith and thetter was on some errand.

    "Indeed we can." Valtak nodded. "You are both tired and I need you fresh or I''d just waste your time. Would you like to move it to this afternoon or tomorrow?"

    "Tomorrow." Lith replied. "I haven''t seen Elysia since breakfast and I don''t want to neglect her for the rest of the day."

    Kam cleared her voice in what sounded like her best growl since her bond with Elysia had been severed. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Also, my wife." A second, deeper growl emphasized her annoyance. "I mean, I haven''t seen my lovely wife and daughter since breakfast and I don''t want to neglect *them* for the rest of the day."

    "Nice try but it''s not enough." She grunted. "We''ll talk about thister."

    "Then I''ll take my leave." Valtak kissed Elysia''s forehead before returning her to her mother. "I''ve already imposed my presence for too long and I''m sure you have many things to talk about.

    "Most of them are better spoken behind my back since I expect them to not be nice. Dragonspeed, Lady Verhen." He offered his hand to Kam.

    "I''d dly stay for lunch." Gentor sniffed the delicious smell of roasted cows that came from the kitchen. "But there''s not enough for three of us and no point to go all hungry."

    "Also, no one invited you." Lith pointed out.

    "Lady Verhen is too formal. Call me Kam." She shook it. "If you want to ever call me Kami, you must be less of a prick."

    "I''ll keep that in mind." He chuckled.

    "I''d dly stay for lunch." Gentor sniffed the delicious smell of roasted cows that came from the kitchen. "But there''s not enough for three of us and no point to go all hungry."

    "Also, no one invited you." Lith pointed out.

    "I thought it was just an oversight." The Golden Dragon clenched his chest in mock pain. "You wound my heart, little brother."

    "Better than you emptying my te." Lith chuckled. "Next time, announce your visit. You can''t improvise a Dragon''s meal."

    "Truer words were never spoken." Gentor sighed. "Bye!"

    A Warp Steps led the two Wyms dozens of kilometers away and allowed Kam to drop her smile and scowl at Lith.

    "Well, do you have something to say to me?"

    Judging by the tension in her shoulders it wasn''t just about his blunder.

    "Hi, Kami." Lith gave her a hug and a kiss. "How was your day?"

    "Thanks for asking." She sighed. "It was great. At least until Kaz had the gall toe here and act like he''s part of the family."

    "Your brother was here?" Lith said, leaving Kam and Solus bbergasted.

    Neither had reminded him who Kaz was and Lith remembering the name of someone who had been mentioned to him a couple of times was unbelievable. He rarely remembered the names of those he had worked with for years, unless they gave him a good or bad reason to.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to." Lith said, misunderstanding their reaction. "I know that you''ve disowned him and don''t consider Kaz part of your family more than I do with Meln. I just don''t know how to refer to him. Former brother? Ex brother?"

    "First, it''s not a job that he can quit. Second, eww. Sounds like we''ve dated." Kam chuckled. "Let''s call him¡­"

    Her eyes fell on the babies who were staring at her intently.

    "Blood rtive." She sighed. "What about your day?"

    "Tiring, but probably more pleasant than yours." Lith set up the table with a wave of his hand and everyone sat down, waiting for Raaz to arrive.

    Once the family was reunited, Kam told everyone about her conversation with Kaz. Once she was done, Lith shared the results of his training with them.

    "Is the Engine so powerful that it can go toe to toe with a white core?" Elina was bbergasted. "Isn''t it still around 60% of the tower''s true power."

    "Toe to toe is a strong word." Lith groaned at the thought that, if he hadn''t lost the Ears, now the Engine might have reached over 80%. "More like we can take Sinmara on as long as she fights barehanded and doesn''t use her most powerful spells."

    "Dya." Elysia grabbed Lith''s arm, using light magic to alleviate whatever the source of his distress was.

    "Don''t listen to Mister Grouch here." Solus snorted. "We also can''t use our best spells and equipment because the point of the training is not killing each other."

    "Is that a healing spell?" Aran pointed at the faint glow around Elysia''s hand.

    "That''s my girl." Lith peppered her head with kisses and used Dragon scales to reassure Elysia of his well-being. "Thank you. You can stop now or Daddy will get even hungrier."

    "Da." The baby girl nodded and raised her hands toward Kam.

    "How sweet! After making sure her Daddy is alright Elysia wants to give her Mommy a check-up as well." Yet instead of using light magic, the baby girl tugged and bit at Kam''s shirt.

    "This is unfair! He gets your first spell and I''m just your meal ticket?"

    "Mama?" Elysia looked at Kam in confusion with her big round eyes, covering her hands with Dragon scales in the attempt tomunicate.

    "I''m sorry, sweetie, Mommy can''t do it anymore." Kam held the small hands, feeling her anger disappearing. "Let''s get you some milk."

    She stood up to feed the baby in the privacy of her room. She loved Raaz and Senton and considered Trion a good man but she wasn''tfortable exposing herself in front of any of them.

    "Mama!" Elysia giggled, conjuring a gust of wind that would have undone the closest button of Kam''s shirt if not for its enchanted nature.

    "Great! I got your second spell but not the one I wanted."

    ***

    "Are you really nning on going back to Jiera and fighting another lost city?" Kam asked.

    After the meal, they had put the babies back in the crib for their nap while the parents used umtion to refine their cores.

    "Why not?" Lith shrugged. "If we win, we''ll make the colonization faster and easier. If we lose, since we''ll stand over a geyser we have imprinted, we can Tower Warp the moment things go south. Either way, we''ll have gained priceless battle experience."

    "What if the lost city recognizes the Engine?"

    "A millennia old piece of junk who''s been locked up until a few years ago?" Lith snorted.

 Chapter 3041 When the Great Mother Speaks (Part 1)

    Chapter 3041 When the Great Mother Speaks (Part 1)

    ??3041  When the Great Mother Speaks (Part 1)

    "I should be the unluckiest man on Mogar for that to happen and we both know I''m the luckiest." Lith said.

    "Thanks." Kam giggled like a little girl.

    "I was talking about Elysia." Lith said in mock indignation.

    "Jerk!" She punched his shoulder with all of her strength, hurting her hand and losing the breathing rhythm. "Don''t joke about that. I''m already envious that you are her favorite.

    "I can''t stand the thought of being number two in your heart too. If not number three."

    Solus spent more time with Lith than Kam and the secret bedtime story proved that she also knew about the family dynamics more than Kam as well.

    "I''m not her favorite and you''re my number one. Always." He interrupted her exercise to hug her from behind and heal her hand.

    "Really?" She asked, leaning her head on his chest.

    "Of course. Make it so, number one!" Lith used a mind link to exin the reference to her.

    "I knew I shouldn''t have married a nerd." She said while chuckling. "Let''s be clear, if you want me to grow a beard, you have to get bald first."

    "I''d rather not." He shuddered at both ideas. "Seriously, I''m not Elysia''s favorite."

    "Yeah, right. And I''m secretly the seventh god of magic." She snorted.

    "I am serious. I''m not making this up just to coddle your feelings." Lith replied. "And it''s not just an opinion either. I know I''m right because Elysia showed it to me through the Dragon scales. She loves you a lot. She just doesn''t understand you."

    "Because I don''t have scales, I know." Kam''s shoulders slouched.

    "No, because you either treat her like an adult or a human baby." He said. "Just treat her like I do. Like a very smart baby but still a baby."

    "What''s the difference?" She asked in confusion.

    "I hate revealing my secrets, but for you, I''ll make an exception. I''ll show you once they wake up. Now let''s get back to work, Mopey. Elysia is nearing the bright orange and you are still at the bright yellow."

    "It''s not my fault if her core develops faster due to its natural growth and the fact that she spends most of her time over a mana geyser." Kam pouted but resumed her breathing technique.

    Later, Lith brought the babies and Kam to his Forgemasteringb in the tower.

    ''I''m happy he''s going to share with me his "cave of wonders story time" but how is this supposed to help me? Lith knows I''m not good with Light Mastery. I''m a beginner with holograms. I can''t make voices yet, let alone sound effects.'' She thought.

    "This is how I get my work done even when it''s my turn to watch the kids." Lith said while clearing his voice and opening the grimoire that contained histest magical theories.

    He started to read his notes out loud, with the same tone she had heard him use for his fairy tales.

    The Forgemastering subject at hand was boring andplex but the kids didn''t miss a word, like he was telling an epic tale. Rather than listen to Lith, Kam looked at the babies,ughing at their reactions to his words.

    When his tone got excited, Elysia and Valeron clenched the bars of the crib as if he was describing an arduous fight instead of discussing his doubts about a specific rune.

    When Lith''s voice lowered and he spoke slower, the kids would get sad like a bad guy had won or a beloved character was in trouble. He raised and lowered the pitch of his voice while reading the details of a spell, giving the impression different characters were talking.

    The babies focused hard, trying to remember if they had already heard those voices and when. The most stunning part was the ending. Lith''s tone became strong and confident akin to a motivational speech.

    "Thus, I need to find a string of runes that don''t end up ovepping over their respective focus points and devise a way to alter their spacing without causing a loss in mana conductivity. And by the gods, I''ll seed!"

    Elysia and Valeron giggled and pped their little hands in excitement. At the same time, Kam turned around and Hushed herself to have a goodugh without ruining the effect of Lith''s creative reading on the babies'' mood.

    They were so excited by the heroic conclusion that Valeron stood up and Elysia followed his example, needing to lean on the crib due to her still-weak human body.

    "Gods, Elysia stood up by herself!" Kam dispelled the Hush zone and ran to the crib while Lith activated the recording function of the tower.

    It would create a Remember from those images that he couldter show to the rest of the family.

    "Was this her first time?"

    "Yes." Lith sighed, a bit envious of getting to the crib second. "You did great too, little guy. We are proud you can stand up, but you could already do it when we took you in. Elysia has just learned it, instead."

    Valeron''s worries about the difference in treatment disappeared as Lith picked him up and talked to him with a soothing voice.

    "See? What I was trying to show you is that even though they are smart, they are still babies. Without the scales, they don''t understand long words or difficult concepts, only the tone of your voice." Lith said.

    "By reading them stories, I taught them how to recognize when I''m happy, sad, angry, or confident. Elysia used her diagnostic spell on me because she heard my pained voice and associated it with the scenes where a hero is hurt and the healer intervenes."

    He showed Kam one of the illustrated books from the children''s library.

    "Holograms help, but they aren''t essential. Just show the children one of the images and teach them how your voice changes based on your emotions. They will learn to recognize how you feel even when you''re not telling them a story, building a bond with you."

    Kam nodded whileplimenting Elysia for standing up and helping her to do it again. The baby girl was happy to oblige, holding her mother''s hands for support as she searched for her bnce.

    "Thank you for sharing this moment with me." She said. "Do you have the time to listen while I tell them a story and give me pointers or do you have to get back to work?"

    "I''ve all the time on Mogar for my girls. It''s a man''s duty to protect his family. Right, little guy?"

    "Yes, Papa." Valeron said surprising them with a first time of his own.

    ***

    Jiera Continent, Wild Empire, city of Laska.

    Bodya used Lith''s channels with the Kingdom to go back to his homnd via the transoceanic Gate and then he travelled to the Nidhoogs'' undergroundir.

    Councilmunication amulets were supposed to work from any distance, but Vothal''s rune was still offline and all the members of Bodya''s family refused to answer his calls.

    "Grampa''s rune is still on, so he is alive but that doesn''t mean he is okay." In the days following Thaymos'' destruction, Bodya had tried to contact Vothal to thank him for his help and make sure that he hadn''t been punished harshly.

 Chapter 3042 When the Great Mother Speaks (Part 2)

    Chapter 3042  When the Great Mother Speaks (Part 2)

    ??3042  When the Great Mother Speaks (Part 2)

    Yet the older Nidhogg''s rune was unavable for weeks now and Bodya''s every attempt tomunicate with the rest of his family had crashed against a wall of indifferent silence.

    He had even tried to ask Jiera''s Council to contact his kin on his behalf but the Elders were too busy dealing with the crisis to waste their time with a family squabble. Bodya''s reputation was already in the gutter for staying so long in Garlen while Jiera fell apart.

    The news of his contribution to establishing the Kingdom''s outpost of Darmoq made him nothing short of a traitor. The Council members answered his calls only because they had to.

    Bodya was still a member of the Awakened Council and they were grateful for his role in dealing with Thaymos the Eternal Fortress. Yet they kept their answers curt and short when they realized he asked them for help instead of offering it.

    Bodya was left with no other choice but to go check on Vothal in person.

    "Shit!" When he arrived in front of the entrance to the Nidhoggs''ir, he found out that the stone arc had copsed. Digging through the ground revealed that the defensive arrays had been altered and the safe paths he knew were now full of traps.

    After sending messages via the amulet and transmissions via earth magic requesting a meeting, Bodya explored the area for days before giving up. No one showed up, which meant that the Nidhoggs not only had changed the location of their''s ess points but they were also avoiding him.

    At that point, Bodya had gone to the nearest cities of the Wild Empire, looking for a reliable source of information about his family.

    "Nidhoggs?" Echoed Pakon the Orthrus, the lesser Fenrir mayor Laska. "They are a bunch of odd and reclusive fellows. When the monster tides appeared, the Nidhoggs were a dependable ally, but after they suffered a few casualties, they stopped sending us reinforcements.

    "May the Great Mother curse them. No offense,d."

    "None taken." Bodya had altered his appearance to pass for a member of a different nest. Those who didn''t know his energy signature would never recognize him and with his thick Jieran ent, no one doubted he was a local.

    "I wouldn''t have bothered you, mayor, if my patriarch wasn''t worried about our cousins. They have stopped answering our calls and I''ve been sent here to make sure they are alright."

    "Tell your patriarch that your cousins are more than alright." Pakon replied. "They can allow themselves the luxury of being cruel assholes. Otherwise, they would have never exiled two able-bodied Nidhoggs."

    "Two? I know only of the traitor, Bodya." His voice was full of regret, but the mayor interpreted it as shame for the stain on the Nidhogg bloodline. "Has anyone else defected for Garlen?"

    "No, nothing like that." The Orthrus shook one head while the other kept reading the security reports he received from the nearby cities. "You''ve heard about the fall of the Eternal Fortress, right?"

    Bodya nodded for him to continue.

    "Don''t get me wrong, I don''t like having Garleners on my backyard as anyone else but I give credit where credit is due. Those damn colonists did one thing right. After they got rid of both the lost city and the monster tide that empowered it, our situation improved significantly.

    "The remaining lost cities keep themselves away, probably fearing they would end up the same way. The monster tides are too busy ughtering each other to fill the void left by the ck Tide to bother us, which is also good.

    "Between our strike teams and the Garleners whittling the single monster hordes, the Council has finally regained a semnce of control over the region. All of this would have never happened if old Nidhogg Vothal hadn''t warned his traitorous grandchild in time.

    "Yet that old fool of Forrn branded Vothal as a traitor as well and banished him."

    "Are you serious?" Bodya couldn''t believe his own ears.

    "I know, right?" Pakon scoffed. "The boy may be an opportunistic bastard, but how can you me a grandfather for protecting the hatchling he raised? Especially after all the good things that came out of it and the Great Mother''s speech?"

    The Orthrus was so outraged that both his heads barked insults at Forrn.

    "Like it or not, the Great Mother returned to Jiera, to us, because of the Garleners. She protected us and killed our enemies while that useless piece of shit of Fenagar hides somewhere boasting how much he knows and doesn''t share!

    "Tyris tried to teach us a lesson in kindness and the Nidhoggs are spitting in her face. If you ask me, they are just pissed off their precious forefather is as useless as a fart in a storm. No offense."

    "None taken. My tribe shares your opinion." Bodya said, giving Pakon a demonstration of his fluency in Tyris'' universalnguage. "Where can I find Vothal? I want to offer him hospitality."

    "Damn, kid. You are good." The Orthrus had a thick Paclean ent due tock of practice. "Are you interested in a position as teacher? I need people like you to spread the Great Mother''snguage and honor her."

    "Thanks, but no. What about Vothal?"

    "He lives here. I''ll assign you a guide to bring you to his house." A snap of his wed paws summoned a Shyf. "Fair warning, Vothal will never leave. Even in exile, he''s loyal to his n and refuses to share any of his bloodline legacy."

    "Then why do you give him hospitality?" Bodya asked.

    "Because he''s a hero and we can use all the help we can get." Pakon replied. "Also, because we are not stupid Nidhoggs. When the Great Mother speaks, we listen. We recognized the truth of her words and are trying to change."

    "None taken." Bodya gave the Orthrus a deep bow of gratitude before the mayor once again realized the rudeness of his words and followed the Shyf.

    "Damn. Sorry, kid!"

    The feline magical beast led Bodya to Laska''s lowest level. It was situated right above the mines and aside from security guards, no one lived there.

    "Just to be clear, the mayor gifted Vothal a niceir in the residential district." The Shyf exined. "The old Nidhogg refused and moved down here to be left alone. Please, even if he refuses to move to your colony, try to knock some sense into him.

    "Vothal should be proud of himself, not ashamed."

    Once they arrived in sight of arge circr opening in the ground, the Shyf turned back and bid Bodya goodbye. As the Nidhogg approached, he released small pulses with earth magic to announce his presence.

    The ground started to rumble and by the time Bodya reached the entrance, a colossal snake emerged, giving him a hateful wee.

    "How many times do I have to say that I want to be left alone?" In his Nidhogg form, Vothal was close to 25 meters (82'') long. His body was covered in brownish grey scales streaked yellow, orange, and blue all over.

    Several straight bone spikes came out of his forehead in a shape that reminded Lith of the frill of a triceratops.

 Chapter 3043 Authority and Responsibility (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 3043 Authority and Responsibility (Part 1) </h4>

    3043 Authority and Responsibility (Part 1)

    Vothal''s words oozed venom, just like the droplets of acidic spit he released to intimidate the uninvited guest. They were too small to kill even a human but big enough to give a solid sting.

    "I''m sorry, Grandfather. I was just worried about your well-being." Bodya kept his distance and gave him a deep bow. "If that''s what you want, I''ll leave and won''t bother you any longer."

    Vothal stared at the unfamiliar features of the neer in confusion, at least until he activated Life Vision and recognized his grandson''s energy signature.

    <"Kid?"> The Elder Nidhogg scanned the area with Life and Earth Vision to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them. He also switched to Leviathantongue just to be safe. <"What the heck are you doing here? If someone discovers your identity, you''ll be in trouble.">

    Vothal cast a Life Sensing and an array-detection spell before daring to use Bodya''s name.

    As he talked, he shapeshifted into a bipedal lizard with opposable thumbs. The pattern of his scales and horns remained the same, but now he wore a grey hooded surplice. It only left his snout, hands, and long tail exposed.

    It was the attire of Nidhoggs convicted of crimes against the nest, pending the patriarch''s sentencing.

    <"Grampa?"> Bodya was bbergasted.?<"Why are you wearing the Supplicant Robe and why haven''t you answered my calls?">

    <"The answer to your questions is simple."> Vothal replied. <"This is all I''ve left after my banishment. All my grimoires, my artifacts, and even my contact amulet have been taken away and stored inside the nest''s vault."

    <"I''ve been judged unworthy of the colony and stripped of everything I gained over the centuries thanks to the family''s help. This is my new amulet">

    The Elder Nidhogg took out amunication device with only a few runes on its surface.

    <"Come inside. You have much to tell me."> Their was bare. Vothal hadn''t bothered buying furniture since his real form was that of a huge snake.

    Aside from several permanent arrays, the ce was empty. The burrow was justrge enough for one Nidhogg to move and sleepfortably so they had to keep their humanoid form.

    Bodya told Vothal everything that had happened to him after the warning call and then his grandfather did the same.

    "My story is painfully short. The detection arrays of the nest tracked the signal of my amulet and I was arrested shortly after contacting you. I didn''t deny or excuse my actions. I only refuted the ims I was a traitor.

    "I told patriarch Forrn that we had already lost too many young warriors and that I couldn''t lose you too. I reminded our fellow Nidhoggs that you had been banished, not sentenced to death. That we needed to look after our own and that Thaymos was a threat to the entire nest.

    "You know the rest." Vothal waved his hand at the cave.

    "Well, the patriarch and his cronies can go fuck themselves!" Bodya paced around in outrage. "And you have no reason to stay here. Come with me to Garlen, Grandfather. I haven''t much, but I''m happy to share it with you."

    "Thank you for your offer, child." Vothal caressed Bodya''s face. "But I''m going to stay here. You need to fight your battles and I mine."

    "What do you mean?" The younger Nidhogg said in confusion.

    "I''m not saying you have to marry the Verhen woman¡­"

    "Tista." Bodya corrected him.

    "Tisssta." Vothal hissed in annoyance. "Just that Jiera isn''t safe for you. Not yet. Your presence would do you no good whereas I can make a difference."

    "How?"

    "I can stay here and talk some sense in the members of our nest whoe here to seek my advice." The Elder replied. "Kicking me out was a unanimous decision, but that was only because everyone assumed that you and your Garlener friends would either die or run like cowards.

    "After you stood your ground and the Great Mother came to your rescue, however, after she destroyed the ck Tide and its shepherd, no one in the nest saw things just in ck and white.

    "Especially after the Great Mother scolded the Jierans for turning their back on her. Most Jierans felt like her speech was addressed to them, and our brethren were no exception. While our ''great'' forefather hid inside hisir, Lady Tyris fought for us.

    "You fought for us. Many of those who cursed your name until a few hours back started calling you a hero."

    "How do you know these things and if this is true, why are you still in exile?" Bodya asked.

    "As I said, many changed their mind but not all." Vothal replied. "Forrn couldn''t admit that he was wrong and upturn his own verdict a few hours after issuing it. It would have destroyed his credibility and the nest would have demanded the election of a new patriarch."

    "What an old fool!" Bodya snarled.

    "It gets better." The membranes over Vothal''s eyes opened and closed in quick session, in the closest thing to a smile his reptilian face could do. "After my banishment, a few of our fellow Nidhoggs came to visit me in my new home.

    "At first, it was just to make sure I was alright and express their sympathy for my situation. After the Garleners imported their monsters and formed an alliance with the elves, however, more and more Nidhoggs came to me.

    "They wanted to let me know they think Forrn wronged me and that they petitioned him to revoke my banishment. Thanks to your friends from Garlen, we are taking back thends we are lost little by little.

    "It''s not much, but it''s a start. Our people have hope now and I always point out to them how none of this would have happened without you." Vothal patted Bodya''s shoulder. "We sent you to Garlen to find a solution to our problems and you seeded.

    "After Tyris'' speech, as the monster tides are pushed away from ournds, more and more Nidhoggs of our nest see the Garleners as allies instead of invaders. Theye to me in small groups at a time, seeking guidance and advice.

    "It''s the reason I can''t leave Jiera. Someone must stay here and lead our people on the right path. When Forrn loses his seat as patriarch, someone must be ready to take his ce."

    "Patriarch Vothal sounds nice." Bodya said with a smile.

    "It''s just a title." The Elder Nidhogg brushed the matter off with a wave of his hand. "It means that everything that goes wrong would be my fault. It''s a burden that has crushed better Nidhoggs than me.

    "Always remember, with absolute authorityes absolute responsibility. Leave this crap to me and go back to Garlen. I''m too old for doing something really important, like having more offspring.

    "The best I can do is take care of the children of others. You, instead, are young. Make something of your life. Anything is fine except for politics." The two Nidhoggs emitted a hissingughter that sounded closely to a dry cough.

    "I''m d to see that you are doing well and that things in Jiera are going better, grandfather." Bodya nodded.

 Chapter 3044 Authority and Responsibility (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 3044 Authority and Responsibility (Part 2)</h4>

    3044 Authority and Responsibility (Part 2)

    "Before I leave, however, I need two things. The first is yourmunication rune." Vothal neared his amulet and the two exchanged runes.

    "The second is the truth about Narso''s death." Bodya said. "Did he really fall while trying to protect our old yground or did Forrn nt his corpse for me to find?"

    "Excellent question. I taught you well." The Elder Nidhogg said.

    "Actually, I wasn''t the one who questioned the circumstances of Narso''s death first. I was too distraught to think clearly. Tista did." Bodya''s ashen skin gained a tinge of color in embarrassment.

    "Then you are a bonehead but at least you have good taste in choosing your partner. Remember what I taught you about how to use your scales and tail while mating. Females love that."

    "Grampa!" Blushed harder. "Can we go back to Narso?"

    "Sure." Vothal nodded. "You are lucky, son. If I were still part of the nest, my oath of loyalty would prevent me from telling you the truth not to tarnish the honor of our family. Since I''m banished, I can do whatever I want except for revealing the secrets of our bloodline.

    "Your friend didn''t die in your old yground. Narso was killed by a horde of wargs while protecting one of the cities of the Wild Empire from a monster tide. It happened months before the tide even came close to our nest.

    "For what it''s worth, Narso didn''t fight alone nor did he die alone. Many Awakened lost their lives that day and his body was returned to us mostly intact. We used his flesh and scales to craft equipment that we used to avenge him, just like Narso wanted.

    "That''s why there was only the skeleton left. From what I''ve heard, Forrn nted the corpse during your audience and retrieved it as soon as you left. Nidhoggs don''t leave Nidhoggs to rot under the sun."

    "How could you let Forrn do it? How could our people allow it?" Bodya said in outrage.

    "He didn''t ask for our permission. Forrn just did it and we found outter. Know that everyone considered it a despicable act and it brought him severe reproach even back when our brethren considered you a traitor and would have done *almost* anything to teach you a lesson." Vothal said.

    "Almost?" Bodya echoed.

    "Desecrating the body of a fallen hero was a low blow even for them." The Elder Nidhogg shook his head. "Now that most of our nest consider you a hero and me a victim, Forrn''s desecration of a warrior''s tomb is going to be the cornerstone of his downfall."

    ***

    Verhen House, the following day.

    After a good night''s rest and enough time over the mana geyser, everyone was back to their peak condition. Solus woke up full of vigor and disappointment.

    "What do you mean, I can''te with you two?" She asked.

    "Sounds self-exnatory to me." Lith shrugged.

    "I may not be a Dragon, but I''ve always helped you study your mes. How can you use the Eyes without me?"

    "I can''t and I won''t." He replied. "I can''t afford a massive headache and I won''t risk Valtak discovering our bond. Think about it, Solus. If he uses Invigoration on me, be it to teach me something about my Dragon side or study my life forces, Valtak would notice that the stone ring has a life force."

    "What if I wear it?" Solus proposed.

    "What if he offers to try and awaken your Dragon side? How do you turn him down without sounding suspicious?" Lith replied. "What if he sees past the cloaking rings and discovers you and I have the same energy signature?

    "He''s not like Zoreth. He''s fully Awakened and needs but a pat on your shoulder to ruin years of our effort. He is not Sinmara either. He never met Menadion nor does he know about the tower. Most importantly, I don''t trust an unknown Dragon to put us above his greed."

    "Point taken." She sighed. "Can I at leaste to say hi to him?"

    "I don''t see why not." Lith took the stone ring off and gave it to Solus. "Bring everyone to the Mansion in my absence, please. Meln could attack at any time."

    "I doubt it, but there''s still a lot of work to do." She nodded. "Protecting Kelia, teaching magic to Kami and Selia, plus everything the babies need."

    "The Engine." Lith said amid a fit of fake cough.

    "Yes, I''ll give it a go." Solus rolled her eyes. "If I have a moment to spare."

    The long-range detection arrays of the house picked up the signal of something big and powerful that didn''t bother hiding its arrival.

    "This must be Valtak." Lith stepped outside and looked at the sky.

    Having realized his blunder the previous day, the Father of Fire had opted for an entrance more discreet than a minget. He was simply flying his way to the Verhen home and this time, he was alone.

    A 32 meters (105'') tall Fire Dragon reaching 48 meters (157''6") of length due to the tail, however, wasn''t discreet at all. He was visible from a great distance and his wingspan alone was wider than most cultivated fields.

    His body eclipsed the sun and projected an enormous shadow upon his passage that many in Lustria took as an ill-omen.

    Valtak slowed down to give his hosts time to prepare for his arrival andnded with the grace of a hawk. He chose a spot outside the protective arrays of the house and wide enough to amodate his colossal body.

    From up close, Lith could see that Valtak''s Dragon form retained a part of his beard. It grew only under his chin and on the front of his neck, safe from any burst of fire he would breathe.

    It was entirely of a dull white and in stark contrast with the ruby-red of his scales.

    The families of Valia, Varegrave, and Locrias came out of their houses in curiosity, having never seen a Dragon who wasn''t Lith before. While Elina and Rena kept the kids away from the Fire Dragon, still uncertain about his motives, Selia wasn''t so lucky.

    Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir shapeshifted into their Skoll form and ran out of the house before she could stop them.

    "Be a good boy, dammit!" Solkar failed to join them only because Protector tackled him before he could make it to the door. "How can someone so small be so fast?"

    A nine months old toddler could barely stand.

    A nine months old Skoll, however, ran like the wind and even used fusion magic. With his mass and strength, Protector needed to be delicate to catch the baby boy safely but while he did that, there was nothing to stop his older children.

    "The only thing I know is that''s your fault." Selia snarled while trying to hold the whimpering and scratching pup still. "Can you fetch the others or is it toote?"

    "Toote o''clock." Protector facepalmed as the trio of small winged wolves barked and growled at the Fire Dragon in excitement. "How did you manage them for so long in my absence?"

    "Nalrond. May the gods bless his heart." Selia sighed. "Gods if I miss him."

 Chapter 3045 Valley of Life (Part 1).

    Chapter 3045 Valley of Life (Part 1).

    Valtak narrowed his eyes in surprise as he sniffed at the pups.

    "What in the Great Mother''s name is going on here? Another new species? And more hybrids at that?" He didn''t know whether to be more impressed by the ragtag bunch of creatures that lived in Lutia or by the unmitigated gall of Protector''s children.

    "Back in my day every creature, living or not, cowered in fear at the sight of small Wyrmlings and worshipped Elder Dragons as gods." The pups, instead, barked and sniffed at him, their tone warning the Wyrm that he was a guest in their turf.

    "Sorry for the loud wee, Valtak." Lith stepped forward with Tista walking right behind him. "This is my sister, Tista Verhen the Hekate. Tista, this is Valtak, patriarch of the Fire Dragons and current Father of Fire."

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, youngdy." Valtak''s voice was like the rumbling of a storm and every one of his words caused a gust of wind that forced adult men to bend down to resist its violence.

    "The pleasure is all mine, my lord." Tista gave him a deep bow.

    ''I know that Lith is almost as big as this guy, but my brother''s presence is nowhere near this imposing. Comparing myself to Lith makes me feel weak whereaspared to Valtak, I look and feel like a child.''

    "Where are we going?" Lith unfurled his wings and started growing in size but the Father of Fire stopped him.

    "Not so fast. I''m here to meet the hatchlings."

    "You mean Elysia and Valeron the Second?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "No, I mean the hatchlings." Valtak scoffed. "Since I''m already here, I might as well meet the offspring of the entire family."

    It took Lith a while to convince the parents since the kids needed no encouragement at all. A Dragon was cool, but a bearded Dragon was even cooler. That and the fact that Selia''s children were already out with him was a great motivator.

    The Father of Fire introduced himself to all of them in turns. He sniffed them as they approached, in the attempt to discern their bloodline and potential.

    "Mom!" Falco, Lenart, and Leria pouted in unison like it was Rena''s fault.

    "You are a true Wyrmling, boy." He said to Aran who puffed his chest out with pride. "And so are you, girl. If you two Awaken your bloodlines and I''m still alive by then, I''ll dly give you a few lessons about your heritage."

    Valtak double-checked Teryon to confirm the faint yet dominant Dragon smell.

    "Yes! I''m special. I knew it!" The little girl clenched his fist in triumph.

    "As for you lot, you smell more like a Phoenix. I''m sorry."

    "Mom!" Falco, Lenart, and Leria pouted in unison like it was Rena''s fault.

    "It''s not my fault!" Rena was hurt by the disappointment she saw in their eyes.

    Only Surin took the matter with calm, mostly because she had no idea what the fuss was about.

    Bloodlines and magic were irrelevant to her. She only cared about the sparkly red scales of the Dragon and the funny colors that sunlight generated when reflecting on the scales'' surface.

    "Can I caress you?" Gilly, Locrias''s daughter, asked from behind the safety of her father''s back.

    She was a teenager so Varegrave''s kids considered her the spokesperson of the younger generation.

    "It''s more like touching, child. I''m not a pet. That said, my answer is yes." Valtak had a hard time feeling imposing with four furballs climbing, biting, and licking at him.

    Solkar had now joined the pack and had no qualms about showing the big lizard who the boss was. Even the smallest scale on the Dragon''s body was several times bigger than the pup, but Solkar strutted around as if he had somehow asserted his dominance over the Wyrm.

    The farmhands kept a respectful distance but snapped pictures and filmed shorts of the pup and the beast like there was no tomorrow.

    ''This is great.'' Lith inwardly scoffed. ''They have a Tablet only for a few months now and their first instinct is to film things instead of running away. If Mogar ends tomorrow, people will die with a smartphone in their hands and it will be my fault.''

    "Can I approach the mighty Dragon, Lord Verhen?" Bromann usually called Lith by name but, at the moment, he felt so scared that he needed to remind Lith of their lord-vassal rtionship and ensure his protection.

    "Ask the Dragon, not me."

    "Can I approach your majestic body, your Dragonship?" Bromann asked, his voice quivering a bit.

    "Yes." Valtak missed the days when humans mistook him for a god and offered him tributes so the Wyrm appreciated the farmer''s efforts to be respectful.

    His appreciation was short-lived. The moment Bromann was certain the Fire Dragon wouldn''t eat him for lunch, he started taking selfies.

    The rest of the farmhands joined him and soon even the members of the Queen''s Corps broke cover to look at the Divine Beast from up close. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I''ve changed my mind. We can leave as soon as you are ready." Valtak felt less like a god and more like a tourist trap.

    Gilly was sitting on his neck, Varegrave''s children were poking at his wings, and the farmhands were taking turns sitting in front of his hands. They pretended to be arm wrestling the Dragon while one of their friends took their picture.

    "We are ready." Tista confirmed.

    It took Valtak a few seconds and a couple of breaths of Invigoration to find all those hiding under his scales and return them to their respective parents.

    "Dya!" Elysia expressed her displeasure at being separated from her father.

    "Warm." Valeron nestled in the Dragon''s beard,bing it with his fingers.

    "Bark!" Solkar fought like a lion to not be separated from his underling.

    "I''m so sorry." Selia used a mind link to remind Fenrir, Lilia, and Leria not to shapeshift in the presence of witnesses. As for her youngest, she could only pray to the gods for mercy since Solkar was too young to understand words.

    ''Yes, yes, fine.'' Leegaain replied. ''Stop bothering me!''

    "Don''t worry, woman." Valtak said with a boomingughter. "I''ve had my fair share of hatchlings and this is nothing. Also, I like this one. Mark my words, he''s going to be a great warrior."

    "Gods, yes!" Protector said.

    "Gods, no!" Selia said.

    "Get on my back, hatchlings. It will be quicker." The Fathe of Fire ignored the human woman pleading with her son to be a schr and not endanger his life. "We have a long day ahead of us."

    Lith and Tista jumped on Valtak''s head and the Elder Wyrm Blinked himself up in the air right after performing a final check for stowaways. The first p of his wings boomed like thunder, bringing him higher and propelling him forward.

    "Good gods!" Bromann said as the air pressure almost blew him off his feet despite the distance and cleared the sky from the nearby clouds. "And to think that I-"

    He froze in surprise realizing that while everyone else was either crouching or had fallen on their butts, the Verhens stood tall like nothing had happened. Not one of their hairs was out of ce.

    "We are not good or bad. We just don''t care." Leegaain said like it exined everything.

 Chapter 3046 Valley of Life (Part 2)

    Chapter 3046 Valley of Life (Part 2)

    Valtak flew faster and faster, opening a Warp Steps after the other. After less than a minute, Lith recognized the mountain border that separated the Kingdom from the Empire as they crossed over it.

    The scenery changed so quickly that if not for the drop in temperature and the perennial snowy peaks he would have missed it.

    ''Fuck me sideways, Dragonspeed is not just an expression.'' He thought. ''I have no clue where we are and without dimensional coordinates, I can''t use Warp Steps. I''ll be at the mercy of this overgrown lizard.''

    Lith''s paranoia demanded him to always be in control but now he was in a position of weakness.

    Thendscape alternated between grasnds and mountain ranges until it became barren. The soil was ck and nothing grew there except for a few stalks of some weed too stubborn to give up.

    Lith and Tista could see in the distance the cause of that destion. There were a few active volcanos in the nearing mountains, each producing ck clouds that smelled of sulfur.

    One of them was erupting right now, producing from time to time a pir of fire as a stream ofva slowly ran down its slopes.

    "We''ve arrived." Valtaknded at the farthest edge of theva river from the volcano. "Wee to my home."

    "How is this ce called?" Lith could almost see a ming eye Forgemastering rings of power in the fiery heart of the mountain. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The valley of life." The Fire Dragon replied.

    "In a sarcastic way?" Tista waved at the emptiness around them.

    "No. You see, this ce is indeed barren, but the volcanic ashes are a great fertilizer. It''s because of them that the nearbynds can be cultivated all year around or risk of soil depletion." Valtak said.

    "They are far away enough to be spared from the heat but close enough for the wind to carry over a steady supply of ashes. People from all over the Empiree here to collect what they need to turn the harshest ofnds into fertile grounds.

    "Always remember, child. Fire is as much life as it is destruction." Valtak said. "Think about it like the sun, if it makes things easier. Its heat makes you thirsty and can even kill you but without it, there''s only death.

    "Now, I need to know everything about your bloodline abilities."

    "Everything?" Lith echoed in suspicion.

    "If you want, you can limit yourself only to the fire-based ones but I don''t rmend it. Things are often connected to each other in ways that are hard to notice if you can''t see the whole picture." Valtak replied.

    "Of course, spare me the details about Domination and the powers of your eyes if they work the same way as a Tyrant''s or a Balor''s."

    "How do you know about that?" Tiska asked.

    "Please, child, I''m old and the patriarch of one of the most ancient Dragon bloodlines. I possess the knowledge of my species and we''ve seen Balors born and fall. We know they descend from humans just like the Tyrants.

    "The moment I saw your eyes, I understood the role your human side ys in your physiology."

    Lith talked first, sharing with the Father of Fire everything about his bloodline abilities that were public knowledge.

    ''There is no point hiding what he can learn from watching videos and reading reports. If he can help me in any way, I''ll disclose the rest.'' He thought.

    The only exception he made was about his experience in the Garden. Lith exined to Valtak how the Garden worked and how via the Void fragment feeding off Maergron Lith had gained temporary control over several kinds of mes at the same time.

    "Interesting. Your eyes y a role in conjuring Cursed mes." The Elder Wyrm sounded intrigued but Lith could swear there was also a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "What about you, youngdy?"

    Tista, instead, exined everything she knew about her own bloodline abilities which wasn''t much.

    ''There''s no point hiding behind a finger or wasting time discovering everything by myself when I can have the help of an expert.'' She thought. ''If Valtak wanted to kill us, he would have ambushed us instead of asking us to follow him.''

    "So, you call your ability to cast spells with your feathers Prismatic Wind." The Fire Dragon pondered. "What about the one that allows you to share the burden and power of your mes?"

    "¡­" Tista muttered something with a voice so low that even a Dragon couldn''t hear a word.

    "Field Dressing?" Lith asked.

    "It''s Queen''s Blessing, okay? Feel free to mock me now." Tista blushed in embarrassment and turned away.

    "No, I think it was something like Quirk Pressing." Valtak said.

    "It''s Queen''s Blessing, okay? Feel free to mock me now." Tista blushed in embarrassment and turned away.

    "That''s pretentious, to say the least." Lith said with a chuckle. "Big words for someone so small."

    Lith patted her head. With her 20 meters (66 feet) the Hekate was the shortest of the three and by a lot. Her horns barely reached the chest of the Fire Dragon.

    "It''s not my fault if Nana called me Fairy Queen. On top of that, when Solus exined this power to me, shepared it to a Queen blessing her knights so feel free to me it on them, King of the Spirits."

    "I was just joking." Lith raised his hands with the palms out. "That said, I''ve always wondered how prophetic Nana''sst words had turned out to be."

    "Tell me more about this." Valtak took the matter with unexpected seriousness, even though Lith himself considered it nothing but a heartwarming anecdote.

    "It makes sense." The Father of Fire said after listening to the whole story, making their eyes go wide in surprise. "This Nana was just a human fake mage, but she knew you all your life.

    "Sometimes, people in their final moments can see past the veil of the physical senses and glimpse into the true nature of things, something like the Guardians'' Soul Vision. Do you know about it?" He asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "Dammit, now that I think about it, I never asked what I look like under Soul Vision. Not even while working with Aalejah." Tista pped her own forehead.

    "Big deal. I did and it never helped." Lith shrugged. "Now that you know more about us, how can you help us and why did you bring us here?"

    "I would love to tell you that I can teach you all about your abilities but I can''t. Nobody can." Valtak shook his head. "You both belong to a new species and it''s up to you to discover and master your gifts.

    "The only thing I can do is help you along the way and give you suggestions based on my experience. Your mother carries my same blood, after all, and I''m pretty good with fire-based spells.

    "As for the why here, it''s because this is the ce where Fire Dragons teach their hatchlings. If you are anything like us, it wille in handy. Now give me a demonstration of your abilities."

    Lith breathed all kinds of mes, failing to conjure Primordial, Immortal, and blue mes. Tista did the same, but also failed to activate any of her bloodline abilities connected with her wings.

 Chapter 3047 Primal Spark (Part 1)

    Chapter 3047 Primal Spark (Part 1)

    Anything that passed through Tista''s wings while empowered by any kind of mes was destroyed rather than empowered by Queen''s Blessing, and no feather detached itself when she tried to activate Prismatic Wind.

    "Please stop." Valtak interrupted them after a long streak of failed attempts while he studied them with abination of Dragon Eyes and Life Vision. "Normally, I''d follow Grandfather''s teachings.

    "I''d give you a few tips and let you learn things by yourself. Experience is the best teacher, but Origin mes are different.

    "You have only a finite number of attempts every day before you start endangering your life forces and not even a Dragon can afford to wait decades for their hatchlings to fully understand the power of the mes through training.

    "That''s why Grandfather became the first Father of Fire and taught us all. Without him, most of us would still be fire-breathing brutes. That''s why Fire Dragons are so important and we were chosen to carry his torch."

    The Elder Wyrm touched their foreheads with his fingers.

    "Close your eyes, take deep breaths, and listen to my voice." Lith didn''t like the situation one bit but obeyed. "Now, conjure magical fire and keep it away from everything else. Any fire will do."

    Lith and Tista shrouded themselves in the violet mes of a tier three spell, Combustion, leaving unaffected only their foreheads where Valtak''s fingers were.

    "Good. Now, what is magical fire? It''s the fire element you take from the world energy after you bound it to your will with your mana, correct?" Valtak asked and the two students nodded.

    ''What''s the point of stating the obvious? I learned all this while working for Nana.'' Tista thought.

    ''I wish Solus was here to keep the Eyes of Menadion on us.'' Lith thought. ''I have a hard time focusing while I''m so exposed.''

    "Now, think about this. What are Origin mes? They are world energy ignited by your life force, correct?" Lith and Tista nodded again, failing to see the Elder Wyrm''s point.

    "Yet mana is nothing but the six elements that course through your body after mixing with your life force. Which means that the only difference between normal and Origin mes is that you must consume all elements, not just fire."

    A tap of his fingers and Combustion turned into Origin mes that kept not harming Lith''s and Tista''s bodies. Even their equipment was unaffected.

    "How is this possible?" Lith opened his eyes in shock, almost losing control of the mystical mes.

    "Thanks to me." Valtak replied. "Now close your eyes and calm down or you''ll burn yourself to a crisp. Focus on the mes, not on your fears. Believe it or not, I''m not your enemy."

    Lith cursed and followed the Father of Fire''s instructions.

    "Can you feel the Origin mes burning the external world energy with nothing but a strand of your mana to fuel them?" Another nod followed. "Then while keeping this status, try to activate your bloodline abilities."

    Once again, both of them managed to conjure Origin and Cursed mes but failed at the rest. The major difference was that instead of spending their life force, they had consumed but a few drops of their mana.

    "It usually takes two or more Dragons to generate Primordial mes because it''s the only way to preserve our life forces, but this doesn''t mean it''s impossible. White cores can use Primordial mes on their own because, for them, world energy and life force are the same thing.

    "They are the only ones who can restore their life force with a breathing technique like it''s just stamina or mana. To conjure Primordial mes on your own, you need to consume more life force while making sure of igniting the same amount of world energy as usual. Try it now."

    Lith and Tista injected more mana into their spells. Lith''s Origin mes turned immediately white while Tista''s became violet, bright violet, and then white in quick session.

    "I did it! I conjured Primordial mes at the deep violet!" She was so excited that she lost control of her spell.

    Valtak smothered her mes with his own and saved her from a fiery death.

    "Control, hatchling!" He roared. "Also, you did nothing of sorts. You conjured Primordial mes thanks to my help. If you tried that on your own, now you would beatose at best. There''s a big difference between mana and life force. Look at your brother!"

    Lith still had his eyes closed, unaware of what had just happened to Tista. He was too focused on making sure that the Primordial mes didn''t be diluted by more world energy to pay attention to his surroundings.

    ''Fuck me sideways, Fire Dragons are overpowered.'' He thought. ''Using mana to practice Origin mes is amazing. Not only am I consuming the mana equivalent of a tier four spell, but I also have absolute control over the mes.

    ''I can manipte the willpower imbued inside the mes at any time instead of only while igniting them in my lungs. It allows me to determine exactly how much life force I need to conjure Primordial mes without wasting one iota of my life force and how to reject the excess world energy.''

    Tista followed Valtak''s instructions and resumed practicing. It took her the mana equivalent of a boosted tier five spell to turn her deep violet mes white but it was nothingpared to the consumption of life force that Primordial mes would require.

    She too focused on keeping the quantity of world energy low and the quality of the mes high. Too much world energy and the white mes would revert to violet. Too little and they would go off.

    "Once you have grasped control of the Primordial mes, I want you to move them away from your body. Keep your eyes closed. Always." The Elder Wyrm said.

    Lith sent the white mes in the opposite direction to Valtak to safely check if distance affected his control over the Primordial mes or Valtak''s bloodline ability.

    ''Cheeky of you to study me while I study you.'' The Fire Dragon smirked, using a mind link to not disturb Tista''s focus.

    He had demanded them to keep their eyes closed so that rivalry wouldn''t affect their focus. One of them was supposed to progress faster and he didn''t want the other to rush things or lose concentration out of envy.

    As Lith pushed the white mes farther and farther away, feeling his control waning, Tista focused on keeping the Primordial mes stable. It took her a bit to control the insatiable hunger of the fire for the world energy and project them outward without diluting their power.

    "Good. Try to use them to purify something. Anything will do." Valtak said a few seconds after Tista''s mes started to wander around as well.

    "Purify?" Lith asked. "You didn''t give us anything to study and if we don''t know the position of the impurities in advance, we just break stuff."

    "That''s why I said anything, not something precious. Get over yourself, hatchling." Valtak grumbled. "Your trust issues are annoying. If you don''t want to learn from me, just walk away. Otherwise shut up and follow my instructions! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I''ve trained thousands of Dragons during my life. I know what I''m doing."

 Chapter 3048 Primal Spark (Part 2)

    Chapter 3048 Primal Spark (Part 2)

    Tista was d they had to keep their eyes closed or Lith would have seen the grin on her face.

    ''It''s nice hearing him getting scolded, for once. It means my lil bro is human.'' She thought.

    As Lith''s and Tista''s Primordial mes struck respectively a rock and a patch of ground at her feet, their eyebrows went up in surprise.

    "What the fuck?" Tista could feel through her mes how different materials burned at a different pace.

    At first, Lith and Tista thought it was just an impression. After a while, they could sort out the differentponents of their respective targets simply by the degree of resistance they offered to the mes.

    ''He said purify but without specifying what, so¡­'' After vaporizing the first rock Lith moved on to a second.

    He had the Primordial mes wash over the stone''s surface and seep through it before making real damage, just enough to grasp the density of the rock''s mainponents.

    Lith burned everything inside, feeling the stone rearranging its structure to fill the empty spaces left by the mes. He saw how removing impurities made the stone harder or more brittle based on their position andposition.

    The second rock copsed, its structure incapable of withstanding its own weight after all the impurities had been removed. Lith moved to a third stone, this time making the mes lick at the variousponents without burning any of them.

    Only after he could discern which impurities were functional to the rock''s structural integrity from those that deformed it did he start the purifying process. Tista too learned how to study her target through her mes as they burned through a barren plot ofnd.

    "Good. You can now open your eyes and look upon the results of your work." Valtak said once they were both done.

    Tista needed time to catch up but Lith could use it for practice.

    The obsidian stone that Lith had purified now looked like an angr jagged fang with sharp corners and sleek sides. The patch of ground below Tista''s feet was ckened no longer.

    The ashes poisoning it were gone and so was the rockyyer of solidifiedva. The soil was soft, brown, and so fertile that it only needed one seed and a bit of water to bear a bountiful harvest.

    "As I said, fire brings death¡­" Valtak pointed at the charred remains of their first attempts. "But also life and change." He waved at the purified rock and ground.

    "How is this possible? I''ve used Origin mes countless times to kill or purify but I''ve never felt anything through them." Tista asked. "I''ve always needed to memorize the position of the impurities before refining metals."

    "Because even though most users of Origin mese to the realization that they are akin to one of their limbs, only a few of them garner enough experience to discover the mes have a sense of their own, hatchling.

    "Every Dragon I trained describes the phenomenon in a different way, but they all agree that the closest thing to describe it is the sense of touch."

    "You, like all my past students, have discovered its existence because I''ve allowed you to use mana instead of life force. Mana answers your everymand with ease, giving you the opportunity to focus on how Origin mes work instead of on making them work."

    "I see." Lith nodded. "But even after experiencing it firsthand, I still don''t understand how I could garner so much information via Origin mes. Don''t they just burn stuff?"

    "Indeed, but you see, on Mogar everything has mana. Everything assimtes world energy and makes it their own. Rocks, nts, you, and me." The Fire Dragon said and his students nodded for him to continue.

    "Origin mes burn the world energy, but if everything assimtes world energy, then everything burns."

    Valtak looked Lith in the eyes while using his words. "It''s how the Fire Dragons'' bloodline ability, Primal Spark, works."

    He dipped his tail in the nearby river ofva, turning it into a zing stream of Origin mes that spread back to the volcano that had generated them.

    "Fire Dragons can turn any form of fire into Origin mes. Spells, natural fire, and body heat, they are allprised of world energy and life force that we can spark. And when there''s no life, like here, we can give a bit of our own.

    "Come on. Give it a go." Valtak beckoned at Lith and Tista.

    The siblings exchanged a quick nce before throwing a fireball each to the Fire Dragon''s sides while also taking care they wouldn''t touch him. Passing near him was enough to turn the two tier three spells into roaring spheres of Origin mes that burned their point of impact instead of exploding.

    "Good gods." Tista was speechless.

    "Yeah. Imagine how things would be easier for us if Mom awakened her bloodline." Lith wasn''t.

    "Lith!" She scolded him while Valtakughed.

    "Let''s take a short break before moving on to Immortal mes. The toll on your life force has been negligible but you are more tired than you think." The Elder Wyrm shapeshifted into his human form and his disciples followed suit.

    As soon as he took his fingers off their foreheads and dispelled Primordial Spark, Lith and Tista felt their bodies be as heavy as lead and found themselves covered in sweat.

    "What''s happening?" Lith said, wheezing like a bellows.

    "Hatchling, you have probably used more Origin mes today than during your whole life." Valtak replied. "Until one second ago, your mana core shouldered the burden but now it''s back on your body."

    Lith checked his life force, discovering that it had suffered no damage. The cracks were unchanged and his exhaustion was no different from what he would expect after an intense session of physical training.

    "You guys can recover with Invigoration, but I''d like you to rest and eat instead. Learn this lesson not only with your minds, but also with your bodies." The Elder Wyrm took a few dead cows out of his pocket dimension and breathed fire on them.

    "Why?" Tista said with a disgusted expression. "We should have butchered them. If you don''t take out the organs, the meat goes bad and tastes terrible." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "First, it takes too long. Second, give me some credit." The Fire Dragon tore a cow in half and a delicious smell wafted in the air. "I''ve done this for millennia. Itcks spices, but that''s it."

    Lith had many questions, but the remark about his trust issues still burned at his pride.

    ''Pun intended.'' He thought as he ripped a leg off and started to chew it.

    "How is it?" Tista asked, poking at her cow.

    "Delicious." Lith replied, taking her by surprise. "The fire has spread the fat evenly, tenderized the meat, and made the bones brittle. You can easily suck the marrow."

    "What about¡­" Tista pointed at the intestines and dder.

    "The wastes? I''ve purified them, of course." Valtak replied. "Just because I can eat anything safely, it doesn''t mean I have to. Had I purified everything, our meal would have been reduced to bby, tasteless meat.

    "Instead, I just cooked everything right and removed only the naughty bits."

 Chapter 3049 The End of the Wick (Part 1)

    Chapter 3049 The End of the Wick (Part 1)

    The Fire Dragon quickly finished the first cow and cooked another for himself. "Feel free to ask me any question you might have. Food for the body and the brain."

    "I was thinking, why are you teaching us how to use Primordial and Immortal mes? We don''t fully belong to the Dragon bloodline and you don''t even know us." Tista asked.

    "Because giving you solid foundations is the best way I can help you master your bloodline abilities. Until you do, I can''t evaluate you as possible candidates as the next Father of Fire." Valtak replied.

    "Isn''t that a title that belongs to the Fire Dragons?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "No. The title belongs to Grandfather Leegaain and Fire Dragons carry the torch because we are the best suited to pass his teachings. If another and better candidate species among his offspring appeared, I won''t hesitate to relinquish the title."

    "Why now and why us?" Tista wolfed down her cow, feeling hungrier as she ate.

    "Because you two are young and are the first members of your own species whereas I''m old, hatchling." Valtak twirled his fingers, making a bonfire of magma appear between them.

    It gave Lith and Tista the impression of being two kids on a weird camping trip with their grandfather.

    "Dragons slumber only for two reasons. Because they are bored of life and want to wait for more interesting times or because they are dying. I''m not bored and now that the Dragon Dance has woken me up, I haven''t many years left." He sighed.

    "I haven''te to visit you earlier simply because I was asleep for most of your life. From before your Kingdom was founded, hatchling."

    "You are dying?" Tista felt her heart squeeze and looked at the Elder Wyrm with Life Vision, noticing that under his majestic aura and tremendous mana flow, there was little life left. "But you are so powerful!"

    "Thank you, hatchling, but a well-tended candle always burns the brightest at the end of its wick." Valtakughed. "Don''t worry for me. I had a long life and I''m satisfied with what I''ve achieved.

    "My final worry is to find the next Father of Fire. Younger and more prideful Dragons might not be as open-minded as me and I don''t want to leave a mess as my parting gift."

    Lith stared at the Elder Wyrm while switching between Life and Death Vision. The former showed how little vitality Valtak had left while thetter how it was supposed to go out.

    Most of the times, the Father of Fire died of old age. He stopped breathing with a peaceful expression on his snout and it took the rot a long while to defile his majestic corpse.

    In those moments, Lith saw Nana in him.

    Lith''s old mentor too had found peace in death, but there was one major difference between them. Nana had lived most of her life considering herself a failure, her mind tainted by the bitter poison of betrayal.

    It had corrupted her body and mana core over the decades, cutting her life shorter. Valtak, instead, was already at peace. He was like Nana would have been if she had lived a full life instead of letting her grudge define her.

    Yet the simrities didn''t end there because Lith felt like he was part of the equation as well. In a way, his old and current mentor were the embodiment of what Lith''s future self might look like depending on how he dealt with his inner demons.

    At least until he blinked and Death Vision showed Vk dying a violent death. He was burned alive by Origin mes, his heart pierced by powerful Spirit Spells, or his neck severed by a giant shadowy ax.

    "What is that?" The Fire Dragon pointed at the ck veins that now punctuated Lith''s cornea.

    "Death Vision." He replied while exining how it worked and what it allowed him to see.

    "Sounds like an interesting but heavy burden to bear." Valtak said.

    "Once. Now I''m used to it. You and the lunch look disgusting, but Tista is immune to it."

    "Seeing the fate of everyone but those you care the most about sounds like an even worse curse to me, not a blessing." The Dragon shrugged and changed the topic. "Based on what you guys have told me, Tista is the best candidate between you. So far."

    "Really?" She asked in confusion. "Why?"

    "Because Lith just destroys things." Valtak replied. "His powers are his own whereas a Father of Fire gives. Like Leegaain did for his children. Like I''m doing for you and like Tista does with her Queen''s Blessing."

    "It makes sense." Lith pondered. "No offense, big sis, but so far, I''d still pick a Fire Dragon as Father of Fire. Unless you can do what they do plus Queen''s Blessing, you''d be limited to impart power, not knowledge."

    "None taken." Tista sighed. "I agree with you."

    "Me too." Valtak nodded. "You are both wanting. I was just expressing my current evaluation. I won''t decide until we discover the full scope of your abilities or I die."

    "Would I be the Mother of Fire, then?" She asked.

    "No. Female Fire Dragons have carried the title but never changed it. It defined them, not the other way around." Valtak snorted a thick ck puff of smoke from his nostrils.

    "It''s just a title."

    "No, it''s a legacy." The Elder Wyrm shook his head. "All the previous Fathers of Fire carried on Leegaain''s teachings. We help our people to control Origin mes by sharing his knowledge, not ours."

    "But if I also have Queen''s Blessing-"

    "Unless you find a way to teach it to everyone else, it would be worthless." Valtak cut her short. "I mentioned your bloodline ability to underline how you seem to have the capacity to share like a Fire Dragon, but that''s it.

    "If it''s just your power, something only you own, then you are no different from Lith." Seeing that his disciples were still confused, he added. "Look at it this way. Menadion chose the title of Ruler of the mes because she knew that most of the techniques she shared weren''t something she had discovered or created from scratch.

    "Runes and pseudo cores existed before her. Forgemastering has a long tradition that dates back to the first Awakened. What she did was to improve on the work of others, organize what she knew better, and arrange everything in a way that was easier to learn.

    "Don''t get me wrong, Menadion was a genius and an innovator, but she didn''t do everything by herself. Without her master, her fellow apprentices, and all the past Forgemasters, she would have gone nowhere.

    "A Ruler of the mes recognizes the importance of their predecessors and uses their legacies to builds their own. A Father of Fire, instead, recognizes the importance of Leegaain''s legacy and shares it.

    "Fire Dragons have never added anything of their own. Even then, unless what you bring matches his tradition, it would be arrogant of you to alter the title just for yourself. Especially until we discover if your descendants will inherit your abilities. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "A unique individual may be great, but they leave nothing behind. It''s the one true difference between a white core and a Guardian. One gains power for themselves the other for Mogar.

 Chapter 3050 The End of the Wick (Part 2)

    Chapter 3050 The End of the Wick (Part 2)

    "A white core, no matter how exceptional they might be, will pass none of their powers upon their descendants. A Guardian, instead, shares a spark of themselves with each one of their children.

    "They don''t share more simply because no mortal body can endure such power. A Guardian is the first of their kind. A white core is the only one of their kind. Ever. Do you understand the difference?"

    "Yes, and I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to be disrespectful." Tista gave Valtak a deep bow. "It''s just that with my fangs, eyes, and wings, people already look weird at me. If I were to start calling myself Tista the Father of Fire, they would think I''ve lost it."

    "Then don''t." The Elder Wyrm stood up. "I use the title of Father of Fire not because I want the admiration of other people, only because I''m proud of what I do. It gives me no power or authority.

    "You''ve rested enough. Let''s get back to work. You know the drill." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Tista and Lith buried the remains of their meal and stood up with their eyes closed.

    "Well, yes but no." Valtakughed. "Put some distance between you and revert to your true form. If you stay too close, you risk injuring each other."

    Once they were in the proper form and position, the Fire Dragon touched their foreheads again.

    "Just like before, but instead of using fire magic use Spirit Magic. Any spell will do."

    Emerald mes burst out of the Tiamat''s and the Hekate''s bodies as Primal Spark split the life force from the Spirit Spells, using the elemental energy to fuel the Immortal mes.

    Every second consumed the mana equivalent of a tier five Spirit Spell and to make matters worse, Lith and Tista had no idea what they were doing.

    "Immortal mes stand above even Primordial mes. They don''t need world energy to burn and can''t be stopped by things like Doom Tide or those annoying orc shamans'' mana crystals.

    "It''s the only kind of mes you can use even if you ever leave Mogar''s atmosphere."

    "Have you been to space?" Lith asked in surprise.

    "Briefly, to destroy a cursed object." Valtak shuddered at the memory. "I couldn''t beat it as long as it drew upon the world energy so I changed the battlefield. I wish I could have reached the moon but it moves too fast and I can''t hold my breath long enough for a round trip."

    ''And Elder Wyrm like him had trouble destroying a single cursed object.'' Lith thought, realizing for the first time how big of an advantage his tower was on the rare asions he had used it in battle.

    ''He doesn''t know there''s atmosphere on the moon!'' Tista thought. ''Maybe, if we get to know him well enough, I can ask Lith to grant Valtak his dying wish.''

    "But enough talking about me. Even with my help, you can''t go on like this for long. Immortal mes are damn expensive. Start by moving them over your body." The Father of Fire said and they followed his instructions.

    "Regr Immortal mes are born out of your pure life force, not mana. As you can imagine, a single st costs the same as dozens of breaths of Origin mes. As far as I know, only Guardians and white cores can use them more than once in the same fight."

    ''I would love to tell him that Jormun could do that as well, but I killed him and he was the only Emerald Dragon on Mogar.'' Lith clenched his teeth at the memory. ''I have no idea how Valtak would take the news and it would make no difference.

    ''The two of them have never met and never will.''

    "Yet space and cursed objects aside, there''s a good reason to learn how to use them. They have two very useful unique characteristics. The first one is that Immortal mes can''t miss their target.

    "They will keep chasing it until they hit so using them is never a waste of energy. The second characteristic is that just like Spirit Magic, Immortal mes are born out of your own essence so they answer your will even once they move away from your body.

    "You can use them to feel like I taught you earlier and purify any material with great ease. I rmend you to use them whenever you are dealing with a situation you have only one shot at or when there is a life at stake.

    "Or one of your treasures." Valtak shuddered at the thought. "Give it a try."

    Lith and Tista released one emerald sphere each that charged at any target they wanted.Unlike normal mes, they followed any path their caster set and could change their trajectory at any given moment.

    The only downside was that the longer the Immortal mes had to move the more power they lost. Before they faded awaypletely, Lith and Tista sent them respectively against the ground and an igneous rock.

    Despite the little mass of Immortal mes left, they both achieved on the first try what the other had done after several tries with Primordial mes.

    "You were right." Lith panted. "I could see through the ground like I was using my breathing technique. Can Immortal mes also be used to get rid of poisons and parasites?"

    "I can''t see why not." Valtak shrugged. "It must be one damn of a poison if darkness magic or your breathing technique aren''t enough."

    ''That or the patient has a special constitution, like Solus.'' Lith thought back at what had happened to her inside the Garden.

    "I have a question." Tista said and the Father of Fire nodded for her to continue. "Since Immortal mes are naturally imbued with our will, can they be Dominated?"

    "Yes, but with great difficulty." The Elder Wyrm replied. "They are like a tier five spell so a Dominator can snatch them away, but only after wiping out your willpower and recing it with their own.

    "Of course, any Dragon can add more or in your case, you can also use your Spirit Eye. Either way, it bes a tug of war that brings your enemy no advantage. If they focus on your Immortal mes, you are free to focus on them."

    It took Lith and Tista several tries to learn how to move the Immortal mes like their own limbs. Then, they needed even more tries to grasp how to use the fringes of the mes as sensory organs before they dealt massive damage to their target.

    Be it a patient or a precious material, there was no point in reaching a perfect purification if they were also burnt to a crisp. Due to the high expenditure in Spirit Magic, Lith and Tista took several breaks rather than using Invigoration.

    It not only gave them the time to experience in a scaled version the exhaustion that Immortal mes would cause them but also to talk with Valtak. The ancient Wyrm answered to all their questions, not only those about the various kinds of mes.

    He told them about his past, his sesses and failures. The Father of Fire gave Lith precious tips about how to deal with hatchlings during what he called the Fire Season.

 Chapter 3051 Good Brother Evil Brother (Part 1)

    Chapter 3051 Good Brother Evil Brother (Part 1)

    "I can still remember my firstborn." Valtak said with a sadughter. "When he understood what Origin mes could do, he used them for everything. From making his tea to cleaning his room.

    "Useless to say, myir endured more fires than a forest during a dry summer. I had to spend almost ten gold coins to rece everything he destroyed before I knocked some sense into him."

    "Ten gold coins?" Tista furrowed her brow in shock.

    It was a measly sum for a medium noble, let alone a Dragon with a hoard that was likely bigger than the entire Verhen Mansion. Yet the Father of Fire spoke of it with great pain and regret.

    "Ten gold coins?" Lith gaped in horror. "I would have either spanked his ass into oblivion or made him work to pay me back. Youngsters must learn that actions have consequences and money don''t grow on trees."

    "That''s why I did both." Valtak nodded. "Luckily, I kept the good stuff locked behind arrays so nothing of value was lost."

    ''My Dragon side is definitely recessive.'' Tista thought once she was certain they weren''t joking. ''Either that or they are just crazy.''

    "Now, before we wrap things up for today, we''ll start with what will be your main exercise for a while. I want you to produce a sphere of Immortal me and have them run into each other." The Fire Dragon said.

    "That''s it?" Tista asked.

    "No. They must not merge, turn into Primordial mes, or sh. If any of that happens, the exercise will be considered a failure. To seed, the two spheres muste out of contact unscathed and with no energy loss.

    "To achieve perfect phasing, you must have absolute control over the mes even from a distance. You have to be able to sense each other''s energy flow before you deal damage and alter the path of the mes at a moment''s notice.

    "If you can do it once it means you have grasped the basics. When you can do it ten times out of ten, you''ll have mastered Origin mes."

    "Don''t you mean Immortal mes?" Lith asked.

    "I see." Lith whistled in appreciation. "Are you going to keep aiding us with Primal Spark?"

    "Hatchling, Immortal mes are what Spirit Magic is to regr magic. Everything you learn about them applies to all kinds of mes you possess. Otherwise training them would be a waste of time and energy since you won''t have many opportunities to use them in your life." Valtak replied.

    "I see." Lith whistled in appreciation. "Are you going to keep aiding us with Primal Spark?"

    "For today, yes." The Father of Fire stood up and ced his fingers on the forehead of his apprentices. "Tomorrow, I''ll teach you how to produce Primordial and Immortal mes on your own and once you seed, I''ll keep teaching you but I won''t help use Primal Spark on you anymore.

    "Learning how to manage your reserves of life force is the most important lesson I can teach you. Now begin and please, make the sphere sh at a safe distance. There''s no point sending our butts flying every time."

    Lith understood what Valtak meant at their first attempt which ended in utter failure.

    As the spheres merged, the smallest distraction caused the two mes to sh. Each sphere wasprised of countless fire currents that had to be sessfully harmonized with the other''s as they moved forward.

    A single fire stream out of synch was enough to cause an uncontroble chain reaction that spread through both spheres, triggering an explosion so powerful that it could blow away even a Divine Beast.

    "What the fuck?" Tista asked while digging her talons through the ground and lowering her center of gravity to resist the shockwave.

    "Immortal mes are entirelyprised of life force and yours are quite deadly." Valtak exined. "Also, since they don''t feed off world energy, their power never gets diluted as they move. They only grow weaker when they burn something."

    By lunchtime, Lith and Tista had to use Invigoration several times and werepletely exhausted. Even with the Father of Fire''s help conjuring Immortal mes was vexing.

    During each attempt, they reached their utmost focus and then needed to put up barriers when they failed. They were still searching for the perfect distance to make their mes collide.

    Too close and resisting the explosion would consume more energy than producing the Immortal mes. Too far and distance would mess up their still amateurish perceptual abilities.

    "I feel like I learned a lot today and lost at least five years of my life." Lith wheezed with his hands and knees on the ground, his voice hoarse and his throat parched from the overuse of mystical mes.

    "Let''s make twenty." Tistay on her back with her limbs syed like a fur carpet.

    "You are fine." Valtak chuckled. "I made sure of it."

    "I have two requests for you." Lith said the moment he could speak normally again. "The first is to make Origin mes lessons every other day. I have still many things to practice on my own and only so much time during the day.

    "My daughter has a memory almost as good as a Wyrmling and for all I know, I could drop dead tomorrow. There is no point in learning all this stuff if the only thing Elysia will remember of me is my absence.

    "She is my first daughter and I don''t want to miss any of her first times. I want to be there for her when she learns how to crawl, walk, or forms a new word."

    "I''m a bit offended, but sure." Valtak nodded. "I don''t see how any of what you do on your own canpare with the teachings of the Father of Fire yet I understand your feelings. When I had my firstborn, I didn''t leave his side for almost a decade." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "A decade?" Tista blurted out in surprise.

    ''The Prime Engine, Void Magic, and all the other things I can''t share with him are well worth my time.'' Lith thought.

    "Hey, it was my first time as a parent. I made a lot of mistakes and I was a bit overbearing but I regret nothing." Valtak snorted. "My son is still alive and knows I love him. It''s all that matters. What''s the second request?"

    "Do you do this for everyone or are we a special case?" Lith pointed at himself and the Hekate.

    "I do it for every first member of a new Dragon bloodline. I give them the knowledge Leegaain bestowed unto the first Fire Dragon so that they can in turn teach it on their descendants." The Father of Fire replied.

    "Then I''d like you to teach Zoreth as well." Lith said.

    "Zoreth?" Valtak arched his long serpentine neck, baring his fangs in anger.

    "She''s Leegaain''s firstborn and the only Shadow Dragon on Mogar." Lith nodded. "I know that you don''t like Abominations, but she''s my big sister. She''s closer to me than any Dragon will ever be and she has helped me and my family ever since I met her.

    "I know that she did terrible things in the past, but if in the future she merges her life forces like I did and bears children, do they deserve your wrath as well?"

 Chapter 3052 Good Brother Evil Brother (Part 2)

    Chapter 3052 Good Brother Evil Brother (Part 2)

    "What children? I thought she was married to a woman." The Father of Fire replied.

    "If Bytra is okay with it, it''s not hard for Zoreth to¡­ you know." Lith shrugged. "I doubt she wants her bloodline to go extinct and she''s nigh-immortal. It''s more a matter of when than if."

    "I see your point and I''ll think about it. It''s all I can promise." Valtak caressed his beard.

    "It''s all I ask." Lith gave him a deep bow. "Let''s go back home. I asked Kami to prepare enough food for three hungry Dragons and you are my honored guest today."

    ***

    During the following days, Lith alternated training with Valtak and Sinmara. He tried bringing Elysia and Valeron along, but fights scared the kids and the mes bored them to death. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Soon they would demand attention or reassurance, forcing Lith to go back home and leave them in Kam''s care.

    He and Tista learned how to produce Primordial mes on their own first. The secret was to keep the amount of world energy they breathed in constant while adding more life force than normal.

    It wasn''t enough to produce a spark capable of igniting white mes, it also had to possess enough energy to keep them from turning violet as they soared through the air and mixed with the world energy on their path.

    Immortal mes, instead, needed Lith and Tista to keep the world energy out of their lungs. Valtak taught them how to create the spark inside their lungs and slowly grow it inside their bodies until it became a burst of pure emerald mes.

    Such a technique was useless on the battlefield since it took minutes, but it was an invaluable training tool. Lith and Tista could steadily umte life force without enduring too much strain while also checking on their bodies'' condition.

    The toll on them was so great that after every attempt they needed food and rest, no matter if they seeded or failed. Invigoration couldn''t help them restore their life forces.

    Past a certain point, Valtak used Primal Spark again and made them move on to practicing the phasing mes exercise. Lith and Tista improved after each lesson, practicing during the afternoon how to apply the fruits of Valtak''s lessons to other mystical mes.

    It was at one of such moments that Bodya returned to the Verhen home.

    Tista was out in the Trawn woods, alternating between bursts of Origin and Cursed mes.

    ''This is amazing.'' She thought as the mes altered their path ording to her will.

    Tista could now make them curve slightly to follow or anticipate an enemy''s dodge. It wouldn''t be enough to keep up with a fast opponent butpared with her usual straight and predictable bursts of mes it was a great improvement.

    She could also make them partly phase through anything.

    ''Once I master this, I can have my mes bypass energy barriers and enchanted armor to strike directly at my enemy''s flesh.''

    "What did those poor weeds do to piss you off that much?" A familiar voice said, making Tista turn around so fast that Bodya expected her to get whish. "I hope you weren''t thinking about me."

    "You hoped wrong." She said with a stern expression that quickly broke into a warm smile as she ran into his arms. "Just kidding. The soil here has been poisoned by the chaotic energies of an Abomination years ago and I was cleansing it."

    She was in the area of the Trawn woods that was still barren despite the passing of time. Only the most stubborn of weeds grew there which made it hard for the animals to live.

    Tista was putting Valtak''s lessons into practice, turning the weeds into ashes that fertilized the ground and using the Origin mes to purify thend from the scars left by the prolonged exposure to the Wither''s deadly aura.

    "Where have you been? I was worried sick." She pouted, inwardly afraid of the answer.

    "I''m sorry, but after our return from Jiera, living with your family made me understand how precious you are to me. Seeing Lith with Elysia and realizing how much your niblings look up to him, made me more than envious.

    "It made me want to be part of it. I couldn''t drag it any longer. You needed an honest answer but I couldn''t give it to you without learning the truth about Narso so I went back to my family."

    Bodya told her everything about his meeting with his grandfather and what Vothal had revealed to him.

    "What a bunch of treacherous snakes!" Tista snarled, biting her tongue the moment she realized that she had said it out loud. "Sorry! I hope it wasn''t a racial slur or something."

    "No, our progenitor is a lizard but you went this close." He brought his thumb near to his forefinger. "Not that I would have cared. I couldn''t agree more with you. Now that you know everything-"

    "Wait." Tista put her hand on his mouth. "Before you give me your answer, there''s something you should know."

    She told him about the renewed threat of Orpal and the potential danger that Kelia brought to the Verhen household as long as she was their guest.

    ''Gods, I wish I could tell him about the Ears, the Tower, and all the secrets that bing part of the family entails but I can''t do it without Lith''s permission. Also, I''m certain that it would scare the crap out of Bodya.'' She thought as she watched his expression change.

    "Let me get this straight. If everything goes wrong, your crazy brother will be more powerful than the two original Horsemenbined, the destruction spell will be useless, and he might target me just to hurt you. Correct?" Bodya said.

    "Well, yes to everything but thest point." Tista shook her head. "Lith hated all my boyfriends so I don''t see why he should make an exception for you. Also, Meln wants Lith to suffer whereas by killing you he would do Lith a favor.

    "You are safe. From Meln, I mean."

    "Wow, and I thought my family was fucked up." Bodya clicked his tongue, making Tista burst into nervousughter. "So your evil brother might kill you while your good brother might kill me?"

    "Yes. Also, since I''m going to fight by Lith''s side, if I piss Meln off he might target you as well." Tista nodded. "He believes that by siding with Lith I''ve betrayed him. Also, Meln is a huge creep."

    She used a mind link to share the images of theirst meeting in person and the various pieces of "art" regarding Tista she had found in Orpal''s secret quarters.

    "Scratch might. He''s going to target me for sure since I''m not going to rest until I see him dead!" Bodya snarled, spitting droplets of acidic venom on the ground. "Is this enough for an answer or do you want me to be more explicit?"

    He gave her a deep kiss to emphasize the concept.

    "Are you sure?" She asked once they were both out of breath and broke contact. "My family is messy and things are bound to get dangerous."

    "My family was and is much worse." Bodya replied.

 Chapter 3053 A Matter of Choice (Part 1)

    Chapter 3053 A Matter of Choice (Part 1)

    "Aside from my grandfather and Narso, no one cared about me. Full-blooded Nidhoggs avoided me back when I was a hybrid. Even after I discarded my human life force, it changed nothing." Bodya said.

    "To them, I was a dumb toddler who at twenty years of age struggled with things that they had mastered as hatchlings. I considered myself an adult man while they treated me like a child. Two decades are nothing for a lesser Leviathan.

    "The Nidhoggs wouldn''t consider me an adult before I hit my first century of life but I couldn''t live like that for another eighty years so I left. After learning what they have done to my Granpa, I''m more than sure of my choice.

    "I don''t want to keep seeking the approval of people who just share my blood. I want to give us a chance and try to be epted by your family. If you''ll have me, of course."

    "Yes, I do. I''ll marry you." She said with the sweetest voice and eyes watery from joy.

    ''I was just asking to stop with the casual dating and get serious, not proposing!'' Bodya went from his usual ashen to deathly pale as he desperately searched for a way to clear the misunderstanding without hurting Tista''s feelings.

    "You bought that!" Her straight face crumbled as she burst outughing. "I can''t believe I managed to pull it off so easily. The look on your face was priceless. It was like a toad had jumped down your throat!"

    "This is not funny!" His face turned to a dull shade of red as she pped her knees in hrity. "I can eat toads for breakfast but you know I can''t take on your brother. He would break my spine like a twig right now if our roles were reversed."

    "Don''t worry, Lith might still do that." Tista wiped off her tears and tried to be serious. "First you moped around for weeks, barely talking to me, and then you disappeared without saying anything.

    "Did you really expect that you could just waltz back and pretend nothing happened?"

    "You are right, I''m sorry." Bodya scratched his head in embarrassment. "Just to be clear, I was asking you to move our rtionship from casual to serious. And for the record, I still think the prank was uncalled for."

    "My answers are yes and we''ll have to agree to disagree." Tista shrugged.

    They had started catching up when Lith arrived to check on the disturbance. They were too close to the tower for hisfort.

    "Bodya, what are you doing here?" His voice was cold and his expression stern.

    "He just came back from Jiera and apologized to me." Tista said with a big smile on her face. "We are still together, don''t worry."

    "Congrattions." It was a single word but it managed to express the full scope of Lith''s annoyance as he stared at the Nidhogg like he wanted to kill him.

    "Look, I get it." Bodya raised his palms. "I acted like a jerk and deserved a lesson. Message received. There''s no point pushing the joke too far."

    "What joke?" Lith''s frown remained and became worse when Tista told him they weren''t casual anymore.

    Bodya experienced his first mile in Senton''s shoes and he didn''t like it one bit.

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, Solus'' tower a few dayster.

    "I am banished from death." Lith growled, sitting on thefortable chair of his home office.

    "Ba?" Elysia asked.

    "Yes, banished. Kicked out. Expelled." He replied. "Also, apparently I''m banished from my own house as well."

    "Dya!" She giggled while crawling toward Lith, happy to spend the morning with him after a while.

    With Kelia moving in the Mansion, the women of the Verhen family had made giving her a room of her own their mission. The more Kelia opened up about her past, the more tears flowed and Lith''s rtives circled around her like a pack of mama bears.

    They wanted to give her a ce that felt like a real home rather than a spartan dorm with recreational facilities like the academy. It required colorful tapestries, bedsheets, carpets, and more pillows than Lith had ever seen.

    And that without taking into ount stuffed animals, small pieces of jewelry, shoes, and clothes. Sure, the Empress was the one funding Kelia''s lifestyle but Lith still frowned seeing the bills for what he considered useless junk. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Instead ofughing at his shocked expressions like usual, Kam had reprimanded him for ruining the moment. When Elina, Rena, Tista, Selia, and even Solus had taken her side, Lith had opted for a tactical retreat to the tower.

    "Yes, I too am happy to be with you, sweetie." Lith picked up the baby girl with a sigh. "I''m, just bored. Do you think I''m in the wrong here?"

    She had started to crawl at the six months mark like clockwork, for the surprise of no one. Elysia already walked, flew, and moved quite well in her other forms, using her little tail as training wheels.

    Everyone in the family was ready to bet that if not for her stumpy body, she would probably be walking already.

    "La!" The Dragon scales let Lith know that Elysia had no idea what he was talking about but she loved him.

    "I love you too, baby girl." He tickled her, enjoying herughter. "Maybe I''m not in the wrong but for sure I''m a hypocrite."

    He could only sigh while looking at Elysia''s enchanted clothes, toys, crib, and every piece he had crafted for her that alone was worth more than everything the Empress was buying for Keliabined.

    "You know what, let''s divine your future." In an attempt to brush off his tant character w, Lith decided to follow an ancient Earth ritual.

    He put Elysia down on the ground and conjured several items in front of her. Toy weapons to symbolize the way of the warrior, toy books and quills for the way of the schr, and shiny coins of different precious metals for the way of the noble.

    "Take your pick." Lith walked back to his chair. "Soldier, mage, or Royal Court. Which-"

    When he turned around, he saw Elysia ignoring everything and following him as fast as she could.

    "Dya!" She tugged at his pants.

    "Did you just choose me?" Lith was already shocked by the oue and when the Dragon scales confirmed his assumption, he felt his heart swell with joy.

    Elysia didn''t care for any of those things, she just wanted to be in her father''s arms.

    "Thank you, sweetie." Lith sat on the ground and fulfilled her wish. "I promise that I''ll always be by your side. I will never let-"

    The ground shook and the sky rumbled as ck clouds amassed above the Verhen Mansion. At first, Lith thought it was just natural phenomenon but then he felt his body brimming with energy for no apparent reason.

    The intensity of the vibrations in the ground remained constant even after several seconds and the frequency of the thunders followed a pattern too precise to be natural.

    When Lith lowered his gaze, he found himself in his Tiamat form with his wings unfurled and mystical mes of all kinds erupting from his body.

 Chapter 3054 A Matter of Choice (Part 2)

    Chapter 3054 A Matter of Choice (Part 2)

    ''How can holding my baby trigger a world tribtion?'' Lith had experienced it often enough to understand what was about to happen.

    ''ording to what everyone told me, a peaceful life means no-'' His eyes fell on Elysia who was not only in her Tiamat form as well but she was also surrounded by mes that refused to answer Lith''s will.

    Yet he wasn''t worried about the mes since they seemed to be harmless for both father and daughter. Nor did he keep wondering why the world tribtion had started or what Mogar could possibly want from him inside his own home.

    The only thing that filled Lith''s mind at that moment was fear.

    ''What if I fail this time? What if I die? Will Elysia die with me?'' He stared at the small Tiamat in his arms, wondering if the results of the world tribtion might affect her due to the deep bond they shared.

    His rational mind told him that it wouldn''t make sense. That he was the one undergoing the world tribtion and that Mogar would never hurt an innocent child. Yet no matter how sound his arguments were, none of them mattered.

    For the first time in his life, Lith was terrified of failure. He was afraid of dooming Elysia to either die with him or live her whole life with the trauma of witnessing her father''s violent end.

    ''I can''t let her grow up like Solus! I won''t abandon her. I''ll never abandon her!'' Lith held the baby girl closer to his chest, focusing solely on the soft, regr beat of her heart.

    Elysia was calm, thinking that it was just another of the games that her father staged for her. She unfurled her wings and wrapped them around his chest in an embrace, making his fear turn into fatherly fighting spirit.

    "Leave me alone!" Lith roared at the top of his lungs and Mogar obliged.

    The quake stopped and the clouds moved away while father and daughter returned to their human form. Lith was still watching the mes disappear and wondering what had just happened when the door to his office was busted open.

    "Are you alright?" Many voices asked as one, drowning him in follow-up questions that ovepped too much to be intelligible.

    Kam checked on Lith''s and Elysia''s bodies while Solus examined their life forces to make sure that the tribtion hadn''t affected them in a negative way. Raaz, Elina, and their daughters bombarded Lith with pleas for an exnation and reassurance.

    Leegaain and Sark, instead, remained in front of the door calmly, making sure that no one who wasn''t allowed ess to the Mansion''s keep would find the tower.

    Once it was clear that nothing bad had happened, Lith managed to calm everyone down enough to share with them the recent events. The results of the silly test about Elysia''s future would have melted everyone''s heart if not for what came after.

    "I don''t get it." Lith looked at the Guardians, hoping for guidance. "I was just ying with Elysia. There were no trapped souls, no cruel monsters, nothing. How could I receive my final tribtion when there was nothing at stake?"

    "Kid, you seem to have forgotten how world tribtions work so let me jog your memory." Leegaain sighed. "They are never about fighting or with all the wars and petty squabbles on Mogar, tribtions would be a daily urrence instead of the matter of legends.

    "They are about a deal between a person and Mogar. The first tribtion is the offer, the second is about control, and from then on each tribtion sets one or more conditions about what Mogar needs and you are willing to offer.

    "Those things require a trigger, something that as you pointed out, can''t happen in the quiet of yourb unless you''re truly unlucky. That''s not your case, though. You have already finished discussing terms.

    "The only thing remaining is your signature and Mogar''s. Yourst tribtion requires no trigger, only for you to make a choice. And you can do that at any time and any ce.

    "You decide when your final tribtion starts and your decision will determine its sess or failure."

    "What choice?" Lith asked.

    "I can''t tell you." The Father of All Dragons shook his head. "The revtion might change you for better, but also for worse. I can''t risk ruining your life or taking away from you something you have worked so hard to build.

    "The only thing I can tell you is to trust yourself. Most people die at the second tribtion. Very few arrive at the threshold of Guardianhood like you did and even fewer don''t chicken out like Baba Yaga did."

    "What about Elysia? Why did she change with me?"

    "I really can''t say." Leegaain turned around and left Lith surrounded by people yet alone with his questions.

    ***

    Jiera continent, Arutha region, a few dayster.

    Argantyr the Elemental Lord, had a hard time believing his bad luck.

    He had spent millennia sealed inside a barrier by the same people who had given him life. With limited ess to the world energy and no host, his powers had stagnated and for a long time, he had believed that his miserable existence would have been eternal just like his life.

    When the small ants who sapped the little strength he could gather over time and performed the maintenance of his enchanted cage had disappeared, Argantyr had allowed himself to hope his moment had finallye.

    Then, once he freed himself with great effort and patience, he discovered how wrong he was. Humans had disappeared, monsters attacked him from every side, and nts and beasts never stopped long enough for him to make his offer.

    It had taken Argantyr months to find a potential host and even longer to form the bond. The lost city spoke a dead and buriednguage that nothing had inmon with the speech of the Torin Kingdom.

    The Elemental Lord had resorted to drawings and gestures tomunicate, seeding solely because the human was a criminal on the run who would have done anything to escape capture.

    After they had bonded and Argantyr had granted his host the unfair revenge he desired, the Elemental Lord could finally start growing his power after millennia of starvation.

    He traveled from one mana geyser to another, tainting them with his essence and forming an intricate magical formation called Divine Right.

    The colossal array amplified the might of Argantyr''s enchantments and expanded the area within which he could manifest his full prowess with each new geyser he infected. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Like for all lost cities, there was no limit to how powerful the Elemental Lord could grow. Argantyr only needed time and resources to be invincible and finally he had both in spades.

    At least until not one, but three white cores and a flight of Dragons and Griffons had started chasing him. A single white core was supposed to be nothingpared to an artificial Guardian created by Forbidden Magic, but reality begged to differ.

    Each piece of equipment of the three white cores was made of Davross and the ochre Griffon empowered everything and everyone with her Life Maelstrom. The ck Phoenix and the white Dragon joined their Primordial mes, generating pirs of white fire that engulfed half of Argantyr''s body.

 Chapter 3055 Engine Starts (Part 1)

    Chapter 3055 Engine Starts (Part 1)

    The enchantments giving life to the Elemental Lord burned, the power he had painstakingly umted leaked, and the damn ochre Griffon hammered at him with a heavy mace the moment an opening in his defenses appeared.

    With her 40 meters (132'') of height, Rethia was half the size of Argantyr. Yet the Davross of her mace and the Life Maelstrom boosting it and her physical might more than made up for it.

    On top of that, after infusing her husband and his twin sister with the silver lightning as well, the mes of theirbined attack reached the destructive power of a natural disaster.

    Bringing the Elemental Lord down wouldn''t have been difficult for them, especially with Surtr''s and Rethia''s children helping them from the backlines. Their Origin mes pierced through Argantyr''s barriers while Life Maelstrom overloaded them.

    Theirbined effect caused entire sections of the Elemental Lord''s pseudo cores to copse. It triggered a domino effect that if not contained would have turned him back into a pile of rock until the damage was repaired.

    Under the relentless storm of white fire and silver lightning, Argantyr could only run toward the nearest mana geyser and hope. Hope that after extending his Divine Right array''s area of effect to his current position, he would be strong enough to counterattack.

    ''Why is this happening to me? With all the lost cities and monster tides on Jiera, what did I do to anger not one but three white cores and their entire offspring?'' He thought.

    After what remained of his host''s shattered mind reminded Argantyr of histest massacres, the Elemental Lord rified: ''I mean, what in particr?''

    Then, the attack stopped as suddenly as it had started. Rethia, Surtr, and Sinmara just kept following the lost city from a distance to ensure he wouldn''t change his course.

    "That should give him enough time to recover before he reaches the mana geyser." Rethia the Wind Griffon said.

    "Thanks for the help, dear." Surtr nuzzled his scaly snout against her feathered neck.

    "Don''t be silly, my love." She tenderly preened his scales with her beak. "Lith is your little brother. Helping a member of your family is the least I can do. But if you really want topensate me for my help, I''m sure I can think of something."

    "Mom! Get a room or something." A male Griffon gagged at Rethia''s feline purring.

    "Yeah. We''vee here to help your friend. Not to get scarred for life." A female Dragon grunted in embarrassment.

    "Spoilsports." Surtr scoffed. "What''s wrong with the passionate, carnal love your mother and I share?"

    Before he could finish the phrase, a mass Blink brought his brood back to their respective homes, leaving behind only the echoes of the collective Divine Beasts'' dry heaving.

    "Normally, I would kick your lovebird asses for rubbing your happiness in my face but this was pure genius." Sinmara was impressed by her twin''s cunning. "Your charade made the kids leave without asking a single question.

    "I had prepared aplex exnation to send them away, but I doubt they would have bought it. Even if they did, I expected them to question me once they had the time to think about it. Now, instead, I bet they will never want to talk about this ever again."

    "Oh, yes. It was all nned." Surtr emitted a low growl of pleasure as Rethia picked his scales.

    "Gods, seriously?" Sinmara blushed so hard that the Phoenix of Darkness became red for an instant.

    "No. We were pulling your leg." Rethia chuckled while the Dragon of Lightughed his ass off at his sister''s expense. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I can''t believe you fell for it." He said. "Of course it was a ruse. We know our children. They are brilliant, headstrong, and bigger prudes than you are. No matter howplex a spell or powerful an artifact we might find.

    "We just need to kiss once to make our children run away like their souls depend on it. And don''t worry, they''d rather die than mention today''s events. Lith''s and Solus'' secret is safe."

    While in the sky Sinmara inwardly swore revenge, on the ground Argantyr kept running wondering why his assants had suddenly changed their minds.

    ''It doesn''t matter. My wounds are healed and the mana geyser is almost in sight. Once I add its power to my Divine Right array, those three white cores will regret crossing my path.'' He thought.

    When his sensory arrays perceived the mass Blink, the Elemental Lord slowed his pace.

    ''Shit! They can''t be stupid enough to dismiss their army. This must be a trap. I bet that the flight of violet cores is waiting for me at the geyser while the white cores n to strike at me from the back.

    ''They herded me like amb and I let them!'' He conjured as many Spirit Spells as he could keep at the ready while absorbing the increasingly abundant world energy to replenish his countless pseudo cores.

    Much to his surprise, there was no Divine Beast near the mana geyser. Just a very short lost city, barely over 40 meters (132''). Life Vision confirmed to the Elemental Lord that it wasn''t just a golem.

    It had a life force, a mana core from a living host, and it drew power from the mana geyser below. The unknown lost city''s design was modern and so were its enchantments.

    Thousands of runes surrounded its power core and flowed into each other, forming a symphony of magic.

    Old runes, instead, worked on a single enchantment each and couldn''t ovep between them, making the structure of Argantyr''s pseudo cores rough and precarious.

    If not for the power of the Forbidden Magic animating the lost city, so many different spells would never fit together. Compared to the neer, Argantyr felt like a fossil.

    ''I see now. The white cores knew that if two lost cities were to join forces, they had no chance of victory.'' He thought. ''I must thank the runt before kicking his ass. I need that geyser and as long as he upies it, I can''t expand my Divine Right array.''

    <"Nice to meet you, brother. I''m Argantyr the Elemental Lord. Who are you?"> [AN: tranted from the ancient Torinnguage.]

    <"Nergal, the City of Light."> Lith replied, using an enchanted pin made by Sinmara to understand his enemy. <"Why are you thanking me and what are you doing on my turf?">

    <"Your turf?"> Argantyr''sugh was like the grinding of stones in an avnche. <"Nothing is yours unless you have the strength to defend it and you don''t. Since your presence yed in my favor, I''m going to give you a chance, brother.">

    The makers of a cursed object would rarely survive their sess. Living legacies referred to each other as siblings only as terms of endearment since they were all unique individuals.

    There was no love or kinship between them.

    <"Get out of my geyser without making a fuss and when those three white cores chase you, you have my word I''ll hold them back. For a while.">

    <"Your mana geyser?"> Lith echoed, keeping his charade to not let the lost city understand that their fight was nned as well as their meeting. <"Pray tell, brother, what if I don''t leave *my* mana geyser?">

 Chapter 3056 Engine Starts (Part 2)

    Chapter 3056 Engine Starts (Part 2)

    ''If something goes wrong, no one will recognize the Prime Engine from its description, but Surtr and the others are hard to miss. This must look like a squabble between cursed objects so that no one will suspect their involvement.'' Lith thought.

    <"Then I''ll tear you apart until your core is exposed and throw you to the gods-damned Council. I can''t kill you but they can seal you for a very long time.Do yourself a favor and get lost."> The Elemental Lord said.

    <"Make me."> Tendrils of gold-veined white stone erupted from the Engine''s right hand and took the form of a scaled-up version of the Fury.

    A de was pointless against an enemy with no vitals and whose body was made of solid stone. Lith and Solus knew that and had reshaped Double Edge to host the Fury instead of Ragnar?k. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    <"You are not worthy of my spells!"> Argantyr infused himself with all the elements, charging at the Engine like an angry bull.

    The difference in size was enormous, the tower''s battle form barely reached the hips of the 100 meters (328'') tall lost city. Lith stood his ground, activating the Hands of Menadion, the Heart, and the Watchtower.

    He conjured a gravity field with himself at its center and reversed the direction and eleration of the gravitational pull. Everything now fell away from the Engine, Argantyr included.

    The Elemental Lord felt like a tall wave had crashed against him and now he was walking against a violent current that became stronger as he got closer to the Engine. He used earth magic to lock his steps and not lose his footing but his charge slowed down in a jog.

    When he reached the geyser, it took the Engine one hand to bring Argantyr''s fist to a halt. The other hand rotated the Fury so that when Lith swung the hammer at the lost city''s chest, it struck with the pick side.

    The curved point of the Fury lodged itself inside the stone buildings, giving Lith the leverage he needed to lift Argantyr in an overhead throw with the help of the gravity field.

    The Elemental Lord mmed against the ground with a boom of thunder, quickly followed by many others. Lith freed the Fury from the enemy''s body and rained blows from above after switching to a two-handed grip.

    Argantyr raised his arms, trying to catch the hammer with his right hand and blocking it with his left arm when he failed. What looked like a crude exchange of blows was actually a sh of spells and enchantments.

    The lost city conjured multipleyers of defensive barrier to keep the Fury away while Lith and Solus used the Firing Range to cast dozens of spells at a time and carve a path for the enchanted hammer.

    Only a few blows reached the stone walls behind the barriers but they all left ruins in their wake.

    The problem was that the defensive system of the Elemental Lord repaired the holes in the arrays the moment the Fury moved back and the damage healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ''The geyser is under our full control but this Argantyr can ess the energy that exceeds the capacity of the tower and the Hands.'' Solus took care of organizing the readings of the Eyes while Lith took care of the physical aspect of thebat.

    ''We are hurting him, but nothing he can''t just shrug it off. Even from this distance, his Forbidden Array gives him enough power to make non-critical damage irrelevant. We are losing power, instead.''

    Oveing the sheer size with raw strength required to tap into the energy reserves of the tower. Even with the geyser fueling its floors, Lith and Solus couldn''t just fire and hope for the best.

    ''Just like old times.'' Lith grinned as he took a step back to gain distance and world energy.

    The tower and the lost city both assimted world energy by the second, but since the mana geyser bore Lith''s energy signature, it was the tower that took the lion''s share, gaining an effect simr to a constant Invigoration with no side effects.

    Argantyr exploited that moment and the size gap to kick the dwarf lost city away and get to his feet with a kip-up. The Factory and the Workshop worked together to generate an alloy shield that took the brunt of the impact.

    Lith extended his hand, opening a Steps in front of him and the exit point right above Argantyr''s head. The result was the Engine grabbing the face of the lost city and mming it against the ground as the Elemental Lord got up.

    Argantyr Blinked right behind the Engine, just for the dimensional door to copse at his back and propel him forward. Lith hit him with a double-handed hammer blow in the face and Blinked away.

    The Elemental Lord had ess to Life Vision so he could see the five exit points before the Engine emerged from any of them. The problem was that he had no idea where to turn.

    There was a dimensional exit point in front of him, one behind, one on either side, and one above.

    Argantyr punched through the dimensional door behind him and it closed shut, severing his arm at the elbow. At the same time, the other three exit points around him exploded and Lith emerged from the one above.

    The lost city''s Life Vision was blinded so he failed to notice anything until the Fury burst his head open, releasing the Tower Tier Spell, Nova Eclipse, inside the stone buildings thatprised his humanoid form.

    It was the tower version of Final Eclipse that like the original spell used fire and darkness, but it was much stronger due to the amplifying effect of the Master Mirror which also added the air element to the mix.

    A tornadoprised of ck mes filled the empty corridors inside the lost city, working its way toward the pseudo cores while eating at the protective enchantments.

    The purpose of the spell was not to deal damage but to follow the energy flow inside Argantyr and locate the physical vessel of his pseudo cores.

    ''He''s extinguishing our mes. No matter how much mana we pump, he has the advantage that his barriers weaken our connection with Nova Eclipse, but that is only if we y one card at a time.'' Solus took the wheel, Blinking the Engine at a safe distance before activating the Tower Tier Gravity spell, Wheel of Fate.

    A ck mist shrouded the Elemental Lord while a rotating gravity field swirled around the lost city, sealing his movement. Unless Argantyr stood in the high-density darkness core of the spell, Wheel of Fate altered the direction of the gravity, making its victim spin like he was trapped in a washing machine.

    If he moved to the center of the spell, however, the ck mist eroded stone and mana, forcing Argantyr to redirect his power to his external defensive arrays and not leave enough energy to stop the Nova Eclipse that ravaged him from the inside.

    To make matters worse, each earlier blow of the Fury had left behind a small strike team of six-eyed Demons of the Darkness that now roamed inside the lost city. They used their Abomination Touch to drain his energy and converted it into spells.

 Chapter 3057 Shifting Gears (Part 1)

    Chapter 3057 Shifting Gears (Part 1)

    The Demons shared Lith''s same energy signature so only Gravity magic affected them. Everything else they ignored and unleashed their own spells, wreaking havoc inside the Elemental Lord like a violent infection.

    ''If only I had seven Demons inside my Void Sigils, I could train them to use Silverwing Annihtion.'' Lith inwardly griped. ''The problem is that even with the ck chains guiding them, temporary Demonsck the finesse to employplex spells and tactics.

    ''The best I can do is unleash them at the enemy and let the Demons vent their fury.''

    Argantyr tried to Blink but the dimensional spell copsed halfway through and severed him in two halves.

    <"Cursed objects can enve souls, be a dimensional mage, or manipte matter. No one can do all these things. What are you?"> The failed Blink had put a dent in the Elemental Lord''s vitality, tipping the scales for the first time since the beginning of the fight.

    The answer was that Lith manipted the Demons and the Watchtower gave Solus the dimensional awareness of a dimensional mage. The Factory had produced the shield, but only because the Library held the necessary blueprints and the mines stored enough materials for the Workshop to replicate.

    None of those abilities came from the power core of the tower. Menadion had built it to assist her and give her the means she needed to exceed her limits. Unlike a cursed object, without its master the tower was just an elegant pile of stones.

    Lith ignored the question and activated the Silverwing''s Annihtion stored in the Mouth of Menadion. Seven lights of different colors arranged like the Big Dipper appeared on the right palm of the Engine, unleashing the Tower Tier version of the anti-Guardian spell.

    <"What''s that?"> Argantyr had never heard about Silverwing and his sensory arrays reported that the power of the spell-array hybrid was off the scales set millennia ago by his makers.

    As the seven elemental pirs bolted forward in a prismatic beam of light, Argantyr conjured his best defensive Tower Spell, Winter Keep. The earth element raised a rock wall the size of a tidal wave while the water element coated it in a thickyer of ice that drained the heat from everything it touched.

    The air element coated the colossal shield with storm winds that would deflect any iing hit and elerate the movements of the otherwise slow earth element.

    The creators of the lost city had named him the Elemental Lord because they intended to Forgemaster a creature as powerful as a Guardian but bestowed with all elemental affinities.

    With each mana geyser Argantyr infected, he gained a new source of world energy that his main pseudo cores split into its elementalponents. Mogar''s energy signature was absorbed, bing part of the lost city''s life force, and reced by Argantyr''s.

    The process allowed his strength to grow endlessly and to have an unlimited source of Spirit Magic. On top of that, he had reached such a level of mastery over the elements that his spells could conjure small natural disasters.

    Winter Keep held the power of a quake, but the Tower version of the Annihtion ripped it to shreds. The earth, air, and water pirs tore the corresponding elementsprising Winter Keep apart like fire burning through paper before joining the assault of the remaining four elements.

    Argantyr''s elemental-sealing arrays proved to be useless and his Spirit Barrier held only for one second before cracking and one second longer before shattering. He poured everything he had into his right arm, turning it into a shield construct imbued with emerald and orange light.

    Once again, the Annihtion made short work of the defensive spells and enchantments. The Elemental Lord felt no pain while his hand crumbled and the seven pirs worked their way up to his forearm first and then past the elbow.

    Great was his shock when nothing was left of his arm and, despite all of his struggling, the enemy''s spell started to cut through his chest.

    ''If barriers don''t work, I need to move on the offensive!'' Air and water fusion made Argantyr incredibly fast for someone his size but the Engine only had to slightly tilt its hand to follow the Elemental Lord''s every movement.

    Without the Ears, Lith and Solus couldn''t predict his route, but the Eyes perceived what element Argantyr was using second by second and the Watchtower was locked on his dimensional coordinates.

    Lith and Solus learned what Argantyr was about to do and where he wanted to move with only a split second of dy. It was more than enough for someone with their battle experience to guess his intentions and counter his strategies.

    Argantyr screamed in frustration as more of his body was torn apart and the prismatic beam inched closer to the crystalline mass holding his pseudo cores. His regenerative enchantments couldn''t keep up with the Annihtion and a quarter of his body was in shambles.

    Bybining the power that the tower, the Hands, and the Sage Staff stored in the Armory drew from the mana geyser, the Engine could hold Silverwing''s Annihtion for much longer than any group of seven bright violet cored Awakened.

    ''We''ve dealt him a huge blow.'' Solus said. ''Many of the enchantments of the Elemental Lord are copsing and his aura is getting weaker. Yet the tower has lost over half of its full power.

    ''Unless we locate his pseudo cores soon, we can''t win with just the Annihtion. We need to stop.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Argantyr had no way to know this and put all the strength he had umted in preparation for fight against the three white cores into a single spell. Earth magic shattered the ground below the two colossi, opening deep fissures that reached Mogar''s molten essence.

    Fire magic drew the incandescent magma to the surface and highlypressed light magic formed a roughser that crossed the space between the Elemental Lord and the Engine in an instant, collecting the magma in its wake.

    Together, the three elements formed the Tower Spell Searing Light.

    The light element stoked the mes, amplifying the heat of the magma and melting more rocks as it moved. Searing Light moved forward at supersonic speed while also spinning on itself like a drill.

    The newly-collected solid rocks were amassed at the tip of theser beam, giving it substance, and were moved inside as they melted. The ensuing quake robbed the Engine of its footing but Lith still managed to redirect the Annihtion to hit Searing Light''s center mass.

    The Elemental Lord couldn''t win in raw power so he syed his fingers and the beam ofva and light split into countless smaller projectiles.

    "Shit!" The Annihtion was too small to destroy them all before they reached the Engine and Lith couldn''t afford to waste the remaining power of the tower in a barrier so he Blinked away.

    <"Not so fast, you fucker!"> Argantyr turned around, pointing his remaining hand at the exit point while Searing Light kept pouring out of his palm and the old projectiles turned around to chase their prey.

    Blink had a limited range and theser beam moved so fast that the Engine had less than a second of respite before the onught reached it again.

 Chapter 3058 Shifting Gears (Part 2)

    Chapter 3058 Shifting Gears (Part 2)

    To make matters worse, the ruins of Argantyr''s right side were already rebuilding themselves into the missing arm and a second Searing Light was taking form in front of the proto-hand.

    Lith followed Solus'' instructions to the letter, Blinking away at thest second and to a position that forced the Elemental Lord''s left arm to trace a wide arc to follow the Engine''s movements.

    The problem was that more and more light bullets joined the chase by the second and the Engine couldn''t get too far away from the mana geyser without losing control to the Elemental Lord.

    With such limited options, it was only a matter of time before that game of tag came to an end.

    <"There you are!"> Argantyr had figured out the pattern in the Blinks and aimed the Searing Light where the enemy would be instead of where he was.

    The Prime Engine was caught while stepping out of the dimensional door but it had a Spirit Barrier surrounding it that took the brunt of the damage. The impact sealed the Engine''s movements long enough for the scattered beams of Searing Light to catch up with the spell''s main body.

    A hail of sharp rocks, incandescent magma, and light hammered at the Engine from every side. The mere shockwave from the st raised a mushroom cloud and uprooted trees.

    Even from their position, the three white cores needed to conjure a Hush spell to not be deafened by the noise.

    "What an idiot." Rethia said.

    "Agreed." Sinmara nodded.

    "I really wish we could show this to our children." Surtr sighed. "It would be a priceless lesson about how power without wisdom is nothing but madness."

    <"What the fuck?"> In his frenzy, Argantyr came to their same conclusion only when it was toote. <"How can his energy signature have gotten stronger after enduring my attack? He should be half dead!">

    Only then did he notice that the position he had predicted was right in the middle of the mana geyser. By standing there, the Engine had greatly elerated the recovery speed of its tower core.

    Only then did the Elemental Lord realize that the emerald barrier was long gone, reced by a colossal alloy shield brimming with mana.

    Argantyr''s mana.

    Lith and Solus had used the Blinks to replenish the tower''s strength while also buying time for the Workshop and Factory to craft Yurial''s Guard.

    The tower shield behind which the Engine stood wasprised of Davross, Adamant, Orichalcum, and silver, with the stronger metals at its center to take on Searing Light and the less durable metals closer to the edges where the pressure was lower.

    Straight in the middle of the shield, there was a thinyer of Darwen that coated the metal and served as the first line of defense. It wasn''t part of the alloy because all Lith''s and Solus'' attempts to craft something with Darwen always ended in catastrophic failure.

    On top of that, the shield was enchanted with a single spell, the variation on Silverwing''s Bastion that Lith and Solus had derived from Yurial''s notes about the impossible arrays.

    Six elemental crystals formed a perfect circle and worked as focus points for the stolen elemental energies. Akin to Yurial''s Hexagram, the Guard didn''t stop an enemy''s spell by overpowering it but by splitting it into its basicponents and absorbing them.

    Unlike the Hexagram, however, Yurial''s Guard didn''t need to charge up all elemental points nor was it forced to channel the stolen energy into a fixed spell. Lith and Solus drew upon the Searing Light umted inside the shield and unleashed their Tower Void Spell, Twilight Storm.

    Light turned into darkness element and was imbued in the snow which in turn was carried by a horizontal tornado that erupted from the tower shield. Air and water magic synergized in draining the humidity in the air and making the temperature drop by dozens of degrees per second.

    Solus had opted for snow instead of hail or shards of ice because it wouldn''t bounce back on impact. Snow would pile up on any barrier Argantyr might conjure, blinding his Life Vision and eroding his strength.

    <"Shit!"> The Elemental Lord tried to Blink but the severe elemental imbnce he had caused first and the Engine had aggravated now short-circuited the spell.

    ''I could Spirit Blink, but that would just dy the inevitable. I''ve consumed too much of my energy reserves to heal my wounds and empower Searing Light. I must endure this spell and buy myself enough time to recover.''

    Even with his limited battle experience, Argantyr knew that math wasn''t on his side. He could only draw upon what his opponent left of the mana geyser''s power and unlike the Engine, he had no equipment to weather the iing storm.

    Every bit of mana he would spend would further deplete his pseudo cores and he doubted that the unknown lost city would give him a break out of fair y.

    ''I need to weave my next attack while I prepare my defense.'' The lost city crouched in a kneeling position so that he would offer solely his back to Twilight Storm and manipted the earth element to bury himself below its surface.

    ''I can''t block or dodge, but I still have a way to avoid it!'' Argantyr turned the solid ground into mud to sink faster and use it as a protectiveyer after making it solid again.

    Twilight Storm froze the mud and ripped the protectiveyer to shreds like paper. The cold weakened the stone walls while the ck snow piled up on the Elemental Lord''s back, sapping his strength.

    ''I don''t care. I can take this kind of wounds. My Divine Right array gives me more mana than the repairs will take. Also, by bathing in the underground world energy, I can recover much more quickly than I would by standing on my feet.

    ''Everything I get, he loses. I''m tipping the scales back into my favor.'' He had to repeat over and over in a mantra to endure the humiliation of hiding like a rat from a lost city much smaller and younger than he was.

    "Wow. Cursed objects are all murderous trash but this one is humble." Surtr said. "Probably the humblest I''ve ever met."

    "Yeah." Rethia nodded. "Mages have a huge ego and their creations inherit it. Most people I know would rather die than prostrate themselves before their enemy." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Disagree." Sinmara shook her head. "Not about the ego thing. I think Argantyr is just that desperate and as long as he wins, no one will believe the ims of the loser."

    The other two white cores had to concede the point. A lost city couldn''t kill another without dying in the process. Since they would both survive and there was supposed to be no witness to their fight, victory was the only thing that mattered.

    ''Once I get my hands on the geyser and my Divine Right arrays grows, I''ll have all the proof I need of my victory whereas he will have none of my humiliation!'' The Elemental Ruler had no idea thatmunication amulets were a thing.

    The white cores were recording everything from different angles to study the fightter. They had no intention of releasing the videos but that was because the Prime Engine was their ally, not a lost city.

 Chapter 3059 Top Gear (Part 1)

    Chapter 3059 Top Gear (Part 1)

    Lith kept Twilight Storm going until he ran out of stolen elemental energy. He could see with the Eyes that the Tower Spell had failed to deal much damage. Now that Argantyr had gone deep underground enough, only the darknessponent of Twilight Storm still worked.

    ''I could dig him out by force, but the juice isn''t worth the squeeze.'' Lith thought.

    ''Agreed.'' Solus nodded. ''There''s no point prolonging this fight any longer. We are now certain that the Engine turns us into dimensional mages and we have put Gravity Magic, Silverwing''s spells, and the various floors'' capabilities inbat to the test.

    ''The Factory and the Workshop work better than I expected and so did Yurial''s Guard.''

    ''I only wish that idiot was here with us now.'' Lith sighed at the memory of histe friend. ''I would p him in the face with a sheaf of papers that says: arrays are not useless.''

    While the lost city took cover, Lith and Solus prepared their best spell. The various pieces of Menadion''s Set they owned and the different floors of the tower worked together to give birth to their most ambitious project ever.

    Ragnar?k was sealed inside Double Edge that in turn was coated with the tower version of the Fury, making the three weapons into one big enough to fit the Prime Engine.

    The gigantic sword traced sharp lines in the air, drawing long strings of runes on its passage. With each movement, the magic circle conjured by Ragnar?k grew inplexity and power.

    The Mouth, the Firing Range, and the Heart helped conjure the array-spell hybrid while the Hands, the Mirror Hall, and the weapons stored in the Armory amplified it.

    The Eyes collected the data about the hybrid weapon in the Library and the Workshop and the Factory used the information to alter the stone de. Runes were added and discarded with each second.

    The pattern of the magic crystals embossed on the de changed as soon as a position capable of better amplifying the mana flow was found.

    The exhaust ports on the back of the Prime Engine red up, releasing the excess world energy that not even Menadion''s tower could muster. The Engine split the world energy into its elementalponents and mixed it with its master''s life force to generate Spirit Magic.

    What was left was released outside through the exhaust ports in bursts of raw power that resembled six zing wings.

    ''What the fuck?'' Lith, Solus, and the white cores thought in unison.

    The phenomenon was unknown to them as well since it was the first time that the Tower de Spell, Extinction, was attempted. The Hands collected extra world energy and so did every artifact stored in the Armory.

    The unused pieces of equipment added their power cores to the spell, bringing it above anything a mortal had ever done before.

    The metal tes forming the de of the hybrid Ragnar?k opened, creating a circuit. Pure elemental energy flowed from each of the seven crystals etched on its surface to the others and through the de in a loop.

    ''Wait a second.'' Lith thought. ''I get that the pseudo-wings are generated by the excess elemental energy, but what about Spirit Magic? Isn''t that an element as well? Why isn''t there a seventh wing?''

    The Armory wasn''t something born out of the fusion between Lith and Solus, it was part of the original blueprints and so was the Hands. All artifacts bore a spark of their owner''s life force via the imprint which was amplified when casting a de Spell.

    Ripha Menadion had been the first Ruler of the mes and it was from her that other Forgemasters had learned how to attune an artifact to its owner, allowing de Spells to be learned after Valeron the First invented them.

    She had to be aware of the issue that was bound to arise the moment the Prime Engine was used to cast a de Spell. Even in its iplete form, the tower was imbued with more power than the Engine could hold, Spirit Magic included.

    Yet there was no trace of an emerald glow or any way to safely dispose of the seventh element of magic.

    At least until Lith and Solus raised the hybrid de and noticed that the hands wielding it had turned bright green. As the Tower de Spell grew in power, the seven elemental crystals released rhythmic pulses of energy.

    They beat in unison like seven living hearts, six of them pouring the energy overflow into the wings while Spirit Magic coursed through the physical body of the Engine, boosting its durability and mana flow.

    With each pulse, the spirit wave flooded every bit of the Engine until its grey stones turned to brilliant emerald.

    ''There is no seventh wing because it would be useless!'' Solus replied. ''Spirit Magic is the element of life. You can''t have too much just like you can''t be too healthy or have too much life force.

    ''Think about it. It''s the same that happened when Sylpha''s Saefel armor synchronized with the six great academies in their Knight form. She became the Emerald Knight because it was the only element the Queen could channel without limit or risk for her safety.''

    ''Mom knew it. She helped build the academies and used that knowledge for her tower. She designed it so that when casting a Tower de Spell, the excess Spirit Magic would nurture the tower and further increase its capabilities. Look at the energy output readings!''

    The power of Extinction kept growing with every second Argantyr spent hiding underground. The Engine tapped more into the mana geyser until it reached the limits of its emerald form.

    The six exhaust mes stabilized into full wings and except for theck of extra eyes, the Engine now looked to the three white cores who were spectating the phenomenon like an emerald-skinned Balor.

    ''Wait a second!'' Lith pondered. ''Doesn''t this mean your mother was close to evolving herself, just like Vastor? Somehow, Menadion must have discovered the truth behind the failure of Tyrants and Balors.

    ''They strived to reach the seventh eye when they had no need for it, wasting their time and potential. Evolved humans need six eyes to handle the natural elements and use their body as a receptacle for Spirit Magic.''

    ''By my Mom!'' Solus said, and this time it was both an exmation and a praise to Menadion''s genius. ''You are right. Think about it. It exins why Glemos married a human woman to give birth to Morok.

    ''He needed a clean te to steer the Tyrant''s evolution in the right direction and Morok''s emerald scales and energy wings are proof of it. One is a makeshift substitute for the seventh eye while the other is identical to the Engine''s wings.''

    ''Should we tell this to him?'' Lith asked. ''Also, R and Garrik could benefit from this. Vastor too should know, but we can''t fully-''

    ''Hold that thought! Argantyr ising out.'' Solus cut Lith short and pushed their focus in the final step of the Tower de spell.

    Argantyr emerged from his shelter with his energy reserves partially restored and a Tower Spirit spell in each hand.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 3060 Top Gear (Part 2)

    Chapter 3060 Top Gear (Part 2)

    ''The runt is bound to have regained even more energy than me so I must finish this quickly.'' The Elemental Lord thought. ''I''ll put every iota of energy I''ve left into- What the fuck is that?''

    When Argantyr emerged from his makeshift fortress, he discovered that it was actually his prison. Between Twilight Storm and the barrier, Argantyr had blinded himself and failed to notice anything until it was toote.

    The Engine had already turned emerald and its six wings burned like small suns.

    The Elemental Lord threw his Tower Spirit Spells, Copsed Sun and Shattered Land.

    The former was the Spirit equivalent of a tier five Gravity spell that would lock the enemy in ce and distort space to prevent them from escaping with dimensional magic.

    The only difference with a Gravity spell was that Copsed Sun could be cast by a non-dimensional mage thanks to Spirit Magic''s ability tobine all elements without the need for keen dimensional awareness.

    Thetter was a destructive hepta-elemental spell capable of disrupting the elemental bnce of its target, turning their own mana core against them. Combined with Copsed Sun, it was supposed to be an anti-Guardian spell.

    Based on the knowledge of the time of Argantyr''s creation, of course.

    Extinction, instead, was a spell derived from a true anti-Guardian spell, Silverwing''s Annihtion. After putting into practice Yurial''s theories, Lith and Solus hadbined the final result with their respective de Spells, Ruin and Menadion''s Wrath.

    They didn''t need a powerful swing or to cut through the air to release Extinction. It was just a slight flick of the wrists, as if they were performing a quick lunge.

    The tip of the de emitted a white spark that quickly grew in size until it engulfed Argantyr from head to toe. His two Spirit Spells shed against Extinction for a moment before being overpowered into oblivion.

    The roaring wave of white energy ravaged everything in its wake, ripping through the Elemental Lord like wet paper. His stone body copsed first, the enchantments that gave it form burned out in the attempt to keep Argantyr together.

    The Chronicler of the World Tree tasked to follow the lost city around stared at the events in show and awe. From the other side of the ocean, the Yggdrasill rejoiced. He could almost feel and taste the Engine''s power through the body of their servant.

    ''That tower must belong to me. With it and my knowledge, only a Guardian in their turf will be able to stop me.'' The World Tree thought yet the image of Tezka kept shing in a corner of his mind.

    Meanwhile, the Elemental Lord shrunk his form to be denser and resist the onught but to no avail. The defensiveyers were peeled out with embarrassing ease until only his life vessel was left.

    The nucleus of the lost city was a spherical white crystal mass the size of a car. It was encased in a Davross cube whose entire surface was engraved with runes of power.

    ''Son of a bastard!'' Argantyr cursed as Extinction''s output decreased in order to continue the attack without the risk of damaging his pseudo cores.

    The Davross of the containment cube cracked and self-repaired at a pace controlled by the Engine. With each cycle, the metal''s durability decreased and the Tower de Spell''s intensity decreased.

    Extinction peeled the protectiveyers surrounding the pseudo cores away one at a time like an onion. When the first crack on the white crystal appeared, Argantyr''s enchantments sacrificed his host to gain a temporary boost in power that Lith and Solus instantly matched.

    ''He has lost his mana core. The host must be gone.'' Solus shared with Lith thetest readings of the Eyes. ''Also, the Davross is barely stronger than Orichalcum now.''

    ''Time for the final push, then.'' Lith focused Extinction like a scalpel, attacking solely non-vital areas of the crystal and opening several shallow but widespread fissures on its surface.

    <"Stop it! What did I do to push you to the point of sacrificing your life to take mine?"> Argantyr said in desperation, feeling his structural integrity nearing the breaking point.

    <"As if!"> The dwarf lost city sneered as his attack faded away.

    World energy flooded the fractured crystal and the Davross encasing it, repairing the damage at a speed visible to the naked eye. To do it, however, the Elemental Lord had to consume what was left of his energy reserves and deplete everything he drew in.

    The moment Argantyr''s core was stabilized and at its weakest, the Prime Engine sealed it inside a series of concentric Sealed Spaces. Cut off from his source of nourishment and the Divine Right array, Argantyr''s strength plummeted to rock bottom.

    <"What is this? What have you done to me?"> Without the link with its ignorant master, the magical formation crumbled.

    "Order and Chaos, little brother. I''m d we never tried that thing on me." Sinmara said whilending near Lith along with Surtr and Rethia. "I honestly doubt I would have survived. At least without my equipment."

    "That was amazing!" Rethia hugged the Engine. "You guys have defeated a lost city all by yourself. Sure, it was weak, we had softened it for you, and it was a trap, but it''s still an impressive feat."

    The Elemental Lord''s energy signature disappeared from the infected mana geysers which slowly purged the tainted essence he had left. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Order and Chaos, little brother. I''m d we never tried that thing on me." Sinmara said whilending near Lith along with Surtr and Rethia. "I honestly doubt I would have survived. At least without my equipment."

    "That was amazing!" Rethia hugged the Engine. "You guys have defeated a lost city all by yourself. Sure, it was weak, we had softened it for you, and it was a trap, but it''s still an impressive feat."

    "When you put it like that, it doesn''t." Solus sighed and took off the Eyes to give relief to her throbbing brain.

    "Anyways, is it me or does the Prime Engine hold the secret to human evolution?" Surtr pointed at the fading emerald of the body and the waning mes of the wings. "Why didn''t you share anything with us, Ripha? We could have helped you."

    "I think it''s my fault." Solus lowered her gaze and in turn the Engine''s in embarrassment. "Probably it was all part of my legacy, like the Fury. Mom was waiting for something or maybe she was still missing a few details before passing it on me.

    "She mustn''t have told you anything to not spread what was supposed to be the bloodline legacy of the house of Menadion."

    "Sadly, it makes sense." Sinmara nodded. "If the entire human race evolved, Elphyn would have gained no advantage from Ripha''s research. She would have just been one among many."

    "On top of that, I bet that Ripha never found aplete solution." Surtr pointed out. "Otherwise she would have tried it out on herself first for safety, then shared it with Elphyn, andstly applied it to the Prime Engine."

    The stone colossus was back to being of grey stone, looking no different from a giant golem.

    "All this babble can wait." Rethia snapped her fingers in everyone''s face to get their attention. "First things first. What are we going to do with that?"

    "Call the Councils and have them seal Argantyr here." Lith waved at the mana geyser. "It will help the colonization parties, relieve the burden on Jiera''s survivors, and improve the rtionship between the two continents.

    "After all, three heroes from Garlen have just beaten an ancient Jieran horror out of the goodness of their hearts."

    "Do you want us to take full credit for this?" Rethia asked.

    "We sure don''t want to exin the Engine." Lith shrugged.

 Chapter 3061 Three Branches (Part 1)

    Chapter 3061 Three Branches (Part 1)

    "Also, it''s better if we don''t give the living legacies more reasons to hate Solus and I. Meln has already tried to rouse them against us." Lith said.

    "I want the cursed objectmunity to believe that if they don''t bother us, we''ll return the favor. You guys, instead, have a clean te with them. Even if they get angry with you, what are cursed objects going to do?"

    "Attack Sark''s Nest?" Lith pointed at Sinmara with a scoff. "Threaten two Guardian bloodlines?" He moved his finger to Surtr and Rethia.

    "Excellent thinking, lil bro." Sinmara nodded. "Go home. We''ll take it from here."

    "Are you sure?" Solus asked. "Can you hold the containment field without us?"

    "Please, it''s something the Council can do, given enough time and people." Rethia snorted. "To us, it''s child y. Now go."

    The three white cores reced the Engine''s Sealed Spaces with their own and clouded Argantyr''s crystal to prevent him from witnessing the Tower Warp. Only then did they contact the Awakened Councils of Jiera and Garlen.

    "I can''t believe I''m in the presence of not one, but three Awakened who achieved the pinnacle of the white core." Raagu Drerian, human representative from Garlen gave the three titans a deep bow.

    "Me neither." Gyrwin Isaar, her Jieran counterpart, followed suit. "I want to thank you for your selfless contribution in restoring the bnce in Jiera. You are our honored guests for as long as you like."

    "Actually, you are just meeting two of them." Rethia chuckled. "They achieved the white core. I just piggybacked on my husband."

    "Are you saying that it can be taught?" Aren Dolm the J?rmungrandr, beast representative of Jiera seethed with envy.

    "It can." Surtr replied curtly. "How long until we can go back to our business?"

    "Not much." Fe the Behemoth, Aren''s Garlener counterpart, said. "Our local mines can provide the raw materials for the new seal and the transoceanic Gates will give us the rest."

    Aren hated hearing the Garleners speak of Jieran mines like they owned them, but he had to admit that without the Garleners, the local Council would havecked the means to imprison the lost city on such short notice.

    "My colleague is right, Lord Surtr." He said. "Ever since the Elemental Lord escaped, we have worked to update the sealing arrays left us by the ancient Awakened who trapped him first.

    "His new cage will be much stronger and more efficient. Also, thanks to the debilitated state you''ve put him into, it might take years before the barrier requires any maintenance."

    "Try not cking off this time." Sinmara grunted, making the entire Jieran Council blush in shame. "Don''t count on our help if this happens a second time."

    "Speaking of which, why are you here?" Inxialot, Lich King and undead representative said and his colleague, Breganoth, the Lich Sovereign, nodded. "I doubt you have ascended to the white core by wasting time with charity work."

    "Indeed." Surtr nodded. "We came here to hunt the Horseman of Night. He betrayed our fellow white core Baba Yaga, dared to threaten our little brother, and called these filthy cursed objects for help!"

    He shared with the Councils the news about Dusk''s apparent demise and made up a story about Argantyr and Thaymos being sent by Orpal to harass Lith. The Dragon of Light had no idea he was right about Thaymos.

    Surtr was just basing his lie on the living legacies that had ambushed Solus in the Empire months ago.

    ''I can''t give Lith credit for this but I can at least make the cursed objects on Mogar think twice before messing with him. This way, even if Night gains new powers and loses her seals, no one will help her.'' Surtr thought and the other two white cores telepathically nodded.

    <"Why are you talking with these traitors? These guys are in cahoots with that runt! Don''t trust them."> Argantyr said in anger, but no one understood him just like he didn''t understand them.

    It was the reason behind Lith''s deception upon meeting him. This way, even if someone spoke such an ancientnguage, the Elemental Lord couldn''t say anything about the Engine.

    "What is he saying?" Gyrwin asked.

    "The usual bullshit." Rethia shrugged. "That he''ll do anything as long as you be his host. That he''ll give you infinite power, endless riches, yada yada."

    "Hush this bastard." Sinmara suggested. "Better not let some power-hungry idiot buy his ramblings and threaten Jiera out of greed."

    The Council reced the Sealed Spaces and spread the news of Night''s crimes far and wide. The information soon reached the cursed objects and they cursed the Horseman and the day they had met her.

    It was because of Night that three ancient immortals and two cursed cities had fallen. Or at least so they believed. They bought Surtr''s story and started to search for Night. They would kill her or steal her secrets.

    Whatever came easier, would do.

    ***

    Verhen Mansion, a few dayster.

    With the tests on the Prime Enginepleted, Lith had now the time to practice with R during the days he wasn''t busy with Valtak.

    The Fomor was his best bet at understanding the dormant powers of his eyes and the phenomena he had experienced while fighting the Eternal Fortress.

    Lith would have liked to do it sooner, but he had to wait until he managed to be capable of getting far away enough from Elysia to not endanger her with his experiments. Truth to be told, Lith was enjoying fatherhood and the recent peace.

    He preferred to take care of his family, to teach Kam and the children magic, rather than spend his days in an obsessive search for power. Meln''s threat had forced him to go back to his old ways and put work on the same level as family.

    Thanks to the mana geyser below the Mansion, Solus could keep her body indefinitely while they stayed there and the tower''s arrays ensured the perfect condition for his research.

    Kam was sitting on a bench at a safe distance, holding Valeron the Second in her arms. Solus was by her side, holding Elysia since both kids didn''t like to stay away from Lith, and Valeron''s help was needed. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''Have you decided whether to tell her or not?'' Kam asked.

    ''No. The implications are huge and once the secret is out, there''s no telling what might happen.'' Solus replied, nodding at the trio.

    Lith, Morok, and R sat in the middle of the room, holding their hands in a circle.

    Each one of them belonged to a different evolutionary branch of the human race which was the reason Lith had invited the Tyrant.

    ''If Solus and I are right, then the three of us have more inmon than our eyes. Our powers might be simr or evenplementary. What each one of us learns about themselves might help the others.'' Lith thought.

    "From where do we want to start?" R asked.

    The Fomor was a woman over two meters (7'') tall with six eyes on her face and waist-long hair the color of the elements. Her skin was sky-blue and a single set of soft feathered wings came out of her back.

 Chapter 3062 Three Branches (Part 2)

    Chapter 3062 Three Branches (Part 2)

    Her beauty was stunning and further emphasized by her loose clothes that left her back exposed. It wasn''t a fashion choice, just the only way to not restrict her wings and their powers. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "From what we already know, as usual. Any element will do." Morok replied.

    Upon reaching the violet core, the Tyrant had changed into something different from his kin, different even from his father. Morok was 3.5 meters (11''6") tall with multi-colored scales covering his body from head to toe.

    The pale skin typical of Tyrants was nowhere to be seen.

    Only the six eyes opened over different parts of his body and his fangs-filled mouth were the same. His hands ended with razor-sharp ws and his legs resembled those of a cat, giving him greater jumping and running abilities.

    Last, but not least, the two small protuberances shaped like an overturned V on his back were actually energy wings simr to those an Awakened Fomor would obtain.

    "Fire, then." R''s red eye lit up and her feathered wings turned crimson as they absorbed the fire element from the surrounding world energy.

    Her whole body was engulfed by mystical fire that didn''t burn a single hair on her head or ckened her clothes. Lith and Morok lit up their respective red eyes in the hope of triggering a resonance, but once again nothing happened.

    Upon their signal, the Fomor let the mes spread from her hands to their bodies, shrouding Lith and Morok in fire as well. Physical contact allowed the two men to trigger their bloodline abilities.

    Morok absorbed part of the mes, but aside from adding their power to his own, he failed to achieve anything. He couldn''t produce more nor did he manage to spark mes of his own.

    Lith, instead, couldn''t do anything until he activated his emerald eye as well. The mystical fire over his body grew in size and heat as he added fire element and a spark of life force.

    "Nothing has changed." He sighed. "I can nurture the existing me with my essence but I can''t make them on my own."

    He unfurled his feathered wings but nothing happened. He shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon and lost his control over R''s bloodline ability.

    "Don''t do that." She said. "Your Dragon side may be the source of your inner fire but it''s not him who empowers your eyes. Embrace your human side."

    Lith followed her instructions, reverting to human but keeping his feathered wings out.

    "Why are you doing that?" Morok asked.

    "All evolved humans have wings and now my feathers bear an elemental pattern simr to a Fomor." Lith shrugged. "I''m not sure if theye from my Dragon or human side. It''s worth a shot."

    "True that." The Tyrant nodded and a burst of elemental energy came out of the bony protuberances on his back, forming proto-energy wings.

    s, nothing changed for either of them so R moved on to her blue eye.

    While fire ignited the world energy but without the spark of life force that gave birth to Origin mes, water scattered the world energy with tumultuous and chaotic currents.

    As R covered them with mystical ice, the two men could feel their connection with Mogar being severed, as if they wore skin-tight sealed suits. After more failures, the Fomor activated her yellow eye and the air element supercharged the world energy, using it to connect every cell with the rest of her body.

    The mana flow wasn''t restricted to her mana circtory system anymore and even the invisible aura powerful mages naturally exuded was now added to her power instead of just being released in the air.

    The Life Maelstrom-like effect of R''s golden lightning caused the entire body of those who were infused with it to turn into a mana core. Also, it gave its vessels the ability to constantly absorb world energy to fuel their overcharged abilities with a constant flow of new power.

    The earth element from R''s orange eye gave the ethereal mana that circted through a body substance, turning mana into a powerful shield that could nullify physical and magical attacks.

    The subject of a Fomor''s orange eye couldn''t cast new spells while in that condition simply because the earth element instantly assimted any mana produced by their core.

    The more mana one consumed, the greater resistance they gained. The elemental armor was highlypressed and the flow of world energy enhanced earth''s durability while keeping it flexible.

    The world energy kept the mana dense and formed an external protectiveyer at no cost to the user. To surpass the barrier, it was required a strength five times greater than the one expended to create it.

    The light and darkness eyes, instead, were still a mystery. R had no problem circting the two elements from the world energy into her wings and then into her eyes.

    Yet they seemed to have no effect aside from creating a luminous and a shadowyer around her.

    "Any ideas?" She asked. "Even before their fall, Balors were stuck at tier three magic. As a Fomor, I have ovee that limitation but I''ve never received a proper magical education until I came to the Mansion."

    "Maybe the silver eye is linked to something simr to Light Mastery." Morok grunted while looking at Lith.

    As a member of the Ernas Household, the Tyrant was entitled to receive Nalrond''s lessons but the Agni refused to teach Light Mastery to anyone until Friya and the Fastarrows learned the basics.

    Quy was free to spectate only because she had already be a Light Master on her own, but she was too busy rearranging her own notes and visiting the various members of the Ernas family to teach Morok anything.

    She had already tried exining her method to him but it was too hard for him. On top of that, since news of her pregnancy had spread, people from all over the Kingdom came to visit her.

    Quy wasn''t an Ernas by blood but she carried their name and her talent for magic was renowned. From the Royal Family to the Court, everyone wanted to curry favor with Quy, hoping to reap benefits once the pregnancy boosted her powers.

    Morok hated Light Mastery because he didn''t understand it and because it kept him away from his wife.

    "You might be onto something." Lith pondered. "I have yet to fight someone with a light-based bloodline ability but I''ve witnessed Tyris''. If R''s ability is anything like that, it''s not just a simple aim-and-shoot skill like the others."

    He let the light element flow from R''s eye to his mana core, in an attempt to mimic Light Raider. It was supposed to weave the pure light element into any spell he could think of. Lith started by conjuring a construct and then he split it into runes.

    He felt the energy produced by R''s bloodline ability seep inside his spell and into the words of power. Yet instead of allowing him to rewrite them and form a healing spell, the runes just crumbled. Lith tried over and over, but the result was the same.

    The light emitted by the silver eye made the runes malleable but Lith had no idea how to remove the effect once he was done altering their shape, making them unstable.

 Chapter 3063 Untapped Potential (Part 1)

    Chapter 3063 Untapped Potential (Part 1)

    Once infused with the bloodline ability from R''s silver eye, the mana of any light element spell would keep being diluted in world energy until it lost cohesion and the spell degraded into formless energy.

    "I don''t get what I''m doing wrong." Lith looked at Solus who shook her head.

    Even with the Eyes, the process was a mystery. They had no data about R''s mana organs and when Lith manipted the energy with his own silver eye, the number of variables more than doubled.

    "And we can''t help you unless you teach us Light Mastery." Morok sighed. He didn''t even try to ask for lessons, knowing Lith would rather walk out. "Let''s move on to darkness."

    The final element turned out to be a massive failure. They just stood there, enveloped in creeping shadows until they ran out of ideas.

    "Solus?" Lith asked.

    "Still no clue, sorry." Aside from the raw mass of darkness element and world energy, there was nothing for the Eyes to pick up.

    "No problem." He sighed. "Before we give up for today, I''d like to try something."

    Lith walked to Valeron and offered him a hand. The baby boy grabbed it and after the Dragon scales ryed the message, he gave Lith as much Life Maelstrom as he could.

    "Thank you, son. I''ll make good use of it." Lith caressed Valeron''s cheek who replied with a happy:

    "Papa!"

    "Dya!" Elysia grumbled, angry for being still incapable of emitting non-draconicplex sounds.

    "Don''t be jealous, sweetie." Kam said. "Valeron is older than you. It''s natural that he speaks better."

    "Ba." Elysia could faintly grasp the concept but it didn''t make her feel better one bit.

    "Mama!" Valeron giggled while looking at Kam with his round silver eyes.

    "Thank you, sweetie." She peppered his head with kisses, knowing how much feeling epted by his new family meant to the baby boy.

    "Ba!" Elysia red at Valeron in outrage, engaging him in a staring contest for almost five seconds before they fell asleep as one.

    "Why didn''t you do that during our first sessions?" Morok asked since it was the first time he saw the little Valeron use one of his bloodline abilities aside from Origin mes.

    "Do you think it''s easy to exin to a child so young what a bloodline ability is and how to use it without hurting himself or others?" Lith replied. "It took me days to reach this point.

    "Babies are not fond of training and have an attention span shorter than yours."

    "Hey!" Kam and the Tyrant said in unison, but forpletely different reasons.

    "Don''t drag the children in your crazy schedule. They are infants!" Kam said.

    "Sorry." Lith apologized. "Now, before taking your share of Life Maelstrom, I want you to focus. Don''t send it to your yellow eye. Just circted it through your bodies like you did with R''s abilities."

    "Why?" The Fomor tilted her head in confusion.

    "I want to test a theory." Lith replied. "What if Glemos was right about Morok? What if there is no need for a seventh eye, just to master life force to obtain an effect simr to Friya''s emerald streaks or Morok''s scales?"

    He didn''t want to expose his full theory because even if he was right, Menadion''s path might have been suited solely for a pure human. R and Morok were already evolved and maybe, what worked for the Prime Engine wouldn''t work for them.

    Lith hoped that by giving R and Morok hints, they would be able to find a technique suited for their individual evolutionary branch.

    "That''s stupid." The Tyrant sneered. "If that was the case, then why do you have an emerald eye?"

    "I agree with Morok." R nodded. "Not about the stupid part. It just seems far-fetched that both Tyrants and Balors have been wrong all along when you are the living proof that achieving a separate Spirit Eye is possible." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "It''s not far-fetched." Lith shook his head. "Consider that, unlike you, I''m not entirely human. Maybe my Abomination side condensed my life force to protect it from its Chaos spark.

    "Maybe my Dragon side carries the same gift of the Hydras. On top of that, if the seventh eye really is the answer, why did the Balors end up falling? Why can the Tyrants obtain the emerald eye only by sacrificing the other six?

    "Think about it. Doesn''t it sound like the fall of the Balor race and the opening of the Tyrants'' seventh eye are just the result of forcing their way on the wrong path?

    "Otherwise why would Glemos need to mate with a human woman instead of a member of his own race to have a child with a bodypletely different from a normal Tyrant?"

    "When you put it this way, it does make sense." Morok pondered. "Glemos wanted my help at all costs and nned to make me have a child with Echidna. Yet the only thing that changed after I''ve reached the violet core is my body and he knew it would happen.

    "His tracking spell was set to activate after my Awakening and it was then that my scales first appeared. Maybe, by diluting the Tyrant''s blood with my mother''s, Glemos managed to backtrack a little and alter the course of my evolutionary path."

    "Which would exin why Glemos also wanted a child with a Fomor." R said. "Balors are unable to get the seventh eye by nature.

    "Maybe he hoped that by sealing that evolutionary path, the Tyrant bloodline would have been forced to revert to the state before they merged their six eyes. If that were to happen, the newborn Tyrant would be capable of resuming their evolution."

    Lith was amazed by how brilliant R was despite having lived in forced istion for most of her life and by how deep Morok''s thinking was when he decided to pull his head out of his ass.

    Lith had only given them a few clues yet they had almost reached his same conclusion.

    Almost.

    "d we are all on the same page." He nodded as he passed to each one of them a powerful bolt of silver lightning.

    Valeron couldn''t produce enough Life Maelstrom for three people but Lith hadn''t stood idle while they talked. He had amplified Valeron''s small silver lightning thanks to the Tiamat''s yellow and spirit eyes until he had enough for everyone.

    "Remember, focus on your body, not on opening another eye. In case you get the feeling your life force is trying to condense in a single point, don''t give in to that impulse." Lith said.

    ''The Life Maelstrom is a bit diluted and less effective, but it''s better this way.'' He actually thought. ''If their evolutionary paths aren''t just untapped but blocked, forcing their way might make them blow up. Solus?''

    ''Immortal body array and life support systems are on standby.'' She replied. ''If something happens, I''ll take care of them immediately.''

    The Hands appeared in the form of short evening gloves and the Mouth as a scarf. No one but Kam noticed their appearance because they were focused on controlling the silver lightning.

    Lith, R, and Morok, made it circte through their eyes and bodies, using the boost that Life Maelstrom granted their life force to bring it on par with the power of the elements.

 Chapter 3064 Untapped Potential (Part 2)

    Chapter 3064 Untapped Potential (Part 2)

    Lith felt his Spirit and yellow eye react, but ignored them since he had no need to amplify the silver lightning further. He also felt a tingle in his ck and red eyes, just like in Jiera.

    ''What can this be?'' He thought. ''How can fire and darkness interact with Life Maelstrom?''

    Finding no answer and not wanting to contaminate the silver lightning with other elements, he kept making it flow from his Spirit eye to his life force, hoping to trigger a resonance effect.

    When everything Lith could think of failed and he felt the power of the Life Maelstrom starting to fade, he let it ess his darkness eyes. The silver lightning turned ck and Lith recognized the bloodline abilities of the Jotunn from Verendi.

    ''If Life Maelstrom plus darkness produces ck Lightning what would fire-'' Lith''s train of thought derailed as he remembered witnessing Protheus'' experiments on Valeron the Second''s bloodline back at the Golden Griffon academy.

    ''The golden me! In his Bahamut form, Protheus mixed Life Maelstrom and Origin mes to obtain those weird golden mes. Can I really do that as well?''

    Meanwhile, Morok felt the urge to merge his eyes to form the seventh, but he resisted it. He used Life Maelstrom to amplify his life force and connect it with the power of his emerald scales. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For a single moment, the elemental energy in the rest of his scales reached a perfect bnce. The now matching six elements fused and absorbed a spark of the Tyrant''s life force, painting all of his scales green.

    Yet with Morok''s next breath, his eyes absorbed an uneven amount of elemental energy and the bnce was lost. The elemental scales rejected the spark of life force and reverted to their original color.

    Morok didn''t notice the phenomenon. No one did but Solus did and only because the Eyes of Menadion recorded the sudden energy spike and she could rewind the footage at will.

    As for R, she chose a different path.

    ''I don''t have emerald eyes or scales but I know how Spirit Magic works.'' She thought. ''Glemos, cursed be his name, taught me everything I needed to know in case something happened to him and it was up to me to help Garrik Awaken.

    ''I never thought the day woulde when I used this knowledge for myself.'' She focused on the elemental feathers on her wings and absorbed the surrounding world energy.

    She couldn''t use Invigoration for fine-tuning the six elemental flows but her eyes were the next best thing.

    She used them to identify how much elemental energy each feather drew in, turning each one of them on and off until the six kinds of feathers absorbed exactly the same amount of world energy.

    Then, she channeled the umted power from her eyes to her body, where the Life Maelstrom was already amplifying her life force. R used the silver lightning to stir the seven flows together, in the attempt to find a way to merge them into one.

    Suddenly, she felt like someone had pierced her guts with a ming knife and was twisting her insides. R, doubled over in pain, releasing the elemental energy from her eyes in the form of six pirs and dispersing the Life Maelstrom before it tore her apart.

    Solus reacted first, activating the Immortal Body array to mend R''s internal wounds. Lith arrived second, using Invigoration to study the damage to the Fomor''s life force and doing his best to stabilize it with Body Sculpting.

    "Fuck me sideways!" They said as one while doing their best to save R''s life.

    "Is there anything I can do?" Panic made Morok lose control of Life Maelstrom which burst into silvery sparks.

    "You can shut up!" The dolby surround effect of their voices was still as creepy as the first time the Tyrant heard it but he stepped back and let them work.

    ''Dammit! We forgot that despite her appearance, R still belongs to the Fallen Races. Her original life force is twisted and its unfallen shape is only due to the modifications that wearing the Harmonizer for generations caused in the Balors.'' Lith cursed his own stupidity.

    ''I know.'' Solus inwardly nodded. ''She must have found a way to nudge her evolution. We don''t know if it was the right or wrong way, only that her fallen life force couldn''t take it.''

    She used the Hands to manipte the world energy so that R received just enough to retain her Fomor form, energy starving her wings and eyes.At the same time, Lith used a Life Sculpture to check on the records of R''s life force and restore it.

    Life Sculpture was a device that Awakened used before learning how to shapeshift in order for them or their teachers to fix any damage their life forces might incur during their experiments.

    ''There is a small change, but I can''t tell if it''s for the better or the worse.'' Solus recorded everything with the Eyes. ''What I know is that R''s life force is rejecting the change and she''ll die if we don''t remove it.''

    The procedure was simple because the alteration was minimal and Life Sculpture was urate down to the smallest detail.

    "Thank you!" R recovered quickly and hugged both Lith and Solus.

    "For what?" Solus returned the embrace but didn''t feel like she deserved it. "It''s our fault you were hurt. Fixing our own mistake is the least we can do."

    "I''m not talking about that." R shook her head. "Sure, this can''t work for me, but it might work for Garrik! He has all of my powers but his life force is still malleable and possesses the best Harmonizer Glemos ever created.

    "Maybe, just maybe, if we teach him never to open his Tyrant''s emerald eye and make him train like I was doing as he grows up, not only will his life force stabilize but also move on the right path for evolution!"

    R didn''t care if that path was precluded to her. The thought of her child free from the prison of the mana geyser as he became the first perfectly evolved human filled her heart with joy.

    ''I swore that I''d give Garrik a life better than my own and this might be his first chance at it!'' She thought.

    "Guys, I know this might sound stupid but I want to ask anyway." Morok scratched his head in embarrassment. "I was thinking, since you are great at Body Sculpting, can''t you make aparative study of R''s fallen and unfallen life forces?

    "I mean, what if you find the portion of her life force that was altered by her experiment and apply the change to her fallen form? This way, when the world energy turns her into a Fomor, there would be no resistance and she can keep practicing with us."

    "This is not stupid at all." Lith rubbed his chin. "Quite the contrary, it''s veryplicated. We can''t just alter the fallen life force because there''s no telling if her unfallen life force would retain the change after shapeshifting.

    "More likely, we must find a modification that will reshape itself in the correct form when R goes from Balor to Fomor."

 Chapter 3065 The Limits of Talent (Part 1)

    Chapter 3065 The Limits of Talent (Part 1)

    "Indeed." Solus pondered. "We should also repeat the process every time R makes progress. On the one hand, it''s going to be a pain in the neck. On the other hand, if she truly has found the right path, after enough modifications she might evolve.

    "The process would reshape her life force as a whole and maybe undo the falling, turning her into a Fomor permanently. If we are right, she wouldn''t be limited to living on the mana geyser anymore."

    "It would be amazing." R said with a sad smile. "But there are too many ifs and you guys are busy. I can''t ask you to waste so much time on a pipe dream that would help a single person."

    "Nonsense!" Morok said and Lith and Solus red at him for being generous at their expense. "Quy is specialized in Body Sculpting and once she''d done with that political nonsense, she won''t have anything to do all day.

    "Between her genius, free time, and the power-up she''ll soon receive from the twins, it''s going to be a walk in the park for her."

    "I''m d for the vote of confidence, but how dare you call me a cker?" Quy walked to him with a perfect mix of pride and outrage on her face. "Building political alliances is a boring but necessary task for *our* family.

    "Studying Light Mastery to make it essible to you is a job. My studies about light magic are another job! Just because I''m working with my brain instead of my hands it doesn''t mean I goof off all day."

    "Baby, what a pleasant surprise!" Morok said in a perfect example of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. "How are you and the babies doing? Why are you here?"

    He rushed to her side, checking on her Invigoration first and then on her womb. It was redundant since she was a better healer than him but the care and honest worry on his face made her heart flutter.

    "We are fine, thank you." She sighed, feeling her anger subside. "I came as soon as I was done with political niceties because I was worried about you and R. Lith told me about this experiment and I wanted to be here to ensure your safety. No offense, guys."

    She said to Lith and Solus.

    "None taken." Lith shrugged. "I wouldn''t trust even Manohar with the lives of my family."

    "Especially Manohar." Quy chuckled.

    After a mind link, she had all the information she needed along with two ck spheres containing R''s Life Sculptures. One contained the details of her original life forces, both fallen and under the effect of the geyser, and the other contained the data collected by the Eyes after the partial evolution.

    "R is right, you guys don''t have time for this." Quy nodded. "Yet Morok is also right. I do have time and R is part of my family. I''ll take care of altering her life force with Body Sculpting, you guys focus on finding a cure."

    "Are you sure?" R felt underserving of such care. "We haven''t known each other for long and don''t share any blood. I haven''t done anything for you."

    "Nonsense." Quy shook her head. "I was an orphan. I don''t share any blood with my parents and siblings either yet it doesn''t make me love them any less for it. You are Garrik''s mother and he''s Morok''s only rtive.

    "Also, I know what you''ve gone through to protect your son and preserve my husband''s bloodline legacy. It''s enough for me." Quy helped R stand up and the two women shared a brief embrace.

    "Thank you." The Fomor said.

    "What a magical moment!" Morok said. "I knew something good woulde from this experiment so I''ve reserved a table at the Travelling Tavern to celebrate. I''ve asked Haug to prepare the honeymoon table for us and all of your favorite dishes."

    "Thank you. That''s so thoughtful of you." Quy gave him a sweet kiss and her stomach grumbled in approval. "I could use a good meal after all these emotions."

    When the women left the room to prepare themselves for dinner, Lith dropped the act like a live grenade.

    "I reserved a table at the Travelling Tavern for everyone since I have business there. When did you call Haug, exactly?" He asked.

    "Hold that thought." Morok took out hismunication amulet, begging the owner of the Travelling Tavern forst-minute changes to the menu and a bit of extra space for him and Quy. "I''m sorry, what were you saying?"

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree.

    The new Yggdrasil and heir to the First Awakened stared in annoyance as one of the self-proimed best Forgemasters on Mogar failed miserably to unlock the full potential of the Ears of Menadion.

    Bringing Honsu Myen from Zima had been easy.

    All that one of the Chroniclers had to do was to offer him the Ears and the opportunity to take a look at the blueprints of the legendary tower of Menadion.

    The deal was too good to be true, but despite his better judgment, Honsucked the willpower to turn it down.

    Meeting a legendary elf, wielding a branch of the Yggdrasill wood, and the idea of consulting the infinite knowledge stored in the libraries of the World Tree would have been temptation enough to convince him.

    ''If there is even a 1% chance that the elf is telling the truth and I''m going to inherit the legacy of the First Ruler of the mes, this is a risk worth taking!'' Honsu was over 900 years old.

    He had long since reached the limit of the bright violet core and his skills as a Forgemaster. He hoped that building a tower would give him insight into the fabled white core or at least put his name in the history books right beside Menadion''s.

    ''With a modern version of Menadion''s tower, the Myen dynasty would be unstoppable!'' With that idea in mind, Honsu had traveled to Garlen via the nt Gatework and from there, to the World Tree''s Fringe.

    Great had been the old man''s joy in seeing the Ears with his own eyes, touching it with his hands, and being allowed to imprint it with his mana. He had felt invincible wearing it and when the Yggdrasill had also shown him the schematics of the tower, Honsu had believed that he would die a happy man.

    s, he had never been more wrong his whole life.

    The Ears turned out to be an instrument of torture. Between the massive flow of world energy swirling inside the Fringe and the manaing from the World Tree, the Chroniclers, the elves, and all the artifacts stored in the living city, Honsu''s ears bled the moment he wore the relic. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Every attempt to use its powers only worsened his condition, making the Forgemaster bleed from his eyes and nose as well.

    "You need to use the world energy to fuel the Ears." The World Tree exined. "If you do that, you can activate a series of secret enchantments that will relieve you from the sensory overload."

    "How?" Honsu asked in frustration after trying every Forgemastering spell at his disposal yet learning nothing from them.

 Chapter 3066 The Limits of Talent (Part 2)

    Chapter 3066 The Limits of Talent (Part 2)

    "If I knew that, you wouldn''t be here!" The Yggdrasill had no mouth so they used branches to form words by rustling their leaves yet their voice still sounded angry and full of contempt. "How can Zima''s so-called greatest Forgemaster be stumped by an artifact older than himself?

    "I even gave you the blueprints of Menadion''s tower! All you have to do is determine which portion of the tower core contains the enchantments of the Ears and from there, decipher how it''s supposed to work." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "That''s it?" Honsu had felt indebted to the World Tree and honored for all their gifts, yet now the Yggdrasil had crossed the line. "Are you serious or are you as insane as your predecessor?

    "The tower''s blueprints consist of hundreds of pages and even though I have no idea how you bypassed Menadion''s cloaking runes, she didn''t care about making the tower core easy to reproduce.

    "She made it to be as powerful andplex as she could! There are so many runes here that my eyes water just by looking at them and I''m not even trying to understand their purpose.

    "There must be thousands of enchantments, all interconnected between one another with a pattern that I don''t recognize and that makes it impossible to understand where one ends and the next begins.

    "As for the Ears, even if you gave me its blueprints, it would be pointless!" Honsu''s voice dripped poison, the absurdity of the demands of his host overwhelmed his usually meek character. "Based on what you told me, the trigger is physical, not magical.

    "This is not one of those dumb Nightmare Safes where the ess code was written in the enchantment itself. The Ears allow to input trillions of possiblebinations and only the person who set the safety measures knows how to unlock it."

    It was the reason Scarlett the Scorpicore would have never unlocked the Eyes'' true potential without Baba Yaga''s help and why those who had stolen the Mouth and Hands from their rightful owners had fared no better.

    Baba Yaga herself didn''t know everything about Menadion''s Set, only what Ripha had willingly shared with her old friend and colleague.

    "Respectively, yes, no, and yes." Honsu ran his fingers through his long white hair in embarrassment. "I could reproduce the Ears if you gave me its full blueprints but it would still be old-ass magic.

    "Let me get this straight." The Yggdrasill pondered, their voice calm and respectful again. "You can''t unlock the full potential of the Ears, you can''t reproduce the artifact, and you can''t identify the power cores of the rest of the set in the tower''s blueprints, correct?"

    "Respectively, yes, no, and yes." Honsu ran his fingers through his long white hair in embarrassment. "I could reproduce the Ears if you gave me its full blueprints but it would still be old-ass magic.

    "Even worse, the replica would bear the same seal as the original since I have no idea how the release code has to be inputted. It would take me years of study to update the runes and even longer to crack the code."

    The Master had encountered the same problems while studying the Mouth of Menadion, but it was different for him. Bytra was a Ruler of the mes and despite Elphyn''s opinion of her, Bytra''s talent was one of a kind.

    On top of that, unlike Honsu, Bytra was familiar with Ripha''s workings due to her time as Menadion''s apprentice first, colleague and rivalter, andstly by studying the Fury for centuries.

    Yet if not for the help of the most ancient and brilliant Eldritches of Mogar plus Vastor''s resources and expertise, she would have never crafted the Maw so quickly.

    "I thank you for your gifts, o World Tree, but I''m afraid I won''t see a tower in my lifetime. The ingredients listed here are beyond rare and even if I had them, the blueprints contain the spells, not the crafting technique.

    "These papers only show the final result of Menadion''s life work. They contain no information whatsoever about how she put so many enchantments together or the order they need to be cast to form a stablework.

    "As it is, what you have given me is an amazing starting point for learning tower-crafting but that''s it. First, I need to convert these runes into modern ones. Then, I have to find a way to make them form a stable tower core and work on its crafting method"

    "I have no idea how long everything will take but unless a miracle happens, even updating the runes is something for my heir to finish. The Ears will be of great help to us, though.

    "If properly insted, even in their basic form they are an invaluable Forgemastering tool that¡­"

    "Then you are of no use to me." A wooden spike-shaped root emerged from the ground and pierced Honsu Myen''s heart, putting an end to the life of Zima''s best Forgemaster in centuries.

    "Find me another pseudo Ruler of the mes." The World Tree said. "Promise them whatever they want, but bring them here willingly. I need their cooperation."

    "I don''t understand, My Lord." Ghal V''horr asked. "Why did you kill Myen after all the trouble we went to recruit him? What need do you have to unlock the Ears? Once you have the tower, the modern version of the Eyes of Menadion will be yours."

    ''Silly child.'' The Yggrdrassill sighed, switching to a mind link tomunicate. ''I killed him because I need the Ears to lure Verhen and death is the only way to remove someone''s imprint.

    ''It''s the same reason I want to unlock the true power of the artifact. A good story needs a viin. Someone powerful enough to require Verhen''s full focus so that he can''t notice the trap he''s stepping into.

    ''I have no desire to nurture such a person and I can''t send one of my Chroniclers forward. The moment Verhen sees an elf or Yggdrasil wood, he''d understand my involvement and leave.

    ''The Ears will make up for the little strength that our useful idiot already has.''

    "I see." V''horr nodded. "But, My Liege, why don''t you unlock the Ears yourself? Even better, why not make a new and updated tower? Your vaults contain all the resources you need and more."

    ''I can''t.'' The World Tree sighed. ''I have the knowledge of millennia, but I can''t escape the limits of my talent. I had my most brilliant Chroniclers help me and we all agreed that with our current capabilities, crafting an updated tower of Menadion is beyond us.

    ''We can maybe update the runes on our own and then search for a suitable Forgemastering technique, but a single mistake in either of them would mean squandering everything.

    ''I don''t know Creation Magic. I can''t afford to waste centuries gathering resources just to fail and then looking for what went wrong before starting over and over again until I seed.''

    ''What are a few thousands of elvespared to the billions of people who live on Mogar? You elves reproduce slowly whereas geniuses like Bytra or Menadion are born once every century, if not millennia.

    ''If I wait for one of you with that kind of talent to be born, I''ll probably be dead by then. I can Forgemaster the old version of the tower, if I focus solely on finding the crafting method, but it would be a waste of time and materials.''

 Chapter 3067 Family Trip (Part 1)

    Chapter 3067 Family Trip (Part 1)

    ''There''s no telling which enchantments I saw in Elphyn''s mind belong to the old tower and which are instead born from her fusion with the artifact. I might as well study Baba Yaga''s tower like my predecessor did Menadion''s.''

    The previous Yggdrasil had sent their Chroniclers to follow Menadion everywhere, using the elves'' breathing technique to study the tower core with the help of the World Tree.

    Unlike Lith and Baba Yaga, Menadion didn''t hide her presence so with time, patience, and cloaking devices, the Chroniclers had first cracked the cloaking runes of the tower and then copied its core one bit at a time.

    ''Yet not only do I have no idea how long studying her hut would take due to Baba Yaga''s elusiveness, but there''s also noparison between the two mage towers. The ease with which Verhen defeated Argantyr alone proves it beyond doubt.

    ''Sure, it was a trap and the location of the fight was set up to maximize his advantage, but Verhen still managed to match if not even surpass the might of the three white cores and their offspring.

    ''And that while the tower stillcks the Ears and several floors. There''s only one way to get myself such a masterpiece while I still have enough lifespan to achieve my Guardianhood and it''s to pry that stone ring from Verhen''s dead fingers.''

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Zeneka Region, city of Zalma at the same time.

    Zalma was a port town built facing the Arsman Ocean that separated the Garlen continent from Jiera. The moon was slowly rising from the city bay, giving the water a silvery luster and the scenery a fairy tale look.

    The waters were cid as the fishing boats returned to the harbor before the sun disappeared on the horizon. Several inds were visible in the distance, and the lights of their distant buildings made them look magical in the twilight.

    The climate in the Kingdom was getting hot due to the summer but a refreshing ocean breeze carried a salty smell and made the evening air pleasant even during the warm season.

    Zalma''smerce had been flourishing non-stop during the past few years of famine thanks to the abundant fishing areas of the Arsman Ocean. Even after the recent bountiful harvest had put an end to the food crisis, the city was still expanding.

    The regional Lord had exploited the famine to show the Royals the importance of his fishing towns and reached an agreement with the Crown to ensure funds for the development of Zeneka.

    In exchange for their investments, the Royals received a regr supply of fish, making key fortresses of the Kingdom less reliant on cultivated fields for survival.

    Between tourists and merchants, every hotel and restaurant in Zalma was fully booked and Haug''s Travelling Tavern was no exception. It was the reason Lith had reserved a few tables for his family and Morok decided to ride the Tiamat''s coattails.

    From the outside, the establishment looked anonymous and it was easy to miss amid the small warehouses in-between which the Tavern was nestled for the day.

    It was a rectangr one-story building made of stone with several squared windows and a door that sealed all the noise inside except for the brief moment when it was opened.

    The most peculiar thing about the building was a huge neon-like insignia that said: Haug''s Travelling Tavern.

    "Haug has chosen this location to avoid regr tourists and let his patrons enjoy the seascape and ocean breeze." Lith said while pointing at the harbor that was right in front of the establishment.

    At that hour, it was a deserted area where only rough-looking men hung around. The illumination was poor on purpose so that tourists would get scared and not disturb the backbone of Zantia while the fishermen rxed in their favorite watering holes.

    "This ce looks amazing!" Solus said and Elina nodded, even though for an entirely different reason.

    Solus was looking at the Travelling Tavern with mana sense and she had recovered enough of her abilities to get a glimpse of the intricacies of the building''s dimensional enchantments.

    As for Elina, it was her first time in an ocean city. She had already experienced the great sea while visiting Lith in Sark''s beach house, but the Blood Desert was proverbially desert.

    Zalma, instead, was lively even at thete hour, and after living with farmers all her life, she could tell that the fishermen weren''t dangerous, just grumpy and tired. Elina took a moment to gaze at the neighboring inds and smell the fresh evening air.

    "Thanks for bringing me here." More than one person said.

    Solus had already been to the Travelling Tavern, but never as a patron. It was her first opportunity to enjoy Haug''s delicious cooking and mingle with other members of the Awakenedmunity.

    Selia just needed a ce to eat without worrying about keeping the kids under control and then cleaning the countless pots and pans that preparing a meal for his ravenous family required.

    Nalrond had already been to the Tavern during his guys'' nights out with Lith, but he could use some downtime. Shapeshifting into his old human form still felt awkward and the preparations for his marriage only piled on the stress he was already under.

    Tista and Bodya were also excited. It was the first time she brought along the Nidhogg for a family trip and the event marked the new beginning of their rtionship.

    As for Quy and Morok, they were ate addition but two more people were easy to amodate.

    "I can''t wait to eat to my heart''s content without enduring the horrified gazes of the house staff." Quy smiled while touching her womb. "I can''t believe you''ve been so thoughtful with us."

    "Me neither." Morok replied. "I mean, you made me into a better man, babe." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He hastily opened the door for her to avoid follow-up questions and let Quy inside. For many of them, it was their first visit so surprise made Morok''s blunder go unnoticed.

    The tavern was not only bigger on the inside, it was also far from ordinary. The floor and the walls wereprised of small hard wooden boards, giving the ce a warm and cozy ambiance.

    All the tables but those reserved were already upied and the ce was full of people of every race, merfolk included. Despite the crowd, every table and seat had been spaced so that it didn''t feel cramped, leaving to each group of customers their privacy.

    Equallyfortable padded chairs and barstools allowed people to choose between sitting in groups at a table or the bar counter on the top right corner with the bartender as their onlypany.

    In the top left corner, there was a bandstand from which musicians were ying, entertaining lone customers and covering the conversations of clients so that they wouldn''t be overheard from the other tables.

    That night, the singer was a Siren, a lesser Garuda from Jiera. In her humanoid form, the lesser Divine Beast looked like a gorgeous woman with hips-long strawberry blond hair and violet eyes.

    She wore a cocktail dress tailored from a bunch of her own feathers that wrapped around her voluptuous body like a glove.

 Chapter 3068 Family Trip (Part 2)

    Chapter 3068 Family Trip (Part 2)

    The Siren''s appearance and her velvet voice as she performed a love song had the male audience staring at her with an enraptured gaze while most female clients looked at Haug like they wanted to kill him.

    Because that was the n.

    Or rather, the ns. The women in the Tavern were just weighing their options before choosing their course of action.

    "Lith, it''s so good to have you here again." Parmegianno Haug, Elder of the Council, unparalleled chef, and owner of the Travelling Tavern said as a cold sweat ran down his spine. "I hope you- Oh, shot!"

    The Guardian''s autocorrect altered Haugh''s speech but he was still panicking. He wasn''t expecting so many women and more people after his head was thest thing he needed.

    Luckily for him, between the constant presence of Tista and Tyris, no one among thetest batch of his patrons was impressed by the singer.

    "Is it a spell or a bloodline ability?" Lith felt drawn to the Siren, but only because of her song that seemed addressed to him.

    "Bloodline ability." Haug sighed in relief when he noticed their reaction. "Please, follow me to your tables. Tonight, I''ll serve you personally."

    ''Because everyone knows that putting yourself between a Divine Beast and his meal means bing one of the dishes.'' He inwardly added.

    "Where is our guest of honor?"

    "Right here." Lith lifted Elysia while Morok pointed at Quy.

    Useless to say, Haug looked at the Tyrant like he was insane.

    "Guys, we have among us the first Awakened from conception in Mogar history and the beloved granddaughter of the Guardians so behave." He lifted the baby girl above his head for everyone to see her six colored streaks.

    "Ba?" Elysia''s short horns and stumpy tail came out in surprise, making her look even more adorable in her Tiamat-looking onesie.

    The female patrons of the Tavern forgot about their grievances and gave the baby a standing ovation, quickly followed by their partners.

    Lith had brought Valeron as well, but due to the identity of his parents, Lith preferred to keep the bloodline of the baby boy a secret.

    "Was it really necessary?" Kam sighed as Haug led them to their table and put Elysia in a special crib. "Now everyone will make a fuss about her and disturb us during our meal."

    "Yes, it was." Lith nodded. "We couldn''t leave her home or hide her once we got here. We might as well announce her presence and make the surprise blow over while we wait for the food. Also, Haug offered me a discount."

    "You are unbelievable!" She scoffed. "You should be called the Miser Magus because you can do the unthinkable just to save a few coins."

    "Here is your honeymoon table." Haug''s voice drew their attention and curiosity got the best of Kam''s anger.

    Mork and Quy had a table big enough for six people all for themselves. It was covered in rose petals and had arge bouquet of red roses and white lilies on its centerpiece.

    Various kinds of choctes were arranged on a tter in a heart shape to serve as a sweet appetizer.

    "This is so romantic!" Quy wolfed down a chocte, discovering it was delicious. "I feel bad for our friends, though. Are we supposed to spend the evening ignoring theirpany?"

    "It''s not a matter of wanting our privacy. The space is just enough for us." Morok replied.

    "What do you mean?" She asked.

    "Well, there''s me, you who eat for two, and the babies." He said like it was obvious. "Sure, there should be room for the tes of another person, but I''d rather been safe than sorry."

    "I don''t eat for four people let alone five!" Quy said in outrage.

    "Riiight." Lith and Friya said in unison, scoffing.

    They exchanged a knowing look before turning to Quy.

    "I mean, not since the academy!" She blushed in embarrassment. "And that was because of Vastor''s tonic and my growth spurt. I''m not a glutton!"

    The words died in her mouth as she followed their gaze to the now-empty chocte tray.

    "That was supposed to be for the two of you andst the whole evening." Haug said with an apologetic tone. "I could bring more, but I''m afraid it would spoil your appetite."

    "Can I have at least one?" Morok sighed.

    "Of course. In a moment." Haug moved away and Lith followed him.

    "Since when are honeymoon tables a thing?" Lith asked, whispering.

    "Since now. Morok just told me what he wanted and paid me in silver for it, you cheapskate!"

    "I''m not- I mean, it''s because I''m pregnant with twins!" Quy wanted to die already and her stomach rumbling like a lion only made things worse.

    "Of course, dear. I had triplets so I know how you feel. Sit down and enjoy your meal." Rena patted Quy''s back with motherly care but thepassion in her voice made it clear that she didn''t believe one word she was saying.

    Luckily, the focus of the attention soon moved to the patronsing to pay Elysia their respects. The Travelling Tavern was a neutral zone where people of all races, Awakened or not, could gather and mingle.

    Even members of the Undead Courts were wee as long as they behaved.

    "Oh gods, they are adorable!" Dryna said while pinching the cheeks of the babies. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She was one of Haug''s barmaids and a Wyvern. In her human form, she looked like a pretty young woman in her early twenties with blonde hair and red eyes.

    She had yet to master shapeshifting so she had a small set of golden wings on her back, horns on her head, and a knee-length golden tailing out of her spine that she couldn''t get rid of, no matter how hard she tried.

    Elysia and Valeron both wore onesies resembling their respective Divine Beast forms and fit their extra limbs, giving them a fluffy appearance.

    "Ba!" Elysia wanted to bite her, at least until their scales touched and she felt the loneliness of Wyvern. "Rhaka."

    Elysia used the Dragontongue word for "I''m sorry for you" while nuzzling against Dryna''s hand.

    "And they are also very smart! You are a lucky woman, Lady Verhen."

    "I know." Kam sat near the corridor, with Lith between her and the wall.

    It wasn''t her first rodeo with the other races and she wanted to avoid women from volunteering to spread the Tiamat bloodline.

    Despite the general excitement, the crow moved orderly and dispersed as soon as the first dish arrived. It wasn''t just a matter of politeness but of survival. Elysia was getting annoyed by all those strangers and people were afraid of what would happen if she called for the Guardians.

    Once the visitors left, the Verhens had a delicious and pleasant meal.

    Solus moved from one table to another in between servings, introducing herself and making conversation with those who seemed to have interesting stories to tell. For once she didn''t have to hide her seven streaks which garnered her lots of admiration.

    Awakened etiquette considered handshakes a rude attempt at using Invigoration so physical contact wasn''t an issue. Solus had lots of fun exchanging pointers about magic and exchanged her contact rune with a few merchants who dealt in rare Forgemastering ingredients.

 Chapter 3069 Business Trips (Part 1)

    Chapter 3069 Business Trips (Part 1)

    Nalrond garnered quite a bit of attention to himself since no one had ever seen an Agni. When he introduced himself as a perfect merging between humans and Emperor Beasts, the Tavern went into an uproar.

    Until that moment, only the Guardians'' bloodlines seemed to be powerful enough to achieve such a miracle.

    As for Quy, the table for six turned out to be barely enough to contain all the dishes she ordered. Morok pulled the curtain at the beginning of the meal, to give them privacy and keep everyone from seeing her eating like a famished troll.

    He held most of the conversation until they reached halfway through dinner. Only then was Quy''s mouth empty often and long enough to produce intelligible sounds.

    "I stand corrected." She looked at the piles of empty tes on the table while the waiters brought them away and reced them with seconds. "I am a glutton and I''m d no one saw me. Friya would never let me hear the end of it.

    "Thank you for this beautiful night, Morok." She looked at him and then through the window at the moonlit bay.

    Haugh had altered the Tavern to give the couple a panoramic look at the harbor while they dined. They were seated on the ground floor like everyone else but dimensional magic showed them an aerial view as if they were dining at a panoramic restaurant.

    This way, no one could look at them from the outside whereas Quy and Morok could enjoy the seascape.

    And only them at that. Morok had paid extra to make sure of it.

    "Only the best for my gorgeous wife and my beautiful children." He leaned forward for a kiss that she happily delivered while giggling like a little girl.

    Once she was done eating, Quy took care of showing off her husband and all the attention with which she had showered her.

    "Take a leaf from Morok''s book, dear." Kam and Friya said in unison.

    "I would, but I don''t have that kind of money to spend on a single dinner." Nalrond shrugged.

    "I do, but I''m stingy and you knew it before marrying me." Lith followed suit, receiving lots of ps on the back of his head from the female side of the group.

    While everyone ordered dessert andters came to take a look at the babies, Lith left the table, unnoticed by the crowd.

    He hadn''te to the Travelling Tavern just to dine nor had he brought Elysia along for the discount. Or rather, not just for that.

    She served as a distraction and gave Lith a pretext to talk with Haug.

    Zoreth had scoured the underbelly of Garlen and Verendi for weeks now while Strider kept Lith updated about his inquiries in the Awakenedmunity. The problem was that neither of them had found anything about the mysterious thieves who had taken the Ears away.

    Lith decided it was time to open a third line of search and needed Haug''s help to do it. The Travelling Tavern was a neutral zone and its clients spoke freely without using Hush zones which made it easy to collect information.

    The establishment also served as a safe exchange spot for goods, information, and job offers. The regr requests were posted on the message board hung on the wall right below the menu.

    The sensitive jobs, instead, were entrusted to Haug directly.

    "I need your help with a delicate matter that requires absolute discretion." Lith knew the bartender enough to know he didn''t mince words.

    "Just be quick. If we get interrupted, the conversation ends there and you go back to your table." Haug replied, cleaning sses with a wide smile as if they were talking about the joys of parenthood.

    "Someone stole a precious tome from me. It''s an ancient Forgemastering book written by Menadion herself." Lith would never reveal the existence of the Ears but the make-believe grimoire was enough to make Haug''s eyes go wide for a second.

    "It''s old junk, but in the hands of a good Forgemaster, it can help them craft wonders. If they have the talent and the ability to apply it to modern magic, of course. I can''t reveal its existence and neither can the thief.

    "It''s a piece too hot to be sold. The buyer would kill the seller just to make sure they don''t earn extra money by revealing its existence to theirpetition. I believe that the thief himself is a Forgemaster so I need you to keep your ears open.

    "Report to me any mention about a nobody suddenly selling powerful Forgemastering pieces or just weird news about a Forgemaster. I need a wide since I don''t know their identity, race, or country of origin."

    "It''s feasible." Haug nodded. "What about the payment?"

    "Gold or magic crystals for tips. A weapon Forgemastered by me for leads, materials not included. The materials are on me only if I catch the thief thanks to the information. And within reason, of course. No Davross."

    "We have a deal." Haug gave Lith his tab and under it, there was a contact card for the Mogar equivalent of a burner phone.

    Haug would use the amulet associated with the rune only for the job and destroy it once the matter was over.

    "What the farm?" Lith looked at the bill in horror. The amount was just a few coins, but it was gold coins. "I''m not paying for Quy. That''s Morok''s job!"

    "And you are not." Haug tutted, weaving his finger under Lith''s nose. "Your sister, her boyfriend, Nalrond, and Protector eat a lot and they are all on your tab. Not to mention the sweets Solus has eaten, the rounds of drinks she has offered to her new friends, and the takeaway food." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "What food?" Lith stared in amazement as piles of takeout containers as tall as him were brought to his table and stored in dimensional amulets.

    "Thanks, Lith." Selia kissed his cheeks. "With this, I won''t have to cook for a week."

    "Sorry, lil bro." Rena swept her hair behind her ear in embarrassment. "R and the girls can''te to the Tavern with me so I''m bringing the Tavern to them."

    With "girls" she meant the matriarchs from Zelex. Rena was helping them and their kids to get used to the surface world and they were often guests at the Mansion.

    "Thanks, lil bro." Tista hugged him tight. "I haven''t been so full since I''ve turned into a Hekate and Bodya hasn''t eaten human food for years so I''ve bought a little extra forter."

    Lith returned the embrace, ring at the Nidhogg while slowly passing his thumb horizontally over his own throat.

    Bodya swallowed loudly, hoping that the rumors about Lith being a softie with his sisters weren''t just rumors.

    "Thanks, Lith." Solus offered him a slice of a sponge cake with multipleyers of different kinds of cream. "This shouldst me for a week, maybe."

    "A week?" He echoed in disbelief.

    Her pile was as big as the others and for personal use only.

    "Maybe more. Maybe less." She shrugged. "And don''t forget to tip."

    ***

    A few dayster, Lith was still nursing the hole in his wallet when he received an unexpected call.

 Chapter 3070 Business Trips (Part 2)

    Chapter 3070 Business Trips (Part 2)

    "Hey, Nyka. Any news about the Ears?" The Vampire lived in the Eclipsed Lands and knew everything about Lith and Solus, including his past life as Derek McCoy and hers as Elphyn Menadion.

    Nyka was his bridge with the undead who followed Baba Yaga''s teachings and his informant.

    "Sorry, no." She replied. "Believe me, if someone here knew anything, I would too. You have no idea how many wackos try to get in touch with Mom every day. If not for dion and Dawn, we would have died a thousand times over."

    Ka the Wight, Nyka''s creator and adoptive mother, possessed the Apprentice Eyes of Menadion. Due to her role in the destruction of the Golden Griffon, the information was public knowledge.

    It was the reason Ka had permanently moved to the Empire and under the protection of dion Dragonborn, the First Vampire. Without the oath that bound him to protect the Wight, she and her children would have been forced to hide for her whole life.

    "I''m calling you because I need a ride to the Blood Desert and an introduction letter. If I go there by myself, they''ll kill me on sight." Nyka sighed.

    "What business do you have in the Desert? I need to know for the letter." He took out paper and ink, ready to write with water magic. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I''ve heard that Aunt Scar lives there now. I miss her and I want to make sure she''s okay."

    "Scarlett the Sekhmet? The Guardian of Children? That Aunt Scar?" Lith''s hand stopped in mid-air.

    "In the fur." Nyka nodded. "I never got to tell her goodbye and she never contacted us after her ascension to Guardianhood. I''ve been worried sick for her all this time but until now, I had no way to contact her.

    "I mean, Leegaain was incredibly supportive but he warned me that Aunt Scar was struggling with madness. I didn''t visit her back then because I was afraid my presence might make matters worse.

    "If Aunt Scar wounded me, or even attacked me, her sanity would have been furtherpromised. Then that cathead left without saying a word and I wouldn''t get anywhere near a Guardian of Jiera.

    "Now Auntie is back to Garlen, but I''m afraid that Sark is holding her prisoner or something. The two of them never went along. Aunt Scar swore vengeance on Balkor and Sark while Sark warned Auntie never to put paw back in the Blood Desert."

    "That sounds like something Grandma would say but I''m pretty sure she''s not holding Scarlett prisoner. Grandma is more the type to either kick an unwanted guest out or kill them on the spot." Lith replied.

    "You''re not helping!" Nyka snarled. "You are just getting me more worried. Can I get the introduction letter now?"

    "I''ll do better. I''ming with you." The recent world tribtion had left Lith with many unanswered questions.

    ''I doubt Grandma would answer them, but maybe Scarlett is still mortal enough to understand my point of view. Even if she has be a Guardian, she didn''t have millennia toe up with cryptic advice like Baba Yaga and the others.''

    "Really? That''s awesome." Nyka''s frown turned into a smile. "When are you guysing to pick me up?"

    Lith checked his pocket watch and the daily schedule before answering.

    "After my training with Valtak but before dinner."

    "Who''s Valtak and what does that even mean?" Nyka asked in confusion.

    "It''s a long story. I meant around six in the evening my time. Lith out."

    "You son of a-" Nyka wanted toin about time zones but he cut her short.

    He informed his family of his trip to the Desert during breakfast, asking if anyone wanted to apany him.

    "No thanks, little brother." Tista waited for everyone to give their answer before speaking. "I already spend too much with you training my mes and now also my eyes. I''d rather have a romantic evening with Bodya."

    After Lith''s, R''s, and Morok''s first step forward in uncovering the secrets of human evolution, Tista had joined them in their experiments. She hoped that what she learned about controlling and enhancing her life force might also help her to master her bloodline abilities.

    On top of that, her rtionship with the Nidhogg had recently changed pace and now they were making up for the lost dates.

    "I have something to ask you, though." She said with a deep sigh that was born in equal measure from frustration and embarrassment. "Can you please look for anything I can use as an armor? Anything will do."

    Ever since she had evolved into a Hekate, her Voidwalker armor had be too small to cover her and she could use it only while in human form.

    "I can try, but it''s not like I have enough Adamant to craft you one nor can I just kill another Dragon for no reason." Lith shrugged. "If not for Syrook, I would be in your same boat."

    "I know." Tista nodded. "I''ve been looking on my own for months now and you can easily imagine how it went."

    "Let me guess, the Royals asked for an oath of loyalty and Grandma for you to join her Nest." Lith replied.

    "Nailed it in one." She groaned. "How could you go around naked until your battle against Syrook? Didn''t it feel awkward?"

    "It did. I just had no other choice." Lith lied through his teeth.

    ''Poor Tista, I bet she''s still scarred from the time she exposed herself to me and Ajatar. I never made such a blunder in the presence of witnesses so I just had to be careful.'' Lith was right only in a small part.

    Sure, the incident outside of Zelex still haunted her a bit, but the real problem was another. During her training in the Desert with the Phoenixes of the Nest, it happened again while trying to activate her bloodline abilities.

    What worked for them failed for Tista and flexed her scales, exposing her privates. The silver lining was that she only had female sparring partners so there was no life-scarring humiliation.

    Yet that didn''t make Tista any less terrified at the idea it could happen again and this time in public. Lith had never encountered such a problem because he trained in secret with Solus and his bloodline abilities were pretty straightforward.

    ''I could make her some kind of enchanted bikini from the corpses of the Emperor Beasts stored in our pocket dimension, but that would be RPG-level ridiculous and embarrassing.

    ''It would make her problem obvious and draw attention.'' He thought.

    "I''ll see what I can do, but no promises." Lith actually said.

    "It''s all I ask." Tista sighed. "Also, I''m not expecting freebies and I''m looking for ingredients myself. The problem is that the only way I have to get enough Adamant is to be a Council Elder and have my own turf.

    "Too bad that I have no interest in politics and there''s not a single area that needs a Lord."

    The rest of the day was uneventful.

    Lith and Tista spent the morning with the Father of Fire, had lunch with the family, and then Lith spent the afternoon with the babies, working on his projects when they napped.

 Chapter 3071 Rough Welcome (Part 1)

    Chapter 3071 Rough Wee (Part 1)

    "Six o''clock! It''s Nyka time." Solus had just finished her magic lessons with Kelia.

    Without the Horseman, the young Awakened needed Solus'' help to study and not be crushed by the void that the absence of Dusk left in her mind. Solus was slowly decreasing the use of mind links with Kelia to wean her off her need for telepathicmunion.

    "One second." Lith called dion who altered the dimensionalpressing arrays that surrounded Lightkeep, allowing them to Tower Warp there.

    In the blink of an eye, the tower became one with Mogar''s flow of world energy, using it to pinpoint the dimensional coordinates of their destination despite the thousands of kilometers separating the Mansion in the Kingdom from the city built in the depths of the Empire.

    ''I bet that Tower Warping is one of the enchantments linked to the Ears of Menadion.'' Lith thought. ''It exins why not even Baba Yaga can travel this fast and can''t reach the moon.''

    ''Agreed.'' Solus nodded. ''Just like the spells Maergron thew at us from a distance with the Ears, the tower piggybacks Mogar''s energy currents to carry the dimensional spell to an otherwise impossible distance.

    ''It''s the same reason we need a mana geyser on Mogar to align with the one below ourb on the moon to reach it. It creates a temporary tunnel of world energy that we can ride since the moon is a part of Mogar. It''s just far away and moves incredibly fast in the sky.''

    For a moment, Lith thought the moon might be some kind of orbital weapon or shield. After all, Mogar was a sentient being which meant more livings were likely to exist.

    ''Also, it would exin why the moon is supercharged with perennial Life Maelstrom. Fuck me sideways, I need help.'' Lith shifted his paranoia down to ten and opened the tower''s door.

    "Lith, Solus. Wee to Lightkeep." dion Dragonborn was waiting for them along with his wife, Lysa, his son, Radusk, and Dawn.

    Radusk now had healthy pink skin and had grown over twenty centimeters since thest time Lith had seen him. Lysa seemed to age backward and looked gorgeous. Her blond hair shone like gold and her blue eyes sparkled like jewels as she weed her guests with a hug.

    "Thank you for what you did for my baby boy." She said. "He''s not hungry all the time anymore and he can now y during the day with the rest of the children."

    "Mom!" Radusk turned to a bright red. "I''m not a baby boy. I''m a powerful vampire overlord like Dad."

    He extended his canines and ws to emphasize the concept, turning from an adorable little rascal to an adorable little rascal ready for trick-or-treating.

    ''Gods, Radusk reminds me of Aran when he tries to act like you.'' Solus had a hard time stiflingughter. ''The more serious he acts, the cuter he gets.''

    "Of course you are." Lysa lifted Radusk in an embrace and peppered him with kisses. "You are my dark lord, baby. Let your Mommy pay you her respects."

    "Mom! Please, stop!" Radusk knew that not even his father would have looked imposing if he were to be treated like that.

    "We''ll pass your thanks to Tyris. Again." Lith said. "Where is Nyka?"

    "You caught her under the shower so she''ll be here in a while." Dawn replied. "Nyka had just finished her training when you called and even an undead gets dirty after tussling on the ground for hours.

    "Youngsters have problems with time zones, you jackarm. You should have- What the farm?" No matter what she tried, no swear word came out of her mouth as she intended it.

    "Don''t bother." Lith sighed. "You just exposed my secret weapon."

    He revealed the baby carrier on his back.

    "Why do you need a secret weapon and what good can your children do to you in the Desert? Sark already loves you like a grandson." The Horseman asked.

    "She does, but Scarlett hates my guts." Lith nodded. "I need to ask her a favor and since she''s the Guardian of children¡­"

    "Jackarm." Solus, Nyka, and Lysa said in unison.

    "By the way, how''s Kelia?" Dawn cared for the girl, but mostly because it was her best shot at saving her little brother and killing Night.

    By the time Nyka arrived, Solus had brought the Horseman up to speed and invited her to the Mansion.

    "Kelia could use yourpany while I''m away. Also, you''ve left a good impression on the kids. Just please, stay away from Nalrond, prettydy." Solus said, making Dawnugh.

    "The prettiest in the house." The Horseman tutted. "I cane to the Mansion for her and for you, Solus. Practicing telepathic attack and defense on your own can only bring you so far. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We can revise your progress and I can teach you more advanced techniques."

    "Sounds like a n." Solus nodded and nned her lessons for the day when Lith went away to train with Valtak.

    "Sorry for the dy." Nyka ran to them. "What are you talking about?"

    A quick mind link and the Vampire joined their earlierugh.

    After bidding goodbye to dion and inviting him and his family to the Mansion as well, they moved to the Desert.

    The spot reserved for the tower was guarded 24/7 by Phoenixes because it was the only inner area of the pce left vulnerable to dimensional magic on purpose. Also, there was no telling if Lith wasing there of his will or under duress.

    "Is the Vampire with you or is she part of a plot?" Crevan trapped Nyka in the tier five Spirit Spell, Amber Prison.

    It sealed her physical and mystical senses so that Lith could answer honestly.

    "She''s a friend, Crevan." Also, the spell kept Nyka from seeing the secret sequence of fusion magic elements Lith used to confirm his words.

    Words could be heard, gestures seen, and spells detected via enchanted devices nted on one''s body whereas fusion magic could only be seen in person with Life Vision.

    "Good." Crevan nodded and dispelled the Amber Prison. "I apologize for my rudeness, young miss."

    "No problem. I know undead have a bad reputation." She gave him a bow. "I''m here to see Scarlett the Sekhmet."

    "I vouch for her. She''s Scarlett''s godchild and her intentions are honest." Lith answered Crevan''s silent question. "Ask the Guardian of Children an audience for me as well, please."

    "I''ll be back in a moment, please wait." Crevan Blinked, leaving the other seven Phoenixes of the team behind.

    They looked calm and their smiles friendly, but their hands remained on the hilts of their weapons. Their rxed stance would allow them to switch to offense or defense at a moment''s notice.

    "Let me guess." Nyka said. "You form an eight-man unit because this way one of you can leave and the rest can cast a fully powered anti-Guardian spell."

    "Correct." Lenanna nodded. "There are only few beings who would dare challenge Mother in her own home and their power can''t be underestimated."

    "Lla." Elysia greeted the Phoenix while trying to say her name.

    She melted the heart of the guards but didn''t affect their focus nor did Lenanna break formation.

 Chapter 3072 Rough Welcome (Part 2)

    Chapter 3072 Rough Wee (Part 2)

    "The Guardian grants you audience, but she will receive you one at a time." Crevan returned and brought Nyka away with him.

    "How''s the most beautiful baby on Mogar?" The moment the potential enemy disappeared, the Phoenixes gave Elysia a proper wee.

    "Say hi to Uncle Jhet." Another member of Crevan''s unit said. "Say Jhet."

    "He." Elysia replied.

    "That''s right. What a smart girl." He pinched her cheek while dangling his colorful feathers in front of her face.

    "Hey, I got two kids here." Lith grunted, pointing at Valeron who felt excluded.

    "He''s not of our blood." Lenanna said with ill-concealed annoyance.

    Jhet was about to mention that Valeron the Second was the spawn of the Mad Queen and a traitorous Dragon. The members of the Nest had never forgotten the threat that Thrud and her Undead Courts had posed to the Desert and they would never forgive her.

    To their species, blood carried great importance in both good and bad ways. As they bathed in Sark''s glory for it, Valeron carried his parents'' shame.

    Lith knew that as well so he shot a stern nce that silenced any further objection.

    "He belongs to my blood and Leegaain''s. By disrespecting Valeron, you are disrespecting us and Grandma. Have you forgotten she took care of him for months until I was ready for the task? That she agreed to raise him as her own?"

    "No, we haven''t." The Phoenixes had just hoped to have gotten rid of the puny disgrace.

    "Yet I''m disappointed in you all." Sark walked through the thick curtain that in the Desert''s tents reced doors. "Get out. Now."

    The Overlord wore a ming scarlet robe, the Blood Desert equivalent of a cocktail dress, that left her fair arms exposed up to the shoulder. Her legs appeared from the side slits of the dress with each step she took. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The Phoenixes lowered their gaze in shame and obeyed after kneeling to her.

    "I hope that order wasn''t addressed to us too." Lith said. "The kids even brought you a present."

    "Gama!" On his cue, Valeron pulled a Fire Orchid out of the baby carrier and Elysia did the same.

    Lith, instead, gave her a whole bouquet. They were flowers typical of the Desert and Sark''s favorite.

    "How could I be disappointed in my babies?" She kissed their foreheads in turns, collecting the flowers after thanking them one by one. "I''ve never seen Fire Orchids so big. Where did you find them?"

    "From Mogar''s Garden." Lith told her how after losing the Ears, he had returned there to collect a few flowers for the Overlord.

    "That''s why they have grown so much and have so many extraordinary traits. They didn''t grow in the Desert." She put Valeron''s flower in her hair, making him smile, Elysia''s in her breast pocket, and Lith''s bouquet in a vase.

    "Well, now that you''ve buttered me up, are you going to call me a prettydy or are you going straight to tell me what you want?"

    "Ouch. Am I that obvious?" Lith asked while clenching his chest in mock pain.

    "You are. What''s the matter, Featherling?"

    "Actually, nothing. I just wanted to ask you why you never told me about Scarlett. She''s a young Guardian, but she might be able to help me with a few of my problems." Lith replied.

    "That''s it? This makes me so happy, Featherling." She ruffled his hair and then answered his question. "I wasn''t trying to hide her presence nor was I angry with you. I was just respecting Scarlett''s wishes."

    "She didn''t want to meet me?" Lith asked.

    ''It makes sense. We never went along.''

    "No. She didn''t want to meet anyone from her old life." Sark replied, leaving him speechless.

    ***

    The Warping array moved Nyka from the Heavenly Plume tribe to the Forgotten Plume where the Sekhmet worked as second inmand to Ilyum Balkor, Blood Magus and Feather of the tribe.

    The tents were arranged in a crescent shape with the local oasis on the opposite side, leaving a wide empty space between them. Crevan Warped himself and the Vampire in the middle of the za that was empty during nighttime.

    The watchmen guarding the vige''s perimeter had been alerted of the arrival of guests.

    They just turned their magical beast steeds toward the neers long enough to make sure their appearance matched the description in the report they had received and then resumed their duty.

    No life form could thrive in the Desert away from water so the members of the beast and human races had learned to cooperate in order to increase their chances of survival.

    Beasts weren''t considered pets or disposable cattle. They had names, lodgings, and those who took part in the vige''s defence had their individual military rank.

    "This way." The vige was small, a little over one hundred tents.

    About forty of them belonged to the magical beasts while humans upied the rest. Crevan led Nyka to the second most colorful tent in the vige, the Desert equivalent of a studio apartment.

    The color of the tents marked the importance of their upants. Simple white tents belonged to civilians, those with silver strings to merchants, and those with golden strings to members of the military.

    The tent of the Feather sported silver, golden, and red embroidering, the mark of the Overlord''s authority.

    Scarlett''s tent was right beside Balkor''s, bearing golden and red threads. The purpose of the markings was to guide people to the most secure ces in case of attack since only tents woven from red and golden threads had defensive arrays of their own.

    The others had to rely on the protection of the arrays that epassed the whole vige and their area of effect was delimited by the tall iron braziers that illuminated the vige during nighttime.

    The tent was big enough tofortably host a single human-sized individual which surprised Nyka quite a bit.

    ''Aunt Scar always liked to have her own space and now that she has be a Guardian, she should be enormous. Is Sark punishing Auntie for her past challenge or is Auntie punishing herself for something she did after bing a Guardian?''

    Between the apparent little importance of the Forgotten Plume vige and the tiny tent, the ce seemed unworthy of a being as powerful as a Guardian.

    Of course, she was wrong about everything.

    The moment she stepped through the curtain, she found herself in a ce bigger than Scarlett''s oldb in the White Griffon Academy''s forest.

    "Gods, this ce is like the tower. It''s bigger on the inside." She said in surprise.

    "Hello, child. It''s been almost two years since thest time we''ve seen each other."A familiar voice made Nyka''s gaze stop wandering through the various open doors and focus on a figure sitting behind a tea table typical of the Kingdom.

    "Aunt Scar! Thank the gods you are alright." Nyka rushed into her arms, but instead of lifting the Vampire in her arms like usual, the Sekhmet gave Nyka a brief embrace and patted her shoulders.

    "Stop calling their names." Scarlett looked like a woman in her mid-thirties, her hair cut shoulder length and dyed ck. "Sark doesn''t mind but other Guardians would get angry at you. They can hear you if you are close enough."

 Chapter 3073 Cruel Voices (Part 1)

    Chapter 3073 Cruel Voices (Part 1)

    "Aunt Scar?" A sad expression set on the Sekhmet''s face as she looked at the young Vampire, as if she was contemting the painting of ate friend instead of celebrating the reunion with a lost one. "Is everything okay?"

    "Not really, but it will be."

    "What''s with your hair, this tent, and the vige? Are you being punished?" Nyka asked.

    "No, I''m not. Don''t worry, child." Scarlett chuckled, a spark of her old self appeared and disappeared just as quickly. "I''ve cut and altered my hair for my mourning period. Before you ask, no one died. I''m mourning my old life." She said with a heavy sigh.

    "The tent, instead, was my first task after receiving Sark''s Forgemastery lessons. I had to use my newfound powers and what she taught me to craft living quarters befitting of my size and treasures.

    "It''s a basic necessity for a Guardian. In the future, no ce will be big enough to amodate my real form and contain everything I''ll possess. Unless I conquer a small state and kick out everyone else, of course." The Sekhmetughed at her own joke.

    "The only thing I don''t understand is what you have against the vige. I think it''s lovely."

    "It''s small, Auntie. I have been to the Desert as Solus'' guest and I''ve never seen a tribe with so few tents." Nyka didn''t miss how the eyes of the Scorpicore became colder at the mention of her friend.

    "Again, you can''t look past the surface of things. You focus too much on how things are instead of how they will be. What if I told you that this vige had barely twenty tents and no magical beast when Balkor was just a citizen of the Desert?

    "That the number doubled once he became a Feather and then doubled again after he shared part of his legacy with the Overlord and received the title of Blood Magus? I''ve been assigned to the Forgotten Plume vige to witness its growth and assist its people to the best of my abilities.

    "Over thirty new tents have been raised since my arrival. Balkor teaches magic to his subjects and I help him with his duties. In turn, I''m learning about myself and the bnce. About how to let people of different races grow fast enough to thrive but slow enough not to devour themselves."

    "And why do you need to learn this?" Nyka asked.

    "Because of the voices, child. Guardians hear them all the time, even when no one is calling our names. When someone invokes one of us in particr, we can''t cut them out even if we want to." Scarlett replied.

    "At first, I was tempted to grant every gods-damned wish just to make the voices shut up, but it would have brought chaos and death. People only care about themselves and when they dream big, they have no care for the consequences.

    "A single wish could destroy society as you know it while if conflicting wishes were to be fulfilled, the mayhem they cause would be incalcble. Not to mention that Guardians aren''t supposed to be like the genies from fairy tales.

    "We hear the voices not to be told what to do, but to find those who need us and follow our ambitions. Consider this vige like a scaled-down version of Mogar. I can influence its development as witness the ripples of my actions in an eptable timeline."

    "Okay." Nyka now had a much better understanding of Scarlett''s assignment to the Forgotten Plume tribe but was also worried to the bone. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She could barely recognize the loving and yful Scorpicore in the person standing in front of her and only because the Sekhmet''s voice was unchanged.

    "Aunt Scar, there''s only one thing I don''t understand. Why are you grieving your old life? The forest is still thriving and so is Sentar and all the friends you''ve left there. I''m still undead and kicking ass in the Eclipsed Lands.

    "Mom and Nok live there with me and would love to see you. Nothing has been lost during the past two years."

    "Nothing but me, child." The Sekhmet replied. "I''ve been reborn into a Guardian and to be reborn, you have to die first. It took me a long while and many a discussion with four of the six original Guardians to understand there is no ce for me in my old life.

    "Going back to the forest, or to you, would be too painful. All the people I know, all the ces I love, I would watch them wither and die in what for me is now a heartbeat. Even Awakened are a fleeting existence to me.

    "Rather than suffer helplessly, I prefer to mourn their death already and nevere back. I''ll make new friends and memories but, this time, I''ll avoid getting attached. There is no point to that."

    "There is a point!" Nyka jumped up from her seat. "You can''t just hide until everyone is gone and let them think you''ve abandoned them. That would be petty and cruel. Also, I''m not going to die.

    "Mom, may the gods damn her stubbornness, might be a Lich and live forever as well. dion is one of the oldest creatures on Mogar yet he has not given up on anything. You are not grieving, you are just avoiding pain."

    "You are being foolish, child." Scarlett stood up slowly. "Vampires are eternally young, but they die every day. What Liches have is no life. It''s just a prison of their own making whose walls are made of toil and whose bars are crafted by dementia.

    "dion is an even worse fool than you, child. He has bound himself to weak insects that will drag him down. He will surely Awaken his wife first, and when she starts bing old, he''ll offer her undeath.

    "Whatever she chooses, dion will lose his wife. Either to death or to the side effects of his condition. He has endured them for so long that he considers them normal but they are not.

    "Lysa will be crushed by the many limits of undeath, and even if shees to ept her new form, it will take her centuries. By then, she won''t be the same person anymore. The same will happen to Radusk, dion''s beloved son.

    "As for you, child, you are the closest thing to Baba Yaga''s dream I''ve ever seen. You haven''t been scarred by life because you''ve never endured it. We both know that as soon as you gain the full red blood core, you''ll be human.

    "You will give birth to yourself and regain your powers over time, since you are already Awakened. I wish you a long and happy life. A loving partner and as many children as you want. But I won''t stand there and watch you die."

    Scarlett''s body tensed. She clenched her fists and her eyes turned watery.

    "What about the other Guardians? They have plenty of friends, children-"

    "Enough!" A wave of the Sekhmet''s hand banished Nyka. "Bring Verhen here, Crevan. Tell him to be quick. My patience is short and I have no wish to y his stupid games."

    ***

    "¡­and lovers! They don''t mope- Farm you, Aunt Scar, and find yourself a good healer to take the stick out of your alps!" Nyka appeared right beside Lith and Sark, triggering Elysia''s auto-correct.

 Chapter 3074 Cruel Voices (Part 2)

    Chapter 3074 Cruel Voices (Part 2)

    "Farm!" Valeron the Second echoed.

    "Gods, no! I''m so sorry, little one." Nyka said in horror, realizing how close to eternal slumber she hade. "I didn''t mean to teach the kids bad words. I was just passed off."

    "Passed?" Lith echoed. "Don''t you mean, passed?"

    "Is that how you want your children to refer to themselves when they are angry?" Sark tapped her foot angrily after affecting his speech as well.

    "Definitely not." Lith sighed. "Thanks, Grandma. As for you, Nyka, don''t worry. My father will go crazy with joy when he hears Valeron talking about farms. At least until he discovers how he came to learn that particr word."

    "What happened, child?" Sark asked and Nyka gave her a short recap of her conversation with the Sekhmet.

    "Mother, the Guardian of Children is waiting for Lith." Crevan pointed out while performing a deep bow of respect.

    "She can wait." Sark grunted. "Remind her that this is my turf just like Lith is my blood. Scarlett is my guest and she''d better not forget who gives orders here."

    "I''ll pass your message." Crevan Blinked away, leaving them alone.

    "Don''t worry, child." The Overlord smiled again. "Your aunt is experiencing what I call the whiny phase of Guardianhood. It''s just a phase and it will pass with time."

    "Is it normal?" Nyka asked.

    "It sure is." Sark nodded. "Imagine having voices in your head 24/7, then go into seclusion with a babbling ck Dragon as your onlypany. After that, you get dumped on a self-centered snake, a winged brute, and the worst mad scientist Mogar has ever seen.

    "In this order. It''s perfectly normal to lose faith in the future and be a grumpy sourpuss. I''ve seen better Guardians than Scarlett, like Ileza, wear chains, spikes, tattoos, and ridiculous ck makeup by the end of their apprenticeship.

    "Then they go to Tyris and she takes their heads out of their butters."

    "What about you?" Nyka asked.

    "Me? I''m not their mother." Sark cooed at Valeron and Elysia with a warm, soothing voice. "I''m their instructor and I love myself a broken disciple. Much easier to bend and shape them at my will. I let newborn Guardians whine and give them plenty of reasons to keep at it."

    "I see. Thank you." Nyka gave her a deep bow.

    "You are wee." Sark handed the babies back to Lith. "You can go now, but I expect you toe back here for a proper goodbye or I''m going to hunt you down."

    A snap of her fingers brought Lith straight to Scarlett''s dining table.

    "Well, this is awkward." Lith looked at the unfamiliar ce, the weird appearance of the Sekhmet, and her outraged expression at the vition of her sanctuary.

    In this order.

    "Kids, this is Scarlett the grumpy Sekhmet. Grumpy, these are my daughter Elysia and my son Valeron."

    "Gu!" Elysia said, believing it to be her host''s name.

    "Papa!" The baby boy''s face beamed with joy every time Lith called him son.

    "I can see through all of your tricks, now." The Sekhmet said with a snarl. "I know you brought them here to manipte me and it''s not going to work."

    And it didn''t. For almost three seconds.

    There was a reason Scarlett was the Guardian of Children and Valeron and Elysia were too close for her to ignore them. She felt all of their joy, happiness, and in Valeron''s case, his sorrow.

    Scarlett''s rage melted as she saw what the baby boy had gone through and the harsh future waiting for him once he learned the truth about his parents'' disappearance.

    The dark fog that smothered the Sekhmet''s mind was blown away by the sun of the pure love Elysia sent to her father and that he returned tenfold in a never-ending cycle.

    "Can I hold them?" Scarlett asked as a smile forced its way on her face.

    "Sure." Lith handed the kids to her one at a time.

    "Ca?" Elysia sniffed the Sekhmet, grabbing Scarlett''s hair in her small hands.

    "What a smart girl! Yes, I''m a cat."

    "Ears." Valeron said and the Guardian made her feline ears and tail pop out for the children to y.

    Lith waited patiently in silence, letting the kids soften her for him.

    "Fine, you have bested me once again." Scarlett sighed. "Tell me what you want and I''ll help you to the best of my abilities."

    "Do you know where the Ears of Menadion are or who took them?"

    "No. I''m restricted to this vige and so are my senses." She shook her head. "Even if I wasn''t, I wouldn''t tell you anyway. I can see the artifact ys a significant role in your future."

    "Then I have only one question left." Lith told her about the quasi-tribtion that had taken ce in the tower. "How is that even possible? There was no enemy, no trigger, nothing."

    "You are wrong. There was a trigger." Scarlett sighed in envy. "Gods, so young and you''ve already gotten to the point it took me three hundred years and a half to reach."

    "What trigger?" He asked after the Sekhmet brooded in silence for a couple of minutes.

    "I can''t tell you." She shook her head. "I was in your exact same position four years ago, asking the same question. The only difference is that I was talking with Leegaain in the Empire.

    "I''ll tell you what he told me back then. If I were to answer your question, fulfilling a tribtion would be nigh impossible. Once you know, you would do the right thing for the wrong reason: getting your prize.

    "Just know this. You have arrived at the end of your journey as a candidate Guardian. Mogar has already asked you all of her questions and you''ve answered correctly or you wouldn''t be here. The ball is in your court now."

    "What ball?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "That''s up to you to find out." Scarlett handed the babies back to him and stood up. "Just remember. There are no more trials or enemies to beat. The tribtion can take ce anytime and anywhere because it''s not up to Mogar.

    "It''s up to you. It''s time you ask yourself the most important question of your life." A wave of her hand returned him to Sark before he could reply.

    The light of the children was gone, leaving Scarlett alone with the voices in her head. Unbeknownst to her, the most vicious and cruel that harassed her night and day belonged to no one but herself.

    ***

    Lith brought Nyka back with him at the Mansion.

    After the meeting with Scarlett, the young Vampire could use somepany.

    "I''m going to take the tower." Solus said while handing Lith a sealed ss container. "Tista and I are taking Nyka on a pic on the moon."

    "What''s that?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Well, now that your life forces are fused, we have to check if your blood is still poisonous to undead." She shrugged. "Nyka can use a tasty treat. If it doesn''t work, Tista will provide but a deep violet doesn''t taste as good as a bright violet. Or so I''m told."

    "Fine." Lith sighed, pricking his finger until a single droplet of blood fell off.

 Chapter 3075 Surprising News (Part 1)

    Chapter 3075 Surprising News (Part 1)

    As soon as the blood drop detached from Lith''s body, it returned to its original size, filling the jar.

    "Just be cautious. Remember what happened to Protheus and Maergron when they tried to feed on me."

    "Will do, thank you." As Solus left, Kam pondered about the current predicament.

    ''Solus is noting back at least until tomorrow morning. The kids are tuckered out from the excitement of today and have just eaten. Unless something happens, they should sleep the whole night.

    ''On top of that, all of the rooms of the Mansion are soundproofed and the master bedroom is in a separate wing from the rest of the living quarters.'' She handed the babies to the handmaidens, asking them to keep an eye on the children and not disturb the master of the house except in case of emergency.

    "Lith, we need to talk." She said once she was done with the preparations.

    "What in Maxwell''s name have I done this time?" He put down the notes about histest magical research he was reading and turned to her.

    "A lot, actually, but not with me. Between the babies, Valtak, your study on human evolution, and everything else, we haven''t had much time for ourselvestely." She replied.

    "I know and I''m sorry." He couldn''t remember thest time he had brought her out for a romantic date. "It''s just that with Meln, Kelia, the world trib-"

    Her rose-scented finger pressed on his lips and cut him short.

    "I know, and I''m not ming you for any of that. You are an excellent father and a great husband. Yet you have neglected your duties as a boyfriend and I''m feeling lonely these days."

    "Lonely? With all the people that live in both our houses and our neighbors?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "They arepany, but they don''t help me rx." She sighed. "That''s why I''ve adopted a cat."

    "A cat?" Lith echoed in disbelief.

    "Yeah, I''m tired of magical beasts that observe, understand, and talk too much." She nodded. "I want a cute little pet that will keep my secrets. This is our house though, so I can''t make this decision without asking your opinion first."

    "Fine. Show me this gods-damned beast."

    "I hid it in our bedroom. I didn''t want you to find the kitten and let it outside by mistake." As Lith walked toward the door, she took both theirmunication amulets and put them inside her dimensional storage.

    Then, with a flick of her fingers, she turned the Warp Gate of the Mansion offline to keep unannounced visitors from disturbing them.

    "Where is this kitten?" Lith bent down to look under the bed, but there was nothing there or on the chairs.

    "Right here." Kam locked the door and let her Featherwalker armor slip off, leaving only a headband with cat ears on her head and a matching set of ckced open lingerie.

    A ck long tail hung from the back of her panties.

    "Where?" He turned around and his jaw hit the floor.

    Kam walked seductively toward him appreciating the mix of surprise and arousal on his face. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear:

    "Meow."

    ***

    In the following days, Lith worked during the day and yed with the cat at night. The lively creature didn''t let him catch more than a few hours of sleep per night since Awakening and training had greatly improved her stamina.

    "I regret nothing." That was his cryptic answer to Valtak whenever the Father of Fire was forced to Invigorate him to fully restore Lith''s strength.

    Elina was d to take care of the babies at night. They were quiet most of the times and she hoped that Elysia would soon get another little brother.

    "Good morning, handsome. I mean, meow." Kam gave him a deep kiss after putting the headband back on.

    "Good morning, gorgeous." He returned the kiss, caressing her back and making it arch in pleasure. "My wife can never learn about this. If she discovers I''m into beast-girls, she''ll w my eyes out."

    "My lips are sealed." She giggled before giving him another kiss to underline the concept. "Do you have to go out today? I''d understand if it was Valtak, but haven''t you already mastered the Prime Engine?"

    "Mastered is a big word." He held her to his chest as they cuddled in bed. "We can use it, but to beat anything at the level of a lost city, we need a n and an ambush. It''s damnplicated to manoeuvre. It gives us a headache every single time."

    Kam''s eyes narrowed at the "we" for a second before letting it wash off her ego.

    "Are you guys nning on taking down another living legacy on Jiera?" She asked.

    "Why would we do that?" Lith snorted, turning his head down to look her in the eyes. "It''s not our problem. The Kingdom can deal with the lost cities. Even better, the Jierans should do it.

    "If we solve the crisis for them, they are not going to learn anything from their mistakes and just wait for someone toe and clean up their mess. A miracle is the worst thing that could happen to them.

    "Right now, they have amon enemy that is teaching them how to cooperate instead ofpeting for resources. It also works as a constant reminder of what their constant bickering led to.

    "It was their leaders who released the gue for their petty political interests and the Jierans let them. Every person that dies or starves because of the gue is engraving deeper in the minds of the current and future generations that actions have consequences.

    "The Jierans need to be their own heroes or ten years from now they''ll have another gue." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Wow. What a Guardian-y thing to say." Kam caressed his face while carefully shaving his stubble with an air de.

    Lith willingly exposed his throat and she responded to his trust by going slow and steady so that it took her only one go to make his skin soft and smooth.

    "Is it because you''ve been spending too much time with Grandma and Grandpa or did youe to this conclusion after thest semi-tribtion?"

    "Neither. It''s something that came up while discussing with Valtak why the Jieran Divine Beasts have yet to intervene." Lith replied.

    "The old lizard is growing on you." She squinted her eyes a little with a pensive look on her face. "Are you thinking about growing a beard like him?"

    "No." He noticed her disappointment at the answer. "Do you want me to grow a beard?"

    "Not a full beard or a long one. I was thinking of a goatee." She caressed his chin. "I''ve always thought it would do wonders for your evil overlord look and persona. Also, if we don''t like it, we can always shave you again."

    "I''m fine with it as long as you are." Lith shrugged.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Well, mine is the Awakened facial hair of a Divine Beast. If you are okay taking the sting until the stubble softens or not getting any kiss on any part of your body from me until then, you can stop shaving me from tomorrow." He said.

 Chapter 3076 Surprising News (Part 2)

    Chapter 3076 Surprising News (Part 2)

    "And give up on all the fun? Over my dead body!" Kam hit Lith in the face with a pillow to express her disapproval. "Bad beard! Bad."

    She ran her finger on his skin for a double check, just to be safe.

    "Hey, I''m innocent! Take it on the asshole who came up with the brilliant idea." He conjured a mirror of ice in front of her.

    She was about to reply when Lith''smunication amulet pulled at his consciousness.

    "Why did you take it out of the dimensional amulet?" Kam pouted.

    "I don''t have a dimensional amulet. I have a pocket dimension and you know it. You took our amulets out first thing in the morning to check for messages."

    "That''s no excuse. I''m still angry with you." Kam ran into the bathroom to let him answer the call with the hologram on.

    "Hey, Lith. Am I interrupting something?" Haug asked from his burner amulet.

    "Yes." Lith replied curtly.

    "Then I''ll be brief. I have a lead. Not a solid one, but you asked me to notify you even weird rumors about Forgemasters and this one qualifies big time."

    "Tell me everything and don''t leave out even the most insignificant detail." Lith sat up, making the Voidwalker armor cover him before pulling the bedsheets away.

    Zoreth and Strider had yet to find any trace of the mysterious thieves of the Ears. With nothing at hand, even clutching at straws was worth a shot.

    "There''s not much to tell." Haug shrugged. "It''s a rumor. From what I''ve heard, several Forgemasters have been disappearing from all over Garlen and beyond. ording to my sources, a few famous Forgemasters from Verendi have gone missing too."

    "How did this not raise a red g in their respective Councils?" Lith raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "I don''t know." Haug replied. "I take part in all the Council''s meetings as an Elder and this never came up, not even in mentioning. What makes this rumor particrly juicy, is that many of the missing Forgemasters are famous for having a connection with Menadion."

    "What kind of connection?" Lith asked in excitement.

    "Nothing direct. All of her apprentices are dead for a long time now."

    ''Wrong.'' Lith thought but nodded for Haug to continue.

    "We''re talking about descendants of her disciples and people who learned from them. Maybe they have fallen victim to the same guy who robbed you. Maybe he''s looking for the remnants of Menadion''s legacy."

    "It''s a possibility." Lith''s face was a stone mask of seriousness as he lied through his teeth.

    ''This is impossible. Whoever got their hands on the Ears would never bother with third-hand grimoires. Unless they are looking for a hint to unlock the secret power of the Ears.'' He actually thought.

    ''After Pharek''s death, that information died with him and only the Eyes of Menadion of the tower can dig it out. Maybe.''

    "Thanks for the information. To whom do I owe for the lead and how much?" Lith asked.

    "Nothing. For now. My informant is willing to wait in the hope you find the thief and give them the full ride. Keep me posted and I''ll do the same. Haug out."

    "Can Ie out?" Kam asked from the bathroom.

    "One minute. I need to make another call."

    "I can always get dressed-"

    "Don''t you dare!" His pained voice made her giggle.

    "Okay, but I''m getting cold and lonely here."

    Lith pressed Strider''s rune and cursed every second of wait.

    "Magus Verhen." The Zouwu gave Lith a polite bow. His voice had lost any trace of the disrespect he had shown during their first encounter. "To what do I owe this call?"

    "No need for formalities. Call me Lith." He was too eager to get back where he had been interrupted to mince words. "I''ve just heard of this rumor and I need you to confirm its authenticity."

    "It''s all true." Strider said after listening to the abridged version of Haug''s already short story.

    "Care to exin why the Council doesn''t give a rat''s ass about it?" Lith asked.

    "Because, unlike Limbell, the runes of those Forgemasters are all avable. Sure, they are offline but they are still on which means the missing Awakened are alive." The Zouwu shrugged. "Council Elders travel all the time for a number of reasons.

    "Ingredients, shady deals, ancient ruins, ways to prolong their lifespan, and the list goes on. All things that require privacy since an activemunication amulet might give away their position andpromise their prize.

    "On top of that, we are talking about Forgemasters. If they are working for a client, they can''t let anyone know the contractor''s identity, the specifics of the piece, and what it is for.

    "You should know better than anyone else that a mage likes to have the advantage of surprise." Strider said and Lith nodded.

    "For your information, I have looked a bit into this on my own before your call. I dropped the matter because the few missing Forgemasters I''ve investigated have told their apprentices they were leaving for a work-rted trip."

    "Did the apprentices receive such information from their mentors through the amulet or in person?" Lith asked.

    "In person, inside their own homes, and with no one else inside." The Zouwu replied. "You know how hard it is to beat an old Awakened in his turf. There was no sign of coercion and the apprentices have guaranteed me their masters were rxed.

    "There was nothing unusual and the Elders didn''t use the safe words agreed upon in case they were acting under duress. They just packed and left."

    "Still, this looks suspicious to me. Why would so many Forgemasters leave at the same time?" Lith scanned Haug''s list with hismunication amulet and shared it with Strider. "Is there some sort of convention I''m not aware of?"

    "What the fuck?" The Zouwu stared at the list of names, finding it too long for his liking. "Give me a moment."

    "I''ll give you more than one." Lith sighed. "I have to go. Call me by lunchtime after you are done with your investigations."

    "But-" N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Bye!" Lith hung up the call and cut Strider short.

    There was only so much time before breakfast. After that, he wouldn''t see Kam until evening. Maybe for days, if the Zouwu confirmed Lith''s worries.

    "Can I get out now?" She purred from behind the bathroom''s door.

    "Yes." He put the amulets in his pocket dimension to not be disturbed again.

    "Where were we?" She crawled towards him with supple, sensual movements, wearing her cat lingerie.

    "Beards and kissing." Lith replied with a hoarse voice.

    "Right." She pushed him on the bed. "We were about to perform the quality check of your shave."

    ***

    After the quality check, ying with the cat, a shower, and breakfast, Lith shared his conversations with Haug and Strider with Solus before going to the Desert for the Engine training with Sinmara and Surtr.

    "I agree with you." She said. "There is a good chance the disappearance of Mom''s semi-disciples is connected with the Ears. Dead Forgemasters tell no tales and the thief needs someone really good to unlock the true power of the artifact.

    "My only question is why so many at a time and how the thieves think to get away with this. "

 Chapter 3077 Mutual Aid (Part 1)

    Chapter 3077 Mutual Aid (Part 1)

    "I mean, once the thief shows the Ears to the Forgemasters, killing them is the only way to keep their mouths shut. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yet the disappearance of a single Elder would raise the rm like it happened with Pharek. If something happens to this many Forgemasters at the same time, the Council will spare no time and expenses to find the culprit.

    "The manhunt would be hundreds of times worse than Maergron''s." Solus said.

    "I know." Lith nodded. "Once connected, the dots form a weird pattern but it still fits our mark. We''ll talk about this after we return from the Desert, Kami. Kiss Elysia and Valeron for me."

    "Will do." She grumbled.

    A few days ago, while Lith was away for Valtak''s lessons, Solus had repeated the "divination" test, offering Elysia toy weapons, books, and coins. Much to Solus'' dismay, Elysia had picked up a toy battle w shaped after Sky Piercer.

    Kam had consoled Solus while inwardly rejoicing before conducting the test herself. Only after Elysia had chosen the battle w again did the two women deeply empathize with each other.

    Valeron, instead, was old and smart enough to understand the purpose of the test. He had no idea what each object was supposed to represent, just that he was supposed to express his preference.

    The baby boy always crawled to Lith, Kam, or Solus and ignored the items. Useless to say, he melted Lith''s heart and made the two women shed many happy tears anyway.

    The Zouwu called after lunch as promised, bearing unsettling news.

    "I can confirm the rumor. All of the Forgemasters have disappeared and only a few of them informed their apprentices of their absence. The rest are just gone and the weird part is that they all left in different moments and circumstances as if they were trying to go unnoticed."

    "Or if their kidnappers wanted to avoid drawing attention." Lith shared his doubts and concerns with Strider. "The entire situation is off. A huge conspiracy doesn''t make sense but it''s the only possible exnation."

    "I agree." Strider nodded. "This matter deserves an investigation but unless we inform the Council and provide the Elders solid proof, they''ll never mobilize the Hand of Fate. We have to do this alone."

    "We?" Lith furrowed his brows in annoyance.

    "Yes, we." The Zouwu growled. "One of my men was gutted like a fish and Solus was almost killed on my watch. This is personal. Also, the matter of the Forgemasters is not the only mystery here.

    "Why do you care about a bunch of people you don''t even know, Lith? How is this rted to the thieves and why have you put a bounty on an alleged grimoire written by the First Ruler of the mes?"

    Strider had performed thorough research, connecting more dots than he was supposed to and guessing the identity of Haug''s contractor. All things that Lith had assumed would happen and for which he had prepared in advance.

    "I refuse to believe you are so stupid that you haven''t reached my same conclusion." Lith scoffed, his face a mask of cold annoyance. "No one would bother attacking a unit of the Hand of Fate for an old piece of junk.

    "Solus and Rhuta weren''t the target or the thieves would have tried to deal the finishing blow instead of running away. It means that their job was done when they got their hands on the helm. The attack was just a diversion to cover their escape." Lith said and Strider nodded for him to continue.

    "Limbell was the best Forgemaster in the Kingdom and Maergron was his shadow apprentice. I bet the helm must have been part of Limbell''s legacy that he didn''t want to share with his official disciple.

    "Since the helm yed no role in the fight, the only possible exnation is that it''s some kind of Forgemastering tool. You gave the helm to me and I want to retrieve it without having to fight with the Council or Nem Limbell for its ownership.

    "I couldn''t put a bounty on the helm so I came up with the best next thing. The grimoire justifies my grudge and allows me to search for the thieves while also letting them think they got away with it.

    "I used Menadion''s name because I expect that whoever has the helm is using it to improve their Forgemastering abilities. I needed something that would fit every voice of the bill without giving out my real objective."

    "Damn if you are a cold, calctive bastard." Strider mumbled. "I like you and I agree with everything you said. The made-up grimoire is a nice trick and one I''m stealing. This doesn''t change the fact I''ming with you."

    "Do we have a problem with the ownership of the helm?" Lith wanted Strider toe along.

    It was the reason he had contacted the Zouwu in the first ce.

    Lith needed Strider''s influence to gain ess to the Forgemasters''bs without triggering a war. At the same time, he knew that the Zouwu would need Lith''s tracking skills to not repeat Limbell''s fiasco.

    The situation was bound to make Strider think the alliance was his own idea and that mutual aid served their respective purposes.

    "No." He shook his head. "You can keep the helm. I just want to know who tried to kill Rhuta and why. Then, I''m going to kill them."

    "Then we are going to get along." Lith scowled, yet he inwardly grinned.

    The mark had taken bait, hook, line, and sinker.

    "Do you mind if I call Xenagrosh? The bastard had several allies and we need big guns to counter the numerical advantage."

    "Be my guest." Strider replied. "I''ll try and contact the members of my team as well. We need all the help we can get."

    "What if they don''t agree with the original distribution of Maergron''s loot?" Having more witnesses wasn''t part of Lith''s n.

    "That''s their problem." The Zouwu grunted. "I''ll back your im but I doubt it will be necessary. We are looking for a grimoire and missing Forgemasters, after all. I we find the helm in the process, it''s just a happy coincidence."

    ''This guy is shrewder than I thought, but I still don''t like this development.'' Lith said via the mind link.

    ''Don''t worry.'' Solus reassured him. ''I just need to touch the Ears to get what we truly want. After that, Zoreth can stage stealing the artifact andter return it to us. She''ll be d to take the me and draw attention away from us.''

    "I like your n." Lith nodded. "Meet me at my mansion tomorrow morning after breakfast. There''s no rush and we need to prepare thoroughly. I don''t want the thieves to get the drop on us again."

    "Agreed. Strider out."

    Lith called Zoreth as soon as the conversation with Strider ended, finding that her rune was still unavable.

    ''Dammit, it has been days since thest time I heard from her. Should I be worried?'' Vastor''s rune and Bytra''s were online which reassured him.

    "Zor is fine, Lith. Don''t worry." The Fourth Ruler of the mes said after picking his call. "She can''t answer her amulet because she''s undergoing another stabilization treatment.

 Chapter 3078 Mutual Aid (Part 2)

    Chapter 3078 Mutual Aid (Part 2)

    "Father thinks to have perfected the method to harmonize Zor''s life forces and he''s putting his theory to the test. As you know, his and Zor''s condition is very simr." With her troll and ck cores, Xenagrosh''s physiology was the closest to Vastor among the Eldritch-hybrids.

    The Master had developed a Chaos and a Decay eye that worked simrly to Zoreth''s cores and they were also stable. Vastor had studied the changes in his body and hoped that once applied to Zoreth, they would work for her as well.

    She was his first sessful hybrid and if the experiment even just furthered the merging of her life forces, he could use the collected data to find a procedure specific for each of the other hybrids.

    "Dammit and congrattions." Lith sighed. "How long will it take?"

    "There''s no way to tell." Bytra replied. "From a few seconds to one more week tops."

    "Can youe with us?"

    "No, I''m sorry. I''m not the only one who knows the inner workings of the machine but I''m the best chance at sess Zor has. I won''t leave her side but I can send someone else. Like Kigan." The Raiju scratched her head in embarrassment.

    "Would he let us take the Ears in the case he discovers the truth?" Lith asked.

    "No way." Her shoulders slouched. "I get what you mean. Please, check your amulet from time to time. The moment Zores out of the tank, she''lle to your aid."

    "Thank you, Bytra. Lith out." He hung up the call. "Machine? Tank? What kind of device are they using for their experiments?"

    "Beats me." Solus pondered. "But if I were a betting woman, I''d say something like the Spark. After all, Bytra was Menadion''s apprentice and that floor of the tower was no secret."

    They were suspicious of Vastor''s activities and magical research, but the thought he was using Arthan''s Madness was hard to consider. Between the many Eldritches at his service and Bytra, there were plenty of less creepy and just as likely possible answers.

    "I hope you are right." Lith sighed. "Let''s get ready." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Aran and Leria, instead, sat quietly on the back of their respective steeds. Onyx and Abominus were the only Emperor Beasts of the group, making their presence the most imposing.

    The following day, Strider and Ryka walked through the Gate of the Verhen Mansion, finding a heterogeneous weemittee waiting for them.

    Protector''s children sniffed at them, shapeshifting from one form to another. Garrik flew above their heads in circles, using his eyes to scan the neers.

    Aran and Leria, instead, sat quietly on the back of their respective steeds. Onyx and Abominus were the only Emperor Beasts of the group, making their presence the most imposing.

    "Are you a cat man?" Garrik asked.

    "No. My forefather evolved from a white tiger." Strider''s hands went instinctively to his des when a cold feeling of dread froze him in ce.

    "Yes." Ryka the Titania said with a chuckle. "He purrs if you scratch him under the cheeks."

    "Ryka!" Strider tried to sound stern but his voice came out in a low meowing, like he was in front of a veterinary, ready to be neutered.

    "Onyx does that too." Aran scratched the huge feline''s snout and she produced a sound simr to the ignition of a muscle car. "Are you as strong as my big brother?"

    "Yes." The Zouwu cleared his voice, trying to regain face.

    "He wishes." The Titania sucker-scratched his ears, making him purr.

    "Ryka, stop it!" The fact that she was as tall as him and even physically stronger didn''t help.

    "You two are so cute." Leria giggled. "Are you together?"

    "No!" Strider would have turned beet red if not for the thick white fur covering his skin.

    "Yes. You''ve got a good eye for this kind of things, youngdy." Ryka offered Leria her hand who promptly shook it. "I''m Ryka the Titania. Nice to meet you."

    "Leria Proudhammer-Verhen. This is my cousin-"

    "Uncle!" Aran corrected her.

    "Cousin!" Leria rebuked him. "Aran Verhen, and these are my friends. Lilia and Leran Fastarrow, Garrik, Fluffy, Onyx, and Abominus. He is my Grampa."

    When the little girl pointed at the door, Strider was expecting an old man. What he saw, instead, was an angry Guardian wearing full war gear.

    Leegaain''s human form was shorter than both the Titania and the Zouwu, but that was by choice. They felt like small children caught red-handed in the cookie jar as the Guardian red at them with thick ck smokeing out of his nostrils.

    His ck armor absorbed every speck of light, making it look like it had been crafted from a single shadow. His wings rested on his shoulders but their inner side burned with mes and anger.

    What looked like a small shield hung from his hip, its form ever-shifting.

    "Grampa Leegaain, these are Ryka and¡­" Leria looked at her guests but they were frozen with terror.

    "Strider the Zouwu. Hees from Zima." The Guardianpleted the phrase for her. "What the farm did you think you were doing with those des, kid?"

    Strider swallowed and remained silent, knowing no answer could quell a Dragon''s anger. Anything he said would only fan the mes of Leegaain''s wrath.

    "Do you like harming children?" The Father of all Dragons walked in front of the Zouwu who found himself kneeling to be at Leegaain''s eye level. "My children?"

    "Sir, no. Sir." He lowered his gaze, realizing his blunder. "I apologize."

    "Leave your hands in your pockets or I''ll do it for you."

    "Is everything alright, Grampa?" Leria hadn''t noticed the shift in stance, the movements of the hands, or the spells the Zouwu cast in reaction to the perceived ambush.

    "Yes, dear." The Guardian turned around and walked away. "Everything is alright. It always is."

    Only when Leegaain disappeared from sight could Strider and Ryka breathe again.

    "Can we meet your uncle now, Leria?" He asked.

    "You are a rude cat!" Leria pouted. "You use my name yet you haven''t introduced yourself."

    "I''m sorry, Leria. You are right. I''m Strider the Zouwu, of the Emperor Beast Yi dynasty from Zima. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand to the kids and they shook it in turns.

    He had to endure a barrage of questions about his homnd, his eating habits, and his personal hygiene.

    "No. I don''t lick myself clean." He said with a tinge of irritation in his voice.

    It wasn''t addressed to the kids but to Ryka who had yet to stopughing after the children had offered him a te of small fish and a saucer of milk.

    "Because you don''t want to or because you can''t?" Aran asked.

    "Both." Strider sighed heavily. "Can we go now?"

    "Yes, sorry." Aran blushed a bit and turned Onyx around to lead the way.

    "What the actual farm?" The Zouwu blurted out in astonishment as he walked past mysterious Emperor Beasts (the Hati), a couple of legendary dark elves (reverted orcs), and a stunning woman with six eyes and soft feathered wings on her back.

    "What''s going on here? Who are all these people?" Ryka tranted his thoughts in a more polite wording.

    "They are my mother''s friends." Leria puffed her chest out with pride and struck Abominus with her heels to make him stop. "She''s helping the people of Zelex to get ustomed to life on the surface."

 Chapter 3079 To Ears or Not to Ears (Part 1)

    Chapter 3079 To Ears or Not to Ears (Part 1)

    The Pyrmir countered by turning around and licking Leria''s face with his massive tongue, covering her in saliva.

    "Eww! Bad Abominus. Bad!"

    "I''m not a horse. If you want something, don''t hit me. Just ask." He replied.

    "I see. Thank you." Strider nodded, ignoring the childish squabble. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He and Ryka knew about the underground city filled with monsters that reverted to their unfallen state while standing over a mana geyser, but they had never met one in person.

    Aside from the Council representatives and Jiera''s colonists, no one had.

    "You took your sweet time." Lith was tired of waiting so he was about to check if the Gate worked properly. "What took you so long?"

    "A lot." The Zouwu waved at his honor guard.

    "You have my apologies, then." Lith gave him a small nod. "Sometimes I forget this ce can be a little bewildering for a first-time visitor."

    "A little?" Strider pointed at the iing group of unusual riders.

    They were all toddlers and they sat on top of a Wyrmling.

    Shargein sniffed at the strangers, followed by Elysia and Valeron. Surin, instead kept sleeping like a log. Put together, the babies smelled of Guardians so much that only the dumbest creature on Mogar would have tried something funny on them.

    "This is nothing." Lith shook his head. "You should see what happens when Manohar the Second is here."

    "Who?" Ryka asked in confusion.

    "Never mind." Lith said. "Xenagrosh and Bytra couldn''t make it. What happened to the rest of your team?"

    "Some are already on an official mission, others just don''t care about this matter." Strider replied.

    "The Lich?"

    "Azhom, yes." The Zouwu nodded. "She could barely remember my name already. She hung up on me the moment I told her there was nothing to gain but justice."

    "Rita¡­" Lith started.

    "Ryka." The Titania and Solus corrected him.

    "That''s what I said. More or less." Lith cleared his voice to cover the second part. "Are you aware of my arrangement with Strider about the helm?"

    "Yes, and I agree with you. If that''s an old-alps helm then I''m still a delicate flower." She nodded.

    "Good to know but that''s not what I was asking." Lith replied.

    "Yes, you can take it." She nodded. "At one condition."

    "Which is?"

    "If we find it, you make me a weapon to the best of your new and improved abilities. Resources are on me." Her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires while daydreaming about it.

    "Deal." They shook hands.

    Lith had no problem lying or delivering a weapon of the quality he would produce without using the tower and every piece of Menadion''s set but the Ears.

    "Are you really going tomission him?" Strider was bbergasted. "There are countless Forgemasters with hundreds, if not thousands of years of expertise and you ask a runt who''s barely past twenty? No offense."

    "Quite a bit taken. Also, I''m closer to twenty-one." Lith snorted.

    "Yeah, right." Ryka snorted harder. "And how many of those pompous windbags can use Creation or de magic? How many of your so-called Master Forgemasters have created something unique?"

    She pulled out her amulet, projecting the images of the DoLorean and the Wayfinder.

    "Don''t tell me that you believe that carp about Verhen bing a Ruler of the mes in the near future?" Strider said, remembering where he was at toote and a quarter. "No offense."

    "Dude, saying ''no offense'' isn''t a free pass for insults." Lith scoffed.

    "I don''t believe those rumors." Ryka said, making the Zouwu sigh in relief. "I know they are true. Verhen, do me a favor and prove this cathead wrong. Forge me a weapon that will allow me to use de Spells and make him choke on his liver. No offense, boss."

    "None taken," Strider grunted at the double jab.

    "I like you, Ryka." Lith shook her hand again. "I''ll do my best, but only if we find that damn helm. I don''t have time for freebies."

    "And I only have the money to afford either the materials or the craftsmanship so believe me when I say finding it is in my best interest." She sighed.

    After bidding goodbye to the kids, the group left the Verhen Mansion via the Warp Gate.

    "This time it will be much quicker." Strider exined. "Even though this is an informal investigation, we are about to visit the Forgemasters'' residences known to the Council, not another secretb.

    "There''s no need for discretion and since all of the missing Awakened have one or more disciples, the heirs should be able to help us identifymon elements in the disappearance of their mentors."

    Lith contacted Faluel to use her Warping array, but she was unavable. The Hydra had yet to return from the trip with Thrud''s former Generals and herir was empty.

    ''I wonder how Faluel is doing.'' Solus thought. ''By my Mom, I always criticize Lith for never calling his friends except when he needs something, and now that I have my own body andmunication amulet, I act no different.

    ''I swear on my Fury that as soon as we get back home, I''ll call Faluel.''

    The trip took only one Steps longer than predicted. Athung Soranot, the human Lord of Distar, was d to Warp them straight to their first destination.

    The array brought them inside the luxurious house of Barham Neth, a Wyvern Forgemaster who had taken residence in the heart of an active volcano located above a mana geyser.

    His bloodline as a lesser Divine Beast brought him great status among his peers, but not as much envy as his Origin mes.

    Barham had reached such a degree of finesse in manipting the mystical fire that he was not only capable of purifying enchanted metals perfectly but also of cleansing them of their enchantments.

    Since the Forgemastering materials were on the client, this eased their financial burden in case the enchanting process failed due to their excessive requests.

    Also, many old and powerful Awakened went to Barham to recycle artifacts that had lost their practical use and had no sentimental value. Origin mes couldn''t save magic crystals or the natural treasures consumed in the making of a relic, but they were still the next best thing to Creation Magic.

    This was especially true for non-human creatures. For them, the hardest part was always collecting enough enchanted metal to craft equipment suitable for their colossal bodies.

    Without people like Barham, even Council Elders would cry blood when upgrading their armor and weapons and would do it only once every few centuries.

    "This is preposterous." Tanat Neth, son of Barham and first of his disciples said in reply to the inquiries about his father''s disappearance. "Wherever he is, Master Barham is safe and sound.

    The Wyvern had taken a human appearance to wee the investigators. He looked like an overly handsome man in his mid-twenties, with sky-blue eyes and golden hair the color of his scales.

    Tanat had also chosen to be taller than his guests to look down on them and maybe intimidate them.

    "His trip was nned in advance and he organized the details himself. No one kidnapped him, otherwise why would he leave me ess to the array control system of the mansion?" He showed them a si ring bearing a red mana crystal.

 Chapter 3080 To Ears or Not to Ears (Part 2)

    Chapter 3080 To Ears or Not to Ears (Part 2)

    Permanent arrays became much less effective if their owner was away for an extended period of time. Their imprint would start to fade and without the owner''s instructions, a skilled intruder could bide their time studying the arrays and take them down one at a time.

    The solution to this problem was to share the control over the arrays like the nobles did in the Kingdom, pass it to a trusted individual like Scarlett had done to Ka back when she left to chase after Balkor, or a si ring.

    Red mana crystals could ept more than one energy signature but their charge would onlyst for so long. The si ring meant that Barham didn''t trust his apprentices not to shut down the arrays and kill him if he shared control or give him control over his mansion back once he returned.

    Lith knew that a si ring was a Forgemaster''sst resort and so did Strider.

    ''A red crystal also holds a limited amount of world energy. Once it runs out, the si ring will be useless.'' The Zouwu thought. ''It means that Barham nned to return in a few weeks tops.

    ''No Dragon, lesser or not, would leave his hoard unattended for long.''

    Awakened could recharge crystals below the green, but this was an enchanted item. Pumping mana into it would have diluted the control spell and shortened its duration.

    "If Master Barham''s life were in danger, he would have asked me for help." Tanat said.

    "Or maybe, he asked you for help and you ignored it." Strider replied. "After all, if he were to ''mysteriously disappear'', you would inherit Barham''s house, legacy, and most importantly, his treasures."

    He waved at the piles of riches that decorated the ce as though pieces of furniture. Wyverns were the closest thing to Dragons among their Lesser kin and often tried to make theirirs resemble a Wyrm''s.

    The internal structure of the mansion was paved in gold-veined white marble, with enchanted paintings projecting the feats of the Neth bloodline hung to the walls and frescoes made of precious gems decorating the ceiling.

    Unlike Dragons, Wyverns rarely appreciated the artistic value of their treasures, focusing solely on their power and mary value. It was the reason their of a Wyvern usually looked like out of a cautionary tale about greed.

    The ce was shiny and opulent, but without one shred of taste.

    Calling it tacky was an affront to tackiness. Riches and artifacts were arranged with no rhyme or reason, making it look like the master of the house had dropped them in a random ce to catch his breath and then forgotten about it.

    The only logic Lith''s greed could find in the disposition of the various treasures was that things would get more precious the closer they got to Barham''s private quarters.

    ''It''s consistent with the Lizzies I''ve met.'' Lith thought. ''Ego over taste in a desperate attempt topensate for being a lizard with an inferiorityplex.''

    "And why would I want that?" Tanat replied. "I''m just an apprentice. If my father were to disappear, I''dck the means to keep this ce. My older siblings would dispute my right to session and kick me to the curb.

    "Master Barham''s return is in my interest. He is one of the few still-living direct apprentices of my Great Master Ripha Menadion." The Wyvern said with pride while leading them to the entrance to Barham quarters.

    "Not only did Master Barham learn from the First Ruler of the mes herself the secret arts which are the foundations of our bloodline legacy, but he also was one of the few people with whom Great Master Menadion chose to share the Ears!"

    ''By my Mom, is he telling the truth?'' Solus asked Lith via the mind link while grabbing his arm in excitement.

    ''How should I know?'' Lith replied with equal surprise. ''You are Menadion''s heir. You are supposed to know this stuff, not me.''

    ''Have you forgotten I have amnesia?'' She telepathically grunted.

    ''And I wasn''t even born!''

    Their squabble ended when Tanat brought them in front of a majestic, life-size painting with an Adamant frame embossed with white and violet crystals.

    "Behold! One of the few testimonies left of the legendary lost Set of Menadion." The group held their breath in awe and astonishment.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith thought. ''Now Strider and Ryka will demand I provide them de Spells weapons at my full expense at best or to co-own the Ears at worst.''

    His streak of silent curses ended the moment his eye gazed upon the "Ears" resting upon the head of the golden-scaled Wyvern at the center of the painting. The alleged artifact looked like winter earmuffs made of Davross and embossed with over twenty elemental crystals of all colors.

    ''What a poser!'' Solus thought in outrage. ''Disciple my sweet ass. Mom would never craft something so tacky. I bet this Barham never met my mother and he painted the Ears as only a Wyvern can envision them.''

    ''That or your mother shapeshifted the Ears with every apprentice to hide its real form. It''s what I''d do. This way, once I gifted them to someone worthy of them, no one else in the group would know.''

    ''Damn if I hate your paranoia.'' Solus replied. ''Especially when it makes sense.''

    "If you want your father back, you''d better stop obstructing our investigation and start coborating." Strider was unaware of their dilemma and questioned Tanat''s words, making the Wyvern step back like he had been pped.

    "Don''t underestimate the Hand of Fate. ording to our sources, you know more than you are telling us. Your father is not the only Forgemaster who has disappeared. If we are right and he has been lured into a trap, yourfortable days in the mansion are over."

    Strider''s usations were just a ploy to force Tanat to see past his overinted ego and make the Wyvern understand that his interests and those of the Council aligned.

    ''I can''t force Tanat to help us but I can trick him into believing it''s his best option.'' The Zouwu inwardly grinned while watching the Wyvern''s expression shift from outrage, to worry, and into reluctant submission.

    "I would love to help the Hand of Fate." Tanat lied through his fangs while wearing his best smile. "But I have no idea where my father has gone. He never tells me about important clients because he''s afraid I might steal them from him once I''m done with my apprenticeship."

    That was true and the Zouwu nodded for him to continue. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Also, I didn''t lie before. This trip was nned and carefully organized. My Father was contacted by the client over two weeks ago through some back channels." Tanat noticed Strider opening his mouth and anticipated his question.

    "No, I don''t know who the middleman was or what channel they used formunicating. As I said, my father gatekeeps hiswork."

    "There was anything particr in his behavior when he left?" Ryka asked. "Did he bring something unusual with him?"

    Tanat pondered long and hard to remember the details of the day Barham had left the house.

    The young Wyvern had been so happy at the idea of bing the temporary lord of the house and hold absolute authority over his siblings that he had barely paid any attention to his father''s departure.

 Chapter 3081 Troubled Apprentice (Part 1)

    Chapter 3081 Troubled Apprentice (Part 1)

    "Master Barham was¡­" Tanat squinted his eyes in the mnemonic effort to recall details of that day. "Happy, which is quite unusual. He said something about a big job. He called it a potential game-changer. Jaya!"

    A stunning woman with strawberry blonde hair and violet eyes answered his call. She wore an overall, working gloves, and a Forgemastering mask. Everything was made of golden Wyvern''s scales streaked red all over.

    When Jaya took the mask off, her face was beaded with sweat and her hair sticky. Yet neither that nor her baggy clothes could hide her beauty more than a passing cloud can eclipse the sun.

    "How can I serve you, senior?" She panted from her recent efforts, still holding what Solus recognized as a Forgemastering hammer of unknown design.

    ''To Eyes or not to Eyes, that is the question.'' Solus bit her lower lip in hesitation. ''On the one hand, I doubt it''s better than the Fury and I can spare myself a headache. On the other hand, that hammer seems to be a masterpiece.

    ''It''s the first tasteful artifact I''ve seen here and maybe the proof I need this Barham was Mom''s apprentice or not. Oh, screw it!'' She activated the Eyes and regretted it instantly.

    Solus had to quickly filter out the arrays and the various enchantments in the room. She could clench her teeth only for so long before her face deformed into a rictus of agony and everyone noticed that something was wrong with her.

    "It''s Master Tanat for you!" The older Wyvern snarled. "Until our father returns, you are my apprentice." He showed her his si ring while also activating the arrays of the house to force his sister to kneel.

    It was a petty way to take his frustration from being ordered around by strangers out on her, but it made wonders for his ego.

    "Yes, Master. How can I serve you?" Jaya asked.

    ''What an ass.'' She actually thought, and she wasn''t the only one.

    "I need the most recent inventory of the vaults. My honored guests are looking for our father and need my help." Tanat said.

    "As youmand." She took a scroll of paper out of her dimensional amulet and handed it to him.

    "Great Mother almighty!" Tanat''s eyes went wide in surprise reading the up-to-date list of the transactions. "No wonder the old- I mean, Master Barham was so happy. The mysterious client bought some of our best pieces and rarest materials."

    "And your father trusted them to pay on delivery?" Lith sneered with a contempt that the Wyvern matched in spades.

    "Of course not. Master Barham was happy because he demanded the full payment upfront. The treasures have already been brought here and stored. The client had no reason to kill my father.

    "They wouldn''t get anything more than what they have paid for and lose one of the best artisans on Garlen. It''s just a matter of centuries, no, decades before Master Bahram bes the next Ruler of the mes."

    "I know you can''t show us the list, but can you at least tell us what ingredients and artifacts Barham sold?" Strider asked. "Lord and Lady Verhen are skilled Forgemasters and they might be able to understand what your father has been hired to craft."

    "Lord and Lady Verhen?" Both Wyverns echoed but their tones couldn''t have been more different.

    Tanat was filled with envy, hate, spite, and a tinge of revulsion. The thought that a dirty mongrel had awakened his Dragon blood while the Wyverns still rotted among the lesser species angered him.

    The fact that Lith had spat on such a blessing by having offspring with a human, instead, sickened Tanat.

    Jaya dusted her clothes, using a mix of darkness and water magic to clean herself from the soot and neutralize the stench of sulfuring from her clothes.

    "Is it true that you''ve received lessons from the Father of Fire?" She shifted her weight from one foot to the other in excitement.

    "I''m still receiving them." Lith nodded, making her gasp.

    "Is it true that you''ve learned Creation Magic?"

    "No." The word doused her enthusiasm like a downpour on a campfire. "Gr- Sark gave me a few lessons, but I''m still a beginner." It was more than enough to rekindle the me.

    "And is it true that you''ve invented a new branch of magic called Void Magic?" Its existence was well-known but aside from those who took part in Lith''s lessons, very few had seen a Void Spell and lived to tell the tale.

    "Yes." Lith nodded, making the young Wyvern squeal like a teenager in front of her favored pop singer. "I''m working on tier five now. But what does this-"

    Jaya took the inventory list off Tanat''s hands and gave it to Lith in a frenzy.

    "Do you take apprentices?" Her amethyst eyes sparkled at the idea of getting out of the nightmare that Barham''s workshop was and learning from a real Master Forgemaster.

    ''Father and big brother can brag all they want, but their contribution to the Forgemastering arts is irrelevant at best.'' She thought. ''Verhen is a Light Master, a Magus, and at twenty he has already crafted wonders Awakened and fake mages are desperate to reproduce.

    ''From his sister to his friends and even his mentor, every mage that worked with him got better for it. And he doesn''t treat any of them like ves, not even after he ascended into a Divine Beast.''

    Awakened had their version of Lith''s biography and it was a bestseller as well.

    "I''m sorry, no." Those three words took the light away from Mogar for Jaya and made her realize her blunder. "This is interesting, Strider. Look at the weapons list."

    "By the gods, this is a small arsenal!" The two men seemed to not care about her predicament. "Any idea what one can do with these materials?"

    "It could be anything." Lith shrugged. "It''s too generic to me. Solus?"

    She took the piece of paper, putting the Eyes of Menadion to work. The artifact cross-referenced its own database, the Library, Soluspedia, and the scraps of data the tower had managed to retain from the synching with the Apprentice Eyes.

    "Off the top of my head, I''d say permanent arrays and powerful ones at that." She said. "That or several small butplex pieces of equipment. There is not enough metal to arm many people, let alone an Emperor Beast.

    "There are a few ingredients restricted for Forbidden Magic hazard but with so much stuff it would be weird otherwise."

    "Thanks, Jaya. You have helped us greatly." Lith returned the list to Strider. "If we can get the assistants of the other missing Forgemasters to tell us what their masters have taken with them, we have good chances to figure out the endgame of their contractor."

    "Indeed." The Zouwu caught his drift. "Thank you, Lady Neth. The Council praises your coboration and I will notify my superiors of your involvement in case there is a reward." His words worked as a shield for Jaya and a warning for Tanat.

    "I''m certain that Lord Neth was just about to do the same, am I right?"

    "Of course." Tanat''s words oozed literal venom that sizzled as droplets of his saliva hit the floor. N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 3082 Troubled Apprentice (Part 2)

    Chapter 3082 Troubled Apprentice (Part 2)

    "Then I''ll make sure once we find him, your father realizes the vital role you yed in his survival, Lord Neth." Strider nodded. "If he has been lured into a trap, it will be thanks to you if hees back alive."

    The Wyvern rubbed his chin, pondering the implications of those words and the advantage that overlooking Jaya''s slight might give him in the uing battle for session.

    "Don''t thank me. Thank my sister." He said with a warm smile that didn''t extend to his eyes or voice.

    "I''m not Lith, but if you ever need a new teacher, this is my contact rune." Solus felt guilty for Jaya''s predicament and was afraid that the moment they left, Tanat would make her pay for her fangirl behavior.

    "Thank you, Lady Verhen." Jaya took out hermunication amulet to exchange runes.

    Now she could call for help and if something happened to her, Solus would know.

    ''Gods above and below, she''s no Tiamat but she still is the mother of his child.'' Tanat thought, falling victim to themon misconception caused by Elysia''s streaks and the fact that Lith and Solus shared the samest name.

    ''If Jaya leaves our home for Verhen''s, she would still enjoy his protection and share with his wife the secrets of the Wyvern bloodline. I''d better wait for the old lizard to return and deal with Jaya himself.''

    The group left the volcano and traveled back to their of the regional beast Lord of the Council, to leave a trail of her movements and reach their next destination with a single Warping array.

    "Why did you do that, Solus?" Lith asked as soon as they were at a safe distance. "Are you really willing to take in an apprentice with all the obligations that it entails?"

    He wasn''t referring to the housing costs and responsibilities but to the many secrets they had to keep from the rest of Mogar.

    "To save her life, dummy!" She replied. "And no, I''m still too weak for an apprentice."

    She sighed, taking a brief pause.

    "Also, I never said I''d be her teacher. I just told Jaya to contact me if she needed a new one. I''m sure that Faluel, Ajatar, Athung, and anyone with half a brain we know would pay Jaya''s weight in gold for an apprentice who can use Origin mes."

    "Because it''s not that simple." Ryka exined. "First, Jaya must meet someone who can take her master''s ce and they have to ept taking her in. An apprentice doesn''t get many opportunities to leave the house and when they do, they can''t trust anyone.

    "Good thinking." Lith nodded. "I wonder why she hasn''t left already."

    "Because it''s not that simple." Ryka exined. "First, Jaya must meet someone who can take her master''s ce and they have to ept taking her in. An apprentice doesn''t get many opportunities to leave the house and when they do, they can''t trust anyone.

    "Any mentor is basically their owner and even though Barham is an ass, he''s still her father. His other disciples are still Jaya''s siblings. If she leaves, how can she know for sure she''s not jumping out of the pan and into the fire?

    "What if her new mentor turns out to be a monster the moment they have her life in the palm of their hand? What if their workshop has a survival of the fittest environment and the older apprentices harass her night and day?"

    "Point taken. I guess I''ve never had to worry about such things because Protector introduced me to Faluel and we just hit it off." Lith felt guilty for rejecting Jaya for almost one second.

    Then he put her in the "none of my business" folder of his brain and forgot about it.

    In the following hours, they visited the private residences of the over twenty Forgemasters on their list. Three of them had returned home and knew nothing about the disappearance of their colleagues.

    They had all gone out for personal business they refused to disclose, but swore on the grave of their parents they knew nothing of the matter at hand. Their words meant little since ording to Ryka, two out of three belonged to Awakened bloodlines and their parents were alive and spellcasting.

    What really mattered to Lith were the readings picked by Eyes of Menadion during the questioning.

    ''One has just returned from the Blood Desert.'' Lith pondered. ''The sand in his hair and the residual auras of multiple Phoenixes can''te from any other ce.

    ''The second has been somewhere near a Dragon, and judging from how relieved she was when she heard we came on behalf of the Council, she was up to no good either.''

    ''Agreed.'' Solus nodded. ''The third one puzzles me a bit. And not just because he''s another fucking Redcap.''

    She was still triggered by the memory of Maergron. She had almost died twice inside the Garden and seeing another Redcap pushed all of her wrong buttons. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Yeah, he carried the signs of an underground mine which exins his unwillingness to answer our questions. If he was illegally digging ores belonging to another Awakened, I''d understand his reticence.

    ''But there was no trace of crystal or metal dust on him. Just a lot of powerful residual auras.''

    "Well, you win some and you lose some." Strider sighed. "Guess we can rule these guys out for now. The timing of their departure matching the disappearance of the other Forgemasters is probably just a coincidence."

    The three returned Awakened had epted being searched and they carried nothing illegal on them. Not for ack of trying, mind you, but the Zouwu had no way to know that.

    They had also agreed to not leave their homes and remain avable for further questioning. With only four people working on the case, Strider had no reason to waste time on an apparently dead lead.

    Not when there were more promising ones avable.

    After traveling through the three great countries and talking with the disciples of the missing Forgemasters, a pattern emerged.

    "This is interesting." Strider said. "All of them have been contacted during the past month by an unknown client who paid them upfront and arranged for a covert means of transportation the apprentices know nothing about.

    "The missing subjects left their homes on different days but their circumstances are nigh identical. Also, depending on how much of their lifespan they have left, all the missing Forgemasters are in the ''it''s just a matter of years/decades/centuries before they be a Ruler of the mes'' ballpark."

    "At least ording to their students." Ryka pointed out. "It could have just been brown-nosing"

    "No, they honestly believe that." Strider shook his head. "It''s the reason I arranged for us to speak with the main disciple first and then with the rest of the apprentices. They all praised their mentors while they were alone with us.

    "The future heirs had no reason to blow smoke up their master''s ass when there was no one to pat their heads and give them a tasty treat. It would exin why the three returned Forgemasters had nothing to do with our case."

    "Yeah." Solus nodded. "Those guys were just average. None of their artifacts was even as good as Jaya''s hammer."

    "Good gods, Solus. Can you really tell the quality of an artifact just by looking at it?" Ryka was bbergasted.

    ''Me and my big mouth!'' Solus inwardly griped.

    "No, not really." She actually said. "I just looked at them with Life Vision and appreciated the craftmanship."

 Chapter 3083 Shared Resources (Part 1)

    Chapter 3083 Shared Resources (Part 1)

    "Did you pick anything useful with your Tiamat eyes, Lith?" Strider believed that Lith''s tracking skills stemmed from a bloodline ability, not Menadion''s masterpiece.

    "Sadly, no." Lith replied. "No energy tracests for two weeks, especially in an environment above a mana geyser and with dozens of Forgemasters casting powerful spells on a daily basis. What''s our next move?"

    "We are doing this by the book." Ryka replied. "We contact our handler, give him our report, and see if our intelwork can find any useful lead. This isn''t a personal investigation anymore, we can ask the Council for support."

    They had collected enough proof to refute the original objections to the case. Themon circumstances surrounding the disappearance of so many powerful Forgemasters were rming by themselves, but the lists of materials made it much worse.

    Lith had requested an updated inventory from all the lead disciples to know what was missing and what had been bought right before their masters'' departure. After putting everything together, there were enough restricted ingredients to give birth to a new lost city.

    The Awakened Council couldn''t afford to lose so many potential Rulers of the mes. Sure, most of the missing Forgemasterscked the necessary talent and only a few of them could really aspire to reach Menadion''s glory, but they were all very good at their job.

    The Regional Lords of all races who managed the Warping Arraywork were questioned and the Royal Court was requested ess to the Gatework. Even if the Awakened often used fake IDs, their faces had to be scanned by the Association''s clerks.

    Very few Awakened bothered shapeshifting simply because there was no reason not to use their real face. They had done nothing wrong (that the Kingdom was aware of) and on paper, they were two-bit mages.

    "Disappear is a strong word." Strider said while they waited for the results of the cross-referenced databases."No one likes to fly all the way to their destination or Warp Step like a madman, especially if they aren''t familiar with the ce.

    "No dimensional coordinates means no dimensional magic and most Forgemasters aren''t the adventurous type. They spend most of their days holed up in their homes. They wake up, work, eat, study, rinse and repeat."

    "Okay, but why are you guys looking at me while talking aboutzy Forgemasters?" Solus didn''t like it one bit.

    "Because of this." Ryka pinched Solus'' soft belly. "You are an Awakened too, sister. You have a perfect metabolism the likes a human can only dream about. How much do you eat to achieve this?"

    "It''s not an achievement and none of your business!" Solus blushed in embarrassment when she noticed that Lith and Strider turned their heads away.

    They had nothing to add, but not because they didn''t share Ryka''sment about Solus'' physique.

    "There was a¡­ celebration recently and I might have gotten a little too enthusiastic with the dessert buffet."

    "I see." Ryka nodded. "And how long did this celebrationst? Weeks? Months?"

    "Ryka!" Strider shut her mouth with his hand. "Please, excuse her rudeness. nt folk have no filter. She didn''t mean to offend you, she was just¡­" He didn''t know how to say it without piling up on Solus.

    "Being sincere." She sighed.

    "Exactly." The Zouwu would usually bring out food and sweets to lighten the mood but he knew it would have been like adding doughnuts to the sugary ruins of a failed diet.

    As for Ryka, her remark wasn''t so far off the truth. Solus had managed to make the sweets bought from the Traveling Tavern for one week and one day. It had taken her sheer willpower but at least she could say they hadsted more than a week.

    It was an "achievement" she wasn''t proud of in hindsight, throwing her diet off once again.

    ''Progress, not perfection.''She inwardly sighed. ''I will do better next time.''

    "By the way, since when does the Council have shared databases with the Kingdom and logs of who uses the Warping Arraywork and when?" Lith asked, curious about the innovation as much as he was eager to change the topic.

    "Thest time Faluel Warped me somewhere, she didn''t take notes."

    "It''s a recent policy I proposed to the Council after talking with your friend Jirni Ernas." Strider replied, d to spare Solus from further embarrassment. "The Hand of Fate is working to recruit Constables as advisors before Awakening them.

    "The problem is the trustworthy ones are also loyal to the Kingdom who nurtured them and we can''t hire those who were fired for dishonorable conduct. At the moment, the best we can do is use active Constables as consultants."

    "Do you have contacts in the Empire and Desert too or is the coboration limited to the Kingdom?" Solus asked.

    "The War of the Griffons helped the Council build a solid rtionship with the Crown which made things easier." The Zouwu said. "Our connections with the Empire are a bit strained due to past grudges.

    "The Council always shunned the Empress as a puppet of the Guardians but she is working to bridge our differences and establish the necessary liaisons from scratch. As for the Desert, its people have logs that put the Kingdom''s to shame.

    "Not a grain of sand moves without a Feather noting it down and sending a report to the Overlord. The Council and the other two great countries are afraid that by sharing our databases, Sark will be able to gather intel.

    "She''s a Guardian and no one doubts she can sift through thousands and thousands of cargo manifests to ascertain the real financial situation of each rival region. It''s a political nightmare, especially with the current race for Jiera."

    Lith nodded, well aware of the current progress of all three great countries in building their outposts overseas.

    The Blood Desert had reached Jiara''s shoresst but Sark''s colonization operations proceeded swifter and bore better results than herpetition''s.

    Phoenixes from her Nest guarded the outposts until the permanent arrays werepleted andpared to the harsh conditions of the Desert, Jiera was a piece of cake for the Overlord''s tribesmen.

    To make matters worse for the Kingdom and the Empire, the people of the Desert had no rivalry or conflicting interests slowing their advance. There were no political or merchant factions at odds fighting for mining rights.

    Everyone worked for Sark who in turn shared her new resources with the colonists, rewarding their hardships and making their loyalty iron d. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Every man toiling in Jiera knew that in case of their death, their families would be taken care and receive their share of riches for ten years or until their children reached adult age if they had toddlers.

    The people of the Desert took any threat to the Overlord''s territories as a personal offense because it was. Bribery attempts and sabotage were dealt with extreme prejudice. Jiera was learning that Sark''s justice was swift and brutal, no matter on what side of Mogar herws were defied.

    "Yeah, Grandma-, I mean, the Overlord has a way with people. She may be a tyrant, but after so much chaos I''m afraid that the Jierans will favor safety and order over freedom."

 Chapter 3084 Shared Resources (Part 2)

    Chapter 3084 Shared Resources (Part 2)

    "I can''t me them." Strider sighed. "It''s what I would do. Also, you can stop backpedaling. We know of your rtionship with the Overlord. You can call her grandma."

    "Are you kidding me? It''s damn embarrassing!" Lith scratched his head. "One thing is doing it at home. Outside, I feel like a little kid bragging about how cool his rtives are."

    "I find it cute." Ryka giggled as Strider''smunication amulet drew his attention.

    "We got our information." He said. "The Forgemasters departed about two weeks ago but one of them used the Warp Gate in Zalth just a few days ago. Is it recent enough for you?"

    "It should." Lith nodded. "My tracking ability won''t work inside the Association branch but if we find a ce where they have spent enough time, I should be able to iste their energy signature."

    "What were they doing in Zalth?" Solus asked.

    "Unknown." Ryka said while skimming through the report. "Adria Yth, a human Forgemaster, used the local Gate three days ago to reach Xaanx where she stayed for a couple of days before returning to Zalth. That''s all we know." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Xaanx is one of the most important trading hubs of the Kingdom." Lith pondered. "It''s famous for its ck market. I bet our missing Forgemaster went there to procure something outside the official channels."

    "Agreed. Let''s go." A few Warp Stepster they reached the nearest city equipped with a Warp Gate and from there Zalth was only one step away.

    Ryka, Strider, and Lith shapeshifted to average human forms to not draw attention. Lith was already human but the presence of the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom was bound to cause a fuss.

    They couldn''t let their mark know they were tracking her down.

    As for Solus, she just hid the colored streaks in her hair before reaching the city.

    "Good morning. I''m Assistant Constable Strider Vhan and I need information about this person." The Zouwu said to the Association clerk while showing him a badge and the hologram of his mark.

    "One moment." The clerk, a balding middle-aged man passed the badge over a crystal on his desk. Only after the gemstone glowed blue and the database confirmed Strider''s identity did the clerk reply.

    "Mage Phanil was here three days ago and again yesterday. Is there a problem?"

    "Yes, Mage Gotah." Strider nodded after reading the clerk''s name from the tag on his chest. "She''s suspected of buying contraband from Xaanx''s ck market and we need to question her."

    This way, even if rumors of the investigation reached Adria, she would just believe that her alias had been burned. An assistant Constable meant more a routine check than a manhunt.

    "If you say so." The clerk shrugged. "With all due respect, Mage Phanil barely passed her admission test to the Association and is one of the many nameless mages in our fold.

    "Shecks the means to buy anything dangerous, let alone the skills to put them to use. We protect her and those like her in the hope their offspring will carry greater magical talent."

    "I know, but are you going to tell that to my Archon?" Strider''s voice held a perfect blend of annoyance and frustration typical of a subordinate sent on a wild goose chase. "Because I''m not going to risk a note on my personnel file."

    "Me neither." At the mention of an Archon, Gotha swallowed a lump of saliva. "We small fries must do what we are told, no matter how stupid the order is."

    "Can you tell us anything about Phanil?" Ryka asked.

    "I''ve met her only once. It was her first visit to Zalth and we didn''t talk." The clerk shrugged. "I can see from her log she frequently goes to Xaanx. Maybe you''ll have better luck there."

    Without waiting for an answer, Gotah inputted the coordinates in the Warp Gate and activated it.

    "Thanks." Strider and the others nodded at the clerk as thank you as they walked through the dimensional corridor.

    They repeated the same questions on the other side but the answers they received were different.

    "Mage Phanil?" Said Mage Urza, the clerk on duty. "She''s as brilliant as she''s pretty. It''s a shame no one gives her a chance just because she graduated from one of the lesser academies.

    "I''ve known her for years now, and I can vouch for her talent and honesty. Whoever reported her, must have just spouted the names of everyone they knew to pass them as criminals and shorten their sentence."

    She was a plump woman in her forties with short hair and hazel eyes.

    "That''s what we also think, but we have to do our due diligence." Ryka replied. "Do you have any idea where we could find her or get information on her?"

    "I don''t know where she''s gone or what she came to do here, but I''m pretty sure I know where she stayed." Urza lowered her gaze, feeling conflicted between loyalty toward her close acquaintance and her job but choosing thetter without hesitation.

    "We both enjoy a good meal after a hard day at work so we always talk about food when she visits. Thest time I saw her, I rmended her the Crystal Cauldron. It''s a historic hotel restaurant that has recently be very popr after hiring new chefs and adding mage-affordable menus.

    "Their desserts are to die for and Mage Phanil has a sweet tooth, just like me."

    "Where is it?" Solus said with more than professional enthusiasm.

    "Here." The clerk wrote down the coordinates and once the members of the group inputted them in their amulets, they obtained a map of Xaanx with an arrow pointing at their destination. "Gods bless Magus Verhen.

    "Here." The clerk wrote down the coordinates and once the members of the group inputted them in their amulets, they obtained a map of Xaanx with an arrow pointing at their destination. "Gods bless Magus Verhen.

    "Ever since we have the Web, finding our way around the city has never been easier."

    Lith had also giarized GPS. All cities had holographic maps, the only thing the local clerks had to add was the position ofndmarks and establishments. After that, the tracking function of the Tablets allowed their owner to orient themselves.

    It also allowed the Kingdom to know who was where at any moment of the day, but that''s a story for another day. What''s important to know is that all kinds of amulets, even those used by mages and nobles, could link to the Web as long as they allowed ess to their position.

    "Thanks for your help. Is there something we can bring you from the Crystal Cauldron?" Solus asked.

    "I don''t want to impose." Urza said with a watering mouth. "But if you have the time, I''d love a roasted duck for lunch and a slice of Hell cake for dessert. Thank you."

    "Hell cake?" Solus asked with theplicit tone of a fellow foodie.

    "Uhm, yes." The clerk said shily. "It''sprised of twelve kinds of creams that melt in your mouth for a sublime experience. It owes its name to the fact that it''s hard to digest and almost addictive.

    "It has ruined many a diet and made countless people gain weight." She was one of them but even though the information was omitted, it was heavily implied.

    "It sounds amazing! Thank you for everything." Solus strutted out of the Association, noticing herpanions staring at her when it was toote.

 Chapter 3085 Crystal Cauldron (Part 1)

    Chapter 3085 Crystal Cauldron (Part 1)

    "Seriously?" Ryka asked, voicing everyone''s thoughts.

    "It''s none of your-" Solus'' words died in her mouth as she noticed Lith''s worried look. In a fight, a mage out of shape would easily be out of life. It wasn''t just a matter of daily health but also survival.

    "I''ll have just one slice. For the investigation''s purposes."

    Lith turned the Eyes of Menadion on and off for a moment, hoping to catch a glimpse of his mark but to no avail. There were too many powerful residual energy signatures inside the Association and they all vanished once out of the door. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Mages would rarely walk or use carriages. The weak ones would fly while the powerful ones would Warp to their destination. The Eyes picked up several energy trails going up but they were either too weak or going in the wrong direction.

    The group had to reach the Crystal Cauldron by flight since none of them had ever visited Xaanx.

    Lith exploited the opportunity to activate the Eyes again. Away from the crowd, it was easy to record the residual energy signatures of powerful mages who had flown near the local branch of the Association without getting a massive headache.

    Reaching the restaurant was easy, getting inside, however, was not.

    "I''m really sorry, assistant Constable Strudel Fan, but we are all booked up." The concierge was a man of grand stature, presence, and ego. "Come back in five, six hours tops and you''ll have our full cooperation."

    "It''s Strider Vahn and we don''t have so much time to waste!" The now-human Zouwu still managed to growl.

    "You also don''t have a warrant so unless you are going topensate our clients for the disturbance and our staff for the lost tips, I respectfully invite you toe backter." Each word oozed his contempt for the public servants who earned in a month what most of his clients did in a day.

    "Please, we just need you to look at one picture and answer a few questions." Ryka conjured a hologram of Phanil/Adria but the concierge pushed her amulet away without even looking at it.

    "I''m sorry but our customers expect a certain degree of privacy that our establishment is d to provide. We''ll dly report anything illegal we have witnessed but if we had, I can assure you that person wouldn''t be our client anymore."

    Based on his nametag, his name was Vonam, and based on his attitude, he was a snob.

    "Please, we just need a minute and something to eat." Solus said, managing only to make him curl his thick lips up in disgust.

    "Time is money and we don''t have discounts for Royal Constables. Again, we are fully booked and we''ll see you in six hours. Goodbye."

    "You just said five!" Strider snarled.

    "And now they are six!" Vonam snarled back. "And if you don''t get yourself a warrant and some manners, they might be seven. Good! Bye!"

    In all that chaos, Lith remained calm and collected as if the matter didn''t involve him.

    "See youter, Mister Vonam." He gave the concierge a bow deep enough to express respect but shallow enough to remark that he deemed the concierge below a Constable.

    A quick stop high in the sky and five minutester, Vonam discovered that the six hours had already passed.

    "I''d like a table for me and a few answers for my friends." Back to his real appearance and wearing his Supreme Magus robe, Lith received a very different wee.

    "Of course!" Vonam gave him a bow so deep that his head almost touched the floor. "Please, follow me."

    "Wait, five minutes ago you said the restaurant is fully booked!" Ryka could barely contain her annoyance.

    "And it is." The concierge replied with the tone he would use for a dumb kid. "But every establishment worth its name always keeps a few VIP tables avable for emergencies like this."

    He said while looking at Lith like he was a jingling sack of gold. Because he was.

    ''Verhen can afford the whole restaurant a few times over and his presence alone will do wonders for our image.'' The concierge inwardly rubbed his hands at the thought of the rich bonus he would receive if he yed his cards right.

    He personally led them through the dining area.

    The floor was made of a smooth, dull grey marble that gave the ce a refined look while preventing stains from standing out too much or reflecting what was below the gowns of the female customers.

    The tables and chairs were made of solid cherrywood painted with the same white hue of the silk napkins and tablecloths. Large crystal chandeliers hung to the ceiling, lighting even the innermost corner of the restaurant as day, no matter how far from a window.

    Each table had on its centerpiece a short butrge vase filled with different kinds of fresh flowers to give color to the ce. While walking through the dining area, everyone noticed how the ce was split by wooden fences into three different sections.

    To keep the pickets from looking like prison bars, they were decorated with gands and climbing nts that produced delicate flowers. Together with the lights the fences not only gave the impression of dining in an open garden but also guaranteed privacy.

    The restaurant was divided into a public section, another reserved for the hotel''s clients, and thest one, where Lith''s group was headed, was the VIP section. The floral decorations blocked the sight of those in the public section which was crampedpared to the other two.

    The VIP area upied the same space as the public section but had half the tables to give the guests plenty of room and an intimate allure to every meal. The light from the chandeliers didn''t reach past the tall fences because there was no need for it.

    During the day the ample windows facing the garden provided abundant natural light. At night, instead, alchemical candles would ensure that the people sitting at the same table could see each other but not the other customers.

    Strider was stunned, turning back and forth from the middle of the wooden gate.

    "It''s like walking into a different ce." He said while observing how the white chairs of the VIP area had gold iys and the tablecloths were hand-woven to form a different floral pattern for each table.

    "I''m d you noticed." Vonam said, barely repressing a sneer. "Our Camellia table was made specifically for you and your lovely wife, Magus Verhen."

    He pointed at a table covered by a cloth embroidered with countless bright red camellias of different sizes.

    "Thank you. I''ll bring Kam here as soon as I can." He said, making the concierge squeal in joy.

    ''This guy is a piece of shit, but the ce is nice. If the food is also as good as Urza said, Kami is going to love it.'' Lith thought.

    ''And people called me crazy when I had that tablecloth embroidered on my dime.'' The concierge thought. ''What are the odds of a Magusing here, they said. Now they can all suck my fat, golden bonus!''

    "And you two will be our honored guests." He actually said, giving Lith a deep bow.

 Chapter 3086 Crystal Cauldron (Part 2)

    Chapter 3086 Crystal Cauldron (Part 2)

    "What kind of flowers do you visually like?" Vonam Asked.

    "Flowers?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "I apologize, but Camellias don''t exist so this table is the only one with no matching flowers. We give our customers an ample selection to choose from."

    "Why visually? Isn''t the smell important as well?" As a Fae, Ryka considered herself an expert on the matter but the re Vonam threw her made the Titania feel like dirt under a shoe.

    "No, it''s not." He replied with ill-concealed annoyance. "How can Magus Verhen appreciate the delicate vor of his meal with his nose stuffed with the smell of flowers? It would ruin his dining experience."

    The concierge pointed at a small button linked to a weak darkness spell that would cancel the scent of flowers at the beginning of the meal. Then he handed Lith a single menu.

    "They are my guests. I''ll pay for them. Answer their questions but don''t bother me. I''m here only for the food." Lith said.

    "With all due respect, Magus Verhen, how do you know these people?" Vonam handed three more menus, cringing at their presence but not at the money they would bring in.

    "Constable Strider is a colleague of my wife." Lith''s gaze turned cold as he created usible deniability. "He knew I was in Xaanx for business and called in a favor. Why? Do you have something against Royal Constables?"

    "Gods, no! It''s the noblest of jobs. May the heavens strike me if I lie." Luckily for him, Mogar didn''t listen to just anyone so nothing happened.

    As everyone ced their order, Solus looked at the concierge in annoyance.

    "Excuse me, do you really not know who I am?" She asked while moving her finger from Lith to herself

    "I''m sorry, no. I''m sure you''ll be a great Constable. The gods know if the Kingdom needs more people like you." He said with the loving smile of an uncle.

    While they waited for the food, Vonam kept thempany, allowing Strider and Ryka to ask their questions.

    "Mage Phanil? Of course, I know her." This time he recognized the hologram with just one nce. "I never forget an esteemed guest. She came here for the first time three days ago and left just yesterday. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "She was our guest during her stay in Xaanx and dined at our restaurant for every meal."

    "Could we see her room, please? We only need a minute. It''s a minor investigation but being thorough would make us look good in front of our boss." Ryka used every bit of her feminine charms but Vonam was immune to it.

    "Well, depends." He said with a pensive look on his face. "Revealing the matters of a past client without a warrant goes against the hotel policy but I have no reason to refuse showing a room to another potential client."

    He said while staring intently at Lith who was staring with equal focus at the beer list.

    "I''ll take a Maekosh Honey Dryad." He said, referring to an ale named after the peculiar color it turned to after the fermentation. "Why are looking at me?"

    After several nudges and Vonam repeated his offer, Lith agreed and so did the concierge.

    "Do you have any other questions?" He looked and sounded like a different person after acknowledging that they were Kam''s colleagues and that Constables were the salt of Mogar.

    "No, we''ll call you if somethinges to mind." Strider grunted, annoyed by the tant disparity of treatment.

    He was an Elder of the Council and quite wealthy at that, but he hadn''t considered adding such detail while creating his cover identity.

    "Just ring the bell if you need anything." Vonam pointed at a small crystal at the center of the table. "It will summon a member of the staff."

    "What are you thinking?" Solus asked, noticing the serious look on his face.

    "I''m thinking about what flowers we should have them bring here. I know what I want for Kami, but for these guys?" He pointed at Ryka and Strider. "No clue. Also, no offense."

    "None taken." The Titania chuckled. "Guess we''ll take a buddy-buddy option since this has nothing romantic."

    "I''m more interested in knowing why you are acting so aloof, Lith." Strider pretended not to notice Ryka''s sighing. "You could have helped us with the room issue instead of forcing us to drag you into it."

    "Are you kidding me?" Lith said with a snort. "Were I to do that, that gossip of a concierge would have told anyone willing to listen to him that there is a case so urgent that it needs the intervention of the Supreme Magus.

    "He would have done it to stress out how the Crystal Cauldron helped me and how much I appreciated their hospitality, but in the end, it would havepromised the secrecy of our investigation.

    "This way, instead, you look like a scrub trying to impress his boss on a minor case and the only interesting part of the story is that you know me through Kami. When Vonam spins this story, because he will, he won''t mention any of you guys or what you are doing.

    "Only that I came here and I''m looking to book a room for a romantic evening with my wife. It''s all about marketing."

    "Damn, when you put it like that, it''s a brilliant move." The Zouwu massaged his chin. "I''m sorry for doubting you. I guess I need to spend more time with humans and less with Awakened.

    "When I interact with our kind, I never have to worry about this kind of bullshit."

    Solus gave him a bright smile, d he had said "our kind". There was no trace of aggression or prejudice in Strider''s manners, just a grumpy attitude that reminded her of Lith and made Solus chuckle.

    When the appetizers arrived, Ryka ordered Thunderbells for the centerpiece. It was a white bellflower with angr yellow streaks that resembled a bolt of lightning, hence the name.

    "You heard thedy." Vonam snapped his fingers at a busboy in a livery who ran like the wind. "Do you mind if I take a celebratory picture of this event, Magus Verhen? We''ll post it on the Web to promote the Crystal Cauldron. With your permission, of course."

    "Sure." Lith nodded.

    He was expecting the request and had a counter move ready.

    After the group picture, he offered to take one alone with Vonam in front of the restaurant''s sign. It would make it look like the concierge was the one who knew Lith and establish Vonam a signature character of the Cauldron, boosting the concierge''s status.

    "Gods, I''m not worthy." Vonam cried thinking about the raise he would receive and that firing him without an iron-d reason had just be nigh impossible.

    He would be associated with the image of the establishment, giving him influence in the internal power struggles.

    "Just do me a favor. Don''t publish anything for a couple of days." Lith said. "I want to surprise my missus and if she sees the photos, she''ll understand I''m going to bring her here."

    "Yes, yes!" The concierge gave Lith a series of rapid deep bows that reminded Solus of the drinking bird toy from Earth.

 Chapter 3087 Illusionary Wall (Part 1)

    Chapter 3087 Illusionary Wall (Part 1)

    "Anything for you, Your Magusness. The meal is on the house." Vonam said while bowing his head.

    ''Jackpot!'' Lith inwardly grinned. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Solus could read him like a book and she had a hard time stiflingughter. Ryka and Strider, instead, were amazed by Lith''s maniption tactics and his ability to lie through his teeth without showing any telltale signs of deception.

    They too would have believed him, if they didn''t know better. The Titania and the Zouwu exchanged a quick look, wondering if Lith had done the same with them and if so, how many times.

    After a delicious, abundant, and free-of-charge lunch, Vonam brought them to the fourth of the four floors of the hotel.

    "Wait, isn''t this¡­" Lith said in horror, incapable of finishing the phrase.

    "Our Royal Suite, yes." Vonam nodded with pride. "Mage Phanil had excellent taste."

    His pitch was excellent, but everyone could hear the implied "she had a deep purse" subtext echoing in the background.

    The concierge opened the door with what looked like a crystal keychain and let them in. The room, or rather, the rooms, wererge and spacious. The suite was bigger than Kam''s apartment in Belius and much better furnished.

    ''I want to go back to Belius and dine there with Kami, sometimes.'' Lith sighed with nostalgia and activated the Eyes of Menadion.

    There were several recent energy signatures belonging to the cleaning staff, but they were all so weak that Lith had no doubt they were irrelevant. There was a single powerfultent energy signature and even after a full day it still carried violet streaks.

    Lith had the Eyes disregard every other energy signature and focus on the bright violet core until its data were recorded in the Eyes'' database. He stood on the door, making small talk with Vonam about the room while the others pretended to perform a routine search.

    "They won''t find anything, sir. Our staff is highlypetent and if one of our guests leaves something behind, the concierge on duty is notified and the items are left in our lost and found safe." Vonam said.

    "It''s a great suite, for someone single. Do you have a Royal Honeymoon Suite or something like that?" Lith asked.

    "Of course, but your Constable friends wanted to see this one, so¡­" The concierge bowed apologetically.

    "Oh, right. I forgot. My bad." Lith seemed to care so little about the investigation that it was infuriating.

    A few minutes and a quick visit to the Honeymoon Suiteter, they were out and Lith was back to his Constable persona.

    "What''s our next move?" Strider asked. "Did you pick her trace?"

    "I did, but wherever she is, Adria is outside my perception range." Lith replied.

    "No problem." The Zouwu nodded. "We could use your ability to follow her to the ck market, but it would be pointless. No one of us has the authority or the connections necessary to force the merchants to tell us the truth.

    "We would just waste time and throw your acting performance in the gutter. We''ll worry about what she bought in Xaanx when we find her."

    They returned to the Association branch, delivered Urza her meal, and moved to Zalth. From there, they reached the city walls and asked the guards about Mage Phanil.

    To maintain her fa?ade, Adria had to leave behind a paper trail like a fake mage would. She couldn''t just Spirit Warp outside the dimensional sealing arrays and burn her alias.

    The captain of the guards informed the Constables that Mage Phanil had left Zalth from the west gate and had taken flight from there. Lith confirmed his words with the Eyes that picked up her trace until it disappeared into what was likely to be a Warp Steps.

    "What about now?" Ryka asked.

    "Still nothing, but we know when she left and the direction she moved in." Lith replied. "As Xenagrosh taught usst time, there''s no such thing as a random Steps."

    They flew in a straight line from thest trace of the energy signature until the Eyes picked up a faint signal on the horizon.

    "That way." Lith pointed somewhere south-southwest and the group changed their course ordingly.

    The closer they got, the stronger the signal became and the more information the Eyes could collect.

    "Adria is still far, but I can already tell you that she''s somewhere below the ground. Somewhere deep." Lith said.

    "Not another Garden!" Solus groaned.

    "Unlikely." Strider said. "Also, damn. Xenagrosh was right. I have to seriously improve my misdirection skills. If I were on the run, I would have acted no differently from Adria and you would have found me with the same unsettling ease."

    "I agree with Strider." Ryka said. "Also, I expected it to be underground. Only a noble could have a house so big that it can host over twenty Forgemasters and be equipped with oneb for each one of them.

    "Yet if our mysterious contractor took so much care to go unnoticed, it would be stupid of them to ruin everything by using their official residence as their base of operations."

    "True, but why dos it always have to be underground?" Solus said in frustration.

    "Because building stuff in the sky is hard and easily noticeable." Strider chuckled. "By the way, here you go."

    He handed her an extra slice of Hell cake he had taken to go.

    "Thank you!" Solus said with a dazzling smile.

    "What about me?" Ryka pouted.

    "I thought you didn''t care about sweets." The Zouwu shrugged but handed her a slice as well, making the Titania squeal with joy.

    She didn''t care one bit for the cake, only for the thought behind it.

    "I''m sorry, I don''t have any for you." Strider said to Lith.

    "And I neither care nor want a slice. Kami would ask me where I got it and spoil the surprise. Same if I bring a slice for my mother. She would share it with my sister and again, Kami would know.

    "I''ll have a whole Hell cake ready for takeout for when I get back there."

    "Wait, wasn''t it just a lie?"The Zouwu asked.

    "No." Lith shook his head. "Vonam is a jerk but the food is nice, the ce is nice, and my wife deserves nice things."

    Ryka aed and frowned in quick session as Strider willingly didn''t pick up the hint again.

    A few hourster, the Eyes brought them to the entrance of what looked like a bear''s den, with a live-in bear included.

    The poor creature rolled on his back and exposed his belly in terror as soon as his survival instinct told him begging for mercy was his only survival option.

    <"Don''t be scared. We are just passing by. We won''t hurt you unless you force us to."> Strider said while patting the brown bear. [AN: tranted from beast speak.]

    The bear sighed in relief but remained still until the Zouwu gave him plenty of freshly cut meat. With a serene heart and a rumbling stomach, the animal gobbled everything while rubbing his massive body against the Awakened.

    "What was that?" Lith asked.

    "Beast speak. You don''t know it even though you are a Divine Beast?" Strider asked, received a no in reply. "If you want, I can teach you."

 Chapter 3088 Illusionary Wall (Part 2)

    Chapter 3088 Illusionary Wall (Part 2)

    "Thanks. I''ll add it to my to-do list." Lith groaned. "What do we do now? It''ste and we have no idea what awaits inside."

    "At least we know it''s not a Garden." Ryka couldn''t see any mana flow around. "Nor a geyser."

    "There''s a lot of enchanted protections starting from there, though." Lith pointed at an illusionary wall that an array-detecting spell lit up like a Christmas tree.

    "Dammit, whoever this guy is, they are thorough." Strider and the others spent what was left of daylight to study the magical formations. "There''s no way to turn them off without revealing our presence.

    "I say wee back tomorrow with fresh eyes after giving the arrays some study."

    The group agreed and after a few Steps, Lith and Solus were back home. They spent the evening with Kam, the children, and the rest of their family. Thanks to the geyser under the Mansion, the tower worked at full power, and with it the Grimoire.

    Lith had set the floor to decipher the magical formations so that he suffered no mental burden while the Grimoire worked its magic. The Eyes were linked to the Library from which the artifact had ess to everything Lith and Solus knew about arrays.

    The arrays surrounding the illusionary wall of the cave were broken down and analyzed one by one and the information acquired was neatly organized in a folder. Only one automated floor of the tower could work at a time for now, but the rest could wait.

    Normally, Lith and Solus kept the Spark active, leaving their equipment to be further refined. Half of the Adamant of Solus'' Voidwalker armor had turned into Davross, forming an alloy superior to purified Adamant but without the special properties of pure Davross.

    The same had happened to Lith''s armor and Double Edge, but they were only coated with the mystical metal. Their backbone wasprised of the skeleton, scales, and skin of Syrook, thete Darkness Dragon.

    The Spark had refined the remains of his corpse, feeding it with nutrients from the storage and allowing it to grow and be refined as if the Wyrm was still alive. Lith''s Voidwalker armor and Double Edge were now made of materials with the same properties as the body of a 30 meter (100'') tall bright violet-cored Darkness Dragon.

    The same had happened to the Sage Staff whose Yggdrasill Wood had gained the equivalent of ten more years of body refinement, close to the maximum age that any World Tree had ever reached.

    The process had increased their size, durability, and mana conductivity. The armor and weapon now fit Lith''s Tiamat body perfectly without being stretched, increasing both their offensive and defensive capabilities.

    The same had happened to the Sage Staff whose Yggdrasill Wood had gained the equivalent of ten more years of body refinement, close to the maximum age that any World Tree had ever reached.

    Whaty beyond was a mystery that Solus couldn''t wait to unravel.

    "Did you really scout restaurants for a romantic date while on the mission?" Kam was ted by Lith''s description of the Crystal Cauldron. "Then I have to prepare something of my own to return you the favor." She giggled.

    Valtak, instead, was annoyed hearing that they had to postpone his lesson.

    "You better make up for this by freeing two days in a row for me, hatchling." The Father of Fire said. "Otherwise I might decide that moving on to a new and more respectful student is a better use of my time."

    "I''m sorry, Valtak, but this is important." Lith replied.

    "It better be. Valtak out."

    Useless to say, Tista and Morok weren''t happy either. The Hekate now had to get beaten up two days in a row by Sark''s Phoenixes while the Tyrant knew that the make up lesson meant missing one day of experimenting on human evolution.

    "Don''t worry about me. I don''t care." R was the only one taking the news with grace. "Everything I have I owe it to you, Lith. One day is nothingpared to the happiness you blessed me and my child with."

    Her words made Tista and Morok feel like ungrateful jerks while the kids joined in her praise.

    "Uncle Lith is the best, right big brother?" Garrik still considered every day he didn''t spend alone and locked in his room as a blessing.

    Even having a meal with those he considered his family gave Garrick so much joy that it made the older Tyrant''s heart tighten.

    "He sure is." Morok said while ruffling Garrik''s hair.

    ***

    The next day, Lith and Solus woke up at dawn and reached Strider and Ryka outside the cave. There was no point in meeting at the Mansion again since they knew their destination and it saved the members of the Hands of Fate a few stops.

    "I''ve worked on the arrays a bit, but they are tooplex and there are too many of them." The Zouwu sighed. "I even called several colleagues but on such short notice wecked the necessary personnel to finish the job.

    "I got only half of them done."

    "Same here." Ryka shrugged. "I deciphered a few, but that''s it."

    "Me too." Lith lied through his teeth.

    "Don''t worry, youzy asses, I had better luck." Solus yed her part and took three folders out of her pocket dimension. "I''ve deciphered everything."

    "What about your folder?" Ryka asked.

    "It''s all in here." Solus tapped her forehead.

    She was being honest since the fourth folder was stored in Soluspedia and thanks to the knowledge storage, she knew every page like the back of her hand.

    "By the gods, so much work in so little time. You really are a genius." Strider flipped through the pages, reading findings simr to his own, just better and moreprehensive. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I won''t lie. I am." Solus puffed her chest out with pride. "But I also have to admit that without a solid Library and an all-nighter, I wouldn''t have discovered more than you guys did."

    Again, it was the truth. The Eyes of Menadion was a miracle of magic, not a supernatural miracle. Without time, world energy, and the Library, Solus'' head would have been in massive pain just by looking at the illusionary wall and Lith with her.

    Thanks to the information acquired from the tower''s Grimoire floor, it was possible for the group to alter the magical formations while keeping them active. This way, no rm would be triggered and their caster wouldn''t notice anything.

    Yet possible didn''t mean easy. They had to work on a single array at a time and use surgical precision while altering each rune. It took them a couple of hours but it was worth it.

    There were no safety measures past the illusionary wall and the road was clear.

    "Probably they don''t want to draw attention," Lith said. "The hidden entrance and its arrays were cloaked. We would have never found this ce if we weren''t following Adria''s trail inside the cave.

    "On top of that, too many arrays too close can''t be cloaked. They would form a corridor of energy that anyone with Life Vision would notice."

    Past the illusionary wall, there was an underground tunnel that bore no lights. Its surface was too smooth and regr to be natural.

    "Judging by theck of magical residue, this ce was erected with earth magic a long time ago and maintained regrly." Strider said.

 Chapter 3089 Labyrinth (Part 1)

    Chapter 3089 Labyrinth (Part 1)

    The group used Life Vision to advance in the darkness while Ryka used Earth Vision to perceive threatsing from too deep in the ground for the other mystical senses to see.

    Their advance was slow but not for the presence of obstacles or hostile creatures. After the experience in the Garden, they took their time casting life-sensing and array-detecting spells at regr intervals.

    Also, they looked at moss, rodents, and small bugs with suspicion, expecting them to turn into nt monsters and attack them at any moment. For several kilometers, the only enemy was the shadows in their minds and their advance proceeded smoothly.

    ''Gods above and below!'' Strider cursed via the mind link, the only method ofmunication they used to avoid making any noise. ''If only we had flown instead of wasting time and mana, we would have gotten here in minutes.

    ''Too bad that hindsight is always 20/20.'' No one felt safe advancing blindly so even though they shared his feelings, they had to take it slow until it paid off.

    ''What the heck?'' The Zouwu''s life-sensing array detected negative energy signatures, the mark of undead and Abominations. ''There are at least twenty hostiles ahead but they are too weak to be a threat even to a fake mage.''

    A check with the array-sensing spell detected nothing which was even more absurd.

    ''What''s the point of using as guards creatures so weak that they can block scared farmers at best?'' Ryka asked. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Only one way to find out.'' Lith said. ''Wait for me here.''

    He shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon and activated Shadow Step, bing one with the surrounding darkness. He kept the Eyes of Menadion active, to spot eventual dormant arrays and study the equipment the undead might carry.

    ''Fuck me sideways. I hate being always right.'' Right behind a sharp corner, there was an X-shaped junction leading to three different directions.

    Lith could see with the Eyes that Adria''s energy signature shone on the west of the crossroad and guess the right path. Yet there was a bone to pick there. Or rather, lots of them.

    Twenty-four skeletons, six for each corridor, were lined up at tens meters of distance one from the other. It made it impossible to destroy them all in a single swoop and, to make matters worse, each one of the undead held a ss marble.

    The marbles were all imbued with the same simple spell that the Eyes deciphered in a matter of seconds. Lith observed the lesser undead for a few minutes, wondering if there was more to them.

    The answer came when a droplet of water fell from the ceiling with a plip. It would have been barely audible under any other circumstance but in the silence of the tunnel, it echoed like a bell.

    "What is it now?" The red light of undeath of the nearest skeleton turned blue and an angry voice erupted from its jaw. "I swear to the Blood Mother if this is- I knew it!"

    As the skeleton walked toward the source of the sound, Lith''s Shadow Steps form slithered back.

    "Why the fuck has no one fixed the leak?" The skeleton pointed at a small opening in the ceiling from where water was dripping.

    Whatever the answer was, Lith couldn''t hear it. Only the person mind-fused with the skeleton talked, giving Lith half the conversation at best.

    "I don''t give a fuck if sealing the cracks is going to mess with the sensory arrays! If it really was so important, they should have fixed the gods-damn ceiling before my shift. It''s too easy to walk away and leave me to check every time one of the boys feels a damn plip.

    "I won''t stand here listening to plip, plip, plip for twenty more hours!"

    Another pause.

    "Oh, yeah? Then fuck you and whatever bitch sired you! Tell her toe here and kiss my undead ass because I''m doing it now." A wave of the skeleton''s hand a tier two fake magic spell sealed the fissure.

    "Fucking finally! Silence atst." Laughter. "Why should I care if it will happen again in a few days? It won''t be my problem. No, you shut the fuck up! It wasn''t supposed to be my problem in the first ce. I-"

    The eyes of the skeleton went back to red and it resumed its original programming.

    Lith returned to his starting point as quietly as he could before exining the situation to the rest of the group.

    ''The beads are another form of rm. If we kill a skeleton, make a noise, or do anything that draws attention, the closest lesser undead will break the bead and the enemy will detect our presence and position.

    ''Even worse, they can use the skeletons to collect information on us and attack us from a safe distance.'' Lith said.

    ''Wait a second!'' Solus said. ''Undead, underground caves, shady stuff. Isn''t it what we picked from searching that asshole Redcap? The third Forgemaster who returned home?''

    ''Great Mother almighty, you are right.'' Strider replied. ''I think I know what happened here. He lied about his abilities to get hired but the moment they brought him here the other Forgemasters identified him as a fraud and kicked him out.''

    ''I was thinking the same thing.'' Lith telepathically nodded. ''You can''t fake your skills. Be honest with me, Ryka. Are Redcaps the Wyverns of the Fae or are we just that unlucky?''

    ''A bit racist but I can''t deny it''s a fairparison.'' She chuckled. ''Redcaps are considered among the strongest of us because based on who they feed upon, they can use Origin mes, Life Maelstrom, and every other bloodline ability they can get their vines on.

    ''The stronger a Redcap gets, the stronger the opponent they can feed upon. It allows them to increase their powers in a virtuous cycle. Useless to say, it makes them arrogant like spoiled brats. By the way, I''m stealing that line.

    ''The good news is that we know what we are against and how to avoid it.''

    ''We do?'' The rest of the group asked as one.

    ''Yes, follow my lead.'' The Titania flew a few centimeters off the ground and used the darkness spell, Concealing, to cancel her smell. ''Skeletons have perfect vision in the darkness so we can''t use darkness magic to shroud us.

    ''If they suddenly see nothing instead of rocks, they''ll sound the rm. Lith, can you carry someone else in your shadow form?''

    ''Yes, but only Solus since she already knows how it works and I don''t want to reveal my secret.'' He lied through his teeth.

    ''It will be enough. Take her with you, I''ll bring Strider with me.'' Unbeknownst to them, Solus went back to her stone ring and she was assimted by the shadows with the rest of Lith''s equipment.

    As for the Titania, she used a chore magic spell to dig a hole big enough for Strider to get in and then closed it. The rest of the way, she dug through the rock by turning her body into a bundle of vines and without using magic aside from a Hush spell.

    The skeletons didn''t notice anyone passing through the corridor because no one did.

 Chapter 3090 Labyrinth (Part 2)

    Chapter 3090 Labyrinth (Part 2)

    Lith and Solus moved on the ceiling, slipping from one crack to another to never create a patch of darknessrge enough for the skeletons to notice.

    Strider and Ryka, instead, moved below the ground without producing a single vibration. The only issue with the Titania''s means of transportation was that with only Earth Vision to sense her surroundings, she had no idea where the next safe area was.

    She moved slower than Lith to make sure the undead wouldn''t notice them and give the Tiamat a head start. Once Lith reached the other side of the west corridor and reverted to his human form, Ryka took it as her cue.

    She dug her way to him and emerged a few meters past his position, just to be safe.

    ''How did you escape detection?'' Solus asked. ''The arrays protecting the area were supposed to pick up the alterations in the ground.''

    ''Indeed.'' The Titania nodded. ''That''s why I used my mastery over earth magic to collect the residual energy of the skeleton''s spells and shrouded us with it. It''s a known anomaly that the undead know will linger for a bit so they didn''t pay attention to it.

    ''After all, these arrays are set to detect alterations in the earth element, not movement. As long as the residual energysts, you could move it around the whole crossroad and the ping would remain the same.''

    ''Very smart, but this is not a trick we can use again. We won''t find a leak at every turn.'' Lith said and the group resumed their advance.

    They found multiple bifurcations and if not for the Eyes always pointing in the right direction, they would have gotten lost many times over.

    ''I understand now why they didn''t ce more skeletons and magical formations.'' Solus pondered after another hour had passed. ''This ce is a naturalbyrinth. Putting guards at every turn would require raising a whole undead army.

    ''To keep it active would need so much light element that the undead would live just to feed the skeletons. Using permanent arrays to cover the whole area would be even worse.

    ''The mana crystals needed for supporting so many magical formations would bankrupt even an ancient noble household.''

    The builders had opted for setting traps in the dead ends and checkpoints at the important junctions to not waste resources. Lesser undead had no intelligence and required constant supervision.

    The second checkpoint marked the end of their safe journey.

    ''Stop right there!'' Ryka raised her closed fist. ''There''s something heavy in front of us. It moves on two legs but that''s all I can tell you from this distance.''

    Life Vision saw nothing while the Eyes perceived a blur of magical energy.

    ''There''s two, no three creatures.'' As they approached, the vibrations from Earth Vision gave her more details on the nature of their unknown opponent. ''Shit! I stand corrected. Three creatures are moving and two more stand still.

    ''I failed to notice them earlier because they are made of stone and I mistook them for part of the corridor.''

    ''Stone?'' Strider echoed.

    ''Yes. They are all identical. Probably crafted by the same person.'' The Titania nodded.

    ''Shit!'' The rest of the group said in unison, knowing what was about to happen.

    They were close enough for Life Vision to perceive the stumpy humanoid creatures, barely 1.5 meters (5'') tall, that wererger than an adult bear. Some kind of cloaking device made their energy signature blurry, but there was only one exnation for a bunch of stones capable of moving.

    Golems were also called artificial true mages since they could activate their enchantments as spells and none of them required casting of any kind. Constructs were quick, strong, resistant to all elements, and worst of all, had no vitals.

    Rock Golems were the second strongest type of construct a mage could Forgemaster. Known as "Immortals", Rock Golems could instantly repair themselves from any damage as long as there were raw materials avable in their proximity.

    In an underground corridor, there were plenty of stones.

    To make matters worse, the two unmoving constructs stood over recharge arrays that guaranteed they could operate 24/7. Golems had no biological needs, would never lose focus, and would never tire.

    Life Vision revealed a rhythmical pulse of mana that marked the use of a Life-Sensing array from one of the recharging constructs. Every member of Lith''s group carried a cloaking ring that hid their status as Awakened, but only Darwen couldpletely seal the energy signature of a living being.

    No matter how weak their life forces appeared to be, the recharging golem detected the intruders and sent an active golem to investigate while the others raised yellow alert.

    ''Fuck me sideways! If we Blink, they''ll notice. If we retreat, they''ll follow us. What do we do?'' Lith asked.

    ''Since we are fucked anyway, our priority is to take them out before they can collect too much information.'' Strider replied. ''On my mark!''

    He conjured a darkness spell around his tail to hide the sudden sh of light that apanied the activation of his bloodline ability, sh Steps. The group spread out to give each other space without advancing or retreating.

    From what the golems knew, the intruders might as well be a group of insects scurrying for food. They followed their orders and waited to confirm the presence of a threat before bothering their master.

    The moment the golem scout appeared from around the corner, Strider bolted forward. His twin des were still in their scabbards, but he had one spell in each hand and many more at the ready.

    ''Mark!'' He said as a double palm strike unleashed two tier four Forgemastery spell, Clean te. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was supposed to temporarily remove the owner''s imprint on a magical item and deactivate it. Golems, however, had power cores and a quasi-will that allowed them to resist such magic.

    The spells only affected the firstyer of enchantments but that was more than enough. The construct stopped, its defenses shutting down as the Zouwu unleashed a flurry of ps each carrying a Clean te.

    Titanias had a physical might on par with Griffons and Ryka had reached the deep violet at the Garden. She focused her vines on her right fist, doubling its size and her battle gloves followed suit.

    Her flexible arm infused with water, fire, and air fusion pistoned at the stunned golem, tearing its right side open. Solus attacked from the left, wielding the Fury in a double-handed grip.

    Her body possessed the strength of a Divine Beast and now it was infused with all the elements. The Davross head of the Fury arched forward, the three elemental crystals carrying the power of earth, darkness, and fire to amplify the damage.

    Solus dealt a single blow, but it was enough to tear the golem apart like a sand castle. The double assault exposed the crystal core of the construct and Lith cleaved it in half.

    Ragnar?k carried War''s anti-construct spells, short-circuiting the Rock Golem''s power core upon hit and making it incapable of self-repair. Less than a second passed from the appearance of the scout to its destruction.

    Yet golems had no emotions. They had protocols.

 Chapter 3091 He Comes (Part 1)

    Chapter 3091 He Comes (Part 1)

    The magical constructs felt no surprise at the sudden turn of events nor outrage for the destruction of their fellow golem.

    The two Rock Golems on the recharging pods raised their arms, triggering the first response to a red alert: a Warp Steps.

    "Iron wall." Kysha the Ghoul said and the constructs obeyed.

    They lined up in pairs in front and behind their master, ready to protect him from any threat.

    "Focused Strikes." Kysha moved forward and the golems fell into step, following him.

    ''Gods if I hate smart enemies.'' Lith grumbled.

    Golems were powerful but dumb enemies. Theirck of intelligence also meant ack of adaptability. One only had to understand what kind of protocol a construct was following to exploit its predictability and win.

    If one had the means and strength to destroy a golem, of course.

    The Warp Steps had summoned someone who would think for the constructs and give them timely instructions, oveing their only natural weakness.

    ''There''s still five of them and only four of us.'' Strider said. ''We need to take the enemies out quickly before reinforcements arrive.''

    ''Agreed. The only problem is that we don''t know what kind of undead-'' Ryka had yet to finish the sentence when the Zouwu bolted forward.

    He ran from the ground to along the walls and from there up to the ceiling in a circr pattern.

    Strider passed over the golems'' heads and ignored their defenses, drawing his des at thest moment possible and performing an X-shaped cut as he walked above the undead.

    The curved des cut the Ghoul''s neck from the left and right side at the same time, decapitating him even from that awkward position and cutting Kysha''s head in six pieces before the Zouwunded on the other side of the corridor.

    "Hold formation!" s, the head wasn''t a Ghoul''s weak point.

    That species of undead would die only if their heart was destroyed and they could freely move it along their bodies.

    Kysha picked up his head which was already regenerating and kept yelling orders out of his severed neck like nothing happened.

    The golems in the front raised a stone wall infused with darkness magic while those in the back attacked the Zouwu with clockwork coordination. The first one turned every surface of the cave into mud with earth magic while the other unleashed a volley of air des and a dense fog of darkness.

    ''Shit!'' Strider was still fast enough to dodge the air des but his attack options were limited now. Hitting solid stone with his des would just make them lose their edge while the darkness element now blinded Life Vision.

    He couldn''t see his enemies and allies anymore. The space between them was an energy haze that made it impossible for him to distinguish between an enemy spell to avoid and a friendly one with which to coordinate.

    To make matters worse, a second incursion would bring him right into the ck fog and eat at his vitality. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Focused strikes means that the golems attack in pairs to cover for each other.'' He said via the still-active mind link. ''Two of them are already on me.''

    On his signal, Ryka tore apart the rock wall with her own earth magic, strong of the elemental affinity typical of her kind. A barrage of fire, lightning, and darkness engulfed the Titania as the two golems on the front focused on her.

    ''Dumb bitch!'' Kysha smiled. ''I let you cut through the useless rock so that we could break your bone-''

    Solus bolted from around the corner, knowing the golems'' exact position thanks to the mind link with Ryka. A forehand strike sted the rock te in front of the closest construct''s power core open.

    Solus adjusted her grip on the Fury so that the following backhand strike had the pick extremity of the hammer pierced through the remainingyers of armor and into the mana crystal.

    The Parting Gift enchantment of the Fury released a shockwave from the Davross'' pick that shattered the mana crystal, making it explode.

    The golem''s body contained the congration that released just a deep thud as the stone limbs fell to the sides.

    Lith joined her one split secondter, after making sure Solus wouldn''t need help. With all the attention on her, he hurled a jet stream of Void mes that struck the remaining golem like aser.

    The self-defense and attack protocols were now at odds, giving conflicting orders that carried the same priority, paralyzing the golem.

    "Closest threat!" Kysha was forced to interrupt the spell he was chanting to break the input stalemate before it was toote.

    s, it was toote and a quarter.

    While the golem aimlessly shifted its attention from Ryka to Solus, and then from Solus to Lith, the Tiamat waited for no orders. He breathed a burst of bright violet Origin mes that strong of Valtak''s teachings slipped past the stone armor and ignored the enchantments covering it.

    The mystical fire saved its energy for when it reached the cavity containing the power core and only then did it start to burn. The Origin mescked the power to destroy the mana crystal in one go, but they temporarily cut it off from the rest of the body.

    Without the power core fueling its enchantments, the Rock Golem was now just a stone statue and Lith needed but one punch to break it.

    "Code ck! I repeat, code¡­" A second burst of Origin mes shrouded the Ghoul, their tongues of fire searching for the hidden heart.

    When they found Kysha''s weak point, Lith destroyed it with a lunge of Ragnar?k infused to the brim with darkness magic. The Ghoul turned into a pile of ashes and without his orders, the other two Rock Golems posed little threat.

    Strider conjured the tier five Spell, Death Grip, to wrap them with the rock from the corridor. Following the Closest Threat order, the constructs focused on him, fighting the earth spell with one of their own.

    Theypletely ignored Solus who patted on their backs and unleashed one Clean te after the other. Lith pierced through their chests while they were paralyzed, turning them into rubble.

    ''Are you alright?'' After making sure there was no enemy left or iing, the Zouwu went to check on the Titania''s condition.

    Her Adamant armor was battered and barely a few sprouts remained of her body. Rock Golems were powerful and Ryka had taken the full brunt of their enchantments from point nk.

    ''I''m fine. I''m just hungry.'' She said while the sprouts grew and multiplied slowly in a humanoid form. ''Whoever lives here, they did a clean job. There is no form of life or nourishment I can feed upon.''

    ''No problem.'' Strider took the food he always carried on himself out of his dimensional amulet and handed it to her.

    ''Much better!'' The Titania healed at a speed visible to the naked eye and so did her armor recover.

    The enchantments only needed mana to boost the self-repair enchantments of the Adamant tes.

    ''We''d better go before someonees investigating.'' The Zouwu said while helping her to get up. ''And thanks for trusting me.''

 Chapter 3092 He Comes (Part 2)

    Chapter 3092 He Comes (Part 2)

    ''What point there is having a nigh-immortal body if you can''t use me as bait from time to time?'' She chuckled.

    ''Thank you for taking one for the team, Ryka.'' Solus said.

    ''Don''t mention it.'' The Titania smiled. ''The only thing that''s pissing me off is the idea that this is just a colossal waste of time.''

    ''Agreed.'' Lith sighed. ''Unless the thieves sold the helm, they are not the ones behind the disappearance of the Forgemasters. That Ghoul needed to chant so he wasn''t an Awakened.''

    ''I know, but we''ve already gotten so far and it would be stupid turning around in front of the finishing line.'' Strider pointed at the vigorous flow of world energy that was now visible from a distance with Life Vision.

    ''After all, the thieves weren''t expecting us. There''s nothing strange in sending a grunt to deal with intruders and Awakened are rare.''

    ***

    "What was that?" A ck-d figure wielding a staff of mystical wood said as the rm kept ring.

    "Someone has broken into thepound, sir."A young Vampire said, having a hard time fighting the drowsiness caused by the sun despite the hundreds of tons of rock separating her from the surface.

    "Five of our Rock Golems and one of your Ghouls killed in ten seconds?" The ck-d figure pinched his nose in annoyance. "Sound the general rm and prepare for battle. If you can''t protect the Forgemasters until we are done with them, the deal with my master is over."

    ***

    The Eyes of Menadion confirmed Strider''s intuition. The energy signature of Adria Yth was somewhere in the vicinities of a mana geyser.

    The group encountered a third checkpointprised of several concentric arrays but since their position was alreadypromised, the group didn''t waste time trying to hide anymore.

    They triggered the magical formations from a distance with sts of Cursed mes that burned at the runes and forced them to consume their power to extinguish the mystical fires.

    It wasn''t enough to neutralize the arrays but it allowed the Awakened to understand the abilities and range of the magical formations.

    Thanks to their piercing power, the mes crossed the entire corridor until they hit a wall, revealing upon their passage the presence of hidden traps and cloaked arrays.

    At that point, a Warp Steps brought the group to the first safe area, bypassing the still-active magical formations while the enemy was busy trying to figure out how many intruders they were dealing with and their position.

    "How in the gods'' names are these guys always taking the right path?" The ck-d figure said. "They are triggering only the traps on the way here and somehow, the intruders avoided all of our patrols. This must be an inside job!"

    "Impossible." A second ck-d figure said. "This refuge was prepared millennia ago specifically for a covert mission like this. Not even those stupid Forgemasters know where we are. We always chose a pick-up spot far away and brought them here only after stunning them.

    "I personally searched them for anything that could work as a tracker."

    "What if He has found us?" A third ck-d figure shuddered. "He was already powerful before but now we know He''s be even stronger. We''ve witnessed it with our own eyes."

    "I refuse to believe that!" The first figure said. "What kind of moronic coincidence could lead Him right here, right now, when we are at the precipice of achieving our master''s n? This must be¡­ It must be¡­"

    As words failed him, Lith''s group reached the final checkpoint.

    ''Great Mother almighty!'' Strider said, taking the words out of everyone''s mind.

    The tunnel ended in an irregr-shaped cave with a pavement of solid rock as old as Mogar''s first mes and an over 60 meters (200'') tall wall.

    The space between the tunnel and the stone wall was far from empty but even Adamant Golems and Dread Knights paled inparison with the city at the end of the road.

    A colossal fortress had been carved in the stone wall,plete with towers, battlements, a main keep, and an enormous gate made of Orichalcum. It was studded with enough mana crystals to light the entire cave. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The carving alone, even if performed by someone gifted in earth magic, was bound to have taken decades, if not centuries. The main body of the fortress was encased by the cave, visible from a distance, but protected against flying enemies.

    It stood right at the center of the mana geyser and countless arrays and enchantments had been imbued in every stone block and bit of mortar so that very little world energy was left avable to invaders.

    The Awakened perceived the void in their surroundings and knew that their breathing techniques and bloodline abilities would be much less effective than usual.

    ''I think we''d better call for reinforcements.'' The Zouwu thought. ''I don''t see a way to sneak inside and even if we do, there''s no chance we can take-''

    A punch the size of a barrel and as fast as a bullet hit where Strider''s head had been until a second ago. He had easily dodged the right hook but a left uppercut wasing to meet his chin.

    ''How did we miss something that big?'' Lith pushed Strider aside and blocked the hit with the palm of his right hand.

    No matter what form Lith took, he still weighed like a 30 meter (100'') tall Tiamat.

    ''Are you kidding me?'' Solus replied via a private mind link. ''Between the geyser, the arrays, the fortress, and everything in between, I had to deactivate the Eyes. On top of that, "that thing" just Blinked!''

    As though the Adamant Golem wanted to confirm her words, it Blinked again. The construct appeared right above the tunnel''s exit tobine gravity eleration with its considerable strength.

    It aimed to split the group, trapping some of the intruders inside the tunnel and the rest outside to be ughtered. Ryka understood the situation and pushed everyone out of the corridor and into the open space of the cave, where they could fight as a team.

    One Adamant Golem was big enough to fill the entire tunnel and once it gave them chase, they would be rats stuck in a maze.

    "Good Gods! That''s him!" Said one of the ck-d figures while pointing at the holographic disy showing the feed from the golem''s eyes. "That''s Verhen!"

    "Verhen?" The first figure said with a voice that expressed shock and awe in equal measure. "That human runt is nothing like Verhen."

    "Are you sure?" The second figure pointed at the Constable suit turning into a Voidwalker armor.

    The Golden Knight was hard to miss and so was the deing out of the bloody scabbard. Ragnar?k wailed in fury, thirsty for real blood. Constructs were a measly meal and their destruction gave it little pleasure.

    The seven mana crystals on its fuller shone like as many elemental eyes, betraying the de''s identity. Lith pushed the golem''s fist away with his hand and lunged with Ragnar?k.

    The Davross pierced with ease through the weaker Adamant, leaving a gaping hole on its wake.

    "Gods, no!" The first ck d figure fell to his knees. "Not Verhen. Not now!"

 Chapter 3093 Time Out (Part 1)

    Chapter 3093 Time Out (Part 1)

    The Adamant Golem was a staggering figure, over three meters (10'') tall with violet crystals embossed at every joint to instantly transmit the orders of the power core and fuel spells more powerful than any mortal mage could cast.

    It couldn''t repair itself as fast as a Rock Golem but damaging Adamant was an impressive feat and the construct was entirely made out of metal, not just coated with it.

    On top of that, the Adamant Golem was just one of the many roaming the space between the tunnel and the fortress.

    "You know what they say. The bigger they are¡­" Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form as Double Edge appeared in his hand in a burst of emerald mes. "The harder they hit!"

    He kicked the Adamant Golem like it was a toy, sending it to crash against an iing wave of enemies.

    ''My des are useless here!'' Strider cursed his bad luck and strategized with Solus and Ryka. ''I''ll support you and deal with the Dread Knights but someone needs to think of a way out of here.''

    ''Way ahead of you!'' Solus threw the Fury, activating its enchantment, Furies'' Flight.

    As the Davross hammer generated eight identical copies of itself and sent everything on its path flying, the Zouwu had the time to look in the direction in which Solus pointed.

    Ragnar?k moved in delicate, sharp cuts that conjured an intricate sequence of runes.

    ''A de Spell! Gods above, I knew that Lith can use de Magic but I never thought I''d see him cast it in person.'' Strider thought and he wasn''t the only one.

    "Charge like your undeath depends on it, because it does!" One of the Dread Knights yelled at the top of his lungs. "If Verhenpletes that spell, we''re dead, and this time for good."

    On his cue, side doors opened in the castle walls, letting out human soldiers, Emperor Beasts, and Dread Knights while Rock Golems emerged from the stone floor under which they had been lying in ambush.

    Sure, the world energy in the underground cave was scarce, but Lith''s equipment was fully charged and he had be stronger after the end of the war. More than anything, what scared the people of the fortress was the threat of the seemingly endless tricks he was able to pull out of thin air whenever he needed.

    The air condensed in front of the speartips of the Dread Knights in a spiral pattern, both creating a slipstream effect in front of their horses and umting more destructive power as they moved.

    Their main target was Lith. There was no one on Garlen who had not seen the videos of the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom conquering cities by himself during the War of the Griffons.

    Sure, the world energy in the underground cave was scarce, but Lith''s equipment was fully charged and he had be stronger after the end of the war. More than anything, what scared the people of the fortress was the threat of the seemingly endless tricks he was able to pull out of thin air whenever he needed.

    The air condensed in front of the speartips of the Dread Knights in a spiral pattern, both creating a slipstream effect in front of their horses and umting more destructive power as they moved.

    Dread Knights were the heavy cavalry of the undead and despite their name and each one of them was bound to a steed, they had no rtionship with Baba Yaga''s Horsemen.

    In life, they had been valiant knights who had been forced to sully their honor to uphold their oaths of loyalty.

    Murder, kidnapping, ughtering of innocents, no matter what their masters had ordered them back when they were alive, all Dread Knights had loyally followed orders even though it went against everything they believed in. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They umted shame and regret their whole life and once old age put an end to their services, they could no longer run away from their inner demons and died when their past caught up to them.

    Dread Knights sought in death absolution for the infamy of their lives.

    Their loyal steeds followed them in undeath, bing part of a Dread Knight''s body just like their armor and equipment. The blood core would nurture them all, allowing them to grow in strength with their master.

    On top of that, the bloodline ability Windwalker belonged to the horse, not the rider, and allowed a Dread Knight to constantly elerate as long as they moved.

    It was said that a Dread Knight could circle Mogar in a single night if unopposed, but not even at that speed could they outrun their guilt.

    ''Shit, we need to do something!'' Solus struck a Rock Golem with the Fury, sending it tumbling away with almost a quarter of its body in ruin.

    The problem was that by the time the construct stood up, the damage was already fixed and she had now to deal with three more constructs. Solus bashed them back, but the situation worsened by the second.

    Rock and Adamant Golems had zero cast time for spells, they only had to fuel the enchantments thatprised their power cores to unleash an endless barrage of destruction from a distance.

    From up close, things were even worse. All Golems had been enchanted with a powerful darkness aura that weakened everything and everyone around them, including the enemy''s spells.

    Without someone holding the constructs still, Solus'' hits achieved nothing, no matter how powerful. The Rock Golems healed before she could reach their crystal core while Adamant Golems would bend under her blows but not break.

    The Dread Knights galloped non-stop, cutting through the Awakened''s formation without targeting anyone in particr. Their goal was to keep the invaders out of focus while their horses gained speed and their spears power.

    It was only a matter of time before the built-up kic energy and the wind element became strong enough to threaten the Tiamat''s life.

    ''There''s something weird about these guys and I can''t finish them on my own.'' Even with her Voidwalker armor''s Full Guard enchantment, it was hard to keep pace with everything that wasing her way.

    ''Me neither!'' Ryka cursed as she opened her body into vines to avoid a rain of blows.

    As a Titania, she possessed the strength of a Griffon, but the darkness aura of the Golems made both attacking and blocking painful to her. Whenever she got close to the constructs, her body started to wither.

    She had already shattered many Rock Golems but failed to destroy a single core. Ryka''s trade of blows had bought her a few seconds at the price of several wounds. Wounds she couldn''t heal due to theck of green and nutrients in the barren rock around her.

    The situation was so bad that Lith was already under attack and would have lost his focus if not for body casting. He dodged, intercepted the iing spells with Ragnar?k, and constantly changed his size to be harder to follow while conjuring new runes with every movement he made.

    "Scram!" The ck and red crystals on the Voidwalker armorbined their strength to conjure the tier five spell, Final Eclipse.

    A ming dome encased the Tiamat, hiding him from mystical and regr sight while also engulfing everyone who got too close to him. Darkness magic was the bane of undead and living alike.

    The humans and Emperor Beasts had to step back, needing time to conjure a spell strong enough to pierce through the barrier. The Golems, however had no such problem.

    They walked through the ck mes, their enchanted bodies taking little damage from Final Eclipse, and unleashed a barrage of tier five spells, Raging Sun and Stormnado.

 Chapter 3094 Time Out (Part 2)

    Chapter 3094 Time Out (Part 2)

    Raging Sun wasprised of fire and earth elements while Stormnado of air and darkness.

    They were powerful alone but much stronger whenbined. The air fanned the mes of the explosion and carried the ming rocks while also imbuing them with darkness element.

    Knowing there was no escape, Lith simply Switched his position with that of an Adamant Golem. The construct took the volley of spells in full, the metal of his body twisted and broken by the violence of the concussive sts.

    "Seriously, thanks." Lith cut the misshapen Golem asunder with Double Edge, destroying its core. "I couldn''t have done it without you."

    The other constructs had no pride that his mockery could wound but the same couldn''t be said for the people inside the fortress.

    "Fuck! An Adamant Golem gone! Just like that. Do any of you morons have any idea how much it costs to make one?" The first ck-d figure said. "This ends now or our master will have our heads.

    "These materials weren''t supposed to be wasted in pointless battles."

    ''I have an idea.'' Strider said after admiring Lith''s handiwork. ''Let''s turn their numbers against them. Solus, after me. Ryka, after Solus!''

    The Zouwu activated his bloodline ability, sh Steps, releasing a bolt of lightning from his tail that coursed through his body and granted him unparalleled speed. Instead of fighting against the enemies, now he merely passed between them.

    His twin curved des were supercharged as well, making them as fast as deadly. Most humans died with a single cut of his swords, their heads severed or their hearts pierced. Some survived either by luck or skill but Strider didn''t care.

    He just moved on to the next line of enemies.

    Golems would only get grazed by the Adamant covering his ws but the Clean te they contained worked just the same. The constructs stuttered for a split second, disrupting their battle formation and creating the openings Solus needed.

    "Hammer time!" With her bright blue core, she was the slowest member of the group, but far from the less deadly.

    Solus had jumped in Strider''s wake, aiming the Fury at one of the Adamant Golems.

    The construct was still stunned by the Clean te and unable to conjure magic. The full weight of the towerbined with the hardness of the Davross sent the Adamant Golem plunging into the solid rock like a nail hit by a hammer.

    The darkness, fire, and air elemental crystals of the Fury boosted the power of the darkness element channeled by its Davross head, making even Adamant malleable. The golem folded like an ordion, its core intact but its body paralyzed by the misalignment of the runes that animated it.

    On top of that, the sh between Adamant and Davross cracked the floor for dozens of meters and produced a shockwave that sent those nearby flying. The fissures in the ground plus the wind st made many lose their footing and stumble, even from a distance.

    It was annoying for Golems and Beasts but tragic for Dread Knights. At their speed missing a step meant tumbling into a ruinous fall, losing all the kic energy they had umted and having to start over.

    "Stay down, jackass!" Ryka intertwined her fingers, fusing her hands together into a makeshift mace wrapped in the Adamant of her battle gloves.

    She struck at the nailed Golem right after Solus, bringing it to the breaking point. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Not another one!" Cried one of the Forgemasters inside the fortress.

    Strider acted as a diversion, strike team, and saboteur by himself, throwing the enemies off bnce long enough for Solus to safely step in.

    "Not this time!" As her hammer arched down toward the ground, the Dread Knights steered clear of her and ordered the retreat.

    "Thanks, jackass!" Solus struck the floor with all of her might anyway.

    There was no enemy close enough to attack her which gave her the opportunity to cast her tier four Void spell, Lord of Thunder. With nothing to stop the Davross of the Fury, the ground split open on impact and several chunks of rock were thrown in the air.

    All of them were maized, their conductive elements split from the insnts to form a closed circuit. When Solus released a stream of lightning bolts, the circuit trapped them so that none of their power was lost.

    Those within the area of effect of Lord of Thunder were electrocuted and their bodies sent into a seizure. Adamant Golems became ry points for the spell, acting as Te coils and zapping their own allies.

    Rock Golems were naturally resistant to the air element so Solus switched it into earth at thest second. The maic particles in the air formed stone spears that rode the electrical current in the air to gain speed and never miss their target.

    The ferromaic spears conjured by Lord of Thunder nailed the Rock Golems into ce, giving Ryka the time to break through their weakened bodies and shatter their cores.

    ''Guys, I need help!'' Strider said.

    The Dread Knights were still slower than him but after realising the threat he posed, they had focused their attention on him. There were dozens of them charging at the Zouwu from every direction and with wless coordination.

    He couldn''t block the charge of the galloping horses, the gap in mass and strength was too big. Strider could only dodge and the Dread Knights knew that. Even though they couldn''t kill him yet, they were forcing him to move into a kill box.

    With each passage they came closer to him, the wind des coating their spears cutting deep enough in his armor to shed blood. His inhuman speed and precise movements allowed him to survive but there was no space to counter.

    The charge of a Dread Knight left a vacuum in his wake that messed up with Strider''s tempo, either increasing or reducing the air resistance around him. Someone moving at his speed needed perfect timing and coordination between his steps.

    The focus that the Zouwu needed topensate for the vacuum''s effect was quickly turning the tides of the battle against him.

    ''How long for that de Spell?'' Ryka asked while an Adamant Golem hit her with so much strength to unravel all the vines of her body.

    It also injected enough darkness magic inside of her to make half of the vines shrivel.

    ''It has been less than ten seconds from the start of the fight! Do you have any idea how hard it is to harmonize multiple power cores with your mana core while fighting for your life?'' The charging Dread Knights couldn''t stop the Tiamat but they could wound him.

    The Golems ignored his kicks and tried to cling to him to inject their darkness aura while the Beasts and the humans cast countless frost spells that affected Lith''s strength. Cold was a weakness of Dragons that the Tiamat bloodline had inherited.

    ''Close your eyes and don''t breathe!'' The enemies kept their distance from Solus, afraid of her hammer as much as of the shockwaves it produced even when it missed its target.

    It gave her time to cast another tier four Void Magic spell, Frost Fire.

 Chapter 3095 Kind of an Airhead (Part 1)

    Chapter 3095 Kind of an Airhead (Part 1)

    First, the Void Spell condensed the humidity in the cave into ayer of frost that covered living, undead, and constructs alike. It also weakened Lith further, but he didn''t care, knowing what was about to happen.

    The temperature dropped by dozens of degrees, sapping the heat of humans and beasts. At the same time, the cold sealed the joints of the armor of the undead and hindered their movements.

    At that point, the waterprising the ice instantly broke down into oxygen and hydrogen.

    The cold wave of Frost Fire turned into heat that set off the mmable gases into a ground-shaking explosion. The st caught the Dread Knights by surprise and with the floor slippery from the ice, they were sent tumbling like everyone else.

    Strider too lost his footing, but it wasn''t his formation to be destroyed nor was his umted power to be neutralized. The Dread Knights cursed as they jumped back on their mounts while the Zouwu took deep breaths with Invigoration.

    The world energy in the cave was thin, but still enough to heal most of his wounds and partly replenish his strength whereas the blood cores of the undead would remain weakened until they preyed on a suitable source of life force.

    ''Thanks, Solus!'' Lith and Ryka said in unison.

    The mes turned humans and beasts into ashes that the Titania assimted as fertilizer, fueling the recovery abilities typical of her race. The Tiamat, instead, called the heat wave upon himself, neutralizing the cold and returning to the peak of his strength.

    The hot air didn''t bother him while human and beast mages felt their lungs burning and interrupted their casting, gasping to breathe.

    "Enough with this madness! We have no reason to fight." A painfully familiar ck-d figure walked through the metal gate of the fortress. "All troops stand down. Saving yourrades and retrieving the Golems is your top priority."

    Lith took a deep breath, ready to hurl insults and Void mes at the thief when his Tiamat Eyes pierced through the darkness and chaos of battle. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The man walking toward him was indeed wearing a ck armor, but it was made of Adamant, not Darwen. He held a staff made of a mystical wood, but even at first nce, it was something from a Fae.

    Lith could see the life force of the person in front of him with Life Vision, there was no cloaking effect or any attempt at deception. The undead kept his hands raised, showing no sign of hostility or casting spells silently.

    "Who the heck are you and why did you attack us?" Lith asked.

    ''I can use this time to use Invigoration andplete Ruin.'' He actually thought.

    "Those are supposed to be my questions, except for the fact that only a fool wouldn''t recognize the Supreme Magus of Garlen." The undead said, knowing that the title applied solely to the Kingdom but hoping that ttery would help.

    "You guys killed our soldiers and destroyed our golems. You have infiltrated our home and you dare ask us questions?"

    "When you put it that way, it sort of makes sense." Lith said but kept casting the de Spell. "Sort of. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

    "My name is Ern Bhaz, a Blood Warlock. I''m the King of the Dawn Court and the current leader of the Courts Alliance. I live here." The undead waved at the fortress. "Now it''s my turn to ask questions. Why did you and your associatese here and disturb our peace?"

    "We are here on Council business." Strider pulled his Hand of Fate badge out, making many inside and outside the fortress curse. "We are looking for the following missing Forgemasters. Their names are..."

    The Zouwu read the names out loud one by one, each followed by the circumstances of their disappearance, making the Dawn King p his forehead in frustration.

    "We need to know if you have taken any of these Council members hostage and wh-"

    "You idiots!" Ern roared, cutting Strider short. "What kind of genius is such a moron to not prepare a cover story for their absence? I''m surprised it took the Council so long to find us, you filthy¡­"

    The Dawn King had lived long and traveled many ces.

    He had learned many insults and on that day he used them all to describe what he thought of the Awakened Forgemasters, their ancestors, and the most likely creatures with which they had to have mated to spawn such foolish descendants.

    Lith took a few notes and finished weaving Ruin while he was at it. Yet he doubted he needed the de Spell anymore.

    "We are keeping no one hostage." Ern threw his staff on the ground in frustration and raked his hand through his thick ck hair. "We hired those idiots. Why do you think we paid them in advance and bought so many materials from them?

    "We needed their services."

    "For what purpose?" Lith asked.

    "You are going to like the answer." The Dawn King raised his gaze to meet the Tiamat''s. "All that you''ve seen today, every construct you have destroyed, has been created to kill that fucker of Meln Narchat, the self-proimed Dead King.

    "Or, as we call him, the Incontinent King." A snap of the Blood Warlock''s fingers conjured a few sequences from the video released by Thrud about Orpal''s capture.

    It contained every instance he had begged, cried, and groveled at Thrud''s feet for his life. Orpal would often shamelessly lose control of his dder and bowels, either out of terror or in the attempt to arousepassion.

    Back then, Orpal had not considered it a good idea so much as the only card he could y. His desperation move had backfired during and after its execution. Thrud only felt more disgust at him and her rage grew at the idea that Jormun had died because of a vermin like the Dead King.

    After her death, those scenes had destroyed everything that Orpal had achieved after unifying the Undead Courts under his rule and killing many powerful mages of the Kingdom, like Mirim Distar and Kryshna Manohar.

    Even now, after months had passed, the video was still a hit.

    Some people used it for drinking games, taking a shot every time Orpal wetted himself. Others just spat at his name and used his story as a cautionary tale for unruly children who instead of improving themselves just envied their betters.

    "Not that I don''t enjoy the show, but I know the ending." Lith dispelled the hologram with a wave of his hand. "What do you mean, hired to kill Meln? How?"

    "We would be morefortable inside." Ern said, receiving a mildly amused stare in return. "Or we can just continue standing here where you can see there is no trap or ambush ready to spring." He sighed.

    "Cyrra, bring those idiots out!"

    A couple of minutester, a shuffling of feet announced the arrival of the missing Forgemasters. They were all present and apparently in excellent health. Their auras were vibrant and strong, with just a tinge of embarrassment.

    The woman walking in front of them wore a ck suit of armor identical to Ern''s and wielded a ive.

 Chapter 3096 Kind of an Airhead (Part 2)

    Chapter 3096 Kind of an Airhead (Part 2)

    She had long copper-red hair held up in a chignon and even redder eyes lit from the undead energies coursing through her body.

    She might have been considered a beautiful woman, if not for her cruel gaze and disgusted expression.

    "Anything else, o King?" Her voice was devoid of respect.

    "Magus Verhen, allow me to introduce you to Cyrra Morghon, Banshee and current High General of the Night Court." Ern said. "As you can see, she''s not happy having lostmand to me but for some reason, no one trusts the Night Court.

    "Not even the members of the Night Court themselves." He said with a mocking tone that matched hers. "As for you, idiots, what do you have to say for yourself? Why didn''t you follow our instructions ande up with a usible excuse before leaving your houses?"

    "Because I never trusted you." Barham the Wyvern walked forward while stroking his silvery and golden beard.

    In his human form, he looked like a man in his sixties with wheat blonde hair streaked silver from age. His yellow eyes with ck slitted pupils tried and failed to scream "I''m a Dragon".

    "I had no idea more Forgemasters would be involved so I used this little trick as insurance. Were you undead go back on your word, my offspring would know exactly who hired me and why."

    "Uhm, I just didn''t know you were going to hire other Forgemasters." Mage Adria/Phanil'' the one they had been tracking, said.

    The Awakened Forgemaster was a woman of striking beauty in her mid-thirties. She had long raven-ck messy hair streaked silver, blue, and yellow all over.

    "Making up lies is a bore and a chore because I have to remember them. I wasn''t sure I would repeat the same excuse I used before leaving upon my return and I didn''t want the hassle of making up details.

    "I thought I would be enough for whatever job you had in mind, and my disciples know I''m kind of an airhead. I get sidetracked every time I meet someone interesting or find something tasty to eat. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "My apprentices know they don''t have to worry about me unless I disappear for more than one month."

    "Kind of an airhead?" Lith, Strider, and the two undead said in unison, making her blush in embarrassment.

    Some Forgemasters tried to sound cold and calctive like Barham, but the truth was they were just like Adria. They found using so many precautions dumb and preferred going with the flow.

    After spending centuries being pampered by the Awakenedmunity while living in the safety of theirbs, most sessful Forgemasters rarely thought beyond their nextmission.

    "Did the Undead Courts mistreat or threaten you?" Strider asked.

    "Are you kidding me?" Pharo ckroot, a Redcap, said and the other Forgemasters nodded. "This has been a st. Working with so many brilliant colleagues while not having to care one bit about the materials is a dreame true.

    "Why doesn''t your precious Council organize something like this, kid?"

    "Because no one in their right mind would give you their treasures for the fun of it!" The Zouwu snarled.

    "And neither did we." Ern chimed in. "Everything you see here is a countermeasure against the Incontinent King. The arrays will deprive his steed of fuel. The Golems will deny most of his powers and counter Night''s darkness-based abilities.

    "We have more surprises for him at the ready, but we''d prefer to keep them for Meln rather than wasting them on you, Magus Verhen."

    "And so do I." Lith nodded. "Yet I don''t understand why you are so driven to kill him. I thought you didn''t care about him. Also, I see members of the Dawn and the Night Court here but what about the Dusk Court?"

    "Have you ever tried getting in contact with a Lich?" The Dawn King wanted to cry at the thought.

    "Many times." Lith sighed. "I can only get ahold of Inxialot and only because he''s literally chained to his amulet and can''t store it away."

    "Same here." Ern said with an angry snarl. "We''ve left them lots of messages and are waiting for their fucking answer! As for your other question, it''s much easier if I let the Incontinent King answer it."

    He pressed the holographic panel of his amulet again, starting a new video.

    "Greetings, traitors. I hope you have forgotten about me. I hope that this warning will catch you by surprise, destroying whatever happiness and security you filthy maggots have bought for yourself after selling me to the Mad Whore!"

    The video depicted a half-length of a shirtless Orpal, putting emphasis on his pale skin, agonizing looks, and the red and ck crystal tearing his chest open.

    The Tiamat''s eyes scanned the background for clues about Orpal''s location but aside from a rock wall behind him there was nothing visible.

    "I want you to know that I''m still alive and I''ve never forgotten what you have done to me. I was the only Horseman who gave a shit about you after my so-called siblings discarded you as the failures you are.

    "I brought you squabbling idiots together, unifying the Undead Courts for the first time since their founding and organizing you into a force on par with the gods-damned heir of Arthan!

    "I found that filthy Tyrant and paid him to craft Harmonizers for you. I worked hard to give you your rightful ce on Mogar. To further your evolution and fix Baba Yaga''s failures.

    "And how did you repay my generosity? You lured me into a trap, you helped the Mad Whore to defeat me, and you handed me to her on a silver tter!

    "Now I understand why the other Horsemen abandoned you. It''s because they knew you couldn''t be trusted and would only bring them down. I now understand that Baba Yaga making you weak to sunlight wasn''t a mistake.

    "Her mistake was creating you in the first ce and believe me, that''s a mistake I''m going to fix myself soon. Not by evolution or Harmonizers, but by extinction. You are a Scourge on Mogar no less than Leech, my brother.

    "I''ll purge you all from the world above and below. I will rece you maggots with a new and improved undead race of my own making and with their help, I''ll conquer Mogar!" Orpal raised and lowered his voice as fits of pain caused him to stifle a scream.

    He sweated bullets and his eyes were feverish, his mind burning from agony no less than his body.

    "As you can see, I''ve already taken the first step to my apotheosis."Orpal touched the red and ck crystal gently, yet it was enough to crack it and make his chest bleed. "I''ve already devoured the Horseman of Dusk and gained all of his powers.

    "Soon I''ll be free from the shackles that the Red Mother imposed upon Night while you vermin will still be weakened by her yoke. When that happens, I''ll return to Garlen. I''ll kill all of you, add Dawn to my collection, and kill Leech!"

    His voice rose in a crescendo of anger, pain, and madness. The mixed crystal shattered by itself, reforming a split secondter.

 Chapter 3097 Binding Contract (Part 1)

    Chapter 3097 Binding Contract (Part 1)

    The merging process of the crystals seemed far from sessful and each attempt ravaged Orpal''s body.

    "Not necessarily in this order, of course." Orpal panted, the fit of pain was gone and he now realized to have given away too many details of his n. "I expect you, my brother, and my sister to hide like the cowards you are so it will depend on which one of you I find first.

    "I''m giving you this warning not as an act of courtesy, but because I want you to spend your final days in misery like I did while Thrud kept me prisoner. I want you to watch that gods-damned video she released and know that what she did to me I''ll return it to you one hundred-fold.

    "I want you to struggle, toil, and run, knowing that nothing you can do is going to stop me. I will find you wherever you are and I will kill you!" Orpal''s pupils dted and his lips opened in a crazed smile. "I will wash my humiliation in your blood and dry it in your ashes!"

    Then, he started tough. At first, it was barely a giggle. Then, it rose into a bellow andstly into a maniacal fit ofughter.

    "You got the gist of it."Ern stopped the video. "For what is worth, he goes onughing for almost three more minutes before he remembers he''s still recording and cuts off the video."

    The Dawn King lowered the volume and fast-forwarded the hologram until its end. He did it because he knew Lith didn''t trust the Undead Courts and because Ern hoped Lith would notice something in the video they had missed until that point.

    "This is why we hired these idiots." The Blood Warlock said after giving Lith control of the amulet so that he could rewind and fast forward to look for clues. "Undead have great knowledge and resources but Forgemastering is not our strong point.

    "We can do it, but it takes us much longer than an Awakened, and right now we can''t afford the luxury of time. The Incontinent King was so considerate to inform us of his ns and we had not one minute or ingredient to waste.

    "We called the best of the best¡­" Ern said while looking at the assembled Forgemasters, having a hard time not coating his words in sarcasm. "Because if Poopie there seeds in assimting Dusk''s crystal, we''ll face someone who holds the power of two Horsemen.

    "And that''s the best-case scenario. Everything you''ve seen and fought was a countermeasure against his known spells, bloodline abilities, and tower."

    Lith thought about theck of life forms on his way there, the arrays draining the world energy, the darkness-infused golems, and the technique developed by the Dread Knights and their living allies.

    ''Those were anti-Dragon techniques they have probably developed hoping that they work against a Vurdk as well.'' Lith thought. ''That''s why some of those things were easy for me to ovee. I wasn''t their intended target.''

    "What do you make of this message?" Ern posed it as a question, but Lith knew it was a test.

    "First, Meln is full of shit but you already knew that from the first video." Everyoneughed at his joke.

    Awakened, undead, humans, and beasts. Thrud''s dying wish hade true and nothing was left of Orpal''s reputation. From the less fortunate to the noble youths, he was aughing stock to all of them.

    "Second, he is not even close to seeding in merging Night''s and Dusk''s crystals. Not only did they break without even being touched, but just keeping him alive requires Night''s full focus.

    "If you notice, he always says ''I'' instead of ''we'' and there''s no trace of the Horseman. We both know that Night is crazy, not stupid. That''s Meln''s schtick. She would have never allowed him to make that call.

    "I''m betting that she is gone from his mind for a while and that she was too busy keeping the crystals together to make him reason. The pain must have driven Meln to the brink of madness and there''s nothing Night can do about it."

    "My thoughts exactly." Ern nodded and Cyrra with him. "Did you discover anything about his hideout?"

    "Though a hologram?" Lith replied with a snort. "The same as you did. Meln is underground, probably inside a cave deep enough to escape notice from someone using Life Vision.

    "He needs a secluded space so that no one can hear him scream. That''s it."

    Lith could see from the Dawn King''s eyes that he had passed the Blood Warlock''s test.

    "I can''t offer you our help." He said. "We have yet to finish our own preparations and keeping the Dawn and Night Courts together is already a hassle."

    Cyrra snarled. She hated the Dawn Court almost as much as she hated Lith. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Almost.

    "What I can do is offer you mymunication rune. If the Incontinent Kinges after us first, I''ll let you know. All I ask you in return is to do the same." Ern offered Lith his contact rune. "We tried to warn Dawn but she refused our calls.

    "We don''t have the time to send someone to the Eclipsed Lands. Also, our people wouldn''t probably be allowed toe back for security reasons and we can''t lose one more undead. Especially after today."

    He waved at the ruins in front of the fortress that Fae and self-repairing spells were already mending.

    "I can do that." Lith exchanged runes. "I have one question. Did Meln really do all the things he imed in the video? Was he really so charismatic and foresighted?"

    Cyrra the Banshee burst into a cruelughter that echoed throughout the cave.

    "Tell me another as good as this one and I might forgive you." She said amid bloody tears of hrity. "Of course not. The three Horseman unified the Courts, each following its respective founders. Poopie simply took the crown after Dawn and Dusk disappeared.

    "Dinner was already cooked and served. His contribution amounts to eating and using a fork is something even a toddler can do. It was Dusk who contacted Glemos for the Harmonizers.

    "The Hushed King and the Tyrant Lord were both great experts in manipting life forces. Dusk knew that we needed to increase our prowess to conquer the surface and passed part of his research to Glemos.

    "The Incontinent King reaped the fruits of theirbor and tried to pass them as his own. Everyone knows that he didn''t give a flying fuck about us. He only wanted a powerful army to impress Thrud or defeat her if everything else failed."

    "I see." Lith nodded, finally understanding how Glemos had so easily adapted the Harmonizers to the undead''s life force. "Don''t worry about Dawn. She can look out for herself but I''ll warn her anyway, if I see her again."

    Lith had no reason to give away his friendly rtionship with the Horseman or Baba Yaga.

    ''I don''t like her much, but Dawn is helping Solus build her telepathic defenses and gives Light Mastery tips to the kids from time to time.'' He thought. ''Also, if she kills Meln for me, all the better.''

 Chapter 3098 Binding Contract (Part 2)

    Chapter 3098 Binding Contract (Part 2)

    "What about the Forgemasters?" Strider chimed in, sure that he wasn''t interrupting anything. "Are you willing to release them?"

    "We are no prisoners, hatchling." Barham said. "We came here of our own will. We have been paid to do a job and will leave when we are done. Not a second sooner. Our honor and reputation as Forgemasters are on the line."

    "Does everyone share Elder Barham''s opinion?" Strider patted the backs of the Awakened one by one, establishing a mind link to allow them to speak without being heard if needed.

    "Yes, we do." Words and thoughts matched so Strider and Ryka could sigh in relief.

    The mission was a sess and no one was in danger.

    Also, the Council would be pleased to hear that news and probably reward the two of them handsomely for their initiative. Unlike Lith, they were operatives of the Hand of Fate and loyalty had to be rewarded for it to be kept.

    "How did you find us?" Ern asked.

    "I have my ways." Lith shrugged.

    "Let me guess. You are the one who set the bounty for Menadion''s book." The Dawn King was no fool and even though his informationwork couldn''t trace the bounty back to Haug, Ern could still connect the dots.

    "Someone noticed the disappearance of the idiots and tipped you off. What a rotten luck we have." He sighed, looking at the scene of the battle. "As a sign of good faith, I''ll help you. Cathras there has a book that matches your vague description."

    He pointed at a woman who was over 400 years old but didn''t look one day past thirty. She yelped at the usatory finger followed by the greedy looks of her colleagues.

    ''If that''s really Mom''s grimoire, we might learn enough to restore the tower''s Ears or at least I could recover more of my memories!'' Solus thought as her heart started to pound in her chest.

    "I stole nothing!" Cathras said while holding a grimoire the size of an encyclopedia volume. "My father was one of Menadion''s apprentices and she gifted this book to him. He was an honest man!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The other Forgemasters already knew about it because she consulted the grimoire often during their experiments but prolonged exposure had only aroused their interest more.

    "Can I see it?" Lith asked, extending his hand.

    "Fair warning. It''s imprinted." Cathras grunted. "You can''t store it and you can''t read it. All of my father''s notes are in code. Also, I want you to swear on your daughter you''ll return the grimoire to me if I''m telling the truth."

    "You have my word." Lith nodded.

    He took the volume and started flipping through its pages. It was indeed coded and the penmanship was so bad that it reminded him of his own.

    ''Solus?'' She was shoulder to shoulder with him, reading and exploiting the physical contact for an invisible mind link.

    ''That''s not Mom''s writing.'' She inwardly sighed in disappointment. ''She had a beautiful penmanship with wide-spaced letters and vowels ending in a flourish that-''

    Lith had reached the first page of the grimoire and there were a few lines in a writing that matched Solus'' description down to a t. It was coded as well, but she could read it like it was Tyris'' universalnguage.

    It said:

    "To Colmin, my good friend and student. May the foundations of your family be as strong as those of your Forgemastery. In faith, Ripha Menadion."

    The final a and n in the First Ruler of the mes'' name ended with a wide flourish that looked like a mystical rune and took a lot of space. Lith needed to triple-check with the Eyes to make sure it wasn''t some piece of the legacy she had left for Solus.

    ''Nothing.'' He sighed. ''It''s just-'' A drop of water fell on the page, quickly followed by more.

    Lith lifted his eyes and only then did he notice that Solus was crying. The enchantments of the book wiped off her tears but didn''t help her to relieve her pain.

    Solus'' fingertips traced every single word on the page, but lingered on the signature much longer than on the rest. She took pleasure following the flourishes with her forefinger, putting particr emphasis on Menadion''s autograph.

    Suddenly, Solus wasn''t in the underground cave anymore, but in a painfully familiar wooden house. She was sitting at a table, right beside her mother who was manipting a small blot of ck ink with water magic.

    From her raised chair, the young Elphyn could look at Menadion as she wrote down lists of mystical ingredients, groceries, or just day-to-day tasks in the hope of not forgetting about them before Threin''s return.

    She remembered how Elphyn had taken Menadion''s habit, writing her name on the list of her chores and then presenting it to her father with pride.

    "You did all this? All by yourself?" Threin would say that every day in yful shock, never failing to make the young Elphyn puff out her chest with pride.

    She always signed them at the bottom like a contract, considering them as amitment she had made and intended to honor. Solus remembered Ripha signing Elphyn''s homework after checking it out and the little girl adding her own signature right under her mother''s.

    She remembered how Elphyn had taken Menadion''s habit, writing her name on the list of her chores and then presenting it to her father with pride.

    "You did all this? All by yourself?" Threin would say that every day in yful shock, never failing to make the young Elphyn puff out her chest with pride.

    "Yes, Daddy!"

    "That''s my girl!" He held her close to his chest, the pungent smell of paint thinners invading Elphyn''s nostrils yet she didn''t care. That wasn''t the stench of chemicals to her, it was her father''s smell. "Look, I worked hard today as well."

    In the memory, Threin took a small painting depicting Elphynpiling her first grimoire out of his dimensional amulet. It was actually more like a diary since Menadion didn''t trust the little girl even with fire chore magic, but Elphyn loved it like it was the real deal.

    "Thank you, Daddy!" She grabbed the painting with one hand and her father with the other, rushing to show them both off to Menadion. "Daddy did it for me, not you!"

    She said with the silly pride of a daughter inpetition with her mother for her father''s attention.

    "Oh my!" Menadion gasped in mock envy. "I need to be a better wife or Elphyn will steal you from me, dear."

    "Don''t worry, honey. At the moment the bar is really low. It won''t take you much effort to improve." He said yfully, making Ripha blush in embarrassment.

    She knew of her own shorings and how her obsession with her work affected her family life, but she was trying hard to correct her bad habits.

    "I''m trying!"

    "I know it, baby. And I love you for that." Threin hugged Ripha to reassure her that her efforts hadn''t gone unnoticed.

    Their marriage wasn''t perfect, but they made it so.

    "Don''t worry, Daddy." Elphyn hugged his leg. "I''ll take care of you all my life."

    "Promise?" Threin asked, offering her his pinkie finger.

    "Promise! I''ll put it into writing." She shook fingers and rushed to take a piece of paper to draft the "contract".

    The memory ended as Elphyn signed the paper, trying to write herst name, Menadion, as her mother would to the best of her abilities.

 Chapter 3099 Haunting Past (Part 1)

    Chapter 3099 Haunting Past (Part 1)

    The wooden house disappeared, reced by the underground rock cave. Lith stood where Threin had been until a second ago and Ern was in Ripha''s ce.

    "Are you alright?" Ryka asked, seeing Solus'' pained expression turn into unbridled rage.

    To her distressed mind, the Dawn King was tainting the memory of her mother. Lith was someone Solus loved, his presence fit her present just like her past whereas Ern was little more than a potential ally.

    Solus gritted her teeth, her eyes burning with mana evaporated the tears still streaming down her cheeks.

    "Are you alright?" Lith patted her shoulder, breaking what was left of the fading images and restoring her grip on reality.

    "Yes, sorry." She said, clearing her voice after realizing how squeaky it was. "I''m just a huge fan of Menadion. I''d never thought the day woulde when I''d see her authentic signature in person."

    Anyone could tell that either Solus was Menadion''s biggest fan ever or that somehow the page had triggered some past trauma. Only Lith knew that both things were actually correct.

    "Uhm, I don''t know what that page says." Cathras cleared her throat as well to get Solus'' attention. "My father told me that it''s up to me to decipher the dedication of his grimoire and then use it with the rest of the grimoire to deepen my knowledge so I can''t give it to you. Yet I can do this."

    She took out what looked like a widemunication amulet with a fissurerge enough to amodate a standard-sized page. She had the amulet scan the grimoire''s preface and then fed it a nk piece of paper.

    What came out was a perfect replica of Menadion''s signature, just with fresh ink.

    "A *copy machine*?" Lith was bbergasted [AN: spoken in English since Tyris'' universalnguagecks the proper term.]

    "A what?" Asked those present, no matter if young, old, or ancient.

    "It''s just a term I made up for one of my works in project." Lith lied with the same ease he breathed. "I was so surprised because I''ve been trying to craft something just like that. How do you call it?"

    "Page to page replicator." Cathras said, making him cringe.

    "If you can make your own page to page replicator, call it whatever you like." She scoffed. "I''m not sharing my device."

    "Mine is called printer." He used the Mogarian term for taking the mold of something, like a hand or a key. "Because my goal was to let one page leave its print on the nk one and then mirror the words."

    "If you can make your own page to page replicator, call it whatever you like." She scoffed. "I''m not sharing my device."

    "Will do." Lith replied, his pride as a Forgemaster and his business of ripping off Earth''s technology on the line.

    "Thank you so much!" Solus checked that the ink was dry before storing the page in her dimensional pocket and hugging Cathras. "It means a lot to me."

    "You are wee, child." She replied, unaware that Solus was old enough to be her great-great-grandmother.

    "Well, that''s too bad." Ern shrugged. "Yet there''s more. A couple of weeks ago, some of my agents heard a drunken Awakened babbling about finding a grimoire belonging to Menadion.

    "The idiot imed it was going to make him very powerful and very rich."

    "And?" Lith didn''t actually care, but he had to carry on the fa?ade to keep the real motive of his investigation under wraps.

    "And ording to what the locals said, the guy is an idiot and a braggart so my men paid him no heed. The reason something so insignificant drew my attention and I''m now telling you about it is thatter the guy disappeared.

    "He left without telling anyone and took even his dirtyundry with him. Maybe he''s the one you are looking for or, more likely, he knew the one you are looking for and has been killed because he didn''t know how to keep his mouth shut."

    "I''ll look into it, thanks." Lith was about to inwardly roll his eyes when he felt a tug on his consciousness.

    ''Please, Lith.'' Solus shared with him the memory she had just regained. ''I don''t care if it''s just a grocery list. I want to own something that my mother wrote. If we''re lucky, it might be a piece Dad and I also signed.

    ''She had us do it on the grimoires she wrote after we signed our pact until my father died.''

    ''No need for an exnation, Solus. You just needed to ask.'' Lith replied. ''Also, I can''t wait to tell our family that you wanted to marry your dad.''

    ''I was five!'' Solus blushed. ''I thought that marriage meant loving someone and taking care of them, like my parents did with me.''

    ''I know. I was just joking.'' Lith chuckled. ''But you should have seen Mom''s face when Tista was six and said she wanted to marry me once we grew up.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''Seriously?'' Solus had a hard time repressing a chuckle.

    ''Yeah, with the baths and all, you have no idea how relieved Mom was when I moved out of my sisters'' room and had one built for myself.''

    After working out the final details of the Council''s truce with the Undead Courts, the Dawn King opened a Blood Steps leading straight to the surface.

    "Do you want me to look for the book guy?" Strider asked as soon as they were at a safe distance. "I know the bounty for the grimoire is just a ruse, but we must make people keep believing that''s the reason you are looking for stolen goods."

    "Yes, thanks." Lith nodded. "If the man Ern talked about really is an Awakened, you are the best suited between us to look for him without arousing suspicions. Call me the moment you find a lead and I''ll do the rest. I need something from which to get a sample of his energy signature."

    "No problem. Just do me a favor. When we find that helm, craft something for me too."

    "I''ll see what I can do." The Zouwu and the Titania shook his and Solus'' hands before leaving.

    ***

    From there it took Lith and Solus minutes to get back home.

    Lith waited until he was under thebined safety of the arrays of the Mansion and the tower to call Dawn and warn her.

    "Thanks for the heads up, but I suspected I would be next on Poopie''s list. I guess now I have a good reason to get back in contact with my Court." The Horseman sighed.

    "Poopie?" Lith echoed. "Is the nickname catching on?"

    "You have no idea. If you want, I''ll share the details with Solus the next time we meet for her lessons. Dawn out."

    ''If shees out of her room. ''Lith sealed the amulet inside his pocket dimension. ''I haven''t seen her since we arrived at the Mansion. Solus left it to me to share the details of our mission with the rest of the family and even the memory of the contract with Threin.

    ''Yet what really got me worried was when she told me not to wait for her for dinner.''

    Every time Solus remembered something about her past, she would be shaken for a few days but never miss a meal with her family.

 Chapter 3100 Haunting Past (Part 2)

    Chapter 3100 Haunting Past (Part 2)

    ''Something like this happened only after she got her Fury back from Bytra and honestly, a signature doesn''t seem such a big deal to me. I wonder what''s the issue.''

    ***

    Solus was sitting on her bed, staring nkly at the walls of her room in the tower. Her bedroom in the Mansion was bigger and more luxurious but too close to the rest of her family for herfort.

    After retrieving another piece of her past and acquiring a sample of Menadion''s handwriting, Solus needed some time to think. The Mansion was lively and vibrant with the voices of its residents, something she usually loved but that she couldn''t take right now.

    It reminded her of everything she had and lost as Elphyn.

    "By my Mom, I feel so stupid." She said while rocking her body back and forth. "I should be used to this by now. Then why does it hurt so much?"

    "Mama!" Elysia said with a giggle, trying to cheer Solus up.

    She wasn''t aware of being part of the problem and tried to fix it to the best of her abilities.

    "Thanks, baby girl, but don''t say this in front of Kami or she''s going to get angry with me." Solus took Elysia from her crib and held the baby girl tight to her chest. "Gods, who would ever believe that someone so adorable could cause so much pain?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Elysia had learned a few words and took notice of the effects they had on people when she spoke them but she still had difficulty associating them to a precise meaning. To Elysia, Mom, Mommy Solus, Grandma, and Granpa meant all the same thing.

    I love you.

    Only the word "Dya" was clear in her mind and only because Leegaain had drilled it in her mind since conception. "Ba" also was pretty easy, allowing her to express her disappointment in anything and anyone.

    As for Solus, her affection toward Elysia had only grown stronger with time yet it was also the root of her current problem. Whenever Solus looked at the baby girl, she saw herself.

    The hair, the magical talent, the parents, everything was a punch to the gut that triggered her old memories almost every day. Just like Elphyn, Elysia had one parent of incredible magical might while the other was a simple human who had Awakened for her sake.

    "Elphyn, Elysia." Solus sighed while looking at the baby''s light brown eyes. "Sometimes I can''t help but think that you''ve been named after my old life instead of Mom."

    "Da!" Elysia replied, dazzled by the colored sparkles that appeared on Solus'' hair whenever hit by light.

    "I''m so scared, baby girl." Solus held Elysia tight again and she exploited the opportunity to suck on the shiny hair. "Scared that you are going to end up like me. You don''t know it, but the shadow of death is always looming around your father as well.

    "Meln, Lith''s broken life force, Guardianhood, and all the shot that happens whenever someone tries to farm us in the alps for a petty reason. I could take it, back when it was just us. I mean me, Lith, and Kami. But now?"

    She lifted the baby up to look at her while pretending to y. Elysia giggled, her prize still in her mouth.

    "Now I''m terrified of what I''m going to do with you if something happens to Lith. Of having to find a way to tell you that you won''t see your father ever again. I don''t want you to end up like Elphyn or for Kami and me to end up like Menadion.

    "No one deserves that kind of pain." Solus'' eyes fell on Ripha''s autograph which was now framed and hung on the wall in front of her bed and started to sniffle. "No one but Meln, of course."

    "Wa?" Elysia was unsettled by Solus'' sadness and even more by the mention of her father. "Dya?"

    "Daddy is fine, don''t worry." Solus said.

    ''For now.'' She inwardly added.

    Elysia didn''t seem convinced, losing interest in the hair and feeling the need to check on Lith.

    A knock on the door made Solus yelp and Elysia cry.

    "Is everything alright, Solus?" Raaz''s voice came from the other side. "Dinner is almost ready. Are you sure you don''t want to eat? A good meal makes wonders for the mood. Your mother has given her all, hoping you would change your mind."

    "Come in, Dad." Solus knew she wasn''t a Verhen by blood.

    Yet after learning that they had raised her along with Lith since he was five, Elina and Raaz considered themselves Solus'' adoptive parents and demonstrated their love for her with their actions every day.

    It warmed her heart, no matter how bad a day was.

    "I''ve heard you went through quite some emotions today." Raaz entered cautiously, like he expected the room, Solus, or both, to shatter at any moment. "Would you like to talk about it?"

    "Dya?" Elysia repeated with a begging tone.

    "No, sweetheart, I''m not your father." Raaz beamed with joy and went to hold and kiss the baby girl. "I''m your grampa. Daddy is in the other room, cooking for Mommy Solus with the rest of the family."

    "Dya!" Between Raaz''s cheerfulness and the confidence of his tone, Elysia stopped worrying.

    "Not Dya. Say Grandpa. Gapa. Adya." Raaz spoke the Dragontongue word for grandfather with a snort, his annoyance at Leegaain burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. "Whateveres easier."

    "Adya!"

    "Let''s go with that." He sighed. "What about that talk, Solus?"

    "Uhm¡­" She scratched her neck, trying to find a polite way to turn down the offer.

    Then her eyes fell on the signature again. The figure of Raaz embracing Elysia ovepped with that of Threin and Elphyn and Solus broke down.

    She told him everything while holding back her tears to not scare the baby girl. Her voice cracked and faltered, her eyes turned watery, but she soldiered through with sheer willpower.

    "I''m really sorry for you, Solus." Raaz hugged her after letting Elysia down on the bed. "And I''m even sorrier for what I''m about to tell you, but you need to hear it. You are being very stupid and very selfish."

    "How can you say that?" His words stung her heart and she tried to push Raaz away.

    Yet he didn''t let go of her and Solus couldn''t risk putting more strength and hurting him.

    "I''m worried about Lith and Elysia. How can that be stupid and selfish?" She asked.

    "Do you really think you are the only one?" Raaz held her tighter, caressing her head. "I lost both my parents less than a year after marrying Elina. Elina lost hers when she was a little over fourteen and we both have already lost two sons.

    "Do you have any idea how scary it was for us when we reached the same age our respective parents had at the moment of their death? Do you think we weren''t worried about leaving our children alone just like it had happened to us?"

    Solus could sense the pain in Raaz''s voice only thanks to his closeness and her Awakened instinct. Otherwise his voice would have sounded calm and soothing.

 Chapter 3101 Bundles of Scales (Part 1)

    Chapter 3101 Bundles of Scales (Part 1)

    "Now that I think about it, you never told us how our grandparents died." Solus stopped pushing Raaz away and returned the embrace.

    "Because it''s painful, sweetie. My father died while going to the vige to barter crops for something nice for Elina. He was killed by bandits while he was buying us a bted wedding gift!" A tinge of anger made his voice deeper.

    "As for my mother, she died of overwork and heartache. After what happened to my father and with Elina pregnant with twins, your grandmother buried her grief in work until the pain stopped her heart.

    "Elina is even more unlucky. Her parents died of a bad flu because they didn''t have the money to pay Nana."

    "And she let them die?" Solus'' eyes went wide in shock.

    "And what was the alternative?" Raaz lowered his eyes in sadness. "Heal for free all those who don''t have or im not to have money? Nana wasn''t a bad person but not a good one either.

    "She healed people for profit and the signs in her office weren''t for show."

    "Gods, I''m so sorry, Dad." Solus wanted to cry, but just like before, she didn''t want to scare Elysia.

    "Can you imagine how terrified Elina and I were whenever one of us or our children got sick? How afraid we were of dooming them to experience our same pain?" Raaz asked and Solus nodded while burying her face in his chest.

    "Yet we didn''t hide in our rooms. We didn''t keep our children at arm''s length because afraid that the more they loved us, the greater their suffering would be after our demise. We spent every moment we had with them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We gave them all the joy we could so that even if something happened to us, our children would know how much we love them. We worked hard to have the money to keep them and ourselves from suffering the same fate as Elina''s parents and we seeded!

    "You, instead, had two wonderful parents who loved you with all their heart and instead of nurturing that love and sharing it with us, you''ve isted yourself. You''re here, alone, moping about your parents'' death when you should celebrate their lives.

    "Didn''t Threin love you?" Raaz asked.

    "More than anything." Solus hupped.

    "Didn''t Ripha do everything she could for you, no matter how wed her methods were?"

    "She worked her whole life for me. She exchanged her life for mine." Solus looked at the tower, at the Fury lying to the side of her bed, and all the mementos of Menadion''s devotion to her daughter.

    Silent tears streamed down her eyes.

    "Then how can you act so stupidly and selfishly? You aren''t worried about Lith or Elysia, only about yourself." Raaz wiped her tears and put a handkerchief in front of her nose for her to blow. "You are afraid of how you would feel if something bad were to happen.

    "There''s nothing to fear, Solus. Whatever happens, I''ll be there for you. We will be there for you. But we are also going to need you to be there for us. We need you, Solus. Do you understand what I''m saying?"

    "Yes, Dad." Solus cleared her nose from the snot and hugged Raaz from the bottom of her heart. He wasn''t her father, but he was still the best Dad she could ask for.

    "Dya!" Elysia rolled over and crawled toward them. "Dya! Dya!"

    She had no idea what was happening but she didn''t like the word "dad" associated with tears.

    "Elysia agrees with me." Raaz chuckled. "What do you say if we bring her to her father and you to your mother?"

    "I''d love that." Solus smiled. "Let''s go, Dad. I feel like I need to hug Mom."

    "Believe me, she needs it more." Raaz kissed her forehead and brought his girls to the dining room.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Verhen Mansion, the next day.

    Once again, Solus had remained at the Verhen Mansion while Lith and Tista trained with Valtak, patriarch of the Fire Dragons and current Father of Fire. She couldn''t risk the Elder Wyrm noticing the stone ring with Invigoration or that she and Lith shared the same energy signature.

    Dawn came to visit her during such asions and knowledge would flow ording to the principle ofmunicating vessels. The Horseman taught Solus about the means a living legacy like them should employ to iste their minds and destroy their host''s when necessary.

    The lessons took ce in a makeshift Mindscape, leaving Solus plenty of time to teach the basics of magic to Kam. In turn, she shared the beginner tips and tricks she had learned during her pregnancy to Selia.

    The two women were also practicing their Light Mastery which irked the Horseman to no end, especially Selia. While Kam used Lith''s technique and aroused Dawn''s curiosity, the huntress followed Nalrond''s teachings.

    In the Horseman''s eyes, those techniques were rough and Selia was even rougher in their execution. The huntress hadn''t practiced magic one day in her life before Protector Awakened her and calling Selia a beginner was an understatement.

    "No, no, no!" There was only so much Dawn could take before popping a vein. "You are perpetrating Light Mastery instead of practicing it. Runes are not like the animals you hunt! You are supposed to weave, not butchering them."

    "Well, if you think I can do better, then help me, smartass!" Selia didn''t mince words under the protection of Lith''s roof, no matter who she stood against. "If you are just going to nag at me, do everyone a favor and shut up!"

    "Even a monkey with your same core can do better!" The Horseman ended up giving the huntress small suggestions that yet improved Selia''s holograms by leaps and bounds.

    Useless to say, the kids, Kam, and Solus took note of everything and followed her instructions as well.

    "Wait, how can you say smartass?" Dawn looked around for Elysia and Valeron the Second, noticing their absence.

    "They are not here today." Solus replied while trying to employ the Mental Barricade technique amid the quarrel. Retaining her focus under any circumstance was a key factor in telepathic battles so Dawn relished the chaos during her lessons.

    "Valtak brought them along. He said that Lith is going to need their help."

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, Drakana Region, Valley of Life, at the same time.

    "Marvellous! Wondrous! Adorable!" The Father of Fire said while ying with the children.

    Useless to say, his reasoning for bringing them along was half the truth. Valtak indeed needed their help for the lesson of the day but he also wanted to spend a bit of time with his hatchlings.

    All Dragons treasured their eggs but the old ones at the end of their rope like the Father of Fire loved them even more. On top of that, Elysia and Valeron were special to him.

    The baby girl carried his blood, making her a member of the Fire Dragon bloodline, while the baby boy was the son of one of Leegaain''s firstborns. In a way, Valeron was Valtak''s senior and uncle.

    Also, both Elysia and Valeron were perfect hybrids born from mixing Dragon blood with other species. He wanted to know them and, if they proved capable of learning, teach them a bit.

 Chapter 3102 Bundles of Scales (Part 2)

    Chapter 3102 Bundles of Scales (Part 2)

    From the children''s point of view, there was no way for them not to love the Elder Wyrm.

    His scales were shiny, his beard soft and pleasant to tug, and they could feel his affection through the Dragon scales.

    "Adorable isn''t the term I''d use to describe our abilities." Tista said while in her Hekate form.

    Lith had shared the lessons about human evolution with her and the results of their attempts to manipte life force with Valtak. The Father of Fire had no interest in non-Dragon bloodlines but he had quickly found a way to use the results of those studies to his advantage.

    He had brought Valeron along so that Lith could use, amplify, and share the baby''s Life Maelstrom during the Elder Wyrm''s lessons.

    "All of our abilities based on Origin mes depend on our life force. It''s the currency we pay to exert our powers. If you''ve found a way to amplify your life force, it might help you trigger your dormant bloodline abilities." The Father of Fire had said at the beginning of the training.

    It hadn''t taken long to prove that he was right.

    Lith and Tista were already capable of using Primordial and Immortal mes even without Primal Spark but they still had a long way to go before mastering them. Immortal mes in particr would take some time before Lith could use them in battle safely due to his cracked life force.

    The real issue was uncovering his still-unknown bloodline abilities and triggering Tista''s Queen''s Blessing and Prismatic Wind. Even after weeks of practice, they had made no progress.

    So Valtak had brought the kids along, hoping that an enhanced life force would help them in their endeavor.

    The Hekate had greatly benefitted from the Elder Wyrm''s theory. She had discovered that the issue with Prismatic Wind was that the bloodline ability was activated solely by the willpower imbued in her life force, not her mana.

    She had to charge her feathers with the desired elemental energy and program the life force inside of them with the spell she wanted the feathers to form. The hard part was weaving runes with her life force, the easy part was that she could do it while the feathers were still attached to her wings.

    After learning how to influence the spark of her life force imbued in her mes from a distance, manipting it inside her body was much simpler. Valtak had Tista start with tier one spells because they needed few runes and she could make many attempts before needing to rest.

    Prismatic Wind consumed several times the life force needed for Origin mes. That was because each feather needed a spark of energy to form the rune and because they couldn''t be regrown with a healing spell.

    Once Tista ran out of feathers, she needed to use the breathing technique Sark had taught her and consume more life force.

    The Hekate hadter learned how to also activate Queen''s Blessing in a simr way.

    Her second unique bloodline ability turned out to be more versatile than she expected since it could be used with Origin, Primordial, and Immortal mes as well as Cursed mes. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    On the other hand, Queen''s Blessing also couldn''t be used carelessly.

    The first step required Tista to conjure one kind of mes like she always did. To bless someone instead of burning them to cinders, she had to expend more of her life force, enveloping her knight in a protective cocoon.

    It shielded the blessed target from the mes and harmonized their life force with Tista''s, preventing them from bing another victim.

    To achieve such effect, the Hekate had to pass on to the knight as much life force she had used to conjure the mes so that her followers wouldn''t suffer any damage from the mystical fire while itsted.

    Origin mes were the easiest ones, followed by Primordial, Cursed, and Immortal mes which were the most dangerous to use.

    Cursed mes needed to be summoned in pairs and if Tista waited too long or didn''t have enough people with whom to share them, she would suffer the bacsh from the unused mes.

    Immortal mes were a pure nightmare since they required so much life force that Tista could use them once before copsing. Even with Valeron''s Life Maelstrom and Valtak''s Primal Spark, she could use Queen''s Blessing on four targets and then she needed hours of rest.

    "I don''t get it." Tista said while trying to conjure her bloodline abilities without the silver lightning as a crutch. "How could I activate either of them on my first try if they are soplex? I mean, even with all this training, I''m nowhere near getting the hang of them."

    "Silly hatchling." Valtak said while cooing at the babies and rocking one in each arm. "As I told you, your bloodlines abilities are based on life force and willpower. Both times you activated them when the alternative was death.

    "Survival instinct is the driving force of all living beings and when our existence is threatened, our bodies do everything they can to escape death. Even things we never knew we were capable of."

    "What about me?" Lith groaned. "I''m still at square one. Sure, I''ve learned about Primordial and Immortal mes but that''s it. No blue mes, no Dragon Eyes, no nothing."

    "And how is that my fault?" Valtak grunted. "If I had to guess, I''d say that maybe the rest of your powers are rted to your Pheonix side and I don''t know anything about that. Same thing for your human side.

    "I can''t help you with your eyes and wings so deal with it."

    "I noticed how you glossed over my Abomination side." Lith pointed out.

    "I didn''t gloss over it. I saved it forter. It''s different." The Father of Fire tutted. "Now, since we have run out of options, it''s time to put a personal theory of mine to the test."

    At a wave of his hand, Tista stopped her training and the babies floated with her to a safe distance.

    "Before starting, I want you to know that even though I enjoy thepany of those little bundles of love and scales, I didn''t ask you to bring them here just to y family. I needed their help to help you and Tista unlock your bloodline abilities.

    "I''ve seeded with her and now it''s your turn."

    "What are they supposed to do for me that they haven''t already done?" The Tiamat asked in confusion.

    "Give you the strength to face the monsters inside of you. To survive their taint. Maybe even master those blue mes of yours." The Elder Wyrm replied, his voice turning grave and solemn.

    "What are you talking about?" Lith was confused and annoyed in equal measure. "I know you hate Abominations, but that part of me is no monster. It''s just one aspect of my messed-up head and life force.

    "Same for the Voidfeather Dragon and I''m appalled you called my Dragon bloodline a monster."

    "I wasn''t talking about either of them." Valtak replied. "And before you ask, no, I don''t like humans but I don''t consider your human side a monster either. I was talking about real, soul sucking monsters."

 Chapter 3103 The Door (Part 1)

    Chapter 3103 The Door (Part 1)

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith and Tista said in unison, both shocked by those words.

    "Not your Demons, hatchling. They are loyal followers of your Brood. Correct?" The Father of Fire asked and Lith nodded. "Yet they are not the only ones who dwell inside of you. Am I wrong?"

    The Tiamat shook his head, remembering how Trouble''s soul had exploited Lith''s moment of weakness in Zelex to be an Abomination and resurrect himself. Then, the memory of Urgamakka came back haunting Lith. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    To survive the encounter with Vareen the guespreader, Lith had been forced to open a gate inside of him. Souls he didn''t know or care about would have ripped him apart if not for Aalejah''s help.

    It was the same thing that had happened against Jormun, when Lith had surrendered himself to his Abomination side to obtain the strength he needed to best the older and stronger Emerald Dragon inbat.

    "I''ve watched the videos of your fight in Urgamakka, hatchling. I''ve talked with the female elf who helped you unlock the rest of your forms. I know what happened the day the little Elysia was born." Valtak continued.

    "When I asked you about Death Vision, I didn''t do it for conversation''s sake. I was studying you. Understanding you with the help of the knowledge I''ve garnered through my millennia-long existence and my Dragon Eyes.

    "Maybe you''ve never realized it, but your dead side can manifest in the physical world and affect it the same way it does with your body." The Father of Fire pointed at the ck veins in Lith''s eyes that appeared whenever he let go of Death Vision.

    "I believe you''ve gotten so used to repressing that power that you keep doing it without even noticing. Today, we are going to let it out and see what it can do for you."

    "It sounds dangerous." Lith said.

    "It sounds promising." Valtak replied. "You can''t reach the full scope of your abilities until you embrace every aspect of your being. If it''s of any constion, I''ve talked at length with Grandfather about you.

    "He told me how you look through his eyes. Of the experiments that Rogar would love to perform on you to test how deep your connection with the souls of the dead is. I know about your fight with Jontun and how you defeated him."

    "Jormun." Lith corrected the Elder Wyrm. "How did you learn so much about me and why did you go to such lengths for someone you didn''t even know?"

    "Hatchling, I might have slept for over a millennia, but after the Dragon Dance woke me up, I''ve spent my time carefully. I''ve researched and studied everything noteworthy with the help of my fellow Brood.

    "In your case, sometimes I had to ask Grandfather in person since you are really good at leaving no trace of your actions. As for the why, because finding the next Father of Fire is that important to me.

    "I want to leave this world without regrets and knowing that, even if just by a teeny-tiny bit, I left Mogar better than how I found it."

    "Shouldn''t you take it easy?" Tista looked at the Fire Dragon with Life Vision, remaining shocked as always by how little life force he had left.

    It was barely a spark, but it shone with the vigor of a sun and brimmed with power. Its warmth seeped deep into the Hekate''s heart, dissipating any worries she had that Valtak might drop dead at any moment.

    "I''ll rest when I''m dead, hatchling. It shouldn''t be long now." He said with a joyousughter.

    The Father of Fire had no regrets and nothing left unsaid. Everything about him spoke of a long life lived to its fullest.

    "If you too are worried about me, Lith, then you should humor this old fool." Valtak turned to the Tiamat. "Consider this my dying wish. The two of you are my final project and I''d rather go out doing what I love than passing away in silence."

    "I''m afraid not only for you, but also for myself." Lith said. "How sure are you that I won''t put anyone in danger? Those blue mes are unpredictable and I have no control over them, let alone over the dead who don''t answer my call."

    "Pretty sure." The Father of Fire nodded. "This is the Valley of Life. If I were a Guardian, this would be my turf. Here I can tap into more raw power than you can imagine. Also, thanks to your resonance with Elysia, your own abilities and will are greatly amplified.

    "Last, but not least, I don''t want you to go all-out or perform one of Roghar''s crazy experiments. We are not going to open that door, only to see what happens when you stop pushing it back.

    "Feel free to back out the moment you feel things are getting out of control. I''ll be there, ready to intervene if you need me."

    Lith pondered Valtak''s words for a while, seeing the truth in them.

    ''I can''t run away from this any longer.'' He thought. ''Ever since their first appearance, the blue mes keep burning in a corner of my mind. Several times when my life was threatened or while in great distress, they burst out of my body against my will.

    ''With Meln back and the thieves of the Ears still atrge, I must at least learn how to contain the blue mes safely. If Meln targets Mom or the thieves attempt to murder Solus again, I might end up being more dangerous to them than my enemies.

    ''Here I have a controlled environment and the help of an expert. This is my best shot at figuring the blue mes out or at least learning how to keep them locked away.''

    "Okay, I''m in." Lith nodded. "What do I have to do?"

    "First, we are going to rest, hatchling." The Elder Wyrm took out Dragon-sized nutrients potions and servings of food. "We are all going to need our strength. You to withstand whatever menace we might unlock, and Tista and I to stop you."

    "What about the babies?" She asked.

    "They are adorable and will be fine." The Father of Fire shrugged. "The Guardians watch after Elysia and you''ll keep both babies at a safe distance, just to be safe. You''ll intervene only in the remote case I need help."

    Tonics, food, and the abundant world energy in the Valley of Life helped everyone to return to the peak of their strength in a little over an hour.

    Tista was still a bit tired, having spent a lot of strength to activate her bloodline abilities on her own, but that was it.

    "Now, keep your eyes open, hatchling." Valtak said after bringing Lith to a charred in surrounded by active volcanos. "Let go of Death Vision. Try to feel it instead of fighting it."

    ck veins popped out in Lith''s pupils and slowly spread to his sclera, blotting out the white.

    He focused on his eyes, then his life force, andstly on Death Vision.

    "It doesn''t work. It''s no different from when I willingly use Death Vision. There is no flow of mana or anything." Lith said.

 Chapter 3104 The Door (Part 2)

    Chapter 3104 The Door (Part 2)

    "Weird." The Father of Fire grabbed the Tiamat''s face with his hand and activated his bloodline''s breathing technique, Firestarter.

    He could see the cobwebs of cracks in Lith''s life force that covered most of his body. After the fusion with Solus, the tower had partly repaired them, but a ck substance still seeped out of the cracks.

    It coated Lith''s essence like a thin smoke and reached his eyes where it took the form of Death Vision.

    "Even though you don''t feel it, there is a flow. Conjure your Demons, please. Not the ones in your feathers, though. Call upon the souls who rest in this ce."

    Lith did as instructed and Valtak observed more and more of the ck goo seeping through the cracks. Only a few droplets took the form of Demons of the Darkness. The rest lingered in the air, circling around the Tiamat like a school of hungry sharks.

    "We are getting there. Can you feel it?" The Elder Wyrm asked.

    "No."

    After several tries and as many failures, Lith had made no progress in understanding his bloodline abilities.

    "Are you tired?" Valtak caressed his beard while pondering his next move.

    "I''ve spent a bit of mana for the one-eyed Demons, but aside from that I''m fine." Lith replied.

    "Okay, then. We are going to try something different this time." The Father of Fire said. "You just rx and be ready to shut everything down in case things get out of hand, okay?"

    "Define out of hand, please." Lith grabbed Valtak''s wrist before he could reach for the Tiamat''s face again.

    Lith had noticed how the Elder Wyrm always positioned his thumb near Lith''s right eye and the index finger near the left. Right where the ck veins ran thickest.

    "Fair enough." The Father of Fire sighed. "It''s what seeps out of the cracks in your life force that fuels Death Vision and your ck chains. Every time you conjure your demons, more of it spills out of you yet you have no awareness of this.

    "Also, even after looking far and wide, I''ve found no point of your body where that thing reaches close enough to the surface for me to interact with it. Except for one ce." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "My eyes." Lithpleted the phrase for Valtak and nodded for him to continue.

    "Correct." The Elder Wyrm said. "Unlike your chains, Death Vision is a physical manifestation of what Grandfather calls death energy. The thing that keeps your Abomination side stable and nurtures Elysia''s body since conception, making her immune to Chaos.

    "I, however, I''vee to call it death force."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith said in confusion.

    "Think about it. We don''t know how or why but a part of you is dead, or you wouldn''t have an Abomination side." Valtak said.

    ''I actually know how and why I''m part Abomination but I can''t tell him about that either.'' Lith swallowed a lump of saliva as the Father of Fire kept talking.

    "This energy, because it can''t be anything else, is just like mana and life force, fueling your body and bloodline abilities. The only reason I can think of to exin why we failed to trigger your blue mes during our training, even by mistake, is that we got it all wrong.

    "We considered the blue mes just another kind of Origin mes and tried to ignite your life force in every way possible but what if they are not like Origin mes? What if they don''t need a spark of your life force to ignite but a spark of your death force?"

    "It makes sense." Lith pondered. "My ability to manipte souls was very limited back when I was a child. I didn''t gain my Demons of the Darkness until I got the blue core while for the ck chains I needed the deep violet.

    "The blue mes didn''t manifest before I reached the violet and my Abomination side stopped fighting me for control."

    "If I''m right, it''s because for most of your life your Abomination side was a reluctant ally at best and an honest enemy at worse." Valtak said. "Your human and Divine Beast life forces repressed it and with it its powers."

    Lith nodded since the Father of Fire''s theory matched what he had learned whilemuning with the other two aspects of himself.

    "The more your life forces developed, however, the more they merged, giving the dead side more control over you. Now that your life forces havepletely fused, your Abomination side has lost its aggressiveness so you didn''t experience any side effect.

    "Yet the death energy is still there and after spending all your life fighting against it, you have no idea how to control it aside from the powers thate out on their own. My n is to use Primal Spark on your eyes and see what happens.

    "The Fire Dragons'' bloodline ability is supposed to extract the life force contained in regr mana and use it to conjure Origin mes. Maybe, the proximity with your eyes will allow Primal Spark to extract the death force in the mana surrounding them and let you to experience the blue mes safely."

    "Sounds like a solid n." Lith nodded. "Primal Spark deals with mana, not life force, let alone this ''death force''. Best case scenario, we get a glimpse into its abilities. Worst case scenario, nothing happens."

    After receiving Lith''s permission, Valtak touched the Tiamat''s face while activating Firestarter and used it to guide Primal Spark to the mana that flowed inside the veins ckened by Death Vision.

    "How are you feeling, hatchling?" Valtak asked after getting a grip on the mana yet keeping Primal Spark at a safe distance.

    "I''m fine, thank you. Why do you ask?"

    "Because I don''t feel well. As I''m touching this thing, it''s touching me back. I can feel a coldness running through the world energy carried by my breathing technique and it''s giving me the creeps." The Father of Fire replied.

    "There is hunger, wrath, and hate. I can feel a cacophony of voices screaming and crying. It''s like standing near a thick door and there''s something bad going on on the other side.

    "The door is not soundproofed so I can hear the loudest bits but the rest is too muffled to make sense of the noise."

    "I feel nothing." Lith would have found Valtak''s words nonsensical if not for the sudden pallor of the scales on the Elder Wyrm''s snout.

    "That''s good news." The Father of Fire said. "It means that the death force affects me because I''m new to it. Over the years, you must have developed a resistance to it. If I''m right, things should go smoothly. Are you ready?"

    "Whenever you are." As Lith finished speaking, Valtak activated Primal Spark on the mana in Lith''s eyes.

    "You know how this works. Use a fire spell. Anything will do."

    Lith did as instructed and a crown of bright violet Origin mes covered his head.

    "It didn''t work." He said with a sigh. "I don''t feel anything diff-"

    Then, a tiny speck of ckness that was supposed to fuel Death Vision was swallowed by the mana flow. Primal Spark had no effect on it but guided it toward the burning mes.

 Chapter 3105 Flung Open (Part 1)

    Chapter 3105 Flung Open (Part 1)

    ??3105  Flung Open (Part 1)

    There, the speck of ckness found the already burning world energy and was set aze like everything else. Except that the Origin mes didn''t burn the death energy.

    Once ignited, it burned Lith''s mana and the world energy in a burst of blue mes. They burned at the Origin mes, consuming the violet fire before moving on to Primal Spark and Lith''s life force.

    The Father of Fire jumped back and let go of Lith''s face before the blue mes reached him.

    "Okay, that''s enough for a first try. Reel them in." It took Valtak a split second to understand that it was agony, not surprise to have cut Lith short.

    Contrary to his expectations, the blue mes spread inside as well as outside. They followed the stream of mana back to the cracks in Lith''s life force, setting everything in their wake aze.

    Upon reaching the cracks, it wasn''t just a speck of ckness fueling the blue mes anymore but every single drop of death force that oozed out of the cracks. The gate that the Void had kept closed for over twenty years, guarding Lith''s life force from invaders, was now flung open against his will.

    Souls he hadn''t called upon and who he hadn''t granted any ess to his bloodline abilities took everything he had by force. The countless voices that Valtak had heard a few seconds ago weren''t muffled any longer.

    They screamed their rage and agony in Lith''s mind, their thoughts flooding his own until he could barely tell which memory or idea belonged to him. Lith was forced to relive the countless souls'' deaths, experiencing the pain and fury that kept them from moving forward.

    "What''s going on?" Tista asked when after a few seconds the blue mes had yet to burn out. "Didn''t you just ignite a single spark of Lith''s mana?"

    "I did but I''m afraid that the worst-case scenario is beyond anything I predicted." Valtak replied. "I made a grave mistake. I assumed that the blue mes were akin to Origin mes and that to burn things they needed to consume the source of their strength.

    "I was wrong. It takes death force to ignite the blue mes but that''s not their fuel. They feed on world energy like Origin mes. The problem is that they feed on every form of world energy, not just what Lith conjures!"

    The Father of Fire pointed at the rocks, the ground, and even the ashes in the air that were set aze by the contact with the blue mes. Everything was fuel to them. A hard piece of stone was no obstacle to the blue mes, it just gave them more energy to burn.

    The blue mes broke everything down by consuming the forces that kept matter and energy together with zes of entropy. Where there was order there was also fuel and fuel burned.

    Everything was fuel. Everything burned.

    To make matters worse, the death force kept seeping out of the cracks in Lith''s life force and generating new blue mes that spread further and faster by the second.

    ''Fuck that old fossil!'' The Void was doing everything he could to shut the door close again, but he was alone against an unending flood of desperate souls.

    Taken one by one they were nothing to him, but there were thousands of them, and more kept pouring. Their sheer numbers would have been enough to overwhelm the Void and they were just one part of the problem.

    Lith''s mind was drowning in memories that didn''t belong to him. He was forced to face in seconds decades of traumatic events and struggled not to let them scar him for life. The blue mes were also burning at him, digging through his body as they inched closer to the cracks.

    Physical and psychological agony paralyzed both his body and mind, leaving him frozen in ce like a statue. Then, when Lith couldn''t take it any longer, his mouth dropped open and an inhuman scream came out of it.

    It was something that Mogar had never heard before and, with a bit of luck, would never hear again. The scream expressed, pain, betrayal, rage, grief, heartache, and desperation at the same time, conveying the feelings of the countless souls that ravaged Lith''s body.

    His Tiamat form melted like wax, reforming into the appearance of the Void Demon Dragon. It wasn''t a matter of choice so much as survival.

    The Abomination side was best suited to handle the rot that the hungry souls inflicted upon the living flesh while the Voidfeather side formed an insting sheathe to protect his life essence from the infection of the blue mes.

    Yet such power came at a price.

    A new bnce was required to exalt those two sides and give them the strength they needed to resist the onught. There was no ce for the human side anymore and it had to be discarded.

    "I knew we shouldn''t have left Solus home!" Tista stifled a streak of swear words that almost forced its way out as the babies started to cry.

    "What in the gods'' names has Solus to do with this?" Valtak asked and the Hekate had to bite her lips hard to find the strength to answer.

    "The blue mes never manifest when she''s with Lith. She keeps the worst of him at bay."

    "Solus? Not Elysia?" The Father of Fire was bbergasted. "Why no one told me anything about this?"

    Knowing there was no time to lose before everything was lost, the Elder Wyrm reverted to his true form, that of a 32 meter (105'') tall Red Dragon with scales as red as rubies and a wingspan bigger than most viges.

    His long white beard tousled in the shockwave produced by Lith''s scream and the blue mes'' roar. Valtak took a deep breath, letting his bloodline ability, Primal Spark, call upon the immense life force of the Valley of Life.

    Usually, a Red Dragon gave life but when needed they could also take it.

    The strength of the soil, the boiling magma, and the small creatures that thrived in the harsh environment of the ins answered his call, lighting the area around Valtak with bright violet mes for hundreds of meters.

    It was a tidal wavepared to the humanoid torch wrapped in blue mes but the Father of Fire knew it still wasn''t enough.

    ''Those things would eat my Origin mes just like they did with Lith''s. I need more power.'' With another deep breath, the Elder Wyrm released one of the few sparks of life force he had left, turning the sea of mes white.

    "Lith, if you are still in there, fight with me!" The Fire Dragon roared as the roiling tide crashed against the Void Demon Dragon. "I don''t want to kill you. I want to save you, brother!"

    Those words triggered something inside the mess that Lith''s life forces were. Suddenly, the Void wasn''t alone anymore.

    ''Fight, you useless bastard!'' The Voidfeather Dragon hade to the rescue and had brought reinforcements.

    Valia, Varegrave, Locrias, and Trion stood right beside the two monsters, trying to stop the flood of souls and adding their strength to the effort of closing the door.

 Chapter 3106 Flung Open (Part 2)

    Chapter 3106 Flung Open (Part 2)

    ??3106  Flung Open (Part 2)

    ''What do you think I''ve been doing all this time?'' The Void snarled. ''Where the fuck have you been until now?''

    ''I was protecting our life force. That''s my role. Just like yours is to keep this thing closed.'' The Voidfeather snarled back. ''I came here once I realized that if we don''t stop the souls from getting in, there is no point fighting.''

    The invaders caught in the Dragon''s feathers were absorbed and their essence purified. Their strength became the Voidfeather''s and the souls were thrown back into the Void from which they hade with no hope to ever return.

    Yet there was only one Voidfeather Dragon and he only had four wings whereas the souls came in droves of thousands.

    The four Demons of the Darkness fought with everything they had and everything they were, following the teachings of the mysterious man who had guided them in the previous battle of souls.

    ''Howe there are so many?'' Trion asked, his form that of his child self.

    A version of Trion who had found the courage to turn his back to Orpal and protect his siblings from the abuse instead of turning a blind eye.

    ''Compared to this, thest time was a walk in the park!''

    ''Because thest time, no fucking old fool opened the door!'' The Void replied. ''What you faced back then were the few souls that managed to slip through the cracks while I was fighting Jormun.

    ''This time they are not slipping, they are charging inside the house. Where is Lith?''

    ''Fighting alone, as always.'' Valia pointed at the core of Lith Verhen''s very being where he was giving his all to keep the angry souls away from his life force.

    They drowned him in pain and he returned the favor in kind.

    All the trauma, the abuse, and the loss he had suffered during his three lives had be his shield. They burned the weak-minded souls upon contact while the fury and hatred tuned into his sword and cleaved the strong-minded ones.

    The invaders were many, but that was his body. His mind. His soul.

    And as Lith often liked to remind his enemies, he was never alone.

    Elysia cried, feeling that not even the resonance with her father was enough to help him. She cried harder as she felt his pain, yet no one answered. Desperation and instinct drove her to what she considered her only option.

    Blue mes burst out of her body as well and her Tiamat form slowly gave way to a small Void Demon Dragon. The baby girl wasn''t conjuring the blue mes. She had never done it.

    Elysia acted as an exhaust port, using her bond with Lith to get rid of them safely for him. Part of her body wasprised of pure, stable Chaos which gave her greater resistance to the blue mes than Lith.

    Her intervention weakened the souls controlling the Void Demon Dragon as the Voidfeather and the Demons did the same, yet Valtak could only pray that it would be enough to tip the scales of the battle in his favor.

    ''Elysia is just a baby. Her body can''t take that much energy. At least not for long. This is all my fault. In my greed and impatience to find a sessor, I''ve put two innocent beings in danger!''

    The Fire Dragon focused his energy to the extreme, drowning the blue mes in Primordial mes before they could infect more of the Valley of Life.

    He had to win before Lith turned into the Void Demon Dragonpletely and before the blue mes consumed Elysia.

    The Guardians had sworn to protect her from each and every threat, but not from the consequences of her own decisions. It had been Lith''s choice to tamper with the blue mes just like Elysia was taking them on herself by her own will.

    The Guardians would respect their decision and not intervene and Valtak knew it.

    The Void Demon Dragon screamed in agony, but not because of the Primordial mes. Despite their violence, they failed to breach past the thick shroud of blue mes that engulfed the area where Lith stood.

    The pain was theirs and Lith''s, getting worse as the struggle progressed. More and more souls came forth, slowly overpowering the three aspects of Lith''s life force and his psyche.

    The souls diluted his will, memories, and essence with their own. They formed a new being, born from the fusion of thousands of different personalities but with amon goal: conquer the Tiamat''s body and return to life.

    Yet until they got rid of the Fire Dragon, they would never beat the real owner of the body they now inhabited. If the souls focused too much on Lith, Valtak''s mes would smother the blue mes that kept the door open.

    If they focused too much on the Father of Fire, instead, the Void would shut the door himself and the Voidfeather Dragon would devour any soul left.

    The desperate dead had to fight two battles at the same time and the Elder Wyrm was the easier opponent. The body, mind, and soul they inhabited belonged to Lith. He fought on his own turf and every soul that the Voidfeather consumed also strengthened the Abomination and the human side.

    Valtak, instead, was old and weak.

    The souls could smell death on him. They could feel how tenuous the thread linking him to the world of the living was. The souls now in control of the Void Demon Dragon knew they needed one, maybe two solid blows to extinguish his spark.

    Valtak knew it as well and wrapped himself in the Primordial mes, using them like a burning extension of his body to fight and keeping anything the enemy could dish out at a distance.

    "Walk away, old fool!" A choir of shrieking voices came out of the Void Demon''s mouth. "No one needs to die today. Go away. Bring your hatchlings with you and leave us alone!"

    "No one? What about Lith?" The Father of Fire took a deep breath and a new wall of fire rose from the Valley of Life, joining the first one in its siege. "Or does his life not count?"

    "One life in exchange for four. It''s a fair bargain!" The Void Demon Dragon took a deep breath as well, releasing another burst of blue mes that swelled his protective cocoon and burned at the Primordial mes, adding Valtak''s strength to their own.

    "No, it''s a theft!" The Elder Wyrm waved his arm with sinuous grace, moving them up, down, left, and right.

    With each of his movements, a wave of white mes condensed into a roaring Dragon that crashed against the blue mes from a different direction. Such was their violence that the Void Demon Dragon couldn''t consume them.

    The Primordial mes drowned the blue ones with overwhelming power, smothering them like a wet nket.

    "That body doesn''t belong to you parasites. You have no im over Lith''s life. Your time is over and there''s no ce for you on Mogar anymore."

    "Liar!" The voices roared and spread their membranous wings to release more blue mes. "There''s still more time! There is a ce for all of us and we''ll take it by force if necessary."

 Chapter 3107 Burnt Out (Part 1)

    Chapter 3107 Burnt Out (Part 1)

    ??3107  Burnt Out (Part 1)

    The souls of the dead tried to ess Lith''s mana and mastery over magic, but those notions were safely guarded and beyond the reach of the invaders.

    "So you admit it!" Valtak roared, coalescing the Primordial mes into a gigantic snake that coiled around the Void Demon Dragon, trapping him. "Lith is just your first victim. How many people are you willing to sacrifice in order to prolong your existence?"

    "Enough!" The voices said, the word both their answer and a threat.

    As more and more blue mes poured out of Lith''s body, the souls managed to shape the blue mes into a ring of fire that rapidly expanded and cut the snake into bits, freeing themselves from its snare.

    Yet Valtak''s Primordial mes weren''t lost. The Father of Fire recalled every bit of the fire construct and reshaped them into a fiery armor, but he knew things weren''t going well.

    "Get ready to run away, Tista!" He yelled. "Origin mes are sparked by life force and a living being only has a finite amount. Blue mes, instead, are sparked by the death energy carried by the souls pouring out of the cracks in Lith''s life force.

    "The longer the door remains open, the greater the risk of Lith being consumed by the blue mes and we with him bes. I don''t know if I can win, but at least I can keep those bastards from winning."

    A cold shiver ran down the Hekate''s spine.

    She had done everything she could, but nothing seemed to work against the blue mes afflicting Elisya and it was only a matter of time before the baby girl lost control over them.

    Until less than a minute ago, Tista had believed Valtak to be invincible. The Elder Wyrm always exuded an unparalleled aura of might and his knowledge seemed endless. Yet not even he could win against the ravages of time.

    Since the beginning of the fight, the Void Demon Dragon looked like an incandescent light bulb that bes brighter as it stays on. The Fire Dragon, instead, was akin to a candle at the end of its wick, its light growing dimmer as it consumed the final drops of wax.

    ''Valtak can''t use magic.'' She thought. ''The blue mes would consume his spells and even if he manages to hit Lith, he would achieve nothing. You can''t harm souls with magic.''

    "No way! Even if I run, what about Elysia?" Tista cursed her bad luck and took out hermunication amulet, alerting Solus. "Come here as fast as you can. We are in the usual spot!"

    Before Solus could ask a single question, a deafening roar shook the Valley of Life and forced the Father of Fire to take a step back.

    The souls had gained enough control over Lith''s body to not only keep producing blue mes against his will but also to manipte them freely.Theypressed the remaining blue me in the form of a spinning drill and shot it forward.

    The souls had Valtak and Tista lined up so that if one dodged the drill, the other would still be hit. The blue mes were no faster than regr Origin mes but the Fire Dragon refused to budge.

    ''I''ve caused this and I won''t put Tista''s and the babies'' lives at risk just to save myself. I have no idea if those mes have more hidden abilities and I''ll be damned before I let hatchlings get hurt on my watch!''

    The Father of Fire roared back, stopping the shockwave and unleashing the Primordial mes he had umted over his body.

    The white fire converged in front of the blue drill, smothering its power yet failing to stop it. The Elder Wyrm pped his mighty wings, moving himself out of harm''s way and pushing Tista to safety with the mere air pressure he generated.

    At the same time, he hurled a jet stream of Primordial mes the size of an apartment building at the Void Demon Dragon.

    The souls cursed, stopping the attack and recalling enough of the blue mes to survive. The backside of the drill retreated while the frontside faded but not before reaching Valtak and burning the right side of his body.

    The Elder Wyrm writhed in agony as the membrane of his right wing burned and he plunged to the ground with a thud.

    The souls had dealt the first blow.

    Valtak had the strength to smother the blue mes before they consumed him, but not enough to stand up.

    "Go away, hatchling." He said amid pants, his long beard burned ck and short. "I''m sorry that my final lesson to you had to be in stupidity and pain. Save the babies. They have no one else who can protect them."

    Elysia cried seeing the old and kind Wyrm suffer. She just wanted her father back. She just wanted to go home. She was doing her best to help Lith but it wasn''t enough. It was never enough.

    Valeron too cried, but he had no blood bond with Lith. The Bahamut''s bloodline abilities had nothing to do with the Tiamat''s but he still had them and chose to fight as he could.

    "Papa! Help!" A burst of silver lightning came out of the baby boy and flooded the Father of Fire, amplifying what was left of his strength tenfold.

    "Thank you, little one." The Elder Wyrm rose to his feet. "With this, I can hold a bit long-"

    A burst of fire charged forward and not from the Void Demon Dragon. The souls were still dealing with the white fire with the little blue mes they had left.

    Valeron breathed his bright orange Origin mes and imbued them with what Life Maelstrom he had left, turning them into Life mes.

    They came in too fast and surprise froze Valtak who took them in full.

    "By the Father of All Dragons!" Instead of consuming him, the Golden mes healed the Fire Dragon''s wounds.

    The burned scales became ruby red, the broken wing was whole again, and his life force was renewed. If the Dread mes split the six elements from each other, turning them into destructive cursed elements, the Life mes exalted and amplified each element.

    Light restored Valtak, darkness purged the blue mes, water and earth filled his body with nutrients, while fire and air gave him strength and speed. On top of that, Life mes still burned at everything like Origin mes would.

    Yet instead of turning their prey into more destructive power, the golden mes converted what they burned into life force and injected it into the Father of Fire. The ground, magma, and rocks were still consumed but their essence was passed on.

    "Thanks, little ones." Valtak opened and closed his fists, feeling stronger than he had been in millennia. "I won''t waste the opportunity you have given me."

    Elysia kept weakening the Void Demon Dragon while Valeron the Second had given Valtak a second wind.

    ''Once the effect of these mes and the Life Maelstrom runs out, I''ll be back to being an old fossil. I have to put everything I have in the next attack.'' He thought while a few kilometers away from the fight, the tower Warped to the nearest mana geyser.

 Chapter 3108 Burnt Out (Part 2)

    Chapter 3108 Burnt Out (Part 2)

    ??3108  Burnt Out (Part 2)

    During his past visits to the Valley of Life, Lith had searched for mana geyser with the excuse of exploring the area during the breaks from Valtak''s lessons. He could mark a geyser on his own, without the need to build the tower there.

    He had nned to return to the Valley of Life and train on his own, he had never considered such an emergency.

    ''Thank the gods for Lith''s paranoia.'' Solus opened the door, letting out Dawn and Kam who hade with her. ''Be ready.''

    They were far from the scene of the fight and Solus knew the region only from Lith''s memories. Yet the Warp Mirror could help her cover most of the distance and from there, her bond with Lith would guide her.

    Solus had brought Kam because Tista had briefly exined the problem. If Lith needed his inner light to ovee the souls, Kam would give him strength as well. As for Dawn, a Horseman capable of using de Spells was a fine addition to any mission.

    "Why do you hate us?" The souls screamed in frustration as they felt the encroaching of Solus'' light weakening their grip on Lith''s body further. "Why won''t you just let us live?"

    "I don''t hate you. You have suffered so much that I pity you." Valtak replied as he conjured a searing wave of emerald mes. "Yet there''s no ce for you on Mogar and I can''t let you stay. You are here because of me. You are my responsibility and I will put you to rest."

    With each breath the Father of Fire took, the wave of Immortal mes grew taller and more violent. With each breath he took, he consumed one of thest embers of his life.

    "You don''t belong in this world. Life is for the living so go back to the abyss that spawned you!" Valtak spread his arms, coating them in emerald mes that he used as an extension of his limbs.

    "This is our world now! We can still live!" The Void Demon Dragon roared, squeezing every bit of death energy he could as the door slowly closed.

    Even from that distance, Solus'' light shone on Lith, adding love and kindness to the sources of his strength. Kam''s smell filled his nose, reminding him of the life they had built together and turning his sense of self into a beacon of light that cut through the ocean of darkness drowning him.

    Lith could hear the babies cry. He saw them fighting for him. Beside him. And he fought harder for that.

    ''Get! The Fuck! Out!'' The Void, the Voidfeather, and the human merged into one, each with a different reason to protect their world.

    "You could live." Valtak nodded at the Void Demon Dragon. "But I won''t let you!"

    More and more Immortal mes burst out of every scale on his body as he charged forward. The Void Demon Dragon shaped the blue mes into a spinning barrier but the Father of Fire broke through them like an emerald ram.

    The creature''s mouth fell open in shock and the Elder Wyrm closed it shut with a wless uppercut. Knowing he was done for, Valtak had no reason to hold anything back.

    "Are you crazy?" The souls hadn''t expected the fight to turn physical. The threat of the blue mes was supposed to keep the Elder Wyrm away. To give them the time to overpower his waning strength.

    "You''ll burn to death. You''ll die!" They begged the Fire Dragon for mercy as he unleashed a flurry of fists.

    The spirits of the dead were thousands, but each one of them had lived shortly and fought for an even shorter amount of time. The Father of Fire was alone but he had fought long enough to reach perfection.

    Every single one of his blowsnded exactly where he wanted and created an opening for the next, turning him into an unstoppable force. The Void Demon Dragon had the blue mes converge on himself, but Valtak didn''t stop.

    He kept the Immortal mes focused on his arms, injecting them where Lith''s essence shone the brightest to help him reim his body.

    The souls threw desperate w strikes imbued with blue mes at the Elder Wyrm''s back, but he didn''t care.

    "You think you can burn me, child?" Half of Valtak''s body was burning emerald and the other half blue from the attacks he had failed to stop or just ignored. "I am the Father of Fire!"

    Valtak expanded and boosted the Immortal mes with the remains of his life essence, turning them from arm guards into giant des.

    "I decide how my life goes out!" He extended his middle and medium fingers out of his fists and lunged forward.

    "Down! To thest! Spark!" The emerald mes focused on his fingertips and sted forward, piercing through the ming blue armor of the Void Demon Dragon.

    "You can''t burn my Immortal mes more than you can burn me!" The Elder Wyrmughed as the souls tried and failed to extinguish the emerald fire. "They are my life. They are a part of me and not even my spit is going to surrender to a bunch of sore losers!"

    The emerald mes seeped inside Lith''s body and reached his eyes. There, they cut off the small stream of blue mes that Valtak had unwittingly sparked less than a minute ago.

    Without the connection with the cracks in Lith''s life force, the blue mes went out and without them, there was nothing keeping the door open. The Void, the Voidfeather, and the five Demons pushed with all their strength, shutting the door close.

    Now all that Lith had to do was refuse the souls ess to his life force and they would quickly fade away. They now had nothing to give them substance and without the constant stream of reinforcements, the little strength they possessed was quickly consumed.

    Valtak saw Solus and Kam approaching. He felt Lith''s strength soaring while the wandering souls grew weaker. Elysia kept channeling the blue mes, drawing the souls unto her and purifying them in Cursed mes.

    Valtak could feel the Void Demon Dragon crumbling apart and turning back into the Tiamat yet he continued his attack nheless. The Elder Wyrm spread the emerald mes over the cracks in Lith''s life force, cauterizing them close.

    It inflicted the Tiamat pain, but it was a pleasant one. The flow of death energy stopped, Death Vision disappeared, and his inner fight became even easier.

    "You can stop, Patriarch. I''m fine." Despite everything he had gone through, Lith felt his body tempered like a de and brimming with strength. "That was a close call."

    "A close call indeed." The Elder Wyrm chuckled while nodding at Tista. "You have lots of things to exin to me, hatchling."

    Lith had listened to Tista''s words and so had Valtak.

    The Tiamat tried and failed toe up with a usible exnation for Solus'' ability to restrain the blue mes and how she and Kam had reached the Valley of Life so quickly.

    Unluckily for Lith, he didn''t need one anymore.

    The moment the emerald mes died out, so did the Father of Fire.

 Chapter 3109 End of the Wick (Part 1)

    Chapter 3109 End of the Wick (Part 1)

    ??3109  End of the Wick (Part 1)

    Valtak copsed in Lith''s arms as the light of consciousness faded from his eyes. Lith shrunk the Fire Dragon to human size with Body Sculpting and checked on him with Invigoration, discovering that Valtak was in perfect physical health.

    Between the Life Maelstrom still empowering the Fire Dragon and the healing effect of the golden mes, most of his wounds were already gone.

    Yet Valtak was still dying. The Elder Wyrm had consumed most of his remaining life force to conjure the Immortal mes and what was left wasn''t enough to keep his heart beating.

    Not with the strain that suffering so many injuries had inflicted upon his old body. Not with the exhaustion from withstanding the effects of Valeron''s abilities. Not with the blue mes consuming more of the Father of Fire''s life force every time they hit.

    "Solus, where is the tower?" Lith used his best healing spells, Invigoration, and also gave Valtak some of his vitality, but the condition of the Fire Dragon kept deteriorating.

    "On the geyser!" She pointed in the direction they hade from and opened a Warp Steps.

    She and Lith alternated opening dimensional doors, entering the range of the Warp Mirror in seconds.

    "Aren''t you worried about what Valtak is going to say when he wakes up in the tower?" Solus asked.

    "I''ll worry about that if he wakes up." Lith replied. "Valtak almost died for me and Elysia when he could have just turned around and left. I''m not letting him die without a fight!"

    Lith called upon the enchantments of the tower, activating the Immortal Body array and adding Valtak to the list of apprentices. The magical formation would fix every imperfection in his body while the mana geyser nurtured the Elder Wyrm by infusing him with world energy.

    Lith dripped highly concentrated nutrient potions in Valtak''s mouth, ensuring that his body wouldn''t weaken further due to the healing process.

    While they waited for the treatments to take effect, Lith used a mind fusion to share what had just happened with Solus and she used a mind link to share it with Kam to not distract Lith. With his bright violet core, he was the best healer of the two.

    Tista was doing her best to calm the babies but they could read the tension in the room and kept crying.

    "It''s not working. n S!" Lith used the energy umted in the tower to Warp inside Sark''s pce in the Desert where the Guardian was waiting for them

    "Grandma¡­"

    "Yes, I know what''s happened." She cut him short and took the Father of Fire from Lith''s arms. "Also, my promise still stands. I won''t let one of your friends die under my roof."

    Sark activated her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to study Valtak''s condition while she stabilized him with Rebirth Magic. It took her a few seconds to perform a full diagnostic check-up.

    It was the longest time Lith had ever seen her need with the least visible effects.

    "I''m really sorry, Featherling." Sark said while never letting go of the Father of Fire. "There''s nothing I can do for him. Your Immortal Body array fixed him almost as well as I could. You have nothing to me yourself for.

    "Valtak is just spent. He used thest embers of his life force to save you and what''s left is not enough to sustain his fire. The best I can do is let him regain consciousness long enough to say his goodbyes."

    "Is there anything that anyone can do?" Lith clenched his fists until they bled while the babies kept crying.

    "Maybe Tyris'' Life Maelstrom-"

    "I know you are here!" It was Lith''s turn to cut her short. "It''s your turn to look after Elysia. Please, Tyris, show yourself."

    The Great Mother appeared out of nowhere, her head down and her eyes misted with tears.

    "Can you help Grandma? Can the two of you save him?"

    "I can boost Sark, but healing a single Dragon is hardly a feat for her even away from her turf and after she suffers grievous injuries. She''s like a god here." Tyris replied. "I can give Valtak more power, but the moment it runs out, he''ll die.

    "His body can''t take any more strain. Even the effort of making a sneeze would end him."

    "That''s not my question." Lith refused to give up and shoved the crying Valeron in front of her face.

    The baby boy felt guilty, thinking that his lightning and fire had hurt the nice Dragon. Valeron the Second had known the Father of Fire briefly, but the Elder Wyrm had fought for him and saved his father.

    It was more than enough to earn a special ce in the baby boy''s heart.

    "There might be something." Tyris sighed, incapable of saying no to her bloodline. "Bring us to the moon."

    "Do you really expect me to wait for Mogar to align¡­"

    A snap of Sark fingers and they all moved to Lith''sb on the moon, tower included.

    "¡­with the moon."

    "She was talking to me, Featherling." Sark sighed. "What''s next?"

    Tyris guided them outside, having care to never let go of Valtak to keep his fire burning. A wave of her hand opened a hole the size of a bathtub for Dragons in the ground.

    The two Guardiansy the Elder Wyrm gently and then Tyris had him revert to his full size. She buried Valtak, leaving only the final part of his neck and his head exposed. The rest was covered by soft soil and a sea of silvery nts that grew from it.

    The Fire Dragon''s head looked like a giant fiery tree standing tall amid a silver grasnd.

    "Now we wait." Tyris replied.

    "What''s the difference between Mogar and here?" Solus sat near the Father of Fire to check his pulse, noticing that without the Immortal Body array his breath was bing shallower and faster.

    "Mogar''s power is spread evenly. Mostly." The Guardian said. "Here it is focused to the extreme, with a flow of world energy beyond what any mana geyser or even mystical mine on Mogar can have.

    "On top of that, thisnd is imbued with Life Maelstrom. Not the violent and temporary kind I conjure but a gentle, permanent stream of energy that nurtures all life. Dragons are incredibly sturdy.

    "Their life force is so tenacious that even permanent injuries can recover with time. Valtak''s problem is that he has no time left. That''s why I''ve brought him here. Maybe, he can draw upon the energy of the moon just like this grass can."

    "Shouldn''t you keep him alive with your breathing technique?" Lith asked. "Buy him some time until he adapts to the new environment?"

    "No, that would be useless." Sark shook her head. "As I told you, we can''t save him. Only Valtak can save himself. If we help him, he will just fall asleep. Valtak needs to feel his death and fight it if he wants to stand a chance."

    Lith clenched his fists, not knowing what to do. His instinct as a Healer screamed at him to help the Father of Fire but Lith knew he had already done everything he could.

    Yet his conscience gave him no respite and so did the babies.

 Chapter 3110 End of the Wick (Part 2)

    Chapter 3110 End of the Wick (Part 2)

    ??3110  End of the Wick (Part 2)

    ''I know that it was Valtak''s choice to help me unlock the blue mes but this happened because of me.'' Lith thought. ''He could have put me down like a rabid dog and get out of the fight unscathed. Instead, Valtak chose to save my life at the cost of his own.''

    As for Valeron and Elysia, they weren''t familiar with the concept of death but they could feel the warm essence of the old Dragon growing colder and more distant. Solus, Kam, and the two Guardians did everything they could to soothe the babies but they kept crying, begging the sleeping Wyrm to wake up.

    Not far from there, in hisb, Leegaain felt Valtak''s light dim. The Father of All Dragons perceived the death of all those who carried his blood and when he could afford it, he mourned for them in the privacy of hisb.

    ***

    Somewhere very distant yet very close, at the same time.

    Valtak sat up abruptly, like a Dragon waking from a nightmare.

    ''Where am I and what''s this noise?'' He could hear the familiar racket of hatchlings wailing in the distance yet there was no one in sight.

    The ce around him waspletely white, making it impossible to tell left from right and up from down. Valtak would have thought the ce empty, but his senses perceived the presence of many things and countless people.

    They were all around him, just at one hair breadth of distance yet he couldn''t see them. It was as though the intense light filling the ce blinded him to some things and allowed him to see everything else perfectly.

    Like the Dragon that suddenly appeared in front of him.

    "Valky!" It was a female dragon, a bit smaller than the Father of Fire with brownish-red scales of the same hue of the color of Elina''s hair.

    She waved at him her wed hand, smiling with joy.

    "Mom?" The Elder Wyrm froze for a second, his voice cracking with emotion. "Is it really you?"

    Four thousand years had passed since Tharma, mother of Valtak, had died, but he still missed her. He still dreamed about her as it had often happened during his millennium-long slumber.

    "Valky!" He hadn''t heard that moniker for almost ten thousand years and that voice for a very long time, but he could recognize them both among millions.

    "Mom!" He charged forward on all fours, tensing the muscles of his legs like springs before jumping in her arms.

    Valtak had been strong ever since he had left his ancestral home. He had been strong for his brothers, for his wife, and for his children. Once he had taken the mantle of Father of Fire, he had been even stronger for Dragonkind and Mogar.

    "Valky, I missed you so much." In the warmth of Tharma''s arms, in the embrace of her wings, Valtak could finally allow himself to be weak.

    As their scales touched, his form shrunk to that of a young Dragon less than one-third her size so that Tharma could easily lift and hold him to her chest.

    "I missed you too, Mom. Every day since you¡­" The words died in his mouth as he realized that the reality in front of him didn''t make sense.

    "Me too, Valky." Yet as Tharma spoke, as her soothing voice filled the gaping hole that her demise had left, Valtak simply didn''t care. "I''m so proud of you. You were a good hatchling who grew into a great Dragon andter you became an amazing father.

    "I want you to know that none of your children who turned bad was because of you. They took wrong paths in life not because you failed them as a father, but because they failed themselves.

    "Of all your achievements, this is the one I''m the most proud of."

    "Thank you, Mom." The Father of Fire felt his eyelids grow heavy.

    He felt at peace and wanted to sleep. Somehow, Valtak knew that when he woke up, there would be no responsibility waiting for him. No one to whom he would have to teach or take care of. He would be finally free.

    Yet there was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that stopped him and the distant sound of cries made it hard for him to rx.

    "Mom, what is this ce?"

    "This is the Mindscape, hatchling." Tharma replied. "And I have a confession to make. I am your mother, but I''m not Tharma."

    Valtak opened his eyes wide, noticing that even though the form of the Dragoness was the same, now her scales bore the six colors of the elements plus one he couldn''t put to focus, no matter how hard he tried.

    The real Tharma had no such affinity for magic. She had been a powerful mage and a wise Wyrm.

    Valtak''s mother had been a candidate for the title of Father of Fire but she had stepped down because she was wise enough to recognize her shoringspared to the Dragon who had been appointed as Father of Fire before Valtak.

    "I share all of her memories and thoughts, though." Mogar said. "Everything I''ve told you is true. Your mother is waiting for you on the other side and I''m rying her words."

    "The other side?" Valtak was still small, but from Mogar''s arms, he could see far.

    There was something ck on the horizon. Like thunderclouds, but lower and with no shes of lightning. It was as though a dark mist was slowly devouring the light.

    "Yes, hatchling." Mogar nodded. "Do you remember what happened before you came here?"

    At those words, the Elder Wyrm''s life shed in front of his eyes. Not just the lessons with Lith and the fight with the Void Demon Dragon. He relived over eleven thousand years in a single instant.

    "The souls. The blue mes. My injuries." He patted down his body, expecting to feel pain yet experiencing none.

    "Correct." Mogar/Tharma said. "You should be dead by now but you keep clinging to life. Your stubbornness brought you to the Mindscape and me to you."

    "What do you mean?" Valtak asked.

    "This shouldn''t be happening, hatchling." She replied. "This isn''t natural. You are refusing death. You are fighting it with your willpower and mana beyond what any normal person can do. Do you know what that means?"

    "That I''m turning into an Abomination."

    "Correct again." Mogar/Tharma nodded. "I''vee to warn you since saving you is not up to me. Only you can decide what to do. You can stay here and turn your back to me. Once you do, the darkness will engulf you.

    "Or you can embrace me and pierce through the light, joining your mother. The choice is yours, Valtak, son of Tharma and Dashak, Father of Fire."

    The Elder Wyrm heard once again the crying noise and turned toward its source. This time, his Dragon Eyes peered through the veil of Mogar''s embrace and the Mindscape.

    He bore witness to the events unfolding on the moon''s surface but not like any species of Dragon would. He saw everything like Nana had done on her deathbed and like a Guardian did every moment of their lives.

 Chapter 3111 Final Spark (Part 1)

    Chapter 3111 Final Spark (Part 1)

    ??3111  Final Spark (Part 1)

    "No! No, no, no!" Valtak struggled to escape from the bigger Dragon''s embrace but she stopped him with ease. "I can''t let that happen. I won''t let that happen! They need me. For the Great Mother''s sake, your sake, they are just hatchlings!"

    "Just like the thousand others who live with me." Mogar/Tharma replied. "The only difference is that you are not looking at them right now. Those hatchlings on the moon are not special. They are not even yours.

    "As you told those disgusting, rotten souls, life is for the living, Valtak, and your time is up. You don''t belong in my world anymore and whatever happens next is none of your business."

    "How can you say that?" He retorted in outrage.

    "How can you say otherwise?" She asked back. "Do you know the damage an Abomination with your power and knowledge could cause? Do you think you are better than everyone else who came here before you?

    "Do you believe that you can conquer the hunger that will gue you the moment you wake up and not kill those who are trying to save your life? Even if you do, you''d never master your hunger and Abomination powers in time to be of help.

    "Hundreds would die to prolong your existence, and for what? To prove a point?"

    "That''s not true. One man seeded. One puny human man conquered the Abomination''s hunger." While in the Mindscape, Valtak was part of Mogar''s consciousness just like Nana before him.

    He knew everything the knew, including the circumstances of Threin''s death.

    "Indeed, but not for long." Mogar/Tharma reyed those events for the Elder Wyrm. "The father of Elphyn Menadion knew he couldn''t win so he let himself go. His love for his daughter was so strong that it allowed Threin to resist, but only until he made sure she was alright.

    "Then, he returned to me of his own will. You can fight, Father of Fire, but you can''t win."

    "That''s all I ask." Valtak jumped off her arms and this time she let him.

    His body quickly reverted to its original size and age, but the height gap remained.

    "If you really are in contact with my mother, tell her that I''m sorry but she''ll have to wait for me just a bit longer. Tell her I can''t still pass the mantle of Father of Fire." The Elder Wyrm took in the moon''sndscape, the Life Maelstrom coursing through the ground and everything that his newfound Vision could grasp.

    "If I turn my back to those who need me just because it''s hard, I won''t find peace. I will lose everything that defines me and spend eternity in regret." Valtak saw the immense power hidden inside Mogar''s moon and every form of life it nurtured.

    He saw the smoldering embers of a golden light faintly shining under one of his scales.

    "I''m the gods-damned Father of Fire and there''s no me I can''t conquer!" He turned his back to Mogar and charged against the ck mist of death.

    ***

    Mogar''s Moon, outside Lith''s secretb, one second after Lith clenched his fists.

    Valtak''s breathing turned into wheezing as his lungs fought to get onest bit of fresh air. Then, his head fell back and his neck became still.

    Lith knelt down, putting his hand on the red scales and finding no pulse or sign of life with Invigoration.

    "He''s gone." Valtak''s core had yet to crack, but it was quickly degrading from violet into blue, and cyan streaks were already appearing.

    "What''s that?" Tista hupped, trying her best not to cry and upset the babies further.

    "A firefly." Lith looked at the small insect, his enhanced ears hearing it buzz as the fireflynded on a de of grass. "Guess they have them on the moon as well."

    "Not that. That!" Tista pointed out at the mass of small lights that was converging toward the Elder Wyrm''s body.

    Some of them were indeed fireflies. Others were insects that had no reason to glow yet they did. Most of them, however, were empty spheres of light.

    "I''m not done!" Valtak''s neck gasped as his neck snapped straight. "And I''m not going down without a fight."

    He bridled what was left of Valeron''s Life Maelstrom and used it to ess the silver lightning that coursed through the moon''s soil. The Father of Fire let it seep inside his body, filling every one of his cells without energizing them.

    He knew that he was too weak to bear such strain, that even the smallest boost to his powers would overload his mana core and shatter it beyond saving. What he did, instead, was use the ability exclusive of Fire Dragons, Primal Spark.

    It flooded everything for hundreds of meters around him, extracting mana from nts, insects, worms, and all life forms and splitting it into its basicponents. Valtak let go of the elemental energies and kept only the life force.

    Then, he consumed the final spark of his own life force, betting everything on the mastery over mes he had gained by conjuring them millions of times during his life.

    Valtak called upon the dying Life mes and brought them inside his lungs. The final spark fused with the golden mes which found the world energy drawn upon by the Elder Wyrm''s breath and the Life Maelstrom that filled him.

    His body was set aze as the Father of Fire proved worthy of his title by igniting more Life mes on his own. The golden fire captured the life forces hanging around his body without burning them.

    The Life mes preserved the small bits of life force, altering their energy signatures until they matched Valtak''s. He who had given life was now receiving it. Thebined effect of Primal Spark and Life mes brought droplets of wax to the dying wick of the Father of Fire''s life.

    Bit by bit, his molten essence became solid again, allowing the wick to stand tall and not burn what was left of the Elder Wyrm''s lifespan all at once. The droplets were small, almost insignificant.

    Yet more than enough for a Dragon to fight Death standing.

    The Life mes collected all the small lights and absorbed them at astounding speed.

    Lith tried to put his hands in the golden fire but Sark stopped him.

    "Don''t be stupid! You are too strong. Your life force would be like feeding a steak to a man who starved for weeks or cold water to a desert survivor. It would kill Valtak on the spot. And that''s without taking your Abomination side into ount."

    "What about me?" Tista said, quickly followed by Solus and Kam.

    "Too strong and too different." Tyris shook her head. "Even a hatchling of Fire Dragon would be too much."

    The Life mes went off as soon as thest spark of light disappeared inside the Father of Fire''s body. The Elder Wyrm panted, the strength leaving his body along with the Life Maelstrom.

    Then, the pants turned into a raspy wheezing. Valtak''s eyes rolled back and his neck fell ck, his open mouth producing no sound.

    Lith checked the pulse again just to feel ite to a halt as the mana core degraded further.

 Chapter 3112 Final Spark (Part 2)

    Chapter 3112 Final Spark (Part 2)

    ??3112  Final Spark (Part 2)

    "He''s-" Valtak hawked to clear his airways and cut Lith short.

    Then, the Father of Fire started to snore with the grace of a jet turbine.

    "The farm?" Lith checked again.

    Valtak''s heartbeat was indeed weak but stable. The Elder Wyrm''s mana core had degraded to cyan, but after that its mana flow steadied. Demon Grasp perceived that even though it was a very slow process, the world energy was nurturing the Fire Dragon''s body.

    It would take time, but Valtak''s physical and magical strength would return.

    "How is this possible?" Lith asked.

    "If you are asking me what just happened, I have no clue." Sark shrugged. "If you are asking me how Valtak could survive, instead, I can answer that."

    "Anything is better than nothing." He replied.

    "Origin mes, all kinds of mes, don''t actually burn your life force, Featherling, or every time you breathe them, they would shorten your life span. If that were true, Dragons and Phoenixes would never sell their Origin mes and use them only for themselves.

    "To give you a better idea, imagine that your life force is like a candle, and it''s length represents your lifespan." She said and Lith nodded for her to continue. "As you age, the wax evaporates and it''s lost forever.

    "When you use Origin mes, instead, the wick burns stronger for a second. Part of the wax melts and drips down the candle but it''s not lost. With time and rest, the wax turns solid again at the bottom of the candle and raises it to its previous height.

    "It''s the reason you suffer no permanent damage from using Origin mes, but if you melt too much wax at the same time, you can still die. Your life span is temporarily cut short and your me easier to snuff out."

    "I see." Lith nodded. "That''s why Invigoration can''t help me recover my strength after I use Origin mes too much. Because it has nothing to do with mana and physical strength."

    "Exactly." Sark continued. "Earlier Valtak reached the point all the wax was melted. There was nothing left to burn while the liquid wax turned solid again and once the me goes out is out.

    "It doesn''t matter if it''s because of an illness, a sword, or Origin mes. Death is always the final destination. Valtak avoided it by turning those sparks of life force into wax and using them to hasten the solidification process."

    "Can we afford to move him?" Tista asked.

    "We better not." Tyris shook her head while checking on the Father of Fire. "Here there is more world energy than on any part of Mogar and the Life Maelstrom in the soil is helping Valtak assimte the nutrients at a steady pace.

    "I would keep him here until he wakes up on his own, just to be safe. Also, you too need to rest, child." She took a chair out of her pocket dimension and the moment Lith sat down, all the stress and fatigue that the adrenaline rush had neutralized until that moment hit him like a sack of bricks.

    It took Sark a few minutes to reassure Kam and Solus that Lith too was alright. They knew of the matter of the Void Demon Dragon from the mind link and now that Valtak was fine, their worries about Lith moved to the front burner.

    "Thank the gods, which is you guys, Valtak will make it." Kam said, referring to the six original Guardians. "Because once he''s back on his feet, I''ll make him shrink enough to kick his alps! He made me almost die of fright twice in a single day."

    She put the babies on the Fire Dragon''s long neck. It was big enough to carry dozens of people and Elysia and Valeron were finally reassured of Valtak''s well-being via their Dragon scales.

    They could feel that he was very tired but happy. There was a bright memory of a brownish-red scaled Dragon on the surface of his mind that brought him great peace and made the babies cry for their mother.

    "I don''t get it." Solus said while trying to pacify Valeron. "One second ago, Valeron fought like a Dragon to go to Valtak and now he''s glued to me like he hasn''t seen me for days."

    "Same here." Kam had no idea why Elysia used air magic to wrap herself in Kam''s ck hair but let the baby girl do it.

    "So, this is the moon, uh?" Dawn cleared her throat once the situation was resolved and everyone seemed to havepletely forgotten about her. "This ce is amazing. Do you mind if I share this experience with Ac?"

    Lith looked at her and groaned in frustration. Her assumption wasn''t off the mark. Lith had actually forgotten about her in the rush to save Valtak''s life.

    "I''m too tired to think or even get angry." He said. "Someone makes this decision for me, please."

    "Depends." Solus felt responsible and embarrassed for her blunder. "Does Baba Yaga''s seal apply to him as well or can he speak about me freely?"

    "No, it doesn''t." Dawn shook her head. "I would never take his free will away. Not again."

    "Then no. I''m sorry."

    "No problem, miss Menadion." The Horseman was annoyed but if there was something she had learned from her rtionship with Ac was that trust had to be earned, not demanded. "Can we at least bring my mother here? She would love it."

    "That I can do. Be back in a jiffy." Solus entered the tower which disappeared and reappeared in the time to find two suitable alignments with Mogar''s mana geysers.

    "By the Great Mother, is this really Mogar''s moon?" Baba Yaga walked through the tower''s door in her Maiden form, looking like a girl 1.6 (5''3") meters tall with waist-long golden hair and clear blue eyes.

    "Respectively, you are wee and yes, Yaga." Tyris nodded to the Red Mother who didn''t know where to turn.

    She stood on the surface of the moon, staring into the starry vault of space while Mogar spread its blue light everywhere. On top of that, standing in the presence of three Guardians and realizing the gap between Menadion''s tower and her own didn''t help.

    "Thanks for saving my child, Lith." Leegaain had rushed there right afterposing himself. "For a moment I thought I had lost him."

    "Valtak did everything by himself." Lith panted. "I just brought him here. If you want to thank someone, thank Grandma and Valeron. She kept Valtak alive and Valeron showed him whatever the golden mes are.

    "To me, they are just a problem for another day."

    The Father of All Dragons thanked them both profusely, making Valeron happy and Sark blush.

    "It''s no big deal." She said while ying with the ne he had gifted her during her first visit to his moonb.

    "I know that it sounds stupid, but is there something I can do for you guys? Anything?" Baba Yaga wanted to repay Solus and Lith for the marvellous gift but she knew thatpared to the Guardians and away from her tower, she wasn''t much.

    "Depends. Do you know how to make them stop cry?" Kam asked while rocking a desperate Elysia.

 Chapter 3113 Rest and Recover (Part 1)

    Chapter 3113 Rest and Recover (Part 1)

    ??3113  Rest and Recover (Part 1)

    "It''s not that hard." The Maiden took the babies off Solus'' and Kam''s arms and put them on Lith''s chest.

    Dragon scales reassured Elisya and Valeron that their father was also fine and the three of them fell asleep like one.

    "Thank the gods." Solus sighed in relief.

    "You are wee." The Guardians said in unison.

    "Now, unless anyone minds, my daughter and I would like to take a stroll. Is there anything I should know before picking a direction?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "That way is my turf." Leegaain pointed north. "East you find Fenagar and west a crazy Lich who lives with an Eldritch. The south belongs to Lith."

    "North it is, then." Baba Yaga nodded and walked toward theke near Lith''sb.

    ***

    It took Valtak over eight hours to wake up and when he did, he believed to be dead.

    "The afterlife sucks! Why does my body hurt so much and why am I starving?" He had lost consciousness in the Valley of Life and when he opened his eyes, he was staring at Mogar from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

    Being dead made much more sense than the truth.

    "You are not dead and this will take a while." Lith sighed, offering the Father of Fire a chair and lots of food straight off Leegaain''s kitchens.

    The Guardian loved eating well and everyone could use a hearty meal after enduring so many emotions.

    "I knew it there was something weird between you two!" The Elder Wyrm said while pointing at Lith and Solus. "You smell too much of each other and the whole ''she''s my lost cousin'' story was just too convenient.

    "I suspected she was Elina''s illegitimate child but I would have never thought you were the daughter of the legendary Rapa Menadion, Solus."

    "Valtak!" Lith said in outrage. "My mother would never do something like that. How could you even think that?"

    "Solus smells like Dragon and Elina carries my blood, not Raaz." The Father of Fire shrugged. "If your parents'' bloodlines were reversed, I would have questioned your father''s faithfulness."

    "This doesn''t make it any better." Lith grumbled.

    "And my mother''s name is Ripha, not Rapa." Solus said. "What''s wrong with you Dragons and remembering names? What are you? A bunch of Liches?"

    "No, hatchling." Valtak shook his head. "I can''t speak for Lith or any other Dragon you have met but I''m old. I''ve lived for over ten thousand years and met so many people I can''t remember all their names.

    "Especially those I''ve just heard of or read about, like your mother. I meant no offense, Solus. I''m sure Ripha was a great woman and I would have loved to meet her but sadly fate chose differently."

    Between his sad smile, the dull color of his scales, and his brush with death, Solus felt like a jerk.

    "No, I''m sorry." She gave him a deep bow. "I overreacted because I''m still worked up about what almost happened to Lith. I guess you badmouthing one of my mothers and calling the other with the wrong name was the final straw on my nerves."

    "It''s fine, you don''t have to apologize." The Elder Wyrmughed. "Another bad habit you pick up while growing old is that you don''t care much about other people''s feelings. I should have worded my suspicions more politely.

    "Back in the day, if someone said something like that about my mother, I would have decked him without a second thought." He thought about Tharma for a second and then moved on.

    Everything that had happened in the Mindscape was akin to a dream. It had already blurred into a jumbled mess by the time Valtak had woken up and with every second that passed, his memory of those events became vaguer and vaguer.

    "What''s my condition, Grandfather?" The Fire Dragon asked.

    "The good news is that your body and mana core will recover. You just need time and rest." Leegaain replied. "The bad news is that your life force reached the point your core started to fade.

    "Your lifespan has been reduced. Not by much but¡­"

    "There wasn''t much left anyway, I know." Valtak finished the phrase for Leegaain, seeing the pain on his forefather''s face. "Do I need to stay on the moon to recover?"

    "No." Leegaain replied. "Unless you spend the rest of your life buried in the ground like a worm, it won''t do you any good. Quite the contrary, it''s better not to put your body under any more strain than necessary until you make a full recovery.

    "No lessons, no Origin mes, and no magic until your mana core shines bright violet again."

    "And until that moment, you''ll be my honored guest." Lith said. "The Mansion has a geyser and with the tower, I can treat you with the Immortal Body array or bring you to Grandma in a second if your health worsens."

    "Thank you, but-"

    "Ba! Badaba! Baba!" Elysia rebuked him.

    After seeing Lith and Valtak almost die and after sharing the Fire Dragon''s sense of loss for Tharma, the babies were on a strict rotation schedule. From Lith to Kam, then to Solus, andstly to Valtak.

    "Me? I''m deeply offended, youngdy. That''s a rude thing to say." The Elder Wyrm gasped in yful outrage.

    "Farm you." Valeron pouted.

    "What?" Everyone said in unison. "Who taught him to say that?"

    The Father of Fire could feel through the Dragon scales that even though the word was harmless, the feelings behind it were not. The baby boy was angry and was expressing it like the adults.

    "Fine, I''ll stay at your home but don''t say that to me ever again, hatchling, okay?"

    Valeron offered his hand to Valtak, bbergasting everyone again.

    "You are in for some real trouble." Valtakughed heartily while shaking it. "These hatchlings are as smart as Dragon whelps. Your house won''t be baby-proofed for long."

    Once he was doneughing and the babies needed to check on Lith, the Elder Wyrm said:

    "Thank you for your offer, Lith. I dly ept your hospitality and hope that you''ll enjoy the small present I gave you."

    "What do you mean?" Lith had noticed that since he had woken up, he felt stronger and more rxed, but had no idea why.

    "Check on your life force, hatchling." Valtak replied.

    Lith did as instructed, noticing that the cracks on his life force were still cauterized. There was nothing oozing out of them, their edges so close that the wounds were almost invisible.

    Almost.

    "Did you fix my life force?" Lith asked.

    "I wish." The Fire Dragon sighed. "I consumed part of my life force to plug yours and make sure that nothing would hinder your recovery. Until itsts, Death Vision won''t bother you and you can use your full strength.

    "Yet ites at a price. Most of the abilities that derive from your Abomination side might be weakened if notpletely sealed. Give it a go but without pushing yourself too much."

    Lith tried and failed to conjure new Demons of the Darkness. Only those in his Void Sigils answered his call. The ck chains, instead, came out, but they were sluggish and moved awkwardly.

 Chapter 3114 Rest and Recover (Part 2)

    Chapter 3114 Rest and Recover (Part 2)

    ??3114  Rest and Recover (Part 2)

    "Should I point out that not many people died on the moon?" Leegaain said. "There''s no soul here, believe me."

    "I do." Lith nodded, attempting the Call of the Void that failed as well. "Oh, well. I can live with this. I need to make the best of this and reforge everything while itst-"

    The hair on the back of his neck stood up as a cold gaze seemed to drill a hole in his skull with its sheer intensity.

    "What did you say?" Kam took the babies from him, her eyes squinted and her nostrils dted in annoyance as she tapped her foot.

    "That I need to take my time and rest until I make a full recovery." Lith replied as he dodged a hail of verbal bullets. "I''ve given you and the kids a big scare so it''s only right if we spend some quality time together."

    "Nice save." She grunted. "Always remember that no one is allowed to hurt you. Not even yourself."

    "Should we go back home?" The Maiden proposed.

    She and Dawn had toured enough of the moon to appreciate its beauty and find a way to return there on her own.

    "Yes, please." Lith sighed. "My mother is worried sick and keeps calling me every ten minutes. She''s not going to stop until she sees me in person."

    Elina had been informed of their absence and the reason for it. Useless to say, she hadn''t taken it well. Ever since Lith had called her to reassure her of his well-being, she demanded regr updates.

    Once back to Garlen, Elina patted Lith''s arms, chest, and shoulders for injuries before taking his face in her hands to look for signs of malnutrition.

    "Mom, we had breakfast together this morning!" He whined while she examined him with the thoroughness of an artist checking the finest details of her masterpiece.

    "That was before you risked your life. Again!" She countered pointedly. "Healing takes a lot of energy and I need to make sure you are well-fed."

    She then turned toward Valtak.

    "As for you, big Wyrm, I''d give you a piece of my mind and shove my shoe up your scaly alps if not for the babies!" She snarled.

    "Valeron and Elysia were never in direct dang-"

    "I mean Lith and Tista!" Elina growled, cutting him short. "If anything happened to them, I would have killed you myself but since you''ve already paid your price for your stupidity, I''ll let this slide. This time."

    She forced them all to sit and have another meal worthy of a Dragon.

    "Mom!" Lith whined.

    "What? Don''t you like it?" She sniffled, her eyes turning watery. "I worked so hard to prepare you a good meal while I waited for your return."

    "No, it''s delicious." Lith wolfed down his food. "Thank you, Mom."

    "You are wee, dear." She had stopped crying but she kept staring at Lith until his tes were clean.

    All tenty of them.

    ***

    During the following days, Valtak was a guest at the Verhen Mansion. He spent most of his time with the babies and Shargein, teaching them the story of the Dragon race in Dragontongue until they got bored of it.

    At that point, he would y with them, let them y with his beard, and once they were tuckered out, he put them to sleep.

    "I thought I was good with children, but you are in a league of your own." Elina said while the Elder Wyrm helped her to prepare bottles for the rest of the day.

    "Don''t worry, you are good." He nodded. "I just have much more experience."

    His mana core had already recovered to blue and it wouldn''t take long for the Father of Fire to return to his full strength. Rest, the geyser, and the lively life in the Mansion did wonders for his health.

    As for Lith, he still nned to upgrade his equipment to his temporarily restored strength, but only after receiving green light from his many healers.

    He left the research about human evolution to Tista, Morok, and R who had suffered no injury, while Solus used the pause from the Engine to have extra lessons with Dawn.

    "Are you really bringing me out on a date tonight?" Kam brimmed with joy, giving him a radiant smile.

    "Not tonight. Today. Someone recently pointed out that I''m doing well as a husband and father but I''m acking boyfriend." He replied before giving her a sweet kiss. "I think this is the perfect opportunity to make up for the lost time.

    "Valtak and Mom have volunteered to take care of the children. On top of that, with Dawn here and the Fire Dragons, if Meln shows up, he''s in for a fiery death."

    The news of the Elder Wyrm''s condition had spread like wildfire.

    Valtak had made countless enemies during his life, but even more friends and children. The Fire Dragon n took its patriarch''s health very seriously and had dispatched many Wyrms for his protection.

    Some of those Valtak had mentored in the use of Origin mes hade on their own, eager to return the Father of Fire''s blessings. Among them, there was Gentor, the Golden Dragon, Quashol, the Father of Ice Dragons, and more.

    Each one of them had their honor guard, painting the sky over the Verhen Mansion with huge, vividly colored living clouds that often covered the sun.

    Some had mistaken the event for a second Dragon Dance and anyone with a shred of self-preservation instinct kept themselves atrge.

    "True that." Kam chuckled. "The kids are overjoyed to meet so many shiny aunties and uncles."

    Aran, Leria, Lilia, Leran, and Garrik had a new teacher every day. They had also been allowed to learn Dragontongue to bettermunicate with Elysia and Valeron.

    Falco, Teryon, and Lenart spent lots of time with the Wyrms as well, learning their history, tradition, and tongue faster than their older niblings since they couldn''t practice any form of magic.

    Senton had at least one Dragon in his smithy when he taught the basics of cksmithing to the children and would receive their help to purify materials.

    Trion would tutor the children while performing light physical exercises and receive his own homework from a Wyrm. After all, in his Demon form he could breath fire like a Dragon and his ignorance about his own kind was considered socially awkward.

    "Where are we going, today?" Kam asked.

    "It''s a surprise. You go get ready. I''ll be back in a minute."Lith entered the tower and Warped away while Kam applied her make up.

    Thanks to the Featherwalker armor, getting dressed required her a second since her favourite outfits were stored in its dimensional space.

    She picked her lucky clothes for the asion, modifying them thanks to the enchantments that Sark had applied on them the day of Kam''s wedding with Lith.

    The light blue shirt now was softer and smoother than silk and it could now expand and assimte the ck pencil skirt. The fabric on the arms rolled back into cap sleeves while the cor became puffier and wider.

    Once the transformation was over, she was wearing a light blue evening dress that left exposed her neck, shoulders, and arms.

 Chapter 3115 Moon and Sun (Part 1)

    Chapter 3115 Moon and Sun (Part 1)

    ??3115  Moon and Sun (Part 1)

    The evening dress form of Kam''s lucky clothes wrapped around her soft curves, leaving a sweetheart neckline and slits for her legs on the sides open.

    "Damn, you look stunning." Lith had been true to his word and returned after one minute.

    "And you look just the same as before." She pouted. "Aren''t you tired of always wearing your Supreme Magus suit and robe?"

    His shirt, robe, and pants were made of the finest materials. They were of pristine white color with golden embroideries and buttons. Only the shoes were ck.

    "It''s not my fault if I dictate fashion in the Kingdom." He said with mock exasperation, making her chuckle. "Besides, they won''t let us in without these clothes so suck it up and follow me."

    "Who''s they and how can they be so dumb?" Lith took Kam by the hand and brought her to the Warp Gate of the Mansion, setting the coordinates for Xaanx.

    From there, he opened a Warp Steps that opened in front of the Crystal Cauldron.

    "As you see, Vonam, I''ve kept my word." Lith said to the concierge, a tall man who became pale from shock and then bright red from excitement in quick session. "This is my lovely wife, Kam Verhen."

    "It''s an honor to have you in our humble establishment." The concierge gave her a bow so deep that she expected to hear a thud on the ground. "Your table is ready and has been set up ording to your instructions, Magus Verhen. Please, follow me."

    Kam had already been in high-end hotels like the Flying Griffon, but the Crystal Cauldron managed to surprise her anyway.

    The floor was made of a smooth, dull grey marble that gave the ce a refined look. It also kept stains from standing out too much until they were cleaned.

    The tables and chairs were made of solid cherrywood painted the same white as the napkins and tablecloths. Large crystal chandeliers hung to the ceiling, lighting even the innermost corner of the restaurant as day, no matter how far from a window.

    Each table had on its centerpiece a short butrge vase filled with different kinds of fresh flowers to give color to the ce. While Lith and Kam walked through the dining area, she noticed how the ce was divided by wooden fences into three different sections.

    To keep the railings from looking like prison bars, they had been adorned with gands and climbing nts that produced delicate flowers. Together with the lights the final impression was to be dining in an open garden while also enjoying some privacy.

    The Crystal Cauldron''s restaurant was divided into a public section, another reserved for the hotel''s clients, and the VIP section where Vonam was bringing them. The fences blocked sight of those in the public section that although spacious, was cramped ifpared to the other two.

    The VIP area upied as much space as the public section but hosted half the tables to give the guests plenty of room and an intimate allure to every meal. The ample windows facing the garden provided the VIP area with plenty of sunlight and fresh air.

    The garden had a fountain depicting the First Queen making a toast and an open aviary hosting local songbirds that were fed and lured there as part of the entertainment.

    The breeze, the sshing of water, and the chirping provided the atmosphere of a pic while retaining the luxury of the indoor restaurant.

    "By the gods, this ce is beautiful!" Kam was stunned.

    While the public area hosted a refined and ssy establishment, the VIP area looked like a ce straight out of a fairy tale or the Royal Pce.

    "I''m d everything is of your liking, but we are not done yet." Vonam gave her a deep bow. "Please, follow me to your table."

    Her eyes went wide and her pupils dted in excitement when she recognized the floral pattern of the tablecloth in front of their seats.

    "Is this¡­"

    "Our Camellia table, mdy." The concierge bowed again. "It was realized specifically for you, Lady Verhen."

    Both tables and napkins were decorated with embroideries that formed countless bright red camellias of different sizes.

    "My only regret is that such flowers don''t exist so you''ll have to make do with our avable selection." He sighed in disappointment, bowing like it was his fault camellias didn''t grow on Mogar.

    "No need for that. I''ve brought my own." Lith pulled a huge bouquet out of his pocket dimension and put it in the vase at the center of the table.

    Vonam was as surprised as Kam although for different reasons. Neither of them had ever seen that kind of flowers before but while Kam considered it a romantic gesture, the concierge felt a sting at his professional pride.

    "They are beautiful. How are they called?" She said while sniffing at one of the unusual snow-white roses which hadrge and t petals arranged in an almost perfect circle.

    "Moonroses. They grow in Verendi." Lith replied while pointing at her ne. "I chose them for you because even though they are not camellias, they still match your pendant."

    ''That''s a Magus for you. No one else could cross continents for a bunch of flowers.'' Vonam thought, inwardly throwing in the towel. ''At least the reputation of the hotel is saved.''

    "Thank you. It''s a thoughtful gift." Kam blushed a little, giggling like a little girl. "Can you please send a waiter with a menu, mister Vonam?"

    "A waiter? For a Magus and hisdy?" The concierge said like she had just stabbed him. "Nonsense. I''ll be at your service. Please, take your time and signal me when you are ready to order."

    At a snap of his fingers, two small booklets made of paper appeared in front of Lith and Kam.

    "Doesn''t he mean call-"

    "Shush, or you''ll offend him." Lith put his finger on her lips. "Magus or not, it''s never wise to mess with the people handling your food."

    Just as he had predicted, the concierge remained in the VIP area. He was out of earshot but in line of sight and ready to serve.

    "Is that the reason you are always so kind with me before a meal?" She said in mock suspicion.

    "Yes. I''m terrified of what kind of ''spices'' you might add. Considering the size of my servings, I would never notice." He replied with an overly serious face that made herugh.

    "Jokes asides, why Moonroses instead of Sunbirds?" She showed the picture of the flower on her amulet. "And why did you shape my ne after the moon instead of the sun? I mean, the moon has no light of its own. Without the sun it''s just a rock in the sky."

    "That''s very cold and rational of you, but that''s not my point." Lith shook his head. "You see, I gifted Elysia the sun because under the light of day everything is bright and colorful. Like the happiness we have built together when we had our baby girl.

    "The moon, instead, lights even the darkest nights when everything looks lost and hopeless. Like you have done for me time and time again." He took her hand, kissing it.

 Chapter 3116 Moon and Sun (Part 2)

    Chapter 3116 Moon and Sun (Part 2)

    ??3116  Moon and Sun (Part 2)

    "The moon is the constant reminder that even if you can''t see it, the sun it''s still there and you just have to endure the darkness for a while. I chose the moon for you because it gives hope and it''s beautiful." Lith said.

    Kam looked at the pendant, then at the Moonroses, and then squealed so loudly that it rmed Vonam.

    "Sorry. Everything is fine." She wanted to feel embarrassed for her blunder, but she couldn''t stop smiling. "I stand corrected. The moon is the perfect choice and I love my pendant."

    The lunch tasted great and was served with impable timing. Vonam ryed the orders to the kitchen, having the various dishes prepared all at the same time but stored in dimensional amulets to be served fresh from the oven/pan.

    The concierge delivered a new delicacy only once the guests were done with the previous dish, so as to not clutter the table with tes and not let the different aromas be mixed.

    Once they were done with the meal, Lith revealed to have booked a horse-drawn carriage to offer Kam a tour of Xaanx.

    "I usually don''t enjoy staring at a horse''s ass, but I''ve receivedints that I always fly too fast or Warp around, keeping my wife from enjoying the scenery. Well, enjoy." He pointed at the rear end of the stallions who snorted in annoyance at his rude remark.

    "Thank you!" Kam couldn''t stopughing. "Do I need to change clothes?"

    "Up to you. I''m not changing mine."He shrugged.

    Since it was a noble and quite expensive-looking carriage, Kam kept the evening dress. The coachman guided them through the most picturesque locations of the city, telling them anecdotes and historical events that had made those ces famous.

    Kam dismounted the carriage twice. Once to take a long walk in a beautiful park with Lith and another for a shopping spree in themercial district.

    "What? No faces? No looking at the price tags?" She mockingly asked, having already taken care to turn her lucky clothes into their original appearance.

    "No." It was a single word but it managed to break his poker face and make the difort of his wallet be heard. Also, it made herugh. "Not today. I want this to be a pleasant date. I''ll nag you about this tomorrow."

    "I can''t wait." Kamughed harder and gave him a kiss before picking a couple more outfits.

    They returned at the Crystal Cauldron for dinner which was as pleasant and as delicious as the lunch. Kam tried various seafood and vegetable dishes, and truffles that were part of the local cuisine.

    Lith had several cuts of meat, meatballs, meat skewers, plenty of roasted potatoes, and sd leaves that he ate in between servings to clean his mouth.

    "At least try something new! This is a restaurant, not a tavern."Kam said. "No offense to Haug."

    "I did." Lith countered. "I''ve never had this particr cut of meat and I asked Vonam to never bring me two leaves of lettuce of the same kind. If that''s not variety, I don''t know what it is."

    "Fine." She chuckled. "As a wise man told me today, I want this to be a pleasant date. I''ll nag you about this tomorrow."

    "I can''t wait." Lith repeated her words, but with the tone of a death row inmate.

    "I was joking!" She blushed in embarrassment.

    "Me too!" Heughed to her face.

    "If you find this so funny, I''ll nag you for real." She blushed harder.

    "No nagging, please. It''s just that I knew you would say that and I couldn''t resist pulling your leg."

    "Oh, so I''m a ball buster and predictable?" She pouted. "I forgive you because this is our first date in a long while but mark my words, I''m not forgetting about this."

    She stabbed at one of Lith''s meatballs with so much fury that it made him swallow in nervousness.

    When dessert arrived, it was a delight for the eyes and the nose. It was a cake so big that it upied the entire upper tray of the food cart. One slice had already been cut and was ready to be served, revealing the cake''s inside.

    Twelveyers of different kinds of cream formed an expanded rainbow that wafted a mouth-watering smell.

    "No offence to the chefs, mister Vonam, but even though every dish of our meal looked and tasted delicious I can tell this cake is on a league of its own even before tasting it." Kam said.

    "None taken." The concierge would have cried out of joy for being called "mister" by such an esteemed guest, but his professional pride held his heart still.

    "How is it called?" She asked.

    "Hell cake." Lith replied. "Please, go easy on it. It''s as hard to digest as it''s delicious. We''ve already had a hearty meal and I wouldn''t want you to fall asleep before our night is over.

    "Also, we are taking the whole cake back home with us so you can have as much as you wantter."

    "All right, color me intrigued." Kam took the slice Vonam offered to her but cut it in half, keeping one part for herself and giving the other to Lith.

    "I meant no seconds, not to starve you." He replied.

    "Nonsense, you have your ns, I have mine." She tutted.

    Kam regretted not having eaten more of the cake, but only until dinner had the time to settle in her stomach. Then, she felt so full that she was afraid her dress would burst open.

    "Let''s take a digestive walk, shall we?" Lith offered his hand to her and she took it.

    They took a second tour of Xaanx, this time by night and flight. Without the sun and seen from above, the city looked like a magical ce. Moonlight painted the scenery silver and the lightsing from inside the homes looked like golden sparkles.

    "Come on, slowpoke. Let''s burn some of that dinner. Catch me if you can!" Lith bolted forward, forcing Kam to do her best to keep up with him.

    The use of magic required little physical energy but great focus, especially when a bright yellow core tried to fly as fast as a bright violet. It was akin to a child chasing an adult and just as yful.

    Lith never strayed far from Kam, giving her tips and praising her small improvements. The chase woulde to a halt every time they reached a scenic high point of Xaanx.

    Being mages, they could fly on top of the tallest buildings and sit there.

    "Did you reallye here at night to look for spots like this one?" Kam asked as her legs dangled from the roof of a bell tower on the outskirts of the city.

    From there, it was possible to see all the way to the cultivated fields and the nearbyke. The wind ruffled the wheat, forming ripples in their silvery surface while the moon and stars reflected on theke.

    "Yeah, but it''s not a big deal. When you have eyes like mine, it takes but a few nces to find them." Lith sat beside her and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

 Chapter 3117 Building Up (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 3117 Building Up (Part 1) </h4>

    3117 Building Up (Part 1)

    "It is a big deal to me to me." Kam nuzzled her face on his shoulder. "Thank you. Do you have any other surprise up your sleeve?"

    "Just one." Lith took the Tuner he had given her as a betrothal gift out of his pocket dimension.

    Unlike the other Tuners he had crafted, the betrothal gift had several empty slots for songs that he would add as their rtionship progressed.

    "I know this isn''t a romantic song, but this is how you make me feel." Lith conjured a Hush zone to not bother people and activated it.

    The notes of Unbeatable by Skillset broke the silence of the night, making Kam''s eyes go wide in stunned surprise. It was clearly a rock song and she found it hard to believe Lith would y something like that on a date.

    ''It doesn''t matter. As he always says, when you''re happy you enjoy the music, but when you are sad, you understand the lyrics.'' She thought, taking his hand and using a mind link to make up for her limited grasp on the nuances of the Englishnguage.

    Once the song was over and she understood its meaning, she went from confused to ttered.

    "Really? This is how I make you feel?" She giggled.

    "Yes. When I''m facing a tough opponent or some shit happens because of my undead nature, just reminding myself about you gives me strength." Lith was referring to the ident with the blue mes and the attack he had suffered from the wandering souls.

    "I know that I can still die like anyone else, but you do make me feel invincible."

    Kam said nothing, just hugging him tight and emitting a purring sound. Sure, Unbeatable wasn''t a love song, but it was his love song to her.

    It made even noisy music a priceless gift and the highlight of their date to her.

    "I''m a bit tired." She said after cuddling for a while. "If we don''t get back to the hotel now, I''m afraid you''ll have to carry me in my sleep."

    "Steps or flight?"

    "Steps, please. I don''t want the wind to dispel this warmth." She buried her face in his chest to emphasize the concept.

    Lith brought them straight in front of the Crystal Cauldron and from there they walked arm in arm to the fourth floor. The only sour note was that Vonam apanied them.

    "I''m sorry for the intrusion, but I wanted to show you your room personally." He brought them in front of arge hardwood double door tagged with the words: Magus Honeymoon Suite.

    "It was supposed to be Royal, but since you''ve visited our establishment first, we have renamed it after you. Please, enjoy your stay." The concierge handed them a key with a green mana crystal, gave them a deep bow, and left as fast as decorum allowed him to.

    "Good gods!" Kam said upon opening the doors. "This ce is much more romantic than the Flying Griffon resort."

    The suite was as big as an apartment, with a spacious living room, two bathrooms, and a huge bedroom.

    Every centimeter of the floor and furniture was covered in red rose petals. Trays of different kinds of choctes arranged in a heart shape were ced at the four corners of every room and in the middle of the bed.

    A bottle of red wine was kept fresh by a container enchanted with water magic and two crystal sses sat nearby, their top covered by silk heart-folded napkins to keep the dust out.

    "I''m d you like it." Lith poured two sses of wine but Kam turned them down.

    "Not now. I''m beat from the long day and tired from flying so much. Give me a few minutes for a quick shower."

    Lith nodded, groaning in disappointment as soon as she closed the bathroom door.

    ''She didn''t invite me in and is about to take the makeup off. Can she really still be so upset from the joke I made during dinner that she wants to end the date early?'' He thought.

    Lith wasn''t proud of it, but he had searched her drawers before leaving the Mansion. He knew Kam had left her cat lingerie at home along with his favourite cosy sets.

    ''My only hope was whatever she was wearing under the dress, but if she''s going to change, I''m royally screwed. And not in a fun way.''

    Just as he feared, when Kam came out of the bathroom, she had changed in in clothes.

    "Well, boss, what are we going to Forgemaster today?" Her long ck hair was held up in a ponytail, leaving her slender neck exposed.

    She wore thick leather working gloves and boots, shortalls, and nothing under it. Kam had applied makeup on her nose, left cheek, right shoulder, and bosom, making it look like soot.

    She held one of Lith''s old Orichalcum hammer as a prop.

    "Well, who''s predictable now, mister smarty pants?" She said with a giggle while noticing his shocked, surprised, and absolutely aroused expression.

    Lith''s knees started to wobble and he needed to sit down, holding the sides of his nose with his hands to keep his bottled emotions from ruining the mood.

    "What''s wrong, babe?" She held his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Don''t you like my costume? I thought the sexy Forgemaster was-"

    "Thank you, Kami." Lith hugged her close, forcing her to sit on hisp.

    "For what?" She asked in confusion.

    "For building me up every day instead of tearing me down, even when we fight." He replied. "For caring so much about what I like and for making even the silly dreams I''ve forgotten aboute true.

    "I wish I could talk with my teenage self and tell him that it was worth it. Enduring all that shit was worth it."

    "It''s okay, baby." She sniffled, feeling him quiver under her touch. "You can cry if you want."

    "Crying?" Now it was Lith''s turn to be confused. "I''m not going to cry. I''m just having a really hard time not tearing your clothes off and ruining your hard work. Also, I can''t find a way to go on with the roley without talking to your breasts the whole time."

    The well-ced makeup, theck of a shirt, and her bountiful chest that seemed to be about to pop out of the shortalls at any second, glued his eyes to her cleavage.

    "That was the n, boss." She chuckled, getting back into character. "Don''t worry about the details. Just focus on teaching me how to handle and wield your hammer."

    ***

    Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire, in the Headquarters of the Master, that same day.

    Bytra sighed in relief as the red lights on the Madness turned green one after the other. Zoreth''s vitals were stronger than ever and the system revealed no anomalies in her physiology, yet that just meant the experiment hadn''t worsened her condition.

    Only when the final red light turned green and the nutrient liquid started to be flushed out of the gene tank did half of the Raiju''s worries disappear. The other half would have to wait for Vastor''s examination.

 Chapter 3118 Building Up (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 3118 Building Up (Part 2)</h4>

    3118 Building Up (Part 2)

    He was the only Awakened in the Organization and the only person who knew the life forces of the hybrids in general and Zoreth''s in particr like the back of his hand.

    Vastor had met the Shadow Dragon back when she still called herself Xenagrosh the Final Smile. She was the co-founder of the Organization and the first Eldritch to have sessfully merged with her clone.

    The Master had helped her during that fight and at every step of the way that had brough Xenagrosh closer to resurrecting, giving her back her identity as Zoreth. Even though she was much older and powerful than him, it had been Vastor taking care of Zoreth like a child since she had regained her human body.

    Their rtionship ran deeper than those he had with the other members of the Organization. Even more after the Master had used Zoreth''s tissues to craft his Abomination core and then imnted his tissues inside her body to help her life forces to fuse.

    Zoreth was a troll-Eldritch hybrid while Vastor had unlocked Decay and Chaos wings and eyes, making the Master and the Shadow Dragon almost a perfect match.

    Once the final drop of the precious liquid was drained, the white crystal lid of the Madness opened up. The members of the Organization called it nutrients fluid, but it was the condensed essence of the life forces of hundreds of people.

    The liquid fed the body while the mana crystals fueled Zoreth''s fallen cores, ensuring that hunger wouldn''tpromise any step of the procedure.

    The human form of the Shadow Dragon walked out of the Madness, her appearance no different from when she had entered it yet she felt like a different person.

    "Are you alright, Zor? Any pain or difort?" Bytra asked as she summoned Vastor via themunication amulet.

    "Pain, no. Difort, yes, Byt." Xenagrosh performed a light stretching to get a feel of her invigorated muscles and test the flexibility of her renewed body. "But don''t worry, it''s not a bad feeling."

    With each movement she performed, she let her mana flood every fiber of her being and sensed the subtle changes in her physiology.

    "How can it not be a bad sign?" The Raiju asked.

    "I don''t feel like there''s something wrong with me, Byt. More like that something is¡­ off." The Shadow Dragon pondered how to express it with words for a bit. "Like I''m standing on the threshold of something.

    "That I need just one more step to get in but I can''t lift my feet for the life of me. Heck, I can''t even let myself fall forward, if you know what I mean."

    "I''m sorry, I don''t." Bytra shook her head and crossed her fingers for good luck. "There you are, Master. Please, check on Zor. She says she feels off."

    "First, don''t call me Master. It''s just the three of us here." Zogar Vastor was a short man in his mid-sixties barely over 1.55 meters (5''1") tall.

    His once bald head was now covered in thick and well-groomed hair arranged in thetest fashion for men of his social stature. The Master''s waxed handlebar mustaches had turned ck as well, giving him a younger look.

    After bing interim Headmaster and then turning himself into a human-Abomination hybrid, he had slimmed down quite a bit. Vastor still looked more like a loving grandpa than a warrior, but his renewed vitality and hair gave him a fierce look despite his well-fed appearance.

    Under his bitter countenance,y the only Highmaster of Vastor''s generation and the unsung god of the battlefield of the Griffon Kingdom.

    "Second, put on some clothes, dammit! I''m a healer, not a doctor. I do not need to see you naked." The Master turned around and threw Zoreth her Bookwyrm armor.

    "Gods, isn''t he cute?" She chuckled while the enchanted metal turned into a silvery liquid and flowed into ce. "After all this time, father still thinks I give a damn about modesty. I''m over a millennium old and he probably knows my body better than you, Byt."

    "Zoreth Imerith Leegaainborn, don''t you dare say that ever again!" Bytra said, her body overflowing with silvery bolts of outrage. "That sounds dirty!"

    "Wait what?" Vastor raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Who''s Imerith Leegaainborn? Don''t tell me¡­"

    "Byt!" The Shadow Dragon turned red from head to toe.

    "Yes, Imerith is her middle name." The Raiju ignored the warning with a defiant look on her face. "On top of that, since Leegaain has nost name, his firstborns use his name to make it clear that not any Dragon sired them, but The Dragon."

    "Why did you never tell me about this?" The Master asked.

    "Because you''ve never asked and because it''s damn embarrassing." The Shadow Dragon replied. "Byt, you had promised me to never tell anyone!"

    "And I warned you about testing my patience in public!" The Raiju snarled. "You know that when I''m calling you by your full name, I''m dead serious."

    "I''m sorry." Zoreth slouched her shoulders. "My joke wasn''t funny and made Father feel awkward."

    "It''s a start but not enough." The Fourth Ruler of the mes nodded. "We''ll continue this conversationter. Your healthes first."

    "Oh, good. I can''t wait." The Shadow Dragon rolled her eyes.

    "Don''t roll your eyes on me, you Shadow Jerk!"

    "Girls, please, let me do my job." Vastor put himself between them and took Zoreth''s hands, activating his breathing technique, Beyonder''s Eye.

    A huge smile appeared on his face as he discovered that the Eldritch and troll life forces hadpletely fused. There were no boundaries between them anymore. The Chaos energy was perfectly contained by the troll flesh which had be immune to it.

    Decay neutralized Chaos and vice versa, restoring the elemental bnce and making the Cursed Elements undetectable from the outside even with Life Vision. Once the Master had examined every nook and cranny of her organs, skin, and bones, and found no anomalies he moved to her mana cores.

    Or rather, her mana core.

    The troll and ck cores were still visible, but half of them was now fused with the other. On the left side there was the white hemisphere remaining of the troll core while on the right there was a ck one from the ck core.

    Whaty in the middle was nothing like Vastor had ever seen and needed closer examination.

    Unlike a non-Awakened core, the mana wasn''t still, but unlike an Awakened core, there was no mana flow to the rest of Zoreth''s body. Where the two cores touched, there was a perfect sphere inside which the two Cursed elements swirled together in a vortex.

    The white part shone with endless light that strived to expand while the ck part copsed on itself, sucking everything in a bottomless void. One wrapped the other creating an almost perfect symmetry, turning Chaos into darkness and Decay into light.

    Almost.

    Yet it was in the imperfection that Vastor found the shocking proof of his sess. In the empty sacks that formed from time to time in the vortex, the other four elements mixed with light and darkness, forming grey sparks.

    Once those sparks reached the eye of the cyclone, they became one with Zoreth''s life force and turned into small, emerald bursts of Spirit Magic.

 Chapter 3119 Not a Genius (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 3119 Not a Genius (Part 1) </h4>

    3119 Not a Genius (Part 1)

    The presence of the seventh element, the element of life, could only mean one thing.

    The Shadow Dragon or at least part of her was dead no longer. Her troll and Abomination side weren''t just coexisting anymore. They had somehow worked together to undo each other''s fall.

    Even as the Master looked at the phenomenon, he could see the six elemental forces and the newly formed life force fighting tobine into more than emerald sparks.

    "Great Mother help me. Look at this!" Vastor altered the rhythm of his breathing technique slightly, using a trick that Nelia had taught him to make the readings of Beyonder''s Eye visible to non-Awakened.

    Zoreth gasped while looking at her own abdomen, realizing that she hadn''t been feeling off.

    What she had experienced sinceing out of the Madness were the physical sensations of a living being, something she had long forgotten to cope with her endless hunger.

    Bytra burst into tears, holding her partner and the Master in a heartfelt embrace.

    "You did it, Father. You cured death and reversed the fall of the troll race in a single swoop!" She said amid sobs.

    "I did nothing as such." Vastor shook his head feeling unworthy of such praise. "I simply improved on the design of Arthan and Thrud. Without the help and the knowledge of the members of the Organization, none of this would have been possible."

    "Sure, mister Grumpy." Zoreth rolled her eyes and this time Bytra let it slide. "When you put it like this, it''s two plus two kind of easy. Now, what do you think happened to me?"

    "Off the top of my head, adding my living tissues to the remains of your human side created a bridge between your troll and Abomination life forces. It allowed them to merge which in turn brought your cores together. Yet we are still far from sess." He replied.

    "What''s next?" Zoreth asked. "More experiments? Another run in the Madness."

    "Didn''t you listen to me?" Vastor furrowed his brows in an annoyed look. "Your life forces have merged. There''s nothing past perfection except maybe for evolution. There''s no problem with your body, only with your cores.

    "I believe that you need to harmonize the flow of your mana just like an Awakened does to reach the violet core. In your case, you don''t have to create more auxiliary cores so much as strengthening the middle core until it swallows the other two."

    "See what I mean?" The Shadow Dragon puffed her chest out with pride. "Not only has our father cured death and reversed the fall of my troll core, but he also has figured out the missing piece of the puzzle at first nce."

    "I know!" Bytra swelled with pride as well. "He''s brilliant, isn''t he?"

    "No, he''s not." Zoreth shook her head, receiving Bytra''s frown and Vastor''s approval. "He''s the most brilliant man I''ve ever met, like I''ve always said."

    In less than a split second, the Master and the Raiju switched their expressions.

    "Please, I''m no genius!" He scoffed.

    "So what? Do you have any idea how many progress you made even before meeting me? Of the kind of talent it takes to gather a bunch of unique individuals, study them, ande up with a solution that works for all of them?

    "Eldritches are like white cores. The only members of their own race, forever alone and each forced to face a unique problem only they have. At least the members of the same tribe of a Fallen Race can share their struggles whereas Eldritches can''t afford the luxury ofpanionship.

    "That was before you found us. Before you found me. I made this breakthrough but the sess is yours. You studied your life force and found a way to apply it to me. You''ve modified the Madness times and times again in ways that not even the Mad King could conceive.

    "He was undoubtedly a genius. Despite his crimes Arthan is recognized as the father of Body Sculpting and you have surpassed him. What does this make you?" The Shadow Dragon asked to a speechless Vastor.

    "I don''t care what you tell yourself or if you are not a genius. To me you''ll always be a brilliant man whose determination allowed him to surpass even geniuses. More importantly, you are my beloved savior.

    "You took me in after even my own blood turned its back on me. Mogar itself had abandoned me, considering me a lost cause yet you epted me in your home. You gave me food and developed arrays to contain my hunger.

    "You were the first person to listen to me when I talked instead of running away or trying to kill me. Sure, our rtionship was born out ofmon interests but, like me, it has grown a lot during these past years.

    "With each Eldritch we took in, you gave me amunity first, a familyter, and then a wife. You might not be my father, but you are the best dad I could ask for."

    "Hear, hear to that!" Bytra kissed the Master on the forehead. "I couldn''t have said it better."

    "Me neither. Hear, hear!" Kigan walked out of the shadows, carrying with him the rest of the hybrids.

    "That short son of an egg did it!" Tezka''sugh was a low growl of hrity. "I always knew you had it in you, Grampa."

    "Grampa?" Theseusughed hard. "Maybe for those as young as me, but you are old enough to be everyone''s forefather, old fox."

    "First, I''m ancient, not old." Tezka gripped his own chest in mock pain. "Second, I look like a dashing rogue whereas Zogar looks the part of a grampa."

    After a bit ofughter and yful mockery at the Master''s expense, the Fylgja turned serious.

    "Jokes aside, I agree with Xenagrosh." He said. "You have collected Mogar''s trash and treated us like your treasure, sparing no effort and resources on us. And now, you have turned us into some of the most powerful creatures this judgemental has ever seen.

    "Even if your research didn''t pan out, you''d still have my eternal gratitude. Yet it did, and the word gratitude fails to convey how deep I feel indebted to you, Father."

    Tezka took a pause, letting his words sink in and giving the others the opportunity to chime in in agreement.

    "I feel the same as Tezka, Father." Nandi the Minotaur said. "You gave me back my body, my life, and my freedom. To all us clones, you really are our father. Without you, we wouldn''t have been born."

    "Original or not, I''m still myself." Theseus the Bastet said. "Scratch that, I''m better. My former self was deranged beyond what even a Guardian could remedy, yet you did. Before I go back to my life, you have my word that I''ll do anything for you.

    "Your enemies are my enemies and I''ll fight until myst breath to protect you."

    "And Zin." Nelia the Griffon nodded.

    "And your adoptive children." Cyare the Fenrir said.

    "And the biological ones you are going to have." Eycos the Garuda patted the Master''s back while giving him a sly look that made the old Professor awkward.

 Chapter 3120 Not a Genius (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 3120 Not a Genius (Part 2)</h4>

    3120 Not a Genius (Part 2)

    "There''s still a lot of vigor in you and Zin. We must just fix your staff!"

    "Don''t you talk about me like th-"

    "To your future children. To our siblings-to-be!" The Eldritches chanted in unison, cutting Vastor short and forcing a chalice of wine in his hand for the toast.

    ***

    Ernas Region, Ernas country house in the countryside of the city of Unama.

    After Orion''s Awakening, he and Jirni had moved to one of the many mansions the Ernas family owned throughout the region they ruled. They had chosen Unama because it had a Warp Gate, allowing them to run away or call for reinforcements with ease.

    Orion had spent the past few weeks training body casting, Spirit Magic, adjusting his de Spell, Elemental Sonata, for the seventh element, and growing a beard.

    The rejuvenating effects of his Awakening had yet to fade and he could only hide his face for so long before people started to suspect he was a body double and that something had happened to the real Orion Ernas.

    The chaos that the "disappearance" of the Lord of the Region would cause and the necessary exnations quelling it would require would ruin Jirni''s work to build their strength in secret.

    So they had moved to the country house where they had spent many summers with their children back when they were still young. The ce was "small" enough to not require many servants, allowing Jirni to bring along only her most trusted helpers like Dyta.

    The official cover story was that they were celebrating the anniversary of Phloria''s death in her beloved summer house. The ce was filled with good memories of thetedy Ernas going for horse rides, training with her father, and ying in the mud with her dog, Lucky.

    It gave everyone bittersweet emotions and pushed them to train relentlessly, even the small Ry. Gone was his bby belly and na?ve attitude. Now Lucky was fit and muscr enough to vent his rage and grief on anyone stupid enough to cross him.

    He still slept on Phloria''s clothes, rotating them and keeping them sealed in dimensional amulets to save her smell for as long as he could.

    Due to her advanced pregnancy, Jirni could only perform light exercises, focusing her training on magic. The magical boost she received from the baby allowed her to wield much more mana than natural and even to dabble in dimensional magic.

    The strain such powerful spells put on her body made up for theck of physical training and helped her to build muscles while also tempering every fiber of her being.

    Just like Orion, she spent the time when she was forced to rest practicing umtion non-stop. He had a long way to go before reaching the bright violet core again and with her deep yellow core, she had many years of practice ahead of her.

    Unlike Orion, however, Jirni was often forced to take breaks to give her body the time to adapt to the changes without endangering the baby. Orion, instead, worked relentlessly, resting only once sleep deprivation and mana abusepromised his focus.

    Invigoration would keep him up and running for days until it lost too much effectiveness to support his training regime. The Eldritches fought, not sparred, with him, pushing Orion''s technique, body, and equipment to the limit.

    They were careful not to kill him, but that was all the mercy they granted him. More than once one of his limbs flew off, his body was pierced from side to side, and his weapon and armor broke almost to the point of non-recovery.

    Grimlock, his de, raged after every defeat. Its crystals shed tears of mana and the hums of its pseudo cores sounded like wails, sending chills down Orion''s spine.

    ''In the gods'' names, what have I done?'' The weapons borne from the War series all scared him. ''Skywarp is also growing¡­ violent forck of a better term. It feels the baby and Jirni''s desire to protect her, bing aggressive for it.

    ''More than once Jirni''s needles assembled themselves into Skywarp without hermand. The needles react to her stress as if Skywarp understands what people say and feel!'' Orion feared to have somehow created cursed objects.

    That it was only a matter of time before the weapons of the War series turned against their owners. Yet until he was sure they posed a threat, he couldn''t afford to lose their help.

    Grimlock grew more attuned to Orion''s mana with time, making the de Tier spell more powerful and faster to cast. The curved de seemed to learn the spell, casting it on its own and drawing the power cores from the rest of the equipment.

    It took part of Orion''s burden on itself and supported him in weaving Elemental Sonata''s runes instead of opposing resistance like inanimated metal was supposed to.

    The constant fights to the death tempered Orion''s body and helped him master his new physical prowess. Vastor woulde only when he could and spent the whole time teaching Jirni and Orion about Spirit Magic.

    He was the only Awakened in the Organization capable of using the seventh element hence he could give practical demonstrations and not just theoretical lessons like the Eldritches.

    "Make me one of those and I might consider fighting the Myrok by your side." The Master pointed at Grimlock and Skywarp.

    "Do you really need my help?" Orion furrowed his brows and pointed at Grimbark and the Dominator armor. "I''ve never seen anything like that and I doubt I could do better even ten years from now."

    "Make it one hundred years." Vastor grinned with fatherly pride at Bytra''s work. "But it doesn''t change the fact that I can''t use de Spells with them. Meln ising back, and the bastard can. He has a gods-damn tower at that.

    "Even if you survive the Myrok, we all know that sooner orter Meln is going toe after us." Vastor threw his Past card in front of his aplices. "He has tried to kill Zin and Jirni once. He''ll do it again."

    Orion opened his mouth to reply but Jirni clenched his hand to stop him.

    "We''ll think about your offer." She said. "Let''s take things one step at a time, though. Please, continue the lesson."

    Quy and Friya often received calls from their mother, respectively to have news about the twins and the preparations for her marriage.

    The two women missed their parents, but with the whirlwind of activities in which they were involved, they barely had the time to notice Jirni''s and Orion''s disappearance.

    It was the reason when Friya and Quy were invited to visit their parents at the summer house, they didn''t suspect a thing.

    "Can you believe it has been more than a month since thest time we''ve seen Mom and Dad in person?" Quy sighed.

    "Yeah, and now that I think about it, it feels off." Friya bit her lower lip in deep focus. "I would have expected Dad to hover around you like a vulture, spoiling the babies while they are still in your womb.

    "As for Mom, not having her bossing me around and trying to teach me the right way to organize my own wedding feels weird."

 Chapter 3121 Family Schemes (Part 1)

    Chapter 3121 Family Schemes (Part 1)

    ??3121  Family Schemes (Part 1)

    "You call that weird? What about inviting me toe along without even a single passive-aggressive remark?" Morok pointed out. "I''m not mister golden boy, here." He jabbed his thumb at Nalrond.

    "Your parents can''t stand me, yet when Quy told them she wasing alone, they insisted I should apany her."

    "That''s indeed weird." The Agni nodded. "What did you do? I mean, recently."

    "I did nothing! Wrong I mean." Morok rushed to add once he noticed a mean re. "I''m helping Quy manage the household in your parents'' absence, taking administration sses, and working with Lith, R, and Tista to study our eyes."

    "He''s telling the truth." Quy nodded. "Sure, he made a few social blunders here and there, but nothing worth a scolding in person. Morok hase a long way since he was a haggard, unkempt, foul-mouthed Ranger who only wanted toze around."

    "Hey!" He said in outrage.

    "What? I was giving you credit where credit is due." Quy chuckled.

    "Then why did it sound like an insult?" He asked with a snort.

    Morok didn''t feel disrespected because she would always defend him in public and point out his mistakes only behind closed doors. Or, like in this case, in the presence of their family.

    "Guilty conscience?" She straightened thepels of his shirt while looking for food stains, failing to find them only due to the self-cleaning properties of the enchanted clothes.

    "It''s not funny!"

    "But it''s true." Quy shrugged. "You have to clean your act better. If not for me, do it for the babies. Or when they grow up, they''ll be theughing stock of their peers."

    "Over my dead body!" The Tyrant snarled in fury at the hypothetical bullying. "Damn, being a noble is no way as fun as I dreamed."

    "I hear you, brother." Nalrond groaned, fist-bumping the Tyrant.

    The two men took most of the lessons about nobility together, including geography, history, etiquette, andw. The only silver lining was that as men they weren''t expected to y an instrument but to be able to fight, something they both needed no basic training about.

    "Mom! Dad!" Quy said, waving her hand.

    The four of them had traveled from Unama to the country house with Warp Steps, reaching their destination just in time to finish their conversation.

    "Hi, sweetie!" Jirni waved back and smiled at her guests, creeping everyone out.

    "It smiles! It must be a trap. Run for your lives!" Morok tried to bolt but Quy nailed him to the ground.

    "Don''t be an idiot!" She grunted. "My mother would never make a trap so obvious."

    "Are you sure?" He asked.

    "Damn sure." She nodded. "Hide behind me and keep a Spirit Steps at the ready, just in case."

    "Right, the old hag would never endanger her grandchildren."

    "Yeah, but don''t call her an old hag. She''s my m-"

    "Dear, the kids have arrived. Come to meet them!" Jirni waddled to them, hugging them one at the time and freezing Quy in horror.

    "Is everything alright, Mom? You look and act¡­ different." Friya asked.

    Jirni wore no makeup, making her newfound youthful appearance stand out as much as her unusual cheery mood.

    "Because I am, silly, but let''s continue this conversation after your father arrives." Jirni replied, happy of her findings with Invigoration.

    Orion stepped through a dimensional door, covered in sweat. His armor and de were full of cracks, his hair caked with dirt and blood.

    "Dad!" Quy rushed to him but he kept her hands away. "Are you alright? Talk to me."

    "I''m fine." He took a deep breath and activated a healing spell to heal his wounds and a darkness spell to clean himself.

    Healing magic would hasten his body recovery and build muscles whereas Invigoration would restore his energy but also throw the results of his training in the gutter.

    "I was just sparring with a friend and we got carried away. Please, follow us inside the house." Orion opened another Steps that led to the dining room.

    Once everyone was in, the dimensional opening faded and countless arrays sealed the room andpressed space, ensuring their privacy even against Spirit Spells.

    "What''s going on?" Friya looked at Jirni with Life Vision, to make sure it was really her.

    "Standard security protocols, as you should know." Lady Ernas'' voice lost its cheerfulness as she sat on the nearest couch. "Before I exin you why I''ve called you here, there''s something you should see."

    Orion leaned to her and she shaved him air magic, demonstrating great skill and tenderness.

    "Where''s Dad and why did you kept the existence of our younger brother a secret from us until now?" Friya said in shock.

    Orion now looked just a bit older than Friya and Quy and the "resemnce" with their father was undeniable just like the idea that one of their parents had cheated on the other was preposterous.

    "Thanks, Little Rainbow, but it''s really me. I am your father." Orion said with a somber expression and tone that would have made Lith regret missing the scene, were he to know about it. "Use Life Vision if you don''t believe me."

    Everyone followed his advice, confirming Orion''s identity and more.

    "Wait a second! The old man has a bright violet core whereas this guy is barely above violet." Morok said while unsheathing his twin battle hammers.

    "And that''s not all." Jirni took off her cloaking ring and released a deep yellow aura, quickly followed by Orion.

    "You are not my parents!" Quy snarled, conjuring hard-light constructs whose destructive power exceeded the bright violet core. "They are not Awakened. You are impostors."

    "Really?" The non-Jirni rolled her eyes in a very Jirni-like way. "And pray tell, why would impostors be dumb enough to reveal themselves without springing their trap and neutralizing you first?"

    "Uhm." Quy replied.

    "We are both pregnant and that''s undeniable as well." Jirni continued. "Take my hands and use Invigoration. Unless you think I''ve eaten a baby for this fa?ade."

    Quy could see her little sister''s energy signature and core from a distance with Life Vision. On top of that, the two mana flows from mother and daughter were too intertwined for the baby to be just carried in a secret pouch.

    "Fine." She nodded. "Guys, stay on your toes."

    "I resent that, Little One." Orion threw away his equipment, revealing that he was shirtless and a physique that made the two younger men feel like couch potatoes inparison. "There. Happy now?"

    "Please, keep your pants on. Please, keep your pants on. Please, keep your pants on." Morok begged, incapable of averting his eyes from the raw, savage splendor of Orion''s body.

    "What the heck are you rambling on, Moron?" Orion snarled.

    "That''s Orion!" Nalrond said. "I''d recognized the pulsing vein on his forehead among thousands."

    "And this is Mom." Quy said before moving in front of Orion and examining him as well. "What''s happened to you, Dad? How can you be Awakened, younger, and have lost part of your powers?"

    "Please, sit down." A wave of Jirni''s hand moved the chairs and conjured sweets and hot tea. "This is going to be a long story."

    Then, she told them everything that had happened behind the scenes after Phloria''s death.

 Chapter 3122 Family Schemes (Part 2)

    Chapter 3122 Family Schemes (Part 2)

    ??3122  Family Schemes (Part 2)

    Jirni told them about her vow to never leave one of her children facing danger alone and her quest for Awakening.

    Of how the Myrok had turned her down, forcing her to look for an alternative solution. How one of her allies had Awakened her first and Jiza Gernoff hade to threaten Jirni''s life, forcing Orion to Awaken as well.

    She didn''t hide anything from them.

    Not the secret training or the fact that they had stolen Quy''s notes about Awakening and Nalrond''s teachings about Light Mastery. The only thing Jirni never mentioned was the identity of her benefactor and the means Vastor had used to Awaken Orion.

    "I''m fucking going to kill him!" Friya yelled, taking Jirni by surprise. "We trusted that fat bastard and that''s how he repays us?"

    ''Her intelligence goes beyond my expectations.'' Jirni furrowed her brows in a mix of annoyance and motherly pride. ''Thisplicates things a bit. I need to keep Vastor-''

    "I''m going to give Lith a piece of my mind and then the beating of a lifetime!" Friya''s rant derailed Jirni''s train of thought. "All that Tiamat''s mass must have squashed his brain into paste to go behind our backs like this."

    ''Or not.'' Jirni inwardly sighed in relief.

    "How could he lie to our face for so long?" Quy joined her sister in her fury. "I thought that he had finally changed!"

    "Respectively, he didn''t lie to you and he did change." Orion sighed. "Lith did nothing to help us and is unaware of what we''ve done. We contacted him right after the Myrok turned your mother down and he did the same.

    "He wasn''t sure I would survive my Awakening and refused to help us until we shared our intentions with you. Lith said that he wouldn''t be responsible for the death of one of your parents unless you had the opportunity to discuss our decision with us."

    "He did?" Friya and Quy said in unison, taking a mental note to apologize to Lithter.

    "If Lith didn''t help you, how did you survive, Dad?" Quy asked after calming down a bit. "I had just a deep violet core and I would have died if Lith hadn''t¡­ been there."

    Jirni noticed the lie by omission and that something bigy under the pile of crap but she didn''t pry further.

    "I won''t share the identity of our associate for their own safety." Jirni replied. "I can only tell you that your father made up his mind and epted the risks before undergoing the Awakening procedure, even going against my wishes."

    "It''s true." Orion nodded at the girls, anticipating their questions. "No, your mother didn''t manipte me into doing it. It was my choice. Just like she started all this damned thing against my better judgment."

    "What thing?" Friya asked.

    "Let me finish." Jirni told them about the Myrok''s threat on her lifest so that they could understand why their parents had gone to such lengths and the reason Friya and Quy had been kept in the dark about the crisis at hand.

    "You were so happy about your marriage, Quy, and I didn''t want to ruin everything for you and keep Phloria''s death hanging over your head." Jirni said. "As for you, Friya, you already had that blockhead of Nalrond to worry about."

    "Yes!" Morok said clenching his fist and drawing everyone''s gaze upon himself. "What are you staring at? Can''t a guy celebrate the first time no one mes him for anything in a long-ass family speech?"

    "Morok!" Quy wanted to give him a piece of her mind but decided otherwise. "Please, continue, Mom."

    "As I was saying, everything happened because of my choice hence facing its consequences was my responsibility. I''ve tried to keep you out of it for as long as I could, but at the moment, I don''t see a way out.

    "That''s why I''m asking for your help and that of your husbands."

    Quy and Friya pondered the issue for a while, looking for a peaceful resolution.

    ''Mom and Dad are rogue Awakened. Unless their friend is a big shot in the Council, no one will meddle in the beef between two humans and an entire Awakened household. If that was an option, however, we wouldn''t be here.'' Quy thought.

    ''I could ask for Faluel''s help, but to what end?'' Friya thought. ''It would be just the two of us. The Hydra bloodline isn''t going to care about this.''

    "Our help with what?" Friya asked.

    "To face the Myrok and win." Jirni replied. "Your father and I can''t do this alone, but with your help, Faluel''s, Lith''s, and our associate''s help, things would be very different. Just to be clear, I''m being honest and straightforward with you.

    "I''m not hiding anything from you nor attempting to manipte you like I''m nning to do with everyone else."

    "Even Lith?" Quy asked, receiving a nod in reply.

    "What about us?" Morok asked.

    "You have already given us everything we needed from the Tyrant bloodline." Jirni shrugged. "We can use Nalrond''s Light Mastery lessons but we don''t need to ask his help. If Friyaes, he''ll follow."

    "Let me get this straight." Friya pinched her nose in frustration. "You asked us toe here to guilt trip us into helping you¡­"

    "No guilt tripping." Jirni shook her head. "I just wanted to ask for your help and exin to you why I might die in a while."

    "Okay, fine!" Friya''s voice quivered at the thought of Jirni''s violent passing. "To ask for our help manipting everyone around us, including our husbands?"

    "Technically, Quy''s husband and your fianc¨¦, but yes." Jirni nodded. "I don''t think I can convince Lith toe to my side without your cooperation."

    "Well, this is great!" Quy yelled in outrage. "I have to choose between putting at risk the lives of everyone I care about or letting my mother die. This is exactly what I had in mind for the family reunion."

    "Dad, how could you get along with this crazy n?" Friya asked while her sister paced around the room like a death row inmate before her execution.

    "I didn''t." Orion crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn''t want to Awaken, but with your mother''s life on the line, what was I supposed to do? Would you have helped me to Awaken if I asked you?"

    "No." Friya hated to admit it but it was the truth.

    Quy had survived only thanks to Menadion''s tower and revealing its existence to Jirni and Orion was just too dangerous. One would have exploited it for her schemes and the other would have been conflicted between his loyalty to his daughters and his Kingdom.

    "Was I supposed to spend weeks arguing with you two? To have you constantly beg me not to do it? To stand there and do nothing while the clock kept ticking?" Orion continued. "I had to do something and I did the only thing that made sense.

    "I trusted my own judgment and Jirni''s n. Now, if you don''t want to help us, it''s fine. Just please, don''t tell anyone about this. I don''t like your mother''s scheming but if the alternative is her death, I choose her schemes."

 Chapter 3123 Manipulation Attempt (Part 1)

    Chapter 3123 Maniption Attempt (Part 1)

    ??3123  Maniption Attempt (Part 1)

    "Nice to know that you are so morally flexible, Dad." Quy grunted, stopping her pacing.

    "Aren''t you the same?" Jirni raised an eyebrow. "You''ve covered for Lith''s secrets for years, even when you knew that what he was doing was a crime and an act of treason to the Kingdom.

    "I''m only asking you to cover for our private matters for a few months."

    "I need air." Quy walked out of the room and the space sealing arrays, disappearing through a Warp Steps before Morok could recover from the shock of the revtions and run after her.

    "That was a low blow, Mom." Friya said in anger.

    "Maybe, but it was also the truth." Jirni sighed. "I swear, I don''t understand how you can have such tant double standards and get offended when called out on them. How is what I did even remotelyparable with Lith''s secrets?"

    "It''s not but¡­" Friya hated arguing with her mother because there rarely was a chance of victory. "I mean, after faking Quy''s death, you promised not to lie to us again. Also, we are still recovering from losing our sister.

    "How did you expect we would react to the news that we might soon end up attending our mother''s funeral as well?"

    "First, I promised not to lie to your father ever again, not to you girls, and he knew everything from the beginning." Jirni dismantled Friya''s arguments, making her bite her tongue in frustration. "Second, I didn''t expect any of this to happen.

    "I wanted your father and me to Awaken in order to have a healthy baby and be capable of protecting you and Quy the next time something crazy happens. And don''t say that it won''t because you know it''s a lie.

    "Sooner orter, you''ll be Faluel''s Harbinger and when that happens, you''ll be involved in the power ys of the Hydra bloodline. When Meln Narchat returns, he''ll target me, your father, and Lith.

    "Do you really expect me to believe that you''ll sit tight and not fight that madman?" Jirni pointed an usatory finger at Friya, nailing her. "Do you really expect your father and me to be hostage of our weakness again?

    "To be a liability to your safety and watch our little girls fight for their lives when all we can do is pray? My n was just to gain the means to help you and your sister and keep us from attending another funeral, not to set off a conflict with the Gernoff.

    "I''ve underestimated their obsession with Oghrom and the lengths they are willing to go to uphold hisw, but so what? I''m human, dammit. I can make mistakes and I''d rather die fighting against my enemies than watch you risk your lives from the sidelines again!"

    Jirni''s eyes misted with tears that she quickly wiped off.

    ''The hormones must be crazy even for an Awakened.'' Friya thought. ''I''ve never seen Mom cry except for one of her ploys and at Phloria''s funeral. Also, if this was a maniption attempt, she would y it much better.''

    "I understand." She actually said. "All you''ve said is true but it doesn''t change the fact that knowing you lied to me again hurts. I''m sorry, but I need a bit of time to process everything."

    "Do you wantpany?" Nalrond asked.

    "Yes, but not for me." Friya replied. "Please, stay here and protect my parents."

    "Really?" Morok pointed at Orion''s violet aura. "We are still at the deep violet, you know?"

    "Fine, protect my mother, then, smartass."She snarled. "I want to be sure that nothing happens to them until I make up my mind about this whole mess."

    She turned around and walked away slowly, stopping abruptly and adding:

    "And also, keep them from doing anything stupid they would cover up with more lies." Friya would have loved to bring Nalrond with her, but he didn''t know Jirni well enough to be objective.

    The Agni would consider the matter from the perspective of a regr parent while Lady Ernas was anything but. As soon as Friya was out of the area of effect of the arrays, she called Faluel and went to meet her.

    "Well, that was awkward." Morok shrugged. "And that''s riching from me."

    "For once, we agree." Jirni nodded. "Do you want to order something in particr for lunch or do you want to start discussing baby names right away?"

    "Why should I take advice in naming my children from you?" The Tyrant sipped his tea, a hint of coldness in his voice.

    "I''m probably going to die before they are born." Jirni sniffled, bringing a handkerchief to her mouth. "It''s my only opportunity to be involved in the life of my grandchildren.

    "Please, do me the honor of naming one of them after me so that even if I''ll never meet your babies, they''ll always have something to remind them of me."

    Morok spat out his tea, feeling embarrassed and not knowing how to refuse her request without feeling like a monster.

    "Wow, was that an attempt of maniption?" Nalrond asked.

    "Yes." Jirni replied, her tears disappearing and her grimace of anguish reced by a soft smile. "As I told my baby girls earlier, I won''t attempt to manipte them, but you two are fair game."

    Morok spat out more of his tea, drawing Orion''s reproachful gaze.

    "I''ve guessed as much." The Agni nodded. "Congrattions. Mission aplished. Please, Mother, order a hearty lunch for everyone. We''re going to need a lot of strength after your first lesson about Light Mastery."

    Morok spat out at "Mother" and then again at the offer to teach them Light Mastery.

    "Okay, I''d better put this down." The Tyrant put the teacup on the saucer.

    "Are you sure?" Jirni tilted her head in disbelief. "I know how possessive you are of your legacy and there''s no guarantee Friya will help me. What if she decides to stay out of this and gets angry at you for taking our side?"

    "I don''t know you, Mother, but I know Friya." Nalrond said, making Morok happy to have no tea in his mouth. "That friend of hers, Yurial, died over seven years ago and she still mes herself for failing to save him.

    "Do not get me started about how guilty Friya feels for being still alive while Phloria is dead." He lowered his eyes, thinking at the nights spent consoling her while she sobbed in his arms. "As I said, I don''t know you, Mother, Father, but I know how much Friya cares about you.

    "You gave her a home, a family, and everything she had given up on since the death of her biological father. No matter how angry she is at you right now, I know that if something were to happen to you, no matter the reason, she''d never forgive herself.

    "Even in the unlikely case she leaves you on your own, I won''t. I''d be damned before I let her shed one more tear knowing that I could have prevented it. Also, I''ve always nned to share my legacy with the Ernas. I''m just doing it sooner thanter.

    "So clench your teeth, my dear inws, because I''m going to spoon-feed Light Mastery to you like you are dumb toddlers. Just like you expected me to, Mother."

 Chapter 3124 Manipulation Attempt (Part 2)

    Chapter 3124 Maniption Attempt (Part 2)

    ??3124  Maniption Attempt (Part 2)

    "Nice speech." Jirni was mildly amused whereas Orion was moved. "Did you call me mother time and time again to manipte me? I mean, you are an orphan and I''m pregnant.

    "You know that only a monster would be unfazed by such a deration of filial love."

    "Yes." Nalrond nodded, making Orion spit out his tea. "Did it work?"

    "No, but I like you even more now." Jirni chuckled. "I knew you were a smart cookie."

    "Thanks." The Agni nodded. "Before we start, there''s something you should know. Holograms are something that anyone can do, even with a weak mana core. Constructs, instead, require great strength. Or at least so I thought."

    Nalrond looked straight at Jirni while telling her about how he had seen Aran and Leria shape hard-light constructs with their bright yellow cores, keeping Dawn out of the story.

    "I don''t know how they did it, only that it''s possible. Keep it in mind during our lessons and if any of youes up with a usible answer, please share it."

    "It takes a good man to set his pride aside and admit to having been bested by children." Orion patted Nalrond''s shoulder. "I too like you even more now, son."

    "What about me?" Morok asked, feeling left out of the conversation and a bit offended.

    "Excellent question. I''ve been asking that myself for months now." Jirni replied. "If any of youes up with a usible answer, please share it."

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, White Griffon Academy, a few minutester.

    Headmaster Duke Marth was surprised to hear that Quy Ernas required ess to the Warp Gate in his office, but he was always d to meet an alumnus.

    "Quy, it''s so good to see you. Congrattions on your pregnancy again." He held her hand with both his own. "Have you thought about our offer to resume your position as Assistant Professor?

    "Now that you are the Royal Healer and a Light Master, you are this close to being a second Manohar." He said.

    "Thanks, Headmaster, but what about Manohar the Second?" She chuckled, referring to Marth''s son. "Won''t he be jealous if I steal his name?"

    "Dhiral, please. His name is Dhiral." The Headmaster sighed.

    "Thanks for the offer, Headmaster, but I''m not here on an official visit. "She gave him a polite bow. "I came for personal matters. I need to speak with Professor Vastor."

    Quy couldn''t talk about the matter with Lith, Friya was likely to be equally confused, and Morok was bound to say something insensitive that would piss Quy off even more. Her best shot at rity was talking with her old mentor.

    Vastor had helped Quy since she was a fourth year student. He had given her a tonic to fix her stunted growth, taught her everything she knew about light and darkness magic, and after her graduation he had taken her in as his Assistant.

    Quy was unaware of Vastor''s identity as the Master, but she knew that his position in the Kingdom and his participation in the War of the Griffons gave him clearance to ess the dealings between the Council and the Royals.

    The old Professor was the only person Quy could think of who would understand her situation even without knowing all the details since he also was a friend of her parents and had helped them reconcile.

    "He''s currently lecturing the fifth year students." Marth replied. "Is this an emergency or can it wait until the end of the lesson?"

    "No emergency, thank you." She replied. "I just need advice on personal affairs."

    "Then be my guest." He gave her the Assistant Professor ring back. "Feel free to take a tour of the academy, use our facilities, whatever you want. I''d love to keep youpany, but I''m swamped in paperwork."

    "Thanks." Quy shuddered at the vision of the piles of documents encumbering the Headmaster''s desk. It was one of the things she didn''t miss of her academy life.

    She Warped to the empty canteen, d to have the ce all for herself.

    All that inner turmoil had worked her up quite an appetite and she needed time toe up with a story that covered all the key points of her issue without mentioning the Gernoff and her parents'' Awakening.

    When the gong signaling the end of the lessons resounded, she had emptied many tes and found her answer.

    "Gods if I missed this." She burped with satisfaction.

    The cooks of the White Griffon were worthy of a first-ss restaurant and the food was delivered via small Warp Steps, avoiding her embarrassing interactions with waiters. The kitchen staff had no idea a single person had eaten everything.

    She Warped outside the Healing Magic lecture hall of the fifth year and waited for the doors to open. Professors would rarelye out first because they would either answer the student''s questions or reprimand those who had misbehaved during the lesson.

    Once the youths started leaving the ssroom, many of them looked at Quy''s deep green robes with admiration. She was "just" a Great Mage but such a position was hard to aplish, especially at a young age.

    To them, she was akin to a demigod.

    "Quy, my girl, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Vastor trotted out of the room, the sea of white uniforms parting in front of him.

    "I need to speak with you, Professor Vastor. Do you have a few minutes to spare?"

    "The next lesson is after the lunch break. You can be my guest in my living quarters, if you haven''t already eaten and need privacy."

    "That sounds delicious, I mean, perfect. Thanks, Professor." Vastor Warped them both to his rooms and ordered a meal for two. "What''s bothering you?"

    Vastor took off his robe and offered to hang Quy''s as well.

    "Sit down, please. This will take a while and might be hard for you to hear." She replied while eating her food with grace since she was already almost full.

    Almost.

    In her version of the story, Jirni and Orion just wanted to Awaken and had yet to seed. Their attempts had aroused the wrath of a nondescript Awakened faction who wanted to protect the secret of Awakening from greedy fake mages.

    This way, Quy hid her parents'' sess, keeping Vastor from bing envious of them and demanding to be Awakened as well. Also, the story exined the feeling of betrayal tormenting Quy and the danger Jirni and Orion had put themselves into.

    All of her precautions were pointless since not only was Vastor already an Awakened, but he also already knew everything since he was the one who had Awakened the Ernas.

    The only shocking part of her story was that her parents were so desperate that they hade clean with their daughters and asked their help.

    "By the gods!" Vastor jumped up in outrage. "How could they be so stupid? Didn''t they realize the risks of getting you involved in their own mess?"

    His anger was genuine. He didn''t care much about Orion and Jirni. They were good people and decent business partners but that was it. Friya and Quy, however, were another story entirely.

    They were the kind of talents with whom the Master wanted to share the fruits of his research about human evolution once hepleted it.

 Chapter 3125 A Job Well Done (Part 1)

    Chapter 3125 A Job Well Done (Part 1)

    Friya and Quy were the kind of people the Master was sick and tired of seeing die while the mediocre thrived.

    "I know, right?" Quy inwardly clenched her fists, thinking that Vastor had bought her lie andplimenting herself for a job well done. "I just want to be clear, I haven''te here to ask your help, Professor, only your advice.

    "Unlike, me, you are not an Awakened and this is a family matter. I don''t want you to risk your life or involve the Kingdom in the affairs of the Ernas. Do I have your word?"

    "You do." He nodded, moved by her thoughtfulness.

    ''She came to me instead of Lith and despite her predicament, Quy is trying to protect me. If only she knew¡­'' He thought.

    "Here is my question: should I forgive my parents and help them or let them lie in the bed of their own making? I love my parents, but this is the second time they have betrayed my trust and gone behind my back.

    "They made an egotistical choice despite knowing the risks. I feel angry, deceived, and I''m pregnant, for the gods'' sake! On the one hand, they are my parents and I don''t want to abandon them. On the other hand, this is not only about me.

    "It''s also about my children. I don''t want to put them into danger and I''m not only talking about the possibility of a fight. I''m also asking you how can I trust such unreliable parents to be good grandparents?

    "What if my twins get involved in their schemes as well? Should I walk away or what?" Quy burst into tears, the hormones ravaging her nerves no less than the fear of losing a single member of her beloved family.

    "There, there, dear." Vastor gave her a side hug and a handkerchief to blow her nose.

    He waited for her to calm down a bit, offering her a rxing camomile tea before answering her questions. Remaining detached wasn''t as easy as it seemed because he was actually involved in that mess.

    Even worse, Quy''s situation was no different from what Zinya would go through were Vastor toe clean with her and reveal the scope of his actions as the Master.

    ''Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.'' He thought. ''I can use this conversation as a mock-up for Zyn''s. I can bepletely honest since this doesn''t involve me and I can get a glimpse of how Zyn might react through Quy.''

    It was a good idea. Also, it was exactly what Jirni had nned. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She had promised to make no attempt to manipte Quy, but Jirni had no qualms about using her daughter to manipte Vastor. She knew that with Lith off the table, Quy would seek the advice of the closest mentor figure she had.

    She might have gone to Faluel, but Jirni deemed it unlikely. The Hydra held Friya''s fate in her hands and had a deal with Quy that granted Faluel ess to Quy''s magical research.

    As far as Quy knew, Vastor had nothing at stake and would give her an unbiased opinion whereas Faluel might not want to put two of her assets at risk.

    On top of that, while Friya was trying to get used to the idea of bing a Harbinger, Quy was still looking for a loophole in the Awakenedws that would allow her sister to rescind the pact with the Hydra safely.

    "Look, Quy, I admit that seen from your point of view, the situation is bad and your parents'' actions are questionable at best. I''m not going to change your mind about that or find excuses for their poor behavior.

    "Yet as a wed parent, allow me to ask you a few questions." Vastor said after pondering for a while. "Your mother lied to you by omission, that''s a fact, but did she do it to gain something at your expense?"

    "No" She replied.

    "Did Jirni go behind your back to hurt you or because she didn''t trust your judgment?" The Master asked.

    "Again, no. She took personal choices that she knew I would disapprove but that would affect me in a positive way." Quy lowered her gaze, sighing. "I was supposed to get a healthy baby sister and have more time with my parents.

    "Gods-dammit! Awakening wasn''t supposed to cause problems to anyone. This mess is just bad luck born out of the bullheadedness of some Awakened pricks!"

    ''Exactly as I did as the Master.'' Vastor inwardly nodded. ''I''ve done many wrong things but for the right reasons. I''ve never meant to hurt Zin. It''s just that you can''t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.''

    "Using your own words, Jirni made a personal choice and she''s got in trouble for it only because someone thinks they know better." He actually said and Quy nodded for him to continue.

    "How would you feel if you were to abandon your parents in their moment of need and they ended up getting hurt, or worse, dead?"

    "I¡­" Quy was about to answer in anger but she stopped to picture the scene in her head.

    Jirni was dead and Oriony lifeless by her side. Quy could easily imagine his wrath at Jirni''s murder.

    Even if the Gernoff didn''t want to kill Orion, even if none of them let themselves be blinded by greed and decided that getting their hands on Grimlock was worth killing one more person, Quy knew that her father wouldn''t leave them a choice.

    Orion would fight until they put him down. An Awakened could heal just by breathing and the moment the Gernoff witnessed him use de Magic, there was no way they would risk turning their back on him.

    Orion was bound to die.

    Tears had already started to form at the corners of Quy''s eyes when images of a dead Lucky and an empty crib shed in her mind. The Ry would never abandon Orion. Not after what had happened to Phloria.

    Lucky wasn''t just a magical beast. He was Phloria''s best friend and one of the few living links left with her. Yet the idea of losing Dripha was even worse than that.

    Quy had yet to even meet her little sister, but she couldn''t stand the thought that the same people who would murder her family would also use the innocent baby for their power ys with the new head of the Ernas Household.

    Maybe even raise Dripha the same way the Myrok had made Jirni into who she was.

    "I would never forgive myself!" Quy clenched her fists so hard that her nails pierced her skin. "My parents may be jackasses, but they are my jackasses. As much as it pains me to admit it, I''m still alive because my mother is the biggest jackass of them all.

    "If not for her mean streak, Friya and I would still be orphans. If not for her ruthless ploys, Deirus would have killed me the gods know how many times."

    ''Just like I did for Zin.'' Vastor hated keeping scores, but he couldn''t help but inwardly smile.

    For the first time, he allowed himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, the good things he had done might outweigh the bad ones.

 Chapter 3126 A Job Well Done (Part 2)

    Chapter 3126 A Job Well Done (Part 2)

    The Master didn''t care if the rest of Mogar judged him a monster.

    He only needed the absolution of one person. Filia and Frey were too young to understand the gravity of such matters and Vastor was certain that with time and the help of their mother, they would forgive him as well.

    "Now that I think about it, this is actually the most harmless scheme my mother has ever concocted." Quy stood up. "People Awaken every day. Why do those bastards have to make a fuss just because of the words of a ruthless killer who died over 700 years ago?

    "Thanks, Professor. I think I''ve made up my mind." She offered him her hand and Vastor shook it with a smile.

    "There''s nothing you have to thank me for. I''ve just been a sounding board for your thoughts."

    "You''ve been much more than that." Quy gave him a deep bow. "You''ve been a friend and you''ve managed to put yourself in my shoes for my sake. However this goes, I''ll have no regrets. Goodbye, Professor Vastor."

    Those final three words struck him like a punch in the gut.

    ''How could I be so stupid?'' He cursed as soon as Quy Warped out of his room. ''I was so focused on myself that I didn''t think of the consequences of my words. Now Quy is going to fight alongside Jirni and maybe die with her.

    ''The Kingdom would lose another Manohar and I another friend! She is going to die because of me.'' The parting words that the god of healing had left Vastor were still recorded in the Master''smunication amulet.

    Manohar had offered him forgiveness in exchange for abandoning Forbidden Magic, giving Zinya a good life, and protecting the Kingdom.

    ''I''m not as good as you were, old friend.'' Vastor thought. ''When we meet on the other side, you''ll have to make do with two out of three.''

    He sat down again, pondering how far he could go and how much destruction he could wring before the actions of the Organization threatened its position in the Awakened Council.

    He forgot about his duty as Professor Zogar Vastor and focused on what he could do as the Master.

    If Jirni had been there to witness the scene, she would haveplimented herself for a job well done.

    ***

    After reaching an agreement with Thrud''s former generals, Faluel the Hydra had taken them for a tour of the Kingdom. The newly evolved Divine Beasts needed to witness the consequences of the War of the Griffons to lift the wool of the Mad Queen''s lies from their eyes.

    "Do you mind if wee with you?" Protheus and the rest of the Doppelgangers who had decided to risk leaving Leegaain''sir asked the Hydra.

    "I don''t, but there''s quite a lot of you. It could be a problem." Faluel replied.

    Only eight of Thrud''s former generals had survived the war, and the number included Ufyl and Protheus. The Doppelgangers that he had spawned upon request of the Mad Queen, however, were many more.

    "You would be right, if we moved like a group, but that''s not my intention." Protheus shook his head. "My children and I just want to be in the same city as you guys. This way, if something bad happens we can be protected without resorting to violence, just like per our deal.

    "Also, weckmon sense and manners. If we encounter something or someone that confuses us, instead of digging ourselves a deeper hole we cane to you and ask." Then, after noticing the Hydra''s hesitation, he rushed to add: n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We are not nning oning to you every five minutes, we just want to cover all our bases. Please, consider that what you consider normal is new and scary to us. Our beast siblings already know Mogar from their time as Awakened apprentices.

    "Us Doppelgangers, instead, have spent our entire existence inside the Golden Griffon or performing missions. We know nothing outside what we needed to learn in order to fulfill our missions as spies."

    "Fine." Faluel sighed. "But I''ll bring you in multiple groups since there''s no way so many of you go unnoticed. Also, don''t worry about how many times you need help. You can ask me, Ufyl, or any of your siblings for help all you want."

    "What?" The Seven-Headed Dragon and the other Divine Beasts said in unison, but for different reasons.

    "I''ming along?" Ufyl asked.

    "I have seven heads, but I''m just one Hydra." Faluel shrugged. "I can use some help just like you can benefit from some rest out of your test tube. You can act tough all you want, but I bet you are tired of being poked and prodded without a single please or thank you."

    "You can say that." He lowered his gaze in sadness.

    Even though Fyrwal the Hydra had epted Ufyl''s surrender and offered him a full pardon in exchange for his coboration, everyone treated him like a murderous traitor of his bloodline.

    ''And the worst part is that I can''t me them because that''s who I am. Saying sorry doesn''t change what I''ve done and the people I''ve killed are still dead. Yet there are days I feel like there''s no point being my brethren''s test subject.

    ''If redemption is impossible, if they are bent on treating me like this all my life, I''d prefer they kill me and get over with this.'' He thought.

    "We''ll start from the half of the Kingdom that you tried to free from ''the tyranny'' of the Royals." Faluel said, snapping Ufyl out of his reverie. "You guys have failed and the war is lost.

    "I want you to check with your own eyes if things turned as badly as Thrud made you believe."

    "How can we be sure everything isn''t staged for our convenience?" Leari the Thunderbird asked. "That this isn''t just a ruse?"

    "Easy." Leegaain chimed in. "Pick a city. Any city, and I will send you there right now. The Council is powerful, but they don''t have the resources to improvise something of this magnitude without preparation.

    "Only a Guardian can, but we just don''t care about you. I''m fine with keeping you prisoners for the rest of your lives. I can always have better luck with your children. What I''m interested in is your abnormal bloodlines, not you guys as individuals."

    The Divine Beasts shuddered at the thought of spending ten thousand years locked inside Leegaain''s biomes. It was the reason they quarreled and argued a lot before agreeing on their destination.

    "Ne''sra." They pointed at the capital of the soon-to-be-renamed Deirus region. "It''s a ce we all have been to and that has been destroyed during the war. It''s too big a city to be filled with actors."

    "Okay." Leegaain opened a mind link with Tyris for permission to ess to her turf.

    "One second, please." Faluel raised her hands.

    She gave everyone amunicator amulet already carrying her rune and capable of showing her position and that of its owner at any moment so that getting lost was impossible.

    "Guys, shapeshift in human form and we are ready to leave." The Hydra said.

    Divine Beasts and Doppelgangers followed hermand and the Hydra found herself surrounded by gym wear models.

 Chapter 3127 Paid by Others (Part 1)

    Chapter 3127 Paid by Others (Part 1)

    "That''s exactly what I was afraid of." Faluel sighed. "The bodies you have chosen follow Awakened beauty standards. If you go around looking like that, you are going to draw a lot of attention. Tone it down, like me."

    Faluel''s human form was very cute but she was no head-turner. At least until one interacted with her. There was so much grace and elegance in her poise that a human would find it hard to take their eyes off her.

    After everyone became average-looking, Leegaain snapped his fingers and Warped them away.

    "Grampa, wait-" Before the Hydra could finish the phrase, everyone was already in Ne''sra.

    At first, she cursed the Guardian''s name but then realized that he had chosen a ce where the group would go unnoticed as their destination.

    It was the city za and on top of a raised dais, a bard was singing one of the most famous songs of his repertoire while dancers and performers acted ording to the scene described in the lyrics.

    All eyes were on stage so no one witnessed the small groups appearing in the empty alleys. On top of that, Thrud''s former followers were all Awakened and there was a mind link already established between them.

    ''Thank the gods Grampa is as smart as he looks.'' Faluel sighed in relief. ''Doppelgangers, spread out and do whatever you want. If you encounter trouble, ask a guard, call me, or run to the closest Divine Beast.

    ''Everyone else, with me.'' Her words fell on deaf minds.

    Everyone was mesmerized by the y, especially the Doppelgangers. They had no notion of arts or entertainment. They were akin to a child who had never seen a toy and suddenly found himself in a toy shop.

    The music, the dancing, the colorful costumes, everything was new and beautiful to them. The Divine Beasts, instead, were outraged. ording to the pamphlets on the walls, the y was called "A Magus'' Tale".

    The actors had already gone past the part where the Supreme Magus had in the evil minions of the Mad Queen and had moved to more recent events. A white-d actor wielding a prop-Ragnar?k was fighting against a group of acrobats.

    Multiple people dressed in stone grey stood on each other''s shoulders to reproduce the height gap between Lith''s Tiamat form and Thaymos.

    Chore magic conjured colorful but harmless spells and the various special effects the y required. The Lith-actor lost but then a blonde woman emerged from behind the scenes and pushed one of the acrobats'' chest, making the lost city crumble under her touch.

    The spectators cheered as the Tyris-actress repeated the speech the Guardian had addressed to the people of Jiera. Adding a few artistic liberties and corny lines, of course.

    Seeing "Lith" being celebrated even in defeat and the various stuffed dolls shaped as Divine Beasts'' heads hung to the actor''s belt enraged Faluel''s guests.

    ''What did you expect?'' She said via the mind link, drawing their gazes on her. ''This is enemy territory. Here you are the monsters and Lith is the hero.''

    ''Then why did you want to start our journey from your side of the Kingdom?'' Ophius asked. ''To humiliate us?''

    ''No. To show you that Mogar didn''t end with Thrud''s defeat. That the people of our country are free and happy. Look around.''

    Only then did the Divine Beasts notice that Ne''sra still bore the scars from the War of the Griffons. Many houses had yet to be fully rebuilt and huge craters in the streets had been filled with dirt and covered with cobblestones, waiting to be paved again.

    Yet the people crowding the za smiled.

    There were a few guards here and there, but just enough to ensure the safety of the citizens, not to police them all. There were beggars and homeless people, but not as many as the Divine Beasts would expect from the rule of tyrants.

    Most of all, what struck them was the enthusiasm of those too far away from the stage to follow the y. They didn''t talk about the past, but about the future.

    "I can''t believe we are about to receive the first batch of materials from the colonies!" Said a man.

    "And I can''t wait for a Tablet of my own." A woman said. "Jongleurs are fun for a while but they take whole songs to get to the point. If you want information, you have to either find a reliable source or read boring edicts at the city hall until you find what you are looking for.

    "With the Web, I''ll have everything in the palm of my hand. I will be capable of speaking with my rtives without wasting days of travel."

    "Yeah, that''s nice, but I''m more interested in the Trains." A merchant said. "I can''t wait to sell my goods to multiple stores and expand my market without spending a fortune on bodyguards.

    "Any news about our position in the rankings? The construction of Ne''sra''s station is already in progress but I''ve heard that loyal cities will get priority and we are traitors."

    Many mumbled and sighed, cursing Vn Deirus'' name in fear they would end up at the bottom of the line because of him.

    ''Traitors? What are they talking about?'' Ufyl asked. ''This city fought us tooth and nail. They are valiant soldiers. Is this how the Royals reward their loyal citizens?''

    ''Loyal my scaly ass.'' Faluel quelled the outrage of the Divine Beasts by sharing with them the details of the former regional Lord''s betrayal and how the local authorities of Ne''sra had mistreated the Golden Knight.

    ''What an insufferable bunch of assholes!'' Leari said in even greater outrage. ''These people are worse than traitors, they are ungrateful!''

    The Thunderbird had died at Solus'' hands and respected her as a warrior. Leari''s multiple deaths had made her appreciate life and admire those who despite their mortality dared to face Thrud''s immortal army.

    ''Yeah, and as you guys have learned the hard way, Lith isn''t big on forgiveness. These people have every reason to be worried.'' The Hydra replied.

    The group spent the following days in Ne''sra. Some just toured the city and listened to the gossip. Aside from the rebuilding of the city, the colonies in Jiera, and the reorganization of the Deirus region were the hottest topics.

    "To think that just a few years ago we hosted two of the great academies, something only the Distar Marquisate ever achieved." A female mage sighed. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After Vn''s death, the ck Griffon had be an independent small region of its own. Controlling the finances of an academy gave the local lord great power and influence.

    The Crown couldn''t afford someone they didn''t trust as much as Mirim to rule over two of the six great academies.

    Marquis Distar was also the Headmaster of the ck Griffon, which in theory brough three academies under the control of the Distar Household, but they had proven their loyalty in blood.

    "Yeah, that''s sad, but we still have the Fire Griffon." A male mage said. "As soon as Void Magic bes an official course, we can apply to take it as a specialization!"

    The Divine Beasts had faced Void Magic and knew how powerful it was. They couldn''t believe that Lith had shared it with the Royals and that they in turn had shared Void Magic with the whole Kingdom.

 Chapter 3128 Paid by Others (Part 2)

    Chapter 3128 Paid by Others (Part 2)

    ''You better believe it.'' Protheus patted Ophius'' back and pointed at a girl wearing the Fire Griffon uniform.

    She was holding a sphere in her hands. Half of it was fire and the other half was ice. One element flowed into the other, seamlessly switching without producing steam.

    The bbergasted Quetzalcoatl used Life Vision, confirming that the girl wasn''t using two elements at the same time. It was just one element.

    "Wow, T. Did you really learn it from the Supreme Magus?"

    "In the flesh." She puffed her chest out with pride. "But that''s not much of a brag since he teaches to the fourth years of all academies. Heplimented me, though."

    "He did?" Her friends squealed in enthusiasm.

    "Not really." She admitted. "Verhen just nodded at me. I think."

    The squealing didn''t lessen, with the girls seeing it as a good sign for T to be Lith''s apprentice and the boys asking her to be introduced to him.

    ''Fuck!'' Ophius thought.

    Thrud''s former vassals spent their time in Ne''sra helping with the repairs and working as healers. They wanted to make up for the destruction they had caused and have the opportunity to talk with as many people as possible.

    Two birds with one stone.

    Soon it was clear that Faluel hadn''t lied nor exaggerated her words. The Divine Beasts looked for hints of sedition, an oppressive regimen, or propaganda, but all they found weremon people livingmon lives.

    After Ne''sra, Faluel brought everyone to Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate. The city was untouched by the war and squeaky clean. It offered them another perspective on life after the War of the Griffons and left them floored.

    There were Tablets everywhere, with people taking photos, videos, and making calls at every corner of every street.

    Faluel even bought one tablet for every one of her guests, to let them see with their eyes how the Tablets worked and what kind of information they offered.

    ''This is amazing!'' Protheus said as most of the Doppelgangers were browsing the children''s textbooks and learning what they had missed by fighting on the frontlines since birth. ''If I were this ingenious and Mother was still alive, I''d ask her to craft something like this.''

    ''Can we keep them, please?'' One of the Doppelgangers asked.

    ''You can, but they only work near a Mainframe. Sorry.'' Faluel shrugged. ''Soon there will be one in every city of the Kingdom, but until that moment, Tablets have limited use.''

    In Derious, Faluel''s guests could only y tourists. There was nothing to do so they spent their days visiting the city and browsing the Web.

    ''I hate to say this, but Verhen is a genius.'' Leari sighed. ''People don''t talk well about him because they are brainwashed but because the bastard deserves it. I have no idea what a train is, but at this point, I bet my feathery ass it''s something awesome.''

    Faluel replied by pointing them to the video about the maiden voyage of the Wayfinder, confirming the Thunderbird''s words and making the rest of the Divine Beasts curse like sailors. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Are you telling me stuff like this will be everywhere?'' Protheus and Ophius asked in unison, but one with enthusiasm and the other with frustration.

    ''In time, yes. Follow me.'' She brought them to the Kingdom''s very first train station.

    It was located in themercial/working-ss district to givemoners easy ess to it since only rich people had the means to travel through half the city with ease.

    The station already had plenty of benches, luggage stores, and maps that depicted the itinerary of the future Train. Huge banners announced that the Supreme Magus would take part in the maiden voyage that would connect Derios with Lutia.

    ''What do you mean, first Train?'' Leari asked. ''Shouldn''t the first one be inaugurated at Valeron, the capitol of the Kingdom?''

    ''The Royals consider to have already received such honor with the Wayfinder.'' Faluel replied. ''They have decreed that the first civilian train will be the one in the Distar Marquisate to honor Lith''s birthce.''

    After a while, they left Derios and the Hydra brought Thrud''s former vassals back home, to the territories they had once protected. The first city they visited was Zeska, in the heart of Thrud''s domain.

    There was much more to rebuild than in the other half of the Kingdom, but everyone noticed that people were still free, healthy, and well-fed.

    Too healthy and well-fed, to be precise.

    ''What in the gods'' names is going on here?'' Protheus was the most na?ve among them yet even he could feel something was eerily wrong. ''What happened?''

    There was little traffic, lots of green areas, and the city was even cleaner than Derios.

    ''Thrud happened.'' Faluel''s thoughts held great sadness. ''You guys happened. That''s what.''

    She didn''t me or spite them but the Divine Beasts could still feel the usation in her words.

    ''What do you mean?'' Protheus asked. ''We fought for these people. We protected them. We sacrificed our lives over and over to ensure their freedom.''

    ''That''s almost true but it''s not the full truth. You didn''t protect all of them.'' Faluel replied. ''Please, follow me. It''s easier to show than tell.''

    She brought everyone to the local cemetery, including the Doppelgangers. The west side of the Kingdom had lost the civil war and reported a great number of casualties so a procession of people visiting the local graveyard was far from an umon sight.

    Especially for fortresses like Zeska that had been stormed by Lith back when he was trying to rescue Phloria. To its citizens, the Supreme Magus was both a hero and a monster.

    After the end of the famine and the start of the distribution of the Tablets, their anger had started to quell but their fear stood unchanged. The people of Zeska had relied on the solid city walls for generations to protect them and Lith had breached them.

    They had trusted the defensive arrays until the Tiamat had burned them. During the war, Divine Beasts had stood against the Tiamat, but the city had fallen anyway.

    Now that Thrud''s generals were gone and only human soldiers remained, what chances did Zeska have to resist the Supreme Magus were he to attack again?

    Such morbid thoughts were hard to dismiss because the cemetery had almost doubled its extension after the war. Its grey walls were a constant reminder of what had happened and might happen again at any moment.

    Faluel and her procession joined a bigger one, dozens of people moving together toward the same destination: the area dedicated to the victims of the War of the Griffons.

    Thrud''s former vassals swallowed in nervousness several times at the size of the vast field of tombstones upon which was carved the same date. It was then that it hit them. The price of their actions, of their faith in the Mad Queen had been paid by others.

    Thousands of people who, unlike Thrud''s chosen, only had one life. One life that had been betted on her army and lost.

    Yet Faluel never slowed down. While a few members of the procession stopped at the tombs of their respective loved ones, most of the people walked toward what at first nce looked like a massive ck wall.

 Chapter 3129 The Wall (Part 1)

    Chapter 3129 The Wall (Part 1)

    The wall was over two meters (7'') high and twenty meters (66'') long, entirely made of obsidian. The stone formed a ck frame around what seemed to be a uniform coat of silvery paint at the center of the wall.

    Once the Divine Beast got close enough, they realized the truth.

    There was no paint, just thousands of closely spaced names. Names engraved with enchanted silver to resist the passing of time with the same strength as the stone they rested upon.

    "Great Mother almighty." Protheus spoke out loud in surprise. "Did Verhen really kill so many people?"

    ''No. You did.'' Faluel replied and all eyes moved from the wall to her. ''Look at the que.''

    It read:

    "These are the names of some of those who have disappeared under the rule of Thrud Griffon. Most will remain lost because we''ve never bothered asking their names. We''ve never looked at their faces. We didn''t consider them humans so when Thrud took them away, we rejoiced.

    "Their fate is unknown. No corpse has ever been retrieved but we''ll never stop looking. Their deaths are on our hands and we''ll never forget the price of our foolishness."

    Under the que, there was a small booklet, a quill, and an inkwell. The booklet carried the signature of those who visited the wall and took responsibility for the massacre of the less fortunate of Zeska.

    ''How? When? Why?'' Protheus started to weep. The thought that the woman they considered as a mother could have done such a thing tore their gtinous body apart.

    One more person crying in front of the wall was like one more drop of water in the ocean. No one bothered the Doppelganger if not for patting their shoulder and offering their condolences.

    ''I don''t know. Nobody does.'' Faluel shrugged. ''Most likely Thrud had the Forgotten do the dirty work while you were busy fighting on the frontlines. Even the why is a mystery. She might have used those people to fuel the Golden Griffon.

    ''Or maybe she harvested their life forces. Or maybe she turned them into food rations to feed her soldiers and gain the upper hand during the famine. Nobody knows.'' Those words made seven bodies and dozens of gtinous masses churn.

    ''What I know for sure, is that there is a wall like this in every city you upied. That by getting rid of the poor, the homeless, and the destitute, Thrud got to save lots of her resources and funnel them into her war efforts.

    ''I''m not ming you because she manipted you like everyone else, but this is what would have happened if the Mad Queen won the war. We''d have walls like this in every city of the Kingdom instead of just half of it.

    ''Knowing her, the que would have praised the sacrifice of Thrud''s victims and imed it was all for the greater good instead of taking ountability for their deaths.''

    Thrud''s former vassals stood there in silence for a few minutes. Not in respect for the fallen but because it was hard for them to ept that so many people had died under their watch yet they hadn''t noticed.

    Divine Beasts and Doppelgangers all stared at the ground, frozen, while the revtion slowly sunk in.

    ''Can we please go to another city?'' Leari asked. ''We can get back here and talk with the people of Zeskater. I need to know if you are telling the truth!''

    ''Pick a city. Any city.'' Faluel echoed Leegaain''s words with a wry smile on her face.

    Each one of the generals chose the fortress they had been administered the longest while the Doppelgangers the ces they had infiltrated. They always found a wall.

    Their size differed, the names differed, the materials differed, but there was always a wall carrying too many names to read in a single day.

    The shock destroyed the morale to the point that they spent several days locked in hotels, leaving their respective rooms only to eat and then Warp back to Leegaain''sir for the real meal.

    There was no way human servings could sate a Divine Beast and the amount of food seven of them consumed would have raised more gs than a Royal Parade.

    They had just emerged from the numbness caused by the revtion and had started to work rebuilding Zeska when Faluel received Friya''s call.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to have a guest. I expect you to be on your best behavior." The Hydra said. "Mean words are bound to fly if not even fists thrown and you are going to take it all without reacting.

    "Friya Ernas is my friend, disciple and, more importantly, she''s one of your victims. One wrong move and I''ll banish you to Grandfather''sir until the day maggots feast on your corpses."

    Both Divine Beasts and Doppelgangers didn''t like being threatened but they just nodded in silence.

    ''So far we had it easy.'' All of them thought, each using slightly different words. ''Anonymity protected us but, in the future, people are going to react badly the moment we show our true forms.''

    Thrud''s former generals and spies were all eager to learn if they truly felt remorseful for their actions or just regretted getting caught in the aftermath. Friya Ernas would be a good testing ground.

    All of them but one.

    Ufyl had only one head in his human form yet he managed to swallow as many times as if he still had seven.

    ''Friya Ernas? Phloria''s sister? Gods, Phloria told me a lot about her. What should I do? Can I offer Friya my condolences? To me, Phloria was a friend but to Friya, I''m just the bastard who carried her sister around after Thrud enved Phloria.''

    Faluel brought everyone outside Zeska, far away enough from the city to not draw attention and speak with Friya privately.

    "Master Faluel." Friya''s eyes burned with Life Vision and her violet aura red in fury as she recognized the Divine Beasts from their energy signatures. "I knew you were educating this trash but I hoped we could talk alone."

    "Has something happened to Lith or Solus?" The Hydra asked. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Friya had told her nothing via the amulet and as far as Faluel knew, aside from the tower there was nothing they couldn''t discuss openly.

    "No, thank the gods." Friya shook her head. "This is about my parents."

    She looked around, her eyes lingering on the Doppelgangers the longest.

    ''I could kill them all myself, but I doubt Faluel is going to let me.'' Friya thought.

    There was a nagging feeling in the back of her head, the awareness that she could exploit Thrud''s vassals and convert them to her cause. Yet her rage made it impossible for her to think beyond ripping their traitorous hearts out of their chests.

    ''I wish I was as cunning as Mom or as cold-hearted as Lith. How could he vouch for them without beating them an inch from death first?'' She clenched her fists so hard that they turned white.

    "If your parents are having marital problems, I''m the wrong person for advice." The Hydra sighed. "You should ask Surtr or Rethia. How their marriage hassted for so long is beyond me."

    "Not that!" Friya snapped. "They have put themselves into danger and¡­"

 Chapter 3130 The Wall (Part 2)

    Chapter 3130 The Wall (Part 2)

    Realizing that she was making no sense, Friya closed her eyes, pinched her nose, and took a few deep breaths.

    ''Use your brain, not your fists. Faluel is a friend and there''s no point making an enemy out of these fuckers.'' She thought.

    "I''m sorry, Master Faluel. I''m a mess. I need to exin the situation from the beginning. Can these people be trusted?" She actually said.

    "If they swear an oath of secrecy, sure." The Hydra replied. "They have willingly died for Thrud many times and are still keeping her secrets. They are nothing but loyal. Also, stop calling me master. It''s making me worry.

    "As for you guys, you heard her. If you want to stay here, give Friya your word. Otherwise go back to Zelex."

    Divine Beasts and Doppelgangers looked at each other, briefly discussing via a mind link. The unanimous consent was that they needed some real-life experience, especially Protheus'' children, so they swore on Valeron the Second''s name.

    They considered him their king and their loyalty went to him first. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Friya nodded and told them about Jirni''s Awakening and the Ernas'' current issue with the Gernoff.

    "That''s it?" Leari said with a scoff once Friya was done. "This isn''t even a problem, child. It''s just a squabble between rogue Awakened and a few boneheads. Even if we didn''t swear secrecy, we wouldn''t tell anyone because no one cares."

    "I do care!" Friya snarled at the Thunderbird. "And this is a problem to me. One you bastards caused when you helped the Mad Queen kill my sister andughed about it!"

    "No oneughed at Phloria''s death!" Ufyl said in outrage. "She was ourrade. Unwillingly, but still ourrade."

    "Really? Does the name Xondar the Garuda ring any bell?" She retorted. "Lith told me Xondar had a goodugh while trying to kill Lith the same way as Phloria died."

    "I mean, none of us present." Ufyl lowered his eyes in shame. "Xondar didugh and he was a heartless bastard."

    "Yeah, because you guys are any different." Friya scoffed. "You all yed a role in Phloria''s death. You''ve put my family in this situation so unless you have something useful to say, shut the fuck up!"

    "I understand you are upset, but I agree with Leari." Faluel tilted her head in confusion. "I don''t see why you need secrecy or what you expect me to do about this. I''m not the beast lord of the Ernas region and even if I was, this doesn''t qualify as Council business.

    "The issue between your parents and the Gernoff is considered a private matter by Awakenedw. I have no grounds to intervene. Are you seeking advice on whether to help your parents or not?"

    "Not at all. I''ve made up my mind the moment I learned the truth and I''m going to save my parents'' lives. No matter the cost." Friya replied.

    "I need privacy because Lith doesn''t know about this yet. My mother has some ploy to get his help that would be ruined if he were to know. I know you''ll keep my secrets because that''s what you have always done for everyone. Even Nalrond."

    Faluel nodded for her to continue.

    "Also, I know this isn''t Council business, but you do have grounds to intervene. After all, I''m your disciple and future Harbinger." At that word, several gasps resounded and all eyes went wide in surprise.

    "You have every right to step in if your interests are threatened." Friya ignored them. "I''vee here to ask your help and if my current status isn''t enough to make you move, I''m offering myself to you.

    "You can turn me into your Harbinger right now." Friya stepped in front of Faluel and went down on one knee.

    She followed the ritual she had studied in the Hydra''sir to the letter, unsheathing her de from its scabbard and using it to cut her palms deeply before offering the bloody rapier to Faluel with both hands.

    "Slow down, kid. This isn''t something for you to decide." Faluel grabbed Friya''s wrists and gently pushed them away while healing most of her wounds. "The final decision is mine and I think you are rushing into this because you are upset."

    "I''m not rushing into anything." Friya replied, raising her gaze. "I''ve been thinking about this a lot and this moment is as good as any other. I''m going to live three thousand years unless you n to kill me.

    "Nalrond has Awakened as well and even though we have no idea how long he has to live, he''s probably going tost more than a human. He knows about our pact and is fine with it. What are a few decadespared with three millennia?

    "I might as well get used to it from now on and exploit the benefits as your Harbinger."

    "You are insane!" Leari said. "Very few people ept bing the Harbinger of a Divine Beast despite the great powers they get because it turns them into dignified ves.

    "No one, and I mean no one, has ever be the Harbinger of a Lesser Divine Beast because the gains are much smaller yet the price is the same."

    "So said the Thunderbird who willingly served the Mad Queen and became her ve just for glory and loyalty. How hypocritical of you." Friya clicked her tongue in disgust, making Leari blush and lower her gaze in shame.

    "Still, Leari is right." Faluel and Ufyl said in unison.

    They exchanged a confused look for a second and then, most to everyone''s surprise, it was Ufyl who spoke first.

    "During my time with the Hydras, I''ve learned to respect and admire Faluel, but she has little to offer you, Lady Ernas. I recognize the truth behind your words. All of them. I owe you a great debt and I offer myself as weregild for the death of your sister."

    "First, I''m already engaged, lover boy." Friya dismissed the offer with a wave of her hand. "Second, you''re not even my type."

    "I didn''t mean it like that!" The Seven-Headed Dragon blushed in embarrassment at the t-out rejection.

    The hrity of his colleagues, even the na?ve Doppelgangers, made his humiliation even worse than it already was.

    "Even though Phloria was enved by the Unwavering Loyalty array, I consider myself her friend and hope she shared my feelings. I offered Phloria to be my Harbinger and she epted, but I have no idea how the ritual works.

    "I''m now passing the offer on to you. You can acquire the full powers of a Dragon, my help, and in turn that of the Hydra bloodline. They would never let me die, not until they finish studying my life force for the Harmonizers.

    "Just tell me what to do and I-"

    "Rejected." Friya cut the air with her hand and him short.

    "Why?" Ufyl asked in bewilderment. "I was a Hydra. I have all the powers of a Hydra plus those of my unique Dragon bloodline. I can give you everything Faluel can and much more!"

    "Gods, now I see how Thrud managed to keep you guys under her thumb." She replied. "Whatever she did to evolve you, it must have messed with your brains because no one can be this stupid."

 Chapter 3131 Binding Oath (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 3131 Binding Oath (Part 1) </h4>

    3131 Binding Oath (Part 1)

    "Sure, you can give me more bloodline abilities than Faluel, but you can''t give me the most precious of her gifts: trust and loyalty. Back when Lith hid a crapton of secrets, Faluel could have ckmailed his ass into oblivion, but she never did.

    "Faluel did more than teach us magic. She protected us, our families, and our secrets, no matter how stupid they might seem to you." Friya couldn''t mention Nalrond, since his knowledge of the Fringes was still dangerous, but she thought of him no less than Lith.

    Faluel might have forced the Rezar instead of bargaining with him to teach her Light Mastery. She could have extorted his bloodline legacy from him and everything he knew about the Fringe he came from, yet the Hydra had never abused her position of superiority.

    Even when it would have been most convenient for her.

    "If I be Faluel''s Harbinger to save my parents and she promises to help me, I know she''ll keep her word. You or any of your friends, instead, might as well order me to forget about my parents once the ritual isplete and I could do nothing about it.

    "You could take everything Faluel has taught me from my mind, my father''s secrets, everything. The power you offer is no temptation to me because it''sced with the poison of betrayal.

    "No matter how many pretty words you spout. To me, you will always be one of the bastards who killed my sister and thousands of innocents just to follow the orders of a madwoman!"

    The seven Divine Beasts lowered their heads and said nothing. The memory of the many walls they had visited was fresh in their minds. It destroyed any excuse or rationalization they could find to justify their actions.

    Ufyl fell butt-first on the ground and hugged his knees.

    The memories of him witnessing Phloria''s final moments while waiting for the inevitable haunted him. Her fight with Lith shed in front of Ufyl''s eyes, forcing him to notice the many chances he had missed to step in and save her life.

    In Ufyl''s mind, Phloria died every time he willingly ignored one of the many openings during the fight, hiding behind his duty to Thrud. In his mind, he was the cause of Phloria''s death no less than the Mad Queen.

    "That was a nice speech, but it doesn''t answer my question, Friya." Faluel broke the prolonged silence. "Are you sure this is what you want and not just a spur of the moment decision? There is no turning back."

    "I''m as sure as I can be." Friya fell back on her right knee and offered Dreadnought to the Hydra again.

    "Slow down." Faluel pushed the de away gently. "The books I gave you missed a lot of details on purpose. They were meant to scare the crap out of you and make you second guess your decision until you either backed down or strengthened your resolve.

    "Bing a Harbinger isn''t like Awakening. It takes time for your body to adapt to the blood of a Divine Beast, even a Lesser one. In a way, you can consider it simr to the process by which a living being is turned into an undead.

    "It happens gradually and over time. Do you still want to do it?"

    "With all my heart." Friya raised her eyes, staring into Faluel''s with determination.

    "Okay then." The Hydra clenched Dreadnaught''s de, cutting her palm until a single drop of blood came out.

    Outside her body, the shapeshifting ended and the blood drop expanded back to its real size, bigger than Friya''s head. It slithered along the rapier, sucking Friya''s blood before moving on to her still-open palms.

    The Hydra blood seeped slowly inside the human''s body under Faluel''s strict supervision. She kept the spark of her life force intact and burning as it moved toward the center of Friya''s being.

    There, the Hydra had the two life forces mix, the weaker one reshaping itself after the stronger. Friya felt every fiber of her body burn, her blood flowing in reverse as a part of her humanity was purged and reced by Dragon blood.

    She felt strength. She felt pain. She felt one single note of the song that all Dragons heard at the beginning of a Dragon Dance. For that brief moment, her eyes turned bright yellow and her pupils into ck slits wreathed in fire.

    Then the moment passed and Friya found herself on all fours, puking her guts out. Once she was done, she rolled on her side and gasped for fresh air, away from the stench of her own vomit.

    "Are you feeling like crap?" The Hydra asked while cleaning Friya and destroying the puke with darkness magic.

    "Yes."

    "That''s a good sign." Faluel nodded. "It means the ritual is working. Take your time and get plenty of rest. You can get an infusion only when you are in top shape. Anything else would be too dangerous."

    "What powers have I gained?" Friya panted.

    "None." The Hydra''s answer made her groan. "Hey, I told you it''s simr to bing an undead. A Vampire''s thrall doesn''t get a full six-pack after the first sip. Also, Hydras have only their seven heads as a strong point.

    "Sure, we have our scales, acid, and all the shebang, but we don''t get even close to a real Dragon. You''ll get your extra heads only after the process ispleted." At that news, Friya groaned harder.

    "I''ve been honest with you, youngdy!" Faluel said in annoyance. "If this disappoints you or a Hydra isn''t enough for Her Majesty, there''s always Ufyl."

    "Fuck no!" Friya sat up in outrage soon falling back due to her mise.

    The Divine Beasts and Doppelgangers had anotherugh at Ufyl''s expense, making him turn beet red.

    "I just meant that I didn''t expect the process to be this unpleasant. How many more doses do I need?"

    "A few. The exact number depends on the subject." Faluel replied.

    "What about our master-servant bond? The mind reading and everything else?"

    "Like the heads, that kind of thing willest. Right now, I can''t even tell you if you are hungry due to your empty stomach or you are still nauseous." The Hydra shrugged.

    "Still nauseous." Friya smiled, inwardly sighing in relief. "What happens if we stop the process?"

    "The same as what would happen to a threall." Faluel said. "Your body rejects my blood, your life force purges mine, and you go back to being a regr human."

    "That''s interesting." Friya''s smile widened as she exhaled a much bigger sigh of relief.

    "As a self-proimed loyal idiot, I can understand why this female human wants to be your Harbinger, Faluel." Leari said.

    "I have a name and it''s Friya." She sat up abruptly, triggering more puking.

    "Her mother is a piece of work butpared to the True Queen, she''s a saint. She deserves help in her time of need." The Thunderbird ignored the retching human. "What I don''t understand is what you gain from this bargain.

    "You''d be the first Lesser Divine Beast to ever had a Harbinger, but you don''t strike me as someone who cares about pride and glory much."

 Chapter 3132 Binding Oath (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 3132 Binding Oath (Part 2)</h4>

    3132 Binding Oath (Part 2)

    "On the other hand, involving yourself in a fight against an Awakened household puts you in very concrete danger. I apud your honor and sense of duty but this seems far from a fair deal." Leari had been a disciple for decades before her master sold her to Xedros for his experiments.

    She knew that Awakened politics were a dirty game the rules of which changed ording to the gap in power between the factions. Faluel putting her life on the line for a couple of rogue Awakened was suicidal at best.

    "That''s because you look at Friya and see a mere female human." The Hydra replied. "I, instead, see one of my beloved apprentices I''ve nurtured for the past three years. Someone who after being Awakened by me managed to reach the violet core on her own.

    "One of the few dimensional mages in the Kingdom who is attuned with all the elements and whose talent received praise from Tezka the Suneater."

    That name was enough to make Thrud''s former vassals look at Friya with new eyes. Most of them had faced and died to Tezka in a heartbeat. He had killed the Mad Queen''s elite warriors with a single spell and while protecting human children at that.

    Thrud had reached the white core of immortality, yet she had run away from the Suneater, knowing she couldn''t win.

    "The old fox?" Ufyl asked.

    "In the fur." Faluel nodded. "As I see it, getting ess to Friya''s dimensional awareness and dimensional spells would be enough for any ambitious creature to take the deal. In my case, however, I''m also helping a friend."

    "What about you?" Friya asked while staring at the Seven-Headed Dragon.

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "You owe me. You said it yourself." She felt dizzy, needing sheer willpower to keep another rush of bile down. "You contributed to killing my sister and pushing my mother into making a stupid decision.

    "Also, if my mother''s n seeds and Lith gets involved, are you really going to stand there and do nothing while Valeron risks to be an orphan again?" Friya hated herself for using an innocent baby as a pawn in her maniption attempt but that was it.

    She despised Ufyl and the rest of his associates so much that she didn''t feel one shred of guilt for exploiting their blind loyalty.

    "Count me in." Much to everyone''s surprise, it was Protheus talking. "Thest time I met my brother, I felt through the Dragon scales how much he loves his new family. I''m not letting anyone threaten his happiness.

    "My oath to him still stands and neither Thrud''s crimes nor her death erases my debt of gratitude to her. She may be the Mad Queen for the rest of Mogar, but she was my mother. Without her, I''d still be a slime eating waste in a sewer.

    "She saved my life more than once and always treated me like a member of her family. I owe her son, my brother, this much. But this only if Verhen gets involved. I owe you and your mother nothing, human."

    "Fine by me." Friya nodded.

    The Doppelgangers followed their progenitor in their oath and then the Divine Beasts did the same, one by one. Only Ufyl offered his help no matter if Lith participated in the battle or not.

    ''I did my best, Mom.'' Friya thought while her consciousness slipped away. ''The rest is up to you.''

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, Verhen Mansion, the day after.

    Lith and Kam returned home just in time for lunch, both wearing a huge grin on their faces.

    She carried with her the bouquet of Moonroses, putting one flower in everymon room of the Mansion and exining its meaning to anyone willing to listen to her. Whenever she repeated Lith''s words, she would always y with her moon pendant, drawing attention to it.

    As for Lith, he added the shortalls among his favorite cosy costumes and left the Forgemastering hammer in Kam''s closet as a prop.

    "Where did you get so many Moonroses and so big at that?" Solus asked in surprise during the meal.

    "The Garden. Where else?" Lith shrugged. "I took a few, nted them in the Greenhouse, and Dad did the rest."

    "Guilty as charged." Raaz raised his hands in surrender to the usations he knew he was about to receive. "No, I didn''t nt anything for anyone else. No, I didn''t ask Lith to find more exotic flowers. I''m a farmer, not a gardener."

    "You are not romantic either." Elina pouted. "An entire Garden of Mogar filled with beautiful flowers, our son leading by example, and yet the thought of picking a flower for me, any flower, didn''t cross your mind?"

    "As I said, guilty as charged." Raaz shrugged. "Besides, sons are supposed to surpass their fathers. I''m just helping the natural order of things."

    "What a cheeky,zy man you are." Elina chuckled. "I forgive you only because you made meugh andplimented our son."

    "Changing topic, I''ve kept my word. Behold!" A snap of Lith''s fingers conjured an almost whole Hell cake.

    Only the slices that he and Kam ate during their stay at the Crystal Cauldron were missing. The dessert was a beast worthy of being a wedding cake, sorge that it needed a special cart to be moved.

    Upon its appearance, the Hell cake spread a delicious smell that made mouths water, especially those of the small kids.

    "Hey, howe I didn''t sense its arrival in our pocket dimension?" Solus had already tasted the Hell cake in the past so she drooled the most.

    "Because I was afraid you would check on it while I was away and that nothing would be left on my return." Lith said, making her blush in gluttony and embarrassment. "I''ve kept it in my personal dimensional amulet the whole time.

    "I use that thing so rarely that I almost forgot I have it." Lith carried a few dimensional amulets on himself, but they were decoys and contained just a few essentials.

    Without them, people would wonder from where he pulled out things and discover his dimensional pocket. Awakened already knew about it, but everyone else didn''t and Lith wanted to keep things that way.

    The Hell cake received a ravenous wee from the whole family, to the point that Elina was tempted to take a second slice on the down-low after forbidding everyone else to.

    "Store it away, dear. I don''t trust myself with it." She said.

    After lunch, Kam took Lith on a digestive walk through the park. The grass was perfectly cut and the bushes trimmed. Many colorful flowers were in full bloom along the cobblestone paths, making the experience as pleasant to the eyes as it was to the nose.

    "This is weird." Lith said. "I don''t remember hiring gardeners and keeping such a huge area so tidy would take too many of them for me to miss them."

    "Indeed." Kam chuckled. "A lot of gardeners or a few nt folk."

    "And where did you find nt folk willing to do such scutwork and how are you paying them?" He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

    "I haven''t done anything."?She shook her head.

 Chapter 3133 Recruitment Speech (Part 1)

    Chapter 3133 Recruitment Speech (Part 1)

    "You have to thank Rena and Ryssa for this. When our Dryad friend brings Manohar the Second here for ydates and your sister her friends from Zelex, Ryssa uses our park to teach the reverted ogres how to use their powers.

    "She knows you are a cheapskate and the ogre kids love ying under the sun. With the excuse of developing finer control over their abilities, Ryssa has them tending to the nts. They have test subjects and we have a well-kept garden. Everybody wins."

    "Indeed." Lith nodded. "Remind me to thank Rena. I really appreciate her looking out for my wallet."

    "You bought that?" Kamughed. "They don''t do it for you, silly, but for themselves. Having gardeners would mean the presence of strangers walking around the park and making our guests ufortable.

    "By the way, is there any news from Strider?"

    "Yes, there is." Lith replied. "Ern''s information was urate. Strider had no trouble finding the vige of the bbermouth with Menadion''s grimoire. His name is Vidun Phorr, a rogue Awakened."

    "And?" Kam asked.

    "And that''s it." Lith shrugged. "He never attended an academy, never showed enough talent to draw the attention of a Council Elder, and he never joined the Mage Association. Aside from being a self-Awakened, this Vidun is a nobody."

    "Strider has already gone to Vidun''sst known position and is looking for something he used recently so that I can sample his energy signature with the Eyes of Menadion.

    "I told Strider to take his time and perform a thorough investigation. There''s no rush since he can store whatever he finds inside a dimensional amulet and I''m not going to move until I fully recover."

    "Are the burns on your life force still hurting?" Kam clenched his hand, scared that Valtak''s experiments on the blue mes might have long-term consequences.

    "No, I was talking about what you did to me yesterday." He managed to blush on cue, using a hushed voice and a mockingly maiden-ish demeanor.

    "Idiot!" She yfully pped his shoulder while blushing, in her case for real. "You scared me to death and made me feel like a pervert!"

    "Feel like? Tell me another." He snorted.

    "Fine. I''ll burn all the dresses in the kinky closet, then." She retorted in kind.

    "Don''t you dare!" Lith said with such a serious tone that it made her burst outughing. "Jokes aside, I''m mostly fine but some of the cracks in my life force are still cauterized by Valtak''s Immortal mes.

    "On the one hand, they spare me from Death Vision and allow me to use my full strength without any risk. In fact, I''ve gone to Grandma to have her dismantle my best artifacts and then Solus and I reforged everything."

    "I feel like there''s a ''but'' iing." She hugged his arm tight as they walked.

    "But at the same time, I can''t use abilities like Call of the Void or the ck chains. Or rather, I can but it feels awkward and their effects are weaker than normal. I could power my way through, but it would be like ripping stitches open or scratching away a scab."

    "You want them to heal naturally." Kam nodded. "Excellent, thinking. I agree. How long do you think you need for a full recovery?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Not much longer." Lith shrugged. "A week tops. Why?"

    "Because for once, I''m the one with a n!" She said with a dazzling smile.

    ***

    Lith going back to Xaanx had brought back pleasant memories to the Verhen family. Not about the city itself but Mount Sartak, where two years ago Lith had brought the kids for their boot camp/camping trip.

    "I thought you said you wouldn''t take us on a magical trip until we are older." Falco said and his siblings nodded.

    "And he''s not." Kam said while opening the door of the Hot Pot for the kids. "This is going to be a simple camping trip. No magic except that for practical reasons. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal." Lith, Aran, Leria, and the triplets sighed in unison.

    Only Solus was as enthusiastic as Kam and looked at everything with marvel.

    "I can''t believe we are back. Gods if I missed this ce." During their first visit, Solus had yet to regain her human body and her existence was still a secret.

    She had spent the whole time hiding in her ring and still regretted having no opportunity to spend some time with the children.

    "I''m going to have my own bed and this time I''m going to have fun too!"

    The stable boy was still the same and this time he was utterly terrified.

    Abominus and Onyx had both evolved into Emperor Beasts, increasing their size and appetite. They had almost given the young man a heart attack before they understood the issue and shapeshifted into their old forms.

    "I take my meat medium rare." Abominus said and the stable boy fainted on the spot.

    "Nicely yed! Now who is going to serve us lunch?" Onyx said, giving a panic attack to the customers who hade to leave their horses.

    "Good morning. We''ll take your three best rooms, please." Kam said. "We are staying for a week."

    Since it was just a camping trip, Senton, Rena, Elina, and Raaz hade along to take care of their respective children. Each couple needed their own space and luckily, the Hot Pot''s rooms were designed to amodaterge traveling groups.

    Yet the establishment didn''t ept reservations. It was a firste first served basis to avoid quarrels between customers and keep things fair.

    "Of course!"Gd, the owner of the Hot Pot said. "Will we have the pleasure of having you for lunch or just dinner, like thest time?"

    Unless, of course, someone who looked like the Supreme Magus, talked like the Supreme Magus, and wore a Supreme Magus robe walked through the door.

    Not only Lith''s presence would do wonders for the Hot Pot''s reputation, but it also gave Gd the long-awaited chance to silence those who called him a shameless liar and a braggart.

    Back during his first stay, Lith was still an Archmage and he had quelled a drunken fight between mercenary groups. To apologize for the disturbance, he had left a wooden que reading: "My beer is mightier than the sword".

    During the fight, he had turned the spilled beer into ice swords with water magic and used them to fight. The que was a testament to the quality of the establishment''s ale and gave its owner a story to tell.

    Yet after Lith had been dered a traitor, Gd had to hide the que and pretend it never existed. Once Lith had been pardoned and bestowed the title of Supreme Magus, no one knew what to believe.

    Most people found the idea of Lith staying at a country road tavern preposterous and believed the owner of the Hot Pot was just trying to ride the Magus'' coattails like many unscrupulous merchants did.

    Some imed to be Lith''s official supplier of metals, ingredients, and some even introduced themselves as Zekell Proudhammer.

    "Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The whole package." Kam said. "This is a family vacation."

    "Marvelous!" Gd cleaned his hand with a rag and offered it to Lith who promptly shook it.

 Chapter 3134 Recruitment Speech (Part 2)

    Chapter 3134 Recruitment Speech (Part 2)

    "Magus Verhen, if it''s not too much trouble, do you mind telling the story behind that que?"

    "The one I carved? Why?" Lith furrowed his brows while the customers gasped in shock.

    "Because no one believes me and calls me a fraud." Gd''s voice was sad but his gaze was fiery as he red at those who had relentlessly mocked him.

    "Let''s teach them a lesson then." Lith told the story in a cut-and-dry family-friendly version due to the presence of the kids but it still matched Gd''s words.

    He even turned a mug of ale into a weapon and then back into beer to give a practical demonstration.

    "Aren''t you going to drink it?" The owner said in a pleading tone.

    "It''s morning, mister." Kam red at him. "What kind of example are you setting for young children?"

    "My apologies." Gd backed down quickly.

    The Hot Pot wasn''t a family restaurant and its clients drank at every hour of the day. Gd wasn''t used to setting boundaries but for the sake of his profits, he was willing to learn.

    ***

    Continent of Jiera, Flying Feather outpost, at dawn. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was the second time in centuries that Sark walked another continent. She didn''t like crossing into the turf of another Guardian but since she despised Fenagar and her people needed her help, the Overlord made an exception.

    She was in her human form, wearing the same red desert robe that identified her as the ruler of thend. It was a custom with which Jierans were unfamiliar, but things were about to change.

    Sark carried the "little" Shargein in her arms with ease, even though the Wyrmling had already reached the size of a small horse.

    "There was no need for your presence, My Liege." Resaal, one of the members of the Nest stationed in Jiera said. "You shouldn''t bother yourself with something as trivial as recruiting. It''s beneath yourself."

    "There''s nothing trivial in getting to know my subjects, my Featherling." She replied. "First impressions matter and since I''m going to demand the servitude of the Jierans, I want to make things clear from the start.

    "Otherwise we might take in people who are more trouble than they are worth or who might defect at the first controversy and reveal our ns to ourpetitors. I need loyal subjects and despite all your powers, Featherling, you are no leader.

    "None of your siblings is and it''s my fault."She sighed. "I''ve taught you how to follow orders, not to impart them. Yet I like things as they are and have no problem taking responsibility for my own decisions. Where are we going to start?"

    "The closest city to us is Zarka and belongs to the Beast Empire." Resaal said after checking a map. "I''ve already contacted the local authorities and they have granted you full ess to the human residential quarters."

    "Like I''m going to need to speak more than once." Sark scoffed.

    Under normal circumstances, recruiting citizens from another country would have been considered an instigation of treason, but there was nothing normal in Jiera''s current situation.

    There were too many human survivors and not enough Awakened of their same race to take care of them. Beasts and nt folk had saved their human friends and their families from the gue but the problem was that unlike them, humans needed society to thrive.

    They didn''t know how to make themselves clothes, shoes, craft tools, or even butchering game. All things that beasts and nt folk knew nothing about. They had begrudgingly taken responsibility for the humans they had saved, treating them like whiny, noisy, and dumb cubs.

    With time, the number of humans had increased, which was good because they were needed for the bnce. On the other hand, the trouble they brought had grown with them and the current crisis made the humans even more unpleasant guests.

    They were weak, couldn''t fight against the monster tides without proper weapons, and they needed years to reach adulthood. Each city of the Beast Empire had its forces stretched thin from providing enough food for everyone and dealing with both monster tides and lost cities.

    Sure, with the destruction of Thaymos, the ck tide, and Argantyr''s capture, things had eased a bit, but beasts still couldn''t wait to get rid of all those useless mouths to feed. Humans were prideful and headstrong, refusing to give up on their heritage and nativenguage.

    "People of Zarka, listen to me and listen well. I''m not going to repeat myself and your very lives are on the line." The Overlord stood on a raised dais as high as an adult man, allowing her gaze to sweep far and wide over the crowd.

    While beasts and nt folk worked hard to learn and spread Tyris'' universalnguage, humans resisted the change and split their city blocks among themselves based on their countries of origin.

    It mademunication hard and teamwork nigh-impossible. The Siren who ruled over Zarka had taken Sark''s request to address a recruitment speech to the humans with the same sadness she would have felt for getting rid of an overdue infestation.

    "People of Zarka, listen to me and listen well. I''m not going to repeat myself and your very lives are on the line." The Overlord stood on a raised dais as high as an adult man, allowing her gaze to sweep far and wide over the crowd.

    Her voice resounded strong and full of charisma, her words sent a cold shiver down the spines of her audience.

    "What is it now? Another lost city?" A man asked in Grenian.

    "Shut up! I want to hear what she has to say." Another man nudged him, speaking in Paclean.

    Great was their surprise when they realized they didn''t speak the samenguage yet they understood each other. Everyone in the crowd understood the Overlord and those standing next to them for no apparent reason.

    "I am Sark, Overlord of the Blood Desert in Garlen and of the Flying Feather outpost here in Jiera. I won''t mince words with you nor will I lie. Ie from a foreignnd to make what once was yours mine."

    A low grumble of malcontent quickly rose in intensity just to be silenced by her thundering voice.

    "Yet I haven''te here as your enemy. Today I''vee here to offer you a new life. Those who decide to follow me will have their own house on the surface. They won''t have to live in caves like beasts and will enjoy the sun, the breeze, and the rain.

    "They will live like humans, tending their fields and practicing their crafts while my army will ensure their safety from any threat and that they are fed proper food after it has been properly cooked."

    The anger of the Jierans disappeared like snow under the spring''s sun. Their mouths watered at the idea of tasting spices after years of in food, eating bread, and not having to live in the underground dungeon that the beasts called a city.

    Truth be told, the caves were safe and easily defensible from external threats. They didn''t fear wind or bad weather, and earth magic could repair any damage without the need of specialized workers.

    Beasts considered the caves beautiful because they loved simplicity and practicality, but for a human who had been uprooted from their homes, they looked like a dignified prison. Stone furniture, stone windows, stone everything.

    Getting new clothes was a miracle, let alone drapes or carpets.

 Chapter 3135 Invisible Trap (Part 1)

    Chapter 3135 Invisible Trap (Part 1)

    "What I''m offering you sounds like your old life." Sark continued. "It sounds nice andfortable but make no mistake. Your old life is over and there''s no ce in my country for those who cling to the past.

    "In the Desert, I''m thew and here in Jiera, it will be no different. If you decide toe with me, you''ll do as I say, when I say it, and how I tell you to do it. There will be no elections. You''ll have no representatives but those of my choosing.

    "There will be no nobles. Power and authority will be granted to those who I deem worthy. I don''t care what title your family carried before the gue. Your blood is red like anyone else''s and yourst name means nothing to me.

    "Your first assignment will be to learn Tyris'' universalnguage. You are free to teach your nativenguage to your children and preserve it, but that''s it. You won''t be allowed to use it in public or on your job.

    "Your countries are dead and if you want to be part of mine, you''ll have to ensure everyone can understand you at all times or face charges of sedition.

    "Your second assignment will be to share your craft with the apprentices I will give you or learn a useful craft if you don''t have one.

    "I won''t allow parasites to infest my garden. My healers will ensure you have perfect health and working bodies so you''ll have no excuse. Your third and final task, if you decide to remain, will be to always respect and uphold myws.

    "Defection is not allowed. Betrayal is not allowed. If you discover that your neighbor, your parent, or your child is a traitor or a criminal, you have to report them. If you don''t, once they are captured I''ll inflict the same punishment on your entire family. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Don''t try to fool me because it doesn''t work. Don''t make false usations because the sentence you''ll receive is the same as the crime you report. If you are asking yourself what makes me so sure of my justice system, the answer is that I read minds.

    "Plural. It is how I''m talking to you right now. It is how you understand each other even though you speak dozens of differentnguages. I am Sark, the Desert''s sun, and in case you are still doubting my words, answer me this.

    "Have you seen my lips move while I ''talked''?"

    It was then that the Jierans noticed that the Overlord hadn''t moved a muscle since she had stepped over the dais. They had assumed she was talking because they could all hear her clearly and because they all heard the same things.

    Only then did they realize how absurd it was that even while discussing her terms with theirpatriots, even though their neighbors kept mumbling, they could still hear the Guardian''s every word like she was talking in their ear.

    Sark stood silent for a while, letting the revtion sink.

    "Whether you decide to be my subjects or not, I''ve prepared gifts for you. Feel free to consider my offer over lunch. My treat."

    At a snap of her fingertips, the members of her honor guard walked to the assembled human citizens of Zarka, giving each one of them a set of clean clothes, a pair of shoes, and a utility knife.

    Meanwhile, her human mages set just a fewrge tables and chairs throughout the za. The Jierans sat wherever they could, afraid to lose their spot and miss their free meal.

    Little did they know that Sark had requested a census of the humans from the city lord.

    She knew exactly how many people would attend her speech and had instructed her mages to add more tables over time to incite the rush and have the Jieran split from theirpatriots and force them to mingle with their old enemies.

    Once everyone was seated and bbergasted by the fact no one had been left standing, the meal was served. It was a simple soup served with oven-fresh white bread, followed by a steak with roasted potatoes, and ice cream for dessert.

    Many were already crying at the soup, tasting refined salt for the first time in years and adding spices as needed. Bread too moved people to tears since if one wanted some, they had to cultivate the wheat, turn it into flour, and then make an oven.

    Bakeries weren''t profitable because there was no money. Nomodity could be bought, only earned throughbor that beasts and nt folk deemed useful. At the steak, beer was served, recing sadness with joy andughter.

    People talked with those sitting beside and in front of them,menting on the food and discussing Sark''s terms. Beer was another victim of the gue and its return was greatly appreciated.

    At the ice cream, the Jierans learned of the Cook Magus whose name was praised until a Phoenix rified they knew him already as Lith Verhen. People grumbled but licked their cups clean anyway.

    Once the meal was over, the magic ended and the chariot went back to being a pumpkin.

    Suddenly, no one understood anything the others said. The feelings of camaraderie and friendship born while breaking bread together were reced by the coldness of frustration and istion.

    "You can be happy with me or you can be free here. If you want to be both, good luck fighting the monster tides on your own." Those were Sark''sst words as she stepped down the dais.

    The Jierans understood what she had done, that everything they had experienced had been a trap and they had fallen for it.

    Yet most of them didn''t care. The thought of eating nd food that night and spending the rest of their lives miserably was too much to bear after having literally tasted the alternative.

    Sure, they now had new clothes and shoes, but it was just a matter of time before they worn out and needed to be patched over and over.

    Just like the dinner, the clothes were a ticking clock. Sark had given the Jierans "gifts" only to remind them how much they had lost and how helpless they were without a social structure.

    To add insult to injury, the Guardian gave them until dinnertime to make up their minds.

    When the recruitment expedition returned to the Flying Feather outpost, about three quarters of the human poption of Zarka had followed Sark. They found small butfortable houses waiting for them, fresh flowers, and real beds.

    That same evening, they begged the Overlord to bless them with mutual understanding again and she granted it. The following day, they all attended the first lesson about Tyris'' universalnguage with a smile on their faces.

    "This is unbelievable, Mother." Resaal said while checking the numbers. "At this rate, it will take us just the time to teach the Jierans themonnguage and basic training to make our magic metal, silver, and gold mines operational.

    "While the Kingdom and the Empire have to import their workforce from Garlen, we''ll train the local mages and expand our territories with the help of your recruits. The Jierans will build their new country in your image. How did you do it?"

 Chapter 3136 Invisible Trap (Part 2)

    Chapter 3136 Invisible Trap (Part 2)

    "I''m a married woman, my Featherling. I know that the quickest way to a man''s heart is through his stomach." Sark tutted while caressing Shargein who emitted an affectionate low growl.

    "No, you are not!" Bound by his vow to protect his son, Leegaain heard everything through the Wyrmling''s ears and shuddered in fear. "That damn sparrow knows that I''m listening. This is a message for me!"

    Leegaain remembered well Sark telling him that hispliance about the marriage was optional, but this is a story for another day.

    "The Blood Desert is too big and our poption too small to afford a full-scale colonization." She continued, knowing that wherever he was, Leegaain was in a panic. "I came to conquer Jiera but not all kinds of wars are waged with violence.

    "Were I to make threats, I would give these people amon enemy. They would unite against me driven by their pride and ideals. War would make them grow closer to each other and sympathize with the beasts and nt folk they ignored until now.

    "This way, instead, I gave these broken people the means to shatter what was left of their roots of their own free will. I gave them a choice, and when presented with alternatives, idiots will only think of themselves.

    "Food, clothes, and safety are all things the Jierans needed to justify their betrayal of their saviors.Soon they will realize how petty and ungrateful they are, and it will crush their pride. At that point, I only need to bend and shape what''s left of the Jierans to turn them into the tools I need."

    ***

    Mount Sartak, one weekter.

    Lith hadpletely recovered for a couple of days already, but the three couples had decided to extend their stay to the Hot Pot for the whole week or until Strider found a lead.

    Lith knew that everything had gone back to "normal" one morning when, upon waking up, he saw bird carcasses perched on his windowsill and trees rotting over and over.

    The return of Death Vision meant that the effect of Valtak''s Immortal mes was gone and a quick check on his Abomination powers confirmed it. He had informed the rest of the family during breakfast which had made them push to prolong the family trip.

    Themunication amulet remained silent so Lith agreed.

    "Well, what do you think of this family vacation?" Kam pointed at the kids split between the backs of two Emperor Beasts who ran through the woods while their parents enjoyed the quiet of theke.

    "That it has been as weird for me as for anyone else." Lith pointed at Solus who had conjured hard-light constructs shaped like harnesses for Elysia and Valeron.

    The two babies could shapeshift and take flight at will but thanks to the harness, they were like kites that couldn''t go far from Solus. She extended and retracted the leash based on where they were going or what they were annoying.

    Meeting Wyrmlings was a shocking experience even for wolves and bears. The poor animals plopped on the ground, offering their bellies in submission just for the children to take it as an invitation to y.

    "Bad Elysia! That poor doggie is not ying. He''s terrified. Can''t you hear he''s whimpering?" Solus said.

    "Ba?" The small Tiamat growled.

    "Whimper!" The wolf trembled in fear at her life-sucking ws scratching his fur.

    "Yes, bad! Come here."

    "Sa." Elysia apologized to the wolf and flew back to Solus.

    As for Surin, Raaz and Elina carried the baby girl in a floating stroller. She looked at everything in amazement, crying whenever an insect escaped her grasp, a cute light disappeared, when she was hungry or sick of being outside.

    "Come on." Kam chuckled. "You must admit that weird or not, the kids are adorable and that this was a pleasant experience."

    "No doubt." Lith smiled watching Elysia and Valeron sniffing flowers like overgrown bees and climbing trees with their ws. "What''s your point?"

    "My point is that I wouldn''t mind another baby." Kam stopped to look him in the eyes.

    "Wait, What? I mean, I won''t turn down sex when you offer it to me¡­"

    "I had no doubt about it." She chuckled.

    "But so soon? Are you sure? You have not gotten over the loss of your powerspletely and I''m afraid that another pregnancy might make things worse." Lith said.

    "Maybe, but it''s a risk I''m willing to take." She replied. "Seeing Valeron get along so well with Elysia makes me want to give her a little brother. I want to keep the age gap between them small so that they can grow together and face the same problems at the same time, learning to have each other''s back.

    "Also, I''m not going to lie, I would love to get my Dragon scales again to share everything with Elysia and Valeron like you do. Think about it. It would strengthen my bond with the children, and with Meln around, it would be a nice insurance.

    "We keep the pregnancy under wraps and when he tries to attack me while I''m alone¡­" She mmed her fist on her open palm. "Guardians smash!"

    "Sounds alluring." Lith''s eyes narrowed at the idea, knowing that the scenario Kam had just described was far from hypothetical. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Orpal liked to attack the weak link and before killing Lith, Orpal wanted to make him suffer. Pregnancy would be a source of joy and a contingency n at the same time.

    "Just a few questions." He said. "What if it''s another girl?"

    "I''d love her as much as I love Elysia." Kam shrugged. "We would just have to try again."

    "Really?"

    "Really." She nodded. "I mean, sure my pregnancy with Elysia had a few up and downs butpared to Elina''s and Selia''s, it was a walk in the park. No morning sickness, no mood swings, no cramps, swellings, or random pains. Gods if they hated me for it."

    "They sure did." Lith chuckled.

    "Why do you ask? Are you afraid that if we have a baby boy you wouldn''t love him just the same?"

    "More like, I''m afraid I could love him too much." Lith sighed. "I still bear the scars from Carl''s death. I go insane the moment something dangerous approaches Aran and every time I see two brothers, I get shbacks."

    "I know."Kam threaded her fingers into his. "But you are not that man anymore. You''vee to this world as Derek McCoy and pretended to be Lith but now you are Lith Verhen and Derek McCoy is just an echo of the past.

    "I don''t like Derek but I respect him whereas I love, respect, and trust Lith. I love the man you have be. I believe in him. What about you?"

    Lith hesitated, looking her in the eyes to understand how much she believed her own words. He didn''t trust himself much, especially after the incident with the blue mes, and found it hard that someone else would.

    Yet there she stood, without a single hint of deception, even to herself.

    "Do you really trust me that much?" He found himself asking.

    "Well, duh!" She snorted. "I married you, gave you a daughter, and just offered to give you a son."

 Chapter 3137 Stalking the Prey (Part 1)

    Chapter 3137 Stalking the Prey (Part 1)

    "Also, if I didn''t trust you, do you think I would have let you do me those things during our stay at the Crystal Cauldron?" Kam blushed a little, her voice fading in a whisper.

    "Point taken." Lith nodded and looked around to check that no one was close enough to listen to their conversation.

    He really didn''t want anyone to ask him about the Crystal Cauldron.

    "I''d say we should wait a bit, though." He said. "My homing instinct toward Elysia is still quite strong and if we make a baby, I might be locked in the house with you for nine months."

    "Gods, no!" Kam said in horror, remembering how overprotective and overbearing Lith had been during the previous pregnancy. "Fine. As soon as you-"

    "Hold that thought. I have to take this." Lith raised his hand to stop her and took hismunication amulet out of his robe''s pocket. "Is everything alright, Strider?"

    "I''m fine, if that''s what you''re asking." The Zouwu replied. "If instead you were referring to the investigation, it''s more than alright. I got ourselves a lead. It''s a few days old so I''ve set up the energy-preserving arrays to not lose anything while I wait for you.

    "I''m in the Zeneka region. I''ve tracked our man to a small vige along the coast called Xant. When can you be here?"

    "Give me one hour." Lith shrugged apologetically to Kam. "I have to tie up a few loose ends."

    "Take your time." Strider showed him a messy room.

    The floor and walls bore signs of a struggle and several marks left by des. Blood spats were everywhere and judging from the shredded mattress, someone had tried to murder whoever was in the bed in their sleep and failed.

    "If Vidun Phorr is still alive, I doubt he can have gone far and so his assants. Also, they have no idea we are on their tail. Whoever got Menadion''s grimoire is going to hide like a rat until the dust settles, making it easier for us to find them. Strider out."

    "I''m sorry, Kami, I have to go." Lith said once the hologram of the Zouwu disappeared.

    "Why are you apologizing?" She tilted her head in confusion. "We''ve already prolonged our stay here and I knew that you would leave the moment Strider called. Now go, be nice with him for once, ande back soon."

    "I know that the baby is off the table for now, but does your offer for sex still stand?" Lith had the pensive, serious expression she recognized as his perverted face.

    "Yes, silly." Kam chuckled. "Just be quick."

    "Are you talking about the mission or the sex? Because both can be arranged."

    "The mission, smartass!" She yfully punched his shoulder. "I demand my share of fun."

    "So needy." Lith sighed in mock annoyance, making her chuckle again.

    Lith and Solus would have liked to leave everyone at the Hot Pot, but without their protection, the rest of the family would have been an easy target. It took them a Warp to reach the tavern and pay the bill.

    The owner insisted on taking a photo of Lith near the que before he left, pleading for him to also sign it. Lith obliged both requests and a few Warpster they were back to Xaanx.

    From there, the local Gate brought everyone to the safety of the Verhen Mansion. Lith had asked Strider to wait one hour because he wanted to give Solus time to conjure the tower and regain her full strength before leaving.

    Once she was done, Lith and Solus moved to Zalma. The coast city was the closest Gate to Xant and from there they had to move by flight.

    ''Keep your eyes open for mana geysers.'' Solus said. ''We''ve never explored the Zeneka region and this is an opportunity to get new Tower Warp points as good as any other.''

    The flight was uneventful and during their trip, they didn''t find a single geyser.

    They followed Strider''s signal to Xant and the sight of the small vige was a dive into the past for both Lith and Solus. The ce reminded them of Lutia back when he was a small child.

    No paved roads, no traffic.

    Just a few dozen wooden houses surrounded by cultivated fields that extended as far as the eye could see. Not one building was made of stone and Lith could tell at first nce that aside from the farmers, the vige''s poption was barely in the hundreds.

    They were still weed by suspicious res on their arrival but at least no one bothered them or threw them a second look. Their backpacks and muddy boots gave them the appearance of passing peddlers, something all viges experienced from time to time.

    ''This is the kind of backwater ce where I''d hide.'' Solus pondered as theynded at a safe distance from the vige to not cause panic. ''It''s just one dot among dozens on the map and if not for Strider''s signals, Xant would be easy to miss.''

    Lith nodded, shapeshifting his Magus robe to something less shy and asking Solus to do the same. They wore merchant clothes, shapeshifted into average looking people, and Solus also erased every colored streak from her hair.

    They were still weed by suspicious res on their arrival but at least no one bothered them or threw them a second look. Their backpacks and muddy boots gave them the appearance of passing peddlers, something all viges experienced from time to time.

    Lith and Solus used the Eyes of Menadion, scanning their surroundings for anything noteworthy. They only found human life forces and none of them had a mana core stronger than bright orange.

    The Eyes didn''t find any artifacts or arrays, not even dormant.

    There was nothing magical in the vige except for a bright lighting in the direction of Strider''s amulet. They followed it to the outskirts of Xant and into the nearest farmer''s house.

    Inside, there was an Assistant Constable wearing his badge on his breast pocket, allowing anyone to read his name: Strider Vahn.

    "Lith. Solus." He nodded at them in greeting after using Life Vision to confirm their identity. "This is a damn mess. Please tell me you can get something."

    "By my-" Solus bit her tongue. "Great Mother almighty!"

    The house was simr to how Lith''s looked near twenty years ago, but only after being used as a set for a sher movie. There was blood, entrails, and the corpse of what Solus could assume had once been a couple of farmers and their children.

    Their bodies had been cleaved with a strength that no normal human could possess and there were no bites or ws marks. It was the work of an Awakened.

    "I''ll see what I can do." Lith channelled mana and elemental energy into his eyes while also turning on and off the call of the Void.

    It was his to-go cover for the Eyes, using the multipleyers of energy to hide the presence of the artifact.

    "How did you find this ce?" Solus asked after Hushing them to pretend Lith needed focus.

    "To be honest, I didn''t." The Zouwu scratched his head. "The vigers found the scene as you see it. They puked¡­" He pointed at a few stains near the entrance.

    "They fainted¡­" She could see with mana sense the marks left by fallen but still-living bodies on the ground outside.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3138 Stalking the Prey (Part 2)

    Chapter 3138 Stalking the Prey (Part 2)

    "And as soon as they calmed down a bit, they went to the closest city to call for help. The report raised a g in the Council''s system and I came here to check."

    "Still, great job." Solus nodded.

    "Not really." He replied. "The report mentioned the wounds in detail but while the human Constables thought the vigers were exaggerating, I recognized the signs of a battle between Awakened."

    "I''m done here." A snap of Lith''s fingers dispelled the Hush Zone. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

    "Yes." Strider knelt near the corpse of the man, revealing two silver coins in his pockets. "The most likely scenario is that our mark ran to Xant and paid the farmer for hospitality and discretion.

    "Either the farmer sold him or Vidun failed to keep his mouth shut as usual, his pursuers found him. You know the rest."

    "It makes sense." Lith nodded. "Based on my readings, someone slept alone in the master bedroom while the farmer and his wife slept in the children''s rooms.

    "Someone picked the door at night. Two people, to be precise. They wore cloaking devices but not made of Darwen. Their energy signature is weak but I can still read it. They attacked our mark here¡­" Lith pointed at the shredded king-size bed covered solely in blood.

    "The noise woke the farmers up and one of the Awakened took them out with air magic." He highlighted the clean, massive cuts left by air des. "At that point, Vidun exploited the respite to Blink away."

    Lith pointed outside the house and then further.

    "The assants followed him. I suggest we do the same before the lingering energy signatures be too faint." He could actually spot the runaway Awakened at a great distance, but Lith preferred to be underestimated.

    "Sure." The three of them walked out of the house and followed a series of Blink marks to an isted spot amid the tall grass.

    "This is what''s left of one of the assants."Lith pointed at a ckened area of the ground.

    The vegetation there was dead and withered like after a long summer drought yet everywhere else life thrived. It was the sign of a recent and powerful darkness spell.

    "Agreed." Strider dipped his fingers in the dried ground, smelling ashes in it.

    "Now that I think about it, where''s Ryka?" Solus asked, looking for the Titania.

    "She''s on a real job." The Zouwu grunted. "We already know this has nothing to do with the helmet. Ryka stayed behind to cover for my absence. We can''t let the Hand of Fate know of our extracurricr activities."

    "Too bad." Solus sighed. "I''m going to miss her."

    "Me too." Strider sighed as well, giving her the impression that maybe the Titania''s advances were breaching through his grumpy demeanor.

    "Three energy signatures arrived here and only two left. This way." Lith pointed north-northeast.

    Away from prying eyes, they took flight and followed the trace from above. A few kilometerster, they found signs of a bigger and longer fight. Several spots were charred by fire and the ground had been reshaped like only an earthquake or a powerful earth spell could.

    If air or water magic had been used, the water had already evaporated and the smell of ozone was gone.

    "The second cloaked guy died here." Lith said. "From this point onward, only a bright blue energy signature remains and it went that way."

    He pointed in the distance, where the Eyes of Menadion had spotted Vidun''s presence ever since Lith hadpleted scanning the farmers'' house. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "A single bright blue core? This is going to be easy." Strider scoffed, releasing his bright violet aura to highlight the difference in strength between him and Vidun but also drawing Solus'' re. "No offense, Solus."

    "Quite taken." She grunted, receiving all kinds of sweets in apology from the Zouwu. "Okay, I forgive you. How long has passed since the ughter? Just to have an idea of what we can expect."

    "The corpses were found right after the murder. The neighbors became worried because no one had taken care of the animals and they made a lot of noise.

    "Then one full day of travel to reach the closest Constable station, four hours for the report to be filed and gged in the Council''swork, and two more for me getting here and investigating the scene.

    "We are talking about a little more than one and a half day. Two tops." He replied.

    "I agree with Strider." Lith said. "This should be an open and shut case. The guy has no secretb or powerful allies otherwise he would have never sought shelter from farmers. Vidun is alone and can''t have put up much of a defense in so little time.

    "This is too easy. Something is fishy."

    "What did you expect?" The Zouwu shrugged. "We are looking for a guy who is famous to be a bbermouth moron. If he had any brains, no one would have ever known about the book."

    "Strider is right." Solus said. "We know about Vidun and so do the undead and whoever these assassins were." She pointed at the site of the fight.

    "Vidun is clearly no evil mastermind and there''s no telling how many more people are chasing him for the grimoire. If they get to him first, we might end up chasing after someone who knows how to disappear."

    She grabbed Lith''s arm for a covert mind link.

    ''Please, Lith. You know how important this is to me. Also, how many times did you say this very same line for nothing, back when we worked as a Ranger?''

    Solus was right. Lith''s paranoia always projected huge shadows that most of the time were just shadows. Yet a few times, it had been his reluctance to dive into a case without thinking that had saved their lives.

    ''Let''spromise. We move on to Vidun''s position now, but whatever happens, don''t lower your guard. Okay?''

    ''Okay.'' Solus took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

    "Follow me." Lith took point with Strider in the middle and Solus covering the back.

    The wide and non-magical area allowed him to perform wide sweeps with the Eyes with little burden for their brains. Strider, Lith, and Solus were filtered out so the only thing left for the Eyes to scan was their mark.

    Lith advanced slowly, casting both life-sensing and array-detection spells from time to time.

    "If he''s not moving, better safe than sorry." Strider nodded.

    Yet until they arrived a few hundred meters from Vidun, there was nothing and no one to find. The runaway Awakened had found shelter inside what looked like an abandoned hunting cabin.

    It was even smaller than Lith''s old house but it was surrounded by several kinds of middle tier arrays fueled by magic crystals. A few of them were invisible to Life Vision, requiring a spell or the Eyes to be perceived yet ready to trigger the moment someone entered their area of effect.

    ''This must be how he survived the ambush.'' Lith pointed out. ''The guy is a decent Warden.''

    The array-sensing spell confirmed the readings of the Eyes about Vidun''s defences, but after the bad experience with the thieves of the Ears, Lith was still on edge.

 Chapter 3139 Ensnared (Part 1)

    Chapter 3139 Ensnared (Part 1)

    While Solus and Strider checked the perimeter from the ground, Lith took flight to observe the situation from above.

    He used his Tiamat eyes to look into every shadow and possible hiding spot for over half a kilometer, but found nothing. Lith even took a deep scan of Strider to appease his paranoia, making sure that he was the Zouwu Lith knew and that there was nothing suspicious about him or his equipment.

    ''That does it! I need therapy.'' Lith thought whileing down to the ground after the Eyes of Menadion confirmed everything he already knew about Strider.

    ''The quickest way to smoke Vidun out is using Disarray.'' Strider proposed via a mind link. ''We''ll tear his defenses down and force him to surrender.''

    ''What about the grimoire?'' Solus had a hard time keeping anger out of her thoughts. ''What if you blow it up or the pages get burned?''

    ''If the book belonged to the First Ruler of the mes, it should have a few protections and self-repair spells.'' He shrugged.

    ''Emphasis on "should", here.'' She grunted. Nn¨ºw n0vel chapters are published on n0v/e/(lb)i(n.)co/m

    ''Calm down. You weren''t joking when you said you are a big fan of Menadion.'' The poor Zouwu had no idea why she worried so much about a grimoire outdated by 700 years. ''If you don''t want to use Disarray, what''s the n?''

    Solus pondered the question for a while before answering.

    ''First, I''d like to talk to this guy. Maybe we can buy the book from him.''

    ''Talk?'' Both Lith and Strider were bbergasted.

    ''Well, yeah. ording to what we know, Vidun didn''t steal the grimoire. He found it. If we take it by force, we be the bad guys.'' Solus replied.

    ''And what if he doesn''t want to talk or sell it?'' Lith asked. ''We''d lose the element of surprise, and if he runs away, someone else will take the grimoire. The idiot burned his identity and we are not the only ones chasing him.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Then you two hide and be ready to intervene.'' Solus said. ''This way, if I can''t reason with him, you can keep him from escaping.''

    Cursing telepathically like two sailors, the Tiamat and the Zouwu positioned themselves at either side of the cabin to assume a triangle formation with Solus.

    "Excuse me? Mister Vidun Phorr?" Solus stood up, making herself visible from a safe distance. "My name is Solus. I work with the Hand of Fate. I can show you my badge if you want."

    Of course, it was Strider''s badge.

    "The Council?" A feverish voice filled with happiness came from inside the cabin just before its door was flung open. "Thank the gods you are here. They are trying to kill me! They want my-"

    As the word moved from Vidun''s brain to his tongue, he managed to think before he spoke for once.

    "Wait a second. I''ve never called the Council. How did you know I was here?"

    "The death of the farmers triggered a g in our system and after investigating the scene, I''ve tracked you here." Solus had learned how to lie while telling the truth from Lith and she didn''t like discovering how natural it came to her.

    "Tell me another!" Vidun scoffed. "Like those pompous asses of the Council would care for the death of a few humans and two rogue Awakened. Let alone send one of their elite troops here just for me.

    "I know you are lying. You are here for my book!"

    "I didn''t lie!" Solus replied.

    ''Notpletely.'' She inwardly added.

    "Everything I told you is true, but I have to admit that you were right when you said I''m here for the grimoire." Solus had no way to counter his reasoning so she added a few more bits of truth.

    "You shouldn''t have babbled about it in public. The Undead Courts are looking for you and so are bad people like the Awakened you''ve killed."

    "People like you!" He spoke one word of power, bringing the arrays'' output to the maximum.

    "No, you idiot!" Solus replied in outrage. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn''t waste my time talking. I would have cast Disarray to blow you up and stolen the book already."

    "What''s Disarray?" The confusion on Vidun''s face was as clear as the fact he had no idea what she was talking about.

    "How can a Warden not know the Disarray spell?" Solus was bbergasted. "It''s the basic counter spell to all non-permanent arrays!"

    "Hey, cut me some ck!" He flushed in shame. "I failed to enroll in one of the great academies and had to work like a ve for a fake mage for years just to learn dimensional magic. How am I supposed to know Warden magic?"

    "Are you kidding me?" Solus grew more frustrated by the second while Lith and Strider were chuckling at her expense. "If you''re not a Warden, where do the arrayse from?"

    "The grimoire." This time Vidun was the one who felt like he was talking to someone really stupid. "I''m not a genius but, you know, I can read."

    "Good point." Solus sighed, baffled by the absurdity of that conversation. "Now that we have been honest with each other, pleasee out, and let''s solve this amicably."

    "Yeah, right." He scoffed. "And what would stop you from killing me and taking the book by force?"

    "Nothing." Solus admitted. "Just like nothing stops me right now but my own goodwill."

    "Liar! You are scared of my arrays!"

    "Please!" The mockery that Solus had fought hard to keep back broke the dam of her throat. "This crap is tier four and you have just so candidly admitted you don''t know anything aside from dimensional magic.

    "I don''t need spells to bust your arrays and ass open."

    "Try it if you can." Vidun mmed the door closed and took control of the arrays.

    Now their activation and effects would answer his everymand.

    "Don''t mind if I do!" Solus took the Fury out of her pocket dimension and mmed it against the ground with one-tenth of her strength.

    The impact caused a shockwave that nothing had of magical so the earth-blocking array couldn''t stop it. A spiderweb of cracks spread from the Fury, dislodging the runes that kept the arrays together and discing the mana crystals fueling them.

    The air pressure was more than an old, rotten shack could take. It tore apart the wooden walls and sent Vidun to fall t on his butt.

    "Now the grimoire, please." Solus Blinked in front of him as the magical formation faded away into sparkles of light.

    "If you want it, you''ll have to kill me." Vidun turtled up, clenching what looked like an old book to his chest.

    "Why? Is it imprinted?" Solus stayed her hand.

    "No. I mean, yes! I mean¡­" Vidun tried and failed to find an excuse to force the violent Awakened not to kill him.

    "Look, pal, I wasn''t lying before. The Undead Courts are looking for you and they are not the only ones." She offered him her hand to stand up while keeping Life Vision on him. "Is this how you want to spend the rest of your life?

    "Running and hiding? Based on your banter, I assumed you had a secretb and were a powerful Forgemaster. Instead, you have no specialization, no safe ce, nothing!"

 Chapter 3140 Ensnared (Part 2)

    Chapter 3140 Ensnared (Part 2)

    "I don''t even have a dimensional amulet to store Menadion''s grimoire." Vidun''s voice cracked, tears streaming from his eyes. "They cost too much and I''m a failure. Aside from Awakening, I''ve achieved nothing in my life."

    "What the fuck?" Solus'' disbelief trampled her usual kindness andpassion. "Are you serious? Did you reveal the existence of your treasure despite not having the means to protect it? How can you be so stupid?"

    "Hey, I was drunk!" He snapped back. "Something good had finally happened to me and I loosened up a bit."

    "Whatever." Solus pinched her nose in frustration. "Here''s the deal. I''m offering you one thousand golden coins and a dimensional amulet to hide them in exchange for the book. Also, I''ll publicly im its ownership and my friends here will spread the information."

    On her cue, Lith and Strider came out of their hiding spots. Their faces were masks of stone. The slightest mistake and they would crack up in a smile andugh their asses off.

    "This way, no one will look after you anymore and with that money, you can build something nice for yourself."Solus said and Vidun pondered her words.

    Not only because she was right but because the two guys with her were stronger than he had ever believed possible and wore so many artifacts that they shone like suns under Life Vision.

    "One word of advice. Hide your money, lie low, and join the Mage Association." Solus said. "They''ll teach you tier four and five magic and once you master a couple of specializations, it will be easier for you to convince a Council Elder to take you in as an apprentice."

    "Are you really going to give me one thousand gold coins?" Vidun asked.

    "One thousand gold coins?" Lith echoed in horror.

    "It''s one of Menadion''s grimoires." Solus looked at Lith with pleading eyes. "And it''s not even coded. It''s worth every coin."

    "It actually is coded." Vidun showed a random page that Solus could read like it was written in Tyris'' universalnguage. "Only the first chapters are readable. They contain the basics of Forgemastery and are exined so well that even I could understand them."

    "One thousand coins it is." Lith whined, but he couldn''t deny Solus''s request.

    ''Half of what I have is hers and she rarely spends a dime on herself. If she wants to spare this idiot''s life, it''s her choice.'' He thought.

    "Wait." Vidun said, putting Lith''s already strained patience to the test. "You can keep the money. Take me as your apprentice."

    "No fucking way!" Solus cut the air in front of her with her hand. "You couldn''t keep your only secret to save your life. How could I trust you with my secrets? Either you take the money or I''ll take the book from the guy who kills you."

    "I''ll take the money." Vidun swallowed, admitting to himself that even he wouldn''t take in an apprentice like him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Solus handed Vidun a bag filled with gold coins and a non-imprinted dimensional amulet.

    "Imprint it and put the coins inside. This way you can check how many coins there are without counting them one by one."

    "Really?" He was bbergasted and so was everyone else, yet by his ignorance.

    "Gods, yes!" Solus said in frustration.

    Vidun cried with joy after imprinting his first real artifact and realizing that he was still dirt poor as a mage but was now filthy rich for amoner.

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He put the amulet in one of his pockets and handed the grimoire to Solus who checked it out immediately.

    ''Gods, yes!'' She fell into a trance, the texture of the cover familiar to her touch.

    She had no memory of the grimoire but its smell, weight, and even its design triggered short shbacks from her past.

    "All is well what it ends well." Striderughed while looking at the poor Vidun fly away as fast as he could. "The guy must be terrified we change our minds and take the gold back."

    "Don''t tempt me." Lith sighed. "Gods. One thousand gold coins is a huge hit to my finances."

    "Are you kidding me?" Strider furrowed his eyes in disbelief. "I know you are loaded even by Awakened standards. The silver mines, the Forgemastered pieces you sell, your annuities. That amount of money should be insignificant to you."

    "It is." Lith raised his hands in surrender.

    "By the way, is that normal?" The Zouwu pointed at Solus whose eyes were out of focus as she flipped through the pages of the grimoire.

    "Sort of." Lith recognized the signs of Solus recovering bits of her past and covered for her. "She''s such a fanatic that she falls into a trance whenever she gets her hands on one of Menadion''s trinkets."

    Solus didn''t remember those spells but she could swear she knew them all. Reading them gave her an itch on the back of her skull, yet she didn''t waste time rereading. She rushed to the first page, praying to the gods to have mercy on her.

    There, in the inscription,y the following words:

    "This book is for everyone and no one at the same time. If you can read these words, it means that you''ve found the cipher hidden in the initial chapters. Here is hidden another one. Use it with the first cipher to read the rest of the book and the second part of this inscription."

    Right under it, there was a shorter paragraph, written in a moreplex code that Solus''s mind deciphered with ease.

    "Congrattions, whoever you are. You have just be an apprentice of Menadion, First Ruler of the mes.

    In faith, your mentor, Ripha Menadion."

    Under her signature, there were two more. One childish that read "Elphyn Althena Menadion" while the second was elegant and precise and read "Threin Menadion".

    ''By my Mom, Dad!'' Solus started to cry, her fingers tracing the names in descending order. ''Thank the gods for their mercy.''

    When she reached Threin''s name, she discovered that the gods had nothing to do with the grimoire and there was no mercy involved.

    A cloaked enchantment released a constant stream of the tier four Forgemastering spell, Clean te, that went from the book to her finger. It froze Solus in spasms of agony while a second cloaked enchantment bound the book to her hand, making it impossible to remove without destroying either of them.

    Solus wasn''t an artifact, her imprint with Lith couldn''t be jammed but it could still be hurt. Her pain spread to Lith like a disease, their minds getting numb as they fought the waves of spells paralyzing them.

    "What''s wrong with you two and who''s that guy?" Strider tried his best healing spells on Lith but nothing worked.

    Yet his words were enough to draw Lith''s attention on the opening of a Warp Steps and the ck-d figure that stepped through it.

    "Fuck me sideways! It''s one of the thieves." Lith said after noticing the man was invisible to Life Vision which made no sense.

    ''How could he locate us in the middle of nowhere and why did he jump in front of us instead of ambushing us again?'' Even in his daze, Lith felt that something was wrong and activated the Full Guard enchantment of his Voidwalker armor.

    Then, the answer came out of the Chronicler''s pocket dimension. A Removal Unit of unknown design that the elf opened, triggering its spell and unleashing chains of blue energy aimed at Lith''s stone ring.

 Chapter 3141 Gutted Prey (Part 1)

    Chapter 3141 Gutted Prey (Part 1)

    "Whatever that thing is, we need to stop the thief!" Strider activated his bloodline ability, sh Steps, supercharging his body with electric current and increasing his speed by dozens of folds.

    The only silver lining in the situation was that as the bond between Solus and Lith became weaker, the pain and confusion he experienced lessened enough for him to respond to the attack.

    Lith nodded and took Ragnar?k out of its scabbard, focusing on cutting the blue chains while the Zouwu bolted against the enemy.

    What he couldn''t predict was the enemy''s identity.

    The moment Lith turned his back, Strider altered his trajectory just so slightly to stab the Tiamat in the heart with his first de and in the right lung with the second.

    The Zouwu was already close to Lith due to the healing attempts and with sh Step''s speed, Full Guard and Lith''s reflexes weren''t enough to react in time to the betrayal.

    "Rot in hell with your filthy living legacy, you fucking Abomination!" Strider snarled, his eyes filled with fury and his voice with the hurt from what he believed to be deception.

    The web of lies Lith had weaved to protect Solus'' secret had been used by the World Tree to concoct the story that had brought the Zouwu to their side.

    "You fucker!" Only then did Lith notice the Home Stone Strider had activated back when Vidun bargained with Solus.

    The Tiamat felt his strength abandoning him as blood filled his lungs so he called upon his Abomination side who had no vitals. It also had the ability to suck the life out of the traitorous Zouwu and use it to mend Lith''s wounds.

    "That''s my line. Die!" Strider twisted the des as he pulled them out, leaving two gaping holes in the Tiamat''s chest that spurted a fountain of ck blood.

    In his hunger and fury, Lith turned around to suck the Zouwu dry and opened himself to the blue chains. The mystical constructs wrapped around the stone ring and slipped it off his finger, breaking the bond with Solus.

    The pain and shock from the separation made her faint and froze Lith for a split second. It was more than enough for Strider to shroud his twin des in the tier five Spirit Spell that the World Tree had taught him, Dragon Cutter.

    Lith''s neck was thick and his bones dense. Even in his human form, he was still a Divine Beast. It was the reason the razor-sharp enchanted Adamant needed several strikes to sever the Tiamat''s neck, even with Dragon Cutter.

    At the speed sh Steps bestowed a Zouwu, however, one split second was enough. The Abomination''s head rolled on the ground, blood gushing from the wound flew up for over ten meters (33'') as the heart pumped to keep the body alive.

    "Excellent work, Strider the Zouwu." Ghal V''horr said while putting the stone ring on his finger and imprinting it. "You made the right choice. Your actions have saved Mogar and your reward will be just as great."

    "Screw Mogar." Strider spat on the Abomination''s corpse. "I would''ve never done something as despicable as this if Verhen wasn''t an Abomination and took me for a fool!"

    The first and most important crack in the Zouwu''s loyalty hade from the revtion of the true nature of the helm.

    The World Tree had sent one of their emissaries to talk with Strider after the search for the missing Forgemasters. Ghal V''horr had introduced himself and shown proof of his identity before revealing he was the one behind the theft of the Ears.

    The Zouwu had refused to believe the Chronicler, until he had been allowed to examine the artifact and discovered that it truly was the Ears of Menadion.

    Suddenly everything made sense and, most importantly, it became clear that Lith didn''t care about anyone but himself and everything that came out of his mouth was a lie.

    Telling Strider about Menadion''s tower would create apetitor whereas telling him that Solus was a cursed object strengthened the Zouwu''s resolve. It exined the mystery of her rtionship with Lith and made his lies seem much darker.

    To Strider, an Abomination was already dangerous. An Abomination allied with a living legacy was a living disaster that couldn''t be allowed to prey on the legacy of the greatest Forgemaster in Mogar''s history.

    "No hard feelings about Solus being a living legacy?" The Chronicler smiled at the mention of the second master stroke of the World Tree.

    Telling Strider about Menadion''s tower would create apetitor whereas telling him that Solus was a cursed object strengthened the Zouwu''s resolve. It exined the mystery of her rtionship with Lith and made his lies seem much darker.

    To Strider, an Abomination was already dangerous. An Abomination allied with a living legacy was a living disaster that couldn''t be allowed to prey on the legacy of the greatest Forgemaster in Mogar''s history.

    "That too!" The Zouwu spat again. "Are you sure it''s safe for you to bond with her?"

    "More than sure." Ghal V''horr replied. "I possess not only my master''s knowledge but also his might-"

    The stone ring rejected the elf''s mana and imprint. V''horr tried over and over, failing every time.

    ''Master, the tower of Menadion denies me.'' He said to the World Tree via their mind link.

    ''This is impossible!'' The Yggdrasil replied in outrage yet they couldn''t ignore the readings of their breathing technique, Root Cause. ''I''ll send Mk to collect her. You finish our business with the Zouwu.''

    The Chronicler took the Ears and put them in Solus'' hands. Even while unconscious, the information was retrieved by the tower via physical contact and V''horr could see with Soul Vision that the stone ring had be more powerful.

    Once it stabilized, the elf sealed the ring inside the Retrieval Unit again and handed it to Mk along with Solus'' body.

    "Use Gravity Magic or her weight will crush you." He said and the other elf nodded.

    "What was that?" Strider asked. "The Ears are mine! That was our deal."

    "Rx. I was just checking her powers. I didn''t let her imprint the Ears." Another lie the Yggdrasill had fed Strider was passing the rumors Night had spread about Solus as true.

    It had solidified the Zouwu''s resentment and his determination to get rid of Lith. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    With that information, his ability to take down lost cities finally had an exnation. ording to the World Tree, Solus had fed upon the ck Star and Kolga, using the energy of the victims of the lost cities to empower herself and Lith.

    The only thing not even the Yggdrasil could exin was the reason so many Guardians orbited around Lith yet did nothing to stop his nefarious ns. With all the other pieces of the puzzle falling into ce, however, Strider didn''t care about one single detail.

    To him, Lith was a certified Abomination and a liar while Solus was his aplice if not even his puppeteer. Taking them out was the least he could do to protect Garlen. The reward he was about to receive was just the icing on the cake.

    "Here. Check for yourself." V''horr threw the Ears of Menadion to Strider in the same lob shot Lith had used to pass it to Solus, making both the elf and the Zouwu smile.

    Strider imprinted the artifact, feeling his senses expand until his physical ears started to hurt.

    "With this, I''ll be one of the greatest Forgemasters of Mogar and maybe even a Ruler of the mes. Any idea how to unlock the true power of the Ears like Maergron did? When he used it, there were cables and the crystals shone with aprismatic light."

 Chapter 3142 Gutted Prey (Part 2)

    Chapter 3142 Gutted Prey (Part 2)

    "Not a clue, sorry." The Chronicler bent down and picked up Ragnar?k, appreciating its perfect bnce. "Marvellous. My master was right. When Verhen remade War into Ragnar?k, he removed the self-destruction protocol."

    "It would have been weird otherwise." The Zouwu shrugged. "Verhen was about to have a baby and probably wanted his spawn to inherit the de. I''ll take it as well."

    "Don''t push your luck, Zouwu!" V''horr used his mana to imprint the angry de. "Verhen may have been a monster, but he was also a great Forgemaster and received Sark''s teachings.

    "I''m taking his equipment with me. My master needs it to crack the secrets of Creation Magic."

    In response to the imprint, metal spikes erupted from the hilt, piercing the Chronicler''s skin and drawing his blood.

    "Right! The blood imprint. The rumors were true!" He said in excitement as the power of the de flowed inside his body. "What do you think you are doing?"

    Strider had unsheathed his des again and a sh of light marked the activation of his prided bloodline ability.

    "Whatever you think you are doing, stop it." The Zouwu said, casting his best spells as fast as he could. "I don''t want to fight you."

    "What do you mean?" It was what V''horr tried to say.

    "Uat u ''uh min?" Was what actually came out of his bloated lips and swollen throat.

    The elf''s entire body looked like an overinted balloon and it kept expanding.

    "Speak for yourself!" Ragnar?k replied, its voice t yet filled with unbridled fury as V''horr exploded like a gory firework.

    "More loot for me." Strider circled around the angry de, being careful to avoid the corpses. "You''re not much without Verhen and I can afford the time to find a way to tame y-"

    A wed hand pierced through his back and came out of his chest, holding the Zouwu''s still-beating heart.

    ["Hey, pal. One question. Who the fuck is Verhen?"] (AN: the words between square brackets are in English.)

    In their sess, V''horr and Strider had failed to notice how the ck blood formed a bridge between the neck and the severed head instead of just spreading out. The Zouwu had missed how the blood on his des had fallen toward the Abomination''s corpse, not vertically.

    [My name is Derek.] Abominations can''t die simply because they are already dead.

    Drilling more holes than Swiss cheese in their bodies or severing their limbs was pointless. They were made of energy and to kill one, that energy had to be neutralized.

    "What? How?" Strider gurgled blood, but he was an Awakened.

    All he needed to recover was one breath.

    It was the reason Ragnar?k exploited his distraction to pierce his right lung. Now the Zouwu and the Abomination were pinned together, but while the angry de wouldn''t hurt its master, Ragnar?k hated Strider.

    ["Answering a question with another is rude and I''m too hungry to give a fuck, kitten."] The Abomination''s maw opened, revealing two rows of pristine white fangs that found the Zouwu''s jugr with ease.

    Derek drank the blood along with the life force until only ashes were left of Strider''s body. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ragnar?k flew into his hand with joy, emitting a shrill sound of excitement as it felt his master''s mana purge the elf''s. The angry de took care to store the Ears inside one of Lith''s dimensional amulets.

    Ragnar?k remembered Lith and Solus often talking about the artifact and the de knew how important it was to them. Everything else, Ragnar?k left it behind in the hope it would serve as clues to find its master.

    The semi-consciousness of the de wasn''t enough to understand the situation but Ragnar?k could feel in their blood bond that something was wrong with Lith.

    ["What the fuck is this? Where the fuck am I?"] Now that the hunger had subsided, Derek had finally the focus to look around.

    Thest thing he remembered was blowing his own brains out in an empty warehouse, yet instead of waking up in a hospital, he found himself on the site of what looked like a meteor impact.

    ["Nothing to the north, east, west, and south."] Ragnar?k purred in reply, drawing his gaze.

    It was then that Derek noticed the armor, the spell-holding rings, and his own reflection on the de''s surface. The face he knew was gone, reced by a ck te twisted in a grimace of hatred.

    ["Well, Toto, I''m afraid this isn''t Kansas and I''m not Dorothy anymore."]

    ***

    Distar Reason, Lutia County, Verhen Mansion, less than ten minutester.

    The members of the Hand of Fate had several protocols in ce in case something happened to one of them. For example, the moment a rune disappeared from one of their amulets, it triggered an rm.

    If the rune belonged to a fellow member of the Hand of Fate, it triggered a red alert. Ryka the Titania wasn''t on any case at the moment. Strider had simply lied to exin her absence.

    As soon as his rune faded into nothingness, she checked his records, discovering that the Zouwu had talked several times with Lith and that they had spoken earlier that same morning.

    "Why didn''t that fucker tell me anything?" She wanted to cry, but the thirst for revenge overpowered her.

    Ryka tried to call Lith, but his amulet was unavable and so was Solus''.

    Not knowing what to do, she went to the Verhen Mansion to demand an exnation.

    "What do you mean, Strider is dead and Lith is unreachable?" Kam''s shock was so pure that the Titania didn''t doubt her honesty for one second.

    Yet it left all of Ryka''s questions open and posed a few more.

    "Exactly what I just said." The Titania replied. "Strider wasn''t working on any case. I already went to his house and there''s no corpse there. He must have been lured in an ambush, but how did they predict his movements?"

    "Okay, now I''m sure you''re full of it!" Kam was getting angrier by the second and the fact that Lith''s and Solus'' amulets were always offline only added fuel to the fire. "Strider did work on a case! The Menadion''s grimoire case!

    "And he didn''t talk with Lith about the weather, but about a lead. I was there. I heard it with my own ears!"

    "What?" Ryka double checked the Council database, finding no trace of updates on the case. "Are you sure? We were supposed to investigate it together for Lith but thest time I spoke with Strider, he told me it was a dead end."

    "A dead end?" Kam called and failed again. Both amulets were inside the pocket dimension and with the bond broken, even if Lith was in a sane state of mind he wouldn''t have ess to it.

    "Varon, no Vidun Phorr." As a Royal Constable, Kam was used to memorize the most important details of every case. "Rogue awakened about thirty years old, vige of Xant. Does this sound like a dead end to you?"

    "Where did you hear that?" Ryka imputed the name in the database, obtaining an instant hit.

    "Do you have moss in your ears?" Kam bright yellow aura burst out with greenish streaks as her fury reached its peak. "Strider spoke with Lith about this guy. I was there. Do you understand?"

 Chapter 3143 True Heir (Part 1)

    Chapter 3143 True Heir (Part 1)

    Ryka wanted to rebuke but discovered that Strider had indeed essed Vidun''s data and then erased his ess''s logs without updating the case file. A second check proved that Kam was right beyond even what the Titania''s heart could deny.

    The Zouwu had shut down his service amulet since the previous day and never updated his status or position. Something that he hadn''t done once in the several years they had known each other.

    "I understand." Ryka nodded. "I''m sorry for doubting you but this is so absurd that it''s hard to believe. Yet you are right. Something fishy is going on. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

    Kam massaged her temples, trying to shut down the impulse to punch the Titania to splinters and jog her own memory.

    "Zeneka region. Xant is a vige in the Zeneka region."

    "Where, exactly?" The Titania asked.

    "Who do you take me for? A cartographer?" Kam instinctively tried to call Solus to ess Soluspedia and the Tower Warp, feeling a knot in her gut when she realized how powerless she was without Lith or Solus.

    "I''m sorry. I was just hoping we could save some time." Ryka raised her hands to calm Kam down. "Strider erased all the data. I can dig it back out but it''s going to take time."

    The Titania was still talking when Kam stopped pressing Lith''s rune and called every one of her friends on a conference call. Zoreth, the Ernas girls, Faluel, Protector, all those who knew about the real rtionship between Lith and Solus were informed of their disappearance. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    People like Vastor and the Royals would have to wait.

    "I''m going all out." Zoreth said. "I''ll mobilize every informant I have and call you back as soon as I know something. Zoreth out."

    The others offered to search for Lith but without a lead or tracking method, exploring the Zeneka region would have taken weeks.

    "Stay where you are, please." Kam said. "I''m too weak to do anything and need you to be ready to intervene the moment Ryka retrieves the case files."

    "Is there something I can do, hatchling?" Valtak listened to everything and shared her worries.

    "You are still recovering." She shook her head. "I''d rather you rest. Yet if you can call a few Fire Dragons for help, I''d greatly appreciate it."

    "I can do that." The Father of Fire nodded as something on the back of his mind made his heartbeat quicken.

    He had forgotten about the vision he had received in the Mindscape but those events sounded familiar and he could feel something bad was about to happen.

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree, before V''horr''s death.

    Mk crossed the Warp Gate, bringing the unconscious Solus to an empty space inside the World Tree. The Heir of the First Awakened had created a room inside their own body to contain the powers of the tower while the Yggdrasill studied the mystery of the failed imprint.

    "I''m back, my Lord." The Chroniclerid Solus down on the ground and fell on his knees, offering the Removal Unit containing the stone ring with both hands. "What are your orders?"

    ''Take out the tower and imprint it. I need to observe the phenomenon from up close.'' The World Tree replied.

    Mk obeyed, slipping the ring on his finger and filling it with pure man. At the same time, the Yggdrasill used their breathing technique, Root Cause, to study the ring, the elf, and Solus down to the cellr level.

    The Yggdrasill witnessed M''Lak''s mana entering the ring, starting the imprint, and then being rejected due to the presence of the World Tree''s essence in his body.

    ''This is going to make things a lot moreplicated.'' The World Tree pondered what to do, yet even with all the knowledge they possessed there was no alternative.

    ''Mogar''s rot! That''s how. My bond with my Chroniclers seems to be simr to that of a cursed object and its host. To the tower, people like you and V''horr are already bonded to someone and it refuses your touch.

    ''This is going to make things a lot moreplicated.'' The World Tree pondered what to do, yet even with all the knowledge they possessed there was no alternative.

    ''Only a non-Chronicler can bond with Elphyn Menadion, but that''s risky. My elves are just blue-cored Awakened which makes them physically and magically weaker than Elphyn.

    ''On top of that, without my help, my chosen might lose the battle for control. If Elphyn dominates them, I''d be giving her a host and the means to attempt her escape.''

    "What do you want me to do, my Liege?" Mk asked.

    ''Wake her up and summon one of my Librarians.'' The Yggdrasill replied. ''If M''Rael managed to subdue Elphyn with the little information I gave him, we still have a chance, but we have to move quickly.''

    Between the trauma and the broken bond, Solus had lost lots of energy. The World Tree didn''t care about her, but they knew that any damage to Solus would be reflected on the tower.

    The Yggdrasill hadn''t gone to such lengths to capture her just to ruin everything on a whim.

    "What? Where am I?" Mk sshed Solus with cold water and she jumped up to her feet, trying to punch him.

    The elf was faster, nimbler, and a much better fighter. He dodged the punch with ease and locked her arm in a submission hold. Before Solus could understand what was happening, she was forced to kneel with her face nted against the ground.

    ''Wee to my Fringe, Elphyn Althena Menadion.'' The World Tree''s voice was filled with honest joy. ''You have no idea how much I''ve waited to meet you again.''

    Solus recognized the Tree, the Darwen suit, and her brain connected the dots despite her confusion.

    "You fucker! You used the information I gave you while we fought M''Rael together to stage everything. Your Chroniclers stole the Ears of Menadion. You framed Vidun by giving him my mother''s grimoire¡­" Yet something was off.

    How could the World Tree n so far ahead without her noticing a warning sign? Predicting the moves of someone as paranoid as Lith was impossible without an informant on the inside. Someone they trusted.

    "Strider! Somehow you convinced Strider to help you. When I get my hands on that bastard, I''m going to skin him alive and use his fur as my bathroom carpet!"

    ''Brilliant! You are as smart as the chronicles of my predecessor say.'' The World Tree chuckled like a collector who had gotten his hands on a unique piece.

    "And to think that I felt bad for you. That I considered you a victim of M''Rael''s cruelty like me!" Solus struggled, but Mk only had to adjust his grip to keep her pinned down.

    ''I was his victim and unlike him, I don''t want to hurt you or keep you prisoner forever. I just want your help to learn how to craft a tower as powerful as your mother''s. I need it to protect Mogar.'' As proof of good faith, the Yggdrasill had Mk let go of her and handed her the stone ring.

    ''I''ve already made you recover the power of the Ears. If you don''t believe me, summon the tower and see it for yourself. You need strength, no?'' They opened a hole in the wooden floor, giving her ess to the ground below and the world energy of the Fringe.

 Chapter 3144 True Heir (Part 2)

    Chapter 3144 True Heir (Part 2)

    Solus wanted to keep yelling but she felt weak. She tried to Spirit Blink but there was a spacepressing array stopping her.

    Solus needed but one nce with mana sense to know she had no chance of escaping from Mk, let alone the World Tree. Both fight and flight would just dy the inevitable.

    "Fine." Solus dropped the ring to the ground and the tower of Menadion rose like a mighty tree.

    Her mana core stopped bleeding. Thebined effect of the tower, the Sage Staff, and the Fringe would even restore her mana over time but without a host, her life force would not recover.

    ''Marvellous!'' The Yggdrasill studied the tower with Root Cause and noticed it was nothing like the old blueprints in their possession.

    All the runes were modern, more powerful, more efficient. Even from the grave, the First Ruler of the mes had managed to turn her greatest masterpiece into something even better.

    ''Now, give Mk a tour of the tower. For some reason, I can''t see inside.''

    "Not so fast." Solus said. "What happened to Lith?"

    ''You''re a smart woman. You know he''s a dangerous man and would chase me to the ends of Mogar for you. What do you think happened to him?'' The Tree''s voice was neutral but Solus could swear that the creases on the bark were curling up in smug smiles.

    "Are you telling me he''s dead?" She asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

    ''He left me no choice.'' The Yggdrasill sighed. ''Losing a Tiamat is regretful, but there''s still Elysia. Also, I couldn''t risk Verhen calling upon those gods-damned Eldritches and-''

    The ground shook as the entirety of the World Tree writhed in agony. The viges built on its colossal branches experienced the next best thing to an earthquake and all Chroniclers fell to their knees, holding their heads in pain.

    The Hands shapeshifted intobat wed gloves that covered her arms up to the elbow. The Eyes fit the Mouth''s eye sockets to perfection, docking to them. In the same way, the Mouth docked in the empty space of the Ears, forming a full helm with protective lenses.

    "Let me guess. The jackass you sent to finish the job is dead and you''ve experienced his pain through your bond." Solus felt her spirit surge as she conjured the Hands, Eyes, Mouth, Ears, and Fury of Menadion.

    The Hands shapeshifted intobat wed gloves that covered her arms up to the elbow. The Eyes fit the Mouth''s eye sockets to perfection, docking to them. In the same way, the Mouth docked in the empty space of the Ears, forming a full helm with protective lenses.

    ''How do you know?'' The World Tree was still recovering from the shock of losing a part of themselves and the agony from Ragnar?k''s Reverse Imprint ability.

    "As you said, I''m a smart woman!" Solus threw the Fury, hitting Mk square in the chest.

    The result was the same as if he had been hit by a speeding train. The elf burst up in a gory firework, his flesh, blood, and bone splinters flying throughout the room.

    ''This is impossible!'' The World Tree said. ''The Zouwu pierced Verhen''s lungs, ruptured his heart, and severed his head!''

    "Those are steps one to three. What about four to ten?" Solus recalled the Fury to her hand, throwing it at the tree''s body while activating the Furies'' Flight enchantment.

    Everyone knew about Lith''s Abomination side, but very few were aware of his real origin. Solus knew the Void and how tenacious he could be.

    ''If George tookpletely over, then those wounds are meaningless.'' She thought. ''The only way to kill an Abomination is by dispersing and neutralizing their energy. Lith is still alive!''

    Solus tried to ess her pocket dimension, only to find that the spacepressing array blocked that too. Even worse, without Lith, she had lost the Dragon''s ability to override such seals by expending a spark of life force.

    The nine hammers hit the massive body of the tree, each opening a crater one meter (3''3") deep and four meters (13'') wide. World Tree''s wood was the second sturdiest material on Mogar, but still second to Davross.

    The impacts caused a smaller, more localized quake, but Solus could see that even such power had no consequence on the Yggdrasill''s vitality. The Fae was big. Bigger than any Divine Beast she had ever seen.

    Just the room she was locked into was sorge that it could host dozens of towers and have plenty of space left. Every one of the walls was several meters thick and coursing with powerful magic.

    ''Tower Warp it is, then.'' Solus essed the Warp Mirror, finding its surface nk. ''By my Mom, I had forgotten Fringes are naturally isted from the rest of Mogar. The World Tree''s mana fills the Fringe to the brim, creating a second instingyer.

    ''To make matters worse, most of the world energy here is under the Yggdrasill''s control. If they hadn''t let me conjure the tower, I couldn''t have done even that.''

    ''Enough with this senseless struggling!'' The Tree roared telepathically. ''You can''t escape. I made sure of it. You have no host, no bloodline abilities. Be a good girl and submit or I''ll make you!''

    Countless spear-shaped roots emerged from the wooden walls, bolting at Solus. At the same time, the Chroniclers who had recovered from the shock of V''horr''s death answered the Tree''s call and Warped inside the room.

    They were still shaken from Mk''s loss as well, but death by hammer was much less traumatic than what Ragnar?k did to its victims.

    Solus cursed and split the hammer again. Seven she sent flying and two she kept for herself, switching to a dual-wielding fighting style.

    The Chronicler''s rained spells on her from every side while the roots battered her body with their dull sides. Solus fought like a lion, but even with the tower''s help, there wasn''t much she could do.

    The many enchantments and artifacts in the room blinded the Eyes and deafened the Ears. The spells stored in the Mouth required a stronger core than her own since she had prepared them for Lith.

    The Hands and the Fury were all she had and they weren''t enough.

    And Ripha Menadion knew it.

    Even from the grave, the First Ruler of the mes rose to correct the situation.

    "Warning!" A feminine voice resounded from the tower. "Elphyn''s life is under attack. Assessment."

    The Hands lit up first, followed by the Eyes, the Mouth, and the Ears. With the tower damaged and iplete, some protocols were unavable. Or rather, they had been until the Yggdrasil had given the Ears to Solus,pleting the runes''mand strings.

    Then, the light spread to the fifth piece of Menadion''s set. The Fury. The hammer lit up as well, generating a mass of energy that spread over Solus'' skin and connecting the Fury with the rest of the artifacts of Menadion.

    The power core of the hammer had been devised to beplementary to the tower''s, providing it with enchantments exclusive to Elphyn as her final line of defence.

    "Menadion''s set confirmed. Elphyn''s energy signature and biometrics confirmed. Activating True Heir of Menadion protocol. All restrictions lifted."

    "What restrictions?" Solus blurted out loud, like everyone else. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In answer to their question, the externalyer of the Ears'' protrusions started to spin at increasing speed. The white crystals they bore split into three and glowed with prismatic light as cables formed inside the helm, giving Solus synaesthesia.

 Chapter 3145 The Bleed (Part 1)

    Chapter 3145 The Bleed (Part 1)

    The Crystal teeth of the Mouth opened and elemental streams of energy formed warpaint-like patterns on its surface. The Eyes glowed with power as the flow of information was rerouted from Solus'' brain to the Library and the Grimoire floors.

    The former stored the acquired knowledge while the second relieved her from the strain of processing too much data by herself. Stone des emerged from the back of the Hands, the seven gemstones rearranging their position and forming a straight line on the fullers.

    "You were the best and you always will, Mom!" Solus'' strength hadn''t changed but nothing managed to hit her anymore.

    The Ears read the flow of mana of every attack, allowing her to predict their trajectory and avoid them with minimal movements. The Eyes read the runes of the spells and the willpower imbued within them, letting Solus know what the spells were supposed to do and how.

    The Mouth received the information from the Eyes, weaving counterspells at a moment''s notice without Solus spending one shred of focus on them. The Hands conjured more and more world energy, using it instead of her mana to fuel the abilities of the Set.

    The des and ws cut through the Chronicler''s weapons, flesh, and spells alike. The flow of elements inside the Hands countered the enemy runes and turned even Yggdrasill wood into kindling.

    The only problem was that the Chronicler''s weapons were made of live Yggdrasill wood and would get back together in a matter of seconds.

    While Solus was still getting the hang of her new equipment, theyer of light generated by Menadion Set grew thicker and merged with her Voidwalker armor.

    "Protection insufficient." The feminine voice from the tower said. "Assembling the Anvil." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''The what now?'' Not even the World Tree knew about the ancient yet updated defensive protocols of the tower since Menadion had lived a peaceful life.

    She had never needed them for herself but had prepared them anyway, just in case.

    The matter of the Hands, the Ears, and the Fury mixed with the Voidwalker armor and other materials conjured by the Workshop, forming the Anvil of Menadion.

    The suit of armor was designed to handle the constant energy flow of the tower and further lighten the strain from the use of theplete Menadion Set.

    Solus turned two more Chroniclers into toothpaste before they could react. The white crystals on the Anvil became blue and yellow, giving her the speed and flexibility topensate for her weaker fusion magic partially.

    Strength wasn''t an issue. Any attempt to block her attacks ended with a broken weapon and shattered bones.

    ''Enough with this madness! We both know you can''t fight for long. My Chroniclers are Awakened and need one breath to heal. Without a host, every drop of blood you shed is lost forever!'' The Yggdrasill activated a powerful gravity array focused solely on Solus and the tower.

    They also conjured the tier five Spirit Spell, Griffon Fetters, that exploited her sudden drop in speed to restrict her movements.

    Once paralyzed, the spells cast by the Chroniclers hit her one after the other. The spells were not intended to kill but they hurt just the same. With all the protections Solus wore, the elves didn''t need to hold back much.

    Solus coughed out a mouthful of blood as she struggled to get free. The Hands wed at the emerald energy of the Griffon Fetters but the Yggdrasill had an entire Fringe to fuel their powers.

    The Eyes and the Ears showed her everything about the spell, but gave her no suggestion about how to get rid of it. Only the Mouth helped Solus by making up for herck of body casting and conjuring spells to help her weather the onught.

    "If you want to end this then let me go!" Solus roared as a disy in the corner of her eye notified her that the tower was done charging up.

    She only had to think about it for the Prime Engine toe to life. The tower shapeshifted, its various parts rearranging themselves with clicks and whirrs that made her smile.

    Those sounds were useless, but they reminded her of Lith and gave her an idea.

    ''What is that? Why does it look different?'' The World Tree had already witnessed the Engine in action and was wary of it.

    Even more now that it had a massive cannon above its right arm and a much meaner look on its face.

    "We call that the Mechatron." Solus replied as the Workshop and the Factory loaded the first bullet inside the railgun.

    The materials conjured by the tower couldn''t go far, but they could be reproduced endlessly and the World Tree was as big as it was close.

    The first shot opened a tunnel leading straight outside, destroying everything in its wake until the bullet lost cohesion and faded into light sparkles.

    ''Fuck!'' The problem was that Solus was still weak and so now was the tower. ''I should have thought that charging a railgun that big so fast would drain the tower. It''s down to less than 40%!''

    As the Yggdrasill screamed in pain due to the grievous wound they had suffered and for the death of more Chronicles, the innocent elves on the outside fell to their knees, weeping for those who had been killed by the bullet.

    ''On the other hand, I''m free.'' Solus coughed out more blood but she managed to break the Griffon Fetters and escape the gravity array. ''I can''t waste a single second. I don''t know how long I can hold o-''

    A Chronicler mad with rage for the loss of her friends and family shapeshifted her Yggdrasill staff into a spear and lunged at Solus. Between her weakness and wounds, Solus failed to react in time and the spear found its way to her side.

    The de pierced her stomach only because the World Tree had forbidden any kind of lethal damage but it still cut all the way through her body, causing a massive internal haemorrhage.

    "Surrender now, bitch, or I swear to the Tree that I''ll make you suffer until the end of your days." The voice of the elf was a velvet snarl, her eyes feverish from the outrage of holding back.

    "Warning!" The feminine voiceing from the tower resounded like a death knell. "Constant decline in Elphyn''s strength, confirmed. No host, confirmed. Death of Menadion, confirmed. Engage Predator protocol."

    "Get your fucking hands off my daughter, Bytra!" Seven hundred years after her death, Ripha spoke in anger.

    Fangs appeared on the Engine mouth while its fingers turned into ws and its toes into talons.

    A gigantic fist grabbed the Chronicler but to everyone''s surprise, it didn''t squash her. The elf and her staff were sucked inside what looked like a long tube and carried inside the Bleed.

    It was the final modification Menadion had applied to the tower. A hidden floor she had crafted in order to protect Elphyn''s life at all costs. It was her final masterpiece and her greatest shame.

    "No! Please, I beg you! Everything but this!" The Chronicler begged and screamed from inside a gene-tank as it became filled with a purple liquid.

 Chapter 3146 The Bleed (Part 2)

    Chapter 3146 The Bleed (Part 2)

    The World Tree looked at the Bleed through her eyes and stared at it in horror.

    The room contained several hybrids between machine and Forgemastery that showed clear simrities with the workings of the Odi, Arthan, and many more forefathers of Forbidden Magic.

    Just much worse after Menadion had given them her personal spin.

    The other Chroniclers froze as well while blinding pain invaded their colleague. The Bleed sucked the elf''s blood, her mana, her very life force, and converted them into a suitable nourishment capable of feeding Solus in the absence of a host.

    The Bleed was careful in its calctions, draining just enough to temporarily restore Solus'' body to that of a regr Awakened. It was uncaring of the pain it caused and how long the agony wouldst.

    Menadion had designed it for manual control in case something happened to Elphyn. She had been forced to write the specifics of the automated Predator protocol before facing Bytra so mercy was off the table.

    Also, she wanted to make sure that if the Raiju were to kill Ripha and then locate Solus, the Fourth Ruler of the mes would regret it for the rest of her life.

    Menadion was no healer, but she had studied Forbidden Magic since her husband''s death to find inspiration for her quest to protect Elphyn. Also, she had worked long enough with Baba Yaga to have a deep understanding of how undead and Horsemen worked.

    The Bleed was the forbidden love child born from everything Ripha had managed to get her hands on that could reverse death, no matter the price. The only thing she cared about was that Elphyn wouldn''t be the one to pay for it and that she would be safe.

    "What have you done, Mom?" Solus looked at the corner of her visor, noticing that the power rate of the Engine was slowly but steadily going up.

    Before retrieving the Ears, the Engine''s maximum output had been stuck at 60% and after assimting the rune strings from the Apprentice Ears, the output had gone up to 80%, just like she and Lith had predicted.

    Yet after the activation of the Predator Protocol and the Bleed, it had reached 81%, then 82%, and now 83%.

    "What in the nine hells have you done, Ripha Menadion?" The World Tree''s canopy roared, mere thoughts incapable of conveying their fury. "How could you stoop so low to resort to Forbidden Magic."

    "I know what you are thinking!" A hologram of Ripha''s face covered the Engine''s, showing a mask of fury and madness. "I, the First Ruler of the mes, shamelessly resorting to Forbidden Magic.

    "Well, guess what? If you''re watching this, you bitch, it means that I''m dead. I don''t give a flying fuck about my reputation and even less about my legacy. The only thing I care about is bringing my daughter home safe."

    "Can this be true?" The World was shocked by the revtion. "Bytra killed Menadion? This exins how she turned into one of those Eldritches but why is she working with-" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "If the rest of Mogar considers me a monster, they cane to the afterlife with me andin about it!" The recording went on and cut the Yggdrasill short.

    The Engine opened its arms as a burst of energy umted in its chest just to produce a fizzle. Menadion''s program assumed that she was dead and the towerplete so it had called upon floors that were still missing.

    The Predator protocol interpreted the circumstances as Bytra having inflicted heavy damage upon the tower and reacted ordingly.

    "You bitch!" The World Tree had no idea why the hologram had delved further into a frenzy but recognized quite well the onught of tier five Tower Spirit Spells unleashed by the Firing Range.

    The inner chamber was blown to bits and the Yggdrasil had to use their roots to protect their followers. The Tree couldn''t afford to lose more Chroniclers and give the enemy another opening to feed more elves to the cursed floor.

    Only one of them had been captured but the pain she experienced was shared withChroniclers and Yggdrasill both, crippling their focus. "Get in, sweetie, and use Invigoration." The hologram said while it rescued Solus with a hand and carried her to its chest.

    With the other, the Engine wed at everyone and everything. The talons on its feet dug through the ground with every movement and sucked it dry of every form of life and nourishment.

    Wherever the Engine stepped, the soil dried up and nt life withered as if in the presence of an Abomination.

    Solus had no idea what good Invigoration could do her without Lith, but she trusted Menadion, no matter how deranged she might have be. One breath was all it took her to replenish her mana and heal her wounds.

    "Wait, what?" Solus could feel that it was more than her body.

    The cracks in her life force and mana core had been stitched again, their restoration process resumed.

    Solus was sucked inside the Engine just like the elf before her, but instead of ending up in the Bleed, she found herself on the control throne of the Prime Engine. Cables sprouted from the Ears of Menadion and the stone throne, meeting halfway.

    The cables connected to every inch of her body so that she could now move the Engine like an extension of her being. The Hands and the Mouth connected to the throne as well, respectively to control the power output of the various enchantments and the enchantments themselves.

    Controlling the Engine was now incredibly simple and every one of its functions was easily essible from the holographic interface in front of her eyes.

    "I''m sorry you had to see this, sweetheart." Menadion''s voice said. "I hate myself for what I''ve done, but since you are still alive, it was worth it."

    "Thank you, Mom." Solus had the Engine run at top speed towards the exit while trying to conjure the Tower de Tier Spell, Extinction.

    ''Gods! We have always been afraid of what Vastor might do if anything were to happen to Zinya and the children and today I think I got a pretty good idea of the answer.'' She put such thoughts on the back burner and moved forward.

    Suddenly the output of the tower dropped to dangerous levels and a splitting headache made Solus and the Engine stumble.

    ''Dammit! Even with the Predator protocol a bright blue core is too weak for Extinction. Even worse, without Ragnar?k I felt like something was off. The number of runes I had to conjure was just too much to handle for the Mouth alone.''

    She cancelled Extinction and readied Silverwing''s Annihtion and Bastion. At the same time, she had the Engine conjure two Furies, one for each hand, and used them to swat everything out of her way.

    The Yggdrasill wood healed at an astounding rate and crossing through the open walls was dangerous. Vines and roots tried to block the Engine and even though they failed, they still managed to make it lose momentum.

    ''I''ve been patient!'' The World Tree screamed. ''I''ve tried to be polite! Whates next is on you, Elphyn Menadion.''

 Chapter 3147 Foreign Land (Part 1)

    Chapter 3147 Foreign Land (Part 1)

    Squads of seven Chroniclers Warped at a safe distance from the Engine and conjured the anti-Guardian spell, Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    Solus cursed and in answer to her distress, long stone tubes erupted from the surface of the Engine, bolting at the elves. They were forced to break formation and Blink away, but it wasn''t that simple.

    The Ears followed the flow of mana to the exit point before the Eyes could see it and those who failed to Blink again quickly were captured by the tubes. Just like the first Chronicler, the Engine had no reason to kill them.

    They were trapped inside the tower''s spacepressing arrays and then into one of the Bleed''s gene tanks along with their weapons. Chronicler''s standard equipment was made of living Yggdrasill wood which meant more food for Solus.

    Even better, the World Tree suffered the pain they received as feedback from both the imprisoned elves and branches.

    ''Mogar, mercy!'' Ripha Menadion hadcked time to study and control the Yggdrasill like M''Rael had done, but the agony her workings inflicted upon them was nothing to scoff at. ''Stop her! Bring her one inch from death if necessary!''

    A seven-elf squad came out of a dimensional rift and unleashed the Annihtion. The Engine conjured the Bastion, knowing there was no point dodging a spell that would chase its target.

    Solus had just raised her hand for a return Annihtion when a second squad appeared.

    ''Oh, shit!'' She was forced to use her Annihtion to counter the enemy''s but a third squad appeared.

    Then, as she tried to use footwork to buy the seconds she needed to kill the first unit and focus on the new threat, the ground below the Engine opened, and rootd trapped its legs.

    Solus tried to Blink, but even in the open the Yggdrasill''s control over the Fringe''s space was too strong. She tried to Tower Warp one more time, but the Warp Mirror was still nk. She found no exit point, as if she was stranded on a different.

    Those precious moments of hesitation caused the third Annihtion to st the Engine''s left arm and allowed the anti-Guardian spell from the first squad to st a hole through the colossus'' chest.

    Solus screamed in pain as her own left arm crumbled and a hole opened in her guts.

    ''You may have forgotten about this due to my kindness, but inside MY Fringe, with the support of MY Chroniclers, this humble bright violet core can go toe to toe with a Guardian!'' The World Tree activated a powerful Spirit array that amplified gravity around the Engine by hundreds of folds.

    At the same time, the emerald energy seeped inside the ruined limbs, ravaging the floors of the tower. A second Spirit array conjured a pir of light that descended from the sky and hit the Engine like a hammer.

    The first blow opened cracks all over the gold-veined white stone surface. The second blow spread them like spiderwebs that also appeared over Solus'' skin. The third blow ttened the Engine on the ground like a downed animal.

    ''I can go on like this all day, Elphyn Menadion.'' The World Tree said as all the injuries she had inflicted upon them healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. ''What about you? Do you want to keep fighting a losing battle and die or do you want to surrender and live?

    ''On my terms, sure. To my whims, indeed. But you''ll live.''

    Pain and fury ravaged Solus'' heart as much as the wounds ravaged her body. Her first impulse was to go out with a literal bang by detonating the tower. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Then, the images of Lith came to her mind. Then Elysia and Valeron, quickly followed by the rest of her family. Yet it was the memory of the World Tree''s words that stopped her hand.

    ''You know Verhen is a dangerous man and he would chase me to the ends of Mogar for you.'' Solus quoted them one by one.

    ''Lith is still alive and he''sing for me. I just have to resist for a while.'' She thought. ''Until that moment, I''ll y ball. Or rather, hardball.''

    "Fine. I surrender." She took a deep breath, focusing the energy reserves of the Engine on the repair protocols.

    "Good. Then release the Chroniclers you have captured,e out of the tower, and deactivate it. In this order." The Yggdrasill said, inwardly regretting having lost so many Chroniclers to Menadion''s cruelty.

    "Your order is mymand." Solus increased the output of the Bleed to the maximum, sucking the elves and the living wood dry before spitting them out respectively as bones and splinters.

    Lots of life force was lost in the rushed process, but she was going to lose it anyway so she might as well make the most of it.

    ''Well, with this, the Bleed has enough energy to feed me for a couple of weeks, if I don''t suffer any more wounds.'' A cruel smile appeared on Solus'' face as the entire Fringe shook with the Yggdrasil''s pain.

    "Here I am." Solus came out of the tower, wearing only a day dress, the rest of her equipment safely stored inside the pocket dimension. "Just as you ordered."

    The Engine shrunk back to its ring form and flew on her right middle finger. It had lost full ess to the mana geyser but Solus had made sure the tower had enough energy toplete the repairs.

    On top of that, in its ring form, the tower required minimal power and despite the Yggdrasil control over the Fringe, there was more than enough world energy left to feed the tower and in turn Solus.

    "You killed them!" The World Tree roared. "You killed my Chroniclers and my saplings!"

    "And?" Solus said with a Lith-like smirk on her face. "You told me to release them and I did. You never said anything about how you wanted me to release them."

    "You little¡­" The ground shook as the colossal Yggdrasill shook in outrage.

    Now that she could afford the time to take a look around the Fringe, the heir of the First Awakened was a majestic view. The World Tree was at least 100 meters (330'') tall with branches thick andrge enough to host entire viges popted by elves with golden and silver skin.

    ck- and brown-skinned elves lived under the roots and above the ground instead. Pink-skinned elves simr to those Solus had met in the past lived farther from the Tree, surrounded by cultivated fields and forest des.

    Somehow, a water spring gushed from the top of the Yggdrasil and fell down, forming on each branch it traversed ake that in turn generated a new waterfall.

    It gave the semnce of multiple waterfalls each producing a perennial rainbow that covered the entire span of the Tree.

    She was still gazing upon the cultivated fields, the temples, and the wondrous pieces of art of elven culture when a punch to Solus'' gut made the elf who had dealt it fall to her knees crying.

    "Oopsy! Did you forget that I have the constitution of a tower, dear?" Solus said with the fakestpassion on Mogar.

 Chapter 3148 Foreign Land (Part 2).

    Chapter 3148 Foreign Land (Part 2).

    "You should rather hit yourself. If would be less painful but much more hrious." Solusughed to the elf''s face and many Chroniclers raised their weapons.

    "Stop! We have suffered great losses today, but I need her alive." The Yggdrasil said and the elves reluctantly obeyed. "Do not fear, my Chroniclers, justice is at hands. Soon our prisoner will be bonded to one of your brethren.

    "She will be reduced to a ve and forced to obey everymand. I''m certain we can find something to relieve your anger." At those words, the elves smiled and it was Solus'' turn to frown in anger.

    "Dream on, psycho." She replied.

    "Say what you want while you can, Elphyn Menadion, because soon the day wille when you''ll regret rejecting kindness. We could have worked together to make Mogar a better ce but you chose violence.

    "Remember, everything thates next is on you." The World Tree ignored her and conjured a Gravity array that forced Solus on her knees, binding her hands and feet with their vines.

    ***

    Zeneka Region, outside the remnants of Vidun''s hiding spot, in the middle of nowhere.

    "What was that?" Derek turned in the exact direction of the Fringe, feeling a spark of Solus'' pain as the Annihtions sted the Engine open. "Why do I feel so weird? Why do I feel the need to go in twopletely different directions at the same time?"

    Even in a quasi-Abomination form, the Voidfeather Dragon''s homing instinct was as strong as ever. Derek could feel the pull toward his treasures, no matter the distance. Solus was very far to the north while Elysia was southwest.

    Derek remembered nothing about them. He knew nothing about Mogar. Yet he knew that something was missing. That he was forgetting about something very important. The problem was that he had no idea what it was and no reason to care.

    He was Derek McCoy again, a broken man with nothing left to lose and nothing to live for.

    "Master!" Ragnar?k flew into his hand, whining like a happy puppy. "Daughter. Father. Light. Wife."

    It roughly tranted into: "Let''s go back to your daughter. She must be missing her father already. We can look for your lost light with the help of your wife."

    Too bad that Derek had no familiarity with talking swords and after seeing what had happened to V''horr, his paranoia was cranked up to eleven. He tossed Ragnar?k again and again just for the de to jump back in his hand or on his hip.

    "Holy shit, an ego sword with a crush on me! Ego weapons were always bad news in Dungeons & Looting and hot babes in dumbics. Can you turn into a hot babe?"

    "No." Ragnar?k''s spite at the question was palpable.

    "Can you tell me who I am?" Derek asked.

    "Master."

    "I guessed as much since you''ve not killed me like the knife ears, I meant my race. What''s this thing?" He tapped on his image reflected on the de.

    "My de."

    "Fine. Where are we?"

    "Empty field." Ragnar?k replied, confused by the silly question.

    "I know that! I mean, is this still Earth or are we in a parallel dimension, another world? What?" Derek felt his anger rise as his hunger amplified his violent impulses.

    "Mogar. Not Earth. A."

    "Holy shit, I got reincarnated again. It seems that every time I die, I travel further away." The memory of his death on the alien ship made him shudder. The hunger and agony he had experienced back then weren''t something he wanted to repeat.

    "Do you have any idea if this is the same sr system as Earth and if not, what is it called?"

    "Sr system?" Ragnar?k had no concept of such things and even with their now tenuous blood bond, Derek felt it.

    "Never mind. Let''s take a loOK!" He had used the same strength that on Earth would have made a human take a step.

    Mogar''s gravity was just a bit stronger than Earth''s while Derek now had the body of a bright violet-cored Divine Beast. The step turned into a jump over 10 meters (33'') high that ended with him falling face first on the ground, opening a meters-deep crater.

    "Holy shit! Gravity here is much weaker than on Earth. Heck, even inferior to Mars." He remained still, checking that he had no broken bones before realizing the "truth". "I''ve still got my body from Earth so I''m a superhuman here!"

    He tried to get up and ended up jumping again, crashing down a secondter like a ton of bricks.

    "Scratch that. I''m a cripple here! I can''t even walk." He grumbled. "Think, Derek, think. What would John Carter do?"

    He rolled over, assuming a low stance on all fours to mber out of the crater slowly. It was frustrating and embarrassing but it allowed Derek to notice a detail he had missed in the daze of his second reincarnation.

    His fingers dug through the ground like it was mud and crushed pebbles like they were sugar cubes. He stopped for a while and felt the soil deform under his touch until deep depressions formed around his hands and feet.

    "Newton''s virginity, gravity isn''t the issue here. I''m heavy as fuck and my body is more than sturdy enough to support my mass. I''m the smallest kaiju ever!" Seeing nts and grass wither the moment he approached them, Derek pondered if he might also be radioactive as well.

    "Wait a second. Pitch ck skin, long fangs, deadly touch. Either I''m a goth on steroids or I may be an undead!"

    "Sun." Ragnar?k said. "Up and bright."

    "And since I neither have turned into dandruff or started to shine like a disco ball I''m not a vampire, no matter how badly written." Derek nodded. "The kaiju also sounds like bullshit. What am I?"

    "Tiamat." The annoyed de replied.

    "Now you remember!" Derek grunted, resuming his ascension. "At least I got a cool-sounding name instead of something cringy." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Derek came out of the crater and started to move faster and faster as he regained control of his muscles. Or rather, his body got used to the transition to his Abomination form, triggering the corresponding muscle memory.

    After a few dozen meters, his crawling speed was the same as a regr man sprinting. He got up slowly, keeping his center of gravity slow and taking small steps yet he was so fast that he dug deep furrows in the ground with his boots.

    "How can I learn this fast? I''ve never been dumb, but this is genius level." He said as he went from crawling to squatting, walking, and then running in the span of one minute.

    As his muscle memory kicked in, giving him more and more confidence and control, Derek started to elerate, reaching 60kmph (37mph) and speeding up the more he put strength into his striders.

    "How fast can I move?" Derek had no idea if his current body had adrenaline but he could feel the rush as he went over 150 kmph (94mph).

    For a man dying of cancer whose only family had been killed by a drunken driver, excitement was thest thing he would have expected yet there it was.

 Chapter 3149 Fractured Mind (Part 1)

    Chapter 3149 Fractured Mind (Part 1)

    Killing Carl''s murderer had left Derek as empty as the Void''s name implied. Without his revenge, without his brother, Derek had nothing to live for. With each step he took, Derek discovered that life on Mogar was going to be different.

    There, he was strong and fast.

    All the memories of Lith''s painstaking training sessions and struggles to ovee the bottlenecks were gone, leaving behind only the results. To the Void, he was a version of Derek McCoy who had juste from Earth and found himself in a body with the prowess of a Divine Beast.

    The feeling of power and freedom as the wind struck his face was intoxicating. Derek had no heart but he experienced an adrenaline rush all the same.

    It wasn''t just because of his newfound physical prowess, but because he had once again no care in the world. Living or dying made no difference to him but knowing that this time he could do a lot of damage before kicking the bucket brought a smile to his face.

    Just like Lith during his early days, Derek/the Void was still pondering whether to stay on Mogar or not. Yet he knew that in this life, he wouldn''t be a victim of the circumstances.

    ''Unless everyone on this is as strong as me, of course.'' He thought. ''But I doubt it. A society of demigods would have never built a flimsy shack like that or left so muchnd untouched.

    ''If I''m right, there is now that can stop me. No imbecile with a badge can force me to lower my gaze and ept their idiotic rules. Here and now, I''m thew. I wield a power that can''t be taken away and no written word can stop.

    ''I am a giant in a world of ants and I won''t hesitate to stomp anyone who dares stand in my path, no matter how many of them gather to fight me. Death means nothing to me.''

    Derek had no way to measure his speed but he noticed how it would take him mere seconds to reach something he saw on the horizon and quickly make it disappear behind him. Before he knew it, he was rushing forward at his current top running speed, 326kmph (203 mph).

    Every one of his steps left a deep scar in the ground and produced a boom of thunder. There was no one to see or hear it, but it reinforced Derek''s feeling of power.

    ''Come on, new world. Throw anything you want at me! This time, I''m not just a man you can push around with your shit. This time, I''m the storm!''

    Trees, rivers, animals, everything was supposed to be a blur yet he could see them clearly and react in time. Insects and dust particles mmed against his face with a sizzle as the Abomination devoured them.

    "I wonder if¡­" He tensed the muscles of his legs and took a leap out of curiosity.

    "Holy shit!" Derek quickly reached hundreds of meters of altitude and then started falling even faster, yet he felt no fear, only excitement. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The new world was still unknown, but he had be everything he had always dreamed about as a child. Powerful, unrestrained, fearless.

    He tensed his muscles, trying to brace for impact, when a snap sound drew his attention and broke his fall. Two huge membranous wings had popped out of his back, turning his descent into a glide.

    "Fuck me sideways, I have wings!" He said in excitement.

    His attempts to p his wings ended up in an awkward dive that made him lose altitude fast. Then, he stopped trying to understand what to do and let his body take the wheel again.

    Lith had learned to fly from Fe the Behemoth and spent countless hours practicing in all of his forms. The muscle memory took just a few tries to kick in again and show Derek how it was done.

    "This makes less and less sense by the minute. How can something as heavy as I am fly? And this fast as that?" Thendscape below him changed constantly, Dragonspeed wasn''t just an expression.

    "I''m not even a demigod. I''m a god who dominates the sky." It took Derek several minutes to ovee the high that flying at high speed gave him.

    While looking at Mogar from above, everything looked small and insignificant. Yet the sensation faded with time until he regained enough of his paranoia to wonder if he truly was unique or just one of many.

    "I''d better not overestimate my abilities until I meet other people." Then, the Void noticed two things.

    The first thing was the presence of a constant updraft that filled his wings while he pped them up and supported part of his weight during the rest of the motion.

    The second thing was that he was quickly approaching a mountain range. In other words, if before he was in the middle of nowhere, now Derek was hopelessly lost.

    "This is great." He scoffed. "Let me guess, you don''t know how I''m supposed to brake, do you?"

    "No." Ragnar?k replied as the south side of Mount Mar wrapped Derek in its rocky embrace.

    The impact produced the rumble of an avnche, scaring the local fauna for kilometers.The actual avnche started a whileter, but that''s a story for another day.

    The Abomination found himself deep inside a crater of his own making for one time too many that day.

    "That''s it! Enough experimenting blindly like an idiot. I need to figure out what I am!" The Void said and the Voidfeather Dragon couldn''t agree more.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' He thought. ''George is in full control of our body and has no memory of anything that happened in thest twenty years. Think, Lith, think. How can Imunicate with that jackass before he does something we are going to regret for the rest of my life?

    ''How do I stop a homicidal psychopath with no empathy and a chip on his shoulder the size of a mountain? If I don''t find an answer, George is going to ruin my reputation and everything I''ve built as Lith since the day I arrived on Mogar two decades ago.''

    If someone were to look at Lith''s life force at that moment, they would witness something unique. Both the human and Dragon sides were mortal like everyone else, but luckily, Lith had turned into an Abomination when faced with deadly injuries.

    The Void had no vitals, no organs, nothing that couldpromise his existence if damaged. He was just a mass of living darkness tainted by a small spark of Chaos that constantly ate at everything else.

    The problem was that Strider''s betrayal had been perfect, to the point of triggering something unpredictable. The trauma of losing Solus, followed by the decapitation had left deep wounds on the human side that not even consuming the Zouwu had healed.

    The damage had spread beyond the physical aspect, fracturing Lith''s mind as well. He was currently in aa, trying to fix his maimed body and soul. Solus'' absence, theck of his guiding star, had left him stranded in his own mind.

    To survive, his life forces had rearranged themselves in the opposite of what their configuration had been while Lith was still a Wyrmling.

 Chapter 3150 Fractured Mind (Part 2)

    Chapter 3150 Fractured Mind (Part 2)

    The ck sphere of the Abomination had swallowed the other two life forces to keep them alive. The Divine Beast side, in turn, had wrapped itself around what was left of the human body to shield it from the deathly touch of the Abomination and hasten its recovery.

    Yet the fracturings of the Tiamat''s life force had affected Lith''s psyche so much that the human side had shut itself down to preserve what little strength it had left. Also, the Voidfeather was almost cut off from the Abomination.

    With the human life force in shambles, the Voidfeathercked the necessary strength to fully contain the Abomination and needed to keep his distance. The problem was that doing that limited his ability tomunicate with the Void.

    ''The situation is not good. If I can''t talk with him, I can''t exin what has happened to George. If I do establish a full connection, however, there''s the risk that our life forces will merge again before the wounds we have suffered have fully healed.

    ''If that happens, we''ll die. We''d be back in our human form, with an almost severed neck, two holes in the chest, and unconscious. Unless I find someone capable of using Invigoration, I must keep the life forces split.

    ''At the moment my only option is to buy time to let the psychic trauma ease and let the physical damage of the human side heal enough so that fusing back into one body and mind won''t kill us.

    ''At the same time, if I let George run rampant, he''ll make a massacre. He has no idea where we are and how hard we''ve worked to build our life and reputation. Heck, even Mom would never forgive me for the most basic shit I would have done back on Earth if I ever had this kind of power.

    ''Heisenberg''s beard, what can I do?'' While the Voidfeather Dragon tried to figure out how to have his cake and eat it too, the Abomination emerged from the crater in the mountain''s side and stared at thendscape.

    "I''m hungry like I''ve never been my whole life, I''m on an alien, and my onlypanion is a talking sword. This day couldn''t get any worse." He grunted and his eyes went wide in surprise at the realization.

    "Wait a second, I understood the tiger guy but he didn''t understand me. If this really is an alien, how can you speak English?" Derek asked.

    "I don''t. Blood bond." Ragnar?k took in and out the metal spikes on its hilt, making them pass through the Abomination harmlessly like when it had pinned Strider to the Void.

    The contact with the spikes and the words "Blood bond" triggered the memory of the time Orion had gifted War to Lith. The Abomination fell to his knees while holding his head, feeling like it was seconds away from bursting open.

    He witnessed the secret chamber in the Ernas Mansion, Raaz and Orion talking about something he didn''t understand, and then the unveiling of a bastard sword. It was simr to Ragnar?k, yet different.

    Amid the fits of pain and the shes of light, Derek heard the following words echoing in his mind.

    ''Ragnar?k is a cursed de that cannot be sheathed back without spilling blood. Yet its aim is always true and its loyalty to me is unbreakable.''

    "Who''s talking? Who''s me?" Derek felt his head explode as one memory after the other flooded his mind, bringing him closer and closer to reconnecting with the human side.

    ''Oh, no you don''t!'' The Voidfeather stepped in before the sudden influx of Lith''s thought forced the Void to shapeshift back into human form.

    The Voidfeather Dragon couldn''t deliver information to the Void directly but he could control the flow of memories from the human side to the Abomination and stop the merging process.

    With the Voidfeather''s intervention, the pain lessened and the Void had no recollection of his life as Lith again, ensuring that the barrier between the life forces would hold.

    ''I can''t let George focus too much on what he has just seen. I need to keep him busy. Feed him enough information to protect himself and maybe think twice before going on a murder spree.

    ''Here goes everything!'' The Voidfeather contacted the angry de and gave it a precise sequence of instructions.

    Even Ragnar?k''s semi-consciousness found those orders ridiculous but it enforced them nheless.

    Derek was still holding his head, fighting back the pain he suffered while trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed when the silver gem on Ragnar?k''s fuller projected a hologram with Light Mastery.

    It was a golden te filled with ck letters forming what looked like the status window of one of his video games back on Earth.

    ''There. This is a cheap shot and the timing is awfully convenient, but I''ve always been nerd enough to buy this crap.''

    "What is this?" Derek was bbergasted. "It looks like some sort of character sheet. The design is so cheap that it looks like something I would put together in a rush and the timing of its appearance is awfully convenient."

    ''Shut the fuck up!'' The Voidfeather thought while he instructed Ragnar?k to give the hologram more ir. ''This is already hard as it is. I can''t deal with your whining right now.''

    "Oh, well." Derek shrugged. "I''ve died twice and reincarnated as many times. I''m in a world with elves, talking humanoid tigers, and even swords. I guess this is believable. Kind of."

    The golden window mentioned nothing about a system or Derek''s current predicament. It read:

    Derek McCoy. Current race: Abomination.

    Under the first line, there was what looked like a progress bar but instead of experience requirements, it carried two names. On the far-left side, where the minimum level was supposed to be, it just said "Derek McCoy".

    On the far-right side, instead, there was the word "Lith Verhen".

    "Verhen." The Void said out loud. "Why does this name sound familiar? I remember the knife ears and the tiger man mentioning it but I have no idea what it means and what rtion it has with me."

    Under the bar, there were lots of words. Some made sense, but most didn''t. All of them were greyed out and surrounded by stylized chains. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What''s a Kami?" Derek asked while reading the word several times to make sure his vision wasn''t still blurred from thending.

    "Wife." Ragnar?k replied.

    "You have a wife?" Derek was bbergasted.

    "No. Master''s wife."

    "Tell me another." The Void scoffed. "I''ve just gotten here, how can I have a wife? Do you have any idea what an Elysia is? Or a Solus? They must be as important as the Kami because these three words are the biggest here."

    Ragnar?k could feel that its master wasn''t ready to ept the answer so it remained silent.

    Derek tried to interact with the various names, but nothing happened until he touched Solus''. A second hologram appeared, reading:

    "Main Quest: find the missing pieces of your heart¡­"

    "My heart?" Derek burst into a derangedughter, forcing the Voidfeather Dragon to apply a quick fix.

    "The missing pieces of your soul." The text blurred and changed, making Derek rub his eyes in disbelief. "They have been stolen after your reincarnation. Establish friendly rtionships with the people of this world. Without their help, you''ll be never whole again."

 Chapter 3151 Missing Pieces (Part 1)

    Chapter 3151 Missing Pieces (Part 1)

    ''This should do.'' The Voidfeather Dragonplimented himself for the job well done. ''There''s no way Geroge can find Solus on his own, but if I push him to interact with people without murdering them, our friends and family will find us.

    ''At that point, I can fuse our life forces and restore his memory. Even if George copses in the process and the wounds reopen, even Kami can save our life with Invigoration.

    ''Now, for the final touch¡­''

    "Tutorial: learn the basic survival skills, sword and magic."

    "I must be going crazy. This shit can''t be real." Derek was stunned but since he had nothing to lose, he followed the instructions and assumed the basic sword stance he had learned on Earth.

    Then, the Voidfeather had Ragnar?k project a hologram of a young Lith back at the White Griffon academy right beside the Void. In front of both of them appeared a hologram of a young Friya, holding her old training rapier.

    Derek experienced a mild headache. The kids were familiar to him. Their clothes were familiar, but he was certain to have never met them his entire life. That was all part of the Voidfeather''s n.

    He needed to introduce his friends to the Void so that once he met them, he would recognize and hopefully trust them. Also, by giving the Abomination side bits of memory at a time, the Voidfeather hoped to steer the Void to a more friendly disposition.

    "What am I supposed to do?" He asked, but no one answered.

    ''If only we could talk.'' The Voidfeather Dragon griped. ''All I can do right now is keep the flow of memories to a minimum and nudge him in the right direction. Come on, idiot. You''re too much of a nerd to not know what to do.''

    After a bit of thinking, the Void assumed the same stance as academy Lith. Ragnar?k altered the appearance of its scabbard to give it an edge without releasing its real de and the hologram started to y.

    Academy Friya kicked the Void''s ass in two moves. Her rapier pierced his right shoulder and then his heart, forcing the scenario to start over.

    "Fuck me sideways! I''m faster and stronger than any human now. How can this girl keep up with me?" The answer was that being everything a hologram, there was no such thing as physical limits.

    On the second attempt, Derek observed academy Lith''s movements first and then tried to replicate them. He could see where to put his feet, how to move his sword, and had short glimpses of what Friya was about to do.

    "Use those legs, Lith." Academy Friya said. "You can''t stand still. Remember the three key points of swordsmanship.Always look at your opponent''s dominant shoulder, make use of your wrist, and remember your footwork.

    "Don''t look the opponent in the eyes nor their sword. It just makes you easily distracted and doesn''t help reading feints. Don''t keep your arm rigid like a stick. Be flexible and ready to react.

    "Last but not least, a fixed target is an easy target. Swordsmanship isn''t a fistfight. Dodging doesn''t work because the tip of my sword is faster than your legs. Keep your de up and use defensive maneuvers while you move."

    Derek followed her instructions, but he kept getting his ass kicked. With every attempt, however, he got ustomed to Ragnar?k''s weight and range. He also recovered his muscle memory and in less than an hour he had cleared every exercise.

    "Congrattions! Basic swordsmanship mastered. Intermediate swordsmanship training is now avable."

    The male kid was reced by a serious-looking youth with a buzz cut and dressed like a military cadet while the female kid was reced by a scruffy man with the most punchable face Derek had ever seen.

    "Why do these people all look familiar and how could I learn this quickly? It''s the same thing that happened when I learned to run and fly. I went from noob to ''this is awesome'' before I could even realize it."

    His exercises against Morok''s hologram progressed even faster and before sundown, Derek had recovered the fighting skills up to his boot camp. Thepletion bar was now partially filled and his head hurt like crazy.

    "I need a break!" He threw Ragnar?k away in frustration, but the angry de returned to him immediately. "What are you, a boomerang? Leave me alone!"

    "No, master. Chaos. Danger." The sword whimpered like a scared puppy, making Derek narrow his eyes, and not just because of the pain.

    "Wait, why is your scabbard filled with ck dots now? I''m certain they weren''t there back when I picked you up for the first time." He said and he was right.

    With his life forces separated, keeping the Abomination form for too long meant giving the Chaos spark inside of him the opportunity to corrupt the rest of his energy body until it reached his mana core.

    If that were to happen, Lith would have turned into a true Abomination.

    Luckily for him, Ragnar?k was using the light and darkness crystals on its fuller along with the life force stored in the scabbard to take the damage in his ce.

    "Chaos. Danger." The sword replied.

    The Davross of Ragnar?k''s de could take a lot of punishment, but there was only so much Cursed Element it could neutralize in the long run without endangering its power core.

    "Whatever." For some reason, Derek felt that he could trust the cursed de but at the same time, his paranoia made him doubt Ragnar?k. "Why am I stuck at intermediate swordsmanship? Where''s advanced?"

    "Insufficient level." The window replied. "Go and have more experiences."

    "Don''t you mean, collect more experience?" Paranoia made Derek distrustful and hunger made him cranky.

    As time passed, he only felt worse.

    "Go and have more experiences." The hologram remained unchanged. "Starting magic tutorial."

    "This world has magic?" The Void couldn''t believe his eyes but the opportunity was too good to turn down so he shut up and followed the instructions.

    A four year old version of Lith appeared, showing Derek the six starting elemental runes and teaching him their names.

    "Ekidu! Vinire! Infiro! Jorun! Magna! Brezza!"

    Derek found it all ridiculous but he couldn''t argue with the results. He learned the runes and conjured his first chore magic spells with an unsettling ease. The same happened with fusion magic.

    "Basic fusion magic, mastered. Basic elemental magic, mastered. Spirit Magic unlocked. Do you want to practice it?" The hologram asked.

    "No. This stopped being funny a while ago." Derek shook his head. "Let''s assume this is real. Who the hell would be so kind to set this up for someone they don''t even know? What''s the point of giving me this kind of power for free? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No one is so generous. The only possible exnation is that you are trying to manipte me. To make me do your bidding with the promise of tasty treats like I''m a trained dog!"

    ''Shit! I hoped it would take him longer to connect the dots.'' The Voidfeather Dragon stopped to consider his options and the holograms fizzled out of existence.

    "Don''t you dare run away! I demand answers!" The Void roared in frustration.

    His headache kept getting worse as thepletion bar filled.

 Chapter 3152 Missing Pieces (Part 2)

    Chapter 3152 Missing Pieces (Part 2)

    Every time the Void remembered one of Lith''s abilities, he became stronger but he also felt something stirring inside of him.

    The flow of knowledge from the human side to the Void created a safe connection between them that the Voidfeather Dragon exploited to draw more energy from the Abomination and heal the human side.

    Thepletion bar marked how close Lith was to making a full recovery.

    "Tell me why I''m so fucking hungry!" Derek screamed as his rationality slipped away.

    As the sun went down on the horizon, the light and warmth that had fed the Abomination side until that moment disappeared. Without them, the spark of Chaos became stronger.

    "I need food. Any food." Driven by instinct and desperation, Derek''s Awakened senses allowed him to perceive all the life forms in his surroundings.

    By the end of the night, Mount Mar had be barren for kilometers and very few animals managed to escape the fury of the Abomination.

    ***

    Zeneka Region, Outskirts of Vidun''s hiding spot, a few hours earlier.

    Reaching the vige of Xant had been rtively easy, but at that point, things had gottenplicated. Even with Zoreth''s help, locating the site of the ambush had taken a while.

    By the time Ryka, Kam, and the rest of Lith''s friends reached the wreckage of the hunting cabin, the Void was long gone.

    "I don''t get it. They assumed a battle formation right before fighting against each other." The Shadow Dragon took sharp sniffs circling around the remains of the hut while the others kept themselves at a distance to not mess with her perceptions.

    "Why did Lith kill Strider?" Ryka sobbed between Kam''s arms, finding no reasonable exnation for the murder.

    The equipment of the Zouwuy on the ground where the Abomination had left it, the corpse reduced to a pile of ashes.

    "He didn''t." Zoreth replied. "There are traces of Lith''s blood on Strider''s des yet your friend was killed in one blow. Based on the pattern of their movements, Strider attacked first. Most likely a betrayal."

    "How can you say that?" Ryka said in outrage. "You didn''t know him! He was loyal and honest to a fault. You are just trying to defend Verhen because you''ve never liked Strider!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I didn''t like the guy, but this doesn''t change the evidence." Zoreth closed her eyes in an attempt to hide her annoyance.

    "What evidence? Verhen and Strider must have argued about the grimoire, Verhen killed Strider and escaped to not answer for his crimes. It''s the only usible exnation." The Titania replied.

    "Stop thinking like a little girl at her first crush and use your gods-damn brain!" The Shadow Dragon snarled. "First, tell me in what world your dear friend could wound Lith as much as the blood spats suggest.

    "The mass gap, the size of their weapons, not to mention that Solus would have never just stood there and watched. You''ve seen them fight. What chances of victory do you think Strider had against them?"

    "None." Ryka admitted with a sniff.

    "Yet he spilled Lith''s blood. Lots of it. Strider even forced Lith to use his Abomination powers." The Shadow Dragon pointed at the charred stains left by the corrosive ck blood. "Also, they weren''t alone here.

    "I found the smell of that Vidun guy here and the smell of two more people. And they were both elves." She knelt and picked up one of the pieces of the destroyed Darwen armor thaty on the ground.

    Ryka recognized it as the equipment of the thieves and a brief examination confirmed it. When whole, the armor sealed odors, aura, everything. Yet Ragnar?k had burst the Darwen armor open when the de had made V''horr explode, covering the fragments in entrails and making them easy to find.

    "An elf?" Everyone echoed, struggling to exin the presence of such an elusive creature.

    "Yes." Zoreth pointed at the footprints on the ground. "One of them carried Solus away with a Warp Steps while the other stood right here, in front of Strider. He was still alive and I can''t find any sign he tried to stop them."

    "Maybe he was outnumbered and outmatched." The Titania tried to rationalize the events. "When they attacked us in the Garden, there were many of them. Maybe they used the same strategy here and you can''t smell the other assants because of the armor."

    "Really?" The Shadow Dragon sneered at Ryka''s stubbornness. "Then why there are traces of Lith''s blood on Strider''s des and none of the elves? Why do you think Lith kept Kami updated about the mission whereas Strider kept you in the dark?

    "On top of that, we all know Lith. How many chances there are he would leave behind loot that he could im after proving his innocence?" Zoreth jabbed with her thumb at the priceless Adamant equipment that stilly on the ground.

    "None." Ryka had witnessed Lith''s stinginess in person and no matter how much she tried, every theory she came up with was paper thinpared to the Shadow Dragon''s reasoning.

    "I have no idea what happened here, but there are a few things I''m certain." Zoreth said. "Lith would have never let someone take Solus away without a fight, yet there''s no trace of a serious battle between Awakened.

    "The craters on the ground bear a single footprint and the residual smell confirms it. Lith left them after jumping around like an idiot. Also, Solus must have been unconscious the whole time.

    "Her smell doesn''t move from this spot and there is no sign of resistance as they dragged her to the Gate."

    "To make matters even more absurd, I''m certain Lith survived the encounter. I can pick up his smell all around here like he had some kind of seizure. Yet he didn''t Warp, he didn''t fly, and he didn''t call any of us for help.

    "Whatever wound he suffered, it did more than affect just his body."

    "I can confirm Zoreth''s analysis." Friya did her best to reopen the Warp Gate the Chroniclers had used but the dimensional energy had been copsed first and then rxed in order to erase the coordinates inscribed in the spell.

    "A very long-distance dimensional tunnel has been opened here and whoever did it took great care covering their tracks. Also, look at this." She pointed at the now-imprintless Home Stone.

    "That thing carries Strider''s smell and no one else''s." Zoreth nodded.

    Ryka checked the artifact and noticed that it had been set to the hut''s coordinates right before Strider''s rune had disappeared. On top of that, it was the same kind of Home Stone that she had seen the Zouwu use many times in the past.

    "But why? Why would he do it? He and Lith had gotten on much better terms after meeting with the undead. Strider told me himself." The Titania fell on her knees, sobbing.

    Not only had Ryka lost the person she loved, but she also suddenly felt like that person had never existed in the first ce. The Strider who had died there wasn''t the kind and loyal Zouwu she had fallen for.

    He was a traitor and coward. The two images were at odds as much as her heart and mind.

 Chapter 3153 Father (Part 1)

    Chapter 3153 Father (Part 1)

    "We''ll ask Lith about Strider''s motives when and if we find him." Zoreth replied.

    "What do you mean, if? Can''t you track him?" Kam asked.

    "I can try, but it''s not going to be easy. I can follow his trail on the ground from the craters he left while running away, but if he has taken the sky, I''ll only have his smell to find him and that doesn''tst long. Abominations take, they don''t leave. I''ll give it a go anyway. Byt?"

    "I''ll protect everyone until your return." The Raiju conjured the Absolution and set a detection array field.

    Zoreth nodded and ran along Lith''s footprints. When they disappeared, she took flight, hoping that Dragonspeed would be enough to catch up with the lingering smell before high-altitude currents scattered it to the wind.

    "What do you want us to do?" Quy asked Kam.

    "We wait until Zoreth returns." She wrung her hands, trying to suppress the horrible feeling that something was wrong with Lith. "If she can''t find anything, we''ll contact the Royals, the Council, Vastor, anyone who can help us.

    "Just leave Solus out of your report. We can''t risk exposing their bond and I doubt that whoever worked so hard to kidnap her is going to make it easy to find her. Lith is our first priority and only clue to rescue Solus."

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree, the morning after.

    Solus had been locked inside a cell made from living Yggdrasill wood. It was a small square room, barely 2 meters (6''7") per side, and it waspletely empty. The walls were over 5 meters (17'') thick and there was no door or window.

    Whenever a Chronicler entered or a meal was delivered, an opening would form in the wood and let light in. The rest of the time the cell waspletely dark. It was supposed to wear on her nerves and undermine her willpower, but Solus didn''t care.

    Her arm was still missing and the wound on her stomach was still open. The moment the elves had left her alone, Solus had gone back into her ring to save her strength and heal faster.

    For something that small, the cell was spacious and the darkness didn''t bother her.

    ''The World Fucker must be really into me if they didn''t cut me off the world energy with a Sealed Space.'' She thought. ''The only things I don''t understand is why they haven''t sent someone to imprint me already and why the Fringe still bears the energy signature of the tower.

    ''In the Tree''s shoes, I''d have gotten rid of that immediately. Otherwise, the moment I get to touch the ground again, I can activate the Predator Engine.''

    ''Cursed be Ripha Menadion!'' The World Tree''s n was exactly as Solus had predicted.

    They wanted to get their vines on the tower immediately and destroy its hold over the geyser, but wanting and doing had turned out to be twopletely different things.

    ''I can''t use my Chroniclers to imprint the tower and now I have to find a Librarian trustworthy enough not to run away with it the moment they understand how powerful an artifact it is. Then, I have to teach them how to control Elphyn!

    ''This is a disaster. My quest for Guardianhood will be dyed for Mogar knows how long. Even worse, the ursed Ruler of the mes dared taint my Fringe! When the tower engaged the Predator Protocol, its energy signature infected the world energy of my home like cancer.

    ''The more I try to purify it, the more it spreads and multiply!''

    Ripha Menadion had worked until the day of her death to prepare for the moment when her legacy would be passed on to Elphyn and ensure she would not end up like Threin.

    It was just two decades, a short time for Awakened standards. Yet it was plenty of time for someone who already was at the peak of her profession and had shamelessly asked the help of older Awakened like Baba Yaga and Lochra Silverwing.

    The Predator protocol and the Bleed were the culmination of Menadion''s research about Forbidden Magic and undead, now made even worse by Solus'' modern magic and Lith''s Abomination half.

    The imprint left by the tower was hard to cleanse because it fed on both the world energy and the mana of the spells used to destroy it, converting their strength into its own.

    "Do you want us to give Elphyn another beating to soften her up?" A female Chronicler asked.

    ''I can''t risk damaging the tower further and wait years for it to repair.'' The Yggdrasill shook its foliage. ''Menadion made Elphyn the priority, the tower is programmed to sacrifice itself for her.

    ''Besides, once the ring gets imprinted, she''ll be under my leaf. No, Q''porr, I haven''t called you here to take care of Elphyn but of Verhen. Find him and kill him. Take whatever you need from the armory and as many Chroniclers as you need.

    ''We must stop him from asking the help of the Eldritches. They are the only threat to my n. Also, his head on a silver tter will be the best revenge you can exact on her.''

    "Excellent point, my Liege." The elf smiled at the idea. "She killed the people I love. It''s only fair we return her the favor."

    ***

    Hessar Region, near the borders with the Gorgon Empire, Mount Mar.

    Derek returned to the ce of his crashnding, the best next thing to what he could consider his base camp, by sunrise. He was covered in the blood of his prey. Bears, stags, eagles it didn''t matter if they were at the top or bottom of the food chain. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As long as they lived, they were food to him.

    "This was weird as fuck." He still talked out loud, a habit he had taken after quitting his job. With Carl dead, Derek had no one he wanted to talk to, and slow death by cancer was no easy ride. "I could follow tracks.

    "I recognized the footprints of animals I''ve only seen on TV and others don''t even exist on Earth. I moved like a ninja, always following the wind and without making a sound. And I have no clue why I''m dragging this with me."

    The Void carried a deer carcass with wind magic, to keep his Abomination Touch from destroying it.

    As the sun rose above the horizon, spreading light and heat, Derek felt his restless hunger subside. It had tormented him the whole night, the only moments of respite when he sucked histest prey dry.

    Yet the moment the corpse turned into ashes and slipped through his fingers, the hunger would return anew, barely abated. The Void had kept hunting because albeit short, those moments of relief allowed him to think.

    Ever since he had woken up near the tiger man, he had reacted to his surroundings by instinct and taken everything that came to his mind as a usible exnation. The only good thing about the hunger was that it overpowered everything else.

    It had cleared his mind and forced him to focus on the task at hand, instead of rambling like a maniac.

 Chapter 3154 Father (Part 2)

    Chapter 3154 Father (Part 2)

    The hunger had forced him to hunt, and after every sessful ambush, he had learned something new about his condition.

    "I''ve practiced magic with the tutorial for just a few hours, yet I knew how to cancel my smell, presence, and even how to soften the ground upon my passage. Otherwise, with the heavy ass I got, the animals would have heard meing from a mile away." Derek thought.

    "I knew when and where to strike. Yet I''ve never hunted my whole life. Heck, I''d never left the city. All this situation is off. It''s like I''ve be a different person." He looked at his Voidwalker armor as it absorbed the blood instead of cleaning it, bringing it in contact with the Void''s body to feed him.

    Once back at the camp, Derek sat down on the biggest rock he could find and kept mulling over the mystery at hand.

    "I know who I am. I''m Derek McCoy from Earth. I killed my father and raised my brother Carl like my son. I lost him to a spoiled rotten piece of shit called Chris Wainright." His voice grew louder and angrier with every word he spoke until only a savage growl remained.

    "I attended my brother''s funeral. I got stage four lung cancer. I avenged my brother and killed even cancer." Heughed at his own joke, yet it was a wry and mirthless sound. "Then the alien ship. The hunger, the madness until an energy spear stabbed me into¡­ this."

    The Void waved at his body.

    "I''m definitely not an undead as they are described in Dungeons & Looting rulebooks or Earth''s lore. My powers rise with the sun and go down with it. I''d say I''ve reincarnated into a Fire Dragon, but I''m too small and look nothing like a Dragon.

    "The real question, however, is not who I am but if I care. I''ve died twice, I can do it again. This ce so far is nothing much and this hunger sure is a nice incentive to leave." Just like upon his original arrival on Mogar, Derek''s first thought was about leaving.

    To take another spin at reincarnation and hope for better luck. Yet unlike twenty years ago, now there was no family or possible future in sight to steer his judgment. There was only his equipment.

    "Also, where the fuck does this stuffe from? Who was the guy whose body I''ve overtaken? What-" Derek heard a whimper and turned around with lightning-fast reflexes, calling Ragnar?k to his aid.

    It was then that the whimper repeated and Derek noticed it came from his right hand.

    Even with all the blood collected during the night hunt, the scabbard had turned almost entirely ck. Only a few red dots remained and the angry de quivered in pain.

    "What''s wrong, buddy?" For some reason, Derek felt bad for Ragnar?k, which was weird.

    Not because ego weapons were supposed to be bad. Not because they had met for less than a day. It was weird because Derek wasn''t used to feeling anything. After Carl''s death, the fires of revenge had kept him alive but after killing Chris, even that was gone.

    The Void was true to his name, feeling nothing and wishing for nothing.

    "Pain." Ragnar?k whined. "So much pain."

    "Are you in pain?" Derek asked in surprise.

    "Always." The agonizing de actually meant: "Always when you are in your Abomination form" but Derek took it literally.

    "I hear you, buddy. Ever since I woke up, I''m always hungry. Is there anything I can do for you?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yes. Point me up." Ragnar?k said and Derekplied.

    The stubborn de activated the silver and ck crystals on its fuller to contain the Chaos long enough to activate its Gleipnir enchantment safely. Golden chains erupted from the scabbard, connecting Ragnar?k with the Voidwalker armor and the rest of the equipment bearing a power core.

    It also allowed the de to take control of the Void''s mana. Derek''s paranoia warned him to cut the spell off but his instinct told him there was nothing wrong. That he could trust Ragnar?k.

    Bybining all those forces, the angry de managed to channel and focus the umted Chaos into the tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void. A ck spear the size of a small tree erupted from the de''s tip and bolted up to the sky.

    There was nothing on its path but a huge cloud that Howling Void pierced open, leaving a perfect circle as if the condensed water had just disappeared. The bigger bits left after the st rearranged themselves into small clouds while the rest simply disappeared.

    The aftershock from using Chaos magic reverberated through Ragnar?k and the Voidwalker armor, but the Davross of which they were made took the brunt of the impact, leaving Derek to withstand the rough equivalent of a strong gut punch.

    "That was amazing! Can you do that whenever you want?" He asked.

    "Can. Don''t want to." Ragnar?k whimpered as its bloody scabbard still sizzled with wild energy.

    Derek noticed that the ckness was gone and the scabbard was back to being bright red. The process had required the equivalent energy of a lesser de Tier spell and time to channel the Chaos away from Derek, but it was a sess.

    The angry de could go back suppressing the Chaos spark in the Void''s body with minimal effort until the corruption spread again. There was a lot of time until sundown and Ragnar?k would use it to refill the various power cores of Lith''s equipment.

    "Where did I get you, buddy?" Derek asked.

    "Father." The de replied, and the image of a tall, rough giant of a man shed for a second in front of Lith''s eyes.

    "Who is this father¡­" The Void''s lips curled up in disgust as the word also conjured the memory of his Earth father, Ezio McCoy. Then, Ezio''s face disappeared, reced by a kind man dressed like a poor farmer.

    Raaz was tired from a long day of work in that memory, but he talked to a young Lith with a calm and soothing voice as he taught the child how to whittle.

    "Father?" Derek echoed and once again Ezio briefly came to his mind before being reced by Raaz holding his baby boy.

    Then, the Void saw Lith as an adult, holding the newborn Elysia after bing a father himself. He fell to his knees in agony, feeling like his skull was about to be split open from the inside.

    He struck at his temples and mmed his head against the ground, but the physical pain was nothingpared to the aching he felt in his very soul.

    ''Fuck me sideways, time to intervene again!'' The Voidfeather Dragon saw the human life force stir, but it was still too damaged to allow it to awaken.

    The Voidfeather reinforced the barrier between the life forces, cutting himself further from the Void in order to stop the flow of memories before it was toote.

    "What was that?" Derek found himself lying with his back on the ground. His body was unscathed but he panted and wheezed like he had just fought for his life.

    One word echoed in his mind, answering his question.

    ''Elysia.''

 Chapter 3155 Unsettling Answers (Part 1)

    Chapter 3155 Unsettling Answers (Part 1)

    "Okay, and what''s an Elysia?" Heartache and longing were the only replies Derek received.

    Even with the life forces wounded and split, the Void could still feel Elysia''s presence in the distance.

    He turned around until he could feel something calling unto him.

    "Dya! Dya!" Back at the Verhen Mansion, the baby girl felt his call too, but no one understood why she started crying and ying her small limbs in the direction her father was.

    Back on Mount Mna, Derek had now even more questions and one answer he didn''t like one bit.

    "Okay, I want to make another experiment." He tried to take the Voidwalker armor off but before he could look fortches, the artifact turned into a silvery liquid and slipped off him.

    "Fuck me sideways, is the armor a living symbiote?"

    "No." Ragnar?k answered. "Just metal."

    "What about you?" Derek asked.

    "No." Ragnar?k repeated, this time with a hint of sadness in the sound produced by its straps. "Just metal."

    The Void took his time studying the armor and its design, finding it familiar.

    Derek recognized many details that matched exactly how a long time ago he had imaged his custom armor in Dungeons & Looting. There were even a few etchings that came from other franchises he was a huge fan of.

    "By the Emperor, only someone from Earth can have crafted something like this. Does it mean I''m not the only one? Have I possessed the body of another human or what?"

    As he passed his hand over the breastte, a silvery and sweetughter echoed through his mind. He saw long flowing hair of a brown so light that it looked golden, a warm smile that never left him, and the yful banter between friendly rivals.

    "Solus." The word came to his mouth by itself, followed by another pang that he managed to repress. "What''s a Solus and how do I know this name?"

    More longing, more emptiness. Derek had no way to know Solus'' position, but he felt her absence deeply. He felt that something was missing and he needed to take it back.

    "This confirms my suspicions." He said once he managed to stand up again. "I know what''s happening. I know how I got here."

    ''About time!'' The Voidfeather clenched his fists in triumph. ''That jackass of George did it. He followed the trail of breadcrumbs I left him and understood that he has amnesia! Now he only has to go out and ask for help to-''

    "A powerful being, probably the Lith Verhen of thepletion bar, died and is now using me as a life vessel for his essence." The Void said, following the reasoning conjured by his wild paranoia and the too many fantasy novels he had read back on Earth.

    ''The fuck?'' The Voidfeather thought.

    "The memories I''m experiencing since I woke up here belong to him. This is why I''m able to master so many unknown skills so quickly. I''m not actually learning so much as remembering Verhen''s skills.

    "The moment thepletion bar is filled, my mind will disappear and he''ll take over my body."

    ''Yes, but no!'' The Dragon beat himself in exasperation. ''I mean, yes, he got most of it right since he''s remembering, not learning. Yet once our human life force heals, George won''t disappear.

    ''He''ll simply regain his memory and we''ll be back to being Lith Verhen. How can he be so stupid? Use am''s razor, dammit. The simplest exnation is usually the correct one.

    ''What''s more likely? Amnesia, or being summoned to another world by an evil overlord?''

    "It exins everything." The Void said. "I''ve been summoned to this world by an evil overlord!"

    ''No, no, no! How can you only manage to listen to the wrong side of my thoughts?'' The Voidfeather wanted to cry, but in the Mindspace he had no tears.

    "It''s not great but at least it beats reincarnating in the body of a deadbeat or profligate noble." The Void shrugged. "I mean, it''s not like I risk anything. The moment I feel my mind slipping away, I can always kill myself as a fuck you to the bastard.

    "He''ll have to start all over again while I get to spin the wheel of fate again." Derekughed, thinking his imaginary enemy already beaten. "Now, let''s see what I can do."

    He donned the Voidwalker armor again, using its ws to field-dress the deer. The Void managed to bleed, skin, and remove the entrails with ease. He fed the blood to Ragnar?k which gratefully epted it to mend the scabbard.

    As he emptied the carcass'' guts, more memories shed in front of his eyes. He saw a cute woman with sharp eyes and a mocking smile teaching a young kid how to butcher a bunny and a squirrel.

    "Selia." He muttered as he followed her instructions to the letter.

    Derek consumed the organs with Abomination Touch right after removing them and once he was done, he cooked the deer with a mix of fire and air magic.

    "I knew it. These memories don''t belong to me. The bastard is lulling me with the promise of easy power. He wants me to willingly ept his essence and take over. Yet there''s something I don''t understand.

    "I don''t feel any external will. Nopulsion to do or not do something. I just get better at stuff just by doing it."

    ''Because there is no external will, you dimwit!'' The Voidfeather Dragon cursed himself for having never prepared a contingency n for such an eventuality. ''How could I have been so stupid? I knew I was suicidal.

    ''I should have left a note, a hologram, any kind of message to myself in case of amnesia.'' Then, he realized how unlikely the eventuality was.

    For an Awakened, losing their memory was nigh impossible since Invigoration would restore their body and brain. For someone like Lith, with Solus ready to treat any wound he suffered or perform a mind fusion to share her eidetic memory with him, leaving a note made no sense.

    ''Of course I didn''t. I have Solus. Or rather, I had Solus. She was my contingency n to my contingency ns.'' The Voidfeather Dragon sighed, wishing to see her again.

    To see her smile and hear herugh.

    ''No time to brood like a George.'' He snapped himself out of his stupor. ''I have to find a way tomunicate with him withoutpromising the life support system of my human life force.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In the real world, the Void ripped a huge chunk of meat and brought it to his mouth. He felt no taste due to his fangs draining the nutrients from the flesh and sucking what vitality was left, making it rot.

    Before he could dig his fangs into the meat, it spoiled and turned into disgusting ashes that covered his tongue, making him cough.

    "Seriously?" He would have puked his guts out if they weren''t always empty. "How does this guy expect anyone to take his bait if this is the reward? I''m always hungry, eating gives me no pleasure, and I bet I can''t even have sex.

    "This isn''t a dream life. This is a nightmare." He tried a couple more times, but after eating ashes, the Void just drained the carcass and decided to move on.

 Chapter 3156 Unsettling Answers (Part 2)

    Chapter 3156 Unsettling Answers (Part 2)

    "I''m already tired of being alone on a mountain." He unfurled his wings and took flight. "Time to explore this new world and see if it has anything worth living for."

    ***

    Distar Region, Verhen Mansion, at the same time.

    "I''m sorry, Kami." Zoreth said via tomunication amulet. "I followed Lith''s trail on the ground until he took flight. After that, I noticed that he doesn''t seem to know the first thing about flying.

    "His pattern was irregr like he was having multiple seizures through the air. I thought I would be able to catch up with him, but after a while, he got better and I lost him. I think he has amnesia."

    "How can you say that?" Elina took themunicator from Kam''s hands and yelled like Zoreth was a mile away.

    "Think about it, Elina. We know from the traces on the ground that he crawled and jumped around. It makes no sense, unless you consider that he might not know how to control his strength." The Shadow Dragon tried to be patient and understanding.

    She was worried about Lith and Solus as much as Elina but after spending all her life fighting, she had learned that losing her cool would do her no good.

    "Even though he now has the body of a Divine Beast, his instincts are those of a human. He trained for years to hide his Awakened strength andter to adjust to his new body. If I''m right, he''s like a newborn now.

    "On top of that, I can find no other reasonable exnation for his disappearance. Why run and fly when he can Warp? The Lith I know would havee back here, hugged Elysia, and unleashed whatever monstrosity he has nned for the eventuality Solus was kidnapped."

    Zoreth turned to Kam and so did the rest of her family.

    "Why are you all looking at me?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I hope you know something about the monstrosity." The Shadow Dragon replied.

    "I don''t, I''m sorry." Kam sighed. "But I agree with Zoreth, amnesia exins everything. That or he has been kidnapped too. What if the people who caught him wore those Darwen armor and Lith wasn''t having a seizure but fighting back?"

    "It''s unlikely." Zoreth shrugged. "There was no sign of magic, Friya perceived no residual traces of dimensional magic, and if someone like Lith throws a serious punch, you find more than a silly crater.

    "Also, if they had the strength to capture him as well, we''re screwed. We''ll never find them again."

    "Amnesia it is, then." Kam pressed more buttons on her amulet, making a conference call worthy of that name.

    She contacted the Royals, Vastor, Marth, her oldmanding officer Berion, and every member of the Council she knew.

    "Aren''t you going overboard with that?" Raaz asked.

    "Not really." Kam replied. "If Lith really has lost his memory and is stuck in his Abomination form, this should be just enough."

    ***

    Hessar region, main road, a few hourster.

    The Void flew until he spotted the first signs of civilization and thennded to continue on foot. It was a matter of guessing the appearance of whatever weird creatures lived on that alien based on their infrastructures and practicing magic.

    ''If I can use magic, others can do it as well and I''m still stuck at cantrips.'' He thought while he experimented with Spirit Magic.

    The good news was that everything Derek learned about Spirit Magic applied to all other elements. The bad news was that using pure mana was exhausting and it made his hunger worse.

    When he reached the main road that connected the regional capital to the middle- and small-sized cities he stopped practicing magic.

    "This thing isrge enough for three carriages, frequently used, and well maintained¡­ Wait a second, how do I know all this? I''ve never seen a carriage, let alone a road that wasn''t covered in asphalt." Yet the weirdest part happened as he walked along the road.

    "Somehow, I can tell the time just by looking at the sun and I can even orient myself like a boy scout!" Derek was bbergasted. "Why would an evil overlord know this stuff? Shouldn''t I have people who do that for me?"

    ''For Maxwell''s sake! When will you realize there is no evil overlord involved? What kind of rich, spoiled guy knows how to butcher meat?'' The Voidfeather sent such thoughts over and over but Derek''s paranoia always found an imusible but convenient answer.

    "Maybe he was born poor and rose to powerter. Or maybe he learned these things to pass himself for an average Joe." Derek shrugged. "It makes sense if at some point the bastard who summoned me here was a spy."

    ''No, it doesn''t!'' The Voidfeather screamed in frustration.

    "No, wait. I get it now." Derek narrowed his eyes. "They must be abilities he stole from those who came before me. I can''t be his first victim. He probably consumed people like candies to perfect the process."

    It was only an hour after the beginning of his walk, when the Void was bored out of his skull and ready to take flight again that he felt the noise of an approaching carriage.

    "Finally! I was tired of practicing magic and I''m very hungry." Derek had recovered the memories of something called "tier one" magic and his head was hurting really bad. "I''d better steel myself.

    "First impression matters and I don''t want to pass for racist or judgemental. Who knows how ugly people look here?" He looked at his own reflection, finding himself very handsome, for a murderous monster out of a horror movie.

    The carriage was still far away and without his Tiamat eyes, the Abomination''s senses were no better than an human Awakened''s.

    [/"Good gods!"/] Derek and a poor couple of elderly merchants said in unison upon spotting each other''s visage.

    "A monster!" The merchant screamed, bringing his wife close to him to protect her and whipping the horses'' butts to make them gallop.

    Truth to be told, the horses needed no encouragement. The Abomination''s aura and his watery maw were incentive enough to sprint until their hearts popped.

    ["Humans!"] Derek yelled in shock, pointing at the merchants like they were the weird-looking ones. [AN: remember that Derek speaks in English.]

    ["Fuck me sideways! What are the chances to meet humans on an alien? What if I''m still on Earth? Maybe in the past? Or the future? Or after an apocalypse? Come back, I have so many questions!"]

    Derek ran after the carriage, catching up with the horses in a matter of a few steps despite their head start.

    ["Wait, I just want to talk!"] His voice sounded like the howling of the wind in an abyss, his words made no sense, and his fangs were utterly terrifying.

    "Stay away from my wife!" The merchant pulled out a piece of well carved wood and pointed it at the Abomination.

    Contrary to the Void''s expectations, there was no pseudotin or flourish with the wand involved. Just the dear old point-and-shoot before a bolt of tier two lightning struck him square in the chest.

    The Voidwalker armor nullified most of the spell and the Void''s inhuman constitution did the rest, feeding off the mana and electricity of the spell.

 Chapter 3157 Descent to Madness (Part 1)

    Chapter 3157 Descent to Madness (Part 1)

    As an Abomination, Derek had no muscles that could spasm, but he didn''t know that. He fell on the ground only because the impact took him by surprise and he waited for the seizure for a few seconds before realizing nothing was going to happen.

    "What the fuck? They have wands instead of guns here. This is definitely not the Earth of the past. If I have traveled through time instead of space, this is some weird future where magic reced technology." Derek said while watching the darkness of his body eating at the remnants of the spell.

    "Interesting. My current form seems to be immune to electricity. Let''s see what else it can do."

    The Void shot chore magic bullets of all elements against his hand, but they all phased through the Voidfeather armor.

    "Dammit!" He used a lightning bolt on himself to confirm his theory. "I may be immune to some elements, but to all of them is out of the question. The only thing I know for sure is that I''m immune to my own magic.

    "It''s the only exnation for my lightning to behave differently from the carriage guy''s. Also, if this is anything like a video game, being immune to one thing means I''m vulnerable to another.

    "The questions are: how can there be humans on this and, if the guy who summoned me here was so powerful, howe those people didn''t recognize me? They just called me a monster." After saying it out loud, a new mystery arose.

    "Wait a second. This is just like with the tiger man. I understand what they say but they don''t speak English. How is that possible?" Derek thought about chasing the merchants and asking them a few questions, but he decided otherwise.

    Without Gravity Magic, every step he made while running left behind a crater and boomed like thunder, making his approach as discreet as an iing thunderstorm on a clear sky. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''d better let them rx and think they''ve lost me. After all, I just need to follow the road to find them again. Now I''d rather focus on thenguage barrier."

    Derek reyed the conversation with Strider and the quick exchange with the merchants in his mind. He listened to their words and repeated them out loud, remembering their nuances and the differences with their English equivalent.

    "Wife." He repeated in Tyris'' universalnguage and the image of a cute woman with long ck hair came to his mind.

    A strong headache quickly followed, forcing him to hold his head while trying not to faint out of pain. Too many images to count shed before his eyes where Kam smiled, held Lith''s hand, or kissed him.

    Every one of those moments made his non-existent heart tighten, filling him with sadness and longing. When the memories faded, Derek felt a void in his chest only matched by the suffering it caused.

    "Kami." He said while finally another of the chained words made sense. "This woman must have seduced the evil overlord before betraying him. She must have stolen one of the missing pieces of my soul."

    It was the only usible exnation Derek could think of since the idea of having friends was preposterous, let alone the thought of opening his heart to someone.

    ''No, you idiot! It was offered, not taken by force.'' The Voidfeather did his best to make the Void associate Kam''s name with the word wife instead of such a ridiculous story, but to no avail. ''Better than nothing, I guess.''

    As Derek reyed the few words of Mogarian he had heard, something clicked inside his mind. He still thought in English but with a bit of focus and a few stutters, he managed to trante his words into Tyris'' universalnguage.

    "Weird." He tried and failed to conjure the holographic panel. "I didn''t get any prompts, quests, or notifications even after unlocking a newnguage."

    The more he thought about it, the less his situation made sense.

    His train of thought came to a halt when the hunger returned. His stomach couldn''t grumble, but his whole body ached more as the mana he consumed for his experiments depleted his energy reserves.

    Yet with the sun still high, he wasn''t supposed to feel so bad after practicing mere tier one spells and Ragnar?k''s still bore no traces of ck. It took him a few seconds to understand the source of his difort.

    There was a delicious smell wafting through the air that stimted his never-ending appetite. The smell of freshly spilled blood.

    For a moment, the Void thought something might have happened to the couple of merchants but the smell came from the opposite direction. Too hungry and curious to ask himself more questions, he followed the scent of blood for a few kilometers that he covered in quick strides.

    "Man, if I''m dumb." He chuckled as he got close enough to understand what was happening. "Middle Ages also means no CCTV or phones. A road like this is a thug''s wet dream."

    There was a carriage to the side of the highway and one of its wheels was damaged. Whether by ident or design, it was impossible to tell. The only thing Derek knew for certain was that three rough-looking men were harassing its upants.

    One of them was searching the carriage for valuables, one was keeping an eye on the road for trouble and thest one was messing with a young family. The many on the ground in fetal position and in a pool of his own blood.

    He was the source of the delicious smell that had lured the Void. The woman, a slightly attractive youth barely in her twenties, was being stripped down with deliberate slowness.

    A kid, maybe four years old, stood by his father, shaking him and sobbing hysterically.

    From so up close the Void could ignore the blood and smell the ozone. His eyes caught the burnt marks on the man, woman, and child, drawing a clear picture that was confirmed a secondter.

    As the woman tried to defend herself, the thug electrocuted her with a tier one lightning.

    "He must have yed with them until the husband somehow resisted or dodged the spell and got stabbed for it." Derek said out loud, practicing Tyris''nguage.

    "Watch out! A monster ising our way!" The sentinel screamed, causing his associates to scoff andugh rather than worry.

    At least until they turned around and the mere shockwave caused by the Void''s chargeing to a halt sent tumbling. The thugs decided that the meager belongings of the travelers weren''t worth their lives.

    They rolled back to their feet and ran for their horses, leaving their victims behind as monster chow. The bandits jumped on the saddles and kicked the beasts'' sides for a full gallop. Yet no sound came from the hooves as the horses moved slowly and in the wrong direction, toward the monster.

    "Damn if this is cool!" Derek wanted to feel excited at his telekic powers. He wanted to. Yet he couldn''t. "Spirit Magic is amazing let''s see what else it can do."

    For some reason, seeing the young couple angered him to the point that his eyes twitched and Ragnar?k begged him to be released.

 Chapter 3158 Descent to Madness (Part 2)

    Chapter 3158 Descent to Madness (Part 2)

    The images of a young Raaz and Elina ovepped with the couple.

    The kid''s features shifted into Aran''s, making the darkness that flowed inside the Abomination''s body instead of blood boil. Then Aran''s face ovepped with Carl''s and every pretence of joy and indifference disappeared.

    "Can [you] understand [me?]" Derek asked with a snarl, fury mixing up his words.

    The thugs didn''t waste time talking. They jumped off the horses and pulled out tier three wands, raining fire, ice, and lightning on the monster.

    The Void took them all just to see how strong he was. The icicles shattered against the Voidwalker, the fire was consumed by his Abomination Touch, and the bolts of lightning barely stung before being devoured by the darkness.

    The Void released more tendrils of Spirit Magic, capturing the three men again and bringing them closer.

    "I asked you if you can [understand] me." He said while sucking the life out of a horse to show them what fate awaited them. "Yes or no."

    "Take the horses but let us go!" The sentinel bandit emptied his wand from point-nk range yet he didn''t even hurt the animals.

    Ragnar?k defended its master''s meal from the stray shots, cutting the spells asunder when needed.

    "I''m not the monster you think." Derek waved his hand in front of the thugs and sent tendrils of Spirit Magic to their brains. "I''m a human, just like you."

    "Help! Someone saves us!" The robber bandit yelled, not persuaded one bit. "A monster is going to kill us all!"

    "I said I''m not the monster you think." The Void performed the mind trick just as he remembered it from the movies.

    "And I know a monster when I see one!" The rapist bandit discharged his lightning wand as well but this time something weird happened.

    The monster swatted the bolts of lightning away like flies and bit the hand holding the wand off.

    "Thanks for the answer, fucker. You do understand me and I have no reason to keep you alive any longer." Derek crunched the hand and felt it turn into ashes.

    This time his meal was fresh and full of life force, giving it a pleasant taste.

    He grabbed the stump, withering the wound to stop the bleeding before grabbing the thug and biting his throat. An Abomination drew no pleasure from drinking blood but the Void''s fangs drained the prey more slowly than his hands, letting him savor its life force better. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Feeding off the thug gave him almost as much pleasure as looking at the terror in the eyes of his aplices. After a lifetime of being a victim, after being forced to hide in the shadow like a thief whenever he exacted his vengeance, Derek was drunk with power.

    He didn''t need clever tricks anymore. He didn''t need to fear that if his actions were to be exposed by the so-calledw, he would be treated like he was the criminal. Derek found joy in the kill, something he had never experienced on Earth.

    Something to which Lith had never stooped so low.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' The Voidfeather thought. ''This wasn''t supposed to happen. George is losing himself and the family is next on the menu.''

    Derek drained even the thug''s clothes into dust, breathing in the fear of horses and humans both in excitement. It was the same thing that happened to most newborn Abominations.

    Feeding was the only thing that gave them respite from their suffering and soon it became their only source of pleasure. Murder wasn''t the root cause of an Abomination''s madness but who they killed and how they killed.

    It was the fun apanying the feed that made an Abomination lose grip on their past self and turned them into monsters.

    Derek killed the remaining two thugs and horses with the same slow deliberate cruelty, savoring their life essence and emotions like a selection of fine wines. Fear, desperation, wrath, hopelessness, and agony all had their own taste and he enjoyed them all.

    It was with an excited click of his tongue that he approached his dessert. The travelers were still alive and ripe for the taking. Mostly.

    The man was bleeding out and in a while, his life force would be tasteless or he would lose consciousness, robbing Derek of his fun.

    "Thank you for saving us, Magus Verhen." The woman put herself between the Abomination and the child, praying to the gods her eyes weren''t deceiving her.

    "Ma-gus Verh-en?" The words rolled with difficulty off Derek''s tongue but not because he didn''t know how to pronounce them. Quite the contrary.

    They felt familiar. Painfully familiar and they brought with them one of the worst headaches he had experienced since waking up. Each word struck him like a punch to the gut, making him stumble.

    "Aren''t you Magus Lith Verhen?" The savage smile had disappeared from the Abomination''s face, reced by a confused look in his empty white eyes. "Isn''t that the Voidwalker armor you wear?"

    Lith was a Magus to the Kingdom, but so much more tomoners. He was one of them who had made it only by working hard and relying on his hard work and sheer talent.

    He had ascended from farmer to a noble rank second only to the Royals in less than twenty years.

    Agra read Lith''s biography to her son, Liru, every night before bed instead of fairy tales. She and her husband, Borj, had named their son after Lith in the wake of the destruction of the lost city of Kaduria.

    Agra had watched the holograms of the Voidwalker armor countless times as she read out loud from her Tablet. It was another of the gifts that Magus Verhen had bestowed upon her family and her most prized possession.

    "Void-walker." A sudden pang brought the memory of hammers, spells, and light brown hair to his mind. "Sol-us."

    The Void fell onto all fours, panting and quivering as his vision blurred.

    "Please, save my husband." Agra didn''t know whether to feel relieved or worried. Every trace of aggression had disappeared from her savior, yet he now looked like he needed saving almost as much as her husband.

    "Borj has been hurt while he protected me. You are the best healer of the Kingdom. I beg you, please, save him." She knelt in front of Derek, her hands and forehead on the ground.

    Agra was so desperate that she stopped holding the tatters of her shirt that covered her chest.

    "I am?" Derek said in utter shock.

    It was another piece of the puzzle that didn''t match with the evil overlord persona who was supposed to have summoned him.

    "Yes, you are." She spoke slowly, needing every bit of courage she could muster to use a respectful tone and keep the fear out of her voice. "The greatest mage of your generation. I''ve named my Liru after you, may the gods bless him with a shred of your talent."

    "Liru. Leria. Lilia. Leran!" One pang followed every word, forcing the Abomination to punch his head to make it stop.

    "No, Liru." The other names made no sense to Agra. Lith''s biography covered mostly his achievements and Leria was too young to be more than a footnote. "Please, my husband doesn''t have much time. We don''t possess much, but it''s yours to take."

 Chapter 3159 Know Mercy (Part 1)

    Chapter 3159 Know Mercy (Part 1)

    Derek snarled, not caring one bit about the travelers.

    ''For all I know, they are the cause of my pain. Those thugs were a measly meal and I''m still hungry.'' He slowly raised to his feet, a mix of emotions still clouding his judgment.

    He red at the woman with spite, smelling the stench of urineing from her clothes and from those of the rest of her family. It was one of the mostmon effects of being electrocuted, but to Derek, it was a sign of weakness and cowardice.

    And he hated cowards because they were a bully''s best friend, ready to cover up any injustice just to not be the next victim. He hated the weak, because they reminded him of his past, helpless self that Derek despised with every fiber of his being.

    "Don''t." Ragnar?k begged, feeling the anger of the Abomination rising and a spell forming on his lips. "Not you."

    Derek''s eyes were aze with mana as she stared at Agra. Then, her crouching figure was reced by a majestic red-furred wolf with kind emerald eyes.

    "Don''t do it, Scourge. This isn''t you." The Voidfeather tapped into Lith''s memories to give sense to Ragnar?k''s words. "Wisdom without power is hot air, but power without wisdom is the greatest madness."

    "Protector?" Another fit of pain blurred Derek''s vision under the Ry''s loving gaze.

    "Remember what I taught you about Abominations. They aren''t defined by what they do, but by what they are. Sometimes you''ve acted like a monster but you''ve never been one. Don''t be one now." There was no judgment in the Ry''s words, only worry.

    More memories shed in front of the Void''s eyes but this time they belonged to Protector.

    Back when Lith had saved his friend''s life, the exchange of life forces had allowed the Skoll to learn everything about Lith and Solus but it had also allowed Lith to learn everything about Protector.

    He watched the Ry giving a speech, always the same, to every new litter of cubs as soon as they reached adulthood.

    "From today onward, you are not just a responsibility of the pack but one of its members. One day, you might take my ce as the King in the east. That won''t happen just because you are the biggest or strongest of the pack.

    "Those things make you a great warrior, not a leader. The King must know mercy and allow his pack to kill only when needed. Our prey are weak, but if we cull their numbers during spring, we''ll starve during winter.

    "Spare their lives today so that we''ll prosper tomorrow. Someday, they might evolve just like us. Someday, they might fight by your side against amon enemy, as all Kings do."

    The words were followed by the images of a foolish human child attacking the Ry to get his hands on a broken stone. Protector could have killed the kid or even tracked his scent back to the small boy''s home to exact revenge. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Instead, the Ry had let the young Lith go, hoping the child would learn his lesson without the need for senseless violence. Then, Derek watched Protector gifting a magnificent stag to the same boy, just slightly older, after he had defeated the King in the west, Irtu.

    Once again, the wolf could have easily preyed on the weaker youth but he chose to befriend the boy.

    Just like Derek could have feasted on the lives of the travelers, but under the worried gaze of his forgotten friend, he chose not to.

    "Okay. How¡­" Seeing Agra raise her head reminded the Void that the difference between thinking and talking was that, with thetter, others could hear you.

    ''Okay, how does healing magic even work?'' Derek had mastered chore and tier one magic, but he had never tried it out on a living subject before.

    His first instinct was to disinfect his hands, but he had no alcohol. Then to take a look at the wound but he was no doctor. He had no idea what a living human''s viscera looked like, let alone a Mogarian''s.

    "Don''t waste time with such insignificant details, little imp." An old woman appeared out of thin air, kneeling right beside the wounded Borj. "We are healers, not doctors. Come here. Our patient hasn''t much life left in him."

    Derek was certain he had never seen her before, yet she felt as familiar as an old grandmother. Except that he had never had such a figure back on Earth which made the feeling even more surreal.

    The old woman looked to be at least eighty years old, her back was so hunched that Derek expected her to fall forward at any second. She had sharp grey eyes, a face full of wrinkles, and a big aquiline nose.

    She wore a shawl over her head that was filled with long white hair and her worn-out grey gown remained pristine despite being drowned in Borj''s blood.

    Derek obeyed her out of habit and the blood sizzled upon contact with the Voidwalker armor.

    "Eyes on the prize, little imp. Lunch break can wait. We are here for the money." The old woman scowled at the Void who reeled in his hunger and stopped feeding. "Now, follow my lead. Vinire Rad Tu!"

    "Vinire Rad Tu!" Derek weaved the runes with his hands and mouth but as he spoke, something clicked in his mind.

    Before the tier one light magic spell could fully form, he cast his own tier four diagnostic spell, Full Scan. Lith had devised it years ago to hide his use of Invigoration and now Derek needed it because as an Abomination he was incapable of using a breathing technique.

    The spell provided him the equivalent of a full total body CT scan, showing him Borj''s injured organs and how deep the knife wound went.

    "This is bad. The intestines and liver are damaged. We have to give it our all. Vinire Lakhat!" The old woman cast what Derek somehow recognized as a tier three spell, something way beyond his current mastery.

    "Vinire Lakhat!" His hands and mouth conjured the real spell without effort, staunching the blood and buying the wounded man a bit more time.

    ''This is wrong. Vinire Lakhat isn''t enough to save this man''s life.'' The Void''s mind was still spinning in confusion when another spell rose from his memory, weaved into existence by the rhythmic pulses of his mana core.

    An emerald construct of Elina slowly emerged out of his body as the tier three Spirit Spell, Mother''s Embrace took form. The ethereal figure held Borj in her arms while emerald tendrils emerged from her hands.

    They stitched together the edges of the wounds, both internal and external while the light element repaired the damage at a speed visible to the naked eye. Forgotten by the Void, Mother''s Embrace used all the elements of creation, light, earth, and soft water, to conjure the best healing spell Lith had in his arsenal.

    The tendrils also collected the blood surrounding the wounded man, cleaning and filtering it from impurities before injecting it back in his body. The spell also extracted nutrients from the ground and water from the air''s humidity, adding them to the blood during the transfusion.

 Chapter 3160 Know Mercy (Part 2)

    Chapter 3160 Know Mercy (Part 2)

    Borj''s face instantly regained color and his pained expression rxed into a serene smile. His injuries were gone, and even though he was hungry and weak, he didn''t feel his life slipping away anymore.

    ''I''m sorry, dude.'' The Voidfeather thought. ''I can''t allow George to share a bit of his deadly life force with you. Even if it doesn''t kill you, it would make him hungry. You wouldn''t like him when he''s hungry.''

    Derek stared at the emerald construct in utter confusion, experiencing an emotion that he was certain couldn''t belong to him: filial love.

    After Borj waspletely healed, Mother''s Embrace still had more than enough mana left to cure Agra and Liru. The old woman pointed her gnarly finger at them and so did Derek.

    The remaining energy fixed the travelers'' burns, leaving them exhausted but with no scar from the assault.

    "Good job, little imp. It''s ten copper coins total." The old woman ruffled hair that Derek was certain his new body didn''t have yet he felt it under her hand anyway.

    "It''s ten copper coins total." He repeated her words just like he had done until that moment.

    "That''s it?" Agra allowed herself to peek at her husband, noticing that he looked tired but otherwise fine.

    "Mom, I''m hungry." The little boy whimpered, not knowing if it was okay not to be scared anymore.

    The monster had saved his dad, but Liru could still hear the death screams of the bad men and their poor horses. Agra had made sure to keep his eyes shut, but he had heard every scream and denied plea for mercy.

    The boy would have never dared speak if he wasn''t so hungry that his gurgling stomach rumbled louder than his squeaky voice.

    "Ho, ho, ho!" The old womanughed her ass off at the Void. "I can''t believe you fell for that, young spirit. I may be old and dead, but I still got it."

    "Dead?" Derek echoed, half confused and half grieving the loss of a friend he had never met.

    "No, Magus Verhen. Everyone is fine thanks to you." Agra checked her husband, son, and even herself, scared witless by the monster wearing her hero''s clothes.

    Yet the Void didn''t hear a word she said because he was too busy listening to Nana.

    "Yes, young spirit, I''m dead, but not where it counts." She tapped on his breastte where his heart was supposed to be. "Now, even though it goes against everything I taught you, give these poor people a freebie. Can you do that for me?"

    "Yes." Derek nodded.

    He had no idea how much ten copper coins were worth nor did he care. He just wanted to speak with her, even if just for one more minute.

    "Well, it''s time for me to go then." Nana got to her feet, her hunched back straightening up like Lith had never seen her. "Always remember my final words to you. The King of the spirits must be strong, wise, but also loving. Otherwise he is just a monster."

    The old healer walked to the still-kneeling Abomination, giving him a motherly kiss on the forehead.

    "By the way, my name is Nerea, not old woman, you jackass." She pped him on the forehead, making his head jerk for no apparent reason to Agra''s eyes. "I must admit I never used my real name much, but you called me Nana for years. How could you forget about that too?"

    "Nana? Nerea?" Derek echoed, the surprise locking him into ce.

    Those names sounded indeed familiar but the most shocking thing to him was that he had seen the ping a mile away, yet he had not recoiled from it nor had he considered it a threat.

    Back on Earth, Derek McCoy knew only one kind of violence and only one way to reply to it, but the old woman was different. Her p was different from all those he had suffered over the years.

    It wasn''t meant to hurt or humiliate him. There was no strength behind it. It was the kind of thing a grumpy grandparent would do to scold their unruly grandchild.

    "Gods, I''m too old for this crud." Nana took off her shawl, letting her long hair tousle in the wind. "Don''te to see me again anytime soon, King of the Spirits, okay?"

    As her figure faded away, Derek could swear that her hair had turned ck with yellow streaks all over. That her skin had be smooth and youthful until the old woman was no older than he was.

    Yet everything happened so fast that it was hard to distinguish the various parts of his hallucination.

    "Magus Verhen?" That name and Agra''s voice snapped him back to reality, but only because with Nana gone, the hunger was back. "Here''s the money you asked."

    She had put on a loose shirt from their scattered baggage and was handing him ten copper coins that she held in her cupped hands. Agna was kneeling at him at a safe distance to show the monster that she posed no threat to him.

    "Keep your money. It was just a joke." Derek looked at the three humans and they were no longer his ythings.

    The two adults were back to being fellow victims and the boy reminded him of Carl again. The Abomination swallowed hard, thinking about what he would have done to them with a smile on his face if not for the red wolf.

    Derek was now scared of himself. Of what he might be. He hade this close to turning into Ezio and he had enjoyed every moment of it.

    Haunted by the memory of the first human-faced monster he had killed, the Void flew away as fast as he could in the attempt to escape from his shame.

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, Lustria County, Verhen Mansion, a few hourster.

    "We got him! Some travelers have spotted a creature resembling an Abomination who wore the Voidwalker armor and carried a red sword to his hip. It must be Lith!" Kam said as the report popped up on her amulet.

    Agra''s family had gotten back to the road as soon as Borj woke up. When they had reached their destination, the Tablet had reconnected with the Web and delivered to Agna the Royal emergency broadcast about the missing Magus.

    The message mentioned Lith''s possible amnesia and the risks that meeting him might pose. The broadcast also rmended the citizens of the Kingdom to stay away from Lith and call for help immediately.

    Agna had pressed the emergency button on her amulet upon hearing the message and a Warp Steps had instantly opened to her position. She had been brought to the local branch of the Association where Agna and her family had been treated and fed while interrogated.

    The assigned Constable updated his report in real time and once he was done, he handsomelypensated the family for their losses in exchange for their silence. The prospect of a rampaging Magus was already bad.

    A rampaging Magus Abomination was the stuff nightmares were made of. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Where?" Elina asked, dropping the tes she was washing to run to Kam''s side.

    "Near the borders with the Empire, in the Hessar region." The more Kam read the report the more she knew there was something wrong with her husband.

 Chapter 3161 Monster Hunt (Part 1)

    Chapter 3161 Monster Hunt (Part 1)

    "That ce is nowhere near Vidun''s hiding spot. Lith must have traveled for thousands of kilometers aimlessly. Also, the report says he kept his Abomination form the whole time and doesn''t even remember his own name.

    "Lith butchered a group of criminals in front of three innocent people and ording to the witnesses, he wanted to kill them as well." Kam''s voice dropped to a whisper at thest part and her face went pale.

    The family gathered to read the report but, much to the children''s dismay, they were sent to their rooms and forbidden toe out until called.

    "By the Great Mother, this is bad." Valtak said. "I would love to help, but I''m still recovering. Without my bright violet core, facing an Abomination like Lith is too dangerous."

    "Even if you had made a full recovery already, I wouldn''t have let you go." Kam shook her head. "First, we must capture Lith. Then, if nothing else works, we need you to treat his life force with your Immortal mes again.

    "You need to save your strength and focus on healing. You are our best shot at bringing Lith back. Can you send a few Fire Dragons?"

    "To help someone they don''t know or care about?" The Father of Fire replied. "That''s a bad idea, Kam. They would kick Lith''s ass mercilessly and if one of my children gets hurt, the others would show him no mercy."

    "What about your Phoenixes, Grandma?" Elina asked Sark who was taking care of the newborns.

    "I won''t order them to intervene but I won''t stop them either." The Overlord replied. "The Blood Desert has no reason to get involved in the Kingdom''s business but any of my children is free to help you in their free time."

    "Thank you, Grandma." Kam knew that with the Guardians'' no-intervention policy, Sark was doing the best she could. "I''ll call Sinmara, then. Maybe she can call Surtr and they can help us."

    ***

    Archduchy of Essagor, capital city of Vem, Vastor Household at the same time.

    "Thanks foring here so quickly." Zogar Vastor had assembled his hybrids and the most powerful Eldritches of his Organization. "All of you should know that Lith Verhen is more than a student to me.

    "He''s a brother to Xenagrosh, a friend to Bytra, and also an Abomination hybrid, just like you. Even if he doesn''t know it, he''s part of our Organization. He''s your sibling and my responsibility.

    "Until he''s found and brought back, all of our business will be on hold. I''ll keep a skeleton crew of Abominations and Eldritches to supervise the active operations but everything else can wait.

    "The hunt to the Undead Courts is now of low priority and so is restoring more mines on Jiera." He walked back and forth in front of the lined-up Eldrictches.

    "In case some of you were distracted, let me be clear. I want Lith Verhen taken alive and well. Killing is out of the question. You are allowed to hurt him, but only in order to restrain him.

    "If you don''t feel up to the task, call for help. There''s no shame in it. Also, if you end up killing him, consider yourself expelled from the Organization. With all that it implies."

    Which was a polite way to say sentenced to death.

    The Eldritches couldn''t risk a former associate to divulge their secrets or position. On top of that, escaping Xenagrosh''s fury without the protection of the Master would have been hard back when she was just a hybrid.

    Now that the Shadow Dragon had partly recovered her mana core, it was nigh impossible.

    Just like escaping the bounty that Bytra would put on the killer''s head. She just had to promise to put the Davross equipment of the winner on top of her list to unleash most of the Organization against whoever she wanted.

    "Have I made myself clear, Orulm?" The Master stopped in front of the Breaker, staring him in the eyes.

    "Crystal." He nodded.

    "Good. Abthot, go with him and make sure Orulm doesn''t mess anything up."

    "I understand you still don''t trust me much, Master, but this is going overboard." The Breaker clenched his hands so hard they turned white. "I don''t need a babysitter. Abthot should move alone to cover more ground."

    "It''s not a matter of trust." Vastor replied. "And I''m not just worried about Lith. I''m also worried about you."

    "Me?" Orulm felt insulted, but he kept his cool so he noticed that no one wasughing at him or so much as smiling.

    "In a way, your powers are very simr to Lith''s." The Master nodded. "You two excel at killing and destroying. I''m afraid that if you two meet, only one of you is going to walk away on his feet. Abthot''s regenerative powers will ensure that you both make it."

    He handed her two vials containing highlypressed life force. A single injection was supposed to restore an Abomination from the brink of death but Vastor gave Abthot two in case the fight ended up in a draw.

    "I''m sorry, but is Verhen this powerful?" Orulm asked, his voice now calm and respectful. "He''s still a runt whereas we all have the knowledge of millennia."

    "Yes, he is." Vastor kept his voice level. "Lith destroyed cursed cities and killed Thrud''s minions while protecting his life. If what the report says is true, he''s gone full Abomination.

    "It means hurting him is hard and that he wields powers that could kill any of you. His body is now made of Chaos whereas you guys are now of flesh and blood. It made you more powerful but it also means that now you can die.

    "If you add that you fight to capture Lith and he to kill you, I wouldn''t overestimate my odds if I were you."

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree, the following day.

    Solus had spent almost three days without seeing anyone or being allowed to conjure the tower. Under normal circumstances, without nourishment from Lith and the tower, her life force and mana would have started to bleed out slowly.

    As long as she remained in her ring form, however, the abundant world energy of the Fringe stopped her mana loss while the stolen life force stored in the Bleed healed her wounds.

    Not only those she had suffered upon her capture but also the cracks in her life force and mana core. Without the tower, Solus couldn''t rest or fall asleep so she had spent her time assessing her situation.

    She had calcted how long she had before the Bleed''s tanks would empty and how much energy she could consume every day to experiment on her new powers withoutpromising her energy reserves. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Also, she had managed to notice the taint left by the Predator Protocol in the world energy.

    Ever since that moment, Solus had used her willpower and the tower to foil every attempt of the World Tree to erase the foreign imprint that threatened their dominion over the Fringe.

    Solus countered the Yggdrasill''s every move and when she failed to stop them, she sacrificed part of the corrupted energy to stall the Tree and spread the infection to healthy areas, resetting the board.

 Chapter 3162 Monster Hunt (Part 2)

    Chapter 3162 Monster Hunt (Part 2)

    ''This should keep the World Fucker busy.'' Solus thought. ''I don''t know why no one tried to imprint me yet, but I''m even more surprised the Yggdrasill hasn''t sent someone after Lith either.

    ''If they did and more Chroniclers died, I would have noticed the tremors. If something happened to Lith, I bet everything I don''t have that the Tree would throw it in my face.''

    As if in answer to her thoughts, a small energy dome nailed the stone ring to the wooden floor while the door of her cell opened. The bark of the World Tree shifted into a rectangr opening, letting inside the first light in two days and a female elf.

    ''I see.'' Solus studied the neer''s deep violet core and lithe figure. ''The Yggdrasil must have chosen her as my "host" if they revealed the secret of the violet core to her.

    ''The Tree must have waited until she got ustomed to her new powers before making another attempt at imprinting me.''

    Dawn had taught Solus that it was an ancient tradition of living legacies to always bond with someone of their same gender. This way, there was no risk of falling in love with their host as had happened to Dawn herself.

    ''The only question is: why a regr elf instead of a Chronicler?'' The woman wielded a wand made of Yggdrasill wood but there was no trace of the World Tree''s energy signature inside her body. ''The wand can help her with her focus, but no more than my Sage Staff.''

    "It is done, Elphyn Menadion." The female elf''s voice was cold yet melodious. "Lith Verhen is dead. I, Nes''hiah Lamarr, will be your next host."

    "Tell me another." Solusughed at her. "If that''s true, show me his corpse or at least his head."

    "The wounds the Zouwu inflicted upon him were so dire that Verhen turned into an Abomination. There''s no corpse left." The elf''s left eye squinted lightly in annoyance.

    "Really?" Solus gasped, her voice oozing mockery and sarcasm. "How awfully convenient for you. Do you really think I''m that stupid? At this point, why not tell me that you are Lith reincarnated in a woman''s body? It''s just as believable as your story."

    "Read it for yourself, if you don''t believe me." Nes''hiah threw amunication amulet open on the page of the Royal broadcast.

    Solus didn''t miss how details like the date and the circumstances of the meeting with Agra had been redacted.

    "Nice try. Here says he has gone Abomination but not when it happened. For all I know, this message has just been released and you''ve spun your bullshit around it."

    "It proves that I told you the truth, human!" The Librarian snarled. "Don''t expect to receive other news of Verhen''s death because we''ve killed him in secret. We couldn''t afford to leave witnesses that might lead back to us."

    "I don''t believe a word you say." Solus retorted. "Our bond may be broken, but if anything happened to Lith, I''d know it. He''s still alive and I won''t trust anything but my gut until you give me irrefutable proof I''m wrong."

    "Fine! I hoped that we might introduce ourselves in a more civilized manner but you are forcing my hand." Nes''hiah waved the wooden wand and the energy dome copsed on the stone ring, trapping it in a vise.

    "That''s a sure way to gain my trust. ming your cruelty on the victim." Solus grunted, using just enough energy to resist the pressure and boost the tower''s density.

    "I don''t need your trust." The elf replied. "I only need yourpliance. Try anything funny and the next time it will be much worse."

    She walked in front of the ring, making it levitate at her chest level without removing the barrier. Then, another flick of her wand removed the enchanted restraint and Nes''hiah moved to grab the ring.

    Solus reacted by using Gravity Fusion to increase her already considerable mass and fall quickly, materializing only her right arm to punch at the elf in a cross counter.

    Nes''hiah had just gained the deep violet, but that along with the help of the World Tree was enough to read the attack and sidestep it. She grabbed the ring and imprinted it before Solus could react.

    ''Stop resisting me!'' The order resounded through their mind link as her telepathic presence vited Solus'' mind.

    The excess gravity disappeared and Nes''hiah looked at the small ring resting on the palm of her right hand.

    ''That''s better.'' She smiled, proud of the praises her master was showering her with. ''Now be still and quiet until I give you permission.''

    The Tree had worded the order so that there was no loophole Solus might exploit.

    A third wave of the wand opened the wood of the floor, giving the tower ess to the ground below.

    ''Now, summon the tower.'' Nes''hiah dropped the ring and the moment it connected with the world energy, it grew in size and power. ''Come to me, Elphyn Menadion.''

    Solus walked through the tower''s door wearing one of her favorite day dresses. Her hands were clenched and her face a mask of fury, but she wielded no weapon and remained still.

    ''Kneel!'' Solus ordered.

    The moment Nes''hiah approached, Solus grabbed her hand, using physical contact and violence to reinforce the mentalmand. The Librarian and the Tree were caught by surprise, even more because the tower solely boosted Solus'' prowess.

    Nes''hiah felt her legs wobble but her willpower coupled with the direct link with the Yggdrasil allowed her to resist.

    Her wrist, however, wasn''t so lucky. Solus'' grip was akin to apactor and she took her time returning the pressure Nes''hiah had inflicted on her.

    "Where''s your arrogance now, bitch?" A single p spread the elf''s nose all over her face and her teeth on the ground. "Come one, order me around some more."

    ''I forbid you to move!'' Nes''hiah yelled telepathically, her mouth too damaged and her throat too filled with blood to speak.

    ''And I forbid myself to give a shit about what you want!'' Solus replied, using the Mental Barricade technique that Dawn had taught her to disregard the orders of her "master".

    ''Enough!'' The Yggdrasil was as confused as his loyal Librarian, but unlike her, pain didn''t cloud their judgment.

    The Tree conjured a powerful array that restrained Solus and forced her to copse to the ground.

    "I decide when it''s enough!" Solus struggled with all her strength, slowly standing up to the power of the Yggdrasil.

    The worst part was that the more the World Tree increased the energy output of the array, the more Nes''hiah bled. The Yggdrasill could feel her agony through the wooden wand.

    "Let me guess, you didn''t know about this, did you?" Solus stood defiant. "Prime Engine, maximum overdrive!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''No!'' The World Tree froze in horror as the right side of the tower shapeshifted into a cannon-wielding arm. ''No, no, no!''

    "Fire in the Tree!" Solus ran inside the tower to escape the st and carried the Librarian with her. "I''m going to suck you dry as long as I can, ''master''."

    The moment the door was closed, the colossal rail gun fired upwards.

 Chapter 3163 Corruption Spreads (Part 1)

    Chapter 3163 Corruption Spreads (Part 1)

    Solus knew there was no way she could escape so she focused on dealing as much damage as she could until her freedomsted.

    "I need information, bitch, and I''m going to crack you open like an egg if I have to." Solus triggered a mind fusion with the Librarian, but while she employed the telepathic defenses she had practiced with the Horsemen, Nes''hiah was flooded with memories of Solus'' life.

    Sure, only sixteen years had passed since she had awoken from her slumber, but they had been quite intense. On top of that, Solus also poured all of the memories from Lith''s and Protector''s lives she had inherited.

    ''You have to do much worse than this.'' The elf said triumphant.

    Nes''hiah had learned the secrets of Verhen''s powers and everything Solus knew about the current state of the tower from the mind fusion.

    ''Once I share this knowledge with the Tree they will-'' Only once the Librarian came out of the telepathic haze did she notice there was no wand in her hand anymore.

    She checked her newfound memories, discovering that during the fusion Solus had sent the living piece of Yggdrasill wood to the Bleed.

    ''Do you want me to do worse? I''m happy to oblige.'' Solus triggered a second mind fusion and then a third one.

    She kept protecting her own mind while flooding the elf''s with every beautiful and painful experience Solus had endured. By the time reinforcements arrived, Nes''hiah was broken.

    "Where''s Lith?" She sobbed through her now-healed mouth. "I need to know that he''s alright."

    Solus couldn''t make a female elf fall in love with her but making Nes''hiah fall in love with Lith was child''s y.

    Solus bombarded Nes''hiah with all her memories of him. She reyed every one of his nice gestures, romantic dates, and achievements while recing all the women in his life with the elf.

    By relieving Solus'' memories multiple times, it was as if Lith had been kind, generous, and loving to the Librarian for several centuries. Solus'' feelings for him infected Nes''hiah''s mind and the mind fusion cranked everything up to eleven.

    "You don''t know?" The Mental Barricade technique stopped the host''s memories to protect Solus but it also prevented her from learning anything.

    "Nobody does." The elf knew they had only a few seconds before the cruel Chroniclers broke through the door so she used a mind link to share with Solus everything Nes''hiah knew about the recent events in the Hessar region and the Yggdrasil''s ns.

    In her mind, Nes''hiah was doing it to defend Solus and let the love of her life retrieve the priceless artifact that the traitorous elves had stolen from him.

    ''Release my fragment and my Librarian. Now!'' The Bleed was already doing its job and the World Tree needed sheer willpower to not quiver in agony.

    "As you wish!" Solus said as the tower spat out the withered remains of the wand.

    The Yggdrasill was enraged but they recovered part of their cool when Nes''hiah walked out of the tower. Her mind was filled to the brim with knowledge that the Tree could smell from a mile away.

    One of the Chroniclers approached her, offering Nes''hiah their Yggdrasill weapon to restore her connection with the Tree. The Librarian epted the spear gracefully and used it to stab the Chronicler in the heart.

    At the same time, she unleashed all the spells she kept at the ready.

    Nes''hiah weaved the most powerful spells with thergest area of effect she knew. She was aware that a mage wasn''t immune to the secondary effect of her own spells but that was the idea.

    The heat, the shockwaves, and the freezing cold killed her along with two more Chroniclers.

    ''Lith, I''ming to you.'' Was her final thought, d that now the Tree couldn''t pry the knowledge from her and use it to hurt her beloved.

    ''What did you do?'' The Yggdrasill roared in outrage. ''What did you do to Nes''hiah, Elphyn Menadion?''

    "Since everyone keeps treating me like a cursed object, it''s only fair that I behave like one." She replied, turning back the tower in its ring form the moment its energy reserves were full again and the taint in the Fringe had been spread further.

    ''It should take the World Fucker two days to prepare my next host.'' Solus thought. ''When that happens, I''ll use everything Nes''hiah taught me to escape. As long as the Tree don''t get their hands on my tower core, they can''t afford to kill me whereas there''s nothing keeping me here.''

    ***

    Hessar Region, in the middle of nowhere, at the same time.

    Nighttime was the worst for Derek. With no sun and no light, his hunger rose to heights that threatened what was left of his shaking sanity.

    It was then that the spark of Chaos inside his body spread like cancer, forcing Ragnar?k to go all out to protect its master. The bloody scabbard slowly turned ck as the agonizing de consumed the blood and life force umted during the day.

    The life force was slowly fed to the Void, like a drip, to help him resist the hunger by taking its edge off. The blood, instead, formed an instionyer that Ragnar?k used to fight the Chaos from a safe distance.

    The silver gemstone produced light to neutralize the Cursed Element while the ck gemstone produced darkness to counter what escaped the silver gemstone. On top of that, the de circted different elements inside its Davross body to ensure its own survival. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was a restless and painful endeavor that would have destroyed a lesser artifact. Only the Davross'' natural ability to draw in world energy, its regenerative properties, and the many crystals embossed on Ragnar?k''s surface gave the de the energy it needed.

    Ragnar?k knew it was a losing battle. The Chaos was insatiable, forcing the cking de to pace itself in a controlled retreat and give up on one milliliter of blood at a time to resist Chaos'' touch until the sun rose.

    Then, Ragnar?k would have to purge the umted Cursed Element, rece the lost blood, and start it all over again. It was a hopeless struggle but the agonizing de could feel Lith''s presence inside the Void.

    Ragnar?k trusted its master to return. The ckening de''s duty was to protect Lith and his baby daughter and Ragnar?k wouldn''t give up until there was one drop of mana left inside its power core.

    Derek was oblivious to hispanion''s suffering, his mind already twisted by two conflicting feelings. On the one hand, he was still upset at the realization of how close he hade to be just like his Earth father.

    A cruel monster who had no qualms about hurting others just to feel better about his pathetic existence. A mindless brute who only cared about his own instant gratification.

    On the other hand, the hunger burned through his mind, making every other concern pale inparison. The three thugs and their horses had sated his appetite, but only until the sun had provided Derek sustenance.

    In the darkness of the night, there''s was nothing tempering the hunger of the Abomination side. Theck of nourishment caused him a slithering pain that grew more intense with every second he spent without feeding.

 Chapter 3164 Corruption Spreads (Part 2)

    Chapter 3164 Corruption Spreads (Part 2)

    It wasn''t the kind of pain that cripples the body.

    The Void wasprised entirely of darkness element and just like an Abomination, Derekcked pain receptors. What tormented him was an aching of the mind, caused by the constant corruption the spreading Chaos inflicted upon him.

    The Cursed Element didn''t just turn the darkness into more Chaos, it also twisted Derek''s personality. Theck of light element marred an Abomination''s life force until it affected their psyche.

    The effects produced by the alterations werepletely random. Some Abominations became geniuses. A few found enlightenment. The vast majority of the Abominations, however, became raving mad.

    ''I need to feed, but not on humans!'' Derek thought, his mind echoing with pangs of hunger and Ezio''sughter.

    The Void could almost hear his Earth''s father mocking Derek for his weakness from the grave. It was the reason the Void avoided human settlements.

    ''Life isn''t aic. The odds of finding more criminals are damn low. If I get too close to people, I''ll kill whoever I meet.'' He would stop at a safe distance from the viges and sniff the air.

    If he saw wildfires or smelled lots of blood, it would have meant that something bad was happening and that there was someone bad he could feed upon. Unluckily, there was no such thing.

    Only warm lights came from the windows and the sounds of conversation between neighbors.

    The hunger blessed Abominations with powerful senses.

    The Void could now spot all kinds of life forms and sources of world energy without even looking. In a corner of his mind, he saw life forces like lights of varying intensity while world energy was like a discordant song.

    It was all around him, but it was a weak cacophony that barely provided him any nourishment. The people in the various viges shone with lights so small that Derek knew they wouldn''tst him five minutes.

    ''Even cows are stronger! I could feast on the cattle, but if I do that, the farmers will die of starvation. At that point, I might as well kill them too. It would be an act of mercy.'' The Void drooled at the thought of feasting on the animals first and the humanster.

    A white bead of saliva slipped through his fangs and sizzled on contact with his ck skin, snapping him out of his reverie.

    ''No. I can''t do it. I don''t know why, but I can''t do it.'' The Void resumed his flight while the Voidfeather did his best to push the memories of Lith''s family to the surface of the Abomination''s mind.

    ''Indeed, I can''t.'' The Dragon snorted. ''I didn''te so far, I didn''t sacrifice so much just to ruin years of hard work for a measly meal. If I hurt someone like Raaz, if I make a baby like Elysia an orphan, even if my family forgives me, I''d never forgive myself.''

    The Voidfeather Dragon scanned the darkness of the night, hoping to find a mana geyser but to no avail. Lith had never been to the Hessar region and mana geysers were rare.

    Finding one while moving in a random direction would have been nothing short of a miracle.

    It was the reason when the Void felt several lights shining from a distance, he considered himself lucky. There were many of them, and all were stronger than a human.

    ''Magical bandits!'' He thought. ''Let them be fat and juicy magical bandits. After all, I can use magic. The old man and the highway robbers used wands. It''s only natural that other people can use magic and taste much better.''

    Derek was right, but also wrong.

    Mogar was full of magic users but they didn''t camp outside in groups during the night. What he had perceived turned out to be a herd of wild buffalos. They had chosen a river bank surrounded by tall grass as their resting ce.

    Most of the animals were asleep and only a few of them stood guard, sniffing the air and shaking their long ears to follow the weird noise. Derek still had no idea what gravity fusion was and the ps of his wings were as silent as a firework.

    He was still too far away to rm the buffalos but his approach had put the sentinels on guard.

    ''Fuck me sideways, they are just wild cows.'' He thought, blinded by the darkness and his ignorance. ''Still better than nothing.''

    The Void had only one way not to make a ruckus. He conjured an updraft that made up for his poor control and brought him high enough to escape detection. From that distance, he was a ck blot, making him invisible to the animals'' poor eyesight.

    He approached his prey slowly, gliding through the hair to not make noise. Then, when he was above the herd, he let himself fall like a kic missile.

    He chose an empty area in the middle of the sleeping buffalos as hisnding spot, to make sure none of them would die. Between the Void''s weight and the gravitational eleration, the impact produced a shockwave that sent the beasts flying and raised a dust cloud that hindered their senses.

    "It''s feeding time!" ck tendrils sprouted from his body, wrapping themselves around the still-stunned animals and absorbing their vitality.

    The male buffalos came to fight the unknown attacker and fell prey to the Abomination. The cows and calves tried to run away, but chaos and dust made the frenzied animals either bump into each other or end up in front of the Void.

    He wanted to drain them in an instant. To enjoy that blissful moment when his hunger would disappear. Yet he knew that it would onlyst one moment. After that, his hunger would return and he would suffer until he found more prey. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m not that stupid. A partial but longersting relief is better than short-term happiness." He said, feeling no guilt at the agonizing screams of the buffalos as they writhed in the attempt to escape his grip.

    "I couldn''t agree more, brother." A male voice said from behind, making Derek turn around. "Please, let them go. If you kill the entire herd, we will have to abandon our home and starve until we find some food."

    In the moonlight, Derek could see a full pack of grey-furred wolves snarling and growling at him from a safe distance. At their head, there was a red-furred wolf the size of a horse that Lith would have recognized as a Ry.

    The vision stunned the Void as the yellow eyes of the Ry turned emerald and his voice sounded exactly like Protector''s. It was a trick yed on his mind by his guilty conscience and the Voidfeather Dragon.

    "Listen, pal, that''s none of my business." Derek replied. "The strong eats and the weak gets eaten. I don''t see why I should be the one starving."

    "For the same reason I could have killed all the buffalos by myself but I limited to one of them at a time." The fake Protector replied. "For bnce. Just like you said, feeding my pack for a long time is better than giving them a huge feast followed by weeks of hunger.

    "Please, I can smell it in you."

 Chapter 3165 No???????t Hell (Part 1)

    Chapter 3165 Not Hell (Part 1)

    "You can smell what in me?" The Void asked.

    "That you are one of us. Or rather, you were." The Ry replied. "I wouldn''t have darede close to an Abomination if not for your smell. You have yet to be a monster, brother. You are better than this. Fight it!"

    "Easy for you to say." Derek snarled, the word "brother" hurt him more than his hunger. "I''m the one suffering. You are asking me to give up on my meal, on my prey for nothing but your sake. Give me one good reason."

    "I''ll do better. I''ll give you a tasty one." The Ry nodded to his pack and the wolves stepped back. "Let the buffalos go and you can eat me. I''m stronger than any animal. I''m a magical beast. You can feed on both my mana and life force."

    The Void instinctively knew that the red-furred wolf was right. If the strongest buffalo was a torch, the Ry shone like a raging fire to his senses. Even the whole herd was nothingpared to a single magical beast.

    "If you really have magic, why don''t you fight me?" Derek didn''t release his prey but he stopped feeding upon them.

    "To what end?" The magical beast shook his head. "My pack would die. I would die. The herd would be massacred during our fight. I would lose everything and you''d miss the best part of your meal. Neither of us would get what he wants.

    "Violence isn''t the only way to achieve victory. That''s why I''vee here with an offer. Take me and promise to leave thesends. This way, the herd will survive and so will my pack."

    "What about you?" The Void felt a pit in his stomach that almost made him forget about his hunger.

    Almost.

    "I can afford to die. I already had cubs. My legacy will live on with them and my pack will have a leader better than me. I trust my children."The Ry''s words sent a violent pang through the Abomination''s body.

    He could hear a baby girl cry, he could feel her conscience calling upon him.

    "Elysia." He muttered as he suddenly knew the direction one of the missing pieces of his soul was.

    At the same time, at the Verhen Mansion, the baby girl was actually crying, ying her small limbs in her father''s direction.

    "Dya! Dya!" Elysia shapeshifted into her Tiamat form, hoping that the resonance would help Lith find him but she felt no answer.

    Valeron shapeshifted as well, using the Dragon scales to understand what was happening and adding his call to her own. He shared no blood with Lith but he could make Elysia''s voice louder.

    "Valeron." The ck tendrils disappeared and the buffaloes were free to escape.

    Free, but too weak to stand up. Only a few stumbled away, the rest just wheezed while lying down on the ground. Their hearts drummed in their chests and their legs failed them as if they had just copsed after running for their lives.

    "Thank you, brother." The Ry used air magic to ssh the drained buffalos with water from the nearby river, waking up the ones who had fainted and giving the rest something to drink.

    All those who had suffered the touch of the Abomination were as gaunt and thin as after weeks of malnourishment. Even with the predator still among them, the buffalos drank and ate avidly, knowing that their lives were hanging by a thread.

    The wolves herded the buffalos and guided them away from the Abomination while the Ry stood still.

    Derek was wheezing as well, but not out of fatigue. The headache was back, worse than ever. He felt like he was forgetting about something important. A duty above any hunger or pain.

    Yet he couldn''t remember what it was.

    "Thanks for what?" By the time he came back to his senses, only he and the Ry remained.

    "For keeping the first part of your word, brother." The Ry walked forward. "I trust that you''ll keep the second part as well. Leave thesends and let my pack live."

    The magical wolf knelt down and put his head on Derek''sp, like a convict on the chopping block.

    "I''m sorry. I''m just so hungry." Derek didn''t want to do it, but he had to.

    "It''s okay. We all have to eat." The Ry closed his eyes so that the Abomination didn''t have to stand his gaze as Derek feasted upon him.

    ***

    The Void fed upon the magical wolf like he would have done with the buffalos. Slowly, taking his time to stave off the hunger as long as he could, and saving the Ry''s blood for Ragnar?k.

    Once he was done, the scabbard had recovered part of its red and the hunger was back to a bearable level. Just enough to let Derek realize what he had done and feel guilty for it.

    "What have I done?" The dead Ry looked peaceful like he was sleeping. The long fur hid the dried-up skin and reminded the Void of holding the dying Protector in his arms. "What have I done?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Derek wanted to cry but he had no tears left since the day of Carl''s death. All that remained were pain and guilt and they both came from the realization that he was still too weak to protect anything.

    Too weak even to spare someone he respected from a painful death. Too weak to fight his own hunger.

    "What he asked." Ragnar?k replied. "What you needed."

    Derek looked at the de in anger but then he felt its pain. The Ry''s death had given Ragnar?k relief, but it was still suffering.

    "No, what we needed, little guy." Somehow, the Void knew that the de''s life was on the line as well and it was fighting for him. "We. Why does this word is so bittersweet? We."

    Another sh of light brown hair was followed by long raven ck hair and apletely different smell. A hammer and a badge. A tower and a flower. We.

    "We." Derek mumbled as he walked away from the Ry''s corpse and the wolves'' turf. "We."

    He used that word a mantra to suppress the hunger. It was just a word but it caused him such joy, pain, and longing, that it fought the Abomination''s endless appetite on equal terms.

    Sometimes, "we" even kicked the hunger down a notch.

    He used that word a mantra to suppress the hunger. It was just a word but it caused him such joy, pain, and longing, that it fought the Abomination''s endless appetite on equal terms.

    Sometimes, "we" even kicked the hunger down a notch.

    "We." The Void walked at Awakened speed to save his strength. "Talking wolves, magic, and talking swords. I bet I''m not the only powerful one here, little one."

    "You''re not." Ragnar?k confirmed.

    "Then maybe, if I can find others like me, they can help me." He pondered. "After all, either they do that or they be my next meal. They help themselves by helping me. It''s a win-win situation."

    They spent several minutes in silence while Derek pondered how easy it came to him taking the lives of three men and yet killing a single Ry weighed heavily on his conscience.

    "You know, little guy, if I was a religious man, I''d say that this is a punishment for my actions. That this ce is some kind of hell and my hunger is my curse. Yet it takes one second to realize it''s steaming pile of bullshit."

 Chapter 3166 Not Hell (Part 2)

    Chapter 3166 Not Hell (Part 2)

    "My life on Earth was hell. I was weak. Alone. I suffered for years and no one cared. I had to endure my father''s beatings and watch him hit Carl, feeling like the useless coward I was." Derek growled in fury.

    "I could just stand there and do nothing while my brother''s murderer walked out of the courtroom a free man. I had to get terminal cancer to find the strength to get some justice.

    "My second life on that fucking ship was hell too. I was a cripple who couldn''t walk. I couldn''t exin myself or understand others. I could only suffer from hunger and istion, praying that whoever I met would have mercy on me.

    "This life, however, is different." The Void said with a savage smile on his face. "Here I suffer and I''m alone, but at least I''m strong. So strong that I can tear men apart like paper and lift cattle with one hand.

    "I have incredible powers, magic, and even telekinesis. This is nothing like hell. Yet since I''ve got this hunger that makes me hurt everyone around me, this isn''t paradise either.

    "I''ll tell you what I think, little guy. This is an opportunity. If I understand how to master my powers and control my weakness, I''ll be unstoppable. And you know what''s the best part?" Derek asked and this time he took a pause to let Ragnar?k reply.

    The angry de listened to the rhythmic pulse of Chaos in Derek''s veins and remained silent. Ragnar?k knew the answer and it terrified the de.

    "That even if I fail, this time it''s not going to be just my problem. The world won''t keep spinning no matter how deep in shit I am. It''s going to be everyone''s problem."

    ***

    Hessar Region, Royal main road to the capital, a few hours earlier.

    All those involved in the search for Lith moved to the site of the brigand''s attack on Borj''s family as soon as they could. The first to arrive was Xenagrosh. Between her ess to most Gateworks and her Dragonspeed, there were few ces on Garlen she couldn''t reach in a matter of minutes.

    ''I''m sorry for Lith''s friends but I''m not going to take any chance that the Royals find him first and one of their goons screws things up. Lith might be a hero to people but politics are shit.

    ''If the wrong person finds him, I bet my scaly ass they might try to murder him with the excuse he was violent or frame him for a massacre too big for the Royals to pardon him.

    ''There are too many people that would pay Lith''s weight in gold just to take him down a peg.'' She activated her Eldritch ability, Stalking Predator, to draw in all the auras in the vicinities and assimte them into her body. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She picked out one Abomination-hybrid energy signature, three dead men''s scents, and as many horse corpses. The other smells belonged to regr humans, one female and two males, and they all moved in the direction of the nearest city.

    ''There''s no foul y yet. Everything is as stated in the report.'' Xenagrosh thought. ''The only thing out of ce is Lith''s smell and energy signature. Back near Vidun''s cabin, I sensed only his Abomination aura.

    ''Now I can smell his Dragon side so he''s alive and healing. Yet there is no trace of his human side at all. What if it''s damaged beyond repair? Can Lith survive without his human life force and if yes, would he still be a Tiamat or be like me?''

    The answer both scared and excited Zoreth.

    It excited her because having a second member of her species would make her less alone. She would have someone who could truly understand her and with whom to share her burden.

    Also, it would have made it much easier for Lith to enter the Organization.

    The answer also terrified her because losing his human side would mean bing a different person. To lose his special connection with Elysia and maybe even his ability to love his family.

    ''I need to find Lith quickly. Whatever the wound he suffered, Father can heal him as long as I''m not toote. I''d rather be alone than let him endure all the shit I''ve gone through.'' She circled the area until she found his trail.

    Then, she bolted forward while keeping the top speed that wouldn''t hinder her sense of smell.

    She had left from a handful of minutes when the first Chronicler arrived. The World Tree had many Chroniclers, one for each area of Mogar outside the range of their mystical senses.

    Great was the elf''s dismay when all of his locator spells failed to pick up any trace of Lith.

    ''I''m sorry, My Liege. I came here as fast as I could but someone beat me to it. They have cleaned up the area beyond what even the spells you taught us can recover.'' Bas''Ren said via their bond.

    ''Eldritches.'' The Yggdrasill spat out the word like a curse. ''No one else could have done it. It matters not. nt your staff in the ground.''

    The Chronicler did as ordered and the living wood of his polearm sprouted roots and tendrils. It allowed the World Tree to use their breathing technique, Root Cause, despite the distance from their physical body.

    Among its unique abilities, the Yggdrasill''s version of Invigoration allowed them tomune with the local flora and temporarily Awaken it, giving nts the gift of consciousness.

    This way, the World Tree could read their memories of recent events and witness them as if they had been there.

    ''Did you find anything, My Liege?'' Bas''Ren asked.

    ''Yes. Verhen went northwest from here and Zoreth Leegaainborn is after him. You follow his path, I''ll put together a squad. It''s imperative that we find him first. We can''t allow him to regain his memories.

    ''Many friends of Elphyn Menadion are still alive and I''ve no intention of discovering how far they are willing to go to help her.''

    The Chronicler left the area less than a minute after his arrival.

    Friya, Quy, Faluel, and Protector arrived less then fifteen minutester but no matter what they tried, they found no evidence of Lith''s presence except from the craters he left.

    They followed the footprints until the point where he took flight and then they explored the area in every direction for kilometers before giving up.

    ***

    Hessar region, near the borders with the Ker region, in the middle of nowhere, right now.

    Less than one hour was left before sunrise.

    It was the moment when a young Abomination like Derek was supposed to be at his weakest. After a whole night spent away from a geyser and any other form of nourishment, an Abomination would be too hungry to think straight.

    Their whole focus would be devoted to finding their next meal, strutting around like the apex predator that Mogar''s natural undead were.

    In the Void''s case, it was only a half right assumption.

    He was indeed hungry. So hungry that his sense of guilt for murdering the Ry was just a slight annoyance in a corner of his mind.

 Chapter 3167 Kill Team (Part 1)

    Chapter 3167 Kill Team (Part 1)

    Yet the life energy of the magical beast still flowed through the Void.

    The walk allowed the Abomination to both preserve most of the life force and honor the sacrifice of the Ry. That along with the guilt was enough to keep Derek''s mind keen as he scoured his surroundings for another prey. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    With every sip of life force he consumed, his shame grew. The Void had killed the magical beast because possessed by the hunger, not because he wanted to. It was an unforgivable act of weakness, something that Derek wouldn''t allow to happen a second time.

    On top of that, he no longer considered the endless appetite of the Abomination like a biological need but as an enemy. And like against all of his enemies, Derek McCoy kept his guard up and fought it with everything he had.

    As he walked through an empty clearing, he perceived everything around him with painful rity. The worms digging through the soft soil below him, the feeble vitality of the grass des, and even the thin world energy spread throughout the air.

    The whole Mogar looked like a meal to him but it was one made of scraps. Every bite reminded him of the pleasure of feeding but there wasn''t enough to slow down his growing hunger.

    It frustrated him to the point that, under normal circumstances, he would have fallen into a frenzy like back on Mount Mar.

    Not that night. The rage and the hunger only sharpened his senses as he used every iota of self-control he had to preserve what was left of the Ry''s life force one second longer.

    It was the reason the Void perceived the shift in the world energy as the Chroniclers approached him.

    The servants of the World Tree had found Lith with Root Cause and followed him, biding their time for the moment when he would be more vulnerable. They still had no idea how their colleague had failed to kill him and the fact that Lith still carried his equipment worried the elves.

    He was one of the few people on Mogar capable of using de Spells so the Chroniclers couldn''t rush in. To make matters more confusing, Lith moved slowly while keeping high vignce which contradicted the information about him suffering from amnesia.

    The cloaking rings he wore blurred his figure under Soul Vision too much to be certain he really was in his Abomination form. In the darkness of the night and with most of his head covered by the helm, only his fangs were clearly visible.

    The Chroniclers knew he wasn''t in his human form, but that was it.

    Even without Solus, Lith was famous for his ability to nplex schemes while leading his enemies to underestimate him. Now that the Yggdrasill was one of them, the Tree second-guessed every one of their moves, afraid of ending up like those who had tried to kill Lith in the past.

    The Chroniclers had followed him for hours to check he wasn''t leading them into a trap of his own. They kept their distance, avoiding using spells that would have revealed their position to the Abomination''s hunger and relying on Soul Vision.

    ''Something is wrong.'' Derek thought, his paranoia shutting his mouth for the first time in a while. ''I can feel holes in the energy around me. I would think this is just another difference with Earth if these holes didn''t move in formation and weren''t surrounding me.''

    The Darwen of the Chroniclers'' armor made them invisible to mystical senses and spells. A darkness enchantment canceled their smell while an air enchantment silenced their steps.

    The only sign of their presence was theck of any presence. If one looked carefully, they would notice that the world energy was thinner where a Chronicler hid. Or, in the Void''s case, he felt it in the pit of his ever-hungry stomach.

    ''Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!'' The Voidfeather Dragon screamed telepathically, hoping that either the Void or Ragnar?k would receive his warning.

    The angry de actually listened to the thoughts of both the Abomination and the Dragon. It conjured the Gleipnir enchantment to gain control over part of Derek''s mana and the power cores of the rest of the equipment.

    ''He discovered us!'' The Chronicler closest to the Void spotted the golden chains with Soul Vision and warned the others.

    They had no use for a mind link, using their Yggdrasill wood equipment to ry the message.

    ''We need to stop him before he casts his de Spell or we''ll die before we can conjure Silverwing''s Annihtion!''

    The World Tree didn''t take any risk. They wanted to kill Lith quickly, collect a piece of his equipment to convince Solus of his demise and break her will. The Tree needed her to stop fighting back to move on to the next phase of their n.

    The Tree''s scheme to gain the Zouwu''s trust and Menadion''s tower had been a sess but everything after that had been an utter failure.

    Even worse, as long as Lith was alive, there was a chance the Tree''s involvement might be exposed and their Fringe besieged by the Eldritches. Something the Yggdrasill wanted to avoid at all costs.

    While seven Chroniclers assembled to conjure the anti-Guardian spell, the final member of the kill team jumped out of his hiding spot to draw the Abomination''s attention.

    The elf had already prepared the tier five spell, Frozen Wastnd, and shapeshifted his staff into a polearm with a Davross head.

    The sight of the ck-d figure stopped Derek on the spot way before Frozen Wastnd hit. His mind was flooded by the memory of the bloody wound blooming on Solus'' chest back at Mogar''s Garden.

    Of the mysterious man who had taken the stone ring away from him back at the hunting cabin. Of the bastard who had robbed him of something, no, someone precious.

    ''He''s one of the bastards who took Solus!'' The Voidfeather screamed in outrage and even though only thest word reached the Void''s mind, it was enough.

    The boiling rage snapped Derek out of his shock and he stared in anger at the thief. The Darwen armor made Life Vision useless but he recognized the spell from memory.

    The blue luminescence on the elf''s fingertips, the way he shifted his weight for the palm strike, everything triggered the memory of M''Rael hitting Lith. The memory of M''Rael stealing Solus.

    The palm strike connected with unexpected ease, releasing Frozen Wastnd upon contact. The spell drained the humidity in the Void''s surroundings with air magic and unleashed a cold wave with water magic.

    The two effects synergized in a loop that instantly dropped the temperature of the Abomination by over one hundred degrees. It was a spell devised by one of the first World Trees to get rid of any Dragon, especially Leegaain, who might get too much a fancy to their secrets.

    The Void''s body exploded like an over-inted balloon, generating a thin mist of silvery droplets from the shattered Voidwalker armor and ck ones from his darkness body.

    ''Wait, what?'' The Chronicler was bbergasted. ''Verhen has the mass of a Divine Beast. I wasn''t supposed to push him even one millimeter away. He can''t die this easily, can he?''

 Chapter 3168 Kill Team (Part 2)

    Chapter 3168 Kill Team (Part 2)

    ''No, he can''t, you idiot! Blink!'' The Yggdrasill barked as the droplets of both colors stopped in mid-air as if time was frozen.

    The Tree could see through their Chronicler''s mystical senses that the armor and its master were actually unscathed. The Davross-Adamant alloy could take much more than a single tier five spell and the Chronicler was right about Derek''s mass.

    The palm strike hadn''t shattered Derek''s body, he had scattered himself to avoid the brunt of the spell while also feeding on its mana.

    Abominations weren''t Dragons. Cold did nothing to them and all elements but darkness were a meal to them.

    The Elf understood what the Yggdrasill meant when he saw the droplets brimming with energy and charging at him.

    ''Oh, shit!'' Luckily for him, centuries of experience and the Tree''s timely warning allowed the elf to Blink away in time.

    Unluckily for him, it waspletely useless. If not for his Darwen armor, the elf would have noticed that the palm of his right gauntlet waspletely ckened by a chunk of the Abomination''s body that Derek had stuck to the elf.

    "Hello, dinner!" The ck goo took the form of the Void''s face and seeped through the joints of the armor for a feast.

    At the same time, the droplets followed the main conscience and rained upon the Chroniclers like bullets of Chaos and enchanted metal. They formed ayer surrounding the elf''s whole body and exploited every centimeter of his exposed skin to drain his vitality faster.

    While Derek feasted upon the elf, Ragnar?k bolted on its own against the assembled Chroniclers, disrupting their formation.

    ''Imr''za, stop that de!'' Q''porr, the leader of the hunting mission, said while she rushed toplete her share of the Annihtion.

    Imr''za shapeshifted her Yggdrasil staff into a tower shield and readied the tier four Clean te she had prepared to jam Lith''s equipment in case he came too close toplete his de Spell forfort.

    ''On it!'' Imr''za nted her feet on the ground, imbued Clean te in her equipment, and braced for impact. All while conjuring her side of the Annihtion with body casting.

    Yggdrasill wood wasn''t as durable and powerful as Davross, but while the elf supported the shield with her body, Ragnar?k was alone. Without Lith''s mass behind the blow, the Yggdrasill shield would just be chipped before Clean te stunned the semi-living weapon.

    The damage wouldn''t hinder the shield''s enchantments and the spark of the World Tree inhabiting the wood would instantly repair it. Imr''za calctions were confirmed by the Tree and on point.

    Except she had failed to take into ount the raw mass of Chaos guing the de or the fact that just like its master, Ragnar?k was rarely alone. Double Edge coated the angry de, giving it the mass of a small building.

    The Cursed Element pierced through the Yggdrasill wood like paper, spreading its corruption, while Ragnar?k''s sheer weight sted the shield asunder and impaled Imr''za in the chest. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Solus. Where?" The angry de quivered in respite as it could pass the blight of Chaos on to the dying elf and use her blood to recover part of its strength.

    In the blink of an eye, two Chroniclers were dead, dropping their numbers from eight to six. In the blink of an eye, two Yggdrasill branches were tainted by Chaos that fed upon the Tree''s spark and twisted their life force.

    Back in the Fringe, the colossal body of the Yggdrasill quivered. Their life essence imbued inside the two Chroniclers was gone but that wasn''t the worst. Derek had grabbed one of the Yggdrasil weapons and was enjoying its effects.

    The mystical wood heightened his focus, gave him superior mental rity, and bolstered his control over the spark of Chaos inside his body.

    ''I knew it!'' Solus enjoyed the Tree''s screams and quakes in the ground like they were music. ''Lith is alive and kicking ass.''

    ''Interesting.'' New ideas and realizations popped up in Derek''s mind as the wood inspired him to find a way to adapt what he knew about darkness magic to Chaos. ''This thing is both a snack and a circuit breaker.''

    The Void fed off the World Tree to stave his hunger and used the Tree''s life force to shield his own from the consequences of his amateurish grasp on Chaos Magic.

    "Die!" Derek followed Ragnar?k''s example and cast the tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void, from the tip of the wooden weapon.

    He failed to control the spell, causing both the staff and the life spark of the World Tree to crumble from the bacsh. Yet he didn''t care. There were seven more pieces of wood like that and the Howling Void was onto its prey.

    ''Leave it to me!'' Qral, the strongest of the group, left the formation and his weapon behind.

    There was no time for anything but to bet on the Yggdrasill''s skills as a Forgemaster and the properties of the Darwen. The elf took the Chaos spell square on his chest and was sent tumbling to the ground.

    The anti-magic properties of the Darwen scattered the st with little consequences for Qral. His armor was cracked and his ribs broken, but he could still fight. Light fusion was already mending his wounds and the armor would fix itself with time.

    Darwen was a brittle material, weak to physical attacks, and Chaos Magic packed quite a punch in the form of kic energy.

    Derek clicked his tongue in annoyance and syed his fingers, releasing the twenty tier five spells he kept stored in his rings. Final Eclipses, Stormnados, Raging Suns, Mjollnirs, and Burial Grounds erupted in pairs all around the elven formation.

    ''Don''t let Verhen escape!'' Q''porr and the rest of her team were blinded by the wall of mana but otherwise unscathed.

    The Darwen of their armor had repelled the elemental barrage with ease, suffering solely minor damage from shockwaves and shrapnel.

    ''ording to our data, Verhen''s most likely move is to retreat and prepare his de Spell. He knows we can''t cast Silverwing''s Annihtion at full force anymore. We need to press on!''

    Derek knew no de Spell and recalled Ragnar?k to his hand while trying to understand the situation. The explosions blinded him as well and he would never turn his back to an enemy before making sure they were really dead.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I''ve killed them all without leaving one to interrogate.Even worse, my rings don''t seem to recharge on their own. Let''s hope one of the knife ears survived. I need to understand why they are after m-''

    Qral split the wall of mes with a wind de and the other five elves escaped from Derek''s spells in a circr formation with no blind spots. They had expected a trap in the trap yet nothing happened.

    No Blink above their heads, no army of Demons, no mes. Nothing.

    ''Me and my big mouth!'' The Void could now perceive the elves thanks to the cracks in their armor but he had no clue how to fight one against six.

    The Chroniclers scattered to not offer him an easy target and attack him from every side.

    ''If Verehn really is struck in his Abomination form, then use darkness magic and ignore the other elements!'' Q''porr ordered and the others obeyed.

 Chapter 3169 Puppet Master (Part 1)

    Chapter 3169 Puppet Master (Part 1)

    Derek swung his de in a wide arc to keep the Chroniclers away, making his mediocre swordsmanship evident. The elves dodged but didn''t exploit the tant opening, thinking it another trap.

    ''What if Verhen really is amnesiac?'' Tarell asked after no clever tactic followed the amateurish swing.

    ''What if it''s just a ruse and you die?'' Q''porr rebuked him. ''Verhen just used twenty tier five spells. How could he do it if he had no memory?''

    Her reasoning was correct. Regr spell-holding rings could only store one spell so Lith wasn''t supposed to have ess to more than ten.

    Yet it was also wrong. By mixing the runes retrieved from the Odi and Golden Griffon, Lith and Solus had found a way to craft magic-holding rings capable of storing two spells each.

    It was something they hadn''t shared with anyone but their closest friends, making even the World Tree oblivious about their innovation.

    Derek cursed his weakness and unleashed a barrage of tier one spells, leaving the Chroniclers aghast. Even a simple student uniform was more than enough to neutralize such weak spells.

    Even worse, there was no strategy or reason behind them.

    ''How could such a moron kill so many of our friends?'' Tam''sfil said in outrage. ''I say that our intel is correct. Stop overthinking and cover my back!''

    Before Q''porr could order him to stop, the Chronicler lunged at Derek with the skill he had polished through the millennia. Everyone expected him to die in a gruesome and unexpected way but that didn''t happen.

    His spear slipped past Derek''s awkward guard and impaled him through the chest. Elves had the bloodline ability to imbue their spells inside their equipment akin to an extra enchantment so the de carried more than the Davross it was made of.

    The tier four darkness spell, Death Mist, was released straight inside the Void''s body and the Voidwalker armor. Tam''sfil used the armor''s gravity sheath as a containment field to focus his spell''s destructive power.

    Derek screamed in pain, feeling the life force he had painstakingly collected dissipate, and tried to get a hold of the wooden haft to suck it dry.

    Tam''sfil, however, was quicker. He pulled the de out and shed diagonally as he retreated. He knew that Abominations had no vitals so there was no point sticking close to Lith.

    The polearm left a shallow gash that went from the right breastte to the left pauldron, spreading more darkness inside Derek''s body and weakening him further.

    ''That''s it?'' Q''porr couldn''t believe her own eyes. ''This is no ruse. Verhen has lost his memory. We''ve yed ourselves this whole time. Attack!''

    The elves spread out, adjusting the grip on their weapons and leaving Derek the space of one breath before they jumped at him from every direction.

    In that breath, Ragnar?k forced the Full Guard enchantment of the Voidwalker armor active, spreading a violet light for over 30 meters (100'') around the Abomination.

    The pain from the wounds awakened the memories of all the fights Lith had faced in his twenty years of life on Mogar. The instincts carved in his body by the countless hours he had spent training and battles to the death rose to the surface.

    Derek may not know what to do, but Lith did. Full Guard was amon spell, but it had been Lith''s bread and butter since the academy and it gave his body all the information it needed to fight.

    Ragnar?k''s clumsy movements became sharp, intercepting the tip of one of the desing from the front and pushing it away. The elf''s weapon had greater range but Lith didn''t need to reach Tam''sfil to hurt him.

    To hurt them all.

    Lith let the edge of the ck de slip past the Davross head and onto the haft, shaving the wood above and injecting Chaos in that below.

    Lith pumped mana in his left hand, temporarily enhancing the durability of thebat glove, and intercepted a second polearm with his open palm. The Davross'' speartip pierced through the armor''s metal and the Abomination''s darkness, releasing part of the tier four spell it was imbued with directly inside Lith''s body.

    Pain was an old friend to Lith and Derek so they clenched their fangs along with their left hand. There were no bones or nerves inside the Void so he could still move all his fingers and grab the Yggdrasill wood, stopping the weapon before the de could deliver the full blow. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Two membranous wings erupted from his back, pping against the two elves striking from behind his back and wrapping themselves around their weapons. With the human side gone, the second set of wings was missing so nothing stopped the final two weapons.

    The best Lith could do was to manipte his body along with the Voidwalker armor, opening holes in the Davross des'' path as quickly as he could. The Chroniclers exploited the openings to shoot their spells right inside, past his armor''s defensive enchantments.

    The Void lost big chunks of his body, his energy reserves and mass greatly reduced by the several tier five darkness spells he had to endure. Yet he pressed on, closing the holes as quickly as they had appeared and trapping the wooden hafts of the two final weapons into his grasp as well.

    "My turn now." The Abomination Touch infected the Yggdrasillponent of the weapons, draining them of vitality and using it to recover the lost mass.

    Yggdrasill wood was almost as durable as Davross, but unlike the mystical metal, it was alive. Weak to the corruption of Chaos. Small tendrils sprouted from the Abomination''s body, forming ck veins as they spread throughout the weapons'' hafts.

    It dealt immense pain to the Tree which in turn was passed on to the elves due to the bond they shared. The attack was much worse than before, the infection of six branches at the same time amplified the pain that every Chronicler endured, paralyzing them.

    The ck veins grew fast, reaching the hands wielding the weapons and moving on to infect the living flesh as well.

    ''Unleash everything you have at the ready or we''re dead!'' Fighting the Chaos invading her body was making Q''porr lose her focus and she knew that the other Chroniclers were in her same boat.

    Losing the Annihtion would force the kill team to change their strategy, but there was noing back from losing their lives.

    The Chroniclers activated every enchantment of their weapons, released every spell contained in their rings, and conjured all those they hadpleted. The resulting explosion sted the Abomination to pieces and sent the elves flying away to safety.

    ''Assemble to my position!'' Q''porr doubted that Lith was dead so she had the rest of her team Blink to the same spot to cast the Annihtion again. ''Use your breathing technique.We need to recover before-''

    Her "before" was past and gone.

    In the time it had taken them to Blink, the explosion had already stopped. Instead of expanding in every direction, the mass of fire and darkness was swirling in a ck vortex while the other elements faded into nothingness.

    ''Has''sar! I thought you were dead.'' More than one elf asked via the mind link with the World Tree as they saw their colleague walk through the smoke and fire.

 Chapter 3170 Puppet Master (Part 2)

    Chapter 3170 Puppet Master (Part 2)

    ''Because he is, you morons! Verhen''s Abomination side is a Puppeteer!'' The Yggdrasill warned them after noticing that the dead elf''s eyes burned respectively with red and ck light.

    Knowing he couldn''t survive the st, Derek had sought refuge inside the body of the first elf he had in. He had noticed that those weird, delicate armor were immune to magic so he hoped it would work the same for him.

    Yet not even that would have been enough to survive the onught of so many spells if the power of Lith''s eyes hadn''t returned along with his battle memory. The Abomination Touch had broken the elves'' focus and without it, the willpower imbued in their spells was gone.

    The magic they held was powerful but vulnerable to Domination. Darkness was the only thing that could seriously harm the Void while the sts of fire were the biggest threat to the Darwen armor.

    Lith only had two eyes in that form, but with the elements of destruction bridled to his will, the rest wasn''t a problem. The Darwen repelled the brunt of the spells while the Void fed upon their energy to recover from his wounds.

    ''Wait, since when Verhen can use Domination?'' Tam''sfil asked.

    ''Who cares? We have to kill him before he absorbs Has''sar''s mass and recovers!'' Q''porr moved forward but a strong hand stopped her.

    ''How exactly? He wears our same armor now. Magic isn''t going to work against him and we have no chance in close- Blink!''

    Derek raised Ragnar?k, the spell conjured by the golden chains finally ready.

    It was another tier four Howling Void, but this time it was perfect. The Chaos was focused and amplified on the ck de''s tip and the elf''s corpse Lith wore took the bacsh from the spell.

    A ck spear the size of a small tree burst out of Ragnar?k, moving faster than a bullet. The elves managed to Blink but Chaos was faster than any spell. It entered the dimensional door with Qral and came out of both the Blink and the elf.

    His cracked armor caved in front of the violence of the ck pir and his lean body fared no better. The Howling Void left a hole in his chest the size of a bowling ball, his heart and lungs were gone. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It would have taken time and tier four magic to save him but the Chroniclers had neither.

    Lith raised his closed fist, condensing the power of his ck eye to the extreme, and then syed his fingers. Domination infused what remained of the Howling Void with willpower and split the spell into small energy bullets.

    Guided by Lith''s will, they turned around and chased after the elves. Each fragment of Chaos was too weak to pierce through Darwen by itself but with the cracks in their armor there was no need to.

    The Chroniclers Blinked, but Life Vision revealed Lith where they would appear and the bullets resumed their chase. The Chroniclers had no time to conjure a barrier strong enough to stop the onught and their Darwen armor were crafted for cover ops, not for direct fight.

    Whenever a Chaos shard hit the Darwen, it just caused a small bruise. When it found an opening, it left behind a gaping hole.

    Derek stared in amazement as the elves fought for their lives like rats trapped in a maze. They could run, but they couldn''t hide and the scientist supervising the experiment always knew which direction the rats would take.

    ''You can do that?'' The Void asked to the familiar presence inside himself. ''Can I do that? Also, how can you perform Chaos control? I mean, I''m a shadow but I''m no hedgehog.''

    ''No talking during a fight.'' The belief was so rooted in Lith''s mind that it silenced the Void. ''Enemy. Solus.''

    Those two words reminded Derek of the scene back when he had opened his eyes. The dying elf, the tiger man, and the feeling of emptiness that still ravaged his heart.

    He left Lith full control over the body, trying to learn from him everything the Void could. How to block, perform defensive movements, and manipte spells in ways Derek could only imagine.

    ''This is weird.'' He thought. ''Howe I understand everything after watching it once? I''ve never been a genius. Also, why didn''t I feel any invasion when this guy took the wheel and why does he care about Solus?

    ''It''s a part of my soul, not of his own.'' His attention was suddenly drawn to the battlefield.

    The Chaos spell was extinguished and Ragnar?k had run out of Cursed element. The Chroniclers were badly hurt but far from defeated. Their wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye and Derek saw via Life Vision their strength return.

    ''Fuck!'' He bolted forward, feeling the mysterious presence in his mind bing sluggish and lethargic as Lith''s mind went back to its slumber. ''Stay with me jackass. I can''t beat them by myself. If not for me, do it for Solus.''

    Thatst word stirred the smoldering embers of Lith''s rage, bringing him back to the surface.

    The elves all Blinked in different directions and Derek Blinked along, picking one of them at random. He appeared behind a particrly cute female elf, severing her arms with a V-shaped sh.

    Lith left behind enough darkness element to rot the extremities of the limbs so that reattaching them wouldn''t be easy.

    ''I would love to kill them all, but I need someone alive to interrogate.'' Derek thought. ''I need to know who they are, what they want from me, and if they know something about this Solus.''

    He Blinked again, his knowledge of dimensional magic returning with every spell he cast. His next target was a bulky, for an elf, male who unleashed a barrage of ice bullets and lunged with his ive.

    The spell rolled off the Darwen like rain on a windshield but that was Tam''sfil''s n. The hail of ice bolts was meant to blind the Abomination''s Life Vision and impair Full Guard.

    It was one of the standard techniques the Tree imparted to their Chroniclers to defeat powerful opponents. The Yggdrasill had the knowledge and experience of countless millennia on their side and, even though by proxy, they had fought thousands of battles.

    Hidden amid hundreds of bullets, the Davross de reached its target unimpeded. The ive pierced Derek''s side and released the spell with which Tam''sfil had imbued it.

    The mass of darkness was guided by his willpower and too close for Lith to Dominate it.

    Lith took a deep breath to conjure his mes and burn the ive while still stuck inside his body, but nothing happened. He tried to conjure his Demons but aside from his consciousness drifting away he achieved nothing.

    The various parts of his life forces were split andpartmentalized, sealing both his memories and abilities.

    Derek snarled, taking control back from Lith. He let go of his body, relinquishing his physical form and turning into a ck and silvery stream that forced his way into the elf''s mouth, eating at him from the inside.

    ''Tam''sfil!'' Q''porr could see herrade''s life force still burning but she knew he was already dead and reced by the Puppeteer.

 Chapter 3171 Wrong Tower (Part 1)

    Chapter 3171 Wrong Tower (Part 1)

    Tam''sfil''s pain was Q''porr''s pain, shared through theirmon bond with the World Tree. She felt his agony peak and disappear, leaving only a void in her mind where Tam''sfil light had been until a second ago.

    Q''porr shed tears of sadness but her hand held steady. She cleaved the possessed corpse asunder and released the tier four darkness spell, Death Mist. It destroyed everything organic, leaving behind only the broken Darwen.

    ''Behind you!'' The warning resounded one second toote.

    Ragnar?k cut Q''porr in half at the waist, cauterizing the wound on both sides.

    The Void had exploited the cover of the Darwen armor to Blink out of Tam''sfil body unseen.

    Only two elves were left, too few to assume any of their most powerful battle formations and too confused to fight back. They hade prepared to fight a ruthless tactician but a tactician nheless.

    The Void, instead, was a berserker. He traded blows uncaring for the pain and muttion he would suffer, knowing that he only needed to eat in order to heal.

    They had expected to fight an angry man who above all wanted to go back to his family, not a suicidal monster with nothing to lose. To make matters worse, Lith had collected the Yggdrasill branches of the fallen Chroniclers.

    The wood amplified the feeble connection between the human side and the Void and by draining the Yggdrasill weapons at the right time, Lith could trigger pangs that paralyzed the elves and interrupted their spells.

    Not even darkness fusion could stop a pain that originated from their minds.

    The secondst Chronicler fell when Derek Blinked again.

    Everyone turned toward the exit point but nothing came out of it. The Void had shapeshifted his body to match the outline of the entry point and never crossed it, his energy signature hidden behind the Blink.

    The Void stabbed the elf from the back, severing her spine and flooding her lungs with blood. From so up close, the final Chronicler found himself trapped. The Abomination''s wings attacked him from the sides while Ragnar?k came from the front.

    The elf couldn''t block the hits of someone so much heavier than himself and put everything he had into dodging while casting a powerful spell. He had just slipped past Derek''s left wing when the membrane shapeshifted into a huge hand that wed at the Chronicler.

    The attack caught the elf by surprise and increased the wing''s reach. One of the wing fingers barely grazed the Chronicler, but it was enough to maim his right arm and send him to m against the ground.

    Not only was he losing lots of blood but the Abomination Touch had robbed him of mana and vitality.

    "I''m going to ask you only once. Where''s Solus?" Lith and the Void spoke in unison, the voice of the man and the Abomination ovepping in the rumble of an angry god.

    Tendrils of Chaos and darkness restrained the crippled elves just like the buffalos a few hours back. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Where is she?"

    ''She?'' Derek froze as the sweet smell and the light brown of the hair now had a face and a name.

    In his memories, he was happy when Solus smiled, sad when she cried, and mad with fury when anyone or anything threatened her.

    "Where is she?" Derek roared while lunging Ragnar?k into Q''porr''s liver just like he had done with Chris two decades ago.

    "Far away from here. Where you''ll never find her." The Chronicler gurgled, her mouth frothing blood.

    Q''porr knew there was no way out. Verhen was already eating her alive and her Yggdrasill weapon was in his hand. She stopped using light fusion to fight death and surrendered to its cold embrace.

    The Void consumed Q''porr''s spark before it went out and passed her blood onto Ragnar?k to assemble a new scabbard.

    "That was a mistake on my side." Derek sighed. "I''m an idiot."

    He strengthened the grip on the remaining Chroniclers and brought them back to full health.

    "Let''s start this over." Lith was pleased as he pinned the elves to the ground with the tendrils.

    He flooded their bodies with the spark of Chaos, corrupting their mana flow and making it impossible for them to weave runes with their mind and bodies.

    "Where is Solus?"

    The Chroniclers'' loyalty was unbreakable, mostly because the fragment of World Tree fused with their flesh prevented them from even thinking of betraying their master. On the other hand, the Abomination''s hunger was infinite and there was still a lot of time before sunrise.

    ***

    It was only after the third elf died without saying anything that Lith understood that interrogating them was a waste of time and returned to his slumber. Derek, instead, kept ying with his prisoners and experimenting with his abilities.

    By the crack of dawn, all Chroniclers were dead and all Yggdrasill branches had be ashes. Derek used them to study Chaos magic safely, discovering how dangerous it was.

    Ragnar?k could use the Cursed Element only because its body was made of indestructible metal and the de had no life force that could be injured. Yet a single Chaos spell drained a huge chunk of Ragnar?k''s energy reserves and blood scabbard.

    As for Derek, the slightest mistake would have grievously injured his life force if not for the Yggdrasill paying the price for him.

    The World Tree had spent the night in agony and their screams would have been a wonderful luby for Solus if only she could sleep. She remained in her ring form, hoping for Lith to be alright and humming their favorite songs.

    Unbeknownst to her, the Void found himself humming those same songs.

    Solus'' name gave him a head-splitting headache. There were too many memories associated with her to sort through them all. The Voidfeather Dragon was already exhausted from the previous night and now he had to block another stream of consciousness.

    ''My human life force is still too weak. Waking it up, even for a short while, was a huge gamble. Yet if I hadn''t done it, I''d be dead by now.'' He thought.

    "Who the fuck are you?" The Void said while shing with Ragnar?k at the ethereal figure and hitting only air.

    ''Who is this moron talking with now?'' The Voidfeather looked around but there was no one.

    "I''m talking with you, jackass." Derek could see his Divine Beast side floating in mid-air with the appearance of a translucent ghost.

    ''You can see me?'' The Voidfeather was bbergasted. ''Our connection must have be stronger now that you''ve remembered about Solus.''

    "You''re not making any sense, Larry." Derek threw all kinds of spells but they all phased through the hallucination.

    ''Call me that and I''ll call you George!'' The Voidfeather snarled. ''Now shut up and listen. I don''t know how long this willst and there are a few things you must know. One, no one brought you here on Mogar. You did.

    ''You are just amnesiac. Second, Solus is a person, not a thing. If you die, she''ll be lost forever and there will be no resurrection for you. You''ve ovee that issue a while ago after Kami-''

    As the life forces recovered from the damage inflicted by the elves, the connection with the Voidfeather Dragon broke, leaving Derek with more questions than answers.

 Chapter 3172 Wrong Tower (Part 2)

    Chapter 3172 Wrong Tower (Part 2)

    "How am I supposed to believe someone I''ve never met?" Derek''s paranoia ran rampant, making him doubt everything. "How can he expect me to believe such tant lies? Someone entered my bodyst night just like Larry entered my mind now.

    "I''m not amnesiac. I know who I am. I''m Derek McCoy."

    "Wrong." Ragnar?k said. "You Lith. You master."

    Derek wanted to question the de''s loyalty, but that name sounded awfully familiar.

    "Lith." As he spoke it out loud, the Void could almost see his house back in Lutia, the smiling faces of his parents and siblings.

    Then, more pressing thoughts drove those images away.

    "What did he mean, no resurrection and who''s Kami?"

    ***

    The search for Lith and Solus never stopped, but aside from Lith''s encounter with the family of traveling farmers, there was no trace of him.

    Kam always kept hermunication amulet at hand, hoping for good news. Elysia and Valeron cried more and more often, not used to miss their father for so long.

    "Is there any chance I can use Elysia to track Lith?" She asked Leegaain who was on baby duty that day. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m sorry, child. I can''t help you. My vow is only about protecting Elysia''s physical well-being. Not her feelings" He replied.

    "So you know where my husband is. You know what happened to him. You know how to rescue him and yet you just sit on your scaly ass?" She clenched her fists, suppressing the temptation to punch the Guardian in the face.

    "And what do you want me to do? Fix all the bad things on Mogar? Rescue all the people who are dying and suffering right now? Do you realize how privileged you are just for talking to me?" Leegaain replied.

    "If you don''t like my presence, I can always go back to the Empire. I''ll protect your daughter from a distance and leave you alone. Forever."

    "Please, don''t. I''m sorry. I''m under a lot of stress right now." Kam wanted to cry, but it would do her no good. "Gods, I wish Solus was here. She''s the smart one. She''d know what to do."

    "She wouldn''t." Leegaain shook his head. "Without their bond, Solus would be panicking just like you and she would be terrified at the idea of not finding him before theck of a hostpromises her memories."

    "That''s not true." Kam replied. "She can bond with anyone and Grandma can undo it with Creation Magic the moment we find Lith."

    "Yeah, right, because I''m sure that Solus would be thrilled at the idea of having another person in her head and potentially exposing all of Lith''s secrets. Would you share your body with her?

    "Let her feel what you feel, share with Solus your most intimate thoughts and moments? Experience hers?"

    "When you put it that way, no." Kam swallowed a lump of saliva. "I doubt even Tista would."

    "My point- Answer that!" Leegaain pointed at hermunication amulet one second before Zoreth''s rune lit up.

    "Please, tell me you''ve found him." Kam said.

    "I wish." The Shadow Dragon sighed. "I''ve lost Lith''s traces the moment he took flight. He must really be amnesiac because his movements make no sense. He''s going in random directions.

    "Yet I found his trace back after meeting a pack of wolves. It took me a while and lots of meat to convince them to trust me but I did it. They met Lith and brought me to the banks of the Osha River.

    "I''ve picked his scent again, but after a while, I''ve lost him again. Lith travels by flight during the day when his hunger is at its lowest and on foot at night."

    "Thanks, Zoreth." Kam sighed. "This is not what I hoped for but it''s better than nothing."

    "I wasn''t done yet. Look at what I''ve found." The Shadow Dragon widened the hologram, sharing the view of the clearing where the Void had fought. "We aren''t the only ones looking for Lith. Someone tried very hard to kill him.

    "Someone wearing these." Zoreth showed multiple fragments of Darwen left from the broken armor. "Any idea to who they might belong?"

    Kam looked at Leegaain for a second, meeting a stone mask before replying:

    "I''m a Constable, I don''t even know what that is."

    "It''s Darwen. It''s a rare material considered very hard to craft. It matches the pieces we''ve found near Vidun''s cabin. It means that we aren''t dealing with a single individual but with a well-equipped organization.

    "I''m bringing it home to see if someone recognizes the design. Zoreth out."

    "Dammit." Kam wanted to yell and cry, to crack the table with a punch and smash the chair with a kick.

    Instead, she kept her voice low and suppressed her emotions to not scare the children.

    "Mama?" Elysia asked from Leegaain''s arms.

    "Don''t worry, baby. Everything is alright. Mommy is alright." Kam lifted Elysia and hugged her tightly to find the strength to not fall apart.

    "Dya?"

    "Daddy is alright too. He''s busy with work but he''s always thinking of you. He''d do anything to be here with us but he just can''t." Kam replied, fighting tooth and nail to keep her voice from cracking.

    Elysia was utterly confused. On the one hand, she perceived her mother''s sincerity. On the other hand, she also felt Kam''s distress. The two things didn''t make sense together.

    The baby girl focused really hard, trying to tap into the bond she shared with her father.

    No matter how much Elysia tried, her Tiamat blood remained still. Then she shapeshifted into a small Voidfeather Dragon, garnering a response so faint that she could barely notice it.

    "Elysia!" Kam pulled the baby away, feeling the baby bing deathly cold. "You gave me a heart attack and my hands are hurting. Why did you turn into a¡­"

    The baby girl now had ck ebony skin, long fangs, and empty white eyes but Kam couldn''t call her an Abomination. The word itself sounded like an insult that if it were to escape Kam''s lips even once would taint the love she felt for her daughter forever.

    "This is weird. Elysia never turns into¡­ this unless Lith does it first. What does it mean?"

    Elysia didn''t care much for questions. After days of separation, she could finally perceive her father clearly. He was very distant, but the small Abomination could see his ckness as clearly as she could see her mother.

    "Dya! Dya!" She iled her small arms in Lith''s direction, begging her mother to turn around and look.

    Kam''s heart clenched at the word and she did turn around, hoping that somehow Elysia''s transformation was a sign of Lith''s return.

    "No, baby girl. That''s the wrong tower. Daddy isn''t there." Kam kissed Elysia''s forehead, trying to reassure her.

    A medium-sized hunting cabin had just reached the Verhen Mansion running on giant chicken legs. It stopped at a safe distance from the arrays in order to let the lords of the house confirm the identity of the cabin''s upants and not trigger the automated defenses.

    "What''s this story about Lith''s disappearance?" The Bright Day stepped through the wooden door, wearing a sunflower yellow day dress that emphasized her albino-white skin and pitch ck hair and matched her shining golden eyes without pupils.

 Chapter 3173 Clear Motive (Part 1)

    Chapter 3173 Clear Motive (Part 1)

    "And what happened to Solus? We agreed on resuming her lessons once she returned from a smash-and-grab job but it''s been three days since I''ve heard from her." Dawn said.

    "It wasn''t a smash and grab!" Baba Yaga in her Maiden form came out of the hut right after the Horseman. "That''s something Lith would do, not Elphyn. Anyway, where is she? Her rune is still active but hasn''t been avable for days now."

    "Thank the gods you are here!" Kam kissed Elysia again, considering the baby a lucky charm for summoning her unexpected but most wee guests. "I wanted to ask your help from the day I lost contact with them, Malyshka, but I don''t have your contact rune."

    "Mama!" Elysia pouted while pointing behind Kam. "Dya! Dya!"

    Her mother couldn''t possibly miss the mystical blot of darkness just because it was invisible to everyone else on Mogar.

    "Sorry, little one. I''m not your father." Dawn was coincidentally in front of Elysia''s finger, angering her further.

    "Don''t worry, child." Noticing everyone''s distress, Baba Yaga shapeshifted into her Mother form, spreading a soothing aura. "Now calm down and exin everything to me from the beginning." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Dya." Elysia couldn''t have been clearer. "Dya! Dya!"

    "Shush, child. Let the grown-ups talk." The Mother put her forefinger on the baby''s lips. "I know you miss your father and I promise you we''ll do our best to find him."

    Elysia slouched her shoulders and shapeshifted back into her human form. Keeping the Abomination form for too long made her hungry and altered her perceptions in a way she didn''t like.

    After a while, everyone smelled like food.

    "I think she''s hungry." Baba Yaga said, garnering herself the dirtiest look a toddler could give.

    "Baba." Elysia grumbled, angry at the nice woman for getting the hunger part right at first nce and yet being clueless about everything else.

    "How cute! She has already learned my name." The Mother said, drawing hrious nces from Kam and the Guardian. "I guess it''s too early for her to say Yaga."

    "Sure." Kam didn''t have the heart to tell Malyshka that Baba was the baby speak for "very bad person" so she cut to the chase and told her everything that had been discovered up to that point.

    "This is the personnel file of Strider the Zouwu and these are the fragments of a Darwen armor found on both sites where Lith was attacked."

    Baba Yaga had just taken Kam''s amulet to examine the holographic documents when sunlight reflected on one of the fragments, highlighting a specific rune.

    "By the Great Mother. Hold that thought for a second." The Red Mother tried and failed to study the armor shards with her breathing technique, Sun and Moon, just like everyone else before her.

    Darwen was impervious to all forms of mana and world energy. It was one of the reasons the crafting techniques for Darwen artifacts were among the most closely guarded.

    Then she cast her best Forgemastering spells, including Creation Magic, on the fragment to uncover its secrets but the result was the same.

    Darwen was impervious to all forms of mana and world energy. It was one of the reasons the crafting techniques for Darwen artifacts were among the most closely guarded.

    An armor made from the dull ck stone would make its wearer invisible to mystical senses while a weapon would escape detection and ignore energy-based defenses. On top of that, Darwen artifacts required no cloaking runes.

    The material they were made of ensured they couldn''t be studied with magical means. If even one rune was damaged or missing, the artifact would be no different from a piece of junk, making its secrets impossible to discover.

    "I got nothing." Baba Yaga said, making Kam sigh deeply.

    "Nothing? I hoped that at least Creation Magic-"

    "No, you don''t understand. I got nothing. Literally." The Mother cut Kam short.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Darwen is impervious to magical energy, but depending on the amount of impurities it carries, it can still conduct mana and world energy. Artifacts like those your husband makes are in their raw state because Lith is still learning how to handle Darwen.

    "The armor the Council uses has less than 5% impurities to ensure perfect cloaking. This one, however, has less than 1% impurities. Just enough to be enchanted. There is only a handful of people on Mogar who knows how to handle Darwen this pure and only one of them uses this particr rune."

    Baba Yaga pointed at the word of power that only reflected light made visible.

    "This is the work of the World Tree."

    "Are you sure?" Kam racked her brain, trying to make the new piece of information fit with everything she already knew.

    "I am." The Mother nodded. "I''m familiar with this design because I''ve spotted the Chroniclers multiple times while they studied my tower and they all wore this exact same Darwen armor.

    "They ran away as soon as I activated the defensive protocols of my tower, but little did the Chroniclers know that as they scanned my tower, my tower scanned them. Also, don''t forget that the Yggdrasil doesn''t'' share their knowledge.

    "At most, they would have bartered a single armor in exchange for information. Xenagrosh finding fragments of multiple broken armor means that the World Tree is sending the Chroniclers to either capture or kill Lith.

    "The only question is: why would a being so powerful as the World Tree go this far to get their hands on Lith and Solus?"

    "Maybe I know the answer. Just give me a second." Kam called Zoreth back and shared Malyshka''s findings with her. "As far as I remember, both the previous World Tree and the current one showed great interest in Lith''s bloodline.

    "After quitting her role as candidate Chroniclers, Aalejah told us never to ept the Tree''s invitation to their Fringe. She said the Tree would likely take Lith prisoner until they were done studying him."

    "Good theory, but it''s not supported by evidence." The Shadow Dragon shook her head. "On the second scene there were all the signs of a huge fight. The Chroniclers didn''t try to capture Lith, but to kill him."

    "You didn''t let me finish." Kam red at Zoreth in annoyance. "Also, Lith and Solus interacted with the new World Tree during a visit to a Fringe."

    "Lith found one?" The Shadow Dragon felt hurt for the umpteenth secret that Lith kept from her, showing he didn''t trust her fully.

    "No. He was brought there as part of a deal. It''s not his secret so he couldn''t share it with you and neither can I." Kam hated breaking Nalrond''s confidentiality, but if it meant bringing Lith back home, she would rather ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

    She never mentioned the Agni or hinted to knowing the position of the Fringe. She only exined how once inside, an elf name M''Rael had enved the Tree and taken the stone ring from Lith.

    "I have no clue what M''Rael wanted to do with Solus, but that''s the only time the World Tree had the opportunity to interact with her. Any idea?"

    "I''m afraid so." Baba Yaga nodded. "The Yggdrasil love collecting knowledge. There''s a strong chance he thinks that Solus holds the key to find Menadion''s legacy."

    "What?" Zoreth was bbergasted. "But she''s amnesiac and even if she wasn''t, that''s old junk. After all this time without an owner, even Menadion''s tower is bound to have crumbled."

 Chapter 3174 Clear Motive (Part 2)

    Chapter 3174 Clear Motive (Part 2)

    With that single answer, the Shadow Dragon unwittingly told Baba Yaga how much Zoreth knew about Solus''s true nature.

    ''I knew it! Bytra might be a clone and Xenagrosh might have turned a new leaf, but letting them know about the tower would have been too dangerous.'' Baba Yaga thought.

    ''It was smart of Lith and Solus to keep the Eldritches in the dark but I''m afraid the secret of the tower is going to be exposed if we need their help to rescue Solus.''

    "Maybe the Tree only wants to retrieve Solus'' memories or maybe they know who has taken the tower after Bytra killed Ripha." She actually said, ring at the Shadow Dragon. "We''ll worry about these detailster.

    "Do you know the current Yggdrasil''s location?"

    "No." Zoreth shook her head. "But one of my associates knew how to find the old one. I''ll ask him. Is there anything else I should know?"

    Kam and Malyshka exchanged a quick nce before saying: "No."

    "As you wish." Zoreth could feel many things were being left unsaid but she didn''t pry. "Xenagrosh out."

    "The whole truth, child. Now." Baba Yaga said after sealing Kam''s amulet.

    She told the Mother about M''Rael''s n to use Solus and the tower to reim the old elven Kingdom and how the Tree had witnessed the fusion between Lith and Solus.

    "Order and Chaos!" The Mother squinted her eyes and scowled as a shadow seemed to cross her face. "This exins a lot."

    "This exins what? Please, I hate riddles!" Kam forced Malyshka to look at her.

    "Fine. Until a second ago, I believed the Yggdrasill had no motive to do all this so nothinging to my mind made sense. Now, however, things have be pretty clear. The Tree learned from their predecessor Solus is bound to Menadion''s tower, but had no idea how powerful it has be.

    "You see, one thing I didn''t mention earlier because it seemed unrted to our current predicament, is that the Chroniclers have stopped trying to study my tower for a while. Ever since Lith went to the Fringe, to be precise."

    "Do you mean¡­" Kam gasped.

    "Yes." Baba Yaga nodded. "That day the Tree learned that Menadion''s tower, the most powerful artifact ever created on Mogar, has be even more powerful. They have witnessed the fusion and its endless possibilities.

    "If I''m right, everything since the ident with the Ears of Menadion has been staged to lure Lith and Solus in a trap and Strider was one of the Tree''s aplices."

    "There''s one thing I don''t understand." Kam clenched and unclenched her hands in a failing attempt to keep her outrage under control. "The Tree has captured Solus already. Why are they still trying to kill Lith?"

    "Foolish child, it''s to avoid a war." The Mother sighed. "You know Lith. What would he have done if not for his amnesia?"

    "He would have¡­" Kam''s eyes went wide at the realization. "Raised hell."

    "Exactly." Baba Yaga nodded. "Rather than losing Solus, he would reveal the secret of Menadion''s tower to the whole Mogar and the Yggdrasil would be doomed. Lith would call me and Silverwing.

    "The Tree knows we are alive and would fight to the death to rescue Elphyn. Just like they know that if the Master''s Organization gets involved, things won''t go well. Their Fringe might be sieged if not even stormed.

    "While in their domain, the Yggdrasill is as strong as a Guardian, but their precious Chroniclers are not. A full-scale war, even if won, would mean having their strength crippled for a long while and their domain burned to the ground.

    "The Yggdrasil can''t let Lith unleash the dogs of war, that''s why they are so desperate." She tapped at the armor fragment. "The Tree didn''t even bother cleaning up because there was no time.

    "Zoreth got there too fast and they couldn''t risk their Chroniclers being found on the scene. The Tree betted everything on no one being capable of identifying the broken Darwen armor because they didn''t know about my counter-scan arrays."

    "What do we do now?" Kam asked.

    "There''s not much we can do." The Mother pondered. "We don''t know the location of the current World Tree and we have yet to rescue Lith. He''s the only one who can decide how much we can reveal to the rest of Mogar about Solus.

    "Without him, we can involve solely the people who already know the whole truth about her and they are nowhere enough. Even with Silverwing''s help, we don''t have the means to find the Tree''s Fringe, let alone fight the Yggdrasill inside their domain.

    "I''ll inform Lochra and ask my Firstborns for help, Kam. You gather your forces as well. We have just jumped out of the frying pan into the volcano."

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree, at the same time.

    Xenagrosh''s conversation with Kam was Hushed so the Yggdrasill couldn''t overhear it. Yet they witnessed Baba Yaga''s hologram appearing on the Shadow Dragon''smunicator through the eyes of the Chronicler sent to clean up after the fight.

    There wasn''t much left but the various pieces of the Darwen armor were scattered throughout the battlefield. Darwen made them undetectable to mystical senses and looking for ck rocks in the middle of the night was harder than looking for a needle in a haystack.

    To make matters worse, the Shadow Dragon kept arriving first on the scenes of the fights or so quickly that the Chroniclers couldn''t finish covering the tracks of their dead colleagues.

    ''Dammit! Somehow Verhen''s wife involved the Red Mother. This wasn''t supposed to happen. If she joins the search for Verhen and finds him first, my Chroniclers will never kill him before he reveals my involvement. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Even worse, I now have to be on the lookout for Baba Yaga and Silverwing as well. They are both white cores and great friends of thete Menadion. They won''t leave any stone unturned until they find Elphyn.

    ''They don''t know about me yet, but they can pose a threat to my ongoing operations. I have even less time than I hoped. Vamir!''

    "Yes, My Liege?" Vamir Enfiro was a happily married male elf.

    He was one of the oldest and wisest Librarians of the Tree. He had been chosen as Solus'' next host because his love for his wife and his long life would bolster his defenses against Solus'' psychic attacks.

    ''Have you gotten ustomed to the deep violet core, Vamir?''

    "Yes, My Liege." The elf couldn''t believe to have received such honor.

    Mostly because he had no idea what had happened to his predecessor, Nes''hiah.

    ''What about the telepathic defense techniques I''ve imparted you?'' The Yggdrasill asked.

    "As you know, I have already studied most of them as a Librarian. It didn''t take me long to master the rest but I''ve never put them into practice." His long experience in the theoretical field of telepathy was another of the reasons the Tree had chosen Vamir for the role.

    ''Don''t worry. I have full trust in your abilities.'' The Yggdrasill replied. ''Also, you won''t fight this battle alone.''

    With a rustle of their branches, a Chronicler entered the room.

 Chapter 3175 Mind War (Part 1)

    Chapter 3175 Mind War (Part 1)

    ''Uldreyin will apany you.'' The Tree said. ''If Elphyn Menadion tries anything funny, he''ll deal with her physically. Remember, no matter how strong she is, her body is still that of an artifact. She is made to obey her master.

    ''We need to break her only once to gain control over the tower forever.''

    "If she''s so dangerous, why not use more Chroniclers?" Seeing Uldreyin in full battle gear rattled Vamir''s confidence.

    ''To what end? All you have to do is bring her down her telepathic defenses. I will be there to neutralize her magic and Uldreyin to keep her from attacking you physically. Remember that we want to bind her, not kill her, or I''d have done that myself already.

    ''I need her alive to study the tower and bringing in more people means more chaos. More chaos means more variables and more variables means an exponential increase in our chance of failure. Mogar knows if I hadn''t enough of that already.''

    Those words raised many questions but the Yggdrasill''s tone brook no discussion. The Tree Warped the two elves in front of Solus'' cell, wrapping the stone ring in a dimensional barrier before opening the door.

    ''By my Mom!'' Solus tried to Blink out of the room but the energy field stopped her even from flying.

    She was akin to a heavy fly trapped inside an unbreakable ss jar. The door closed and her chance to escape was lost.

    "Come out, Elphyn. Don''t force my vines. You know how this works." The Tree applied enough gravity and pressure to cause small cracks to open in the stone ring before Solus could even reply.

    "My name is Solus, World Fucker." A cute, petite woman appeared amid sparkles of light. "And that''s my line."

    She red at the elves, the ring on her finger to keep anyone from imprinting it.

    "Uldreyin." On the Tree''s cue, the Chronicler bolted forward.

    He was infused with all elements and his Yggdrasill staff was shapeshifted into two one-handed battle maces. With no spells at the ready and dimensional magic sealed, Solus didn''t stand a chance.

    It wasn''t a fight, but a one-sided beating.

    She only wore a day dress to not let the World Tree steal her artifacts whereas the Chronicler wore the best artifacts the Tree had crafted. On top of that, the difference in speed between a bright blue-cored Awakened and a bright violet was the same between a kid and an adult.

    Uldreyin moved too fast for Solus to follow him, his strikes masterful and without a wasted movement. His weapons were hard enough to wound even a Divine Beast and he infused them with spells that lowered Solus'' defenses further.

    Water magic sapped her body heat, making her slower, while darkness magic ate at her ever-dwindling strength. She did her best to dodge but every hit reached its mark. She punched and kicked as fast as she could yet the Chronicler avoided and countered every one of her attacks.

    First, he hit her on the head to cloud her vision. Then, he mercilessly struck her right kneecap to cripple her footwork. In less than a minute, Uldreyin had broken her arms, legs, and ribs, making every breath a necessary pulse of agony.

    Solus whimpered in pain, but she didn''t cry or beg. She just red at the elves, biting her lips.

    ''Excellent job. Imprint her, Vamir.'' The Tree ordered while checking with Life Vision that her condition was as bad as it appeared and wasn''t just a trick.

    ''Why not knock her out, My Liege?'' The Librarian had witnessed the beating, but he also knew that even an Awakened would have died one hundred times over under those hits.

    If anything, the fact that Solus was still alive and conscious sent a cold shiver of fear down his spine.

    ''I wish. Based on my information, the host takes part of the damage Elphyn suffers. If we beat her too hard, there''s a chance you''d faint once you bond with her. If she wakes up first, you''d have no chance of resisting her psychic assault.

    ''You have to trust me. This is the best course of action.''

    Vamir gulped harder. After spending over five millennia behind his desk, he wasn''t ustomed to pain and Solus'' current wounds looked more than he could already endure. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Do not try to resist, Elphyn. I find no pleasure in hurting you. All of this could have been avoided if you surrendered peacefully." The Tree refused to call Solus with her current name.

    They ignored her needs and crossed her boundaries to show Solus how helpless she was. Inside the Fringe, the Yggdrasill defined her reality, even her name was under their control.

    The Tree wanted her to submit willingly so that once the Librarian bonded with her, he would encounter no resistance.

    Solus didn''t reply or move.

    At least until Vamir bent down to touch her. Guided by Spirit Magic, her long multi-colored hair wrapped around his arm like a bunch of snakes, too fast for the elf to react.

    Uldreyin bolted forward but Solus was still on the ground and the Librarian''s body was on top of her. She was smallpared to him, leaving the Chronicler no opening to attack while her hair choked Vanir to death.

    "I warned you!" Roots emerged from the wooden floor squeezing Solus'' broken limbs and making her eyes tear up with pain. "Let him go, now!"

    ''Dammit. I can''t imprint people. I''m really like a cursed object. My host must be willing to bond with me.'' The attack had just been a cover for her experiment. ''Had I seeded, I would have started the fight on my terms.

    ''Instead, I''m forced on the defensive again.'' She released her hold on the terrified Librarian who needed a few seconds to regain his cool.

    "Don''t be scared." The Yggdrasill warned him. "We''ll be by your side, just like now. Gather your willpower and imprint her as soon as you are ready."

    "Yes, My Liege. I didn''t mean to freak out, My Liege. She took me by surprise." Vamir waited until his breathing steadied and then touched Solus.

    As soon as his mana invaded her body, her mind went to the attack and the Librarian writhed in pain.

    "My arms! My legs!" He moaned as his limbs became purple and swollen.

    "What are you doing?" The Tree roared.

    "Nothing." Solus lied through her teeth. "You should have known this would happen. Have you learned nothing from Nes''hiah''s death?"

    "Nes''hiah is dead?" Vamir froze in horror as he understood why his fellow Librarian had disappeared and that the Tree wasn''t telling him everything.

    "She blew up like a firework." Solus said, weakening his mind further. "And you are next."

    "Silence!" Uldreyin moved like the wind, hitting Solus'' head with one of his maces and making Vamir curl up in pain a split second after her.

    ''Don''t listen to her, Vamir.'' The Yggdrasill said via the piece of their bark that ensured a constant mind link with the Librarian. ''She''s just trying to dy the inevitable.

    ''Think of all the amazing things you''ll be able to do as the master of Menadion''s tower. The glory and honors with which your entire race will shower you.''

 Chapter 3176 Mind War (Part 2)

    Chapter 3176 Mind War (Part 2)

    ''Once we uncover the secrets of tower crafting, I can make more than one tower. If you want, we can gift them to the elves and they will use them to reconquer Mogar from the hands of the humans.

    ''Your people will be free from their golden cages and hail you as their liberator.'' The World Tree had no intention of doing any of this.

    For the Yggdrasill to be a truly invincible being, there could be only one perfect tower. Their tower.

    Also, altering the path of Mogar''s races with their knowledge went against what the heir of the First Awakened stood for.

    ''If Elphyn likes to y the maniption game, I can do that too.'' They actually thought.

    ''Gods, yes!'' Vamir felt an adrenaline rush at the idea. ''We would no longer be prisoners of the Fringes. We would walk Mogar free once again like during the golden age!''

    He fought Solus'' mental attacks back, quickly moving on to the offensive thanks to the Yggdrasill''s teachings and the advice he received through the bark in his hand.

    "What good is power if you don''t live long enough to enjoy it?" Solus gritted her teeth. "Have you said goodbye to the poor Ell? Because the next time she sees you will be at your funeral!"

    Hearing the name of his wife sent the Librarian back to square one.

    ''Gods, how could I be so stupid? She knows what I know! It means that if I fail, she''s going to kill my family next!''

    "I said silence!" The World Tree roared and Uldreyin hit Solus'' head again.

    Just like she wanted.

    After the previous blow, she had noticed that while her pain came from the physical injury and could be sedated with darkness fusion, Vamir''s came from the tower. It was physical and mental agony, something darkness fusion could do nothing about.

    It was the reason she spoke out loud instead of using the mind link. She wanted the Tree to listen. So when the mace struck, Solus had already blocked her pain receptors whereas Vamir lost his focus.

    She exploited that moment tounch another telepathic attack, this timeced with poison. On the surface of her next stream of thoughts, there was the memory of what had happened to Nes''hiah.

    Vamir still doubted the World Tree despite their pep talk and curiosity got the better of him. He let Solus'' memories in through a small gap in his telepathic defenses that she kept open and widened without mercy.

    Solus triggered a mind fusion, this time focusing on her own life and forcing the Librarian to experience her worst and best memories over and over again.

    ''What are you waiting for?'' The Yggdrasill realized the battle was going downhill the moment Vamir stopped answering him. ''Knock her unconscious, Uldreyin. Vamir''s safety is irrelevantpared to the damage Elphyn will cause if she takes over again.''

    The Chronicler hit her mercilessly, forcing Solus to adjust her strategy. She forced the Librarian to relieve her recent memories first so that Vamir experienced her same wounds once through their bond and again and again through her memories.

    Time had no meaning in the Mindspace so for Vamir it was as if Uldreyin had beaten him nonstop for days instead of one second.

    ''The Tree doesn''t care about your pain.'' Solus said via the mind link. ''Nobody does except for me because this is our pain. I know you. I know your dreams and ambitions. I can help you. I can make the pain stop.

    ''All you have to do is to let me in.'' She reinforced her plea with another streak of mind fusions reying the beating from start to finish.

    After the tenth time Vamir experienced having his limbs broken, he surrendered. His mental defenses crumbled while Solus'' solidified. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A sudden pang shook the Tree and stopped Uldreyin.

    ''Good boy!'' Solus said to Vamir while he flooded the piece of Yggdrasill bark with darkness magic.

    Then, she threw her stone ring at the Chronicler in a small but deadly projectile.

    ''I have no idea what it does but I''m not going to find out.'' Despite his stunned state, Uldreyin dodged the ring with ease while sidestepping Solus'' barrage of punches.

    At least until the ring expanded into the ground floor of the tower, hitting the Chronicler like a truck. Solus didn''t need a mana geyser to conjure the tower. She needed one to do it without affecting her energy reserves.

    It still required a lot of mana. Too much for her bright blue core but now that she had a host, Solus could do it with Vamir''s help. It would have been a colossal waste of time if not for two factors.

    One, the prison was shaped out of the Tree''s body which was infused with the world energy of the Fringe that the Yggdrasill kept away from Solus. Two, the Predator protocol.

    The tower sprouted stone tendrils which drained the Tree of their mana and life force to sustain its existence, attacking the Yggdrasill from the inside.

    The wood prison rot and the World Tree quaked in pain as the tower grew like a cancer at the expense of their body.

    "And I''m not done yet!" The door of the tower opened, releasing theplete Menadion Set and Thundercrash.

    Solus pointed the gun at the head of the Chronicler. He was dizzy from the major brain concussion but he was still alive.

    "Hasta vista, baby." The bullet blew Uldreyin''s head and the wall open, letting Solus out. "Prime Engine, go!"

    The stone tendrils dug through the rotten wood, reaching the ground that the Yggdrasill kept close and heavily guarded.

    ''Don''t you dare!'' Despite their agony, the Tree had summoned his Chroniclers to stop the prisoner.

    "Or what?" Solus replied while dodging the elves'' spells and weapons like they were in slow motion. "Will you trap me against my will and beat me up? Been there, done that."

    She was empowered by the Set while the elves were hindered by the constant waves of pain they received through their Yggdrasill equipment. As the tower reached the ground, it connected with the tainted energy it had left behind and bypassed the Tree''s control over the Fringe.

    The tower regained its floors at a speed visible to the naked eye, expanding in every direction as it sprouted limbs, ws, and a massive arm cannon.

    ''No! Not that thing again!'' The Yggdrasill could see Thundercrash''s massive replica charge up, but luckily, it would take it time.

    The tower had yet to form fully and the Prime Engine prioritized Solus'' defense over the offense. All the extra energy it could spare was channeled in the Set of Menadion which included the Anvil.

    Stone tendrils emerged from the Engine, seeping inside the golden Voidwalker armor and changing it into Menadion''s final gift for her daughter.

    Unluckily, the clock was ticking and the rail cannon wouldn''t take long to finish charging. Wherever the Engine touched the Yggdrasil, the Predator protocol had the ws on its hands and feet pierce through the wood and suck it dry.

    The tower was absorbing the power of the Fringe and the World Tree both, increasing its maximum output beyond the usual limits.

 Chapter 3177 Expendable Pawn (Part 1)

    Chapter 3177 Expendable Pawn (Part 1)

    ''Get in and help me, my friend.'' Solus hated pretending to care about Vamir but as her life support system, he was vital to her n.

    She threw him in the safety of the Engine while she kept fighting with thebined prowess of the full Menadion Set.

    ''I will!'' Vamir was moved by her kindness and willingness to sacrifice herself for him. ''Together we will break this tyrant''s back.''

    After dozens of mind fusions, the Librarian believed that the World Tree had taken him prisoner with a trap and tortured him for days until Solus hade to his rescue. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Due to his millennia of age and deep love for his wife, Ell, Solus had failed to make him fall in love with her. Yet she had no need for that.

    Vamir still remembered how awkward her first encounter with Solus had been. He was deeply ashamed for having tried to crush her under his fangs. Of doubting her goodwill and leaving her alone while he went to call for Selia.

    Despite his poor treatment, Solus had always had a warm smile for him. She had always been there for him while Vamir treated Tista''s illness. Solus had be Selia''s first true friend after years of istion to protect his baby.

    ''Also, even though I''m a married man, I have to admit that her breasts look and feel amazing.'' The Librarian thought, his own memories indistinguishable from Lith''s and Protector''s after being hammered in his head over and over again.

    ''Dammit, Lith!'' Solus blushed in embarrassment, knowing that she actually had no one to me but herself.

    She had highlighted her feminine charms during the mind fusion and used her most embarrassing interactions with Lith and his dirty mind to paint a few lewd scenarios as true.

    The only silver lining in that mess was that she didn''t n on letting Vamir live long enough to tell the tale nor did she have the time to worry about it. The Chroniclers unleashed one tier five Spirit Spell each that the Eyes analyzed and the Mouth countered.

    Soluscked the mana necessary to beat them with raw power but the Ears read the flow of the runes and together with the Eyes, the artifact allowed her to find the critical focal points of the iing spells and disrupt them.

    By then, the Mouth had already finished conjuring the most suitable counterspells and aimed them with pinpoint precision. Whatever was left of the enemy attacks was quickly neutralized by the Hands.

    The des emerging from itsbat gauntlet form channeled all seven elements, using them to stop iing attacks, spells, and even enchantments. Their length made up for the stumpy range of the Fury and turned every block into a counter.

    The Chroniclers'' Yggdrasill weapons were harder than the Hands, yet, but Solus'' mass made up for it. On top of that, with every sh, the Hands would temporarily short-circuit the power cores of the elven equipment.

    Solus fought as hard and dirty as Lith would, using the full Menadion Set to threaten the World Tree''s domain over the Fringe.

    ''I don''t think I can hold out much longer, dammit!'' At a wave of Solus'' hand, the Firing Range released a volley of Final Eclipses that was instantly overpowered by seven pirs of elemental energy.

    The Tree had managed to cut off the infected parts of his body and regain their focus. The Yggdrasill had a bright violet core like the Chroniclers, but their colossal size and expertise made a huge difference.

    Especially because Solus and the tower were inside the Tree. The Fae''s spells and those of their Chroniclers wouldn''t hurt each other so they could go all out. Like they had just done by firing a full-powered Silverwing''s Annihtion at her.

    Solus escaped the destruction of her physical body thanks to the Heart surrounding her with a Silverwing''s Bastion. The Heart of the tower stored fewer spells than the Mouth yet, but they could be instantly cast as if they were enchantments.

    ''Shit, that was close.'' She thought.

    ''I''m not stupid, Elphyn. I''ve researched cursed objects before this meeting. I know people like you and Dawn can sacrifice your host to survive any attack. You were foolish to think that overpowering Vamir would y in your favor.'' The Tree said.

    ''He''s expendable and as long as he''s alive, I have no reason to hold back!''

    ''Did you hear that, Vamir?'' Solus used a mind fusion to both reinforce her hold on the Librarian and share the Tree''stest threat.

    ''I knew I couldn''t trust her! Solus, we must escape and go back to Elysia- I mean, Ell.''

    ''You bet.'' Solus nodded, sighing in relief as the elf''s mental defenses crumbled for good, turning Vamir into her puppet.

    He started to chant the best spells he had learned throughout the centuries in the World Tree''s archives and sent them to Solus after amplifying them through the Master Mirror of the tower.

    ''I''m neither a man nor a woman, you damn mammals! I''m a tree!'' The Yggdrasill roared.

    ''Correction, you are a whiny bitch!'' Thebined power of Solus and Vamir reached the violet core and she now had the equivalent of tetra casting even while she fought.

    Vamir used true and fake magic plus body casting while Solus had the Mouth to help her. In its unlocked form, the Mouth of Menadion wasn''t restricted to memorizing three spells and holding one extra enchantment anymore.

    The artifact had ess to every single spell stored inside the Library and could change its enchantment at will thanks to the Workshop and the Factory.

    As long as Solus was within the range of the tower, the Mouth was its own mage and with the Hands fueling it, the spells cost Solus no mana.

    ''Mom was a damn genius!'' Solus dodged, attacked, and counter-attacked in an endless stream of seamless movements. ''Now I understand the meaning of every piece of the set.

    ''They are powerful on their own and unstoppable whenbined.'' The Ears read the flow of mana of spells and attacks while the Anvil interpreted that information and moved Solus'' body to avoid them.

    Solus'' mind was filled with Lith''s battle tactic and experience but her bodycked the reflexes necessary to put them into practice. The Anvil, however, had no such problem. It used the data stored in the Eyes, Solus'' memories, and the input from the Ears to execute the most efficient defensive manoeuvres.

    The Fury was akin to an infinite stream of tier five spells.

    Every time Solus threw the hammer, it split into nine copies of identical power. The magical gemstones on its head allowed her to change the effect of each hammer based on the circumstances while the Davross made them indestructible.

    She only had to wait until the Fury came back to her hand to unleash nine more attacks and during that couple of seconds, she still had the Hands. The des allowed her to safely block any attack while the wed gauntlets gave her an edge whenever an enemy came too close.

    Without the synergy of the pieces of Menadion Set Solus would have neversted long enough for the Prime Engine to charge up the arm cannon.

 Chapter 3178 Expendable Pawn (Part 2)

    Chapter 3178 Expendable Pawn (Part 2)

    The Tree had done their homework and the Chroniclers this time coordinated their attacks against Solus instead of fighting as individuals. They covered each other''s back, exploiting the openings that Solus'' attacks created and forcing her to turtle up. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Until that moment, she had failed to kill anyone after Uldreyin.

    ''It''s done!'' Vamir alerted Solus the moment the Engine was fully formed and the link with the mana geyser established beyond what the World Tree could cut off once they stepped off the exposed ground.

    ''Fire in the hole!'' She replied while pointing at the still-open st mark left by Thundercrash.

    The Librarian nodded and fired the electromaic cannon. The shockwave alone sent the Chroniclers mming against the wall while the noise burst their eardrums. It wasn''t enough to kill them, but that was Solus'' job.

    As the bullet opened a gaping wound in the Tree''s massive body, the agony they suffered spread to the Chroniclers on top of their own wounds, paralyzing them. Solus unleashed her spells, threw her hammers, and cut down those closest to her with the Hands'' des at the same time.

    To add salt to the open injury in the Tree, she collected the Yggdrasill weapons of the dead Chroniclers with Spirit Magic and sent them to the Bleed for life force extraction.

    ''I''m sorry.'' Vamir lowered his eyes in shame as he had the Engine pick Solus up and charged forward.

    ''About what?'' She asked, triggering another mind fusion to reinforce her hold over the elf.

    ''I slightly adjusted the targeting system of the Mechatron. It was aimed at one of our viges and Ell might have been there. I couldn''t risk harming her.''

    ''Don''t apologize. You have my thanks for that.'' Solus replied.

    ''Really?''

    ''Yeah, I''m not Lith. I won''t kill innocent elves unless it''s absolutely necessary.'' Solus activated the tower''s flight enchantment and escaped the Yggdrasill''s clutches before the opening could heal.

    ''By my Mom!'' Even though she was on the run, the sight of the Tree''s Fringe was still breathtaking.

    The Heir of the First Awakened was so big that the Engine was as tall as a toddler standing in front of a centuries-old oak tree.

    A single branch was big enough to host an entire vige of elves and most of them actually did. Before she got too far from the Tree, Solus had the time to notice that there also were viges built in between the roots and several tunnels led under the Tree.

    ''Sun elves emit a golden radiance while Moon elves a silvery one.'' Vamir exined.

    ''What about you?'' Solus pointed at his soothing blue aura and light brown skin.

    ''I''m a Wood elf while Ell with her red glow is a Shadow elf, silly. Mighty Tree if you are an airhead.'' The Librarian chuckled.

    Elves were forbidden to invoke the gods'' names, afraid that the Guardians might listen to them and discover the secrets of their master.

    ''I''m sorry. I must have taken one blow to the head too many.'' Solus had no idea what he was talking about or what Ell looked like.

    The telepathic defenses she had learned from Dawn required her to keep as much information as she could about her host out while she performed a mind fusion. Vamir knew the most intimate detail of Solus'' life whereas she didn''t know even what color his eyes were.

    ''How far does the Fringe extend?'' She asked, eager to change the topic.

    ''Kilometers. We should-'' A solid punch to the face cut the Librarian short and sent the Engine tumbling on the ground.

    ''Surrender now.'' The World Treepleted the phrase for him. ''I''m sick and tired of this game. I won''t tolerate any further disrespect.''

    Colossal wooden golems surrounded the tower, each one of them over 40 meters (130'') tall and made of solid Yggdrasill wood. Elemental and white crystals the size of an adult man were studded at the joints, on the chest, and face.

    To make matters worse, their power core contained solely offensive and defensive spells, without wasting a single rune with attack protocols or artificial intelligence. Each golem was controlled by a Chronicler, giving them a mind of their own.

    A mind focused by the power of the Yggdrasill wood and empowered by a titan almost as sturdy as Davross.

    The golem''s fist had caved the Engine''s face. Menadion''s masterpiece was far from recovering the gold-veined marble of which it had originally beenprised. At the moment, it was just a bunch of grey rocks with a few white streaks.

    s, even if it did, Menadion had chosen the gold-veined white marble because it was the best avablepromise between physical and magical resistance. Davross was too rare to build a tower out of it and so was Yggdrasill wood.

    But not for the World Tree itself. By dedicating small parts of themself to the golems, the Heir of the First Awakened had crafted invincible war machines that the elves used to deal with Divine Beasts.

    Thanks to the bond with the Tree, the wooden golems had ess to the infinite energy of the Fringe and since their wood was still alive, it also shared the regenerative properties of a Fae.

    Guided by the minds of the Chroniclers and supported by the knowledge collected by the past World Trees, the golems made the Yggdrasill as powerful as a Guardian.

    ''Surrender now. I won''t repeat myself a third time.'' The Tree said.

    ''Gods if you are a whiny bitch!'' Solus'' reply came in the form of the Engine dealing a palm strike to the nearest golem and activating Silverwing''s Annihtion from that same hand.

    Albeit powerful, the golems were still limited by the Tree''s and the Chroniclers'' bright violet cores, requiring at least three constructs to cast Silverwing''s spells. The tower, instead, was a white core on its own and also had Solus'' bright blue and Vamir''s deep violet cores.

    The anti-Guardian spell pierced a hole through the construct, allowing Solus to see past it. The problem was that with so much mana and so many enchantments, she had no way to spot the Chroniclers controlling the Golem with mana sense.

    Roots and vines sprouted from the wound and closed the hole as fast as the Annihtion opened it. Solus was cutting the golem in random directions when a second wooden construct charged at her in a ze of emerald light.

    Vidun raised his left hand and the Engine did the same, stopping the golem on its tracks and dispelling its magic.

    ''What? How?'' The Yggdrasill was more surprised than scared.

    The Tree had deployed more than two golems and even though it was the least of Solus'' problems, with each of her escape attempts, she was showing the Tree how powerful Menadion''s tower was.

    "Surprise, motherfucker!" Solus said as a white barrier flickered in and out of existence, taking the golems'' spells with it.

    While the Engine''s right hand released a stream of Annihtion, the left conjured a Bastion right upon impact to save as much power as possible.

    ''Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Yet defense alone wins no battle. You are still trapped in my grasp.''The Tree said.

    "For now." Solus raised her hands in surrender, breathing heavily.

 Chapter 3179 My Name is Solus (Part 1)

    Chapter 3179 My Name is Solus (Part 1)

    Even with the full Menadion Set, even with apliant host, Solus had run out of fuel. Conjuring two Silverwing''s spells at the same time had nearly depleted the tower''s energy reserves.

    She had learned many things from her bond with Nes''hiah but the wooden golems'' existence wasn''t among them. They had screwed her calctions and foiled her ns. Yet just like the Tree, she too was learning from her escape attempts.

    "Next time I will be more careful." She panted. "I''vee farther than thest time and the next I''ll go even farther."

    Two key factors limited her current strength.

    The first factor was that Menadion had built the Set ording to Elphyn''s abilities, back when Solus was a bright violet-cored Awakened with perfect body refinement.

    For a bright blue core like her, fighting while wearing the set put a huge strain on her body. She moved faster and hit harder than she could, draining her stamina and covering her in bruises even after dodging every blow.

    The second factor was her host.

    Even with Dawn''s technique to ensure Solus'' absolute dominance, the repeated mind fusions drained her focus and mental abilities. She couldn''t take her time to break her host''s will like Dawn would.

    Solus had to go from servant to master before the Tree could split her from her current partner and make sure to keep them on a tight leash even during the fight. Working with Vamir, even after enving him, was nothing like her bond with Lith.

    For all those years, she had never ordered him to do anything and he had done the same for her. Theirmunion was effortless and wless because they shared a single mind.

    She didn''t have to worry Lith would have her back because she knew he did. They trusted each other to the point they could improvise any n and implement it as if they had trained for it their whole lives.

    ''There won''t be a next time.'' The Tree trembled at the humiliation they had suffered in front of the assembled elven tribes. ''This is thest time you see sunlight until weplete my tower, Elphyn Menadion.

    ''I''m done ying nice with you. I''m done trying to do this the easy and painless way. If you want to fight, I''ll make you fight.''

    Solus had thwarted the Tree''s ns and undermined their authority in the eyes of the elven tribes every step of the way.

    First after her arrival, by tainting the Fringe''s world energy with the Predator protocol. Then, by killing Nes''hiah. Her disappearance had raised many questions that the Tree had left unanswered, shaking the trust of the Librarians in their master.

    Now, the entire elven popce was about to find out the truth and it would be much worse than any mystery. Last but not least, during her third escape attempt, Solus had demonstrated how dangerous she was.

    How not even the Yggdrasill could contain the Engine nor could their golems stop it.

    Too many Chroniclers had died in a short span of time. The loyalty of the elves bonded with the Tree was unshakable, but the same couldn''t be said about everyone else.

    Many aspirant Chroniclers were rethinking their choice and many youths were starting to wonder if the madness of thete World Tree had somehow been passed on to the new one. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There was no other possible exnation for the Yggdrasill''s stubbornness in pursuing a n that had cost the lives of many elves already.

    "My name is Solus, bitch." She fused with the Engine, having two Furies appear in its hands. "I was willing to surrender peacefully, but if you want me to bury a few more elves,e and get me."

    Many people had gathered to witness the unthinkable: a fight under the shade of the all-seeing Yggdrasill. The Tree''s will was supposed to be absolute and so was their power, yet that small human woman dared talk back.

    Her words carried no respect, only spite. On top of that, the mention of the dead Chroniclers hit the elves hard considering the long time it would take an elf woman to conceive a single child.

    ''If you want to surrender peacefully, I''ll allow it. If you show me proof of your goodwill, that is.''

    "Like what?" Solus watched at the internal energy counter of the Engine rising.

    ''Your name is Elphyn Menadion. Say it.''

    "My name is S-" A right hook to the Engine''s head cut her short and downed the tower.

    The golem had struck with all its strength after charging up several tier five spells that had been released on impact.

    ''Your name is Elphyn Menadion.'' The Tree repeated. ''Say it.''

    "My name is S-" Two wood golems attacked her and both received an Annihtion from point-nk range.

    The problem was that neither hit a Chronicler and two more golems attacked at the same time from the Engine''s front and back. The Engine''s face caved and so did its right leg, crippling its mobility.

    The other two golems recovered quickly and joined the beatdown, crushing all the Engine''s limbs to bits but the head. That was trapped under one heavy wooden foot, ready to be crushed like a nut.

    ''What''s your name?'' The Yggdrasill asked.

    Solus'' arms and legs were gone as well, the heavy damage the tower had suffered was immediately reflected on her human body. Vamir''s life force was being sacrificed to protect her, but it didn''t make the process any less painful.

    Just like for the Librarian a few minutes ago, the damage inflicted on the tower caused her an agony that couldn''t be countered with darkness fusion.

    "Sol-" The golems crushed the Engine''s head and Solus'' suffered the same fate.

    Solus now lied down on the ground, her arms and legs syed at unnatural angles.

    The golems kept the encirclement and more Chroniclers approached the wounded woman, each wielding a blunt Yggdrasill weapon.

    She would have died there and then if not for the safety protocols killing Vamir and restoring her body. The tower couldn''t take any more damage and the Engine copsed back into the small form of the stone ring.

    Solus now lied down on the ground, her arms and legs syed at unnatural angles.

    The golems kept the encirclement and more Chroniclers approached the wounded woman, each wielding a blunt Yggdrasill weapon.

    ''What''s your name?''

    "So-" The beating resumed on a smaller scale but with equal cruelty until Solus was forced to let go of her human body and retreat inside the stone ring, defeated.

    ''Your name is Elphyn Menadion.'' The World Tree said. ''You are who I want you to be. You do what I want you to do. The sooner you ept it, the sooner your pain will end.''

    A powerful gravity array squeezed the stone ring until small cracks appeared on its surface. Only when the cracks spread to the whole ring, threatening its integrity, did the World Tree transport the ring back to the cell by floating.

    They wanted Solus to realize that the Yggdrasill was in no rush.

    That she could stall for time, but she couldn''t win.

    The stone ring was thrown back in the darkness, but this time the walls copsed until there was only enough space for Solus''s human form toe out of the ring in a crawling position.

    ''I''m curious to see how long the energy you have stolen willst.''

 Chapter 3180 My Name is Solus (Part 2).

    Chapter 3180 My Name is Solus (Part 2).

    ''Maybe once it runs out, you''ll be more reasonable.'' The Tree said before sealing the room shut.

    ''Solus.'' She sobbed from the prison of her broken body. ''My name is Solus.''

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Nestrar Region, in the middle of nowhere. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sunlight relieved Derek of most of his hunger yet it also brought him to the brink of madness. Most of the knowledge and power he had gained when Lith had reemerged to fight the Chroniclers was gone.

    "Who the fuck were those guys and what did they want from me? Why do I feel so empty?" The Void had failed to answer Elysia''s call but he had perceived it nheless.

    His homing instinct craved to reach the small, distant shadow that brightened his heart, yet his paranoia didn''t allow him to. Derek was afraid it was another trick of the "entity" that wanted to control his body or a trap set by someone who wanted to hurt him.

    Like those elves from the other night.

    "Why do I feel so angry?" The attempt on his life, the emptiness left by Lith''s absence, and Elysia''s call were already bad, but they got worse.

    Lith felt in his mind an echo of Solus'' pain. He had no way of knowing what the World Tree was doing to her, but he knew what he would do in their shoes and it terrified him.

    The human life force stirred with all the strength it had, demanding to be put back together. Demanding to be fed. Demanding its hunger to be sated.

    The Void felt all those things and even with the amnesia, the thought of anyone touching Solus was enough to drive him insane. Derek wanted to kill, but he didn''t know who. He was filled with hatred but didn''t know why.

    "And this damn sword doesn''t do shit!" He said at Ragnar?k, making it whine like a scolded puppy. "Aren''t you supposed to help me? Why do I get no quests, skills, or titles? I''m tired of those splitting headaches and ridiculous memories!"

    The hologram of his status floated right above the light crystal of the sword. The specifics hadn''t changed much except that the bar going from Derek to Lith was now filled at 40% and all the remembered spells and techniques had been added to his "Skill" list.

    "The weirdest thing, even though there''s nothing normal in this situation, is that I don''t get to learn stuff via level ups or rewards. Everything justes to my mind while I fight and, most of the time, it stays there.

    "On the one hand, I like not being forced to shout out the name of my abilities like a moron to activate them. On the other hand, I don''t feel any external help. Without my focus, my mana, and my will, not even the simplest of spells takes form.

    "The system is of no help at all. It''s more like a character sheet for some twistedrping adventure."

    The answer came in the form of a holographic window from the Voidfeather that read:

    "Willpower and imagination are the foundations of magic. To achieve something, you need to picture a path to sess and have the will to do what''s necessary. Nothing worth havinges easy."

    "Nice. Now I even get fortune cookie-like words of wisdom." Derek said with a sneer.

    ''Well, I''m sorry if I''m not an omnipotent being who can dish out powers like candies.'' The Voidfeather scoffed from the inneryer of Lith''s life forces. ''Things aren''t going badly down here but they aren''t going well either.''

    He turned toward the human life force that was still mending itself. The physical damage was almost gone but the psychological damage had not recovered much since Strider had decapitated Lith.

    The betrayal, the severing of the bond with Solus, and his life force splitting into three again in order to survive the decapitation have taken a huge toll on Lith''s psyche.

    ''So far, I''ve managed to control the Void by sheer luck. Meeting those farmers and the Ry helped me to awaken important memories of Protector and Nana, but that wasn''t enough.

    ''I hoped that by somehow making the Void relive some of the milestones of this life, I could help the human side recover and reconnect with us. Some memories are back, but the effect is different from what I predicted.

    ''Instead of opening a channel with the human life force, the Void is closing it. Without my parents'' and Solus'' influence, the Void is too detached to learn something from those lessons.

    ''It''s like he''s watching a movie. He may be moved by the images on the moment, but he''s quick to forget their message because it goes against everything he believes in. Even worse, George is bing crueler than I have ever been.

    ''After my arrival on Mogar, learning magic has been like learning martial arts. I''ve be stronger with practice and discipline, learning to control myself before controlling the mana. He, instead, is bing too powerful too fast and with no effort.

    ''He considers magic like a toy he can use to get even with the world who hurt me. After Carl''s death, I had no qualms about getting even with someone who crossed me but I''ve never used violence for the sake of it.

    ''George, instead, is starting to find it funny. Between the resurfacing of my trauma and the Abomination''s hunger, he is cutting himself off from me. Talking with him is bing more difficult as time passes.''

    ''If it continues like this, there''s the serious risk that by the time the human side is healed, the fracture between the Abomination life force and the other two will be permanent. If that happens, I''ll have a bigger problem than amnesia.

    ''Everything I''ve struggled so much to achieve and protect will be lost forever. I must find a way to send George to a popted area. If someone reports his presence, there''s a chance my friends will find me before more Chroniclers do.

    ''At that point, the rest should be easy.'' The Voidfeather inwardly cursed, fearing to have jinxed his n. ''As if anything in my life has ever been easy.''

    "What do I do?" The Void looked at the sword, waiting for guidance. "If I want to discover something about this world, I need to do it now while the sun is up. Once the hunger returns, I don''t know if I can control myself. Or if I care doing that, for that matter."

    ''I wish I could tell you.'' The Voidfeather saw everything through Derek''s eyes but he had no idea where he was.

    The maps of the Kingdom were still inside Soluspedia and due to the Void''s habit to fly in random directions in search for food, the Voidfeather Dragon failed to orient himself. At his flight speed, the Void could cover thousands of kilometers in a single night, assuming he didn''t get lost and flew in circles.

    "Find a popted area. Ask of Lith Verhen." The Voidfeather sent the message to Ragnar?k who delivered it as a hologram.

    "And what way is that?" Derek asked, obtaining no reply. "Fine. I was thinking about doing this for a while now anyway."

 Chapter 3181 Mage Towers (Part 1)

    Chapter 3181 Mage Towers (Part 1)

    "Having this kind of power is fun, but if I have to spend the rest of my life alone like a rabid monster it''s going to get old very fast." Derek sighed. "On top of that, I need to understand who this Verhen guy is.

    "The tiger man called me like that but back then I thought it was an insult, like monster, or a title. Yet even the woman called Verhen and mentioned something like a Supreme Magus. Verhen must be a name."

    ''Maxwell''s beard, yes!'' The Voidfeather thought. ''Come on, you are a smart guy. Just take one small leap of imagination and realize it''s your name. Otherwise why would different people recognize you and call you like that?''

    "The name of the guy who inhabited this body before me." Derek said, making the Voidfeather groan. "Or maybe even the name of the guy who wants to possess this body. This may as well be a trap, but I haven''t many choices left."

    Lith''s paranoia was alive and well, making him second-guess every decision he made and look for hidden enemies even when there were none.

    Derek took a leap, leaving behind a deep crater and reaching a great altitude before unfurling his wings. He looked in every direction, but without the Tiamat''s eyesight, he wasn''t better than an Awakened human.

    He took a random direction again, hoping to meet a road or a river that he could follow to civilization.

    Soon, his mind rxed and his thoughts about loneliness and conspiracies moved to the back burner. If there was one thing that Derek loved about his new life despite its many mysteries and painful limitations, it was flying.

    Soaring through the sky made him feel free and powerful. After spending his life on Earth being small, insignificant, and unheard, it was a pleasant change. While he flew, he could forget about his problems and miseries, both old and new.

    For the first time in his life, he could stop worrying and just enjoy the journey.

    "What is that?" After hours of flight, Derek had finally found what looked like a wide paved road yet there was also something else.

    His Abomination hunger felt a strong surge in the density of world energy but it didn''te from either direction of the road. Following the delicious smell would lead him away from civilization and into the wilds again.

    The Void was torn between the desire to discover the identity of the man whose body he inhabited and the constant nagging hunger that tormented him since he had opened his eyes on Mogar.

    "Oh, screw it." The Void was an Abomination so the hunger came first.

    He just memorized as manyndmarks as he could and tried to fly in a straight line to find his way back to the road with ease. Hunger and instinct fuelled the ps of his wings, producing booms of thunder and making him cross dozens of kilometers in mere seconds.

    Usually, once he gained speed, Derek found it hard to stop. He didn''t give a damn aboutndscapes and natural beauty. He only cared about the intoxicating feeling of power that being untouchable gave him.

    The rare times he did, like when he found a prey or something drew his attention, he would plunge like a sack of bricks.

    Due to the amnesia, he moved his body like a bike. Below a certain speed, he needed to touch the ground to stabilize himself, which was a problem when the ground was hundreds of meters below.

    This time, instead, he came to a halt with the grace of a raptor. His wings performed strong and rhythmical ps, keeping him in mid-air while his mouth drooled.

    "Food!" The Void''s maw snapped in excitement.

    ''A mana geyser!'' The Voidfeather thought in joy. ''Finally! With this, I should be able to heal the rest of my wounds without George making a massacre and ruining my life as Lith Verhen.

    ''Worst case scenario, I''ll restore our life forces and remain unconscious for a while. If I have no idea where I am, I dare the Chroniclers to find me.''

    The Void was too fixated on the geyser to notice what he was doing which was the reason he had yet to crash down. Without his interference, Lith''s muscle memory could make him float indefinitely.

    Despite his hunger, the Void was suspicious of the geyser and approached it slowly, afraid that taking in too much and too fast might actually hurt him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Even from a distance, Derek felt the dense world energy drip on his body like gentle spring rain on a man suffering from dehydration. It gave him relief and hope. It relieved his mind from the pain and worries about his existence, making him feel normal.

    Despite his hunger, the Void was suspicious of the geyser and approached it slowly, afraid that taking in too much and too fast might actually hurt him.

    Every iota of darkness energy in his body demanded for him to throw himself in the violent stream of world energy but Derek resisted with the stubbornness of a man used to not receive anything from life without strings attached.

    "Dammit!" He screamed in frustration.

    The mass of world energy blinded Life Vision and the closer he got to the geyser the less Derek could see. Even worse, the harder it became to control his drive to feed.

    Hunger and paranoia battled to a standstill with the Void weaving his best spells while incapable of stopping his advance. He waited for one minute, but it felt like one hour.

    When another minuteter nothing happened and no one tried to kill him, Derek threw caution to the wind and himself in the middle of the geyser. To a casual observer, the clearing looked like nothing special.

    There was a fertile grasnd with a gentle stream of watering from underground and that was it. No natural treasure grew amid the tall grass and if a mana crystals or magic metal veins existed, they had to be deep in the ground.

    Yet to an Abomination, the clearing was the greatest of treasures. It was abundant not only in world energy but also in life force. Derek could feed on nts, insects, and the small animals hidden in their burrows.

    "That would be stupid and inefficient." He refused toe down, knowing from experience that his touch would drain everything of life whether he wanted it or not. "How was that spell?"

    The Void focused on the memory of the traveler he had saved by following the instructions of the old woman.

    "Nana." He said, recalling the feeling of the mana flow necessary to cast the tier four Spirit Spell, Mother''s Embrace.

    Before he knew it, an emerald construct shaped as Elina emerged from the ground, opening her arms to Derek.

    "This is stupid. I have no reason to doubt my own powers." The Void knew the spell couldn''t hurt him but at the same time, he felt a mix of revulsion and longing.

    Longing because Elina''s features stirred his memories as a baby, filling his heart with the warm feeling of the love with which she had showered him since the day Derek had possessed the corpse of her baby.

    Revulsion because he knew from the name of the spell that Elina was a mother and to Derek, that was a four-letter word no better than father.

 Chapter 3182 Mage Towers (Part 2)

    Chapter 3182 Mage Towers (Part 2)

    Derek''s Earth mother had done nothing to protect him and Carl from the abuse while Ezio was alive.

    After his death, she had cut her children out of her life, ming them as the source of her misfortunes and resenting them for taking two-thirds of the settlement that she considered entirely hers.

    It was the reason Derek hade to forget her name.

    She wasn''t a person and as such she didn''t deserve one.

    On top of that, Derek considered those feelings of love and eptance like weakness, and weakness was an unforgivable sin.

    If not for the hunger, the Void would have never entered Mother''s Embrace, no matter how much he needed it. The construct closed its arms, bringing the smaller figure of the Abomination to its bosom.

    The spell focused the world energy on Derek while also draining the ground from nutrients and taking fresh water from the stream. Mother''s Embrace also sapped the nearby life forces but did it slowly and gently to optimize their consumption without wasting a single drop of energy.

    "Mom." Derek couldn''t even remember when thest time he had spoken that word was, but surrounded by that warmth, all his grievances disappeared.

    He didn''t even question what the nutrients and water were for since his body had no flesh or blood.

    He wasn''t hungry anymore and for the first time since he had awoken out of Vidun''s hiding spot, he was at peace. The world energy stabilized his Abomination form leaving Mother''s Embrace free to give the human side everything it needed to recover.

    After restless days of constant struggle, Derek fell into a slumber thatsted until the next morning. He woke up at sunrise, shocked by how long the spell hadsted and by having avoided the torture of the hunger for the night.

    "This is amazing!" He said while looking at his reflection in the water.

    His features were much more defined, closely resembling his human appearance back on Earth. The only differences were that his hair was made of mes and his eyes now shone with pure white light of Decay with no trace of red or ck.

    "I don''t know what happened, but I feel much stronger than before. Even the hunger has subsided significantly." With the human side finally healed and all the life forces restored, the Abomination side was stable again.

    It didn''t need to constantly feed the human life force anymore, greatly lessening its energy consumption. Even Ragnar?k felt reborn. After the whole day of rest, the scabbard was back to being fully red.

    The Chaos had been purged and the abundant world energy had brought the power cores of the angry de and Double Edge back to their peak condition.

    "Okay. What do I have to do now? Any change of ns after the power-up?" He wielded Ragnar?k, waiting for the hologram, but nothing happened. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

    He asked while knocking on the scabbard.

    ''No! Fuck no!'' The Voidfeather had fallen asleep as well but when he woke up, he had found himself much weaker than before.

    The influx of power from the mana geyser had restored his body, but it hade at a price. The three life forces were now crystallized in their current form. The Divine Beast side needed no effort to prevent the shapeshifting because it had be impossible.

    Only a small tether connecting the three aspects of Lith''s life force remained. Now the Void was truly alone, and unless the Voidfeather found a way to revert to the previous condition, that small tether was all that separated Lith from bing a true Abomination.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Eskar Region, Mirena teau, at the same time.

    The Red Mother had contacted the First Magus and asked her to meet at Silverkeep, Silverwing''s secret hideout where she researched tower crafting. Much to Baba Yaga''s dismay, reaching her friend had been quite difficult and she had left plenty of messages before receiving an answer.

    It was the reason when she came out of her tower, the Red Mother was in her Crone form and wore the most disgruntled expression a man would ever see. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After discovering the truth about Lith''s and Solus'' disappearance, Baba Yaga had excused herself and left the Verhen Mansion.

    ''I can''t break the news to Lochra via the amulet. I''d better do it in person so that I can shut her up when needed and keep her from running after Elphyn like a madwoman before I can finish talking.''

    The Red Mother had contacted the First Magus and asked her to meet at Silverkeep, Silverwing''s secret hideout where she researched tower crafting. Much to Baba Yaga''s dismay, reaching her friend had been quite difficult and she had left plenty of messages before receiving an answer.

    It was the reason when she came out of her tower, the Red Mother was in her Crone form and wore the most disgruntled expression a man would ever see.

    "I''m sorry to keep you waiting, but-"

    "Shut your trap and listen!" Whatever Silverwing had been doing, Baba Yaga didn''t care.

    She went over everything she had learned from Kam, Ryka, and from her own analysis of the remains of the Chronicler''s Darwen armor. She yed the Royal Edict for Lith''s searchst just to make Lochra understand how dire the situation was.

    "I would love to cuss you out until your ears bleed, to put you on my knees here and now and spank your sorry ass red for isting yourself like a damn Lich, but that will have to wait."

    Lochra Silverwing stared at her ownmunicator as if it had betrayed her. She had long since learned how to tap into the frequencies of public announcements of the Awakened Council''swork but she would rarely listen to them.

    From the Royals to themoners, from the representatives of the five races to thest of the apprentices knew about Lith''s disappearance. Everyone on Garlen did. Everyone but Silverwing.

    "Are you listening to me or do I have to p some sense into you?" The Crone snarled.

    "I''m listening, but you told me to shut up! Make up your gods-damned mind!" Lochra replied.

    "I meant until I was done talking, not forever. Gods-damned children. Always taking everything to the letter." Baba Yaga grumbled. "Well, what are you going to do about this?"

    "What I have to." Silverwing stood up. "I''m going to look for Elphyn and-"

    "And then what?" The Crone cut her short again. "You are just a bright white cored Awakened. Inside the Fringe, the World Tree is as strong as a Guardian otherwise I bet my wrinkly ass Solus would have already escaped on her own."

    She put emphasis on Elphyn''s new name while ring at Lochra.

    "I have a tower, one Horseman, and all my Firstborns are willing to follow me into battle, yet I don''t stand a chance against the Yggdrasill. What makes you think you can do better?"

    "Maybe I can''t but I can at least try!" Lochra mmed her fist on the table in fury. "I''m not leaving Elphyn in the vines of that lunatic without a fight. We both know how the World Trees think.

    "They won''t ever use Ripha''s tower since they know it has been programmed to serve Elph- I mean, Solus instead of the one who imprints it. On top of that, even if the Tree manages to replicate Ripha''s tower, they won''t let Solus go.

    "If someone else captures her, they might make more towers of their own and maybe even discover the weak points of the Yggdrasil''s tower. Not to mention the Tree would have to always watch their back from Elphyn. She isn''t the forgiving type."

 Chapter 3183 Mage Towers (Part 3)

    Chapter 3183 Mage Towers (Part 3)

    "Ripha learned how stubborn Solus is the hard way." Baba Yaga sighed.

    "She would tell the whole Mogar what the Tree has done to her and how to defeat them, even if it costs Elphyn her life." Silverwing ignored the remark. "If you expect me to sit here and do nothing while a demented Fae steals Ripha''s life work and kills my goddaughter, you are out of your mind, Yaga.

    "I don''t even know why you bothereding here. You could have told me everything via the amulet and my reaction would have been the same."

    "That''s why I''m here, you stupid child. Sit down and shut up, now!" In her Crone form, Baba Yaga was shorter than Silverwing.

    She had also left her tower outside Silverkeep in respect for her host, giving Lochra the home advantage. Yet those were acts of courtesy, not submission.

    Despite having a bright white mana core just like the Red Mother, the First Magus lowered her gaze and obeyed.

    "Good girl. Now use that brain of yours that made you famous. Do you really think I''m going to sit this out?" Baba Yaga asked. "No matter if she calls herself Solus or Elphyn, she''s still my friend. She''s still the baby I held in my arms over seven hundred years ago.

    "I want to find the Tree and strangle them with their own roots as much as you do but this isn''t a bard''s tale. Righteous fury earns you a righteous epitaph on your tombstone and nothing more. We have to y this smart.

    "That''s why I wanted to meet you here. To stop you from rushing into action without a proper n. We can save Elphyn only if we work together."

    "I appreciate the thought but what can I do?" As Silverwing calmed down, she realized how crazy her gut reaction had been and thanked the gods for Baba Yaga''s foresight. "My core is the same as yours, but I''m much less knowledgeable and I don''t have allies or a tower."

    "Correction." The Crone lifted her forefinger. "You do have a tower. It''s just disassembled."

    "Yeah, right because I''m supposed to finish in a few days what I''ve failed to do in years¡­" Lochra''s voice died on her lips as Baba Yaga crossed her arms and nailed the First Magus with a steel gaze. "Are you really willing to help me finish my tower?"

    "Depends. Are you willing to follow me in battle and swear upon Elphyn''s name that you won''t share my secrets?" The Crone replied.

    "If it means saving Elphyn, I''d follow you through the nine hells and back." Silverwing said. "Also, no offense, Yaga, but everyone knows Ripha did a much better job than you at tower crafting.

    "Once Elphyn is safe and sound, I''d like you to use Creation Magic to reset Silverspire and give me my ingredients back. I''ll keep working on my own Forgemastering technique and build on the foundations I''ve learned by working with Ripha.

    "I can''t promise you I won''t incorporate the decent bits of your tower into mine, but you have my word that my Silverspire tower will be built ording to Lochra Silverwing''s unique Forgemastering magic.

    "I''ve improved on Ripha''s work and I''m confident I''ll be able to improve yours too. I won''t stop researching until Mogar sees a new generation of mage towers built from the results of Silverwing''s legacy."

    Lochra offered her hand to Baba Yaga who was too bbergasted to move.

    "You¡­ You have already given a name to your tower and talk about yourself in the third person?" The Red Mother said. "Silverspire? Your unique Forgemastering magic?"

    Silverwing had yet to turn beet red fully when Baba Yaga started tough. It started small, like a stifled snort, but soon it grew in intensity until the Crone wasughing her ass off, rolling on the floor and hugging her chest for air.

    "Stop that!" Lochra stood up, her voice quivering in embarrassment. "I''ve learned my lesson. I won''t iste myself for so long that my ego goes to my head ever again. I now realize I sounded ridiculous but there are gentler ways to point it out!"

    "And that, child, is the reason you never hole yourself up in yourb like a Lich." Baba Yaga wiped off her tears of hrity. "It''s not the phctery that makes them mad."

    The Crone extended her hand and Silverwing shook it in haste, eager to change the topic.

    "Now, Lochra, keep yourmunicator out and always at hand." Baba Yaga showed her own amulet to the First Magus before putting it back inside one of the pockets of her dress. "If anything new happens or someone finds Lith, we must be ready to intervene.

    "He''s our best shot at finding Solus. We need to take him alive and in one piece. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal." Silverwing nodded. "Just a couple of questions. If he''s amnesiac, how is he supposed to help us? Also, what can he do that not even two white cores like us can''t?"

    "You forget his Divine Beast side, child." The Crone replied. "A Dragon can feel his treasures no matter the distance while a Phoenix can do the same for his blood. Lith is both a Dragon and a Phoenix and Solus is both his treasure and his blood.

    "Even if no one finds the Fringe of the World Tree, Lith might do it simply because his homing instinct has been attuned to Solus thanks to the years they spent together."

    "It makes sense." Silverwing nodded. "But why do you consider it ast resort? The new World Tree has gotten their Fringe less than three years ago. It doesn''t matter where the World Sapling was, the moment they were appointed as the Yggdrasill, the entrances to the Fringe became fixed at any point of their choice.

    "The Tree might be on Garlen and the entrances be in Jiera, Verendi, or maybe even Zima. Even if we recover Lith and his homing instinct is reliable, it might take us weeks, if not months to bring him close enough to Elph- Solus to sense her."

    "You''d be right, if it wasn''t for his friends." Baba Yaga nodded.

    "Who? The Ernas girls? The silly Rezar? The crazy Tyrant? The pathetic wolf?" Silverwing sneered.

    "Point taken." The Crone pursed her lips. "Let me rephrase. The friends of his friends. Why do you think I''ve kept the identity of the Master a secret even to you? The answer is that he is no threat to me and only a fool makes herself an enemy of Tezka."

    "The Suneater?" Silverwing shivered at the name.

    "In the fur." Baba Yaga replied. "Now, let''s get to work."

    ***

    Arch Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, at the same time.

    Zogar Vastor had been alerted of both Lith''s disappearance and amnesia long enough before the Royals not to make him feel left out but stilltepared to Zoreth.

    Yet at the moment the Shadow Dragon had more important things to worry about than his wounded ego.

    "Please, Dad, back me up on this. I promise that I''ll exin everything to you." Then, she quickly added. "Sooner orter."

    "Sooner orter?" There was bitterness and annoyance in the short strides of the Master''s short legs.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3184 Mage Towers (Part 4)

    Chapter 3184 Mage Towers (Part 4)

    "I''m sorry, but it''s not my secret. Lith and Byt would hate me if I talked about it." Zoreth wringed her hands like a baby girl scared of facing her father''s disappointed gaze.

    "Don''t apologize. You sound like me with Zin." He sighed. "If there''s someone on Mogar who can understand you, that''s me. I''m many things, but not a hypocrite."

    "Thanks, Dad!" She stopped walking, hugging the old Professor and spinning him in the air with ease. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

    ''While my father just sits there and watches us struggle, even his beloved Elysia, my dad is right by my side.'' Zoreth thought.

    "Don''t mention it and put me down. This is embarrassing. I look old enough to be your grandfather, not your child!"

    "Appearances are deceiving." She chuckled.

    They took a deep breath before opening the door to the children''s room. They had one shot at it and had to y it right, if not even dirty.

    "Daddy!" Frey ran to Vastor, the word cracking the ice on the Master''s heart every time he heard it.

    "Frey, my boy. How was school today?" He lifted the child like Zoreth had done with him a few seconds back, meeting a first-ss pout. "I mean, how was school today, son?"

    The Master called all his favorite students my boy/girl making the moniker not endearing to Filia''s and Frey''s ears.

    "It was great, Dad."The boy stopped pouting, giving Vastor a big smile and hugging him back. "Is Uncle Lith alright?"

    "That''s actually the reason we''vee here." Zoreth cleared her throat while her gaze moved from the blue wolf on the floor to the red wolf on the bed.

    Filia was brushing the red wolf''s fur while four "house staff members" stood at the corners of the room, leaving no blind spot.

    "Filia, Frey, we need your help."

    "How can we help Uncle Lith?" Filia asked in confusion.

    "By giving Tezka permission to leave your side and go looking for the bad guy who hurt my little brother." Zoreth replied.

    Tezka was the most ancient and currently the most powerful Eldritch-Monster hybrid in the Organization. He predated the Guardians and was the only one who had not only fought them more than once but also lived to tell the tale.

    He had infiltrated the previous World Tree''s Fringe in the recent past, collecting the Yggdrasill wood that Bytra had used to craft Vastor''s Grimbark staff. For someone with his dimensional abilities, finding the new Tree''s Fringe was far from impossible.

    He had escaped the World Trees'' domains many times in his long life. There was no reason to think it would be any different now.

    "Can you really do it, Uncle?" Filia turned toward her red wolf.

    "Yes. I¡­ have my methods."Tezka suppressed a cruel smile but Zoreth saw it in his eyes as the Suneater reminisced his past victories.

    "Are you going to help us?" The Shadow Dragon needed the kids'' help because there was nothing that could move the Suneater, unless he wanted to be moved.

    "Do you want me to?" The wolves and the servants looked at their guests.

    "Uncle Lith helped Mom and is Aunt Kami''s husband. He''s one of the good guys." Frey said.

    "And bad guys alwayse back unless you stop them." Filia shuddered at the thought of Fallmug, her biological father.

    "Please, Tezka." Zinya caressed the blue wolf''s head.

    "I''ll do it." The four people and the two wolves fused into the massive body of a ten-tailed Fylgja. "But only if you put someone good to protect the children in my absence, Zogar. And I mean it. Strong isn''t enough. I want them nice too."

    "Nelia and Kigan?" Vastor proposed.

    "We have a deal." Zoreth gave Tezka Bytra''stest masterpiece to help him with his task.

    After that, it took the Suneater''s substitutes a matter of minutes to reach the Vastor Household and a split second for Tezka to bolt toward Jiera.

    The Fylgja flew at supersonic speed while also opening Warp Gates as far as he could see, crossing dozens of kilometers per second.

    ''Only an idiot would look straight for the Fringe.'' He thought. ''The World Tree can''t move so they don''t leave traces but theirpdogs are different. The Yggdrasill is obsessed with knowledge and right now, the destiny of an entire continent hangs on a thread.

    ''I bet that Jiera is full of Chroniclers and that each lost city has at least one of them following its every move. If I make something interesting happen, a Chronicler will crawl out of his hole to watch. At that point, the hunt begins.''

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Nestrar Region, on top of a mana geyser a few hourster.

    Derek moved his eyes from the emerald construct conjured by Mother''s Embrace to Ragnar?k and back, waiting for a revtion.

    "Howe that until yesterday every small thing gave me shbacks like I suffer from world-ss PTSD and now nothing happens?" He squinted at Elina''s kind features yet all those warm feelings were gone. "Who are you,dy?"

    The use of such a respectful word surprised Derek as much as the Voidfeather Dragon. It was spoken with curiosity and a tinge of affection instead of spite.

    ''Maybe there''s still hope.'' The Voidfeather pushed at the now crystalized barrier between the life forces, trying to let in what he had desperately tried to keep out until the day before.

    The Void unwittingly helped him, Derek''s need for knowledge drove him to scour the most remote corners of his mind.As the Void pulled, the Voidfeather pushed, forcing the door between the life forces slightly ajar.

    "Mother." Derek fell to his knees while holding his head.

    Countless memories flooded the Void''s mind and none of them made sense.

    Somehow, he remembered being a newborn. He could see the love in Elina''s eyes as she looked at him and called him her miracle baby. Derek witnessed how a real mother took care of her son.

    She fed him even when it meant going on an empty stomach herself. She defended him against bullies like a mean-looking older boy and from the mean words of the old woman, Nana, on the day of their first meeting. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In none of those memories did she raise her hand on him. She never ignored him and if he remained silent for too long, she would check on him to make sure he was alright.

    The only times Elina scolded him it wasn''t because she wanted to show him who knew better, but because the young Lith had put himself into danger and she worried about him.

    "This can''t be. None of that ever happened to me. This must be the other guy''s memories forcing their way into my brain." Yet those images didn''t feel alien.

    Derek felt a pleasant warmth in his chest while pondering them. If wasn''t like living another person''s memories. He was almost certain that he had lived those events. Every detail and every word were on the tip of his mind.

    Almost.

    "Lucky bastard." The Void grumbled. "Whoever the piece of shit I''m currently inhabiting is, he can''t have be an evil overlord because of his mother."

 Chapter 3185 Death Returns (Part 1)

    Chapter 3185 Death Returns (Part 1)

    "It must be his father''s fault." Derek focused on the construct''s gentle features while focusing hard on the word "father".

    At first, only shbacks from Ezio''s beating and abuse came to his mind, making Derek''s stomach churn and his eyes twitch. After a while, as the Void dug deeper and the Voidfeather led the way, another face appeared.

    It was a poor-looking man who had skipped one meal too many and spent too much time under the sun. His skin was tanned brown and full of wrinkles. Hard work gave him solid muscles but his face was gaunt and there was dirt under his nails.

    "The ssic piece of shit who takes his anger out on his sons just because he made more children than he can afford." Derek snarled in disgust, just to eat his own prediction one secondter.

    The man treated his wife and baby boy like treasures, making sure she had plenty of food and rest to feed the newborn properly. The Void watched another mean-looking young boy, strangely simr to the first, stealing the baby''s food.

    The man stepped in, punishing the youth and more than making up for the baby''s lost food. Derek stood in a daze as Raaz taught a young Lith how to read, write, count, and at ater age how to whittle.

    The man was a hard worker but not an absent father. Raaz spent his free time carving simple toys for the young boy and built with him a wooden swing. He never raised his voice or hands and always led by example, teaching his youngest that a man''s authority lies in the responsibilities he shoulders, not in how strong he is.

    "The fuck?" Derek was outraged. "The owner of this body had wonderful parents and yet he turned into an evil overlord? I mean, I can understand why he doesn''t want to die and has summoned me to take my body, but how can he not think how his parents will react when they discover the truth?

    "That he has killed countless innocents for his selfish desi- Wait a minute. If he needs another body, shouldn''t his parents be dead of old age by now? This doesn''t make sense!" Of course it didn''t, because there was no evil overlord.

    Only Lith.

    "Screw it. I''m done obsessing over this bastard. If he wants my body, he can take it. Or rather, he can try." A cruel smile appeared on his face. "I''m not done having fun yet. Little buddy, what am I supposed to do?"

    Thanks to the chink in the barrier separating the life forces, the Voidfeather Dragon managed to re-establish contact with Ragnar?k. The poor sword had no idea why its master kept asking it questions and then ordering it to disy the answers he already knew.

    Yet Ragnar?k''s loyalty was unshakable and its limited consciousness dismissed things like doubt and confusion as pointless details. The befuddled de conjured a hologram without hesitation.

    Exnations could wait. All Ragnar?k wanted was for its master to go back to normal, save Solus, and return home. In this order.

    The holographic interface read: "Go to the closest city and ask for help."

    The progression bar was now past the 50% mark and Derek noticed there were plenty of new spells avable.

    "This is really weird. In all the system stories I''ve read, the guy gets stats and skill points bypleting bullshit missions. Instead, I gain mine by following the random memories that pop into my head or simply by following my instinct.

    "All the spells listed here I''ve remembered them while fighting the elves, healing the trav-" The word struck a chord in Derek''s mind. "Remembering? Not learning? It would exin how I can master unknown disciplines so quickly."

    ''I''m done getting excited.'' The Voidfeather Dragon grunted. ''I bet that now George will spout some paranoid crap to fail to realize that he is Lith Verhen.''

    "I think I understand now. This Verhen guy doesn''t want to prepare my body for takeover. He''s already inside my body. When the bar gets filled, either I''ll turn into him or our minds will fuse into one.

    "The ''system'' is probably not even real. Just something he has dug up from my memories to make me ept this absurd scenario without going crazy."

    ''Go on.'' The Voidfeather waved his hand. ''Trip on your feet one centimeter away from the finishing line. We both know you want to do it. There''s no need to hold back for my sake.''

    "Well, he has made one big mistake." Derek grinned. "I don''t care about life or death. What''s a huge mess for him is nothing to me. Even if I turn into a corpse, I''ll just be reborn somewhere else. Maybe even in a more powerful body."

    ''No! By Oppenheimer''s guilt, don''t say it!''

    "I''ll follow your instructions, Verhen." Derek said while staring at the hologram. "But I promise you that the moment I feel my consciousness slipping away, I''ll cripple you so badly and cause so much destruction that you''ll die right after me."

    ''I knew it! I hate you, George!'' The Voidfeather thought about changing the instructions on the hologram, but it was toote.

    "I''d better move. I have only until sundown before I go crazy again." Derek grunted, flying back toward the main road.

    ''That''s great.'' The Voidfeather Dragon rolled his eyes. ''The connection is lost again until something triggers more memories and even if I take back myst suggestion, George would never listen to me.

    ''He''d think I know that he knows and I''m trying to stop him. He would go to the city just to piss me off. I can only hope that someone hase up with a very good n because I don''t think George is going down without a fight.''

    Lith didn''t have Solus'' eidetic memory but he had taken note of enoughndmarks and flown in an almost straight line so finding his way back wasn''t hard. He only got lost a couple of times and ended up two hundred kilometers north of the point he remembered.

    Luckily for him, the main road to Zeska wasrge and extended for dozens of miles. As long as one moved in its general direction, it was impossible to miss.

    "Man, I suck at this. I need a [GPS]." Derek sighed. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    At least he knew he was going in the right direction because the road signs for Zeska were bigger than those for other cities and written withrger letters. Also, the signs had a small crown carved next to Zeska''s name.

    "It must be the imperial capital." The Void said, wrong on all ounts. "I can finally find out whose body I''m inhabiting. If he''s filthy rich, I can spend his money and live like a Hollywood star.

    "I can''t wait to see Verhen''s face when he finds out I''ve left him dirt poor."

    ''Why wait? Just look yourself in the mirror, George.'' The Voidfeather grunted. ''And take a good picture, because if you squander the money, I bet the moment you regain your memories you won''t be smiling for a long while.''

    The flight to Zeska took way longer than Derek expected but only because he stopped to study his surroundings often.

 Chapter 3186 Death Returns (Part 2)

    Chapter 3186 Death Returns (Part 2)

    ''Based on Dungeons & Looting, I should have met humans, dwarves, elves, demonoids, and celestials. Aside from the bastards who tried to kill me, there''s no signs of elves, let alone other races.'' He thought.

    Derek was sorely disappointed by humans looking very human, people being mostly average-looking, and women being dressed in a very demure style appropriate to the Middle Ages instead of the stripper-cosyer clothes he had seen in fantasy media.

    ''The good news is that if I''m the only one with powers, I''m basically a god. The bad news is that if I''m the only one with powers, people will pester me for favors and try to exploit me.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Such thoughts went out of the window as he approached Zeska and saw mages flying in and out of the city walls. Only regr citizens needed to walk through the gates. Even more astonishing, many people had a holographic interface of their own.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I''m not the only one with a system. What if they have something better than this poor excuse of a-'' It didn''t take him long to realize that he was making no sense.

    ''If they have a system, why are they walking? Also, how can I see their status window?'' As he approached, his enhanced senses could take a good look at the Tablets Lith had crafted and distributed as a part of his legacy.

    ''What the heck? News? Photos? Video calls? That''s not a system, just some kind of high-tech smartphone! How can they have such aplex machine on such a primitive?''

    His questions found no answer and multiplied as he approached the line ofmoners. At his sight, they all screamed at the top of their lungs. Some ran away in panic while others wet themselves.

    Only a few fainted and even less screamed, wetted themselves, and then fainted.

    Those who retained their consciousness kneeled with their hands and forehead on the ground, not daring to meet his gaze. The citizens of Zeska were terrified of Lith ever since he had stormed the city during the War of the Griffons.

    Now he was there in his Abomination form and, ording to the Royal Edict, he was also amnesiac. It wasn''t clear how much Lith remembered so the citizens of Zeska assumed the worst.

    ''Verhen came here thinking we are still at war! He hase to finish the job.'' Most of those kneeling thought, using each small variations on the theme.

    "Well, this is nice." It had taken Lith a long time to get used to people bowing to him and paying him respect but for Derek, it was the first time.

    On Earth, he had been an unremarkable man, and out of the blue now everyone treated Derek like he was one of the most influential and powerful people in the Kingdom. Which, of course, he was.

    The Void grinned seeingmoners, merchants, and a few mercenaries cowering at his sight. He enjoyed the whimpers they desperately tried to muffle with their hands.

    "Still, you guards are doing a shitty job here." He walked toward the soldiers who fell on their right knees while mming their fists on their chests in salute. "There''s a monster threatening the people you''ve sworn to protect and yet you do nothing?"

    "You are not a monster, sir." It took the captain of the city guards every ounce of his willpower and the discipline garnered in his years in the army to not make his voice squeaky. "You are Lith Verhen, a hero to the Griffon Kingdom."

    Even in his human form, Lith exuded such a powerful aura and killing intent that if not for years of training and Solus'' help, most people would have frozen in fear the moment he approached them.

    Now he was in his Abomination form, something that every living being instinctively recognized like a predator. The Void''s presence made the citizens of Zeska feel like mice trapped in a sealed room with a cat.

    To make matters worse, the cat had no idea how to control himself and there was no Solus to reel in his violent impulses.

    "I am?" Derek tapped on his fangs, intrigued by the ster reputation of the evil overlord Lith Verhen.

    "Sir, yes, sir!" All officials had been instructed to address Lith politely, reminding him of his contributions to the prosperity of the Kingdom, and to not make any sudden movement. "You are our Supreme Magus and you''ve sworn to protect every one of us."

    "Why would I ever do something so stupid?" Derek was bbergasted. "I mean, of course. At ease, sergeants."

    The two soldiers stood up and gave him the salute, holding it until he crossed the gate that they kept open for him. Neither of them was a sergeant. Derek had mistaken the insignia of the local militia for army rank and spouted the first thing that came to his mind.

    Neither of them felt the need to correct him.

    "Damn, I must be pretty important if those suckers let me in even though I look like this." He said. "Also, I must be careful. I keep thinking out loud."

    No one felt the need to point out that he was still doing it. Soldiers and civilians just waited in silence until Derek''s ramblings were no longer audible.

    "Did someone report Magus Verhen''s arrival?" The customs officers on the left, the soldier who had remained silent, said while his captain bled from his mouth.

    He had bitten his cheeks so hard in order to ovee his fear that he had inflicted himself with nasty wounds.

    Everyone raised their Tablet in reply, their legs still too weak to stand up. The holographic interfaces showed the emergency button at the bottom of the Royal Edict. It was connected to a tip line to report sightings or interactions with the missing Supreme Magus.

    "Your call is very important to us. All the Constables are currently busy. Stay on the line to not lose priority. Thank you." An automated voice said as the nearest military base was flooded with hundreds of calls at the same time.

    "May the gods help us." The soldiers pressed the emergency rune on their service amulets.

    It opened a direct line with theirmanding officer who sounded the rm and warned the local garrison that death had returned to Zeska.

    As the city gates closed behind Derek, he could still hear the desperate whimpers of the people in the line and the frenzied beats of their hearts against their chests. He could taste their terror on his tongue.

    He could smell the pungent cold sweat drenching them and the ammonia of their spilled urine. And he loved it all.

    He simply pretended not to notice so that those stupid people would believe they had a chance against him. They would do whatever they wanted and he would judge them based on their actions.

    He was in no rush to kill them.

    ''The first message I received after regaining my senses was to establish friendly rtionships with the people of this. Maybe it''s just an attempt to manipte me but maybe it''s actually useful advice.'' The Void thought after finally managing to shut his mouth.

 Chapter 3187 Terrified Child (Part 1)

    Chapter 3187 Terrified Child (Part 1)

    ''If I learn enough about this Lith Verhen and understand how his possession spell works, I can turn his powers against him. I might be the one swallowing him and gaining his memories.

    ''At that point, if I get rid of the hunger and my hands on his secret for immortality, I might end up enjoying this ce. Speaking of hunger¡­'' The mana geyser below Zeska constantly provided the Void with energy, quelling his appetite and soothing his nerves.

    ''Maybe I should stay here for the night. I don''t want to hurt my little buddy anymore.'' Ragnar?k emitted a purring sound of gratitude.

    Chaos was already umting inside the bloody scabbard but with the mana geyser fueling the angry de''s power core and nurturing the Abomination side, keeping the Lith''s spark of Chaos under control was child''s y.

    Ragnar?k split the Cursed Element into smaller bits and weaved it into spells, just to be safe. The ck de could feel the hostility in the people surrounding its master and it didn''t like that one bit.

    ''Protect.'' Ragnar?k thought. ''Not fail. Not again. Protect.''

    ***

    Back at the Verhen Mansion, the entire extended family was in a frenzy.

    Kam had forbidden anyone to act on their own and had the rescue team assemble in front of the private Warp Gate of the Mansion.

    "Are you sure you don''t want us to go to Zeska right now?" Quy asked.

    "Are you kidding me? If Lith is amnesiac and attacks you, how many chances do you think you have to survive? Let alone taking him alive?" Kam replied.

    "Slim to none." Friya sighed. "But there''s a lot of us and one of him."

    She pointed at herself, her sister, Nalrond, Morok, Tista, and Valtak.

    "And what if you fail? What if he runs away?" Kam dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "I don''t want this to drag on for one day longer. I want you to seed on the first try.

    "I want my husband back. I want my children to get their father back. So, sit down, shut your mouth, and wait. I''ve already contacted Zoreth and Yaga. Once they get here, you''ll leave. Not a second sooner."

    Kam was grinding her teeth in frustration, feeling helpless. She was in charge of the logistics but she would stay home. She was too weak to be anything but a liability to the rescue team and she knew it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Even if Lith somehow recognizes me and refuses to attack me, I would still be in the crossfire. If spells fly around or buildings copse, our friends would waste their focus and energy protecting me instead of capturing Lith.

    ''This is the best I can do.'' She thought.

    "Speaking of children, why don''t we just bring Elysia with us?" Morok proposed. "If Lith recognizes her, we win without a fight. If he doesn''t and attacks her, the Guardians will knock him out. Easy peasy."

    "I dare you do that." Tyris was the one in charge of the baby for the day. "Elysia is not a toy and I''m no one''s pawn. My oath is to protect Elysia and that''s what I''ll do. If danger approaches her, I eliminate it.

    "If you put her in danger, I eliminate you. Elysia is neither a shield nor a sword to be wielded for personal gain. Am I clear?" Her silver eyes zed with mana, making the Tyrant feel small and insignificant.

    "Crystal." He replied in between swallows.

    ***

    Back in Zeska, Derek couldn''t make heads or tails of life on Mogar. The roads were paved but not asphalted. Some buildings looked out of a postcard from a medieval vige while others were beautifully tall andplex.

    There were horse-drawn carriages yet most people had what looked like a holographic smartphone. Adults and teens used magic for their chores like it was the most natural thing in Mogar.

    A wave of their hands cleaned the street. Water flowed out of their open palms and into flower pots. He even noticed a few people heating their tea cups by conjuring a small me between their fingers.

    "A flying car?" Derek said in amazement.

    A high officer had been sent to Zeska with a DoLorean to appease Lith and hopefully keep him calm until the Awakened''s rescue team arrived.

    ''How can wooden carriages and flying machines coexist? Either someone from Earth like me mixed magic and technology or the disparity between rich and poor people is even worse than on Earth.''

    As he walked down the street, panic spread like wildfire.

    The citizens of Zeska ran, yelled, and cried at his appearance, something that made Derek smile at first but quickly started grating on his nerves.

    ''Okay, I get it. I''m big, bad, and fanged but I''ve yet to hurt anybody. Also, the guard at the gate told me this Verhen guy is a hero. Was he lying to me or is the definition of hero different on this?''

    Even though the noise irked him, the Void had to admit that so far Mogar was better than Earth. He had yet to see a homeless man or a beggar, and people looked well-dressed and fed.

    Zeska was cleaner than any city he had visited during his first life and there were no skyscrapers blocking the sun or rage-inducing traffic.

    "Move it, you idiot!" A deep voice said, followed by a painfully familiar whimper. "I''m not going to die because you are too stupid to know what''s good for you."

    Derek''s eyes followed the sound to a man dragging a maybe eight year old boy around like a sack of potatoes away. The man gripped the boy''s arm with enough strength to make his little joints pop with every yank.

    There was a woman with them, running right behind the man. Yet she did and said nothing to protect him. The woman looked at the man in fear and the boy in spite, as if it was the child''s fault they were in that situation.

    A low growl rose from the Void''s throat as his Abomination hunger studied the unhappy family like a meal. The two adults were strong and healthy, their life forces vibrant with a wide emotional spectrum.

    The kid, instead, was weak and malnourished. His life force was pale from theck of food and many unhealed bruises. Derek could feel only one emotion from him: fear. And it wasn''t for the monster behind him but for the one in front of him.

    The years spent as a victim on Earth and a healer on Mogar allowed Derek to understand the situation as if he were using Life Vision.

    "I said move it or I''ll drop-" The man turned back to give the boy a strong pull when he mmed against a wall and the impact sent him butt-first on the ground.

    Except there wasn''t supposed to be a wall in the middle of the street.

    When he looked forward, he discovered he was right. There was no wall. Just a towering brute over two meters (6''7") tall d in an armor as ck as his skin.

    "Does he hit you?" His voice sounded like the howling of the wind through an abyss.

 Chapter 3188 Terrified Child (Part 2)

    Chapter 3188 Terrified Child (Part 2)

    The man tried to stand up, but his body refused to move. He tried to speak but his teeth were glued together. He tried to breathe but his lungs remained still.

    "Boy, I asked if he hits you." Even from up close, even with his ck aura flooding the three humans, the Void felt that the child was still more afraid of his father than of the stranger. "You don''t have to be afraid.

    "Just be honest with and I promise you this nightmare will end." He said as the fangs in his mouth formed a grin that nothing had of reassuring. "Boy, this is your moment. The asion you''ve dreamed about every day of your miserable life.

    "If you don''t stand up for yourself, no one will. No one is going toe and save you so I''ll ask you one more time. Does. He. Hit. You?"

    The boy looked in his father''s eyes and for the first time in his life he saw no threat or rage in them, only fear. The same fear that gued the boy''s heart.

    "Yes." He said amid swallows.

    "What about her?" Derek''s smile widened up to where the ears were supposed to be, his voice still the mockery of a person trying to sound kind.

    "Mother never touched me." The more he spoke without consequences, the more the boy found his courage. "She never does anything for me. Good or bad."

    The boy lowered his gaze in shame, thinking there had to be something wrong with him if no one loved him. He had tried his best to change, to be good, but it was never enough. He never got anything right and his father was always angry at him.

    "I see." Derek''s eyes twitched in ill-contained fury as shes of his past turned him back into a child terrified of his parents.

    A child who now possessed more power than he had ever thought possible and a twisted imagination. Derek looked at the woman''s stupid face and her eyes told him everything he needed.

    Even confronted by the words of her child, she wasn''t ashamed of what she had done, only worried about the consequences of being caught. She had used the shift of the Abomination''s focus to take a few steps back, giving no thought to protect the boy.

    "I know your kind, woman. You are as disgusting as your man. You picked him to not have to use your brain and didn''t care about anything as long as it wasn''t your own problem, correct?"

    The woman said nothing, ugly crying to get away with her actions like she had always done in the past.

    "Don''t worry. I won''t hurt you either." The Void said and the tears stopped as quickly as they had begun. "I''ll just teach you a lesson about motherhood."

    A flick of Derek''s wrist, a tendril of Spirit Magic, and the woman threw herself at the still-downed man, pping him with more strength than she had.

    "A mother should always defend her child." The Void bent his forefinger and she dished an even stronger backhand p. "No matter the cost. No matter how scared you are."

    The man stared at his wife in utter confusion and disbelief that were soon reced by anger.

    "I''m sorry. He''s making me do it. It''s not me." She said.

    "Now you talk." Derek closed his fist and so did she, a huge smile forming on his face. "See? It''s not that hard."

    The woman punched her husband on the nose, breaking it. Blood poured out of his nostrils and his eyes misted with tears. He wanted to yell. He wanted to stand up and defend himself but his body remained frozen like a statue.

    "Again." A flick of Derek''s hand and the woman hit the broken nose, almost making the man faint from the pain.

    Almost.

    "Again." Her right foot moved on its own stomping his crotch.

    "Again." She performed a left hook that cut his lips over his teeth and broke her fingers.

    "Again." The broken hand punched the man''s right ear, making them both cry in pain.

    "I''m so sorry." The Void oozed sarcasm and venom as heughed at them. "Does it hurt?"

    The woman''s fists struck the man''s cheekbones, eyes, and temples like hammers, cracking his skull and breaking her fingers. They cried in pain and begged for mercy but the Void had none to spare.

    "How does it feel to be the victim? How does it feel to take a beating from the people who are supposed to protect you? How does it feel to know there''s nothing you can do to stop me?" Derek opened his palm and a piece of stone flew into the woman''s hand.

    "There you go. You can use your broken hand to hit your man or the rock. If you use your hands, he won''t suffer much but you will suffer with him. If you keep the rock, he might die but your pain will end here.

    "The choice is yours."

    "He''s lying. I can''t open my fingers, I swear!" The woman lied, refusing to let go of the stone so that when the next pulse of Spirit Magic came, her broken fingers were spared from the impact.

    The blow to the head made a dull sound and caused blood to spurt from a deep cut in the man''s forehead, snapping the boy out of his reverie.

    "Stop it! Stop hurting my parents!" He moved in front of the Void, hoping to put an end to that violence. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What parents? They treat you like an animal. Wake up, boy. They don''t deserve your loyalty." Derek''s voice was a low snarl as he emitted another pulse of Spirit Magic and the rock struck again.

    "Please, Magus Verhen, stop." A feminine voice said, making him turn around. "They may be bad people but they are still people. Leave them to us. Let justice take its course."

    The Void looked at the Constable and for a moment his vision blurred. The person in the uniform suddenly became identical to Kam. He saw her long ck hair held up in a ponytail, her lively brown eyes, and her dazzling smile.

    His stomach churned in shame for his actions until the illusion broke. The Constable in front of him was a woman, but she looked nothing like Kam. She was apanied by a five-man unit of the Knight''s Guard who protected her without interfering with the beating.

    "Thew?" Derek snarled, outraged at his own weakness. "Where was thew while this boy was beaten like a dog? Why do people like you care more about protecting the criminals than the victims?"

    "That''s not true. We-"

    "Not true?" The Void unfurled his wings, releasing a wave of darkness mixed with killing intent that sent everyone but the boy and the Constable crashing against a wall. "Are you telling me the boy''s wounds are not real?"

    "They are real." The Constable licked her lips, trying not to pout more oil on the raging fire in front of her. "But that doesn''t justify your actions."

    "He''s right." The boy nodded. "Please, mister Verhen. You are a good guy. You have always been my hero."

 Chapter 3189 Perfect Opportunity (Part 1)

    Chapter 3189 Perfect Opportunity (Part 1)

    "Your hero?" Derek burst into a mockingughter and poked at the boy''s forehead, healing all his wounds.

    "I''m not your hero, boy. I''m no one''s hero. If you want a hero, you have to be your own. That''s what I did."

    Despite the Void''s cruel tone, the boy felt sadness andpassion in his voice. Even amid all that chaos and mayhem, the boy noticed his dislocated shoulder didn''t hurt anymore.

    "Please-"

    "It''s nice hearing you finally admit it, brother." A pir of darkness the size of a car descended from the sky, hitting both the Void and the boy. "I''ve always known you were just pretending to be good.

    "Now finally everyone will know I was right all along!"

    As the Horseman of Night descended from the sky on top of his steed, fear reached a new height and the citizens of Zeska screamed like Mogar was going to end.

    Unlike Silverwing, Orpal had nothing to do while Night worked on merging the crystals except screaming in pain and gritting his teeth. Luckily for him, the Darmoq outpost on Jiera had extended the range of the Kingdom''s interlink, giving him something to read.

    After weeks of reading through pain, Night had finally done it. Dusk''s red crystal and her own ck crystal had started to merge. The process was far fromplete but at least Orpal''s suffering was mostly over.

    While Night worked on synergizing the two crystals and bringing them closer to merging into one, Orpal used umtion to refine his mana core. He used his breathing technique day and night, sleeping only when Invigoration didn''t work anymore.

    Discipline and the doubled flow from the crystals had brought his core to the bright blue, one step away from the deep violet and the potential awakening of his Vurdk bloodline.

    Yet it also brought some bad news. No pir had manifested to support Orpal''s breakthrough and if not for Night''s regenerative abilities boosted by Dusk''s crystal, the Vurdk would have died on the spot.

    ''Whatever I am, whatever I''ll be, Mogar doesn''t want me more than my own parents!'' He thought. ''This entire has turned its back on me.''

    While waiting for Night to finish the fusion and his body to be ready for the deep violet, the Royal Edict about Lith''s disappearance had popped out on Orpal''smunication amulet.

    Considering it a sign of destiny, Orpal had traveled back to Garlen, always keeping the amulet at hand and checking for any news, no matter if they were rumors or an actual sighting.

    After waiting for days, his patience had been rewarded. The rm had resounded in Zeska, a city he knew well from the War of the Griffons. Thanks to Moonlight, each Steps covered hundreds of kilometers, bringing him to his destination in less than a minute.

    Now, after months of humiliation and weeks of suffering, the perfect opportunity for retribution was at hand.

    "Who the hell are you?" Derek swatted the pir away with Ragnar?k, revealing that both he and the boy were unscathed.

    "Are you really amnesiac? Are you telling me this isn''t just another of your schemes to do whatever the almighty Lith Verhen wants with impunity?" Orpal and Night were bbergasted.

    "Amnesiac?" Derek Blinked the boy to safety and was about to crush the pompous jackass like a fly but then the word hit him like a sledgehammer.

    It broke through theplex scenario drawn by his paranoia, offering him a much simpler answer to the weirdness of his condition.

    "Do we know each other?" He asked in honest confusion.

    "If we know each other?" Orpal couldn''t have been more offended if Lith had just pissed on his head and broadcasted the event throughout Mogar. "How dare you forget about me? You''ve destroyed my life!

    "You''ve taken everything that was supposed to be mine away from me! My family, my fame, my power. Everything!"

    "Is he telling the truth?" Derek asked the Constable.

    "No! That man is a criminal and a murderer." Between a crazy Supreme Magus and a sane Dead King, not a single person in Zeska hesitated choosing which one of them was the lesser evil.

    The Knight''s Guard stood by Lith''s side and the citizens sought shelter in the buildings behind him, hoping for his protection.

    "Don''t believe a word he says. Meln Narchat is one of the Kingdom''s most wanted." The Constable said.

    ''Believe the amnesiac part! Believe the amnesiac part!'' The Voidfeather screamed from the sealed corners of Lith''s life force.

    Orpal''s new name alone sent a jolt down Derek''s spine, making his fist clench and his eyes narrow.

    "One of the most wanted?" The Dead King sounded offended as he kept casting his de Tier spell, Shattered Moon. "Tell me, mortal, who''s above me?"

    "Anyone who canmit crimes without wearing a diaper, Poopie." The Constable replied, making Derekugh even though he had no idea why.

    "That does it!" Orpal screamed in outrage. "I was going to kill only Leech and let the rest of you live to pass on the story of my triumph, but I''ve changed my mind."

    He used his steed, Moonlight, to draw as much world energy from the mana geyser below as he could while also infusing himself with four bolts of Life Maelstrom.

    One for himself, one for Night, one for his equipment, and thest one for his mage tower.

    ''Careful with that, you idiot!'' Night said via their mind link. ''I''m not finished merging my and Dusk''s crystal and we didn''t have the time to study our newfound bloodline abilities.

    ''We don''t even know if the fusion is stable enough for a proper fight. If you go overboard, you might send us back to square one.''

    The seal on Night''s willpower was gone so she could help Orpal n and fight against Lith. Yet the seal on Dusk''s abilities was still in ce. Just like her brother, Night needed the help of her host to undo it permanently and they had no idea how. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Dusk''s observations about the seal were gone along with the rest of his knowledge, leaving them with nothing.

    To activate Dusk''s bloodline abilities, they had to overflow the seal with mana, wasting a considerable amount of energy. Moonlight more than made up for it, but Night knew that every time Orpal tapped into Dusk''s powers, their strength plummeted for a while.

    To activate Dusk''s bloodline abilities, they had to overflow the seal with mana, wasting a considerable amount of energy. Moonlight more than made up for it, but Night knew that every time Orpal tapped into Dusk''s powers, their strength plummeted for a while.

    ''Please, Leech is amnesiac.'' Orpal replied with a sneer. ''He didn''t even react to my de Tier spell and he''s not using Life Vision. This is going-''

    Before he couldplete his thought, Derek kicked the ground with all his strength and bolted toward Orpal.

    ''Careful. With or without his memories, your brother is still a Divine Beast and a cunning bastard at that.'' Night said. ''This is a feint.''

    As if she could read the Void''s mind, Life Vision showed them a Blink whose exit point opened behind Orpal. Night was like Solus, her senses weren''t limited to her physical eyes while Orpal was in control.

    She could see in every direction at the same time, spotting the exit point of the dimensional door the moment it opened.

    The Dead King roared in triumph, turning around and stabbing at the Blink multiple times in less than a second.

 Chapter 3190 Perfect Opportunity (Part 2)

    Chapter 3190 Perfect Opportunity (Part 2)

    Thorn was imbued with silver lightning that amplified its prowess tenfold and with it the energy bursts that the Davross spear produced simply by moving.

    The problem was that both the speartip and the dozens of darkness pirs hit empty air.

    ''Where has Leech gone?'' Orpal asked. ''You said he Blinked!''

    ''Below!'' Night could see in every direction but one: under Moonlight.

    Between the umted world energy and the silver bolt of lightning, the steed was a blinding sun to Life Vision. Derek had followed his instinct, using the first Blink as a cover as he changed his trajectory

    "You talk too much." Orpal was turning his steed around again when the Void grabbed Orpal''s face and dragged him off his high horse.

    Away from Moonlight, the Dead King felt his strength leaving his body and then entering his brother''s. The Abomination Touch was sucking the Life Maelstrom along with Orpal''s life force.

    The Dead King lunged his spear through Derek''s chest, meeting no resistance. The darkness of his body and the Voidwalker armor opened in front of Thorn so quickly that the spear and the energy st in its wake simply passed through.

    To an external observer, the Void looked like a doll that had been torn in half at the midriff, the two pieces connected solely through thin threads of darkness. Yet neither of the monsters had a foothold in mid-air so their strength was unchanged.

    "I don''t know who you are, Poopie, but you are delicious." Derek grabbed Thorn with his free hand, draining it as well while his body closed around the haft like a vise.

    ''Since when can your brother do that?'' Night was bbergasted.

    Shapeshifting was one thing, altering the density and shape of one''s body was another. To make matters worse, only the army had been alerted of Lith''s Abomination form.

    The public feed only mentioned the amnesia to justify his strange behavior and avoid mass hysteria. After all, very few people knew what an Abomination was and the Royals preferred to keep things that way.

    ''I don''t know!'' Orpal unleashed his anti-Tiamat spell, Hailstorm.

    It generated a powerful cold wave that lowered the temperature by over one hundred degrees in an instant and condensed the power of a lightning spell in a single electrical discharge.

    Based on their studies of Lith''s avable videos, Orpal and Night assumed that the cold would sap Lith''s strength while the electricity would bypass darkness fusion and send him into a seizure.

    Once weakened and paralyzed, he was supposed to be an easy target.

    Except for the fact that his body was that of an Abomination now and his Touch was boosted tenfold by the stolen Life Maelstrom.

    Abominations didn''t suffer from cold and electricity was just another form of energy they could prey upon.

    Hailstorm achieved nothing but wasting Orpal''s mana and strengthening Derek further.

    ''Dammit!'' Night tapped into her crystal to release a powerful darkness pulse that sent the Void back screeching. ''Verhen is not just amnesiac. He has be a true Abomination. We need to adjust our strategy.''

    ''Copy that!'' Orpal opened his mouth, using part of the silver lightning he had left to overpower Dusk''s seal again.

    A raging torrent of bright blue Origin mes struck the still-stunned Derek who tried to absorb them with predictable consequences.

    Orpal couldn''t help butugh at the sight of his brother screaming in pain and iling his arms like a hysterical bird.

    ''Maybe I have to wait until my mana core reaches the violet to awaken bloodline abilities like Dragon Eyes and Origin ms of my own or maybe I''ll never get them.'' The thought that his Vurdk form might not be as powerful as a Tiamat made Orpal even more bitter than usual.

    ''But now that I have Dusk''s crystal with me, it doesn''t matter. Now I''m finally better than Leech at everything. I have thebined power of Dragons, Griffons, and Leviathans plus my own bloodline abilities!

    ''Compared to me, Leech is an insect that I can squash under the sole of my boots.''

    ''You mean,pared to us, right? There''s no I here, only we.'' Night corrected him.

    ''Of course.'' Orpal replied, knowing that without the Horseman''s assistance, the fight would likely end like his previous encounters with his brother.

    Meln needed her help to weaken Dusk''s seal enough to tap into the Guardians'' bloodline abilities. On top of that, this time he had no Chosen to assist him and no way to make up for the gap in mass between him and Lith but skill.

    Skill that the Dead King sorelycked and he knew it. Away from his mage tower, Orpal was scared stiff of Lith. His little brother was more than Orpal''s nightmare, Lith was his nemesis.

    After being defeated by Jirni and tortured by Thrud for weeks, the Dead King had lost most of his usual underserved confidence. To regain it, he needed a victory and to win, he needed Night.

    All things she knew from their bond and that she exploited to keep him on an emotional leash.

    There was no love lost between them.

    Orpal knew to be a sloppy third choice after Balkor and Lith just like Night knew that given the chance, Orpal would abuse her body and powers.

    ''Then stop gawking at yourself and finish Leech!'' The Horseman weaved a few spells and channeled them into Thorn.

    ''In due time!'' After being weak for so long, after being humiliated in public and turned into an object of ridicule, the Dead King wanted to savor his victory.

    Being called "Poopie" had opened all kinds of emotional wounds and Orpal wanted to give Lith a taste of what Orpal had endured for so long. Of what Lith had so casually inflicted upon others and even to his older brother.

    A second st of Origin mes erupted from Orpal''s mouth, reinforcing the first and making him regret he had no clue how to generate Primordial mes.

    The Abomination kept screeching in agony, trying to get rid of the impossible mes.

    ''What the fuck is this thing?'' For the first time since opening his eyes near Vidun''s hunting cabin, Derek felt fear. ''I can''t douse it with water and I can''t absorb it with my body. This fire is burning at everything, even this weird silver lightning.''

    Before he could recover from the shock, the Vurdk emitted a st of darkness element infused with Spirit Magic from Thorn''s tip. It gave the usually slow darkness energy the speed of a bullet and the kic energy of a train.

    The energy st sent the Void crashing into the ground, opening a several-meter-deep crater. Orpal followed Night''s instructions and yed it safe. He released one pir of darkness after the other, using them as a pestle to squash Lith in the mortar of the crater.

    ''Never let your guard down.'' The Horseman coached Orpal every action. ''Abominations can''t die unless thest shred of their energy hasn''t been dissipated. Destroying their head or chest is like cutting your hair, it has no real consequence in a fight.

    ''We are lucky that Lith has also lost most of his powers along with his memory. If he had countered your mes with his own or Domination, your current positions might have been reversed.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3191 Nightmarish Creature (Part 1)

    Chapter 3191 Nightmarish Creature (Part 1)

    ''Leech.'' Orpal corrected her. ''There''s no Lith here. Stop talking about him with respect. I''m your host now and forever.''

    ''Of course.'' Night replied, having a hard time not having a goodugh at the "forever" part.

    She didn''t like Orpal much but he had his uses.

    When Moonlight finally reunited with its masters, the pirs of darkness became as big as the crater, filling its every nook and cranny.

    Each impact boomed like thunder, producing a localized quake and a shockwave that sent the bystanders flying like paper dolls. The members of the Knight Guard kept their tower shields raised while slowly retreating from the scene of the fight.

    Together they generated a powerful barrier that allowed the boy, the Constable, and anyone smart enough to stand behind the Knight Guards to run away with their lives.

    ''This should be enough.'' Orpal ceased the attack but kept weaving more spells. ''I won''t believe Leech is dead until I see his unimprinted equipment.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As the dust cloud settled and the darkness element dissipated enough to see through it, Life Vision showed the Dead King that somehow, Ragnar?k and the Voidwalker armor had escaped the onught.

    They were both at a safe distance from the crater and they still bore Lith''s energy signature.

    ''What? How is this possible?'' The Horseman of Night and her host wondered in unison.

    In answer to their stupor, a ck liquid gushed from the cracks in the ground, growing and spreading into a humanoid form.

    The form of Derek McCoy.

    "Are you done, Poopie?" The Void said with augh.

    With Lith''s cloaking rings still attached to the Voidwalker armor, Orpal could see with Life Vision that while Lith''s equipment was unscathed, the Abomination had suffered significant damage.

    Yet he was recovering faster than someone using a breathing technique.

    ''Leech is almost stronger than when we ambushed him. How is it possible?'' Orpal asked.

    ''With lots of nourishment.'' Night telepathically clicked her tongue, cursing her own arrogance. ''Zeska is above a mana geyser, remember?''

    She pointed at the massive flow of world energy that fueled the city arrays and rejuvenated the Abomination''s body. Derek''s talons were firmly nted in the ground, sucking the world energy along with all kinds of life forces.

    ''It''s the reason we were so confident in our ambush. The mana geyser allows us to tap into Moonlight''s true power but it also feeds Leech. We had no idea he had turned into a full Abomination and that led to our second mistake.''

    Night shared her mystical senses with Orpal and what he saw left him appalled.

    The shockwaves from his relentless attacks had wounded the bystanders, if not killed them on the spot. It had left a city block full of ripe fruits that the Void was squeezing dry. Awork of tendrils spread from the crater to the injured citizens, robbing them of what vitality they had left.

    "How can you do that, Leech? You are supposed to risk your life to protect those people, just like you did for that kid!" The Dead King screamed in outrage for everyone to listen.

    The problem was that everyone was too busy running away to listen to his rants.

    "Why?" Derek asked as his maw curled up in a smile. "Why should I care about a bunch of nobodies? Besides, without treatment, they are going to die anyway and I don''t see anyoneing to their rescue.

    "There''s no point wasting such a juicy meal, especially when everyone will me you for their deaths, mister most wanted." He said while the armor covered him again and the bastard sword flew to his hand.

    There was something unsettling in that scene. Orpal had never seen Lith smile except in official portraits and in the photos taken at public events. Back when they were kids, Lith was always frowning for something.

    Because he was starving, because he was worried for Tista, or simply because he was counting the money he earned and calcting how much he would still need to renovate the house.

    Orpal had seen Lith smile, but never at him, never like that. It was the savage smile of a nightmarish creature hiding under a human skin. Of a hideous creature who only cared about himself.

    The same smile with which Orpal had always imagined Lith and now that it was right in front of him, Orpal didn''t feel vindicated so much as terrified.

    ''Stop spacing out!'' Night snapped the Dead King out of his reverie just in time to see Derek point Ragnar?k''s tip at him and unleash a tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void.

    ''We need to Blink!'' Orpal conjured the dimensional spell, moving away from the deadly Cursed Element.

    ''No, we need to block, you moron!'' Night scolded him.

    The Void infused the angry de with Life Maelstrom and Ragnar?k used it to make the Howling Void ten times more powerful. The boosted Chaos spell crossed the Blink before it could close, reaching the Horseman as if he had never moved.

    The silver lightning increased Howling Void''s speed, destructive power, and size, making it big enough to swallow Orpal whole.

    Night used the Life Maelstrom in her crystal to instantly conjure a massive wave of darkness and what was left in her equipment to enhance its durability. At the same time, she circted water magic in the Davross to split the world energy from the Void''s mana and neutralize the spell.

    Her n worked, but only in the sense that she survived. Her darkness was no match for so much Chaos and the Howling Void was too fast. The water element in the Davross couldn''t get rid of the Cursed Element before it struck Orpal square in the chest.

    Orpal wrapped himself in his wings like a cocoon, using his arms and legs to shield the red and ck crystals from the st. Howling Void destroyed everything above the shoulder level and bent the ck Rose armor and Thorn spear out of shape.

    ck crystals sprouted from the wounds, regenerating the missing limbs, while the Davross'' self-repair properties restored Orpal''s equipment.

    "Fuck me sideways, when I kill someone, he is supposed to stay dead." Derek blurted out in astonishment. "Are you like me, Poopie?"

    "I am nothing like you!" The Dead King was both ashamed ofhis own performance and outraged at those words. "I''m your big brother, Leech. I''m better than you. I''ve always been and I always will!"

    He pushed Moonlight at full gallop, charging with the speartip filled to the brim with darkness element and aimed at Derek''s center mass. Orpal shot Thorn''s enchantment, Wailing Wind, from a distance, knowing that Lith would deform his body to dodge.

    The spear crackled with the mana its master had stored within. Every one of its movements generated harrowing wails along with a st of darkness, as if Thorn trapped the mournful souls of its victims.

    Once again Derek shapeshifted to escape the brunt of the enchantment but this time Orpal exploited the awkward position the Void had put himself into to sever the thread of darkness connecting his lower and upper halves.

    Then, he impaled Derek through the chest and pinned him to the ground while releasing another Wailing Wind.

 Chapter 3192 Nightmarish Creature (Part 2)

    Chapter 3192 Nightmarish Creature (Part 2)

    "Try to escape this!" Orpal roared.

    "With pleasure!" Derekughed as his chest and armor turned into a puddle of ck metal.

    Before Orpal could react, the Void merged back with his lower half and lunged at the Dead King with Ragnar?k.

    It took Night every ounce of her considerable skill to deflect the much heavier de out of the line of impact and counterattack but she seeded.

    Night aimed at the Void''s right arm wielding Ragnar?k, dispelling the darkness of which it was made and sending the angry de flying.

    Derek shrugged off the pain and answered with a solid left punch to the gut that pierced through Orpal''s guts and knocked him off Moonlight''s back.

    "Cut me. Smash me. st me into smithereens." The Void said while pulling Orpal close to look him in the eyes while Abomination Touch sucked the Dead King dry. "It doesn''t work, brother."

    The energy stolen from the mana geyser, Orpal''s life force and his equipment had already restored Derek''s missing arm and repaired his armor. Ragnar?k flew back into his hand, ready to strike.

    Yet what hurt the Dead King the most was the word "brother".

    ''Leech never called me like that, not even to mock me. He used my name only in the presence of our parents otherwise he wouldn''t talk to me at all.'' Orpal thought.

    ''So what?'' Night asked while blocking the flurry of de strikes in his stead. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''So Leech really has lost his memory and this is not him. This fight is pointless!'' Orpal hurled a jet stream of bright blue Origin mes, throwing the Void off guard. ''I wanted to humiliate Leech. To make him beg for mercy but this thing is not him!''

    Ridden of his anger, inferiorityplex, and desire to prove Lith his superiority, the Dead King regained his focus. He turned back into the warrior into whom Night had molded.

    The mage who had managed to kill Mirim Distar and even Krishna Manohar, the god of healing. Meln Narchat wasn''t a twelve year old boy throwing a tantrum anymore but a ruthless killer.

    He rxed his stance, focusing on defense and waiting for Derek''s wild attacks to create an opening. Orpal didn''t daree close to the Void, breathing more Origin mes and conjuring darkness spells.

    "Not bad, but not good enough!" Derek dodged the bright blue mes with a Blink that brought him right behind the Dead King.

    Of course, Night warned him in time and Orpal reacted by activating Wailing Wail. Much to his surprise, this time the Void made no attempt to lessen the blow, letting the Davross spear and the enchantment ravage his darkness body.

    "I told you, brother. It doesn''t work!" With Thorn trapped inside of him, the Void was free of draining the Davross of both mana and Life Maelstrom.

    He used them along with the energy from the mana geyser to mend his wounds and continue his attack as if nothing had happened.

    ''This guy may not be Leech but he is just as hateful.'' Orpal cursed, forced to leave his prized spear behind to avoid being cut asunder. ''I''ve never fought against an enemy who canugh deadly blows off. What should I do?''

    ''Beats me. It''s a first for me too.'' Night had destroyed many Abominations in the past but had always steered clear of Eldritchs.

    Their respective interests would rarely collide and there was no point risking her eternal existence. She had also fought against Guardians and white cores, but that was back when Baba Yaga had Night''s back.

    They were enemies stronger than the Horsemen that she couldn''t kill.

    In Derek''s case, she could sense that he was weaker than her. With her host and steed, killing something like that was supposed to be easy, yet everything she had tried so far hadn''t worked.

    "Get over here!" Derek''s first diagonal sh missed, but instead of chasing after his prey, he performed another in the opposite direction, forming a ck X.

    The violence of his movements generated a strong gale that further amplified the effects of his tier four spell, Void Cross. The air element created a vacuum, pulling Orpal toward the mass of darkness element andpensating for its slow speed.

    The Dead King Blinked away just for the Void to follow him and punch him right into the Void Cross.

    ''He''s right behind us. The moment the spell hits us in the front, he''ll hit us in the back.'' Night warned him.

    ''I know.'' Orpal joined hands with Night and unlocked Dusk''s crystal.

    Doom Tide sucked all the surrounding world energy,pressing it to the extreme before releasing it in an expanding blue energy dome. The Void Cross faded and Derek was caught in the st from point nk range.

    Even by activating all the elemental crystals on the Voidwalker armor, he stillcked the power to resist. His armor shattered and his body was scattered in a thin ck mist.

    Even Ragnar?k broke into countless pieces, but instead of resisting the tide, the cursed de rode it to escape its area of effect as fast as possible.

    Freed from the Abomination''s body, Thorne returned to its master who grimaced at the spear''s pitiful condition.

    ''Leech, no, the Abomination sucked all the Life Maelstrom out of Thorn, and its Davross is so worn out that it''s not better than Adamant.'' Orpal infused the spear with his mana to haste its recovery while also recalling Moonlight. ''This isn''t an opponent I can defeat myself.''

    ''Agreed.'' Night stared at the form of the Void reassembling itself like a monster from a nightmare. ''With the sun, the mana geyser, and so many people, we need to hit fast and strong.''

    Doom Tide was supposed to deplete the world energy in its surroundings for a while but with the constant flow erupting from the geyser, the effect didn''tst more than a few seconds.

    "As I told you, destroying my body it''s not enough to kill me, brother." Derekughed as he fed upon the victims of Orpal''stest attack. "I can go on like this all day. Can you?"

    "He can''t." Orpal''s muscr body shapeshifted into a supple, feminine frame. "But I can."

    ''What do we do now?'' Orpal asked.

    ''First, we put an end to the all-you-can-eat buffet.'' Night galloped at the Void as the Voidwalker armor and Ragnar?k repaired themselves at the cost of their durability.

    Davross could recover from any damage, but just like Thorn, the regeneration process temporarily weakened the mystical metal. Only time would restore Davross to its original might.

    Derek had a hard time fighting his conflicting instincts.

    On the one hand, the Horseman was bursting with delicious mana, appearing to his Abomination hunger like a prime rib. Also, there was something in the man called Poopie that brought the worst out of Derek.

    He was quite sure to have never met such an arrogant fool before but he still wanted to see him cry and suffer.

    On the other hand, Derek still had the instincts of a normal man, and standing in the path of a charging horse sounded like a very bad idea.

    "Dodge!" Ragnar?k''s advice broke the stalemate.

 Chapter 3193 Second Phase (Part 1)

    Chapter 3193 Second Phase (Part 1)

    ''Now that I think about it, I should have a bigger mass than a toy horse. Yet I''m still new to this world and the little buddy knows more than me.'' The Void rolled to a side while calling upon a spell that was slowly rising to the tip of his mana core.

    He was still moving when Night unleashed her tier five Spirit Spell, World Crusher, from Thorn''s tip.

    An emerald sphere that resembled Mogar seen from space appeared in front of the galloping Moonlight, swallowing everything in its path and trapping it in the spell''s core.

    The six elements produced a gravity one hundred times stronger than normal that affected the space inside the sphere and made it impossible to escape its boundaries once captured.

    To make matters worse, the fire element alternated with the water element, bringing World Crusher''s temperature from one thousand degrees to -200¡ãC (-328¡ãF) and back in a loop.

    The air element brought the internal pressure to 100 atmospheres while the light and earth elements made the sphere diamond-hard and darkness filled it with poison.

    Rubble, corpses, and even the upper part of the road were devoured upon Night''s passage, leaving behind a perfectly smooth trench in the ground as if they had been erased from existence.

    Everything waspressed until it either copsed under its own weight or was pulverized by the elemental onught.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Derek threw a few spells into the emerald globe but they fared no better than the rubble. "Thanks for the heads up, buddy."

    "Keep running!" Ragnar?k replied.

    Derek was fast, but Moonlight was faster. Night charged at him in a straight line, crashing through buildings and debris like they were paper. Keeping a spell that powerful active would have drained the mana of a bright violet-cored mage, but thanks to her tower, Night had no such problem.

    The steed provided her with a constant flow of world energy akin to a continuous use of Invigoration but with no side effects. Or rather, almost no side effects.

    ''We can''t channel World Crusher for too long or Thorn''s power core will explode.'' Meln said.

    ''I know.'' Night replied. ''It''s the reason I can''t channel it through my body either. I can''t risk suffering mana abuse. My crystal has yet to fully heal and your core is not strong enough to handle the spell. We need to be quick.''

    ''I can''t outrun her on the ground.'' Derek cursed and pped his wings, seeking refuge in the sky. Just like Night wanted. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Up in the air, World Crusher is a waste of mana, but unlike us, Leech has no tower. Abominations can''t tap into the power of the mana geyser without making physical contact.'' She dispelled the emerald globe while chasing after her prey.

    The Horseman lunged several times, each strike released a Wailing Wind that chased after the Void. Derek blocked the first with Ragnar?k but the impact almost made him lose his grip on the de.

    The second one pushed him off bnce, creating an opening that the third, fourth, and fifth Wailing Wind didn''t miss. The darkness sts cracked the Voidwalker armor and ate at the Abomination, driving him mad with hunger.

    Night struck with Thorn, the side tips of the winged spear cut through the armor and injected more darkness element inside. Derek was still spinning through the air when Moonlight turned around for a second charge heralded by another volley of Wailing Wind.

    "Enough!" The Void was beaten and battered, his priority was to get back to the ground and the sweet balm of the geyser as quickly as possible.

    He unleashed the tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, imbuing it with lots of mana and most of the stolen Life Maelstrom he had left.

    ''I would use it all, but if not for this weird lightning, I would be dead already. Better safe than sorry.'' He thought and Ragnar?k agreed.

    There were a lot of things the cursed de could do with Life Maelstrom and keeping the Chaos at bay was one of them.

    The emerald shockwave of the Primordial Roar canceled the Wailing Winds and struck the Horseman and her steed like a freight train, yet she didn''t stop her charge.

    "Too bad you are amnesiac. This has been a glorious battle!" Night activated Orpal''s bloodline ability, Frost Soul.

    The blue me of his elemental crown lit up above her head and all the mana in the air froze instantly. Primordial Roar copsed on itself while Frost Soul worked its way through the Abomination''s body and into his mana core.

    Frost Soul blocked all kinds of external manifestations of mana and the more mana one emitted, the more their body would turn into ice. It had no effect on passive abilities like Fusion Magic, but Derek didn''t know that.

    Lith did but Derek didn''t.

    Before the Void could understand what was happening to him, his entire body froze over, leaving him exposed to Night''s charge. She infused herself with all the elements, used gravity fusion, and circted darkness magic in the Davross to amplify Thorn''s destructive power.

    The Abomination shattered into countless shards and she destroyed them all by recalling Frost Soul and unleashing a powerful wave of darkness magic that she had stored inside her ck crystal.

    Or rather, she destroyed most of the shards.

    The impact shot some of them away from the Horseman and gravity eleration allowed them to escape destruction. The crashnding freed the remaining shards from the ice and the mana geyser did the rest.

    ''Fuck, your brother is still alive.'' Lith''s equipment was unaffected by Frost Soul and still bore his imprint.

    ''It doesn''t matter. It''s over now.'' Meln shrugged while the Night followed Ragnar?k and the Voidwalker armor to find her prey. ''What is that?''

    The consecutive and powerful attacks had done more than just wound the Void. They had managed to reach his life force and brought it on the verge of copsing.

    ''I don''t know.'' Night replied as the fragments of the Abomination fed upon the mana geyser and grew into the form of the Void Demon Dragon.

    It looked simr to the Voidfeather Dragon, but its red scales had turned ck. New horns grew on his head while the old ones became bigger. Both sets of wings on his back were membranous and the ones that once had been feathered now burned with blue mes.

    The mystical fire ran from his wings to the feathers on his spine, lighting the bone spikes on his tail and forming a ming blue crown that floated above his head.

    Desperate for more power, the Void had unwittingly opened the door and called upon the souls haunting the Horseman of Night. They had brought him knowledge but in his current state, Lithcked the necessary protections to safeguard his sanity.

    The Voidfeather Dragon had exploited the debilitated state of the life forces to break the stalemate and fuse with the Void.

    ''Now that my human life force is fully healed there''s no risk the old wounds might kill me but Night surely will.'' The Voidfeather thought. ''Meln has his full equipment, his tower, Dusk''s crystal, and Night''s help whereas I''m alone.''

 Chapter 3194 Second Phase (Part 2)

    Chapter 3194 Second Phase (Part 2)

    ''Awakening Lith would be a terrible move since Night needs one hit to kill my Tiamat form. My best bet is to keep my human side on the back burner and bet everything on George''s recovery abilities.

    ''I don''t need to win, only to buy time until my friends arrive. The guards saw Meln and at least one of them is bound to have sounded the rm. Here goes everything.''

    The Voidfeather Dragon left the Void in charge and transferred his consciousness in front of the door to limit the influx of lost souls invading his body. With the threat of Frost Soul negating his magic and without Lith''s military mind, there was only one possible path to survival.

    The Voidfeather ignited a spark of his life force and threw it at the ck goo seeping through the cracks in Lith''s life force.

    Blue mes erupted from his body, consuming the torrent of raging souls and burning the Void Demon Dragon''s aura.

    Derek activated the Voidwalker armor''s Full Guard enchantment, releasing a bright violet aura that expanded for 30 meters (100'') around him. It took the blue mes a split second to set it aze and turn Full Guard into a searing wave.

    The world energying from the geyser was next, followed by everything in the enchantment''s area of effect. Full Guard burned. The Voidwalker armor burned. Everything burned.

    "What''s with that face, Poopie? Don''t you know you can''t kill a boss monster that easily? You just unlocked my second phase!" Derekughed, feeling the pain from the blue mes and embracing it with joy in exchange for its exhrating power.

    ''What''s a second phase?'' Night asked while activating Frost Soul again.

    The bloodline ability was supposed to freeze the Full Guard and damage the Voidwalker armor but the blue mes protected it. The violet aura wasn''t just engulfed in fire, it was burning.

    The heat and cold of the conflicting bloodline abilities were at an impasse, canceling each other.

    ''How am I supposed to know?'' Orpal watched in anger at the crown on the Void Demon Dragon''s head, enraged at Lith for copying him andpleting his crown first. ''Let''s fight fire with fire!''

    ''Excellent idea!'' Night''s beautiful face twisted into a feral smile as she activated Dusk''s crystal and ignited a full breath of Origin mes in her lungs.

    She hurled a jet stream of bright blue fire at Derek who replied in kind, the two mes bore simr colors but they couldn''t have been more different.

    ''This is my first time using a Dragon''s powers but I have to admit it''s really exciting. I can understand now why you were so jealous of-'' Night''s train of thought derailed as the conflicting blue mes didn''t explode as she expected.

    The torrent of fireing from the Void Demon Dragon''s maw swallowed her Origin mes, setting them aze like gasoline. The blue mes followed the stream of Origin mes back into Horseman''s still-opened mouth and burned her inside out.

    Night cut the Origin mes just in time before the blue mes reached the ck and red crystals. She released a pulse of pure darkness energy to smother the mes but it took fire as well.

    Her equipment burned. Her flesh burned. Everything burned.

    ''Fuck no!'' Meln saved Night and himself just in the nick of time by activating the ck Rose armor''s Blooming Shield enchantment.

    Blooming Shield took the blue mes off Night and detached the external petals as soon as they took fire to keep the blue mes from spreading.

    The Void Demon Dragon roared in fury and hurled a second st of blue mes.

    It was akin to a Spirit Barrier but instead of forming a sphere of Spirit Magic, Blooming Shield generated an emerald constructprised of petals-like tes. This way, cracking one of the tes didn''t destabilize the rest of the barrier.

    When a petal was destroyed, it would detach from the barrier and another one would grow and rece it. By shedding the damaged tes, the damage wasn''t carried over to the rest of the barrier, lessening the strain on the ck Rose armor''s power core.

    Blooming Shield took the blue mes off Night and detached the external petals as soon as they took fire to keep the blue mes from spreading.

    The Void Demon Dragon roared in fury and hurled a second st of blue mes.

    This time Night Blinked away, the power of Moonlight brought her at a safe distance and fueled the Blooming Shield until the fire on her body was put out.

    ''Okay, Frost Soul and Origin mes are useless against that thing. Let''s see-'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Behind you!'' Orpal cut her short while pointing at a Blink''s exit point that was about to appear.

    ''Is your brother insane? This is suicidal!'' Night activated Thorn''s Wailing Wind enchantment while also readying another Doom Tide and preparing her best Spirit Spells.

    The answer caught her like a speeding train.

    The Void Demon Dragon emerged from the Blink at a break-neck speed and engulfed in blue mes. He tried to block Thorn with Ragnar?k by exploiting his superior mass but the skill gap with Night was too big.

    She twisted her wrist in a quick spiral, deflecting the bastard sword and hitting her target in one fluid motion. The spear pierced through the Dragon''s chest and released the Wailing Wail inside his body, blowing his right shoulder and arm away.

    Yet it wasn''t enough to alter the course of the Void Demon Dragon.

    The mass gap between the two allowed Derek to take the blow and return it with a left shoulder charge. The blue mes engulfed the Blooming Shield while the impact threw the Horseman off her saddle and broke every bone in her body.

    ck crystals immediately germinated in the fractures to mend the damage and allow the Horseman to move.

    "Get off me, you bastard!" Night shortened Thorn''s haft until it wasn''t bigger than a short sword, stabbing at the Void Demon Dragon''s alleged vitals.

    "No." As Derek exhaled to speak, a new st of blue mes erupted from his body.

    It burned the emerald petals faster than the ck Rose armor could conjure new ones, setting the Horseman aze.

    Night screamed as a pain she had never experienced before ravaged her body. She had been hurt countless times in the past and burned by more Origin mes than a block of Davross but none of that had prepared her for the blue mes.

    They didn''t just burn like fire. They broke down her skin into carbon and hydrogen, taking her apart on a molecr level. Pressure and heat turned the carbon into coal which burned as well as the hydrogen.

    The same was happening to her ck Rose armor and Thorn spear, the enchanted metal wasn''t heated but vaporized. The atoms vibrated too strongly to establish a bond between them and started to drift apart.

    The enchantments of the Horseman''s equipment were losing cohesion as well, the single runes broken down in too many pieces to hold their power together.

    Night stabbed as fast and hard as she could while the Void Demon Dragon shielded himself with his wings and used his remaining arm to hold the Horseman tight. They crashed on the ground like a meteor, turning an entire city block of Zeska into a ss crater.

    Night cushioned the Dragon''s fall with her body and spat out a mouthful of blood from the impact.

 Chapter 3195 Hollow Victory (Part 1)

    Chapter 3195 Hollow Victory (Part 1)

    "Gods, no!" Night said, noticing that the world energy from the mana geyser was flooding the Void Demon Dragon and his missing arm was regrowing so quickly that it put the Abomination''s regenerative powers to shame.

    "There are no gods. Only death." A choir of dead voices came out of his mouth, followed by a burst of blue mes.

    "I said get off!" The Doom Tide extinguished the blue mes and sted the Dragon away.

    Night unleashed her tier five Spirit Spell, Manastorm, conjuring a hail of emerald bullets the size of a cannonball and with the kic energy of a missile. The constructs pushed the Void Demon Dragon further back and bought her the time to conjure her steed.

    Moonlight walked through a Spirit Blink and filled the Horseman and her equipment with new strength.

    ''That was close.'' Meln panted.

    Even though he wasn''t in control of their body, he experienced Night''s pain and fatigue.

    ''You can say that. If those mes reached our crystal, we would be dead. It''s still too unstable to take that kind of damage.'' The Horseman replied. ''Also, did you notice that thing has the regenerative abilities of an Abomination?''

    ''It was hard to miss.'' Meln groaned in frustration. ''How much has Leech changed during our stay in Jiera? How many things have we missed?''

    While they caught their breath, the Voidfeather Dragon struggled to contain the waves of parasitic souls flooding through the cracks in Lith''s life force. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''Fuck me sideways, they arrive faster than I can purify them. I''d close the door, but without the death force, there are no blue mes. Without the blue mes, I''d be dead in a minute.''

    At the same time, the voices in Derek''s head were chipping away at his sanity.

    ''Murderer!'' ''Kill her!'' ''Avenge us!'' ''Watch out for when Night lunges with her spear. Exploit Thorn''s side tips to lock it in ce. She never guards them!'' ''Seed of chaos!''

    The voices of the helpful souls were drowned out in the cries of the mad spirits.

    ''This is going exactly as I expected.'' Derek panted, his body hurting as much as his mind. ''This Verhen bastard has finallye to collect his tithe. I''m losing myself in his power but it''s still better than rolling over and dying like a dog.''

    The fusion with the Voidfeather Dragon had restored part of Derek''s memories. Not enough to go back to being Lith Verhen since the Dragon kept that part sealed to keep the Void''s life force dominant and retain his regenerative abilities.

    Yet it was enough for the Void to remember who Orpal was and what he had done. Enough for Derek to see his Earth father''s shadow in his Mogar brother and hate him from the bottom of his heart.

    The blue mes burned at his flesh just like the myriads of souls ate at his mind but he didn''t care.

    "Let''s see who dies first, Poopie!" Derek roared, the world energy healed his wounds almost as quickly as Manastorm opened them after piercing through the wall of blue mes.

    He bolted forward, only to stop midway when his prey Blinked up in the sky, farther than his own dimensional spell could bring him.

    Moonlight didn''t boost only Night''s physical and magical prowess, it also increased the range of her spells to the level of a white-cored Awakened.

    ''Filthy bastard!'' Derek thought. ''She wants to move the fight where I can''t heal. This is a trap!''

    He hurled a jet stream of blue mes but they died long before reaching the Horseman.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Live Vision showed him an increasing number of runes belonging to something he knew was called "de Spell".

    ''I don''t know what it is, but I know in my gut that I have to stop her at all costs!'' Derek bolted up, his vision blurred as the souls slowly took over his body.

    ''I knew it was stupid hoping he would let us finish our spell but it was worth the shot.'' Night smiled, letting go of the Shattered Moon spell and channeling those Orpal was conjuring instead.

    Griffon Fetters released thick emerald chains that whipped at the Void Demon Dragon and trapped him in a vice capable of restricting the mightiest of the Divine Beasts.

    The blue mes burned the chains in a matter of seconds but it was long enough for Phoenix Smash to engulf the Dragon and burn past his defenses.

    He Blinked away just for Frost Soul to detonate the exit point behind him and the mana in his body to freeze, sapping his strength. With most of the blue mes cut off by the Blink, the heat produced by the mystical fire erupting from his body was overpowered by Orpal''s bloodline ability.

    ''Excellent! The cold works now!'' Night rejoiced as the water element of her crown went off, reced by the yellow me of the air element.

    The world energy was now electrified, forming a spiderweb of lightning bolts centered around the Horseman. Thunder Soul also seeped inside the Voidwalker armor and Ragnar?k, exploiting their enchantments to reach its target.

    Anything that drew world energy in also absorbed the lightning, allowing it to slip past the enchanted protections and strike at the Void Demon Dragon. To not suffer the same fate, Night had to stop her equipment and Moonlight from feeding off the geyser.

    She kept Thunder Soul active long enough to create an opening and then unleashed a flurry of Wailing Winds.

    ''Strike now!'' A voice said in Derek''s mind before the maelstrom of souls clouded his judgment again.

    ''I see it. I see the opening!'' Lith''s training and Derek''s instinct allowed him to grasp the weakness in Night''s seamless series of attacks.

    Frost Soul had blocked her active spells so she had nothing at the ready. Thunder Soul had forced her to cut off her equipment from the world energy, limiting its energy reserves.

    Thorn was now weaker than normal and the Wailing Winds it produced carried but a fraction of their previous destructive power. They pierced through the ming barrier and opened gaping wounds in the Void Demon Dragon''s flesh but they couldn''t stop his advance.

    Derek shrouded himself in blue mes to cushion the blows while counterattacking with Ragnar?k. Night intercepted the blow again but this time the Void Demon Dragon followed the advice of one of the souls haunting the Horseman.

    He locked the bastard sword between the tips of the winged spear, making raw strength more important than technique. With Thorn trapped, the Wailing Winds went off target and Night almost took the Dragon''s ming fist in full.

    Almost.

    ''Fuck no!'' She couldn''t Blink because the Void Demon Dragon was close enough to be carried with her by the spell.

    She couldn''t block due to the mass gap nor could she take the blow. Derek was aiming at the ck and red crystals and Night didn''t know if they would resist the punch, let alone the blue mes covering it.

    She activated Doom Tide again, sting the Void Demon Dragon away and freeing her spear. Yet since it was already the third Tide in less than a minute, there wasn''t much world energy in the air to empower it.

 Chapter 3196 Hollow Victory (Part 2).

    Chapter 3196 Hollow Victory (Part 2).

    The more she used the Leviathan''s bloodline ability, the less effective it became.

    "What''s the matter, brother? Are you scared?" Derekughed at Orpal as the geyser healed his wounds. "Stop running away like a coward and fight me like a man!"

    A zing pir of blue mes rose for dozens of meters in the air, showing that the Void Demon Dragon could still fight, just like the Horseman.

    ''I''m back at my full strength. We can win this.'' Night said.

    ''Define win.'' Orpal stopped her in her tracks.

    ''Our odds of victory are 70%. With your bloodline abilities, Dusk''s, and our tower, he is no match for my martial prowess.'' She replied. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''It also means there''s a 30% chance we die here.'' Orpal shook his head.

    ''No, the 30% is the chance we die with him. Our crystal is unstable and those blue mes are one of the most dangerous things I''ve ever faced.''Night shrugged. ''In our current state, he needs one hit to win and as you''ve seen, Leech isn''t afraid of death.

    ''He can only kill us by sacrificing his life for a lucky shot.''

    ''No.'' Orpal said in a t voice.

    ''What do you mean, no? You don''t believe my estimates?'' She asked.

    ''I believe you. What I''m saying is that''s not Leech.'' Meln stared in disgust at the Void Demon Dragon. ''That thing is a merciless monster who didn''t hesitate to involve civilians just to use them as food.

    ''He has never stopped smiling since the beginning of this fight, no matter how badly we injured him. That thing is enjoying this senseless violence, getting some sort of sick pleasure from it.''

    ''Like I do for my ns.'' He inwardly added in a corner of his mind, where Night wouldn''t hear him.

    Looking at himself in the mirror hadn''t been a pleasant experience for Orpal. Derek had acted exactly like Orpal had always used him. With cruelty and no regard for anything but himself, ready to me someone else for his actions.

    Yet even Orpal had to admit that such behavior matched more himself than his little brother as he knew him. It was a humbling experience worse than any blow he had ever suffered.

    The Dead King had realized not to be the hero even in his own story and no matter how many lies he told the rest of Mogar, he couldn''t deceive himself.

    ''On top of that, Leech has made no attempt to survive.'' Meln continued after one second of hesitation. ''He wants to kill us at all costs. It''s like he wants to die and I don''t! The whole point of my revenge is to make Leech suffer.

    ''To hear him beg for his life and make him realize I''ve always been better than him. That thing will never do any of that. He willugh in my face even if we win.

    ''Also, a 30% chance of mutual destruction is too much. I want to live long enough to savor my victory. To bask in the desperation of my family at the death of their precious golden child while they grovel at my feet.

    ''I want the whole Kingdom to cry blood when they witness me defeating their beloved Supreme Magus and regret casting me away like trash! If we die here, I won''t get any of that.

    ''Leech would be praised as a hero for stopping me at the cost of his life and be venerated throughout history as a martyr. Fuck all that. This is not the fight I wanted all my life. Even in victory, I''d be the loser. Let''s get out of here.''

    Night was a bit perplexed but Warped away nheless.

    ''Fine by me.'' She telepathically shrugged as Moonlight opened one Steps after the other to cross the ocean separating them from their hideout in Jiera. ''We''ve learned a lot about your brother''s new powers anyway and I too want to kill a Lith who knows who I am.

    ''That thing was no fun. It was just a psycho.''

    Meanwhile, in Zeska, the Voidfeather Dragon tried to close the door.

    ''I can''t awaken my human life force in this condition. George and I form a perfect shield but the moment we let our human side join us, it would be like serving an all-you-can-eat buffet to these parasites.''

    His consciousness was slowly fading, diluted in the telepathic maelstrom surrounding him. As for the Void, heughed in triumph. He didn''t know why the enemy had chosen to abandon the fight nor did he care.

    His joy, however, was short-lived. Without anything or anyone against which channel the blue mes, they consumed the most abundant source of energy avable.

    Derek himself.

    "How do I turn this thing off? Help me, little buddy!" Derek lifted Ragnar?k in front of his face, trying to conjure the holographic interface but nothing happened.

    The Voidfeather was too busy surviving to y god with the Abomination.

    The angry de activated the seven mystical gemstones on its surface to conjure a barrier that would cut off the mes from its master, hoping that once their intensity dwindled, Derek would be able to control them.

    Instead, the Void burned. The Voidwalker armor burned. Ragnar?k burned. Everything burned.

    The blue mes had already infected the mana geyser below, turning the area around the Void Demon Dragon into a zing pyre that was quickly expanding to the rest of Zeska.

    Derek kneeled in pain, unable to concentrate due to the noise in his head. With each passing second, the number of parasite souls increased and without amon enemy, the struggle for his body began.

    ''Let us out. Just give us a body to inhabit and we will let you be.'' The choir of voices screamed in Derek''s mind, drowning out his thoughts. ''Find a source of life force. Anyone will do.''

    ''What about you guys fuck off, instead?'' Derek pushed the souls back, sensing their lies.

    He instinctively found the door and joined the Voidfeather Dragon in his attempt to close it but with just the two of them, theycked the necessary strength. To make matters worse, the constant stream of souls also fed the blue mes.

    They formed a raging path from one side of the cracks to the other, keeping the door wide open despite their best efforts.

    With both the Void and the Voidfeather busy with the door, the souls had now full control of Lith''s unattended body.

    "Much better." Their joy, however, was short lived.

    Without the human life force, there was nothing the souls could feed upon. Crossing the ck sphere of the Abomination meant to go back to the other side while entering the ming star of the Divine Beast would turn them into fuel for the Void Demon Dragon''s powers.

    On top of that, the ever-expanding blue mes were killing every living being on their path, damning the souls to starve forever.

    "No, no, no!" Countless voices screamed in unison. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

    A colossal ck fist hit the Void Demon Dragon from above, plunging him meters deep into the ground.

    "With pleasure." Xenagrosh snarled.

    The blue mes hurt her but between her Bookwyrm armor and her regenerative powers fueled by the mana geyser, she could take a lot of punishment without breaking a sweat.

 Chapter 3197 Friendly Fire (Part 1)

    Chapter 3197 Friendly Fire (Part 1)

    "Where''s that bitch of Night?" Dawn cast her best life-sensing and array-detecting spells to make sure the rescue team wasn''t falling into a trap. Life Vision covered only her line of sight whereas her spells covered kilometers.

    The Horseman sat on top of Sunrise and her Tower de Spell, Rising Sun, shone on the tip of her Twilight de.

    "She''s gone, dammit! We''re toote." Baba Yaga cursed their bad luck.

    The fight hadn''tsted long, but more than it had taken Baba Yaga to go back to Lutia from Silverkeep and from there reach Zeska with the rest of her allies. Not knowing how dangerous the amnesiac Lith would be and after hearing about Night''s sighting, they had decided to move together.

    "Okay, how do we stop that?" Friya asked via themunication amulet while sharing the vision of the blue inferno surrounding them.

    "You must overpower them with raw strength." Valtak was in the safety of Baba Yaga''s tower. "They are not like regr Origin mes. They don''t exhaust their strength as they burn something.

    "Consider the blue mes like a living being you have to kill." The Father of Fire couldn''t deal with the Void Demon Dragon in his debilitated state and with a bit of luck, he wouldn''t need to.

    Many powerful individuals had joined the rescue team, some of them eclipsed even the power he had during his prime.

    "A living being, uh? Then leave it to me." Xenagrosh took a step back to check on Lith''s condition and unleashed a volley of the tier four Chaos spell, Howling Void.

    ck spears the size of a small tree and as fast as bullets erupted from each one of her fingers, piercing through the blue mes like a hot knife through butter.

    The destructive power and the Chaos and its speed toppled over ten walls of fire for one whole second. Then, the Void Demon Dragon stood up with an angry roar, releasing more waves of blue fire.

    "Who are you and why are you doing this to me?" The physical pain had snapped Derek out of it and summoned him away from the door.

    Without his help, the Voidfeather Dragon had no chance of sealing the gate. All he could do was make sure that no soul would get past the blue star and the ck sphere, reaching the defenseless human life force.

    With the Void gone, there was no one left to stop the stream of parasitic souls. They flooded through the cracks in Lith''s life force and fueled the blue mes, bringing them back to their full power.

    "Lith, it''s me, Friya!" She didn''t recognize the voice but ording to Life Vision, the creature''s energy signature matched Lith''s. "Gods, I never thought the day woulde when I''d miss your extra eyes.

    "They are kind of creepy. No offense, sister."

    "Hey, no kink-shaming!" Quy released Bloodbind from her sleeves to restrain Derek.

    Yet not only did he not show any sign of recognizing the two women, ignoring their attempt at humor, but also the chains took fire like they were coated in oil. Bloodbind writhed and screeched in agony as the blue mes corrupted its runes.

    "What''s happening?" Quy recalled the chains. "Bloodbind is already so hot that it hurts. And I''m wearing a Featherwalker armor."

    "Since when does it screech?" Friya used a series of small dimensional doors to Warp the mes away while Quy smothered them with multiyered hard-light constructs.

    "It never did but this is the new model." Quy replied.

    "Eyes on the prize!" Morok unleashed six pirs of elemental energy from his eyes.

    The knowledge he had garnered about Light Mastery was still shallow, but more than enough to understand how to use the light element for offense.

    The elemental pirs struck the Void Demon Dragon but between the blue mes weakening them and the mass of the Divine Beast, their effect was negligible.

    "Is that supposed to be funny?" Derek asked while releasing his tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar.

    It knocked the Tyrant off the sky and pushed Zoreth one step back.

    "Stop it, Lith!" She released a burst of Origin mes from her body to counter the spell. "We don''t want to hurt you. We are your friends. We want to help you."

    "What kind of friends smash a friend into the ground?" He breathed a river of blue mes at the Shadow Dragon.

    "Don''t you remember?" Friya tried to Warp the mes away but they burned at the edges of the Steps, making it copse after only part of the mes had been redirected. "We didn''t attack you.

    "We stopped the souls possessing you from destroying Zeska!" She waved at the mes engulfing the entire city block.

    Baba Yaga was still in her tower, focusing her attention on cutting the blue mes off from the world energy and keeping them from spreading to the rest of the city.

    "Lies!" Derek roared. "This is just the aftermath of my fight with Poopie. If even the Kingdom''s most wanted couldn''t stop me, what makes you think you can?"

    A short burst of light and Dawn''s Rising Sun sted away Lith''s right arm and shoulder, leaving a clean, cauterized wound like he had been hit by aser. Because that was exactly what had just happened. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Does this answer your question?" The hot woman riding the white crystal horse reminded Derek of Night, but with one big difference. "I could have blown up your head. I could have blown up your entire body if I wanted."

    She shot a bigger burst of Rising Sun diagonally, cutting through the blue mes and the clouds alike to demonstrate her power.

    "But I didn''t because I''m your¡­ I''m here to help."

    Unlike Night, Dawn exuded no killing intent nor did she show signs of aggression. Derek had learned to recognize them since he was a child in order to pacify Ezio and avoid a beating when possible.

    "Or maybe you just know it wouldn''t work, sweetie." There was a hint of lust in Derek''s voice that caught everyone by surprise.

    Almost as much as his shoulder and arm growing back in one second.

    "Poopie didn''t fail to kill me for ack of trying, believe me." He flexed his new fingers, feeling them no different from the old ones.

    "Guys, the bad news is that he''s half Abomination." Xenagrosh said. "Since we are over a mana geyser, he can heal from any wound in the blink of an eye, and killing him is nigh impossible.

    "The good news is that we have no reason to hold back!" The Shadow Dragon extended the ws of Sky Piercer and shed at Derek.

    The air pressure alone cut the mes wide open while the wed gauntlet left dozen meters deep trenches in the ground where the Void Demon Dragon had stood just a second ago.

    He Blinked out of the way but in doing so he also severed his connection with the rest of the blue mes for a split second. More than enough for Zoreth to release a pulse of prismatic energy from Sky Piercer and snuff most of the mes out.

    "I''m sorry!" Friya emerged from her Blink right behind Derek, lunging at him with Dreadnought.

 Chapter 3198 Friendly Fire (Part 2)

    Chapter 3198 Friendly Fire (Part 2)

    Orion had reworked the rapier, allowing it to conjure more than one element at a time It was imbued with a dense mass of darkness and fire, forming a tier five Final Sunset that spun around the de to protect it from the blue mes.

    "I''m not!" Derek reacted too fast for her to see, aiming Ragnar?k at the gap between the breastte and the helm of Friya''s Featherwalker armor.

    "Protect!" Dreadnought transformed the Final Sunset into a jet me and propelled itself against the angry de.

    "Protect!" Bloodbind bolted forward in answer to Quy''s thoughts, the left chain wrapped itself around Ragnar?k and the right one around Derek.

    "Murder!" Chaos painted the de ck, allowing it to push its siblings back and cut through their metal bodies.

    The three weapons of the War series screeched in fury, each unwilling to relent from their respective duties. None of them liked harming members of their kin, but the mission came first.

    Bloodbind retreated while hissing like an angry snake while Dreadnought changed the direction of the jet me to bring Friya out of Ragnar?k''s deadly swing.

    "The little one is cute, but you''re hot." Derek said while looking at Friya. "Are we just friends or more?"

    A cold shiver ran down her spine as she felt his gaze exploring her body like Lith had never done before. His eyes were the same he had back at the academy and his fangs were curled up in the cruel smile she had seen him extend to their enemies.

    Only this time, it was addressed to her. The gaze of a predator looking for the weak points in his prey, grinning in anticipation for the kill.

    "Hands off, she''s almost married!" Zoreth punched at him with her other hand but this time Lith was ready.

    He deflected her hand and expanded his body for a second, punching the Shadow Dragon in the face. Zoreth staggered in surprise as blue mes burned her face.

    Derek''s hands hurt. The Shadow Dragon was bigger, stronger, and he had never put his full might to the test before. The geyser healed his wounds and filled him with new strength.

    Just like it did for Xenagrosh.

    "Not bad! Let''s kick things up another notch." She stomped the ground with her full might, causing a localized but powerful quake that threw the Void Demon Dragon off bnce.

    Then the Shadow Dragon punched him with an uppercut, propelling him up in the sky and away from the geyser.

    Dawn was waiting for him, covered from head to hooves with a tier five Light Mastery spell, Morning Star. The construct was infused with so much mana that it gave the Bright Day enough mass to match Derek''s.

    Her swordy was leagues above Lith''s every day of the week andpared to her, Derek was an amateur. Even with the Voidwalker armor''s Full Guard, he couldn''t follow her movements as she cut off his tendons and sent Ragnar?k flying.

    "I''m not sorry at all. This is for your own good." She pointed the Twilight de''s tip at his abdomen and released another sh of light.

    This time it was solid and with no piercing power, hitting the Void Demon Dragon like an upside-down copsing mountain.

    He crashed against the ground where his wounds started to heal only for Zoreth to catch him on the rebound and p him toward the Ernas sisters and Morok.

    Derek tried to Blink, but Friya''s Dimensional Ruler made the spell explode in his face. He called Ragnar?k back to his hand but Bloodbind caught the angry de in its tracks.

    "It''s over, pal. Give up!" Morok waved at the dying blue mes and highlighted the concept with six more pirs of elemental energy.

    Baba Yaga had smothered most of the fires, leaving only a few embers and the blue mes that the Void Demon Dragon constantly released still burning.

    "I''d rather die!" It all happened too fast.

    One moment Derek''s foot touched the ground and the next he was past Morok, the Tyrant''s face caved by a single punch with blue mes seeping into his eyes, ears, and nostrils. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Then he appeared in front of Quy, his ws aiming from her womb. Derek had noticed how protective of her stomach she was and had no qualms about exploiting her state.

    Quy instinctively recalled Bloodbind to slow down the attack long enough to Blink away.

    "Thank you, sucker!" Derek grabbed the chains with his left hand, pulling Quy to him, while Ragnar?k jumped into his right one.

    The ck de would have impaled her if not for Friya Blinking between them in the nick of time and releasing all the spells she had at the ready. The Final Sunset tried to push Ragnar?k away but the hand wielding it was too strong.

    A Frozen Wastnd was supposed to freeze the Void Demon Dragon and sap his strength but the blue mes burned it down. Ragnar?k shed with Dreadnought, neutralizing its enchantments.

    The angry de slipped past Friya''s guard and was about to decapitate her when golden chains wrapped around Ragnar?k and its master, binding them in ce.

    "Enough of this, child. Return to us." Baba Yaga stood on the doorstep of her hut in her Maiden form.

    She was done cleansing Zeska from the blue mes and they could not tap in the geyser any longer now that Baba Yaga''s tower controlled it.

    Derek struggled, screamed, and roared. Nothing worked.

    The Light Mastery spell was just too strong. No matter how many times the blue mes attacked the chains, the Maiden repaired them nonstop while sealing the Void Demon Dragon in a golden barrier.

    Every burst of blue mes he released bounced on the barrier and hit him, causing him great pain.

    "Why are you doing this to me? I came here seeking help. I didn''t start the fight." Derek hit the golden sphere with everything he had and when it failed, he ceased his struggle.

    "I know. And we havee to end it." Zoreth shrunk to her human form, cing her hand in front of Derek''s. "Don''t you remember me, little brother?"

    "Don''t call me like that!" The word sent the Void Demon Dragon in a fit of rage that painted the sphere blue until the mes died down again.

    "Good gods." Quy''s kneels buckled.

    She held her womb tight, finding herself covered in a cold sweat.

    "Has Lith always been this strong and ruthless?"

    "Please, that was but a fraction of his power." Dawn sneered. "If not for his amnesia, I wouldn''t have allowed weaklings like you toe."

    "Then why did you do it if you knew we would be of no use?" Friya asked while healing Morok''s fractured skull and brain concussion.

    "Because you''ve known him for years and there was a chance he would remember you and follow us without a fight." The Horseman of Dawn replied. "Would you have rather Elina or Kam take your ce?"

    "No. Definitely not." Friya swallowed hard. At least with their violet cores, she and Quy had escaped death long enough for the others to intervene.

    "What do we do now?" Zoreth asked. "Talking is useless. He doesn''t remember any of us."

    "Valtak?" Baba Yaga asked.

 Chapter 3199 Chain Reaction (Part 1)

    Chapter 3199 Chain Reaction (Part 1)

    The Father of Fire ced his hands on the golden barrier sealing the Void Demon Dragon and activated his breathing technique, Firestarter. Valtak examined Lith''s life force until he was certain not to have missed any detail.

    "We are screwed." Was his final diagnosis. "Lith is not trying to close the door and if he doesn''t, there''s nothing I can do. I can cut off the blue mes, but if the door stays open, they will just ignite again. I would end up on my deathbed and you back at square one."

    "So what?" Quy asked. "Baba Yaga can use her healing magic to force Lith''s life forces back together. At that point, he''ll regain his memories and everything will be fine."

    "If I do that, Lith will die before Valtak can do anything." The Red Mother shook her head. "The moment we bring out the human life force, the souls will prey on it and the blue mes will burn it to cinders. On top of that, how do you expect me to do anything?

    "Sure, the blue mes can''t kill me but I would never handle something as delicate as a cracked life force while fighting a raving mad beast in a cage of fire." She pointed at Derek hitting the golden construct in search of an opening.

    He was clearly in pain, but he released blue mes non-stop. If not for Baba Yaga''s white core and her tower giving her nigh infinite mana, he would have already broken free of her spell.

    "I''m sorry to say this, but our only option is to bring Lith to Lutia. If Kam, Elysia, or his family can snap him out of his frenzy we''ll have a chance of saving him. Otherwise, we''ll have to put him down."

    ***

    Distar Marquisate, Verhen Mansion, a few minutester.

    Baba Yaga''s hut could Warp for long distances butcked Solus'' Tower Warp.

    The travel took a while because she had to recharge the tower reserves while ensuring that Lith couldn''t escape or cause himself permanent damage.

    During the trip, the Maiden shared with him the world energy collected by her tower to feed the Void Demon Dragon''s regenerative abilities and keep the destructive power of the blue mes under control.

    They moved only once they had umted enough power to ensure his survival until the next mana geyser.

    "What do you mean, put Lith down?" Kam clenched her hands so hard that they bled. "He''s not a rabid beast and even if he were, you are the best healers on Mogar!"

    She waved at Quy, Baba Yaga, and Silverwing.

    "We are but that doesn''t make us omnipotent." The Maiden sighed.

    She then exined Lith''s current condition to Kam and the reason any attempt at fixing his life force would result in his death. By the end of the speech, Kam was seconds away from bursting into tears.

    "Look, I''m not saying we have given up on him." Baba Yaga said. "We''ve brought Lith here because even though there''s nothing we can do, it doesn''t mean there''s nothing you and his family can do."

    "Please, I can tell from your face that this is supposed to give me hope but I can''t see how."Kam plopped on a chair, hiding her face behind her hands.

    "It''s actually simple." Valtak sat beside her, patting her back gently. "We can''t do anything until the flow of souls stops but if Lith closes the door, then we can help him. The problem is that he doesn''t remember any of us and has no reason to trust us.

    "For all he knows, we appeared out of nowhere, attacked, and imprisoned him. To make matters worse, Lith is in constant pain due to the blue mes and the souls that infect his mind are eating at his sanity with every passing moment.

    "The longer we wait, the more likely he is to lose himself to madness. Our only hope is that by meeting you and the rest of his family, maybe something inside of him will snap back into the right ce and he''ll let us help him."

    "I understand." Kam sniffled. "Can I see him?"

    "Not now, Kami." Zoreth shook her head. "First you need to calm down andpose yourself. Call everyone but the children here, please. Lith''s condition is beyond what words can express and I don''t want you to suffer more than necessary."

    Kam didn''t understand what the Shadow Dragon meant until she noticed the nces between the members of the rescue team. When she noticed Dawn''spassionate expression, Kam realized that her worst fears paled inparison with reality.

    "Let me do the talking, please." Quy knew the Verhens for years and with her experience as a Healer she knew how to deliver bad news with tact. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    She gave everyone a strong camomile tea before exining the situation to the rest of Lith''s family.

    "We need Lith to remember who you are and you to gain his trust. You can''t afford to break down or have a violent reaction in front of him." Quy said. "I''m going to show you a real-time hologram of Lith''s current state to give you an idea of what you can expect from him.

    "Just tell me when you are ready. It''s not a pretty sight."

    Elina was already holding Raaz''s hand but at those words, she moved her chair close to him. Raaz gave her a side hug, rubbing her shoulder and giving her a calm smile. Under his closed lips, however, Raaz was gritting his teeth as if waiting for a punch to the gut.

    Senton stood up and moved behind Rena to embrace her and be ready to support her whatever happened. Tista was alone. Bodya knew nothing about Solus and the many family secrets so she hadn''t invited him.

    She sat near Valtak, the Elder Wyrm was the closest thing to a grandfather she had.

    "Ready." They said after gulping down their tea at the cost of a slight tongue burn.

    Quy conjured a projection of the battle, depicting Lith''s Void Demon Dragon form, his capture, andstly, their failed attempts to reason with him.

    Whenever Derek was left alone in Baba Yaga''s tower, he alternated between angry roars as he tried to free himself and senseless ramblings. In both instances, more than one voice came out of his mouth.

    Sometimes they were like a choir, saying the same thing with minimal dy, like an echo. Other times, it was a cacophony of ovepping voices. The only constant was his screams of pain as the blue mes seeped out of his body, burning him alive.

    If not for the Abomination''s regenerative abilities and the steady flow of world energy provided by Baba Yaga''s tower, he would not havested more than a few minutes.

    Elina, Kam, and Rena cried the whole time and needed several minutes to calm down enough to talk. Tista went pale and squeezed Valtak''s hand as hard as she could but didn''t make a sound.

    She looked like a statue, her eyes never blinked as she watched the hologram. Quy reyed Lith''s capture in a loop until everyone managed to speak with a normal voice despite the crude images.

 Chapter 3200 Chain Reaction (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3200 Chain Reaction (Part 2)

    "I''m sorry for showing you this, but if you can''t hold yourself together while watching a colorless hologram, you won''tst one second in front of the real deal." Quy said.

    "Thank you, Quy." Elina sniffled, cursing herself for her umpteenth crying fit.

    "Thank you for what?" Quy asked in confusion, not feeling one shred of pride for torturing her friends like that.

    "For taking such good care of us and Lith." Elina paused for a bit, holding Raaz''s hand tight before adding: "Especially after he tried to kill you and your babies." Quy stiffened at the memory but she quickly shrugged it off.

    "No, he didn''t. Lith would have never done it. That thing is not Lith, it''s just keeping him prisoner and we are going to set him free."

    Elina stood up and went to hug Quy, thanking her over and over again for believing in Lith so much.

    Kam, instead, clenched her hands and said nothing.

    ''Lith would never do that but Derek would and have a goodugh about it.'' She thought. I recognize his voice. The voice he had in his memories from Earth. If I''m right, we are in big trouble. Derek considered family a joke and hated every parental figure.

    ''His only saving grace was Carl but there''s no way I put a little boy in the same room with him. Not until those things leave him alone.'' Kam stared at the hologram, looking at the Void Demon Dragon''s features shifting into those of the souls struggling to take over his body.

    When that happened, Derek''s eyes would go nk for a second. Then, his dominant voice and eyes would be alien.

    "How do you want to do this?" Baba Yaga asked. "One at a time or all together?" "What''s your rmendation?" Everyone turned to Quy.

    She was the best Healer they knew and considered Lith her patient.

    "All together is better." She replied. "In normal circumstances, I''d say one at a time to not overwhelm the patient. In Lith''s case, however, we need to strike fast and hard. My hope is that when any of you triggers his memory it will give him the strength to push the souls away.

    "At that point, the presence of the protagonists of that memory should trigger more memories in a chain reaction. that will break through his current brain fog and awake enough of our Lith to put an end to the blue mes.

    "If the shock treatment doesn''t work, I don''t know what else to do." Quy lowered her gaze.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Have you tried asking Grandma?" The idea of losing her brother snapped Tista out of her reverie. "She swore to us that no member of her family would die under her roof. Maybe she can help us if we bring Lith there."

    It took them but a call to the Desert to shatter that hope.

    "I''m sorry, I can''t help you." The Overlord sighed deeply. "What Yaga and Valtak said is correct. I can bring Lith back with Rebirth Magic and force him to shapeshift into his Tiamat form.

    "Yet if he doesn''t stop the souls from preying on his life force, my treatment would turn him into an empty husk trapped in a state of eternal agony. I''m not the Guardian of Souls and as far as I know, there isn''t one. Roghar is the closest thing we have but he can''t be trusted.

    "His track record with the Fallen Races speaks volumes. Roghar is a tinkerer, not a Healer."

    "Thank you anyway, Mother. It was worth a shot." Raaz sighed while hanging up the call. "We can only cross our fingers and hope Quy is right."

    "I''ll Warp you inside my tower and keep an eye on the situation from another room with the others." Baba Yaga said. "Lith''s history with us is too recent and since we are the ones who captured him, he won''t trust us."

    She pointed at herself, Dawn, Zoreth, Silverwing, Nalrond, and Morok.

    "Good idea." Quy nodded. "I have an ace in the hole but I really don''t want to use it."

    With a snap of the Maiden''s fingers, the Verhens and the Ernas were transported in front of Derek''s golden prison. When they arrived, his eyes were empty and discordant wails came from his mouth as if he were a broken music box.

    His body was engulfed in blue mes that burned his flesh and released a thick smell of barbeque. At the same time, the Abomination side absorbed the world energy to heal him and push the mes away from his vital organs.

    Derek immediately regained his focus, jumping up to his feet to be ready to fight the unknown enemies.

    "My baby!" Elina broke free from Raaz''s grip and ran to the hard-light sphere. "What happened to you? Please, tell me you are alright."

    "Who are you?" The woman in front of Derek looked familiar but in the haze of fire, pain, and the memories of the souls guing his mind, he failed to

    recognize her.

    "I''m your mother!" Despite all of Quy''s warnings and nning, Elina burst into tears. "My name is Elina, but you always call me mom."

    "Mom?" Derek echoed with a sneer.

    His voice oozed poison and spite, his face twisted in a mask of mockery. The word "mom" was alien to him as it had been for all his life on Earth. It only brought to his mind all the times he had been ignored, neglected, and abused. Then, came the memories of the parasitic souls. They projected their suffering and pain associated with that word, turning it into a mortal threat. "Tell me another." Heughed to Elina''s face. "And stop crying. I''m not falling for that again. You can''t manipte me with the waterworks-"

    A pang brought Derek to his knees. He remembered casting Mother''s Embrace and how the emerald figure conjured by the spell matched the woman called Elina down to the smallest detail.

    He pushed the thought back, but then another memory popped up in his mind.

    Derek remembered all the times Elina had held him to her bosom as a child to feed him and keep him warm. Of all the times she had protected him from Orpal until the day she had disowned her firstborn.

    "Poopie!" Derek wheezed, holding his head in pain.

    Quy patted Raaz on the back to snap him out of it and send him to deal the

    next blow to Lith''s psyche.

    "And I''m your father, Raaz." He said. "I taught you how to read, write, count, and whittle. Do you remember that?"

    Raaz took a small wooden ruler and a carved horse miniature horse out of his dimensional amulet. The former was the device he had carved to help Lith learn Tyris'' alphabet and numerals while thetter was Lith''s first attempt at

    whittling.

    "You were already so brilliant as a baby that I couldn''t teach you much as a father but I treasured every moment we spent together. I always carry these items with me because they are the first gifts we exchanged. They are my most

    prized possessions."

    "Father?" Derek stood up.

    Rage and disgust flooded him with such intensity that, for a moment, he grasped control over the blue mes and parasitic souls.

 Chapter 3201 For the Jugular (Part 1)

    Chapter 3201 For the Jugr (Part 1)

    Even after decades, Derek still hated Ezio like the first day.

    "I have no father! I raised myself without any help from a pathetic excuse of a-" The second pang brought to his mind a scene in front of a firece where a young boy wrote with his stubby finger on a tray full of ashes.

    From there his mind went to the Hogum Mansion, where Raaz''s mutted bodyy down on a table akin to Carl in the morgue. Derek remembered the fear of losing that unknown man and the following struggle to save his life.

    "Raaz!" Derek grunted, shaking his head to clear his mind.

    "I''m Rena. Your big sister." Rena stepped forward. "I took care of you until you were four and then you took care of me. You''ve done so much for me that I''ve named my firstborn, Leria, after you.

    "You''ve saved the life of my baby, Falco. Do you remember them?" She pulled out a Rememberer and projected the images of her childrenughing with their uncle.

    "I''m Tista, your other big sister!" She cried, punching the golden sphere to get in. "I wouldn''t even be here without you. You cured me from the Strangler!"

    A third pang brought back memories of the time spent with Rena, then with the children at the Hot Pot, and with Tista while alleviating her symptoms.

    Derek sprawled on the floor, incapable of resisting the flood of images coursing through his brain and the pain they caused him.

    "Let him breathe. Take a step back and give him a second." Quy said, but no one listened to her, and she had to pull everyone by force with Bloodbind.

    As soon as the Void stopped panting but before he could recover from the shock, Quy and Friya approached him.

    "Hi, Lith. Do you remember us?" Friya asked.

    "How could I not? You are the bastards who put me in here!" He snarled, wing at the construct while breathing a burst of blue mes.

    "Damn, they got him really pissed." Baba Yaga grumbled as she increased the mana output to keep the prison from being breached.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Correct, but we also have been your friends since the academy. Do you remember that?" Quy swallowed hard. Back then it was always you..."

    She had a hologram of a young Lith appear by her side.

    "Me, Friya..." Two holograms of their younger selves ovepped with the two

    women.

    "Yurial, and... Phloria." The holograms of theirte friendspleted the group. "No, I don''t." Derek recognized the young Friya from his training session during the tutorial but he was sure to have never met the others.

    "What about now?" Quy clenched her teeth, bringing the figures of the holograms up to date.

    Quy''s and Friya''s holograms just disappeared while Lith''s turned into an adult. Phloria grew up too whereas Yurial remained the same. Now, however, he and Phloria stood over their respective graves.

    When Lith didn''t react even to that, Quy opened a hole in Phloria''s chest and projected dripping blood on Derek''s right arm. The Void Demon Dragon screeched in horror as the memory of Phloria''s death returned.

    He clutched his chest in pain, looking at his right arm as if it had betrayed him. "And I''m Kam, but you always call me Kami. I''m your wife." She knelt in front of the sphere to be at Derek''s eye level and put her hand where his was. "Kami?" There were just too much memories associated with her, turning the pain into agony and then into indifference as he discarded them all in outrage. "You did this to me! I remember your face. You are the Kami I was supposed to find. If you really are my friend, my wife..." Derek spat the words out like rotten food tainting his tongue. "Then here I am. Do your thing. Save me or whatever." "I can''t do it, only you can." Kam shook her head. "First, you must regain control of your body and shut down the blue mes. Then-"

    "Don''t you think I''ve tried, you stupid bitch?" He punched at the construct, making the room tremble. "I don''t need you to state the obvious. If I could do that, I wouldn''t have been cooking myself like a prime rib!"

    "Don''t talk to Kami like that, young man!" Elina stepped forward. "I''ve raised you better than this."

    "You didn''t raise me at all." Derekughed in her face. "From what I remember, you let me starve. You made me suffer from cold. You neglected me for your stupid farm. What kind of mother does that?

    "It''s no surprise that Poopie turned out like that if you ''loved'' him as much as you loved me."

    Elina broke down crying, her greatest shame and regret thrown in her face by one of her own children. Raaz wanted to scold Lith but from the Dragon''s cruel gaze Raaz could tell Derek had something for him as well.

    Raaz ignored his son and took care of the sobbing mess his wife had be. "Lith, we are your family. How can you say that to Mom?" Rena said. "What kind of family locks family behind bars and let them burn?" He replied. "You talk about your sob stories while I''m here, suffering. How do I know this isn''t just a ruse? That you''re not nting these images in my mind? "Show me some sincerity and set me free. Tell me what you have to in my face instead of from outside my cage!"

    "It''s not working" Quy and Baba Yaga said in unison. "Lith has lost his memory but his paranoia is alive and kicking. Unless we gain his trust, he won''t do anything we say and won''t believe his own memories."

    "It''s hardly paranoia when a bunch of strangers lock you up and let you burn while they take their sweet time preparing whatever this is." Derek scoffed. "Do you think I''m stupid? I''ve recognized the pattern of your attack.

    "You left me literally simmer in here and then brough these people to gang up on me. I don''t know how you get inside my mind, but it''s my mind. I won''t let

    you control me."

    "This is ourst chance." Baba Yaga used a tendril of Spirit Magic to prepare Kam and then Warped Elysia in her mother''s arms.

    "Mama!" The baby girl said with a joy thatsted only until she saw the tears streaking down Kam''s cheeks. "Mama?"

    Elysia looked around, noticing her grandmother curled up on the floor, crying. The atmosphere in the room was the gloomiest she had ever seen. Her confusion grew even bigger as she looked at the figure trapped in the sphere of

    light.

    He was familiar but also scary. The trapped man had a cold gaze and a cruel smile that made Elysia seek the protection of her mother''s embrace.

    "Lith, this is your daughter. Elysia." Kam swallowed at every word to keep her

    voice steady, praying to the gods for mercy. "Say hello to your dad, sweetie,

    he''s back."

    "Dya?" Elysia turned from Kam to Derek in confusion.

    "That''s Elysia?" The The Void Demon Dragon scoffed. "Okay, Larry. I''ve got two

    out of three. What''s next?"

 Chapter 3202 For the Jugular (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3202 For the Jugr (Part 2)

    ''Shut up, you fucking moron! Without the Void''s help to keep the gate closed, the Voidfeather Dragon was too busy keeping the souls and the blue mes at bay to do anything else. ''Fuck me sideways, my n backfiredpletely. Pun not intended.

    ''By fusing with George I survived the fight against Meln but I''ve fucked up the rest. To give Ragnar?k the instructions it needs to project the "system" I need to leave but if I do, I''m dead. If I don''t, however, I have no way to help Kami deal with George.''

    "Dya?" Elysia asked, shapeshifting from human to Voidfeather Dragon and then into Abomination.

    With every change, Derek felt a tug at his consciousness. A familiar call that aroused countless thoughts and memories.

    s, he ignored them all, focusing his mental defenses to resist what he believed to be a telepathic intrusion and using the parasitic souls to cloud his mind.

    "Dya?" Elysia experienced the same tug, but unlike Derek, she didn''t resist it.

    The resonance between father and daughter was weak, but it was unmistakable and it was there. The baby girl clung to that feeling desperately and her body started to change.

    She shapeshifted into a small Void Demon Dragon yet she still failed to recognize her father. Lith''s mind was diminished to Derek and twisted by his constant agony. The wailing souls formed a spinning maelstrom around his life force, sealing the human side away.

    "Dya?" She tried siphoning a bit of blue mes, making Kam yelp in pain. "Mama!"

    Elysia shut down the blue mes immediately and healed her burns. Luckily, the baby girl purified the blue mes as she drew them to herself so they couldn''t spread their contagion.

    "What was that?" For a split second, Derek had experienced relief.

    It had been small and short-lived, but in his constant agony, it was impossible to miss.

    "Do that again." He said but the baby ignored him.

    The thing Elysia had touched through their bond wasn''t her father.

    "I said do that again, you little gremlin!" Derek pounded on the barrier, yelling.

    Elysia burst out crying, certain that the Void Demon Dragon wasn''t Lith. Her father would have never talked to her like that, with a voice full of anger and spite.

    "I''m fine, baby girl." Kam lulled Elysia to calm her down. "Do as Daddy says. He doesn''t mean those things. He''s just suffering and needs our help."

    "Dya! Dya!" Yet Elysia just cried harder and called for her father.

    "Listen to her or when I get out of this thing, I''ll give you something to cry about!" Derek hurled a torrent of blue mes at the sphere, only making things

    worse.

    "She doesn''t recognize Lith." Tista said aftermunicating with the baby with Dragon scales. "She''s too scared of him to do anything. When I told her that he is her father, Elysia panicked. I don''t think a second attempt would go better."

    "There''s no Lith here, batches." He roared, suffering the Gurdian''s autocorrect. "Only Der-"

    "Let''s try this." Kam Hushed the prison to silence Derek''s screams and keep him from revealing Lith''s greatest secret. "Is it better?"

    Elysia couldn''t hear him anymore but could still see him. She clung to Kam and hid her face in her mother''s chest.

    "She''s terrified." Kam turned around so that Elysia couldn''t look at the cage even if she tried. "What do we do now?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What do we do indeed." Baba Yaga nodded.

    The members of Lith''s family and his friends tried to talk to him alone and in small groups. They showed Derek his creations, the pictures from his Rememberers, and the movies from his projectors but to no avail.

    He refused to listen to a word they said and even though with each visit he recalled a fragment of his past, Derek dismissed the recovered memories as another attempt to brainwash him.

    Without the Voidfeather Dragon tapping into the human side, the images were devoid of emotions. It was akin to watching clips of an unknown movie without knowing how it started.

    "Nothing works and at the rate Lith''s mind is deteriorating, we have only a couple of days before there''s nothing left to save." Baba Yaga was a white core, her body healed from the most grievous wounds instantly, yet she was deathly

    pale.

    Using her breathing technique, Sun and Moon, while resisting the onught of the blue mes burning at her spell and tower had strained her greatly.

    "Do you have any suggestions, Valtak? You are the Father of Fire, after all." The moment her mana and will escaped the fiery clutches of Derek''s cage, color returned to her face.

    "None. The blue mes are unlike everything I know. Thest time I managed to contain them because I was at the peak of what is left of my strength and had help. If not for Lith, Valeron, and Elysia, I would have died there.

    "I''m back at my peak but Ick everything else."

    "Lochra?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "I can smother his mes for a while but that''s it." Silverwing shook her head.

    "I''m sorry, but Elphyn, I mean, Solus asked me to leave them alone and I did. I''ve kept myself out of their lives and don''t know anything about Verhen''s

    abilities."

    "I''m sorry, guys. You''ve done everything I asked you but nothing worked." Quy lowered her head in shame. "I failed you. I failed Lith."

    "No, you didn''t." Kam rocked the crib where Elysia slept, looking at her baby girl to find the strength she needed. "We didn''t bring Lith back, but now we know for sure he''s still in there.

    "He''s buried under tons of pain, souls, and paranoia but he''s still there." "True." Friya nodded, caressing her sister''s back. "But how does that help us?"

    "By giving us concrete proof that we can seed. Sure, we''ve made mistakes, but I know what we must do next. We give him what he wants." "Meaning?" Baba Yaga furrowed her brows, not liking where the conversation was headed.

    "Think about it. As Valtak said, to bring Lith back we need his help but as his amnesiac self said, he has no reason to trust us while we keep him prisoner. I say we let him go and you let me talk with him alone."

    The room went into an uproar, everyone standing up and yelling to speak on top of the others.

    "One at a time, please." Kam raised her hand, inviting them to silence.

    "Do you realize that if Lith stops feeding off world energy he dies? If you are

    left alone with him, he''ll fall prey to the hunger and devour you." The Mother

    said.

    "That''s why I want you to leave us on top of the mana geyser in the Trawn woods." Kam replied. "The geyser will feed him and the familiar environment

    should help Lith recover his memories."

    "Why you alone?" Zoreth was next. "No offense, but you are as weak as Raaz and Elina. Lith can kill you with a sneeze. You need someone who can protect

    you."

    "Someone who can beat him into submission, you mean." Kam sighed. "I appreciate your concern, but if we do that, he''ll never trust me. If you or Malyshka apany me, he''ll think his freedom is just a ruse and go straight for the jugr."

 Chapter 3203 Shared Secrets (Part 1)

    Chapter 3203 Shared Secrets (Part 1)

    "Kami is right." Elina''s eyes were puffy and her voice hoarse, but her gaze was steeled with determination. "That''s why I should go instead of her. Elysia can''t risk losing both her parents and my life is a small price to pay to save my son."

    "No offense, Elina, but you heard Lith." Kam shook her head. "He doesn''t remember you. If you remain alone with him, he''ll kill you with no hesitation. Even if the guilt snaps him out of his amnesia, Lith would never forgive himself for harming you.

    "I''m the one who has to go."

    "Why you?" Raaz asked. "Lith seems to think you are the cause of his suffering. What makes you think you''d fare better than any of us?"

    "Because I''m his wife." Kam closed her eyes for a second, trying to find the right words. "I know things about him you don''t. Things a man would never share with his parents or sisters.

    "There are some aspects of his life that have to remain only between him and me. I believe if I y my cards right, he will be willing to listen and trust me."

    She coughed in embarrassment. She was actually referring to his past as Derek McCoy and speaking English, but she phrased it in a way that would not arouse questions.

    "Oh." Elina blushed a little and so did most of the women in the room, letting their imagination run wild.

    Or rather, too many questions.

    It wasn''t the right time and ce, but judging from the curiosity in their eyes, Kam knew that sooner orter she would need a decent cover story. Probably a lewd one.

    "I''m not done yet." She snapped her fingers to get everyone''s attention. "I need you guys to promise me that no matter what happens or how worried you are. No watching, no peeking, no listening."

    Those present blushed harder, making Kam inwardly wish for Mogar to kill her on the spot.

    ''It''s not what you think! I just don''t want Lith''s secret to be in the open without his permission.'' She thought.

    "It''s not what you think!" She actually said, blushing harder than anyone else. "Lith could have still ess to Life Vision. He sensed the Chroniclers wearing a Darwen armor, for the gods'' sake.

    "If he detects a surveince spell, my n will fail before it even starts. You know how paranoid he is. I don''t want you to do anything that mightpromise his trust."

    "Sure." Elina coughed.

    "Right." Quy averted her eyes.

    "Do you need to make a quick stop to your room?" Tista asked, referring to the cosy outfits closet.

    "Yes. I mean, no. I mean, yes, but it''s not what you think!" Kam bolted out of the room, too embarrassed to say a word. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She went to the master bedroom of the Mansion and changed into her lucky clothes. She left the Voidfeather armor Sark had crafted as a wedding gift there and took Lith''s betrothal gift and her own.

    "I''m ready." When she entered the room and people looked at her, they sighed half in relief and half in disappointment.

    "No armor?" Friya was bbergasted. "If Lith attacks you, you won''tst one hit."

    "That''s the point." Kam replied. "Trust must be earned. Malyshka?"

    "Are you sure about this?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "No, but unless someone has a brilliant idea, this is our best shot." Kam then looked straight into Silverwing''s eyes. "Don''t be stupid. If you want to see Elphyn again, you need Lith''s help.

    "Make sure no one, and I mean no one so much as looks in the direction of the Trawn woods. Are we clear?"

    "Why do you ask me?" The First Magus tilted her head in confusion.

    "Because you don''t give a farm about me and care a lot about Solus. You are the only one who has nothing to lose and everything to gain from this bet. If you promise to help me, I know you mean it.

    "Also, you are the only one who can keep Zoreth and Baba Yaga from interfering. Dealing with the others would take but one of your fingers. No offense." Kam replied.

    "None taken." Quy, Friya, and Morok lied through their teeth.

    "I like you." Silverwing nodded. "I still don''t give a farm about you but I like you. Yaga?"

    "On it." The Mother nodded, sending Kam and Derek on the mana geyser where usually Solus'' tower stood.

    "What the fuck?" The Warp Gate shook the Void out of his stupor, forcing the parasitic souls haunting him to join him in the search for the enemy. "What is this ce and why does it feel so familiar?"

    The blue mes started to spread, burning the little vegetation that had grown back after the Wither had turned thend barren.

    ["Because this is your second home. The one you built with Solus."] A feminine voice said behind him. [AN: Everything in square brackets is in English.]

    "You!" Derek weaved his spells and took a deep breath before realizing the human woman was as good as naked.

    Her life force was minuscule, her mana flow irrelevant, and her clothes were just clothes, bearing no enchantment. His eyes lingered on her shapely bosom stretching the fabric of the blue shirt.

    Then, he looked down at how the form-fitting ck pencil skirt wrapped around her slender legs.

    ''She is no threat.'' He smirked inwardly and outwardly. ''It would be so easy for me to rip those clothes off, shapeshift my wings into- What the fuck? Where do these thoughtse from?''

    Weird images of the woman flooded his mind.

    All of them were about intimate shared moments with sexy outfits and plenty of roley. In some of them, Derek was a man but in others, he was some kind of humanoid Dragon with upside-down wings, an Abomination, or some human-Dragon hybrid with feathered wings.

    ''What''s happening to me? Since when do I have a dick for brains?'' He hadn''t felt that way since the time he was a teenager chock-full with hormones and full ess to the inte.

    As Kam walked towards him, the Void stepped back.

    The woman was weak and helpless yet his whole body screamed at him to stay away from her. Not to escape or attack. His main focus was keeping a distance that would ensure the woman''s safety from the blue mes.

    Kam understood what was happening and stopped.

    "Who¡­ Who are you?" Derek gripped Ragnar?k''s hilt for reassurance.

    ''Kill her!'' The voices in his head screamed. ''She wants to stop you.'' ''She will trap you again.'' ''Give me her life and body!''

    ''Silence!'' The burning de resisted the pain from the blue mes ravaging its metal body and helped the Void to tune out the voices.

    ["I told you already."] Kam tried to smile but her face was full of worry about the blue mes burning Lith and the pain he had to be enduring. ["My name is Kam, but you always call me Kami. I''m your wife and the mother of your child."]

    ''That''s her "I''m worried about you" face.'' Derek thought. ''Wait, how do I know that?''

    ["My wife?"] He actually said, sneering. ["Enough with your bullshit. If you want to talk, start by telling me how you speak mynguage."]

 Chapter 3204 Shared Secrets (Part 2)

    Chapter 3204 Shared Secrets (Part 2)

    ["It''s not yournguage."] Kam replied. ["It''s English from Earth. And I know it just like I know that your name is Derek McCoy. That your brother''s name was Carl and that he died in a car ident. I know all this because you told me."]

    ["Me? Why would I-"] The Void realized he already knew the answer and choked on his question. ["I told you? Can you prove it to me?"]

    ''Don''t listen to her!'' The souls felt their grip on Derek''s mind slip. ''She''s lying!" ''Everybody lies!'' ''Someone like you would never open up!'' ''It''s a trick.''

    The Voidfeather Dragon was pushing back with everything he had while conjuring a thin thread between the merged life forces forming the Void Demon Dragon and the human side.

    This time, Derek wasn''t resisting the Voidefeather''s efforts and the thread was slowly growing in size.

    ["I can''t."] Kam shook her head, making Derek growl and the voices rejoice. ["But you can."]

    She imprinted the metal stem of the Camellia and a red flower made of mystical fire bloomed on its tip. She then proceeded to imprint it with different kinds of elemental mana, turning the flower in different colors.

    A sudden pang brought Derek to his knees as he remembered how he hade up with the idea for the cheap magical flower. All the misunderstandings and tender moments associated with the Camellia came to his mind, making his knees buckle.

    ["Are you alright?"] Kam kneeled as well, keeping herself at his eye level.

    She had the Tuner in her hand but she didn''t activate it. She could have struck the iron while it was still hot but she preferred to make Lith feel at ease rather than bombard him with more memories.

    ["Where have you taken that flower and what does it have to do with me?"] Derek pushed all those images away and stood up again with a light groan.

    ["You gave it to me four years ago for our second date and I gave it back to you as my betrothal gift.] Kam replied. ["You made it after the camellia, a flower from Earth, because it sounded like my name.

    ["Also, you made it from scrap metal to save money."]

    ''I don''t know what''s more absurd. The fact that''s something I would do or that she''s not angry about a gift made from trash at all.'' His enhanced senses told him that there was only tenderness in Kam''s touch as he caressed the Camellia.

    ["What''s a betrothal gift?"] He asked.

    ["We don''t exchange rings on Mogar. We exchange gifts."] Kam pointed at the Tuner. ["This is what you gave to me. Do you mind if I y some of your music?"]

    ["Yeah, right."] He scoffed. ["Now I''m sure you are full of it. I''ve never yed an instrument-"]

    Kam took it as a yes and activated the Tuner, conjuring the voice of Dragons singing about Demons.

    Derek froze in shock, recognizing the song and the meaning it had for him. It was the one he always yed when he found a woman he liked but ended up keeping her at arm''s length, afraid of how she would react were she to discover he had killed his own father.

    ["Stay back!"] He tried to unsheathe Ragnar?k but the de refused his order. "Protect!" It snarled.

    Derek then tried to shapeshift the bloody scabbard into a sharp edge but Ragnar?k ignored thatmand as well.

    "Protect!" The de suddenly became so heavy that Derek needed to hold it with both hands.

    Ragnar?k''s weight kept increasing until the hilt slipped from his fingers and the angry de flew away.

    "Protect!" It stood in front of Kam, retracting its hilt to make sure no harm coulde to her.

    Ragnar?k shapeshifted part of the blood into a new handle she could touch and snuffed out the blue mes covering its body before rubbing against her hand with the howling sound of a happy dog.

    ["Protect?"] Derek was bbergasted. ["What happened to murder, youN?v(el)B\\jnn

    two-faced piece of metal?"]

    "Secondarymand." Ragnar?k replied. "Firstmand, protect!"

    ["Whosemand?"]

    "Yours." Several visions flooded Derek''s mind.

    The ces were different. A rich mansion, some kind of office, a cozy cottage, and several markets. Yet the protagonists were always the same. An unknown man and the woman in front of him.

    The man always said the same words: "Protect Kami and the baby."

    ["The baby?"] Derek echoed as his knees buckled again.

    The music changed, the Dragons now singing about Birds.

    ["This is about our break up."] Kam ignored the blood hilt, too afraid to touch it, and caressed the cross guard instead. ["Go back to Lith, Ragnar?k. He needs you more than I do."]

    The de returned to Derek''s hip yet he didn''t feel betrayed by the sword''s rebellion. He felt proud and reassured.

    ["I guess you are telling the truth."] Derek sighed. ["There''s no way you can know all these things unless I told you about them."]

    ''Murderer!'' The souls forced their way to his head and limbs, knowing there was only so much time before everything was lost. ''Monster!'' ''You''ll never have a wife!'' ''You don''t deserve one!'' ''How do you think you ended like this?" The parasitic souls stoked up the blue mes, burning Derek''s mind and body to blind him with pain.

    ''She betrayed you!'' ''She killed you!'' ''And now she''s going to do it again!"

    ["It also means I was right."] Derek snarled, the voices ovepping with his own and they fueled his paranoia. ["You are the one who made me like this. You are the only one who could get close enough to hurt me!"]

    He tried to unfurl his wings but they remained in the folds of his back. He tried to step away but his feet were glued to the ground.

    "What have you done to me, witch?"] Derek took a deep breath and unleashed a tier four War Mage spell, Chasing Lightning.

    Bolts of lightning shaped like small dragons erupted from each of his fingers,

    moving in a zigzag pattern as they homed on their target. Such was the fury and power of the Abomination that the electricity hit the ground like a whip, opening deep cracks in its wake.

    Kam took a step back, yelping in panic as she raised her arms in an attempt to protect herself.

    The spell crackled and rumbled like a storm, just to fan out in front of her. The Chasing Lighting fell apart in a colorful but harmless cascade of golden

    sparkles.

    ["Wait, what?"] Kam and Derek said in unison.

    ["This is impossible!"] The Void Demon Dragon threw spears of ice, air des,

    and projectiles of darkness at the woman. He even tried to have the ground open below her feet and crush her.

    The runes formed correctly and the spells followed his will until they came one meter from Kam. At that point, they changed direction and faded away.

    ["I was right. That''s how you killed me. You are immune to magic!"] Derek emitted a tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, that behaved no different from

    the previous elemental spells.

    The Trawn woods were ravaged by his magic and blue mes, except for the spot where Kam stood.

 Chapter 3205 Silver Key (Part 1)

    Chapter 3205 Silver Key (Part 1)

    ["There''s no such thing as immunity to magic and you know it."] Kam said, knowing that Lith wasn''t just in there. ["Don''t you remember the first thing you taught me about magic? It''s about willpower and imagination."]

    Lith was the person in front of her.

    ["Otherwise, how do you exin this?"] She asked. ["Think about it. Your spells don''t work because you can''t imagine hurting me. Because just like with Ragnar?k,your will is to protect me. As you have always done since the day we met."]

    ["Lies!"] Feeling scared by the unknown and harassed by the parasitic voices, Derek used earth magic to carve a huge block of stone from the ground that he threw at the woman.

    ''There''s no mana involved. This is a physical rock and unless she''s immune to that as well she-'' An orange eye opened on his cheekbone, burning with mana as it red at the boulder.

    The block of stone turned into fine dust that swirled around Kam, forming a protective barrier.

    ["I''m not lying."] She took a step forward and this time he couldn''t move away. ["Check with Life Vision. Whose mana courses through this barrier? Whose willpower?"]

    Derek''s paranoia and the voices tried to find another possible exnation but there was no denying that simple truth. The spell was still infused with his mana and it was his will controlling it.

    ''Witch!'' ''Thief!'' ''Liar!'' The parasitic souls called upon their brethrening from the gate, throwing them into the blue mes to burn at the ground, the grass, and the world energy.

    Everything burned.

    A second set of feathered wings erupted from Derek''s back as the four other eyes opened at once.

    A silver me enveloped Kam, burning the blue mes like they were dry wood and purifying them into nothingness.

    Everything burned but a silvery path connecting the Void to Kam.

    ["I told you already and I''ll repeat it to you until you believe it. I''m your wife, Derek McCoy. I don''t like you but I know and respect you. You''ve promised me never to hurt me and if I know one thing for sure, it is that you''ve never broken your word when given freely."]

    As the Tuner started to y Unbeatable, one more memory shed in front of Derek''s eyes. He was back in Kam''s apartment in Belius after Meln had killed Count Lark.

    Derek saw himself holding Kam tight in his rage, trying to leave the apartment until she had taken off her clothes and revealed the wounds on her body. The wounds he had caused.

    That day he had vowed never to hurt someone he loved just to feel better about himself. To never be like his Earth father.

    ["If you don''t like me, woman, why should I believe we''re married?"] The Dread mes now engulfed half of Derek''s body, purging the blue mes and allowing him to think clearly.

    ["Because I love, respect, and trust Lith. I love the man you have be. I believe in him."] Kam replied. ["You are just an echo of his past, Derek. Please, give my husband back to me."]

    Derek felt the tug of the human life force, its attempt to reconnect with the other two. Yet the Void Demon Dragon'' was stuck in that form. The Abomination and Divine Beast sides were fused together by the blue mes.

    The raging souls threatened to devour the human side as it attempted to resurface, its radiant energy naked and without protection from their deadly touch. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As Kam approached him, the souls took control of his right fist that bolted toward her enveloped in blue mes. Derek stopped it with his left hand, using the silvery mes to fight off the possession.

    ["Even if I wanted to, woman, I don''t know how."] Lith''s life forces squirmed in pain, incapable of freeing themselves from the clutches of the blue mes.

    ["Don''t worry. I know someone who does."] Kam gave him one of her dazzling smiles, seeing Lith''s presence in the extra eyes that were fixated on her. ["Before I call her over, I need you to promise you won''t hurt her.]

    As much as Derek found it hard to believe, it was impossible for him to deny the truth. The mana and willpower in the spells protecting that woman was his own. Ragnar?k, his only loyalpanion during his journey on Mogar protected her.

    He was stranded on an alien yet she spoke English and knew things about Derek he hadn''t shared with anyone. Last but not least, every fiber of being churned and twisted at the thought of harming her,

    Yet the doubt remained and his paranoia stoked its embers into a raging inferno.

    ["If you really are my wife, answer my questions."] Derek said. ["What happened to my father?"]

    ["You watched him die after he slipped on wet stairs."] Kam replied. ["You could have warned him but decided not to. It''s the reason even though you yed no part in Ezio''s death, you''ve always considered him as the first person you killed."]

    ["First?"] Derek swallowed hard. He had never shared those details with anyone. Not with his brother or therapist. ["Why? There''s more?"]

    ["Yes."] Kam nodded. ["Chris Wainright. You killed him too, making him suffer exactly like Carl did before taking your own life."]

    ["And you married me knowing all this?"]

    ["No. When I married you, I didn''t know any of it."] Kam replied. ["But when you opened up to me about your past life, I decided to stay because you were a different person.

    ["Lith Verhen, the man raised on Mogar. Not Derek McCoy, the broken man from Earth."]

    ["You are crazier than I am, woman."] Derek said. ["But you have answered my questions and now you have my word. I swear on Carl''s name that I won''t hurt you and your friend."]

    Now that the situation was pacified and the Dread mes contained the blue ones, the Guardians Warped Elysia to Kam.

    "Mama?" The baby girl asked in confusion.

    "Yes, pumpkin." Kam nodded while handing the baby to Derek. "Say hi to your father."

    "Dya?" Elysia turned around, sniffing at Derek like a hunting dog. "Dya! Dya!"

    She could finally sense him in all of his aspects. She extended her small arms to him, giggling.

    Elysia Verhen, daughter of man.

    Derek''s seven eyes lit up each with a different element and shed tears of their corresponding color as the baby''s human side resonated with his own. The silvery mesing from the feathered wings burned stronger, overpowering the blue mes and insting Derek''s body.

    "Dya!" He took Elysia in his arms and she shapeshifted into a small Voidfeather Dragon.

    Scales of six different colors burning with matching elemental power covered her small body and stumpy wings came out of her back. Derek followed suit, the pitch-ck scales of the Void Demon Dragon turned red, and burning ck feathers covered the membranous wings.

    Elysia, daughter of Dragon.

    ["Elysia?"] Derek asked as the Dread mes spread forward and devoured the blue fire.

    ["Dada!"] Elysia replied, turning into a small bundle of shadows with white eyes and a set of pristine fangs.

    Elysia, daughter of Derek.

    Hearing the baby speak with an English ent, seeing her Abomination form so close to his own, broke all the barriers between the life forces that the Voidfeather Dragon had erected and that the Void had frozen in ce.

 Chapter 3206 Silver Key (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3206 Silver Key (Part 2)

    Lith''s life forces started to stir together and all of his memories returned at once. Derek McCoy was still there, but he was just a part of the whole.

    A part of Lith Verhen.

    "My baby girl! Daddy has missed you so much. I was afraid I would never see you again." The screams in Lith''s head disappeared and even though he was still in the form of the Void Demon Dragon, his voice was human again.

    "Dya!" Elysia recognized her father''s voice and started to cry, this time out of joy.

    She emitted Dread mes of her own that seeped inside Derek''s body and washed the parasitic souls away.

    "Dread mes can do that?" Without wasting a single second, Lith red his seven eyes with mana and took control of Elysia''s mes, merging them with his own.

    He brought the Dread mes to his human life force, enveloping it in silvery fire.

    The raging river of death force and blue mes found its match. The human side came closer and closer to the Abomination and Dragon sides and this time nothing could stop it.

    The blue mes burned while the souls were devoured and purified, their power assimted by the Dread mes and fed to the three life forces. Then, they merged back into one, destroying the Void Demon Dragon.

    ''We are not done yet. I am not done yet.'' Derek, Lith, and the Voidfeather Dragon fused into the Tiamat form both in the Mindscape and the physical world. I''m sick and tired of your shenanigans.''

    He growled at the gate and the unruly souls who used it to ess the physical world.

    "This is my mind. My body. My soul.'' The Tiamat roared, sending a tidal wave of Dread mes against the invading army.

    ''Get! The first st cut the connection between the death force and the world energy, snuffing the blue mes out.

    "The fuck!" The second st of Dread mes cleansed the souls already inside Lith''s body, throwing them back into the gate after devouring their energy. ''Out!"The third st flooded the gate and burned the souls on the other side. A choir of infinite voices screeched in agony as the door closed shut.

    ''And stay there!'' A fourth st and final st cauterized the gate itself, sealing it so that the Void wouldn''t have to stand guard against it anymore.

    The cracks were still there but the door to the other side was now locked and couldn''t be opened without the key. A key made of Dread mes.

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' As Lith moved from the Mindscape to the outside world all the memories of the different sides of his life forcebined together.

    The human side had not much to tell so that finished quickly. The Voidfeather Dragon''s inner thoughts and struggles made Lith chuckle more than once at his ingenuity.

    The Void, however, was another story entirely.

    Lith relived it all from the backseat, incapable of doing anything like in front of a spectacr car crash. From threatening the family of travelers to killing the innocent Ry, he had a lot to be ashamed of.

    ''What have I done to that poor kid?'' Lith thought, remembering how cruelly he had disciplined those disgusting parents in front of their child. ''I can''t believe I was so heartless. Thanks Maxwell when I was reborn here, I was powerless.

    ''I don''t want even think about-''Then it hit him.

    His encounter with the Chroniclers, with Orpal.

    The various fights were mixed and scrambled into one. Yet no matter how much Lith hated his lost brother and how dangerous Meln was now that he had partially fused Night''s crystal with Dusk''s.

    All Lith could think about was Strider''s betrayal and Solus'' kidnapping at the hands of the World Tree.

    "Fuck me sideways, Solus! Where is Solus?" He looked at Kam who gave him a warm smile before ring at him.

    ''Oh, shit! If stares could kill I would be cadaverific right now.'' He thought as the memories of thest hour came back to him.

    "I''m d to see you too, darling." Kam''s voice was as cold as an ice age and even though her feet were nted in the ground, Lith could taste her desire to kick him in the gonads over and over again. "I''ve been worried sick about you for days.

    "I''m d that after I''ve risked my life to bring you back, you''ve chosen such romantic words to express your love and concern for me."

    "Dya! Dya!" Elysia had no grasp on sarcasm so she nodded enthusiastically, taking Kam''s words at face value.

    "Oh gods, what have I done?" His eyes moved from Kam to the baby girl like a metronome. "Are you alright, baby? Did I hurt you?"

    "A bit too little and toote." Kam clicked her tongue. "Now turn off the light, candle boy, and give me my daughter back."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "What do you- What''s going on?" Silvery mes engulfed the Tiamats and that wasn''t the only change that had urred after his life forces had rearranged themselves.

    The Void Sigils on his wings were still of seven different colors but now the mes bursting out of both Elysia''s and Lith''s feathers were Dread mes, just like the crown of fire above his head.

    "You tell me." Kam replied with a scoff. "Give me Elysia and I''ll leave you to figure it out."

    "I''m sorry, baby. I really am." Lith just had to think about it and the silvery mes faded away, leaving only those on his feathers, wings, head, and spine.

    "Please, give me a chance to exin."

    He offered her his hand and a tendril of Spirit Magic for the mind link.

    "Drrr!" Elysia shapeshifted back into her human form and yed with the sparkly mes without getting burned.

    "First, turn back into a human. I miss your face." Kam''s re softened a bit and Lithplied. "Second, I forgive you only because you two are too cute."

    Elysia cried at the disappearance of the wings, forcing Lith to pull them out

    again for her.

    "Dya!" She pulled the feathers for a while before bringing them to her mouth

    and sucking them.

    "What about the link?" Lith asked.

    "What about the link?" Lith asked.

    "Fine, but if you think-" A quick trip down his memoryne made Kam choke

    on her words. "Good gods! You got decapitated right when Solus was

    kidnapped? I-You-"

    There was so much to unpack that she stuttered for a while without saying

    anything.

    "Drrr." Elysia said.

    "She''s offering you to suck on one of my feathers." Lith sighed. "Apparently it''s a

    soothing experience."

    "Yeah, I think I''ll pass but thank you, sweetie." Kam caressed Elysia''s head,

    making her giggle.

    Now that the world was fine again, the baby girl yawned and fell asleep.

    "Did you really regain your memories in that order?" Kam asked.

    "Yes." Lith nodded.

    "Did you really had no idea how you got here when you asked me about Solus?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "I''m so sorry, Kami. I will never thank you enough for what

    you''ve done for me today. I really don''t know what I''ve done to deserve

    someone like you."

    He tried to kiss her, but Kam grabbed his jaw with one hand and turned it to

    the side

    "Onest question. Is this normal?"

 Chapter 3207 First Step Forward

    Chapter 3207 First Step Forward

    "What''s normal?" Lith asked after taking his eyes off Kam''s face. "The fuck?"

    As the Dread mes disappeared, fresh grass and undergrowth sprouted throughout the clearing above the mana geyser at a speed noticeable to the naked eye.

    Lith bent down, using Demon Grasp on the soil.

    "It''s incredible." He said.

    "Yeah, too bad those words can be applied to too many things that just happened. Do you have any idea how little ''incredible'' narrows it down?" Kam sighed. "You have to be more specific."

    "The corruption left by the first Abomination I fought, the Wither, ispletely gone." Lith replied. "Eight years have passed since then yet even with the world energy constantly gushing out of the mana geyser, the taint of Chaos was hard to cleanse.

    "Now it''spletely gone. The sudden growth isn''t due to the Dread mes. At least not directly.

    "The lingering Chaos element had created a sort of dam that limited the energy flow of the geyser and now that dam is broken. The world energy that had been bottled up until now is flooding the Trawn woods."

    Unbeknownst to Lith, the phenomenon went beyond the clearing he and his wife stood upon. During the past eight years, the Trawn woods had undergone many quantitative changes.

    The number of magical beasts had increased every year as more animals evolved and the preexisting packs of magical beasts produced new litters. Reaper, Lifebringer, and Sentinel had evolved to Awakened Emperor Beasts and each one of them had sired many cubs.

    The presence of the tower whenever Lith was in Lutia focused and spread the magical aura epassing the woods further, affecting the flora as well. Then, Protector and his children had moved there and so did Nalrond and many of the magical creatures that currently lived near Lith''s home.

    The taint of Chaos was the only reason such quantitative change in the world energy coursing through the Trawn woods had not brought forth a qualitative change as well. Until now.

    The Dread mes had done more than remove the toxic impurities left by the Wither after going on a rampage for three days and by the scattering of the residual energy of his body upon his death.

    They had also removed the natural impurities in the soil, unclogging the invisible arteries through which Mogar''s life breath flowed. The byproduct of the silver mes wasn''t the broken, useless matter that the blue mes would have left.

    The natural impurities had been transformed into ashes mystical in nature that fertilized the soil with nutrients and mana. The Dread mes had turned the mana geyser from a fountain that nourished solely the clearing into a river that watered the entirety of the woods by carving invisible irrigation channels.

    Each magical beast served as a focus point and each Emperor Beast living in the woods was akin to an auxiliary core, spreading and amplifying the world energy further.

    After eight years of slumber, the Trawn woods was stirring, taking its first step toward Awakening like the White Griffon Academy''s forest and other magical ces.

    Yet this a story for another day.

    "Oh, okay." Kam had gone through too many sleepless nights and faced one grieving madman from Earth too many to waste time understanding the implications of what her husband was saying.

    The only thing she cared about was that he was back in her arms. Kam stood on her tiptoes and gave Lith a sweet kiss, taking care not to squeeze Elysia between them.

    "Gods if I missed you. Wee back home, Lith. You have no idea how worried I was. How worried Elysia and everyone else was."

    "Believe me, I''ve missed you too. All three parts of me did." Lith held her tight. "Now, I hate to be that guy but¡­"

    He handed Elysia back to Kam.

    "But what?" She asked.

    Lith answered by losing consciousness and crashing down on the ground like several tons of highlypressed bricks in human form. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The pain from the constant exposure to the blue mes, the mental agony inflicted on him by the parasitic souls, and the trauma from once again rearranging his life forces had taken a huge toll on him.

    Cauterizing the gate in his Abomination form and kicking thousands of souls back into the Void was just the icing on the cake. Lith had managed to stay awake that long only thanks to his willpower, stubbornness, and the adrenaline from being back to his family.

    The moment he started rxing, fatigue pushed him down and gravity did the rest.

    ***

    Jiera continent, several hundred kilometers into the maind, on the path of the lost city called Auros the Bringer of Unity, a few hours earlier.

    The news of the return of the Dead King spread like wildfire. Even more those about his alleged defeat at the hands of the Supreme Magus who had triumphantly returned to the folds of the Kingdom.

    ording to the official version of the events, the Royal Army sent to rescue and help the Supreme Magus had ended up being rescued and helped by him instead. The few who had survived Orpal''s attack owed their life to Lith.

    Even in his frenzied state, there were some lines that not even Derk McCoy would cross. Everyone else, however, was dead and buried.

    The World Tree knew that Lith''s alleged heroic acts were all a cover-up to justify Zeska''s destruction and the many civilian casualties but that was the least of the Tree''s worries.

    The local Chronicler had reported about Lith''s capture and the identity of his wardens. The Yggdrasill was now aware that Zoreth, Baba Yaga, and other lesser creatures would soon be involved in Verhen''s foolish attempt to rescue Elphyn Menadion.

    ''I can deal with the old hag.'' The World Tree pondered. ''Even if she finds and enters my Fringe, she''ll discover that her powers are greatly diminished in here. The world energy is under mymand and unless she can taint it like Menadion''s tower does, Mogar''s lifeblood will resist her call.

    ''Every one of her spells and enchantments of her tower will be diminished akin to a Guardian fighting on the turf of a hostile Guardian. As for the other members of the group that captured Verhen, they are so weak that I wouldn''t even bother recording their existence if it wasn''t part of my purpose.

    ''Zoreth Imerith Leegaainborn, however, is another story entirely. If she''s involved, then she might drag in the Master and the rest of their Organization. That''s something I can''t underestimate.

    ''Eldritches don''t call upon the world energy, they prey upon it like a hungry pack of wolves with a herd ofmbs. My influence over the Fringe doesn''t affect the Eldritches'' powers and their mere presence might taint its world energy in so many ways that there''s no point in preparing a specific defense against them.

    ''Yet what I''m really afraid of is the possibility of the Suneater''s involvement. Never lose sight of Auros, Ra''ntar. The Bringer of Unity works for the hybrids and by observing how he helps their operations on Jiera, we can predict their ns.

    ''If the manpower increases or stays the same, it means the Organization will stay out of Verhen''s mess. If the magic crystals and metals mining operations slow down, instead, it means the Eldritches are gathering their forces for something big.''

 Chapter 3208 Desperate Struggle (Part 1)

    Chapter 3208 Desperate Struggle (Part 1)

    ''Never get close to the Master''s mines.'' The World Tree said via the mind link. ''Never approach any location where the Eldritch hybrids might spot you. Just follow the Bringer of Unity and report his movements to me.

    ''Any change in his patrol path or frequency must be immediately reported.''

    ''Yes, My Liege.'' Ra''ntar replied, waiting for the Yggdrasill to be the one to break the telepathic connection.

    Only then did he allow himself to ponder the situation at hand.

    ''Kidnapping Elphyn Menadion in an unprecedented at of interference.'' The Chronicler thought. ''The World Tree is supposed to observe and record Mogar''s history, not influence it for their purposes.

    ''Getting themselves a tower in order to abandon the Fringe and attain Guardianhood is something no Tree has ever even considered before. My Liege ims they are doing it to better protect the bnce, but that''s not how I see it.

    ''If that''s not the biggest threat to the bnce of thest one hundred thousand years, I don''t know what it is. I can only pray that the Yggdrasill''s actions are justified and their madness is actually a stroke of genius driven by the vision of a bigger picture that my limited mind can see.

    ''If I''m wrong, however, this might be the beginning of a-wide cataclysm. The previous World Tree was tethering on the brink of madness before the Awakened Council killed them. What if they had already taken the final, damning step?

    ''What if my old master was already insane beyond saving and chose their sessor not ording to merit but to pursue whatever insane agenda they had concocted in their final years of delirium?''

    Ra''ntar sighed, hoping his worries to be groundless and that he wouldn''t need to report to the Yggdrasill again before at least one full day. No Chronicler could hide his thoughts from the World Tree.

    The Yggdrasill''s fragment fused with his body maintained a constant mind link with the Chronicler''s staff that recorded the elf''s every thought, action, and perception. The World Tree would ess that data during every mind link and add it to their archives.

    Ra''ntar knew that his master wouldn''t appreciate a Chronicler questioning their sanity but, luckily, the Yggdrasill was slow to anger and wouldn''t mind even the most rebellious thought as long as it wasn''t put into practice.

    Especially if enough time had passed since the rebellious thoughts to prove that the Chronicler knew his ce and kept such ideas for himself.

    The elf looked at his Yggdrasill staff, wondering for the umpteenth time if Mogar had outgrown its need for a World Tree.

    ''I really hope I''m wrong.'' He thought. ''I hope that the Tree can see farther than I do and a Fae Guardian is actually necessary, not the bitter fruit bloomed from eons of resentment that each Tree has passed upon their sessor.''

    The First World Tree had not only been the First Awakened on Mogar, back when dinosaurs still roamed thend but they also predated the Guardians by far. Ever since Tyris'' ascension to Guardianhood, the Yggdrasill lineage had been envious of her power.

    The only constion of the sessors of the First Awakened was that Tyris was but a child with no desire to fill the chasm of her blissful ignorance. With the appearance of the First Guardian, the umted knowledge wasn''t enough to make the current World Tree the most powerful creature on Mogar, but they were still the wisest.

    Then, Leegaain had ascended to Guardianhood too.

    His umted knowledge and treasures were nothingpared to the Yggdrasill''s bloodline legacy but as years turned into centuries and then millennia, the Father of All Dragons bridged the gap with the World Tree''s library at an astounding rate.

    Leegaain''s eyes could unravel the mostplex enigmas with but a nce, he could travel wherever he wanted, and his Guardian powers weren''t confined to the boundaries of a Fringe.

    One-third of one of thergest continents on Mogar was his turf and with proper nning, he could travel the rest of the globe with minimal loss of his might.

    Leegaain''s existence was an affront to the Yggdrasill''s pride. His archives grew without the need for Chroniclers and his biomes hosted scores of endangered creatures.

    Hisir alone spanned for thousands of kilometers, matching the current size of the Gorgon Empire and doubling the Father of All Dragon''s dominion. Inside of it, Leegaain was even stronger, some said even invincible.

    Many times had the elves living in the Garlen continent wondered why they had to remain hidden in the Fringes instead of joining the Father of All Dragons.

    The only answer they had found was their own pride as free people and the traditions they had followed since their defeat in the War of the Races.

    ''With Verhen befriending two elven colonies and offering them a ce under the sun, it''s only a matter of time before other Fringes follow. I wonder if the Tree has kidnapped Elphyn Menadion to protect the bnce or just to protect their interests.

    The Chronicler shook his head and dismissed such thoughts for after his mission.

    The lost city had started rushing his pace, forcing Ra''ntar to require spells and effort to follow Auros without exposing his presence.

    ''Without us elves, the Yggdrasill would quickly fall behind the Dragon Guardian and be obsolete. The heir of the First Awakened would be no better than a magical tree and his wood would be the only reason people would seek them.''

    The Chronicler shook his head and dismissed such thoughts for after his mission.

    The lost city had started rushing his pace, forcing Ra''ntar to require spells and effort to follow Auros without exposing his presence.

    The Chronicler tapped into the frequencies used by the Kingdom''s colonists to understand what was happening. He had to listen for a few minutes before discovering that a scout squad was passing dangerously close to the Master''s hidden trade routes.

    ''Humans really are stupid.'' The elf smirked under his camouge cloak. ''I wonder when they''ll realize that the Bringer of Unity isn''t wondering aimlessly. He''s keeping them away from specific areas at specific times.

    ''How can they not notice the pattern?'' The answer was that with so much of Jiera''snd up for the taking, the colonists preferred to avoid lost cities and search for the safest areas to mine.

    Auros sticking to a specifying region was akin to a gifted horse for the Kingdom and no one had time to waste looking him in the mouth.

    Ra''ntar''s Soul Vision spotted the boundaries of the lost city''s detection arrays and the Chronicler followed his mark by Warping right outside their range. The camouge cloak hid him from regr sight while the Darwen of his armor made him and his spells invisible to mystical senses.

    ''This is weird.'' The elf noticed that Auros had switched from his regr brisk walk to a jog and then to a sprint, something that had never happened before. ''The human scouts are still quite far away. What''s the rush?''

    Stealth was the core of a Chronicler''s strategy. Moving too fast meant not giving the cloak the time to blend with the surroundings and leaving behind a trail of dimensional openings that a skilled mage could follow.

    Ra''ntar stopped in his tracks and followed the protocol that had been drilled in his head since his days as an aspirant Chronicler.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 3209 Desperate Struggle (Part 2)

    Chapter 3209 Desperate Struggle (Part 2)

    Ra''ntar looked around with Soul Vision to make sure no one was following him while listening with the keen hearing typical of elves.

    When he was certain that no one was close enough to be an immediate threat, he nted his Yggdrasill staff in the ground, activating Root Cause. Even without an active mind link with the World Tree, a Chronicler could activate the breathing technique and give the local flora temporary consciousness.

    Every de of grass, flower, and weed was now Ra''ntar eyes and ears.

    No matter how good someone was at hiding or how perfect their cloaking devices were. No one could escape the magical and regr senses of the sea of green and killing the nts would reveal the position of an enemy anyway.

    It was the reason Tezka struck the moment the wooden staff hit the soft ground. The index and medium fingers of his right hand pierced the elf''s eyes while his right fist shattered Ra''ntar''s ribcage.

    The bone fragments punctured the Chronicler''s lungs and heart, sealing his breathing technique.

    The Suneater cast his best healing spell on the elf, returning him to his peak condition and making him faint from exhaustion before the readings from Root Cause could converge on the staff and potentially alert the World Tree of his presence. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''Chroniclers really are stupid.'' The Suneater''s lips curled up in a wolfish smile under his helmet. ''When will they realize that the information overload from Root Cause leaves them blind, deaf, and dumb for an entire second? It''s like fishing in a barrel.''

    He tied the staff to the elf''s hand with a rope to keep the contact and not rm the World Tree. Chroniclers weren''t supposed to drop their equipment even in their sleep.

    Then, he cuffed Ra''ntar''s hands and feet behind his back with Adamant links. Even if he woke up, he wouldn''t be able to fight back and his exposed vitals would make it easy to stun him again.

    ''Your master has gone insane one time too many. The Yggdrasill should have never messed with Bytra. That woman is a monster.'' The Suneater looked at his own Darwen armor that covered him from ear to toe w.

    ''All she needed to learn how to refine and shape the Darwen was the armor fragments from the first ambush and a few days. For some reason, Solus'' disappearance upset Bytra big time and pushed her talent to its limits.

    "Good job, Auros." Tezka said in hismunication amulet. "I''m done with my mission and yourpliance will be reported to the Master. Now resume your usual patrol route and erase every trace of your joy ride.

    ''Without this baby, I couldn''t have escaped Souls Vision, and capturing this idiot would have been a lot moreplicated. Now that we got Lith back, there''s not one moment to lose.''

    "Good job, Auros." Tezka said in hismunication amulet. "I''m done with my mission and yourpliance will be reported to the Master. Now resume your usual patrol route and erase every trace of your joy ride.

    "The humans must not notice any anomaly in your routine. Remember, being predictable makes them predictable. Am I clear?"

    "Sir, yes, sir!" Auros stood on attention, giving the Suneater a thundering salute before following his orders.

    ''I don''t know why I had to run like an idiot and I don''t care.'' The Bringer of Unity thought. ''Whoever forced the Suneater back to Jiera has just made thest mistake of their lives.''

    ***

    Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree, a few hourster.

    Inside a prison room barely two meters (seven feet) across and a ceiling 40 centimeters (16 inches) high, a cracked stone ring sat in the middle of the wooden floor.

    Solus'' legs and arms were still broken, sending waves of inescapable pain throughout her consciousness with each passing second. While inside the ring, there was no darkness fusion and she was incapable of passing out, no matter the suffering she endured.

    The World Tree had yet to torture her further and the tower had all the means to return her to full health but Solus kept the healing process to a minimum.

    ''As long as I''m hurt, the World Fucker won''t send another Librarian or I''d just pass my wounds onto them and make the possession process even easier.'' She thought through blinding agony. ''Also, I have yet toe up with an escape n with even a small chance of sess.

    ''I underestimated the Tree''s prowess and overestimated mine. Even with the knowledge I''ve gained from the Librarians, the full set of Menadion, and the Prime Engine, I''m alone against an army of elves and a powerful Fae inside their own turf.

    ''Healing my wounds would just deplete the energy reserves of the Bleed and force me to another failed escape attempt with no guarantee to replenish them. Slowing down my recovery optimizes the Bleed''s energy consumption and buys me time.

    ''Lith is alive. I can''t hear him in my mind but I can feel him in my heart. He''s alive and he''lle to my rescue. I just need to wait.'' Solus was grateful to her stone form forcking eyes and mouth.

    Otherwise, the Yggdrasill would listen to her cries of pain and revel in her tears while gauging the perfect moment to attempt once again to break her will.

    This way, instead all the Tree could see were the cracks still guing the stone ring Under Soul Vision, instead, the tower appeared full of the strength umted in the Bleed during the Engine''sst rampage.

    To keep her mind focused and fight the waves of pain, Solus thought about everything and everyone that waited for her back in Lutia. She ignored the hopelessness of her present condition and focused on the happy memories of her past.

    On the time she had spent in the tower researching magic with Lith, on all the ces they had visited together, and the few memories that still belonged only to the two of them.

    ''She shoots colors everywhere.'' Solus sang in her mind the song that Lith had dedicated to her like a mantra, using the emotions it aroused in her to find what little joy she could. ''She braids her hair¡­''

    ***

    Garlen continent, at the same time.

    ''She''s like a rainbow!'' The melody echoed through Lith''s exhausted mind, waking him up from his slumber.

    "Solus!" His voice came out muffled like he was talking into a pillow and his instincts rejected his attempts to jump up.

    As his vision cleared up and his hands moved in the darkness to determine his current location, he discovered that his pillow was warm, perky, and had a regr heartbeat.

    "Wrong." A familiar sleepy voice chuckled. "You have two more tries."

    "Kami?" Lith''s memory came back to him as the mental fog of sleep cleared up.

    He tried to get up when Kam''s hands gently but firmly brought his head back to the embrace of her bosom.

    "Ding, ding, ding. The gentleman wins a prize." She said with a soft voice while kissing his hair. "I won''t kick your ass for calling the wrong name. Again. Have you done this with Solus in the past?"

    She sounded calm, but the questioncked warmth and he could feel her tensing up.

    "Define ''this''." Lith replied. "I have no idea where we are and what you are talking about."

 Chapter 3210 Therapy Session (Part 1)

    Chapter 3210 Therapy Session (Part 1)

    "Allow me to enlighten you." Kam replied while shedding literal light on the situation.

    As Lith looked around, he found himself in an unknown bedroom whose walls and ceiling wereprised of an unknown type of wood. Lith used Life Vision and every centimeter of the room lit up to his mystical senses like a small sun.

    "Where-" Many questions popped into his mind as he gazed upon scores after scores of unknown magical runes but all of them were silenced by the sheer awe of the marvel lying right below him.

    Kam was bare-chested and based on the reddened area at which Lith was staring, he had slept with his head between her breasts and his face was just a few centimeters away.

    "Tits make you happy and after everything you''ve gone through, I thought you could use a bit of happiness." Kam took his stunned silence as apliment and gently caressed his hair. "Was I wrong in my assumption?"

    Lith would have liked to deny such allegations about his preferences but even a consummate liar like him would have found it impossible toe up with a believable retort.

    "No, you are damn right." He buried his head back into her softness and checked that everything about it was as he remembered. "Can we make a habit out of this?"

    "Again? Sure." She moaned. "Often? Unlikely. You are heavy, you know? Setting up the array so that you wouldn''t squash me like a bug required quite some effort and with my bright yellow mana core I''m not much of a mage."

    "I can set permanent arrays that would just take the flip of your shirt, I mean, of a switch." Lith knew he had no time to waste but he was still very tired, anding back from death had left a stifling coldness in his soul that Kam''s warmth was slowly thawing.

    "Fine by me, but you have to earn it." She gently grabbed his face, lifting it up and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "You can start by answering my question. I''m still waiting."

    "No, I''ve never done anything like this with Solus." He replied. "To be honest, I wasn''t even aware I was doing it with you until a moment ago."

    "Then why did you call her name?" Kam didn''t feel like letting go of the matter. Her husband calling another woman''s name in their bed was a huge red g. "Did you get another sh of the moment when Strider decapitated you?"

    "No. Do you remember the song I dedicated to Solus years ago?" Lith asked.

    "The Tumbling Stones'' one? Sure." She nodded.

    "I just woke up after listening to it on repeat for Newton knows how long so I thought about her by instinct."

    "It''s weird." Kam said.

    ''But believable.'' She inwardly added. ''With their bond broken and all the trauma from his days as Derek McCoy, there''s no telling what''s going on in his mind. I''ll cut him some ck. This time.''

    "I know." Lith shrugged. "I wonder what it means. By the way, where are Elysia and Valeron?"

    Between his daze first and bliss after, it took his brain quite some time to notice they were sleeping alone for the first time after theirst date night.

    "With Elina and Raaz." Kam let him go back to rest between her arms. "You have no idea how hard it was to take them away from you. We had to wait until they bawled their eyes out and fell asleep from exhaustion."

    "Thank you. I can use a bit of alone time with you." Lith sighed. "I bet that if Elysia was here, the mere sight of your chest would make her cry for food and I''m not in the mood to share."

    His stomach growled like a lion, demanding its due after days of a strict diet of mana and life force. Just the idea of a hot meal made Lith''s mouth water.

    "Speaking of food, does this establishment offer room service as well? I''m hungry." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Again?" Kam said in amazement. "Gods, you eat more often than the children."

    "What do you mean, again? Did you force-feed me in my sleep?"

    "Of course." She nodded. "You have the body of a Divine Beast and suffered many deep wounds. Quy used her Injection spell to flood you with nutrient potions but they were all for humans."

    Kam kissed his forehead and held him tight, feeling his breath on her skin to make sure he was really back and it wasn''t just a dream.

    "It''s the reason we came to the Desert."

    "This is the Desert?" Lith sniffed the air, smelling none of the familiar scents of Sark''s domain.

    "Yes and no." Kam replied. "This is Baba Yaga''s hut. She has relocated to the Desert with us because, without your tower, this was the quickest way to help you regain your strength."

    Those words struck Lith like a punch to the gut. His bond with Solus had been broken days ago, but to him, it had just happened. Until that moment, he had been in aa and the amnesiac Void controlling his body had no idea what he had lost.

    Lith looked in the corner of his mind where Solus''s light usually was, finding it empty. He felt akin to waking up after an ident and discovering that one of his limbs had been amputated.

    He closed his eyes, calling upon Solus like he had done countless times in the past. He could almost see her and hear her answer where the melody had resounded until a few minutes ago but it was just an illusion.

    Lith''s mind struggled to ept the loss, the silence deafening. He then tried to ess his pocket dimension and the realization he had lost everything he had umted in the past sixteen years made him feel naked.

    "Solus is gone. She''s really gone." He closed his eyes, suppressing the desire to scream and punch a hole in the wall. "I''ve lost my best friend, my tower, and everything I''ve worked on my entire life."

    "I know." Kam kept stroking his hair. "That''s why you need a break. Even if you get your strength and mana back, it would be pointless if your mind is in the gutter. You need to rx and calm down if you want toe up with a solid n to rescue Solus."

    Between her gentle touch, soothing voice, and ample bosom surrounding him, Lith''s negative thoughts were washed away like dust under a heavy rain.

    "Thank you." Lith held her tight. "Thank you for rescuing me. For putting me first despite everything you must have gone through during my absence. Thank you for thinking about Solus even in a moment like this."

    He raised his eyes meeting Kam''s loving gaze.

    "Or should I be jealous?" He said with a straight face.

    "Always." She giggled. "Neglect me and you''ll be my side piece. I''m also married to Solus, remember?"

    "Yeah." It was supposed to be a running joke between the three of them, but Lith didn''t like it one bit when he was the butt of the joke. "Is there any bad news I should aware of?"

 Chapter 3211 Therapy Session (Part 2)

    Chapter 3211 Therapy Session (Part 2)

    "Hit me now so that I can ovee them with our current therapy session."

    "Actually, I have good and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Kam asked.

    Lith knitted his brows in disbelief, tickling her skin. With Solus and the tower gone, his body in a weakened state, Orpal''s return, and the inevitable fight with the World Tree, one of Mogar''s most powerful beings, Lith doubted any news could be good.

    "The good news." He replied, hoping that no matter how small, he could use whatever silver lining he could find in his situation to n ahead and deal with the bad news.

    "Well, after your disappearance, I called everyone, including Baba Yaga." Kam said. "Not only did she help us capture you but she was also able to deduce the involvement of the World Tree from the fragments of Darwen armor.

    "Thanks to that, Zoreth could contact Tezka and ask for his help. He says he has a way to find the Yggdrasill and has been working on that while you were still in your Abomination form."

    "Tezka is one of the most ancient and powerful creatures I know besides the Guardians." Lith sighed in relief. "He is not the type to boast or pretend to care. If he said that he can do it, it means he''s confident in his n.

    "Locating the Yggdrasill''s Fringe is one less thing to worry about, but there''s still a million to go. Anything else?"

    "Yes." She nodded. "Zoreth called the Organization and Yaga reached Silverwing. It''s not just the people who care about you who have assembled in the Desert but also those who care for Solus.

    "You need all the help you can get to fight the World Tree and one more white core is a great addition to the team. Especially a white core with her own mage tower!"

    "Her what?" Lith raised his head from his pillow abruptly to look Kam in the eyes and make sure she was serious. "That doesn''t make sense. We visited her just a few months ago and Silverwing was nowhere nearpleting her tower."

    "And she still is." Kam replied. "That''s why Baba Yaga gave Silverwing a big hand toplete her project in time to rescue Solus. The Silverspire tower is sitting right next to Baba Yaga''s hunting cabin, about twenty meters in that direction."

    She pointed to the west wall of the bedroom.

    "If we ignore dimensional discement, of course. Otherwise we might actually be kilometers away from Silverspire. This ce is so big that I''ve yet to finish visiting it."

    "Silverspire?" Lith echoed with a mocking scoff. "Silverwing named her tower? What is she? Five?"

    "Well, I must admit the name is a bit pretentious but I think she did the right thing." Kam chuckled. "You have a tower, Baba Yaga has a tower, and now Silverwing does too.

    "What are you going to do the next time you''re all assembled and someone asks about a generic tower? Speak all at once? Draw lots?"

    "I had a tower." Lith grunted, his expression turning sullen. "And I never bothered naming it because it already had a name. It''s Menadion''s tower and just mentioning it would put me in a world of trouble."

    "Solus is gone, not lost." Kam shook her head, bringing him back to his mood booster position. "And so is the tower. You are not alone anymore. You have lots of people you can trust and you''ve already revealed the existence of the tower to them."

    The Ernas girls, his family, Protector, Faluel, Nalrond, Morok, Valtak. They all knew about the tower and had never attempted to steal it. Not to mention those who knew Solus as Elphyn and still deeply cared for her. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "So you''d better find a new name, because calling it Menadion''s Tower would remind Solus of her mother and their death at Bytra''s hand constantly. Also, it''s not Menadion''s Tower anymore. It''s your tower as well.

    "You may have not built it but you have changed it a lot."

    "Fine." Lith nodded, appreciating both her tenderness and her talking about Solus'' rescue as if it was just a matter of when, not if. "I''ll need help, though. My naming sense sucks."

    "That''s'' the kind of problem I''d tackle any day." Kam massaged his scalp and back. "That''s it for the good news. Not much, but better than nothing. Ready for the bad news?"

    "Hit me."

    "I''ve already asked Grandma, Grandpa, and all of your Divine Beast friends for help in the uing battle with the World Tree and most of them turned me down. Sark needs the Phoenixes of her Nest to keep the Desert in check.

    "Were they to go away in force at the same time, her enemies would cross the Desert''s borders and all those who until that moment didn''t dare to rebel against her rule would riot."

    It was the burden of tyranny. Sark''s domain was the most orderly of the three great countries, but only because she controlled thend and people with an iron fist. The moment her grip loosened, chaos ensued.

    "Valtak, Sinmara, and Surtr will help you for sure but there''s no telling if their children will do the same. As for the rest of the Dragon kin, they just don''t care about a random human, no matter how much you care for her.

    "It''s your problem and without a reward, they have no reason to get involved. I didn''t have much to offer, even less after discovering you''ve lost all your umted treasures." Kam sighed.

    "On top of that, I had no idea what you were willing to give away or how much you were nning to reveal about Solus and the tower.

    "Without such crucial pieces of information, my hands were tied. I preferred to sit down and wait rather than make a mess that you would have to fix." She lowered her gaze in embarrassment for being so indecisive.

    "Damn, I''ve married a genius." Lith''s voice sounded sincere before he kissed her deeply. "Thank you, Kami. Since you''ve already done all the research and groundwork, all that''s left for me to do is wait and find a way to put together a decent strike force.

    "Maybe I can''t defeat the Tree but that''s not my goal to begin with. I just need to find Solus, get inside the Fringe, rescue her, and get out."

    "Is that any different?" She asked before demanding another kiss.

    "Very." He nodded. "The former would require a Guardian level offensive power and a prolonged battle with lots of casualties. Thetter requires speed and intel above strength.

    "Not to mention that once outside the Fringe, the strength of our enemy will be crippled. With Solus and the tower by my side, I can take on hundreds of elves by myself, let alone if I have four white cores and three more towers by my side."

    "Three?" Kam echoed.

    "Dawn is no white core but if she went all out to rescue me, you can bet my scaly ass she would do the same for Solus. I don''t like Dawn, but she''d do anything for Baba Yaga who in turn would do anything for Solus. It''s enough for me to trust her."

 Chapter 3212 Baba Yagaâ€™s Hut (Part 1)

    Chapter 3212 Baba Yaga¡¯s Hut (Part 1)

    "I hadn''t thought about that." Kam said with a pensive look on her face. "What if we ask Baba Yaga to call her Firstborns as well? With their power plus Dawn''s prisms, you''d have full-red blood cores who can fight freely during the day."

    "As I said, I''ve married a genius." Lith sat up while rubbing his hands and thinking about who and how he could manipte for help. "Great idea, Kami."

    "d to help, but I''m not done with the bad news." She said. "The family of travelers you saved is still traumatized from what you did to them and that''s nothingpared to what happened after you reached Zeska."

    Lith''s eyes lost their enthusiasm as he remembered what he had done to the young boy before Orpal''s arrival and to the wounded citizens after.

    "Just tell me how many."

    "Thousands of lives were lost and half the city was razed to the ground during the fight." Kam replied. "Yet even if it pains me to say this, that''s nothingpared to how you treated that boy, the Constable, and the men of the Knight''s Guard."

    "What do you mean?" Lith rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I remember beating the boy''s parents, but that''s it. I''m pretty sure I didn''t do anything else."

    "That''s the point exactly." Kam sighed. "In your-, no, in Derek''s fury, he brutalized those horrible people in front of their child. That poor kid mes himself for everything that happened.

    "He believes that if he was better, his parents would still be alive."

    "They died?" Lith''s eyes opened wide in surprise.

    "In the initial st." Kam nodded. "When Meln sneak attacked you, Derek defended solely himself and the boy."

    "And nothing of value was lost." Lith grunted.

    "There''s no need to be this callous." Kam took his face in her hands. "Think about it from his perspective. Because of him, his parents were publicly humiliated and tortured while he was forced to be a helpless spectator.

    "Because of him, they couldn''t escape from the Undead King and died right in front of his eyes. No matter how you feel about their deaths, that kid is just eight, for the gods'' sake! An eight-year-old who witnessed more death and brutality in one day than most soldiers their whole life.

    "Why are you telling me all this?" Lith asked, cing his hands over hers.

    "And don''t get me started on the Constable and the Knight''s Guard unit. Those people came ready toy down their lives, at first to stop you and then to defend you. And they did. Meln killed them all because Derek didn''t care enough to protect them.

    "Hey, they are our children, not another item on your to-do list!" Kam called upon her Voidfeather armor, covering herself in a sky-blue day dress. "Elysia and Valeron have missed you a lot these past few days and they are not the only ones."

    "I know." Lith sighed. "Derek treated my family like shit. I don''t know how to apologize to them for what he said."

    "One thing at a time." A wave of Kam''s hand ryed the message that Lith was up, giving everyone the time to prepare for his arrival, and summoned the babies in her arms.

    From the sucking stance with which they appeared, Elysia and Valeron were being fed at the moment of the conjuring.

    The baby girl scowled at the untimely interruption of her sacred meal, the elevensies, but her small face lit up when she recognized the culprit.

    "Dya! Dya! Dada!" She threw her arms in Lith''s direction, almost falling off Kam''s hold.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Papa!" Valeron shapeshifted into his Bahamut form and took flight,nding on Lith''s shoulder before starting to nuzzle against his face.

    "So much for being appreciated." Kam grumbled. "They''ve never weed me like that."

    "That''s because you never went missing for days after a deadly trap." Lith took Elysia from Kam''s arms with a spark of Spirit magic and nestled Valeron in the crook of his left arm.

    "I stand corrected. I''m d they never weed me like that."

    After the initial enthusiasm, the babies started to cry out of joy and relief, forcing Lith to use the Dragon scales to reassure them that he really was back and in good health.

    "Dya." Elysia sniffled, d that the ugly scary thing that resembled her father was gone for good.

    "Dya." Valeron hadn''t met the Void so he was much quicker to calm down.

    He returned to his human form and started to tug at Lith''s clothes for food. Now that Valeron wasn''t worried about Lith''s disappearing like it had happened to Jormun, the little boy''s appetite reached new heights.

    "I''m sorry. I can do many incredible things but producing milk is not among them." He said with such a straight face that made Kamugh and Elysia stare at him in disappointment.

    Dads were supposed to be omnipotent.

 Chapter 3213 Baba Yagaâ€™s Hut (Part 2)

    Chapter 3213 Baba Yaga¡¯s Hut (Part 2)

    "Kami, do you want to do the honors?"

    "Of course." Another wave of her hand opened two small Steps from which milk bottles came out, making Lith groan. "You already had some quality time with the twins, mister. Now stop pouting and make up for the lost time with the babies."

    Elysia and Valeron exchanged a confused look, wondering if they had rivals or new siblings they weren''t aware of. They had both learned how another baby could appear out of nowhere at any time.

    For Elysia, it had happened with Surin and then with Shargein and Valeron the second. One moment she was alone, and the next she had to share her crib with another baby.

    For Valeron, it was less confusing since he was aware that Lith wasn''t his biological parent but he had no idea as well why the number of his siblings seemed to change every day.

    ording to their mutual understanding, either parent could make a baby at will. Their chittering in Dragontongue, as they discussed the matter, was instantly silenced by the bottles'' approach.

    They were both hungry. Food always took priority over mere words. They could always resume the conversationter, assuming their young brains retained a memory of the issue, of course.

    The two babies sucked avidly, only taking a few breaks to check on Lith with Dragon scales. They both needed a lot of reassurance before they stopped fearing he might disappear again.

    Valeron because he hadn''t seen Lith for days and even though he hadn''t witnessed the Void Demon Dragon''s fury, his trauma from losing both his parents made him wary of any prolonged absence.

    Elysia, instead, had seen Lith twice already since his rescue, but it only made her more scared. The first time she had failed to recognize her father in the brute in front of her and the second time she had been taken away mere minutes after reuniting with him.

    To her, it was much worse than not seeing him at all.

    A few bottles and lots of scalester, they felt rxed enough to empty their bowels to make space for the scrumptious meal they had just consumed.

    "Good gods!" The foul stench emanating from the cloth diapers ravaged Lith''s enhanced sense of smell and destroyed any romantic feeling still lingering in his mind after the heart-to-heart with Kam.

    Its biological origin made it possible for the wood not only to be constantly refined by the energy of the mana geyser below like it happened in the Crucible, but also to grow.

    Even at first nce, Lith could tell that Baba Yaga''s hut had been crafted from mystical wood belonging to various kinds of Fae with Yggdrasill wood at its core.

    By using a mix of healing magic and necromancy, she had removed the energy signatures of the original owners without affecting the different properties of each type of wood.

    She had nurtured and grown them over time while also turning them into an amalgam that mimicked the Yggdrasill wood''s physical properties. The final result was a tower that had bloodline abilities that empowered its enchantments without adding to the tower core''splexity.

    Every room granted to its guest the mind-focusing abilities of the Yggdrasill wood, allowed tobine different spells that would not mix under normal circumstances, and had a durability second only to Davross.

    As icing on the cake, the constant flow of world energy refined the tower non-stop, improving its physical and magical properties permanently. The tower never stopped growing, storing the extra mass as density until Baba Yaga needed otherwise and used it to increase the tower''s size.

    ''Damn, this is pure genius!'' Lith thought in astonishment. ''I have no idea what this tower can do, but using wood as the main material is not as desperate as I thought. Sure, it''s no Davross and its starting properties are worse than Orichalcum, but its potential is infinite.

    ''Baba Yaga''s hut is like a millennia-old white core who never stopped refining his body. On top of that, even though Baba Yaga only had the equivalent amount of a Sage Staff to begin with, the Yggdrasill wood is now spread throughout the entire structure.

    ''The other kinds of wood have simply rearranged their structure, gaining the Yggdrasill physical properties while retaining their individual magical abilities. Even though this ce is famous for being a giant nursery, it''s actually a sleeping beast.

    ''Which begs the question, Solus. Why is your mother''s tower considered better even though it''s made of "just" gold-veined marble?'' The silence in his mind worried him. ''Solus?''

    The marvel of the discovery was blown away by the returning awareness that she wasn''t with him anymore.

    Lith''s heart clenched and his expression turned sour, but itsted only for a second.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Elysia giggled as he dried her with a warm towel, reminding him of his duty.

 Chapter 3214 Family Reunited (Part 1)

    Chapter 3214 Family Reunited (Part 1)

    "Yeah, I miss Solus too." Kam sighed after reading his fleeting expression. "I bet you two would be neck-deep in some nerdy debate if she was here with us."

    "Yeah, we would." Once he was done, Lith knocked on the wall and said: "Thank you."

    "You''re wee." Baba Yaga replied as the basin and the changing table disappeared.

    "Let''s get out of here before I overstay my wee." Lith tried to hand a baby over to Kam but they both clung fang and w to him until he gave up.

    The reunited family walked through the bedroom door and into a corridor that extended for dozens of meters with several doors and branches on either side.

    "Farm me sideways, Baba Yaga''s hut redefines the ''bigger on the inside'' concept. The bedroom alone is bigger than the whole hut''s size from the outside. Which way is the exit?" Lith asked.

    "Any way, if you are a guest." Kam rapped on the door from which they had juste out and a Warp Gate formed into its frame. "Otherwise this ce is an inescapable dungeon."

    Lith nodded and stepped toward the dimensional corridor but Kam grabbed him and conjured a Hush Zone.

    "Do you remember what happened when we tried the family intervention on Derek?" She asked.

    "It''s hard to forget." Lith grimaced in shame and regret.

    "Then you know that you must be extra nice to members of your family." Kam said. "Your words stung deeper than any sword or spell could, especially for Elina. I''ve never seen her cry so much."

    "Is it that bad?" Lith inwardly cursed his Abomination self.

    "Worse. Even after I brought you back from the Trawn woods, she''s the only one who didn''te to check on you while Baba Yaga carried you to the bedroom." She replied.

    "Is Mom that angry?"

    "Not angry, ashamed. Elina thinks she failed you as a mother and that you wouldn''t want her there." Kam shook her head.

    "Shot!" The Guardians'' auto-correct turned the curse word family-friendly. "Mom''s always felt responsible for Meln''s and Trion''s behavior. It took me a long time to convince her that she wasn''t a bad mother and that Aran and I won''t abandon her as our older brothers did.

    "I''m afraid I''ve shattered her confidence and brought her worst fears back to life with just a few words."

    "Shot!" Valeron nodded enthusiastically.

    "Cio!" Elysia did her best to join them.

    "Why on Mogar''s green earth do they only pick up this kind of words easily?" Lith grumbled in frustration.

    "And you ask me?" Kam waved a finger under their small noses in a rebuking manner only for her frown to melt away when the babies grabbed it. "It took Elysia months to learn the word mom despite all my efforts yet she learned shot without even trying!"

    After a moment topose themselves from the unpleasant surprise, they walked through the Warp Gate and appeared in arge empty space inside Sark''s tent-pce.

    Lith recognized the ce as the mana geyser that usually fueled Solus'' tower during their stays in the Desert. Now, instead, Baba Yaga''s hut and a second tower upied the geyser yet it still had world energy to spare. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A few dozen meters from the hunting cabin there was a tall, majestic tower 50 meters (164 feet) tall that seemed made out of the purest of silver.

    Under any other circumstance, Lith''s first instinct would have been to walk up to Silverspire and try to uncover its mysteries. Even from a distance, he could tell that it wasn''t made of silver and its aura gave him the strangest feeling.

    It was an inanimate object, yet it reminded him of a young child trying to stand up on his feet for the first time. Somehow, despite its unbridled power, Silverspire felt young and unsteady.

    Right now, however, the people in front of Lith drew his attention more than any marvel of magic could.

    Elina, Raaz, Tista, and Rena stood at a safe distance without taking a single step forward even after the Warp Gate closed behind Lith. They just looked at him other without saying a word.

    "Lith?" Being the strongest in the family, Tista found the courage to break the awkward silence. "Is that really you? I mean, the you you, not the burning, angry jackant"

    "Yes, Tista." Lith nodded tickling the children into a giggle to prove his im.

    "Can we approach you?" Raaz was next, clearing his throat.

    "I would love it if you did, Dad. I''m back. For real this time." His words pushed the members of the Verhen family into a charge that would have tackled Lith to the ground were he not a Divine Beast.

    "I''m so sorry." Elina cut through the crowd to hug him first, breaking into tears upon contact. "I''m sorry for everything you had to go through as a child. I should have protected you from the cold and hunger. I should have convinced your father to disown Meln before he could hurt you so much and his hatred turned into obsession.

    "I know that mine are just empty words but please, give me one more chance to prove to you that I mean them." She checked his arms and chest for injuries and then his face for malnutrition.

    Elina caressed Lith''s cheeks with her thumbs, staring into his eyes while wishing for his forgiveness.

    "Don''t say that, Mom." He took her hands into his own and kissed them. "None of that was your fault and I could never resent you for something you couldn''t do anything about.

    "I won''t try to deny what my Abomination side said. I may have thought those things as a kid, but only because back then I was in survival mode. My Abomination side is what gave me the fierceness to endure what I had to, but only until you taught me there was more than survival.

    "You taught me how to live." Lith handed the kids to Kam and wrapped Elina in an embrace. "Don''t take his words to heart. He was just hurt and scared. He only remembered the worst parts of my life and dealt with them the only way he knew."

    "Your Abomination side wasn''t wrong, though." Elina returned the embrace, shedding more tears. "And the worst part is that I can''t be angry at him. Not only because he''s a part of you but also because he''s the reason you''re alive.

    "I''d endure his verbalshing at any time if it means you''ll always return home safe."

    She sniffled and quivered for a while before finding enough strength to stand up on her own.

    "Wee back, son." Raaz gave Lith a warm but short embrace as soon as Elina stepped away. "I know I wasn''t a perfect father, but I have no regret because I know I did the best I could.

    "I can only hope that you''ve learned from the few things I made right and you''ll use them to be a better father than I was."

    "Dad!" Lith tried to deny such words but Raaz stopped him in his tracks.

    "I''m not finished, young man. Whatever your Abomination side is, wherever he is now, thank him for me."

 Chapter 3215 Family Reunited (Part 2)

    Chapter 3215 Family Reunited (Part 2)

    Raaz gently rapped on Lith''s chest.

    "He brought me my son back. Everything else is irrelevant."

    "I''ll ry your message to him." Lith extended his hand and Raaz promptly shook it just to be sucker-dragged into an embrace. "Thanks, Dad. Your words mean a lot to me."

    "Don''t mention it, son." Raaz patted Lith''s back and stepped back.

    "You gave me a big scare, little brother." Rena went straight for a ribs-crushing hug that ended up squeezing the air out of her own chest due to the mass gap.

    "You mean yesterday?" He asked.

    "No, that didn''t scare me at all." Rena shook her head. "Once they brought you here, I was relieved. No matter what came out of your mouth, I knew you are too stubborn to let something trivial like amnesia and an army of brainwashing souls stop you.

    "I meant when you disappeared for all those days. After it was clear that you had lost your memory and someone had repeatedly tried to kill you, I was worried sick. I spent all this time staring at yourmunication rune.

    "I was afraid to fall asleep and not find it when I woke up. You have no idea about the insane number of lies I had toe up with not to make the kids worry about your absence.

    "Once we let them in, just nod. No matter what silly thing they ask you."

    "Thank you, Rena." They were all aware of his actions as the Void yet none of them mentioned them to not add to Lith''s grievous burden and he was grateful to them for that.

    "If it doesn''t strain your life force too much, could you please let Trion out?" She avoided using the term summon because the death of their brother was still a sour note in their parents'' hearts. "We haven''t seen him since the day you left as well.

    "Mom was really worried about the two of you but she is too afraid topromise your health to ask it herself."

    "Rena, I told you that in confidence!" Elina blushed in embarrassment.

    "I''m worried about Trion too, Mom. Lith needs to know how important this is for us." Lith remembered that in case of his death, his parents would also lose Trion.

    ''About that, I have no idea if my persistent condition as an Abomination affected the souls I host inside my Void Sigils.'' He thought.

    Lith unfurled his feathered wings, sighing in relief when he noticed that the runes were still there. All four of them.

    He summoned Trion first, making him take form in Lith''s own shadow to ease the process. It rose from the ground and gained a third dimension but it was just a ck humanoid te.

    The shadow body resembled Trion''s but it had no features. Lith poured more mana into it yet no eyes opened. He had to send a mentalmand via the ck chain connecting them to wake Trion from his slumber.

    "What happened? Where am I?" He looked around in confusion like a man who had just awoken from a deep slumber, needing a few seconds to sort dream from reality.

    Because that was exactly what had just happened.

    "Trion, baby!" Elina rushed to him but kept her distance until it was clear from his gaze that he remembered who she was and understood he was safe.

    "Mom?" The demon sped his head as blinding pain washed all over his body and forced him on his knees.

    "What''s wrong with him?" Elina asked Lith.

    "I''m sorry. I have no idea." Lith strengthened the connection with his older brother via the ck chain, sharing Trion''s burden.

    The Void Sigils kept the souls they stored in a cycle of dreams and nightmares to keep their minds from going insane due to their undead state.

    While Lith had been stuck into his Abomination form, the Voidfeather Dragon had also used his life force to inste the souls from the Void''s madness. Yet after the Abomination and Dragon side had merged to form the Void Demon Dragon, things had gotten worse.

    Even in their slumber, Trion and the others had experienced the agony of the blue mes and had almost been burned away for it. Only the tether with the human life force had preserved their connection with the world of the living.

    "Don''t worry, Mom. Whatever it was it''s gone now." As the powers of the whole Tiamat, not just the human side, flowed into Trion, his condition as a demon was restored and his vessel regained full functionality. "What did I miss?"

    A quick mind link answered his question and lots of hugs ensued until everyone was reassured Trion''s soul hadn''t suffered permanent damage.

    He was aware that his disappearance had affected more than his own family. Locrias'', Varegrave''s, and Valia''s existences depended on him, and their respective families were bound to be as worried as Elina.

    "Good gods." Trion shuddered. "I have no memory of any of that. The only recollection I have of the past few days is the feeling of being stuck inside a small box during a long, bumpy carriage ride."

    "Are the families of my demons here as well?" Lith asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Then I''ll better let them out as well."

    He was aware that his disappearance had affected more than his own family. Locrias'', Varegrave''s, and Valia''s existences depended on him, and their respective families were bound to be as worried as Elina.

    The three demons appeared stunned and confused just like it happened to Trion but they recovered just as quickly. They left the room after expressing their gratitude to Lith and renewing their oaths of loyalty to him.

    Tista came inst, hugging Lith and using Invigoration to check up on his condition and life force. Only once she was reassured that Baba Yaga and Sark hadn''t hidden anything from her did she rx.

    "I''m sorry." She said while shedding silent tears.

    "For what?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    The Void had addressed no mean words to Tista so she had no fault, real or imaginary, to apologize for.

    "For being too weak to help you." She replied. "Despite all the things you''ve taught me, despite all the treasure you''ve shared with me, I couldn''t help finding you or Solus."

    "Don''t beat yourself up." Lith caressed her back. "I moved without direction. If not even Zoreth and Baba Yaga could find me, how were you supposed to do better?"

    Tista squeezed him in silence a little longer before she couldn''t stop herself from asking:

    "Is it true? Did the World Tree really took her?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded, sharing his memories before being beheaded with her via a mind link.

    "But why?" She asked in frustrated disbelief. "Why would such an ancient, powerful being invest so much time and effort to kidnap Solus and kill you? It doesn''t make sense. You guys have nothing the Tree might want."

    "So it really was the Yggdrasill." A silvery feminine voice said, making everyone turn toward Silverkeep. "Until this moment, all we had were conjectures. It''s nice to know we were right but this opens many more questions and makes our next task daunting."

    Lochra Silverwing, the First Magus, and Baba Yaga, the Red Mother, came out of the silver tower and approached the Verhen family.

    "Your sister asked a good question. Do you have any idea what makes Epphy so special to the Yggdrasill?" Silverwing asked. N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 3216 Silverspire (Part 1)

    Chapter 3216 Silverspire (Part 1)

    I mean, sure, Ripha''s tower is the best on Mogar, but in the World Tree''s roots, I''d kidnap Yaga. No offense, Yaga." The First Magus said.

    "None taken." The Red Mother replied.

    "She knows everything about tower crafting, the Yggdrasill could use their own wood as material, and she can also use Creation Magic in case something goes wrong during the Forgemastering phase.

    "Ep-I mean, Solus''s abilities, instead, are nothing much and she has no idea how her tower side works, let alone how to make another."

    Lith scowled at her and was about to give Silverwing a piece of his mind when Baba Yaga stepped between them and gave him a small bow.

    "We''re sorry for intruding in a private moment, but curiosity got the better of us. We couldn''t help but overhear since we were in the proximities to both work on the finishing touches for Lochra''s tower and oversee your recovery."

    It was then that Lith noticed there was something weird with his condition. He felt tired and even the hair on his body ached, but that was it.

    ''What the fuck? After the blue mes charred me to the bones for hours and the Dread mes cauterized my life force, I should be a wreck. Even with Grandma''s healing, it usually takes me a few days to be capable of using my full power without shortening my life span further.

    ''Now, however, my life force is strong and stable. The cracks have already returned to their original state and there''s no sign of lingering wounds. I''m just tired.'' His stomach growled. ''And hungry.''

    "Is this your work?" Lith flexed his fingers to test his grip. "Even eight hours of sleep inside a tower aren''t enough to fully recover from that kind of damage." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "It is." Baba Yaga nodded. "I''m not Sark. I''m not okay with you just surviving your injuries. I need you to save Solus. I couldn''t afford the time for your life force to stabilize on its own. I hope you can understand and forgive me."

    During his stay inside Baba Yaga''s tower, she hadn''t just focused the world energy inside his room. She had constantly checked on Lith''s mana flow, giving the different areas of his body exactly as much world energy as they could process without strain.

    It was a custom treatment where even the fingers of the same hand had each received a different dosage of world energy. This way, each part of Lith''s body had recovered at its own pace, with the flow of energy increasing solely when they could handle it.

    Baba Yaga had devoted part of her focus to nurturing and feeding Lith down to the cellr level. Thanks to her, after a single night of sleep his Awakened body had undergone the equivalent of weeks of rejuvenation cycles.

    "Understand, yes, but forgive?" Lith shook his head. "There''s nothing to forgive. You did me a big favor. You saved me a lot of time and spared me from betting my life in exchange for Solus. I am greatly indebted to you, Lady Yaga."

    He gave her a deep bow that she exploited to caress his head gently.

    "Just Yaga, child. If we rescue Epphy, I''ll allow you to call me Malyshka."

    "Since the family reunion is already ruined and we are talking business, what happened to your original design?" Lith stood tall again and turned to Silverwing as he pointed at her tower.

    "Thest time we met, you were working on gold-veined white marble as base material and you were still far from cracking the secrets of Menadion''s tower crafting technique. How did youplete your research in such a short time?"

    "I didn''t." The First Magus shook her head. "Rescuing Solus takes priority and if we ever face the World Tree inside their domain, we need all the strength we can gather. Yaga offered to help me toplete my project but sadly she failed to guess the missing steps.

    "Her tower crafting technique and Ripha''s are too different so we have gone for something more up your alley." Silverwing smirked. "A hybrid. Webined my research with Yaga''s expertise to craft what you can currently see."

    A wave of her hand highlighted the veins in the metal structure of Silverspire, allowing Lith to understand itsposition. Less than half the tower wasprised of silver which in turn was encircled by as much Orichalcum.

    Large patches of Adamant were ced in key points of the Orichalcum while small ingots of Davross formed a widespreadwork of thin veins that ran throughout the Adamant.

    "We didn''t have time to collect and grow mystical wood to make a replica of Yaga''s tower or the ability to properly enchant a sturdy but fickle material like the gold-veined white marble so we met halfway.

    "I''ve consumed all my metal reserves to craft the current Silverspire, but it was worth it. With every second my tower spends over the geyser, each mystical metal seeps into its inferior version and catalyzes its refinement.

    "Thanks to this process, not only is Silverspire bing sturdier as we speak, but the fluid nature of its materials also allows the runes of the tower core to adjust their position and optimize the mana flow.

    "It''s all data I can collect once we''ve rescued Elphyn and use it to resume my work on the original Silverspire. Had I used the gold-veined white marble, instead, any mistake we made during the crafting process would have emerged during the battle and we would have had no time to fix it.

    "This way the tower is fine-tuning itself and if a major blockage manifests, Yaga and I can still work on solving the issue until the moment of our departure for the Fringe. For what is worth, so far so good."

    "Is Silverspire fully functional or is it just a prototype?" Lith asked.

    "It contains all the enchantments I intended for my original design of Silverspire, including the battle form, if that''s what you''re asking." Silverwing replied. "Without it, a tower is a sitting duck andpletely useless on the battlefield."

    "That''s not what I was worried about." Lith studied Silverspire with Life Vision, appreciating the perfect blend of the different parts. The stronger metals enhanced the weaker, increasing their durability and enhancing their refinement speed by skipping the germination process.

    "You said it''s a hybrid and I know all too well that hybridse with lots of issues. I''m asking you if Silverspire is a full-fledged mage tower or just the best thing you two could put together in the little time you had."

    "It''s both." Baba Yaga said with a wan smile. "It could be better, but it could be much worse. Still, it enhances Lochra''s power way beyond that of a bright white mana-cored Awakened and packs quite a punch. It will do its job. You have my word."

    "About that, how did you figure out how to replicate the Crucible?" The Red Mother matching Menadion''s feat impressed and irked Lith in equal measure.

    "We didn''t." Silverwing shrugged. "Yaga''s knowledge of life and refinement allowed us to speed up the evolution of the mystical metals, but this is nothing like the Crucible."

 Chapter 3217 Silverspire (Part 2)

    Chapter 3217 Silverspire (Part 2)

    "Without Creation Magic, everything I put into the tower can''t be recovered. Only the metalprising the tower is being refined, not the metal inside the tower. On top of that, even with all of Yaga''s tricks, the refinement''s speed is just double that of a regr mine."

    "Back to your question about why the Tree kidnapped Solus." Lith inwardly sighed in relief. "I have mostly conjectures as well but I hope that by sharing my memories and pooling up our minds we can figure out the Tree''s endgame."

    He extended his hand with the palm down, the emerald glow of a mind link faintly visible.

    "You can watch as well, guys, but it''s not pretty. I''m warning you." Lith said to his family.

    "If I have to watch my son risk his life again, I want at least to know the reason." Raaz ced his hand over Lith''s, quickly followed by everyone else.

    Lith shared Solus'' memories from Setraliie after M''Rael had bonded with her. He reyed her interactions with the World Tree and the words they had exchanged.

    Then, Lith showed them the battle between the elves and the creature born from his fusion with Solus. This time, gore and violence were a necessity because the white cores needed to witness the same things the Ygdrasill had seen to figure out their thought process.

    Once the battle was over, Lith reyed the final part of hisst mission with Strider, starting from the arrival of the elf and cutting the memory off before the Zouwu decapitated Lith.

    "Gods." Raaz said, his face pale as the blood drained from his face.

    The others fared even worse. They were either ghost white or green, doing their best not to puke. Only Tista and the white cores were unaffected.

    "Here''s what I think." Lith said. "The Yggdrasill isn''t interested in the tower. As Silverwing pointed out, if that was their goal, Yaga would have been the best choice."

    The Red Mother turned to her friend, hoping she would tell Lith to call her Lochra, but the dislike was clearly mutual.

    "The Tree picked Solus because of the fusion and because, unlike Yaga, Solus can be imprinted. It allows them to control her every thought and action without the need to persuade or coerce her. M''Rael used his bond with Solus to use her like a tool and I''m sure that the Tree can do much worse."

    "I''m not." Dawn walked out of the hunting cabin, wearing the white linen robes of the Desert. "My brother and I spent quite a lot of time teaching Solus how to attack and defend telepathically from an unwanted host.

    "The bonding with M''Rael was quite traumatic and you are not the only one who likes to n ahead. Didn''t she tell you?"

    "She did, but I''m not aware of her progress." Lith replied. "How would Solus fare against a Chronicler bonded with her?"

    "Badly." Dawn sighed. "Even if she resorts to the pettiest tricks and dirtiest tactics we have taught her, it''s only a matter of time before thebined willpower of the elf and his master trumps hers."

    They had no idea that Chroniclers couldn''t bond with Solus so they assumed the worst.

    "Still, it''s better than nothing." Lith nodded. "The longer she resists, the less time the Yggdrasill has to scar her mind and extract Menadion''s secrets from the tower. Thanks again, Yaga."

    "Don''t mention it." She dismissed the issue with a wave of her hand. "I agree with Lith. That''s the most usible answer. Sure, I devised my Horsemen to be capable of fusing with their host, but not with their tower. Solus is, in this aspect, unique.

    "On top of that, there''s a big difference between you and me, child. The Tree needed to kill you to prevent the conflict they knew is about to happen. You are acquainted with Guardians and many powerful beings willing to help you.

    "I have only my Firstborns, one Horseman, and Lochra. They are not enough to even crack the Yggdrasill''s Fringe open. My prolonged istion and time have destroyed my ties with the rest of Mogar whereas yours are strong."

    "Seconded." Silverwing growled.

    The idea that aside from Baba Yaga, and even that was a maybe, no one woulde to her rescue were Lochra in Solus'' shoes greatly annoyed her.

    ''I can''t believe I''m inferior to this runt. Since when do social skills matter to a mage?'' She inwardly griped.

    "But it''s not like Verhen fares much better. Sure, he has us and a few Dragons, but that''s it. It doesn''t make that much of a difference."

    "Wrong." Lith took subtle pleasure in correcting her. "I have you, Sinmara, Surtr, maybe their offspring, a few Dragons, and for sure Zoreth and Bytra. I''m going to contact them right after lunch and ask them to involve the other hybrids."

    Silverwing grimaced for a second before breaking up in a smile. Solus'' well-being came first and each one of the ancient Eldritches had a power that rivaled or surpassed her own.

    "That''s a great start, but it''s not enough." The Mother nodded. "We need to involve more people powerful enough to risk their lives for Solus and a cover story that will keep them from exposing her true nature or the tower. Do you have any idea how to achieve that?"

    "I do." Lith sighed heavily. "But we''ll discuss it over lunch and only after Zoreth and Bytra join us." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Wait." Elina grabbed his arm. "I know that time is of the essence and Solus is in danger, but that''s not the only thing you have to worry about. What about Aran, Leria, and the triplets? Don''t they deserve at least to know you''re alright?"

    "You''re right, Mom. I''m sorry."

    A snap of Baba Yaga''s fingers opened a Warp Gate from the local elementary magical school to the pce.

    "Uncle Lith!" Leria and the triplets tackled his legs, forcing him to conjure an air shield to keep them from hurting themselves.

    "Big brother!" Aran just lifted his arms, asking to be picked up.

    "Wee back." They said in unison.

    "Thanks, guys." He took Aran and put him on his shoulder. "I missed you a lot. How are you doing?"

    The children ignored his question and bombarded him with their own.

    "Was the mission hard? Are fairies pretty? Where were the fragments of the Rainbow Compass hidden?"

    Lith swallowed a massive "The what now?" and used his best poker face to make up answers to their questions without revealing he was ying it by ear.

    "Where is Aunt Solus?" Aran asked.

    "The fairies needed her help with restoring theirnd so she stayed behind." Lith replied. "But she''sing back soon. You know that we can''t stay apart for long."

    The children were satisfied with the answer and started asking when Solus would return and why she didn''t answer hermunication amulet.

    "Guys, I''m sorry but I''m exhausted. I just got back and I''m starving. Fairies eat nothing but morning dew and honey. Also, I must call Aunt Zoreth. I need her help for one of my experiments."

    "That won''t be necessary, Featherling." Sark appeared out of thin air.

    She had remained out of the reunion not to intrude in a moment she had not contributed to making but now it was ruined and one more person made little difference.

 Chapter 3218 Open Secret (Part 1)

    Chapter 3218 Open Secret (Part 1)

    "Zoreth and Bytra are already here. They were worried for you as anyone else and I granted them hospitality as a thank you for the help they provided in taking you back home safely. As for the food, that''s easily arranged."

    Sark pped her hands, moving everyone to her dining hall. "Besides, we can all use a warm meal after so many days of heartache."

    The people involved in the rescue mission were already sitting at the table. Quy, Nalrond, and everyone else stood up and weed Lith back, inquiring about his health

    Lith spent the minutes before the food was served reassuring his friends of his well-being. He also thanked those who had helped to stop him and apologized for his own attempts to kill them via a mind link not to scare the children.

    "Out of curiosity, why are we in the Desert? What''s wrong with Lutia?" Lith asked, obtaining a series of embarrassed coughs from his family''s side of the table.

    "Because your mother doesn''t trust ''just'' a white core to take care of her ''baby boy''." It was the first time that Lith saw Baba Yaga look offended. "She dragged us all here to put you under Sark''s care and protection.

    "Elina wanted to make sure nothing and no one might disturb your recovery."

    "Thanks, Mom."

    "You are wee, dear." Seeing her son already up and in good health was more than enough to convince Elina she had made the right choice.

    "How long was I out exactly?" Lith asked.

    "Just a few hours." Sark replied. "You have to thank your wife for that. First, she had Yaga take care of you until Elina brought you to the Desert. Then, after I was done checking up on your condition, she insisted Yaga and Ibined our efforts to speed up your recovery."

    "It''s not that I don''t trust you, Grandma." Kam said. "It''s just that I know this bonehead. He''s not going to rest until we have a concrete n to bring Solus back. Rather than struggle to keep him in his bed, I wanted him to regain his full strength.

    "Dying his departure would only make things harder for everyone."

    "I know." The Overlord nodded. "Did he at least apologize for all the mean things he said to you and for trying to kill you?"

    "Yes to both." Kam chuckled. "Right before fainting."

    The valets entered the room, pushing huge carts that carried multiple servings for normal humans or one serving for a Divine Beast.

    The meal was pleasant and delicious. Lith made small talk with his friends and family to understand what had happened while he was an amnesiac and how the Kingdom had taken his fight with Meln.

    They just had to carefully word a few details to keep the children from figuring out what they were really talking about without Lith missing a beat.

    After the bigger children were all tuckered out and the babies fast asleep, Sark moved everyone to her War Room to strategize Lith''s next move away from impressionable ears.

    Lith used that opportunity to share with them the only piece of information that no one but him was still aware of: the details of his battle with Orpal.

    "Disturbing." Baba Yaga said after listening to Lith''s recount of the Undead King''s newfound strength and abilities. "The little bas- I mean, Meln reaching the bright blue is bad news. As soon as his body stabilizes, he can go straight for the violet.

    "Then we''ll see what his so-called Vurdk bloodline is truly made of."

    "My biggest regret is that due to the amnesia, I didn''t have the means to cast your crystal-destruct spell, Yaga. Night''s and Dusk''s true bodies were barely merged. There''s a good chance it might have worked." Lith sighed.

    "Now Meln is never going to show his face until he reaches the violet and finishes fusing the crystals."

    "That''s for sure, but it''s also the reason I''m certain the crystal-destruction spell is already useless." Much to everyone''s surprise, it was Elina speaking. "Your br- Meln Narchat is a coward, Lith. He attacked you when you were alone, confused, and weakened.

    "The fact that he dared show his face in a city with a Warp Gate means that even if Lady Yaga''s spell still retains part of its effectiveness, it can''t be nothing much. Otherwise Meln would have never slithered out of his hiding hole."

    "I agree with Elina." The Red Mother nodded. "Based on what you''ve told us, Lith, Meln didn''t hesitate to let Night take the wheel even when fighting you in your debilitated state. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Meln and my daughter didn''te looking for a fair fight. They wanted a quick and easy victory. I don''t know why they left, but I can tell you there''s no chance the crystal-destruction spell would have caused them more than a tickle."

    An awkward silence befell the dining hall. The Verhens were as ashamed of carrying Orpal''s blood in their veins as much as the Mother was not to have killed Night the moment she had chosen him as her host.

    As for Sark, she just respected their suffering.

    "Let''s cut to the chase, Verhen." Silverwing said. "I agreed to help you because Yaga says that you should be able to sense Elphyn thanks to your Dragon homing instinct."

    "Solus." Lith corrected her with a snarl.

    "Solus." The First Magus raised her hand in apology. "Still, the problem is that none of us has any knowledge of the World Tree''s location or how to find them. Can you feel her or not?

    "Because if you can''t, everything we have prepared, anything we cane up with will be worth nothing. I''m sorry for pressuring you so soon after your recovery, but I can''t wait any longer.

    "I need to know if staying in the Desert holds any meaning or if I''d better go out there and start looking for Solus on my own."

    "Why should he feel Solus with his Dragon side?" Zoreth had remained silent until that moment but now curiosity pushed her to speak. "Our homing instinct works only for hatchlings and treasures and as much as I love Solus, her stone ring is worth nothing. Sentimental value doesn''t apply."

    Lith didn''t bother to hide his displeasure at Silverwing''s blunder simply because he knew that no one in his family had the poker face necessary to remain indifferent to Zoreth''s question.

    Everyone either looked at the ground, cleared their throat, or stuffed their face with the tea and pastries Sark had served. Anything to avoid the Shadow Dragon''s gaze and not give her an answer.

    "The ring holds a secret everyone here knows but me?" Zoreth was bbergasted. "Even you, Bytra?"

    At those words, Lith, Baba Yaga, and Silverwing turned around, noticing that the Fourth Ruler of the mes was the most awkward of them all.

    "Yes, Zor." Bytra cleared her throat.

    "Then why didn''t you tell me?" Zoreth dropped her teacup, making it clink against the te, and jumped up from her seat. "After everything we''ve gone through together do you still not trust me?"

    "Don''t be silly, of course I trust you!" Bytra''s outrage matched the Shadow Dragon''s and beat it by a good margin.

 Chapter 3219 Open Secret (Part 2)

    Chapter 3219 Open Secret (Part 2)

    "I couldn''t tell you because it''s not my secret but Elphyn''s, I mean, Solus''." Bytra said. "I already took her life once. I killed her mother and everyone who she considered her family.

    "The least I can do for her is to protect her new life at any cost, even if it meanspromising our rtionship. I don''t deserve you, Zor, and I know how hiding things from ourmon friend hurts you.

    "I didn''t want to make your burden heavier and force you to choose between your loyalty to me and the Organization. Not telling you was the only way to protect Solus and keep you from paying the price thates with my shitty past."

    "I understand." Zoreth said, yet her tone didn''t match her words. "As your friend, I''m proud of the personal sacrifices you have made to turn a new leaf and be a better person.

    "As your wife and closest confidant, however, I feel insulted. You didn''t have to tell me everything, Byt, but you shouldn''t have kept me in the dark either. You know I wouldn''t have pried."

    The Fourth Ruler of the mes lowered her gaze but didn''t reply. Anything she would say would sound like empty words. Yet she still had to try.

    "I''m sorry, Zor. I really am."

    "I can see that." The Shadow Dragon was torn too.

    She couldn''t decide whether to respect Bytra''s personal growth and the lengths she was willing to go to make up for her past mistakes or be angry at her for betraying Zoreth''s trust.

    "Since I''m the only one who doesn''t know and I''m not going to let either of you walk into the World Tree''s Fringe alone, don''t you think it''s time to correct the situation, little brother?" She turned to Lith.

    "You''ve risked your life to save me already and you''re going to risk it again to save Solus. At this point, even if Silverwing didn''t let this slip, I would have told you anyway because I need your help to protect Solus from the rest of the Organization." He nodded.

    "I can sense her with my Dragon senses for the same reason the Yggdrasill kidnapped her. Solus is bound to Menadion''s mage tower. That''s how she managed to survive the original Bytra''s murder attempt and why she hasn''t aged a day since then."

    "What?" Zoreth jumped up again, having a hard time believing her own ears.

    That piece of news exined everything. Why Lith was supposed to perceive Solus to the edges of Mogar. Why Bytra had refused to tell Zoreth about it. How Lith had achieved his meteoric rise as a mage and Forgemaster.

    Yet it also put the Shadow Dragon in an awkward position.

    ''If we take Solus with us after we rescue her and Bytra studies Menadion''s tower, she willplete her tower-crafting technique in weeks if not hours. All that time wasted investigating different lines of research and all those trial-and-error experiments could have been avoided if only-

    ''Gods, Bytra was right.'' Zoreth looked at her wife and then at Lith. ''I would have much preferred not knowing. I won''t betray my little brother''s and wife''s trust but that means betraying Dad and my entire acquired family. No matter what I do, I am going to let someone down.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Now that the secret is out, how did you understand that Solus and the tower were one, Bytra?" Lith asked.

    "It wasn''t that hard." She shrugged while the Shadow Dragon had to sit down due to her shaking knees. "Don''t forget that I''ve been Menadion''s apprentice. I worked in her tower and used the Fury under her supervision.

    "Ripha shared with me enough of her research for me to understand that she was nning something to save Solus'' life in case of emergency. I even helped her on a few asions.

    "Yet I had no idea Ripha hadpleted the project until Solus revealed her condition and showed the stone ring to me before our trip to Verendi. The cloaking rings eclipsed the tower''s energy signature but I knew that Ripha would never bond Solus to a mere trinket.

    "On top of that, it exined how you could craft powerful artifacts back when you were an academy student and why no one ever found Ripha''s tower even though itsst position was no mystery to the Awakenedmunity."

    "Because it moves around!" Zoreth finally understood the secret of Lith''s ability to move from one mana geyser to another.

    "Correct." Bytra nodded. "To be honest, I didn''t know the tower could do that, but after seeing Lith and Solus disappear, the final doubts I had about Solus'' survival cleared."

    "That''s noble of you, Bytra." Silverwing''s voice oozed sarcasm and poison. "After betraying Ripha and killing thousands of innocents as an Abomination, there''s still kindness in your heart."

    "Don''t talk to my wife like that!" Zoreth snarled.

    "I won''t, but only because it would be a waste of time." The First Magus'' face was a mask of cold indifference. "Now that we have cleared the air around the table, do you mind telling me if you can sense Solus or not, Lith?"

    "Give me a moment." He took Elysia from her crib and shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon.

    The baby girl followed her father''s lead, creating a resonance that strengthened his homing instinct.

    "She''s alive but not well." It wasn''t the first time Lith was separated from Solus and looked at her light from a distance. "I can tell you she''s hurt. The me of her existence flickers but not because of the distance. She''s fighting for her survival."

    "Good." Lochra''s voice was stone cold as she clenched her fists. "Can you pinpoint her location?"

    "Right there." Lith pointed his finger north, northeast. "No, wait. There." His hand moved to the far east.

    "What the farm?" Solus'' light didn''t just flicker, it also jumped from one point to another like a fly on steroids. "Something is wrong. Her presencees and goes and every time it happens her position changes. How can that be?"

    "I''ll tell you how." Sark said, drawing more than one shocked gaze on her. "Why are you looking at me like that? Even though I won''t interfere directly, it doesn''t mean I won''t share an outdated piece of information."

    "A few World Trees ago, I was invited to their Fringe. The Yggdrasill wanted my opinion on a Forgemastering technique of their creation and I was curious to check if the ims about the Tree being as powerful as a Guardian were true so I epted.

    "Long story short, the Yggdrasill''s Fringe is different from any other. It''s shaped by Mogar for them and the World Tree spends the first part of their life turning the newborn Fringe into an extension of their being.

    "As long as I was in there, it wasn''t just like being away from my turf. It was like being on the turf of a hostile Guardian. Space waspressed to the point that using a single dimensional spell required lots of effort.

    "The Fringe is on Mogar yet you have to think of it as a separate world where the Yggdrasill makes the rules. It''s not that Solus'' presence moves so much as you can sense her solely through the openings in the Fringe as the Chroniclers move in and out."

 Chapter 3220 Greed of Dragons (Part 1)

    Chapter 3220 Greed of Dragons (Part 1)

    "The old World Tree kept multiple ess points to every continent andbined them with the local Gate Networks to allow their Chroniclers to reach any ce on Mogar quickly. The current Tree probably does the same."

    "You must be right, Grandma." Lith nodded. "Now I can''t see Solus'' light anymore but I know she''s alive. The Yggdrasill must have closed all ess points to their Fringe for- Never mind, I can see her again."

    "This is great." Silverwing rolled her eyes. "If we have to wait for the World Tree to open a specific ess point long enough for you to track it down, it will take us a lot of time and luck. Can you tell which one is the closest to us at least?"

    "No." Lith shook his head. "They open and close too quickly. The light gives me the general direction and the annoyance I feel should give me an estimate of the distance but I don''t have the time to adjust before the ess point copses."

    "Oh, gods." Silverwing held her head between her hands. "Now what?"

    "Now we face one problem at a time." Lith replied. "Solus'' position is irrelevant until we have put together a force powerful enough to give us a chance to save her. Zoreth?"

    "You can count on Bytra and me for sure." The Shadow Dragon nodded. "I can ask the other core members of the Organization to help us and they surely will. Yet if we do, you must decide how much you want to reveal to them.

    "They are not stupid. They''ll understand Solus isn''t just your rtive, otherwise the Tree would have had no reason to kidnap her. You can choose not to tell them about the tower but if they look for a human woman, they''ll ignore a stone ring."

    "Point taken." Lith sighed while pondering the issue. "Valtak?"

    "I''m fine, if that''s what you''re asking me." The Father of Fire released a powerful bright violet aura. "If you want to know how many Dragons I can muster, instead, I can ask the Brood for help, but they''ll want something in return.

    "On top of that, if you want any Dragon to move their scaly bottom, you''d better tell them that Solus is bound to some kind of priceless treasure."

    "Why?" Everyone asked in unison.

    "Because Dragon greed." Valtak shrugged. "There are many Wyrms I know who would call you ipetent and foolish for losing your treasure but there are many others who would help you retrieve it.

    "No Dragon can suffer the thought of anyone robbing them and by helping you, they ensure that if they ever find themselves in your position, you''ll return the favor."

    "Point taken." Lith nodded. "What if we tell everyone Solus knows the location of the focus of my omni pocket? It would exin why the Tree kidnapped her and tried to kill me."

    "A perfect blend of lies and truth." Zoreth replied. "It''s a perfect cover, considering that the pocket dimension holds all your magical resources."

    "Agreed, but what about the reward?" Valtak asked. "It must be good or no one will even consider helping you."

    "Is this enough?" Lith took the Apprentice Ears of Menadion out of his dimensional amulet where Ragnar?k had stored it. "One piece of the legendary Menadion set as the bounty for my partner. Whoever saves her gets the prize."

    "Good gods!" Many said in unison and the Ernas girls were among them.

    Zoreth and Valtak looked at the helm with Dragon greed but Bytra''s eyes shone with desire no less than theirs.

    "Big sis, do you think the Organization might be interested? Before answering, I have to tell you I don''t know how to unlock the Ears like Maergron did. Every piece of the Set is sealed in tutorial mode unless a secret physical code is inputted."

    "Gods, yes!" She said with too much enthusiasm for everyone''s liking. "I mean, sure, but the other Eldritches will still wonder why you are willing to give away such a powerful artifact, even if I ''forget'' to mention the seal part."

    "I''m not." Lith shook his head. "Unless we find and save Solus, no one gets anything. The Ears are bait to rally powerful beings to my aid. Also, in case anyone asks, tell them I''ve tried the Ears and it puts too much strain on my cracked life force.

    "After all, Grandma can remove the imprint with Creation Magic so it''s a usible excuse. Everyone knows how much I care about my family. Sacrificing a powerful artifact I can''t use to save someone I love makes sense."

    "Speaking of which, do you mind if I take the Ears for a ride?" Friya asked.

    "After a meal?" Lith raised his eyebrow. "I wouldn''t do that if I were you, but sure. Help yourself."

    "Meaning?" Friya looked at the artifact as if it were a coiled venomous snake ready to bite.

    "I have yet to try the Ears but I''ve seen it in action. It suffers from sensory overload like the Eyes. You are in the presence of powerful beings wearing powerful artifacts. What do you think will happen when the Ears deliver the collected information to your brain at once?" Lith replied.

    "That I''ll get a splitting headache and puke my guts out at best and faint at worst." Friya said.

    "Correct. That''s how we defeated Maergron." Zoreth nodded.

    "Wait, Lady Yaga, don''t you know how the Ears work?" Quy asked.

    "I know that Lith''s assumption is correct, but that''s it." The Mother shook her head. "I can also tell you that the Ears are the mostbat-oriented of the four pieces of the Menadion Set. It''s the reason Ripha never shared anything about it with me.

    "In case one day we fought on different sides."

    "That''s¡­" Valtak''s voice rose several octaves and his tail came out of his back, wagging like that of a dog in front of its favorite treat. "I mean, that''s going to be a huge help during the recruiting phase.

    "A treasure for a treasure is a deal many Dragons are willing to take. Even though it''s more a rat race than a bounty, never underestimate a Dragon''s greed."

    "This will put me into trouble, but I can guarantee you the Organization''s aid." Zoreth said. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "You have my help too, little brother." Sinmara walked through the door. "Reward or not, I''ll do everything I can to help you. If I''m the one to rescue Solus, you can keep the Ears of Menadion for yourself.

    "I''ll be your strawman so that if anyone is tempted to steal it once we get back home, they''lle after me instead of you."

    "You can count on us as well." Surtr and Rethia were just one step behind her. "We came as soon as we received news of your awakening. We didn''t arrive sooner because we didn''t want to intrude in your family reunion.

    "I give up on the reward as well, but if the Ears end up in the hands of one of your friends, I would greatly appreciate it if they could lend it to me from time to time."

    "Dear!" Rethia nudged him hard enough to make the Dragon of Light take a side step. "That''s rude and insensitive!"

 Chapter 3221 Greed of Dragons (Part 2)

    Chapter 3221 Greed of Dragons (Part 2)

    "No, that''s reasonable." He replied. "I didn''t ckmail Lith or demand anything. I just asked."

    "You-"

    "I don''t mind." Lith cut the quarrel short. "Having three more white cores is more than I could hope for."

    "Three white cores and lots of Griffons and Dragons." Surtr tutted before Lith could even ask for more helpers. "I''ll ask our children for help but I won''t allow anyone with less than a bright violet core to participate."

    "Dear!" Rethia didn''t like the idea one bit.

    "This is a family matter." Surtr dismissed her objection with a curt wave of his hand. "If it was you instead of Solus, do you think our children would stay still? That I wouldn''t ask Lith to bring Elysia, were she old enough to fight?

    "Besides, do you really expect that our older children will just stay there and watch their parents risk their lives? This way we can at least know in advance whoes with us and instruct them of the danger.

    "If we don''t, they are going to follow us anyway but without being aware of our battle n. The kids would end up endangering themselves and forcing us to rescue them at the cost of disrupting our battle formation.

    "It would cripple the rescue mission''s odds of sess."

    "Surtr is right." Valtak stopped Rethia before she could object. "I know that many Fire Dragons wille just to protect me. Even without the reward, my children who love me and the members of my bloodline who owe me won''t refuse their help.

    "They won''t do it for Lith or Solus, but for me."

    "I won''t allow you toe, Valtak." Lith said. "You are old and there''s little left of your life force. You would be exhausted after breathing Origin mes a few times."

    "Then, I''ll make those few times count." Valtak snorted smoke from his nostrils. "You can''t tell me what to do with my life, hatchling. Besides, my presence makes the difference between a handful of Fire Dragons and a whole greed of them."

    "Greed?" Elina echoed.

    "Lions assemble in prides, crows in murders, Dragons have greeds." Valtak shrugged.

    On the one hand, Lith knew he needed all the help he could get. On the other hand, he didn''t want to see the Elder Wyrm consume what was left of his life force on the battlefield.

    "Why are you doing this? We haven''t met for long and I''m not even the next Father of Fire."

    "Because I want to and because you might be the next Father of Fire." Valtak replied.

    The truth was that ever since Solus'' disappearance, the Elder Wyrm had the nagging feeling that something terrible was going to happen. The Father of Fire had no memory of his vision in the Mindscape but he knew that only he could stop it.

    ''Maybe it''s what Lith will be if he loses Solus or maybe it''s what the Yggdrasill will do with the tower. Whatever it is, I can''t let it happen.'' The Fire Dragon thought.

    "If you have nothing more to add, I''ll start making a few calls. What we have here is a good start but not enough to consider a full-scale attack on the World Tree. Until you find a way to track Solus down, I''ll convince as many people as I can to join us."

    "Just one more thing that will help you guys in your negotiations." Lith imprinted the Ears and then handed it to Baba Yaga, but not before adding her, Silvering, and Bytra as authorized users.

    "You three knew Menadion and her work best. Until we depart, I would like you to work together to figure out how to unlock the Ears'' true potential. I intend to add the code or at least a few hints to the reward."

    "Are you insane?" Silverwing stood up abruptly, mming her hands on the table with so much strength that it would have copsed if not for being made to withstand a Guardian''s weight.

    "What''s the problem?" Lith remained calm, steepling his fingers as he looked the First Magus in the eyes. "The Fringe is like an enormous mana geyser and as Yaga said, the Ears is the mostbat-oriented piece of Menadion''s set.

    "If we can unlock its true power, the Ears can alter the tides of battle or just reduce the disadvantage we''ll face while on the enemy''s turf. On top of that, only an idiot would understand that only one artifact isn''t enough to motivate powerful beings to risk their life.

    "One outstanding, peerless treasure, however, could do the trick. Especially if I offer people the opportunity to give the Ears a try before making their decision. Heck, in a Dragon''s shoes, I''d take the risk for just a chance to possess the Ears."

    "That''s not the problem. She is!" Silverwing pointed at Bytra. "She''s the one who killed Menadion and stole her Fury. Look at what she''s done."

    The First Magus'' finger moved from the Raiju to the Absolution hung to her hip and then to the Maws on her and Zoreth''s necks.

    Even though Silverwing made no mention if it, she hadn''t missed how Zoreth''s Sky Piercer bore a striking resemnce with the Hands. She had no idea how close the artifact was to the original but she counted it as half as good since there was only one gauntlet.

    It was enough for Silverwing to acknowledge Bytra''s talent for creating her own version of half of Menadion Set, leaving out only the Ears and the Eyes.

    "Even with just Life Vision, I can tell that her hammer is superior to the old Fury just like that mask is superior to the Apprentice Mouth. Even worse, Bytra made more than one. How can you think that giving her the opportunity to get her hands on the Ears is a good idea? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What if she cracks its secrets? What if people like Tezka and all the old monsters in the Organization get their own Ears of Bytra? What will you do then?"

    "That''s a problem for another day." Lith shrugged. "Right now, my only priority is to rescue Solus. Not only because she''s precious to me and part of my family but also because I won''t let the fucker who took her get their own Menadion''s tower.

    "What if the Tree crafts the whole set as well for their Chroniclers? How will we stop them then? The Yggdrasill would be free to roam Mogar and do whatever they want while Solus would be dead!" With each word he spoke his words seethed with cold fury.

    "But-"

    "Enough!" Lith cut her short. "Let me be clear, Silverwing. You have no say in this matter and the only reason I tolerate your presence is because I can''t afford losing the aid of a white core with a tower."

    "She has a tower?" Bytra said in enthusiasm but Lith''s re shut her up and convinced her to save her questions forter.

    "Bytra, instead, is my honored guest and someone I trust so I won''t allow you to disrespect her any further. She''s not the original Bytra, she just has her memories and talent.

    "She could have kept her mouth shut and we would have never known who killed Menadion, let alone retrieved the Fury.

 Chapter 3222 Finding Yggdrasill (Part 1)

    Chapter 3222 Finding Yggdrasill (Part 1)

    "It was the Organization that located and acquired the Mouth of Menadion but it''s only thanks to Bytra if they gifted it back to me once they were done studying the Mouth." Lith said.

    "Bytra has risked her life to save Solus'' several times already and she has proven herself once more today by revealing that she knew about the tower all along yet feigned ignorance to cover for us.

    "When Solus and I first met you, Silverwing, you tried to kill me. When we first met Bytra, she offered her life as an apology for crimes she only remembers. She helped us whenever we needed her and found the Mouth and Ears for us.

    "The best you could do, instead, was stay out of our way." Lith''s words stabbed at the First Magus'' pride but even with the dislike she harbored for him and the Fourth Ruler of the mes, there was no denying the truth.

    "I don''t care if Bytra cracks the secret of the Ears. I trust her to do the right thing and not disclose anything she learns until Solus is saved. The only thing that matters to me is increasing my odds of sess, even by a slight margin.

    "The Ears are both my only bargaining chip and a powerful tool. I won''t sacrifice it just to appease your grudge." Then Lith turned to the Raiju. "Do I have your word, Bytra?"

    "Of course." She had a hard time keeping her voice from cracking.

    Hearing someone speaking so highly of her despite her awful past gave the Fourth Ruler of the mes hope that maybe one day the rest of Mogar too would forgive her.

    "Whatever I learn, I''ll keep it to myself until the end of the mission. Were I to understand how to make the Ears and one of my associates to learn about it, the Organization would pull away and your offer lose much of its luster."

    "Thanks, Bytra." Lith gave her a small bow.

    "If that''s settled, then I''m going to be optimistic and tell everyone the Earse unlocked." Valtak said. "Even if it''s a lie, I count on the three greatest Forgemasters alive to turn it into truth before the raid."

    Sark stared at him for a while, her gaze stern.

    "Present Guardian excluded, of course." The Elder Wyrm stood up and walked out of the War Room before taking hismunicator out of his dimensional amulet.

    "I have no way to find the Fringe and no children I can take into battle, but I know someone who might be interested in your offer, Lith. I''ll be gone for a while but if you need me, you have my rune."

    Sinmara left her seat right after Valtak and shapeshifted into her Phoenix form, disappearing on the horizon in the blink of an eye.

    "Grandma?" Tista looked at the Overlord with a hopeful look.

    "Yes, Featherling?"

    "Can''t you help us?" Kam had already tried and failed but Tista hoped that the perspective of getting the Ears and the happiness from having Lith back would tip the scales of the Overlord''s heart.

    "I don''t know where the new Tree resides and I''m not going to get involved." Sark replied, making everyone groan. "If you want to ask me for the help of my Nest, the answer is no. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I won''t order my Phoenixes to fight a battle that doesn''t involve the Desert but I won''t stop them from helping you, if that''s what they want to do."

    Lith sighed, cursing hisck of social interaction with the Nest.

    ''Aside from Sinmara and Crevan''s unit, I know no one. Heck, if not for Valtak, the only Dragons I know would be Zoreth and Gentor! I''ve spent too much time in myb and too little out there.''

    The room became silent as everyone racked their brains to find someone among the people they knew who might be strong and reliable enough to help and figure out a way to locate Solus'' position.

    "What about Aalejah?" Friya said. "She was an aspirant Chronicler and might have some useful clue about the new Tree''s Fringe or at least information about their standard defenses."

    "It''s worth a shot." Lith tried and failed to ess his pocket dimension where hismunicator still was. "Fuck me sideways, I forgot I''ve lost all of my contacts!"

    "Don''t worry, I''ll deal with it." Friya called Faluel who in turn contacted Athung, the human representative of the Distar region and current host of Aalejah Eventide.

    "Dammit, I can''t believe how useless I am without Solus." Lith said in frustration. "I''ve lost my amulet, all of my magical resources, and even if I conjure an entire army of Demons of Darkness, I don''t have any equipment to give them.

    "Valia''s and Varegrave''s corpses are lost as well and-"

    "Excuse me for a moment." One of the runes on Zoreth''smunicator was shing and she recognized it as Tezka''s. "You are on speaker."

    "On speaker with who?" He asked.

    "Lith, his family, and a few friends. We are in the Blood Desert right now." It was a polite way to tell him that while under Sark''s roof, there was no way to hide anything from her.

    "Hi, young sparrow." Tezka said.

    "Hi, old fox." Sark replied. "Why did you call?"

    "To report a mission aplished." The Suneater said. "I''ve done what you asked, Xenagrosh."

    "Have you located the World Tree?" She almost couldn''t believe her ears.

    Almost.

    "No, but I''ve got the next best thing. I''ve captured a Chronicler and I''m bringing him back home." Tezka replied.

    "How is that supposed to help? A Chronicler can''t betray his master." Zoreth''s enthusiasm faded with each word she spoke. "Roughening him up won''t do us any good."

    "That''s where you are wrong." The Fylgja said. "How do you think I found the World Tree thest time? Every Chronicler shares a deep bond with the Yggdrasill. They are the Tree''s eyes and ears which means that whatever they feel, the Tree feels it as well."

    "If you inflict crippling pain to a Chronicler, the Yggdrasill suffers crippling pain as well. Keep at it long enough and the World Tree will be forced to send a kill team."

    "Don''t you mean a rescue team?" Zoreth asked.

    "Only if the opponent is someone the Yggdrasill''s forces can handle." Tezka replied. "Remember that the moment the Chronicler regains consciousness, the Tree will know where the elf is and who captured him.

    "Rather than defeating me, killing the Chronicler is much easier. My to-go strategy to locate a Yggdrasill is to let the kill teamplete their mission and then tail one of the Chroniclers after they part ways.

    "Pun not intended.At that point, it''s only a matter of time before they travel back to the Fringe and lead me to an ess point. Once I know where the hidden dimensional passage is, going in and out is easy."

    "It was a good n in the past, but it''s not going to work anymore." Lith sighed. "Until a while ago you were still an Eldritch and the previous World Trees probably underestimated you. After all, the gap in power between you was enormous and they had nothing to lose aside from a bit of wood.

 Chapter 3223 Finding Yggdrasill (Part 2)

    Chapter 3223 Finding Yggdrasill (Part 2)

    "Now, however, the Yggdrasill knows you''ve be a hybrid, that you are part of the Organization, and the oue of yourst sparring with Grandma. I know because the Chroniclers used a spell capable of preventing even a dimensional mage from following them.

    "After the Chroniclers ambushed us in the Garden, they altered the space to keep the Warp Steps they used to escape from being opened again."

    "I can vouch for that." Friya said. "I tried everything I could on the site where Lith was ambushed but to no avail. The dimensional space surrounding the Warp Gate had been copsed first and then rxed, deleting every trace of the original dimensional coordinates."

    "Who''s talking?" Tezka asked.

    "Friya Ernas, sir." She cleared her throat. "The woman who reached enlightenment by watching your fight with Overlord Sark."

    "Dammit, kid. It''s nice hearing from you but I would have liked better news. Are you certain the Chroniclers have found a way to hamper dimensional tracking?" The Suneater said.

    "Yes, sir." Friya nodded. "I know my mastery over dimensional magic is a small thingpared to yours but I''ve done everything I could think of and I didn''t get so much as a glimpse of the Chroniclers'' destination."

    "Don''t underestimate yourself, kid." Tezka scratched the fur under his chin. "Sure, experience and spells can make a difference but your talent is the real deal. If you had found the traces of the residual gate and failed to re-open it, I would have seeded.

    "Yet if there was no residual gate there''s nothing I can do. I can study the Chroniclers'' new technique for a counter, but it would take time and practice we don''t have. We must think of another way. And stop calling me sir. Anything but doggie will do."

    "Who would ever dare-"

    "Aran, Leria, and any kid I''ve met along the way." Tezka sighed, cutting her short.

    "On top of that, back then there was nothing at stake." Lith continued. "You could afford to wait for as long as it took whereas I''m on a clock. What if the World Tree doesn''t recall the members of the strike team until the Yggdrasill is done with Solus to keep them from being followed?

    "I see your point." Tezka nodded. "Do you want me to bring the package or not, Lith?"

    "Bring it to the Blood Desert, please. The coordinates for the Heavenly Plume Tribe are-"

    "No need for that, kid. I know where it is. What I need is the young sparrow''s clearance toe. If I hurt one Phoenix on my way there, I offend them all. I don''t think a bloodbath of your potential allies would do you any good." Tezka cut Lith short.

    "Grandma?" Lith turned toward the Overlord.

    "Clearance granted, old fox. But only if youe straight here, deliver the package, and stay here. The moment you leave my pce you also leave the Desert. If you take a stroll or a few souvenirs, I''ming after you." Sark replied.

    "Damn, you leave me no space for loopholes." The Suneater had a goodugh, not even trying to hide his ill intentions. "Fine, I''ll be there in a while but to what end? Have you be a better dimensional mage than Friya, Lith?"

    "Not a chance." Lith shook his head. "I just have a contingency n that requires a Chronicler and plenty of help. I''ll exin everything to you once you arrive."

    "Now would be a good time to start, then." The curtain of the War Room slid open and Tezka walked between the two Phoenixes standing guard, leaving them bbergasted.

    They lifted their weapons and started conjuring their best spells but a mere flick of Sark''s hand put them on their knees.

    "You heard me. The Suneater is my honored guest and threatening him because he slipped past you just adds insubordination to your ipetence. Leave, now." The two Phoenixes gritted their teeth in shame, giving the Overlord a deep bow before walking out of the War Room.

    "Don''t be too harsh on them. They are just kids and even with my package, I''ve learned a trick or two since we''vest met." Tezka dropped the heavy sack he carried near the entrance, making it groan in pain.

    "I noticed." Sark nodded. "I enjoy your visits when you don''t mess around my turf. I always learn something from you."

    "Mom, Dad, Rena, please leave. What I''m about to discuss is for mages only. We must discuss war." He gave them a stern gaze that made his rtives understand he didn''t want them there either. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Everyone knew how ruthless Lith was but he didn''t like to show that side of him in front of his family. He never let them know the details of how he protected them unless it was absolutely necessary or just unavoidable.

    ''I have to dirty my hands but there''s no point in dirtying their consciences as well.'' He thought.

    "Can I stay?" Kam asked.

    "I''d really prefer Elysia and Valeron don''t remain in this room. I know Bytra''s Doomyer crib is Hushed, but still." Lith stared at the babies in the crib, obtaining a smile and a giggle from them.

    The moment Kam had the crib float and move away from him, the babies cried likembs led to the ughter.

    "I don''t think they are okay with this." She said. "You have just returned and you being in a different room or another continent makes no difference to the kids as long as they don''t see you."

    Lith didn''t want Elysia and Valeron even to witness such a debate, but at the same time, his homing instinct agreed with them. After being away for so long, the Hush spell did nothing to shield him from their cries.

    He couldn''t physically hear them, but he felt every wail in his chest.

    "Fine."He sighed. "Grandma?"

    "They won''t hear a word or perceive a shred of killing intent." The Overlord reassured him. "Only rainbows and Dragons for my Featherlings."

    She put Shargein in his baby form in the crib with Elysia and Valeron before adding several special effects like soap bubbles, small birds, and colorful rays of light to keep the babies entertained.

    "Thanks." He nodded to Sark. "Here''s my n."

    Lith told them everything he could remember about the technique M''Rael had used to force the World Tree into submission after capturing one of their Chroniclers. Lith didn''t have Solus'' eidetic memory and Body Sculpting wasn''t his forte.

    ''I can only hope that between Quy''s genius and Tezka''s expertise they can understand how to twist an elf''s life force so that it''s painful enough to cripple the World Tree but without inflicting so much damage that the Chronicler might die.'' He thought.

    "I can give it a go, but to be honest, I don''t know where to start." Quy sighed. "I''ve never studied an elf''s life force and I''m a healer, not a torturer. Damaging a life force on purpose wasn''t among my studies."

    "Sorry, but I fare no better, kid." Tezka shook his head. "I am a torturer, but I mostly use Chaos and my Abomination Touch for the job. I was an Eldritch until a few years ago.

 Chapter 3224 Neutral Grounds (Part 1)

    Chapter 3224 Neutral Grounds (Part 1)

    "It''s been hundreds of millennia since I used my breathing technique to study a life force and I haven''t healed more than a scraped knee since I''ve gotten my monster core." Tezka said.

    "Rethia, Surt. What about you?" Lith asked.

    "I''ve focused on developing my mana core with Sinmara first and then on my research and family with my wife." The Dragon of Light sighed. "I''ve never met an elf or entered a Fringe my whole life."

    "Torture isn''t on my resume either." The Wind Griffon shrugged. "Yet I consider myself an expert on life forces and I''m willing to give it a try."

    "That''s nice of you, but trying isn''t enough." Tezka grunted. "The moment we take my prisoner out of that bag, the World Tree will know what is happening. The more time we waste to extract the information we need, the longer the Yggdrasill will have to prepare a solid defense.

    "Gods below, we don''t even know if Lith is back to his full strength." The Suneater turned toward Lith. "If everything goes as nned, can you march into battle right now, little brother? Have youpleted all the preparations for your departure?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Grandma?" Lith asked, prompting the Guardian to use her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to assess the condition of his life force.

    "You can fight safely, but not at your full strength. Not because your life force is strained but because your body is still exhausted. You have taken yourself down and rebuilt your entire body from scratch just a few hours ago, Featherling."

    Those words twisted Lith''s stomach into a knot.

    "Even with my and Yaga''s best care, you need a full day to make aplete recovery."

    "Well, that''s good to hear." Lith said, feeling his stomach untangle. "We can''t leave until I''ve gathered all the allies I can find so waiting a few more hours shouldn''t be a problem."

    "Emphasis on shouldn''t." Silverwing grunted. "There''s no telling what Elphyn is enduring while we are here chatting but there''s still too few of us tounch an attack."

    "You have no idea how right you are." Tezka said. "It''s not just a matter of numbers, but also of tactical advantage. If you can gather a force matching the Yggdrasill''s strength or evening close to it, our chances of victory will increase dramatically, little brother."

    "What do you mean?" Everyone looked at the Suneater in confusion. "The number of our forces is only meant to stall for time. We don''t stand a chance against an opponent of the caliber of a Guardian on their own turf."

    "You didn''t tell him." Tezka stared at Sark who shrugged in reply.

    "I didn''t want to give my Featherling false hope, old fox."

    "What didn''t Grandma tell me, Tezka?" Lith asked.

    "Do you know the expression: when two Guardians battle, maps get rewritten?" The Suneater asked and Lith nodded for him to continue. "It''s true. Or rather, it would be true, if there weren''t safety measures in ce.

    "If you have ever looked at ancient maps, you should have noticed that Mogar''s geography hasn''t changed much, yet I can assure you that Guardians have fought multiple times throughout history.

    "Sometimes for good reasons, most of the time for petty reasons, but I digress. The point is that the six great continents are safe because Guardians rarely use their true power. Even when they fight, they hold back and exert surgical precision on the area of effect of their spells.

    "On top of that, Guardians usually agree to move the conflict to a ce high in the sky or in the middle of the ocean, where there''s not much to destroy. Yet even such precautions are useless when they go all out or use their equipment.

    "If left unchecked, the mere shockwaves from their blows would cause tidal waves and the elements conjured by their spells would trigger all kinds of natural disasters. Just one of their fights, no matter where it takes ce, would affect the entire.

    "It''s the reason when your daughter was attacked, Leegaain had to raise a containment field to protect the Kingdom. Yet that was possible because a single Guardian was attacking and the other was focusing on defence.

    "There''s nothing that can stop two Guardians fighting and a third Guardian meddling would only cause more destruction. Luckily for us, Mogar takes responsibility for her own creations.

    "Whenever two conflicting forces threaten life on Mogar''s surface, our creates a temporary Fringe to contain them. Everything that happens inside the disced space has no effect on the outside world."

    "A Fringe?" Baba Yaga echoed. "As in, a new one would epass the World Tree''s domain?"

    "Exactly." Tezka nodded.

    "It would be a game changer!" The Red Mother shapeshifted into her Maiden form in excitement.

    After noticing the still-baffled expression on her allies'' faces she rushed to exin:

    "Don''t you understand? The containment Fringe would epass and overwrite the Yggdrasill''s domain! The world energy would no longer be under the World Tree''s control and with that, they would lose the home advantage.

    "We would have a safe space to retreat and recover our strength outside the World Tree''s arrays. A space where our towers and bloodline abilities work at their full potential without the possibility of enemy interference.

    "If what Tezka is saying is right, we wouldn''t fight on enemy territory anymore but on neutral ground."

    "There''s no if. I know I''m right because I''ve seen it first-hand. I''ve lived it. I caused it. Isn''t that right, little sparrow?" Tezka''s wolfish smile was addressed at Sark and everyone stared at the Guardian.

    "It''s true." She nodded. "When we fought for the first time, the old fox''s powers and equipment matched mine. I had to go all out and had no energy to spare to protect our surroundings. Mogar intervened and sealed us until the fight ended.

    "The same thing happened when your grandfather Leegaain fought Roghar to protect Elysia right after she was conceived."

    "He did what?" Lith burned with fury, but his questions had to wait.

    "This is amazing news." He pondered. "It means we can predict the oue of the battle before it even starts. If the Fringe forms, we have a concrete chance at victory. If it doesn''t, the best we can do is buy time while a small strike team rescues Solus."

    "Indeed, but the odds of you recruiting such force are slim to none." Sark said. "That''s why I never mentioned any of it. What you have here is barely enough for a quick raid and that''s only if you retain the advantage of surprise.

    "Without it, anything you do would be nothing more than an borate suicide attempt."

    "And it''s actually much harder than it sounds." Tezka added. "Have you wondered why white cores, Eldritches, or the Awakened Council have never used this strategy to take down a Guardian?

    "That''s because even if the power of the two factions is on the same level, one is possessed by a single individual while the other is spread among lots of people. Guardians die hard. Everyone else, not so much.

    "With every Awakened that falls in battle, with every artifact that gets destroyed, the bnce gets tipped in favor of the Guardian."

 Chapter 3225 Neutral Grounds (Part 2)

    Chapter 3225 Neutral Grounds (Part 2)

    "As soon as the enemy side weakens enough, the Fringe disappears and the Guardian regains the turf advantage, can call for help, or even run away if they want." Right now, you don''t even have my help, little brother." Tezka said.

    "Does this change your mind?" Lith handed the Ears of Menadion to the Suneater and exined to him the terms of the deal.

    Tezka smacked his lips with an excitement that was quickly quelled as he assessed the mission''s slim chances of sess and the even slimmer chances he would be the one to rescue the girl.

    "Depends. Bytra, do you want the Ears?" The Suneater asked.

    "I do." She nodded. "Think what we could achieve if we all have one. If I seed in updating and improving the Ears like I''ve done with the Mouth. Zor and I are going to ask the Master to participate in the invasion with the Organization''s full force."

    "In this case, count me in." Tezka replied. "But even I''m not enough to fill the huge gap with a Guardian. Myst fight with the little sparrow proves it."

    Lith remembered how no Fringe had formed during their fight. If it was because of the Phoenixes sealing the area or Sark hiding her real strength Lith couldn''t say.

    "Bytra, please go contact the Master. Yaga, please see if your Firstborns are willing to participate. With Dawn''s prism embedded in their chests, daylight wouldn''t be an issue." He said.

    "Everyone who can call for reinforcements, please do it. The rest of us will discuss a n to extract the information we need from the Chronicler and attack the Yggdrasill''s Fringe in quick session.

    "If anyone has ideas or suggestions, they are wee." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I do." Quy wringed his hands, wondering if somehow her mother had predicted a scenario like that and Quy was about to help Jirni further her agenda. "First, let''s wait for Aalejah to arrive.

    "There''s no point to make ns just to exin them to her and have to start over based on her input. Second, if you are fine with fighting dirty and disregarding mercy entirely, I think you know a couple of people who can be of help."

    "And who might them be?" Lith asked.

    "Well, you need the expertise of someone who fought on his own against an overwhelmingly more powerful opponent and that''s Balkor. He doesn''t have his undead anymore, but you have your demons and he could teach you a few tricks." Quy replied.

    "Also, if you want to keep the Chronicler alive for the duration of the assault to keep the World Tree off their game, you need my mother."

    "I appreciate the idea, Quy, and I''m going to call Balkor but Jirni is no mage. Putting a pregnant woman in a cell with a violet cored Awakened is too dangerous. She can''t help us." Lith dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

    "Just call her. Trust me." Quy looked as sure of her words as she was nervous.

    Lith tried to conjure hismunication amulet but to no avail, again. Frustration clenched his hands as he was reminded that his pocket dimension was lost.

    "Please, call her yourself and then hand me your amulet."

    Jirni answered the call immediately and once Lith was done exining her what he needed, a soft smile formed on her lips.

    "I think I can help. Don''t worry, I won''t ask you any question. I just need a favor."

    ***

    Blood Desert, ss ins, at the same time.

    "This is a weird spot for a meeting." Aylen Nagaar, the First Lich, Maker of all Liches, and Inxialot''s mother said while looking around nervously.

    The residual energy from the fight between Sark and the Suneater filled the area, making Aylen feel small and insignificant.

    "Quite the contrary there is no more neutral ground than this." Sinmara, the Phoenix of Darkness replied. "Here my mother faced her nemesis and let him walk away after defeating him.

    "The ss ins are testament to the honor of the Phoenix bloodline when dealing even with their worst enemy. Mother let go of Tezka just like I''m going to let you go, no matter your answer."

    "I''m your nemesis?" Aylen furrowed her light brown eyebrows. "That''s ttering, but also sad. You should find something better to do in your free time than collecting enemies and ranking them. Like a boyfriend."

    "I don''t collect enemies!" Sinmara snarled, hating to hear from a Lich the same arguments she had with her mother. "I kill them all. You are the exception and not for ack of trying, mind you."

    "I know. That''s the ttering part." The Maker of All Liches nodded. "If you want me to introduce someone to you, you''re out of luck. I''ve been too busy with my research to meet hot guys and I wouldn''t introduce that moron of my son to my worst enemy."

    "Shut up and listen!" The Phoenix of Darkness rolled her eyes. "That''s not the personal favor I was talking about when I called you. This is not for me but for Lith. If you agree to help me, you might get yourself a full pardon."

    "Lith?" Aylen''s eyes widened in shock.

    She had no idea who he was until a kitten from one of her pockets showed her the image of a young handsome man from Aylen''smunicator.

    "He''s quite the catch, but he''s married." She scrolled the most recent news about him. "I''ll kill his wife if you want but I can''t ept a full pardon for such a trivial job. It would be dishonest to my nemesis."

    She gave Sinmara a curtsy that almost sent the Phoenix of Darkness in a fit of rage.

    "I''m not here for a boyfriend!" Before Aylen could ramble about Sinmara''s personal life orck thereof, the Phoenix of Darkness told Aylen about the mission to rescue Solus, the potential reward of the Ears of Menadion, and the risks of invading the World Tree''s Fringe.

    "Oh. This is definitely full pardon material." Aylen tapped her chin with a finger pensively. "Are you sure you have the authority to grant it to me? Your mother has a pretty clear non-intervention policy in these matters."

    "Yes, I do, and yes, she has." Sinmara nodded. "That''s why she''s not offering it to you. I am. As the Overlord''s second inmand, I have many discretionary powers like rewarding an ally for her services.

    "Like, for example, helping to rescue a member of the family withoutpromising the safety of the Blood Desert or the lives of any Phoenix aside from me."

    "I know how much Sark loves her hatchlings but what you ask me seems a big favor for no return. For Sark, I mean. I don''t think she''s going to allow it. Not even for you." Aylen replied.

    "She will if we seed and we both know that even without the pardon, you''ll keep guing the Desert with your presence. At least this way my people will gain something from it instead of losing resources like always." Sinmara said with a smile.

    "And how do your people gain anything from a full-scale war with one of the most powerful beings on Mogar?" Aylen scoffed.

 Chapter 3226 Ancient Bloodlines (Part 1)

    Chapter 3226 Ancient Bloodlines (Part 1)

    "First, my people can benefit from the conflict by not taking part in it." Sinmara replied. "They will take no risk and get the same thing you will if you decide to take my offer. A piece of the loot."

    "Which is?" The First Lich liked where the Phoenix was going.

    "All the Yggdrasill wood you can collect, part of their knowledge and treasures, and if you save Solus, even one of the pieces of the legendary Menadion Set." Sinmara conjured holograms of staves, books, enchanted items, and the Ears.

    "The idea is to break in, rescue her, and get out of the Fringe. Yet we are going to fight our way to her cell and if any of us finds anything valuable, they are free to keep it."

    "Anyone?" Aylen''s nostrils dted in greed and excitement.

    "Firste, first served." Sinmara nodded. "You can take anything you want except the enchanted items that belong to Solus."

    The Phoenix of Darkness chose her phrasing carefully to extort from the Lich an oath that would keep her from taking the tower even if she were to discover its existence.

    The promise wasn''t just to not take Solus or her equipment but everything rted to her. Of course, Aylen was smart enough to notice the ambiguity of the request but she failed to grasp its implications.

    The idea that a person could be bound to a mage tower except by imprint was beyond absurd.

    "I''m not going to lie, you had my curiosity at full pardon but the loot garnered you my attention." Aylen tapped her lips and her left foot on the ground. "Just a few questions. Why me?"

    "Because you are a powerful white core and your army of cats¡­"

    "Emperor Beasts!" The Maker of All Liches corrected Sinmara.

    "Your army of Emperor Beast who all started as cats shares your secret for the violet core and they won''t let you go to battle alone. By recruiting you I''m actually bringing hundreds of Awakened to my side."

    "Point taken." Aylen grumbled. "What about my phctery? I''ve never been inside a Fringe but I know how they work. If I leave my phctery outside, my strength will be more than halved but if I bring it with me, I''d be no different from a living being."

    "Baba Yaga ising with us. You can leave your phctery in her tower, if you promise not to try anything funny." Sinmara replied.

    "Why should I trust her?"

    "Because this mission means a lot to her as well and she doesn''t give a damn about you." The Phoenix of Darkness shrugged. "Do you think Baba Yaga would break her word for a Lich she despises? Also, she would protect your phctery and be indebted to you if we seed."

    "Indeed she would." Aylen was old, butpared to the Red Mother she was an infant. The idea of meeting Baba Yaga and being entitled to a favor from her was tempting. "Can I bring my son and a few of my oldb assistants?

    "Inxi has a friend who might be of help and we could use some extra help."

    "Fine by me, as long as they agree on the same conditions, you give me your personal assurance they will stick to the terms of our deal, and they won''t take part in the infiltration mission." Sinmara replied.

    "They will remain outside the World Tree and draw the enemy fire."

    "If it''s a diversion you want, you''ll get it." Aylen nodded. "The firste first served policy applies to them as well, right?"

    "Right, but so it does the ''Don''t touch anything belonging to Solus'' part. Do we have a deal?" Sinmara held out her hand and the Lich promptly shook it.

    "You bet we do! As for the infiltration mission, there''s no way my former assistants would meddle with your ns. If half of what I''ve heard about the Fringe of the World Tree is true, there''s so much stuff to take that they wouldn''t care about this Solus girl even if she was made out of purified Davross."

    "That''s what I was hoping to hear." Sinmara smiled, having a hard time not feeling sorry for the Tree.

    She knew what a pain in the ass dealing with one Lich was and now she was about to bring a horde of deranged immortal Liches straight into the Yggdrasill''s home.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, Sark''s Pce a few minutester.

    It had taken Lady Jirni Ernas a while to reach her destination. The country mansion in which she and Orion had moved to train away from prying eyes had no Warp Gate of its own and being pregnant slowed things down further.

    "Are you sure you don''t want me toe with you?" Orion opened one Warp Steps after the other, using Invigoration whenever he needed to restore his strength.

    "More than sure." She nodded. "There''s nothing you can do and no point in wasting your time while I negotiate with Lith. You still have quite a way to go before the bright violet and our baby girl is going to be born soon."

    "I know that training is important, but what if something happens while you are away?"

    "Inside Sark''s pce? While I''m her honored guest?" Jirni scoffed. "That''s so unlikely that I haven''t bothered preparing a contingency n in case it happens."

    The couple walked through the local Gate of Unama and reached the Ernas Household.

    "Wait for me here. I''ll be back as soon as I can." Jirni had returned home before moving to the Desert not to leave any paper trail.

    As one of the four founding pirs of the Kingdom, the Ernas enjoyed a greater degree of privacypared to other noble households.

    Their private Warp Gate''s log could be essed only with direct permission from the Royals, making it impossible even for powerful Awakened like the Gernoff to trace Jirni''s movements.

    Two Phoenixes in ceremonial armor were expecting her on the other side of the Gate.

    They stopped the petite woman by crossing their des in front of her until their breathing technique confirmed her identity and that she carried no weapon capable of threatening the Overlord.

    Invigoration exposed Jirni''s Awakening, but the Phoenixes had no care for the Kingdom''s affairs. Her pregnant state, instead, prompted them to give her a curt congrattory nod of the head in spite of their strict discipline.

    Creating a new life was considered a sacred duty in the Desert, even more so if it came from a magical bloodline. The guards guided Jirni straight to Lith''s War Council.

    Jirni arrived shortly after Aalejah Eventide. The former aspirant Chronicler of thete World Tree and current liaison between the Awakened Council and the elven Fringes, was sitting at the table, barely able to contain her excitement.

    Aalejah found the idea of aiding in storming the Yggdrasill''s Fringe appalling. It went against everything she had been taught as a Librarian first and an aspirant Chroniclerter.

    Yet none of that could trample the rush of being surrounded by living legends. Baba Yaga, Tezka, Silverwing, and Bytra were mighty figures she had never expected to meet during her lifetime. N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 3227 Ancient Bloodlines (Part 2)

    Chapter 3227 Ancient Bloodlines (Part 2)

    That plus holding a peerless artifact like the Ears of Menadion in her hands had brought Aalejah this close to having an aneurysm out of joy. She talked so fast that most of what came out of her mouth was gibberish.

    Her hands and feet moved restlessly above and below the table, giving the impression she was having the most controlled seizure in Mogar''s history.

    "Has any of you ever fought the other? When did it happen? How long did the battlest? Who won? How are you still alive? How does the Ears work? Where did you find it? Was Menadion''s tower really that good?" Questions stormed out of her mouth one after the other, without giving anyone the time to answer.

    "I''m sorry for making you wait." Jirni cleared her throat to announce her presence and put an end to the elf''s verbal deluge. "Am I thest one or are we still waiting for someone?"

    The guards helped her to a chair and gave her plenty of refreshments before leaving.

    She thanked them both and for once in her life Jirni was honest. Her feet were killing her, sitting and standing up was a hurdle even with her Awakened body, and she was so hungry that she could eat a whole roasted Phoenix.

    "I''m thest one." A baritone voice said from behind, making her turn around. "I couldn''t leave the Forgotten Plume tribe until my recement arrived. We are about to move to another oasis and with all the valuables of the vige packed up on the carriages, it''s the ideal moment for a bandit raid."

    Ilyum Balkor, Blood Magus of the Desert and tribal chief, walked through the curtain separating the War Room from the rest of the pce. He looked around the table, recognizing many familiar faces.

    Some he knew, most were strangers, and a few he had only seen in illustrated books as a child. If he was curious or impressed, it was impossible to tell. Balkor gave the Overlord a short bow before taking his ce at the table.

    ''I don''t know what the stakes are nor do I care.'' He thought. ''Sark loves the kid and if I help him, she''ll owe me a favor.''

    "Magus Verhen." Balkor nodded at Lith. "Nice robe."

    "Magus Balkor." Lith returned the gesture, and noticed that while the Kingdom''s Magus robe was violet with golden finitures, the one the god of death wore was red with silver finitures.

    As for Balkor himself, Lith didn''t miss the expanding grey hair and age lines around the eyes that weren''t there during theirst encounter.

    ''It''s been just two years. A drop in the ocean for an Awakened.'' Lith thought. ''I guess the rumors about Balkor being forced to give up on his revenge because he has too little life force left to continue are true.''

    Knowing that his own life force had suffered some serious damage through the years as well, Lith instinctively looked at his reflection in a silver tray. He searched for any sign that death was catching up with him but found nothing.

    "Now, since I''d love to go back home as soon as possible, can someone exin to me why I am here?" Balkor asked.

    "Sure." To not waste time talking, Lith extended an emerald tendril of Spirit Magic that split into four ends in order to bring the neers up to speed with a mind link.

    Balkor and Aalejah emitted a tendril of their own to connect with Lith''s and avoid direct contact that would allow him to examine their bodies. Much to his surprise, so did Jirni. Only Tezka was forced to wait for the tendril to reach him.

    With no way to ask her questions without the others connected by the mind link to hear the answers as well, Lith could only throw a side nce at Quy and Friya who shrugged in reply.

    ''They''ve kept my secrets from their parents for years. I guess it''s only fair our roles are now reversed.'' He thought as the stream of information made Aalejah turn pale, Balkor''s expression turn stern, and had no visible effect on Tezka and Jirni. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m sorry for you, Lith. I really am." Jirni''s temper red up, the parallel between Solus'' and Phloria''s fate was too close not to stir the grief with which Jirni was still battling. Especially with a child in her womb.

    Yet none of it transpired on the outside as she gave Lith apassionate motherly look.

    "I know better than anyone else how you must feel and that''s why I''m going to help you to the best of my abilities whether you ept my terms or not. I''m not going to let you suffer like I did after I failed to rescue my Little Flower."

    "Thank you, Jirni." Lith would have been moved by her words, if not for the gut feeling that it was a maniption attempt coated just with enough empathy to make it look genuine.

    "You have a real challenge in front of you, boy." Balkor said. "This makes my revenge against the Kingdom look like a child''s y. Your opponent is stronger, better equipped, and, unlike me, you can''t take a year to recon and collect data."

    "Not to mention that storming a Fringe is dangerous." Aalejah''s hands still trembled but not out of excitement anymore. "Gods above and below, even invading the Fringe of a newborn Yggdrasill is suicidal!

    "They carry over all the knowledge they had as a World Sapling, their resources, and gain those inherited by all the Yggdrasills who preceded them. There is no way you can challenge the most ancient bloodline legacy on Mogar ande out victorious.

    "Sure, there''s only one World Tree, but they have acquired countless other bloodline legacies through the ages. They have a private army of thousands of elves with which they have shared their knowledge.

    "You can''t solve this by violence. You need a diplomatic approach." She tried to drink some water to calm down but ended up spilling most of it.

    "Sure. How could I have not thought about that on my own?" Lith''s voice oozed sarcasm. "I can sure bargain with someone who kidnapped my partner and tried to have me killed twice!"

    He reyed Strider''s betrayal and then the Chroniclers'' murder attempt with a hologram.

    "This doesn''t make sense." Aalejah wanted to puke. "Why would the Yggdrasill go to such lengths for an omni pocket? There must have been a misunderstanding. I''m sure you can solve everything by talking."

    She had already seen those images during the mind link but the second time hit her as hard as the first. Witnessing her fellow elves dying gruesome deaths made her sick to her stomach but Aalejah had to endure.

    She knew Lith as well as she did the new Yggdrasill and judging by the allies he had already assembled, their battle would be bloody.

    If Lith won, the World Tree would die and with them an untold number of elves. If the Tree won, instead, Lith''s death would bring the Tiamat bloodline near to extinction and trigger a grudge of untold proportions.

    Were something to happen to Baba Yaga, none of her children would rest until she was avenged. The same thing would happen for Valtak, Surtr, and Rethia.

 Chapter 3228 Cogs in the Machine (Part 1)

    Chapter 3228 Cogs in the Machine (Part 1)

    Killing a bloodline patriarch meant to make an enemy out of all their descendants or in Valtak''s case, also all those he had helped, trained, and nurtured. Dragons weren''t big on generosity but when it came to revenge, they were second to none.

    "There is no misunderstanding." Lith shook his head. "The Tree targeted Solus and me to get their hands on the focus of my omni pockets and its content. If you don''t believe me, just look at me with Soul Vision. Please, Aalejah, I need your help.

    "You and Tezka are the only people I know to have ever been inside a Yggdrasill''s Fringe. I need a safe way to bring everyone inside without getting dizzy or falling into a trap.

    "I know that this isn''t the same Fringe you came from, but after living as an aspirant Chronicler for centuries, you must know how the World Tree''s standard defensive system works and what we can expect."

    Aalejah used Soul Vision on Lith and all those present. Three different types of people stood out. Those who knew the truth and cared about Solus, like Baba Yaga and Bytra, burned with fury and wielded bloodstained weapons.

    Those who only cared about the Ears, like Tezka, were all smiles and ws, clutching at the artifact like it was his firstborn. As for Lith, he appeared like a monolithic giant aze with silvery and blue mes.

    Under Soul Vision, his body shapeshifted non-stop from a Void Demon Dragon engulfed in blue mes into a Tiamat seething with silvery mes as the two mes battled for dominance. Neither of the figures looked reassuring.

    They both seemed hellbent on setting Mogar aze with their own kind of fire. Yet Aalejah could tell from the aura surrounding Lith''s different forms that while the silver mes aimed to destroy, the blue ones possessed an infinite hunger.

    Aalejah looked at Lith''s projection as hard as she could but found no sign of deception, only fierce determination.

    ''No matter if I help him or not, Lith is not going to back down. The only thing that will change is which side will take more losses during the initial stages of the fight.'' She thought.

    "Fine, I''ll help you." Aalejah sighed. "As far as I know, there is no way to get in or out of a Fringe except through Mogar''s veil."

    "Forget about that. We''ll figure out something once we know what we are dealing with." Surtr said. "What I''m curious about is what means the World Tree possesses that makes them stronger than a bright white core like me and on par with a Guardian like my father."

    "I was getting to that." The elf took a series of deep breaths, clinging to her Yggdrasill staff to clear her head and reconsider all the facts before opening her mouth again.

    ''This is huge. I''m about to break my people''s most sacred oaths and divulge the secrets that allowed mymunity to prosper for millennia. Once I start talking, there''s no turning back.

    ''All the members of the rescue mission will share this knowledge and what they do with it next will be on me. I must be sure this is the right thing to do.'' She examined Lith''s memories from multiple angles and then studied the fragments of the Darwen armor lying on the table.

    Everything about Solus'' kidnapping bore the signature of one of the Yggdrasill''s schemes to get what they wanted without being noticed. Altering the flow of the events of Mogar was a taboo to the World Tree but if no one knew, there would be no interference.

    ''Lith can''t have made up so many details. Also, if he truly was able to craft a perfect Darwen armor, he would be at the level of a Ruler of the mes.'' All the convoluted possible scenarios and conjectures Aalejah coulde up with crashed against the simplicity of reality.

    Each one of the alternative exnations required countless ifs and buts to line up to be usible whereas Lith''s recounting of the events was straightforward.

    ''A Yggdrasill staff is giving me the mental rity to ept the truth and help plot against a Yggdrasill. Mogar sure has a wicked sense of irony.'' A thin smile formed on her lips as she opened her eyes.

    Aalejah tapped the floor with her Moonsong staff and conjured the hologram of the Fringe where she had lived most of her life.

    "This is how thete World Tree I worked for arranged their defenses. I don''t know how much has changed with the new Tree so consider this just as a reference about the overall structure."

    "That''s it?" Lith said while pointing at the hologram depicting the Ygdrasill and the extension of their domain. "It looks much smaller than Nalrond''s Fringe but maybe that''s because when I entered it, it had fused with Setraliie''s Fringe already."

    "No, it''s not. This is just a scaled-down version. Watch." First Aalejah added the hologram of an adult man right beside the Tree and even with his Tiamat eyes Lith could barely see it.

    Then, she added a Dragon standing on its hind legs as well.

    "Is that supposed to be an adult Dragon?" Lith asked and the elf nodded. "Fuck me sideways. That''s enormous."

    "Language!" Jirni admonished him. "My baby might not be a Tiamat and not remember anything from her time in my womb but that''s not the kind of words I want her to hear." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "And we are not done yet." Aleeah ignored Jirni''s remark and Lith''s attempt to apologize, tapping the ground with her staff for a second time.

    Countless arrays became visible, covering the entire surface of the hologram like an borate engineering design. All of them were centered and powered by the World Tree.

    "Pick up your jaws, people. The worst has yet toe." A third tap conjured dozens of Wood Golems, each one bigger than the adult Dragon. She exined how they worked and how powerful they were to the rest of the group.

    "I had no idea those things even existed before Tezka broke into our Fringe." Aalejah said. "The golems beat the crap out of him and chased him out."

    "I can confirm. Consider that I already was a hybrid when that happened." The Suneater nodded. "During myst raid, I confirmed that the basic structure of the arrays didn''t change much from the past, but before someone think this is good news, there''s something you have to see."

    Tezka stood up and offered Lith his hand.

    "I don''t know Light Mastery and without a hologram what I''m about to say is going to sound utter nonsense." The Suneater answered Lith''s silent question.

    "Why me? There''s Baba Yaga, Aalejah, Silverwing, Grandma-"

    "And all of them have the skill to take a good look at my body with their breathing technique without me noticing." Tezka cut Lith short. "You don''t. I''m not an Awakened, yet, but I still can feel someone of your level prodding at me for information.

    "Also, I don''t trust them as much as I trust you, little brother. You are the only Abomination among them and Bytra is willing to put her life in your hands. That''s more than enough for me to do the same."

 Chapter 3229 Cogs in the Machine (Part 2)

    Chapter 3229 Cogs in the Machine (Part 2)

    Lith took the Suneater''s hand and triggered the mind link.

    Everyone understood the severity of the information when color drained from Lith''s face and his eyes turned from cold to shocked as if he was about to face his own execution.

    A wave of Lith''s hand conjured a new set of holographic arrays that ovepped with Aalejah''s scaled model, adding small but unsettling details to it.

    The magical formations did more than just ovep. The runesprising them interacted with each other like the teeth of neighboring cogs. Arrays were static by nature but those Lith was showing were capable of rotating on their respective axis. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "As you can see, this is the main issue when dealing with a World Tree." Tezka exined since Lith was too focused on studying the hologram to speak. "By changing the runes in the various contact points, each array can produce many different effects.

    "It increases the versatility of the Yggdrasill''s defense system, making it unpredictable. Even worse, the junction runes also allow adjacent arrays tobine their effects. Lith, if you please."

    With a series of rotations, the center array assumed a gravity enchantment while each of those nearby took on offensive properties. The final result was a gravitational cage that made all spells converge on its target with no hope of avoiding them.

    The main array would ce its center of gravity inside its victim, making them copse under their own weight. Everything thrown inside the gravity cage would fall toward the prisoner like a homing missile.

    "If one attack doesn''t work, the World Tree learns from their failure and alters the configuration of the other arrays ordingly. On top of that, know that once you are inside the Fringe, you are bound to be inside at least one array.

    "There''s not a single unprotected centimeter in there, I assure you. To make things even spicier, the connection between the arrays works as a mana conduit. If you try to dismantle one magical formation, the others back it up. What''s inside protects what''s outside and vice versa."

    "Great Mother almighty!" Baba Yaga recognized the design and felt her knees buckle. Luckily for her, she was already sitting. "That''s the Odi multiyer array project. My people invented that thing millennia ago."

    Those words gave Lith hope. He had faced the ancient Odi civilization and was familiar with their arrays. They were powerful but had a fatal w that made them copse in a domino effect when exploited.

    "How did the Yggdrasill perfect it? There is no w to exploit. No way to beat them but dismantle them all at the same time!" As the Maiden spoke, Lith''s hopes crumbled.

    "My guess is lots of time, research, and integrating the Odi project with the many Warden bloodline legacies that the World Tree acquired through the millennia." Tezka shrugged.

    "He is right." Aalejah nodded. "Librarians don''t just keep ounts of the Yggdrasill''s knowledge. They also work full-time to improve andbine it with other suitable forms of magic.

    "The greatest weakness of the Awakenedmunity is that they don''t share and don''t coborate. Seemingly impossible problems often have a solution in another bloodline legacy but the two never make contact until they both fall into the Tree''s roots."

    "Still, how is it that possible?" Baba Yaga was bbergasted. "So many arrays and Golems would need a mage tower to work, minimum."

    "In a way, you are right." The elf replied. "During their life, the Yggdrasill grows on top of the mana geyser and extends their roots through the most abundant world energy veins.

    "It''s what gives the World Tree''s wood its properties and powers. It allows them not only to constantly refine their body beyond what any Awakened, even a Divine Beast, can do, but also grants themplete authority over the Fringe.

    "Like a mage tower, the Yggdrasill can absorb and control most of the world energy. On top of that, since their vines are everywhere, they can make a Wood Golem sprout from any position they want, giving them a tactical advantage.

    "To make matters worse, since the Golems are still part of the Tree and linked to them, their power cores are constantly recharged. Unlike regr constructs, they have no downtime and can keep fighting untilpletely destroyed."

    She took a short pause to let the concept sink.

    "What about Origin mes?" Valtak asked. "Can''t we just burn the arrays closer to our entrance point and establish a safe area from which to deal with the other magical formations before moving forward?"

    "No can do." Tezka shook his head. "I''ve shown you a single multi-array formation to make it easier for you to grasp the concept but when I said that the junction runes work as mana conduits, I meant all of them. Lith."

    On the Suneater''s cue, Lith''s hologram covered the entire arraywork that enveloped the Fringe, forming a shiny clockwork formation with thousands of possiblebinations.

    "I''m no Origin mes user, but from my experience, I can guess that if you attack one array, the rest of the magical formations will just pour their mana into it making your attack moot.

    "The only way you have to destroy the arrays with Origin mes would be by attacking them all at the same time."

    "Do you still believe that you can face a monster like that?" Aalejah conjured a hologram depicting Tezka''stest raid.

    The legendary Suneater had fought every centimeter of his way just to grab a single piece of wood from the most external branch of the Tree and then had managed to escape by the skin of his teeth.

    "The Yggdrasill can''t move, but that''s not necessarily a bad thing. The World Tree can just watch from afar and focus solely on their spells and controlling the arrays while the Wood Golems deal with the physical aspect of the fight."

    Each image confirmed her words, showing how Tezka had never stopped running for his life. It hadn''t been a fight, more like a deadly game of tag that the Suneater had managed to win thanks to his overwhelming individual prowess.

    Had he made a mistake or chosen the wrong path and been stuck in one ce for more than a second, the Golems would have surrounded him and the arrays would have smitten him like a divine punishment.

    To add insult to injury, Aalejah''s description matched the technique Lith and Solus used to fight. She delivered magic and intelligence and he would take care of the brawl. The irony of the situation sickened him.

    "I know that this is hopeless." Lith replied without hesitation. "Unlike Tezka, I don''t need to just grab a trinket and run. I might need to get inside the Tree, find Solus, and then bring her to safety.

    "Yet for her, I''d face all of that one hundred times if necessary. Even if I have to go there alone."

    "But you are not alone."Tezka patted his back. "Also, the projection that the youngdy just showed us actually ys in our favor."

    Everyone but the Eldritchs and the babies looked at the Suneater as if he had gone insane and that only because the babies were napping.

 Chapter 3230 Shadow Play (Part 1)

    Chapter 3230 Shadow y (Part 1)

    "How exactly?" Sark wasn''t supposed to intervene but curiosity got the best of her.

    "Because that''s how the Yggdrasill expects things to go based on their current information, but that''s iplete." Tezka replied. "Thest time I infiltrated the Fringe to steal Yggdrasill wood I was much weaker than I am now and, most importantly, I was alone.

    "The World Tree has no idea what the Organization by itself is capable of when its members act together, let alone if we have the aid of powerful white cores¡­" He pointed at Silvering and Surtr.

    "A mage tower¡­" Tezka''s finger moved to Baba Yaga. "A greed of Dragons¡­" Then it was Valtak''s turn. "And a not-so-much esteemed colleague of mine who goes by the name of Orulm the Breaker. Have you ever heard about him, little brother?"

    "No." Lith shook his head while Baba Yaga and Silverwing crushed the armrests of their chairs with the sheer strength of their grip. "Who is he?"

    The tension in the room had be palpable. Young people like Jirni, Balkor, and Lith looked around in confusion as even Sark knitted her eyebrows in a scowl. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "An Eldritch almost as old as me." Tezka replied. "He was the strongest member of the Organization before the Master turned us into hybrids and recently he has joined our ranks. I think he''s the perfect guy to deal with our problem."

    "He most certainly can." The Maiden looked at the Abomination-hybrids with renewed respect and a tinge of worry. "You see, Lith, Eldritches and white cores are close in power.

    "Eldritches, however, are better than us at killing at destroying while we are better at everything else. Orulm is the most dangerous of them. His Eldritch ability, Break, is capable of dismantling both matter and energy beyond saving.

    "If he destroys your arm, your life force loses its memory of ever having it. If you try to heal the wound, no new arm will grow from the stump and you need Body Sculpting to make the arm from scratch with all the problems it implies.

    "In the same ways, if he strikes at an array or an artifact, the damage is permanent. There is no repairing it. You can only scrap them for materials and remake them from scratch."

    "Which means we can establish a foothold in the Fringe with his help!" Lith said.

    "And it also means we are dealing with a dangerous murderer!" Silverwing had a hard time sharing his enthusiasm. "The Breaker has killed more white cores than anyone else on Mogar. Even the Guardians are wary of him."

    "Really?" Lith was both shocked and impressed.

    "Indeed." Sark nodded. "White cores still have a life force. If Orulm manages to destroy a vital organ, the boundless vitality and regeneration abilities of a white core are for naught.

    "Guardians are no different, but thanks to our colossal bodies and great powers, dealing that kind of damage to us is hard, if we keep our guards up. That was before the Master turned Orulm into a hybrid. Also, you said he was stronger than you, old fox."

    All eyes shifted from Sark to Tezka again.

    "What about now?"

    "Things have changed." The Suneater said with a confident smile. "But he is still one of the most powerful members of the Organization, right below me and Xenagrosh."

    "What?" The room went into an uproar that spared only those who had never heard about Orulm.

    "Are you the Organization''s number one or number two, Zor?" Lith had seen the Shadow Dragon fight but her strength was supposed to be leagues below Tezka.

    If Zoreth''s powers had improved so much, he had to adjust the role he had for her in her ns.

    "I''m the number two in terms of stable strength but I can rise to the number one position for a few seconds." The Shadow Dragon stood up and released the aura from her ck and troll core.

    Lith could feel that her might had steeply increased, but he remained unimpressed until he perceived the spark of Spirit Magic in her. After seeing Guardians fight and witnessing Tezka''s genius, the bar to amaze Lith was high.

    Yet as the Shadow Dragon forced her twin cores to harmonize and fuse into one, she managed to jump way above the bar. The ck and white energy swirled into one, growing into a power that was greater than the sum of the single part and went beyond the white core.

    For a brief moment, Xenagrosh was an Abomination no longer. She was back to being a living creature overflowing with Spirit Magic and exuding enough mana to make the War Room tremble.

    Then, it went all away, and Zoreth doubled over with her hands on her knees. She wheezed like a bellow, her skin covered in thick sweat and her cores depleted.

    "It takes me focus to reach this state andsts only for a few seconds." She half panted and half spoke. "But during that time, I''m unstoppable. The problem is that if the fight isn''t over before I run out of mana, I''m screwed. I need time to recover.

    "Breathing techniques and Abomination Touch can''t remove the destabilizing aftereffects on my life force just like they can''t heal the cracks in Lith''s. It''s a finisher at best and ast-ditch move at worst."

    "Thanks for sharing that with me, big sister." Lith patted Zoreth''s shoulder while ordering food for her. "With this and Orulm, we might stand a chance."

    "I agree with you." Silverwing nodded and Baba Yaga agreed. "The situation has just gone from impossible to desperate. Yet before nning further, I''d like to take a break to ponder this information.

    "I need time to adapt my personal spells to counter the Yggdrasill''s defensive system and support the Eldritchs. Also, beforeing up with our final strategy, we need to know exactly who and how many areing with us."

    "I can use a break to make a few calls." Valtak stood up, his face pale. "I''ll return as soon as I''m done."

    There was a rush in his pace that no one missed. The Father of Fire was still worried about Solus but now he was also concerned about Mogar, and he wasn''t the only one.

    To Baba Yaga, Sark, and Silverwing Solus'' kidnapping had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The bnce of power had changed right under their noses and until that moment none of them had noticed it.

    If not for the hybris volunteering to help Lith, Sark and the others would have been unaware of the Master''s progress in his research until it was toote. Sure, the Eldritches were friendly and willing to fight by their side, but that was today.

    There was no telling what the Organization''s goal would be tomorrow or if the Eldritches would turn hostile in the future. Yet the most upsetting matter was that they had not hesitated to unveil their powers and lose the element of surprise.

    No creature could grow so old by being that careless which meant there was only one possible exnation. They had revealed their newfound strength because they didn''t consider the powers assembled at the table to be a threat to their ns.

 Chapter 3231 Shadow Play (Part 2)

    Chapter 3231 Shadow y (Part 2)

    Everyone left the War Room but Lith, Kam, Jirni, Balkor, and the babies.

    "I''d like to get over with our business, if you don''t mind." The god of death said. "I have no intention of following you into the Fringe. I''m sorry for your friend, but I don''t know or care for either of you.

    "I have no reason to endanger what little is left of my lifespan for a stranger. My familyes first. I''m sure you can understand." Balkor pointed at the babies and Lith nodded.

    "Then why are you still here?"

    "Because the situation is not as desperate as it seems and because the Overlord requested my presence." The god of death replied. "Just because I won''t be there it doesn''t mean I can''t help you."

    "Help me how?" If there was a logic to Balkor''s words, Lith failed to follow it.

    "By sharing my experience on how to fight against an overwhelming opponent with the aid of an army of immortal puppets." Hearing the god of death talking about the Demons of Darkness as disposable tools enraged Lith but he remained silent and listened.

    "I know your abilities from second-hand sources so I need you to be honest with me. Your undead soldiers don''t die unless they run out of mana or give up, correct?" The Blood Magus asked and Lith nodded in reply.

    "Also, even though you are not their maker, they are blindly loyal to you. Is this correct as well?"

    "Not really." Lith hesitated a bit before revealing the weakness of his powers. "It''s more like a deal. I call upon souls willing to follow my orders in exchange for a second chance at life. If nobody answers the call, I can''t make demons."

    "So you have to cross your fingers and deal with the moral scruples of a bunch of long-dead losers?" Balkor was impressed.

    What the Demons of Darknesscked in obedience, they made up for it in resourcefulness. Having their own will meant that Lith didn''t need to constantly supervise his army like Balkor did back in the day.

    "Yes. Is that a problem?" Lith asked.

    "Quite the contrary." The god of death replied. "Lots of people die on Mogar every day. I''m sure there are more than enough scumbags to answer your call and do whatever you ask them to.

    "Who knows, maybe they''ll even do what you are not willing to."

    "What do you mean?" Balkor''s cruel smile gave Kam the creeps but she still wanted to know.

    "How do you think I seeded for so long against enemies who were superior to me under every aspect, Lady Verhen? By mercilessly striking at their weak points. And I mean this and this."

    A wave of Balkor''s hands highlighted the arrays'' runes midway between the junction points and then at the elven viges.

    "Are you really suggesting my husband to attack innocent civilians?" Kam stood up, mming her palms against the table.

    "Innocent?" The god of death sneered at her like she was a dumb child. "Isn''t Solus innocent as well? Weren''t all the people the World Tree murdered to lure your husband into a trap and those who died in the aftermath innocent?

    "The blood of every person Lith killed as an Abomination, every person who died in Zeska while he fought with his brother is on the World Tree''s roots and the hands of his loyal Chroniclers.

    "Without them, nothing would have happened and we wouldn''t even be here." His words hit Kam like a p, making her anger fade and forcing her to sit back.

    "The elves who live in the Fringe might not have dirtied their hands directly, but they are not innocent either. They are the Tree''s aplices! Without them, that fat piece of wood could have never kidnapped your friend or attempted to kill your husband.

    "They are the Yggdrasill''s hands and feet. Their eyes and ears. We''ve all listened to the little elf. Without the Chroniclers, the World Tree is a sitting duck who can only use magic. It''s because of them that the Wood Golems are so deadly.

    "Remove them from the equation and the World Tree won''t even get close to the power of a Guardian."

    Kam was appalled by the Blood Magus'' strategy while Lith could see its merits.

    ''Based on what Aalejah told me, Chroniclers are like Harbingers. The Yggdrasill can order them to ignore the burning viges and focus on the attackers, but that would only make things easier for me.

    ''The inner conflict and the constant distraction from the screams for help would make the Golems'' pilots lose focus. In battle, one second of distraction is fatal and my Demons can buy me way more than a second.

    ''The only problem is the toll it would take on my conscience and my rtionship with Kami.'' Lith looked at her, reading her fear and disgust.

    "What about those runes?" Lith changed the topic. "You heard Tezka. The arrays support each other and attacking them is pointless."

    "He would be right, if we were talking about living people or spells." Balkor replied. "They would reach their target covered in deadly wounds and be killed before they can fully conjure their spells. Yet we are talking about undead.

    "They don''t feel pain or fear. They have no hope or need toe back from their mission." The god of death took a piece of paper out of his Magus robes'' pocket and handed it to Lith.

    "This is the self-destruct spell my minions were programmed to use when cornered. It''s devised to make the energy of their mana cores go awry and amplify it by burning their life forces.

    "I created it back when I didn''t even know the words ''mana core'' and after bing an Awakened I''ve improved it for the fun of it. To see how far I could have gone if I weren''t just a fake mage."

    Balkor sighed, his gaze lost in the distance.

    "Now it''s yours. Teach it to your Demons, exin to them what runes they have to target, and once they reach them, make them explode. Tezka is right about the arrays. Destroying one is impossible. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "But what if you don''t attack the whole array but focus a powerful blow on a single weak point? If you attack many weak points at the same time?"

    "The shared energy would be dispersed between too many arrays to be effective." Lith replied as he used the hologram to run simtions for attack patterns. "Also, if an explosion is strong enough, a rune might be scattered before the defense can solidify.

    "Even if damaging a single rune causes no permanent damage, the array would be uselessuntil the spells self-repairs. Even better, all the connected arrays would be useless, creating openings in the Yggdrasill''s perfect defence!"

    "I like you, kid." Balkor nodded, finding no fault in his reasoning or error in the simtions. "Your mind and heart are in the right ce."

    "Are you fucking kidding me? How can you say things like that?" Kam clenched her hands so hard that they turned white. "The Demons are nothing like your mindless drones. They are people with their own feelings and memories!"

 Chapter 3232 Trade Off (Part 1)

    Chapter 3232 Trade Off (Part 1)

    "How can you suggest to order the Demons to blow themselves up like it''s a joy ride? The second part of your strategy is almost as disgusting as the idea of attacking the elven viges." Kam said.

    "Listen, Lady Verhen, I understand your outrage and I sincerely wish there was still something inside of me that could give half a fuck about it. There''s not. Twenty-three years ago, someone decided to teach me a lesson by ughtering my family and my vige.

    "I''ve learned my lesson and taught one of my own to the Kingdom. Now it''s your turn. What lesson do you want to teach your husband? To just roll over and die whenever his enemies have loved ones?

    "To sit there and take it because two wrongs don''t make a right?" Balkor paused long enough for Kam to think about an answer before resuming talking the moment she opened her mouth.

    "Would you be of the same opinion if instead of your husband''s friend the World Tree had taken away your babies?" He pointed at Valeron and Elisya who had fallen asleep while holding each other. "Would you still preach mercy?"

    Kam''s answer died in her throat as the mere thought of such an event made her quiver with rage and horror.

    "My point exactly." Balkor took her prolonged silence as an answer. "Who do you think you are to tell Verhen that his friend is less important than your babies? Who are you to sit there and tell me my family didn''t deserve the only kind of justice I could give them?"

    Ilyum Balkor stood up and offered his hand to Lith who shook it promptly.

    He had walked more than one mile in Balkor''s shoes. He still grieved the deaths of Carl, Yurial, Lark, and Phloria, wishing to go back in time now that he was strong enough to save every one of them.

    "I''m not telling you what to do, Magus Verhen." Balkor said. "I''m telling you what I would do if instead of Solus there was Eos, Eylen, or Erak. The choice is yours. My only suggestion is to pick the answer you''ll regret less in the years toe."

    Then, the Blood Magus walked out of the tent and returned home.

    "I didn''t say anything because I didn''t want you to feel isted, but Balkor is right." Jirni said as soon as the curtain was sealed and the room soundproofed again. "You are also right, Kam. What Ilyum has suggested it''s disgusting, inhumane, and heartless.

    "Yet I''d do all of that and much more if it brought my Little Flower back." Jirni couldn''t stop her hands from embracing her swollen womb. "You know all too well what it means not knowing if you''ll ever see again someone you love.

    "Wondering every minute if you''ll ever hear their voice again or see their smile. Luckily for you, you don''t know how it feels when your worst fearse true. I just wish you nevere to find out."

    Despite her words, Jirni looked serene.

    There was no grief in her voice or tension on her face. Yet Kam knew that was only because her mentor considered emotions to be a weakness and that Jirni would only show what she needed to get what she wanted.

    That kind of speech was out of character already, making Kam wonder about it.

    ''I wonder if pregnancy softened Jirni up or if this is just groundwork to get whatever she wants from Lith.'' Kam thought. ''Either way, I can''t deny she has a point. If it were Elysia instead of Solus, I would probably be mad with grief already.

    ''Same with Valeron, Lith, or my sister. I wouldn''t care about coteral damage until I got them back and whatever sense of guilt I might carry for it, I would wee it with open arms.''

    "You''ve got a lot of exining to do, Jirni." Lith said, snapping Kam out of her reverie. "Since when are you an Awakened? Most importantly how is the baby?"

    "Why don''t you look for yourself?" Jirni gave him a warm smile and offered him her hand.

    It was the first time after her Awakening that she met Lith and allowed him to use his breathing technique on her. He could finally see past her cloaking device and notice the changes her body had undergone.

    "Bright yellow core and you are very close to the next breakthrough." Lith said out loud for Kam to hear. "The baby is perfectly healthy. She didn''t Awaken, but her constitution is impressive."

    Being born from an Awakened mother meant sharing her body refinement and physical prowess since the infant shared the mother''s flesh and blood. Even as a non-Awakened, the baby would be born with perfect health and fewer impurities than normal.

    That, however, would onlyst for a while. Babies grew quickly during their first months of life and all the extra weight they gained would dilute their enhanced tissues. In just a couple of years, they would be no different from a regr baby.

    "Bright yellow? Like me?" Kam said.

    "Jirni had a better starting core than you but this growth rate means she practiced a lot and Awakened not long after you." Lith pointed out. "Somehow, you convinced Vastor to help you. Am I right?"

    It was the most logical exnation to why Jirni had chosen the old Professor as her physician during the pregnancy instead of Lith or Quy.

    "He also Awakened Orion." Jirni nodded, making his eyes go wide in surprise. All seven of them. "We had Zogar teach us magic and Spirit Magic so even though I have just a bright yellow core I''m no pushover.''

    Any sane man would have considered Lady Jirni Ernas a threat even back when she was a regr human woman with an orange core. Now that she had an Awakened body, Fusion and Spirit Magic, Lith considered her a force to be reckoned with. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Now I understand why Quy suggested me to ask your help. Am I the only one who didn''t know about this?" Lith asked.

    "Far from it. Let me start from the beginning." Jirni used a mind link to answer all his questions and share her current standoff with the Gernoff household.

    "Nobody knew." She replied after bringing Lith up to speed. "I didn''t want to involve any of you in my business. I''m doing it now only because I have no other choice."

    "Let me get this straight." He said. "This is just your way to manipte and guilt me into risking my life to protect yours."

    "Correct." Jirni didn''t bother deny the usation. "One life for another. I help you saving Solus, no questions asked, and you help me not to die. Isn''t it a fair deal?"

    Lith pondered the issue for a while before answering.

    "Between the Gernoff and the World Tree, the Gernoffs are the easy enemy. Yet I can''t promise you anything. Unless we seed in rescuing Solus, I can''t do anything for you. The only deal I can offer you is the same I gave the others.

    "I''ll help you if we seed and your contribution is meaningful. Otherwise I''ll be either too busy nning a second attack on the Yggdrasill''s Fringe or too dead to deal with the Gernoffs."

 Chapter 3233 Trade Off (Part 2)

    Chapter 3233 Trade Off (Part 2)

    "I truly had underestimated your rtionship with Solus. Is there anything I should know about the two of you? Anything that could escape from the lips of our prisoner during the interrogation?" Jirni asked.

    "No. Also, there''s going to be no interrogation." Lith gave her a brief summary of his n to find the Fringe.

    "It''s a good strategy and I think I can help you with it. I know nothing about elven physiology but if you can give me a few minutes to study the prisoner with Invigoration, I should learn everything I need for the job. I ept your terms." Jirni nodded.

    "The n won''t start until we''ve rallied all the allies we can. Until that moment, make yourselffortable. I''ll have a room assigned to you." Lith said.

    "Not so fast." Jirni raised her hand with her palm out to stop him. "Even though the meeting with Jiza put me in this situation, that day I learned a lot. I''ve never stopped investigating who is behind Kam''s attempted murders."

    Kam''s eyes went wide in surprise while Lith''s narrowed. She had done everything she could to forget about it and live a normal life whereas he had never forgotten about it.

    Yet without a lead to follow or a prisoner to interrogate, there was nothing he could do.

    "Jiza''s words offered me insight into the thought process of the Awakenedmunity and helped me better understand the motive for such an act." Jirni took a folder out of her dimensional amulet and handed it to him.

    "It''s not very thick because it''s mostly guesswork. You can''t expect powerful individuals to respect my Archon''s badge and answer the questions of a puny woman. Even if I met them in person, they would have either ignored of killed me."

    Lith took the folder and instinctively tried to put it inside Soluspedia.

    ''Fuck me sideways! I have to actually read this thing and waste a lot of time I could better employ dealing with the preparations.'' It wasn''t the reading per se that upset him.

    Theck of Soluspedia was another reminder of Solus'' absence. During the past sixteen years, Lith had be so used to the tower''s abilities to consider them a part of himself like his hands and feet.

    Now, instead, only his thoughts filled his mind and he was back to being no different from any other Awakened. It made him feel empty and iplete. His anger red, the pain from the destruction of his bond with Solus struck him like the day Strider had betrayed him.

    Kam''s care and the joy of reconnecting with his family had helped him take his mind off of it, but to Lith, mere minutes had passed since the Yggdrasill''s emissary had taken Solus away from him and to the Fringe.

    His wounds were still fresh and every reminder of his current condition tore them open and cut him deeper.

    Lith wanted to scream and shout. To take the Chronicler out of Tezka''s bag and beat him hard enough for the World Tree to experience one iota of his grief. Yet it would serve nothing but waste time and ruin his ns.

    Lith gritted his teeth for a second before his expression rxed and he opened the folder.

    Jirni noticed everything but didn''tment on it while Kam moved her chair next to him to read the documents together. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I''ll pat your shoulder when I''m done reading and you can turn the page." She said while also using a mind link to soothe him.

    ''You''ll get her back. I know you will.'' Much to Lith''s surprise, Kam was faster than him.

    Her enhanced senses were inferior to his own but as a Constable, she was used to reading that kind of document. She tapped his shoulder while he was still halfway through the first page.

    ''Fine!'' Lith opened his extra eyes to beat quality with quantity.

    "You must give Quy a nice gift." Jirni resumed talking in an attempt to lighten his mood. "If not for her, I would have learned about your quest only when it was toote. The more calls you and your allies make, the sooner the rumor of your imminent absence is going to spread.

    "With you and most of your allies gone, it would be the perfect time to finish the job. I didn''t deliver this to you sooner because I hoped to have more time to narrow the suspect list to a few names but this development forces my hand."

    The document just contained a bunch of names followed by their rtionship with Lith and their most likely motive to target Kam. There were nobles, Awakened, lesser races, and even Divine Beasts.

    All of them were very dangerous for an Awakened as weak as Kam and each one would require a specific countermeasure. No one would be stupid enough to attack her in in sight.

    An ambush or a trap were the most likely scenarios but each possible culprit had different means. Some could be dealt with by the Queen''s Corps but others would require time and manpower.

    Lith could afford neither. He had to bring his most powerful allies to the Fringe to have a chance of sess and to act swiftly before the World Tree noticed the absence of their Chronicler and prepared for the invasion.

    He revised the files over and over but the only thing he learned was that he couldn''t save Solus without sacrificing Kam.

    ***

    "No, Old Wyrm, I''m not going to help you." Quashol the Father of all Ice Dragons said. "Or rather, I''m not going to waste my time with a runt''s problems."

    "Do you realize that this might be the final favor I ask you?" Valtak sighed. "I''m old and weak. Our current odds of sess are slim and unless we get someone to help us, wether we seed or fail we''ll suffer massive casualties."

    "And how is any of that my fault?" The Ice Dragon''s scales looked like finely cut diamonds covered in dew that sparkled under hisir''s magical light. "You were old and weak even before you went into slumber a thousand years ago, yet you are still here.

    "Do yourself a favor and give up on this foolish endeavor. In another thousand years, we''ll beughing about this conversation like the joke it is and you''ll thank me for not indulging in yourtest senile fit."

    "A life is at stake, Quashol!" The embers of Valtak''s rage red into a fire that ignited his beard, eyes, and hair. "One of our kind, the youngest of our kind, has been robbed of his most precious treasure and your solution is to sit there and enjoy the show.

    "What if Verhen loses his life in the process? The Tiamat bloodline would be extinguished. What if our enemies learn of the discord among our ranks and grow bold enough to target older Dragons?

    "Would you turn your back to everyone until it''s your turn? Who''d help you then?"

    "Many lives are at stake, Valtak, and yours is the only one I''m worried about." An Ice Dragon''s rage was cold, but no less scary. Quashol''s scales grew in size as snowkes danced in the air despite the heat of summer.

 Chapter 3234 Breaking the Cycle (Part 1)

    Chapter 3234 Breaking the Cycle (Part 1)

    "We are not talking about teaching a lesson to one of the great countries." The Father of All Ice Dragons said. "If it was just that, I''d follow you in an instant even though you probably wouldn''t need my help, just mypany to have a goodugh over the mountains of corpses of your enemies.

    "You are talking of attacking the World Tree on their own turf. That rotten piece of wood is not a Guardian in name only. I won''t put my life and those of my beloved Brood for an absolute nobody!

    "If the Yggdrasill had attacked you, I would march with you because it would mean the new World Tree has gone mad already and I won''t stand any fucker bullying you, old friend. But this? The Yggdrasill targeted a cocky runt who got too arrogant for his own good.

    "We both know that a powerful treasure like an omni pocket is a curse to those too weak to protect it. What are you going to do the next time it happens? Are you going to fight Verhen''s battles for the rest of your life? Because I sure won''t!"

    "Please, old friend." Valtak couldn''t refute any of the Ice Dragon''s logic and talking about near-death visions would make him sound even crazier. "Just do this for me and all our debts will be considered settled."

    "No." Quashol shook his head, producing crystal clinks. "I owe you a lot, Valtak, but I can''t bear the thought of wasting my gratitude on a hatchling that doesn''t even carry your blood.

    "I can''t allow you to drag me into this. We both know you are a softie, and if I give in to your plea once, you''ll do it again. Ask me anything that''s actually for you and I''ll fly to your side. Until that moment, don''t waste my time with another call."

    "What about the Ears of Menadion? Aren''t you interested?"

    "Damn if I am!" Quashol''s eyes shone with Dragon greed as his mouth watered at the mere name of the artifact. "Give me your word the Ears will be mine and we can discuss terms, but a rat race?

    "I should put everything on the line on the chance to get the Ears? Does anyone work in the hope of getting paid? I need certainties, old friend. The best I can do is to keep the existence of the Ears a secret, but other Dragons might not be so caring.

    "Remember my words about treasures and curses because if you keep running your mouth, Verhen is going to lose another artifact he''s too weak to protect. Quashol out."

    The hologram of the Ice Dragon disappeared, leaving Valtak dejected. Not because of the refusal but because if even one of his dearest friends turned him down, the rest of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Brood would do the same.

    The Father of Fire didn''t have time to call one Dragon at a time. To get a force capable of tipping the scale of the battle, he needed to convince Elder Dragons. If they epted, the rest of their bloodline would follow.

    As predicted, Irk, the Father of All Storm Dragons, Ananta, the Mother of All ck Dragons, and many others refused to help one after the other. They did it out of concern for Valtak, hoping that he would realize how foolish his endeavor was and give up on the suicidal mission.

    One Tiamat wasn''t worth that much effort, especially with Elysia ready to keep the bloodline alive in case her reckless father died. The Elder Dragons considered any other option as enabling the Father of Fire''s madness.

    They wanted him to live his final years in peace, not to die in someone else''s battle and carry the guilt of having caused the death of countless other Wyrms.

    At some point, Valtak lost the passion he had while making his pitch and stopped arguing after the first no.

    "Could you please say that again?" It was the reason when he heard a yes, the Patriarch of the Fire Dragons refused to believe his own ears.

    "I said yes. I''ll help you and Lith." Gentor, the Father of all Golden Dragons said. "My greed and I will stand by your side, old friend. But first, I''d like to talk with Lith in person and give the Ears a test drive. You know, trust but verify."

    "That''s not a problem. You cane to the Desert at your earliest convenience." Valtak nodded like a frenzied parrot. "Can I ask you a question, thought?"

    "Actually, I wanted more details about the Ears, but we can take turns." Gentor shrugged. "Shoot."

    "Why have you agreed to help us?" Valtak''s mouth moved before his brain could borate on how much of an old fool he had just made out of himself.

    "Was it a trick question?" Gentor was beyond confused. "Did you want me to say no? If that''s the case and you called me solely because you have lost a bet, I''ll dly stay out of your scales."

    "Gods, no!" The Father of Fire raised his hands to stop the Golden Dragon from ending the call. "Please, I really need your help. I''m just surprised because you are not the first patriarch I called yet you are the only one who didn''tugh in my face.

    "At the risk of sounding even ruder than I''ve already been, I have to ask you: are you sure you are not intoxicated?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gentor started tough as Valtak feared, but there was no mockery in his voice, only amusement.

    "Thank you for looking after me even when it goes against your interest, old Wyrm." Gentor''s golden scales shone almost as much as his eyes wet by hrity. "To answer your question: I''m sound in mind and body.

    "As for why I agreed to help you, the answer is simple. Because I know all too well how it feels to be the youngest member of the Brood. To be the only one of your species and have no one to turn to unless you can afford their price.

    "Just two millennia ago, I was that guy. Once I left Father''sir I was on my own and struggled a lot to find my ce in the world. While all my older siblings treated me with cold indifference, you taught me how to use my Origin mes first and then helped me discover my bloodline abilities.

    "Without you and Quashol, I would have probably died in a ditch after the humans shot me down thinking my scales were made of actual gold." Gentor half snarled and half smiled at the memory.

    "Sure, the Brood would have avenged my death in blood and fire, but I would be dead anyway. I wouldn''t have my territory, my hatchling, and my species would have disappeared like it happened with Zoreth''s and Jormun''s.

    "I know the terms of this alliance are terrible and the risks are high, but so what? You didn''t stop counting pennies before helping me. You were already old and could have made better use of your final years than mentoring a hatchling who had no way to repay your kindness."

 Chapter 3235 Breaking the Cycle (Part 2)

    Chapter 3235 Breaking the Cycle (Part 2)

    "Now, it''s my turn to be that Wyrm for Lith and you. Who knows, maybe in the future Lith will do the same for our younger brethren and one day this stupid cycle of Dragons ignoring one another until it''s toote will be broken."

    "Thank you, Gentor." Valtak wanted to say more but he failed to find the right words.

    "Don''t mention it. Even at the lowest interest rate, I''d say that after two thousand years I owe you way more than what you''re asking me." Gentor zoomed the hologram out, showing off his pce, riches, and the many Golden Wyrmlings tussling among them yfully.

    "Now, before we get all sentimental, I need to ask. Are the Ears of Menadion the real deal?"

    "Yes." Valtak''s voice came out hoarse, forcing him to clear his throat.

    "And it can be used by anyone as long as its owner allows it, correct?" Gentor had changed the topic on purpose after noticing how moved the Elder Wyrm was.

    "Correct."

    "What does the Ears do, exactly? The stories are very vague. They range from listening to Mogar''s very voice to turning you into a god of the battlefield." N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I have no idea." The Father of Fire replied in embarrassment. "Lith just pulled them out and I didn''t think about trying them myself. It''s one piece of the legendary set of Menadion, for the gods'' sake. It''s bound to be very powerful."

    "But its magic is outdated by 700 years." Gentor tutted. "Do your research better, old Wyrm, and then make a second round of calls. Who knows, maybe you''ll have better luck with your pitch if you actually know what you are selling.

    "I''ming as soon as I can. Gentor out."

    As the hologram faded, Valtak smiled and then sighed deeply.

    ''I appreciate Gentor''s concern but the fact that he is the only one who asked questions about the Ears means he''s the only one who took my request into consideration'' He thought. ''Even if the Ears were a modern masterpiece, it would make no difference unless I promise to give it to a specific bloodline.

    ''It would guarantee their help and make Lith lose the help of the Organization, Gentor, and even my Fire Dragons. Dragons don''t do charity unless there is at least the pretense of getting something in return.''

    The Father of Fire checked his contact runes to make sure everyone had answered his summon. There were many who had ignored it but one in particr pained the Elder Wyrm''s heart.

    Valtak pressed the unblinking rune, deeming it a personal call.

    "What do you want, old Wyrm?" The voice on the other side was cold and detached. The only emotion it betrayed was annoyance.

    Unlike in the previous conversations, old Wyrm wasn''t used as a term of endearment but as an insult.

    "I just wanted to speak with you, son." Valtak looked at the skeletal figure in front of him. "This might be thest asion we have to mend our rtionship."

    "Please! You''ve said those words¡­" Bony fingers flipped through the pages of a thick diary filled with the ramblings of a mad dragon trying to hold on to his sanity. "Thirty-four times already yet we are still here."

    "This time I''m serious, Armak. I''m old and I''m about to embark on a dangerous mission. I-"

    "You are wasting my time!" The Fire Dragon Lich roared in annoyance.

    Armak was one of Valtak''s lost children and the only one who had turned his back to his family to the point of resorting to undeath to ensure his survival.

    "You were a fossil the day I was born! You were always ready to help everyone but me! The great Father of Fire could make time for everyone but his own gods-damned son." Only bits of skin and cartge remained on the Lich''s skeleton.

    The once lustrous ruby scales were now ck and green with mold and rot.

    "Again with this nonsense?" Valtak tried to remain calm but an edge insinuated in his voice. "Why do you always talk about the past like I abandoned you, Armak? You lived in myir until adulthood.

    "I taught you everything you needed about magic, Origin mes, and our bloodline abilities to build a life of your own. Your siblings and I cleaned your messes time and time again until I couldn''t take it anymore.

    "I ordered the Fire Dragons to stop helping you because you never learned your lessons. You were brash and arrogant, a bully who hid behind his family name and acted cocky only because you knew we''de to your rescue.

    "I only wanted you to grow up and learn to stand on your own!"

    "And I did, old Wyrm!" Armak snarled. "Look at me and tell me you like the consequences of your actions. I dare you!"

    The young Fire Dragon had considered being cut off from the family not like a punishment but a painful betrayal. The illusion that no matter what he did, his father would be by his side had shattered on that day and so did Armak''s heart.

    He matured too quickly and bitterly, going from one extreme to another. From being immature and clingy to a cold loner. Not trusting the Fire Dragon Brood anymore, Armak had gained Awakening first and then sought Lichhood.

    The original n was to be immortal and indestructible to show everyone that he didn''t need anyone''s help anymore. s, the breaking of the soul following the heart had unintended consequence.

    After bing a Lich, all the things that Armak considered important had be insignificant and annoying. He had never returned to his family, not even to rub his sess in their faces.

    The Lich Wyrm had exploited his newfound immortality to acquire everything he needed for his magical research and got lost in it. Every day he learned new things and forgot old ones. Without his diaries, Armak would have forgotten his own name for ages.

    The only thing he couldn''t forget was the rage toward his father. It rose every time he heard Valtak''s voice and burned whenever the Lich Dragon saw his face.

    "My actions?" The Father of all Fire Dragons scoffed. "I didn''t ask you to be an undead. Even if I were responsible for everything you me me for, the first and final choice was still yours. You abandoned the Brood of your free will."

    "How can you say that after what you did?" Armak snarled, his withered heard bursting with fire that spread throughout his hollow skeleton, filling it. "You abandoned me yet took care of Gentor!

    "You left me to die in the hands of powerful creatures and yet here you are, babying this Verhen guy you''ve known for what? Two months? You made it clear that I wasn''t a priority to you and I would never be.

    "I left because you made it clear there was no ce for me!"

    "That''s not what happened, you idiot!" Valtak snarled, his body shapeshifting back into his real form in outrage. "I warned you I was done saving your sorry ass from the problems you instigated yet you kept acting like an idiot.

    "If I didn''t uphold my boundary, you would have thought mine were empty words like usual and learned nothing!"

 Chapter 3236 Breaking the Cycle (Part 3)

    Chapter 3236 Breaking the Cycle (Part 3)

    "It''s true that Gentor put himself into trouble as well, but he was a lone Wyrm with no one to teach him."

    "I needed to rescue him only once. He listened to me and, under my guidance, set himself straight. As for Verhen, I''m not babying him. The crisis he''s in is not of his own making and he can''t face the enemy alone.

    "I''m helping a brother in his time of need, not a petnt Wyrmling who storms castles and then whines when humans hunt him down!" Valtak''s fiery gaze overwhelmed Armak''s, forcing him to shut up.

    He couldn''t refute his father''s words but truth changed nothing.

    "You were my father. You were supposed to help me." All the logic and time on Mogar didn''t make the Lich Dragon feel any less betrayed. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I am your father." Valtak countered. "And I haven''t called you to repeat the same old argument again. I want to settle things between us. Please."

    A long silence befell the two while Armak pondered what to do. He had waited for that moment for millennia and wanted to savor every moment of it.

    "Not my problem. Goodbye." The call ended abruptly, the hologram of the Lich Wyrm shattering.

    "I guess some wounds are not meant to be healed." The Father of Fire sighed.

    He put hismunication amulet away and walked outside the pce. He needed fresh air and solitude to cleanse the sourness that still lingered in his heart.

    s, when it rains, it pours.

    He was in the Blood Desert, where "fresh air" during the day was just an expression. On top of that, the main za was crowded with Fire, Golden, and different species of Dragons sired by Surtr that had answered the call of their respective patriarchs.

    "Just great." The Elder Wyrm grumbled, waving at the neers with the closest thing to a smile he could muster.

    "What''s the matter, Valtak? Are you alright?" Zoreth''s voice came as a surprise, making him flinch.

    "Everything is fine, hatchling." The Father of Fire turned to face her and discovered that she was alone in the crowd.

    The area around the Shadow Dragon was empty. No matter the Brood to which the other Wyrms belonged, they all considered her an embarrassment to their bloodline. A lost daughter of Leegaain.

    ''A lost daughter who answered the call of the Brood.'' Valtak thought.

    She and Armak had many things inmon, yet they couldn''t be more different. They had both disavowed their family out of childish pride and done terrible things.

    Yet while one walked the wrong path because it was the only one avable to her, the other did it out of sheer stubbornness. All Zoreth wanted was to live again and earn her ce back into the Brood whereas Armak wanted everyone to recognize he was right and they were wrong.

    The Lich Wyrm didn''t seek forgiveness, he wanted others to beg for it.

    Lith''s request to teach Zoreth about Origin mes came to Valtak''s mind, quickly followed by his recent conversation with Gentor.

    "Breaking the cycle." He muttered.

    "What cycle?" Zoreth asked in confusion.

    "I''ll exin it to you while we practice." The Father of Fire patted her shoulder. "Follow me. We have many things to do and little time to do them."

    ***

    Back in the War Room, Lith still couldn''t find a solution to the problem Jirni had unveiled for him.

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t help you more than this." Jirni sighed. "The people on the list I can fight, you can deal with them on your own anyway. The others make the Gernoff''s death threat look like a surprise birthday party."

    "Don''t worry, and thank you for warning me." Lith replied. "I have barely woken up and I have so many things to do that without you I would have probably forgotten the bounty on Kami''s life. Yet this has to wait."

    Lith called Friya who was waiting for her mother outside the tent. He had her call Faluel who in turn called Fyrwal. The Hydra was a good friend of Solus since the time she was still Elphyn Menadion and so was Tessa the Titania.

    "They both agreed to help you." Friya said after hanging up the call. "With this, you have two more powerful violet cores and the only living members of King Valeron''s Guard at that."

    "It''s not enough." Lith shook his head. "Call Ka. She is too weak to help me, but I need her to lend me her sses."

    "That''s right!" Friya pped her hands in excitement. "You now have ess to all four pieces of the legendary set of Menadion. They had never been put together and used by the same person. I can''t wait to discover if they have some secret function!"

    "You possess all four pieces?" Jirni pursed her lips and her eyes narrowed a bit, the same reaction she would have had while witnessing the descent of a-killer meteor.

    "Friya!" Lith scowled at her.

    "Sorry! I mean, she''s my mother. She already knows about the Ears. It''s not a big deal, is it?"

    "No, she''s Jirni. Hence that''s a big deal!" Then, he turned toward Jirni. "I don''t possess them. I know who does."

    He omitted to say all the pieces of the set had passed through his hands and that he was the one who had handed them to their current owners.

    "I believe you." Jirni lied through her teeth.

    Lith sighed, knowing there was a 50% chance it was the truth and a 50% chance it was just what he wanted to hear.

    "Thanks. Grandma?"

    "Yes, Featherling?" Sark appeared out of thin air.

    There was no door or distance in the Blood Desert that could grant privacy from her from so up close. The Overlord was always one step away from all of her guests.

    "Please, undo my imprint on the Ears and apply yours. If anyone wants to give it a try, please, take care of it. Kami and I have a lot to talk about and then I need to rest. I can''t leave while my body still aches."

    "I''ll take care of that." Sark took the Ears from his hands, switching their imprints with a mere touch. "Before going, you should wee your allies. They are going to put their lives on the line for you.

    "You owe them more than a ''let''s go'' on the day of the departure."

    "Thanks, Grandma." Lith nodded and left the War Room for the main za.

    He was shocked seeing so many Divine Beasts in one ce. Even though they had all taken human form to save space, their collective aura was humbling. As part of their bloodlines'' tradition, they all kept their wings furled around their shoulders like a mantle.

    Membranes for Dragons and feathers for the Phoenixes and the Griffons while the color of the wings distinguished one bloodline from the others.

    "What the fuck?" There were lots of golden and ruby membranous wings whereas most of Surtr''s Dragon offspring belonged to different species of Dragons.

    Lith was disappointed that only two of the many dragon races hade but he was even more surprised by the assembly of pitch-ck feathered wings.

 Chapter 3237 Breaking the Cycle (Part 4)

    Chapter 3237 Breaking the Cycle (Part 4)

    "What are you guys doing here?" Lith said after identifying them as Phoenixes. "Grandma prohibited you from intervening."

    "No. She simply didn''t mobilize us." Said a male Phoenix with dark hair and eyes who introduced himself as Urxat. "Grandmother gave us permission to answer your call individually, but only as long as we could find a proper substitute to cover for our territories during our absence.

    "We old coots have a child of two who can take our ce for a few days so it''s not a big deal." He shrugged.

    "I''m grateful for your assistance but I''m pretty sure I''ve never met any of you." Lith looked at the nearby crowd, receiving many greetings yet recognizing no one. "Who are you guys?"

    "Seriously?" Urxat clenched his chest as if Lith had stabbed him, quickly followed by the others. "We are your rtives from your father''s side. Did you really expect us Dark Phoenixes to sit out of this and let those scummy Fire Dragons hog all the glory?"

    "Of course not." Lith lied, having no idea how much of their enthusiasm came from the bloodline they shared and how much from the ancient rivalry between Dragons and Phoenixes. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Either way, he didn''t want to spoil the mood.

    "Since you are already here, do you mind showing me the Ears? It''s not the main reason we decided to give you a hand but I would lie if I said it''s not a factor." Urxat said and most of those present shamelessly nodded.

    "Sure. I left it to Grandmother for safekeeping. You can ask her." Lith replied, making all those with Phoenix blood cheer.

    Calling the Overlord just like they did and entrusting the artifact to her was a huge plus in their book. Among the Dragons, only the children of Surtr and Rethia didn''t grunt in annoyance at the news since they were direct descendants of both Guardians as well.

    "Thank you foring, Gentor." Lith shook his hand and tried to give him a bow but the Father of All Golden Dragona stopped him.

    "Nonsense. We are brothers. I have many wives of different races and I wouldn''t stand any of them being kidnapped either."

    This was the first time Lith didn''t feel the need to clear the misunderstanding and fanned the mes instead.

    "If it everes the day I can return you the favor, all you need to do is ask." The two sped wrists and then Lith left.

    There were too many people to greet them all. He introduced himself to their representatives and let them introduce him to the rest of the group.

    "Guys, this is your Uncle Lith." Surtr said to his children when it was his turn. "Solus is for him what your Aunt Sinmara is for me. Since you know neither of them, feel free to leave and go back home.

    "The task at hand is dangerous and the reward is insignificantpared to your lives."

    "No way in the nine hells, Dad." Said a male Griffon with silvery wings.

    "No one is allowed to hurt you, old Wyrm." A female Dragon snorted.

    "I''m serious!" Surtr said. "Lith is an ass and the stingiest man alive. If you expect him to reward you with magic lessons or by Forgemastering something for free, you are deluding yourself."

    "Whose side are you on?" There were only so many insults Lith could take to his face. "Are you here to help or sabotage the rescue mission?"

    "Please, don''t take it to heart, Lith." Rethia chuckled at her husband''s embarrassment. "Surtr can''t stand the idea of our children getting hurt just like they refuse to let us walk into danger alone."

    "I can see that." Lith looked at the sea of colored wings in front of him in awe.

    "No, you don''t!" Surtr snarled. "These are just the bright violet-cored Awakened among our children who also have plenty of battle experience. If I hadn''t set boundaries, there would be much more."

    "Is this really all your doing, Rethia?" Lith gasped at her slender figure.

    "No, silly." She giggled at his shocked expression. "I would have needed to pop out eggs every day of my life to have so many children. These are our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on."

    "We are not like those guys." A male Dragon with ck hair, silver eyes, and fiery red wings said. "Father didn''t have to convince us toe. He had to force the weakest of us not to."

    "An artifact that allows one to read the flow of mana and world energy both!" Surtr''s eyes brimmed with Dragon greed. "The Ears have a few drawbacks, but in the safety of one''sb it can give birth to marvels of Forgemastery worthy of Menadion herself!"

    "Then allow me to make an exception for you guys." Lith replied. "The line for the Ears is long but I can tell you everything I know about its workings. I had no time to study it thoroughly but I fought against its previous owner and have a good idea about what it does."

    He used a mind link to show them the entire battle against Maergron, highlighting how powerful the Ears made him in their unlocked state and how they had crippled him once the connection with mana geyser had been cut.

    "An artifact that allows one to read the flow of mana and world energy both!" Surtr''s eyes brimmed with Dragon greed. "The Ears have a few drawbacks, but in the safety of one''sb it can give birth to marvels of Forgemastery worthy of Menadion herself!"

    He spoke loud enough to be heard and steel the resolve of those who still hesitated. After all, even though there was only one Ears of Menadion, the artifact could be shared.

    As long as a member of a bloodline got it, everyone would get ess to the Ears as well. That was the pact the patriarchs had enforced to drive the most reluctant of their brethren to follow them.

    Lith decided to boost morale a bit by sharing that information with the representatives of the Fire and Golden Dragons before returning to the War Room.

    He found Kam conversing with Baba Yaga, Silverwing, Sinmara, Tessa, and Fyrwal. Jirni was there as well, but she was overwhelmed by the situation and kept to herself.

    ''Tessa and Fyrwal were Oghrom''s friends. If I''m lucky, they might intercede in my situation with the Gernoff. Yet if I ask for their help and they are as stubborn as those old fools, I risk adding two more powerful mages to the list of my enemies.

    ''This is a huge and unexpected gamble. Before making a decision, I must be quiet and observe my marks. Only when I know what kind of monsters I''m dealing with can I choose the best possible approach.

    ''First impression matters and at the moment I''m unremarkable and have nothing to offer them for their help.'' Jirni was overwhelmed by the unexpected boon, not by the presence of creatures of legend.

    "How did it go?" Kam gestured for him to join them. "How many people havee to join you?"

    "Three greeds of Dragons. One more than I expected. Gentor is on board." Lith replied.

    "That''s good." Baba Yaga nodded. "Every bit helps. I''ve already contacted my Firstborns and asked the best fighters among them to join us. They have all epted and are on their way."

    "Just the best fighters? Why not all of them?" Kam asked.

 Chapter 3238 Opportunity (Part 1)

    Chapter 3238 Opportunity (Part 1)

    "Because every prism Dawn produces weakens her." The Red Mother replied. "A single powerful mage with a tower is much more valuable than many weaker mages. Remember that Sunrise amplifies Dawn''s power so the weaker she bes the less the amplification effect is going to matter in a battle of this scale."

    "I bring good news as well." Simara chimed in. "I have no children of my own so I contacted my old rival. Aylen wille with us so you can add another white core to our forces."

    "How did you convince her?" Lith was impressed.

    "Mother won''t interfere directly, but she gave me permission to offer Aylen a pardon. Also, I mentioned your offer to reward with the Ears whoever saves Solus and promised Aylen she can keep whatever she can grab in the Fringe.

    "Elves, Yggdrasill wood, books, anything but Solus and her possessions. Before you ask, she gave me her word."

    "That''s reassuring." Lith said and everyone but Jirni nodded.

    The use made no sense to her.

    "If she brings her army of Emperor Beasts, she will be of great help."

    "She offered to bring along her son, an Eldritch, and other Liches, but only if they get to pige the Fringe freely as well. Since a Lich away from their phctery has their strength more than halved, Aylen would like to store them inside your tower, Yaga.

    "She also wants your sacred oath that you will return them by the end of the battle."

    "Liches?" The Red Mother grimaced as if speaking the word coated her tongue with poison.

    She wanted to spit in disgust at the idea of carrying those perversions of her work inside her hallowed tower, but her respect for her host stopped her. On top of that, beggars couldn''t be choosers.

    Baba Yaga cared for Elphyn Menadion much more than she despised the Maker of All Liches and her sickening progeny.

    "Lith, the choice is yours." She said after a while. "I don''t trust Liches. They are a dangerous, selfish bunch. If they expose one of your secrets, you can''t count on them to keep their mouths shut or not try to exploit it. Think carefully before you answer."

    "There are already too many people involved to worry about that." Lith said without hesitation. "If my secrets get exposed, I''d be screwed anyway. My priority is saving Solus, everything else is a problem forter.

    "Besides, if you keep their phcteries, Yaga, the Liches can''t make any funny move without paying for it with their lives. Even if their loyalty ends the moment we leave the Fringe, I can live with that."

    "You can tell Aylen we have a deal, then." Baba Yaga nodded at Silverwing and the women moved toward the exit.

    They had to pick up the Firstborn undead, share all the official intelligence with them, and then check if Silverspire''s self-tuning process required more manual adjustments with Creation Magic.

    On top of that, Lochra could use a few sparring matches to get ustomed to the battle form of her tower.

    "Just one question." Lith stopped the Red Mother. "Do I need to keep resting in your tower toplete my recovery or will any ce do?"

    He knew that Baba Yaga would hear whatever he said while inside her tower and he needed privacy. Yet again, beggars couldn''t be choosers, and saving Solus was more important than fleeting embarrassment.

    "Any ce will do. You just need to rest." The Red Mother and the First Magus Warped away.

    "By the way, Fanny sends her regards." Fyrwal handed Lith twin crowns that he recognized as the Hands in the form Faluel used as a Hydra and an inconspicuous gold-rimmed pince-nez that short-sighted nobles used all over the Garlen continent.

    Tessa''s eyes sparkled with greed when she recognized the artifacts but she kept it to herself. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Does the offer for the Ears apply to us as well?" The Titania asked.

    "Of course." Lith replied. "If you save Solus, I''ll give you the Ears and anything you want within reason."

    "There''s not much you can offer me, young man." Tessa pondered for a while. "What about this?You let me use your Forgemasteringb from time to time and while I''m there, you lend me every special piece of equipment you have at the moment. Deal?"

    She pointed at the various pieces of the Menadion Set.

    "Sounds reasonable." They shook hands. "Now, if you don''t need me anymore, I have to talk to my wife, spend a bit of quality time with my family, and get some rest. We leave at dawn."

    Lith took the babies from the crib and Warped with his family to his private quarters inside Sark''s pce.

    "Look, I''m sorry for rushing things but time is of the essence. I don''t know if I''ll be back and I have yet to ask Grandma to reforge my equipment to better suit my life forces after they merged further-"

    "Then go straight to the point." Kam said.

    "I''ll be honest with you. I don''t know how to protect you." He sighed. "Not this time."

    "What do you mean?" She asked. "There has been no attempt on my life for months now and I can stay cooped up in the Blood Desert until your return."

    "It''s not that simple, Kami." Lith replied. "The attempts stopped because there was no opening for more attacks. After giving birth to Elysia, you have stopped working. There was no schedule the culprit could exploit.

    "You never left the Verhen Mansion and its arrays, and the rare times you did, there were always many powerful individuals with you."

    "Why do you think they never attacked while you were away on missions?" Kam pointed out.

    "I have no schedule either and it''s not like I announce my movements." He said. "The Tower Warp contributes to making me untraceable and I never left for long. There was never the time to notice my absence, n something, and then put it into practice.

    "My longest mission was with the Wayfinder but you came to Jiera with me. Now, however, too many people know I''m about to leave you alone to fight the World Tree. Even worse, it won''t take my enemies long to notice that most of my allies followed me.

    "Whoever is behind the attempts on your life has plenty of time to wait for an opportunity if not create one."

    "What if I bring Elysia around?" Kam proposed.

    "It would be useless." Lith shook his head. "You heard the Guardians. As long as your assant doesn''t threaten her and their attack won''t harm Elysia, you are on your own."

    "There''s really nothing I can do? Like hiding?" She swallowed a lump of saliva.

    "Kami, you can''t hide forever." Lith replied. "If Jirni is right, those people won''t stop. They''ll just wait until we drop our guard and then strike. It''s what happened to me with Strider.

    "I would be dead without my Abomination side and you don''t have one."

    "So what do we do?" She hid her face in his chest, fearing that the days she had left with her husband and children were numbered.

    "I have only one option." Lith said, giving her hope. "I can''t do it without you and you need to follow my instructions to the letter."

 Chapter 3239 Opportunity (Part 2)

    Chapter 3239 Opportunity (Part 2)

    "Anything." Kam held him tight, those words making her feel like she could breathe again.

    Lithpressed the space around them, Hushed the room, and obscured it with a darkness spell. Sark''s pce was supposed to be safe, but after reading Jirni''s suspects list he couldn''t take risks.

    Then, he conjured a mind link via physical touch to share his n with Kam and once he was done, her shoulders slouched again.

    ***

    Blood Desert, the following day, a few hours before dawn.

    Lith left the bedroom while Kam and the babies were still asleep, his steps light like a breeze.

    ''They are still very tired from all the emotions from yesterday. I''ll say our goodbye at thest moment possible.'' He thought.

    Lith used the domestic Gatework to reach the War Room where Tezka, Gentor, Jirni, Quy, Friya, and Aleeah waited for him. Tezka''s prisoner was there as well, still trapped inside a thick linen bag and ready to be knocked out again the moment he was about to regain his senses.

    By the time Lith arrived, Jirni was still studying Aalejah''s anatomy with Invigoration and the elf was making small talk to keep her mind from wondering how that knowledge would be used.

    "That''s the cloth the Yggdrasill grants their aspirant Chroniclers to give them privacy." Aalejah said after taking a good look at the bag. "It''s an enchantment only the World Tree is supposed to know and they never hand more than enough to wrap a single staff.

    "How did you find something of that size?" The bag was big enough to hold the elf and his weapon with space to spare.

    "I didn''t." Tezka replied with a proud smile on his snout. "You left your cloth in the ruins of Urgamakka years ago, remember?"

    "More like I lost it in the chaos ensuing the attack of Vareen the guespreader." She shrugged. "I didn''t bother looking for the cloth because I didn''t need it anymore after abandoning the idea of bing a C-"

    The elf''s eyes went wide.

    "You stole my cloth!"

    "No, I picked your abandoned cloth up for you." Tezka took a piece of runed fabric the size of a small carpet out of his pocket dimension and handed it to Aalejah.

    "Wait, what?" The elf had used it for so long that she recognized the cloth at first nce. "Where does thate from, then?"

    She asked while pointing out at the moaning sack.

    "I might have given it to Bytra to study while looking for its owner." Tezka scratched his chin. "That girl''s real strength lies in the Forge. She is the Fourth Ruler of the mes and there''s little she can''t do once she puts her mind to it.

    "Too bad herbat strength is nothing special."

    Lith had seen Bytra fight a few times and he had always been shocked by her ability to conjure massive amounts of raw power and then focus them intoser-precise attacks.

    ''I guess that if Tezka uses his own strength as the benchmark, Bytra is indeed nothing special. Which begs the question: where do I stand in Tezka''s power scale?''

    "Sorry for making you wait. Is everyone ready?" Lith asked.

    Everyone turned toward him, noticing that something was different about him.

    Just a few hours had passed since thest time Jirni had seen him, yet Lith looked a head and shoulders taller, fiercer, and he seemed to have ovee the shock from turning into an Abomination and Solus'' kidnapping.

    Jirni could tell that something had happened. Something that had steeled Lith''s resolve to the point that he made her feel small.

    "Whoever was interested in helping you has arrived by now." Gentor nodded. "The troops are well fed and rested. We only need yourmand and a destination."

    "Good." Lith nodded. "Grandma?"

    "Yes, Featherling?" Sark Warped into the room through a hair-thin dimensional opening.

    "I don''t want to waste Tezka''s strength before the mission and I need a space-sealed room to contain the prisoner." He said. "A ce where I can make the elf regain consciousness without the risk he alerts the Yggdrasill of our intentions until I decide otherwise.

    "Do you have a cell that fits such requirements?"

    "You want to lift the dimensional seal during the interrogation?" Sark furrowed her brows. "What''s going to stop the elf from escaping then?"

    "Friya." Lith replied.

    "Fine. Crevan."

    "Yes, my Liege?" The Phoenix answered her summon, his head already bowed and his knee bent.

    "Bring Lith and his friends to the pce dungeon and give them full control over the array system of a max security cell."

    "Them?" Crevan echoed.

    "Yes, not just to Lith." Sark nodded.

    "As youmand." Crevan stood up and led the way to the dungeon wing.

    Only Gentor didn''t follow the Phoenix, returning outside to update the others. His presence was neither needed nor required.

    Sark''s pce was a huge tent so everything was at the ground level. There were no upper or lower floors yet it extended no less than the Kingdom''s Royal Pce or the Empire''s floating fortress of Manaron.

    If not for dimensional magic stretching and expanding the space inside the pce, Sark''s tent would have been bigger than Lutia.

    "Here we are." Crevan said, pointing at a small room with no windows and a single entrance that required a precise sequence of mana pulses to open. "Walls and ceilingare enchanted to Davross level.

    "No one gets in or out without the code." He gave it to Lith via a mind link. "The cell has a spacepressing array strong enough to stop the long-distance mind link between the Chronicler and the Yggdrasill.

    "There is also has a Silverwing''s Hexagram to keep prisoners from using elemental magic. Yet there is no way to block regr Spirit Spells or breathing techniques so you need to be careful. Once your prisoner wakes up, he will be trapped but he can still attack you."

    "This won''t do, Crevan." Lith shook his head. "I''m okay with the dimensional sealing array but everything else has to go. We need light magic to keep the prisoner alive."

    "And I''m not okay with the dimensional seal, hatchling." Tezka needed but a wave of his hand to make the array visible and study its runes. "This is just a variation on one of the young sparrow''s favorite spells.

    "The World Tree probably knows its weak points and the elf can probably bypass it."

    Crevan''s pride as a member of the Nest was wounded by those words but he had never faced an enemy of the caliber of Tezka or the World Tree. He swallowed a rude retort and contacted the Overlord.

    "My Liege agrees with you." The Phoenix handed a key-shaped mana gemstone to the Suneater. "This crystal will bestow you temporary control over the prison''s arrays."

    "Thanks." Tezka shut the defensive system down and used the key to rece Sark''s array with one of his own. "Done. Aside from physical attacks, you weaklings have nothing to fear." He said while looking at Quy, Friya, Aalejah, and Jirni.

    The girls red at him while their mother gave him the best curtsy her state allowed her. All while never breaking contact with the elf.

    "Do you mind telling me what you are doing?" Aalejah asked as she felt Jirni''s mana washing over every nook and cranny of her body.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 3240 Retribution (Part 1)

    Chapter 3240 Retribution (Part 1)

    "I need a baseline." Lady Ernas replied. "You don''t have Yggdrasill wood fused with your body, but by studying your physiology I can save a lot of time. When I get my hands on the Chronicler, I''ll have to examine solely the parts where he differs from a normal elf to be able to do my job."

    "What job?" Aalejah asked

    "You are about to find out. You are also not going to like it." Jirni''s voice was soft and motherly, but there was something in her matter-of-fact tone that gave Aalejah the creeps.

    "What''s next?" Crevan asked. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "The n is quite simple." Lith replied. "I''m going to hurt this guy so bad that when we remove the dimensional seal, the World Tree will be overwhelmed by the sudden agony they''ll experience through their bond with the Chronicler.

    "This way, I will be able to sense Solus'' presence via my Divine Beast side, and at that point, I''ll leave the Chronicler in Jirni''s hands while I fly to the nearest entrance to the Fringe with the rest of my forces."

    "And what are our respective roles supposed to be?" Friya asked.

    "Once I leave, I need you to keep the Chronicler from doing anything that could harm your mother or lead to his escape. Quy, your duty is to keep him alive and conscious at all costs. No matter how badly Jirni hurts him, he must remain awake.

    "The constant pain will keep the World Tree from hiding the entrance to the Fringe to my homing instinct until we get there and throw them off their game once we get in. I''m entrusting half of the battle to you three and you have to y your part to perfection or the mission will fail before it even starts."

    "That''s horrible!" Aalejah shuddered at the thought and tried to shake Jirni''s hands off her arm.

    "That''s brilliant." Jirni held onto the elf with an iron grip. "You are staging a telepathic and physical attack at the same time."

    "This way, instead, she is taking no part in my private war. Grandma is just offering me and my allies a ce to stay. Also, this is a personal matter and I want to deal with it with a hands-on approach." Lith clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles popped.

    "That''s why we haven''t moved from the Blood Desert." Lith nodded at Jirni and ignored Aalejah''s remark. "Even if the Yggdrasill sends someone to stop you, they''ll have to deal with Grandma''s guards first. Not to mention it would be an act of war."

    "Wait a second." Tezka said. "If it''s pain you need, why don''t we just throw this bastard inside the little sparrow''s Pits of Agony? That ursed ce prevents its victims from dying and inflicts them with inhuman suffering. There''s no need for us."

    "Yes, there is." Lith shook his head. "Don''t forget the Guardians'' no-intervention policy. Grandma lending me the Pits of Agony for a Chronicler who did nothing to her would vite her rules.

    "This way, instead, she is taking no part in my private war. Grandma is just offering me and my allies a ce to stay. Also, this is a personal matter and I want to deal with it with a hands-on approach." Lith clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles popped.

    "Tezka, you and I are going to deal with the elf and force him to use all of his tricks until he has none left. Once we leave, Friya will know what to expect and take our ce."

    The Suneater was about to ask how she could fill such big shoes alone when he remembered that her hair bore all seven elemental streaks.

    ''I had almost forgotten that she is a dimensional mage with full elemental affinity. The kid is going a long way.'' Tezka had never learned Domination himself but in his long life, he had faced multiple opponents that had used it against him once cornered.

    "Excuse you?" Quy said. "Are you really nning to ditch us here? I thought we were friends!"

    "We are, but you are also pregnant. Are you really nning to endanger your life and those of your unborn children?" Lith used her own words against her.

    Quy touched her womb by reflex, the memory of the Void Demon Dragon exploiting her condition shed in front of her eyes, filling them with panic.

    "No." She lowered her gaze in shame, feeling like she was abandoning her friend right when he needed her the most. "I''m sorry."

    "Don''t be." Lith patted Quy''s shoulder. "You y a vital role in my n. Without you, Jirni won''t be able to inflict this bastard enough pain to screw with the World Tree''s mind without killing the Chronicler. Without you three, victory would be impossible."

    He looked everyone in the eyes and only once everyone nodded did Lith signal Tezka to proceed.

    "Fair warning. Once I take the Chronicler out of the bag, he''ll know who we are and where he is. I have never tried this before so I don''t know if my array is enough to prevent the elf from sharing everything with the World Tree.

    "Whatever you n to do, you got to be quick or we risk losing the element of surprise." The Suneater said.

    "Don''t worry. I''ll save my best for the Yggdrasill." At Lith''s signal, Tezka took the unconscious elf out of the bag and handed him to Jirni.

    The Chronicler still had his Yggdrasill weapon tied to his hand not to rm the World Tree so Jirni had to be careful not to let one iota of her mana reach the wooden staff.

    She used her breathing technique, a basic version of Invigoration, to look for anomalies in Ra''ntar''s body andpare the information acquired with what she had learned from examining Aalejah.

    Once Jirin was done, she established a mind link with Quy to share her knowledge with her daughter and ask for a second opinion.

    The two women exchanged several observations to better perform their respective tasks but while one spoke as a concerned healer, the other sounded like a scientist preparing to dissect an unknown animal.

    Once they were done, Lith tossed the Chronicler in the middle of the room and sshed him with cold water.

    Ra''ntar gasped as the water went down the wrong pipe, sending him into a coughing fit. His reaction time was slow due to his injuries and his vision blurry from the many blows to his head. Lith had woken the elf up without healing him.

    "Get up."Ra''ntar was still processing how Jiera''s wide ins had shrunk into a closed room when a stone-cold voice drew his attention.

    "I said get up."

    The Chronicler''s eyes met Lith''s armored feet a second before a kick to the guts sent Ra''ntar bouncing off the tent''s wall. The spells imbued in the pce made the cloth as hard as Davross, causing the elf a concussion and several broken ribs.

    The Chronicler tried to adjust his grip on his weapon and contact his master, but the rope blocked his hands just like the dimensionalpressing array blocked his thoughts.

    A mere chore magic spell got rid of the physical restraints whereas even the best dimensional spells the World Tree had imparted to Ra''ntar proved useless against Tezka''s dimensional seal.

    The piece of Yggdrasill wood inside the elf''s body stirred from its slumber, using its resonance with the staff to amplify the telepathic signal with the main body. All Ra''ntar could hear at first was static but then came a whisper.

 Chapter 3241 Retribution (Part 2)

    Chapter 3241 Retribution (Part 2)

    ''Nice try, knife ears.'' Tezka''s whisper.

    The dimensional distortion bent the space so that no matter what direction Ra''ntar mind link went, it would always converge on the Suneater.

    "Make me repeat myself once more and I''ll pull your guts through your mouth." Lith grabbed the Chronicler by the neck and threw him against the wall while healing Ra''ntar''s wounds with light magic.

    The fractures healed, the bruises disappeared, and the concussion was reabsorbed, but it came at a price. Lith''s spell drew the nutrients from the elf''s body, draining his vitality and making him hungry as if he hadn''t eaten for two days instead of one.

    "Verhen?" As his vision cleared up, the Chronicler checked his equipment with a short pulse of Invigoration.

    The good news was that everything was still in its ce. The bad news was that his brittle Darwen armor offered little protection in closebat.

    "Since your master spent so much time and effort to find me, I thought we might as well have a chat like civilized people." Lith''s words and actions didn''t match.

    His tone was polite and his smile sincere yet his wed hand bolted for the elf''s exposed neck.

    The Chronicler sidestepped the attack while using the staff to push the arm away. Unfortunately for him, the cell was small, and even in his human form, Lith was a Divine Beast.

    His muscles were coiled springs weighing hundreds of kilograms and their might was further boosted by fire, air, water, and earth fusion. His mere movement caused a wind st that blew Ra''ntar off his feet.

    The shockwave sent him crashing against the nearby wall and, without footing to exert leverage, Lith easily pushed the Yggdrasill staff aside. His hand reached the Chronicler''s throat unimpeded, squeezing it tight. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Let''s start by introducing ourselves. You know me but I don''t know you, elf. What''s your name?" Ra''ntar was shorter than Lith but the neck choke brought them at the same eye level.

    The Chronicler tried to reply but Lith squeezed his throat too hard for Ra''ntar to draw enough air to speak or use a breathing technique.

    ''How could Verhen possibly recover, travel to Jiera, and find me so quickly? Thest report still gave him missing.'' The Chronicler thought while struggling with all of his strength.

    He grabbed Lith''s wrist with both hands, trying to loosen his grip yet between the mass gap and Ra''ntar weakened state, it felt like a massage. The elf''s consciousness reached for the World Tree to get answers and assistance but it only found the impervious wall of Tezka''s will

    "You don''t feel like talking? Then let''s see if I can loosen your tongue a bit." Lith let the prisoner go and pped him.

    Ra''ntar head twisted ny degrees and several of his teeth broke, cutting deep inside his cheek.

    "Not enough? Maybe you want me to even your face." A backhand p shattered the other side of the elf''s jaw in pieces and made him spit out blood and teeth. "That''s more like it. Am I right?"

    Ra''ntar drew a deep breath and activated Invigoration. The breathing technique fixed the damage and gave him his stamina back but without nutrients, his hunger grew further.

    "Do your worst, Verhen. I won''t betray my master." The Chronicler activated the bond between him and his Yggdrasill staff to quickly conjure multiple spells at the same time and mix them in a single st deadlier than the sum of its parts.

    Three tier five spells, weaved respectively by the staff, the elf, and the piece of wood fused with his body, merged into a hexa-elemental spell that would have been impossible even for a mage inside their own tower.

    "I don''t want you to." Lith''s seven eyes were aze each with a different elemental color, ready to Dominate anything the elf could dish.

    The spell stopped in mid-air as if someone had pulled the breaks while the willpower infused in the elemental energy and that injected by Lith''s eyes shed for dominance.

    Lith was strong and rested while Ra''ntar felt dizzy from hunger and thirst. The spell broke into six smaller spheres that turned against their master. Two hit the elf''s arms, ravaging flesh and bones while cauterizing the wounds as soon as they opened.

    Two more crushed the legs'' bones, grinding them into dust while leaving the main arteries unscathed. One pierced through the pit of the Chronicler''s stomach and thest one forced its way into his mouth before detonating.

    The six spheres had avoided hitting vital areas, dealing as much damage as possible withoutpromising the elf''s survival.

    There was still much power left in the spell, enough to kill Ra''ntar dozens of times over. A flick of Lith''s finger recalled the spheres that formed a circle around him like trained dogs.

    ''This is fine.'' Blood frothed from the elf''s missing throat. ''I just need not to use darkness fusion to die from shock in-''

    A magic circle appeared on the floor, enveloping the room with Solus'' Immortal Body array and forcing the Chronicler back to his full health. The spell collected the bone fragments and blood scattered throughout the room and put them back together.

    Yet to mend bones and tissues, Ra''ntar''s body was forced to cannibalize itself for nutrients. His undamaged bones thinned, his muscles shrunk, and his hunger grew to the point that mental images of his favorite dishes reced the runes he was weaving, disrupting his spell.

    "I know how it feels, believe me." Lith circled around the elf with a grin as Ra''ntar''s face became gaunt and exhaustion made it hard for him to catch his breath even though he was lying on the floor.

    "Hunger is a terrible thing and thanks to your master, I''ve been hungry for the past few days like only an Abomination can be hungry. Now it''s your turn. Get up."

    The elf rolled over, using his hands to lift himself since his legs were too weak to do it alone.

    It was then that he saw him.

    Tezka the Suneater was leaning against the south wall of the cell, his arms crossed and a huge smile on his canine snout as he was enjoying the show. Last but not least, the room was sealed, with no sign of a window or a door.

    ''Mogar almighty! Verhen has already contacted the Eldritches. I have no-'' Lith stepped forward with deliberate slowness, grabbing Ra''ntar by the cor of his armor and mmed his face against the wall.

    The impact tted the elf''s nose, making it bleed. With each drop lost the Chronicler felt thirstier and weaker.

    "I said get up." Lith said as the elf crouched on all fours again. "This isn''t going to be quick or easy. The longer you make me wait, the harder I''ll beat you."

    Ra''ntar used light fusion to stop the bleeding and the Yggdrasill staff to push himself back to his feet.

    The moment he stood straight again, Lith delivered three blows in quick session. A right jab on the nose, shattering it again, a left hook on the jaw, ripping it off, and a headbutt that caved the elf''s skull.

    Ra''ntar weed the darkness swallowing him just to be pulled back to the light. The Immortal Body Array fixed the damage while Quy used her Injection spell to flood the elf''s bloodstream with several nutrients'' potions.

 Chapter 3242 Exposed Secrets (Part 1)

    Chapter 3242 Exposed Secrets (Part 1)

    The potions kept Ra''ntar alive and conscious, but didn''t satisfy his hunger one bit.

    "Get up." Lith''s voice rang to the Chronicler''s ears like a death knell.

    "No." Ra''ntar looked up at Lith in defiance without moving. "I refuse to fight. I won''t y your game, whatever it is."

    Hard-light constructs shaped like hands lifted the elf up from the scruff of his neck, shoulders, and arms, forcing him to take abat stance.

    Ra''ntar had no intention of standing up, and let gravity bring him back down. The moment his feet touched the ground, a right punch struck his armor and shattered his ribcage.

    His lungs and heart copsed, filling his airways with blood. While he was still recoiling from the punch, a leg sweep struck his knees. The impact almost severed his legs, only thin strips of skin and cartge held them together.

    As the Chronicler was finally falling to the ground, Lith stepped around him and hit Ra''ntar in the back, ripping his spine out.

    The Immortal Body array put the pieces back together and Quy''s treatments kept the elf from dying of shock, but the hunger reached new heights as more of the elf''s muscles, bones, and fluids were consumed to fuel the regeneration process.

    Ra''ntar wanted to cry, but he was so dehydrated that no tears flowed out.

    "What do you want from me?" His mouth waspletely dry of saliva, making his voice hoarse. "What do you hope to achieve with this? I''m just one Chronicler of many, my life is worthless.

    Ra''ntar was blind, deaf, and couldn''t feel anything from the neck down. He was supposed to be surrounded by darkness yet his damaged optic never projected a blinding whiteness as if he was staring at the sun.

    "Your actions are worthless. With the dimensional seal, my master isn''t experiencing any of this torture, but if you open it, they will know what you are doing and deal with you ordingly. Either way, you can''t win."

    Ra''ntar was scared and hungry, but his brain still worked. The Yggdrasill staff helped him to focus, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn''t find a reason for Lith''s actions aside from pure sadism.

    "What I want is for you to suffer like Solus did since the day you took her away from me." Golden hands lifted the elf again, turning his head up to force him to look Lith in the eyes.

    "To know what it means to be alone, scared, and hungry in the hands of someone who considers you a means to an end. Once you have learned your lesson, I''ll lift the dimensional seal so that your master can share your knowledge. Until then¡­"

    Lith''s extended fingers pierced through Ra''ntar''s eyes, stopping millimeters short of his brain. Two quick ps on either side of the elf''s head burst his eardrums while a hit at the base of his neck severed the spine.

    Ra''ntar was blind, deaf, and couldn''t feel anything from the neck down. He was supposed to be surrounded by darkness yet his damaged optic never projected a blinding whiteness as if he was staring at the sun.

    Before he knew it, he was whole again.

    Ra''ntar didn''t waste time talking, he conjured as many low tiered spells as he could and unleashed them at the same time.

    ''Dominate this, you bastard!'' Under the cover of his magic, the Chronicler made the Davross de emerge from the tip of his staff and pointed it at himself. ''I have no chance of defeating Verhen in my current state, but the enchantments of my weapon can kill me!''

    Golden hands locked Ra''ntar joints while a flick of Lith''s fingers sent the hail of spells back. They pierced through the elf''s body, opening more holes than a form of Swiss cheese while also avoiding his vitals.

    "Good." Lith nodded. "If you gave up on your life, it means I''ve broken your spirit. Time to break your body."

    Even in his debilitated state, Ra''ntar found the strength to sneer at such a preposterous im.

    ''Verhen has Lith has already done his worst and failed. I can use darkness fusion anytime I want to stop the pain and there''s a limit to how much he can torture me. If he pushes me too much, I''ll die of consumption and he''ll achieve nothing.''

    Or so the Chronicler thought, until Ragnar?k pierced through one of the densest nerve clusters of his body and used its Counterflow ability to neutralize the elf''s fusion magic.

    At the same time, Quy injected enough potions inside Ra''ntar blood flow to quench his thirst and ensure he would survive what came next.

    "Tezka, now!" On Lith''s cue, the Suneater took the Yggdrasill staff away from the elf and released the dimensional seal.

    ***

    Back at the Fringe, thousands of kilometers away, the World Tree studied Solus'' ring with their breathing technique, Root Cause, while at the same time supervising the missions of the thousands of Chroniclers scattered throughout Mogar.

    ''What''s wrong with Elphyn?'' The Yggdrasill thought. ''This is the third day since herst escape attempt and the tower is still covered in cracks. After feeding upon so many of my followers, she was supposed to-''

    The World Tree used no filter whilemunicating with their Chroniclers. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Every telepathic transmission was received in its entirety and reviewed by a fraction of the Tree''s consciousness to decide what to share with the Librarians and what to keep to themselves.

    Everything a Chroniclers saw, heard, and experienced was stored in the Yggdrasil staff and transmitted to the World Tree at regr intervals. So, when Tezka lifted the cell''s dimensional seal, the Yggdrasill experienced everything Lith had done to Ra''ntar at once.

    The pain was so intense that the World Tree lost their focus, screaming telepathically to anyone who could listen and losing control over the several ess points to their Fringe.

    The Yggdrasill had never experienced thirst or hunger. The bountiful soil of Mogar nourished them since they had memory and conjuring water was something even a human child could do.

    The World Tree knew that having their needs not met was supposed to be unpleasant and that day they learned how much.

    To make matters worse, Ragnar?k''s edge cut Ra''ntar most sensitive areas and neutralized darkness fusion while Tezka injected Chaos throughout the Yggdrasill staff''s phloem system with a skill honed through millennia.

    Enough to flood with Chaos every fiber and lymph drop of the wood but not enough to inflict lethal damage.

    Ra''ntar caused the World Tree psychological pain through their bond while the Yggdrasill staff transmitted physical pain since it was a living part of the World Tree.

    Chroniclers fell to their knees all over Mogar, screaming at the top of their lungs and revealing their presence to those they were supposed to observe from the shadows.

    "Who in the gods'' name is that?" King Meron said as the Chronicler''s disguise crumbled revealing an elf woman spying on him under the guise of one of the many minor nobles of his Court.

    Rulers, mages, and powerful beings all over Mogar suddenly found strangers in their homes andbs. Familiar visages and forms shapeshifted into elves they had never seen before.

    Millennia of careful infiltration and undercover work went into the gutter in the span of a few seconds yet that wasn''t the worst part.

    With the Yggdrasill desperately trying to suppress the telepathic connection and doing damage control to help the Chroniclers flee before before they were captured, the ess points to the Fringe all over Mogar remained open.

 Chapter 3243 Exposed Secrets (Part 1)

    Chapter 3243 Exposed Secrets (Part 1)

    Random travelers gained ess to the Fringe while things that had been sealed by the Yggdrasill bloodline for millennia escaped.

    ***

    "There!" Lith pinned Ra''ntar to the ground like an insect after impaling him on Ragnar?k, sealing his movements. "I can finally see Solus. Assemble everyone while I oversee the final details."

    Tezka Warped out of the room with the Yggdrasill staff in hand to mobilize the troops and have them ready for departure.

    "Jirni, I''ll leave Ragnar?k here until I reach the Fringe. You have until then to study his life force and find a way to keep inflicting pain without killing him. After that, I''ll recall Ragnar?k and you''ll be on your own."

    "Don''t worry. It will be more than enough. Skywarp." The stiffeners of her dress came out of their sockets and shapeshifted into metal needles that assembled into a ive.

    "Protect." Skywarp hummed with power, orbiting around Jirni while discing itself through space to make its trajectory unpredictable.

    "Help me figure out what your brother is doing. I need you to do the same." Jirni touched the elf and flooded his body with her breathing technique.

    She focused on what parts transmitted more pain and how the presence of the Ygdrasill wood inside the Chronicler''s body affected his physiology.

    Skywarp split itself back into needles and pierced the elf''s skin. It studied both the flow of Ragnar?k''s mana and the disposition of the pain receptors, rearranging the needles so as to imitate the former and overwhelm thetter.

    The ive had no Counterflow ability, but Jirni''s needles were born as a tool of coercion. With enough time and the right cement, they could turn a body inside out. And that back when they were just pieces of metal in Jirni''s hands.

    Now the needles had a quasi-sentience willing to assist its master in fine-tuning the multiple enchantments that Orion had imbued into the weapon.

    "And she''s not on her own." Friya activated her Dimensional Ruler spell, filling the cell with golden sparkles of light that bent space to her whims.

    Her multi-colored hair whipped through the air as she flooded them with mana, ready to Dominate any spell the moment the elf weaved them.

    Quy said nothing and just kneeled beside the Chronicler. With Lith gone, she would have to rece the Immortal Body array. It was a duty she would have dly avoided, but her loyalty to Lith forced her to put aside her moral and ethical doubts.

    ''I''m a hypocrite. If it were Mom, Dad, or Friya instead of Solus, I wouldn''t hesitate one second.'' She thought while using her tier five Body Sculpting spell, Silver Hand, to hijack the elf''s metabolism.

    The moment the three women took each their position, Lith Warped right after Tezka.

    Dragons, Phoenixes, and Griffons were waiting for him in the main za where the Warp Gates for civilians, nobles, and diplomatic missions had already been activated.

    There was no point flying, not when one could have ess to the Gate Network of the three great countries to cross dozens of thousands of kilometers in one step.

    Milea Genys, the Magic Empress of the Gorgon Empire had readily epted. She was Leegaain''s disciple and even though the Guardian wouldn''t interfere directly, she knew how much Menadion''s Desperation meant to her mentor.

    Convincing the Royals, instead, had been more difficult. They demanded an exnation for Lith''s sudden madness, his disappearance after his rescue, and why he needed a Royal Override to move hundreds of people no questions asked.

    Lith was the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom and the Royals owed him much, but after the disaster of Zeska, their patience ran thin. He had gotten what he wanted, but at a price.

    "Is everyone here?" Lith looked around while focusing on the several lights he could see one at a time to discern the closest one.

    "We are ready." Baba Yaga and Lochra Silverwing walked out of the tent, drawing countless gazes and causing several gasps.

    They were both mythological figures and even though the members of the rescue mission had been informed of their presence, knowing and seeing were twopletely different things.

    "I''m also proud to say that we have done our job. You haven''t lied to anyone." Baba Yaga returned the Ears of Menadion to him. "We have figured out the unlock code. My only regrets are that Bytra shares this knowledge and we didn''t have the time to study the rest."

    The code was written down on a piece of paper inside the Ears. Usually, the Red Mother would have used a more discreet mind link. Yet the code was quite long and she couldn''t risk Lith forgetting it.

    She also handed him the Hands, the Mouth, and a pin made of white crystals.

    "Our towers can''t fit a Warp Gate so we''ll follow you with our own means."

    "Towers?" More than one echoed. "There''s more than one?"

    "The pin will act as a beacon. Even if somehow the World Tree drags you inside the Fringe and seals the opening before our arrival, I''d be capable of locating you even if the Tree relocates on the moon."

    "Thanks, Yaga." Lith appointed it on thepel of his Magus Robe and hid the four pieces of the Menadion Set under his Voidwalker armor. "What about Aylen and our skeletal friends."

    "Locked and loaded." Baba Yaga grunted. "And I mean literally. There''s no way in Mogar I let them roam my tower."

    "Phase one is a go." Lith yelled, his voice roaring through the ce. "Sharing our respective strategies will have to wait until we reach our destination. There''s not a moment to waste. Follow me."

    Each group had prepared their best battle strategies and underhanded tricks, but they had refused to disclose them. After all, the whole mission was a huge maybe, based on the assumption that Lith located an ess point to the World Tree''s Fringe.

    No one wanted to expose their secrets to potential future rivals unless it was absolutely necessary.

    Lith understood and empathized with his allies so much that despite his predicament he couldn''t get angry at them.

    ''I''m already asking them to fight and risk their lives for me. Anything more would be madness.'' He thought while walking through the dimensional tunnel.

    He moved to the four corners of the Blood Desert, stopping each time for a few seconds to adjust his readings.

    "You there, bring me to the farthest coordinates in that direction." Lith ordered the desk clerk while pointing north-northeast.

    "The farthest in the Empire or the Kingdom?" The middle-aged man asked after checking his runescreen. "Because they are both in that direction."

    "Kingdom first, Empire second. Lock on the second set of coordinates already." Lith replied.

    ''In the Tree''s shoes, I''d set my domain as far as possible from the Guardians'' turfs to avoid notice. Like in one of the many free countries at the borders of the three great countries.''

    The clerk of the Mage Association had a heart attack when Lith walked unannounced through the Warp Gate. ording to the news, he had recovered from his madness but the woman was aware that when politics were involved, news and truth seldom ovepped.

    "Still too far. Next." Lith walked back and the passage closed while the rm still red and a second clerk administered first aid to the woman.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3244 Waging War (Part 1)

    Chapter 3244 Waging War (Part 1)

    Lith Warped through the three great countries, keeping the Sark''s pce as his base of operations.

    ''There was no chance the World Tree anywhere near the Blood Desert. Not with Grandma''s iron fist. Now I''m sure it''s either past the Kingdom''s or the Empire''s borders.''

    "Son of a weed!" Lith had reached a ce so close to the World Tree''s Fringe that he could see Solus'' light shining at the horizon.

    It was located in the Gorgon Empire, at the border with the Free Country of Chl and just a few hundreds of kilometers away from the only point on Garlen where the three great countries touched.

    "The ess point is at the fringes of Leegaain''s turf, far away from Manaron where he currently resides, yet perfect to reach any city in Garlen through the local Gate Network." Upon his signal, all the Warp Gates in the central za of Sark''s pce locked on Lith''s coordinates while he walked towards the borders.

    The mage soldiers of the Empire stepped aside and opened the gates of their fortress, but the armed forces of Chl had no reason toply with the request of a foreign Magus.

    "Stop right there!" Themander of the border guards yelled. "I don''t care if you are the Blood Magus, the Never Magus, or the Supreme Magus. Take one step out of the Empire and you''ll be an enemy of Chl. Your actions will be interpreted as an act of war and we will respond ordingly."

    "So what?" Lith stood in front of the closed gate, a tall structure over twenty meters (66'') tall of stone and enchanted metal. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Countless arrays and alchemical tools were aimed at him, ready to be unleashed on themander''s signal.

    "So you are one step away from having your sorry ass sted into smithereens, boy." Themander was a battle-hardened veteran who had secured his homnd from the constant raids of the Empire for decades.

    Seeing a runt wearing a Magus robe was an insult to his pride as a mage just as Lith moving like he owned the ce was an insult to his pride as a soldier.

    "You and what army?" The arrays were still powering up when Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, reaching 30 meters (100'') of height.

    He was head and shoulders above the walls, looking down on themander with seven burning eyes. The silver mes of his crown and those shrouding his feathered wings crackled against the power of the magical formations that restricted Lith''s movements.

    "Do you think I''m afraid of you?" Themander''s voice remained stern and his gaze focused. "You are not the first Divine Beast I see. My garrison has been built to hold back the military power of the Gorgon Empire, the most magically advanced country in Garlen.

    "I can deal with the likes of you, with this army!" Upon hismand, dozens of arrays red up, bing visible to the naked eye.

    War machines the size of a tank powered by mana crystals and imbued with destructive spells floated outside their hangars. The metal constructs assumed tactical formations that allowed them to shoot at the enemy from every direction at the same time, no matter if he flew or stood on the ground.

    Hundreds of soldiers raised their enchanted shields that fused their force fields to form a magical barrier that epassed the entire front wall. War mages took flight, casting their best spells and arrays.

    Themander was lying, of course. He was afraid, but a soldier incapable of dominating his fears would die on his first battle. He could feel the Tiamat''s heat on his skin, smell the brimstone in the beast''s breath.

    Themander''s stomach had been twisted in a knot from the moment Lith had stepped forward and spread his Tiamat Fear around. Yet he wouldn''t let his country be invaded without a fight.

    "Cute." Lithughed, bright violet mes roaring out of his mouth as he spoke. "Meet my army!"

    He spread his feet and unfurled his wings as he roared his challenge.

    More mes burst from between his scales but the arrays protecting the borders stopped them before their heat could reach the walls. Even the shockwave of the roar and the brunt of Lith''s Tiamat Fear was smothered.

    Themander stood at the center of the magical formations yet found himself staring death in the eyes.

    The people emerging from the Warp Gates grew in size one after another. The first Divine Beasts toe out took the sky to leave space on the ground for the others to step through.

    By the time the Tiamat''s roar faded, all themander could see was a tall wall of scales and feathers that eclipsed the neighboring fortress of the Empire. The mage soldiers standing behind Lith fell to their knees, praying to the gods for mercy.

    Seeing one Wyrm was considered good fortune since the people of the Empire worshipped Dragons. Seeing dozens, then hundreds, if not thousands of them at the same time could only mean cmity.

    The Origin mes that Dragons and Phoenixes exuded naturally when angered were burning down the protective arrays of Chahal''s stronghold, spreading through the magic runes like wildfire on dry grass.

    "There''s no reason for bloodshed." Themander changed his tune swiftly.

    ''The Divine Beasts outnumber us. We might be able to kill one or two, but my garrison would be wiped out and the Empire would have free ess to Chl!'' He actually thought.

    "Whatever your reason foring here is, as long as you promise not to attack my people, I''ll let you in. Swear it on your Brood."

    Lith''s answer came in the form of a bellowingughter that shook the border walls.

    "Compromise happens when two forces areparable in strength or I''m in a good mood." Lith replied. "How can I believe the word of someone who was ready to attack me until a moment ago?

    "How can I trust you not to shoot us in the back the moment we turn around? No, you''ve shown me who you are and I believe you. You''ve threatened me first without asking a single question and that''s exactly what I''m going to do.

    "You have the span of one deep breath to run away. Anything else and I''ll consider you my enemy and your actions will be interpreted as an act of war."

    Themander could almost feel his own words pping him in the face as Lith drew a deep breath and so did the sea of burning creatures behind him.

    "Run! Run for your lives!" There was no time forplex strategies, no chance for an army of men to stand in the way of monsters.

    The best themander could hope for was that a few soldiers would survive and alert the parliament of the invasion. Because even at death''s door the old veteran feared for his country the most.

    The Divine Beasts were unlikely to care fornds and politics, but the Empire would. All it had to do was to march in the wake of the Brood and collect the prizes the Divine Beasts left behind like trash.

    The roar of themander''s voice was eclipsed by a tidal wave of Origin mes that swept past the arrays before rushing against and past the walls.

 Chapter 3245 Waging War (Part 2)

    Chapter 3245 Waging War (Part 2)

    The arrays burned first, the soldiers and mages died immediately after. The solid enchanted stone and metal of the garrison held fast, but when the Origin mes died, only a charred in remained.

    The soil was ckened, steaming from the lingering heat. A line of gurgling moltenva was all that was left of the border wall.

    The soldiers of the Empire stared in horror at the scene. Not just because the Chl stronghold had endured centuries of harsh conflict just to fall in the span of one breath. But also because the Origin mes were still violet.

    With the battle with the World Tree approaching, no one wanted to waste mana or the focus necessary to conjure Primordial mes for an oversized pebble.

    "That way!" Lith pointed at the horizon and took flight followed by the living storm.

    "Good gods, did you see that?" Said one of the border guards, a young man in his early twenties.

    "If I saw that?" The older soldier smelled the burned flesh and tasted the thick oils from the vaporized body fat that coated his tongue. "I can feel that! I wish I could unsee that."

    "What? Not that, you idiot!" The young soldier stood up and pressed the emergency rune on his service amulet. "Sir, the road is clear. I repeat, the road is clear."

    Before themanding officer could reprimand him for drinking so early in the morning and on the line of duty at that, the young soldier zoomed out on his hologram and shared the vision of the burning valley in front of him.

    "Father of All Dragon!" The situation was above the paygrade of the border army so themanding officer called the general in charge of the area.

    "Father of All Dragon!" The general contacted the Magic Empress and the Magic Council, the only powers in the Empire with the authority to wage war.

    Milea was ted at the news, considering it the first benefit the Empire reaped for helping Lith.

    "Soldier, I''m mobilizing all the avable troops." She said while sending streams of orders to her generals via a holographic runepad.

    "Until the first reinforcements arrive, I''m entrusting your toon with a task that will determine the prosperity of the Gorgon Empire. Cross the borders, search for enemy survivors, and kill anything that moves.

    "If no one alerts Chl''s military in time, our army will reach the heart of the Republic while they are still trying to understand what hit them."

    ***

    Deep in the Republic of Chl''s hintend, inside the Yggdrasill''s Fringe.

    ''Mogar almighty, why are you doing this to me? I''m following your will! Everything I''ve done was for your good and that of all your children!'' The World Tree had ovee the sudden pain and limited their connection with Ra''ntar, but it was toote.

    Hundreds of their Chroniclers had been exposed and the Yggdrasill had to help them escape capture or Ra''ntar would just be the first of many to be violently interrogated.

    ''That ursed Verhen nned this thoroughly.'' The World Tree thought. ''If I seal my Fringe, the pain will stoppletely but if I do that, my Chroniclers will be left stranded and alone in enemy hands.

    ''To make matters even worse, from so up close he''s likely to have already figured out my position.'' The Yggdrasill perceived the army of Divine Beasts moving toward the ess point to the Fringe located in Chl in a straight line.

    Not one of them strayed from the main path or scouted their surroundings. They all moved at Dragonspeed and were bound to reach their destination in less than a minute.

    ''Take arms, my Chroniclers. Ready for battle, my Librarians. Prepare to protect your homnd, my elves.'' The telepathicmand resonated throughout the entirety of the Fringe, from its center to its borders.

    ''The enemy ising though the Chl way. Assemble there and prepare your spells. Attack the invaders the moment they step through the boundary without giving them time to recover. I want them dead before they can take a look at my domain.

    ''Strike true and hold back nothing or this attack will be the first of many and none of you will know peace anymore.''

    ***

    Blood Desert, Ra''ntar cell, at the same time.

    "My, my, this de is truly a marvel of magic. I''ve always been proud of your father, but this goes beyond my expectations." Jirni''s cheeks flushed like those of a maiden in love and her lips formed the sweetest smile as she dug her needles deep into the Chronicler''s flesh.

    She knew that soon Ragnar?k would leave so Jirni devoted all of her focus to finding the perfect position for her needles to mimic the angry de''s effects to the best of Skywarp''s abilities.

    Thebined effect of the two weapons inflicted Ra''ntar pain that brought him to the brink of fainting without ever crossing it. Jirni was careful, studying the changes in the elf''s heart rate and blood pressure as she poked and prodded him.

    Whenever she found the right spot, she always waited for Quy''s permission to move on to the next needle.

    "Wait a second, Mom. He needs to recover a bit or his heart is going to burst." Quy administered nutrient potions and life force to Ra''ntar to keep his condition stable no matter what Jirni did.

    As for Friya, she kept the space sealed and had already Dominated several spells.

    The Chronicler red at the three women in hatred, crying. Every nerve and fiber of his body was burning with pain and his spells were as useless as his paralyzed limbs. He was trapped in a cage of agony with no way out.

    Yet. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''The moment the cursed de leaves, the pain should halve.'' Ra''ntar thought. ''At that point, either I kill Jirni Ernas or myself, I will be released from this torment and my master will avenge me.''

    ***

    The greeds of Dragons crossed dozens of kilometers with each p of their wings, closing in to the Fringe''s ess point by the second.

    Lith had learned from M''Rael''s scheme that a Fringe was akin to a separate world and the connection with Ra''ntar might be cut off at any moment. For that reason, he was carrying Tezka over his head since the beginning of the flight.

    The Suneater could fly faster than Lith, but intelligence was more important than speed. Lith shared with Tezka his readings about the position of Solus'' light via a mind link and the Suneater used them to infer the exact location of the Fringe''s ess point.

    Assessing distance and the set of dimensional coordinates based on a gut feeling was an impossible task for Lith and child''s y for the creator of dimensional magic. When they had walked through Chl''s borders, Tezka had already narrowed the position of the ess point down to an area of twenty kilometers of radius.

    As he corrted the variations in the signal''s intensity with Lith''s speed, the Suneater had reduced the area to ten kilometers of radius. By the time the Yggdrasill had stopped seizing, Tezka had already reduced the area of search to 100 meters (330'').

    He never stopped his mental calctions and shared his findings with Lith as soon as the Suneater determined a more precise set of coordinates.

 Chapter 3246 The Old Gang (Part 1)

    Chapter 3246 The Old Gang (Part 1)

    Tezka and Lith worked together so that even if somehow the World Tree recovered enough to cloak Solus'' aura again, they would still get close enough to the ess point for the Suneater to sense it.

    ''I can feel the dimensional discement of a Fringe right in front of us. You need to stop.'' Tezka said while double-checking the spells he had stored in the Maw of Bytra and taking his equipment out of his pocket dimension.

    Despite their incredible powers, Eldritches were not Awakened and couldn''t cast spells with their bodies. Once the fight started, they wouldn''t have the focus to weave new spells with true magic and could only rely on the Maw to make up for it.

    Lith straightened his body and pped his wings to slow down his flight as he emitted a mighty roar. The Divine Beasts spread out to avoid bumping into each other and came to a halt.

    "On the ground, human form!" Lith dived down, his body shrinking as he approached the grasnd below.

    The army of Divine Beastsnded with the grace of butterflies thanks to Gravity Fusion and formed a circle around Lith. He established a mind link with everyone to exchange battle ns and deliver suggestions without wasting time.

    ''Getting here was just the beginning.'' He said. ''Don''t share your tactics yet. We have to wait for the rest of our allies to catch up with us first. Use this time to weave your spells and take out your nutrient potions. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Anything you need or just might need has to be had hand before we take the first step inside the Fringe.'' Lith felt dumb stating the obvious to creatures older and with greater battle experience than him, but he''d rather be considered stupid than take risks.

    No one in the circle judged him, attributing his words to discipline and diligence rather than naivety.

    ''Zor, where are the rest of the members of the Organization?'' Lith looked at the horizon, hoping to spot Baba Yaga''s tower with his Tiamat Eyes.

    ''There was no point bringing them under Sark''s roof.'' The Shadow Dragon replied. ''Especially with the risk of one or more members of her Nest itching to settle old scores.''

    Bytra, Zoreth, and Tezka synchronized their auras, emitting pirs of ck light that acted as dimensional beacons for the other Eldritch-monster hybrids. Nandi the Minotaur-orc came first, then Theseus the Bastet-Meneos.

    Cyare the Fenrir, Hushar the Leviathan, and Eycos the Garuda came next.

    "Shit, I can''t believe we are about to fight the Yggdrasill in the bark." Abthot the Eldritch-Ogre said while stepping through the swirling ck portal.

    "And I can''t believe we are going to put everything on the line for a maybe, but who am I to question orders?" The arrival of Orulm the Breaker, the Eldritch-Skinwalker, was apanied by many curses and spitting.

    "I love you too." He replied. "Believe me, You want me here as much as I do."

    ''Where are Nelia and Kigan?'' Lith asked, ignoring themotion.

    ''With the kids.'' Tezka replied. ''It was my condition to help you in the first ce. I''m not leaving them unguarded. I''ve made too many enemies over the millennia to bet everything on luck and honor.''

    Lith didn''t like the news but he could understand the Suneater''s worries. Especially with the threat looming over Kam''s head.

    "You better watch your back, Orulm." A female Phoenix snarled and shapeshifted into a hybridbat form. "If I see you even trying something funny, I''m going to burn you to ashes!"

    Rage spread like a disease. One after the other the Divine Beasts broke the circle and stepped forward to face their respective nemesis. The Eldritches stood still but their ck auras shed with the violet ones of the Divine Beasts with enough strength to trigger a quake.

    "Stand down!" A small figure 1.78 (5''10) meters tall and covered in Davross from head to toe stepped out of the Warp Gate and released a deadly aura that silenced all others. "We are here today as allies.

    "No matter your past grievances, infighting will only benefit the World Tree. If by the end of this day, after the blood of so many of your friends and rtives has been spilled, you still thirst for more, feel free toe at us.

    "Until that moment, save your fury for ourmon enemies."

    Zogar Vastor had altered his voice and physique to make himself unrecognizable. Even his aura was distorted by powerful cloaking devices created by Bytra for that exact purpose.

    "Fuck me sideways, what is the Master doing here?" Lith''s surprise was genuine.

    He wasn''t expecting the old professor to join him.

    "Lith, my b- friend, why are you so surprised?" Vastor bit his tongue to stop himself from using familiar phrases that might expose his identity. "You are part Abomination and the Organization looks after its own.

    "I have not given up on the idea of you joining our ranks and since the Yggdrasill was so kind to pick a spot far away from the Guardians'' scrutiny, I don''t see why I should miss the party."

    The Master had not offered his help sooner not to give Lith false hope. His participation was strictly dependent on the location of the battle. Too close to the heart of one of the three great countries and the Guardians might have intervened to capture him.

    ''Chl is one of the ces I considered while choosing where to establish my base of operations. It''s at the fringes of Leegaain''s territory, the Guardian who doesn''t give a fuck. I have nothing to fear here.''

    "I see." Lith offered the Professor his hand in gratitude and Vastor promptly shook it.

    "Who are we waiting for?" The Master asked.

    "Us, handsome." Tessa the Titania, Fyrwal the Hydra, and Orion Ernas emerged from a Warp Steps while wearing their Royal Fortress armor.

    "Orion? What are you doing here?" Vastor and Lith asked in unison.

    "A deal with my wife is a deal with me." Orion replied. "If you''re going to put your life on the line for my unborn daughter, I''m going to do the same for your friend. Besides, if there''s one crime I can''t condone is kidnapping."

    Lord Ernas gritted his teeth in outrage, the parallel between Phloria and Solus so close that it almost drove him insane with fury. Another girl taken away against her will and tortured, waiting for her mind to be twisted beyond recognition.

    Orion wanted blood. He wanted revenge for his daughter and to wash away the helplessness that gued him since the day he had been forced to stay on the sidelines while his Little Flower suffered.

    "I appreciate the thought but you are no Divine Beast." Lith gripped Orion''s shoulder. "You are a small human who can get stomped to death. Even the Royal Fortress armor has its limits."

    "Really?" Orion snorted but didn''t push the hand off, appreciating the concern. "Can you afford to turn away a violet-cored Awakened who can use de Spells?"

    Those words were enough to silence the Divine Beasts who were still trying to pick a fight the Eldritches. de Spells were rare, even among their kind.

 Chapter 3247 The Old Gang (Part 2)

    Chapter 3247 The Old Gang (Part 2)

    Among the members of the Organization, Tezka and Bytra were the only ones who could cast de Spells even though the youngest of them was millennia old.

    "Can you turn away someone wearing the First Queen''s blessing?" Orion rapped his fist against the breastte of the Royal Fortress armor, producing a silver bolt of lightning. "Someone who was born to be the Shield in the When All Are One array?"

    "That''s right, darling." Tessa flirtatiously caressed Vastor''s shoulders as she moved to his back. "We have decided to put the old gang together. The Hydra, the Titania, Valeron¡­" She pointed at the Master who felt a cold shiver run down his spine. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "And our resident psychopath." She waved at Lith. "You are no Oghrom Gernoff but you''re just as tricky. We need an Ernas toplete our formation. We need a Shield to guard you while you summon your army.

    "Think about it. How many Demons can you conjure while sharing your powers with four people at the Master''s level?"

    "Thank you, Orion. I dly ept your offer."

    "You better." Lord Ernas grabbed Lith''s hand and shook it.

    "And us." A voice came from above as a hunting cabin ran at breakneck speed on giant chicken legs and what looked like a jet ne made of silvernded vertically.

    "Two towers?" All those present but Lith were bbergasted. "Who does the second tower belong to?"

    "Actually, three." The door of the hut opened and Dawn walked out of it riding on top of her steed, Sunrise. "Even though it''s not as powerful as my mother''s, I still possess a mage tower."

    "The second tower belongs to me." Silverwing emerged from the cockpit as Silverspire shapeshifted into a tall buildingprised of shining metal and started absorbing the surrounding world energy to recharge its tower core.

    Lith had announced the presence of the white cores to rope in as many helpers as possible, but seeing Silverwing in the flesh was still a baffling experience for the Divine Beasts.

    No one had met the First Magus in over 700 years and until a few days ago, the rumors about her tower had just been rumors. Seeing legendary figures riding legendary artifacts made even the children of the Guardians quiver in excitement and envy.

    "What was that?" Lith projected a hologram of Silverspire''s traveling form.

    "You are not the only one good at improving on the work of others, kid." Silverwing replied. "I like your DoLorean and made it my transportation method. Chicken legs may be scarier but they are too old-fashioned for my taste."

    "Is this everyone?" Orion asked, feeling his confidence in the mission''s sess skyrocketing.

    "Of course not!" A very angry Baba Yaga in her Mother form widened the entrance of her hut and threw out of the door enough bones and metal to form a small hill.

    "That was rude and uncalled for." Aylen stepped out of the hut as well, her form no different from a regr human if not for the red light of undeath shining behind her eyes. "Come out, my babies. It''s ytime."

    More than a legendary mage tower, Baba Yaga''s hunting cabin looked like a clown car as droves of huge feline Emperor Beasts marched into the open while meowling like kittens.

    At the same time, the pile of bones split itself intoplete skeletons that rearranged themselves into withered corpses belonging to all races.

    "Specimens! So many specimens and free ingredients!" The Liches gasped in joy at the sight of their allies.

    "If this is a dream, I forbid you to wake me up." A Harpy Lich said, not knowing from whom to start collecting samples.

    "Some fucker killed me for good and I ended up in paradise! I knew those stories about the nine hells were all anti-Lich propaganda!" A Treant-Lich whose body wasprised of dried wood said.

    "Order!" Aylen mmed her golden staff on the ground to snap the Liches out of their ramblings. "No one is asleep or dead-dead and those are not specimens but ourrades. Remember who holds your phctery."

    "That would be me." All eyes moved on to Baba Yaga who didn''t bother hiding her spite and disgust.

    "Also, for thest time, those who misbehave will have their loot confiscated and divided among the other members of the expedition." Aylen said, making the raving undead cheer and curse at the same time.

    Cheer at the idea of getting the share of those skeletal idiots, curse at the thought of being one of those skeletal idiots. The Liches grumbled and formed a second circle around Lith while the feline Emperor Beasts formed a third.

    "Sunlight." dion Dragonborn and the other Firstborns came out of the hutst. "Let''s hope this isn''t thest time I see it."

    The ancient undead had white prisms protruding from their chests which absorbed the light element directly from both Mogar and the sun and fed it to their blood cores.

    Lith also recognized the Firstborn Banshee, Wendigo, Mage yer, and Ghoul but he had no idea who the other three were. Baba Yaga had brought eight of them to ensure her Firstborns could cast anti-Guardian spells by themselves at any time.

    The eighth member would rece one of them in case they suffered grievous wounds or fell into eternal sleep.

    "d-"

    "No time for chit-chat." The Firstborn Vampire cut Lith short. "Radusk is okay and Lysa is mad at me so we''d better get over with this quickly. If I die here, she''s going to kill me."

    ''Fine by me.'' Lith included the neers in the telepathicwork. ''First things first, entering the Fringe without getting ughtered. Suggestions, anyone?''

    He shared his experience with crossing a Fringe''s boundary and the dizziness that ensued from shielding your consciousness from Mogar''s gaze.

    ''I can enter at will, but I can bring only one person at a time with me.'' Baba Yaga said. ''Even if there is no weemittee on the other side, it would take us all day to get in, and retreating would be impossible.''

    ''I thought you had figured out something already!'' Silverwing was incensed foring all that way for nothing.

    ''I''m twenty years old!'' Lith retorted. ''I''ve brought here five white cores and the most powerful Eldritches on Mogar. Between all of you, you are as old as Mogar itself! Excuse me if I dared presume that in all this time you had learned something I don''t know.''

    ''I''m not that old!'' Tezka felt offended. ''Yet you are right about that. I''ve learned a few tricks through the millennia but I''ve been alone for most of my life. I had no reason to worry about guests so my means apply only to myself.

    ''We don''t have the time to teach everyone how to cross over Mogar''s veil and with a bit of luck we won''t need to. If there''s one thing I''ve learned by working with the Organization is teamwork.''

    The Suneater cut everyone else off the mind link and spoke only with Lith.

    ''I''ve never tried this before. I don''t know if it''s even possible.''

    ''Me neither.'' Tezka replied. ''But I''ve note this far just to turn around and walk away. Also, aren''t you curious to test the limits of your bloodline?''

 Chapter 3248 Opening Fire (Part 1)

    Chapter 3248 Opening Fire (Part 1)

    ''Fine. Let''s do it.'' Lith grunted.

    ''Not so fast, kid.'' Tezka informed everyone about what was about to happen assuming he was right. ''Once the road is open, there will be no time for discussions. We need a n to keep the passage open and get everyone in without being decimated by enemy fire.''

    ''I can help you pierce through the dimensional barrier.'' Nandi said.

    ''And I can clear enough space to create a bridgehead in the Fringe.'' Orulm didn''t care about Solus but was eager to redeem himself in Tezka''s eyes.

    ''You do that and we''ll take care of the rest.'' Valtak and Gentor nodded.

    One after the other, the leaders of the different factions spoke. Less than a minuteter, bloodline secrets that had been kept for millennia were now unveiled and the attack on the Fringe could start.

    ***

    Blood Desert, at the same time.

    "I understand that a member of the Verhen family has been kidnapped and rescuing Mage Solus Verhen takes priority." King Meron said. "I can also understand that Supreme Magus Verhen almost died during the kidnapping and he demands righteous retribution.

    "I can even understand that it''s only thanks to his Abomination side that he survived. That he had no way to predict or control the ensuing amnesia and how he reacted to the ambush perpetrated by the Undead King.

    "I''m willing to defend his actions from public judgment and provide the Crown''s full support in proving that he is not responsible for the thousands of casualties in Zeska.

    Meron took a deep breath, massaging his temples pulsing in anger.

    "What I can''t understand is why when Magus Verhen contacted me and asked full ess to the Kingdom''s Gate Network he didn''t inform us of the scope of his ns.

    "Imagine my surprise, Lady Verhen, when our intelligence reported how your husband has appeared at the Empire-Chl borders and helped a rival country to expand their dominion."

    The King spoke with a low growl that barely contained his fury. For once it was Sylpha holding his hand to keep his temper in check.

    "You Majesty, my husband couldn''t inform you about his ns because he had none." Kam exined. "He just followed his Dragon homing instinct to Chl and then gained ess to their territory the only way he could."

    "I''m inclined to believe you, Lady Verhen. There is not one report about Supreme Magus Verhen aiding the invasion army of the Empire." Meron received an update on his amulet and skimmed through its pages.

    "He seems to have cleared a path to Chl and then moved toward a region of no strategical relevance whereas the Empire''s army is marching toward the capital.

    "Yet your husbands should have mentioned the three greeds of Dragons, one flight of Phoenixes, and other unspeakable things that have turned the hair of the Mage Association''s clerks white during ourst conversation.

    "Not to mention that he should have consulted me before perpetrating an act of war toward Chahal. Not only does his stunt sully the reputation of the Griffon Kingdom, but it also serves fertilends to one of strongestpetitors on a silver tter!"

    "Your Majesty¡­" Kam didn''t know what to say.

    "Save it. I won''t have this conversation on any non-secure channel." Meron cut her short. "There are things that can be discussed only in person and behind the shroud of the protective arrays of the Royal Pce.

    "Since Supreme Magus Verhen is too busy helping the Empire, I expect you toe here right now and have a really good exnation. Otherwise, I''m going to shut down Magus Verhen''s Royal override code and let him take the full me for what happened in Zeska. Meron out."

    "Farm." Kam cursed as the King''s hologram faded.

    "Farm." Valeron the Second echoed.

    "I¨¤." Elysia tried her best.

    "Again? It wasn''t enough that your Dad is in political and physical danger, do you really have to learn swear words?" Kam asked, obtaining giggles and nods in reply. "Elina, can you keep them for a while?"

    "Sure, but why don''t you bring them along?" Elina asked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "At an audience with the King?" Kam sighed. "If I do, he can''t raise his voice, get angry, or even upset me without dying. If I so much as tear up, Elysia either cries or gets violent and no one can stop her.

    "How do you think the King would react if I brought the babies to what is bound to be a heated debate?"

    "He would take it as a power move, if not a threat. The King would dismiss you with a smile and enact whatever punishment he sees fit without a discussion." Elina held the babies, wondering how someone so cute could also be so dangerous.

    "I have to go alone." Kam thought back at Jirni''s words, hoping that the word of Lith''s departure had yet to reach the wrong ears.

    ***

    ''Rx, kid.'' Tezka said via the mind link. ''The worst that can happen if we fail is that Solus gets enved by the World Tree, you lose her forever, and when the Yggdrasill is done with her, they''lle after you to finish the job.''

    ''That''s reassuring!'' Lith snarled.

    ''It''s not supposed to be. Even before the four races learned how to fly, it was fear that gave us wings.'' The Suneater smirked as the fingers of his left hand made contact with Mogar''s veil.

    His right hand held Lith''s left as the Tiamat mirrored Tezka''s movements. Suddenly, the tips of their fingers disappeared from sight, producing ripples in the air in front of them as if it were the surface of ake.

    Those who had never been inside a Fringe had no idea what was happening while those who did had no idea what to expect.

    ''At this point, I would step forward and immerse myself in Mogar''s consciousness, but why should I do that with you by my side?'' The Suneater said.

    Instead of answering, Lith activated his Tiamat Fear and flooded the surrounding world energy with his energy signature and willpower. Then, he recalled his aura, focusing it on his right hand before injecting it inside Mogar''s veil.

    ''After all, Mogar grants passage to those who know how to ask for it and your Tiamat Fear is the closest thing to amunion with Mogar I''ve ever seen. So why shouldn''t you be able to ask Mogar permission to enter on everyone''s behalf?'' The ripples in the air widened and so did Tezka''s grin.

    As Lith''s aura mixed with the invisible boundaryprised of world energy and Mogar''s will, he gained control over it. The''s consciousness flooded Lith''s mind with questions and voices belonging to those who had preceded him.

    He answered Mogar and let the voices wash over him like he had done countless times before when summoning his Demons of Darkness.

    ''You know who I am and what I want.'' Lith felt small and insignificant as Mogar turned their gaze upon him, questioning the reasons for his intrusion. ''You know why I''m here. All I ask you is to let me in.''

    The number of ripples and the frequency of their appearance increased until the space in front of Lith and the Suneater distorted into a vortex.

 Chapter 3249 Opening Fire (Part 2)

    Chapter 3249 Opening Fire (Part 2)

    The dimensional passageway looked simr to a Warp Steps but instead of leading to another ce it opened on the other side of the Fringe.

    "Iing!" The elves patrolling the borders of the ess point to Chl aimed their weapons and opened fire.

    A barrage of spells erupted from staves, rings, arrows, and syed fingers for a devastating effect. There was still no stable connection with the outside world so everything that hit Mogar''s veil bounced back.

    The spells hit their casters first, but since a mage couldn''t be hurt by their own mana, they phased through the front line of elves, leaving them unscathed. Those behind them, however, weren''t that lucky.

    The bombardment knocked many elves off their feet, inflicting grave injuries, maiming some, and killing a few. The aftermath would have been carnage if not for the casters of the spells steering them to empty areas as soon as they realized their mistake and the protection offered by the Yggdrasill''s arrays.

    "Stand down, you fools!" The World Tree roared. "Attacking Mogar is like spitting at the sky. It can only hit you in the face."

    "What''s happening, my liege?" A Chronicler asked.

    Their ranks had suffered no damage or casualties thanks to the fragment of the World Tree in their bodies warning them timely and making them raise their Spirit Barriers instead of attacking.

    "I don''t know!" The words were filled with bitterness to the point of sounding like a curse.

    The Yggdrasill was the descendant of Mogar''s First Awakened, their mind and libraries a repository of knowledge epassing everything. Ignorance was not something the World Tree could condone lightly, even from themselves.

    "Nothing like this has ever happened before. Hold your fire until I give you the order to attack. Use this time to treat the wounded and rece the lost spells. We are the ones waiting in ambush. Being caught unprepared is uneptable!"

    The Librarians andmon elves were shocked, many of them exchanging sideways nces.

    First, the kidnapped woman had managed to escape and wrecked their viges. Then, an entire squad of Chroniclers had failed their mission to eliminate Verhen and their death throes had shaken the entire Fringe.

    And now, the sanctity of their home was being vited.

    Too many unprecedented things had happened in what for an elf was the blink of an eye and the World Tree had proved to have no control over the consequences of their own schemes.

    The elves'' trust in their host was getting as shaky as their knees. They had hidden inside the Fringes to escape the War of the Races and now their host had brought it back to their doorstep.

    On the outside, Lith kept pouring more and more mana into the world energy. As the area he controlled expanded, however, the burden on his mind increased beyond what he could bear.

    The Fringe was a disced space, its dimensional coordinates were inside the boundaries of Mogar yet as foreign as they led to a different.

    Lith had to dominate the veil, establish the connection with the other side, and keep the dimensional corridor stable enough to allow passage without it imploding and killing everyone.

    Lith''s mastery of magic was great and thanks to his seven eyes there was no elemental force he couldn''t subdue yet he was no dimensional mage. Tezka was.

    The Suneater looked through the rift forming in the eye of the vortex, grasping the Fringe''s dimensional coordinates and aligning them with those of the space in front of him.

    As Tezka rearranged the space and bridged between the two dimensions, the small hole in reality stabilized. Lith felt the burden on his mind disappear and shifted his focus on expanding the rift while the Suneater stabilized it.

    To those witnessing the phenomenon, the rules of physics seemed to have lost meaning. As the dimensional ripples spread, the air froze upon their passage, the scenery unchanging aside from the expanding vortex.

    The wind had stopped blowing through the grasnd but the nts remained bent like the subject of a painting. The clouds all around the Divine Beast came to a halt and the sunlight reflecting on their armors didn''t dim when covered by the shadow of the wings of their neighbours. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Lith grunted with effort, pulling the curtain separating the Fringe from the rest of Mogar. He had never manipted so much world energy at once. He had never even attempted to rece the''s will with his own.

    Now he was doing both and he only had one try.

    Tezka wasn''t faring any better. He was the inventor of dimensional magic and maybe the best dimensional mage alive on Mogar. Yet rewiring space and time, altering Mogar''s design to fit his agenda was something only Guardians could do.

    They were Mogar''s chosen and had the''s tacit approval on many things.

    The Suneater, instead, was one of those on whom the had turned their back. Mogar rejected him at every step of the way.

    Both the Fylgja and the Tiamat stood defiant like the day they had defeated death.

    "Don''t worry, brothers. You are not alone." Nandi the Minotaur hadn''t spent his time idly.

    He had conjured and stored through the bio-crystals on his body so much world energy that his pitch-ck skin now emitted the blinding radiance of a small star.

    The Orc-Eldritch hybrid ced his hands on Lith''s and Tezka''s backs, sharing his power with them.

    "Fuck you, rib steak! Why didn''t you do this sooner?" The Suneater said with augh as the vortex expanded faster and faster.

    "For the same reason you haven''t used your Suneater spell, fur coat." Nandi replied. "I was saving it forter."

    Lith roared as he pulled the veil open one meter (3''3") across, then three, ten, fifty, and finally one hundred meters (330''), wide enough to let an army of Divine Beasts in human form in quickly.

    "Now!" The World Tree ordered and the elves unleashed the spells they had at the ready.

    Tier five spells of all kinds, mass destruction arrays, and several Silverwing''s Annihtions bolted towards the rift while Lith and Tezka were still focused on stabilizing it.

    A single bolt of ck energy as big as a small house erupted from the other side, taking the prismatic catastrophe head-on. Orulm''s Break Annihtion was true to its name, taking apart spells, arrays, and everything in between.

    Its power was nothingpared to the flood of iing attacks but that was true only until contact. Then, the runes of the enemy spells would be erased from existence and the finely tuned bnce that kept the destructive energies together would crumble.

    Tier five spells contained different elements that if not harmonized properly would destroy each other. Arrays require lengthy strings of runes to executeplex tasks and a magical circle to store the mana necessary to sustain them for an extended period of time.

    Even worse, Silverwing''s Spells required seven people to synchronize their wills and energy signatures. The anti-Guardian spells used all seven elements of magic which had to be perfectly bnced not to implode.

    Orulm''s Eldritch ability, Break, was the bane of all that. It made runes disappear, erased the borders of magic circles, and turned unity into disarray.

 Chapter 3250 Combined Efforts (Part 1)

    Chapter 3250 Combined Efforts (Part 1)

    Sure, with each spell the Break Annihtion ripped apart, it lost a chunk of its power, but only a chunk.

    To make matters worse, the wild energy released by the now-iplete spells spread out in a chain reaction, forming a protectiveyer around the Break Annihtion as it moved forward. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Chaos spell killed no one, but that wasn''t its purpose.

    "Surprise, motherfuckers!" Orulm was the first to jump through the dimensional rift, but not before unleashing his Tier five Chaos spell, Shredding Wheel.

    One Break-infused ring departed from each of his wrists, cutting through the magical formations enveloping the outeryer of the Fringe. Shredding Wheel spun like a buzzsaw, ripping the arrays carefullyid by the World Tree since the time they were just a Sapling apart.

    Thanks to Nandi flooding the Breaker with world energy, Orulm could imbue Shredding Wheel with fresh mana as soon as it was consumed. Yet a mere tier five Chaos spell would have been nothing against the many elemental-sealing and barrier arrays if not for Break.

    Shredding Wheel never entered inside a magical formation until it had severed the string of runesprising its magic circle. Only then would the two ck rings resume their advance, wreaking havoc on the internal runes before moving on to the next array.

    Just as the Break Annihtion earlier, Shredding Wheel didn''t need topletely destroy the magical formations, only to erase enough runes to turn a marvel of magic into a shy decoration.

    "Stop him, dammit! You are many and he''s alone!" The World Tree''s yell snapped his troops out of their shock paralysis.

    "I''m also out of here!" Orulm unleashed the third andst spell he had prepared for his duty while he jumped back toward the rift.

    Pulsing Star conjured between his hands a giant ck sphere that contained all the mana Nandi had given the Breaker and all the life force he could spare. Break was Orulm''s trump card but it took a toll proportional to the damage it inflicted on the Skinwalker-Eldritch hybrid.

    Break-infused spells made Orulm unstoppable, but each one of them drained massive amounts of his life force. The more Orulm used it, the weaker he would be and the longer the aftereffects wouldst.

    Each Break-infused spell had to be delivered only if it had a good chance of hitting its target. Victory meant nothing if Orulm came out of the fight in such a debilitated state that any decent mage could kill him with ease.

    Pulsing Star focused and amplified the Skinwalker-Eldritch hybrid''s power, unleashing a volley of ck rays as thin as a hair and as fast as aser. They pierced through the World Tree''s permanent arrays and troops alike, erasing small but significant parts of their very being.

    Enchanted weapons stopped working, armors turned into shiny piles of metal, and Wood Golems started to rot. The elves struck by Pulsing Star on a limb were now crippled until their life force was rewritten with Body Sculpting.

    Those hit on the head or a vital organ were beyond saving and died despite the Yggdrasill''s best attempts to heal them.

    "You bastard!" The World Tree took control of the nearest Wood Golems and had them deplete their power cores in a coordinated attack aimed at Orulm.

    His aura had be weaker than a yellow core and his vitality was at the non-Awakened human level.

    "Watch out!" Tezka Switched the Breaker to safety and pushed Lith out of harm''s way.

    The Tiamat had already done his part. The veil separating the Fringe from the rest of Mogar was wide open but it was the Suneater''s dimensional magic that kept the rift stable.

    Another weak point of Orulm''s Break was that since the arrays were damaged but not destroyed, the World Tree only needed the time to cast the missing runes to repair them. Time that Tezka couldn''t afford the Yggdrasill.

    The World Tree activated the spacepressing arrays near the borders, only to watch them fizzle helplessly. They changed the course of the Chroniclers'' spells, aiming them at Tezka who intercepted them with nine of his ten tails.

    "Tezka?" Nandi moved toward the Fylgja to inject him with what world energy the Minotaur had left but the Suneater stopped him with a re.

    "Save it for someone who needs it." The hail of spells tore through the tails one after another, producing a congration so powerful that the ground below Tezka''s feet copsed into craters and the shockwave pushed the nearby Divine Beasts back of several meters.

    Tezka''s head, arms, and the upper half of his chest were gone yet he hadn''t moved an inch.

    "My turn now!" The Fylgja''s mawy on the ground shattered into many small pieces but it spoke nheless.

    Tezka''s body stood tall like nothing had happened while its scattered parts reassembled like he was just a puzzle. With no functioning darkness-sealing arrays on the other side of the rift and the enemy forces scattered, Tezka had Switched Orulm with his Eldritch Tier spell, Suneater.

    The Fringe was sealed from the outside world and the Fylgja wasn''t willing to risk that the World Tree might close off the dimensional corridor amid the chaos of battle. Were that to happen, Tezka would have been cut off from his power source at the worst time possible.

    By releasing the spell inside the Fringe, instead, there was nothing that the Yggdrasill could do to stop Suneater anymore.

    "Firestarters, with me!" Valtak and many other Fire Dragons walked through the rift before shapeshifting back into their true form.

    The Wyrms then dropped on all fours, mming their hands on the ground and adding magic to the might of their bodies. Cracks formed under their hands and spread throughout the grasnd forming a spiderweb.

    The Fire Dragons called upon the elements of fire and earth to reach for the magma coursing deep in Mogar''s mantle and bring it to the surface. Their bloodline ability, Primal Spark, turned the magma and the fires it ignited into Origin mes.

    The mystical fire burned at the damaged arrays, burned at the World Tree''s army, forcing it to retreat, and it also burned at the surrounding world energy, purifying it from the Yggdrasill will.

    "Ignite!" Upon Valtak''smand, the Fire Dragons spread their wings, connecting them to those of the Wyrms next to them in a single line that covered the dimensional rift.

    Then, the Fire Dragons took a deep breath, setting their massive bodies aze.

    "Fire at will!" All those still outside the Fringe unleashed their best fire spell, aiming them at the burning Wyrms.

    Even Dragons and Phoenixes used magical fire instead of Origin mes. Because there was no need for it.

    The Fire Dragons'' Primal Spark coursed through their bodies, the mes they emitted, and even through the gurgling magma welling up from the cracks in the ground. The magical fires turned into Origin mes upon contact without consuming the life force of their casters.

    Primal Spark also allowed to mix the Origin mes with elemental magic safely and manipte the resultingbination with willpower like a tier five spell. This way, even Griffons and Eldritches could produce Origin mes andbine them into Primordial mes.

 Chapter 3251 Combined Efforts (Part 2)

    Chapter 3251 Combined Efforts (Part 2)

    The white fireing from within and without the Fringe advanced in every direction like a tidal wave, forcing the Tree''s forces to retreat until they reached the firstyer of arrays untouched by Orulm''s spells.

    The Primordial mes consumed the ruined arrays faster than the World Tree could weave the necessary spells to restore them. The missing runes made the self-repair protocols fail and the energy leaked out of the magic circles before it could reach its intended target.

    Theyers of magical formations damaged by the Break-infused spells copsed, creating a safe space inside the Fringe that expanded as the Primordial mes devoured every bit of the World Tree''s mana.

    "Fall back!" Az''mar, the temporary leader of the Chroniclers, had the Librarians and regr elves take cover behind the massive Wood Golems.

    Unless the World Tree Awakened them, elves were stuck to the bright blue. Even from behind the cover of the protective arrays, the heat wave released by the roaring Primordial mes was beyond what a non-Awakened elf could survive.

    The offensive of the Firestarters squadron pushed the magical formations to their limits and ckened the externalyer of the wooden constructs.

    "Converge and connect!" Upon Az''mar''smand, the Golems formed groups of seven. Tendrils sprouted from their arms that intertwined with each other, forming a perfect circle whose surface was covered in runes of power.

    Thanks to the Yggdrasil woodprising the Golems and the world energy they absorbed from the Fringe, theypleted a second volley of Silverwing''s Annihtion just a few seconds after Orulm had neutralized the first.

    The anti-Guardian spells broke through the Primordial mes and smothered them into embers before moving on to the offensive.

    "Shieldbearers, now!" Golden Dragons in human form Blinked in front of the Firestarters who in turn manipted the Origin mes to keep them from harming their brethren.

    There was no time to regroup and conjure enough Silverwing''s Bastions to cover for the Fire Dragons. Gentor and his children raised their arms and wrapped their wings around their bodies as they activated their bloodline ability, Golden Radiance.

    The mana coursing through their bodies fused with their scales, flesh, and blood, making them incapable of wielding even chore magic tricks. At the same time, however, the frozen mana made the Golden Dragons resistant to spells as if they were truly made out of gold.

    The barrage of Annihtions was reflected and scattered in all directions, but even though the elemental effects could do the Golden Dragons no harm, the kic energy they carried had no such problem.

    On top of that, by solidifying their own mana, the Wyrms had be incapable of circting the elements to use fusion magic or heal themselves. Wings snapped like twigs, scales were ripped off, and bones broke.

    The Golden Dragons stepped back as a second line of Wyrms infused with Life Maelstrom took their ce. It still wasn''t enough to stop the Annihtions but it bought time for the first line of Golden Dragons to recover with Invigoration while the third line prepared to take point.

    Like water hitting a reef, the power of the anti-Guardian spells was scattered by the Golden Dragons and consumed by the Origin mes until the Annihtions faded out.

    The World Tree cursed, noticing that no Wyrm had died. Many Golden Dragons were severely injured but they would recover faster than the now-drained elves. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Phase three!" Tezka and his equipment grew in size, reaching 50 meters (166'') of height.

    Enough to be bigger than the Golems but not so much to dilute his powers and offer an easy target. He cast his Eldritch Tier spell, Chaos Dimension, exactly in the middle of the dimensional rift.

    The space enveloped by Chaos Dimension was under Tezka''s absolute control and would prevent the passage to the outside world from closing as long as the spell remained active.

    It also protected the bridgehead to the Fringe from further spells from the Yggdrasill or the Golems and guaranteed a safe retreat path in case the mission failed. Many birds with one stone and a single w.

    The Suneater couldn''t move away much from Chaos Dimension without the risk that his connection with the spell might be severed. Teska''s spell made the safe area impregnable but at the same time prevented him from joining the offensive teams.

    Unluckily for the elves, however, their first line of defense was right in front of the Suneater.

    A simple swing of the colossal Endless Night cut asunder the first row of Wood Golems and a dozen-meters deep trench in the ground. It severed the roots of the World Tree it found, feeding their power to the Suneater and preventing the Golems from recharging.

    Then, Tezka unleashed a volley of tier three Chaos spell, Howling Void, thaty waste to everything in their path. The barrage of spells forced the elven forces to retreat deeper into the Fringe and left the invaders free to advance.

    "Press forward! Don''t give them time to recover." Surtr and Sinmara entered next, already in their true forms.

    The Phoenix of Darkness stood in front of the Dragon of Light, her ck aura eclipsing his brilliance. The twins moved in unison, their limbs and cores in perfect synch.

    They had been born together, lived together, and worked together long enough to know the other like an extension of their own being. Surtr conjured his de Tier Spell, Neb Storm, while Sinmara weaved her Devouring Shadow.

    Surtr passed his de Spell to Sinmara who did the same. They used Domination to add their respective energy signature, circte, and amplify the de spell of the other, merging them into Twilight st.

    Surtr''s light was engulfed in Sinmara''s darkness and together they generated a grey-scaled barrage of energy beams that pierced through the Yggdrasill''s defensive arrays.

    Thebined de Spell wasn''t enough to destroy the secondyer of magical formations due to the backup power converging from the rest of the Fringe, but Twilight st still managed to cripple several Wood Golems and kill many of the elves standing behind them.

    The first blood belonged to the invaders but Tezka found no joy in it.

    ''More and more of our forces are pouring in but there is still no sign of the forming of a new Fringe. If it keeps up like this when we lose momentum and the advantage of surprise Orulm bought us, the tides of the battle will turn quickly.'' He thought.

    Now that the entry point was secure, Lith''s group entered the Fringe and so did Silverwing and Baba Yaga with their towers.

    "Unleash the Liches!" The Red Mother used a gravity spell to distort light and zoom in on the many fragments of Yggdrasill wood and the wounded elves just a few steps past the defensive arrays.

    "Mine! I call dibs on everything!" Inxialot, the King of Liches alternated sprints with Blinks to run ahead of hispetition.

    "Mine!" What looked like a withered tree with twig-thick limbs said. "I''m a Fae. Yggdrasill wood is mine by birthright and so are the elves!"

    "Mine!" A skeletal Naga said. "I saw them first!"

    "Mine! Mine! Mine!" A rumbling, tumbling wave of bones and metal chanted as it fearlessly charged past the safe area cleared by the collective efforts of Dragons and Eldritches.

 Chapter 3252 Real Strike Team (Part 1)

    Chapter 3252 Real Strike Team (Part 1)

    The Liches entered the defensive arrays'' area of effect, feeling their bodies be heavier as the surrounding world energy started resisting the call of their spells and slowing down the vigorous mana that allowed their corpses to move.

    The crazy undead gasped in surprise for a fraction of a second before forgetting it wasn''t their natural state. With their prize at hand, their madness knew no bounds.

    The Liches never hesitated, never doubted themselves, and never considered the consequences of their actions. They clung to the Wood Golems like ticks, kidnapped Librarians, and collected the wooden fragments lying around after the Twilight st.

    "Don''t let them touch you!" Az''mar yelled to Librarians and regr elves. "No matter the cost, don''t let a Lich touch you!"

    The limbs of his Wood Golem shapeshifted into massive hammers that Az''mar used to pound the nearby Liches into dust. Whenever one of the frenzied undead jumped at him, the leader of the Chroniclers had the Golem cover its surface in spear-thin long thorns to impale the Liches.

    The thorn would be shot on contact, sending the undead crashing against the ground and protecting the Golem from their draining touch. The other Chroniclers too received the World Tree''s anti-Lich strategy and enforced it with extreme prejudice.

    The Liches were all bright violet-cored Awakened empowered by the most perfected version of undeath, but the Wood Golems were 40 meters (132'') tall and made out of Yggdrasill wood.

    Its physical and magical properties were second only to Davross and the Golems had been enchanted by the World Tree. The Liches came in droves and fell in droves.

    Librarians and elves sought refuge behind the Chroniclers, witnessing with pride how the defenses of even the strongest Awakened amounted to nothing in the face of the power of their master.

    Mostly because there were none. The Liches charged ahead with no care for their physical vessels and epted the enemy attacks like they were gifts.

    "This is not yourb, you gods-damned morons!" Aylen shouted from the safe area while imparting orders to her army of Emperor Beasts. "Dodge and block, dammit! It''s not enough to attack. You must also defend yourselves."

    The Liches gasped in amazement at her brilliant suggestion, instantly gaining enlightenment. Or rather, they remembered a few of the many things they had forgotten about fighting and the tide of the battle changed again.

    "Right, block!" A Spirit Barrier erupted from a Lich''s defensive amulet, intercepting a barrage of bolts of ck lightning and buying him the time to reform his body.

    "Dodge!" A Lich sidestepped a Golem''s fist and scraped its bark with his bony fingers.

    It dealt insignificant damage to the construct but temporarily bestowed upon the undead the properties of Yggdrasill wood. The word Lich came from leech, because this race of undeads sucked their victims dry and borrowed their powers.

    His bones turned into wood and bark, bringing his mental rity to new heights and allowing him to merge his spells in unique ways.

    "Hey, guys, look at this!"A Naga Lich grabbed one of the energy lines of a gravitational array and drained its power to rebuild her broken body at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    "Neat!" Many Liches thanked her with a nod of the head and followed her lead.

    They hijacked the energy of the magical formations and turned it into tier five spells at no cost for their mana cores. A living being would have been fried by channeling so much mana at once and with a foreign energy signature at that.

    The Liches burned and sizzled but they were already dead. The mana they stole healed them faster than the arrays damaged them and since undead felt no pain, feeding off the arrays was a "win-why do I smell barbeque" situation.

    Not only did the phenomenon hasten the undead''s regeneration process but it also temporarily bestowed upon them the same powers as the array they fed upon, making them immune to it.

    "Damn if those guys are morons." Apep the Eldritch Apophis didn''t need to roll his dice to judge the Liches'' performance. "What do you want me to do, woman?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Dig underground and clear the Yggdrasill''s roots on our path to the Yggdrasill." Aylen pointed at the battleground. "Without them, the Golem can''t recharge and the World Tree can''t perform sneak attacks."

    The Liches were being smashed almost as fast as they regenerated, bringing their charge to a halt.

    Whenever a Golem or a group of elves was cornered, the Yggdrasill turned their roots into wooden spikes that erupted from the ground at the critical moment of a sh. The spikes shielded the elves and impaled the Liches, pushing the undead back before they could break through the defensive lines and giving the Golems the time toe to the elves'' rescue.

    "Let''s see." Apep rolled his dice like the Maker of All Liches had seen him do countless times while she was Inxialot''s guest in his moonboratory.

    She wasn''t stupidly na?ve like Inxialot so instead of crossing her fingers and hoping for luck, she used a sliver of Spirit Magic to get the critical sess roll she wanted. Apep had no Life Vision and no way to notice her meddling.

    "I''m going all out!" The Eldritch turned into his real form, that of a colossal snake made of Chaos over 50 meters (166'') long.

    The Apophis squirmed in joy as his scales drained the world energy from the Fringe, quelling his eternal hunger. He cleared the safe area from roots first, ensuring there were no infiltrations from the World Tree before moving on to assist the Liches.

    "You are a moron too, kid, but the kind of moron I like. The kind I can manipte with ease." Aylen noticed toote that she was thinking out loud. "Dammit! What''s our next move?"

    "The Liches won''tst five minutes." Sinmara replied. "The good news is we''ve forced the Chroniclers to show some of their best cards. The bad news is there''s a lot of them."

    More Golems kept sprouting as the Chroniclers spread throughout Mogar returned to the World Tree''s Fringe as fast as they could.

    "We are ne next diversion. Let''s make it count." She and Surtr bolted to the front lines while Baba Yaga''s tower grew in size, taking the form of a colossal wooden puppet 50 meters (164'') tall.

    Silverspire shapeshifted into a silvery humanoid giant that matched the puppet''s size and was armed with a sword and a shield.

    "Three towers, five white cores, and we are the diversion?" Aylen scoffed.

    She knew the n but that didn''t mean she had to like it.

    "Deal with it." Dawn said, unleashing her de Tier spell, Rising Sun, as her opening salvo.

    It cut through the defensive arrays, charred a few golems asunder, but stopped before reaching halfway to the World Tree.

    "That''s what we are against. Even a white core like you doesn''t amount to much. Yet." The Horsemen pointed at the Fire Dragons who breathed wave after wave of Primordial mes, weakening the defensive arrays and diverting the Yggdrasill''s focus and energy from the battlefield.

    The Golden Dragons used Golden Radiance to step inside the array unharmed and breathed more Primoradial mes directly on critical runes until the pressure from gravity magic forced them to retreat to the safe area to recover.

 Chapter 3253 Real Strike Team (Part 2)

    Chapter 3253 Real Strike Team (Part 2)

    "Kid, everyone is fighting to give you this opportunity. Don''t waste it." Tessa the Titania said while activating her legendary array, When All Are One. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A five-pointed star appeared under the group''s feet, forming a circle by connecting the five members of the real strike team. The Titania passed on to the others her muscle mass that matched a Griffon''s and her regenerative abilities.

    Fyrwal shared her elemental affinity and seven heads, making six smaller serpentine necks sprout from her teammates'' shoulders. Vastor''s superior core flowed into the others, reshaping their cores into a new form that exceeded the power of the bright violet.

    "Gods!" Among the many body alterations Tessa was undergoing, that was the most painful one to date. "The power of Chaos has grown stronger from thest time and¡­ is this the secret of the white core?"

    "It is." Fyrwal nodded, gaining insight from Vastor''s condition as their bodies produced more auxiliary cores and the boundary between energy and matter thinned. "We are getting a peek at how to reach the next level!"

    "What are you guys bbering about?" Vastor considered such a thing his natural state and had missed the subtle changes he had undergone after devouring his Abomination side. "I''m just- Mogar almighty!"

    Lith passed onto the others his wings, mass, and silvery mes. The other four found themselves wreathed in Dread mes which made Vastor''s power grow even stronger.

    "My faulty core is reshaping itself after yours!" Vastor cackled as the surging energy filled his body with adrenaline. "I almost forgot you have the life force of an Abomination. A perfect Abomination life force capable of harnessing the full power of a ck core!"

    It was the first time that Lith and Vastor shared the effect of the When All are One array and Vastor was reaping the benefits. His body was changing, adapting to fully contain the Chaos and Decay thanks to the Dread mes muzzling the cursed elements into submission.

    The Master''s mana core split further. Before he only knew Chaos and how to counter it with Decay but with the help of the silvery mes, Vastor could see four more cursed elements take a stable form in his core.

    "For the gods'' sake, shut the fuck up!" Orion screamed in agony.

    He was just a human violet core. To him, stepping straight into the white core domain, gaining the mass of a Divine Beast, and having his life force reshaping itself to withstand thebined powers of his teammates was torture.

    Orion writhed in pain, refusing to fall to his knees out of sheer will.

    Luckily for him, the array was devised to limit and share the burden between its participants. The moment the changes in Orion''s body stopped, the different powers naturally bnced themselves and adjusted their flow so as not to burden him.

    Even better, the When All Are One array granted its users the knowledge to use their newfound bloodline abilities as if they had used them their whole lives. Orion knew Chaos Magic, how to handle the different kinds of mes, and even Silverwing''s spells by instinct.

    "I''m sorry, Orion." Lith raised his hand, recalling Ragnar?k to his side.

    Back in the Desert, the angry de heeded the call of its master and bolted out of the prison room with no care for the damage it inflicted upon Ra''ntar in the process. Ragnar?k flew through the still-open Warp Gate before Sark''s pce,ing out on the border between the Empire and Chl.

    The soldiers sounded the rm and assumed their battle formation against the sudden appearance of a monster screeching in fury. The de ignored the scrambling humans and followed the trail of its master in a straight line.

    Ragnar?k used Warp Steps to cut the trip short, uncaring for the toll its power core had to pay.

    "If you think that was painful, you are in for an awful surprise." The angry de roared in triumph as Lith''s finger closed around its hilt and freed Ragnar?k from the seal of its bloody scabbard.

    "Clench your teeth, guys, because this is going to hurt for real." Lith closed his eyes and focused on the Void inside himself, plunging as deep as he could, deeper than he had ever gone.

    ''I don''t need heroes. I don''t need soldiers. To anyone who is listening to my call, I only need those who have loved and lost. Answer me. Help me, lest you want me to join your ranks and share your sorrow.''

    ''Why do you-'' Vastor and the others listened to the call as it resounded through the ck chains connecting them but only the old Professor objected.

    At least that was his intention until the answer came.

    ck chains burst in droves out of Lith''s chest, quickly followed by moreing out of those linked to him by the array. When All Are One shared with the other four all of Lith''s abilities and their burden.

    The ck chains scoured the Fringe in a second before moving out to the rest of Mogar. They found the right souls and dragged the spirits of the dead back to Lith before giving them physical form.

    Pain like no other burned through the minds and bodies of Orion, Tessa, Fyrwal, and Vastor. They experienced the lives of every soul they conjured, feeling their joy and sadness, facing their struggles and ultimate failure resulting in their death.

    Those who answered the call had loved deeply and grieved even more deeply still, devoting every moment they were stuck on Mogar crying for revenge. A few were warriors and mages.

    Most were men and women of all social sses who had fought and died to fill with blood the void left by their loss. Some hade close to sess, others had failed miserably from the start but they had all tried until theirst breath.

    Orion fell to his knees, sobbing. Phloria''s death was still too fresh in his mind and reliving the anguish of parents losing their children almost drove him insane. Only the grief of those who had lost their spouse gave him the strength to endure.

    Their pain was going to be his pain if he failed and Jirni died for it.

    ''My wife is still alive. My unborn baby is waiting for me!'' With an inhuman roar he opened his mind and heart to the suffering of the souls and made it his own, using it to strengthen his resolve.

    Tessa and Fyrwal fared better, but not by much.

    Their long lives had numbed their feelings and they were not used to deal with such intense emotions anymore. Even the most wizened heart on Mogar wasn''t immune to the Call of the Void because it wasn''t a matter of what they felt, but what the souls felt.

    The Emperor Beast and the Fae were forced to relive the events the souls had gone through but also the emotions that apanied them, both good and bad. Having a jaded mind and a numb heart only made Fyrwal and Tessa more vulnerable to the visceral love and grief that simple minded people had endured.

    The emotional armor of Valeron''spanions was ripped apart as they rediscovered their own feelings and grieved unknown people as well as their long-lostpanions over and over again.

 Chapter 3254 Something to Be Proud of (Part 1)

    Chapter 3254 Something to Be Proud of (Part 1)

    Fyrwal and Tessa fell to the ground, their eyes watery, but they managed not to shed a single tear.

    Once thest Demon was summoned and they mustered the strength to look up, only Lith and Vastor were still standing.

    One because he was used to dealing with pain and anger. They had gued Lith since he had memory on Earth until the day Elysia was born. He weed the feelings of the Demons like old friends, embracing them instead of fighting back.

    The other because he was too stubborn to fall and because he considered the souls'' grievances but a drop of waterpared to the ocean of his crimes.

    "Is this the best you can do?" Vastor snarled, knowing that his victims had suffered much worse than any of the Demons he was conjuring. "Stop being angry at me, you losers. Come and get me if you can!"

    The Master weathered the suffering and hatred like he was the one who had killed the souls'' original body. For all he knew, it wasn''t a farfetched possibility. Even if he was wrong and was in no way involved in their deaths, he still took responsibility.

    Vastor wasn''t proud of his crimes but wasn''t ashamed of them either. He had done what he had to and was ready to pay for it once his goal was achieved, not one second sooner.

    The Titania, the Hydra, and Orion knew nothing of this and only felt their respect and admiration for the old Professor grow. He stood where even old heroes of legend had fallen.

    "I would beware what you wish for, my boy." A frozen, wed hand gripped Vastor''s shoulder so hard that he felt the grip through the Davross of his Dominator armor.

    "Grandmaster Paax!" Vastor turned in horror, his face twisted in guilt and regret behind the visor of his full helm. "I''m so sorry. I-"

    "Don''t." Edrahg Paax, thete Grandmaster of the Kingdom''s Highmaster Order and Vastor''s mentor cut him short. "You''ve done plenty of bad things, my boy, but my death is not one of them.

    "I had be old, bitter, and stupid. I knew what was going to happen when I stepped out of line, I just didn''t care." Grandmaster Paax sighed.

    In his shadow form, he looked like a man in histe fifties with a perfectly trimmed goatee white with Decay. Even in death, his face had more wrinkles than parchment paper. The deep ages lines had been carved by decades of shame and regrets.

    Paax''s whole body was covered in heavy chains that would have crushed a mortal man with their bare weight.

    "I''ve never resented you, my boy. Quite the contrary, I was relieved when I learned they had sent you to ''retire'' me. Spending my final moments with a friend was a blessing I didn''t dare pray for."

    ''Retire?'' Locrias inwardly echoed, remembering where he had heard the name Paax. ''He was a Professor in the light magic department of the ck Griffon, aplete nobody famous only for the way he had died.''

    On paper, Archmage Edrahg Paax had died of a heart attack over thirty years ago, a few days after announcing his retirement. Dying so suddenly for such a trivial reason was unusual for an Archmage who had ess to the best treatments in the Kingdom.

    He had been an esteemed Professor for a long time but after receiving the title of Archmage his talent seemed to have disappeared. After that day, Paax had aplished so little in the field of magic that aside from his students very few people knew his name.

    Death had made him famous as a joke, his life a footnote in the Archmages archives.

    "What are you doing here, Grandmaster?" Vastor''s voice contained a tinge of hesitation, wondering if his old mentor hade back to haunt him or to exact his revenge. "Lith called for those who have loved and lost. You lived and died alone."

    "I did." Paax''s shadow nodded. "In fact, I didn''t answer his call. I answered yours. Listen to me young man, I''m not proud of what I did and my current appearance shows it. I''m not proud of what you did either, but you can still turn a new leaf.

    "It''s not toote for you. You can still do more. Be better."

    "I''m-" The Master attempted to reply.

    "Not interested, my boy." The Grandmaster cut him short. "I told you what I had to. The rest is in your hands. The only thing that matters is the mission and dead or alive I won''t let your still-powdered ass ruin my record."

    While Vastor talked with his former mentor, Lith sent the foreign energies of the When All Are One array to his Demons. The spirits of the dead swelled, the life force and Spirit Magic Lith infused in the Demons'' bodies were influenced by the Titania''s blood, multiplying their strength.

    The Hydra side, instead, gave the Demons six extra serpentine necks sprouting out of their shoulders, each ending with gaping mouths dripping venom. Vastor''s side granted them the power of Chaos and Decay, allowing the Demons to use both Cursed Elements freely.

    Orion looked around the growing army of Demons of Darkness, hoping to see a familiar face. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Please, my Little Flower, be here. I know thating back is painful but if Juria did it, you can too. Please, gods, give me the opportunity to tell my daughter goodbye. To tell her onest time I much I love her.''

    s, Orion was young and the human existence short.

    To stay behind after death, a soul needed to have a deep and burning regret. Toe back from the beyond after moving on, instead, a soul needed unyielding willpower and an even greater regret whereas Phloria had lived a happy and full life until her demise.

    Lord Ernas found no one he knew. The soldiers he had trained and therades he had lost during the years had all died in the line of duty, proud of what they had done and certain that their teammates would take care of their families.

    Orion felt proud of them, but also slightly disappointed.

    Fyrwal and Tessa weren''t so lucky.

    There were quite a few faces they recognized in the crowd. They belonged to their lost children, those who they had failed as mothers or had simply taken the wrong path due to selfishness and arrogance.

    "I''m sorry, mother." A young-looking male Titania said. "I know I disappointed you and I don''t expect your forgiveness. I just wanted to see you onest time and tell you that you have no fault in my death. You were right and I too stupid to listen."

    "Too little, toote." Tessa snarled to keep her voice from cracking. "You had centuries to get your head straight. All you had to do was show remorse through your actions instead of running your mouth and repeating the same mistakes.

    "That''s how you died, Lia''rtha, and I have no reason to believe you have changed. That any of you has changed. If you are here, it means you couldn''t even die properly."

    "Agreed." Fyrwal nodded, her hands clenched so tight that she would have bled if she weren''t sharing the Titania''s regenerative abilities.

 Chapter 3255 Something to Be Proud of (Part 2)

    Chapter 3255 Something to Be Proud of (Part 2)

    "Don''t apologize. I''ve wasted too many years listening to your excuses. I''ve grieved your loss long before your deaths. If you want to give your presence here today meaning, fight like you''ve never fought before.

    "For someone else. Give me something to remember you by aside from your mistakes. Give me something to be proud of."

    In her heart, Fyrwal still loved and hated them all.

    She loved them because they were still her children. She hated them for the way they had lived and died. Wasting untold potential and all the resources that the Hydra bloodline had poured onto them in the attempt to correct their ways.

    "You''ve heard the Lady, maggots." Paax waved his hand and conjured a shadow staff resembling his old weapon, Ravenhold. "We are not here to chat, but to fight. Whoever you were, whatever you did, now is your chance to make a difference!"

    He nted his toe talons in the ground, draining the world energy of the Fringe to increase his power and the number of his eyes.

    "This is not a betrothal gift, it''s a weapon." The Grandmaster held the ck chain that stuck out of his chest high for everyone to see. "Use it. Like this!"

    Through the chain, Paax had ess to all of Lith''s spells and mastery of magic. He used Spirit Magic, Light Mastery, and Creation Magic to shape the soil rich in magical metals into an armor.

    He encased it with a hard light construct and then used Spirit and Creation Magic to imbue his staff and armor with basic enchantments Paax could sustain by himself.

    ''Who is this guy?'' Varegrave, Valia, Locrias, and Trion were stunned. ''How can he do that?''

    The rest of the Demons were simrly equipping themselves under the dead Professor''s guidance, each choosing their best weapon. Knives, bats, swords, scythes, and hammers took form in their hands as Paax instructed his pupils to use tools they were already ustomed to.

    There was a constant stream of information from Lith to Paax and from the Grandmaster to his improvised ss.

    ''I''m not that special. It''s you guys who suck.'' The dead Professor replied through the telepathic link. ''These people are lost. They don''t remember who they are and have no idea how to use their powers.

    ''You are too used to leading trained soldiers who only need orders. These people aren''t soldiers but civilians. What they need is a teacher. Someone who can show them the ropes and select for them a few spells ording to the mission at hand.

    ''Most of them aren''t mages and never practiced magic. Even with Lith''s knowledge as a base, knowing and doing arepletely different things.''

    Like during one of his lessons, first Paax had given a demonstration of the spell and then he had his ss follow through, using the chains to correct and guide those who stumbled.

    There was no time or reason to wait for the Demons to understand the flow of magic since they would be gone after the mission. The Grandmaster pointed out the Demons'' mistakes and gave them the solution right away.

    ''I see.'' Locrias nodded, watching the sea of Demons expand as their numbers exceeded one thousand. ''But this wouldn''t be possible if not for our allies drawing attention from us and buying us time. This is an abnormal situation.''

    ''There''s nothing normal about this, kid.'' Paax replied.

    He pointed at the Dark Phoenixes soaring the skies above the decoy team. Their bodies had be living Origin mes that ignored the defensive arrays and wore them out with a mix of fire and darkness.

    While the white cores slowly advanced on the ground, the Phoenixes drew the power of the magical formations away by forcing the World Tree to repair them constantly. The Yggdrasill was so busy dealing with the Divine Beasts and in so much pain due to Jirni that they had yet to notice Lith''s absence from the battlefield.

    Locrias and the others followed the dead Professor''s lead to reduce his burden and bring the rest of the new-spawned Demons up to speed.

    ''But that doesn''t mean we shouldn''t exploit it.'' To not waste time, Lith gave the Demons just enough power to have one eye for regr people and two eyes for those who already knew how to use magic. The rest they had to draw from the Fringe.

    The vast in was akin to a massive mana geyser, providing the Demons with a constant flow of power that they absorbed with their Abomination Touch.

    "Shit!" Tessa the Titania had just recovered from the shock of summoning the Demons yet another problem had presented itself. "I hope that getting your sword back is worth it, Lith, because things aren''t looking good."

    With Ragnar?k out of Ra''ntar body, the pain inflicted on the World Tree and his Chroniclers lessened. The array field''s rotation speed increased, countering every move and spell of the white cores, and the Wood Golems fought more fiercely than before.

    Without the influence of the angry de, the Yggdrasill had regained their focus and the decoy strike team was getting pushed back.

    "It''s not just Ragnar?k. Look around" Fyrwal waved her hand in a circle. "Everyone has gotten in, the Liches havee out of Baba Yaga''s hut, and you''ve conjured your demons yet no new Fringe. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We are still no match for the Yggdrasill. My estimate is that we have the time for one, maybe two attempts before we are overwhelmed."

    "Also, not to pile up on the bad news and jinx it, but what''s that?" Orion pointed at a single ck chain that extended from Lith''s chest to the World Tree.

    It was as taut as a bowstring and unlike the others, it extended deep inside the Yggdrasill''s domain without showing any sign ofing back.

    "I have no idea." Lith replied.

    ***

    Back in the Desert, Ragnar?k hadn''t cared for finesse while leaving and had left a gaping hole in Ra''ntar''s innards. Theck of darkness fusion and the extended wound almost sent the elf into shock, pushing Quy to her limits to keep him alive.

    ''Finally!'' The World Tree rejoiced as the pain faded and their Chronicler regained their focus. ''Ra''ntar, the effect of the de is gone and soon you''ll be able to numb part of your pain with fusion magic.

    ''Those idiots think Jirni Ernas is skilled enough to seal your movements, but that''s going to be their undoing. Pretend that nothing has changed and strike at the first opening. Kill them, kill yourself, I don''t care.

    ''It''s your fault if the enemy found my Fringe. It''s only because of the pain you transmit to me that I can''t focus on the battle and the other Chroniclers fight as if they are on their deathbed.

    ''Remember, if I die, all the elven viges in the Fringe will be destroyed and my knowledge lost. If it wasn''t for you, I would have already killed the invaders.''

    Ra''ntar cursed his own ipetence, using his rage to mask his improving conditions. He gritted his teeth and struggled, but it was now out of rage, not pain.

    With Quy healing his wounds and darkness fusion partially restored, he checked his body condition and which parts of his body he was now able to move.

 Chapter 3256 Getting Creative (Part 1)

    Chapter 3256 Getting Creative (Part 1)

    Jirni had pierced the densest nerve clusters and blocked the main neural pathways. Even with Ragnar?k gone, the needles paralyzed some of the Chronicler''s main joints. Some, but not all.

    Luckily for Ra''ntar, Jirni had been tasked with hurting the elf while keeping him alive so she had focused her efforts on his pain receptors and steered away from his vitals. Ra''ntar waited until the next nutrient potion restored a bit of his strength and tears from pain clouded his vision no more. Then, he infused his right arm with air fusion for speed, fire for strength, and water for flexibility, turning it into a flesh whip.

    The Chronicler also called upon the Yggdrasill wood fragment fused with his body and focused it on his fingertips. The wood was still alive. It could grow, change shape, and move ording to its master''s will.

    ''Killing myself is not an option.'' Ra''ntar thought. ''Between this gods-damned array and the healer woman focused on me, there''s no way I can inflict myself a fatal wound she cannot heal. I have only one chance and if I waste it, I won''t have another.''

    With Jirni bent over the elf and her hands on his head to study his life force, she was well within Ra''ntar''s striking range.

    The elf''s wooden fingertips became razor-sharp as his armshed toward her swollen belly. An unborn child was naturally weak and to save it the three women were bound to forget about the prisoner.

    The cell''s dimensional seal was already off and if Friya were to lose her focus, the Chronicler would need but a Blink to escape capture.

    Jirni noticed the threat and so did Skywarp. The needles attempted to jump out of the elf''s body and block the attack but Jirni stopped them. With Ragnar?k gone, the mana flow had changed and Jirni had to figure out a way to block it again.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sweat beaded her face as she ignored her survival and maternal instincts while focusing on her job.

    Bloodbind came out of Quy''s sleeves to intercept the flesh-whip. The forearm escaped its grasp by bing thinner, smoother, and covering itself with sweat so that the chain links couldn''t keep their hold.

    The wooden'' tip struck Jirni''s womb with a wet sound, digging deep inside the flesh until it reached the pelvic bone.

    Ra''ntar''s pelvic bone.

    The golden light had intercepted the blow and redirected it to the Chronicler''sher regions with a small Warp Steps.

    "Nice try, jackass." Friya shut the Steps with the Dimensional Ruler spell, severing the arm at the elbow. "You''re lucky I can''t kick your ass until the procedure is over, but that doesn''t mean I can''t hurt you."

    A snap of her fingers made a te of delicious soup appear right outside Ra''ntar''s remaining arm''s reach. The smell wafted to the elf''s nose, reminding him of how hungry he was and making his stomach growl.

    Despair overwhelmed the pain from the needles as the Chronicler stretched toward the te, missing it by a hair''s breadth. Even from thousands of kilometers of distance, the World Tree shared Ra''ntar''s distress and their battle prowess plummeted again.

    The Chronicler grunted with effort, conjuring enough water magic to lift a few drops of soup and bring them to his mouth. Then, sparkles of golden light enveloped the soup that plopped back into the te.

    "You monster!" Ra''ntar tried and tried again and Friya let him seed every time only to Warp the food away before it touched his lips.

    "You don''t like the soup? What about some steak?" The te disappeared and was reced by a steaming filet.

    The new smell overwhelmed the Chronicler''s senses which had just started to get used to the soup and resist its call. Ra''ntar screamed and thrashed his limbs, but Jirni tightened her grip.

    "There!" She adjusted the position of the needles slightly and added a few more. Darkness fusion stopped again and the Chronicler found himself in so much pain that the veins on his body bulged out like they were about to burst.

    "Keep changing the dishes, dear." She said after confirming there was nothing else she could do. "This is the most physical pain I can inflict on him, and it falls short of Ragnar?k. We need to get creative!

    ***

    Back at the Fringe, a few minutes before Lith summoned his Demons.

    "They have captured Ra''ntar and found my Fringe, but the battle is far from lost."''The World Tree fought against the constant waves of paining from their Chronicler trapped in the Blood Desert. ''Even if Ra''ntar remains in Verhen''s clutches and those damned white cores break past my Golems, turning the tide of the battle is easy. The Yggdrasill sent one of the few Chroniclers who wasn''t fighting outside to retrieve Solus'' ring. The elf staggered at every step, the phantom pain from Ra''ntar making her experience Jirni''s cruel needles, a hunger she couldn''t sate, and a thirst she couldn''t quell.

    No matter where on Mogar the Chroniclers currently were, they had their minds constantly filled with images of food and water but no matter how much they gorged themselves, Ra''ntar''s suffering was unabated.

    The attack from the Desert was both physical and psychological, greatly limiting the strength of the defensive forces deployed on the frontlines. The Golems depended on the Chroniclers to move, cast spells, and enact battle strategies. Without them, the constructs were just colossal wooden paperweights.

    If not for the overwhelming advantage from the array field suppressing the enemies'' strength and the world energy resisting their attempt to use bloodline abilities, the Chroniclers would have already lost the battle.

    The army of Divine Beasts was outnumbered and outmatched but due to the waves of agony the elves shared with Ra''ntar, they could express only a fraction of their real strength.

    ''Ma''shol, get Elphyn Menadion and bring her away from here.''The World Tree said. Whatever means Verhen possesses to track her will alert him of Elphyn''s disappearance and crush his focus.

    ''He will be forced to give her chase or just waste his time and allies'' lives here to fight for nothing. Whatever he is nning, it requires stealth and speed. I don''t understand his ns, but I don''t need to in order to foil them.''

    ''Yes, my Liege.''Ma''shol replied. ''I''ll keep Warping until Ra''ntar is rescued or dead. At that point, even if Verhenes back with double this force, he''ll find us ready.''

    The Chronicler opened the prison''s door and made the ceiling rise enough for her to walkfortably.

    "We are going away, Menadion. Don''t oppose resistance or things are going to get ugly" Ma''shol said.

    The tower couldn''t be stored in a dimensional item because it was alive, it could only be carried. Giving Solus a host to dominate her had failed until that moment and there was no reason to think that a third attempt would go any differently. Especially now that the Fringe was under attack and more elves died by the second. With their haven invaded, the trust of the elves in the World Tree was at an all-time low. On top of that, the Librarians were scared that the conflict might reach their families and with their minds in a panic, Solus would have an easy time bending them to her will.

 Chapter 3257 Getting Creative (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3257 Getting Creative (Part 2)

    Solus didn''t reply to the Chronicler, uncertain about what to do.

    ''If I heal myself, I can try to escape but I would also waste precious energy and allow the Yggdrasill to torture me again. If I don''t, however, there''s only so much I can do.'' The stone ring was chipped and cracked and her four limbs were still broken.

    ''Screw it. Without a host, I can''t escape. I can''t even match a single Chronicler

    Ma''shol sent a tendril of Spirit Magic to retrieve the ring but Solus stopped it with her own. The Chronicler clicked her tongue in annoyance and bent over to pick up the ring. She was halfway up after collecting it when Solus had the ring manifest its full weight. The elf fell forward, her hand crushed between the cell''s floor and the stone ring.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As the stone ring dug through Ma''shol''s flesh Solus activated the Bleed to feed upon the Chronicler''s life force and restore her energy reserves.

    "Fool!" The elf cut her hand off at the wrist and the stump immediately stopped bleeding, her flesh mending itself.

    A new hand made of Yggdrasill wood sprouted out of the wrist, turning into flesh and bones as soon as it waspletely formed.

    "Did you really think that would work? We Chroniclers are at one with the Tree!" Ma''shol''s Yggdrasill staff shapeshifted into a hammer and its Davross de turned liquid and coated the hammerhead.

    The hammer struck the stone ring with all the elf''s might, producing a silvery noise and deepening the cracks.

    "Stop resisting and follow me!" Another tendril of Spirit Magic was blocked and another strike followed.

    This time the cracks spread and fragments of the ring flew through the room.

    ''Fuck you!'' Solus cried feeling her body and tower falling apart but she refused to yield. "Have it your way." Ma''shol struck again, the cracks were now so deep and wide that the stone ring was seconds away from falling apart.

    The Bleed overrode Solus'' orders, saving her life and mending her wounds.

    ''No, you idiot!'' She tried and failed to override the protocols left by her mother. "The Yggdrasill can''t kill me. You''re doing what they want! Once I run out of power, I won''t be able to resist anymore.''

    "You should have obeyed. The elf struck again. "All this suffering could have been avoided." Another blow, just strong enough to bring the tower to the brink of destruction but no further.

    Ma''shol could witness Solus'' despair with Soul Vision. She could see the aura of the tower grow weaker and dwindle.

    Just two more hits and-''

    And it was then that it happened.

    A ck chain bolted from the edge of the Fringe toward the cell.

    ''What is that?"The Yggdrasill activated the magical formation in the space between Lith and Solus.

    Elemental sealing arrays, spacepressing arrays, spirit barriers and spells stood against the chain that phased through them like they were illusions.

    ''It''s not any form of magic I know and if it was a bloodline ability, my control over the world energy should at least slow it down." The World Tree pondered. ''What is that thing made of?

    Ma''shol hammered at the ring that was reduced to a bunch of gravel held together by spit and magic. The chain passed through walls, spells, and the Chronicler''s body, finally reaching its target.

    Finally reaching the stone ring.

    Ma''shol ignored the chain and raised her arm to deal the final blow. She aimed for the only part of the ring that still retained its structural integrity, the part where the Bleed was most likely stored.

    ''If I destroy it, Menadion will be unable to fight back.'' The elf thought and she was right.

    The Davross hammer hit the stone, emitting a muffled sound as it had struck a pillow. "What?" Ma''shol lifted her weapon, baffled as she saw a ck handing out of the ring, gripping the hammerhead.

    The Chronicler pulled away but the hand remained stuck to the Yggdrasill weapon and there was a body attached to it.

    It belonged to a petite and lithe woman, barely 1.56 meters (5''1") tall, with long hair of the seven colors of the elements that floated in the air like she was underwater.

    ''No! The Yggdrasill screamed in despair, watching the aura of the tower slowly fading away. ''You killed her, you moron. You killed Elphyn Menadion!"

    Ma''shol had bigger problems than her master''s fury on her hands. Not only was the Demon staring at her in hatred, but for some reason none of the enchantments of her Yggdrasill staff seemed to work.

    More ck chains burst forward from the Demon''s chest, piercing the cell''s walls and feeding off the Yggdrasill''s life from within.

    "You should have just faded away, Menadion." Ma''shol infused her body with the power of the six elements but the hammer didn''t budge. "You failed to escape even when you had the power of the tower.

    "What makes you think you have a chance as a lesser Tiamat?" The answer came as a

    p so fast that the Chronicler failed to stop it.

    Ma''shol was a bright violet-cored Awakened with perfect body refinement and thanks to the Yggdrasill fragment fused with her flesh, she was much more resilient than a normal Awakened.

    Also, her battle armor was one of the best ones the World Tree had Forgemastered. The Yggdrasill couldn''t risk Ma''shol failing to escape or falling into a trap, losing Menadion''s tower after struggling so much to put their roots on it.

    Yet the p ripped the Chronicler''s jaw off her skull, twisted her neck, and severed her spine, sending her to crash against the wall like a rag doll thrown by a child during a

    temper tantrum.

    "That''s a mightparable to a Divine Beast! The World Tree was bbergasted. ''Menadion had it thanks to her bond with the tower. How can her ghost still retain such mass after her death?"

    The hammer was still in the petite Demon''s hands. She turned and spun it like a baby girl examining a new shy toy.

    The Yggdrasill vines pierced the Demon and Chronicler alike.

    The darkness magic infused in the former was supposed to dispel the Demon while the nutrients and light magic in thetter healed Ma''shol and reced the broken parts with new ones with no burden on her life force.

    The Demon seemed annoyed, but that was it. The darkness element refused to hurt her and was sucked dry along with the vitality of the vines, increasing her strength further. "There''s something wrong, my Liege!" The Chronicler recalled her Yggdrasill weapon but it didn''t budge from the hands of the Demon.

    ''Indeed. Clean te can disable enchantments, but the living wood is still a part of my body. It should listen to-''

    The Demon devoured the vitality in the Yggdrasill woodprising the weapon and enveloped it in a sphere of light. The hammer fell apart, its differentponents and ingredients split into ordered piles that reassembled themselves in a new form.

    "That''s not Clean te! The World Tree blurted out. ''Can it be Creation Magic? Why can''t I see anything even with Soul Vision? It''s like there are cloaking runes mixed in the

    spell!''

 Chapter 3258 Chained Souls (Part 1)

    Chapter 3258 Chained Souls (Part 1)

    Lith, Solus, and Balkor always practiced Creation Magic in the safety of theirbs. Only the Red Mother and the Overlord had no qualms about using it in front of witnesses because their mastery over magic had reached the point where they could cloak their spells even from Dragon Eyes or Soul Vision.

    The Yggdrasill knew most of the branches of magic yet Creation Magic had always cluded the past and present World Trees. To add insult to injury, even now that it was taking ce right under their foliage, the Yggdrasill couldn''t figure out the first thing about it.

    "That''s a variant of Menadion''s Fury!'' Ma''shol recognized the runic pattern of the weapon from the previous Tree''s library. Since when-''

    The Demon bolted forward without saying a word, the hammer tracing a silvery arch with a motion perfected through hundreds of thousands of repetitions. The elf raised her hands and activated the protective spells in her armn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Once again, the enchantments failed her.

    armor.

    Without the Spirit Barrier and the gravity sheath emanating from the Davross, the armor was nothing but a thickyer of very hard metal. The Fury smashed the Chronicler''s exposed head open and crushed her spine like a breadstick.

    The wooden vines were still inside Ma''shol''s body and the Yggdrasill saved her life once more, just like the Demon wanted. The petite woman grabbed the elf''s head and smashed it over the stone ring, sending it deep inside her skull.

    The Bleed weed the meal and drained both master and servant of their vitality until the World Tree was forced to cut off the vines. Ma''shol''s armor floated off her corpse, splitting itself into its basicponents.

    A second spell Forgemastered the raw materials into a form-fitting armor of known design.

    "The Anvil of Menadion?'' For the first time in the Yggdrasill bloodline, one of the World Trees couldn''t make heads or tails of the events they witnessed. ''Creation Magic? Elphyn never used it during her previous escape attempts.

    ''Everything she had came from the tower. How can she have transcended in death the skills she had in life?"

    Three more Chroniclers and a Librarian entered the cell, respectively to destroy the Demon and imprint the stone ring. If there was a silver lining in Solus'' demise, it was that now the tower was back to being an inanimated artifact that would follow the orders of its master.

    The Demon screeched in fury as five more eyes opened on her face andrge membranous wings unfurled from her back, scratching either side of the room.

    ''She''s already gotten seven eyes? How?" The Yggdrasill''s question found no answer as the Demon danced between the elves as if they were still, countering their attacks with the violence of a storm.

    In life, the petite woman had been a couch potato. She had spent most of her life mastering the magical arts and despite all her training, she hadn''t practiced enough for her body to follow the brilliance of her mind.

    Now, however, she was made of energy. Her shadow form followed her every thought, moving exactly as she imagined. On top of that, the ck chain gave her ess to the battle experience of the other Demons, Lith, and those connected to him via the When All Are One Array.

    The moment she identified a familiar pattern in the elves'' strategy, the petite woman also learned how to counter it. Knowing and doing were two different things, but she had no vitals and a monstrous vitality.

    The Demon countered every hit with no regard for her safety. If the elves'' weapons cut, her hammer crushed. A ncing blow of hers shattered bones and copsed organs whereas any damage she suffered was instantly healed by stealing the life force coursing through the prison''s walls.

    She moved in a blur, mming one elf after the other into the ring to feed them to the Bleed.

    ''What is that? Who is that?'' Solus stared in amazement at the figure that looked like her twin sister. Am I dead? Did that Chronicler hurt me so bad that my soul split in half? Is that the part of me not even the tower could save after exhausting the life force stored in the Bleed?"

    The World Tree was just as confused as they looked at the two women with Soul Vision. They looked almost identical but with a few striking differences.

    They were both covered in chains and wore ancient togas dating to the founding of the Kingdom. The two women also wielded identical hammers that they swung at the chains non-stop, but there the simrities ended.

    The presence in the ring hammered at her chains to break them and only had a few left. The presence in the Demon, instead, used it to forge new ones. Her hair was aze and whipped through the air like she was amid a storm. Her eyes wept bloody tears and her mouth was opened in an endless silent scream.

    A constant stream of raging crimson mes erupted from her throat, tempering the new chain she forged and inflicting deep burns upon her hands. The screaming figure held the chain tight so that each hammer strike made her palm bleed until the heat cauterized the wound.

    All the chains that covered the second woman were red from rust and blood yet the dirt couldn''t hide the mastery of her craftmanship.

    The World Tree tried to make sense of those images but to no avail. ''Maybe this is my fault. I''ve split Elphyn Menadion''s soul in two. One carries her negative emotions and the other the positive. The Yggdrasill reached Solus'' same conclusion. The figure in the ring kept smiling even during her imprisonment, her air moved by a soft breeze while she worked on the chains that restricted her. She was as cid as the other one was furious.

    The World Tree pondered how to restrict them both but their options were limited. Any spell strong enough to destroy the Demon would affect the ring and from that distance,

    it wouldn''t survive.

    Even worse, destroying the physical form of a Demon of Darkness was pointless. As long as Lith injected more mana into her or she found nourishment, the Demon would rise

    again.

    "The bastard is inside my Fringe and body! It''s like having a parasite that can feast on my blood andy eggs at her leisure. The Yggdrasill cursed the pain and hunger that gued their mind, keeping them from focusing.

    Under normal circumstances, one Spirit Barrier around the ring and a powerful spell on the Demon would resolve the situation but right now the Tree couldn''t trust themselves. The Yggdrasill needed most of their willpower to limit the effects of Ra''ntar''s torture on the rest of the Chronicles and what focus the World Tree had left was barely enough to control theplex array system and suppress the world energy in the Fringe.

    ''If another panges and I fail to control my spells at the wrong time, everything I''ve done would be for naught. The tower would be destroyed and Verhen would retreat safely. I''ve burned too many bridges to turn back now.''

    The World Tree''s worst fears came true a secondter when more Chroniclers died at the hand of the white cores and the bacsh made the Yggdrasill lose their focus again.

 Chapter 3259 Chained Souls (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3259 Chained Souls (Part 2)

    Controlling an already stable spell was one thing, conjuring and aiming a new spell with pinpoint uracy was another. In the Yggdrasill''s condition, it would have been akin to trying to write a symphony while someone shouted in your ears and another hammered your toes.

    Meanwhile, the Demon of the Darkness kept killing whoever dared enter the cell and fed the elves to the stone ring. With each victim she imed she would reforge her equipment, crafting a Fury and an Anvil closer to the originals.

    Solus was in shock and disbelief but she had the presence of spirit to hasten the tower''s repairs.

    ''I need to be fast. Maybe it''s not toote to retrieve the shard of my soul. If I can restore my connection with it and use the chain to establish a mind link with Lith, he cane to my rescue!"

    The first two Chroniclers had been enough to umte the life force and mana necessary to restore Solus'' body. The rest she stored in the Bleed to help her in her escape attempt.

    As her wounds healed, Solus'' connection with the Demon grew closer and closer until their minds almost formed a mind link. All the elves in the cell were now dead with the only exception of the Librarian.

    For some reason, the Demon had bound and gagged her with a tier five Spirit Spell that Solus recognized as Griffon Fetters but the Librarian was otherwise unharmed.

    The petite walked to the stone ring, looking at it with a mix of grief and longing. When thest crack disappeared, a smile like sunrise opened on the ck te of her face.

    She bent down, picking the ruined form of the tower up with utmost care and caressing its edges with infinite love.

    "Epphy," The Demon''s voice was the steely grind of a forge at work. "I have returned."

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Royal Pce of the city of Valeron, at the same time.

    Kam Verhen reached the antechamber of the Throne Room where two Royal Guards waited for her. She hade straight from the Blood Desert but not before making a call.

    "Here you are, Kami," Zinya waved her hand from a distance while the security confirmed the guest''s identity and that she posed no threat.

    "Thanks foring so fast, Zin." Kam held her sister''s hands with gratitude.

    Court etiquette forbade public disys of affection like hugs and giving each other a curtsy wouldn''t have allowed them tomunicate covertly with a mind link.

    ''Are Kigan and Nelia with you?'' Kam asked.

    ''Just Kigan.'' Zinya replied. I''m sorry, but I had to leave Nelia with Filia and Frey. I understand your circumstances, but with Zogar gone and most of the Eldritches absent, I don''t trust anyone else with my children.''

    ''No need to apologize.'' Kam inwardly sighed. ''Zogar has even more enemies than Lith and unlike Elysia, your children are not under the protection of the Guardians. Kigan will have to do.''

    "Thanks for the vote of confidence.'' The Dark Phoenix scoffed. Just remember, no array or means of detection except for Soul Vision can spot me, but only until I''m forced to take action.

    ''If for any reason my presence is exposed, I''ll be attacked by your enemies during the crisis and by your allies once it''s resolved. To avoid people questioning your involvement with me, pretend you didn''t know about my presence and act scared.

    ''Don''t worry, I asked Zinya toe for moral support and because it''s better safe than sorry."Kam replied. "The pce of Valeron is one of the safest ces in the Kingdom. With the arrays, the Royals, and the Royal Guards, not even a natural disaster worries me.''

    The entire conversation took ce while the Royal Guards led the two women to the Throne Room. Holding hands was a bit unusual but understandable when someone was summoned to the Royal Court in the middle of the night.

    "Your Majesties." Kam walked right under the raised dais of the thrones before giving the King and Queen a perfect curtsy.

    Zinya remained a few steps back and to the side of the carpet to stand witness without disturbing the focus of the Royal couple. She gave her curtsy a second after Kam, receiving solely a nod of the Queen''s head to acknowledge her presence while the King''s gaze was fixated on Kam.

    Meron appreciated how despite the urgent summon Kam wore the pristine white and gold dress that identified her as the Lady Magus and all the insignia of her rank that testified her loyalty to the Kingdom.

    A silver Griffon-shaped brooch attested to her affiliation to the Royal Court while the service ribbons on her breast enumerated her meritorious deeds as a member of the

    army.

    "Lady Verhen." Meron grunted more than speak. "I''m waiting for an exnation for the actions of your husband and it''s better to be a good one."

    Kam maintained a half-knelt position and shared the official version of the events with the Royals, hiding solely the connection between Solus and the tower.

    "He lost his omni pocket and everything in it?" Queen Sylpha was bbergasted.

    Not by the omni pocket, she had discovered its existence after befriending the members

    of the Awakened Council during the War of the Griffons.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. The blueprints for the DoLorean and the trains, my husband''s books about Void Magic, and every reward you have given him over the years are now in the World Tree''s possession.

    "With the Yggdrasill''s resources and time, my husband is certain it''s only a matter of time before they remove his imprint and steal the magical legacy he has prepared for Elysia." That was the part worrying the Queen.

    Military secrets, spells exclusive to the Griffon Kingdom, and the elusive branches of magic that had allowed Lith to be the Supreme Magus were now up for the taking.

    "I understand why he attacked Chl, but why didn''t he warn us of his intentions? Why didn''t Magus Verhen ask for the Kingdom''s help?" The King steepled his fingers, his mind spinning to find a way to do damage control in the worst-case scenario.

    Lith dead and his legacy made public.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "With all due respect, Your Majesty, what can the Kingdom do?" Kam raised her head

    to look Meron in the eyes.

    "My husband had no idea where the World Tree is located and bringing the army on foreign territory would have created a dangerous precedent that would have undermined your credibility in future diplomatic efforts.

    "On top of that, what chances do mortal humans have against a horde of elves? Only Awakened have a chance of survival and the Kingdom have none to spare." Meron grunted again but nodded at her words.

    To make a difference, the King and Queen would have to carry the Saefel Set outside the capital. Not only was it against thew but it would also leave the city of Valeron

    exposed.

    Aside from the Royal couple, Tyris produced only seven more fake Awakened for the Queen''s Corpse and they were already busy dealing with internal affairs that couldn''t be

    dyed.

    "By not warning you, Supreme Magus Verhen gave you usible deniability," Kam continued. "You can honestly im you weren''t aware of his intentions and haven''t yed any part in the invasion."

 Chapter 3260 Murder (Part 1)

    Chapter 3260 Murder (Part 1)

    "My husband is protecting the Kingdom by taking full responsibility for his actions and avoiding your military forces from being involved in what would be perceived as an unprovoked act of invasion." Kam said.

    "It all makes sense." Sylpha pondered. "Magus Verhen''s line of action showed great sensibility and political acuity!"

    ''But why do I get the feeling this speech is rehearsed and this exnation is nothing but tailored lip service?'' She thought and she was right.

    "But why didn''t he contact the Awakened Council for help, then?" The Queen actually asked. "Magus Verhen has plenty of allies and friends."

    "His friends are already with him." Kam replied. "As for the allies, their bond isn''t deep enough for his fellow Awakened to risk their long lives for him. Even if they did, how can my husband be certain they wouldn''t rather take the omni pocket for themselves?

    "Especially if it has already been unlocked. Trust takes time and effort to build whereas greedes easy. That''s why he called solely upon those who carry his blood or have already shown their worth during the War of the Griffons.

    "He couldn''t risk to advertise his weakened state to the wrong people. Without his artifacts, my husband is at his weakest, and without resources, it will take him years to rebuild his strength.

    "This is the perfect moment for his enemies to strike. That''s why he shared his ns on a need-to-know basis only."

    "I understand." Meron rubbed his eyes and temples in frustration. "Supreme Magus Verhen''s predicament is truly unique, but this doesn''t excuse his actions. When hees back, it will be hard for him to justify the assistance he provided to the Empire. "Until that moment, you are free to go, Lady Verhen. The Crown will do its best to defend your husband''s name and reputation but beware. During his absence, you can expect nasty rumors about him, like defection and madness, to spread.

    "Rumors that only he can refute."

    The King skipped the part where in case Lith never returned, the Kingdom would pin the full me for the events of Zeska and Chl''s invasion on him, but that was heavily implied.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty." Kam gave the Royals another curtsy before standing up and taking her leave.

    Zinya did the same and joined Kam on the way out.

    "Are you going straight back to the Blood Desert or do you have time for a cup of tea at my home?" She asked. "Filia and Frey would love to see you and Elysia."

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t take risks." Kam sighed. "Since I''m already here, however, I''ll take a few minutes to pray. Feel free to join me, Zyn, but be careful about what you think." "Pray?" Zynia echoed in disbelief.

    Religion had long since been considered no different from superstition.

    With mages capable of healing any wound, instantly moving through space, and causing natural disasters, the people of Mogar considered gods to walk among them, not to sit aloof in their thrones in the sky.

    "Oh." Zynia understood the meaning of her sister''s words when they crossed the pce''s internal Gate Network and reached the Gardens of Saefel.

    It was not only a ce filled with the smell of finely cut grass, with flower beds, and trimmed bushes that adorned the cobblestone paths going across the whole park as far as the eye could see.

    It was also a ce of beauty where every single tree and topiary figure had been ced so as not to hinder the sight of the visitors. It allowed the two women to admire severalpositions at the same time with a single gaze and the beautifulndscape of the Gardens to always be greater than the sum of its parts.

    Statues and topiaries of the First Queen were everywhere. Tyris was either depicted with Valeron, the First King, or their children. It took any visitor but a nce to understand that only a man deeply in love like Valeron the First could have made such a thing.

    Kam headed for the centers of the Gardens, where a statue of the First Queen embracing her children crowned a magnificent fountain. Kam knelt at the edges of the water, her hands sped as she begged Tyris for protection.

    ''I see what she meant.'' Zinya thought. "Today must be Leegaain''s or Sark''s turn to watch over Elysia and this is the only way Kami has to contact Tyris. We are in the same situation but I can''t ask any Guardian to protect my husband.''

    She wrung her gloved hands.

    ''If they discover Zogar is the Master, who knows what they might-''

    All kinds of protective arrays enveloped the Gardens of Saefel but unlike the rest of the pce, there were no ceiling or walls shielding them.

    A massive figure dived from the night sky in a blur, striking at Kam in an upward motion but its weapon was so big that it hit Zinya as well.

    ''Shit!'' Kigan reacted promptly, using one of his wings to wrap both women and shield them from the impact. ''What the fuck?"

    Despite his size, mass, and Bytra''s equipment, his wing shattered. The shockwave sent Zinya and Kam high in the sky, away from the spacepressing array of the pce. A Spirit Gate swallowed them both, with Kigan in tow inside Zinya''s shadow.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Back in the Fringe, the Eldritch-hybrids felt as helpless as their Dark Phoenix brother. "Why are we still here?" Theseus, the Meneos-Bastet, pointed at the group of Liches and white cores fighting just a few kilometers in front of them. "What point does entering the Fringe have if we do nothing?"

    "Don''t be stupid, kid." Nandi itched for a fight as well, but he kept focusing on amassing more world energy. "The suppression of the World Tree limits bloodline abilities and a simple darkness sealing array is all they need to take our best cards away.

    "How long do you think you can endure Silverwing''s Annihtion without casting a single spell? We are not Awakened. We don''t have Spirit Magic and need all six elements to cast the Master''s version of the anti-Guadian spells.

    "Someone with a small body like me or Abthot wouldn''tst a second."

    Theseus snarled but couldn''t refute the Minotaur''s words. The white cores had advanced for a short while before the forces of the Yggdrasill had brought them to a halt.

    Even Baba Yaga''s and Silverwing''s towers could only handle so much damage. One on one a Wood Golem was nothing to them, but they were fighting dozens at a time. Each group of seven cast Silverwing''s Annihtion to attack and another the Bastion to stop the towers'' attacks.

    Normal elves and Librarians infused their best spells into their arrows and threw them at the enemy from a safe distance. A single tier five spell was powerful enough to harm a Divine Beast and each volley wasprised of hundreds of them.

    Each flurry of arrows blotted the sky as they travelled and then lighted it like a second

    sun when the spells detonated together.

    "Rx, kid. Our moment wille. Remember the n." Valtak said.

    The Golden, Fire, and the different species of Dragons sired by Surtr were waiting in the safe area under Tezka''s protection for their opportunity to strike.

 Chapter 3261 Murder (Part 2)

    Chapter 3261 Murder (Part 2)

    Only the Griffons had joined the battle after infusing themselves with Life Maelstrom.

    The boost from the silver lightning made up for the mass gap with the Wood Golems and thanks to the Griffons'' unmatched physical prowess, they could fight head-on with the elves while relying only on Spirit Magic and Light Mastery.

    The hard-light constructs served as an extrayer of armor that the children of Rethia could move andbine at will. Even when the constructs were destroyed, the mana used for the spells wouldn''t be lost.

    The Griffons reassembled the fragments of hard light into new constructs and added more mana whenever the damage they sustained was too severe.

    Rethia led the charge with her Davross mace, Starbreaker.

    Her size and mass matched the Wood Golems'' and she outssed them in everything else. One hit from Starbreaker turned a huge chunk of the Golems into splinters and sent them crashing into their allies, disrupting the elven formations.

    Surtr followed closely, imbuing the members of the decoy squad with his bloodline ability, Sanctuary of Life. The light element from the white-cored Wyrm seeped inside the bodies of his allies, strengthening their defenses.

    Sanctuary of life enhanced the regenerative effects of light fusion and allowed it to form awork of constructs that coated every bone, capiry, and organ.

    Even when a member of the decoy squad suffered a major blow, the small constructs took the brunt of the damage. They also prevented internal bleeding by recing the blood vessels until light fusion regenerated them.

    "The fight started a minute ago and Silverspire has already taken major damage!" Silverwing cursed via hermunication amulet.

    As a white core, she could wield the Annihtion and the Bastion at the same time. With the help of her tower, those numbers doubled. The problem was that she and Baba Yaga were the main target of the Chroniclers and had to deal with several anti-Guardian spells at the same time.

    "Same for Bloodhaven." The Red Mother had named her tower as well to avoid confusion. "Keep drawing their attention. Lith is almost done and we have only one shot at this!" The wooden puppet that was Bloodhavenbat form shapeshifted faster than the Golems, had greater mass, and every one of its blows made the Fringe quake. Yet it wasn''t enough and Baba Yaga couldn''t manifest Bloodhaven''s true power while the Yggdrasill controlled the world energy.

    Like Solus during her escape attempts, the Red Mother was swarmed by the Golems from above the ground and by the World Tree''s roots from below. The Yggdrasill

    restricted the puppet''s feet, making it impossible for the tower to dodge.

    Apep ate and ate, but he was alone and the Tree hadid countless sprouts throughout the Fringe ready to bloom.

    "It''s time." Lith felt something weird from the stretched ck chain but hecked the time to investigate. Whoever the soul on the other side was, they were refusing to answer his questions.

    "I noticed." Tessa the Titania waved at the crowd of seven-eyed Demons of Darkness armed to the teeth.

    "One more thing, Lord Tiamat." Paax had served many masters in life. One more in death made little difference to him. "This is my gift to you and your allies for bringing me back." A wave of Ravenhold materialized a massive magic circle that fed upon the abundant world energy of the Fringe and gave it shape in the form of crows as big as an eagle, each one of a different elemental color.

    "This is your personal spell!" The Master recognized it at first nce. "You didn''t leave it in your legacy nor did you teach it to your disciples."

    "It is. The only Magus-level spell I''ve managed to create. Murder." Paax nodded as he transmitted the runes for the spell via the ck chains. "I had no reason to leave it to the people who transformed me into the monster I was or doom others to follow in my footsteps.

    "Before moving, please cast it on your own. Ick the skill to add what you call Spirit Magic on the fly but-"

    "Don''t worry, old man. I do" Tessa would have normally needed a bit of time and focus to give her own spin to Murder, but with seven heads and the Life Maelstrom from the Royal Fortress armor boosting her, it was child''s y.

    A second, wider magic circle took form, generating emerald crows that joined those conjured by the first array.

    "And so do I. Vastor was just a stepte, conjuring a third magic circle that epassed the other two and reinforced Paax''s, allowing it to generate Spirit Crows as well. "You should stop flirting like this, dear." The Titania stared at the old Professor with deep desire. "If you wanted me so bad, you just had to ask!"

    "Focus, woman! I don''t have time for your Fae nonsense." The Master snarled.

    "Fine. We''ll ''talk'' about thister." She licked her lips seductively.

    "Get a room,

    dammit!" Lith raised his hand and released a fireball in the air.

    "The signal!'' Eight Griffons had remained in the safe area with the Wyrms, pretending to stand guard at the portal leading to the outside world.

    Five of them released their full Life Maelstrom on the people forming the When All Are One Array. One sent the silver lightning to Tezka and the remaining two split it among the Demons.

    Life Maelstrom increased the power of Vastor''s core tenfold and the When All Are One Array extended the effect to the others as well. Lith split the silver lightning evenly in

    seven parts.

    One for Ragnar?k, one for his armor, one for himself, and the other four for the pieces of Menadion Set.

    "Menadion Setplete. Only two pieces unlocked. Failure to activate the Anvil protocol." A feminine voice resounded in Lith''s head through the Ears.

    ''I know that, dammit. No point in stating the obvious.'' He thought as he released his

    de Tier Spell, Ruin, and transmitted it to the others via the array.

    Five Ruins took form at once, each de Spell drawing mana from every piece of equipment with a power core they had. The energy umted inside their weapons that focused and amplified it by several folds.

    With the massive amount of mana produced by the four cores mimicking Vastor''s, the Life Maelstrom, and the Hands of Menadion, Ruin exceeded the power that even Davros! and elemental crystals could handle.

    The hidden runes on the surface of the five weapons became visible, releasing the excess energy in the form of light. The mana crystals burned like small stars while metal

    and wood started to heat.

    "Shit!" Not even Vastor''s Grimbark staff was designed to withstand so much energy at once. The Yggdrasill wood ckened and burned as the mana kept umting. "Cut the power or our weapons will be useless after a single attack! "Assuming there will be anything left of them, of course." Despite hisints, the Master focused on harnessing the de Spell and did his best to unveil its secrets. ''Coming here with Lith was the right choice.'' He thought after finding a silver lining in his situation. I have the opportunity to experience a perfected ck core and now I''m also weaving a legendary de Spell.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3262 Clockwork (Part 1)

    Chapter 3262 Clockwork (Part 1)

    ''I must engrave every moment of this fight in my body and mana core.'' The Master thought. ''This is a unique opportunity to ovee my limits and learn the secrets of de Spells that still evade me.''

    ''Ignite.'' Lith dispelled his teammates'' worries with a simplemand.

    Dread mes set the wild aura seeping out of the weapons aze, shrouding them in violent bursts of silvery fire. The Dread mes fed upon the excess mana and relieved the pressure the de Spells exerted on the power cores.

    Not a single iota of energy was lost as the silvery mes and Ruin merged into one.

    Lith checked the readings of the Eyes of Menadion onest time before swinging Ragnar?k. He had no mind link with the Apprentice Eyes and needed time to study the information they provided.

    Seven heads each with seven eyes made it easier for him to read through the data quickly and assimte it even quicker. He used the bond formed by the When All Are One array with his allies and the one via the ck chains with his Demons to show them where to strike.

    The Eyes of Menadion had spotted and marked the keystone runes that held together the various arrays in front of Lith. The Ears followed the shifting currents of the world energy and allowed him to find the path of least resistance.

    By riding the right currents, the de spells would bypass most of the defensive arrays and reach their target with minimal loss of their power.

    The Mouth and the Hands were still sealed so Lith could only use them to prepare a new batch of spells and provide his allies with a constant flow of world energy untainted by the Yggdrasill''s will to fuel their bloodline abilities.

    ''Now!'' A vertical swing of Ragnar?k unleashed a zing pir of silver energy that was quickly followed by four more.

    Each pir moved as fast as aser and released small des of fire as they cut through the air. Half of the Demons of Darkness took flight, grabbing the fire des. Their energy bodies fed the silvery mes and were fed by them in return.

    The Demons of Darkness became Demons of the Abyss made of Dread mes. It enhanced their power and speed at the cost of their longevity as the silver mes burned through the Demons'' energy reserves.

    ''Where does thate from?'' Even in their agonizing state, the World Tree couldn''t miss the five zing Ruins aimed at their trunk.

    Yet the five de Spells dodged the opposing waves of world energy filled with the Yggdrasill''s will and changed their trajectory before the arrays could manifest their powers.

    They switched their focus on the magical formations on the path of the de Spells, creating a series of barriers that would intercept and neutralize Ruin just like it had happened earlier when Dawn had cast Sunrise.

    Yet the five de Spells dodged the opposing waves of world energy filled with the Yggdrasill''s will and changed their trajectory before the arrays could manifest their powers.

    To make matters worse, the Demons followed in the de Spells''s wake and were protected by three Murders of mystical crows. The energy constructs surrounded the Demons of the Abyss, taking damage in their stead or throwing themselves into the fire to fuel the Demons'' power.

    Paax''s Magus level spell countered elemental magic and could infuse mana and vitality into its targets. On top of that, as long as the Murder arrays had a stable source of energy, they condensed more elemental crows to rece those that had been consumed.

    "For victory!" The first line of Demons reached the keystone runes of the closest defensive arrays, using Balkor''s self-destruction spell and the hive mind formed by the ck chains to blow themselves up at the same time.

    Thework of still-functioning magical formations redirected the world energy it drew from the Fringe to contain the explosions and hasten the repairs but to no avail.

    The coordinated attack of the Demons had affected too many arrays and Balkor''s spell converted the mana and life force stored in their bodies into a devastating blow.

    The keystone runes crumbled while waves of silvery mes spread along the magic circles holding the arrays together, forcing the Yggdrasill to consume the regenerative energy just to keep them from crumbling.

    "For conquest!" The second line of Demons cut deeper into the World Tree''s territory, detonating once again and clearing the path in front of Lith''s group from the most dangerous magical formations.

    "For Solus!" Paax and the third line of Demons exploited the sacrifice of theirrades to reach the elven viges nested all around the Yggdrasill before triggering the self-destruction spell.

    ''No!'' The World Tree cursed, raising a wall of vines several meters thick right in front of the de Spells. ''My libraries! The knowledge and history umted by my predecessors! All lost!'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No, no, no!" Librarians andmon elves turned their backs on the fight, incapable of focusing on the invaders anymore.

    Half of them abandoned the battle formation and ran toward their burning viges while the other half just stared at the scene, refusing to believe their own eyes.

    The Chroniclers kept following the Yggdrasill''s orders but their focus was scattered. The sudden loss of so many elven lives and centuries of painstaking work was too much to bear.

    "That''s our signal. Advance!" Until the keystone runes regenerated, World Tree''s arraywork was just a light show.

    It took the Fire Dragons a single breath of Primordial mes to carve a second path for themselves and cleanse the surrounding world energy from the Tree''s energy signature.

    The Dark Phoenixes turned their bodies into invulnerable ck mes, eating at the few still-working arrays with a mix of darkness magic and Origin mes.

    The Eldritches took point in the charge, their powers no longer restricted by the elemental sealing arrays.

    Tezka unleashed his own de Tier spell, Cosmic Devourer.

    It drained half of the energy stored inside his core and equipment but since he couldn''t step away from Chaos Dimension and Suneater constantly filled him with new power, he had no reason to hold back.

    Bytra rode in the wake of Cosmic Devourer, stirring the air element in the Fringe to conjure thunderclouds and fuel her electromaic powers.

    Theseus wasn''t as fast, but with each wave of his hands, his art took life. Chaos energy took the shape of tendrils, birds, and nightmare monsters whose touch consumed everything.

    Nandi stood on the shoulders of the colossal Bastet, using his pata to sever the arrays'' nodes and his bio-crystals to wrestle control of the world energy from the Tree as the Eldritches advanced.

    Zoreth covered her allies from the sky, breathing Origin mes at anyone and anything that tried to approach them. Her Adamant w Sky Piercer fended off the Wood Golem while the Eldritches rejoined the white cores.

    Abthot used her vines to feed the wounded Griffons and weakened Liches with nutrients and vitality.

    Even with their phcteries stored inside Baba Yaga''s tower, it would take the undead time to recover without preying on something. To not slow down the advance, Abthot sacrificed parts of herself to bring the army of Liches back to its full force whenever it was necessary.

    All the Eldritches released a volley of Chaos Spells conjured by the Maws of Bytra as they advanced.

 Chapter 3263 Clockwork (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3263 Clockwork (Part 2)

    The artifacts amplified each other''s effect and timed their respective attacks to hammer at the enemy lines without giving them time to recover.

    Only a Silverwing''s Bastion could stop the barrage of Chaos Spells, but to conjure it required seven violet-cored elves. The groups of Wood Golems couldn''t move without dooming their shell-shocked brethren to oblivion.

    The Fire Dragons came after the Eldritches. Their advance was slower, each step opened deep cracks in the Fringe''s ground from which moreva gushed out.

    Valtak and his Firestarters unit spread their Primal Spark so that the rivers of Origin mes and magma burned at the arrays on their path and purified the world energy from the Yggdrasill''s influence.

    Each Fire Dragon was apanied by a Golden Dragon that shielded them from stray spells and ensured that the Wood Golems that slipped past the white cores couldn''t regroup and cast Silverwing''s Annihtion from behind their backs.

    Every piece on the board moved like clockwork, increasing the pressure on the World Tree from different fronts. The telepathic agony and hunger from Ra''ntar crippled the Yggdrasill''s focus

    What was left was barely enough for the World Tree to thwart Solus'' escape and match the white cores spell by spell.

    Cosmic Devourer disappeared before hitting the World Tree but that had never been the point. With the Yggdrasill focused on Tezka''s de Spell and the Chroniclers on the Eldritches, they had missed Cyare and Hushar approaching.

    The Fenrir and the Leviathan had already umted plenty of world energy while waiting in the safe zone and absorbed even more on the frontlines before unleashing a double Doom Tide.

    "Mogar almighty!'' The World Tree cursed as the two Eldritches took away the world energy the magical formations needed to work and then released it in a powerful st. With the arraywork already damaged by the Demons and without the world energy to fuel them, the magical formations surrounding the decoy team shattered under thebined attack of Hushar and Cyare.

    A second safe area free from the Tree''s influence formed, allowing the invaders to use the full scope of their bloodline abilities. New world energying from the depths of Mogar quickly reced what had been consumed by the Doom Tides.

    Nandi and the towers were ready to seize control and keep the World Tree''s will at bay. "Push forward!" Baba Yaga''s wooden sword cut a Wood Golem asunder while her shield released a Silverwing''s Annihtion that sted a second construct into wooden splinters.

    Silverwing dropped her defenses and cast three Annihtions at once. Silverspire took some damage from the return fire but it was worth it. Three Wood Golems disappeared in the st, creating a hole in the defensive line.

    Without the support of the blue-cored elves and with their minds distracted by the explosions, the formation of the Chroniclers quickly fell into disarray.

    "Damn, you Paax." Vastor felt the energy signature of his old mentor disappear and understood the meaning of his final lesson. "You knew you wouldn''t survive. Murder is your parting gift."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I can''t believe they did that." Lith said. Almost a third of the Demons had followed the Grandmaster''s lead and thrown themselves at the elven viges. "That wasn''t part of my n."

    ''Not yet.'' He inwardly added.

    Lith wanted to keep Balkor''s self-destruct spell as ast resort but he couldn''t argue with the results. Thanks to the decoy team and the attack on the elven viges, the strike team managed to cover the kilometers separating them from the Yggdrasill''s main body unimpeded.

    "You damn monster!" The voice of the World Tree roared throughout the Fringe. "You have no idea how much damage your selfish quest for revenge has caused. You have no respect for the knowledge of the ancients.

    "Because of you centuries if not millennia of Mogar''s history are lost forever!"

    Rage and hatred gave the Yggdrasill the strength to resist the waves of relentless agony that Jirni inflicted upon them from the Blood Desert.

    The massive body of the Heir of the First Awakened spanned across the entire Fringe and as their branches and roots quivered in outrage they weaved countless spells with body casting.

    "You''ve forced my hand. You''ve ruined centuries of work and all my efforts to increase the elven poption. I''m going to kill you, Verhen, no matter the cost. I won''t allow you to live one second longer!"

    Tier five spells of all elements blotted the sky and rained down on the decoy and strike teams from every side. They weren''t strong enough to kill a white core or one of those empowered by the When All Are One Array but their sheer number forced the invaders to a halt.

    ''Keep moving and leave this to me!'' Orion cast Ernas'' Full Guard, spreading a brilliant violet aura than epassed the area around his teammates for over thirty meters (100 feet).

    The spell created by Juria Ernas and perfected by her descendants through the centuries not only gave Orion perfect spatial awareness within its area of effect, making him akin to a dimensional mage, but it also allowed him to infuse every kind of spell with

    his willpower.

    Orion took control of the elemental crows and used them as shields against the hail of tier five spells. At the same time, he Blinked from one point to another and intercepted the spells missed by the crows with his Davross shield, Honor Guard.

    The ingot of Darwen at the heart of the artifact coated the Davross one split second before the impact, scattering the mana, and then retreated, leaving the sturdier metal to whether the ensuing shockwaves.

    Orion''s timing was impable but he was only one man. He focused on the spells that would hit vital areas and ignored the rest.

    "You are a smart cookie, kid." Fyrwal''s seven heads conjured a barrage of counter spells and followed Orion''s lead.

    War Mage and Battle Mage spells flowed one into another, intercepting the bulk of the Tree''s attack with pinpoint uracy thanks to Ernas'' Full Guard. Whatever she missed, she intercepted it with her mace, Dreamweaver.

    "Good. Very good." The Yggdrasill voice betrayed surprise and oozed spite. "I can see you''ve studied me very well for this n of yours, Verhen. Better than I''ve studied you and your allies. I must admit that I didn''t consider you worth the effort.

    "I was wrong and I''m willing to pay the price for my hubris. Tell me, Supreme Magus Verhen, did your intelligence, did any of your friends warn you about this?" Lith''s title was spoken as an insult, every one of the words following it a murderous threat. The Tiamat and his allies ignored the World Tree''s speech and focused on their actions as the strike team continued its advance. Ernas'' Full Guard covered the area above and below the ground while everyone''s Tiamat Eyes could see the hair color of the single

    elves in the viges.

    Suddenly, the chaotic lines of the hundreds of Chroniclers amassed in front of the white cores stopped scrambling around and assumed a tight-knit battle formation with no

    weak spot.

    The distraught elves stopped screaming and crying as a deep violet aura burst out of their bodies, forming a cloud of raw power floating right above the ground.

 Chapter 3264 Always With You (Part 1)

    Chapter 3264 Always With You (Part 1)

    The arraywork split into its basic runes, no longer restricted by the magic circles or hindered by the holes created by the exploding Demons.

    The entire sky above the Fringe lit up with blinding light as if the sun hade dangerously close to Mogar''s surface.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Ra''ntar cell, at the same time.

    The Chronicler screamed in agony and Jirni didn''t miss the sudden change in his voice. As the elf cried, the sounds he emitted became deeper and more guttural. They reverberated off the walls as though they wereing out of a hollow musical instrument rather than lungs.

    "Aalejah, is this normal?" Jirni exposed a patch of hardened brownish skin among the many that were forming all over Ra''ntar''s body.

    She would have missed them if not for her bond with Skywarp. As the elf''s voice changed, the quasi-sentient weapon had met an increasing resistance from his body. Ra''ntar''s skin was getting ticker and his flesh harder by the second.

    It had been nothing much for the Davross needles at first, but soon Skywarp couldn''t stop the regenerations of the altered tissues, no matter how sharp it made its edges or how much pressure it applied.

    The needles were being pushed out from the Chronicler''s nerve clusters and it was only a matter of time before the pain hindered Ra''ntar no more and he regained mobility.

    Skywarp alerted Jirni who in turn sought an answer from the former Chronicler candidate.

    "Great mother protect us!" Aalejah had heard of the phenomenon but even for the elves living with the Yggdrasill for generations, it was just a rumor.

    A spooky story the veterans used to scare the children and put the Chronicler candidates''mitment to the test.

    "The World Tree is taking over. The fragment inside the Chronicler is eating his body from the inside and turning him into a Yggdrasill Puppet!"

    Ra''ntar''s eyes shed sap-green tears of joy and despair.

    His torment was finally over and his body free from the cruel needles. The hunger and thirst that until a moment ago had consumed his every thought were gone. The panic and fear had been reced by an indomitable will and unshakable confidence.

    Yet it came at a price and wouldn''tst long.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The former Chronicler knew that once the World Tree''s Overgrowth bloodline ability finished infiltrating his body, the elf known as Ra''ntar Rainsong would die. His

    consciousness would fade away and his memories would be an echo in the Yggdrasill''s mind.

    His existence would be reduced to mere data, recorded in a few books because irrelevant to the World Tree, and entrusted to his family as a testament to his sacrifice.

    "Meaning?" Jirni knew nothing of elven traditions aside from what the bedtime stories she had read to her children said.

    Elves were supposed to be beautiful, stuck-up, and prideful, and they loved parties and jewels despite not having any visible means to finance theirvish lifestyle. Based on her limited interactions with real elves, none of it seemed to be true or remotely relevant to her situation.

    Jirni devoted her focus to keeping the elf still and her needles inside his body but as the brown patches spread, Ra''ntar''s physiology changed into something she didn''t recognize anymore.

    "The Yggdrasill has given up on their Chroniclers. Ra''ntar and all those who carry a living fragment of Yggdrasill wood being eaten up alive from the inside." Aalejah replied. "That''s not an elf anymore but a sprout of the World Tree!"

    The Ra''ntar thing snarled, flexing what was left of his muscles to expel the Davross needles from his body. He no longer had nerve clusters that could feel pain or joints that could be restricted.

    Every fiber of his being had been reced by Yggdrasill hardwood but the sting of Skywarp still felt unpleasant.

    The Puppet split his limbs into bundles of razor-sharp tendrils that whipped toward Quy, Jirni, Friya, and Aalejah at the same time.

    Quy tried to restrict the growing sprouts with Bloodbind but the wood got thinner and slicker, escaping the grasp of the bigger and rougher Adamant chains.

    Friya Blinked herself and her mother to safety just for the creature to give them chase. The cell was small and now it limited the space of maneuver of the four women just like it had done for the elf while fighting Lith.

    The tendrils kept extending in every direction, lifting Quy with ease and sending her to m against a wall.

    Luckily for her, the golden sparks of Dimensional Ruler formed dimensional fissures that intercepted the des aimed at her heart, head, and womb while also forming a Warp Steps behind her that saved her from the impact.

    Quy found herself near Jirni and Friya who scaled the dimensional openings and severed the vines from the main body.

    "Get up, Quy." Jirni lifted her daughter to her feet with one hand. "The mission isn''t over. We have to find a way to restrain the Puppet and keep inflicting pain on it or everything we''ve done will be for naught!"

    "How, exactly?" Quy flooded the fragments trapped inside Bloodbind''s links with darkness magic without any visible effect. "Yggdrasill wood is one of the hardest materials on Mogar and I don''t think it can feel pain like you and me!"

    As if to confirm her words, the lower body of the wooden elf shapeshifted into a dense spike and started to spin on itself to drill its way out of the cell. Unfortunately for the Puppet, any surface of Sark''s dungeon was as hard as Davross and nothing could break through.

    The four women used their best spells, burning, ckening, and freezing the recognizable parts of the Puppet that had held Ra''ntar''s vital organs until a few seconds

    ago.

    "This is all your fault." The Puppet said, its voice now resembling that of the World Tree, leaving only a faint trace of Ra''ntar''s timbre in the background. "You killed me and before the Yggdrasill consumes mepletely, I''ll bring you down with me!"

    ***

    Back at the Fringe, right before Lith and the strike team unleashed Ruin.

    "Mom?" Solus asked. "Is that you?"

    Her eyes recognized the features of Ripha Menadion and her ears still remembered her mother''s voice despite the changes it had undergone after bing a Demon. Yet Solus'' brain refused to ept Menadion''s sudden return from the dead and her heart to believe it, afraid of losing her mother again.

    "Yes, Epphy." Menadion nodded. "You have no idea how much I''ve missed you. How many times I just wanted to answer Verhen''s call and hold you in my arms. I''ve been waiting, dreading this moment for so long, yet our reunion can wait a bit longer.

    "Don''t take human form, Epphy. Save your strength for when we get out of here." Ripha caressed the stone ring, every crack singing her finger felt like a stab to the heart even though she didn''t have one. "And you!"

    The First Ruler of the mes grabbed the Librarian, the only elf she had kept alive, from the scruff of his neck. Menadion prickled her skin with her ws, using Abomination Touch to fill her with dread but without affecting her life force.

 Chapter 3265 Always With You (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3265 Always With You (Part 2)

    "Imprint the ring, now! Do everything Epphy tells you or at the first sign of resistance I''ll slice your brain like a steak." She squeezed the elf''s neck, making her squeal in terror.

    "Can''t you imprint me, Mom?" Solus wanted to cry.

    She had dreamed for so long to see her mother again. To hear her voice and feel her touch. Now that it was finally happening, she was forced to hold back everything she wanted to tell Menadion and focus on their escape.

    "You carry Lith''s energy signature. If you imprint me, my bond with him will be restored." "Fuck Lith!" Ripha spat the word out like it was a curse. "I mean, not literally, Epphy. I mean, I can''t. I''m just an extension of his will. I''m no different from a strand of his hair or a toenail. I can''t imprint anything on my own.

    "I can only carry things he has already imprinted."

    "What about the Fury and the Anvil, then?" Solus asked in confusion as Menadion shoved the stone ring into the Librarian''s quivering hands.

    "Not imprinted either." Menadion sighed. "I just Forgemastered them with no safety measures whatsoever. Anyone wielding my current equipment can use its powers. Even worse, without an owner, these artifacts recharge slowly so we must get out of here and quickly."

    Hearing those words, the Librarian found her courage again and decided that resisting wasn''t such a bad idea.

    "They need me alive and soon my master-''It was then that a vine slithered up her leg just like it was happening to the elven army assembled outside against the invaders.

    The Librarian yelped as the wooden fibers pierced her skin and started to spread through her bloodstream.

    Elves were born without impurities and couldn''t Awaken without exploding. Their bodies couldn''t withstand the vigorous mana flow released by even an orange core. Without impurities, the elves were ripped apart before body refinement could take ce.

    The expression "Awakened from the crib" derived from elven myths that hadter been adapted by the four races to justify the existence of individuals capable of incredible feats.

    That until Lith and Valeron the Second had made it true andter Elysia''s birth had reced the expression with "Awakened from the womb":

    It was also the reason the World Tree reced impurities with their vines during the Awakening process.

    The Yggdrasill''s fibers formed an endo and an exoskeleton that resisted the pressure

    exerted by the mana core until body refinement ended and the Awakened elf became capable of surviving on their own.

    Bing a Chronicler was considered the greatest honor an elf could receive, but it only came after a rigorous selection and several tests of loyalty and wits. Tests that the Librarian in Menadion''s hands had never undergone.

    The World Tree would never Awaken her. The only possible exnation was that the situation outside had gotten so bad that the Yggdrasill had enacted the Great Assimtion.

    All elves knew about the contingency n, but until that day it had just been considered as a scary story. Something to tell the kids around the bonfire during the summer nights to teach them that power came with risks and responsibilities.

    Not once since the First Awakened had gained sentience had a World Tree even considered using the Great Assimtion. Yet as the wood invaded the Librarian, she touched the Yggdrasill''s mind enough to understand that the story had just turned into reality.

    "Gods, no!" The elf imprinted the stone ring in a panic.

    As the bond between Menadion''s tower and the Librarian formed, her body expelled the wooden vines. There was no space for a third person inside one body, terminating the slower and weaker connection.

    "What''s happening?" Mother and daughter asked in unison, one out loud and the other telepathically.

    ''My name is Ghar''mar Riverflow. Kill me if you have to but please save my family!" The elf used the mind link to share everything he knew with Solus in the blink of an eye. ''Don''t let the World Tree take them. Don''t let Verhen kill them.

    ''Give me your word and I''ll do everything you say.''

    Solus wanted tough in the Librarian''s face and destroy her psyche with a series of mind fusions but as soon as she received the information, she changed her mind. Not only was what the Yggdrasill was doing monstrous, but there was also no time to waste. ''Deal! Lead us out of here, quick! Solus established a mind link with Menadion to exin the situation to her as well andmunicate more efficiently.

    "Fuck!" The First Ruler of the mes put Ghar''mar on her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and started running.

    While she moved, Menadion used Creation Magic to reshape everything that was left of the dead Chroniclers'' equipment into a full set of armor for Elphyn''s host. ''Quick, the corridors in here can change ording to the Tree''s wishes. This is their body after all. I don''t know how long my memory of this ce will be a reliable source of information. The Librarian said.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''About that, since when do you know Creation Magic, Mom?'' Solus asked. ''Where have you been all this time?"

    Menadion bolted through the corridors faster than a bullet and cut corners with a single p of her wings. Her short legs would have given her a short pace even as an Awakened so she cursed Mogar for making her bloodline petite and cursed a thank you at Lith for

    her newfound wings.

    ''Also, what do you have against Lith?''

    ''Let''s see. I was inventing Creation Magic on my own during my final years. I never got it right, not even with the Thievery''s help. Once Sally started giving you guys demonstrations, however, everything suddenly made sense. Menadion coughed telepathically in embarrassment.

    ''Sally?'' Solus'' eyes would have gone wide in surprise if she had any.

    ''Sark. Grandma. Menadion met a patrol of screaming Chroniclers while they were still turning into Puppets and slipped past them by sticking her back to the ceiling.

    ''One of the perks of the master-apprentice rtionship with a Guardian is that you can give them a pet name without getting punched in the face. Especially if you remain friends with them once the apprenticeship ends.''

    "That''s right! You were Grandma''s apprentice and fr- You were there for our Creation Magic lessons?'' Solus was bbergasted.

    I''ve been by your side since the day I died, Epphy.'' Menadion sighed. I never moved on. I regretted so much failing to kill Bytra and leaving you alone that I''ve haunted your ring for over seven hundred years now.

    ''I was there with you when you cried my name and begged me to return. I hugged you as

    the tower crumbled over the centuries and you lost parts of your body. I cried with you when you sacrificed your memories to fuel the tower core and started to forget about your father and me.

    ''I was always there for you, Epphy. I''ve never stopped talking to you. Cheering for you. Crying with you and holding you when everything seemed lost. It''s just that you couldn''t see or hear me.''

    If you know everything already, you should love Lith like a son!'' Solus rebuked her

    mother.

 Chapter 3266 Desperate Run (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3266 Desperate Run (Part 1)

    ''Lith rescued me from the brink of death. He believed me and treated me as a person even when I considered myself just a tool. He kept my secret and protected me even at great personal cost.'' Solus said.

    ''He made me a part of his family and now he has put everything he has on the line to save me.''

    ''Like a son-inw, you mean! Menadion scoffed heavily. I told you, I was always there with you. Every single day!''

    ''I don''t know what are you talking about. Solus blushed so hard that Menadion felt it through the mind link.

    ''Let me refresh your memory, then. I''m talking about the pining for him, the snuggling in bed with him once he fell asleep, the endless arguments with your friends about "I don''t know what I feel for him", and the times he brought you skinny dipping in the ocean. And I could go on for hours!"

    ''Mom! I''ve never done such a thing! Solus reddened in embarrassment and outrage. ''I''ve always worn a swimsuit!''

    ''Is that what you call that sexy lingerie you used to unt your body in front of him?" Menadion scoffed. ''In my day, you wouldn''t have caught me dead wearing something like that unless I was in my bedroom and only in front of your father''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Mom! Eww! The idea made Solus'' mind churn. Also, it''s not lingerie and I don''t unt my body in front of anyone!"

    ''Yeah, right.'' Menadion sneered and passed through a wooden gate by the skin of her teeth before it closed shut. I hate that bastard! Or rather, I loved him when he found your ring. I admired him for treating you like a person and never ordering you around. Lith gained my undying gratitude when you got your light body back and he never tried to exploit your way too obvious feelings for him. You have no idea how relieved I was when the most scandalous thing I had to witness was you sneaking out at night to eat like a Divine Beast.

    ''You should eat healthier and cut back on the sweets, Epphy. Now that you have a human body, you can gain weight again.''

    ''Mom!'' Solus blushed and whimpered with equal might. ''Not in front of... What''s your name again?''

    ''Ghar''mar Riverflow. The elf didn''t know what was worse.

    If to be forced to hear a mother-daughter quarrel while her people died or be so irrelevant that even a person with an eidetic memory hadn''t bothered remembering her

    name.

    ''Let''s call her Spare Parts.'' Menadion said, making Spare Parts sigh in resignation.

    ''Setting your eating habits aside, Epphy, Lith did many good things for you but he also gave me plenty of reasons to be upset.

    ''I resented Lith every time he pretended not to know how you felt about him whenever he was single and you finally had be human again. I despised him when he married that Kam woman after everything you''ve done for him.

    ''But the final straw was you taking care of his children. It should have been you, gods-damn it!''

    ''Oh, yeah? Tell me, Mom, what would have happened if I were the one pregnant with Elysia and I was forced back into my ring? What would have happened to my baby?" Solus paused to give Menadion the opportunity to answer but she remained silent.

    The Bleed and the Horseman technology that the First Ruler of the mes had used to fuse Solus with the tower was experimental and untested. Ripha herself couldn''t exin the changes in the tower as it rebuilt itself.

    She had no idea if Solus'' tower half could support a pregnancy, let alone if it might have adverse long-term effects on an unborn child.

    ''What would have happened if during an argument Lith yelled an order at me in anger, crushing my will?'' Solus said once it was clear she would receive no answer.

    ''Being a couple and being friends are twopletely different things. Where you see indifference, I see care. Lith always looked out for me and made sure that he never took advantage of our bond to get what he wanted from me.

    ''He could have toyed with my feelings. Lead me by the nose knowing that I had no choice but to be with him. Instead, he set me free. He pushed me to make friends, travel across Mogar, and make a life for myself without him.

    ''As long as I need him for survival, our rtionship would never be fair. There would never be the option for us to break up.''

    ''Now there is. Menadion countered. ''Get Sally to undo the bond and change host. Easy as that.''

    ''No, Mom. Solus shook her head. ''You might have been by my side from the beginning, but there are things even you don''t know.''

    The secrets of Lith''s reincarnations and his identity as Derek McCoy were something that Solus couldn''t allow anyone to discover. It might have ruined his life and destroyed his rtionship with his family and friends.

    ''On top of that, have you ever stopped thinking how hard it is to find someone you trust wholeheartedly? How embarrassing is it to share every moment of your life and have little to no privacy? What Lith and I have is a small miracle.''

    ''We''ll talk about thister.'' Menadion grunted, shuddering at the thought. In life, she had many embarrassing habits she hoped Threin had never discovered. ''How far is- Oh, shit!" The metamorphosis of the Chroniclers patrolling the corridors wasplete, their flesh

    and blood consumed to nourish the growth of the Yggdrasill''s sprouts.

    Their heads, arms, and legs were split into bundles of whip-like tendrils, giving them a grotesque appearance. They still wore clothes, making them look like scarecrows animated by Forbidden Magic.

    "Stop them!" The voice of the Yggdrasill came out of the hollow of the Puppets, the Tree''s will overpowering the former Chroniclers''.

    With the elves'' pain and fear for their families gone, only duty and obsession remained. The corridor in front of Menadion started to close. Vines sprouted from the ceiling and connected with those blooming from the floor, forming a thick wall of Yggdrasill wood. Menadion tried and failed to Blink, the spacepressing array was now stronger than ever, leaving her only one option.

    As the Puppetsshed at her with their vines and threw spells at her from every direction, the First Ruler of the mes shapeshifted her form to avoid as many hits as she could.

    Menadion shielded Spare Parts with her body when she failed to avoid a whip and Dominated half of the tier five spells, sending them to crash into the other half.

    "Are you sure this is the right way? What if the corridors have already shifted?'' She

    asked.

    ''I''m sure.'' The Librarian replied. "The Yggdrasil has made lots of space inside their trunk for the treasures and knowledge they are not willing to entrust the elven viges. A sudden shift would destroy everything.

    ''At the speed you are moving, the World Tree can seal up corridors and change the disposition of the rooms but that''s it. I can still orient myself.'' Spare Parts sighed in shame before adding: Also, the Yggdrasill has no idea I''m helping you.''

 Chapter 3267 Desperate Run (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3267 Desperate Run (Part 2)

    "The World Tree is focusing on closing the most direct routes leading outside while we are following a path with the most intersections. I''m keeping our options open while also making it hard for the Yggdrasill to guess where we are going."

    ''Epphy?'' Menadion liked what she heard but didn''t trust the elf.

    ''She''s telling the truth, Mom.'' Solus confirmed after probing Spare Parts'' mind. ''Also, I go with Solus, now.''

    ''And I''m Ghar''mar Riverflow, not Spare Parts!

    "Tell that to someone who- dammit!'' Menadion was forced to a halt.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In their current condition, the World Tree couldn''t Warp their Puppets at a moving target and control the spacepressing array at the same time. Dimensional magic required a lot of focus and the slightest mistake would have terrible consequences. Shutting the array off to perform the mental calctions required by a mass Blink slowly was also out of the question. Without the spacepression, Menadion would have been free to Warp to Lith''s coordinates.

    She had no clue what her position inside the Yggdrasill was but all Demons shared a telepathic connection between them and with the Tiamat. The only reason Ripha had not alerted Lith of her presence was not to distract him.

    What the Tree could do was to make the Puppets scattered throughout its trunk converge to the prison floor. Doors opened in the walls, ceiling, and between rooms, creating a straight line between the Puppets and their prey.

    When Menadion reached the next intersection, she found a small toon of Puppets blocking all paths.

    The corridors'' entrances were shrinking by the second and even a brief skirmish would slow Menadion enough for the Yggdrasill to trap her for good.

    She pped her wings with all her might, hoping that speed and shockwaves would clear her way. The Puppets used their roots to anchor themselves to the floor and merged their head- and arms-whips to form an inescapable.

    The First Ruler of the mes found herself trapped in slithering vines that tightened their grip by the second and pulled her to the ground. Menadion could have escaped by shapeshifting but that would have meant leaving Spare Parts behind.

    ''Without her, I don''t know where to go. I need her to save Epphy. Even worse, if the Tree has no Chroniclers left, nothing stops the Yggdrasill from imprinting her the moment her current host dies!'' Menadion rearranged her shadow form and armor into a soft sphere to cushion the blow for the elf.

    The impact still took the wind out of the Librarian''s lungs and put Menadion on her back foot. She used her strength to untangle herself and Spare Parts from thes just in

    time for the corridors to close, leaving her no ce to run.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, outside the Royal Pce.

    The thousand year old Roe hired to kill Kam the moment she stepped out of the pce hadn''t been informed of the Eldritches. He hadn''t expected Kigan''s intervention or the human woman to survive.

    ''Brilliant! That''s why they asked me to charge at the mark with a specific angle. They anticipated I would fail to kill the woman and prepared a Spirit Steps right outside the spacepressing arrays of the pce.'' He thought.

    ''I would feel cheated if they hadn''t paid me in advance. My job is done here. Time to leave. Ughaz the Roc had received a full suit of Adamant armor for his trouble.

    For a creature of his size, finding the raw materials was already hard, let alone pay a Forgemaster to turn them into a masterpiece. It was the reason Ughaz had epted the job no questions asked.

    Having a masterpiece delivered to his door was too good to be true.

    And it was.

    "Tell us where you sent Lady Verhen now or prepare to die!" Seven Royal Guards surrounded the Roc from every direction, their armors coursing with silver lightning. Ughaz also hadn''t expected the security of the pce to be so tight. He had slowed down only because of the impact with Kigan yet that split second had been enough for the humans to catch up.

    The Roc charged at the closest Royal Guard at his top speed just to be brought down by a single swing of the Guard''s Davross halberd.

    The other six struck in unison, pinning the giant bird to the ground.

    "Last chance. Where is she?" The captain of the Royal Guards asked.

    "I don''t know!" Ughaz screamed as the captain''s halberd cut a bloody wound on his neck. "Then I don''t need you alive. The captain raised the de above his head, giving the Emperor Beast one more second to speak before beheading him.

    "Shouldn''t we have taken him alive for interrogation?" A Royal Guard asked.

    "It would have been pointless. The Emperor Beast knew nothing" The captain shrugged. "You don''t need time to tell the truth, only to make up a lie. Believe me, the Roc died

    trying.

    "Now sound the rm or when Supreme Magus Verhen discovers we have let his wife get killed, he will wage war against the Kingdom."

    ***

    Ughaz''s death rmed the many Awakened tasked with watching over the borders of the pce''s defensive magical formations and Warp Kam with a long-distance transportation array the moment she left their protection.

    The most worried among them was Kor, the Awakened human near the Gardens of Saefel who had transported her away.

    "There''s no way the Royal Guards found the bird that fast without help.'' Kor thought. T bet everything I have that whoever paid me for the job also alerted the security to get us killed. If I''m right, I''m next.

    And the worst part is I have nothing to offer in exchange for mercy. I have no idea who hired me but no one is going to believe me!''

    He Warped away, eager to reach the safety of his secretb, and so did the other Awakened surrounding the Royal Pce. They felt safer since they had done nothing wrong and could feign ignorance of what had just happened.

    They were wrong.

    Kor was the first to die in an ambush right outside his allegedly secretb and the others quickly followed. None of the Awakened had met the instigator, they had been hired by middlemen or throughmon acquaintances.

    Yet by interrogating them all, a pattern might have emerged.

    After all, it was almost impossible to hide anything from a Guardian, especially at the heart of their dominion. Even though it was Tyris'' turn to look after Elysia and she would stay in the Blood Desert all day, she could still discover too many things upon her return The instigator took care of tying up the loose ends while the others finished the job, making sure that nothing that could lead to him remained before leaving the Griffon

    Kingdom.

    It was the only way to escape Tyris'' notice and eventually her wrath.

    ***

    Luckily for the captain and the Griffon Kingdom, Kam was still alive.

    Unluckily for them, the weemittee on the other side of the Spirit Steps was

    eager to correct the situation.

    Kam and Zinya had yet to stop spinning in mid-air when a hail of heavy blows rained on them from every direction.

 Chapter 3268: Endangered Bloodline (Part 1)

    Kigan left Zinya''s shadow and stood 33 meters (108'') tall, using his armored wings and tail feathers to deflect the iing spells and physical attacks.

    "Griffons?" He said in amazement while looking at the eight violet-cored Divine Beasts surrounding him. "What kind of grudge can Griffons have with a puny human to put so much effort into killing her?"

    "Kigan the Bloodstained?" Zastaf the Blue Griffon said in amazement while spreading a cold aura that lowered the temperature by two hundred degrees. "What kind of debt of gratitude can lead someone like you to protect humans instead of bathing in their blood?"

    The air surrounding the area of the ambush became so cold that it was impossible for a human to breathe, no matter if Awakened or not. If not for their enchanted armors Kam and Zinya would have already lost consciousness.

    "As for your question, you wouldn''t understand even if I answered you!" Zastaf infused himself and his mace, Frostbringer, with another bolt of silver lightning and so did the other Griffons.

    Their attack was as well-coordinated as it was sudden, taking the Dark Phoenix by surprise. If not for Bytra''s Adamant Bloodkin armor and the Maw, Kigan would have already been beaten to a pulp.

    Phoenixes were among the best Divine Beasts fighters, but their most effective tactics required them to take advantage of their superior agility and aerial maneuverability. As a bodyguard, Kigan couldn''t dodge or take one step back without Zinya getting killed.

    The Griffons didn''t even attack him, all their blows were aimed at the women behind the Dark Phoenix and he had to put himself in harm''s way to protect them.

    ''Gods, Jirni was right.'' Kam thought while conjuring the Spirit Barrier of her Voidfeather armor and all the air magic she could muster just to weaken the shockwaves produced by the shes and not be blown away. ''It really was Griffons. But why?''

    To be precise, Jirni''s list contained several bloodlines as potential instigators. From the ruthless and reproductively aggressive Fae to a few of Baba Yaga''s Firstborns like Ilthin.

    She had taken into ount anyone who''d benefit from mixing their bloodline with Lith''s and also had the connections and resources to kill Kam covertly. Griffons were near the top of the list but not at the top due to Lith''s amicable rtionship with Tyris.

    ''Seven hundred years!'' Just the number drove Zastaf mad with rage. ''For over seven hundred years the Griffon bloodline has declined while all the other Divine Beasts prospered! Ever since the ursed Valeron the First died, Mother refused to take anotherpanion.

    ''Almost no new species of Griffons have been born since her marriage with that idiot. Our numbers dwindle, our influence falters, yet Mother still clings to the memory of a dead man! This our first chance to change her mind and we are not going to miss it.''

    Tyris had expressed interest in Lith since he was just a student at the White Griffon academy but back then those were just words and no one had taken them seriously. Over time, however, the First Guardian had met the young Awakened more often than the Royals.

    More often than her own children.

    Griffons had started to pay attention to Lith out of curiosity without expecting much from him.

    After the three Guardians vowed to protect his offspring, however, after the powers of the Tiamat had been confirmed as the first perfect fusion between Guardian bloodlines, some of the youngest and angriest among Tyris'' direct offspring had decided to take action.

    Verhen adopting Valeron the Second, a member of their own bloodline and another sessful fusion, and Tyris babysitting Lith''s children regrly had just steeled the Griffons'' resolve.

    The events in Jiera had only confirmed Zastaf''s assumption and led him and his aplices to keep pursuing their n. Tyris had broken her vow of non-interference and faced the lost city to protect Valeron the Second and Verhen.

    She lived in his house, prepared his meals, and spent days on end with him. It would take just a little push to move her from the nursery to the bedchamber.

    ''It''s amazing how things lined up so perfectly.'' Zastaf dodged a burst of Origin mes and struck Kigan in the head. ''Verhen is going to fail his attack on the World Tree, losing his wife and his best friend in a single day.

    ''Mother will empathize with his grief and grow closer to him until nature takes its course. At that point, either Verhen bes a Guardian or Mother teaches him the secret of the white core as she did with Valeron the First, the result will be the same.

    ''The Griffon bloodline will thrive again and by mixing with the Tiamat''s blood, we''ll gain the power and birthright to upy the other two great countries. The blood of all three, if not four, Guardians of Garlen will flow inside our veins and our potential will be endless!''

    There was no certainty that the rtionship between Tyris and Lith would be romantic, but it was a risk that Zastaf was willing to take. Even a small chance was better than the certainty that the Griffon bloodline would stagnate for another seven hundred years if not millennia.

    ''About time!'' Without body casting, Kigan relied on the Maw of Bytra to cast spells.

    The artifact was faster than any kind of spellcasting but when facing eight opponents alone, faster didn''t make the cut.

    The Dark Phoenix unleashed the tier five Chaos spell, Howling Hunger, that conjured a pir of Chaos the size of a train wagon. It pierced through a Griffon''s chest and absorbed her vitality, feeding it to Kigan.

    He desperately needed to replenish his dwindling stamina.

    Killing an Eldritch hard and killing an Eldritch hybrid was even harder. They could regenerate vital organs with ease, feed on all forms of energy, and resisted all elements but darkness but they were not immortal.

    The Griffons healed their fallenrade before death could im her prize and when the Maw unleashed more Chaos spells, the Griffons were ready for them. The seven remaining Griffons stacked their hard-light constructs to erect a barrier that stopped the Howling Hungers by reverting them to simple darkness magic.

    Kigan cursed his bad luck.

    ''Griffons are the worst enemy I could face. Their Light Mastery is a natural counter to Chaos Magic and they are physically much stronger than me even without Life Maelstrom! My only advantage against them is my twin cores and magical resistance.

    ''I could deal with one or two, maybe three Griffons at the same time, but eight? Heck, I can''t deal with seven of them, not when they can cast Silverwing''s Annihtion! In their shoes, it''s what I would do.'' The Dark Phoenix had no Life Vision but no doubt about his enemy''s intentions either.

    And he was right.

    The Griffons hadn''t expected to face an Eldritch-hybrid but knowing Lith''s endless reserve of tricks, they hade prepared for the worst. Otherwise they would have never sent eight of them to deal with one insignificant human woman.

    With every blow the Griffonsnded, they weaved more runes with their bodies and the Annihtion nearedpletion.

 Chapter 3269: Endangered Bloodline (Part 2)

    Kigan had ordered the Maw to prepare a Decay Bastion, but he didn''t know if it would make it in time or if it would be enough to survive the Annihtion. To defend the two women from eight Divine Beasts, he had taken quite a beating.

    His bones had broken and mended several times already. He had ignited his life force over and over again to burn the iing spells and heat the air enough to make it breathable for Kam and Zinya.

    His Adamant-coated tail feathers whipped at the maces, taking the brunt of the damage and deflecting the iing strikes. His wings pped, releasing wave after wave of Origin mes. Yet it wasn''t enough.

    Kigan''s best means of attack, turning himself into a living mass of Cursed Elements, and of defense, bing a living shadow, were useless. One would have killed Zinya and Kam, the other would have left them open to the relentless onught.

    ''What can I do? What can I gods-damn do?'' Kigan''s loyalty to the Master forbade him to abandon Zinya just like his bond with Xenagrosh made it unthinkable for him to let Kam die.

    The Annihtion faced the Bastion to a standstill, the shing anti-Guardian spells illuminating the area for miles.

    s, the Griffons had chosen that ce for the ambush exactly because it was in the middle of nowhere and magically cloaked from prying eyes.

    To make matters worse, Kigan''s double cores provided him much more mana than a bright violet core, but they were fallen cores nheless. They weren''t Awakened nor could they Awaken.

    Resisting the Annihtion drained Kigan as much as cracking the Bastion exhausted the Griffons, but they could use Invigoration. Behind the safety of their anti-Guardian spell, with every breath they took, the Griffons recovered their strength and poured more mana into the Annihtion.

    Kigan resisted as long as he could, longer than anyone would have believed possible but in the end he fell. The anti-Guardian spell pierced through the depleted Decay Bastion and hit the Balor Phoenix in full.

    His body was turned into shreds, his flesh vaporized on contact with the seven elemental pirs. Only a few feathers survived, riding the shockwave of the impact to safety.

    "Please, stop!" Zinya cried. "We have done nothing to you. We don''t even know you. Why do you hate us so much?"

    The ck feathers gathered, absorbing the surrounding world energy and feeding off any life form they found to fuel their regeneration, even bacteria.

    "Damn Phoenixes and their absurd vitality." Zastaf spat. "Fusing with an Abomination made Kigan even more annoying, but nothing we can''t deal with. As for your question, woman, we don''t hate you.

    "I don''t know who you are nor do I care. Yet know this. Even if my n didn''t require to leave no witnesses, I would kill you anyway for associating with a monster like the Bloodstained.

    "First things first though." He grabbed Kam, discovering how powerful the Spirit Barrier imbued in the Voidfeather armor was. "I''m sorry, Lady Verhen. I really am."

    The Frost Griffon needed his full strength and a bit of Life Maelstrom to crack the barrier protecting the two women. The other Griffons took care of stomping the life out of Kigan''s feathers and making sure with Life Vision they wouldn''t miss any.

    "You have no fault in this but you have to die. Since there''s no hatred between us, I won''t make you suffer." The emerald sphere fell apart, leaking mana. "Feel free to say yourst words if you have any. I will remember them forever and if I can, someday I''ll pass them on to your family."

    ***

    "It''s a boy."

    Before the Spirit Barrier could break into emerald shards of light, a maw too big to be fully visible from so up close crashed into the Zastafthe Griffon, sending him flying with but a nod of the muzzle.

    "My baby boy!" The ck Dragon''s head reached for the sky while his feet dug through solid rock like it was mud.

    "My¡­" A colossal wed hand grabbed Kam and Zinya, enveloping them in an indestructible barrier.

    "Baby¡­" The maw turned up and snatched the falling Griffon between its razor-sharp teeth.

    "Boy!" Zalstaf stood to his full height and firmly nted his feet on the jaw while he grabbed the upper teeth with his hands.

    The Griffon tensed his steel-like muscles and infused himself with all the Life Maelstrom he had left, but the maw closed anyway, cutting him asunder.

    Hard-light constructs, Adamant, and Spirit Barriers were all useless against Leegaain''s teeth as they ground Zalstaf into meat paste.

    Guardians usually reached 50 meters (164'') of height but that was just a choice to optimize their power to their mass. In his fury, Leegaain had grown to the point Griffons were bite-sized.

    "How dare you?" The seven surviving Griffons were stiff as if time had frozen, but their twitching eyes and the wind ruffling the grass told a different story. "How dare you threaten my baby boy?"

    Dragon Fear coursed through the Divine Beasts and anyone else who wasn''t on Leegaain''s hand, turning them into helpless statues.

    "What boy?" Vhar, a female Silver Griffon, said. "There is no boy. Verhen was rescued less than two days ago!"

    "You are wrong." Kam caressed her womb. "Our little one was conceived yesterday night, but Grandma confirmed us he is going to be a healthy boy."

    "Yesterday?" Vhar scoffed in amusement. "That''s no baby but a lump of-"

    Leegaain''s roar of outrage made the ground quake and the sky rumble.

    "No baby?" He echoed as a longsword appeared in a burst of emerald mes. "What gives you the right to decide the destiny of my blood? What gives you the right to taint his air with your breath?"

    Once a Divine Beast was conceived, there was no possibility of miscarriage and no illness that could harm the unborn baby. Unless an external factor messed with the pregnancy, it woulde to term.

    On top of that, Guardians could see through Mogar''s veil no differently than Valtak while he had been on death''s door. Just by being close to Kam, Leegaain could feel the small life form growing.

    He could see what the baby would look like, picture the boy he would grow into, and the man he would be.

    In the eyes of Leegaain, the Griffons were threatening the baby he was holding in his arms, the boy to whom he was reading stories, and the young man to whom he would teach the mysteries of magic.

    They were threatening a person he loved and cared even though the Guardian had yet to meet him.

    It was the reason Leegaain had conjured his personal weapon, Gift of Wrath, instead of the anti-Guardian weapon Worldbreaker. The Father of All Dragons used Gift of Wrath only against those he hated and was determined to kill.

    "It''s actually our blood, old lizard." Sark raised a containment field before the fury of the Lord of Wisdom upended the Griffon Kingdom. "So leave something for me if you can. I know that holding back is hard but put it like this.

    "The longer they live, the longer they suffer."

 Chapter 3270 Blood Stained (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3270 Blood Stained (Part 1)

    Sark hated the idea of sitting back and letting Leegaain have all the fun but he had done it for her in the past.

    ''It''s only right that I return the favor.'' She thought as she sealed an area spanning ten kilometers into an emerald dome.

    "Fair enough, but I don''t want either the child or the mother to hear or feel anything that might upset them. Are we clear, young sparrow?" Leegaain recalled his Dragon Fear, giving the Griffons the opportunity to struggle for their lives.

    "Crystal." Sark nodded.

    Vhar and the other Griffons tried to Warp away after deactivating their spacepressing array but they couldn''t get past the emerald barrier. To make matters worse, the quake below their feet grew more violent by the second, and white-hot magma gushed from the crevices.

    The sky offered them no haven either due to the brewing thunderstorms and the increasing number of tornadoes pulling at them from every side, threatening to swallow the Divine Beasts and tear them apart.

    "Give everything you got!" Vhar took point and conjured the spirit element for the Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    The seven Griffons poured every drop of silver lightning they had into the anti-Guardian spell, multiplying its might by ten times, then twenty, and reaching a might nearing thirty times the power of a regr Annihtion.

    They could have pushed it further, but their flesh was already tearing up and their violet cores were close to cracking under the strain of handling such an unnatural mana flow. Were the Griffons to infuse themselves with one more spark of Life Maelstrom, they would explode and the anti-Guardian spell would scatter aimlessly, saving Leegaain the trouble of killing them.

    The Father of All Dragons took the seven elemental pirs head-on, intercepting them with Gift of Wrath. The de burst into bright violet Origin mes that quickly turned white.

    The Annihtion smothered the Primordial mes and cracked the Davross of the de, a testament to Lochra Silverwing''s genius and the sheer power of Tyris'' bloodline. "Impressive." The Lord of Wisdom scoffed, recing the white fire with his Immortal mes.

    The emerald fire generated by his life force ate at the seven pirs and spread back to their casters, eating at their mana like dry grass. The Griffons poured their cores into the Annihtion to repel the Immortal mes until they had no mana left.

    The emerald fire broke through their defenses, melting their equipment into pools of

    bubbling Adamant. Then, it seeped under their feathers, burning their flesh and cauterizing their blood vessels.

    Bolts of lightning from the storm sent them into seizures while thunderps burst their eardrums and swallowed their screams of agony. The tornadoes sucked in the magma and the helpless Griffons, the air currents tore the Divine Beasts apart while the heat burned them inside out.

    "Can you please stop?" Kam couldn''t see or hear anything from inside the barrier on Leegaain''s palm but she could still imagine what was happening and it scared her anyway,

    "Why? Do you really think they deserve mercy after what they did? Knowing what they wanted to do to you and your child?" Leegaain was furious yet his voice was calm and soothing.

    Even if he wanted, every fiber of his being would rather turn itself upside down than threaten the woman carrying his blood. With each beat of her heart, the small life inside her grew, burning brighter in the Guardian''s eyes.

    "No farming way!" Kam''s voice oozed so much spite that there was none left for the rest of Mogar. "They can farm themselves to farming death in Sark''s Pits of Agony until the end of times for what I care.

    "I''m worried about Kigan, Please, spare his life, Grandpa. He almost died for me. For us," She grabbed Leegaain''s gigantic thumb and turned her skin into Dragon Scales to let him know how much the Dark Phoenix''s sacrifice meant for her.

    "Fine!" The Father of All Dragons couldn''t say no to her and he wouldn''t fare any better for nine more months, give or take.

    "I like your ideas, Featherling. Both of them." A snap of Sark''s fingers healed the Griffons enough to ensure they would reach the Pits of Agony alive before Warping them to the Blood Desert.

    "I have no time to waste with those scumbags. Not when I have so much I can finally celebrate!" She caressed Kam''s womb with motherly affection. "I''m a bit offended you thought me ungrateful, though."

    "What do you mean?" Kam and Leegaain asked in unison.

    Once the fury of the Lord of Wisdom abated and so did the elements, a second smaller emerald dome became visible inside the sealed space.

    What was left of Kigan was barely the size of an adult man and it would have been wiped out by the mere aftershock of the Griffons'' Annihtion if not for Sark''s protection. The mound of darkness struggled to escape but to no avail. Even the shadows of the bugs were under the control of the Lord of War and rejected Kigan''s touch. "Calm down. I''m not going to kill you, Bloodstained." A wave of her hand dispelled both barriers.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What about your promise to kill me the next time we met, Mo- Overlord?" Kigan half panted and half said.

    He was so weak tha even keeping a human form was more than his depleted life force could sustain. His wounds twitched in the attempt to close but without mana and nutrients the best the Dark Phoenix could do was stem the bleeding.

    He had no mana left to convert into vitality with Rebirth mes and the world energy around him wasn''t enough to rejuvenate him. Even though his body absorbed world energy as fast as it could, it was no different than putting a band-aid on a bullet hole. "It still stands, Bloodstained." A cold expression appeared on Sark''s face as her lips curled up in disgust. "You have killed your own siblings. My children. You have betrayed my Nest andmitted innumerable atrocities just to sustain the perversion you call life."

    The Mother of All Phoenixes stepped forward with her hands aze with white mes. "Rest assured, Bloodstained, I will kill you. It won''t be quick and it won''t be painless. You''ll suffer everything you inflicted upon your brethren for as many years as your crimes prolonged your corrupted existence.

    "Long before the time of your executiones, you''ll wish for the liberation of death and I''ll answer your pleadings with the same mercy you reserved for your victims."

    Kam and Zinya had never seen the Pits of Agony, they only knew of their existence. Sark didn''t permit visiting them even to the members of her Nest, considering it a cruel and scarring experience.

    Only criminals who were granted an opportunity for redemption would have a tour of the Pits of Agony, to show them what expected them were their pleas for mercy not followed by a drastic change in their ways.

    Yet the two women easily understood what Sark was referring to. They moved in front of Kigan to defend him, feeling responsible for his capture.

    They couldn''t stop Sark''s advance more than they could stop the sun from rising or the wind from ruffling their clothes.

 Chapter ?3271 Blood Stained (Part 2)

    Chapter ?3271 Blood Stained (Part 2)

    One second the Guardian was in front of Zinya and Kam and the next she was past them like they were made of smoke. There was no need for magic or violence, her existence and means were beyond what mortal minds could understand.

    "And when that dayes, I''ll kill you with my own hands." Sark grabbed Kigan by the neck without him offering any resistance.

    Even if he were still at his peak condition, the Dark Phoenix knew he was no match for the Overlord. She could Blink farther than he could Warp, walk faster than he could fly, and was stronger than his twin cores made him. Yet.

    ''It''s over. I deserve everything Mother is going to do to me. The Dark Phoenix thought. I won''t be there to see the Master''s nse to fruition but I know he''ll forgive me. I''ve fulfilled my duty and that''s enough. It must be enough.''

    The white mes engulfed Kigan from head to toe and he gritted his teeth to withstand the agony.

    Yet there was none.

    The Rebirth mes closed his wounds and restored his body. Kigan''s mass returned to being that of a Divine Beast and his life force was whole again.

    "Yet that day is not today." After healing him, Sark took a few steps back to give him space. "Today you are not the Bloodstained. The lost son I know and hate would have run away at the first sign of danger.

    "He would have brought shame to my name and Nest like he has done since the day he betrayed us. When confronted with his crimes, Kigan Bloodstained would have screamed and struggled like the cornered rat he is.

    "You, instead, have fought to protect these two women and put your life on the line even when you understood you had no chance of victory.

    "I don''t know if you did it because I made Kam an honorary member of the Nest or because she''s Lith''s wife and Elysia''s mother. I don''t know if you simply did it because there''s something between you and her sister. Honestly, I don''t care."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Usually, being this close to a member of her Nest was enough for Sark to read his mind. To share their thoughts and feelings. Kigan, however, was beyond her Blood Imprint bloodline ability.

    Not only was he still part Eldritch, and the Overlord''s powers had no influence over the undead. Kigan was also part Balor which messed up with her readings further. The two fallen bloodlines shrouded Kigan''s Phoenix blood like a thick mist.

    Sark could spot vague figures and hear muffled sounds but that was it. It was the reason Leegaain still ignored Vastor''s identity as the Master even after meeting Zoreth in person so often.

    Her Eldritch nature devoured every smell and energy trace lingering on her body. That and the influence of her troll core limited what he could read through the Dragon scales to her most surface-level feelings and immediate thoughts.

    "Today, you have acted like a proud member of my Nest." Sark''s gaze softened as she looked Kigan straight in the eyes. "You have fought against impossible odds, defended one of my helpless Hatchlings, and submitted to my judgment.

    "Today, you are Kigan the Dark Phoenix and I am your mother. Today, you made me proud, son."

    Kigan fell onto his knees, more wounded than from any blow even a Guardian could inflict on him. Kigan clenched his chest to suppress his burning heart. He wanted to tell her how ashamed he was of his past actions.

    He wanted to let his mother know that he had ovee the madness of the Abominations and how much he missed her and his sibling. He would have epted any punishment, given almost anything to redeem himself just a bit in her eyes before epting the de of the executioner.

    Almost.

    Opening himself to the Blood Imprint would have also meant revealing the Master''s identity and all the ns the old Professor had shared with Kigan. The Dark Phoenix refused to atone for a betrayal by perpetrating another so he shut up and swallowed his feelings.

    "Thank you, Mother" He kept kneeling and mmed his fist on his chest.

    "I''m a bit confused." Kam said once it was clear that no one would get hurt. "Are you forgiving him, is this a temporary truce, or what?"

    "A truce, Featherling." Sark turned to Kam, cooing to her womb with guttural sounds that reminded her of the clucking of Elina''s chickens. "He can stay until sundown. After that, I''ll hunt Kigan down like the rabid animal he is.

    "I can''t taint the day of my beloved Hatchling''s conception with filicide. Isn''t that right, Kha''hak?"

    "Hey, no cheating!" Leegaain put himself between the Overlord and the baby. "If I can''t teach him how to say dad in Dragontongue, you can''t teach him how to say mom in

    Phoenixtongue!"

    "What cheating?" Sark scoffed. "It''s called poetic justice! You ruined Kam''s first childbirth by making sure that Elysia''s first word would be dad. It''s only fair that the baby boy''s first word is mom!"

    "It''s a ridiculous argument that makes no logical sense but I wholeheartedly agree." Kam nodded. "It sure would help me deal with the baby blues if I catch it again." "Nonsense!" Leegaain said in outrage. "Think of Lith. How do you think he would feel about it? You can be angry at me all you want but he''s innocent in all this."

    "That''s true." Kam sighed. "I guess I''ll have to talk about it with him first. Please, Grandma, refrain yourself from pulling a Leegaain. I appreciate the intention but as Grandpa so opportunistically pointed out, it would hurt Lith like it hurt me.

    "That wouldn''t be justice. Just me being a Leegaain."

    "Stop using my name as if it''s some kind of insult!" The Father of All Dragons spoke in a

    soft and soothing voice, no matter how angry he was.

    He was already in grandpa mode and the only thing he cared about was the baby.

    "It kind of is." Sark chuckled. "Don''t worry, Kam. Our little one can''t hear anything

    yet."

    Kam didn''t like all those "our baby" more than she liked the Guardians caressing her stomach so much but she could only grit her teeth and smile.

    "Another baby so soon?" Now that the situation had calmed down, the full scope of the revtion hit Zinya like a ton of bricks. "Elysia is barely over six months old and you

    struggled so much with depression after your first pregnancy"

    ''Kami is already having her second baby while I can give none to Zogar, I don''t care what he says about his experiments. I know he''s just trying to make me feel better. His previous wife gave him children so he is not the problem.

    ''Maybe I''m too old or maybe all the beatings Fallmug gave me broke something inside of me that not even magic can fix.'' She inwardly added, fighting hard to hold back her tears.

    "I know." Kam sighed. "We wanted to wait a bit longer but we had no choice" "You mean the Guardians wanted a baby boy so bad that they forced you and Lith to make one?" Zinya was bbergasted and horrified.

 Chapter 3272 Untold Secrets (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3272 Untold Secrets (Part 1)

    "No!" Kam, Sark, and Leegaain said. The first one in embarrassment and the other two in outrage.

    "Just yesterday, Lith and I received a report warning me that the bounty on my head is still in ce. Hence we assumed that as soon as the news of Lith going away with most of his allies spread, someone would try to kill me. It''s the reason we... mixed business and pleasure."

    "That''s a self-serving way to put it, to use an understatement." Leegaain scoffed. "You two manipted us Guardians. in and simple."

    "As much as it pains me to say this, I agree with the old lizard." Sark grunted. "You exploited our vow to protect Lith''s children and the woman who bears them to solve your problems at our expense. Shame on you, Featherling."

    "Couldn''t you stop them?" Zinya tilted her head in confusion.

    "Stop a couple from expressing their love? Preposterous!" Leegaain scoffed.

    "Then if this situation angers you, why did you intervene?"

    "And let our grandchild get hurt?" The Guardians stared at Zinya as if she was the worst nutcase on Mogar. "I''d rather raze Garlen to the ground than let that happen."

    "Okay, you have lost me." She sighed. "You are making no sense."

    "Love rarely does, child." Sark chuckled.

    "Wait, this is why you wanted to go to the Gardens of Saefel and pray!" Zinya said. "You didn''t want the First Queen''s blessing, you wanted to bait your enemy into attacking." "Actually, I wanted both." Kam replied. "I wish that Tyris protects Lith but I''d be lying if I said I didn''t hope for an ambush."

    "This doesn''t make sense." Zinya said. "If you knew there was no actual danger to you and the baby, why did you ask Kigan and me to attend your audience with the Royals?"

    "Because once my pregnancy is revealed, no one will dare make a move against me. Not after what happened the first time." Kam sighed. "I had no idea the assassins would take us to an isted ce or that they would be so strong.

    "I assumed that Kigan would have dealt with them effortlessly and no one would have suspected I''m pregnant again. This is why no one in the Blood Desert has celebrated the event yet.

    "No one can know what happened here today, Zin. If anybody asks, say that Grandma assigned me a Phoenix as bodyguard and he Warped us to safety. We never met the Griffons."

    The two women discussed for a while, agreeing on the details of the events that had allegedly unfolded and preparing answers for the most likely questions that would follow

    their exnation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "There is no margin for mistakes, Zin." Kam said after they got their stories straight. "We need to hide the involvement of Kigan and the Guardians. As long as my pregnancy remains a secret, our enemies will keep considering me Lith''s weak point.

    "With a bit of luck, Meln might be the next to try and kill me."

    A quick call to the Royal Pce and Sark guaranteeing Kam''s version of the events put an end to the emergency search and solved the mystery of the disappearance of the two women.

    The Griffons had done a good job covering their tracks and the Royal Guards had found no trace of the Awakened who had Warped Kam and Zinya to the site of the ambush.

    Meanwhile, far away in Jiera, in the middle of a deadly battle against a lost city, the Undead King felt a shiver run down his spine. A cold sweat covered his body as death offered him an invisible cigar and patted his shoulder.

    "Why did you let the attack happen, Leegaain?" Kigan felt safe enough to speak his mind. "I understand that moving the fight to a secluded area favors Lith''s schemes but why did you wait so long before intervening?"

    "I didn''t wait to do Lith a favor." Leegaain snarled. "I knew you were there and that Sark''s Voidfeather armor would buy me a bit of time. Time that I used to detect the smells and energy signatures lingering on those bastards.

    "When we Guardians act, we are always through. Tyris annihted Verendi''s Awakened Council the moment she learned the identity of the instigator and my aim too was to understand the scope of the conspiracy.

    "It took me a while to extract all the information I needed. The rest my songbird will extract from the Griffons with Tyris'' help after a prolonged stay in her Pits of Agony. Griffons don''t share a bond as deep as Phoenixes but it''s still hard for them to hide anything from their progenitor."

    "I see." Kigan nodded. "Can I take part in the celebrations?"

    "There''s nothing to celebrate until Lithes back," Kam took hermunicator amulet out to check that his rune was still on. "After that, it''s not up to me."

    "If your associates help Lith and rescue Solus, I have no objections." Leegaain said. "I''d owe them as much."

    "Same." Sark nodded. "I understand you feel little joy now, Featherling, but since Zinya knows about the baby already, I believe the rest of your family too deserves this new

    hope to shine some light on the darkness of this day."

    "You are right, Grandma. Please, take me back to the Blood Desert." Kam replied. "One murder attempt is more than enough for today."

    "Have you already thought about the name for the baby?" Zinya asked.

    "No. We decided to make him yesterday night and conceived him soon after. The name was thest thing on our mind." On the one hand, Kam felt guilty about the circumstances of her new pregnancy.

    On the other hand, she couldn''t wait to hold her baby boy in her arms. "Elysia was named after Elina." Leegaain pondered out loud. "It''s only fair to follow the same tradition and name the boy after his grandfather. Also, if you pick a name that starts with an L you''ll honor both the grandfather and the father. Two Wyrms with one stone."

    "What a smartass!" Sark pped the back of his head. "Elysia was named after Elina so the baby boy should be named after Raaz, not you."

    "Yeah, right, you hypocrite." Leegaain snarled. "We both know that Elysia is the name of one of the alter egos you used back when you were still trying to find the best approach

    to lead your people.

    "You and Elina had your turn, now it''s mine. I mean, mine and Raaz''s, of course."

    Both Guardians turned to Kam, expecting her to take their side.

    "I''ll talk with Lith about it." It was the best she could say not to upset anyone.

    After all, they would protect her for the next nine months, and the baby until he came of age. Kam owed the Guardians her life and the safety of her children. A name was a silly price to pay for their help.

    "Great thinking" Leegaain puffed smoke out of his nostrils and his chest out with pride. "The father should always be involved in all kinds of decisions involving a baby. Now, if

    you''ll excuse me, I have some vermin to catch."

    The Father of All Dragons pped his wings and took flight. He wouldn''t rest until everyone involved in the attempt on the life of the newest addition to the Verhen family was dead or a guest in Sark''s Pits of Agony.

 Chapter 3273 Untold Secrets (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3273 Untold Secrets (Part 2)

    "What a jackass." The Overlord sneered. "How dares he exploit your distress to further his agenda? He has no shame."

    Then she shamelessly Warped everyone back to the Blood Desert to be the one to deliver the good news and start the celebrations while Leegaain was absent.

    Lith''s family was deeply worried about him and didn''t take well hearing they had been kept in the dark about the baby boy. Learning the reason behind Kam''s second and sudden pregnancy was even worse.

    Yet all their sourness and gloomsted only for a second before they started

    congratting Kam and arguing about the baby''s name with petty reasonings worthy of the Guardians.

    ***

    Blood Desert, inside the pce Dungeon, at the same time.

    The wooden puppet stared at the three human women in hatred, its dual nature pushing it toward two different lines of action.

    What was left of Ra''ntar wanted to kill his torturers at any cost. The elf knew that it was only a matter of time before his consciousness was rewritten by the World Tree and wanted to go down bringing as many people as he could with him.

    The Yggdrasill, instead, wanted to stall for time and avoid fighting. Their wood was the second hardest material on Mogar but Skywarp was made of Davross.

    On top of that, the dimensional mage sealed the space only for the Puppet, leaving her allies free to Blink around. Last but not least, the Puppet was a living being which made it vulnerable to the spells of the healer.

    ''I can''t allow myself to be captured again or I''ll be back to square one.'' The Puppet thought. "The Fringe was almost overrun because Ra''ntar''s crippling pain prevented me from thinking clearly. The fate of my fragment in the Desert is irrelevant.

    "The only thing that matters is buy my main body enough time to foil Verhen''s n to rescue Elphyn Menadion. Once he is dead or is forces crippled, I can let Jirni Ernas have fun with this Puppet until its life force runs out.''

    To kill a Chronicler at any time from any distance, the World Tree used the Yggdrasill weapon they entrusted the elves with, but Tezka had taken it away.

    Without the staff, there was nothing the small fragment of World Tree inside a Chronicler could do. They shared the same energy signature due to their symbiotic bond and the fragment''s magic couldn''t hurt the elf.

    The only option the World Tree had left was to take over the body of the Chronicler and turn him into an extension of their body.

    A wooden Puppet was supposed to be an unstoppable war machine that would

    The problem was that the prolonged agony and starvation suffered by the elf had been passed on to the Puppet. Its tendrils were thin and any further growth required nutrients.

    The prison cell had no openings and the cloth of its walls was as hard as Davross. The Puppet couldn''t reach the soil to regain its strength, let alone tunnel its way out.

    "The worst part is that I''m still hungry! The Puppet had grown feeding on Ra''ntar''s remains which wasn''t much.

    Getting rid of Jirni''s needles had relieved the World Tree from the pain of the torture but due to the telepathic connection between the Puppet and the main body, the Yggdrassill still experienced its hunger.

    Darkness fusion was useless against starvation, making it the only thorn in the Yggdrasill''s side.

    ''What do we do, Mom? Friya asked via a mind link.

    "The right question is what we must not do, dear.'' Jirni replied. ''No matter what happens, don''t kill that thing. If it dies, all the work we have done until now will be for nothing.

    "The World Tree is soon going to realize that they have no way out and when it happens, they will try to get themselves killed. Don''t fall for it. Make it suffer but keep it alive!'' ''Copy that!'' Quy unleashed her Adamant chains, Bloodbind, and a volley of tier three Light Mastery heat rays the size of a finger.

    The Puppet whipped the former away with its tendrils and ignored thetter. Heat rays so small wouldn''t even heat the Yggdrasil''s bark.

    Or so the Puppet thought until instead of fire element, the rays released healing spells on contact. There were no open wounds to heal but the metabolism of the living wood was elerated nheless, making it burn faster through what was left of its nutrients

    reserves.

    ''No.''Bloodbind curved in mid-air to resume its attack and the Puppet nowcked the strength to repel the chains again.

    Bloodbind wrapped itself around the slowest tendrils and before the Puppet could slip away, Quy flooded her chains with darkness magic.

    The Yggdrasill wood didn''t take much damage but the still-lingering light spells forced it to heal, making it hungrier.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''No! Friya cut the space in front of herself with Dreadnought and an exit point appeared behind the Puppet.

    The fragment of the World Tree had 360-degree sight and predicted the opening of the dimensional door with Soul Vision. What it couldn''t predict was that the exit point would instantly copse on itself.

    The resulting explosion charred the back of the Puppet and pushed it forward. With nothing to cling to and tendrils too thin to resist the detonation, the living wood tumbled right in the path of Jirni''s charge.

    "That''s idiotic!'' The Puppet inwardly rejoiced. ''I don''t care if I get wounded but a pregnant woman can''t say the same.''

    The living wood disregarded its defence andshed out with all the tendrils sprouted from Ra''ntar former limbs. The Puppet burned through its energy reserves to harden the vines, make them razor-sharp, and gave them flexible joints capable of spinning at high

    speed.

    Jirni cut the Puppet asunder as its tendrils struck at her head, heart, and womb. More sprouted from the open wound, enveloping Jirni in an attack that couldn''t be dodged

    with Blink.

    The dimensional door would carry along enough of the tendrils to reach her vital organs and deal nigh-lethal damage The Yggdrasill''s n was to kill the baby and Jirni in one fell swoop to send her daughters into a murderous frenzy.

    Once they destroyed the Puppet, the hunger would be gone as well and the World Tree in the Fringe would be back to its full strength.

    Great was the Yggdrasill''s surprise when each and every one of their strikes reached their mark yet produced a choir of silvery clinks instead of spurts of blood.

    Jirni''s day dress rearranged itself into its true form, the Myrok''s Royal Fortress armor. Each of the four founding pirs'' households had one, bestowed upon their founder by the First King. Valeron.

    The armor shared most of the same properties of the Royal Fortress armor used to defend the Royal Pce, like beingprised of pure Davross and having the mass of an

    Emperor Beast.

    Yet the armor belonging to the four founding pirs of the Kingdom had also been customized by Tyris to best suit the beloved friends and teammates of Valeron the First.

 Chapter 3274 Sacrifice for Power (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3274 Sacrifice for Power (Part 1)

    Oghrom Myrok''s armor possessed such cloaking spells that no matter the form it took, it was impossible to distinguish it frommon clothes.

    The cloaking means of the Royal Fortress armor Jirni wore had fooled even the World Tree and escaped their Soul Vision.

    "You must be really fucked up in the head to believe a woman at my stage of pregnancy would jump in the maw of danger without a n." Jirni''s excited voice betrayed the cruel smile hidden by her helm''s visor. "That''s the first good news I received today!

    She grabbed both halves of the Puppet and mmed them together, opening cracks that spread from the point of impact to the rest of its wooden body. Before the two sides of the Puppet made contact, she injected a spark of Life Maelstrom and her best healing spell inside the wood.

    The cracks opened and closed in quick session while the newly sprouted tendrils tangled and fused with each other, restoring the Puppet''s original form.

    "What?" The World Tree was bbergasted.

    The silver lightning boosted both the spell and the Puppet''s metabolism so that the innate healing process took ce before the Yggdrasill could resist it.

    "I just said that for someone holding more knowledge than anyone else on Mogar, you are quite stupid. I love stupid people. They are the easiest enemies to deal with." Jirni tightened her hold on the Puppet and pinned it to the ground.

    The World Treeshed at her with every bit of strength their newborn sprout could muster but to no avail. The repeated cycles of torture and healing had crippled Ra''ntar with consumption and what was left of the Chronicler had been poor nourishment for the Puppet''s rapid growth.

    The sprout had never been a match for the Royal Fortress armor, let alone now that it had been broken and forcibly put together.

    "Dammit!" On itsst root, the Yggdrasill pooled what mana the Puppet had left into a powerful tier five spell that they shot at Quy.

    By fusing Raging Sun and Skybreaker into Sunbreaker, the Yggdrasill woodbined air, fire, water, and darkness magic into a spell that failed to surpass a Tower Tier spell only because of the Puppet''s exhausted state.

    Raging Sun alone produced an explosionparable to a volcanic eruption while Skybreaker released streams of lightning infused with darkness.

    Together, the air element reinforced the explosion and increased the heat of the fire while the darkness element coated everything, making even the shockwaves released by Sunbreaker poisonous to the touch.

    Even if Quy''s clothes were an enchanted armor as well, just the sound reaching her ears would have carried the darkness element to her bloodstream and from there it would have affected everything.

    Her organs, her mana core, and her babies.

    "You fucking son of a mold!" Friya snarled in outrage.

    Her air whipped the air due to the massive amount of mana coursing through them while she kept her eyes on the Puppet. Friya had followed the movements of the Puppet''s mana with Life Vision from the moment the living wood had started to conjure Sunbreaker and had neutralized the spell with Domination.

    As her willpower and the World Tree''s battled for control of Sunbreaker, the explosion was frozen at the ground level, like a ming ck flower that couldn''t decide whether to bloom or not.

    "As I said, stupid." Jirni released the Puppet and raised her hands with her palms out and fingers syed.

    Skywarp split into dozens of Davross needles and when Jirni clenched her fists, the needles pierced the Puppet''s tendrils without missing any and nailed it to the ground. The damage was apanied by a healing spell that made the wood regrow around the needles, reinforcing their hold.

    The sudden wave of weakness caused the Tree to lose the battle of wills and with it control over Sunbreaker.

    "Stop!" Jirni''s stern voice snapped Friya out of her fury and kept her from unleashing the tetra elemental spell on her hated enemy. "That''s what the Tree wants. They''ve been ying the fool to bait us into a mindless rage."

    Seeing the confusion in her daughters'' eyes she added.

    "The Yggdrasill wants to die, or rather, they want to get rid of the liability of the Puppet. This is not their real body, just a nexus for their power. Destroy it and all the pain we have inflicted upon the World Tree in the Fringe will fade away like a bad dream.

    "Lith''s army would lose the only advantage they have and we''d be useless." Friya nodded and dispelled Sunbreaker, making sure there was nothing left for the Puppet to manipte.

    "You are smart, Jirni Ernas." The World Tree said with the raspy voice of a thirsty man. "Smarter than I gave you credit for but still too ignorant to beat me at my game. This is my victory"

    The Yggdrasill did a poor job of hiding his anger and frustration for having his ns foiled time and time again by a human but their gloating was even more evident.

    "Quy, more nutrients. Now!" A quick diagnostic spell revealed that between the wounds opened by Jirni and casting the Tower Tier spell, the Puppet was running on

    fumes.

    Its vitality was a candle on the brink of going out, the wax burned and gone.

    "On it!" Quy tried and failed to use her Injection spell.

    A sprout had no bloodstream she could force the potions into. She had treated Fae in the past but those had been patients, not victims. The Yggdrasill was letting the Puppet

    wither from starvation and refused to absorb the nutrients.

    "It''s not working!" Quy said after trying everything she could but to no avail. "Any suggestions, Aalejah?"

    "None." The elf''s face was still a pale green from the tortures she had witnessed and the shock from the Yggdrasill consuming Ra''ntar to form the Puppet. "Fae drink and eat only to socialize. They draw their sustenance from the soil."

    She pointed at the cloth floor of the cell.

    "Yet. I advise against giving the Puppet ess to the ground. Best case scenario, it still refuses to eat. Worst case scenario, it transfers its consciousness to the tip of its roots, detaches from the main body, and digs its way out."

    "Don''t worry, that''s never been a n." Jirni soaked the withered rests of the Puppet with the best potions she had. "Quy, give me a hand. Friya, eyes on the mark." "What are we doing?" Quy poured more nutrient potions until they formed a shallow pool below the broken form of the Puppet.

    "The old fool is right. We have no way to force him to stay alive." Jirni talked out loud on purpose. "But that doesn''t mean we can''t drag out the game and make it as painful asn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    possible.

    "Think about it, girls. The Puppet is still alive and is starving while surrounded by the most delicious food. It''s enough for the World Tree to lose focus for one second to let the survival instinct make them feed upon the potions.

    "Sure, this thing doesn''t feel pain anymore but now the Yggdrasill has to resist both starvation and the impulse to feed."

 Chapter 3275 Sacrifice for Power (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3275 Sacrifice for Power (Part 2)

    Jirni raised her visor to sh a soft smile at the Puppet''s bark. "This is going to screw with your focus while this is going to make itst longer."

    She ced her armored palm on the main body of the Puppet and sent waves of vitality into it.

    "What are you doing?" The Yggdrasill''s voice had lost its arrogance.

    Using Invigoration on the sprout energized its wood but did nothing to sate its hunger. It only made its perceptions more vibrant, including the progressive withering from starvation.

    The worst part was that with all those nutrients right below the sprout, one sip would be enough to stop the hunger.

    One sip and the game would start anew.

    "Making sure there''s no peaceful slipping into oblivion." Jirni replied.

    "You are a monster!" Aalejah and the Yggdrasill said in unison.

    "Thanks, dear." She giggled like a little girl. "Since you know so many things and we are stuck together for a while, why don''t you start telling me something I don''t know?"

    ***

    Inside the Yggdrasill''s Fringe, at the same time as Ra''ntar turned into a Puppet.

    Free from the pain of Jirni''s torture, the World Tree found their focus again and bet everything they had to fortify their position before something else happened.

    "That crazy Ernas woman and Ripha Menadion forced my hand. I need to win and to do it quickly!'' The Yggdrasill thought as all of their Chroniclers turned into Wooden Puppets. It boosted their link with the Wood Golems, made them immune to fear, pain, and tiredness. Now, even if one of the white cores found the elf hidden inside a Golem or if the Divine Beasts destroyed one with a Silverwing''s Annihtion, the elf wouldn''t die. As long as one splinter of a Puppet remained, the World Tree could regenerate them. The Fringe was full of fertile ground the Golems could draw upon to endlessly restore their pilot.

    The Chroniclers had gained the regenerative abilities of the Fae at the price of their free will and, in time, their life.

    ''Regaining the trust of the elves after assimting so many of them will take a long time but I''ll worry about thatter. They are greedy creatures and as long as I offer them enoughpensation, they''ll overlook my transgression. What matters now is to win!'' The Yggdrasill had turned the Chroniclers into Wooden Puppets and Awakened the elves in order to override their weak minds and made them focus on the battle.

    The Librarians and the rest of the elves not only had their strength and magical prowess boosted from the bright blue to the deep violet, but they were also uncaring of their burning viges. The Yggdrasill''s roots that kept their bodies from blowing apart also hijacked their senses.

    Now even normal elves followed the will of the World Tree like cogs in a machine that took any form the Yggdrasill wanted. They wouldn''t even hesitate to throw their lives away if so their master desired.

    As for the Wood Golems, they didn''t need to connect to form anti-Guardian spells anymore. Baba Yaga, Silverwing, and Dawn kept blowing Golems apart just to see them rebuild themselves in a matter of seconds.

    The Yggdrasill''s roots and world energy of the Fringe fueled them endlessly, making even the deadliest of wounds just a temporary distraction.

    Yet that wasn''t the worst.

    The elves were the Yggdrasill''s army but the arrays were their weapons. They had been improved over the centuries and held an untold amount of power.

    After dismantling the magical formations, the thousands of runes scattered all over the Fringe had converged over the small area of the fight and were rearranging themselves into Tower Tier spells.

    The ground exploded with hurricanes of magma, toxic rain fell from above, and frost rays shot down the Wyrms from the sky.

    "What the fuck is happening?" Valtak said.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The growing storm blotted out the sun and the freezing winds were so violent that they could topple even the Elder Wyrm.

    "The arrays!" Gentor tried his best to shield the Father of Fire, but not even Golden Radiance could protect him from the cold stiffening his muscles. "The World Tree has sacrificed the entire arraywork.

    "They have given up on the home advantage in exchange for explosive offensive power!" Cold was the bane of Dragons and the massive storm conjured by the sacrifice of so many water arrays at the same time held the power of an ice age. The Wyrmsprised the majority of Lith''s army and as the temperature dropped their inner fire dimmed. "Don''t worry, Grandfather. This just means it''s our time to shine!" Xenagrosh made good use of Valtak''s lessons and tapped into her troll''s core endless vitality to produce a barrier of Immortal mes to protect the two Patriarchs from the cold wave.

    Her roar also served as a battle cry, calling all the monster-Eldritches hybrids to her side. Without the arrays suppressing the offensive means of thosecking Spirit Magic, the members of the Organization could manifest their full might.

    Bytra assumed her Raiju form and ran in circles around the Yggdrasill, bing faster

    with everyp and wresting control of the storm with her lightning. Theseus the Meneos-Bastet pummelled at the Wood Golems three at a time.

    He regenerated as fast as them, hit much harder than them, and his Mana Body bloodline ability made him impervious to both physical and magical attacks. He crushed one Golem with each hand and breathed violet sts of Origin mes on another. "Cold does shit to me whereas you still burn like kindle!" Yggdrasill wood was much harder than the Bastet''s flesh but it was also vulnerable to his Abomination touch. Whenever Theseus felled a Golem, he sprouted countless tendrils from his body that fed upon the fragments until thest remnants of the Puppet piloting the construct were gone, killing it for good.

    On top of that, Origin mes canceled darkness fusion so each one of his victims sent pangs of agony through the Tree''s hive mind.

    Nandi the Minotaur was too small to fight the Golems and had no reason to. The army of elves was a problem and he was the solution.

    "A stingy master is a recipe for failure." A mere wave of his hands deactivated all pieces of the elves'' equipment without a power core. "You should have demanded the good stuff,

    like I did!"

    The modern version of his pata crafted by Bytra mowed the elven ranks down like ripe wheat, their armor and weapons neutralized and offering no protection against the Chaos-infused des.

    Dodging his attacks with dimensional magic was impossible as well. The bio-crystals on his body drained the earth element, creating an imbnce in the world energy that

    made it impossible to Blink.

    "Now!" Cyare and Hushar timed their Doom Tides so as to shield their allies from the brunt of the storm and drain the world energy long enough to buy the Dragons a few

    seconds of respite.

    The two Divine Beasts-Eldritch hybrid spread their Mana Aura to as many of their allies as they could, allowing them to survive the onught from the sky.

    Without the darkness sealing arrays, their Chaos spells crossed the battlefield unimpeded, offering cover fire to the white cores and forcing the Yggdrasill to defend their main body.

 Chapter 3276 Falling Apart (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3276 Falling Apart (Part 1)

    A single Howling Void inflicted negligible damage on the massive trunk of the World Tree, but dozens, hundreds of them, required the Yggdrasill to divert a considerable amount of their mana to heal the wounds and stop the Chaos from spreading.

    Eycos the Garuda helped the Dark Phoenixes to escape by sharing his Life Maelstrom and shielding those grievously wounded with his body. Phoenixes could regenerate even lethal injuries by converting mana into life force with their bloodline ability, Rebirth mes.

    Yet if they ran out of mana or their bodies were pulverized, they would die like anyone else. Eycos'' Abomination side allowed him to resist all elements but darkness and by absorbing the abundant world energy no wound wouldst long.

    The one who shone the most, however, was Zoreth.

    Her body was big enough to cover both Gentor and Valtak with her wingspan and her Immortal mes protected the Wyrms near her from all threats.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A regr Dragon had to use Immortal mes sparsely since they burned their life force without the aid of world energy. Zoreth, however, was different. Her troll side had an endless vitality that she exploited to release wide bursts of emerald fire that she manipted like a part of her body.

    The Immortal mes answered her everymand even after moving away from her body, bing thicker when they had to absorb the Tower Tier spells from the Yggdrasill and thinner when they just had to warm a group of Dragons enough to allow them to retreat.

    Abthot the Ogre-Eldritch hybrid used her Fae side to heal those too wounded to keep fighting before entrusting them to Aylen''s feline Emperor Beasts.

    She focused on those on the brink of death that not even Surtr''s Sanctuary of Light could save while the Emperor Beasts carried the Divine Beasts back to the safe zone, under the protection of Tezka and his Chaos Dimension.

    The World Tree didn''t even bother attacking the Suneater. Tezka was the closest one to the power of a Guardian and even though the Yggdrasill was certain to be stronger than the Fylgja, cracking his defenses would leave the Tree too exposed to Lith''s forces.

    Despite all that, the advance of the Divine Beasts hade to an abrupt halt and even the white cores were fighting for their lives. Many Dragons had fallen out of the sky, most of them with their lungs intact to use Invigoration or lucky enough to be rescued. Some of them were dead, their bloody corpses littering the Fringe as the bloody rivers they formed painted the grasnd red.

    In his mind, Leegaain had a starry sky representing the lives of all his descendants. Whenever one of them died, their star would go out and the Father of All Dragons would mourn their loss.

    The Phoenixes fared better only thanks to Rebirth mes while the Griffons because they had been trained since their infancy to save a good chunk of their Life Maelstrom for situations like that.

    Their mighty bodies boosted by the silver lighting were hard to kill and Griffons had no shame retreating when their lives were threatened. The cold paralyzed only the Dragons, sapping their strength and slowing their movements.

    The Yggdrasill focused on them to teach them a lesson and because they were the main core of Lith''s forces.

    "No!" Valtak cried, seeing his Hatchlings fall. "This is all my fault! All those young Wyrms are dying because of me."

    "This is not your fault, old friend." Gentor grabbed the Elder Wyrm and covered him from a barrage of Spirit Spells with his Golden Radiance. "You didn''t force anyone toe here. This was a gamble and we knew the r-"

    A colossal wooden axe cut one of Gentor''s wings off and dug deep into his spine. The Father of All Golden Dragons fell limp to the ground, his words scrambling into an agonizing throe.

    "You bastard!" Valtak charged forward, intercepting the second axe-arm of a Wood Golem with his Adamant ws, Balefire, and kicking the first ax out of the wound before it could reach Gentor''s lung.

    "Valtak!" Xenagrosh screamed as she held back the other seven Golems of the eight-man unit. "Get to safety! There''s nothing you can do here."

    She wanted to help him but she couldn''t risk the Puppets casting a Silverwing''s Annihtion. The Shadow Dragon had to keep them scattered and their attention focused on her or the retreat would soon turn into a massacre.

    "I can''t!" The Father of Fire cried, feeling the sense of urgency rise inside of him. "Don''t worry about me. We just have to hold out a bit longer!"

    He blocked the axes with Balefire and headbutted the Golem away enough to breathe a violent stream of Origin mes. Even the most basic among the mystical mes was a deadly weapon in the hands of the Elder Fire Wyrm.

    Valtak used the Origin mes like feelers, recognizing the different mana currents originating from different sources by the way they burned. The Father of Fire identified the traces of the Chronicler''s energy signature and had the mes follow it back to the source until they reached the Wooden Puppet he had be.

    The mes concentrated their power on the former Chronicler and ignored the rest of the construct, burning his remains to cinders.

    Without its pilot, the Golem became a useless pile of Yggdrasill wood that Valtak threw to the Liches.

    "Thanks, old fossil!" The undead fed upon the construct to reform their bodies and

    inflict pain on the World Tree.

    Then, they fearlessly charged against the violet-cored elves and the Golems to protect Bloodhaven. No matter how bad the situation became, the Liches would never leave the Red Mother behind.

    At least as long as their phcteries were stored inside her tower.

    ''We need to fall back!'' Orion said via the mind link while using the tower shield exclusive to the Ernas Royal Fortress armor, Honor Guard, to intercept a barrage of tier five Spirit

    Spells.

    Honor Guard conjured and controlled dozens of elemental shields that its master could move around with his thoughts and imbue them with Life Maelstrom from a distance. Orion had the elemental constructs converge around Honor Guard to form a Divine Beast-sized tower shield and cover those standing behind him.

    ''Never!'' Lith screamed, looking at the short distance separating the strike team from the World Tree. If we go back now, we''ll offer our back to the enemy and get ughtered.

    ''Even if we survive, the Yggdrasill will shift their focus on our allies and kill so many of them that we''llck the numbers for a second charge.''

    ''Lith is right, Orion.''Vastor stood by his friend''s side and conjured a Decay Bastion. The Tree is pouring millennia of umted energy into this attack. If our defenses falter even for one second, we are dead.''

    The Master shared via the When All Are One array the vision of his six auxiliary heads. Even with most of the onught focused on Lith and his group, the decoy and support

    teams were being blown away.

    The white cores were barely holding their ground under the barrage of Tower Tier spells born out of the shattered arrays while the Divine Beast lost ground by the second.

    The moment the Yggdrasill shifted his focus, there would be no wounded, only casualties.

 Chapter 3277 Falling Apart (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3277 Falling Apart (Part 2)

    ''Also, I''m afraid Lith is also wrong about the rest. I don''t think we ever had the numbers for the first charge!'' Vastor said, expending most of his mana for the Bastion and enduring the onught only thanks to one auxiliary head using Invigoration.

    With the pain from Ra''ntar gone, the World Tree had regained their focus and the Chroniclers their full battle prowess. To make matters worse, with the Yggdrasill fragment taking over the Chroniclers'' bodies, the elves had be more dangerous than perfect undead.

    The Puppets felt no fear, no pain, and had no vitals or weak points. To make matters worse, since they all now shared the same energy signature, they had be immune to the World Tree''s spells and each other''s.

    An eight-man unit of Wood Golem charged at Lith''s group while they were still

    weathering the magical onught. Each one of them had conjured a Decay Bastion and that saved their lives.

    The Golems unleashed a Silverwing''s Annihtion that joined the Tree''s Tower Tier spells and shattered Honor Guard.

    Lith grunted, hurling from two of his serpentine heads a twin st of True and Frozen mes. The Cursed fire knocked one of the Golems off his feet and set it aze but the construct was instantly reced in the formation by the eight Golem.

    The Cursed ice froze the ground, severing the connection between the Tree''s roots and the constructs. Without the endless supply of mana, the Golems'' power cores couldn''t hold such powerful spells for long.

    s, the Wooden Puppets manipting the Golems were part of the World Tree. They only had to sprout roots of their own to reach the nearest area unaffected by the Frozen mes and restore the connection.

    Two more of Lith''s serpentine heads cast a Chaos Annihtion and so did his allies. The five anti-Guardian spells pierced through the Yggdrasill offense, reaching the seven Golems in an instant and vaporizing everything above the knees.

    Not even dozens of tons of masterfully enchanted Yggdrasill wood could withstand such firepower, but together with the Golems'' own Annihtion, the impact weakened the offensive of Lith''s group before it struck the World Tree.

    The five anti-Guardians spells made the massive trunk tremble and opened a hole in the bark. With the Yggdrasill''s size and mass, however, the vibrations stopped after a few hundred meters and the wound looked smaller than the nest dug by some big bird. The hole closed almost immediately and the Golems sprouted back from their feet, taking the necessary mass from the World Tree. The Yggdrasill shrunk topensate for the lost mass but the change was so little that it wasn''t noticeable.

    ''How the fuck is that possible?'' Tessa the Titania was bbergasted. ''There''s no way all seven elves had hidden in the Golems'' legs!"

    She followed the roots rebuilding the Golems and found her answer. She was right, only two of the Puppets had survived on their own. One was in the left knee of his Golem and the other was in the right foot.

    The other five were being regenerated by the eight Golem.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Son of a mold!" Tessa cursed. ''Don''t ask me how, but the Chroniclers have exchanged pieces of each other and can use them to resurrect their fallen allies.''

    ''Impossible!'' Fyrwal replied. "There''s no such a thing as resurrection. Not even Fae or undead can be restored after being killed.''

    She was right as well.

    The Chroniclers would have died, but the Puppets now shared enough of the World Tree''s energy signature to be capable of mixing their tissues without dying. Each Puppet held just a splinter of their teammates, just enough to regenerate them from scratch. ''Let''s kill them dead, then!" Lith took point with Orion on his shoulder, ready to parry or inject the Tiamat with Life Maelstrom from the Royal Fortress armor if necessary.

    Lith carved a path open with Ragnar?k. Orion''s anti-construct spells had been upgraded by Sark, allowing the angry de to chop the Golems asunder like firewood. The Puppets countered by growing a second set of arms and shapeshifting the four upper limbs into axes the moment. Lith''s group was surrounded.

    He snarled, chopping one ax off and burning another with Origin mes. Orion took care of the other two with Honor Guard and Grimlock. The problem was that there were eight Golems and only five people under the effects of the When All Are One Array.

    "Scram!" Tessa grew two extra arms as well, intercepting two axes and blocking the other two with her staff, Morning Dew.

    Fyrwal''s seven massive heads locked inbat with as many wooden limbs, injecting acid from her fangs. At the same time, she knocked a third Golem back with her mace, Dreamweaver.

    "Look out!" Vastor took care of the rest with a barrage of Howling Hunger.

    The tier five Chaos Spells dugrge holes into the remaining Golems, making them stagger, and replenished the Master''s stamina.

    "Dam if I hate being so small!" His Dominator armor had just enough metal to cover Vastor''s tall alter ego. There wasn''t enough to reach the size of a magical beast, let alone that of a Divine Beast.

    The Master couldn''t grow in size without losing the protection and anonymity that his Davross armor ensured him. No matter how strong he was, a human couldn''t handle one limb of a 40 meters (132) tall Golem weighing dozens of tons.

    Orion could have grown to the size of an Emperor Beast thanks to the Royal Fortress armor, but with no experience having a body that big the transformation would have made him weaker rather than stronger.

    ''Don''t worry about that. Just him them as hard as you can. We are breaking through!" Lith had taken a few blows like Tessa and Fyrwal, but he didn''t care.

    The muscle density bestowed by the Titania limited the depth of the wounds and her regenerative abilities healed them faster than the Voidwalker armor repaired itself.

    It wasn''t the first time Lith worked with Tessa and Fyrwal under the legendary array and he knew how much punishment his current body could endure. Mana wasn''t a problem either, one of his serpentine heads was always ready to use Invigoration.

    ''Now!'' Upon hismand, the group hurled a different kind of mes from each of their seven heads against a different Golem.

    The Puppets screamed in agony but refused to back down. Their bodies regenerated as fast as the mystical fires destroyed them and so did the Golems. They tackled Lith''s group, using their superior mass and numbers to stop the invaders in their tracks.

    ''Raise your shields! All of them!" Orion conjured the protection of Honor Guard around the group and the Spirit Barrier of his armor for himself in the nick of time.

    The Golems unleashed all their enchantments at the same time, bringing Lith''s group to a halt and that was just a diversion.

    The World Tree exploited the stop in the enemy advance to release another volley of tier five Tower Tier spells and aim it with pinpoint uracy. With the Golems restricting Lith and the others with their vines, the tidal wave of magic was impossible to avoid.

    Even Blink was useless, the area of effect of the dimensional spell covered by the

    onught.

 Chapter 3278 Dying Spark (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3278 Dying Spark (Part 1)

    The Yggdrasill used their innate ability tobine Phoenix Smash and Griffon Fetters, generating a wide of ming emerald chains capable of restricting the mightiest of Divine Beasts and eroding energy and matter alike.

    The secondponent of the assault was thebination of Breakdown and Mana Storm. The resulting effect was a hail of bullets the size of a train car.

    Each hexa elemental emerald sphere imploded upon contact, with air and earth blocking their victims respectively by inducing an electric seizure and by trapping their limbs in a prison of rock.

    Fire and water would alternate in pulses, causing a thermal shock that damaged the equipment and made the air unbreathable. Darkness and light destroyed and healed the bodies of their targets in a cycle that drained their stamina and nutrients.

    Worst of all, neither of thebined spells had any effect on the Golems. They shared the World Tree''s energy signature and while the members of Lith''s group were turned to shreds, the constructs had the time to rebuild their strength.

    When the dust settled, a gruesome show presented itself to the spectators. The joint assault of Golems'' enchantments and Yggdrasill''s spells had pierced through Spirit Barriers and Davross armor.

    Thanks to Orion''s Life Maelstrom and defensive abilities, Lith had only lost his left arm and half of his head. The others were reduced to a shapeless pulp of flesh, wood, and metal.

    "We have to get out of here!" Orion had suffered minor wounds and used his de Tier Spell, Elemental Sonata, to push the ming Griffon Fetters away while his allies regenerated.

    They shared the Titania''s regenerating ability so as long as there was fertile soil they had everything they needed to recover. Yet healing from such grievous wounds would put a strain on their life forces, if they did it too often.

    ''Let me help you.'' Lith used Domination to share control of Orion''s de Spell while using the Eyes of Menadion to find the weak spots of the Fetters and the Ears to follow the mana flow of the Tree''s spell and use it as a conduit for Elemental Sonata.

    The de Spell pierced through the chain links and coursed through them, destroying Griffon Fetters from the inside. Even with Lith''s guidance, Orioncked the mana to destroy such a widespread so Lith reinforced Elemental Sonata with the Hands.

    Theirbined efforts tore the emerald chains apart and opened a huge gap in the Tree''s defenses. Without the sealing effects of Griffon Fetters, Abomination Touch drained the Golems, forcing them to let go of their prey and allowing the group to Blink forward.

    From a distance, Valtak sighed in relief just to grunt in despair a secondter. Another eight-man unit of Golems was charging at Lith from the front while the regenerating Golems gave chase from the back.

    "The advantage of surprise is gone and whatever Lith was doing to restrict the World Tree it''s not working anymore. The Father of Fire fought his way toward the strike team.

    The runes in the sky reassembled themselves to form a new hail of spells as the Yggdrasill consumed another chunk of the shattered arrays, forcing Valtak to breathe a vast umbre of Primordial mes to weaken the attack.

    Even with the lessons he had imparted to Zoreth, the Shadow Dragon wasn''t strong enough to stop the Golems and the spells at the same time. Even with Gentor''s Golden Radiance neutralizing the Spirit Spells imbued in the elven arrows, there were hundreds of them.

    The elves had a deep violet core now and with the guidance they received from the Tree through the vines, the elves had already mastered their newfound abilities like

    Invigoration and Spirit Magic.

    The mana of the spells inflicted little damage on the Golden Dragon, but their shockwaves ripped his scales off and carved his flesh.

    Just a bit further!'' Valtak coughed a small burst of emerald mes that spread in front of Gentor and intercepted the arrows, burning just enough of the mana they carried to make the volley explode at a safe distance. I just need a bit more time.''

    If conjuring Primordial mes by himself put a great strain on what was left of Valtak''s life force, producing the Immortal mes almost made him faint. Yet he had no choice. Gentor was using Invigoration to recover his strength and heal his wounds. If the volley were to hit him, they would interrupt his breathing technique and force him to retreat to the safe area.

    "The World Tree shows no hesitation in killing our younger members, but they don''t dare unleash their full power on Gentor and me.'' The Father of Fire hadn''t missed how the attacks directed at himcked any killing intent, with just enough power to pierce through his defenses.

    "The death of any Fire or Golden Dragon is on me and Valtak because they followed us, but if the Yggdrasill kills either of us, the Brood would take it as an act of war. That wooden bastard is trying to kick Gentor out of the Fringe and make me die of Origin mes abuse.

    ''It would be no different from dying of natural causes and the Brood wouldn''t care either.'' The Elder Wyrm cursed the hypocrisy of his brethren and pushed forward. "Lith needs our help. He shouted in themunication amulet to ovee the din of battle. "The World Tree has noticed him and is wearing him down."

    "Tough luck!" Silverspire''s Silver Warrior trembled as another Annihtion shook its foundations. "He''s against two units of Golems. We are dealing with dozens of them!"

    "Lochra is right, Valtak." Bloodhaven kept regenerating, yet it always missed at least one limb. "We are doing what we can. If we break our formation, the Yggdrasill will kill us in seconds and Lith is going to be next."

    I was saving this forter, but I have no choice left.'' Baba Yaga was slowly getting cornered by the coordinated assault of the Golem units. If only the world energy of the Fringe answered mymand as it does on the outside, the Yggdrasill would never manage to restrict me like this.''

    Eight doors opened on the wooden surface of Bloodhaven releasing the Firstborns Undead.

    Letting theme out of a single corridor would have meant offering an easy target. Dawn swooped in, unleashing another Rising Sun to give the undead the time to

    converge.

    The Firstborn Banshee and Wendigo screamed together to generate a massive shockwave that froze everything in its wake and drained its energy. The Golems were temporarily slowed down while the elves bled from their eyes, mouths, and ears. The First Blood Witch collected the elven essence, turning half of it into Blood Maelstrom to empower her allies and the other half in blood spells that decimated the living.

    Fresh blood still contained traces of life force and Spirit Magic and Esizah rekindled them both, turning the inert matter into pure energy. She used the blood to weave powerful tier five Spirit Spells without expending an iota of the mana stored in her blood

    core.

    The Firstborn Mage yer bathed in the enemy''s onught, his misty body absorbing all elements but darkness that he dispatched with swift movements of his sword.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 3279 Dying Spark (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3279 Dying Spark (Part 2)

    ''If only I were bigger, I could stop everything by myself.'' He thought. ''With the exception of Spirit and anti-Guardian spells, of course. Mage yers couldn''t feed on darkness element and all spells that carried them.

    Hexa-elemental Spirit and Silverwing''s spells were beyond Mage yers and would inflict on them more damage than the nourishment they brought. Still, Lormont could neutralize everything else, even arrays, and turn their power against their original caster. The Firstborn Draugr opened a crater upon impact with the ground, draining the life out of it as its size grew to over ten meters (33) tall, quickly followed by the Firstborn Grendel.

    The two undead were resistant to all kinds of damage and drew the arrows of the elves along with their blood, buying the other Firstborns the time to converge on them. "Keep attacking! Don''t give them time to recover!" dion stood in front of the Grendel as he assumed human form to cast the anti-Guardian spell.

    Full-red blood cores were more powerful than bright violet cores so their spell wasrge andsted enough to engulf a Wood Golem without leaving anything for it to regenerate from.

    What was left of the Annihtion blew a second Golem into smithereens but it instantly started to reform.

    "Good job." The Red Mother nodded. "Keep it up like that."

    Killing the backup Golem meant that their unit couldn''t switch anymore. It was enough to wound one of them to keep the rest from casting anti-Guardian spells and neutralize the only threat they posed to a mage tower.

    s, relieving the pressure on the decoy team didn''t help Lith or Valtak one bit.

    Now that the Chroniclers had turned into Wooden Puppets and were no longer hindered by pain or wounds, they managed to push Zoreth back as well. Each Golem was taller, heavier, and stronger than her.

    Her only remaining advantage was her twin cores, which didn''t help much in a brawl, especially since her priority was protecting the Father of Fire. Chroniclers had bright violet cores and with the aid of a Wood Golem, each one of them was stronger than a Divine Beast.

    The Puppets attacked Xenagrosh from every side, uncaring of her Chaos Spells and Sky Piercer. Howling Void opened wide holes while the Dragon''s w cut deep, but even if they found the Puppet. hidden inside the construct, they couldn''t deal a fatal wound. The Golems focused on the attack, generating extra sets of limbs that turned into axes, spears, and shields. They had no qualms about killing the Shadow Dragon. Xenagrosh

    was an Eldritch and her death would anger solely the Organization that the Yggdrasill already considered a mortal enemy.

    The other hybrids were too busy holding the line on their side of the battlefield to help Zoreth. Gentor hated leaving Valtak''s side, but he knew that if the Shadow Dragon fell, they would be forced to retreat to the safe area and the Tree would have more Golems to send after Lith.

    When the next volley of Tower Tier spell rained from the sky, Gentor and the Golden Dragons he had left Blinked in front of Xenagrosh and took the brunt of the attack. They were sent flying, but they were still alive and their wounds could be healed, if only they had the time to draw one breath of Invigoration.

    If only.

    The Wyrms coughed mouthfuls of blood, their broken ribs had pierced their lungs and sealed their breathing technique. Valtak healed them while also activating his bloodline ability, Primal Spark.

    The former allowed the Golden Dragons to breathe while thetter transformed the tier four spells of his Fire Dragons into raging Primordial mes that pushed the Golems back and broke their formation.

    It also cost the Father of Fire another spark of his life force, making him dizzy and blurring his vision.

    Just a bit closer.'' Lith''s group was almost within Valtak''s spells range, only a few hundred meters separated the strike unit from the improvised reinforcements. I need to hold out just a bit longer.''

    The Elder Wyrm felt his chest heavy, every breath harder to draw than the previous. He had plenty of mana left but couldn''t focus enough to weave magical runes. Invigoration couldn''t help his life force recover, only rest could.

    ''I have no time for that. There is almost no time left.'' Valtak had no idea what was about to happen but the sense of urgency he had experienced since receiving the news of Solus'' kidnapping was getting worse by the second.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Another volley of Tower Tier spells reached Xenagrosh''s position but this time there were no Golden Dragons to shield her and the Fire Dragons were too worried for their Elder to care for her.

    The first wave of spells cracked Zoreth''s Bookwyrm armor. The second shattered it and ravaged her flesh. The third wave made short work of her Primordial mes and blew her up like a gory firework.

    If not for her Chaos bdoy''s resistance to all elements and her troll''s side recovery abilities she would have died. Still, her body needed a few seconds to reform itself, seconds she didn''t have.

    One Golem kept hacking at her remains while the rest broke through and attacked the now-defenceless Wyrms. The colossal axes of the constructs severed arms, legs, and

    wings, working their way toward the Dragons'' hearts.

    "No!" Gentor threw himself in front of his children and emptied his lungs in a desperate attempt to defend them with his Origin mes.

    The Golems ignored the attack and cut Gentor''s stomach open like a fish before kicking him through a Warp Steps leading in front of the safe area. Even if he were to recover, the Patriarch of the Golden Dragons would never make it that far again and his honor guard would already be dead.

    "No." Valtak saw his children fall trying to protect him.

    He saw the Golden Dragons get cut into pieces like meat on a butcher''s b. He saw their life forces dwindling and did the only thing he could, praying it wasn''t toote.

    He Blinked everyone but himself to safety by exploiting the Warp Steps opened by the Golems to banish Gentor. Blink had a short range, but once two points in space were connected by a Warp, anyone could cross over.

    The maimed Dragons were bleeding out from their amputated limbs, Valtak could only hope that Abthot could save them with her powers.

    "Grandfather, no!" Zoreth had barely the time to regenerate her mouth when the Warp Gate closed.

    I''ve failed.''Valtak cursed his old body, coughing out a mouthful of blood from the exertion of using so much mana at once. ''Everything I''ve done, all the pain I''ve endured

    so far was for nothing."

    The Puppets stared at the Elder Wyrm with Soul Vision and verified there was no trap or hidden array. The Father of Fire was on the verge of death. The cough shaking him was so violent he couldn''t use his breathing technique, let alone Origin mes. Even if they ignored Valtak and left him there, it was only a matter of minutes before he

    died.

    ''I can''t risk a Patriarch being caught in the crossfire.'' The World Tree ordered. ''Secure the area and kick him out of here alive.

 Chapter 3280 Undefeated (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3280 Undefeated (Part 1)

    What was left of the Chroniclers hated the Father of Fire for bringing destruction to their home and wanted to execute him for his crimes but the will of their master was absolute.

    A Puppet bent down and grabbed Valtak by the scruff of his neck. Then it activated the enchantments of its Golem to open a Warp Gate near the safe area but away from anyone who could use it tounch a counterattack.

    The Elder Wyrm''s shadow rose, grabbing the Golem back and piercing the others with its wings, and tail.

    "What?" Only then did the Yggdrasill notice a ck chain going from Lith''s chest into the ground and plunging into Valtak''s heart from below. ''Who is that?"

    Before the World Tree couldplete the thought, five Wood Golems exploded from within. The Demon of the Darkness spread its body like a nket, collecting the pieces of living wood before they could reassemble themselves.

    The reanimated soul took enough wood to make a 35 meters (115'') tall dragon statue to use as its physical body and drained everything else to open seven elemental eyes on its

    snout.

    The now Demon of The Fallen stomped its feet and called upon the earth and fire elements.

    The shockwaves generated deep fissures that reached deep into the ground while roiling magma rose from below. The two forces met halfway, allowing theva to gush to the surface as burning pirs.

    The dead Wyrm used its bloodline ability, Primal Spark, to ignite theva into Primordial mes. The violent eruption of mystical fire pushed the remaining three Golems away, blinding their Soul Vision.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It also smothered another salvo of tier five Spirit Spells that the World Tree had unleashed to deal with the unknown enemy. Not even the Primordial mes were enough to stop the onught, but between its Yggdrasill wood body and the Titania''s regenerative abilities, the Demon survived.

    The World Tree sent its roots to get rid of Valtak but the dead Wyrm intercepted them with wooden tendrils of its own. Abomination Touch drained some of the roots and Primordial mes turned those that the Demon couldn''t contain into ashes.

    "Get up, Hatchling." It said while healing its wounds as fast as it could. "You put us into this situation and I have no idea how to get out of it."

    One of the Golems broke through the pirs of white magma and charged at the Demon. The construct was taller, heavier, and its four limbs shapeshifted into long spears, giving it the reach advantage.

    The Demon grabbed the first spear with the same ease as if it was being politely handed over and tugged at it with all of its strength. The momentum of the charging Golem and the sudden pull sent the construct flying into the Demon''s embrace.

    The spears were useless at such close distance so the Puppet shapeshifted them into axes and maces. Before the transformation wasplete, the Dead Wyrm roared its challenge, releasing a st of Primordial mes from its body.

    The white fire engulfed the Golem and Primal Spark ignited the life force of both the construct and the Puppet piloting it against their will. The wooden Dragon and the Golem turned into a zing pyre but while the Demon owned the mes the construct was their victim.

    For a brief moment, the World Tree experienced what being burned alive felt. The Golem and the Puppet both were extensions of the Yggdrasill and the raging fire burned their life forces until nothing was left.

    The shock froze the World Tree for a second, giving their enemies the respite they so desperately needed. Menadion used it to conjure Chaos spells, Lith''s group to advance further, and the white cores to escape the encirclement of the Yggdrasill''s army.

    "You don''t have the time to take a nap, Hatchling." The Demon said while offering its scaly hand to Valtak. "Come on. I''m much older than you yet you don''t hear mein about my age."

    The Father of Fire''s vision was still blurred from exhaustion and the searing heat from the Primordial mes made it even worse. His eyes teared up in the attempt to retain enough moisture to not turn blind.

    Valtak could barely see and all he could hear was the rumbling of the quaking ground as more and more white magma enveloped him and the dead Wyrm in a protective cocoon. "Father?" Yet there was no way Valtak wouldn''t recognize the presence he felt through the chain emerging from his chest, the familiar timbre of that voice, and the indomitable will imbued in the mes.

    "Who else were you expecting toe and clean your mess, Hatchling?" The Demon scoffed.

    Radoghorn the Fire Dragon, father of Valtak, had never been a candidate for the title of Father of Fire. His friends said it was because he wasn''t wise enough, his enemies imed it was because he wasn''t wise at all.

    Yet Radoghorn had been the best warrior of his generation and had retained the title of Champion of Fire until the day of his death. Unlike his peers who spent most of their time in the safety of theirirs, Radoghorn had honed his mes on the battlefield. He had challenged other Fire Dragons, members of the Brood, Phoenixes, and anyone capable of using Origin mes as well as if not better than him. His goal had been to grasp new insights during the fights and learn from his opponents how to defeat them.

    When that failed, he resorted to his sheer physical might to pummel them into submission.

    Radoghorn was tall for a Wyrm and so big that some imed the Father of All Dragons himself had sired him. Tharma had met her future husband through one of such bouts. Or rather, many of them.

    As a Father of Fire candidate, there was much that Radoghorn could learn from Tharma so he challenged and beat her on a regr basis. She was no warrior but she enjoyed

    their matches.

    There were secrets of the primordial fire that could be uncovered only in the heat of battle and Radoghorn was never cruel. He used only enough strength to subdue her and stopped attacking the moment she yielded.

    After a while, they had started toment on their fights over dinner, trading knowledge after they were done trading blows. It was only a matter of time until their tussles extended after the meal and in a romantic fashion, leading to the birth of many Dragons.

    "What are you doing here, Father?" Valtak sped wrists with Radoghorn in confusion. Tharma had died peacefully in her sleep and Radoghorn had followed her a few decadester. His title of Champion of Fire had been challenged and despite his old age, he had

    always prevailed.

    Radoghorn had burned what was left of his life force, defeating his opponent and ending his existence in a glorious st of fire after being proimed the victor rather than spending his final years as a shadow of himself.

    Even in death Radoghorn stood victorious. After his demise, the challenger had been

    crowned as the new Champion of Fire but there was no honor in that. The title had been

    passed down, not conquered.

 Chapter 3281 Undefeated (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3281 Undefeated (Part 2)

    No matter what any future Champion might do, Radoghorn''s legend as the Undefeated could be equaled but never surpassed.

    Valtak still remembered the smug grin on his father''s corpse before he and his siblings entrusted it to the family Forgemaster. Most Wyrms didn''t want to be buried or burned after their death.

    In theirst will, they demanded to be turned into artifacts that would be used to protect their bloodline and perpetuate their legend. Radoghorn was among them, his ws wrapped around Valtak''s hand after being enchanted into Balefire.

    The Father of Fire was certain that both his parents had no regret or reason to stay behind as wondering souls so his father''s return baffled and moved him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I''m keeping my promise, son." Radoghorn replied as their Dragon scales touched and the two Wyrms experienced each other''s emotions.

    The Father of Fire could only catch a glimpse of the ce where Radoghorn had spent the past few millennia. Yet he knew for certain that his father was happy and at peace most of the time.

    Whenever one of his children struggled or an unfair death approached them, the Champion of Fire turned against the boundary separating the two worlds, using his full might in the attempt to break through and help them.

    Even in death, Radoghorn wasn''t wise. He was stubborn and prideful, bound to his word just as he had been in life.

    "No matter who your enemy is or the danger you face. Just call me and I''ll fly to your side." Radoghorn had made that promise to all of his children and even millennia after his demise, he never stopped trying to uphold it.

    No matter how many times he had failed in the past, the Champion of Fire still tried. So when Valtak had prayed for help, when the ck chain had opened a crack in the usually insurmountable wall, Radoghorn had charged through.

    Valtak experienced his father''s agony in crossing over the veil. The world of the living rejected Radoghorn''s presence as strongly as the world of the dead imed him back. His very soul was twisted and tortured every moment he spent on Mogar, connecting two worlds that were supposed to be apart. Radoghorn knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he didn''t care.

    He used the pain to sharpen his mind and strengthen his resolve. No price was too steep if it meant helping his son in his hour of need.

    "Thank you,

    ,Father." Valtak pulled himself up as Radoghorn felt how important the mission was for the Elder Wyrm.

    How much Valtak had sacrificed to be there and how much more he was willing to

    sacrifice.

    "Less chatting and more action, Whelp, or I''ll hog all the glory. The Champion of Fire took point, opening a path toward Lith while Valtak trudged on all four.

    Radoghorn fought Wood Golems and endured volleys of spells yet he was still faster than the Elder Wyrm, often helping him to get free from the Tree''s roots he failed to dodge.

    Just a bit farther.'' Valtak panted as they caught up with the strike team. ''Just a bit longer.

    The Champion of Fire fought like a Demon, demonstrating a prowess that shocked and overwhelmed the Puppets piloting the Golems. They had the World Tree''s keen mind and the battle experience of the Chroniclers, yet they weren''t enough.

    The moment a Golem shifted its weight to perform an attack with any of its four arms, Radoghorn swept them off their feet by redirecting the force behind the blow and adding it to his own.

    The wooden constructs weighed several dozens of tons yet the Demon Wyrm tossed them around like rag dolls. If a Puppet started to weave Silvering''s Annihtion, Radoghorn would burn the mana tendrils connecting the seven Golems together.

    The seven elemental energies were supposed to be shared and held in perfect bnce. Without the arrayponent of the anti-Guardian spell and with the Origin mespromising the integral stability of the runes, the mana went awry.

    The Puppet would lose control of the Annihtion, triggering a chain reaction that would spread back to its mana core and destroy its wooden form. The same would happen to the other six Golems, making their arms slump and opening a hole in the Yggdrasill''s defensive line.

    None of the Puppets died, but the regeneration process took them seconds. Precious seconds during which Radoghorn could advance unimpeded and without worrying about protecting Valtak.

    When that happened, the entire body of the Champion of Fire was set aze with Origin mes. Each of his strikes was followed by an afterimage of mystical fire that doubled the damage and set the Golems aze.

    The Origin mes released by Radoghorn didn''t spread like the World Tree, like even a Fire Dragon would expect them to. They found the mana circtory system of the Golems and focused on it, burning through the mana veins like a fever.

    Once affected by the Origin mes, all enchantments of a construct were sealed until the fire was smothered. The Wood Golems couldn''t move or weave spells while the Puppets inside became blind and deaf.

    It wasn''t a bloodline ability but the result of Radoghorn millennia of fighting. He had learned how to feel the mana flow of his opponents and burn it. To make the fire into his shadow and, when necessary, his crutch.

    The Champion of Fire was alone against many and with Valtak so weak, Radoghorn took more blows and spells in a few seconds than in most of his life. Even his Yggdrasill body boosted by the Titania''s regenerative abilities couldn''t keep up with his injuries.

    More often than not one of his limbs was missing or his head severed. Every wound Radoghorn suffered exacerbated his agony, reminding him he wasn''t wee among

    the living.

    Yet he endured and kept shielding his son with his body.

    His Fire Shadow still attacked with limbs Radoghorn had yet to regrow fully. It enveloped the Champion of Fire not to let his enemies see how hurt he was and where their hits would be fatal, were the Golems strike at them before Radoghorn''s wooden body healed. ''One Wyrm against an entire squadron? Impossible! The Yggdrasill thought. I have all the records of the Champion of Fire of the previous generations. He never had this kind

    of power or skill.''

    And they were right.

    When he was alive, Radoghorn fought for his passion or survival. His goal back then was to discover new ways of using Origin mes or just not to die.

    Here, today, he cared about neither. Radoghorn was fighting for Valtak, for the little whelp who needed his father''s help.

    ''I''m already dead. I don''t care about what happens to me. The only person I still care about is standing right behind me. The rest of Mogar can burn! Even as a Demon, Radoghorn had felt through the Dragon scales how little life force Valtak had left.

    My boy is dying and I can''t do anything to save him.'' Pain was Radoghorn''s teacher and his spur. ''I won''t let him spend his final moments in regret. I won''t let my boy fail. I will stand by his side until thest moment and burn his enemies in a funeral pyre to apany him in death!"

 Chapter 3282 Made it Personal (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3282 Made it Personal (Part 1)

    Blood Desert, Sark''s pce dungeon.

    The constant cycles of damage and regeneration had thinned the Ra''ntar-Puppet beyond saving. Many of its tendrils werepletely withered and Jirni could see with Life Vision that there was no vitality left in them.

    The ck aura of death surrounding them was the first sign of the rot taking hold of the Puppet.

    ''If I force this thing to regenerate its tendrils, it would exhaust its life force faster than creating new ones.'' Jirni sighed, every sign she and Skywarp spotted confirming the sprout''s terminal prognosis. ''There''s nothing I can do to stall the game further.''

    She had no idea whether it was due to Ra''ntar''s determination or the World Tree''s order that the Puppet had stubbornly refused to drink a single drop of the tonics. Either way, the enemy had earned her respect.

    As the remaining life force of the Puppet faded so did the hunger. Not because Jirni was going easy on it out of pity. Only because with its life the sprout of the World Tree was losing its sensitivity.

    The Puppet had reached the numbness that preceded death and its mind was drifting apart, away from its ruined body.

    "This isn''t good." She said to her daughters and Aalejah. "Once the sprout is gone, without us running interference the situation of Lith''s army in the Fringe is going to get much worse."

    "Thank the gods- I mean, should we warn them?" Aalejah was worried about Lith and Solus but relieved that whatever was left of the poor elf would finally find peace.

    "No. Even if they actually answer their amulets, it would be a pointless distraction." Jirni shook her head as a silvery brilliance umted around her right hand. "Lith and the others knew this eventuality coulde and they will notice it faster than we can tell them anyway."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Then what are you doing, Mom?" Quy''s Life Vision showed her that Jirni''s Royal Fortress armor was brimming with power.

    "After all this time spent together, I''ve grown attached to our friend." Lady Ernas said while disying her soft, motherly smile that always preceded a death blow. "I can''t let him go out with a whimper.

    "This final st will create an opportunity for Lith and give him the signal my work here is done." Jirni sealed every joint and opening in the Royal Fortress armor and released an increasing stream of Life Maelstrom on the Puppet.

    Its abilities and vitality increased tenfold, giving the sprout strength and rity of mind back.

    "What are you doing, woman?" The World Tree felt the hunger again and, somehow, even more acutely than before.

    "You are the wisest being on Mogar. You tell me." The beak of her visor curled up in a cruel grin, an impossibility that the Yggdrasill had no time to question.

    "You are flooding me with Life Maelstrom!" The Puppet''s abilities were multiplied by twenty folds, then thirty, and then forty.

    The sprout turned its entire body in a bundle of razor-sharp vines that whipped all over the Royal Fortress armor. The weakened Yggdrasill wood couldn''t withstand the strain from its renewed strength and speed, cracking with every movement it made.

    The impacts produced the silvery patter of heavy rain on metal yet inflicted the Davross no damage. The whips shattered upon impact, incapable of bearing their own weight any longer.

    The Puppet tried to slip away from Jirni but the heavy armor and the countless Davross needles of Skywarp pinned it into ce.

    "You want to overload me with power until I explode!" The World Tree said, the intensity of the pain they experienced growing with the amount of silver lightning that coursed through its dying body. "You want my sprout to die in the most horrible way possible!" "Correct." Jirni nodded, unleashing another burst of Life Maelstrom that enhanced the Puppet''s abilities and agony by eighty folds. "The keener your mind and body be, the more vivid your death will be.

    "Maybe I''m arrogant, but I bet that no one has ever suffered as much as you are about to. Or at least not many." The Puppet''s body cracked and splintered as the withering Yggdrasill wood failed to contain the immense power of the Life Maelstrom.

    Its wounds opened faster than its enhanced metabolism could heal them, its mana core cracking due to the increasing pressure generated by the overloaded mana flow.

    "Don''t me me. This is all your doing." Jirni said. "I don''t care about Solus. This was just a job to me. A favor I was doing to a friend to get something I need in return. I didn''t care if you attacked or tried to kill me.

    "I knew the risks and brought the Royal Fortress armor as insurance. When you attacked my unborn child, my daughter, and my unborn grandchildren, however, you''ve made it personal and I always pay my debts!"

    She could have waited and made the sprout''s agonyst longer yet it would have taken Jirni more and more Life Maelstrom to inflict upon the Puppet the same pain as its life force dwindled.

    More Life Maelstrom than the Royal Fortress armor stored.

    So, she waited until the remaining vitality of the sprout reached the point of no return and then released the Life Maelstrom she had left down to thest drop. The Puppet''s body and mana core became over one hundred times stronger than normal.

    Incapable of withstanding such power, its body shattered upon its following spasm and its mana core exploded. The silver lightning amplified the World Tree''s senses and their connection to the Puppet as well.

    It was but the death of a single Chronicler, but the Yggdrasill experienced it as if one hundred of them had been burned alive at the same time. The World Tree felt every wood fiber breaking, every strand of mana burning like poison.

    The death throes of the Puppet made Aalejah sob in despair and Friya and Quy fall to their knees while covering their ears.

    Once the silvery sh of Life Maelstrom faded, the four women were alone in the cell. Only Ra''ntar clothes remained to prove that the elf had ever been there with them.

    "What do we do now?" Friya asked while Quyforted the traumatized elf.

    "Now we wait." Jirni replied.

    ***

    The World Tree''s Fringe, at the same time.

    "What the fuck?" Many of the invaders said at the same time as Jirni moved on to the

    final step of her n.

    The ground below their feet shook with increasing violence and the heavens screamed like someone was gutting them with a dull knife.

    The Yggdrasill''s roots were spread throughout the Fringe, creating an undergroundworkprised of multipleyers. As the World Tree went into a seizure due to the Ra''ntar-Puppet''s agony, their roots vibrated along with the trunk.

    The spasming roots created shockwaves akin to a quake powerful enough to throw even a Divine Beast off bnce. The screams actually belonged to the Yggdrasill and all of its

    servants.

    The Puppets and the now-Awakened elves controlled by the World Tree''s vines experienced the same pain as the captured Chroniclers and froze into ce, their mouths opened in an unending cry.

 Chapter 3283

    ?3283 Made it Personal (Part 2)

    For a moment, the glowing runes in the sky stood still, giving both the decoy and strike team respite from the onught of Tower Tier spells.

    "Move!" With his opponents paralyzed and the cover fire interrupted, Lith unfolded his wings and traversed the final kilometers separating him and his group from the World Tree in the blink of an eye.

    "Wait, you bastard!" Radoghorn was still regenerating and he couldn''t afford the risk of sending Valtak alone.

    Sure, The Golems were motionless, but there was no telling how long the phenomenon wouldst. Were the colossal constructs to recover while the Father of Fire was away from both Radoghorn and Lith, Valtak''s personal mission would fail.

    "Don''t worry, Father. We can catch up with them again." The Elder Wyrm drew avid gulps of air, his lungs burning from the mere effort of keeping Radoghorn''s fighting pace. "Focus on recovering."

    Away from the ground and its nutrients, the regenerative powers he drew from the Titania would be useless and the Champion of Fire would remain crippled while he chased after Lith flying.

    "No, we can''t." Lith''s team and the two Fire Dragons had reached deep into the enemy lines. "We need to keep moving or the moment these things snap out of whatever is affecting them we''ll be surrounded and neutralized."

    Radoghorn carried Valtak on his back and ran on all fours as fast as he could. It was slower than flying but much faster than walking. I also allowed the Father of Fire to catch his breath while the Champion of Fire rebuilt his strength.

    I can''t believe we did it!'' Vastor raised his hand and his teammates mirrored his movements, unleashing each a tier five Chaos Spell, Howling Hunger.

    The five spells struck the shivering World Tree''s trunk at the ground level and opened as many deep holes.

    ''I can''t believe we failed to find a single fucking corridor even with a target this big!'' Tessa replied.

    The holes lead nowhere. The spells had struck some of the solid sections of the World Tree and there was only wood inside, no ess to the internalwork where Solus was trapped.

    "This is Jirni''s doing.'' Lith said while throwing a nce at the dozens of intact yet screaming Wood Golems just a few meters behind them. She must have been forced to kill the elf and made it count. The problem is that whatever she did, is not going tost long. We need to find a passage and get to Solus and we need to do it now!''

    ***

    Inside the World Tree, at the same time.

    ''Epphy, stay close to me! Ripha spun the Fury in a circle, clearing the room of the Puppets that had surrounded them and sending them to crash against the shutter scaling the corridor.

    Then, she raised her left hand and released a tier three Chaos spell, Howling Void, from each of her fingers. Five ck pirs asrge as a small tree and as fast as a bullet struck the just-closed wall in a circr pattern.

    The First Ruler of the mes grabbed Spare Parts by the waist and charged forward. The Fury of Menadion spun faster and faster in her free hand until she threw it at the damaged wooden shutter, sting it off its hinges.

    Once on the other side, Ripha unfurled her wings again before asking.

    ''Which way now?"

    "There!'' Ghar''mar recognized a corridor leading to the externalyer and from there straight to the Moon Elves'' vige.

    The tunnel was nted and a few details were deformed by thebination of spasms and defensive protocols of the Yggdrasill but the Librarian could still orient herself. All the elves working inside the World Tree knew the emergency procedures like the back of their hand and memorized the shortest routes to the exits. The Yggdrasill was in too much pain to improvise clever tricks so every change of the space inside their trunk was by the book.

    A veryplex and tortuous book that would have trapped Ripha and Elphyn Menadion if not for Ghar''mar''s help.

    Just like the elves had never expected the World Tree to resort to the Great Assimtion, the World Tree would have never expected a Librarian to guide their enemies through the maze of her own free will.

    ''How far are we from the exit?'' Solus asked.

    ''Not much.''The Librarian replied. ''The World Tree is big, but not that big, and your mother is very fast. Please, remember your promise to spare my people and save them if possible.''

    ''I will.'' Solus nodded.

    ''And so will I.'' Menadion lied through her teeth.

    Spending over seven hundred years as a wandering soul had made her heart hard and bitter. Ripha had cursed herself and her weakness every day since she had died at Bytra''s hands.

    Standing helpless and unheard while her daughter slowly withered and lost her memories in front of her just made things worse. The First Ruler of the mes had regained a measure of peace after Lith had found Solus.

    Menadion didn''t know or trust him but at least her daughter was no longer in mortal danger. On top of that, the only silver lining to Elphyn''s condition was that, without a body, no one could touch her.

    Over time, Ripha had gotten reassured that despite his many and disturbing character ws, Lith loved and cared for Elphyn. Yet every time their bond was broken, Menadion fell back into her private hell of rage and fury.

    After the Chroniclers had kidnapped her daughter and helped the World Tree to torture and force Epphy into a ve bond with a Librarian, Menadion hade to hate every elf who lived in the Fringe as much as she hated their master.

    Ripha had witnessed every torture and listened to every threat Elphyn''s captor had made, making it her personal mission to pay every single one of them back in kind. Menadion had yed her role in convincing the Demons to attack the elven viges by sharing her story and fury with the wandering souls, yet that wasn''t enough.

    She had named Ghar''mar "Spare Parts" because that was how she perceived the female elf. Nothing but a tool, an extra life that would cover for any mistake the First Ruler of the mes made during Elphyn''s break out.

    Menadion wasn''t going to act rashly but if the asion to escape from the Yggdrasill''s clutches at the cost of the Librarian''s life arose, she would take it with no hesitation. Then, it would be the turn of all the elves who had stood idly while her baby girl was tormented.

    ''Soon it will be your turn, you little bastard. Soon.'' Menadion smiled, the screams of agony echoing through the corridors were music to her ears. ''First I have to bring Elphyn to safety, though. She is my priority. My only priority.''

    ''Why are you smiling, Mom?'' Solus asked.

    She was a gentle soul and despite everything she had gone through, witnessing andn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    hearing so much pain and misery gave her no joy.

    ''Because I''m happy to be reunited with you, sweetie.'' Menadion wasn''t lying but she

    wasn''t telling the whole truth either. ''Can you take out the full set, Epphy? Just to be

    safe.''

 Chapter 3284 Long Overdue (Part 1)

    Chapter 3284 Long Overdue (Part 1)

    ''I can''t conjure the Menadion set unless I summon at least one floor of the tower. The spacepressing array stops me.'' Solus said.

    The World Tree had eliminated solely the magical formations surrounding the Fringe to stop the invaders and kept those inside their body to keep Solus in.

    ''Also, I told you already that I go by Solus now, Mom, and I''ll appreciate it if you started to use it.''

    ''I know but that''s not your name, Epphy.'' Menadion replied with ill-concealed disappointment. ''I know that conjuring the tower will take a toll on your host but if you don''t do it now, I doubt you''ll have a second chance.''

    ''You are right, Mom.'' The sound of that word made Menadion feel like she still had a heart and it was pounding in her chest. ''But please, call me Solus, okay?''

    ''Sure thing, sweetie.'' Ripha''s condition as a Demon made her go from the verge of tears to a fit of murderous frenzy in two seconds.

    On the one hand, just being able to interact with Solus again, to be more than a passive spectator in her daughter''s life, moved Ripha beyond what words could express. On the other hand, however, there was no time for kindness.

    Menadion had to repress all of her gentle feelings and let out the fury that possessed her for over 700 years. The two opposites shed, both demanding their long overdue release.

    ''I''m sorry, Ghar''mar.'' Solus said while conjuring the smaller version of the tower she could.

    She knew how much suffering it would inflict upon the elf yet she didn''t ask the Librarian''s permission before doing it. Truth be told, Solus remembered Ghar''mar''s name after hearing it once.

    She called her host "Spare Parts" because she was angry and traumatized and because she didn''t want to form any long-term attachment to the elf. Now that Solus was about to hurt Ghar''mar, Solus wanted to treat her with a modicum of respect.

    ''Sorry for w- Gods below!'' The energy the stone ring needed to disce enough mass for a building the size of an outhouse made the Librarian feel like her mana was being squeezed out of her core with a vise.

    Ghar''mar became as pale as a ghost and she panted heavily as her body suffered the effects of mana abuse.

    ''Don''t be a wimp.'' Menadion snarled at the Librarian. ''This is nothingpared to what your ilk has done to my daughter.''

    Solus kept the outhouse flying right behind them and just for the time the Ears, Eyes, Mouth, Hands, and Fury needed to materialize inside ande out of the door. Then, the building turned back into the stone ring and slipped back on the elf''s finger.

    ''Much better.'' Ripha wore the set, activating the Eyes to scan their surroundings for traps and the Ears to read the mana flow in the area 100 meters (328'') around them and anticipate the changes in their environment.

    The Mouth was already filled with powerful spells. Menadion focused the Hands on absorbing the surrounding world energy and fed it to the rest of the set. Using so many artifacts at once without the tower would have otherwise forced Solus to consume the energy stored in the Bleed.

    Last, but not least, Ripha split the Fury into nine hammers and kept them orbiting around her like silent sentinels.

    ''I knew it!'' She had yet to assess how much of its original strength the Menadion Set had lost and what new functions it had gained when the internal mana flow of the World Tree stabilized.

    With the Ra''ntar-Puppet gone the pain had stopped, and it took the Yggdrasill but a few moments of rity to assess the situation and adjust their ns.

    ''Finally! Itsted less than ten minutes but it felt like an eternity. I had almost forgotten how the absence of pain feels!'' The World Tree took control of the Puppets and the Awakened elves, Blinking them around the board.

    The spacepressing array was still in ce but as its owner the Yggdrasill could turn it on and off at will and now they also had the presence of mind to perform mass dimensional spells at the same time.

    The Ears warned Ripha of the phenomenon but by the time the array was back in ce, she was still at the first runes of her Warp Steps. The magical formation and the Puppet-elves had Blinked in and out of existence in unison, surrounding her from every side.

    Menadion threw the Fury at the nearest opponent and the other eight hammers surrounding her bolted against as many Puppets as well. Nine impacts, each apanied by a boom of thunder, secured the area around Solus.

    The hammers produced two shockwaves each. One sonic boom as they moved and the second when they hit their target due to the ng of Davross and Yggdrasill wood. Menadion had timed her attack so that the eighteen shockwaves spread in a partial constructive interference with each other.

    Theirbined power sted away the rest of the Puppets without harming Ripha and Solus who stood in the only two spots where the destructive interference nullified the attack.

    ''How did you do that?'' Solus was bbergasted.

    Taking so many factors into consideration and performing a split-second assessment like that was beyond what she believed possible.

    ''You have no idea how to use the Ears inbination with the Eyes, do you?'' Ripha mmed the real Fury and the makeshift copy made from the Chroniclers'' equipment on the ground.

    The impacts produced two more shockwaves, this time infused with darkness magic. The vibrations reverberated through the Yggdrasill''s trunk, neutralizing their darkness fusion and numbing their senses.

    To a Fae, it was the equivalent of having fingers shoved in their eyes.

    The World Tree could still perceive the invaders but their figures were blurred. The Puppets and the wooden tendrils emerging from the ground aimed their attacks at the two women''sst known position, making them easy to evade.

    ''Not a clue.'' Solus admitted as a second volley of Furies cleared the path in front of Ripha and the Librarian.

    ''That way, quick!'' Ghar''mar pointed at a corridor on their right that was twisting and deforming.

    ''How far to the exit?'' Menadion asked, taking the elf in her arms and flying at her top speed.

    ''We are close. Just take the first to the left at the end of this corridor. I think.'' The speed with which the Tree shifted their interior had be much faster.

    The Librarian could only hope her memories were still urate. Ghar''mar shared her worries with Solus who in turn did the same with Menadion. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Fuck!'' The First Ruler of the mes prepared a Warp Step in case the World Tree lowered the spacepressing array again. ''I really didn''t want to do this.''

    The problem was that she needed an exit point leading to a secure location outside the Yggdrasill and the only way to obtain it was by contacting Lith via the ck chains.

    ''Menadion? As in Ripha Menadion? Solus'' mother?'' Despite the critical situation he was in and the dozens of enemies surrounding his team, Lith couldn''t suppress his incredulity. ''And you have been watching us all along?''

 Chapter 3285 Long Overdue (Part 2)

    Chapter 3285 Long Overdue (Part 2)

    ''Yeah, I have a lot to say about your methods and morals, kid, but that''s one of the many things that will have to wait for a better time. Shut up and listen.'' Menadion brought Lith up to speed in an instant and received his dimensional coordinates.

    ''Keep flying toward the exit to keep your options open. I''ll get there as soon as I can and cover your escape.'' Lith was shocked to hear the voice of the First Ruler of the mes and a bit awkward at the idea of meeting Solus'' mother.

    It was clear from Ripha''s thoughts that she didn''t like him and he couldn''t fault her for that.

    ''Calling my rtionship with Solus a grey area is an understatement. If I were her father, I would kick my ass. To make matters worse, that makes another woman who has seen me naked against my will, dammit!'' He thought to himself.

    ''Guys, the ck chain inside the World Tree belongs to a Demon who is rescuing Solus as we speak.'' Lith said to the rest of the group. ''The good news is that we don''t have to get in and search everywhere for Solus anymore.

    ''The bad news is that she and the Demon should bee out from the west side of the trunk.''

    He and the others wereing from the south side and even if there were no Wood Golems to fight, it would take Lith''s group a while to circle the massive trunk of the World Tree.

    ''Best news I''ve heard all day.'' Tessa pped her wings with all her might, bolting toward their destination.

    Then, a colossal hammer struck her on the head and sent her down into the ground like a nail.

    The Wood Golems surrounding the Yggdrasill''s trunk had resumed moving along with the Puppets and theirbinedbat prowess was nothing like before. With each of their movements, the World Tree''s sprouts cast more tier five Spirit Spells while also unleashing the constructs'' enchantments.

    Lith and the others assumed a circr formation, standing back-to-back not to offer any opening while they advanced.

    "How cute of you." The World Tree guffawed in hrity.

    Solus was less than a hundred meters (320'') away from the exit and the Tiamat was on the Yggdrasill''s threshold yet nothing mattered anymore.

    The Wood Golems now moved with perfect coordination, their four limbs shapeshifted into Yggdrasill weapons that moved in a never-ending flurry. Lith, Tessa, Fyrwal, and Orion''s Honor Guard intercepted every attack but there was no opportunity to strike back.

    The constructs acted as one, covering for each other''s blind spots with their spells and extra limbs. Life Maelstrom made the invaders individually stronger, but the Golems were many, and more kepting.

    The possessed deep violet-cored elves harried Lith and the other with salvos of tier five spells-imbued arrows that never missed their mark. Orion used the mystical shields conjured by Honor Guard to block most of them, but each arrow he missed tipped the scales in favor of the Yggdrasill further.

    Even with his seven heads and the three Murders of elemental crows from the arrays, Vastor was too busy countering the enchantments of the Golems with Chaos Magic to help Orion.

    Unlike spells, enchantments had no cast time and the Golems unleashed them non-stop by feeding on the Fringe''s world energy that acted as a massive recharge pod.

    What was left of the Demons of the Darkness threw themselves at the elves to draw their attention, knowing they were but ants to something as big as the Golems.

    Without the ability to conjure anti-Guardian spells and their limitedbat experience against opponents possessing the knowledge of the World Tree, the best the Demons could do was act as meat shields.

    ''Were the Golems always this strong?'' Even with repeated uses of Invigoration, the Master could barely keep up.

    The Puppets could use fake and true magic on top of body casting from the safety of the Golems'' inside. To make matters worse, the Yggdrasill''s sprouts had as many tendrils and mouths as they wanted, making fake magic incredibly effective.

    "I''d love to y with you and see you struggle until yourst breath, but you have angered me!" The Yggdrasill had just finished reshaping many runes from the former external arrays into two Silverwing''s Annihtion.

    "That was the intention!" Orion intercepted the first with Decay Bastion and the second with his de Tier Spell, Elemental Sonata, imbuing it with part of his Life Maelstrom and amplifying its destructive power tenfold.

    The Annihtion and the Bastion canceled each other while the two spells shed for a moment. The second Annihtion stopped in mid-air before piercing through the de Spell and resuming its advance.

    It was diminished, but still too powerful.

    "I''m not done yet!" Orion conjured Honor Guard''s Testudo ability and formed a defensive wall of tower shields imbued with the elemental crows from the Murder arrays.

    The anti-Guardian spell stopped again, its strength further diminished by the time it broke through the defensive wall but still very powerful. The Annihtion phased through the Golems who carried the same energy signature as the Yggdrasill and struck Lith''s group.

    The five of them were sted off their feet, their armor broken and their bodies severely injured. The Titania''s tendrils dug deep into the ground to regenerate their wounds but the Golems chased their prey without missing a beat.

    The constructs broke the enemy formation, isting the five.

    Each one of them now had to deal with two Wood Golems and dozens of deep violet-cored elves on their own. Colossal axes and maces struck Lith''s still-wounded body, damaging it faster than even the legendary When All Are One array could heal.

    Lith grunted, ignoring the pain with darkness fusion, and took a deep breath that he released in the form of a burst of Void mes from all over his body. Until a hammer blow to his back squeezed the air out of his lungs. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Until a volley of spell-imbued arrows turned his face into a pin cushion before detonating in unison, exposing his broken skull to sunlight.

    Until the Yggdrasill unleashed another salvo of Tower Tier Spells that tore him apart.

    Lith''s temporary Fae abilities kept him alive and he contacted his allies via the When All Are One Array to ask for help. Just in time to hear their requests for help.

    Orion, Tessa, Fyrwal, and even Vastor were all in the same condition. Their bodies were shredded into pieces which scrambled to rebuild themselves in a hurry before their sense of self faded.

    The Golems, elves, and Yggdrasil didn''t relent, shattering the Davross alloy of the Voidwalker armor while it was still reforming.Lith would have gritted his teeth in frustration, had he still any.

    Solus'' light was so close yet far out of his reach.

    ''Don''te outside!'' He warned Menadion. ''We are surrounded.''

    ''So are we!'' The voice of the First Ruler of the mes sounded desperate.

    Whatever was happening inside the Tree, the situation couldn''t be much better.

    ''If only we were a bit stronger.'' On death''s door, Lith cursed his weakness. ''If only Jirni managed to make that damn Chroniclerst a bit longer, we would have had a chance.''

 Chapter 3286 There Be Dragons (Part 1)

    Chapter 3286 There Be Dragons (Part 1)

    ''I want to take back Solus! I want to see Kami and Elysia again. I have yet to name my unborn son!'' Anger and regret mixed as Lith''s body was chopped into pieces small enough for the Yggdrasill''s spells to vaporize them beyond recovery.

    ''I can''t die and I won''t!'' He conjured a silver key with a spark of his life force and used it to fling the door to the Void open. ''Come out, you annoying bastards. Teach the World Fucker a lesson he won''t forget!''

    For the first time since Lith had discovered the power of the blue mes, he didn''t fight it. He surrendered to the invasion of the parasitic soulspletely in order to achieve victory.

    ''If I have to die, I might as well risk everything. If it means saving Solus and getting to see my family again, even for just one more minute, it will be worth it.''

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s Pce

    "This doesn''t look good." The Overlord looked at the horizon, feeling a massive disturbance in Mogar''s world energy.

    "Agreed." Leegaain sighed. "Do you think this is the choice Mogar talked about?"

    "I don''t know." Sark shook her head. "If it is, however, our Featherling chose poorly."

    ***

    The remaining bits of the Tiamat and his allies turned into Void Demon Dragons. The vitality of the Abomination took over the life forces of the five connected by the When All Are One array.

    In such form, every bit of flesh they had left gulped down world energy, grass, and even bit at the Yggdrasill weapons in order to gain the energy and mass necessary to rebuild their bodies.

    "A desperate move. Interesting, but still desperate." The World Tree knew about the blue mes and the Void Demon Dragon and had plenty of time to prepare.

    Thebined regenerative abilities of the Void and the Titania regenerated Lith and the others in the blink of an eye, withering everything around them. The Golems and the elves took several steps back, forming a defensive circle and surrounding their enemies.

    "Come on, show me what you can do."The Yggdrasill taunted the Void Demon Dragons.

    The parasitic souls flooded Lith and the others, screaming their pain inside their host''s minds and breaking their focus. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Don''t try to control them, it would be a waste of time. Just follow my lead.'' Lith took a deep breath and sparked the blue mes from inside his lungs, using them to consume the souls and empower his attacks.

    The others did the same, finding relief from the voices in their heads.

    The five regrouped and charged against the Golems, wreathed in blue mes. Their ws cut easily through the Yggdrasill wood and set the gaping wounds aze. Their feet scarred the ground ck, draining it of life and world energy.

    The infection of the Abomination and the blue mes was so deep that not only did it burn the influence of the World Tree, but it also tainted the Fringe. The spirits of the dead who escaped the consuming touch of the mes spread through the ground like a blight.

    They took everything they could, using it to form new bodies that owed allegiance to no one. Lith didn''t care about it. He lost himself in his newfound powers, in the Void''s hate for the Tree and the Dragon''s hope to be reunited with Solus.

    As the dead spread and the Void Demon Dragons advanced, the blue mes grew and burned at everything. The Golems burned, the elves burned. Everything burned.

    Everything.

    The When All Are One array was no exception.

    "Fool!" The Yggdrasill guffawed. "An unstable power is worse than no power at all. You should have retreated to the safe zone when you still had the chance. At least you''d have gotten out of here alive and have the constion of having lost against a superior opponent.

    "Now you are going to die by your own hand out of foolishness!"

    Without the array, not only were the members of the groups reduced to their original bodies and powers but they were also still engulfed in blue mes. Vastor''s twin cores were not stable anymore and without the seven heads, he couldn''t cast spells fast enough to save his life.

    Orion was back to being a small human that a Wood Golem could squash with a flick of his finger. Fyrwal lost the Titania''s regenerative abilities while her massive body was still recovering.

    Tessa lost Vastor''s power and Fyrwal''s heads. Everyone lost the ck chains dooming most of the Demons of the Darkness to disappear.

    "The weak point of your blue mes is that it''s easy to snuff them out if your enemy doesn''t let them build up. Sure, even a small quantity requires overwhelming power to be smothered, but that applies to you and your allies as well!"

    The Golems and the elves followed the Yggdrasill''s instructions. They ignored Lith and the others, focusing on getting rid of the blue mes guing them and squashing the parasitic souls now that they had lost their fuel.

    ***

    Inside the World Tree, Menadion finally reached the exit.

    Reaching her goal only made the shattering of her hopes more painful.

    Ghar''mar had indeed brought them to the closest exit and Ripha''s might and magic had ovee every trap the World Tree had set in their confined bowels but that was the end of the line.

    "What are you waiting for, master Menadion? There''s the door. You wanted to get out at all costs until a moment ago. Why are you hesitating in front of the finishing line?" The Yggdrasill''s voice oozed mockery.

    The door in front of the First Ruler of the mes was open and past it, there were four Wood Golems and hundreds of elves with their arrows already nocked.

    The corridor Ripha and Solus hade from was already closed and the walls were shrinking, leaving them no escape.

    "You are a rat in a hole, my dear Menadions. Either youe out or I will smoke you out." The Golems spread their tendrils inside the opening and readied more spells than Ripha could count. "The least I can do is offer you a front-row seat to Verhen''s execution.

    "If losing your mother and your partner at the same time doesn''t break you, Elphyn, it will surely make my job easier."

    ***

    Outside, Lith was beaten and battered.

    ''I have been an idiot! I should have realized that blue mes and the When All Are One array wouldn''t mix. Those stupid things don''t mix with anything!''

    He promptly closed the door to the Void shut and snuffed the mes guing his allies.

    The legendary array repaired itself instantly and restored the connection between the five. Lith''s presence of mind saved Orion and the others who found their strength back and blocked what until a split second ago would have been a death blow.

    s, it didn''t save Lith.

    The Golems surrounding the area formed a spacepressing array that kept Lith''s group from Blinking while those in close-quarterbat focused on the Tiamat.

    With Lith dead, Menadion''s Demon would disappear. The tower and the four pieces of Menadion Set he wore would fall into the World Tree''s roots, making their victory inevitable.

 Chapter 3287 There Be Dragons (Part 2)

    Chapter 3287 There Be Dragons (Part 2)

    The power of Menadion Set would help the Yggdrasill to repel the intruders and crack the secret of the tower.

    Without Lith, those under the effect of the When All Are One array would lose the mass of a Divine Beast, making the gap in strength with the Golems abyssal. Without him, the invaders would have no reason to fight and the conflict would end.

    Lith was still shapeshifting back into a Tiamat when the axes of the four Golems surrounding him came down, aiming for his neck. His body was still covered in the burns caused by the blue mes when arge pir of Primordial mes engulfed them all.

    The white fire sent the Golem on Lith''s left mming against the one on his back and created an opening for Valtak to pull the Tiamat to safety.

    In the euphoria from being finally ridden of pain and the excitement from their imminent victory, the Yggdrasill had forgotten about the dying Wyrm and the Champion of Fire.

    As the battle between Lith and the World Tree reached its predictable conclusion, Radoghorn had charged through the outeryer of Golems while the blue mes still burned. He had sent Valtak alone while Radoghorn stopped the constructs from interfering.

    The Champion of Fire had embraced the pain from the blue mes to hurt the Golems and draw attention to himself while the pir of Primordial mes he had released hid Valtak from Soul Vision.

    For a veteran like Radoghorn manipting the white mes not to hurt his son and allies was child''s y.

    Despite the raging Primordial mes blinding the Yggdrasill''s mystical and regr senses, the Tree remembered Lith''sst position and there was only one path he could have taken. The ax of the Golem followed its prey, striking him true.

    "No!" Lith said as the wooden de easily cut through Valtak''s weakened armor and bones.

    The Old Wyrm''s remaining strength had been spent to lift Lith the Tiamat and move him behind the Fire Dragon.

    "No!" The Yggdrasill screamed as their attempt to stop the blow failed.

    The ax smashed Valtak''s vicle, broke through his ribcage, and punctured his heart.

    His final thoughts didn''t go to his mother because they would soon meet. They didn''t go to his father either, because Radoghorn would apany the Elder Wyrm during his final journey.

    Valtak''s final thoughts went to all his friends and what they would do to the Yggdrasill.

    "There be Dragons." The words frothed in blood as his muzzle curled up in a weak smile.

    Then, the light went out of his eyes and his body fell limp.

    "My Hatchling!" Radoghorn knew it was going to happen since the moment he had crossed through Mogar''s veil but he didn''t suffer any less for it. "You killed my Hatchling!"

    The Champion of Fire used Balkor''s spell to ignite, focus, and amplify his life force to the extreme. Radoghorn passed away right after Valtak, but not before upholding his son''sst wish.

    Instead of an explosion of mana like the god of death had intended, Radoghorn''s sacrifice triggered a mushroom congration of Immortal mes. They burned the spacepressing array, turned the elves into ashes, and hid the five Blinks Radoghorn had conjured to lead Lith''s group to safety. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The emerald mes swirled and burned long enough to give Lith''s group the time to recover. They burned so violently that the World Tree had to consume part of their umted power to keep the Golems from being destroyed.

    The Yggdrasill knew that soon they would need them down to thest one.

    ***

    Blood Desert, Sark''s pce.

    In Leegaain''s mind there was a starry sky only he could see. It represented the bond with his bloodline and each time a Dragon was born, a new star would shine its light. Each time a Dragon died, one star would fade.

    Valtak''s light disappeared suddenly from Leegaain''s mind. It didn''t wane or weaken, it simply went out like it had never been there. It could only mean that he had been murdered which made the pain of the loss even greater.

    ***

    In the same way, Valtak''smunication rune suddenly disappeared from Quashol''s amulet, triggering its rm.

    "Valtak, you old fool!" The Father of All Ice Dragons felt something inside of him freeze and die like not even his breath could.

    There was no need to call someone to know what had happened. Leegaain''s pain spread through the Brood like a death knell. His grief was their own and he wouldn''t grieve a death by old age.

    The coldness inside Quashol was reced by a burning anger that rose like magma building up before an eruption. Someone had to pay for the death of the Brood Brother of the Father of All Ice Dragons or he would never find peace again.

    "The World Tree has stolen from one of us." Quashol pushed the rune that opened a channel with all of his children at once. "The World Tree has killed one of us. They have killed my friend and I''ll have blood for Brood!"

    "Blood for Brood!" The Ice Dragons chanted before their holograms disappeared in rapid session.

    It was the only answer Quashol needed. It wasn''t time for speeches but for war.

    Only those unwilling to follow the Patriarch in battle would not hang up. The rest would leave theirir and converge toward the enemy.

    As the Father of All Ice Dragons collected his amulet and Warped to the nearest Gate, not a single hologram remained.

    ***

    The wars in Verendi ended that day. The cities that denied passage to the angry Wyrms burned and those who stood in their path died. In a sh of fire, the borders with the Blood Desert and the Kingdom were conquered.

    The Dragons from Jiera moved even faster. The outposts of the Desert, the Empire, and the Kingdom granted the members of the Brood full ess to the Transoceanic Gate Network.

    The Wyrms from all over Mogar knew where to go. Gentor''s amulet shared his current position in case ofters. The Father of All Golden Dragons didn''t expect anyone toe but it was worth a try.

    "Let us in, little mouse, or no matter how deep the hole you hide is, we''ll burn it down with the rest of the house." Outside the city of Telesta in the Gorgon Empire, a woman of rare beauty was staring an entry guard in the eyes.

    She had raven-ck hair, violet eyes with a vertical slitted pupil, and ck membranous wings shrouding her like a mantle

    The man and ten others were tasked with checking anyone who wanted ess to Telesta and spent most of their days arresting small criminals and letting innocent citizens of the Empire in.

    On rare asions, they would face powerful and dangerous individuals that required summoning the Imperial Guard and the Mage Council. The gatekeepers loved when that happened.

    It was a pleasant break from their boring routine and, when the criminal was dumb enough to resist, allowed them to witness battles worthy of a bard''s tale. The gatekeepers would have a story to tell and rounds of free drinks for days when that happened.

    Today, however, none of the soldier felt excited at the idea of a fight breaking out.

 Chapter 3288 There Be Dragons (Part 3)

    Chapter 3288 There Be Dragons (Part 3)

    Not only did the woman, Ananta, spread a vicious aura that seemed to rip the souls of the city guards to shreds but the Mother of All ck Dragons wasn''t alone. Behind her, stood a sea of snarling Wyrms covered by obsidian scales consisting of all of her Brood but the younglings.

    The pping of the ck Dragons'' wings caused a storm that had triggered the anti-natural cmity arrays protecting Telesta, and rumbling violet mes roared from their open mouths.

    The soldiers doubted the Imperial Guard could slow the greed of Wyrms down, let alone stop it.

    "One moment, please." The soldier said with a raspy voice as he pushed the red alert button on hismunicator.

    Even the lowliest of soldiers had the chance to report important events to the highest authority of the Empire, but it came with a price. If it was a joke, no matter if drunken or caused by any state of euphoria, the sentence was high treason.

    If the reported news were not deemed relevant or important enough, there would be sanctions. A demotion at best, a dishonorable discharge, or military prison at worst.

    The soldier was expecting the hologram of a two star Mage General to appear but when he found himself facing the Magic Empress, he yelped like a child caught with the hand in the cookie jar.

    "Speak." Milea Genys stared at the poor man with pity and at the Dragon Matriarch with mild amusement.

    "She- They request entrance to Telesta. They don''t have IDs¡­"

    "Let them in." Milea cut him short. "Let anyone who can prove their belonging to the Brood in until further notice. Am I clear?"

    "Crystal." The soldier swallowed a stone-hard lump of saliva.

    "Is this proof enough?" Ananta roared.

    Darkness and fire erupted from her body, expanding at breakneck speed. The ck ming wave enveloped the city walls for kilometers before Milea could reply:

    "I meant the wings on your back. No need for theatrics."

    "Good girl." The Mother of All ck Dragons smiled, revealing a row of fanged teeth. "Now, send us to our Hatchling."

    "We don''t have any." The soldier replied in a panic. "No citizen of Telesta would kidnap a baby Dragon. I''ve never seen even a Dragon egg."

    "She means Supreme Magus Verhen." Milea was secretly proud of her guards. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    None of them had fallen to his knees, soiled himself, or begged for mercy. They stood on duty. Scared witless but they all stood in the face of the Brood. Fear made every one of the Dragon''s words sound like a threat to them yet they reacted by protecting the city instead of themselves.

    "Free ess to the Warp Gate Network is granted to all members of the Brood as well." A snap of Milea''s fingers and pirs of light emerged from the buildings of Telesta hosting a Warp Gate.

    The branch of the Mage Council, the local army headquarters, and all the households with a private Gate were now visible from the sky.

    "The destination coordinates are already fixed."

    "All of them?" Ananta pointed at the lights in the sky in approval.

    "All of them." The Empress nodded. "There''s many of you and I know you are in a rush. I supposed you want to get there before the battle is over."

    "Well thought, Hatchling." The Mother of All ck Dragons gave the Empress a small bow. "Onward!"

    The greed of Dragons roared, their fury too loud even for the city arrays. The citizens of Telesta fell to their knees while clenching their ears in pain. The Wyrms shrunk their form to the size of a human and bolted inside the city.

    All around Garlen, simr scenes were taking ce in many cities of the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Blood Desert. Everyone who owed Valtak a debt of gratitude had been robbed of the opportunity to pay him back.

    They could only exact revenge in his name or live the rest of their lives in shame.

    All those who loved him moved even faster, their only wish to repay the murderer of the Elder Wyrm with fire and blood.

    ***

    "Valtak, no!" Lith tried to move forward but Fyrwal blocked him.

    "He''s already dead and you need to heal." The Hydra used one of her heads to recover with Invigoration and prompted him to do the same.

    "We need to at least recover his corpse." Lith inwardly cursed but followed her advice. "I won''t leave him here to be fertilizer for the Tree."

    "It''s useless, child." Tessa grabbed Lith by the shoulder and dragged him back as the group retreated toward the Chaos Dimension. "We''ve tried and failed. We''ve used every spell, every trick, every dirty move we could think of and we still failed.

    "We have to leave, now. Otherwise more people will die for nothing and Valtak''s sacrifice will be in vain. He traded his life for yours. The least you can do is not throw his gift away like a fool. You owe him that much."

    "We were so close! Solus is there. I can see her!" Lith pointed at the tunnel in the World Tree''s bark.

    It was a few hundred meters away from their current position and only a dozen meters from the point they had fallen to the Golems'' onught.

    "Kid, you could have been in front of her and you wouldn''t have been able to touch her anyway." Fyrwal shook her head. "It''s ov-"

    The ground below their feet quaked, the vibrations quickly spreading throughout the Fringe.

    "What the fuck?" Those in the safe area, those fighting together the Eldritches and the white cores, even the Golems said while staring at the sky.

    The clouds had stopped moving, the wind had disappeared, and ck veins now sullied the blue heavens.

    "There be Dragons!" The World Tree recalled the Wood Golems and the possessed violet-cored elves to their trunk, knowing they would need all the help they could get. "There be Dragons!"

    The Yggdrasill coordinated with his servants to weave as many spells as they could as fast as they could, even restoring part of the array field but focusing solely on the Tree''s immediate surroundings.

    ''Shouldn''t we get out?'' Solus asked after noticing that the situation outside had gotten quiet.

    ''Are you kidding me?'' Inside the tunnel, Menadion was still fighting tooth and nail, using Chaos spells and the Furies to hold back a swarm of Wooden Puppets. ''If we get out there, we''d get stomped! We have no cover fire, no backup, and now the spacepressing array covers the outside too!''

    If not for the Menadion Set, the First Ruler of the mes would have already fallen. She kept the Ears always active and cycled through the other pieces of the set when needed. The Hands fueled her spell and healed her wounds while the Mouth allowed her to keep up with the Puppets'' spellcasting.

    Whenever she threw the Furies, thebination of Mouth and Hands allowed her to cast arrays nigh instantly. Those who managed to slip past her defenses were cut into pieces by the Hand''s ws and des.

    ''But Lith was so close! He''s still close. I just need to touch the ground to summon the tower and a few seconds to turn it into the Engine!''

 Chapter 3289 There Be Dragons (Part 4)

    Chapter 3289 There Be Dragons (Part 4)

    ''Eph- Solus, five Awakened with the mass of Divine Beasts and cores exceeding the bright violet just tried and failed.'' Ripha replied while catching the Furies on the fly and mming them on the ground, unleashing concentric shockwaves that bought her a few seconds.

    ''We wouldn''t stand a c-'' The tremors reached the World Tree, bringing the Puppets to a halt.

    "No, no, no!" The Yggdrasill was confined to the Fringe, but they could see the area outside their domain if so they wanted. "Damn Dragonspeed!"

    There was a reason the ding of battle had ceased and the forces defending the Fringe had retreated even though they outnumbered and outmatched the invaders.

    A second sun was rising at the horizon and it was rising fast.

    The new sr disc shone with multi-colored light from the brightest white to the deepest ck. It grew wider and closer at a speed visible to the naked eye, blotting out the sky.

    When the new sun eclipsed the old one, the valley in front of the Fringe was painted in prismatic colors as sunlight bounced from scale to scale before being suffused to the ground.

    The greeds of Dragons moved through a series of Warping arrays left open by the first to arrive, crossing hundreds of kilometers with a single p of their wings. Their supersonic flight plus the arrays allowed theters to catch up with the others, giving rise to the phenomenon called Burning Skies.

    The Dragons on the front weaved more Warping arrays leading as far as they could see. They let the others in first so that fresh Dragons would take charge while they recovered their strength with Invigoration.

    With the three great countries opening their respective Gate Networks it took a Dragon from Verendi, Jiera, and any part of Garlen but one step to reach the borders with Chl.

    From there, Dragonspeed did the rest.

    Just a handful of seconds had passed since Radoghorn''s mes had died but ruin was already knocking on the World Tree''s door. The iing Dragons didn''t care about Solus, the Ears, or Lith.

    They hade the avenge the Father of Fire and watch the Yggdrasill burn. The greeds of Dragons wouldn''t leave until the Fringe was turned into ashes or the spark of thest of them went out.

    ***

    "What do you want to do, son?" Radoghorn asked. "The Tiamat is still alive and we are still here. We can go back if you want. We can still fight!"

    The Champion of Fire clenched his fist, releasing violet mes from his hand, white ones from his mouth, and emerald mes from his heart.

    "You would do that for me, Father?" In the Mindscape, Valtak''s soul bore the appearance the Elder Wyrm had during his prime.

    That of an adult Fire Dragon with ruby scales and no beard. His body brimmed with the energy of youth and he felt like he could breathe Origin mes for months before needing to rest.

    "What a stupid question." Radoghorn snorted. "I came back to help you and I''m not leaving until you are done. This is your fight, Whelp, and it will end only on your terms."

    Two sets of ck chains coiled around the Fire Wyrms, offering them power and another chance on the battlefield.

    "It''s over, Dad." Valtak pped the chain clinging to him and it shattered into sparks of ck light. "I''m done."

    "Are you sure?" Radoghorn moved his eyes from his son to his chain. "The Hatchling is still not done. His princess still needs rescue. Together, we can help him."

    "No, we can''t." Valtak shook his head. "If our brethren see us, if they see me, the fire of their revenge would go out. They could just drag Lith outside to safety to keep me undead or maybe even attack him for desecrating my soul with his weird necromantic powers.

    "If I''m gone, instead, they can only me the World Tree. A touch of Dragon scales will tell them that Lith''s grief is no lesser than theirs. That he didn''t want me to die. That will make them oath brothers."

    As Valtak talked, Radoghorn nodded for him to continue.

    "Besides, I bet that Mom is already pissed off at us big time. I''ve refused to meet her for months now and you stood her up toe here. It''s better not to make her worry longer. Mom must be worried sick."

    "You''ve thought of everything, child." Radoghorn patted Valtak''s shoulder as heughed. "Damn, you are much smarter than me. Let''s go, then. You first. If Tharma is busy babying you, she won''t pay attention to me.

    "By the time she is done stuffing you with food and you two catching up, most of her fury will be spent." The two Wyrms slowly faded through Mogar''s veil toward the beyond.

    "What if after all that Mom is still angry?" Valtak chuckled.

    "Don''t worry about me, Whelp." The Champion of Fire tutted. "I''ve learned how to tune her out and nod long before you were born."

    ***

    The iing wave of Dragons shrunk their size to that of a bird to quickly pass through the Chaos Dimension. They charged past the safety of Tezka''s spells and spread out far away enough not to hinder those behind them before reverting to their full height.

    The temperature of the Fringe rose with every Wyrm who stepped in, bringing their fire with them. Daylight paled in front of the radiance released by hundreds and hundreds of Dragons brimming with power and spells.

    "Valtak!" Quashol refused to believe hismunication amulet until he entered the Fringe and his eyes spotted the Father of Fire''s corpse drenched in a pool of his own blood. "You fool! You idiot! How dare you leave me alone?"

    "He''s dead. He''s really dead." Irk, Father of All the Storm Dragons could barely contain his fury. "Our brother is dead!"

    "Make the Yggdrasill''s screams be Valtak''s dirge, my children!" Ananta''s roar joined the others. "Send the Yggdrasill and their precious elves to apany our fallen brother in his final journey. Kill them all!"

    The Dragon Patriarchs and Matriarchs took point, followed by their honor guards.

    Thunderous clouds and violent winds apanied the Storm Dragons as their aura spread through the Fringe. Dreadwing shifted the Origin mes of the ck Dragons from darkness and back, allowing them to prate any barrier.

    The Ice Dragons robbed the heat of everything they touched and added it to their inner fire, keeping themselves warm. Their Origin mes left frostbite on their victims instead of burns and made the hardest of steel as brittle as ss.

    Yet none of that worried the World Tree.

    No kind of Origin mes was more dangerous than the Fire Dragons'' Primal Spark and despite their powerful bloodline abilities, the neerscked the defence of the Golden Dragons.

    It would take but one well-ced spell to kill a Dragon, one Tower Tier Spell to kill a Patriarch, and one anti-Guardian spell not blocked by a Bastion to decimate their greeds.

    As long as the world energy was under the Yggdrasill''s control, breathing techniques, bloodline abilities, and elemental spells had their efficiency halved. Even after the world energy entered the body of a Divine Beast, the will of the World Tree remained. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 3290 Apex (Part 1)

    Chapter 3290 Apex (Part 1)

    Due to the influence of the World Tree over the world energy, mana organs could only process it with extreme difficulty. It even resisted the pull from the mana cores when Awakened used their breathing technique and the attempts to mix world energy with pure mana to conjure any form of magic.

    Only Spirit Magic was immune to such effects but it was mana expensive and recovering with Invigoration took longer than usual.

    Those near Nandi and Lith didn''t suffer from the Yggdrasill''s influence, the world energy surrounding them was purified respectively by the bio-crystals and the Apprentice Hands, but they numbered too few to matter.

    The arrival of more greeds of fresh Wyrms just prolonged the time the World Tree would need to get rid of the pests swarming their dominion.

    Yet that only applied as long as the world energy was under the Yggdrasill''s control.

    With each Dragon that flew through the Chaos Dimension unimpeded, Mogar felt the tipping of the scales of the battle. The World Tree didn''t suffer from pain and hunger anymore and their troops coordinated to cast dozens of anti-Guardians spells at the same time wlessly.

    Yet on the other side, there were enough Divine Beasts to counter each Annihtion with a Bastion, providing cover for the seven-beast units behind them tounch a counter-offensive.

    The number of spells employed by both sides increased by the second and the power unleashed inched closer to that of two Guardians with each Dragon joining the fray. The cracks in the sky widened, spreading further and further as if the heavens were just a reflection on a huge mirror and someone was throwing stones at it.

    ''Don''t falter!'' The World Tree constantly rearranged their troops to contain the tide of enemies breaking against lines of Golems and possessed elves. ''Fight like there''s no tomorrow because if we lose, there won''t be one!''

    Arrays, Tower Tier spells, Wood Golems, and deep violet-cored elves worked like clockwork under the Yggdrasill''s guidance.Their goal was to kill the Divine Beasts before the strength of the two sides matched and the Fringe crumbled.

    Were they to seed, victory would belong to the World Tree.

    When thest group of Wyrms entered and the Fringe held, the Yggdrasill felt confident.

    Then, theters from Verendi arrived, quickly followed by the Dragons from Jiera.

    The Fringe shattered and was instantly reced by a bigger one. It sealed the World Tree and their enemies inside, leaving them no way out but also freeing Tezka from the need of keeping Chaos Dimension fixed in the same ce.

    New world energy flooded the newly formed Fringe, filling the invaders with its pure, untainted power and diluting the Yggdrasill''s influence to irrelevance.

    "Finally!" Baba Yaga drew upon the power of Mogar with avid gulps, her whole body and tower starving for world energy after being denied by World Tree.

    The Red Mother''s body split into three separate beings: the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone.

    "What''s the point?" Aylen asked while waiting for her body to regenerate after one lucky Tower Tier spell had pulverized her. "You only have one tower."

    "Because I only need one, you runt!" The three women were all Baba Yaga and they spoke as one.

    The Mother stood in the middle, her mature and fully developed body acting as the base. She absorbed the Maiden first, gaining from her the vigor and never-ending energy of youth.

    The Mother now looked much younger, her body was back to the prime of her early twenties. Then, she assimted the Crone, inheriting her muscle memory and battle experience without the burden of her weathered body.

    The processsted one second, revealing Baba Yaga''s true form as a white core, the one she used to challenge the Guardians in order to protect one of her children.

    Like the Traughen, she had six hands, each one of a different elemental color as a testament to her full elemental affinity and mastery over magic. Unlike them, however, her head bore three faces, each with brilliant emerald eyes.

    It was the apex of the Odi race. Someone capable of facing the present while learning from the past and being wary of the tides of the future.

    The form of Asura.

    Bloodhaven feasted on the now-abundant world energy and reshaped itself after its master to reach its true battle form. The featureless wooden puppet developed two more sets of arms and three faces.

    Each one of Bloodhaven''s hands wielded a different weapon. A sword, a mace, a shield, a spear, a staff, and an ax.

    As she weaved her spell with body casting, the runes belonging to each element appeared on the corresponding arm of the tower and remained there after the spell was cast.

    Bloodhaven now only needed to touch two fingers from two different hands to cast a tier five spell. Three hands were needed for a Tower Tier spell instead. Spirit Magic was cast from here her eyes that were now filled with string of runes.

    When two or more eyes stared at the same target, the proper runesbined to instantly form any Spirit Spell the Asura needed.

    Bloodhaven broke through a seven-man unit of Golems, her weapons cleaving, stabbing, smashing and blocking at the same time without hindering each other. A second unit of Golems unleashed an Annihtion at her but to no avail.

    Her hands formed six extremities of a seven-pointed star with her headpleting the magic circle necessary to conjure Silverwing''s Bastion. Once the attack was spent her arms formed the Big Dipper and the Bastion tuned into an Annihtion, vaporizing the exhausted Golems asunder. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The fuck?" Aylen and Silverwing said in unison. "How do you do that?"

    "Beats me, you runts!" The Asura said while mowing down Wood Golems like ripe wheat. "I discovered this form on my own soon after gaining the white core, just like Valeron the First did. I thought you guys couldn''t manifest your real strength as well due to the World Tree''s influence.

    "You can''t possibly be so na?ve to believe that a mana core is just more power and regeneration. You must be ying dumb to hide your strength."

    "I thought that too at first." Sinmara screeched in joy as her body brimmed with mana and darkness for the first time since she had entered the Fringe. "It took me a few fights to realize Aylen ispletely oblivious of her true form."

    "Then tell me how to tap into my true power!" Lochra yelled.

    "I have no idea either." Surtr replied. "Divine Beasts shed their old body upon acquiring the white core so there''s no need for special training. Even Thrud ascended into a Golden Griffon without any help."

    As the human white cores cursed Mogar''s unfairness, different greeds of Dragons joined their forces, forming two lines of seven-beast units. The first line conjured a Bastion to cover the advance while the back row unleashed a searing wall of white mes in their wake.

    Primordial mes were more destructive than any spell below the Tower Tier and took a minimal toll on a Wyrm. By alternating the consumption of mana and a spark of life force, the Dragons inflicted maximum damage upon their enemies with minimal effort.

 Chapter 3291 Apex (Part 2)

    Chapter 3291 Apex (Part 2)

    ''This is our chance!'' Lith and Solus thought in unison. ''The battle isn''t split between the strike and the decoy team anymore. The Yggdrasill has to cover the entire space around them or be burned to a crisp.

    ''On top of that, the World Tree has to use what''s left of the shattered arrays'' energy sparingly. Once all the runes are spent, no more Tower Tier spells and no time to umte the necessary mana to cast arrays of that magnitude.''

    With the old Fringe gone and waves of pure world energy filling the new one, the Divine Beasts and Eldritches felt like a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

    Their powers were back to their full strength and the Fringe nourished them past their limits. The neers greeds of Dragons coordinated with the Fire and Golden Dragons and attacked the World Tree from every side.

    They all shared the wrath for Valtak''s death and became more enraged every time another Wyrm fell into battle.

    To deal with the ming onught, the Yggdrasill rearranged their forces to cover the perimeter of their main body, forming advanced, middle, and rear lines of Wood Golems and elves.

    Even though keeping Solus from escaping was still a priority, survival topped that. The number of Divine Beasts now matched that of the Golems and if a formation were to crumble, there would be no time to rearrange the others before it was toote.

    The Dragons would exploit the opening for a pincer attack while the second line of Wyrms would take their time to find and kill the Puppets controlling the Golems for good.

    To keep the situation from spiraling out of control, the Tree was forced to leave only a few handfuls of thralls to guard the exit in front of Solus.

    ''Forcing Elphyn in the open now would be a liability. I have to box her in!'' The Yggdrasill had its bark grow at a speed visible to the naked eye, closing the hollow leading inside their trunk.

    Long vines sprouted from every side, forming a tight that would slow down any escape attempt until the exit was sealed shut.

    ''It''s now or never!'' Lith said via the mind link as he and the others weaved a Chaos Annihtion.

    Without the need to keep the world energy free from the will of the World Tree, Lith could focus the full power of the Hands to enhance the strength of his allies and use whatever was left to cast another Ruin.

    Weaving a de Spell required a lot of focus that he didn''t have during a life-or-death battle, but even in its sealed state, the Mouth of Menadion could do that for him.

    ''We need to distract the Golems if we want to give Solus a chance to escape.'' Vastor said. ''Release suppressive fire ording to my instructions!''

    The Master was the one with the most experience in using and coordinating anti-Guardian spells. After all, it took seven violet-cored Awakened to cast a single Annihtion whereas the Eldritch-hybrids could do it on their own.

    The group charged forward while unleashing five Chaos Annihtions aimed at the space between the Wood Golems. If they dodged it, their formation would crumble. If they took it in full, they would be severely damaged and be incapable of holding their ground until their wounds healed.

    ''Mogar almighty!'' The World Tree had just enough Golems to cast two Bastions so they had no way to stop the remaining three without incurring in massive losses. ''Dodge while keeping your Spirit Barriers up and restore formation the moment the spells fade!'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''It''s now or never!'' Menadion said via the mind link when the Eyes projected the estimated trajectory of the Annihtions in front of her.

    Lith could see Solus'' position at every moment thanks to his homing instinct and he shared it via the When All Are One array. The old Professor had aimed the anti-Guardian spells to either side of the closing exit and above.

    Far away enough to not put Solus in danger but close enough to the exit topromise its structural integrity.

    Ripha''s Demoncked the strength to cast an Annihtion but thanks to the cover fire she had no need for it. A Howling Hunger focused at the center of the opening ripped the still-hardening vines to shreds and created a hole big enough to allow a petite woman passage in the leg of the Golem blocking her way.

    The moment Ghar''mar ''Spare Parts'' Riverflow stepped in front of the First Ruler of the mes, Ripha didn''t hesitate to kick the elf in the back with all her strength while reinforcing the blow with a powerful wind st.

    The air spell cushioned the brunt of the damage while preserving the full momentum of the kick, turning the Librarian into a living projectile flying close to the ground.

    The hole closed right after Spare Parts'' passage but Menadion''s Demon body could take any shape she wanted and so did her equipment. She slithered through the small spaces between the vines like water flowing through a sieve.

    Then, Ripha reformed her humanoid form and pped her wings to catch up with the elf as fast as she could.

    ''Solus is finally out, but this is far from over.'' Lith and the others had to cross the distance separating them from the elf on foot not to offer an easy target to the Tower Tier spells raining from above. ''I''m about to cast Ruin again so give me what Life Maelstrom you have left.''

    ''Are you kidding me?'' Vastor and Orion stood on Lith''s shoulders and his request bbergasted them.

    ''We have just cast an anti-Guardian spell and even with one head constantly usingInvigoration I have yet to recover. How can you still have that much mana left?'' The Master asked.

    ''That''s not the real question.'' Orion felt dizzy due to mana abuse. ''I''m the only one who has cast two de Tiers spells and the power cores of my equipment are barely functional. Even inside a Fringe, they need time to recharge.

    ''How are you going to fight if your equipment runs out of power in the middle of the battle, Lith?''

    ''Don''t ask questions you know I won''t answer and trust me.'' Lith replied.

    The concerns of his allies were reasonable, but only because they weren''t aware he was wielding the Hands of Menadion. The artifact fueled his spells and equipment and hastened their recovery.

    ''No problem.'' Fyrwal and Tessa sent a jolt of silver lightning each, quickly followed by a dumbfounded Orion.

    They kept for themselves just enough to preserve their peak strength during the iing battle and guarantee their survival in case they were forced to retreat.

    ''Touch the ground, now!'' Solus ordered Ghar''mar and the elfplied.

    She brushed the grass on the fly, dropping Solus'' ring.

    The tower started to take form below the ground and the Librarian felt her body brimming with new power.

    ''This is amazing!'' She received information about the various floors of the tower and their abilities became her own the moment they manifested. ''We can do this! We really can!''

    ''Shut up! You are going to jinx it.'' Ripha replied, well aware of how quickly and easily the situation might turn against them again.

 Chapter 3292 Desperate Gamble (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3292 Desperate Gamble (Part 1)

    Even without the corruption left by the Bleed, the tower had full ess to the world energy of the Fringe. It empowered not only the elf, but also the Menadion Set Ripha

    wore.

    The First Ruler of the mes didn''t have to worry about putting strain on Solus'' life force anymore and could push the various pieces of the set to the limits of their current form.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Menadion activated the Furies'' Flight ability of her hammers, clearing Spare Parts'' flying path from the deep violet-cored elves. She used the Mouth to cast spells non-stop and the Hands to fuel them, drawing attention away from the escaping Librarian.

    ''I can''t manifest the Prime Engine without revealing the tower''s existence. Solus inwardly cursed. Yet don''t worry, Ghar''mar, I''m right by your side every step of the way.'' Powerful spacepressing arrays epassed the area near the World Tree and kept Solus from Tower Warping. She could only dig her way through the ground with earth magic and keep the tower as close as possible to the elf.

    Their lives were intertwined and what happened to one of them would reflect upon the other. The silver lining of that situation was that, thanks to the corruption spread by the Bleed, at close range the tower exerted absolute control over the world energy.

    It made Solus and Spare Parts akin to dimensional mages and allowed them to manipte the flow of Mogar''s breath to their advantage just as the World Tree had done until a few seconds ago.

    ''Step one!'' Solus activated the defensive protocols of the tower to conjure the Anvil of Menadion around the Librarian''s body.

    The enchanted stone armor fused with Spare Parts'' equipment, boosting her physical abilities and further increasing her speed.

    ''Step two!" From below the ground, the tower kept growing in size and turning into its battle form.

    ''What about step three? The elf asked, feeling the Prime Engine moving just a few meters below her, humming with power.

    "That''s for when we get out of the spacepressing array. Solus replied. ''Keep moving and help me weave a few spells.''

    At the same time, Ripha covered their backs, fighting like a god of war.

    She now had a body superior to the one she had in life and bloodline abilities thatplemented it to perfection. On top of that, with the Master Set fueled by the tower, she could tap into its true potential.

    Thanks to the Ears, Menadion perceived every attack and spell before they even started. Awakened and true mages relied on fusion magic while fighting, generating a mana flow

    through their bodies that the Ears could track.

    Ripha dodged physical attacks with minimal movements and Dominated the enemies'' spells, turning them against each other. The artifact made it easy for her to find the focus points of mana and willpower even amid the chaos of battle.

    The attention of the World Tree was too scattered all over the Fringe to resist Ripha''s influence. Turning the Chroniclers into Puppets ensured their obedience but it also left the Yggdrasill to control his now-mindless drones one by one.

    Menadion, instead, could focus on the most powerful spells of the bunch and imbue them with the extra manaing from the Hands. In its unsealed form, the Mouth kept. active the runes of the spells it stored once they were cast.

    When weaving new spells, Ripha used those runes to shorten her cast time by half. She harried Golems and elves ahead of Solus'' path, drawing attention to herself and punishing those who dared ignore the Ruler of the mes with a Davross hammer to the head.

    ''Don''t fall for Menadion''s provocations! The World Tree''s order resounded inside the Awakened elves'' minds. ''She''s just a diversion. Stop the traitor Ghar''mar Riverflow at all costs!''

    Lith and Solus closed the distance separating them by the second, with the Tiamat''s group nearing the spacepressing array and the Librarian attempting to escape its boundaries.

    ''We are running out of mana!'' Tessa warned the others.

    Even with one of her extra heads constantly using Invigoration, Chaos Annihtion consumed a lot of energy. Keeping it active for more than one instant cost several times more due to the stress the anti-Guardian spell put on its caster''s body.

    ''Once we lose the Annihtions'' protection, the World Tree is going to beat us to a pulp again and we can''t hope for another miracle rescue. We need a n, and fast!''

    ''I have a n.'' Lith threw caution to the wind and drew a deep breath as the others followed his lead. Just do as I do and ask no questions.''

    Feathered wings bloomed from everyone''s back, drawing in the world energy with astounding speed. The colored feathers split the world energy into its singleponents and turned them into their corresponding Cursed Element.

    Then, they reassembled the six Cursed Elements together and added a spark of the Tiamat''s life force, generating Dread mes.

    ''I really didn''t want to share this, especially with Vastor, but at this point, I have no choice left. Lith thought in a corner of his mind to ensure that no one would hear it.

    "This... This is perfection! The Master had no such care.

    He experienced with his body, with his very life force and mana core how the perfect. bnce between Cursed Elements was supposed to feel. How life and death could

    harmonize with each other and coexist peacefully.

    Not just Chaos and Decay, but also Zero, Cinder, Corruption, and Choke. They didn''t fight over Lith''s life force, quite the contrary. They protected it. The spark of life force was what allowed them to interact with each other without returning to their natural

    state.

    ''Not quite.'' Lith replied. ''Clench your teeth. This is going to hurt.''

    The five people under the When All Are One array had seven heads each and all of them hurled a jet stream of Dread mes. Thirty-fiveser-like silveryets streaked

    through the air, destroying everything in their path.

    One hit was enough to st a Wood Golem into splinters and short-circuit its enchantments, preventing it from regenerating. While the blue mes craved wanton destruction and aimed to spread from one victim to another, Dread mes moved with purpose and struck like a surgical tool.

    They would focus on their target and unleash their power until there was nothing left.

    The zing silveryets pierced through the iing volley of Tower Tier spells, knocked down Golems, and disrupted the elven magical formations, opening a path out of the Yggdrasill''s array field for Solus.

    ''What an amazing power! Why didn''t we use your Dread mes sooner?'' Orion suddenly fell on his knees, coughing his lungs out.

    He felt like his whole body had been cut to pieces and sewn back together with a rusty needle by a drunken tailor. If Orion and Vastor weren''t standing on Lith''s shoulder, they would have stumbled and curled on the ground in fetal position.

    Tessa and Fyrwal fared no better, forcing the Tiamat to lift them from their waists and

    carry them like luggage.

    ''Is that enough as an answer?'' Lith replied, managing to endure the pain and push forward only thanks to the power of the Apprentice Menadion Set.

 Chapter 3293 Desperate Gamble (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3293 Desperate Gamble (Part 2)

    I never got to practice Dread mes because they take an immense toll on my life force.'' Lith said. I was nning on doing it with Valtak''s help, but there was an... ident that forced him to rest.''

    ''After Kami rescued me and my life forces merged to perfection, controlling the Dread mes is easier but that was just two days ago and I spent most of them nning this gods-damned raid.

    I knew how to release and control one burst of Dread mes, but I never attempted seven of them at the same time. It was a dangerous gamble but there was no other choice and it paid off.'' He pointed at Solus'' iing light.

    There was nothing the World Tree could do to stop her and they knew it.

    I have lost all my Chroniclers, many of my libraries have been burned down by Verhen''s Demons, and I''ve drawn the animosity of most of Leegaain''s Brood. I haven''t sacrificed so much and suffered like a dog just to lose everything." The Yggdrasill was backed into a

    corner.

    With Solus getting close to Lith and his Golems losing ground to the Wyrms due to the Tree''sck of focus the situation had gotten desperate.

    ''I hate gambling because fate is a fickle mistress, but at least this way I still have a chance at victory!"

    There were only three eight-man units of Golems near the World Tree''s trunk and many of the constructs were down. The burning pieces of their bodies were scattered on the ground, incapable of regenerating themselves until the World Tree managed to smother the Dread mes consuming them.

    Yet there were still enough Golems to cast a Silverwing''s Annihtion and aim it at Ghar''mar.

    ''Please, like I didn''t see this happen from a kilometer away!" Solus conjured the Bastion she kept at the ready, shielding the elf.

    Then, a second Annihtion came from across the battlefield from a rear unit. The other seven Golems were distant and attacking meant leaving themselves open to a counterattack, but the Yggdrasill was willing to risk it.

    ''Mage tower here, baby!'' Solus grunted, conjuring the second Bastion she had prepared. Controlling two anti-Guardian spells at the same time while bonded to a bright blue-cored host took a toll on Solus, but with the Heart floor''s and Spare Parts'' help, she managed.

    Char''mar''s mana was depleted so fast that she lost control of her flight spell, tumbling on the ground for a couple of seconds before the tower restored enough of her strength to take off again.

    ''Warn me the next time you pull a stunt like that! I almost broke my neck in the fall!" ''How was I supposed to know I''d need to conjure-Shit!'' Solus used the data she received from the Ears to partially ovep the two Bastions by harmonizing their mana flows. The affected area surpassed the hardness of a single Bastion and made up for the Librarian''s bright blue core. Yet it wasn''t enough to stop the third Annihtion that the World Tree conjured on their own from the runes of the shattered arrays.

    Tower Tier spells consumed a lot of energy and anti-Guardians spells required over three times as much. It was the reason the Yggdrasill had not used them until thatn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    moment.

    The World Tree had umted enormous amounts of mana through centuries of preparations and stored it in the form of arrays, but if used recklessly, even that much mana would run out sooner rather thanter.

    When that happened, the Yggrasill would no longer have a might on par with a Guardian. Not without the full control over the world energy of the Fringe and no arraywork to enact their will.

    At that point, the World Tree would be reduced to a very big, very sturdy tree with droves of fanatical followers and a penchant for knowledge.

    The battle with the Dragons was far from won and the Suncater now led the charge which was all more the reason to risk it..

    Thebined strength of the Annihtions struck Solus'' Bastions, breaking through her defenses almost instantly.

    It still bought Ripha enough time to put herself in front of the iing onught and unleash all of her spells and hammers. The Furies broke and the mana of the First Ruler of the mes was overpowered, buying Solus but a fraction of a second.

    Menadion consumed her own body, detonating most of the power Lith had granted her with Balkor''s spell to shield her daughter.

    ''If I use it all, I''ll be forced to move on and even if Epphy survives I won''t be able to help her. I''ll keep just enough to revive myself.'' She thought.

    The self-destruction spellpressed her life force and mana to the extreme but the explosion never happened. Ripha''s figure was swallowed by the Annihtions and herst-ditch effort snuffed out like a candle on a birthday cake.

    As the Menadion Set reformed inside the tower, it took Solus a split second to realize what was going to happen.

    Thebined strength of the anti-Guardian spells was going to kill Ghar''mar and then Solus would be next. Three Annihtions were powerful enough to destroy the tower and without a host to protect her, Solus would be either killed by the congration or imprinted by one of the Tree''s roots.

    She had the Prime Engine emerge from the ground and wrap itself around the Librarian. The anti-Guardian spells struck while she was still closing the Engine''s arms around Ghar''mar. The tower''sbat form was cut in half, everything from its chest to the hips turned into debris.

    Solus activated all the barriers and arrays she could muster,pressing the Engine into a dense sphere around Ghar''mar to focus her defenses to the extreme.

    As the Prime Engine was torn apart and its fragments ground to dust by the prismatic pirs of mana so did Solus'' body. The agony she suffered eclipsed everything she had endured until that day, but at least her host was safe.

    True to her name, Spare Parts unwillingly exchanged her life for Solus.

    When the damage Solus received exceeded what the tower could repair, the artifact burned and consumed the elf''s life force to buy itself a second wind. A bright blue core wasn''t enough to rebuild the tower from scratch but by sacrificing the host the tower kept Solus alive.

    The tower used its lifeless fragments to fend off the Annihtions and focused all the energy drawn from the host into the smallest fragment that could contain Solus''

    essence.

    A small, weathered stone full of cracks no different from the one Lith had found in the Trawn woods sixteen years ago except for its size.

    Back then Solus was barely alive so a pebble could do. Now the tower had to preserve her human body and memories, requiring a fragment as big as a hunting cabin but still a particle of dustpared to the surrounding storm of mana.

    ''We have to get away!''Vastor stared in horror at the iing st. I''m sorry, Lith but Solus is dead. There is no point in joining her.''

    Lith had created a straight path for Solus to reach him and the World Tree had exploited it to get rid of them both in one fell swoop.

 Chapter 3294 Her Name (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3294 Her Name (Part 1)

    ''Vastor is right.''Orion sent his thoughts amid a coughing fit. Even if somehow Solus is still alive after being struck by three Annihtions, there''s nothing we can do to save her. Tessa and Fyrwal knew about the tower and how hard killing Solus was but they were out of strength. If the World Tree''s spells hit them, Solus might survive but the Hydra and the Titania would die.

    ''I know. Time to go.'' Lith nodded and the five Awakened used the link of the When All Are One array to instantly cast a Warp Steps that would carry them to a safe distance. When the Steps appeared, four Blinked through it and one Blinked forward.

    Lith could still see Solus'' light shining amid the blinding radiance of the Annihtions. He could still feel her presence approaching as the stone fragment rode the shockwave of the anti-Guardian spells.

    ''What the ''Before Vastor could finish the thought, Lith closed the Warp Steps and unleashed his de Tier Spell, Ruin.

    ''You can''t help her, but I can.'' He thought. As long as Solus lives, I''ll never leave her side!" Without the When All Are One array, Lith lost the six extra heads, the Titania''s regenerative abilities, Vastor''s core, and Orion''s protection but he still retained the Life Maelstrom they had bestowed upon him.

    On top of that, now he could use the full scope of the Menadion Set without the risk of exposing its existence.

    Wreathed in silvery mes, Ruin drained what energy was left inside Lith''s equipment, turning it into an inert mass of metal. Only Ragnar?k endured and only because its quasi-willpower refused to surrender.

    Lithbined the power of the four pieces of the Menadion Set and Life Maelstrom to enhance Ruin to the extreme. The silvery lightning increased the de Spell''s

    destructive power tenfold, the Eyes spotted Solus'' fragment in the storm, and the Ears allowed Lith to read the mana currents.

    Once the de Spell was unleashed, Lith used it not to sh with the Annihtions but to cut through them. He focused Ruin''s mana flow into a thin beam and sent it through the weak spots of the energy wave standing between him and Solus.

    The Hands constantly injected Ruin with new power while Lith''s talons nted in the ground gave his body the strength to withstand his own spell. Abomination Touch drained life force and world energy from the Fringe, using it to close his wounds as fast as they opened.

    The mere pressure of the Annihtions was enough to make Lith''s eyes, nose, and cars bleed. Sparks of wild energy that deviated from the Ears'' calctions were blocked by

    the Spirit Barrier of the Mouth since the Voidwalker armor was depowered.

    Lith couldn''t block or dodge the sparks without risking losing control of Ruin and the thin safe area it created. Most of the wild energy bounced off the barrier but the stronger ones pierced through it and Lith''s flesh.

    Darkness fusion stopped the pain and light fusion the bleeding. The fragments of the broken armor remained on the ground and the open wounds exposed to more

    punishment.

    Lith endured it all, refusing to move from his position. The Eyes showed him the roots of the World Tree spreading all around the predicted area of impact, waiting for the fragments of the tower to fall in order to imprint one.

    You have your n, fucker, and I have mine.'' He thought as the remaining power of the Annihtions faded out and the rock carrying Solus'' essence emerged from the storm. The Master Ears had allowed her to identify and ride the weakest energy currents of the anti-Guardian spells ande out with as little damage as possible but she had been hurt nheless.

    The rock fragment was full of cracks and the Bleed depleted. Solus had barely the strength left to remain conscious and keep steering the fragment she inhabited. Without a host, she couldn''t process the world energy properly and there was no source of life force to heal the wounds she had suffered. The tower''s self-repair spells couldn''t keep up with the destruction caused by the Annihtions and the energy gained from Ghar''mar''s death had already been consumed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That and the anti-Guardian spells blinding Solus'' mystical senses were the reasons she didn''t expect to find Lith right in front of her.

    ''Gods, no! I have to stop!'' The attempt made her drift in and out of consciousness with no consequence for her trajectory.

    The tower fragment reached the Tiamat, piercing through his exposed chest like a bullet. His scales bent and cracked before giving way. The rough edges of the stone cut through his skin and shattered his ribs before rupturing his left lung.

    Then, the stone bullet punctured Lith''s heart and finally stopped.

    A fountain of blood several meters high gushed out of the hole in his chest and the Tiamat''s knees bent as his eyes rolled back.

    Meanwhile, the World Tree used their breathing technique, Root Cause, to give sentience to every flower and de of grass and use them as their eyes and ears. As soon as a tower fragment touched the ground, the Yggdrasill detected its exact position. The nearest root to the point of impact emerged from below and wrapped itself around the stone debris, injecting it with a spark of the World Tree''s mana.

    The imprint process started and failed. Another energy signature had already imed Menadion''s tower.

    Thest beat of Lith''s heart had also carried a spark of his mana and life force, imprinting the stone fragment. As soon as their bond had been restored, a mind fusion had filled the gap in their shared mind since the moment they had been separated. They witnessed each other''s pain and hardships. They felt guilty for leaving the other alone in their moment of need. They also felt anger toward the one who had separated them, forcing them to struggle alone against what they would have easily ovee together.

    Among the many horrible memories of Solus'' imprisonment, one struck Lith the hardest. It regarded the torture she had endured after her second failed escape attempt. Back then, the World Tree had forced the name Elphyn Menadion upon her.

    To Lith, it was as if the Yggdrasill had spat upon the seventeen years they had spent together. As if the Tree had desecrated every good and bad moment the two of them

    had shared.

    "Her name..." Lith''s knees were still bent and his body leaned backward from the impact, yet he was still standing. It was as though gravity itself refused to touch him. "Is..." The gushing blood turned into stone and went back where it belonged. The tower fragment reshaped itself into a beating heart while collecting the real heart''s fragments and sewing them together at its core.

    "Solus!" The Tiamat straightened himself up and unfurled his wings, digging his talons deep into the ground as what looked like a sandstorm enveloped him.

    A bright violet aura surged from his body, reaching for the sky in a light pir that called

    forth lightning.

    "They have once again fused but that''s of little consequence.'' The World Tree thought as Soul Vision showed them Lith''s life force and mana increase by the second.

 Chapter 3295 Her Name (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3295 Her Name (Part 2)

    "They are both on theirst leg and their bond allows me not to hold my punches anymore. Maybe their touching reunion made Verhen forget that the tower''s priority is preserving Elphyn''s life but I haven''t.

    I''ve killed three of her hosts already. Maybe the fourth time is the charm.'' With a mere thought, the Yggdrasill collected several runes among those scattered in the sky and assembled them into another Annihtion.

    It was overkill but the World Tree wanted to end the conflict before more of his Golems would be destroyed. With Verhen dead and Elphyn under theirmand, the battle would finally end.

    Also, the Yggdrasill couldn''t risk another person imprinting the tower before them again. The aura of the creature born from the fusion between Lith and Solus was still rising, its body was still growing in size when the anti-Guardian spell arrived. Golden scales emerged between the ck ones, covering the red skin below.

    Another set of arms, ending with lither fingers and entirely covered in golden scales, sprouted from the fusion''s sides as its chest became wider and bigger. By the time the Annihtion arrived, two more sets of wings had just gently sprouted on the creature''s back.

    The Annihtion slowed down as soon as it entered the range of the tower''s aura, the speed of the anti-Guardian spell dropping as if it was moving underwater.

    The world energy itself turned against the spell, infiltrating the Annihtion and attempting to rece the willpower infused in it with that of the masters of the tower. The Yggdrasill felt the tug at their spell and shrugged it off with ease. The tower was a mindless object that followed pre-established protocols. It could produce a decent imitation of willpower but it was an imitation nheless.

    Then, the Annihtion entered the range of the Tiamat Fear and it slowed down again, The anti-Guardian spell seemed to be moving through tar at first, then through molten lead, andstly it stopped centimeters away from the creature.

    The World Tree felt the Tiamat Fear seep inside the anti-Guardian spell and swiftly rece their will with another. The Yggdrasill fought hard, even diverting part of their focus from the other battles to push the kill shot home.

    Yet with each millimeter of Tiamat Fear the Annihtion crossed, the Tree''s influence over the spell plummeted. It wasn''t a battle so much as a one-sided beating with the Tree''s willpower being purged by the creature''s and then kept out by the tower.

    "This doesn''t make sense.'' The Yggdrasill thought as they lost thest shred of control over the anti-Guardian spell. I know Tiamat Fear and I know Domination very well. Neither can stop a tier five spell imbued with willpower on such close range. It''s impos-''

    The answer to the Tree''s question came as the six eyes on the creature''s face rearranged themselves in a circr shape and two more opened on its forehead. Two feminine eyes shining with golden light.

    ''Mogar almighty, how could I be this stupid? How could I forget that this is nothing like the forced bond with my Librarians? There''s not just two of them now, they''ve be one!"

    Two people could still argue and would still try to aplish the same task each their own way. They could work together but that didn''t mean they would work twice as good or as fast.

    To achieve that, two people should set the "I" aside and only think and act as a "we". Something Lith and Solus had done for sixteen years and that the fusion turned from unity of intent to unity of soul, mind, and body.

    The World Tree''s first and biggest mistake was to use the Annihtion against Lith and Solus. Under normal circumstances, there was no way they could overpower the will of seven Awakened.

    Even with the help of the tower and the Ears of Menadion, they could have at best. blocked the Annihtion with a Bastion or contained its damage.

    Now, however, the anti-Guardian spell carried a single willpower.

    The runes scattered in the sky after the destruction of the permanent arrays allowed the Yggdrasill to cast spells beyond their level, but the will they carried belonged solely to the World Tree.

    With thebined powers of the tower, the Menadion Set, and the Tiamat Fear, it was easy for Lith''s and Solus'' perfectly aligned will to Dominate the Annihtion. The Eyes spotted the spell''s focus points, the Ears the fastest mana pathways for the Hands and the Fear to flood them, and Lith and Solus did the rest.

    A flick of the creature''s wrist sent the anti-Guardian spell attacking an eight-man unit of Golems from behind. It broke their formation and shattered their bodies, dispelling the Silverwing''s Bastion they had conjured to defend against a st of Primordial mes. The white fire struck weak splinters instead of powerful Golems and burned them into cinders. The pain from the fiery death of eight Puppets spread to the World Tree and the rest of their forces, tipping the scale of the battle further.

    ''What is that?'' Vastor asked as the creature born from the fusion now bore eight wings and four arms.

    ''Since when can Lith do that?'' Orion saw what he assumed to still be the Tiamat grow to 35 meters (115''), then 40 (130''), and then some more.

    ''I have no clue.'' Fyrwal lied through her teeth.

    ''It must be a bloodline ability triggered by the near-death experience. Tessa followed

    suit, setting the groundwork for the cover story they wouldter need.

    They knew of the fusion only from the bits of Solus'' life that she shared via mind links. After Silverwing''s attempt to separate her from Lith, Solus yed it close to the vest so Tessa and Fyrwal had only a vague idea of the fusion''s capabilities.

    The one thing the two Awakened knew was that they couldn''t allow anyone to suspect it even existed.

    The creature''s jaw split, revealing a second maw underneath that roared with a pitch higher than the first.

    ''I don''t know why Verhen has yet to move but I can''t miss this opportunity. Even though magic is off the table, I can still kill him with physical attacks. After what had happened to the Annihtion, the World Tree was afraid of casting new spells.

    Consuming more of the remaining power of the arrays just for it to be used against their forces was a loss the Tree couldn''t afford.

    ''Whatever they be when fused, they are still a violet core with a body slightly bigger than a regr Divine Beast." The Yggdrasill thought, not aware of what had happened during Lith''s and Solus''st fusion against the Living Legacies.

    ''I need to strike before the tower reforms. Until that moment, their union strengthens their Domination but does little else and leaves them without their precious equipment. The Voidwalker armor had be too small to cover the hybrid''s body, leaving most of it exposed. The tower was absorbing the world energy avidly to rebuild itself but had suffered critical damage and its fragments were scattered over a wide area.

    Ragnar?k was still in the creature''s ck-scaled right hand but the de looked like a short sword and its power core was still exhausted.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 3283: Made it Personal (Part 2)

    For a moment, the glowing runes in the sky stood still, giving both the decoy and strike team respite from the onught of Tower Tier spells.

    "Move!" With his opponents paralyzed and the cover fire interrupted, Lith unfolded his wings and traversed the final kilometers separating him and his group from the World Tree in the blink of an eye.

    "Wait, you bastard!" Radoghorn was still regenerating and he couldn''t afford the risk of sending Valtak alone.

    Sure, The Golems were motionless, but there was no telling how long the phenomenon wouldst. Were the colossal constructs to recover while the Father of Fire was away from both Radoghorn and Lith, Valtak''s personal mission would fail.

    "Don''t worry, Father. We can catch up with them again." The Elder Wyrm drew avid gulps of air, his lungs burning from the mere effort of keeping Radoghorn''s fighting pace. "Focus on recovering."

    Away from the ground and its nutrients, the regenerative powers he drew from the Titania would be useless and the Champion of Fire would remain crippled while he chased after Lith flying.

    "No, we can''t." Lith''s team and the two Fire Dragons had reached deep into the enemy lines. "We need to keep moving or the moment these things snap out of whatever is affecting them we''ll be surrounded and neutralized."

    Radoghorn carried Valtak on his back and ran on all fours as fast as he could. It was slower than flying but much faster than walking. I also allowed the Father of Fire to catch his breath while the Champion of Fire rebuilt his strength.

    ''I can''t believe we did it!'' Vastor raised his hand and his teammates mirrored his movements, unleashing each a tier five Chaos Spell, Howling Hunger.

    The five spells struck the shivering World Tree''s trunk at the ground level and opened as many deep holes.

    ''I can''t believe we failed to find a single fucking corridor even with a target this big!'' Tessa replied.

    The holes lead nowhere. The spells had struck some of the solid sections of the World Tree and there was only wood inside, no ess to the internalwork where Solus was trapped.

    ''This is Jirni''s doing.'' Lith said while throwing a nce at the dozens of intact yet screaming Wood Golems just a few meters behind them. ''She must have been forced to kill the elf and made it count. The problem is that whatever she did, is not going tost long. We need to find a passage and get to Solus and we need to do it now!''

    ***

    Inside the World Tree, at the same time.

    ''Epphy, stay close to me!'' Ripha spun the Fury in a circle, clearing the room of the Puppets that had surrounded them and sending them to crash against the shutter sealing the corridor.

    Then, she raised her left hand and released a tier three Chaos spell, Howling Void, from each of her fingers. Five ck pirs asrge as a small tree and as fast as a bullet struck the just-closed wall in a circr pattern.

    The First Ruler of the mes grabbed Spare Parts by the waist and charged forward. The Fury of Menadion spun faster and faster in her free hand until she threw it at the damaged wooden shutter, sting it off its hinges.

    Once on the other side, Ripha unfurled her wings again before asking.

    ''Which way now?''

    ''There!'' Ghar''mar recognized a corridor leading to the externalyer and from there straight to the Moon Elves'' vige.

    The tunnel was nted and a few details were deformed by thebination of spasms and defensive protocols of the Yggdrasill but the Librarian could still orient herself.

    All the elves working inside the World Tree knew the emergency procedures like the back of their hand and memorized the shortest routes to the exits. The Yggdrasill was in too much pain to improvise clever tricks so every change of the space inside their trunk was by the book.

    A veryplex and tortuous book that would have trapped Ripha and Elphyn Menadion if not for Ghar''mar''s help.

    Just like the elves had never expected the World Tree to resort to the Great Assimtion, the World Tree would have never expected a Librarian to guide their enemies through the maze of her own free will.

    ''How far are we from the exit?'' Solus asked.

    ''Not much.'' The Librarian replied. ''The World Tree is big, but not that big, and your mother is very fast. Please, remember your promise to spare my people and save them if possible.''

    ''I will.'' Solus nodded.

    ''And so will I.'' Menadion lied through her teeth.

    Spending over seven hundred years as a wandering soul had made her heart hard and bitter. Ripha had cursed herself and her weakness every day since she had died at Bytra''s hands.

    Standing helpless and unheard while her daughter slowly withered and lost her memories in front of her just made things worse. The First Ruler of the mes had regained a measure of peace after Lith had found Solus.

    Menadion didn''t know or trust him but at least her daughter was no longer in mortal danger. On top of that, the only silver lining to Elphyn''s condition was that, without a body, no one could touch her.

    Over time, Ripha had gotten reassured that despite his many and disturbing character ws, Lith loved and cared for Elphyn. Yet every time their bond was broken, Menadion fell back into her private hell of rage and fury.

    After the Chroniclers had kidnapped her daughter and helped the World Tree to torture and force Epphy into a ve bond with a Librarian, Menadion hade to hate every elf who lived in the Fringe as much as she hated their master.

    Ripha had witnessed every torture and listened to every threat Elphyn''s captor had made, making it her personal mission to pay every single one of them back in kind. Menadion had yed her role in convincing the Demons to attack the elven viges by sharing her story and fury with the wandering souls, yet that wasn''t enough.

    She had named Ghar''mar "Spare Parts" because that was how she perceived the female elf. Nothing but a tool, an extra life that would cover for any mistake the First Ruler of the mes made during Elphyn''s break out.

    Menadion wasn''t going to act rashly but if the asion to escape from the Yggdrasill''s clutches at the cost of the Librarian''s life arose, she would take it with no hesitation.

    Then, it would be the turn of all the elves who had stood idly while her baby girl was tormented.

    ''Soon it will be your turn, you little bastard. Soon.'' Menadion smiled, the screams of agony echoing through the corridors were music to her ears. ''First I have to bring Elphyn to safety, though. She is my priority. My only priority.''

    ''Why are you smiling, Mom?'' Solus asked.

    She was a gentle soul and despite everything she had gone through, witnessing and hearing so much pain and misery gave her no joy.

    ''Because I''m happy to be reunited with you, sweetie.'' Menadion wasn''t lying but she wasn''t telling the whole truth either. ''Can you take out the full set, Epphy? Just to be safe.''

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 3296 Rising Core (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3296 Rising Core (Part 1)

    An eight-man unit of Wood Golems charged at the hybrid from the front while another moved from the back, each construct reshaping its four arms into axes.

    A horizontal swing of Ragnar?k pruned the several extended limbs while nine tower-sized hammers knocked down as many Golems. Stone gloves with desing out of them covered the hybrid''s free hands.

    The creature used the des to defend themselves while they drew a deep breath and released a barrage of Primordial mes from their body so violent that it pushed the Golems several dozens of meters back, making their feet dig meters-deep trenches in the ground.

    Some of the axes reached their mark and opened deep wounds on the hybrid''s body but they healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The Yggdrasill constructs regenerated even faster, but that didn''t reassure the World Tree one bit.

    Not only had the hybrid survived the assault of sixteen Golems, but also the creature had be stronger after healing whereas once fully repaired the constructs had just gone back to their peak strength.

    ''It''s not some kind of Invigoration. The World Tree realized while studying the hybrid with Soul Vision. "That thing is recovering while also pushing beyond the bright violet by the second. How is that possible?''

    Nothing in the archivespiled by generations of Yggdrasills answered such a question.

    The Golems divided themselves into two lines, one defensive and the other offensive, circling their prey with perfect coordination to create an opening. Even with two minds, the hybrid still had only one head and could only focus in one direction.

    Bolts of lightning emerged from the creature''s body, reaching the fringes of the violet aura emanating from the hybrid before dissipating.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The World Tree sighed in relief when Soul Vision confirmed to them it wasn''t Life Maelstrom just to choke on that thought.

    Sure, the lightning bolts were white instead of silvery but it was still there. Deep white streaks covered the parts of the violet aura where the lightning had struck. On top of that, the edges of the hybrid''s aura now red white with growing intensity.

    When the Golemsunched their second assault, a second jolt of white energy crossed the creature''s aura, going from their body to the white-hot edges. Another white burst. reced part of the bright violet and the hybrid''s strength surged of another notch. The creature spun on itself in a whirlwind of des and hammers, sending the Golems reeling back from the impacts. The bone spike on the end of the hybrid''s tail was covered in razor-sharp stone and had joined the onught.

    The constructs had suffered more damage during the new sh whereas the creature hade out unscathed. Even worse, before the Golems could get back to their feet, a third stream of lightning painted most of the hybrid''s aura deep white, making both factions stop for a second to stare at the scene.

    How could Lith reach the white during the battle?'' Gentor the Golde Dragon thought, and he wasn''t the only one. Even if he did, why did his body develop faster than his aura? Where is the pir that is supposed toe with the enlightenment?"

    ''What''s going on?'' Menadion''s Demon body had suddenly reformed itself and had already gained its third eye. ''Where is my set of armaments and why are we still-Great Mother almighty!"

    The disappearance of the Menadion Set didn''t worry her as much as the fact that even after escaping the range of the spacepressing arrays Solus showed no intention of retreating.

    "We''re not running away, World Fucker." The hybrid said with two voices that sounded like the grinding of stones. "We''re not going to give you the time to plot against us again. This ends now!"

    The ground of the Fringe shook and the sky rumbled as the creature roared in fury.

    A fourth jolt of lightning turned their aura fully deep white and the sandstorm around them intensified.

    Lith''s mana and life force mended Solus'' wounds, regenerating the floors of the tower where her vital essence was stored. From there, the world energy entered the tower and reconnected the artifact with its debris.

    As the tower rebuilt itself, it shared part of its power with Lith to protect him and make him stronger.

    This in turn hastened Solus'' healing process and left the tower more energy to repair its floors. First, those destroyed by the World Tree and then those eroded during the centuries spent without a host.

    The energy flowed from Lith to Solus, from Solus to the tower, and from the tower to Lith in an endless cycle.

    It wasn''t the first time it happened but never before the being resulting from the fusion of the tower and its masters had ess to theplete Menadion Set, let alone unlocked.

    The Hands drew massive amounts of world energy that the Ears channeled through the mana pathways of the tower without wasting one iota of it. At the same time, the Mouth weaved the collected energy into Forgemastering repair arrays.

    The tower was no Awakened and had no ess to Invigoration, but thebined effect of the three pieces of Menadion Set produced the next best thing.

    The ck and silver of the Voidwalker armor mixed with the white and gold of the

    tower, forming a thick full suit of armor that covered the hybrid from horn to toe talon. ''So this is the Anvil of Menadion. Lith recognized the armor from Solus'' memories. ''The sixth hidden piece of Menadion Set.''

    ''More like the sum of the other five, Fury included. Remember how in the past my stone form resembled one arm protector and then split into two?'' She asked and Lith nodded. ''It must have happened because the tower retained a few runes of the Anvil but missed the full blueprint.''

    ''Which we have now.'' Lithpleted the phrase for her. ''It would be a fine addition, but who needs an Anvil when you can have the Engine?"

    The tower reshaped itself around its masters as it took its battle form, creating an enchanted exoskeleton. It still had all the powers of the Prime Engine and theplete, unlocked Menadion Set, making the armored form of the hybrid reach 50 meters (164'') of

    height.

    ''Grow as much as you want." The World Tree weaved several Tower Tier spells to avoid them being Dominated and had the two units of Golems prepare anti-Guardian spells. ''It''s just one more tower and I can deal with it like I''m doing with the rest.

    Except the Yggdrasil didn''t.

    Before they could finish the thought, the hybrid enveloped the sword in their ck-scaled right hand and the hammer in their golden-scaled left hand into two

    spheres of light.

    As the creature brought the spheres together, the Eyes studied the two weapons, the Ears their mana flow, the Mouth conjured the necessary spells, and the Hands fueled

    them.

    Thebined effects of the Workshop, the Library, the Factory, and the Heart adapted the enchantments of the tower meant to adjust the size of the Fury for the Prime Engine

    to Ragnar?k.

    Gold-veined white marble and parts of the materials stored on the various floors of the tower coated Double Edge, expanding it into an almost exact replica of the angry de that suited the armored hybrid''s size.

 Chapter 3297 Rising Core (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3297 Rising Core (Part 2)

    Almost because even though the secondyer still used Ragnar?k as a base, it also had a slot for the Fury and the ability to reproduce its enchantments on a bigger scale.

    We must finish this before someone gets close enough to notice the Prime Engine.''Lith and Solus thought in unison,manding the Mouth to start weaving their Tower de Spell, Extinction.

    The eight Golems on the front lines joined their arms and turned them into heavy Yggdrasill shields as they charged forward. The other eight in the back line shapeshifted their hands into spiked mace and advanced behind the cover of the shield bearers.

    All of them weaved their part of a Silverwing''s Annihtion, ready to unleash the anti-Guardian spells the moment the World Tree was done with their preparations. The Golems marched in perfect synch, the Puppets piloting them were extensions of the Yggdrasill and moved in tune with their will.

    On the one hand, the teamwork between the Puppets was clockwork. On the other hand, even though seven of them were required to cast an anti-Guardian spell, the willpower imbued in it would belong solely to the World Tree and if cast alone it would have been easily Dominated again.

    It was the reason the Yggdrasill couldn''t conjure the Annihtions until they were done preparing adequate cover fire.

    Unfortunately for the Tree, the hybrid wasn''t willing to wait that long.

    The hybrid bolted toward the Golems standing between them and the World Tree, conjuring a copy of Ragnar?k in each of their free hands.

    The first performed a vertical sh that severed the joints where the shields locked together, creating a path inside the enemy formation. The second and third des lunged respectively at the left elbow and the right foot of the shield-bearing Golems, where their Puppets were supposed to be safe.

    The ck crystals on the angry des'' fullers lit up, releasing a pulse of darkness magic that withered the Yggdrasill''s sprouts and killed them instantly.

    With two members of the eight-man unit dead not only were the Golems now incapable of conjuring anti-Guardian spells but also there was a hole in their previously wless formation.

    The constructs had no defense from attacksing from the opening, their sides and backs exposed. The hybrid exploited the hole they had just created viciously and moved their arms in a whirlwind.

    Lith and Solus were surrounded but none of the enemy weapons were aimed at them, an issue that the World Tree was already in the process of correcting. The hybrid stabbed four more Golems and killed the sprouts piloting them, leaving only two members of the eight-man unit alive.

    The survivors were on the opposite side of the formation, too far away to coordinate their efforts and too close to escape. The hybrid threw two copies of Ragnar?k that shapeshifted into Furies in mid-air.

    The flying hammers powered by the hybrid''s strength plus the Prime Engine sent the Golems flying off the ground, their feet away from the power line of the Yggdrasill''s roots and, more importantly, disconnecting the sprouts from the Tree''s mind.

    As long as they were on the ground, the Yggdrasill could move them like their limbs since the roots transmitted the sprouts'' perceptions to the Tree and the Tree''s will into the sprouts instantly.

    In the split second the Yggdrasill needed to conjure a mind link and regain control of their thralls, the hybrid threw the other two copies of Ragnar?k, and this time the des stayed that way.

    They pierced the right scap of one of the surviving Golems and the left side of the other, nailing the sprouts hidden inside the constructs and killing them with a surgical pulse of darkness element from the des'' ck crystals.

    ''Eight sprouts killed in a heartbeat and as many Golems neutralized!'' The Yggdrasill had no usible exnation for the hybrid''s feat and no time to find one. The silver lining is that Verhen fell for my trap.

    ''After he killed the first six sprouts so quickly, I assumed the remaining two would fare no better and diverting my focus on them would be a waste of energy. He didn''t disconnect me from my minions I simply sacrificed two pawns to kill the enemy''s king!"

    The eight-man unit of Golems behind the hybrid Blinked and surrounded Lith and Solus while they were still disarmed. The hammers were still flying away and the swords killing the sprouts.

    The constructs had their arms already raised and their hands shifted in the form of spiked maces. Their wooden bodies surged with the umted energy of their power cores, ready to unleash the enchantments the Tree had prepared for the ambush. Four more copies of Ragnar?k appeared in the hybrid''s hands and another emerged from their roaring maw along with a burst of Dread mes. Each of the four copies of the angry de found its mark, killing one sprout each.

    The original, instead, followed in the wake of the silvery fire. The pir of Dread mes knocked the Golem off its feet and burned its umted mana like gasoline.

    The construct''s enchantments imploded, opening deep cracks in the Yggdrasill wood that the silver fire used to reach deeper inside the Golem. The Dread mes wreathed Ragnar?k without harming it as the de pierced through the damaged wood to reach the sprout.

    The seven remaining Golems managed to unleash their attacks, both physical and magical, before the pulse of darkness magic killed four of them, yet they hit only air. The hybrid had already escaped the encirclement by jumping in the wake of Ragnar?k,

    passing right between two Golems before they could understand what was happening. Even in their fused form and with the help of the Prime Engine, Lith and Solus couldn''t rely on the Eyes to find the Yggdrasill''s sprouts and the World Tree knew it.

    The mass of mana of the Golems'' power cores, the cloaking enchantments, and the aura of the Yggdrasill wood were more than enough to blind any mystical sense, Soul Vision included.

    The Eyes could still read the surface level runes and decipher a spell once it was released but that was it. The Ears, however, had no such problems.

    The ancient artifact had been lost to time and had never escaped the hands of its rightful owner except that in very recent times. Even the World Tree had no idea how the Ears worked and hadn''t bothered to research the artifact.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The heir of the First Awakened had just assumed that soon they would own Menadion''s Tower and the updated full Master Set. There was no point in studying the enchantments of the Apprentice Ears, especially considering such magic was outdated for over 700 years.

    On top of that, even if the Tree did study the Ears, it would have done them no good without the unlock code.

    As for Lith and Solus, they had no idea how the Ears worked either.

    At least until Ripha Menadion had used it inbination with the Eyes while breaking Solus out of the Tree''s domain. Until the tower had taken full form, recovered the Menadion Set, and stored all the data collected about Menadion''s battle techniques in the Library.

 Chapter 3298 Full Might (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3298 Full Might (Part 1)

    Lith and Solus mimicked the First Ruler of the mes to the best of their collective abilities, using the Eyes to distinguish the mana flow of the sprouts from that of the World Tree.

    The former still bore a trace of the Chronicler''s energy signature while thetter was identical to the Yggdrasill''s. It took the Eyes but a nce to achieve that and then the Ears allowed Lith and Solus to follow that mana back to the sprouts, no matter where they were hidden.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yet due to the tremendous hardness of the thick, enchanted Yggdrasill wood of the Golems, not even Double Edge''s Davross alloy would have been enough to pierce so deep, if not for one detail that had gone unnoticed amid the chaos of battle.

    One detail that became apparent the moment the hybrid stood alone.

    The thundering storm inside the aura of the fusion between Lith and Solus was not over. The edges of their aura now red of a clear white, drawing bolts of energy from their

    cores.

    Where the lightning streaked, the dull white turned white and brought the hybrid closer to the white core level.

    Such a vision was enough to slow down the raging war in the Fringe.

    ws still struck, mystical mes burned, wooden weapons chopped flesh, and spells rained from the sky, but curiosity restrained the frenzy of both factions enough to slow the tempo of the battle of one beat.

    ''First, what? Second, the fuck?'' Ayleen, the Maker of All Liches expressed the sentiment of the majority of those witnessing the phenomenon as she unleashed her prized Mirror Magic spell, Mirror Hexagram, to conjure six pirs of Cursed Elements at once.

    With the world energy of the Fringe free from the influence of the Ygdrasill, the bright white-cored Lich wasn''t limited to Spirit Spells anymore.

    ''What is that thing? It can''t be an evolution because there was no pir and it can''t be Verhen''s secret power because why the fuck didn''t he use it earlier if he had it? Even if somehow he grasped the secret of the white core right here and now, his development speed makes no sense.

    ''It took me millennia to reach the white, then years to study my condition, and even longer to adapt my breathing technique to provide my core the massive amounts of world energy it needed to further the changes in my body.

    ''Even assuming that Verhen has a legacy that allows him to skip all of that, it takes months to go from the dull white to the white, and that if you practice umtion obsessively like a Lich. Not one damn minute!

    ''I don''t care how much talent an individual can have, this is ridiculous! The rest of the

    white cores shared her objections, even those who knew about Solus'' real nature. The broken form of Menadion fared slightly better as she rebuilt her shadow body from scratch and only because she had never left her daughter''s side and witnessed all the past fusions.

    ''What in the gods'' name have I done?'' Ripha thought. ''How far into Forbidden Magic have I pushed myself and what''s going to happen to Epphy once they go past the bright white?

    ''What if the fusion bes permanent like it happens for Living Legacies? What if their minds be so intertwined that separating them leaves Epphy mentally mutted?" Only Baba Yaga, the inventor of the Horseman technology, could fully grasp what was happening.

    "The perfect fusion between host, Horseman, and steed. The Asura clenched her six hands in excitement, moving the gaze of the Future face on her daughter, Dawn. ''Watch and learn, child. I gave you all the tools you need to achieve the same but reaching that state is up to you.

    "To you and your deranged sister.'' The Red Mother bitterly sent the message to her Horseman via a mind link, reminding Dawn how much was at stake, no matter how the fight in the Fringe would end.

    ''I know, Mother.'' Dawn shared such information with Ac who despite his shock saved his questions about Solus forter. I promise that we won''t let you down. Ac and I will achieve the perfect fusion before Night and use it to rescue our brother.''

    ''I appreciate the sentiment, but time will tell.'' Baba Yaga sighed, never stopping her relentless attack.

    ''Mogar''s wrath, I need to win this and do it fast!'' The World Tree had no time for musing, not after two units of Golems had been massacred. Two anti-Guardian spells have just been permanently removed from the board, limiting my options.

    ''I have only so many sprouts and making more won''t do me any good. To weave Silverwing''s spells takes seven bright violet cores. The sprouts had one only because they inherited the Chroniclers'' mana cores.

    ''Without a host, every sprout I generate would draw its power from me, making it a zero-sum game. I must kill Verhen before his reinforcements reach him."

    From the moment the World Tree''s Fringe had copsed, the situation had grown direr by the second but the Yggdrasill had kept their main focus on killing Lith, knowing that the moment they got their roots on the tower the battle would end.

    With no more Chroniclers, the Yggdrasill was free to imprint the stone ring and Solus telepathic means were nothingpared to the Tree''s. With the power of the full Menadion Set and the ability to cast Tower Tier Spells without consuming the umted energy of the arrays, the Yggdrasill was certain of their victory.

    Now, however, the World Tree didn''t feel so confident anymore. Without the need to hold Chaos Dimension in a fixed position, Tezka the Suneater advanced with great strides, covering hundreds of meters with a few steps. His Endless Night cut the space in its wake, cleaving Wood Golems asunder like they were made of cardboard.

    The world energy inside the boundaries of Chaos Dimension obeyed Tezka''s will, bending space and gravity so that any non-Spirit Spell wandered aimlessly without ever reaching its target.

    The Fylgja used the colossal dome to protect himself and his allies, giving them a space to safely regroup and heal themselves.

    "Our rivalry ising to an end, withered fool!" The Suneaterughed, his sword freezing space in its wake and his spells defying the knownws of dimensional magic. Zero Gates intercepted energy and matter, depriving them of heat at the molecr level. Everything that passed through the spinning blue fissuresnded on the other side as a frozen block.

    Living beings died while the trapped spells exploded the moment they started to shrug the Cursed Element off. The congrations took ce far away from their intended targets and the only damage they caused was that to thendscape.

    Everything near Endless Night''s de would freeze in ce, be it the wind, sunlight, or a Golem who had just dodged a thrust. The dimensional distortion surrounding the de locked its victims in ce for just a split second, but it was enough.

    Tezka''s allies shot the fish before they jumped out of the barrel while the Suneater kept advancing. Most of his attacks had no specific target, striking at the heart of the enemy formations whether there was someone there or not.

 Chapter 3299 Full Might (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3299 Full Might (Part 2)

    Fuck!'' Numbers offered no protection against Tezka, only disadvantages. ''If I stick my Golems close, I can use anti-Guardian spells to injure the Suneater. Yet if I do that. Tezka needs just one wide arc of his de to stop them all.

    ''If I order the Golems to spread out, Tezka can''t freeze more than one at a time but then an entire eight-man unit can''t even touch his fur! The Tree was stuck in a lose-lose situation against the Fylgja which only got worse as Tezka rescued the almost-dead Wyrms and nursed them back to health.

    "Burn the Yggdrasill, my old and new children. Burn them to the ground!" Ananta, the Mother of All ck Dragons roared as she raised the corpses spread throughout the battlefield as lesser undead.

    Dead elves and Wyrms stood up, uncaring of sunlight, and threw themselves at the enemy lines. The possessed elves found themselves fighting against their neighbors, friends, and family.

    Not only was it hard for the elves to strike at the monsters wearing familiar faces but the shock was also so intense that it weakened the Tree''s grip over their minds.

    As for the undead Dragons, they had no Origin mes or spells aside from darkness magic, but the Wyrms still had the mighty body of Divine Beasts. Divine Beasts whose strength was further enhanced, who suffered the cold no longer, and could be endlessly reborn unless their corpses were ground to dust.

    "For Valtak!" Quashol joined the now-healed Gentor and Irk, the Father of All Storm Dragons. "Let''s teach these weeds never to mess with the Brood again, brothers."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "For Valtak!" Erghak the Fire Dragon, now in charge after the Father of Fire''s death, joined the assault and so did the rest of his Brood.

    Primal Spark turned every fire into Origin mes that the Dragonsbined into Primordial mes. A tidal wave of white fire swept the battlefield, hurting the Tree''s servants without affecting the invaders.

    The Ice Dragons'' Frozen Horizon spread a cold aura that instead of lowering the temperature affected the mana inside the bodies and equipment of their enemies. With the mana flow and Fusion Magic impeded, elves and Golems found themselves stuttering.

    Frozen Horizon inflicted no damage, it clotted the usually seamless flow of mana. If left alone, the frozen mana would remain stuck and all magical abilities would be sealed. If pushed with strength, the blockage would be resolved by expelling the frozen mana which would burst. Fusion Magic would go from inactive to ten times stronger for the brief time the mana clot released its power, then go back to normal and stop again at the next clot.

    The same would happen to spells and artifacts, greatly hindering Awakened and true mages.

    Magic and fights at high levels were all about finesse and control. Being incapable of predicting how fast you would move or the strength you would put in your next step could easily have disastrous consequences.

    Spells woulde out stronger or weaker than expected, if not at all until it was toote for them to be of any use. Quashol''s bloodline was not the strongest amongst the Brood but one that few dared cross.

    The very crystals on an Ice Dragon''s body weren''t made of ice but of solid mana.

    The Golden Dragons shielded their allies from long-range spells thanks to their scales made impervious by their Golden Radiance bloodline ability while the Storm Dragons reminded the World Tree of the meaning of their name.

    As their aura spread, Skyfire conjured ck clouds that blotted out the sky. Irk''s bloodline had the ability to inject a spark of their life force not only in the air like the rest of the Wyrms but also in the water dispersed in it, bringing it to heel.

    The Skyfire bloodline ability could instantly create thunderclouds which in turn produced storms of natural lightning. Their destructive power was leagues above any form of magical lightning and no array could stop them.

    It was just rarefied water infused with the Storm Dragon''s life force and the fury of nature. Irk and his Brood couldn''t control the thunderclouds but the sparks of their life forces allowed the Wyrms to nudge the storm in the right direction and guide the bolts of lightning to specific targets.

    "Lightning never strikes the same spot twice is a false statement for humans and folly for someone made of wood, murderer." The Father of All Storm Dragons bellowed as bursts of lightning and booms of thunder robbed his allies of sight and hearing. The same happened to Irk''s enemies but they were also struck by streams of electricity that brought Golems to their knees and sted the elves off their feet. As per its name, Skyfire set its target aze and with Origin mes at that. Without the influence of the World Tree tainting the world energy and with the Yggdrasill distracted by the fusion between Lith and Solus, the hail of spells had relented enough for Leegaain''s Brood to bring their full might to bear.

    "Push forward!" Baba Yaga yelled. "With each enemy we kill, with every Golem we destroy, the battle turns in our favor. The Yggdrasill''s firepower is limited by those

    ursed runes in the sky, ours is eternal,"

    The movement of each of her six arms conjured countless elemental spells. The touch of her fingers was enough to unleash tier five spells while by positioning her hands she could instantly switch from one magical formation to another.

    Every hand acted as a focus and a point of a seven-pointed star, with her tri-faced head closing the circle. She could turn an elemental-sealing array she had just used to block a

    volley of spells into a Silverwing''s Annihtion and then into a Bastion to protect herself or her children.

    Under the aegis of the Asura, the Firstborn undead focused solely on attacking. They fought like Demons, burning every bit of their strength until they were forced to retreat inside Bloodhaven.

    There, one breath of Invigoration would restore the Firstborns'' mana and the white prism embedded in their chests turned the light element in the life force they had consumed, allowing them to resume their onught.

    "Well, shit. I feel close to irrelevance!" Ayleen cursed from Bloodhaven''s doorstep, staying close enough to her phctery to obtain its endless supply of mana and shamelessly exploiting Baba Yaga''s protection under the pretense of helping the Firstborns to get in and out.

    "It''s hard topare to a mage tower!" Surtr roared as his Breath of Light pinned his enemies to the ground and shielded his children with countless hard-light constructs. His attack was powerful and versatile, changing ording to the enemy and adapting to any situation.

    "Especially if you have no idea how to trigger your real form!" Sinmaraughed in Ayleen''s face as she activated her unique ability, Echo of Darkness.

    The shadows surrounding the white-cored Phoenix, even those of the Golems and the elves, came to life and turned into a copy of Sinmara. Each one of the Shadow Phoenixes unleashed a different tier five Spirit Spell at point-nk range upon those who carried them, making the attack impossible to avoid.

    A few tried to Blink away, but no one can get rid of his own shadow. The Echo of Darkness followed its victims and so did its spells.

 Chapter 3300 Unique Fusion (Part 1)

    Chapter 3300 Unique Fusion (Part 1)

    "And it''s going to get much, much worse for that wooden bastard, my friends." Ripha Menadion had finished reforming her body and she had sought Baba Yaga''s protection as well. "Prepare yourself, because I''m going to take this back!"

    "Ripha?" Silverwing and the Red Mother said in unison, almost interrupting their offense in a bbergasted stupor.

    Almost.

    "Master Menadion?" Sinmara and Surtr froze in mid-air, incapable of believing their own eyes.

    "The First Ruler of the mes?" Ayleen asked. "Where did you get that?"

    Only then did everyone else notice what the greedy Lich had seen at first nce.

    Ripha wasn''t just back from the dead for apparently no reason. She was also wearing her legendary full Menadion Set in the form of the Anvil. After merging with Solus and retrieving his tower, Lith had no need for the Apprentice Set and had entrusted it to Ripha.

    It shrouded Menadion from head to toe, hiding her nature as a Demon.

    "Menadion?" Hearing that voice and seeing the old Fury in the grip of herte mentor made Bytra stumble and then trip.

    At her supersonic speed, it resulted in a ruinous fall that turned the Raiju into an armored meat projectile that dug through mud and rock for hundreds of meters before stopping.

    "Ripha?" The Fourth Ruler of the mes was lying on her side in her Raiju form,pletely helpless while surrounded by mortal enemies.

    Yet she couldn''t avert her gaze from the petite figure wielding the painful reminder of her crimes. Bytra had prayed to meet Menadion again since the day Zoreth had rescued her, but she had never expected it would actually happen.

    Now that her plea had been granted, Bytra felt happiness and gut-wrenching fear. Happiness because she had the opportunity to ask her old mentor forgiveness for all the wrongs the original Bytra had inflicted upon Menadion''s family.

    Fear because Bytra knew it was unlikely she would receive it and was willing to ept any punishment Ripha deemed appropriate.

    "What the fuck is happening?" Xenagrosh didn''t like the situation one bit.

    She had already seen Solus take over Lith''s body before their trip to Verendi and after learning about the tower, the idea that there was more they could achieve together wasn''t a far-fetched exnation for the sudden apparition of the murderous giant.

    ''I knew that with how Menadion died, her bing a wandering soul was possible, but I assumed that if she were still here, she would havee out for a long while now.'' Xenagrosh thought. ''This doesn''t bode well for Byt.

    ''Menadion just needs to say a word to make Byt the most wanted woman on Mogar and rob her of what little forgiveness she has received from Solus.''

    Ripha Menadion knew of the presence of her murderer and former apprentice. She was there every time Bytra had interacted with Solus. Ripha had many things to say and even more to do to the Fourth Ruler of the mes but right now she didn''t care.

    Rescuing Solus was her first and only priority.

    "That''s none of your business, Lich." Menadion grunted at Ayleen. "Just be grateful for this experience because under any other circumstance, I would never help someone of your kind. Everyone, plunge your weapons in the ground, now!"

    With those words, Ripha raised her hammer and mmed it against the ground with all of her strength. The Eyes had collected a lot of information during the centuries and after being linked with the tower, the database had further expanded.

    ''So much for friendship.'' She thought. ''Verhen has studied and analyzed the equipment of everyone he got in contact with. I have the base schematics of this Sky Piercer dating back to its prototype version.''

    The Mouth cast the spell the moment Ripha finished creating it, the Ears guided the spell from her core to the Fury, where the Hands focused and amplified it. Then, it was injected into the vigorous flow of world energy running below Menadion''s feet and carried throughout the battlefield.

    Menadion hade close to inventing Creation Magic on her own before her demise. Later, as a wandering soul, she had the opportunity to witness Sark''s lessons and Lith''s and Solus'' experiments.

    Now, she also had ess to the Library, their fused minds, and the full Apprentice Set. Ripha had little understanding of the current Master Set. Some enchantments were different from those she had Forgemastered while others were entirely missing along with the tower floors fueling them.

    The Apprentice Set, instead, was still exactly as she had left it.

    Anyone else would have called it outdated but to Ripha it was perfect. On top of that, she was linked to Lith through the ck chains and he was now fused with Solus and the tower, giving Menadion ess to a portion of their might.

    Bybining the powers of the five pieces of her set, Menadion''s Tier Five Creation Magic Spell, mes of the Forge, spread along the shockwaves the hammer blow generated.

    It reached all those fighting under Lith''s banner who had heeded the words of the First Ruler of the mes.

    "What?" Fire Dragons were bbergasted witnessing the very Origin Magma they had sparked rising from the ground in waves and assaulting their prized weapons and those of their allies.

    The Origin mes coated the mystical metals and crystals, weakening the magic enchanting them. mes of the Forge unraveled countless power cores as the aura of the affected weapons faded.

    Yet their power was lost solely for a split second, the processpleted before the First Ruler of the mes'' allies and enemies could understand what she had done. After that moment, a bright light burst out of the newly enchanted metal, lighting half the battlefield like a small sun.

    "What is this?" Hundreds of voices said in unison while the rest were too stunned to speak.

    Suddenly, many among Lith''s allies could feel the flow of mana going from their cores and into their equipment, running freely from one to another in a symphony of rising energy.

    Menadion didn''t have the ingredients or the time to craft de Weapons. To make one she needed to know her client, the way they weaved their spells, their personality, and the rhythm of their mana cores.

    Without that, there was a limit to what the legendary First Ruler of the mes could do yet she was still far from helpless. mes of the Forge allowed her to re-tune the affected equipment to better suit its master.

    Just a nudge to a crystal here and an alteration of a mana pathway there. Just enough to make every piece of metal sing.

    A sh of Sky Piercer cut through a Wood Golem like it was made of mud and each ded finger released an energy wave that cut past the Golem and into the possessed elves hiding behind the construct. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tier five Spirit Spells kept raining from the sky but the Griffons noticed that their Spirit Barriers were now empowered by their weapons, rings, and everything else they wore.

    The burden was shared and so was the mana reserve each power core possessed. When one of Lith''s allies attacked, the energy flow of their equipment was focused on the weapon.

 Chapter 3301 Unique Fusion (Part 2).

    Chapter 3301 Unique Fusion (Part 2).

    When they defended, the mana would flow back into the defensive artifacts, increasing their effectiveness by several folds.

    "This¡­ this is amazing!" Ayleen the Lich had jumped out of Bloodhaven to receive the blessing of the First Ruler of the mes.

    She knew Ripha only by name but with her phctery stored inside the tower, Ayleen had nothing to lose.

    The aura surrounding her staff, Lighthouse, followed her everymand, attacking with the swiftness of a whip and the violence of a hammer. If an enemy dodged her blows, a mere thought was enough to recall the energy and turn it into an imprable defensive dome.

    Thanks to her quasi-de equipment, her bright white mana core merged with her artifacts, turning them into the perfect means to both attack and defend. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "de Spells can draw power from multiple cores, but they stillck the destructiveness of an anti-Guardian spell." She mused out loud, uncaring for who or what heard her thoughts.

    "On the other hand, anti-Guardian spells can only draw power from the mana core and that''s why they usually require seven violet cores or one white core. What would happen if I were to apply the principles of Silverwing''s Spells to de Magic?"

    ''What indeed!'' The World Tree knew the answer to that question.

    The Yggdrasill had witnessed the defeat of Argantyr the Elemental Lord through the eyes of their Chronicler and remembered all too well the runes that Soul Vision spotted coursing through the colossal hybrid.

    ''Until a while ago, I would have dismissed Ayleen''s idea as crazy talk.'' The World Tree inwardly cursed. ''People like Surtr have a bright white core and know de Magic, but even the Dragon of Light failed to improve on Silverwing''s spells.

    ''That''s because even if every piece of equipment he wears is enchanted with a power core, the mana they provide is nothingpared to the endless energy of his white core. Power cores are just tools to support their master''s strengths and cover their weaknesses.

    ''On top of that, Silverwing''s spells require seven kinds of mana to be in synch while de Spells ept only one unique mana flow. Even those under the When All Are One array can''tbine their de Spells.

    ''There is supposed to be only one way to exceed the power of an anti-Guardian spell and it requires seven white-cored Awakened to cast Silverwing''s spells together. Baba Yaga has a white core, a mage tower, and the ability to cast de Magic but she still resorts to casting multiple Annihtions as her trump card.

    ''Verhen is the only one to have ever seeded in fusing de and Silverwing spells, but I have no idea how he did it.''

    The secret behind Lith''s Tower de Spell, Extinction, was that not only was it fueled by the tower core, Lith''s bright violet core, and Solus'' bright blue core, but also by all the weapons stored in the Armory, the crystals in the Mines, and the metal in the Crucible.

    Unlike any white core, unlike even Baba Yaga''s tower, Menadion''s masterpiece drew power from multiple sources at the same time and amplified them all through the Menadion Set.

    ''Verhen defeated a lost city on his own just by using the so-called Prime Engine like a golem while in possession of four pieces of Menadion Set.'' The Tree shuddered at the memory. ''Now he''s fused with Elphyn and the tower has be part of his body.

    ''Even worse, Ipleted the Set for him! The Extinction should be longpleted. Why didn''t he-'' The answer came in the form of a bolt of lightning that finished painting the hybrid''s aura white.

    While Menadion tilted the scales of battle and his allies fought with everything they had, Lith and Solus kept bolting around the World Tree, killing sprouts and elves.

    With each passing second, they got ustomed to using the Ears.

    The artifact was linked to the Watchtower, the Heart, and the Mirror Hall, making them akin to a dimensional mage and giving them spatial control over an area spanning hundreds of meters.

    They Blinked freely, copsing the dimensional passages of those who tried to follow them and their own, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

    With each passing second, their power grew.

    The tower mended both their life forces, allowing Lith to use his full power without the risk of reducing his life span. It also sent more energy to Solus, hastening her recovery, which left the tower more power to fix their life forces.

    It was the repeated cycles that had brought their aura past the bottlenecks so quickly. It was also the reason the fringes of their aura started ring up with bright white light the moment they reached the white.

    ''The fucker is waiting to reach the bright white if not go beyond that!'' The World Tree thanked Mogar for the quick wits of their bloodline. ''Of course! de Spells drain the equipment and power cores don''t benefit from Invigoration.

    ''It''s another reason why anti-Guardian spells are superior to de Spells. Verhen can probably use Extinction twice, three times at best before the tower turns into useless rubble.

    ''I just need to force his hand and waste his energy before he bes powerful enough to kill me.'' With no other choice left, the Yggdrasill had the Golems and the elves give up on attacking and focusing on defense.

    Every strike of Ragnar?k felled a puppet and the Tree needed them to repel the invaders after dealing with the hybrid. So the Yggdrasill used their minions to buy time while theybined the runes scattered in the sky to form multiple Annihtions.

    ''It stopped Elphyn''s second escape attempt and even forced Baba Yaga''s tower to a halt. There is no reason this shouldn''t be enough. It must be enough.'' Inwardly regretting being forced to spend five Silverwing''s Annihtions to deal with a single enemy, the World Tree unleashed them anyway.

    If after the breaking of the arrays the runes looked like a luminous curtain that blotted out the sky and the sun, now they were reduced to giant clouds. There were still quite a lot of them, but the Tree also had still to deal with a lot of enemies.

    Both mouths of the hybrid curled up in annoyance as they dodged with Tower Warp just to find the anti-Guardian spells hot on their tails. They tried to Dominate the Annihtions but the World Tree had infused them with plenty of willpower and was focusing on them.

    The rest of the battlefield was crumbling at an elerating rate, but the Yggdrasill couldn''t afford distractions. Tezka, thebined powers of the Brood, Baba Yaga the Asura, and now Menadion''s de Knights were toppling the Tree''s forces but the situation was not beyond saving yet.

    ''Once I kill Verhen, I''ll get the tower and rid of Menadion at once! She said the power she has given her allies is temporary and I bet it relies on her somehow. Menadion is not stupid enough to leave the secret of de Magic in the hands of potential rivals.''

    ''Those spells are too fast.'' Lith and Solus thought while clicking their tongues. ''We guess we don''t have a choice.''

    The hybrid merged Ragnar?k''s copies with the original and channelled their full power through the weapon.

 Chapter 3302 Unique Fusion (Part 3)

    Chapter 3302 Unique Fusion (Part 3)

    The metal tes forming the de of the hybrid Double Edge opened, creating a circuit. Pure elemental energy flowed from each of the seven crystals etched on its fuller to the others and then through the de in a loop.

    The exhaust ports on the back of the hybrid''s armor red up, releasing the excess world energy that not even Menadion''s tower could muster.

    The Engine split the world energy into its elementalponents and mixed it with its masters'' life forces to generate Spirit Magic.

    What was left was released through the exhaust ports in bursts of raw elemental power that flooded six of the eight wings of the hybrid, changing their color ordingly.

    The remaining two, oneprised of golden hair and the other ck and membranous turned to an emerald green along with the rest of the body.

    The cores of Lith, Solus, and the tower beat in unison with the seven kinds of elemental crystals embossed in their weapon, armor, and every piece of equipment stored in the armory, each pulsing like living hearts.

    With each pulse, the Spirit wave flooded every bit of the hybrid''s armor and body until the ck and silver of the Voidwalker armor and the golden and white of the tower were eclipsed by the brilliant emerald light.

    With a mighty roar, Lith and Solus released Extinction from their body in the form of a zing pir that split into five streams of energy and intercepted the Annihtions.

    The anti-Guardian spells and the Tower de spell shed to a standstill, but that only until the first bright white lightning streaked the hybrid''s aura, pushing their strength up another notch.

    ''No!'' The World Tree used their breathing technique, Root Cause, to inject more mana and make up for the growing gap in power between the spells but so did Lith and Solus. ''Fuck, no!''

    With all their knowledge and wisdom, the Yggdrasill was just one bright violet core, like Lith. Lith, however, also had Solus and the tower by his side.

    The mage tower constantly absorbed great amounts of world energy from the Fringe and used it to replenish Lith''s and Solus'' mana akin to Invigoration while also nurturing their bodies and cores.

    The absorption of world energy was further amplified by the Hands of Menadion and the Sage Staff stored in the Armory while the emerald armor enveloping the hybrid''s body boosted their vitality and all their bloodline abilities.

    ''We can''t hold on much longer.'' Lith and Solus thought. ''So far we have prevented the Golems from casting anti-Guardian spells by Blinking amid their ranks and decimating them, but if the World Tree pins us into ce for too long, we are done.''

    Lith emitted Tiamat Fear, taking control over the world energy surrounding the hybrid while Solus put her mother''s lesson about the Eyes and Ears into practice to find the weak points of the enemy''s spells.

    Tiamat Fear slowed down the mana flow of the Annihtions, allowing Solus to aim the five streams of Extinction right at the focal junctures where the seven elemental pirs met to form the anti-Guardian spells.

    The Tower de Spell pierced through the fractured Annihtions and dug its way toward the Yggdrasill.

    No matter how much mana the World Tree poured into their spells, the Yggdrasill couldn''t keep up with the tower. Especially with the Annihtions losing their cohesion as the hybrid kept countering the Tree''s every move. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    No matter what path the anti-Guardian spells took or if they whipped around like snakes to attack the hybrid from multiple sides at once, the Ears read the change in their mana flow and Solus adjusted Extinction''s trajectory ordingly.

    The six spells moved as one like they were glued together. To make matters worse, Lith was free to inject his willpower inside the anti-Guardian spells with Tiamat Fear and Dominate them while Solus kept the Yggdrasill busy.

    ''Screw this!'' With their spells falling apart and doomed to soon fall under the hybrid''s control, the World Tree sacrificed more and more runes, imbuing the Annihtions with enough mana and willpower to dwarf the hybrid''s.

    ''Conjuring a sixth Annihtion would be madness.'' The Yggdrasill sighed. ''I don''t have enough focus to split among so many spells at the same time. Verhen would Dominate the other five and turn them against me.''

    ''Fuck me sideways!'' Lith and Solus thought in unison as they suddenly found themselves on the losing side of the battle.

    The five anti-Guardian spells had been restored and their cumtive power now exceeded Extinction''s. The Annihtions slowly pushed back the Tower de spell at first and then quickly overwhelmed it.

    The hybrid Blinked amid the enemy lines, destroying Golems and killing elves simply by proximity. Lith and Solus Blinked again a few times to escape the Annihtions long enough to rearrange Extinction into a defensive energy dome.

    Also, their blitzes were aimed at the seven-man units closer toplete weaving an Annihtion. Few puppets actually died but the others were forced to interrupt their spellcasting and conjure a Bastion to defend themselves.

    ''Now!'' Lith and Solus stopped running away after Blinking in the thick of the enemy formations.

    Lith had condensed the Tiamat Fear so as topletely ovep with Extinction while Solus had used that time to study the mana flow of the empowered Annihtions.

    Golems and Puppets shared the World Tree''s energy signature so the anti-Guardian Spells could do nothing to them. The sh with the Tower Tier Spell, however, was a different story entirely.

    Yggdrasill had ever witnessed and their preparations were painfully inadequate.

    The Extinction dome deformed under the pressure of the Annihtions but it held. Solus focused most of the power of the Tower de Spell where she knew the pirs would hit, leaving the rest of the sphere paper thin.

    Lith, instead, kept the Tiamat Fear dense andpressed so that the deeper an enemy spell got, the slower it would be, giving Solus the time to counter it. Last but not least, the bright white bolts of lightning streaked their aura, increasing their power over time.

    ''I can''t lose.'' The World Tree consumed even more of the remaining runes, until only a few were left. ''This is not about just the tower anymore. My Fringe, my people, my libraries. Everything that my ancestors have umted over the millennia is at stake!''

    With a final push, the anti-Guardian spells broke through the energy dome in a mushroom explosion.

    "Lith needs our help!" Vastor cursed.

    "True, but we need a damn fifth!" Tessa snarled. "My array is useless with just four people!"

    "And it can''t be someone squishy. We already have too many humans in the formation." Much to everyone''s surprise, it was Orion talking. "We need someone who can make a difference, like Menadion."

    "No way. You guys are fucking slow." Ripha scoffed while dragging two more people with her. "You can have this one. I need a steed."

    She threw a still-bbergasted Zoreth amid the four Awakened with one hand while pulling Bytra back on her hooves with the other.

 Chapter 3303 Unique Fusion (Part 4)

    Chapter 3303 Unique Fusion (Part 4)

    "But-" Everyone said in unison, each with a different degree of stuttering.

    Orion and Vastor were awed at the presence of the mother of Forgemastering, Tessa and Fyrwal were moved by the sudden reunion with their friend, while Zoreth and Bytra were terrified by her wrath.

    "Nice talk. Giddyap!" Menadion dug her taloned heels into Bytra''s sides and the Raiju instinctively bolted forward like she had a Demon at her heels instead of on her back.

    ''Now we are talking.'' Ripha said via a mind link as the Raiju''s figure blurred even for Awakened eyes. ''Run to Epphy and don''t stop even if it costs you your life.''

    ''Why me?'' Bytra sweated bullets, but not from exertion.

    It was a cold sweat born from guilt and fear.

    ''Because you and that Dragon knew about Epphy and kept your mouth shut.'' Menadion replied. ''She trusted you in the past so I can trust that if anyone gets too close to the truth, you''ll run interference.''

    ''No, I mean, why did you choose me as your steed instead of a Dragon or any of your friends. You trust them too.'' The Raiju swallowed a lump of saliva.

    ''Because you are faster, you owe me, and, most importantly, I have no experience riding Dragons and they have no reason to listen to me. Besides, I''ve fought with and against you so I know very well how our powers mix.''

    ''We''ve fought together in the past?'' Bytra had a hard time not turning her head in surprise but she managed to resist.

    She couldn''t afford another tumble, not during what might be one of the redeeming moments of her life.

    ''You don''t remember that?'' Ripha sounded equally surprised. ''You really are a clone. Save your questions forter and follow my lead!''

    The emerald eye on Menadion''s forehead and the emerald streak in her hair lit up, stirring the rumbling storm clouds as she sought control of Skyfire. Bytra helped Menadion to the best of her abilities and together they sent several lightning bolts at the World Tree.

    Natural lightning moved too fast for an Awakened to defend against it, especially someone like the Yggdrasill who was forever stuck in the same ce. The problem was that even normal wood didn''t conduct electricity and enchanted wood was much more resistant.

    The World Tree''s bark ckened in the points of impact and Origin mes spread from there but for someone of that size, it was no different than a mosquito bite. It stung and itched, no more and no less.

    ''Fuck! What happened to your ability to conjure and control lightning?'' Menadion rebuked the innocent Raiju.

    ''I still have it, but it didn''t work until the old Fringe came down and now the Storm Dragons have hogged most of the air element.'' Bytra replied. ''There''s only one of me and a whole greed of them.

    ''Take this, master Menadion, maybe it can help you.'' The Absolution coating her main horn shapeshifted back to its hammer form and jumped in Ripha''s hands after Bytra marked her as an authorized user.

    ''What am I supposed to- Daughter of a bastard!'' Ripha had already seen the Absolution while following Solus as a wandering soul but she had never had the opportunity to examine it. ''This is a modified version of my Fury.

    ''A modern, way better version of my Fury!''

    ''I created it back when I thought you and Elphyn were dead. I did it to honor your memory and keep your legacy alive.'' Bytra tried to justify herself.

    ''I don''t care!'' Ripha cut her off. ''The only thing that matters is that this is what we need.''

    Like the original Fury, the Absolution granted its wielder the same energy signature as Bytra. By channeling her Domination through the hammer, Ripha could tap into Skyfire, bending it to the Raiju''s bloodline ability.

    A branched bolt of lightning struck the World Tree''s trunk and several of their branches at the same time, setting them aze with Origin mes. It was quickly followed by a globr lightning whose power was focused in a small area, opening a deep crater in the wood.

    Menadion''s mastery over Bytra''s ability increased by the second and with it the number, shape, and power of natural lightning bolts she could control. At the same time, the Raiju collected massive amounts of pressure, heat, and electrical charges between her horns.

    She released them in a white-hot sma de that cut the World Tree diagonally, opening a red searing wound across its trunk from which Origin mes spread.

    ''Stop them! Now!'' The Yggdrasill''s focus faltered as the mystical fire burned their darkness fusion and pain invaded them.

    A few Golems away from the hybrid''s position charged at the Raiju, but she was too fast for them. On top of that, the World Tree had most pressing matters to deal with.

    The When All Are One array was back and with Xenagrosh as its final member, it granted the other four the mass of a Divine Beast and wings again. Also, Orion and the others now shared the abilities of a purebred Dragon, including Dragon Eyes.

    ''If my wife''s and my life weren''t in danger, I''d say this is the best day of my life.'' Orion inwardly griped.

    One nce was enough for him to understand things that usually required days, if not even months of study. As his gaze moved over his allies, he could grasp the basics of the Forgemastering techniques used to create them and spot their ws.

    ''Gods if I suck!'' His own equipment was no exception and under the Dragon Eyes Orion noticed several imperfections that in hindsight he could have avoided.

    ''Tell me about it.'' For the first time since he had met Xenagrosh, Vastor envied her so badly that it bordered on hatred. ''I''ve wasted decades to solve problems that now seem trivial.''

    ''Yes, Dragons are cheats. Deal with it.'' Tessa snapped them out of it and reminded them that under the influence of the array private thoughts weren''t private anymore.

    ''Can we cast a de Spell?'' Xenagrosh asked in embarrassment, hoping that between her new equipment and experiencing the real thing she could grasp the secrets of de Magic and earn the Master''s forgiveness.

    ''No.'' Fyrwal shook her heads. ''Our equipment is spent and Orion''s is as good as gone.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Two de Spells and several cycles of destruction and self-repair had left even the Royal Fortress armor cracked. Its mana crystals were dull and if not for Orion holding it, Grimlock would have already shattered forever.

    ''But we can still do this!'' The five of them emitted as many Chaos Annihtion, aiming them where the wounds opened by Ripha were still burning.

    The Golems intercepted them with Silverwing''s Bastion and protected their master. Until streams of lightning knocked them off their feet and messed up with their formations.

    Ripha was now close enough to identify the constructs conjuring the defensive spells and strike them down with pinpoint uracy. The Chaos Annihtions pierced through the weakened Bastions first and the Yggdrasill''s body second.

    The Chaos and Origin mes made the massive trunk quake in pain, disrupting the World Tree''s focus and dispelling the five Annihtions ramming at the hybrid.

 Chapter 3304 Voice of Reason (Part 1)

    Chapter 3304 Voice of Reason (Part 1)

    When the dust settled, it revealed the colossal figure of the hybrid crouching on the ground, their eight wings forming a protective cocoon engulfed in silvery mes around their body.

    The emerald armor was cracked and the wings bore more holes than Swiss cheese. The gold and ck scales beneath were visible while the four arms of the creature ended at the elbow in bloody stumps.

    Yet the aura of the hybrid had grown stronger and it neared the bright white. The wounds healed and the armor repaired itself at a speed that was slightly inferior to that of a real white core.

    The Abomination Touch drained the nutrients from the ground, the Hands fed the hybrid with endless world energy, and the Spirit Magic infused in the tower boosted their vitality

    "Our turn!" The hybrid unfurled their wings that zed with elemental power while their twin mouths opened.

    Each one hurled a jet stream of Dread mes that met after crossing a short distance and fused in a fiery pir ten times the size of the original.

    The silvery mes hit the World Tree and created a deep crater on impact. They spread across the bark and seeped inside the cracks, burning at the Yggdrasil inside and out.

    Whenever the Dread mes licked Skyfire''s Origin mes, the violet fire turned silvery and became as strong as the hybrid''s fire.

    The pain of the World Tree spread to their Puppets, making them copse throughout the battlefield. Without the Tree''s orders, there was too little of the Chroniclers left to pilot the Wood Golems.

    Tezka and the others exploited the moment of weakness of their opponents to mow them down and crush them beyond even a Fae''s recovery ability.

    The Yggdrasill was still busy minimizing their losses and smothering the Dread mes when the hybrid breathed a second twin burst of fire. The resulting silvery pir was bigger than before, digging deeper and spreading across the World Tree like an infection.

    ''Howe I have so little information about them?'' The answer was that Lith had never understood how to control the Dread mes and after the ident with the blue mes, Valtak had be too weak to make more experiments.

    Now, however, the fusion and the tower gave Lith the power to conjure the Dread mes multiple times. With each use and with the help of Solus and the Menadion Set, his mastery over the Dread mes improved.

    ''Since when are Dread mes this powerful?'' The silver fire neutralized Fusion Magic, weakening the roots the Tree used to fight alongside their Golems from a safe distance, and the spells the Yggdrasill kept at the ready faded away as well.

    ''Howe I have so little information about them?'' The answer was that Lith had never understood how to control the Dread mes and after the ident with the blue mes, Valtak had be too weak to make more experiments.

    Now, however, the fusion and the tower gave Lith the power to conjure the Dread mes multiple times. With each use and with the help of Solus and the Menadion Set, his mastery over the Dread mes improved. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As the silvery fire spread and the white bolts of lightning shook the World Tree''s trunk, the elves started evacuating their viges. It had be painfully apparent that the schemes of their host had backfired in more than one way.

    With the protective arrays gone and the elven champions ignoring their brethren, there was nothing left for the various tribes to rely on but dumb luck. The few elven mages who had not joined the World Tree''s army rushed to open Warp Steps leading to the edges of the previous Fringe, away from the invaders.

    "Elder qua, we can''t get out!" One of the many elves pressing against the veil separating them from the rest of Mogar said. "There is no mist, only a solid wall of world energy."

    "Cease your struggles, child." Despite the great difference in age between the youth and the Elder, a human would have likely mistaken the two elves for brothers. "The barrier is not meant to protect us from the outside world anymore.

    "Its purpose is to contain the conflict. No one can go anywhere until a victor is determined."

    "What can we do, Elder?" A female elf asked as the air pressure generated by the sh of anti-Guardian spells forced her tribe to its knees despite the distance.

    "If you believe in gods, you can pray." The old elf replied. "If you don''t, you can say your goodbyes." qua made sure that all the members of his family had reached the rally point safely and told each one of them how much they meant to him.

    ***

    As the greeds of Dragons and the Eldritches-hybrid advanced, the World Tree could afford less and less to pay them little attention yet the Yggdrasill had no other choice.

    Menadion and the Raiju were harrying the Golems with bolts of sma, keeping the constructs from conjuring the anti-Guardian spells the Yggdrasill so desperately needed to get rid of the hybrid.

    The five under the When All Are One array were farther away than the First Ruler of the mes but distance mattered little to their Chaos Annihtion. The Cursed spells shed likesers, boring deep holes in the World Tree that poisoned their sap with Chaos.

    Under Xenagrosh''s Dragon Eyes, every crack and weak point in the Yggdrasill''s waning defenses was obvious and the five always aimed the Annihtions where they hurt the most.

    To make matters worse, a final bolt of lightning had just painted the aura of Lith and Solus bright white the moment their wounds had fully healed.

    ''Finally!'' They thought as the edges of their aura red with gold and silver. ''If something lies beyond the white, it''s not going to matter anyway. This power will be lost when the fusion is broken and we have already revealed too much of our strength.

    ''We don''t want the entire Mogar to pick Lith Verhen apart to find the secret of his unlimited strength.''

    The Mouth had long finished weaving the second Extinction and there were too many runes floating in the sky still avable to the World Tree.

    ''If the World Fucker casts another barrage of anti-Guardian spells at us, we won''t have the mana to cast our Tower de Spell a third time.''

    As the hybrid''s elemental wings and emerald body red up again, the bright white aura turned inward. It flooded Ragnar?k, the tower, and everything inside of it.

    The Yggdrasill noticed the sudden increase in Lith''s and Solus'' power with Soul Vision and rushed to condense an equivalent amount of energy in the form of several Tower Tier spells, no matter how many runes they had to consume.

    Ragnar?k cut the air, tracing sharp lines thatbined to form a massive mana circle. Three copies of the angry de appeared in the hybrid''s hands,pleting the circuit before the World Tree could finish their spells.

    Lith and Solus reabsorbed the power dispersed in the copies and lunged at the center of the seven-pointed star in one fluid movement. The magic circle shrunk and coated Ragnar?k with a shining multi-coloredyer that resembled an aurora.

    The copsing mana gathered at the tip of the de in the form of a small sphere that burst forward at supersonic speed. It grew in size as it crossed the space between the hybrid and the Tree, engulfing them from the base of the trunk to the lowest branches.

    The Yggdrasill fought Extinction with everything they had, condensing the remaining runes into Tower Tier spells and hoping it would be enough to save them from the iing onught.

 Chapter 3305 Voice of Reason (Part 2)

    Chapter 3305 Voice of Reason (Part 2)

    At the same time, the Golems raised their Spirit Barriers and pushed their power cores to the limit to form an emerald wall to oppose the iing prismatic light. The Tower de Spell devoured the World Tree''s offensive and sted through the Spirit Barriers without slowing down.

    Extinction vaporized the Golems and pierced through the Yggdrasill''s bark like paper. The wood beyond was still filled with magical treasures and mystical arrays that boosted its defense but fared no better.

    The zing wave of multi-colored mana emerged from the back of the Tree a split second after hitting the front, erasing entire elven viges from existence and ravaging everything the wave found on its path.

    Extinction lit the sky like another sun and opened a fissure in the ground deep enough to reach Mogar''s molten mantle. Only the barrier sealing the Fringe from the outside world halted the Tower de Spell''s course but didn''t stop it.

    The hardened veil simply reflected the energy mass back, sending Extinction to strike the World Tree again, this time in the upper part. The Tower de Spell cut the Yggdrasill''s branches and set their leaves aze, giving the Tree a look almost identical to a regr tree after a forest fire.

    Almost because no tree would naturally bear a clean-cut hole nor was it big enough for the phenomenon to resemble a colossal mountain gallery. Lith and Solus could see on the other side of the Yggdrasill and so could the approaching forces.

    Lith''s allies had stopped advancing for the duration of Extinction, afraid that it was somest-ditch spell the World Tree had conjured against them. Once the Tower de Spell faded, the spontaneous truce between the two opposing factionssted a few seconds longer.

    The Brood and the Eldritch-hybrids were in shock and awe at the vision of what had be of the World Tree after the blinding sh of light. The Golems and the possessed elves, instead, were just paralyzed.

    The Yggdrasill was in too much pain to control the Golems any longer. As for the elves, without the influence of the World Tree, their minds had gone nk in abject terror.

    The spells they had prepared faded and those they had imbued in their equipment fell apart into sparkles of mana. No elf aside from those who had the will and talent to be a Chronicler ever left the safety of the Fringe.

    On the day of their first real battle, the elves had been forced to face Divine Beasts and creatures of legend of all sorts. They had seen people they knew for centuries die gruesome deaths, their champions turn into wooden ves, and their viges burn all in a matter of minutes.

    The rest of the popce trained in magic and martial arts only to keep alive the different traditions of the different tribes. They executed drills and spars from time to time, but the worst that had ever happened was a flesh wound.

    On the day of their first real battle, the elves had been forced to face Divine Beasts and creatures of legend of all sorts. They had seen people they knew for centuries die gruesome deaths, their champions turn into wooden ves, and their viges burn all in a matter of minutes.

    If not for the Yggdrasill abusing their trust with the Great Assimtion, the elves would have long dropped their weapons and run for their lives. Which was exactly what they did after a few seconds passed and no one had yet stomped them to death.

    ''I can''t believe I''ve been pushed into a corner like this.'' The World Tree cursed their bad luck. ''I can still win but to escape the jaws of defeat I''m forced to put everything on the line.

    ''My chances at Guardianhood are going to decrease greatly but at least I''ll have the power to kill all of my enemies!'' With that thought, the Yggdrasill took a deep breath and used the world energy captured by Root Cause to form new auxiliary cores.

    The secret of the white core was known to the World Tree''s bloodline for generations now but none of them had ever thought about actually using it. Bing a white core meant eternal life but also increased the chances of falling prey to eternal madness. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It meant cutting off the legacy of the First Awakened and uprooting the many elven tribes that relied on the World Tree for protection. All the knowledge stored in the libraries would be lost and the consequences for Mogar''s bnce unpredictable.

    Worst of all, at least for someone who wanted to be a Guardian, a white core brought the freedom to refuse a world tribtion at any time and sever the path toward themunion with Mogar forever.

    The current Yggdrasill craved such power but they couldn''t dismiss the possibility that they might subconsciously turn down a tribtion out of fear or panic. Failing one of Mogar''s tests meant death.

    There was no do-over or second chances.

    For someone blessed with eternal life and unlimited power, there was nothing scarier than death.

    ''These idiots have no way of knowing that my predecessors developed a breathing technique suitable for the white core exactly for a contingency like this.'' The World Tree thought as more and more auxiliary cores formed in their trunk and the boundary between matter and energy thinned.

    As their evolution progressed, the Yggdrasill felt all the nts they had evere in contact with be one of them. The Tree felt the powers and bloodline abilities of the Fae, both known and untapped, bloom inside of them.

    The bloodline abilities mixed together, forming something new and unique.

    The Yggdrasill also felt a conspicuous razor-sharp Davross edge pierce through their trunk and ravage his regenerating wood.

    "Did you really think that we would stand there like morons and let you do whatever you want?" The hybrid said, their voices both incredulous and spiteful.

    Only then did the World Tree notice there was no pir of world energy surrounding their body.

    ''I''m no different from Thrud! Mogar is not sanctioning my transformation and is not willing to help and protect me during my apotheosis.'' Until that moment, the Yggdrasill had been certain that all of their actions were for the greater good.

    That what they were doing was for the sake of Mogar and the bnce.

    Suddenly, the thoughts of the various Chroniclers who had deemed the World Tree as insane as theirte predecessor didn''t sound like the nagging of lesser minds incapable of seeing the bigger picture anymore.

    Those words were the voice of reason, snapping the Yggdrasill out of their wilful quest for power.

    "Wait, I-"

    "Save it for someone who cares." The hybrid cut the World Tree short with a grunt, plunging Ragnar?k hilt-deep inside the wooden trunk and releasing an Annihtion from within the Tree''s nigh-indestructible body.

    The anti-Guardian spell flowed from treetop to roots tips through the channels that brought water and nutrients to the various parts of the Yggdrasill. The mana burned the lymph and erged the vessels carrying it until the hybrid was certain not a speck of the World Tree would survive.

    Lith and Solus had fought enough Fae to know the members of such race only needed a fragment of their body to regenerate themselves.

    The Yggdrasill kept progressing toward the white core but the Annihtion destroyed them faster than even their growing recovery abilities mended their wounds.

    "You don''t understand!" The Yggdrasill said with a begging voice. "I have not selected a sessor. No World Tree has ever died before they could choose their recement. There''s no telling what might happen if you kill me now!"

 Chapter 3306 The Same Man (Part 1)

    Chapter 3306 The Same Man (Part 1)

    "My knowledge, the greatest treasure on Mogar, might end up lost forever if I die." The World Tree said. "Even worse, it might be passed down to an unworthy Sapling!"

    "Think about what might happen if a deranged Sapling like the one you fought in Laruel might do with such power. You are putting entire Fae cities if not continents at risk just to pursue your revenge, Verhen.

    "Give me a few days to pick a sessor. After that, I don''t care what you do to me. I''m not afraid of death but the thought of squandering the legacy of my entire bloodline, of all the bloodlines stored in my archives, terrifies me.

    "Please, have mercy. If not for me, for the elven race. Without a World Tree, they will be bereft of a ce to call home."

    The upper lips of the hybrid, Lith''s lips, curled up in a smile.

    During the twenty years Lith had spent on Mogar, he had worked hard and received des for his achievements.

    First as a Healer, then a soldier, and now a Magus.

    Linjos first and then the Kingdom had asked Lith''s help many times, trying to reward him with noble titles in the hope of turning him into someone they could use. Someone he was not.

    As time passed, Lith had donned the mantles and worn the masks necessary to fit the roles he had to y. Yet they were just means to his ends, something he discarded the moment they outlived their usefulness.

    Under his lies and maniptions, he was still the same man who had been born on Earth. A man who had lived and died on his terms.

    His reincarnation on Mogar had turned him from a broken man into a beloved son, and now into a loving father. Each step of his journey had changed him, allowing him to meet good people who had given him a reason to heal from his wounds and the will to do it.

    Yet he was still the same man. A man who would do anything, be anyone to protect the people he loved. There was no price he wasn''t willing to pay to keep his small, personal world safe.

    Putting his own life at risk to save Phloria, Solus, and Raaz was something he had done without a second thought. Shortening his life span to save Protector was a decision he had not regretted once.

    He knew that in life nothing worth havinges easy and he wasn''t afraid to put himself in a hard spot. If the price were to be paid by someone else, all the better. Everything and everyone outside his small, personal world could burn for all he cared.

    If the price were to be forced upon someone who had wronged him, Lith was willing to overpay a thousand times over to get what he wanted.

    The Annihtion seeped inside every fiber, pit, and vessel inside the World Tree until the mana built up beyond what even the Yggdrasill wood could withstand. Cracks formed on the charred bark, letting a blinding light out.

    The fissures spread along the trunk in every direction, running up toward the treetop and down along the roots until they reached the tips extending as far as the old Fringe did.

    The World Tree had no mouth and no focus to use air magic to speak anymore but they still screamed. The massive body of the Yggdrasill shook with so much pain and desperation that the ground quaked.

    Every part of the World Tree snapped in a slow agony, producing a guttural sound akin to the rumble of an avnche. The Heir of the First Awakened refused to give up and used their breathing technique, Root Cause, to further their evolution.

    The regeneration speed increased and new limbs appeared as the Yggdrasill approached the apex form that their bloodline could ever reach.

    Then, the Annihtion burned its way out of the World Tree, erupting in a sh of light that put an end to their struggles.

    The explosion blinded Divine Beasts and Eldritches alike, giving Lith the cover he needed to break the fusion and Warp the stone ring into Menadion''s hands. The rumbling of copsing earth reced the Yggdrasill''s wails, keeping Lith''s allies deaf to his actions as well.

    The disappearance of the World Tree had left a giant hole in the mound they had formerly upied and countless empty tunnels running throughout the Fringe. Without the robust Yggdrasill wood to sustain the weight of tons of dirt, gravity demanded its due.

    When the light faded and silence befell the battlefield, the hybrid was gone.

    The Tiamat had taken its ce but there was nothing majestic left in him. Lith wheezed like a bellows, his equipment had barely enough mana to keep its enchantments from fading and was covered with more cracks than a broken mirror.

    The fight for the Fringe resumed and ended in the span of a few seconds.

    In their frenzy, the Divine Beasts shed a few times before realizing that the Wood Golems had stopped fighting back. The Puppets had died with the World Tree and without someone to control the constructs, they just stood idly.

    "Stop it you idiot!" Quashol stopped one of his juniors who had fallen in a berserker rage. "You are ruining our loot!" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Thatst word echoed throughout the Fringe without the need of any spell, snapping every single Wyrm out of their thirst for revenge and awakening their greed for treasures.

    Wood Golems were peerless constructs, carved from Yggdrasill wood and enchanted with spells known only to the World Tree''s bloodline. Just the value of the materialsprising one of them was incalcble.

    As imprintless artifacts that could be studied and replicated, however, they were enough to be the cornerstone treasure of a Dragon''s hoard.

    "Grab everything, Hatchlings!" Ananta roared as another kind of battle started among the Dragon ns and with the undead.

    It was pettier and without bloodlust but in no way less intense than the previous one.

    Too many Dragons had died for even the greediest member of the Brood to wish spilling one more drop of blood of their brethren but they still coveted treasures above everything else.

    The Wyrms fought with the Liches over many spoils, quarrelling with a madness and determination that rivalled the undead''s.

    "Take what we deserve and not one piece of loot less!" Irk the Father of All Storm Dragons said. "Call me only if a dispute turns into a fight. There''s something I can''t dy any longer."

    The patriarchs of the different Dragon ns flew over to Valtak''s corpse, ignoring the treasures on their way. Such was the Elder Wyrms'' grief that they didn''t even use mind links to point the precious artifacts they spotted to their seconds inmand.

    The patriarchsnded with the grace of birds of prey, forming a circle around the fallen form of the Father of Fire.

    "I''m willing to bet you died on purpose to force our hand, you bastard." Quashol''s sad voice didn''t match his words, his ancient eyes misted with tears. "Look at his smug snout. Even in death he is mocking us."

    "At least he died happy. It''s more than most of our kind can say." Ananta sniffled. "I shouldn''t have ignored your request for help, old friend. You would be still alive if I had apanied you."

 Chapter 3307 The Same Man (Part 2)

    Chapter 3307 The Same Man (Part 2)

    "Shut up." Irk sounded hoarse as if he had a mountain down his throat. "I already feel guilty enough without your ramblings. I need to pretend this is all the Yggdrasill''s fault. At least until I get back home."

    While the Elder Dragons mourned and the young ones looted, only a few people bolted to Lith''s position.

    Menadion arrived first. Bytra''s speed was unrivaled under normal circumstances but guilt gave her an extra edge over herpetition.

    "Epphy! Where is Epphy, you oaf?" The First Ruler of the mes demanded. "Is she okay? Talk to me!"

    The Tiamat was down on one knee, panting. Double Edge was struck straight in the ground and Lith used it as a crutch not to fall forward. He red at Menadion while he brought one hand to his heart where Solus was.

    The wound inflicted upon him by the stone bullet was still visible but it wasn''t lethal anymore. A stone slime seeped out of the scar and shapeshifted into Solus'' human form.

    "I''m fine, Mom, and for the third time, I told you to call me Solus! Don''t make me say it a fourth time."

    "Anything you want, baby." Menadion hugged her daughter with the strength of a bear trap and the tenderness of a mother.

    The embracested until Solus'' steady heartbeat reassured Ripha. Then, Menadion let go of her daughter and took her armored gloves off. Ripha caressed Solus'' face, feeling her warmth and using Invigoration to check that everything was fine. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Solus'' mana core was as depleted as Lith''s but her body was perfect like the day Ripha had left her in the tower.

    "You really need to cut back on the sweets, dear." Menadion hupped, seven streaks of tears streaming from her eyes. "You''ve gained a lot of weight in thest seven hundred years."

    "Mom!" Solus embraced her mother, crying with her. "We''ve just been reunited and you''re already pestering me. I''m on a diet and I''ve actually lost a few kilograms."

    "Good gods, how much did you eat in my absence?" Ripha halfughed and half cried.

    The two women cried harder and harder, falling on their knees but never letting go of the other.

    Lith looked at the scene in silence, letting them talk about all the silly things they wanted to tell each other after being separated for so long.

    Bytra respected their privacy as well. She wanted to leave and not ruin that moment with her presence, but was afraid of angering Menadion and obtaining the same result she hoped to avoid.

    The Raiju shapeshifted into her human form and patted the Tiamat''s leg, hoping he would establish a mind link.

    ''Thank you for everything, Bytra.'' Lith said. ''I wouldn''t have rescued Solus without your help.''

    ''Don''t mention it.'' The Raiju replied. ''It''s the least I could do. By the way, why is there still a semi-open wound on your chest? Do you want me to heal it for you?''

    ''What? No!'' She could hear the clicking of wheels in his head. ''That''s needed forter. Remember, whatever bullshites out of my mouth, I need you and Zoreth not to act surprised and back me up.''

    ''What bullshit?'' Before Lith could exin, the five under the When All Are One array reached Lith.

    Solus and Menadion stopped talking andposed themselves. They put some distance between them, but remained close enough to hold hands.

    "Okay, someone has to exin to me what the heck is going on here." Orion said. "Why is Ripha Menadion back from the grave? How did you survive that st, Lith? What was that thing you turned into and what was that spell you cast earlier?"

    "I don''t have the strength to repeat myself." Lith put emphasis on each wheeze without sounding dramatic. "Let''s wait for the others to join us. Then you will have your answers."

    After decades of lies and deception, Lith employed all of his creativity and imagination toe up with the lines for his best performance to date.

    "What others?" Orion had yet to finish talking when the Dragon patriarchs, Ayleen, and the Eldritches-hybrids joined the family reunion.

    "Okay, now you have to exin to me what just happened here, Hatchling." Quashol said and everyone nodded. "I''m d for your help in avenging Valtak''s death but he died to follow you in this crazy mission.

    "I demand to know where that power came out from and why you didn''t use it earlier. Had you taken that form from the start of the fight and used that weird spell from the beginning, my Brood brother might still be alive."

    "Who gets the Ears of Menadion, brother?" Tezka chimed in, drawing the disgruntled res of the patriarchs. "I don''t give a damn about your secrets and I want to point out that without my help no one would have gotten inside the Fringe.

    "My contribution is quite substantial."

    "Speaking of Menadion, how is she back?" The Maker of All Liches asked.

    "One at a time, please." Lith raised his hand to silence them and give meaningful nods to Baba Yaga, Surtr, Sinmara, and the leader of the Dark Phoenixes. "I''ll start by answering the easiest question.

    "I don''t know what that form is and I have no clue how I achieved it. It must be one of the still-hidden abilities of the Tiamat bloodline that I activated out of survival instinct."

    "How very convenient." Quashol scoffed. "You unlocked a power you didn''t know to have at the precise moment you needed it. Do you take us for fools?"

    "Yes." Lith nodded, enraging the Elder Wyrms and making the Eldritchesugh. "Only a fool can say something that stupid. Do I look like a white core to you?"

    He pointed at the scar on his chest.

    "Do you think that if I had such power, I wouldn''t have used it when Thaymos almost killed my wife and children? Or when Hogum kidnapped my father? Or when my friend Phloria was kidnapped and I almost died at the hands of Thrud''s Generals?"

    Lith''s outrage was genuine as he mixed lies with truth.

    Quashol was taken aback by the Tiamat''s righteous fury and was forced to admit Lith had a point.

    "If you don''t believe me, just examine me or ask any of the white cores here if their power is something you can turn on and off at will."

    "You can''t." Ayleen shook her head. "The white core is no different from regr core progression on that regard. Just like a blue core can''t regress to the cyan without dying, there is no way to go back to the bright violet core but death.

    "Lith is quite alive and the development of his pseudo white core made no sense. Going from the deep white to the bright white takes years and that''s the end of the road. His aura started ring up at the end and that''s never happened to me."

    "Or to me." Baba Yaga nodded, soon followed by herplicit white cores.

    "I''m going to use my breathing technique on you, then." The Father of All Ice Dragons said.

    "Fine by me." Lith nodded. "As long as you don''t take a peek at my equipment now that the cloaking runes are down."

 Chapter 3308 Shameful Past (Part 1)

    Chapter 3308 Shameful Past (Part 1)

    "Swear it on Valtak''s name." Lith said.

    Quashol blushed at the request, not liking to be caught red-handed.

    "I would never stoop so low to try and steal the secrets of a Hatchling like you, Verhen." He lied through his teeth. "Now stand still."

    A brief examination with Eternal Winter confirmed that Lith''s core was indeed bright violet and depleted at that. His life force was still cracked and his body battered beyond belief.

    ording to Quashol''s readings, the Tiamat should have been unconscious.

    "I stand corrected. Verhen was telling the truth. There is no alteration in his life force that can exin what we have witnessed." The Elder Wyrm didn''t like apologizing but the Tiamat''s determination had earned his respect.

    "What about the spell? The one that made Silverwing''s Annihtion look like a joke?" Orion asked.

    "A de Spell I devised based on my own magical research and Silverwing''s spells." Once again, a sliver of truth before a cargo of lies. "I can''t cast it without a weapon stored in my pocket dimension.

    "That''s why I didn''t use it before rescuing Solus. In case you are wondering, I didn''t share the weapon''s design not out of pride but because it would have been useless. The power core requires rare ingredients that vary depending on the user.

    "Like all de Spells, the weapon is attuned to me and my mana flow. It doesn''t work for others and we didn''t have the time to experiment on how to adapt it to someone else."

    Everyone nodded, considering the matter closed.

    Those who had mastered de Magic knew that each spell was unique and couldn''t be passed on like regr magic. Those who had failed to learn de Magic, instead, didn''t dare to assume they would grasp something even moreplex.

    "This sort of makes sense, but what about master Menadion?" Orion asked. "If I didn''t know any better, I''d say she is the secret behind your many Forgemastering achievements despite your young age."

    "Like I would share my knowledge with a random runt." The displeasure in Ripha''s voice broke thest doubts about her rtionship with the Tiamat. "Now, before I forget¡­"

    Menadion struck the ground again, releasing a shockwave that reversed the effects of mes of the Forge and turned the quasi-de Weapons back to their normal enchantments.

    "Fuck!" Eldritches, Liches, and Divine Beasts cursed as one.

    Dragons and Liches were those who almost went mad with fury. They had been so busy fighting the World Tree''s minions first and collecting their lootter to bother studying the changes that Menadion''s spell had wrought upon their equipment.

    The Liches reacted like expected. They bawled their eyes out, screaming injustice and stomping the ground like a five year old who had just lost his favorite toy.

    Phoenixes fared better, but only because they served under Sark and they could learn de Magic as long as they demonstrated their valor to the Overlord.

    As for the Eldritches-monster hybrids, they had been studying the quasi-de Weapons from the moment the fight had ended. They didn''t care for anything but strength and de Magic was one of the few things on Mogar they stillcked.

    On top of that, none of them doubted for a second that Tezka had already collected from the battlefield all the resources the Master''s research might need. The Suneater possessed an omni pocket and with his dimensional abilities storing an enemy right after killing them was child''s y.

    "Then what brought you back, master Menadion?" Ananta cupped her hands and gave the First Ruler of the mes a bow. "Verhen faced several struggles in the past and called upon his Demons many times, yet you never answered."

    "Why would I? I don''t know nor do I care for him." Ripha''s words oozed so much resentment that the Mother of All ck Dragons would have thought Lith had personally wronged Menadion.

    Yet that was impossible. The Ruler of the mes had died seven hundred years ago and Lith was only twenty years old. He had be a famous healer since he was a teen, there was no doubting his origin.

    "With all due respect, that doesn''t answer my question." Ananta wasn''t willing to drop the matter. "Why here and why now?"

    "I didn''te back for him but for her." Menadion gave Solus a side hug and took off her helm, revealing her visage.

    With their build and faces so simr and the identical seven streaks amid their golden hair it was impossible to miss the resemnce. With Menadion''s Demon form reverting her to her early twenties, they looked almost like twins.

    Everyone gasped in surprise, those old enough to remember what Menadion looked like even called themselves idiots for not noticing it earlier. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Solus¡­" Ripha swallowed, barfing more than speaking the next word. "¡­Verhen is myst descendant. My bloodline would have ended with her and that''s something I couldn''t allow."

    Once again, the lie made perfect sense. No one even considered Solus could be Elphyn. Even if she was still alive, Elphyn Menadion was supposed to be over 700 years old and close to the end of her life.

    Also, those who had met her knew she only had orange and silver streaks.

    Her affinities were limited to the elements of creation, something her mother had always been proud of. On top of that, Elphyn was famous for having reached the violet by herself at just twenty years of age.

    Solus Verhen, instead, was young, stuck at the bright blue, and had the legendary seven elemental streaks. Many had thought her to be rted to Silverwing, not Menadion.

    "What? How?" Even the Liches stopped throwing their tantrums and questioned the news.

    "As you know, my daughter had a morally questionable behavior before turning over a new leaf." Ripha said, throwing an approving look at Lith for no apparent reason while he sent her a stream of lies through the ck chain connecting them.

    Everyone nodded while Solus blushed wildly without anyone caring for her anymore. Compared to the awe-inspiring First Ruler of the mes, her descendant was just a nameless mage of little talent.

    ''I can''t believe my past has to be thrown in my face like that.'' Solus thought. ''I changed the moment I realized I was acting like a stupid brat and-''

    "What no one knows is that such change didn''t happen overnight for no reason. Epphy cleaned up her act because she got pregnant young and out of wedlock." Everyone gasped in surprise except for Solus who did it in horror, the difference barely noticeable.

    "It''s the truth." Bytra took it as her cue and chimed in. "All the students belonging to master Menadion''s inner circle knew about it and swore secrecy to protect her reputation."

    "Why did we never hear about it even after the murder?" Quashol asked.

    "I can''t speak for the rest of the apprentices, only for myself." Bytra replied. "I just assumed that whoever had killed master Menadion, Elphyn, and stolen the tower, had also killed the baby. There was no point breaking my oath."

    "This exins everything!" Dragons, Liches, and everything in between murmured to each other.

    ''No, it doesn''t!'' Solus wanted to die. ''My reputation as Elphyn Menadion was already bad and now is destroyed. This couldn''t get any worse!''

 Chapter 3309 Shameful Past (Part 2)

    Chapter 3309 Shameful Past (Part 2)

    "Who was the father?" Ananta asked and the peanut gallery leaned forward, nodding like parrots.

    "Use your brain." Ripha clicked her tongue in mock indignance. "Solus has lived in the Blood Desert until Sally, I mean, the Overlord reconnected with her lost son. My daughter and I died seven hundred years ago. Who do you think took care of my bloodline until now?"

    "Overlord Sark." Irk pondered out loud. "But that means¡­"

    "Aerth, the Blue Phoenix was the father of the baby." Menadionpleted the phrase for him and the Dark Phoenixes confirmed.

    ''Why? Why did I think that?'' Solus inwardly screamed. ''Me and my big mouth! I jinxed it. It got worse. So much worse!''

    "Please, don''t ask the details. Disclosing private matters of our brother goes against the Overlord''sw." Urxat had a grimace on his face that made him seem honest.

    In truth, he and the rest of the Dark Phoenixes wereughing their asses off. From their perspective, the situation was funnier than a theatrical y.

    "If I may, master Menadion, who killed you, and what happened to your tower?" Quashol asked.

    The mystery of Menadion''s death weighed heavily on the Awakeendmunity and the perspective of getting their hands on the legendary mage tower after witnessing three of them in action was ever-alluring.

    "Asfell Kolga killed me after I foolishly entrusted her with many of my secrets." Ripha''s answer shocked everyone to the bone, but not as much as Bytra.

    "That''s why that bitch ran like a rat after master Menadion''s demise." Ayleen pointed out and everyone agreed.

    "It matches what we know about her." Ananta pondered. "Kolga hid underwater to escape the investigation and continued her experiments on Forbidden Magic. Based on the reports we received after the destruction of her lost city, Asfell did try to build her own tower.

    "Probably she wanted to get master Menadion''s tower and its powers to perfect the spell thatter gave birth to the Forbidden Sun. I don''t want to think what might have happened if she seeded."

    Lith was among those still stunned by surprise.

    ''That''s the kind of lie I would concoct to protect Bytra except I did not tell Menadion to say any of this. Her life, death, and potential revenge are her own.'' He thought.

    "I have a confession to make." Ripha sighed. "I actually knew about Asfell''s interest in Forbidden Magic. She asked for my help with more than one project but it was nothing like the Forbidden Sun.

    "Just minor things that with a bit of tuning and effort we converted into regr magic. I''m ashamed to admit I did not report her to the Council and kept her secrets because I was fascinated by Asfell''s talent.

    "Her starting ideas were an abomination, but could be fixed and lead to great results." Menadion was telling the truth while also omitting her own interest in Forbidden Magic to pursue her agenda.

    "It''s none of your fault, master Menadion." Quashol patted her back. "Just because one has a dangerous idea, it doesn''t mean they have to pursue it. Kolga made her choice, a terrible choice, and in the end, she got what she deserved."

    "As for my tower, I have no clue." Menadion said. "I remained by the baby''s side and I''ve followed my descendants ever since."

    "Great. Fantastic. Thanks for the history lesson." Tezka snorted. "Now, let''s go back to the present and to something that actually matters to me. The Ears of Menadion. Who gets them?"

    With the field cleared of elven corpses, Golems, and Yggdrasill wood, the Ears of Menadion were the biggest andst prize. The trunk of the World Tree had been destroyed in the explosion and what was left had turned back into its original non-Awakened form, like it happened to all dead Fae.

    Two halves of a burned, hollow giant oaky on the bottom of the hole the World Tree''s roots had dug overtime.

    "The Suneater is right." Ayleen said. With all her questions answered, she had no interest in talking anymore.

    "I''d say it belongs to the Red Mother." dion stepped forward. "She was the spear and shield of the decoy team. Without my mother, you would have never gotten close to the Tree, Lith."

    "It belongs to me!" Tezka snarled. "I opened the Fringe. I let the Dragons in. Without me, there would have been no battle at all. Without my Chaos Dimension those ungrateful Wyrms would have never gotten inside the Fringe before the World Tree killed you all just like Valtak!"

    As the Suneater pointed at the Dragon patriarchs, making them lower their heads in shame, the Fringe returned to its original size and state.

    "Well, shit." Tezka looked at the misty borders of the Fringe in the distance. "Now we have to get out one at a time."

    "In times of peace that doesn''t matter." Erghak, the highest ranking among the surviving Fire Dragons stepped forward. "What matters is that the Fire Dragons receive the Ears of Menadion.

    "It was thanks to Grandfather that two greeds of Dragons assembled to help you. He gave his life for you, Verhen. The Father of Fire fought to hisst spark to snap his so-called Brood Brothers out of their self-important indifference."

    "Watch your mouth, kid!" Irk roared, unfurling his sapphire-blue wings in anger.

    "I don''t owe you any respect, old Wyrm." Erghak replied, the title spat out like an insult. "The World Tree killed the Father of Fire but only because you allowed it with your inaction. Do you deny it?"

    The Father of All Storm Dragons narrowed his eyes and thick smoke billowed out of his nostrils as rage literally set his heart ame.

    "The Storm Dragons second Erghak''s motion." Irk lowered his head in regret.

    "And so do the ck Dragons." Ananta said.

    "And the Ice Dragons." Quashol said.

    The young Fire Wyrm''s words were addressed to Irk, but all patriarchs felt the blow and the responsibility they carried.

    "The Golden Dragons concur." Gentor nodded. "I didn''t do enough. I came here to protect Valtak and I failed. The least I can do is topensate his Brood for their loss."

    "That''s great and I''m tempted to agree with you but I have to ponder the issue." Lith shook his head. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "What? Why?" The Dragons said in outrage and the Eldritches and Firstborns with hope.

    "Because you all made good points but missed one crucial fact." Lith replied. "My promise was to reward the one who saved Solus with the Ears and none of us took so much as one step inside the World Tree.

    "Ripha Menadion saved Solus and if I take my promise to the letter, the Ears belong to her."

    "But she''s a Demon!" Ananta rebuked. "Your Demon. This is just an excuse to keep it for yourself."

    "His Demon my ass!" Menadion snarled. "I am my own person and in case you missed the whole conversation, I have still one heir!"

    "At the same time, I think Tezka is right." Lith stood between the two women before things escted. "The Eldritches yed a role as important as Valtak. Right now, I''m grieving and I can''t think clearly."

    He touched Ananta with the Dragon scales and the sense of loss she experienced was no less than hers.

 Chapter 3310 Nothing Alike (Part 1)

    Chapter 3310 Nothing Alike (Part 1)

    Rage abandoned Ananta''s features and was reced bypassion.

    "Valtak died because of me." Lith said. "Saving Solus means the world to me but the price I- we all paid is too high. This doesn''t change the fact that many of you risked your lives for me anding out alive doesn''t make your efforts less valuable.

    "I want to make a fair decision. If it was up to me, I''d give the Ears to the Fire Dragons, the Eldritches, and the undead."

    "You actually can." Dragon greed glimpsed behind Irk''s eyes. "Assuming master Menadion chooses to remain among the living, she can Forgemaster more."

    "True, but I won''t." Ripha snorted. "Forgemaster more copies of the Ears, sweetie. I''m not going anywhere." She rushed to add after noticing Solus'' misted eyes.

    "You have my word I''ll call you all and let you know my final decision in a few days. Now, I need to sleep." Lith was still panting. He had used Invigoration so much that it barely had any effect left.

    "What about those?" Ayleen jabbed her thumb at the hundreds of thousands of elves who had sought refuge near the borders of the Fringe. "Are they still up for grabs?"

    "Yes." / "No!" Lith and Solus said in unison.

    "Make up your gods-damned mind!" The Liches roared.

    "The answer is no!" Solus said. "Mo- Menadion would have never managed to break me out of prison if not for an elf called Ghar''mar Riverflow. She knew what the World Tree was doing was wrong and guided us to the exit.

    "She died in the escape, but I haven''t forgotten my promise to her. I swore that I would spare her people in case we won and I''m not going back on my word."

    "Sweetie-"

    "What?" Solus'' fiery gaze cut Menadion short.

    ''I want the elves dead. All of them.'' The First Ruler of the mes said via the ck chain.

    ''Me too, but Solus'' happinesses first.'' Lith replied. ''She''s gone through too much. I don''t want to make her associate her freedom with bloodshed and a lifetime of guilt.''

    "What she said." Lith actually said. "I mean, there''s plenty of corpses to go. The elves have already lost a lot. Those responsible are already dead, the bnce, and all that stuff. Peace. I''m out of here."

    "Lith!" Solus red up to the colossal Tiamat.

    "I mean, I''ll leave the Fringest to ensure no one attempts funny business."

    "But-" Ayleen tried and failed to object.

    "You heard him." Erghak the Fire Dragon said. "Enough blood has been spilled. I just want to retrieve Grandfather''s corpse and go home to honor him as he deserves. Stand in our way and the Brood will treat you as an enemy."

    The Wyrm patriarchs, Surtr, and Sinmara turned towards the Maker of All Liches with mouths aze. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I still have your phctery." Baba Yaga the Asura clenched a masterfully cut white crystal the size of a melon in her palm.

    "That''s onepelling argument. Let''s go, people." Ayleen snapped her fingers and the Liches followed her inside Bloodhaven.

    "Too much greed is dangerous." They said, trying to look innocent. "Yeah, we''ve already gotten a lot. There''s no point endangering our phcteries, I mean, arguing with our allies for such a petty reason."

    Of course, no one believed them.

    "Before we leave, there''s something you need to know." Erghak turned towards Lith. "As per Grandfather''s wishes, after the funeral, his corpse will be turned into a powerful set of armor and his ws into weapons."

    "I''ll attend the funeral, but why are you telling me the rest?" The Tiamat asked.

    "Because the set of equipment will not go to Grandfather''s family but to the next Father of Fire and you and your sister are among the candidates listed in Grandfather''s will." The Fire Wyrm replied.

    "Fuck." It was all Lith could say to express how unworthy he felt of Valtak''s friendship.

    "Fuck indeed." Erghak sped wrists with Lith, the Dragon scales letting them share the depth of their feelings for the Elder Wyrm. "Don''t beat yourself up. Friendship is a gift, not a trade. Grandfather did what he wanted until the end.

    "Don''t tarnish his memory with pointless bitterness. He sure didn''t." The Fire Wyrm nodded at the corpse whose expression in death was fixed into a peaceful smile.

    "I will try." Lith let go of the wrist and opened a Warp Steps leading on the opposite side of the Fringe from the elves.

    "Weak." Tezka weaved his finger around, erging the opening to the point a human army couldfortably pass through it.

    "Show off." Lith returned to his human form and so did the rest of the Divine Beasts. "Now, who wants to get out first?"

    He had yet toplete the sentence that the Fringe''s boundary opened to the outside world.

    "Since when can you do that?" Tezka asked.

    "I can''t." Lith took a few steps back and the mist closed again. "Either it''s a consequence of mixing my Tiamat Fear with the world energy earlier or Mogar just wants us out."

    "Let''s see which is it." Tezka stepped forward but nothing happened.

    He touched the mist and confirmed he could move through the veil like usual but that was it. After Baba Yaga, Silverwing, and the patriarchs tried and failed, Lith moved closer to the boundary, opening it again.

    "I swear I''m not doing anything." He said.

    "I can confirm that." Baba Yaga nodded. "It''s not him. Mogar doesn''t trust us. Now let''s get out of here."

    Bloodhaven and Silverspire went first, bringing out the rest of the undead. Then it was the Eldritches turn who Warped away as soon as they could, starting from the Master.

    "See you around, boy." Vastor winked at Lith before disappearing.

    "Can we, uhm, stay?" Bytra moved her eyes from Lith to Menadion, wringing her hands while Zoreth held her shoulder.

    "It''s fine. I have news to share with you two anyway."

    "Yes!" Solus said with an overly enthusiastic tone at the idea of the baby boy. "I mean, sure." She lowered her voice to a dourer register.

    "I''ll allow it." Ripha said with a deadpan voice.

    As the greeds of Dragons left the Fringe and fewer and fewer foreigners remained, the elves found the courage to send an ambassador to understand the invaders'' intentions.

    Azit Mo''rauh of the Shadow Elves tribe needed two Steps to reach Lith after getting the short end of the stick.

    "Greetings, human. I''m-"

    "Not interested." Lith replied, rushing people out so that he could join them.

    "Where''s the new World Tree? How can we reach it?" Azit pushed his luck despite Lith''s re and Menadion''s violent killing intent.

    "The World Tree is dead." Lith replied.

    "The old one." Azit pointed out. "But the new one-"

    "Cadaverific." Lith cut him short. "Yourte master told me there was no chosen sessor. Either a random World Sapling got the title or the Yggdrasill lineage is over. Forgive me if I hope for thetter."

    "What will we do?" Azit asked. "How will we survive without a World Tree?"

    "The better question is: how will you survive without a head?" Ripha lifted the elf''s chin with her hammer.

 Chapter 3311 Nothing Alike (Part 2)

    Chapter 3311 Nothing Alike (Part 2)

    "Because if you don''t get out of my hair right now, we are going to find out." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Mo-enadion, stop!" Solus rushed to correct herself since there were still people within earshot. "Look, whoever you are, there''s nothing we can do. Wait for the call of the new World Tree or whatever your people do when the fucker dies."

    "My name is-"

    "Not interested." Solus cut Azit short. "If none of that works, here''s themunication rune of a fellow elf of yours. Aalejah Eventide. She will care enough about you and your people to help you connect with the rulers of the three great countries."

    "But-" Azit exchanged runes with her, yet with the elven viges gone and the fields still burning with Origin mes, the elves would soon run out of food.

    "You tortured me!" Solus yelled with so much fury that her voice sted the elf off his feet. "Your kind imprisoned me and did¡­ things to me! I made a promise and I am upholding it, but my patience is running thin."

    She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in the attempt to control herself.

    "Get away from me. Now!"

    Azit stepped away slowly, keeping his hands raised in in sight. The collective murderous intent in front of him was enough to keep him from breathing, making his lungs burn from theck of oxygen.

    He could have Warped away, but he didn''t dare cast a spell and risk it being mistaken for an attack.

    As soon as fear allowed him, he turned around and sprinted, feeling the fresh breeze filling his chest and easing his pain.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to lose my cool like that." Solus wished to be kinder with Azit, but her body twisted in revulsion at the mere sight of an elf.

    "Don''t apologize. You just saved his life." Lith patted her shoulder.

    "You sure did." Menadion snarled.

    Once everyone was out of the Fringe, the boundary closed by itself even though Lith was still nearby.

    "See? It wasn''t me."

    The various factions waved their goodbyes and left. The exit led to the republic of Chl and getting back home would take a while for those who didn''t want to leave a trail in the Gate Network that might trace them back to theirirs.

    "I bet that we''ll find Aunt Loka and Malyshka waiting for us in the Blood Desert." Solus said after she made sure they were alone.

    "Just the time to get rid of all those obnoxious Liches and lose anyone who might attempt to tail them." Lith nodded. "I doubt they''ll miss to give you and your mother a proper wee."

    "I can use the advice of trusted friends right now." Ripha sighed while ring at Lith. "I''m not in the right state of mind for seven hundred years and need to make important decisions."

    "Before we get back to the Blood Desert and start celebrating Solus'' return, I would like to ask you a few questions, Menadion." Bytra cleared her throat to get their attention.

    "Can''t they wait? I''ve just reconnected with my daughter."

    "No, they can''t." The Fourth Ruler of the mes shook her head. "I can understand our truce while Solus'' life was at risk but why did you lie for me once the battle was over? Why didn''t you attack me even though you''ve seen with your eyes what I''ve done with your teachings? With your life job?"

    "Why would I?" Ripha frowned in confusion. "Oh, now I understand. You don''t know I was by Solus'' side all this time, do you?"

    "You what?" Bytra took a step back.

    "I mean that I was there when you gave her the Fury back and did everything you could to find the pieces of my Set for her." Menadion said. "I witnessed you offering Epphy-"

    "Solus." Solus corrected her.

    "Solus your Absolution." Ripha rolled her eyes. "Just like I was there all the times you risked your life to save her and I''ve learned from Lith''s chain that you still keep the secret of the tower from your allies.

    "Only your wife knows and only because Lith needed her help to convince the others to join the rescue missions."

    "Are you saying that you have forgiven me?" Bytra''s voice cracked as her mind refused to believe her own ears.

    "Why should I forgive you?" Menadion''s scoff broke the Raiju''s heart in a thousand pieces. "You did nothing wrong."

    "What?" Bytra''s knees buckled and she fell to the ground.

    "Kid, I''m not my daughter. My memory is intact and I remember how the real- I''m sorry, the original Bytra was." Ripha stepped forward and helped the Raiju to stand up. "No matter what you tell or call yourself, you are nothing like her.

    "She was arrogant, even more than my daughter¡­"

    "Mom!"

    "And she was the most ambitious and prideful person I''ve ever met." Menadion pretended to not have heard Solus and continued. "Bytra always bugged me to borrow the other pieces of my set to the point I often joked she would kill me just to take a peek at my tower.

    "As we all know, in the end she did. You, instead, are humble and caring. You could have taken not one, but three pieces of my set for yourself, and Solus would have never known about it.

    "She recovered the Fury, the Mouth, and now the Ears only thanks to your help. Not to mention you could have ambushed Lith at any time and taken the stone ring from him, achieving Bytra''s lifelong dream of having my tower."

    "But I''m Bytra!" The Raiju said in frustration. "I killed you and Elphyn. I stole your hammer. I copied your work. I''m everything the ''real'' Bytra was!"

    "Really?" Ripha furrowed her brows in mock indignance. "Then tell me how and when you, and I mean you, not the person in your memories, have wronged me or my daughter. I''ll wait."

    "Well, I¡­" Bytra racked her brain but there was nothing to find.

    She had spent every waking moment since she had discovered that Solus and Elphyn were the same person trying to find a way to make up for the crimes of the original Bytra.

    "My point exactly." Ripha nodded after the silencested long enough to be awkward. "I was dead so we''ve never met until today. As for my daughter, you''ve done everything in your power to preserve and restore our family legacy.

    "For that, I''ll be forever grateful to you. Tezka may have opened the Fringe, but you pushed him to do it."

    "Really?" Bytra said amid hups as a huge burden was lifted off her chest.

    "Absolutely."Menadion said. "To be honest, I think you are more talented than the old Bytra. She held my hammer for years during her apprenticeship but she never managed toe even close to it whereas your Absolution surpasses my creation.

    "Also, you''ve managed to improve on the Mouth as well and based on what I''ve learned from Lith, you''ve studied the Ears enough to crack its code in less than one day."

    "I didn''t do any of that." Bytra shook her head. "I had help. The Eldritches of the Organization are among the most ancient and powerful beings on Mogar¡­"

 Chapter 3312 Unforeseen Ripples (Part 1)

    Chapter 3312 Unforeseen Ripples (Part 1)

    "And you had the humility to recognize your limits, ask for help and ovee them." Riphapleted the phrase for her. "That''s something the old Bytra would have never done."

    "Thank you." The Raiju managed to say between violent sobs.

    "Don''t thank me." Menadion replied. "Thank yourself. If you hadn''t worked so hard to fix the old Bytra''s mistakes, if you had just taken the good and washed your hands of the bad, we would be having a much different conversation.

    "If you had taken the same path as the old Bytra, we wouldn''t talk at all. I would have killed you like the rabid animal she was. The legacy you carry is still stained by my and Elp-Solus'' blood but you have redeemed it through your actions.

    "I sincerely hope you''ll keep up like this and won''t make me regret what I did today."

    "I won''t let you down again. I promise." It took Brytra a while topose herself and manage to stand up on her own. During that time, Solus pondered her mother''s words.

    ''Maybe Mom is right but I still can''t move past the fact that Bytra carries the face and memories of my murderer.'' She thought. ''Maybe I''m too quick to judge, but I think Mom is too quick to forgive. That or Lith''s ability to hold a grudge rubbed off on me.''

    Once Bytra recovered enough to travel, they all jumped on Zoreth''s back and flew to Chl''s border with the Gorgon Empire.

    "Is it me or are there lots of fires on the horizon?" The Shadow Dragon asked Lith.

    Her eyesight was good but a Tiamat''s was on another level.

    "No, you are correct." Lith observed small contingents of two different colors fight all over the major intersections leading to Chl''s capitol. "I think we''ve somehow triggered a war. What the heck did we miss?"

    He took out hismunication amulet but there was no message aside from those dating back to his disappearance. Everyone knew he had lost his pocket dimension and hadn''t bothered contacting him after.

    "I can check my amulet, but we are already at our destination." Zoreth slowed down and descended at a safe distance from the border fortress of the Empire.

    The Magic Empress had given the members of the Brood full ess to her Gate Network and had yet to revoke the order but the Shadow Dragon had no way to know that.

    On top of that, a contingent of thousands of mage soldiers and anti-siege war machines were arranged inside the fortress, forming a powerful array that could be activated at any moment.

    ''I''d rather avoid further conflict.'' Zoreth said via a mind link as they approached the army leader, a three-star general wearing a marine green mage robe. ''We are all tired and humans spook easily.''

    ''Good thinking.'' Solus nodded. ''Milea is our ally and her support today was crucial. Without her, the Brood wouldn''t have- What''s that?''

    Lith was too tired or he would have noticed it for a while with his Tiamat eyes.

    The Verhen household banner flew high on the poles carried by the standard-bearers of each toon, right below the g of the Gorgon Empire. Lith''s family crest pictured a ck and red winged dragon coiled around a white stone tower.

    Below the tower, a sword and a mage staff crossed heads. After Lith had be a Magus, the Royals had added a goldenurel wreath epassing the base crest as Lith''s badge of office.

    "Present arms!" The general bellowed as he saw his honored guests approaching.

    The toon opened a corridor for Lith''s group, crossing their weapons high above their heads.

    "Supreme Magus Verhen, allow me to introduce myself. I''m Lieutenant General Wemar Shalt and I''m here to offer you the eternal gratitude of the Gorgon Empire for the great service you rendered today."

    The general was a tall man with squared shoulders and the muscr build of a bear. He weed the honor guests first, giving them the salute while his personal guards presented their enchanted staves to Lith.

    "I beg your pardon?" Even in his exhausted state, Lith doubted the Empire was aware of the events that had taken ce in the Fringe.

    ''Even if they did, I doubt they would care. This must be about something else.'' He thought.

    "You broke through Chl''s borders and opened the way for us." The general stated the obvious with the most polite and grateful tone.

    He sounded like he was recounting the tale of a hero to an ignorant crowd instead of like someone dumbing things down for a slow-witted child.

    "The war is still ongoing, but our Empress is confident that in a matter of weeks Chl will be annexed to our Gorgon Empire. With its lusciousnds and fertile fields, our new region will solve part of our food supply problems. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Thanks to you, the people of the Empire won''t be afraid of winter any longer and will have more and better food to eat during the rest of the year."

    At those words, the mage soldiers shoot chore magic spells in the air, conjuring fireworks brilliant enough to be visible even during the day.

    "I see." Lith''s mind started spinning, calcting the effects of the unforeseen ripples caused by his actions in both the Kingdom and the Empire. Then, it stopped.

    ''I''m too tired to worry about how big of a new one Meron will rip into me and I''ll think about what to ask Milea aspensation on another day. The only thing I can do now is sleep.''

    "Do you need the assistance of our Healers or Forgemasters?" The general noticed Lith''s cracked equipment and scabbed wounds. "We would be honored to offer you hospitality until you have recovered from your glorious battle."

    "Thanks, but I''d rather go home." Lith returned the salute and waited for the general to make way.

    "As you wish." Wemar nodded. "If there''s anything you need or we can help you with, the doors of the Gorgon Empire are always open for you, your family, and your friends."

    To the mage soldiers, Lith''s battered figure was that of a mage who had fought against one of the most powerful existences on Mogar and came out victorious. Lith, instead, felt like someone had shoved him in a washer and he had to endure the full cycle before getting out of it.

    He half stumbled and half walked after the general, wishing for more haste and less pomp.

    Luckily for him, it took him only one step to enter Sark''s pce after finally reaching the Warp Gate.

    The room was packed with friends, family, and Guardians.

    "Good gods, Lith, are you alright?" Kam rushed to him first, stopping in front of him.

    The Voidfeather armor was still cracked and Ragnar?k''s power core so depleted that the blood surrounding the de looked more like a sloppy paintjob than a scabbard. Lith was bruised and battered, with scars covering the exposed parts of his flesh.

    "I''ve seen better days but I''ll heal." He replied. "I only need some rest."

    "What about Solus? Where is she?" Kam held him in a gentle embrace in consideration for his wounds.

 Chapter 3313 Unforeseen Ripples (Part 2)

    Chapter 3313 Unforeseen Ripples (Part 2)

    "Right here." Solus stepped out of the Gate second and was quickly drowned in a family embrace.

    "My baby!" Elina said while kissing Solus'' forehead and irking Menadion to no end.

    ''Watch what you say.'' Kam said through a mind link. ''Jirni is still here.''

    "Wee back, Lith. Wee back, Solus." Lady Ernas wobbled through the crowd that opened up for her. "I''m d to see everything went fine. Don''t worry, I''m not going to intrude this moment.

    "I''ve remained in the Desert to offer your mother emotional support but now that you are back, my husband needs me and I him." Jini saved Lith the effort to find an excuse to dismiss her. "Friya, Quy, I suppose you''ll join me in a while, correct?"

    "Yes, Mother." The two women gave her a respectful bow as a thank you.

    "Don''t make your father wait too long. He has a good heart but would hate to think you treasure a friend more than you do him." Jirni said and her daughters nodded. "Remember our deal, Lith. One life for another."

    "I could never forget." Lith took her hands in his and gave her a small bow.

    "Give me a call when you are done. I want all the details you can share with me. Save your acting for the Royals." Jirni reached the Warp Gate and turned around, giving her guests the best curtsy her state allowed.

    Then she disappeared through the dimensional corridor which closed behind her, ensuring the privacy of the Verhens.

    "Did our n work?" Lith asked the moment they were alone.

    Judging from the partly angry res and mostly happy expressions of his family, it was clear that they knew about Kam''s pregnancy. They understood Lith''s reasoning for secrecy but still resented him for keeping them in the dark.

    "Like a curse." She sighed, using a mind link to share the details with him. "The moment I stepped out of the pce I was attacked and Kigan almost killed."

    "What?" Both Bytra and Zoreth were bbergasted.

    They knew how strong their brother was and it was impossible for a mere human to survive something capable of threatening the Dark Phoenix''s life.

    "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Lith asked.

    "I resent that!" Leegaain snorted. "I was with her the entire time and you know it, Hatchling. I should be angry at you for your shameless maniptions."

    Menadion and Solus already knew about the pregnancy due to the bond with Lith, leaving the Eldritch-hybrids the only ones to be utterly confused by the Guardian''s words.

    "It''s fine." Lith shrugged. "Kigan and Zinya know already. I bet Vastor too knows about it by now."

    "Knows what?" The Shadow Dragon asked in frustration.

    "Kami!" Solus took it as her cue, breaking free of Elina''s embrace and rushing to her friend. "Is it true? A baby boy?"

    "You tell me." Kam hugged Solus while shapeshifting her hands into ck-scaled Dragon ws.

    "A what?" Bytra said, expressing the stupor of the speechless Zoreth as well while Solus and Kam jumped and squealed.

    The members of the Verhen family and the Nest took turns to congratte Lith with a handshake and wee Solus back with a hug and a few words.

    "How could you not tell us, son?" Raaz brimmed with pride, his handshake as vigorous as angry.

    "I had to y it close to the vest, Dad." Lith replied. "I had no idea about the identity of my enemy. Also, it''s not like I nned on keeping the secret for long. You were bound to notice something was off the moment Kami stopped drinking wine and avoided her favorite blend of strong tea."

    "I forgive you only because I''m too happy to sweat the small stuff." Raazughed. "Gods, we are getting a boy this time. I''ll have to polish my whittling skills to impress the little one with my handmade toys or he won''t enjoy spending time with me."

    "We can do it together, Dad. I can use a refresher course." Lith patted his father''s shoulder, inwardly whining at the idea of the additional workload a second child was going to bring.

    "How are you, Solus? What did that monstrous Tree do to you?" Tista wrapped Solus in a tight embrace.

    "Lots of monstrous things and nothing I want to remember right now, sorry." Solus shuddered and Tista dropped the subject.

    "By the way, who is your new friend?" Rena noticed the short, armored figure who stood silent in the back. "Howe I don''t recognize someone you trust enough to share your deepest secrets, lil bro?"

    "About that¡­" Solus pushed Tista away gently. "I haven''t had a real meal in days and Lith needs energy to recover from his wounds. Yet there are two things I must do before we have lunch. First, Grandma, where is the mana geyser?"

    A snap of the Overlord''s fingers Warped everyone to the inner hall of the pce. Silverspire and Bloodhaven were already there, respectively in the form of a silvery tower and a hunting cabin.

    Solus looked at Lith who nodded and threw the stone ring in the empty space between the two towers.

    A snap of the Overlord''s fingers Warped everyone to the inner hall of the pce. Silverspire and Bloodhaven were already there, respectively in the form of a silvery tower and a hunting cabin.

    Solus looked at Lith who nodded and threw the stone ring in the empty space between the two towers.

    A broken stone tower emerged from the ground amid the awestruck gasps of the Eldritches. Everyone else had seen it happen too many times to care.

    The vigorous flow of world energy from the geyser flooded Solus and Lith. While she was perfectly fine and the tower allowed her to keep her human form and replenished her core, he was in bad shape.

    The extra mana flow mended Lith''s wounds and revitalized his equipment. The cracks on the Voidwalker armor and Ragnar?k disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    As the elemental crystals on the fuller regained their luster, the bloody scabbard grew thicker and more borate in its design.

    "Is that¡­" Bytra asked, not daring to finish the phrase. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "My tower, yes." Solus replied. "Since you already know about it and have risked your life for me, you have every right to see it again, Bytra."

    "Are you sure?" Friya asked. "No offense, Bytra, but you still killed Solus for it. How do we know you won''t do it again?"

    "None taken." The Raiju sighed, having no rebuttal to offer.

    "Which brings us to the second thing." Solus took a deep breath before continuing. "Aunt Loka, Malyshka. I know you are there. You cane out."

    Bloodhaven and Silverspire opened, letting their masters out.

    "We didn''t want to ruin this moment for you, Solus." Baba Yaga was back in her Mother form. "Also, we didn''t know how much you intended to share with the Eldritches."

    "And I thank you for that." Solus replied. "But at this point, I see no reason to keep the two worlds apart. Mom, Dad, guys, allow me to introduce my birth mother, Ripha Menadion. She has forgiven Bytra and I want to respect her judgment."

    As the heads turned around fast enough to get whish, the armored figure removed her helm. Between her thick mane of long hair and her features, only a blind man would have failed to see the resemnce between the two women.

    Especially now that Ripha kept the extra five eyes closed and used Light Mastery to have the same appearance she had in life.

 Chapter 3314 A Motherâ€™s Love (Part 1)

    Chapter 3314 A Mother¡¯s Love (Part 1)

    "Mom, these are the members of my adoptive family. Raaz, Elina, Tista, Rena, Senton, Aran, and Leria."

    "No need to introduce them one by one." Ripha gave everyone a small bow. "I''ve known all of them for years and wish they could say the same about me."

    "Mom never left my side." Solus'' voice filled the room with stunned silence. "Her soul was always with me since the day she died. She epted Lith''s chains during the battle and has be a Demon just like Trion."

    "Which begs a question." Trion said. "Lith has gained the ability to conjure Demons for quite some time. Why didn''t you manifest sooner like I did?"

    "Because I knew that once my energy ran out, I would have been forced to move on and abandon my daughter." Ripha replied. "Before you ask, I don''t like Lith much and the idea of binding my existence to him is far from alluring."

    "You don''t like my brother?" Rena couldn''t believe her own ears. "After everything he''s done for Solus? If you''ve been watching him from the shadows for the past sixteen years you should know what kind of man he is!"

    "Those are the exact reasons I don''t like him." Ripha shook her head. "I was there all along, witnessing everything first-hand. I didn''t wait years before receiving an embellished version of his life and even longer to get the truth.

    "I didn''t have to peel the onion like you did. Also, it''s funny that you me me for my opinion after how quickly you judged my daughter back when Lith introduced her to you."

    Rena said nothing, lowering her eyes in embarrassment.

    "Are you not going to stay, Ripha?" Silverwing asked, embracing her friend after centuries of separation.

    "Honestly, I don''t know, Lochra." The First Ruler of the mes returned the embrace. "I would like to stay, but the price is steep. Also, I don''t know if my presence would do more harm than good.

    "Epphy built her new life without me and I don''t want to chain her to the past. As much as it pains me to admit it, she''s been happier with the Verhen''s than in all the years she spent with me after Threin''s death."

    "How can you say that, Mom?" Solus grabbed Menadion''s hand, forcing her to turn toward her. "You have no idea how much I missed you. I''ve spent countless nights wishing to have you back and talk to you, even if just for one minute.

    "You can''t leave again after we''ve just been reunited!"

    "It''s not that easy, Epphy. I mean, Solus. Sorry." Menadion sighed.

    Being a wandering soul was painful, but the weight of the Demon form was heavy as well. Menadion knew that were she to stay, she would have to depend on Lith for her survival.

    That she would have to live and spend her days with people she didn''t care about.

    ''Just thinking about all the work needed to update my magical knowledge gives me a headache.'' She thought. ''The worst part is that I know Lith is going to ask me for Forgemastering lessons and I can''t say no to him.

    ''Not because he''s going to ckmail me into it but because the moment Epphy looks at me with puppy eyes I''m going to fold like a cheap shirt. I couldn''t say no to her when we spent every day together, let alone now after being separated for seven hundred years.

    ''Most of all, I miss Threin. I want to be reunited with him, to feel his touch and hear his voice again. Wherever he is, Threin must be worried sick about Epphy and me.'' Once a wandering soul vented its anger, its attachment to the world of the living waned.

    It was the reason most souls moved on even though they weren''t given the possibility to settle their personal scores, just an opportunity to unleash their pent-up frustration.

    "It is that easy, Mom." Solus said. "We both know Lith won''t put conditions on your stay. You can move on or you can stick around as long as you want. Either way it''s your and your decision only.

    "I''m okay with both, just don''t make up excuses and be honest with me." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Menadion fell silent. On the one hand she wanted to be reunited with her husband. On the other hand, Ripha still felt guilty about walking out on the still-recovering Elphyn to chase after the original Bytra.

    ''What if my selfishness leads to another catastrophe? Will I be able to watch over my daughter from beyond the veil or will I bepletely separated from her until the day Epphy dies?''

    The First Ruler of the mes was so deep inside her own head that she didn''t notice what was happening around her.

    ''My thirst for revenge got us here. Had I remained with Epphy, I would still be alive.'' Ripha thought. ''Had I waited for their return, Lochra and Yaga would have helped me to kill Bytra and retrieve the Fury.

    ''After that, I would have worked hard to reach the white, even begging them to teach me, if necessary. I would still be alive to this day, Epphy wouldn''t have suffered centuries of starvation, and she wouldn''t have been involved in Lith''s mess.

    ''What if my selfishness leads to another catastrophe? Will I be able to watch over my daughter from beyond the veil or will I bepletely separated from her until the day Epphy dies?''

    The First Ruler of the mes was so deep inside her own head that she didn''t notice what was happening around her.

    Solus could understand her mother''s reasons. She too longed to meet Threin again and make up for all the lost time. Yet there were many precious things in Solus'' life and had no rush to abandon them.

    So she took a page from Lith''s book and decided to y dirty.

    "I know you probably have seen her before but I still want to introduce you to Elysia, Mom." Before Ripha could say a word Solus shoved the baby girl in her arms.

    "Thanks, Solus." Menadion yed along. "Hello, little one, how are you doing?"

    Ripha had seen many babies in her life and even though they had never interacted directly, she had spent a lot of time with Elysia whenever Solus kept the baby. The child held no sway over her.

    For almost a full second.

    The warmth of Elysia''s body, her giggling sounds, and her head full of elemental streaks reminded Ripha of the times when she held the little Elphyn Menadion in her arms. When her husband was still alive and her life perfect.

    "Gods, she''s adorable!" Ripha started cooing at the baby who cooed back, disappointed by the neer''s poor conversation skills.

    "Ba." Elysia''s eyes pierced through the illusion weaved by Light Mastery and assumed her Abomination form.

    Her white eyes red up, forcing Menadion''s silvery eye open as the baby attempted other forms ofmunication.

    "What is she doing?" Ripha could feel the connection with Elysia growing even stronger, like there was an additional chain connecting her to the baby.

    "I have no clue." Lith shrugged. "Give Elysia two, three years tops and we can ask her, though."

    "Very funny. I''m not-" Menadion''s long hair moved on its own, wrapping around the baby girl like a nket to keep her warm.

    "It makes sense." Solus pondered. "Elysia loves it when I do that. She must have noticed we have identical hair and expected you to do the same."

 Chapter 3315 A Motherâ€™s Love (Part 2)

    Chapter 3315 A Mother¡¯s Love (Part 2)

    "No, it doesn''t make sense!" Ripha replied. "I''ve seen what she can do and this has never happened before. Elysia hasn''t asked me to do anything, she made my hair move against my will.

    "Can you do the same, Lith? Do you have this degree of control over your Demons?"

    "It''s possible but right now I can''t." He shrugged. "I evolved in this form and I''m still getting used to it. Elysia, instead, was born a Tiamat. She can do by instinct things I need to discover and train for."

    "La." Elysia sucked on a lock of hair, unaware of the content of the conversation, only of its general tone. "Mama?"

    The babble word made Ripha''s dead heart beat again.

    "No, sweetie." Solus rushed to exin. "The beautifuldy looks like mommy Solus and is bound to your father, but she''s not your mother. Elysia, this is Auntie Ripha. Say-"

    "Grandmother Ripha." Menadion red at Solus, cutting her short. "If I have to stay here and you won''t give me a grandchild, I''ll take what I can. Elysia has our hair, after all."

    "Mom!" Solus blushed up to her ears. "She''s not rted to me more than you are to Aunt Loka or Friya! Having six elemental streaks-"

    "Gama!" Elysia giggled.

    As long as she was fed and loved by her parents, the number of grandparents was but a minor detail to her.

    "How smart you are!" Ripha tickled the baby, making her giggle. "Can you say Ripha?"

    "La." Elysia shook her head.

    "Close enough. As I said, I''ll take what I can." Menadion caressed the baby. "Prepare yourself, old lizard. Your measly trinkets will pale inparison with the toys I''ll make for her."

    "Dream on, old hag." Leegaain scoffed. "Even if that was the case, I''ll be the favorite grandparent the moment Elysia sees the treasure hoard I''ve prepared for her. I''m not above bribing children to like me."

    "Speaking of children and introductions, Elysia, I want you to meet your younger brother." Kam neared her scaled hands to the baby.

    "Wait, didn''t you do that already?" Lith asked.

    "No, silly. There was no celebration in your absence. I wanted to share this moment with you." She replied, making Menadion miss her husband even more.

    Elysia was confused by the sudden development. Her mother had never had scales, making their conversations most frustrating. Her young brain dismissed it as Kam being an airhead and grabbed her finger after shapeshifting into a Tiamat.

    "Ba?" Elysia felt something besides her mother on the other side.

    A level of peacefulness and silence she had never experienced before, not from herself or even from her father while he was asleep. It wasn''t quite a person but the potential of something that with time would be one.

    The feeling spread to all aspects of Elysia''s life force, creating a bond with the unborn child. It was the third person the baby girl had ever met who resonated with her almost in a perfect tune.

    The first was her mother. During the final months of gestation, Elysia had be cognizant of many things by experiencing the world around Kam through the sensations shared by the Dragon scales.

    The second was her father, who Elysia had only felt through Kam until the day she had been born.

    Elysia had never understood why the bond with her mother had been lost and its restoration filled her with joy. The love and affection Kam felt for her eclipsed the quiet peace of the embryo but Elysia loved them both because one heralded the other.

    "No, he''s not a bad boy." Lith tutted. "He''s your little brother. Say something nice to him."

    "Ba? Ba, ba. Ba!" Elisya was indignant. How could her father confuse twopletely different words?

    "She''s saying that the ba for bad and the ba for brother are not the same thing." Kam tranted through the scales. "To her, tone and feelings make them twopletely different words."

    "It makes no sense to me, but alright." Lith offered Elysia his finger to receive a nonsensical lesson about baby speak.

    "What about me?" Baba Yaga asked with a hopeful tone.

    "Baba." Elysia grunted.

    "It still means very bad, sorry." Kam tranted.

    "Bribing it is." The Mother sighed.

    While everyone talked with Solus to know how she felt and learn the fate of the World Tree, Lith moved toward Sark.

    "I know it''s still early but I''m already starving, Grandma. Can I get some food, please?" His enhanced metabolism was healing his scars while the tower refilled his core with mana but both depended on his body to respectively produce and withstand energy.

    "I knew something like this could happen so I''ve prepared a feast for you, Featherling." At a p of Sark''s hands, the curtains of the room opened, letting in a long line of servants bringing dishes of every size. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Long rectangr tables appeared out of thin air, lined up against the walls to leave the center space for the guests. Refreshments were also brought in in gilded jugs, spreading the smell of fresh juices, spicy wines, and frothing brews.

    Also, the top of the tent became transparent, letting sunlight in to feed and replenish the Abomination side of her guests. It was the first time Ripha experienced hunger again, especially a kind sunlight could quell.

    "I knew it would happen but it still feels weird, like I''ve be a nt." She muttered.

    "Isn''t it early for alcohol?" Raaz asked.

    "It''s always evening somewhere." Sark shrugged. "Don''t worry. I don''t n to make a habit of this. It''s just that you can celebrate the conception of your grandchild only once and you can''t choose the time."

    Lith, Solus, and the Eldritches focused on the food. They were all starving from the battle and Solus hadn''t gotten a real meal since the day she had been captured.

    Lith picked a tall ss of water for himself but Kam reced it with arge mug of his favorite Maekosh ale.

    "I know you probably won''t drink again until the pregnancy is over. Consider it as you toasting for the three of us." She said.

    "Eat aplenty, dear." Ripha filled Solus'' te with nutritious food she picked from the various trays. "Just go easy on the sweets like we agreed, okay?"

    Solus choked on her food, the chuckles and sneers from those who knew her only made her embarrassment worse.

    "We didn''t agree on anything, Mom! That was your idea and I was just too busy dodging spells and des to have an argument with you while we escaped from the Tree!" Her face flushed all the way to her ears.

    "Elina, help me out, please." Ripha turned to Lith''s mother who was bringing him seconds of his favorite dishes. She had cooked them to ay her anxiety while waiting for her son''s return.

    "Wouldn''t Epphy look better without the extra kilos?" Ripha pinched Solus'' belly to highlight the problem, unwittingly ashaming her to death.

    "Uhm¡­" Elina was at a loss for words, torn between honesty and motherly affection.

    "Mom!" Solus red at Elina, her eyes welling up with tears.

    "Solus is a beautiful woman as she is." It was enough to tilt the scales toward affection.

 Chapter 3316 Bad Habits donâ€™t Die (Part 1)

    Chapter 3316 Bad Habits don¡¯t Die (Part 1)

    "After going through so much and not seeing you for so long, Ripha, maybe Solus needs your support more than your criticism." Elina said.

    "You are right." Menadion sighed. "I''ve always been a demanding parent and old habits die hard."

    "After seven hundred years, I''d say they don''t die at all." Solus stabbed at hersagna like they had a longsting blood feud.

    "Epphy!" Menadion said.

    "Solus, dammit!" Solus grunted.

    "Lith!" Lith tried to make light of the situation, obtaining only a murderous re from all those involved.

    "I know it''s asking much, but would it be possible to take a tour of the tower?" Bytra put herself in the line of fire just to make them stop arguing.

    "Which tower?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "Menadion''s." Bytra shrugged. "No offense, but Bloodhaven is more like a nursery and Silverspire looks like a patchwork put together at thest minute."

    "None taken." Baba Yaga and Silverwing lied through their teeth.

    "I''m sure they are impressing in their own way." The Raiju did her best to save them some face. "I''m just wondering how much damage I caused to Solus. I feel terrible knowing the tower is in shambles because of me."

    "Mom? Lith?" Solus turned to Menadion before answering.

    "It''s your tower now, dear. Do whatever you want with it." Ripha decided to follow Elina''s advice and not boss her daughter around further. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You know what I think." Lith replied.

    "About that, I agree with you." Solus nodded.

    "About letting Bytra visit the tower?" Menadion asked.

    "No. I mean, yes. I mean also that, but I was referring to our tower''s name." Solus scratched her head in embarrassment while giving Ripha a dirt look. "Starforge sounds perfect."

    "Since when did you name the tower?" Silverwing asked.

    "Since the moment I learned you two named yours." Lith replied. "Yet it wasn''t something I could decide on my own. I wanted to discuss it with Solus first but I assume our fusion covered that already."

    "Why Starforge?" Bytra tilted her head in confusion.

    "Because it allows us to even travel through the stars." Solus said while nervously ying with her star-shaped pendant.

    Menadion didn''t miss the gesture and sighed deeply.

    "Wait what? The stars?" Zoreth pointed at the sky.

    "The moon, to be precise but the point still stands." Lith shrugged.

    ''I really want to ask him to give me a demonstration but it feels like overstepping my boundaries.'' The Shadow Dragon burned with curiosity but ended up holding it in.

    "So, it''s a yes?" Bytra asked, quivering with excitement.

    "Correct, but I''m not going anywhere until I''m done eating." Solus replied, throwing a warning re at Menadion before moving to the dessert table.

    "I never understood all the fuss about ice cream." Ripha switched to a softer approach. "It''s just sugared cold milk."

    "Try it before judging." Solus handed her mother a small bowl of vani and chocte ice cream.

    Ripha took a tentative spoonful that left her in stunned awe.

    "Gods, it''s delicious." She looked at Lith with admiration before remembering he carried the knowledge of another world.

    It was one of the many things they would have to talk about but it had to wait.

    "I''m d you like it." Lith nodded.

    "Can Ie too, please?" Zoreth asked. "I swear I won''t say a soul."

    "You were included in the invitation from the start, big sis." Lith looked at her in confusion. "Again, you already know the who and what Solus is. No point hiding the how."

    The Shadow Dragon looked at Solus for confirmation before saying:

    "Thank you, little brother. You have no idea how much this means to me. And thank you for speaking to Valtak on my behalf. Even if for just one lesson about Origin mes, it was nice having someone who treated me like a member of the Brood."

    "What about me?" Lith asked.

    "No offense, you are no Brood." Zoreth shook her head. "What do you know about our legacy and traditions?"

    "Dragons spew fire and hoard treasures!" Aran replied.

    "What he said." Lith jabbed his thumb at his little brother.

    "My point exactly." Zoreth sighed. "Don''t get me wrong, you are my blood brother but that''s not enough to make you Brood. Not until you learn our ways."

    "That''s not a problem, big sis." Aran puffed his chest out with pride. "As soon as Grandpa Leegaain Awakens us, Leria and I will listen to his boring speeches and be like you."

    "Thank you, little one." Zoreth chuckled while ruffling his hair.

    "Nice try." Leegaain grunted. "I''m not Awakening anyone, though."

    "I told you that calling his speeches boring was rude!" Leria''s angry whisper was perfectly audible to humans, let alone Divine Beasts.

    Everyone tried and failed to repress a chuckle.

    "It''s the truth and Mom always says that honesty is the best policy. Also, if you are so smart, why did you send me to do the dirty job for you, chicken?" Aran grunted in a very Leegaain-y way.

    "I''m not scared of anything, dummy!" Leria puffed her cheeks just like Sark did when she argued.

    "And I think you two are spending too much time with your grandparents." Raaz reprimanded them, putting an end to the discussion while the adults were stillughing.

    The visit started, as always, from the hallway.

    "Good gods, it''s bigger on the inside." Zoreth said in amazement.

    "Yes, dear. Just like I told you several times whenever we talked about my apprenticeship under Master Menadion." Bytra sighed.

    "Just Menadion will do." Ripha dismissed the honorific with a wave of her hand. "This is new, though."

    The round carpet below their feet now also depicted a scene of Lith and Solus fighting against the World Tree.

    "Actually, there''s a lot of new things." Bytra said. "The ground floor is much nicer and warmer than I remember it. Back then the furnishing was kind of¡­ austere."

    "Thanks for the understatement."Ripha replied. "The tower was just myb and teaching grounds. They made it their home, instead."

    "It suits you, Lith." Zoreth looked around the various rooms of the house. "It''s nice andfortable without being ostentatious."

    "Thanks for thepliments but the real tour has yet to begin." Lith gave her a polite bow and brought everyone to the bottom of the tower.

    The Mine and the Crucible were impressive but still nothing special for the hybrids, not after living for so long with Nandi.

    The Spark drew much more interest, especially after Lith left his armor, Double Edge, and Ragnar?k there to hasten their repairs and further refine their basic materials.

    "Why is this door closed?" Zoreth asked while pointing at the Thievery.

    "It''s always been close, Zor." Bytra replied after recognizing the rune patterns of the locks. "Menadion always kept a few secrets even from her closest friends. This is probably where Lith and Solus hide their secret projects."

    "Correct." Lith lied through his teeth to hide one of Menadion''s shameful secrets.

    The Thievery''s purpose was to crack cloaking runes and steal the techniques of her rivals. The Bleed was closed as well, so they moved straight to the Armory.

    "Let me get this straight." The Shadow Dragon said after a brief exnation. "All the enchantments you sessfully craft be something you guys and the tower can use akin to a bloodline ability?"

 Chapter 3317 Bad Habits donâ€™t Die (Part 2)

    Chapter 3317 Bad Habits don¡¯t Die (Part 2)

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "But only while the tower is active and if I don''t recycle the materials."

    "Why don''t you store the pieces of Menadion Set here, then?"

    "Because they are already a part of the tower and are needed to operate floors like the Spark." Lith moved forward, leading them to the Factory and the Workshop.

    "Gods, even after all this time I''m still green with envy." Bytra said while visiting thetter. "Infinite tries with no waste of materials. Creation Magic can do the same, but this floor requires no mana or focus. It can''t fumble the ball."

    "This is the Forge. It''s nothing special but- The farm?" Lith opened the door, finding the room deeply changed.

    Only Ripha and her previous apprentices weren''t impressed by the new Forge.

    The Ears of Menadion rested upon Lith''s Adamant Forge, right beside the Fury. The helm was connected to every single element in the room by a translucent tendril of emerald energy.

    Countless strings of runes cascaded along the walls, briefly forming patterns before moving along the stones. Lith recognized most of them but a few were unfamiliar.

    "Is this what the Master Ears look like?" Lith took the artifact, studying it from every angle.

    The helm wasprised of stone, like everything else, but bore some gold-veined white streaks already. The mana crystals on the sides were bright blue instead of white, but there was also a Spirit Crystal on the forehead the Apprentice Earscked.

    "What does it do?" Lith tapped on the emerald gemstone.

    "No clue." Ripha shook her head. "It''s not supposed to be there."

    "Okay then what''s the Ears doing here and what''s the meaning of the runes?"

    "I''ll tell you once we are alone." She looked at Baba Yaga and Silverwing like they had tried to kidnap her baby.

    ''That was weird.'' Lith said.

    ''It sure was.'' Solus replied via their bond. ''I expected to find the Ears in the Watchtower, not the Forge. It makes sense, though. The pieces of Mom''s Set are meant for Forgemastering. Their battle abilities are just an extra.''

    The visit to the rest of the floors went smoothly between Zoreth''s constant amazement and Bytra''s sighing.

    "I''m really sorry, Solus. There are still so many floors left and it''s all my fault." The Raiju said.

    "Don''t worry." Solus cleared her throat. "Nothing is lost. I''ll regain them with time. Actually, now that I''ve recovered the Ears, it shouldn''t be long until I reach the deep violet and the tower gains at least four more floors."

    "What have the Ears to do with that?" Zoreth asked.

    "After the original Bytra killed my mother, the tower remained without a host for a very long time. In order to keep me alive, the tower consumed its own floors first, then my body, andstly my memory, preserving solely my mind.

    "After bonding with Lith, the tower has steadily recovered its power but as you can see, it still has a way to go. By essing the Apprentice Ears, the tower added the runes they have inmon to its core, filling the nks." Solus exined.

    "I see." Zoreth nodded. "Is that why you''ve disappeared for so long and haven''t aged a day?"

    "Correct." Menadion replied. "I''m not proud of it but consider the tower like a giant phctery that can revive Solus as long as it''s not destroyed."

    Among the upper floors, Zoreth appreciated the Library and the Greenhouse the most. The former because it granted instant knowledge without the need for long hours of study and thetter for its unique ability.

    "Growing natural treasures is something even Nandi can''t do." The Shadow Dragon knelt down to appreciate the smell of the magical flower and their rich elemental flow coursing through the ground.

    "Finding these little bastards takes us a lot of time and to visit several ck markets whereas you have whole patches of them!"

    Frost Dew, Earth Roots, Thunderstone Flowers, and several other kinds of rare natural ingredients grew in orderly flowerbeds. Each species had their little ecosystem with different degrees of temperature, humidity, sun exposure, and world energy.

    One patch of green was hot and humid while a few steps away there was another cold and shady.

    "It''s harder than it looks like." Menadion and Lith said in unison, making the former grunt.

    "The tower doesn''t know how to grow living things. It took me a long while to research the perfect growth conditions for each variety whereas Lith just entrusted it to Raaz." Ripha said.

    "He has the green thumb and I''m busy." Lith shrugged. "There''s no point wasting weeks on end for something he can do better and faster."

    "I can vouch for that." Menadion nodded. "Raaz is way better than me at gardening. He did in months what took me years to aplish."

    "You are too kind." Lith''s father scratched his head in embarrassment. "You are a mage and a legendary Forgemaster,dy Menadion, whereas I''m but a humble farmer. I''m sure that during those years you achieved many great things."

    "Call me Ripha, please." She replied. "Also, unless you consider learning new profanities and inventing a few of my own an achievement, I did nothing else. I am bad at gardening and until I got the hang of it, the Greenhouse required all of my time." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "What about those?" Zoreth pointed at a luscious bush of Moonroses. "Have you managed to grow them into a new species of magical flowers, or are theymon flowers?"

    "They are Kami''s flowers." Lith replied. "I grow them here because going all the way to Verendi just to pick a few Moonroses would be a colossal waste of time."

    "He''s very romantic but also pragmatic." Kam sighed.

    The Watchtower too turned out to have been upgraded.

    In the middle of the room there was a stone pedestal with an indentation whose size and shape matched the Ears.

    "Now we can not only detect the flow of mana and world energy in the tower''s surroundings, but also focus on a specific signature. Once the tower is locked on a target, we can keep following it even from a great distance." Solus said.

    "Meaning?" Lith asked.

    "That once we find a mana geyser, we can instantly locate a vein of-"

    Menadion coughed violently, cutting Solus short.

    "I''d say that''s enough." Ripha said. "We all had a long day and need to rest."

    "This is what she considers her polite way of kicking us out." Baba Yaga chuckled.

    "It''s nice that we''ve been friends for hundreds of years yet I had no idea what most of the floors of your tower did until Epp- Solus showed me." Lochra clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Whenever I came visit you, Ripha, there was neither the pedestal or the Ears."

    "Because I hid them!" Menadion snorted. "Excuse me, master Silverwing if I didn''t make it easy for you to steal my secrets and make your own knock off tower."

    "First, I was your master. I taught you everything I know!" Lochra said.

    "But not everything I know!" Ripha retorted. "You know, it''s called working your arm off." The Guardians'' auto-correct struck again.

    "Second, if it wasn''t my knock off tower, as you call it, you and Solus-"

 Chapter 3318 Bad Habits donâ€™t Die (Part 3)

    Chapter 3318 Bad Habits don¡¯t Die (Part 3)

    "Enough." Lith stood between the two Magi. "Ripha is acting like a jerk but you aren''t any better, Silverwing. You two are ruining the celebration for Solus'' return and my unborn son.

    "Ripha has been dead for centuries, what''s your excuse?" Menadion didn''t like being called by her first name by him but she shut up anyway.

    "Don''t mind them." Leegaain Warped everyone out of the tower. "Neither of them has an excuse for their rude behavior. They were like this even back in the day. Leria and Aran are amateurs inparison."

    "Hey!" The two kids said in unison.

    "Really?" Solus asked.

    "Really." Sark replied. "Ripha and Lochra could talk about anything like friends and live like sisters for years. Yet the moment magic was involved, they turned every argument into a measuring contest."

    "Sally!" It was Menadion''s turn to blush up to her ears. "You''re embarrassing me in front of my daughter!"

    "Sally?" Sinmara, Surtr, Leegaain, and the Ernas girlsughed.

    "Don''t call me Sally!" Sark tried to look fearsome, but under Elysia''s innocent gaze, a scowl was the best the Overlord could summon without scaring the baby girl. "You''re embarrassing me in front of my Featherlings!"

    "Can we call you Sally, Grandma? It''s getting confusing here." Leria pulled Sark''s skirt while pointing at her, Menadion, and Elina.

    Before Ripha could argue that she had never allowed Rena''s daughter to consider her like a grandmother, Solus grabbed Ripha''s wrist. She gave her mother a withering re that carried the coldness of winter, shutting Menadion up for good.

    "Of course you can, sweetie." The Overlord caressed Leria''s golden hair. "But I''d rather you not, especially in the presence of strangers. Grandma has an important role and has to look cool."

    "But you are the coolest, Grandma Sally!" Aran said, making Sark''s left eye twitch in annoyance.

    "Thank you, dear." She kissed the boy''s forehead while gesturing to Ripha that she''d pay for thatter.

    "Zoreth, Bytra, before you leave, there''s onest thing you need to know." A snap of Lith''s fingers turned the Greenhouse''s walls transparent.

    At its current level, the tower was much taller than Bloodhaven, at least while its chicken legs were hidden under the floor, but reached about three-quarters of Silverspire''s height.

    "Invisible walls, cool." Xenagrosh politely feigned to be impressed.

    "Not that!" A second finger snap Warped the tower in the northern side of the Kingdom.

    "This is the Ker region. I''ve served here as a ranger." Lith waved at the tall mountains covered in perennial snow and the starry sky. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A third finger snap moved the tower to the Gorgon Empire, where a thin red string at the horizon was thest remnant of the setting sun.

    "This is the Drakana Region. Here Valtak trained Tista and me in the use of Origin mes." The Valley of Life was visible in the distance, tall plumes of volcanic smog slowly rising to the sky and forming low toxic clouds.

    "This¡­ this is impossible." Zoreth didn''t need to pretend to be impressed anymore. "We crossed thousands of kilometers in an instant. We-"

    A fourth finger snap and the tower appeared in the middle of a in, the sun already high in the sky. The climate was quite cold even though it was supposed to be summer in Garlen.

    "Are in Jiera now." Lithpleted the phrase for her. "I don''t know what this ce is called, only that it''s part of the Beast Empire and is located in the south."

    "How is this possible?" Bytra was bbergasted.

    "We call it Tower Warp." Solus replied. "As long as we have visited a mana geyser at least once, we can return there any time. If you ever need our help, know that we can reach you quickly, no matter where you are."

    "A geyser?" Zoreth pondered. "Is this how you moved in and out of Verendi without a Gate?"

    "Correct." Lith nodded. "I wanted to share this with you so that we can help each other better in the future. I haven''t ess to all mana geysers on Mogar, but I''m confident on reaching most ces on Garlen in less than a minute."

    "Howe you didn''t tell any of your apprentices and friends about this, Ripha?" Bytra asked.

    "What do you think?" The First Ruler of the mes threw Lith a disgruntled nce. "Security reasons. Everyone knew about the tower and once its position was exposed, there was no telling who or what might try to take it from me."

    Her eyes moved to Bytra but there was no me or judgment, Ripha was just proving her point. A painful point that made the Fourth Ruler of the mes avert her gaze in shame.

    "By letting people think I could only shrink the tower and carry it in my pocket, they would keep looking for me in the same area long after I moved away. It was one of my most prized secrets. Too bad Lith keeps throwing it away like trash." She sighed.

    "Prized and dumb!" Lochra felt weird defending Lith but she decided enough was enough. "I searched the area where the tower was supposed to be for months after your disappearance.

    "I''ve spent years exploring the neighboring regions, looking for you, Elphyn, or the tower. Had I known of this ''Tower Warp'' I would have gone back to Lutia and Epphy wouldn''t have starved!"

    "I couldn''t have said it better." Baba Yaga red at Ripha.

    She had wished for centuries to meet her old friend and hug her, yet all the Red Mother could think about now was to punch Menadion in the nose.

    ''If only she still had one. If only.'' Baba Yaga inwardly cursed.

    "I''m sorry." Ripha gave them and Lith a deep bow. "You are right and I''m wrong. It was my foolishness that brought us to this point and the tower now belongs to Ep-Solus. Every secret it has is for her to hide or share, not me."

    "Thanks, Mom." Solus said.

    "For what is worth, keeping the Tower Warp a secret saved Solus from my Original." Bytra said. "She knew about Ripha''s old house but never looked there because the tower was supposed to be fixed in the position Ripha left it."

    Being defended by someone with the face of her murderer felt even weirder than Lochra defending Lith, but Menadion was grateful for those words nevertheless.

    "I''m not saying Ripha was dumb for hiding the truth from the world." Baba Yaga shook her head. "I''m saying Ripha was dumb for hiding the truth from her friends! Lith hasn''t made the Tower Warp public knowledge, he only shared it with those who care for him and Solus.

    "Just like you should have, Ripha." The Red Mother crossed her arms, shaking her head in disappointment.

    "Again, I''m sorry. I should have trusted you and Lochra more."Menadion raised her hands in surrender. "Now let''s change the subject. You are spoiling the mood with your constant scolding."

    "And you with your nagging!" Lochra retorted.

    "Guys, I would love to see you two fight but I just came back home after a bloody fight." Lith stepped between the two women again. "If you don''t mind, I''d like to spend a bit of time with my family in peace."

 Chapter 3319 Bad Habits donâ€™t Die (Part 4)

    Chapter 3319 Bad Habits don¡¯t Die (Part 4)

    "If being friendly is asking too much of you, please, leave."

    "Please, behave." Solus said. "I''d love to have you all here and listen to your stories."

    "I''m sorry for acting like a child, Solus." Silverwing fiddled with her hair in embarrassment. "I never realized how much I resent Ripha until I had her in front of me again. I promise I''ll be good."

    "I''m not going anywhere, Solus." Baba Yaga hugged her again. "I''ll set my score with your mother at ater date."

    "About that, I''m really thankful for the trust you''ve shown Bytra and me, little brother." Zoreth said. "We''ll be d to spend more time with you and Solus in the future but, right now, we''d better go back home.

    "Our fellow Eldritches are probably starting to ask themselves questions about our prolonged absence. If we stay too long, they might even question our loyalty."

    "Sure." Lith brought the tower back to the Desert and from there Bytra and Zoreth took the Warp Gate to Lith''s barn before disappearing into the night.

    ***

    Griffon Kingdom, Arch Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, a few hours earlier.

    The Master couldn''t trust the official Gate Network so he had to alternate flight and Warp Steps all the way back to the Kingdom. Sharing the burden with Tezka and the others made things easier but it was still an exhausting trip.

    "I''m home, Zin." The moment Vastor reached the safety of his arrays, he shapeshifted his clothes back into his Professor uniform and his body into its real, stumpy form.

    "Dad!" Filia and Frey rushed to him in a tackle-like hug. "Are you hurt? How is Aunt Solus? Where''s Uncle Tezka?"

    "Calm down, kids." Vastor effortlessly lifted them up. "To answer your questions, I''m fine, Aunt Solus is back home, and Uncle Tezka is right behind me."

    The Suneater walked out of the dimensional opening after putting away his equipment and checking there was no gore left or lingering smell of burned flesh on his fur.

    "The good guys won and the bad guys lost, kids. You have nothing to worry about." Tezka pouted. "I''m offended you thought we could fail." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m sorry, Uncle Tezka." Frey clung to the Fylgja''s massive leg. "We didn''t doubt you or Dad. We were just worried someone might get hurt."

    "Zogar, thank the gods!" Zinya rushed in, following his voice. "Are you hurt somewhere? Is everybody alright?"

    "Respectively no and yes, Zin." Vastor wrapped her in an embrace, feeling her quiver under his touch until his strength reassured her. "What about you? Where is Kigan?"

    Nelia had followed the kids and was weing her allies back while there was no trace of the Bloodstained.

    "We too had¡­ quite a day and he needs a bit of time to recover." Zinya sighed with a mix of lingering fear and sadness. "Kids, your father and I have to talk. Tezka, there is warm food for everyone. You can eat while you tell your adventure to Filia and Frey.

    "Just keep it as clean as possible." Thosest words raised a series of groans andints.

    "But, Mom! We already know who won. What point there is hearing about a battle without the details?" Filia asked.

    "Don''t worry, Zin. The enemy was a big, crazy tree so there was no bloodshed." Tezka omitted the elves'' presence to keep his story family-friendly. "I don''t think they can get scared by hearing of wood splinters."

    "That''s even better. We''ll join you soon. Have fun, kids." Zinya said with a warm smile that disappeared the moment she shut the door behind her. "I want the truth, Zogar. What happened and why do you look so shaken up?

    "Did something happen to Lith? Did the World Tree do something to Solus while she was his hostage?"

    "Lith is fine. Or at least as fine as someone who just returned from the dead can be." Vastor noticed she was quite shaken as well but his questions could wait. "As for Solus, the World Tree reproduces asexually.

    "They have probably hurt her but not in the way you fear. I don''t know the details since I had to keep my cover and couldn''t follow the rest of the group back to Sark''s pce.

    "Also, I wanted to make sure you were alright." He took her hands into his, smiling gently as Vastor led Zinya to afortable couch. "We''ll hear the details as soon as Zoreth gets back home."

    "Then why do you have that face?" Zinya had spent enough time with her husband to know when something big had happened.

    The depth of their bond both scared and made Vastor happy. It meant she really cared for him but also that protecting Zinya from the truth would be much harder from now on.

    "One second." The Master rang the servants'' bell, having some strong tea and a few fresh pastries prepared before adding anything else. "I''m d you are already sitting because this is going to be incredible."

    Vastor used a mind link to share with Zinya a quick overlook of the battle. Just the mind-sight of the colossal Golems covering the ground and the majestic Wyrms eclipsing the sky was breathtaking.

    Zinya had little understanding of mana cores so Lith''s transformation didn''t impress her much. Meeting legendary artifacts like the mage towers and figures like Lochra Silverwing, Baba Yaga, and Ripha Menadion through Vastor''s eyes, however left her speechless.

    "Mage towers are real? Silverwing and Yaga are still alive? And Solus is Menadion''s descendant?" She ate the pastries like popcorn, sending crumbs on her dress whenever her mouth fell open in surprise.

    "White cores are immortal, dear." Vastor exined. "They can''t die of old age or illness. They can only be killed with extreme violence. As for Solus, so it seems."

    "What do you mean, so it seems?" Zinya asked.

    "You know how Lith is." Vastor sighed. "He''s a bundle of secrets wrapped in lies buried under half-truths. Menadion was bound to his chain so I can only trust half of what she said. Don''t get me wrong, I''m thest person on Mogar who can criticize him. I''m just saying¡­"

    "That it takes a liar to know another." Zinyapleted the phrase for him.

    "Exactly." The Master nodded. "I''m not going to prod but I wouldn''t be surprised if there is more to it. What about you? I''ve received messages from the Royals about you and Kam being kidnapped and rescued by Sark''s Nest.

    "Is that the reason Kigan is in such a bad shape? Did the Phoenixes try to kill or capture him?"

    "No." Zinya shook her head with a sad smile on her face. "I''m d you are already sitting because this is going to be incredible."

    Vastor didn''t miss how she was parroting his words and left her control over the mind link.

    "Good gods!" Discovering that it was Tyris'' bloodline to be after Kam''s life and witnessing how easily the Griffons had easily overpowered one of the Master''s chosen was a pill hard to swallow.

    "The fuck?" Learning about Lith''s second son and witnessing Leegaain getting rid of so many powerful enemies by using but a fraction of his powers shocked the Master to the bone.

 Chapter 3320 Harsh Truth (Part 1)

    Chapter 3320 Harsh Truth (Part 1)

    ''Damn, how can the power gap between my Eldritch-monster hybrids and the Guardians still be sorge? With our current strength, going against the three Guardians of Garlen would end up in a one-sided ughter.'' The Master thought.

    "I told you it was incredible." Zinya chuckled, believing him to be more awed than shocked. "Kami''s pregnancy has to remain a secret so not a word with anyone, especially the children.

    "This is not like one of their usual stories about their amazing dad and magical friends. The news of Lith''s son wouldn''t be taken as a child exaggeration but at face value. If even a rumor starts spreading, Lith''s enemies will keep hiding like rats until the baby is born."

    "Especially Meln." Vastor gritted his teeth at the name, the Future card still burning in his pocket. "But Zin, this should be good news. Your sister is safe, Lith got rid of two enemies in one day, and you are going to have a nephew.

    "Please, don''t be sad. How many times do I have to tell you it''s not your fault if we can''t have more children? It''s all because of my experiments, but I''m working on a solution."

    "Is it that obvious?" Zinya timidly met his gaze.

    "Do you want the truth or a convenient lie?"

    "The convenient lie, please."

    "Your poker face is amazing, Zin. There was no concrete tell-tale sign, I was just bluffing." He replied, making herugh.

    "Do you think things would change if I were an Awakened?" She asked.

    "What?" Vastor was so taken aback that he let go of Zinya''s hand.

    "I mean, Kami got pregnant in one night and Jirni had no problem conceiving despite her age. Isn''t that because they are Awakened?"

    "It''s not that simple, Zin." Vastor took a deep breath to calm down. "Awakening doesn''t solve all problems. It creates new ones. You would need to train your body and core, adding more tasks to your already busy schedule.

    "The power and magic would constantly tempt you but training them would take a lot of time. To make matters worse, you would have to hide your new abilities. No one at your age can suddenly be a mage.

    "You would see the kids grow old and die unless we Awaken them too. Do you see where this is going?"

    "Yes." She nodded. "But you didn''t answer my question, Zogar. Would Awakening help?"

    "Maybe and maybe not." He shrugged. "But the real question is: are you sure you want to do it? All it takes me is one breath to Awaken you but once the door is open, you can''t close it.

    "The power and magic would constantly tempt you but training them would take a lot of time. To make matters worse, you would have to hide your new abilities. No one at your age can suddenly be a mage.

    "Also, once you Awaken, what excuse will you tell the kids to keep them away from Tezka''s lessons? Unless you give them a very good reason to keep such a gift to yourself, they are going to resent you."

    "You thought this through, Zogar, even more than I did. Thank you." She kissed him, d that her husband kept protecting her, even from herself. "Is there anything else I should know?"

    "Yes." Vastor took a brief pause to find the right words, but there were none, only the harsh truth.

    He held her hands firmly, looking her in the eyes before saying:

    "There is the possibility that once you Awaken, your body''s vitality might be able to counter my Abomination side. Yet unless the two forces find a bnce, the baby would consume itself and you''d have a miscarriage that no spell on Mogar can prevent."

    Not having a child from the man Zinya loved was painful, but the thought of feeling the small life growing inside of her, maybe for months, just to lose it was much worse.

    "I need some time to think this over." Zinya stood up, wishing to be reunited with her children to shake off the deathly cold that made her shiver. "Are youing with me?"

    "In a minute. Please, send Tezka over, Zin." Vastor''s smile died the moment the door closed.

    ''Awakening Zin has never been part of the n. My cover holds mostly because she''s ignorant in the matters of magic. Just Life Vision and Invigoration are enough to screw things up. s, refusing to Awakening her would raise questions I can''t answer.''

    He was still musing his problems when Tezka entered the room.

    "What can I do for you, Grampa?" The Fylgja said.

    "I want to discuss our gains." The Master ignored the joke, his face frozen in a cold expression. "The When All Are One array gave me insight on how to perfect our cores and maybe even on how to mix the six cursed elements in a seventh." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Cursed Spirit Magic? That''s big. Are you sure?" Tezka''s voice sounded sceptical.

    "No, but it''s a path worth exploring." Vastor replied. "I''ve also experienced how my de Spell should feel. I''m going to talk about it with Bytra once she returns. Your turn."

    "I''ve collected several elven corpses for you to study." The Fylgja replied.

    "What am I supposed to do with them?" Vastor raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    "It would be great if you were to find a way to replicate Soul Vision." Tezka sat on the couch, taking a teacup and a biscuit. "Otherwise you can always use the corpses to craft a body for one of our associates."

    "What makes you think it can work?"

    "If you ask me, elves are a Fallen Race." Tezka was simply eating, but his bared fang gave him a cruel, almost sadistic appearance. "They can''t Awaken without dying and have been rejected by Mogar, considered no more than an oddity to save forter.

    "On top of that, their bodies offer no resistance to mana and Chaos, albeit corrupted, is still mana."

    "I''ll see what I can do." Vastor nodded. "Anything else?"

    "Lots of Yggdrasill weapons, a few des of Davross, and nine perfectly functional Wood Golems."

    "Nine?" Vastor jumped up from his seat in excitement. "Why the odd number?"

    "Six for your Fallen Guardian project I always pretend not to know about and three more because that''s the limit of my pocket dimension. Those things are big. There''s not enough for everyone but on the plus side those things are made of solid Yggdrasill wood.

    "Even if, let''s say Zoreth, reaches the size of a white core upon fusing her twin cores, one Golem is more than enough for a full body armor and weapons."

    "Well done. Yggdrasill wood is not Davross but it''s the next best thing. You might have solved our Davross provisions'' crisis."Vastor pondered. "We don''t have enough to make a single set of equipment for a Divine Beast but our reserves should suffice to coat the Yggdrasill wood."

    ***

    A few hourster, when Frey and Filia had gone to bed and the Eldritches back to their privatebs, Zoreth and Bytra arrived shortly before sunrise.

    "Wee back." Aside from the servants already up to prepare breakfast and warm the house, only the Master was awake. "You''ve spent quite some time in the Blood Desert. I hope your reunion with Menadion wasn''t spoiled by violence, Bytra."

    "It wasn''t." She rushed to say. "I''m sorry for beingte. Lith invited us for a celebratory lunch thatsted until a while ago."

 Chapter 3321 Harsh Truth (Part 2)

    Chapter 3321 Harsh Truth (Part 2)

    "Good to know." A snap of Vastor''s fingers brought the three of them into the same cloaked room where he had discussed with Zinya and Tezka earlier. "Okay, let''s cut to the chase. Was the celebration about Solus'' rescue or did Lith tell you about the baby as well?"

    "He told us about the baby. It''s a boy, by the way. How do you know?" Bytra had prepared a cover story but preferred to y it safe anyway.

    "Zin. She told me everything that happened to her and Kam during my absence. Like Lith expected, I bet." Vastor replied.

    "What do you mean?" Zoreth said, feigning confusion.

    "Don''t worry, I don''t care what he asked you not to tell me about Solus." The Master steepled his fingers. "As long he doesn''t prod at my secrets, I''ll return the favor.

    "The reason I''ve brought you here is to discuss what Bytra has been hiding from me for a while."

    "I''m not hiding anything!" She replied with the confidence of someone paying with a three-dor bill.

    "Let''s start with something simple." Vastor ignored her retort. "You are the Fourth Ruler of the mes yet you have failed to produce a single de Weapon except for those like Tezka who already had the blueprints their own.

    "Menadion made my Grimbark into a quasi-de Weapon without even examining it. Orion has made at least three of them. Is he better than you, Bytra?"

    "Yes." Her words made Vastor spit out his tea and Zoreth''s jaw hit the floor. "Despite the miracles you''ve worked on my body, Father, I''m still cut off from the world energy. In that aspect, my mana perception is worse than that of a fake mage.

    "Of course the original Bytra could make de Weapons or she would have never received the title of Ruler of the mes. Yet I can''t feel the flow of mana, not even my own. I tried, the gods know if I did, but I failed every time."

    "I believe you." Vastor nodded.

    The frustration in her voice and eyes were as genuine as those he saw every morning in the mirror.

    ''Even if she was that good of a liar, the idea that Bytra hasn''t made Zoreth''s Sky Piercer into a de Weapon just to protect her secret is preposterous.'' He inwardly added.

    "Out of curiosity, howe you don''t have your own de Weapon?" Vastor actually asked.

    "The original Bytra was never a warrior so she never researched one." Bytra blushed in embarrassment. "She was so obsessed with Ripha''s tower that I assume the original Bytra would have made herself a de Weapon only after stealing the tower and getting her hands on the full Menadion Set, but she died soon after Ripha."

    "It makes sense." Vastor pondered. "Just a few more questions, then. Did you have the time to take a good look at the Ears when Lith asked your help to find the unlock code?"

    "I-"

    "Yes or no, Bytra." Vastor cut her short. "Remember that I''ve already talked with Tezka."

    "Yes." Lying while looking her benefactor in the eyes was beyond her abilities.

    "Based on what Tezka told me, you cracked the code in a single night, correct?"

    "Yes, but it was a group effort. I couldn''t have done it without Silverwing and Baba Yaga."

    "That''s even better. It means you had the opportunity topare notes with someone at your level and maybe even exchange notes." Vastor dismissed her attempt to belittle herself with a wave of his hand.

    "Final questions. Have you studied the Ears of Menadion enough to understand how it operates and make a modern version of the Ears on your own? With my help, of course."

    Bytra took a deep breath, turning her head toward Zoreth before answering.

    The Shadow Dragon gave her a slight nod of the head while gently caressing her shoulder.

    "Yes. Yes to both."

    *** n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Blood Desert, Sark Pce, inside Starforge, at the same time.

    After the Eldritch-hybrids had left, most of the guests had followed suit and returned to their homes.

    Friya and Quy gave Solus one more wee back hug and Kam onest congrattion round before opening a Warp to the Ernas Mansion.

    "I''d love to stay longer but I had too many emotions in one day and I need to rest." Quy caressed her belly. "Don''t you dare be a stranger, Lith Verhen. I expect to see you soon and not because you need another favor.

    "When youe visiting, you''d better bring all your specialties or I''ll kick your ass." Her voice didn''t match her words as she clung to his neck like a ko.

    "Don''t worry, little one. I''ll prepare enough food to sate even you."

    "What do you mean, even me?" Quy grunted in mock outrage.

    "That you may be having twins, sis, but you eat for four people instead of three." Friya held Lith tight for a moment before letting him go. "I''m not tired but I don''t want to keep you from your mother, Solus.

    "I''m sure you two have many things to say to each other."

    "Thanks, Friya." Solus would have liked to deny Friya''s words but they were true. "See you soon and say Nalrond hi for me."

    "I will."

    After the two Ernas sisters left, so did the Dark Phoenixes, Surtr, Rethia, and Sinmara.

    "I know we are only loosely tied by blood, but you guys have my deepest gratitude." Raaz shook Urxat''s hand while giving him a small bow. "Thank you for bringing my son back alive and helping him to save Solus."

    "Don''t mention it." The leader of the Dark Phoenixes replied. "Loose or not, any blood tie is important to us Phoenixes, especially when Mother cares. She''s restricted by her role as a Guardian, but we are not.

    "On top of that, we''ve gained a lot and no one of us died so I''d say that by helping your son we''ve helped ourselves, Raaz."

    "Still, you have my gratitude. You and your people will always be my honored guests in Lutia. I can''t do much but at least I can promise you a homemade meal the size of a Divine Beast."

    "Our people, Raaz." Urxat pointed out. "And I''ll take your word on that meal."

    "We''d like to stay and talk a bit with you, Master Menadion, but there''s already too many people here." Surtr pointed at Baba Yaga and Silverwing who had no intention of leaving. "Please, let us know when we can visit you."

    "Soon, Surtr. Soon." She shook hands with him and her other former apprentices. "Thank you for everything you''ve done for Epp-Solus. I was by her side the whole time and appreciated your kindness."

    "It''s the least we could do, Master." Sinmara gave Menadion a small bow and Warped away.

    After the Verhen family was left alone, they moved to Solus'' tower along with the Guardians.

    "Gods if I needed this." Solus plunged on the nearest armchair like a sack of bricks. "Don''t get me wrong, I love our friends but after days of starvation, torture, and bloody fights not even the geyser below Grandma''s pce is enough. I need to stay inside the tower."

    "Me too." Lith''s strength abandoned him the moment he sat down.

 Chapter 3322 Leap of Faith (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3322 Leap of Faith (Part 1)

    "If I fall asleep, please don''t wake me up." Sark had healed Lith''s wounds upon his arrival to the Blood Desert, but his body was still suffering from the aftereffects of mana abuse and his core was nearly depleted.

    Keeping the Demons outside their Void Sigils didn''t help.

    "I say it''s time we talk about the elephant in the room." Elina said.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Mom, this is really not the time." Solus'' stomach twisted in a knot.

    ''Now that Mom, I mean, Ripha is back, Mom, I mean, Elina might feel threatened. Gods, this is a mess. Is this how Elysia feels?'' She wondered and the answer was no. The baby girl''s grasp on Tyris'' universalnguage allowed her to associate a word with something or someone but anyplex concept was beyond her.

    "I know, sweetie, but this is very important to me." Elina sighed. "How long do we have to keep Kam''s pregnancy a secret?"

    "What?" Lith and Solus said in unison.

    "As your mother and a grandmother, dear, there''s nothing I take more pride in than bragging with my friends about my beautiful grandchildren." Elina said. "When can we throw a baby shower?"

    "Mom, this is a matter of safety and opportunity" Lith replied. "We have only one shot at getting rid of whoever is left who might want to hurt. Kami and maybe even Meln. If you want to throw a baby shower, you can do it anytime you want as long as you keep the event private.

    "Only those who already know about the pregnancy and Grandma''s side of the family can be trusted."

    "Thank you, dear." The Overlord smirked at Leegaain.

    "I understand." Elina sighed.

    "We''re lucky I alreadymunicated my intention of not going back to work to the Royals." Kam sighed as well. "Otherwise the secret wouldn''tst a day. There''s no way my colleagues would miss my enhanced senses and the increase in my appetite." "At the same time, however, I must find an excuse to get out of the Verhen Mansion often enough to make our enemies believe they have an opportunity or they''ll smell the trap from a mile away!"

    "We can think about thatter." Lith said. "We have months before your state bes evident."

    "We have less time than you think." Elina replied. "The baby bump will show up in the third month. Fourth tops."

    "Baggy clothes can hide it until Kam exceeds Solus'' size. Menadion shook her head. "If anyone notices, she can just say that my daughter''s bad eating habits rubbed off on her."

    "Mom! What''s that supposed to mean?" Solus blushed in embarrassment.

    "That if you can be an overweight Awakened, she can too." Ripha shrugged.

    "I''m not overweight. I''m..." Solus failed to find a non-ridiculous excuse. "Stocking up for winter, I know."

    "Mom!"

    "I''m sorry, Epphy, I mean, Solus." Ripha pinched her nose in frustration. "I don''t mean to be obnoxious, it''s just..."

    She took a pause to find the right words to express what she felt without sounding even more rude than she had already been.

    "Being a guest in my own home is hard. Hearing you calling another woman ''mom'' is hard. I''ve spent centuries helplessly watching you and now that I''m finally by your side, I feel left out anyway.

    "You''ve discarded the name your father and I chose for you. I know you have lost your memory and that calling yourself Elphyn in public would bring you a lot of trouble. "Yet hearing people calling you Solus and not being able to call you Epphy hurts. Menadion plopped on the nearest chair, holding her head between her hands.

    "I got a body again. People can finally see and hear me, but instead of feeling happy about what I''ve gained, seeing you all smiling only reminds me of everything I''ve lost. With every new thing I touch or taste, I feel so angry that it''s driving me crazy.

    "I know the feeling, Mom." Solus took Ripha''s hand, holding it tight.

    "You do?"

    "It''s how I felt back when I was trapped in the stone ring and couldn''t sleep for years." Solus nodded. "I could see Lith live his life, make friends, and fight to the death, but I could never be by his side.

    "I was only a voice in his head and the feeling of helplessness tormented me every night. You had it even worse, Mom. I could at least talk with Lith and share his senses whereas until a few hours ago you werepletely alone and ignored.

    "I almost went crazy after living like that for a decade while you endured it for over seven hundred years."

    "How did you ovee that?" Menadion asked.

    "The same way you will, Mom. Sleeping" Solus replied. "You need to give yourself a break. To put an end to your thinking and worrying. Otherwise you''ll turn into a Lich."

    feathers, I need to give up on the power I''ve umted. To go back to being a helpless, voiceless shadow that can''t even beg to be released from a prison I deserve." "Why do you say that?" Lith asked.

    "Because I made no mystery that I don''t like you and I''ve been quite unpleasant to you this whole time." Menadion replied.

    "You have nothing to worry about, Ripha." Lochra shrugged. "Compared to how I treated Verhen when we first met, you have been charming, I still don''t like or trust Verhen much, but we both care for Solus enough to put our differences aside.

    "I know. I was there." Menadion grunted. "The difference between us is that if Lith kicks you out of his life, you just can''t approach Epp-Solus. If he does that to me, I''m

    done."

    "Truc, but why would he do that?" Baba Yaga shook her head. "When we got out of the Fringe, you wanted to leave and Solus convinced you to stay. If you can''t trust him, trust her."

    It all made sense but still required a significant leap of faith. Menadion still missed Threin but after having a taste of life, aftering back home and enjoying thepany of her old friends, Ripha was terrified of losing everything again. "I''ll ept your hospitality, then, if you''ll have me." Menadion stood in front of Lith, giving him a shallow but apologetic bow.

    "Is this enough for an answer?" He unfurled his feathered wings, making them resonate with the Demon. The red veins on one of the innermost feathers shifted into a rune that carried more than Ripha''s name, it also carried her essence.

    "I''ll keep you there for eight hours straight. Enough to reset Invigoration and hopefully ease the burden that weighs on your mind." Lith said. "If when you wake up you still feel cranky, I expect you to tell me.

    "We don''t have to like each other but we have to remain civil,"

    "I know and I''m sorry for my behavior. I really am." Menadion felt her sanity slipping

    by the second but she failed to muster the courage to take the leap. "Eight hours,

    Epphy. Promise me that when I wake up, you''ll still be here."

    "I promise." Solus hugged her, sniffling. "Please, don''t leave me, Mom."

 Chapter 3323 Leap of Faith (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3323 Leap of Faith (Part 2)

    Solus knew that her mother would be alright, but seeing her disappear was almost like losing her again,

    "Silly child, I''ve already given you my word." Menadion said while caressing Solus'' hair.

    Her daughter''s warmth and tears made it incredibly hard for Ripha to let go of Solus but they also gave her the strength to let go of herself.

    Menadion''s shadow body faded away, leaving behind only a sliver of darkness that seeped inside the runed feather.

    The Anvil fell to the ground with a metal ng and split into the four pieces of the Apprentice Set plus the makeshift Fury.

    "No offense, Solus, but your mother is... intense." Raaz said, trying to be polite.

    "I know, and I''m sorry!" Solus sighed. "I swear she wasn''t like that. At least in the memories I''ve recovered."

    "Don''t worry, Solus. Your mother was the kindest and gentlest person I''ve ever known." Silverwing said. "Just try to remember that she was betrayed and almost lost her mind after finding your corpse.

    "Ripha too was killed by Bytra and has spent thest seven hundred years in a restless vengeful fury. You have had months and the help of your loving family to deal with your trauma whereas she was alone all this time.

    "I''m not justifying her awful behavior or words but I think we should still cut her some ck,"

    "I agree with Lochra" Baba Yaga nodded. "There''s no telling the emotional scarring your mother bears, Solus. Yet I''m certain the old Ripha is still there, buried under all that pain.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "If you want to dig her out, you need to be patient andpassionate, Solus. You all need to."

    "Wait, if you two think her condition is that bad, why did you take her head-on when you argued?"

    "Because they know your mother, Solus, and wanted to make her feel like the old times. Like Ripha is still the person they respect and not a victim they pity." Raaz said. "That''s how you guys rescued me from my personal hell after Meln broke me."

    "Your father is right, dear." Elina handed Surin to Raaz, bringing light to the darkness she knew still gued his mind. "Your mother needs a gentle touch but also a firm hand. Don''t be afraid to stand up to her when necessary."

    "It''s not that easy, Mom!" Solus wrung her hand so hard they turned white. "She died for me. She did crazy things for me even though I always treated her like sh-ot and was a terrible daughter.

    "I feel so guilty for all the things I did to her and those I didn''t say out of pride. I want to apologize. To let her know how sorry I am and that I''ve changed, yet I''m also afraid of adding my pain to her own. I don''t want to make M-Ripha feel worse."

    "Give her time, Solus. Give yourself time." Elina hugged Solus from behind. "And don''t worry. You can call me Elina from now on. Ripha is your birth mother and deserves you to call her mom."

    "And so do you!" Solus turned around. "Even though you couldn''t see me, you''ve raised me with Lith for fourteen years. After I got my human body back and Lith finally introduced me to his family, you''ve been a mother to me."

    "Your family, sweetie." Elina kissed the top of Solus'' head. "And thank you."

    "I think we should all follow Ripha''s example and go to sleep." Rena said. "This has been a long day. The sun may still be high but I feel exhausted."

    "Excellent idea." Lith handed Elysia to Solus. "She missed you a lot and you two need to make up for the lost time."

    "Masa!" the baby girl said in approval, clinging to Solus with her ws and talons while biting her hair.

    "Don''t worry, I''ve already stored plenty of milk bottles in the pocket dimension and checked that cloth diapers and Elysia''s favorite books are still there." He said. "If you need anything, don''t hesitate to ask Mom for help."

    "Masa!" Elysia sniffed Solus and wrapped herself in Solus'' long hair before sucking a thick lock with delight.

    "You son of a-" Solus cursed with a whisper and a smile on her face to not upset the baby. "You are setting me up to be your babysitter!"

    "Not really." Lith shrugged. "Elysia did miss you and with everything you went through, you needpany. I''m just killing two birds with one baby. Or rather, two." He handed her Valeron the Second as well.

    "Sol!" The baby boy''s face lit up with a smile upon seeing her.

    "That''s right, sweetie! I can''t believe you''ve almost got my full name." Valeron clung to her with desperation, as if he hadn''t seen her for months instead of days. "Fine, I''m not kicking your butt only because they are too cute."

    "Hey, you got captured but I got killed." Lith snorted with mock indignance. "I got back only two days before you did and spent them nning your rescue. You owe me." "About that, are you sure you don''t want me to return inside the Void Sigil?" Trion asked. "You are very weak and keeping Demons active takes a toll on you."

    "Only if I have to give them a body and fuel their cores." Lith replied. "Unless you n to go out and fight to the death, you and the others can stay. The boost. I get from the tower makes the mana expenditure insignificant."

    "Thank you, my liege." Locrias and the other two Demons gave Lith a deep bow and called their families still residing in Lutia.

    Moving them to the Desert was a matter of moments thanks to the Warp Gate in the barn.

    Everyone went inside their respective rooms in the living quarters of the tower. Their respective soundproof and isted bedrooms.

    "We can finally rx!" Kam plopped down on the bed, sighing in relief. "First you were gone, then Solus. Thesest few days have been a nightmare"

    "You''re telling me?" Lith scoffed, putting on his pajamas one leg at a time. With the Voidwalker armor still under repair, he had to dress like anyone else and it pissed Lith off. "I was the one beheaded and with the amnesia.

    "I went to the Fringe to fight a big ass wooden nutjob. Pun intended. You just waited

    here"

    "I see Menadion isn''t the only cranky one." Kam scoffed back, "Do I need to remind you who saved you from your crazy old self?"

    "You''re right. I''m sorry. I guess I need a good nap too." Lith joined her on the bed, his head pounding like a drum.

    "A nap?" Kam was bbergasted. "After being separated for so long? Don''t get me wrong, I already love our baby boy. Yet that night we were so worried about everything that could go wrong with the mission that there was less passion in the room than at a funeral."

    "Please, don''t remind me of that." Lith sighed. "When he''s born, we have to spin it so that it sounds like he was conceived out of our love, not as a weapon of mass

    destruction."

    "Agreed, that''s why I propose a do-over!" Kam said with a sultry voice, her Voidfeather armor shapeshifting into a sexy cherry-red lingerie that covered only the important bits.

 Chapter 3324 Second First Impression (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3324 Second First Impression (Part 1)

    "The kids are already settled with Solus, so we don''t have to worry either of them barges in while..." A sudden, baritonal snoring sunk Kam''s ns like a deep charge. "Son of a-" She cursed with a whisper to not wake him up. "Fine, I''m not kicking your ass only because it''s too cute. Also mine. Never forget it.

    She tucked Lith in with care and kissed his forehead, making sure with Invigoration he was alright.

    Then, she changed into a sexier outfit and put one drop of his favorite perfume on her breasts, navel, and back of her head before going to fix her hair in his favorite do.

    "When you wake up, I''ll be the busy one. I''ll make you regret snoring on me."

    ***

    "What the fuck?" About eight hourster, Lith woke up full of energy and went from zero to fully aroused in half a second.

    "Good morning, sleepyhead." Kam pretended not to notice and gave him a long passionate kiss. "Let''s go. You promised Menadion you would wake her up before dinner. Solus must be hungry and eager to share another meal with her mother. "Especially if Menadion is in a better mood." As she talked, the outfit shapeshifted into a nd day dress and she pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

    "First, we''d better get used to calling her Ripha. Menadion is too formal. Second, you''re doing this on purpose!"

    "I agree, and yes, I''m that petty." Kam giggled while staring at the tent pitched under the nkets. "At least someone in this room is happy to see me."

    "Petty and mean." He grumbled, wasting even more time to take off his pajamas and wear a semi-formal suit. "What am I supposed to do about this?"

    "Hold that thought for tonight. You might get lucky." She kissed him. "Seriously, maybe take a cold shower. You don''t want to meet Ripha like that. It would send the wrong message."

    "Can''t I get a little help?" Lith trapped her in her arms and returned the kiss.

    "I can do that. But are you willing to stop in five minutes? If we gette, people will start knocking on our door." Kam said with a moan and an impish smile on her face. "I hate you." Lith dropped her on the floor like a bad habit and ran into the bathroom. "I hate you too!" She chuckled while massaging her sore butt. "By the way, I think that after all this time, the Voidwalker armor and Ragnar?k should be fine. Why don''t you retrieve them if you hate normal clothes so much?"

    "True, but the Voidwalker armor''s coating still has a long way to go before it''s refined

    into Davross." Lith yelled through the closed door and above the noise of running water. "Right now, it''s just an alloy and with everything that''s happened, a little difort is a small price to pay to make up for the lost time.

    "The Dragon bones, skin, and scales have reached the bright violet size and hardness, true, but those of a youngling. Dragons get stronger with age. Valtak''s scales could withstand hits that would shatter mine."

    "Makes sense." Kam yelled back, taking the Camellia out of its crystal vase and renewing its imprint. "I''m really curious to see how much of a cheat the tower is. Can you imagine if it can bring the organic parts of your armor to the white core level?"

    "Sounds too good to be true so it probably is." The bathroom door opened and Lith walked out while putting his shirt on. "We can ask Ripha, though. She died just a few years after crafting her tower but still much longer than I have it."

    "Good idea." Kam fixed his cor and straightened the shirt on his shoulders. "What about Ragnar?k?"

    "That poor thing?" Lith sighed in a guilty voice. "I think he deserves a vacation. First, he had to endure all the Chaos flowing through my Abomination body to keep me alive and once I entered the Fringe, he got broken more times than I can count.

    "The Spark can''t enhance Ragnar?k further, but staying there should be akin to a spa day to him."

    "More like torture." Kam took Lith''s face in her hands, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. "As I see it, Ragnar?k is not much different from a dog. He loves you unconditionally, listens to your orders, and is protective of your family.

    "I bet he thinks you are punishing him by leaving him alone in the darkness." "Shit." Lith extended his arm and Ragnar?k appeared in his hand by jumping in and out of the pocket dimension.

    The whimpering de was fully restored and its scabbard so brilliant and clear that it looked cut out of a single giant ruby. Thetches and seals emitted a sound that reminded Lith of an excited puppy.

    "I''m sorry, little guy. Sometimes my brain just stops working." To apologize Lith spilled one drop of his blood, filling the de with new power and covering the scabbard with runes visible to the naked eye.

    "Sometimes?" Kam chuckled. "You are in the tower, with the Workshop and the Factory fully operational. Why didn''t you make yourself a tower-made Voidwalker

    armor?"

    "I hadn''t thought of that." A mentalmand turned Kam''s suggestion into reality. "Why didn''t you suggest it sooner?"

    A blot of living mercury covered Lith from head to toe before absorbing his current

    clothes and chanachifting to racam their farm

    "And miss a little strip tease?" She said in mock outrage. "Who''s a good boy?"

    She caressed the scabbard, making Ragnar?k''stches wag excitedly.

    "Me! Me!" The happy de said.

    "Yes, you are!" Kam neared the scabbard to Lith''s waist and the de clung to it by forming a belt. "A spa day, huh?"

    "I stand corrected." Lith put his hand on the pommel of the sword, feeling its power core hum with joy. "I''m conjuring Ripha."

    "Take out a few clothes first." She said.

    "Kami, in their base form Demons are featureless, just like Solus was in her energy

    for-"

    "And just like Solus, I''m sure she wouldn''t like being seen like that anyway."

    ''Kami never acted this way with Valia. Is she being protective because Ripha is Solus'' mother or jealous because they have a very simr body shape?" Lith thought.

    ''Second one. It''s the second!'' Ragnar?k replied like it was a pop quiz.

    "I guess you are right." Lith conjured a tower-made Skinwalker armor and had it cover Menadion as her Demon form manifested.

    Even though they were in a safe ce, Lith gave her seven eyes anyway.

    ''She doesn''t like me much and I bet feeling helpless would just make things worse.'' He thought and he was right.

    Ripha opened her eyes abruptly with a gasp, as if she had jolted awake from a

    nightmare.

    Her eyes misted with tears of seven different colors before she remembered where and when she was.

    "Thanks for keeping your promise." She said while shapeshifting the armor in a day dress and her form into human. "And for the clothes. Featureless or not, it doesn''t take

    a vivid imagination to fill the nks on my body."

    "You''re wee." Lith wanted to give Kam credit for such thoughtfulness but it was clear from her slight shake of the head that she wanted things to stay that way.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 3325 Second First Impression (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3325 Second First Impression (Part 2)

    ''Sorry. Wrong.''Ragnar?k whimpered.

    ''You and me both, little guy.'' Lith caressed the hilt. ''Kami is just trying to help me make a good impression on Ripha.''

    "Do you mind if I use the bathroom for a second?" Menadion asked.

    "Be my guest." Lith expected Kam to say something but she remained silent on the sidelines.

    "Thanks. Much appreciated." Ripha got inside without closing the door, washing her face with cold water until all traces of her dreams slipped away. "You did a good job. The toilet, the faucets, and even this weird butt-cleaning device are much better than those I designed back then."

    If not for the years spent as a soul hoovering around Solus, the sight of a bidet would have confused her.

    "Thanks, but to be honest it''s not my idea. I just copied them." Lith looked at Kam who nodded.

    "Like the rest." Menadion dabbed the water from her face and arms with a towel. "Damn, on your there must be lots of powerful and brilliant mages."

    "You know?" Lith was bbergasted, suddenly having a much clearer exnation for Menadion''s dislike of him.

    "Only what you said out loud, Derek McCoy." Ripha said with a sly smile. "Come on, let''s go meet Epphy. I miss her already."

    "Solus." Kam said.

    "Dammit, you''re right. Solus. This might take a while to get used to." Ripha cursed her old habits and walked out the bedroom door.

    ''You knew she knew?'' Lith asked Kam via a mind link.

    ''I suspected it.'' She replied. ''Have you forgotten how many times we''ve talked about your past?"

    ''Actually, yes.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Gods, you would be lost without me. Or Solus. Now be patient and remind yourself that to Ripha you are the jerk who is two-timing her daughter.''

    I''m not- I see your point.'' Lith inwardly sighed.

    "Hi, Mom." Solus looked well rested while her clothes looked out of a battlefield "Guys, thank the gods you''re here. I''ve run out of bottles and they are still hungry."

    The babies shapeshifted into their Divine Beast form to follow Solus around and

    screamed their needs in her ears. As soon as they saw Menadion, they jumped in her arms and pulled at her clothes.

    She had Solus'' body type and a voluptuous chest, which made the babies all the more disappointed when they sniffed another sad case of the "dry well".

    "What perverted little imps." Ripha chuckled while holding them in her arms. "You should start weaning Elysia, Kam. She''s old enough and I doubt you can keep up with two babies anymore."

    "I couldn''t do it from the start if Valeron hadn''te to has partially weaned already." Kam said while fixing them a meal. "Maybe it''s because they are hybrids, but they eat a lot."

    "How are you doing Mom?" Solus nced at Kam with an equal mix of relief and envy. "Do you feel better?"

    "Compared to yesterday, yes, but I''m afraid my head is still quite up my ass." Menadion rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Out of curiosity, do you have any influence on the dreams of your Demons, Lith?"

    "I have no idea what they see and I''ve never asked them." He replied. "Feel free to check with the others if you don''t believe me."

    "It''s what I thought." Menadion groaned. "For once I hoped I was wrong"

    "What do you mean, Mom?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "Later, sweetie. Let''s go eat." Ripha turned to Kam. "Do you need a hand with them?" "Need, no, but I always appreciate the help," Kam handed Elysia to Ripha.

    The First Ruler of the mes burped the baby who regurgitated part of her meal, but the sneak attack found Ripha prepared. A water spell blocked the liquid mid-air and a pulse of darkness magic destroyed it.

    "Wow, you''re good." Kam said.

    "I had lots of practice." Menadion cooed at the baby who cooed back. "Back in my day clothes didn''t self-clean and E- Solus was a glutton as well. She ruined my best worst clothes before I got the hang of it."

    "Mom!" Solus blushed. "No ''funny stories'' about my childhood please. Also, best worst clothes?"

    "You know, those baggy, horrible clothes you wouldn''t be caught dead wearing them out of your house but that are also sofortable that you''d never take them off." Menadion replied. "I stained and washed them more times than I can count, but in the end the stench of baby vomit ruined them for me."

    "Mom!" Solus blushed harder.

    "I know what you mean." Kam chuckled.

    "You do?" Lith asked.

    "Well, yeah. I too have my best worst clothes."

    "Why have I never seen them?"

    "Because I wear them only when you aren''t home." Kam shrugged. "I don''t stay dolled up at home but I won''t let you see me like a slob either. A woman must keep the spark alive. Especially when her husband dresses sharp even to go to the toilet."

    Thest part sounded more usatory than proudful.

    Thanks to the Voidwalker armor and his military-strict personal hygiene, it was impossible to say when Lith was going to meet the Royals or just to help Raaz feed the animals.

    "Preach." Menadion nodded. "Do you mind if I use your bathroomter, Solus? I haven''t taken a hot bath in seven hundred years and no matter how silly it sounds, I feel dirty

    and sweaty."

    "Of course, Mom" Solus nodded. "We can do better, though. We can make a room all

    for yourself"

    "I''d rather have a roommate." Ripha lowered her gaze in embarrassment while fiddling with her hair. "I also haven''t left your side in seven hundred years. I''m terrified of being alone all of a sudden."

    "Mom, you should have told me sooner!" Solus hugged Menadion tight. "But you must go back to sleep inside your Void Sigil every night, okay? I want you to put yourself first. It''s another thing you haven''t done in seven hundred years."

    "I will." Ripha nodded. "Now, let''s go eat."

    When they reached the dining hall, the sun had already set for a while and a chill

    breeze came from the windows cut into the enchanted fabric of the walls. Sark had given the room a ss ceiling to enjoy the sight of the moon and stars and a ss wall facing the open desert for ambiance.

    The Verhens were already there and so were Silverwing and Baba Yaga. The two white cores stood up to wee and hug the First Ruler of the mes.

    "Ripha, it''s so good to have you back." Lochra said with a sniffle.

    "It''s good to be back, Loka." Menadion chuckled.

    "You remember that silly nickname even after all these years!"

    "It''s hard to forget." Ripha''s left eye twitched for a second as the visions of her dreams

    shed in front of her eyes.

    "I see you have lost a part of your edge." The Mother held Menadion''s hands while studying her condition with Sun and Moon, "I think you owe us all an apology."

    "You''re right." Rinha nodded. "Ladies. gentlemen, and Sally..."

    "You daughter of a-" Sark had much to say but the kids'' cheers at her moniker shut

    her up.

    "I''m sorry for behaving like a rude jerk, yesterday. Allow me to introduce myself again."

 Chapter 3326 Second First Impression (Part 3)

    ?Chapter 3326 Second First Impression (Part 3)

    "I''m Ripha Menadion, wife of Threin, mother of Solus, First Ruler of the mes, and an honorary member of the Verhen family due to Sally''s deception." She gave them a deep, perfect curtsy.

    "I want to thank you all for taking such good care of my daughter and epting her into your family. Among the many tragedies that my stupidity brought into her life, your love has been a ray of light I could only dream of."

    While Lith put the babies in the crib with Surin and Shargein, Ripha approached the table.

    "Raaz, Elina, thank you. After everything Epphy lost, you gave her a ce to belong. She has more happy memories of you two than of me and my husband, which made me jealous and angry yesterday." Menadion lowered her eyes in shame and her pain was so apparent that Solus overlooked her mistake.

    "It was petty of me and Ep- Solus is lucky to call you mom and dad."

    "Don''t say that,dy Menadion." Elina stood up. "I know only what Solus told me, but from her words and you being here now I can tell that you did everything you could for her. Both in life and death.

    "You gave birth to her twice and you deserve to be called mom."

    "I''m with Elina." Raaz nodded. "We''ve taken care of Solus for the past three years but we can''t take much credit for the wonderful woman she''s grown into. Our son did most of the job until she regained her human body."

    "I know." Gratefulness and sadness fought for dominance in her voice.

    "I ask you only one thing,dy Menadion." Raaz continued. "I''ll be honored if Solus keeps calling me dad, but for the love of the gods, she can''t call you mom in the presence of strangers." Those words hurt and confused Solus in equal measure. At least until she heard the rest.

    "I''m sorry, but I''m afraid if people hear Solus calling you mom and me dad in public, there would be another huge misunderstanding" He scratched his head in embarrassment and Elina gaped in horror.

    "My poor son is already victim of vicious rumors about the paternity of Shargein..." Sark chuckled and Leegaain snorted. "And the origins of the little Valeron. I don''t want Solus and my wife to be subjected to more nder."

    The most popr theories imed that Valeron''s mother was either the blond maid of house Verhen or Solus. Lith couldn''t reveal that the baby boy was the son of Thrud Griffon and Jormun.

    The official version was that Valeron was the son of a dead Wyrm who had entrusted

    the baby to Lith, which was true yet no one believed it.

    "You''re very thoughtful, Raaz" Riphaughed at the idea. "You look nothing like Threin but I guess the people of Lutia would be too dazzled by the juicy gossip to care about the truth.

    "After all, if like father like son, why not like mother like daughter? Don''t worry, I promise I will be careful. In exchange, I ask for only one thing from you and Elina. No moredy Menadion and just call me Ripha. Solus?"

    "I''ll be twice as careful, Dad." Solus shuddered at the idea. "I don''t know you guys, but I''m starving"

    She sat at the table, hoping for someone, anyone to change the topic.

    "With everything that happened yesterday, I missed the opportunity to congratte you on your son, Sally. He''s adorable." Menadion said, trying to ease things up with the Guardian.

    "Yes, he is." Sark snorted. "Also, don''t call me Sally."

    The Wyrmling was enjoying a T-bone steak that he chomped down in vigorous bites, even the bones.

    "Fine, Sark." Ripha rolled her eyes. "It''s a bit embarrassing to say, but even though I never left, I know nothing about modern times that hasn''t been discussed in Solus'' presence or experienced by her. I need a serious catch-up, especially on magic."

    "Mom! We went to the White Griffon academy and received lessons about Light Mastery by a legendary Rezar himself." Solus didn''t bother to hide her annoyance. "We even created a new branch of magic."

    "And I''m proud of you for all that, dear." Ripha nodded. "Your Void Magic is truly innovative, but also iplete. As for the rest, no offense, but you guys are still... amateurish."

    "We can''tpare to Silverwing or the Guardians, I can concede that." Lith nodded. "But since, as you say, we are amateurs, Ripha, you could instruct us on the new functions of the tower and how to use all the four pieces of your Set to their full potential."

    "It would be my pleasure." Ripha ate with the poise of a queen and the gusto of a starving man.

    One good meal wasn''t enough to dull the delight of good food after seven hundred years without smelling or tasting anything. On top of that, the previous day Menadion was still high-strung whereas now she could actually enjoy her meal.

    Sark, Leegaain, Silverwing, and Baba Yaga stared at the First Ruler of the mes in amazement.

    "Since when do you eat like ady?" The First Magus asked. "I remember you always

    wolfed down your food in a hurry to go back to work."

    "Lochra!" Menadion found herself walking a mile in Solus'' shoes and blushed just as hard.

    "She''s probably trying to make a good first impression since they don''t know her at all." Baba Yagaughed.

    "Yaga!" Being caught red-handed only made matters worse.

    "Really?" Solus asked. "I don''t remember any of that. What was Mom like? Outside of the Forge, I mean."

    "Epphy, if you ask them about me, I''ll tell them about you!" Ripha was already dead or she would have died of embarrassment here and there.

    "Never mind." Solus winked at Lochra with a gesture that meant. "We''ll continue thisN?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I''ll dly help you, Ripha." Baba Yaga nodded. "I won''t teach you my secrets but bringing you up to speed is no problem. Lochra?"

    "Sure, you can count on me too. I would love to spend some time reminiscing about

    our youth."

    "Leave me out of it." Sark snorted. "You have already gotten Creation Magic lessons from me without my knowledge or consent. And don''t get me started on whatever you gained from your Thievery!"

    "I''m sorry" Menadion tried her best to act regretful, but she wasn''t one bit. "I''ll make it up to you, I promise."

    An awkward silence befell the room as Solus felt responsible for exposing the secret floors of the tower and ruining the opinion the Overlord had of her mother.

    "I was thinking, we should get back to Lutia." Elina said. "No one can attack Kami in the Blood Desert and Ripha needs to get ustomed to the neighbourhood. Also, she needs to set the grounds for a good cover story that keeps people from thinking she has an affair with Raaz."

    "You are right about Lutia, Mom, but the moment we return to the Kingdom I''ll be summoned by the Royals. After that, I have to apologize andpensate the people I

    hurt while I was amnesiac.

    "I can use a bit of rest and quiet before I delve in the usual storm."

    "I''m sorry, dear. I hadn''t thought of that." Elina said.

 Chapter 3327 Second First Impression (Part 4)

    ?Chapter 3327 Second First Impression (Part 4)

    "Don''t worry, Mom. Once I''m done with all that, I''d like to take it easy. You know, spending time with you, Dad, and the kids."

    Aran and Leria cheered at the idea.

    "What about me and the babies?" Kam asked.

    "You can tag along." Lith shrugged.

    "Sounds like a n." She nodded.

    The dinner was delicious and pleasant.

    After they were done eating, Lith and Solus told the story of the battle for the Fringe with the help of holograms. They kept things rtively clean to not scare the kids or their parents.

    At the same time, Menadion, Baba Yaga, and Silverwing left for the mana geyser.

    "How could you name your tower after yourself, Lochra?" Menadion said while taking a good look at Silverspire with Invigoration. "Not only is it a self-absorbed choice but that thing is an ugly patchwork"

    "Yaga named hers after her children and Lith after my daughter. Take a page from their book and get yourself a life."

    "Ha, ah! Said the woman who is so trustworthy that if you were in control of Starforge instead of Epphy, I''d have Warped my tower far, far away from here not to let you snoop at my enchantments with the Eyes."

    "Calm down, Lochra. Baba Yaga said. "Ripha has a point. You also made a good one, though. Ripha, y anything funny and I''ll punch you in the nose."

    "How many times do I have to say I''m sorry?" Menadion asked.

    "Until it''s sincere." Silverwing grunted. "Also, I know Silverspire is ugly but we had little time for aesthetics, and without a tower, fighting the World Tree would have been suicidal. I have never forgotten my promise to you Ripha."

    "I know and I thank you for that." Menadion said. "Also, thank you foring here. There are a few things that I need to take off my chest."

    To avoid being heard or recorded by Starforge''s log, they entered Baba Yaga''s tower. The Red Mother poured a liquor so strong that only a white core or an undead could drink without getting instantly drunk.

    "Be careful, Ripha." Baba Yaga said. "I don''t know how Demons work, but even though most of their organs are just for show, my Firstborns experience the same effects of inebriation when drinking my Red Moon.

    "Of course, they don''t slur their words or stagger since it''s energy and will that move their bodies, but the danger of lowered inhibitions remains.

    The liquid smelled like vodka but had the color of blood.

    "I guess Lochra already tried it." Menadion said.

    "Yes, and works like a charmed booze." She nodded.

    "If it''s dangerous, why do you even make this, Yaga?" Menadion asked.

    "Because with the passing of time the emotions of an immortal be dull. We get so set in our ways and so stiff in our behavior that we don''t have a stick up our asses anymore. We grow a gods-damned World Tree!" The Mother''s voice was filled with self-loathing.

    "The Red Moon allows me and my children to loosen up. To stop calcting every move, even what kind of bread to eat for breakfast, ten steps ahead. The Red Moon is dangerous because it makes me act stupidly, but it''s only because of that I am still human."

    "Is it that good?" Menadion raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

    "How do you think dion married Lysa and Radusk was born?" Silverwing took a small sip of the red liquid, feeling its warmth spreading through her body and heightening her sensations. "He was drunk both when he confessed and went for it." "Yeah. Baba Yaga finished her ss in one gulp. "Otherwise he would have been all ''woe is me'' and dismissed Lysa as a moth-like existence that would die in a blink of his immortal eyes."

    "Then I definitely need this." Ripha followed the Mother''s example, gulping down the shot of liquor.

    She started to cough harder and harder, her closed five eyes opened wide and watered as her throat seemed on fire.

    "Easy there, champ." Baba Yaga patted Menadion''s back. "Why do you think Lochra sips it? It takes a while to get used to the Red Moon''s potency."

    Breathing wasn''t a necessity for Demons so Menadion conjured a burst of Origin mes from her ck core that cleansed the liquid guing her body.

    "That would have been a great move, if we were under attack!" The Mother snarled. "You have just thrown in the gutter decades of fermentation and priceless natural resources. Do you have any idea what it takes to affect someone like you and me?"

    "I''m sorry." Ripha looked at her reflection in the ss with surprise. "All that coughing and burning made me feel helpless and it terrified me to the point I lost control. I''m dead. I should know no fear."

    "You''re undead." Baba Yaga corrected her. "Which means you are still alive and those who live and can die always know fear."

    The Mother refilled Menadion''s ss.

    "Sip it or there won''t be a third."

    Ripha nodded and barely wetted her lips. The warmth spread from her mouth to her throat and from there to the rest of her body. It felt like a slight fever but a pleasant

    one.

    "What the fuck?" Most of the Red Moon was still in the ss, the volume almost unaffected. "How strong is this thing?"

    "Strong enough to need me to warn you." The Mother shook her head in frustration. "Ripha, you are not a white core. You are not even at the level of my Firstborns. You are a violet core with her head clearly up her ass to overestimate yourself that much. "Undeath is no immortality, let alone invincibility. You should know that much."

    "I guess you are right." Menadion waited for her body to get used to the Red Moon before taking another sip. After that, she put her ss down.

    "So what did you want to talk about?" Lochra was halfway through her first shot. "This is really embarrassing for me, but I need to say it to someone I trust." Menadion fixed her hair in a ponytail to stop them from dancing in front of her face. "I don''t know how the other Demons feel about their sleep, but to me, it was a humblingn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    experience."

    "Because you were left at the mercy of a runt who hasn''t lived long enough to be considered old even by human standards?" Lochra asked.

    "No, that''s not the problem." Menadion replied. "Do you know how a Void Sigil works?"

    "Nobody does." Baba Yaga said.

    "Then I have to exin it to you and hope Lith won''t resent me for sharing one of his secrets." Menadion said.

    "Always the type to ask forgiveness rather than permission. I guess some things never change." Lochra clicked her tongue in reproach. "You''re lucky I don''t like him. Go on."

    "Hey, it''s not a big deal!" After Sark''s earlier reproach, those words stung at the First Ruler of the mes'' pride. "Also, what''s the point drinking this stuff if I can''t

    loosen up a bit?"

    "Sounds a bit premeditated but I''m too curious to care. Please, continue." Baba Yaga

    said.

    Ripha slumped in her chair, sighing as she searched for the right words and the strength to bring more of her shame to light.

 Chapter 3328 The Real Monster (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3328 The Real Monster (Part 1)

    "A wandering soul never sleeps. We can''t sleep. Not because weck a body but because sleeping requires you to clear your mind. To let go of your obsessions and worries long enough to find a moment of peace.

    "For a wandering soul, it means losing your attachment to the world of the living and moving on.

    "When a Demon is born, Lith''s darkness and Spirit Magic form the vessel we inhabit but it''s the emotions that bind a soul to Mogar that allow the vessel to move. In

    Forgemastering terms, Lith makes the golem''s body and the soul powers its enchantments.

    "The more a Demon moves, the more our obsessions and rage are consumed in the fire of battle until we have no will to fight anymore."

    "This is no secret." Silverwing said. "Everyone who has witnessed Verhen''s Demons and has a shred of knowledge about Necromancy has understood it on their own."

    "But not that the Void Sigil''s purpose is to restore our obsessions. To keep us bound to the world of the living not by some godlike intervention bullshit but by our own will."

    "What do you mean?" Baba Yaga''s interest was piqued.

    "Inside my Sigil, I''ve relived the best and worst moments of my life. Every happy and sad event was reyed in front of my eyes over and over. Yet it wasn''t just a memory. It was like being there again. Living them again.

    "The smells, the colors, even the taste of the air on my tongue was in no way different from the real deal. It reminded me why I chose to stay behind seven hundred years ago and what I''m still fighting for.

    "My happy moments were when I first Awakened, when I started my apprenticeship under you, Ripha, and then under Sally. Then there was the moment when I received the title of Ruler of the mes.

    "After that, I finally met Threin. I relived our dates, the time we spent in front of the firece, and, of course, Epphy," Ripha''s face lit up with a smile for the first time since she had entered Bloodhaven.

    "Useless to say, it seems my good life ended with him. There was no happy memory after he died, only misery and regrets."

    "Well, that''s an underwhelming revtion." Lochra sighed. "On the plus side, I doubt Verhen will get angry with you. This ''secret'' is not something that can be used against him or that he can use against others.

    "On top of that, what''s humbling about this?"

    "Maybe you didn''t hear me, but I said happy moments." Menadion replied. "I wasn''t on cloud nine all the years I was Awakened or your apprentice. Just for the few minutes

    before the feeling of exhration was eclipsed by need and duty.

    "With Threin and Epphy, instead, it wasn''t just one fleeting moment of happiness but hours, sometimes entire days. While I was inside the Void Sigil, I didn''t recall the first piece I ever Forgemastered but Elpphy''s first step.

    "I remembered all the times Threin told me he loved me, not the praises I received from my colleagues and clients.

    "What''s humbling is that I realized how little I enjoyed my life whenever I wasn''t around my daughter and husband. Yet I spent most of Threin''s life prioritizing my work over him and then I avoided Elphyn for even longer because I felt guilty for her father''s death.

    "I feel humbled because I don''t regret spending one more hour in my Forge but missing many dates with my husband. I always postponed Threin''s ns saying that we''d do itter or at another time.

    "I didn''t defy death to Forgemaster one more gods-damn masterpiece but because it took me dying to realize that the tower isn''t my greatest creation, Epphy is. Yet I spent most of my time perfecting the tower in case Epphy died and ended up missing her life!" Ripha covered her face with her hands, sobbing,n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Don''t be like that, Ripha." Baba Yaga patted her back and handed her a handkerchief. "Everybody makes mistakes."

    "Not everybody!" Menadion snarled a thank you and blew her nose. "While I was still a Demon, I saw Elina teaching Epphy how to cook. I stood there at night when Elina brushed Epphy''s hair before bed.

    "I listened to them talking for hours about the silliest things andughing. Laughing! I never did any of those things with Epphy and not even inside the Void Sigil I found a single memory of herughing with me after Threin died.

    "Bytra may have killed my daughter but when she did, I had already abandoned Epphy for years. Bytra is not the real monster in my story, I am!"

    Her wailing and the sobbing became so loud that talking was impossible. Silverwing and Baba Yaga waited for Menadion to calm down, gently caressing her back as tears formed a multi-colored pool at the feet of the First Ruler of the mes.

    "I''m sorry you are in such pain, my friend. The Mother handed Menadion more handkerchiefs. A Demon had no snot, but she blew her nose by habit and the simple gesture made her feel alive.

    "Yet I''m also happy for you. You''ve finally realized your foolishness. Many people fail to understand what they truly care about until it''s toote and you are one of the very few people who has been given a second chance. You can still fix this."

    "I don''t know." Menadion sniffled. "I failed as a mother. I failed Threin and Elphyn. I don''t have the right to be happy after everything I''ve done."

    "I agree." Lochra nodded, drawing the Mother''s stern gaze. "You don''t have a right but a duty to be happy. Not for yourself, for Epphy. She''s been wondering all this time what kind of woman her mother was.

    "Now you can show her and let Solus know her mother like the poor Epphy never could. Solus still asks herself if you ever loved her and why you abandoned her in the tower instead of staying by her side while she recovered.

    "Now you can tell her the truth and apologize for the pain you caused her. More importantly, you can make amend for it. You can give her everything she has missed during her first life. Only if you throw away this chance you are the monster you im to

    be!"

    It took Menadion a few minutes of stunned silence and another sip of Red Moon to find her voice again.

    "That was harsh, Lochra, but you are right and I needed to hear it. Thank you."

    "It was friends are for." Silverwing gulped down the bottom half of her ss. "And uncharacteristically empathetic." The Mother tormented her lower lip, her eyes narrowed. "Also, Ripha may be the one who has been crying but it''s you who have the face of someone who had to eat shit and pretend it was chocte."

    "That''s because while Ripha talked, I couldn''t help but think about my own life and notice how simr we are." Silverwing poured herself another shot and gulped it down to find the courage to speak her mind.

    "I tried to remember thest time I was proud of myself and it was back when I became

    a Magus."

 Chapter 3329 The Real Monster (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3329 The Real Monster (Part 2)

    "Thest time I was truly happy, instead, was when I held Epphy as a baby in my arms. Where the fuck has time gone? What have I been doing until now?" Silverwing asked. "You''ve walked the path of the Lich. A sane Lich, but a Lich nheless." Baba Yaga replied. "I had many children, but they were all born as Odi and sooner orter died of old age.

    "It''s because of that pain that I''ve started researching undeath and gave life to my Firstborns. Some people think I''m a failure because even after all this time, my tower is still inferior to Ripha''s.

    "Those people are idiots. I didn''t fail because power was never my goal. My tower is full of happy memories that I wouldn''t trade for anything. Bloodhaven gives my children a ce safe even from Guardians and keeps me sane.

    "I''m the greatest mage of all time because I''m still alive. Maybe some other white core was wiser or stronger than me, but they are all dead now. If this isn''t sess, I don''t know what it is." A wave of her hand made countless pictures and frames appear all over the walls and on the furniture.

    They all depicted a special and happy moment Baba Yaga had spent with one of her children, both biological and undead.

    "Shit." Ripha mumbled. "I don''t have a fraction of those."

    "Lucky you, I have barely a handful." Silverwing sighed. "Do you think it''s toote for me, Yaga?"

    "If there''s a lesson from me and Ripha it''s that''s never toote, Lochra." The Mother replied. "I haven''t stopped looking for a partner, I just haven''t found one yet. You can do the same.

    "Just don''t limit yourself to white cores or Awakened. Look for someone you like as a person. And don''t give him power too easily or he''ll be corrupted by it."

    "What man would ever want an old hag like me?" Silverwing waved at her lithe and voluptuous figure.

    "A stunning old hag who looks twenty-five?" Ripha''s voice oozed with so much sarcasm that Mogar found itself dry. "Men are simple creatures, gods bless them. I got Threin when I was three hundred and Tyris got herself Valeron when she was... I don''t know, a million years old?"

    Somewhere in the pce, the First Guardian was ying with the babies when her left eye suddenly twitched in annoyance.

    "I''m not that old, you hag. She is just jealous because I''m prettier than her. Am I the prettiest in the world, beloved?"

    "Yes." Valeron the Second giggled with joy.

    He had no idea what she was talking about but the goldendy resembled his mother so much that it hurt. The baby boy would have done and said anything to see Tyris smile.

    "Bottom line, you can do it, Lochra." Menadion said, unaware of the unyielding rage she had stirred in the Guardian. "As long as you can rein in your shitty personality, of course. I mean, I suck, but you are the worst.

    "How could you try to kill Lith on his deathbed right in front of Epphy after she got hurt. to save him?"

    "Ripha, how could you..." The Mother raised her finger to object when she remembered the circumstances of Silverwing''s first meeting with the revived Solus/Elphyn and how the events had yed out.

    "You are actually right. She nodded. "Listen to Ripha, Lochra. From this day onward, more loving and less bitching. Always remember, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

    "I never understood that saying." Silverwing knew they were right but was too proud to admit it. "After all, you can catch even more flies with shit, so what?"

    "Here''s why you are wrong" Baba Yaga tutted. "Honey is sticky so the fly stays. Shit dries up after a while and the fly abandons it in search of wetter shit, if you catch my drift."

    "Good gods, Yaga!" Silverwing and Menadion said in unison, one blushing up to her ears and the otherughing her ass off.

    "That''s gold, Yaga. With your permission, I''m stealing that." Ripha rolled on the floor,ughing.

    "Well, this is a first." The Mother clicked her tongue. "I allow it, but only because history teaches me you''d steal my stuff anyway."

    "Hey!" Menadion didn''t find it funny anymore.

    "It''s the truth so deal with it." The Mother replied. "If you can''t take criticism even from me, how can you fix your rtionship with Solus? You''ve done much worse than stealing a spell here and there to her. Your words, not mine."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You are right. I''m sorry." Menadion nodded. "Can we go back mocking Lochra now?"

    "Hey!" Silverwing said.

    "With pleasure" Baba Yaga nodded. "First let''s point out her major ws. Then we can decide which dashing fellow we know is more suited for her."

    "First, this is not funny." Silverwing grunted. "Second, what about my opinion?" "Over one thousand years and not one sess." The Mother shrugged. "History also teaches us you suck at selecting your partner, Lochra. Even Ripha got at least one right." "What do you mean, even Ripha?" Menadion said, only to be shut up by Baba Yaga''s re. "I mean, she''s right. Let''s drink our sorrows away."

    "Leave the bottle." Silverwing gulped down another shot of Red Moon while her alleged

    best friend rubbed her long list of romantic disasters in her face.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the Verhens were assembled in the Family Hall of the pce.

    It had soft carpets and even a firece for ambiance, letting people gather up in front of the warmth of the fire. It was an impossibility since everything inside the pce was made of fabric but a small trick for a Guardian.

    Lith was just done recounting the battle for the Fringe in the most family-friendly way he could spin it. Yet even with his talent as a liar and a storyteller, there was one ugly

    truth he couldn''t hide.

    Aran and Leria had already asked Lith why Grandpa Valtak hadn''te back with the others. Lith had managed to buy himself one day already, but now he had no other choice but to face the music.

    Of course, in his version of the story the Father of Fire died peacefully and of old age after the end of the battle, not because grievously wounded.

    "The kids know he was old and they have already lost someone in the past. I can''t disrespect Valtak''s sacrifice by pretending he''s hiding somewhere and ignoring Leria and Aran. They would think he doesn''t like them anymore, or worse, they''d me themselves, thinking they have offended him somehow! Lith thought.

    He had already warned their parents, giving them time to prepare themselves to deal

    with the blow.

    Aran and Leria hadn''t taken Mirim''s and Lark''s deaths well and even though they had known the Father of Fire only for a few weeks, Lith doubted things would go any

    different.

    "Grampa Valtak is dead?" Aran went pale, his hands trembling in shock.

    "It was his time, little brother." Lith hugged him. "There was nothing anyone could do.

    Not even Baba Yaga."

    "But he''s not dead-dead, right?" Leria pulled at Lith''s shirt with hope. "He''s in one of your feathers like Uncle Trion and Grandma Ripha."

 Chapter 3330 Surprise Gift (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3330 Surprise Gift (Part 1)

    "No sweetie, he''s gone." Lith shook his head. "Valtak had a long and happy life. Before dying, he asked me to send you his love and tell you he was happy meeting you."

    It was a white lie and something the Father of Fire would have said, had he had the time and opportunity to give his final farewells.

    Aran and Leria burst into tears, their mothers quickly wrapped them in an embrace and whispered reassuring words in their ears.

    "It''s okay, baby." Elina gently caressed Aran''s hair. "It''s nobody''s fault. Valtak was just old."

    "Don''t cry, sweetie." Rena rocked Leria in her arms. "I exined to you why these things happen. Remember the old horse you liked so much? It''s the same thing. He didn''t suffer, it was just his time"

    Of course, Rena omitted the part where the horse had been butchered and eaten for dinner. That was a story for an older and less impressionable Leria.

    "You are young so you can''t die, right Mom?" Leria asked amid sobs.

    "Correct." Rena lied as sweetly as she could.

    "Dad and Grandpa Zekell are young as well, right?"

    "Of course." Rena nodded.

    "Mom? Dad?" Aran asked. Suddenly being the youngest son of many older siblings sounded terrifying, "What about you?"

    "We are still in our prime, young man." Raaz patted his head. "As your mother said, it happens only to very old people."

    Much to everyone surprise, Aran and Leria started crying harder. To the point that Elysia and the other babies in the crib joined them.

    "Please, don''t die, Grampa Leegaain!" They tackled the Guardian''s legs, leaving him bbergasted.

    "I''m not going anywhere, your runts." At first, Leegaain was moved by their concern but soon he found it mighty annoying.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Why are they tagging only me as an old coot?'' He thought. ''Sark is not that much younger than me and Tyris is even older!"

    ''Because I look as old as their mothers and act like their aunt, old lizard.'' Sark replied. ''You instead look as young as their fathers but act like a fossil. It''s not the kids'' fault if they fell for your grumpy old man act.''

    "The next person who calls me old and is not a kid is going to get the beating of a lifetime! Tyris'' telepathic roar brooked no doubt about how serious her threat was.

    "Don''t worry, Hatchlings, I have still a very long life ahead of me." Leegaain grabbed the

    babies who were crawling and grabbing at his face. "Can''t you see how healthy and vigorous I am?"

    "But Grampa Valtak was your grandson too so you are even older than him! You are actually our ultra-super-grandfather." Aran pointed out.

    "Great-great-grandfather." Leria corrected him. "And your hair is all white, Grampa Leegaain. Grampa Zekell only has a few white streaks so you must be also much older than him."

    ''I see.'' The Father of All Dragons thought. ''Valtak is the only Divine Beast they know who died of old age so they assume I''m the oldest of the bunch. My silver hair makes it even worse, painting me as a decrepit elder in their eyes.''

    "First of all, my hair color is whatever I want it to be." Leegaain''s thick mane turned blond, dark, and red in quick session, making the kids gasp in awe. "Second, Guardians are special existences. We are not old. We are ancient.

    "Last, but not least, we are singrities where infinity and eternity meet. Here, let me show you" He held Aran''s and Leria''s hands, temporarily awakening their bloodline.

    The Dragon scales that now covered the kids'' skin proved to them the Guardian''s sincerity, shared his confidence with them, and even allowed the children to get a glimpse of his real nature.

    The Leegaain standing in front of them was no bigger than the average man but whaty behind his human shell burned bright and majestic like a sun. In front of him, size didn''t matter and neither did time.

    "Ba! Ba!" Elysia, Valeron, and Shargein stopped crying and started pping Leegaain for scaring them witless by pretending to be old.

    "How on Mogar can I be the bad guy? I didn''t say anything that could make you worry, you did all by yourself." The Guardian held the babies tight until they felt reassured enough to turn their anger into peaceful cooing.

    Shargein in particr was terrified of losing his father. The Wyrmling shrunk his size and wrapped himself around Leegaain''s neck like a scarf, using the powerful heartbeat of the Guardian to drive his fear away.

    "You are so cool, Grampa Leegaain!" Aran and Leria said in unison, their eyes filled with awe.

    Their minds were too young to fully understand what they had just witnessed, but, unlike the babies, they were old enough to be affected by the revtion on a deep level. All the secrets of Mogar and magic had been unveiled in front of their eyes.

    It hadsted only for a second and the details were vague like a dream but the experience still left a mark in their young hearts and souls.

    "You look awesome with dark hair." Aran said. "You should always keep it like that so that people would see the family resemnce." The young boy pointed at himself, Lith, and

    Raaz, in this order.

    "Don''t listen to him. Blonde hair is the best." Leria puffed her chest out with pride. "Itplements your pale skin and gives you a noble look."

    "I share with you some of the most profound mysteries of Mogar and you focus on the color of my hair? That''s what impressed you the most?" Leegaain was bbergasted. "Yeah, right." Aran ignored the Guardian''s grievances. "You''re saying that only because you are blonde yourself! Grampa, don''t listen to her. ck is the new ck! Also, you should try a goatee. Can you grow a goatee?"

    "Blonde is the color of gold and all Dragons like gold, right, Grampa?" Leria pulled Leegaain''s hand. "Also, don''t get a goatee, it would make you look like a bad guy. Either a full beard or nothing."

    "I hate my life." Leegaain said, ignored by everyone.

    "Dragons are such a cheat." Sark scoffed. "In his shoes I would have to coddle the kids for hours and stuff them with sweets to calm them down whereas the o... af lizard only needs a touch of his scales."

    After the recent events, the Overlord decided to avoid the word "old" in front of the children and Tyris for a while.

    "I don''t see anything wrong with it, instead." Rena sighed in relief. "I was afraid Leria would be too scared to sleep alone in her bed for days. Don''t get me wrong, I love my

    baby girl but her fluffy pillow turns any room into a sauna."

    Abominus ignored the remark andpped Rena''s face while wagging his giant tail.

    "And covers you in slob!"

    "Tell me about it." Raaz caressed Onyx''s head, making her purr.

    "Grampa Leegaain, Grampa Leegaain!" The triplets had never met Valtak so Lith had brought them out of the room during thest part of the story.

    Now that they were back and seeing everyone clinging to the Guardian, the triplets assumed it was the perfect timing to make their move.

 Chapter 3331 Surprise Gift (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3331 Surprise Gift (Part 2)

    Falco, Teryon, and Nessa surrounded Leegaain from three sides, their voices mixed in a gestalt as they clung to his legs.

    "Yesterday you said you have prepared a hoard for Elysia. Where is ours? Can we see it? When will we receive it?"

    "Treasure!" Aran and Leria stopped bickering and their eyes lit up with excitement. "That''s right, Grampa Leegaain. What about us? Do we get a hoard too?"

    The words "treasure" and "hoard" made Shargein chirp in annoyance. The Wyrmling bit his father''s ear, demanding his due.

    "Calm down, kids. You-" The words about everyone but Shargein and Valeron the Second not being a real Dragon and getting nothing died in his throat as they formed in his

    mind.

    The parents looked at Leegaain in a silent plea whereas the other two Guardians red at him in a not-so-veiled threat.

    ''I guess that if I make the children cry again and give them an inferiorityplex due to my alleged favoritism, I will get in trouble.'' The Father of all Dragons inwardly sighed.

    "You''ll get your hoard when you grow up, just like Elysia." He continued after an imperceptible pause. "Babies can choke on coins while Shargein, you would just eat them!"

    The Wyrmling licked his lips, confirming the Guardian''s worries.

    "What about us, Grampa?" Aran pointed at himself and Leria. "We are six years old already. We are not like these runts."

    "Hey!" The triplets didn''t like being insulted. "We are old enough to use the potty by ourselves!"

    "You are still too young." Leegaain nipped the bickering in the bud. "Gold brings only trouble to those who can''t protect it or spend it wisely. I can entrust your hoards to your parents if you want. They''ll decide when you get them."

    "No!" Aran and Leria weren''t as coordinated as the triplets, but they were still impressive. "I mean, I trust my parents but I trust your judgment more."

    "Can we at least see them?" The triplets asked.

    "Sure." A wave of Leegaain''s hand and a painful withdrawal from his personal stash conjured eight piles of gold, gems, and small artifacts as tall as Aran. Five more than the Father of All Dragons had originally ounted for.

    "Can we touch them?" The kids asked in unison. "We want to count the coins!"

    "Gods, no!" Much to everyone''s surprise it was Rena talking. "Put everything away, Grandpa, or you''ll awaken their Dragon greed or worse."

    "They are so cute." Even more to everyone''s surprise, Leegaain seemed delighted at the idea. "But sure, Hatchling. Your whelps, your rules."

    Another wave of his hand made the gold piles disappear and turned Rena in the bad guy. "Mom, you are mean!" Leria and the triplets said.

    "Mom, help me! Rena is bullying me!" Aran ran to Elina who had no idea what to do.

    Once the situation calmed down enough, Lith and Solus resumed their story until the point they left the Fringe.

    "Then we took a Gate to the Blood Desert and you know the rest." Solus said.

    "That''s... quite an adventure." Elina had a hard time trying to express her worries without scaring the kids again. "Are you sure you feel alright now, Solus?"

    "More than okay, Mom. She replied. "I''m getting stronger by the hour,"

    "That''s not what I''m worried about." Elina exploited a moment when the children were back pestering Rena about their hoards to speak openly. "I can''t even think what the World Tree might have done while you were his prisoner.

    "I know talking about it must be hard for you but holding everything in would be even worse. What I''m trying to say is that if you ever feel the need to vent your feelings, we are all here for you."

    "Thanks, Mom." Solus hugged her. "I will."

    To stop the bickering from escting again, Lith prepared hot chocte and oven-fresh biscuits for everyone. With their mouths full, the kids couldn''t argue. With their stomachs full, they felt at peace with Mogar and forgot about Rena robbing them of their treasure.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Thanks for the rescue, lil bro." Rena said.

    "Anytime." Lith patted her shoulder. "Mom, can we talk for a second?"

    He went over to Elina, conjuring a Hush Zone so as not to be overheard.

    Kam could see Elina nod and answer briefly from time to time, but that was it.

    Once Lith was done, he disappeared along with the Hush Zone.

    "Where did he go?" Kam asked.

    "I don''t know." Elina lied and Kam pretended to believe her. "Give me a hand putting all these rascals to bed."

    The children were slumped in different parts of the Family Hall, sleeping.

    Aran and Leriay on top of their respective Emperor Beasts, the triplets were huddled up under nkets, and the babies formed a squishy, drooling scale armor all over Leegaain.

    "If you want, I would be happy to take care of Elysia and Valeron for you tonight." Elina said, trying to sound casual. "You and Lith must have been exhausted yesterday and

    today you haven''t spent a minute alone.

    "I''m worried about him too. Lith went through a lot and needs someone to talk to as well.

    "Thank you, Elina." Kam barely managed to repress a chuckle. "I don''t know what we would do without your help."

    After putting the babies in the crib and preparing enough bottles for the night. Kam let Elina engage her in small talk until Lith returned.

    "Good night, Mom, and thank you for your help with the babies. I need a good night''s sleep to recover." Lith sounded and yawned so convincingly that it irked Kam. ''If I didn''t know him any better, I''d fall for his lies!'' She inwardly grumbled. "Why all the secrecy?" She asked once they were back inside the tower and out of earshot. "I''m the one who told you to hold that thought until tonight. I know what is going to happen because I made all the arrangements."

    "Did you?" Lith asked with a confused look on his face as he opened the door to their bedroom.

    "Oh gods!" Candles positioned at the four corners of the room and the bed were the only

    source of light.

    Red rose''s petals formed a path toward the bed that was covered in Moonroses'' petals.

    One bouquet of flowers and one tall candle stood on each bedstand, spreading their light.

    and sweet scent.

    "This is so romantic, you shouldn''t have-" Kam heard the door closing and turned around, discovering the next surprise.

    "Kam Verhen, will you give me another baby?" Lith was kneeling in front of her,

    wearing his lucky clothes.

    The same red shirt and white pants he had worn for their first date in Belius at the

    Velorian.

    Lith was offering her the Camellia, the same cheap enchanted trinket he had gifted her for their second date and that she had given back to him as betrothal gift when she had

    proposed.

    Kam knew the mystical flower like the back of her hand so she didn''t miss the changes in the artifact. The green stem now branched halfway into two buds.

    One had just a few short petals visible past the calyx while the other was already out and had just started to bloom.

 Chapter 3332 Hammer and Anvil (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3332 Hammer and Anvil (Part 1)

    "Yes! One hundred times yes!" Kam epted the Camellia and threw her arms around Lith''s neck, kissing him with passion.

    "One hundred children is a bit too much." He said after their lips finally parted. "I say we take things slowly and put a few years between pregnancies."

    "I didn''t mean- Who cares. She giggled like a little girl, kissing Lith again.

    He gently swept Kam off her feet and carried her to the bed while she still clung to the Camellia.

    "The buds represent Elysia and our baby boy, right?" She asked.

    "Correct. I would have engraved her name, but leaving the other space empty felt like jinxing myself. I''ll do it once we''ve chosen a good name for him."

    "I was expecting a hot, sweaty night of sex and instead you have outdone yourself and made me the most romantic gift ever." Kam''s eyes were misted with tears of joy.

    "The two things aren''t mutually exclusive." Lith said with the pensive expression she knew was his perverted face.

    "Pervert." She blushed. "Why did you kneel like that?"

    "Because I''ve always regretted not being the one proposing to you and this kind of makes up for it. Don''t you think?" Lith asked, his face only millimeters away from hers.

    "It does." She swallowed hard. "What''s next? The Dragon and the Maiden? The Professor''s private lessons?"

    "I''m all for roley." He nodded. "What about the Supreme Magus meets his hot wife?" "That''s a part I was born to y."

    After giving Lith a daughter and while carrying his son, Kam was the most beautiful woman in Mogar to him. Even if gods were real and the goddess of beauty descended in front of him, Lith would have not looked at her twice if not to kick her out of the room.

    ***

    Solus'' room, at the same time.

    "Mom, are you alright?" Solus asked through the bathroom door.

    "I''m fine, sweetheart, I''m just taking a bath." Menadion replied.

    "It''s been an hour since you got in. I was getting worried."

    "It''s been seven hundred years since thest time I felt hot water on my skin and soap on my hair." Ripha said. "It would be weird if I didn''t take my time to enjoy this moment, Ep- Solus. I''m home. I can''t believe I''m finally back home.""

    "That''s my point." Solus nodded just to call herself stupid since Menadion couldn''t see through the door. "I still can''t believe you are back and whenever I don''t see you, I get

    scared you might have disappeared again."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Don''t be silly, dear," Solus'' worry moved Ripha and the sweetness in her voice showed it. "Why don''t youe inside? I don''t mindpany and there''s no need to keep yelling." "No, thanks. I''ll wait." Solus blushed and this time was d for the door''s obstruction.

    ''I''m not a child. I won''t take a bath with my mother.'' She thought. Also, knowing her, Mom''s perfectly capable of doing something rude like conjuring a scale and start keeping track of my weight.''

    "I''m done, Solus. What did you want to talk about?" Solus had just sat on the bed when Menadion came out of the bathroom wearing a towel on her head and nothing else.

    "Mom, what are you doing?" Solus asked in embarrassment.

    "I''m dabbing my hair. Isn''t it obvious?"

    "Not that! I mean, why are you naked?"

    "No one takes a bath clothed, dear." Menadion chuckled. "Besides, we are both women and you are my daughter. What should I be ashamed of?"

    ''Not you, me!'' Solus was left speechless but her mind ran rampant.

    Her mother''s body looked a lot like hers but with one ring difference. Menadion''s hourss figure was emphasized by her t, toned belly.

    "Oh, you mean this?" Ripha caught her daughter staring at her abs. "This is nothing much, Epphy. It just takes discipline, rigorous training, and healthy eating habits." "Nothing much my pale ass, Mom! That''s a 1-"

    "Language, youngdy!" Menadion cut Solus short.

    "Mom, I''m not a child." Yet that was how Solus felt while Menadion scolded her. "This is how I talk with my friends and even with Lith."

    "But not with Elina." Ripha lowered her gaze, feeling equally childish and petty on top of that for pointing it out.

    "It''s different... but not for the reason you might think." Solus rushed to say when she noticed the hurt in her mother''s eyes. "How much do you know about my current life?"

    "I know only what you said out loud." Menadion replied. "I was with you but not in your mind. I have no idea what you and Lith said to each other all those countless hours you spent together and his eyes shed with your light.

    "I guess you two shared a lot of deep conversations but never exchanged a single word." "Okay." Solus nodded. "You see, I have very few memories of you. They are all very precious to me but they all date back to when I was a little girl. I have almost no recollection of my adult life except for the night Bytra killed me."

    There was no malice in her words yet they stabbed Ripha''s heart nheless. Those

    were the same memories Menadion experienced inside the Void Sigil.

    ''I can''t me Epphy for forgetting about the rest if even I consider our time together after Threin''s death irrelevant. She clenched her hands in frustration.

    "In all those memories, you treated me like the child I was, but I''m an adult now. I want you to know the person I have be and treat me like the rest of your friends." Solus said, unaware of her mother''s emotional turmoil.

    "Why is Elina different?" Menadion asked.

    "Put some clothes, dammit!" A wave of Solus'' hand and the Skinwalker armor slipped

    back on her mother. "Why, you ask? Have you seen her?"

    Solus conjured a hologram of Elina hugging, kissing, and clinging to her children no matter their age or the embarrassment she caused them in public.

    "Oh, yeah. That." Menadion almost chuckled at the sight of Lith, Rena, and Tista squirming their way out of Elina''s clutches.

    "If she didn''t treat me like that, I would feel left out." Solus fiddled with her hair. "You instead are always cool and collected. In all the memories I have of us working at the

    Forge you treat me-"

    "With detachment." Menadionpleted the phrase for Solus and sat on the bed. "But

    only because you asked me to do it."

    "I did?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "You took pride in your talent and refused anything that might have been misunderstood for preferential treatment. You asked, or rather, ordered me to treat you like the rest of my disciples." Ripha started tormented her hair just like Solus.

    "I treated you coldly because I didn''t want to anger you. That''s all." "Good gods, I was a terrible daughter! I''m so sorry, Mom." Solus held Menadion tight.

    "Don''t be sorry, Epphy, it was my fault. I was a terrible mother." Ripha tentatively returned the embrace. "You spent the years after Threin''s death trying to shake me out of my depression and reconnect with me but I always turned you down."

 Chapter 3333 Hammer and Anvil (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3333 Hammer and Anvil (Part 2)

    "When I finally pulled my head out of my ass, you had already moved on. You had gotten used to living without me, learning magic from Malyshka and everything else by yourself. "When you needed me the most, I wasn''t there for you and when I understood how much I needed you, you returned me the favor. You remember little of me in your adult life because there''s little to remember and none of it is pleasant."

    "Were we that much of a dysfunctional family?" Solus asked.

    "Worse but I''d rather not talk about such depressing memories right after being finally reunited." Menadion sighed.

    "Then let''s not do it, Mom." Solus refused to let her mother go. "For better or for worse, my amnesia gives us a fresh start. You have a second chance at being my mother and I at being your daughter. What do you say?"

    "That it''s a lovely idea." Ripha sniffled.

    "Only on two conditions." Solus said. "Call me Solus and never unt your abs in front of me. Okay?"

    "Okay, but does it also include my pajamas?" Menadion pulled away, shapeshifting the Skinwalker armor into Mogar''s equivalent of a crop top and loose hot pants.

    "Mom! The armor can only replicate the clothes it stores. You nned for this!"

    "Guilty as charged." Ripha nodded. "But this is what I''ve always worn to sleep. There''s no malice in my choice of sleepwear."

    "That''s not..." Solus thought back to the times when she had barged into her parents'' bedroom and found simr clothes in her memories. "I mean, that''s true but why?"

    "Because it was easy to put on when you barged into our room while your father and I... hugged and because this way I didn''t need to change before running to the Forge after a sudden sh of inspiration. Back then there was no Skinwalker armor."

    "Oh, yeah. The Epphy protocol. Now I remember." Solus sighed.

    "Gods, did you know?"

    "Yes, but I never connected the dots until I was much, much older." Solus replied. "Back then I thought the name referred to the stuffed animals you and Dad kept in your room."

    "They were only one part of n, dear." Menadion cleared her throat. "You know, to keep you busy while we put our clothes on."

    "Mom! Too much information. Especially after seeing you naked." Solus emitted retching sounds. "Let''s talk about something else."

    "Okay. Ask me anything you want." Ripha nodded.

    "Can you put other clothes on?" Solus asked. "I can feel your abs ring at me and it''s destroying my self-confidence."

    "Sorry, sweetie." Menadion slipped into something baggier. "Second question."

    "How did you meet Valeron the First?"

    "Uncle Val came looking for me." Ripha conjured the hologram of a young Menadion looking no different from now working in a smithy and of an even younger but scruffy Valeron who looked older than her.

    "He needed weapons for his friends and wanted only the best for them. Back then, I was still Lochra''s apprentice but my Forgemastering skills had already surpassed hers..." Mother and daughter kept talking for hours, filling in the nks in each other''s life. Solus would have dly spent the entire night like that, but after a while, she sent Menadion back into the Void Sigil.

    ''We have plenty of time and Mom has already sacrificed so much for me. After seven hundred years of restless wandering, she deserves some rest.

    ***

    The room into which Menadion opened her eyes the following morning was familiar yet foreign, startling her.

    For a brief moment, she forgot she was dead, that her husband was dead, and that her tower didn''t belong to her anymore. As she looked around Lith''s bedroom and Kam smiled at her, however, Menadion quickly remembered when and where she was.

    "I can''t believe what I''m about to say, but I would have liked to sleep a bit longer. She sighed while assessing her mental condition.

    The rage and obsession that had apanied her for seven long centuries were still there, yet Menadion could feel their edges had be smoother and their me less violent.

    The endless suffering was over, with old and new happy memories washing away the pain from her mind as the Void Sigil nurtured her soul.

    "How do you feel, Ripha?" Kam asked.

    "I only got two good nights'' sleep after seven hundred years of wake but I feel... more centered." Menadion replied.

    If being a wandering soul was akin to constant marching to the rhythm of relentless war drums, sleeping inside a Void Sigil was like hammering a de on an anvil.

    There was a pause between the strikes, a peace that allowed the cksmith to adjust the angle and strength of the next blow. The rage heated the forge and the obsession drove the hand wielding the hammer, but there was method and discipline to it. When the hammer fell, Menadion was made painfully aware of her mistakes, the opportunities she had missed, and the things she had left unsaid. When the hammer

    lingered in the air, instead, the Void Sigil showed her the happy moments that had defined her life.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The moments of pain were no less intense than when she was still a wandering soul, constantly forced to remember her final moments and chase after the source of her grief. Yet they hurt in a different way.

    Suffering and peace had each a clear purpose. One showed Menadion the wrongs she had done and could now fix while the other bathed her in the things she had done right and pushed her to make more.

    A wandering soul had no way to interact with the world of the living and only sought to perpetuate their misery to prolong their existence. A Demon, instead, possessed a semnce of life and as such needed a purpose.

    The Void Sigil preserved the former and provided thetter.

    "Why am I naked and where''s Lith?" It took Menadion a few seconds to notice she wasn''t

    wearing her Skinwalker armor and Lith''s absence.

    "He conjured you from the bathroom to give us a bit of privacy." Kam pointed at several pieces of clothing disyed on the bed. "Yesterday we were a bit in a rush so he gave you what we had at the ready. Today we can take things with more calm. "Pick whatever you''d like to wear today and tell me which of these clothes suit your taste. I''ll have our tailor have them prepared by the time we go back to Lutia." "Are you serious?" Menadion asked in confusion.

    "Of course, Ripha. Death took everything away from you. Aside from the hammer you made out of stolenponents, you owe nothing. Lith wants to correct the situation." "It''s a thoughtful and kind gesture." Menadion was almost moved by those words. "Also, out of character. Was this your idea?"

    She knew that Kam was the one who treated the Demons with humanity. Lith usually just went along with it.

    "No, Lith thought about this on his own." Kam chuckled. "He''s a bit inconsiderate sometimes, but he''s not a bad man."

    "I guess you are right." Menadion remembered the time Lith had bought Solus her ownmunication amulet and the many clothes of her wardrobe as she put a loose white linen robe typical of the Blood Desert. "I''ll take this, this, this..."

 Chapter 3334 Menadions Lesson (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3334 Menadion''s Lesson (Part 1)

    By the time Lith came out of the bathroom Menadion was done picking the clothes on the bed she liked and had moved on to rummaging through Kam''s wardrobe for more. "...this and this. I''ll take a look at Epphy''s clothes as well and let you know if there''s anything else I''d like to wear and of which color."

    Lith felt a sting to his wallet, but aside from narrowing his eyes made noment. "How do you feel, Ripha?"

    "Much less bitchy. Thank you for asking." She weed him with a polite nod of the head. "What''s for breakfast?"

    "Let''s find out." A snap of Kam''s fingers put everything back to its ce and Warped the three of them to the Dining Hall.

    "Good morning, Mom!" Solus rushed to Menadion, hugging her tight. "I missed you."

    "I missed you too, baby." Ripha said while kissing her daughter''s forehead.

    "I have big news." Kam waited for the embrace to break before pulling out the updated Camellia. "Look what Lith did for me."

    The meaning of the flower and the two buds was clear to everyone and the whole family congratted Lith for the romantic gesture.

    "Look what Daddy did for you." To everyone but Elysia who tried to bite the mystical flowers and was sorely disappointed finding they were ethereal in nature.

    "Ba!" She expressed her displeasure in a barrage of baby babble that only a tasty bottle of milk could end.

    "Ba indeed." Rena red at her husband while Elina grunted at Raaz,

    "I''m just a cksmith. I can''t do anything that fancy." Senton raised his hands in apology.

    "You could have still made something. It would have been better than the nothing I got." Rena scoffed.

    "I gave you everything I could, dear." Raaz said with pride. "Why do you act as if breaking my back to put food on our table wasn''t enough?"

    "It was more than enough, silly. It was everything" Elina''s expression softened for a second. "But what about Aran? What about Surin? I didn''t expect a grand gesture, just a romantic one to celebrate their birth." Yet only for a second.

    "Yeah, Dad. Where''s my present?" Aran had no clue what was happening but the chance to get a new toy was too good to pass it up.

    "So, what are the ns for today?" Lith rushed to change the topic and rescue his father from the danger he had unwittingly put Raaz into.

    "Depends. Did you get any news about Valtak''s funeral?" Menadion decided to give

    coffee and pancakes a go.

    "None." Lith checked his amulet to make sure.

    "Then what do you say if I teach you how to use the Ears and exin to you and Ep-Solus the changes in the Forge and the Watchtower?" Menadion poured way more syrup than was healthy on her pancakes.

    "It''s a wonderful idea, Mom." Solus stared at the te in envy.

    "Don''t mention it. Also, stop staring at my te. My eyes are up here." Menadion replied. "I can use that knowledge to decide who is going to get the Ears." Lith nodded. Menadion exploited her undead condition to try everything from the breakfast table, taking seconds of what she liked most and making Solus sigh in envy like a bellows. "Thanks for the food." She said with a satisfied burp. "I''m ready when you are."

    A snap of Lith''s fingers brought them to the tower plus a surprise.

    "What''s Sally doing here?" Menadion asked, obtaining a re from the Guardian for the use of the moniker.

    "You said that you wanted to apologize for being rude to your friends and this is the best way I could think of." Lith replied. "You took Grandma''s knowledge in the past and now you gift her some of your own to pay her back."

    "But-"

    "He''s right, Mom. Solus cut Menadion short. "Whatever you teach us is our secret and we can share it with anyone we want. After everything Grandma did for you and me, she deserves it. Also, this is the perfect opportunity to show her how regretful you are."

    "Thank you, Featherlings!" Sark beamed with joy at them while never losing her disgruntled expression whenever she stared at the First Ruler of the mes. "Shame on you, Ripha."

    "Fine." Menadion sighed. "I suppose you are wondering what the Ears have to do with the Forge and why all the mana cables." She pointed at the green tendrils of Spirit Magic connecting the Ears to every piece of equipment in the room.

    "An example is worth thousands of words so I''ll give you a practical demonstration. First, though, I need permission to operate the tower."

    "Sorry, Mom!" Solus gave Menadion full clearance, bringing her just one level below the

    owners.

    "Don''t apologize." Ripha conjured a piece of Adamant from the Workshop and a new emerald tendril appeared, connecting the metal with the Ears.

    "What the?" Lith was even more surprised when the same happened to mana crystals and natural treasures.

    "I need you to remember that every piece of my Set was intended as a Forgemastery aid.

    The ability of the Ears to listen to the mana flow goes deeper than mere battle. It''s what made me the best even when there were three more Rulers of the mes active during my time." Menadion said while putting the helm on Solus'' head.

    "Behold!" Ripha rhythmically clenched and released her fingers as the metal shapeshifted into des, rings, hammers, and a full set of armor.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "By my mom!" Solus gasped in amazement yet the others saw nothing worthy of such a reaction.

    "Lith, you are next. Then it''s your turn, Sally." Menadion brought the piece of Adamant back to its initial state before passing the Ears to him and starting the shapeshifting

    again.

    "Fuck me sideways!" Even though there was no spell involved, Lith could see the mana flow of the enchanted metal alone and how the interaction with the other resources affected it based on which tendrils Menadion activated.

    It allowed him to predict the shape that the mana circtory system of an artifact would take based on the cement of the mana crystals, the order in which they were bonded to the metal, and how every further ingredient would affect the final result.

    In the few seconds Lith wore the Ears, Menadion showed him hundreds of possiblebinations. In theory, they were all equally good, but that only because there was still no enchantment involved.

    Based on the shape and function of the artifact, the mana circtory system was more suitable for defense, offense, or specific elements.

    And that wasn''t all.

    Even though the different configurations carried the same amount of energy which was produced by the same resources, each pattern resulted in a different beat of the final

    mana flow.

    Some rhythms reminded Lith of his own, others of Solus'', and a few made no absolute

    sense to him.

    At least until Menadion conjured one more tendril of Spirit Magic, connecting herself to

    the Ears.

    Lith could now listen to her mana flow as well andpare it with the various configurations of the Adamant. Ripha browsed through the possible mana circtory systems for him, starting from a hammer that albeit powerful would be discordant with

    her mana flow.

 Chapter 3335 Menadions Lesson (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3335 Menadion''s Lesson (Part 2)

    Then, Menadion moved on to circtory systems more and more attuned with her until she showed Lith one hammer that perfectly matched the rhythm of her mana flow.

    That hammer was identical to the old Fury.

    "This is... impressing" Sark said after she had her turn with the Ears and Ripha demonstrated the Ear''s prowess to her.

    It was a strong understatement but the Overlord was still too angry with the First Ruler of the mes to express any form of admiration.

    "And that''s not all, Sally." Menadion gave her friend a polite bow. "There''s also this!"

    By injecting her mana inside the artifact before the Bonding process, Menadion altered the innate mana flow of the metal. She created artificial paths of least resistance to the mana that the crystals would follow once Bonded.

    The First Ruler of the mes couldn''t perform any dramatic change in the final mana circtory system. Just a nudge here and a slight deviation there. Yet Sark knew how even the smallest detail could qualitatively alter the result of a Forgemastering process. A good piece could be mediocre or great while by removing the inevitable minute ws a masterpiece could near perfection.

    "This is how I managed to craft perfect de Weapons for my clients." Ripha turned toward Lith to give the Guardian the time to pick her jaw from the floor and retain the hope no one had noticed it.

    "I never shared the process in detail with Bytra but I taught her the basics and did the same for the rest of my disciples. I can assure you that she learned her lesson even though I never allowed her to wear the Ears."

    "Did the other two Rulers of the mes learn from you?" Lith asked. "Were they part of those you allowed to use the Ears?"

    "No, they were not." Menadion shook her head. "Bytra was an exceptional student. As you know, Tyris and Orion managed to craft de Weapons on their own without the aid of the Ears. It''s all a matter of talent.

    "I learned how to create de Weapons on my own and then I crafted the Ears to make my work easier. You three know how annoying and difficult it is."

    Lith, Solus, and Sark nodded in reply.

    "It''s far from impossible, but without Creation Magic, every piece would cost me a fortune." Sark nodded.

    "And it takes a lot of time!" Lith groaned. "I have yet to make one de Weapon right." "That''s because you are young." Menadion patted his shoulder. "You are barely twenty and are mostly self-taught. I learned from the best and had the chance to study both

    Valeron and his equipment.

    "Otherwise I would have never learned how to craft de Weapons before my death." "Question." Solus raised her hand. "Is this the Ears'' unlocked state or would have it worked this way even without the True Heir of Menadion protocol?"

    "It''s the unlocked state, Epphy." Ripha realized her blunder and raised her hands in apology. "Pharek could do the same with his Apprentice Ears. It''s a shame he never crafted a single de Weapon."

    "Why did he do that?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "Because Awakened can examine their surroundings with Invigoration even if you blind them and he didn''t want to risk revealing the existence of the Ears when he used it to examine his clients." Menadion replied.

    "Pharek wasn''t confident surviving against someone capable of using de Magic even when I was still alive. After my death, I can only guess his fears turned into paranoia and he gave up on de Magic!"

    Lith and Solus took their time getting ustomed to the Ears, asking for pointers whenever they found themselves slumped or discovered a new detail. Sark took her time as well, eating her own liver and grinding her teeth as she realized how valuable the Ears were to a Forgemaster.

    "There''s no rush, guys." Menadion said. "We can do a few trial Forgemasteringster. There is no teacher like experience. Now, let''s move to the Watchtower

    A quick Warp brought them to the top floor of the tower and the stone pedestal bearing the Ear''s shape.

    "Do the honors." Ripha instructed and Lithplied.

    As the Ears fit into the indentation, the pedestal grew and shapeshifted in the form of a throne. Energy cables connected the artifact with the throne which produced a small light pir reaching for the ceiling.

    "There is supposed to be a big mana crystal on the top of the tower as a focus point for your mana but the Watchtower works even without it." Menadion exined. "The range will be shorter, though."

    "Wait. Something like this?" Solus conjured a hologram of the Eye of Kolga.

    "Yes, but more functional and less tacky." Menadion nodded. "Kolga copied my tower to the best of her abilities but ended up needing quantity to make up for theck of quality

    of her work.

    "You see, Solus-"

    "You got it finally right!"

    "I''ve called you Epphy for the twenty-eight years after your birth and then for seven hundred years after my death." Menadion grunted. "Excuse me if it takes me a while to

    get used to the change. Can I continue?"

    "Please." Solus blushed a little.

    "As I was saying, the tower draws world energy from the ground but it''s not enough to tap into the geyser''s full power. What exceeds the underground floors'' capacity is supposed to be channeled along the structure of the tower and captured by the gemstone on its top, closing the circuit."

    "I see." Lith pondered. "It provides a second pathway for the world energy and ensures its capiry distribution to the upper floors regardless of their distance from the

    ground."

    "Correct. Now sit on the throne." Menadion handed him the Ears.

    "What am I supposed to do with this?" The moment he wore the artifact, the answer

    came to him by itself.

    The basic workings of the Watchtower were the same, just much more precise and

    urate.

    Thanks to the Ears, Lith could perceive everything surrounding the tower based on their mana flow. He could make out people, Divine Beasts, the other two towers, and even weapons and everything that grew below Sark''s pce from their shapes.

    Even though he couldn''t tell what the various people and animals looked like, Lith discerned their height, build, and power. He could only put a name to the energy signatures belonging to those he knew.

    "Remarkable" Lith said. "I can even get a glimpse of what kinds of hidden weapons the pce guards and servants carry but everything with cloaking runes is off-limits. I can''t tell how many or what kind of enchantments any artifact has.

    "Silly child, that''s because the Ears have a different purpose from the Eyes." Menadion tutted. "Imagine you are in a field you''ve never been before and the only thing you know

    is that there is a mana geyser.

    "Spread your senses on the ground level and ignore everything else."

    Lith did as instructed, finding the remnants of the natural treasures that had been already collected and those still growing tended by Sark''s servants.

    "Now forget the ground and send your will as deep in the sands as you can."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter ???????3336 Rights and Wrongs (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3336 Rights and Wrongs (Part 1)

    Lith nodded, discovering a rich underground vein of magical metals and a multi-branched crystal growth.

    s, they were being already exploited by Sark''s miners and Crystalsmiths.

    "I can''t really see any difference with the old Watch- wait a second." As Lith got used to using the Ears and directing its energy, he found more veins of metal and secondary crystalline growths that previously would have been eclipsed by the magical aura of the

    main veins.

    The secondary deposits were deeper in the sands and too far away to be discovered during the mining operations

    "Exactly." Menadion said. "Now, unless you want Sally to charge me with treason against the Blood Desert, use the Tower Warp to bring us to any old disused mine you know and repeat the process."

    Lith moved everyone to the Snake Tongue mountain range, inside the old Odi ruins where Dawn had built herb.

    He took his time scouring the ground far and wide until he found what Menadion was talking about.

    "There are some small veins." He said. "Too small to be worth mining and in a position where they won''t be found for at least a millennium. The little bastards are almost at the heart of the mountain.

    "Until they grow at least close to the underground tunnels, digging so deep would be too risky."

    "Kid, did you ever stop thinking about how I filled the Mine and the Crucible back in my day?" Menadion asked.

    "I assumed you did it the same way I do." Lith replied. "You bought silver and yellow crystals and waited for the tower to refine them into violet crystals and Adamant with the help of catalysts."

    "Yeah, right." Menadion scoffed. "In case you''ve forgotten, my fame exploded with the tower and I seeded in crafting it after Solus was born. I didn''t have a gracious grandma who recycled my creations every time I made a mistake.

    "How could I craft so much stuff in less than two decades if I had to wait years for each batch?"

    "Well, you..." Lith found no usible answer but one. "Don''t tell me that-"

    "That you stole magical resources too?" Sark jumped up from her chair in outrage. "Stealing is a big word." Ripha shrugged. "I''ve never taken anything from your country, Sally. You have my word. At least after you established it. I took what I needed from the free countries, the Empire, and the Kingdom without the need to steal anything.

    "I only took secondary veins that had gone undiscovered or were too dangerous to mine with conventional methods. Most of the time I just had to go to an abandoned mine and look for scraps. Like we are doing right now."

    The violet and white mana crystals were so small and spread apart that just the cost of reaching them greatly exceeded their value. Following Menadion''s instructions, however, Lith was able to collect them thanks to the tower''s ability to freely move through the ground.

    "See?" Menadion said while holding an unrefined white crystal the size of her fist. "This is nothing to a country but a nice contribution to a mage. Send them straight to the Mines, Lith. If you collect them in this form they can still grow."

    "I have to concede the point." Sark grunted in annoyance. "Even once the crystal vein grows close enough to the surface to be mined, there would be no point going so deep for so little treasure."

    "Can I collect natural treasures this way as well?" Lith asked.

    "Why did you find some?" Solus jumped with joy.

    "You wish. He replied. "All the damn metal coating the corridors has choked the life out of everything that was supposed to grow down here. I''m just curious."

    "Yes, but it requires much more work." Menadion replied. "First you must identify the type of natural resource you''ve found and how to pick them up without ruining their magical properties.

    "After that, you have to find a proper way to cultivate them. If you rip them off the ground and nt them in the Greenhouse, they rot. If you don''t know what you''re dealing with and have no time for research, it''s better to store them in the pocket dimension as they are"

    "Too bad." Lith sighed.

    He left behind enough crystals for Solus and Sark to practice with the Watchtower. After they were done, they both wanted to Tower Warp to another location, but forpletely different reasons.

    Solus wanted to check the mana geyser in Lutia and see if there was any undiscovered treasure she and Lith might have missed.

    "Aside from an elerated mana flow in the ground, there''s nothing here." She sighed. "Which is weird. It''s not weaker than the other geysers we''ve been to over the years yet there''s only a deep silver vein and weak crystals that- Mom!"

    "Guilty as charged." Menadion said. "The Council marked it as unproductive and I ensured it stayed so. Whenever I needed something quickly, I took it from here and I ended up cleaning out the natural reserves."

    "For once, Ripha is innocent, Solus." Sark said. "Remember that seven hundred years ago Faluel wasn''t even born. Your mother was the human ruler of the Distar region back

    then and many mana geysers, including this one, belonged to her."

    "I''m sorry, I should have thought about that." Solus bowed, but to Sark.

    "Don''t apologize, Featherling." The Overlord replied. "After learning about your mother''s numerous past misdeeds, it was a reasonable assumption."

    "I''m the aggrieved party, here." Menadion grunted. "I should be the one saying that."

    Sark ignored her and sat upon the stone throne. She moved the tower back to the Blood Desert, visiting the various spots she had sent Lith to train or rest during his stay

    as her guest.

    "It''s a remarkable tool, Ripha." The Overlord took note of what was where and how long it would take for the crystal and metal veins to be viable. "I''ve been wondering for a while whether to make myself a tower or not and this might be the final straw."

    "Don''t you mean, the final pitch?" Lith asked.

    "I know what I said, Featherling" Sark looked at Menadion and snorted. "Everything she did pisses me off."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Look, Sally, I swear I didn''t take anything from your country." The First Ruler of the mes joined her hands in apology. "You can read my mind if you don''t believe me. I

    know you can."

    "I sure can, but that''s not the problem." The Overlord stood up slowly, putting the Ears down before speaking again. "I believe you when you say you didn''t steal resources from me, Ripha. What angers me is the fact that you''ve been my apprentice and yearster

    I''ve be yours.

    "After our master-apprentice bond was dissolved, we''ve been friends for almost three hundred years and yet you hid from me every single valuable piece of knowledge you discovered thanks to my teachings.

    "Things that I''m learning only today and that could have saved me hundreds of years of failures and my people countless hardships."

    "I won''t apologize for that." Menadion stood tall. "We are both Forgemasters and those like us guard their secrets jealously. It''s how things have always been and will always be."

 Chapter 3337 Rights and Wrongs (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3337 Rights and Wrongs (Part 2)

    "Is it?" Sark countered. "Look at Lith. Compared to us he''s a novice. When he first came here, he had already learned the importance of putting cloaking runes on his creations.

    "Yet he gifted me one of his DoLorean, he shared with me his original blueprints, and, in time, he opened the tower to me. Look where we are now. It didn''t take us three hundred years to be this close."

    "I did what I thought was right." Menadion still looked the Guardian straight in the eyes but a hint of doubt had crept into her mind.

    "And we all paid the price." Sark shook her head and dropped the argument. "Thanks for the ride, Featherlings. We can go back home now."

    "We are not done yet." Menadion said as the Tower Warp brought them back to the pce. "I haven''t exined to you how to use the remaining pieces of the Set now that their limiters have been removed."

    "We are done for today." Lith replied. "I promised Solus a life, not a life of duty. She''s gotten out of that ursed Fringe for barely two days and we both deserve some serious

    rest.

    "Besides, I have still much to do and can''t risk getting slumped with work until I''ve tied up all loose ends."

    "What loose ends?" Solus asked.

    "Valtak''s funeral, the matter of the Apprentice Ears, exining to the Royals why I helped the Empire to invade Chl, and face the people I''ve hurt while amnesiac." Lith sighed.

    "Oh, right." Solus felt responsible for Lith''s trouble with the Kingdom and sad about everything else. "By the way, when we receive Mom''s lesson, we must call the others." "What others?" Menadion felt a knot forming in her stomach at the idea of sharing her secrets with someone other than her daughter.

    "Faluel and Tista." Solus replied. "Malyshka unlocked the Eyes for Ka and it was quite straightforward to use while the Hands and the Mouth have remained locked all along." "Right." Menadion nodded. "I forgot you''ve given the pieces of my Set to your friends. I have no problem with Lith''s sister since what we say would stay in the family but are you sure about Faluel?"

    "Mom, she''s our good friend and former mentor." Solus couldn''t believe her ears. "Also, aren''t you friends with Fyrwal? She too risked her life for me. How can you be so ungrateful?"

    "Answer her, Ripha." Sark clicked her tongue. "How do you do it?"

    "Natural talent and lots of practice." Menadion replied with a grunt. "So what''s next?"

    Lith checked hismunicator amulet again before answering.

    "Lunch for starters. Also, I''m a parent and my children deserve more than the crumbs of my time. Grandma, is Elysia old enough to eat baby food?"

    "In her human form? Sure. In her other forms, she can eat steak or metal coins, if you want. Why?" She replied.

    "Time for some changes, I guess." Lith said. "Follow me, Solus. Mom is going to need your help for Surin."

    He moved everyone to the tower''s kitchen, summoning Kam and Elina. "Since the babies are old enough to be weaned, I''ve thought of a way to make things easier for the girls to digest." He used abination of air and water magic to blend fresh meat and vegetables into soft, moist creams after cooking them.

    "Gods, this is one of the times I wish I had real magic." Elina sighed. "Back when you were a baby, dear, I had to boil everything for a long time before pounding the food into a mush with a mortar. You instead did it in a minute."

    "I know, Mom, but I''m sure that it tasted delicious thanks you your effort. Actually, Lith was more than sure. He remembered what Elina''s every meal tasted.

    "Thank you, dear." Elina gave him a hug. "But why have you brought me here? I can''t do it on my own."

    "True, but you have recipes or ideas from your experience that you can share. Maybe we can even try a few things you couldn''t do due to yourck of magic." Lith replied. Elina recognized it as an excuse to spend some time together in the kitchen and was delighted by it.

    "It''s a wonderful idea, dear." She put on an apron. "I''ll teach you how to prepare all the good food that made you and your siblings grow strong and healthy."

    "And in return, I''ll teach you how to make unhealthy delicious food." Lith filled arge frying pan with oil.

    Then he peeled a bunch of brown potatoes Elina had never seen before and cut them into long, slender bits with air magic before throwing them into the hot pan.

    "What is this stuff?" The thick oily smell made Elina wrinkle her nose.

    "They are called fries." Kam said with a guilty look on her face. "Lith hid them from me too until I was pregnant with Elysia and served them to me asfort food during my bad days."

    She and Solus were the only ones who had tasted fries before.

    "Really?" Elina frowned seeing Solus drooling at the fizzling oil. "Why did you never share them with the rest of the family, dear?"

    "As I said, it''s unhealthy food, Mom, and finding the right oil and potatoes was a hassle until Dad grew everything I needed in the Greenhouse. Also, I didn''t want you and Rena

    to be constantly pestered by the kids. This stuff is almost addictive.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Now, however, they are old enough to learn discipline and you have all the help you need." He handed the first three fries to Elina, Sark, and Menadion after salting them, making Solus and Kam stare in gluttony.

    "Gods, this is delicious." The three women said in unison.

    "Can I make it the Desert''s national food?" Sark asked while licking her fingertips.

    "You can, but the Desert produces neither potatoes nor vegetable oil. You can''t use animal fat or they taste horrendous." Lith replied.

    "Fine." Sark narrowed her eyes. "I''m still offended you hid these ''fries'' from me. Even while I was pregnant with Shargein."

    "Back then I had yet to find a potato variety that didn''t taste horrible, Grandma." Lith

    said. "But you are right. I should have shared them with you as soon as I perfected the recipe. Let me give you a double serving as an apology."

    "Everything is forgiven, Featherling." The Guardian ate with a voracious appetite that Solus could match but her body couldn''t handle.

    ''If I eat like that, I''ll end up as big as a Divine Beast.'' She inwardly sighed.

    Useless to say, the soft creams were a hit with the babies and the kids finished their serving of fries in a minute, asking for more.

    "Only if you behave." Lith replied, deaf to their begging. "The ingredients are rare and expensive. It will take me a while to collect them again and you''ll receive more only if your parents tell me you deserve it."

    Aran and Leria groaned and sighed, but there was no point arguing with an empty te.

    "After the ice cream, I foresee a new culinary shock spreading through the three great countries." Tyris said with a satisfied burp.

    "Are you going to share the recipe?" Leegaain asked.

    "There''s not much of a recipe. More like an ingredients list but I don''t see why not." Lith

    shrugged.

 Chapter 3338 Royal Scolding (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3338 Royal Scolding (Part 1)

    "By the way, Dad, I was thinking about taking a short vacation just with you and another with Mom. We never spend time together and you could use a change of scenery." Lith said.

    "Why split the family?" Raaz asked.

    "So we can do man stuff we enjoy without boring Mom out of her skull and vice versa." Lith replied.

    "Can Ie too?" Aran asked.

    "Sure, little guy. It will be me, you, Dad, and Trion." Lith said, making his older brother spit his food out in surprise.

    Thest thing he expected was to be invited.

    "What about me?" Leria pouted.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You cane if you want." Lith replied after throwing a nce at Raaz who nodded. "Why didn''t you invite me, Uncle Lith?" She stared at him with puppy eyes.

    "For fairness. I thought you wanted to take part in the vacation with Mom, which I know Aran won''t enjoy. Unless I''m wrong and you like touring cities and going shopping, little brother."

    "No way!" Aran pretended to fall asleep on the spot to make his point.

    "That''s boring!" Leria said in horror. "Why should I enjoy that?"

    "My bad, then." Lith chuckled.

    After lunch, Lith spent his time with Kam and the babies while Solus kept talking with her mother.

    "Mom, why don''t we invite Fyrwal and Tessa toe here?" She asked. "They always talk fondly about you and even though they are a bit creepy, they are good friends."

    "Sure." Menadionbed Solus'' hair with her fingers. "Not now, though. I want to keep you all for myself for a while."

    The First Ruler of the mes had many stories she wanted to tell her daughter, some of which very personal. Most of all, Ripha wanted to build a rtionship with Solus based on mutual respect.

    Something that would be considerably harder if her old friends shared more embarrassing anecdotes about her past with Solus.

    It was tea time in the Blood Desert and dawn in the Kingdom when Lith''s amulet started to blink.

    "Damn, I''ve jinxed myself. The rune belonged to King Meron and Lith couldn''t afford to ignore him.

    "Greetings, Your Majesty." Lith gave the hologram a polite bow. "To what do I owe this honor?"

    "It''s not an honor at all, Magus Verhen." Meron was sitting on the Royal throne, his right check resting against his closed fist. "Your amulet went back online two days ago yet not once have you felt the need to report the oue of your expedition or at least inform us you were still alive.

    "It''s a tant act of disrespect to the Crown that alone calls for censure and that without even considering how much your stunt at the border with Chl cost the Kingdom." Meron''s eyes narrowed.

    "You have stormed another country without permission, breaching the diplomatic treaties between the Kingdom and the free countries and creating a dangerous precedent thatpromises our borders.

    "On top of that, you have contributed to strengthening one of our fiercest rivals, tipping the power scale of Garlen against your people. I hope you have a good exnation and more to offer for the trouble you''ve caused than mere apologies.

    "The Crown went to great lengths to protect your reputation after you lost control over your Abomination side and went insane. We have rescued your victims and covered the costs to rebuild what you have destroyed.

    "You should have spared us a few minutes of your time for a call."

    "I''m grateful for everything the Crown has done for me, Your Majesty, but it has been just two days." Lith pointed out. "I suffered grievous wounds and even though I''m an Awakened, I needed time to rest and deal with the aftermath of the battle."

    "Already two days, you mean." The King''s tone was cold. "The consequences of what you have done to solve your personal matter will affect the entire Kingdom in the years toe. I expect to receive your report in person as soon as possible."

    "Just tell me when and I''lle to the Royal Pce" Lith replied.

    "Now would be perfect. I''ll inform the Guards of your arrival. Meron out."

    "Shot." Lith grumbled under the effects of the Guardians'' auto-correct. "It seems that the time to pay the piper hase earlier than I expected.

    "Do you want me toe with you?" Kam put the kids in the crib.

    "No. I''d rather keep you out of this as much as I can." Lith shook his head. "You weren''t there and there''s nothing relevant you can say. It would stress you and the baby for

    nothing"

    "Thank you." She rested her head on his chest for a second before letting him go. Then, Lith went to Solus'' room to set their story straight.

    "If the Royals have a contact inside the Awakened Council, they must have learned about the Fringe and that you offered the Ears in reward for my rescue. Solus pondered. "The news of the reappearance of one of the pieces of Mom''s Set is too juicy to stay secret for

    long.

    "Especially considering that the contact rune of the World Tree is gone."

    "I hadn''t thought of that." Lith inwardly cursed. "The wooden bastard was still a member of the Council and no one will believe me if I say that their death right after so many Dragons mobilized is just a coincidence."

    "Since we are cornered, I''d say that honesty is the only policy we can afford. At least, what passes for honesty in your head." She chuckled.

    Lith shrunk the tower into its stone ring form and had it slip on his finger.

    After that, reaching Valeron''s Royal Pce required them to take a single step through the diplomatic Warp Gate in the Kingdom''s embassy.

    Lith could almost hear the Royal Guards frown from under their full helms.

    The King had ordered them to escort Lith to the Throne Room upon his arrival but he was supposed toe alone.

    "I''m pleased to see you are alright, Great Mage Verhen, but that''s not enough to bend thew." Said one of the Guards. "What are the reasons for your visit?" "Supreme Magus Verhen put everything on the line for me." She replied. "Please, tell King Meron and Queen Sylpha that I formally request to take part in the audience as both witness and evidence of the events."

    Thatst part left the Royal Guard puzzled but he made noment. He just raised two fingers to the side of his helm to transmit the request and receive the answer.

    "One second, please." While one Guard kept the pce''s defensive system on stand-by the other checked Solus'' ID and life force. "All clear. Please, follow me."

    The Royal Guards stood by either side and apanied Lith and Solus straight to the

    Throne Room.

    Lith kept the pace, but he couldn''t help but stare at the wide columns made of gold-veined white marble and the gold iid in picture frames, statues, and even

    ceremonial weapons.

    ''I wonder how much all this useless pomp costs.'' It had been Valeron''s bloodline to pay

    for the furniture but Lith''s wallet hurt at the idea anyway.

    "Supreme Magus Lith Tiamat Verhen and Great Mage Solus Verhen." The room was empty, but the Royal Valet introduced them with his full, baritonal voice as if he had to drown out a crowd of chatting nobles during a g.

 Chapter 3339 Royal Scolding (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3339 Royal Scolding (Part 2)

    The Royals were sitting on their thrones, with one Royal Guard standing on each corner of the raised dais. Nothing but the echo of the Valet''s words apanied the sound of the massive doors closing.

    I thought a private audience without the rest of the Royal Court would have helped me keep myposure but it''s actually much more awkward. Solus swallowed a lump of saliva.

    Not only was she not used to confronting the pressure of the stare of the Royals, but everything around her reminded Solus of the Crown''s authority and power. The ancestors of King Meron seemed to look down on her from their portraits, their silver eyes cold and unwavering.

    "Come forward." Meron said.

    The silence as Lith and Solus advanced made the shuffle of their steps on the soft carpet sound loud like drumbeats. With nothing to distract her, Solus became self-conscious and tensed up like a bowstring.

    "Your Majesties." Lith''s voice as he gave the Royals a bow took Solus by surprise, startling her out of her reverie.

    "Your Majesties." She gave them an awkward curtsy, almost tripping on her own feet. "We are d to have you again in our Court, Great Mage Verhen." Sylpha weed Solus with a curt nod, ignoring Lith. "We are also d you are alright and that the Kingdom can still number you among its talents.

    "Yet we would have preferred you wouldn''t participate to this audience because you won''t like some of the things that are about to be said. Know that we have nothing against you. s, politics seldom care about our feelings, only results matter."

    "I understand, Your Majesty." Solus gave the Queen a second, shallower curtsy and stepped back.

    "Magus Verhen, I assume your wife has reported to you the details of the discussion we had with her a few days ago." King Meron leaned against his throne, straightening his back.

    "She did, Your Majesty." Lith nodded slightly.

    "First of all, allow me to express my regret for the events that followed." Meron said. "No one had ever been kidnapped from the Royal Pce before and changes to the security have already been implemented to make sure it won''t happen again."

    "Thanks for your concern, Your Majesty." Lith brought his right hand to his heart and gave the Royals a shallow bow.

    "That said, let me make the reasons for this summon and the displeasure of the Crown clear. We don''t me you for your actions after you lost your memory or for your

    disowned brother''s cowardly attack.

    "Yet they both left a stain on your reputation and caused the death of countless innocents in the city of Zeska. Neither of that can be overlooked and it will take a considerable effort to cate the public opinion.

    "Also, there is the matter of Great Mage Solus Verhen''s kidnapping. I can understand the pain of losing a family member. As a mage, I can empathize with the economic loss and the outrage from being robbed of your omni pocket.

    "Yet they aren''t worth opening the borders for our enemies and giving them ess to priceless resources. Nor are they worth giving away the Ears of Menadion. No offense, Great Mage Solus Verhen, but your life isn''t worth that much,

    "As for you, Supreme Magus Verhen, whatever is stored in your omni pocket could have been bought ten times over just by selling the Ears. Had you used them to increase your talents as a Forgemaster, I have no doubt you would have earned enough to put the Royal Treasury to shame."

    Meron took a long pause to let the weight of his words sink.

    "I have no doubt that, for undertaking such actions, you must have considered the risks and sacrifices worth their price. But that''s for you and you only. My question is: was it worth it for the Kingdom as well?"

    "I have to admit I had no idea my hunt would have brought me in front of Chl''s borders. Once I got there, all I could think of was my mission. There were no enemies or allies, only my goal and those who stood in my way. Lith replied, making his feelings on the matter clear.

    "I also have to admit that I didn''t expect to be beheaded and lose my memory. Had I not been more resilient than my enemy and even I expected, I would be dead. The Ears would be lost to the World Tree and the Kingdom would still face the threat of the Dead King.

    "All in all, the Empire may have gained something from my quest to save Great Mage Verhen but the Kingdom lost nothing. Quite the contrary, it kept its Supreme Magus, one Great Mage, and gained a Ruler of the mes."

    On cue with Lith''s words, his shadow rose from the ground and gained a third

    dimension.

    "Is this the jackass who calls himself King these days?" A petite feminine figure covered

    in what looked like a stone armor and wielding a hammer said.

    "Intruder!" The Royal Guards charged themselves and their polearms with Life Maelstrom, pointing their des at the armored figure.

    "This is an uneptable breach of security and etiquette!" Meron stood up from his throne. "Supreme Magus Verhen, if you wanted to bring along one of your Demons, you should have announced that before stepping inside the Throne Room."

    "Stand back, Your Majesty." The captain of the Royal Guards said. "For some reason, the protective arrays of the pce aren''t working."

    "Of course, they don''t work on me, runt. Watch this. Emergency override: Valeron, six, Sacfel, 4, Ripha!" Themand made no sense to the Royals nor was it recorded among the pce''s emergency codes but there was no denying its results.

    The Royal Guards had suddenly lost their immunity to the defensive arrays of the Throne Room and were forced to kneel like rebellious subjects despite the boost in strength the Royal Fortress armor granted them.

    Meron and Sylpha tried to restore their control over the power core of the pce, but even though it still carried their imprint, their ess had been temporarily superseded

    and revoked.

    "What''s the meaning of this treachery, Magus Verhen?" Sylpha conjured the Sword of Saefel in her hand while Meron wore the Armor. "Why is your Demon attacking us?"

    Her gaze was cold but she kept a polite tone and used Lith''s title.

    "The arrays could have affected us too and Verhen has yet to make a move.'' She thought. ''Whatever this is, there is no reason to make it worse.!

    "I have no idea." Lith replied with an apologetic bow. "As you know, Demons are not ves. I conjure them and then they do what they want. I summoned her only to answer

    your question."

    "And I attacked no one." Menadion took off her helm, revealing her visage. "I just.

    provided proof of my identity to skip all your questions and clear your doubts. I''m Ripha Menadion, First Ruler of the mes, Forge Magus of the Kingdom, and personal friend of Valeron and Saefel Griffon, the First Royals to sit on those thrones."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The Royals were taken aback, their eyes widening in surprise for more than one reason.

 Chapter 3340 Two Magi (Part 1)

    Chapter 3340 Two Magi (Part 1)

    ''Is it me or is there a clear resemnce between this new Demon and Solus Verhen?'' Meron asked via a mind link connecting the two pieces of the Saefel Set.

    ''I see it as well.'' Sylpha replied. ''But physical resemnce alone means nothing and we have never met Menadion. This could just be an impostor iming to be her. Before making any decision, we need some answers.''

    ''Don''t worry, I have a way.'' Meron tapped into the pce''s arrays he could still control to take a painting from the Valeron Hall.

    The paintings hung on the walls of the Throne Room depicted solely the current King and the feats he had aplished to be deemed worthy of the crown.

    Whenever a new descendant of the First King rose to the throne, the paintings of the old ruler were reced by those of the new one and stored in a private exhibit that the guests of the Royals would usually visit when given a tour of the pce.

    It was a way to disy the aplishments of the royal family and remind the arrogant nobles that no matter how high they rose, only those possessing royal blood could be appointed to the crown.

    Among the Royal Exhibits, only two were forbidden to ever be opened to the public. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The first belonged to Arthan Griffon, the Mad King.

    Even though he was the inventor of Body Sculpting and the first god of healing of the Kingdom, Arthan was an indelible stain on the honor of the Crown. Even his achievements were a mark of infamy.

    Without solid proof, everything he had done was considered the result of Forbidden Magic whose cost had been paid with the blood of countless innocents.

    The Royals visited the Mad King''s exhibit solely to not forget the mistakes of the past and learn humility. Valeron''s blood wasn''t enough to make one great and wearing the crown made no one infallible.

    On top of that, the Royals were afraid that, among those paintings, statues, and relics left by the Mad King, there might be hidden clues to his legacy. No one wanted another Arthan''s Madness and after Thrud''s return, security had been doubled.

    The second forbidden exhibit belonged to Valeron Griffon, First King and Founding Father of the Griffon Kingdom.

    Such choice baffled many since Valeron had been a wise ruler and an honorable warrior. Even centuries after his death, Valeron was still a figure everyone looked up to and strived to match his feats, not daring to presume they could be surpassed.

    Countless people across the Kingdom begged to see the relics belonging to the First King while famous artists offered to make replicas for free. Their goal was to increase their fame and allow people all over the country to bathe in Valeron''s glory.

    Yet the Royals denied even such requests, sharing only a few paintings of Valeron with the public and only those that depicted him alone or with one of the Founding Pirs of the Kingdom.

    The reason for this was a specific request left by the First King in his will. Most of Valeron''s friends were powerful Awakened, like Lochra Silverwing and Ripha Menadion.

    Were anyone to see the paintings depicting them, Valeron''s friends could be recognized and their identity as Awakened exposed. Also, the First King had done it to protect Tyris'' freedom.

    The paintings of the First Queen resembled her closely but no one would think they were the same person, even if they saw the Guardian standing right beside one of them.

    Her current alias as Constable Griffon and those she had used in the past were possible only because of Valeron''s wish and Tyris enforcing it.

    "Do you mind, taking your human appearance, Lady Menadion?" Meron asked once the painting Warped in his hand.

    "dly." A touch of Light Mastery hid her extra eyes and turned her jet skin to a pearly pink.

    "It''s definitely you." Sylpha moved her eyes from the painting to Menadion. "The height, the build, even the eye color match. Yet one question remains. Why all this?"

    The Queen weaved her hand at the wild arrays pushing everyone but the Royals and their guests into a kneeling position.

    "I''ll tell you why, kid." Menadion threw her Fury to Sylpha in a slow lob, to let her examine it. "Because I trusted Valeron, not his descendants. Had he decided to be the eternal ruler of the Kingdom, I would have never put safeguards while building the pce.

    "Yet knowing that one day he would step down from the throne, I took a few precautions. We both know that Tyris doesn''t intervene easily and that many people would have been tempted to capture me.

    "My tower, my skills as a Forgemaster, and the secret of Awakening made me the perfect target for any crowned idiot hungry for power who got ess to a painting like that one. History proved me right twice. First with Arthan and now with you."

    "No, he wasn''t that stupid." Menadion cut him short with a scoff. "Arthan knew that if he failed to capture me, best case scenario I would have told Tyris and Valeron of his attempt and blown his cover. Worst case scenario, I would have killed him like the mad dog he was.

    "If it makes you feel any better, runt, Valeron knew of my meddling with the pce arrays and after Arthan, he understood my reasons and left them in ce on purpose. He didn''t expect me to die just two decades after him and wanted to ensure my safety."

    "Did Arthan-" Meron tried to ask.

    "No, he wasn''t that stupid." Menadion cut him short with a scoff. "Arthan knew that if he failed to capture me, best case scenario I would have told Tyris and Valeron of his attempt and blown his cover. Worst case scenario, I would have killed him like the mad dog he was.

    "If it makes you feel any better, runt, Valeron knew of my meddling with the pce arrays and after Arthan, he understood my reasons and left them in ce on purpose. He didn''t expect me to die just two decades after him and wanted to ensure my safety."

    "I see." The King overlooked the First Ruler of the me''s disrespect because he indeed was but a petnt childpared to her.

    That and because Meron had everything to lose and nothing to gain from further alienating the sympathies of the legendary Forgemaster.

    "Yet this still doesn''t exin your presence here."

    "It''s a short story." Menadion repeated the same lies she had told the Eldritches and the Dragon patriarchs.

    Solus emitted a low-pitched whine every time Elphyn''s questionable moral conduct and her alleged pregnancy were mentioned.

    "This is amazing!" Queen Sylpha now looked at Solus like a colossal pile of powerful artifacts. "The Kingdom is d to have you back, Lady Menadion. May I ask you what your ns for the future are?"

    "My tower is lost but since I''m already here I think I''ll stay around for a while." Ripha replied. "Once I catch up with modern magical knowledge, I n to impart my Forgemastering techniques to Solus. After that, anything is possible."

    "Would you consider resuming your role as Royal Forgemaster?" King Meron asked. "The Crown would pay you handsomely and finance both your studies and research."

    ''Well done, dear.'' Sylpha said. ''Demons can''t move away from Lith so by securing Menadion we''d get them both to our beck and call.''

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Menadion''s reply made the Royals stifle a groan. "My mind is still scarred from death. I need time to recover and I doubt politics and power ys would do any good to my mental health.

    "Besides, one thing was working for my friend Valeron. Working for you would be another, especially since as I''ve already said, I don''t trust you."

 Chapter 3341 Two Magi (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3341 Two Magi (Part 2)

    "My judgment is still pending but so far, it''s far from good. Even from inside his feather, I could hear you when you called my bloodline expandable. That and you reproaching Lith for his noble actions inspire no loyalty from me."

    "I can see your point." Meron nodded, knowing when he was defeated. "I hope in the future you can see ours and reconsider your opinion of the current Crown. We may look cold and indifferent to you but we are only doing what''s best for the Kingdom.

    "s, in the great game of politics being noble or right is not enough to be a good ruler."

    "I know." Menadion snapped her fingers and released the Royal Guards. "That''s why I hold no grudge towards you but that doesn''t mean I like you. Can we go now?"

    "Of course, but before you leave, Lady Menadion, I have to ask you to take a picture with us and stand by my husband''s side." Sylpha asked.

    "Excuse you?" Ripha was bbergasted.

    "You can always say no." The Queen said with a sly smile. "But that would mean that you have toe back every time we need to convince a noble or the Royal Court of the merit of our decision of acquitting Supreme Magus Verhen of all charges."

    "Or you can endure a few pictures and a brief speech. Once we have undeniable proof of your return, we won''t have any need for you and Magus Verhen will avoid countless Court''s summons to exin his actions.

    "Sure, nobles will have the right to ask either of you for an audience but you''ll have the right to turn them down."

    "You had me at full acquittal. Menadion said. "Let''s get this over with."

    The Queen took hermunication amulet out and took several pictures of Menadion in her human form standing near Solus to prove both Ripha''s identity and her connection with the Verhens.

    Then, Sylpha gestured for Menadion to stand in front of the raised dais and between the two thrones before activating the broadcast array.

    "People of the Kingdom." Meron''s strong, confident voice bore no trace of his previous annoyance. "I bear good news. Our Supreme Magus is back with us and his loyalty to our country is beyond question."

    The projector moved from the King to Lith who gave the audience a deep bow.

    "The rumors you have heard are true. Magus Verhen did break the border with Chl but he didn''t do it to help the Gorgon Empire. Like a hero of legends, Magus Verhen defied the odds and humanws to rescue a friend in need.

    "Like a hero of legends. fate smiled upon him, giving Magus Verhen victory and a new Demon. After snatching his own brother and many heroes of the Kingdom from the jaws of death, Magus Verhen has brought back a legend of old.

    "It''s my honor and pleasure to announce the return among us of Ripha Menadion, Forge Magus, builder of the six great academies, and personal friend of the First King." The hologram depicted Menadion''s face in a close-up before zooming out to her full figure. She brought her right hand above her heart and knelt down, giving an impression of humble grace.

    The entire Kingdom went into an uproar as people pointed at Menadion and countless applications to move to Lutia flooded the local town hall. Even the most quarrelsome members of the Court who had been talking over the broadcast until a moment ago fell silent in disbelief.

    "Son of a bitch!" Jirni mmed her fist on the armrest of her chair, smashing it into bits. "He should have told me before going to the Royal Court."

    "Calm down, dear." Orion said. "Think of our baby girl,"

    "Dad told you about Ripha, Mom, and so did we." Friya handed her mother a chamomile tea. "You have no reason to be angry."

    "No reason?" Jirni looked at Friya like she was insane. "Now buying thend and permits to build our country house in Lutia will cost us a fortune! Every poser and two-bit noble are going to fight tooth and nail to get a spot near two Magi." Meanwhile, in the capital of the Kingdom, Meron patted Menadion on the left. shoulder, the right, and then on the head with the t side of the Saefel Sword to restore her noble and Magus titles.

    "Rise, Forge Magus Menadion." The King offered her his hand. "It''s said that when two Magi appear at the same time, their country of origin is bound to experience a golden age. I hope the Forge and Supreme Magus will prove the wisdom of the ancients true."

    The ceremony ended with Lith and Ripha shaking hands while King Meron ced his hand on top of theirs.

    A snap of Sylpha''s fingers ended the transmission.

    "You can go now." Meron said. "If I may, Lady Menadion, you are much shorter than I imagined you."

    "I''m tall for my age." Ripha raised an eyebrow in annoyance.

    "One thousand years?" The King was bbergasted. "I''m sorry, but no one grows past sixteen, let alone after death."

    "I meant my era!" Menadion blushed in embarrassment. "I was born before the Kingdom was established. There wasn''t much food back then and the average height was much lower than today!"

    "I see. I apologize for my rudeness." He said.

    ''Solus is even shorter than her and was born under Sark''s patronage. I bet malnutrition has nothing to do with the two of them being that short but there''s no point arguing. Meron actually thought.

    "Please, ept our apologies as well, Forge Magus." The Royal Guards bowed to Menadion. "We hadn''t recognized you and meant no disrespect. It''s an honor to stand in your presence!"

    "You were just doing your job." Ripha shook the hands offered to her. "The pleasure is all mine."

    On the way back, many servants, nobles, and diplomats couldn''t take their eyes off Menadion, ending up banging their heads against something or someone when they

    gave her a bow.

    "That was fun." She chuckled after three nobles fell to the ground at the same time while cursing each other.

    "Also, easier than I expected." Solus said as they crossed over to the Blood Desert and the Warp Gate closed behind them. "The Royals forgave you without even trying to get

    you to do some jobs for them."

    "What was the alternative?" Lith snorted. "Losing two Magi in a single swoop? Had they threatened to charge me with anything, I would have just announced my moving

    to the Empire"

    "Would you really do it?" Solus asked.

    "Uprooting our family? Not if I can avoid it, but I won''t let anyone treat me like a dog." Lith replied. "I may have helped the Empire unwittingly but I didn''t damage the Kingdom. I feel sorry for the people of Zeska, but it''s not my fault if Meln is insane."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Wee back, dear." Elina checked Lith''s arms and chest for wounds and his face for any sign of malnutrition. "I''m so proud of you. Everything went great. At this rate, Lutia will soon develop into one of the crown jewels of the Kingdom."

    "I can''t believe it." Menadion said.

    "Why not?" Elina tilted her head in confusion while checking up on Solus next.

 Chapter 3342 Two Strangers (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3342 Two Strangers (Part 1)

    "You are very famous, Ripha." Elina said. "I have yet to meet a Forgemaster who doesn''t daydream about meeting you and talk about their work."

    "That I can believe." Menadion replied. "I meant that even though I''ve seen you do it countless times while I was a wandering soul, I still find it unbelievable that you are checking Lith for injuries and starvation.

    "He''s a Divine Beast and we ate less than two hours ago!"

    "So what? He is my baby." Elina grabbed Lith''s face and peppered his forehead with kisses.

    "Mom! Please, stop!" Lith whined as the Phoenixes standing guard to the Warp Gate covered their mouths with their hands to stifle aughter.

    "I''m sorry. It''s just that you are my miracle baby and I''m happy for yourtest sess." Elina said with a beaming smile that could light a city for years.

    As the guards snorted harder at the "baby" part, Lith could only grin and bear with it.

    ''I hate it when Mom does that but at the same time I don''t want to spoil her good mood.'' He inwardly groaned.

    "How are you feeling, Solus?" Elina asked. "Do you need to get back to the tower?" "I''m fine, Mom. I was away only for a short while and Lith was with me. The capital is also built over a mana geyser so I barely consumed any energy."

    "That''s good to know." Elina took their arms and walked with the pride of a mother hen parading her chicks.

    ''Damn,pared to your mother I feel like a heartless monster.'' Menadion said via a mind link.

    ''Wee to the club! Lith replied.

    "Gods-dammit, Lith, you could have warned me." Senton said. "You''ve made my father cry!"

    "Grandpa Zekell?" Leria asked with a worried look on her little face, fearing that after Valtak something bad would befall another of her grandfathers. "Why is he crying?" "What she asked." Lith nodded.

    "I''ll let you hear it from his own voice." Senton pressed a button on hismunicator, reying part of the conversation.

    "How could he do that to me?" Zekell said amid sobs. "I could have made a fortune buying unusednd and selling it for dozens of times its original price to nobles. Now it''s toote and the market is going crazy"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Oh, it''s about money" Leria sighed in relief.

    "Why are you sighing in relief?" Senton asked.

    "Because Grandpa Zekell told me that it doesn''t count." Leria smiled. "He always cries about money. With the big clients to make them pay more, with the suppliers to pay them less..."

    As she counted on her fingers, Senton couldn''t help but find his daughter adorable and swear that he would have a talk with his father about what not to teach the children.

    "I''m sorry, I have to take this." Lith walked away and activated a Hush Zone before opening the channel with Count Jadon Lark and Countess Kelya Lark.

    "Lith, you should have contacted us the moment the Royals summoned you." They both seemed angry, which was unusual since, like theirte father, they had been Lith''s patrons for over a decade. "My sister and I had every right to know it before the public announcement."

    "I''m starting to sense a pattern here." Lith sighed. "Jadon, Kelya, you are the rulers of the entire Lustria County. What need do you have to specte on your ownnd? You own it!"

    "Not that, you dumbest genius alive!" Kelya cursed like a sailor. "He means about Menadion living with you. As you said, we own thend but we are also the ones who are being buried in applications and business proposals.

    "Nobles can''t change their residence to another noble''s territory without their consent. We are understaffed and unprepared to deal with this kind of paperwork. Not to mention that we have to walk on eggshells while we try to understand who we can and can''t afford to offend."

    "What about the dear old switcharoo?" Lith replied. "Give the main plot ofnd to Brinja Distar as a gift and then im you can''t choose her neighbors without her permission. This way the other nobles will pester her instead of you."

    "I take the dumbest part back. You are a genius." Kelya said.

    "Thanks, but I''ll be a dead one if Brinja suspects this is my idea." Lith pointed out. "Leave me out of this."

    "We will. Unless we need a scapegoat. Jadon out."

    "Children of a-" Lith cursed.

    Lith spent the rest of the afternoon with Kam and the babies while Solus listened to Menadion''s, Lochra''s, and Baba Yaga''s stories about the past. If before the two white cores only said good things about Menadion, now that she was back, they were happy to take her down a peg or two.

    "When will you stop embarrassing me and start teaching me modern magic?" Ripha

    grunted.

    "Whenever you want." Lochra shrugged. "By the way, since we are just goofing off, why don''t we invite Fyrwal and Tessa to join us?"

    "Thanks, Lochra, but I was joking." Menadion said. "I won''t repeat the same mistakes of the past. Ep- Soluses first. I will start working once she has no time for me!"

    "Don''t be silly, Mom, I''ll always have time for you." Solus hugged Menadion who returned the embrace. "Let''s pick Fyrwal and Tessa up. I want you to see our moonb."

    "I still can''t believe you can actually move off." Lochra said. "Can Ie too?" "Of course you can." Solus nodded. "Why do you find it so hard to believe?" "Because I tried getting on the moon on my own in the past, Solus." Silverwing replied. "It''s then that I realized that Mogar seems still only because we''re standing on it.

    "The moment I left the atmosphere, I saw Mogar moving away so fast that I almost got stranded in space. Remember that without the constant stream of world energy feeding my white core, I''m not much different from a normal Awakened.

    "That was the only time in over one thousand years that I got this close to dying." Lochra shuddered at the memory.

    Solus nodded and contacted Lith via their mind link.

    ''I want to bring Mom to the moon but she can''t get far from you. Can you pleasee

    along?"

    ''Sure. Since we are at it, I''ll bring a few people of my own, if you don''t mind.''Lith

    replied.

    ''Our territory is big enough for everyone. Solus chuckled. I''ll wait for you at the

    tower.''

    Lith brought Kam, the babies, and the rest of his family.

    No matter how many times they went to the moon, its silvery grasnds and looking at the emerald and blue sphere of Mogar in the sky was always a unique experience.

    "By the gods!" Ripha, Silverwing, Tessa, and Fyrwal said in unison.

    Menadion had already been there as a soul but only now that she had a body could she appreciate the pure, vibrant world energy all around her and feel the caress of the tall

    grass on her hands.

    Only now that her mind wasn''t gued by rage and regret any longer could she truly see the starry vault above her head and appreciate its beauty.

 Chapter 3343 Two Strangers (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3343 Two Strangers (Part 2)

    Mogar, in particr, looked like a precious gem polished by an immortal hand. The brilliant blue of its oceans and the deep green of its forest seemed to fade into each other, like an emerald grown inside a sapphire.

    Massive clouds and mountain ranges visible from the moon were the only imperfections, but they added to Mogar''s charm instead of diminishing it.

    The sight of her home made Menadion feel small and her worries insignificant.

    If not for the tether with Lith''s Void Sigil, the peace and awe Ripha experienced would have freed her from the shackles binding her to the world of the living.

    "Thank you.'' Menadion said via the ck chain.

    For what?''Lith asked in confusion as he unleashed the babies on a bush of wildflowers.

    ''For everything.''Ripha replied while staring at the. ''Do you have a few minutes to spare for meter? I would like to clear the air between us. As you said, we don''t have to like each other but at least we can be civil.

    ''Sure. What about after dinner?''

    ''It would be perfect.''

    ***

    After dinner, Sark''s pce, inside Lith''s living quarters.

    "I''m not going to lie, the hot spring was my favorite part of being Sally''s apprentice" Menadion said while grazing the surface of the bubbling water with her fingers.

    "Really? Why?" Lith asked while setting the chairs for them and a table in between.

    ''A bit of physical distance easily trantes into emotional distance. Since we don''t get along much, it''s better to have a physical boundary in case emotions run high.'' He thought.

    "Are you kidding me? Sure, I could conjure and heat water, I could keep the room warm, but it was all on me. More stress, more focus, and more fatigue. After a hard day at work, there''s nothing better than a hot bath while you don''t have to worry about anything"

    "It sure is nice." Lith sighed, thinking back at the times when he was the only source of hot water for his family during winter, "But I disagree on it being the best. This is. He handed her a cup of hot chocte and a te of oven-fresh chocte chip cookies.

    "I know these things." Ripha took deep breaths to appreciate the sweet smells. "They made Solus gain a lot of weight."

    "Guilty as charged." Lith shrugged. "Also, it''s easy to judge when you have never tried them."

    "Delicious." Menadion took a sip of the hot chocte and a bite of a cookie. "But it''s nothing special."

    "Try dipping the cookie." Lith said.

    Menadion followed his advice and couldn''t find the focus to speak again until the te was cleared of cookies and her cup empty.

    "I owe Epphy an apology." She burped. "Resisting this stuff is harder than it looks. Yet I doubt that''s the reason you offered me such a delicious treat."

    "It was a peace offering." Lith nodded. "I don''t know how much you know about me, but I''m certain from your point of view I''m a horrible man and through the years you''vee to resent me. I''d like to work on our issues for Solus'' sake!"

    "Me too!" Menadion replied. "Let''s start with a simple question. What are you exactly? I know your real name and a few details about your real life but what you are and how you got on Mogar elude me."

    "I''m just like you." He replied. "A vengeful spirit who has returned among the living. The only differences between you and me are that I wasn''t born on Mogar and I didn''t defy death. I embraced her and she rejected me.

    "Also, don''t think that Derek McCoy is my real name and his life is my real life. I am Lith Verhen as much as I was Derek McCoy and this life means to me more than my previous one ever will."

    "Previous life?" Menadion cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. "Aren''t you an alien or something?"

    "Or something" Lith offered her his hand, the green tendril of a mind link extending from it.

    Menadion extended a tendril of her own, refusing him direct ess to her mind and taking only the information carried by the mind link.

    The visions of Earth made her seven eyes go wide in shock as she witnessed the daily life on a world so simr yet so different from Mogar. Derek''s life as a kid made her grit her teeth in hatred.

    She despised parents who abused their children so much that she tried to strangle the people in her visions.

    Ezio''s death shocked her but also made her lips curl in a satisfied smile, as if she had somehow yed a part in it. Yet the smile faded when she remembered she was looking at it from the eyes of a child and realized the impact it might have on him.

    Carl''s death, Derek''s revenge, and his final moments turned her expression nk, her eyes staring into the void.

    It all hit too close to home for a Demon who had returned from death for less than three days. Carl and Elphyn were one and the same in Menadion''s eyes. She hated Chris Wainright as much as she hated the old Bytra.

    The fury in her gut burned so fiercely that she expected it to bore a hole in her stomach.

    Derek''s death filled her not with sadness, butpassion.

    ''I would have done the same.'' She thought. ''Had I been smart enough not to get killed by Bytra, had Epphy not survived her injuries, victory would have been a hollow satisfaction. I too would have-''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The images of the bright light after the gunshot froze Ripha''s mind. The memories of the alien ship, instead, made her rub her eyes, refusing to believe what she was seeing. Death came again, less swift and much more painful.

    Only then did Lith''s memories of his rebirth on Mogare. Menadion had just the time to recognize a younger Elina and thete Nana when the mind link was cut off.

    "You know the rest. More or less. Lith took a sip of his hot chocte while Ripha tried to make sense of what she had just learned.

    She stared at him for a while, surprised by his honesty as much as by his revtions. They were two strangers, bound solely by their love for Solus and a ck chain yet Lith had opened up to her more than with most people in his life

    To gain her trust, he had shown Menadion the scars that no breathing technique

    could heal.

    "How old are you exactly?" It was a silly question but she still felt the need to ask.

    "Forty-seven next winter." Lith replied.

    "You are still a runt!" Menadion blurted out in surprise.

    "That''s what shocks you?"

    "Among many things about you, yes." Ripha tormented her chin. "I thought you were much older. Some kind of Lich-like parasite. It was the most likely exnation for your cruel behavior as a kid and your insane growth speed as a mage."

    "I''ll take that as apliment." He gave her a nod. "I''m not a genius but I''m not stupid

    either.

 Chapter 3344 Seeds of Progress (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3344 Seeds of Progress (Part 1)

    "It took me only a bit of practice to understand that magic follows thews of physics." Lith said. "Laws I know and exploited to see farther than my peers.

    "Also, Solus'' memory loss was not as problematic as you might think. She had no preconceptions to disregard or habits to resist. With her wits and my knowledge, we reached further than any mage our age, even Awakened.

    "Sure, we had no clue about high tier magic and specializations, but the White Griffon academy filled those gaps for us." Lith shrugged.

    Menadion needed a few minutes to put together those words with the visions she had just witnessed and what she had learned over the years as a fly on the wall.

    "Let me be clear." She said once she was done drawing her conclusions. "I still don''t like you. I think you have treated my daughter and your parents horribly. You have stomped on Epphy-"

    "Solus." He corrected her.

    "Solus'' feelings and deceived your parents more times than I can count. The good things you have done for them don''t erase all the bad things you have done for everyone else.

    "That said, now I respect you. You''ve gone through things that would have broken me and others that did break me. I''m not a hypocrite. I know that in your shoes I would have done the same if not worse because that''s what I did after Threin and Epphy died."

    "I know." Lith nodded. He was aware of Menadion''s attempts to resurrect her husband and preserve her daughter''s life, even if it meant using Forbidden Magic.

    "I don''t know whether tough or cry. My daughter deserved someone better, yet she survived only because she ended up in the hands of someone as bad as I am" Ripha looked him straight in the eyes. "Does Kam know?"

    "Yes. Everything." Lith replied.

    "Lucky bastard." She grumbled.

    "I know that too." Lith refilled the cups and the te. "Is there anything else you want to ask or tell me?"

    "I... no. Or rather, yes. Your parents. Do Elina and Raaz know you are not their son? That you are a vengeful spirit possessing a corpse?" Menadion asked.

    "No, they don''t." A cold glint shed behind Lith''s eyes. "And they don''t need to. I''ve wondered for a long time if I should tell them or not. I saw myself as some kind of monster the same way you see me. Then, I realized I was wrong, just like you are now." "Care to borate?" Menadion had vet to digest the many revtions she had

    received. Her mind was too messy to be certain of anything.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I didn''t kill the baby, Strata. He was dead before I arrived so I''m not possessing anything. This body is mine and it''s born of Elina''s and Raaz''s flesh and blood. They know me from the day I was reborn here.

    "They named me Lith after my ''miraculous'' resurrection. They raised me with love and affection. I''m the only Lith they know and they are the only mother and father I''ve ever had. Knowing from where my soules would change nothing.

    "They are my parents and I''m their son." The finality in Lith''s tone brooked no argument nor did Menadion feel the need to.

    "Keep up like this and sooner orter I might like you, kid." She raised her mug to it. "I''ve had enough answers for one night. My head is killing me. Is there anything you want to ask me? Besides the obvious lessons, of course."

    "Actually, yes." Lith replied. "I''ve chosen this ce for our talk because I didn''t want Solus to overhear us in case we argued but right now I can use your opinion on a matter that''s been bugging me for a while.

    "What do I do with the Apprentice Ears?" He asked. "Based on the wording of my promise, it''s yours. You saved Solus and if you want to keep the artifact, I will respect your decision."

    "Why don''t you want Solus to listen to this?"

    "Because she would be torn between taking away the prize you deserve and the guilt from Valtak''s death." Lith replied. "She feels responsible for his demise and wants topensate his family.

    "At the same time, Solus loves you deeply. After everything you have sacrificed for her, even asking your opinion about who should receive the Ears would make her feel like she''s guilting you into giving up on your prize.

    "This way, we can settle the matter between us without burdening her conscience"

    "You are the one who spent seventeen years in her head. I''ll trust your judgment on that." Menadion nodded. "What would you have done if I wasn''t involved in the matter?"

    "I would have given the Ears to Valtak''s Brood." Lith replied. "Tezka and the others helped me greatly, but without Valtak''s sacrifice there would have been no victory. I would have kept the Ears for myself and lost Solus forever.

    "On top of that, the Organization already has the Absolution and the Maw. I''m pretty sure that, by studying Nandi''s powers, Bytra is very close to making her version of the Hands. It makes three pieces of the Set out of five.

    "Don''t get me wrong. I trust Zoreth and Bytra but I can''t say the same about the others, Tezka included. I''m afraid of what the Eldritches might do if they got their

    hands on a fourth niaca ne wall

    "To make matters worse, the Ears is the mostbat-oriented piece of the Set and the Eldritch-monster hybrids are already very dangerous. Their only w is their inability to feel the world energy except that as food.

    "The Ears would more than make up for that. If the Eldritch-monster hybrids were to get their hands on the Ears, nothing but the strongest Guardians could stand a chance against the Organization."

    "I agree." Ripha nodded. "As for your question, Lith, the answer is a bit long. You see, after I finished building the tower, I didn''t destroy the Set. I continued working on it, improving on it as I did with the tower.

    "I never considered giving the Apprentice Set to Solus, and not because she would one day inherit the tower or because I could lend her the Master Set at any time. My n was to split the Apprentice Set and give its pieces away from the start.

    "As you have learned during your studies, magic progresses in a non-linear way. It stagnated for millennia, even inside the Awakenedmunity. Cursed objects like Windfell or the Golden Griffon were created out of the presumption that magic had

    peaked.

    "That a few improvements would have been possible in the future, but no more significant branches or new applications of magic would be discovered. Even Awakened bloodlines with ess to true magic and most specializations suffered the same fate.

    "The constant power struggles between families belonging to the same race kept them from sharing any revolutionary development and groundbreaking theory. A powerful bloodline had to wait for a genius to have a good idea and then for another capable of putting it into practice.

    "Problems that could have been solved in mere years dragged on for centuries, limiting the development of magic and restricting its diffusion for even longer!"

 Chapter 3345 Seeds of Progress (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3345 Seeds of Progress (Part 2)

    "Why do you think many mages learned Light Mastery over the millennia yet none of them bothered organizing it in a manner anyone could learn like Dawn did?

    "And don''t get me started about the rivalries between Awakened belonging to different races. It took Lochra''s legacy to give fake mages the edges they needed to finally broaden their horizons and get one step closer to true magic.

    "It''s because of my runes that artifacts considered impossible to craft without Forbidden Magic became essible to the Council and fake mages managed to develop more than shy toys.

    "Once the wheel of progress started to spin, stagnation wouldst only until the second Magus and the second Ruler of the mes appeared. In the short three hundred years of my existence, there have been four Rulers of the mes and many more Magi.

    "The seeds Ripha and I nted allowed fake magic to improve by leaps and bounds. In turn, the explosive progress of fake mages forced the Council to put aside their differences and start working together.

    "I preserved and spread the pieces of the Set because I wanted them to act as catalysts for the development of magic. Thanks to their help, my apprentices were supposed to build a legacy of their own and share it with the rest of Mogar like I did.

    "Instead, those morons ended up dead due to their arrogance or hid like rats, afraid they would end up dead like me. Bottom line, I don''t need the Ears and make no im on it. Feel free to give the Ears to the Fire Dragons if that''s what you want.

    "My hope is that they''llbine it with their mastery over Origin mes to craft marvels of magic but my cynicism tells me they''ll tear each other apart over it." Menadion sighed.

    "About Origin mes, is there any floor of the tower that can make them or Life Maelstrom? I''m okay even with Elemental Flow." Lith said.

    "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but not even I could replicate the powers of the Guardians." Ripha replied. "I had no opportunity to study their mana organs and even if I did, crafting something that can mimic a bloodline ability is beyond me.

    "I''m not a Healer like Baba Yaga. Also, consider that the Spirit Crystal necessary to emte a life force would make the artifact useless to anyone but me. Yaga made Dusk exactly because he was sentient and could share his powers by bonding with a host."

    "So it''s a Horseman-level ofplexity? Even for a single bloodline ability?" Lith asked.

    "No, for a single powerful bloodline ability." Menadion said. "There''s a reason Yaga

    gave Dusk only three powers that all work by adding a spark of life force to the world energy."

    "I see. Thanks for your advice, Ripha. Now I know what I have to do."

    The following day, Lith had Sark undo his imprint over the pieces of the Apprentice Set and returned them to their rightful owner.

    "Thanks, Scourge. Ka the Wight said. "I was starting to get worried saving Solus might take weeks."

    "Mom, Uncle d told you about the sess of the mission back when he got back home and every day after that when you pestered him about the Eyes!" Nyka the Vampire, Ka''s daughter said. "How can you forget about Solus and remember about a trinket?"

    "That''s not hard, dear." The wannabe Lich answered the rhetorical question with the soft, gentle tone of an adult talking to a na?ve child. "I miss the Eyes every time I sit down to work whereas I don''t miss Solus unless I''m the mood for a social call.

    "Don''t get me wrong, she''s a lovely young woman and your dearest friend, but her contribution to my research amounts to nothing."

    "Mom! How can you be so rude? Solus is standing right there!" Nyka pointed at her friend who was chuckling.

    "Rude? Me?" Ka was bbergasted. "I''m not the one who called a masterpiece of magic ''trinket'' right in front of its creator." The Wight pointed at Ripha. "Please, forgive my daughter, Master Menadion. She''s an airhead but she has a big heart." "You are thest creature on Mogar who can call anyone an airhead, Mom! You-" "Bye!" Lith said.

    Mother and daughter kept quarrelling for a few more minutes before realizing the tower was gone.

    "There was no rush to bring me back the Hands, Lith." Faluel took the artifact with both hands, giving a deep bow to Menadion. "How are you doing, Solus? It''s nice to see you again."

    "I''m great, thank you for asking." She chuckled.

    "What''s so funny? Did I say something wrong?" The Hydra was baffled.

    "Quite the contrary." Lith replied. "We just returned from Lightkeep and let''s just say that Ka''s wee was weird. To say the least."

    "I can imagine." Faluel shook her head. "I''m sorry for not taking part in the rescue mission, Solus, but without the Hands and a Royal Fortress armor, I would have been a burden to everyone."

    "Don''t worry about it." Solus replied. "Now let me introduce you to my mother. Professor Faluel, this is Ripha Menadion. Mom, this is Faluel the Hydra. She taught us everything we needed about true and Spirit Magic."

    "I know, dear. I was there." Ripha said. "Thank you for everything you have done for Epphy-"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Solus!"

    "Solus, Faluel. Very few Awakened I knew back in the day would have trusted a living legacy and even fewer would have respected her privacy. I also appreciated your lessons, especially those about Forgemastering. Filly must be proud of you."

    "Thank you, Master Menadion. You are too kind." Faluel had a hard time looking her idol in the eyes.

    "Just call me Ripha, dear." Menadion replied. "Once we move back to Lutia, we are going to be neighbours."

    "Thank you, Master- I mean, Ripha. I know only the heirs of your chosen apprentices are supposed to learn the secret of the Hands and that my request is beyond shameless since we have just met, but can you please unlock it for me?"

    "Of course. Kolga is dead and her bloodline has proven to be unworthy of my legacy. I was there when Lith and Solus retrieved the Hands. The sight of the horrors crafted with my unwitting help still haunts me.

    "Lith and Solus chose the right person to wield the Hands and I''m not saying this just because you are Filly''s daughter. You are a great Forgemaster and an even better person, Faluel."

    Ripha took the Hands from Faluel, tapping the right glove''s blue gem and then the left glove''s ck gem, alternating between the gauntlets until she had touched once all

    twelve gemstones.

    They didn''t light up or made a sound when touched, making it impossible to find the code by chance. Lastly, Menadion wore the Hands and mmed its palms together. Only then did a visible change ur.

    The elemental crystals started to burn with power and golden mana pathways became visible, connecting the gemstones on the gloves'' fingertips with each other and the

    overedge of the cuffs.

    A click apanied the release of thin des from the back of the Hands that carried

    the darkness crystals.

 Chapter 3346 Real Change (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3346 Real Change (Part 1)

    "There you go." Menadion gave the artifact back to Faluel who looked at it in confusion. "To reseal the Hands you just need a telepathicmand but to remove the lock again you always have to input the code manually. Did you memorize the sequence?"

    "Not a chance. I''m still struggling to ept I''m standing in front of the legendary Ripha Menadion. All I could think of is how nimble your fingers are." Faluel scratched her head in embarrassment. "Do you mind writing the code down for me?"

    "Wow, Mom, you have a fan." Solus chuckled. "Once you are done writing the sequence of gems, add a signed dedication at the bottom."

    "I''m actually against writing down this kind of things." Menadion said while jotting the code down on a piece of paper. "Promise me to keep this safe and that you will burn it as soon as you memorize the code."

    "I will. Thank you." Faluel sniffled as she read the dedication:

    "To Faluel the Hydra, a precious friend and wonderful teacher. Ripha Menadion."

    "It''s too soon to thank her." Solus said. "She''s going to teach us how to use the unlocked pieces of the Menadion Set and when I say us, I don''t mean just Lith and me."

    "Really?" Faluel stored the note in her dimensional amulet before her tears smudged the ink.

    "Yes, dear." Menadion nodded. "Even though I didn''t choose you and Tista, Solus did. I''ve known you two for years and I trust my daughter''s judgment. Now you are the rightful owners of your respective pieces of the Set.

    "There is no point making you waste time reinventing the wheel or risking the secrets of my legacy being lost to time forever."

    Her words moved Faluel, filling her heart with admiration for the wisdom and generosity of the First Ruler of the mes.

    "My mother is forgetting to say that she didn''te to this decision from the goodness of her heart." Solus clicked her tongue. "We convinced her to do it only after exining to her how much you and Tista mean to us."

    "Epphy, stop embarrassing me in front of your friend!" Menadion blushed up to her ears. "I was just trying to make a good impression on Faluel"

    "First, my name is Solus. Second, you keep saying you want to fix your past mistakes, Mom. You can start by being honest with those closest to you. If you keep lying, I will never understand if you really have changed or are just pretending to have changed." "Fair enough." Menadion sighed. "What Solus said is true, Faluel. I used to keep secrets

    even from my dearest friends and ended up paying the price for it. Bad habits die hard but I''m trying to be better.

    "Please, don''t take it personally. It''s not that I don''t trust you. I''m used to not trusting anyone. With my tower, my talent, and the pieces of my Set, I didn''t want to give people even more reasons to covet what was mine by telling them how powerful they really are."

    "Don''t worry, Ripha. My mother told me what kind of person you were... I mean, are and I see your point. Besides, I''m used to dealing with jerks with trust issues. Isn''t that right, Lith?"

    "Guilty as charged." Lith shrugged. "In my defense, history proved Ripha right and I''m still alive to this day only because no one knows the exact limit of my abilities. Myself included."

    "When can Ie to the Desert for my lesson on the Hands?" Faluel asked.

    "Depends. If Tista is avable, we might as well do it now." Lith replied. "Unless you got a priormitment."

    "Even if my schedule were full, I''d empty it for Ripha Menadion." The Hydra wore the Hands, trying and failing to detect any significant change in its enchantments.

    "One moment." Lith contacted his sister who was still in the Desert. "It''s okay. Tista is waiting for us."

    One Steps brought them to the tower and one Tower Warp brought them back to Sark''s pce.

    "Thanks, Lith." Tista took the Mouth from his hands, sighing as she brushed her fingers over its surface. "I only wish I was stronger and that we found a way to unlock all the pieces of the Apprentice Set earlier.

    "If I had already reached the bright violet, I could havee with you. Maybe, by working together and with the full power of the Set, Valtak would still be alive today."

    "I miss him too, big sis." Lith lowered his gaze for a moment. "Don''t beat yourself up. If anything, it''s my fault. I overestimated my forces and underestimated the World Tree. This time we didn''te out victorious because of one of my ns, only thanks to dumb luck."

    Tista opened her mouth but failed to find consoling words. She actually shuddered at the thought of how close she hade to losing her brother and her best friend. "Can I?" Not knowing what to say either, Menadion ced her hands on the sides of the Mouth.

    "Sure. I''m sorry" Tista cleared her throat from the lump of saliva constricting it. "This is how you unlock it." Menadion obscured Faluel''s vision and ced her index finger on the bottom left gemstone of the Mouth.

    Then she moved it in a zig-zag pattern, touching all the elemental crystals with a single stroke. Once she was done, she tapped the forehead, the nose, and the chin of the Mouth.

    The gemstones lit up and what looked like tribal war paintprised of six different elemental energies covered half of its surface. The amount of mana the Mouth emitted gave Tista goosebumps, the surprise making her almost forget about the Father of

    Fire''s death.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "It works the same as the Hands." Menadion dispelled the cover of darkness and jabbed her thumb at Faluel. "You can lock the Mouth with a thought whereas you can only unlock it manually."

    *Thanks, Ripha." Tista caressed the surface of the artifact, staring at it in awe as if she was seeing the Mouth for the first time. "Is there any chance you can upgrade it to modern magic? Not to sound ungrateful but outdated is outdated."

    "Seconded!" Faluel nodded.

    "You wish! I-" Menadion scoffed and was about to say more but Solus'' re killed the words as they rose from her throat. "Know very little of modern magic. Upgrading the pieces of my Set would requireplex high tier Forgemastering spells beyond my

    current abilities.

    "The only way to do it would be to share the original blueprints with Sally and have her dismantle and update the Hands and Mouth. Now, Solus, I know I''m trying to change but giving away my life''s work is not part of the n.

    "You and Lith haven''t shared everything you learned through blood, tears, and sweat and neither will I

    "I know, Mom, and I wasn''t going to ask you to." Solus replied.

    "Yet in your shoes I''d get on the books and I''d do it fast." Lith pondered. "The Maw of Bytra is already better than the current Mouth of Menadion and there''s at least nine of them, not just one. Also, based on what I''ve seen, they are already unlocked."

 Chapter 3347 Real Change (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3347 Real Change (Part 2)

    "I''ll think about that." Menadion shrugged. "Right now, the Eldritches are not a threat and I''m back for just three days. Forgive me if I want to spend a bit of time with my daughter before disappearing into my Forge for the gods know how long, mister workaholic."

    "I didn''t mean right now. I just-"

    "Mom is right, Lith." Solus grunted, cutting him short. "This lesson could have waited, instead here we are!"

    "Ripha, if you please." Lith raised his hands in apology and stepped back.

    "You have already learned the basics so this won''t take long." Menadion took the Hands from Faluel and wore them. "As you know, the Hands can draw in the surrounding world energy and control it as the orc shamans do.

    "Your hypothesis was correct, Lith." She said while giving a demonstration of how to create an elemental imbnce. "I studied the orcs and developed enchantments capable of imitating their abilities in order to craft the Hands.

    "You were wrong about unfallen orcs, though. If there''s any out there, I didn''t find them."

    "Does this also mean that by studying Nandi Bytra can replicate the Hands?" Solus asked.

    "Replicate, no. She never so much as touched it." Menadion shook her head. "She can make something simr, though. If she follows a line of research parallel to mine, she can reach a simr yet different conclusion.

    "Back to the Hands. They can also conjure elemental arrays through the gemstones." As she spoke, the air and darkness crystalsbined their powers to generate the Dark Air array.

    Then she spread her arms and the array grew in size, covering the room.

    "Two elements at a time is the limit for normal mages and the same applies to the Hands, but only in their locked state." The fire crystals lit up as well, adding two points to the magic circle and forming the Dark Firestorm array.

    "A Nova spell?" Lith was bbergasted. "And without consuming one drop of your mana at that?"

    "Why so surprised? The principle is the same as your Nova spells." Menadion chuckled. "You know that we are standing above a powerful mana geyser and that the abilities of the Hands to control its world energy are almost a match for the tower, right?"

    "Almost." Faluel echoed with a sigh.

    "Doing differently would have been idiotic and impossible." Menadion replied. "Even if I were dumb enough to give away an artifact that could threaten my daughter and me, the difference between a power core and a tower core is like heaven and earth."

    "Point taken." Faluel nodded. "Please, continue."

    "You can add up to four elements, but I do not rmend it in battle." Menadion activated the earth crystals, forming an eight-pointed star. "Not only because a single elemental-sealing array would make it crumble but also because the energy builds up to dangerous levels.

    "If someone hits you with a disarray spell, all the power umted by the Hands will be turned against you."

    "That''s not what I''d have done anyway." Faluel replied. "I mostly use the Hands in myb and there''s no Forgemastering circle that requires more than two elements."

    "At your level." Menadion corrected the Hydra. "Also, in its unlocked state, the Hands can do this."

    The gauntlets generated thin tendrils of energy that connected to the various pieces of equipment Menadion wore.

    "You can use it to fuel the enchantments of any pseudo or power core and refill them more quickly. It does put a strain on an artifact but in a life-or-death situation, that''s the least of your problems.

    "On top of that, it''s vital to cast a de Tier spell after your equipment is allegedly drained. By taking your opponent by surprise, you can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."

    "That assuming I learn de Magic and the fight takes ce over a mana geyser." Faluel pointed out.

    "I''m sorry. Rulers of the mes make wonders, not miracles. Unless this counts." Ripha replied with a smug grin on her face.

    The Dark Firestorm array faded, reced by three glowing spheres orbiting around Menadion as they followed the luminous threads generated by the elemental crystals of the Hands.

    "What''s that?" They Hydra asked.

    "Three tier five spells." Menadion said.

    "Three tier five spells?" Faluel echoed in disbelief.

    Keeping so many spells of that magnitude active was supposed to take a great toll on a mage''s mana and focus yet Ripha looked rxed.

    "Yes, and I can keep them at the ready as long as I want. Or I can do this." One of the spheres was absorbed by the other two, increasing their size and power.

    "Two Nova spells at once?" Lith was bbergasted.

    "Correct." Menadion nodded. "Sure, during battle your enemy can see and counter them, given time, but they are still quite useful if used swiftly at the right moment. Also, there is no enemy when you Forgemaster a piece.

    "You can take your time and imbue up to two Tower Tier level enchantments."

    "By the gods!" Faluel pped her hands in excitement. "What about the des?"

    "They are ast-ditch but very useful weapon." Solus replied. "If you infuse them with the right elements, you can use them to neutralize the enchantments of the enemy''s weapon and sever their spells from the world energy."

    "Oh." Faluel was mildly disappointed. "But that requires either the Dragon Eyes or the Eyes to react in time and I possess neither."

    "That in battle." Menadion said. "In yourb, while casting your most powerful spells, you already know their elementalposition. It doesn''t matter if something goes terribly wrong or someone ambushes during an experiment, the des are the final

    safeguard.

    "In case of danger, you can screw up your spell on purpose and unleash it on your enemy while the Hands shield you from the congration."

    "Mom, since when are you that paranoid?" Solus asked.

    "Since I had many disciples living under my roof and no guarantee every one of them was the good person they pretended to be, Solus." Menadion replied. "You can''t remember it, but I had to kick out and kill people on a regr basis.

    "I expelled those who tried to rob me and eliminated those who mistook my kindness

    for weakness. People knew where we lived, who we were, and what we had. Anyone who dared raise their hand on us couldn''t be allowed a second chance."

    Ripha returned the Hands to Faluel who immediately tried to put Menadion''s

    teachings into practice.

    "How do I handle three elements at once?" The Hydra grunted in exertion.

    "The pieces of my Set are different from all other artifacts you have handled in the past." Ripha replied. "They are akin to a partial mage tower. Their enchantments aren''t supposed to be used on their own but toplement and enhance your abilities.

    "To cast a Tower Tier spell, you mustbine your mana flow with the energy channelled by the Hands. Then, you use the elemental gemstones to stabilize and amplify the spell.

    "It''s a delicate process that needs bnce. Focus too much on one energy flow and the

    others will dissipate. The trick is to use the world energy conjured by the Hands like your own mana. You need to practice until you can manipte them with the samen/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    case."

 Chapter 3348 A Forgemasters Pride (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3348 A Forgemaster''s Pride (Part 1)

    "Why don''t you too give it a try, Tista?" Lith lent her the Master Hands. "Solus used the whole Set under Ripha''s guidance while escaping from the World Tree and I have her memories. Also, I can always ask Ripha''s guidanceter."

    "Damn cheat." Tista grumbled. "But thanks, lil bro."

    Menadion helped them to conjure their first Nova Spell and then taught the two women how to use the Hands to keep it stable indefinitely without it affecting their focus.

    While Tista and Faluel practiced with the artifacts, Lith and Solus used the Eyes to record the data of the failed attempts of their friends in order to not repeat the same mistakes during their own practice.

    ''You are an asshole. You know that, right?'' Solus said via the mind link.

    I''m pragmatic. Lith replied. This way we are all training and no one has to sit idly waiting for their turn.''

    ''Nice save.'' She grunted. I hoped that recovering the Ears would lessen the strain from using the Eyes but studying aplex artifact still gives us a headache!''

    ''Either we are still missing a few floors holding crucial sections of the Eyes'' power core or it might be a safety measure Ripha set to keep the apprentices authorized to use the Eyes from studying her tower and the other pieces of the Set.''

    ''Good point. Solus telepathically nodded. ''If it really is a safety measure, we can ask Mom how to disable it.''

    "I''d say this covers the basics of the unlocked Hands." Menadion extended her hand toward Tista who gave her the Mouth. "You can practice the rest on your own. Now let''s move on to the most. Forgemastering-oriented piece of the set.

    "The Mouth of Menadion."

    "Wait, what?" Tista asked in confusion. "I know it can be used to store spells, change arrays during the enchanting process, and act as a second body casting, but how is it better than the Hands or the Ears?"

    "The Ears are the best piece of the Set for the preparatory phase, no doubt about that. During the actual Forgemastering, however, there isn''t much it can do." Menadion replied. "As for the Inds, they can fuel your Forgemastering circle and wave two Tower Tier enchantments, but that''s it.

    "The Mouth, instead..." She wore the pristine white mask and spread her arms out. Countless runes filled the air as Menadion conjured one spell after another. The tribal tattoos covering the Mouth turned into luminous strings of runes that remained active even after the spell they belonged to waspleted.

    Then, Menadion used the runes in the air and those on the mask to assemble a power coreprised of over ten pseudo cores in one move. Much to everyone''s surprise, she didn''t conjure the pseudo cores one by one and then fuse them into the power core.

    She weaved them straight into the power core. Not a holographic one like those Lith used to check the stability and positioning of rune patterns before performing an experiment but a real power core ready to be imbued into an artifact.

    The blue sphere of light crackled from time to time, a sign that something was off. Menadion studied the source of the sparks with Life Vision for a while and then split the sphere back into runes.

    She changed those she had identified as problematic with others and repeated the process until the power core was perfectly stable.

    "What''s that?" Solus asked in amazement.

    "My own version of your Fury''s power core, dear. The one in the blueprints I left to Sally. I haven''t crafted anything in seven hundred years and I reconstructed the enchantments from memory so I expected there would be a few imperfections but not that many.

    "I''m rustier than I thought." Menadion clicked her tongue at herself in disappointment. "No, I mean, how did you do that?" Solus said. "Usually, to make a power core we split the pseudo cores among us, and then we fuse them in the final step!"

    "I know. In fact, that was just the power core of the handle." Ripha replied. "To make a perfect Fury, I would have also crafted a different power core for the head of the hammer and then merged them."

    "Howplex is that thing?" Lith stared at the real Fury in admiration.

    "Very. Considering it''s one of my life''s works and the final gift I prepared for my daughter, it would be weird otherwise."

    "You haven''t answered my question, Mom. How is that possible and how is the Mouth involved?" Solus said.

    "To craft a tower or one of your academies, one must learn how to infuse the various pieces of the final power core during the preparatory phase" Menadion said. "If you wait for the enchanting step, no mage on Mogar can conjure that much mana, let alone handle it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I won''t share such a technique with any of you, at least for now, so let''s move on to the second part of your question. What you said about the Mouth is correct, Tista, but only in its sealed state.

    "Once unlocked, the number of spells the Mouth can store is the same but the length of those spells does. To be precise, there is no limit to that." Menadion filled the room

    "Are you telling me..."

    "Correct." Since Lith couldn''t pick up his jaw from the floor in time to finish the sentence, Menadion did it for him. "I''ve stored the entire power core inside the Mouth and then I had it conjure the runes and arrange them in space.

    "What about the mana?" Tista asked. "Each pseudo core is supposed to be as powerful as the mage can make it. Doesn''t conjuring so many of them at once limit their

    potential?"

    "No, child" Menadion shook her head. "As I said, the pieces of my Set are different from usual artifacts. The white crystals embossed in the Mouth support the Forgemaster and provide enough mana even for a power core thisplex.

    "In case it wasn''t enough, it''s not a problem either. Since it''s the Mouth keeping the spell matrix together, you can always take your time and use Invigoration when needed." Menadion took the mask off and turned toward her students, yet the sphere of light remained stable.

    Solus and the others remained in a stunned silence for a few seconds before snapping out of it and examining the phenomenon with Life Vision. The power core was indeed linked to the Mouth, not to Menadion, and the white crystals forming its teeth constantly drew the surrounding world energy to fuel the sphere.

    "What about the rune patterns now visible on the Mouth?" Faluel asked once she was done studying the link between the power core and the artifact.

    "It''s the manifestation of another of the powers of the unlocked Mouth." Menadion replied. "Once one of the stored spells is cast, the Mouth keeps its runes active. It means that you can use them to weave a new spell without the need to conjure them

    again.

    "It''s very useful in battle. Not so much while Forgemastering since you have all the time to prepare your spell, but sometimes when an experiment goes bad, it''s useful to have a few tricks up your sleeve."

 Chapter 3349 A Forgemasters Pride (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3349 A Forgemaster''s Pride (Part 2)

    "Is there any change to the number of semi-permanent enchantments of the Mouth?" Lith examined the Master Mouth, finding it no different from the piece of the Apprentice Set except for the number of crystal teeth.

    "No quantitative change, sorry. There''s a qualitative one, though." Menadion tapped the white crystals that started to cycle through the seven elemental colors. "Now, while enchanting the Mouth, you can use the crystals as a source of elemental power. "They can rece most elemental-based ingredients and increase the variety of spells you can imbue in the Mouth. Beware, though. Every crystal assigned to fuel an enchantment can''t be used for anything else.

    "The Mouth will still retain its other powers and enchantments, but will recharge more slowly and consume its energy reserves faster."

    "It''s still amazing for a rtively poor Forgemaster like me. Tista moved her eyes from the artifact to its maker, looking at them with awe and admiration. "It''s like having a lesser Workshop and Factory of my own.

    "I can now try out many of my experimental blueprints without having to waste a single copper coin in ingredients."

    "Silly question." Faluel envied Tista for a moment, then she felt the Hands wrapping around her arms and inwardly called herself an idiot. "Do different pieces of the Set gain new abilities when used together?"

    "Of course not." Menadion chuckled at the idea. "But they can synergize and support each other. For example, bybining your Hands with Tista''s Mouth, you get the ability to weave Tower Spells directly into the power core.

    "The Mouth alone wouldck the raw power to do it while the Hands can''t help you sustain such burden on your focus during the Forgemastering process."

    "If the Hands and Mouth are for the Forgemastering phase and the Ears is for the preparatory phase, what''s the role of the Eyes?" Solus asked.

    "It serves to collect data before and during an experiment and to review the results after." Menadion said. "The Eyes are meant to be the Forgemaster''s learning tool. To help us understand our mistakes and where we can still improve.

    "Also, it allows us to learn from our enemies and allies both, whether they like it or not. I know what you are thinking: ''It''s not fair. Yet hang around Dragons long enough and you''ll see how fair their eyes are. I''m just leveling the ying field."

    "Bottom line, every piece of the Set by itself allows a Forgemaster to master their craft much quicker than their peers and reach excellence. When put together, they give a Forgemaster the best tools I could think of to strive for perfection."

    "Is that why you split the Apprentice Set and kept the Master Set to yourself?" Faluel didn''t even bother hiding her envy.

    "Kid, I worked my ass off toe up with the enchantments that make every piece of the Sets possible. Menadion grunted. "No one helped me or did me any favor while I toiled like a madwoman. The Apprentice Set is my gift to Mogar while the Master Set is my legacy.

    "I deserve to have the best tools because I made them myself. If you want to look the gifted horse in the mouth and don''t like what you see, feel free to give it to someone else."

    "I''m sorry, Master Menadion, I didn''t mean to be rude." Faluel gave her an apologetic bow. "Mypetitiveness and pride as a Forgemaster went to my head for a second." "Apologies epted, child." Menadion replied. "You wouldn''t be a first-rate Forgemaster if the realization of what you arecking didn''t upset you. Now you can either try to be like me and channel that anger to better yourself and craft your own tools or be like Bytra and let it consume you. Your choice.

    "Can you please lend me the Master Mouth, Lith? I would like to receive Master Menadion''s guidance together with Tista." Faluel asked, receiving the stone mask from him.

    "Again, just call me Ripha, please." Menadion said.

    "I''d rather not. At least as long as I study magic under you." Faluel shook her head. "Were I to call you Ripha, Master, I''d consider you my peer and my envy would keep me from fully understanding your teachings.

    "By calling you master, I recognize you as my better and respect you for it. Otherwise I won''t listen to learn from you but to nitpick and find faults in your methods just to feel better about myself."

    "Those are wise words. Your mother must be proud of you." Menadion nodded. "Now, let''s get back to work."

    While Tista and Faluel practiced, Lith and Solus studied everything with the Eyes and used their newfound knowledge to improve their creations stored inside the Library with each new insight they gained.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Wouldn''t it be better to continue this conversationter? Solus asked once she and Lith got to the nitty-gritty details of which runes to choose based on where they would be positioned. Things have gotten quiteplicated and we could use Mom''s advice.''

    ''I''d rather not.''Lith replied. Learning from Ripha is one thing but I don''t want to be influenced by the way she does things. We got this far by developing our techniques and I want to improve them, not change them.

    ''If we start copying your mother instead of making her techniques our own, we''ll be

    doomed to be her poor imitation. No one can surpass another mage by following the rules of their game.

    "The old Bytra learned this the hard way. She should have stepped away from the board and carved her own path instead of chasing after Ripha''s.''

    ''You are right. Solus telepathically nodded. ''We''ll do like when we learned Awakened magic from Faluel and Light Mastery from Nalrond. We''ll work hard on our own and ask for help only if we get stumped and can''t find a solution even after giving our all.'' After Tista and Faluel were done, Lith passed the Eyes to them and took his turn practicing using the Mouth and Hands with Solus.

    ''Son of a bitch!'' Falucl cursed, realizing that not only was Lith "coincidentally" avoiding all the mistakes she had made earlier, but he was also exploiting her seven heads to keep a record of his own mistakes that he would reviewter.

    ''After knowing my brother for so long did you really believe that he let us go first out of the goodness of his heart? Tista had a hard time believing the Hydra could still be

    so naive.

    ''Yes, I mean, no. I guess I was so happy about meeting the legendary Ripha Menadion and having the Hands unlocked that my seven brains stopped working. Faluel replied. ''Look at the bright side. We are learning too and it''s not like Lith is going to refuse to show you the footageter.'' Tista said.

    "True that. They kept studying in silence for a while until Tista reactivated the mind

    link.

    ''Can I ask you a question?" She said after Lith managed to weave a particrlyplex power core on the first attempt.

    ''Sure.''

    ''What do you think is the main difference between my brother and me?''Tista asked.

    ''Why even though I''ve worked so hard and had all the resources I needed do Ig so

    much behind him?"

 Chapter 3350 A Kings Funeral (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3350 A King''s Funeral (Part 1)

    ''I could tell you Lith Awakened very young and thatpared to him you had much less time to practice but that''s not the issue.'' Faluel replied and Tista nodded. ''He had to work everything out by himself whereas you had skilled teachers every step of your way.

    ''You could have caught up to your brother by now if you had his same drive!

    ''What do you mean?"

    "That after healing from the Strangler you had a peaceful life. You joined the academy because it was your dream and became an Awakened without any effort on your part. 1 took you in as my apprentice only because Lith brought you along, not because you deserved it.'' Faluel said.

    ''Was I thatcking? Tista lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

    ''No, you were a great mage but that''s beyond the point. The Hydra replied. ''Lith joined the academy because no one could teach him high tier magic. He relentlessly improved his skills for Solus'' sake first and then also to fix his life force.

    ''When he studied, you yed. When you studied, he risked his life on the battlefield. As I said, youck his drive. Even now, you are studying without a real goal. You do what you like, not what you have to.

    ''What about you?''Tista asked.

    ''Ie from a good family but I had to work hard to earn everything I have. My position as the beast Ruler of the Distar region, my Awakening, and my treasures are all things I achieved without relying on others.

    ''Right now, my goal is to perfect Glemos'' Harmonizers and help my people to break past the limits of Lesser Dragons. On top of that, I also have to keep my word and find a way for the people of Zelex to undo their fallen state.''

    ''I definitelyck drive. Tista sighed. ''Sorry for wasting your time with my whining!

    ''Don''t be silly. You didn''t whine, you looked at yourself in search of your ws and you found them. Bonus points for recognizing your problems instead of making excuses for them.''

    "Thank you, Master Falucl.''

    ''You are wee. The Hydra gave her a polite nod of the head.

    ''By the way, how is the Harmonizer project going?"Tista asked.

    ''Not well.''Faluel shrugged. ''There''s a reason the Tyrant bloodline worked for millennia on the Harmonizers yet failed to achieve any permanent result.

    ''Even after Thrud''s Generals agreed to help us Hydras in our research, we have yet to iste the key factors in the different bloodlines of Lesser Divine Beasts that the Ambrosia triggered.

    ''Until we seed, even with perfect Harmonizer taking the next evolutionary step is but a pipe dream. Baba Yaga offered her help as well, but only if the Hydras invest part of their resources in the development of Harmonizers for her undead.

    ''Useless to say, my people are not inclined to agree and are still arguing about it.''

    ''Well, Ripha is a good friend of Baba Yaga and the Royals just announced her return, I''m sure the Hydras would love to work with the First Ruler of the mes. On top of that, Ripha can vouch for Baba Yaga, breaking the impasse. Tista said.

    ''Having one of the greatest Healers of all times work side by side with one of the greatest Forgemasters would surely help our research, but there''s one problem, or rather, two problems with that.'' Faluel replied.

    ''Problem one: Ripha might not be interested in charity work.''Tista said. ''Problem two: Lith is not interested in charity work.

    ''Exactly. Faluel sighed. ''Even if Master Menadion agrees to help us, she can''t go anywhere unless Lithes along. Still, it''s a good idea. I''ll talk with Master Menadionn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    first. If I can''t convince her, then there''s nothing I can do.''

    ''You''d better wait to do that. Tista said. At the moment, Ripha''s only priority is to make up for the lost time with Solus.''

    ''As she should.'' Faluel said. I''m in no rush. The research has been stumped for centuries, it can wait a few more months."

    Once the lesson was over, everybody went back to the Blood Desert for lunch. Lith and Solus spent the rest of the day respectively with his family and with her mother. Solus wanted to know everything about her first life, both the good and bad parts. Menadion, instead, had waited seventeen years toment on Solus'' every life choice and congratte her for her achievements.

    "I''m so d you earned your deep green Great Mage robe long before my return, sweetie." Ripha said. "I don''t want you to live under my shadow."

    "Don''t worry, Mom." Solus hugged her. "Even if everyone were to think I''m mooching

    off you, it would be a small price to pay to have you back"

    "Thanks, dear." Menadion returned the embrace. "Since it''s my turn to ask questions, how did Lith free himself after Nalear captured him? I want the truth, not the

    sugar-coated version you gave his parents."

    "Right. You were with me after she sealed me in the Retrieval Unit." Solus nodded and told her mother about the day when Yurial died

    ***

    A few dayster. Lith and Solus had found their new routine.

    They would spend the morning learning about the tower from Menadion and receiving advice from her about how to best use the different floors. They didn''t work or practice much.

    It was just an excuse to better know Menadion through her work and let her break the ice with Lith after their awkward first encounter. Their rtionship was far from smooth and furtherplicated by the fact that she was supposed to be his teacher and he her master.

    For a mage as ancient and powerful as Menadion, it wasn''t easy to ept being dependent on someone much younger than her, let alone when that someone was also bonded to her beloved daughter.

    Lith and Solus would then spend the time after lunch on their own and take turns at night to take care of the babies. Elysia and Valeron had missed them both dearly and still needed to be reassured they wouldn''t disappear again.

    "Thank the gods Elysia now sleeps through most of the night with just a couple of

    lunch breaks." Lith sighed.

    "Valeron is a dear, but every time she woke him up, he never passed up the

    opportunity for an extra meal." Kam chuckled.

    "Which also meant an extra diaper change." His nose wrinkled at the memory. "The

    worst part is that we can''t put them in another room. They are too smart. They know our faces, our smells, and even our heat signatures!

    "If they don''t see us when they wake up, they have a heartbreaking fit of cry until they see you, me, or Solus."

    "It''s one of the burdens of being a good parent." Ka chuckled. "Your children end up loving you. Also, it''s not my fault if we have to deal with toddlers with magical powers and bloodline abilities."

    "Yeah, that''s on me." Lith said with mock indignance. "The first child is hard on anyone but I upgraded us to hell difficulty."

    "Yup." Kam gave him a sweet kiss. "And you had the genius idea to start a new game while we have yet to finish the tutorial,"

 Chapter 3351 A Kings Funeral (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3351 A King''s Funeral (Part 2)

    Kam shapeshifted her hand, covering it with ck Dragon scales, and brought Lith''s to her womb.

    "I admit it. I''m terrible at this." Ile caressed her stomach, using Invigoration on her and the embryo.

    Kam was more fit and healthy than normal. Her body still carried the positive changes of the previous pregnancy and was already adapting to the current one. As for their future baby boy, it was still too small to be visible unless one knew exactly what and where to look.

    The little life force was almost identical to Kam''s and there still was no sign of the condensation of an independent mana core. Yet after having Elysia and knowing nothing bad could happen, its vision thrilled Lith.

    "Your timing could be better, but you are great at this. Trust me." She said and the Dragon scales confirmed her sincerity.

    "By the way, how the heck can you have scales this early? It will take weeks for the baby to develop any kind of feature.

    "I asked Leegaain and the exnation is quite simple." She shrugged. "To have Dragon scales you need Dragon blood and I do. The baby might be tiny but he still counts. Also, I already know how to trigger the transformation."

    "Can you already shapeshift your whole body?" Lith asked in amazement.

    "Nope. At the moment I can only cover my palms or the back of my hands, not both." Kam replied. "Have you thought about a good name?"

    "Thought, yes. I haven''t found anything decent, though." Lith said.

    "There''s no rush. There''s still-" A blinking rune on Lith''s amulet cut her short and ruined the moment for them "What is it now? The Royals again? The Council? Zekell''s crazy cult?"

    "It''s Erghak. I have to take this." Lith gestured to her for silence. "Also, Zekell''s cult is not crazy. I mean the idea is crazy but Zekell is doing a lot of good for Lutia. His followers may be just magicos, but even minor healing spells do wonders for those who can''t afford a Healer."

    "Ile''s also making a lot of money and selling merchandise with your face on it." Kam scoffed.

    "I asked you for silence."

    "Sure, to answer the amulet. Which you didn''t." She replied.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Hi, Erghak. Or should I say patriarch Erghak?" Lith pressed the rune, ending the discussion

    "Hi, Lith. And no. Erghak is fine, I''m no patriarch and don''t even want to be one! The Fire Dragon had taken charge of the Brood after Valtak''s death, but only because there was no Wyrm inside the Fringe who could pull seniority or rank on him.

    "I''m calling you because we''ve set a date for the funeral. It will take ce tomorrow at sunset in Valtak''sir. Do you and your sister n oning?"

    "Of course!" Lith replied. "Can I bring my family with me? They are fond of the old lizard and never got the opportunity to say goodbye."

    "Sure." Erghak nodded. "Make sure they behave and don''t touch anything of the treasure. Only when a Wyrm dies does his trove get publicly disyed. Stealing even one coin would be taken as a grave offense and have even graver consequences."

    "I''ll make sure everyone gets the message." Lith said. "By the way, isn''t it a bit sudden? I expected more notice than one day."

    "I don''t know how it works for humans, but Dragons give the family of the deceased only a few days to mourn. There''s only so much time the corpse can be preserved and using Necromancy to prolong the wake would ruin its magical properties." The Fire Dragon replied.

    "The Elders gave Valtak''s family as long as they could but now the funeral can''t be dyed further. If it''s a problem-"

    "No problem. Can you give me the coordinates of hisir?" Lith asked.

    "Oh, right. I''m sorry." Erghak sent a rune marking the position of Valtak''s home on the Kingdom''s map. "Anything else?"

    "Yes. Is there a dress or form code to follow?" Lith said. "Anything a human should know?"

    "No dress code. Just avoiding naked or dressed in a ridiculous manner. There''s actually a form code, instead. You cane in any shape of your choosing as long as your size doesn''t exceed that of a tall human.

    "Valtak is the only one allowed to keep his true form and for one day we keep ourselves small as a sign of respect. It''s the highest honor the Brood can bestow upon one of its fallen members. It reminds everyone the Father of Fire was a giant even among Dragons.

    "For one day, his size matches his stature among us." Erghak took a brief pause to let his words sink before adding:

    "Tell your human rtives to behave as if they are attending the funeral of a king and everything will be alright. Even the most arrogant, spoiled, and obnoxious brats of the Brood wouldn''t dare tarnish the event by bullying the weak."

    "I''ll see you tomorrow, Erghak." Lith said.

    "Until tomorrow, then."

    ***

    The following day Lith returned to the Kingdom apanied by Kam, Tista, Aran, and Leria. He had left Elysia and Valeron home because he couldn''t predict or control their behavior upon seeing the dead Wyrm.

    ''I don''t want to think about what they might perceive if they try to use the Dragon scales, especially Elysia with her ck chains.'' He thought. They are too young for a funeral and with their memory, it could scar them for a long time.''

    "Why is the funeral taking ce at sundown, big bro?" Raaz and Elina had tried their best to stop Aran froming but the boy had been adamant about it. "The sky has the color of blood and it makes me sad."

    "No, lil bro, you got it wrong. Look carefully. Doesn''t the sky''s color remind you of our firece? Still warm, but also soft and gentle?" After receiving the invitation to the funeral, Lith had researched Dragon customs to avoid making social faux pas. Erghak may have told Lith everything he needed not to anger or offend the members of the Brood, but Lith didn''t want to pass for an uncultured rude guest either Between the tomes in Sark''s library and a few questions to Leegaain, Lith now knew what to say under all circumstances. He had shared the basics with the others already and answered their questions before reaching Valtak''sir.

    "Sort of." Aran shrugged. "Looks more like blood to me."

    "Aran, the sun is the greatest me of Mogar and sundown is the moment when it

    goes out. Dragons consider the sun the source of all fires, even their own. ording to their tradition, funerals take ce at sunset so that the sun escorts the spark of the deceased past the horizon and into the afterlife.

    "Tonight, the lights in Valtak''sir will go down for the first time since he built it. They''ll be turned on at the dawn of the new day, when his sessor will imprint the

    arrays and take ownership of Valtak''s inheritance."

    "It sounds cool." Aram nodded. "Yet it also sounds like theft. Grampa Valtak has just died. How can they take his stuff and split it among themselves already? Seeing his treasure taken away will upset Grampa Valtak!"

 Chapter 3352 Heated Debate (Part 1)

    Chapter 3352 Heated Debate (Part 1)

    "Valtak''s children are not taking possession of hisir out of greed, dear." Solus talked sweetly to Aran while caressing his back. "They do it to protect his legacy. After someone dies, their imprint on their artifacts and home is gone."

    "It means that anyone can steal Valtak''s equipment and break into hisir to pige his treasures. On top of that, Valtak wouldn''t want his home to be abandoned. Don''t you think that seeing it be a dusty, cold ce would upset him more than gifting it to his family?"

    "I guess." Aran sighed and checked his clothes for the umpteenth time.

    He was wearing his favorite g outfit, a three-piece deep blue suit with golden embroideries. It had been made to resemble Lith''s Archmage high uniform without breaching etiquette.

    The color scheme and pattern were simr, but itcked all the insignia of an Archmage''s status and the cut differed from a real uniform just enough not to raise any brow at the Royal Court.

    Much to Lith''s surprise, after he had received the status of Void Magus and Supreme Magus, Aran had refused to change his clothes to match either title.

    "Thank you, big bro, but setting my goal to Archmage is already aiming high. Any more and I wouldn''t honor you with my outfit but look like an entitled prick mooching off his brother''s sess." Aran had said, shocking his family to the bone.

    For someone with his carefree and na?ve attitude, that was quite a deep thought.

    "Try not to embarrass us, dummy." Leria straightened her dress even though its enchantments kept it perfectly ironed and without a single wrinkle or dirty spot. "If you are not sure about the meaning of a word, ask before speaking."

    She too wore her best g dress.

    It was golden with silver embroideries and small ck diamonds arranged in a pattern that matched the colored streaks in her hair. With her sleeve-long evening gloves and wheat-blond shoulder des-long hair straightened for the asion, she looked like a princess.

    "I''m not a dummy!" Aran snarled. "And I won''t embarrass anyone."

    "Aran is right, Leria." Kam scolded the young girl. "He''s not stupid and we are already tense as it is. There''s no reason to put more pressure on your uncle."

    "I''m sorry, Aunt Kami." Leria squirmed in her dress. "It''s just¡­ Wyrms. Lots of them. And this time Grampa Leegaain isn''t with us. Why hasn''t hee with us?"

    "It''s a matter of respect, sweetie." Kam replied. "If he attended Valtak''s funeral and missed those of the other Dragons who died in the Fringe, it would create friction among the Dragon ns.

    "Grandpa Leegaain can''t show favoritism toward one of his children without making them the target of the resentment of the rest of the Brood."

    "What about Shargein?" Aran asked in confusion. "He sure gets preferential treatment but no one says a peep."

    "That''s different." Lith said. "Shargein is one of Grandma''s and Grandpa''s direct descendants and a perfect hybrid at that. Everyone knows of the oath Leegaain swore on the day of Shargein''s birth.

    "Anyone who messes with him would incur Leegaain''s wrath. That if Grandma doesn''t get to them first, of course."

    "I see." Leria took a deep breath to calm down before resuming to walk toward the entrance.

    Valtak''sir was located inside Mount ckfang, an active volcano about halfway through the Jagged Maw Mountain range. When looking at the mountain peaks from afar, their steep sides covered in perennial snow looked like sharp, pristine fangs biting at the low-altitude clouds.

    Mount ckfang owed its name to theyer of igneous rocks that coated its peak and the inner heat that kept it clear of snow. Among the irregr row of white teeth, the volcano stood out like a sore thumb covered in ashes.

    The main entrance to Valtak''sir was near the top of the volcano and hidden by the clouds. It was also hard to find and filled with arrays and traps. With the death of the Father of Fire, the enchantments couldn''t be deactivated, only broken.

    For this reason, everyone was using the service entrance at the base of the mountain. It was a small tunnel carved in the rock, barely wide and tall enough to let two adult men walk abreast.

    The stone of the corridor was impervious to earth and dimensional magic, making it an inescapable chokepoint in case it was used for an attack. Merchants and suppliers had no problem carrying their merchandise to him whereas enemies would be easily ughtered, no matter their numbers.

    "Are wete, Uncle Lith?" Leria pointed at the many richly dressed people who were already entering the tunnel.

    "No, we are actually a little early." Lith still followed his drill sergeant''s motto.

    "If you are five minutes early, you are already ten minuteste. Value the time of others like you want them to value yours." Tepper used to say during Lith''s booth camp.

    "It''s still twenty minutes before the scheduled time." He checked his pocket watch to be sure. "I guess the other guests want to make use of this opportunity to reconnect with their brethren."

    The final hundred meters had to be covered on foot so as not to trigger the security measures. It would have been an ufortable walk in high heels but the women kept t shoes, ready to shapeshift them to a slender form once they reached their destination.

    "Wow!" Aran stopped, his eyes going wide as amazement trampled grief for a bit. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Wyrms also wore their best clothes.

    Male Dragons wore the Divine Beast equivalent of suits while female Dragons wore the equivalent of evening dresses. Unlike gs, however, the dress code didn''t demand the guests not to overshadow their host so everyone had gone all out.

    The clothes looked made of silver, gold, tinum, or even Adamant with embroideries of small magical gemstones. Everyone carried a weapon on their side, and there was nothing ceremonial about them.

    Even from a distance, Aran could feel the sharpness of the des and the weight of the maces pressing against his skin.

    As for the Dragons, they had taken the size and shape of adult humans but that was it. Some had long hornsing out of their heads while others had part, if not all of their skin covered in sparkling scales.

    A few beautiful dames had long tailsing out of the back of their dresses or revealed two rows of deadly fangs whenever they opened their mouths. A handful of Wyrms even retained theirplete Dragon form in a scaled-down version and stood on their hind legs.

    The only thing all those presents had inmon was the membranous wingsing out of their backs.

    "Aren''t they the coolest?" Aran turned toward Lith, his smile quickly fading from his face.

    "They are stunning." Lith and Tista had already taken their own membranous wings out, keeping the feathered ones hidden in respect for their host.

    "What about us?" Aran pointed at himself and Leria.

    No matter how hard he flexed his shoulder des, nothing came out.

    "I''m sorry, lil bro." Lith replied. "Only Grampa can temporarily awaken your bloodline."

    "Can''t you at least try, Uncle Lith?" Leria asked. "You too did it on the day Elysia was born."

 Chapter 3353 Heated Debate (Part 2)

    Chapter 3353 Heated Debate (Part 2)

    Only after Lith tried and failed did the group resume its advance.

    "Don''t groan like that." Kam said, prompting a louder groan from the kids. "Solus and I have no wings either yet no one thinks less of us for that."

    "But at least Aunt Solus is so pretty!" Leria whined.

    "And you are big brother''s wife!" Aran grumbled. "We have nothing but the Verhen name."

    Kam liked being reduced to being Lith''s plus one even less than Solus did being valued only for her appearance. Yet they both smiled and sucked it up, knowing the children meant no offense.

    "About that, remember not to mention you-know-who." Kam patted her womb.

    "We won''t. You can count on us, Aunt Kami." The children''s frown disappeared, reced by a resolute expression.

    They considered protecting Lith''s secret to be an important mission that gave them purpose.

    A long line had formed in front of the entrance as the Wyrms appointed as guards checked the identity of the guests before letting them in. Yet Dragons only had to take a look at the life force to confirm one''s draconic nature and the patriarchs vouched for their retinue.

    Lith and the others wouldn''t have to wait for long since the Dragons stopped only for an instant before a group was granted entry. During that time, Lith noticed several Wyrms staring, whispering, and pointing fingers at him.

    There was no malice in their countenance but no warmth either.

    "Wee to you all." Erghak approached them when it came to their turn to be inspected by the guards. "I hope you didn''t have too much trouble finding this ce. Also, I can see you took my advice to the letter. Those dresses are worthy of the court of a king."

    The Fire Dragon gave thedies a polite bow.

    Kam wore a deep emerald evening dress with a parure of enchanted Camellias while Solus a deep blue evening dress with a tiara, ne, and earrings decorated with elemental bellflowers.

    "Thank you." Kam replied with a curtsy. "We went for deep colors not to look festive. Is it enough or would it be more appropriate for us to change into something less shy?"

    Tista, instead, wore a deep red dress embroidered with small rubies, matching the color of her wings and auburn hair. Her gold parure projected ming violet roses the same color as her Origin mes.

    "Thank you." Kam replied with a curtsy. "We went for deep colors not to look festive. Is it enough or would it be more appropriate for us to change into something less shy?"

    "It''s more than enough. Look a me."Erghak looked like a tall, handsome man in his mid-twenties, with ming red hair and eyes.

    He wore an Adamant-embroidered crimson suit with buttons carved out of elemental crystals. The silvery gloves on his hands ended with dull ws and had elemental gemstones studded on the knuckles.

    Unlike the rest of the Wyrms, only his vertical slitted eyes and his wings betrayed his draconic nature.

    "You look amazing, Erghak." Solus said. "Worthy of the Royal Court. Except I doubt the Guards would let you in. Everything you wear smells of powerful equipment from a mile away."

    "As it should." The Fire Dragon nodded. "Three things determine one''s status in the Brood: wisdom, treasures, and power. Power is rankedst but it''s as treasured as wisdom."

    "I know!" Aran raised his hand like he was in a ssroom. "It''s because, without power, wisdom is nothing but hot air. You can''t put it into practice and any brute can impose his stupid rules on you. Also, without strength, you can''t defend your treasures."

    "Correct, Hatchling." Erghak patted Aran''s head. "Did you study Dragon philosophy for the asion?"

    "No, I''m just paraphrasing what my big brother always says." Aran said.

    "Which is?" The Fire Dragon tilted his head in curiosity.

    "I can''t say. He made me promise not to ever repeat his words for-" Only thanks to a nudge from Leria did Aran''s excitement for being praised fade enough for him to remember about Kam''s presence. "Reasons. I mean, he''s very humble."

    "I see." Erghakughed loudly enough to attract even more gazes from the bystanders.

    "We''ll talk about yournguage in the presence of the kidster." Kam smiled at Lith with a grace that didn''t extend to her eyes.

    "Yes, Mom." He replied, making her eyes narrow into angry slits.

    "What about your wings, Hatchlings?" The Fire Dragons rushed to change the topic. "Did you leave them at home?"

    "Yes." Leria nodded, wringing her hands. "We were so sad for Grandpa Valtak that we forgot to ask Grandpa Leegaain to awaken our bloodline. We are not real Wyrms yet so we can''t-"

    A set of ck-veined silver wings popped out of her back at the same time as red-veined ck wings came out from Aran''s. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Leria immediately put her hands on her face, feeling the presence of small silvery scales on her cheeks while Aran''s hands now ended in small ws and were covered in ck scales.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Blood Desert.

    "There! Happy now, you nagging sparrow?" Leegaain asked while cradling Shargein.

    "Very, you insensitive lizard!" Sark replied.

    "Order and Chaos, sometimes I wonder why I put up with your antics!" He grunted.

    "Put the Featherling to sleep, wait ten minutes, ande to my room! I''ll remind you why!" She snarled.

    "dly!"

    ***

    Back in the Kingdom.

    "Thank you, Grandpa!" Leria gave a curtsy to the empty air in front of her, receiving no reply.

    "Thanks!" Aran tried to fly, but misjudged the strength of the p and pped himself with his wings. "Ouch!"

    Kam was happy for the kids, but until Invigoration confirmed that no change had urred to her body, she was afraid that the resonance with the awakened bloodlines might expose her pregnancy.

    "Well, this will fuel even more heated conversations." Erghak helped the kids to furl their wings properly and guided the group forward.

    "What''s that supposed to mean?" Lith whispered as low as he could.

    Using a mind link or a Hush Zone would have been considered incredibly rude, limiting his options.

    "That Grandfather favors your kids and that might upset quite a few Wyrms." The Fire Dragon replied. "It will also upset all Lesser Dragons as soon as the rumor spreads. No one gets their bloodline awakened just because they ask. At least until today."

    "It''s not like that." Aran rushed to exin. "It''s just a temporary state. It will wear off in a few hours."

    "Yet that''s still special treatment." Erghak shrugged. "No one ever got their bloodline awakened, even for a few hours."

    "I get the heated debate." Lith said. "But I''m still missing the ''more'' part."

    "Do you remember that you''ve earned the infamous nickname of Kinyer?" Erghak asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Do I need to add more?"

    "No, dammit." Lith shook his head in frustration but said nothing more despite Kam''s worried look.

    The tunnel was long and hundreds of meters, leading to the heart of the mountain, andpletely unadorned. If not for the ground moving akin to a conveyor belt, it would have taken them several minutes of walk while surrounded by searing heat to reach their destination.

    "Is it me or is it hot in here?" Kam and Solus were the only ones to experience minor difort as their armors and their Awakened bodies adjusted to the rising temperature.

    The others carried enough Dragon blood to be unaffected.

 Chapter 3354 Inner Light (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3354 Inner Light (Part 1)

    "Yes, you''re hot." Lith replied to Kam, making her blush. "Also, yes, it''s hot in here but it can''t be just because of the volcano."

    "Correct" The Fire Dragon nodded. "It''s because of us Wyrms. We can''t affect our

    surroundings like Phoenixes do, but when so many of us gather, our inner fires resonate, releasing lots of heat."

    He pointed at the people around them. The magical lighting of the tunnel was poor yet it was as clear as day. Every Dragon emanated a radiance from their skin, not even their enchanted clothes could contain the raw power burning within them.

    "This is weird.'' Kam thought. With the baby, I should..."

    She tried to shapeshift her hands under the cover of her evening gloves and failed. ''Leegaain awakened the kids'' bloodline and suppressed mine! He must have wanted to ensure no one could notice my pregnancy. Thanks, Leegaain.

    You are wee.'' An annoyed voice answered in her head.

    Shargein had yet to fall asleep, which forced Leegaain and Sark to dy the "peace talks".

    Soon the tunnel came to an end and the group reached Valtak''sir.

    The space inside the mountain had been cleared out, creating a room half as wide as Mount ckfang itself and over 45 meters (150) high, enough for many Wyrms to standfortably together and stretch their wings if needed.

    Lith had never been inside their of a true Dragon. In the past, he had visited Xedros secretb and Faluel''s home but they were just Lesser Dragons.

    Even with his status as the Father of All Wyverns and his title as quasi-Dragon, Xedros'' secretb paled inparison with Valtak''sir as much as their owners would have while standing side by side.

    The space inside the mountain wasrge but far from empty. Piles of gold, tinum, and silver coins formed shiny hills connected by pathways of precious gemstones.

    Light came from the walls, reflecting on both metal and jewels.

    By bouncing on the coins, the magical lights were equally spread throughout their, making it possible to see anywhere across the room and forming a starry sky in the darkness of the ceiling.

    By passing through the gemstones, instead, the white light was split into its

    Lith and Solus gasped in amazement, their jaws almost hitting the floor from marvel and surprise yet they kept walking. As for theirpanions, they froze like statues in the

    middle of the path with their eyes and mouths wide in wonder.

    No Dragon said anything, considering admiration toward a fellow Wyrm''s treasure the highest form of praise.

    "It''s too soon to be impressed. Erghak chuckled. "These are... how do you humans call them? Oh, yes. Knick-knacks."

    "Knick-knacks?" Lith echoed in disbelief.

    There was already more treasure in front of him than Faluel''s and Xedros''bined yet the Fire Dragon had just dismissed it like bauble.

    "Correct" Erghak nodded. "Few Dragons are art connoisseurs but each one of us can tell how precious and beautiful something is. This is the typical outer rim of a Dragon''sir, filled with precious things."

    He led them to the middle rim through a path of sapphires.

    "This is where beautiful things are kept." He waved at the countless crystal disys holding paintings, statues, vases, and artifacts. Some were made of very precious materials, others ofmon wood or y, but they all bore the hand of a true master artisan.

    "The artifacts are either weak or obsolete beyond redemption." Lith exined to the kids while looking around with Life Vision. "Maybe they were powerful at some point in Valtak''s life or maybe he appreciated more their craftmanship than their magic." "Correct again." The Fire Wyrm nodded while guiding them to the art pieces Valtak had been prouder and fonder of. "You can consider them the Dragon equivalent of your ceremonial weapons. Eye-catching but useless.

    "The good stuff is always kept in the inner rim, the bedroom."

    Solus only half listened to him, staring at the paintings in the hope of spotting one of her father''s works.

    ''Dammit, I forgot that Valtak was slumbering during the past thousand years.'' She inwardly sighed after failing to find any. ''He didn''t know even Mom, let alone Dad.''

    "It''s beautiful," Lith looked around, feeling like he was inside one of Earth''s most important museums rather than a Dragonir. "But also boring. Some of this stuff is so weird that Aran could do it better."

    "Yeah." Aran nodded. "The weapons are pretty, though."

    "Have some respect!" Leria was equally bored but Rena had taught her that adults often took pride in what might look insignificant to her. "This is still Grandpa Valtak''s stuff!"

    "Don''t worry, youngdy." Erghak stifled augh. "It''s indeed boring. For us. Each one of these pieces dates to an important moment in Valtak''s life. Their value for him went beyond their rarity or materials, it was mostly sentimental.

    "Most of them, albeit beautiful, belong to forgotten artists who didn''t make it to the

    pages of history and have been forgotten by the rest of Mogar. Consider it like Valtak''s private diary.

    "Without knowing the feelings behind every entry, most of them are bound to appear trivial, like when you write down an argument with your mom."

    "True... Hey, how do you know that?" Leria blushed hard, fearing that the Fire Dragon had read her diary.

    "It wasn''t hard to guess." He said with augh while ruffling her hair. "Most girls keep a diary and all of them argue with their mothers. Don''t they?"

    "I don''t know. I don''t have many girl friends." Leria fiddled with the gemstonesprising the path with her foot. "Aunt Kami? Aunt Solus?"

    "Sure." They both nodded in a rush, one swearing she would find and destroy her own and the other d that the tower''s past copse had gotten rid of it already.

    "And now, the precious and beautiful stuff. Where Valtak rests." Erghak''s smile dimmed and his eyes became sad.

    Lith unconsciously clenched his fist while the kids needed to take a few breaths before finding the strength to move forward.

    The inner rim wasprised of the smallest hills of all, formed by orderly piles of ingots and mana crystals, Adamant and violet gems formed the tallest hills while Davross and white crystals were arranged into small bumps in the ground.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Powerful weapons, armors, and artifacts of all shape and size were orderly arranged in a circle, giving their master instant ess to them and disying his prowess.

    In the very center of the cave, there was a huge pile of gold with several ingots of magical metals, precious gemstones, and mana crystals decorating its wide base. On it, rested the corpse of the Father of Fire.

    Valtak''s body had been arranged with his long tail coiling around his shiny bed. He was crouched on the pile of gold, his long neck extended to its full length as if he was just

    sleeping.

    His wounded wing had been draped with silk to hide the exposed flesh and in turn the wing was furled so as to cover the ruined flesh beneath.

 Chapter 3355 Inner Light (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3355 Inner Light (Part 2)

    Only his snout had not been touched, still wearing the happy smile he had died with. "Grampa Valtak!" The illusion was so perfect that for a moment. Aran believed it.

    "Grampa Valtak, wake up!" He ran to the colossal Elder Wyrm, believing it had all been a cruel prank and that Valtak was having a pleasant dream.

    "Grampa Valtak?" Aran stopped after a few steps, feeling something was wrong.

    The Fire Dragon was too still. His nostrils didn''t move and his chest didn''t heave. The final straw that broke the illusion was the cold air surrounding the Wyrm. Valtak''s inner fire was warm and kind, just like him.

    Every time Aran was around the Father of Fire, it was like being wrapped in a hug yet. now there was nothing.

    "Grandpa?" Aran started to sniffle, touching one of the massive fingers and feeling it. devoid of life.

    The Dragon was no more, only a thing remained in front of the young boy.

    Aran''s sobbing quickly turned into ugly crying. Leria fared no better, but while her uncle clung to Valtak''s finger, she hugged Kam''s leg and refused to let go.

    Lith turned around, ready to re into silence any who dared mock the children for their naivety. Much to his surprise, nonemented. There was no scoff, furrowed brow, nor so much as a smirk.

    The Wyrms behind them looked down in silence, some with misted eyes.

    If admiration toward a fellow Wyrm''s treasure was the highest form of praise, openly grieving his loss was considered the highest form of love and as such it was highly respected, no matter whom it came from.

    Lith ignored the Wyrms and reached his little brother, gently lifting him up from the ground and holding Aran to his chest.

    "It''s alright, lil bro." Lith said. "Valtak is at peace now. Nothing can hurt him." Aran and Leria kept crying for a while before they managed to calm down. "What will happen to him?" Aran asked and Lith nodded at Erghak to respond. ''If I''m the one exining, I bet everyone will consider me a butcher who is already seizing the best cuts of meat. Fuck them and the Kinyer title.'' He inwardly grumbled. "Unlike humans, Dragons are not burned or buried after their death." The Fire Wyrm said. "Our fangs and ws are great to make weapons while our scales and bones can be used to forge sturdy armor.

    "Our lungs which wield Origin mes are great for generating powerful fire-based enchantments while our hearts are the ce where we weave our spells during our

    lives. It makes them great amplifiers and almost universal ingredients.

    "And don''t get me started about our eyes. Nothing of a Dragon gets thrown away, a bit like..." He turned toward the crowd of Wyrms behind them, nodding in apology and receiving their approval. "Like you humans do with your pigs."

    Theparison was far from noble but with children rity was more important than pointless pomp.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I see." Aran nodded.

    "But then what are you going to bury?" Leria asked. "An empty casket? His pieces of art?"

    "Nothing of the sort." Erghak shook his head. "Valtak had many children and grandchildren and he exined to them what each painting and statue meant to him. His heirs want to keep the pieces of art as a memento.

    "The Dragon funeral rite prescribes to select from the deceased''s trove the objects about which he cared the most or that embody his way of life the best. Some are powerful artifacts, others ingredients, and others are just symbolic."

    The Fire Dragon pointed at a few piles arranged near the Father of Fire''s corpse. There were a few paintings, small weapons, a piece of Valtak''s own egg, pieces of the eggs of his firstborns, and even elemental crystals with a unique hue.

    "By the end of the ceremony, we''ll arrange them in a single pile and burn everything with our Origin mes. Our fire will revive Valtak''s and the smoke will rise in the sky, reaching the sun.

    "We''ll keep the ashes in an urn while the feelings Valtak attached to these things now freed from their vessels will follow him in the afterlife.

    "Can I get some ashes?" Aran asked.

    "Of course. Erghak nodded. "Everyone attending the funeral can. But I must warn you, it will be just a bit, less than a handful. There''s many of us and only so much to burn."

    "Okay," Aran asked Lith to put him down and then for a handkerchief.

    His clothes were self-cleaning, but the same couldn''t be said for his face. Aran''s eyes were red and his mouth covered in slimy snot. He washed them both with conjured water that he kept floating in the air after using it, not to taint the floor.

    "Where can I throw this away?" He asked to their host.

    "Remarkable technique and sentiment." Erghak and the crowd murmured in approval as the Fire Dragon stored everything in his dimensional amulet to dispose of itter. "Follow me, please. Let''s make room for the others."

    "Sorry for making you wait." Leria gave the Wyrms a curtsy and then bolted back to her family.

    No one felt like admiring the riches and artifacts any longer so Erghak led them on the west side of the cave to the refreshment area. Vast tables had been lined up against the

    walls, each carrying either food or drinks.

    Much to Lith''s surprise, the food was home cooked for the asion. Much to everyone''s surprise, there was a single serving of each kind of dish and goblet of liquor with a dimensional amulet right next to them.

    "Those are just samples for disy. You don''t eat those." Erghak exined. "You take what you want from the amulet. Divine Beasts have to do things like this or there would never be enough space for both food and guests."

    Kam opened with a honeyed tea to calm herself down, quickly followed by the kids. Lith went straight to the meat dishes, looking at the many Dragon brews with longing. He had promised Kam he wouldn''t drink until the end of her pregnancy and he meant every word of it.

    Solus was in a really bad mood and could use something sweet, but she was also hungry from all those emotions. Her nose led her to a delicious smelling soup with pieces of meat and vegetables floating in it.

    "Excellent choice." Said a middle-aged man in a livery. "The rainbow soup was one of

    Valtak''s favourite dishes.

    "Rainbow?" Solus asked.

    "Correct!" The butler pointed at the various arch-shaped pieces of food that often stuck together, forming a multi-colored clump. "With all due respect, I suggest you to avoid

    the Garlen, Verendi, and Jiera sections."

    He then pointed at three tables at the far end of the buffet where many Dragons enjoyed

    their delicacies.

    "Why? Is it because I''m a human?" She asked.

    The rainbow soup was a dish from the Empire which was in Garlen, confusing Solus

    quite a bit.

    "Yes." The man nodded. "But not for the reason you think. The tes here contain recipes prepared by cooking what you regard as cattle. Those tables instead have dished prepared with... another kind of meat."

 Chapter 3356 Oxymoron (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3356 Oxymoron (Part 1)

    "What do you-" Solus almost choked on her food as the realization hit her. "Are you serious?"

    "Of course, Miss Verhen." The butler replied, his vertical slitted eyes brimming with mana. "Mine is only a suggestion. To a Dragon like me, that''s just meat. It''s up to you whether to consider it cannibalism or not.

    As humans ate animals, Divine Beasts could eat humans. Especially those who wronged them or tried to rob them of their treasures. There was no point in wasting good meat that had been kind enough to deliver itself to their doorstep.

    The Brood had invented quite a few recipes and they were all served at those three tables, split based on the meat''s country of origin.

    Those with deep ties with the humans found such dishes distasteful and avoided them but the rest of the Brood had no such problem.

    "Don''t be silly, Lith. Take something to drink." Maybe it was the Divine Beast''s blood, but when she was pregnant Kam always craved meat.

    "But... you know" Lith replied. "I don''t think I should drink. Not today."

    "No, you have to. Especially today. Excuse me, sir, do you have something simr to Maekosh''s brews?" She asked a butler.

    "Miss has excellent taste." He nodded. "Humans are truly capable and inventive. Once we Dragons tasted Mackosh beers, we reverse-engineered them and made our own. What you see on this table tastes the same and can make a Dragon tipsy.

    "I advise you neither drink nor smell them. They are quite potent for someone your size!" "One red ale for him and water for me." She said while putting an air barrier around her nose. "Alcohol makes me sad and I had enough for today."

    "You and me both, Miss. The butler sighed.

    Kam filled her te with drumsticks belonging to different birds and spicy skewers of meat alternated with vegetables before looking for an open table to sit at.

    "Thanks, Kami." Lith sealed the upper part of his mug with an air current to keep the alcohol vapors away from the others and allow them to appreciate the delicious smelling from their tes.

    "Don''t mention it." She checked the tes of the kids, discovering they had avoided soups and vegetables in favor of grill-cooked steak with roasted potatoes.

    "Dragons are the best." Aran alternated one bite of meat with one of crispy potato. "This is nothing like the fancy nd food we had at the Royal Court. This is actually tasty." Kam would have liked to lecture him about the importance of a bnced diet and not being ungrateful toward the Royals, but the roasted potatoes smelled so good that her

    mouth was watering.

    "Where did you get those?" She asked instead.

    "There." Leria pointed with her fork, "From the nice auntie with the blue livery."

    "You stay here. I''ll take enough for both of us." Lith winked at Kam, standing up before she could say anything.

    "One Dragon serving of roasted potatoes, please. My wife is not hungry." He said to the butler.

    "I see. I''ll give one and a half servings, then. Your dimensional amulet, please." She replied. "Do you need salt?"

    To save space, the butler would release the potatoes from her amulet and Lith would store them inside his own. The same happened for the rest of the dishes. A Dragon-sized te would have taken too much space and forced the guests to break the form code of the event.

    "Can you believe that guy?" An amethyst-scaled Dragon said in the distance. "He dared show his face here."

    "At least the Fire Dragons invited him and he didn''t crash the funeral." A female Dragon whose grey wings were enveloped in a thick mist replied. "I mean, how many Dragons must Verhen kill before someone does something about him?"

    "First, he killed Xedros." A silver-winged Wyrm said. "He was a jerk, but still one of Grandfather''s Firstborns. On top of that, Xedros had just cracked the secret of Dragonhood, bing one of us.

    "He indeed deserved death for his use of Forbidden Magic and siding with Thrud, but at least. Verhen could have brought Xedros alive for examination instead of executing him. Not to mention he destroyed the machine that made the evolution possible!" Actually, Scarlett the Scorpicore had killed Xedros right after evolving into a Guardian. Lith had indeed destroyed the machine, but only as a side effect of conjuring his Demons of the Darkness from the bodies of the Lesser Dragons sacrificed for Thrud''s

    experiments.

    s, no one cared about a flimsy detail like the truth when it regarded someone they disliked.

    "And do we want to talk about Syrook?" A green-winged female Dragon said. "I''m surprised Ananta didn''t teach Verhen a lesson for killing her son when they met at the Fringe."

    "And then it was Jormun''s turn to return to Mogar." A Storm Dragon sighed. "He was the only Emerald Dragon on Mogar. We''ll never know what his species could do or achieve. Last but not least, Valtak too died because of Verhen."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Every Dragon he touches dies." The female Mist Dragon grunted. "I''m surprised Grandfather even tolerates his existence. Especially after Verhen fraternized with that

    murderous scum of Zoreth and joined hands with her multiple times." "Tolerates?" The amethyst-scaled Dragon said. "Grandfather lives in Lutia, coddles Verhen''s half-blood spawn, and doesn''t hesitate to do stuff like that." He nodded at Aran and Leria. "I swear, if I didn''t know it''s impossible, I''d think they are all Grandfather''s children."

    Lith was d his mouth was empty or he would have spat out everything upon hearing thest phrase. He turned to re at the small crowd of Wyrms who waved at him while ring back.

    I wish I could say something but aside from the Xedros part, everything they said is true.'' Lith inwardly sighed. "To make matters worse, they are not saying those things to anger me, they are just respecting etiquette.''

    The Dragons whispered as low as they could but Lith''s keen hearing still overheard them. Only a mind link or a Hush Zone could avoid it but that would offend everyone

    else.

    Just the suspicion that someone was badmouthing Valtak at his own funeral was reason enough for several patriarchs and the Fire Dragons to gift the culprits with a funeral of

    their own.

    The worst part was that not even the patriarchs of the ns of those who vited etiquette would defend them so as not to establish a very dangerous precedent that could be turned against them.

    "The gall of that Hatchling!" The female Green Dragon said. "He dares re at us when we are the ones with every right to be angry. I''ll never understand why Jormun left his child to Verhen and why Grandfather cares so much about those little scrap bloods." Scrap blood was the derogatory term for those like Zoreth who had given up on their Divine Beast''s nature in favor of their other half and their descendants. The Royals were the most famous scrap bloods in the Kingdom.

    Until now.

    ''I don''t know what a scrap blood is but I bet it''s no kinder than calling someone a

    bastard.'' Lith was happy when finally the butler was done handing him the roasted potatoes and salt, allowing him to return to his table.

 Chapter 3357 Oxymoron (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3357 Oxymoron (Part 2)

    While Lith walked back to his group, he looked around the room and noticed that many Wyrms followed him with their gaze. Judging from their grimaces, whatever they were saying about him was nothing good.

    "Thank you!" Kam''s eyes lit up at the sight of more potatoes than she could eat.

    They were crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. The potatoes were also steaming hot, requiring small bites if one wanted to avoid first-degree burns. "From one to ten, how much do Fire Dragons me me for Valtak''s death?" Lith asked Erghak while passing the salt shaker to Kam.

    "Around two, but only because thick-headed idiots are a gue that even the best families can''tpletely eradicate." Erghak replied.

    "Tell me about it." Lith shook his head, thinking back to Orpal and Trion.

    "The other ns, however, I''d say range from five to seven."

    "What? Why?" Aran and Leria were so outraged that they dropped their forks.

    "Because first your uncle/brother injured Valtak while learning how to use his blue mes and then involved Valtak in the events that led to his death." The Fire Dragon shrugged.

    "It''s stupid, I know, but when someone you love dies it''s easier to look for a scapegoat than ept some things are inevitable. Why do you ask, Lith?"

    "I happened to overhear..." Lith threw a meaningful nce at Tista, Solus, and Kam before nodding at the kids. "An interesting discussion about my family in general and me in particr."

    The three women frowned, but quickly resumed smiling when Aran and Leria turned to them, their small faces puzzled by Lith''s cryptic words.

    "I''m sorry to hear." Erghak gave him an apologetic bow. "For what is worth, you are all honored guests of the Fire Dragon''s Brood and will be treated as such.

    "Is everything alright here?" A tall, burly man dressed in a midnight-blue suit asked. "More or less, mister..." Aran had no doubt the person in from of him was a Dragon. The man had sky-blue skin, crystal scales covering most of his face, and a long beard that looked sculpted in ice rather than well-groomed facial hair. The wings, red eyes, and vertical-slitted pupils were just the icing on the cake.

    "How rude of me, not introducing myself." The Dragon red at Erghak. "And even ruder of you, Whelp. Aren''t you supposed to be their host? Where are your manners?"

    "Right here." Erghak tapped the side of his head. "It''s just hard to be a good host when a stranger ambushes me and starts addressing my guests without giving me the time to do the proper introductions."

    The two Dragons exchanged a short, mutual reproving look before Erghak talked again. "My friends, this is Quashol, Father of All Ice Dragons and patriarch of his Brood. Quashol, you already know Lith and Solus Verhen. These are Tista Verhen, Hekate and candidate Father of Fire, Lady Kam Verhen, mother of Elysia, Aran Verhen, and Leria Verhen."

    "Nice to meet you." The Elder Wyrm gave them a polite bow that was returned in the form of a bow or a curtsy.

    "Nice to meet you too, mister Quashol" Aran circled back to the original question. "The food is great but Dragons are less cool than I thought."

    "Why do you say that?" Quashol blinked a few times in surprise.

    Usually, making a good impression on children was quite easy. Showing a bit of scales and breathing a bit of fire was enough to do the trick.

    "Because they me my brother for what happened to Grandnpa Valtak" Aran replied. "They are mean."

    "I see your point, Hatchling" Quashol nodded. "They are not mean, though. They are just hurt and scared. Death is an umon thing for Dragons and even we do stupid things when we are scared. Don''t you?"

    "Yes." Aran sighed. "But that''s no excuse. I miss Grandpa Valtak too but I don''t me them for not helping my brother. I mean, if everyone joined him from the start, Grandpa Valtak would have remained home to rest, and he..."

    Aran failed to find the strength to finish the phrase but there was no need to. His words struck Quashol like a punch to the gut and his guilty conscience filled in the nks. Valtak would still be alive."The Elder Wyrm thought and he wasn''t the only one.

    Aran had spoken with a normal tone but with their''s acoustics and the Dragons'' keen hearing, everyone had heard him. Those who had rushed to the Fringe after Valtak''s death felt horrible.

    Those who hadn''te at all felt so ashamed that they turned towards the nearest wall, incapable of facing the rest of their brethren.

    "Yes, it''s no excuse." Quashol clenched his fist while doing his best to prevent the guilt that was devouring him from showing on his face. "Sadly, Dragons aren''t as cool as people think. Sometimes we are really dumb and selfish.

    "For what is worth, you have my word that no Ice Dragon will talk, or even think ill of your family." He swept the room with his gaze and many of his Brood turned silent or abandoned their previous conversations.

    "Thanks, mister." Aran nodded. "You have a nice beard but Grandpa Valtak''s was cuter. It was fluffy while yours looks as sharp as a knife."

    "Guilty as charged, Hatchling." Quashol patted Aran''s head. "Valtak was better than me under many aspects, beard included."

    "Isn''t an Ice Dragon an oxymoron?" Leria asked. "How do fire and ice mix?"

    "Leria!" Aran went pale with shock. "Apologize immediately. I''m sorry for her rudeness."

    The young boy started to bow obsessively, pushing Leria''s head down to do the same under the perplexed eyes of the adults.

    "Apologize for what? What rudeness are you talking about?" Leria was red from anger and embarrassment, afraid to have unwittingly vited one of the etiquette rules Lith had taught them.

    "You called him a moron, dummy!" Aran said. "That''s not nice to say to someone you just met, even if you don''t like him."

    Quashol couldn''t help himself but burst intoughter despite the somber atmosphere of the funeral and so did several other Dragons, Erghak included.

    "Oxymoron, not moron, you dummy!" Leria wanted to cry, half out of relief and half out of second-hand embarrassment due to Aran so casually unting his ignorance. "It''s not an insult. It''s a figure of speech that refers to conflicting terms coexisting.

    "Like old news, dumb genius, or in this case, fire and ice!"

    "Oh." Aran''s eyes narrowed as he thought hard at the word oxymoron and engraved its meaning deep into his memory to avoid future embarrassment. "I stand corrected then.

    I''m sorry."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Don''t be, Hatchling." The Elder Wyrm said amidughter. "It was fun. As for your question, youngdy, no, it''s not. We can still breathe fire. It''s just that an Ice Dragon mainly produces it by absorbing the heat of his surroundings rather than generating it." "I see." Leria nodded. "Your ice is actually the result of theck of heat, not cold."

    "I don''t." Aran shrugged.

    "I''ll exin it to you at home, d- I mean, Aran."

    "Nice to meet you again, Solus." Quashol changed the topic to stop the children from bickering again.

 Chapter 3358 A New Page (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3358 A New Page (Part 1)

    "I hope you are recovering from your bad experience. How is your ancestor adapting to her new life?" Quashol asked.

    "My imprisonment was indeed bad but at least it didn''tst long." Solus replied. "M-enadion has a lot to process but she''s doing better by the day, thank you for asking" "What about you, Tista? We missed you on the battlefield."

    "I''m doing fine but I''m still too weak." She released her aura which had just started to show lighter streaks amid the deep violet. "I wanted toe. I wanted to stand by the Brood''s side and save Solus.

    "Yet without an armor and a stronger core, I would''ve been nothing but a burden. It pains me to admit that my absence did more good than my presence would have.

    "I see." Quashol had never met Tista in person and had expected her to be no inferior to Lith. Her weak aura and puny armor, however, told a different story. "Don''t apologize. Putting the lives of others above your pride was the right thing to do.

    "And don''t worry about missing a single battle. You are still young and there will be plenty of time for you to catch up with us old fools. Valtak believed in you enough to list you among the candidates for the next Father of Fire and I believe in him.

    "Keep working hard and master your abilities. The day when someone aside from the Fire Dragons can teach us something new about our inner fire will mark a new page in Dragon history. Valtak believed that someone might be you.

    "It''s more than most of us can say." Quashol shook Tista''s hand and moved on to Kam. "Lady Verhen."

    "Patriarch Quashol" They didn''t have much to say to each other so they just made small talk about. Elysia.

    "Lith." The Elder Wyrm offered him his hand and Lith promptly shook it. "I can''t help but notice the Hatchlings'' wings. Did they too awaken their bloodline?"

    The kids'' groans answered his question but Lith expanded on it.

    "No, that''s just Leegaain''s doing for the asion. After my sister and I awakened ours, however, I think it''s only a matter of reaching the deep blue core. I don''t know if Aran and Leria also have to Awaken or if the natural development would be enough."

    "Interesting" Quashol nodded. "Your blood is quite p-"

    "Really?" Aran and Leria jumped in front of Lith, demanding an exnation. "Are you

    sure?"

    "Sure, no." His words made them aww. "But between your reaction to both Leegaain''s Dragon Dance and my Demon Dirge, it''s safe to assume it''s likely. On top of that, I bet that Grandma and Grandpa bringing your Divine Beast to the surface often is stirring your bloodlines."

    "Really?" The kids jumped in excitement again.

    "Look at me." Lith replied. "No one, and I mean no one sparked my life force once yet I became a Tiamat at the deep blue. I''d say you are leagues aheadpared to me at your age."

    The children broke into an improvised celebratory dance that ended the moment they remembered where and why they were. The chuckles from around them helped jog their memory.

    "I see, thank you for the information, Uncle Lith." Leria straightened invisible wrinkles on her dress to regain a modicum ofposure despite the horse having already bolted out of the stable and reached the nearest city. "I apologize for my interruption, Patriarch Quashol."

    "Don''t worry, little one." He patted her head. "As I was saying, your blood must be quite potent. It''s very unusual to recover what a foolish ancestor has so foolishly discarded. No one should suffer the consequences of a single scrap blood''s idiotic decision." "Unusual might be my middle name but I must agree with the Royals'' choice. Tiamat has a better ring to it." Lith inwardly sighed in relief, Quashol''s words had taken a huge burden off his chest.

    Scrap blood wasn''t an insult directed to him or the children, but to those who had reneged on their Divine Beast bloodline. Like Zoreth.

    ''It exins why most Dragons dislike her. I was worried someone might bully the kids but in hindsight, it was silly of me. No one, Dragon or otherwise ever mistreated me even when I was just a Wyrmling and a potential lesser Dragon.

    ''Quite the contrary, they were weing, if not enthusiast or envious.''

    Quashol introduced Irk and Ananta to the kids. Both patriarchsplimented them for their wings and powerful cores for their age.

    Once the sun reached halfway past the horizon, the tables with food were removed and the area surrounding Valtak''s corpse was cleared, making space for all the guests. Valtak''s friends, family, and most of the patriarchs took turns to give him a brief eulogy. There wasn''t much time until dark so to let everyone speak, they had to be concise and on point.

    Most of them talked about their first encounter with the Father of Fire or the event that had turned master and apprentice into friends.

    Lith decided not to go. He had known Valtak only for a short time and didn''t want to ruin the nostalgic mood by taking the stage.

    "The Dragons may know Valtak''s death isn''t my fault but their hearts don''t care about that. Their pain is too fresh and I can''t say anything that wouldn''t make it worse! Lith

    thought.

    "This is the twilight of Valtak, Father of Fire." With a wave of Erghak''s hand, Fire Dragons

    stepped forward, storing all the treasures inside dimensional amulets.

    Even the mountain of gold and artifacts that had been Valtak''s bed was taken away.

    "His me is reduced to embers. His life is over. Yet he is not gone." Erghak pointed at the corpse that still stood at the center of the cave. "He will always be with us through his teachings, words, and friendship.

    "As long as we remember him and honor him through our actions, Valtak will live on. It is our duty to pass his memory on our descendants so that his me will ignite again in

    their hearts."

    A second wave of his hand moved the piles of objects that would be burned in ce of Valtak''s corpse near to it, like a cold embrace.

    "Before we bid ourst goodbye to his physical form, let''s take a moment to tell him how much he meant to us. You can approach Valtak and touch a relic of your choice, not the body." Erghak looked straight at Aran, reminding him of his earlier blunder.

    "It might seem cruel, but we don''t want to risk that our pain and grief reach Valtak. We don''t want him toe back for us and defile his body and memory by turning himself into an undead."

    Aran nodded and the Fire Dragon continued.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The relics, instead, will store our feelings along with those Valtak already instilled in them. Once burned by our Origin mes, our negative emotions will be cleansed and only our love and affection will reach him beyond the veil."

    Upon his signal, everyone stepped forward, taking one item from the pile of objects and holding it tight. Some whispered their message to the relic while looking at the majestic corpse of the Father of Fire, others kept their eyes closed and their heads down in a silent conversation.

 Chapter 3359 A New Page (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3359 A New Page (Part 2)

    Once everyone was done, Erghak gave the signal to put the item back into the pile and step away.

    "What do you think you are doing, kid?" An amethyst-scaled Dragon grabbed Aran''s wrist in a steel vise.

    "I''m not doing anything and you''re hurting me!" Aran struggled and failed to break free.

    "What''s happening here?" Erghak''s voice was calm, but his gaze was cold and hard enough to force the other Wyrm to release his prey.

    "I saw the human taking something from the pile." Calling the boy human instead of hatchling sounded like condemnation to half those present and like an insult to the rest.

    "I''m not a thief!" Aran said in outrage.

    "That''s a serious usation, Shabar:" Erghak replied. "Are you certain?"

    "I couldn''t be more certain even if it was my own treasure that got robbed." Dragons had keen eyes that could notice a single missing coin or just out of ce.

    "Aran?" Erghak looked straight into the boy''s eyes without softening his gaze one bit.

    "I didn''t take anything. I swear!"

    "Please!" Shabar scoffed. "We all like treasures, but stealing from the dead at his own funeral is low even for a human."

    "I''m not talking with you, Shabar." Erghak replied. "Don''t make me repeat myself. You have already disrupted Valtak''s funeral and there''s only so much time until the sun goes down. If the moment is lost, I''ll hold you responsible!"

    "Me? I''m not the one who saw something shiny and thought I could pocket it without anyone noticing. Being a kid is no excuse for such rotten behavior."

    "Shut up." Quashol grabbed Shabar''s shoulder, draining the heat from his body and with it his strength. "The longer you speak the more you sully the funeral."

    The Wyrm would have liked to reply, but his jaws were frozen together.

    "Aran, I have to search you." Erghak said. "If I find nothing, the rude uncle and I will apologize to you. Okay?"

    "Okay." Aran stood still while the Fire Dragon ced his hand on the boy''s head and used Invigoration to check for hidden pockets or dimensional items.

    "The Hatchling has nothing but his clothes and a bunch of handkerchiefs." Erghak said, restoring Aran''s honor and drawing countless res on Shabar''s sorry figure. "See? I told you, a Verhen never lies." Aran said while puffing his chest out with pride. Lith, Solus, and Tista looked around nervously, neither confirming nor denying the boy''s im. Kam had a hard time repressing a peal ofughter at their evident difort,

    but managed to keep it in thanks to her Constable training.

    "I believe you." Erghak nodded. "But I also believe Shabar. There''s no way a Dragon can make such a blunder and this can''t just be an attempt to frame you because it was too easy to disprove

    "How can you believe us both?" Aran swallowed a lump of saliva.

    "Because of your choice of words." Erghak sniffed the boy and then the pile of treasures. "What''s this?"

    By following the scent, he found a wooden dragon figurine hidden under a piece of Dragon eggshell.

    "I''m pretty sure that Valtak never had such a toy and it only carries your smell."

    "It''s not a toy. It''s my treasure." Aran said with a guilty look on his face. "It''s the first toy my father carved and my brother enchanted for me. It''s half of our family emblem." Erghak took a good look at the figurine, noticing it had been carved with great care but limited skill. The enchantments just made it durable and emit light from the hands to mimic spells and from the mouth to mimic fire.

    The countless scratches in the paint were a testament to how much it had been yed with. What struck Erghak the most was that the base color of the miniature was ck, like the Dragon on the Verhen''s coat of arms, but it had been recently and clumsily painted over with red.

    "I know that Dragons like treasures so I wanted to give Grandpa Valtak the Dragon while I kept the tower half. I didn''t mean to be rude and disturb the ceremony, mister Erghak. "He knew you all for many years while we spent just a few months together. I don''t want him to forget me." Aran sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.

    "You don''t have to apologize for this. It''s a thoughtful gesture and a wonderful present." The Fire Dragon knelt down, putting one hand on the boy''s shoulder and caressing his head with the other. "You should apologize for quibbling.

    "As I suspected, you specified you didn''t take anything instead of saying you didn''t tamper with the pile. I guess Verhens never lie but they sure withhold part of the truth when it suits them." He said with augh.

    Aran felt ashamed for humiliating his family while Lith, Tista, and Solus steeled themselves not to show any reaction to the spot-on observation. Kam cried from hrity, but managed to make them pass for tears for the touching scene.

    "Are there any objections from the Fire Dragon Brood to add this fellow Dragon to the pyre?" Erghak asked receiving no answer except for one raised hand. "Elder Ronak?" "Not an objection, a request." The Elder Wyrm took a childish drawing of him and his father out of his dimensional amulet. "Can I add something of mine as well?"

    "Me too." Said an old female Fire Dragon holding a badly crafted fire crystal in her hand.

    One after the other, the Fire Dragons pulled out small items of great sentimental value that bound them to Valtak.

    "Unless you all object to your own proposal, I couldn''t turn it down even if I wanted. And I don''t." Erghak took a crudely purified silver bar the size of a pencil out of his dimensional amulet. "I guess our Hatchling has just added a new page to our tradition." The Fire Dragons nodded solemnly and gave Aran a small bow thatsted long enough for everyone to remember that the Hatchling wasn''t just a guest. He carried the blood of a Fire Dragon, making him one of the Brood.

    Aran became beet red from the attention while his mind went nk.

    "I''m not of your Brood, but I ask to add my share to the lot." Quashol pulled out a letter from his breast pocked after the Fire Dragons had ced their gifts on the pyres.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Sure." Erghak nodded.

    The Father of All Ice Dragons left the letter under a heavy gold coin and moved to Aran''s side.

    "It contains all the things I couldn''t say to Valtak over the millennia because of my stupid pride and my apologies for abandoning him when he needed me the most." He said. "Why are you telling me?" Aran looked around like a trapped mouse, feeling the burden of such confidence.

    "Because it''s only thanks to you that my stupid pride failed to stop me again. Quashol replied. "I had your same idea butcked the guts for it. Now Valtak won''t have to wait until we meet again to listen to my whining and I''ll live what''s left of my years with a lighter conscience. Thank you, Hatchling."

 Chapter 3360 Dragon Hearth (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3360 Dragon Hearth (Part 1)

    "You should have told me of your n!" Leria grunted. "I have nothing to add to the pyre."

    "It''s fine." Aran shrugged. "It won''t remind Grandpa Valtak of just me, but of all us Verhens."

    ***

    Later, as thest bit of the sun slowly descended below the horizon, the Wyrms formed a circle and breathed bursts of Origin mes until their lungs ran out of air. Valtak''s corpse had already been removed and all the piles of treasure merged into one funeral pyre ced exactly over the Father of Fire''s spot.

    Each Dragon breathed their own mes without mixing them with those of others, creating a multi-colored corona of fire.

    To honor Aran''s contribution, the Fire Dragons used Primal Spark on him and Leria, allowing them to use their mana to breathe bright yellow Origin mes. Arge ckened area now marked the floor as a testament to its previous owner.

    As the mes burned high, the Wyrms conjured an air wall from every side to ensure that not one speck of ashes would be lost. When the fire died down, the Fire Dragons had the first pick under Erghak''s attentive gaze.

    Only one human handful could be taken. Lith and the others were considered Fire Dragons and went first, Kam included.

    "I didn''t know Valtak well so I''ll split my ashes between Elysia and Valeron." She said. "I want them to have something to remember him by once they get old enough to understand what happened to him."

    Once the sun disappeared, the lights in the cave went out and the guests moved outside to say their farewells.

    "That''s very thoughtful of you, Kami." Solus would have liked to give some of her ashes too, but Valtak had died for her and she wanted to always remember his sacrifice.

    Under the light of the moon, the stars, and the spells, the Wyrms raised a final toast at Valtak''s memory.

    "One moment, please." Lith said. "There''s something I need to do while we are still under this sacred covenant in honor of our fallen friend."

    The Dragons lowered their sses and moved their eyes to the Tiamat.

    "After thinking long and hard, I came to the conclusion that my first assessment was right. Many people participated in the mission to rescue my beloved friend and rtive Solus Verhen, but Valtak''s contributions exceeded everyone else''s by a wide margin. "He gave it everything he had and some more. It''s only right that I return the favor. Not to him because he''s beyond such matters now, but to his family." Lith took the Ears of Menadion out of his pocket dimension.

    "Erghak, this belongs to you and your Brood now. Inside, you''ll find the instructions on how to use it." Lith winked from the eye on his forehead so that only the Fire Dragon standing in front of him could see it.

    A neatly folded piece of paper was attached to the inner lining of the helm, containing the basics of how to use the Ears, its unlock code, and how to seal the artifact again if needed.

    "I ept your generosity and apud your wisdom." Erghak gave Lith a deep bow, quickly followed by the rest of the Fire Dragons. "Elder Ronak, if you please!"

    The bearded Wyrm, son of Valtak, stepped forward, giving Lith a polite nod and looking at Erghak with curiosity.

    "We have yet to decide who among us will imprint the Ears of Menadion and be its true master." The younger Wyrm said. "To avoid strife and plotting from the less honorable members of our kind, I propose we split this responsibility."

    Erghak took the piece of paper from inside the helm without opening it and exined its meaning to the Elder. Then, he stored the instruction inside a dimensional ring and handed it to Ronak.

    "This way, I can''t ess the instructions and neither can you." The Fire Dragon continued. "I can now entrust the Ears to our council of Elders since without the code the power of the Ears is more than halved.

    "Even if someone manages to steal and imprint the Ears, it won''t do them much good." "Excellent idea." Ronak stored the ring inside his own dimensional amulet. "Without our greed blinding us, there''s hope we''ll put the good of our Brood above our own. Sadly, the same can''t be said about our brothers."

    The Elder Wyrm red at the crowd of Dragons staring at the Ears like a pack of hungry wolves standing in front of a wounded deer.

    Most of them either cleared their throats or blushed a little before turning their heads in embarrassment. Very few ignored the remark and kept staring,

    Ronak gave the Ears to another Elder who stored it away, snapping even the greediest Dragon out of their greed.

    "To Valtak!" Erghak raised his ss, resuming the toast.

    "May your me burn even brighter in the next world!" The Wyrms followed suit as one, their voices rising to the sky as a booming echo to Erghak''s.

    ***

    Soon after the toast, the sun disappeared past the horizon and the Dragons left the ckfang Mountain after saying their goodbyes.

    "One moment, young fellow." Lith and the others were about to leave as well when

    Ronak stopped them. "Since you have contributed to add one more page to our traditions, we''d like to keep a sample of your Origin mes in our Dragon Hearth."

    "My mes?" Aran echoed in disbelief.

    "What''s the Dragon Hearth?" Leria asked.

    "A room inside our ancestral home where we store containers like this one." Ronak took a ss vase with a metal lid and bottom. "It''s called Firekeeper and can contain a small wisp of Origin mes indefinitely.

    "We use them to collect the essence of the meritorious members of our Brood, like our Champions and Fathers of Fire. The Dragon Hearth is lit solely by Firekeepers and we believe that by standing in the light of our benefactors we can obtain their guidance." "But I can''t breathe Origin mes and I''m not even a Dragon." Aran lowered his gaze and tormented his fingers.

    "I can help you with the mes like I already did during the funeral." Ronak replied. "Sadly, I can''t make you a Dragon, but I believe in you, Hatchling. I''ll keep your fire and as soon as you reach the deep blue core, I''ll petition for adding your mes to the Dragon Hearth. What do you say?"

    "It would be my honor!" Aran furled and unfurled his wings in excitement.

    Leria stared at the Elder Wyrm with a pleading look but Ronak shrugged and shook his head. He opened the Firekeeper and put his hand on Aran''s back, activating the Primal

    Spark bloodline ability.

    Aran could have produced magical fire from any part of his body and Primal Spark would have turned it into Origin mes but he chose to do it from the mouth, imitating how he had seen Lith doing it to the best of his abilities.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Too much enthusiasm, Hatchling. I need a wisp, not a river!" The Elder Wyrm chuckled, smothering most of the mes until only the equivalent of a candle remained.

    Lith used the Eyes to study the Firekeeper, discovering that it wasn''t much different from the bottles the Dragons used to store and sell their mes.

 Chapter 3361 Dragon Hearth (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3361 Dragon Hearth (Part 2)

    The spells insted the Origin mes so as to keep anything they could burn away. and preserve their strength.

    The metal lids drew in world energy and fed it to the spark of Origin mes. The Firekeeper ensured that the Origin mes it stored would burn indefinitely until Aran''s life force was consumed or the supply of world energy cut off.

    "Bright yellow." Ronakmented while tapping on the enchanted ss. "We can''t have that, Hatchling. Grow strong and rece it with a stronger fire!"

    He offered Aran his hand and the boy shook it.

    "I will do my best!"

    After bidding Erghak and Ronak goodbye, Lith''s group opened a Warp Steps leading towards the closest mana geyser.

    "Howe I''ve never seen that toy?" Kam asked in the attempt to change the topic and lift Leria''s sour mood.

    She and Aran shared a friendly rivalry that usually saw them even but this time he had scored a point that no amount of effort could emte.

    "Because my father made it soon after I graduated from the White Griffon academy and the Royals bestowed upon me my family name and crest." Lith replied. "You and I started dating yearster and by that time Aran and Leria had already developed a finer taste in toys."

    His words made the two kids turn their heads, ashamed of their own behavior.

    "Is it true, Leria?" Kam asked. "Do you have one as well?"

    "Yes." She nodded. "I keep it in my room back in Lutia. Grandpa Raaz made it one for me too. It''s like a big white tower from chess with the ck dragon coiled around it. I, uhm, stopped carrying it around after Uncle Lith''s skills improved enough to enchant artisan-made toys."

    "It''s true." Aran said. "Back then big bro only enchanted the toys Dad made because even if he destroyed them, he wouldn''t lose money. Even as a human, Lith was already as stingy as a Dragon!"

    Aran puffed his chest with pride as if he was praising his brother. Kam furrowed her brows, staring at Lith until he too turned his head, ashamed of his own behavior.

    "I was young and money was tight." Lith cleared his voice. "Tell her, Solus."

    "It''s true. He was as stingy as a Dragon." Solus sighed. "But he got better."

    "I know." Kam chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. "Why didn''t Raaz make one for Elysia and Surin, though? It''s not fair."

    "It''s safer that way." Lith replied. "Surin might choke on it and Elysia would bite it into

    oblivion. Dad carved the toys before the babies were born and I enchanted them. We are just waiting for Surin and Elysia to grow a bit before giving the toys to them."

    "I guess this is a blessing in disguise." Kam nodded.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked.

    "What about Valeron? Did Raaz make one for him too?"

    "No." Lith connected the dots the moment the word left his lips.

    "That''s what I meant." She sighed. "If Surin and Elysia had already gotten their toy, Valeron would have grown up thinking he was being left out of the family tradition. He''s smarter and has a better memory than a regr baby.

    "This way, instead, he can get his own toy at the same time as the baby girls and grow up knowing he belongs to our family no less than them."

    "Aunt Kami is as wise as a Dragon!" Leria said and Aran cheered.

    A couple of Warpster, they returned to the Desert where it was still afternoon.

    "Mom, Dad! You''ll never believe what happened!" The two children ran to their

    respective parents who widened their eyes in shock.

    Aran and Leria still had wingsing out of their backs. On top of that, Leria''s face and Aran''s hands were still covered in scales.

    "Did they Awaken?" Elina asked, trying to hide her fear under a false smile.

    "No. Like it''s that easy." Lith tutted.

    "Did they catch the Dragon flu or something?" Rena examined Leria''s scales, getting only more worried once she noticed her daughter''s eyes had be vertical-slitted.

    "Don''t be silly, Mom. Dragons don''t get sick." Leria said with an annoying, lecturing tone that Rena recognized as her own. "This is just Grandpa Leegaain''s gift not to make us feel out of ce. It''s temporary."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The disappointment the little girl put in thosest two words was matched by the relief with which the two mothers sighed at the news.

    "How did the funeral go?" The parents noticed that their respective children didn''t look as burdened by grief as before.

    In Leria''s case, however, the feeling had been reced by a mix of envy and annoyance.

    The kids shared their impressions about the guests and their interactions with the Dragons without adding context or caring about the order in which the events had taken ce. It made little sense to their parents but they nodded, smiled, and praised the kids whenever it was necessary.

    Then, Lith told the story again from the beginning and with the aid of holograms.

    "Dragons have magnificent traditions." Raaz nodded, thinking back at histe parents buried under a tree in Lutia and wishing he could have done more for them. "I''m d it

    helped you let go of your sadness."

    "I''m proud of you, Aran." Elina trapped the boy in a bear hug and kissed his forehead. "Even the Dragons recognized your good heart."

    "Thanks, Mom," Aran returned the embrace and the kiss, making Elina beam with joy. "I feel a bit guilty, though. I''m supposed to feel bad for Grandpa Valtak and instead, I''m excited about breathing Origin mes for the first time and being praised."

    "You can''t be sad forever, sweetie." Elina said. "As Erghak said, it would make Valtak sad too. Losing someone you love is always painful but the best way to honor them is by remembering the joy they brought to us and sharing it with others.

    "That''s what you did today. You let everyone know how much Valtak meant to you and helped the other Dragons to ovee their grief. I''m sure he wouldn''t want you to feel guilty for doing a good deed."

    The kids then told their parents about how shiny the Wyrms they had met were and how exalting the effect of Primal Spark was.

    Once they were done, Kam made her request to Raaz.

    "I''m sorry. I should have thought about that sooner." He scratched his head in embarrassment. "It took me a while to get used to Valeron and by the time I started to

    consider him family, I hadpletely forgotten about the toy."

    "Luckily, you have plenty of time to make up for it." Elina said. "While you are at it, why

    don''t you make one for each of our children?"

    She pointed at Lith, Tista, Rena, and Trion.

    "But, dear, they are too old for toys and they were born long before we had a family

    crest." Raaz replied.

    "True, but if it has to be a family tradition, we should give it deeper roots." Elina

    said. "This way, when Surin, Elysia, and Valeron grow older, they will see that everyone of their rtive has the same toy and treasure your gift more!

 Chapter ???????3362 Less is More (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3362 Less is More (Part 1)

    The four siblings exchanged a brief unenthusiastic nce before nodding and praising Elina for her idea. They were indeed too old for toys but their mother''s happiness was priceless to them.

    ***

    During the following days, Lith and Solus spent their mornings practicing the various pieces of the Set under Menadion''s guidance. During that time, Aran and Leria went to school with renewed enthusiasm.

    They had long since learned how to read, write, and count so they focused their efforts on magic.

    Compulsory education in the Blood Desert included all kinds of chore magic. The students would regrly perform practical exercises under the supervision of skilled tutors who separated the children based on the power of their mana cores.

    Those with a deep red core had too little mana to do anything and were exonerated from the lessons. From red to orange, children would be taught to use all elements but only in their basic forms to perform chores safely.

    From bright orange and up, anyone with colored streaks in their hair would receive lessons that also covered air des, how to produce electricity, and how to shape ice. Such advanced topics were covered not as means of offense but to teach the children self-control.

    In moments of great stress, an individual talented enough could produce such phenomenons by instinct, and without proper training, someone might get hurt. A child cutting one of their siblings or electrocuting their parents during a tantrum left a mental scar on the future mages that no light magic could remove.

    With their bright yellow cores, colored streaks, and Lith''s teachings, Aran and Leria were always at the top of their ss. Something they loved to rub in the face of their rivals by conjuring holograms.

    After receiving Dawn''s tips, they could form basic hard-light constructs as well but Lith had instructed them to keep it a secret and practice Light Mastery only at home. After Solus'' kidnapping and the attempts on Kam''s life, the kids didn''t need to be told twice. Kam spent that time practicing umtion and studying tier three magic under Tista''s tutge. With everything that had happened, she wanted to be strong.

    ''I don''t want to go back to being a liability for Lith the moment the baby is born and I don''t n to be pregnant for the rest of my life. I must be capable of defending myself!'' She thought.

    Raaz and Elina spent most of their time in the Greenhouse with the babies. While the adults tended the fields, the children explored the safe environment around them,

    marveling at the butterflies and small furry animals Raaz brought from time to time. "Bad Shargein, bad!" He scolded the Wyrmling who had just tried to swallow a bunny. "This is not food. See?" Raaz patted the terrified creature.

    "Ba! Ba!" Elysia and Valeron joined the scolding, making Shargein tilt his head in confusion.

    "Roast?" He pointed his taloned finger at the rodent while rubbing his scaled belly. "Hungry!"

    Shargein had indeed eaten roasted bunny before and unlike the other two babies, he could tell what his favourite food looked like while alive from its smell.

    "I think we are in trouble." Raaz said.

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Elina stood up but the Wyrmling could still look her straight into the eyes while sitting. Compared to him, she was shorter and much thinner. "If you are hungry, you just need to say it, Shargein.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You should never hurt living creatures unless for self-defense. Is it clear, young man?" Things weren''t so ck and white but with such a powerful child, guidelines had to be kept simple.

    "Yes." Shargein didn''t fear the small and weak woman, but he had been raised right and he respected his elders.

    Also, Elina''s firm tone and the way she weaved her finger under his snout reminded him of his mother too much to raise an objection.

    "Good, Shargein." She rewarded him with a tray of steaming roasted chickens. "Remember, the strong must treat the weak with respect, or he''s just a bully,"

    "Okay." He wolfed down a chicken in one gulp, rubbing his long neck against her as a thank you.

    "He''s just a baby, Raaz." Elina said while caressing the Wyrmling. "Just because he''s big and strong, you mustn''t assume the worst. Shargein is very smart, just like Elysia."

    "Me smarter." The Wyrmling said in between bites.

    "Ba!" Elysia shapeshifted into a Tiamat in outrage.

    "It''s not apetition, Elysia." Raaz grabbed her in mid-air before she rammed against Shargein with her horns. "Be a good girl and let him eat in peace."

    "Ba?" The little girl pointed her wed finger at herself.

    "If you are violent, yes." Raaz said with a stern tone that made the baby girl chirp apologetically. "What Grandma Elina said about respecting others applies to you too."

    "So-y." Elysia stopped struggling and extended her little arms.

    "Apologies epted but don''t do that ever again." He held the baby to his chest, cradling her.

    "First, that''s how you have to treat Shargein. Just like that. Elina said. "Second, don''t call me grandma, please. It makes me feel old."

    "Easy to say" Raaz replied. "She''s this small and he''s that big!"

    He stood beside Shargein who was taller,rger, and heavier. Even at one year of age, a Dragon whelp could kill a man with ease.

    "It''s only a matter of habit." Elina said. "Do you remember how, at first, we were intimidated by the magical beasts protecting our house? After spending a bit of time

    with them, however, they weren''t so scary anymore."

    "That''s true, but they are all adults as intelligent as humans. Some even more. Raaz countered. "Shargein is a baby."

    "Adults? You mean like Onyx and Abominus?" Elina countered back.

    "Point taken." Raaz raised his hands with the palms out in surrender. "It seems you and I have to spend some time together, big fe."

    Shargein gulped down thest chicken and nuzzled against Raaz, chirping in enthusiasm. Raaz brought the Doomyer crib closer and put Elysia back in with Valeron. "Watch and learn. He started to whittle a piece of wood into a dragon figurine. "By the way, what do you mean, old? The children always call you grandma."

    "It''s different." Elina sighed. "They are young and adorable. Also, I am their grandma. You

    instead are...."

    "Old and grumpy?" Raaz said with augh. "Guilty as charged."

    The knife shaved away big pieces of wood. It had yet to take any shape but, to the babies, whittling was like magic. Something turned into another and they had no clue how.

    "No, silly. You are my husband. I may look like I''m still in my thirties but when you call me grandma, I feel all my forty-two years weighing on my chest." She said, wringing her hands. "Like I''m not the girl you married anymore but the hag you''re stuck with."

    "Now it''s your turn to be silly." He put his tools down before embracing her. "You were and are a gorgeous woman, Elina, but what made me fall for you is a kind of beauty that doesn''t fade.

    "Believe me when I say you are the same beautiful girl I married and losing you would kill

    me."

 Chapter 3363 Less is More (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3363 Less is More (Part 2)

    Elina said nothing, losing herself in his warmth. At least until the peanut gallery startedining about the interruption in their show and loudly at that.

    "Tine! I get back to work." Raaz grumbled while Elina chuckled.

    "It''s the price of fame, dear." She watched him work together with the kids, appreciating his strong yet precise hands.

    Raaz had kept his word and improved his skills with the help of Sark''s best

    woodcarvers. When he was done, the coiled dragon figurine closely resembled the family insignia.

    It was much more detailed and elegant than the one he had made for Aran years ago. "It''s beautiful. Elina pped her hands. "Once you take care of making the wings, ws, mouth, and scales more detailed it will be perf-"

    Shargein grabbed one of the spare wooden pieces and started to carve it with the ws of his hands. His figurine took shape at a speed visible to the naked eye and in a little more than a minute, Raaz''s dragon had an identical twin.

    "You are very talented. Very good, Shargein. Raaz scratched the Wyrmling''s neck, making him squirm with pleasure and puff his chest out with pride.

    "To think that I spent years learning how to do it by myself and hours in the woodshop while he just needed to see me do it once.'' He actually thought. ''Life really is unfair! Usually, Dragon Eyes were useless in learning a physical skill. Unless, of course, one had inherited part of Leegaain''s intellect and part of Sark''s talent for craftmanship.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Where Raaz only saw a line in the wood, Shargein saw its angle, depth, and the applied force necessary to obtain it. Where Elina saw the finished work, Shargein saw numbers and proportions.

    He repeated all of Raaz''s movements in his mind, studying how to replicate and even improve on them.

    "Let''s see what you guys can do." Raaz gave Elysia and Valeron one piece of wood each. The babies shapeshifted into their Divine Beast form and started wing away.

    "Is it me or do they look like cats on furniture?" He asked as Elysia and Valeron scratched away small chunks of wood with their ws.

    "I guess this confirms neither of them has Dragon Eyes. Elina shrugged. "Which is a good thing. Sometimes, less is more."

    "What do you mean?" Raaz asked.

    "Dear, they are hybrids who will grow up in a world of humans." She replied. "Their life is already bound to be hard. Imagine if they could also breeze through everything just by watching a task being performed once.

    "Not only would it make the other kids resent them even more, it would also be a curse that keeps them from rting to humans. Elysia and Valeron are much smarter than the average baby already.

    "If they keep up like this, by Aran''s age they''ll think they live in a world of goldfish and that they are the only intelligent humans on Mogar."

    ***

    A few dayster.

    Lith and Trion had started taking part in the woodcarving lesson with Raaz, but much to everyone''s dismay, Shargein ran circles around all of them, master woodcarvers included.

    "Yes, you are right. This way is much better." Murong Ashee had dedicated thirty years to his profession.

    He had learned his trade from his father who in turn had learned it from his own father, each generation passing its wisdom and knowledge on to the next.

    Being surpassed in two days by an overgrown, waggling toddler was a pill hard to swallow. The fact that the Wyrmling used his teeth and ws instead of special tools yet obtained some of the best pieces of art Murong had ever seen made everything much

    worse.

    "Everyone, gather around. Let''s study the young Master''s work together." He said as the various artisans proposed different methods to obtain such fine details with the skill and instruments at their disposal.

    To make matters worse, all of them could only grin and bear with it. Raising their voice or hand against the son of the Overlord was universally considered the quickest path to a closed casket funeral at best and a lifelong stay in her Pits of Agony at worst. "My baby!" Sark called and Shargein jumped in her arms after shrinking his size to a human baby''s. "You are so talented. Mommy is proud of you."

    The Wyrmling chirped with joy, licking her face while offering her the fruits of histestbor. A wooden sculpture of the Overlord draped in a flowing dress that reached the base of the figurine, holding a sword in the right hand and the scales of justice in the left. It was so life-like that if not for theck of colors, Sark would have thought to have unwittingly shrunk her size as well and be looking into a mirror.

    "Is this how you see Mommy?" The figurine''s face was stern and focused to the point of being cold.

    Shargein nodded enthusiastically, looking at her with his big round eyes and hoping for more praise.

    ''Dammit! I work too much and spend too little time with him. Shargein already identifies me with what I do instead of who I am for him.'' She thought.

    "It''s beautiful!" She actually said with a beaming smile on her face that made the Wyrmling wag his tail like crazy. "Can I put it in my office? Mommy wants to brag about her baby with all her visitors."

    "Yes. Yours. Made for you." Shargein hugged her face, licking her with the utmost care.

    "Can you make one of Daddy too?" Much to her surprise, Shargein had already finished Leegaain''s wooden statue as well.

    Much to her horror, it was nothing like hers.

    It depicted the Guardian in his human form, holding the Wyrmling in one arm while reading him a story. Leegaain''s expression was warm and fatherly while the wooden Shargein''s was filled with love and joy.

    "It''s just as beautiful." Sark sniffled, but not because she was moved anymore. Through the ages, countless people had called, treated, or seen her as a monster but she rarely considered herself as such. Today was one of those days.

    "What do you say if we spend the day together? We can do whatever you want." She said with the best smile she could make while holding back the tears and self-loathing. "Yes! Thanks, Mom!" Shargein was so happy and surprised that it broke the Overlord.

    From so close, her Blood Imprint allowed her to read the feelings and thoughts of those who shared even a few drops of her blood, let alone her son.

    "Thankful? My Featherling is thankful because his mother is spending time with him? What kind of monster am I?'' She Warped away from the workshop and into her private quarters where no one would see her cry.

    "Don''t worry, baby." She said as Shargein desperately tried to console her. "You did nothing wrong. Mommy is just happy to have a good son like you. I love you, Shargein."

    "Love you, Mom." Shargein licked her tears away happily, making the Guardian cry even

    harder.

    At the same time, all the scrolls hung outside every tent in the Blood Desert listing thews turned from white paper written with ck ink into ck paper written with white

    ink.

 Chapter 3364 Cover Story (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3364 Cover Story (Part 1)

    "Shit!" Humans raised prayers to the Overlord while the members of the Nest increased the number and frequency of patrols.

    The Awakened Lords of the Desert''s regions, instead, decided to postpone their meetings and establish an emergency truce with their rivals. If anyone, for any reason, were to draw the attention of Sark while the paper was ck, they would face her true form and fury, consequences be damned.

    ***

    Meanwhile, back at the woodshop, Lith, Trion, and Raaz continued their lesson.

    "Dragons are such cheats." Lith sighed.

    "He''s just a baby." Raaz shrugged. "Shargein has no malice. He was just trying to impress his mother, like you did back when, well, you were way older than him. Dragons are such cheats."

    "And they are not the only ones." Trion nced at Lith, knowing his brother could have obtained simr results by wearing the Eyes of Menadion.

    Lith, however, had left the artifact in the tower. His goal was to bond and spend quality time with his father and brother, not to show them up.

    "On that, we agree." Lith replied while pointing at Trion''s figurine. "Did you practice in secret to get that good?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Among the three, he was the one who progressed faster and seemed to have an easier time getting the finer details right. Weirdly enough, his talent was limited to women''s features.

    "You mean you don''t know?" Trion looked at Lith with doubt and surprise.

    "Know what? I don''t read the minds of my Demons. Heck, I didn''t even know you were there until you saved Mom from that thrall. I mean, I can do it to a degree but I would never vite their privacy, let alone that of my brother."

    The thicker the ck chains connecting Lith to one of his Demons, the more information he could share or extract. The problem was that the Demon would notice, shattering their trust, and the process had side effects.

    With someone like Locrias who loved his daughter and wife dearly, Lith would have to rummage through thoughts that he preferred to leave alone. Not only because he had no desire to witness Locrias'' intimate moments with his wife but also because those feelings could affect him.

    ''I might end up loving them like my own family and I already have enough on my te.'' He shuddered at the thought.

    "Well, then you are in for a surprise." Trion sighed. "Back when I was in the military, I hated having free time alone or boring assignments like guarding the door of a superior

    officer. I always ended up thinking about home.

    "About my childhood and how badly I broke things off with Mom and Dad. The only way I had to shut down those thoughts was whittling. The act of carving wood brought back the happy memories of the time spent in front of the firece with Dad.

    "Useless to say, most of the times I ended up carving a figurine of Mom, especially after receiving and refusing one of her letters." Trion showed Lith and Raaz his current creation.

    They finally recognized in its subject a much younger Elina dressed in the poor clothes she had back when Trion was still a child.

    "It''s not that I''m good at this, I just had years of practice. I could carve Mom''s features with my eyes closed."

    "Thanks, son." Raaz patted Trion''s back.

    "For what?"

    "For never forgetting about us." Raaz replied. "Unlike your mother, I believed you had turned your back on us forever. I had given up any hope of having you back. I''m d I was wrong."

    "Don''t thank me, Dad, I-"

    "Shush! We are here to work, not chat." Raaz cut him short, saving his son from a long fit of self-loathing. "We can''t hope to match Shargein, but that doesn''t mean we shouldn''t give our all,"

    "But-"

    "Save your breath, son. When you give your mother that figurine and tell her that story, because you will, she is going to cry. You''d better start thinking about what to say to console her because I can''t help you with that." Raaz focused on his work, leaving his son alone with his thoughts.

    ***

    "I''ve been thinking about your situation, Ripha, and I think I''ve found the best course of action. Elina said.

    "Do you have any idea how little does that narrow it down? You need to be more specific." Menadion raised her eyes from the book she was reading.

    The study of advanced magic required a tutor but recent history had no such problem. Lith was incredibly ignorant about everything outside his interests. He knew nothing of the geography of the Kingdom and its main historical events unless they had any relevance to his life or magical research.

    Menadion was appalled to see how muchnd the Griffon Kingdom had lost after Valeron''s death and curious to learn about everything she had missed after bing a wandering soul bound to Solus.

    "I''m talking about youring to Lutia as Solus'' rtive. Elina replied. "You know, the bringing you home with us without anyone thinking you and my husband are a thing?" "Oh, that." Menadion closed the book and gave Elina her full attention, knowing how much the matter meant to Elina and Solus. "What about it?"

    "I should introduce you to our neighbors gradually. This way it will seem like I''m trying to convince you to follow us instead of you suddenly popping out of nowhere and being familiar with us and our house."

    "It makes sense." Menadion nodded.

    "The first things you need are a disguise and a cover story. Lutians are simple people, but even them would recognize you after the King broadcasted your face throughout the

    Kingdom."

    "What about this?" Being a Demon, Menadion had no need for the finesses of Body Sculpting. She just altered the hologram giving her the semnce of life.

    She now looked as old as Elina, with her skin bearing the dusky tan typical of those who had spent most of their lives in the Desert. Menadion had also altered the cut of her eyes, giving them a medio oriental look to prove that the blood of her ancestors had long been mixed with the people of the Desert.

    Six of the seven streaks disappeared from her hair, leaving only the silver of light magic to appear across her golden hair.

    "It''s perfect but what about Solus?" Elina asked. "People will question why your skin and eyes are so different."

    "Not if her father is from the Kingdom. Besides, Solus is a mage whereas I''m a normal human." Ripha winked at Elina. "We can just say she kept her skin light because she spent most of her time studying. Which is true."

    "Good idea." Elina nodded. "About your husband, how do you n to justify his absence? Don''t get me wrong, I don''t care about it but there is a big difference in the treatment you''ll receive based on introducing you as married or single."

    "Big how?"

    "Ripha, you still look gorgeous and now you are also exotic. As a married woman you''ll be the object of courteous admiration. As a single woman, of several dinner invitations."

    Elina chuckled.

    For a moment, Menadion thought about aging herself more or reducing her curves.

 Chapter 3365 Cover Story (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3365 Cover Story (Part 2)

    Then, the thought that she would lose everyparison with Elina hit her, and herpetitive spirit dismissed the idea.

    "I want to be left alone but I don''t want to have a fake husband." She sighed. "He should make an appearance in Lutia from time to time and I don''t have it in myself to pretend I love him.

    "For you, Threin is dead for centuries but to me, it was just yesterday. I spent thest seven hundred years resisting his call and missing him every single day. Even kissing another man on the cheek would be a p to Threin''s memory"

    "Then we''ll tell the truth and introduce you as a widow." Elina took Menadion''s hands in her own. "That''s something the people of Lutia will understand and respect. Just don''t mention the seven hundred years part."

    "Will do." Menadion chuckled. "Fair warning, I''ve always been a recluse and I''m socially awkward. I mean, I can handle Awakened but thest regr human I''ve talked to was my husband."

    "I''ll keep both my eyes on you, then." Elina nodded. "Do you have any ns or can I give you a tour of the ce today?"

    "No ns. When do we leave?"

    "One moment, I''m terrible with time zones." Elina took two pocket watches out of her dimensional amulet, one set on the Desert''s pce and the other on Lutia. "It''s already lunchtime there so I''d say in a couple of hours.

    "Otherwise we''d disturb our friends and find most of the shops closed."

    "Good." Ripha gestured to Elina to sit in front of her. "It should be enough to set down the basics of our rtionships."

    "What do you mean?" Elina was puzzled.

    "Like, what''s my name? What do you think of me? How deep is our rtionship? Why didn''t you bring me to Lutia before even though Solus has lived with you for over a year now? How did my husband die? And I can go on."

    "Oh, dear." Just the thought gave Elina a headache. "We''d better start working on that, then."

    ***

    Two hourster, the Warp Gate in Lith''s barn opened and the Verhens walked through it.

    "Grandpa Zekell! I want to check that Grandpa Zekell is alright. Leria said.

    "He''s fine, dear" Rena pointed at the rune on themunication amulet. "If anything had happened to him, we would have been notified by the Queen''s Guards protecting

    him."

    "Please, Mom!" Leria pointed at Abominus and then at the barn''s doors.

    "Fine, you can go first." Rena sighed. "But have Abominus shapeshift into a Ry or he''ll give people even more heart attacks than usual,"

    In his Pyrmir form, Abominus was taller than a horse and bigger than a carriage. His knife-long fangs and the frost crystals in his mane gave him an even more unsettling appearance.

    "I''m right here, you know?" He said. "You could have just asked me."

    "Thanks, Mom!" Leria jumped on Abominus'' back and galloped toward Lutia, followed by Aran on the Shyf-looking Onyx.

    The families of the Demons had moved to the Desert on the same day as the Verhens. They knew about Ripha''s return since Lith had brought her back and had been already informed about her current disguise so the first home Elina visited was Selia''s.

    "Elina?" The huntress said in surprise after opening the door. "Lith, you scoundrel! You had me worried sick. I had to learn from the King that you were alright and... Is she Menadion?"

    The petite woman in a sundress in front of her looked nothing like the armored Forgemaster in the broadcast but the resemnce with Solus was still evident.

    "Yes to all." Elina chuckled. "Selia, this is Ripha Menadion, Solus'' mother. We''ll introduce her as Rhona Verhen or she won''t be able to take a step outside the door without being pestered.

    "Ripha, this s our friend Selia, her husband Protector/Ryman, and their children Lilia, Leran, and Fenrir."

    "Nice to meet you but as you probably imagine, I''ve known you all for a long time." Menadion let her disguise drop for a second, revealing her Demon form. "I was Solus'' shadow for all these years. I''ve witnessed everything you''ve done for her and listened to what you said."

    "It makes things easier for us too." Protector offered her his hand and she shook it. "We have heard a lot about you. Mostly good things."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Ryman!" Selia said.

    "Mom, who''s the deaddy?" Leran asked, making things worse.

    Not even hard-light constructs could give Menadion a scent nor did they fill the silence from herck of breathing and heartbeat. Protector''s children had senses as keen as a magical beast''s, making them hard to fool.

    "She''s Solus'' mother, dear." Selia brought him forward, throwing an apologetic look to Menadion. "Say hello to Auntie Ripha." [AN: Selia actually introduces Menadion as Rhona but I''ll always use Ripha to avoid confusion.]

    "Hi, Auntie Ripha." Leran sniffed the guest while giving her a bow. "How did you die? Was it painful? What is it like on the other side?"

    "Leran!" Selia scolded him. "It''s not nice to ask that to someone you just met. Also, you can''t tell anyone she''s dead. It''s one of our family secrets. Are we clear?"

    "Bad people are looking for her too?" Leran asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "I''m so sorry, Auntie Ripha. Don''t worry, if Lilia blows your cover, Dad and I will protect you."

    He gave Menadion a hug.

    "Why would I be the one blowing her cover?" Lilia asked in indignance. "You are the one with a big mouth and a small brain!"

    "Don''t talk to your brother like that, youngdy." Protector needed just to raise a finger to nip the quarrel in the bud.

    "But, Dad!" Her protest only garnered her a stern look. "I''m sorry, Leran. I was rude."

    "It''s okay." He would have loved to rub salt in her wounds but Protector''s stare brooked no further sibling rivalry.

    "Aran and Leria went to Lutia to meet Zekell." Raaz said. "I''m sure they would be happy to

    see you"

    "Can we go, Mom? Dad? Please?" Lilia and Leran jumped in a frenzy.

    "What are the rules?" Selia asked.

    "No fangs, no ws, no spells." They recited in unison.

    "Good. Now get out." Selia waved her hand, prompting sh and Crash to trot out of the

    house. "Not you!"

    Selia''s arm bolted like an arrow, reaching deep into sh''s crimson fur anding out of it holding a yelping wolf pup by the scruff of her neck.

    "Mom! I want to go too!" Fenrir whined.

    "Not a chance. You scare and shapeshift too easily." Selia held Fenrir tight until Lilia and Leran disappeared in the distance. "Come on, baby girl. Go back to your room. Mom and Dad need five minutes with their friends."

    Fenrir whined every step, turning back from time to time with her big and literal puppy

    eyes until the door of the nursery closed behind her.

    "We have five minutes of silence. Let''s make the best of it." Selia said.

    "Gods, that was heart-wrenching" Ripha said. "How can you resist her?"

    "Rest assured, the first few times they yed me like a fiddle." Selia grunted. "After they

    destroy your clothes, the furniture, and dig more holes in the walls than a flock of woodpeckers, it gets much easier."

 Chapter 3366 Still Home (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3366 Still Home (Part 1)

    "Lith, Solus, it''s good to have you back in one piece." Protector shook their hands. "You two gave us a big scare. Especially you, Solus."

    "He''s right, you know?" Selia said. "At least we got regr reports about Lith''s sightings around the Kingdom whereas not knowing what was happening to you worried us to death, Solus. Please,e in. There''s no point talking on the doorstep."

    Once inside, Selia and Protector offered them tea and biscuits while Lith and Solus told them their respective stories.

    "Thank the gods that gods-damned Tree is gone now!" Selia sighed in relief. "Any news about Meln?"

    "None." Lith replied. "Did something happen to you during my absence, Ryman? There''s something different about you."

    "You have be quite perceptive, Scourge." Protector said. "You are slowly adapting to your new senses."

    Studying a friend with Invigoration or Life Vision was beyond rude. Lith had noticed small changes in Ryman''s bodynguage and the slight hesitation in his movements whenever her approached a non-Awakened.

    "You are right, Lith. I have changed." He took Selia''s hand in his own. "After the two of you disappeared, I felt truly helpless. Yet the final straw was when Kam organized your rescue party and didn''t take me into consideration because I was too weak."

    "I''m sorry, Ryman. I didn''t mean to offend you. It''s just-"

    "Don''t apologize, Kam. It only makes me feel worse." Protector raised his hand, cutting her short. "It wasn''t your fault, but mine. Ever since Meln''s destruction spell was released to the public, I gotcent.

    "I continued my research for the violet core in name only, focusing on the kids and Selia while neglecting my own training. Being left behind while my pack brother needed me the most was the wake-up call I needed."

    "And you achieved the violet in just a few days?" Lith didn''t hide his incredulity.

    "Not alone." Protector admitted. "I asked Nalrond and Morok to help me. They too had been left behind but at least they have reached the violet core on their own. I asked them to give me as much advice as possible without revealing specific details of their personal techniques.

    "Thanks to their guidance and the insights umted during my years of hard work, I seeded."

    "Do you need help with body casting?" Lith asked.

    "I need it but I don''t want it." Protector shook his head. "I have already taken one shortcut. Any more and I''ll never learn my lesson. Whether I fail or seed, I must do

    this alone."

    Selia was very curious about Menadion but she kept her questions for herself.

    ''We''ve just met and I know that things with Solus weren''t good long before both of them died. Menadion needs toe to terms with her new reality and a world that went on without her. She doesn''t need a nosy neighbor opening old wounds with personal questions.'' Selia thought.

    After a bit of back and forth, the Verhens took their leave.

    "By the way, you should pay Garrick and R a visit, Lith." Selia said. "Morok did his best to keep thempany, but with your disappearance, they got really scared. They can''t move from the geyser and were afraid to be forced to leave the Verhen Mansion in case something happened to you."

    "Thanks, Selia." Lith nodded.

    "I guess this is where we split up." Raaz said. "I need to reassure the guys I''m still alive and paying their sry. Maybe I''ll bring them to the tavern for a post-work beer. Do you want toe along, Lith?"

    "Thanks for the offer, Dad, but I''d rather not." Lith replied. "Aside from Bromann and a few others, your farmhands tense up in my presence as if I''m going to interrogate them for murder.""

    "Put yourself in their shoes, son. You are the Magus about whom bards sing countless tales and your face is often on the Web''s news." Raaz said. "It''s normal for them to be intimidated."

    "But it''s not good for your rtionship with your farmhands." Lith shrugged. "Also, I''m on Ripha duty. I have to follow Mom and her from a safe distance or they can''t move around freely."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Aren''t youing with us either, dear?" Elina asked.

    "No, Mom. Otherwise I''d cause amotion and everyone would ask about me, ignoring Ripha. You can''t introduce her to people if nobody is listening."

    "Fine." Elina sighed. "Solus, Ripha, let''s go."

    "What about you, son? Fancy a beer with your old man?" Raaz asked Trion.

    "With pleasure, Dad." Trion nced at Lith who nodded.

    ''Not a big deal.'' Lith thought. I just have to stay halfway between Lutia and home until Dad doesn''te down to the city''

    Once outside Selia''s home, Elina took the DoLorean out of her dimensional amulet.

    "Do you want to give driving a go or would you rather walk, Ripha?"

    "I admit that I''ve admired this thing from afar for a long while and I''m really curious to see how it works. Yet I''ve waited much, much longer to finally walk along Lutia''s fields again." Menadion replied. "I still remember the time this area waspletely

    uninhabited.

    "The vige was small and mostly popted by farmers, with barely enough artisans to get by without having to travel to the nearest city for every little thing. Lutia was just a small dot on the horizon." She pointed in the direction of the city.

    Menadion took deep breaths, taking in the familiar scent of cultivated fields and fresh grass. Due to summer and Elina''s gardening hobby, there were plenty of aromatic nts and flower bushes that spread their aromas all around Ripha.

    "Back then, there was nothing but open fields as far as the eye could see and only the trees of the Trawn woods covered the horizon." She felt nostalgia for what no longer was.

    Now the space between Lith''s house and the woods was filled with houses belonging to the families of his Demons and the Verhens'' neighbors. On the opposite side, Lutia had grown into a cityrge enough to be visible from a distance.

    "It wasn''t much different until less than ten years ago." Elina shrugged. "You''ll get used to it just like I did. Change is the only constant of life."

    "I know." Ripha shook her head, dispelling the visions of the past that kept eclipsing the present. "Let''s go, sweetie."

    "Remember not to call me Epphy, Mom. If the wrong people hear you, our covers will be blown." Menadion offered Solus her arm and she took it. "By the way, I remember a wooden house where we lived back when I was really young. Was it around here?" "More or less." Menadion turned around and pointed at the Trawn woods. "It was inside the woods to keep people from noticing our presence and bothering me. I built it on a

    clearing near the Philo River."

    "You mean our secret training spot?" Solus beamed with joy.

    "Yes." Menadion needed sheer willpower to keep an edge out of her voice. In a way, Lith had taken everything away from Ripha. From her daughter to her tower and even the

    ces she held dear.

    No matter how irrational it was, the idea of being reced even in Solus'' memories irked Menadion to no end.

 Chapter 3367 Still Home (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3367 Still Home (Part 2)

    "You and I practiced in the tower, but that was our real home." Menadion said.

    "And it still is! I can''t believe I''ve been home all this time without knowing it!" Solus hugged her mother, making her feel guilty. The more time they spent together, the more Ripha realized how much happier Solus waspared to Epphy.

    As Elina, Solus, and Ripha, walked toward Lutia, Kam stood by Lith''s side with a guilty look on her face.

    "Do you mind if I invite Zin over and leave you here?" She asked. "We haven''t seen each other since the day of the attack and it would be nice to spend a bit of time alone without children around."

    "No problem." Lith shook his head. "Have fun. You deserve it."

    After her marriage to Lith, Kam had very few friends left. Taking a sabbatical from work to look after Elysia had made things worse, making her lose contact with most of them.

    On top of that, ever since Lith had been rescued, Kam had never left his side to make sure he would fully recover from both his physical and mental scars.

    "My liege?" Varegrave raised his hand. "The Blood Desert is always wonderful but we are people of the Kingdom. I request permission to take my family for a pic."

    "Don''t ask, just go." Lith replied. "Why a pic and not a restaurant and some shopping? You do have money, remember?"

    His Demons still received their pay as army officials and had been rewarded for their deeds during the War of the Griffons.

    "Actually, I got tired of fancy food." Varegrave''s wife said. "They always stuff us with delicacies at the Overlord Pce and my family misses my cooking. As for the shopping, we''ve got so many clothes I needed a dimensional amulet just for them."

    Sark was a generous host and treated all members of Lith''s retinue as family, showering them with gifts.

    The rest of the Demons took their leave as well. Valia went to Lutia with Elina while Locrias decided that after being surrounded by sand and luxuries for so long, a bit of dirt and green were nice for a change.

    Soon Lith waspletely alone. Elysia and Valeron had calmed down enough to be left in Tyris'' care, away from their parents.

    ''Ripha is right. Things really have changed around here. Lith moved along the paved road thaty where only pebbles and mud once existed.

    He could almost see the old trail in the grass created by the farmers'' carriages during their trips to Lutia to buy tools, look for Nana''s help, and rarely buy white bread.

    The once open fields were now plowed into orderly squares, the weeds and tall grass reced by all kinds of crops. Lith turned back to look at his home, recalling the time when it was made of wood and he had to walk for hundreds of meters to reach the closest house.

    Now it was arge two-story high stone cottage that cobblestone paths connected to Lith''s neighbours.

    I can''t believe I miss all that empty, depressing space. He thought. ''Even weirder, I miss Zinya''s old house. They never rebuilt it after-''

    A sudden bump cut him short. With his mass, Lith experienced no pain, let alone difort, but the surprise startled him. It was really hard to catch him off guard, unless his head was lost in the past, of course.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Watch it, you idiot. Don''t you know who I am?" A young angry voice said, but Lith failed to find its source.

    At least until he looked down on the ground.

    Like many other nobles, after the King''s broadcast about the return of the Forge Magus, Baron Lestrame was taking a tour of the noble part of Lutia, the area called "The Verhens".

    He was looking for a plot ofnd to buy in order to build a country house that would give his family the opportunity to establish a friendly rtionship with the two only Magi in the Kingdom.

    Lestrame had been looking for an empty area, big enough for a noble house but far away from the stink of cattle, when he had absentmindedly crashed against a brute. The farmer was big, but his humble clothes betrayed his status.

    I''d had him whipped, if not for the fact that Verhen treasures his farmhands. My father will kill me if I cause any trouble and he starts things with Verhen on the wrong foot.'' The young Baron thought.

    His gold-embroidered frilly silk clothes were worthy of the Royal Court whereas the brute wore a loose white shirt and brown linen pants.

    "That and because I''ve crossed doors narrower than his shoulders. The nobleman swallowed a lump of saliva.

    The brute had the rough hands of a worker and was very tall. What scared Lestrame the most, however, were his empty cold eyes. There was no fear or shame for dirtying a noble, just the indifference of someone finally noticing the pebble he has stumbled upon. "I don''t." The brute replied with a voice that matched his eyes. "Watch where you walk, kid."

    "Kid? I-" The outrage from being called like that by someone clearly younger than him died in Lestrame''s throat when the brute grabbed him by the cor of his shirt and put

    him back on his feet as if he weighed nothing.

    "Is that guy bothering you, Lith?" A shorter, dirtier brute carrying a shovel over his right. shoulder said. "Do you want me to get rid of him for you?"

    "No, Rizel. Don''t worry. I was about to leave and so was he. Isn''t it right, kid?" Lith

    replied.

    Rizel, Bromann''s son, had grown into a healthy young man over 1.75 meters (5''9") tall thanks to Lith''s discounted medical care for farmers and the food Bromann put on the

    table.

    He was now taller than his father and the hard work in the fields had given him solid muscles. He had joined the local militia at fourteen and enrolled in the army at sixteen to gain merits and receive training.

    His goal was to follow in Bromann''s footsteps and have the strength to defend the family legacy. Weird things happened in Lutia and despite all the protections Lith put in ce, Rizel hated feeling helpless.

    Yet more than his height, physique, or the sharp end of the shover he gripped like a weapon, what struck the young Baron the most were his words.

    "Lith?" He echoed, looking at the brute and finding a certain resemnce with the pictures of the Magus in the news.

    The brutecked the horns, the wings, and the high uniform but the rest fitted the bill. ''Sure, the name Lith has be really popr and this might just be a coincidence, but that happened only after Verhen was crowned Magus. This guy is too big to be a child.''

    "Lith Verhen?"

    "No, I''m his sister." Lith scoffed, waving goodbye at Rizel before walking around the stunned noble and toward Lutia.

    "That''s Tista Verhen? Lestrame was bbergasted.

    He had heard that Divine Beasts could shapeshift, but there was nothing in that amazon

    of the beauty he and countless others had admired in the pictures taken at the Royal

    Gs.

 Chapter 3368 Imposter Syndrome (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3368 Imposter Syndrome (Part 1)

    "Dude, he''s pulling your leg" Rizelughed his ass off. "That''s Lith Verhen, the guy who owns this ce. Congrattions on making a fool out of yourself in so many ways in so little time. Thank the gods you didn''t introduce yourself."

    "Thank the gods indeed." The Baron gasped.

    He couldn''t show his face around Lutia again, but at least the Lestrame name was safe.

    "Can you show me the avable plots ofnd around here, kind sir? I''ll generously reward you for your time." The Baron changed his attitude with Rizel quickly, hoping to cut his losses.

    "I''m sorry. We are going for a beer in town and I don''t need your money." Rizel jabbed with his thumb at a small crowd of men who were approaching them from the fields. "You can join us and ask Lord Raaz Verhen, if you want."

    The idea of meeting Lith''s father and being the object of mockery when the youth inevitably would share the story of how they had met, made the Baron give Rizel a quick bow before bolting out of Raaz''s line of sight.

    For someone who disdained any kind of physical activity, the Baron found himself to be quite the sprinter.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Who was that powdered nose, son?" Bromann asked. "Did he bully you? Do you want me to teach him a lesson?"

    "Dad, I''m not a kid anymore. I can look out for myself," Rizel thumped his muscr chest to underline the concept. "It was just another noble looking to buy a piece ofnd and an opportunity to meet Lith ''by chance! He got his wish granted but didn''t realize it until it was toote."

    "Did he bully Lith?" Raaz said with worry. "Please, tell me there were no children around when Lith tore his limbs off and reattached them."

    "Nothing of sorts happened, Raaz." Rizel halfughed and half shuddered at the thought. "I''ll tell you the whole story on the way to the tavern."

    ***

    Meanwhile, Solus and the others had reached the outskirts of Lutia.

    "Good gods, I''ve been here in my spectral form before but I can never get used to that abomination." Ripha pointed at the temple of the All-Father. "What the heck are those fanatics doing?"

    The statue of Lith''s four forms standing back-to-back in front of the main entrance wasn''t alone anymore. Four more statues were being erected at the four corners of the temple.

    "Is that Trion?" Even though it was still a rough outline in the obsidian, Elina could recognize her son''s features among thousands.

    "You''re right, Blessed Lady" Like all the live-in clerics, the woman wore an ample ck robe. "We are paying homage to the four Kings who protect the All-Father from the four cardinal directions."

    "Since when?" Solus blurted out in surprise.

    "The mysteries of the All-Father are infinite, Lady Solus." The woman gave her a deep bow. "They are revealed only when the high priest deems the time is right."

    "You mean when Zekell makes them up. Solus had a hard time repressing augh.

    "What about the new one?" Ripha asked. "The old Magus who has been recently summoned? Isn''t she a King, Queen, whatever?"

    "Silly child. The woman chuckled. "The four Kings are the spirits of mortals who the All-Father has elevated. Menadion is a powerful sage He has summoned to stand by His Forge and share the secrets of creation with His children.

    "Her statue stands near the main altar. Obviously."

    "Obviously." Menadion echoed, not knowing whether tough or cry. "Thanks for enlightening me."

    "No, thank you for bringing the Blessed Lady." The cleric was about to prostrate herself to Elina when she stopped her.

    "Please, don''t. People are watching and I''d like to walk around Lutia in peace."

    "As you wish." The woman turned around and went back to attend those in need of medical attention.

    "Gods, that was so embarrassing." Elina dragged the other two women away from the temple as fast as she could. "I''ll never get used to people praising me just for being Lith''s mother"

    "I agree it''s weird but no matter how ridiculous this ce is, it does plenty of good." Solus said. "People with little or no money cane to the temple to be treated or at least receive a diagnosis for free instead of waiting until things get really bad before going to an expensive healer.

    "Also, they can no longer be conned by quacks into spending their hard-earned savings to cure non-existent ailments."

    After Nana''s death, Lutia had remained without a Healer until a magico had settled in the vige. The problem was that, just like Nana, he couldn''t use spells above tier three but he had also a weaker core than her, making them less effective.

    Things had only gotten worse as Lutia had developed, expanding from a small vige into a city. More and more healers were needed to cover for the increase in the poption but not all of them werepetent and most weren''t even honest.

    Whenever they wanted money, they made up an illness that needed treatment. If someone wanted a second opinion, they had to pay another healer for the diagnosis. Not only was it expensive but it also took the second healer just a few words to pocket extra

    money after confirming the fake illness.

    Luckily for the citizens of Lutia, after Lith had been branded as a traitor during the War of the Griffons, most quacks had left the city, looking for greener grass. Even more luckily, after the temple of the All-Father had been established, diagnoses were free. The opening of a local branch of the Mage Association had been the final nail in the coffin for Healers'' malpractice. Even the clerks were academy graduates who could easily double-check a diagnosis and pressing charges now led to immediate prosecution. That and the opening of a local Warp Gate had allowed certified and honest Healers to easily reach Lutia and set up their business.

    "Where are we going?" Ripha asked.

    "I''ve already introduced you to my real friends." Elina replied. "Now we need to rumors to spread on their own so we''re going to the local gossip center, the bakery"

    They walked briskly along the streets with several admiring gazes following them. Menadion''s tanned skin deeply contrasted with her wheat-blonde hair. Along with her figure and exotic eyes, she was a sight to behold.

    "You''re a head-turner, Mom!" Solus chuckled, making Menadion blush up to her ears.

    "Nonsense. I''m sure it''s you they are staring at." She wasn''t used to receiving so much attention back when she was alive and being seven hundred years out of practice made it seven hundred times worse. "Don''t these people have better to do than stare?" They soon reached the old bakery of Vexal Cornerstone. The term "old" only referred to the fact that, as the wooden shop sign imed, it was Lutia''s first bakery and the Verhens'' favorite.

    As soon as Lutia''s expansion had started, Vexal had bought the neighboring houses, hired plenty of helpers, and expanded his business. The bakery was three times its original size and had also a second floor where Vexal and his family lived.

 Chapter 3369 Imposter Syndrome (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3369 Imposter Syndrome (Part 2)

    The shop was split into a bakery and a pastry shop famous for its handmade fruit jams. "Listen, youngdy, your ridiculous act can impress one of those posers who are trying to steal my business and recipes, but I know the real Elina Verhen. Vexal was yelling at a young and beautiful woman. "I''ve met her countless times since Magus Verhen was a baby and it''s not you!"

    She was dressed in the samemoner clothes Elina wore in the pictures uploaded on the Web and her haircut and color were simr to Elina''s.

    "How dare you call me a liar?" The impostor said with all the righteous outrage she could muster. "When I tell my son how you treated me, you''ll lose much more than your shop, you insolent fool!"

    "Yeah, I''ll probably die." Vexal said with a sneer. "Fromughter though. Hi, Elina. What can I do for you."

    "It''s toote to apologize now!" The impostor said with renewed confidence. "Unless you give me-"N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Hi, Vexal." Elina said, cutting her short. "Who is this woman? Does this kind of thing happen often?"

    The imposter went pale, her demands dying on her lips. Not only was theparison with the real deal unttering for her, but also Elina looked at her like she was about to punch the imposter into tomorrow.

    ''If she''s the real Elina and I so much touch one of her hair, the Queen''s Corps will kill me. Unless they capture me alive and hand me to Verhen.'' A cold sweat covered her from head to toe while she looked around like a cornered rat.

    "Never seen her before" Vexal shrugged. "Probably a scrounger trying to get free food and clothes at the expense of gullible idiots. And yes, it happens more often than you might think. This is the second Elina this week, not counting you, of course."

    The baker added one line to a small whiteboard split between Raaz, Elina, Rena, Aran, and Leria. No one dared to impersonate Lith because it was easily disproved and a capital offense.

    The title of Magus carried great honor and power. Calling oneself a Magus was a crime no less severe than pretending to be the King and as harshly punished.

    As for Tista, she was no Magus but no one in her right mind could hope to impersonate her. Her beauty was the kind that gave men whish and made women grunt at their own reflections.

    A mere nce at her pictures was enough to expose the best-looking imposter.

    "Gullible idiots?" Solus clicked her tongue. "Like those who believe your shop sign? The only reason this is the Verhens'' favorite bakery is that, until a few years ago, it was the

    only bakery in Lutia."

    The customers of both shops gasped, moving their eyes from the impostor to Vexal long enough to give her the opening she needed to make her escape.

    "There''s only so much space on a shop sign, youngdy." Vexal wore his best smile. "I sell bread, not stories. Also, as you just admitted, technically that''s not a lie."

    "Technically, that''s not true either!" Solus retorted.

    "That''s enough, sweetie, we are not here to argue." Elina put an end to the quarrel. "Has any merchant suffered from the imposters?"

    "A few, but I don''t know how much they lost." Vexal replied. "I can look into it if you want."

    "I''d really appreciate that." Elina nodded. ''I''d like to introduce myself to them so that such scams won''t happen again and reimburse them for their losses."

    At those words, Vexal''s eyes went wide in horror.

    "That''s the most... noble thing I''ve ever heard, Elina." The baker bit his tongue at thest moment, saving himself. It wasn''t his money, but the thought of it being thrown away at na?ve fools made his cash register ache.

    "I''ll let you know as soon as possible. I know it''s none of my business but I think you shouldn''t worry about them. Lutia may be peaceful, but retail work is a ruthless world. Those guys have learned a priceless lesson that will save them much more money in the future.

    "If they don''t learn, they deserve to close shop and look for another job."

    "I know." She replied. "But those women abused my name and those merchants were just doing what you are doing now. Sucking up to me to help their business. Also, only someone just arrived in Lutia could fall for that.

    "That''s a terrible wee and our city deserves better."

    "I won''t argue further, then." Vexal gave her a short bow followed by many deeper bows from the customers and servers. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

    "Yes, we''vee to get four big loaves of white bread, ten assorted jam bread, and a pound cake. Solus grunted, trying and failing to look menacing due to her petite stature and her gaze fixed on the pastries instead of the baker.

    "In a second!" Vexal stood behind the counter only to ensure no clerk skimmed on the cash and to promote his shop, but he always served the Verhens personally and with no regard for the queue. "This is for the wait."

    He handed Elina, Ripha, and Solus arge chocte chip cookie the size of a saucer and a cup of hot tea. Solus noticed a fresh pot of tea and another one of coffee behind the counter with several cups piled nearby.

    "Do you sell beverages too?" She asked, intrigued at the idea of coffee shops in Mogar,

    "Sell beverages?" Vexal replied with augh while packing the order. "Who would be so dumb to pay good money for vored hot water they can make at home in one minute? That would be criminal."

    ''And that''sing from him at that.'' Solus inwardlyughed.

    "Drinks are on the house to better appreciate our fresh products. I want the cups back,

    by the way."

    Menadion was already halfway through her cookie. It wasn''t as good as Lith''s sweets but

    it was the work of a master baker.

    "Can we please get a few of these, Elina?" She asked.

    "Of course." Elina and Vexal replied in unison.

    "Since you won''t make the introductions, may I ask you who is your friend, Elina?"

    "Oh, sorry, Vexal." Elina saw the baker burning with curiosity, just like she expected. "Vexal, this is Rhona Verhen, Solus'' older sister. Rhona, this is Vexal. You have already heard everything you need to know about him."

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Rhona." Vexal offered her his hand and puffed his chest out with pride, mistaking Elina''s words for apliment. "I can see the resemnce. I thought that the gods had broken the mold when they made Solus but I''m happy to see I

    was wrong."

    "The pleasure is mine." Menadion didn''t like the man much, but she appreciated him cleaning his hand properly before the handshake.

    [AN: Again, everyone will refer to her as Rhona but I''ll stick with Ripha to avoid

    confusion.]

    "Why haven''t I ever seen you in Lutia before? Solus has lived here for over a year now." The question was as rude as it was predictable.

    Many customers interrupted their conversations to listen while a few kept talking but lowered their voices, pretending they weren''t as nosy as the rest of the crowd.

 Chapter 3370 Rotting Corpse (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3370 Rotting Corpse (Part 1)

    "Because I was grieving the loss of my husband." Menadion sighed so deeply and looked so sad that even Vexal felt like a massive jerk.

    The customers grumbled about hisck of tact yet they stood there, waiting for the rest of the story.

    "He died at the hands of marauders shortly before Sal-, I mean, the Overlord reconnected Solus and me with our lost rtives. My sister is young and she deserved a better life than spending her days taking care of a crying mess so I sent her away.

    "Don''t get me wrong, thanks to the Gate in the barn, she often came back to visit me. Noting here was my choice. I could not stand seeing Elina''s happy family without my wounds reopening"

    "I see!" Vexal nodded, not daring to ask more questions. "It''s fifteen copper coins for everything. The cookies are on the house."

    "Thank you. You are very kind." Menadion epted the bag of cookies, taking one out and giving it a bite.

    Making a widow pay would have been rude. Making a Verhen widow pay would have also been dumb.

    The moment people saw Ripha eating her cookie with gusto and sharing the rest with Elina and Solus, the customers ordered cookies as if they were a life-saving medicine. Verhens make great publicity.'' Vexal thought. ''Everyone who sees them eating my goods will rush here to buy the same things."

    "Bram, more batches of those big cookies you made by mistake!" He yelled at the pastry chef in the back shop. "And we need toe up with a name! Something catchy."

    In less than half an hour, the entire Lutia knew of Solus'' sister and, of course, her appreciation for Vexal''s cookies.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ***

    Meanwhile, at Zekell Proudhammer''s shop.

    "Ho, ho, ho! Here''s my Archmage warriors! How was the Desert this time?" Even though Aran and Leria were quite tall for their seven years of age, Zekell lifted them in his arms with ease.

    He was older than Raaz and without Lith''s treatments he carried his years much worse. Yet working in the smithy from a young age had given him wide shoulders and strong

    arms.

    "Sad." Aran replied. "Grandpa Valtak is dead."

    "Dead?" Zekell was bbergasted. "I thought Dragons were immortal."

    "No, they are not." Leria cast her best diagnostic spell on her grandfather and so did

    Aran. "They can die of old age. You are not old, right, Grandpa?"

    "Of course not." Zekell lied through his teeth. "I still have over a century to live and I''m not going anywhere until you two make me a great-grandfather!"

    "Eww! Grandpa!" The kids said in unison with a disgusted grimace that turned into an expression of relief as the diagnostic spells came back negative.

    "What are those things?" Aran pointed at a rack filled with carefully crafted masks in the self-defense section of the shop.

    "Those are my certified anti-undead Verhen masks." Zekell said with pride. "They sell like hot cakes."

    He handed one to each kid. The masks had horns of the same size and in the same position as Lith''s. They also had two colored lenses for the eyes and five more fake eyes of different colors with a vertical slitted pupil.

    "Anti-undead how?" Leria asked. "There''s no enchantment and they are nothing like Uncle Lith."

    "You say that because it''s afternoon and there''s plenty of light." Zekellughed. "Imagine you are a thief or an undead, in the middle of the night, looking inside a window in Lutia and you see this.

    "Would you stop taking a second look or run for your life?"

    "Run for my life." The kids admitted in unison. "Does it work?"

    "ording to the army office, yes." Zekell said. "Several people turned themselves in to have their life spared, believing Lith was chasing them. Some had... to retire from their criminal activity."

    He was about to say thieves had died of heart attack, but after receiving the news about Valtak''s fate, Zekell doubted the kids would find any kind of death funny.

    "Cool, but does Big Brother know?" Aran asked.

    "No, but what fills his pockets won''t hurt him, believe me." Zekellughed. "Did it take you long to get here? As bizarre as it sounds, we are starting to get traffic. And I mean not just people walking, but carriages, nobles, and everything else."

    "No, it was as quick as usual." Leria patted Abominus'' neck.

    People naturally made way for a horse, let alone a magical wolf big enough to rip an adult man''s head off with one bite.

    "I bet you guys must be hungry, then." Zekell gave the Emperor Beasts a big b of meat and a bowl filled with fresh water.

    Onyx and Abominus had just eaten a few hours ago, but they never turned a snack down. Also, the sight of the "magical beasts" ripping and tearing through the thick meat with ease made several thugs move to stalk another block of themercial district. While Abominus and Onyx ate, Aran and Leria recounted the events of Valtak''s funeral

    to Zekell.

    "Grandpa, can you make us cute lockets for the ashes?" Leria asked. "We were thinking about gifting one to Uncle Lith, Aunt Tista, Elysia, and Valeron. Like a family thing." "Sure." He nodded, proud of their good hearts and moved by their choice to ask for his help instead of Lith''s. "Do you have anything in mind already?"

    "Yes," Aran nodded. "Something coin-shaped with a ss on the front to see the ashes and an engraving of Grandpa Valtak in the back."

    "That''s a nice idea." Zekell nodded. "What about a lid to protect the ss? Also, maybe I could make an engraving of Valtak''s human form on the lid and emboss the Dragon form on the back. You know, the two sides of the same coin.

    "You''re a genius, Grampa Zekell!" The kids jumped hugged the cksmith from either

    side. "We love you."

    "Stop squeezing me you, little rascals!" He returned the embrace. "I''m losing water because of you."

    He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes before they became teary.

    "What about the materials? Do you want to use silver maybe Orichalcum? This way, Lith will have an easier time enchanting them with damage-resisting and self-repair spells." "Doesn''t that cost lot?" Leria looked up at Zekell.

    "Yes, but this is important for you which makes it important to me. It''s worth it."

    "But-" Aran tried to say.

    "No buts." Zekell cut him short. "Lith''s the one always spoiling you two. The one time I

    can do something for you, let me do it. Okay?"

    "Okay." The kids nodded. "Thank you, Grampa."

    "Damn kids." Zekell scoffed as they hugged him again, making him lose the battle against

    one insistent tear.

    ***

    Meanwhile, on the way to Lutia.

    "Good gods, what is that abomination?" Trion was walking and chatting with Raaz''s

    farmhands.

    The young farmers whose sixteenth birthday was around the corner asked him for advice about the military and whether it was worth making it a career or just serving the

    minimum term.

    "You mean a literal Abomination or-" Raaz''s eyes followed Trion''s finger to the temple of the All-Father. "Is it me or is that you?"

    After a quick exnation from Bromann and lots of mockery from Rizel, Trion regretted staying behind as a soul for the first time since he had be a Demon.

 Chapter 3371 Rotting Corpse (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3371 Rotting Corpse (Part 2)

    "What guardian king? There''s no such thing and I have no special power!" Trion half said and half whined.

    "Don''t say that, kid!" Bromann sternly waved his finger under Trion''s nose. "If people hear you, you''ll ruin Zekell''s business."

    Bromann''s angry fa?ade crumbled as everyone startedughing.

    "Oh, exalted one, we submit to your glory." Rizel mock-venerated Trion with ample movements of his arms. "We also expect you to pay for our drinks since you are a god and stuff. We mortals wouldn''t dare offend you."

    "What about the food?" Asked an indignant Khars asked. "We can''t drink beer without meaty and salty snacks!"

    "Pay it out of your pocket or I will make you." Raaz mock-red at his friend. "My son is the guardian deity of the East, not of freeloaders!"

    Moreughter ensued.

    When they reached Lutia and people started to beg Trion for his protection and blessing, he silently begged Mogar to swallow him whole.

    "This is so embarrassing! He thought. I always envied Lith but now that I''m under the spotlight, I want to go back to being a nobody. How the heck does he deal with this madness while making it look so easy?''

    ***

    Lith reached Lutiast while staying incognito.

    Everyone expected to see him fly on his wings, with his seven eyes open, or at least wearing his Supreme Magus robe so no one paid attention to a tall farmer.

    ''I guess it''s true that the clothes make the man.'' He thought while greeting the original citizens of Lutia who recognized him and weed him back without using his name to let him have his privacy.

    Having to remain close enough to all his Demons at the same time not to restrict their movements, Lith sat at a small family restaurant on the outskirts of the city, far away from the temple of the All-Father.

    ''All in all, this new Lutia is a nightmare. He inwardly grunted. The crowd, the traffic, the noise, and even plenty of guards!"

    He saw pairs of soldiers patrolling the area, their enchanted spears shining under the sunlight in a silent threat. The three squads of the Queen''s Corps weren''t enough to protect Lutia anymore.

    They kept following and protecting those like Zekell who had a tight connection with Lith but everyone else was now on their own. Lutia''s crime rate was still low, but the

    city was no longer known as "the Graveyard".

    Things like muggings, burries, and petty crimes had be sadlymon. Organized crime gave Lutia a wide berth because magical beasts, undead, and a fiery-tempered Magus, all with a license to kill, were very bad for business.

    "What can I get you?" Asked a middle-aged woman with a gentle face.

    "The house specialty, thank you." Lith had already eaten, but with his real size a human serving was but crumbs.

    "Can I bring you something to drink?"

    "Just water. It''s too early to drink," He replied.

    "Are you new to Lutia? I''ve never seen you around these parts before." The woman asked after passing the order to the kitchen.

    It was a slow day and the handsome stranger looked like a good match for her daughter. "This Lutia? Yes." Lith replied. "What happened to the peaceful, quiet city I left?"

    "You mean the silent rotting corpse of a city?" She asked with a reproachful tone. "You mustn''t havee here in a long while."

    "You can say that." Between the Tower Warp and the private Warp Gate, Lith only went to Lutia to pick up Rena or visit Zekell, always Warping straight to his destination.

    "It''s all thanks to Magus Verhen. After he was reinstated as a war hero and then crowned Magus, Lutia has never stopped healing." The deep gratitude and admiration in the woman''s voice made said Magus feel like a jerk.

    "Once the public Warp Gate waspleted, the city was reborn and started to grow again. My family lost everything in the war, cursed be Thrud''s name. We moved to Lutia to escape the frontlines and now we are proud of our new home.

    "All that temple nonsense is a bit over the top, but those weirdos kept the symptoms of my y illness under control until we saved enough to afford a real healer so I''m deeply grateful to them. You too should be thankful to Magus Verhen, young man.

    "He won the war for us, keeps the whole Lutia safe with his presence, and personally watches over us from his house up there." She pointed in the direction of Lith''s house.

    I do no such thing. Lith swallowed hard. For a woman who ims not to be a believer of the temple of the All-Father, she has a nigh-blind faith in me.''

    "How is business going?" Lith quickly changed the topic as the woman brought him what looked like steamedmb in a green peas sauce.

    Being praised in Court or by someone who wanted something from him was a pain Lith was used to whereas being honestly praised by a stranger felt awkward.

    "Not well, sadly." The woman sighed. "This is the only ce we could afford and being on the perennial outskirts of Lutia doesn''t help. The city can''t expand further without invading thends of Magus Verhen which means we''re stuck here until better times

    Away from the Gate and the mainmercial district, the restaurant was indeed in a bad location. Unless someone arrived on foot from the road or had business in the area, there was no way to discover the restaurant.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Sorry to hear." Lamb wasn''t among Lith''s favorite foods. He had gotten quite sick of it during his service as a Ranger in the north.

    "Don''t worry, sir, this too will pass." She replied with a warm smile. "My husband is a great brewer from Mackosh. I''m sure that as soon as enough people taste his beers, just word of mouth will make-

    "Come again?" Lith cut her short, his interest in her personal matters spiking.

    "Didn''t I tell you? We ran away from our hometown during the War of the Griffons." The woman said. "Mackosh is a xenophobic garbage dump. The moment word of Thrud''s Skinwalkers spread, those idiots started a witch hunt.

    "Neighbor turned against neighbor and mere rumors were enough for innocents to be tortured. My husband and I came to Lutia because we believed the ce that raised Ranger Verhen couldn''t be as barbaric and thanks the gods, we were right." Lith was torn between the wish to taste the beer and his promise to Kam. "I''m sure everything will be fine. Do you sell kegs of beer or just mugs?" He asked.

    "Getting our hands on the right ingredients is hard and the brewing takes a long time." She sighed. "We were hoping to keep our reserve exclusive for the restaurant, but at this point, we can''t turn down business. Why? Are you interested?"

    "Maybe." Lith sighed back. "I can''t drink it myself and before making a purchase I need

    the opinion of someone I t-"

    "There you are!" A familiar voice said as the woman went pale in fright, took a few quick steps back until she was behind the restaurant door, and locked it shut.

 Chapter 3372 Drinking Wolf (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3372 Drinking Wolf (Part 1)

    "Do you mind taking care of Filia and Frey? Zin and I are going shopping." The two youths and the colossal wolf-fox hybrid they rode made a retching sound of disapproval while grabbing with their hands an invisible noose constricting their necks.

    "Filia! Frey! How many times did I tell you that''s not how a noble behaves himself?" Zinya scolded them.

    "This is Lutia, Mom." Filia replied. "Can''t we act like when we lived here and forget about etiquette and always using the proper fork for one day? Please?"

    "You are right, sorry." Zinya tried to shrug off the stress of the recent days. "I''ll follow your advice and loosen up a bit. Be good, kids, do as your uncle says, and don''t wander off, okay?"

    "Mom, we''re not kids anymore!" Frey said in embarrassment. "Filia is over twelve years old now."

    "You''re right, she''s ancient. Zinya chuckled. "Bye, kids!"

    "Thanks, babe." Kam walked away before Lith could say anything or express his thoughts on the matter.

    "Sure, Kami." He said to the now empty space to his right. "I''d love to spend time with Filia and Frey. Have fun."

    "Sorry for bothering you, Uncle Lith." Frey said while holding what looked like a fox-wolf cub with emerald streaks all over his fur in his arms.

    "Don''t apologize and don''t use my name." Lith shushed him with a whisper. "Call me... Morok! I can''t ruin his reputation since he doesn''t have one."

    "Women." Tezka''s Spirit tail said.

    "Women." Frey echoed.

    "Hey, I''m right here, you know?" Filia shared the sentiment but she was also personally involved.

    Tezka''s main body had followed Zinya and Kam, causing the crowd to make way for them the moment the sun sparkled on his massive fangs. The nine, long tails whipping the air contributed to making the Fylgja a nightmarish figure.

    "Is it a doggie?" A little girl asked.

    "No." Tezka replied.

    "Yes." Zynia corrected him.

    "It talks?" The terrified mother said, too scared to move a muscle.

    "Can I pet him?" The little girl ignored her mother''s worries and stepped closer. "No." Tezka replied.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Yes," Zynia corrected him again. "He''s like a giant puppy."

    To prove her point, she picked up the little girl and put her on the Fylgja''s neck.

    "So warm!" She ruffled the thick fur. "And fluffy!"

    The beast''s defeated expression as the little girl yed with his ears destroyed any aura of magnificence Tezka had left in the eyes of the crowd.

    Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, Lith decided to check on the people following Kam and Zinya for potential threats.

    ''Whether Meln sent his thralls to tail Kami or more Divine Beasts are after her life, they won''t miss this opportunity. We are separated, Elysia is at home, and Tezka''s cloaking device makes him look like a magical beast.'' Lith thought.

    Life Vision would expose both his identity and intentions so he rxed and let go of Death Vision. Not only had it no visible effect but it also couldn''t be fooled by any kind of magical device.

    Death Vision exposed undead and thralls by revealing they could die only if their weak points were destroyed. Awakened and Divine Beasts, instead, would age very slowly under Death Vision, and killing them required powerful spells or enchanted weapons. ''What the fuck?''Filia, Frey, and Tezka being untouched by Death Vision was normal since they were close to Lith and under his protection.

    The rest of the city being lively and full of people instead of walking corpses, however, was not. The nts didn''t wilt, the flowers didn''t wither, and the birds didn''t turn into maggots-infested carcasses by the second.

    ''Is there something wrong with me?'' Lith used his breathing technique, Abyssal Grasp, to examine his life force.

    The cracks were still there, just a bit thinner after the recent fusion. It took him a while to notice they had stopped bleeding the ck goo Valtak had named "death force" and that it no longer reached his eyes.

    "Is there something wrong, Uncle Lith?" Leria asked, worried by his prolonged silence and his expression shifting between confused, worried, and surprised.

    "No, everything is surprisingly fine." He replied as the restaurant''s owner finally found the courage toe out again.

    "Perfect timing" Lith said. "Something to eat for my young friends and a mug of blonde Maekosh ale for the gentleman."

    "Kids can''t drink!" The pallor of the woman''s skin was painted pink by rage.

    "He''s talking about me." The Spirit Tail shared the stress of the main body and could use a drink.

    "It talks?" The woman proved to be incredibly nimble for someone her size and age, reaching the doorstep with a single jump.

    "He, not it. But yes, he talks." The Spirit Tail said. "He can also pay."

    Copper coins appeared between his toes.

    The good manners of the beast apanying the kids reminded the woman of one particr piece of gossip she''d heard multiple times since she had moved to Lutia.

    "Are you Aran and Leria Verhen?" The Verhen kids were famous and their magical beasts were the stuff of legend.

    "No, miss." Frey shook his head. "I''m Frey, she''s my sister Filia, and he''s our uncle... Morok. We belong to the Vastor Household, not the Verhen."

    "Never heard about it." She shrugged, reassured by the fact that everyone but her was still calm andposed. "Where are my manners? I''m Hida, at your service. What can I

    bring you?"

    "What do you have for dessert?" Leria asked.

    Five minutester, everyone had a te of cobbler that Tezka washed down with a beer

    he drank from a mug.

    "Those kids must be nobles! Their pet talks, uses cutlery to eat, and can drink like a human. Rich people are always unbelievable.'' She was bbergasted as the "pet" educated the kids about the origin of the food andmented on their table manners.

    "So, what do you think?" Lith asked.

    "That if your wife looks at another pair of shoes, I''ll need something stronger than beer. And lots of it." Tezka snorted.

    "I meant about the beer you''re drinking." Lith said. "What does it taste like?"

    "A ssic Mackosh blonde ale." The Spirit. Tail licked his muzzle. "There are a few minor alterations to the original recipe but it has to be expected. That sort of thing varies with the talent and taste of the brewer. If you ask me, the changes are for the better." "That''s what I wanted to hear." Lith trusted Tezka''s taste since the Fylgja had a long life and attended most of Vastor''s parties where even the rarest delicacies weremon. "I''ll take a keg of what my friend is drinking, another of your best red ale, and another of

    dark ale."

    "Three kegs?" Hida was bbergasted.

    "For starters." Lith nodded, putting a gold coin on the table. "Keep the change as an open tab on my name. I hate having debts."

    "Morok Vastor, correct?" Hida moved her eyes from the coin in her palm to the stranger

    in amazement.

    She had never possessed so much money at once in her lifetime.

    "What? No. Lith Verhen." He shuddered at the thought of gifting good beer to such an

    annoying prick.

 Chapter 3373 Drinking Wolf (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3373 Drinking Wolf (Part 2)

    "Have it delivered to my home. If it''s a problem, I''ll have someonee to pick it up."

    "That''s not the name you used earlier." Hida paled a little, looking at the stranger with a mix of marvel and distrust.

    I would doubt his identity if he tried to buy on credit, but he''s paying up front much more than what he''s buying. What point there would be spending money and putting his neck on the chopping block?" She thought while taking a long look at the stranger''s face. ''I must admit he is quite handsome, but Magus Verhen is-

    "I lied." Lith said while covering half his face with an open hand and making two extra eyes appear on that side. "I''m sure it can''t be your first time, Hida."

    The woman froze on the spot as ck scales formed on Lith''s cheek and fangs shed in his mouth.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No, sir."

    "Drop the honorifics." Lith removed his hand and restored his human appearance. "As you''ve probably guessed, I''m undercover. I''ll advertise your restaurant, but only if that doesn''t affect my regr supply of beer, are we clear?"

    "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Hida had guessed nothing, her brain was still frozen from the shock of the revtion and the embarrassment of how she had addressed the Magus earlier.

    "Uncle Lith, that''s ckmail!" Frey rebuked him.

    "No, that''s making a deal, young man." Lith replied. "I''m not doing anything bad if she refuses. I''m doing something good if she epts. There''s a big difference!"

    "Sounds mean to me." Frey replied. "You are more powerful and richer than her. Can''t you just be kind?"

    "It''s not mean, little buddy, it''s life. Lith shook his hand. "If you start giving away what you have for nothing, soon you''ll have nothing. Remember my words but never tell your mother I teach you this kind of stuff."

    "Pinkie promise." Filia and Frey sealed their vow while chuckling.

    "Is Mom that scary?" Filia asked.

    "Not at all. Lith replied. "Your Aunt is. Because, you see, even after Zin leaves, I still live with Kami."

    "Don''t worry about me." Tezka finished his beer as the kids stillughed. "My lips are sealed. Filia and Frey need to learn to thicken their skin and I can''t count on Zogar for that."

    "Doesn''t he spend time with the kids?" Lith was unpleasantly surprised.

    "Dad always finds time for us!" Filia''s hrity was instantly reced by outrage. "Don''t badmouth him, Uncle Tezka

    "I''m not and I''ve never said that." The Fylgja sighed as Hida was more confused by the second about the Verhen family tree. "It''s just that Zogar is an Archmage and whenever he hangs out with the kids, he makes it a fairy tale experience.

    "There''s no such thing as eating cobbler on the corner of a street and talking about the unpleasantries of life. His approach is... soft."

    "Vastor as in Zogar Vastor?" Hida blurted out in surprise, drawing the attention on herself.

    She had heard the name many times since the War of the Griffons but when the kids had mentioned him, Hida was thinking about a citizen of Lutia, not an Archmage war hero who lived thousands of kilometers away.

    "Yes." Frey nodded. "Maybe we should go. It''s not nice discussing family matters in public"

    "I''m sorry, young master, I didn''t mean to eavesdrop." Hida bowed deeply, ashamed of her own behavior.

    "It was a good cobbler." Frey felt bad for her and realized why Lith had used a fake name. "Have a nice day, miss Hida."

    Lith paid the bill, leaving the gold coin to be used only for the future beer supply. He couldn''t drink for nine months, but dimensional amulets would preserve the brews until the baby boy was born and beyond.

    The kids and Tezka left one copper coin each as a tip for the good service. It wasn''t custom in the Kingdom, but Vastor had taught them to be grateful for the work of those who allowed them to have afortable life.

    After all, three copper coins were nothing to them but a lot to Hida.

    "Oh, gods." The woman said the moment she deemed her customers were far away enough not to hear her. "Oh, gods. Oh, gods! Oshek! You''ll never believe what just happened."

    She was right. Her husband didn''t believe her. A talking wolf, a poorly dressed Magus, and the children of an Archmage all sitting at one table, and somehow all blood-rted, sounded like the start of a bad joke.

    "Howe I''m the one who brews the beer yet you are drunk?" Oshek said with a sneer. "Can alcohol do this?" At least until she put the gold coin on the counter.

    "Good gods!" He gasped. "There must be a leak in the brewery and we are high on alcohol vapors. It''s the only usible exna="

    Hida pinched and twisted his hand painfully enough to dispel any illusion of drunken stupor.

    "This is real. This is definitely real. Oshek massaged his hand. "We must rename our restaurant tomemorate this moment. What about the Drinking Wolf?"

    "It points to your beers and gives us an excuse to tell this incredible story." Hida nodded. "We''re going to be rich!"

    And so, the Drinking Wolf beer brand was born.

    The restaurant only remained as a side hustle, but Hida and Oshek did be rich from their brewery. The Drinking Wolf brand gave Lutia prestige and many struggling people an honest job, but this is a story for another day.

    ***

    "So, how is living with the legendary Ripha Menadion?" Zinya and Kam wore simple light cotton day dresses due to the summer''s heat.

    Of course, those were actually enchanted armor shapeshifted into farmer clothes. Zinya still kept the old dresses she had bought back when she lived in Lutia and Kam hated

    the attention.

    "Weird, to use and understatement. The two sisters had reached themercial district and were window shopping,menting on the new fashion for shoes and clothes. "Don''t get me wrong. It''s not like she harasses me. I barely see Ripha. "She spends most of her time with Solus and what''s left with her friends. Aside from the meals and when she helps me with the babies, we barely interact."

    "Then how does she make it weird?" Zinya patted Tezka''s head in apology.

    The huge magical wolf-fox guaranteed them privacy and space at the cost of his peace. Tezka hated crowded ces and liked gossip even less.

    "I don''t know" Kam sighed. "She hasn''t said anything specific, but every time we feed or change the babies, I get the feeling she resents me for taking her daughter''s ce!"

    "Solus? With Lith?" Zinya was bbergasted, mostly because she had no knowledge of the tower or the real rtionship between them. "That''s disgusting! Aren''t they blood

    rtives?"

    "Yeah, split by a thousand years and half a continent." Kam snorted. "You are probably more rted to Zogar than Lith is to Solus."

    Which was true. Menadion''s bloodline had been frozen in time long before Lith''s paternal and maternal sides of the family moved to Lutia.

    "Also, can you me her? I mean, they are both mages, they spend a lot of time together,

    and, more importantly, they met back when we had already broken up." Kam sighed.

 Chapter 3374 Odd Pairings (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3374 Odd Pairings (Part 1)

    "Oh boo-hoo, you snooze you lose." Zinya clicked her tongue. "Solus had her opportunity and missed it. Like it happened with me and Zogar. He''s always been surrounded by better women than me, but they never cared for the man, only for his status.

    "While they fawned at his Archmage robe, I listened to his stories and enjoyed hispany. They love what he does, I love who Zogar is. I made my move just like you did and thank the gods he chose to spend the rest of his life with me.

    "If those vixens hate me, it''s their problem."

    "He wasn''t surrounded by women better than you, Zin, just richer and younger." Kam replied. "You are a wonderful person and Zogar is a man smart enough to appreciate it." "Don''t try to switch the focus on me." Zinya took thepliment but didn''t relent. "Does Ripha act as one of those mothers-inw from hell?"

    "Not at all. As I said, we barely talk." Kam shook her head. "She''s always polite and thoughtful, especially around the kids. Who knows, maybe it''s all in my head."

    "Speaking of kids, how do you feel about... you know?" Zinya asked.

    "I''m not going to lie I was scared at first but now I''m actually excited by my second... job." Kam turned around, beaming with a smile. "I feel happier by the day and can''t wait for the... paycheck."

    "I''m d to hear but are you sure it''s not just because of the confidence boost thates with the job?" Zinya, instead, turned worried. "What if once your contract ends you get depressed again?"

    "Gods, let''s hope not." Kam sighed. "At least this time I know the signs and can ask for help. Believe me, I don''t n on renewing the contract until the day I die. That said, all this walking made me hungry. Ice cream and hot tea?"

    "That''s another odd pairing that works great." Zinya took her sister by the arm and walked together toward the nearest green area for a pic.

    Ashtar of Lutia didn''t miss the grace of the two women or the value of their jewelry. Even with humble dresses, Kam never took off the silver moon pendant. Lith had gifted her while Zinya always wore Vastor''s betrothal gift, a golden ring with a pink diamond.

    "Those things alone would be worth the risk but those women are also loaded!'' Ashtar thought.

    In his time as a pickpocket he had learned to recognize when someone looked at merchandise they couldn''t afford. Those people were often sad and dreamy whereas Zinya and Kam studied the various luxury goods with the same expert eyes of someone handpicking ripe fruits at the market.

    Not only could they afford it, they also knew their stuff.

    "The only problem is the dog and how smart it is. Maybe I can lure it away with some food and-''Ashtar knew how to blend with the crowd.

    On top of that, he was observing his marks from a safe distance yet the "dog" was staring at him.

    It wasn''t the spark of intelligence in the animal''s eyes that froze Ashtar to the bone but its lips curling up in a cruel smile that extended to his eyes. Tezka smiled like a kid ready to rip off the wings of a butterfly he had just caught. Like no dog should.

    Ashtar found himself covered in a cold sweat, incapable of breaking eye contact. By all ounts, the wolf-fox had to look up to the pickpocket but Ashtar felt like it was looking down on him.

    Like Ashtar looked at ants, assuming he noticed them in the first ce.

    As the two women moved away, the fox-wolf followed them, breaking the spell.

    "Thank the gods.'' Ashtar wheezed, his knees weak and his muscles burning from the prolonged tension. I don''t know what that thing is, but enough work for today. Maybe it''s time I find myself an honest job. Lutia is too dangerous.''

    With such thoughts running through his mind, Ashtar left the crowd and disappeared into one of the side alleys.

    Great was his surprise when he bumped into its shadows and discovered they were rock hard.

    "Thanks, kid. I needed the distraction." The shadows took the form of a humanoid single-tailed fox over three meters (10'') tall whose broad shoulders almost grazed against either side of the alley.

    "I didn''t do anything! I''m innocent!" He tried to scream but his voice came out as a low-pitched whine.

    "Because I didn''t let you." The snout of the creature split into an all too familiar smile that twisted Ashtar''s stomach into a knot. "Also, we both know you''re not innocent."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''ll change! I''m changed!" He fell on his knees, looking the creature in its eyes and recognizing its mocking gaze. "I''ve abandoned crime. I''ll turn myself in!"

    "Too bad I don''t believe in second chances." Tezka''s mouth widened, swallowing the pickpocket whole. "Be them a flea or a Guardian, no one looks at what''s mine like that without paying the price."

    ***

    Lith''s house, the following day.

    The visit to Lutia had strengthened the bond between the Verhens and theirmunity. For the kids, it made them feel at home again after the confusing and unsettling days that had followed Lith''s disappearance.

    For Raaz, it meant returning to tend his belovednd and forgetting about the most

    recent trouble that had befallen his family. Magic brought many wonders into his life and that of his family but it seemed toe at the price of chaos.

    For Elina, instead, it had made her realize the burden of carrying a noble name for the first time in her life. She felt guilty for the shopkeepers tricked by her impostors and was appalled by how much authority her words carried.

    Local soldiers obeyed her even when she was just expressing a thought out loud, not issuing amand.

    ''I almost got that poor man arrested for wearing that horrible waistcoat. She shuddered at the thought. ''When I said it was a crime against fashion, I didn''t mean literally!" Elina had woken up early and was making breakfast for everyone. Cooking always helped her to rx and clear her mind.

    "Good morning, Elina." Ripha walked out of Lith''s room. "Need an extra pair of hands?"

    "Sure. I can always use help andpany" Elina nodded.

    Actually, seeing a woman that young and beautiful other than Kaming out of her son''s bedroom in the morning creeped her out quite a bit. The resemnce with Solus only made things creepier.

    "I must warn you. I''m goodpany but a terrible cook. Menadion sighed. "The gods know if I tried but even when Threin was alive we had to buy our food most of the times.

    "Wasn''t he a good cook?" Elina had heard such stories from Solus already but didn''t want. to cut the conversation short.

    "If it wasn''t something moreplicated than a soup or a stew, sure, but only if I checked the pots first. That airhead often left paint everywhere, to the point we all

    developed poison resistance." Menadion chuckled at the memory.

    "For everything else, it was a contest about who could perform worse and even though I was usually the winner, that didn''t make his cooking less disgusting."

 Chapter 3375 Odd Pairings (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3375 Odd Pairings (Part 2)

    "Well, I can teach you, if you don''t mind." Elina offered Ripha a clean apron.

    "I hoped you would say that." Menadion replied while putting the apron on. "I''m in desperate need of cooking lessons. I want to learn how to prepare all of Epphy''s favorite foods and be for her the mother I never was, even before Threin died."

    "That''s a wonderful idea, Ripha. I''m sure Solus..." Elina put emphasis on the word to correct Menadion without spreading salt on her wounds. "Will love it. I''m more than happy to help you!"

    "Thanks, Elina." Ripha said and she was sincere.

    Getting used to her daughter''s new name wasn''t easy and it was the first time someone cut her some ck.

    "Breakfast is the simplest meal of the day to prepare so it''s good practice for a beginner." Elina said. "Raaz needs energy and Kami needs to eat for two so we''ll make a few eggs and sausages.

    "The kids usually prefer milk and biscuits but those we bought yesterday. Lith and Tista eat everything and a lot of it. Solus is going to charge at the jam bread so make sure there''s only so much at her arm''s reach."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "When in doubt, prepare a number of portions of everything equal to half the number of guests. This way, if someone wants a serving or just a bite there''s no need to cook again. What''s left we can pack and give it to the farmhands. They eat like hungry locusts."

    "Got it." Menadion nodded, taking arge pan and melting a knob of butter before adding the eggs. "I just need to wait for the egg white to turn actually white, right?"

    "Right. Also, make sure they don''t stick to the pan or taking them out is a mess." Elina instead, took care of the sausages since serving them over or undercooked was an easy beginner mistake.

    ''I still don''t get how an Awakened can be a bad cook.'' She thought. It''s not Body Sculpting, you just have to follow the recipe. Lith learned as a kid and thanks to Fire Vision-''

    "What are you doing?" Elina asked, her train of thought derailed.

    "I was thinking about a rune Sally used to convert my blueprint of Solus'' Fury to modern magic." Menadion replied. "We could use it for Ragnar?k to-"

    "I mean with the eggs!" Elina pointed at the smokeing from the pan. "They are burning!"

    "Good gods!" Menadion lowered the me and raised the pan but it was toote.

    The product of her work would have made the pigs in the barn wrinkle their noses in disgust, eating it only out of professional pride.

    "This doesn''t make sense. The fire isn''t supposed to be that strong." Elina scraped at the ruined mess of the pan while trying to figure out the problem.

    "I might have tampered with the safety measures of the stove." Menadion scratched her head in embarrassment.

    "Why would you do that?" Elina was bbergasted.

    "I was bored. It was taking too long to cook the eggs."

    "And then you got distracted anyway?" Elina took a deep breath, holding the need to cover her face with a hand in frustration.

    "As I said, I was bored. Eggs are just eggs whereas each rune is a small world in itself. You can spend hours thinking about a single rune and not one moment is wasted."

    "But all this food is." Elina pointed at the charred eggs. "Ripha, cooking is like magic. You can''t just pour more mana just to speed up things. You need patience and dedication. Lith set the stove like that because if the heat is too strong, everything burns.

    "You could get food that''s burned outside yet raw inside!"

    "That exins a lot!" The glimpse of enlightenment shone in Menadion''s eyes. "Ripha, be honest with me." Elina sighed, seeing that Menadion''s mind was already otherwise busy. "Do you want to learn how to cook?"

    "Of course!" Menadion replied, confused by the silly question.

    "Then stop wasting food and time. I''m the master and you the apprentice." Elina handed the clean pan back to Ripha, her tone devoid of her usual warmth. "We do things my way. No altering the recipe, no messing with the stove, and no daydreaming. Are we clear?" "Yes, Mom. I mean, ma''am." Menadion was taken aback by Elina''s sudden change of attitude.

    "Our chickens worked hard to make these eggs and lots of starving people in Lutia would cry seeing this mess." She pointed at the trashed eggs. "No food gets wasted in my kitchen unless there''s a damn good reason."

    Only then did Ripha remember how poor Lith''s household had been until he had started working as a healer. Of how hard was for them to put food on the table and fix the house before winter enough to keep it standing until spring.

    "Amateurs." Much to everyone''s surprise, it was Sark speaking.

    She clicked her tongue in disapproval while cooking a T-bone steak, frittata, bacon, pancakes, and blending together milk and fresh fruit with air magic.

    "Grandma, that''s too much." Elina said. "I want to teach Ripha cooking not just showing off. Also, who''s going to eat all that stuff?"

    "That''s not for you. You two can keep cooking. This is for Shargein. My Featherling needs to cat to grow big and strong. Isn''t that right, darling?"

    "Yummy! Yes, Mommy" The Wyrmling wagged his tail while his stomach gurgled in excitement.

    After seeing the difference in the wooden figurines carved by Shargein, the Overlord had decided to step up her game. Herpetitive spirit allowed her to excel at almost everything. Unless she was truly motivated, then there was no "almost".

    ''I won''t let the old lizard outshine me in the kitchen! Or with the bedtime stories hees up with. Or the ydates he organizes. Or...'' And the list went on.

    "What''s this delicious smell?" The bacon lured Raaz to the kitchen.

    "Are those pancakes we smell?" Aran, Leria, and the triplets joined their forces for a Dolby Surround effect.

    "Dammit, Grandma! I wanted to keep things simple for Ripha''s first lesson." Elina grunted. "Change of ns, Ripha. Ask no questions and follow my lead."

    More than once Menadion went this close to get distracted but a timely nudge or a re from Elina kept her grounded.

    Lith would have loved to help, but with three people already cooking there was no space

    for a fourth.

    "I hope you enjoy breakfast." Elina smiled despite the exhaustion she felt. "Ripha helped me so remember to thank her."

    Menadion knew there was no ill-will behind Elina''s words yet she couldn''t help but think Elina was covering her own back from potential criticism.

    "Thank you, Grandma Ripha." Everyone said, making her almost choke on her first bite.

    I already feel bad for ruining breakfast and now this? And to make matters worse, why does being called grandma irks me so badly?'' She thought.

    The various dishes were good, but not up to par with Elina''s standards. Even with lots of help, Menadion had made a few mistakes here and there. As for Elina, splitting her focus between her own pans and Menadion''s had taken a toll.

 Chapter 3376 Righting Wrongs (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3376 Righting Wrongs (Part 1)

    Only Shargein enjoyed a delicious meal but no one dared ask him a bite not to offend Elina and Ripha. The Wyrmling was sitting on a special chair that could amodate his size and weight while in his hybrid form.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He looked like a Dragon, but his hindlegs ended with taloned bird feet, his wings were feathered, and lustrous red feathers covered his body.

    "Thanks, Mommy. Delicious!" Shargein cleaned his tes, making Sark brim with joy.

    "So, how was everyone''s trip to Lutia?" Raaz asked, crunching a piece of bacon a little too dry and crunchy for his taste.

    Truth be told, Elysia and Valeron too had a great dining experience but only because their food was either produced by Kam or prepared by Lith in advance.

    The Verhens took turns recounting their experiences. Everyone loved the children''s idea of making coin-shaped pendants to hold Valtak''s ashes and was appalled at the news of having imposters scamming people by using their names.

    "I guess it had to be expected." Trion sighed. "I mean, it was easy to tell the original citizens of Lutia from the neers. The people who had known us since before we became famous, like Dad''s men, just smiled and waved at us.

    "Everyone else went from bowing all the way to the ground to throw themselves at our feet and beg for our blessing.

    "Your blessing, son," Raaz chuckled. "I''m just a mortal whereas you are a guardian general."

    "Please, don''t remind me of that. Trion groaned.

    "I have interesting news." Lith told them about how Death Vision no longer gued him unless he wished so.

    "Is it because you and I fused again?" Solus asked.

    "I doubt that''s the case. Lith shook his head. "Our fusion further mended my life force and, now that I have fully recovered, I can exert more of my full power without risks but that''s it.

    "After carefully studying how Death Vision now works, I believe the change took ce when Kami rescued me."

    "If that''s true, howe you didn''t notice it until yesterday?" Kam tilted her head in confusion.

    "Because I''ve spent the whole time in Grandma''s pce." Lith replied. "Under her influence, I have no need to hold Death Vision back. When I went to the Royal Pce and attended Valtak''s funeral, instead, nothing happened that could disturb my focus. "I wouldn''t have noticed yesterday either if I hadn''t let myself go on purpose. I''ve gotten

    so used to suppressing Death Vision that it nowes to me as natural as breathing." "That''s wonderful news, dear." Elina smiled at her son, d such a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. "Yet I don''t understand what has triggered the change. I mean, you had already shut down the door to the Void back in the Valley of Life"

    "That was different, Mom." Lith swallowed a burned piece of pancake. "Back then, I seeded only thanks to Valtak''s help. He closed the door and I sealed it. The second time, I did everything on my own.

    "It''s the reason I was able to close it easily back when my n to use the blue mes against the World Tree literally backfired. When I regained my memories, my life forces merged into a form that makes producing Dread mes easier which in turn allows me to suppress the blue mes.

    "The Dread mes that now envelop my Tiamat body constantly nurture my life force and suppress the negative effects of the Void."

    "I''m happy for you, son." Raaz nodded.

    Lith actually had more to say but preferred to wait until the children left for their morning lessons and games.

    "I''d like to ask your advice on an important matter." Lith waved everyone toe back to the table after making sure the Hush Zone of the Doomyer crib was on and the babies were asleep.

    "My situation with the Kingdom is resolved and I''vepletely recovered" He said. "Yet there''s still a loose end I need to tie up. Righting the wrongs I did to those I met while in my Abomination form."

    "The problem is that. I don''t want to force them to face me and trigger their trauma just to feel better about myself, I want to make it up to them and, if possible, obtain their

    forgiveness.

    "My question is: has enough time passed for them to face me on a neutral ground or would my presence just open their wounds and make things worse?"

    Everyone pondered the issue without finding a proper answer. Were Lith to go too soon, it would be a disaster. Were he to go toote, his apologies would sound like an afterthought. Unless he found the right time, he would dig himself a deeper hole.

    "You won''t like what I''m about to say but you need to hear it nheless, Featherling." Sark said. "There''s no such thing as a right time to make your apologies and no clever n that can help you. Not this time.

    "You didn''t just wrong those people, they are your victims. They have met you as an Abomination. They have seen you in action without your humanity to filter your primal impulses.

    "Surviving the encounter with an Abomination is almost as bad as dying at their hands. It leaves a mental scar in the bravest of men that time can''t heal. You crushed every

    illusion of safety and control over their life they had.

    "They now know that out there exist people like you and I who can trample them with a thought. You could wait a Divine Beast''s lifetime and your victims wouldn''t fare any better than now when facing you.

    "The only way they have to heal is to face their trauma and stand up for themselves. No matter how it goes, the moment they tell you to leave and you do, it will give them back the sliver of control they need not to feel victims anymore.

    "On top of that, offering them your sincere apologies might help. Seeing the creature of their nightmares admitting his wrongs is something that most people can only dream about. Emphasis on might, though,"

    "I agree with Grandma, there''s no such thing as the right moment." Solus nodded, wing at her own shoulders. "Centuries have passed since Bytra killed me but the

    I

    moment I faced my killer, it was like it happened yesterday."

    She started shivering despite her Awakened physique and the heat of summer. Ripha hugged Solus'' from the back while Elina covered them both with a nket.

    "I... almost lost my mind back at Vastor''s wedding." Solus stuttered. "I was torn between the desire to kill her and the instinct to run for my life. I hated her. I hated her so much that I thought my heart would explode.

    "Letting her live, letting go even of a sliver of that hate almost crushed me. I''m still sane only because you were with me and so was Mom through the Fury"

    She took a deep breath before saying:

    "Grandma is also right about the rest. I didn''t get any better until I was given the choice to forgive Bytra. It was my decision to make and even though it didn''t change the past, it made the present much less scary."

 Chapter 3377 Righting Wrongs (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3377 Righting Wrongs (Part 2)

    "I see." Lith nodded, thinking back at his own tormentors back on Earth and how he would have reacted had they ever apologized to him.

    Derek would have hated Ezio forever anyway but at least he wouldn''t have wanted his father dead. As for Chris....

    Had the young Wainright shown sincere remorse for his actions and epted a fair sentence, things would have probably gone differently. Justice would have made revenge pointless and Derek wouldn''t have tarnished Carl''s memory with bloodshed.

    "Do you wantpany?" Kam held his hand, recognizing the signs of his struggle against his old demons. "Maybe, if Ie and exin-"

    "Thanks, but no thanks, Kami." Lith returned her touch. "This is something I have to do alone."

    Griffon Kingdom, city of Albast, an hourter.

    Agra opened the windows of her home, grunting at the cloudy sky. It was only an hour past dawn in that part of the Kingdom but sunlight was scarce.

    "Wake up and enjoy the few hours we have before the heat makes us sweat bullets, sleepyheads. Clouds meant a milder weather but no one in the family liked the darkness.

    Not after that day.

    "What''s for breakfast, Mom?" Liru raised the luminous stone he usually kept on his nightstand, fending off the shadows in the dining room.

    "Whatever you want, dear." She replied. "Just made your mind quickly because Dad needs to go to work."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I''ll take eggs, bacon, and a strong tea" Borj emerged from the master bedroom, yawning like a bear. "Today will be a long day and I need energy."

    He was the only one who slept like a baby every night. Back when the Void had descended from the sky and ughtered the bandits like cattle, Borjy on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

    Back then he was too focused on trying to find a way to protect his family and suppressing the pain to notice much. All he knew was that one moment he was struggling to keep his guts in and the next he had woken up in Albast''s branch of the Mage Association.

    His family was safe, his wounds gone, and nothing they carried had been stolen. To him, it was a happy ending that had turned into a fairy tale when the Royals hadpensated Agra and Borj for their trouble.

    They had received a new house they could have never afforded on their own, a few magical trinkets, and a three-year tax exemption. One year for each member of the family.

    The only thing he knew about the Void came from Agra''s voice and Liru''s nightmares. Borj felt guilty for not remembering anything and left out of what troubled them.

    Even worse, he had no idea how to help them aside from pretending everything was alright and being there for his wife and son when they needed him.

    "I''d believe you, if you didn''t say that every single day" Agra scoffed. "You''re gaining weight."

    "It''s my beautiful wife''s fault." He said, hugging her and feeling her shudder when a darker cloud eclipsed the sun. "She''s too good of a cook. If you have to me someone, me her."

    "You also say this every single day." She chuckled.

    "The sun rises every day but that doesn''t make its light less charming." Borj turned on the lights, making the house as bright as day.

    The light stones were another of the gifts of the Royals to help the family cope with their trauma. Liru and Agra sighed in relief and resumed their preparations for the day.

    ''Agra tries to be strong for our son and refuses to keep the lights on 24/7 but it''s not doing them any good. She still trembles in front of her own shadow and Liru has a panic attack whenever I ask him to put down the light stone.'' Borj thought.

    "Thank the gods it''s summer. They have months to get better before winteres.

    He was afraid of what would happen once the days became short and the darkness deep. The family had just sat down at the table when someone knocked.

    Agra yelped and jumped from her chair while Liru dropped his fork and hid behind his father.

    "Hello?" A warm, familiar voice said through the door. "Is anyone home? It''s me, Shay." "Thank the gods." Agra felt her knees wobbling and ashamed of her reaction.

    ''Borj is still sitting like a normal person whereas I''m ready to bolt away like a mouse.'' She thought.

    To regain a bit of dignity in the eyes of her son, she went to the door and acted like that had been her intention all along.

    "Good morning, Agra. Did I bother you?" Shay Faramp was the social worker assigned to their case.

    She was a friendly woman in her mid-thirties, with a round face and a soothing smile. She wore simple but clean clothes and most of her red hair was hold in a bun.

    "Not at all. We were just having breakfast. Care to join us?" Agra pointed at the empty

    seat.

    After what the bandits had almost done to her, Agra was terrified of men. The feeling of weakness and helplessness of that day had never left her. It was the reason only women had been sent to deal with Agra''s family ever since they had been rescued.

    It was also the reason she couldn''t work. Her two fearsbined crippled Agra to the point she could barely step outside the safety of her home.

    "No, thank you." Shay shook her head, a hint of tension in her voice. "This is not a social visit, I''m here on official business. Can you please sit down?"

    "Is something wrong with our papers?" Agra wrung her hands in fear. "We uphold our end of the bargain. We didn''t say anything to anyone."

    Were the Kingdom to take away the house and the light stones, Agra would lose the only safe ce she had and be thrown out into a world that scared her to death. She couldn''t

    work and Liru was too afraid to go to school.

    "Oh, dear. I''m so sorry." Shay sat down, showing her empty hands to prove there was no issue with their paperwork. "I didn''t mean to upset you. Let me be clear. Everything is alright and this house is already in your name.

    "Unless you sell it, no one can take it away from you. Same for everything you received. From the beds to the magical stones, it''s not the Kingdom''s property anymore. It''s

    yours."

    "Then what''s the reason for your visit?" Borj put Liru on hisp while holding Agra''s

    hand.

    "There''s no way to put this mildly so I''ll just say it." Shay replied. "Supreme Magus Verhen would like to meet you and apologize for the trouble he caused you."

    "He''s here?" Agra turned toward the door so fast that she could have given herself whish and Liru clung to his father with all his strength.

    "No. I came here alone upon his request." Shay put hermunication amulet on the table. "This is no order. You are free to say no. There will be no consequences for your

    refusal.

    "Magus Verhen is willing toe on ater date if you need time to decide or never, if that''s what you want."

 Chapter 3378 No Changing the Past (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3378 No Changing the Past (Part 1)

    "I would like to thank Magus Verhen for what he did for us." Borj said while looking Agra in the eyes. "But I''m the lucky one. I remember nothing and his actions only benefitted me. It''s your choice, dear."

    "Please, Mommy, no." Liru started to sob. "Keep him away. Make the darkness stay away."

    Hearing her son''s terrified cries broke Agra''s heart and changed her mind.

    "Tell Supreme Magus Verhen he cane to visit us at his earliest convenience." She said.

    "Is now okay?" Shay asked.

    "More than okay." Agra swallowed hard and tried to appear calm.

    Shay talked briefly in her amulet and less than a minuteter, someone knocked on their door.

    "Mom, no!" Liru tried to run to her but Borj held him in a bear hug.

    "It''s alright, baby. You stay there. Agra stood up from her chair, feeling the wooden floor turn into a tar pit.

    The few meters she had to cross stretched and deformed into a long tunnel that seemed to never end. Raising her feet was a struggle, her heart beat faster and faster as if she was walking to her death.

    ''You can do this.'' She said to herself. If not for yourself, do it for Liru. Do you want him to keep living like this?"

    Agra took a deep breath, steadying her knees and focusing her vision again. She reached the door with a few strides and opened it before fear could make her second-guess her choice again.

    "Good morning, Lady Agra. Thank you for receiving me with so little notice." The voice of the man standing on the other side wasn''t the same as the nightmarish creature that haunted her dreams.

    The clothes weren''t the same. The Voidwalker armor was shapeshifted in the form of Lith''s Supreme Magus robes and uniform. The face wasn''t the same and even the ck de on his hip was missing.

    Yet Agra would have recognized those eyes among a thousand.

    One nce at those eyes was enough to bring her back to that day and awaken her fear. She could almost feel the wind caressing her skin past her torn clothes and the cold sweat drenching her body.

    "Lady Agra?" The kindness in those words broke the illusion, bringing her back to the present.

    "Not the same." The voice was human, not the howling of the wind.

    "I beg your pardon?" The man, not the creature, narrowed his eyes, which were warm andpassionate, not cold and full of spite.

    "Nothing." Agra shook her head, half in denial and half to shrug off her inner demons. "Please,e in."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Thanks, but I don''t think it''s appropriate." The man pointed behind her and Agra risked taking her eyes off him and following his finger.

    Liru was shaking and sobbing. He was so scared that his voice came out in a whisper of jumbled words that didn''t make sense.

    "I insist." The vision steeled Agra''s resolve and her tone. "You have my permission toe in."

    Lithplied and she closed the door behind him.

    "Please, say what you have to and leave."

    "I just wanted to apologize for how I behaved toward you and your family, Lady Agra." Lith said. "I know that nothing I do or say can change the past. I won''t try to exin or justify my actions, Sir Borj.

    "I''m sorry, Liru. You''ve been named after me and I''ve failed you. I hope that one day you all will believe these words."

    "I have one question. Borj left Liru in Shay''s arms, gesturing her to move to the farthest corner of the room with him. "Is it true that you had lost your mind after being beheaded?"

    "Yes, it''s true." Lith nodded. "Someone tried to kill me in order to kidnap a person precious to me. They failed only because in my Abomination form I have no vitals."

    "I can''t speak for the rest of my family because I was only half there that day, but I''m grateful those people attempted on your life." Borj offered Lith his hand who tentatively shook it in confusion.

    "I''m sorry?"

    "Had they not beheaded you, you would have never flown over that road, correct?" Borj asked while maintaining a friendly but firm grip.

    "Correct."

    "Then you would have no amends to make and I wouldn''t be here to meet you today." Borj shrugged. "My entire family would just be buried under a nameless tombstone along the highway and my wife would have been..."

    The unfinished phrase told Lith everything Borj meant without traumatizing Liru

    further.

    "So thank you for saving my life and my family. I can''t condone how you did it but I can''t. argue with the results. I ept your apology."

    "I''ll take my leave, then." Lith gave the family a polite bow and turned around.

    "Wait a moment." Agra said, clenching her hand hard enough to make her palms bleed

    While she listened to her husband''s words in a rollercoaster of shock and outrage, she recalled many things she had forgotten about that horrible day.

    That man was indeed theughing creature who had torn men apart like paper. The hungry beast who had butchered horses and riders to feast upon their blood. Yet Lith was also the one who had stopped the bandits from defiling her.

    He was the creature who had brought her dying husband back to health and saved her child''s life. Nothing could change the horrible things Lith had done but, for the first time since they had met, she was grateful for that.

    "Can you please turn back into that thing, Magus Verhen?" Agra asked.

    "Are you sure?" Lith furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "Damn sure." She nodded.

    The change was so quick and fluid that one blink was enough to miss it. In a single heartbeat, the man was gone, reced by the familiar shadow creature over two meters (7) tall with horns and membranous wings.

    Liru didn''t cry harder only because fear paralyzed him like a deer in headlights.

    "Thanks for saving me and my family." She shook his hand before turning around. "See,

    Liru? Nothing bad happens. He''s not a monster."

    Agra threaded her fingers into Lith''s and raised their hands for the child to see.

    "Mommy is alright. There''s nothing to be afraid of"

    "It''s true." Borj understood her intentions and gave Lith a side hug, patting his shoulder. "Come, Liru. See for yourself."

    The boy was terrified at first, but after seeing his parents clinging to the monster without them dying or suffering any harm, Agra''s and Borj''s confidence reassured him. "Can you put me down?" He asked Shay who gently did as asked. "Mom? Dad?"

    Liru approached them while keeping himself out of arm''s reach.

    "It''s safe. Watch." Borj poked at the Abomination''s cheek and fangs.

    Despite his father''s reassurances, Liru trembled like a leaf and was incapable of taking

    the next necessary step.

    The boy trusted his parents. He wanted to believe them. Yet after that day things had changed. Even to a child as young as Liru, it was painfully obvious how oblivious his father was and how scared his mother was.

    His parents had proven not to be as strong and wise as Liru had always thought them to be. They weren''t invincible as he had always believed.

 Chapter 3379 No Changing the Past (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3379 No Changing the Past (Part 2)

    The world wasn''t the safe ce they spoke of to reassure him when he was afraid. Out of their house, there were people and things from which his parents could not defend him.

    One of them was standing right in the middle of the living room.

    Whether it was a thing or a person, Liru couldn''t tell. He was just five years old and Mogar''splexity still baffled him. To make matters worse, the wonder he once felt for the unknown had been reced by fear.

    Fear that new things and strangers could hurt him. Fear of facing another threat above his parents'' means that might take them away from him forever. Liru was afraid of pain but loneliness horrified him.

    Agra and Borj were all his little, imperfect world. Without them, he would be truly lost. "It''s okay, son" Borj left Lith''s side and moved to the child''s, quickly followed by Agra. "Please, don''t move, Supreme Magus Verhen."

    The creature blinked in acknowledgment, not moving a muscle.

    With his parents by either side, holding his hands, Liru found the strength to take a small step forward. Once he felt reassured the shadow wouldn''t attack, he took another, and then another.

    He left his father''s hand, taking the shining stone out of his pocket and putting it in front of the living darkness standing in front of him. The light didn''t banish the darkness, it only made it deeper,

    Holding his mother''s hand, Liru took the final step forward and touched the shadow. It was cold, yes. It was solid, yes. But it was also harmless.

    The chill of the Abomination gave Liru relief from the rising heat of the day, bringing back to his mind the shade of trees. Back when Mogar was still a safe ce, Liru used to y outside and during the hottest hours of summer the shadows were his friends.

    Liru took a step back and then ran behind his father''s legs. He was still scared, but he was no longer terrified.

    "Turn back into a human, please." Borj asked and Lithplied. "Thank you for your visit but now I have to ask you to leave!

    "As you wish. Lith gave them a polite bow. "I won''t bother you further. If you ever need me, Shay knows how to contact me."

    "Thanks, but I hope we''ll never need to make that call." Agra noticed that Lith was waiting for someo meone to open the door and let him out so she did it.

    She didn''t miss the relief on Liru''s face as he saw the shadows obeying his parents or the huge smile that appeared on his small face as Lith walked through the door. The first smile since that day.

    Lith had just left the house and opened a Warp Steps when Agra found the strength to step outside and say:

    "I also hope that one day I''ll be strong enough to forgive you, but that day is not today." "Fair enough." Lith gave her a nod before disappearing through the Warp Steps.

    Agra felt her knees giving out and leaned against the wall for support. The sun was still clouded but even under its dim light, Agra could finally appreciate the colors of Mogar again.

    Shadows still lurked around every corner, but they were no longer filled with invisible enemies. Sunlight had stopped being the sword she needed to drive away the monsters and had gone back to being the annoying prick that covered her in sweat and stung her

    eyes.

    Agra was still scared, but she was no longer terrified.

    ***

    Nestrar Region, City of Zeska, a few minutester.

    "What can you tell me about the boy?" Lith asked. "Starting with his name."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He had remained willingly ignorant about his victims the whole time. There was nothing he could do for them aside from making sure they would be taken care of. The more Lith knew, the guiltier he would have felt but that would have only ruined the celebrations for Solus'' rescue.

    He didn''t want such thoughts to gue his mind and pass on to hers, making her burden even worse than it already was.

    "Osyan Neral, six years old. Rhami Ashol, the social worker assigned to the case said, "Long history of abuse. Physical for sure. When we had a White Griffon healer examine him per your request, he found major signs of calcification."

    "Let me guess, lots of past bone fractures and cracks." Lith grunted as they walked.

    "Correct. Also, lots of bruises that didn''t fit the event of Meln''s attack. Which is weird since your Abomination side treated the boy. It''s like..." She pushed her gold-rimmed sses up her nose, letting her voice trail off.

    "Like he wanted us to find them." Lith noticed how the idea unsettled Rhami, fear dting her pupils enough to cover most of her blue eyes. "I mean, like I wanted you to find them.

    "Yes." She nodded, sweeping a lock of her long brown hair from her face. "We don''t know much else. The old case file is thin and the boy refuses to speak to anyone."

    "What do you mean, old case file? Your office knew?" Lith stopped in his tracks, ring at Rhami.

    "There had been rumors." She swallowed hard. "We conducted a brief investigation but nothing came out. Osyan''s father, Thram had a clean record and his wife, Isha, always denied all allegations, even when questioned away from her husband in a secure facility. "There was no proof, no lead, and there were kids for whom we could actually do something. There are only so many of us and our funds are limited. We can''t bring in a skilled healer every time someone reports an unproven abuse."

    "Fuck me sideways if this sounds familiar." Lith clenched his hands in frustration.

    "I beg your pardon?" Rhami took a step back.

    Lith wasn''t angry at her but she was scared nheless. From what she knew, he had managed to raze half a city to the ground and get away with it. He had even been praised by the Royals for his actions in Zeska.

    "I mean that now the kid doesn''t trust men, women, or badges." Lith replied. "You have failed him too many times in the past. We have failed him. Osyan has no reason to

    believe this time will be any different."

    "We always do our best." Rhami felt insulted, which gave her the strength to stand up for her work. "I''m not saying everyone here is a saint or a model employee but I can assure you we do everything we can."

    "Go tell that to your victims." Lith scoffed. "See if any of them gives a fuck about your budget issues or hiring freeze. I can almost hear them saying: I see. I got beaten into a pulp and terrorized every day of my life but you had your own problems.

    "We both know I''m probably going to die of internal bleeding one of these days, but what can you do about it? That''s life. I forgive you."

    Lith used a childish voice for thest part. A childish voice belonging to a young Derek and so filled with spite and mockery that Rhami''s eyes misted with tears.

 Chapter 3380 Not Fair (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3380 Not Fair (Part 1)

    "That''s not fair." Rhami replied.

    "But it''s true." Lith put an end to the argument with a wave of his hand. "Anything else I should know?"

    "Only that Osyan has been kept in a single room this whole time. We''ve been feeding him properly and he received the best medical care."

    ''Because I paid for it.'' Lith inwardly scoffed.

    There was no point taking it out on Rhami. She was just a cog in a broken machine but she was doing her best.

    "Good. Then please go tell Osyan I want to meet him." He actually said.

    "Please, follow me." She guided Lith through a series of corridors leading to the

    temporary living quarters for emergencies and dangerous cases.

    The ce was decorated with decent furniture and painted with warm, soft colors. Even the doors were of good quality, making the residential wing of the building look like a boarding house instead of a prison as Lith had feared.

    "Osyan, it''s me, Rhami." She said while knocking on the door. "Can Ie in?"

    No answer came, no matter how much she knocked or called.

    "Osyan, you know how this works." She tried to sound gentle but there was a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I''m sorry, but I have to get inside and make sure you haven''t hurt yourself."

    She opened the door and ducked under a teacup that shattered against the doorframe. Even from a distance, Lith could follow the events with his Awakened senses.

    "That wasn''t a reflex. She expected it.'' He thought. ''Maybe not bringing Solus was a bad idea. She''s the expert in dealing with people like me. The other kid had his parents and a life toe back to. Osyan has nothing.

    ''He''s faring even worse than I did back on Earth. At least I had Carl. He was my reason to keep living and fighting."

    Rhami first tried and failed to calm Osyan down and then she announced to him Lith''s request to meet the boy

    "The asshole is here?" The hurt and cruelty in Osyan''s voice were painfully familiar. "Let Verhen in. I want to see him. Maybe the Supreme Murderer can be man enough to finish the job he started when he killed my parents."

    "You can enter his room." Rhami kept calm andposed, smiling through the flood of insults she had just received.

    "Thank you." Lith swallowed a sarcastic reply, trying not to add to her burden more than

    Osyan already did.

    When Lith stepped through the door, he was in for a surprise. He had been expecting a chaotic mess with broken furniture and a mattress cut open by past broken mugs'' shards.

    The room was tidy and neat instead. The bed was done with what Lith could only call a military discipline. The books on the desk were arranged orderly and judging from the still-open holograming out of the Tablet, Osyan had been doing his homework before Lith and Rhami arrived.

    The pieces of the shattered cup were the only elements of disorder in the room. Osyan had emptied and dried it for a while, keeping it ready to be thrown.

    ''Shit. This is much worse than I thought.'' Lith noticed that no toyy around the floor. They were all arranged inside a wooden crate, ready for inspection. This isn''t the room of a child but of someone who is desperately trying to control his life.

    ''Osyan thinks that if he''s good enough, if he finds the right way to do things, he can fix his shitty life. Just like I did.

    "Do you want me to stay?" Rhami asked the boy.

    "Get out, bitch." Lith recognized the crazed fury in Osyan''s eyes. The kind that makes you think you can feel better by inflicting your pain on others. "I don''t want Verhen to chicken out again because of witnesses."

    "Please, stay." Lith said. "Not for him. For me."

    "With pleasure." She sat on a chair beside the door, keeping it open.

    "This way, Osyan can have the support he needs without feeling weak for it.'' Lith thought. ''He knows he needs help but he''d rather die than admit it.''

    "Coward." The boy snorted, clenching his fists hard but didn''t move from his spot. "You came all the way to this shithole to talk so talk. Say whatever will clear your conscience from the blood of my parents and go back to your perfect life."

    Osyan was trembling from head to toe. Lith could smell the rage, hear the small heart beating like a frenzied war drum inside the boy''s chest. Yet he could also smell the fear and read the silent plea in Osyan''s eyes to be put out of his misery.

    ''Six years old and he already craves death.'' Lith inwardly sighed. And this is my fault. Not all of it but I sure gave him the final push.

    "I just wanted to apologize for the things I told you back then and for making you watch while I beat up your parents, Osyan." Lith said. "You and I both know that they deserved much worse than that but you deserved better from me.

    "I know that nothing I do or say can change the past. I won''t try to exin or justify my actions. I''m sorry, Osyan. I''m sorry for involving you in my mess and destroying what little was left of your childhood.

    "I know that right now you hate me and you have every reason to do that. I just want you to know that I regret my actions and will do everything I can to make it up to you." "That''s it?" Osyan was bbergasted. "Do you really think that making me watch while you tortured my parents is all you did? You murdered them! You killed all those people! "You let everyone die because you didn''t care and saved me only to make me suffer more! You are a cruel, deranged, piece of shit! If you regret your actions, go back to yourb and find a way to resurrect my parents. Give me my life back!"

    The boy spoke with the consummate skill of someone who had rehearsed his speech hundreds of times. He threw everything he had at hand with the desperate frenzy of a child trying to fight the inevitable.

    Once there was nothing left on his desk, Osyan charged at Lith, punching and kicking him as hard as he could.

    Lith took everything without moving, waiting until Osyan was too tired from screaming and struggling to reply. He only used a Light Mastery spell to cushion the blows so that the kid wouldn''t hurt himself in his tantrum.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The hard-light construct formed a shell undistinguishable from Lith''s clothes. Osyan felt his punches and kicks hitting something the density of an adult man, not a Divine Beast. "Let me get a few things straight, kid. Lith said as the boy wheezed like a bellows, his muscles burning from exertion. "I didn''t kill your parents. The Undead King did. I didn''te to Zeska to hurt anyone that day. I came looking for help.

    "You can consider me the reason all those people died and maybe you are right, but I didn''t ask the Undead King to attack me or raze the city to the ground."

 Chapter 3381 Not Fair (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3381 Not Fair (Part 2)

    "My disowned brother did it by himself and almost killed me as well. I saved you not to punish you, but because even in my madness I recognized your pain."

    "Pain?" Osyan scoffed in between gasps. "What can someone like you know about pain? You, with all your money and your happy family."

    "More than you think." Lith''s voice was cold but not cruel. "I earned my money and the happiness you see me enjoying today is something I built. No one gave me anything" "That''s not true. Fate gave you good parents. The boy wanted to retort, but he bit his lips because saying those words out loud would hurt him more than it would hurt Verhen. "Osyan, I didn''t want to do this. It''s too soon, but someone has to." Lith raised his hand and the boy yelped, afraid to be beaten like it had happened so many times in the past. His father, Thram, was a monster in the body of a human but still a human. Lith was a monster through and through. Osyan wasn''t afraid of dying anymore but he was still afraid of pain.

    Great was his surprise when the handnded gently on his trembling shoulder and Lith knelt down to be at Osyan''s eyes level.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "It''s not your fault." Lith said. "None of what happened was your fault. You didn''t get beaten up because you were a bad kid but because your father and mother were bad people. No one can choose his parents. You were just unlucky.

    "It''s not because you did something wrong that so many people died on that day. Meln Narchat is a cruel, deranged, piece of shit who doesn''t care about those he hurts as long as he gets his way.

    "It doesn''t matter where I was or with whom I was, he would have attacked anyway. You don''t have to feel guilty for being one of the few survivors. I know that you feel like you don''t deserve to live and that it should have been someone else, but that''s not true.

    "You are just a kid. You deserved none of the bad things this messed up threw at you. You don''t have to me yourself if it took a massacre tond you in a ce where someone finally gives a damn about you.

    "There''s no shame in admitting to yourself you''re finally safe and happy." Lith took a long pause to let his words sink.

    Most of them were the words he wished someone would have told him two lifetimes ago.

    "I won''t ask you to forgive me for the role I yed in your life. If you want to hate me it''s okay, but don''t hate yourself. Don''t push away those who try to help you because you think you don''t deserve to be happy.

    "For what is worth, I''ll make sure you''ll have every opportunity you''ve been denied so far."

    Lith stood up and turned around without waiting for a reply, closing the door on his way out. He had walked for just a few meters when he heard the noise of short, rushed steps followed by desperate cries.

    "I''m so sorry." Osyan yelled, believing the door insted him from the rest of the world. "I wished Mom and Dad dead so many times that the gods listened to me. It''s my fault if they died. If all those people died. I didn''t want anyone to die. I was just so angry!"

    "It''s alright, little one." Rhami held the boy tight, caressing his head and back, "No one mes you. It''s not your fault."

    Lith enveloped himself with a Hush Zone before contacting the supervisor of Osyan''s

    case.

    "I want someone to follow the boy closely, I want him in a foster family after carefully vetting them. I want your agents to perform regr visits and make sure Osyan doesn''t go from the frying pan into the fire.

    "I''ll pay for everything out of my own pocket if necessary. Hire someone just for this case, I don''t care. Yes, I know it''s preferential treatment, so what? Life has been unfair to Osyan ever since he was born. It''s time someone makes it unfair to his advantage. "Onest thing. I''m going to check every expense and receive regr updates from people I trust. If even one copper coin of my money doesn''t go to the kid or if someone of your associates screws up, I''ll make sure that''s thest mistake you''ll ever make."

    ***

    Lustria County, Trawn Woods, Lith''s tower, a few minutester.

    "How did it go?" Kam asked.

    She was a bit surprised by Lith moving to the middle of nowhere and asking for her presence instead of just moving the tower to the Verhen Mansion.

    "It went as well as you might expect, Kami." He sighed. "This is not the kind of wound you can heal with a spell. It will take them years to recover if ever."

    "Was it that bad?" From so close, Solus could feel how upset he was through their bond. "Worse." Lith shook his head. "I don''t like to dump this on you two but you are the only people I can trust with this kind of information."

    A quick mind link shared all the recent events in the blink of an eye.

    "Do you n on keeping in touch with them?" Kam hugged him, proud of how he had dealt with Agra''s family but especially with Osyan''s trauma.

    "No." Lith replied. "They need time and space. If they need me, they know how to reach me, I made the first step. The rest is up to them."

    "Is there anything I can do for you?" Solus asked.

    "You''ve already done everything I could ask for by being here, Solus. Lith smiled. "If you feel like walking an extra mile, though, pack your bags and start nning an itinerary for

    you, Kami, and Ripha. We are going to Jambel."

    ***

    Before leaving Lutia again, Lith followed Protector''s advice and went back to the Verhen Mansion to check on Garrik and R.

    All he found was a note saying:

    "We are moving to big brother Morok''s house. The coordinates are already set in the Warp Gate. Get well soon, Uncle Lith." Signed by both of them.

    "Makes sense." Lith shrugged. "Garrik and R must have been bored and scared."

    "You can say that." Kam nodded. "They can''t move to any ce without both a Gate and a mana geyser. With you gone and everyone else moving to the Desert, they must have felt lonely staying in this huge empty house."

    "Well, this allows me to kill two birds with one stone. I can check on my guests and pay Quy a visit like she asked." Lith sent an ess request before activating the Gate on his side.

    To ess a private Warp Gate the dimensional coordinates alone weren''t enough. One had to possess an enchanted pass to activate the destination point and to notify their

    arrival.

    Without doing the former, the dimensional corridor wouldn''t open. Without doing thetter, the defensive arrays surrounding the mansion would regard the neer as an

    intruder, pass or not.

    On top of that, Lith didn''t even have a pass for Quy''s house.

 Chapter 3382 The Next Generation (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3382 The Next Generation (Part 1)

    Jirni had prepared a country house for each of her daughters and setting the private Warp Gate was the finishing touch. Obtaining the necessary authorizations to connect a Gate to the Kingdom''s Network and building it cost money.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There was no point spending such a hefty sum unless Friya and Quy moved out of the family home for good. Since Quy had the pass for the Verhen Mansion, she could open the dimensional corridor safely from her side.

    "I can''t believe you really came!" She weed Lith, Solus, and Kam with a hug. "I wasn''t expecting to see you until an emergency happened, my mother gives birth, or I do. To what do I owe the pleasure of having the elusive Supreme Magus in my humble abode?"

    "I just wanted to check on you and Garrik." Lith replied. "I''m sorry for abandoning him and R like that but as you know, I didn''t have much of a choice."

    "Actually, you had." Quy shrugged. "Nothing stopped you from visiting them after you rescued Solus. You took your sweet time. Not that I''mining." She said with a smug grin on her face.

    "Why the smug grin?" Solus asked.

    "Because Ophya and V moved here as well. They are a great help and it''s Lith who''s paying for their work."

    "What do you mean, a great help, and what are they doing here?" Lith was bbergasted. "They are Awakened who have served under a rtively old Dragon all their lives." Quy shrugged. "What Syrook taught them and what they have learned by observing him work is of great value for a self-taught Awakened like me.

    "I exchange my limited knowledge for theirs and allow them to use my research facilities. It''s a win-win. Also, they are helping me set the nursery for the babies and teaching me everything they have learned from taking care of Valeron the Second."

    "Why rely on Ophya and V for parental advice? Couldn''t you ask Jirni or Orion?" Solus asked.

    "Please, you can''t ask my mother for advice, only for orders." Quy scoffed. "I''m going to do things my way and give my babies a normal childhood. As for my father, I would love to, but he''s too busy setting up whatever Mom needs from him."

    "I see, but that still doesn''t answer the second part of my question." Lith pointed out.

    "Ophya, V. Lith wants to know what you are doing here." Quy called the handmaidens from hermunication amulet.

    "The job you promised us. Ophya wore a ck maid uniform that emphasized the blonde of her hair and her clear blue eyes. "Whenever you move to the Blood Desert you have no need for us. Here, instead, we can feel useful and learn in a day what takes us

    months in the Desert."

    "She''s right." V said, her loose long ck hair framing her green eyes. "The people of the Overlord are always polite and try to put us at ease. Quy''s ves, instead, are rude and never hesitate to point fingers at us or whisper behind our backs whenever we make a social blunder."

    "First, I don''t have ves, they are house staff." Quy blushed up to her ears. "Second, they are not rude. Even noble guests are expected to adhere to certain standards of etiquette when visiting the Ernas household, let alone hired help.

    "It''s perfectly normal for my maids and butlers to be bewildered when you act clueless about the most elementary of things or treat the masters of the house like your peers!"

    "Sounds rude to me. Lith shrugged.

    "See? Even Lith agrees with us." Ophya said. "Besides, why should we be respectful towards ants? Even Lith never put restrictions on us and he''s a Divine Beast."

    "That''s right." He nodded. "In my household, we''re all friends and... Wait, what do you mean, even Lith?"

    a

    "Are you calling me an ant?" Quy was as outraged as him.

    "No, not you." V replied. "Just your servants and guests. Lith, if Valeron the Second or Elysia needs us, please let us know. They are our first priority. Also, Ophya and I are at the market for the first time.

    "Remind me, which are more valuable? The red or yellow coins?"

    "The yellow, I mean, the gold coins are much more valuable than copper coins!" Lith said in shock and horror. "Please, tell me you have yet to buy anything"

    "Don''t worry, we are using Quy''s money. Ophya out."

    "Thank the gods." Lith sighed in relief.

    "My servants and guests? My money?" Quy was fuming. "How dare you be relieved? They never said they haven''t already wasted money."

    "I know, but at least it''s not my problem." Lith smiled. "Now, where are Garrik and R?"

    "With Morok, practicing" Quy grumbled. "By the way, this is your pass for my gate!"

    She handed one engraved silver que to Lith, Solus, and Kam who imprinted them in front of Quy.

    "Thanks. Now follow me, please."

    "Did you have problems with the transition?" Solus asked, trying to move to a less controversial topic. "Is Garrik''s and R''s true nature still a secret or did someone among the house staff notice something?"

    "Everything is fine." Quy grunted. "Or rather, as fine as three gorgeous women and one fat Byk moving into your house can be. Maybe it''s the pregnancy talking but sometimes I

    feel like a second-rate citizen in my own home.

    "I don''t receive the same admiration R and the others get nor do Imand the same respect as a silly furball called Fluffy! Can you believe that?"

    "Sadly, I can." Kam sighed. "I have simr problems."

    "I can imagine." Quy sighed back. "Being married to a Magus whose family is filled with stunners must be a nightmare. Thank the gods I got plenty of practice ying second fiddle while growing up with Friya."

    She led them through a series of doors and corridors. The marble of the floors had been smoothened and polished while every centimeter of the walls was decorated with iys, frescoes, or paintings.

    The high-end furniture and crystal chandeliers illuminating the ce were in no way inferior to those of the main Ernas Household. Lith and Solus would have thought to be in one of the many wings of the Mansion they had never visited if not for one detail.

    The Ernas insignia carved in the furniture and embossed on the doors was silvery instead of the usual gold.

    "Is that because you are attuned with light magic?" Solus asked while pointing at a decoration on a vase.

    "Correct." Quy nodded. "My parents wanted to make it clear this isn''t a home they are lending me. This is my home now."

    "What about Friya? Did she receive the same treatment?" Lith asked.

    "Sort of. She had to pick one color or her house would look like a circus." Quy''s voice turned sad. "She went for the deep blue. In honor of Phloria''s memory."

    "I see." Just mentioning her name gave Lith a pang.

    Phloria was dead for over a year and Lith had ovee his grief. Yet, sometimes, his

    mind yed tricks on him. He convinced himself she was alright and they had just lost touch because they were too busy with their respective lives.

 Chapter 3383 The Next Generation (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3383 The Next Generation (Part 2)

    The hole Phloria''s death had left in Lith''s heart had be smaller over time but there was no way to fill it. Phloria had a special ce in his mind, right beside Carl among the people Lith believed to have failed.

    "Here we are." Quy cleared her throat and opened a heavy, enchanted double door that separated the magicalbs from the rest of the house.

    The hardwood was studded with Adamant tes filled with magical runes and white crystals that powered the various enchantments.

    A long corridor separated Quy''s quarters from Morok''s, ensuring their instion. A single line of gold-veined white marble bricks traced the border between the two magicalbs.

    Without such precautions, unleashing different kinds of powerful energy at the same time might have had disastrous consequences.

    "The sad part is that this is the smallest wing and yet it costs much more than the rest of the house." Being born a poor orphan, Quy hated spending money almost as much as Lith. "I envy your tower so much."

    "I''ll take it as apliment." Solus nodded.

    Quy knocked on the closed door before entering. She didn''t want to startle Morok and the others in the middle of an experiment and risk someone getting injured.

    "Come in," Morok''s voice was transmitted by one of the door''s many enchantments. Lith and Solus found Morok, R, and Garrik sitting in a circle with their hands joined. They were in their real forms, each one of them with their six eyes open. R activated one of her elemental powers at a time and then passed it on to the others.

    "Stop training, you oaf: Quy said. "We have guests, and they didn''te here to watch you practice"

    "We''re almost done." Morok''s and Garrik''s fangs were clenched in effort, the light in their red eyes flickered as it became dimmer.

    Morok failed first, the mystical red fire went out and he started to pant heavily, Garriksted a bit longer but was also much more tired.

    "What''s this smell?" Solus sniffed an unknown pungent scent.

    "Sweat." R cleaned her son and the Tyrant with a pulse of darkness magic. "This is harder than it seems."

    "Uncle Lith! How are Aran and Leria?" Garrik''s eyes lit up and he tried to stand up from the floor but his knees failed him.

    "Not so fast, young man" Quy helped him to sit back safely and then handed him a ss of fresh juice and some cookies. "You need to regain your strength."

    "What about me?" Morok grumbled.

    "Not so fast, old man." She gave him a sweater and a walking stick. "You don''t want to catch a cold."

    Morok red at her until Quy burst outughing.

    "I''m sorry, I couldn''t resist." She gave him a sweet kiss before handing him honeyed tea and his favorite snacks.

    "Thanks. I needed some sugar." Morok winked at her before taking the food. "How are you doing, guys?"

    "That should be my question." Lith replied. "I have missed quite a lot of practice sessions. To answer you, though, I''m fine. Better than ever."

    Lith told them about his recovery and the changes in Death Vision.

    "Nice." Morok patted Lith''s shoulder while eating. "If it''s of any constion, I''ve made little to no progress. Watch!"

    He took deep breaths, opening his six eyes at the same time and splitting the world energy into its elementalponents. Lith could see with Life Vision the six elemental flows mixing with each other first and then with the Tyrant''s life force.

    As the elements neared a bnce, the six eyes tried to copse into one but Morok kept them separated. As a result, a few of the elemental scales on the Tyrant''s body turned emerald and those that already were became more brilliant.

    "It may be small but it''s still a step in the right direction." Solus said.

    "The issue is not the length of the stride but how difficult lifting the foot is." Morok stopped the process, sighing heavily. "Glemos made a mistake by teaching me how to fuse my eyes as a child.

    "It affected my life force as I developed and now that I''ve reached the violet, I''m afraid it''s toote to steer it in apletely new direction.

    "What you have just witnessed was me trying to channel Spirit Magic through my body like you suggested. It works, but only a minimal part of the energy gets redirected. The rest goes to my eyes and pushes me to merge them.

    "Resisting my instincts takes such a toll on my focus that any advancement requires a lot of time and effort. Even if I die of old age, I doubt I''ll manage to alter my life force significantly."

    "Then why are you doing this?" Solus asked. "Why are you putting so much effort into a project destined to fail from the start?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Life Vision showed her several stress points on the Tyrant''s body and how drained his mana core was. Solus had never seen Morok sweat even while going all-out as he fought

    for his life.

    It could only mean he had been practicing for hours on end.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" He replied. "Even if I fail, it doesn''t mean my children will. I need to work hard to set solid foundations for the path they''ll walk once they are born. The more I learn and the more leads I find, the smoother it will be for them.

    "I''m perfectly fine with entrusting everything to the next generation. I''m not my father. My children won''t be my tool. I''m theirs."

    "You are nothing like Glemos." Quy hugged him. "But don''t you dare call yourself a tool.

    That''s something only I can do."

    "Got it, boss." He chuckled.

    "What about you, R?" Lith asked.

    "I made no progress at all." She lowered her head, wringing her hands. "My Fallen life force can''t make progress. I don''t even bother trying to Awaken because it would only make things worse. At least as a non-Awakened, I can leave the mana geyser at any time without exploding."

    "I''m sorry, R." Quy gave her an apologetic nod. "I''ve studied your life force but between my mother''s mess and everything that happened recently, I didn''t have the

    time to analyze the data."

    "It''s alright, Quy" The Fomor caressed Garrik''s head. "I''m not the priority."

    "Yes, you are!" He jumped to his feet. "What''s the point of traveling through Mogar if I can''t share it with you, Mom?"

    "I can follow you, baby. I just can''t enter human settlements." She replied. Garrik gritted his teeth and said no more. He had practiced magic long enough to understand how silly he already sounded. His life on the surface was liberating and exciting, but it had also made Garrik''s limits more evident.

    "Can you please check on my life force, Uncle Lith?"

    "Sure, but you could have asked Quy. She''s very talented in light magic." Lith said

    while using his breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze.

    "I know." Garrik replied. "But you are, I mean, were a hybrid too. You seeded in merging your life forces. You can offer me practical guidance!"

    Invigoration confirmed that Garrik''s life forces were slowly fusing together.

 Chapter 3384 Blessing in Disguise (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3384 Blessing in Disguise (Part 1)

    Garrik''s Tyrant and Fomor life forces had merged further since thest time Lith had examined them but whether it was due to natural development or practice, it was impossible to tell.

    "Can you show me how you''ve been training?"

    "Right now?" Garrik was exhausted, his whole body aching from mana and elemental abuse.

    "You just need to do it for a few seconds." Lith replied. "Before starting, exin to me in detail what you are going to do."

    "It''s nothing much." The young hybrid shrugged. "I followed your advice and improved upon the technique we have developed together. I don''t try to open a seventh eye like Da-, I mean, Glemos wanted.

    "I focus on bncing the six elemental flows from my eyes and amplifying them with my body. Unlike my big brother, however, not a single speck of my skin has turned emerald. Not even for a second."

    "We''ll worry about thatter, Garrik." Lith patted his shoulder to reassure him. "First, let. me take a look at your technique."

    Lith shared the Eyes of Menadion with Solus, filtering everything and everyone else out to focus the artifact solely on Garrik.

    As the Tyrant-Fomor hybrid drew in the elemental energies, nothing seemed to happen. Lith and Solus could clearly distinguish the three different life forces departing from the boy''s mana core.

    The Tyrant side looked like a ming green eye surrounded by six rings, each of a different elemental color. The Fomor side, instead, looked like a colossus made from lego bricks and an erector set of six different colors.

    The Harmonizer made the elements coursing through the Fomor side spread evenly, even giving them thin emerald streaks here and there. Yet thanks to the Eyes, Lith could see that each flow was actually jagged and irregr, one element shifting into another

    with no harmony.

    It was as if whoever had painted the colossus couldn''t make up his mind and had painted it over multiple times in multiple spots.

    ''And that''s with the Harmonizer forcing the Fomor life force in a stable form ever since Garrik was conceived.'' Solus pointed out.

    I''m more curious about how Tyrants managed to alter their life force to resemble the Emperor Beasts! ''Lith replied. ''It''s no wonder they managed to hide their human origin until Glemos exposed it.''

    The ming eye and the colossus emitted sparks every time they collided, the strength

    of the impact pushing them away in opposite directions. Yet they could only get so far due to the third life force binding them together.

    The lower end of the eye and the left feet of the colossus ovepped perfectly with no rejection, forming an emerald stretch of energy. Lith and Solus recognized six small rings moving back and forth along it without ever touching the other two life forces.

    The stretch was akin to a spring that resisted the drifting of the two sides until the umted tension became enough to pull them back together. The Fomor and Tyrant life forces then rejected each other again and the cycle started anew.

    The moment Garrik conjured the six elemental streams inside his body, they encapsted the two sides. The rejection was still present but the energy cocoon forced the life forces together the same way the Harmonizer forced the Fomor side to keep the "right" form.

    "We failed: Lith sighed. ''Garrik is right. He has made no progresspared to Morok. We need to review the data and start fresh to-''

    It took the Fomor-Tyrant hybrid a few seconds to bnce the different elemental energies. As they went from simply coexisting to bncing each other, the repulsive force between the two life forces disappeared.

    Keeping the six elements in synch was hard and making them add up to match Garrik''s life force was even harder. The young man was already tired and had no idea what he was doing so the bnce between the elements he conjured inside his body shifted constantly.

    During those brief moments when the life forces and elemental flows evened out, however, the elemental rings of the hybrid life force fused with the Tyrant''s and

    together epassed the energy cocoon.

    After each cycle, the Eyes registered a minuscule but constant increase in the size of the third life force. While Lith double-checked the phenomenon, the cocoon suddenly disappeared and the two conflicting life forces snapped away.

    "Sorry, Uncle Lith," Garrik panted. "This is my limit."

    "Don''t worry. You did great. Before saying anything, Lith filtered out the Tyrant and the Fomor life forces as well, focusing solely on the hybrid one.

    "The rings of the hybrid side are stable and their color is uniform.'' Solus pointed out. "There is no sign of corrections from the Harmonizers like for the Fomor side.''

    ''On top of that, even though the elemental rings never touch the hybrid life force, they constantly exchange energy with it.'' Lith said. "The inside nurtures and strengthens the outside and vice versa.

    ''In the Tyrant side the life force also constantly conjures the elemental energies but there is no interaction between them. The rings are just a byproduct of the Tyrant''s life force.''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once they were certain of their findings and after storing them in the Library to get rid of the headache, Lith and Solus shared the good news with the others.

    "You are on the right path, Garrik. The technique we developed together is crude and needs to be fine-tuned but it works."

    "That''s wonderful news!" Everyone cheered.

    "But how could I miss it, Lith?" Quy asked. "I can see it now that I know what to look

    for but without your instructions, I''d never noticed it."

    "Tiamat eyes are not as good as Dragon Eyes but they still do the job." Lith used the convened lie to cover up for the Menadion Set.

    "You''re a damn cheat." She grumbled.

    "I know." He shrugged.

    "So it''s not a matter of just drawing in the world energy from our eyes and circting it through our bodies but also of matching it with our life force?" Morok pondered. "Can you check on my life force next?"

    Lith obliged the request and the Eyes registered a simr phenomenon in the Tyrant''s life force but at a much slower rate. The progress was so small that without the Eyes'' hard numbers, Lith would have never noticed it.

    "Now check me too, please." R''s cheeks flushed in excitement as she dared to hope for

    the best.

    The Eyes revealed nothing. Even when the six conjured elemental streams perfectly matched her life force, no change urred.

    "I''m sorry," Lith said. "Morok and Garrik are the result of Glemos'' experiments so it makes sense that their bodies evolve ording to the same principles. In your case, though, the Harmonizer-like properties of your body prevent any change."

    "Let me get this straight." R sighed. "I need to stand over a geyser to get six eyes and

    conjure the elemental energies I need to undo my Fallen state. Yet if I stay on a geyser, my life force bes fixed and rejects the alterations that would undo my Fallen state."

    "Correct. Solus nodded. "Don''t despair. This is a blessing in disguise." "How so?" R tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

 Chapter 3385 Blessing in Disguise (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3385 Blessing in Disguise (Part 2)

    "Think about it." Solus replied. "Once we figure out where to start restoring your life force, the Harmonizer-like properties of your body will give you the time to adapt and recover from the procedure without the risk of suffering permanent damage.

    "Conjuring the six elemental flows can''t speed things up but we can still use it to check for side effects and positive changes without endangering your life. At that point, we can decide whether to move forward or restore your life force to its previous state."

    "That''s true." R gave Solus a small smile. "Thank you."

    "Don''t mention it. By the way, howe the house is so silent? Where is Fluffy?"

    "He''s at the main estate." Garrik replied. "He got bored of doing nothing while I practiced so Lucky offered to y with him."

    "Lucky? ying?" Lith echoed in disbelief.

    "Those words don''t go along together. Not anymore.'' He inwardly sighed. ''It''s more likely Fluffy is getting the beating and the training of a lifetime!''

    Lith''s intuition was correct but he didn''t know the half of it. Fluffy returned from every "ydate" stronger, thinner, and with an abject terror of the Ry.

    "Can you help me find the right amount of elemental energy I have to conjure, Uncle Lith?" Garrik asked.

    "Any Awakened can help you with that, Garrik. Lith replied. "I have to go, but your big brother and your sister-inw can do it as well as I can. I leave you in their expert hands.""

    "Pretty please?" The young Tyrant held Lith''s robe, giving him a pleading look.

    "I''m sorry, Garrik." Lith shook his head. "That kind of fine-tuning requires a lot of time and practice. It''s not a matter of finding the right amount, but of you learning how to recognize it and then maintain it over an extended period of time.

    "It would take days at best and weeks at worst. I too have a family and things to take care of:

    "I understand." Garrik sighed, feeling robbed of hope.

    He didn''t care much about himself. He wanted his life forces to reach a stable condition in order to be Awakened and be capable of working on a treatment for his mother. In Garrik''s current state, he and R were both trapped over the geyser so at least they had each other. Yet he could see how much she suffered from the imprisonment. How knowing that one day her son would go where she could never follow him hurt her.

    "No need to get all mopey on me." Lith patted Garrik''s shoulder. "I''m not walking out on you. Right now I don''t have the time but I n oning back and training with you. I still have to master my own powers. He winked with half his eyes.

    "Also, if you ever get stuck and need my advice, just give me a call and I''lle to help you. Okay?"

    "Okay." Garrik replied, the smile returning to his face.

    "I should be offended with you, young man." Morok snorted. "Why do you cling so much to Lith? Do you not trust your big brother?"

    "I do trust you, but we''ve been sitting on this problem for weeks and Uncle Lith solved it in a minute! Garrik replied sheepishly. "With his help, our research would progress much faster."

    "Nonsense." Lith shook his head. "I solved it in a minute only because of your weeks of effort. You had already set all the groundwork and I just found the w."

    "Also, don''t you dare think you can be a recluse, young man." R waved her finger under Garrik''s nose. "I didn''t free you from your prison in Zeska to let you lock yourself up inside a magicalb. You have friends, a pet, and youth.

    "I want you to enjoy them all. I want you to have everything I failed to give you while Glemos kept us under his thumb."

    ''Everything I never had and never will. She inwardly added.

    "Don''t say that, Mom." Garrik hugged her. "You didn''t fail, Everything I have now is thanks to you."

    "Thanks, sweetie." As R returned the embrace, Lith and Solus silently waved their hands and took their leave not to intrude on the mother-son moment.

    "I should be offended as well." Quy sighed. "Garrik didn''t even consider asking my help but I can''t me him for that. I don''t have extra eyes, let alone those of Menadion. There''s only so much I can learn from deduction."

    "Don''t say that." Morok said. "You are working on unraveling R''s Fallen Balor life force from her forced Fomor form. It''s a path no one has ever tried before and venturing into an unexplored field of research takes a lot of time."

    "Thanks for your kind words but they don''t make me feel any less useless. When will the baby powerse up?" She asked.

    "Heightened senses manifest after the second week," Kam replied. "Increased strength after the second month and the magic powers after the third. Remember that until the baby doesn''t develop his own powers he can''t amplify yours."

    After bidding their goodbye and walking through the Warp Gate, Menadion came out of Lith''s shadow. She never stayed in the Void Sigil during the day but often hid her presence to avoid being pestered by strangers.

    "I still can''t believe it." She said. "How can you be so casual about something this big?" "The baby powers?" Kam asked. "They are great but between their expiration date and the risks of a pregnancy-"

    "Not that!" Menadion cut Kam short, looking at her as if she was making a bad joke. "I mean the fact that Balors and Tyrants are the natural evolution of humans. With everything that happened, I had almost forgotten about it, but only because there are not enough hours in a day to examine every crazy event of your life.

    "More like natural dead ends." Lith shrugged. "I don''t understand why you are so worked up about it."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Menadion looked around to make sure they were alone and then Warped them to the Verhen Mansion''s keep to let Solus conjure the tower.

    "Come in. There''s something I have to tell you and I know you''ve been keeping a few questions for me on the back burner." She said.

    Menadion prepared a strong tea and took some oven-fresh biscuits out of the pocket dimension before sitting down with Lith, Solus, and Kam in the living room of the

    tower.

    "Did you ever wonder how I came to the realization that, unlike the rest of the elements, Spirit Magic had to be focused inside the body? About the reason the Battle Form, I mean, the Prime Engine looks like that at full power?"

    "Yes, we did, Mom!" Solus nodded, taking a bite from a biscuit. "We assumed that with your seven streaks and incredible talent, you had gained insights into the secret of

    human evolution."

    "Yeah, right." Menadion said with a snort. "Because with a daughter, a tower, lots of apprentices, and a never-ending line of customers, I had time to waste researching human evolution.

    "I wasn''t a warrior, Ep- Solus, I was a Forgemaster. You and my Forge were my life. I know I wasn''t a good mother but how can you think I would prioritize some far-fetched hypothesis over mending my rtionship with you?"

 Chapter 3386 Human Apex (Part 1)

    Chapter 3386 Human Apex (Part 1)

    "Point taken." Solus cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Then how did you discover that Spirit Magic can be channeled through the body?"

    "The answer to that is a secret, youngdy. My secret." Ripha waved her finger under Solus'' nose in a motherly way that made her smile. "One you can''t share with others. Any of you. Are we clear?"

    "You have my word, Ripha." Lith said and Kam nodded.

    "Yes, Mom." No matter how many times Menadion heard that word, it always melted her heart.

    "Good." Ripha caressed Solus'' head, tracing her daughter''s features with her fingers. "The truth is I did gain insights on the secrets of human evolution, but not in the way you think. Do you remember what Yaga said about her Asura form?"

    "We do." Lith nodded. "The Asura form is the apex of the Odi race. Baba Yaga discovered it while researching her condition as a white core and¡­ Fuck me sideways!"

    "What?" Solus wasn''t used to seeing Lith''s jaw falling on the floor and staying there. "What am I missing?"

    "The answer to your original question, sweetie." Menadion replied. "I know more about human evolution than the Tyrant bloodline ever discovered. Even more than most of the Guardians. There are only two people who know more about it than I do.

    "Tyris and Leegaain. Can you guess why?"

    "Valeron!" Solus said as the various pieces of the puzzle fell into ce. "I mean the First King, not the baby. Malyshka mentioned he had reached the apex of the human race."

    "And he asked my help to study it." Menadion nodded. "I had already developed the Eyes and used it to understand his newfound abilities. Before you ask, we had a friendly deal. I could use everything I discovered to further my tower''s battle form as long as I shared it with him first.

    "Valeron''s goal was to find a way to pass down his powers or at least part of them to his descendants. Like a Guardian. He didn''t believe mankind was ready to make the leap so he wanted to start with the Royals.

    "His n was to make them undergo evolution at the same time as they became fake awakened to check how they would use their abilities. As you already know, Arthan happened and Valeron died before we got anywhere.

    "After that, I dropped the project and focused on my tower."

    The room fell silent while Lith and Solus pondered the implications of Ripha''s words.

    "Couldn''t you apply what you learned to yourself?" Lith asked. "You do have seven streaks and evolution would have increased your powers."

    "Yeah, but they work nothing like Valeron''s eyes. Why do you think I gave the tower wings instead of eyes? It''s because it''s the only way I found to make it work." Menadion replied.

    "Before moving on, Mom, can you please show us what Valeron looked like in his apex form?" Solus asked.

    "Sure thing, but remember that this is part of the secret." As soon as Solus nodded, Ripha conjured a hologram from her cupped hands.

    It was a humanoid figure, over two meters (7'') tall. It wore the Saefel armor and wielded the Saefel de. What looked like six feathered wings, eachprised of a different elemental energy, burst from his back like jets of fire.

    It reminded Lith and Solus of many things. Typhon, the only Awakened Fomor they had ever met had wings like that but they were more matter than energy. Morok''s wings were simr as well, but much rougher and with the six elemental energies mixed together.

    The difference between Valeron''s wings and Morok''s was the same as that between the masterpiece of a genius artist and a childish doodle.

    The Prime Engine''s wings were the best next thing Lith and Solus had ever seen but they stillcked something of Valeron''s majesty and might.

    The skin of the First King was of a deep emerald green that extended to his hair, turning to a slightly deeper hue. Every centimeter of his body was infused with the power of the seventh element, what reached the surface was just what he failed to contain.

    Every centimeter of his body but his eyes. His seven eyes arranged in the same pattern as his wings and each one burning with a different elemental energy.

    "Aside from the Spirit Eye their position is different, but those are my eyes!" Lith said. "Valeron had six wings and seven eyes."

    "Correct." Menadion grunted with ill-concealed annoyance. "Somehow, your human side skipped millennia of evolution and reached the apex. Or at least part of it. Your skin is not emerald and you have four wings instead of six but the resemnce is undeniable."

    "Is that why the Griffons are so determined to kill me?" Kam asked.

    "Am I of Royal descendance?" Lith asked.

    "Respectively, probably and absolutely not." Menadion rejected the ridiculous idea by sweeping the air with her hand. "You can bet your ass Tyris checked already as I did. You don''t have one drop of Valeron''s blood.

    "Like it or not, it''s all you."

    "Why should I not like it?" Lith was puzzled.

    "I was talking to myself!" Ripha grunted. "Bottom line, after Valeron''s death I couldn''t just sit there and look at him to collect new data anymore. On top of that, I had better things to do than working on a maybe. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I set the project aside and gave my all to my daughter and tower, in this order." Menadion looked at Solus, hoping to receive her approval.

    "Thanks, Mom." She said with a smile.

    "Don''t mention it, baby." Menadion smiled back. "I nned on passing the tower on to Solus and then working together on human evolution once we had moved past our differences. We had a long time ahead of us. Or rather, we were supposed to."

    As Ripha sighed and wrung her hands, Solus moved behind her for a hug.

    "We still do, Mom. Nothing is lost."

    Lith and Kam left the room to give mother and daughter some privacy and ponder thetest revtion while they waited to be called back.

    ''Fuck! That''s why Roghar was so curious about me. If rumor of this leaks, all races will have more than the hots for pairing me up with their women. I will have to literally beat them away with Ragnar?k.''

    ''Sounds good.'' The blood-thirsty sword cked itstches in enthusiasm.

    ''No, it''s not.'' Kam replied. ''Even worse, the moment Elysia opens her first extra eye, the entire Mogar will know that Lith''s powers and potential for evolution can be passed down and things will get even ugl-''

    A telepathic signal gave her and Lith the all-clear to return to the living room.

    "Thank you for your thoughtfulness." Demons didn''t produce snot, but Lith could tell from Ripha''s cracked voice that she had recently cried.

    "You''re wee." Lith replied. "While we are at it, we have one more question."

    "We." Menadion echoed with a chuckle while moving her eyes from him to Solus. "It sounds as heartwarming as it''s infuriating."

    "Why do we get a headache while trying to study the pieces of the Apprentice Set?" Solus asked. "Shouldn''t we instantly acquire every bit of information about them? I mean, you made both sets and the Master Eyes supersede the Apprentice''s."

 Chapter 3387 Human Apex (Part 2)

    Chapter 3387 Human Apex (Part 2)

    "The exnation is simple." Menadion took a deep breath to calm herself. "You shouldn''t get a headache just like you shouldn''t be able to study any of the pieces of the Apprentice Set.

    "I made both sets, true, but I also knew they might have been used against me. So, I made sure neither Menadion Set could uncover their respective crafting techniques or unlock codes. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Why do you think I programmed the True Heir of Menadion protocol in the tower? "It was exactly for the case something happened to me before I had the time to impart all of my secrets to you, Solus."

    "Then how is it possible?" Lith asked.

    "In the same way spirit crystals are popping out of the pieces of the Master Set and some floors have more enchantments than I imbued them with." Ripha shrugged. "Solus'' bond with the tower changed it just like bonding with you changed her, Lith.

    "As you grew up and your blood mutated to adapt to the constant struggle between your three life forces, Solus mutated with you. The tower used your essence to rebuild her body which in turn mutated the tower.

    "You got inside my daughter in more ways than one, young man." Ripha grunted, crossing her arms.

    "Ripha!" Kam didn''t know whether to be more embarrassed or angry.

    "Fine. What do you want to call it, then? I''m open to suggestions."

    An awkward silence fell over the room as Solus blushed up to her ears and Lith cleared his throat in awkwardness.

    "Can we please change the subject?" Solus whimpered after a few minutes passed and no one found a fitting answer.

    "Of course." Lith said. "I''ve made all the necessary arrangements for my first trip. Are you sure you want toe with us, Solus? Wouldn''t you rather travel a bit on your own?"

    "He''s right, Solus." Menadion nodded. "In your shoes, I''d spare myself the sausage fest and do something interesting."

    "Thanks, but no thanks." Solus emitted a high-pitched whine that she cleared by drinking some water. "Kami ising too and she can use somepany. Also, Mom can''t get anywhere without Lith and I''d still need toe back to recharge."

    "I''ming along only because if Lith leaves the babies alone for more than a few hours they cry." Kam replied.

    "Indeed" Lith nodded. "I miss Elysia and Valeron as much as they miss me and if I were to bring them away with me for days on end Kami would be worried sick about us all the time.

    "It would be hardly a vacation if I had to spend it on the amulet to reassure her. On top of that, she''s not going to participate in our activities and neither can you. This is supposed to be a father-son bonding experience."

    "What about Leria?" Solus pointed out.

    "Fine, a father-child bonding experience." Lith conceded. "I couldn''t leave Leria out just like I had to invite Senton and Trion. As much as I hate it, Leria needs her father and I have to share mine."

    "Don''t worry, Mom and I will stay out of your hair." Solus said. "Besides, if anything happens, you need to tower to move quickly and without leaving a paper trail."

    "That''s true." Lith sighed. "Off we go, then."

    ***

    Ker Region, City of Jambel, the following day.

    There was no Warp Gate leading straight to Jambel so Lith and his family had to move to the nearest city. There were too many people with him and travellingfortably would have taken two DoLoreans or several Warp Steps.

    The problem was easily solved when Baron Eiros Wyalon offered toe pick them up.

    "It''s no trouble at all, Lith." The Baron had said on the call,ughing. "I enjoy riding that car of yours and I love rubbing it in the face of my pompous neighbours. Don''t worry about your missus.

    "This time I''ve made everyone aware of your visit so only madmen with a death wish would try and mess with Jambel during your stay."

    "And that''s what worries me." Lith had replied.

    With Ripha and Trion travelling inside Lith''s shadow and all luggage stored inside dimensional amulets, the two DoLoreans had space to spare. Raaz drove one and the Baron the other.

    "I''m happy you''ve epted my offer, Lith." Wyalon said. "Between the summer and the car, I can give you a proper tour of mynd without your Steps disorienting us or your high-speed flight blurring everything."

    "That''s not fair, mister." Aran travelled on their DoLorean with Onyx sitting beside him in her human form. "My brother''s speed is unmatched and, as long as you don''t care looking around without puking, travelling with him is the coolest."

    "I''m not doubting it." The Baron replied. "But I''m not into puking and by going too fast you can''t appreciate your journey."

    Whenever they reached a scenic clearing or ake, the Baron stopped for a few minutes to allow his guests to stretch their legs and take a look around.

    "Magus Menadion, sergeant Verhen, it''s a pleasure to meet you." He greeted them on their first stop since Solus and Raaz wanted to share the experience with them.

    "The pleasure is all mine. Please, call me Ripha." She said while shaking his hand.

    "Sure thing, Ripha." He nodded. "You need a disguise, though, or we won''t have a moment of peace. With your beauty and talent, I''ll need the army to protect you from your admirers and an elite guard to protect you from the army."

    "Been there, done that." She assumed her features as Rhona.

    "Much better. Or worse, depending on the point of view." He said with augh.

    "Nice to meet you too, Baron." Trion shook hands. "Don''t worry about our amodations, we can only sleep inside Lith''s feathers."

    "You let me do the worrying, young man." Wyalon replied. "I''ve prepared rooms for everyone. You all deserve a bit of privacy."

    The trip involved a short tour of thekes and the nearby woods where they would spend most of their vacation. Jambel was built in the harsh north, away from the main supply routes.

    The city was used to istion and being self-sufficient, especially during the harsh winters in the north. The citizens of Jambel used the woods for game and kindling while the twinkes provided them with plenty of fish.

    Once they reached Jambel, the Baron skipped all formalities and the honour guard, driving the Verhens straight to their destination.

    The guest house for important visitors was right beside the City Lord''s and differed little in both size andfort.

    "It''s a pleasure having you here again, Magus Verhen." Meeting Lady Wyalon was the only formality from which the Baron couldn''t spare them. "I can''t believe you''ve chosen our city for your vacations twice already.

    "Who knows, maybe the Royals will bless us with better roads after-"

    "As much as I love hearing you talk about politics, my love, I doubt Lith came all the way here to hear ourints." Lord Wyalon cut her short. "Allow me to introduce you to our guests.

    "Mirias, these are Magus Ripha Menadion, Sergeant Trion Verhen, Onyx, and Abominus. My friends, this is my wife, Baroness Mirias Waylon."

 Chapter 3388 Hunting Party (Part 1)

    Chapter 3388 Hunting Party (Part 1)

    "Magus Menadion! It''s short- I mean, such an honor to meet you." The Baroness regretted her slip of the tongue, but the delicate, petite woman in front of her didn''t fit the legendary figure she had imagined at all.

    "I know." Menadion grunted.

    ''Why is everyone taller than me?'' She inwardly groaned.

    "Sergeant Verhen." Trion was shorter, less handsome, and far less impressive than Lith. The Baroness couldn''t find anything kind to say to him so she said nothing.

    "Baroness." He replied just as dryly.

    "And who''s this youngdy? Why does she wear a costume in the middle of the summer?" She pointed at Onyx''s cat ears and tail.

    "It''s not a costume. I''m an Emperor Beasts. See?" She lifted her long, luscious hair, revealing the smooth skin on the sides of her head where her human ears were supposed to be.

    The Baroness tried to touch one of the cat ears but it bent sideways, dodging her fingers.

    "I see." She said right before fainting.

    "I told you we can''t half-ass our shapeshifting!" Abominus rebuked Onyx. "Humans are impressionable and you look creepy."

    "I''m not creepy!" Onyx countered, her long tail wiggling. "Aran says I''m pretty." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "And you are!" Aran hugged her. "Isn''t it true Uncle Lith?"

    "She''s adorable and I dare anyone say otherwise." Lith said.

    ''I know that Aran loves Onyx no matter what form she takes but if he develops a soft spot for cat girls like some people back on Earth, Mom''s worries might not be so groundless after all.'' He inwardly added.

    "Don''t worry, youngdy. My beloved Mirias faints easily. It''s none of your fault." The Baron was so used to making his wife faint with his social blunders that he always carried ammonia salts on himself to reanimate her.

    "Oh, gods. Did I make a fool of myself again?" She asked.

    "No, don''t worry, dear. It was a justifiable reaction." The Baron replied.

    Once the Baroness got up and was steady on her feet again, the introductions resumed from Abominus.

    "Nice to meet you, mdy." He gave her a small bow and kept his eyes yellow with a vertical pupil to give her a clear indication of his nature.

    "Remarkable." She nodded after giving a curtsy in reply. "It''s almost indistinguishable from a human."

    "Magus Verhen is a Divine Beast, dear." Eiros wasn''t used to being the one clearing his throat in embarrassment to correct his spouse, and he found the experience unpleasant.

    "Oh, gods, how rude of me! I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to-"

    "It''s fine." Lith stopped Mirias before she could go hands and knees down on the ground. "Please, rx, Baroness Wyalon. You are among friends, not at the Royal Court. No one is judging you."

    "Thank you, thank you." Mirias sobbed, incapable of holding the joy she felt from someone of the stature of a Magus referring to her as a friend. "Please, call me Mirias or I''ll call you Supreme Magus Verhen."

    "Gods, no." Lith said with a smile. "That way it would take you a whole day just to finish one phrase, Mirias."

    The Baroness chuckled and smiled, d she hadn''t made things awkward with her guests from day one.

    "We already know each other, Mirias." Kam said. "But you haven''t been introduced to our crown jewel, the little Countess Verhen."

    She took Elysia from the stroller, holding the baby in her arms. Elysia was wearing a Phoenix onesie that Sark had sewn for her and giggling in joy at her mother.

    "Beware though. She can smell when someone is afraid of her and is a real rascal." Kam invited the Baroness to hold the baby.

    "Nonsense, Lady Verhen, she''s adorable." Mirias couldn''t see a shred of mischievousness in the pink, fluffy bundle that Elysia was as she took the little girl in her arms. "Six streaks. She truly is blessed by all the gods of magic."

    "Wa?" Elysia stared at the neer with interest, sniffing at the Baroness like a hunting dog on the prowl.

    "Is this normal?" Mirias asked.

    "Yes." Lith replied. "She-"

    "Waagh!" Elysia roared as she shapeshifted into her Tiamat form.

    The poor Baroness shrieked in fear and fainted again while keeping her arms extended and stiff to protect the baby girl from the fall.

    Elysia pped free from the hold, giggling in amusement as she flew circles over her victim.

    "Bad Elysia!" The Baron grabbed the small Tiamat on the fly. "That''s not nice or funny. My wife may be a scaredy cat but she''s a gentle soul. She tried to make friends with you and that''s how you repay her?"

    "Ba!" Elysia scoffed, ignoring the hairy stranger and turning to her parents for support.

    What she found, instead, were reproachful scowls and clicking of tongues.

    "Ba?" Despite her age, she understood that if no one else found her joke funny, it was no joke at all. "So-y."

    Elysia gave the Baron an apologetic nod as she shapeshifted back into her human form, her round big eyes filled with regret.

    "Don''t say that to me, youngdy." Eiros replied. "Apologize to my wife. If she forgives you, so will I."

    Lith and Kam nodded but what made Elysia understand how deep the hole she had dug for herself was, was Raaz''s stern gaze. When even her grandparents glowered at her, Elysia knew she was in serious trouble.

    "I''m so sorry, Lady Verhen." Mirias sniffled as she returned to her senses and was on the verge of tears from embarrassment. "I have no excuses for my behavior. You warned me and I knew Elysia could shapeshift. Please, believe me when I say that I was just surprised.

    "I have nothing against beasts, Divine or otherwise."

    "Don''t apologize. It''s not your fault, Mirias." Kam said. "Elysia has been rude and unweing. What do we say to our good friend Mirias, youngdy?"

    "So-y." Elysia lowered her head and joined her hands as Kam put the baby before the Baroness.

    "It speaks!" Mirias fainted again, making Eiros run to her side and Elysia burst into tears.

    "So-y! So-y!" She bawled, thinking she had done something wrong again but having no idea what.

    "Oh, gods." Kam sighed. "Lith, use the Dragon scales or this will take us all day."

    Lith shapeshifted his hands and reassured Elysia it wasn''t her fault this time.

    "Still, this wouldn''t have happened had you behaved like a good girl from the start." He said. "Now our friend is a bundle of nerves and scares easily."

    More salts reanimated the Baroness and this time Eiros had her sit down and gave her a cup of strong tea spiked with alcohol.

    "And he is Valeron the Second." Lith put the baby boy in Mirias'' arms.

    "He''s handsome. He looks a lot like his father." She said while caressing his small hands, making Valeron giggle and puff his chest out with pride.

    He had prepared a whole routine to impress his hosts but after what happened with Elysia, Valeron kept his mouth shut and did his best impression of Surin. No one ever fainted around her and people always showered her with praise.

    "Thank you." Lith and Kam exchanged a quick nce, not wanting to point out the boy was adopted and make things awkward again.

 Chapter 3389 Hunting Party (Part 2)

    Chapter 3389 Hunting Party (Part 2)

    "I''d say I had a lot of emotions for today." The Baroness needed her husband''s help to stand up. "With your permission, I''ll go rest a little while you unpack your luggage."

    "I''ll be home all day." Eiros said to his guests. "Come see me whenever you are ready."

    "So-y." Elysia said again once the two nobles had left the guest house.

    "Apologies epted, my love. Just don''t do that again." Kam said. "This will serve as a lesson to us all. We need to start teaching Elysia how to behave, or the next time someone might get hurt.

    "Thank the gods she didn''t use spells for her prank."

    Elysia and Valeron swallowed hard. That was phase two of their n. They never got to cast spells or breathe fire only thanks to Mirias'' timely fainting.

    "Valeron is such a good kid." Lith rocked the boy in his arms, making him lower his head in shame. "He''s always so polite and kind."

    Both babies burst into tears. Elysia because hurt by theparison and Valeron out of guilt, feeling unworthy of such praise.

    "What''s happening?" Raaz was as confused as everyone else.

    Dragon scales solved the mystery in the span of a hug.

    "Sorry, this time it''s my bad." Lith sighed. "Elysia got offended and Valeron turned out to be a little imp as well."

    "It runs in the family, little imp." Raaz chuckled, mimicking Nana''s voice.

    Taking out the daily necessities and assigning the rooms took but a few minutes. Raaz would share the room with Aran and Onyx while Senton with Leria and Abominus.

    Solus had her own room but she nned to use it only to bathe or spend time with her mother. Without a mana geyser, her energy was limited and she would have to spend the night in the stone ring.

    "You guys go out with the Baron." Kam said. "Solus and I will stay here with the babies."

    "Thanks, Kami, but I''d give the Baron an hour or so to let him take care of his wife." Raaz said. "Maybe we could use this time to have breakfast."

    Aran, Leria, and the Emperor Beasts cheered in approval. After the short trip from the Warp Gate and all those emotions, they had worked up quite an appetite.

    The Baron was happy to have the Verhens eat at his table. The holographic map allowed him to give them a virtual tour of Jambel''s territory while they had a pleasant conversation, killing two birds with one stone.

    "I''m sure you remember my children, Kotu and Irie." The fraternal twins had gotten their father''s red hair and their mother''s green eyes. "Kotu, Irie, these are our new friends.

    "Elysia, Valeron, Solus, Rhona, and Trion Verhen. Senton Proudhammer, Onyx, and Abominus."

    The introduction of the babies sounded pointless until they waved their small hands and said: "Hi."

    The twins dropped their forks, gawping at the toddlers who did their best to act inconspicuously from that moment onward.

    "I''m a Verhen too." Onyx pouted. She considered herself part of the family and felt left out. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Same here." Abominus said.

    "Oh." The usually easy-going Baron looked ufortable for the first time since Lith had known him. "Are you betrothed already?" He pointed at the kids and their respective steeds.

    "Eiros!" Mirias went pale in embarrassment but was inwardly d their usual roles had been restored.

    "No." Raaz denied firmly. "They are just children, for the gods'' sake!"

    "What''s a betrothed?" Aran asked in confusion.

    "I''ll tell you when you are older." Raaz replied, rushing to change the topic. "What are our ns for the day, dear Baron?"

    "Please, call me Eiros, Raaz." The Baron replied. "As for your question, you are spoiled for choice. We can go hiking on mountain trails¡­"

    A twirl of his fingers conjured the hologram of the various peaks nearest to the city.

    "We can go hunting in the Stornash woods or just walk, if you want." A second twirl zoomed out of the mountains and in on the woods they had passed on their way to Jambel.

    "Lith asked me to organize a fishing trip over the Rhem and Shemkes." The hologram highlighted the twinkes in front of the city. "It''s a bitte for fishing but it''s the perfect solution if you are too tired to walk.

    "We can just take a tour of thekes if you want."

    "I''d like to go hunting." Raaz looked around the table and everyone nodded. "I must warn you, Eiros, the only thing I have ever caught are the chickens in my coop. I never had the time or opportunity to learn the first thing about hunting."

    "Then why this choice, if you don''t mind me asking?"

    "Because I''ve always admired Lith''s skills as a hunter." Raaz said with pride. "I''d like to see my son in action and maybe he can teach his old man a thing or two."

    "I can use a few lessons as well." Trion said while eating eggs and bacon. "I too know nothing about hunting."

    "Really, big brother?" Aran asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

    "Yes, little brother." The kids had gotten used to calling him big brother/uncle for a few months now but for Trion, it was always like the first time.

    Thosemon words still filled him with joy and the desire to deserve them.

    "Unlike our brother, I never trained to be a field operative. I received basic lessons about field dressing wild animals and what nts and roots are edible but I never had the opportunity to put them into practice."

    "We can learn together, then!" Aran''s voice was filled with enthusiasm.

    "What about you, Dad?" Leria asked.

    "I can hunt and field dress." Senton replied. "It''s a hobby I took in my youth while testing your grandfather''s arrowheads andter mine. I''ve never caught anything bigger than a bunny but I''m a good shot."

    "A bunny?" Leria''s voice was a mix of shock and pride.

    "Dear, someone has to get the meat that ends up in your te." Senton gently caressed her head. "Also, don''t you enjoy eating roasted bunny with potatoes? I thought it was one of your favorite dishes."

    "It is." Leria felt guilty for the bunny and hungry at the thought of the delicious smell of her mother''s cooking.

    She pondered in silence for a while until she set her priorities straight.

    "Can you teach me how to hunt, Dad?" Leria asked.

    "Of course, I can." Senton felt his heart brimming with joy for the confidence his daughter put in him. "Do you want to store our game to show it to your mother or do you want to eat it here?"

    Leria''s heart and stomach were once again at odds. She wanted Rena to be proud of her but she also loved eating.

    "We can send her pictures of what we catch and bring something for her home." Leria replied.

    "Hold your horses." Senton shook his head. "Hunting is not like buying groceries. There''s no guarantee we will find something."

    "Then it''s settled." The Baron said. "Lith will take along Raaz, Trion, and Aran. Senton goes with Leria and I with Kotu. I hope it''s not a problem if I bring my son with us."

 Chapter 3390 Taken for Granted (Part 1)

    Chapter 3390 Taken for Granted (Part 1)

    "Kotu is wee to join our hunting party, Eiros." Lith replied.

    "We areing too." Abominus said and Onyx nodded. "We can help you track and flush out prey or take Aran and Leria home in case they get ufortable." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "It sounds great." Kam said. "Have fun out there. Can you please show us around Jambel, Mirias? I''ve been here already but this is Solus'' first time and she can use a more skilled guide to appreciate your city''s beauty."

    "It would be my honor." The Baroness smiled, d of being useful and making up for her earlier blunders, even if just a bit.

    ***

    Once they were done with breakfast, it took Lith and the others just a few minutes to get ready and leave. One DoLorean was enough to carry them, leaving the other for Kam and Solus in case of emergency.

    The Baron parked outside the Stornash woods and let everyone out before storing the vehicle inside his dimensional amulet.

    "As I said, you are spoiled for choice." A wave of his hand conjured a line of weapons disyed on a leather roll. "We have bows for our marksmen, crossbows for the beginners, and wands if you want to bring something home at all costs."

    Hunting wands were an expensive tool only nobles could afford. The spells they stored stopped at tier one since the upper tiers were exclusive for military use and the only elements allowed were ice and lightning.

    Fire magic was considered too dangerous in inexperienced hands and it could have been used to make a corpse disappear. Tier one ice shards worked akin to arrows from a longbow while tier one bolts of lightning were too weak to kill an adult and were perfect to stun a fleeing prey.

    "I''ll take the bow." Senton and Trion said.

    "I''ll take the crossbow." Raaz and the kids said.

    "If we ever need to use magic, we have our own." Aran and Leria added with a shrug.

    With their bright yellow mana cores and the magic lessons in the Desert, they had full ess to all kinds of tier two magic. They could have even learned a few weak tier three spells but no one trusted that kind of power to a child.

    "I''ll take nothing." Lith and the Emperor Beasts said. "I never had tools or need for them. I''ve always hunted with my own means."

    "Really?" Raaz furrowed his brows in confusion. "I thought-"

    Then, the realization struck him.

    ''That''s right. We were too poor to afford any of these weapons. Lith had to learn how to hunt with magic because of me.'' He inwardly sighed.

    "Never mind. Let''s go." They split into teams and moved in different directions not to disturb or hit each other. "Well, son, show your old man how it''s done."

    "Okay." Lith raised his hand, conjuring a Hush Zone to cancel their noise and smell. "Back in the day I used air magic to float and darkness magic to erase my presence but this will work just fine."

    He turned toward Raaz to show him his eyes shining with Life Vision.

    "Isn''t this cheating?" Trion asked.

    "Of course it is." Lith grunted. "How else do you expect a four years old boy to catch anything with no tools and no one teaching him the basics of hunting?"

    ''I''m an idiot. How could I call Lith''s magic cheating?'' Trion regretted his words the moment they came out of his mouth. ''That''s what Orpal always said and I ended up sounding just like him.

    ''Back then, he and I alwaysined about how easy Lith had it thanks to his magical talent yet we had no problem stuffing our mouths with the food he brought home.''

    "If you want to experience my childhood hunting routine, Dad, we have to start with birds and squirrels. Do you feel like watching or do you prefer turning around, Aran?" Lith asked.

    "Depends. Would there be blood involved or would it be like when you brought Leria and I fishing?" Aran replied.

    "Like fishing." Lith said.

    "Then go ahead, big brother." Aran clenched Raaz''s hand and grabbed the scruff of Onyx''s neck for moral support.

    He had already seen chickens and cattle be killed at the farm but it was always a clean and painless procedure. Aran had seen plenty of dead animals, it was watching them die that scared him.

    Lith extended four tendrils of Spirit Magic and snapped his fingers. Two squirrels up in the trees and two medium-sized flying birds copsed like puppets whose strings had suddenly been cut.

    Their bodies never touched the ground, floating toward Lith like fish caught in a.

    "This is amazing!" Aran said just to add: "And terrifying. Can you also do that to people?"

    "Yes, Aran. Every Awakened can." Lith nodded. "Back then, my magic was too weak to hunt anything big so I relied on Spirit Magic. Animals can''t see it or react until it''s toote."

    "I remember the Blinkers and that you brought home squirrel hair to stuff our winter gloves, but I''ve never seen you eat one. What did you do with the meat?" Raaz asked.

    "I ate them beforeing home, Dad." Lith shrugged. "Hunting is exhausting. Even more if you use magic instead of tools. I took part of my share in advance so that you wouldn''t have to deal with more quarrels than you already did.

    "I didn''t want Trion and Meln toin about me having portions asrge as their own or have to exin every time we sat at the table how hungry I was. On top of that, it would have made you, Mom, Tista, and Rena feel guilty.

    "We both know that one, if not all of you, would have tried to give me part of your serving and sparked even more arguments."

    Raaz too regretted his question the moment it escaped his lips, wondering how many things he had taken for granted over the years.

    ''Gods, I still remember the set of fur clothes Lith prepared for Tista or the giant boar skin he had Selia turn into a carpet for my bedroom.'' For a long time, the carpet had been one of the few things of value in the house.

    Raaz appreciated it every morning the boar skin saved his feet from the cold floor. He had appreciated every new carpet Lith brought home to make it warmer during winter but Raaz had never stopped to think how hard Lith must had worked to get his hands on them.

    "Did you really act like that, Trion?" Aran''s horrified tone snapped Raaz out of it. "What an ungrateful prick!"

    "Aran!" Raaz could see how ashamed his oldest son already was and how much Aran''s words hurt Trion. There was no point twisting the knife in his wounds. "Those were different times. Your big brother-"

    "Was a certified ungrateful prick." Trionpleted the phrase for him. "It''s okay, Dad. We came here to bond, not to tell each otherforting lies. Lith is right, lil bro. I was an obnoxious brat and had I known about the squirrel meat, I would have done exactly as Lith says.

    "You are also right, Aran. My behaviour was uneptable."

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 3391 Taken for Granted (Part 2)

    Chapter 3391  Taken for Granted (Part 2) "It took me a while to realize I didn''t like the person I had become but when I did, I apologized to all the people I hurt and I''ve done my best to change. To be honest, it''s still a work in progress." Trion said.

    "I hope you''ll learn from my mistakes and become a better person than I will ever be, lil bro."

    "Thanks, big brother." Aran gave Trion a small bow. "For what is worth, I think you are doing fine. Without Lith telling this story, I would have never thought you were such a bad person."

    "Aran!" Lith and Raaz said in unison while Onyx stifled her laugh by putting her paw on her snout.

    "What? I was giving him a compliment! Trion was a jerk and now he''s less of a jerk. He''s making progress." Aran said, making everything worse.

    "Thank you, little brother." Trion caressed Aran''s head, smiling. "I need you to keep an eye on me so that I don''t go back to my bad habits."

    "You can count on me." Aran nodded.

    They resumed walking, advancing in an embarrassed silence. Life Vision allowed Lith to spot game from a distance and it took him only one shot to make a bloodless kill.

    He mostly used water magic to hit a vital spot and then freeze the area of the wound.

    One boar, and two stags later, Aran was in awe of Lith''s skill while everyone else was utterly bored.

    "No offense, son, but this is too easy. What do you say we try the old-fashioned way and you let us do something?" Raaz said.

    "Please, be my guest." Lith dispelled Life Vision and moved to the back of the group.

    Minutes turned into hours as they moved around, no one with the faintest clue about how to track wild animals.

    "I stand corrected." Raaz said after failing to even spot an animal in the distance despite the Hush Zone still enveloping them. "This is even more boring. We need a tracker. Onyx?"  sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "With pleasure!"

    "Just one thing. No magic. Let''s keep things fair." Raaz said.

    "Who needs magic?" The Utgard scoffed. "I hunted way before I Awakened. Just follow me."

    "Onyx!" It was Aran''s turn to be embarrassed. "That was supposed to be a secret! I mean, I''m not afraid of anything."

    She left the Hush Zone and sniffed the air, quickly finding a trail.

    "Quick question." Onyx put only her head back inside. "Aran, can you shoot bunnies or are they too cute for you? I don''t want you to have nightmares again."

    "Onyx!" It was Aran''s turn to be embarrassed. "That was supposed to be a secret! I mean, I''m not afraid of anything."

    "That''s not an answer." The Utgard replied. "Yes or no?"

    "Yes!" Aran turned bright red up to his ears.

    "No it is, then." Onyx nodded. "How do you feel about stags?"

    "I have no problems with them." This time he managed to maintain a level voice.

    "Then follow me." The Utgard moved like a shadow, her steps made no sound as she stepped over the lush grass and took a roundabout route to keep herself upwind not to alert her prey.

    Despite her size and mass, Onyx avoided bushes and twigs without even looking at them whereas Raaz and Aran kept making noise as they moved no matter how hard they tried to be stealthy.

    If not for the Hush Zone, the stag would have heard them coming from a mile away.

    "Dad, Aran, before taking your shot, align the crosshair with your eye and once you have your target in sight, raise the crossbow a bit." Another advantage of the Hush Zone was that Trion could talk freely and give them advice.

    "Why?" Raaz asked in puzzlement.

    "Past a certain distance, air resistance and gravity affect the trajectory of your shot." Trion replied. "The more distant you are from your target, the lower from where you aimed the dart will hit."

    Aran and Raaz nodded without truly understanding what Trion meant but they trusted him and followed his advice.

    "Okay, now, to keep your crossbow steady, take a deep breath, aim, exhale, and pull the trigger." Trion said while nocking his arrow.

    The longbow offered no resistance to his Demon strength, feeling as if it was frailer than a toy.

    Aran''s shot went too high, scaring the prey. The stag bolted forward so Raaz''s shot struck the body instead of the neck. Trion''s arrows hit the beast''s head before it could take a second step, piercing through its skull and killing it on the spot.

    "Nice shot, big brother!" Aran offered his fist that Trion bumped.

    "It seems Lith is not the only one with a talent for hunting in the family." Raaz patted his shoulder.

    "No, Dad. It''s this body." Trion looked at his hands as if he saw them for the first time. "My strength and eyesight are hundreds of times better than when I was a human. On top of that, my mind and body are one, giving me perfect hand-to-eye coordination.

    "In other words, I too am cheating."

    "Let''s do it like this, then." Raaz proposed. "You don''t shoot unless Aran and I hit something. If it survives, you put it down. What do you say, son?"

    "Deal." Trion nodded.

    "Cool!" Aran said as Onyx collected the carcass before he could get too close.

    "What''s cool? Unless you were aiming at the sun, you got nowhere near the target." She playfully mocked him.

    "It was my first time using one of these things." Aran shrugged. "I didn''t expect the recoil to be so strong."

    "Then use magic to keep yourself steady." Lith said. "As long as you don''t influence the dart, it''s fair."

    Onyx and the hunting party made no noise as they moved onward, but the dying deer lost enough blood to alarm the nearby animals. It took the Utgard a while to find a new trail and the humans even longer to find their next target.

    "You know, Lith, you have changed a lot since you were a kid." Raaz talked whenever he could divert his focus from not stepping over snapping vegetation. "You had me and your mother worried for a long while."

    "What do you mean?" Lith moved with the lithe grace of a predator.

    Gravity magic made his steps light while his heightened senses allowed him to avoid touching anything that would have revealed his presence even if the Hush Zone had not been in place.

    If not for the fact they could see him, Aran and the others would have easily forgotten he was there with them.

    "Son, have you ever looked at your reflection in a mirror as a kid?" Raaz asked. "And I''m not referring to your physical appearance. We all had it rough back then. Except for your mother. The gods know why but even then, she looked as hot as-"

    "Dad!" All three sons shared a dislike for passionate descriptions of their mother''s beauty.

    "I''m sorry for rambling on." Raaz cleared his throat in embarrassment. "The point is your glare was hard to miss, Lith."

    "You noticed?" Lith had always believed to have a good poker face so the news took him by surprise.

    "Everyone did." Trion sighed. "It was how Meln and I knew you disliked us as much as we disliked you."

 Chapter 3392 Distorted Lens (Part 1)

    "Trion is right, Lith." Raaz nodded. "Don''t get me wrong, you were polite and sweet if one looked at you as an adult. But for a kid, you looked like someone who sucked lemons as a hobby.""Really?" Aran chuckled at the idea, incapable of reconciling such an image with the big brother he loved and respected.

    "Really." Raaz replied. "You should have seen your brother''s scowl. Unless he was looking at Rena or Tista, his smile was just a grin below cold yes filled with deep thoughts."

    Those words made Lith swallow hard.

    "At first, we didn''t worry much because all babies look serious or happy for no reason. Their expression is just their instinctive reaction to the world and people around them." Raaz continued. "But as you grew up, Lith, things didn''t change.

    "Then, your mother and I thought it was because of the lack of food that made you always hungry so we tightened our belts and gave you bigger servings." Lith swallowed again. "Yet aside from warming up to your mother, your glare remained the same.

    "Even after you started hunting and food was no longer an issue, you still looked at me, Trion, and Meln like guests who had long overstayed their welcome." Raaz sighed, stopping in place.

    "I honestly thought it was because you despised your brothers for their behavior and me for failing to educate them properly. I knew how bad things between you three were and how disappointed in me you must have been."

    "You worked so hard for all of us yet you weren''t safe in your own home."

    "Dad, it''s not-" Lith tried to say but Raaz cut him short with a wave of his hand.

    "It''s true and you know it."

    "Really?" Aran looked at Trion in suspicion.

    "Yes." Trion nodded. "Meln and I were terrible to Lith. We envied him and his magic. We were the only ones not taking hot baths during winter because we were too prideful to ask for his help. We demanded it."

    "That''s''-" Aran had many unflattering things to say, but the deep shame on his brother''s face and the sadness in his father''s eyes stopped his tongue.

    "Horrible. Petty. Disgraceful." Trion completed the phrase for Aran. "And I could go on. I''m not proud of what I did or who I was, little brother, but now I have the guts to admit it and make amends for it.

    "I''m not that man anymore. Please, believe me."

    "I believe you." Aran grabbed Trion''s hand. "Bad guys always blame others and make excuses for their behavior. Only good guys are brave enough to admit when they are wrong and do something about it."

    "Thanks, little brother." Small puffs of fire escaped the Demon''s eyes, instantly turning into black smoke. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What happened then, Dad?" Aran wanted to change the topic to spare Trion''s feelings and also because he was burning with curiosity.

    Many events before his birth were considered taboo and no one ever spoke about them. Especially if Orpal was involved.

    "Then I finally found the strength to kick your oldest brother out." Raaz''s eyes steeled at the memory of the beaten and battered Lith. "I never understood what went wrong with him and have stopped caring.

    "All the bad things you''ve heard about the Dead King are true, Aran, and the fact he once was part of our family is our greatest shame."

    Raaz signalled Onyx to resume the advance and the group followed.

    "Yet even with him gone and Trion turning over a new leaf, Lith was always unhappy. At that point, we thought it was because we were poor, but after he became a Healer under Nana''s guidance money wasn''t a problem.

    "So your mother and I believed it was because of how hard Lith had to work but that didn''t change even after he joined the academy or the army. At that point, we gave up understanding what was wrong and prepared for the worst.

    "Your mother was terrified you might leave the family, Lith, but I wasn''t. Heck, after the Balkor thing, you warmed up even to me. That was a good sign if I''ve ever seen one." Raaz said with a laughter.

    ''Fuck me sideways, they knew all along.'' Lith thought. ''My past behavior must have hurt Dad yet he never showed it. I would love to tell him that it wasn''t his fault if I looked at him through the eyes of Derek McCoy.

    ''That it took me believing to have lost Protector to finally drop my guard and realize how much I was missing out of sheer stubbornness. Yet I can''t risk destroying my family just to clear my conscience. This is my burden to bear.''

    "After a while, we took you as the mystery you were and hoped for the best. I don''t know the reason, but you started to change around the time Solus got her light body after you met Kamila." Raaz continued.

    "Yet it''s only after Elysia was born that determination replaced the silent rage in your eyes. Many among my friends think your perpetual frown is always the same, but you can''t fool your old man."

    "You''re right, Dad. About everything." Lith said. "I''ve found the strength to change because I want to pass down on my children only the best of me. The bad parts are my problem and no one else should have to deal with them."

    Raaz hoped that Lith would explain why he had disliked his father for so long. Yet Lith remained silent and Raaz respected it.

    "A noble intent." Raaz said after a while. "But listen to your old man. Let your children see your bad side from time to time. Show them you are human. Show them you are not some paragon of virtue they can never match.

    "Make them look up to you but also let them know you are just like them, flaws and all. Men are imperfect and can only strive for perfection, never reach it. If your children can''t reach you, they can''t love you, only admire you from a distance."

    A deep silence fell over the group while Lith pondered over those words.

    "Since when is Lith perfect?" Yet Arand didn''t make it last long. "There''s the stinginess, all the times he disappears making Mom worry, the door in his bedroom Sis Kami forbid me to open yet I did-"

    "Aran!" Lith cut him short.

    "Don''t worry, big bro. I love your weird clothes and all." Aran hugged Lith who inwardly prayed no one would ask questions. "I''m sure that it will be the same for Elysia and the new baby."

    "That said, have you thought about the name?" Raaz cleared his throat.

    "Not yet." Lith gave a grateful nod to his father. "I''m open to suggestions."

    ***

    Meanwhile, back in Jambel, Mirias was giving Solus a tour of the city.

    The Baroness wasn''t used to walking, much less to wearing civilian clothes, but carriages, DoLoreans, and Warp Steps drew too much attention and her guests enjoyed their anonymity.

    "The taxes from Lith''s silver mines alone contributed a lot to Jambel''s development in the last few years." Mirias said while showing Kamila and Solus the various innovations. "It''s a different city from your last visit, Countess Verhen."

 Chapter 3393 Distorted Lens (Part 2)

    "Thanks to these fountains located in every city block, our people can easily and quickly draw water during winter and refresh themselves during summer. We have built public bathhouses to allow everyone to enjoy a hot bath all year long, improving general hygiene."Also, our soldiers now have better equipment, and the arrays protecting the city are in the process of being reinforced."

    "That''s wonderful, Mirias, but please, call me Kamila." She was already receiving enough looks for the stroller. Just the mention of the name Verhen made people stop talking and start listening.

    "I''m sorry. It''s just that I''m so grateful to you and your husband and calling you by your first name feels disrespectful." The Baroness said.

    "No, it isn''t." Kamila replied. "Can we go to a bakery? I have a fond memory of Jambel''s pastries and all this walking gave me an appetite."

    "Seconded." Solus nodded.

    "I must say, your babies are a bit too quiet. Did they fall asleep?" Mirias asked while leading the way.

    "No. They feel embarrassed from earlier and are trying to make a good impression on you." Kamila chuckled, shocking the Baroness to the bone.

    "Embarrassed? At that age?"

    "They are very smart." Kamila nodded. "Maybe, if you forgive them¡­"

    "I''m not angry with you." Mirias bent down, meeting the doubtful eyes of Elysia and Valeron. "Everything is forgiven. Please, relax."

    The two babies smiled and cooed at the Baroness who melted like every mother in front of a happy child. She started making so many baby noises and praising them so much that the passersby thought she was the mother of the babies.

    ''By the way, where''s Ripha?'' Kamila asked via a mind link.

    ''With Lith.'' Solus replied.

    ''You mean inside the Void Sigil?''

    ''No, inside his shadow.'' Solus said. ''She can''t get far away from him anyway and I thought they could use spending some time together.''

    ''Doesn''t she practice with you two every morning?'' Kamila asked.

    ''That''s different.'' Solus shook her head. ''My mother has spent years watching Lith lying and manipulating the people around him, even his parents. She knows he can act nice when it suits him.

    ''Like when he can earn the opportunity to learn Forgemastery from a Ruler of the Flames and maybe inherit her legacy. What my mother missed are all the times he was good with me, you, and his family.''

    ''How could she possibly have missed that?'' Kamila was flabbergasted. ''Didn''t Ripha always stay by your side?''

    ''She did, but back then she looked at everything through the distorted lens of her obsession and regret.'' Solus replied. ''My first interaction with Lith was cold at best and by then Mom already had a bad opinion of him.

    ''Now that she''s in her right mind again, she needs to observe how he acts when he has nothing to gain or lose. No matter what I say to her, words are cheap. Actions are expensive.''

    ***

    The three groups met at the arrival spot at noon when the summer sun was high and lighted the woods from above, robbing the hunters from the cover of the shadows and making them sweat bullets

    On top of the game caught by Lith, Raaz and the others brought back a stag and a small boar.

    Leria and Senton returned with three brown bunnies and a flying bird the size of a turkey.

    "Nice catch!" The Baron said. "Tricksters are really hard to spot. How did you do it?"

    "You should have seen my Dad." Leria puffed her chest out with pride. "He moved and struck like a professional hunter. That¡­ Trickster never saw us coming."

    "Only because my magical daughter silenced our movements and her partner pointed me at the prey." Senton caressed her head and Abominus''.

    "Not your movements, Dad. Mine." Leria fiddled with her hair. "I kept stepping on every twig and dry leaf along the way. I made so much noise we wouldn''t have caught anything if I didn''t use the Hush spell."

    "Why are these birds called Trickster?" Lith asked.

    "Look." The Baron unfolded one of the wings, revealing that the feathers were mottled green and brown. "Because of this, this delicious scoundrel is hard to spot, let alone to catch. Tricksters can fly so they don''t leave much of a scent on the ground.

    "They also have keen senses and the moment they perceive a predator approaching, they freeze in place and blend with their surroundings. They are nigh-invisible and if you turn around for a second, they are gone."

    "Isn''t it easier to hunt them if they fly?" Aran asked.

    "No, because they fly on a tree and camouflage again." The Baron shook his head. "And while you turn around like an idiot looking for them, they glide to another tree. During winter it''s even worse. Their feathers turn white and waterproof.

    "They can hide under the snow for hours or use it to spread their smell around and confuse even the best hunting dogs. How did you spot it?"

    "Thanks to him." Senton and Leria pointed at Abominus who raised his paw.

    "Abominus found it and Dad killed it with one arrow. They make a perfect team!" Leria said.

    "Thanks, sweetheart." Senton replied.

    "You''d better enjoy these moments while they last, young man." The Baron sniffled. "Soon your daughter will grow into a young woman and won''t care about spending time with her boring father. It''s disheartening."

    "Don''t worry, Dad. I''ll always be with you." Leria hugged Senton''s leg, refusing to believe a girl could grow distant from her father.

    "Dad, you know that''s not true!" Kotu said. "You and Mom pestered Irie to find a husband for years now. You can''t blame her for spending one day with her fianc¨¦ now that she finally has one."

    "You are right, son." The Baron nodded. "This is your fault."

    "Me? What did I do?" The young Baron was flabbergasted.

    "Why are you still single?" Eiros pointed the finger at his son. "Your mother and I wouldn''t be so worried if you had given us a grandchild or two. We need an heir for the Waylon household or my hard work will be squandered the moment something were to happen to the two of you. Answer me!"

    Kotu looked around like a cornered rat until his eyes locked with Lith''s.

    "Help!" S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Sorry, no magic on Mogar can save you." Lith shrugged. "I speak from experience."

    "What about you, Baron? Did you catch something good." Trion asked.

    On the one hand, he felt sorry for the young man. On the other hand, Trion would have given anything to trade place with Kotu.

    "Nothing much." The Baron grunted. "Two boars, one stag, three Tricksters."

    "And you call that nothing much?" Lith furrowed his brows.

    "Well, yeah." Kotu scratched his head. "We hunt in the Stornash woods multiple times a year since I was younger than Aran. We know all the spots where the animals gather during each season. What''s weird is that we caught less than you, Lith."

    "I don''t count. I cheated with magic." Lith replied.

    "Enough with the blabbering." Eiros said. "Aran, Leria, do you want to learn how to field dress your game?"

    "Sure." The kids nodded.

    "Are you sure? It''s going to get bloody." Lith said.

 Chapter 3394 Fishing Party (Part 1)

    "Big bro, I''m already seven and we live on a farm." Aran shrugged. "Dad taught me already.""You did?" Lith turned to Raaz in surprise.

    "Son, a farmer who doesn''t know how to butcher his own animals is an embarrassment." He replied. "I didn''t teach you only because by the time I believed I could entrust you with a knife you had already learned everything you needed from Selia."

    "I''ve learned from Mom." Leria said with pride. "I always help her prepare the chickens."

    Much to Lith''s surprise, the children weren''t bothered by the blood. The only thing they did was to cover the head of the carcass with a cloth so as not to face its gaze. They even alternated using the knife and magic to make things faster and cleaner.

    ***

    Once they returned to Jambel, the kids rushed to call their respective mothers to tell them how amazing their fathers and brothers/uncles were. The Baroness, instead rushed to her son to share the joy of finally having toddlers in their home with him.

    "They are so cute and smart." Mirias sighed. "I can''t wait to meet my grandchildren."

    "Mom, not you too! Dad already gave me the speech today." Kotu groaned.

    "Don''t talk back to me like that, young man! Your sister at least has a fianc¨¦. You are young, handsome, and the future ruler of Jambel. There''s a line around the block of girls wishing to date you. How can you still be single?"

    "Mom, they want my money, not me!"

    "Gods, this is Tista all over again." Aran rolled his eyes, sighing.

    "Don''t roll your eyes at me, young man!" Elina was thousands of kilometers away but he straightened up anyway at her voice. "A mother doesn''t say those things for the fun of it. It''s because we worry."

    "Yes, Mom. Sorry, Mom." Aran nodded like a frenzied parrot.

    "Mom, will you tell me the same things you say to Aunt Tista when I grow up?" Leria swallowed hard, going for a softer approach on the matter.

    "Of course I will, baby girl." Rena said with a warm and loving voice, yet it sounded like a threat to Leria.

    "Dad?"

    "Your mother and I are a team, sweetie." Senton replied, making her swallow harder.

    "Grandpa, you are Mom''s Dad, correct?"

    "Yes, Leria. Why?" Raaz asked in confusion.

    "It means you are her boss. Like my dad tells me what to do, you can tell Mom what to do. Correct?"

    "Yes, dear, and you can be certain that when that day comes, I''ll cheer on your mother."

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside Solus'' room, the generational battle continued on another frontline.

    "Well, Mom, what do you think of Lith?" Solus asked.

    "The same as yesterday." Menadion shrugged. "In front of his family, he acts like a decent human being. Why? Do you want me to give him a medal for this?"

    "Fine. I won''t argue. This time." Solus grunted. "Tomorrow I''m coming with you. I want to see if it''s him acting that badly or you being that stubborn."

    ***

    Between the morning in the woods and the heat of summer, everyone had worked up quite an appetite. The game had been handed to the kitchens but wouldn''t be ready to be eaten until the next day.

    Wild animals had hard muscle fibers that needed maturing and tenderizing. Luckily, the Baron had ordered plenty of food in advance. Enough to sate even Lith. To show his appreciation, Lith prepared ice cream for everyone and shared the recipe with the Baroness.

    "Thank you so much." She said after storing the parchment inside her dimensional amulet. "My talent for magic isn''t much but it''s more than enough for something so simple. I''ll prepare it personally for our banquets. Can I share it with my daughter?"

    "It''s yours, Mirias. You can do whatever you want with it ." Lith replied with a smile.

    The Baroness was so excited that she almost fainted from happiness. She hugged Lith and kissed him on the cheek while standing on her tiptoes. Only after she calmed down a bit and realized how many rules of etiquette she had breached did the Baroness faint.

    The long morning in the woods had tired everyone out so after lunch the Verhens decided to take a nap.

    "Thank you, Aunt Kami." Aran said with a big smile on his small face.

    "Thank you for what?" She asked in confusion. "I didn''t do anything."

    "Every time we travel with you, we get to sleep on real beds inside a real home." He replied. "Otherwise big bro makes us sleep on beds made from magic inside a conjured cave."

    "You are welcome, dear." Kamila''s hand caressed Aran but her eyes glared at Lith.

    "I''m sorry, son." Raaz too stared at Lith, but for an entirely different reason. "Will you ever forgive your useless father?"

    He believed that Lith''s stinginess was the result of his poor upbringing and felt responsible for the hardships his son put himself through because of it.

    "You have nothing to apologize for, Dad." Lith couldn''t stand his parents blaming themselves for the bad habits he had picked up on Earth and cultivated on his own all along. "That''s all me. Look at Aran and Trion. They-"

    "For the love of the gods don''t take me as a role model for handling money!" Trion replied. "Back when I first got in the army, I was so happy to finally have some money of my own and no family expenses that I splurged several wages on high-end clothes and restaurants.

    "I even incurred debts and didn''t get into trouble only because my comrades noticed my terrible spending habits and taught me to be fiscally responsible."

    "Gods, I''m so sorry, Trion." Raaz slumped on the nearest chair. "I never knew you had it so bad."

    "Like Lith said, Dad, it''s not your fault." Trion patted Raaz''s shoulder. "I was already an adult back then and I made poor decisions. That''s on me, not you." Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What he said." Lith nodded. "By the way, how is Aran with money?"

    "He never had any." Raaz shrugged. "Your mother and I buy him everything he needs and you spoil him rotten with toys he couldn''t buy even if he wanted."

    "Thank you, big bro!" Aran yelled from inside the bedroom.

    Lith peeked inside, watching his little brother tuck himself in bed with Onyx. She was in a hybrid form the size of a small girl but covered in a soft fur that kept them both warm.

    "First, we must teach him the value of money before it''s too late." Lith said. "Something like giving Aran an allowance for doing the chores or getting good grades. No free money, he must understand the work behind every copper coin."

    "Sounds like a good idea, son." Raaz nodded with a proud smile. "You are going to be a better father than your old man."

    "We''ll see about that." Lith replied. "Second, how close to home are Mom''s worries?"

    He pointed at the snuggling couple that was already fast asleep.

    "Completely off mark, for the gods'' sake!" Raaz whispered in outrage. "Aran is just a seven years old boy. He only sees Onyx as his best friend and playmate."

 Chapter 3395 Fishing Party (Part 2)

    "What about ten years from now, when they both grow up?" Lith asked."Only the gods know." Raaz shrugged. "At twelve Aran will try for the White Griffon Academy with Leria. If he gets in, he will meet a lot of new people and maybe find a girlfriend. Maybe more than one." He groaned at the last part.

    "He will spend from five to two years away from home. When he becomes a young man, things are bound to change, whether we like it or not." S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What if Onyx follows him?" Trion pointed out. "She''s already great with magic and can shapeshift. She can pass the admission exam for the White Griffon with her eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back."

    "I already have grandchildren with scales." Raaz rocked a giggling Elysia in his arms. "I''d love grandchildren with fur just the same."

    ***

    The group spent the afternoon hiking in the woods, this time with no hunting tools. The Baron taught everyone how to spot animal tracks and what kinds of plants were the favorite food of which animal.

    Lith taught the kids how to recognize the marks that identified the turfs of different predators and magical beasts. Raaz pointed out the edible plants they found on the way as well as the poisonous ones.

    "Unless it''s a flower, beware of bright colors, kids." He said. "It''s nature''s way to point out danger."

    Once they got back home, it was the fathers'' pride and joy to teach their kids how to cook meat on a grill while Lith prepared enough fries to feed a battalion.

    "You see, Leria, the trick is to keep the heat low. This way, the fat melts and you can spread it evenly and use it to improve the flavor of the meat. Always make it medium rare to keep it tender and juicy on the inside."

    "What if someone wants it well cooked?" She asked.

    "Then you politely but firmly ask them to get out of your house." Senton''s reply made the kids laugh until they noticed the serious expression of their male relatives and understood it was no joke at all.

    ***

    Later, that night, Lith was glad to have a little alone time with his wife.

    "Your fries were a huge hit again." Kamila said. "I''ve never seen Mirias eat so much of anything. Everyone took so many servings that by the end of dinner there was nothing left."

    "Glad to hear." Lith nodded. "How was your day?"

    "I really like Jambel. It''s clean, everyone is polite, and there''s almost no poverty."

    "Me too. I wish more rulers were as selfless as Eiros." Lith replied. "By the way, I''m sorry for leaving you alone all day did you miss me?"

    "Always." She gave him a soft smile. "But someone missed you more."

    "Dya! Dya!" The moment she opened the crib, the babies shapeshifted into Divine Beasts and tackled Lith with all their strength.

    "How cute you are! I missed you as well. You are my treasures and¡­" A sudden, soft snoring sound cut him short. "Poor things. They must be tired. Did they like the city?"

    "A lot. They received endless attention and I couldn''t pass in front of a store without someone gifting them something. Painting the stroller with your Supreme Magus colors was a dirty move." She chuckled.

    "Hey, at least this way no one will bother us. As Dad said, bright colors make dangerous things more visible. Speaking of dirty moves¡­" Lith gave Kamila a long deep kiss before trying and failing to take the children off his shirt.

    Their small claws and talons dug deep into the metal and when he put a bit of force, Elysia and Valeron stirred and cried.

    "I stand corrected." Lith sighed. "The only dirty thing that will take place in this room tonight are these gods-damned stinky diapers!"

    ***

    The following morning the Verhens woke up at the crack of dawn for a hearty breakfast. Once they were done, a short drive on the DoLorean brought them to the shore of the Shem Lake where the Baron''s personal fishing boat waited for them.

    It was a hardwood sailboat, over 12 meters (40'') long and 3 meters (10'') across, painted white from top to bottom. It was big enough to carry everyone with space to spare. The sails had the Wyalon''s family crest roughly embroidered all over their surface.

    "I''m not that arrogant." The Baron said. "It''s just that during the fishing season it saves me a lot of trouble and makes even the rudest, life-hardened sailor as polite as a valet."

    "Where are the oars?" Aran noticed there was a lot of free space inside the boat.

    "No need for oars, son." The Baron replied. "Even someone with weak magic powers like me can fill the sails with wind when necessary. We''d move slowly, but we are in no rush. Also, by going fast we would scare the fish."

    "What if there is an emergency?" Leria asked.

    "Well, with your uncle with us, the answer is obvious." Eiros pointed at Lith. "Without him, I''d use these."

    He showed Leria two wands, one yellow and the other one blue.

    "I''m a noble, young lady, and the Kingdom looks out for its own. Watch." A flick of the yellow wand released a gust of wind that filled the sails.

    The Baron stood on starboard and slowly approached the mast. The closer he got, the faster the ship became. He only pushed forward a few meters before turning the wand off.

    "This is army and law enforcements exclusive, instead, and it''s used to hunt down boats carrying someone who can use air magic or has a yellow wand." The Baron returned to starboard and pointed the blue wand at the water.

    "Kotu, bind the sails. Everyone else, sit tight." Once the guests were sitting and strapped to their position, Eiros activated the wand.

    The water of the lake pushed the boat forward with such strength that the bow turned up. Lith estimated their speed was already comparable to a motorboat and it kept increasing.

    After a few dozens of meters, the Baron stopped again.

    "This makes the travel rocky, but you go faster than any wind can carry you." He said. "But all this stuff is for regular nobles. When someone has a friend like your uncle¡­"

    Eiros took the DoLorean out of his dimensional amulet and let it float about the surface of the lake.

    "This beauty captured quite a lot of criminals and saved my life more than once." He said with pride before putting it back. "Now, let''s go fishing. Lith, if you please."

    Lith pointed his finger, setting the sails and filling them with a gentle breeze. The Baron checked the waters from time to time, altering their course when necessary.

    "Our stunts have scared the fish on our side of the lake so we have to travel a bit." He said. "Before we get to a nice fishing spot, a fair warning. Lightning isn''t allowed."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith asked.

    "When a mage has no patience or a fishing company is in a rush to make a big haul, they throw bolts of lightning at the lake." Eiros explained. "The fish get stunned or killed, floating to the surface and easy to pick up."

 Chapter 3396 The Water and the River (Part 1)

    "Using air magic like that is cheating and cruel!" Leria said in outrage."It is." Eiros nodded. "But it also works so people still do it. Or at least they try. There are sentinels all around the lakes and they''ll light a flare at the first spark of lightning so be careful what you do."

    "I''ve never fished before." Raaz scratched his head. "I didn''t have time to waste hanging out at the Philo River even when I was young."

    "Me neither. That''s why I brought us here, Dad." Lith said. "We can learn together."

    Aran and Leria wanted to point out they had already fished with magic, but Raaz''s joyous expression shut them up.

    The Baron had brought fishing rods and baits for everyone. He taught his guests the basics and then everyone chose their spot.

    "Remember, guys, fishing is about patience and luck." He said. "Take your time and enjoy the peace of nature."

    There were several fishing boats on the Shem Lake but they all gave the Wyalon''s crest a wide berth in respect. Those who came close enough to spot Lith''s Magus robe, gave it an even wider berth in respectful terror.

    "This is boring." Abominus said a few hours later, voicing the thoughts of many. "I''m hot and I''ve yet to catch anything."

    "It''s your first time. It''s normal." The Baron and his son had caught a couple of fish each whereas everyone else had tried different kinds of baits with no success.

    "Be right back." The Pyrmir in his human form flew away enough from the boat to not affect their fishing before diving into the lake.

    He swam a bit in the cold waters before flying back to the boat while carrying two fish, one in each hand, that resembled big salmons.

    "This is for you." Abominus dripped water from head to toe, but it only made his smile more beaming as he handed the fish to Leria. "This way you''ll have something to show to your mother."

    "Thank you!" She put it in an empty bucket. "She''ll be so proud of us when-"

    She was still talking when Abominus took a bite at the still-moving fish. He literally wolfed it down quickly, licking his fingers clean from the blood.

    "What?" He replied to everyone''s petrified gaze. "I was hungry."

    "So was I." Kotu''s face had turned into a tinge of green. "Not anymore."

    Abominus then shook himself like a dog, getting rid of the excess water with magic. He splashed no one, sending everything overboard in a controlled stream. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After another hour passed with no luck, everyone was ready to throw in the towel and the fishing rod away.

    "Mister Baron¡­" Aran started.

    "Call me Eiros, please. We are all friends here."

    "Eiros, can we use magic, please? No offense but it seems I have no talent for regular fishing."

    "It''s not you." The Baron chuckled. "Fishing with a rod doesn''t get anyone much. It''s a hobby. Real fishermen use wide nets or they would never catch enough fish to provide for their families. Feel free to do whatever you like as long as it''s not a bolt of lightning."

    "Thank you!" Aran spread his arms and focused the mana in his fingertips when¡­

    "Stop right there!" Lith said. "Let''s add a few rules for fairness'' sake. You can only use spells that won''t disturb the rest of the party or scare the fish around the boat. So no water geyser, no ice blocks, and no air blades."

    "But that leaves only the water bubble technique!" Aran said.

    "Exactly. Glad we are on the same page." Lith nodded.

    "What''s the water bubble technique?" Raaz asked.

    "This." Lith spotted a decent-sized trout swimming near the boat that had no intention of biting.

    Lith had no idea if it had already escaped a fishing rod before or if it was just smart. Also, he didn''t care.

    ''Since there is no way anyone is going to catch this guy, I will.'' A flick of his fingers lifted the water surrounding the fish, forming a bubble outside the lake.

    The fish kept moving but the water followed it, making it impossible to escape. The bubble floated above Lith''s metal bucket and then vanished, sending his prisoner thudding below.

    The fishing buckets were tall and narrow, forcing big fish to bend in positions that made it impossible for them to jump out.

    "Amazing!" Raaz said.

    "Thanks, Dad. Guys, don''t fish more than we can eat. Let''s not ruin those people''s livelihood." Lith pointed at the boats in the distance.

    Aran, Leria, Trion, Onyx, and Abominus started to fish with magic and soon their buckets weren''t empty anymore.

    "Damn. Mages are cheats, son." The Baron had a nice head start but it was quickly disappearing. "When you look for your future wife, make sure she has decent magical abilities. We can use a bit of talent to strengthen our bloodline."

    "Dad, how can you say that?"

    "I''m not talking about a full-fledged mage. That would be too hard and complicated. Just someone with a better magical talent than your mother and me will do."

    "That''s not the issue!" Kotu flushed in embarrassment. "It''s not like I''m buying a desk and can ask for the specifics. Whoever she is going to be, we are talking about a human being with feelings."

    "She can be an Emperor Beast for all I care." Eiros jabbed his thumb at Onyx. "Keep your options open."

    "Dad!"

    "What? Fine, pick a human if you want. Remember I don''t care about her status. She can be a flower girl, a farmer, anything as long it''s an honest and honorable profession. She''d still become Baroness Wyalon when she marries you." The Baron shrugged.

    "Really? You don''t care about her upbringing, Dad?" By the way Kotu''s face lit up, Eiros assumed his son already had someone in mind.

    "Son, you are talking with a commoner." He patted Kotu''s shoulder. "Lith and I are the same. We both started with nothing and became nobles through our hard work. No offense, Raaz."

    "None taken." Despite his words, Raaz felt a tinge of envy poisoning his good mood.

    ''Baron Wyalon is truly an amazing man.'' He thought. ''He built his household from scratch and made his children second-generation nobles. I wish I could have done the same.''

    "Big Bro, Dad''s bucket is still empty." Aran''s voice snapped Raaz out of his self-loathing. "Can''t you help him?"

    Raaz checked his rod, nothing was even close to biting and his bucket was the only one without a single fish.

    "Depends." Lith replied. "Dad, would you like a quick lesson about magic?"

    "Magic? Me?" Raaz was flabbergasted. "I have a deep orange mana core, son. Your mother is the talented one."

    With her bright orange mana core, Elina could easily perform house chores from a young age. Raaz could just conjure a jug of water or use earth magic to clean his work boots.

    "It''s more than enough to catch a fish. What do you say if I teach you a thing or two?" Lith asked.

    "A private magic lesson from the one and only Supreme Magus of the Kingdom? It would be my honor." Raaz patted the seat beside him and Lith moved there. "I warn you, I always hated school. I''ve never been good at studying anything."

 Chapter 3397 The Water and the River (Part 2)

    "Don''t worry, Dad. I''ve watched you use water magic for years and I know what you''re capable of. Also, I''m not going to lecture you. You''ll learn by experience. Put your hand above mine." Lith offered his hand open with the palm down."What now?" Raaz did as instructed.

    "Now conjure water magic and I''ll do the rest."

    "Jorun!" Not trusting his limited talent, Raaz called upon the magic word and traced the hand sign.

    As his mana core connected with the abundant water element of the lake, Lith activated Tiamat Fear and Domination. The former allowed him to tame the world energy and made it less resistant to Raaz''s will while the latter hijacked part of the chore magic.

    "I need you to relax, Dad." Lith said. "Don''t think. Just follow the flow of mana and let me do the heavy lifting."

    Raaz felt something taking over his mana and moving it toward the water. There, the chore spell found a big trout and surrounded it.

    "I said relax, Dad." Lith had to stop the mana from attempting to grab the fish, generating a water current strong enough to scare it but too weak to capture it.

    "I am relaxed. I''m not doing anything." Raaz replied.

    "Yes, you are." Lith said. "Your mana is too thin, Dad. I can''t catch a fish with it while also fighting you for control. Please, trust me."

    "I don''t even know what I''m doing wrong." Raaz shrugged apologetically.

    "You are like a man who has fallen into a river. You are trying to swim." Lith replied. "You are not a man right now, Dad. You are the water and I''m the river. Let me carry you."

    It was a simple phrase but it struck a chord deep inside Raaz and another insider Aran.

    As his father finally let go of his mana, Lith used it to form a bubble around the trout. It was as big as the amount of water Raaz could usually conjure but since the water was already there, the mana only had to move it.

    The bubble moved slowly and gently to the point the fish didn''t notice what was happening until the angle of the sun''s reflection on the water changed, startling it. The trout bolted forward faster than Raaz''s spell could follow and escaped the bubble.

    Yet instead of diving back under the water, it slammed against a layer of ice. The spell was slow but mana moved quickly. The moment the trout had left the bubble, Lith had moved his father''s mana to the landing spot. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Between the heat of summer and Raaz''s limited magical strength, the ice cracked on impact but it held. The fish jumped again and so did the mana. The trout slammed its head against another layer of ice and then another.

    "How is it possible? How do you know where the fish will land, son?" Raaz said while following the game of tag between the mana and the fish in amazement.

    "Thanks to your mana, Dad." Lith replied. "The fish is drenched in water filled with your mana. We don''t need to see where it jumps to, only to feel it."

    Raaz took a deep breath and suddenly he could feel it too. The entire world around him disappeared and was replaced by an infinite darkness. The only lights were those produced by his mana surrounding the trout and the one freezing the water.

    After the fish jumped two more times, Raaz had gotten the hang of his newfound perception. After another jump, he managed to predict exactly where the fish would land while it was still in mid-air.

    Raaz left Lith''s hand and grabbed the bucket, catching the trout on the fly now that it was close to the boat.

    "I did it." Raaz stared at the panicking fish like it was a legendary treasure. "I caught it because I could see it with my mana."

    "Congratulations, Dad." Lith offered Raaz his hand but he pushed it aside and embraced his son.

    "Thank you, son. Just for a moment, I felt like a true mage. It was an amazing experience and the best gift you could ever give me." Raaz said. "The feeling of strength was intoxicating but the best part was becoming one with the water."

    "Why just a moment, Dad?" Lith patted his father''s back. "That was just one spell. You still have plenty of mana and our lesson has just started."

    "Let''s get to work, then." Raaz''s smile and enthusiasm were those of a child discovering one of the great joys of life.

    It not only made him feel younger, it also made him look younger.

    From the second attempt onward, Raaz studied how Lith moved the mana. On the third, he managed to assist Lith without disrupting his control. From the fourth, Lith let his father handle the mana, intervening only if Raaz messed up.

    Meanwhile, Menadion spectated the lesson from inside Lith''s shadow. If not for witnessing Raaz''s progress speed with her own eyes, she would have never believed it possible.

    At the same time, Aran was lost in his thoughts.

    ''You are the water and I''m the river. Let me carry you.'' He pondered. ''Dad''s not really the water. Lith was referring to Dad''s mana while the river is Lith''s ability to form a current with it. It means my mana is also like water and I''m the river!''

    Aran lowered his mana output and started to practice using the same fishing method as Raaz. Fish would now easily escape the bubble, forcing Aran to anticipate their movements and freeze the water surface without conjuring more mana.

    He lost a few fish before getting the hang of it.

    "Good!" He nodded with a satisfied smile and further lowered his mana output.

    "Good? You''re falling behind, Aran." Leria said, pointing at the gap in the fish held in their respective buckets. "Your control has become terrible for a while now. Did you get a heatstroke? I told you that you should have worn a hat!"

    "I''m fine, thank you." Aran just glanced at her. He was using so little mana that catching a fish required his full focus. "I''ve already caught plenty of fish. Now I''m just training. You should try it too. It''s fun!"

    "Fun?" Leria studied Raaz''s fishing technique for a bit while thinking back at Lith''s words.

    It took her a few minutes to compare how Raaz and Aran were faring and notice that her uncle seemed to have become even weaker than her grandfather. Aran needed more time and effort to capture a fish and sometimes he lost one.

    ''The water and river thingy!'' Leria thought in enlightenment. ''Aran is using less and less mana, revealing the flaws in his mana control and correcting them. He''s learning how to make up for lack of raw strength with finesse and he''s doing a good job at that! I can''t believe he thought about this on his own.''

    She started to fish the same way as Raaz and Aran, giving her all to make up for the lost time. She could barely listen to what the others said for the rest of the fishing trip. Only when Lith spoke to give more advice to Raaz would she stop and take mental notes.

    Just like Aran did.

 Chapter 3398 : Those Who Bide their Time (Part 1)

    As soon as the kids believed to have gained a solid understanding of their respective self-taught techniques, Aran shared his with Onyx and Leria did the same with Abominus. After that, the Emperor Beasts joined them.''This is amazing.'' Menadion said via a mind link. ''I''ve spectated all of Lith''s lessons but until today I had never understood their true value. Nothing of what he says is groundbreaking and he''s teaching the same basic principles Awakened has passed on to their disciples since the dawn of magic.

    ''How he does it, however, it''s completely different. Lith doesn''t act like a senior teaching chore magic to a junior for the sake of setting the foundations for the upper tier spells.

    ''He''s a teacher who is sharing the marvel of practicing magic with his students, transmitting his passion to them in the process.

    ''Raaz''s talent for magic is negligible yet he''s actually having fun. Learning magic isn''t a chore like it was for Threin and most of my disciples. Raaz jumped at the occasion of continuing the lesson because even though it''s tiring, he''s enjoying it.

    ''The kids, instead, have outstanding talent but thanks to Lith''s methods, their technique progresses faster than most Awakened I''ve ever met. Even as non-Awakened, they experience magic like we do.

    ''The most impressive thing, though, is how easily Lith''s teachings spread. His lesson was meant for Raaz yet in the blink of an eye four more people listened carefully to his every word and applied it their own way.

    ''Gods, I wish I was that good of a mentor. Threin wouldn''t have struggled so much and maybe things would be different today.''

    ''See, Mom? I told you so.'' Solus replied from inside the stone ring, puffing telepathically her chest out with pride. ''That''s the man I''ve met many years ago in the Trawn woods.

    ''This is the Lith you never saw because blinded by your own grief and, albeit reasonably, misled by his cynical character and lies. Yes, Lith is flawed and from the outside, he may appear cruel, but inside he''s the most caring man I know.

    ''If you stop second-guessing everything he says and thinks and instead focus on how he acts toward those close to him, you''ll learn to love him just like I do.''

    ''When you say love, do you mean-''

    ''Don''t change the topic!'' Solus cut Ripha short. ''This is not about me.''

    ''Fine.'' Menadion sighed. ''You were right and I was wrong. I''m changing my mind about Lith. Yet I hope I''ll never come to love him like you do, dear. For both our sakes.''

    ***

    The rest of the vacation went without a hitch.

    After a few days, the kids and Raaz asked to camp in the Stornash woods for a while. Not because they had gotten sick of the Baron''s hospitality but because Raaz wanted to learn other elements and the kids too wanted more lessons.

    Lith agreed and three days later the group returned to Jambel. Lith went back on his own from time to time to reassure the babies, going back to the camp as soon as they allowed him.

    During their stay, the kids ate lots of meat, ice cream, and French fries. Baroness Mirias was delighted both because she loved fries as well and because rumors of Lith''s new delicacy spread to the nearby cities like wildfire.

    The upper echelons of the Kellar region who had ignored Mirias her whole life and turned down her every request for an audience now fawned over her and competed to gain her favor.

    According to the rumors, fries were a specialty exclusive to Jambel. Mirias exploited the opportunity to ignore all those she no longer needed and establish relationships with nobles who could support her cause.

    The Baroness was the one spreading the rumors and squeezed everything she could for Jambel from her temporary privileged position. Being able to throw a Magus'' name around gave her an edge she didn''t hesitate to use.

    The fact that the Wyalons were the only nobles to have met Menadion aside from the Royals also gave them tremendous bargaining power. The Baroness always kept vague about her interactions with Ripha so no one dared offend her.

    For all the nobles knew, the Wyalons could have been best friends. Baroness Mirias was the nobles'' best bet to be introduced to the Forge Magus and maybe be accepted as her clients.

    "You should visit more often, Lith. These have been the two most relaxing weeks of my life." Baron Wyalon said while driving half the group back to the Warp Gate. "Absolutely nothing bad happened and no pompous noble bothered me.

    "And all because everyone was too scared of your presence to even get close to Jambel. Also, I must thank you for those fries thingies. Mirias loves them and she benefitted from the extra kilos, if you catch my drift."

    He winked.

    "She''s always been so damn thin!"

    "I understand." Lith nodded, inwardly praying to be spared any intimate detail.

    "I don''t." Aran said, making Eiros bite his tongue when she remembered about the presence of kids.

    "I''ll explain it to you when you are older." Raaz said with a stern voice.

    "But I want to know it now!" Aran complained.

    "No, you don''t." Raaz shook his head. "Believe me, son, and enjoy the years you have left without this kind of nonsense."

    "Word." Lith and Eiros said in unison, leaving Aran even more confused.

    ''It''s okay. I''ll explain it to you later.'' Onyx said with a mind link.

    Of course, Raaz was right. Aran regretted asking, but that''s a story for another day.

    When they walked through the Gate in the barn, they found the rest of the family waiting for them.

    "Mom!" Aran jumped into Elina''s arms. "I''ve missed you so much."

    "My baby!" Elina hugged him tight. "I''ve missed you too. I''ve missed you all very, very much."

    She cupped his face for signs of malnutrition, as usual.

    "Someone looks very fit." She patted his arms and chest, discovering that Aran had gained a bit of weight and muscles. "I thought it was a vacation." S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It was." Aran nodded. "We went fishing, hunting, and camping! Dad taught me a lot about plants and big bro about magic."

    "I see." Elina then went to Raaz, Lith, Trion, Solus, Kamila, Ripha, and Leria in this order. Leria came last simply because she was too busy with her own mother and Zekell.

    "Mom, why did you never tell me Dad is a great hunter?" Leria released Rena from the embrace and pouted. "We could have had a lot of fun together."

    "Sharp metal objects are not good for a small child, sweetie." Rena replied. "Besides, would you have enjoyed hunting a few years ago?"

    Leria thought about the blood, viscera, and the look in the eyes of small animals and shuddered.

    "No, I would have not. Thank you, Mom." Leria resumed the hug.

    "You''re welcome, dear." Rena caressed her daughter''s back and sniffed her hair. "Did you have fun?"

    "Yes! Dad and I¡­" Leria started to drown her mother in chatter.

    She recounted anecdotes from different events that had taken places in different places and times, confusing Rena who could only nod and smile on cue.

 Chapter 3399 : Those Who Bide their Time (Part 2)

    "You all look well-fed and relaxed." Elina said after giving her check-up to everyone. "Do you want anything in particular for lunch?""A broth and vegetables!" The kids said in unison.

    "Vegetables? You hate vegetables." Elina and Rena exchanged a knowing look. "Did you only eat meat during your vacation?"

    "Of course not, Grandma!" Leria was offended by the allegation. "We had plenty of fries, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, and lettuce leaves to wrap the meat."

    "So two weeks of meat and potatoes." Rena sighed.

    "Potatoes are vegetables. They still count." Aran said. "Right, Dad?"

    "Of course, son." Raaz winked at Elina who immediately changed the topic.

    "Get inside the house. I want to hear everything about your adventure." She said, not wanting to spoil the good mood and memories of the children.

    Elina and Rena prepared a thick vegetable soup with a side of hot vegetable cream and salad. Everything the children usually avoided like the plague and ate solely to get their dessert at the end of the meal.

    Much to Elina''s and Rena''s surprise, Aran and Leria finished everything without leaving a single scrap on their plates.

    "Your cooking is amazing, Mom." Leria said with a big smile on her round face.

    "Thank you, dear." Rena, chuckled with pride.

    "I was truly sick of meat yet it took just one of your vegetable meals to make me crave it again! You''re the best."

    "Thank you, dear." Rena frowned, her voice hesitating as Leria peeled an apple-like fruit with magic and ate it excitedly. "I guess."

    By the end of lunch, everyone was caught up with the most recent events. They had kept in touch with daily conversations so aside from the final impressions of the vacation and the recounts of their most exciting adventures there wasn''t much to say.

    "What about you?" Lith asked Elina and Rena. "Did something happen in Lutia?"

    "No, nothing much." Elina caressed Shargein who chirped happily. "We brought Shargein with us every time we left home, just like you asked. He''s a very good kid and agreed to help us."

    "Thank you, Auntie." The Wyrmling licked her hand.

    Unlike Elysia, Shargein could still be considered a secret weapon. Aside from Dragons and Phoenixes, no one knew who his parents were or about Leegaain''s oath on the day of his latest son''s birth.

    "I''m sorry for bothering you, Shargein." Lith threw the Wyrmling a tasty treat that he gobbled. "But between my absence and Ripha''s return, someone might have taken Mom and Rena hostage.

    "The Queen''s Corps can take care of regular threats but they can''t keep up with Awakened. People like Xedros would do anything to get the Forge Magus to craft them a Blade Weapon."

    "I think you are paranoid, dear." Elina said.

    "I think he''s right." Ripha countered.

    ''Leria too is right'' She inwardly added. ''I''m already sick of vegetables and I''m an adult.''

    "Until the dust settles, it''s better not to lower our guard. Those who attack first are the greedy idiots. The really dangerous greedy ones will bide their time. Back in my day-"

    "Mom!" Solus kicked Menadion from under the table so hard that she felt it.

    Only then did Ripha notice the worried look on the children''s faces and the disgruntled expression on everyone else''s. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I mean, it''s just a matter of being careful. Thank you for your help, Shargein."

    "Welcome! Welcome!" The Wyrmling wagged his tail in excitement.

    "Thank you for protecting my mom." Aran and Leria hugged him, sniffling.

    "Mom?" Shargein felt their worry and it unsettled him. "Mom!"

    "Who''s unsettling my babies?" Salaark appeared in a blaze of fire and fury, wrapping the children in her arms. "Who dares?"

    "I did." Menadion raised her hand and lowered her gaze. "I''m sorry."

    "You better." The Guardian grunted. "You also better not do this again, Ripha, or you and I are going to have a problem."

    "I''ll be more careful in the future." Menadion nodded and an awkward silence fell over the room.

    "That said, we can leave whenever you want, Mom." Lith broke the silence before it became deafening. "Are you done packing your amulets?"

    "I am, but you can''t ask me to leave my babies so soon." She hugged Aran and Leria, kissing their foreheads. "I missed them too much to stay away from them for two more weeks. I need some time."

    "Thanks, Mom." Aran hugged her. "I missed you too."

    "Can''t we come with you, Uncle Lith?" Leria asked while embracing Rena tightly.

    "This is the agreed list of activities." Lith handed her a piece of paper, needing sheer willpower not to sigh in boredom just at the idea.

    "Be safe out there, Uncle Lith." Leria changed her tune. "I have lost too many lessons in the Desert and need to catch up with the rest of the class."

    "Me too!" Aran gasped in horror after glancing at the list. "I need to¡­ write down everything I''ve learned in Jambel. I can''t slack off if I want to enroll in the White Griffon."

    "It''s not so boring, sweetie." Elina chuckled at his poor acting performance. "You might actually have fun. Are you sure you don''t want to come?"

    "Thanks, Mom, but no." Aran shook his head. "I''d rather play with my friends than watch someone else play."

    "That''s not what a play is." Elina chuckled. "Never mind, dear. You can always come visit me if you feel lonely."

    "Thanks, Mom, but I''d rather not disturb your vacation." Aran shook his head. "Can I come to the Desert if I need company, Grandma?"

    "Of course you can, Featherling." Salaark replied. "You can sleep and eat in my palace until your mother returns, if you want."

    "If you do, I''ll be the one offended." Zekell grunted. "I know I have no fancy palace or cool magic to show off to you but I still deserve to spend time with my grandkids. Also, wouldn''t it be rude of you to leave Leria and your father behind?"

    ''I was actually planning on going to the Desert with him.'' Leria thought.

    "Grandpa Zekell is right." She actually said. "Lutia is a cool place and this is where Grandpa Raaz''s fields are."

    "Indeed, young man." Raaz nodded. "I need to work for a living and you need to make yourself known around these parts. Otherwise your impersonators will rack up quite a debt in your name and destroy your reputation."

    "Good point." Aran nodded. "I guess I''m stuck with you for a while longer, Leria. You have my same problem, after all."

    "Yeah, impersonators are- What do you mean, stuck with me?" The kids had just started quarreling when someone knocked on their door.

    "Welcome back, Lith." Baba Yaga in her Mother form said from the doorstep. "You too, Solus and Ripha. It''s nice to see you again and in a much better mood."

    "Thanks, Yaga. Do you want to come in?" Lith asked.

    "No, I need you to follow me, if you have the time. There are a few details I have to discuss with Ripha about her magical lessons." The Mother moved so that Lith''s eclipsed her and the rest of the family couldn''t see the worried look she gave him.

 Chapter 3400 : Brewing the Storm (Part 1)

    "Mom, do you need me for something or can I leave you guys for a while?" Lith said."Don''t worry. With Salaark, Shargein, Kami, and Elysia here, I''d say we are pretty safe." Elina replied with a warm smile.

    "If this house isn''t safe, then no place on Mogar is." Baba Yaga looked at the various people who directly or indirectly possessed the power to save or destroy life as she knew it. "Please, follow me."

    She conjured a Warp Steps that led them straight to the mana geyser in the Trawn woods. Her wooden hut stood on Solus'' usual spot and Baba Yaga opened the door, leading them inside.

    "I hope you don''t mind me borrowing this place during your absence, Lith." The Mother said. "I wanted to stay close to Ripha and Solus in case something else happened and this is the second place where I know you''d Tower Warp to during an emergency."

    "You can stay here anytime you want unless Solus needs to conjure her tower. Like right now." Lith replied.

    "Actually, she doesn''t." Baba Yaga shook her head. "We''re leaving."

    "Leaving?" Solus echoed. "To go where?"

    "To the Eclipsed Lands." Baba Yaga replied. "Vladion has someone he wants you to meet."

    "Why didn''t he just call me?" Lith asked.

    "Because calls can be intercepted or someone might hear or witness part of the conversation." The Mother focused on her bond with the Firstborn Vampire, opening a Warp Gate leading thousands of miles away to a region of the Eclipsed Lands unknown to Lith and Solus.

    "Mind links leave no trace, instead, and even if someone is watching your house, a mage visiting the Supreme Magus is hardly shocking."

    She left her hut behind, to use it as a focus point for the return trip.

    The Warp Gate opened inside what looked like a luxurious noble house that smelled of flowers. Wherever it was, strong light came from the windows but Lith felt little light element in the air.

    What gave away their location, however, was the fact that no one among the house staff seemed surprised by the presence of intruders and every one of them possessed a stunning beauty.

    Men and women possessed a charm that was rare even for people who Awakened at a young age like Tista. It went beyond their physical appearance and made even the most common gesture look flirty and alluring.

    "Let me guess." Lith was unfazed by it all. "You didn''t bring us to Lightkeep. I''ve never been here before but this can only be Ilthin''s city. Booty Call."

    "Nightingale." Solus corrected him, discovering that she wasn''t affected by the Banshees either.

    "Maybe, but mine is more fitting." Lith grunted.

    Men winked at him and women licked their lips, leaving no doubt about their intentions.

    "I''m with him on Booty Call." Menadion snarled at an overly handsome man who had tried to approach her.

    She was dead, but her love for Threin was alive and well. The only feeling even a Banshee could arouse in her was annoyance.

    "Please, stop calling Nightingale like that." Ilthin Demere, Firstborn Banshee, and ruler of the city, came to greet her guests. "For some reason, this place already has an undeserved shady reputation. I don''t want your nickname to catch on."

    "Ripha, this is my daughter, Ilthin." The Red Mother said. "Ilthin, this is my dear friend Ripha Menadion. You already know Lith and Solus."

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Ruler Menadion." Awakened had no consideration for the Magus title since those who received it helped to further solely the cause of fake mages. "Would you consider Forgemastering a few pieces for me?

    "Us undead we are always in desperate need of good Forgemasters."

    "The pleasure is mine and please, call me Ripha." Menadion shook the hand offered to her. "Why do you need my help? What about your mother?"

    "Mother is a great Forgemaster, but even she always admitted not to be your match." Ilthin replied.

    "Did she?" Menadion gave Baba Yaga a smug grin.

    "Yes, I did." The Mother snorted. "Unlike someone else, I don''t have secrets with those I trust and give credit where credit is due."

    "How many times do I have to say I''m sorry?" Menadion slumped her shoulders. "As for your request, Ilthin, I''m sorry but I can''t help you. My Forgemastery is outdated for seven hundred years.

    "At the moment your mother is a better mage than me. Aside from Sally, there''s no one better than her."

    "Sally?" Ilthin asked in confusion. "Who''s that?"

    "Salaark. The Overlord." Menadion quickly corrected herself. "Please, don''t tell her I called her Sally or she''s going to kill me."

    "Don''t worry." The Elf Lady giggled. "Demons are still undead and we don''t betray our own."

    "Or at least so should it be." Baba Yaga sighed, quickly followed by the Banshee.

    "What do you mean?" Lith asked. "Where''s Vladion and why did you bring us to Nightingale instead of Lightkeep?"

    "I''m right here." Vladion Dragonborn stepped out of the shadows and shook Lith''s and Solus'' hands. "Lith, Solus. It''s a pleasure to see you again. Ruler Menadion."

    He gave Ripha a deep bow. Vladion was much older than her but, in the magical society, seniority was second to talent and power. Menadion was no more powerful than an average Demon but her talent had revolutionized Mogar in the past.

    Death had not diminished her abilities so there was no reason to doubt she would do it again.

    "I''m happy to see you too, Vladion." Lith replied. "How are Lysa and the little Radusk?"

    "They are doing great. Thank you for asking." The mention of his wife and son brought warmth to the Vampire otherwise icy blue eyes. "Tyris'' medicine is working great. Radusk''s vampire half is under control and he''s growing healthy.

    "The only issue that remains is which life force he''s going to choose once he grows up. He is not like Elysia. When he becomes sixteen, he needs to pick a side. I hope he chooses his mother''s. Humans may be weaker, but it would spare him the hunger." S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Since you are ahead of me in the path of fatherhood and our children''s situation is similar, I need to ask you a question." Lith said and Vladion nodded for him to continue. "Do you regret having a son and putting Radusk through the chaos that plagues people like us?"

    "My only regret is that having more is nigh impossible." The Firstborn Vampire sighed. "Radusk has been a blessing since the day he was born and I couldn''t imagine my life without him. His life may be hard, sure, but much less than those who don''t have a loving family or infinite resources."

    "Thanks for helping to rescue me, Vladion." Solus said. "This is the second time you''ve helped us but I appreciate it as much as the first."

    "Nonsense." The Firstborn Vampire swept the air with his hand. "Thrud was a threat not only to you but to the whole Garlen. I didn''t do that for you but for myself and my people. The same stands for the World Tree.

    "That kind of madness couldn''t go unchecked. Rescuing a pretty girl like you just made an ugly job more pleasant."

 Chapter 3401 : Brewing the Storm (Part 2)

    Vladion''s charming smile and handsome features would have made any woman disregard the long fangs he had in place of canines."Thanks." Solus giggled.

    "As for your second question, Lith, I asked Mother to bring you to Nightingale for the same reason I didn''t call you directly. Secrecy." Vladion turned to face Lith again. "Our allegiance is public knowledge among the undead ever since you helped me to free the Eclipsed Lands from Thrud and Xedros.

    "Anyone who wants to keep an eye on you would plant spies in Lightkeep. No one would suspect Ilthin, instead."

    "Are you sure?" Solus asked. "I mean, she has hit on Lith in the past and she participated in both missions. How is she different from you?"

    "Oh, please. She''s a flirt. To keep an eye on all those she hit on it would take you a massive army." Vladion snorted.

    "Hey, I resent that!" Ilthin said in outrage.

    "Also, in both cases, I was the one who answered Lith''s call." The Firstborn Vampire continued, pretending not to have heard her. "Ilthin, instead, joined us only because Mother asked her, just like the other Firstborns. There''s a big difference."

    "Secrecy from who and who could have the resources to plant agents inside your court, Vladion?" Lith pressed on, even though he had already filled most of the blanks on his own.

    "Who do you think?" The Vampire sat down with a defeated look on his face. "Your mad brother, the Dead King, has reared his ugly head again." sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Meln is back?" Lith would have liked to be surprised but he was just disgusted from being forced to speak that name again. "Are you telling me he never left Garlen after attacking me in Zeska?"

    "I said your mad brother, not your suicidal brother." Vladion replied. "I wish you were right. I would have already found and killed him. Between my brethren in the Eclipsed Lands, the Undead Courts, Mother, and Dawn, we''ve scoured Garlen and I can tell you for sure Meln is not here."

    "What about Verendi?" Solus asked. "It''s close to Garlen and torn apart by wars. It''s the ideal breeding ground for a new undead faction."

    "It would, if not for Mother''s influence and the Master''s." Vladion shook his head. "With the Guardian of Life defeated, no one dares oppose him.

    "The Master made his hate for Meln clear and without the interference of the local Guardians, he doesn''t hesitate to massacre anyone who so much as sympathizes for the Dead King''s cause.

    "Your brother is still in Jiera. There are no undead there and as long as he keeps himself away from the few remaining settlements, he could hide for centuries."

    "Then what reason do you have to take so many precautions?" Lith asked.

    "Because even though Meln failed to kill you in Zeska, the attack gave him the perfect stage to show off his newfound powers and immunity to Mother''s self-destruction spell." Vladion replied.

    "A few days ago, the Night Court in Othre received a visit from someone who called himself the first of the new Chosen of the Dead King. Imagine their faces when a single Ghoul managed to force dozens of undead elders to bend the knee.

    "A single Ghoul, but completely immune to darkness magic and capable of using the most powerful bloodline abilities of Garlen''s Guardians. To make matters even worse, the bastard shapeshifted into a combat form that made him even stronger.

    "The first thing the elders tried was Mother''s destruction spell. The prism is just a lessen version of Night''s crystal and its powers depend on it. They hoped to kill the intruder and that maybe the spell would also affect Meln, but nothing happened."

    "It should have worked." Baba Yaga nodded. "It would have had no long-lasting effect on Night, but the spell was still supposed to shatter the prism and inflict her great pain."

    "Did one Chosen really manage to destroy an entire branch of the Night Court and slaughter its members?" Solus was flabbergasted.

    "Of course not." Ilthin scoffed. "The guy got defeated and would have been captured and interrogated if his prism hadn''t self-destructed the moment the elders subdued him.

    "The problem is that he had the time to pass on Meln''s message and demonstrate that for once his words aren''t just hot air."

    "What was the message?" Lith asked.

    "It was a very simple one." Vladion replied. "Meln claimed that his return to Garlen is nigh. That he no longer has weak points anyone can exploit and is close to achieving the deep violet core, unlocking the full power of his Vurdalak bloodline.

    "He said that he is willing to share his blessings with those who will prove to be his loyal followers. He asked the undead of Garlen to join his cause in exchange for the same powers Meln bestowed upon the Chosen."

    "Let me guess, they should prove their loyalty by attacking me." Lith said.

    "Wrong." The Firstborn Vampire shook his head. "Meln wants to keep you for himself. The bounty is on the magicless members of your family and the elders of the Undead Courts who betrayed the Dead King, luring him into the ambush where Thrud captured him.

    "The offer is one head for one prism. Those who succeed will become his Chosen."

    "Doesn''t sound like a tempting offer to me." Solus shrugged.

    "It actually is." Baba Yaga sighed. "The power showcased by the messenger was incomplete, yet he held his ground against an entire branch of the Night Court. Imagine what he could have done were Meln already at the violet or if he had mastered Dusk''s abilities.

    "Everyone now knows that Meln is strong enough to kill Lith, possesses Davross equipment, a mage tower, and the powers of two Horsemen. He has already defied me and survived. My spell doesn''t affect him anymore.

    "He sounds like a leader worth following. Especially because in the final part of the message, Meln said that both the Undead Courts and the Eclipsed Lands have only until his return to pick a side.

    "Right now, he lacks followers, resources, and trustworthy allies but if he ascends into a Divine Beast, he''ll have no need for them. He''ll just take what he wants since he has already proven that the Undead Courts can barely stop one of his lackeys.

    "Meln promised that after he kills Lith, it will be the turn of everyone who didn''t bend the knee to him. That he and his Chosen will destroy the kingdom of the undead first and then the humans''. "

    "It''s a smart move." Lith pondered. "Meln has merely sacrificed a pawn to sow discord and fear. If someone takes his offer, the undead will be caught in a civil war and his faction will provide him with the information and resources he needs when he comes back to Garlen.

    "Even in the unlikely case no one takes the bait, the undead now look at each other with suspicion. Every incident that happens from now on will be blamed on his followers and grow his reputation even if he doesn''t have anything to do with it.

    "Meln is letting the storm brew so that when he actually strikes, the ensuing panic will create the opening he needs to decapitate the enemy leaders and force the survivors into submission."

 Chapter 3402: Imperfect Beings (Part 1)

    "My thoughts exactly." Vladion nodded. "That''s why I needed to warn you, Lith. No one should be dumb enough to take up Meln''s offer and attack your family but it''s better to be safe than sorry. Also, I wanted to give you the time to prepare for your brother''s return.""Thanks, Vladion, but I''ve never stopped preparing for that or reinforcing the defensive measures that protect my family." Lith replied. "Meln''s scheme adds a few more variables but no unknown factors."

    "Except for one." The Firstborn Vampire replied. "The Chosen had five flames floating above his head in a makeshift crown. One more than Meln had during his attack."

    ***

    Jiera continent, Arutha region, inside a hidden underground cave.

    Meln Narchat screamed in agony as he tried and failed for the umpteenth time to fuse the shards of Dusk''s red crystal with Night''s black one. He learned something new with every attempt but that didn''t make the ongoing process any less painful.

    He was bleeding from his eyes and ears non-stop, his hands and knees dipped in a pool of his own blood. Only four flames burned above his head, the same he produced during his attack in Zeska.

    ''Our plan was a resounding success.'' Night severed her connection with his body not to be bothered by the pain. ''Those idiots bought your crap like it was gold. The fake fifth flame was a stroke of genius.

    ''The Night Court has no Awakened and amid the chaos of the battle, no one discovered it was just colored fire. The only questions I have are why did you put a bounty on your family and why right now? Couldn''t we have waited until we had reached the next evolutionary step?''

    Night devoted her full willpower and focus to putting her latest theory for merging the crystals into practice, dumping all the side effects and consequences of her failures on Orpal.

    ''I don''t want my family to die.'' He replied. ''I want them to cry and beg for my forgiveness when they realize they kicked out the wrong son all those years ago. I want them to suffer for as long as I did and regret what they did to me.

    ''The bounty is just to weed out the idiots from my future army and keep Leech on his toes. He has no right to enjoy his life while I suffer like a dog. I want him to look over his shoulder day and night for my assassins.

    ''I want him to spend his days in worry, spreading his resources thin and wasting them before I take the first real strike. I want him to be as miserable as I am.''

    ''It makes sense.'' Night tried a new combination that made Orpal bend his back in pain so much that his spine snapped.

    ''As for the timing of the messenger, I know that until you are done, I can''t work on my bloodline abilities or mana core.'' Orpal said as soon as the burning agony plaguing his mind eased enough to allow him to think again. ''But I''ve already reached the bright blue.''

    ''You mean, we''ve reached the bright blue.'' Night hadn''t missed how unlike it happened for her sister and Lith, she was growing farther instead of closer to her host.

    ''Of course. We''ve reached the bright blue.'' Orpal lied through his clenched teeth. ''As I was saying, I sent the messenger now to set a goal for us. Despite all your mistakes, the fusion between the crystals is slowly progressing.

    ''Once we are done, we''ll turn our lie into reality and Leech''s life into a living nightmare.''

    *** S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After studying the footage of the attack on Othre''s Night Court, Lith asked Baba Yaga to bring him back home. She opened a Warp Gate to her tower, Bloodhaven, and Vladion followed them.

    Once upon the mana geyser, Solus conjured Starforge and Tower Warped the Firstborn Vampire to Lightkeep, leaving no trace or record he had ever left his dominion.

    "I must say, this is one of those few moments I''m glad you are an only child, Solus." Menadion said. "I can''t help but wonder what would have happened after my death. I had the means to build only one tower and the thought your brother might have killed you for my inheritance chills me to my bones."

    "My brother?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "Your father and I wanted to have at least a boy and a girl." Ripha sighed. "Or at least, that was the plan. We would have loved another girl just the same and could have always tried again once you two were older.

    "We sorely underestimated how busy I was with my work and how much care raising a baby requires. I was too dumb and stubborn so we ended up delaying our second child until¡­" Menadion failed to find the strength to continue. "You know."

    "Your regrets are well-founded, Ripha, but your worries are not." Baba Yaga shook her head. "It''s not a matter of how many children you have but how you raise them. Even then, there''s nothing you can do if someone as crazy as Meln or Night is born.

    "It''s not on you, it''s just dumb fate. What''s on me is not recognizing my daughter''s madness before it was too late and not putting her down like the rabid dog she is."

    "Not to be judgmental, Malyshka, but I never understood how you could tolerate Night''s existence for so long." Solus said. "Why didn''t you take action sooner?"

    "Your question makes sense, Solus, but only to someone like you who only knows Night''s current incarnation and has a narrow perspective." The Mother replied. "At this point, you might as well ask me why I created the undead.

    "After all, they prey on the living and have no qualms about abusing their talents to achieve their goals, correct?"

    "Correct." Solus nodded, receiving a fierce glare in return.

    "Wrong. All living beings prey on other living beings and have no qualms about abusing their talents to achieve their goals. Do humans not kill plants for food or warmth, animals for food, and other humans for the pettiest of reasons?

    "Do plants not feed upon everything else just to spread and multiply? Whenever you enter a forest, Solus, there are thousands of wars taking place right under your nose. You don''t notice them only because they are silent and very slow, but they are still there.

    "I will spare you the wolf and deer speech because that''s something every parent teaches their kids." Baba Yaga said and Lith and Solus nodded.

    "Creating the undead wasn''t cruel. It was an act of love. It was me giving fellow miserable creatures a way out of their fate and a second chance at life. Undead do bad things because they are powerful and they are powerful because otherwise their second life would be no different from the first.

    "I give my children a chance, Solus, I give them the means to do what they want with their lives. Just like any other parent does. Whether they feed without killing or go on a feeding spree it''s their choice.

    "If they add to their world like Vladion does or take from it like every petty criminal on Mogar does, it''s always their choice.

 Chapter 3403: Imperfect Beings (Part 2)

    "Undeath makes people equal. It allows a pipsqueak like Ilthin who weighs 65 kilograms (143 pounds) soaking wet to fight against dozens of tons heavy Divine Beasts."It gives talent and power to those who were born poor and helpless. If you don''t see it or agree with me, I don''t care." Baba Yaga took a few furious strides forward until she was alone.

    Despite her age, wisdom, and power, she hated it when someone put her life work into question, especially if it came from someone she considered a friend.

    It took the Mother a few deep breaths and a little introspection to calm down and walk back to Solus'' side.

    "As for your question about Night, you deserve an answer, Solus, and so does Lith." She turned to look him in the eyes. "I want you to understand me, even if you might end up considering me a monster. I want you to know there''s a reason I do what I do."

    "You owe me no explanation." Lith shook his head. "Believe me, I know all too well that things are rarely black and white. Sometimes life gets so grey that everything is a blur and when you finally meet someone really good, her light blinds you."

    He held Solus'' shoulder, making Ripha brim with motherly pride.

    "On top of that, I don''t think you are a monster. Were you one, the Guardians wouldn''t have taken you as their apprentice. Ripha and Silverwing wouldn''t be your friends. I mean, Elphyn Menadion knew who you were and what you did and she considered you her best friend."

    That remark made Solus feel guilty for doubting Baba Yaga.

    "You''ve saved my friends more than once." Lith continued. "You''ve helped me and Solus every time you could. If you are a monster, then welcome to the club."

    "Thanks." The Mother giggled. "But still, allow me to explain. You know that I created my Horsemen after I failed to find a solution for the unintended flaws in my children''s blood cores, correct?" She asked, and Lith nodded for her to continue.

    "My three Horsemen are not just three living legacies. They are my flesh and blood no less than my Firstborns. I infused each one of them with a fraction of my essence and power to better suit their task.

    "They are my assistants, my apprentices, a spark of my genius that has grown into its own person. I made them dependent on a host because just like for the undead, I didn''t want to create a master race.

    "The weaknesses of my Horsemen served not only to preserve the balance but also to give them struggles and limits. They are living beings and as such they needed to overcome challenges to grow or they would have learned nothing, no matter how long they lived.

    "Did my Horsemen commit atrocities? As always, in history, the answer depends on who you ask the question. Some consider my Horsemen heroes, others monsters, and a few sages. Bluntly, yes, they did bad things, mostly Dawn and Night, but no more than a tyrant or an Elder Awakened would.

    "In a world where people live up to ten thousand here if not forever and can extinguish countless lives with a single spell or a royal decree, my Horsemen are just a drop in the ocean of blood that life is.

    "Dusk, Dawn, and Night, all of them changed their behavior multiple times based on the nature of the host they inhabited. Sometimes they would be better, others they would get worse, but they would always learn something from their other half.

    "Dusk is a pure researcher. He spilled much less blood than his sisters and is the only one who never needed my help before that stupid war between the Undead Courts and the Kingdom.

    "Dawn is just more active and outgoing than him." Baba Yaga raised her hand to stop the objections she knew would be raised. "I know you are about to remind me of the Rezars and how you met her, but so what?

    "I never claimed she and Dusk never spilled blood, but they always did it with purpose. I won''t justify Dawn''s actions but I will ask you this. Back when you fought against her, would you have ever thought one day you would have fought side by side? S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That she and Dusk would have taught Solus how to defend herself from telepathic domination? That they would have joined you in your fight against Thrud to save the Kingdom?"

    Lith and Solus both shook their heads in reply.

    "If my Horsemen were just evil creatures, they would have done no such thing. Dawn wouldn''t have put herself on the line to fight Windfell and the World Tree for you, Solus. Dusk wouldn''t have nurtured an orphan into a young woman, he would have just enslaved her.

    "My children, all of them, grow and learn from their mistakes. They are still imperfect beings and I''m aware they sometimes cause a lot of damage, but that''s only because the more powerful one is, the greater the consequences of their actions.

    "Believe me or not, less than a century ago Night was no different. She was more reckless than her siblings but that was just her personality. Night was still focused on the task I had assigned her: removing my children''s weakness to the darkness element.

    "Sure, she would sometimes get in trouble and force me to intervene to save her, but she would always make up for her blunders and follow my instructions. It''s one of the reasons I never got angry with her when one of her crazy schemes brought entire undead bloodlines to extinction.

    "Night didn''t force them to follow her, it was their choice and they knew the risks. Sooner or later, their overconfidence and greed would have caused their downfall, Night just accelerated the process.

    "I considered her part of the natural selection of my children. The instrument to weed out those who in the long run would upset the balance by focusing more on immortality and power than on fixing what had turned them into undead in the first place.

    "I''m not perfect. I can make mistakes like anyone else and some of my children I should have never raised from the dead. Night took care of that for me and spared me the pain of raising my hand against my own blood.

    "The problems with her started after the Master''s hybrids forced me to put a restriction on her but not when you think."

    "Yeah, I''m not going to lie. I''ve always wondered why you didn''t put her down when Night chose Meln as her host." Lith nodded. "Didn''t that count as going against your directives and put you into danger?

    "I mean, she knew you couldn''t win against all the monster-Eldritch hybrids and that if they caught wind of her intentions, you would have been involved in her mess."

    "That wasn''t the turning point in her madness." Baba Yaga shook her head. "Back then, Meln was too weak to be a threat to anyone. I let her fuse with him because I thought that by spending time with someone crazier, darker, and pettier than her, Night would take a long look at herself in the mirror."

 Chapter 3404: The Message (Part 1)

    "I hoped that Night would despise what stared back at her in the mirror and look for a new, better path as it happened for Dawn after she merged with Acala." Baba Yaga said. "I also believed that Night would either discard Meln or he would join her in enlightenment."After all, just by being with her, your mad brother finally got everything he wanted. Looks, power, and a second chance to prove to the world that had rejected him that he wasn''t a monster. When I looked into his soul, I saw how twisted he was, but there was still something worth saving.

    "I truly believed Night and Meln would have been repulsed by each other''s creeping madness and that it would have pushed them toward the path of healing. Sometimes, crooked things can get straightened out by leaning on each other." sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Mother was referring to Acala and Dawn, but Lith and Solus felt like she was talking about them.

    "What happened, instead, is that they fueled each other''s delusion. Meln enabled Night and vice versa until they became powerful enough to kill your friends, going against my direct order. That was the moment I understood my mistake and tried to fix it.

    "Night had gone from reckless to insane. She had no qualms about putting my life and countless innocents on the line just to fulfill her pride and ambition. I''m sorry for all the trouble I''ve caused you, Lith." Baba Yaga stopped in her tracks, emotions breaking through her voice again.

    "I''m responsible for the pain and misery Night left in her wake no less than she is. I should have noticed her straying from her path sooner. I should have made her self-destruct spell public the moment I failed to track her down.

    "My pride got in the way no less than my stupid motherly love for my daughter. I didn''t release the spell immediately because I didn''t want her to be captured, tortured, and experimented upon.

    "I wanted to give her a clean death. I brought Night into this world and considered it my responsibility to take her out. I now understand how foolish I have been and can only ask for your forgiveness.

    "For what is worth, losing Dusk was the harshest punishment I could receive. If I fail to rescue him, I''ll lose two of my beloved children at the same time and spend the rest of my eternal life knowing it''s only my fault if they are dead."

    "I can''t blame you for not killing Night more than I can blame my parents for not putting Meln down like the monster he is instead of disowning him." Lith sighed. "After becoming a parent myself, I realized how deep the attachment to one''s children is.

    "I''ll do my best to raise Valeron and Elysia, but if they ever grow up twisted like Meln, I don''t know if I could just kill them like that. Just the thought of seeing those I love the most turn into what I hate the most terrifies me."

    "Thanks, Lith." The Mother cleared her throat, returning to her usual, composed self.

    "It''s too soon to thank me just like it''s too soon for me to forgive you." Lith cut the air with his hand. "When I find Meln, because I will, I''m going to return him all the pain he has caused and I expect you not to interfere.

    "In the same way, if you find them first, I expect you to kill them on the spot. No talking, no bargaining, no more second chances. Violate these terms and forget forgiveness, our enmity will end only when one of us dies."

    "Fair enough. We have a deal." The Mother offered Lith her hand which he promptly shook. "You have my word. Just one question. If I''m the one who finds them first, are you sure you don''t want me to hand them over to you?"

    "I''m sure." Lith replied. "I''d rather let them have a painless death than take any chance they might escape again."

    ***

    The next few days passed peacefully and uneventfully.

    While Leria and Aran enjoyed the company of their respective mothers, Solus and Lith resumed their magical research. During the morning, they would familiarize themselves with the Bleed and the various pieces of the Menadion Set, performing trial experiments while reforging their equipment.

    Ripha spent that time with Baba Yaga and Silverwing, learning modern magic and receiving her friends'' help to convert her outdated spells into more efficient ones.

    In the afternoon, Lith would make up for the lost time with Kamila and the babies. Elysia and Valeron were now almost quiet, the bad experience of almost losing their father was slowly becoming a distant memory.

    As for Solus and Menadion, they had sworn not to repeat the mistakes of the past so rather than work together on magic all the time they took cooking lessons from Elina together with Aran.

    "I want to learn how to cook all your favorite dishes, Mom. This way, when you return from your trip with Big Brother, I can prepare them for you like you did mine as a welcome-back gift." He said.

    "What a lovely thought, dear." Elina took his face between her hands and peppered it with kisses.

    "Stop it, Mom, I''m not a kid anymore. I''m seven years old already!" He whined helplessly.

    "You''re right. You are my little man, now." Elina said while combing his hair with her fingers.

    "If the way she treats Lith is any indicator of your future, little man, things aren''t going to get any better as you grow up." Menadion chuckled.

    "What do you mean?" Elina asked in sincere confusion.

    "Nothing." Solus cleared her throat. "Let''s get back to work."

    Now that Elina had a grip on the source of Solus'' focus issues, things took a turn for the better. Especially because even though she tended to be soft-spoken with Solus, Elina had no qualms about being harsh with Menadion when she wasted food.

    Solus soon realized she made the same mistakes as her mother so whenever Elina scolded Menadion, Solus knew those words were also addressed to her. With patience, perseverance, and practice she was finally becoming a decent cook.

    "You are very pretty, Aunt Solus, just like your mom. You suck at cooking just as bad, though." Aran puffed his chest out with pride after Elina complimented him for a dish well-made. "I guess some things run in the family."

    "Oh, really?" That and being outclassed by a seven years old boy who constantly rubbed it in Solus'' and Menadion''s faces sparked her competitive spirit. "Learning is not a sprint but a marathon! We''ll see who has the last laugh." Solus said.

    "It won''t be the one who has to eat that thing." Aran pointed at the results of her effort with a mocking smile. "That''s for sure."

    "You little¡­!" Menadion didn''t know whether to be more enraged by Aran''s disrespect or humiliated because he was right.

    "Ripha!" Elina cut her short. "He''s just a child. As for you Aran, I''m ashamed of you. Who taught you to be mean and condescending like that?"

    "Leria. I mean, no one." Aran lowered his gaze.

    "What do we say when we offend someone?" Elina asked.

 Chapter 3405: The Message (Part 2)

    "I''m sorry, Auntie Solus. I''m sorry, Grandma Ripha." Aran said."Apology accepted." Solus and Menadion said yet they were inwardly fuming.

    Between Elina''s lessons and their "friendly" competition with Aran, they soon became capable of preparing a decent meal at a moment''s notice. Nothing to write home about, but perfectly edible and sometimes even tasty enough to be served as part of the dinner.

    It was after one of such successful events that Lith summoned the female side of the family for help.

    Elina had already gone to bed and he had moved the assembly to the tower not to be caught in the act.

    "Thank you for coming." Lith gave a polite nod to Tista, Rena, Solus, Kamila, Ripha, and Selia. "The trip with my mother is around the corner and I need your advice on a pressing matter that has to be resolved before our departure."

    "How to deal with the return of that little shit of Meln?" Selia asked.

    "No. I have several contingency plans in place for that." Lith shook his head. "The issue is how to tell my mother to stop embarrassing me in public without hurting her feelings."

    "Lith Tiamat Verhen!" Rena stood up, her outrage clearly written on her face. "How dare you say you''re ashamed of Mom after everything she has done for us?"

    "I''m not ashamed of Mom, Rena." Lith raised his hands with the palms out, gesturing for her to calm down. "I''m ashamed by Mom! Look with your own eyes."

    He projected a hologram of the incriminated scenes that took place every time Lith accompanied Elina to Lutia to buy groceries, meet their friends, or just take a walk. There were lots of hugging, kissing, and cleaning his mouth with a handkerchief whenever they ate something together.

    "I can see your issue." Rena nodded. "But that''s nothing to be worked up about. Mom does the same with Tista and me."

    "Rena, only a blind man wouldn''t see the resemblance between you girls and our mother." Lith replied. "You have no idea how many times people who had just settled in Lutia and tourists mistook us for newlyweds!"

    "And it was hilarious!" Kamila laughed her ass off while Solus stifled her own with a hand. "You should have seen his face. Priceless."

    "My point exactly." Lith grunted. "I just want Mom to behave like she does at the Royal Court. She never goes overboard there or whenever we are guests in a noble household."

    "That''s because in those circumstances Mom is as stiff as a board and terrified of doing or saying something inappropriate." Tista pointed out. "I mean, just look at how different her expression is!"

    She conjured two different holograms of how Elina acted at Court and in Lutia respectively. In the former, she had the relaxed attitude that Lith associated with someone undergoing their first job interview.

    In the latter, instead, Elina was beaming with joy and never stopped smiling.

    "Okay, point taken." Lith sighed. "But the issue still remains. We are going to tour the Kingdom for days and I want neither rumors about ''The Supreme Magus has a mistress'' or ''The Supreme Magus is a giant baby'' to spread while I''m at it."

    "I could have helped you years ago, if you had asked me back then." Selia shrugged. "If I go talking to Elina right now, she''ll ask me why I didn''t speak about it sooner. She may not believe me or even get offended at me.

    "Elina is very protective of her relationship with her children and might take my remark as a personal attack."

    "As any of us would." Ripha shrugged. "How would you react if someone accused you of loving your children too much?"

    "Depends on what weapon I have at hand." Selia pondered. "Best case scenario, they go home with black eyes and a broken nose."

    "My point exactly." Menadion said with a smile while caressing Solus'' hair.

    ''By my Mom! How can she see it in others and not in herself?'' Solus inwardly whined. ''I''m not a baby!''

    "Hence it''s my turn to take one for the team." Menadion straightened invisible wrinkles on Solus'' dress and swept her hair off her face. "I''m the newcomer so Elina will listen to me if I tell her that her behavior is inappropriate."

    ''Also, birds of feather flock together!'' Solus blushed in embarrassment as the rest of the room had a hard time suppressing their laughter.

    "Thanks, Ripha." Lith nodded. "Please, go easy on my mother."

    "I will." She replied.

    ***

    "Excuse my bluntness, Elina, but don''t you think your behavior with Lith in public is wildly inappropriate?" Menadion said point-blank at the end of the following day''s cooking lesson, after Aran and Solus left.

    "Excuse you?" Elina felt outraged by the allegation and awkward just thinking it might be true.

    "I know it''s not my place to tell and that maybe my mentality is outdated for seven hundred years but this would have been unacceptable back in my day." Menadion conjured the same hologram Lith had showcased the previous night.

    "Good gods, for a moment you gave a good scare." Elina said with a laugh of relief. "Thank you for worrying about my reputation, but in today''s age that''s normal. It''s just how a mother pampers her son a bit."

    "I''m sure of it." Menadion conceded but refused to drop the argument. "But how many people know Lith is your son? I mean, look at this scene from their point of view."

    "Don''t worry, you are blowing this out of proportion. This is n-" Elina''s words died in her throat when Menadion snapped her fingers, switching Lith''s hologram with Ryman''s and keeping Elina''s hologram acting the same way.

    "Ripha, this is wildly inappropriate! I would never behave like that with a man who''s not Raaz. Just looking at it makes me feel like I''m cheating on my husband."

    "I know." Menadion nodded. "The fact is that anyone who doesn''t know you two are mother and son reacts exactly like you do while looking at this hologram."

    "Oh, dear." Elina flushed as the projection continued. "Oh, dear. Oh, dear! Why did no one ever tell me anything?" Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Because they got used to it." Ripha shrugged. "Were Lutia still a small city where everyone knows everybody, no one would bat an eye. Now, however, it has grown a lot and I''ve heard lots of weird rumors while I was in Lith''s shadow."

    "Oh, dear!" Elina hid her face behind her hands as she became beet red up to her ears. "Why didn''t you tell me sooner?"

    "As I said, I''m still getting adjusted to modern standards." Menadion lied through her teeth. "I wouldn''t have mentioned this to you if you weren''t about to leave Lutia and travel through the Kingdom.

    "I mean, sooner or later all Lutians are bound to recognize you and Lith but that''s not going to happen in other cities."

    "Thanks, Ripha." Elina cried in shame. "I owe you one."

    "Don''t mention it." Menadion offered Elina a handkerchief and did her best to console her. "After everything you''ve done for my daughter, I still owe one million to you."

    ***

    Later, that night.

    "How did it go?" Lith asked.

    "Just perfect." Menadion gave him a thumbs up. "She got the message."

 Chapter 3406: Erased from History (Part 1)

    "I hope you went easy on her, Ripha. My mother is a gentle soul." Lith sat on his bed, sighing in relief."Of course I didn''t. I had to hit her as hard as a sack of bricks." Menadion scoffed.

    "What? Why would you do that?" Kamila was flabbergasted.

    "Because there was no roundabout way to make Elina stop." Menadion replied. "She needed the harsh truth delivered by a friendly voice."

    "So not by you." Lith groaned.

    "Very funny. The next time do it yourself, smartass." Menadion said. "For what is worth, Elina thanked me after. She can''t have taken it too bad."

    ***

    In the following days, nothing changed in Elina day-to-day behavior so Lith assumed that once again his paranoia had played tricks on him. When the day of the departure arrived, everyone assembled in front of the Warp Gate in the barn.

    "Don''t worry if you have forgotten to pack something." Lith said. "We''re staying in cities with their own Gates so we can come back here anyt- Farm me sideways!"

    "Is anything wrong, dear son?" Elina had just walked through the door dressed like no one in the family had ever seen her before.

    She always wore demure clothes but this time there was not a centimeter of skin exposed despite the heat of summer. She had a parasol to keep her hands busy and everyone else at length.

    Worst of all, her smile didn''t extend to her eyes which looked sad and dim. It was as if someone had taken her joy of life, shoved it inside a closed lantern, and left only a small opening for the light.

    Elina kept her distance from Lith, giving him plenty of personal space.

    "I''m fine, Mom. The question is: are you?" Lith used Invigoration to give her a quick check-up, discovering she was as fit as a fiddle.

    "I''m fine, thank you. You are so caring, son." Even her chuckle sounded fainter, almost muffled.

    "No problem, Mom." Lith found himself covered in a cold sweat as he regretted ever raising the issue. "Our first stop is the Royal Palace. Are you ready?"

    "One moment." Kamila shapeshifted her clothes into a beautiful day dress and so did everyone else.

    Elina''s dress was so ample and dull in color that a casual observer would have thought she had recently become a widow.

    "Want to go together, Mom?" Lith offered her his arm, knowing how awkward Elina felt whenever she was surrounded by nobles.

    "Nonsense, son." She refused, clinging to Tista instead and sending a chill down his spine. "You have a wife. Kami should have the honor of standing by your side to avoid misunderstandings. Isn''t that right, dear?"

    "Sure, Elina." Kamila repressed a gasp.

    It was the first time that Raaz was absent and Elina turned down the opportunity to be escorted by her son.

    ''Congratulations, I think you''ve broken your mother.'' Kamila said via mind link.

    ''I noticed.'' Lith replied. ''I need a solution. Now.''

    "How come you chose to start our vacation from the Royal Palace, Mom?" Rena asked, trying to lift Elina''s spirits. "We''ve been there plenty of times."

    "Indeed, but always for this ceremony or that." She nodded. "I could never take a good look at the paintings or admire the various pieces of art. We were always in a rush not to keep those in line behind us waiting.

    "Don''t get me started about the Throne Room. It was always so packed that all I could see were gala dresses and hairdos. I couldn''t miss the opportunity to have a tour of the Palace now that the Kingdom is at peace."

    "Great thinking, Mom." Rena nodded.

    "Thank you, dear." Elina lit up, looking like her old self until her eyes fell on Lith again. "Let''s go, son."

    ''Son?'' He swallowed her. ''Why does she call everyone dear, sweetie, and all that mushy stuff as usual while I only get a deadpan "son"?''

    ''The next time, be careful what you wish for, Lith. You might get it.'' Solus sighed.

    Lith had requested access to the public wings of the Royal Palace in advance so the Royal Guards were ready for their arrival.

    "Are you alright, Lady Verhen?" Even Captain Ekler who had never met Elina before could tell there was something wrong at first glance.

    Yet all the IDs checked out, Lith''s and Menadion''s Magus robes were impossible to forge, and Tista was impossible to forget. Even the Royal Fortress armor picked no signs of illness, slave items, or blood cores that could explain the weird vibe the woman exuded.

    "I''m fine. Thank you for asking, Captain." Elina gave him a polite nod.

    "Do you need a guide? It''s strange they didn''t assign you one." Ekler checked the log multiple times but the result was always the same.

    "Thanks, but it''s not going to be necessary." Lith replied. "I''ll do the honors myself."

    "Are you sure?" The Captain was flabbergasted. "The castle is vast and it contains countless masterpieces. It takes months to memorize the history contained in a single wing." Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''m sure." Lith replied, confident in his abilities and, most of all, in Soluspedia.

    He had prepared for the visit, storing every book he could find about the areas of the Royal Palace accessible to the public inside his dimensional library.

    "Then you can start from here." Ekler said. "Just please, step away from the Warp Gate. People come and go from the Palace at every moment and no one is allowed to obstruct passage."

    "Of course." Lith moved to the side and his group followed him.

    Then he started commenting on every piece of art, subject of a painting, and statue by combining the knowledge he drew from different tomes. Lith opted not to just state the year each piece was crafted and what it depicted.

    He also explained its historical meaning and added tidbits of information about either the author or the subject of the art. They were short fun facts that made wise rulers sound silly, described the rare cunning decisions of foolish nobles, or recounted obscure details of the turning point of a famous battle.

    ''Where the heck did Verhen learn all this stuff?'' The captain thought. ''I''ve been a Royal Guard for over a decade yet it''s my first time hearing most of what he is saying.''

    Lith''s stories were so interesting that many guests and valets stopped to listen to him, creating the small crowd that Ekler had tried to prevent.

    "You truly have a way with words, dear." Elina brimmed with pride seeing so many people hanging on her son''s every word, but she kept her distance from him. "I can see why your classes as an Academy Professor are always filled to the brim."

    "Thank you, Mom, but it''s nothing much." Lith shrugged. "You know I''ve always had an easy time learning and ''remembering'' any topic. As for my lessons, Solus and I are the only ones who truly understand Void Magic.

    "That''s why my classes are always full. It has nothing to do with my ability as a speaker."

    "These people might beg to differ." Elina chuckled while pointing at the spectators.

    Only then did the noble visitors and servants realize they had been standing there in disregard of their duties and being late for their appointments.

 Chapter 3407: Erased from History (Part 2)

    The crowd dispersed quickly, with people walking briskly to make up for the lost time and giving rushed apologies for eavesdropping.Once Lith was done, they moved to the corridor leading to the Throne Room and Ekler followed them.

    "I''m sorry, but there''s quite a few people in your group and no one is allowed to roam these corridors unsupervised." He said. "Please, consider me your escort, not your warden."

    The visit went on undisturbed until they reached the Throne Room. The Royals conducted most of their business inside their private quarters, using the Throne Room only for ceremonies and public events so that day it was empty.

    Yet four Royal Guards stood on the four corners of the raised dais where the thrones stood, watching in silence at the guests.

    "You can go anywhere you want but on the dais." Captain Ekler said. "Only the Royals can climb those steps and touch the thrones. Anyone else would be immediately arrested and detained for insubordination to the Crown."

    While Lith kept giving his family a tour of the place and recounted to them the highlights of Meron''s achievements, he had two more spectators than he had anticipated.

    "Do we have to be honored or offended that he didn''t request an audience with us despite coming to the Royal Palace?" Queen Sylpha asked.

    "You should be honored." King Meron grunted. "Verhen has nothing to tell us. Requesting an audience while he plays tourist would be nothing more than a power play. A demonstration he can ask for our presence for futile reasons and we have to oblige."

    "Why just me?" Sylpha chuckled. "What about you?"

    "He''s tearing me apart!" Meron pointed at the hologram while Lith narrated one of the most embarrassing moments of his life as the Crown Prince. "Where did he learn this stuff? I''m quite sure I had it redacted from the official records.

    "And why are the Guards laughing? More importantly, why are you?" The King was beet reed as Lith described the dreaded stirrups accident that had preceded the battle for Belius.

    "Because it''s hilarious." Sylpha replied. "Did it really happen?"

    "Yes, and you''d better remember that I''ve killed for much less, woman!" Meron snarled as Lith recounted another accident the King wished erased from history.

    Decades ago, at the crack of dawn, tired from an all-nighter of negotiations, the then-Crowned Prince and future King had entered the wrong tent and been caught taking a dump by a Duchess and her entire retinue. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Oh, dear." Sylpha laughed harder. "I thought the first thing you had to learn in the great game of politics was to never let the opponent catch you with your pants down."

    "That''s not funny!" Meron slammed his fist on the table as the Royal Fortress armors rattled due to their owners'' desperate attempts to hold in their laughter. "I became Prince Smellon for months. Not to mention the wild rumors about my genitals those gossips spread!"

    "I know." Sylpha had to sit down so as not to roll on the floor. "He just got to that part."

    Meron went pale as he had to listen again about the conflicting claims he was either endowed like a horse or a mouse.

    "Jokes aside, do you think we should meet Lith?" The Queen asked while holding her belly and gasping for air. "I mean, he and Menadion are here. It would be a nice gesture from us."

    "Stop gasping for air, dammit!" The King didn''t know who, but someone had to die before sunset. "That said, I think we shouldn''t intrude. It''s just an unofficial visit and we''d just ruin the mood. Unless¡­"

    "Kami, Lith, I''d really like to visit the Gardens of Saefel." Elina said. "Is it a problem for you?"

    She had never visited the inner park of the Royal Palace and was curious about it. Yet she knew it held bad memories for both Lith and Kamila. It was the place where Quylla had apparently been murdered in front of Lith''s eyes and Kamila had been kidnapped.

    "It''s fine for me, Elina." Kamila replied and Lith nodded.

    "Dammit, I jinxed it." Meron sighed. "You go. I''ll wait here."

    "Don''t worry. I''ll take care of it." Sylpha understood his desire to stay out of sight from a group of women who were probably still wondering about his privates. "By the way, in case you need it, remember our bathroom is that way."

    "Sylpha!" Meron roared, glad there was no one to listen.

    "I''m sorry, I couldn''t help it." She giggled before Warping away.

    The Gardens of Saefel were not only a place filled with the smell of finely cut grass, with flower beds, and trimmed bushes that adorned the cobblestone paths that went across the whole park as far as the eye could see.

    It was also a place of beauty, where every single tree, every single topiary figure had been placed so as to not hinder the sight of the visitors. It allowed them to admire with a single gaze several compositions at the same time, allowing the beautiful landscape of the Gardens to always be greater than the sum of its parts.

    Statues and topiaries of the First Queen were everywhere. She was either depicted with the First King or with their children.

    The women of the Verhen family awwwed and sighed at the testament to Valeron the First''s love for Tyris, wishing their men could make them subjects of such adoration.

    "This place is so beautiful. How could anyone defile it with blood and murder?" Elina asked. "Are you sure you are alright, Kami?"

    "I have nothing to fear, Elina, but thank you." Under any other circumstance, the memory of her recent assault would have haunted the Gardens like a vengeful spirit.

    Yet while holding Lith''s hand, Kamila felt safe and protected. Even in the unlikely event someone could overpower both the defenses of the Palace and her husband, the little life in her womb would protect her against any threat.

    "You are correct, Lady Magus." Captain Ekler said. "After what happened to you, the full set of elemental sealing arrays is now complemented by an energy dome. Nothing can come in or out of the Gardens while there are people inside."

    He pointed at the small birds that tried to either enter or leave the area but were stopped by an invisible barrier.

    "I''d preferred not to know." Elina curled her lips. "This place looks like a prison now."

    "I understand your feelings, but after two attempts against loyal subjects of the Kingdom took place in the same spot, it was clear that the Gardens'' security issues couldn''t be overlooked any longer." Queen Sylpha walked through one of the side doors and joined the Verhens.

    "Your Majesty." Lith and the others gave her a deep bow while Ekler just rapped his fist against his breastplate in respect not to lower his guard.

    "Please, stand up. I didn''t mean to intrude." Sylpha replied. "I just wanted to reassure you the Gardens are now as safe as the rest of the Palace and express my regret for the recent security breach."

    "It wasn''t your fault, Your Highness." Kamila bowed again. "I was reckless and almost paid the price."

    "Nonsense." The Queen shook her head.

 Chapter 3408: Hidden from History (Part 1)

    "If my people aren''t safe in the Royal Palace, it''s only because its rulers failed. If there''s something I can do for you, all you have to do is ask." Sylpha said."About that." Menadion raised her hand. "Once we are done with the Gardens, we planned to visit the Royals Exhibits. I would love to have access to Valeron''s room. Some of my fondest memories are bound to those old paintings."

    "I see." The Queen was taken aback by the request.

    On the one hand, not even the current Royals were allowed entry to the room belonging to the First King unless it was necessary. On the other hand, refusing the First Ruler of the Flames'' request would have been rude.

    On top of that, Menadion was alive back when Valeron ruled the Kingdom. She was likely to have already seen most of the pieces stored in the exhibit and could conjure their holograms.

    "I should probably ask the King first-"

    "There''s no need for that, Sylpha." A figure shrouded in blinding light appeared beside the Queen. "Valeron gave Ripha clearance to his room in his will. She has his and my permission."

    "Saefel!" Seeing Tyris standing right before the statue of the First Queen revealed her identity and filled Captain Ekler with awe.

    "Glory to the Kingdom." The proud soldier fell to his knees and offered his halberd to her, his gaze fixed on the ground.

    Tyris'' aura of power was as gentle as a spring breeze but her beauty and majesty resonated with that of the Gardens, making the captain of the Royal Guard feel unworthy of standing in her presence.

    "Stand up, captain. I''m not the Queen anymore and I''m undeserving of your loyalty." Tyris placed her hand on his shoulder and the Royal Fortress armor shone with power like a small sun. "Nonetheless, I have to ask you to keep my existence a secret.

    "Can you do it?"

    "I swear on my life!" Ekler stood on attention, banging his fist on his heart and thumping the halberd''s haft on the ground.

    He was supposed to ask the current Queen for permission first, but Sylpha overlooked the minor slight. Even centuries after Valeron''s death, there were countless people who revered the figure of the First Royal Couple and Sylpha was among them.

    "Your request is granted, Forge Magus." The Queen said. "Can I accompany them, Lady Tyris?" S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I don''t see why not." Tyris gave Sylpha a dazzling smile that misted Ekler''s eyes with tears of joy and steeled his resolve to serve his country to the bitter end.

    Elina and Rena took several family pictures inside the Gardens. They even asked Tyris to stand beside her statue and assume the same pose which shocked Ekler. Yet it was nothing compared to when the Guardian actually did it.

    The captain didn''t know whether to be outraged by the familiarity with which the Verhens addressed the First Queen or honored by witnessing such events.

    He was in such a daze that he was almost left behind when they returned inside the castle.

    "I''m sorry but you can''t come inside." Tyris stopped Ekler before she opened the door to Valeron''s exhibit.

    "I will guard the entrance, then." He turned his back to the door and notified the rest of the palace security no one was allowed in the area.

    "By the gods!" Rena said when Sylpha turned on the lights.

    Calling the room an exhibit was an understatement. It was actually a scaled-down version of the Throne Room. The corridor was shorter and the ceiling lower, with paintings and statues of the First King arranged close to each other to fit into the space.

    There was no empty spot beside the central corridor and the walls were covered with paintings yet the place was spacious enough not to feel cramped.

    "Grandma, this is you!" Solus pointed at a large painting depicting Valeron, Menadion, and Silverwing stranding in the open.

    On the background, there was the hill where the Royal Palace was being built and the small groups of houses surrounding it could be barely called a small city by modern standards.

    "Grandma?" Menadion looked at Tyris in confusion until she remembered that Sylpha was with them and grunted: "Oh, right. Grandma."

    "There is no information available about this room." Lith replied to the silent stares addressed at him. "Ripha, Tyris, if you please would do the honors."

    "Silly me." The Guardian chuckled. "This painting was realized to celebrate the end of the Founding War.

    "Thanks to solid peace treaties and plenty of troops stationed at the borders with the countless states that would later become part of the Blood Desert and Gorgon Empire, Valeron could finally shift his attention to building rather than destroying.

    "He left Ripha and Lochra to deal with the castle while he took care of fixing the ruins of the border regions. Their people had known war longer than anyone else and Valeron made their well-being his first priority."

    "Really? He didn''t care about his own house?" Rena asked.

    "Even worse, this painting is all Lochra and I got for our work." Menadion grunted. "The cheapskate dared pay us in exposure. Can you believe that?"

    "To be fair, the long war must have strained Valeron''s resources." Lith said. "Building a castle wouldn''t have filled the granaries or brought prosperity to his people. Valeron had to focus on building roads and making the border regions feel important.

    "If they rebelled, the war would have begun anew and countless more people would have died."

    "That''s exactly what Valeron said." Menadion sighed. "He built this castle right after the end of the war only to consolidate his power. Valeron knew that without the trappings of his status, his retainers would lose respect for him and the citizens of the newborn Griffon Kingdom would question his authority.

    "It''s hard to consider your superior someone who lives in a house worse than yours and doesn''t have two coins to rub together. Also, Valeron wanted the Royal Palace to be a beacon of hope for his people.

    "He was a farmer turned warrior who had become a mage first, a conqueror later, and then a king. When he commissioned this castle to Locha and me, Valeron asked us to not only make it a symbol of what he had achieved but also of what anyone could."

    "I''ve never heard this story." Sylpha didn''t bother hiding how moved and surprised she was. "How did you know about it, Magus Verhen? I mean, that''s exactly how your game of chess works. A pawn can become everything, like Valeron."

    Everyone turned to Lith, even Solus who Lith shot down with a glare since she was supposed to know better.

    "I didn''t know either. As I told Mirim back when I gifted chess to her, that rule is just a metaphor for the rise to power."

    "He didn''t know." Tyris confirmed. "Nobody did but Valeron, me, Ripha, and Lochra."

    "If there was no payment involved, how did Valeron convince you to do it, Grandma?" Solus asked, causing another involuntary spasm in Menadion''s left eye.

    "He didn''t." She sighed. "It all happened because a bet Valeron made with Lochra back when we first met him. You should have seen him, Solus."

 Chapter 3409: Hidden from History (Part 2)

    "Young, handsome, noble, and with those big brown eyes that sparkled like stars when he talked about his dream of building a Kingdom for everyone. Lochra and I took interest in him but sadly, he was already taken." Menadion shook her head in disappointment."Sadly." Tyris echoed, her voice oozing mockery and sarcasm.

    "Win some, lose some." Menadion shrugged, completely missing the Guardian''s point.

    "Mo-enadion!" The dreamy way Ripha talked about the First King sounded like a betrayal to Solus. No matter if her father wasn''t even born back then, Solus found it an insult to Threin''s memory.

    "What?" Menadion replied in confusion.

    "Go back to the story and please skip useless details." Solus'' voice was calm, but the fire in her eyes told Menadion that she was in trouble for some reason.

    "As I was saying, Valeron had come to us to get his hands on some decent equipment for his most trusted generals." Menadion said. "While he waited, he went on and on about what he would have done when the war was over and how everyone would have been better for it.

    "With her usual bluntness, Lochra mocked Valeron, claiming he was delusional and that he would never win. Valeron took offense and dared Lochra to put her money where her mouth was.

    "She of course accepted and the bet was sealed. If Valeron won, Lochra would build the Royal Palace out of her own pocket. If Lochra won, Valeron would give her all the war funds he had left and serve as her apprentice for a hundred years. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You know the rest. What you may not know is that after the situation stabilized, Valeron built the six great academies, and that time he actually paid us. Also, by teaching Lochra''s legacy and giving her the title of Magus, she earned more than she spent on the castle just with her book, The Basics of Magic."

    "You know, I''ve never understood why Valeron chose this city as the capital." Elina asked. "It doesn''t hold a central position, it has no strategical relevance, and it has no abundance of food or magical resources."

    "Good question." Menadion looked at Sylpha who in turn looked at Tyris.

    "Because this is where everything started." The Guardian replied. "Valeron was born here over a thousand years ago. His house stood right at the foot of this hill, surrounded by his family''s fields.

    "On this hill, I watched a young Valeron getting almost beaten to death by bandits to defend an old merchant he didn''t even know. The old man managed to get away with his money and merchandise but never bothered to send help to his savior so I did.

    "Here I healed Valeron''s wounds, turned down his marriage proposal, taught him about Awakening, turned down the second marriage proposal, and then taught him the basics of Spirit and elemental magic.

    "There were many other marriage proposals in between but it would be too long to enumerate them all. Long story short, I expected Valeron to become your average Awakened. Happy, self-centered, and obscenely rich.

    "Instead, he never craved more power than he needed to keep his village safe. He accepted the role of village chief only because the other candidates were corrupt and he never took more money than he considered fair for his work.

    "Valeron never struck first. He simply annexed the territories of those he defeated, and only because he was appalled by the living conditions of their people. You can''t imagine how surprised I was when small kings and petty lords attacked Valeron''s fiefdom and lost.

    "They felt threatened by his growing power or enticed by his alleged riches and invited disaster into their homes. Valeron was an incredible mage and warrior, but that wasn''t the secret of his strength.

    "Nor was the fact that he always took the weapons of his fallen enemies and used them to reinforce his army. His secret was his voice. When he talked, he made you feel as strong as he was, see within your reach goals that you had always considered impossible.

    "When Valeron led his men into battle, a bunch of farmers, artisans, and merchants would turn into a frenzied horde of demons who fought harder than any slave or mercenary could.

    "Once real soldiers and knights joined him after hearing about his reputation, victory wasn''t just possible, it was inevitable. The rest is history. He conquered as far as my turf extends, proposed to me for the fifty-second time, and I accepted.

    "Then, he came back home and erected our home in the place where we first met."

    Every woman in the room awwwed, sighing like a furnace. Kamila included.

    "I''m right here, you know?" Lith''s grunt snapped her out of her reverie.

    When she turned to look at her husband, there was a disappointed look in his eyes and the coldness in his voice could have frozen the entire Royal Palace many times over.

    "I''m sorry! I swear, I''m nothing like her!" Kamila pointed at Menadion, throwing the Ruler of the Flames under the bus in the hope it would help.

    "Hey! As I''ve already said, this happened hundreds of years before Threin was even born!" Ripha said but Kamila ignored her and continued.

    "I''m not infatuated with Valeron the First. I just find his story and gestures incredibly romantic."

    "I see." Lith nodded, making her inwardly sigh in relief. "So our story and everything I''ve done are not. Duly noted."

    "That''s not what I meant." She gulped hard, following Lith''s gaze moving from her to Tyris and back before shaking his head.

    ''I could have told her that I would have done the same if she was like Tyris but that would be petty and pointlessly cruel.'' He thought. ''I want her to make up for her rudeness, not destroy my marriage.''

    ''Thank the gods he didn''t say something like: "Valeron did it because Tyris is worth it, you are not." I doubt I would have ever recovered from the blow.'' Kamila thought. ''Yet that''s what I have just done by comparing him with Valeron. Gods, why am I so stupid?''

    ''Thank the gods I''m single.'' Solus thought, noticing the panic on the faces of her companions.

    "Dear, please, don''t tell your father about this story." Elina grabbed his hand. "If he hears about it from you, it''d kill him. I know I''ve been stupid and I have to tell him myself."

    "Don''t worry, Mom. I know you didn''t have bad intentions. There''s no point in ruining your vacation. This can wait until we go back home." Lith replied with a warm smile that dispelled the cold of his previous attitude.

    "Why only Mom? What about me?" Rena asked.

    "Mom is a pure soul." Lith snorted. "As for you, I''m telling Senton as soon as we return to the hotel. I''m sure he''ll love to hear how the mother of his children fawns over another man."

    In the ensuing chaos, Elina giggled softly while the Queen thanked the gods for the absence of surveillance mirrors inside Valeron''s exhibit.

    ''If I tell Meron, he might never forgive me but if I don''t, I''ll feel guilty every time he does or says something nice for me. No matter what I do, I''m screwed.'' She thought.

 Chapter 3410: Not a Better One (Part 1)

    "Please, don''t tell Bodya! I beg you!" Tista said."Who are these people?" Solus tried to defuse the situation by changing the topic.

    "Nice try." Tyris chuckled. "You should have recognized them either from history books or the group picture."

    She pointed at a painting depicting King Valeron in the middle, a short man wearing mottled clothes to his left, a tall man wearing partial armor on his right, and Tessa the Titania and Fyrwal the Hydra on either side.

    "Are you telling me the tall guy is Juria Ernas?" Solus was flabbergasted.

    "Yes." Tyris had a hard time stifling a laugh. "The painter mistook her for a man due to her armor and tried to make her more manly for posterity."

    "Really?" Lith asked. "I''ve met her spirit. She was no stunner but it was hard mistaking her for a guy."

    "That''s because at the time of the painting she had her hair short and a fierce glare." Tyris replied. "That plus her height, made people often mistake her for a man It''s only after this painting that she grew her hair and learned how to soften her expression.

    "Mostly because Oghrom laughed like a madman every time he saw it and never let her hear the end of it. And I mean literally. He had a copy of the painting in his house and mocked Juria about it until the day she died."

    "Even on her deathbed?" Lith asked and Tyris nodded. "That''s incredibly mean toward a friend and a companion."

    ''Help me!'' Kamila told Solus via a mind link. ''Now Lith is distracted, but once the tour is over he''ll still remember my blunder. Do you have any idea how I can make amends with him?''

    ''The next time you apologize, don''t try to justify or explain what you did.'' Solus replied. ''It cheapens your words and makes them sound like bullshit. The more you stir it, the more it smells.''

    "Juria and Oghrom were indeed companions, but never friends." Tyris shook her head. "They hated each other since the day they met and it never changed. The best they could do was to learn how to respect each other begrudgingly."

    "That sounds weird even to me." Lith pondered. "I''ve befriended people who tried to kill me on our first encounter, after we cleared the initial misunderstanding."

    "That''s the difference. There was never a misunderstanding between the two of them." A wave of Tyris'' hand brought forward two paintings depicting Juria and Oghrom alone.

    "By the gods!" The women said in unison while staring at the latter. "They are like water and oil."

    Under any other circumstance, they would have pointed out that Oghrom was as beautiful as Juria was plain-looking, but after the Valeron debacle, they didn''t want to give Lith more ammo.

    Oghrom Gernoff had been a short man, barely 1.5 meters (5'') tall. Yet he had a lean and toned physique, ocean blue eyes, curly golden hair, and a smile that could power up the sun or melt the heart of any woman, depending where it was aimed at.

    All of that was framed by fair skin and symmetrical features. He looked feminine enough that it was hard to call him handsome but his charms were undeniable. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Juria Ernas, instead, had been a very tall woman, 1.8 meters (5''11") tall. She wore noble clothes in her painting, which accentuated her muscular arms, wide shoulders, and flat chest.

    She had long brown hair streaked blue all over that reached the small of her back, hazel eyes, and the suave smile of a disgruntled drill sergeant faced with a particularly disappointing cadet.

    Even with the effects of her late Awakening, she was overall plain and the kindest thing anyone could say about her was that she looked graceful.

    "More than you can imagine." Tyris sighed. "Their mutual hatred had deep roots that not even Valeron''s best efforts could eradicate. Oghrom and Juria had a great relationship with everyone but each other."

    "I can see it." Lith looked at Oghrom, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands as though he could feel Oghrom''s rage through the sands of time.

    "What do you mean?" Kamila stepped forward, taking Lith''s hand to calm him down.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" He asked, obtaining many shaken heads in return. "Oghrom was born poor in a world that makes the current Kingdom look like a utopia. Those looks and that frame must have been a curse to him, not a blessing."

    "Indeed." Tyris sighed ruefully. "Oghrom had¡­ a rough childhood and did everything he had to survive. Once he grew up, he became a thief first and then a cat burglar. He didn''t become an assassin for the money.

    "That came later, when rumors of his wealth spread and a local crime boss tried to rob Oghrom and have him killed. That was his last mistake. Once Oghrom got a taste of blood, he discovered how good he was at killing.

    "How stupid and weak everyone else was. With his last shred of humanity gone, Oghrom started killing for money, and if you crossed him, for pleasure. His favorite tactic was to seduce a woman living in the house of his mark to get access and kill them.

    "A mother, a wife, a sister, a servant, anyone would do. Oghrom used to say that the quickest way to a person''s heart was through the skirt of a woman."

    Tyris let her words sink as everyone but Lith looked at the painting with new and repulsed eyes.

    "Back in the day, Juria looked at him just like you do now." Tyris said. "She came from a noble household. She was pampered, well-fed, and trained in the way of the knight and honor since the day she could walk. Juria''s parents loved her and she grew up following her passions.

    "She even learned magic, mastering up to tier three since Lochra had yet to spread her legacy. After Juria joined Valeron''s party and she met Oghrom, it was hatred at first sight.

    "Juria considered everything that Oghrom was and did an insult to knighthood and the noble ideals that Valeron embodied. Oghrom, in turn, considered Juria a spoiled brat who knew nothing of the real world and basked in her own ignorance only thanks to her parents'' money.

    "Long story short, Juria called him a bloodthirsty man-whore who had sold his soul for money and Oghrom called her a gold-spooned murderer with a sword for brains who wouldn''t have survived a day in the slums.

    "No matter how much we tried, nothing Valeron or I did and said changed how they viewed each other. By the end of the war, they stopped arguing and fighting in public but only because they didn''t want to ruin the celebrations for Valeron''s victories.

    "They loved him more than they hated each other. Even that love had limits, though. Juria and Oghrom didn''t attend the other''s marriage nor did they celebrate any non-shared achievement.

    "On the day of Juria''s funeral, Oghrom traveled around the Kingdom to weed out Valeron''s enemies like any other day. He didn''t disrespect her memory for Valeron''s sake but didn''t honor her either."

    "Good gods." Everyone but Sylpha was shocked by that story.

 Chapter 3411: Not a Better One (Part 2)

    The Royal Family knew all about Valeron''s companions and preferred to keep the most controversial aspects of their lives under wraps, making them perfect heroes in the eyes of the Kingdom''s people."What about Fyrwal and Tessa?" Solus asked while pointing at their respective paintings. "What can you tell us about them?"

    "Oghrom and Juria are dead. Talking about them is just citing history facts." Tyris furrowed her delicate brow in reproach. "Fyrwal and Tessa are alive. Talking about them would be no different from gossiping behind their backs.

    "If you are that curious, you should find them and ask them yourself."

    "Point taken. I''m sorry, Tyris. I didn''t mean to be rude." Solus gave the Guardian an apologetic nod that she accepted.

    "Don''t you mean, Your Majesty, Lady Verhen?" Sylpha chided Solus.

    "Don''t be silly, Sylpha." Tyris chuckled. "We see each other every other day at Lith''s house. You can''t expect people to bow to me or use honorifics all the time. We are all friends here. There''s no need for etiquette."

    "You are?" Sylpha was flabbergasted.

    "I don''t advertise it, but yes, Your Majesty." Lith replied. "There are already too many people who hate and resent me without knowing I enjoy Lady Tyris'' companionship. Please, keep this a secret for my sake."

    "I will, Magus Verhen." Sylpha nodded. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''For everyone''s sake.'' She inwardly added. ''The last thing I need is half the Royal Court raging for the blatant favoritism and the other half pushing Lith on the throne the moment they discover Tyris'' identity as the First Queen.''

    Once they were done visiting Valeron''s exhibit and the tour resumed with Lith as the guide and Erkel as the guardian, the Queen bid goodbye to the group.

    Elina went back to her detached and formal attitude, drawing another puzzled look from Lith.

    By the time they had finished exploring the public wings of the Royal Palace, it was already lunchtime. Lith''s group went to eat at the Phoenix''s Nest, one of the best restaurants in the capital and so exclusive that even a Magus needed a reservation.

    Their table was located in front of a panoramic window with a view into the inner garden of the establishment. It allowed the customers to dine while enjoying the songs of the many birds that inhabited the place and the smell of the freshly watered flowers.

    During the day, when most of the customers would be high officials of the Kingdom instead of couples, the Phoenix''s Nest used enchanted tables that kept the conversations that took place at each table from being overheard by their neighbours.

    "I''d never thought history could be so funny. Thanks for the wonderful experience, dear." Between the Hush spell around the table and her sitting away from Lith, Elina felt safe enough to return to her usual self.

    "Don''t mention it, Mom." Lith replied. "Did you know Oghrom and Juria had such a complicated relationship, Ripha?"

    "I had no idea until today." Menadion replied. "I mean, I knew they disliked each other but that was it. I never prodded or cared enough to prod because I liked neither of them and so did Lochra."

    "Are you serious, Mom?" Thanks to a Hush spell of her own and Menadion shapeshifting into her Rhona alias, Solus felt safe enough to speak freely.

    "Very." Ripha nodded. "Oghrom''s charm was superficial. Once you got to spend enough time with him, you realized how dangerous and empty he was. Everything he did and said was coated in honey and dipped in venom.

    "If you were careful, you could notice him sizing you up and looking for weaknesses he could exploit. He was a brilliant man, but his lack of morals made him impossible to admire. If not for Valeron, he had no conscience.

    "It didn''t surprise me one bit that Oghrom chose to die with him. Even in his madness, Oghrom knew that with his powers as an Awakened, he was too dangerous and hard to kill. He couldn''t afford the time to wait until he died of old age like Juria.

    "Oghrom''s final act of loyalty was removing the greatest threat to Valeron''s legacy: himself."

    "What about Juria?" Lith asked. "If she were anything like Phloria, she would have been a great ally and friend."

    "You are right." Ripha nodded. "Too bad Juria was nothing like Phloria. She was arrogant, self-righteous, and overall, a pompous prick. Phloria too was a noble but she had empathy.

    "She knew that not everyone had her same upbringing and tried to understand the unique circumstances of her companions. Instead of blaming and lecturing you for your flaws, Lith, she accepted you and showed you a better way, but she left the final choice yours to make.

    "Juria would have treated you with contempt and called you a coward, claiming that you were no better than the people you beat up back at the Academy."

    "What?" Lith''s blood pressure spiked just at the idea.

    "You heard me." Ripha nodded. "I really thought Phloria was the right one for you. If only that silly girl didn''t break up with you, things might be different today."

    "Mom!" Solus went pale at those words but it was nothing compared to Kamila''s ghost-white face. "How can you be so rude? Kami is right here!"

    "So what?" Menadion shrugged. "I''m only telling the truth. Also, don''t talk as if you didn''t cheer for Lith and Phloria to become an item before you got your body back. Everyone at this table did. Except for Kamila, of course."

    "You did?" Kamila turned around, noticing Elina choking on her food, Tista having an unquenchable thirst that made it impossible for her to answer, and Rena having a really bad fit of cough.

    "Why shouldn''t they?" Menadion spoke with the same tact with which she molded cold steel. "Phloria was kind-hearted, a noble, and smitten with Lith. If she played her card right, she would have given Lith his first child with everyone''s blessing."

    "Are you always this unpleasant?" Kamila''s meal jumped up and down her throat due to the humbling experience.

    "Yes." Menadion and Solus said in unison, one with a steel gaze and the other in exasperation.

    "I say what I mean and I mean what I say, kid. Why should I walk on eggshells around your feelings and waste a thousand words when ten are enough? There''s a reason I lived most of my life as a recluse.

    "I can''t stand people who need me to coddle their ego. If you are a good person, I''ll treat you as such but if you are a prick and can''t hold it in, I''ll rub it in your face."

    Kamila was about to make a snarky comment about Bytra having a few valid reasons to resent Menadion, but deemed it a petty low blow and swallowed it down.

    "What were you saying about Juria, Ripha?" Elina said, rushing to change the topic.

    "That in my and Lochra''s opinion, she was a different flavor from Oghrom but not a better one." Menadion read the room and obliged. "She was judgmental, arrogant, and expected everyone to follow her code of honor.

    "To give you an idea, back when I first met her, Juria lectured me, calling me a selfish, insensitive peddler."

 Chapter 3412 A Willing Prisoner (Part 1)

    ''I don''t know about selfish, but Juria might have had a point about the insensitive part.'' Kamila swallowed down a morsel of roasted Trickster along with her own comment."Was it because of something you said, Ripha?" Lith asked. "You are not exactly Miss Congeniality." S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Yes." Menadion replied with a snort. "I dared ask Valeron and his companions to compensate me for my services and the materials needed to craft their equipment."

    "I beg your pardon?" Everyone stopped eating, widening their eyes in surprise.

    "You heard me." Menadion laughed wryly at the memory. "According to Her Ladyship Juria Ernas, Lochra and I should have worked for free. After all, as Awakened we were privileged and we had the duty to help the less fortunate.

    "Valeron''s was a noble cause and she demanded us to support it with all the means at our disposal in the name of the ''greater good''. Pompous asshole" Ripha''s lips curled in disgust and her voice oozed contempt.

    ''I take that back.'' Kamila thought.

    "Juria was utterly insane." She actually said.

    "Not insane, just inflexible to a fault. She truly believed in what she said and put her money where her mouth was but that didn''t make her more likeable." Menadion shook her head. "Either you loved or hated her, there was no middle ground."

    "Then how come you guys ended up working for them?" Rena asked.

    "Valeron." Ripha answered as if it explained everything. "He was fair and humble. He always paid us what we asked and never demanded more than we were willing to offer.

    "On top of that, if he told Juria and Oghrom to die, they would have ripped their hearts out with a smile on their faces."

    "I''m sorry, but how is this possible?" Tista had a hard time believing such a thing. "I mean, after all the bad things you said about them."

    "You don''t understand, Tista." Menadion put her cutlery down to look Tista in the eyes. "Those were different times. Justice, honor, and everything you take for granted today were just pipe dreams back then.

    "For Oghrom, Valeron was the sun. He embodied everything good that Oghrom knew he could never be. Valeron represented everything Oghrom didn''t want to be but was desperate to protect. When all you see is darkness, you seek the light.

    "When all you know is cold, joyless survival and finally find warmth and life, you do anything not to lose them. In a way, I felt the same for Threin." Ripha sighed deeply, trying to remember the person she was before seven hundred years as a wandering soul twisted her into what she was today.

    "As for Juria, Valeron was the living proof that her ideals weren''t just hot air. He was a noble commander, a fair ruler, and an honest friend. He wasn''t just another master Juria had to serve because duty-bound.

    "His orders resonated with what she believed in and not once was she forced to stomp on her morals while in the line of duty. Juria was the one who believed in Valeron''s dream the most and if her life was the price to pay for it, she would''ve given it without a question."

    "Wow." Lith said.

    "Wow indeed." Menadion nodded. "That''s the kind of man he was. The kind of man I believe you might one day become, if only you could tone down the cynicism and ramp up the forgiveness."

    After spending time with Lith as a person instead of a vengeful spirit and witnessing the magic lessons in Jambel, Ripha''s feelings about him had softened a bit.

    "Thanks for the compliment, but no thanks." Lith replied. "I could never do what Valeron did. He started with nothing and had no one but his companions until he was done building the Kingdom.

    "I started with little but I treasure every bit of it. I have people who love me and they deserve my loyalty and commitment a thousand times more than a bunch of strangers. The former made me who I am today while the latter didn''t care whether I lived or died until I had something to offer them."

    "I said less cynicism and more forgiveness, not that it would be easy." Menadion shrugged.

    ***

    Much to Lith surprise, after lunch Elina and the others just wanted to tour the city of Valeron. They visited its monuments and all the places of historical importance, including Traitors'' Plaza.

    It was where all those who had committed treason against the Kingdom were executed. Among them, the most famous was still Arthan, the Mad King. Tyris had personally beheaded him in front of the people he had vowed to serve after his after exposing his betrayal and experiments on Forbidden Magic.

    It had marked the moment in the Kingdom''s history when its citizens had witnessed irreputable proof that no one, not even the Crown, was above the law.

    A red splash still marked where Arthan''s head had rolled after being severed from its neck.

    Of course, Tyris couldn''t allow the Mad King''s blood to be preserved for anyone to take. It would have meant the risk of providing the means to study the effects of the Madness.

    She had cleansed the blood right after the execution and replaced it with red paint that was revarnished fresh every few months.

    "What a crowd." Lith grumbled. "Luckily, I put a Hush spell on the stroller or Elysia and Valeron would be terrified."

    Traitors'' Plaza was packed but that was just how every main artery of the city of Valeron was. The capital bustled with people and activity for the most part of the day and even until relatively late at night.

    The babies sat in their floating stroller, unimpressed by the flawless paved roads or the high-end clothes of most people their parents crossed. Worst of all, was the maelstrom of scents assaulting their Divine Beast''s noses.

    Perfumes, colognes, sweat, and the aromas wafting from the various shops along the road mixed together in a sweet, revolting smell that could only be described like a hybrid between a bakery and a flower bed on steroids after a gruelling workout.

    Elysia and Valeron disliked being there but disliked even more being separated from their parents so they could only chitter and bear with it.

    "What did you expect?" Elina said. "This is the capital, after all. The good thing is that no one is batting an eye at your stroller. I wonder how used to magical goods these people are."

    "We could have a bit of personal space if you let me wear my Magus robe." Lith said, moving with difficulty through the crowd and holding back the temptation to trample them over with his mass.

    "This is a vacation, son." She frowned. "If you don''t keep your anonymity, I won''t be able to keep you all for myself. You''d receive countless invitations and right now you don''t have a decent excuse to turn them down."

    "Fine. What''s next?" Lith could only capitulate when faced with his mother''s smile.

    They spent the rest of the afternoon visiting historical buildings like Fyrwal''s Tower, the place of birth and main branch of the Mage Association that had been established by Fyrwal the Hydra at the same time as the Royal Castle.

 Chapter 3413 A Willing Prisoner (Part 2)

    Lith called Fyrwal and asked her to be their guide but she firmly refused."First, I''m not your lackey. Second, if I were to show my face there, I''d be pestered to death. Last but not least, I''m already busy. Maybe another time." She replied.

    After a light dinner at the King''s Table, another renowned restaurant recommended by the Ernas, Lith brought everyone to the Opera House for the play Tale of the Five Heroes.

    It was one of the most popular theatrical works in the Kingdom, recounting the lives of the four founding pillars before they met Valeron and that of the First King before he allegedly met the love of his life, Saefel.

    It was divided into five acts, one dedicated to each member of Valeron''s party, and all of them ending with their first encounter with him. Valeron''s act, instead, focused on his early life as a farmer and then his rise to power.

    Of course, most of the sordid and unpleasant things Oghrom had done were downplayed to an acceptable level that aroused compassion rather than disgust in the audience. In the same way, Juria Ernas'' character flaws were tuned down, making her a righteous knight instead of an overbearing self-righteous jerk.

    Fyrwal''s and Tessa''s lives, on the contrary, were mostly a work of fiction. Very few knew they were respectively a Hydra and a Titania so all the parts about their youth as beautiful and talented human women came from the cover story Valeron had written for them in the Royal Archives.

    Their character was depicted correctly but everything that might reveal their real nature had been removed.

    As for Valeron, in the play it was a lucky encounter that made him stumble into magic books and he learned everything on his own thanks to his alleged peerless talent. Saefel appeared only at the end of his act, to make him fall in love and craft the legendary set as betrothal gift.

    ''If you doze off or Elina catches you staring in the void because you are working on your magic, you''ll ruin the night for her. Try living in the moment.'' Kamila had gone all out dressing up, hoping to at least partly make up for her earlier blunder.

    ''I know.'' Lith inwardly whined via the mind link. ''Please, keep an eye on me.''

    ''Three hours of my life I''ll never get back.'' He secretly added.

    The entire female side of the Verhen family was sitting in a royal box of the Opera House, the closest possible to the left side of the stage while also giving an optimal view of the play.

    The babies, instead, were inside their Doomslayer crib in the corner of the royal box. They didn''t understand the reason behind the ridiculous clothes, the strange place, and the weird lights but thanks to the Hush spell they heard no noise and smelled no scent.

    They were free to eat, sleep, and discuss without any stranger staring at them or disturbing them which was a huge improvement from the afternoon.

    "Mom, is it normal for toddlers to talk that much?" Tista pointed her evening gloved finger at the babies.

    "Not at all." Elina shook her head, making the red streaks covering her brown hair sparkle like rubies under the theatre''s magical lights. "Lith, do you understand what they are saying?"

    "No more than you do, Mom. Baby babble mixed with Dragontongue is beyond me." He shrugged.

    Royal boxes were magically insulated from noise and smell.

    Only the voices and sounds from the stage could bypass the spells. It allowed the noble spectators to comment the play without disturbing the rest of the audience and to discuss their private business during the break in between acts.

    It was after Juria''s act, as Lith''s mind recovered from the sea of boredom, that he noticed something weird.

    "Mom, is this really your idea of vacation?" He asked.

    "Of course." Her beaming smile could have blinded the entire theatre. "Why? Is it so boring for you?"

    "No." He lied through his teeth. "I mean, visiting the Royal Palace, touring a city, watching a play, are all things you can do on your own. Why didn''t you travel the Kingdom sooner?" Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s¡­ complicated. Do you want to eat something after the play? I heard that Oghrom''s Knife has a great selection of beers." Elina sat straight as she tried to change the topic.

    "Don''t change the topic, Mom. What''s complicated about traveling?" Lith pressed forward.

    "Fine." She sighed, her shoulders slouching a bit. "I just didn''t want to inconvenience you."

    "Inconvenience me?" Lith echoed in confusion.

    "Sweetie, our house is safe." Elina replied "Thanks to all the arrays you placed, the magical beasts, and the units of the Queen''s Corps, no one can harm me. Even if anyone is dumb enough to try, with the Warp Gate in the barn reinforcements are just one breath away.

    "The same stands when I spend time in Lutia, in the Desert, or when I visit Jirni. If I were to travel alone, instead, I would still have the escort of the Queen''s Corps but that would mean reducing the number of people watching our family back home.

    "Your enemies would have an easier time kidnapping your father while he travels for work and the gods know if that''s an experience he can afford to repeat without going crazy. Also, Rena, the children, and all the people in Lutia would be in danger.

    "If I travel alone, our family would be exposed and if someone puts their all into kidnapping or killing one of us, they could succeed. If anything were to happen to us, you would drop everything you were doing at that moment and run to our rescue.

    "You couldn''t study, hold your academy lectures, or spend time with your family. Your life is already hard and unpredictable, sweetie. I couldn''t bear the thought of robbing you of your peace and happy moments just to indulge in my selfishness.

    "When you are by my side, instead, I can do anything I want and go anywhere I want without endangering anyone."

    "What?" Lith remained speechless as Elina wrung her hands in awkwardness.

    Luckily for both of them, the lights went out and Tessa''s act began, freeing them from the need to continue the conversation.

    ''She lives as a willing prisoner in her house for me?'' Elina had made solid and rational points but the final result was still a punch in the gut for Lith. ''Mom worries about how her decisions might affect me before making them?

    ''I¡­'' Suddenly, he felt like a jerk.

    He realized how, by asking Menadion to talk with Elina about her public displays of affection, he had robbed Elina of one of the few things she allowed herself to enjoy and further limited her freedom.

    ''While I am sitting here like an idiot, thinking about how bored I am, she is happy to be with me. She had waited all this time to get out of Lutia and share these moments with me and here I was, complaining!

    ''I won''t allow anyone to ruin this for her. Not even me!''

    Such thoughts stirred a great anger inside of him. An anger that grew even stronger as Lith thought about the bounty Orpal had placed over his magicless family members.

 Chapter 3414 Thank You (Part 1)

    Trouble and Raptor were already standing guard outside the royal box in the form of armored knights and now they had company. Eyes opened and claws formed inside every shadow in the Opera House, watching and listening for threats.The phenomenon spread all over the city of Valeron until only the Royal Palace was spared and only because its powerful arrays stopped the creeping shadows.

    ***

    After the end of the play, Lith took everyone for a walk to enjoy the capital by night and then for a snack. The Verhen women with their elegant dresses and fine jewelry turned quite a few heads.

    Some even of 180¡ã when they belonged to criminals or petty thieves who had dared to look at them for too long or too hard. The army of Demons was still there, invisible but ready to strike at the slightest provocation. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Lith didn''t miss how the moment they stepped out of the royal box his mother kept her distance from him. Whenever they were in public, even while eating, she would become quieter and her smile dimmer.

    Find more to read at empire

    When they returned to their hotel, Saefel''s Haven, Lith entrusted the babies to Kamila and went to Elina''s room to have a talk long overdue. Except for him and Kamila, everyone else had their own suite to enjoy a rare moment of privacy and solitude.

    "Mom, we need to talk." He sighed deeply.

    "Are you breaking up with me?" She asked with a chuckle. "It''s not easy to find another mother as understanding as me, you know?"

    "Disagree." Lith shook his head, surprising her quite a bit. "It''s not hard. It''s impossible."

    "Thank you!" Elina hugged him and kissed his cheek. "What do you want to talk about?"

    "This¡­" He pointed at her arms. "And this." He pinched her cheeks to keep her smile in place.

    "I know Ripha told you not to be clingy in public and I can see how miserable you are ever since you''ve started following her advice."

    "You do? How?" Elina was flabbergasted.

    "Because I asked her to and because I''m not blind." Lith replied, flabbergasting her more. "I take it back. Ignore everything Ripha said. Even better, forget about it. You can hug, kiss me, and cling to my arm as much as you want."

    "But Ripha, I mean, you have a point." Elina lowered her gaze. "It''s embarrassing for an adult man to be treated like that. People might misunderstand our relationship."

    "Mom, I want you to know I''m proud of you. I have never been embarrassed of you. Not once." Lith looked her straight into the eyes. "As for what the people think, that ship sailed a long time ago and sunk the moment I became famous.

    "There are all sorts of wild rumors about me. There are people who believe I had Valeron the Second with Solus while others that Shargein is my son. And don''t get me started with all those who are convinced I have inappropriate relationships with Tyris, Faluel, and every woman I appear with in public."

    "That''s both absurd and outrageous." Elina couldn''t help but chuckle. "Where are you supposed to find time for your magical research while you sleep around so much?"

    "As if people would care about minor details like logic." Lith shrugged. "Bottom line, I don''t care what they think, and neither should you. Please, go back to your usual self."

    "But, if you sent Ripha to talk to me about the issue, it must annoy you." Elina let him go and took a step back.

    "It does." Lith admitted. "But not as much as not seeing you smile from the heart or you keeping your distance from me like you are some sort of criminal. I love you, Mom, and making you happy makes me happy."

    He closed the distance, wrapping her in a hug and kissing her forehead.

    "Thank you, baby." Elina sniffled as she returned the embrace. "I promise I''ll give Kami space to cling to you from time to time."

    "Thanks for your permission, Mom." Lith chuckled and she joined him.

    They remained like that in silence for a while. Long enough to make Lith wonder if after being separated all day his mother secretly needed him to recharge just like Solus.

    "Speaking of talks long overdue, there''s something I''ve been ruminating for quite a long time, waiting for the right moment to bring it out." Elina said once she broke the embrace.

    "I''m listening." Lith nodded.

    "Please, sit down." Elina pointed at a chair and he complied. "I have a confession to make. The reason I''ve waited until now is because I don''t need to speak with you but with the Void. Can you call him out for me?"

    At those words, Lith''s mind had turned into a paranoid chaotic mess too frenzied to formulate a logical thought as countless nightmare scenarios flashed in front of his eyes one after another.

    His mouth, mind, and body were frozen. All he could do was shapeshift into his Abomination form.

    "Nice to meet you." Elina gave the Void a small bow before approaching him. "Isn''t it funny? We''ve known each other for years but we''ve never talked."

    She looked at his alien features, the weird flaming hair, and those eyes filled with the same rage and pain that her son usually masked so well.

    As Elina studied his upside-down membranous wings, she felt like she had taken a thick veil off her eyes and was now staring at an uncomfortable truth she had always avoided.

    "You know, Lith, when you told me you were a hybrid, I only had a rough understanding of what it meant. On top of that, I always focused on the Dragon and Phoenix parts since Abominations are not public knowledge.

    "After you introduced Zoreth and Nyka to me, however, I started researching about undead a bit. I didn''t learn much. Necromancy is too complicated and after asking around, I discovered not even Abominations know exactly how they are born.

    "The only point everyone is clear about is that Abominations are undead and to become one you must first die. It sounds silly saying it out loud, but I always ignored this premise, pretending it wasn''t important.

    "Until Strider decapitated you and you went on a rampage, acting like a different person." Elina averted her eyes, tormenting her hands while she looked for the right words. "That''s when it struck me.

    "You have an Abomination side, you always have. It means that at some point, you died and came back. I thought long and hard about how and when it might have happened. At first, I thought it might have been during your years at the Academy, like during Balkor''s attack.

    "Then, however, I remembered that you and I already had our communication amulets back then. If that were the moment you gained your Abomination side, I would have lost your contact rune so it had to have happened before the amulet.

    "The more I thought about it, the less it made sense. Sure, your father and I failed to give you the best childhood, but you have always been a healthy child. You never required a healer so that''s off the table too.

    "Also, since a young age your magic protected you from the likes of Meln''s, adults, and even magical beasts."

 Chapter 3415 Thank You (Part 2)

    "The only exception was when you were too young to defend yourself. When your life was in the hands of fate and incompetent adults. Like the day when you were born."Elina sniffled at the memory of that day. The room stank of shit, blood, and piss, but the only detail that was deeply engraved in her mind was the deafening silence that filled the room instead of the cries of a newborn life.

    "Gods, how can something so simple go so wrong?" She sobbed.

    "Mom, I''m sorry. I-" Lith tried to stand up and explain himself but she grabbed the black slate that was his face and stopped him.

    "Don''t worry. That came out wrong." She said while caressing the features of Derek McCoy with her thumbs. "What I was trying to say is that I''m rambling. The when or how you gained your Abomination side doesn''t matter.

    "All I wanted to say to the Void from the beginning is just thank you." Elina leaned forward, touching his forehead with her own. "Thank you for bringing my baby back home after that Zouwu tried to kill him.

    "Thank you for bringing my baby back to me after my stupid body killed him. Thank you for being my baby." Warm tears gently streaked down her cheeks onto the Void''s as Elina stroked his flaming hair without getting burned.

    "Mom-"

    "Shush, child." Now she was the one holding him tight in an embrace and kissing his forehead. "Whatever it is, it doesn''t matter. You are my baby and nothing can change that. Do you hear me? Nothing."

    Elina took a step back to look him straight in the eyes.

    "Yes, Mom."

    "Good." She restored the embrace, placing Lith''s head on her bosom as she had done countless times since he was an infant.

    The Void returned the hug, understanding the meaning of Elina''s words. The question he had asked himself hundreds of times finally had an answer.

    ***

    The following day, Elina was back to her usual self.

    She didn''t distance herself from Lith anymore, she called him endearing embarrassing terms like he was still five years old, and stuck to him like a strangling vine to a tree.

    "Thank the gods you fixed Mom, lil bro." Rena sighed in relief as Elina''s smile could once again power up a sun. "Seeing her act so quiet and formal was starting to creep me out real fast."

    "Rena, are you calling your mother creepy?" Elina grunted.

    "Did I stutter?" Rena tilted her head to the side. "Mom, let''s face it. You are clingy and overly affectionate but we have all gotten so used to it that if you don''t do it, we worry you might have been replaced by a Skinwalker."

    "A Doppelganger." Tista corrected her. "A Skinwalker would take her appearance and memories. Doppelgangers, instead, can only mimic the physical form."

    "How dare you talk to me like that? You two deserve a lesson." Elina squeezed them in a hug and peppered them with kisses, greatly embarrassing them in front of the hotel''s staff.

    "Mom, no! Mercy. I surrender." Tista whined, incapable of moving without the risk of hurting her mother.

    "Gama! Gama!" Elysia said, feeling left out.

    "Gandma! Gandma!" Valeron joined her plea.

    "Of course, my cuties. Come to Grandma." At those words many people spat out their food and/or drinks, questioning whether it was their eyes or ears playing tricks on them.

    Surin had no idea what was going on, but being the only one not getting hugs and kisses from Elina, she cried out in jealousy.

    "I''m sorry, baby. Sometimes I forget you are the only one who doesn''t know how to voice what you want." The baby girl clung to Elina and soon stopped crying, starting again as soon as someone came close to her.

    "She''s marking the territory, Mom." Lith said, prompting more spitting from the peanut gallery. "You must pay Surin more attention or when she grows up, she''ll resent her siblings. Isn''t it right, lil sis?"

    The ensuing third wave of spitting forced many guests of the hotel to ask for another breakfast and the staff to clean most of the floor and tables.

    As for Surin, she said nothing but she sure looked disgruntled.

    Once they were done with breakfast, they checked out of Saefel''s Haven and moved to the city of Vinea via the Warp Gate.

    "Are you sure it''s okay, sweetie?" Elina asked.

    "Don''t worry, Mom." Lith replied. "If being in a place I visited with Phloria was an issue, how could I hold my lessons at the White Griffon Academy? Besides, Vinea is one of the most picturesque cities in the Kingdom. You can''t miss it."

    "What about you, Kami?" Elina said.

    "I''m fine." She lied through her teeth. "I''m not jealous because Lith brought his ex here on a date almost ten years ago."

    "She''s not fine, right, baby?" Elina turned to Lith. Find more to read at empire

    "Not by a long shot, Mom." He shook his head. "Maybe you should leave her your spot."

    Elina sighed and let go of Lith''s arm which Kamila promptly grabbed.

    "Are you sure, Elina? We can go halfsies. You can take the left and I the right arm." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s fine." She lied through her teeth. "He is your husband. You take priority."

    "Thank you." Kamila pretended to believe Elina and clung to Lith who gave her an amused smile.

    ''Not so cocky anymore, huh?'' He said via a mind link.

    ''I''ve already apologized yesterday and I''ll do it again until you forgive me. I''m sorry for acting stupid and disregarding your feelings.'' She replied.

    ''I already did.'' Lith said in confusion. ''I was just pulling your leg. Yet I must admit it''s nice feeling desired.''

    Those words hurt more than any scolding could.

    ''Am I really taking him for granted?'' Kamila thought. ''With the kids and all the crazy stuff that always happens, we don''t have much time alone together but Lith makes me feel appreciated when we hang out like this. Why can''t I do the same?''

    "Wow, this place is amazing." Ripha said, snapping Kamila out of her worries.

    The lagoon city of Vinea had been built after Menadion''s time, when water and earth magic had progressed enough to make small wonders not only possible but also common.

    Vinea''s uptown district was crescent shaped and faced the sea, giving every noble mansion and high-end establishment a majestic setting and direct access to the city''s waterways.

    Water separated the city blocks, forming canals that could be crossed either by boat or using one of the many stone bridges connecting the roads. Thanks to the mastery of mages and engineers of the Kingdom, Vinea was a double layered city.

    One at the ground level and the other at the water level.

    Big and small boats were moored along the main canals, hosting restaurants, shops, and even small art exhibits. The walls along the waterways had been painted and decorated over the centuries by itinerant artists.

    Those the people of Vinea liked or that at least drew tourists, were carefully preserved by using small arrays. The maintenance of the arrays was entrusted to the clerks of the local branch of the Mage Association or the students of the six great academies during their Code of Practice semesters.

 Chapter 3416 Ears and Eyes (Part 1)

    The decorations and frescoes that failed to grasp the hearts of the people of Vinea or the money of tourists were naturally eroded by the wind, saltwater, and tides, leaving an empty canvas for better artists to fill. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality."What are those colorful small boats?" Menadion pointed at the busy canals.

    "Gondolas." Solus replied. "They are the only civilian vessels issued to travel the city''s lower level. They are painted like that to make them visible during bad weather conditions and avoid accidents.

    "The hook-shaped bow is used to hold a bell in case of fog and a lantern at night."

    "Can we rent one? Pretty please?" Menadion said.

    Vinea''s canals were well-kept and clean all year round. The only smells that came from them were saltwater and the scents of the local delicacies cooked on the spot.

    "Not one. Many." Solus replied. "This way we can split up and tour the city as we like."

    "Indeed." Lith nodded. "First, let''s go to our hotel."

    "Thank you, dear." Elina said.

    "For what?" Lith was more than puzzled since he had yet to do anything.

    "For the hotel." Elina replied. "With a Warp Gate, we could easily go back home and save money. Instead, you booked rooms for all of us to allow us to immerse ourselves in the local traditions of the places we are visiting."

    "Don''t mention it, Mom. It''s nothing." On the one hand, Lith was happy to be appreciated. On the other hand, he felt guilty because Elina''s first observation was something he had actually considered.

    ''How much of a cheapskate am I for Mom to be aware of my innermost thoughts?''

    ''How much of an ingrate I am for not realizing this until Elina said it?'' Kamila, instead, just felt guilty.

    They were both still riddled with doubts when they reached the Mermaid Reef, one of the best hotels in Vinea. The concierge would have thrown a confused look at the weird group of six women, three toddlers, and only one man but professional pride kept him.

    When he heard they were the ones who had booked four top-floor suites every objection he might have was cleared by the clink of the golden coins Lith paid upfront.

    "Thank you for your patronage and enjoy your stay." The concierge bowed deeply to every guest, even the babies. "If you need anything, please just ask. The Mermaid Reef prides itself in offering only the best of services."

    "Will do. Thanks." Lith didn''t know whether to be upset or happy that no one seemed to recognize him without the Magus robe. "Where can we rent gondolas without wasting time haggling or being ripped off?"

    "Renting?" The man sounded as horrified and offended as he intended to. "As our penthouse guests, your rooms come with a personal gondola. Here''s the keys to your suites." The man handed them four elaborate silver keys embossed with magic crystals.

    "And this is the gondola token for each room." Then the concierge passed them four silver coins bearing on one side the engraving of a mermaid singing atop of a reef, her back arched as she lifted herself on her hands, and the engraving of a gondola on the other.

    "Our private dock is on the second underground floor. It''s open 24/7 and there''s always a valet at your service. You can ask him for anything and he will help you to the best of the hotel''s abilities."

    "Thank you." Elina gave the concierge a polite nod. "Can we see our rooms? I want to leave a few things behind and check if Surin needs to be fed or changed before we start touring Vinea."

    "Of course." Lith nodded, giving everyone their key and token.

    ''What in the gods'' name have I just seen?'' The concierge let all of his emotions run wild on his face the moment he was alone. ''Judging by the hair, the babies clearly have different mothers but they all resemble that guy.

    ''What kind of man can be so brazen to bring all his lovers together and why do I feel I have already seen him somewhere?''

    The answer to his questions came when he checked the hotel register where the guests had signed the keys'' receipts.

    The concierge''s eyes went wide, refusing to believe what he was reading. He took out his amulet, checking the pictures available on the Web of the Supreme Magus and his family to make sure he hadn''t gone mad.

    "I see." The concierge nodded. "Larham, cover the reception desk for me for a few minutes. I need a break."

    Only when he was certain that his absence would not affect the guests and the reputation of the Mermaid Reef did the concierge allow himself to faint.

    ***

    Each suite of the Mermaid Reef was as big as a four-room apartment and the four Lith had taken occupied the entirety of the top floor of the hotel.

    They all had an ample bedroom with a king-sized bed, a living room, a dining room, and two bathrooms. The furniture was refined and gold-inlaid while both bedsheets and drapes were made of red silk embroidered with gold.

    The paintings decorating the room were of medium quality, all depicting marine-themed scenes. Of course, being on Mogar, it meant mages fighting or interacting with mystical water creatures of all shapes and sizes.

    "This place is amazing. You have to try the carpets, Tista. They''re softer than a cloud." Rena said while rubbing the sole of her naked foot against the wool.

    Once they were done imprinting and exploring their rooms, they went down to the hotel dock.

    "Are you coming with us, Solus?" Tista asked while boarding the gondola of her choosing.

    "No, thanks. I want to spend some time with my mother." She replied.

    "Excellent idea." Elina stepped inside Lith''s gondola with the valet''s help. "This is a mother-child bonding trip, after all."

    "What?" The valet was young and lacked the concierge''s cold blood and even with her disguise as Rhona Verhen, Menadion looked as young as Elina and could pass for Solus'' older sister at best.

    "Problems?" Lith grunted, not liking how the youth stared at his mother. Your next journey awaits at empire

    "No. Please, forgive my rudeness." The valet became beet red from embarrassment.

    "Remember your weight, dear." Menadion said, ignoring the young man.

    "Mom! My diet is none of your business." Solus flushed just as red.

    "I meant Gravity Magic." Menadion chuckled in reply.

    "Oh, right." Solus cleared her throat, inwardly cursing her paranoia while boarding the gondola.

    She took the row and left the dock at record speed to escape the valet''s questioning look.

    "I''m glad you are with us, Elina." Kamila lied.

    ''This is one of the most romantic cities I''ve ever seen and I have to visit it with a fifth wheel!'' She thought.

    "Me too." Elina nodded while strapping Surin''s baby seat right beside Valeron''s and Elysia''s. "This is also a vacation for the babies and they have to stick together."

    The baby girl had big, innocent, uncomprehending eyes and no idea what she was looking at. The two hybrids, instead, sniffed the air like hunting dogs and followed the flying birds with their eyes.

    Lith had already left as well whereas Tista and Rena were still sitting, each waiting for the other to take the oar and start paddling.

 Chapter 3417 Ears and Eyes (Part 2)

    "Why should I be the ferryman? We are both women." Tista grunted."Indeed, but I''m a delicate creature whereas you are a war machine." Rena countered. "Also, would you rather row the boat yourself or sit there and bring along a stranger who''ll stare and listen to us the entire time?"

    "Point taken." Tista sighed and grabbed the oar. "Begrudgingly, but taken nonetheless."

    A flick of the paddle brought the gondola off the dock and another out of the hotel and into the canal.

    "What the fuck?" The valet was shocked. "Even with only one passenger, it takes strength and technique to fight the currents yet those guys maneuver their gondolas like toy boats floating on a fountain!"

    The Verhens spent the day touring the lower side of the city, visiting the shops, and admiring the different pieces of art from different periods that decorated both sides of the canals.

    They met up only to lunch together in a floating restaurant in the shopping district. Vinea''s cuisine was rich of delicious fish- and seafood-based dishes that the Verhens explored and shared.

    Alas, even though all hotels prided themselves on ensuring the privacy of their guests, the concierge''s fainting left the register open to less discreet eyes, and the young valet had no qualms about running his mouth with anyone willing to listen to him.

    Before lunchtime, rumors of Lith''s arrival spread like wildfire, reaching all kinds of ears.

    ***

    "Gods, I must come back here with Raaz." Elina said, her eyes misted with emotion. "Admiring the sunset from the bay is a mystical experience. The light reflects on the water making it look on fire and the city behind us is simply majestic.

    "This day couldn''t end any better." S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''It actually could.'' Kamila inwardly grunted while keeping a smile on her face. ''This would be the perfect moment to share with my husband and maybe exchange a few tender words.

    ''I could also kiss Lith under this romantic light and show him how much I love him if not for my mother-in-law sitting right next to me!''

    "I couldn''t have said any better, Elina." She actually said.

    "I''m glad you like it." Lith smiled with satisfaction. "I''m glad no one suffered from seasickness but I think we should spend the rest of the evening on the land not to get sea legs during the night."

    "Excellent idea." Elina nodded. "Also, the chef was so kind to point us to his brother''s restaurant. If he''s as good as his brother says, you should like dinner more than lunch, baby."

    Vinea also had cultivated fields and animal farms, giving it a rich tradition of meat- and wheat-based dishes as well. Its citizens loved the concept of two cities in one so they served seafood only in the canals and meat only on land.

    ''Beaten to the punch again.'' Kamila sighed. ''What the heck happened yesterday? Elina has always been loving and caring with Lith but today she''s cranked it at eleven!''

    As Lith gently rowed back to the Mermaid Reef, moving through the waves as if it was the placid surface of a lake, his Tiamat eyes spotted a reflection coming from ashore.

    His pupils constricted to a vertical line, putting into focus a figure several hundreds of meters in the distance. It was a man standing above a bell tower who was following Lith''s gondola with a spyglass.

    The man was good at his job and if not for the setting sun''s angle, Lith would have never noticed him. Lith made a couple of detours, claiming he wanted to buy souvenirs, and noticed it was no coincidence.

    ''The fucker is spying on me!'' The words of Menadion and Baba Yaga churned in his mind, painting different potential threats. ''They might be Awakened who want Ripha''s Blade Weapons or Meln''s lackeys.

    ''Either way, I''ll deal with them just the same. Follow but don''t kill him. That''s my job.''

    Locrias took form underwater and the pocket dimension released Trouble right beside him. Demons had a limited range but Golems had no such problem. Thanks to the Spirit Crystal embedded in Trouble''s chest, the construct could fuel Locrias until it ran out of mana, no matter the distance.

    ''Yes, my Liege.'' Locrias possessed the metal body and shapeshifted it into the inconspicuous form of a fish, swimming to the nearest empty service canal. Warping under the sea would have carried the water as well, alerting the prey. Discover more stories at empire

    Warping above the water would have alerted Elina and ruined her vacation, instead. Lith kept one eye on the sentinel, providing Locrias with the dimensional coordinates he needed to reach his mark with a single Steps.

    The dimensional passage opened behind the man''s back and thanks to Gravity Magic, Trouble moved as light as the cat Locrias had transformed it into.

    "What''s wrong, baby?" Elina asked. "You suddenly have a serious look."

    "It''s nothing, Mom." Lith replied with a smile. "I was just thinking that Vinea is truly a romantic city and I should go out on a date tonight."

    ***

    ''What the fuck?'' Alinor of Vinea was very good at his job and from almost a kilometer away, being spotted was supposed to be impossible.

    It was the reason when Verhen seemed to look right into the spyglass Alinor had felt a cold shiver running down his spine. He lowered the tube for a second, rubbing his eyes before resuming the surveillance.

    ''I knew it was all in my head.'' He sighed in relief. ''Verhen may be a monster but there''s no way he can notice me. Even if he did, there are hundreds of boats in the lagoon. He has no reason to suspect someone is watching him.''

    Verhen was now looking around like a tourist and talking with his mother and wife. Alinor took notes of everything he could understand by reading Lith''s lips and left the bell tower only once his marks had gotten too close to the land to keep observing them.

    He carefully ripped the pages of his notebook off and folded them into slips of paper the size of a coin. Alinor climbed down the stepladder and left the library from a secondary exit that opened on a small alley.

    A chore magic air spell silenced the squeaky hinges of the door as well as his shoes. It was one of the most useful tricks in Alinor''s line of work, allowing him to be noticeable only when he wanted.

    Law enforcers and criminals alike lowered their guard the moment they heard his creaking steps and noticed how "clumsy" Alinor was. They assumed it was impossible to miss his presence and stopped looking out for him, relying on the warning signs he could stop at will.

    Alinor emerged in a busy road, blending with the crowd of honest workers going back to their homes. On the way, he bumped into several people. Some were just normal accidents while in a few occasions it was a pretext to pass the slip of papers to his contacts unnoticed.

    A man like Alinor of Vinea had no master and worked only for the highest bidder. In Verhen''s case, bidders. The arrival of the Supreme Magus traveling incognito had triggered more red flags than a Royal Parade and many powerful people feared to be the reason for Lith''s presence.

 Chapter 3418 Who I Am (Part 1)

    Explore more at empireOnly information could reassure Vinea''s corrupted upper echelons there was no world-ending Divine Beast on their tail and only one man who could give it to them. Alinor was used to making his own prices but never with so many people at once and all about the same mark.

    Like most people, he rarely looked up at the sky. Even if he did, Trouble was no bigger than a seagull and thanks to Locrias'' hologram no different from a real one. The scavenger birds were ubiquitous in Vinea and locals would only notice one if hit by its droppings.

    ''That''s four exchanges already.'' Locrias used six of his seven eyes to study the couriers from different angles while keeping the seventh fixed on his target. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After Alinor was done with the deliveries, he walked into a pub just to exit from the service entrance. He used different establishments every time to alter his route and backtrack, making it impossible to follow him without being noticed.

    On his way home he even escaped through the window of the bathrooms on the second floor of an hotel and jumped into the abandoned opposite building whose locks he had picked in advance and kept ready to be closed once he was inside.

    Alas, Locrias had no need to be smarter or faster than the professional informant. As long as Trouble kept itself within the range of Life Vision, no matter what clothes Alinor changed into or what detour he took, his energy signature was always the same.

    ***

    Once he reached his small apartment, closed all the locks, and activated all the traps, Alinor of Vinea could finally sigh in relief.

    ''Another job well done, even if I have to say it myself.'' He thought while looking at the squalor of the flophouse he called home. ''Just one more haul like this and I can finally retire.''

    Despite his second-hand worn-out clothes and humble abode, Alinor was a very wealthy man. The kind of wealthy man who could have lived in a mansion surrounded by beautiful maids until the end of his days.

    Too bad that if he did that, he would be arrested before he could sit down in the luxurious armchair he always dreamed about.

    That kind of purchase triggered flags which in turn would start an investigation that would end with him wearing a pair of metal bracelets once he failed to explain how he had earned that kind of money.

    On top of that, even renting a mansion would have been a waste. Alinor was one of the best in his field, but far from perfect. He had been made out and followed more than once, forcing him to a precipitous escape.

    Flophouses were easy to find, cheap, and he lost nothing whenever he was forced to move out. Everything he really cared about was stored inside his dimensional ring, where no one could steal it.

    ''One job. Just one more and I''ll have enough to pay the money launderer and still have enough left to retire.'' Alinor thought. ''Maybe I''ll open a pub to keep earning a few coins. I like beer and gossip so it''s the perfect hobby for me.''

    He checked under the bed, inside the wardrobe, and in the bathroom. There was no other place where an intruder could hide.

    Even though they were empty, once Alinor finished the delicious hot meal he had bought and stored during the morning, he placed wax seals and sticks in the frame of every door before going to bed.

    This way, even if someone Warped inside and opened any door, the noise would wake him up. Alionor double-checked everything one last time and fell asleep like an obscenely rich baby.

    He was having one of those sordid dreams typical of hormonal teenagers or adults who had avoided intimacy for a long time when a gentle hand shook him.

    "Wake up. We need to talk." The voice was calm and soothing, reminding Alinor of his father.

    Except his father was dead and Alinor was supposed to be alone.

    Fear and years of training made Alinor react before a thought could form in his mind muddied by sleep. His hand slipped under the cushion while his foot struck the intruder right on the windpipe, crushing it.

    Great was his surprise when his hand only grasped air and his foot broke into three points.

    "Are you looking for this?" Pain and his fear turning into terror that snapped Alias fully awake.

    Verhen was sitting on the bed beside him, holding the Orichalcum knife coated in Doomberry poison that was supposed to be under his pillow.

    "Doomberry poison." Lith said while licking the blade. "Excellent choice. It''s transparent, colorless, odorless, and can kill a man in seconds at this concentration."

    It was an assassin''s favorite since it could be slipped into food and drinks. Just a few drops entering an open mouth or wound would cause multiple organ failure even in the strongest, healthiest man.

    An Awakened at the bright violet, however, wouldn''t even notice it. Every organ, cell, and drop of blood in their bodies was filled to the brim with mana, and weren''t afraid to use it.

    The immune system attacked with extreme prejudice everything with the wrong or no energy signature while the powerful acids of the stomach and the digestive system would break down into nutrients even things that weren''t supposed to be nutrients.

    Violet cores could easily digest small stones and dust, let alone something organic.

    If highly refined Doomberry poison ravaged a body akin to the assault of heavy cavalry followed by squadrons of bowmen and infantry, Lith''s metabolism responded to the attack with giant mechs and squadrons of soldiers wearing flying exo-suits and armed with plasma rifles.

    In one word: a massacre.

    "Nice blade." Lith studied it calmly. "Refined Orichalcum with a piercing main enchantment and secondary spells to support it. One stab and even if you miss a vital organ, the poison would do the rest.

    "Yet I don''t think this would be of any help to you here. Watch." He plunged the knife into his open palm.

    A normal man would have felt like hitting a boulder, but the blow carried the strength of a Divine Beast. When the blade hit the palm and the kinetic energy was unable to advance, it turned inward and the knife exploded into countless poisonous shards.

    If not for a thin protective barrier Lith had placed around Alinor, it would have been enough to kill him. Lith, however, had other plans.

    "Stay back!" Alinor scurried off the bed and ran to a trapdoor on the floor.

    It was supposed to be triggered by his weight and bring him to the safety of the ground floor. Yet nothing happened.

    Lith remained still while Alinor tried the door and the window, but neither budged. The desperate man tried to shatter the glass with an elbow strike, but ended up shattering his elbow.

    Spirit Magic coated every surface of the room, making it as hard as Damascus steel.

    "Did you know who I am before accepting the job to spy on me?" Lith asked while the man cried in pain and held his injured arm and foot near his body.

 Chapter 3419 Who I Am (Part 2)

    "Of course I know you." Alinor answered to buy time and not anger his assailant. "Everyone knows the Supreme Magus Lith Verhen.""No, you don''t know me. Very few do." Lith chuckled, sending a chill down Alinor''s spine. "You know my name and face like everyone else but that''s it. If you knew who I am and what I do, you would have never approached my mother in my presence."

    As Lith stood up, his shadow spread to the rest of the room as if he had turned into a black sun. The room disappeared, leaving Alinor stranded in an endless void. There was only him, Lith, and countless white stars.

    Chittering stars that turned out to be eyes and teeth. The darkness was but a thin veil and countless invisible hands prickled at it in the attempt to pass through. Alinor felt their finger grasping at him, their claws scratching his skin.

    "What do you want from me?" He managed to ask as the shadows vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

    Lith wanted the man scared, not mad with terror.

    "A good question." He nodded. "I want what you sell. Information. Now it''s your turn to answer. Who hired you to spy on me? I want the names of your clients."

    "I can''t tell you that." Alinor swallowed hard. "They would kill me."

    "You would be so lucky." Lith smiled. "I''ve already shown you who I am. This is what I do. Brezza."

    Alinor watched Lith''s finger trace the same rune all kids learned from a tender age. Yet instead of a gust of air to clean the dirt, several streams of lightning bolts emerged.

    They struck at Alinor''s feet, away from his vitals. The current moved up his body while avoiding the heart and the brain. An air cushion filled his screaming mouth, ensuring that he wouldn''t bite off his tongue during the seizure.

    When Lith was done, the room was filled with the smell of ozone and cooked meat.

    "The names." Lith repeated as Alinor was still frozen in shock.

    He found his own smell delicious and the realization nauseated him. Alinor started heaving, emitting retching sounds when Lith said:

    "No? I still have five elements. Infiro."

    Another rune, another wave of blinding pain. Literal blinding pain.

    Alinor shielded his eyes with his hands as the chore spell heated the vitreous humor within. At first it was like having needles stinging at his cornea, then everything went white with pain.

    One second later everything went black. A thick liquid ran down Alinor''s cheeks and he thought they were tears that his body produced in the attempt to cool down his eyes.

    Until his eyelids became flabby under his fingers because there was nothing stretching them anymore.

    Alinor''s eyes had burst like punctured yolk and now streamed down on in his face like running eggs.

    "Vinire." Alinor didn''t see the rune but he felt it.

    The pain stopped and before he could realize what it truly meant he was looking at Lith again. His eyes were back in place and no wound remained on his body.

    "Three more elements." Lith''s tone was still calm, like they were discussing the weather. "After that, I can always start over. I''m a Healer, Alinor of Vinea. I know exactly how much pain I can inflict on you without killing you.

    "I can push you to the brink of death and bring you back as many times as I want. The night is still young."

    Lith placed a clock in front of Alinor. It was barely one in the morning.

    "If I tell you everything, will you let me go?" Alinor clung to the dimensional ring on his finger.

    The small artifact held more than his money. It embodied his hopes and dreams for the future.

    "Of course." Lith replied without a single crease altering the smile he had worn since his appearance. "I''ll keep you with me until we''re done checking the list of your clients. After that, I will let you go. You have my word."

    ***

    Lith''s sudden arrival in Vinea had ruffled many feathers and his attempts to keep his identity under wraps only contributed to making people more nervous. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Very few, however, could afford Alinor''s services and most of them were just nobles with repulsive vices or a too-intimate knowledge of the members of the local Undead Cort.

    They feared Lith had been sent there to assist the local Constable Office with its investigations. He was infamous in the underworld as a Ranger and many Constables of Vinea were sick and tired of their leads going cold at the wrong moment.

    No one, however, was more worried than Ashazi Gelt, shadow ruler and boss of Vinea''s underworld.

    Your journey continues at empire

    ''So far so good.'' He thought while reading Alinor''s report and those he received from his sources inside the various departments of the city. ''There seems to be no ongoing investigation.

    ''Verhen didn''t visit anyone, requested no documents, and no one from the Constable Office went to his hotel.''

    Ashazi had no way to monitor the amulets'' frequencies but there were many things one could learn from a man''s habits, purchases, and even his trash. Ashazi had sent his most loyal men to scour the vicinity of the Mermaid Reef without having any direct contact with the staff.

    Ashazi was afraid that Lith might recognize them or be alerted by their presence. It was the reason he had ordered Alinor to perform a long-distance surveillance and not engage Lith in any way.

    The fact that Kamila was a Constable herself and with an exemplary record at that, only made things worse. The crime lord needed to make sure it was really a family trip and not an undercover operation conducted by the married couple while keeping the local authorities in the dark.

    ''Running away is not an option.'' He thought. ''Not only has Verhen never missed a target but it would be worse than death for me. The moment my so-called lieutenants smell weakness, they''ll use my absence to take over my empire.

    ''The bastards know most of my safe houses since they helped me establish them. Once I lose my power and authority, the riches I always carry on myself will be useless. All it takes is a common thug with a knife to rob me of my life and treasures and this filthy city is filled with them!

    ''Those ruffians would gladly bring my head and possessions to the new ruler of Vinea just to sit near the table and get the scraps of their master like a loyal dog.'' Ashazi had built his fortune on such a tactic and knew all too well how it worked.

    It wasn''t enough to escape to a different city. He should also give up on his lifestyle and become a nobody. He had made too many enemies over the years, and they would never pass up the opportunity for retribution if they found him.

    ''This is really good. Alinor is worth every single gold coin.'' The more Ashazi read, the more relaxed he became. ''All early reports lead to the same direction. Verhen is not here for me.

    ''Yet it''s too early to let my guard down. Maybe he''s just taking things slow which means I have to act fast.''

 Chapter 3420 The Reply (Part 1)

    ''I need some dirt on Verhen''s travel companions. Leverage. Anything that can pressure him into turning a blind eye to my business in case our paths meet.''I can''t touch him, but that doesn''t make me helpless. Anything I can use against his family will work just fine as a deterrent to avoid conflict with-'' Ashazi opened the door to his office, raising his eyes from the papers just the time to check he wouldn''t stumble onto anything.

    What he saw froze him on the spot.

    Someone was sitting on his chair, behind his desk. Someone with their back turned to him who was drinking his whiskey and smoking his cigars.

    "Intruder!" He yelled while activating the panic bracelet on his wrist.

    It triggered the arrays of the house and summoned his fourteen elite guards.

    The veteran mage soldiers rushed in, forming a single line.

    Ashazi took a step back in horror at their sight and fell onto the ground.

    His fourteen agonizing guards formed a single line on a massive metal feline''s tail that impaled them like a kebab. The fourteen men were still alive, screaming and bleeding all over Ashazi''s carpet.

    "Here you are." The chair turned around and Lith looked at the last name on his list. "My name is Lith Verhen, mister Ashazi."

    At a snap of his fingers, a second metal colossus lifted Ashazi from the neck and slammed him against a wall so hard that the impact created a crater. Trouble coated his prey with a healing spell that healed his wounds the moment they formed but the pain came in full.

    The Golem had six elemental gemstones instead of eyes and a seventh one pulsing like an emerald heart on its chest. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Ashazi couldn''t breathe or take his eyes off Trouble. The corpse of the Balor looked like a demon out of a nightmare and from so up close, one of its claws was enough to kill him.

    A second finger snap and Raptor released the guard at the end of its tail. The golem then gutted the man and started to eat him alive. Constructs had no need for food but Lith knew that one action was worth a thousand words.

    "We need to talk."

    ***

    City of Valeron, Royal Palace, a few minutes later.

    Read latest stories on empire

    "What in the gods'' names can Verhen possibly want at this hour?" Meron was still up and working or the call would have angered him much, much more.

    He could get a full night sleep only so often and disturbing him on such occasions was never wise. Unless there was an emergency, of course.

    "Your Majesty." Lith gave Meron a polite nod the moment the King answered his amulet. "The last time we talked you mentioned how you''d like to be notified before I commit a massacre so here I am."

    "What?" Meron''s confusion faded soon after Lith introduced Alinor and Ashazi to him.

    The two men looked as fit as a fiddle, but with one of the best Healers of the Kingdom standing behind them, it didn''t mean much. Meron could tell by the terror in their eyes that Lith had taken his time with them.

    "Let me get this straight, Supreme Magus Verhen." The King sighed. "Idiot number one followed you and your family because idiot number two wanted to keep you in check. Did I get it right?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty. You have listened to their confessions and they are willing to testify under oath." Lith replied.

    "With all due respect, Magus Verhen, with you standing in their same room, those two idiots would be willing to confess to being Arthan and Thrud Griffon if you asked them." Meron said. "Still, I don''t understand why you called me.

    "You have the power to decree them outlaws. You don''t need my permission to weed out two cretins."

    Ashazi and Alinor shuddered at those words.

    Death and torture weren''t the worst sentences the three great countries had to offer. The worst sentence for any sane person was to be declared an outlaw.

    Just like on Earth in ancient times, it meant to be cast out of the law, the shield that ensured the rights of the citizens and protected their lives. Without such protection, anyone could do anything to an outlaw and no one would so much as bat an eye.

    Outlaws could be enslaved, tortured, or even used as sacrifices for Forbidden Magic. They weren''t humans anymore and even less important than trash cans. Someone caught destroying a trash can would still be fined for damaging public property.

    Someone caught gutting an outlaw alive would receive no reprimand as long as they didn''t do it in public and only because it was considered akin to indecent exposure.

    "These two aren''t the problem, Your Majesty." Lith shook his head. "Do I have to remind you of Meln''s message? Of the threat he poses to my family?"

    "Of course not." Meron narrowed his eyes, understanding what Lith meant.

    The King had already put the Kingdom on maximum alert and the hunt for Lith''s insane brother had resumed. The Queen spared no effort in her search for Mirim Distar''s killer, searching from the dirtiest slums to the shiniest noble manors for leads.

    "Then you understand my need to reply to him in kind." Lith replied. "These idiots just collect information, but there''s no telling how it will be used in the future. As you have heard, Ashazi wanted leverage.

    "What better leverage than passing his knowledge on to my incontinent brother so that I don''t have the time to deal with the likes of Ashazi?"

    "I would never work with the Poopie King!" Ashazi cried in desperation. "He''s insane! He killed or betrayed everyone stupid enough to trust him!"

    "Hard to believe when you have already proved to be stupid enough to break the Kingdom''s laws and even challenge a Magus for profit." Meron silenced Ashazi with a wave of his hand. "There''s nothing the likes of you wouldn''t do when truly desperate.

    "Please, continue, Magus Verhen."

    "I don''t plan to kill only Ashazi and those who asked for information but all those involved. From the most insignificant lackey to the highest noble. Today, I plan to put a violent end to crime in Vinea." Lith said.

    "I called you to give you the time to prepare a press release to explain today''s events and for the power vacuum that will ensue. If not controlled properly, the sudden disappearance of so many influential figures will create an opportunity for other criminal groups or the Undead Courts to expand their turfs."

    "Power vacuum?" Meron was as puzzled as Ashazi was terrified. "How many people are we talking about?"

    "A few thousand." Lith''s reply made the King''s eyes widen in surprise. "As I said, everyone involved."

    "And how will you find and judge so many people at once?" Meron asked.

    "I don''t need to find them." Lith pointed at many piles of folders and files neatly stacked on the desk behind him. "Ashazi here kept a clear record of every transaction he made and has collected dirt on his business partners for years. It''s what people like him call ''insurance''.

    "I''m going to leave the files for your Archons to check and verify my claims."

 Chapter 3421 The Reply (Part 2)

    "The evidence will clear any doubt a member of the Royal Court may have. Especially once verified on the other end." Lith said and Meron nodded for him to continue."As for the judging them¡­" He loved the euphemism. "Are you aware of my Call of the Void bloodline ability, Your Majesty?"

    "You mean the one that eradicated the Undead Courts in Derios and almost eclipsed the Kingdom on the day your daughter was born? Of course." The King had also witnessed the Call of the Void in Verendi, but he preferred not to make any mention of that massacre or Tyris'' warning.

    "I''m going to use it again." Lith continued. "Anything else would take too long and would endanger the civilians."

    "Are you sure this is how you want to deal with the problem, Magus Verhen?" Meron asked.

    "Meln''s message is clear. Join me and reap the benefits. My reply must be just as simple. Just sniff around my family and I will find you and I will kill you. A few thousand corpses in a single night should prove I''m serious." Lith said.

    "What if it has the opposite effect?" The King pondered. "What if it brings people under the banner of the Poopie King just to escape your wrath?"

    "Unlikely." Lith shook his head. "Even Ashazi knows what happened to Meln''s former associates. Anyone with a brain will choose neutrality since I can''t be bought and Meln can''t be trusted.

    "Those stupid enough to join him won''t be a threat. I don''t plan on driving anyone into a corner or making them so desperate that even Poopie looks alluring. I just ask to be left alone. Ashazi would still be alive if he had minded his own business."

    Ashazi was still alive and would have loved to point it out but fear froze him like a lamb in front of a slaughterhouse.

    "I see." Meron nodded, not even bothering to acknowledge the crime lord''s existence. "I need time to rally the troops and bring the Constables to Vinea. The best way to avoid a power vacuum is to fill the void the moment it forms.

    "Achieving capillary control of the information and the noble households will take a while."

    "Excellent plan, Your Majesty." Lith replied. "I can wait until sunrise. After that, the Call of the Void will be visible and cause more problems than it would solve. At night, people will think they have just blinked longer than usual."

    "I''ll contact you as soon as I''m done with the necessary preparations. As for those two, deal with them as you best see fit. Meron out."

    Lith turned to Ashazi, his smile never breaking.

    "Please, I never intended to threaten your family!" He begged. "There''s no need to kill me. Without my organization, I''m just dirt on your shoes."

    "Indeed you are. Ekidu." One magic word was enough to turn Ashazi Gelt into a puddle of rotting flesh.

    He screamed in agony as his skin putrefied and his bones shattered. Then, his tongue swelled up and his throat sagged, turning his cries into a gurgle of blood and frothing saliva.

    When death came, it was a blessing. Lith kept Ashazi alive until the last moment. Even as a formless slime with no eyes or ears, Ashazi felt everything until there was nothing left that could hurt anymore.

    Alinor wanted to scream but he had no voice. He wanted to faint but he was afraid never to wake up.

    "You promised." Alinor said amid sobs. "You promised to let me go."

    "I remember." Lith grabbed Alinor by the throat and Warped several kilometers high in the sky. "As I promised, I''m letting you go."

    Alinor screamed all the way down until the sidewalk stopped his fall and ended his life.

    ***

    A couple of hours later, Constables, soldiers, and mages flooded Vinea from all the available Warp Gates. King Meron used the Royal Override code to access the private Gates and keep the people on Lith''s list from escaping.

    "In the name of the King, close your eyes now!" A young female Constable yelled while showing her badge to the clients of a tavern of ill-reputation.

    The tavern was a front for the smuggling of drugs, gambling, and black-market artifacts.

    "Or what, missy?" The barkeep was a huge man and an ex-soldier.

    The tavern was filled with clients and the Constable was alone.

    "I''m in position." She ignored the not-so-veiled threat.

    "Acknowledged." Said a voice from the other end of her amulet.

    The tavern''s clients were getting up from their seats when the Constable crouched down on the floor, closing her eyes and covering her ears with her hands.

    "What is she? Four?" A woman with a scar on her left eye said with a laugh.

    Then, the tavern went black. The fireplace still crackled, the smell of burning torches was still there, but the light was gone.

    "What''s happening? What is that?" No one could see whose finger was pointing at what yet the eyes and fangs lighting the dark were perfectly visible.

    Ancient words mixed with modern screams as the Constable raised a prayer to the gods. Despite her efforts, she could still hear the tearing of flesh, the splash of blood, and the death throes. Experience more tales on empire

    Things in the dark sniffed at her, whispered in her ears, and caressed her exposed skin, but never hurt her.

    "It''s over." The voice from the amulet said. "You can open your eyes."

    The Constable obeyed, discovering she was one of the few people still alive. Those who had ignored her warning were drenched in blood, their hair white from fear. They were sitting in a yellow-brown pool of their own making, sobbing like children.

    Some had their mouths open in a silent scream, their eyes glazed after losing consciousness. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As for the rest, they were dead. The corpses had been pieced together after the kill and orderly arranged on the floor, ready for the pickup.

    "Did this really happen all over Vinea at the same time?" The female Constable scanned her surroundings with her amulet, shaking her head in disbelief.

    "Yes." The voice on the other side replied as the sound of multiple mugs shattering could be heard in the background.

    ***

    The following day, the people all over the Kingdom received Lith''s message but no one took it as seriously as the citizens of Vinea.

    Thousands of people had disappeared overnight, hundreds of soldiers had taken over streets, buildings, and noble households, yet no one had noticed anything. The citizens of Vinea had gone to sleep in one city and woken up in another filled with Royal Constables.

    The families of the deceased received no apology or compensation, just an explanation and proof of the crimes when they were already available. The investigations were still ongoing and there was no telling what they might uncover.

    As the count of the bodies progressed and the reason for the night raid was revealed, many eyes turned toward the Mermaid Reef. Fear and curiosity were the dominant feelings, making every member of the hotel staff subject to endless flattery and bribery.

    Everyone wanted to know what the Verhens looked like, how they behaved, what they ate, their political opinion about current events, and so on and so far.

 Chapter 3422 Dangerous Times (Part 1)

    Even simple gossip or small bits of information about the Verhens were in high demand, as long as the source was trustworthy.This put two members of the Mermaid Reef''s staff under the spotlight: the concierge and the valet of the dock. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The former had too much professional pride and cared too much about the hotel''s reputation to let anything slip aside from a few passing comments. The latter, instead, greatly enjoyed the fame and fortune that came with his position.

    People competed to offer him drinks and food after work hours. It made him proud, arrogant, and, most of all, it made him keep his ears open.

    Tista and Rena had just returned to the Mermaid Reef with their gondola and were commenting on the events of the past days like they always did.

    "Man, Vinea sure is a beautiful city, but sure it''s full of idiots." Rena sighed. "I''m glad we are leaving tomorrow. I''m sick and tired of noble ''casually'' bumping into us while we tour the canals."

    "Idiots? Nice way to use an understatement." Tista scoffed as she handed the token to the valet. "Aside from Kami, attacking Mom is the most brain-dead thing anyone can do. If someone so much as touches one of her hair, there is nothing Lith wouldn''t do to get revenge."

    "Why just Mom? What about us?" Rena asked in indignance.

    "Please, we can defend ourselves. I''m a Divine Beast and you can nag even me into oblivion." Tista replied.

    "I don''t nag, you ungrateful brat!"

    "See? Nag, nag, nag." Tista rolled her eyes. "If I didn''t know any better, I''d think you are a spinster." Your journey continues on empire

    "Young lady, you''re in for such a spanking!" Rena chased after her sister who laughed all the way up to the restaurant floor.

    ''Huh, so Supreme Magus Verhen cares about his mother the most.'' The valet thought. ''This information should be worth a few coins, if I play my cards well.''

    ***

    Grand Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, at the same time.

    After a long and tiring day at the White Griffon Academy, Zogar Vastor was happy to enjoy a nice meal with his family.

    "I must say, Zin, your cooking is always the best." He said. "No offense to our chefs but I have yet to find someone who can prepare a simple soup with such a rich taste."

    "Please, Zogar, it''s nothing much." She giggled.

    It actually wasn''t. Zinya spent hours practicing his favourite dishes and taking lessons from the chefs of the household. During the exam periods, Vastor spent little time at home and she loved to make it special.

    "Tastes like soup to me." Filia grumbled, having no interest in delicate flavors and preferring more spicy food.

    "Don''t be ungrateful, young lady." Vastor grunted. "Your mother put a lot of effort into preparing this meal and spent part of her little free time cooking for us. Why grumble instead of appreciate each other''s company?"

    "I''m sorry, Dad." Filia noticed the Master''s extended hand and she squeezed it. "Thanks for the food, Mom."

    "You''re welcome, sweetie." Zinya''s heart melted seeing her daughter and husband be so close. "Don''t worry about the soup. I''ve also prepared your favorite roasted Blinker, an entire bottle of hot sauce, and Uncle Lith sent us a lot of his fries."

    "Gods, yes!" Filia cheered loudly as if a bloody war had just ended. "What about ice cream?"

    "I''ve prepared that myself." Zinya replied.

    "Thanks, Mom. You are the best." Filia wolfed down the soup to get to the roast as soon as possible.

    "Dad, can I ask you a question?" Frey raised his hand like he was still in the classroom.

    "Of course you can, son." Zogar nodded. "No need to raise your hand, though. This is your home, not another classroom. I had enough of those for today. Have mercy on your old man."

    "It''s actually a question about school." Frey cleared his throat. "If you are too tired, it can wait until the end of the exam session."

    "Don''t be silly." The Master swept the air with his hand. "I''m never too tired for you, son."

    "Thanks, Dad." Frey smiled from ear to ear and another corner of Zinya''s heart melted with joy as the boy took a thick book out of his dimensional ring. "It''s about¡­ Krishna Manohar."

    At that name, Vastor''s eyes lost a part of their luster and turned sad.

    "I don''t get him one bit." Frey failed to notice the change in his father''s expression and continued. "I mean, everyone else is clear cut. Meron is a wise ruler, Uncle Marth is a genius, and Uncle Lith is a hero, but Manohar?

    "Sometimes he is described as a genius, others a hero, and very often as a deranged individual who put the Kingdom into danger or abandoned it in the moment of need. You knew Manohar, right?"

    "Modern history, huh?" Vastor gave the book a cursory glance, avoiding to ask how it referred to him. "Yes, son. I knew him very well. I was one of his academy Professors."

    "What version is the correct one? Was he more like Uncle Lith, a genius who loves the spotlight, or like you, a genius who prefers to keep a low profile?"

    The Master stared at the boy in surprise for a while. There was no flattery in Frey''s eyes, he truly believed what he was saying.

    "All¡­" Vastor''s voice came out cracked with emotion, forcing him to clear his throat. "All of them are correct, son. Manohar was all of those things. A genius, a hero, a menace, a madman. He didn''t love the spotlight, though.

    "Manohar simply couldn''t avoid it due to his incredible talent and horrible personality. People always ended up keeping their eyes on him, whether he and them wanted or not."

    Vastor glossed over Manohar''s human experimentation, social blunders, and deranged logic since they were topics ill-suited for an audience so young.

    "Was he strong?" Frey asked, leaning toward the Master.

    "Very." Vastor nodded. "Manohar was an incredible mage and warrior, but that wasn''t the secret of his strength. Nor was his ability to find in minutes the solution to problems that tormented his peers for years.

    "His secret was his voice. When he talked to you with his demeaning voice and colorful insults, he made you feel as strong as he was. He made you think you really could just extend your arms, clench his throat, and snuff the life out of him with your bare hands."

    "Zogar!" Zinya spat out her food when Vastor mimicked the gesture of strangling someone and the kids laughed hard.

    "What? He asked me what Manohar was like and I answered." The Master shrugged. "Do you want me to lie to our children?"

    Between the kids staring at her and the "our children" part, Zinya failed to speak and just shook her head.

    "Tell us a few stories about him!" Filia said.

    "Sure, but only those age-appropriate. The rest you''ll hear about when you grow up." As the Master recounted anecdotes from when Manohar was his student, Filia and Frey laughed hysterically.

    They gained a deeper understanding of the late god of healing and pitied everyone who had to work with or fight against him.

 Chapter 3423 Dangerous Times (Part 2)

    Even Tezka had a good laugh."Humans." He chuckled. "Maybe they are not the strongest race, but for sure they are the most interesting. The food is delicious, Zin."

    The wolf-fox hybrid gnawed at his roasted Blinkers with fries, filling himself with all the nutrients he might soon need.

    After dinner, the family moved to the inner garden of the household for more stories and a bowl of ice cream while enjoying the fresh breeze of the night after a hot day.

    "Thanks for the food, Mom. Thanks for the stories, Dad. Thanks for everything, Uncle Tezka." The kids kissed their parents goodnight and went to bed.

    "They are so cute." The Suneater sighed while moving to Vastor''s side.

    "Aren''t you going with them?" Zinya asked in surprise.

    Tezka rarely left the children alone. There was always at least one tail keeping an eye on them but he still had all ten of them.

    "Not tonight." The Warg-Eldritch hybrid shook his head. "Zogar and I have something to do."

    ***

    Jiera continent, several hundred kilometers into the mainland, on the path of the lost city called Auros the Bringer of Unity, at the same time.

    The sun was high on the other side of Mogar but the weather wasn''t so hot. The worst of winter had already passed but even with the sun approaching noon the air was still quite chilly.

    "Thanks for accompanying me, Xenagrosh." Abthot the Ogre-Eldritch hybrid said. "The Master failed to find safe passage through the Transoceanic Gates this time and the haul is huge.

    "With your Dragonspeed and omni pocket, however, we should be done with it before the sun rises on Garlen."

    "Don''t mention it." The Shadow Dragon crossed dozens of kilometers with a single flap of her majestic wings. "Father needs a constant flow of materials for his experiments.

    "Also, if we are lucky, we could find a lost city and have the opportunity to put to the test our new equipment." She flexed her fingers, still feeling weird.

    After training most of her life with metal equipment, wearing a Yggdrasill wood armor was uncomfortable. Not only because of its material but also because of how it affected her mental capacities and especially her Dragon Eyes.

    Xenagrosh experienced frequent headaches just by looking at her surroundings and took off the armor every time she could.

    "Talk for yourself." Abthot replied. "As a proud member of the shortie team, I prefer taking on someone my own size."

    Abthot was no bigger than a human, smaller than one of Xenagrosh''s fingers.

    "Yeah, right." The Shadow Dragon scoffed. "More like you love easy fights. One Void Howling and anything human-sized dies."

    "Oh, bite me!" The Ogre-Eldricth scoffed back.

    "With pleasure." Xenagrosh turned her head and opened her gigantic maw.

    "Very funny." Abthot shapeshifted her arms into tendrils and muzzled the Dragon. "Enough fooling around. There''s our contact."

    Auros the Bringer of Unity had reached the mana geyser chosen as the meeting point early and checked the surroundings for spies or intruders.

    "Welcome to Jiera, miladies." The lost city waved his colossal hand as they approached.

    Auros was over 100 meters (330'') tall, making him easy to spot even from a great distance.

    "Anything worth reporting?" Xenagrosh asked while returning the greeting with a nod.

    "The usual." He shrugged. "Winter stopped all activities but our own. No one dared mess with me or disturb our mines."

    Having a lost city patrolling the Master''s territories was convenient for more than one reason. Auros acted as a distraction, a guard, and a storage facility. Mined materials couldn''t be left lying around without the risk of someone picking up such an intense energy signature.

    The Bringer of Unity solved the problems by moving the goods inside his halls, cloaking them with his own aura. Lost cities were impossible to kill and until Auros kept himself predictable and didn''t cause trouble, the people of Jiera returned him the favor.

    "Excellent." Abthot nodded as well while casting detection arrays just to be safe. "Any trace of Chroniclers from a new World Tree?" S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "None." The colossus shook his massive head. "They have disappeared. Who would have thought that even the Yggdrasill might die? These are dangerous times, milady. Immortality protects no one.

    "Lost cities, white cores, World Trees, everyone dies."

    "You''d better remember that." Xenagrosh said. "We might not be Guardians, but I have the guy who destroyed Argantyr and many other of your siblings on my speed dial. Are we clear?"

    "Crystal!" Auros would have swallowed hard, if he could. "No need for threats, milady. I would never betray the cause."

    He was being sincere. His indenture to the Master came with many perks. Auros was learning modern magic, receiving new hosts, and enjoying the protection of the Organization.

    Enjoy more content from empire

    Whenever someone came too close to capture and seal him, the hybrids would act from the shadows and provide him the boost he needed to defeat his enemies.

    "Until it suits you, you mean." Xenagrosh sneered. "Abthot?"

    "It''s safe." She replied. "You can take out the goods, Auros."

    The lost city waved his massive hand and tons of magic crystals and metal appeared out of thin air.

    A sudden explosion scattered the treasures, sent the Eldritches flying, and threw Auros off balance just as quickly.

    "I can''t believe my luck." A powerful voice half barked and half laughed. "I can get free materials, two specimens, and get my revenge on the old lizard all at once! Capturing you and raising my status is just the icing on the cake, Auros.

    "Honestly, you are not worth my time but since you''re already here there''s no reason not to kill one more bird with the same stone."

    Roghar the Fenrir, the Guardian of Mana, stood 50 meters (166'') at the withers as he played with the mountain of metal and crystals with his colossal paw. His wolf-like body was covered in pure silver fur that absorbed every speck of sunlight instead of reflecting it.

    It also absorbed the surrounding world energy, feeding it to the Guardian and strengthening his already matchless powers.

    Auros was the only one bigger than Roghar, twice as tall and many times heavier. The lost city roared, charging at the Guardian with a fist imbued with countless spells and Life Maelstrom.

    Roghar scoffed, needing only one paw to block the strike and unleashing six Cursed blasts that tore Auros to shreds from the waist up. It was his Guardian Tier Mirror Magic Spell, Elemental Curse.

    "It''s only fitting to defeat you wretches with your own favorite trick." The Guardian said with a literal wolfish smile on his snout. "To think it took you millennia just to master Chaos and me a few years to master all Cursed Elements."

    "You mean like this?" Between her Dragon Eyes, her training with the other Eldritches, and the Yggdrasill Bookwyrm armor, Xenagrosh learned Elemental Curse after seeing it once.

    The Shadow Dragon emitted six pillars, each of a different Cursed Element, and shot them at the wolf Guardian. Roghar''s lips curled up in a disgusted expression as he redirected his Elemental Curse to intercept Xenagrosh''s.

    "I had almost forgotten about those obnoxious eyes of yours. Almost." Chaos clashed against Chaos, Decay against Decay, and so on. "Like father, like daughter. Isn''t that right, Zor?"

 Chapter 3424 Skull and Maw (Part 1)

    Roghar used Xenagrosh''s human name and the moniker very few were allowed to use, enraging her further."Too bad you are pathetically weak compared to your father." The Guardian''s Mirror Spell overpowered its lesser twin with ease. Roghar sent the Chaos and Zero pillars against the Shadow Dragon, Corruption and Cinder at the Ogre, and Choke and Decay at the lost city.

    All Abominations were weak against the darkness element but Dragons also suffered the cold greatly. The Cursed fire and earth elements countered Abthot''s living half just like the air and light elements did for Auros.

    The source of the immense might of the living legacy was his many hosts who were now dying in droves. Decay made them age into dust in the span of seconds while Choke made it impossible for them to breathe.

    The Bringer of Unity could resurrect his inhabitant with time, but until that moment he would lose their mana cores and bloodline abilities.

    "Shit!" Xenagrosh poured all of her mana into her spell but she was no match for Roghar.

    "Don''t worry, I''m not going to kill you." The Fenrir said. "I''m just going to capture you. If I can''t have Verhen, you will suffice. I''ll uncover the secrets of true resurrection even if I have to dissect you."

    She started to fly back, hurling a jet stream of Primordial Flames to weaken the Chaos and Zero before they hit her. The former atomized half her body from existence, the other half surviving only thanks to the troll core generating enough light element to neutralize the attack.

    Yet that was what Zero was for.

    Grievously injured and reduced to a fraction of herself, the cold wave had an easy time freezing the Shadow Dragon on the spot and trapping her in an ice coffin.

    "Like fishing in a barrel." Roghar smiled as he collected the remains of the Shadow Dragon and the Ogre. "As for you¡­"

    Auros was already done regenerating his physical form but now he had to deal with all the Cursed Elements at once instead of just two. The Bringer of Unity focused his powers, spells, and the countless bloodline abilities from his hosts, putting them all against the Guardian''s might.

    "Oh, please!" The Fenrir needed but a glance to recognize each and every spell and counter them to perfection. "I''m the Guardian of Mana, remember?"

    Less than a second later. Auros was reduced to a burning pile of rubble desperately trying to rebuild itself.

    "Stop embarrassing yourself. This is over." Roghar used his Elemental Flow ability to weave dozens of arrays at once, forming a trap fueled by the same mana geyser that was supposed to empower the lost city and the Eldritches.

    "When I''m done with you two and capture your Master, remind me to thank him, Zoreth." He said while focusing on the central nodes that would make his creation unbreakable. "If not for his brilliant research, I''d have no clue where to start mine

    "Also, it was mighty kind of him delivering you to me on a silver platter. You should have never come to Jiera. Not after what your father did to-"

    A solid punch to the jaw cut Roghar short and sent him tumbling on to the ground. Your next read awaits at empire

    "Why wait?" The Master said while Tezka''s tails pummelled at the Fenrir and his hands rescued his wounded companions. "I''m already here. If you want to talk let''s talk."

    "What? How?" Roghar, Fenagar, and Zagran said in unison.

    The Fenrir was right there while the Leviathan and the Garuda were thousands of kilometers away in their respective turfs. Yet they could see the sun shining bright in the sky just as well as Tezka standing 50 meters (166'') tall in his humanoid battle form.

    "Suneater is the what." The Fylgja replied with a wide grin. "As for the how, I had a little help."

    Right beside the shadow umbrella of the Suneater spell, the rest of the Divine Beast-Eldritches hybrids formed a dimensional array that redirected part of the sunlight that was supposed to move past Mogar.

    The exit point of the array was immediately below the Suneater spell, making the localized solar eclipse impossible to detect.

    "A brilliant trick. But easy to neutralize once I put my mind to it." Roghar noticed and disposed of the array with but a thought, plunging the area in an unnatural night. "I must say, I''m disappointed.

    "Tezka the Suneater may be strong, but he didn''t even put a dent on the barbarian sparrow. I didn''t expect the fabled Master to be stupid enough to think a mere fox can beat a wolf. Let alone that you were nothing but another small man who thinks he can play god."

    Bytra''s cloaking devices made Vastor unrecognizable. Even from so up close, his mind, energy signature, and mana cores were sealed from the Guardian''s probing. All Roghar could sense was that the Master was a human male.

    "Playing is for children, mutt, and unlike you, I''m no child." Vastor replied. "I''m a professional and I let my work speak for me, god of mana."

    The Master removed the helm of his Dominator armor, revealing part of the human features of his decoy body. Only a part because the Maw of Bytra covered the lower half of his face.

    Vastor removed it, fitting it inside the visor of a Yggdrasill helm before putting it on.

    "Mogar almighty." The three Guardians of Jiera said in unison as they recognized the helm and watched Tezka wearing another identical to the Master''s.

    "Mogar has nothing to do with this, mutt. This is the Skull of Bytra." Vastor said as both his aura and Tezka''s burst out with new power. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''m going to kill that fucker!" Zoreth was still shivering as Abthot helped the Dragon recover thanks to her plant side.

    Then, they both locked the Maw in their own Skull and wore them.

    The Fenrir charged at the Fylgja with his jaws open, going straight for the neck. Tezka read the mana current inside and outside the Guardian''s body thanks to the Skull and dodged in the nick of time.

    He delivered a right cross the side of Roghar''s snout followed by a left uppercut which in turn was accompanied by Tezka''s nine razor-sharp tails. Each one of them spun on itself at high speed and was aimed either at a vital organ or a nerve centre.

    The Suneater needed just one tail to hit its mark in order to kill or incapacitate the Guardian.

    "Do you really expect this to work? I''m offended by this charade!" The Fenrir snarled, blocking three of Tezka''s tails with his own and catching another on the fly with his maw.

    Five tails reached their target but none managed to pierce through the thick fur of the wolf Guardian.

    While all of Tezka''s weight was still into the failed attack, Roghar bit off the captured tail and slashed with his frontal claws. It was merely a slap, but it sent the Fylgja flying back for almost 200 meters (656'') and left deep marks on his armor.

    "I''m not that idiotic sparrow." The Fenrir bared his fangs, twisting his snout in a contemptuous smile. "I''m not going to play with you until you pull out your best cards one by one. I''ve seen what you are capable of doing already."

 Chapter 3425 Skull and Maw (Part 2)

    Tezka''s failed attack revealed the presence of a Davross armor covering the Guardian''s body. The silver fur covered the metal and their almost identical color made the latter invisible unless the former was physically brushed aside."I may not have the sparrow regenerative abilities but you''ll soon discover that the means at my disposal are in no way inferior. Take out that toothpick you call sword or I promise you''ll regret it in the next five seconds."

    "What about no?" By the time Tezka had recovered his footing, his Suneater armor had already completed its repairs.

    The Fylgja charged forward again, covering his advance with a barrage of tier five Chaos Spells, Void Hunger.

    "One." Roghar counted out loud without averting his eyes from Tezka.

    He didn''t dodge the attack and activated his Mana Body bloodline ability.

    "Two." When the Fylgja entered Roghar''s range, the Guardian shapeshifted into a humanoid form as well.

    "Three." He took the Void Hungers head-on while blocking Tezka''s nine tails with his arms and countering them with a solid frontal kick to the stomach.

    "Four." While the Fylgja was still flying from the hit, the Guardian bolted in front of him and started pummelling Tezka in mid-air to keep him from touching the ground.

    "Five." Vastor ended the countdown by unleashing a new version of his anti-Guardian spell, Chaos Annihilation, that not only swapped the darkness element with Chaos, but also the light element with Decay.

    The Chaos Annihilation took Roghar by surprise and hit him square on the chest, sending him flying and allowing Tezka to recover his footing.

    "What?" The anti-Guardian spell didn''t dissipate upon hitting the Fenrir and kept piercing through his armor and fur until Roghar blasted it away with a spell of his own.

    "Are you alright, Tezka?" The Master ignored the Guardian and turned to his ally like they were alone.

    "Never been better." The constant flow of energy from the Suneater spell had already healed the Fylgja''s wounds and repaired his armor. "Didn''t expect the bastard to be so cowardly that he would pull out his best equipment right off the bat."

    "Me neither but that''s why we came here. To learn." Vastor said.

    "Learn?" Roghar echoed in outrage, making the ground quake and the sky rumble in response to his fury. "You have the gall to challenge a Guardian just to perform one of your experiments? You dare think you''ll get out of here alive?"

    "Yes to both your questions." The Master replied while Tezka circled the Fenrir at supersonic speed in search of an opening. "We have already defeated Ileza, but she was still recovering from Tyris'' beating and easy prey.

    "The spar with Salaark gave us insight on our limits but it was the fight against the World Tree that revealed our weaknesses. Now that we have increased our strength again, what''s better to test it out than fighting against a lesser Guardian?"

    "A lesser Guardian?" Roghar''s rage exploded and with it his Guardian Tier Spell, World Maw.

    Twelve pillars of elemental energy, each shaped like a fang and as big as a mountain enveloped the area of the fight, slamming against each other multiple times like jaws munching at food.

    "Oh, shit!" Tezka activated his Eldritch Tier Spell, Chaos Dimension, assuming control of space and gravity in its area of effect.

    By adjusting his weight and the curvature of space, the Fylgja managed to split the World Maw wide open and protect the Master. At the same time, Tezka increased the Guardian''s gravity by a thousand-fold and resumed his attack.

    "Yes. A lesser Guardian." The Master nodded, his helm''s visor twisting into a mocking smile. "Currently we don''t have the strength to face the Guardians of Garlen or Zagran. That would have been suicidal.

    "We needed someone strong enough to be a challenge but not so much it would be impossible to beat him by cheating a bit. The Guardians of Verendi are too lacking so our choice was between you and Fenagar."

    While Vastor spoke, Tezka used the cover of Chaos Dimension to open and close countless dimensional corridors with each heartbeat. The entry points were near him while the exit points surrounded the Fenrir.

    It gave Roghar no time to study them or predict where his attacks would appear were he to send them through the dimensional passageways. As their creator, however, Tezka had no such problem.

    He knew where every single Warp Point led and exploited his advantage viciously.

    Cinder Steps bolstered the kinetic energy of his punches and kicks by dozens of times, exceeding even a Guardian''s physical strength. Decay Steps exploded right after a spell crossed them, blinding the Guardian''s Soul Vision and making it impossible for him to react before the spells struck him.

    Corruption Steps imbued Tezka''s tails with the Cursed element so that even after the King Wolf armor stopped them, the Corruption would infiltrate the artifact and Roghar''s body with its destructive energy.

    Zero Steps turned everything that passed through them into ice, making Tezka''s spells fall to the ground. They wasted Roghar''s focus and defenses since the Guardian reacted expecting them to hit, keeping him on his toes.

    The spells were dormant, but the moment the Zero faded, they would explode with their full strength. Zero Steps worked as both a diversion and a minefield. Choke Steps, instead, were laid as traps.

    Anything that entered them would come out in a different and mangled form after being twisted by the unstable dimensional energy. Tezka put their exit points near himself as bait, but the Fenrir didn''t bite. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Fenagar is a recluse and we had no way of luring him outside his lair without making too much fuss." Vastor continued. "You, instead, are arrogant and predictable.

    "After the beating Leegaain gave you, I knew you couldn''t resist the temptation to get even with him by experimenting on his precious daughter. You''ve made your interest in resurrection known and Zoreth is the one who''s gotten the closest to it after Lith. I sent her here to lure you into a trap and you fell for it."

    "We''ll soon see who between us is the hunter and who is the prey, little man." Roghar kept flying back to escape the onslaught but even with Mana Body, the damage kept piling on.

    ''I must admit that this really is a brilliant plan.'' He thought. ''The human talks to distract me while Tezka focuses solely on attacking. On top of that, after that Chaos Annihilation, the mere presence of the human forces me to diver part of my focus on him.

    ''All he needs to do to be a threat is standing there and keeping me in the range of his spells!'' To make matters worse, Mana Body greatly increased Roghar''s physical and magical resistance but as long as it was active, the Guardian couldn''t cast new spells.

    Tezka chased the Fenrir Chaos Dimension followed its master, keeping the Guardian trapped. Turning Mana Body off while under such a heavy attack was a risk Roghar couldn''t afford to take.

    It was the reason he recalled World Maw and enveloped himself with it. With Tezka''s senses and the Skull of Bytra blinded by the roaring mana flow of the spell, Roghar bought himself a precious moment of respite. Your journey continues with empire

 Chapter 3426 Skull and Maw (Part 3)

    Yet instead of using the World Maw spell to stall for time and further tilt the scales of the battle in the Fylgja''s favor, the Guardian focused his mind and the spell in a single point, compressing World Maw to the extreme.The Guardian Tier Spell turned into a swirling multi-colored bolt of energy that engulfed Chaos Dimension. The pressure it exerted was so great that it bent the dimensional distortion, compromising its structural integrity.

    "Cunning son of a bitch!" Tezka could have withstood the blast by shrinking Chaos Dimension and condensing it around his body, but that would have meant leaving Vastor completely exposed.

    He was forced to choose between letting both of them be severely injured or saving himself and losing his ally. No matter what he did, Roghar would escape the entrapment and face a weakened enemy.

    It was the reason Tezka created a third option.

    He kept Chaos Dimension''s size but altered its structure, forming a dimensional passage in the straight line connecting him to the Master. Tezka took on and dispersed most of the World Maw and Warped away only the section that would have actually hit him.

    From Roghar''s perspective, his strategy was a resounding success. Only people observing the fight from a distance like Xenagrosh and the other Jiera Guardians realized its failure.

    If watched from above, the World Maw looked split right in the middle like a sea of multi-colored flames A Warp Steps hidden behind several layers of Chaos Dimension warped away a section of World Maw without a single speck of energy reaching either Tezka or the Master.

    Roghar kept the spell active for several seconds, draining Tezka''s focus and mana. The Fenrir was a Guardian and even with Mana Body still active his wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye and his mana core endlessly drew upon the world energy.

    When Roghar dispelled the World Maw, his body was back to its peak condition whereas the Suneater was a panting mess.

    "Too bad you brought that human with you, Tezka the Suneater." The Fenrir sighed as he unleashed his Guardian Tier Spirit Spell, Searing Destruction. "If you didn''t have to protect that weakling, you might have forced me to take out my weapon like you did with Salaark.

    "The ending, however, would have been no different from your match with her. You would have just delayed the inevitable for a bit."

    The Fenrir emitted an emerald sphere from his forefinger that reached Chaos Dimension and tore it to shreds. Spirit Magic used no world energy and was comprised solely of the caster''s mana.

    Chaos Dimension had no effect on Searing Destruction except for altering his gravity and curvature but Roghar could correct both with his willpower and infuse more mana in it by the second.

    As Searing Destruction pierced through, Tezka and his spell were pushed back, digging a several meters-deep furrow in the ground.

    "I know that compared to a Guardian I''m weak." Vastor replied while raising his Grimbark staff and conjuring the spells he had stored within. "But so what? Compared to who I was just a few years back, I''m a demigod.

    "Laugh at me all you want. You''ve reached the peak of your strength while I''m still exploring mine!" A seven-pointed array resembling the Big Dipper appeared in front of him, releasing Silverwing''s Annihilation.

    Unlike Vastor''s version of the spell, the original was comprised of all seven elements, including Spirit Magic. It was something that usually required seven bright violet-cored Awakened or one white core to conjure.

    Vastor''s mana core was unable to produce so much power alone and his black core couldn''t produce both the light and the Spirit elements. It would have been an impossible feat if not for Grimbark and the Skull of Bytra.

    The Yggdrasill staff allowed him to accumulate and mix different energies while the Skull harmonized them in a single spell without rejection.

    The Yggdrasill wood couldn''t store incomplete spells but by storing powerful spells of each element and then splitting them into their basic runes, Vastor could reassemble them into the Annihilation thanks to the Skull.

    "Order and Chaos!" Roghar was taken by surprise and the darkness-sealing array he had prepared was now completely useless.

    The Eldritches'' greatest weak point was that Chaos was still darkness magic. A single spell that any fourth-year student of one of the six great academies could learn took away the Abominations'' best weapon.

    The darkness-sealing array was supposed to neutralize Vastor''s Chaos Annihilation and Tezka''s Chaos Dimension at the same time. The human would waste his mana for nothing and the Fylgja would die, unable to react under the pressure of Searing Destruction.

    Silverwing''s Annihilation, instead, was comprised of pure mana split into its original components and unaffected by elemental-sealing arrays. Even worse, it had the power to harm a Guardian if not properly defended against.

    Roghar cursed at the Master and conjured a powerful Spirit Barrier. The Annihilation failed to inflict harm but succeeded in its intent.

    With the Guardian''s focus split, Tezka managed to retreat near Vastor and escape the jaws of defeat.

    "You wanted my sword, you mangy mutt? There it is!" Endless Night came out of Tezka''s omni pocket, its hilt fitting his palm like an extension of his being.

    With a single fluid movement, Tezka compressed Chaos Dimension around the blade and swung it in a diagonal slash, releasing his Blade Tier Spell, Cosmic Devourer.

    "What? How is this possible?" Fenagar and Zagran jumped up from their thrones while trying to solve the mystery with Soul Vision.

    Blade Tier Spells were powerful, but they also required a long time to be cast, whereas Tezka had conjured Cosmic Devourer instantly.

    "The Maw of Bytra!" Roghar cursed out loud, enlightening his peers. "The bastard wasn''t going easy on me. He was waiting for his Blade Tier Spell to be weaved by the Maw while he cast powerful spells non-stop to cover its aura.

    "All of this was just a set-up!" Discover more content at empire

    "Why do you think we wear two helms?" Vastor''s tone remained that of a professor explaining difficult concepts to a puzzled student. "It''s to keep the Maw''s spells invisible. It''s also the reason I''m talking so much. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "The more you waste your energy listening to me, the more I can throw you off your game."

    "What he said." Tezka said with a wolfish smile on his snout. "And more!"

    While defending from Silverwing''s Annihilation and fighting to keep his Searing Destruction from being split asunder by Cosmic Devourer, Roghar failed to notice a human-sized dimensional corridor that Tezka had left behind.

    The scale of the spells in play and the size of the combatants made such a small Warp Steps invisible to normal and mystical senses. Any fluctuation would have alerted Roghar but the Warp Steps was fixed in both energy and position, blending in with the background.

    "I hope you haven''t forgotten about us, you bastard!" Xenagrosh further raised the ante by hurling a jet of Immortal Flames the size of a skyscraper.

    Abthot was right by her side, draining the soil of its nutrients to feed the Shadow Dragon and ensure that producing such a volume of emerald fire would pose no threat to her still-wounded life force.

 Chapter 3427 Skull and Maw (Part 4)

    Abthot''s monster half lacked powerful means of attack but she could use it to grant any of her allies the same regenerative abilities of a plant folk or, in the case of Xenagrosh''s troll half, not to experience fatigue after instantly recovering from deadly wounds.''I actually had forgotten about you two!'' Roghar inwardly cursed at himself and conjured his Guardian Weapon, the Maw.

    A massive spear appeared from his pocket dimension, filling the air with an influx of world energy on par with the mana geyser below his feet. Its head was made of Davross while the haft was made from a single huge white crystal that was covered in Roghar''s fur to give it a better grip and further amplify its power.

    The Maw had been purified by the Origin Flames of an Elder Dragon, its power cores permanently boosted by Zagran''s Life Maelstrom, and crafted by Roghar himself.

    Roghar didn''t have Salaark''s skill or technique, but thanks to his Elemental Flow bloodline ability, the enchantments of the artifact he crafted always reached their full potential.

    He spun the haft in his hands, blocking Cosmic Devourer, Silverwing''s Annihilation, and the Immortal Flames at the same time. Every movement of the spear created ripples in the surrounding world energy and turned it into runes.

    The Maw channeled both Elemental Flow and body casting to weave spells and arrays as if it was part of Roghar''s body. In the span of a slit second, the wolf Guardian had conjured an Annihilation to counter Vastor''s spell, a tornado to scatter the Immortal Flames, and a mana blade that matched Cosmic Devourer.

    On top of that, now that he had neutralized the incoming attacks, the Fenrir had started casting multiple spells to finish off all his enemies in one fell swoop.

    When the Skull of Bytra read the massive mana flow surrounding the Fenrir and reported the complex mix of offensive and defensive spells to Tezka, the Fylgja sprung his trap.

    A bolt of Chaos emerged from the forgotten, small Steps, carrying the Tier five Chaos spell, Shredding Wheel.

    Roghar gasped in horror and released the offensive spells he already had at the ready, but it was too late. Two energy rings infused with Orulm''s Break energy shattered his Spirit Barrier and struck at his armor.

    The Fenrir''s spells managed to destroy the first ring but the second had already neutralized the protective enchantments of the Wolf King armor and was now biting at the Guardian''s flesh.

    Shredding Wheel only needed to erase a few runes to neutralize most enchantments of the Davross armor and turn it into a useless lump of metal. The Break-infused ring then easily pierced through Roghar''s flesh and injected its remaining strength straight into his life force.

    Even a small section of Roghar''s essence being erased from existence weakened his body, lowered his intelligence, and crippled his bloodline abilities. The protective layers he had so masterfully erected were now beyond his means and he failed to control them.

    The Immortal Flames, the Annihilation, and Cosmic Devourer hit at the same time, combining their effects. The emerald flames ate at Mana Body, stripping the Guardian of the only powerful defense he had left. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Annihilation pierced through Roghar''s chest and vaporized a good part of his left lung, sealing his breathing technique.

    The Blade Tier Spell opened a deep wound from the Fenrir''s left hip to his right shoulder. If not for the Guardian''s innate regenerative powers, the two halves would have fallen in opposite directions.

    "You idiot!" Fenagar cursed at the Fenrir while opening a dimensional passage straight into the wolf Guardian''s turf. "Have you forgotten who Tezka is? There''s a reason if for hundreds of years the Awakened believed the Fylgjas to be summoners!"

    Long ago, before the Guardians, dimensional magic didn''t exist, and neither did storage amulets. When Tezka invented dimensional magic, he kept it a secret from everyone but the members of his clan.

    Discover exclusive content at empire

    Seeing the Fylgjas conjure objects out of thin air and summoning allies at a moment''s notice made the Awakened community believe that Summon Magic was a thing. That somehow, Tezka and his clan could access parallel dimensions and move through realities freely.

    Of course, the Suneater had never denied such claims nor explained the origin of his powers, making a fool out of the entire Mogar longer than anyone was willing to admit or record in the pages of history.

    Only after listening to Fenagar''s words did Roghar notice the several small dimensional openings that Tezka had left open under the cover of Chaos Dimension and tracked them to their origin point.

    In the distance, Nandi the Minotaur conjured and accumulated world energy, feeding it to those who needed it through the small Steps whenever they needed it. Right beside him stood Orulm the Breaker.

    The Eldritch focused and accumulated his powers while concealing his presence to the best of his abilities.

    ''That''s how the three Eldritches recovered so quickly despite my nigh-absolute control over the mana geyser!'' The Fenrir too cursed himself for not noticing it sooner. ''Still, this isn''t over. Now that I know their trick and with Fenagar''s help, we can wipe them out quickly.''

    The Leviathan appeared at the edges of Chaos Dimension so as not to be engulfed in whatever trap Tezka might have set for Roghar and absorb the necessary energy to unleash Doom Tide.

    ''Without world energy, Eldritches are nothing.'' He thought. ''All I have to worry about are the Dragon''s Immortal Flames and the man''s Spirit Magic.''

    Alas, upon his arrival there was no world energy to draw upon.

    "Hello, Father. Did you miss me?" Hushar the Leviathan roared as he charged at Fenagar.

    His colossal serpentine body was wrapped around Nelia the Griffon like a living armor as they combined their bloodline abilities. Hushar released the world energy he had patiently accumulated until that moment into a powerful Doom Tide.

    Yet instead of emitting it in the form of an energy dome, Hushar passed it onto Nelia. The Griffon used the Life Maelstrom stored in her body to beat the Doom Tide into submission before amplifying and channeling it into her mouth.

    Then, Nelia combined the Doom Tide with her Light Raider bloodline ability to conjure a Doom Blast. The energy was the same as the Doom Tide but focused in a single beam compressed by a hard-light construct that spun at high speed, giving both of them great piercing power.

    The Doom Blast struck Fenagar at point-blank range and carried enough destructive power to send the Guardian hurtling down to the ground with a bent Davross armor and a cracked skull.

    A single Doom Tide or any single bloodline ability was nothing for a Guardian, but with both Hushar and Nelia infused with Life Maelstrom, the resulting highly compressed attack was much greater than the simple sum of its parts.

    To make matters worse, Fenagar was still recoiling and recovering from the impact with the Doom Blast when the second step of the ambush swooped down on him.

    Eycos the Garuda and Kigan the Black Phoenix had kept themselves at a great distance from the fight. They had waited for their moment high in the sky enough to escape the detection of the Guardians of Jiera but close enough to cover the distance with a single Chaos Steps.

 Chapter 3428 United Front (Part 1)

    The area surrounding the fight was still devoid of world energy due to the Doom Blast but placing the exit point nearby was enough. The two Divine Beasts-Eldritches exploited gravity to bolster their already astounding speed and reach their target like a living missile.Bolts of silver lightning covered Eycos'' whole body while Kigan''s was aflame due to his bloodline ability, Molting Essence. It turned the Black Phoenix into a living mass of Origin Flames and made him immune to physical attacks.

    The Garuda and the Black Phoenix were separated only by a few meters, the energy of one seeping into the other. The silver bolts of Life Maelstrom turned red while the edges of the Origin Flames burned white, slowly merging into one.

    The Life Maelstrom and the Origin Flames fused, turning the Phoenix and the Garuda into a single mass of living plasma.

    Kigan''s Molting Essence and Eycos'' Lightning Body fused and so did their bodies as they unleashed their combined bloodline ability, Voltic Essence. The resulting colossal energy bird rammed against the still-stunned Leviathan Guardian.

    Voltic Essence was pure energy that pierced through Fenagar''s Spirit Barriers and phased through his body, damaging him inside as much as outside. After the first swoop, Kigan and Eycos turned around for a second attack in a split second.

    Their mastery of flight made them fast, Life Maelstrom made them faster, and not having a physical form made them ignore things like air resistance and friction. Voltic Essence ravaged the Leviathan ten times in a single second, giving him no time to recover.

    The multiple Skulls of Bytra formed a network that read the flows of world energy and mana in the area from multiple observation points. Together they processed the data and discarded the redundant information, lowering the strain on the single Eldritch''s focus and mind.

    Thanks to the Skulls'' precise readings, Eycos and Kigan could anticipate Fenagar''s every attempt at dodging or retaliating and counter them all without ever slowing down.

    Voltic Essence moved so fast that the only thing visible was a streak of lightning and hit so hard that it left a trail of ozone and charred meat in its wake.

    "Fenagar!" Roghar coughed out a mouthful of blood, using the Maw spear to fuel his spell and make up for his crippled body. "You are going to pay for this, Zoreth! I don''t care about taking you alive anymore. I''m done playing!"

    A burst of his will and a torrent of mana restored the Searing Destruction and sent it on a collision course with the Suneater. The spell was big enough to envelop the Fylgja whole and erase him from existence.

    No matter how strong the other Eldritches were, Tezka was still the strongest among them and without him their battle formation was bound to capitulate.

    "Too bad. I was just starting to have fun!" The Suneater ignored his looming end and focused on controlling Cosmic Devourer.

    He diverted solely a sliver of his attention to conjure two more dimensional openings.

    "Coming through!" The first one formed right beside him, transporting the golden and silver figure of Theseus the Bastet-Meneos hybrid.

    His colossal humanoid body glowed with the golden light of the Mana Body bloodline ability and sparked with the silver lightning with which Nelia had infused him.

    Theseus charged straight at the Searing Destruction, leaving Tezka to deal with the Guardian.

    The Guardian Tier Spirit Spell was much bigger than the Bastet so, the moment before the impact, he released a deep breath and shrouded himself in a thick layer of Primordial Flames.

    Zoreth had learned the secrets of Origin Flames from Valtak and shared them with the rest of his companions, mentoring Kigan and Theseus in the same way the Father of Fire had done for her.

    The three bloodline abilities supported and strengthened each other so when the Bastet and Searing Destruction met, the Spirit Spell stopped its advance for a second. Then, it resumed moving forward, no matter how hard Theseus struggled.

    Primordial Flames ate at the Searing Destruction, reducing its strength, while Mana Body made the Bastet impervious to all forms of energy. Life Maelstrom strengthened his body and mana core tenfold, yet it wasn''t enough.

    The Divine Beast-Eldritch hybrid and the spell were apparently clashing but in reality, it was a one-sided beatdown. Theseus'' body was constantly vaporized by Searing Destruction and regenerated by his Meneos half.

    After all, he was standing over the fertile ground of a mana geyser. It boosted both his halves and fueled his recovery abilities. Searing Destruction incinerated the equivalent of dozens of Divine Beast-Eldritch hybrids in the span of a second but Theseus healed just as fast.

    The pain fueled his fury which in turn boosted his Primordial Flames. He leaned against the emerald sphere so as to keep his feet, the true source of his regenerative abilities, as far away from the walking death as possible. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

    "Fuck it!" Theseus was buying time, and time was against the two Guardians.

    With no other option, Roghar detonated the Searing Destruction. The blast weakened the other attacks he was suffering and ripped the Meneos to shreds. At the last moment, when he felt he couldn''t hold out any longer, Theseus focused his three bloodline abilities on his small toe.

    The Primordial Flames, Life Maelstrom, and Mana Body formed a protective cocoon around a part of his body smaller than a man. A small part of his body which survived the onslaught and regenerated into a full Bastet before the dust could settle.

    "You should have listened to your own warning, Fenagar." Tezka said. "I''m a summoner, remember?" The second dimensional opening appeared near the struggling Leviathan, at the borders with the mana geyser where the world energy had already been replenished.

    A second Shredding Wheel, bigger and denser than the first, came out of the Steps, and this time they both hit their mark. The two Break-infused rings dug their way to the middle of Fenagar''s serpentine body and then spread like poison.

    His armor lost its enchantments, his bloodline abilities failed him, and the spells he kept at the ready faded as the mana that carried them broke down. Fenagar was no fighter and without his magic, he was just prey.

    "Tired already, old man?" Theseus produced countless vines infused with Mana Body that wrapped themselves around the two Guardians and restricted them.

    "Prepare for Plan E." Vastor said via a network of minuscule Spirit Fissures he used to communicate with his Eldritches despite the distance.

    "Acknowledged." The Eldritches replied as they Warped to the Guardians and released the means to capture them.

    Xenagrosh in particular took a series of deep breaths to focus and recover from the abuse of Immortal Flames.

    "Enough of this madness!" Zagran the Garuda fell from the sky like a meteor.

    She hadn''t stood idly but finishing her preparations had taken her time. The Mother of All Garudas knew that Orulm could attack more than twice with Break and didn''t want to fall for an ambush like her conceited allies.

    She had first Warped at a safe distance from the fight and then covered the rest by flight while preparing her spells and studying everything with Soul Vision before making her opening move.

 Chapter 3429 United Front (Part 2)

    Zagran''s mere impact with the ground generated a shockwave that sent the Eldritches flying away with only one exception.Read new chapters at empire

    The Shadow Dragon plunged her talons in the ground, draining the world energy and digging meters-deep trenches as she slid back. As for Tezka, between the Blade Spell, Chaos Dimension, and keeping the dimensional links with his allies at the ready, he had reached his limit.

    He failed to react in time but managed to recover with a somersault, landing on his feet and with Endless Night ready to block anything.

    The Garuda immediately sent bolts of silver lightning to her fallen comrades, making up for the powers they had lost after being hit by Orulm''s Break. Then she pulled out her Guardian tier weapon, Rending Talons.

    A pair of silvery-black combat gloves covered her hands. Her fingers now ended in long claws and retractile blades rested on the back of Rending Talons, crackling with energy.

    "If you want to fight, let''s fight." A silvery pillar burst out of her body as a bolt of Life Maelstrom connected her with the rumbling sky. "I won''t let you take these idiots, no matter if they deserve it."

    "We don''t need your permission!" Zoreth charged forward while extending the claws of her new and improved Yggdrasill Sky Piercer.

    "Plan E, now!" Vastor yelled as everyone assumed their battle position.

    "You stupid brat!" Zagran grunted. "I am-"

    Zoreth''s claws moved faster than the Garuda expected and her punch hit with more strength than any non-Guardian could produce. It was just a fist, but its destructive power was on par with an Annihilation.

    "You are finished!" Zoreth had forcefully merged her troll and black core, forming a perfect mana core.

    Decay and Chaos perfectly balanced instead of canceling each other and generated a power that outclassed even Tezka''s.

    "Not bad." Yet aside from the first strike, Zagran effortlessly blocked everything else.

    The Shadow Dragon was powerful for a non-Guardian, but the Garuda sparred with Salaark on a regular basis. Zagran studied magic and martial arts every day since she had become a Guardian untold millennia ago.

    Zoreth had recently switched from a blade to combat gloves whereas Zagran used them from the day she had gained hands as an Emperor Beast. The gap in power, experience, and technique was too wide to overcome with just the advantage of surprise.

    A small, tiny dimensional opening appeared from Zoreth''s opposite side and released Orulm''s strongest attack, Break Annihilation.

    "Only an idiot would fall for this twice and this is the third time already!" Zagran conjured a dimensional opening that swallowed the Annihilation and shot it outside the range Orulm could still control it with willpower.

    "If you can''t stop an attack, there''s no point trying. You move it where it can do no harm." She explained while blocking Zoreth''s chain of fists and spells with one hand while the other pummelled the Shadow Dragon into a pulp.

    If not for her unique power she would have died after the first strike and to make matters worse, her enhanced state would last for less than one more second. Once it ended, so would her life.

    Theseus went to the rescue and was dealt with by a single palm strike that bypassed his defenses and struck his abdomen. He was still wreathed in Origin Flames and infused with Mana Body, but it was useless.

    Zagran''s hit was like a caress, dealing no damage on the outside because its full strength was released as a shockwave that spread from inside the Bastet''s body. Theseus crumbled apart like a sand castle, leaving his equipment unscathed.

    Even his feet were ground to dust. If not for the Skull of Bytra allowing him to read and counter the shockwave''s exact wavelength with Mana Body and Life Maelstrom, he would have died just from that.

    "That was close. Damn close!" He shook his head in shock but resumed the attack without pausing.

    "Fine, die!" A palm strike hit Zoreth and another the Bastet, the mere movement producing a sonic boom and displacing air for kilometers.

    Yet the palm strikes hit only air.

    "Wait, what?" Only then did Zagran notice there was no one around aside from her and the two fallen Guardians.

    Even Auros the Bringer of Unity had left for long enough to leave no trace of his passage.

    "Plan E stands for egress." The Master had Spirit Warped everyone to safety, knowing he was the only one who couldn''t be restrained with an air-sealing array. "The moment the Leviathan appeared, I knew you would too.

    "I don''t fight losing battles. I prefer a dishonorable escape to an honorable death since my power, unlike yours, can still grow. We''ll meet again on my terms. Milady." The Master was the last one leaving, tipping his helm to the standing Garuda.

    "Why are you standing there like an idiot?" Roghar coughed out enough blood to form a pond. "You could have killed him! You could have ended this here and now!" S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Really? With whose help?" A flick of her finger on the Fenrir''s forehead made him almost faint from the concussion. "You two are wrecks. Life Maelstrom is great but it does no miracles. I didn''t come here to kill the Eldritches but to rescue you morons."

    "She''s right." Fenagar writhed in pain, consuming the silver lightning and what was left of his mana to heal his maimed life force. "We had no chance the moment I fell into their trap. We are still alive because Zagran covered for us.

    "Had she left our side, the Eldritches would have collected us like insects and she would have fallen in whatever ambush they had prepared for her. The Suneater was in perfect condition and I doubt the Master used so few spells during the fight for no reason.

    "He was saving his strength for this precise moment. Zagran is strong but you''ve seen what those hybrids can do when two of them work together, Roghar. Imagine fighting six of them at a time. Or worse, all of them!"

    "Why waste Life Maelstrom on us, then?" Roghar coughed more and followed Fenagar''s example, focusing on healing his wounds.

    "To give us a chance to fight back, you moron!" The Leviathan snarled. "Zagran can''t be in three places at the same time. She gave us the means to protect ourselves in case the Eldritches somehow drove her away from us."

    "I see." The wounds to Roghar''s body were nothing compared to those to his pride. "Thanks, Fenagar. Thanks, Zagran. If not for you, Jiera would have only two Guardians now."

    "Save your thanks for later." The Garuda growled. "I saw how easily you disposed of Auros. Why didn''t you do that sooner?"

    "Two reasons. First, I was still recovering from the wounds the Guardians of Garlen inflicted upon me and second, I want the people of Jiera to fix their mess. The lost cities are a plague, but they are also the reason the four races go along for the first time in Jiera''s history.

    "Leaving the lost cities free slows down the rebuilding of society, but slow is not necessarily bad just like fast isn''t necessarily good. I''m giving our people the time to build strong foundations that will resist the erosion of peace.

 Chapter 3430 Great Haul (Part 1)

    "Crises unite people but once they are resolved, petty issues are magnified until they tear everything apart. When our continent rises from its ashes, I want it to be a better Jiera. Not just the same old shit waiting to fall apart." Roghar said."Well, you are still an idiot, but a wiser idiot than I thought." Zagran nodded, puffing her chest out with pride. "You''ve seen Eycos, didn''t you? That was my son. He kicked your ass like it was nothing, Fenagar."

    "That''s what you are proud of?" The Leviathan was flabbergasted.

    "What else should I be proud of? You?" She scoffed. "My lost son has grown into a fine Garuda. It''s much more important than two lesser Guardians, don''t you agree?"

    "Please, don''t call us that." Roghar groaned. "The Master was goading me and I fell for it like an idiot. If the other Guardians know, they''ll never let us hear the end of it and that will become our nickname."

    "I know." Zagran nodded. "That''s why I''ve already shared everything with Salaark. Our Garlen brethren need to be ready for what''s to come and you idiots need to be reminded of your failures.

    "Stop messing with the children of others, Roghar." She scowled. "Lith, Zoreth, Eycos, and the rest are none of your business. Be better or the next time I might turn my back on you."

    ***

    "Order and Chaos. Our children have become terribly strong." Leegaain said while rolling back the footage of the fight to watch it again from a different angle.

    "Indeed. Maybe even too powerful." Ileza, Guardian of Life and Mother of All Bastets said. "Still, I can''t believe my Theseus is not only sane again but that he also didn''t hesitate to sacrifice himself to save someone else."

    Tyris had established a mind link with her as well and healed Ileza from her affliction. The Griffon Guardian had neither forgiven nor forgotten the Bastet for her interference but with the Organization on the rise, the Guardians of Garlen needed all the help they could get. Discover hidden stories at empire S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It still freaks me out seeing a Phoenix and a Garuda going along so well." Salaark grumbled. "What impresses me the most, however, is your daughter, old lizard. The old fox has always been strong but Zoreth?

    "For a brief moment, she exceeded even the most powerful towerless white core I''ve ever faced. Had Zagran underestimated Zoreth or not worn her Guardian equipment from the start, things could have gotten ugly."

    "I agree, but only because Roghar and Fenagar were in dire need of protection." Tyris shook her head. "Were Zagran to take care solely of herself, there was little risk involved.

    "The Eldritches have realized their limits by fighting the World Tree whereas the Guardians of Jiera have only gotten cocky with time. While the Eldritches prepared to face the Ygdrasill''s trap, Roghar foolishly jumped into the Eldritches'' trap.

    "The World Tree is as strong as we are only inside his domain and surrounded by his arrays. Roghar had no such thing. He was unprepared and the biggest reason he lost is because he didn''t expect the Eldritches to have such good teamwork.

    "As for Fenagar, I could write a book about the mistakes he made, and it would be a long one." She sighed.

    "Let''s be honest, we are used to fighting everything and everyone." Leegaain said. "Yet even the most powerful individuals on Mogar pose little threat to a Guardian. White cores don''t help each other. Mages with towers hide and think solely about themselves.

    "Eldritches do all of the above. At least until now. None of us has ever dealt with a group of powerful individuals who trusted and protected each other as the hybrids did. You trounced Tezka, young sparrow, but you were on your turf and one on one.

    "What if Tezka and Orulm worked together and played it smart? What if they also brought the Master along and his Spirit Magic? How would the fight have gone then?"

    "I believe I would have still won." Salaark''s face twisted in a displeased grimace. "But I don''t think it would have been easy nor would I have come out unscathed. Of course, only if I didn''t call my children or you guys for help."

    "Of course." Tyris nodded. "But would you have put your children in danger like that? Traded hundreds of their lives for an easy victory?"

    "No." Salaark admitted. "But I would have called you and Leegaain for sure the moment I smelled Orulm. The guy has one trick but it''s a dangerous one. Even for us Guardians."

    ***

    Grand Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, at the same time.

    "We did it!" Orulm the Breaker popped the cork of vintage wine and poured it into glasses for everyone. "I still had a couple of shots in me. If that damn snake hadn''t intervened, I would be the first Guardian Slayer in Mogar''s history."

    "Except the mission was never about killing Roghar." Vastor accepted the glass of wine but still maintained a lecturing tone. "Our objective was capturing, studying, and sampling him. What''s more important, your pride or the mission?"

    "The mission, My Liege." Orulm lowered his head and remembered how precarious his position in the Organization was.

    ''I can''t believe I was once the strongest Eldritch on Mogar and now those two surpass me.'' He looked at Xenagrosh and Tezka in envy.

    "How did the mission go?" Bytra joined them the moment Zoreth''s amulet became available again. "By looking at your faces I''d say it was a success, but I see no hogtied Guardian."

    "No, but we got the next best thing." Theseus smirked as his arms stretched into long vines.

    Each dropped a pile of fur, scales, flesh, and bottles of blood.

    "Why two piles? They look the same to me." She asked.

    "They are not." The Bastet shook his head. "The left pile is the corrupted materials I collected after Orulm''s Break had hit the Guardians. The right pile instead is pure. The flesh, blood, and everything they dropped while their life forces were intact.

    "I know you asked me to take only untainted materials, Master, but Guardian ingredients are still Guardian ingredients. You can use them to study how Chaos affects Guardians and compare the results with their pure counterpart.

    "Once you are done with the corrupted materials, Bytra can use them for her prototypes."

    "Excellent thinking, Theseus." Vastor nodded. "You''ve gotten quite a haul while pretending to restrain those losers- Zoreth, is everything alright?"

    The Shadow Dragon had been panting since their escape but it was normal due to the aftereffects of merging her life forces forcefully. Yet the Master had taken a long detour to avoid being tracked and she was supposed to have partly recovered.

    Zoreth looked even worse than when she was on Jiera, instead. Her face had gone pale first and was slowly turning green, something impossible for a Shadow Dragon.

    "No, I feel like sh-" A dry heave cut her short, quickly followed by puking her guts out.

    Pain shook the Shadow Dragon''s body. Her head felt like someone had planted explosives all over her brain and was detonating them in a domino effect. Her ears seemed about to burst and her eyes hurt so much that she saw white.

 Chapter 3431 Great Haul (Part 2)

    "Oh, gods! I know what''s happening." Vastor said. "Strip, Zoreth!""Shouldn''t you offer me a drink f-" More vomiting cut the joke midway. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "First, Orulm already did that. That''s one of my best wines and you are wasting it. Second, I''m sorry but I''m taken, miss, and so are you." As Zoreth had her Bookwyrm armor slip off her body, the Master covered her with a blanket. "I said strip, silly girl."

    He took off her Skull as well and the vomiting stopped immediately.

    "What¡­ what''s happening to me?" Zoreth felt better by the second, now her head hurt just as if someone was drilling it from either side and the metal points were meeting in the middle.

    "The second part of our haul." Vastor replied. "Information. Capturing a Guardian was a gamble whose odds of success plummeted the moment Roghar called for reinforcements.

    "Yet just because we don''t have him here, it doesn''t mean we can''t study him. It''s the reason I entrusted Theseus with collecting biological samples and Zoreth to fight as little as she could and keep her Dragon Eyes on the enemy."

    "That''s why she used no spell and limited herself to breathing Origin Flames." Abthot''s eyes widened when the weird details of the fight finally made sense.

    "Well, duh." Bytra helped Zoreth to sit down. "The Skull is made of Yggdrasill wood that enhances the understanding and the Skull itself allows Zor to read the mana currents better than any Awakened can.

    "I assumed that by combining them with her Dragon Eyes, I might discover the secret behind the legendary Eyes of Menadion. I even added a special recording device solely to her Skull of Bytra."

    The Raiju removed what looked like a pair of small metal discs placed inside the helm at the level of the temples.

    "I Forgemastered it under Bytra''s supervision." Vastor explained. "It uses Spirit Magic to record the interactions between the Yggdrasill wood, the Skull, and her Dragon Eyes. But enough babbling. Zoreth needs our help.

    "Come here, everyone. Tezka¡­"

    "Way ahead of you." The Suneater split into ten different bodies, each with a single tail.

    This method greatly reduced his combat prowess but increased his mental prowess by tenfold. He could study, research, and think ten times faster as if there were ten Tezkas. The Spirit Tail was pathetically weak, but its brain was as good as the other nine.

    The Eldritches and Vastor wore their respective Skulls, leaving only Zoreth without. Then, Vastor used a mind link to connect them all and shared the knowledge stored in Xenagrosh''s brain from the fight.

    The Guardians'' spells, the battle tactics, the arrays they used, how they manipulated their mana, and the surrounding world energy were all stored inside Zoreth''s mind, cramping it with endless information and causing her pain.

    Vastor split the data between the Eldritches based on their specializations and talents so that no one was overloaded. It allowed the Shadow Dragon to forget about everything that confused her or made no sense to her.

    Making no effort to understand or retain the acquired knowledge, her body naturally blurred part of her memories from the fight, like it would do with a long and absurd dream after waking up.

    With each bit of information, Zoreth could let go of, her head hurt less and less. The quasi-hive mind formed by the mind link alleviated her strain and made her relax.

    In the span of a few minutes, everyone had watched the parts of their respective share of knowledge enough times to commit it to memory down to the slightest detail. Tezka, with his ten elemental masteries, took almost everything in by himself.

    "We definitely gained a lot." He said while his ten bodies organized and stored the knowledge in separate compartments of his brains with the help of the Yggdrasill wood. "Yet this is not the moment to press forward.

    "We are all tired and need to rest. We also need to examine what we''ve learned and arrange it in order of relevance to our goals. We need to focus on what''s useful and prioritize it. The rest can be set aside for later."

    "Agreed." Vastor said. "We- Where are you going?"

    Discover hidden stories at empire

    "To bed." The Suneater merged his ten bodies into one. "The kids aren''t used to sleeping without me and tomorrow is a school day."

    "Fine." Vastor sighed.

    He would have liked to hold a meeting and set the schedule for the following day but working without Tezka was like not working at all. He was the oldest, wisest, and most knowledgeable among the members of the Organization.

    To make matters worse, his value to the research increased tenfold once he split.

    "We''ll discuss this tomorrow. Have some rest. Especially you, Theseus, and Zoreth."

    "Thanks, Master." The Bastet''s voice oozed sarcasm. "For your information, healing doesn''t mean I don''t feel pain. Today I died over a hundred times and my body has been ground to dust twice. I''m still reeling from the shock."

    "I''m fine and dandy, instead." Xenagrosh cleared the vomit from her chin, her voice sounded even more annoyed as she needed Bytra''s help to stand up. "Seriously, Dad, I''m like shit now and Abthot too took quite a beating.

    "I know we are not that important but you should care for us as well."

    "I do care for you!" The Master said in outrage.

    "You have a funny way to show it." Abthot snarled.

    Vastor sighed deeper.

    "I''m sorry. It''s just that we gained so much and learned a lot. We got much closer to our goal and enthusiasm blinded me. You are right. This waited for decades, it can wait until after school."

    His words were greeted with fake enthusiasm and lots of grumbling.

    After giving everyone a check-up to look less insensitive, the Master Warped to his bedroom.

    "Well? How did it go?" Much to his surprise, the light was on and Zinya was waiting for him.

    She was wearing a black lace nightgown and reading a book, only the lower half of her body was covered under the bedsheets.

    "It went great, thanks. Why are you still awake? It''s late and you should be sleeping already."

    "Because I was worried for you, silly." She walked out of the bed and to him for a hug and a sweet kiss. "And because I wanted to be the first to congratulate you for a job well done, whatever it was."

    "Thank you." Vastor returned the embrace, feeling his body tense up in shame for the secrets he kept from her and the desire to keep her safe from everything, even himself.

    "No, thank you, silly." Zinya replied.

    In a cold indifferent world where a blind woman was at the mercy of her own family, Vastor was the one who had given her light. Yet that paled in comparison with his choice to protect and restore the almost broken bond with her children.

    Many times had the Master put his life on the line to protect them for no reason but the kindness of his heart and the honor of his soul. He had taken Filia and Frey into his house and cared for them not because bound by blood but by choice.

    A choice he renewed every day just like Zinya did hers.

    The choice to stand by his side.

    No matter what Mogar might call Zogar Vastor, to her he would always be her hero.

 Chapter 3432 Summoner Clan (Part 1)

    Meanwhile, just a few meters away, Tezka had just reached the children''s bedroom.He had walked his way there without Warping to have the time to think and cover his inner turmoil as best as he could.

    ''I don''t want them to see me upset. This is the consequence of my actions and I won''t let it spill on them and burden them with my pain.'' The Suneater thought as his expression turned as cold and hard as steel.

    "Did anything happen during my absence?" He asked the four Eldritches stationed at the four corners of the room.

    "No, Lord." Ghazul the Flesh Monger swallowed hard even though it was physically useless. "Not even insects were allowed access. It''s been a quiet night."

    "Good." Tezka nodded.

    His snout was a stone mask and his voice deadpan but everything about him sounded like a promise of pain. The guards were loyal followers of the Master but they were scared nonetheless.

    Every muscle fiber and blood vessel of the Suneater was as taught as a bowstring ready to release a dart and the Eldritches felt like a bullseye. Tezka was ready to pounce and they were eager not to become his prey.

    He wasn''t even paying attention to the Eldritches. His physical and mystical senses were entirely focused on checking the structural integrity of the protective spells and that no one had tampered with them.

    Yet the guards were scared.

    Tezka''s mere heartbeat released a burst of energy, triggering not the Abominations'' endless hunger but their instinct to kneel. Every breath he took exerted immense pressure on the Eldritches, suppressing their auras like they were regular humans.

    "Why are you still here?" Tezka asked after noticing the four guards were staring at him in a daze. "Dismissed."

    "Apologies." His voice snapped the Eldritches out of their fright and they rushed away.

    Only once he was certain to be alone did Tezka open the door and walk through it.

    Despite their age and no lack of space in the Vastor household, Filia and Frey still shared the same bedroom. After being separated for years and being almost killed more times than any child should, they drew comfort from each other''s presence.

    From that and Tezka''s.

    A smile formed on his lupine snout as he noticed the blue fox plushie Frey held and the red one in Filia''s arms. Tezka had sewn them himself from his own fur as stand-ins for when he was forced to stay away from the children.

    The stuffed foxes were the symbol of his promise. A promise he had come to fulfill.

    "The summoner clan." The Suneater lowered his gaze in shame. "I haven''t heard that name in millennia and hope never to hear it again."

    The part about Tezka creating dimensional magic was public knowledge since he had no reason not to brag about it. The summoner clan, instead, was an old legend that Tezka wished long lost.

    It was part of a secret that no one, not even Baba Yaga or the Guardians knew. Tezka pre-dated them all and had no will to share or disclose his past, not even with his current allies.

    Tezka was different from the rest of the Master''s Eldritches. He had never been an arrogant youth. He had never failed to Awaken nor had he rushed his mana core''s development too much.

    He had been born a Fylgja, not the first of his species, a long, long time ago. Tezka had self-Awakened soon after his mother had finished weaning him and his father had started teaching magic to the litter.

    Tezka had then developed his masteries of the six elements and invented dimensional magic after becoming an adult Emperor Beast (around 70 years of age). The seventh tail had come later, after he had discovered the secret of the violet core, but that didn''t matter.

    What mattered was that he had shared his discoveries with his clan. Tezka had taught them dimensional magic and developed for them training techniques that made it easier for every Fylgja to master the elements.

    The first Tezka, the living one, was no different from the personality that had helped the mutated wargs back when Lith was still a Ranger. That Tezka loved his people and cared for them.

    Under his guidance, the "summoner" clan had grown in power and influence. With no Guardians or Divine Beasts roaming Mogar, they had been considered the dominant species for almost three thousand years.

    Under Tezka''s guidance, his clan had prospered and he had countless children, grandchildren, and grand-grandchildren. Yet not even the mighty and wise Tezka could defeat old age.

    Your journey continues on empire

    He had long since reached the bright violet and despite all of his efforts and those of his entire clan, no one had figured out the secret of the legendary white core or how to prolong a life without Forbidden Magic.

    Unlike the other members of the Organization, Tezka had died of natural causes at the ripe age of 3126 years. Yet his passing hadn''t been peaceful or serene.

    Tezka loved his tribe too much and was afraid that with him gone, their enemies would have not hesitated to attack the Fylgja in order to put their hands on the secrets of dimensional magic.

    Tezka had let his pride and affection become an obsession that brought him back from the grave. He had returned with the best intentions and unleashed the most terrifying consequences.

    Blinded by his hunger and fury, Tezka had caused the fall of the summoner clan that he was so desperate to prevent. The Fylgjas had scattered to the four corners of Mogar, sharing dimensional magic with their fellow Emperor Beasts in exchange for protection from the insane ghost chasing after them.

    As for Tezka, the moment he reeled in the hunger and regained his senses, the reality of what he had done hit him without mercy. The memories of the Fylgjas he had killed, devoured, and slaughtered drove him insane.

    He needed someone to blame for what had happened, so he let madness take him so as not to shoulder the guilt for his actions. He had become the second Tezka, the Abomination, the ruthless monster Lith had killed almost four years ago.

    It had taken Tezka a long, long time to snap out of his madness and be driven sane by the emptiness of his life. Yet countless millennia had to pass before he met the Master and joined him. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Suneater split his body in two and walked to the children''s beds, gently caressing their hair as they slept.

    "I''m doing this for you." His mouths moved in unison as he spoke and his eyes once again betrayed him. "I''m doing this to give meaning to your deaths."

    To him, Filia and Frey didn''t look like human children but like the Fylgja pups he had failed to protect from himself. Time couldn''t fade his scars and his pain was hidden but always present.

    "If I become strong enough, if this body of mine becomes truly alive, I can give back at least part of what I took away from you. I can share my new knowledge with our clan and have children again. I can restore the Summoner Clan to its former glory."

 Chapter 3433 Summoner Clan (Part 2)

    "In time, all Fylgjas will have ten tails and be strong enough to prevent the atrocities of the past from repeating themselves. It won''t erase my crimes or shame but my legacy won''t be one of slaughter and madness anymore."Tezka''s bodies shapeshifted into small fox cubs that sneaked under the blankets and replaced the plushies in the children''s arms. Even in their sleep, Frey and Filia felt the softer fur and the warmth of the Suneater and held him tight to their chests.

    "No one shall hurt you again. No one."

    ***

    Blood Desert, Salaark''s palace, at the same time.

    A few days had passed since Lith had left with his mother and sisters. Aran and Leria came to the Desert every day for the magical lessons and even though they missed their mothers, they were happy children.

    Rena and Elina called at least two times a day and Raaz and Senton were excellent fathers. In a way, Aran and Leria considered it an extension of their vacation, just without Lith and with a few extra chores.

    Salaark was caring host and a loving grandmother, making sure they lacked nothing while under her care. The Phoenixes loved Aran and Leria and the kids kept being at the top of their class.

    Yet there was something irking Aran ever since he had returned home from the family trip with his big brother.

    ''I''m already seven years old and have a bright yellow core.'' He thought as he walked briskly toward Salaark''s office. ''Auntie Solus was Awakened at six and she was already stronger than me while Lith self-Awakened even earlier.

    ''Even though I can already use Light Mastery, compared to them I am nothing. I''ve received magic lessons since a young age whereas Big Brother learned everything by himself. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''He didn''t receive any help until he joined the academy whereas I have him, Auntie Solus, Onyx, and the magic classes in the Desert. It''s time to swallow my pride and ask for a bit more help.''

    The young man politely nodded at the silk curtain, producing a sound similar to hardwood.

    "Come in, sweetie." Aran waited a few seconds after Salaark answered to pull the curtain aside and enter the office. "What can I do for you?"

    She had finished the meeting with the other Guardians for a while and was already swamped with paperwork. She barely raised her eyes from the swarm of documents flying around her mahogany desk.

    Some she signed, others she wrote, changed, or read before replying to them. Her Feathers took care of the local administration of the single tribes but the Mother of All Phoenixes dealt with the bureaucracy of the Blood Desert single-handedly.

    "I need your help to Awaken, Grandma." Aran said, making her blink multiple times in rapid succession and the papers freeze in mid-air. "If I wait until I reach the deep green, I might get hurt or worse."

    "I know and I''m sorry, but I can''t help you." Salaark could smell Aran''s fear and read it on his small pale face. "I don''t Awaken my children, let alone those of others and without the consent of their parents."

    "No, Grandma, you got it wrong. I don''t need your help for that. Big Brother already explained the secret of Awakening to me."

    "He did?" The Guardian furrowed her brows, finding such reckless behavior hard to believe from someone as careful as Lith.

    ''Better not to make assumptions. Aran is terrible with words.'' She thought.

    "Yes." Aran nodded with pride, shattering the image of Lith Salaark had in her head. "He told me that the secret is feeling your own mana, feeling the world energy, and merging them together to form a mana flow."

    "Oh, that!" The Guardian sighed in relief as she took back all the bad things she had just thought about Lith. "But sweetie, that''s no secret. That''s something anyone in an Awakened family knows. Awakening is a bit harder than that."

    It was no different than saying that all it takes to be a cardiothoracic surgeon is to crack someone''s chest open, fix the problem, and close them up. Between doing and saying there was a gap bigger than most oceans.

    "I know." Aran replied. "But since Auntie Solus is not here and I can''t access the tower, you are the greatest source of world energy I know. I mean, you are the coolest and most powerful person on Garlen, aren''t you?" Find more chapters on empire

    "Flattery will take you a long way, dear." Salaark chuckled while caressing his head. "What do you need from me, then? I''m listening."

    "I would like to train in your office, if it doesn''t bother you, Grandma." Aran said while fiddling with his fingers.

    "That''s it? You want a corner of the room to practice magic near me?" She asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Pick any spot you like. Anywhere but in front or behind my desk. That''s where my guests and I sit."

    "I''m not stupid, Grandma. I know that." Aran pouted obtaining a double cheek pinch in apology.

    "A real mage has no time to pout, young man. Get to work so I can go back to work." Salaark waited for Aran to sit cross-legged in a corner of the room before creating a powerful Hush Zone that would keep sounds, smells, and the flickering of lights out.

    No one and nothing could now disturb Aran''s focus and the presence of the Guardian and the mana geyser guaranteed an abundant flow of world energy.

    ''Big Brother breathes when he uses his Awakened powers.'' Aran tried to imitate Lith but had no idea what a breathing technique was.

    ''Stupid Aran!'' He thought after several minutes of failed attempts. ''If breathing were enough, all Crystalsmiths would have Awakened simply by working in the mines. Let''s try something else.''

    And he did. Aran conjured all elements by using magic words first, then hand signs, and lastly with perfect silent chore magic. Then he tried and failed to conjure all the upper tier spells he knew with his mind.

    "It''s snack time, sweetie." Salaark offered him a pot of honeyed tea and some biscuits.

    "Good gods, Grandma. You scared me!" Aran yelped in reply, falling on his back from fright. "Wait, snack time? Like halfway through lunch? Where did the last two hours go?"

    "Yes." She nodded. "You were so focused that you mustn''t have noticed the passage of time. Magic requires energy. Eat."

    She was right. During classes, food was often offered in between lessons. The brain needed sugar and the body energy to replenish the mana consumed.

    "I''m not hungry." Aran tried to sound cool and aloof like his brother but his stomach growled in disapproval. "I don''t want to offend you, though. Thanks, Grandma."

    "You''re welcome, dear." Salaark smiled as Aran wolfed down the biscuits and washed them down with the tea. "If you need seconds, just let me know."

    With a wounded pride and full stomach, Aran resumed his practice.

    ''Okay. Great. I''ve done what everyone before me did and failed just like them.'' He inwardly grumbled. ''Think, Aran, think. What would Lith do? No, wait, this is another stupid move. Big Bro is already an Awakened.''

 Chapter 3434 Three Steps (Part 1)

    ''The right question is: what has Lith taught me so far?'' Aran started to review his brother''s lessons since the camping trip near the Hot Pot. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.Aran mulled over the methods to handle the elements of destruction, balance, and creation and the differences between them. As he did, he conjured the elements one by one in his mind, searching for the familiar feeling of elemental energy on his skin rather than a precise physical manifestation.

    It took him a while to succeed but aside from a slight burning sensation in his abdomen, nothing happened.

    ''Yes! This is a great start!'' Aran felt confident despite the fact that he had been at it for hours and had yet to achieve something.

    He had just gotten used to conjuring all six elements in his mind when something slimy slithered on his face. It was wet, rough, and sticky, like a brush covered in tar.

    The surprise snapped Aran out of focus, making him emit a high-pitched scream and fall against the wall-curtain of Salaark''s office while flailing his arm and legs.

    "Wow, that''s embarrassing." He recognized Onyx''s voice while his eyes were still getting used to the light after being closed for so long. "It''s lunchtime. Do you want to eat with me or do you want to do another cockroach dance first?"

    "That wasn''t a dance!" Aran touched his cheek recognizing the familiar traces of Onyx''s saliva after a lick. "I was in deep meditation and you scared me."

    "I noticed." The huge Utgard threw herself on her back and mimicked Aran''s trashing while mimicking his scream with air magic over and over.

    "I don''t sound like that!" He blushed in embarrassment.

    "You sure do, sweetie." Salaark giggled.

    "Grandma? You are still here?" Aran blushed harder.

    "This is my office. Where else should I be?"

    "Who''s bullying a little girl?" The Phoenixes of the honor guard looked around the office after being alarmed by Onyx''s repeated screams.

    "No one." Salaark laughed hard, holding her belly for air. "The children are just playing."

    Onyx turned her snout to Aran and stared at him with her big feline eyes before emitting his scream for the last time.

    "This isn''t funny, Onyx!" Aran said.

    "Then why am I still laughing?" Salaark replied.

    The guards shrugged and left while Aran was still glaring at the Utgard and the Guardian.

    "I''m still waiting for an answer." Onyx rolled back on her feet. "Lunch?"

    "Fine!" Aran replied before his gurgling stomach made a fool out of him again. "But you are going to pay for that." Continue reading stories on empire

    "Really?" Onyx grabbed him with her forelegs and started licking his face.

    "Stop it." Aran laughed. "It tickles. Also, I''m really hungry."

    "Like you should." Salaark Warped everyone to the dining room with a snap of her fingers. "You cast chore magic spells for hours. One consumes little energy but so many are bound to leave you drained. I''m afraid you are in for an aftershock.

    "You should rest this afternoon."

    "Okay, Grandma." Aran nodded and ate with the rest of his family.

    "Where have you been all morning? You skipped all classes." Leria asked.

    "I''m working on a secret project." The more Aran ate, the hungrier he felt. "As for the lessons, Onyx followed them and brought me my homework. If there''s something I don''t understand I''ll ask her."

    "Or you can ask me." Leria said.

    "No can do." Aran shook his head. "It would ruin my secret project."

    Those words piqued Leria''s curiosity but she decided not to pry.

    ''Knowing him, it must be a hard-light toy or a chore spell that looks like a high tier one.'' She inwardly shrugged.

    In the afternoon, Aran began to feel tired and achy. He felt like he had pins and needles all over his body and panted as if he were running instead of sitting on his chair.

    "These are signs of mana abuse." Onyx checked on him with Invigoration. "You have to rest."

    "Once we are done with the homework." Aran panted.

    Soon his head started to pulse and his vision blurred, forcing him to take a nap. Onyx waked him up only a couple of hours before dinner, just for the time he would need to finish his assignments.

    With a rested mind and body, Aran covered the content of the day''s lessons quickly, leaving him even time to spare. He discussed magic with Onyx and then they rushed to the dining hall at the first ring of the dinner gong.

    Aran gobbled his food and fell asleep right after.

    "No movie? No playing? No snack before bed?" Leria asked in shock.

    Aran replied with a soft snoring as he clenched Onyx''s fur and tried to use her forelegs as a blanket.

    ***

    The next morning Aran took position in the same spot of Salaark''s office and she Hushed him.

    It took him a minute to conjure the six elements again and feel the warmth in his abdomen again, but even after several minutes, nothing happened.

    ''Okay, this is a good first step but that''s it.'' He thought. ''Next is the mana flow.''

    No matter how much he tried, the elements remained fixed in the position he conjured them. Aran tried everything that came to his mind, no matter how silly, yet nothing worked.

    "Snack time." Salaark roused him gently.

    "Already?" Aran was flabbergasted.

    He ate everything in a rush and resumed his practice.

    ''Fine, if you don''t want to move, I''ll make you!'' He conjured and dispelled the elements in quick succession, making the mana move before connecting it with the world energy again.

    It was no mana flow, just a moving spell. The only difference between a chore magic spell and Aran''s technique was that he was conjuring the elements with his mind and inside his body instead of outside.

    ''My mana is the water and I''m the river.'' Aran recalled Lith''s teachings. ''I don''t need to push it. I just need to carry it.''

    At first, the exercise seemed pointless. After a while, however, Aran felt the burning sensation in his abdomen increase.

    ''Second step! I''ve found the second step! Let''s see how far it can go.'' He kept the spells moving and soon he was rewarded for it.

    A small, distant blue light appeared in the pitch-black darkness surrounding him. The sight gave Aran a jolt of excitement while Onyx''s lick one of terror.

    "Why do you do that?" He fell and flailed like the previous day but at least he managed not to scream.

    "Because I tried calling and shaking you but it didn''t work." Onyx replied. "Just like yesterday."

    "Really?" Aran looked at the Utgard with suspicion before moving his gaze to Salaark with hope.

    "Really." She confirmed.

    "Yes! Gods, yes!" Aran clenched his fists in triumph as his stomach gurgled in uprising.

    The rest of the day passed like the previous. Lunch, nap, homework, dinner, and then bed.

    "He hasn''t been playing for two days straight." Raaz tormented his chin. "Do I have to worry?"

    "No." Salaark shook her head. "He isn''t doing anything dangerous and is having a lot of fun."

    "If you say so." Raaz shrugged.

    He had no idea what she was talking about but he trusted the Guardian.

 Chapter 3435 Three Steps (Part 2)

    On the third day, the blue light in the darkness took but a few minutes to appear.''I knew it!'' Aran gloated in triumph. ''Awakening here I come!''

    He focused on the light, willing for it to come to him.

    After snack time arrived and the light was no closer than when it had first appeared, Aran decided to change approach.

    ''If it doesn''t come to me, I''ll go to it.'' He thought.

    Aran sent his willpower to the blue light but when he touched it, the blue light disappeared and he found himself with his eyes open and staring at Salaark''s chair.

    "Is everything alright?" She asked.

    It was the first time Aran broke his focus on his own and for no reason.

    "I think so." He closed his eyes and resumed his practice.

    The blue light appeared again but it was always at the same distance. Aran tried making contact with it using each element, then with all possible combinations of two different elements.

    When even that failed it was already lunchtime and the blue light hadn''t moved a millimeter.

    On the fourth day, Aran tried all possible combinations of three different elements, then four, five, then came snack time, then all six elements at once. When even that failed, Aran tried using more mana, then less, then to circle around the blue light and strike at its back.

    Lunchtime arrived and Aran had made no progress since the previous day.

    "Why the long face?" Raaz asked as his son ate the food like they had a blood feud.

    "I have done nothing but work, eat, and sleep for four days." Aran grumbled. "I''ve missed all my play time and I have nothing to show for it."

    "Whatever you are doing, you can always take a break." Raaz suggested. "No one is forcing you and maybe you can find a different approach once you look at the problem with a fresh set of eyes."

    Aran grunted in acknowledgment but said nothing. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    On the fifth day, he threw a tantrum rather than practicing.

    He retraced his steps from the start, doing everything faster and better but achieving the same results. By lunchtime, he had learned nothing new and was fuming.

    On the sixth day, after a good night''s sleep, he had calmed down.

    ''Maybe I''m on the right path but I stepped out of it without noticing. Maybe I''m simply not done with the second step. Let''s keep ignoring the blue light and see if the burning sensation increases.''

    Aran followed his plan and, much to his dismay, the burning in his abdomen stayed the same. Much to his surprise, however, the blue light grew stronger.

    The distance was the same but by snack time the blue light had doubled its original size. After eating, Aran tried to connect with it but after a single failure he ignored the blue light again.

    By lunchtime, the blue light had grown stronger again, enough to faintly illuminate the darkness surrounding him.

    "Someone is in a good mood." Raaz ruffled Aran''s hair.

    The boy ate with a huge smile on his face, taking his time tasting the various dishes. Even the vegetable ones.

    "Yep." He nodded. "I finally made progress again."

    "Happy to hear it buddy, but I miss you." Raaz said. "Can''t you make some time for your old man?"

    "Really?" Aran almost choked on his food as his father nodded in reply.

    "Me too." Onyx lowered her cat ears, whimpering.

    "Same." Leria admitted. "The lessons are not half as interesting without competition. Also, we haven''t played in a week. Garrik, Lilia, and Leran are worried for you."

    "I''m sorry. I''ll spend tomorrow with you guys." Aran replied.

    After an intense day of fishing with Raaz and playing with his friends, Aran went to bed grumbling.

    ''How am I supposed to make progress if I have to waste so much time with the people I love? It''s- Wait, what?'' Aran''s train of thought derailed when he realized what he was thinking. ''Am I going insane? Is this a fit of the Manohar?''

    He turned around, looking at Onyx''s hybrid form snuggling and purring at him.

    "Thank you for today, Aran. I had a lot of fun." She said with a sleepy voice.

    "Please, don''t say that, Onyx." Aran swallowed hard, feeling like a massive jerk. "I should thank you for always taking care of me."

    "You''re welcome." She nuzzled him and fell asleep.

    "This settles it. I''m a jerk." He sighed.

    ***

    On the eighth day, the light kept growing and Aran stopped trying to make contact. He focused on his exercises and ignored the blue light. By lunchtime, the black space around him had turned pale blue.

    On the ninth day, it became of a light blue, and on the tenth bright blue.

    The eleventh day marked the completion of the second step. The blue light had turned into a blazing flame as intense as a sun. It hadn''t moved a single millimeter from its original position but Aran didn''t care.

    A second, much smaller and fainter blue light had formed inside of him.

    ''I''m an idiot! I wasted so much time trying to control the light while all I had to do was bask in it. If I''m right, the blue light is the external world energy. My training allows me to perceive it but no one can control it.

    ''I''ve gotten used to sense it and now I can also sense my mana! I bet this blue light inside of me right where my tummy hurts is what Big Bro calls the mana core.''

    Aran relentlessly trained but when snack time and then lunchtime came, he had made no visible progress.

    ''Okay, if nothing changes until snack time, it means I''ve completed the second step and need to look for the third.'' Aran thought at the start of his twelfth day of training.

    Alas, he was right. To make matters worse, he had no idea how to move forward.

    He tried all the exercises Lith had taught him, pondered the river and water metaphor, and kept his mana moving but no flow formed and no change took place in his Mindspace.

    Truth be told, Aran had reached the same step as Lith back when he was a newborn and had drawn in the world energy but their conditions couldn''t have been more different.

    Back then, Lith''s core was nigh-empty and the world energy was flooding it with its power. On top of that, the body of a healthy newborn had almost no impurities simply because they had no time to form.

    All it had taken Lith was to sense the world energy, his own mana, and a small push had done the rest. Read the latest on empire

    As for Aran, his mana core was full and his body filled with impurities. After the blunder with Tista, Lith removed only the bare minimum of impurities to keep Aran healthy and ensure a perfect body development.

    By lunchtime, Aran had made no progress. He rested the following day and kept trying and failing until the fifteenth day.

    ''Tomorrow Mom and my big brothers will return. Please, gods, make me succeed. I want to surprise them.'' He prayed before starting his practice.

 Chapter 3436 Be the Water (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3436 Be the Water (Part 1)I''m sorry, dear.'' Salaark and Leegaain, the "gods" Aran had just invoked, replied in unison. ''We can''t help you but know that we believe in you. Don''t give up.''

    Were you listening to me the whole time?'' Aran blushed up to his ears in

    embarrassment.

    ''No, but if you call our names from so close, we can''t help but hear you.'' The Guardians replied. ''Don''t worry. We won''t tell your parents of all the swear words you''ve learned.'' ''Dammit! I had forgotten that Grandma and Grandpa are gods. Guardians. The thing people pray to.'' Aran inwardly whined.

    ''More training, less whining, young man.'' Leegaain said. ''You are wasting precious time. Tomorrow waits for no one.''

    ''Yes, Grandpa.''Aran nodded, still freaked out someone had actually answered his prayers.

    After he managed to calm down, he started to study the problem instead of blindly tackling it.

    At this point, all the things I''ve done to achieve the first and second steps are no longer useful. I need something new. Something I''m missing. The problem is I have no idea what it is.'' Aran thought.

    He studied the blazing fire and then tried to make contact with it with his mana. This time it was just contact, not control. Nothing happened anyway.

    After snack time and exhausting all theories he could come up with, he moved on to manipulating his own light, the one shining where his mana core was supposed to be. Aran weaved spells, moved them around, and spread the elements throughout his body but to no avail.

    During one of his many attempts, however, he discovered something new.

    ''Wait a second. Even though I can''t alter the intensity of my light nor can I make it budge by a hair''s breadth, it''s not immutable. My blue light''s position is fixed but when I conjure a spell, any spell, it beats like a heart.''

    Aran put his observation to the test, casting spells in rapid succession. The blue light''s intensity and position remained the same yet its size expanded and contracted slightly. After careful study, Aran confirmed that the burning in his abdomen was caused by those pulsations. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''Okay, this is definitely new yet useless. What did Lith say about the secret of Awakening? The steps are as follows: one, feeling your own mana. Check. Two, feeling the world energy. Check. Three: merge them together to form a mana flow.

    "The question is: how do I merge them if both of them seem to be immutable and unmoving?"

    Aran studied his blue light one more time and failed to find a clue. Strong with his new understanding of the conundrum, he went back to observing the blazing blue flame that burned so close yet remained untouchable.

    As he examined the blue flame, Aran noticed that it too wasn''t immutable.

    During the first days of his practice, he had missed it because his perception was too poor. Later, instead, he had missed it because his improved perception made the flame blinding.

    Only now could Aran notice that just like his mana core, the world energy beat at his own rhythm like a living heart. After the realization hit him, the rest came easy. ''Breathing. I must breathe not at random, but following the pulse of the world energy. Big Brother was right all along but I was too narrow-minded to understand. When it comes to my spells, I''m the river that carries the mana of my spells.

    ''When it comes to Awakening, the world energy is the river and I''m the water'' Unbeknownst to Aran, the flaming energy in front of him wasn''t the world energy coming from the mana geyser but Salaark''s essence.

    She had done nothing to help him but her mere presence was more overwhelming than any mana geyser. As soon as Aran had managed to heighten his perception, her power had shone on him like a lighthouse.

    As he breathed in and out the world energy while following the rhythm of the burning flame, the beat of his mana core changed its frequency to synch with his breathing rhythm.

    When the mana core and the world energy synchronized, Aran''s mana burst through the dams of the impurities in his body and flowed freely through every fiber of his being. "What in Mogar''s name is happening?" Salaark noticed the phenomenon even before Aran did.

    Her eyes went wide in surprise as she watched Aran''s mana core break through the shackles of the bright yellow and turn to a deep green Awakened core.

    "I did it Grandma!" Aran opened his eyes only when he got so used to the breathing rhythm that maintaining it required him no focus. "I have Awak-"

    His enthusiasm was drowned in pain as the burning of his abdomen spread to the rest of his body. Aran tried to call for help but the only thing that came out was the gurgling sounds of frothing impurities.

    A black tar-like substance seeped out of his ears, mouth, eyes, and pores. Aran felt like someone was squeezing him like a wet rag soaked in oil before setting it on fire. "He-Gah!" The retching cut his cry for help short but Salaark had no need for words. "I''m here, Featherling." She said, kneeling down on the floor. "I''m sorry but I can''t help you. No one can. Yet you don''t have to worry. As long as you don''t lose consciousness everything will be fine. Can you do it for Grandma, Featherling?"

    Aran managed to nod in between fits of puking and pain.

    That day the Overlord of the Blood Desert faced one of the greatest challenges of her long life. Standing there while someone she loved suffered and doing nothing.

    ***

    The breakthrough lasted less than a minute. Aran was young, had no excess impurities, and his body was tempered from the daily practice of magic. Nonetheless, it seemed to last hours to both him and the Guardian.

    "Are you alright, baby? Talk to me." A wave of Salaark''s hand cleansed the black pool below Aran''s body and his clothes.

    "I''m fine, Grandma." His voice was slurred and his eyes droopy. "I''m just tired and

    hungry,"

    "Do you want me to call you father? Your mother? Lith?" She rocked the boy in her arms, checking with her breathing technique that his life force and mana core were intact.

    "Please, no. There''s nothing they can do. I just need to-" Aran went limp, his body too tired for him to remain awake one more moment.

    "Fine. We''ll do things your way, young man, but only because you are right. This is nothing that a bit of rest can''t cure." Salaark went back to her desk but didn''t put the young boy down.

    She conjured hard-light constructs shaped like hands to keep working while holding Aran to her chest. A deep green core didn''t take long to refill. Eight hours under normal circumstance, less than four when recovering over a mana geyser, and just the time before lunchtime while resting on a Guardian''s lap.

    ***

    A few minutes before lunch and Aran''s awakening, Salaark called everyone to give them

    the good news.

    "Yes, he has self-Awakened. Yes, he''s fine. No, I didn''t help him. Thank you for the vote of confidence!" Salaark answered the same questions over and over while keeping a perfect

    composure.

 Chapter 3437 Be the Water (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3437 Be the Water (Part 2)She couldn''t afford to lose her temper and startle her Featherling. The presence of a child was enough to turn the usually fiery Guardian into a paragon of composure.

    When Aran stirred and opened his eyes, he found his entire family standing in front of him, staring. His parents showed a perfect blend of worry and anger. His siblings looked proudly at him while Onyx was brimming with joy.

    As for Leria, it was hard to determine whether her expression was more relieved from the scare or green with unyielding envy.

    "Mom? Big Bros? Sis? What are you doing here?" Aran asked with a mumbling voice from tiredness. "You were supposed to return tomorrow."

    "What about me, you Rascal?" Raaz''s tone was upset but he couldn''t decide whether to be relieved or upset.

    "How could I stay away from my baby in such a moment?" Elina''s voice was cracked and her eyes watery but she didn''t dare approach him until Salaark gave the all-clear.

    "What the farm were you thinking?" Lith asked. "You scared us to death!" S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Why didn''t you tell me about your intention to Awaken? We could have worked together." Leria had none of Raaz''s doubts and was fully aggrieved.

    "You almost gave me a heart attack, you dummy!" Onyx sniffled amid tears.

    "Congratulations, Hatchling!" Leegaain was the only one festive and sour note in the

    group.

    Everyone turned to look at him as if he had proposed to cut Aran''s arm off.

    "One at a time!" Salaark raised her hand, asking them for silence. "Even I don''t. understand a word you say and your bickering is giving me a headache. As I said the first time, Aran is fine. He''s just tired from his feat."

    "Dad, I expected you to be here. Where else were you supposed to be?" Aran replied to them. "I''m sorry, Mom. I didn''t want to ruin your vacation. This was supposed to be a surprise for your return.

    "I had to Awaken, Big Bro. The process was plenty painful at the bright yellow. If I did it at the deep green or later, it would have been much worse." Aran didn''t consider death as a possible outcome but just the idea of a more intense pain made him shudder.

    "I didn''t tell you because I wanted to test my abilities, Leria. Not everything can be done with teamwork. Also, Lith always says that Awakening is like achieving the violet: no two methods are alike. What works for you wouldn''t have worked for me.

    "Even worse, we might have ended up creating a hybrid technique that worked for neither of us."

    "It makes sense." Leria ruefully conceded.

    "I''m sorry, Onyx. I didn''t mean to make you worry. I mean, you Awakened too and everything is alright, isn''t it?" Onyx gave him something between a hug and a tackle, nuzzling her face while making sure he was alright.

    "Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Shargein." The Wyrmling didn''t talk, he just walked up to Aran and gave him congratulatory licks. "Also, guys, I promise I''ll hear everything you have to say and endure any punishment you want, but please, let me eat first."

    His stomach roared like an angry lion.

    "I''m starving." Another growl confirmed his words.

    A snap of Salaark''s fingers brought everyone to the dining room and Aran started eating the moment food was placed in front of him. He would have been hungry just for training as much as he did but after a breakthrough, he was ravenous.

    It took him several plates and numerous seconds to feel sated. His newly Awakened body digested the food as soon as it was ingested, using the nutrients to fill the void left by the expelled impurities with thicker muscles and denser bones.

    The moment Aran was done eating and ready to talk, Elina rushed to his side and held him in her arms, crying.

    "I''m sorry, Mom. Please, don''t cry!" He felt so guilty that soon Aran started to cry as well. "I''m sorry."

    It took the two of them several minutes to calm down and when they did, Raaz didn''t feel like scolding his son anymore.

    ''Later. When Aran has calmed down and away from Elina. He thought.

    "Are you alright, son?" He asked while placing a hand on Aran''s shoulder.

    "Yes, Dad. I''m fine. I swear. I''m just tired." He yawned, wishing he could sleep until the next day.

    After his parents, it was the turn of his siblings, his nephews and niece, and the rest of the extended family. Aran had to endure many scoldings and received very few congratulations.

    Even Onyx mostly pouted at him.

    "How strong am I now, Big Bro?" He asked once everyone was done giving him a piece of their mind.

    "You mean compared to a boy your age? About the same." Lith replied.

    "Seriously?" Aran whined in disappointment.

    "Your body is now healthier, sturdier, and has a better mana conductivity, but the rest is the same." Lith shrugged. "Today you lost solely superficial impurities or it would have been much worse.

    "You need to wait until the cyan for the first physical changes to manifest. What you can do now, however, is use both Fusion and Spirit Magic."

    "You''re right! I had almost forgotten about that. How do I do it?" Aran tried to circulate the fire element and almost fainted from it. "Never mind. It can wait."

    "He can?" Leria sounded offended, as if Lith had insulted her.

    "Yes, Leria. I''m sorry." Lith knew that now Aran had stepped into a territory where she couldn''t follow, creating a gap between them that would only grow wider until she

    Awakened as well.

    Assuming she did, of course.

    "Since we are already here and Aran can use a break from scolding, tell us about your trip." Raaz handed his son honeyed milk to improve his strength.

    "With pleasure, dear." Elina moved her eyes from Aran to her husband. "Lith was a wonderful host, like always."

    They had communicated daily but there was only so much that could be expressed by words. Elina showed them the pictures and videos from her amulet, describing to

    everyone the most impressive moments of her vacation.

    ''Gods! I''m so glad I didn''t go with them.'' Aran and Leria thought in unison, feeling bored just by looking at the pictures.

    "I heard there have been a few... accidents." Raaz said. "I hope they didn''t ruin the mood

    of the trip."

    "Not at all, Dad," Lith shook his head. "They were only isolated accidents with no

    repercussions. I made sure of it."

    After a bit of chit-chat, Aran felt the pressure easing on him and dozed off.

    "Wake up, dummy!" Much to his surprise, it was Onyx talking. "It''s Lith''s turn to talk."

    She was still pouting but now held his hand.

    "As I was saying, no matter how we feel about Aran''s Awakening. It''s what he wanted and

    his own achievement so he deserves a little celebration. Is tonight okay for you or would you rather postpone it to tomorrow?" Lith asked.

    "I don''t know." Aran sighed. "I''d like to do it today but I''m tired. Also, the mood isn''t really

    festive."

 Chapter 3438 Dragons Heart (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3438 Dragon''s Heart (Part 1)Aran looked around the room and swallowed hard. Most people were looking daggers at him with a deep frown on their faces. Even Solus and Menadion.

    ''Reckless brat!'' The First Ruler of the Flames had walked more than one mile in Elina''s shoes. ''How could he Awaken without his parents'' permission and presence? What if something went wrong? Raaz and Elina would be scarred for life!

    "I don''t know if I can make this festive, but I know how to cheer everyone up. Kami?" Lith offered her his hand and she put it on her stomach.

    Suddenly, the awkward silence in the room was replaced by a quick, small heartbeat.

    "Is this the baby?" Elina sniffled again, but this time there was no trace of worry in her voice.

    "Yes." Lith nodded. "The little one is now big enough to make himself heard. Please, welcome him to our family!" S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Cheers exploded through the room to the point of almost bringing down the roof.

    Even Aran found the strength to jump up from his seat and rush to hug his sister-in-law. Those who waited their turn to hug Kamila and touch her womb shook Lith''s hand and congratulated him.

    "I know this is stupid, but now the baby feels more real." Raaz said. "You are really having a son, son."

    "I know, Dad."

    "About that." Rena chimed in. "What about finding a name for the baby? Doesn''t he deserve one to this point?"

    "Of course he does." Kamila replied. "After much research and discussion, we have decided to name him Raldarak. It contains Raaz''s initials and means Dragon''s Heart in Dragontongue. It honors Leegaain as much as Elysia honors Salaark."

    Raaz and the Guardian stared at each other for a moment, pondering whether it was better to claim superiority or undermine the competition. Then, they decided it was no time for measuring contests and clasped wrists in grandfatherhood.

    "The heart may be yours, but the rest is all mine, old lizard." Raaz quipped.

    "Just wait until he reaches the deep blue, farm boy." Leegaain quipped back. "Then the little Ral is all mine."

    They kept mocking each other until Salaark raised a toast.

    "To the new member of the family and the new Awakened one!"

    Aran didn''t mind sharing the spotlight. Especially because he could tell how big of an earful awaited him the moment he recovered.

    "Thank you for the rescue, Raldarak.'' He thought. ''Let''s hope everyone is happy enough about you to forget how angry they are at me!

    ***

    Aran went to bed straight after lunch and didn''t wake up until a few minutes before the party. Even though he slept in Solus'' tower, he still felt beat.

    The celebration went without a hitch and the only sour note was that Aran had to wait until he was alone with Lith to talk about his future.

    "When can you teach me fusion and Spirit Magic?" He asked.

    "As soon as you recover." Lith replied. "Fusion magic won''t take much. Our priority is Spirit Magic, lil bro. Until you learn the basics, I forbid you even to go to the bathroom without Onyx."

    "Why?" He asked in outrage, making his and Lith''s glasses crack.

    "That''s why." Lith used a quick Forgemastery spell to repair the glasses before someone noticed. "Spirit Magic doesn''t need elements. Only mana and willpower. Without supervision, you could hurt or steal from people without even noticing"

    "What do you m-" Aran noticed a half-eaten bowl of ice cream floating in front of his face. "How is this possible?"

    "You saw it, you wanted it, and your mana did the rest." Lith handed the bowl back to its rightful owner. Still, congratulations, lil bro, I''m impressed."

    "Thank you, big bro." Aran smiled from ear to ear. "It''s all thanks to your teachings. I-" "Shush! Not so loud and no mention of this with Mom or I''ll be in trouble just like you. I''m supposed to be angry with you." Lith said, making Aran chuckle. "That said, I''m proud of you, lil bro. I didn''t expect you would Awaken on your own so soon."

    ***

    "I didn''t expect he would Awaken on his own." After the party, Leria bawled her eyes out in a pillow. "At least before me. I was supposed to be the first to Awaken!" Abominus stood in front of the bed in his Pyrmir form, waiting for her to calm down. It wasn''t as bad as the first fit of crying right after lunch but it was still bad. The words were always the same but the feeling behind them had not waned one bit.

    "What''s wrong with me, Abominus?" She sniffled. "I''ve worked so hard ever since Uncle Lith gave us our first lesson. I''ve never slacked off. I''ve always studied and respected magic. Why can''t I do it? Why?"

    She rushed to him, hiding her face in his fur while she cried in desperation.

    "I''m smarter than Aran. I have two streaks in my hair while he has only one. Answer me, Abominus. What''s wrong with me?"

    "I don''t know." He replied calmly. "What. I know is that in all these years I haven''t noticed

    a gap in talent between you two. The streaks are not the issue."

    "Can it be all my blood''s fault?" Leria asked, her expression filled with fear and

    self-doubt.

    "Your blood?" The Pyrmir tilted his head in confusion.

    "It''s like Aran says." Leria sighed. "I''m just a half-blood whereas he''s a full Verhen. It must

    be the reason he could resonate with the Dragons at Grampa Valtak''s funeral and

    figured out the ''water and the river'' lesson before me.

    "No matter how much effort I put in, I can never compare to him." She started sobbing

    again.

    "I agree on the comparing" Abominus nodded. "Everything else is nonsense. This is not a matter of blood or your mother would have Awakened years ago."

    "Then what do you think is my issue?" She wiped her tears.

    "That you are comparing yourself to him." The Pyrmir replied. "It''s stupid and pointless. What would you say to me if I whined because I''m not a Divine Beast? After all, I don''t carry the blood of the Guardians and compared to a Divine Beast, I''ll always be

    insignificant."

    "You are not insignificant!" Leria said in outrage. "You are barely a year older than me and have already evolved from a Ry into a new species. You stand here in front of me, Awakened, while many children of the Guardians are still true mages even after living for centuries or millennia!"

    "I agree with you but I still don''t understand why you can''t extend such reasoning to yourself." Abominus said. "You are just seven years old, Leria. Solus was stronger and

    already Awakened at your age, but Ripha Awakened her.

    "You can''t take Lith as a reference more than you can take Elysia. They are one of a kind,

    just like Aran and you."

    "What do you mean?" Leria blew her nose in a handkerchief.

    "Leria, you use chore magic like a true mage. You learned Light Mastery on your own and your uncle will likely teach you Void and Creation Magic in the future. Do you realize how infuriated most mages on Mogar, even Awakened, would be if they heard you cry

    ''woe is me"?"

 Chapter 3439 Dragons Heart (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3439 Dragon''s Heart (Part 2)"But Aran Awakened and I didn''t." Leria felt stupid saying that but she was not ready to back down.

    "And Onyx Awakened before me. Do you think less of me for it?" He asked,

    "No! You are great and your powers are much cooler. She replied. "They were worth the wait."

    "My point exactly." He nodded. "Leria, you can''t compare yourself with others or you will always be miserable, even if you become a Magus."

    "That''s not true." She shook her head. "If I were a Magus, I''d be on top of Mogar!"

    "Really? Wouldn''t you wonder if you are as influential as Lith or if your contribution to the magical arts is as important as Silverwing''s? How would you react if people ranked you low among the Magi?"

    At those words, becoming a Magus sounded more like a curse than a blessing to Leria, silencing her.

    "That''s why I''m telling you not to compare yourself to others. There will always be someone stronger, smarter, taller, luckier, or more successful than you. You must only compare yourself with the past you.

    "What would the five years old Leria say if she saw you cry despite your powers?" He

    asked.

    "She would tell me that I''m dumb and that she''d switch places with me any time." Leria lowered her gaze in shame. "Back then, I thought I would never be a good mage, let alone learn Light Mastery."

    "Exactly." Abominus nodded. "If I think about my past self, I''m proud of who I am today. I started as any other Ry of my pack. Yet I was chosen by you. I learned with you. I evolved and Awakened by myself.

    "All things I never believed possible. For all I know, my future self is laughing in joy after evolving further. Maybe he has become a Divine Beast or even a Guardian. If he does, I doubt he''s wasting his time with measuring contests.

    "There are only a handful of Guardians on Mogar and being even the weakest among them puts you above trillions of living beings."

    "I see." Leria nodded. "What do you think I should do?"

    "A better question is: what would the future Leria, the Awakened Leria, tell you if she could meet you right now?" Abominus stared her in the eyes.

    "To stop crying like a girl and take it like a mage." She wiped her tears with another handkerchief and washed her face with water magic. "She would tell me that everything she has achieved came through discipline and hard work, not by moping and crying injustice."

    "I couldn''t agree more with her." The Pyrmir nodded.

    ***

    The next morning during breakfast, Aran couldn''t stop smiling while wolfing down enough food to make even Elina raise an eyebrow in concern.

    "Don''t worry, Mom, it''s normal." Lith reassured her. "His body needs energy to stabilize after the changes caused by the Awakening. Once it''s done, his appetite will go back to normal."

    "Why didn''t I notice it with you?" Elina asked.

    "Because I ate my share of game before returning home from hunting and because Selia kept a secret stash of meat for me."

    "Do you know what the best part of Awakening is?" Aran already knew that story and didn''t want to see his mother sad.

    "Spirit Magic?" Leria gloomily stirred her milk with a biscuit.

    She had overcome most of her envy but still didn''t like Aran rubbing his success in her face.

    "I can finally go to school with you again. I can play with you and Onyx in the afternoon. I have free time! No offense, Grandma, but spending two weeks in your office is vexing." He turned to Salaark.

    "Tell me about it." She grunted. "I''ve been holed up in there every morning for almost a thousand years."

    "I''m sorry, Grandma." Aran left his food and gave her a consolatory hug. "I wouldn''t take your place for the world."

    "Well, this is new, instead." Salaark chuckled, ruffling his hair. "You know, there are a lot of people who want to take my place."

    "They are insane." Aran replied. "You should let them. It would give you more free time."

    "I wish it was that easy" Salaark thanked him and sent him back to his seat. "Seriously? That''s what you like about Awakening?" Leria asked him.

    "Of course." Aran nodded. "I missed you guys and past a certain point, no matter how much I love magic, practicing it turns into torture."

    "Good gods." Raaz shook his head in disbelief. "A kid happy to go to school. Mogar has turned upside down."

    "Dear!" Elina nudged him.

    "I know that you are tired so feel free to take your time and relax before starting our lessons." Tista said. "Yet learning Spirit Magic can''t wait. An untrained Awakened is too dangerous and I speak from experience."

    "Are you offering to teach me?" Aran asked and Tista nodded in reply. "Thanks, but no

    thanks. I want to learn from Big Brother."

    "Why? I''ve learned from him and I''m just as good as him with Spirit Magic. Tista said.

    "I don''t doubt you are as good as him as a mage, but there''s no way you''re as good as him as a teacher." Aran shook his head.

    "How can you say that if you have yet to listen to a single lesson?" She crossed her arms

    in annoyance.

    "No offense, Big Sister, but how many people have you Awakened?" He asked.

    "None, but I''m a self-Awakened just like Lith." She replied in confusion.

    "Disagree!" Aran resumed eating. "No one who learned from you Awakened. Everyone who learned from Big Brother Awakened. I want to reach the violet on my own so I need strong foundations."

    Tista opened her mouth to reply but failed to find a single argument to refute Aran''s words.

    "Not everyone." Leria sighed. "I didn''t."

    "Oh, please. You will. It''s only a matter of time." Aran swept his hand with absolute confidence. "I know you well enough to admit you are smarter than me. I must have reached illuminance or something."

    "Enlightenment, not illuminance." Leria started to laugh so hard that her eyes watered.

    "I said ''or something so it still counts." Aran kept eating.

    "Gods, I can''t believe you Awakened before me." Leria kept laughing but there was no trace of mockery or envy in it, just amusement. "Don''t get too comfortable. I''ll be on

    your tail sooner than you think."

    "Do you want me to tell you how I did it?" He asked.

    "You? As my teacher?" Leria scoffed. "I bet ice cream against milk you have no idea how you did it or at least you can''t explain the process with human words."

    "Of course I can!" Aran replied in annoyance.

    "Then Hush yourself and explain your Awakening method to Onyx. If she understands it,

    you win. If not, you lose." Leria said. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''ll take that bet!" Aran conjured a small Hush Zone and started talking. "First, you sit down and close your eyes, breathing."

    "Makes sense." Onyx nodded, reminiscing her own enlightenment.

    "Then you see a light that''s actually a flame but you don''t understand it until it gets bigger!" At those words, the Utgard furrowed her brows in confusion.

 Chapter 3440 Unwilling Allies (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3440 Unwilling Allies (Part 1)"Then you produce light too but that''s your mana while the fire is world energy. They pulse each at their own rhythm so you breathe, make them match, and bang! You Awaken" Aran said, almost feeling the power of the mana flowing through him again. "It''s amazing." Onyx said.

    "I know, right? It''s so simple once you know the trick." He puffed his chest out with pride.

    "No, I meant, it''s amazing you Awakened without having a clue what you were doing." Onyx replied. "I''m Awakened too yet I didn''t understand a thing you said. If I didn''t know better, I''d think you''re pulling my leg."

    "You mean it''s not a clear explanation?" Aran was flabbergasted.

    "For you, maybe. For anyone else, it''s a jumbled mess." She shrugged.

    "You win." Aran took down the Hush Zone, grumbling. "You can have my dessert at lunch."

    "No need." Leira groaned. "I said ice cream against milk. It means that if I lost, I''d give you my ice cream, and if I won, you''d have to give me plain milk."

    "Really?" Aran''s eyes lit up with joy.

    "Yeah, really." She snorted. "That''s how low I thought your chances of winning were and I was right."

    "Meanie." Aran grunted. "What about our lessons, Big Bro?"

    "Are you sure it is me you want?" Lith asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Then we''ll start this afternoon after you are done with your homework. Is it okay with you?"

    "Yep." Aran replied,

    "Grandma, can you tell me with human words what Aran did in your office?" Leria asked.

    "He sat in a corner while meditating. Why? Do you plan on doing the same?" Salaark asked.

    "Yes." Leria replied. "It''s my turn to Awaken and I have only fifteen days to make it." "Leria!" Senton jumped up from his scat while Rena was too busy choking on her food. Elina had to slap her back until Rena spat out a piece of unchewed carrot.

    "Why are you so worried?" Leria shrugged. "Aran and I have more or less the same amount of impurities. If he Awakened safely so can I. The longer I wait, the more dangerous it will become."

    "I know, dear, but I can''t help but be worried about you." Senton said. "Nothing is really safe. There''s always a chance something might go wrong. Also, it''s going to be painful. Tell her, Aran."

    "It''s true." Aran shuddered at the memory. "I never endured so much pain and I hope never to have to experience it again. I remember how scared I was as Grandma yelled at me not to lose my consciousness."

    "Auntie Kami?" Leria turned to Kamila who just like Aran had recently broken through to the deep green.

    "I can confirm everything he said." Kamila sighed. "I had worse but it still wasn''t a pleasant experience. On top of that, even though reaching the deep green is a smooth process, if you faint from pain things can end badly."

    Leria swallowed hard, the path to Awakening suddenly didn''t feel so alluring anymore.

    At least until he looked at Lith and then let her gaze wander around the table. There were plenty of Awakened in her family and they were all people Leria admired. Except for Aran, of course.

    "I still want to do it." Leria found her own voice shaky so she grabbed Abominus'' hand from under the table. "I know I can do it."

    "I know that too." The Pyrmir said. "The real question is: should you?"

    "Uncle Lith?"

    "That''s not something I can decide nor should you discuss it with me." Lith replied. "It''s something between you and your parents, Leria. What I can tell you as your uncle, however, is that your decision won''t matter for long.

    "Based on how easily Aran Awakened and the current position of your impurities, it''s only a matter of time before they reach your mana core. On top of that, once you naturally develop a green core, things will get tougher as your mana core keeps developing.

    "The moment you self-Awaken, your body will undergo multiple refining processes and expel the accumulated impurities all at once. The pain and danger will be worse than facing one breakthrough at a time. Remember this before making your decision, Rena, Senton, and Leria."

    The three exchanged looks, swallowing hard for a while and not knowing what to say. "Do you mind if I participate to Aran''s lessons, Lith?" Kamila asked to change the topic and give Leira''s parents time to think.

    "Sure, but what''s the point? Solus already taught you Fusion and Spirit Magic." Lith replied.

    "I''ve always been spoon-fed knowledge and after hearing everyone praising your teaching skills so much, I want to exploit my privilege of having married the Mentor Magus." She chuckled. "I want to become strong enough not to be a burden to you and I want to spend time with my husband.

    "Two birds with one stone."

    "Mentor Magus, huh?" Lith smiled, liking his new title. "Fine. Tomorrow afternoon will be

    our first lesson. Don''t be late or slack off."

    "Yes!" Aran cheered for Kamila. "Competition makes things more exciting. I''ve already defeated Leria at Awakening and Auntie Solus at cooking. You''re going down, Auntie Kami!"

    "Hey!" Leria and Solus said in unison, outraged by Aran rubbing his success in their face. "Challenge accepted, young man." Kamila chuckled. "I''ll rest today as well so we''ll be on equal footing tomorrow."

    "Aren''t you resuming your vacation?" Aran asked. "You weren''t supposed to come back until tomorrow."

    "Don''t be silly." Elina replied. "I''ve missed you and your father a lot and now that I''m back

    I''m going to stay."

    "Fine." Aran nodded with a determined expression on his face. "If I can''t cook you lunch tomorrow, I''ll prepare you dinner today." S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Thank you, sweetie. Elina smiled as she gently caressed his hair.

    "Then I can move my own schedule forward." Lith said. "Solus, Menadion, get ready. After lunch we are going to visit our acquaintances in the Undead Courts."

    ***

    Erslan Bhaz, Blood Warlock, King of the Dawn Court and current leader of the Courts Alliance, was not surprised to receive Lith''s call.

    "I was about to call you myself. There''s much we have to discuss. Have you heard about

    the stunt pulled by the latest Chosen of the Incontinent King?"

    "Just a few rumors but nothing solid." Lith kept the information he had received from Vladion a secret not to expose his source to any mole Orpal might have planted. "I need to talk with a witness or, even better, to watch a recording of the event. "It''s the only way to assess if Poopie''s threats are founded or just more farts." "You are in luck. The reason I was going to contact you is that I''ve just received the surveillance videos of Othre''s Night Court." Bhaz replied. "After my associates and I reviewed the footage of the fight, we have noticed a few details that our peers had

    missed.

    "I need your opinion and, if you confirm our findings, your help.

    "Where do you want us to meet?" Lith asked.

    "Same place as the last time." The Dawn King gave no clue about his position to whoever might intercept the call. "Come whenever you want. I''ll be waiting. Bhaz out."

 Chapter 3441 Unwilling Allies (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3441 Unwilling Allies (Part 2)"Doesn''t that mean the underground fortress of Stonewall?" Solus asked after Lith had stored his contact amulet inside the pocket dimension.

    "Indeed." He nodded. "We have to move now, while it''s still day in the Kingdom and most members of the Undead Courts are either slumbering or severely weakened. Also, I need time to prepare for the meeting. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Our truce with the Undead Courts will hold only until it suits both parties. I don''t trust Bhaz and until I''m certain he didn''t switch to Meln''s side for some idiotic reason, I''m

    going to consider this a trap and prepare accordingly."

    The Stonewall Fortress owed its name to the fact that it had been carved out of a massive stone wall located in an underground network of caves located under the Feilun Region of the Griffon Kingdom.

    The fortress was complete with lookout towers, battlements, a main keep, and an enormous gate made of Orichalcum. The entire length of the defensive walls was studded with enough mana crystals to light the entire cave despite it being over 60 meters (200'') tall.

    The carving alone, even though performed by undead skilled in earth magic like Ghouls had taken decades to be completed. The main body of the fortress was encased by the cave, visible from a distance, but protected against flying enemies.

    It stood right at the center of a mana geyser and countless arrays and enchantments had been imbued in every stone block and bit of mortar so that very little world energy was left available to invaders.

    That and the dozens of Stone, Orichalcum, and Adamant Golems standing at the ready in their recharge pods made it nigh-impregnable even if left completely unmanned. Lith had a very low opinion of the Undead Courts and the convenient timing of the meet-up looked too much like a setup to come in such a place alone.

    At the same time, he wanted to keep his allies out of that particular piece of business. If it really was an honest first step toward an alliance with the undead, going to Stonewall in forces would have only exposed Lith''s best cards and put his hosts on guard.

    Hence Lith made it a personal show, showcasing solely his own strength.

    When he emerged from the tunnel leading to the Fortress, none of the patrols scattered throughout the network of caves noticed him. He was also accompanied by his own two Golems, Trouble and Raptor, and an army of three hundred six-eyed Demons armed to the teeth.

    Ragnar?k was sheathed but perfectly visible on his hip. Solus wore her battle armor and Lith''s generals, Menadion, Locrias, Valia, Trion, and Varegrave, had their weapons out.

    "That''s a considerable display of forces." Bhaz opened the gates and walked towards his guests. "Is this a visit or the start of a siege?"

    Just by looking at his guest, the Dawn King could tell that something had changed since his last meeting with Lith. Bhaz had met enough Divine Beasts to get used to the oppressive aura they emanated.

    Their raw power and mass made them towering giants to his mystical senses even while the Divine Beasts maintained a human form. The Dawn King always felt like a man standing in front of a towering mountain when facing a Divine Beast and the Tiamat had been no different during his past visit.

    Now, however, Bhaz could also feel a simmering heat burning at his pale skin. The mountain seemed to have turned into a rumbling volcano that was ready to erupt with devastating consequences.

    "A visit, unless something forces my hand." Lith replied. "Your place of choice gives you quite the advantage so I hope you''ll forgive me for evening the field."

    "I understand your reasoning" The Blood Warlock massaged his temples, the red light of undeath in his eyes dimmed enough to reveal a gleam of their original blue color. "Do you want to discuss the matter out here?

    "It can be done, but it will make things more complicated and less safe. I don''t have your talent with holograms nor can I guarantee the wrong ears won''t listen to us."

    "No, we can get inside, but I''m taking precautions." Lith left Raptor outside as emergency fuel for the other Demons and had Locrias fuse with Trouble.

    He, Trion, Menadion, and Valia followed Lith as he marched forward while Varegrave stayed behind to lead the Demons to the charge in case necessity arose.

    Bhaz stared at Menadion with what Lith recognized as greed, especially when his eyes fell on her Davross and Yggdrasill hammer. It was a perfect replica of the old Fury but crafted with modern techniques.

    "Lady Menadion, it''s an honor and a privilege to meet you. He gave her a deep bow.

    "The pleasure is all yours. I''ll reserve my comments for after the meeting" Ripha replied. "Your kind already had a bad reputation back in my day and now it''s even worse. For what I''ve heard about you, it''s well earned."

    "True, but we undead are always in dire need of a Forgemaster as capable as you. I hope that by the end of your visit, you''ll have changed your mind about us and be willing to add us to the list of your clients." Bhaz gave her a second and deeper bow. "Please, follow me."

    He guided them inside the Stonewall Fortress while keeping himself at arm''s reach from Lith. The Blood Warlock was putting his eternal life in the hands of his ally to prove his sincerity.

    The inside of the Fortress was as cold as the outside but much better furnished. Even

    the entrance was filled with warm carpets, fine paintings, and high-end ceremonial armors that a through examination with Life Vision revealed as more Golems. The Dawn King didn''t bring his guests deep into the fortress. After a single corridor they reached a large round room with a table at its center and many seats all around. Lith recognized the mana crystal embossed on the table as the standard holographic display that was used during military briefings.

    "Ladies. Gentlemen." Cyrra Morghon, Banshee and current High General of the Night Court greeted them upon their entrance. "I''d say it''s a pleasure to meet you again but that would be a lie. I hate being here no less than you do,"

    She wore a black armor similar to Bhaz''s and an enchanted glaive rested near her seat. Cyrra had long copper-red hair that reached the small of her back and even redder eyes lit from the undead energies coursing through her body.

    She might have been considered a beautiful woman, if not for her angry gaze and disgruntled expression. The Banshee looked like someone who had lost a bet and had been forced to go on a date with her worst enemy.

    The rest of the seats was occupied by the Awakened Forgemasters hired by the Undead Courts to equip the Stonewall Fortress and its occupants with the best anti-Vurdalak weapons and enchantments Awakened magic could produce.

    "First Ruler of the Flames, please give us your blessing!" Adria Yulat said and the other Forgemaster followed her, prostrating themselves on the ground.

    The scene was unsettling by itself but it managed to become worse when Lith noticed that even Barham the Wyvern''s forehead was touching the floor.

 Chapter 3442 Dominant Side (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3442 Dominant Side (Part 1)"What''s the meaning of this?" Menadion asked. "I don''t remember ever having a cult."

    "I wish I know." Bhaz was as surprised as her while Cyrra looked at the Forgemasters like they had lost their minds.

    "We are not a cult!" Pharo Blackroot, a Redcap, said. "You are a legend, First Ruler Menadion. You built your tower, the legendary set that carries your name, and you are the mother of modern fake and Awakened Forgemastery both.

    "Meeting you is a dream that none of us ever believed would come true. Yet here you are, Master Menadion."

    "I''m not your master." Ripha didn''t know whether to feel flattered or creeped out by such unconditional devotion.

    "In a way, you are." Barham the Wyvern said. "We can see far because we stand on the shoulders of giants and you are the first and greatest among those giants. We are all students of your teachings which makes you our master. Please, let me help you.

    The Wyvern tried to pull Menadion''s seat for her and the rest of the Forgemasters tried to beat him to the punch. Before Ripha could say anything, the room almost devolved into a brawl about who deserved the honor of serving water and steaming delicacies. "Enough!" Almost because Bhaz''s roar put a stop to their antics. "Cease your antics and go back to your seats. The purpose of your presence is to act as representatives of the Awakened Council and reassure our guests of our sincerity, not make us look like a bunch of madmen."

    The Forgemasters stared at the Dawn King in hatred and soon the build-up of mana from their spells became clear even to those without Life Vision.

    "He''s right." Menadion said. "Please, go back to your seats."

    The violent auras burst like a soap bubble as the Awakened obeyed like a meek flock of sheep.

    "Do you want to go first or I do?" Bahz asked, having a hard time hiding the

    embarrassment of being so blatantly disrespected in his own home by the people he had hired. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''ll start, if you don''t mind." Lith said and the Dawn King nodded for him to continue. "The reason I contacted you is I want to know how the Undead Courts are reacting to the return of the Incontinent King and what you are planning to do about it."

    "Yours is a reasonable concern." Bahz replied. "As everyone knows, the Undead Corts have long since been divided and each one of them is split into countless smaller factions driven by petty interests.

    "To answer your questions, most of us are worried and a few of us are scared of your mad brother''s return. No one is excited at Poopic''s proposal and as far as I know, even

    the Night Court''s most power-hungry members have no desire to submit to him again." "Thanks for your kind words." Cyrra snarled. "I can confirm what Bahz said. My Night Court suffered the most under the Incontinent King''s rule. Our numbers are at an all-time low and our resources depleted. First Poopie and then Thrud robbed us blind." "Is that the reason some of you are worried and scared?" Solus asked.

    "No." Bhaz replied. "All Undead Courts are slowly recovering and now that we are united, we don''t fear the Incontinent King. Or rather, we didn''t. We are worried because the crystal-destruction spell proved useless.

    "We are scared because of this." He tapped on the mana crystal with his hand, generating a scaled-down hologram of the fight between Othre''s Night Court and Orpal''s Chosen.

    "I''ll play it from the start and pause it at the pivotal moments. Watch carefully." The Chosen fought hard and dirty, but aside from that, there was nothing special in him. "This is when we used the crystal-destruction spell. Do you notice something we don''t?" The Dawn King replayed the scene multiple times at different speeds and from different angles.

    Lith wore the Eyes of Menadion the whole time not to miss a single frame.

    "No." He replied. "Your assessment is correct. The spell didn''t cause any reaction in the prism. There is no vibration, drop in the output, or change in its host''s prowess. Baba Yaga''s spell is nothing but hot air now."

    "Just as I feared." Bhaz sighed. "Let''s move on."

    The fight progressed until the Chosen was on the brink of being overpowered and suddenly transformed into an unknown creature.

    "This is the reason I was about to call you this morning. The Dawn King froze the image and zoomed in. "I noticed a resemblance between the Chosen''s new form and Poopie''s Vurdalak body."

    Another flick of the mana crystal conjured a hologram of the Chosen standing side by side with Orpal''s. They both had two small straight horns protruding from their foreheads, a jet-black skin, and flames floating above their heads akin to an incomplete crown.

    Yet while Orpal''s membranous wings came out of his back, the Chosen had the membrane connecting his arms up to his little finger to his hips.

    "It worries me because it reminds me of this." A third touch of the crystal projected a second pair of holograms.

    They depicted Locrias'' Demon form and Lith''s Tiamat body. Locrias'' wings were not upside down and he only bore six eyes, but aside from that the resemblance with both the Tiamat and the Chosen was uncanny.

    "If I''m right, Poopie is similar to you enough to create his own lesser versions. The good news is that based on the position of the wings, a Vurdalak seems to be a lesser Divine beast just like a Wyvern is to a Dragon." Bahz said while pointing at the holograms of Locrias and the Chosen. "No offense, Barham,"

    "Much taken." The Wyvern grunted.

    "The bad news is that Poopic has already achieved the fifth flame and he''s still a hybrid. There''s no telling if once he reaches the violet his minions will become more powerful as well.

    "I agree there is good and bad news but not for the reasons you''ve just stated." Lith said after studying the five holograms for a while and comparing notes with Solus and Menadion via a mind link.

    "This is bad and if I''m right, you and I both will have to rethink our defences from scratch."

    "What? Why?" Cyrra and the Forgemasters said in unison, standing up from their seats in

    shock.

    The Banshee refused to believe the Night Court had wasted what little treasures it had left for nothing while the Awakened felt wounded in their professional pride. "First, the good news. Lith tapped on the hologram of the Chosen''s fifth flame. "This one is a dud. I can''t be absolutely certain until I see it with my own eyes, but the structure of

    this thing is all wrong.

    "On top of that, if you watch the flames during the fight, you''ll notice that four of them pulse in unison when the Chosen uses his powers while the fifth flame always has the same beat. It''s not something born out of life force but a common spell."

    Bhaz rolled back to the appearance of the flaming crown and focused solely on the five flames for the entire duration of the fight.

 Chapter 3443 Dominant Side (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3443 Dominant Side (Part 2)"Son of a filthy-" The words died in the Dawn King''s mouth when he noticed Lith''s glare. "I mean, that ugly piece of shit played us like a fiddle. I''m amazed by your attention to detail, Supreme Magus Verhen. I''ve watched the footage several times yet never noticed this."

    "Second piece of good news." Lith snarled in anger. "I don''t think Poopie''s dominant side is the Dragon''s life force but the Vampire. Look at this."

    He pointed at the membranous wings, the bulging upper torso of the Chosen, and the lack of scales.

    "This is not something like a Wyvern but a Chiropteran"

    "Are you sure?" Bhaz pondered. "Your Demons have no scales either!"

    "Because their body is made of darkness, not flesh." Lith replied. "Also, there is another way to confirm my theory. Did the Night Court use ice spells against the Chosen?"

    "Of course!" Cyrra nodded. "Ice is the best way to slow down a Ghoul''s regeneration and keep their scattered pieces from reattaching themselves to the main body."

    "Show me." Lith said and Bahz obliged. "I was right. There is no drop in the Chosen''s strength when hit by the cold waves."

    "Again, it''s a Ghoul." The Banshee shook her head. "All undead are immune to cold, just like your Demons."

    "And again, that''s only because they don''t have a physical body." Lith replied. "Valia, show them."

    The Demon possessed her own body and kept it perfectly preserved with Necromancy. The moment she abandoned her human form and became a Demon of the Fallen, her pitch-black skin became covered in small scales.

    They moved up and down gently, as if the scales breathed along with her, releasing a heat that steamed in the cold of the Stonewall Fortress.

    "Dragons are beings of fire and I''m no different." Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, revealing the crown of silver flames on his head and raising the temperature in the room by several degrees. "It''s the reason I''m weak to cold. This thing is not."

    Bhaz instinctively took a step back. Undead were supposed to be immune to fire, but the unnatural heat Lith emitted felt like it would burn the Blood Warlock like paper if he stood too close to the silvery flames.

    "I was right! You did become stronger despite being still a bright violet core." He blurted out in surprise. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Mine is a new kind of Divine Beast, Bhaz." Lith clicked his foot-long (30 cm) tongue. "Of course I get stronger every time I discover one of my abilities. Now, if we are done stating the obvious, it''s time for the bad news.

    "Not only are you right about the qualitative change Poopie''s powers will undergo when he reaches the violet, but we now know for certain he has a way to uphold his promise. He can pass his powers without a prism."

    "I''m sorry, you lost me." Cyrra said.

    "Think about it." Lith shapeshifted back into his human form. "Abominations can''t procreate. Even as a Tiamat, it will take decades for my daughter to be able to fight and most of my Demons are wandering souls that join my side for a single battle.

    "But what about undead? You are almost as sterile as Abominations but you have another way to increase your numbers quickly."

    "Good gods." Bhaz covered his mouth with his hand in realization.

    "Exactly." Lith nodded. "Remember the wording of Poopie''s offer. One prism to those who bring the head of a member of my family and the combat form to whoever joins him. They sound like the same thing but they are not.

    "Night can only produce so many prisms before she becomes weaker than a regular undead. If Poopie can make Thralls, instead, there would be no burden on her. Who knows, maybe he can even turn living beings into Vurdalaks."

    "But if a Vurdalak is some kind of undead, how could a Ghoul possess its powers?" Cyrra asked.

    "The prism." Solus replied. "Night''s prisms grant her the same bloodline abilities of her Chosen and to them her abilities. Or in this case, Poopic''s."

    "If you are right, all the cold-based arrays and traps we had Forgemastered to counter the Incontinent King are useless. We prepared everything to fight a Dragon-like Divine Beast, not a Vampire-like one." Bhaz slammed his fist on the table.

    "Yeah, that''s the other part of the bad news." Lith nodded. "Just like me, Poopie is a new species and there''s no telling what he will be able to do once he reaches the violet. "Maybe he''ll be able to replace blood cores with a ''Vurdalak'' core and turn undead into this thing. Or maybe he''ll be limited to living beings. Either way, it''s best to assume and prepare for the worst-case scenario.

    "If Poopie is anything like me, then he has the means of building a loyal army that possesses powers similar to his own on top of those of regular undead. If we are lucky, his minions will share the limited range of my Demons.

    "If we''re unlucky, not only will the lesser Vurdalaks be able to go as far away from Poopic as they want, but they will also carry a fragment of his essence, allowing him to be in multiple places at the same time.

    "With Night''s omni pocket, each one of his clones can conjure Poopie''s Davross equipment and then pass it on to the next the moment they are defeated or they

    accomplish their mission."

    "This is a nightmare!" Cyrra clenched her own head, resisting the temptation of ripping

    her hair out.

    "It''s called worst-case scenario for a reason." Lith replied. "On top of that, these are just the possibilities I can predict based on what I''ve seen Poopie do and what I can do.

    Reality can be even worse but it''s more likely to be much better.

    "I''m assuming all of the Vurdalak''s powers have no side effect or limitation which is not how most abilities work. Not even Baba Yaga or the Odi managed to reach perfection. My Demons can''t go anywhere they want and need my power to exist."

    Lith only repeated the limits of his abilities that were already of public dominion.

    "I bet Poopie''s minions are going to be no different. They may drain his strength permanently until they are destroyed, have their free will intact, making them prone to rebel, and the list goes on. Still, I''m going to assume the worst. There is no such thing as overprepared."

    "Indeed, but this doesn''t help us one bit." Barham the Wyvern sighed. "Once something is Forgemastered, it cannot be undone. Even if I were willing to purify everything with my Origin Flames, it would take me months and we''d lose countless ingredients."

    "More than half our work is for nothing." Adria said.

    "Maybe, and maybe not." Menadion pondered while studying her surroundings with the Eyes. "I have mastered the art of Creation Magic. If you provide me with the right materials, I can alter everything you''ve prepared.

    "I can even upgrade them, and the only thing you''d lose is the ingredients forming useless pseudo cores."

    At those words the convened Forgemasters cheered and applauded like she had accepted to take them in as her disciples.

 Chapter 3444 Trust but Failsafe (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3444 Trust but Failsafe (Part 1)"Our creations are going to be improved by the First Ruler of the Flames?" More than one Awakened said. "What an honor!" S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Can you really do that, Ruler Menadion?" Cyrra''s eyes softened with hope. "More

    importantly, would you do that?"

    "Yes, and yes, but there are conditions." Ripha raised her hand with the palm out, asking the Forgemasters for silence. "First, I need the schematics of everything I have to modify. This place is massive and I don''t have the time to study every single rune.

    "Second, I can''t entrust my work and secrets to you without adding a few failsafes"

    "What kind of failsafes?" The Dawn King''s eyes narrowed.

    "For starters, I''m going to make sure my work can''t be used against Lith. My existence is bound to his and I''m not going to help you banishing me. Also, I would feel more confident in this alliance if I shared control of the arrays and constructs with you!"

    "This is not an easy decision to make. It requires discussion and the ruling of the three Undead Courts must be unanimous." Bahz said and Cyrra nodded.

    "Take all the time you want." Menadion shrugged. "And just to be clear, I''m going to embed the failsafes so that it will be impossible to tamper with them without unraveling the entire defensive system.

    "When I''m done with it, you and anybody else won''t be able to understand which rune does what."

    Bhaz gritted his teeth in fury, and when he turned to look at the Awakened Forgemasters for advice, he almost dislocated his jaw. They were all nodding and smiling like Menadion wasn''t talking about stealing their secrets and make them her own.

    "My only advice is to make up your mind quickly." Lith added. "Once Poopie returns I''ll be busy chasing him and Menadion with me. Also, if he attacks you first, there would be no point in making any change to the fortress after you''ve been wiped out."

    "What are you waiting for?" Pharo the Redcap said. "It''s an excellent deal. Do you know how many people begged Menadion for a single piece of her work? Are you really going to turn down the help of the greater Forgemaster of all times just because you''re scared? "Magus Verhen is a man of his word. If you are sincere in forging this alliance, you have nothing to fear."

    "Shut up!" Bahz angrily replied. "You talk like that only because it''s not your life on the line and you want to witness Menadion''s Creation Magic. You bastards couldn''t care less about me or the survival of the Undead Courts.

    "You''ve already been paid handsomely and would lose nothing since we had to buy the power cores'' schematics from you in order to make you work together. You are being

    generous with our lives and spells to gain more for yourselves!"

    The Awakened Forgemasters averted their gazes and cleared their throats in embarrassment. Everything the Blood Warlock had said was true. After sharing the Fortress'' spells with the undead for maintenance''s sake, the Forgemasters considered them lost.

    Sharing their work with Menadion, seeing how she would improve it, and receiving the second best thing to Creation Magic''s lessons from her for no free was a dream come

    true.

    "Yet these idiots are also right." Cyrra grunted. "Turning down Menadion''s help would be foolish and her requests are reasonable. We built the Stonewall Fortress to deal with threats like the Incontinent King, not Verhen.

    "For this to become a true alliance, we need trust. Can we trust you won''t turn on us the moment your mad brother is dealt with, Magus Verhen?"

    "I don''t remember a single instance of me harassing the Undead Courts." Lith replied. "Only of you messing with me and getting your due. Also, as long as you are holed up in here, why should I care about you?

    "This place is going to become useless once Poopie is dead. You''ll return to your home cities and resume your business. Only then might conflict between us arise and only because of what you''ll do.

    "Aside from the Golems, there''s nothing you can take away from here and once you split the constructs between the three Courts, their numbers wouldn''t be a threat to me

    anyway"

    "Point taken." She nodded. "Bhaz, let''s contact the Dusk Court and be done with this." The Blood Warlock and the Banshee left the room, leaving Menadion surrounded by a flock of adoring Forgemasters.

    "How did you preserve the Fury to this day?" Barham asked.

    "Do you have any clue what happened to your tower?" Adria followed.

    "Is Creation Magic hard to learn or is there a trick to it?" Pharo stared at her equipment like it could talk to him and reveal its secrets at any second.

    "I didn''t. After seven hundred years with no master, the Fury must be reduced to a piece of junk somewhere." Menadion hid behind Lith as she lied through her teeth. She wasn''t used to being among people, let alone to being worshipped.

    "My tower was stolen by Kolga and never retrieved. My soul followed my daughter to the Desert so I have no way to know what happened to my tower after that. As for Creation Magic, yes, it''s damn hard to learn and there are no tricks to it.

    "I figured it out just a few years before my death."

    The questions became weirder and more personal by the second. Soon the Awakened

    asked her things like what her favorite food was and if she was planning to date again. "We agree with your terms, Ruler Menadion," Bhaz returned just a few minutes after leaving, saving Menadion from the barrage of questions. "First, however, we need your word that such knowledge won''t be used against us until Meln is dead and his ashes scattered to the wind."

    "Unless I''m provoked." Lith pointed out. "I''m not going to stand still if any of you turns against me."

    "It''s only fair." The Dawn King nodded. "Do we have a deal?"

    "Deal." Lith shook the Blood Warlock''s hand. "Ripha?"

    "First, back off. I need space." She shooed the Forgemasters like a bunch of overexcited puppies and they whined as such. "Second, the blueprints and the control crystal of the defensive system."

    ''Can you really do that? Lith asked via the black chains. This must be state-of-the-art magic and you are rusty.

    ''Of course I can.'' Menadion replied. ''Between the magic lessons from Yaga and Lochra, the Eyes, and Soluspedia, I have everything I need. Besides, I can always ask you and

    Epphy for help.

    Bhaz handed her the blueprints of the Fortress and the Golems'' enchantments. Menadion recorded everything in the Eyes and took her time pondering the best

    solution.

    "What weaknesses can we expect from a Vurdalak?" She asked.

    "If he''s similar to a Vampire, he''s vulnerable to darkness magic and his heart is his weak point. He should not be able to recover from any serious damage he takes to it." Bhaz

    replied.

    While humans and Awakened with a punctured heart could still be saved with Invigoration or spells, a Vampire turned into ashes instantly.

    "I see. I''m going to replace water magic with air to give darkness speed and alter the Golems to increase the piercing power of their limbs and weapons. Is that okay?"

    Menadion asked.

 Chapter 3445 Trust but Failsafe (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3445 Trust but Failsafe (Part 2)"It would be perfect." Cyrra nodded, handing the control crystals to her.

    One was for the Golems and the other for the fortress.

    "Not so fast. I need the right ingredients first." Menadion wrote down a short list of magical resources. The problem was the staggering amount she needed.

    "Fuck!" Bhaz said. "Don''t worry. The Dawn and Dusk Court will cover your share, but you have to pay us back, Cyrra."

    "No problem." She shrugged. "If we survive, we have eternity to settle our debt."

    Lith''s wallet bled at the idea of spending so many Crimson Thorns and Wind Lilies for someone else''s spells, no matter if the magical resources didn''t belong to him. The Forgemasters, instead, looked at Menadion as if she was going to fall on one knee and propose to each one of them any second now.

    "Lith, I might need more mana than this body possesses so be ready." Menadion started from the Fortress''s crystal.

    The moment she took it in her hand, the layers upon layers of magical formations became visible to the naked eye. Once she confirmed there was no discrepancy between the arrays and the blueprints, Menadion activated her tier five Creation Magic spell, Second Chance.

    She unraveled the magical formations, removing a few circles and letting several blue spheres of energy fade into nothingness. Once she was done, she extracted the magical essence of the Wind Lilies and weaved it into pseudo cores.

    Menadion also added her personal cloaking runes to keep her work from being stolen and a control array that would answer solely to her energy signature. Since she shared Lith''s, he was granted control over the Fortress as well.

    Once she was done, the arrays of the Fortress had been changed to the point the new blueprints had little in common with the old ones.

    Then, it was the Golems'' turn and the time to use the Crimson Thorns.

    Much to Bahz''s dismay, the Awakened Forgemasters focused solely on observing the Creation Magic spell. They didn''t try to understand how the various spells were being rearranged or how to regain control of their own work.

    "That''s it?" Barham asked as the magical runes became invisible again. "Is it already over?"

    "It lasted over fifteen minutes." Despite her undead state, Menadion panted heavily. "To you, it was a pretty light show but to me, it was no easy feat. If not for Lith and the mana geyser below the Fortress, I would have needed to use Invigoration so many times that it would have no effect anymore."

    She only had two eyes left but they were rapidly opening again as Lith gave her new

    mana.

    "These are the new blueprints." A wave of her hand manipulated the ink with water magic and drew a series of complex schematics on multiple pieces of paper. "You''ll need it in case something gets damaged beyond its ability to self-repair."

    "Marvelous!" Barham praised.

    "Amazing!" Adria gasped. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Genius!" Pharo and the others passed the papers among each other while commenting on Menadion''s work.

    "Let me guess, you have no idea what you are looking at." Cyrra scoffed.

    "Not a clue." The Forgemasters nodded. "But if we take our time to study this, there''s no telling how much we might learn."

    "That''s a big if." A flick of Bhaz''s wrist collected the pieces of paper and brought them to his hands. "These schematics belong to the Undead Courts. We paid for them twice now and have no reason to share them with you.

    "Your services are no longer required. You can leave the Fortress at your earliest convenience."

    "How much?" The Forgemasters snarled.

    "We can talk about this after the crisis is resolved. Cyrra replied. "This way you have a good reason not to run your mouths and we won''t risk Poopie taking a look at our defenses."

    ''Also, once this is over, we''ll have the opportunity to recover at least part of the expenditure for this fortress.'' She inwardly added.

    "Fine." Barham snarled. "Ruler Menadion, I''d love to invite you to-"

    "Is there anything else?" Lith asked, cutting the Wyvern short.

    "No." The Dawn King shook his head. "We''ll keep you updated if anything new happens and I expect you to do the same."

    "Excellent." Lith and his group Warped outside to the army of Demons.

    Now that the Fortress was under his control, the air-sealing and space-compressing arrays offered no resistance to his spells.

    The Awakened Forgemasters were still sighing and whining when he arrived to the Blood Desert.

    ***

    "Why didn''t you tell us that you have mastered Creation Magic, Mom?" Solus asked, impressed by Menadion''s feat.

    "You never asked. Also, you were supposed to know. I used it during our escape from the World Tree, remember?" Ripha replied.

    "Sure, but changing a rune here and there is different from remaking a whole castle." Solus replied.

    "You would be right, if I enchanted the entire Fortress from scratch. Menadion shrugged. "Most of the work was already done. I only added three spells. The hardest part was scrambling everything so that the enchantments would become unrecognizable and still work."

    "Can you teach us Creation Magic, Mom?" Solus asked. "Lith and I have been stuck at tier three for a while now."

    "I don''t know if she should, Solus," Lith replied. "I want us to master our Creation Magic, not Ripha''s. We''ve been studying Creation Magic only for a short while and something always happened that delayed our practice."

    "I can and I''m willing to teach you, sweetie." Menadion said. "It''s only fair since I wouldn''t have understood my foundations were flawed if not for attending to Sally''s lessons with you as a wandering soul. She was teaching you while unwittingly teaching me as well. "Back when I was alive, I got close enough to learning Creation Magic to Forgemaster the Workshop floor of the tower, but it''s only thanks to you guys if I finally completed my

    life''s work."

    "Thanks for the offer, Mom." Solus replied. "We''ll keep working on Creation Magic on our own and once we run out of options we''ll come to you for a nudge in the right direction."

    "That''s an excellent idea, dear," Menadion nodded. "I can''t wait to catch up on modern magic so that you can teach me Void Magic. I''ll be your student so go easy on me, professor Solus."

    "Only if you earn it, you runt." Solus chuckled. "Jokes aside, we are stuck in Void Magic too. We can''t figure out how to deal with the double elemental switch without the willpower imbued in the spell going awry."

    "Even better." Menadion said. "We can work on it together, if you don''t mind a hand."

    "No offense, Ripha, but Void Magic is our creature. Lith said. "It''s what got us the title of Void Magus and if someone were to help us bringing it to completion, we''d feel like frauds. Even if no one ever knew about your involvement, we would."

    "Is that what you think as well, Solus?" Menadion asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Then honesty for honesty, I think you two are working on too many fronts at the same time.

    "Creation Magic, Void Magic, the lessons at the academies, preparing for Meln''s return, and the list goes on."

 Chapter 3446 Lesson in Hunger (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3446 Lesson in Hunger (Part 1)"I understand your pride in figuring everything out by yourselves, but there''s nothing wrong with asking for help." Menadion said.

    "You two have already learned in sixteen years what most Awakened need decades if not centuries to accomplish. With Lith expecting his secondborn, you have to set your priorities straight.

    "There''s only so much time in each day. Either you sacrifice your time with your family or risk facing that Meln jackass with incomplete skills. But that only if you keep refusing my help."

    "You have a point." Lith sighed. "Yet my worry is to face that jackass with skills I''ve learned without truly understanding them. In my experience, it''s better to use a prototype you have mastered than a full weapon you''re not familiar with."

    "There you are." Kamila welcomed them as they walked through the tower''s door. "How did things go with the Undead Courts."

    Lith exchanged a quick glance with Menadion, agreeing to resume that conversation later before sharing everything that had happened via a mind link with Kamila.

    "Good gods!" She shuddered. "Do you need some time to think about new countermeasures? I can cover for you and teach Aran the basics of Spirit Magic."

    "No thanks, Kami." Lith replied. "He asked expressly for me and I can use a distraction." They walked to Aran''s room where he was waiting for them. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Finally! I was getting bored to death." He said.

    "Did you finish your homework?" Solus asked.

    "Yeah, and we double-checked his answers thrice while waiting for your return." Onyx replied.

    "Why didn''t you go playing outside?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "Because Leria is too busy studying and I was too afraid to hurt someone." Aran said as a glass of water hit his right cheek. "See what I mean? This happens every time I''m thirsty. Everyone in class looks at me like I''m a monster."

    He lowered his eyes but the glass kept bumping on his face, searching for his mouth.

    "Gods if I hate you!" Aran gulped down the water and this time when he put the glass down on his desk, it stayed there.

    "We''d better get started, then." Lith ruffled his brother''s hair. "First of all, have you ever thought about why an angry fake mage produces wind and his eyes light up? Or about the reason Awakened don''t do that but have similar problems until they learn to control Spirit Magic?"

    "No, I did not." Kamila and Aran said in unison while Ripha raised her hand.

    "Mom!" Solus blushed in embarrassment, pulling the hand down. "This is a class for learning, not to show off! It''s obvious you know the answer. You are an Awakened with over three hundred years of experience"

    "Actually, I''m not sure since I''ve never pondered the question either." Menadion replied. "The explanation for these three apparently different phenomenons is the same." Lith continued while shushing them both. "Everyone has mana and willpower and when we are angry, we perform unconscious actions even if we stay still.

    "Like clenching our teeth or balling our fists. The same happens with mana, but only mages are powerful enough to influence their surroundings when overwhelmed by emotions.

    "A fake mage emits mana like a true mage but without Spirit Magic, it is forced to bond with the nearest element. We are always surrounded by air so the mana pulse interacts with the air and produces air currents.

    "For the same reason, our eyes light up. We see through our eyes because they are natural conductors for the light element and when we are angry, the raising mana bonds with the light and becomes visible.

    "The mana pulse also reaches the ground but is too weak to affect something so big so no one notices it. Most of the time."

    "That''s why when you or Grandma are angry the ground quakes!" Aran said. "Because your pulse is much stronger."

    "Correct." Lith nodded. "In the same way, a candle or a fireplace can flare up when a fake mage loses his temper. Awakened are no different from fake mages but thanks to Spirit Magic, their mana keeps its cohesion and resists the natural pull of the elemental energies in our environment.

    "That''s why you hit those who anger you, crush things, and take what you want with Spirit Magic, Aran. You''ve been taught since a young age to restrain the physical manifestations of your emotions but no one taught you how to keep your mana in check when your feelings run wild.

    "Your mana puts your thoughts into practice without filters. That''s why your first lesson is to learn to recognize when your mana core is stirring and stop it before it acts."

    "I see." Aran sat down cross-legged on the floor and closed his eyes.

    "What are you doing?" Lith asked while Kamila smiled at the scene, reminiscing how she had made the same mistake.

    "I need to sense my mana, don''t I?" Aran asked.

    "Yeah, but you don''t spend your life in a state of calm silence." Lith replied. "Controlling your mana core must become second nature to you, like writing your own name. You must do it without the need to focus or think."

    He took a plate of oven-fresh biscuits out of his pocket dimension. A delicious fragrance

    spread throughout the room, making Aran''s, Solus'', and Kamila''s mouths water. Aran and Solus had a sweet tooth while Kamila''s pregnancy enhanced her sense of smell. To her, the cookies smelled like an entire bakery.

    "They look delicious, Big Bro, but we just ate." Aran said. "I''d like to have a biscuit or two but I don''t really want them."

    "Your objection would be valid, if I played nice." Lith touched Kamila''s and Aran''s shoulders, activating Invigoration long enough to speed up their metabolism and make

    them hungry.

    Several biscuits immediately floated off the plate but a pulse of Lith''s Spirit Magic put them back into place.

    "Hey, that''s not fair!" Aran said. "How am I supposed to focus on an empty stomach?" "What he said and I''m pregnant!" Kamila''s womb grumbled in agreement. "You know I get cravings and I can''t do anything about them."

    "That''s exactly the point of this exercise." Lith nodded. "Your Spirit Magic goes rampant not when you are happy and collected, but when something or someone triggers a gut reaction. Just like now."

    He pointed at the candles in the room that were flaring up and the small objects that were trembling. Then, he conjured an ice mirror in front of Kamila and Aran and showed

    them their glowing deep green eyes.

    "Cool!" Aran said.

    "We never practiced like this." Kamila turned to Solus who shrugged.

    "Because I never did either." She replied. "Lith had already mastered the basics of Spirit Magic when we met and I had no body back then. I passed on to you the results of his efforts just like he did with me.

    "You asked me to be spoon-fed knowledge, remember?"

    "Oh." Kamila felt puzzled by those words until their meaning hit her like a punch to the

    gut.

    ''I forgot that Lith Awakened as a baby and how poor his family was. He must have learned how to control Spirit Magic through hunger just like he''s doing for us.''

 Chapter 3447 Lesson in Hunger (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3447 Lesson in Hunger (Part 2)The idea of a starving baby using sheer willpower not to cry and keep himself from stealing food almost made Kamila cry.

    Her first instinct was to run to the crib and check if the babies were hungry with her Dragon Scales. Elysia and Valeron were not only well-fed but also in the middle of a happy dream that spread soothing waves through Kamila''s body.

    ''You two have no idea how lucky you are.'' She thought.

    "Hunger is easy to induce and easy to get rid of without leaving you upset for the rest of the day." Lith explained. "When you are angry, sad, or anyt-" Suddenly Kamila hugged him tight, cutting his explanation short. "Is everything alright with the babies?"

    "Yes, don''t worry." After checking that he wasn''t hungry either, she returned to her seat. "As I was saying, any violent emotion behaves similarly to hunger. The purpose of this exercise is twofold. One, now that your mind''s and body''s desires are in synch, you must learn to feel the stirring of your mana core and control it along with your physical reaction.

    "Two, to reel your mana in with willpower, you have to infuse your core with it. It''s the same thing you''ll have to do when you learn how to cast tier five spells. Through this exercise, you are going to learn how to control your spells under stress."

    Lith used fire magic to keep the cookies fragrant and air magic to fill his students'' nostrils with the sweet smell.

    "Begin." Aran and Kamila reacted to the olfactory onslaught by emitting tendrils of Spirit Magic that Lith stopped with his own.

    "This is a bit cruel but really smart.'' Menadion thought. I wish I could still feel hunger. I would love to put my self-control to the test.''

    ''I find it sad.'' Solus replied via a mind link. ''But I share your feelings.''

    "I want to participate too!" She used Invigoration to make herself hungry.

    Solus too produced tendrils of Spirit Magic but managed to stop them just a few centimeters away from her body.

    "Well done, Solus, but a mage with your experience can''t enter the rankings." Lith said. "Come on, guys. There''s just two of you so if you get second, you get last!"

    "Aunt Kami shouldn''t count too." Aran tried and failed to control his mana core. "She has practiced Spirit Magic for months."

    "Not like this and now I''m hungry for two, you runt." Kamila couldn''t stop herself from producing mana tendrils either. "You have the advantage here."

    "No, you both suck." Lith replied. "Stop bickering and focus. Arguing adds another layer of difficulty that we''ll reserve for later."

    "We do?" Aran and Kamila exchanged a glance and stopped talking.

    A few minutes later, right when they were about to succeed in stopping the tendrils from reaching the cookies, Lith tapped their shoulders and Solus, turning the hunger up a notch. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Hey! That''s cheating!" All three of them lost control and their mana grabbed a cookie. "What?" Lith scowled at them. "Do you think you won''t get hungrier or angrier during a fight? Do you expect the enemy to play fair and not to taunt you to make you lose your cool?"

    "No." They all lowered their gaze and put the biscuits back on the plate.

    Solus felt so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear.

    "Things can always get worse during a fight, but they can also get better. Yet no matter if the ally you believed dead is actually alive or if your enemy has a hidden card. You must keep your focus or you''ll lose control over your mana and with it the battle."

    "Yes, Professor." They said, making Menadion chuckle.

    "You''re an incredible teacher, Lith. I wish someone taught me this lesson." She sighed. "Maybe I-"

    Everyone was looking at her with eyes filled with compassion.

    "I''m sorry for speaking out of turn. Please, don''t mind me and continue." She said, but it was too late.

    Aran and Solus were already on their feet and hugged her.

    "I wish you could join us, Mom." Solus said.

    "Me too. My Big Bro is the best." Aran said. "Don''t worry, Grandma. We''ll protect you."

    "Thank you, sweethearts." Menadion caressed them both.

    Over an hour and several taps on the shoulders later, the cookies were untouched and the stomachs roared like a pride of lions.

    "That''s enough for today." Lith rewarded his students with plenty of biscuits and honeyed milk. "We''ll continue tomorrow."

    He waited for everyone to be calm and sated before resuming the lesson.

    "This is just for you, Aran. Solus and Kami already know how to use Life and Fire Vision, but they are free to join us."

    "Cool! How do they work?" Aran asked.

    "It''s actually pretty easy." Lith replied. "It''s similar to the process of making your eyes glow, but instead of using all the mana, you need to enhance the light element to get Life Vision. If you use the fire element, instead, you get Fire Vision."

    "Like this?" Aran''s eyes glowed silver. "I don''t see any difference, though."

    "That''s because you are filling your eyes with light element." Lith shook his head. "It''s no different from casting a healing spell on your eyes. If it were that easy, fake mages would use Life Vision too.

    "Try again. Send your mana like you would with Spirit Magic and then fill it with light element."

    Aran''s eyes flared deep green yet nothing happened until the light element coated the mana, becoming a filter to look through the world energy. Suddenly everything turned

    to a shade of grey.

    Only living things had colors but they had nothing to do with their physical appearance. Lith and Menadion appeared to Aran as roaring fires. Kamila produced just a bright light while Solus was even dimmer.

    "Why does Aunt Solus look weak? Are you ill?" Aran asked.

    "No, it''s because of this." The moment Solus took off the cloaking rings, her aura flared

    up as well.

    "Cool!" Aran said as he noticed his body emitted light as well.

    "The brighter someone looks, the stronger they are." Lith explained. "It will take you time and experience to learn to distinguish between magical and physical strength and even longer to recognize the level of the core of those you''re looking at.

    "Now switch to fire, please. We don''t have much time left."

    "Why is that?" It took Aran a few tries before activating Fire Vision. "I still have plenty of

    mana."

    Now Mogar looked like he was wearing thermal goggles. Cold things were of a uniform blue while the warmer something or someone was, they turned green, then yellow,

    orange, and red.

    Menadion was pale green whereas Lith was a red blot.

    "Less than you think." Lith said just a second before Aran felt tired and hungry.

    "This doesn''t make sense." He panted. "I just ate."

    His whole body ached but his eyes felt worse.

    "What you are experiencing is mana abuse." Lith explained. "Using pure mana drains you

    many times faster than elemental magic. Eating helps you refilling your core but it takes

    time for mana to form."

    "Can''t I use Invigoration?" Aran asked.

    "You can but I don''t recommend it." Lith shook his head.

 Chapter 3448 Stubborn Pride (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3448 Stubborn Pride (Part 1)"You have just Awakened. Your body needs time to adapt and we''ve done a lot today. Eat and go play until dinner. You''ve earned it." Lith ruffled Aran''s hair and said: "I''m proud of you, Little Brother."

    "Thanks!" Aran''s smile went from ear to ear as he ate more cookies.

    "And I''m proud of you." Kamila took his hand. "It''s amazing how you managed to take the bad things of your past and turn them into brilliant lessons."

    "Thanks, Kami." Lith cleared his throat in embarrassment.

    "Yet don''t think you can get away with a few cookies." She said in mock annoyance. "You made the two, no, the three of us hungry." She touched her womb. "We deserve a compensation ice cream cake."

    "Seconded!" Solus nodded. "And seconds!"

    Meanwhile, Aran and Onyx had joined Leria and Abominus. They went back to Lutia to play with Lilia and Leran. Of course, Aran not only did show off his Awakened powers but he also bragged about Lith''s lessons.

    ''I wonder if he''s just that dense or he''s rubbing this in my face on purpose. Leria inwardly grumbled.

    She couldn''t wait for the following day to come and start her own training.

    ***

    When sunrise came, Salaark found the young girl waiting in front of the curtain door of her office.

    "Here already? Did you at least eat breakfast?" Salaark asked.

    "Yes, Granma." Leria yawned. "I was so nervous all night that I couldn''t sleep much."

    "Let me fix that for you." A touch of Invigoration and Leria was brimming with energy. "Thanks, Grandma! Where can I sit?"

    "Anywhere you want except in front and behind my desk." The Guardian chuckled. "If you want to know where Aran practiced, he was in that corner,"

    "Thanks." Leria went to the opposite corner and sat cross-legged. "Please, call me for snack time. I''m completely useless when I''m hungry."

    "No problem." Salaark Hushed the little girl and started her daily routine.

    ''Okay.''Leria took a few deep breaths to calm down and then started revising everything Lith had taught her over the years. This is a good start. I''ll eliminate everything fake mages and magical beasts usually do for practice.

    ''If it were of any help, Awakening wouldn''t be a secret to this day. I must focus on

    what Uncle Lith taught me about magic and Awakening. The steps are, learning how to perceive your mana core, then the world energy, and lastly fuse them to create a mana flow.

    "The problem is I don''t know where to start.'' Leria sat there, breathing slowly while she tried to figure out her first move. Let''s see, what advantages do I have over Aran? He has only a black streak while I have silver and red ones.

    ''Let''s go with light magic.'' She cast perfect silent chore spells of all elements to warm up and then tried to cast a tier one light spell with her mind. ''I can''t do it. The runes feel wrong.''

    She thought after a few failed attempts.

    "There are too many of them and their sequence is too complex. By the time I finish the last rune, the first one has faded in my mind already. I need to recreate the spell from scratch but with true magic.

    ''It''s not enough to Awaken but it should help me sense my mana core.''

    With each failed attempt, Leria consumed more mana and soon her strength started to dwindle.

    ''Not like this, you idiot!'' She cursed at herself. Unlike fake magic, true magic doesn''t need manifestation. I could have done this in my head without wasting so much mana.'' "It''s snack time, sweetie." Salaark''s voice and hand made Leria yelp in panic. "Why do you and Aran react like that? I''m not that scary. I mean, not to you."

    "Sorry, Grandma." Leria panted, her heart drumming in her chest. "It''s not your fault. I was just so focused that I didn''t feel you approaching. Wait, snack time? Already?" "Yes," Salaark nodded. "Eat and rest for a while. You look terrible."

    Only then did Leria look down and notice she was drenched in sweat, her long hair wet with it and sticking to her face.

    ''Dammit, half the morning is gone and I''m still at square zero.'' She ate her honeyed milk and cookies like she had a vendetta against them and ignored Salaark''s advice, resuming her training immediately.

    ''Use your head, dimwit! True magic is a matter of the mind.'' She tried several runes but by not conjuring mana, she went faster and the process was easier.

    She soon learned to feel if the following rune was right, wrong, or just sub-par. The flow of mana in her head would be respectively, smooth, jarring, or difficult. She also learned that "soon" was a relative term.

    "It''s lunchtime, baby." Rena shook Leria, making her scream in fear. "Good gods! Are you alright?"

    "Mom? Lunch?" Leria couldn''t believe her own ears.

    "You look delirious." Rena checked Leria''s forehead for fever. "The temperature is normal, but you stink. You need a bath."

    "Mom, just a few more minutes. I-" Leria found herself on her mother''s shoulder like a sack of potatoes and with as much free will.

    Rena undressed and bathed Leria while she was still complaining about breakthroughs, the importance of silence, and the discipline magic took.

    "Of course, baby. You''re right, baby," Rena said when necessary but ignored everything the young girl said and kept bathing her.

    "Mom, you are not listening to me!" Leria said while her mother helped her to get

    dressed.

    "I am listening to you." Rena scolded Leria. "But you are rambling. You need to eat."

    "I''m not hungry!" A loud gurgle denied her claim. "Okay, fine. Let''s eat."

    During the meal, Leria asked Aran: "Did you work in the afternoon too?"

    "If you mean homework, yes. If you mean going back to Grandma''s office no." He shook

    his head. "I was too tired for that."

    ''Weak!" Leria inwardly gloated. I''ll resume my training right after I''m done eating. If I

    do things right, I''ll Awaken in just seven days!"

    Too bad that she fell asleep right after stuffing herself with ice cream.

    "I''ll put her to bed and keep an eye on her." Abominus said.

    "I''ll accompany you." Senton said.

    "Thanks, Abominus." Rena patted the Pyrmir''s head.

    Leria woke up a few hours later, feeling like she had just finished the night shift in a

    coal mine.

    "Why didn''t you wake me up?" She half yawned and half scolded Abominus. "I need to resume practicing."

    "No, you need to do your school assignments. Here''s my notes." He handed her a thick stack of papers containing the topics of the morning classes she had missed.

    "Who cares about school? Awakening is more important." She wobbled to her chair, panting heavily as she caught her breath. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I see." Abominus gave her a strong honeyed tea. "Too bad, though. Aran managed not

    to fall behind with his studies. I guess he''s more disciplined."

    "No, he''s not!" Stung in her pride, Leria opened the notes. "I''ll show you. I''ll finish this stuff before I can finish my tea."

    She had to read the same page multiple times because her head was pounding.

 Chapter 3449 Stubborn Pride (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3449 Stubborn Pride (Part 2)Leria had consumed much more mana than Aran on his first day and was now paying the price. Every spell she practiced gave her head a pang and made her eyes water.

    She finished everything only thanks to sheer willpower and stubborn pride.

    "I''m done." She clenched her head, feeling like it would explode if she let it go. "Give me a minute to rest my eyes."

    "Sure thing" Abominus went to pick a blanket and when he returned, Leria had fallen asleep on her desk.

    He dropped the blanket and tuckered her in her bed.

    "Sweetie, wake up. It''s time for dinner." Rena''s loving voice sounded like a death knell to Leria''s ears.

    "I''m coming, Mom." The moment Abominus stepped out of the bed, she flopped on his back. "Carry me, please. I don''t have the strength to walk!"

    "Man, Leria looks terrible." She would have liked to glare at Aran and give him a piece of her mind but she was too hungry and tired for that. "Was I like that too?"

    "Not on your first day, son." Raaz replied. "But more often than you think."

    Leria mumbled one-word answers from time to time, eating like the food was her lifeline.

    "Here. Have my ice cream." Aran passed his dessert. "You need energy. I remember how I felt when I was trying to Awaken."

    Leria had a Lith-moment, feeling like a jerk for thinking ill of her uncle for no good S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    reason.

    "Thank you, Uncle Aran." She gave him the best hugs the little strength she had left afforded her.

    "No problem." Aran blushed in awkwardness.

    Leria had never called him uncle and he didn''t know how to react. He felt proud of himself but at the same time, he realized the responsibility the title entailed.

    ''I don''t like this.'' He swallowed. I don''t want to be the bigger person. Being a rival is much easier than being an uncle.''

    Leria went to sleep right after dinner and slept like a log until the next day.

    ''Let''s do this. She thought after Salaark Hushed her at the start of the training session. By the end of the second day, Leria completed the simplest and weakest tier one light spell she could devise. It had no practical use, but it was a true spell.

    ''What is this? What''s happening?'' With her eyes closed, Leria had gotten used to being surrounded by darkness.

    Now, however, there were two lights. A very small one in the distance and another just as small originating from inside herself.

    Why does my stomach hurt? I had just tea and biscuits for a snack, like always!

    She ignored her questions and powered up her spell with mana. It filled her body to the brim with silver light, but created no mana flow nor did it Awaken her.

    ''Why don''t I feel any different? Sure, it''s just one element but using true magic is supposed to stimulate my mana core or at least guide me toward the next step.''Too tired to think, she went for lunch and tried again the next day with a fresh mind.

    ''Gods, I was so tired yesterday that my brain failed me.'' She thought while examining her condition. I didn''t stimulate my core and got no inspiration because I just filled my body with static light element.''

    Yet while studying the two lights, Leria noticed that her mana perception had improved from the previous day.

    ''I still have the fire element to try. With my newfound knowledge and natural affinity, it should be easier this time.'' In fact, by the end of the third day, she had created a useless true magic tier one fire spell but was too tired to put it into practice.

    On the fourth day, Leria filled her body with fire element, powering it with her mana and forcing it to circulate along her skin. It resulted in another failure but the distant light had moved closer and the one in her abdomen had become a bit brighter.

    "This doesn''t make sense.'' She thought while conjuring and moving both spells she had created through her body. I can now clearly feel my mana and make it flow. The thing in front of me must be Grandma Salaark. Why have I yet to Awaken?''

    She had gotten it all wrong. Leria could barely feel her own mana, there was no flow, and what she saw was the world energy converging around the Guardian, not the Guardian herself.

    Leria spent the rest of the fourth day trying to come up with a tier one true magic darkness spell but failed to complete half of it.

    ''Dammit! Without the corresponding elemental affinity creating a new spell from scratch is damn hard.'' She thought on the fifth day. At this rate, maybe I can create a tier one spell for each element in fourteen days, but that doesn''t mean I''ll Awaken. ''What am I doing wrong?" Leria spent the rest of the day pondering the question and studying the two lights.

    She made little progress, but having consumed little mana she had more strength left than usual. She finished her homework and then revised her notes and Silverwing''s book, the Basics of Magic, searching for inspiration.

    Leria found no answer, but the more she read the more she had a nagging feeling in the back of her head.

    Not knowing how to move forward, on the sixth day Leria went over Lith''s lessons, her newly created spells, and then the two lights. They hadn''t grown after the third day but she somehow knew they were important.

    ''Mana is more than just elemental power. To create a mana flow, I must be able to affect my life force as well but how do I do that?'' By snack time she found no solution so she resumed working on her darkness spell.

    She only finished it on the seventh day but when she did, another change happened. The burning in her abdomen worsened, the distant light came closer, and the close

    light became brighter.

    ''What''s wrong with me? She thought as the pangs slowly spread to the rest of her body. ''More importantly, what did I do right and what are these things?"

    Fear and pain clouded Leria''s mind too much to continue practicing. She let go of the accumulated mana and slowly came out of her meditative trance.

    "Grandma, can I ask you something?" Leria said without leaving the Hush Zone.

    She knew that it was impossible for Salaark not to perceive her from so up close.

    "Of course, my Featherling" The Guardian replied. "What''s the matter?"

    "I''m in pain." Leria massaged her stomach. "I''m not asking you why, I just want to know

    if I''m endangering myself."

    "Consider me offended, young lady." Salaark raised an eyebrow and her voice turned

    stern. "Do you think I would let something bad happen to you in my house? If you were

    doing something stupid, I would have stopped you."

    "Thank, you Grandma." Leria sighed in relief, hugging the Guardian. "I trust you but

    I''m scared. I''ve never suffered so much. What''s going on with me?"

    "Apology accepted, Featherling." Salaark softened hearing the honest panic in the girl''s voice. "I''m sorry, I can''t answer your question. All I can say is there''s nothing dangerous in your training method."

 Chapter 3450 The River and the Ocean (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3450 The River and the Ocean (Part 1)"Okay" Leria glanced at the clock on Salaark''s mahogany desk and realized there wasn''t much time left before lunch.

    She went back to her spot but instead of starting to work on a water spell, she focused on her condition.

    ''Based on Uncle Lith''s Void Magic, each element is one side of a two-elemental coin. My light affinity helped me come up with a darkness spell just like my fire affinity should do with water.

    ''Yet before that, I must answer the question: what am I doing right? Leria studied both the big and the small light.

    By the time Rena came to pick her up for lunch, Leria had noticed that while the smaller light felt somehow familiar and obedient, the bigger one was alien and indifferent. She was certain never to have felt the power of the bigger light before. "What did you do when you were slumped?" Leria asked Aran while devouring her food rather than eating.

    "I tried harder." He looked at her with compassion, knowing how exhausted she must be. "But I also followed Onyx''s advice and rested once per week. Isn''t this your seventh day already? It should have been your day off!"

    "You''re right, dammit! I forgot about that." Leria sighed.

    "Also, Abominus tells me you study right after lunch. I took a nap before studying because otherwise, it was torture." Aran added.

    "That''s another great idea. Abominus, why didn''t you point these things out to me?" She glared at the Pyrmir in his boy form.

    "I did." He replied with a snort. "I also asked you to take a break from time to time but you didn''t listen."

    Leria was about to go on a tirade about how Onyx had taken such good care of Aran when she realized Abominus had done just the same. The difference wasn''t in the Emperor Beasts, but in their human companion.

    Aran trusted Onyx enough to listen to her whereas Leria was deaf to Abominus'' suggestions due to her pride.

    "Gods, I''m so sorry, Abominus." Leria dropped her silverware and hugged him. "I''ve been such a jerk to you. Please, forgive me."

    "I forgive you." He patted her back. "I know how competitive you are, but remember what I told you. This isn''t a challenge to Aran but to yourself. If you rush too much, you risk missing details along the road that point to your destination."

    "You are very wise for your age, son" Senton said. "Leria is lucky to have a friend like

    you."

    "I know, Dad" She replied. "Mom, can we do something together with Dad tomorrow?" "Of course, dear." Rena nodded. "Anything you want."

    Leria spent the following morning with her parents, visiting Zekell and Lutia, and the afternoon playing with her friends. She learned nothing but the rest healed her body and gave her brain the time to reorganize what she had learned during her relentless practice.

    She resumed her attempts to Awaken on the ninth day, starting from where she had left.

    ''What are these things?'' Leria tried casting chore magic spells and studying the lights but nothing happened. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    At least until she tried the spells she had invented in the previous days. As she evoked the runes of the light magic spell, powering them with just enough mana to manifest them, she noticed an anomaly.

    A very small copy of that rune appeared in the small light. From there, the rune produced a tendril as thin as a hair that moved on its own toward the bigger light, where a second bigger copy of the rune formed.

    When Leria completed the spell, she noticed two things. The complete sequence of runes appeared in both lights but while the sequence in the bigger light moved following a clear pattern, the runes in the small light didn''t move from the spot they had appeared.

    ''Could this be?'' Leria then cast the fire and darkness spells and the same thing happened.

    There were now three sequences of runes in each light and every sequence in the big light moved independently from the others while its distant twin remained still.

    The burning sensation in Leria''s abdomen returned as strong as the seventh day but. thanks to Salaark''s reassurances, this time her focus remained steady.

    I get it now! The small light is my mana core and the big light is the world energy all around me.'' She thought. ''My spells are too weak to Awaken me but, by exploiting my elemental affinities, they allowed me to connect with the world energy and gradually enhance my perception.

    "The purpose of the spell is irrelevant. What matters is that with every true spell I create, I can perceive a different element inside of me and in the world energy!'' She worked on her water spell, completing it on the tenth day and moving on to an air spell.

    Now the bigger light had come close enough to reveal itself as a flame while the smaller light had grown big enough for Leria to study it with ease. She could use the

    amallar light along with har intuition to find the correct runa in the sannance

    A right rune would appear and establish a connection with the world energy. A partly right rune would take longer to connect, and a wrong rune would form no connection at all.

    On the thirteenth day, she had completed all six elemental spells and was capable of projecting them in her core at the same time. Each one of them was short, barely four magical runes each, and with no practical use.

    ''Okay. Now I can feel my mana core and I can feel the world energy. What''s next?''The bigger light was now a roaring flame that painted the darkness around her bright blue and her mana core was perfectly visible but there were still no signs of Awakening. "Think, Leria. Aran and I received the same lessons from Uncle Lith. I know because I asked them. Aran and I know the same things. He never considered Awakening until our last vacation. What did we learn there?"

    Leria found nothing relevant in her memories, except for the fishing trip.

    "The water and the river thingy! Aran didn''t stop talking about it for days.'' She thought. ''Of course! Awakening requires a mana flow. My mana is the water and I''m the river. It''s not enough to conjure the elements, I must also carry them.''

    Leria focused on the runes inside her mana core, willing them to move just like she had moved the mana along the lake''s surface. It was an artificial flow that resisted her attempts, coming to a halt whenever the different sequences of runes clashed. Moving the six spells at the same time without them hindering each other was a mammoth task made harder by the rising pain in her abdomen. Leria had just managed to make the six spells go a full lap without clashing when she noticed

    another change.

    ''Is it me or is the bigger light even closer now?'' Surprise and Rena''s hand made Leria

    lose her focus.

    "It''s lunchtime, sweetie, and you need to rest. Rena said, using a towel to dab to sweat drenching her daughter.

 Chapter 3451 The River and the Ocean (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3451 The River and the Ocean (Part 2)"Already?" Leria panted more than said, her nose smelling her own pungent scent. "Bath."

    "Later." Salaark shook her head. "First you need to eat. This will do for now."

    A water spell removed the sweat while a darkness spell cleansed the stench.

    Leria ate, took a bath with Rena''s help, and then fell asleep instantly. Abominus woke her up just for the time to work on her assignments which Leria completed with unprecedented speed.

    "Do you think I should rest tomorrow or give one last try?" She asked as she performed the spells she had just learned from Abominus'' notes like she had practiced them for years.

    "What do mean, one last try?" Abominus asked. "Are you giving up?"

    "No, silly." She giggled. "If I succeed tomorrow, I''ll beat Aran by one day. If I don''t, I might as well finish after him. There''s no point in a draw"

    "What do you think?" He tilted his head to the side.

    "I want to keep going." She replied. "And this time is not out of stubbornness, even though I am stubborn. It''s because today I felt like I was on the verge of something and if I take a break, I''m afraid I might lose it."

    "Trust your gut, then." Abominus nodded. "But if it doesn''t work, rest."

    "I know." She nodded. "I''m my only competitor. I''m not doing this to beat Aran but because it feels right."

    ***

    On the fourteenth day, it took Leria while to circulate the six spells to perfection again.

    ''I was right. The world energy did come closer.'' Every time the rune sequences completed a lap, the blazing fire would move a bit closer to her but would return to its original position at her slightest mistake.

    By snack time, Leria had gotten the gist of the artificial flow, yet aside from the flame having crossed half the distance separating them, nothing happened. The burning sensation in Leria''s belly was the same and the size of her mana core was unchanged as well.

    ''I was wrong.'' She inwardly sighed. ''Whatever I discovered, it''s not enough- Wait a minute! The third step. I still need to merge my mana flow with the world energy. Assuming I have created a mana flow, it''s not enough to overcome my impurities alone.

    ''I need the world energy''s help to do it, but how?'' She stared at the bigger flame, willing for it to come closer.

    It didn''t work, but by shifting her focus to the world energy, Leria noticed that the connection between her spells and the burning flame was now thicker.

    ''Of course! Conjuring an elemental spell requires the corresponding external energy, establishing the connection. Once I established the flow, the resonance increased only up to a point because it''s different from the flow in the world energy.

    ''My mana is the water and I''m the river, but I''m nothing compared to Mogar. All rivers go to the ocean and let it carry them, becoming part of its underwater currents.''

    "To reach the "ocean, I need to let my "river" flow into it.'' Leria tried to match the movements of her spells with those in the burning flame but failed.

    No matter what method she tried, she failed.

    "The breathing. All the Awakened I know breathe in a weird way while using their powers.''Leria adjusted her breathing rhythm, trying to follow the pulsing of the runes in the world energy. They move in different patterns but the speed is the same.'' First, Leria focused to not only make her spells flow without clashing with each other but also to move with matching speed. Then, she made them follow the same identical routes as their twins inside the blazing flame.

    With each progress she made, the connection between her mana core and the world energy grew stronger. The mana tendrils grew in size, pulling the blazing flame closer until Leria could almost feel its heat on her skin.

    Each following step was easier than the previous one. The runes now moved along their intended course with the rhythm they were supposed to have. Leria''s mana flowed into the world energy that in turn flowed into her mana core, making the tempo of the runes faster and faster.

    "It''s lunchtime, sweetie." Rena extended her hand but Salaark stopped her.

    "Not now." The Guardian shook her head. "Your daughter is close to succeeding" "Are you sure?" Rena swallowed hard.

    Before Salaark could answer Leria managed to perfectly match the flow of the world energy with her own. Runes she had never seen before, runes belonging to Spirit Magic, joined the other six elements.

    The mana flow became strong enough to escape the confines of the impurities surrounding her mana core and spread to the rest of her body.

    "I did it, Grandma! I did it!" Only when Leria felt the process had gained enough momentum not to need her help any longer did she open her eyes. "Mom? I did it, Mom. I''m an Awak-"

    Dain hurned overu fiher of Iarin''s hodu lika navar hafore making the suffering of the

    previous days feel like a tickle.

    "Help me! Gods, hel-" Leria clenched her chest and started puking a black tar-like substance that smelled like something dead for weeks and left rotting under the

    Desert''s sun.

    "My baby!" Rena rushed forward but Salaark stopped her again.

    "There''s nothing you can do. That''s just the Awakening process."

    "But, she is suffering and it''s getting worse!" Rena pointed at her poor daughter who writhed in pain, the impurities now flowing out of her nose, eyes, ears, and skin. "No, it''s not getting worse. It''s just progressing." Salaark shook her head. "Listen to me, Leria. Whatever happens, stay awake. You hear me? Don''t lose consciousness." "My baby girl!" Rena started to sob but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn''t break the Guardian''s hold on her. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Mob!" Leria gurgled through tears and impurities.

    The pain was blinding but seeing her mother cry like that was much worse. Leria clenched her fists and relaxed the rest of her body. With nothing stopping it anymore, the flow of impurities became steadier, faster, and less painful.

    Leria trusted the Guardian and welcomed the spasms like her mother had taught her to do when bad food made her puke.

    "Don''t fight it, sweetie." Rena always said. "Your body is trying to get rid of what''s hurting you. You''ll feel better later."

    The process lasted less than a minute but to Rena and Leria they seemed hours.

    "My baby!" Rena bolted forward the moment Salaark let her go.

    The Guardian cleansed the impurities and cleaned Leria, but Rena didn''t notice the stench while it lasted. The only thing she cared about was feeling her daughter''s

    heartbeat and making sure she was alright.

    "I did it, Mom." Leria gave Rena a thin smile.

    Her voice was but a whisper and her eyes drooped from exhaustion.

    "I know, baby girl, I''m proud of you." Rena caressed her daughter''s hair, combing it

    with her fingers.

    "Awakening feels great, Mom, but it tastes like poop. Do you have a mint-" Then, Leria lost consciousness.

    Before Rena could ask Salaark for reassurance, a soft snoring told her everything she

    needed.

 Chapter 3452 Different Kinds of Talent (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3452 Different Kinds of Talent (Part 1)"Thank you, gods. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Rena sniffled while kissing Leria''s face over and over.

    ''I would like to say: you''re welcome, but I''m afraid Rena would punch me in the nose." Salaark remained silent, handing the worried mother a blanket and a glass of water. Rena covered Leria with the blanket and drank the water with big gulps.

    "Can I have some more?"

    "Sure." Salaark refilled the glass Rena was offering. "Do you want me to call Senton? Lith? Someone?"

    "How long have we been here?" Rena''s eyes widened, realizing the passing of time. "Less than three minutes." Salaark replied. "The people at the table haven''t even noticed we are late."

    "Bring Senton here, please. Bring everyone."

    A quick mind link to inform the others about what had happened and a snap of Salaark''s fingers brought the Verhens to her office.

    "Oh gods, is Leria alright?" Elina asked while Senton rushed to Rena''s side and checked Leria''s pulse and face.

    "She did it!" Aran clenched his fists like it was his own achievement. "Now I can have company and competition."

    "She''s fine." Salaark said and Lith confirmed after checking on Leria with Invigoration. "Is there anything we can do to make her wake up sooner?" Senton asked.

    "No." Lith replied. "This kind of thing can''t be rushed. Leria needs to rest while her body adapts to its new status and her core fills itself."

    "Even with my help and Solus'' tower, Leria won''t wake up before a couple of hours." Salaark nodded. "If you want to help her, go eat. You need your strength to take care of her."

    Rena caressed Leria''s serene sleeping face, reassured by the steady heartbeat and her chest moving up and down. If not for what she had just witnessed, Rena would have thought Leria was sleeping in.

    "Fine, but please, let''s eat at the tower''s dining room. I don''t want anyone around." She said.

    ***

    Leria slept in a bed just one meter away from the dining table under a Hush Zone. Abominus never left her side and Rena stopped eating to check on Leria often.

    No matter how much effort Rena put into taking care of her daughter, Leria needed over two hours to wake up.

    "I''m starving. She mumbled while trying to remember why she felt like she had skipped lunch.

    "Leria, thank the gods!" Rena hugged her tight. "You scared me to death."

    "How do you feel, sweetie?" Senton asked.

    "Congratulations, Leria." Aran gave her a congratulatory bow.

    "What are you talking about?" Leria was as confused as she was worried about her parents'' weird behavior.

    At least until her drowsy mind cleared up and she remembered everything.

    "I did it! I''m an Awakened too!" Her stomach disregarded her enthusiasm and gurgled in outrage. "I''m also starving. Where''s lunch?"

    "Right here." Lith took the stove fresh food from his pocket dimension and set the table for her. "Help yourself."

    "Don''t mind if I do." Leria broke free from her mother''s embrace and ran to her seat, wolfing down the food.

    "You beat me." Aran sighed. "Of just one day but you beat me. I admit defeat."

    "No, I didn''t." Leria swallowed a big morsel of meat, taking a break from eating so as not to chew her words along with her food. "I had many advantages and the most important one is you went first.

    "I would''ve had no confidence of success had you not Awakened already. I found a way to Awaken based on what we know only because you proved to me it was possible. "Also, I know you well enough to guess what you did wrong and right, saving myself a lot of time. On top of that, you took two days of rest while I only took one. If we consider only the days of practice, you were faster than me."

    "And don''t forget that women are naturally more attuned to the world energy than men." Salaark pointed out. "With that and your two affinities, I can assure you had it easier."

    "Really?" Aran asked, puffing his chest out with pride.

    "Credit where credit is due, Featherling." The Guardian sighed. "You have no idea how embarrassing it is for me that the old lizard Awakened before me. My only consolation is that I always beat him in martial arts and Forgemastering"

    "It''s your win, Uncle Aran." Leria stood up to give him a bow. "You did it fair and

    square."

    "I have a better idea." Aran shook his head. "Winning like this is disappointing and underwhelming. It doesn''t feel like a victory and draws are equally lame. What do you

    say if we settle our score in a clear-cut way?"

    "I''m all ears." Leria nodded for him to continue.

    "Now we are on equal footing again. Our cores are deep green and we had our unique enlightenment. It means that whoever awakens her bloodline second will have no choice but to admit being a poor excuse of a niece," Aran extended his hand. "Deal?"

    "You mean his bloodline and a poor excuse of an uncle." Leria shook it, returning the fierce grip. "Deal!"

    "Not this again!" Onyx rolled her eyes.

    ***

    After a hearty meal and another nap, it was Leria''s turn to celebrate her achievement with the rest of the family. Zekell and his wife joined them from Lutia and so did

    Protector, Selia, and their children.

    After a full night of rest and many meals, Leria was ready to learn the basics of Spirit

    Magic. Just like Aran, she had asked Lith to be her teacher and repeat the same lessons Aran had received to keep things fair and their competition running.

    As for Aran, he was entrusted to Solus'' care.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to move on to the next topic?" Solus asked.

    "I''m sure, but thanks for the offer, Auntie Solus." Aran replied. "I prefer to review everything with you and Aunt Kami and wait for Leria to catch up. This way Bog Brother can teach us together again."

    "I understand." Kamila nodded. "It must be hard going on, lesson after lesson with an ever-growing losing streak. You need someone as bad at this as you to score your first S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    win."

    "I''m not bad at Spirit Magic, Sis Kami!" Aran pouted. "You are better than me only because you''ve been studying this for months now."

    "You should have thought about that before challenging me and claiming you would make me eat your dust." Kamila chuckled.

    "Jokes aside, you are really good at both Spirit and Fusion Magic, Kami." Solus said. "I don''t know if it''s the little Raldarak giving you a hand but you are one of the best

    green cores I''ve ever met."

    "Thank you." Kamila replied. "It''s too early for the baby''s powers to kick in. This is all me, yet. I practiced like crazy during my free time because I don''t want to be Lith''s

    weak point forever. I want to be able to stand up for myself."

    "I appreciate the sentiment, but until you reach the bright blue, you are just w-" Solus

    suddenly felt dizzy.

    Her knees buckled, forcing her to sit down.

    "What''s wrong?" Kamila asked, quickly followed by Ripha who rushed to Solus'' side.

 Chapter 3453 Different Kinds of Talent (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3453 Different Kinds of Talent (Part 2)"I don''t know." Solus panted heavily. "I feel weak. As if-"

    A pillar of violet light burst out of her body and the tower quaked as it broke through to the next level together with its master.

    "Deep violet? Congratulations, Auntie!" Aran said. "And I thought I was competitive. It''s not nice to steal Leria''s thunder like that. You should have waited at least a couple of days before hogging the spotlight."

    "I didn''t plan this, you rascal." Solus tried to stand up and almost fainted for it. "It must have happened because, after Elysia''s birth, we''ve stopped traveling so much and spent most of our time over mana geysers.

    "Lith''s recent growth in strength must have further accelerated my healing process." "Big Bro has become stronger? Isn''t the bright violet the limit of every Awakened unless they find a way to the white like your friends, Auntie?" Aran asked in confusion. "It is, but Lith''s situation is different." She replied. "After Kami rescued him, his life forces rearranged themselves in a form that better channels his powers. On top of that, when he rescued me from the Fringe, we underwent a long fusion.

    "While we were in that form, the tower further healed the damage to his life force which now allows his body to withstand larger amounts of mana safely."

    Aran kept staring at her in confusion.

    "Imagine the old Lith like a wooden carriage with a broken wheel" Solus replied. "The new Lith is a stagecoach with just a damaged wheel. It can travel faster and it''s more comfortable."

    "Big Bro was like a carriage with a broken wheel?" Aran was flabbergasted. "How powerful is he now and why not a DoLorcan?"

    "Respectively, I don''t know and broken DoLoreans have no wheels. They either fly or they don''t." Solus sighed. "Gods, why do I still feel like this and where is Lith?"

    ***

    Inside the tower, just a few minutes ago.

    "Excellent job, Leria." Lith said while watching her struggle to keep her mana off the cookies. "Keep up like that and-"

    Suddenly, the tower started to tremble. It absorbed the sand below with a woosh, creating a vortex around the entrance as the tower sucked in the base materials to expand and rebuild itself.

    "We''d better leave." A snap of his fingers brought Leria and Abominus to Lith''s private apartments.

    "Why, Uncle Lith? Isn''t it safe?" She asked.

    "I don''t know." He shrugged. "I''ve never been inside while the tower underwent changes. There''s no point to it. The tower would waste energy to keep me safe and the final result would be the same.

    "On top of that, I''m almost certain the restoration process can''t harm me due to my bond with Solus but you two might have become food for the tower."

    "You make excellent points," Leria and Abominus swallowed hard.

    "Let''s go check on Solus." Lith said. "You can use some rest and food."

    "I know." Leria still had several cookies orbiting around her.

    The moment fear had broken her focus, hunger had taken over, seizing the food.

    "You can eat them, you know?" Lith chuckled while checking on Solus'' position via their mind link.

    "Thank the gods you are alright." Solus sighed in relief upon their arrival. "For some reason, I can''t get any reading from the tower."

    "The bright violet is a significant step, Epp- Solus." Menadion said. "Not as much as when you regained your physical body but the gap between the bright blue and the deep violet is significant to an Awakened.

    "You might end up disconnected from the tower until both your mana reserves are replenished."

    "What do you mean, you might?" Solus asked. "You don''t know?"

    "No, Solus, I don''t." Menadion shook her head. "The tower was never supposed to crumble like I was never supposed to leave your side. I built the tower but now it has outgrown me, just like you."

    "Don''t say that, Mom. I''m sor-" Solus'' head wobbled for a second before she lost consciousness, falling on the ground with a plop.

    "What''s wrong with Auntie?" Leria munched furiously in worry.

    "She''s just tired. Like you after Awakening. Lith checked Solus with Invigoration. "Her mana core is almost empty and the tower needs most of the world energy for itself. She''ll be up and running-"

    "Why am I on the ground?" Solus woke up as suddenly as she had passed out.

    "Sooner than you think." Lith finished the phrase amid the gasps of the others. "It seems it''s not a good thing for us to be apart during your breakthroughs. Apparently, I''m your backup energy source. Lay down and rest.

    He could feel his mana and vitality being slowly siphoned but, for a bright violet core at rest while standing over a mana geyser, it was a negligible amount.

    "Big Bro is heartless." He nodded. "The starving exercise is the less funny he ever came up with."

    "But it works." Leria replied. "Once I understood that my mana was stirring from hunger the moment I smelled the cookies, stopping the tendrils was quite straightforward." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It was?" Aran was a bit hurt in his pride. "Big Bro, how can she already do it while it took me days?"

    "Since we are at it, why do you think Aran felt confident to Awaken while I didn''t?" Leria asked. "Is it a matter of talent or just character?"

    "The answer to your questions is the same." Lith replied. "I''ve taught you magic for quite a while and I can tell you that you two have a comparable amount of talent. Yet they are two completely different kinds of talent."

    "What do you mean?" Kamila asked, helping Solus to sit up and handing her a honeyed

    tea.

    "I won''t sugarcoat it, kids, so please don''t take it personally. Okay?" Aran and Leria held hands to steel themselves and nodded for Lith to continue. "Leria is the smarter of you two while Aran is the more intuitive.

    "It means that he has an easier time learning magic whenever he can feel it or experience it directly It''s the reason he was confident about Awakening after the

    fishing trip.

    "Aran had no idea what to do but after practicing to control the elemental flow, he gained enough insight on his own mana to Awaken. Leria, instead, needs to

    understand something in order to learn it.

    "It''s the reason the moment Aran Awakened you knew you could do it and why you are better with exercises like the one with the cookies. Once I explained you the cause and effect of the mana going wild, you found a solution.

    "Aran, instead, was slumped until he managed to feel his mana stirring from the hunger but the moment he did, he didn''t produce tendrils anymore. Each of you is better at some things and worse at others. There''s no clear-cut difference."

    "I see." Aran felt refreshed. "What can we do while we wait for Auntie to recover?"

    "I need all of my strength and you two are at different levels of your training but there is something you have already in common." Lith replied after pondering for a bit.

 Chapter 3454 Steady Development (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3454 Steady Development (Part 1)"What is it? Fusion magic?" Leria asked.

    "That too, but it''s not what I was talking about." Lith shook his head. "You both have developed your own breathing technique in order to self-Awaken but you have no idea how to use it and how it works. Sit down with me."

    Lith then proceeded explaining to them the difference between Accumulation and Invigoration. The children had already found their breathing rhythm and even though they had never used it after their breakthrough, it was deeply ingrained in their bodies.

    "Always remember the risks." Lith said while they practiced the harmless Invigoration. "The more you use Invigoration on yourself or others, the less effective it becomes. "Even if you use a nutrients potion, the strain on your body caused by the instant regeneration piles up. The same happens to your mana core. Invigoration refills it but the mana abuse makes each spell more taxing and reduces its efficiency.

    "It''s like talking with someone who takes a step back after every sentence. At first, you can still hear him well but after a while, you can only understand what he''s saying from the context and then nothing at all.

    "As for Accumulation, learn to fear and respect it. Never use it right after a breakthrough and always listen to your body. If they start to hurt while practicing Accumulation it means you''ve reached the limits of your current body refining.

    "Stop immediately, rest, and train your bodies for a significant amount of time before making a new attempt. Remember that the overuse of Accumulation is one of the main reasons Abominations are born."

    Leria and Aran swallowed hard but nodded. Ever since they had Awakened, magic had become less fun and scarier. Spirit Magic could hurt those they loved and

    Accumulation could hurt them.

    "Also, remember that no matter how hard you want it, you can''t and you must not keep increasing your strength once your bodies reach their limit. I''ve been stuck at the deep cyan until my growth spurt started at thirteen. The same applies to you.

    "You can''t train your mana and body indefinitely. Once you reach a bottleneck, you must wait until your natural development takes its course. During those times, forget about increasing your power and focus on its quality.

    "Improve your mana perception and manipulation. Work on your fighting techniques and footwork. They are all things you carry over once the breakthrough happens and will help you master your enhanced reflexes and strength as the body refining reaches the next stage."

    Leria raised her hand and Lith gestured for her to speak, sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What fighting techniques? You always say we are too young for that."

    "Of course." Lith inwardly cursed. "I mean, in a few years. Just practice your footwork until then."

    ''Nice save.'' Solus chuckled via their mind link. ''Not everyone needs to fight the moment they learn to stand up.''

    "True, but they can use some light training and discipline. Without them, the stronger the kids'' bodies become, the harder it will be for them to control their strength. They might hurt someone if we don''t teach them.''

    ''I remember that, for a time, Aran and Leria learned basic swordsmanship and footwork. Why did they stop?'' Kamila asked.

    ''Because I wasn''t the one teaching them but Phloria.'' The name soured Lith''s thoughts with sadness. After she died, I felt sick just at the thought of taking her place. As if it meant erasing her.''

    ''We can always ask the instructors in the Blood Desert to do it in your stead.'' Solus suggested.

    ''No, I want to do it.'' Lith replied. ''I won''t turn Phloria into a vengeful ghost just because of my guilt. It''s time to move on.''

    Leria and Aran were happy to take a break from their lessons and the opportunity to spend time together. They had seen each other rarely for a month now and had many things to share.

    As for the tower, it kept growing until dinnertime.

    "I guess we can wait until tomorrow for the tour!" Lith said while dining.

    "Going now would be useless." Solus shrugged. "The changes are done but the mana reserves are at an all-time low. Just like me, the tower needs time to recharge."

    The next day, Lith and the others went to check on the tower first thing in the morning.

    Now it had grown past 40 meters (132'') in height and its base was over 15 meters (50'')

    across.

    "It''s... magnificent." Raaz cleared his throat.

    "It''s a clear improvement." Elina rushed to agree.

    "Mom, Dad, have you gone blind?" Aran asked in outrage. "It''s ugly!"

    Part of the tower walls had gone from stone grey to pure white and there were several golden streaks coursing along the structure. Solus reaching the deep violet had restored part of the tower''s original materials, turning them into gold-veined white marble.

    It was extremely precious and one of the few substances on Mogar to be incredibly

    sturdy and resistant to all forms of magic. A thin layer of bricks of gold-veined white marble turned a room into a vault impervious to all kinds of attacks and gave it a majestic look.

    Alas, the tower looked like a bad patchwork done in a rush by someone either blind or at least colorblind. The white spots looked like splashes of paint thrown in buckets, and the gold veins did not harmonize with the rest of the structure.

    The overall impression was that three different people had built the tower, each with their own design and no care for those of the others.

    "It looks like a drunken Dragon swallowed white and yellow paint instead of wine and puked it all over the tower when he realized his mistake." Aran said. "Like the builder ran out of money halfway through the job and used the cheapest materials he could

    find. Like-"

    "We got it, Aran." Elina sealed his mouth with her hand, muffling the rest. "I must say, I didn''t expect you to have such a vivid imagination, dear. I''m proud of you."

    "You are the second Verhen man who likes to read, son." Raaz patted his back. "You''ll become a great mage in the future"

    "Thanks for your effort in changing the topic, Mom and Dad, but Aran is right." Solus whined, her shoulders slouching in humiliation. "It''s ugly"

    "It''s more than ugly. It''s horrible." Menadion nodded. "I''m sorry, sweetie. I swear it was a work of beauty and will be again once the repairs are completed. Please, believe me,"

    She bowed to the rest of the family, taking the blame off Solus'' shoulders.

    "You have nothing to apologize for, Mom." Solus forced her to stand straight and

    hugged her. "Looks are not important."

    "Can''t you shapeshift it?" Aran removed Elina''s hand. "I mean, you can, Grandma Ripha can, Big Brother can. It shouldn''t be that hard."

    "It actually isn''t." Menadion pondered. "Focus, sweetie. Think what you want the tower to look. Just like Yaga, I had programmed several forms into the tower core to travel Mogar without being noticed."

    Solus closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and focused as hard as she could. The tower rumbled a little as the gold streaks and the white spots disappeared under the grey of

    the stones.

 Chapter 3455 Steady Development (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3455 Steady Development (Part 2)"Much better." Solus nodded. "It doesn''t look magical but it sure has dignity now. Come on, follow me. We''ll start from the basement, as usual."

    The Crucible and the Mines had changed only in size and mana flow. After the breakthrough, the development of the magical resources was even faster and the two floors could hold larger quantities of metals and crystals.

    The first of the new floors was located right above the mines.

    "This the Cannon Vault." Solus opened a solid wooden door leading to an empty room split between seven displays along the wall.

    Six were empty while one contained a sphere of highly compressed energy the size of a person and it was still growing.

    "What''s the purpose of that thing?" Lith pointed at the energy mass.

    "It''s similar to the arm cannon of the Mechatron." Solus explained. "That''s the first of seven bullets the tower is currently loading with world energy"

    "And it needs a whole floor? Just for this?" Lith asked in surprise.

    Menadion tried to step in but Solus stopped her.

    "Yes, Lith. An entire floor ''just for this''. With ''this'' being the ability to store and use seven spells of our choice at a moment''s notice, no matter if Tower Spells, Tower Blade spells, Anti-Guardian spells, or even Extinction."

    "I still don''t follow." Lith noticed her anger and opted for a softer approach. "How is this different from the Heart?"

    "It''s completely different, Lith." Solus sighed, shaking her head. "The Heart''s function is to store powerful and complex arrays and unleash them instantly. Yet they still drain the energy reserves of the tower core and, in Extinction''s case, the Blade Spell component needs to be cast and takes time.

    "The spells contained in the Cannon Vault, instead, are always ready to be shot at any time and consume no power because the tower conjured them already. You can see this floor as a giant magic storing with no limit to the tier of spells it can contain and seven of them at that."

    "Are you telling me I can use an Annihilation and a Bastion from the Cannon Vault while conjuring two more from the Heart?" Lith''s eyes narrowed as he considered all the possibilities.

    "No, it''s better." Solus replied. "I''m saying you can shoot seven Silverwing''s Annihilations at the same time or six Annihilations and one Extinction while doing whatever you need with the rest of the tower."

    "That''s amazing!" Lith''s eves lit up with glee. "Let me guess. You mentioned only one Extinction instead of seven of them because not even the Cannon Vault can make up for the energy consumed by our equipment."

    "Correct." Solus nodded. "We could store seven Extinctions, but after three of them, our equipment''s power cores would be depleted and completely useless. Which includes the weapons stored in the Armory and the Menadion Set of the tower.

    "We would lose half or more of our combat prowess so I don''t recommend using more than two Extinction."

    "Three of your Anti-Guardian spell?" Leegaain, Tyris, and Salaark didn''t like hearing that at all. "It''s much more powerful than Lochra''s Annihilation and if it strikes an unprepared Guardian without their equipment, they might die on the spot.

    "An unprepared white core would die in one blow even if they wore their best equipment 24/7"

    "That was the idea." Lith shrugged. "I''m tired of people like Thrud, the Golden Griffon, or the lost cities kicking my ass because they are functionally immortal. What spells are you storing right now, Solus?"

    "Extinction, obviously!" She pointed at the glowing sphere. "I picked it first because it takes a while to charge it while maintaining the tower''s full functionality. I wanted to decide the rest with you."

    "I''d say two Extinctions, two Annihilations, and three Bastions." Lith replied. "We can always cast the third Extinction on our own with the Mouth while buying time with the Bastions. A good defense can give us the time to plan our offense."

    "That''s just three defensive spells against three offensive spells. Shouldn''t we switch their numbers?" Solus asked.

    "No, if you consider that each offensive spell also reduces the number of enemies, if used properly. Offense is often the best defense." Lith said.

    "Point taken." She nodded. "The seven spells should be ready by tomorrow so we have plenty of time to make changes to the final roster."

    "A whole day?" Aran was flabbergasted. "Can''t you make the Cannon Vault work faster?"

    "Sure we can." Solus replied. "I have just to shut down the Mines, the Crucible, the Spark, the Greenhouse, the Thievery, and the Grimoire. Those floors draw a lot of power at all times.

    "Without them, the spells would be ready in a couple of hours. Do you want me to focus the tower''s full power into the Vault, Lith?"

    "No way" Lith crossed his arms in front of his chest. "There is no emergency and we are under Grandma''s roof. We couldn''t be safer."

    The other floors had remained about the same, just larger and with more complex

    equipment.

    The Factory could now mass produce artifacts that required up to the deep violet core while the Workshop could replicate double the amount of the resources stored in the

    tower.

    The second new floor was located between the living quarters and the Forge, right below the ground level.

    "This is the Mana Injector." Solus explained. "Just like the name suggests, it increases the amount of energy in the area surrounding the tower, speeding up the formation of natural resources."

    The room was circular, with walls covered in holographic screens that showed the absorption rate of world energy of the various plants, crystals, and metals in the

    tower''s surroundings.

    The screens also displayed the estimated time before they became viable and allowed to select between spreading the world energy to the entire area or focusing it on

    specific targets.

    "What''s the purpose of this floor? I mean, you already have the Greenhouse. This seems much worse." Raaz said.

    "Mom, since I know how much work you put into this floor, I''ll let you do the honors." Solus stepped aside, leaving the stage to Menadion.

    "Thank you, dear." Ripha nodded. "This is the other half of the Greenhouse, Raaz. The top floor of the tower indeed accelerates the growth rate of everything you plant in there, but it requires you to already know variables like temperature, humidity, and so

    on.

    "Also, you always need to get your hands on a natural treasure to cultivate it in the Greenhouse and the sellers will tell you where you can find natural resources on your

    own rarely. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I gave the tower the ability to travel not only to run away from or chase after my enemies, but also to explore Mogar and what it has to offer." She pointed at the

    screens.

    "By staying long enough over a mana geyser, the Mana Injector allows me to discover what kind of natural resources are available to each area and even those that local

    Awakened keep for themselves or auction to the highest bidder.

    "Once I find something I want or might want, I let the Mana Injector accelerate the growth of the specimen and collect data about how to cultivate it in the Greenhouse."

 Chapter 3456 Elemental Storage (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3456 Elemental Storage (Part 1)"Once the Mana Injector collects the necessary data on a specific natural treasure, I can turn what others consider a unique or hard to come by ingredients into a basic component for my research."

    "Damn, that''s brilliant, Ripha!" Raaz said.

    "Thank you. On top of that, since I was as paranoid as any mage with a tower, I also used the Mana Injector to check if a geyser I considered hidden had actually been discovered and had regular visitors.

    "I used to leave behind the natural treasures I had already moved to the Greenhouse and if I didn''t find them upon my return, I knew that someone had been there during my absence."

    "Can the Mana Injector help Awakening a specific area as it happened to the White Griffon''s Forest?" Solus asked.

    "In theory, yes." Menadion replied. "But I never used it like that. First, the process would have taken at least a few years. I never stayed that long in the same place and even if we did... you know."

    She pointed at herself and Solus while nodding at the kids.

    "Second, it would have been a bad move. An Awakened forest promotes the evolution of animals into magical beasts who in turn evolve into Emperor Beasts and steal my stuff. Why should I increase the number of my competitors?"

    Abominus and Onyx grunted but said nothing to Ripha.

    "It is a good idea for you, Lith." Onyx said. "It would increase the number and power of your allies in the Trawn Woods and you can always give our tribes what you don''t need. Awakening the woods would make our tribes less reliant on you and lighten your burden."

    "You make an excellent point, Onyx." He nodded. "I''ll give it some thought but I make no promises. Not because I don''t trust Reaper and the other Kings but because as Ripha said, the process takes a long time and I have things to do I can''t afford to delay!"

    He avoided referring to Orpal just like Menadion had done about her and Solus'' demise. The children had gotten used to the ugly side of Mogar, but that didn''t mean they had to be subjected to it any more than was absolutely necessary.

    "Time is not a problem." Abominus replied. "Even if the Trawn Woods don''t Awaken in this generation or the next, just starting the process will bring endless benefits to our clans and Lutia."

    After everyone was done taking a look at the different screens and potential natural treasures, Solus led them upstairs, past the living quarters.

    The door to the Bleed was locked and even though many looked at the unknown floor in

    confusion, Solus said nothing.

    "I''m pretty sure this floor wasn''t here the last time you gave us a tour, Solus." Raaz said. "What does it do?"

    The members of the Verhen family rarely took the stairs and Warped themselves straight to the floor they wanted to reach thanks to their access to the tower''s basic functions. Solus could have skipped the Bleed with a Warp, but the Verhens would have noticed the extra floor anyway and it would have just made them more curious,

    "Yes, it''s a new floor, Dad, but it''s not one of those the tower recovered after I reached the deep violet core. Please, don''t ask me questions about it. I''m not ready to talk about it yet. Just know that it helped me and shamed me in equal measure."

    "You showed us the Thievery yet this floor is so disgraceful you don''t want to even talk about it?" Elina asked, her eyes moving to Ripha along with those of the rest of the family.

    "Yes, Elina." Menadion replied. "This floor is probably the most disgusting and revolting thing I''ve ever done in my long life. I take full responsibility for it so please don''t blame my daughter for her na?ve attempt to shield me from your judgment.

    "Know that I don''t regret it, and I''d do it a hundred times over because, without this floor, my Epphy wouldn''t be here today!" Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I understand." Elina nodded and dragged Aran away from the door before he could do or say something.

    ''Still, you and I should talk about it.'' Lith said via the mind link.

    ''What''s to talk about? You already know what the Bleed does and how it works. Solus inwardly sighed. I''m ashamed to say, but after my breakthrough, the Bleed is now larger and can host even more prisoners.

    ''If I''m right, the life force extraction speed has improved as well:

    "That''s what I want to talk about. Lith replied. ''We should capture a few dead-or-alive wanted criminals and shove them in the Bleed.''

    ''Are you serious?'' Solus and Ripha both froze for a split second as they climbed the stairs of the tower.

    Yet while horror tensed Solus'' muscles, for Ripha it was mere curiosity.

    ''I am. He nodded. ''We could use a full tank of life force or two. It would allow you to move away from me without risks and give us both a contingency plan in case you get severely wounded.

    "The tower would use the Bleed to heal you without the need to drain me. It would increase my chances of survival and yours of not being forced to look for another host." Do you expect me to be okay with squeezing people like oranges and drinking their life

    forces as juice?'' Solus'' eyes steeled and her steps became a little heavier with outrage. ''Not people, outlaws.'' Lith reminded her of their recent conversation with the King. Individuals who have lost the right to live and are bound to die like dogs anyway. At least we''d give their filthy existences a purpose.''

    ''Lith, this is-"

    ''I completely agree with him.'' Menadion cut. Solus short. ''Even one tank can make the difference between life and death. It would allow you not to bleed energy the moment you step away from Lith or the tower is away from a mana geyser, Solus.

    ''It would hasten the recovery of your life force and let you have a normal life even if you two are separated for a while.''

    How can you call "normal" a life that requires me to feed on other living beings, Mom?" Solus replied with fury.

    ''It''s called "eating", dear.'' Menadion replied, her mind as cold as her eyes. ''Plants, animals, and humans feed on other living beings. Also, I''m not asking you to capture and sacrifice people, but criminals who have done much worse to their own kind.''

    ''I understand what you say and know the Kingdom''s law but it still feels wrong.'' Solus

    replied.

    ''Does it?'' Lith asked. ''What about those like Meln or the scum we found in the bowels of the Golden Griffon? Do you have mercy for them too?"

    ''No, I would kill them on the spot.'' Solus inwardly shook her head. ''But I''d still refuse to

    have that trash become a part of me. I would be afraid to be tainted by their essence.''

    Lith and Menadion decided to drop the subject. They both could feel that Solus'' emotions were running high and there was no point in discussing while she was unwilling to listen.

 Chapter 3457 Elemental Storage (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3457 Elemental Storage (Part 2)"This is the third of the four new floors." Solus did her best to shrug off her irritation and smile like nothing had happened. "I present you the Elemental Storage."

    It was a circular room that painfully reminded her of the Bleed. The room was divided into seven sections, each one filled with giant class cylinders topped with what looked like large mana crystals.

    One tank per section was partially filled with a dense, colored liquid, and more dripped from the crystal lid with a rhythmic drip. The tanks of the seventh section, however, were all empty and there was what looked like a stone throne amid them. "From the name and the colored liquids inside the tanks, it''s safe to assume this place is used to store pure elemental energies." Tista pointed at the various sections of the room. One cylinder contained a bright yellow liquid, another a bright orange liquid, and so on. "Correct." Solus nodded. "There is no Spirit Element stored yet because the tower isn''t alive. Or rather, yes, it is due to the bond with me, but draining my life force would go against its fundamental protocols."

    "And draining me is fine, instead?" Lith was flabbergasted. "What kind of madness is this, Ripha?"

    "This is no madness at all, Lith." Menadion shook her head. "I know how this may look at first glance but please remember I used this floor myself. Do you think I would hurt myself?"

    She was aware of the resemblance between the Elemental Storage and the Bleed because they were based on the same principles. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Menadion had used the design of an already existing and working project, twisting it to employ Forbidden Magic.

    "Also, what Solus said is incorrect. The extraction point doesn''t drain life force, only Spirit Magic. On top of that, you are empowered by the tower during the entire process. I can assure you that the only risk you take is extreme boredom.

    "I recommend bringing a book or working on a project to pass the time."

    "Mom is right, Lith." Solus bowed apologetically. "I mentioned my life force because Spirit Magic is based on it and with my condition, I''m already much weaker than you. I don''t recover as fast as you and my breathing technique still relies on you."

    "Don''t worry, I understand." Lith nodded. "Is it safe? Can I take a test ride?"

    "Of course" She replied. "You have my word."

    Lith sat on the stone throne, feeling under his fingers countless carvings so minute he had mistaken them as mere imperfections in the workmanship. Then, he felt a tug at his mana core. An emerald energy flowed out of his every pore and was channeled through

    the canals in the throne without wasting a single iota.

    The throne turned out to be covered in runes of power that became visible after being filled with Spirit Magic. It took over a second to condense a single drop of Spirit Magic that reached the bottom of the first tank with a plink.

    "Are you alright, Lith?" Kamila knew of the Bleed and was worried about Lith''s broken life force.

    "I''m fine." He replied. "I just feel like I''m casting a stream of tier one Spirit Magic spells." "That''s more or less what you are doing." Solus explained. "I''ve set the extraction point to absorb the least amount of Spirit. Magic it can condense. This way there is no burden on your life force and the procedure is slow but safe.

    "It''s no different from a blood transfusion, just with mana."

    "What about the rest?" Leria asked. "Where do the other elements come from?"

    "From Mogar, Leria" Solus replied. "Watch."

    A wave of her hand conjured the hologram of the bottom of the tower, where a drill pierced deep into the ground until Mogar''s mantle. It absorbed both the fire and earth elements that filled their respective tanks.

    A lightning rod made of mana crystals on the top of the tower absorbed the air element while the humidity in the air was slowly condensed into water element.

    "The sun provides plenty of light element during the day while at night we get much more darkness element." Solus pointed at the silver and black tanks.

    The former had a quick and steady drip, like a faucet with a bad leak. The latter instead produced a black drop every ten seconds or so.

    "We could get much more air element if we were amid a storm or in the open." Solus sighed while looking and the little yellow liquid accumulated.

    It was the third slowest to accumulate after water and darkness.

    "Okay but what''s the purpose of this?" Tista had a good understanding of magic but still couldn''t figure out the Elemental Storage''s function.

    "A brilliant one." Salaark replied and Leegaain and Tyris nodded. "As you know, during a Forgemastering process, you need to conjure the spells necessary to form the enchantments and then force them into their vessels with your mana."

    "So?" Tista asked.

    "So you only have so much energy and can use Invigoration only so many times before it becomes useless." Leegaain continued. "The Elemental Storage accumulates everything you need to cast your spells, even Spirit Magic."

    He pointed at Lith.

    "This way, when you need to craft something powerful, you can tap into the Elemental

    Storage and save your mana for the vessel-infusion phase."

    "That or fix any last-minute problem you hadn''t foreseen." Menadion said. "I wasn''t a Guardian and my strength wasn''t infinite. Also, I didn''t have a bonded companion like Solus to whom I could entrust my most precious secrets.

    "Together with the Menadion Set, the Elemental Storage allowed me to craft incredibly powerful artifacts without anyone''s help. Just by waiting and collecting enough elemental energies, I could perform alone spells that would take ten or more Awakened." "I see." Lith nodded. "But what do you mean, unforeseen complications? What about the Workshop? Didn''t you test your prototypes before the actual crafting like I do?"

    "I did, but you are forgetting something" Menadion replied. "Between prototypes and the final product, there are countless tries. I couldn''t waste the Elemental Storage and wait for it to refill after every experiment.

    "So I tested my spells on scaled-down prototypes I could enchant without tapping into the Storage or with minimal consumption and used the elemental reserves only for the

    real deal." Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Point taken." Lith said. "Unlike you, we have friends we can trust with our secrets and ask for their help, but that makes the Storage even more useful. Once Friya and the others reach the bright violet, by combining the copies of the Fury and this floor, there will be no limit to our creations."

    "Yeah! Menadion sighed. "I would nag at you for sharing so much with so many people, but since everything worked out fine for you, it would sound like sour grapes. I split my Set between my apprentices and kept many floors secret even to my closest friends but I ended up trusting the wrong people anyway."

    "Don''t beat yourself up, Mom." Solus stopped Menadion before she could blame herself for Elphyn''s death, Kolga, and all the horrors born from her legacy.

 Chapter 3458 The Infirmary (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3458 The Infirmary (Part 1)"You took countless people in as your apprentices, Mom." Solus said. "There was bound to be more than one rotten apple among them. Lith, instead, only took in people who not only are his friends, but have also proven themselves through tough situations over and over." S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Thank you, sweetie." Menadion hugged her. "What do you say we move on to the last new floor?"

    "Gladly." Lith stood up from the stone throne and the absorption of Spirit Magic stopped immediately.

    On the one hand, he felt relieved there was no resistance to leave the extraction point but on the other hand, he was appalled there was just enough emerald liquid to form a thin layer that covered the bottom of the tank.

    "Is it normal there is so little?" He tapped at the glass-like surface.

    "Yes." Menadion replied. "As I said, it takes time, especially when you keep the extraction rate low. Spirit Magic is the hardest to accumulate because it takes your time and energy.

    "I had your same problem. I never knew when I might need my strength and couldn''t afford to become exhausted just to fill a tank a day or two earlier."

    "I couldn''t agree more." Lith sighed.

    ''With my cracked life force and the shit that always happens to me, I better take things nice and easy until I find the perfect balance between speed and safety!

    The changes to the other floors were minimal. The Library now had more space and could store more tomes, just like Soluspedia. The Prime Engine''s five stone pedestals were finally complete and hummed with power.

    Yet to test its capabilities, Solus and Lith needed a wide space and a worthy opponent.

    The Grimoire had its efficiency and speed increased while the Mirror Hall could now observe previously occupied mana geysers from a great distance. Lith and Solus could see everything taking place in the vicinity of the mana geysers they had imprinted in the Blood Desert.

    The Heart could now store one more permanent array and the Firing Range could now conjure more spells at the same time. It increased the number of people who could train there and the offensive power of the tower in all of its forms.

    "This is the Infirmary." The new floor was right below the Greenhouse and above the Firing Range.

    The room reminded Lith of one of the intensive care wards of the White Griffon but

    with a few important differences. There were no beds, only one cylindrical tank made of translucent white crystals connected to the floor and ceiling through countless small and big cables.

    Five stone pedestals surrounded the tank, each shaped according to one of the pieces of Menadion''s set. A large holographic interface covered the north wall and was currently displaying blank screens filled with zeros and flatlines.

    A complex array that Lith recognized as a hybrid between healing and dimensional magic spun above and below the tank, glowing rhythmically.

    "Cool!" The kids said in unison, approaching the center of the room.

    "Is this the Healer version of the Prime Engine?" Aran asked while placing his hands on the tank to peer inside.

    The contact triggered the Eyes which started to analyze the boy and then the Ears. The information garnered by the two pieces of the Menadion Set was relayed on the screens that now displayed Aran''s heart rate, brain activity, organs functionality, blood pressure, mana flow, and the configuration of his life force.

    The violet array lit up, conjuring a force field that sealed Aran inside and everyone else

    out.

    "Don''t worry!" Ripha replied to the boy''s half worried and half apologetic look. "The Infirmary is just performing a routine scan. Give it a few seconds."

    Menadion had yet to finish talking when the collected data was arranged into an orderly column followed by the prognosis.

    "Mana core: Awakened and intact." Aran read out loud. "Life force: 99% human, 0.5% Dragon, 0.5% Phoenix. Probability of bloodline awakening, 0.1%? Is this true, Grandpa? How can a 1% Divine Beast blood have only a 0.1% chance of awakening his bloodline? Shouldn''t it be at least 1%?"

    Leegaain could see the pain in the young boy''s eyes but the Guardian always preferred the cold truth to a comforting lic.

    "Yes, child. As a deep green core recently Awakened, your chance of awakening your bloodline is negligible." He said while cleaning his glasses. "Once your body grows stronger and your mana core more powerful, your chances will increase as well." "Thanks, Grandpa." Aran sighed in relief before reading the rest. "No life force defect detected. No wound detected. Perfect health. No further action is recommended."

    The dimensional array powered down as quickly as it had activated. Aran stepped away just in time for Leria to put her hands on the crystal.

    "What about me?" The process started again and bore the same results.

    "I''m 1% a Divine Beast too!" She cheered with joy. "My chances of awakening my bloodline are the same as Aran''s."

    "How is it possible?" The boy asked, equally happy for his rival and disappointed for not being special.

    "Because Divine Beast blood is very stubborn. Salaark replied. "A single generation isn''t enough to weaken it. It''s the reason the Royals still have silver eyes. On top of that, you can''t dilute it more than that, sweetie. No offense."

    "None taken." Aran suddenly didn''t feel confident about becoming a Demon anymore but looking at his older brother and sister gave him hope.

    "I built this room to prevent. Epphy from suffering the same fate as my husband." Menadion moved through the room, caressing the different surfaces with tenderness. "It can spot any birth defect.

    "Any anomaly in the life force of the patient and can even find the best course of treatment with Body Sculpting, guiding the Healer step by step. I poured into the Infirmary every ounce of my talent as a Forgemaster and the knowledge I learned from Yaga. The Hands-"

    "Hold that thought!" After handing Leria to Senton, Rena put her hands on the glass

    case.

    "Mana core: dormant and intact. Life force: 99% human, 0.5% Dragon, 0.5% Phoenix. Probability of bloodline awakening, 1%. No life force defect detected. No wound detected. Perfect health. No further action is recommended." When she read the last.

    part, Rena was on the verge of tears.

    "Thank the gods. Faluel didn''t lie. She fixed me. She fixed me for good. I can have more

    children."

    "Why are you crying, Mommy?" Falco asked, obtaining a bear hug in reply.

    "It''s nothing, baby. Mommy is just happy."

    ''I would like to thank big sis for the vote of confidence and trust in my skills as a

    Healer, but I guess it''s better if I shut up.''Lith thought. ''Only Mom knows how Rena

    must have felt all these years.

    As if to prove his point, Elina went right after Rena. The only difference was that the Infirmary perceived Elina''s life force as 99% human and 1% Dragon.

    "Thank you, sweetie." Elina hugged Lith, sobbing.

    "Don''t mention it, Mom." He said while returning the embrace.

    "Thank you, Ripha." Rena said while still carrying Falco in her arms. "Faluel, Tista, and

    Lith told me I was cured from the Strangler but until today I couldn''t get rid of the fear I might pass it on my next child."

 Chapter 3459 The Infirmary (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3459 The Infirmary (Part 2)"No need to thank me. I know what you feel." Menadion inwardly sighed with envy, knowing that her life as a mother was over and done for seven hundred years. "Also, before continuing the explanation, I''d like to send the children away.

    "This room has a dark story and they are too young to hear it."

    "What about the other three pieces?" Leria asked, trying to change the topic.

    "The Hands serves as an additional power source in case the tower core isn''t enough." Menadion replied. "The Mouth can access the Library and conjure the best healing spell on Mogar. Or at least, it could back then.

    "As for the Fury, it allows the Healer to reroute energy and materials from the other floors at will, I didn''t have Solus'' deep connection with the tower nor could I waste time and focus accessing the control panel during a life-or-death procedure. "Now leave, please."

    "Do we have to?" Aran asked Raaz.

    "Yes." He replied after exchanging a glance with Menadion. "Be a good uncle and keep an eye on your niblings for me."

    "Okay, Dad." Aran nodded. "You heard the man. I''m in charge."

    A slew of groans and complaints had just started when a series of small Warps moved the kids into the kitchen, where bowls of cold ice cream and plates filled with steaming cookies waited for them. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Soon the quarrel about hierarchy died down and the issue with the Infirmary was forgotten.

    "Thank you." Menadion nodded. "This room is both my greatest success and failure. It''s thanks to the Infirmary that I had enough time to bond Solus with the tower but I was forced to do it solely because everything I had prepared proved to be for naught.

    "Just as I couldn''t save Threin, I went this close to losing Epphy. Not even the best facility built by the First Ruler of the Flames with the help of the legendary Red Mother can''t put together a broken core. It''s impossible.

    "Are you saying that you hadn''t the bonding procedure at the ready the night Bytra attacked?" Solus was flabbergasted.

    "Of course not." Ripha shook her head. "I built the Infirmary for the purpose of saving your life from all kinds of injuries. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be an utter failure. This room bought me a few days, barely the time to put together a last-ditch plan and give it the best shot I had.

    "It''s the reason my mana core and life force were compromised at the end of the procedure. I couldn''t rest nor could I stop working while I ate because with each

    passing second your life came closer to its end and no Creation Magic could reset you.

    "I had to keep going and put together the best Horseman technology I could from what Baba Yaga taught me. I worked until I almost lost consciousness and only then did I use Invigoration just to start the cycle anew.

    "By the time I succeeded, I was so weak that I fainted the moment the Infirmary confirmed to me that your vitals had stopped deteriorating and were slowly improving.

    "When I woke up and hugged you, we cried together." Menadion sighed, a warm smile formed on her face yet her eyes were filled with regret. "That''s when I let myself go and made the last mistake of my life.

    "I let my emotions run wild, experiencing both the immense joy of saving my daughter and the burning rage from Bytra''s betrayal. Not only had she killed my apprentices and come close to killing you as well, but she had also stolen my Fury.

    "Without my hammer, operating the Infirmary was much harder and so was the bonding procedure. I failed many times more than it was necessary. I almost lost you more times than I can count because of that thieving bitch!"

    Fury twisted Menadion''s face as the events of that day flashed in front of her eyes.

    "As soon as you fell asleep and your vitals steadily recovered, I lost it. Revenge was all I could think about and the idea of Bytra somehow learning Creation Magic and removing my imprint from the Fury was unbearable.

    "I tried one more time to call Lochra for help and look for Yaga''s hut and when that failed, I went on the hunt alone. You know the rest." A mournful silence befell the room.

    Lith waited for Menadion to compose herself before asking:

    "You said this is also your greatest success. That somehow, it kept Solus alive for days despite her broken mana core. How is that possible? Once the mana starts leaking, it''s a matter of minutes, an hour tops, before the core dissipates."

    "Do you know how dimensional amulets work?" Menadion asked.

    "Of course, I learned about them during the fourth year of academy." Lith nodded. "What about stasis field arrays?"

    "I saw them at work at the academy and in Ajatar''s lab but I''ve never learned them." He replied.

    "Long story short, dimensional amulets create a dimensional pocket whose internal space is compressed so much that time is almost still. Atomic bonds are held still while ensuring the stored object is not broken or damaged." Menadion explained.

    "Living beings are reiected because life requires motion and change. The pocket

    dimension simply can''t make them fit.

    "For this reason, even though a dimensional amulet can''t host a living being, it can still store a corpse or body parts. A stasis field array is the closest thing to a dimensional pocket that can also accept living beings.

    "It requires an enormous amount of power that only an academy, a tower, or the lab of a powerful Awakened can provide. A stasis field array creates a counter-flow to all sorts of movements down to the molecular level.

    "A living being enters a state of suspended animation because their heartbeat, mana flow, and cellular decay are slowed down while the dimensional forces hold every part

    of them still.

    "You can imagine it as if the magic of the array staunches not only the bleeding from your open wounds, but also everything else. Inorganic materials, instead, can be frozen in time since they can endure a much greater spatial pressure without breaking down.

    "I fused both this concepts to create the Infirmary." A wave of Menadion''s hand generated a featureless feminine hologram in the middle of the crystal tank that reminded Lith of a mannequin.

    "The basic idea is that there is no point to fight to save non-vital organs since they can be regrown or regenerated. The moment the blood flow in a limb stops, the dimensional array stores it away!"

    A flick of her finger and the arms and legs of the hologram disappeared.

    "You mean they get amputated?" Solus went pale, her imagination gave the mannequin long hair and a puncture wound piercing through its chest.

    "No, stored." Menadion shook her head. "The Infirmary uses its dimensional pocket to separate the useless parts of the body from the rest without severing the connection. "Without the limbs, the strain on the mana core lessens and your body saves precious energy. On top of that, the healing arrays can focus their full power on the deadly

    wound."

 Chapter 3460 Shattered Bloodline (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3460 Shattered Bloodline (Part 1)"The power collected by the Hands formed high-density bandages of world energy that staunched the cracks in your core thanks to the guidance of the Ears." Menadion said.

    "The Mouth cast healing spells non-stop while the Eyes observed the effects of the therapy in real-time. It was thanks to the Eyes that I could work while the tower modified the treatment on its own as your condition worsened.

    "Whenever a spell or array lost effectiveness, the Mouth cycled through those stored in the Library and stopped the moment the Eyes registered a positive effect. You may consider this room useless since everyone here is healthy, but to me, it''s my greatest. treasure after Epphy."

    "This is far from useless." Lith clenched his hands hard. "I wish I had it when Protector was wounded. When I lost Yurial. When I killed Phloria."

    He swallowed hard, struggling to overcome the guilt and sense of loss he still felt despite the passing of time.

    "The Infirmary would have bought me time. It would have given Yurial a chance. Phloria might still be with us if I brought her here and she saw the pain of her parents. Maybe she wouldn''t have moved on and I would have found a way to fix her core."

    "I''m glad you share my sentiment." Menadion had to float to put her hand on his shoulder. "But it also saddens me and your family."

    Lith looked up, noticing the tense expressions of the people around him.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to ruin everyone''s mood." He took a deep breath to calm down. "Thank you for sending the kids away, Ripha. This wasn''t a lesson they needed to learn."

    "You''re welcome." She replied. "Are you alright, sweetie?"

    Solus too was pale, her face taut. She was lost in visions of her body floating amid a thick liquid. She could only get glimpses of the rest of the room while she drifted in and out of consciousness.

    A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the weird sense of loss she had experienced along with a constant itch on her limbs she could not scratch. Solus massaged her arms and thighs, making sure they were still there.

    "I''m fine." She said, yet she was covered in sweat and it was getting harder for her to breathe. "Is it me or is the room getting smaller?"

    "Damn my big mouth. Let''s go outside." Ripha Warped everyone to an open space outside the palace.

    The blinding light from the sun and the wind snapped Solus'' mind and body out of the

    past and brought her back to the present.

    "There was nothing else to show you and I''d rather not go back to the tower for a while." Solus needed to sit down, her legs still shaking.

    "No problem. I''ll go get the kids." Lith Warped away.

    "Why didn''t you bring them with us, Ripha?" Rena asked.

    "And separate the children from their favorite snack?" Menadion shook her head. "There was no point upsetting them as well."

    "Good thinking, Mom." Solus used water magic to get rid of the sweat that made her clothes and hair stick to her skin. "I don''t want the kids to see me like this nor ask me questions I would be forced to lie to."

    ***

    The rest of the day passed uneventfully and so did those that followed.

    Lith spent his mornings experimenting with the new floors while Solus got used to having body casting. The greatest perk of reaching the violet core was that she was equal to Lith in everything but mana output.

    Her fusion magic and speed had greatly increased and she could now cast spells during a battle even without the Mouth of Menadion. In the afternoon, they taught the basics of Fusion and Spirit Magic to Aran and Leria now that she was caught up.

    "I wish I could go back to work." Kamila sighed while changing diapers. "Elysia now sleeps through the night and goes on adventures with Shargein and Valeron during the day."

    In the safety of Salaark''s palace, the babies were free to roam around in their Divine Beast forms, relying on Shargein for rest when they became tired and protection when someone didn''t recognize them and tried to capture them.

    "When you are working in the tower, I get terribly bored. Magic makes chores and cooking easier, but it also leaves me lots of free time."

    "You know you can practice magic, right?" Lith replied while Forgemastering an enchanted armor using solely the Elemental Storage.

    "I''ve reached the bottleneck before the green so no Accumulation," Kamila shrugged, "On top of that, I already practice magic in the morning and afternoon but don''t see any improvement."

    "I see" Lith finished merging the pseudo cores with the enchanted metal and then dismantled the armor with Creation Magic. "You need a sparring partner. Someone of your level you can fight against and learn from experience."

    "Jirni can barely move so I can either ask Valia or Quylla." Kamila nodded.

    "Quylla is pregnant too. Why not Friya?" Lith asked while working on a sword.

    "Because Quylla and I have a similar build and martial prowess whereas looking at Friya''s pretty face irks me. Especially when she kicks my butt." She grunted, making Lith laugh. "Speaking of Friya, we haven''t heard from her for a while.

    "Wasn''t she supposed to set a date for her marriage with Nalrond after he solved the issue with his life forces?"

    "Oh, shit!" Lith froze on the spot.

    "Did you forget about their marriage?"

    "Of course not." Lith shook his head. "I completely forgot to call her, though. I was supposed to do that right after I returned from the vacation with Mom."

    "Well, you are only a month late." Kamila laughed. "At worst Friya will melt your face and burn your ears from nagging" S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s not funny. I-" A sudden pull to Lith''s consciousness alerted him of an incoming call. "Damn, you jinxed it. With my luck, this must be Friya."

    Yet it wasn''t.

    "Isn''t that Alundra''s rune? The elf lady of the Council?" She asked.

    "Aalejah, not Alundra." Lith corrected her. "What do you want?"

    "It''s nice to hear you again too, Lith." Aalejah Eventide said, her voice oozing sarcasm. "Do you always answer your amulet like that or am I that special to you?"

    "Get over yourself." He replied. "I answer like this to all those who ignore my existence until they need something from me."

    "You mean like you do with anyone who doesn''t live under your roof?" Her snarky remark hit a sore spot.

    Lith had yet to get in touch with Friya, Marth, and Zoreth for a while now. He kept postponing and forgetting in a never-ending vicious cycle.

    "Point taken. Nice to hear you, Aalejah. Is everything alright with the Council?" He

    asked.

    "Much better." She snorted in triumph. "The Council is fine. It took care of itself before you and will continue to prosper long after you''re gone. The elves, however, are a different matter."

    "What elves? The fallen from Zelex? Our allies from Setraliie? The ones in Jiera?" Lith

    asked.

    "Oh, right. I almost miss the times when I was the only elf roaming Mogar." She sighed. "It sure made things and conversations easier."

 Chapter 3461 Shattered Bloodline (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3461 Shattered Bloodline (Part 2)"Get to the point, please." Lith said,

    "How kind of you." Aalejah''s voice became cold. "I was talking about the thousands of elves who until a couple of months ago lived under the aegis of the World Tree. They are in trouble."

    "Why? Is the World Tree dead for good or has the Fringe disappeared?" Lith asked.

    "Worse but I''d rather not talk about this on the amulet." Aalejah said. "We should meet in person. When can you come to the Empire?"

    "The Empire?" Lith thought. ''What is she doing there?"

    "Why don''t you come here?" He actually said. "The Blood Desert is nice this time of the year and I won''t be forced to suffer any sort of political pressure."

    "Fine. Can I come now?" She asked.

    "I don''t see why not." Lith replied. "I''ll wait for you in front of the Empire''s embassy."

    "Bring Solus, please. This involves her as well. Aalejah out."

    "This doesn''t sound good." Kamila said.

    "It rarely does." Lith sighed. "You contact Solus, I make a few calls."

    Lith contacted Friya and the rest of his friends, blaming Aalejah for his tardiness and asking for their understanding.

    "I swear, as soon as I''m done with this elven madness, I''ll make it up to you."

    "You better." Friya pouted. "You''re lucky you have a decent excuse. If you had once again forgotten about me for no reason, I would have kicked your ass to the moon and back. Friya out."

    "Shameless. You are just shameless." Kamila giggled.

    "It''s my Ranger training, baby." Lith said with a stern voice. "Adapt, improvise, and find a scapegoat to throw under the bus."

    "That''s not the Ranger Corps'' motto." She laughed to the point of tears.

    "Yeah because ''Anything goes as long as it works'' is any better"

    "That''s not the Ranger Corps'' motto either." Kamila replied in confusion.

    "That''s what we want our handlers to think, baby." Lith winked at her. "Do you want to tag along?"

    "Yes, thank you." She nodded. "If I don''t, I''ll be worried about you until I know what''s going on."

    Lith, Kamila, and Solus Warped in front of the Gorgon Empire''s embassy the moment

    they were notified they had a guest.

    "Lith, Solus! It''s so nice to see you back together." Aalejah hugged them. "I was so worried about you, Solus. How could you keep me in the dark after everything I''ve done to help with your rescue?"

    "I''m sorry." Solus returned the embrace. "I have no excuses. I acted like a Lith. Thank you for your help, Aalejah. I know it mustn''t have been easy to turn your back on your people."

    "It wasn''t. I-"

    A harrumph cut the elf short as Kamila offered her hand.

    "Oh, right. Camellia, right?" Aalejah shook it.

    "Kamila. The Camellia is the magical flower Lith crafted for me."

    "Sorry!" Aalejah blushed in embarrassment. "It''s just that the Camellia is much more famous than you so I mixed you two up."

    "Are all elves this nice or am I just that special to you?" Kamila chuckled yet her smile didn''t extend to her cold eyes.

    "I''m sorry!" The young elf bowed in apology in a frenzy. "I tend to speak without thinking when I''m excited."

    "That''s actually sweet of you." Kamila chuckled, her smile widening and her attitude softening up. "I too am excited to meet you."

    "Oh, I''m not excited about meeting you. Where''s Menadion?" Aalejah looked around. "She''s a celebrity I never hoped to meet."

    "I see." Kamila sighed, inwardly giving up on any expectation of being treated politely. "I''ll call her for you."

    "Wait. That came out wrong." Aalejah realized what she had just said and wished for Mogar to swallow her whole. "I wasn''t trying to belittle you. It''s just that your greatest accomplishment is giving birth to Elysia whereas Menadion is- Gods, what''s wrong with my mouth?"

    "I don''t know, but keep talking and you and I are going to have a problem." Kamila angrily walked away toward the mana geyser where the three towers stood.

    "I pissed her off, right?" The elf''s shoulders slouched.

    "Big time! Lith replied.

    "Is she the type to hold a grudge?" She whined.

    "No, but keep up like that and she might make an exception for you." Solus had a hard time repressing her laugh.

    In Aalejah''s shoes, she would have died of embarrassment, but as a spectator of the

    10

    11 1

    The elf didn''t need Soul Vision to see that Lith was already annoyed and Solus was seconds away from laughing in Aalejah''s face.

    "That''s great. We have yet to start talking and I''ve already outstayed my welcome.''She inwardly cursed her big mouth.

    When Kamila returned with what looked like a leaner and slightly taller version of Solus, Aalejah forgot about her worries.

    "Oh, gods! You must be Ripha Menadion. Your portraits don''t do you justice." She started to jump up and down around Ripha, checking the colored streaks in her hair and then her outstretched hand for calluses.

    "Oh, this is just a hologram. I forgot you''re dead and your real body has been rotting away somewhere for centuries now. Too bad, I really wanted to check if you had been born with a special constitution."

    "I''m sorry my death is such a disappointment to you." Ripha grunted. "But believe me, it was no picnic for me either."

    "I''m sorry! I-"

    "Save it for someone who cares." Menadion cut Aalejah short. "Did you summon me here just to insult me or is there another purpose to your visit?"

    As the elf whined apologies that Ripha ignored, it was Kamila''s turn to stifle a laugh, feeling vindicated.

    "Can we have some privacy?" The elf asked after the Ruler of the Flames dismissed each and every one of her attempts to rephrase her words as equally rude.

    "Sure." A snap of Lith''s fingers brought everyone to his private quarters.

    ''I hoped to finally get to see the tower, but after everything I''ve said, I risk getting kicked out before they listen to me.'' Aalejah thought.

    "What''s wrong with the elves of the World Tree''s Fringe?" Solus asked, snapping the Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    elf out of her self-loathing.

    "They are mostly fine." Aalejah replied. "Thanks for giving them my contact rune, Solus. Once they called me, it was easy to find accommodation for the elven tribes. A few have moved to the Fringes with enough space to host them.

    "A handful of elves has decided to stop living in isolation and are traveling Mogar in

    disguise. Most of them, however, have remained in the Gorgon Empire. They are currently guests in Leegaain''s biomes, waiting for the new World Tree to contact.

    them."

    "I don''t see the problem." Lith shrugged.

    "Yet you should." Aalejah shook her head. "Almost two months have passed since you killed the previous Yggdrasill. At this point, a World Sapling should have received the

    Imowladne of their predecessor and evolved into the new World Trea"

    "Are you telling me I ended the Yggdrasill bloodline for good?" Lith was mildly amused and not one bit regretful.

    "I wish." She sighed. "It would make things much simpler. You see, all the members of the Yggdrasill bloodline share a deep connection that allows them to share

    information and life force.

    "It''s through this invisible network that the World Tree passes on to their successor their knowledge and the means to evolve into the next Yggdrasill."

 Chapter 3462 Shared Madness (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3462 Shared Madness (Part 1)"Yet only the World Tree can open a channel with the Sapling through the network. World Saplings can communicate between themselves except via amulets like we do." Aalejah said.

    "Saplings can only use the network to contact the current Tree, and only if the Yggdrasill allows it. They spend their entire lives under the scrutiny of the Tree which uses the acquired knowledge to select their successor.

    "At that point, a special link is formed between the current and future World Tree. When for whatever reason the Yggdrasill decides to pass the torch, usually madness or fear of death, they transmit their entire memory to their heir and with it the power to spark the transformation of a World Sapling into a World Tree."

    "I still don''t see how this is relevant for us, kid." Menadion scoffed. "Is there really a point to this story or do you just love the sound of your voice?"

    "Of course there''s a point! Yet without context, I can''t explain the current situation to you in a way you can understand it." Aalejah said in outrage.

    "Then prove it." Ripha replied. "And make it short."

    ''Do I really piss people off this much when I ramble? The elf was stunned by the blatant annoyance and disrespect shown by the First Ruler of the Flames. Judging by Kamila''s grin, I''d say yes.''

    "Fine!" She actually said. "When you killed the old World Tree, there was no heir hence no special link. All the channels between the Yggdrasill and the Saplings were equally open and connected.

    "Do you see how this is relevant for you now, Menadion?" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Not really." Ripha shrugged. "We get it. The World Tree''s consciousness got scattered among the Saplings. So what? I don''t see how this is our problem. After what that mold-infested piece of bark did to Solus, it can disappear for all I care."

    "This is your problem because you don''t understand how deep the issue is." Aalejah retorted. "The World Tree knew most of Mogar''s secrets. Like the blueprint of your tower or the most heinous but effective Forbidden Spells.

    "Or the fact that Solus is actually Elphyn Menadion and she possesses your tower. The Yggdrasill and I were there when M''Rael kidnapped Solus and then Lith fused with her, remember?"

    "Fuck me sideways!" Lith said.

    "Fuck you sideways indeed." Aalejah nodded. "But wait, it gets worse. Not only have the Yggdrasill''s fragments of knowledge and power been scattered randomly, but also the agony of their death."

    "I beg your pardon?" Kamila asked.

    "As I would have explained if Menadion had given me the time, a Sapling is supposed to inherit solely the memories of the Tree. All the past emotions, regrets, grudges, and feelings are purged during the transfer so that the new Yggdrasill isn''t burdened by the madness and biases of their predecessor.

    "When Lith killed the World Tree, he didn''t give them the time to pass on their memories while retaining their emotions. Each fragment contains a shard of the knowledge of the dead Tree and the echo of whatever brought them to kidnap Solus."

    Lith raised his hand to talk but Aalejah stopped him.

    "But wait, it gets even worse. The memories each fragment carries over are different but they have one thing in common. They remember the moment of the old Tree''s death. Which means that every World Sapling that received them hates and fears you, Lith.

    "They remember your grin while you plunged your sword into their trunk, the last words you told them, and the pain from your Extinction spell as it tore them apart from root to leaf.

    "Now, imagine what might happen if driven by the madness and hate for you the Saplings decide to mobilize. If they use their knowledge to empower the plant folk living in their branches and send them after you.

    "Even worse, what if the Saplings offer their support to Meln?"

    "Not only would he gain immediate access to a bunch of madness-driven powerful beings who''d gladly become his Thralls, minions, or whatever he calls those who drink his blood." Lith replied.

    "Meln would also be able to use the plant folk Gate Network. He and his forces could move freely throughout Garlen and no one would ever notice their movements because plant folks keep no logs.

    "The World Saplings control access to the plant''s Gate Network and answer no one but themselves."

    "Correct." Aalejah held her own head in frustration. "There would also be the matter of the elves needing a World Tree to live and Awaken. Of how the Yggdrasill''s existence is probably necessary for Mogar''s balance, but I doubt you give a single crap about that." "You bet I don''t." Lith nodded. "Yet there''s something you are not telling me. All Chroniclers died when the World Tree turned them into his Wooden Puppets and you never climbed the ranks past Chronicler candidate. How do you know all this?"

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Aalejah said with a scoff.

    Lith looked around the table, trying to understand if it really was obvious and he was the only one missing the elf''s point.

    Judging by Kami''s, Solus, and Ripha''s dumbfounded faces I''d say I''m in excellent company.'' He thought.

    "A Sapling told me." Aalejah answered the question before Lith could ask again. "The poor sap, pun intended, contacted me through the Awakened Council. Of course, I didn''t believe a word they said until I paid them a visit and they told me things only the real World Tree could know."

    "What did they want?" Ripha asked, now intrigued by the sudden turn of events.

    "They wanted me to contact you, Lith, and convince you to come to them. The World Sapling overseeing the root city of Esor needs you."

    "For what purpose?" Lith had already met a Sapling back in Laurel.

    The dying Fae had gone mad just like the late World Tree and had almost killed Lith and most of his friends in their quest for immortality. Lith knew how dangerous a Sapling was and stepping into a potentially death trap was far from alluring.

    "The Sapling refused to tell me." Aalejah shook her head. "The only thing I know is that they need your help. The Sapling told me that if you accept, they''ll give you the means to track all the other fragments.

    "Once you have them, resurrecting the Yggdrasill bloodline or extinguishing it forever will be up to you and only you."

    "I need time to think and discuss the issue." Lith replied.

    "Take all the time you want." Aalejah said. "Just remember that just like Esor, there are crazy Saplings everywhere. The longer you wait, the greater the risk they succumb to the madness and do something we''ll regret for centuries to come."

    Lith brought the others to an insulated room and summoned the rest of his Demons. They were all with their families but they answered the call the moment they felt it via

    the black chains connecting them to Lith.

    A quick mind link brought them up to speed.

    "Like it or not, I have to do this." Lith sighed. "The question is: how do I make sure this isn''t a trap devised by the remnants of the World Tree to kill me?"

 Chapter 3463 Shared Madness (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3463 Shared Madness (Part 2)"A Sapling is no Yggdrasill but it''s still as big as a city. If this is a trap, all the plant folk and Fae will fight for Esor, I''ll face arrays powered by a mana geyser and perfected through centuries if not millennia!"

    "Excellent question." Solus pondered. "First, we need a surefire exfil plan. Second, we need reinforcements. We can''t walk inside Esor alone. Your Demons are not enough. They all depend on you."

    "The tower isn''t an option either." Ripha cursed. "The Sapling has their roots all over the geyser and there won''t be enough world energy to conjure the tower, let alone do it without getting noticed.

    "What about the Awakened Council?" Valia proposed. "You are a member and so is the Yggdrasill. You could ask for a mediation."

    "Been there, done that." Lith remembered when Inxialot had supervised his meeting with the Undead Courts in Othre. It was enough to make him shudder. "Lotho never loved me. I trust him less than Inxialot."

    "What if you bring Elysia or me with you?" Kamila said. "With my deep-gree core I''m not much of a fighter but I''m a terrifying insurance policy."

    "Well, yes but actually no. Leegaain appeared in the room uninvited. "One thing is if danger comes to you. Another is you walking into danger knowingly. I can''t allow that."

    "That''s the best you have to offer?" Lith groaned.

    "No. As a Council representative, I suggest you ask for Feela''s help. This is no longer a matter between a rogue Awakened and an external faction. This involves two members of the Council belonging to two different factions.

    "Or, if you want, three. You can also call Zoreth. The Organization is still a probatory member of the Council but they can pull their weight in matters like this,"

    "If Feela has the time, she can deploy an entire army of Emperor Beasts and lay siege to Esor," Lith pondered. "If Zoreth comes, I bet that just the threat of me and Tezka standing side by side will make the Sapling piss their roots after what we did to the Tree."

    "Sounds like a plan." Kamila nodded. "You''d better start calling."

    "One second, Lith tapped into his connection with the tower and brought Elysia and Valeron to his arms.

    While the babies still cooed in joy and surprise, Lith moved his seat as close to Kamila as humanly possible without making her sit on his lap.

    "I told you, no cheating. Leegaain grunted.

    "I''m not going to take them to Esor with me." Lith replied. "I''m just putting up barriers to keep Zoreth from giving me an earful until tomorrow."

    ***

    Feela the Behemoth, the Beast representative of the Awakened Council was shocked by the news and happy to offer her help.

    ''Even though Lith is a member of the beast Council and a Divine Beast at that, he rarely asks for anything. This is a great opportunity to show him the value of the faction I represent and establish a more solid relationship.

    ''With his Void Magic, Creation Magic, and Origin Flames, there''s no limit to the benefits that being friends with him can bring me.'' She thought.

    As for Zoreth, she had many things to say and none of them was nice.

    ''So all that story about the elves taking his time was bullshit.'' She inwardly grumbled. ''Lith did have the time to contact me, he simply forgot. Again! Yet now that he needs my help, he has all the time in the world.

    If the children weren''t there, I would rip him a new one. I can''t show hostility without making Elysia and Valeron afraid I don''t like them or their dad. That damn cheat is shamelessly muzzling me.''

    "Say hi to Auntie Zor, children." Lith said with the fakest smile ever while moving Elysia''s and Valeron''s small hands.

    "Hi, Zor." Valeron the Second waved at her, making the Shadow Dragon squeal with joy despite her best efforts to give Lith the cold shoulder.

    "Hi, loh!" Elysia giggled, extending her little arms to Zoreth''s hologram to be picked

    up.

    "I can''t do it from here, sweetie." The Shadow Dragon''s heart melted like a candle on the sun and the worst part was that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn''t get angry with Lith. "Auntie loves you so much and is visiting you soon."

    Before she could recover any of her composure, Lith dealt the finishing blow.

    "The little Raldarak is happy to see his auntie too." He waved Kamila''s scales-covered hand.

    "You named him Dragon Heart? Oh gods! Byt, come here! You have to hear this." The pure joy in her voice made everyone turn at Lith, looking at him with eyes full of

    reproval.

    "I thought Eldritches were heartless masterminds but Tiamats are much worse." Ripha sighed.

    "You know this is textbook emotional manipulation, right?" Kamila said.

    "Yes, I know." Lith replied without ever breaking his warm smile to the camera.

    Bytra and Zoreth gushed at the babies and the name of the unborn baby for several minutes, forgetting about everything but the wish to go to the Desert.

    "When did you pick the name?" Bytra asked.

    "A couple of days ago. Lith lied through his teeth. "You are the first people outside the family to know."

    That part, at least, was true.

    ''Good gods! Here I am criticizing Lith yet I forgot to tell Zin about the baby''s name. She''s going to kill me and I''m going to let her.'' Kamila inwardly whined.

    More gushing and groaning due to distance ensued until Lith revealed his hand and made his request.

    "Can you put Tezka on standby?" He asked. "Even one tail would be enough. I need him

    as a deterrent."

    "Making Tezka come in person will be hard but a tail should be feasible. Let me ask him." Zoreth walked away from the amulet, leaving Bytra to coo and make faces at the

    babies.

    Less than a minute later, a furious clicking of heels could be heard approaching.

    "Royal Constable Kamila Verhen!" Zinya never used Kamila''s full name except when she was angry but that wasn''t enough to express her outrage.

    Kamila had no second name so Zinya called her sister by her working title as well.

    ''Good gods, Zin must be foaming at the mouth with anger.'' Kamila shuddered. ''What would Lith do?"

    "How dare you leave me out of the choice of my nephew''s name and let me know your decision days after you made-"

    "Say hi to Auntie Zin, babies." Kamila had taken Elysia and Valeron from Lith''s arms

    and was holding them in front of the camera.

    "Hi, Hin!" Elysia said, waving her hand.

    "Hi, Zin! Zin!" Valeron repeated the name to show how good he was.

    "Hi, sweeties! Oh, gods! You know my name already!" Zinya''s rage burst like a bubble,

    her eyes misting from emotion. "Auntie loves you so much."

    "Hi, Auntie Zin," Kamila made a baby voice while shapeshifting her face and hands into

    black scales.

    "Filia, Frey, come here!" Zinya started to gush and sob while everyone in the room

    looked at Kamila no better than they had done for Lith a few minutes earlier. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''I''m sorry! I panicked and acted like a Lith.'' She whined via a mind link.

 Chapter 3464 Dichotomy (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3464 Dichotomy (Part 1)More gushing and a second explanation later, Zinya agreed to help.

    "Can you go, Tezka?" She asked.

    "Well-"

    "Please, Uncle Tezka. Just this once!" Filia and Frey joined their mother in her plea.

    ''Fuck! The Suneater kept seeing them like Fylgja cubs and found the idea of causing them to worry unbearable.

    "I''ll send one tail." He replied in defeat. "I need the rest here to protect the children. I''ll deploy more tails only in case of emergency."

    "That shouldn''t be necessary, thank you." Lith nodded, telepathically thanking his wife for her unwitting help. "I''ll let you know the details of the meeting as soon as we define them.

    "You are free to come to the Blood Desert now, if you want. You''ll be my honored. guests."

    "Can we?" Bytra looked at Ripha with a begging look.

    "Yes. I meant it when I said I don''t resent you."

    "Can we, young sparrow?" Tezka asked, knowing that Salaark couldn''t be far away.

    "Yes, old fox. You have my word, but only as long as you behave. The voice of the Guardian echoed.

    "Don''t touch my children and I''ll be sweeter than honey." The Suneater replied, narrowing his eyes.

    ***

    The meeting between the Verhens and the Vastors only became more awkward when Aran and Leria revealed to their friends they had Awakened.

    Not only did Frey and Filia grumble at Aran and Leria for keeping them in the dark, but they also renewed their plea to Tezka to Awaken them. This time, no number of toddlers could fix the situation. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Luckily for Lith, he was already away when it happened.

    He could have reached Esor in a single step if he accepted the Sapling''s invitation and used the plants'' Gate Network but preferred using the beasts! Feela guided him to his destination, where hundreds of Awakened Emperor Beasts armed to the teeth waited for them.

    "This should be a friendly meeting but when dealing with World Saplings and Trees it''s better to be safe than sorry." Feela said, her booming voice further amplified by an

    air magic spell. "Expect and prepare for the worst, my brothers and sisters.

    "If I give you the signal, my contact rune becomes unavailable, or you hear so much as a peep, take Esor by storm, Kill first, question later. Is that clear?"

    The Emperor Beasts beat their armor with their weapons, producing the clangor of a quake.

    "Was this really necessary?" Lotho the Treant, plant representative of the Council, asked. "Isn''t my presence and word enough?"

    "Respectively yes and no." Feela the Behemoth replied, shapeshifting from her human to her hybrid form. "We are dealing with a World Sapling who has already admitted being infected with the Yggdrasill''s madness.

    "Maybe they are being honest or maybe they are lying. Maybe they will lose it the moment the Sapling sees Lith and Tezka. I don''t know and I don''t care. The only thing that matters to me is that if things go south, I can protect one of my own.

    "Is that clear?"

    Lotho rapped his battle gauntlet on his chest in reply, sighing.

    "Tell the young acorn not to worry. I''ll stay outside." The one-tailed Tezka said. "Also, tell them that if they make me come in, I''m going to burn everything down." "Listen well, you-" Lotho felt confident until the Shadow Dragon eclipsed the sun.

    "He what, Treant?" Xenagrosh whispered but her voice was the rumble of an avalanche. "Careful what you say next. Summer is almost over and trees turn red at fall."

    "Nothing." Lotho caught the meaning of both her words and the flames slithering from the corners of her mouth. "Let''s go."

    ''I can deal with a one-tailed Suneater but the Shadow Dragon is beyond me! He thought, having no idea how wrong he was.

    The barrier cloaking Esor from the rest of Mogar came down and the Emperor Beasts roared and clangored to renew their threat. Tezka did the same, showcasing Endless Night and his Suneater armor.

    Only a few beasts looked at him with fear. The rest swelled with pride and rejoiced at being reunited with their long-lost brother.

    Despite his ill-reputation and the atrocities he had committed, Tezka was still considered the only Emperor Beast to have ever ascended to the level of a Divine Beast without having a Guardian ancestor.

    After the stories of his battles against Salaark and Roghar had spread, he was considered the one true challenger to the Guardians. If not for his condition as an Eldritch, the Emperor Beasts would have hailed him as their symbol of hope.

    "Did you just Warp us to our destination without any cloaking? I thought the location of Fae cities was a well-kept secret." Lith asked while admiring Esor''s landscape. "It is a secret, but only to rogue Awakened like you were and non-Awakened." In her hybrid form, Feela looked like a humanoid feline covered in purple fur and feathered wings on her back. "Every member of the Council knows where the World Saplings

    are.

    "Accessing a Fae city, however, is an entirely different matter."

    Like Laruel, Esor was built from the roots of the World Sapling emerging from the ground. Parks and green areas were born from a single branch while the tree-buildings where Fae and plant folk lived sprouted out of roots.

    The city extended as far as the eye could see in a marvel of nature and civilization, with creatures evolved from all kinds of plants living together. Its beauty was soured solely by two discordant notes.

    The first was the harshness of the glares the citizens of Esor threw at their guests. Not even the beauty of the plant folk could soften the spite and outrage the plant. folk

    exuded.

    The second was the dissonance in the world energy enveloping the city. Awakened were very sensitive to their surroundings and the anomaly of Esor was so intense that it would have alarmed even a fake mage.

    The air smelled wrong, the green of the trees was that of rot instead of life, and all elemental forces twisted onto themselves. There was no harmony on any level of existence and the inhabitants of Esor were no less affected by it than the houses they

    lived in.

    "Verhen scum." A Thorn said.

    "Murderer. A Treantling spat a slimy lump of sap

    "Death walker." A Dryad muttered like it was an insult.

    "Okay, I don''t know what this is about but this is wrong" Lotho the Treant needed sheer willpower to keep the infection from taking root in his wooden body. "Are you telling me you don''t know?" Feela was flabbergasted. "This is your turf." "Know what?" The plant representative shrugged. "It''s my turf, true, but it''s not like you know what every single magical and Emperor Beast does. I''m no different." "I''ll explain it to you later." Lith had enough of the local hospitality so he conjured a Warp Steps leading straight to the colossal tree he saw on the horizon.

    ''It will shorten our trip and confirm dimensional magic has not been scaled.'' He

    thought.

    "Thank the gods you are here, Verhen." Dir the Redcap, Sovereign of Esor, said. "I don''t

    know what illnoce nlamose my Sanling friend but whatever it is thou cau vou are the

    "Did you just Warp us to our destination without any cloaking? I thought the location of Fae cities was a well-kept secret." Lith asked while admiring Esor''s landscape. "It is a secret, but only to rogue Awakened like you were and non-Awakened." In her hybrid form, Feela looked like a humanoid feline covered in purple fur and feathered wings on her back. "Every member of the Council knows where the World Saplings

    are.

    "Accessing a Fae city, however, is an entirely different matter."

    Like Laruel, Esor was built from the roots of the World Sapling emerging from the ground. Parks and green areas were born from a single branch while the tree-buildings where Fae and plant folk lived sprouted out of roots.

    The city extended as far as the eye could see in a marvel of nature and civilization,

    with creatures evolved from all kinds of plants living together. Its beauty was soured solely by two discordant notes.

    The first was the harshness of the glares the citizens of Esor threw at their guests. Not even the beauty of the plant folk could soften the spite and outrage the plant. folk

    exuded.

    The second was the dissonance in the world energy enveloping the city. Awakened were very sensitive to their surroundings and the anomaly of Esor was so intense that it would have alarmed even a fake mage.

    The air smelled wrong, the green of the trees was that of rot instead of life, and all elemental forces twisted onto themselves. There was no harmony on any level of existence and the inhabitants of Esor were no less affected by it than the houses they

    lived in.

    "Verhen scum." A Thorn said.

    "Murderer." A Treantling spat a slimy lump of sap.

    "Death walker." A Dryad muttered like it was an insult.

    "Okay, I don''t know what this is about but this is wrong" Lotho the Treant needed sheer willpower to keep the infection from taking root in his wooden body. "Are you telling me you don''t know?" Feela was flabbergasted. "This is your turf." "Know what?" The plant representative shrugged. "It''s my turf, true, but it''s not like you know what every single magical and Emperor Beast does. I''m no different." "I''ll explain it to you later." Lith had enough of the local hospitality so he conjured a Warp Steps leading straight to the colossal tree he saw on the horizon.

    ''It will shorten our trip and confirm dimensional magic has not been sealed.'' He

    thought.

    "Thank the gods you are here, Verhen." Dir the Redcap, Sovereign of Esor, said. "I don''t

    know what illnose nlamise mu Sanling friend hut whatever it is thou cau vou are the

    only one who can stop it."

 Chapter 3465 Dichotomy (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3465 Dichotomy (Part 2)Dir looked like a tall man, over two meters (6''7") made of brambles, with crimson-red hair that was actually thinner brambles soaked in blood. His arms and face showed the ritual markings that granted him part of the Sapling''s powers and authority over the city.

    "Now I''m really getting confused." Feela furrowed her bushy brows. "How can no one know about the crisis at hand if we do?"

    "Because what I told Lith was supposed to be a secret." Aalejah groaned.

    "Too bad I can''t ask people to help me on a ''trust me, bro'' basis." Lith replied. "If someone has to risk their life for me, they deserve to know what they are going against."

    "What secret?" Lotho asked. "How is Verhen supposed to stop this? Is this your fault, Verhen?"

    "Finally you are here, Verhen." A dry cackle made everyone turn their heads and stopped Lith before he could answer any of those questions. "It''s a good thing you moved so fast. I''m barely holding on."

    The Sapling spoke with two overlapping voices. One was young and vibrant while the other was old and rasping. The second voice reminded Lith of Nana exhaling her final words. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    I would expect the World Tree to sound like that if he was ten thousand years old when I killed them or if they were an undead.'' Lith thought.

    "Hello, brother. What plagues you?" Lotho extended his arms and turned them into roots, wishing to form a communion to understand and help the Sapling.

    "Lotho the Treant." The voices hissed and a branch of the Sapling slapped the tendrils away along with their owner. "A petty tyrant in a line of petty tyrants. A useless pile of leaves only good as fertilizer!"

    "But-" Lotho tried to deny the accusation but countless sickening lights surrounded him, each releasing the stench of Forbidden Magic.

    "Be quiet, or I''ll give you a practical demonstration of what plagues me." The World Sapling rumbled and with it, the rest of the city. "You plant representatives failed to help anyone but yourselves.

    "You grow rich while the rest of the Fae grow stale and the rot takes hold. We''re doomed. Doomed!"

    "Calm down, Esor. I''m here for you!" Dir tried to establish a telepathic connection to comfort his friend and understand what was going on, but the Sapling rejected the Redcap as well, albeit much more gently.

    "No, Dir, you can''t and you must not get inside my head." The younger voice turned dominant. "Stay away. I won''t risk your life or worse, your sanity. You are a good friend with a long life ahead of you whereas my days are numbered."

    The Sapling trembled and their voice sounded like they were panting from the effort of keeping the older voice under control.

    "There is no time, Verhen." The Sapling said. "Wait until I''m done talking and only then ask questions. Not because I don''t want to answer but because I don''t know how long I''ve left. The sweet Aalejah already explained to you what she knew, correct?"

    Lith nodded for the Sapling to continue.

    "Good. What she doesn''t know is that you did more than scatter the memory and the power of the World Tree into fragments, you also killed the old fool. The Yggdrasill is both dead, beyond us, and alive, inside all those like me.

    "The old voice you hear belongs to the late World Tree, tainted by madness, death, and visions I don''t dare dwell upon. Not all Saplings received a fragment, but those who did are entrusted with a specific portion of the Yggdrasill''s essence.

    "In my case, I was cursed with the knowledge of all the horrible things the people of Mogar have done in the past and do in the present. Plants, beasts, humans, undead, Guardians, I know them better than they know themselves.

    "I know every single Forbidden Spell, Cursed Ritual, and how to craft the most twisted abomination of a lost city. I know what all the Council representatives did and do. Most importantly, I know what you are, Verhen."

    Lith''s face remained a stone mask but his eyes darted to Solus for a split second, long enough for the Sapling to notice.

    "Yes, I know about you and your lady friend but that''s not what I''m talking about.

    ''Fuck me sideways, couldn''t you word it in a less ambiguous way, old fart?'' Lith inwardly grumbled. Now more rumors will spread and Kami will never let me hear the end of it.''

    "I''m referring solely to you, the greatest dichotomy on Mogar. A creature of this world yet not. Alive yet dead." The old voice became dominant but also distant, as if the Sapling had fallen into a hypnotic trance. "The holder of the powers that can make you into the protector of all forms of life..."

    A city-wide hologram replaced Esor with the Trawn Woods. Every leaf, tree, and flower were wreathed in silvery flames yet didn''t burn. Plants grew faster while animals grew stronger as the fire cleansed everything that was harmful.

    "Or their greater enemy." The hologram still depicted the Trawn Woods but now everything was ablaze in blue flames. The land was reduced to a charred surface where life was impossible.

    Mogar, making them eternal and ever-spreading.

    "Nothing and no one will be spared from them. Not even your daughter." The cry of a baby resounded through the air, quickly snuffed amid the roaring of the fire.

    "Cut the crap!" Lith could take it no further. "This is no choice. There is no way in this or any other world I''d do something like this!"

    His fury was met with a wry cackle that sounded like the snapping of dry wood thrown into a fireplace.

    "Do you think this kind of power can be unlocked just because you want to? That this kind of choice takes place when everything is right and proper? No, young fool, and

    again no.

    "This will happen when the pain is so great that death would be a liberation. When you are forced to choose between becoming powerful through your sweat and blood or just being powerful by making everyone else sweat and bleed.

    "In that moment, the price will seem reasonable and the offer alluring. So, remember this day. Remember my words when you are at your highest, and life seems perfect, and when you are ay your lowest, and everything you treasure is lost."

    "Why are you telling me this?" Lith asked. "I thought time was of the essence yet here you are going full prophet on me."

    "Because this is relevant to our problem, Verhen." The old voice became fainter while the young one grew louder. "You know how to conjure both Flames and have mastered

    none but that''s enough.

    "If you decide to help me, you can use either Flame to vanquish the threat I pose to

    everyone''s life. The difference is that the blue flame will kill me through a slow agony while the silver flames will extract the fragment of the World Tree without harming

    me.

    "Either way, you get the fragment and my pain ends."

 Chapter 3466 In the Bark (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3466 In the Bark (Part 1)"The shard of the Yggdrasill''s power will act as your compass and guide you to the next closest fragment." The Sapling said. "The essence of the World Tree was never supposed to scatter and each shard wants to become whole again."

    "This is not the choice about which I warned you, but it''s a choice. A choice you''ll have to make time and time again with every fragment you collect. I know you hate us, Verhen. That you hate me for what I- the World Tree did to you and your friend.

    "I''m not asking for mercy because I deserve none. I won''t blame you if you decide to use the blue flames on me because I inherited your resentment along with the destiny of the Yggdrasill bloodline.

    "I say this again for all of you who today stand witness. Feela, Lotho, Dir. Whatever Verhen does, don''t seek revenge on my behalf. Even if he chooses to use the Dread Flames and I end up crippled or dead, it''s not his fault. Is it clear?"

    "Crippled or dead?" The Sovereign of Esor echoed.

    "Cutting off a portion of my life force that has already taken root is bound to be dangerous, old friend. Even if Verhen uses all his talent and care as a Healer, I will still be mutilated. Not even the fragment of World Tree I possess knows what will happen. "Now, answer my question."

    "I''ll let everyone know." Dir replied.

    "The Council bear witness." Feela and Lotho said.

    "Good." The World Sapling focused his attention on Lith. There was no physical sign of it, yet it was impossible to miss the sudden shift in the world energy''s pressure. "You can also choose to walk away, Verhen.

    "I offer you no reward and maybe the idea of the World Tree suffering for all eternity sounds like a much better outcome to you. Yet know this. I''ve resisted the temptation to share my accursed knowledge and put it into practice, but as you''ve seen, my mind is slipping."

    Lith nodded, the barrage of Forbidden Spells safely conjured by the Sapling a few minutes earlier had shocked him to the bone.

    "The same stands for all the other fragments. Their vessels might have already fallen to the temptation to use such knowledge for themselves or spread it to their followers. You can either purge this plague while it''s still in its infancy or let it spread.

    "In the end, it''s your choice."

    "Nonsense! I can use Body Sculpting like anybody else." Dir the Redcap said and the Council representatives nodded. "I can heal you. We can heal you."

    "No. you can''t" Esor replied. "You can cut the fragment off. sure, but how will von

    contain it? How will you keep it from infecting you the moment you pull it out? More importantly, how will you purge the madness and hate it holds?"

    "Xenagrosh?" Feela turned to the Shadow Dragon.

    "I''m confident I can consume the fragment." She replied. "Preserving it is another story. Purging it is beyond my abilities."

    Everyone turned towards Lith.

    "I''ll do it." He replied. "Now, teach me how to use my Dread Flames."

    "Thank you." The Sapling said. "I''m ready to die but I want to live. I won''t forget your kindness."

    ''Kindness my scaly ass. Lith thought. ''I hate the old Tree, not every plant folk on Mogar. Esor could have used whatever Forbidden Magic they gained from the fragment and threatened me to collect the other fragments and hand them over or face their wrath.

    ''Instead, Esor kept the madness to themself and even protected the Sovereign. If I let a guy like that die, I would truly be a piece of shit. Also, getting a free lesson about Dread Flames is too rare a chance to turn it down.''

    As Lith approached the Sapling''s massive trunk, the entire city shook with increasing violence. When he put his hand on the bark, the shaking turned into a quake and the Sapling screamed in terror.

    "Is this a trap or some kind of sick joke?" Lith shrouded himself in silvery flames and conjured his best spells with the Mouth.

    Countless wooden tendrils had erupted from the ground, each holding a different Forbidden Spell, and all of them were aimed at him. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Neither." The Sapling''s voice was just air magic yet it was high-pitched in panic anyway. "This is the fragment''s doing. I still remember your fire, Verhen. I remember your blade biting into my wood. Your Extinction burning me alive.

    "You hate me, but I also hate and am terrified of you. To me and all the fragment holders, you are death incarnate. It took the Sapling sheer willpower to dispel the magic and put the roots back underground.

    ''Now, use your breathing technique, Scanner, or whatever you find most useful on me! The Sapling formed a mind link to make things as quick as possible and freeze themself in fear.

    ''Fine.'' Lith used Abyssal Gaze and witnessed a majestic life force that extended as far as his breathing technique could perceive.

    The Sapling''s life force looked like a vast valley filled with tall grass and sparse trees. The various manifestations of the Fae''s vitality constantly sprouted, bloomed, wilted, and became fertilizer for the next generation in the span of seconds.

    All the manifestations but one. A single blade of grass was golden instead of green and it never changed. Once Lith focused Abyssal Gaze on it, he discovered that the golden grass had deep roots that ran throughout the valley, seeping into the other roots. It was constantly trying to spread itself and multiply, but it was too small and its energy was insufficient for the task.

    ''Conjure your silver flames slowly and let them seep into me. The Sapling said. "They are no different from Origin Flames. They won''t hurt me if you really don''t mean to''

    Lith took several deep breaths until he eliminated any personal feeling he had for the World Tree and turned the Sapling into a patient like any other. Then, he let a tendril of silver fire inside the bark but away from the life force as a probe.

    The Sapling yelped in agony, forcing Lith to recall the Dread Flames and start anew.

    ''It''s much different from Origin Flames.'' He thought. ''Dread Flames are so powerful that just a stray thought or a missed lick of fire can do massive damage.

    It took him several tries before his will took hold of every nook and cranny of the silver

    flames.

    ''Start with the roots. If the golden leaf gets damaged, the next World Tree will bear a permanent scar. The roots, instead, are disposable. The Sapling said.

    Lith followed their instructions, burning the golden roots away and freeing the Sapling''s life force from their infection. With each burned root, the old voice became

    fainter and the madness faded.

    ''Before pulling out the golden leaf, you must purge it from the World Tree''s feelings.

    Both good and bad.''

    ''How do I do that?'' Lith asked.

    ''Beats me. Dread Flames are a novelty and you are their only known user."The Sapling sounded younger and more jovial. ''Poke around a bit. There must be some sign to guide your hand."

 Chapter 3467 In the Bark (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3467 In the Bark (Part 2)Lith sighed and focused Abyssal Grasp on the golden leaf. It was splendid, majestic, and also just a lump of energy like the rest of the Sapling''s life force.

    ''I must follow Valtak''s teachings and use the Dread Flames as feelers. If the World Tree is right, I should find some difference between knowledge and emotions. Lith shifted his focus from the breathing technique to the Dread Flames, using Solus'' Sage Staff to enhance his mental acuity.

    The silvery flames enveloped the golden leaf and once Lith was certain they caused no harm, he sent them deeper. Most of the golden energy was just that, energy. By traversing it with the Dread Flames, Lith glimpsed upon spells, their inventors, and their insane agendas and methods.

    Witnessing the horrors that perfecting a single Forbidden Spell required was

    unsettling even for him so Lith didn''t dwell on it. He kept searching until he spotted black swirling current moving below the leaf''s surface. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Dread Flames chased it for a while, spreading through the rest of the golden leaf until the black current had nowhere to run. The moment the silver fire touched the blackness, Lith felt a great agony, a burning ambition, and a creeping madness.

    Everything the World Tree had felt and thought during their final moments was there, compressed and distilled into its rawest and purest form. It was small but it had the power of an obsession.

    ''If I let it grow or touch me, even I wouldn''t be safe from it.'' Lith launched the Dread Flames against the blackness burning it upon contact.

    The blackness fought back, dodged, and tried to escape. Yet every bit burned was lost forever and there was just a drop of the Tree''s consciousness. Without the black current, the golden leaf stopped trying to produce new roots and let itself be plucked out effortlessly.

    Lith enveloped the golden leaf in a sphere of silvery flames and brought it outside.

    The fragment of the World Tree''s knowledge was as big as a needle but as resplendent as a star. It spun on itself for a while until it pointed in the direction of the nearest fragment.

    "Hello, friend." The World Sapling sounded serene but also confused. "Who are you and what are you doing on my doorstep? Is he a friend of yours, Dir?"

    "You don''t know?" The Sovereign was flabbergasted. "Esor, what''s the last thing you remember?"

    "I remember our game of chess. The one you won, for a change. Then you received more spicy pictures for your collect-"

    "That was two weeks ago!" The Sovereign cut the Sapling short.

    "Two weeks ago? That doesn''t sound right." Esor spread their consciousness to the rest of the city, discovering there was a hole of fourteen days in their memory. "Okay, I''m lost. Can someone please tell me what in Mogar''s name happened to me?"

    A quick mind link from the Redcap brought the Sapling up to speed.

    "It seems you succeeded, Verhen. You took the fragment away from me. All of it. The good news is I don''t remember anything of whatever secret of yours I knew. The even better news is that I don''t have to be a World Tree.

    "Take that shit away from me, please."

    "You don''t want to be a World Tree?" Lith echoed in surprise.

    "Oh, yeah. A lifetime of isolation with the whole Mogar hunting for my wood and wishing to steal knowledge even I am too scared of using. How can I say no to such an alluring offer?" The Sapling replied.

    "When you put it that way, it sounds sad." Aalejah said.

    "It doesn''t sound sad. It is sad." Esor replied. "Why do you think so many Trees go nuts? As a sign of my gratitude, you are my honored guests now and forever. As long as you don''t bring that thing back to me, Verhen.

    "Once you complete the essence of the World Tree, if you will bother doing it, keep it away from me. Okay?"

    "Okay" Lith chuckled. "You are a funny guy"

    "Don''t be so surprised. Many beasts find me charming. After all, we are distantly related. I''m part wolf, you know?

    "Is that even possible?" Feela looked at the Sapling and then at the Sovereign who shrugged in confusion.

    "Of course. Can''t you tell from the bark?" The World Sapling laughed. "Gods, I''ve waited centuries for this joke and you guys walked into it.""

    Lith laughed as well, more from surprise than for the joke itself.

    "We''d better go now." He said. "I don''t know how many of these I need to find yet."

    "Do you need my help, little brother?" Xenagrosh asked.

    "I need all of you." Lith pointed at Aalejah, Lotho, and Feela. "I don''t know how the other Saplings will react and I might need reinforcements. Feel free to send Tezka away but keep him on standby."

    "Why are you sending him away?" Solus asked.

    "This could have been a trap because the Sapling called me here. Now I''m going to take them by surprise. There can''t be a trap and I hold the initiative." Lith replied. "On

    think I''m the bad guy.

    "If we are lucky, we''ll solve this without conflict. Esor proved that having to deal with a fragment of the World Tree isn''t easy. Others might want to get rid of it just like them and they just don''t know how."

    "Right." Lotho nodded. "Esor knew because that was part of the knowledge they inherited. No two Saplings should have access to the same information."

    "Exactly" Feela couldn''t avert her gaze from the luminous spark in Lith''s hand. "It means we won''t have to face someone wielding perfected Forbidden Magic again." "Or who knows *our* secrets. Lith put emphasis on the word, a delicate threat that would stop the Council representatives from spreading annoying rumors. "We got lucky. This is one of the most dangerous fragments if not the most dangerous."

    Lith tried and failed to store the fragment in the pocket dimension so he closed his fist around it tp avoid drawing attention.

    "Thanks for your help, Verhen." Dir extended his hand and the Tiamat shook it. "I''ll

    keep my lips sealed if you keep yours."

    "About w-" A solid nudge in the ribs stopped Solus in her tracks.

    "You have a deal, Sovereign." Lith said.

    "Sorry, Dir. I didn''t mean to embarrass you." Esor said. "I was still all shaken up. You

    know that I''m usually as silent as a tree, right?"

    "Is Eseor always like that?" Lotho was flabbergasted at the Sapling''s antics.

    "No, usually they are much worse. Esor is just warming up." The Sovereign sighed. "Let me accompany you outside."

    On their way back, the whole city had gone back to normal. Plant folk and Fae had lost any trace of hostility and sent flirty looks to every member of the group.

    "Thank you for your help, brothers and sisters." Feela addressed the Emperor Beasts sieging Esor. "The crisis is resolved and there shouldn''t be a need for your help anymore. You are free to go but please, keep your amulets at hand."

 Chapter 3468 A Matter of Trust (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3468 A Matter of Trust (Part 1)"If the need arises, your help will be invaluable and the Council will properly compensate you for your time." Feela''s words were welcomed with cheers.

    Getting paid just for standing around and doing nothing was a dream come true even for Awakened.

    "Thank you, brother. Lith walked up to Tezka to thank him. "Your presence wasn''t needed but knowing you were here boosted my confidence."

    "Don''t mention it." The Fylgja sniffed the air, recognizing a familiar scent. "Is it what I think it is?"

    "Correct." Lith nodded. "The first of many, it seems."

    "Good luck with your endeavor and let me know if you are interested in selling the thing once you put it together." Tezka laughed.

    "Thanks, and we''ll see." Lith replied. "Can I count on you if things go south?"

    "Yeah, but always remember it will take me time to arrive. Unless you send me your location in advance, of course."

    "I''ll keep that in mind." Lith ignored the offer.

    ''Like I''d risk giving Vastor access to the World Tree''s repository of knowledge. Heck, even I don''t know what I''ll do once I get my hands on it.'' He thought.

    Only once the siege was broken and the beasts on their way to their respective homes did Lith open his hand and let the shard of light point the way. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Thanks for your trust, little brother." Zoreth didn''t miss how he had not sent her away after learning how high the stakes were.

    "Please, if there''s someone I can trust, it''s the godmother of my daughter." Lith said as the group flew at high speed.

    When the compass pointed them in a clear direction, they Warped forward dozens of kilometers and then kept flying until it stabilized again.

    "She''s what?" Feela was flabbergasted.

    "You heard me." Lith noticed how the closer they got to the next fragment, the more condensed and brighter the shard in his hand became. "Xenagrosh is the closest thing to a Tiamat I know and the fact she''s damn powerful and family it''s a huge plus in my book."

    "Eyes on the prize." It was Lotho''s turn to open a Warp Steps leading the group as far as he could. "The shard is spinning"

    They stopped flying and waited for the fragment to stop.

    "Below?" Lith said in confusion.

    There was nothing around them that even the Eyes of Menadion could perceive. On top of that, the shard moved erratically as if it couldn''t pinpoint its target.

    "This is weird." Solus said. "The signal got clearer as we approached and now that we are in proximity of our target the fragment can''t pinpoint it anymore?"

    They landed on the ground but the fragment kept pointing down.

    "This has just gone from weird to nonsensical." Lotho said. "No World Sapling lives underground. They are too big and require sunlight to grow!"

    "Nonsensical or not, we know what to do." Lith released a pulse of earth magic that dug a pit reaching dozens of meters of depth.

    The group had descended for about half a kilometer when the ground rose to meet them.

    "Who are you and what do you- Lith?" A mass of orange mist-like fog said.

    "You... You?" Lith knew the creature but had no memory of its name.

    ''Loma, you Lich!'' Solus rebuked him. ''He was a fungus folk when we met him in Kulah and had evolved into a Horde when he participated in the test for Awakened disciples staged in the fake Urgamakka.''

    "I mean, Loma?" Lith quickly corrected himself. "What are you doing here?"

    "I could ask you the same question." The Horde was a hive creature whose body was comprised of thousands of small fungi each with its own mana core but sharing one mind.

    Loma reassembled themselves into a humanoid figure made of thick orange smoke. "But since you asked first, I''m here on Hordes'' business. One of us had a sudden revelation and asked us to join him."

    "Hordes?" Lotho echoed. "As in more than one? And what do you mean, him?"

    "All eight of us." Loma nodded. "Our entire race assembled because this is an important matter that will determine our future. As for your second question, I''m as surprised as you are. We Hordes are our own mothers, fathers, and children.

    "We have no gender nor can we reproduce. He sighed wistfully. "Your turn."

    "I''m looking for the fragments of the shattered consciousness of the World Tree," Lith replied, obtaining stern glares from his companions that he ignored. "Did you notice anything weird around here?"

    "Weirder than the assembly? No." Loma shook their head.

    "Is it by any chance taking place in the direction pointed by my shiny compass?"

    above and that spinning thing more or less encompasses the area we''ve spread our

    bodies."

    "Spread?" Solus asked in confusion.

    "Wow. We have yet to reach the caves and there''s already echo here." The Horde scoffed. "Yes, spread. My people don''t take humanoid form unless we have to interact with other races, just like you don''t dress up just to sit on your couch.

    "We are still fungi. We like to lie around in humid places and snack on anything we find."

    "This answers a few of our questions but opens many more." Lotho tried and failed to make sense of their situation. "How can a Horde have what we are looking for?"

    "If we are talking about questions, I''ve gotten quite a few of my own and I won''t let you go forward until I get some answers." Loma''s body became denser. "Let''s start with something simple. What are you doing here and what''s that thing?"

    The Horde pointed at the shard.

    "Loma, I know we have met only twice but I need you to trust me." Lith replied. "If things are as I suspect, I''m going to need your help. You have to convince the other Hordes to let me deal with the one who summoned you Hordes here and keep him

    from escaping"

    Hordes were nigh-immortal. As long as a single batch of spores remained alive somewhere, they could rebuild the entire Horde in a matter of minutes. Many of the fungal creatures hid parts of themselves in multiple locations, making them hard to find and impossible to eliminate.

    ''If the shard of World Tree can move freely inside the Horde, I need to locate the exact section of the life force currently holding the fragment and recover it before it can be

    moved away.'' Lith thought.

    "You freed me, Lith Verhen. You did more than save my life, you rescued me from an eternity of slavery and suffering. For that, you have my eternal gratitude. Yet trust is a road that goes both ways.

    "I can do whatever you ask me without questions but my brethren won''t reserve you the same treatment. Unless you give me a solid argument, I wouldn''t worry about them refusing to help so much as attacking you.

    "After the Plaguespreader killed one of us, there are only eight Hordes left in the whole Mogar." Loma lowered two denser packs of spores on their face that Lith assumed were supposed to look like eyes.

 Chapter 3469 A Matter of Trust (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3469 A Matter of Trust (Part 2)"We Hordes are a tight-knit community. Without a good reason, they won''t take the word of a stranger above that of their brethren."

    "I agree." Lith extended his hand, an emerald green aura marked the presence of a mind link.

    "Wait!" Lotho pulled Lith back from his shoulder, exploiting the physical contact to establish a hidden telepathic communication.

    ''Are you insane?'' He said. "This matter should be kept secret. If the Hordes really can inherit the essence of the World Tree, they might become our competition. What if they turn against us? What if collecting all the fragments opens a new evolutionary path for them?

    ''One that allows them to breed and gain the hardness and magical-enhancing abilities of Yggdrasill wood? The Hordes would become unstoppable!''

    ''If the Hordes can inherit the essence of the World Tree as you say, then even if we kill one of them, the fragment will be passed on to the others.'' Lith replied. ''One Horde is a tough nut to crack but eight of them?

    ''We can''t beat them without reinforcements and even then, we have no guarantee we can capture the Hordes. Also, they might become *my* competition at worst. I''m the one with the fragment and only I can extract the others.

    ''You can''t do anything but accompany me.'' Lotho''s expression turned angry hearing those words but he couldn''t refute them. ''If they turn against us, it will indeed be a problem, that''s why I''m trusting Loma.

    ''One, we have no chance of success without Loma''s help, and two, Hordes have proven themselves to be wise and kind creatures. They were willing to sacrifice themselves to rid Mogar of the Plaguespreader and one of them died to protect a bunch of Awakened kids.

    ''Hiding the truth from the Hordes will only make it easier for the one with the

    fragment to manipulate the rest of the Hordes and turn them against us. I don''t know you but I don''t want another war between Awakened.''

    Lotho grimaced but let Lith go. Too many plant folk and Fae had died fighting against Thrud and he couldn''t bear the thought of more dying in a conflict he could have avoided.

    "Fair warning. It''s bad." Lith offered his hand to Loma again.

    "Life usually is." Loma took it and learned everything that had happened since Lith and the others had reached Esor. "Great Mother almighty!"

    The spheres-eyes went wide as the I lorde looked at the fragment with fear, taking several steps back.

    "Keep that thing away from me. I won''t have the will of someone else poisoning my mind again. How can Fae call that abomination a blessing?" The humanoid cloud of spores churned, turning its limbs into weapons and conjuring powerful spells.

    "I told you it was bad." Lith closed his fist and sealed the fragment in a barrier of silvery flames. "I''m sorry for triggering your trauma but you asked for the truth and I trusted you with it."

    "And I thank you for being completely open with me." Loma stared at Lith''s clenched hand as if it were a scorpion with its tail raised and ready to strike. "What do you want me to do?"

    "Spotting the Horde infected by the fragment will be easy" Lith said and Loma nodded for him to continue. "Once we identify him, I need you to inform the rest of your people while I buy you some time.

    "Convince them to help us, seal all exits a Horde like you can take, and stay away in case a fight breaks out. I''ve learned how to remove a fragment from a plant''s life force but not from a fungal one, let alone two or more."

    "I get it." Loma nodded. "Just talk until I give you the signal. Whatever the infected Horde wants or says, let him reveal his cards. This story is so absurd that my people might not believe me. Follow me, please."

    The Horde opened a tunnel with earth magic and closed it soon after the group''s passage to conceal their direction and destination. Feela looked nervous but she asked no questions. Unlike Lotho, she trusted Lith.

    ''I would have liked to keep things under wrap but the situation is already volatile. One small misunderstanding and we''ll be at war with one of the most ancient and powerful races on Mogar,'' She thought.

    Hordes were few in number, but thanks to their resilience and immortality, they had lived longer than any other Awakened. They could perform experiments impossible to other races simply because even in case of catastrophic failure, a Horde could always make a new body.

    Each spore had its own life force and shared the entirety of the hive mind. Even if a portion of the life force of a Horde or many of its cores were crippled, they could be discarded. A single healthy spore was enough to make a Horde from scratch.

    The digging continued for a few minutes during which the fragment became more compact and spun faster. The group arrived in a large cave dimly illuminated by fluorescent moss.

    The place was damp, with water dripping from stalactites that formed either pools or stalagmites based on how long the phenomenon had gone on. Looking at the scene with Life Vision only blinded the Awakened.

    The cave was covered with Horde spores that mixed the different life forces and emitted so much power that the Awakened only saw white. Even the Eyes of Menadion went haywire, forcing Lith to use Fire Vision. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "This is bad.'' Solus thought. ''Each Horde has brought their own equipment. We don''t have the time to study them all. Even if we did, without a mana geyser the headache alone would make us helpless.''

    "It''s alright." Loma''s body scattered in a dust cloud that moved and pulsated with a rhythm that reassured the rest of the Hordes Loma wasn''t acting under coercion. "These people are my friends and mean no harm to us."

    "I wish I could believe you, kid," Part of the spores converged into a red blurred figure. "The last time I met a Council representative and agreed to their request, poor old

    Racas died."

    "I''m sorry for your loss." Feela bowed apologetically. "It wasn''t our intention to endanger you. No one could predict the arrival of the Plaguespreader."

    "Easy for you to say." A grey cloud grumbled. "You weren''t there during the attack. I don''t remember any of you Council elders coming to our rescue until the matter was already resolved."

    "I understand your anger, brother." Lotho raised his hands in a peace gesture. "The Council-"

    "Never cared for us Hordes!" A black swarm roared. "You never helped increase our numbers and when Racas died no weregild was offered. So don''t call us brothers, Fae. We have nothing in common. You made it clear for millennia."

    "Calm down, Zarta." Loma partly merged with the black swarm, triggering a mind link. "Let''s solve this amicably."

    "I agree." The red blurred figure ebbed in what could be considered a nod. "Why are these people here, by the way? How did you find us, strangers?"

    "Why don''t you ask him?" Lith pointed at a blue humanoid figure. "He knows why we

    are here."

    Unlike the other Hordes, the blue one had collected his spore cluster into one dense body with multiple limbs and crackling with mana.

 Chapter 3470 Undying Cancer (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3470 Undying Cancer (Part 1)"Is everything alright, Phaso?" A pale-yellow mist asked. "Why so tense? Our guests haven''t taken a single step forward or conjured a spell."

    "Murderer." Phaso muttered, the words and intonation identical to those spoken by the Fae living inside Esor. "Death walker."

    "Murderer?" Zarta laughed while merging with the grey mist. "Everyone here is, Phaso. Each one of us has killed more living beings than most Abominations. What matters is not the number but the purpose. We only kill to feed and in self-defense, not for pleasure. We are not monsters."

    "True, but..." Phaso tried to come up with a reason to trick the other Hordes into attacking Lith, but fear clouded his mind. "Verhen is scum, I mean, dangerous. He killed the World Tree!" Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "So what?" The grey cloud shuddered and touched the blurred red figure. "The old fool was crazy. All the members of the Yggdrasill bloodline sooner or later go insane and need to be put down."

    "How can you say that, Shen?" The infected Horde said in outrage. "Like it or not, the World Tree is one of the key figures for Mogar''s survival. You should honor their sacrifice, not mock it."

    "Since when do we Hordes give a single fuck about that rotten piece of bark?" A silvery fog coalesced into a dense humanoid form. "Is there something you want to tell us, Pharo?"

    One by one, the Hordes were establishing hidden mind links and sharing the information brought by Loma. The infected Phaso was unwittingly exposing himself the more he talked.

    "No, Ygri. Why are you saying that?" Phaso tried to look away but Lith drew his attention in a way the Horde couldn''t ignore.

    "The Hordes seem to be on my side but I''d better give them some time to prepare their spells.'' Lith had taken Ragnar?k off his hip. The angry blade was still sheathed but that made it even more terrifying.

    Phaso stared at the twitching latches, afraid they might come off at any moment. The Tiamat engulfing himself in silvery flames only made the vision more dreadful.

    "Don''t you see? He wants to kill us all, brothers. We need to-" The words buzzed off Phaso''s quasi-mouth as Lith opened his palm, revealing the shiny fragment pointing straight at the Horde. "Where did you find a fragment of the World Tree''s essence? How did you extract it from its host?"

    The greed exuding from Phaso''s gaze and voice was the straw that broke what trust

    "How do you know what that thing is, Pharo?" Ygri''s voice was so cold that even in his frenzy the infected Horde couldn''t ignore it and turned around.

    "Yes, brother." Zarta said. "Explain to us how you learned so many things from the last time we met."

    "What things?" Lith asked.

    Loma gave him the signal that the Hordes had agreed to help so he started to prepare his spells and the others did the same.

    "Before you arrived, Verhen, Phaso was telling us how he had reached enlightenment. About how he had found a way for us Hordes to reproduce if we become something similar to what you call a male" Shen said.

    "We were discussing the merits and risks of such an idea when we perceived your presence."

    "Tell them how you know, Phaso, or I will." Lith spoke with such confidence that Feela, Lotho, Zoreth, and Aalejah believed him.

    "Wait a second!'' They all thought after a while. ''That''s bullshit.''

    "Don''t believe him, brothers!" The Horde snarled, feeling cornered. "I wasn''t doing anything wrong. I''m not a thief. I attacked the World Sapling of Qish because they refused to pay me for my services.

    "We were engaged in battle when the fragment of the World Tree reached the Sapling. I was feeding on them and somehow, I absorbed it along with their life force. I didn''t. kill the Sapling. You can check it.

    "I simply took the fragment as my payment and left."

    ''Great Mother almighty! Everyone but Phaso thought. ''A Horde can actually assimilate the World Tree''s essence? That''s dangerous/interesting.''

    While the Awakened considered the revelation a threat, the Hordes considered all the possibilities such knowledge opened.

    "Was it that hard?" Lith shrugged, pretending he knew all along. "Now be nice and let me retrieve the fragment. It''s not yours and the hatred and madness it contains make you a danger for yourself and others."

    He weaved Ragnar?k around, drawing Phaso''s attention and sending him into a panic. "Help me, brothers! He wants to kill us all with his damned spell, Extinction. He will kill me again!"

    ''You are right, Loma.'' Zerta sighed and the other Hordes agreed. A fragment of World Tree would be a priceless asset, but if not cleansed from the remains of the previous Tree, it''s a liability.

    cancer that would devour Mogar until there won''t be enough food to sustain other forms of life. We need to help Verhen."

    "Lith won''t kill us." Loma replied. "And he never killed you, Phaso. It''s the World Tree talking, not you."

    "Of course it''s me, you ungrateful runt!" Pharo snarled. "I''m the one who found you wandering and brought you into our fold. I helped you learn Tyris'' universal language. How can you turn your back on me like this?"

    Loma recoiled from those words, his resolve faltering.

    "And you, my brothers, how can you betray me? I summoned you here to offer you a solution to our eternal problem. I even know the secret of the white core. Help me

    against this executioner and I''ll share it with you."

    "The secret of the white core?" Feela echoed in disbelief. "If that''s true, why didn''t you use it on yourself?"

    "She has a point." Ygri said. "How do we know you''re telling the truth?"

    "I didn''t use it because..." Phaso hesitated, afraid to lose one of his many advantages over the other Hordes. "Because it makes us more powerful, yes, but easier to kill. In the past, a few Hordes achieved the white core and died."

    "Died?" The Hordes sneered. "That''s preposterous. How can white cores die so easily?"

    "Madness." Phaso admitted. "And Chaos Magic. Our apex form doesn''t have countless spores like we do now. It requires the merging into a single entity that can''t renew itself like us. There is no hive mind, just one mind."

    "Are you kidding me?" Zarta said. "That would be a curse. Without the constant turnover of my spores, without their fresh minds and youthful optimism, I would have killed myself millennia ago."

    "And so would I." Ygri agreed and the other Hordes joined them. "What you offer us is no salvation. Just a different and more dangerous, painful existence" "You can''t be serious!" Phaso yelled in outrage. "How can you turn down my knowledge without even listening to it? After you spent millennia whining about it? Just trust me and..."

    He tried to extend his tendrils of blue spores but the other Hordes recoiled at his

    touch. The seven fungal creatures had formed a circle around the infected and the Awakened, sealing the cave with an emerald barrier and compressing the space.

 Chapter 3471 Undying Cancer (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3471 Undying Cancer (Part 2)"What are you doing?" The moment Phaso managed to avert his eyes from Lith, he discovered he had been surrounded.

    Feela, Zoreth, Aalejah, Solus, Lotho, and Menadion had assumed a six-pointed formation, forming a second smaller barrier with only Lith and Phaso inside.

    "I wouldn''t do this if I were you." The Horde snarled at the Tiamat, turning into what looked like a swarm of silvery droplets. "I''m not stupid. Not all of my body is here. Even if you destroy me, I''ll recover and join forces with your dear brother, Orpal.

    "I know where he is, Verhen, just like I know your dirty little secrets." The droplets formed two rows of shark-like metal teeth bent into a smile. "You have nothing to gain and everything to lose from making me into your enemy.

    "Let me go and give me the fragment in your possession or I''ll put the knowledge of the World Tree at your brother''s service."

    "Nice bluff." Lith scoffed. "Too bad the guy who gave me this fragment had a spine on top of a horrible sense of humor. The Sapling didn''t give in to the madness and told me their fragments contained the record of Mogar''s secrets and the perfected Forbidden Spells.

    "The Sapling also told me each fragment is unique so the only thing that using my brother''s name just earned you is more suffering."

    With that, Lith broke Ragnar?k''s seals and let out a burst of Origin Flames, Sword and swordsman became wreathed in fire as they charged in a lunge at the center mass of the blue humanoid.

    The pose, the blade, and the fire triggered the trauma of the World ''Tree''s fragment, paralyzing Phaso like a deer in headlights. Lith also activated the black crystals on his armor and blade, infusing them with darkness energy.

    Pain snapped the Horde out of his stupor and Ragnar?k came to a halt with a screeching of metal against metal. Phaso''s armor had neutralized the brunt of the energy and then countless armored spores had clung to Ragnar?k like tiny little pincers.

    The blow had been painful but the Horde had enough mass to snuff the Flames out and launch a counterattack. The spores swirled around the angry blade, locking it into place, and slammed against the Tiamat in a torrent of razor-sharp Adamant blades.

    "I was right. You know shit about me." Even while in human form, Lith''s mass was that of a Divine Beast.

    On top of that, his Voidwalker armor was made of an Adamant-Davross alloy that weathered the storm of blades like they were raindrops. The Horde grunted and

    changed his approach, sending his spores through the small space between the scales to bypass the armor and reach the flesh.

    Another breath and a burst of Dread Flames vaporized the spores and the Adamant coating them.

    ''How much did Verhen change since Urgamakka and why is there nothing about him in the Tree''s archives? Phaso cursed his bad luck as he retrieved the molten metal and produced new spores. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    With the silvery flames shrouding Lith, physical attacks weren''t an option. The Horde tapped into his natural affinities, earth and water, to conjure his tier five spell, Frozen Wasteland.

    The ground of the cave trapped Lith''s feet while the ceiling came crashing down like a jackhammer. Both were infused with water magic that dropped the temperature of the room by dozens of degrees per second, sapping the Tiamat''s strength.

    A flash of Lith''s blue, red, orange, and yellow eyes sparked a combination of Domination and Void Magic. The stone spikes burst into a hail of ferromagnetic fragments that unleashed the equivalent of a thunderstorm on the Horde.

    The moist spores offered no resistance to the electricity and neither did the metal. As soon as the violence of Frozen Wasteland abated, Lith also switched the water element into fire.

    The Horde''s Adamant armor became a pressure cooker that sealed the heat and steamed the spores inside out. Phaso dispelled the elements and backed away but the first Spirit Barrier slowed him down enough for Lith to catch up and plunge Ragnar?k into the blue cloud.

    The Horde opened a hole in his body so that the angry blade grazed him without dealing any real damage. Much to his surprise, Ragnar?k carried a powerful healing spell that propagated through the spores, hastening their recovery.

    "Damn you!" Phaso felt the tier five healing spell straining his vitality and his predicament got much worse when light turned into darkness.

    The light element had seeped deep inside the spores and when Void Magic turned it into darkness, there was no time to offer any resistance. A huge chunk of the Adamant armor fell to the ground with the clink of dozens of coins.

    The Horde was about to counterattack when the Awakened unleashed a barrage of surgical tier four Spirit Spells on him from every direction. It disrupted Phaso''s focus and weakened his cohesion, creating an opening Lith didn''t miss.

    He released a powerful bolt of lightning that bounced off the countless Adamant droplets, magnetizing them. Then, a single pulse of Void Magic forced them to clump together and sealed them inside a thick layer of solid rock.

    but seven other creatures like him fueled the space-compressing array. No matter how much mana he poured into the Blink, he ended up wasting his strength. Cursing his brethren for their betrayal, Phaso used what strength he had left to keep a few strands of spores away from the main body and escape the trap. Awakened had a hard time following so many small energy signatures at the same time, but the Hordes had no such problem.

    They shot each and every strand of spores down with emerald blasts of Spirit Magic.

    The earth prison soon became thick and dense enough to prevent further leaks. Light magic encased the stone prison with a construct that cut off the supply of air and humidity. Without them, the spores couldn''t multiply and once they ran out of oxygen, they would wither.

    The blue Horde forced his way through the multiple layers of his prison by unleashing the enchantments of his weapon and rings. Lith countered by switching earth into lightning and light into darkness.

    Phaso''s spells hit only air while Lith''s further drained the already weakened vitality of the infected Horde.

    ''Now it''s my moment. I can escape!'' Phaso collected what was left of him and charged

    past Lith.

    The Eyes filtered the other magical auras, making the Horde easy to follow, while the Ears read Phaso''s mana flow and with it predicted his path. Phaso had traversed less than a meter before Void Magic trapped him again.

    Earth and light were rich with new mana, his prison sturdier than before. As for the Horde, he had less spore, less mana, and his magic-holding rings were depleted. Phaso looked around the cave and found no mercy in the eyes of his captors.

    I can produce one more burst of power and most but even if I sneak past Verhen, I

    wouldn''t have the strength to force my way through his allies. Let alone my brethren.'' That last word left a sour taste in Phaso''s countless mouths.

 Chapter 3472 Too Easy (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3472 Too Easy (Part 1)Phaso had summoned the entirety of the Horde race to share the blessing of the World Tree with them. To solve the reproductive issue that plagued their race since the first fungus had gained sentience.

    Those two feats were supposed to be enough to earn the eternal loyalty of the Hordes. To be hailed as their savior and become the leader of what would have soon become Mogar''s master race.

    Yet his so-called friends had betrayed him. Millennia of camaraderie had fallen in the face of prejudice and fear. They called him mad because they were too stupid or scared to see the glorious future to which he would have led them.

    ''So close. I got so close to my dream.'' Phaso could only grit his spores and bear with it. "I yield." He said. "Take my fragment, I don''t care anymore. Remember this, my brothers. When this man will keep the knowledge for himself and use it to achieve the power I was going to bestow upon you, history will judge us all.

    "We''ll be remembered as a gutless race that Verhen extinguished to protect Mogar from the evil Hordes while Tiamats will be hailed as warrior saints. Truth doesn''t matter. Legends and records are written by the victors.

    "Given enough time, the end will always justify the means."

    Phaso''s words were full of bitterness and anger, but they held a harsh truth the Hodres couldn''t ignore. They exchanged looks and joined their mass into communion without dispelling the Spirit Barrier.

    "Don''t listen to him." The Eyes of Menadion spotted no offensive spells being weaved, but Lith and his allies were still outnumbered and trapped inside the Hordes'' barrier. "I''m not going to keep the Yggdrasill''s essence for myself.

    "I don''t know what I''ll do with it but I know this kind of power is too dangerous for anyone to wield, even me. The Sapling entrusted me with recovering the fragments and cleansing them from the World Tree''s madness and that''s what I plan to do.

    "Once my task is completed, I''m willing to discuss my next move with you."

    "Once your task is completed, you have no reason to return here and we have no way to force you to keep your word." Loma said. "On top of that, after listening to Phaso''s rant, I wouldn''t trust our judgment if I were in your shoes."

    ''Fuck me sideways if Loma got smarter since Urgamakka, Lith inwardly cursed. ''He saw through me. I have no intention of letting anyone, not even the Council, catch so much as a glimpse of the Tree''s complete essence. I just want to get out of here without more pointless fighting.

    "Don''t worry, Verhen. That wasn''t the issue that needed discussing" Ygri, the silvery

    fog, said. "You trusted us when this crisis started and we''ll trust you to put an end to it." S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Then what''s the matter? You guys don''t have faces but I can feel the tension in the room." Lith asked.

    "You said that after the procedure Phaso will be alive and well. Only his memory of the time he spent as a vessel of the Yggdrasill will be lost, correct?" Zarta, the black swarm, said and Lith nodded in reply. "That won''t do, Verhen."

    "What do you mean?" Lith''s eyes narrowed while everyone else''s went wide in surprise, none more than Lotho.

    "What Zarta is trying to say is that we can''t allow Phaso to survive." Shen, the grey mist, sighed. "Killing one of our own is the greatest taboo for our race, but from time to time it has to be done. From today onwards, only seven Hordes will walk Mogar."

    "What?" Phaso yelled in disbelief. "Why? You heard him. The silvery flame will cleanse me. I''ll be back to my old self."

    "Your old mask, you mean. Loma''s orange spores condensed in a replica of Lith''s appearance, a sign of respect in the Horde''s culture. "There has always been something wrong about you, but until today I couldn''t put my hive mind on it."

    "The story of Esor proves that the contagion doesn''t alter the personality of the Yggdrasill''s host, Phaso. Quite the contrary, it forces them to reveal their true mettle." Shen turned into a grey Lith.

    "Esor had to bear the most disgusting and fearsome knowledge on Mogar." Zarta followed suit, becoming a black Lith. "Yet they refused to spill even one word of it. Esor protected their people and friends. The Sapling didn''t look for a quick payout.

    "Esor looked for help and without their quick thinking, we would still be here listening to your nonsense."

    "Even worse, we might have fallen for it."

    "Phaso didn''t hesitate to spread his knowledge and tried to use us as his test subjects, Verhen." The blurred red figure introduced themselves as Xar and took Lith''s appearance. "He offered us power but in truth, he betrayed us all."

    "Even with his last words, Phaso made his real intentions clear" Cordi, the pale-yellow mist, said. "He never thought of us as his equals. He always wanted to rule over us. He has not attempted it in the past only because he lacked the means to control us.

    "He pretended to be like us and hid his ambition because he couldn''t face the other races alone. A Horde can''t reproduce, but we are beings of infinite life and power. Such gifts can''t be left in the spores of people like Phaso.

    "If he ever chances upon something as dangerous as the World Tree''s essence, he''ll use it again but the next time he will be smarter. He won''t seek our help and we won''t

    he nhle to ston him hafore it''s ton Inte"

    Cordi''s spores condensed into a life-seized yellow Lith.

    "The sentence is unanimous. Phaso must die." The Hordes said as one. "Use your blue flames. We allow it. If one good thing will come out of this abomination, is that you and us will learn how your blue flames work."

    Lith had no problem with that, but the decision wasn''t up to him alone. He turned towards Solus, taking her feelings into consideration before making up his mind.

    "I don''t like this." She said. "I don''t like you tapping into that power or killing someone, even Phaso, in cold blood."

    The Horde was trapped and helpless. It was no longer a fight but an execution. "But the Hordes are right. He can''t be allowed to live and there''s no point risking you to be infected. Phaso is not like Esor. He might attack you while you are focused on Body Sculpting and controlling the Dread Flames.

    "He could harm you, or worse, spread the infection to one of us and trigger another fight by adding his own madness to the Tree''s. Use the blue flames, but please, be

    careful."

    "Don''t worry about us, Verhen." Lotho said. "The Council only worries about Awakened as a whole. We never interfere with the customs of another race. This is a Horde

    matter. Just tell us how to protect ourselves."

    "There''s not much to say." Lith replied. "Blue flames burn at everything, even me. Just

    keep them from spreading and be careful not to let them touch you."

    Everyone nodded and took their position when Lith drew their attention.

 Chapter 3473 Too Easy (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3473 Too Easy (Part 2)"One last thing. As Phaso said, batches of his spores are scattered around. The blue flames might be able to track them. If you see the blue fire following a straight line, do not stop them." Lith looked at Menadion for a few seconds and the Ruler of the Flames returned the gaze.

    "You have my blessing. Kill that jerk." She said after a while.

    "That was never the question." He grunted. "I was waiting for you to get back inside my Void Sigil. The blue flames ignite from my life force and your body is made of it. If you stay out, from this distance you will burn along with me."

    "A fitting destiny." She nodded. "I''m many things, child, but I''m not ungrateful. We both know you can use learning the effects of the blue flames on your Demons. I''ll stay by your side and share your burden."

    "But M-enadion, what if the blue flames purge you? What if the pain is so intense that you are driven to move on?" Solus was so worried her tongue almost slipped.

    "There''s no discovery without risk, child. I''m a Ruler of the Flames and I''ll bend the blue flames to my will." Ripha replied. "Besides, do you really think that after watching over my blood for seven hundred years a bit of pain is enough to get me off your back?"

    Menadion gently caressed Solus'' face.

    "Trust me, sweetie. I''ve never left a friend in their time of need and I''m not going to start today."

    Solus clenched Menadion''s hand for a moment before stepping away and nodding to

    Lith.

    "This is going to hurt." He closed his eyes, focusing on the darkest corner of his life force, where the sealed door to the Void was.

    Lith forged a silvery key from the Dread Flames and used it to undo the seal. The door flung open but this time Lith was ready. He ignited the endless stream of vengeful souls, turning them into blue flames.

    Not a stray soul went unchecked, the door kept ajar by Lith''s will and limiting the blue flames to what he hoped he could control. The blue flames burned his life force on their way out, flaring up his mana, flesh, and blood alike.

    Lith grunted in pain as blue fire wreathed his body but he refused to become the Void Demon Dragon. Menadion, instead, was caught by surprise by the violence of the blue flames despite being forewarned.

    The hologram giving her human appearance shattered, revealing a black horned figure twisting with hate. Her body was covered in pitch-black scales, her fanged

    mouth curled up in an expression of malice.

    As she burned, Menadion grew stronger than she had ever been but her mind slowly plunged into madness. She hungered for blood and retribution. Lotho and Feela now looked to her as the past Council representatives who had tried to exploit her and entice Elphyn.

    She wanted them dead so bad that it hurt.

    Then, Menadion''s eyes fell on her daughter and the hate became unbearable.

    ''Stupid little bitch!"The Demon hissed at Solus, incapable of holding her fury. ''Your father, the only man I''ve ever loved, gave his life for you. And what did you do with it? You squandered your youth in vices and a petty revenge against your mourning mother.

    ''You treated me like shit, dragged my reputation through the mud, and for what? To play the victim and pretend you were the only one suffering! If not for you, I would still be alive.

    ''I would have gained the white core and lived long enough to bring Forgemastery to new heights and Mogar to a golden age, but you took everything away from me. You wasted your life and then ended mine.

    ''You don''t-"The real Menadion screamed inside her own mind until her voice overpowered the pain. ''What the fuck is wrong with me? Epphy was just a kid and I was her mother.

    ''I was supposed to take care of her and instead, I neglected her for years while wallowing in self-pity. Her failures are born of my failures. I could have let her die that day. Epphy didn''t force me to do anything.

    I lost my life not because of her but due to my own stupidity. I waited seven hundred years for the opportunity to talk to her again. I don''t give a fuck who or what you are, blue flames, you won''t take my daughter away from me!"

    As Menadion''s willpower steeled, her figure regained its composure. The blue flames burned brighter and stronger, but their power was now hers to command.

    "Good gods, this really hurts." She panted. "Everything burns. My mind, my sanity, my soul. Everything. Please be quick."

    She grabbed Lith''s shoulder and the pain abated. Menadion''s flames answered Lith''s will and became tame. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s not a party for me either." He replied, keeping the pain out of his voice. "Be ready, guys. Don''t allow the blue flames to spread but if you spot a pattern, let them burn."

    Lith placed his hand over the stone prison and it burst into flames like gasoline. The blue flames ignited rocks, constructs, and Adamant, making them burn until they vanished into thin air.

    Phaso screamed but the blue flames burned his voice as well. The Adamant vaporized, leaving the blue spores vulnerable. The blue cloud collapsed, leaving only one flaming lump of fungi and five tendrils.

    There was a limit to the distance the spores could be left without the separation becoming painful or the spores losing their connection to the hive mind and reverting into common fungi.

    All parts of Phaso''s body were connected by mana and psychic pathways that the blue flames followed like a shark to its prey.

    The Hordes took care of the spreading flames, snuffing them out as soon as Phaso''s life force faded. Lith waited in the cave for the main body to be purified.

    The blue flames burned at everything, but they attacked the madness first, as if they had a will of their own. Lith only had to stop them the moment the blackness was vanquished or the blue flames would have burned the Yggdrasill''s essence next.

    "This was easy. Too easy" Lith thought back at Esor''s words as the two fragments merged into one.

    Dread Flames took focus, discipline, and control. Blue flames just had to be let out. The final result was the same but the conditions to achieve it couldn''t have been more

    different.

    "Only because we helped you." Feela said, missing his point. "Without us, this place would have turned into a charred wasteland."

    "That too." Lith sealed the door to the Void again and he and Menadion went back to normal. "How do you feel, Ripha?"

    "Terrible." She hugged Solus, smelling her scent and appreciating her warmth to restore Ripha''s dwindling sanity. "It''s better now. Don''t you ever share that power with

    a Demon you don''t trust with your life or you''ll regret it."

    "Duly noted." Lith looked down at the fragment now had the shape and size of a

    crossbow dart. "The good news is I can now tell the distance from the next fragment.

    It should be in the Empire."

    "What''s the bad news?" Lotho sighed, bracing for impact.

 Chapter 3474 Just Different (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3474 Just Different (Part 1)"That the fragments won''t be just in Garlen. The Saplings are spread throughout Mogar." Lith replied. "How good are your connections with the plant representatives of the other continents?"

    ***

    With each fragment they collected, the hunt became faster and easier. After gaining the third piece in the Empire, the coalesced essence of the World Tree turned into a shining beam of light that provided Lith with almost pinpoint coordinates of all the fragments within its perception range. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Lith could now choose his next target and plan ahead instead of blindly heading toward the closest fragments.

    "Let''s start from the Blood Desert. The rest will come easy" Lith said and the others nodded.

    The fragments of the World Tree wanted to be reunited. When Lith had met the holder of the third shard, the Sapling had begged him to take it away. The fragment held knowledge the Sapling had no use for and just brought them madness and anger. On top of that, the fragment itself pushed the Sapling to let it go. A second practice session of Dread Flames made both parties happy.

    Once in the Blood Desert, Lith recruited Salaark for the job.

    "Think about it, Grandma. If the Saplings put the knowledge they acquired from the World Tree to bad use, they will mess up with your turf. Your Phoenixes and people will suffer and die.

    "If you come with me, instead, we''ll uproot the problem before it sprouts. Pun intended."

    "Good point." She nodded. "Let''s be quick. I have to prepare a snack for Shargein in an hour"

    "With all due respect, Overlord, how do we know you won''t take the fruits of our work for yourself?" Lotho asked right before realizing Salaark had Warped them straight to their destination.

    "Easy!" She shrugged. "If I wanted to take anything from you, even your life, there would be nothing you could do to stop me."

    The coldness in her voice made the sap in his vines run cold.

    "Rest easy, seedling. If I ever had a thirst for knowledge, I would just ask the old lizard. It''s faster and safer. If a Guardian like me were to merge with the World Tree''s essence, there''s no telling what might happen.

    "I could take on the responsibilities of the Yogdrasill bloodline. lose my status as a

    Divine Beast, and most of all, I would have to keep accumulating knowledge or the records about Mogar''s history would end.

    "People like you might see the fragments as an opportunity but to me, they are just more work and responsibilities. I have already enough on my plate and too little free time."

    "Yours are wise words." Feela gave the Overlord a bow, dismissing the idea of bargaining with Lith for the fragments. Just the thought of becoming a beast-plant hybrid gave her the creeps. "You must be proud of your grandson."

    "Which one?" Salaark cocked her head in a bird-like manner.

    "I was talking about Lith, of course." The Behemoth nodded at him. "Today I had the honor of witnessing high tier Void Magic. It''s an amazing discipline."

    Feela was fawning over the Guardian but was also telling the truth. Having no idea what Domination was, Feela believed Void Magic could snatch control of an enemy spell.

    "It is." Salaark sighed. "Too bad he''s sharing it with fake mages first. I don''t get why Lith is so shy. He should be proud of his work. I bet he didn''t even show you this."

    The Overlord conjured a small flame floating over her index finger. Then she split the fire into heat and light, switching them both. A blot of darkness and a frozen droplet of water replaced the fire, leaving the Council members flabbergasted.

    "Two elements from one spell?" Lotho asked.

    "Lith taught me that all elements are connected through the world energy" Salaark nodded. "I can''t wait for the day he''ll bring his Void Magic to completion."

    Lith nodded to her in acknowledgment of her praise and the practical demonstration the Overlord had given him of what he had only theorized yet.

    "If you have already learned the basics, why haven''t you developed all tiers of Void Magic on your own, Overlord?" Lotho pondered.

    "I''m not a thief and again, I have too much on my plate already, seedling." Salaark furrowed her brows, not liking the suggestion one bit. "Now shut up and move."

    Lotho wanted to ask her who Shargein was, but the Guardian''s glare brooked no discussion.

    ''Have you seen that?'' Solus asked in amazement. ''Grandma confirmed what we suspected. It is really possible to generate multiple elements with Void Magic. It opens the possibility of weaving three-elemental tier five spells!"

    ''I sure did.''Lith inwardly nodded. ''We could call it lesser Tower Tier spells, but I think it''s best to leave that for later. Our priority is completing tier five magic. After that, we''d better develop three-elemental spells as a different branch of Void Magic.

    "The discipline is already complex as it is. Adding lesser Tower Tier snells would make

    it a nightmare for any fourth year student.''

    Solus and Lith put their excitement aside and focused on the task at hand. With the presence of Salaark, no World Sapling dared refuse to let go of their fragment. No matter what race one belonged, if they lived in the Blood Desert, the Overlord''s word

    was law.

    On top of that, after collecting the fifth fragment, the Saplings couldn''t hold on to the shards of World Tree essence even if they wanted. The purified collected essence exerted such a strong pull that the fragments abandoned their current host of their own will.

    Lith had no need to use Body Sculpting anymore, only to purify the memories and madness from the late World Tree plaguing the fragments before merging them with

    the others.

    "This was quick." Zoreth checked her watch and scouring the Desert had taken them way less than an hour. "What''s our next stop?"

    "That way." Lith opened his hand and the light pointed towards the open ocean.

    "Zima?" Feela looked at him in confusion. "Why not collecting the fragments on Garlen

    first?"

    "Because the Guardians here are on my side." Lith replied. "I don''t know the Guardians of the other continents and I don''t want to risk them or the local Councils getting greedy once I''m close finishing the job."

    "You don''t have to worry about Verendi either, little brother." Zoreth said. "Their Guardians won''t dare stand against the Organization."

    Salaark frowned but said nothing, making Lith, Feela, and Lotho understand how

    powerful the Eldritches had become.

    "Let me give you a hand, then." A wave of the Overlord''s hand Warped the group to the borders of her turf, hundreds of kilometers in open waters.

    "Get on my back." Zoreth shapeshifted into her Shadow Dragon form. "There''s no

    speed like Dragonspeed."

    ***

    Crossing the ocean took them a bit more than two hours thanks to Dragonspeed and

    Warp Steps.

    The first differences between Garlen and Zima that Lith noticed were the humid climate and lush vegetation. He had no time or inclination to tour the continent but it was clear that less than half of Zima had been colonized by humans. Cities were sparse and isolated but much bigger than those he had seen in Garlen.

 Chapter 3475 Just Different (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3475 Just Different (Part 2)Zima''s cities had high walls but no castles, with the various districts of each fortress separated by internal walls.

    Countless small villages surrounded a city, but from so high in the sky all Lith could

    tell was that the further from the safety of the fortified walls a town was, the poorer its inhabitants were.

    "How close are we to our target?" Zoreth asked. "I''d rather avoid human settlements. If someone recognizes me, we''ll have the entire Zima Council on our heels. I have a

    terrible reputation here. Sadly, it''s well-deserved."

    "You''ve been to Zima?" Solus asked.

    "I''m over a thousand years old, Solus." Zoreth said it like an admission of guilt. "There are few places I''ve not been. I would love to tell you I came here searching for a cure to my condition but it would be a lie.

    "Back then, I was a bloodthirsty monster on the run. Those who chased after me had a very good reason for it and sometimes I wish I failed to shake them off."

    She remained silent after that and Solus didn''t pry further.

    "We are very close." Lith opened his hand just enough to let the light shine through his fingers. "Half a kilometer to the south."

    Zoreth followed the light and brought the group to their destination with a single flap of her wings. It was a hill covered with grass and a single gnarled tree growing on its top. Several small birds and animals sat there, huddled around a lonely figure.

    "Well, that''s unexpected." Xenagrosh took a good look at the scene with her Dragon Eyes and used the Skull of Bytra to make sure there were no traps waiting for them on the ground.

    She let the others off her back and shapeshifted into her human form before slowly descending from the sky and to the top of the hill.

    "I knew this day would come, but I didn''t expect it to be so soon nor that there would be so many of you." The voice sounded human and was produced by vocal chords, not air magic.

    "I''m sad my travels have come to an end but seeing different fragments working together gives me hope we can resolve this without violence. Maybe, I can convince you to let me free until you find the rest of our siblings."

    "I beg your pardon?" Lith was relieved hearing Tyris'' universal language and confused by the rest. "You were expecting me?"

    "Not you specifically, brother." The voice belonged to a youth with closed-cropped black hair who looked like a teenager. No longer a child but still too young to be a

    man. "I was expecting someone would come to collect my fragment.

    "I know that the Yggdrasill bloodline can''t remain scattered for long, but knowing how lazy we are, how reluctant us Saplings are to move, I hoped I could buy myself at least a few years if not decades.

    "After all, without a World Tree, there are no Chroniclers and without Chroniclers, I assumed it would have taken you a long time to track me down if I kept moving. I guess I was wrong.

    The youth stood up and turned around to face his guests.

    He was wearing a loose cotton tunic dirty at the edges where it brushed against the ground. The Sapling had chosen the form of a young man with almond-shaped eyes and a pale skin with a golden hue.

    "Wait a second. You are not Saplings." His eyes burned with mana from Life Vision. "What are you doing here and what have you done to my brethren? They would never let go of the essence of the World Tree without a fight."

    The human skin turned into brown bark veined with green while the Sapling''s arms turned into tendrils that whipped the air while conjuring spells in the form of shining spheres.

    "Calm down. We didn''t come here to fight." Aalejah stepped forward. "I''m Aalejah Eventide. Former Chronicler candidate. I was entrusted by the Sapling named Esor to remove their fragment and collect the others."

    "Former Chronicler? And just a candidate at that?" The Sapling frowned, conjuring more spells but keeping them steady. "It means you either failed or decided you didn''t care enough to dedicate your life to the Yggdrasill.

    "I admit I dropped out, but that doesn''t make my words any less true. The elf replied. "Hard to believe with all the Yggdrasill wood your companions wear. There is no way a World Tree would give away so much willingly." The Saplings replied.

    "I also admit most of the Yggdrasill wood you see was taken by force but with the history of madness of your kind, is it also hard to believe they deserved it?" Aalejah asked. "I gave up on becoming a Chronicler because I refused to be a puppet for the Tree''s cruel machinations."

    "Point taken." The Sapling studied his guests for a while before dispelling his magic and returning to human appearance. "You still haven''t answered my questions, though. Also, why is one of you hiding behind the Treant? What is he ashamed of?"

    "As you imagined, we''ve come here to collect your fragment." Aalejah gave the Sapling a small bow. "Also, you are only partially right about the other Saplings. Only a few fought us.

    "Most of them were happy to get rid of the shard of World Tree''s essence plaguing

    thair mind to for uchu Iith united for us to clear the misunderstanding hafora

    introducing himself, it was not to scare you." The name was unfamiliar but the Sapling still twitched in instinctive fear.

    When Lotho moved to the side, revealing Lith''s presence, the Sapling''s bright violet aura burst out with such violence that the birds took flight and the animals ran away

    in fright.

    "You!"

    "Me" Lith opened his hand just enough to let out the light of the collected fragments. He could feel them calling upon the youth''s shard, their burning desire to be whole again. Yet there was no reply from the other side and no reaction but a thin smile. "You''ve purified them!" The Saplings said with honest glee. "They are at peace now. What the elf said was true, then, I can trust you."

    "My name is Aalejah. And you are?" She asked.

    "I''m sorry. Between my fragment and my prolonged isolation, I''ve forgotten my manners. You can call me Xaphen." The Sapling gave them a deep bow and invited

    them to sit down.

    "There''s something wrong with you." Lith had studied his mark with the Eyes and Ears the whole time. "The other Saplings were terrified of me. They were also either tormented by the knowledge of their fragment or eager to exploit it to their ends.

    "I can''t feel any of that coming from you."

    "Not wrong, Verhen, just different." Xaphen shook his head. "As you know, each fragment is unique and there are no two alike. Mine contains little knowledge regarding magic and much about Mogar. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "The day the World Tree died, I inherited their wonder and that of all their predecessors about the marvels of our planet. I learned about all the places the past Trees wanted to visit and the things they dreamed to do."

 Chapter 3476 Present without Future (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3476 Present without Future (Part 1)The Sapling waved at the scenic view of the hill. From there, one could look at the sky, with nothing blocking their view until the horizon, or at the valley below, where a snaked river crossed the land in twists and turns.

    "I am afraid of you, Verhen. I remember your blade and the excruciating agony you inflicted upon the Tree. Yet I''m also filled with joy and curiosity, two powerful emotions that have allowed me to keep the madness and trauma at bay.

    "You have nothing to fear from me because what I know makes me a wonderful tour guide, not a threat."

    "How are you resisting the call of the other fragments?" Lotho asked.

    "As I said, I''m different." Xaphen replied. "My fragment contains the yearning for freedom the World Tree bloodline has suppressed for countless millennia and has no desire to be chained and ignored again.

    "The essence Verhen holds wants to settle down, call the elves to themselves, and resume their task of collecting knowledge with the help of the Chroniclers. My fragment, instead, wants to travel. To be more than a dusty, living library." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Let me guess. You don''t want the mantle of the Yggdrasill." Lith extended his ajar hand and the Sapling closed it until no light came out anymore.

    "You''re right, I don''t. It would be torture for me."

    Aalejah recognized the look in the Sapling''s eyes. The look of someone who wanted to be part of something greater but, at the same time, craved freedom and didn''t want to be chained by duty.

    It was a feeling she had experienced during the centuries she had spent as a Chronicler candidate. Yet unlike her, Xaphen couldn''t walk away. Once the fragment. was removed, he would lose his memories and go back to being a Sapling.

    In due time, he would grow big enough to be a city for the Fac, a haven for the plant folk, and a prisoner of his own making.

    "Then I won''t impose this burden on you." Lith replied. "Yet. I still need to take your fragment."

    "Wait!" Aalejah stepped between them. "I''ve looked at him with Soul Vision and I can tell you Xaphen is sincere. His fragment holds no useful knowledge. There is no reason to take it away.

    "You could purify him to make sure the madness of the previous Tree doesn''t corrupt him and let him be. We can come back after collecting the rest of the fragments or let him out of this. What point is there giving the next Yggdrasill dreams they can never follow?

    "Maybe without Xaphen''s fragment, the next World Tree won''t fall into madness because they won''t care about exploring Mogar and their role as keeper of secrets won''t burden them so much."

    "I''m sorry, child." The Sapling moved past her and offered his hand to Lith. "I appreciate your kindness but you got it all wrong. Without my fragment, the next World Tree will go insane in a matter of years.

    "Without the love I feel for Mogar and the wonder for discovery, the Yggdrasill would consider their repository of knowledge not as a treasure but as a weapon. They would seek a new purpose to fulfill their existence without a care for the civilizations they destroy.

    "My fragment is the reason the World Trees never dared to abuse their knowledge or leave their Fringe. They cared too much for the elves and every other living being to endanger innocent lives.

    "The Yggdrasill never intervened in conflicts not because they were indifferent to the suffering of those they observed but because they knew they would only make things worse. Outside the Fringe, the World Tree''s power is limited.

    "To stop a war or defeat someone like Thrud, the Yggdrasill would have been forced to resort to Forbidden Magic and pay its bloody price. Once the World Tree started doing the wrong thing for the right reason, there would have been no stopping them.

    "The actions of the Yggdrasill would have changed Mogar''s history and their success would have only prompted them to intervene more and more often, becoming a shadow tyrant until the Guardians intervened to stop the Tree"

    "If it''s not the craving for freedom that drives a World Tree insane what does?" Solus asked.

    "The same thing that drives white cores, undead, and Abominations insane. The inability to reproduce." Xaphen replied. "As silly as it may sound to someone as young as you, children are important.

    "Without them, someone like the Yggdrasill has eternity but no future. They are safe and powerful, but the passing of time only makes things boring since nothing can

    affect them.

    "Once you experience everything and there''s no serious consequence to your actions, life loses its meaning. You start pushing the boundaries of your own morality just to feel something, and once you get used to it, you have to push even further. "Soon you have no boundaries to cross and turn into a monster without even realizing it." The Sapling stared at Zoreth who wrung her hands and nodded.

    "He''s right. Until I met the Master, I thought my life would have been an eternal cycle of fighting and feeding for survival. I was strong, but my strength had no purpose. I was immortal but I had no direction.

    "I wasn''t a person anymore, I just existed. Every day was identical to the one before and I knew the next would be just the same. Everything changed when the Master offered me a second chance at life. I finally had purpose and companionship. "The present was no longer my prison and I had a future to look forward. I''ve lived more in one day with the Master than in the thousand years after I became an Abomination."

    Lith pondered her words, finding them as scary as they were true.

    ''I too was powerful and had centuries of life ahead of me despite my cracked life force. Yet I was unwilling to change until Elysia was born. That day I realized that my life wasn''t just mine anymore.

    "That everything I would have done from that day onwards would have rippled into my daughter''s life and shaped it into a future that I had no qualms about inflicting upon myself but would never let befall her.

    ''Elysia deserved better so I became better."

    "It''s not just that." Xaphen continued. "A World Sapling, just like a human, an elf, a Treant, and a Behemoth, knows kinship. Mogar is filled with people like you. A World

    Tree is eternally alone.

    "There is no one like them. No one who can truly understand them. Verhen and Xenagrosh know what I''m talking about but while he now has his daughter and Xenagrosh has recovered her draconic nature, there will always be only one World

    Tree.

    "Imagine how you would feel, being like that since the time of the first Awakened. To see Mogar change while you remain the same, trapped in the same place. Imagine knowing that you''ll have no child, teach nothing to no one, and leave no legacy worth remembering.

    "A Yggdrasill isn''t even allowed to pass down their feelings, only their knowledge is inherited by the next generation. But for that, you don''t need a heart or a soul, just a

    book."

 Chapter 3477 Present without Future (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3477 Present without Future (Part 2)"Each World Tree lives knowing they are cursed to be alone and no one will remember them." Xaphen said.

    "Without my fragment, the next World Tree will become bitter and resentful soon

    after they inherit the mantle and realize what awaits them. The next Yggdrasill will try to break out their prison or, if that proves to be impossible, to make everyone as miserable as them."

    The Sapling extended his hand with his palm open to Lith but Aalejah stopped him again.

    "Wait, there''s something you don''t know. Once the fragment is gone, you''ll lose your memory of everything that happened since you received it. You would forget about having this conversation, every place you visited, and every person you''ve met."

    "Destiny is truly cruel." Xaphen laughed bitterly. "It seems I can''t escape the fate of the World Tree but it''s a small price to pay. I can only hope that some echo of my travels will remain.

    "Maybe I''ll see it in my dreams and find the motivation to leave my home and start traveling again. Losing my memory also means I''d have the rare chance of trying something for the first time a second time."

    "You don''t need hope." Lotho extended a bundle of his vines. "Use a mind link and the communion between Fae to leave a message to yourself. Once the fragment has been removed, I''ll give the message to you."

    "It''s a good idea but I''d rather leave it to Aalejah, brother." The Sapling said. "There''s no telling how the fragment might affect a fellow Fac and no reason to risk discovering it."

    "A fair point." The plant representative nodded. "Before meeting you, I always envied the World Tree and considered them foolish for being unable to resist the madness. Now I can see that what I considered a blessing is a curse and vice versa." Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Glad to be of help." Xaphen held the elf''s hand, trying his best to be concise.

    There was only so much a brain could handle and he had to be sure his future amnesiac self wouldn''t doubt the origin and sincerity of those memories. He entrusted her with feelings he had always kept for himself and a tiny personal embarrassing secret.

    "I''m ready." The Sapling let go of Aalejah and looked at Lith.

    Without Xaphen''s will holding it back, the fragment was unable to resist the call and left his life force. Lith was still purifying the new fragment when the Sapling started looking around in utter confusion.

    "Who are you? Why am I in this ridiculous form? What happened to my home? What are we doing here?" Xaphen recognized none of the people staring at him.

    Yet he could see with Life Vision that if the strangers wanted to harm him, they would have already killed or restrained him with ease. The mysterious Dragon was strong enough to kill him by herself while the others would have needed to join their forces. "It''s a long story, brother, but I can explain it to you." Lotho extended his vines and the Sapling accepted them without hesitation.

    ''I need to understand what has gotten into me to make me leave the safety of my home.'' He thought. If I was kidnapped or used in a Forbidden Magic ritual, I must learn how to keep it from happening ag

    The plant representative started the mind link from the death of the World Tree, skipped everything until the moment Lith had asked for Lotho''s help, and left out nothing past that point.

    "This must be a fucking joke!" Xaphen rejected the vines with such violence that the sudden break of the communion stunned Lotho. "Over two months? Do you really expect me to believe I was in a mystical trance with a fragment of the World Tree and played tourist for two months?"

    Lith recognized a fellow paranoid when he saw one and acted accordingly.

    "You don''t have to believe us. Believe yourself." He said. "Feel free to check your calendar if you have one or call any of your friends."

    "Excellent idea. The Sapling took his communication amulet out of his dimensional storage and found it flooded with worried messages and missed calls. "I can''t believe I wasted over two months of my life and have no memory of it."

    He said after listening to the messages and calling his best friend to confirm the current date.

    "You wasted nothing" Aalejah shook her head. "Quite the contrary. You have left me a message for yourself. Do you want to hear it?"

    Xaphen looked at the elf like she was crazy but, as the many revelations he had received in the past few minutes sunk in, he realized that one more piece of crazy news would make little difference.

    Aalejah passed on to the Sapling his own passcodes and many details no one else

    could know. Then, she shared with him the joy and amazement Xaphen''s past self had chosen as his message.

    There were no words in it, just a collection of images of people, places, and adventures. The Sapling recognized none of them but the visions stirred feelings he didn''t know to have.

    Somehow, every one of those moments he had never lived was precious to him. He

    could only recollect bits and fragments.

    "Are you alright?" Aalejah''s voice snapped him out of his reverie.

    1 1111

    "Yes, why do you ask?" Xaphen felt something on his face that turned out to be tears. "Oh, that''s why."

    "Well, since we''ll never meet again, I''ll say it. You were much nicer when possessed by the fragment." Lith said. "You are the first one that I regret splitting from the essence

    of the World Tree"

    "Lith!" Solus rebuked him. "Xaphen is still shocked and confused. What''s your excuse?"

    "Your friend is a rude jerk, but he has a point." The Sapling said while checking his appearance and clothes. "A few minutes ago, I was a better person. I want to be that person again so I have to start my journey from the beginning again.

    "Before that, however, I''d like to help you. Allow me to accompany you and I''ll make sure you won''t have trouble with Zima''s Council. I can also vouch for you to the other

    Fac."

    "Are you sure?" Lotho asked. "If someone discovers you are helping foreigners take the power of the World Tree away from Zima, you''ll be the one in trouble!"

    "I''m sure." Xaphen nodded. "You need a local guide and I have to start my journey somewhere. Everybody wins. Also, I''m not taking the World Tree away, I''m protecting

    Zima from their madness.

    "From what I''ve seen in your memories, Lotho, those fragments can''t be left unchecked. It''s only a matter of time before a member of my brethren understands what happened and tries to collect them.

    "Merging unpurified fragments together would bring back the worst of the World Tree and trigger a war between Zima and Jiera. After the plague, the relationship between the two continents is awful.

    "If not for the monster infestation and the lost cities roaming free, Zima would have already invaded Jiera.

 Chapter 3478 One Mistake (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3478 One Mistake (Part 1)"The knowledge contained in the fragments s more than enough to break the precarious peace." Xaphen said. "Zima would easily win the war but then it would be ravaged by the mad World Tree and end up like Jiera, if not even worse!"

    "Thanks." Aalejah gave him a deep bow. "We gladly accept your offer."

    ***

    With Xaphen''s help, it was just a matter of days before Lith collected all the fragments in Zima. He returned home only for lunch, dinner, and tucking the children in. The mission was important, but not as much as reassuring Elysia and Valeron.

    Jiera''s transoceanic gates made transportation between Garlen and Zima relatively quick and nobody at the outposts asked Lith questions.

    Then, he moved to Jiera and Xaphen kept following him. Feela insisted on informing the local Council, but withhold the information about how many fragments they had already collected and that Lith had purified them.

    "Of course we are going to help you." Jiera''s plant representative groaned. "We heard all about the most recent crazy World Tree and the last thing Jiera needs is a new catastrophe.

    "No offense, but when you are done, feel free to choose any Sapling in Garlen you want as the next Tree. Your continent has already proven it can deal with a deranged Yggdrasill and we trust you can do it again."

    "None taken." Lotho lied through his vines.

    "What a moldy piece of wood!" He cursed right after hanging up. "He just wants to drop the problem on us. Good call, Feela."

    With the help of the local Council, the mission in Jiera ended faster than in Zima. Lith had to use the blue flames only a handful of times and only when the populace of a Sapling asked him to.

    Most Saplings were happy to give up on their fragment of the World Tree''s essence. The madness in them slowly twisted their minds and bodies. Every day they spent resisting its allure was agony.

    As for the Guardians, the light of the Yggdrasill''s essence had become strong enough to draw their attention but they didn''t interfere with Lith''s mission. Not for a lack of wanting, mind you.

    Fenagar was the one who had it worse after facing the Eldritches and even though he burned with desire for revenge, his body had yet to heal. With his powers diminished and Xenagrosh''s ability to call for backup, he had to let them go.

    Roghar had mostly recovered and he craved knowledge the most. When Lith and

    Zoreth crossed into his territory while holding the purified World Tree''s essence, the wolf Guardian went this close to ambushing them.

    "Can I?" He asked Zagran before taking action.

    He was still weakened and if this was another trap laid by the Eldritches, Roghar knew he could only rely on the Garuda to be rescued again,

    "By all means, but if something happens to you, this time you are on your own." Zagran growled. "Be it Tyris or the Eldritches that turn you into a rug, I won''t save your ass."

    Salaark had informed Zagran of the mission right after Lith had left the Blood Desert. The Overlord had asked nothing of the Lord of Might, just given her a friendly heads up.

    Zagran had made the decision to let Lith go on her own. She knew Mogar needed a World Tree but wasn''t sure if Jiera was the best choice.

    "Fine." Roghar whined, looking with longing at his surveillance array one last time. "I could learn so many things by studying those two living dead. So many answers I could find by cracking the Yggdrasill''s essence open."

    "Just as many I could learn by cracking your skull open!" Zagran ignored his plea and hung up the call.

    "That was rude." The Fenrir sighed. "I already said fine."

    He turned off the array and focused on his recovery.

    ***

    Next came Verendi.

    Xaphen had no intention of following them on Garlen so he bid them goodbye and returned to Zima to start his journey anew. After crossing the ocean, Zoreth dropped Lotho and Feela as well.

    "You have no authority in Verendi and the less you know about the Organization''s business, the less we''ll have to argue." She said.

    "I don''t like this, but if this is your choice, Lith, I''ll respect it." Feela said and Lith nodded for her to leave. "If you need help solving an issue with the local Council, you know how to reach me."

    "I wish you luck." Lotho was tempted to summon an army of Fae and take the Yggdrasill''s essence for himself, but he knew the risks such power entailed and had not forgotten his meeting with Esor.

    "They may be just a Sapling, but their disdain of the Council matches that of all the World Trees I''ve met. They are supposed to be the wisest beings on Mogar so I''d better trust their judgment.''

    The Awakened Council of Verendi was now led by young Awakened who were still trying to establish alliances and split the territories between them. Many new factions had arisen and with the previous power balance gone, old and new scores ended up being settled in blood.

    The Organization''s invasion to retrieve the Mouth of Menadion had caused the death of most of the oldest and most powerful Awakened of Verendi, even ending entire

    bloodlines.

    The few who were left had no interest in provoking the Organization and risking the Eldritches decided to finish the job.

    As for the Guardians, they had a tough decision on their hands.

    "It''s been a while since a Yggdrasill has taken root in Verendi." Ashfor the Myrmidon said. "We could use their wisdom to find a way to put an end to the endless wars of our continent and maybe find a way to counter those accursed Abominations." After Ileza''s defeat at the Organization''s hands, the news of Tezka''s fight with Salaark, and the almost capture of two of Jiera''s Guardians, made Ashfor wary. Before making a move, he wanted to make sure the three Guardians of Verendi were on the same

    page.

    "Or it could make things much worse." Torka the Sleipnir replied. "The last two World Trees caused nothing but trouble and Verendi is already on its knees. The last thing we need is another threat to the balance."

    "Do what you want, I''m out of this." Ileza turned around the moment she identified the

    travelers.

    "What? Why?" Ashfor asked in surprise.

    "That''s Lith Verhen. Tyris'' favorite." The Guardian of Life replied, fanning the flames of misunderstanding.

    "Favourite how? lorka narrowed his eyes.

    "I got beaten by her because I messed with an issue regarding his children." The Bastet said. "Children she''s raising as her own. On top of that, I''m indebted to Tyris for

    healing me.

    "I have no desire to receive a second visit from her and have the grace she bestowed upon me taken away. I''ve suffered enough and if something were to happen to us,

    there would be no one to stop the Organization." S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Ileza broke the mind link and her figure disappeared.

    "What about you, Torka?" Ashfor would have preferred moving in full force, but there was little two Guardians couldn''t achieve on their turf.

 Chapter 3479 One Mistake (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3479 One Mistake (Part 2)"I''m out too." The Sleipnir shook his head. "We''ve both seen Tyris beating Ileza to a pulp and I was there when she banished Roghar from Garlen. Back then I was under her tutelage, learning how to handle my Guardian powers when it happened."

    "And?" Ashfor asked with curiosity.

    "And it wasn''t a fight. It was a massacre." lorka shuddered at the memory. "If not for the Fringe enveloping them, each of Tyris'' fists would have shattered mountains and leveled cities. If Ileza is right, the next time I see those fists they will be aimed at us so no thanks."

    ***

    Blood Desert, at the same time.

    While Lith and the others collected the Yggdrasill''s fragments in Verendi without encountering any resistance, Scarlett the Sekhmet performed the final test of her apprenticeship under Salaark.

    Or rather, under Blood Magus Ilyum Balkor.

    The Overlord had paid Scarlett little attention during her stay, coming to observe her progress from time to time and giving the occasional advice, Balkor had taught the young Guardian everything he had learned from Salaark and the Sekhmet built on it. "Show me what you can do, cat." The Overlord said.

    She had come to supervise the final test and observe the progress of her prot¨¦g¨¦.

    "With pleasure." Scarlett conjured a Forgemastering circle with a wave of her paw, filling it with world energy in an instant.

    The entire room crackled with power, the simple gesture released so much raw mana that the concentric set of arrays could barely contain it. A bolt of silver lightning empowered the magic circle, stabilizing it, while another increased the Sekhmet''s abilities tenfold.

    She had a Davross battle claw float in mid-air as she weaved together dozens of pseudo cores into a power core. Scarlett spoke words of power and the corresponding runes appeared on the claw one after the other until the silver of the metal was almost eclipsed by the blue light of the runes.

    The infusion process was flawless. The power core encountered no resistance and needed no fixing, maintaining a perfectly spherical form until its last bit disappeared inside the Davross.

    "Well, what do you think?" Scarlett wiped the sweat running down her forehead while trying the battle claw on her right paw. "It''s a masterpiece, even if I have to say it myself. It holds the full power I possess while using Life Maelstrom.

    "Even a Guardian should be wary of it." The mere swing of the Guardian weapon put the barrier enveloping Salaark''s palace under great strain.

    Scarlett wasn''t infusing it with mana nor activating its enchantments yet the arrays became visible to the naked eye and the wind pressure almost blew Balkor off his feet. "It''s indeed a masterpiece." Salaark nodded. "For an Awakened. For a Guardian, however, this is a piece of crap!"

    The Overlord beckoned and the battle claw flew into her delicate hand. She clenched her fist and the Davross crumpled under the pressure like paper.

    Scarlett was shocked, outraged, and utterly humiliated.

    Shocked because Salaark had used no power, just her physical strength while in a non-combat form. Outraged because the Sekhmet had given her all for that piece and utterly humiliated because she couldn''t argue with the results.

    "What did I do wrong?" Scarlett lowered her head in shame. "I''ve followed all of Balkor''s lessons and mastered his techniques. That battle claw is the result of my studies under him. Why did I fail?"

    "Only a bad artisan blames her tools, or in your case, their products." Salaark released her grip and the Davross fixed itself. "If it is of any consolation, cat, you made only one mistake."

    "Only one?" The Sekhmet was flabbergasted.

    "Yes" Salaark nodded. "But one you carried over your entire apprenticeship, leading to this lackluster performance."

    "If you noticed it from the start, why didn''t you correct me?" Scarlett snarled. "How could I give you space for improvement if I pointed out mistakes you failed to notice? How could I put your talent and intuition to the test if I gave you the answers to questions you weren''t even asking yourself?" Salaark said, leaving Scarlett speechless.

    "You are a Guardian now, cat. Once you are out of here you, the slightest lapse of judgment will bear terrible consequences and you can''t expect me to come fix your messes for you.

    "I''ve let you repeat the same mistake over and over to see if you realized your shortcomings. To test your ability to reflect and learn on your own. A test that you''ve failed."

    "If I suck so much, why did you leave me in Balkor''s hands?" The Sekhmet sighed. "He''s a good teacher but he failed to nurture me properly and now I have to start my apprenticeship from scratch"

    "Balkor is one of the most talented individuals I''ve ever met, cat." Salaark replied. "Just by observing me a few times, he has learned more than most of my children have

    done in millennia.

    "I''ve entrusted you to him because he is more talented than you were as a Scorpicore and possesses the spark of Guardian magic. A spark he can''t develop but that you were supposed to notice."

    Balkor and Scarlett stood with their mouths open, having no idea what the Overlord was talking about.

    "Also, don''t worry." Salaark said. "Your apprenticeship with me is over, I''ll give you one final lesson and then you can move on. Both of you, watch closely."

    A flick of her index finger dismantled the battle claw into Davross, elemental crystals, runes, and power core. The Overlord preserved the essence of the ingredients Scarlett had consumed and dispelled the rest.

    "Life Maelstrom, if you please." Salaark asked and the Sekhmet handed her mentor the same amount of silver lightning she had used to Forgemaster the battle claw. The Overlord absorbed it inside her body, making it crackle with thunder. "Here''s your mistake, Scarlett the Sekhmet. You are not aligned with nature anymore. You are a force of nature!" The world energy erupted from the geyser below the palace and flooded the battle claw without the need for any circle.

    Soon sparks appeared around the metal as it could barely contain the world energy. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You are not a mage anymore. You are magic!" A second pillar of energy, this time comprised of pure mana, burst out of Salaark''s body, matching the world energy.

    Her will shaped the mana into runes that coated the Davross with a thick writing and formed a vortex of pseudo cores that swallowed the essence of the ingredients. There were no steps or phases, everything happened at the same time.

    The elemental crystals bonded with the metal as the runes appeared on its surface, shaping the mana circulatory system of the battle claw without any distortion. Salaark brought the nascent power core in front of her and poured the Life Maelstrom into it.

    Yet instead of infusing the silver lightning into the runes she shaped it into new runes that became an integral part of the power core. The silvery runes latched on those on

    the surface of the battle claw, forming arches of electricity. The metal was drawn to the power core as if it was a powerful magnet.

 Chapter 3480 Absolute Power (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3480 Absolute Power (Part 1)The two key pieces of the Forgemastering process welcomed each other like lovers, craving to become one.

    There was no resistance, no imperfection arose, and no intervention from Salaark was needed. Once the fusion was completed, the Overlord clenched her fist and sealed the power core with a slightly bigger sphere that was actually comprised of countless mana pathways.

    "See it for yourself." Salaark handed the reborn battle claw to the Sekhmet. "Your Life Maelstrom isn''t just meant to kick your power up a few notches but to become an integral part of your Forgemastered creations.

    "Whoever uses that weapon can now boost its powers tenfold at will thanks to the Life Maelstrom I''ve trapped within it. The mana pathways keep the silver lightning from leaking out and with time and world energy the elemental crystals can restore the consumed Life Maelstrom to its initial amount."

    "This is amazing." Scarlett could now tell the difference between an Awakened masterpiece and Guardian-level equipment.

    Even without testing the battle claw, she could tell that a mere swing of her weapon would tear the palace''s walls apart and endanger the inhabitants of the Heavenly Plume Tribe.

    "Can I really conjure something like that for my Forgemastery?" Balkor asked in

    amazement.

    "Just a spark but yes." Salaark shook her head. "Your body is battered and your life force is running out. Even if you were to discover how to do it, I wouldn''t recommend it. You are a mortal and far from your prime.

    "Your cracked life force can''t handle this kind of energy without exploding. You need to restore your body and build yourself a tower. Then, you might use the equivalent of a candle''s flame."

    "If a Magus like me is a candle even after obtaining a mage tower, what are you, My Liege?"

    "A raging volcano." Salaark replied.

    "Wait, that''s it?" Scarlett was flabbergasted. "One lesson and you send me away? What about Creation Magic? You taught it to both Balkor and Lith!"

    "Don''t be greedy, cat." The Overlord scoffed. "You are a Guardian now and have infinite life whereas they can''t afford the luxury of time. You have learned Light Mastery and figured out one branch of Void Magic on your own.

    "You are the youngest Guardian ever. I trust you to learn Creation Magic just like Yaga

    and I did, by yourself. If you don''t, that''s too bad. Bye!" A snap of Salaark''s fingers brought Scarlett and her battle claw to Lutia.

    Inside the nursery in Lith''s house, to be precise.

    "Welcome, dear Scarlett, and congratulations." Tyris welcomed the Sekhmet by handing her Valeron the Second. "I didn''t expect you so soon but you come at the right moment. I can use some help."

    Judging by the baby boy''s stern look, Valeron was more suspicious than impressed by the sudden appearance of the newcomer. Judging by the stench, he also needed a fresh diaper.

    "What is this? Why am I here?" Scarlett asked in confusion when she found herself in human form against her will and with no magical power.

    "This is a person. Tyris glared at the Sekhmet. "Valeron the Second, this is Scarlett, a grumpy but well-meaning Guardian. Scarlett, this is Valeron, my grandchild."

    "Hi." The baby boy waved his small hand.

    "Nice to meet you too, little one." Scarlett sighed as she unfolded the cloth diaper,

    "As for your second question, this is part of your training." Tyris said while taking care of Elysia.

    "Then we can move on to the next phase, Lady Tyris. With all due respect, I''ve raised plenty of children. This is nothing new to me." Scarlett wasn''t used to cloth diapers but she was a quick learner.

    After watching the Great Mother changing Elysia, the Sekhmet was able to do the same for Valeron.

    "You couldn''t be more wrong" Tyris shook her head, her hair sparkling like a golden waterfall under the morning sunlight. "You have raised plenty of children as a cat, a Shyf, and a Scorpicore, but none as a Guardian."

    "What difference does it make?" Scarlett had to use a wet wipe to clean the baby and abundant hot water and soap for herself.

    "Think about it." Tyris replied. "Leegaain taught you how to control your powers. Fenagar how to discover the secrets of your bloodline. Roghar how to use them. Zagran taught how to fight and Salaark how to Forgemaster with them.

    "What''s left for you to learn that I can teach you?"

    Scarlett pondered the question for a while but found no answer.

    "I don''t know." She shrugged. "If it were up to me, I''d build myself a state-of-the-art Guardian-level lab and then shut myself in it until I''ve mastered Salaark''s final lesson. After that, I''d go visit Zagran for a few spars and that''s it."

    "And that''s why you are here instead." Tyris nodded.

    "I''m sorry, but you lost me." Scarlett felt stupid.

    "I can almost hear Salaark imparting her famous final lesson to you" Tyris chuckled before making her best impression of the Overlord''s stern, thundering voice. "You are not part of nature anymore. You are a force of nature. You are not a mage anymore. You are magic. Did I say that right?"

    "Down to a t." Scarlett couldn''t help but chuckle as well. The contrast between the two women was literally like night and day." Does she always use those exact same words?" "Always." Tyris replied. "What Salaark always fails to add, however, is that beneath that force of nature and magic, there''s still Scarlett the Scorpicore. You are more than your powers. You are a person."

    "And?" Scarlett tilted her head in confusion.

    "And a newborn Guardian tends to lose themselves in their newfound powers. To

    mistake what they can do with who they are." Tyris said. "Give it enough time and you might even forget about the reasons you chose to become a Guardian in the first

    place.

    "You''ve come to me not to learn something new but to remember something you have learned a long time ago: who you are. I''m going to make sure your status as a

    Guardian doesn''t muddy your morals and beliefs.

    "You have learned how to control your powers but you''ll soon discover that controlling yourself and your ego has become much more difficult than it ever was. And how could it be any different, now that you can read into people''s hearts?

    "Now that you can listen to their wishes and the cries of help of those in need? How can someone capable of changing the world around them with a mere thought not be tempted to use their powers for what they believe to be ''the greater good"?"

    Scarlett pondered those words and Tyris let them sink in, waiting until the Sekhmet nodded her to continue before resuming to talk.

    "I''ve taken your powers away for the same reason you are going to help me with the children. After over two years of isolation, I want you to reconnect with your old self. The Scarlett who loved children so much that she sacrificed everything she was for

    them. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We need to dig her out of that Guardian shell before the power of the Sekhmet. smothers hers."

 Chapter 3481 Absolute Power (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3481 Absolute Power (Part 2)"The old Scarlett is going to remind you that even the weakest of humans can deny your wishes just by saying no. That despite all your power and knowledge, you have no right to force others to think and live the way you see fit.

    "Dealing with children is the perfect way to get ready for your new life. You''ll deal every day with stubborn people who have no idea what they are doing yet refuse to change their ways, no matter how dumb their mistakes are or how hurt they get. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "They''ll cry, whine, and beg you to give you things that would harm them while ignoring what they already have and should treasure. People who won''t do something just because you say so and, most of the time, it''s because they simply don''t understand what you are saying"

    "Are we still talking about children?" Scarlett looked at Valeron who giggled and nodded at her as a thank you.

    "Let''s be honest. Almost everyone who''s not a Guardian will look like a child to you. They are ignorant, short-sighted, and seek immediate reward with no care for long-term consequences." Tyris replied. "So, yes. We are talking about children." "In other words, you are going to teach me humility." Scarlett sighed.

    After Verendi, collecting the fragments of the World Tree in the Gorgon Empire and the Griffon Kingdom was a breeze. Feela and Lotho had already prepared the field and the essence in Lith''s possession had grown to the point the Saplings had no voice in the matter.

    The fragments wanted to be whole again and even the strongest willpower could only slow them down once they started to leave. Even when that happened, a punch or two was enough to seal the deal.

    Much to Lith''s surprise, as he collected the final fragments the light grew brighter but smaller. Once he was done, the essence of the World Tree turned into a life-sized golden acorn.

    "I can''t believe something so powerful can be contained inside something so small." Lith said in surprise.

    "I would have said the same before Elysia was born. Now it''s kind of obvious to me." Solus chuckled.

    "Thank you for bringing me along." Aalejah gave Lith a deep bow. "Let me know whether you decide to plant it or destroy it. My people deserve to know the truth instead of wallowing in false hope."

    "That''s supposed to be my line." Lith checked there was no trace of the old Tree''s

    madness one last time and handed the acorn to Aalejah. "Just allow me to give you an unsolicited piece of advice.

    "I don''t care what the Guardians say. Zima seems wonderful this time of the year!"

    "Are you sure?" Aalejah held the acorn with both hands, chuckling at the

    not-so-obvious suggestion to pick the farthest Sapling from the Kingdom as possible. "I mean, this is a huge responsibility."

    "And that''s why I can''t be the one shouldering it." Lith replied. "I hate the World Tree. If it were up to me, I''d see them burn to the end of time. Yet I know how important this is for your people and Mogar itself.

    "While we traveled together, I met plenty of Saplings who were smart, kind, and had a terrible sense of humor. I still hate the Tree but now I''ve come to realize that Saplings are just like humans. There are good and bad ones.

    "Hence, I can''t let my personal feelings interfere in the matter. You know the elven traditions. You''ve lived as an aspirant Chronicler long enough to know what your people need and the qualities that would make a Sapling a good World Tree.

    "You''ve also met the Saplings with me so I consider you the most qualified person for this job." Lith closed her hands around the acorn and pushed them to her chest. "This is yours now. Don''t worry about me and do what you think is right."

    "Thank you so much." Aalejah sniffled as warm tears streaked down her cheeks. "I didn''t expect you to trust me so much Lith. You are much kinder and more generous than I thought. I promise I won''t let you down.

    "I''ll do everything I can to ensure the next World Tree will be the best one ever,"

    "I know you won''t let me down, Aalejah." Lith shook his head while patting her shoulder. "Take all the time you need and do your best. It''s all I ask of you."

    "Really?" The elf felt her heart swell with sweet emotions.

    "Really." Lith said, his expression full of confidence. "Even if your best isn''t enough, from this moment onward, everything that goes wrong with the Tree is on you. From absolute power comes absolute responsibility so I expect you to deal with any future issue without bothering me."

    "You son of a-" Aalejah''s tears dried up and her expression hardened, "Wait, your mother is innocent in this. I mean, I take back everything nice I said about you! You just wanted to dump the responsibility on someone else."

    "Not the main reason but one of the main reasons." Lith shrugged. "I wish you the best of luck. You are going to need it. Bye!"

    A Warp brought him, Solus, Menadion, and Zoreth away from the still-cussing clf.

    "Time to go home." Lith sighed. "I can''t wait to have a moment to sit down and relax. We didn''t stop traveling for over a week."

    "I can''t believe you threw the biggest hot potato on Mogar to Aalejah and abandoned her without a second thought." Solus threw him a disapproving look.

    "That''s not true. I do have one." Lith replied, sounding offended.

    "Which is?" Solus furrowed her brow without lowering her guard.

    "I can''t decide between pork and beef for dinner. I''m open to suggestions." Lith said as

    if it was a matter of life or death.

    "I knew it was something incredibly dumb." Solus sighed while Ripha burst into

    laughter.

    "Can I come with you guys?" Zoreth asked. "We''ve been away for a while and I want to spend some time with Valeron and Elysia before getting back to work."

    "Sure" Lith nodded.

    "Thanks. Can I call Byt too?" Zoreth asked Solus with a bow.

    Solus in turn looked at Menadion who nodded.

    "No problem, Zor. You''ll be our honored guests." She replied.

    One mana geyser and one Tower Warp later, Lith rejoined his family.

    The Blood Desert was safe and everyone was happy, yet he couldn''t stop thinking

    about the warning of Esor the Sapling.

    "What the fuck are you?" He asked to his hands, the left wreathed in silvery flames and

    the right in blue ones.

    ***

    Even though Lith would have liked to rest for a few days and then disappear again inside his lab, life had different plans, and no qualms about setting them into motion.

    He was just done catching up and spending quality time with his family when his amulet drew his consciousness.

    "I swear that if Aalejah fucked up already, tonight I''ll dine on roasted elf!" Lith took the amulet out of his pocket with a snarl. "Damn, this is much worse than I thought."

    He pressed the communication rune and wore his best smile.

 Chapter 3482 Path of Progress (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3482 Path of Progress (Part 1)"Hi, Friya, nice to hear from you. How are you doing?"

    "It''s nice to hear from you too, Lith." Her hologram was sitting on a comfortable armchair that alone cost more than most houses in Lutia, sipping tea. "I''m fine, thank you. I''ve heard you are done with your mission and you are free in the afternoon.

    "I expect your visit with trepidation. Bring Kamila, I want to say hi to Raldarak.

    "I..." Lith tried to come up with an excuse but then remembered he hadn''t seen Friya since the day she had helped him with the operation to rescue Solus. "Who told you I''m free?"

    "I did." Solus stood straight, her hands on her hips. "I''m sick and tired of waiting for you to remember we have friends. Move that ass, we are leaving"

    "What about Kami?" Lith asked.

    "I told her about the visit first thing in the morning" Solus replied. "She''s waiting for us at the tower"

    "We''ll be there in a few minutes, Friya. Lith out." He sighed.

    The country mansions Jirni had gifted her daughters stood on top of mana geysers to provide them with an infinite energy supply for their defensive systems. I also allowed Solus to imprint the geysers and reach the mansions in a single Warp.

    "Nice. The tower got an upgrade but I have something to show you too." Friya said the moment Lith walked through the tower''s door. "Well, don''t you have anything to say?" Friya stood straight under the magical lights of the room, with Nalrond just a few steps behind her. She was wearing a gorgeous bridal gown made of sky-blue silk and decorated with white lacework.

    Precious and magical gemstones complemented the seven colored streaks in her hair that had been combed and straightened into a luscious, silky waterfall that reached the small of her back, shining like a cascade of jewels under the light.

    There was no neckline and she wore evening gloves but the form-fitting dress highlighted her soft curves as much as the light makeup brought out her big eyes and perfect features.

    "Nicely played, Friya." Lith walked around her, checking her out. "But I can''t marry you unless Kami agrees. You know the rules."

    Nalrond and Kamila tensed up while Friya laughed her ass off. Hitting on each other when they met was a running inside joke between them.

    "It''s not that, dummy. I was fishing for compliments." She replied. "Besides, I asked Nalrond if we could keep doing our routine but he said it''s rude and disrespectful..."

    "Because it is." The Agni grunted and Kamila followed suit.

    "So no more of this, okay? This was fine and dandy while we were both single but now it would offend our spouses."

    "It actually annoyed me even before we got married." Kamila snorted. "Seeing your boyfriend flirting like that with another girl hurt back then no less than it does now." "Same." Nalrond snarled.

    "Nalrond!" Friya gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Why didn''t you tell me sooner?"

    "And be a buzzkill?" He scoffed. "I already had lots of trouble with my life forces and was holding back our relationship. I didn''t want-"

    "Not that." She cut him short. "I''m talking about your boyfriend."

    "This is not funny!" He became beet reed while Friya laughed harder. "You know what I meant."

    "Sorry, I couldn''t resist the temptation." She wiped the tears off her face. "Well? What do you think, guys and girls?"

    "You look gorgeous." Lith replied and went for a hug. "Congratulations, Friya. Congratulations, Nalrond."

    "Thanks, but not so fast. The Agni was wearing a black-tie evening suit. "We were just rehearsing. We expect you to attend the actual ceremony."

    "Of course we will." Kamila said. "You look so good in that dress that you should be classified as tier one Forbidden Magic, Friya."

    "Thank you!" Friya added nothing, knowing how painful it was to admit something like that to another woman.

    "I can''t believe you look like this despite Awakening as an adult and I look like this despite Awakening as a child." Solus had to stand on her tiptoes just for her arms to reach Friya''s back.

    "Don''t say that, Solus. You are a beautiful woman." Friya said.

    "She''s right, baby." Menadion came out last with the babies. "Nice to meet you, Friya, I''m Ripha-"

    "Menadion!" Friya pushed Solus aside and grabbed the hand Ripha was offering her. "The First Ruler of the Flames. The Mother of Forgemastering. The mind behind the six great academies."

    "Yes!" Menadion was taken aback. "Are you a fan?"

    "Big time." Friya nodded. "My master often talks to me about your work. It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Master Menadion."

    "Hih! Hih!" Elysia flew into Friya''s arms, rescuing Ripha and doing her best to say her aunt''s name.

    "Hi, baby girl. Gods if you''ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you!" Friya peppered the small Tiamat''s snout with kisses, making her giggle.

    "Fff... Frrrryia. Frrryia." Valeron was next.

    "Very good! You are a really smart baby." She tickled his scaled belly and kissed his forehead. "Do you think our children will be like this, Nalrond?"

    "No." He grunted coldly. "I expect them to look like me in their hybrid form. Unless you have other plans, of course."

    "How can you say that." Friya went pale. "I would never-"

    "Got you!" Nalrond burst into laughter. "Not so funny being on the other side of this

    kind of jokes, isn''t it?"

    Friya went from white to bright red with fury.

    ''I would kick his ass if only he weren''t right.'' She thought. ''Damn if I hate when it

    happens.''

    "Thanks, Nalrond." Kamila fist bumped the Agni.

    "Anytime."

    "Nicely played, Nalrond." Lith patted his shoulders. "But there is a big difference

    between a long-standing joke and an improvised one!

    "Which is?" The Agni asked.

    "That if I catch you flirting with my wife, I''ll bury you so deep that they''ll dig your body

    in Zima." Lith said.

    "And I''ll help him." Friya turned around and walked away with a furious clicking of

    heels. "Come, I''ve prepared a feast."

    Quylla and Morok joined them a few minutes later and after lots of touching and

    cooing at Kamila''s womb, the three friends spent the afternoon reminiscing the old

    times and discussing their future.

    "You two will soon be uncle and aunt. Be nice with your niblings." Quylla brought Elysia and Valeron to her swollen womb, making them chirp and giggle with joy.

    "About that." Morok cleared his throat. "I need the training facility in the tower, if you S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    don''t mind, Lith."

    "The Firing Range?"

    "The Nursery." The Tyrant scratched his head. "I need help practicing with diapers and have no parent I can ask for advice."

    "That''s not true. You can ask my father." Quylla replied.

    "No way." Morok cut the air with his hand. "Lith may scare me sometimes but Orion

    terrifies me. Always."

    "Be my guest." Lith replied. "You can ask my parents to show you the ropes if you want.

    They will gladly help you."

    Things went so well that the women planned another reunion a few days later and Kamila gladly agreed to drag Lith there if necessary.

 Chapter 3483 Path of Progress (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3483 Path of Progress (Part 2)***

    Verhen Mansion, a few days later.

    While Lith and Solus experimented with the tower and Kamila, Aran, and Leria practiced their Spirit Magic, Menadion listened to Silverwing and Baba Yaga as they explained to her how magic had evolved in the past seven hundred years.

    The Ruler of the Flames would have been done with the lessons already if the two white cores had to show her just the modern runes. Ripha, however, wanted to know all about the now-outdated magical theories that were still better than those she had developed back in the day.

    "I know they are not in use anymore but that doesn''t mean such theories hold no untapped potential." She explained. "I don''t want just to memorize new runes, I want to understand how Awakened came to discover them.

    "If I follow the entire process instead of just accepting its results, I might find lines of research that lesser minds have missed."

    "That''s so humble of you, Ripha." Silverwing sighed.

    "Seeing you are still so arrogant after everything you went through warms my heart." The Red Mother snorted. "It''s nice to see that some things never change."

    Whenever Menadion found what she considered a potential lead, Baba Yaga and Lochra stopped their lesson and helped Ripha in her research until she confirmed it as a dead end.

    "Told you so." Lochra gloated.

    "Yeah, still, you had no idea it was possible before I pointed it out." Menadion gloated back.

    "No dessert for you if you keep quarreling, girls." Baba Yaga said in the stern voice a kindergarten teacher would use with unruly children.

    "You are not our mother!" The two Magi said in unison.

    "Thank the gods, no." Baba Yaga said with so much relief that it irked the Menadion and Silverwing to no end. "But I could be. Now back to work."

    It was almost lunchtime when the impossible happened. Baba Yaga''s communicator amulet drew her consciousness.

    "Why is Lith calling you?" Silverwing furrowed her brows. "He''s in the other room. He should just walk in here and talk like a normal person."

    "It''s not him." Baba Yaga clicked her tongue.

    "Why is Epphy calling you?" Menadion rubbed her chin in confusion. "She''s with Lith.

    She should just-"

    "Very funny!" The Red Mother snorted. "I have more than two contact runes on this hellish device."

    "You do?" The two Magi were utterly flabbergasted.

    "I have three. Baba Yaga showed them the unknown blinking rune. "Who are you and how did you get your rune on my amulet?"

    "It''s me, Lady Yaga." The hologram of a seven-headed Hydra appeared from the blue gemstone on the communicator. "Fyrwal the Hydra. We exchanged contacts the last time we met, remember?"

    "Of course." Baba Yaga''s bald-faced lie made the Magi in the peanut gallery giggle. "What do you want?"

    "I just wanted to inform you that the Hydra bloodline is willing to accept your terms." Fyrwal said.

    "My terms?" Baba Yaga echoed in confusion.

    "Yes. The Harmonizer. We are willing to help you with your research if you help us with ours. If you are still interested, of course."

    "Oh, that!" The Red Mother nodded. "Is it fine if I bring my assistants?"

    "My clan offers its hospitality to everyone accompanying you." Fyrwal gave her a deep bow. "These are our coordinates. Please, let us know when you arrive so that our defensive systems won''t mistake you for an intruder."

    "I''ll be there in the afternoon. Yaga out." She unceremoniously hung up the call.

    "I think she needs a more accurate time, Mommy." Lochra''s voice was as sweet as honey and full of sarcasm.

    "I''ll tell her when I know it myself." Baba Yaga replied. "Come, my assistants,"

    "You were talking about us?" Menadion''s eyes widened.

    "Yes, but before bringing you along, I need permission from your master."

    "I don''t have a-" Ripha''s fury came and went way like a gust of wind. "I actually do." She sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    sighed.

    The Red Mother knocked on Lith''s door.

    "Come in."

    "Hey, do you have plans for the afternoon?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "No. Why?"

    "I need Ripha. Which means I need you." The Red Mother replied. "Don''t make that. face. It''s to help a friend of yours. Fyrwal the Hydra."

    "Okay, slow down, sit down, and explain it to me from the beginning." Lith offered the three women chairs.

    Baba Yaga reminded him about the offer he had suggested the Hydras to make her and then told him Fyrwal had just accepted her terms.

    "Oh, that." Lith nodded. "I''ll gladly accompany you. There''s a lot riding on this. Faluel benefits from that research and with her, Friya. Also, anything we discover I can use to help Morok, Garrik, Ryla, and in turn, Quylla.

    "On top of that, I''m deeply indebted to Fyrwal for her role in rescuing Solus."

    "How generous of you." Lochra said. "You have a hidden agenda as big as a dictionary."

    "I do my best. Thanks for noticing it." He replied.

    "It wasn''t a compliment."

    "I know."

    "Kids." Baba Yaga clapped her hands to draw their attention. "When can we leave?" "Depends. How long do you think it''ll take?" Lith asked.

    "The papers I can just take them home to study them thoroughly so I''d say just the time to check the Hydras'' apparatus and prototypes. Baba Yaga replied. "Maybe observe a couple of test runs."

    "In other words, the entire day!" Lith sighed. "We''ll go after we are done with lunch,

    We are going to need our strength, Solus."

    "Sure, but it''s nothing we haven''t studied before, and we found nothing." She replied.

    "True, but this time we have a secret weapon."

    "The new floors of the tower?"

    "No, the Eyes on Menadion on the actual eyes of Menadion." Lith replied.

    Lith had already been to the secret research facility of the Hydras hence it was up to Solus to remember where it was and how to access it.

    "Lady Yaga. Ripha. Silverwing" They found Fyrwal and Faluel waiting for them, both Hydras in their human form and standing in front of a mountain. "Why do you address everyone by their last name but me?" Menadion grunted.

    "To knock your ego down a peg, old friend." Fyrwal said with a smirk. "Believe me, you need it or you''ll leave this place with your head so up your ass that it will pop back out

    of your neck"

    "And why is that?"

    "Lady Menadion, I''m a big fan of your work." Faluel shoved her mother away

    unceremoniously and took Ripha''s hand into hers, bowing so deeply that her hair grazed the ground. "I can''t believe I''m blessed with the opportunity to meet you in person through my disciple."

    Menadion blinked several times, her expression a mix of confusion and disbelief.

    "I''m sorry!" Faluel raised her hands in apology. "I didn''t mean to brag. Even though I was Lith''s and Solus'' mentor, you don''t owe me anything. I swear, I wasn''t trying to-" "What in the nine hells is your daughter rambling about, Fylly?" Menadion couldn''t. stand Faluel''s verbal onslaught and cut it short.

    "After your death, a lot of people in the Forgemastery business missed you." Fyrwal sighed. "With you and Bytra gone and no more Rulers of the Flames emerging from our ranks, every Awakened Forgemaster went through every bit of your work, trying to find a clue that would lead to a breakthrough."

 Chapter 3484 Common Root (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3484 Common Root (Part 1)"And?" Menadion was still utterly confused.

    "And when that failed, we started researching the things you had Forgemastered for us and improved on them. Sure, every Forgemaster developed their own method, but that doesn''t change the fact that all modern techniques share common root you." Fyrwal shrugged.

    "You are a celebrity now. Some sort of god of Forgemastery."

    "That''s Sally!" Ripha replied in denial yet finally understanding the reason all the subjects Silvering and Baba Yaga taught her sounded oddly familiar.

    "She would be, if Salaark bothered explaining something to us from time to time." The Hydra said. "Let''s just say that you have a lot of admirers who consider every piece you left behind a treasure of knowledge."

    "That''s ridiculous!"

    "Nonetheless, it''s true. Brace yourself." A snap of Fyrwal''s fingers Warped everyone inside the secret lab.

    The ceiling was over 40 meters (132) high, with no inner walls and so packed with people that Menadion couldn''t see farther than a few meters in any direction. She would have easily mistaken them for humans if not for their vertical-slitted yellow eyes and the up to six small snakes sprouting from their necks.

    Judging from the width of the underground cave, Lith guessed that the Hydras had to have hollowed out at least one mountain to build the lab, if not more.

    Pillars of light formed by a series of arrays stacked one over the other were visible at regular intervals throughout the cave.

    The distance between the different sets of magical formations ensured that the spells cast by each team of researchers wouldn''t interact with those nearby and that each pillar received a steady supply of world energy.

    The entire network of Forgemastering labs, Healing facilities, and diagnostic tools was centered around a massive glass tank about 35 meters (115'') high, where usually Ufyl was immersed in nutrient fluids.

    This time, however, he was in human form as well, escorted by Hydra guards who were supposed to keep an eye on him but had all fourteen of them staring at Menadion. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Uhmm, Hi, there." Ripha said awkwardly.

    "Master Menadion!" Every Hydra just uttered those words but they were repeated by hundreds of mouths at the same time, booming together in a choir that made the cave tremble. "Please, bless us. Please help us."

    People approached her while bringing their children and Menadion hid behind Lith''s back.

    "Please, Master Menadion, say something to our Hatchlings so that they may grow up enlightened by your wisdom!" A Hydra who looked like a chestnut-haired man in a lab coat said.

    "Study hard and don''t slack off." Ripha said the first thing that came to her mind. "Hard work will never betray you."

    Everyone cheered as if Menadion had said something deep and the small Hydras stepped forward, offering her little hand-made stuffed dolls wielding a toy hammer

    shaped in Menadion''s image.

    "Thank you. They are beautifully made." They weren''t, but Ripha acted by instinct, taking the dolls and patting the Hatchlings on the head.

    The child-looking Hydras danced with joy while holding their heads. The rest of their

    peers stared at them with a mix of hatred and envy.

    ''Oh, shit!'' Menadion tried to defuse the situation by shaking the hands of the other young Hydras.

    "She touched my head! I''ll be a genius!"

    "She touched my hand! My hammer will never fail me!"

    Soon the children started to argue about who would be better and who was the luckiest among them.

    "Can someone please explain to me why I am such a big deal?" Ripha felt like the entire Mogar had gone insane. "I was just a bright violet-cored Forgemaster whereas Yaga and Lochra are white cores.

    "Why no one seems to care about two legends walking among them?"

    "Your humbleness is only matched by your peerless beauty, Ruler Menadion." Xubari, the lead Healer of the facility gave her a dramatic bow while introducing himself. "The answer to your brilliant question is quite simple."

    "Lady Yaga is the Mother of All Undead. She unleashed her creations against the living and there are countless stories about her prowling in the night to hunt on our children to feed the abominations she spawns."

    ''Aside from the first part, the rest is just folk tales! Ripha didn''t miss Xubari''s scorn as he looked at Baba Yaga nor Yaga''s amusement.

    "As for Lochra Silverwing, the kindest thing we can say about her is that she''s a traitor!" Xubari growled. "Her legacy empowered the fake mages but did nothing for us Awakened. She sold our secrets in exchange for glory and accolades.

    "She hasn''t produced a single piece of knowledge or innovation she didn''t share with the fake mages. The fact she''s achieved the white core only makes life more unfair and her existence more insufferable."

    The Hydra spat out every word like it was poison. When he turned to Menadion, the coldness of his rage turned into the warmth of adoration.

    "You, instead, blessed us Awakened first and gave the scraps of your work to the fake mages, Ruler Menadion. They call you a Magus, but what you did for them is incomparable to what you did for us.

    "You gave us weapons, armors, and more importantly, you took in countless Awakened disciples. It''s from your knowledge that the other Rulers of the Flames drew inspiration and reached enlightenment.

    "You left an entire set of artifacts to us to ensure the research of the Awakened community would progress even in case something happened to you. The disciples to whom you entrusted the different pieces betrayed you and your intentions, but that''s none of your fault."

    "When you put it that way, I sound quite impressive." Menadion nodded.

    "What about me?" Fyrwal grunted. "I was Ripha''s friend and I''m a damn good

    Forgemaster, even if I have to say it myself."

    "Who in here isn''t a good Forgemaster, dear sister?" Xorn, Fyrwal''s brother, said. "If you

    want accolades, tell me, what''s your greatest accomplishment?"

    "I founded the Kingdom with Valeron. Remember?" She replied.

    "That''s a military feat." He dismissed her claim with a sweep of his hand. "I mean a

    magical one. Something we all benefitted from."

    Fyrwal opened her mouth multiple times but ended up closing it without saying

    anything.

    "My point exactly!" Xorn said with a smug grin. "Ruler Menadion''s Mana Well technique, instead, is something that every Awakened Forgemaster still uses to this day and gives us a precious edge over non-Awakened."

    "Wow." Silverwing said. "They treat even Fyrwal like crap and then they have the gall to be surprised I didn''t give a damn about them all this time. You Hydras are just like the rest of the Awakened: an ungrateful bunch.

    "Without Fyrwal, there would be no Griffon Kingdom and no long-lasting peace. You would be too busy fighting the other clans of Emperor Beasts for territory and resources to build a facility like this!" She waved at the state-of-the-art laboratory. "Without me, there would be no academies and rogue Awakened like Lith would have gotten nowhere simply because he wasn''t born in a magical bloodline. On top of that, the competition with the fake mages is the only reason Awakened magic has made any progress at all in the last seven hundred years."

 Chapter 3485 Common Root (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3485 Common Root (Part 2) "If only you could see farther than your smug nose, you ungrateful bunch would realize how much you owe to people like Fyrwal, me, and many others whose names have been forgotten by history simply because no one bothered writing them down." Silverwing said.

    "Enough, Lochra" Baba Yaga grabbed Silverwing''s shoulder while shaking her head. "The Hydras can believe what they want. We came here to do a job. There is no point poisoning our collaboration before we even start."

    It took Silverwing only a glance to notice the angry gazes and clenched fists of the people around her. What she said may be true, but that didn''t mean others would accept it or even like it.

    "Lead the way, Fyrwal." Baba Yaga took point. "I need to study the data you have collected until now before I can start fixing your Harmonizer and adapt its technology to my children."

    "Of course." Fyrwal noticed that the Red Mother''s business tone and polite attitude had quelled the rising fury in her clanmates. "Please, follow me."

    She led the group toward the center of the cave where Ufyl''s pod was. The assembled Hydras made way for Menadion''s group, forming a corridor while extending their arms in the hope of a handshake.

    Menadion sighed but was happy to oblige. She gave more slow high-fives than handshakes but the Hydras didn''t care and the mood in the room improved greatly.

    "What changed your mind?" Baba Yaga asked. "How come you agreed to my terms after all this time?"

    "Because we are slumped. Fyrwal said. "As in, we have run out of leads and ideas. Our hope for a breakthrough was shortly rekindled after we gained more willingly test subjects who have been transformed by Thrud''s Ambrosia, but in the end, their contribution proved fruitless as well"

    "What are you talking about?" Baba Yaga raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    "Allow me to introduce you to the rest of our guests." Fyrwal replied. "These are Protheus, Leari, Ophius, Arka, Isha, Phoma, Rhak, and Ufyl. You already know Friya, right?"

    "These eight all carry Thrud''s mark and I can sense a unique Divine Beast bloodline coming from them but they are supposed to be dead!" The Red Mother was flabbergasted. "Why are they here and since when is Friya part of this research?"

    "Leegaain spared them due to their unique abilities." Fyrwal replied. "Once we ran out of options with Ufyl, Lith put us in contact with the surviving members of Thrud''s army and they agreed to help us.

    "We hoped that by comparing their life forces with those belonging to the members of their clans of origin, we would have found a clue to further our research. For the rest of Mogar, however, all of Thrud''s generals but Ufyl are dead.

    "Per our deal with Leegaain, the truth can''t be revealed to anyone outside this lab. Is that clear?"

    "Crystal." Baba Yaga nodded, glad to have the opportunity to study the effects of the Ambrosia on multiple test subjects.

    "To keep the secret, we could only contact a few lesser Divine Beasts of proven trust. On top of that, we have guaranteed them that we won''t hoard the fruits of our research. We are doing this for all lesser Divine Beasts, not just Hydras."

    "A noble goal." Menadion said. "But what about Friya?"

    "She''s my daughter''s future Harbinger and your great fan, Ripha. She asked to be here." "Hi, Lady Menadion. I mean, Ripha." Friya stepped out of the crowd amid many grumbles. "I couldn''t miss the opportunity to see you at work,"

    Like this wasn''t already bad enough.''Ripha inwardly rolled her eyes.

    "Don''t expect too much from me. She actually said. "I''m rusty and grumpy so I apologize in advance for anything my mouth might say before my brain filters it."

    "Don''t worry. I understand." Friya said and the rest of the room nodded.

    "Do you prefer to consult holograms or paper?" Fyrwal asked.

    "Holograms, of course! Menadion replied before Baba Yaga could say anything.

    Xubari pressed a button on a console and images of blueprints for the Harmonizers and reports of the experiments'' results filled the air in front of Menadion, Baba Yaga, and Silverwing.

    "Not this." Menadion dispelled the holograms in confusion. "For this kind of information paper is better. We can take our time reading at our own pace. I meant the holograms of the life forces'' scans during your experiments."

    "We don''t have that." Anata, the lead Forgemaster of the Harmonizer lowered her head in shame. "We can only study the life force of a test subject during an ongoing experiment." "You can only what?" The honest surprise and shocked disbelief on Menadion''s face were worse than any insult she could dish out.

    Some Hydras wrung their hands, others fiddled with their feet, and all of them kept their eyes low like a bunch of students who had failed to complete their assignment.

    "Yes, Ripha." Baba Yaga patted her shoulder. "They are not incompetent, it''s just that there is no such technology. You, I, and the Guardians are the only ones who can do that."

    Her words gained the Red Mother admiration for her achievement and respect for

    defending the Hydras.

    "I''m sorry for my outburst. I didn''t mean to be rude. I''ve just returned after seven hundred years and I''m still unaware of what you consider common knowledge." Menadion gave everyone a bow, making the Hydras feel even worse. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Paper for everyone, please."

    Fyrwal handed a thick folder to every member of Lith''s group and conjured a table and chairs for them. Lith had just opened the first page when a familiar noise made him raise

    his head.

    Menadion and Baba Yaga were flipping through the documents like they were a picture book. They glanced at a page and then turned it over for a second before moving on to

    the next.

    ''Fuck me sideways, I haven''t seen that kind of speed since I worked with Manohar.'' Lith knew Ripha wasn''t using the Eyes because otherwise he and Solus would have experienced a strong headache through their connection.

    "That''s talent plus experience.'' Solus replied. Look at Aunt Loka.''

    Silverwing was fast by Lith''s standards but slow compared to the other two women. She took several seconds to read each page but was fast enough to make the Hydras'' jaws

    drop.

    ''She''s a polymath genius but has never focused her studies on a specific subject.'' Solus said while flipping through the Forgemastering pages almost as fast as Lochra. The parts about the Healing techniques took her more time than those about Forgemastering.

    ''Damn, you guys are making me look bad.'' Lith sighed.

    Without Soluspedia he was the slowest among them. The design of the Harmonizers was complex and he was unfamiliar with most of the runes they employed. The analysis of the life forces was just as complex but it took him even more time.

    Messing with a rune while Forgemastering meant a failed experiment. Messing with a rune while using healing magic meant killing the patient. Lith took his task seriously so he put his pride aside and read at a comfortable pace.

    By the time he was done, Menadion and Baba Yaga had read the material several times and were already discussing points they considered controversial. Lochra and Solus, instead, were asking the Hydras for clarifications on a few aspects of the Harmonizers.

 Chapter 3486 Road Map (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3486 Road Map (Part 1)"That was amazing" Fyrwal offered Lith a honeyed tea and a slice of homemade cake to relieve his stress.

    "I know." He accepted them both with gratitude. "Ripha and Yaga are damn impressive."

    "I was talking about you." She chuckled. "Someone as young as you wasn''t supposed to understand a thing. That''s Forgemastery and Healing arts of the highest grade and the result of the work of months of the entire Hydra bloodline at that.

    "Yet you went through everything like it was a textbook."

    "Indeed." Anata looked at Lith like prime meat. "Did you use Yggdrasill wood to help you focus?"

    "No." He shook his head. "The effect lasts only as long as you touch it. If I used the Yggdrasill wood, I wouldn''t know whether I truly understood the contents of the report or they seemed clear only because of the mind-focusing effects of the Yggdrasill wood."

    "Fascinating." She nodded, massaging his shoulders. "So is Yggdrasill wood useless for magical research or is there a trick to it?"

    "It''s very useful." Lith replied. "You just need to take notes while you work, breaking down your discoveries into concepts simple enough to understand without the help of the Yggdrasill wood.

    "I didn''t use such a method because taking notes like that would have consumed more time than we-"

    "Back off, sister!" Faluel snarled. "He''s taken. You too, Mom. Don''t stick so close to Lith."

    ''Oh, shit!'' Only then did Lith remember how much Emperor Beasts valued talent, bloodline abilities, and how direct they were when looking for a mating partner. I forgot! I''m a Divine Beast and whoever gets me gets Ripha as well.''

    ''Oh, shit!'' Only then did Solus raise her eyes from the papers and notice how half the room was staring at Lith and the other half at her. I just matched Aunt Loka''s speed and I''m allegedly a Verhen too!"

    She had been spared from male attention only thanks to her discussion with Silverwing and the fact that no one wanted to risk offending Menadion by courting her only descendant without her permission.

    "That''s rude of you, Fanny. I was just being friendly with our guest." Fyrwal pouted. "Indeed." Anata said. "And I was just interested in the properties of the legendary Yggdrasill wood."

    "Ladies!" Menadion slammed her hand on the table, drawing everyone''s attention to herself. "We have a job to do and I have a few ideas on how to do it."

    The room erupted in applause and cheers while Anata exploited the good news to hug Lith and press her voluptuous breasts on his back.

    "Me too!" Lith kindly but firmly freed himself from the Hydra''s arms and stood up. "I say we start by studying the life forces of Thrud''s Divine Beasts and confront them with those of their former clanmates."

    "My thoughts exactly" Menadion nodded. "Solus, Lith, come here. I need your help." They studied together sixteen different life forces with the Eyes of Menadion while pretending to use their Invigoration technique, sharing the burden equally.

    "What was that?" Anata asked once they were done.

    "Solus comes from my bloodline and our resonance increases my abilities. As for Lith, as a Demon, my strength comes from him." Menadion replied, using their bond to justify the grimaces and strain from the use of the artifact.

    "Do you really have a plan, Ripha?" Baba Yaga was confused. "I read the same files as you but there was nothing that caught my eye. The Hydras performed solid research. I found no fault in it but no inspiration either."

    "Same for me." Lochra said. "I can improve on a few things, but it will take me time to ponder and assimilate so much material."

    "Yes, I do have a plan." Menadion replied. "No offense, Yaga, but I''m the better Forgemaster. I''m not as good a Healer as you, but I''ve learned from the best."

    "Thanks." Baba Yaga chuckled. "What did you find?"

    "It''s easier and more useful if I show you all." Menadion said. "How long does the transformation process take?"

    "From Hydra to Seven Headed Dragon, the one we have perfected the most, it takes two days!" Xubari, the lead Forgemaster said. "But we haven''t done it in a while due to the deadly side effects."

    The process was actually safe. The problem was the rejection of the mana organs that took place soon after the transformation.

    The Harmonizer the Hydras had developed could only create temporary Seven Headed Dragons but different Hydras carried different Dragon bloodlines. If the test subject weren''t supposed to evolve into a Seven Headed Dragon, their body would soon reject. the foreign mana organs.

    The transformation process could be reversed easily and safely but the mental scarring from losing abilities like Dragon Eyes and Origin Flames coupled with the innate greed of Hydras led them to suicide.

    "Don''t worry: We are not going all the way doum" Monadion renliad "How long doar

    it take for the first physical mutations to appear?"

    "A couple of hours, but they are merely cosmetic and-"

    "That''s perfect!" Menadion cut him short. "I need a volunteer.

    A deafening silence filled the cave.

    "Just two hours. I promise we''ll be done before any side effect can take place. Either we do this or I can''t help you." Menadion said. "There''s no point developing a theory if I can''t put it into practice."

    "I''ll do it." Xorn said, shapeshifting into his Hydra form. "I trust you, Ruler Menadion."

    While the Hydras gasped and praised Faluel''s brother for his dedication to the clan, Ripha had a hard time not rolling her eyes at his dramatic entrance.

    "Thanks, Xorn." She said while placing a hand on his scaly foot. "Just wait until everyone is done studying your life force."

    "What are we doing?" Baba Yaga asked.

    "Don''t worry, you''ll understand it immediately. Menadion replied and turned to the Hydras. "I''ll explain everything to you once I have evidence to support my theory.

    Please, be patient."

    Her hosts nodded, their hearts filled with new hope and the displeasure of being called dumb by their idol in a very polite way.

    Xubari and Anata studied Xorn as well, wishing to prove themselves to the First Ruler of the Flames and the rest of their clan.

    After a couple of minutes, Xorn wore a Harmonizer and entered the evolution vat. Once the crystal case was sealed, a dense nutrient liquid filled it, ensuring that the Hydra wouldn''t die from consumption as his body grew.

    Xorn imprinted the Harmonizer after the tank was full and his heads connected to seven respirators, initiating the forced evolution process. The first few minutes were filled with trepidation but after nothing happened for a while, the Hydras got bored and returned to their jobs.

    "There! Do you see it?" An hour later, Menadion''s voice roared like thunder.

    "Yes, Ripha. You are a genius!" Baba Yaga''s eyes lit up with excitement as she finally understood what she had missed while reading through the Hydras'' experimental

    reports.

    "I don''t." Silverwing said and Lith and Solus nodded. "Give me a clue. What am I supposed to see?"

    "Later." Menadion shook her head. "Keep your eyes peeled and try figuring it out for

    yourself." S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Anata and Xubari were just as confused so they followed Menadion''s instructions.

 Chapter 3487 Road Map (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3487 Road Map (Part 2)"I got it!" Silverwing said about twenty minutes later.

    "I think I understand now." Lith said after twenty more minutes.

    "What?" Solus had a hard time not peeking in his mind but she endured and focused even harder.

    "I did it!" Five minutes later, she received thumbs-up from the others while Xubari and Anata looked at each other in disbelief.

    "Are Hydras that dumb or are humans that good?" She asked.

    "I don''t know. Focus. We have less than fifteen minutes left to understand what they are talking about." He replied.

    At the two-hour mark, Xorn''s scales grew slightly thicker, and small barbs appeared along his spines.

    "That''s enough" Menadion said. "Reverse the process. I''ve found all the evidence I need to confirm and further develop my theory."

    "That''s fantastic news." Anata turned to Xubari who shrugged helplessly.

    Neither of them had noticed anything worth mentioning.

    "I can''t believe you''ve found a solution to our problem in less than a day." He said.

    "And you are right because I didn''t." Menadion replied. "I just found the proper starting point for your research."

    "What do you mean, proper starting point?" Anata asked in confusion.

    "That you did everything wr-" A powerful nudge to the ribs from Baba Yaga stopped Menadion. "Everything necessary to lay the groundwork for the next step of your research. Let me show you."

    Menadion conjured a hologram to divert everyone''s attention while she gave Baba Yaga a nod as a thank you.

    "This is a depiction of Xorn''s life force down to the smallest detail." The projection showed a blazing violet sun with frequent solar flares, each of a different elemental color. "This, instead, is his physical appearance."

    A second hologram appeared right beside the first, showing the seven-headed male Hydra.

    "Now, pay attention to what happened to him in the last two hours." A third hologram marked the passage of time.

    Menadion fast-forwarded close to the one-hour mark, slowing down just a few minutes before that. At first, no one noticed anything. Then, what looked like a

    sunspot appeared on the surface of the star.

    At the one-hour mark, a second sunspot appeared while the first swelled, growing in size. The physical hologram of the Hydra, instead, showed no change. After that, Menadion fast-forwarded again.

    Around the two-hour mark, the two original sunspots had turned into small suns and more sunspots had appeared all over the star. At the same time, Xorn had exhibited the first changes in his body.

    "No offense, Ruler Menadion, but that''s nothing new." Xubari failed to hide his disappointment and so did most of the Hydra clan''s members. "Those are two unknown mana organs we found in Ufyl''s life force." He pointed at the small suns.

    "The blackened areas are also mana organs that require more time to develop. The problem is that we don''t know what is what or how to reproduce the phenomenon without the Harmonizer"

    "Are you-" Menadion bit her tongue, feeling her rage and frustration from the seven hundred years spent as a wandering soul burning her mind like acid. "Yaga, do you want to do the honors? You are a better teacher."

    "Nonsense, Ripha." The Red Mother tutted. "Deep inside all that grumpiness, there''s still the old you. We just need to dig her out. Imagine you are explaining this to Solus."

    She made a gesture with her hand at the level of her hips to indicate a five year old Solus. The Hydras had no idea of its meaning and their pride was spared from another bruise.

    "Fine." Menadion took a deep breath. "I''m sorry for being short-tempered. I''m working on that. I swear."

    She gave her audience a deep bow.

    "Okay. Please, pay attention." She highlighted the small suns and the sunspots. "You see that, right?" The Hydras nodded for her to continue. "Let''s go back to the start." The timer went back to the zero mark, yet the highlighted areas were still visible. "What do you see?" To avoid another outburst, Menadion zoomed in on the points where sunspots would appear.

    "Nothing." Xubari said, forcing Menadion to bite her inner cheek not to roll her eyes. "Wait. The first two areas show some kind of deformity while the rest is clear." Menadion closed her eyes and silently thanked the gods.

    "All life forces present imperfections like that but if you have pointed them out, they must have a significance. His seven heads talked between them for a while before he asked: "Are they the reason Hydras failed to become Dragons?"

    Menadion cursed the gods and replied:

    "Yes and no. Yes. those ''imperfections'' stunted your growth. No. they are not the

    reason you failed but the one that may bring you to success!"

    "I''m sorry, I don''t follow." Anata said.

    "Look, it''s simple." Menadion replayed the whole process.

    ''It''s fine. Let them get to it. Like with Epphy when she potty trained.'' She inwardly

    sighed. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Is it still not clear? Okay. Please, cover the ears of your children and someone tell me the secret of the violet core. Everyone here has it, correct?"

    "You mean the breathing technique?" Ufyl asked as the Hydras sent their Hatchlings

    away.

    "No, the basic principle behind it."

    "You have to condense the mana vortexes into auxiliary cores." He said.

    "Good, but say it in even simpler terms." Menadion gestured him to continue.

    "You have to develop dormant mana organs in order to- Good gods!" Ufyl blurted out in enlightenment.

    "I see!" Xubari stared at the imperfections like the greatest treasure of his life and soon Anata followed his reasoning to the same conclusion.

    Less than five minutes later, everyone had solved the mystery of Menadion''s words.

    "Exactly." She sighed in relief. "These two are not imperfections. They are atrophied mana organs that failed to develop, turning whatever your Dragon bloodline was supposed to be into Hydras. No offence."

    "None taken." Fyrwal said. "Why are those areas clear though?"

    She pointed at the position of the late-developing mana organs.

    "Because Xorn''s and Ufyl''s bloodlines are different." Menadion replied. "Those mana organs are unnatural for Xorn and if he were to complete the transformation into a Dragon, they would cause rejection."

    "You''re right!" Xubari pondered. "But the problem still remains. As I said, all life forces present small imperfections. If we stimulate them all, there is no telling what might

    happen.

    "Not all of them are bound to be mana organs and might lead to lethal conditions. How do we find the position of the necessary mana organs for each bloodline?"

    "With a road map. Please, look at this." She showed minuscule alterations in Xorn''s appearance that started soon after the first mana organs formed. "As you can see, just like with the violet core, the mana organs forms first and the body follows. "In this process, however, Xorn''s body couldn''t develop naturally. The Harmonizer shaped Xorn''s body into Ufyl''s, but what we remove that?" Menadion asked.

    "Once fully formed, the mana organs would cause a natural body development that would also affect the life force." Anata pondered. "It''s reasonable to assume that the changes in the life force should prime the development of the remaining atrophied mana organs or at least a few of them."

 Chapter 3488 The Price of Progress (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3488 The Price of Progress (Part 1)"Correct." Menadion nodded. "By following this logic and dividing the process into precise steps, we can identify the mana organs for each Hydra bloodline and even predict what the final result will look like.""

    The hologram showed hypothetical changes in the life force that made more noticeable imperfections stand out. The imperfections became generic mana organs a second later, prompting more changes in Xorn''s life force and physical appearance.

    The final result, however, was a cartoonishly silly seven-headed creature with large eyes, wings, and a dumb, drunken smile on its faces.

    "I''m sorry. I have no idea what kind of Dragon Xorn''s bloodline is supposed to evolve into and this is the best I could come up with off the top of my head." Menadion twirled her hair in embarrassment while the Hydras laughed and Xorn gurgled a whine from inside the tank.

    "This is amazing, Ruler Menadion. Xubari said. "I can''t find any fault in your reasoning and your method should work. Yet there is something you have left out. How can we obtain the results you''ve just shown us and make such changes permanent?

    "I mean, even if we perfect the Harmonizer, there would be no point being Dragons only on specific locations. We would be no better than the citizens of Zelex if not worse. They don''t risk taking their own lives when they step off a mana geyser."

    "I''m sorry. My main specialization is Forgemastering," Menadion shrugged. "I can help you build a Harmonizer suitable to your research but all the Healer part is beyond my understanding."

    "This is not true." Anata said. "You have easily found the answer for which we have been looking for almost a year now!"

    "Only because you performed solid research and all I had to do was interpret the data." Menadion shook her head. "What you are asking me to do requires a different kind of specialist."

    She took one step back, leaving the center stage to Baba Yaga.

    "You made excellent questions, Xubari, yet I doubt you''ll like the answers." She said. "At the moment, I don''t see any way of furthering your research without a Ilydra volunteering as a test subject.

    "Theoretical work can only go so far. Without proper experimentation, a perfect theory could lead to a disastrous practical result. Which means that even if we take all the possible precautions, some of you may die."

    "What if we do like today? Keeping the subject in the tank and reversing the process the moment his life force stops developing?" Xubari asked.

    "It''s feasible but the subject will still develop new bloodline abilities that could make him addicted to them." She replied. "The more the experiment progresses, the higher the risk the test subject suffers psychological damage once he''s forced to revert into a lesser Divine Beast."

    "Let''s keep the subject sedated for the duration of the experiment, then" Anata proposed. "A Hydra can''t miss something he doesn''t remember."

    "A good solution, but just with different risks." Baba Yaga shook her head. "An unconscious subject can''t tell us if the process hurts, if there''s something wrong with his body, or if after every change we apply to the Harmonizer, he feels better or worse.

    "This kind of research requires active feedback."

    "Can''t we find a workaround to this?" Xubari asked.

    "We can, but it will take time and it''s not guaranteed to work." Baba Yaga replied. "Theory and practice are different. Every experiment might cause a fatality. This is not something that can be avoided until the process is perfected." S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What about making the transformation permanent?" Anata said. "Do you have any solution to that?"

    "Several, but again, I doubt you''ll like them." The Red Mother sighed. "The easiest and quickest method is to follow Glemos'' lead and work on your Hatchlings."

    "Why?" Fyrwal asked in shock, her mouth suddenly dry.

    "Because their bodies are receptive to change and their life forces have yet to settle. Baba Yaga conjured the hologram of the life force of a young Hydra. "Consider that, unlike monsters, Hydras have not fallen.

    "Your life force is not damaged, twisted, or corrupted. It''s just underdeveloped. By applying a Harmonizer from a young age, you can trigger the development of the atrophied mana organs and reshape the life force of a Hatchling as they grow!"

    The hologram showed a bright sun with solar flares that became brighter and lasted longer as the sun developed. By the end of the process, the solar flares turned into permanent rings of fire that nurtured and protected the sun within.

    "At that point, after removing the Harmonizer there would be no lesser form to which to revert because the artificial evolution would be no different from a natural one. Those who become Divine Beasts would sire new Divine Beasts and in the space of a few generations there would be no more Hydras."

    "We can''t experiment on our children." Fyrwal snarled, hating herself for considering the idea, even if just for a split second. "On top of that, who would teach them how to use their new bloodline abilities? How could we stop a violent child when they throw a tantrum?"

    "All good questions. Fyrwal, but all with no answer. Baba Yaga shrugged. "If you want.

    to work with adults the ending point is going to be much harder to reach. A perfected Harmonizer will simply reveal the final form of a Hydra, his bloodline abilities, and

    mana organs.

    "It would be up to the Hydra to find a way to stimulate his specific atrophied mana organs and trigger the evolution. You can bet the trigger is different for every Hydra subspecies and requires even more experiments that only the members of that particular subspecies can perform."

    "I don''t get it." Ufyl said in frustration, "I didn''t undergo any of this. I have no idea what happened to me. I just went to sleep and, when I woke up, I was like this."

    "That''s the power and allure of Forbidden Magic, child." Baba Yaga looked sternly at her audience. "The Ambrosia activated your mana organs and nurtured your life force by itself without the need for your understanding or help.

    "It succeeded because it was fuelled by the lives of hundreds of Hydras whose Dragon blood had been distilled and refined with the purpose of stimulating solely the imperfections in your life force that contained the atrophied mana organs. "Hundreds of lives sacrificed in exchange for one Divine Beast. Was it worth it?"

    "No." Ufyl replied without hesitation.

    "No." Xubari said and the rest of the Hydras joined him soon after.

    "I can help you develop the safest possible procedure but that doesn''t guarantee that no one will die." Baba Yaga said. "Ripha can help you craft the selective Harmonizers but they will be useless without volunteers.

    "Our endeavor won''t be quick, painless, or without casualties. We won''t know we''ve made a mistake until we crash into it. Do you still want to proceed?"

    "One moment, please." Fyrwal said.

    The Hydras stepped away and enveloped themselves inside a huge Hush zone to discuss the matter. The other lesser Divine Beasts were left out of the discussion and

    they sighed in relief for it.

    ''Since this is the Hydras'' project, we''ll let them take the lead.''

 Chapter 3489 The Price of Progress (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3489 The Price of Progress (Part 2)"The Hydras will bear all the risks and we''ll reap the benefits once the procedure is perfected. Sure, my people will evolve later, but what''s a few more years after millennia of wait?"They other lesser Divine Beasts thought.

    "Why aren''t you in there, Friya?" Solus asked. "As a Harbinger, your life is at stake as well."

    "Future Harbinger." Friya corrected her. "I''m not bound to Faluel yet and there is no guarantee the experiment will work. Unless Faluel is among the volunteers, I''m just a human like you."

    "And what if she is?" Lith asked. "What would happen to you, then?"

    "Best case scenario, if something goes wrong and Faluel dies, my pact is rescinded." Friya replied. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I don''t want Faluel to die!" Solus'' heart throbbed.

    "Me neither. Friya sighed. "Especially considering that the worst case scenario is that my pact is still valid and the Hydras kill me the moment something happens to Faluel." "About your pact, how close are you to becoming a Harbinger?" Lith asked.

    "Very close." Friya gulped hard. "I already had five infusions of Faluel''s blood. According to her, completing the process will take just one or two more doses." She took a deep breath and her fair skin became covered in thin green scales that looked more like those of a snake than of a Dragon. Lith''s eyes widened in surprise and he touched her face with his scaled hand.

    "Do you feel something?" He asked.

    "Nothing." Friya shook her head. "Hydra scales are not Dragon scales, sadly."

    "What does Nalrond say about this?" Lith''s eyes narrowed in worry.

    "What can he say? He has scales of his own and they are much less cute than mine."

    She chuckled. "Jokes aside, he knew about my pact with Faluel from the beginning and that the only way out of it is death.

    "Nalrond is worried about me but does his best to support me. He is my rock."

    "Don''t worry, child." Menadion said. "With me, Lochra, and Yaga here nothing bad will happen to you."

    "Thanks, Ripha." Friya gave her a bow.

    "Thanks, M-oenadion." The Hydras were Hushed, but Solus couldn''t risk exposing her identity as Elphyn Menadion by using monikers for her mother and friends. "Thanks, Lochra. Thanks, Lady Yaga."

    "Don''t mention it." The three women dismissed the issue with a gesture of their hands. After a few minutes, the Hush Zone came down and Fyrwal delivered the answer of the assembly.

    "It''s unanimous. We''ll work only on adults and only if they volunteer as test subjects. We''ll screen for candidates with strong willpower and limited Hydra greed. In the meantime, please start working on your end of the project."

    "I''ll start working on the development of selective Harmonizers." Menadion said. "I need one of your current models and without cloaking runes, or the research will take me much longer"

    "Sure" Fyrwal''s pained expression didn''t match her words and so did the rest of the Hydras.

    Anata handed the Harmonizer as if it were her firstborn and from her grimace, one would think she had a lemon orchard in her mouth.

    "I need one as well." Baba Yaga said. "Also, I will need a volunteer to study the life force of Hydras in great detail. I focus mostly on undead. If you want me to find safe methods for you to evolve, I have to understand what makes you tick."

    "It''s understandable." Fyrwal gulped again, moving her gaze to Silverwing.

    "Don''t worry about me." She replied to the silent question. "I''ll work as their assistant. based on who needs my help the most."

    "Excellent news!" Fyrwal smiled with too much enthusiasm even for her own liking. "Lith, Solus, since Ripha lives with you, feel free to help her. We have no secrets for our friends."

    ''How kind of her.'' Lith inwardly sneered. ''She has no objection to having free labor." "I''m also sorry to inconvenience you, Lith, but your presence will be required every time Ripha needs to come here."

    "Don''t worry. I have already taken that into account." Lith replied.

    "Thanks! I can''t wait to work together with you." Anata took his hands. "I''m sure we can do wonders together."

    "We''ll see." Lith needed but a glance around the room to assess the threat level.

    ''Luckily, I''ll never be alone with any of them or I''d have to bring Kami along just to avoid being constantly harassed.'' He actually thought.

    "It''s settled, then." Fyrwal nodded. "Is there anything else you need?"

    "No." Menadion shook her head after briefly consulting with the others. "Let us know when you have a candidate. Please, let us out. We have business to attend."

    ***

    routine with only small setbacks.

    "This is not good." Lith tapped on his plate with the fork. "Kami is nearing the third month of her pregnancy and there''s still no news of Meln. He doesn''t seem to have even made a single move."

    "Why is it bad, Big Bro?" Aran asked.

    "Because once the baby bump becomes visible, Raldarak won''t be a secret weapon anymore." Lith replied. "Anyone with working eyes will understand Kami is pregnant and give her a wide berth."

    "Our baby is not a weapon!" Kamila stabbed a piece of meat with her fork and munched it in fury. "At most, he is a safeguard but even that is insulting. He''s a

    person!"

    "Kami, you know what I mean." Lith sighed. "It''s just that if Meln takes the bait, we could go on with our lives without having to worry about him or any of his deranged

    allies.

    "That''s true." She sighed as well, going for seconds.

    ''I don''t want our children to grow up without their father.'' Kamila chewed in worry.

    "I can go out alone more often." She offered.

    "Meln is not an idiot." Lith shook his head. "At least, not that much. He knows how I think and prepare. It must be a believable setup and to do that I need the right

    circumstances."

    "What if I go out more, dear?" Elina asked. "I can bring Shargein with me."

    "Auntie!" The Wyrmling nuzzled under her hand, fishing for a scratch that Elina

    delivered.

    "We could go together." Rena proposed. "After all, everyone saw us traveling and splitting into groups. We could pretend we are bored of Lutia and have lowered our guard. One of us stays with Kami and the other with Shargein."

    "It''s a good idea but bring Tista as well." Lith replied. "And always notify the Queen''s Corps of your movements. It must seem like you are taking every precaution not to fall into a trap."

    In the attempt to lure Meln''s forces out, all the members of the family but Raaz took on the role of the bait from time to time. Lith''s father was still traumatized from his previous kidnapping and just the idea of suffering another covered him in a cold

    sweat.

    Sometimes Senton accompanied Rena while Elina brought along Abominus and Kamila Zinya. Much to Aran''s and Leria''s dismay, they were also prohibited from

    While the others were away, Lith appeared in public no more often than usual, giving the impression he was just too busy to accompany his family.

 Chapter 3490 Two Suns (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3490 Two Suns (Part 1)The only constant of the "spontaneous" family trips was that the Verhens would always split into two groups. One with Kamila and the other with Shargein.

    "Thank you for accompanying me." Elina caressed the Wyrmling''s long neck, making him coo with joy. "Are you sure the bags are not heavy?"

    He was carrying many groceries for Elina in saddlebags strapped to his back. She could have stored them in her dimensional amulet, but Shargein loved to feel useful. "Shargein strong." He puffed smoke out of his nostrils with pride. "Bags light. Shargein can carry much more."

    "You should stop talking about yourself in the third person, sweetie. Elina giggled. "It sounds silly."

    "It does?" Shargein raised his head as the feathers on his body quivered in embarrassment.

    "A little." Elina reassured him. "Have you ever heard your mom and dad talk like that?" "No." He scratched his head while recalling Leegaain''s and Salaark''s speech patterns. "You should say: the bags are light. I can carry them easily." She patted his scaly head. "No, Auntic. Bags light for Shargein. Heavy for you."

    "I know." Elina chuckled. "That''s why I said you were supposed to say those words."

    Shargein pondered the issue for a while before repeating after her:

    "The bags are light. I can carry them easily."

    "You are a smart kid, Shargein." Elina said. "I hope I''m not boring you with my chores." They had gone to the coastal city of Gamhat to buy saltwater fish and scafood. The Verhens had spent most of their lives in the mainland of the Kingdom and rarely had the opportunity to eat fish. Even when they did, it was always freshwater fish.

    After traveling with Lith to Vinea, Elina had acquired a taste for the local products and wanted to surprise her family by cooking a true Vinean meal for them.

    "Boring? How?" Shargein wagged his tail in enthusiasm. "City smells good. Looks good. People funny!"

    He had never left the Blood Desert except to visit Leegaain''s lair or Lutia. Shargein had never smelled the sea or seen so many different people in the same place at once.

    Every food stall and every shop was a surprise for him, especially since Elina bought snacks for him often.

    "Thank you, Auntie. Shargein... I''m happy." He handed her a miniature of Elina carved

    aside from the size.

    "Thank you, sweetie. It''s beautiful." The figurine emanated the sharp, sweet refreshing scent of Snowpine, shielding Elina''s nose from the pungent smell of the hard-working men of Gamhat''s harbor. "I''ve never worn these clothes before.

    "How did you know I would wear them today for the first time?"

    "I didn''t." Shargein replied. "Made figurine today while waiting outside shop."

    The behavior of the people of Gamhat that Shargein called "funny" was actually sheer fear. The Wyrmling was just over a year old but he was already big enough to look an adult man in the eyes even when he walked on all fours.

    On top of that, the entire Mogar remembered all too well the Dragon Dance that had taken place on the day of his birth. There were countless legends about the revenge of angry Dragon parents and no one wanted to be the protagonist of a new one. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    People always made way for Shargein and Elina, no matter how packed a road was. Those who called the guards ended up giving the weird pair an even wider berth after Elina showed her ID to the local soldiers.

    "Gods, that''s the Supreme Magus'' mother." A pickpocket said.

    "Don''t provoke her. Remember what happened to those idiots in Vinea." Another replied. "Thousands died because they couldn''t mind their own business. Verhen''s forgiveness lies on the tip of his sword. Once he gives it to you, you''re dead"

    Elina moved to the local branch of the Mage Association to Warp to Alstar.

    "This is our last stop, Shargein. We pick fruit and vegetables and we can go back home."

    "Why?" The Wyrmling whined. "Too soon! I want to see more."

    "Don''t worry, sweetie. There will be a next t-"

    The moment they stepped out of Alstar''s branch of the Mage Association and into the city square, a Warping Array moved them to a clearing in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of kilometers away from the city.

    ''I need to stay calm. Lith warned me that the most likely ambush point is right after a Warp, when our security detail of the Queen''s Corps has yet to establish a perimeter.'' Elina thought.

    "Who''s there? What do you want from me?" She actually said, her voice trembling with honest fear.

    All the warnings on Mogar couldn''t quell her survival instinct or the dread that the idea of meeting her disowned son aroused in her.

    "Don''t worry, we won''t hurt you unless you force us to. A gorgeous woman with

    blonde hair and blue oves etenned forward with her emntu hande raised. "Re auiet and

    this will be over before you know it.

    "We have nothing against you. We need your help to get in contact with your son."

    Shargein snarled and growled, sniffing the presence of a second, hidden Awakened. The man was checking on the dimensional scaling array he had conjured. It ensured that no signal could leave the area and no one could reopen the closed Warp Array. "Did Meln send you?" Elina moved behind Shargein who stood on his hind legs, dropping the saddle bags as he tried to act menacing.

    "Who? The Incontinent King?" The woman laughed like it was the best joke ever. "as if I''d work for a loser like him. I only work for the best. Myself"

    "I don''t understand." Elina was still trapped but she sighed in relief at the news.

    "You don''t need to and you''ve already bored me." The woman used Fusion Magic to move so fast that she turned into a blur.

    She appeared behind Elina, striking her at the base of neck to cripple her.

    Or at least, she tried.

    Shargein''s taloned fingers intercepted the woman''s wrist and tossed her away like she

    weighed nothing.

    "What the fuck?" The Awakened woman used Life Vision, discovering that the

    Wyrmling had an orange core.

    "What''s taking you so long, Janya?" The second Awakened appeared from behind one of the few trees in the clearing. "They are just a human and the pup of a lesser Divine

    Beast."

    To their defense, Shargein''s existence was a secret and in his hybrid form he didn''t look like either a Dragon or a Phoenix, making the assumption of the second

    Awakened valid.

    "Whatever that thing is it''s fast, Gavi." She replied. "He caught me like a fly."

    The man had yellow eyes with black slitted pupils and purple feathered wings that identified him as a Behemoth.

    "A mere orange core?" Gavi said in disbelief as Shargein released his aura and unleashed his full power. "Now you''ve made me curious."

    He and Janya were both at the bright violet which made her claim sound insane.

    Yet Shargein followed and blocked Gavi''s movements just like he had done with Janya.

    "Impressive!" The Behemoth laughed as he overpowered the small Wyrmling with sheer strength before Shargein could uproot Gavi from the ground.

 Chapter 3491 Two Suns (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3491 Two Suns (Part 2)"He''s slower than me but he started moving before I did. He anticipated my attack" The Behemoth said while slowly increasing the pressure on Shargein''s wrists and enjoying the strained expression on the Wyrmling''s snout.

    Shargein was used to watching his mother train with his Dragon Eyes so the techniques of the two Awakened seemed slow and predictable in comparison.

    Yet neither the talent he had inherited from his parents nor the skills they had taught him were enough to beat someone overwhelmingly stronger who didn''t

    underestimate the Wyrmling.

    "Enough playing with him! We have no use for a second hostage, just kill hi-" Janya couldn''t finish the phrase, her throat frozen in place like the world around her.

    The clearing was already silent before the two Awakened triggered the Warping Array. Animals recognized a hunter on the prowl and had either run away or hidden in their burrows. Yet the wind was still supposed to blow.

    The clouds floating in the sky were still supposed to lazily move, following the high-altitude currents. What happened, instead, was complete stillness.

    Janya and Garvi couldn''t move a muscle and even their mana cores failed to circulate a single strand of mana. Only the runnels of sweat dripping off their faces proved that time kept moving forward.

    Suddenly, Shargein''s flaring orange aura was flooded by a blackness that erupted from his feathered body until the area around him was darker than night.

    "This doesn''t make any sense.'' Garvi thought, his mind the only part of his body that still answered his commands. "There is no record of an orange core becoming an Abomination. Also, I have yet to hurt him badly and he sure didn''t strain his core.

    ''Even if somehow this Wyrmling tuned into a newborn Abomination, two bright violet cores like us should be able to kill it without a single spell. Heck, with my strength, a punch should suffice. What''s going on?"

    The answer to his and Janya''s questions manifested itself when the blackness in Shargein''s aura converged into a vertical-slitted pupil staring at them in boundless hatred.

    The strength of the Wyrmling''s grip increased by the second and Garvi watched helplessly as his Adamant armor cracked under Shargein''s fingers, quickly followed by his arms.

    "What did you say?" The voice was neither feminine nor masculine, just unbridled rage.

    It didn''t come from the Wyrmling but out of him, in the same way as his aura.

    There was no mana in those words.

    They were just air vibrating through an invisible throat. Yet their violence struck the two Awakened like an avalanche. Only the sturdiness of the Adamant of their armor and the Spirit Barrier enchantment saved their lives.

    The woman and the Behemoth were both sent flying like motes of dust in the wind, their equipment covered in cracks from the shockwave and their bones vibrating so hard that it gave them a concussion.

    Garvi and Janya were still puking blood from their internal injuries when three blades fell from the sky. The Tyrannical Sun, Father of Wrath, and Worldbreaker swords circled around Shargein and Elina in a triangular formation,

    When the Awakeneds'' blurred visions cleared up, they saw the woman wearing the Master of Greed armor while the Conqueror Moon armor covered the Wyrmling.

    "That''s not a lesser Divine Beast" Janya managed to whisper amid tears.

    As if conjured by her words, another wave of power erupted from Shargein. His red feathers turned white and two diagonal-slitted pupils appeared in Shargein''s aura and eyes, forming a six-pointed star.

    "What did you say?" The voice returned as the Wyrmling started to float in mid-air, not because of a spell or the flapping of his wings but because the aura he exuded pushed him up with its sheer violence.

    ***

    Blood Desert at the same time. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Aran and Leria had finally completed their homework and could now play with their friends until dinner.

    "I can''t wait for Grandma Elina to return." Leria said. "I''ve never eaten saltwater fish and just listening to the stories of her trip made me hungry. I can''t wait to taste it instead of imagining it."

    "And they say girls are the romantic ones." Aran scoffed. "How can you think with your stomach when you should admire the sunrise? It''s not something we get to see every day"

    "Don''t be silly, dummy." Leria sneered. "It''s evening and the sun has yet to set. How can it be sunrise again?"

    "Then tell me, miss know-it-all, what''s that?" Aran pointed east, where a sphere of blinding white light was rising from the horizon.

    Leria looked west and found the real sun, whose light had turned dimmer and orange as night approached.

    "Dad!" She had no idea what was happening but was pretty sure there had never been

    She ran to her parents, hoping to be reassured or at least protected from whatever was coming.

    Griffon Kingdom, Raagu Drerian''s house, at the same time.

    "There is something wrong with Lutia." The master of the house and human representative of the Awakened Council tapped her finger on the sleek tea table between her and her guest. "Whenever something weird happens, it always originates from Lutia.

    "Take this fellow, for example." Raagu passed a folder containing the few information her apprentices had found about a candidate for the Awakened Council despite running a thorough background check. "He''s a ghost."

    "Nalrond Fastarrow?" Feela the Behemoth skimmed through the information, finding nothing that her own background check hadn''t already uncovered. "Have you asked me to come here because you are honestly curious about him or because you want to raise a claim on him?"

    Now that he was no longer recognizable as a member of the legendary Rezar race, Nalrond had introduced himself to the Council as a rogue Awakened and requested a suitable position in the community.

    He needed it not only to have access to resources and information no fake mage could obtain without a high-clearance job in the government, but also because once he married Friya, hiding his existence would be impossible.

    Nalrond had chosen the perfect time and channel to reveal his newborn Agni

    bloodline so that no one would try anything funny.

    "Please, don''t treat me like an idiot." Raagu scoffed. "I know he''s a perfect hybrid between human and Emperor Beast..."

    "And the first one we''ve ever met at that." Feela pointed out.

    "But even if I wanted him for my faction, what can I do?" Raagu ignored her and continued. "Nalrond was introduced to us by Faluel and has deep bonds with her apprentice, Friya Ernas. That would be enough to stop me, considering that Fyrwal has returned to the scene.

    "Messing with her would mean messing with the entire Hydra bloodline. Even if your beast Council decided not to get involved in the matter, I can''t make a move against the Hydras. No one in the human Council would support me."

    "Not with Fyrwal being one of the only connections the Awakened community has with the reborn Ripha Menadion." Feela sighed.

    "Exactly." Raagu nodded. "Those two go a long way back and it''s much easier to curry Fvrwal''s favor than Verhen''s. She represents everyone''s best shot at meeting

    clients."

 Chapter 3492 Betrayed Trust (Part 1)

    Chapter 3492  Betrayed Trust (Part 1) "If you already know all this, what do you need me for?" Feela tilted her head in confusion.  S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''m still curious about this Nalrond and since you''ve just returned from your trip with Verhen to collect the fragments of the World Tree''s essence, I hoped you knew more than me about this Agni species." Raagu replied.

    "I wish." Feela shook her head. "Lith never mentioned Nalrond Fastarrow to me. I-"

    A sudden quake spilled her tea and cut her short.

    "A quake?" Raagu was flabbergasted. "What kind of quake can overpower the defensive arrays of my home?"

    The two Council representatives took their communication amulets out and found them bursting with current and missed calls. Too many to answer them all. Feela and Raagu joined their amulets, invoking an emergency meeting of the Council.

    Lotho''s and Inxialot''s holograms appeared in the living room yet there was no trace of Leegaain.

    "What''s happening? I can''t work with all this noise! Make it stop." Inxialot''s opening statement revealed he was as oblivious to the nature of the quake as the human and beast representatives.

    "Even your lab is affected?" Feela was flabbergasted. "Do you know anything about this, Lotho?"

    "I don''t know the details but the quake comes from the north and a storm is coming from the west." The Treant replied. "Whatever this is, it seems the Griffon Kingdom is about to be wiped out from the maps."

    "Wait a second!" Raagu found the description oddly familiar. "This is like the day of the black sun. Verhen''s wife must be pregnant again."

    "No." Lotho shook his head. "That was my first thought as well so I checked her whereabouts. Kamila Verhen is safe and sound with Tista Verhen in the city of Vesta. Also, the sun is still up and shining. Now, however, it has a twin."

    "Two suns?" Feela said in disbelief. "This means that two out of three Guardians are involved."

    "Indeed." Lotho nodded. "I checked, and the only other member of the Verhen family in the Kingdom is Lith''s mother. Do you think¡­"

    "Gods, no!" Both women cut him short with a disgusted grimace on their faces. "Not only because it''s immoral but also because if it were true, all three Guardians would be involved."

    "You are right." The Treant had no concept of human mating customs and no interest in learning them. "Let me double-check."

    All Council representatives had access to the logs of the Kingdom''s Gate Network via the members of their factions placed in strategic positions. Inxialot was the exception but only because he had forgotten all about the contact runes that didn''t give him access to magical resources or knowledge.

    "There it is." Raagu said.

    "Lotho is right, only Elina Verhen is currently in the Kingdom." Feela said. "Here it says she''s accompanied by that other oddity. Shargein."

    "Shargein?" Lotho echoed in horror.

    "Yeah, a lesser Divine Beast that Verhen has taken in as a pet or something." Raagu shrugged. "He has been sighted numerous times playing with the babies. There''s nothing special about him except for the fact he''s another weird hybrid that popped out in Lutia."

    "Nothing special?" The color drained from Lotho''s bark, turning it grey. "Feela, have you already forgotten what Salaark said about him when we went to collect the fragments of the World Tree in the Desert?"

    The Behemoth furrowed her brows in focus before replying:

    "She said that she had to prepare Shargein a meal and- Great Mother almighty!"

    "Since when does Salaark cook?" Raagu asked in disbelief. "She only does that for her- Gods protect us!"

    "That''s not a Lesser Divine Beast!" Lotho gave voice to everyone''s thoughts but Inxialot''s. "That''s the son of Leegaain and Salaark!"

    "I''m sorry for the stupid question, but that means we are fucked, right?" The Lich King asked as the tremors became more intense and a blinding light engulfed the entire Kingdom.

    "We are." Feela nodded. "Why isn''t Tyris doing something? I feel like I''m going to die any moment!"

    ***

    Meanwhile, back at the clearing, things were getting worse by the second despite Tyris'' best efforts to contain the situation.

    The Griffon Kingdom was her turf which enhanced her strength and allowed her to repress that of other Guardians. The problem was there was still only one of her fighting against two angry parents mad with rage.

    "Shit!" Tyris said while squeezing every ounce of her power to keep the destructive power accumulated in the form of a small sun from spreading to the rest of the Kingdom. "Shit, shit, shit!"

    Very few people had succeeded in harming a Dragon whelp and lived to tell the tale. The number of those who had stolen a Phoenix''s egg without turning into ashes could be counted on the fingers of a single hand.

    Nobody, not a single soul, had ever managed to harm the child of a Guardian while he was still in his parent''s care. Not one person in Mogar''s history, and the record wasn''t going to change that day.

    "What¡­" As Leegaain and Salaark spoke, the pressure of their voices burst Janya''s and Garvi''s eardrums, and popped their eyes like egg yolk.

    "Did¡­" The air pressure shredded their enchanted armor and then ripped the skin off their bodies, exposing the naked flesh and muscles underneath.

    "You¡­" An emerald fire sparked within the two Awakened''s organs, flowing through their veins and mana circulatory system alike.

    The Immortal Flames ravaged every nook and cranny, burning through capillaries and mana channels. Janya and Garvi felt their blood boil and their cores shrink as they fought for survival.

    Everything, even their minds, was ablaze. The pain brought them to the precipice of madness but never crossed the line. It was strong enough to make them regret ever being born but not to the point of pushing them into the relief of insanity''s embrace.

    "Say?" The last word had the most terrifying effect.

    It healed their bodies, bringing Janya and Garvi back to the peak of their strength, ready to be tortured again.

    "How dare you harm my child?" Salaark''s figure was wreathed in white fire, her long hair whipping through the air like she was amid a storm.

    "I don''t know who you are or what your intentions were, but I will." Leegaain''s Fear shrouded him, flooding the space above and below the clearing and defying the law of physics.

    Mogar kept spinning in its orbit and the wind had never ceased to blow, it was the power of the Father of All Dragons that seemed to have frozen time. The Dragon Fear carried his will and nothing could move without his permission.

    "I''m the Guardian of Wisdom for a reason. I know many things, including the most painful and cruel torture techniques that any race has ever developed. Until I learn what I need, I''ll use them all on you."

    "I don''t have his Eyes or knowledge, but I''m quite the expert in reading minds." Salaark said. "Hide your thoughts as much as you want, it''s only a matter of time before you crumble.

    "We''ve just given you a taste of the pain that awaits you as well as a demonstration that death is not an option."

 Chapter 3493 Betrayed Trust (Part 2)

    Chapter 3493  Betrayed Trust (Part 2) "I can protect your mana cores and regenerate your bodies for as long as I want. You will suffer but will not die. No matter how much you wish, beg, or prey for it."

    "I''ll talk!" Garvi cried amid tiers. "We-"

    His voice died along with his body, just to be rejuvenated a split second later.

    "Not so fast." Leegaain pressed his thumb on the Behemoth''s lips to silence him. "Not so quick. You have touched my child. Before you are allowed to die, you must pay the price for your actions."

    "You and everyone like you." Salaark enveloped Elina and Shargein in a barrier that protected them from her spreading flames. "Everyone who helped you, everyone you love, everyone who even heard about your plan is going to die with you."

    "Salaark, Leegaain, stop!" Tyris could slow down the advance of the tidal wave of white fire but couldn''t stop it. "You are going to destroy the Griffon Kingdom."

    "Don''t worry. We''ll split our turfs equally with you to compensate you for the damage." Blinded by revenge, Leegaain cared for nothing else but ensuring his child was safe.

    "That''s not the problem. Think of-" Tyris looked in the eyes of her friends and saw no mercy to which she could appeal hence she had to arouse it. "Think of Shargein. Do you want to ruin his happy memories of this day by destroying the places he visited?"

    The violence of the white flames abated as the fury of the other two Guardians hesitated after confirming that Shargein had enjoyed his travels with Elina.

    "Think of Elina. The Griffon Kingdom is her birthplace and all her friends live here. Think of Lith. In your fury, you are going to raze to the ground everything he has built after years of hardships. Think of me, dammit!

    "I''m your friend and the Kingdom is all I have left of the only man I''ve ever loved!"

    The pain in Tyris'' voice resonated with that in Leegaain''s and Salaark''s hearts, bringing them to a halt.

    "Order and chaos, what have we done?" The Father of All Dragons looked at the moonscape around him.

    Only bare earth and rocks surrounded the crater where until a few seconds ago there had been a lush clearing.

    "Mogar almighty, are you alright, Elina?" Salaark ran to the poor woman''s side, cleaning the mess Elina had made of herself.

    "I''m fine." Elina whimpered, hiding behind Shargein and recoiling from the Guardian''s touch as if afraid Salaark would beat her.

    Elina''s face was drained of color, leaving her of a deathly pallor. Elina couldn''t stop shaking, her knees so weak that she failed to stand up.

    "No, you are not." Tyris approached Elina and wrapped her in a motherly embrace. "It''s alright, dear. You are safe now. No one will hurt you."

    Elina burst into tears as the Guardian kneeled to her side and comforted her with words and caressed her back. Elina clung to Tyris with all her strength while Shargein looked at his parents in confusion.

    "We fine, Auntie. Shargein- I''m strong." The Wyrmling licked her, more shocked by Elina''s tears than from the attempt on his life.

    "Yes, Shargein. Thank you, Shargein." She sobbed, dragging him into the group hug.

    ''Shit, we went way overboard.'' Leegaain said via the mind link.

    ''That''s a nice euphemism.'' Salaark sighed. ''Elina is used to see us as friends. She knows we are powerful but she never understood how much.''

    ''Until today.'' Leegaain watched the scene, feeling guilty because it was his fault and because there was no way he could make things right. ''Even when Elina saw us in our real form, she always thought fondly of us, like huge cuddly pets.

    ''Now she sees us as monsters.''

    ''Can you blame her?'' Tyris snorted. ''You have tortured people in front of her. You have turned a beautiful clearing into a barren wasteland. You have released enough power to drive a mortal insane.

    ''And Elina would have gone insane if not for my protection and that you shrouded Shargein with.''

    ''It''s not that bad. We-'' The thought died in Salaark''s mind as Shargein started to cry with Elina. ''It''s bad. It''s very bad! What can we do?''

    ''You can only wait.'' Tyris replied. ''The shock will soon knock her out. In the meantime, you can fix your mess.''

    Salaark and Leegaain exchanged a sad look that turned furious the moment they remembered about their still-frozen quarry.

    ''This is all your fault.'' The Overlord snarled via a mind link with her the prisoners. ''You tried to hurt my child and now you''ve made him cry. If he ends up scared of me, a thousand deaths are not going to be enough punishment.''

    ''What she said.'' Leegaain grunted. ''But first¡­''

    Restoring the land and speeding up the growth of grass was a small feat for the power of a Guardian. Trees would still take years but with a little push, Leegaain could still turn seeds into saplings without depleting the soil.

    Elina stopped crying to admire the miracle in front of her eyes. The crater was filled, the charred earth was soft again, and life had conquered death.

    "It''s beautiful." She said as wildflowers emerged from the ground and bloomed around her.

    She bent down to pick one up and fainted.

    Exhaustion, fear, and trauma had drained her energy and after crying so much, her shaken nerves couldn''t hold out any longer. Elina fell into a deep sleep that Tyris'' embrace made peaceful and devoid of nightmares.

    "Let''s get back to the Desert." Salaark said as Shargein weaved wreaths of flowers for her, Tyris, and Elina, trying to make things better. "Be prepared for an earful, old lizard, because we deserve it."

    ***

    "You did what?" Lith had lost his cool when he saw the Guardians appear while holding his unconscious mother.  S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Yet his worry had turned into a much worse outrage the moment he had learned what had happened to her.

    "We screwed up big time." Leegaain admitted. "Salaark and I combined our powers in a way that Tyris was unable to stop. We unleashed everything we had and your mother witnessed it all."

    "Was it worse than what I''ve seen when I was attacked?" Kamila asked.

    "Much worse." Salaark sighed. "Unlike you, Elina has never witnessed violence and, when we protected you, there was only one of us on the attack. The others ensured your physical and mental protection.

    "This time, two of us attacked and the third could only limit the damage."

    "Will she be alright?" Raaz held Elina''s hand and she squeezed it even in her sleep. "I swear to the gods, if something happens to Elina, I''ll follow her. I don''t want to live without her."

    "Dad!" Lith was horrified seeing how desperate and serious Raaz was.

    "Don''t worry, child." Leegaain too felt Raaz''s sincerity and couldn''t bear being responsible for so much suffering. "Elina is going to be fine. She''ll recover from this and, with a bit of luck, she might even forgive us."

    "I''m sorry, Hatchling. I really am." Salaark gave the Verhens a deep bow. "My son agreed to help you with the trap because he trusted me. You trusted me, and I let you down."

 Chapter 3494 Lucky Charm (Part 1)

    Chapter 3494  Lucky Charm (Part 1) ''This is my fault.'' Lith blamed himself as much as the Guardians. ''I put Mom into this situation because I wanted to lure Meln and his cronies out of their hole. She went on those stupid trips only because I told her she would have been safe.''

    "Do you at least know why this happened?" Raaz wanted to be angry, but first, he needed someone to blame. "What the fuck did those guys want? Was it Meln again?"

    "Yes, we have already uncovered everything." Leegaain glossed over the part where the Awakened had folded like lawn chairs the moment the Guardians had manifested their power. "Meln had nothing to do with this.

    "Or Lith, for that matter. They were after Ripha."

    "Me?" Menadion pointed at herself. "Why? How?"

    "You are the legendary First Ruler of the Flames, child." Salaark replied. "Those idiots targeted Elina because they knew how much Lith cares for her. The plan was to ask Lith to make you Forgemaster a full set of equipment for them as ransom."

    "Are they idiots?" Lith snarled. "Why would I trust two kidnappers and how could they trust me not to put a tracker among the enchantments?"

    "Easy." Leegaain replied. "You would have had no choice but to trust them if you wanted to see Elina again and we all know you would have done it. After all, as long as your mother is alive, you can find her, rescue her, and eliminate her captors.

    "But if she dies¡­" The Father of All Dragons left the phrase hanging, its meaning painfully clear to everyone.

    Lith had long since stored the energy signatures of his family members and friends in the Eyes of Menadion. With that plus the Watchtower and its ability to greatly extend the Eyes'' range, there were very few places on Mogar where Lith couldn''t find them.

    On top of that, no one knew about either the tower or the Eyes and had any idea that keeping a hostage was the same as lighting a beacon for Lith. On the other hand, however, the secret also made people confident enough to attempt to kidnap Elina and the others.

    "The good news is the kidnappers had every intention of letting your mother go." Leegaain continued after a while. "Awakened can shapeshift and without knowing their energy signature, a physical description is useless to identify them.

    "Ironically, not being an Awakened is what would ensure the survival of those like Raaz and Rena. As for the tracker, the kidnappers planned to demand artifacts with no cloaking runes.

    "This way, with just a glance with Life Vision they would have been able to tell if the equipment was really as powerful as promised or just a decoy before storing it inside a dimensional amulet.

    "Once they had gotten away with it, they would have checked for trackers and only then would they have returned Elina to you.

    "It was a great plan. With your mother alive and the looming threat of Meln, they knew you would have soon had more important matters to attend. Also, without the cloaking runes, they could have studied Menadion''s techniques and attempted to recreate them."

    "They would have indeed gained a lot and I had allegedly no means to stop them." Lith nodded. "But it all starts from the false premise I had no way to find them."

    "Again, if you reveal the existence of the tower and the Eyes, some problems will disappear and others will pop out." Leegaain said. "If you keep them a secret, your deception will make people cocky because you appear weak.

    "Both have consequences and, in your shoes, I wouldn''t reveal my cards unless it''s absolutely necessary."

    "I know." Lith clenched his fists, knowing that there was no perfect solution.

    He could only choose the lesser evil he could deal with.

    "But the reasoning of the kidnappers is idiotic!" Menadion felt responsible for what had happened to Elina. The pain she read on Raaz''s face and the idea of inflicting the misery she had endured after Threin''s death upon others was unbearable.

    "I have just returned from the dead after seven hundred years and everyone knows it. I''m still far from updating my techniques and completing my study of modern runes. I couldn''t deliver what they asked even if I wanted to."

    "Like they know or care about such insignificant details, Ripha." Salaark sighed. "You are the legendary First Ruler of the Flames, famous for her tower and the peerless Menadion Set.

    "During your life, you have crafted wonders and now you have returned from the grave. Do you really find it absurd that people think you can do miracles? Even pieces outdated for seven hundred years like the Eyes are still considered a priceless treasure because modern Forgemasters can''t replicate them.

    "What the rest of Mogar knows and cares about is that you are back and that whoever controls Lith also controls you. Nothing you say will change their mind."

    "What if you didn''t use Ripha''s existence to justify your actions at the borders to the Royals, son?" Raaz gently caressed Elina''s hair while she slept. There was no blame or accusation in his voice, just the need for a solution.

    "I thought long and hard before doing that, Dad, and I came to the conclusion that hiding Ripha''s return would have only made my relationship with the Royals worse." Lith replied. "Too many people had seen her.

    "Even if somehow none of the Liches ended up babbling about it, one of the Dragons was bound to. It was only a matter of time before Mogar would know about her return and at that point, the Royals would have lost their trust in me because of my deception.

    "I played my cards the best I could to control the situation as much as I could, Dad. With all my contingency plans and preparations, I''m still human. Nothing I do will be ever enough."

    Lith lowered his eyes, feeling guilty for dragging his parents into his own mess. The idea of losing his mother terrified him while knowing that, if that were to ever happen, he would also lose his father horrified him.

    ''Everything I''ve built, all the happiness I''ve worked so hard to achieve, it was almost destroyed by two random idiots.'' Lith heard Esor''s warning echoing in his head. ''I''ve only deluded myself to be safe and those idiots shattered my illusion.

    ''No matter what I do, I''m still weak.''

    "Don''t say that, son." Raaz saw the effect of his words on Lith and stood up to hug him. "This isn''t your fault. You didn''t provoke those people or willingly put your mother in danger.  sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Elina just went to buy groceries to make us a delicious dinner and you set in motion a plan to protect her. The plan backfired a little, but she''s still safe with us. It''s the only thing that matters."

    Lith heard Raaz''s drumming heart and smelled the fear in his sweat. Yet Lith also admired how steady Raaz''s voice was and how he hid those feelings and acted strong for his son.

    "Thanks, Dad." Lith returned the embrace.

    "Don''t mention it, son." Raaz patted Lith''s back and let him go.

 Chapter 3495 Lucky Charm (Part 2)

    Chapter 3495  Lucky Charm (Part 2) "Now let''s set the field properly. Your brother needs to be reassured and your mother needs her strength when she wakes up." As Raaz left the room, Shargein put Elina''s figurine on her bedstand and nuzzled her in worry.

    The scent relaxed her further and the warmth of the Wyrmling reassured her in her sleep.

    "Sorry, Auntie. Shargein weak." Seeing their Hatchling so upset made Salaark and Leegaain feel so guilty that Tyris deemed it being reproach enough.

    Raaz returned a few minutes later, bringing Surin, Aran, and a crib for the baby.

    "Is Mom alright?" Aran asked.

    "No." Raaz shook his head. "She witnessed the full fury and power of your grandparents and now needs our help."

    "Why?" Aran was puzzled. "Isn''t it like the coolest thing ever?"

    "No, it''s not." Leegaain kneeled to look the boy in the eyes. "Have you ever seen your brother angry? And I don''t mean just annoyed, I mean so mad that he threw a tantrum?"

    "No." Aran replied. "Big bro is always in control."

    "Exactly." The Guardian nodded. "It''s because of that control that his power is reassuring instead of scary. Today, your grandma and I lost that control."

    Aran swallowed hard. He knew how powerful Lith was and could barely grasp how strong a Guardian was. Yet he wasn''t scared of them because he knew they would never hurt him.

    Without that certainty, he would have felt safer locked in a cage full of starving lions.

    "Was it bad?"

    "Very bad." Leegaain lowered his gaze. "I failed your mother and for that, I apologize."  S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What can I do, Dad?" Aran asked.

    "The only thing any one of us can do, son." Raaz replied. "Be there for her when she wakes up and tell her how much we love her."

    ***

    Leegaain and Salaark left the room not to scare Elina with their presence while the rest of the family assembled there, waiting for her to regain consciousness.

    Thanks to Tyris'' soothing presence, Elina opened her eyes a little less than two hours after fainting. The warmth of her bed and the fuzziness in her head made Elina want to keep sleeping.

    Yet the whispers in the room and something warm and scaly under her hand made her look around in confusion.

    "What are you doing here?" Elina asked in confusion, seeing her husband, children, and grandchildren looking at her with worry. "More importantly, how did I end up back in the Desert?"

    "What''s the last thing you remember, child?" Tyris asked.

    "I was buying groceries with Shargein." She patted the Wyrmling''s head and he cooed with joy. "What time is it? I have yet to prepare d-"

    The scent of Snowpine figurine wafted to her nose, stirring the memories her brain had tried to repress. Elina''s eyes fell on Shargein and she froze in horror as the events of that day replayed in front of her eyes.

    There was plenty of space around her bed, yet she felt suffocating. Her chest tightened and her breath became ragged as if she was running for her life.

    "It''s alright, dear." Raaz held her hand and brought it to his lips. "It''s all over now."

    His voice snapped Elina out of her nightmare and his gesture reassured her. Every time she had given birth, they had been tight on money, or something was wrong, Raaz always kissed her hand and reassured Elina everything it would be alright.

    Until that moment, he had always been right and there was no reason this time it would be any different.

    "Are you alright, Mom?" Aran asked and seeing the worry in her little boy''s eyes made Elina feel silly.

    "Of course, I am." She opened her arms and he ran into the embrace.

    "If you need to rest, we can leave, Mom." Trion said.

    "None of you can leave. Especially you, young man." Elina''s voice was filled with too much relief to carry the mock-rebuke she intended.

    ''My lost boy.'' She thought. ''I''ve lost him for so long and today I almost lost him forever.''

    Elina looked under the blankets to ensure she was decent and then stood up to greet her family, hugging them one by one.

    "I''m sorry for making you worry, Rena." Elina said,

    "Don''t you ever scare me like that, Mom." Rena embraced Elina tight enough to squeeze the air out of her lungs.

    ''My first child.'' Elina thought. ''You had it harder than everyone and spent your childhood helping me with your siblings instead of playing. I''m sorry I couldn''t give you more but I''m proud of the woman you''ve become.''

    She hugged Trion and then hid her face in Tista''s shapely chest.

    "Mom! Hands off the merchandise." She chuckled.

    "Shut up, young lady. I made you." Elina said.

    ''My poor, poor baby.'' She actually thought. ''She was born so ill. She wasn''t supposed to live past ten and look at her now.''

    Then, it was Lith''s turn.

    ''My miracle boy. I don''t know if the soul inside his body is the same that left it on that night and I don''t care. He is my son. He brought more joy into my life than I could ever dream for.''

    "Mom?" Lith asked, unbothered by the long embrace but worried by her sniffling.

    "I''m sorry. I was lost in thought." Elina let him go and hugged Aran again.

    ''My lucky charm. I thought I couldn''t have any more children until Lith cured me and now here you are. You have no idea how lucky you are, little rascal. You had more toys than all your siblings combined. I have spent more time with you than any of them.''

    Aran groaned in disappointment when Elina stepped back and took Surin in her arms.

    ''You are my last baby, Surin. I''m too old to have more and my greatest fear is to pass away before having the opportunity to know you. To see the wonderful young woman you''ll become. Mommy loves you so much.''

    Surin understood nothing of what was happening in the room. She just cooed at her mother and, when the message wasn''t received, she started to cry, demanding a fresh diaper.

    "What''s this smell?" Elina pulled back as the cries tortured her ears as much as the stench did her nose. "You''ve ruined this moment for me, young lady." She chuckled.

    "I''ll take care of her." Raaz took the baby and brought her to the changing table.

    Elina then embraced her grandchildren one by one, thanking the gods for blessing her with each one of them.

    "Where are Leegaain and Salaark?" She asked when she was done.

    "Far from here." Tyris replied. "They didn''t want to upset you further. They''ll stay away for as long as you need."

    "There''s no need for that." Elina said while thanking Shargein one more time for protecting her. "Call them here, please."

    "Auntie!" The Wyrmling licked her face before parading the figurine to the rest of the family, fishing for compliments and snacks.

    A knock on the door quickly followed.

    "May we come in?" Salaark asked.

    "Of course you can." Elina forced herself to smile. "This is your palace."

    "But this is your room." The Guardian opened the door, waiting to see Elina''s reaction before entering.

 Chapter 3496 Captured (Part 1)

    Chapter 3496  Captured (Part 1) Elina''s expression was of utter confusion, her face a whirlwind of shifting emotions. On the one hand, the Guardians'' aura was back to being soothing and protective, making her feel at ease.

    On the other hand, her brain kept flashing images of Leegaain''s and Salaark''s fury in front of her eyes and her body trembled in fear at the horror that such visions evoked.

    "Exactly. This is my room and I''m inviting you in." Elina said.

    She was still scared but, while surrounded by her family, she had the strength to fight the fear.

    "I''m very sorry for what happened earlier. I shouldn''t have let you see us like that." Leegaain gave her a deep bow.

    "You can say that." Elina nodded, feeling the need to sit down on her bed. "But I''m grateful to the three, no four of you for protecting me. Let this be a lesson. For me of how scary you actually are and for you of caring more for people like me."

    "It has been a humbling lesson. I assure you of that." Salaark gave her a bow as well, the shame for her foolishness an irredeemable stain on her honor.

    "Can you please tell me what those two guys wanted from me? Was it about Meln again?" Elina asked.

    The Guardians shared their information with her and answered all her questions.

    "Let me get this straight." Elina said. "Meln isn''t involved and, without your intervention, I would have been kidnapped and Lith forced to follow the orders of those criminals.

    "Even worse, their success would have galvanized others to follow their example, endangering all the non-Awakened in my family."

    "Yes." Leegaain nodded. "The precedent would have probably spurred those who have no will or means to pay for Ripha''s work into action."

    "So you didn''t save just me today." Elina said, feeling somewhat relieved to have spared the others from suffering such a fate. "You''ve saved my entire family."

    "In your shoes, I wouldn''t give us so much credit but one thing I can tell you for sure." Salaark''s tone became stern. "We know the names of the other Awakened involved in this ploy and you can rest assured we won''t stop until they are all¡­"

    She looked at the kids and said: "Captured."

    ***

    Gorgon Empire, Galian Region, in the middle of nowhere, right after Elina''s attempted kidnapping.

    "What do you think that was all about?" Ilac the Redcap nervously peered through the blinders of his host''s luxurious mansion.

    "You mean the light coming from the Kingdom?" Thassel the Drake asked while pouring herself a tall glass of wine. "Whatever it was, it''s of no relevance to us."

    "How can you say that?" Ilac walked around the room before looking out the window again. "Today Garvi and Janya were supposed to kidnap Verhen''s mother. How do we know something didn''t go wrong?"

    "Easy." Lukah Basaj replied. "Their contact runes are still available, there is no news about the kidnapping in the Kingdom''s Web, and most of all, those bastards aren''t responding to our calls."  S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "How is that a good sign?" Ilac grunted.

    "Again, easy." Thassel sighed, frustrated by the Redcap''s restlessness. "Had Janya and Garvi failed, they would have contacted us to whine about it or tell us to run. Their silence means they succeeded.

    "In their shoes, I would keep my amulet stored in my dimensional amulet to avoid being tracked as well. Not only because of Verhen, but also to avoid people like us swooping in and taking his mother for themselves. Isn''t that right, Lukah?"

    "Tell me about it." He snorted. "I''ve planted a small fortune in trackers on those jerks but they managed to find and get rid of them all. If only you helped me a bit, Thass, Gavi and Janya would have taken all the risks and we would have reaped all the benefits."

    "Patience, my friends." Thassel tutted. "Verhen is a dangerous, unpredictable bastard. The early bird is more likely to sprung a hidden trap than catching the worm. Those two idiots are going to be our test subjects. If anything goes wrong before or after Garvi and Janya get their ransom, we''ll learn from their mistakes."

    "Yeah, sure, but what about that light?" Like a dog on a bone, Ilac refused to let go. "What if those two succeed and Verhen is the one who learns from his mistakes."

    "Dammit, Ilac, calm down! You are making me nervous!" Lukah said. "If not even the Council knows what that light was, then nobody does." He showed the unblinking communication amulet.

    "As for Garvi and Janya, if the bar becomes too high, we can always kill them and take their Menadion equipment. After all, they are just my and Thassel''s size."

    "What about me?" Ilac asked. "There''s three of us and only two sets of equipment."

    "Since you are a major pain in the ass, we''ll take your part as compensation for our damage." Thassel said, making Lukah laugh.

    "Very funny." The Redcap clicked his tongue and checked the window for the umpteenth time. "Then you can go fetch your compensation by yourselves."

    "Will you relax, Ilac?" Thassel poured another glass of wine, spiked it with Red Dragon, and offered it to her accomplice to calm him down. "We are in the middle of nowhere and no one else knows the location of my secret lab.

    "Even if something went wrong, and I''m not saying it did, Garvi and Janya only know our energy signatures. We used fake names and appearances. There''s no way someone can track the information leak in the Kingdom''s Gate Network back to us."

    "Really?" Ilac asked in disbelief. "Then why is there a fury of Phoenixes out there?"

    He pointed at the colossal flaming birds slowly descending to the ground after sealing the area with all kinds of arrays.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, as much as I hate to remind you, we have our orders." Crevan spat the next words out like they were poison. "We need to take our marks alive."

    "Alive?" Lenanna echoed as her beak twisted in a cruel smile. "Just alive, correct?"

    "No, not just alive." Crevan''s reply made the other Phoenixes groan. "Barely alive is more than enough. As long as they''re not dead, everything goes."

    The groans turned into excited war cries and the luxurious mansion into a pile of ashes.

    ***

    The Awakened Council knew what had happened but Leegaain used his authority as a representative to issue an information blackout until he was done dealing with the problem.

    Inxialot had already resumed his experiments and had no idea what he wasn''t supposed to talk about. As for the human, plant, and beast representatives, they had no intention of putting themselves between the angry parents and their prey.

    The Dragons were still mourning Valtak''s loss and took the news of the attempt on Shargein''s life as a personal affront.

    "How dare those vermin attack a Hatchling barely past one year of age?" There was not a single patriarch who wasn''t literally burning with rage. "It seems we''ve been quiet for too long, brothers and sisters.

    "Mogar has forgotten why no one should touch a Dragon''s egg. It''s time we remind all little mice out there not to mess with us."

 Chapter 3497 Captured (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3497 Captured (Part 2)The Brood didn''t care much about its members, especially if one of them put himself into trouble like Xedros or Syrook did. Attacking a Dragon would incur revenge only if it was a gratuitous and malicious act, and only if the Dragon died.

    There was only one exception to the rule: Hatchlings.

    Attacking a Dragon whelp was always punished by death. When the footage of the Awakened trying to kill Shargein spread like wildfire among the Brood, so did the Origin Flames among the ruins of their associates'' secret labs.

    One by one, those who had helped Garvi and Janya were captured and brought to the Blood Desert where Leegaain''s interrogation techniques and Salaark''s mind-reading abilities pulled out the names of more Awakened to add to the list.

    In less than a day the entire conspiracy was exposed and uprooted but there was no telling if more were brewing. On top of that, with Shargein''s identity exposed, now no one would attack while the Wyrmling was around.

    Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, Salaark''s Palace.

    Elina refused to delay her plans and while Lith went to fetch the missing ingredients, she started cooking a late dinner for everyone.

    "Cooking helps me relax as much as eating should do for you." She said with a chuckle. "I bet that everyone skipped dinner. Am I right?"

    A choir of grumbling stomachs answered her question.

    After learning about the kidnapping attempt, their appetite was gone and their bellies remained twisted into a knot until they were certain that Elina was fine, both physically and mentally.

    Rena helped Elina with the preparations the old-fashioned way while Aran and Leira used their magic. The cooking skills of the rest of the family would have made Elina''s job harder so they were careful to stay out of Elina''s hair while trying to act as normal as possible.

    Raaz and Solus were the ones who had taken it worse.

    "Are you alright, Dad?" Trion offered Raaz a strong liquor that he gulped down like medicine.

    "No, son, but thank you for asking." Raaz smiled and chatted whenever Elina looked in his direction, but the moment she turned around, his expression turned grim and his hands started to shake. "Seeing your mother like that stirred bad memories that I believed to have overcome. I was wrong."

    Solus was pale and remained silent unless spoken to holding Menadion''s hand under the table in despair as if her mother could disappear the moment Solus loosened her grip.

    ''What''s wrong, sweetie? Everything is fine.''Ripha said via a mind link. ''Elina is fine.

    There''s no need to be so tense."

    ''Nothing''s fine, Mom.''Solus replied. I''ve already lost everything once. When I saw Elina lying in bed, I feared it was going to happen again. Please, don''t take this the wrong way but for years she has been the only mother I knew.

    ''Even when I was still trapped in the ring, she taught me everything about love and how to care for others. After Lith introduced me to his family, Elina was the one who took me in first.

    ''It''s only thanks to her if as I regained my memories about us, I understood what a terrible person I was, and how much you''ve loved me from the shadows. I can''t stand losing her no more than losing you again, Mom.''

    ''I know, sweetie.'' Menadion gently returned the hold. ''I was there.''

    Lith had taken it worse than anyone else. Not only did he feel responsible for putting Elina''s life at risk but, for a moment, he had relieved the pain of seeing Carl''s dead body on the metal stretcher of the morgue.

    It was the reason he had volunteered to go and buy the rest of the ingredients.

    ''I can''t let them see me like this.'' He thought. Most of all, I don''t want to add my trauma to Solus."

    By the time he returned to the Desert, his emotions were back under control and he acted like everything was fine.

    "Let me help you, Mom, or we won''t be done eating this feast before midnight." Lith joined her in the kitchen, using his magic to speed up everything.

    "Thank you, dear." Elina gave him a warm but stiff smile.

    Once they were done cooking, everyone sat down at the table. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    At first the dinner was silent, but the more the adults ate and drank, the more they relaxed. The children only had a vague idea of what had happened so when the mood of their parents improved, so did theirs.

    Everyone eagerly finished their plates, even the dishes they didn''t like, in order to keep Elina happy.

    "Can I sleep with you tonight, Mom?" Despite Raaz''s and Elina''s best efforts, their expressions tensed from time to time, making Aran worry.

    "Of course, dear." Elina caressed his hair while inwardly thanking the gods for letting her return to her family. "Do you mind if we also keep Surin in the room, Raaz? She must be scared and I want to reassure her everything is fine."

    "Excellent idea." He nodded. "I''ll bring a spare crib in our bedroom."

    ''Surin is the only one who is calm.'' Raaz actually thought. ''Elina just wants to feel alive. She must have feared never to smell our children or feel their warmth again. I bet that if she could, she''d drag Lith, Rena, and Tista into our bed as well.''

    And he was right. The only thing stopping Elina was the size of the bed and how embarrassing would have been to ask her three adult children to sleep beside their mother.

    After a strong camomile tea for the adults and hot chocolate for the kids and Solus, the Verhens split for the night.

    "Are you alright?" Kamila asked once the door was closed behind them and the room insulated from the outside world.

    She had noticed that Lith was upset but had said nothing until that moment not to

    ruin his efforts.

    "Yes." He said with a voice too tense and cold to be believable.

    He kept his back turned to her and Kamila kept her distance, giving him the time and

    space to decompress his emotions after holding them in for hours.

    "No." Lith said after a while, slumping on the nearest chair. "But I will be."

    "Did you get flashbacks about Carl?" She asked.

    He looked up at her in surprise, his mouth agape but no word came out.

    "Do you still think this is all your fault?" More silence ensued.

    Kamila walked up to Lith and sat on his lap, holding him tight.

    "I''m so sorry." She gently stroked his hair and back. "Is there anything I can do to make

    you feel better?"

    "You can take your shirt off." He said with a dry chuckle, in a failed attempt to make a

    joke.

    "Okay" The Featherwalker armor slipped off her, leaving her chest exposed.

    "Wow. I must look terrible if you are taking everything I say seriously." Lith sighed, returning the embrace. "Thanks anyway, I appreciate the view,"

    "You better." She slapped the back of his head in mock-indignance, to give him a semblance of normalcy in the chaos of his head. "Anything else?"

    "No. Just keep holding me like this, please."

 Chapter 3498 Hypocrite (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3498 Hypocrite (Part 1)The following day, under the sun of Lutia and surrounded by the familiarity of her home, Elina had a much better look.

    Everyone did their best to spend time with her and shower her with attention.

    "Being kidnapped from time to time is not too bad if it means enjoying your company like this." Elina chuckled, giving her children a radiant smile that only made them feel more guilty.

    She noticed the gloomy expression on everyone''s face and realized that no one but her had taken the joke for what it was.

    "Seriously, lighten up. I''m right here. Stop acting like I''m dead and this is my funeral." "I''m sorry, Mom!" Tista rushed to Elina and embraced her.

    "Sorry for what?" She was flabbergasted.

    "For disappointing you." Tista sniffled. "I promise you I''ll marry soon. You can''t die until I give you ten grandchildren."

    "Silly child, you''ve never disappointed me." Elina decided not to mention so much as a bruise for the foreseeable future. "As much as your words make me happy, I want you to do those things for yourself, not for me. It''s your life!"

    Lith accompanied Elina to Lutia for groceries and then spent the afternoon with her, Elysia, and Valeron. The babies got quality time with their grandmother while Lith made sure nothing bothered his mother.

    It took a couple of days before the Verhens started to slowly return to their routine. During that time, Salaark and Leegaain made themselves scarce, entrusting Tyris to take care of Elysia and soothe everyone''s nerves with her presence.

    "I''m sorry to bother you, Featherling" Salaark contacted Lith via the amulet. "We are done with the investigation. Feel free to come at your earliest convenience and I''ll share its results with you."

    "Thanks, Grandma. I''ll come as soon as possible." Lith hung up the call and went to the kitchen, where an annoyed Elina grunted him good morning.

    "Guys, I love you with all my heart but this is getting suffocating." Elina couldn''t move one step without someone hugging her or staring at her from around a corner like she was about to collapse at any moment.

    "Get back to your work, magic, studies, I don''t care. Just leave me alone for one minute." Even going to the bathroom had become a challenge.

    If she stayed in too long, someone would knock or the babies with their lack of boundaries would fly inside and chirp in worry until she was finished. Shargein in

    particular was inconsolable.

    He was glued to Elina, apologizing constantly and seeking reassurance she wasn''t mad at him.

    "I guess this is as soon as possible." Solus shrugged.

    "Agreed. Mom, I have something to do in the Desert. I''m bringing Solus and Shargein with me. Is that okay?"

    "Thank the gods!" Elina raised her arms to the ceiling in exasperation. "I mean, sure, dear. Go and don''t worry about me. Take all the time you need."

    A single step through the Warp Gate in the barn brought them to their destination. Before going to the Overlord''s office, Solus conjured the tower over the local mana geyser to restore her forces.

    "I was starting to get a bit tired." She sighed. "The Trawn woods are too distant from our house. Even with the upgrade, the world energy nourishes the tower core but not me,"

    "I''m sorry, Solus." Lith replied. "It''s better to keep Mom away from Grandma for a while and the Verhen Mansion wasn''t an option either. There''s no place on Mogar like our home in Lutia to Mom."

    "Don''t apologize." Solus shook her head. "I''m actually surprised she can have too much of you. Mom kicking you out of the house like that is a good sign. It means she''s getting better."

    "She didn''t kick me out of the house!" Lith grumbled.

    "Not trying to keep you home is Mom''s equivalent of kicking you out." Solus chuckled.

    "I honestly thought she couldn''t get enough of her baby boy."

    Lith blushed a little but said nothing.

    "My baby boy!" Salaark flung open the door of her office and her arms. "Come to mommy! I''ve missed you so much."

    "Mommy! Mommy!" Shargein threw himself at the Guardian and she caught him on the fly. "I missed you too!"

    "That was awkward." Lith cleared his throat while mother and son reunited. "For a moment I thought you were talking to me, Grandma."

    "I''ve missed you too, Featherling." She patted his shoulder. "I''m sorry for the distress I caused you."

    "It would have been much worse without you." Lith sighed. "What did you want to show me?"

    "This. A snap of Salaark''s fingers Warped everyone to the Pits of Agony and insulated Shargein from the hellish scene.

    Lith recognized humans, Fae, and beasts of all kinds amid the guests of the Overlord''s torturing facility. Their bodies froze, charred, rotted, and wizened just to heal and experience a few moments of peace before the cycle started anew.

    Those who broke Salaark''s law were punished by death. Only those who earned her enmity and spite ended up in the Pits of Agony.

    A white aura highlighted ten figures, drawing Lith''s attention.

    "Just ten? I expected much more people would be interested in Ripha''s skills." Lith said.

    "And you are probably right." Salaark nodded. "These are just those I caught involved in the scheme against Elina or planning their own. They know nothing of others who may be plotting the same.

    "Unless I go on a rampage and interrogate Awakened just because I can, my hunt ends here. I''m sorry, Featherling but I have no leads I can follow or pass to you."

    "Then why did you ask me to come to the Desert?" Lith asked in confusion. "There was no need to come here just to tell me this."

    "Because I wanted you to witness their punishment and decide what to do next." Salaark replied. "I''ll keep them here for as long as you want. Unless, of course, you want them dead or fed to the Bleed."

    At those words, Solus went pale while Lith''s gaze steeled.

    "Thanks, Grandma. I think I will follow your suggestion. Solus?"

    "I don''t know." She wrung her hands. "Aren''t the Pits of Agony enough?" "They are but that''s not the point." Lith shrugged. "I''m not a sadist. Their suffering brings me no joy. I''d keep them here only because death is too easy a way out for them. I''d put their miserable lives to good use if it were up to me."

    "How is Forbidden Magic a good use?" Solus retorted. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Their suffering would come to an end so you can consider it a form of mercy." Lith replied. "Also, by sacrificing their lives to protect yours those bastards would make up for what they did to our mother."

    The last phrase brimmed with hate. A hate that Solus shared and didn''t bother to hide.

    "I know, and this might sound stupid, but using the Bleed still feels wrong." She said. "Back when the World Tree kidnapped me, I used the Bleed because I had no other choice. I did it in self-defense in a hopeless situation.

    "Here I would do it in cold blood. I''d take the lives of these people to fuel my powers

    and existence."

 Chapter 3499 Hypocrite (Part 2)

    ?Chapter 3499 Hypocrite (Part 2)"How does that make me any better than the Black Star or any of the lost cities we''ve destroyed in the past?" Solus asked.

    "For starters, you are not picking on innocents." Lith replied. "These people are scum and there''s no doubt about it. On top of that, you''d not use their lives to sustain yours. For that, I''m more than enough.

    "You''d use their lives in self-defense just like with the Tree. The next time we face a deadly enemy and you get seriously injured, the Bleed might save us. Each one of these bastards is like an extra life for you.

    "If you get hurt, the tower won''t drain me in the middle of the fight to save you. If we ever get separated again, you''d have the means to find me and fight on your own instead of bleeding energy with each passing second."

    Solus couldn''t deny the truth of those words but it wasn''t enough to placate her conscience. Lith gave her time to mull over her options before talking again.

    "I understand why you don''t like the idea, Solus, but is keeping them in the Pits of Agony any better than the Bleed?" He pointed at the figures writhing and screaming in agony amid the flames.

    "No." She had to admit.

    "Also, forgive me for pointing out your hypocrisy but I have to." Lith grabbed her shoulders, a deep pain in his eyes.

    "My hypocrisy?" She echoed in confusion.

    "Would you hesitate to throw those guys in the Bleed if I was on the verge of death because of them and you could save me by feeding their lives to me?" He asked.

    "Not for one second." The reply came natural and quick to her lips.

    "Then why do you ask me to do otherwise?" Lith said. "Those bastards have put Mom in danger. Sure, they wanted to release her, but what if something went wrong? What if she saw or heard something she wasn''t supposed to?

    "They wouldn''t have hesitated to kill her if it meant stopping me from tracking them down. They have almost taken away from me one of the people I love the most on this planet. Why are you stopping me from using them to protect another?"

    Lith gently caressed her cheek before delivering his final plea.

    "I''m no different from Ripha, Solus. I''d sacrifice thousands of people like them just to protect a single strand of hair on your head. To protect my family. Yet the Bleed doesn''t work for them.

    "I almost lost Mom a few days ago and she was just going for groceries. You and I often put ourselves into dangerous situations and it''s only a matter of time before our

    luck runs out. Please, don''t let the next Nalear take you away from me."

    Lith''s words and honesty took Solus by surprise.

    From so up close and with the physical contact between them, she could read his mind without even trying unless he clouded his thoughts.

    "This is not one of Lith''s usual manipulation tactics. He''s scared from what happened to Elina and deeply worried about me.'' She thought.

    "You''re right. I''m a hypocrite." Solus put her hand over his. "If the Bleed could repair your life force, I would be the first to propose putting those bastards to good use. If I could give my mother the body she has lost to protect me, I would.

    "No matter the cost." She sighed. "Besides, I could never forgive myself if Night or the next nutjob we face exploited our bond and struck me down just to hurt you. Even with my deep violet core, I''m still your weak point.

    "Just do me a favor. Don''t put those guys in the Bleed while I''m inside the tower. Do it while I''m in Lutia and the tower is in the Trawn Woods. Just because I understand your point of view it doesn''t mean I have to like it."

    ***

    A few minutes later, back on the mana geyser in the Trawn Woods.

    "How come it''s already this late and you didn''t summon me until now?" Menadion regained her consciousness in the tower way later than usual.

    "Because Lith and I had some important matter to discuss and I didn''t want you to nag at me until you had it your way, Mom," Solus replied.

    "So it was about the Bleed." Menadion nodded. "For the record, I don''t nag, young lady. I was only trying to make you see reason."

    Asking Menadion if Solus had to fill the Bleed to the brim was like asking a starving man if he''d like a good meal. The answer would have been vocal, enthusiastic, and

    easily predictable.

    The First Ruler of the Flames had been pressing Solus to find someone to shove into the Forbidden Floor of the tower ever since she had regained the deep violet. "You are so close, sweetie. Don''t let a random jerk ruin years of your hard work just because of a lucky shot. The World Tree went this close to succeed and failed only because the tower was strong enough to recover the Bleed." She had repeated over and over until Solus had begged her to drop the subject.

    "You would be right, if you did it just once or twice, Mom." Solus snorted. "After the tenth time, that''s nagging"

    "That''s motherly affection." Ripha retorted. "Speaking of mothers, where''s Elina? I didn''t expect you to leave your mother''s side so soon, young man. I''m disappointed in

    vou."

    "You are also wrong." Lith put down the finger that Menadion was weaving under his nose. "Mom kicked me out of the house. She says I''m overbearing"

    "So you admit it!" Solus puffed her chest out with pride.

    "Nonsense." Menadion replied. "Give her a couple of hours and she''ll miss you. By the way, since it''s just the three of us here, do you have something planned or are we going to just look each other in the eyes?"

    "Actually, I decided to accept your offer to teach us Creation Magic, Ripha." Lith said, dodging Solus'' question. "What happened to my mother has been a wake-up call. Despite my plans and preparations, things can always go south without any warning

    signs.

    "I can''t just sit tight and hope my enemies will be so kind to follow my schedule. The next time trouble looks for me, I need to be prepared."

    "Excellent decision, Lith." Menadion nodded. "Are you okay with this, Solus?"

    "Of course, Mom." She replied. "Lith was the hesitant one. I was only waiting for him to

    come around and enjoy this experience together." S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Really?" Ripha was pleasantly surprised. "How so?"

    "Because you are going to teach him and pass my bloodline legacy down on me, Mom." Solus said. "You are the great Ripha Menadion and I''m your daughter. Back when I was still Elphyn, you taught me everything I knew.

    "Once you completed Creation Magic, I''m sure you would have offered to teach me that too and I would have accepted. Why should I reinvent the wheel when my mother already created it?

    "All modern mages are able to see further because they stand on the shoulders of giants and you are one of those giants, Mom. Metaphorically speaking, at least." Solus sighed heavily while comparing Menadion''s height with Lith''s.

 Chapter 3500 Shaky Foundations (Part 1)

    ?Chapter 3500 Shaky Foundations (Part 1)"Thank you, sweetie. Menadion bear-hugged Solus. "You have no idea how much your words mean to me. Obligatory question, do you want me to spoon-feed you Creation Magic''s secrets or just explain the basic principles?"

    "As I said in the past, I''d like to follow Faluel''s teaching method." Lith replied.

    "Great, because otherwise a single lesson would have been enough and it''s been a long time since I had the pleasure of teaching to talented apprentices. I want to savor this moment." Menadion nodded.

    "What do you mean, a single lesson?" Lith furrowed his brows. "Solus and I still

    struggle with tier four Creation Magic and are nowhere near tier five. Even if we were both geniuses, it should take at least one lesson per tier of magic."

    "You are wrong, Lith." Menadion tutted while shaking her finger under his nose. "The good kind of wrong, though. I was there during Salaark''s demonstrations of Creation Magic. I''ve seen you two practice and develop it your own way.

    "I''ve even admired how you two got this close to all the answers you are still looking for about Creation Magic while you worked on your Void Magic. One lesson would be enough because you have already reached the level of mastery necessary for tier five Creation Magic.

    "Your problem doesn''t lie in your talent or technique but in your limited understanding in a few key areas."

    "Really?" Solus brimmed with enthusiasm.

    "Really." Menadion replied. "I''ll be honest with you. I bet that if Sally gave you a couple of lessons instead of several practical demonstrations, you would have completed Creation Magic long before my return.

    "You wouldn''t have mastered it yet, but that''s just a matter of time and practice. Which is the reason I haven''t mastered it either. I''m just one level above you since I''ve been focusing on learning modern magic.

    "There''s no point developing spells with outdated techniques. I''ll start working on mastering Creation Magic once I''m done with Lochra''s and Yaga''s lessons."

    "If you haven''t mastered it and you don''t know modern runes, how are you going to teach us?" Lith asked.

    "With a series of exercises that will allow you to identify the aspects of Creation Magic in which you are still lacking and fix the issue yourselves." Ripha replied. "We indeed use different runes and albeit complete, my Creation Magic is inferior to yours, but they work in the same way.

    "The flaws that keep you and Solus from understanding Creation Magic enough to

    develop tier five spells lie in your foundations. Once you realize your mistakes, the rest should come naturally to you."

    "What?" Lith and Solus said in unison while exchanging a puzzled look. "Our foundations are flawed?"

    "Gods." Menadion sat down, covering her face with her hands. "I''ve seen this countless times yet it''s still as upsetting as the first. Has anyone ever told you that using the plural while talking as one is creepy?" Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Yeah, we hear that often." They replied.

    "I know." Ripha grunted. "It was a rhetorical question. Now sit down and let''s start your lesson."

    She conjured two chairs and desks for them and an enchanted blackboard for herself. "Let''s begin by clearing my opening statement. Think about it. How did you practice learning the tier one Creation Magic spell, Dismantle?"

    "First, we studied the recording of Grandma using it." Solus said and Menadion nodded for her to continue. "Then, after failing countless times to Dismantle the simplest of artifacts we could buy, we switched to our own creations." "Exactly," Menadion stopped her. "You have supplanted understanding with knowing. You studied the materials before and after the Forgemastering process to know the precise structure they had in their unaltered state and to which they had to return. "To make matters worse, you have also used the Eyes to record and study the process on all the materials and configurations available to you to derive a reliable dismantling technique."

    "I know we cheated. Sort of." There was no scolding in Menadion''s tone, she was just stating facts. Yet it stung at Lith''s pride nonetheless. "But what were we supposed to do?

    "We had to start from somewhere and our own creations were the perfect starting point to understand what went wrong and why. On top of that, the Eyes of Menadion only tell you how something works, not how to obtain it.

    "We studied the data and came up with a working solution. Why are you saying that it made things worse?"

    "You have already answered your question." Menadion replied. "But if you want to hear it from me, the Eyes made things worse because you didn''t understand how to dismantle an artifact properly, you only learned by rote and repetition.

    "Sure, you have expanded and practiced until Creation Magic became second nature to you but your foundations were still flawed. The higher the level of Creation Magic you reached, the more your unstable foundations compromised the entire process." "That''s why our tier four spells feel lacking and we can''t figure out tier five despite the Eyes, the Grimoire, and countless hours of practice." Solus put her professional pride aside and pondered her mother''s words.

    "Can you tell us what the mistake is?" Lith stopped trying to justify his failure and focused on fixing it.

    "That''s why we are here." Menadion replied. "The issue lies in the definition you use for the light and darkness elements during your Void Magic lessons. You claim that they represent control over life, correct?"

    "Correct." Lith inwardly sighed.

    ''Great, so I messed up with Forgemastery, Healing magic, and now Void Magic too?"

    "Your definition works fine for your students because you''ve developed exercises that stick to it, but it''s actually incomplete." Menadion said.

    "Incomplete? So it''s not wrong. Solus sighed with relief.

    "If it were, Void Magic wouldn''t work." Menadion shook her head. "Before moving forward with the lesson, I want you two to know how impressed I am by your work.

    "While I was a wandering soul, I''ve followed all of your lessons and even though I couldn''t practice Void Magic in that state, it was still enlightening." She gave them a

    small bow.

    "That said, what you''ve missed so far is that while earth and air control space and fire and ice control speed, light and darkness control order. Like a vase is nothing but clay given shape and painted over, a human body is nothing but ordinary elements given

    life through structure.

    "The same applies to Forgemastery. Whether you consider the blood or mana circulatory system, the heart or the mana core, they are all small pieces that must be linked together in perfect order and harmony to work."

    Lith was flabbergasted by Menadion''s understanding of anatomy until he remembered she had witnessed all his discussions with Solus.

    "That''s why she knows all the similes we used while developing our Forgemastering

    techniques.''

    "As you have learned from your studies, Healing Magic and Forgemastery follow the same principles. The main difference is that one is used to manipulate living beings and the other to enchant objects.

    "Creation Magic further thins the boundary between the two disciplines. Think about.

    it. When Sally reforged War into Ragnar?k, Creation Magic kept the ''patient'' alive during the procedure.

    "It was no different from fixing someone''s life force from a congenital disease."

 Chapter 3501 Shaky Foundations (Part 2)

    "I see." Lith nodded. "But even with this knowledge, I still don''t see what we missed while we studied Creation Magic.""I was getting to that." Menadion replied. "First, I had to explain the why or you wouldn''t understand the how. Time for a simple exercise."

    She took two silver coins and two red crystals from the tower''s pocket dimension. Then she bonded them together before handing the coins to Lith and Solus.

    "Why did you do that?" He asked in annoyance. "You could have conjured the materials from the Workshop."

    "Because in that case you could have simply dispelled them and started over like you always did in the past." Menadion said. "If you keep doing the same thing, the result will always be the same, young man."

    "You could have at least let us study the coins before performing the bonding process." Solus grumbled.

    "If I did, I would have given you the starting and the ending point. I want you to study this problem from a completely new perspective hence you need to go in blind." Menadion replied. "Begin."

    Silver was the least among magical metals just like red crystals were the weakest. The task was too simple to be straightforward so Lith and Solus studied their respective coins with Invigoration before making any move.

    ''There''s nothing special about this.'' They thought, each on their own yet at the same time. ''The red crystal is so small and weak that it created a single mana vessel instead of a mana circulatory system. This is easy.''

    They used the tier one Creation Magic spell, Dismantle, to undo Menadion''s work. Darkness magic eroded the contact points between the mana vessels and the metal, allowing light magic to draw the tendril of energy back into the crystal.

    The inside of the coin was left with an internal scar that they removed by alternating pulses of darkness and light. The former scrambled the inside of the scar while the latter reorganized it until it matched the structure of the rest of the coin.

    "Done." They said in unison.

    "Excellent." Menadion had a wicked smile that didn''t bode well. "Now exchange your coins and study them."

    Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

    They did as instructed and the moment their breathing technique showed them the results of each other''s work, they grimaced.

    "Well? What do you think?"

    "No offense, Solus, but this is a sloppy job." Lith said.

    "No offense, Lith, but this is a patchwork at best." Solus said.

    "Wait, what did you say? Give that back." They said in unison while returning the coins to their owner. "Are you out of your mind? There is nothing wrong with it."

    "Children, stop. There''s no point arguing." Menadion stopped them. "I''ll be the judge of your work."

    She took both coins and examined them before saying:

    "You are both right and you both did a poor job."

    "How is this possible?" Lith asked in confusion.

    "We''ve done this countless times in the past. How could we never notice?" Solus couldn''t believe her own eyes. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Each one of you has done their best but as you''ve seen, your best is actually pretty bad." Menadion said. "You have never noticed it in the past because you worked together and fixed each other''s mistakes to the best of your abilities.

    "In your eyes, the work was perfect simply because you couldn''t imagine something better. Now that I''ve split you, however, you can look at the final result without bias. On top of that, this time you didn''t have the Eyes as a crutch."

    "What are we doing wrong?" Solus sighed.

    "You know I can''t tell you the answer, sweetie." Menadion restored the coins with Creation Magic and bonded them with the red crystals. "Again, and this time remember the correct definition for light and darkness."

    Lith and Solus tried several times and their work improved with each attempt but the result was just less lacking than the previous, never good.

    ''Fuck me sideways, if we screw up so badly with a small coin and one tiny crystal, I can''t imagine how much worse things are with more complex artifacts.'' Lith thought.

    ''What am I missing?'' Solus stared at the coin for an answer, yet it remained silent. ''The process is supposed to be simple. Why is it so hard?''

    Lunchtime was nearing and Lith found not having an inkling of what to do to move forward after all those hours unbearable.

    ''Let''s start this again from scratch.'' He thought. ''Ripha said our methods are good but our foundations are flawed. She also said that we thought that light and darkness control life only because life is order from chaos. How do these two things connect?''

    Not knowing what do to, Lith took a second silver coin out of his pocket dimension. He was so focused on studying the mint piece of metal that he missed Menadion''s approving smile.

    ''Wait what?'' Yet Solus didn''t. ''Let me get a coin.''

    ''I knew it this was dumb.'' Lith inwardly sighed. ''There''s nothing I can learn from a different coin. Even though they are forged with the same process and the same batch of ore, the internal structure is completely different.

    ''The concentration of metal and the arrangement of the impurities change from coin to coin. The mold is the same, but they are like snowflakes. There are so many variables when the molten metal solidifies that no two coins are ali-.'' His thoughts trailed off as the revelation struck him.

    ''They are like snowflakes. That''s the whole point of this exercise. Recognizing the significance of chaos and learning how to restore it!''

    ''That''s why our coins suck when we restore them.'' Solus thought. ''We mastered the order part of Creation Magic but our understanding of its chaos aspect is lacking. I can still see a pattern in my coin after using Dismantle.

    ''The ''scar'' hasn''t healed, it just faded. We didn''t restore the previous structure of our coins, we just messed with the residual trace of the mana vessel until it more or less resembled the rest of the coin.''

    ''The question is, how do I fix that?'' They thought in unison.

    "And it''s lunchtime." Menadion said. "If we are late, Elina will kill me. We''ll resume this in the afternoon or tomorrow morning, depending on when your mother kicks you out of the house again, Lith."

    "There''s still time." Lith looked at his pocket watch.

    "What part of ''late'' you didn''t understand?" Menadion clicked her tongue. "Do you really want to go home just in time to eat and then walk away? Do you think your poor mother runs a restaurant?"

    "No, ma''am." Lith sighed while Solus laughed at his expense.

    "I wouldn''t laugh if I were in your shoes, young lady." Menadion looked daggers at Solus. "He behaves like that because you do the same and enable him. Give me those coins back. Now!"

    They jumped up their seats and returned the study materials.

    "Fair warning, if I see a coin or you space out during lunch, I won''t give you lessons for a week."

    "A week?" Lith and Solus said in horror as Menadion Warped them back home.

    "You are just in time, sweetie." Elina welcomed them with a smile and a hug.